Double Helix Ch. 08

I found Stansy, Nock, and Tilly outside, perched around a hole in the ground. The storm was still a ways off, though the sun had disappeared behind the clouds and the wind blew in gusts that kicked up great clouds of dust. Because of the wind, the smell of excrement didn't hit me until I got close to the others. It wasn't an overpowering stench, but it made me resort to taking shallow breaths. "What is that?" I asked.

"Septic tank," Stansy answered. "Just checking that it was in good order before we really start to make use of it. It looks like we've got good flow to the leach field. We were just about to close it back up. We don't want to be out here when it starts raining."

"Good, because Stan and I have something to show everyone."

Nissi and Wendy were already in the den when the rest of us walked in. "Looks like we're all here," I said. I stood next to Stan, facing the group behind him. "We found something on Sasha's computer that I wanted to share with all of you."

Stan pulled up the summary, showing the various bank accounts. "Sasha has a system for running credit up on various credit card accounts and moving money into the bank accounts shown here at the rate of a few thousand dollars a day. Stan and I think that she was trying to get enough money to ship all of us out of the country."

Wendy whistled appreciatively. "That's a nice chunk of money. I wonder why she never told us."

"Sasha kept a lot of secrets," I said, thinking of my own secret that I had kept for her. "She probably didn't want to get our hopes up if this scheme fell through."

"How can we get to this money?" Nissi asked.

"You could buy hard assets with it," Nock suggested. "Gold or some other high-value commodity. We could have it shipped to this address in small lots. That much gold would only be something like fifteen or twenty pounds."

Stansy spoke up. "Yes, but we'd still need some way to convert it back into cash, unless we can find a smuggler who will take payment in bullion."

"That's still better than having it sitting in bank accounts spread across half the world," I pointed out.

"Hold on a sec'," Wendy cut in. "This is stolen money, right? Where is it coming from? Do these accounts represent real people?"

"I doubt it," Stan said. "This thing's been going long enough for statements to have gone out. It makes a lot more sense for these to be new accounts under false identities."

"So she was just defrauding the bank," Wendy said. "I guess that makes me feel a little better."

"Assume we get hold of this money," Nissi said. "Do we even know how to find and arrange a deal with a smuggler? And if we do, are we all willing to risk a trip up to Seattle or down to San Francisco?" That seemed to stump everyone. It was unlikely that we would find any ship between those two cities that could take us out of the country illegally.

A thump on the window made me look over in time to see a second big drop of rain strike the glass. Within moments, it was coming down hard enough to sheet across the surface, casting the darkened world outside in distorted ripples.

"Alright," I said with a sigh. "We can all think about the problem and come back to it later. In the meantime, it seems like this scheme of Sasha's will keep accumulating money until it starts maxing out the credit limits of these cards. Stan, any chance of someone tracing this thing back to us?"

Stan shrugged. "The encryption and routing look pretty solid to me. I'd say Sasha paid good money, real money, both for the MC and for this software."

"Okay," I said. "Then for now I say we let it keep running. Until we know more, it might even do more harm to stop it."

"Oh, shit," Stansy said, staring at the window. "We need to cover up that pane I broke before the rain soaks the carpet."

"Anything I can do to help?" Tilly asked, trailing Stansy as she rushed off.

"I guess that's it, then," I said. "Thanks, Stan."

We all went our separate ways, leaving Stan to dig deeper into Sasha's computer. I decided to try my hand at making dinner. Sasha had taught me a few recipes, and I settled on a stir fry. I tried to be sparing with the canned vegetables, which could run out very quickly if we weren't careful. If that happened, we would have little left to eat but plain rice. The whole time, I was acutely aware of Sasha's absence.

Nonna came down to join us after Wendy went up to get her. Like me, she had gotten little sleep the night before, so had spent the afternoon in bed. The dining room table was just big enough for the eight of us, though we had to bring in extra chairs from other parts of the house. There was little conversation during the meal at first, as our situation weighed heavily on our minds. It was Nonna who broke the silence.

"Do we have a plan for getting more food?" she asked.

"We have over two thousand dollars," I said. "I'm planning to find a seller at the first opportunity."

"Are you sure that's wise?" Wendy asked. "Considering what happened to you and Sasha."

I shrugged. "I don't see that we have much choice."

"What would it take to build our own greenhouse?" Tilly asked. "One like Sasha's, but big enough to grow enough food for all of us."

It was a good question. I answered as best I could. "That's an awful lot of glass, plus steel or aluminum for the frame, and we need to make it airtight but with filtered ventilation. Then there is the problem of getting seeds. It would take thousands, maybe tens of thousands of dollars. Even then, Sasha's greenhouse produced about a fourth of what we all ate."

Nock spoke up. "So assuming you use all of our money for food, that gives us, what, a month? Six weeks?"

"Something like that," I agreed. "Though I'm hoping more like two months. It depends what kind of deal I can get."

"So we should try to tap into the fraud money Sasha was collecting," Tilly said. "At least until we have a permanent solution."

"What is this about fraud?" Nonna asked.

I explained the scheme that Sasha had set up in terms that I hoped her mother could understand.

"Interesting," she said after I had finished, but did not elaborate.

"So, two months," Nissi said. "Stansy, will your uncle be paying us a visit any time soon?"

Stansy sighed. "I really wouldn't know. By the look of things, it's been several months since anyone cleaned in here. That could just mean that we're due for a visit. There's no way to tell. One thing to consider is that we'll be running up the utilities while we're here."

"So," Wendy said, "let's assume that he'll come by in a month or so, when he gets the bill."

After dinner, Nissi and Stansy carried a television downstairs from one of the bedrooms and set it up in the living room. It was an ancient model, thirty years old at least, small and boxy rather than flat, and the lower resolution of the picture gave everything a less distinct appearance than I was used to. It had been fitted with a wireless receiver, though, so we at least had access to the news and a few dozen basic channels.

I was in the kitchen, cleaning the dinner dishes with Nissi, when Wendy came running in. "Guys, you need to come right now."

We dropped what we were doing to follow Wendy back to the television. On the screen, the anchor person was describing events. "While attempting to search the suspect's house, Officer James Heiser was shot and killed. Another officer is in critical condition, with others sustaining mild to moderate injuries. Statements given by three of the officers indicate that genetically modified humans were living there." A police sketch appeared on the screen. I could immediately see the resemblance to my own face. "This man, who is as yet unidentified, is believed to be the one responsible for the death of officer Heiser. If you have any information on the whereabouts of this man, please call our hotline below or contact your local law enforcement. Back to you, Greg."

I looked across the faces of the others, who were all subdued. "They caught Sasha," Stan said, though Nonna's silent tears alone could have told me that.

I had been anticipating the news, but it came as a blow all the same. The others looked at me expectantly, and I realized that they were waiting for me to speak. I stared at the television, afraid I would break into tears myself if I met their gazes. "Sasha was only thinking of the rest of us last night," I said, "when that police car was racing towards us. None of us will ever forget what she sacrificed for us. I have never met anyone so tough, so brave. . ."

My voice broke then, and Nissi put her arms around me. "It's okay," she whispered in my ear as I sobbed silently into her shoulder. It took me a few moments to pull myself back from the brink with a great effort of will.

"We owe it to her," I said haltingly. "We owe it to Sasha to carry on, to remain free. And we will. I promise you that."

The others murmured their agreement. Wendy wiped her eyes with the back of her hands and even Nock looked to be blinking back tears. I quickly turned and left the room before my emotions could get the better of me again.

Nissi came to find me a minute later, obstinately washing dishes in the face of what we had just learned. She picked up a towel to dry those that I had piled on the counter. I could hear the others talking in low voices in the other room.

Nissi worked with me in silence until she had put a stack of plates away in the cabinet. Her damp hand suddenly touched my own. "Norm, can we go to bed? I need you."

I rinsed the plate I had been working on and set it aside before enfolding her in my arms. She felt warm in my embrace, her body soft and feminine, yet tall and powerful all the same. I pressed my face into her silken red hair and breathed in. "I love you."

"I could really get used to hearing that," she said, and sighed happily. "You promised me some good memories earlier."

"I will always keep my word to you," I said. I felt a prickle of shame, but only dully, as if my emotions had all been wrung out of me.

We climbed the stairs and entered our new bedroom. I started to undress and Nissi moved to help me, planting warm, sensual kisses on each piece of skin she exposed. I returned the favor, kissing my way down her thighs as I lowered her jeans to the floor. We climbed into, what for us, was a massive bed.

Nissi took the lead, crouching over me to stroke my cock as we kissed. She swiveled and straddled my head with her legs. The musky-sweet scent of her pussy filled my mouth and nose, inflaming my desire. I lapped at her smooth lips, her juices flowing freely to coat my tongue, my nose and chin. She shuddered and cried out in exultation.

Nissi's hands came away from my cock as she leaned down, to be replaced a moment later by the soft warmth and wetness of her mouth. A thrill of pleasure went through me as her tongue swirled over the head, and I responded eagerly with my own tongue, driving it into her cunt, and then sliding it sensuously over her clit.

"Lick my ass," she said, breathlessly. Her words sent my arousal to a new high and I moved without hesitation or thought, teasing the crinkled flesh of her hole before dipping inside. She responded with muffled moans and grunts as she began to take my cock in earnest. I alternated between her ass, her pussy and her clit, and she loved every moment.

I felt her hand on my inner thigh and thought nothing of it at first, until she began to put gentle pressure on it. Confused but trusting, I relented, letting her pull my thighs apart and bend my legs so that my feet were flat on the bed. Her tongue dove into the space beneath my balls, sending new and delightful sensations through me. A moment later, her fingers were there as well, caressing the patch of skin below that, slick with her copious saliva. After a few moments of this, she stopped, and I could sense that she was hesitating, on the verge of trying something new but not sure I would accept it.

I knew what she wanted, though she had only talked about it jokingly before now. I reached up and found her shoulder, giving it a reassuring squeeze as I plunged my tongue back into her ass, giving her permission without words. I could feel some of the tension leave her. Her mouth returned to my cock and her fingers resumed their stroking, but wandered inexorably lower.

I jerked slightly at the strange sensation of her fingertip brushing over my ass. She pulled away, but I gave her a reassuring pat on her leg. Her finger returned, touching more tentatively at first. The touch was electric, seeming to send a spark of pleasure through my body and out to the tip of my cock, currently deep in her mouth. My body trembled for a moment and I gave an involuntary moan beneath her. She grew bolder, then, circling my hole with her finger and pressing lightly into the center, testing the waters as it were.

Nissi paused a moment to add a new coating of saliva to her finger and I realized that I had become so entranced by the new sensations that I had stopped licking her. I began again, once more dividing my attention between her ass and her pussy, and that seemed to overcome whatever hesitancy she had remaining. Her finger pressed, gently but insistently, sliding easily on the lubrication she had provided. The urge to tighten up was automatic, and it took me several seconds to get it under control. Her finger stopped just inside and she slowly withdrew it almost to the tip before pressing in again. When she found resistance this time, I focused on that, pushing against it, and suddenly her finger slipped past, going deeper inside me and invoking still more powerful sensations to mix with the pleasure she was giving my cock.

Nissi shifted above me, pressing more insistently downward. I had stopped pleasing her again without realizing it, engrossed in the new sensations she was giving me, and she responded by mashing her pussy hard against my face. I extended my tongue as well to add to her sensations. It added yet another element to our erotic play as she used me for her own pleasure. She had known me well enough to realize that it would turn me on.

I almost missed the feel of her slowly twisting and then withdrawing her finger. I thought that maybe she had changed her mind, or decided on a different position when her mouth came off my cock, but a moment later, I felt her finger return with a new coating of saliva, while her mouth went to my cock once more, suckling lazily to draw out the experience. This time, she used two of her long, slender fingers, opening me up more easily than before. I groaned in excruciating pleasure as she took me, made me hers in a way we had never experienced before.

The pleasure coursing through my body finally began to crest, despite Nissi's efforts to prolong the event. I could tell that she was close herself, from the way she ground her pussy heedlessly against my nose and chin. All at once, my back arched, my body going rigid as I thrust my cock as deep into her mouth as I could go. I let out a moan of pure pleasure as I came as hard as I had ever come before.

A muffled squeal came from Nissi as she took my semen into her mouth, swallowing reflexively. She bucked her hips in a sudden frenzy as my cock pulsed again and again. Suddenly, she tore her mouth away to let out a long, low cry of her own. She panted as I eagerly lapped at her clit a few times and gave a wail as her orgasm crested higher. Her fingers remained nestled inside me as she collapsed against me, still shaking and moaning. Warm, wet come flowed from my cock to pool at its base, and it continued to twitch long after my own orgasm had faded.

Nissi lay across my body and I stroked the smooth skin of her back, her legs, and her ass. After a time, she got to her feet and went to the bathroom to wash, returning a minute later to snuggle into bed against me. Her hand trailed idly down my body, caressing, enhancing the warm afterglow I felt. Her fingers found my cock, already beginning to harden again at the prospect of another joining with her. I felt a wave of happiness and longing, so strong that I felt I would burst from it. I loved her so much.

"How would you like my ass this time?" she whispered, stroking my cock slowly.

"I want all of you," I said, "but I'll start with that part."