Naked (6 page)

She nodded and flipped the bedding back, forcing herself to walk normally to the lav before flicking on the solar shower and dusting away the sticky residue of sex from the night before.

When she was ready to face him again, she stepped out of the lav and he handed her her bodysuit once again. “My turn.”

He slid past her with his own suit in his hand and the door to the lav closed.

Chuckling at the matter-of-fact nature of sharing a small space, she took her suit and got dressed. When he emerged, he was dressed and looking sexy and sinister at the same time.

He offered her his arm and she took it, walking to the general’s quarters to get an answer to the summons.

“What do you think he wants?”

“Well, if it was to congratulate you on your negotiations, he could have done that via the com. We are moving now, so it might have to do with our arrival on Sebach.”

She nodded and kept her head high as they walked the hall to the general’s quarters. A knock at the door and he opened it, beckoning them to enter.

Ahket put his hand at her waist, and Sapya noted the gesture with a small nod. “Come inside. Breakfast is ready.”

From the light on the chrono, the time was just beyond dawn. This meeting had to be urgent if Sapya was pulling Ahket in for a chat.

They sat in silence and drank their tea before settling to the meal. After he had completed his breakfast, General Sapya cleared his throat, his teacup held lightly between his palms.

“Captain Ahket, you are to be detained upon our arrival on Sebach for knowingly abducting a woman who could not be ransomed and refusing the ransom of one and a half million credits. You will be sentenced to three months of shunning.”

Ahket paused. “Three months? No one has survived three months before.”

Sapya nodded. “I am aware of it. I am filing an appeal immediately, but I wanted you to know what we were flying into.”

Ahket ran his hands through his hair. “Right. I should have thought of that.”

“You did think of it. You just followed your instinct, and I believe it was correct. Your grandmother has been read into this, and she is working to have your crimes heard before we arrive. It might not happen and you need to be ready.”

Cierra looked between the two. “What is going on?”

Ahket made a face. “It seems that our union is going to be of short duration. No one survives in the wastes of Sebach for more than three weeks.”

“I don’t understand. Didn’t the amount of credits we saved make the difference in the funds?”

Ahket smiled. “That was your doing, not mine. I cannot take credit for your actions or intelligence.”

“But if I wasn’t there, your people wouldn’t have as many supplies to get them through until the next need.”

Sapya shook his head. “It doesn’t matter. If you were not there, we would have bought the supplies we needed and returned home regardless. Ahket is being punished because not only did he take you when you were not on our approved capture list, but he refused to cash in on the demands for your return.”

“I was worth one and a half million?” She was surprised by the amount.

“The Xerat felt you were very valuable, and having experienced you in action, I would have to agree. The line of suitors will be extensive when we land.” Sapya seemed upset about it.

“I don’t care. If Ahket gets shunned, I am going with him.” She was as surprised as they were when the words came out of her mouth.

The feel of certainty had never come out from between her lips before. Normally, it was confined to sight, but now, she spoke the truth. Staying with him was burning in her with intensity.

Sapya looked at her and he scowled.

Ahket cleared his throat. “We will be stripped and sent into the wastelands of Sebach. Unless you have more skills for physical survival than you have shown, it will not be long before we both die.”

She smiled tightly. “I didn’t know about the naked part, but I will go with you.”

Sapya was grim. “This is most unusual. Women are rulers amongst our kind. One would never follow a man she had just met.”

“I see him and he glows with energy that I have never seen before. He is mine and I will not see him go to his death without me at his side.” The flat voice was speaking through her again.

Cierra made a face and cleared her throat. “When do we arrive?”

General Sapya sat back. “We arrive in twenty-six hours.”

Ahket swallowed the last of his tea. “Thank you, General Sapya. It has been an honour to serve under you.”

“We will fix this, Urion. I promise you that.”

Sapya got up and Ahket met him, receiving a very un-military hug.

“Urion?”

Ahket smiled over his grandfather’s shoulder. “My private name, spoken by family.”

She nodded. “Right. Of course.”

She got to her feet, and he came around the table to take her by her arms. “I don’t want you to come with me.”

She could see the danger that she would face in his expression. “I don’t care. Can we pick the landing point?”

Sapya looked at her with curious eyes. “What do you have in mind?”

“If something is pulling me to Sebach, something will give me a sign. Let’s remain in orbit for one rotation and let me look at the land beneath. If I see a likely spot, I will request that you have us dropped there.”

Ahket smiled at her. “I will look as well. There is no regulation on picking part of the wastelands; we are just locked out of the community.”

“Right. Well, as soon as we are within scanning distance, let’s start looking for a place to live.”

He brought her in for a hug, but she could see the worry in his aura. Pale lavender was not a good colour on him.

A woman with the same reflected gemstone-coloured skin as the rest of the crew pronounced the sentence.

“It is the finding of the tribunal that Captain Ahket did wilfully and deliberately abduct a woman who was unsuitable for ransom. He has wasted the resources of this colony and risked the lives of his crewmates by being arrogant enough to put his wishes above the needs of those depending on him. That is the first week of the shunning. The remaining eleven weeks are due to his arrogance in refusing the exorbitant ransom offered for the woman he selected.”

She cleared her throat. “Ahket, you are to go into the wilds and remain there for three months. After that time, we will send someone to recover you.”

Cierra was holding Ahket’s hand, and the moment that the sentence was decreed, she started walking.

The two suns warmed her skin, but clouds moved to shelter her as she stepped barefoot into the low rocks of the mountains. Whatever had called her all this way was up in those rocks, and she was going to find it.

Ahket was right behind her, his skin a little more protection than hers on the rocks and grit that they were climbing.

“This isn’t the most natural place to try and survive. I think they were shocked.”

She chuckled while gasping for air. “You saw it. I saw it. There is something in here that wants our attention. For good or evil, it is our only chance.”

They had a pouch of supplies that Ahket was carrying and it should last four days. It should. There was no guarantee that it would.

When they had left the sight of the shuttle behind and it had soared overhead, she rested her naked backside against the stone wall, and she looked for a pathway.

It was a lot easier to see the destination than the path.

Ahket offered her the water bottle, and she took a sip before passing it back. He capped it and stowed it in the pack, his naked body gleaming in the light.

“I can see a pathway. It looks like one of the ancient N’ga paths.”

“Lead on. I will follow.”

His legs and ass flexed as he took the steps and pushed himself upward against the stone. He seemed built to pull himself along. For Cierra, it was not something she was going to enjoy in the morning.

They walked for hours, climbing, sliding downhill and edging along cliffs.

Her feet were raw, and she was sure that blood was following behind, her but she didn’t want to look.

They stopped for lunch, and she sat with her feet pointed away from him. “What happened to the N’ga? Did they just interbreed and cease to be?”

He frowned. “Yes and no. Sebach was a living world. It had an Avatar named Seera, and she was nearing the end of her term. The Admaryn are not suited to being Avatars, and Sebach asked to have one of our kind impregnate the Avatar to grow another generation. No one would, so Seera went to the hills and died. The world began to shut down soon after. With no one to speak for it, it closed off and even water went deep underground.”

She listened to the story, but there was whispering in her mind.

He told her the legends and myths about Seera, all involving sightings across the generations.

Cierra nodded, and when it was time to move again, she got to her feet and limped along behind him.

She lifted her head. “Do you smell that?”

He turned and lifted his head. “Water.”

They followed the scent over a small gorge and stepped into a nearly invisible cavern on a cliff wall. The passage got snug every now and then, but they stumbled into the cave as it opened, and Ahket muttered in ancient Admaryn. There was a waterfall and a huge crystal pool.

“Am I hallucinating?” She stepped forward on the cool stone.

“No. I don’t believe this. It is remarkable to see water so near the surface.”

The whispering in her mind made comforting sounds.

She asked, “Can we stay here for the rest of the day?”

“If the water is potable, yes.”

Cierra knelt at the side of the pool and reached to the waterfall. When she had a handful of water and her palm was washed clean, she sipped.

“It tastes good.” She drank more and pivoted to soak her abused feet.

“Your feet are bleeding.”

She wrinkled her nose. “I am aware of it. I didn’t want to slow you down.”

“We will wait here tonight. If you are not up to walking tomorrow, we will remain here for another day.”

Cierra couldn’t argue with that. When her feet felt better, she lifted them out of the water and scooted to the wall using her hands and butt.

Ahket dove into the water and surfaced under the waterfall. He turned and called out, “There is something back here.”

She was about to head toward him, but he reached into the water and behind it then pulled out a large chest three feet wide and two feet tall. He pushed it to the edge of the pool and gave her a surprised look. “Should I open it?”

“We are out here under a death sentence. I say go for it.”

He opened the chest and blinked. “This is exceedingly peculiar.”

He lifted out a pair of soft leather boots and a loose tunic-style dress with a sash. “These are N’ga clothing. There is a male set as well.”

Their gazes met in the dim light coming through a small crevice in the upper wall.

Cierra swallowed. “It seems that someone knew we were coming.”

There must have been something in the water, because when Cierra woke in Ahket’s arms and flexed her feet, she didn’t feel pain or the tugging of the cuts from the day before. The rest of her body was a wad of aches and pains, but her feet were fine.

“Ready to move out?” Ahket kissed her neck softly.

She nodded and sat up.

She jerked in surprise when a strange voice said, “Thank goodness. It thought you were going to sleep the day away.”

A woman was sitting on a chair made of stone, wearing boots and a tunic, much the same as those that Cierra was currently wearing.

There was a glow in the eyes, and Cierra blinked when Ahket said, “Seera.”

The woman smiled slightly. “Yes and no. Seera’s soul left her body generations ago. I am Sebach.”

Cierra got to her feet, wincing slightly. Ahket was behind her, steadying her.

“Come with me, travellers. You are the two I have been waiting for, or you will be.” Sebach got to her feet and walked toward a wall. The stone simply ceased to exist as she walked through it.

Ahket whispered, “I think we need to follow her.”

Cierra nodded. “Not a bad idea.”

They had both slept in their found clothing, so he grabbed their pack and they followed the living mind of the world in the body that had once been her Avatar’s.

The path she took them on led them into the mountain range itself and the wide-open hallway that appeared as they walked, disappeared behind them. They had to follow Sebach or the stone would swallow them whole.

The walk was long, and they sank deeper and deeper into the bedrock of the world.

“Is this a dream?” Cierra had to say it out loud.

“No, in a dream, you would be naked and we would have complete privacy.” Ahket put his hand on her back and stroked downward, patting her butt.

She stifled a giggle and picked up the pace. Sebach was moving at quite a clip, and this wasn’t the place she wanted to get left behind.

The tunnel ended suddenly, and a grand open space filled with greenery, a spring and glowing plants intermittent throughout the entire football field of the space.

In the centre of the room was a bier with a pillow and a sheet over it.

Stone chairs rose from the floor, and Sebach took a seat next to the brook. “Pardon my lack of tea, but it has been some time since I entertained. It is good to finally have you here.”

Cierra took one of the chairs and Ahket the final seat.

She cleared her throat. “What do you mean
finally
?”

“I have been waiting for you. The Admaryn genes in the regular population are not suitable. The one who could have been Seera’s mate refused her and broke her heart, so I closed off nearly all of my resources to his people.”

The light brightened, and Cierra could finally get a clear view of the woman with the peacock skin and golden eyes. The undercurrent of the skin was ruby rather than ebony, but the rainbow on the surface was still there.

“Why us?”

Sebach cocked her head. “I do not need him, precisely. He has already done his part. You two are to be the parents of my next Avatar. Your mind, my dear, is perfect to house me, but you have already lived a life off world and you are not native to Sebach. Call me provincial, but I prefer to inhabit only those who have been born here.”