Skylar's Guardians (22 page)

Leeza raised an eyebrow and looked at her pod-mate. Tralec had warned Skylar that the woman had an uncanny ability to sniff out the truth and even more skill at spotting fibs.

“Perhaps I should check you out,” Leannz announced, standing.

Skylar paled, shaking her head. “No, I’ll be fine. I need a nap, that’s all. I’m not used to the days and nights being switched or having such short sleeping periods. Plus, the stupid biodrone has been making my sleep miserable.”

“It is a computer, child. It cannot make you miserable unless it is programmed to do so.”

“Tell that to the robot. It hates me.”

“Do humans typically become moody without cause?” Leannz asked, placing her hand on the girl’s face and peering into her eyes with concern.

“Some. I might be PMSing. I’m very irregular, so I don’t know.”

“What are you talking about? We are unfamiliar with the term PMS.”

Skylar rubbed her temples as she was forced into a detailed discussion of the human reproductive cycle, gestations, and birthing process. More information led to more questions, and Skylar’s imaginary headache took a turn to become a full-fledged migraine.

“She really is ill now, sister,” Leeza said with concern. “How can we help you, child?”

“I need loves,” Skylar whined, squeezing her head between her hands and tightly closing her eyes.

“What are loves?” Leeza asked with confusion.

“Cuddles, affectionate touching, soothing gestures. Damn, this hurts,” the whimpering girl in her lap said tearfully.

“Giving loves gives me pleasure,” Leeza said sweetly, rocking her gently as she soothed her head. “Did your grandmother give you loves?”

“No. She was too busy being selfish, angry, and hateful at my grandfather, even though she had made the choice to be apart from him.”

“What a waste of life to be that way.”

“I always thought I was the waste of life when I was around her,” Skylar said bitterly.

“A person is not the waste, child. Waste comes when that person chooses not to live to the fullest and in the best way they are able. Waste also comes when that person chooses not to share their precious life with others.”

“I always felt like I was not wanted. It hurt me.”

“Perhaps it was not you who was unwanted, but your grandmother.”

“I never said I didn’t want her!”

“Shhh, calm yourself, child. I meant that if your grandmother was an unhappy person, she might not have wanted to exist. That is how our people feel if our pod-mate is taken.”

“Do pod-mates ever part because they don’t like each other?” Skylar asked, rubbing her head between her palms.

“Never. We are taught to value our pod-mates more than we value ourselves. You poor thing…” Leeza cooed, kissing her forehead as she rocked the tiny woman.

“Place this on her scalp,” Leannz said, handing Leeza a cool compress. “Bring her down to my office.”

“No…” Skylar protested as she was carried like a doll to the elevator unit. “I don’t want to be poked and probed!”

“I cannot help you if I cannot discover what is hurting you. Does this pain happen often?” Leannz asked gently, holding a rail as the unit began to take them below ground to where the laboratories were housed.

“It’s hormonal and gets worse with stress and lack of sleep. I’ll be fine.”

“I will determine that, child.”

“What I would like to know is if this pain started as a result of you lying to us,” Leeza asked. “You did not have head pain until after you fabricated feeling ill.”

“H… how did you know I was lying?” Skylar stared at her, flabbergasted.

“I just know these things. Why did you lie?”

“I was ashamed of my ignorance,” Skylar admitted. “I wanted to be able to give you information of value about my species, not just the stupid stuff.”

“Just be yourself, Skylar. One is only ignorant when they believe that they are beyond learning from others.”

“Is there a way I can, well, go back to school and learn more things so the boys don’t think I’m stupid?”

“Our people do not seek characteristics that are lacking in one another. We only look for the good that is offered to share with others. If you desire to learn, you must do it for yourself.”

“It would make Daddy so happy to see me in school. You should see how excited he gets when Papa asks to learn something new.”

“He has always obtained pleasure in watching others learn. We have known them since they were podlings. It is good to see the happiness that you have brought them.” Leeza smiled, kissing Skylar’s cheek fondly

“May I ask how you were able to tell the clones apart so easily? Those two are the closest matched I have known,” Leannz asked.

“I just did. From the very beginning, I could tell. They smell different, sound different, and walk different… It was as though I’ve known them my entire life.”

“Leannz, I intend no disrespect, but does the child not have head pain that we need to care for?” Leeza asked in a manner that Skylar recognized to be a formal reprimand.

“You are correct.” Leannz bowed her head. “I apologize for my lack of consideration to you both. I ask your forgiveness. Skylar, when you feel better, the two of us will have a long talk with you about the implications of lying in this world, yes?”

“Yes, ma’am,” Skylar answered sulkily.

* * *

Leannz directed Skylar to be placed on a large, broad table covered with a soft heated mat. She looked into Skylar’s eyes, nose, ears, and mouth and felt along her throat and the back of her neck with strong finger pads. Skylar squinted against the light, becoming more photosensitive as the minutes ticked by. Leannz sighed as the girl held her head in her hands and began to whimper with pain.

“I need more time to learn about your nervous system and what causes this problem before I can determine a way to prevent it. Tralec said the injection of Cyphlon helped eliminate your pain when he found you and…”

“No! I would rather have a headache than go through that horrible needle again. It took weeks to heal from that bruise. Please, Auntie Leannz, not that.”

“The child is terrified. Can you find another means of removing this pain from her body?” Leeza asked, embracing Skylar lovingly.

“I have an idea,” Leannz said, flicking a screen and maneuvering holographic items with her finger. “Yes, this should work.”

She took an item off the medical synthesizer and held it up proudly. Skylar felt bile rising to her throat. There was no mistaking what the item was or where it was intended to be placed.

“No fucking way are you shoving that monster up my ass!” Skylar screeched, jumping off the table and running out of the room as fast as her legs would carry her.

“Skyler, come back here immediately,” Leannz ordered firmly, following her. “Where did she go?”

“Humans are more trouble than a new podling,” Leeza chuckled, “but they certainly are an adorable species. I would like one of my own. It would be as though I had a podling that never grew up.”

“They are not pets, nor do I have the patience or energy to deal with this behavior on a regular basis. Skylar! Answer me!”

After calling down to the main lobby to secure the exits, the women searched the facility for an hour only to come back empty-handed. Leeza finally gave in and called Tralec. She explained the problem calmly and reassured him that Skylar was safe somewhere in the building and asked if he had any ideas where to look. As she was talking, Troy entered the room with a very unhappy Skylar in tow.

“Missing someone?” he asked, pushing the girl in front of him with a swat on the rump.

“We certainly were. Where did you find her?”

“I swung by the apartments to get a change of clothes for work and found her sitting outside the threshold, banging her head against the wall.”

“She has something she calls a migraine,” Leannz stated, hands on her hips as she stared down at the pitiful expression of Skylar’s face. “I had synthesized a suppository of Cyphlon specifically for her to eliminate the pain, and she ran off.”

“I was talking to Tralec when you came in. He wants to speak with you,” Leeza said with a smile. She looked down at Skylar. “You had us worried, dear. Please do not run away like that. It is considered very rude and hurtful.”

“Lemme alone.”

“Skylar! Watch your tone. Apologize this instant,” Troy scolded, momentarily breaking his conversation with Tralec. Skylar flinched but said nothing.

“You know I was not going to hurt you, Skylar,” Leannz stated. “This running away was not necessary. By the look on your papa’s face, it now appears that you are in some trouble.”

“Damn right she is,” Troy said. He sat in a chair and pointed his finger to a spot on the floor. “Get over here, young lady.”

* * *

Skylar gulped. Troy rarely referred to her in that manner, which meant that she was toast. Slowly, she dragged her feet until she stood before him, all the while facing the floor.

“I want the truth. Is your head hurting you?”

“Yes, Papa. Awfully.”

“Then I will not be paddling your behind right now. Instead, I am going to make sure you get this medication and are put to bed until it works.”

“Papa! It’s horrid! I mean… please…”

“You do an awful lot of begging every time you find yourself over someone’s knee, don’t you? Drop those panties and lean over my lap.”

“No! Please, Papa, don’t make me.”

“I don’t have time for this, Skylar. I have to get back to work,” Troy said with annoyance as he snatched her hand and rolled her easily against his thigh, holding her in place as he skimmed her panties to her knees. Skylar began to bawl, both from her headache and the humiliation of having the two women watch as Troy spread her bottom cheeks with his left hand and massaged lubricant against her bottom hole with his right. He accepted the large, dildo-sized suppository from Leannz and pressed the tip to her entryway.

Skylar kicked and protested, trying unsuccessfully to block his action with her flailing hands. She shrieked as the tip of the waxy invader nudged its way past the tight rim and was pushed inside of her bottom until it disappeared from sight. It felt as though it was pressing against every nook and cranny in her rectum as the medication began to penetrate her mucous membranes, burning slightly as it slowly migrated its way up into her intestines to maximize absorption. Skylar sobbed as Troy’s hand stayed in place across her tiny bottom, squeezing her cheeks so that she would not try to expel the insert.

“This would be a very interesting means of disciplining our naughty little girl, don’t you agree, ladies?” Troy commented, causing Skylar to cry more demonstratively as he gave her bottom an extra firm squeeze. “Perhaps develop a thicker one and use a product that she will feel until it melts. Her manuals discuss a punishment called figging, where a peeled ginger root is buried in the expulsion port.”

“I did read about that,” Leannz stated, sitting across from them and observing Skylar’s reactions to the squeezing and pressure caused by Troy’s hand. “It would be simple to devise such a thing…”

“Noooo,” Skylar cried.

“Hush,” Troy ordered. “You are already in enough trouble, little one.”

“Would you like me to take her so that you may return to work?” Leeza offered.

“Yes, please,” Troy said, transferring the prostrate Skylar to Leeza’s lap and waiting as the woman promptly placed her palm across the tiny bottom and squeezed the flesh together. “Skylar, you are to behave for the rest of your time here. We will have a very long talk with you when we pick you up tomorrow.”

It seemed as though the rest of her life would be spent listening to ‘very long talks,’ which typically included a memorable spanking.

“I’m sorry, Papa,” Skylar whispered, her face pressed against Leeza’s thigh. Troy said nothing as he leaned across to kiss the top of her head. She listened to his heavy footsteps as he departed, and her tears started again.

“Humans leak excessively for no specific reason or purpose. Interesting,” Leannz commented.

“Perhaps they are simply sensitive and delicate creatures who may be able to touch their more primitive side. How is your pain, child?” Leeza asked.

“Better,” Skylar reluctantly admitted. The suppository had worked faster on her migraine than anything she had ever taken while on earth. While she did not approve of the method of delivery, she was grateful for the relief it provided. “I’m sorry I was so bad.”

“I sense your daddy and papa will be dealing with your transgressions when you get home,” Leeza sighed loudly. “You could have avoided this.”

“But that thing was so huge!”

“The synthesizer designed it to fit you fully for maximum absorption. Perhaps next time you will try to trust us not to hurt you. You need a nap now to give your body time to sleep off the medication,” Leannz said.

“But I’m not tired, Auntie Leannz. I’m also not a baby, even though to you I look like one.”

“You also act like one at times.”

“Please let me stay up. I’ll be quiet, I promise.”

“I said you need a nap. My patience is wearing thin. Would you care for me to call your daddy or will you go to bed?”

Skylar quickly chose bed and was promptly tucked into a snuggly bunting-like sack that was suspended over a mattress in a large crib.
So much for not being treated as a baby!
Skylar wisely kept her mouth shut. She was already in deep trouble as it was.

Chapter Fifteen

Skylar stood in the center of the living room. She was completely naked, and following the directions from one of the ‘manuals,’ Troy had restrained her wrists together in front of her body to prevent her from using her hands to protect herself. The gills of both men were slightly colored. Skylar had not yet decided whether that was in her favor or not. Either they were not that angry, or their anger was under their cool control. Not that it made a difference to the condition her ass would be in once they were done.

Her offense was a serious one, both had explained, and could have easily been avoided had she followed their instructions. She had not just embarrassed herself, but them as well. She had also abused the hospitality offered by their friends. Her actions would have resulted in a one-month separation from the pod had she been linked to a pod-mate. This time, however, they would discipline her according to the ways of a human, venting the majority of their anger in the direction of her bottom.