Viridian Sands

"Not that there's anything wrong with that," Ramos added hastily. "I guess I'm still operating in human mode."

"I think we should be able to fix that," Kozi purred, leaning a little closer to him. "You're cute when you blush, you know."

"Keep your eyes on the road," he muttered, clearing his throat as she watched him with a toothy grin. "First rule of driving."

"I like to annoy Rashka until she feels the need to remind me of my place," Kozi continued as she returned her attention to her task. Her yellow eyes flicked to him, anticipating his reaction. "A little disobedience - a little irritation. Just enough to get her heated. I want all of her intensity focused on me."

"Looks like the radar found a site!" Ramos declared, interrupting her thought. "Hop out, and I'll show you how to work the drill."

Fleeing as though he could leave his embarrassment behind in the cab, he dropped down onto the hot sand, circling around the giant tractor to get a look at the rig that it was pulling behind it. The skeletal trailer had a set of four wheels with thick tires, a tall housing for the drill rising into the air like a flagpole beside a block of machinery and electronics. He walked up to the control panel that jutted from its housing, Kozi sidling up beside him on her long legs. She bent at the waist again to get a closer look, both a display of her impressive flexibility and a tacit dig at his stature, he suspected.

"The GPR will find the optimal location, then all you really have to do is maneuver the trailer into position and activate the drill," he explained as he demonstrated how the controls worked. The trailer extended a set of four outriggers, lifting itself a few inches off the stand and stabilizing itself with a mechanical clunk. "It has a range of about a hundred meters, and it'll go through solid rock. The only thing you have to watch out for is this readout here that tracks drill integrity. With the amount of wells we'll be tapping, we're going to blunt the bit, and it'll need replacing eventually."

"How did you learn all of this?" Kozi asked as she watched the drill start to kick up a cloud of sand and dust, her ears flattening against her hair at the high-pitched whine.

"School, training, fieldwork," he replied. "I've spent much of my professional life restoring Earth's rainforests and developing new agroforestry techniques."

"What is that?" the Rask asked, tilting her head.

"It means creating sustainable farms inside or nearby dense jungles that don't harm their ecosystems. That can involve cultivating native resources or simply building around the existing forest."

"I was skeptical when Rashka chose to answer the Matriarch's call for workers," Kozi began, turning to gaze at the crawler in the distance. "So many who served beneath her predecessor took up jobs in the new mercenary companies."

"But not you?" Ramos asked.

"I think Rashka is tired," she replied in a more somber tone, keeping her eyes on the flat horizon. "The rebellion was hard-fought, and we did not win. I am starting to enjoy this, though. There is a simplicity to it. The former Matriarch promised us prosperity through conquest, but Korbaz believes that we can build it for ourselves. I am beginning to believe it."

"In the tractor, you said that Rashka takes care of you," Ramos began. "What did you mean by that, exactly?"

"The Alpha is responsible for the welfare of their pack," Kozi explained, turning her eyes back to him. "Rashka protects us, she ensures that we are housed and fed, and she manages our funds. We look to her for leadership and comfort."

"She's like your legal guardian, then?" Ramos mused. "You all live together in a kind of family unit, and she's the head of the household. Does the Alpha not kind of...lord over their pack? What if she makes you do things you don't want to do?"

"A bad one might," Kozi replied. "Bad Alphas do not keep their positions for very long. We share many responsibilities, but Rashka has the final say. We obey because we trust her."

"The way I heard it, who gets to be top dog is usually decided by two Rask clawing the shit out of each other."

"Bouts are one of the ways the hierarchy is determined, yes, though usually in the case of a direct challenge to the Alpha's position or authority. Such challenges must be answered quickly and decisively if the Alpha is not to lose face."

"I have to tell you, it's not easy to understand," Ramos conceded as he turned to monitor the control panel. "We humans like our freedom."

"Do you?" Kozi scoffed as she walked across the burning sand to stand beside him. "All of the Marines on this planet obey the commands of their Sergeants and Lieutenants just as we obey our Alphas. Most of the contractors and civilians are here because they were told to come, not because they chose to."

"We tend to separate our professional and personal lives."

"You do not yet know the joys of giving yourself completely to someone you trust and admire - of relinquishing control in all things. That can change if you want it to..."

Ramos maintained her gaze for a few moments, her yellow eyes burning into him, then the abrupt sound of the drill completing its cycle jolted him out of his stupor. He spun around again, focusing on the readout as the tall Rask peered over his shoulder.

"Okay, that's the cycle done," he said hurriedly. "You saw me engage the outriggers, right? Stow them again, then move the tractor so we can take a look."

She did as he asked, the engine thrumming as she drove the vehicle a short distance from the site, then came jogging back to him across the dunes. Where the trailer had been sitting was now a black polymer tube about six inches wide that jutted a good meter from the sand, its top capped off with a valve.

"This pipe is now tapping into the aquifer nearly a hundred meters under our feet," he said as he gestured to it proudly. "The water in your territory is locked beneath some pretty impermeable rock and shale layers based on our surveys, which puts it under pressure. Generally, we refer to these as artesian wells. We won't need any pumps to extract it. Here, watch this," he said as he knelt beside the pipe. As he turned the handle on the quick-release valve to open the flow, a spout of water shot up into the air. It rose a few meters in height, then began to rain down again, soaking the surrounding sand.

Rather than shy away, he welcomed the reprieve from the desert heat, lifting his face towards the shower of cool water. He let it splash him, wetting his hair, not caring that it was dampening his clothes. He would dry off quickly enough.

Kozi's yellow eyes grew wide with wonder as she watched the fountain of water spray into the air, then she began to laugh, shrugging off her leather jacket and tossing it to the sand. She danced beneath its spray, holding out her furry hands to catch the droplets, grinning as she enjoyed her own personal rainstorm. The mist refracted the sunlight, creating a shimmering rainbow that hovered in the air above her.

Ramos' laughter joined hers as he sank to the sand, sitting down to watch. She was wearing only her leather pants and her tank top now, the white fabric soon becoming soaked, making it cling to her like a second skin. His chuckling tapered off, his gaze drawn to the defined features that leapt out from beneath her damp clothing. While modest on her large frame, she was impressively endowed by human standards, breasts large enough to overflow his cupped hands bouncing subtly as she spun on the spot. There was nothing to support them but her top, their outline clearly visible beneath the wet fabric, the tan color of her skin bleeding through the garment where it stuck to her.

Below was her toned midriff, the harsh gravity of Borealis carving two perfect rows of muscle into her stomach with all the artistry of a classical sculptor working with marble. The waterlogged vest adhered to her so tightly that he could see the flawless channels they chiseled into her belly, the white fabric giving way to caramel skin just above her navel. The belt that held up her pants rode low on her wide hips, the leather not needing to be wet to cling to her, the dimples of muscle in her thighs clearly visible when they caught the sunlight. As she turned, inadvertently giving him a view of her firm rear, he noted that there was a little cutout for her tail to poke through. How did she even get into pants that tight? Did someone sew them onto her each morning?

She had muscular upper arms, that tanned complexion giving way to blonde fur below her elbows that matched her messy hair. Her skin was lustrous where it was exposed, little beads of water clinging to her, sparkling like tiny diamonds as they caught the suns. Although she must weigh as much as a Bengal tiger, and the gravity here was thirty percent higher than that of Earth, she moved with such grace that it was easy to forget.

Dripping with water now, she bounded her way over to him, bending over to bring herself closer to eye level. It took all of the willpower that he could muster not to look straight down her top, beads of water trickling into her cleavage as she reached up to brush her wet hair out of her face.

"I think drilling wells is my favorite job so far," she declared, giving him a broad smile. "I feel as though we could make our own oasis anywhere we pleased now."

"Y-yeah," he mumbled. "That's how they form - pressurized groundwater seeping up to the surface through fissures."

She stood up straight again, her face seeming to fly away from him, lifting her arms above her head as she stretched. She was limber enough to make any human gymnast look stiff and clumsy.

"Shall I close the valve, or will we leave it?" she asked.

"We'll close it," he replied, hoping that he wasn't blushing again as he rose and brushed himself off. He could already feel the water evaporating from his skin in the desert's dry heat. "Eventually, the pipe will feed an irrigation network that will keep the soil moist."

Kozi braved the torrent of water again, crouching down to close the valve, then shook out her fluffy hair. On her way back to the tractor, she stooped to retrieve her jacket, waving it like a flag as she turned back to him.

"Keep up, farmboy! Rashka and Zhura will be wondering what has become of us!"

He jogged over to the tractor as she dipped inside the cab, pausing to admire the little pool of water that they had created in the sand around the pipe. It would evaporate soon and become just as dry as the surrounding dunes, but it was a little taste of what the future might bring.

CHAPTER 2: ALPHA AND OMEGA

As the tractor neared the work site, Ramos spotted the fleet of six dozers. They had covered some decent ground already and were well into the process of flattening the dunes. Working together in a grid pattern, they could turn a sizeable area of land into a parking lot without much trouble, and there were no drivers who needed breaks or sleep. He couldn't see the two Rask, but as Kozi turned towards the nearby jungle where they had parked the trailers, they both emerged from the shade of the canopy.

"Why are you wet?" Rashka asked skeptically as Kozi hopped down from the cab.

"We dug our own spring," Kozi replied breathlessly, slinging her jacket over her shoulder. "He can make water well up from the ground anywhere!"

"Not quite," Ramos chuckled. "It looks like you two have been doing well."

"The machines work by themselves," Zhura replied tersely, one of her ears flicking in what might be irritation. "There is little for us to do other than program instructions."

"Here," Rashka added, thrusting a giant canteen that must have contained three or four liters of water into his arms. Ramos had to grip it with both hands, feeling the liquid slosh around inside. It was of Rask design, made from steel, and attached to a leather sling that was embossed with decorative patterns. "You are a newcomer to this desert and still ignorant of its dangers. Drink."

She fixed him with her steely gaze, and he felt compelled to do as she asked, spilling a little from the heavy container as he drank.

"More," she commanded.

"Hang on, I gotta take a breath," he grumbled as Kozi snickered at him. When she was satisfied, Rashka took it back, stowing the canteen on her belt.

"What are you going to teach us next?" Kozi asked, crouching down to his level like she was addressing a child.

"I hope you like dirt," he replied. "Now that the dozers have cleared some of the land, we can start laying down fertilizer. The goal is not to remove the sand, of course. That would be impossible. But, with a flat surface and a lot of the excess cleared away, we should have a good foundation to start building our new jungle. Contrary to what you might believe, sand isn't some kind of sterilizing agent. It actually allows water to filter through it quite well. The issue is that it lacks the nutrients that plants need to grow and thrive, being composed mostly of silicates and minerals rather than organic matter and healthy biota."

"How do we do that?" Kozi asked. "Just sprinkle it on the sand?"

"We're going to use a specialized machine to dig a series of deep channels that we'll fill with fertile soil," he explained. "That's also where we'll be planting the seeds. Each of the seeds is contained within a protective gel that acts somewhat like an egg, insulating the sapling when it's at its most vulnerable, keeping it hydrated, and giving it a kickstart with the nutrients that it needs. That'll improve their chances of taking to the soil."

"What of the wells that we dug?" Kozi asked.

"Those are going to feed a drip irrigation system that we'll be laying down between these rows," Ramos replied. "Small openings in the buried pipes will allow water to flow out, delivering it directly to the roots of the plants to minimize moisture loss by evaporation. Today is more about training and demonstration, so we're not going about this in the most efficient order, but the soil and seeds will keep for a few days while we get the irrigation network set up."

"Very well," Rashka said. "Proceed."

"I think it's Zhura's turn to learn to drive the tractor," Ramos declared, giving the surly Rask a smile that she returned with a scowl. She looked to Rashka, silently asking whether she had to obey, the Alpha giving her a stern look.

"Fine," Zhura grumbled.

"Let's head over to the trailers, and I'll show you how the seed drill works."

The seed drill was a large multi-purpose trailer that attached to the back of the tractor. It was made up of three articulated segments, each of them a distinct machine in its own right. To the untrained eye, it looked like a truck-sized mass of pipes and wheels, but all of the blades and machinery had distinct purposes.

At the front section were a series of blades and wheels that would dig furrows into the earth like a plow. On the middle car was a deep tank shaped like a trough where the fertilizer was loaded. The tail section housed the seed racks, where the rows of pre-packaged canisters filled with suspension fluid could be slotted into place like magazines into a rifle. The fertilizer traveled down a series of snaking tubes, filling the furrows with soil, then the seeds in their protective gel coatings were driven into the ground like stakes. The machine could plow a field, fertilize it, and plant seeds all in a single pass.

Ramos directed the three Rask to start loading the fertilizer, the aliens forming a line. Rashka unloaded the heavy burlap sacks from the back of a trailer, then tossed them to Kozi, who passed them to Zhura, who had climbed up on top of the middle car. She split open the bags with a sharp claw, then upended them into the tank, the three making good time.

Ramos sat down on the hot sand to watch, surmising that he would probably just slow them down if he offered to help. As they exerted themselves, the desert heat started to gnaw at them, and it wasn't long before all three women had shed their heavy jackets.

They were all wearing simple tank tops beneath the leather, and just like when Kozi had frolicked beneath the shower of water, perspiration soon had the garments glued to their bodies. It was impossible not to notice the outlines of their impressive abdominal muscles and the weight of their ample chests straining against the fabric, Ramos thanking his stars that he was wearing dark sunglasses. Laboring in the heat of the twin suns, the three Rask quickly became drenched in sweat, the moisture making their tanned skin so lustrous that it looked oiled. If Rashka were to flex her bicep, he could probably have seen his reflection in it.

She was an impressive specimen. Where Kozi was a little lighter and leaner, Rashka was all muscle, standing a couple of inches taller than her packmates. She looked like she could probably have flipped the tractor, but despite her brawn, there was nothing masculine about her build. Her wide shoulders were complemented by an hourglass figure that tapered into flared hips, her stout thighs straining against her leather pants, easily comparable in volume to his torso. Her toned core was wide enough that he wondered whether his arms would even meet if he were to hug her. Her breasts would have been absurd on a human woman, but they were more akin to D-cups on her larger build. They were as big as his damned head...

Zhura had a similar build to Kozi, though she was a little stockier, and he noted that she had a collection of scars on her arms that cut into her sandy fur in places. He was amused to see that the Rask often paused to wipe their brows with their furry forearms, and it made him think about their evolution. They were related to Polars like Orzi, so it stood to reason that they likely shared a common ancestor that had been fully furred. Humans had lost their fur in part to aid in the evaporation of sweat, so perhaps something similar had happened to the Rask and their counterparts as they had adapted to their arid environment.

Before long, they had filled the tank with fertilizer, and Ramos had taught them how to load the seeds. He climbed into the tractor after Zhura as her two packmates rested and drank from their canteens, sitting down in the smaller passenger seat as was becoming customary.

"So, have you ever driven something like this before?" he asked, trying to maintain a cheerful tone.

"No," Zhura replied curtly.

"Well, uh...I assume you've seen other people drive. This thing has power steering, so just turn the wheel in the direction you want to go. These are your throttle, clutch, and brake pedals. Don't worry too much about these other controls right now - all you need to do is drive in a straight line."

He handled the plow and drill himself as Zhura drove along, keeping her fierce gaze on the sand ahead of them. She was still drenched with sweat, and he could hear her sticking to the leather seat whenever she shifted her weight, her bronze skin shining in the sunlight that poured in through the dusty windshield.

"How are you taking to farming?" Ramos asked, desperate to break the awkward silence. "Kozi seems to be enjoying herself."

"Kozi is able to find amusement even in the most trivial of things," the Rask grumbled. She hissed, cursing to herself in her native language as she fumbled with one of the pedals, the sudden sound and the lurching of the tractor making Ramos jump.

"That was the clutch," he began, but he quickly shrank back into his chair when she gave him an angry look. "So, I take it you're not as enthusiastic about this whole thing as your packmates are?"

"What do I have to be enthusiastic about?" she muttered, one of her ears flicking as though it was trying to bat away an irritating fly. "We once served our Crewmasters on the battlefield with honor and distinction, but now we till earth and take orders from runts," she added with another scowl.