ToxicHaven (8 page)

Josias came with a loud grunt. He didn’t pull out but stayed within her. His face close to hers, he lay breathing heavy.

Isan came at the same time and uttered a loud roar as he shot his seed. He collapsed behind her and flung his arm over her body pressing tight against her, his lips in her neck raining small kisses.

They lay quietly for a while until they’d caught their breaths.

“I hate to break this up, my darling, but we’ve been at this for a while. We can’t chance Pierre and Danielle walking in on us,” Josias said, a regretful expression on his face. He kissed her and withdrew his limp cock. She felt Isan pull out as well.

The men stood in all their naked glory gazing down at her as she lay on her back.

“Haven, you’re the most gorgeous woman I’ve ever seen,” Isan said. “Your body is perfection.”

“I wish—”

“As do we,” Josias interrupted her before she could say more. “But we’re not in our own home. There will be more opportunities for us to be together.”

Haven scrambled up and stood on her tiptoes to kiss each in turn. “I love you. I hardly believe how fast this has all happened, but our bonding is so solid, so soul touching, I feel one with you both.”

* * * *

During the next three days and nights on Anat, they learned a lot about the planet and its settlers. They found out there was only one small interplanetary ship the settlers used to travel to the closest planets to trade. They’d managed to snatch some brief time alone so Haven had a chance to probe her mates’ minds about fighting against the powers that be and to take a stand. They were in complete agreement with her, but they were also at a loss as to how to fight the Dahkhar authorities.

They needed to come up with a plan, a strategy. They were without enough weapons, manpower, and more important—high powered ships able to engage in a battle if necessary. Not forgetting, somehow, some way, they needed to find the pockets of resistance, she was sure, must be on each and every planet.

That day, Pierre had taken Isan and Josias to the mountains while she spent time with Danielle. The lovely French woman took her on a tour of the small village, its market and introduced her to various people. “Where do your children live, Danielle? How many do you have?”

Danielle held up her hand. “Five, and six grandchildren. They live in other village.”

“Wow, that’s a big family. Do you see…” Haven’s speech trailed off when she heard a very faint whistling sound high above her. Shading her eyes, she peered up at the sky and saw
them
using her enhanced vision chip. “Oh, my God! They’ve sent three fighters. We have to warn the men!” she shouted.

Danielle stopped and looked up. “I can’t see them. They must be very far.”

“They travel very fast, Danielle. They can travel faster than light. They will be here in a few hours.”

“Pierre will return soon.”

Danielle didn’t seem too worried, but Haven was terrified. The French woman had no idea what the fighters had the ability to do. They could flatten the village in a split second.

Will they land and search the planet? The settler’s village? Or will they destroy the settlements without caring how many lives are lost. After all, they care very little about this planet, and what do a handful of settlers matter? How many war drones are on those ships?
She knew each ship could hold at least ten, plus weapons and buzzard gliders. How many human soldiers had they sent? Haven had seen their gliders in action. There was no escaping them. She calculated Anat time by looking at the hazy sun’s position. Darkness would fall in about two hours. Danielle was right, the men would be back very soon. “Let’s go to your house and wait for the men, Danielle,” she suggested.

“I just need to buy fish for le diner. We are at fish shop.”

“I’ll wait.” Haven waited impatiently. She noticed Danielle chatting amiably with the woman behind the counter and wished she’d hurry. When they arrived back at the Blanchet’s house, the men were already there waiting for them.

Haven ran to Isan and Josias. “Did you see them?”

“See what? What’s wrong? You’re awfully agitated,” Josias said. “Calm down, girl.”

“Deep space fighters. Three of them.”

The expressions on both the men’s faces became grim. They rushed outside and returned just as fast. “Yes, they’re a few hours away,” Josias said.

“What the hell do we do?”

“We have to hide. We can’t put these people in danger. Thank God the men who fumigate the slag found those cases. Remember the weapons I took from the storeroom? They’ll come in handy now,” Josias said.

Isan shook his head in doubt. “What if they don’t land, don’t ask questions? They could simply destroy the villages in minutes. And if they do land and get no answers, they might destroy them anyway. The powers that be have no interest in this planet. They don’t give a damn.”

“I’m sure they want us alive,” Josias said. “They’ll land and question the settlers and send the drones out to search for us.”

Pierre came into the living room. “What is this I hear? Danielle told me there are three fighters in the sky.”

“Yes. Can you warn everyone in the village? The other villages?”

Haven looked at Pierre’s worried face, at Danielle who looked panicked now. “We need to leave here and hide,” she told him. “Where can we go?”

“I can warn everyone quite fast. The settlers in the other settlements don’t even know of your arrival yet. I will contact some and they will contact others. I’ll get a chain going. I will warn them to say if questioned, we do not know of any strangers arriving on our planet.” Pierre took his outdated, though working communicator from his belt and stood before the window while he conversed with his friends and council members. When he was finished, he faced them. “There is a cave I can take you to but it is quite cold during the night. The temperature drops to below zero. I don’t know if you can survive such cold, even with suitable clothing and thermal blankets.”

“I can, but Isan and Josias can’t. They’d freeze to death,” Haven said.

“We could let you use our transport, but their scanners would pick up on it and they would blow it out of the sky. That is not an option either.”

“The sanctuary,” Danielle said.

“A church?” Josias asked. “I doubt they would respect holy ground.”

Haven noticed the hesitation mirrored in Pierre’s eyes and the frown on his face.

“We would need permission from the elders, if—”

“Not time,” Danielle interrupted. “It is only safe place.”

Again the hesitation but after a prod in his side from his wife, Pierre spoke. “There is a sanctuary in the mountains. That is where we get the, what we call, magic water. It is deep inside caves and it is beautiful, serene. There is a hot spring so it is warm inside. I could take you there.”

“How long does it take to get there?” Haven asked.

“We have two gliders. They malfunctioned and were left behind a long time ago, but we managed to repair them. We can only use them for emergency. The one is just a transport glider. The second one is a high altitude glider that only the elders know about. I would consider this an emergency. It will get us there very fast and scale the mountain easily.”

“And you can pilot it?” Isan asked.

“Yes. All the elders know how to pilot it.”

“Fantastic! Let’s go!” Josias shouted.

Danielle left the room and returned quickly carrying a bundle and blankets. “Here is some food and beverages for you and blankets.”

Haven gave the woman a hug. “Thank you, Danielle. I will ask the goddesses to watch over you. I hope to see you again soon.” Just as she was about to leave, she remembered their clothing. “Danielle, we need the clothing we wore when we arrived. If it is found—”

Danielle rushed to fetch the clothing, probably still in her laundry facility. Haven waited impatiently, with the men outside, prodding her to hurry. Danielle returned with the clothing bundled in a cloth bag.

“Thank you. I hope to see you soon, Danielle. Take care.” Haven sent the woman a reassuring smile before she closed the door.

“The high altitude glider is hidden behind the greenhouses in a barn. We must hurry,” Pierre urged them on. “We keep it well locked away because we don’t want our adventurous teenagers trying it out and going into the mountains. There are some dangerous creatures in the dark forests there.”

Haven couldn’t help but chuckle. “Youth is the same everywhere, it hasn’t changed throughout the ages,” she said. From a distance, the greenhouses had looked huge, but she had never realized how truly big they really were. Each greenhouse was at least the size of a farmer’s field. She wished they had time to stop and peek inside. Maybe one day Pierre could proudly show off their crops. Not tonight. Darkness had fallen and the barn loomed before them.

Pierre quickly opened its doors revealing a silver glider. “Come,” he beckoned, hurrying to it.

The glider seated four. After climbing in, Pierre started its engines and waited for his passengers to sit and put on their safety straps. The dome closed over their heads and the glider silently rose and slid out of the barn.

Once outside, the ship rose and Pierre steered toward the mountains, the glider’s bright beam lighting the way.

Haven looked up and saw the three tiny specks had become bright stars in the sky. They had an hour, perhaps a bit more, to disappear from sight. “Will we have enough time?” she asked anxiously. “And how will you return, Pierre, without revealing the glider to them?”

“I will stay with you,” he said. “We cannot afford to lose the glider. We have little enough equipment as it is.”

His determination to help them surprised and gladdened her. She was touched because he was risking their very existence for them. They were, after all, three strangers who had landed on their doorstep just a few days before. The universe still had people in it that harbored kindness. Humanity wasn’t all lost. She was also surprised at how fast the glider moved, regardless of its age. Effortlessly Pierre navigated through the first mountain ridge. Before too long, they were far beyond civilization. Tall cliffs loomed ahead. They looked stark, dark and forbidden.

“A change of plans,” Pierre said. “To hide the glider we’ll need to use the mine instead.”

At first, Haven thought he was going to crash into the tall cliff straight ahead. Her heart climbed into her throat and she was on the verge of crying out when she spotted an opening wide enough for the glider to enter. It slowed. Its bright headlight displayed a long tunnel ahead. The walls, ceiling and floor resembled pink and white soap stone, darker rose veins creating an interesting network.

Pierre landed the glider at the entrance to a large cavern. On the walls, sconces hung about every eight feet apart. The glider’s doors opened and Haven stepped out, surprised at the immense size of the cave. 

“This is where we mine the stones from which we make the compound to detoxify the slag. The stones have other uses as well. We’ve made some beautiful ornaments and lamps from it,” Pierre told them while lighting a torch then lighting each sconce hanging on the walls. They were similar to his torch, but imbedded in holes in the walls.

“I guess this is where we’ll spend the night, days, who knows how long we have to hide,” Josias said.

“I just hope they leave the villages alone,” said Isan.

“Don’t fear the worst, son. Have faith,” Pierre said while dousing the torch and setting it back in place near the entrance.

“It’s really quite beautiful in here. I wonder what kind of stone it is,” Haven mused, running her palm across the wall.

“Salt. The tunnels and caverns go very deep beneath the crust. I think this may have been a sea, hundreds of thousands of years ago.”

“Wow. You could make a fortune selling it. Salt has become a scarcity. The pollution on Earth tainted all salt flats and mines. They were closed down a long time ago. It’s much coveted by the ones who remember it,” Haven told them.

“Yes, we could make a fortune. At the same time, Dahkhar control would take over and before we know it, our planet would not be one of peace and quiet anymore. I hope you will never tell anyone about the mine. If you’re successful in overthrowing the powers that be and stopping the contamination and poisoning of people, ending the slag dumps, we’ll be happy to produce enough compound for all planets to spray their slag dumps. But we’ll never give away the secret of how we make the compound. It’s not just the salt, there are other ingredients involved as well, found only on this planet.”

“It’s not that cold in here,” Isan said.

“No, we’re quite deep inside the mountain. It will protect us from the night, though I suggest we all get our blankets and try and get some sleep. Who knows what tomorrow will bring,” Pierre said. He stood and walked to the glider to take out the packs. Josias joined him to help.

“How far is it to the mouth of the cave?” Haven asked. “Maybe we can see something from there, activity in the sky.”

“It’s a long walk. I don’t know the range of their scanners. They could detect your life forms if you go outside the cave.”

“How do we find out what’s going on?”

“Danielle will contact me as soon as she is able to. My com is turned off right now. We can’t risk them picking up the signal. Here is the food.” Pierre set the bag on the ground.

Josias tossed them each two blankets. Haven spread them beneath her on the ground. When she was ready, she would roll herself up in them to layer them. She was still wide awake, and so were the men.

I fear for them…

As do I,
Isan said.

Yes,
Josias agreed.
The last thing we want is the blood of Pierre’s people on our hands.

I don’t think I could live with that,
Haven said.
I have a hard enough time bearing the guilt of shooting down ships and killing innocents.

You had no choice, love. It was them, or you,
Josias said.

Sometimes I wish I would have revolted against it, flat refused. The guilt will haunt me ‘til the day I die.