When Jane awoke, she was alone in bed, but she heard the noise of a shower in the next room. A water shower - now that was a luxury. Most of the bases had moved to sonic. They were faster, cheaper, and didn’t waste such a precious commodity as water. Her mother always complained that she took at least a half hour in the shower. Jane had seen the shower here, and it was definitely big enough for two people. And she needed a shower.
Jane stepped in behind Zenik and wrapped her arms around his waist. His ass tightened in surprise and she resisted the temptation to give him a little smack. Her sweet warrior had finally given in last night. The possibilities of sexual positions with Zenik were definitely making her new station more palatable.
“Someone got me a bit messy last night,” Jane said. She reached down and felt for his cock. It began to lengthen and harden the second she touched it.
Zenik turned and she lifted her mouth for a kiss. His shyness from last night melted as their mouths met and his tongue played with hers.
“I have duty shortly,” he said when he finally lifted his head. Jane understood the importance of being on time to a duty shift.
“How much time?”
“About fifteen minutes.”
“That’s plenty of time.”
“For what?”
He asked it honestly, though by the erection he was now sporting, Jane thought it would be obvious.
“To push me up against this wall and screw me.”
“I-” Jane knew he was about to come up with some other excuse. A few good strokes and he thought better of it. He lifted her, putting her onto his cock and pressed her against the wall of the shower.
Jane was a tall girl and even though most of her previous men had been soldiers, she’d never actually been supported fully by a man’s hands while she rode his cock. It was a delightful sensation. She felt small and vulnerable and yet the sense of trust she had already developed in this warrior made her anxious for more, harder thrusts.
“Yeah, that’s it. Fuck me!”
Zenik groan as he stiffened with his release. He let her down gently and washed her tenderly.
“You see, plenty of time,” Jane said as she leaned up against him. She gave his ass a squeeze as he left the shower. By the time she turned off the shower and stepped out, he was fully dressed in a clean uniform. He held out a towel and Jane stepped into it.
He opened his mouth to speak but then lost the words.
“Spit it out, big boy, I can take it.”
“We are bonded now. There is no going back,” he rushed out.
“What? You want to go back?” Jane stared at Zenik. She wrapped the towel around her like armor. It hadn’t occurred to her that he was unsure of her. Usually a DNA match was all a Mahdfel needed to seal the deal.
“No!” He grabbed her to him and kissed her. “I knew you were for me from the first moment I saw you on the shuttle. I just worry that you do not feel the same.”
“I’m a soldier, Zenik. I know how this works. And so far, I don’t see a problem with it. Fate’s stuck us together and I plan on making a go of it.”
Zenik kissed her again. He broke it off when Jane felt a buzz from somewhere on his belt. His alarm was telling him it was duty time. She gave him a push on his way and he sprinted out the door, leaving her naked with a towel pooling at her feet.
Her stomach rumbled and Jane headed toward her duffel. She was going to need more clothes, especially if she wasn’t expected to wear a uniform. Most of the things she’d packed were for colder weather, but she would need a few more tropic weight items to fill out her wardrobe. Today, she pulled on a sports bra and a tank and a pair of military cargo pants. Basically her comfort clothes.
Outside the camp was a flurry of activity, but Jane could clearly see a group of women huddled at the mess, poking at their food. She was hungry, otherwise Jane would have avoided the surly group. Meadow was the only one trying to suppress a smile. The bite mark on her neck was a sure sign that she too, had decided to make the best of the situation.
Jane selected from a menu made of human breakfast items and popped an oat circle into her mouth. It was a decent replication. She’d had plenty of posts with worse chow. It probably wouldn’t be long before they could request some Earth seeds and actually grow real food to supplement the replicator rations.
Meadow was sitting a bit off to herself at one of the tables so Jane went to sit across from her. With Meadow’s short hair, it was quite evident that she’d shagged her Mahdfel too. A quick smile and a wink from Jane had Meadow nearly shooting replicated milk out of her nose. Jane couldn't help but to snort, and shortly, they were both laughing like a pair of hyenas. Then suddenly, Meadow got serious.
“My mother never talked about sex. As far as I was concerned, she just popped out three kids by blowing a kiss at my dad. I mean, I had a fiancé for practical reasons, but,” Meadow said, leaning over the table, her voice getting really quiet, “my parents couldn’t afford another one once I left grad school.”
It was common enough, for people to purchase fiancés to stay away from the draft. It was nearly as common as buying insurance.
“No shame in that,” Jane said. She wasn’t going to make social judgements.
“No, I mean, I had to find a fiancé because I could never find a boyfriend. I knew the mechanics of it all because, well, who doesn’t watch a little porn now and again, but I was a...”
Meadow obviously wasn’t going to finish the sentence, so Jane finished it for her.
“A virgin.”
Meadow opened her mouth, but then closed it and just nodded, her cheeks flushed with red.
“Well, you sure aren’t now.”
Meadow broke out into another giggling fit. One of the other women sat down next to her, eyes wide, clearly eyeing the bite marks on their necks.
“Hey there,” Jane said, still choking down a chuckle herself.
“Can I ask you a question? A kinda personal question,” the woman asked meekly.
“Sure, go ahead,” Meadow said quickly.
The woman lost her nerve, but it was clear what she wanted to know.
“What’s your name?” Jane, inquired, trying to break the ice.
“Paula. And I…” the woman trailed off nervously.
“You want to know about what it’s like to sleep with a jolly green giant alien?” Jane finished.
“Yes?” It was a timid response, but at least it was now out in the open.
“Is that what they all want to know? Did you draw the short straw?”
“We didn’t have any straws, but someone had to do it.” Paula looked at Meadow, the more sympathetic of the two. “I just want to know how they compare with humans.”
Meadow had a deer-caught-in-the-headlights look.
“I’m a soldier,” Jane said. “And we tend to live like we we're going to be dying every time we go out. So let me tell you, I’ve had some pretty damn good cock in my day.” Jane swiveled and addressed her comments to the rest of the group who were desperately trying to pretend they weren’t listening to every word. “And I’ve watched a lot of porn. Who doesn’t?”
Jane winked at Meadow again. “But let me tell you, last night blew my mind. And this morning? If Zenik hadn’t needed to get to work, we’d still be screwing like bunnies. All that propaganda about them being able to stay hard all night long? All true.”
“But they’re so big,” Paula said.
“Trust me. They fit. And they’re aware of how fragile you are. I had to encourage mine to pound me harder.”
Jane could practically see the wheels turning in the ladies’ heads, imagining Jane or themselves under one of the green hotties, legs wrapped tight around an alien ass.
“He made me feel like the most beautiful woman alive,” Meadow beamed.
It was the truth, and it sold like hotcakes. The next morning, all but three of the women had bite marks on their neck.
***
It was amazing how quickly Jane settled into a routine on her new alien planet. She got up in the morning, sometimes with a little frisky fun, then put on a tank and a pair of shorts before going for a run along the beach. The sand gave her a good workout and the further she stayed from the water, the better. Anytime she got close to the water, an escort magically appeared to run beside her.
The Mahdfel warriors might be big and green, but they seemed to have an unsettling fear of the water. She’d tried to question Zenik about it, but apparently Mahdfel do not fear anything. “It is simply unwise to go in the water,” he had told her. Even though most of the Terran women could swim, the Etlonians could not, and therefore it was off limits. Jane just shrugged it off and found other things to do with her time.
More and more wives arrived each passing day. Sometimes, they arrived two or three at a time, but most of the time, they were singles. Jane guessed that it was because birthdays didn’t usually clump together. She and Meadow shared a birthday, but even without asking, Jane was pretty sure that Charlette and the others that had come with them were penalty transfers. They had done something or tried to skirt the rules and had been punished not with jail, but with extra chances to be matched.
Each Earth district had its own policy, and sometimes, even a drunk and disorderly could get you submitted for a match. It was something for single women to consider when they chose where they wanted to settle down. Charlette had probably been caught in a black market fiance game.
The rich often skirted the lottery by first paying someone for a few years of engagement then either paid a shadow husband, got pregnant with child, or moved to an area that would allow you switch to a different fiance.
Whichever way women were entered into the lottery, all came in scared and a little off center. There had even been a few who’d gotten hysterical. After one particular woman had screamed her head off and tried to drown herself in the water, Jane and Meadow had made an executive decision. Having a phalanx of warriors to greet the new women was a little intimidating. Instead, Meadow and the other ladies would put together welcome kits then she and Jane would meet them at the ship alone. Meadow could talk them down in her calm librarian voice and Jane could handle any that tried to bolt. After the suicide attempt, Jane had taken to carrying a syringe in her pocket full of ‘happy juice,’ as Meadow liked to call it.
Jane would spend the rest of her day on her own little patrols, making sure the women were adjusting and ensuring that they were not up to no good. She would meet Zenik in the mess tent for evening meal and then go back with him to their cabin for some evening fun time. Sometimes they would watch vids on the Galactic Network and then finish the evening with some “stretching exercises.” Then they woke up and did it all again.
It took Jane a few days to realize why Zenik wore a space uniform that covered his chest while the other warriors meandered around in nothing but little tight shorts: Zenik did not have tattoos that the other Mahdfel had.
Jane knew enough about the Mahdfel to know that their tattoos were a story of their family, their clan associations and the battles and lauds that they had won or been given. Jane couldn’t figure out why Zenik was different, but there was a sense of shame there so she didn’t ask. She wanted to ask, to try and break down the wall Zenik kept around himself but realized that she too had built a wall around herself. Everyone on Noven 90 knew her as Jane but in a past life that seemed so distant now, she’d been Barbara. In that, they were kindred spirits. Being a soldier, living on the line of life and death - that is what both knew. She wasn’t sure she was ready to dismantle her own guard and admit to herself that she was now the closest she’d ever been to falling in love with anyone.
Zenik didn’t talk much either. At all. He asked questions, most of them about her comfort, and anything she even slightly hinted at arrived soon after. He was a watcher. She saw him watching the other warriors interact with their mates. If one girl went gaga over a flower that her mate had presented to her, the next day, Zenik would present Jane with one. It would be different and generally bigger or grander, but it was clear that he was good with the copy-and-paste, but very unfamiliar with an actual relationship. Jane could live with that if it meant she didn’t have to deal with a clingy possessive alien who refused to let her out of his sight or chat with anyone else. There were plenty of those types of husbands in camp, and Jane was constantly running interference in her self-appointed position as a peace officer.
In that role, Jane had also made a fast friend in Kave, who pretty much took all of her suggestions to heart. He had the look of an officer who’d been promoted before his time and Jane took pity on him. She liked the way he rambled on and said anything that came to his mind. He was affable and just generally easy to get along with. When his superior, Athen, finally returned with his wife, Odette, Jane could feel the relief pouring off of Kave. After Athen reassumed command and put Kave back in his place, knocking him flat, everything calmed down. Very little actually changed, except that now Jane talked to Kave and Kave then talked to Athen.
Odette was the one Jane had initially been wary of. After Jane and Meadow arrived, they’d managed an uneasy peace among the wives, all of whom came from different backgrounds and places around the globe. As wife to the warlord (and prince) Odette could have turn their peace into a full on riot. It wasn’t something that Jane had thought of, forming a full fledged female bureaucracy out of the wives, but it immediately helped.
“The floor is open for nominations.”
Charlette stepped forward. She glared at her henchwoman Viviane who had just been elected secretary.
“I nominate Charlette,” Vivian said quickly.
Meadow looked up at Jane questioningly, as if to ask if she wanted the job. Jane shook her head.
“You want me to nominate you?” Jane whispered.
“Hell no.” Meadow raised her hand. “I nominate Paula.” It was a smart move. Paula was much more popular than Charlette and Jane trusted Paula to keep an even keel as president. Most of the women were used to committees and creating a chain of command helped tamp down the mounting fear of a possible Suhlik attack.
As the women voted, Jane caught Odette staring at her and Meadow. Charlette’s face got darker and darker as it became clear she was not going to win. Finally, the votes were tallied and Paula was declared winner. The women celebrated with cake. It was a short celebration before they got down to work. They had a common cause, uniting them more quickly than Meadow or Jane had managed. The Suhlik were coming, and they needed to be ready.
The next day, Jane watched as Odette supervised several Mahdfel warriors carting in a large load of wriggling plant life.
“That’s a lot of vegetation,” Jane said, poking her head in after the warriors had departed.
“Jane,” Odette said while picking up one tentacle and slicing it down the middle.
“You remembered my name.”
“Kave makes it kind of hard to forget.” Jane rolled her eyes. “I’m surprised you didn’t run for president.”
“I’m a soldier, not a politician. I’m surprised you didn’t run. That you had an election at all.”
“I’m a botanist, not a politician. And this little beauty,” Odette said, squeezing a pukish yellow puss out of the tentacle, “is going to kill a lot of Suhlik. It melts them.”
“Like a wicked witch?”
“That’s the plan. And that’s why we’re going to need soldiers. And soon.”
“I’ll be ready.”
Had Jane been supplied with battle armor and a laser rifle, she would have done everything in her power to defend the camp without question. Instead, the warriors wanted to ship the wives off to the middle of nowhere to an island surrounded by water. Jane would go because the other girls would need protection, but she had no intention of going unarmed.
“I need a gun,” she told Zenik.
“The Suhlik will not attack the females,” Zenik said. It was the most words he’d spoken together to her in three days. His skin changed an odd color of green, but it was his averted eyes that told her he wasn’t sure of the truth of that statement. Sure, Jane knew of plenty of women that had been killed by Suhlik, though most of them had been in the way of some other target. She didn’t want to take any chances.
“A laser rifle. Maybe some body armor.”
“There is no need for-”
“I want to prepare for all eventualities. If Athen is wrong and they spot the females, we’re going to be defenseless. Is that what you want? For the Suhlik to slaughter us all?”
Zenik opened his mouth to reply, but nothing came out. He was caving in.
“If I give you a rifle and you are correct and Athen is wrong, then you will put yourself in danger to protect the other mates,” he finally said.
“But you just said the Suhlik will not attack us, so we won’t really need it, other than giving me peace of mind.”
“Jane.”
“Think of it as a present.” Jane wasn’t used to using her feminine wiles, but she crept closer to Zenik. She put her arms around his neck. His skin mottled and turned a brighter green with hints of peach spots.
“I will think on it.”
That was good enough and the next day, when the women were carted off to the island, Jane had a force rifle in hand. She made sure to kiss Zenik thoroughly before letting him leave on his last shuttle craft run. It finally dawned on her that she might never see him again, and that would put a huge hole in her life.
“Do not die. I will be very disappointed if you do,” Jane said as she tapped the front of Zenik’s uniform. There wasn’t enough time to tell him how she truly felt.
“You do not die. If you die, I shall throw myself at the golden devils until I have killed them all or they have slit my throat.”
“That’s my guy.”
She gave him a pat on the ass and headed toward Odette who was working on getting the women organized. It was a mountain of a task.
“Seriously, people,” Jane called.
Jane left the shuttle craft and didn’t look back. She knew that if she did, she’d make a fool of herself. Just as she had not hesitated before popping a mint in her mouth and stepping on the transport platform back on Earth, Jane kept moving forward.
Jane missed the simple organization of the military, of rank and file and command. Left alone, the women just did what they wanted, jockeying for power. Trapped on the island, some of them were vicious. Jane did what she could to mitigate the restless energy. She started some self defense classes and she encouraged those that were less athletically inclined to help Odette with her weapon of mass destruction, a goo that melted the armored scales of the Suhlik into pudding. It was lovely stuff.
Once again, the routine settled into place after about a week, except this time without the mind blowing hot alien sex. She was definitely missing that. Athen set up a com link, and some of the wives used it to chat incessantly to their mates, but Jane gave up her time to other women who needed it more. Zenik didn’t talk much, and he was often away, piloting the shuttle craft that brought over supplies.
It was the drone of an engine that broke this routine. It was not the familiar shuttle craft that Jane had gotten used to and that signalled danger.
“Incoming!” She fired a warning shot into the air.
Jane had to admit, she was surprised at how fast the women scattered. Odette yelled for them to swim. Like the Etlonians, Suhlik had a healthy respect for the water, and moving women would not make good targets. Jane was more focused on guarding the barrels of goo that they had amassed. If the Suhlik took it, tested it, and were able to backward engineer it, their new weapon would be useless.
Odette was obviously like minded. She had already headed into the cave. The damn Suhlik had moved fast, though, because before Jane had realized that they’d even landed, she was standing face to face with a golden scaled fiend with wicked sharp teeth.
There was no panic in her. She realized that he planned to take her alive when he simple slapped the laser rifle out of her hand and rather than killing her outright, grabbed her by the neck. He laughed when she tried to stab him, or at least she thought it was a laugh. It was hard to tell through all those teeth. The Suhlik obviously did not see her as a threat. What he didn’t count on was Odette grabbing a canister of the Suhlik Death Spray and hosing him down. The Suhlik started to sizzle and stink like rotting flesh. Then her knife that had been useless before against his scales began to pierce through. If the lizard had realized what was going on, Jane would have been dead long before she could get her knife in deep enough, but this caught him by surprise and Jane was able to slit a hole in his throat and ride him down into a gurgling soggy mess.
“Ha!” she shouted triumphantly. “Next!”
Another Suhlik conveniently appeared above them on the cave’s ledge, and Odette swiveled her death stream to him. He lunged but took a force rifle shot in the back. It was only enough to stun him but the second blast sent him over and down in a grand fall. Jane stepped out of the way. When she looked up, she saw Paula, standing there with a force rifle in her hands. Jane felt a swell of pride. Paula had been one of the wives that had demanded to learn self defense and weapons handling, so she wouldn’t be useless and helpless if the Suhlik came. As president, she was determined to set an example to all the wives.
“See, who needs a-”
There was no time to warn her. One moment, she was standing triumphantly with the rifle in hand, and the next, a third Suhlik had sliced her through with his claws, sending her hurtling down next to the two dead lizards. Jane hoped she was dead before she hit the ground.
A red rage flew over Jane. She was going to get that bastard unless he killed her first. She began to climb the vines that would take her up to the top level. Odette tried to stop her.
“Jane!”
“Hose me down!”
“Jane, wait! Just let him go.”
“That bastard is going to run. Spray me down! I’m gonna go give that mofo a hug!”
“I don’t know how long it will work on your skin.”
“Let’s find out!”
Jane was totally willing to be a science experiment if it meant a chance at slitting that pretty bastard’s throat.
Odette stopped protesting and started spraying. By the time Jane reached the top of the rock, her backside was covered in goo. She turned and let Odette get a good spray on her front. It was her warpaint and she was ready to do some serious damage.
She picked up the force rifle that Paula had dropped and sprinted off through the jungle. The faster she actually found the Suhlik and applied the goo to him, the better. She didn’t want her sweat messing with the formula, and she didn’t want it to dry on her skin.
Jane didn’t really think through her strategy. When she spotted the Suhlik, he was so near his shuttle that she was afraid he’d take off if she delayed. Before he could, Jane ran and jumped on his back, piggy back style. She clung to him as he spun and hissed. She was sure that he had seen at least a part of what they’d done to his shipmates, and was anxious to get the soggy female off him so his scales would stop burning. Jane continued to ride him, but with one hand on the force rifle, she couldn’t pull out her knife. Finally, she decided to drop the rifle, but in trying to grab her knife, she slipped allowing the Suhlik to toss her to the ground. Defenseless, Jane decided to play dead. The Suhlik was too determined to clean himself off to check whether she was really a goner or not, but he was too close to her for her to reach her knife and stab him before his claws came into range.
Odette fixed that little problem. She came out yelling obscenities and spraying her Suhlik Death Spray like a wild woman.
The Suhlik turned and Jane scooped up her knife, rolled to her feet, and plunged the knife right between his shoulder blades. The knife did not slice through as smoothly as before, but it got the job done. Cognizant of his mistake, Jane checked that he was dead before gloating.
“I’d say that experiment rates as partially successful,” she told Odette. “I’d give it a C+.” She kicked the dead Suhlik.
“Yeah. Jane, you’re one hell of a badass.”
“I know.”