The Saffron Malformation (91 page)

             
There was a torturous moment that passed silently as the people around the table tried to decide on what to do.  “We should,” Natalie said, nodding her head away from the table.

             
“Yeah,” Rachel agreed and they began to rise.

             
“No reason for that,” Ryla insisted.  “I’m done.  I just wanted you to know that.  That and I do… I like all of you.  If you decide I shouldn’t go with you… I won’t.”

             
“That’s not an option,” Quey said hollowly.  “Blue Moon will come here, whether we leave or not.”

             
She looked at him.  “I’d be fine.  If not here then somewhere.”

             
Rachel glanced around and said, “You’ll be fine with us.  We’re not going to abandon you because of something as silly as this.”

             
“Of course not,” Natalie added.

             
Ryla looked at Quey.  He still wouldn’t look back.  She felt that as a slight pinch inside her, but she’d had to tell them because Jacob was right.  At least this way they knew the truth and her limitations.  At least this way maybe he wouldn’t get hurt.

             
“Do we have a plan?” she asked.

             
They told her that as of now the only thing they were working with was to go to ground on east continent and try to figure it out from there.  Ryla sat at the table, thinking for a long moment.  “Arnie?”  He looked over at her, his head still soupy from the night before.  “Can you fly the transports?”

             
Arnie glanced from person to person and shrugged, “Sure.”

             
“We’re not back on this are we?” Natalie asked.

             
Ryla shifted her hips, adjusting her weight.  “Running buys us time but they won’t stop.  They’ll go wherever they need to, torture whomever they need to, and eventually they will find us.  It’s inevitable.”

             
“What are you thinking?” Quey wondered.

             
“What if we use this to our advantage.”

             
“Go on,” Rachel probed, sitting forward slightly.

             
“I engage the compounds full defense program and link the computer to a portable device.  This place’ll keep them busy for days, weeks even.”

             
“Weeks?” Arnie asked.

             
“All three of your doom ships,” Quey began.

             
“No.  They would tear through those in minutes with the force they’d send here.  But there are other things.  Below the third basement,” she told him, meeting his eyes with a hard stare.  “Things that think.  Things that don’t die easy.”  A chill passed through the room, everyone save Ryla seemed to feel it.  “They’ll think we mean to stand here.  They’ll send for more soldiers.  Meanwhile we select the weakest base with one of Richter’s transports.  We meet up with Rachel’s brother and use his men to help us break in and take it.”

             
Everyone sat for a moment trying to think of a hole worth bringing up and glancing at one another to see if anyone else could find one.  “It’s not a bad plan,” Rachel finally said.

             
“No it isn’t,” Quey agreed.

             
“What happens once we get the transport?” Arnie asked.

             
“You fly us off the world,” Ryla replied.

             
“What happens when they send shit to blow us out of the sky.”

             
They looked at Arnie.

             
“That’s the one thing, isn’t it?  Even if we do make it to the transport it’ll take a miracle to get us off world alive.”

             
“A miracle or a virus,” Ryla said.  When she noticed she had their attention again she went on.  “The bases have to communicate to one another, they need to be on the planetary network to coordinate anything.  I intend to use the connection at whichever base we raid to shut the network down.”

             
“That won’t last long,” Rachel said solemnly.

             
“I calculate that if they begin repairs as soon as the network is sabotaged it will take between twelve and twenty minutes for them to be fully operational again.”

             
Another set of glances.  No one argued.

             
“That’s cutting it close,” Arnie said.

             
“It only take’s but one or two to break atmo,” Quey said.

             
“True,” Arnie agreed.  “But, I’d like to leave at a wide orbit.  Seeing as how none of us have ever been to space, and given Rachel’s condition, I’d like to limit the G’s we pull.”

             
Everyone agreed that was sound.

             
Quey looked over at Ryla, he looked at her nose, the shape of her cheek bone and jaw line.  He looked at her eyes and his heart lurched.  She was beautiful, not just pretty, and he knew she cared for him, maybe even loved him in her own way.  Whatever way that was.  “Rachel, message your brother with the plan.  Tell him we’ll need his people ready to go.  Ryla, how long will it take you to get set here?”

             
“A few hours.”

             
He nodded.  “Arnie, you gunna be able to keep sober?”

             
He nodded.

             
“We need you sharp,” Quey told him.  “We leave early, as in with the sun,” he said.

             
“What base are we going to hit?” Arnie asked.

             
“We’ll have a great deal of road time between here and Breaker’s Bay to figure that out.”

             
“Doesn’t even have to be on the east continent,” Natalie added.  “We get to Topaz and we can get anywhere.”

             
It was a good point and went noted.

             
“Morning then,” Rachel confirmed.

             
“Morning,” they agreed.

             
“I’ll handle the kids,” Natalie said.  “Tell them what they need to know and make sure they’re ready.”

             
Quey chided himself silently.  He’d forgotten the kids.  What the hell were they going to do with them?

             
Ryla was halfway to the elevator when he noticed her leaving.  He was on his feet and after her as the others went their own ways.  She was already inside with the door closing when he caught up to her.

             
Their eyes met for the first time since he’d seen the scan of her innards and discovered what lurked within.  After a long bit of ticks he leaned down and kissed her.  His arms wrapped around her and pulled her against him.

             
“Do you understand,” she began.

             
“Not a thing,” he told her.  “Not even me.”

             
“So what then?”

             
He shrugged.  “What feels right.”

             
She nodded thoughtfully.  “Okay.”

             
It was a cold reply.  To her it was a decision that could go one way as easily as the other.  When he stepped back the doors began to close.  Just before they came together he thought he saw her smile.

Quey and Ryla

             
Morning came faster than any of them would have liked.  Quey woke in Ryla’s bed, naked and still drained from the sex they’d had only five hours ago, after she’d finished programming the compound.  She was sitting at the desk across the room, naked in the glow of her computer’s holographic screen, making last minute adjustments.

             
They hadn’t spoken much at all the night before.  He’d waited in her room for hours though he couldn’t tell you why.  Perhaps part of him wanted to see her under the light of this new information he had about her, to see if knowing the truth would change his perception of her.  Was she just running through a set of programming parameters?  Of course he couldn’t deny the seedier side of why he was there.  He had a desire she was quite good at satisfying and there was something appealing about screwing something that had screwed with you.

             
Why didn’t she just tell me?  He chewed on that question for quite some time until she’d finally come into the room.  He’d watched her, the way she moved, the perfect elegance of her steps and the way her pale blue dress floated around her.  He hated how perfect her movements seemed, as if nothing were ever an accident, as if every step was part of a well rehearsed dance.  A person doesn’t move like that, he thought bitterly.  A person missteps.

             
The glare he watched her with began to fade as he traced her shape with his eyes and remembered how good those flawless movements could feel.  Desire tickled in his groin and mixed with a series of other emotions.  Frustration, and hurt feelings.  She hadn’t trusted him with the truth.  It made him angry and hard for her at the same time.  Then she noticed him, lying on her bed.  She looked at him for a long set of ticks before unzipping her dress and letting it fall to the ground.  Her breasts sat high on her chest, her figure a slender curve that she accentuated by cocking her hips and arching her back.  She looked at him and even through the dark her eyes pierced him.  He rushed her, backing her against the wall, and looked at her intensly.  The emotion behind his eyes was as unclear to him as it was to her.  Finally he placed his mouth on her’s and she accepted his kiss and allowed his hands to grope her.                There was something different about him this time, she noted.  He wasn’t as gentle as he had been during past encounters.  He was forceful and a bit rough with her, and strangely she found that this new experience was exciting.  It seemed dangerous somehow, as if she had no control over what happened.

             
He opened his paints with a swift motion and let them fall to the ground.  They watched each other for a moment before he touched her breast again and gave its nipple a pinch.  She tried to move but he grabbed her arms and trapped her against the wall and looked down at her body, analyzing it.  Her heart raced and she remained still, waiting to see what would happen next.  Anticipating.  She didn’t know why she liked this, he was actually sort of being mean to her.

             
His lips settled on her neck and he breathed deep.  She smelled good.  Her skin was soft.  She was heartless and a liar.

             
Her hands moved to touch him so he spun her around, used his fingers to lubricate himself with spit, then stepped forward and ran a hand down her back, giving her ass a slap.  She looked over her shoulder at him, breathing heavy, and he shoved himself inside.  She sighed as he entered and lubricated quickly as he gripped her hips and thrust hard.  She braced her hands against the wall and made little noises as their flesh clapped together.

             
Before he knew what he was doing he scooped her up, carried her over to the bed and threw her down onto it. She squealed with surprise and excitement.  Quey pushed her legs apart and pulled her to the edge of the bed where he fucked her hard and for a long time, longer and harder than he’d expected.  Each time he thrust into her he felt the knot of frustration in his belly gain a bit of satisfaction.  It was short lived, however, as he couldn’t help wondering about her, second guessing every sound she made, every touch she gave him.  She watched him, meeting his passion with her own, crying out or sighing, “Oh fuck yes,” or telling him how good it felt.  Was that real?  Any of the things she said.  Finally he leaned over her and grabbed her hair.  He looked into her eyes while their flesh came together like waves crashing on a beach.  There was no talking then and he watched as her eyes fluttered and her body began to tremble.  He saw her mouth working a silent, ‘oh,’ as her muscles pulled tight and he had to groan, tight as her hands were on his arms, she was tighter around the part of him that was inside.  “Don’t stop,” she begged only twice before a spasm shook her and she groaned.  After a cluster of hard contractions she loosened and fell limp beneath him.  His thoughts and doubts gave way to something animal.  He settled on her with need, meeting her eyes and throbbing inside her.  She gave a tiny cry with each thrust until finally he pushed deep and had a spasm of his own.

             
Afterward he collapsed onto her.  She kissed him tenderly and stroked his hair.  “I’m glad you were here,” she told him.

             
He looked into her eyes and wondered about her again.  He felt tense and wondered if it wasn’t a mistake to come here.  There were so many things he didn’t understand about her and he wondered if he ever could.  She was unique in the world and not very forthcoming.

             
When he finally left her the sensation ran a tickle through his prick that was almost painful.  It did something similar to her as both their orgasms had been mighty.  He took a moment to look her over, his eyes lingering on her wounds, stitched closed and healing fast.  A thought tried to form as he fell onto the bed beside her, but his mind was soupy so instead he touched her healing wounds lightly as she lay silent beside him.  He felt the urge to go, to walk away and leave her.  He told himself that’s what he’d do he just needed to lie down for a minute.  It took less than that for him to fall asleep and it seemed an instant later it was morning.

             
“We have to go soon,” she told him.  He watched as she pulled on a long black skirt and a black long sleeve with a porcelain doll hanging from a noose on the front.  The dolls face was cracked in a spider web pattern and missing small pieces here and there.  It was snug on her and she smoothed it gently against her frame. 

             
“A little small, I think.”

             
When she looked up she saw him watching her and explained, “It was Rain’s.”

             
He nodded.  She’d really meant something to Ryla, and Quey took comfort in that.  At least he knew that was possible for someone to do.

             
Quey dressed in his jeans and a plain black short sleeve.

             
They went into the main room and found Rachel and Natalie getting the others moving.  Leone and Amber were dragging their feet a bit, while Arnie stacked bags near the doorway.  Ryla looked around the room, scanning the mural she’d painted for what just might be the last time.  How many hours, hell how many days of her life had it taken her to paint it?  Of course if she wanted to know all she needed to do was think about it.  She decided not to, some things were best left to uncertainty, and carried her bags to where the others were stacked.

             
“Everyone good?” Quey asked.

             
“Think that’s all of it,” Natalie confirmed.

             
“Arnie and I will load up the cars.  If you guys wanna have a look around to be sure, maybe have a shower if it’s not more than ten minutes.”

             
“What are we driving and who’s ridding where?” Arnie asked as he was about to pick up one of the bags.

             
“I’ve been thinking,” Quey began.  “We should take all three vehicles.  That way should something happen to one we’re not pressed for space, not as pressed anyway.  Idealistically it’s not a bad idea to have Arnie ride with Amber and Leone, that way if something does happen he can get them out of there.”  He could tell Natalie was going to protest so he didn’t even take a breath before starting his next sentence.  “However, I realize Nat, you probably want to ride with Amber so another way to do it is to have the two of you take one car, Arnie and Rachel can take the other and Ryla and I will take the truck.  Leone could ride in either car, but I think if asked he’d prefer to ride with you two,” he said meaning Natalie and Amber.

             
“I’d prefer that arrangement,” Natalie said.

             
“Good, then if no one else has anything?” he waited for someone to speak.  When no one did he and Arnie moved toward the bags.  “Why don’t you give us a hand,” he said to Leone as he passed.  The boy followed without a word.

             
They loaded the bags onto the elevator then hauled them through the lobby to the door to the garage.  It took a few minutes to separate the bags and put them with the proper vehicles but once that was done loading them up was easy.

             
“You gunna be okay?” Quey asked Arnie when Leone was loading the car and out of earshot.

             
Arnie looked at him.  His eyes were empty but his gaze was solid.  “You guys came for us… you didn’t have to.  You did your best to keep us safe and get us through.”  He took a breath to gather himself and said, “I’ll see this through, get you off the planet if I can.  After that… I can’t say.”

             
Quey nodded and clapped him on the shoulder.  “That’ll be plenty,” he replied then headed off to load the truck.  He was mostly done when Leone approached him.

             
“I shouldn’t have said what I did,” Leone’s voice was flat.  Quey turned and looked at him.  “About getting people killed.”  The boy glanced toward Arnie who was getting things set in the car he’d be driving.

             
“It’s alright,” Quey assured him.

             
“No,” he protested.  “My sister,” he looked over at Arnie again, made sure he wasn’t coming and couldn’t hear.  “She thought a lot of you.”

             
Quey took a breath.  “Leone,” he began.

             
“She told me, back when she was shot.  She told me that if she died I was supposed to stay with you.”

             
Quey was surprised.  “I didn’t know that,” he said more to himself than the boy.

             
Leone nodded.  “I just want you to know why, if it comes to it and our little group does need to split, like you said upstairs.” he looked to Arnie again.  “He can run with Amber but I’m staying with you.”

             
Quey nodded.  “That’s the case then it’s like it was in the house, when I gave you the gun.  You do what I say without question or hesitation, and you don’t ever tell Arnie about this.”

             
The boy shook his head and said, “No.”

             
Quey looked to him with a bit of surprise.

             
“Not telling Arnie’s all right but I’m not as great a stranger to a gun as she would have let you believe.  She was no fool, she knew it might come to that someday.  I need a bit of practice but when the time comes I mean to be of use.”

             
“Listen,” Quey said with a heavy sigh.  “There’s a lot that comes with that, shooting someone.  It’s baggage she didn’t want you to be burdened with.”

             
Leone looked up at him, his eyes solid, and said, “There’s a lot about the way things are she didn’t want.”

             
Quey looked out at the others, getting settled in the other cars.  “You better with a pistol or a rifle?”

             
Leone shrugged, “I handle either all right.”

             
Quey nodded, patted the boy on the shoulder and walked away.  As they finished loading up the vehicles Quey was sure to set an extra set of guns in the car for Leone.  The boy was right.  Things were different now.

             
Ryla walked the compound during the little time they had, primarily the second floor, that was where most of her robots gathered.  She picked up shybot and placed him on a table.  Koopbot rolled into her leg.  She looked down at him and smiled, then bopped him on his head.  He snapped back into his shell and her smile broadened.  She’d built these bots for herself, making them in the images of things she understood.  They were nothing like the creatures below the third basement.  These were pretty and gentile while there was nothing about those that wasn’t violent and angry.  She had her doom ships, sure, but they were a new project.  The older ones, the ones she’d be activating for the first time in half a dozen decades, scared her.

             
Her mind went to Jacob, to some of the things he’d said, accusations he’d made regarding her treatment of the bots.  She never cared for those particular ones but she hadn’t done anything about them either.  Perhaps she’d still believed that it might come to a point where she’d have to activate the clean sweep program.