Vitalis Omnibus (36 page)

Sasha, Elsa remembered, possessed an almost unnatural beauty to her. She wasn’t fat by any means, but the curves on her body reminded Elsa of someone surgically enhanced to work in the adult entertainment industry on one of the outer worlds. Kira was the opposite. She was lean and small breasted, but muscular enough to wrestle one of the screechers that had given her such a hard time.

Elsa shook her head. Kira was lean and looked powerful, but the Marine reminded herself that the huntress couldn’t compete with her. Not only did she have Marine training but she’d also had genetic manipulation to increase her muscle density and efficiency. Life on Vitalis probably meant she’d be leaning out and looking a lot like Kira.

“All right, let’s go.”

Elsa snapped her attention on Kira. “What? You want to go out hunting like that! I’m having a hard time knowing I don’t have any underwear on beneath this skirt!”

Kira grinned. She wore a short loin cloth and nothing else save for a pair of moccasins. “I left my power armor on my other planet.”

“Power armor?” Elsa shook her head. “Look, I know you’re trying to impress me but I’ve seen the fucking monsters out there! I fought things that would have ripped me into tiny pieces without my armor, you can’t just shake your boobies at them and hope they leave you alone!”

Kira laughed. “I can’t think of anything shaking my boobies at would work on. It would just draw more attention. This isn’t to impress you or scare you. This is because clothing makes noise and retains smells. When I’m head out deep I wear nothing. We’re not going that far.”

“Nothing? Not even your shoes?”

“Just my weapons.” Kira grabbed a short spear with rope tied around it like Tarn’s. She slipped it over her head so it was slung across her back. She grabbed an unstrung bow next, then fitted a string over one end of it so it was loose and attached the other end to the bottom of the bow. “Pay attention.”

Elsa watched Kira slip one of the bow over her foot, then she slid her long leg between the string and the wood, then used her leg and arm to arch the bow while her other hand slid the string up until it fit in a notch at the end of it. She stepped out of it and held it up for Elsa to see. “You’re turn.”

Else struggled but, after a few failed attempts, managed to string her bow. She expected Kira to be laughing at her when she looked up but the woman offered her a nod and a brief smile. “Come on,” Kira said. “Like I said, we’re not doing much today, just some practice and basic knowledge.”

“But you’re still mostly naked,” Elsa pointed out.

“Does that bother you?” Kira was halfway through the door, her hand holding open the hide. She turned to face her, the makeshift door still open. “Or does it excite you? I’ve heard about Marines that spent a long time with nothing but their platoons. Long deployments that last years can make for some lonely nights.”

Elsa’s eyes bulged at the blatant implication.

Kira smiled. “Look, if you like women that’s fine, I don’t care. I’ve got Eric and he does me right any time and every time, so you’ll have to keep looking.”

“No! That’s not—”

Kira held up her hand. “You’re already feeling Vitalis in you. I know, believe me. It’s been years but I remember it and I still feel it. We all do. It’s amazing, what this place does to you. It makes you feel alive like you’ve never felt before. And that means sex too. You’ll be more aware of it and more interested in it. Just wait, it’ll get better and better for you. I’m envious of those kids, I can only imagine what it would be like to have been born here.”

“You really like this miserable planet, don’t you?”

Kira nodded. “I do. I love it. Vitalis gave me a second chance. Before this place my life was a fucking mess. I’ll tell you about it sometime, but not now. We’ve got to meet Fiona first.”

Elsa nodded. She hadn’t even decided if she liked Kira yet and now she had to go and meet another one. Fiona, she remembered, had been one of the Marines on garrison duty with the research station. Maybe another Marine could help her come to terms with the place.

She followed the nearly naked woman out into the early morning, wondering what would try to kill her today.

Chapter 4

It looked like Kira was the one trying to kill her. They’d marched through the jungle for hours. Elsa felt she should be exhausted but her body kept responding when she asked for more. Kira set a brutal pace the prevented her from talking even if she’d known what to say to the strange huntress.

The other thing that amazed Elsa was how Kira moved. She watched her whenever she could, marveling at the way the woman’s muscles rippled under her tanned skin. Sunlight seldom broke through the forest and many of the other residents of Treetown had been pale because of it. Not Kira, she was as bronzed as a primal goddess should be.

Kira didn’t just move like a force of nature, she was as stealthy of the most cunning of jungle predators. For all the speed her long legged strides made through the forest Elsa strained to her a single noise caused by her. Her feet never once scuffed a rock or broke a stick. Her hands and body never brushed against a tree or leaf. Even her breathing seemed steady, smooth, and without noise.

So caught up in watching Kira was she, Elsa gasped aloud when they broke through the jungle to a beach so brilliant it sent a bolt of agony between her eyes. Kira turned to glare at her, then motioned for her to continue. Elsa hurried after, feeling the hot sand as her moccasins kicked it up to spray against her legs.

The mid day sun was high in the sky beating down upon them. After Kira had walked more than half the distance to the shore she stopped and took her moccasins off. Elsa caught up to her and gazed in amazement as Kira slipped her loin cloth over her hips. She set both on the white sand and motioned for Elsa.

“What are we doing?” Elsa was in no rush to stand naked on the beach. She turned and looked up and down it, squinting against the bright light that reflected off the beautiful sand. “We can’t be alone out here.”

Kira grinned. “There are less than fifty humans on the planet. They’re all back at Treetown except for you, me, and Fiona.”

“So where’s Fiona? I thought we were meeting her.”

“So did I, but she’s not here yet.”

“Okay, so why are you naked now? Change your mind?”

“I figured I’d take a swim since we’re waiting for Fiona. It’ll help you too, come on.”

Elsa frowned. “I had to cross some deep rivers filled with some very scary fish.”

“There’s bigger and nastier fish out there,” Kira confirmed her worst fears. “Some scary things near the shore too, but you’ll never learn what they are unless you let me show you.”

Elsa swore and Kira laughed. “Come on,” the huntress urged, “it’s going to take a lot of walks to burn that baby fat off of you.”

Elsa’s jaw dropped. “What baby fat!” Her eyes went to Kira’s body. She scowled. She’d show this primitive bitch! She yanked her shirt up and over her head then pushed her skirt down. She fell over trying to take off her shoes, which only made Kira laugh.

“Come on,” Kira said, holding out her hand. Elsa glared at her but took the offering and rose up. “Ever been skinny dipping before?”

“Skinny dipping?”

“Yeah, it means swimming without any clothes on.”

“I’ve never heard that before,” Elsa admitted.

“It’s an old Earth term. I don’t remember where I heard it, but that’s not surprising since I’ve lived two lives.”

“Two lives? What are you talking about?”

Kira smiled. “I’ll tell you later. Come on, let’s hit the waves.”

Elsa glanced at her pile of clothing and then the line where the sand met the jungle. Seeing nothing, she shrugged and walked after Kira, grimacing at the hot powdery sand beneath her feet. “Shit, this burns!”

“You’ll adapt,” Kira said over her shoulder.

“You mean to tell me this doesn’t burn your feet?”

Kira stopped and lifted up one leg. Showing balance reserved for a near zero-g ballet dancer she stretched her foot out in Elsa’s direction. Her skin looked smooth and without a hint of red to it. Elsa reached out and grabbed it, feeling the warmth that radiated from it. “Ha, it’s hot!”

“But it doesn’t bother me. It did at first. I got used to it. Vitalis took care of it. Now either start rubbing or let go. I suggest you let go.”

Elsa let go. A foot rub did sound nice, but she preferred to be on the receiving end. “I never figured a scary bitch like you to be into foot rubs.”

Kira chuckled. “My feet are ticklish too. Both the rubbing and the tickling gets me going and you said you weren’t into girls.”

Elsa’s jaw dropped again at her guide’s blunt behavior. “You’re too much!”

Kira nodded. “Just wait, you’ll understand soon enough. Come on, into the water with you. Follow me though; some of those rocks aren’t rocks.”

Elsa stared at the rocks in the water. They looked normal enough to her. Dark grey and shiny with the water from the small waves that broke over them. “If they’re not rocks, what are they?”

“Those three,” she pointed at three rocks, each separated by at least twenty feet along the shore, “are called lurker crabs. Nasty fuckers, they’ll cut your leg off with their claws.”

Elsa slowed, rethinking her interest in the water. The heat from the sand and the soft breeze that blew off the ocean made her change her mind. “Hurry up, the sand’s hot!”

Kira waded in, slowing to look around. She pointed out a few more things to avoid, including a fish that looked like a sunken log and a spine covered ball Kira called a Sea Itchen because of the venom in its urchin-like creature’s spines that made a person itch so badly they would cut their flesh open to try and get the itching to stop.

The water felt warm and wonderful, though it was cooler than the tropical air. Following Kira’s lead Elsa waded deep enough so that she could submerge herself in the water. She broke the surface and felt rejuvenated almost instantly. She yelped, sucking in a mouthful of water when water splashed in her face. Clearing her eyes she saw Kira a few feet away, her hands raised to splash her again.

“You bitch!” Elsa growled. Kira splashed again but the Marine dove under the water. She reached out, intent on grabbing the huntress and pulling her under with her, but Kira was nowhere to be found.

Elsa’s head broke from the water and she turned around. Kira was standing some distance behind her. She smiled and shook her head. “You’ve got to be a lot faster than that,” she said.

“How? There was five feet between us, how could you get around me that fast?”

“Who said I went around?” Kira asked. “And next time, keep your eyes open.”

“The water tastes funny, I don’t want it in my eyes.”

“It’s saltwater, it’s not bad. Just don’t drink too much of it.”

“Saltwater like back on Earth saltwater?”

Kira nodded.

“Oh!” Elsa lowered her lips to the water and tasted it. She swished it around in her mouth and spit it out. “I remember reading about that stuff. Drinking it would mess you up, maybe kill you?”

Kira shrugged. “Never tried it, but this stuff isn’t that bad. Makes you thirsty though, so you can’t live on it. Probably like everything else on Vitalis, it’s a better version of what Earth had to offer.”

Elsa opened her mouth to respond but fell silent when she saw movement behind Kira. Someone was on the beach. “So much for being left alone,” she muttered, gesturing towards the person behind them.

Kira nodded without turning. “That’s Fiona. Don’t worry, she won’t bite. Then again, maybe she might. She and Jeremy had a falling out and she’s probably getting pretty frustrated by now.”

“The researcher?”

Kira nodded.

The woman walked closer until Elsa could make her out clearly. Her eyes had adjusted to the sunlight so well she didn’t even need to squint to make out the features of the new woman. She was tanned almost as deeply as Kira, though her skin was also criss-crossed with markings. Elsa almost laughed when she realized she’d glossed over the fact that Fiona was completely nude save for her weapons.

“Let me guess, she was on a long mission?”

Kira’s eyebrows scrunched until she turned to look at the woman. She chuckled. “You’re really hung up on this clothes thing, aren’t you? I shouldn’t be surprised, you just got here. Fiona was pretty worked up about it at first too. It just kind of happened for us, but I’ve been here since the beginning.”

Fiona waved and looked around carefully before wading into the water and then walking and swimming out to meet them. As she approached Kira finished answering Elsa’s question. “Yes, she was keeping an eye on the spitters to see if they were coming after us.”

“So are they?” Elsa asked, turning to face the newcomer.

“Hi, I’m Fiona, pleased to meet you too,” Fiona said with a smirk.

Elsa frowned. She didn’t like being out of her element and, from all appearances, on the bottom of the food chain. She felt like she was being hazed after joining a new FIST team. “Sorry, it’s been a rough couple of days. Gunny Elsadora Quinn. ”

“I heard that. Nice job Gunny, by the way. I heard some of what Tarn tracked you through. I guess the FISTs really are as tough as they say they are,” Fiona said.