Brynin 3 (8 page)

Fi sighed. “It’s the same problem. After we leave, Dr. Nees and Dr. Sim will have to put with them.”

I said, “Baaax, I assume that Dr. Nees and Dr. Sim are robotic specialists.”

“Yes. However, I can’t tell you any more because I signed an NDA.”

I paused. “You signed a non disclosure agreement that’s enforced on Danig and Icir?”

Baaax nodded. “Yes.”

After leaving the mine, I heard a scraping noise, and glanced to the right.

Close by, hundreds of Urus were circling a parked SMT.

Not far beyond them, Boma emerged from a giag, and waved at me.

I pushed a Urus aside with my boot.
Ooop, ooop.
All around me, the rest of them began chewing weeds.

“Jason, are you ready?” Boma took a few steps toward me.

“Yes. I want to sign the marriage license and have that ceremony sometime today. Unfortunately, I have to leave for Icir soon.”

Boma nodded. Both of us hopped inside the giag and drove off.

Behind us, a security guard with a baritone voice said, “Yesterday, our giag had to stop because a tree the wind had knocked down was blocking the road. After we jumped out of the cab, a sand-colored Tiel showed up, and we started shooting. However, a few moments before we finished it off, I glanced over my shoulder, and noticed that a mahogany Tiel had sneaked up behind us. It bit my friend’s arm off, and swallowed him.”

“Why didn’t you kill the mahogany one before it swallowed him?” Smoky voice, another guard, began staring at him.

Baritone replied, “Although we kept firing, it took several minutes to kill the sand Tiel. If anyone of us had stopped shooting, it would have eaten us. After we finished it off, I looked over my shoulder. The mahogany one was gone—it had crawled away.”

A guard with a hoarse voice cursed, “Ank! I’m tired of seeing my friends die.”

Everyone paused for a moment, trying to settle down. The giag hit a bump, then shook.

Boma grinned. “Jason, a miner at Crec told me that Baaax, Fi, and a lot of the miners are impressed because you dug out a hole after the walls caved in. Your efforts saved their lives.”

“Word gets around fast.”

“In this case, yes.”

Baritone blurted, “You’re one helluva of a man. I’m going to tell my friends about you!”

“Thanks.”

Eighty feet down the road, not far above it, a small flock of birds with crimson wings and vermillion beaks began squawking.

“What are those called?” I squinted, trying to see them more clearly,

Boma replied, “According to my database, they’re Musi Aaus, a harmless species.”

“I’m going to miss Ieeb.”

Boma drew an S shape in the air with one finger, an Ulthe gesture indicating that he understood my sorrow.

The giag parked. Everyone climbed out, moving toward the path.

Boma glanced at me. “We can hold the wedding anytime you like.”

I announced cheerily, “If Ieeb is here, let’s do it in the next few minutes.”

Boma smiled. We entered Building Three.

Boma said, “I’ll be in Room D, printing the marriage license.”

“We’ll be there soon.” I turned. The door to Ieeb’s room slid open.

She wasn’t inside. I entered and sat on the bed, wondering when she would arrive.

The door opened. Ieeb walked in.

“I just arrived.” I told her about my plan.

Ieeb kissed me and cooed, “Let me change into better clothes.” She hurried off and turned left, entering a walk-in closet, a room I couldn’t see.

Ieeb announced, “A few minutes ago, I heard guards talking about the accident in the Crec mine. I was worried to death.”

“Yes, it was horrible, bloody awful.”

“Hopefully, I can do something to make you feel better.”

“That would be nice. I’m covered with dust. I need to take a shower.”

“Do whatever you like. I don’t care if you’re dirty.” She stepped out of the other room. She had put on a skin-tight ivory wedding dress that revealed her cleavage.

“That’s one sexy outfit. If you guards see that, they’ll drool at you.”

Ieeb smiled. “I’ll take it off after the ceremony.”

I smiled.

We entered Room D.

Boma looked at us. “Putting your fingertips on this tablet will sign the marriage certificate.”

We placed them on the device, smiling as we did.

He put the tablet away, removed two rings from his chest pocket, and handed both to me. He smiled. “Jason, Ieeb. These wedding rings are extraordinary. They’re made of nanites. Fi and Baaax created them especially for you. They’re gifts.”

I raised both eyebrows, impressed. “Thank you.”

Ieeb whispered, “Prox,”

A recorded translation came out of my earplugs.
Prox, short for the star Proxima Centauri, means a deep thanks from my heart.

Boma grinned. “I’ll use an abbreviated Dseo wedding script.”

Ieeb ran her fingers through her hair, preening. “That’s fine.”

Boma cleared his throat. “In the mountains of Oraing, near the Nof valley, lonely souls wander without love. They sing of better times, when they were among friends. Despite the pain, they continue because Aaip, the Prophet, says that doing so will help them reach their goals.

“Although the Doib, Aaip’s devotees, wish that he was less demanding, they know that searching enriches the soul.

“Ieeb Pree, do you take this man, Jason Six-Sixty-Four, to be your lawfully wedded husband?”

“I do.”

“Jason Six-Sixty-four, do you take this woman, Ieeb Pree, to be your lawfully wedded wife?”

“I do.”

Boma raised his chin, a friendly gesture. “You may kiss the bride.”

We pressed our lips together and pulled away.

She smiled.

I placed the oversized platinum-colored ring on her finger. It changed into a different color, azure, and shrank until it fit.

I put on my huge bronze ring. Near the top, a gold flower spread out. Within moments, the entire ring was gold.

Ieeb announced, an amazed expression on her face, “The lines on my ring keep moving. It’s alive!”

Boma grinned. “The rings will help you. As time passes, you will understand them better. Think of them as friends.”

“Boma, how do you know this?” I rubbed my chin, curious.

“Fi told me a little about them, but he said it should be a secret. Think of it as a nice surprise.”

“Can’t you tell me anything else?” I glanced at the ring.

Boma shook his head. “Then it wouldn’t be a surprise.”

Ieeb and I smiled and walked toward her room.

Ieeb removed her dress and lay on her back. Her belly was somewhat swollen, the pregnancy more obvious.

A tentacle came out of her vagina. Ieeb pointed at the tentacle and whispered, “This is my Eoos. Now that my body is more comfortable with you, it wants to provide comfort.” The Eoos slowly wrapped around my penis and balls and started massaging them. Soon it pulled my stiff organ inside her. She wrapped her legs around my waist and kissed me, then murmured, “I will love you until the day I die. No matter how far away you are, I’ll think of you.”

“I love you so much.” Despite her promises, I knew that life was unpredictable. If I died, she would find someone else. Men wouldn’t leave her long alone, she was so beautiful.

In the morning, I put on my clothes. Ieeb kissed me, climbed out of bed, and put on her work jumpsuit.

Ieeb sighed. “I wish I could go back to Icir with you. The problem is that I can’t afford to lose my job.”

“I want to spend another day or two with you, but I have to return to the hangar and inspect ST Seven’s hull. I’ll have to work around the clock to finish doing that.”

Ieeb frowned. “I understand, though I don’t like it. I wish we could stay in bed all day and fool around.”

The door opened. Boma entered. “Jason, are you ready to go?”

I nodded and left the room, already feeling lonely.

We went outside. Several Urus walked into the barrier. Arcs of electricity jumped out of a pole, hit them, and they collapsed.

I paused for a moment. “Those dead Urus smell like burnt grass.”

“Yes. The crew will have to get rid of the corpses.”

We hopped inside the giag. Behind us, several guards began mumbling. As the engine groaned louder, we pulled onto the road.

After we passed several hills, I saw motion straight ahead. A hundred yards down the road, eight Tiel came out from behind trees, and crawled onto it.

Boma complained, “We can’t kill all of those!” He shoved one hand through floating text. The giag abruptly veered left and went off the road, entering a forest. The cab began shaking as we drove over tall weeds. Suddenly, it went between trees.

I blurted, “I hope the bushes don’t break the axle.”

“We’ll see.” He stuck his hand through syntax, steering the giag to the right. We drove by a sixty-foot tall Mus Nantus. At the same time, eight-inch long thorns hit the windshield and started piling up.

Behind us, a miner with a raspy voice shouted, “Ank, ank!”

The right wheel hit a log. My side of the giag jerked up, then plummeted to the ground.

Boma yelled, “Fuck!” He rammed one hand through syntax. The giag veered left, and went around huge bushes.

I smelled fumes similar to excrement and sulfur. Within seconds, my helmet rose and the face mask closed. All around me, everyone else started coughing, reacting to the stench.

Much to my surprise, the giag entered a clearing and went down a hill. As the fumes dissipated, we reached the top, and descended. Beneath the giag, I heard a loud noise.
Snap.

Boma shouted, “The axle just broke.” The giag began shaking.

I held my right hand over a door-mounted sensor and the window rolled down. I grabbed the windowsill, trying to hold on. In an instant the giag tipped over—ending up on the driver’s side. Soon the vehicle slid to a stop, crashing loudly as it knocked bushes aside.

I climbed out, reached down, and pulled Boma out. After he rose to his feet, we jumped to the ground.

To my right, on the side of the giag, all the guards leaped. They landed on their feet amidst knee-high weeds.

I yanked out my tablet. The screen appeared. Near the middle of it, a compass emerged from a taupe background. I pointed. “Boma, if we go around that hill, and head south, we’ll reach the hangar sometime tomorrow morning. Even if stellar aircraft doesn’t pick us up, we can reach it in that amount of time.”

He scowled. “We’ll see.” All eight of us, six guards, Boma and I, started hiking around a hill.

The approaching sound of Oiins, a swarm hidden behind nearby Mus Nantus, became louder. Chills ran down my spine as I raised my flamethrower, preparing to fire. At the same time, everyone else aimed their weapons at the Mus.

A tall guard named Worik gripped his M-349 rifle, an automatic weapon that could fire a thousand bullets per minute. “I’m ready.”

Wind speed decreased while the swarm came toward us, making an ominous
Nnnnn.

Everyone started firing, a deafening noise. Not far above the weeds grenades exploded, creating brief orange and maroon fireworks.

As sweat poured off my forehead, the huge swarm blocked out the sky. Bullets tore many Oiins to shreds, but not enough.

I squeezed the trigger. Flames engulfed hundreds of the insects.

A clot of Oiins came to rest on a guard. He screamed and dropped his weapon.

I lowered my barrel and the flames engulfed him. Soon charred insect carcasses fell off his flameproof suit. I released the trigger. The flame disappeared. The guard jumped to his feet, grabbed his rifle and started firing.

I raised my barrel and pulled the trigger. Flames swept across more Oiins. Thousands of them began circling one guard. He howled, stumbled to the ground, and went into convulsions.

I pivoted and fired.

Flames engulfed his writhing silhouette.

I released the trigger. The flame vanished.

Gradually, all the burnt insects fell off as his body kept jerking. It was too late, he’d been stung too many times.

I aimed and fired again. Flames came out while grenades went off.

All around us, the swarm of undulating arcs droned louder. Suddenly, they began making a screeching noise, one that resembled a saw cutting metal.
Zeeeeee!

One guard shouted, “Time to use your G’s!” His fellow workers scrambled to put on gas masks.

Someone fired, shooting a canister. It exploded, sending ochre-colored fumes in every direction.

Even through my face-plate, I smelled a mustard-like gas. Soon my throat and eyes started burning. I cranked up the suit’s ventilation.

The Oiins buzzed louder, then started flying away, wanting to avoid the fumes.

As my stomach churned, the remaining insects flew toward a distant hill.

Within moments, the fumes dissipated. The bottom of my face mask opened. “I’m surprised you didn’t put on the gas masks earlier,” I gasped.

Boma removed his gas mask and took a deep breath, upset. “After you put them on, it’s difficult to see well enough to hit anything. I wish Obno would give us the latest equipment rather than this outdated shit.”

His gas mask automatically folded, and Boma attached it to his sleeve. He hurried toward a collapsed guard while others did the same. Boma stooped, touched the guard’s wrist, then announced, “Zat is dead.” After cursing softly, he spoke into his tablet, “This is Boma. Alip, anybody, can you hear me?”

A faint voice came out of the device, “Wha?”

Boma tapped the tablet with his hand. “I can’t understand a single word. We’ll have to come back for his body later.”

Everyone hiked on as the late afternoon sun-like star moved toward the horizon.

The guards, all Ulthe warriors, frowned because they knew that any one of them might be next. The sad look on their faces also meant every one of them recognized that today, tomorrow or sometime soon might be their last day.

Worik, with a frightened expression on his face looked at Nebo. “In the last few months, I’ve made more money as an Obno employee than I have in the last eight years.”