Alien Salvation (28 page)

“You will always be my Imdiko, Vax.
There can be no other for me.”

They cried once more, somehow comforted
in their mutual despair.

Chapter Eighteen

The sun was just rising as Lindsey and
Tara stood on the beach, the sea to their backs. Before them was a
chest-high pile of wood scavenged from nearby abandoned homes. The
sour smell of accelerant provided by the Kalquorians drifted from
the carefully arranged stack. Nearly one hundred Kalquorians stood
in military-straight lines on either side of them, the faces
uniformly serious, though their eyes were bright with
curiosity.

As Bacoj, Japohn, Vax, and Sarod came
over a sand dune, escorting the tightly swathed body of Lindsey’s
father on a hover stretcher, the Kalquorians bowed their heads.
Lindsey’s eyes filled with tears at the sight of Aaron’s
white-swaddled form and her openly crying clan.

Her former clan, she amended. Fresh
pain cascaded over her, nearly sending her to her knees. She would
never get through the next few minutes.

They looked at her. They were still
among the youngest of the Kalquorians present, but Bacoj, Japohn
and Vax all looked as if they’d aged at least ten years. Bacoj in
particular looked haggard and slightly bent, an invisible weight
dragging him down. Was he regretting sending her away?

Take me back, Bacoj. Stop this madness
already.

The four men and body halted before the
carefully constructed bier for Aaron’s cremation. At a muttered
command from Sarod, the ranking member of the procession, they
turned as one towards the body and gently lifted it from the
stretcher. Stepping in time, they bore it to the pile of wood and
laid it on top. Then they marched backwards five paces, bowed and
straightened.

Tara and Lindsey walked slowly forward
until they could have reached out and touched Aaron. They wore
matching purple robes with gold trim that had been left anonymously
outside the door of their quarters. Lindsey suspected her clan had
procured the ceremonial vestments; Sarod made a point of letting
the Earthers know when he had done something of service to them, as
if intent on impressing them.

Tara spoke first, her voice
surprisingly strong. “We recall with love Aaron Wayne McInness, who
lived this life as our husband and father. To our friends we
counsel you should not weep or lament with grief as it will not
comfort the deceased and forgets the joy he brought us.”

Lindsey dully recited, “Impermanent is
life, subject to birth and decline. Having taken birth, we are
destined for extinction. Blessed it is to be tranquil through
journey’s beginning, middle and end.”

She handed a small vase of water to her
mother, who poured it over her index finger. It splashed to the
sand. “The dedication water, with which we call the earth to
witness the merit of Aaron McInness. Idam no natinam hotu, sukhita
hontu natayo.”

Tara handed the vase back to Lindsey
before continuing. “The life of a man is short, filled with pain
and suffering. Recognize this and live your lives accordingly. Be
kind and just, for no one escapes death.”

Lindsey spoke. “Just as the rain can
pour in a mighty torrent, strong and unbending, the clouds that
produce it must eventually run dry, and the rain passes away. So is
the life of man. Though strong and robust for a time, it is
fleeting.”

“Be wise and understand this, do good
deeds and live a holy life, for no mortal escapes death.” Tara drew
a deep breath. “We commit our husband and father to the afterlife.
He was a good man who loved and cherished his family above all
else. Though my heart aches with want of him, I am a better woman
for having known him and shared my life with him. I will always
love you, Aaron. Thank you for all you gave us. Don’t look back;
continue on your journey knowing we will be all right.” That last
was whispered as her voice failed. Her eyes brimming with tears,
Tara stepped forward and kissed the top of the covered
head.

Lindsey’s shoulders shook with
suppressed grief as she too kissed her father farewell. “Goodbye,
Dad. I love you.”

They stepped back. At a nod from Tara,
Bacoj’s clan and Sarod lit the pyre. Fed by the accelerant, flames
leapt into the sky, quickly consuming Aaron’s remains. Some of his
ashes would be gathered the next day to be taken to Kalquor so
Jessica could attend a ceremony there to say goodbye as well. Then
his ashes would be scattered in Kalquor’s ocean.

With a final bow, Lindsey and Tara led
the procession back to the base camp, where everyone would begin
final preparations to leave. Lindsey felt as if she was leaving
most of her heart behind too.

* * * *

“Lunch, sweetie?” Tara asked Lindsey
later that day. “Or shall I go and bring you back
something?”

“That would be great, Mom. Thanks.”
Lindsey lay on the sleeping mat, staring at the ceiling. She wished
she could find the oblivion of sleep. Without it, there was nothing
to do but think. Thinking sucked. There were too many thoughts of
her father, of the clan. Of loss.

“I’m thinking of telling Sarod you were
born with a tail. I wonder if that would calm his
interest?”

Lindsey snorted laughter. Trust her mom
to find just the statement to lift her spirits, if only for a
moment. The moment passed far too quickly

“Well, I’m off.” Tara bent to plant a
soft kiss on Lindsey’s forehead. “Enjoy your wallow. I’m not
allowing you to mope in bed after today. It’s not healthy, and
neither your father nor Bacoj’s clan would want to see you unhappy
over them.”

“Yes, Mom.” Lindsey gave her a
long-suffering sigh. Tara tweaked her nose and walked out of the
quarters. Lindsey heard her speak to someone outside the door. She
stared at the ceiling.

I miss you so much already, Dad. If you
were here, you’d tell me what a jackass Bacoj is being. And you’d
hug me and say how lucky any man would be to have me. And then we’d
wish for the old days when you’d fix us coffee and we’d sit at the
kitchen table, talking about everything but what hurts.

Damn it, Dad. I’m thirty years old, but
I still need you. Why did you have to die?

“Hate see Lindsey cry.”

She jerked with a gasp, bolting upright
to see Japohn standing just inside the closed door. “How did you
get in here?” she demanded, rubbing her cheeks dry.

“Imperial Mother let me in as she
leave.” The big Nobek’s head hung down, as if he expected her to
order him out. He growled, “She say clan is stupid for let Lindsey
go. She is right.”

Lindsey had to fight to keep from
throwing herself at him. “I thought you agreed with
Bacoj.”

He wouldn’t meet her eyes. “I want best
for you. We can’t give you best.” Japohn squeezed his eyes shut,
his fists clenching. “But hurt, Lindsey. Hurt so much to no have
you.”

She slowly walked closer to him, pain
welling bright in her heart. “Yeah, it hurts me too. Especially
right now when I need my clan so much and they’re not with me.
Thank you for participating in my father’s funeral, by the
way.”

Japohn nodded, his face relaxing but
eyes still shut. “Imperial Father Aaron great man. Honored to see
him through final journey.”

He finally opened his eyes and looked
in her face. Lindsey saw her misery reflected in his eyes. “Clan
broken, Lindsey. Vax no speak to us. Bacoj stare at nothing, no
prepare for mission. I hit things, want to break.” His chest
hitched, and his voice came out strangled. “And no Lindsey.” He
shook his head, unable to say another word.

“Then stop being stupid!” she yelled,
no longer able to keep her frustration in check. “You and Bacoj
need to stop being so damned noble and take me back. Make me your
Matara again.”

“No my decision,” Japohn groaned. “I
agree now you stay with us, but Bacoj is Dramok. He is determined
you go to better clan.”

“If I live a million years, I won’t go
with another clan. Japohn, he listens to you. Make him see
reason.”

Japohn sighed. “I try. But he stubborn.
Like Nobek.” He offered her a weary smile.

“So I’ve noticed.”

Lindsey reached up to stroke his cheek,
unable to keep from touching Japohn. The next instant, his arms
were banded tightly around her, lifting her off the ground to
consume her in a demanding kiss.

Every sense exploded as he took her
mouth, and Lindsey wrapped her arms and legs around his body,
fiercely clutching at him. With a moaning growl, Japohn crushed her
against the nearest wall, pulling her skirt up to her waist and
yanking the crotch of her panties aside to explore her with
insistent fingers. She squealed to feel his touch there, and she
wriggled in response against his body pinning her to the
wall.

He stroked her soft folds, making her
wet. As her honey seeped from her core, he spread it over her labia
and clit. She rewarded him with more of her thick juices, which he
smeared back to her anus.

“Yes,” she sobbed the moment his mouth
left hers. “Take me, Japohn. Take your Matara.”

He rumbled deep in his chest in
response. He lifted her slightly higher, and his head reared back.
Lindsey saw his long, rattlesnake fangs an instant before he buried
them in her neck, injecting her with the intoxicant that would take
all the pain away.

She sob-sighed as the first sweet
twinges of euphoria crept through her mind, soothing all the hurts
she’d endured these last few days. Soon there was nothing of
importance except the muscular man holding her against the wall,
his body a firm shelter in which to hide from the world.

His fingers worked in and out of her
sex and anus as he bit, exciting her willing flesh. Lindsey shifted
her hips, taking him as deep as he would allow, whimpering with
need. “Please, Japohn,” she begged. “Do it now.”

He withdrew fingers and fangs, and she
felt him work the crotch of his formsuit. His naked sexes sprang
loose, throbbing with heat and slick with his lubrication. He
shifted her again, and she cried out as his cocks parted her
entrances.

Japohn entered her slowly but steadily,
and Lindsey warbled a welcome to the intruders. He was a big man,
and she felt the slight ache of adjusting to him, but the
discomfort was a balm to her shattered emotions. Her body eagerly
adjusted, making room for all he would give her and begging for
more.

“Love you, Lindsey,” he whispered, and
the words were a benediction. She soared on the emotion behind his
simple utterance, and she knew she belonged nowhere else but in the
arms of this man and his clanmates.

I’ll find a way to get back into the
clan, she thought, and under the influence of Japohn’s bite, she
believed it. There had to be a way to convince Bacoj. She just had
to figure it out.

Her hands dove into Japohn’s curls,
holding his head as she kissed him passionately. He returned the
embrace a hundredfold as his thrusts moved her up and down the
wall. She rode his fervor, climbing up and up the glorious path to
completion. She felt herself dissolving around him, her insides
liquefying. She was the softness to his solidity, becoming more
malleable by the second to seep into his pores, soaking into him
until she was an eternal portion of his very essence.

When she came, it was with quiet cries
that she announced her climax. The orgasm rolled through her in
silky waves, and her sheath coaxingly milked Japohn, making him
groan. He pushed into her harder and faster, his grunts as bestial
as her sighs were melodic. The stronger his plunges into her body,
the more yielding she became. He was granite moving through velvet,
and the pulses of culmination flowed and ebbed in gentle surges
that lit her from within.

Japohn shuddered, and he pulsed hugely
within her. His groan seemed to emanate all the way from his toes,
and Lindsey delighted in every jolt his larger cock gave as it
throbbed its offering into her womb. She kissed his face as he
succumbed, tasting the sweet-salty tears that wet his
cheeks.

Words were beyond her as she continued
to flow in bliss, but could she have spoken she would have told him
not to cry, because this time would not be their last. She would
make Bacoj see reason, even if it took forever. Somehow, she would
rejoin the clan.

Chapter Nineteen

Lindsey stood in front of the clan’s
quarters, mentally rehearsing her speech. If Japohn had done as she
asked earlier, he would have gotten Vax out so she could talk to
Bacoj alone. She had a feeling the three of them ganging up on
their Dramok would have the opposite effect of bringing him around
to their way. As Japohn had observed, he could be obstinate,
especially when pushed too hard.

If Bacoj would just listen for a few
moments. If he would just give her an opportunity to share her
proposal and not dismiss it without thought. That’s all she could
hope for.

She stepped close to the door, and it
opened for her. Lindsey realized the door was still keyed to
recognize her at the same time she processed the fact that the room
inside was dark. Before she could feel more than a twinge of
disappointment that Bacoj must have left too, he stepped forward to
be framed by the hall’s light. She had an instant of recognizing
the desperate look in his eyes before his hand shot out to grasp
her forearm. He yanked her into the quarters, and the door shut
behind her, enclosing her in complete darkness with him.