Everything was golden in the early morning sunlight. Anneliese wondered at the cultivated countryside rolling out beneath her. It was far different from the grasslands outside the village barriers, clearly farmland, though it wasn’t quite identical to what she’d observed on Earth. The swaths of fields made her think of the farms of the Amish who lived near the rez. She gaped at the animals she spied as well. Nex named them as they went, strange names that had no English equivalent: hisers, togs, and massive furred beasts called ecal. There were a number of Bonch tending them.
“I loved meeting Efno. Talks like a man, looks like a dog. With orange eyes,” Anneliese said.
They flew toward a wide swath of grassland, similar to what lay outside the borders of Cas. A large number of striped people gathered there. Several dartwings were parked along the edge of the field. Within seconds, their vehicle was settling in a spot near the rest.
“We’re just in time,” Nex said as they pried themselves out of the flying machine.
His supposition was borne out by Jape, who grinned at them as they joined the group in the middle of the plot. “Anneliese, Nex. We were about to start with today’s first group. I’ll have the men perform basics and Anneliese can observe then join in if she wishes to.”
He nodded to the gathered men. There must have been at least five hundred there, maybe more. At his signal, they spread out in even lines, as if each had an assigned spot on the field and knew exactly where he should be. Nex dashed out among them and took his place at the edge of the group nearest Anneliese. Nex had only recently come to Cas, so she assumed similar training went on in Hahz Village.
Jape’s shout rang out over the huge field. “Crawl, full speed!”
As one, they dropped to the ground, below the tall grasses. The blond fronds swayed and shook as the men moved among them, their striped forms blending to offer camouflage.
It was nothing like the clunky fashion Earthling soldiers crawled during exercises, inching awkwardly on elbows, toes, and knees. Anneliese moved closer to watch Nex as he crept smoothly forward.
His feet and hands had sprouted tentacle digits, which dug into the ground to propel him forward. More dexterous, striped limbs snaked out from under his abdomen, allowing him to slink across the field like a caterpillar. He and the other men slithered over the earth just as fast as Anneliese could trot.
She turned to Jape, her eyes wide. “Wow. I can crawl, but I couldn’t keep up with them for a second.”
“I’m glad you can move low if you need to. We have a few copses of trees in this area, but overall, little cover to speak of. You have to stay low to the ground in combat situations around here.” He nodded to Nex, still slinking along the ground. “Your lover is from the wooded area, and he had a hard time adjusting to our manner of fighting at first. He kept himself too high up.”
“Who told you he’s my lover?” Anneliese said in an undertone. Was Nex bragging to the other men? When Jape gave her a look as if to say, are you kidding me? she added, “You live apart from the women. I got the idea there wasn’t anything intense about your relationships, so how would you know about something like that?”
Jape snorted. “We have a few men in the village who live bonded together. I’ve seen how lovers look when they have found each other.”
Anneliese had nothing to say to that. She had to concede the point.
She watched more exercises. When it came to hand-to-hand sparring, she noted how similar the Risnarish method was to the way she’d been taught. She partnered up with Nex for a few rounds.
Her leg and back behaved themselves, and she was proud to acquit herself well in front of the other Risnarish. Fighting Nex was particularly hard because he had the advantage of sprouting a tail or two to block her attacks and grapple with. She glowed with pride that she wrestled him as well as she did. Jape’s surprised gape when he called a halt to that portion was gratifying.
Anneliese was most excited when the weapons came out for firing practice. They started with a type of telescoping rod, too thick to be a radio antenna, though that was what it looked like.
“This reminds me of the extendable batons the MPs used,” she told Nex, whom Jape had put in charge of showing her the basics while he drilled the other men. “But it looks as if it would break if you whack anyone with it.”
“It’s a stunner wand. We don’t go around bludgeoning drones with it. At the lowest setting, it sets off a slight charge that’s not lethal. You can try it on yourself. You’ll find it uncomfortable, but no more.”
Anneliese had volunteered for stun gun training during her stint in the military. She had hated it, but figured it was best to know what to expect in the worst of circumstances. She switched her practice wand on the low setting and tapped her stomach.
It made her jump, the effect similar to a stinging light punch. An attention-getter, to be sure. She grinned at Nex. “I’m awake now. Better than a jolt of caffeine.”
“Prolonged exposure at the highest setting can produce unconsciousness. In someone with a weak cardiovascular system, it might stop the hearts. And there’s always loss of bladder control. Sometimes bowels too. Oh, you probably didn’t want to hear that. Sorry.”
Anneliese snickered. Nex was the king of TMI when he got rolling. “How does it work against the drones?”
“The worst these will do to them is a momentary interruption of their systems. Shock wands are primarily used by our law enforcement against a Risnarish or Bonch who is causing harm. That doesn’t happen too often among our kind, usually only in cases of too much broadleaf chewing. Farmers might use a similar device for livestock to drive a herd into pasture or such.”
With the stunner wand not so important to actual combat, they soon joined in on shooter target practice with the rest. Nex explained how the plasma projectiles burrowed into whatever they hit, igniting to burn the quarry from the inside out.
“A pretty nasty way to die,” Anneliese said, shuddering. “I noticed the drones smoking after they were shot. I hate to think about it happening to one of us.”
“Plasma shooters are only to be used against drones and the Monsuda,” Nex said, demonstrating the safety mechanisms on her practice device. “You’ve already shown you’re pretty good with this, but it doesn’t hurt to drill.”
“Particularly since it’s not shaped like the weaponry I’m used to. Even with firearms I’m used to at home, I’ve always practiced. Muscle memory is the best discipline to stay alive. It’s easy to panic when the world is coming down around your ears.”
“No real rounds are used here. This is all simulated during practice,” Nex advised as she aimed at her designated sensor-laden fake drone at the end of the practice field. “You’ll note the firing during drills sounds far different from the live ammunition.”
Anneliese raised her shooter with the rest of the soldiers. At Jape’s signal, everyone opened fire on their dummy drones.
A second later, everyone was staring at Anneliese as she laughed hard enough to buckle her knees. She nearly guffawed herself flat to the ground.
Nex stared at her as if she’d lost her mind. “What’s so funny?”
“Oh—oh—oh hell, it’s an Earthling thing. You wouldn’t understand.”
She tried desperately hard to control herself. Nevertheless, after the next volley, she had to walk away from the drill, hee-hawing like a lunatic to everyone’s confused amusement.
Anneliese couldn’t help herself. How was she supposed to take target practice seriously? The shooters in simulation mode sounded too much like kids playing space wars with fake laser guns.
As the men continued their practice and the ridiculous high-pitched sounds of pew-pew-pew filled the air once more, Anneliese gave up. She lay on the ground and rolled with helpless laughter until they were finished.
Anneliese rose from the spot where her hysterics had flattened the grass.
Wiping her streaming eyes, she rejoined the group in time to see the big, beautiful boom cannons come out. She rubbed her hands together in anticipation. “Ooh, I have weapons envy. Mama wants.”
Nex hefted one with practiced ease. “These are used to take out our enemies within the hive. Only in dire emergencies are they used outdoors. They level an area of the enemy, but the damage to the environment can be horrendous.”
As the others took turns training with the cannons, he went through how to load the device he held with the cartridges, each of which held thirty explosives similar to grenades. He gave her a full safety primer as the sounds of simulated firing filled her ears with sadly unimportant popping sounds. At least the cannons in drill mode didn’t make her laugh as the shooters had.
“These are not so hilarious?” Jape teased as he came over to check their progress. “Go ahead and let her try it out, Nex. She should feel the weight and recoil in case a situation comes up where she has to actually use one.”
“Usually, the squad captains are the only ones to use the booms,” Nex said. “Here, put the strap on over your shoulder and grab it here and here. Your trigger—yeah, you’ve got it.”
Moments later, Anneliese was grinning like a fool at the heft and power of the cannon. It was a warrior’s weapon all right, a piece of hardware only a suicidal ass of an enemy would challenge. “I’m making my Christmas list,” she told Nex as the weapon’s readout showed her the wasteland she would have left had the blasting been real. She didn’t care how the weight made her shoulder ache or her back complain. “I so want one of these of my own.”
Nex sighed. He shook his head ruefully as he smiled at her enthusiasm. “My warrior woman.”
Anneliese snorted, punching him lightly on the arm. “How about if I let you be my warrior man?”
Yeah. That sounded much better.
Chapter Eleven
Training wrapped after two hours. Nex was relieved Anneliese hadn’t overdone it. He’d worried her zest for fighting would encourage her to push herself and aggravate her injured knee and hip. However, she’d concentrated on what she could do comfortably. When he’d sparred with her, she’d cautioned him beforehand what moves tended to make her disabilities flare up. He’d been careful with her, watching for any sign of discomfort.
Thankfully, she’d been the most gung-ho over weapons training, which posed fewer threats to her limited mobility. Nex had to admit once again that Anneliese was gifted when it came to firearms. Her aim was as accurate as any Risnarish he’d ever seen.
As they trooped toward his dartwing among the dispersing men, Nex asked, “As a trained soldier, what did you think of us?”
Anneliese’s grin was admiring. “The warriors of Cas are a well-drilled machine. If the fighters in the other villages are this amazingly trained, I have no doubt you’ll win out against the Monsuda in the end.”
“All the villages follow the same parameters in battle training, and we do it from a young age. If not for the number of drones the Monsuda have against us, I’d agree wholeheartedly.”
A breeze wafted over them, and Anneliese lifted her face into it with a sigh. She was shiny with perspiration, which made the lines of her arms fascinating to Nex. She’d stripped off her sleeved blouse early on, leaving her arms bare. Things had warmed up quickly as everyone worked, and Anneliese gleamed like marble. Her arms weren’t the carved muscle of the Risnarish men, but they were toned. Gorgeous. Nex’s fingers twitched as he imagined tracing her contours.
She saw him staring at her. Anneliese looked down at the top and pulled a face. “I’m in desperate need of a wash. I guess you’d better take me to the temple so I can clean up.”
“You can wash at my home,” Nex offered hopefully. Doing so would offer him the opportunity to continue his explorations of what pleased her.
Anneliese grinned, as if knowing all he wanted. Nex’s hearts beat faster. Once they were in the dartwing, he pushed it faster than usual to get them to his dome.
They landed on the spacious front lawn. Nex had a decent-sized plot of land to himself, enough for the two hisers that supplied his milk to graze upon. They were housed in the back, beyond his small garden and pool area.
Anneliese looked with fascination at the modest-sized dome Nex had taken up residence in since coming to Cas. Nex looked too, trying to view it through alien eyes. It was nothing special. His home in Hahz was nicer since he’d had years to cultivate the land the way he preferred. The grass there was a different color, and he’d planted trees and flowers that gave it personality. Anneliese would have found it more impressive.
This temporary lodging had nothing of him imprinted on it. The home’s half-spheroid shape was the same as so many others, colored greenish-gold like the grasses of the nearby meadows. At least it was neat and tidy.
“Come in. It’s not much to look at, but I suppose you’ve never visited a Risnarish man’s living space before.”
“The fact you don’t wear clothes tells me I won’t find dirty socks and underwear piled up on the floor.” Anneliese laughed. She followed him in when his door recognized his presence and opened obligingly.
Nex stepped aside to watch Anneliese wander the interior. She eyed him, looking for permission. “Go ahead,” he encouraged. “There’s nothing here I don’t wish you to see.”
He activated the fire ring in the middle of the dome so she could enjoy the cheerful flames leaping toward the suspended chimney. Since it was too warm for a fire during the day, even with the pie-wedge-shaped glass inserts in the ceiling retracted, he ordered it off within a few moments. “I bet that’s cozy in the winter,” Anneliese said. “Romantic too, snuggling with someone special in front of the fire.”
She suddenly flushed and walked away from Nex to inspect the rest of the dome. He stood watching her, warmth filling his chest. She was thinking of him as someone special to be close to, though he had little understanding of what a fire had to do with such things.
No matter. Anneliese was considering him as more than a man to share physical pleasure with. She thought of him in terms of spirit now.
Anneliese walked in a circle, peering with interest at her surroundings. Walls spoked at regular intervals within the round space, creating semi-open rooms, all of which had a view of the fire ring. With the roof sections open to the sunny sky above, it was bright in the dome. The interior was as tidy as the outside, even stark, what with his having made no attempt to decorate the space.
Anneliese acted as if she approved of it, however. “You could do with some personalization,” she agreed when he mentioned it as she inspected the visiting partition. “This furniture is comfortable, though. Sorry, I can’t not bounce on your couches, chairs and benches. With my back being iffy, I have a terrible obsession with finding the most comfortable seat in the house.”
“Any place you wish to rest is yours,” he said, following her as she left the visiting partition where guests would gather.
Their next stop was the bedroom. Anneliese did her bounce test on Nex’s thick mattress and groaned much as she had in the temple garden where he had pleasured her. “You Risnarish have the best beds. So soft.”
“Would you like to remain here?” he teased. Okay, so maybe he wasn’t teasing. Spending the day in bed with Anneliese would be sheer delight.
“I shouldn’t be sitting on your bed as nasty as I am.” She jumped up. “Sorry. I wasn’t thinking.”
“No harm. The linens are easily washed.”
“Good. Maybe you can do something about my clothes, then.”
“I’d be glad to.” After he got them off her. Then again, he might forget to launder her clothing even that soon. Just the idea of Anneliese naked could make Nex forget a great many things.
She checked out the kitchen next. Nex’s stomach growled, reminding him of the training they’d done that morning. “Shall we have something to eat an
d drink?”
Anneliese nodded once, then shook her head. “I’m starved, but I’m also gross. How about that wash first? I seriously can’t stand myself.”
“What about we do both? I have some food already prepared, including things you enjoyed at the erawots last night. It won’t take me a minute to gather a meal together. We can go to the outside pool to bathe. We’ll eat and drink as we soak.”
“That sounds wonderful.” She gave him a kiss, as if rewarding him for coming up with the perfect plan. It made him feel giddy.
Within minutes, Nex was leading her out of the dome’s second door to the stone pool a few steps away. It wasn’t a huge bathing basin, but it was large enough for the two of them. Anneliese glanced at the high hedges and with a grin, she peeled off her clothes, revealing exquisitely smooth skin. She splashed into the pool and sighed in delight.
“The temperature is just right, Nex. Not too hot after training, but warm enough to relax in. I love it.” She sat down. The water came up to her chest, making her enticing breasts shimmer beneath the surface. She ducked down, submerging her entire head, and came up with her black hair streaming like ink over her shoulders.
Nex realized he was standing there with a tray of food and drinks in his hand, staring at her. He’d likened her to a goddess before. A goddess would weep to hope she might compare to Anneliese.
He couldn’t quite shake off the spell, but he tried. He set down the tray piled high with food. “Here we are. What else do you need before I join you?”
“Nothing. Jump in here and let’s enjoy life as it should be enjoyed.”
Which they did. Anneliese threatened to drown him when he tried to avoid letting her feed him morsels as he fed her. “Don’t give me that whole ‘I need to please you’ line. We reciprocate, or else.”
Nex was too hungry to argue over something so silly. He gave in with only a few protests, and they soon polished off every bite.
Worlds Apart (Warriors of Risnar) Page 13