did you eat the eggs?”
“I bit into the shell and sucked out the innards,” he says. “Delicious.”
“It’s almost a good thing that you never sat down to have dinner with my father,” I say.
I feel a pang of pain and anger when I think of my father. It still doesn’t feel like he’s really gone. I haven’t had time to even think, let alone grieve.
“I can force myself to eat with human manners,” Aegus says. “I just prefer not to. It’s pointless.”
“Manners separate us from animals,” I say, lowering our acceleration even further as we approach the docking bay.
“No,” Aegus says. “A few hundred thousand years of evolution separate you from animals, while tens of millions of years separate Marauders from animals.”
“Didn’t you transform into a giant bear?” I say. “Like, just a few hours ago? Tens of millions of years, my ass.”
Aegus grunts and walks away.
10 Aegus
A nya manages to operate the simplistic controls well enough to bring us successfully into the docking bay. The jungle has already started overtaking the bay. There are thick roots and vines spreading through it, and the docking machinery itself is even covered in grassy vines and leaves.
We manage to anchor Tomas’s ship to the bay, and when I plug in the thick power cord, it seems to charge successfully.
“We think the tribes maintain these,” Anya says.
“Think?” I ask. “Didn’t you create these jungles?”
“We created them, yes,” she says. “And it used to take huge amounts of resources to maintain them. We had to send teams of highly educated scientists to the jungles–paying them hefty salaries–just to make sure the ecosystems were perfectly balanced. At first, entire jungles would die off from the smallest errors or neglect.”
My ears perk up, and I connect the dots. “I see, but over time these scientists became ‘the tribes,’ and they do this work for free now.”
Anya nods. “But in exchange, they get autonomy. We haven’t had any control over what the tribes do for nearly a century.”
“Now I am here,” I say. “I will compel them to act, with your help.”
“I told you,” she says. “I can’t compel the tribes to do anything. I have no control over them.”
“Things have changed,” Aegus says. “If the Marauders who want to obliterate humanity have their way, it will only be a matter of time before they eradicate the tribes. They will not look the other way as your father did.”
Anya is still wearing a dress, which clings to her body in all the right places. It’s easily the worst thing she could wear to be traipsing through a jungle environment, but there is nothing else on the ship for her to wear.
I am, of course, naked. Normally this would feel quite comfortable, but not with Anya’s wandering eyes. She acts like she can’t stand me, but I will not forget that we kissed, nor can I ignore the way her eyes roam across my body.
My biosuit is fully exhausted, and it will take a great deal of food to power it up again. Much more than we found in Tomas’s ship, and more–I fear–than we can find in the entire jungle. I should have no real need for the suit in the jungle and among the tribes, but if the Imperial forces track us down and my suit is not powered, it will be a difficult fight.
Anya finishes loading up her satchel with rations, then slings it onto her back. The strap presses down between her breasts, making them extremely prominent and visible.
“You will regret wearing this dress into the jungle,” I say. “It’s best to follow my lead,” I add, looking down at my naked body.
“You want me to walk around naked with you?”
I grin.
Her face reddens, and she raises a finger at me in anger. “I’m the Tsarina of Venus. I will not walk around naked in the jungle. Forget it.”
I try to hide my smirk, but fail miserably. I will get that dress off of her one way or another.
We step out onto the docking platform, where the humidity hits
“I bit into the shell and sucked out the innards,” he says. “Delicious.”
“It’s almost a good thing that you never sat down to have dinner with my father,” I say.
I feel a pang of pain and anger when I think of my father. It still doesn’t feel like he’s really gone. I haven’t had time to even think, let alone grieve.
“I can force myself to eat with human manners,” Aegus says. “I just prefer not to. It’s pointless.”
“Manners separate us from animals,” I say, lowering our acceleration even further as we approach the docking bay.
“No,” Aegus says. “A few hundred thousand years of evolution separate you from animals, while tens of millions of years separate Marauders from animals.”
“Didn’t you transform into a giant bear?” I say. “Like, just a few hours ago? Tens of millions of years, my ass.”
Aegus grunts and walks away.
10 Aegus
A nya manages to operate the simplistic controls well enough to bring us successfully into the docking bay. The jungle has already started overtaking the bay. There are thick roots and vines spreading through it, and the docking machinery itself is even covered in grassy vines and leaves.
We manage to anchor Tomas’s ship to the bay, and when I plug in the thick power cord, it seems to charge successfully.
“We think the tribes maintain these,” Anya says.
“Think?” I ask. “Didn’t you create these jungles?”
“We created them, yes,” she says. “And it used to take huge amounts of resources to maintain them. We had to send teams of highly educated scientists to the jungles–paying them hefty salaries–just to make sure the ecosystems were perfectly balanced. At first, entire jungles would die off from the smallest errors or neglect.”
My ears perk up, and I connect the dots. “I see, but over time these scientists became ‘the tribes,’ and they do this work for free now.”
Anya nods. “But in exchange, they get autonomy. We haven’t had any control over what the tribes do for nearly a century.”
“Now I am here,” I say. “I will compel them to act, with your help.”
“I told you,” she says. “I can’t compel the tribes to do anything. I have no control over them.”
“Things have changed,” Aegus says. “If the Marauders who want to obliterate humanity have their way, it will only be a matter of time before they eradicate the tribes. They will not look the other way as your father did.”
Anya is still wearing a dress, which clings to her body in all the right places. It’s easily the worst thing she could wear to be traipsing through a jungle environment, but there is nothing else on the ship for her to wear.
I am, of course, naked. Normally this would feel quite comfortable, but not with Anya’s wandering eyes. She acts like she can’t stand me, but I will not forget that we kissed, nor can I ignore the way her eyes roam across my body.
My biosuit is fully exhausted, and it will take a great deal of food to power it up again. Much more than we found in Tomas’s ship, and more–I fear–than we can find in the entire jungle. I should have no real need for the suit in the jungle and among the tribes, but if the Imperial forces track us down and my suit is not powered, it will be a difficult fight.
Anya finishes loading up her satchel with rations, then slings it onto her back. The strap presses down between her breasts, making them extremely prominent and visible.
“You will regret wearing this dress into the jungle,” I say. “It’s best to follow my lead,” I add, looking down at my naked body.
“You want me to walk around naked with you?”
I grin.
Her face reddens, and she raises a finger at me in anger. “I’m the Tsarina of Venus. I will not walk around naked in the jungle. Forget it.”
I try to hide my smirk, but fail miserably. I will get that dress off of her one way or another.
We step out onto the docking platform, where the humidity hits
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