by M. E. Thorne
“This is not what I expected,” Noctis stated firmly.
“Things are a bit more complicated than expected,” I agreed.
It was a few days later and we had all gathered around Spinny’s table again. Overhead, Gloria swooped about the room, oohing and aahing at all the weaving equipment and fancy fabric.
“This is so cool!” she chimed in. She landed on top of a loom and delicately reached towards some of the in-process silk. “Can I touch this?”
Spinny nodded. “As long as your hands and feet are clean.”
While his sister admired the cloth, Gnasher and I sat with Noctis.
“We tell Spinny everything,” I informed him. “She’s family.”
“Besides, this all sounds like it's in your benefit,” Gnasher growled.
I gathered she was still a bit miffed at the Hatuibwari for his lies of omission.
“I won’t ask for a share,” Spinny said, hanging overhead. “I don’t know the exact route to Nakamura-Ghosi Genetics, it’s been too long and I’m sure too much has changed by now. But I’ve been inside the labs and I know my way around.”
“Her skills as an Arachne will also be extremely helpful,” I added, which was true.
The Delvers’ Guild often reached out to the spider-women, asking for help spanning unexpected chasms or creating long-lasting bridges over difficult gaps. There’s a list of jobs, months' worth of effort, at the guildhall for the Arachne we have on retainer.
“My boss won’t like this,” Noctis grumbled.
“Then make them like it,” I countered. “This is our final offer. The three of us go together, or we don’t go at all.”
Spinny added, “And any medical knowledge or data found must be shared with the State and the Medical Guild.”
The bat-man nodded. “That was the plan anyway. The boss is dead set on that part. We just get to keep any physical goods scavenged.”
“Why?” I was curious about that point. No matter what the physical salvage was, the data would be far more valuable.
Noctis shrugged. “No clue, but those are the orders.”
I mentally filed that one away for later consideration.
For a second I let my mind drift, trying to imagine what kind of person ran the Bluehorns. Some kind of mobster king? What kind of chimeric are they, a giant ape, or a rhino-hybrid?
Gnasher, keenly aware where my thoughts had wandered, playfully poked me in the ribs.
Noctis mulled it over for a bit, then got up. “Fine, I’ll inform the boss. Gloria, come on, we need to get going.”
“Can’t I stay a bit longer?” she flapped down and landed daintily in my lap.
“No, we’ve got to meet with the boss,” he said as he turned.
“I never get to have fun." She kissed me on the cheek as she hopped down. “Guess we’ll have to take a raincheck, sorry.”
“I’ll let you know what the answer is,” Noctis called. “Assuming it’s yes, how long would it take you to get ready?”
“You are going to supply everything we need,” I said, a statement, not a question. “So Gnasher and I just need to arrange time off with the Delvers’ Guild.”
“Shouldn’t be too hard,” Gnasher thought out-loud. “If we pull off a couple of extra shifts, we should be ready in five days.”
“I’ll be ready by then as well,” Spinny confirmed. “I’ll send my last order out tomorrow.”
“Great, this is going to be so much fun,” Noctis deadpanned. “I’ll be in touch soon.”
Gloria came by early the next morning and informed us that the Bluehorns’ boss had approved our additional party member. The next few days went by in a blur of frantic activity.
We felt it was best to come up with a cover story, rather than saying we were doing a freelance job for the Bluehorns. Gnasher and I ended up telling Ramaltha that we needed a few days off from the Guild to visit my family. They lived a few days' travel north of the Metrocomplex, in a commune located inside the ruins of an old weapons factory. She ended up being more than happy to accommodate us, lining up several double-shifts in relatively safe areas.
When we weren’t working, we were doing everything we could to prepare for our journey.
I pulled all my old gear out of storage. It hadn’t been used since I applied for the Guild, but it was still in good shape. I made several trips to Noctis’s shop, picking up replacement parts, and going over our supply list with him to make sure I would have everything I would need to break into a high-security facility.
Gnasher went hunting. Even though Noctis was supplying all the food and water we’d need for ten days, we had agreed amongst ourselves to bring extra supplies. If Spinny was going to be weaving webs for us to sleep in, or spanning any kind of gaps, she’d need the additional calories and nutrients to keep her strength up. Gnasher made pounds of jerky and preserved foraged mushrooms and fruits as well.
Spinny secluded herself in her workshop. Even after she finished her last order, she worked feverishly on a secret project. Gnasher and I were curious and even offered to help, but she waved us off and said she was fine.
It was the night before we were set to depart, and I was dead tired. I sprawled out in bed, utterly spent.
Gnasher and I had spent the last sixteen hours exploring a series of corporate dormitories way down in The Stacks. Walking through the endless, identical halls, turning over trashed beds, digging through moldy bathrooms, and prying open abandoned footlockers had been both monotonous and strenuous at the same time.
The fact that we came back with like twenty credits worth of stuff after all that work was crappy too, I grumbled. If we hadn’t sold the gun to Noctis our monthly budget would be completely trashed.
Gnasher wandered in a little while later. She stopped in the bathroom, and I heard the shower run for a few seconds. Still wet, she came back out and flopped on top of me.
“Hey,” she murmured, snuggling up against my shirt.
“Hey,” I responded, too tired to even care that she was getting me all wet.
Even her bare breasts rubbing against my chest were a distant, pleasant sensation rather than a call to immediate action.
“I’ve never been so tired that I didn’t want to have sex,” she said, apparently mirroring my thoughts.
I grunted an affirmative reply.
Lazily, she worked her hands into my boxers and began to languidly massage my cock. The pads on her fingertips felt rough and calloused, rubbing and digging into my sensitive spots.
When I raised my head in confusion, she gave me a wicked grin.
“As I said, I’ve never been so tired that I didn’t want to have sex,” she purred.
She slowly slid down my body, pulling off my underwear and adding her tongue to her ministrations, rasping against my cock like wet, gripping sandpaper. My member shot up in salute, earning me a healthy chuckle from Gnasher.
Finding a previously unknown reserve of energy, I pulled off my shirt and then began running my hands through her mane and down her back. Gnasher’s fur ran in thick tufts, bunched around her shoulders, limbs, and spine, it was striped orange, brown, and black.
My fingers made lazy circles across her shoulder blades, lingering here or there to massage her sore muscles or work out any tension I found. Gnasher growled in approval, giving my cock extra attention each time I found the right spot. She worked slowly up and down my shaft, taking her time in exploring my flesh.
“You’re the best,” she said as I eased away a knot of tension in her back.
She crawled up my body and slid her thighs against my own. Positioning herself above my awaiting member, she rubbed my cock with her slick pussy lips. I placed my hands along her hips, working my thumbs into the joints. My fingers reached back and worked along her spine, massaging just above where her tail began.
Purring, she hitched herself up and then slowly impaled herself on my eager member, a torturously wonderful sensation. Only when she bottomed out did we pause for a moment, basking
in the pleasure.
She regarded me with a smoldering intensity as she flexed her pelvic muscles.
“We should take it slowly more often,” she gasped.
She wiggled her hips, causing me to issue a groan of contentment. Her pussy wrapped around me tightly, suffocating my cock with a loving embrace.
Gnasher began slowly, steadily working her hips up and down, occasionally grinding to the left and right in response to my cries. I bucked hard, pushing my cock into her as deep as possible. She swatted me back down, pressing a hand into my chest.
“Let me do the work." She began to speed up.
In a moment she was panting hard and fast as she slammed down and clenched her knees against my hips.
My fingers dug into her skin, it was all I could do to hold on. I felt her coiling and twisting around my member, her pleasure building coming to a boil. Our breath came out as steaming gasps and labored cries as we built towards an explosion.
Reaching our climax almost simultaneously, we let it all go in a massive burst. Gnasher arched her back and cried out, her muscles going taunt as I poured everything I had into her. My mind went blank as I came, a blissful release.
She collapsed, bonelessly, on top of me, purring again. I could vaguely feel my seed seeping out of her and all over the bed.
We laid there, cooling down and enjoying the afterglow.
“This might be the last chance we have to be together,” Gnasher said quietly, face buried in my chest.
“I know,” I rubbed her back, more gently. “But if Spinny is right, this is something we have to do.”
Sighing, Gnasher flopped over, my dick sliding out with a wet pop.
“I need another shower,” she complained. “Carry me.”
Unfortunately for her, I had already fallen asleep.
Rather than meeting up at Noctis’s shop, we gathered at an abandoned loading dock several stories below the Metrocomplex the next day.
Noctis was already there by the time we arrived, along with his sister and a pallet loaded with all the gear and supplies we needed. There was nobody else around.
I was surprised to see he was wearing his normal attire, while Gloria was dressed for travel and had a lightweight rucksack strapped across her back. She stifled a yawn before waving to all of us.
“I’m not going,” he told us.
“But I am!” Gloria contributed happily.
We all had a brief argument after that.
“The boss insisted on sending someone to keep an eye on you,” Noctis said, clearly as happy as I was about the whole situation. “I’ve been told to stay and run the shop. Gloria was kind enough to volunteer for the job.”
“It’ll be fine,” the bat-girl offered. “I’ve been reading an old copy of the Delvers’ Guild handbook while manning the shop, I totally know what I’m doing!”
After a huddled debate, Gnasher, Spinny, and I were forced to agree. The Bluehorns wouldn’t give us the map, the supplies, or the credits otherwise.
“I promise I’ll listen to everything you say,” Gloria gave us a mock salute.
“Good, because this isn’t a joke,” I told her, keeping my tone as serious as possible. “Delving is dangerous. Even with the right equipment, a good map, and a smart guide, you can still get yourself killed. If Gnasher or I tell you to do something, you do it, no questions asked.”
“Even if it’s something dirty?” she gave me a wink.
I gave her a hard, unfriendly stare till she apologized.
“Please, keep her safe,” Noctis pleaded after pulling me aside. “She might be nineteen --”
“I’m only twenty-one,” I interrupted.
“But you know how to handle yourself down there. She still acts like a spoiled kid sometimes,” Noctis continued, clearly concerned. “I’m her big brother, but I can only watch out for her so much, you know?”
I felt some of my icy demeanor thaw. “I’ll do my best,” I gruffly replied.
“That’s all I can ask for,” he nodded, patting me on the back. “Come and check the supplies, make sure everything looks good.”
Outside food and water, Noctis and the Bluehorns had supplied all the items needed for a long delving trip. Including my old gear, we had ropes, spray paint, climbing gear, flares, first-aid kits, and a large supply of compact blasting charges. There were also a pair of machetes for me and Gnasher. All of it was in good repair. I was also happy to see they had provided several sniffers, which would be critical to the trip.
“Gloria, come here and take a look,” I waved her over. I thought for a second, then said, “Spinny, if you’re not familiar with this thing, it might not be a bad idea to join us as well.”
Gnasher and I then walked them through using a sniffer. It was a metal box, about a foot long and half as wide, with a handle on one end and several tubes, probes, and sensors on the other. The top was festooned with gauges, meters, and warning lights.
“It’s got some long, technical-sounding name,” Gnasher laughed, “but everyone in the Guild just calls it a sniffer.”
I showed them how to turn it on, and how to check the readings for air quality, radiation, nano-particles, toxic spores, and other common underground hazards.
“Everyone in the Guild uses one when going into an unknown or unexplored area." I swept the device around slowly, demonstrating how to check for invisible dangers. “A good sniffer will keep you from suffocating when C02 levels spike or will warn you when you’ve accidentally wandered into a room full of radioactive fallout dust.”
There were five devices, one for each of us and a spare, along with dozens of batteries and replacement parts.
Spinny had a wonderful surprise for us as well. She produced two bundles, which when unrolled proved to be heavy-duty work shirts.
“I made one of them for each of us,” she pointed to her matching top. She glanced over at Gloria. “Sorry, I didn’t know you were coming.”
The bat-girl grinned indifferently. “Not a problem." She inspected the one I was holding. “I don’t think I could fly in that anyway, so I don’t mind.”
“They’re slash-resistant,” the Arachne explained. “So they can help keep you safe from sharp rocks, broken glass, or --”
Gnasher threw herself around her girlfriend’s neck, then gave her a huge, sloppy kiss. “This is amazing, thank you!”
I gave her a much more chaste hug afterward. Spinny was still blushing furiously from Gnasher’s reaction.
After that, we loaded our stuff and shouldered our packs. “Where are we headed first?” I asked.
Gloria answered, pulling out a tablet and showing us a map. “The first part of our trip will be through the State farms, which are a couple of levels down in the agricultural district. We’ll cut through the mole ranches, then strike north for an old underground turnpike tunnel that the corporations used.”
“I know where that is,” Gnasher said to Spinny and me. “I can find you there.”
I turned to Noctis and held out a hand, “The credits?”
He reached into his vest and produced two very thick envelopes. I checked the contents, my heart hammering. This is more credits than I’ve ever had in my entire life!