Laura Jo Phillips (13 page)

Now, the long blonde hair and flawless skin she had once been so proud of were gone.  The hair had been removed, as had all of her body hair, and her skin was now a perfect, bright and shiny blue.  His eyes caressed the multitude of long, thin scars in the toy’s blue skin with fondness.  It had taken Lio a very long time to work out his anger with the conceited female.  Now, she was a toy, no more, no less.

The other toy was not one he had any prior knowledge of.  She had always been no more than a toy to him, even when he’d selected her from the slave pens a year earlier when she still had the skin and hair of a woman.  He had thought that his growing boredom with the blue toy would be rectified by adding another toy to his collection.  For awhile it had been amusing, but there was something lacking.  Something he had not been able to put his finger on.

Until yesterday.  When the silver case containing the prime controller had appeared in his office from Za-Queg, Lio had instantly understood his problem with his toys.  The older model controllers installed on his toys had erased their minds.  They were toys both inside and out and as such, had no feelings or thoughts other than what he gave them.  That had been fun for awhile, but there was no challenge to it.  No real suffering on their part, and he did enjoy the suffering of others, particularly women.  It just wasn’t the same when he had to
tell
the toys to feel.

He wondered if there was a way to exchange the controllers in his toys for the newer, upgraded model, but immediately discarded the idea.  Though they were beautiful, he was tired of these toys.  He wanted a new one. 

As soon as the thought entered his mind, his imagination ran with the idea.  Yes, he thought, a new toy made from a new woman.  A special woman.  One with certain qualities that would not be easy to find.  And once he found her, he would find a way to procure a prime controller for her.

How he would go about doing that he didn’t know, but that was part of the fun and excitement for him.  Once he made up his mind that he wanted something, he would allow no one or nothing to stand in his way.  It was true that the prime controllers were new and exorbitantly expensive, as well as rare.  But that did not matter to him in the least.  He smiled to himself, feeling a surge of excitement grow within him that he had not felt in a very long time.  He almost could not wait to get started on the search for his next toy.

A distinctive beeping sounded from his desk, interrupting his thoughts.  He considered ignoring it, but caution warned him against that course of action.  The beeping sound identified the caller as the lookout, and ignoring a call from him would not be wise. 

Lio swore softly as he crossed the wide expanse of his office, threw himself into his chair and pressed the button to accept the vid.

 “Yes?” he said abruptly, not bothering to hide the edge of irritation in his voice.

“Sorry to bother you sir,” said the lookout.  “I got bad news.  Lucky’s pickup tonight went sour.”

“Explain,” Lio demanded, his voice growing softer as his anger grew.

“The Bearens have Willy and Frank,” the lookout said.  “Lucky is dead, and they got the
berezi
, as well as the prime controller.  They’ve already reported the situation to the Dracons, and they’ve locked down the cargo bay and everything in it, including the ground-truck.”

There was a long silence.  “How did the Bearens catch them?” Lio asked, going straight to what he knew would be the primary focus of this disaster.

“The maintenance guy didn’t fill out his work order,” the lookout said.  “From the portion of the vox call I was able to catch, he apparently tipped them off in some other way as well.”

“Thank you,” Lio said after another silence.  “As soon as its safe to do so, clear all of your surveillance equipment out of the spaceport.”

“No need,” the lookout replied.  “As soon as they cleared the cargo bay I activated all of the self destructs. They won’t find anything but a few specks of ash the size of dust mites.”

“Good,” Lio replied.  “I’ll let you know when we’re back on.  For now, get scarce.”

“Yes sir,” the lookout replied. 

Lio disconnected the call and sat thinking for a few minutes.  When he was sure he had thought of everything, he reached out and pressed another button.

Chapter
10

Saige awoke to the pleasant sight of yellow sunshine streaming in through a glass patio door.  She smiled and sat up in bed, enjoying the sight.  The sun did occasionally shine on Earth now, but not often.  There was a soft knock at the bedroom door before it opened a crack and Lariah’s familiar face peeked around the edge.

“Good, you’re awake,” she said as she stepped into the room and closed the door behind her.  She hurried to the bed and bent over carefully to hug Saige.  Saige returned the hug, grinning widely at her friend’s obviously pregnant form.

“Wow girl, you’ve changed,” she said.  Lariah laughed. 

“You have no idea,” she replied, rubbing her belly lightly with both hands.  “I have a zillion things to tell you, but first, are you okay?  Your face looks awful.”

Saige lost her smile.  “All things considered, I think I’m doing pretty good.  How are the Lobos?”  Even as she asked the question, Saige felt a part of her mind reach for them.  She sensed they were not too far away.  They seemed to be sleeping, but all of this was very new to her so she wasn't certain.

“They are still resting,” Lariah said, “as is Riata.  Don’t worry, they will all be just fine.  Are you hungry?”

“Starving,” Saige said at once.  “The Lobos fed me last night, but aside from that I haven’t eaten in days.”

“We better get you fed then.  The guys went back to the vehicle last night and got your luggage off the roof carrier.  It’s singed, but I think some of your things may be salvageable.  I put some clothes in the bathroom that I think will fit you until we are able to assess the damages and get your clothes washed.”

“Thanks Lari,” Saige said, studying her friend's appearance carefully.  Lariah looked so healthy and happy that she almost didn't look like herself.  “I am so glad to see you, and you look wonderful, but I sure did miss you.  And if you don’t have a real good reason for leaving without saying good bye to me I’m going to have to rethink being your friend,” she added with a mock scowl.

Lariah laughed.  “Believe me, I had a very good reason.  More than one in fact, and I promise to tell you everything.  But first, get up and get dressed and lets get you fed.  Then we can talk.”

Saige climbed out of the bed and walked towards the patio door.  “This is so beautiful,” she breathed. 

“Yes, isn’t it?”  Lariah joined her friend by the door.  “When I first came here I stayed in this room.  I asked Garen to put you in here special because I have such good memories of it.”

Saige turned and hugged Lariah gently for a long moment.  When she finally released her she had tears in her eyes.  “Okay, I’m getting dressed now.  Where do I go after?”

“Just follow your nose,” Lariah told her with a grin.

Saige hurried into the bathroom and grimaced at her reflection in the mirror.  The bruises covered a good portion of her face now.  She carefully splashed some cool water on her face and decided not to check her other bruises just yet.  She knew they’d be bad and she wanted to eat breakfast before dealing with them.  After she ate, she’d take a shower and go from there. 

She reached for the largest top Lariah had left for her in the bathroom and pulled it on over her camisole.  She was still wearing the same stretchy pants from the evening before and decided that was good enough for now.  Avoiding her own reflection in the mirror, she turned and hurried out of the bedroom, following her nose to the food as Lariah had suggested.

 “Oh I think I ate too much,” Saige said as she pushed her plate back with a groan.  “But it sure was good.”

 “Suly is the best,” Lariah agreed.

“Okay, spill it,” Saige said as she watched her friend chew on her lip.  She knew that nervous gesture all too well.

“Garen told me that you are the Lobo's Arima.”

“That's what they said,” Saige replied. 

“Did they tell you what that means?” Lariah asked.

“Some,” Saige said.  “They didn't get to finish.  We left off with me wanting to know how it is that we are able to be these ‘arimas’ when we’re both human.”

“Yes, that was a great mystery for all of us at first,” Lariah said.  “There is one Jasani, Eldar Hamat, who is older than any other.  He lived through the destruction of the Jasani’s home world, what they call the Dark Time.  When he met me, he said that I looked exactly like his Arima, who was lost along with their three daughters.  Riata compared our DNA and confirmed a familial connection between us.”

“Yes, Faron told me about that,” Saige said.  “But, you are still human.”

Lariah bit her lip again.  “Out with it,” Saige said.

“When I arrived on Jasan, I was injured.  Riata healed me and discovered that my DNA was different from other human women.  By then, the Dracons already knew that I was their Arima of course, so it just became a matter of figuring out what the difference meant.”

“Wait a sec, back up,” Saige said.  “What do you mean they already knew you were their Arima?  How did they know that?  For that matter, what made the Lobos think I was their Arima?”

“Certain things happen to a Jasani male when he scents his Arima,” Lariah answered.  “I seriously doubt it is even possible that the Lobos made a mistake.  I assume that you will have the same DNA anomaly that I had, or something close to it anyway.”

“Had?” Saige asked.  Before Lariah could respond to that rather pointed question, Saige felt Faron and Dav approaching from behind her.  She pushed her chair back and stood up, turning around to face the direction she felt them approaching from.

“I greet you Nahoa-Arima,” Faron said formally as he and Dav stopped in the doorway between the kitchen and dining room, though his eyes never left Saige’s face. 

Lariah sighed and pulled herself heavily to her feet.  “I greet you Faron Lobo, Lord Protector,” she replied just as formally, though with faint exasperation.

Faron’s eyes flew to Lariah.  He frowned and bowed, his movements slow and careful.  “I am sorry Nahoa-Arima.  I did not mean to make you get up.”

Lariah smiled as she once again took her seat.  “Good, then don’t do it again.  And I prefer to be called Lariah, as you well know.”

Saige could only stare back and forth between Dav and Faron.  She wanted to hurry to them and check to make sure they were all right, especially since they both looked so tired, but the expressions on their faces held her back.  They seemed to be gritting their teeth as they stared at her intently, and their fists were clenched tightly together.

“Faron, what is wrong?” Lariah asked after a long silence.

“Why has she not been healed?” he snapped.  Saige turned to look at Lariah who had an expression of surprised hurt on her face.

Saige turned back to face Faron, unconsciously stepping sideways a few inches, placing her body between the Lobos and Lariah.  “Don’t you dare snap at her like that.  Can’t you see she’s pregnant for star’s sake?  What is wrong with you?”  Faron’s expression changed from anger to surprise.  Good.  But she was not done yet.

“Furthermore, what am I?  A potted plant?” she continued.  “If you want to ask a question about me and I’m standing right here, do me the courtesy of directing your question to me.  In response to your very rude demand, I am not healed because poor Riata used up every scrap of energy she had saving the lives of yourself and your brothers.”

Saige thought of a few other things to say, but decided to quit while she was ahead.  So far her anger had prevented the tears she felt burning behind her eyes from spilling over, but she knew that wasn't going to last much longer.  She absolutely would not cry in front of the Lobos. 

She spun around and stormed blindly out of the room, using the doorway opposite the one the Lobos were standing in.  She found herself in the living room, turned around a couple of times, then picked a hall and went down it, relieved to see the guest room she’d awakened in at the end.  She stepped inside, closed the door and sank to her knees on the floor, her entire body shaking. 

She could not believe she had just done that.  But oh, he had been so rude!  “Arima my round rosey hiney,” she thought to herself.  “I’m here to visit Lariah, and then I’m going home.  I don’t care if they are the Prime Prince's Perfect Poo Bahs or whatever it is they call themselves.”  Then she lowered her face into her hands and cried.

Chapter
11

Slater was very angry, though he was careful not to show it.  He made an extreme effort to hold his tail motionless so that its twitching did not give him away.  Even though he was alone in his little metal cell, he sensed that he was being watched.

He glanced down at the empty meat bucket, his lip curling with disgust at the memory of the reconstituted meat they had fed him, while at the same time wishing there was more of it.  The water, at least, had tasted fresh.  Slater sighed inwardly, though he gave no outward sign of his inner thoughts and feelings.  He supposed he had grown too accustomed to fresh food over the years.  Since he was on his way to his home planet, he decided it was probably best that he become used to stored meat again anyway since fresh meat was all but non-existent on Onddo.