Query (3 page)

Wait... no. Axis would be there in the future.
What the hell?

She turned and touched Rune’s door again, concentrating.

Sounds came to her, reverberating through the wood and metal, the audio track of a couple who were very into each other.

She shivered and jerked her hand back. It was like listening to porn.

So, she had read the occupant when she touched the doorplate, but she read the door when she touched the flat surface.
Hmm.

With the interior of the base explored, including all the common spaces, she headed back to the exterior door that would let her explore the grounds.

She walked down to the wall and quirked her lips, pressing her hand against it.

She woke up next to the stone with her head pounding. She muttered, “Note to self. Don’t screw with anything that looks like it will outlive you.”

With her head pulsing painfully, she staggered toward the base.

Light had shifted drastically, and she heard someone calling her. “Over here.”

Rune came out of the shadows and walked toward her. “Where were you? What happened?”

“I was experimenting.”

He sighed and lifted her into his arms. “You are bleeding.”

She touched her head and nodded. “I went head first into the wall. Long story.”

“Did something attack you?”

“The future. Note to self, don’t try to read or scan objects that will be around for ten thousand years. It is going to see some serious stuff.”

“So, you really can see the future.”

She chuckled and kept her hand pressed to the small cut. “Yeah. Thankfully, the booster I took has worn off. I am just getting a general hum now.”

“From me?”

“Yes.” Freddy wrinkled her nose.

He carried her to the medical chamber and sat her on an exam bed.

“Where are the others?”

“Showering. We had to attend an outbreak, and they were exposed to the nullifying slime.”

“What about you?”

“I am immune to the toxin. It is in this rune.” He tapped his ribs.

“Are you covered with markings?” She cocked her head while he grabbed a med kit.

He turned. “Do you want to look?”

His challenging smile was a bit more than she was up to.

“Not today; thank you for the offer.”

“I was not offering. I was merely trying to gauge your interest.”

She rolled her eyes before wincing as he cleaned her cut.

“Well, this is deep, but it didn’t crack your skull. The bruising will be minimized by this regenerator, but it will be tender.” Rune lined up the healing device and activated it.

The prickles that danced across her skull were tiny lights of pain. She held still and breathed shallowly while it did its work. She exhaled in relief when it was over.

“Did that hurt?”

She rocked her head. “A little.” Her scalp felt better.

He swiped a cool swab over the area. “Well, it may have hurt, but you took to the healing.”

“Oh. Goody. Can I go now?”

“Have you eaten?”

“No. I got distracted.”

“What was the last thing you ate?”

She thought about it. “A cookie?”

He muttered and put his hands on her waist, pulling her off the table and setting her on her feet.

He grabbed her hand and pulled her out of medical and back to the kitchen. “With an active talent, you need to keep your meals regular so your body doesn’t affect your focus.”

“Is that what you do?”

He laughed. “That is one of the only things that we have to entertain ourselves during down time. Masturbating gets boring after a while.”

“Even if you switch hands to change things up?” She clapped her free hand over her mouth and pulled free to scoot around the counter.

He stared at her for a moment before he laughed. “Here, I thought I would shock you.”

“I have two older brothers who lived at home into their twenties. I am well aware of masculine humour.”

“You have family and still you came out here?”

“It appealed to me, and my family was supportive.”

He started pulling vegetables and meat out of the coolers, and he chopped, sliced and peeled while he pelted her with questions.

“Your family let you come here?”

“They let me leave them, knowing that I had to. My life was fine; it was normal; it was bland. The test that popped Delphic on my genetics gave me a window to another world, and I went through it.”

“Do your family members have the talent?”

“My mom has always had insight and an eye toward our futures. I am guessing she let me go because she always knew I would.” The moment it was out of Freddy’s mouth, she knew it was true.

She chuckled. “My mom even said that she had known that day was coming for a long time, she just didn’t know when it would be there.”

He chuckled. “It seems likely that she had the gift.”

“Did your people seek out Terrans with talents?”

“Occasionally. They were exotic and traded among those who sought out the precious and rare.” He brought out a large pot and set it on the heating unit.

He added the chopped vegetables in a specific order before dumping the sliced meat on top. He spiced the upper layer and put a lid on it, washing up quickly.

“The stew will take a couple of hours. In the meantime, I will get you a sandwich.”

She chuckled. “Fair enough. What time of day is it?”

“It is nearly sundown.”

“How long are the days here?”

“Thirty-two hours. Longer than what you are used to, I am guessing.”

She caught his knowing look. “Don’t tease.”

He laughed as he prepared some sandwiches. “You have a quick wit.”

“Thank you. It tends to get me into trouble.”

“As might your candour.”

Freddy took the sandwich he handed her to the table. “I do not believe you are wrong.”

He chuckled again and joined her with his own monstrous sandwich.

She bit into hers without waiting. Seeing the food had made her ravenous. She didn’t even care what it tasted like.

When she had taken the edge of her hunger, she asked, “So, what do you do for fun around here?”

“We go to the bawdy houses in town. They shut them down if we make reservations.”

She could understand that. “Anything else?”

“We attend festivals; generally, we do what any others would do, we just have to fly in and out of our home.”

“Right. So, I am going to be stuck here unless I get a new wardrobe.”

“You are the Oracle and the only Terran on this world. You can’t socialize with the locals. They would try to take advantage of the exposure.”

Freddy didn’t like that. “Great. Travel to a new world and have to stay inside the whole time. Fantastic.”

“I will see what can be done. I have never had to disguise a woman leaving the base before.”

She snorted. “I am sorry to put you out.”

“It is no trouble. I will enjoy the adaptation. I mean to have you as mine, so keeping you happy is on my agenda.”

“That is a very straight-forward statement.”

He grinned. “Your candour rubbed off on me.”

“I will try to keep it in check.”

“Feel free to rub anything you like on me.” He winked.

“And we are back to that. Thanks for the food.”

“You are welcome. I would suggest rest for a few hours, and then, I will wake you for some of the stew.”

“I can hardly wait.”

She got a glass of water and headed for her room. She would be able to sleep with Sneed in her arms. He was the best sleep assistant she had ever had.

Dreams tormented her. Hot hands moving over her body, cool blasts of air caressing between her thighs while spectral hands gripped her hips and raised her to a waiting mouth.

Freddy groaned, sighed and twisted as the dream urged her body to a fever pitch of pleasure. She jolted awake and blinked as her body was slowly lowered to the bedding. Her sex was trying to clasp and hold her spectral invader, but there was nothing there.

She looked at her skin and could clearly see finger marks on her hips. The problem was that not only was there no one with her, she could still feel the warmth from his skin.

Freddy got to her feet and put on a black version of her uniform. The dress swirled around her feet. She braided her hair up in a coronet and tied a gold cord around her and between her breasts.

The moment she was out of the lav and in the closet, the maintenance bots sprang into action, straightening her bed and removing the previous day’s dress for laundering.

Parts of her were still throbbing when she went to set up her morning meal.

The sky was still dark as she moved around and got the bread and protein slabs heated up. The water boiled, and she set her tea service into position. With a smile, she fixed her tray and carried it to the table, sitting and having a leisurely breakfast in solitary silence.

The base felt bizarrely empty. She couldn’t sense anyone, and normally, she had a feeling when she was within a few metres of someone. Now, there was nothing.

She sighed. They must be on a mission. Suddenly, the post of Guardian didn’t seem so glamorous.

Freddy ate her meal in silence and wondered what the hell had been in that stew to make her hallucinate getting oral sex from a disembodied mouth.

She watched dawn creep in and got up, did her dishes and cleaned her hands before heading to work. There were futures to discern and lives to expose.

Her first client was early, which was fortuitous. Freddy drank the tea, sat in the chair and took the hand of the petitioner. He asked, she answered and it set the pattern for the rest of her day.

One day she was going to have to find out how the folks were let in. They all seemed to be vetted and fairly intent on merely learning their futures.

She told them what they wanted to know, and when it was over, she suffered from reading the future of the chair she was sitting on the moment she touched the seat to climb off. How Rune was going to balance up there while she was in his lap was a mystery she was looking forward to solving, but she had no idea when they were going to start their relationship. It was a strange conundrum. She knew they were going to be intimate the moment that they met, but she didn’t know when that would start. Did it make sense to wait or should she just jump into it? She had no idea. Nothing like this had ever happened to her before.

The Oracle was done for the day, so she put away her tea set and walked through the covered walkway back to the base.

Freddy wandered into the kitchen for her meal and was unsurprised to find Axis working on the food for dinner.

“Productive day?” He raised his brows and smiled.

“More or less. I managed to take seven clients today. I am just going to make a sandwich and lie down if you don’t mind.”

“Have at it. I promise to work around you.”

She chuckled and opened the cooler, picking out what she wanted before seeking out a spot on the counter to drop the armloads of food. She ducked under Axis’s arm and then whirled with a giggle when he tried to catch her.

When she pulled out a knife, he held up his hands in surrendered. She swiftly carved off two slices of bread and got to work in her sandwich.

While she worked, he reached around her and stole one of the condiments she was done with. She elbowed him lightly in the ribs, and he pulled her back against him.

“What the hell are you doing?”

Axis held her lightly but turned to look at Rune. “I am making dinner, and Oracle is making a sandwich. What are you doing?”

“Protecting my interests.”

She looked around Axis and frowned. “I am not your interest. Not yet.”

He growled and stroked the side of his neck. One of the glyphs rose from his skin and floated toward her. The mark settled between her breasts, and she was levitated through the air, pulled out from under Axis and toward Rune.

A small gesture from him and she was hiked into the air at his level. The kiss was possessive, and her mind spun as a thousand images of him kissing her filled her thoughts.

When he pulled back, her lips were throbbing. “That is cheating.”

“Why are you so resistant to this?”

She smiled, her feet still dangling off the ground. “I am not sure when it starts.”

“What?” He blinked rapidly as if having difficulty with that detail.

“We will be intimate, lovers if you will. I just don’t know when that portion of our relationship starts. My mind skips over immediate future and reaches for a few years from now.”

He looked like he wanted to strangle her. It was a fierce expression. A calculating look came to his features. “What about right now?”

She looked over at the counter. “What about my sandwich?”

“Axis will put it all away. Come with me.”

She didn’t have a choice. Whatever was suspending her was also pulling her through the hall like a balloon on a string.

“This lacks dignity and decorum, Rune.”

He chuckled. “If you would simply give me your agreement, I would let you walk like the woman you are.”

She frowned. “Agreement for what?”

“To become my lover. Today. Now.” He opened his door, and his talent pulled her into his room.

He held her suspended and slowly untied the cord that held her gown in place.

“If I may ask...” She looked at the rapt expression on his face, so contrary to his previous attitude.

“Please, ask me anything. If you beg, I will give you whatever you like.” His tone was a soft growl.

She blushed as he finished removing the cord and slowly eased her dress from her shoulders.

“How does your talent work? Why is this thing between my breasts controlling my body?” She bit her lip as the dress snagged on the tight points of her nipples.

He lifted her slightly without touching her, elevating her until he could take one nipple between his teeth. She caught her breath and held it as he moved from one to the other while his fingers tugged the gown down and away from her body.

She could see the sharp point of his ears as he bent toward her. Surrendering to the moment was a definite option, but she was on the fence until he drew sharply on one breast. A moaning sigh escaped her, and she reached out, threading her fingers through his hair.