Future Unleashed Page 10

  “Why are you worried about what brought the building down?” Aristine asked. “Should I get Andi on this call?”

  “Not a bad idea, but better for a meeting. I took plenty of pics, and I’d rather we all have input on this. Something isn’t right, and it’s not just war or decay. I’ll head back in a half day and we’ll meet at the firepit. I want all hands on deck for this one, because I have my suspicions that the Procurators are involved in whatever ended this place, but I don’t know how,” I said,

  “Four days at most,” Valor said.

  “Four days? I don’t have time for—” I began, but she pointed north.

  “You’ve followed me this far. Let’s go get the thing that killed my king. Remember, Jack?” Valor asked, her face open and trusting.

  “Change of plan. I’m going north to find a dead Proc. Give me drones twice daily, radio checks at sunup and sunset if you don’t hear from me first,” I said into my comm.

  Aristine was quiet for a moment, then I heard a pen tapping on the desk where she was working. “Jack, if you can get this Proc—I mean secure it—bring it home.”

  “Sure. Whole or in parts?” I asked with what I hoped was a casual air.

  “Either way. Fit the fucker into a basket if you want, it’s up to you. But bring it home, where we can find out what makes them tick. After all you’ve told me, I’m not convinced they’re human, and that means we can’t fight them as such,” Aristine said.

  “I agree. Whole or in parts, this Proc is coming to you. I’ll see you soon.”

  “You do that, or I’ll never forgive you. Chain out.”

  15

  We struck north again with two drones above us instead of one. Aristine argued that our location was growing increasingly uncertain, and that meant I needed a redundant system in place in case things went to shit. Since both Condors were armed, I wasn’t as concerned about a herd of animals trampling us to death, though that was still a possibility given the variety of animals and tracks all around us.

  I shot a wounded deer, butchered it, and shared the kill with both Valor and her wolves, who looked on in amused silence as I set up a small fire to cook.

  “I take it they don’t approve of cooking their dinner?” I asked, assembling kindling inside a small depression of rocks. It wasn’t nearly as dry as the Empty, but we were in country where a fire could go a long way if left untended. It was better to be safe than caught by a firestorm of my own making.

  “They’ll eat cooked meat, but their preference is medium rare,” Valor said with a rich ripple of laughter. She was even more alive out in the deeper wilds, seeming to glow from within as each klick passed beneath the wheels. We were making excellent progress toward a goal that had, until now, been vague. I intended to get some clarity on just where the Proc’s corpse was over dinner, which was part of the reason we were stopped on a ridge overlooking rolling hills dotted with scrub and trees.

  I leaned several cuts of venison over the fire, turning the sticks they were skewered on when the meat began to sizzle. In my pack I had salt, so we seasoned ours and let the wolves eat their dinner straight off the sticks, their tongues flicking out to taste the venison before stripping it from the sticks with a delicacy at odds with their huge size.

  Valor and I ate and drank as the sun began to set, and I stretched my legs out, thankful we were riding. The four-wheeler was comfortable up to a point, and then you were just as saddle sore as if you’d been on horseback all day. The simple act of stretching was reward enough, but looking at Valor’s unusual beauty made the scene even better.

  “You don’t hide your thoughts, do you?” she asked me, her head tilted slightly as she regarded me from my right side. The wolves were directly in front of us, cleaning their paws and flicking an ear at every sound they heard.

  “I don’t try to, so, no. There doesn’t seem to be much point in it now,” I said.

  “Now?”

  I waved around us. “Here. In this world. It’s hard—even brutal—but it’s a lot more honest than mine was. The endless backstabbing and greed and bullshit have largely been stripped away. There isn’t time for it, or time for people who can’t actually do things instead of talking about things. I think humanity is down, but not out. We might end up stronger at the end of this if we can overcome our worst nature,” I said.

  “There are still people like that in Kassos,” Valor said. “Not many, but they’re present. I see them on my lands occasionally. They come through in a wagon train, spouting idiocy about a new social order, and then they offer me a generous position on my knees, serving whoever’s in charge.”

  I barked a laugh at the thought of that particular discussion. “And how did that go?”

  “Not well,” she said, grinning. “It’s always some prophet or trader who thinks they’re the most important person, and then is stunned to find out I’m quite comfortable on my own lands. I hadn’t thought of leaving because my people need me, but also, I don’t want to serve as someone’s footrest. It’s not in my nature.”

  “I would like to state at this time that I have no interest in putting my feet on you. As to other body parts, I make no promises,” I said.

  She took my hand, smiling. “Which is quite alright with me. I’ve been thinking as we travel, and I’m working toward finding a solution to our personal problem.”

  I blinked. “I wasn’t aware we had a problem.”

  “We don’t—not in the traditional sense, but it’s still there. You’re the leader of what is going to be the largest free state in the world. You have time, will, and great people around you, and you’re not afraid to get your hands dirty. You don’t like to command, but you do it because no one else can do it as well as you. That makes you a natural fit for what this world requires. I share some of the same views, but that doesn’t mean we’re different versions of the same person,” Valor said.

  “I know we’re not,” I said, squeezing her hand.

  “And I’m thankful for it. But my lands are close enough to yours that a decision should be made now as to how we’re going to coexist. Now is better than later, when there will be pressure from parties who aren’t sitting here at this fire. Do you understand my concerns?”

  “I think so, although this is starting to feel like the scariest sentence a man could ever hear back in my time,” I said.

  “Which is?” Valor asked, curious.

  “We need to talk.”

  “Ouch. I see how you could think that’s the direction this is going. My fault, that’s not what I want this to be about. It’s more—well, we have to coexist, and the land isn’t going to be the same when we’re both done with our plans. I assume you have a plan?” she asked.

  “I do. Free everyone.”

  “Just—well, no one can ever accuse you of thinking small.” She shrugged, then began running her thumb over the back of my hand. “It’s a big idea, but a good one. Many things can spring from a guiding star like that, I think,” she said.

  “That’s my plan. Pick the best idea I have and be uncompromising. The risk is that I’ll be viewed as a tyrant, but I don’t care. Some ideas are indefensible, like human bondage or murder or—whatever it is the fucking Procs are doing. I’m comfortable being an arbiter of the law in that case, and I won’t lose a moment of sleep over my actions. As to your lands, well, they’re yours. Your people, and I think your rules are the same as mine. You have an understanding of what’s fair and just, but you achieve your goals in a different way. I don’t see why we can’t swim in the same direction, so to speak?”

  “We can, and we’re already doing it. Your scale is different than mine, but I’m here for you, Jack. What I said about no man owning me was more about who I am than anyone else. I’m not built to be a queen sitting next to a king. I’m built to be me, and my needs are different,” she said.

  “Tell me, then.”

  “Let me think about it. Like I said, I might have a solution for how we can have healthy, ah, diplomatic relations
while still working toward a common goal,” she said, edging closer.

  “And here I thought statecraft would be dull,” I said, leaning forward to kiss her in the fading orange of another brilliant sunset.

  There was a lot to be said for learning your way around a woman. The first time with Valor had been explosive, the second, a slow burn that ended in a flare of passion like no other.

  I sensed this time would be different.

  She took my chin in her hands and began to kiss me back, then pushed me away with a gentle touch. “Clothes off now, I think?”

  “Agree.”

  We got rid of our clothing, but not like it was on fire. She actually folded my pants, smiling all the way as she looked me over. I did the same to her, savoring her high breasts, sculpted legs, and apple bottom that moved in sinuous, muscular grace as we met back on the ground, me under her as she brushed her nipples against the hard muscles of my chest. Her hair tickled at my neck, and she flung it aside in mock irritation before putting her hungry mouth on mine, letting the warmth of our need build as we kissed, stopped, then kissed again.

  I was hard like I’ve never known before, and the wetness of her was so close I could sense it. When she spread herself with two fingers, I met her in the middle—me thrusting up, her pushing down toward the earth, and nothing but ecstatic pleasure in between us.

  “So, here’s the thing,” she said in a conversational tone as I reached her deepest point.

  “Yes?”

  “Mmm. Nice. Okay,” she said, her eyes opening wide and round. “I want to watch you watching me. I want to see every sensation you feel as it plays out over your face, because it’s a different man looking back at me just then.”

  She hadn’t stopped moving, up and down. I put my hands on her hips, pulling her all the way back down where she belonged.

  “How am I different?” I asked.

  “You’re softer. Your face isn’t as determined, and there’s some surprise in your expression. You don’t get surprised, not even when some creature from hell lunges at you. Seeing you light up like this is the closest I’ll ever get to shocking you, and I want to live every second of it.

  “Then watch,” I said. “But this isn’t the last time, I guarantee it.”

  “I know. I won’t let that happen,” she said, her voice low and thickened with lust. It was a vow.

  We kept moving, and she came in a series of short gasps, then went quiet, tilting her head as she watched my own orgasm build. It was so powerful I couldn’t stop it, even if I had wanted to, so I gave in to the magic of Valor’s body and energy, and came as we stared into each other’s eyes, smiling and laughing like lovers who had just found each other again.

  “Like that,” she said, running her tongue along my upper lip.

  “Just like that.”

  Overhead, the Condors whined, and the wolves stared in canine curiosity, but I didn’t care. Valor curled next to me, and we slept, protected by metal and beast alike.

  16

  “The Red Hills,” I said the next morning as we rolled up to the first of a rugged series of land formations that looked like they belonged on one of Jupiter’s moons.

  “From your time?” Valor asked. The wolves whined in curiosity at our sudden stop. We’d been traveling since dawn in a northern direction, drifting to the west gradually as the land rose in elevation.

  “This was a state called Missouri way back then,” I said. Even I could hear the wistful note in my voice, and Valor gave me a look of understanding.

  “You feel ghosts?” she asked.

  “Sort of. Mostly ghost, as in the entire world, all gone but with just enough left over to make me sad and angry on occasion. Are the wolves hungry?” I asked.

  “They both got a hare a while back. It was so fast. I nearly missed it, but they’re satisfied for now,” she said. The wolves looked confident and a bit smug, but then, they always did.

  “How much farther are we going?” I asked. I didn’t like the fact that Valor seemed unfamiliar with the area, because uncertainty meant problems. I hate problems.

  She stood in her seat, then shaded her eyes with a hand and peered north, then northwest. “Close. There was a small reservoir, then a cluster of houses running sheep and trading, and then—that’s where he died.”

  “Your king?”

  “My husband. My king. But yes, that’s where it happened. Scouts have been there but would not go in because of issues with stability, whatever that means. If it’s a case of another downed building and those giant worms, then I’d almost prefer that the Proc’s body was gone forever.” She shivered, then grinned. “I don’t like all those wiggly legs. Too much.”

  “Same. I fight monsters for a living, more or less, and that one was—there was something wrong with it. I say that as a man who jumped on a creature the size of a house, too.” I stood as well and spotted the top of what might have been a white roof, slumping at an angle. “More ruins?”

  “There shouldn’t be. The traders were working all the way up to last season,” Valor said with some concern.

  “I don’t like this. Wherever there are Procs, we find ruins, and in those ruins are a horror show,” I said. “Let’s go forward, but slowly. Can you tell your wolves to flank us?”

  She waved with her hands, and the wolves padded silently away without looking back. “They’ll alert to anything, but we can go ahead now.”

  We rolled slowly over terrain that was scrub country broken by layered hills of sedimentary rock, like stony layer cakes punching through the gritty soil. Herds of deer and wild cattle were visible in the distance, and there were birds everywhere. It was alive in ways the Empty was not, and there were occasional stands of trees acting as wind breaks. In the lee side of them, flowers spread across the ground in yellows and whites, with the occasional shout of red.

  “Looks like a good place to live,” I said.

  “It does,” Valor agreed, pulling at her lip. “So why isn’t anyone here?”

  That was answered a moment later, when a guttural, deafening roar split the air from over the next hill. It was so loud, my organs vibrated in my gut and the wolves both tracked back to Valor, taking up a defensive position on either side of our vehicle. Their noses were busy, lifted to the breeze, eyes searing the landscape for visual clues as well. Whatever was out there, they didn’t like it, and since they each weighed as much as a grown man, I knew it was serious.

  “Not a lion. Bigger,” I said.

  “Deeper chest,” Valor said. “I’ve heard the big cats out east, and I thought I knew what loud was. That’s even more—everything.”

  I tapped my comm unit. “Good morning. Can anyone tell me if there’s a dinosaur over the hill? I’d like to know before it turns us into a casual snack.”

  “Morning, Jack.” It was Andi, who apparently had command of the Condors for the time being. “I see . . . something, but it’s not clear on the screens. It’s big, it’s immobile, and it’s loud. Beyond that, it’s in a low ravine and we’re getting interference from the tree cover.”

  “Immobile?” I asked.

  “No indication it’s moved in hours, but based on the way the trees are shaking, it’s big, and it’s pissed off,” Andi said. “I’m at a loss on this one, Jack. I see a single building nearby, over the hill past your field of view. It looks trashed, and in the past few weeks. I was going to mention that there are a lot of ruins between here and Kassos, and to the northwest as well. Not like a storm came through, but definitely something destructive.”

  “Can you cover me if I go in on foot? Ready to spray and pray with the guns?” I asked Andi.

  “Sure. You’ll have to eat dirt if I fire, or even better yet—get the hell away from the area. I’m getting radar returns that indicate hard stone, and that means ricochets. You need something between you and the creature before I can cut loose on full auto,” Andi said.

  I considered that for a moment. The Condor had guns that fired small darts at speeds tha
t split the air and could chew concrete like bread. There was so much destruction that being nearby wasn’t an option, so what Andi was telling me wasn’t just good advice, it was necessary to survive being near the target.

  “I’ll go alone, Valor will cover me with her rifle, and the wolves can flank. Keep this channel open but remain silent while I stalk. If I holler, you’ll know it’s gone to shit and you can turn the drone for a combat run,” I told Andi.

  “Sounds good. Going silent now,” Andi said, and the comm fell into an uneasy quiet, punctuated by small clicks now and then.

  “Send your pups with me?” I asked Valor, who grinned, then waved to each wolf. They looked at her, then me, and then began to deploy, silent as spirits.

  Valor shouldered her rifle and nodded. “Ready.”

  The wolves stayed just in range of my sight as I slipped up the red rocks and crested the hill just to the point where I could see what was making all the noise.

  I stopped short at the sight. So did the wolves.

  In a patch of churned earth, a massive beast thrashed, its piteous cries like an air raid siren as it struggled to free itself. The animal was a mammal, short haired, tan with a black muzzle, and it resembled a long-necked rhino of a size that utterly defied any scale my mind could comprehend. Even with one leg broken and in the hole, it towered above the small trees around it, the head nearly two meters long and the body at least five times that in height. It had to weight forty tons or more, and its small tail was whipping back and forth in distress, but even at my distance I knew the beast wasn’t going anywhere.

  The left front femur was snapped in two, a compound break that exposed nearly a meter of thick bone and sinew, draining blood down the tan hide. The beast was dead, but it didn’t know it yet.

  “Are you fucking kidding me?” I said to no one, my voice rich with disgust and resignation. The creature was in pain, and I wasn’t going to let the wolves do the deed as they would take too long, despite their role as apex predators. In the post-viral world, the prey continued to get bigger and more dangerous, and risking the wolves wasn’t something I was going to do. I walked toward the massive beast, who tossed its head in agony again, bellowing for all it was worth.