Future Reshaped: A Post-Apocalyptic Harem (Future Reborn Book 3) Read online

  “Yes, but the same ones, too. Our original mission takes precedent, but we can’t succeed if we die out,” Yulin said. Aristine gave her a nod of agreement, and it was a touch sad.

  I considered their request for a long moment, but the decision was easy, because we wanted the same things. Then I had another thought and felt myself smiling. “What are you looking for in a, um, donor?”

  The sisters shared a look, but Aristine answered. “Healthy, intelligent men. If we have any preference beyond that, it’s their size.”

  “Excuse me?” I said, involuntarily looking down at my groin.

  “Not that,” Yulin said with a snort. “Height. Weight. Robust men. Intelligent men.” She quirked a brow at me. “Like you.”

  “Like me. Hm.” I carefully put my cup down, then stood, held out a hand to Aristine, and pulled her to her feet. “Yulin, will you give us some privacy, please?”

  Aristine coughed, then patted her chest before her face cleared of shock. “Oh. You’re serious?”

  “Yes. Are you?”

  Aristine gave a tiny nod to her sister, then extended a hand to mine, her eyes never leaving my face. She stood, and Yulin left, pulling the soft covering that served as a doorway behind. With a snick, the room became even darker, but Aristine led me unerringly to a room away from the main chamber. Inside, only a small globe of light cast a golden glow over half the room, the other part shrouded in a curious twilight. To my amazement, there were photographs and paintings on the wall of things I knew—images from my world, and the years after when I was asleep under the growing sands of The Empty.

  “The St. Louis arch,” I said, staring at the picture. It sent a pang of loss through me, and I’d only seen it once, when I was a kid on a school trip. At the time, I’ been more concerned with a girl named Renee, but now, the arch seemed like a monument to everything we lost. “A whole world. Gone.

  “We can rebuild it, Jack. Starting now,” Aristine said. She poured a drink from a bottle on the table by her bed, then made one for herself. She drank, throwing the rum back as if she was making ready for battle, which she was, in a way.

  I drank mine, placing the cup with great care, then pulled Aristine to me. She was light in my arms, her long body like artwork, breasts pressed against me in soft confirmation of all that she was. I kissed her, tasting her lips, her breath, and the rum, a swirling mix that made me hard in seconds.

  She leaned back, and I followed. Even in the low light, I saw something I had not expected.

  She was nervous.

  “You’re perfect,” I said, and I meant it.

  “It’s been a while,” she said.

  “Then I’ll go slowly.” I kissed her neck, then breasts, then worked my way down the flat expanse of her pale stomach before coming to a stop and flicking my tongue across her lips with a delicacy that made the muscles in her legs twitch in time. I went left, and right. I licked a long, firm line that parted her under my tongue, and then she began to shudder, her breath a tattered gasp that went on for a minute, her eyes rolling like a wild horse on the run.

  I lifted myself to kiss her mouth, and she welcomed me in, pulling at my back with a desperate need made of duty and lust. We would be the future of her people, and she would be the ally for mine. I moved against her like the tides, letting her come again before I did too.

  Then we did it again, but this time, there was no hesitation. Confident in her need, she pulled my mouth to her breasts, pushing against my head until I nipped gently at her swollen nipples, earning a soft curse somewhere between pleasure and pain. She came harder, easier, and with her eyes open, watching me as I released, and when it was over, she pulled me to her side and watched me with those glacial eyes, now warmed with the heat of our union.

  “Can you sleep?” she asked.

  “I could nap,” I said, feeling a slow smile on my lips. Aristine was different than my women in many ways, but there was a core of will that I could feel, even lying next to her there in the haze of pleasure.

  Her face fell, and she pulled away. “Sorry, I—excuse me,” she said, then turned to face me, a bashful smile on her face. “I don’t know why I’m apologizing for a nature call after what we just did.” She waved a hand over the globe and the light died, then I saw her shadow go into the other room.

  I slipped into that curious twilight men can find only after eating a steak or having incredible sex. It isn’t sleep, and it isn’t being a wake. It’s better than both, and for some moments, I drifted, content and free of worry.

  I woke to Aristine’s tongue flicking over my thigh, then going lower, slow and deliberate before she took me in her hand, sliding her mouth over me in a hesitant caress. She pushed her mouth down, tongue moving against the underside of my shaft, and I hardened in her mouth instantly.

  Then her mouth pulled away, and I sensed her change positions, only to feel her hips straddle me, the heat of her taking me in to the hilt. She began to move like an ocean swell, a deliberate motion that dragged every silken inch of her walls along my length, up, and down, and back before starting all over again. It was a flawless performance, and she began to shake even as a column of lava grew inside me. I came with an explosive shout, pulling her to me for a lingering kiss. Her breath was sweet, and she pulled away, put me back inside her, and began riding again, hands on my stomach as if by sheer will she could make herself come immediately.

  It almost worked.

  In less than two minutes, I felt the orgasm brewing within her like an ancient fault line waking up, rumbling nerves and shortened breath above me that made my own need so intense I could no longer resist the slick pull of her. I came harder than ever, driving up without care as her hands dug into the muscles of my stomach, holding on for dear life as we finally collapsed in a flurry of deep breaths and spasming muscles.

  She rose again, unsteady and pushing off me with a hand gone damp with sweat. I, unlike her, could not consider moving. I chose to re-enter the bliss of neverland, letting the darkness take me as I waited for her return. There was nothing about her that made me think we would not repeat our performance, and the thought of her pale body made me smile in the dark.

  She came to me then, and I touched her face, feeling the lips curled in a satisfied smile.

  “Thank you, General,” I said.

  Her only answer was a soft laugh, and then we slept.

  28

  Morning didn’t break. It was a general hum, and I opened my eyes to see Aristine sitting on the edge of the bed, holding a cup of something hot.

  “I know I didn’t propose marriage last night, but will you marry me?” I asked.

  She narrowed her eyes and pulled the cup away. “Is this because of my body? Because you may have me again, if you like.”

  “Partially. It’s the coffee you’re holding. Away from me, I might add, in kind of a cruel way,” I said, fighting the urge to groan. Caffeine. Glorious caffeine.

  She put the cup in my hands and I sipped. There were no words. “Where in the name of the saints and angels did you get coffee?”

  She waved at the Chain. “Micro-micro climates. We have beans in three areas, and they’re all augmented for maximum production. And caffeine, of course,” she added when I sighed again.

  “This past day has shown me that there are a lot of things worth any amount of danger,” I said, and Aristine blushed.

  “Come, let’s get to the floor. There are things to see, and I want to show you the control center, where we maintain our network,” she said.

  I dressed, savoring my coffee like it was my last drink before I went to the gallows, then we descended to the floor, where people were moving about with a calm kind of purpose. I saw no less than ten kinds of berries, and in each patch of plants there was a small stake with a light on the top.

  “What are those?” I asked, pointing to the nearest blinking light in a group of blueberry bushes that huddled against a massive oak.

  “Inventory control. We have all of our food c
atalogued and tracked by a system, so we don’t lose crops. We try to keep them in the best locations, but sometimes they have their own plans,” she said. We walked a few meters, and she knelt, lifting a large leaf. Under the bush, there were dozens of mushrooms, their lobes a vibrant orange. “Hen of the woods. We don’t know how they got here, but they grow fast, they’re edible, and we decided to let some nature go its own way.”

  It was amazing. We were in an artificial place, but it had the feel of a secret grove, like a place left untouched by people and just discovered that day. “You never told me about those tubes, up there?” I pointed to the distant ceiling, where the tubes wound their way along in serpentine curves.

  “That’s where we’re going now. To see what they do, and why they’re so important,” Aristine said. Several people greeted us with friendly waves, but moved on. I got the feeling I was to be given the tour first, and grilled later.

  The control center was halfway up the opposite wall, and we climbed a spiraling staircase with sections that had been replaced over time. Like the houses, the center had a porch, and large openings that were neither door nor window.

  Inside was the new world.

  “What is this?” I asked in a low voice. Several people worked at stations that only resembled anything I knew as a computer in the most remote way; they passed hands over screens that shimmered and danced like the surface of a pond. “Three dimensional screens. I’m glad someone finally did it.”

  “And more,” Aristine said. “Everyone, this is Jack Bowman, leader of the Free Oasis. He’s my counterpart, as we discussed on the net, and he’s here to see how we water the garden. Be on your best behavior, won’t you?”

  A ripple of laughter went through the room, and the closest person came up, hand extended. He was about my age, taller than me, thinner than me, and on the verge of being pretty. He wore the red and blue, but with an odd silver coil around one arm, connected to a small, oval device that looked worn and used.

  “I’m Faynar, the lead tech on our saturation network. Welcome,” he said, shaking my hand vigorously. He looked delicate but had the grip of a farmhand, which I suspected he was. I wasn’t far off. “The tubes you’re seeing are the delivery system for our reclamation project topside.”

  “Water? They’re for water?” I asked.

  Faynar nodded, then waved me over to his chair. The screen shimmered as we approached, and he called up a series of images from beneath us, where the fish were being farmed. “Our water sources are stable, and deep. We use nanobots to engineer a self-repairing network of capillaries that carry water up to individual places—like the taproot of a tree, or a spring, or even a hillside that needs grass to remain free of erosion. By controlling the water from here, we assure the life up there of its best chance. As we expand, so does the network.”

  I stared at the screen in wonder. We were doing the same thing in The Oasis, but with primitive means. I explained our system to Faynar and Aristine, who nodded in approval of our efforts.

  “How far is it between Eden locations?” I asked.

  Aristine pulled up a map with a wave. In blue lines, the Chain came to life before me, a series of long, imperfect rectangles connected by wide corridors that had to have spanned fifty to seventy meters. In all, the scale was easy to judge even before she told me, but I let her speak because it was her house, her rules.

  “Each location is five square klicks, with an average distance of fifteen klicks between chambers. The gap between E4 and E5 is somewhat more at twenty klicks, with E1 and E2 being closer. The connector is just under twelve klicks,” Aristine said.

  “Why are they not perfect in shape?” I asked. There were irregularities that seemed random and at odds with the general order around me.

  “The rock doesn’t lie. During construction with the reactor-power rockeaters, the original crew ran into some unusually hard deposits. It was easier to go around,” she said with a shrug.

  “This is beyond anything I imagined humans could do, and I saw the space program in action,” I admitted.

  “I’m sure Andi feels the same way. Speaking of, why don’t you chirp her and see when she’s returning? I have something I’d like you to do, now that you understand what we’re about.”

  I tapped my silver oval, “Andi?”

  “Here,” came her instant reply.

  “What’s your ETA?” I asked. She sounded alert and happy.

  “Oooooo,” she said. “I don’t know. Do I have to come back? It’s fun here.”

  “Define fun, woman,” I said, smiling north, to where she was.

  “Jack, they didn’t just keep going with research, they redefined some of the sciences. I’m not fucking around when I say we have a real shot at continental resurgence.” Her joy was unfiltered, and it was impossible not to be infected with her enthusiasm.

  “Amazing. I think the same thing, and we’re just scratching the surface here,” I said, squeezing Aristine’s hand. “I’m going to ask Aristine to send you a schematic. Ask Noble if he can manufacture the item and get back here when you can. I’d like to roll out on Wetterick sooner rather than later. Don’t trust the bastard.”

  “Neither do I. I’ll look for the info and be back soonest. Behave,” she said with a laugh, and cut our connection.

  “What do you want to send her?” Faynar asked. I described my idea as his fingers dragged shapes, symbols, and data around until he completed a schematic, turning the screen in midair to show me. “What do you think?”

  “Perfect. What’s next?” I asked.

  Aristine licked her lips. “Feel like a little sunshine?”

  “Thought you’d never ask. Take me to the Daymares.”

  29

  We went to the surface in style.

  The elevator was carved more than built, a series of organic looking curves with elegant seating that lifted us in complete silence, stopping after less than a minute.

  “That was like not moving at all,” I said as the doors opened onto a darkened hall.

  “Air powered, runs off the venting system. As the elevator moves, it forces fresh air through a baffle, like a piston. It’s how we up mix things up to create breezes inside for pollination,” Aristine said with some pride.

  “Your invention?” I asked.

  “How could you tell?”

  “Not pride. Just . . . confidence in your idea. It shines through,” I told her. She beamed at me, then put her arms around me for a brief hug.

  “Thank you,” she whispered, then drew away, pulling her goggles down as the outer doors began to open at some silent command.

  Sunlight seared my eyes, then my ‘bots adjusted, and I saw forest from a different vantage point than when we entered.

  Six soldiers stood before us, rifles at the ready, neither pointing at us nor entirely away. When they saw Aristine, they snapped to, and the weapons vanished around their backs.

  “At ease. Let’s get right to it, shall we?” she asked. “This is Jack Bowman, whom we’ve been waiting for. He’s ready to move on The Outpost, and we’re going to help make it happen. Questions?” Her voice crackled with authority, far different from the woman who’d been writhing with pleasure under me the night before.

  There were four men and two women, all similar to Aristine—tall, rangy, and capable looking, but they had the addition of dark goggles and a spray of reddened skin across their faces. They’d been topside for some time.

  “Jack Bowman,” I said, stepping forward, but the tallest soldier held up a hand.

  “No names. I don’t know you yet, and it isn’t critical to our mission,” he said, his voice barely concealing his disdain for me. I saw how he looked at Aristine, and decided he didn’t like me for several reasons, but taking the woman of his dreams to bed the night before had to be near the top.

  I looked to Aristine, who was preparing an order that would have correctly embarrassed the man, then put a gentle hand on her arm. “General, if I may?”

  She thou
ght about telling me to let her handle it, then amended her decision when she saw no anger in my eyes, only the sincere wish to help her. I knew soldiers. I knew men. I understood jealousy, and I’d brought the moment on myself, despite the wrinkle Aristine added the night before. Just then, the doors opened behind us, and Yulin stepped out, goggled and smiling. Her face fell when she saw the expression on the man speaking to me, and I made my second snap decision of that minute. I knew I would not regret either, because there are some things that must be handled sooner rather than later.

  “Yulin. Nice to see you . . . again,” I drawled.

  She smiled awkwardly and stepped beside her sister, who seemed, for a second, to be anything but a general. She was smart, and she would figure out what was happening soon enough.

  “General, do I have your permission to teach this prick a lesson in manners?”

  “What?” Aristine barked. Yulin looked stricken, and the soldiers reached for their weapons, then withdrew their hands at Aristine’s murderous glare.

  I rotated to face her, close enough that I could feel her breath on my face. “We seem to have two problems that can be solved with one small demonstration.” I lifted my voice to include everyone. “The issue at hand is not discipline. It isn’t even anger, or a need to understand our role as allies. It comes down to a simple, critical quality that we must share with each other if we’re gong to make this work. Honesty.”

  “I—of course. But how—” Aristine began, but I moved away, into a patch of sunlight pouring through the trees.

  “You,” I said to the tallest soldier who was bathing me in a hateful stare. “You first, or two at time. Whatever. You have ‘bots in your blood?”

  He fell silent, then nodded, his skin flushing red.

  “Good. Then you’ll heal quickly after the lesson. The word here is honesty. You can approach, boy,” I said, watching the insult hit home. There was only so much he could take, given the circumstances. I had found his button and pushed it.