Warrior Chronicles 5: Warrior's Curse (22 page)

After locking the door, she turned back to Cort and began to strip. “Your wife will kill us both for this.”

“Then leave if you’re afraid. Otherwise, climb onto my cock and fuck me, Marine.”

After she was dressed again, Cort ordered her to get him a bacon sandwich. When she returned with it, he ate while she rode him once more. She left the room a half hour later, her FALCON irritating her soreness. By the time she reached her quarters and got ready to go back down to the planet, her synthetics had relieved the pain in her groin and her breasts.
Until tomorrow night anyway,
she thought. She donned a clean FALCON, headed for the shuttle bay, and reread the message from Liz Thoms.

--

Other than emotional outbursts, his lack of inhibitions, and short-term memory loss, Cort was fine. Since he was bedridden, Ceram cut him a new eyelid from the skin that covered the almost fully-developed new eye. From then on, the light in the room was kept at near total darkness to allow Cort’s brain to relearn how to interpret the new optic stimulation.

Liz, Kim, George, and Quinn met two days after Cort woke up,
to decide how best to proceed with the mission, given Cort’s condition. Ceram was present by video and told them there was no way to know how long it would take Cort’s brain to rewire itself, nor was there any way to know exactly what missing memories would return.

The group decided that since only Cort’s short term memory and inhibitions were affected, they could safely get him back in action by waiting until his short term memory returned, then giving him a nearly week-long crash course in what had happened since he met the Threm. Until he recovered to that state, any woman other than Kim who visited Cort would wear a CONDOR, concealing her gender.

Liz was the first CONDOR-clad woman to visit him. With Kim at her side, she greeted Cort, who began to weep uncontrollably.

“What’s wrong, baby?” Kim asked.

“Liz, I’m so sorry!” Cort sobbed. “I didn’t want to kill your family. They didn’t give me any choice!”

“Cort, it’s okay. We’ve talked about this.”

“No, no! It’s not okay!” Tears were streaming out of Cort’s good eye, and slowly soaking the light bandage on his new one. “I killed them instinctively. Your brother tried to kill
Sköll, then I had to kill your uncle. He was an unmitigated fucking bastard!”

Liz slipped off her gauntlet and touched Cort’s shoulder. “It’s okay. I know what happened.”

“Can I see your tits now?” Cort asked with a grin.

Liz looked at her commander sadly. “That wouldn’t be appropriate, sir.”

“You’re probably right,” Cort leaned over the side of his bed and blew snot out of his nose onto her feet. “That wouldn’t be appropriate.”

--

For several more days, Ceram reported on Cort’s progress every afternoon. Quinn continued to visit Cort’s bed every night. When the doctor finally told Kim that Cort’s short term memory was returning, she shared the news with Liz and Quinn, and Quinn reluctantly stopped her nightly visits.

The first two days of video therapy were comprised of footage and records from the Ares Federation universe. As he watched the vids, he took notes and critiqued his handling of the various challenges he had faced. The only indications during those days that he was not completely recovered were Cort’s comments about whether he would get a chance to couple with JJ or Jane Munroe when he got back to the other universe.

The next three days of video were taken from Cort’s own footage of the assault on the planet below them. Kim was stoic through every crude comment he made, with both Liz and Quinn offering her support when she seemed at a breaking point.

The final day involved Quinn telling Cort what had happened since his stroke. As Kim left his bedside that day at lunch, she admonished Quinn, “Don’t let him get too excited. And nothing about ...”

Quinn quickly interrupted her. “Yes, ma’am.”

Before the door had closed behind Kim, Cort asked, “Why aren’t you on top of me, Faulks? I’ll bet your tits are fantastic.”

Quinn breathed a sigh of relief, knowing Cort didn’t remember any of their couplings, but was also a bit sad that they had to come to an end. “General, your wife wouldn’t appreciate that.”

Cort’s anger was fierce and immediate.  “How the hell did a coward get to be one of my Marines? Do you remember the day I cut my eye off? On the ship, when you were in just a FALCON, you were helping Ceram and your tit kept brushing against my cheek. I should have ordered you to let me suck it.”

You’ve done a lot of that, sir.
“Again, sir. Mrs. Addison wouldn’t like that.”

“Whatever,” Cort had completely forgotten his anger. “It’s your loss. I’m a pretty good fuck. So what have you learned since I went down, you fucking bitch?”

“The Gryll aren’t designed to sleep. Their brains don’t produce melatonin. That’s why they want the pineal glands. They puree them into a paste and rub it inside their sinus cavity. It makes them pass out, and more importantly to them, they dream. They consider it a mystical experience.”

“What else?”

“The cities are filled with restaurants that serve the baby meat to aliens visiting the planet. We’ve begun to put a stop to that. I have every city being swept, but it
is
a planet, and we have limited resources.”

“You’ve cut off their supply of meat, though.”

Quinn’s reply was grim. “We’ve found a few smaller processing facilities that are still in operation, but our first priority is exterminating the Gryll. We’ve lost several Marines to their telepathic spikes during the city sweeps.”

“I assume that is how they killed the first eight?” Cort pushed his sheet down and began stroking himself, then added, “Are you sure you don’t want to fool around a little?”

“Yes, sir. To both questions.” Quinn stared at Cort’s erection, remembering how it felt. “We also know what happened to the post-Cull females. They were immediately killed because they are incompatible with the Gryll breeding methods.”

“What does that mean, Quinn?” Cort smiled as he realized she was staring at his actions. “Wanna suck it?”

“No sir. Thank you, but your wife wouldn’t approve.”

“Bitch,” Cort said. “I tried to get her to suck it the other day. I almost had her convinced. Her mouth was just an inch away. Then she wrinkled her nose and left.”

Quinn’s eyes widened momentarily, then she went on. “They had synthetics, sir. The Gryll augment the babies’ food with a growth hormone that accelerates their development and increases the size of the pineal gland. Babies born with synthetics fight off the hormone, so they are useless. Consequently, women with synthetics are slaughtered for food.”

“What about Havisim? How did she keep getting through their checks?”

“George found records about her. Being transgender, they don’t understand what she is, so they didn’t do anything. I spoke to her though. She has been raped more than a hundred times by them. In one session, she was subjected to over fifty men in less than an hour, including some of the ancient specimens.”

“I’d still like a chance at that,” Cort kept masturbating. “Anything else?”

Quinn continued to stare at Cort’s groin as she replied. “Two weird things. The three species of ancient humans. They shouldn’t be here. The timeline doesn’t match up. I have people looking into it, but I suspect that we will find there is a program in place on the planet to produce breeding stock.”

“Like a puppy mill.” Cort made a small grunt as he finished. “Can you clean this up for me, Quinn?”

Quinn licked her lips, momentarily tempted, then she tossed him a hand towel. “No, sir.”

Cort wiped the mess from his stomach and said, “What’s the other weird thing?”

“What’s a puppy mill?” When Cort dismissed the question and covered himself back up, she went on. “The other thing might just be coincidence, but it bears mentioning. The Gryll are three meters tall and eat babies. In Icelandic mythology, there is a giantess named Grýla who steals bad children and eats them.”

Before Cort could ask Quinn anything else, Kim opened the door and stepped in. “That’s all the time you get, Colonel.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

When the two women were outside the medical bay, Quinn told Kim what Cort had done. Kimberly looked at her for a long moment and calmly said, “I’m sorry, Quinn. Ceram says he will get better, but I will have to wait it out.”

“It’s okay. I’ve seen men do that before. It doesn’t change who he is, anymore than his scars do.” Quinn said goodbye and turned to walk away.
I just hated to see it go to waste.

--

It was two more days before Ceram commed Kim with a significant update on Cort’s condition.

“His brain scan is normal, Pledge Mother. He may still have emotional outbursts, but I think the worst is behind him.”

“He can be around women again?”

“Maybe not you, but most women, yes.”

Kim couldn’t imagine that she had any tears left, but more ran down her cheeks. “And Dalek?”

“And Dalek, Pledge Mother.
And
your surprise. But I am sure there will be an emotional display then. I suspect that one will be genuine though.”

An hour later, Cort was showered and ready for his day. Ceram had confined him to the ship, but he could work again. He donned a FALCON and left the medical bay for the first time weeks.

He walked to his quarters, where he found Kim and Dalek waiting for him. The boy jumped up and ran across the room. Two feet from his dad, he launched himself into the air and Cort caught him.

Cort feigned a fall to the floor and rolled around with Dalek for a minute before Kim released the wolves who joined in the fray. It was several more minutes before Cort sat up with tears in his eyes. His FALCON was covered in hair and slobber, and Dalek stood in front of him looking serious. “You have to stand up, Poppa.”

Playing along, Cort stood and came to attention. “What next, sir?”

“Marine, you will wait here until I bring your grandpa.”

Cort looked at Kim questioningly, who only smiled as Dalek disappeared into Cort’s office. A moment later, he came back holding the hand of a man in a World War I uniform. The twenty year old came to attention and saluted Cort. “Corporal Reed Clement Addison, Second Squadron, Third Balloon Company, American Expeditionary Force, reporting for duty, sir.”

Cort would have recognized Reed Addison in a gunny sack. A picture of the man had been on the mantle in Cort’s childhood home his entire life. Cort’s eyes swam in tears as he returned the salute of a man he had always called
Clem,
then he stepped forward and hugged his great-grandfather.

Fourteen

“Clemmer is from the past like you, Poppa!”

Cort looked down at Dalek. “I know, Son. He’s even older than me.”

“Poppa, I know! Grandpas have to be older.” 

Clem smiled at the exchange. “I’m still trying to understand all that, sir. You’re forty if you’re a day, I’m twenty-four.”

“You understand it, Clem. I know you do. I still have some of your old books. Edgar Rice Burroughs for instance. Think
John Carter.
That’s what happened to you.”

“It’s what happened to you too, sir.”

“Dalek,” Kim said, “Why don’t you take the wolves for a walk?”

“By
myself
?”

“Yes. By yourself. But stay off of the bridge.”

“Awww. Okay.”

Bane was loathe to leave Cort with the newcomer, but Cort reassured him, and the wolf walked out of the room and took his place at the front of the small pack.

When Dalek was gone, Cort motioned Clem to sit down as he sighed. “Okay Clem, let’s get this out of the way right now. In this room,
in any room,
when we are alone, I’m Cort. Don’t call me sir.”

“You have stars on your shoulder, sir.”

Cort pulled opened his flexpad and linked to his suit. A moment later the stars disappeared from the smart fabric of his FALCON. “Now I don’t. Look Clem, this is hard for me. I know it is for you too, but military protocol won’t help us. I just want to get to know you.”

“Sir, I’ve been used against my will to cheat on my wife and rape women for almost four years. Who knows how many children I have. Now your wife tells me that I am your great-grandfather. She gave me the family history and told me our family owns half the durn universe. Do we really own a planet? Who needs a planet?”

Cort smiled. “Yeah, Clem. We own a planet. Several actually. And no, we don’t need them. We protect them mostly. I’m going to show you dinosaurs.”

“No thanks, sir. Dinosaurs have been controlling me for too long.” Clem eyes were distant for a moment, then he came back. “When I went off to the war, I didn’t have a jitney to my name. Mary and I had a baby on the way, and we were living in a tack room in Daddy’s barn. Oh, I’d made it nice for Mary. She had her ticking curtains, and I built a little bassinet for her out of a chicken crate...”

Cort’s eyes teared up as Clem spoke. Kim put her hand on his shoulder.

“... but it was a barn. So I went off to war. Mary moved into the house with Momma and Daddy. I used to have a picture of my boy. Shelby was his name, but I guess you know that. Boy grew like a weed when I was gone.”

“He got to be over six feet, Clem.”

“That ain’t a surprise. His momma came from good stock. Her people were mountains. Even the girls were tough. You can see that your muscles came from her side.”

Cort could see that. Clem was as skinny as a pole. Even thinner than modern humans with their synthetics. He turned to Kim. “Does he have synthetics yet?”

“No. We were waiting for you to set up the protocols for the new people. And there is something else, Cort.”

“What?”

“There are a lot of live babies. Thousands of them. And most of them are beyond saving.”

“What do you mean?”

“The hormone they gave them. It’s to grow the pineal glands. But it damages the brain. Most of them have severe mental disabilities.”

Clem asked, “Can’t you give ‘em that fake blood you have?”

“No, it doesn’t fix things that are already broken, Clem.” Cort furrowed his brows. “Can we do anything?”

Kim looked at the floor. “No, baby. They are all in various stages of brain death. Only their autonomic systems work. Ceram says they might as well be on life support.”

“What about the others? You said
most
of them?”

“There are some, fewer than a hundred, that will grow up to be functional, but they won’t be right. They are going to need help for their entire lives.”

“Are there any normal ones?”

“No, baby. They start getting the hormones immediately after birth. There
are
a few, maybe twenty, that will be able to live reasonably normal lives, though.”

Clem asked, “So they are all retards? Can’t you put them in hospitals or something?”

“Clem,” Cort explained, “today’s humans don’t associate that word with mental impairment. Don’t use it again.”

“I can’t call a retard a retard? What do I call them?
Suck egg mules? White niggers?”

Cort stood up. “I’m not going to say it again. Don’t use that word. Or
nigger
. You want to know what Grandma Mary didn’t tell you while you were gone? She had identical twins. One of them was
retarded.
Probably because his umbilical cord was wrapped around his neck. He grew up in a special hospital. It wasn’t a good life for him. No better than the one you’ve lived for the last few years. And it was worse in a lot of ways.”

“You’re lyin’!”

“I suspect you know I’m not, Clem.” Cort sat back down. “Listen to me. It’s a different world now. A different
universe
. You’re going to have to learn a new way of thinking if you want to be a part of it.”

“What if I don’t?”

“Then I’ll leave you here. There’s no place in my universe for bigot. I kill them all the time.”

“Baby, calm down. Give him time to adjust. You needed it too.”

“Yeah, listen to your moll old man.”

Cort moved so quickly that Clem couldn’t react. The bigger man was across the room almost instantly, and grabbed Clem by the neck. Raising the thin man up, Cort pushed him against the wall and then lifted him, raising him half a meter off the ground.

“The last man who insulted my wife is dead. I hit him so hard that his heart exploded.”

Panic filled both Kim’s and Clem’s eyes. Kim grabbed Cort’s free arm but was unable to move it. “Baby, he didn’t mean it! Let him down.”

Cort relaxed his grip on Clem’s neck just enough to let the man breathe. “You’re my blood, so you get two choices. You can apologize to my wife, or I can tighten my hand and let you run out of air. Right now, I don’t care what you decide.”

Clem gasped for air as he struggled against Cort’s arm. Finally he went limp and whispered, “I’ll apologize.”

Cort dropped him and walked away. Clem crumpled into a pile. After his ragged gasps quieted, he rolled onto his hands and knees and looked up at Kim. “I’m sorry ma’am. I was outta line.”

Kim reached down and helped Clem into a chair. “You didn’t know better. But you need to learn, Clem. Please try to.”

At his liquor cabinet, Cort began to fill a glass. Kim said, “Make one for Clem too.”

“No.”

“Cort. Pour him a glass, or I will.”

Cort downed the amber liquid then looked at his wife. “Then you do it. I’m going to find my son.”

When Cort was gone, Kim handed Clem a glass of whiskey. “He’s a hard man.”

“Would he have really killed me, ma’am?”

“He’s killed billions. A few years ago, someone kidnapped Dalek. He killed their entire species. They are extinct now. He’s destroyed planets and brought an entire galaxy to its knees.”

“But I’m family.”

“Not to Cort, Clem. To him, you are blood. But you aren’t family yet. He chooses his family. Maybe you need to meet the rest of us to understand.”

“Does that mean I’m going back with you to the other universe?”

“No. His family is all represented here. But you need to be prepared for it. If you have an outburst like you just did in front of George or H’uum, not even Dalek could save your life.”

“How do I prepare for it? Are they half-breeds or something? I can hold my tongue when I need to.”

“Clem. Sit down. You’ve read Burroughs, right?”

“Yes’m”

“I haven’t read him, but he had aliens, right?”

“Yes. Red ones were like humans. There were tall green ones with lots of arms. White ones. Gorilla ones. Smart dinosaur dogs…”

“Okay,” Kim interrupted. “We have aliens too. One of Cort’s best friends is called a Jaifan.”

“A Jaifan?”

“They are three-meter tall insects. They look like cockroaches that walk upright.”

“No thank you. I’ll pass.”

“You don’t get to pass if you want to be in our family. It’s a complicated history, but the entire species has sworn allegiance to Dalek. Cort trusts them more than any other species in the galaxy. If you don’t like them, you won’t be a part of our family.”

“You can’t make me like someone I don’t, ma’am.”

“No I cannot. Nor can Cort. I’m just telling you how he is. He doesn’t tolerate prejudice.”

Clem looked at Kim for a long time before saying, “I ain’t got any reason to hate nig…negroes. Or retards. Or cockroaches, I guess. But I’m not sitting down at supper with them either. Maybe this ain’t the place for me. Can you all just drop me off back on Earth and let me be?”

“It isn’t that simple Clem.” Kim sighed. “Okay, listen. I have an idea. When Cort was hurt this time, we set him up with a crash course in history. I want to do the same with you. Only with more of it. Going back to when you disappeared. I’ll put something together on a flexpad. Once you are caught up, we can talk more about it, okay?”

“I guess that’ll do. I’m not promising to change though.”

“And I can’t promise you that Cort won’t kill you, Clem. So you have to try. The world has moved past those things. We are all equal now.”

“Even the cockroaches?”

“Let me show you something.” Kim reached for her flexpad. “Remember what I said about the Jaifans? That they have sworn allegiance to Dalek?”

“Yeah.”

Kim tapped her flexpad and a video began playing. Then she handed it to Clem.

“That was the day the people kidnapped Dalek?” Clem asked after watching the video.

“Yes. The female that was standing in front of him was their high queen. Thousands of their species died that day. Just to protect my son. To protect Cort’s son.”

“They did fight,” Clem acknowledged. “They sure as hell did.”

“Clem, Cort had already accepted them as allies. Well, first he beat them. Then he befriended them. By the time this happened, he was already working toward making them equals in our society. But before we got Dalek back, millions of them had died to help rescue him.”

“I can understand that, I suppose.”

“What I’m trying to say is that Cort
chose
them. They earned his trust. They earned his loyalty. But you, as much as you mean to him, you are just blood. You aren’t family yet. With him, that’s something you earn.”

--

“Poppa?”

“Yes?” Cort looked down at Dalek. The two were walking toward the shuttle bay, where Cort was going to ship over to the
Remington,
against Ceram’s wishes.