WSIM24B Ch. 06

Nika, naked, standing before me... was it wrong to wish that I could have a picture of her? Or a few dozen? Her breasts sat high and proud, her narrow waist invited me to place my hands there. She turned her back, and leaned against a tree...

I used my fingers to make sure that was wet enough, and then slid my cock between her legs, rubbing it along her pussy lips and her clit. Then I began to tell her what I'd learned from my AFOTA history lessons about ancient church bells used as signalling devices.

- "Interesting." she said. "So we're on a planet with religion? And churches, or temples? Why wouldn't Teck just say so?"

- "That's what I'm wondering." Actually, I was wondering if I could continue to discuss church bells if I entered her while we were talking. I decided to try and find out.

- "Oh!" she gasped.

- "You... you have such a great ass, Nika." I said.

- "You like all of my body." she said. "The only parts you haven't complimented are my elbows and my heels."

- "And your toenails."

- "What's - uhh - what's wrong with my toenails?"

It was a little game we played with each other. We were pretending a certain degree of familiarity in order to avoid a real level of intimacy.

Had we been in the same city, or working together long-term, I would have wanted to ask her out, on a date. I wanted to get to know her. But we had met in ISEC training, and had worked as a team at about the same time as we started having sex. It was an exciting and productive partnership - but perhaps not the best way to begin a relationship.

We were working together again, in highly dangerous and stressful circumstances, and having fantastic sex. But was there more to Nika and me? I was beginning to wonder if we had an emotional connection as well. Was she possibly on the same page?

My historical lecture faltered as I bent my knees to get a better angle for thrusting up into her.

- "I want to work with you again." I blurted out.

Where had that come from?

- "Ohh..." she groaned. She didn't answer my statement, though, until a moment later. "Let's - let's get through this one, first."

- "Right."

One thing at a time. She had a point. I concentrated on fucking her from behind while she clung to her tree. Then I tried to control my breathing so that she could reach her peak first. I just barely succeeded.

We clung together, afterwards, while I finished telling her about church bells. We speculated about why Captain Teck was withholding so much information.

Then Nika kissed me on the cheek, and stroked my hair.

- "Are they close?" I whispered.

- "Sshh..." After a few moments, she spoke aloud. "We should go back."

There was a little well outside. Nika and I re-hydrated, and then washed ourselves. When we went back inside the house, Will glared at us. Faraz didn't even look our way.

Captain Teck and the other women returned just before dark.

- "Sleep." he said.

***

The next morning, Teck broke with tradition and summoned us all to a meeting.

- "We found the meeting place." he began. "It's a fairly open space, so there are fewer opportunities for treachery. But I'm still concerned that they might have a following party."

He looked at Nika and me. "That's where you two come in. I'm going to post you in a concealed spot. You'll see the people we're meeting ride by you."

Ride. Hence the sleepread lessons on horses, and the care thereof.

"If a second party comes along, you have to interfere with their passage - by whatever means. Is that understood?"

- "Kill them?" said Nika.

- "If you can't stop them otherwise." said Captain Teck. "But I'm also concerned that one of the original party may come back your way, to bring in a second group. If you see a rider headed in that direction, you have to stop them."

- "Kill them?" asked Nika, again.

Teck stared her down. He only won the contest because of his rank. "If necessary." he said.

That was the gist of our briefing. Captain Teck said nothing to the others. He'd obviously told them what they needed to know before.

We were told to bring our packs. Nika still had to carry the bedrolls, while I carried a slightly lighter load of food. Teck led the way, downhill.

I couldn't have been more surprised when we finally stopped. We were looking at an expanse of carefully sited stones, with tightly packed earth beneath them. My memories of AFOTA lessons kicked in again.

- "It looks like a Roman road."

- "They're very similar." said Captain Teck. He pointed to the right. "The people we're meeting will be coming from that direction." He showed Nika and me exactly where we were to conceal ourselves.

"You remember what to do?" he asked.

Nika made a grimace. "Let the first party through." she said. "Kill everyone else."

- "Only if necessary." said Teck.

- "Understood, Sir." I said.

Captain Teck made us take up position on opposite sides of the road. Once he was satisfied, he and the other four moved off down the road - south, by my calculation.

The moment they were out of sight, Nika crossed over to join me in my hiding place.

- "What do you think they're up to?" she asked.

- "I don't know. No good, probably."

- "What kind of meeting will this be?"

I shook my head. "Don't know. But Teck is no diplomat."

- "Fuck." said Nika."

- "I know. But what can we do? We don't know where we are, or why we're here. How is this connected to all of those retired Admirals and Generals?"

- "I have no idea." she admitted.

- "So we're not ready to go rogue. We have to stick with Teck and his crew until we figure out what he's up to."

- "I hate not knowing."

I wanted to offer comfort, but saying 'I know' sounded wrong - especially after she'd just admitted that she didn't know. So I placed my hand atop hers, and said "It's okay - we'll get it."

Nika looked down, at my hand covering hers.

I immediately tried to remove my hand, but she tangled her fingers in mine, and held on to me. She took a deep breath, and then looked into my eyes.

- "I like you, too, Pilgrim." she said. "But... this isn't the best time for this."

Both of our heads snapped up as we heard the far-off rumble of horses' hooves. She glanced across the road, as if she was considering running back to the spot Captain Teck had assigned her. I held onto her.

We listened, and then watched, as eight riders approached. They weren't in a great hurry, but they were trotting. I would have described their movement as eager. They seemed to be in high spirits. Most of them were young men, richly and very colourfully dressed. Were they really so keen to meet up with Captain Teck?

The party of horsemen passed us. We could hear the horses' hooves clatter on the paving stones long after they rounded a bend in the road. Then the noise died away.

Waiting was difficult, but Nika was right: Not knowing was the worst. We were crouching behind trees, some ten yards from the road on a strange planet, while a commanding officer we did not trust was conducting a meeting that we were not invited to witness.

Nika heard the noise first. She turned her head in the direction the riders had gone - where Captain Teck was waiting for them.

- "Did you hear that?"

I shook my head.

"Sounded like a shout."

We waited. And listened.

Then we both heard the clatter of hooves - much more rapid this time. Someone was galloping back up the road, towards us. It had to be one of the party we'd seen. The Captain had instructed us to stop them. We crept forward to the edge of the treeline.

The rider came round the bend. He looked back over his shoulder, as if expecting pursuit. The horse was galloping full out.

Nika and I leapt out, shouting and waving our arms. It could have been dangerous - had the mount been a trained warhorse. But the animal was already panicked; it veered away to avoid us. In so doing, it passed much too close to the trees on the other side of the road. There were a number of low, overhanging branches.

The horse passed just beneath them. The rider struck a solid branch at full speed, and was swept from the saddle like a rag doll. He fell heavily, on his back, even as his mount continued to race away down the road.

We didn't have to subdue the fellow. In addition to a number of crushed ribs, he'd snapped his neck when he landed. He was young, fairly short, and slender. He was wearing a short, patterned, woven overcoat with puffy sleeves, and tight hose. One leg was green, while the other was green and yellow, in alternating stripes.

- "Poor bugger." I said. But even as I said that, I saw that he had a soft leather pouch hanging from his belt. I cut it away, and felt the weight of it. I opened it; there were coins inside.

- "That may come in handy." said Nika. "Don't let the Captain or the others see it."

I dragged the dead man into the trees, so that he wouldn't be spotted immediately. Then Nika and I began jogging down the road, towards the Captain.

Three hundred yards further along, we saw Teck and the others. Faraz was holding the reins of three horses, while Will was dragging a body out of sight. The Captain was conferring with Tasha and Anna. He looked up as we approached.

- "Did anyone come your way?" he asked.

- "Just one." I said. "He's dead. I hid the body in the trees. The horse got away, though."

- "Alright." he said. Not 'good job', or 'well done', or even 'it couldn't be helped'.

- "I take it the meeting didn't go well." said Nika.

He gave her a cold look.

"Come on, Captain." she continued. "Don't you think it's time you told us the mission? Which natives do we kill? Do we have any friends or allies here?"

- "Need to know, Sergeant." he growled. "I'll tell you when it's time - and not a moment sooner." Then he turned to the others. "Let's move."

Teck and the two women mounted the captured horses, and the rest of us followed on foot. That was just as well for me; I'd never been on horseback in my entire life.

We travelled down the road for only a few kilometres before Teck turned onto a secondary track, not much more than a path through the trees. It was so narrow that the horses had to go single file. We followed on foot. Nika and I couldn't speak, because Will and Faraz were right beside us.

Captain Teck knew exactly where he was going. He stuck to the track for a few more kilometres, then turned onto a larger, more travelled path. The sun was beginning to set when he turned again, leading us downhill, until we reached a small cluster of buildings. There was a large house, a small shed, and a barn-like structure.

Teck and the women dismounted. They handed the reins to Faraz, Will, and me. We three took the horses, and led them to the barn, or stable, so I had my first opportunity to put my sleepread training into practice: horse, care of.

First, we loosened the cinches, and removed their saddles and bridles. Then we watered them. I got the job of going to the well, and filling a bucket of water. My 'friends' let me do this three times, while they examined the horses' hooves, to make sure they hadn't picked up a stone.

We returned to the house. It was probably large enough to call a villa. It was furnished, but a bit dusty. Someone obviously lived here, but they hadn't been back in weeks, if not months.

Teck had designated one room for the men. It had a bed, for him, while Will, Faraz and I got space on the floor. The women were in a separate room. While I'd been looking after the horses, the others had scraped together a meal.

We ate in silence. Nika blinked at me, twice, and then flashed a quick finger signal.

She met me outside, after the meal. Nika led me behind the barn. She hugged me.

- "I've got a bad feeling." she whispered. "He's lying. He won't ever tell us anything".

- "That's not all." I replied. "I was watching Tasha and especially Anna's faces, when you said the meeting hadn't gone well. That's not what they thought. They looked quite pleased with themselves."

- "So it wasn't a meeting at all, was it? It was an ambush."

- "Who did they kill? And why?"

Nika held me back, so that we were face to face.

- "We have to be careful, Pilgrim." she said, softly.

Then she reached under my skirt-shirt, and gently slid her hand into my pantyhose. She took hold of my member, which immediately began to swell.

"I want to smell like sex when I go back to the house." she panted.

I fucked her up against the rough wood of the barn, with her long legs wrapped around my ass. I don't know if the danger we were in added spice to the moment, but it was one of the most incredible sexual experiences of my life, to that point.

***

The next morning, Captain Teck called me over.

- "Go out to the barn." he said. "Give Faraz and Will a hand with the horses."

I was three feet out the door before I had a second thought. Hadn't we looked after the horses yesterday evening? What did they need my help with?

I had a sudden and very bad feeling about this. I went around to the back of the barn, instead of simply walking in. I'd noticed a small gap in the wood the night before. It was just enough to peer into the barn. Will and Faraz weren't tending to the horses. Their body language shouted only one thing: waiting. They were waiting for me.

That was enough to send me running back to the villa. But I saw shadows and movement just inside the door, so I sprinted to the side of the house. I barely made it in time, just as Teck and his two women emerged from the villa. They walked towards the barn.

Where was Nika? In less than a minute, the Captain would reach the barn, and discover that I wasn't there. But my sense of... wrongness was only growing.

I slid along the front wall, and slipped back into the villa. Nika wasn't in the main room. I ran to the women's room.

Nika was lying on her stomach.

There was a bloodstain, low down on the back of her shirt. The bile rose in my throat, threatening to choke me, but I flipped her over. She'd been stabbed just under the breast as well, and in the throat.

Nika was dead. And I was supposed to have died at roughly the same time. They would be rushing back to the house right now, to correct that oversight.

I jumped out the window, and started running.

*****