Wild Space Pt. 03

"How far now?" She asked him when they left the copse of tightly packed trees.

"We should find the ocean today." He told her.

"Should?"

"Unless something finds us first," Marik told her. "I don't mean to say it that bluntly, but still, that's the truth."

"I'd rather you be blunt," Phillias replied. "I know what will happen if the soldiers find us. But what of your fish men?"

The last of the sunlight had faded as they set out, and Marik was grateful for the relative cold. He contemplated his answer as he lead the way. He found himself grateful that she was behind him. They hadn't enough water to waste on bathing, but even so, as she had been so close to him when he was tying the palm branch Phillias's skin had appeared smooth and clean. And the way she wore that dress, how her body had moved in as she laid back in the sand, watching him, with her hand busy between her legs...

He shook his head, the better to clear it from those types of thoughts. "No one knows when humans first came here to Azura, but they found the land, what little of it was here, empty but fertile. Clean water under the sand, fruit on top of it and the sea was always teeming with fish. Until the fish men noticed them here. They said the land was sacred to them, that it represented their afterlife. They wanted the humans gone from the land and to stop fishing the seas, because the sea represented their life."

Recounting the tale made him a bit uneasy, but they had a long way to walk, and talking made it easier.

"What happened then?"

"War," Marik told her half over his shoulder. "War happened then. They came from the sea, in the night, over and over, always randomly, and snatched people from their beds. Every time they did our fishermen would go out the next day, and drag them onto the boats with hooks and nets to kill them. Then in the night there would be more humans missing. When the fishermen would sail out they'd be attacked at sea, so we'd fight harder. It went on like this for a long time."

"Is it true you used to eat the fish men?" She asked from behind him.

"I never ate anybody," He told her pointedly.

"I know, Marik, I know," Phillias said quickly. "I had just heard..."

"It's true, before they knew what and who the fish men were, they were caught and eaten," He said reluctantly. "But that ended long ago, and the war itself ended only a century ago."

"How?"

"We left the town," Marik told her, looking for his emotionless and stern voice, and finding it. "Or so the fish men thought. They snuck in, and we trapped them. Each night, the fishermen did it again and again, while our women and children were sent far inland to hide. When the fish men stopped sending their soldiers we knew we had to strike while they were weak."

"One of us had acquired a weapon we thought would guarantee our safety, a chemical from offworld. Valantier, you might be interested to know. It had some industrial chemical, but we knew from exposing the trapped native soldiers to it that it killed them, painfully and instantly. And so we rowed out into the deep, deep ocean, the farthest any of us had ever gone, and found their home. All their men were gone, trapped in our town or searching for us. You can probably figure out the rest yourself."

The moon had risen, bathing the sands in a bright white light, as if they were sailing on a sea of milk. There was a steady, pleasant wind that carried with it the smell of the sea. They were too far from town to see any signs of fighting. Despite the grave subject at hand, Marik felt something like peace for the first time in days.

"And then the Capital Navy came." Phillias finished for him, breaking into his thoughts.

"They did, and here they are again," Marik said. "But the first time they came as colonizers. I think they're coming now as exterminators."

"It wouldn't be any different than what you did to the natives."

"It wouldn't," He allowed. "Doesn't mean we have to let it happen for us, though, Phillias. Not a chance."

"You're so right," She said up to him in an appreciative voice, and from then on they walked in silence.

They heard the sea before they saw it and long after they had begun smelling it, a gradual swell in noise. After one final dune the endless ocean was before them, spread out as far as the eye could see in each direction. The moon reflected off of the black waters, and it and the sand were the only color Marik could see in the night.

"What now?" Phillias asked as she joined him at the top of the dune.

"We'll make camp, but no fire." He told her. "We're far from town, but there is no use calling down attention to ourselves, from anyone. Least of all the fish men. They don't use fire, don't need it. They'll spot us from the water in an instant."

"And what then will we do?" She asked as they walked towards the water.

"We'll find a boat even if we have to walk the beach for days," Marik said. "We'll have fish and coconuts to eat."

"And after we get a boat...what?" Phillias said with a raised eyebrow. "Paddle around the ocean for the rest of our days?"

"That's better than getting dragged off onto a Capital Navy ship, isn't it?" He joked. "No, the soldiers won't stay. They'll leave...eventually. And then we'll find our way offworld, somehow."

There was no scrub in which to hide themselves, and so they camped at the foot of the final dune, the better to conceal themselves from anyone approaching behind them. They still had their coconuts to eat, and hadn't walked nearly as long as they had the night before. They could forego fishing for now.

"We don't have to travel by night anymore," He told her as he sipped the last bit of sweet, grassy tasting milk from his coconut. "We're so far away from anyone. If we had to hide out here or on the ocean for a month, we can do it. The planet is too big, and the local Navy isn't going to waste much time here."

"If you say so," She said. "Look, about Lex-"

"She's dead, isn't she?"

"Almost certainly." If Phillias felt anything for her lord's wife, she didn't show it. "Even if she's managed to escape, this has upset all my plans and my assignment. It was Ehren who caused the Navy to come here."

"How can you be sure of that?"

"Lex was the only reason anyone from Valantier would want to come to Azura, and he was the only one who knew she was here, besides me." Phillias told him. She cracked off a bit of the coconut in her big hand and ate. "He had this planet invaded and didn't even care that I was on it. The way I see it, my time with him is done."

"I don't blame you." Marik said quietly. He could see that the notion upset her. "What will you do now?"

"I don't know, but there's no use worrying about it now," She said, and tossed her coconut aside. "We have too much to do first. I brought it up because I wanted to thank you. I wouldn't have made it out of there without you."

"I think you're selling yourself short," He replied honestly. "I think you're plenty tough. Tougher than me."

"It doesn't take much to be tougher than you," The hatchet maid said with a slight smile. "But you're wrong. I owe you my life."

Marik didn't know what to say to that, and didn't much know that he wanted to reply. Instead he quietly suggested they get some sleep.

The night had grown cold, and the wind was worse by the water. Worse of all they could not light a fire. Marik felt the cold drafts under his thin clothing, reaching for him with frozen fingers, raking up and down on his bare skin. He shivered.

The sand crunched and he turned over to see Phillias crawling towards him. He rose on his elbow and began to cry out.

"It's okay," She told him in a whisper. "It's just cold. Aren't you freezing?"

"Yes," He admitted.

"I'm just doing this for warmth, so don't get any ideas." She crawled over him and settled in beside him. "I'd rather not freeze all night."

She was very close to him, and sighed in exasperation when he didn't move. Phillias reached behind herself and made him throw an arm over her. Satisfied, she wriggled a bit, a last shiver before the warmth came.

"By Ana, Marik. I hadn't thought you a meek one." She said softly. "That's warmer, isn't it? Better?"

"Better," He had to admit. She seemed to be built for this type of embrace. Phillias was big, taller and heavier than he, and soft despite how strong she was. Marik thought that had she chosen to make this about more than warmth she could have easily forced herself on him. He still remembered how she'd defeated that soldier in his powered suit.

The waves crashed inexorably against the surf, a soothing sound. Try as he might, Marik couldn't quite drift off. Her hair was tickling his nose. Despite the day and a half of travel she still smelled good, very feminine. And her skin was fragrant and earthy, having tanned in the few days she was on the planet. He sighed and at the feel of his breath she shivered again, but this time not from the cold.

Marik's senses were bombarded with the feel and scent of her. He shifted slightly and wondered exactly when his cock had hardened so insistently. She had to feel it, cleaving her buttocks with only the thinnest cotton separating them.

He made a tiny sound of disappointment when she scooted away from him, but it was only to reach behind again. This time her big hand found his penis, teasing it with the strong fingers. He sighed again, and kissed her exposed neck.

"I told you this was better," She said softly. She turned and kissed him.

Her lips were as soft as her skin, deceptively so, because Marik would have sworn that there was nothing soft about Phillias. But he was wrong. Her kiss was sweet as she opened her mouth to take in his tongue, resulting in a sharp exhalation of breath from them both. She threw a leg over his hip, trapping him there, and took his face in her hands, kissing him hard.

Marik found himself being trapped. He wanted to wrestle her away, to mount her and pin her down, to be the man, but she was having none of it. Her hands and leg held him firmly as she took her pleasure from his mouth. He couldn't say he minded.

For a few long minutes his world was reduced to the waves crashing nearby and the sweet pressure of her as she forcefully tongued his mouth. Marik resisted and she held him closer, so he kept on doing it until she finally had him firmly trapped.

"Good," She gasped out when she broke the kiss. "Good lad."

"I'm no lad, you'd think-"

The slap hit his cheek when his eyes were closed, seeming to make it hurt more. His struggle went from light and teasing to panic. What if she had seduced him to make him drop his guard and then kill him?

"Shhh, shhhh," Phillias said gently. She stroked his face, right where she'd slapped it, and kissed his cheek, taking away some of the pain. Her eyes were slightly narrowed, with anger or arousal or both, but they were gleaming even in the moonlight. "We're going to do this, I promise, because I want to. I've wanted you since I met you. But we're going to do this my way, yes?"

He could barely nod with her hands locking him into place, but he did so.

"Good," She said again. She kissed him again, hard. "Now...I'm going to let you go so I can undress. Be good."

When he was finally free he was as good as his word. Phillias stood, and was out of the dress in an instant. She kicked it away, and wedged her foot under his side. "Turn over. On your back."

She straddled him when she was naked, but Marik wasn't conscious of her weight at all. She leaned over, giving him a face full of her large breasts, muffling his breathing. When he struggled and bucked beneath her she leaned back and smiled. She swiveled her hips forward and back and to each side, brushing her naked sex teasingly against his cotton pants. She smiled in satisfaction at his grunts, and scooted back on his thighs.

"Shirt off." Phillias said. "Now. What are you waiting for? Now. Now."

He sat up and had it off for her, throwing it aside. Satisfied, she scooted lower down on his thighs until she could bend and kiss his neck, along his collarbone. His hands found her shoulders, massaging the hard muscles underneath the smooth skin, and she allowed it. When he tried to shove her head down, she whispered a rebuke against his skin and nipped at hard smooth skin of his chest.

"Bad, bad, bad," Phillias told him. "No pushing. You don't tell me what to do. And if you're lucky I will tell you what to do. For now, just lay back."

She punctuated her words with a quick toothy kiss to each of his nipples, making him hiss. His arms reached for her but he was able to stop himself. Nodding her satisfaction, she kissed down his chest until just above his waist.

"Lift," Phillias said briefly, and when his hips rose she skimmed the thin cotton pants down to his ankles. As she came back up she brushed her heavy white breasts against his his legs, then his cock. He relished in the sensation of being surrounded by her, and sighed in disappointment when she moved on.

She planted a knee on either side of him, and leaned over him, her long red hair falling over them both. Braving her punishment, he kissed her, softly at first, and then when both their eyes closed deepening it. She brushed his hair back from his face tenderly, and smiled, breaking their kiss.

"Good lad. Now you've earned it." Phillias whispered hoarsely. He didn't resist when she gathered a wrist in each of his hands, and held him down on the sand.

Her cunt was just as fiery hot as her demeanor, was his first inane thought, when she began riding him, but he didn't have time for a second. Already Marik felt her movements quickening, growing more purposeful, and his hips were rising off of the sand to meet her. Their cries went from plaintive to passionate as they worked together, both of them hoping to drive the other over the edge.

After, she was still astride him, laying her body onto his, and he didn't soften for long minutes. He was finally able to pull his hands from hers.

"But I told you no," She said in a playfully petulant little voice. "I want your hands, you don't get to keep them."

"If my hands weren't my own I wouldn't be able to do this," Marik told her, and brushed his fingers over her thin, pale eyebrows before losing them in the riotous mass of red hair on her head.

"OK, you can do that." She murmured against his mouth. "So long as you promise to keep on doing it."

He did, and he did, until she fell asleep finally, on her side, facing him and mouth agape. Marik looked down at the beautiful, forceful woman laying at his side, his arm under her neck, and smiled softly. It had taken a war, but he thought he might just be done with conquest.

**************************

It was the third morning of their journey when they were found.

Phillias was frying up a dozen tiny fish, each the size of a finger, on the rocks of a campfire, while Marik mended the nets. He had been able to weave a makeshift thing of tiny seaweed and palm leaves, but it was always breaking on them. They spent much more time gathering damp wood and plants than food. Fish was plentiful on Azura.

Three of them approached from the land, which put Marik somewhat at ease, but not enough to put the rifle aside. Phillias also had their fishing knife, but if the natives had decided to attack everyone knew it would be over in seconds.

Phillias found herself staring, and averted her eyes. The fish men were like nothing she had ever seen before: they had a human's shape, arms, legs, even a discernible face, but there the resemblance ended. Instead of skin they had a series of tough scales that looked moist even though they were far from the water. Gills on the neck and fins at their wrists, elbows and knees gave them the look of strong swimmers. She was surprised how solidly built they all were, how bulky. Somehow she had pictures a slimy, skinny thing with a wiry strength. The hatchet maid was fervently glad these ones seemed to be peaceful.

One of them said something in a bubbly language, a rich sound like an underground hot spring.

"What did he say?" Phillias asked immediately.

"Wants to show me something, I think," Marik told her uneasily. "Says its right nearby."

"Don't go," She said quickly.

"They can understand us," He said, a bit amused. "They just can't speak our language easy or us theirs. The throats and mouths aren't built the same, if you hadn't noticed."

"Both of us are coming with you," She told the three fish men in a strong voice.

All three of them rose their voices until one, which she thought might be the leader, finished for them all.

"They said there is no way that is happening. Their society isn't like ours, Phillias," He said. "They don't see women as equals."

"Your society doesn't, either."

"You know what I mean," Marik said patiently. "It's best I go with them."

"But-"

"We don't have a choice, we all know it." He sighed.

The lead native had been studying the pair of humans, and it locked them both in a black, dead eyed gaze, its eyes large and expressionless and dull.

"No choice," It croaked out with great difficulty, and then its gills flittered spasmodically and gushed just a bit of seawater.

"It's taxing for them to be on land and to speak. I don't think they mean us any harm. I'm going to go with them. If I don't come back...well, you know what to do."

She watched him disappear over the dunes, trudging with the rifle over his shoulders. Phillias opened her voice to warn him to carry it properly, the better to use it, but didn't. Marik was completely in the right: if they decided to kill him a rifle wouldn't make any difference. None at all.

She hadn't been alone for days. The hatchet maid glanced out over the sea, and desperately tried to not think. Try as she might, her brain would not obey her: Ehren had probably made arrangements to take a new wife, and had written his trusted servant off for dead. He wouldn't welcome her return. After her entire life serving him he had as much ordered her death. Phillias was under no illusions about her lord's feelings towards her. She'd been a servant, a treasured one, but still disposable. Maybe she was lucky to have been left for dead, but she didn't know what to do now, or what to make of herself. Unbidden, as she looked out over the salty waters, tears squeezed out of the corners of her eyes.

"Stupid girl," She said to herself, and knuckled the tears away. She was free, free to do as she pleased, so why was she crying?

"Phillias," Marik called out, and she immediately stood, wielding the knife.

"Put that back in your belt, please. We don't want to threaten them. Can you come with me? It's fine, its safe." He was at the top of the nearest dune and waved to her.

"What is it?" She asked him, but he only shook his head, lips tight, and so they trudged side by side through the sand in silence.

The Queen Bee lay on the sand before them, having skidded on the ground on its landing gear, uprooting a handful of trees. From the look of it, it had been there for days. The sand around it was scorched here and there with tiny piles of glass, the result of superheated energy weapons fire. Everywhere she looked she saw boot prints.

The two bodies were scorched beyond recognition, both of them blackened husks of meat with a little bone showing through. One of them was almost the size of a child. They had died sheltered with one another, embracing.

"It's them, isn't it?" Phillias asked.

"There's no way to tell, but I can't think of another explanation."

"They got dragged out. So much sand is kicked up here," She said, inspecting the ground. "What happened?"

"Near as we can figure they crashed or landed or were shot down. In any case they were attacked the moment the opened the Bee's hatch." Marik said, his voice bleak. "They must have fought, and hard. Otherwise they'd have been captured and enslaved."