Vengeance Unveiled

Chapter 1-2

With his hand on his chest he growled out a response. “That is a great way to give a man a heart attack.”

The blonde stuck her hand out, helping him up. She headed toward his cabin gesturing for him to follow. Leaving his cabin was a mistake he made too often.

“What, don’t think I can make it back alone, Lux?”

“Ha! I bet Deja is waiting at your cabin already.” Bash paused, Lux’Nia had a point. It wouldn’t be the first time this week. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t tease you. Here, let me walk you back. I’ll protect you from Deja.”

Her words sparked heat in his chest. While he could protect himself, she had a point. In the past, if Lux was walking back with him, it seemed to irritate Deja enough she would leave in a whirlwind of anger. If he went back by himself, Deja would persist in her pursuit of him. As they neared the cabin, Deja stepped out from behind a tree.

“I don’t know why you keep denying the obvious.”

Bash wanted to say something, anything, but he knew ignoring Deja was the easiest way to handle the situation.

“Don’t you want this to stop?” Deja called out. When Bash kept walking, she tried again. “Don’t you want me to leave you alone?”

That was the last straw, spinning around he gave in to the need to defend himself. “Of course I want you to leave me the hell alone. You’ve been stalking and harassing me since my release. If I never saw you again, it would be too soon.” Deja’s icy blue eyes narrowed as she tucked her red hair behind her ear.

Ignoring Lux, Deja walked up to him and laid a hand on his chest making him wish he could shove her away. “It’s not like there would be any commitment. I just want a couple nights of fun.” Her hand stroked up to his shoulder and back down. “You know, I’m not that bad. I can make it nice for you.”

Bash stepped out of reach. He was under constant attention because he was the first male born with viable sperm since the virus made men extinct. That aside, he only knew of one other man, and he didn’t have this problem. “You know I really hate it when you do that.”

“Come on, just once,” she purred. A compulsion to flee threatened to overcome him as memories of Deja attacking him in the red room rushed back. The times she’d drugged him for the sake of humanity made him sick at the sight of her.

“Just because you want to be the first woman to give birth to a child conceived naturally, doesn’t mean I should drop my pants and give it a go. That’s what you want, what about what I want?”

Deja fisted a hand in his shirt and pulled him close. Snarling up at him, her blue eyes sparked with fire. “Give me what I want. Then I’ll leave you alone to do whatever…” She gave Lux a glare. “Or whoever you want.”

“Why can’t you leave him be?” He’d forgotten Lux was still there. “You remember what the doctor said. The reason no one’s gotten pregnant yet is because of the stress. Cortisol is attacking his sperm before it can get close to fertilization.”

“I’m aware of why we let him move into the cabin, but it’s not working. Once he was free, the deal was he would go to some women of his own volition, but that hasn’t happened yet.”

“Not with the group of you hounding him all the time, let him relax first.”

Bash didn’t dare say he had no intention of sleeping with the women of the camp. They’d forced themselves on him too many times for him to have a meal with them, let alone s*x.

“Come on Bash. Let’s go, Deja isn’t worth our trouble.”

“I deserve my place in history. You already have yours, why are you so selfish?” Deja’s eyes glittered as she pulled him closer. A sliver of pain shot through his neck from keeping eye contact with her despite her much shorter height.

“I don’t care about history, I just want to live my own life.”

“Don’t you understand? You are refusing to give life, the entire meaning of your existence. Humans were biologically built for a man and woman to procreate. Denying me is the same as denying nature, denying society. If we continue to alter female genetic material as a substitute for sperm, then chromosomes will degrade further. As a species, we cannot survive much longer. Besides, someday you will come to your senses, might as well do it now.” While she spoke, her other hand slid up his chest to rest behind his neck. He suppressed a shiver from her touch.

“We just need to find a new technology. Nothing we have works. Alastor assures me he is close to developing a process that will keep the sperm viable, then you can have all the babies that society needs.” He didn’t dare to look at Lux, denying Deja was hard enough to handle. If she thought he’d chosen Lux over her… apocalypse was an understatement. “If you want a child so much, just go **. Nothing is stopping you from doing it the way they have done it for hundreds of years.”

“You don’t understand, you are the first fertile man born. Alastor doesn’t give a s**t if they develop a process because the only person who refuses to see the possibilities is you.” He shook his head, attempting to step back but Deja held him tight.

“Let go.” It came out as a low growl. He could overpower her, but the punishment he would face wouldn’t be worth it. Memories of being chained to a bed fought to overwhelm him.

“Not until you give me what I want.” A chilling flat tone replaced her outrage. His palms began to sweat as his stomach clenched. That tone of voice brought back memories he was desperate to keep locked up.

“I can’t.” That soft whisper couldn’t be him.

“Sure you can.” She cooed as she released his shirt and slid her arms around him his waist, pulling him flush to her. “Just relax and say yes.”

“I promised Lux.” The lie slipped out before he could stop himself. Pain burst across his face from her palm before he had time to react. Deja was gone by the time his vision cleared. Lux walked up next to him and slid her arm around his side.

“You need to be more careful.”

He hated how Deja was free to a***e him as were any of the women. His fertility was the single part of him protected by the leaders of the camp. The endless reminders from everyone about how he was far too important for any risk to his fertility crushed his soul. Was it too much to ask for one person to care about him? Even when he was a child, they’d raised him under strict supervision of two women appointed to raise him because his mother had died while giving birth to him. The day he turned fourteen, they’d locked him in a room and didn’t let him leave until last month. Fourteen long years wasted, filled with horrors he couldn’t speak of.

Lux interrupted his thoughts, “Deja has a lot of influence with the leaders here. You know what she can do if you take this too far.”

Her warning brought a violent memory he tried to fend off, making his wrists ache at the ghost of pain.

“Come on, let’s get you inside.” Lux led him inside his cabin. After he sat on the couch, she reappeared by his side with a steaming mug of tea. Setting the empty mug on the light-colored coffee table, he started to feel more like himself. He wasn’t sure how he would mitigate the damage from the lie to Deja, but he couldn’t stir the energy to start now.

“Thank you for being such a great friend.” He paused and fingered the blanket he hadn’t noticed Lux put around him. “I think I need some time alone.”

“What if Deja comes back? I could stay here just in case.”

Bash shook his head, “Please Lux, I need to be alone. Besides, I think Deja needs a while to calm down before she concocts some other plan to lure me into her bed.” He reached out and gave her hand a gentle squeeze. “Please give me tonight.”

Lux opened her mouth and took in a breath, then blew it out and nodded. She leaned forward and gave him a chaste kiss on the cheek, then without a word she left.

Once he was sure she’d left, he looked over the sparse wooden cabin. It comprised two bedrooms, a bathroom, and a combined kitchen and living area. The chair he sat in matched the old worn looking beige couch across from him. When he’d first moved into this cabin, Lux had pursued him almost as much as Deja did. After a week she’d migrated to acting like a friend and started bringing him books which helped pass the time. He’d ruined all of that the moment he’d lied to Deja. Tonight he would enjoy a moment of peace, but tomorrow he would feel the repercussions.

Lay’ata Base: Freya

Freya followed the Base Major Tas’Ki into an auditorium, noticing four color coordinated teams of soldiers stood organized. The major led her to a fifth group before standing at the podium addressing the group.

“I will now assign each one of you to a squad. There are four squads: Our primary fighters belong to Kaun’az Squad and represented with a burning torch on a red patch. Our second group of fighters belong to Is’az Squad and honored by an avalanche on a blue patch. Rescuers and medics belong to Man’az Squad and symbolized by a fist on a yellow patch. Last but not least, our support and resource soldiers belong to Nau’az Squad and represented by a seedling on a green patch.” Major Tas’Ki raised her arms and gestured to each team as she spoke.

Rumors about this base ran rampant throughout the ranks of ARI, but she never imagined there was any truth to them. Because the base was so far removed from the city, the command structure of the base devolved into chaos until a new structure formed different from any other base. Freya refocused on the base major.

“From this moment, your team will be your life and soul. All you think about is your team. All you dream about is your team. There is no future except the future of your team.” She turned and gestured to each of the teams. “Each one of you have functions that keep Lay’ata Base running smoothly. If you fail your team, you fail your base, and you fail the Sovereign.”

“O’Paka Sorasta, please step forward.” A cold chill shot down her back at the name. Sorasta was the last name of an officer at Ray’Nia Base. Everyone labeled Brigadier General Zia Sorasta as ruthless. How could the daughter of such a notable officer be stationed as this remote base? O’Paka’s sudden paleness to her ivory skin tone broadcast her fear to the others. Freya considered her as a woman of interest and a way to the inner-city.

“Freya El’Sandsa, please step forward.” The color red flashed through her mind before the major said, “You’re assigned to Kaun’az Squad. Please join your team and await further instructions.”

As she joined her new team, one of them glared at Freya. Without a single physical movement, Freya reached out with her mind. At first there was a frenzy of chaotic noise and voices talking over each other, but she narrowed on the mind she wanted. She slid deeper, past the active thoughts to discover who she was.

Her name was Sha’Rah, and she was the Captain of Kaun’az Squad. Sha’Rah broke eye contact to watch the major continue with the proceedings, throwing Freya from the depths of her mind. She heard a thought from Sha’Rah that she focused on.