“Come.”
Sweet release, pulsing, throbbing. Nothing else to worry about. Nirvana, streaming through her, carrying her from her concerns.
The thrill hadn’t yet finished when he spoke again. “Zac is with Osopa and Tukui. I’m taking Callie. You’ll rest today, my Matara.”
The words penetrated despite the steady flexing of her pussy. “I—I can’t. Zac won’t—”
“He already agreed to it. Let us deal with the children. Mind me, Tina. If you don’t, you’ll get a real spanking from Osopa tonight, not the fun kind. That’s a promise.”
She whimpered as an instant of sharp pain stabbed into her inner thigh. It evaporated quickly, as Yorso’s saliva anesthetized his bite.
“Yorso—my Imdiko—” Her thoughts, already blurred by fatigue and worry, fell apart. The arguments she needed to make crumbled to dust under the influence of his venom.
Then there was only the final, delicious pulses of climax as she succumbed to sleep.
* * * *
It had been an exciting day so far, Zac admitted privately. He’d never confess it to the enemy, but Osopa and Tukui hadn’t lied to him about how great going to work with them would be. More exciting than making puppets, though he enjoyed that too.
Zac had a bad feeling in his stomach because he was having fun hanging out with the Kalquorians. His morning had been spent with the terrifying Osopa, who hadn’t been terrifying after a little while. In fact, he’d not been scary at all for long stretches of the hours they’d spent together.
The battle simulations had been everything the Nobek had promised. Yelling Kalquorians pretending to shoot each other had been loads of fun. When their sensors indicated they’d been hit, they didn’t cheat and say it hadn’t happened the way Zac’s friend George did. They fell on the ground like they were supposed to. They didn’t play dead, but shouted angrily before settling down to watch the ‘living’ warriors have it out.
Even cooler than the play shooting was when they got in close and started fighting for real. Zac gaped at the loud thuds of fists pounding flesh, of howling aliens wrestling each other to the ground, where they rolled around until one overcame the other. Sometimes they bled. Osopa asked if Zac was upset by the violence, but he wasn’t. He and his dad had attended plenty of fighting competitions at the civic auditorium in the city. The Kalquorians were crazier than the human combatants that fought for shiny belts that labeled them champions. The aliens fought without rules, but it wasn’t a lot worse than anything he’d seen before.
The best part was when the battle was over and Osopa let him fire a sim blaster at the target range. He’d had to accept the Nobek’s help to hold the huge, heavy weapon, but Zac had done all the pointing. He’d scored a whole seven out of ten, which Osopa said was terrific. “A natural eye for targeting,” he’d praised. The boy squirmed with pleasure.
After that, Osopa taught him some fighting moves. Zac paid close attention. His neighbor Paul, who was about to start second grade, had explained to him about bullies at school. Zac was excited to learn how to fend them off, even if it was Osopa teaching him.
He was certain his afternoon with Tukui couldn’t top the morning. The tour of the rescue center command couldn’t compare, but the big maps floating overhead were neat. For his last birthday party, Zac’s mother had done a pirate theme, complete with a treasure map for him and his friends to follow. They’d discovered a small toy chest, filled with candy necklaces, rings with lollipop gems, and chocolate coins wrapped in gold foil. He’d been fascinated with maps ever since he’d figured out how to navigate his backyard with one.
Tukui showed him sentry camera feeds that spied on survivors who wouldn’t come to the rescue site. “Do you pull your blasters on them and force them when they say no?” the boy asked.
“Never. That didn’t happen to you, did it?” Tukui’s smile said he already knew the answer.
“The Kalquorians who brought us here just did a lot of talking with Ms. Sally, Ms. Heather, Ms. Kelly, and Ms. Lisa.”
“Your group was easy to convince, fortunately.”
“What about when somebody won’t come in?”
“When we locate a group of survivors who don’t want to be rescued, we bring them food and water until they change their minds.”
“What if they don’t change their minds?” Zac was dogged. His parents hadn’t come in. They must have resisted rescue, and they had no idea Zac and Callie were there. It was a far better explanation than them being dead.
“We hope all the survivors will join us before it’s too late. The explosions sent out harmful gasses that are destroying your world, Zac. The plants and animals are dying. People will die too if they stay here.”
“But you know where they all are, so you can make them leave before it’s too late.”
Tukui shook his head. “We haven’t found everyone, I’m afraid. A lot are hiding, because they’re scared. We were at war, and they don’t believe we wish to help them now that it’s over. So we search and do our best to prove we mean them no harm now.”
What if Tukui failed to find his parents in time? “Did you check all the houses? Their jobs?”
“We’re working on it. See that map? Those are search grids, which help us not miss anywhere. If someone asks us to locate a certain person, we get their last known address. Then we use these tracking devices to tell us where we need to go. I’ll give you a lesson on how they operate after the training exercise.” He indicated a wall of small, black devices, all plugged in.
Zac stared at the wonderful map Tukui had pointed to. “What are those red lines on the edges?”
“That’s where the containment fields are. They keep the poison gasses from leaking into the clean air, at least for now. Eventually, those gasses will escape. We have to be off Earth by then.” Tukui dismissed the map, turning to grin at him. “My teams have already met up with the people they’re trying to bring in. They’re free for the extra training I told you about. Are you ready to watch the emergency rescue simulations?”
“I’m ready.” He forgot to hide his excitement.
“Let’s go then.”
Tukui led, navigating the room on a path that took them by the wall of trackers. Obeying a sudden urge of inspiration, Zac’s small hand shot out and grabbed one from the lowest row of charging banks. He slipped it into his secret pocket on the inside of his jacket. He kept his head down, almost cringing as he anticipated someone yelling, “Thief!”
There were no yells. The Kalquorians were bent to their viewscreens, absorbed in their work. Zac’s crime had gone unnoticed.
He hurried faster after Tukui, zipping up and adjusting his jacket so it hung normally, concealing the evidence.
* * * *
Hidden behind a tree, Tina watched her brother as he pointed at the Kalquorian rescuers at the far end of the practical simulation grounds. Crouched next to him, Tukui said something that made Zac laugh.
Tears streamed down her cheeks. Her Dramok was reaching Zac. Her wonderful clanmate was performing magic, just as Osopa had earlier. They were showing the boy it was okay to like them.