Excerpt
Chapter 1 - Reuss
It reeked!
The nauseating smell made my nose run, and I was miserable. The deeper I traveled through the Renavid district, the fouler the odor became, and the night air seemed to bathe in it. I turned away from one of the sewer vents, tugging at my skirt as I passed, but the foul mists surrounded me, escaping out of cracks in the street and permeating the darkness.
Steic! Why did Vrang want to crypt here anyway? All of this trouble just to find his sequestered nook didn’t seem worth it. The aircar I had taken to Renavid left me at the outskirts stating that it had “insignificant data on the area.” Sure. Aircars were filched more than the high-rise residences in Renavid. The counsel couldn’t risk losing any more. That’s probably why Renavid was never on Hentpki’s map. The planet wanted it forgotten.
Renavid was unlawful grounds with buildings structured to look like colorful corals growing up from the seabed. It was a popular style a hundred cycles ago, but now it made the district look slummy. The lighting was poor as well. Most districts were lit up as if it was daylight, but Renavid remained dark, a black blotch on Hentpki’s surface. And presently it was darkness where I spent most of my life.
“Over here, sweetness! Take a bite from me!” Someone shouted after me.
I crossed the street in a hurry, ignoring the bawds who waved at me and flashed their lights for sexual hire. There were more whores in the streets tonight because of the Seven Days Fest. The festival reminding everyone when Imperial TeNeil’s youngest son was kidnapped during the war, which inspired the Four Quadrants to join together and defeat the Elasion species. It was a terrible war that lasted five cycles too long, yet we celebrate it. Festive laser-lights sparked the sky on the main street, and two-seater galers skimmed the air, their headlights bright; their owners directing them to no particular destination.
Slipping into an alley, I welcomed the darkness. The night was filled with too many festive lights. Just a few more streets and I would be there. I wiped my wet nose from the stench. The counsel continues to say that they were “in the process of rectifying the sanitation problem”, but they had been saying that for cycles.
At least the smell kept my mind occupied. I didn’t want to concentrate on the sexual hunger that I stupidly let heighten. I should have begun searching for Vrang to quench me as soon as I felt the yearning. Thank Suphyz that I didn’t have the complete anatomy of a Wendh. If I did, I would have been locked up in a room right now, completely insane, or for committing some demented crime. But tonight was one of those rare nights that I was thankful for my human half.
It was a handy tool for the Goddess Suphyz, this hunger. Wendhs were a slave to it right after puberty. But before The Calling, they can quench their desire with anyone they pleased. It’s only after hearing that song, Suphyz’s Calling, which brings about the uncontrollable need, and only by joining with their True Mate would their hunger be quench. Whether I would hear The Calling or not, I didn’t know; I wasn’t fully Wendh. And if I were, I wouldn’t be trudging through this forsaken district seeking out Vrang.
I stopped at a door, looked at the corner edge and spotted the Reuss’s symbol. The thieves’s mark was barely distinguishable in the caked dirt. It pointed behind me, but I didn’t have to search for the hidden entrance. Screaming, I felt the ground slip from beneath my feet. My shrieking was muffed as I hit a gel bag, knocking the breath out of me.
Someone was chuckling as I scrambled, trying to get out of the bag. “You’re losing your touch, Jetta. You tripped twenty alarms coming here.”
A Quattor stood over me with his four huge arms crossed in front of him. His head barely brushed the ceiling. He was the only one of his species I have ever seen since most of them reside past the Fourth Quadrant. His name was Karplus.
He held out one of his huge hands and helped me out of the bag continuing to laugh.
I glowered at him. “I wasn’t trying to be stealthy.”
“I know,” Karplus chuckled, his mass of muscles unstirred. He turned around, still laughing and I noticed that he shaved the small, black
patches of hair that grew sporadically on his head, making his blue skin smooth and shiny. He marched down the steel tunnel, and I regained my composure and followed after him.
We made our way to the Reuss’s hideaway with only the sounds of Karplus’s chortle to keep us company. He wasn’t laughing at my fall; he was laughing at my accent. I had been offworld for seven cycles now, been speaking the common galactic tongue fluently for six cycles, and I still haven’t gotten rid of my simple-sounding accent.
“Will you be feasting tonight?” I asked, trying to end the laughter that seemed to never end with Karplus. “The fest is quite lively out there.”
“Why would I want to celebrate the memory of a Wendh who’s been dead for ninety-three cycles?” the Quattor snorted. “Especially of royal blood. What have the elite ever done for me?”
Karplus’s answer was typical of all deviants. Anything or anyone associated with wealth was quickly snubbed.
I lowered my head slightly. On my home planet, I was considered regal, but that was another life. Yet, I still felt as if I was also being condemned and categorized with those with lucrative lives.
I changed the subject. “The Reuss did a good job in sealing the cracks in this place to keep out the smell. This district stinks!”
“The counsel will take care of that,” Karplus joked and ducked his head a bit more as we came to lower ceilings.
I laughed. “Yes, any time and very soon now.”
Karplus turned around and showed his toothy grin, and then he stopped, stepped over something, and waved with two arms for me to safely pass by. It was most likely a trap that he had disabled before we could continue.
“How long will you be on shift?” I asked looking down at whatever it was that Karplus was turning back on, but I couldn’t see anything. It was camouflaged to the floor.
“I’m not,” the Quattor answered laconically. “Tagg is.”
Nothing more had to be said. I understood.
We passed Tagg by the controls, light flickering off his sleek black body. His coal, black eyes had no whites as they stayed steadily on the mechanics surrounding him. The Wendh was beautiful. To me, all Wendhs were. But they despised me for being what I was.
If I were more like my brother and sister, perhaps Tagg would have accepted me better; but then again, my siblings were more Wendh than I was. I couldn’t even mentally communicate with my own mother. I wasn’t telekinetic or telepathic, or tele- anything, a blessing the Goddess Suphyz gave to every Wendh. But She gave me nothing.
I glanced back at Tagg who never looked up from his console when we walked by. His toned arms and tentacles constantly moved as he surveyed the district. I tried not to stare at his naked chest rippling with strength. A thick chain hung low on his abdomen, weighted down by a medallion with the imprint of the royal child bouncing quietly on his chest as he worked. It was his good-luck piece, which a lot of Wendhs wore, reminding them of the triumph over the Elasions, and the mystical royal-- the Imperial’s youngest child--who’s death was celebrated above.
I took in a deep breath as I stared at Tagg’s strong tentacles that he lengthened now and again absentmindedly to help in maintaining the console before quickly re-absorbing them back into his body. He had hair down the center of his head, a rare trait for a Wendh. Most Wendhs were bald or had thick cords of cartilage lying down like braids.
One of Tagg’s feet tapped as if to an unheard beat, while the other mashed buttons sporadically on the floor. He was the one who was first alerted of my presence in the area, and bluntly refused to investigate after seeing me on his screen. He sent Karplus instead. Tagg despised me like a bad taste in his mouth, only acknowledging me when he had to. He was one of the main reasons why I left the Reuss.
Turning my back on Tagg, I looked at the door that Karplus was quietly unlocking. It had so many locks, codes and lasers on it that it took Karplus several minutes to open and by-pass them all. The wait was uncomfortable only because I knew Tagg was silently cursing me beneath his calm and collected style.
“Be at home,” Karplus said, allowing me to enter the room first, which I was grateful.
The Reuss gang was all inside, lounging around on bags and boxes or anything else they had found abandoned in buildings or in the street. They had a mixture of six different species, with a look about them as if they were the dregs of society instead of the intelligent, professional thieves that they were. If it weren’t for the security of their surroundings, one wouldn’t have known that they were proficient in what they did.
“Jetta!” A voice shouted, and I nodded at the Joya who acknowledged me. His beak barely moved when he spoke, but it was always parted as if he was breathing through it instead of the two holes below his eyes. The Joya rustled his white and black feathers, which grew only on top of his head, and flexed his small muscles on his arms and chest. It was his vibrate way of showing enthusiasm or excitement.
I smiled at his warm greeting and noticed the cloudiness of his green eyes and yellow pupils. I couldn’t see the patch, which was probably hidden under his shirt, but I knew he was inebriated.
“Coming back to work for us, are you?” The Joya clapped and smoothed down his feathers. “Tired of the clean, easy cates?”
“No, Hoang,” I answered going in the direction Karplus pointed to me. “Just need to pay Vrang a little visit.”
Hoang laughed, knowing exactly what I was there for and embarrassingly announced it to everyone, “It’s quenching time, Reuss!
Simple’s back!” Hoang began the unending teasing of my home world, which was not technologized.
“Simple!” the others joined in.
“Did you get here by animal or mineral? Aieeooo!”
“And how is our craving tonight, Jetta?” a voice mocked my accent.
I gave them a wry smile as I opened the only other visible door in the room. There were probably four or five other unseen doors or exits to this small room. I knew this only because I was a Reuss one cycle ago. Reuss believed in several escape routes, and most of them were deeply hidden. I stepped through the door and silently closed it behind me.
Vrang was inside, his hairy arms around an overly dressed female who looked out of place. She wore a gossamer dress and expensive slippers that glittered in the dim lit room. Her hair was laced down her back and her skin was flushed pink with eroticism. The stylish outfit was too luxuriant to be worn by a bawd. Besides, Vrang wasn’t into paying for sex. So, she had to be high caste.
The giggling female stopped smiling when she noticed me in the room, and then glared at me. Vrang finally turned around after hearing her laughter interrupted.
“Jetta,” he breathed, releasing the female in his arms, quickly forgetting her.
Sensing competition, the female’s jealousy quickly kicked in. “Who is this?” she pouted, her flushed skin turning from pink to red.
“Get out,” Vrang said softly, still staring at me.
“What . . .?”
The female was shocked, though she shouldn’t be. She was an elite anyway, possibly hanging around ruffians for some quick thrills. Knowing Vrang, I was sure he treated her badly and she probably liked it--when it was controlled. But if she didn’t obey . . .
Vrang shoved her and she slipped and fell on the floor.
“Get out,” he repeated, his annoyance rising.
She took the warning and got up, straightened out her preened dress and stomped out of the room. I allowed her to bump into to me as she went out the door, taking her rudeness more for humor than an act of aggression.
“Jetta,” Vrang repeated gravelly walking towards me, the black slit in his red eyes dilated as he stared intently into mine.
He was short, with stocky arms and legs like all Lingars who mostly dwell in the Second Quadrant. Rolls of hair grew mainly on his arms and the back of his legs, while the rest of his body had small, gray stumps that protruded like round scales. The larger mounds were mostly on his head and outlined his slit mouth. He walked as if he was stomping insects under each step, bouncing sharply up and down.
He didn’t ask why I was there; he already knew. Pulling me to him, he began nipping at my neck with his many, tiny teeth. It was ticklish, but before I could laugh, he flung me on the table and jumped on top of me. I had made sure that I wore a skirt with no undergarments so that we could take care of my need as quickly as possible.
“Came for this, hmmmm?” He breathed in my ear, as he forced my legs open and stuffed himself inside me. “Want this, hmmm?”
I ignored his comments and lay limp as he rambled on, making jerky, thrusting motions inside me.
Sex with Vrang was once pleasurable, but now I was just going through the motions. Vrang was the only Lingar that I knew, and Lingars never contracted sexual transmitted diseases. If I made time to find another compatible species that I could join with without contracting a disease, then I would never search out the Reuss again. Thanks to my human side, I can get infected quickly and, thanks to my Wendh side, I would die slowly. Until I found another being with immunity like Lingars, I was stuck with Vrang.
I inhaled the pheromones my body needed that were only produced during this one act. With all the technology in the world, no one has ever produced a drug that would satisfy a Wendhs need for sex. There were some out there, but Wendhs quickly became immune to them. Fortunately for me, I could go at least three months before the hunger became overbearing. A pure Wendh can only endure one.
Seeing that I was unresponsive, Vrang yank my hair. “Tough little simple, huh. She can handle this, huh?”
“Stop it, Vrang!” I hissed at him. I hated him pulling on my hair, and I hated when he tried to use sex to annoy me.
“Make me,” he said thrusting harder.
Before I could push him off of me, he released his semen!
“Fliek! You sessling pup! Get your soggy stump out of me!”
Vrang laughed, pulling himself out and adjusting his pants over his thick fleshy loin.
“Sessling pup?” He mocked my simple cursing. “Such language.”
I hit him.
Vrang doubled over with a groan, clenching his stomach.
“I should kill you!” I screamed at him.
I wasn’t concerned about getting pregnant. It would take metamorphosing him for that. I just didn’t like semen, of any kind, squished inside me, and Vrang knew that. He was doing everything he could think of to get me roused up.
Something was wrong.
Vrang remained bent over for some time. I took the few minutes to wipe his disgusting, black fliek out of me, grabbing his mistress’s costly scarf and wiping myself clean.
“I should kill you,” Vrang finally said softly, straightening up.
I looked up to see him pointing his ring at me.
Calmly, I stared at the deadly weapon and continued to wipe between my legs, though inside, my heart was pounding rapidly.
“If you want an heir, Vrang,” I hissed sarcastically, “use your mistress. Not me.” I threw the scarf to the floor, daring Vrang for a reaction.
He walked toward me, still holding his ring out. The tip of the gold circlet had a red glint that shined like new-drop blood. I didn’t know how many lives that ring took, or how many bodies were carved and sliced, but I didn’t want to be added to the number.
I stood still as Vrang held the ring close to my face and then swept my feet from under me. I fell on the floor, hurting my backside. Vrang didn’t wait for me to recover as he lowered and lunged himself inside me again. Our eyes riveted as he pumped, the ring blazing between us. He released himself again inside me, thrusting his semen so that I could feel every disgusting gush. I held my tongue, knowing that my life was at stake here, and not my pride.
It wasn’t like him to act this way. Something was eating at him, something bad.
He held his face close to mine, too close. In his anger, he would probably go so far as to kiss me, and I hoped, me not being a willing partner, I would survive it. Wendhs could not kiss on the lips for fear of death. The chemicals contained in the saliva would mix to something awfully toxic and kill a Wendh in minutes; but it was proven that the kiss had to be willing, something to do with the type of pheromones released at the time. A Wendh could only survive a kiss with a True Mate, and Vrang was far from that.
Fortunately, he got up. “You do what I like, and when I like it.”
I remained quiet as I watched him adjust himself and walk to the corner of the room. Any act of defiance would make him turn around and carve me into screaming pieces.
I grabbed the scarf again and wiped myself clean. I didn’t hear anything out in the streets about Vrang going insane. I couldn’t understand his behavior. Well, it didn’t matter. Whatever his problem, it wouldn’t be mine. Come tomorrow, I was finding another Lingar.
I’d pay for it if I had to.
I quietly walked towards the door, not waiting for a dismissal.
“Wait,” Vrang said brusquely with a low tone. “I’m not finished with you yet.”
Steic! I had hoped Vrang had already joined with his young mistress several times before getting with me. Lingars had spurts of sexual arousal and Vrang had six to eight of them.
He turned around.
“I’m quenched, Vrang. I don’t need any more.” I reached for the door.
“I said I wasn’t finished.” He barred my way; his red eyes teemed with exasperation.
He took me again, right against the door, and again on the table. That made four. I hoped he had his mistress twice before me. Each time he spurted his semen, and the last time he laughed when he did it.
“Annoyed? Eh, Simple?” he derided.
“Just finish up,” I spat.
“You used to love my longevity.”
“And you used to respect me!” I shouted.
He fell silent.
Vrang had a soul; he wasn’t completely heartless.
He thrust something in my hand before leaping up. “I have a cate for you to do.”
Astonished, I stared at the metallic ball in my hand, and then tossed it up onto the table. “I’m no longer Reuss, Vrang. I work for Sadotch now.”
“I’m not asking,” Vrang turned carrying a belt of instruments.
So, this was what was bothering him. Tonight he had a cate.
“No, Vrang. The last time I worked for you, I served two cycles reforming.”
“Thirty days,” he remarked callously. “You should have kept reminding yourself that when you were in virtro.
"No matter how unreal it was, Virtual reforming was still very real to me!" I slapped my hand on the floor.
Vrang disregarded my anger. "You were only ‘associated’ with the reoet crystals. It wasn’t like they found them on or anywhere near you. Your sentence would have been longer if they did.”
“If they were on me, I would be dead!”
Vrang shrugged. “Be thankful the season for crime was high that year, and the cells were overcrowded, otherwise you would have served ninety days of six virtual cycles.”
“Two cycles were hard enough!” I retorted austerely. “I don’t care a fliek what you think!”
He ignored me.
“Ti’senot,” I waved the argument away, “I can’t do it anyway. Sadotch already has a cate for me.” Letting out an annoying breath, I got up and headed for the door again.
A beam of concentrated fire shot past me and branded the air. I bit my lip and slowly turned around.
Vrang lowered his ringed finger and continued organizing his instruments. “I said, I wasn’t asking.”
“Vrang, please . . .” my voice was a trite whisper. It was a sign of weakness, I knew, but I couldn’t stop myself from begging. Whatever
Vrang was getting into, it wasn’t good. His entire behavior showed that.
“The techchart was programmed for one exchange only.” He slipped some rod instruments under the manufactured skin on his arm used for concealed pockets. He would be less suspicious showing more skin in public than bulky clothes.
I looked at the silver ball still on the table.
“I only need eyes, Jetta. That’s all.” Vrang sounded almost sympathetic. “Thirty minutes peaked.”
“Then why didn’t you use that mistress who just walked out of here?”
His sympathy quickly vanished. “A job well done, is a job done repeatedly,” he recited. “You have one hour.”
He nodded towards the techchart, ordering me to pick it up. I was the only one who could handle it now. If anyone else touched it, it would disintegrate.
I snatched it up. “You should have had it programmed for two exchanges.”
“One hour Jetta.”
Light burst in the room and the high caste stormed in. “I’ve been waiting for an hour!” She shouted in Vrang’s face.
He smiled, a malicious expression, and grabbed her hair, tearing her expensive attire to the point where she wouldn’t be able to wear it again.
“Stop, Vrang, Stop!” she exaggerated her fury, but not resisting his advance.
I made my exit knowing that the female would enjoy Vrang a lot more than I had, and glad that he was using up his remaining spurt of lechery on her.
I stuffed the techchart in my pants before Karplus led me out of Vrang’s lair through unlit tunnels and winding pathways. Since I didn’t have true Wendh sight, he held my hand periodically when the darkness was blinding. I followed his lead, stepping where he stepped, pausing when he did. Reuss were very cautious. If they were being pursued, their hunters would be killed by these mazes of traps.
Karplus suddenly stopped and gave me no warning when I felt the sudden prickles on my flesh and then a flash of light. I was suddenly teleported and wedged between two buildings several stories high in the air. My feet were pressed firmly on one wall, my back pushed against the other, and my knees stuffed in my face. The wind didn’t reach me in this narrow position, but I could still feel its cold. I refrained from moving--the Reuss’s training was innate, making me freeze and think.
Up or down, were the choices and the wrong choice would be my death. Below me was a street filled with loud music and festivities, but that wasn’t the way. I conjured the drumming chants that were drilled into my head during my training to become a thief. These chants were necessary for my survival when I was a member of the Reuss. If I made the wrong decision, my mother would only know I was no longer alive simply because of the time lapsed between communications.
Be very wise
A Reuss’s chant
Or see your demise
A Reuss’s chant
Heed very well
A Reuss’s chant
And you would revel
A Reuss’s chant
Every song began that way; it was the second verse that always changed, and there were about forty of those.
On a path to your goal
A Reuss’s chant
Never go beneath
A Reuss’s chant
Never go left
A Reuss’s chant
Or change on a wreathe
A Reuss’s chant
A Reuss never turned around, never headed down and never went left. So, which building was on my right? I had to be facing the correct direction when I reached the top or some beam or light-grid would cook me into dust. I looked for the Reuss’s sign, which was right between my feet, sketched on the wall. I was teleported in this position for a reason. If I had moved, even an inch, I would have never seen it. The symbol pointed to my left, which meant that, that was the way I had to be facing to choose the right building. Using my shoulders and feet, I squirmed my way up.
I glanced down between my thighs wondering how close the light-grid was to me. It was invisible, at least to my eyes, but I new it was webbed between the buildings, probably only a hand length away from my previous position. There was another grid on the building that my back was pressed on, so when I reached the rooftops, I grasped the edge in front of me, let my legs slide down until they were dangling, and pulled myself up. As I climbed over to the building’s rooftop, I let out a breath of relief.
This was the last time I was ever seeking the Reuss out.
Heading for the outskirts of Renavid, I held up my wrist and spoke into my commwrist to signal an aircar. My computer, Bymé, responded in an amiable voice. “There are no aircars available in this area, but I found several available aircars on the outskirts that will not receive my signal.”
I had programmed my computer to be female and give opinions to make her more personable, though most beings just want their computers to do what they say. I prefer more feedback, and Bymé gave that to me, and more.
“Renavid District, of course,” I grumbled. “Thanks, Bymé, I forgot. I’ll have to walk.”
“Precisely,” she answered.
Table of Contents
Chapter 1 Reuss
Chapter 2 The Cate
Chapter 3 Interrogation
Chapter 4 Examined
Chapter 5 Release & Betrayed
Chapter 6 Home
Chapter 7 Hilarious Calling
Chapter 8 Meteoroids
Chapter 9 Minions
Chapter 10 Negotiations
Chapter 11 Truth
Chapter 12 Jancso
Chapter 13 Isdol
Chapter 14 Clarifications
Chapter 15 Fader
Chapter 16 Imperial
Chapter 17 The Beginning
