Codename: Night Witch (31 page)

Feeling her touch, Suko opened her eyes, watching as Sigrid bent to kiss her shoulder, her arm, moving gradually down toward her elbow.

"They're just wounds, Sigrid. Wounds heal."

"I know. I'm just making it better."

Drawing her hair back behind her neck, she bent to the task of
mending
Suko's scars. Applying the gentlest pressure, she kissed each and every one of the micro-thin ridges of hardened flesh, letting her tongue trace along the fine lines.

Suko's legs moved restlessly, and her feet pushed against the thin padding of the bedding. When Suko took her face in her hands and pulled her off of her, Sigrid was sure it was to lecture her about the importance of rest and getting a good night's sleep. Instead, Sigrid found herself confronted by Suko's lips, as she planted a kiss firmly on her mouth. Her tongue wound its way inside her mouth, pressing gently against hers as her hands found their way up and under the ragged remains of her nightdress. They moved swiftly up her back to curl around her shoulders, pulling her close. There would be no more lectures of rest or sleeping. Not tonight.

Sigrid extracted herself from the kiss, but only long enough to wrestle her nightgown up and over her head, casting it aside.

For a moment, Suko could only stare at her. It almost looked as if she didn't recognize her. And in a way, Sigrid supposed she didn't. Suko wasn't the only one with a fresh chorus of battle scars. Sigrid's belly, her sides, even her thighs showed the marks of the past six years. Subtle to an outsider, but glaring to Suko. Knife wounds, burn marks, bullet penetrations, exit wounds.

"Sigrid…" Suko ran her hands down Sigrid's stomach. "What on Earth—what happened to you?"

"They're just wounds," she said, echoing Suko's words. "It's in the past. I don't care about the past. You're alive, Suko. I'm alive. We're together and that's all I ever wanted. All I ever wanted was you."

What happened next took Sigrid quite by surprise. One moment she was straddled atop her. The next, she found herself hurled onto her back, with Suko kneeling over her. Suko's lips were on her again, as were her hands—hands that were indeed everywhere, as if each touch, each caress's sole purpose was to prove that she was real and not some cruel illusion to be shattered.

In that moment, all Sigrid wanted was Suko's body next to her and she couldn't stand the thought of anything—not one article of clothing—getting between them. Mercifully, Suko appeared to want the same thing. She shrugged off her weapons harness and then her halter, casting both of them furiously aside, where they sailed clear out the window. All the while, Sigrid was doing her damnedest to free her from her trousers. She had the center buckle of Suko's leggings in her fists, fighting to undo the clasp. Their hurried fingers became quickly entangled as they fought to undo the many clasps, buttons, ties, straps and laces, and even the blasted zippers.
Who in the Federation designed such garments?
Worse, there was no getting the leggings over her tall military boots.

Sigrid tugged as hard as she could, finally pulling off one boot and then the other. Suko tripped and tumbled to fall back against the transport's dashboard. But the boots were off. Suko pushed her leggings and then her underpants down past her knees, kicking them off her ankles. For a moment she simply stood there, fully naked, staring at Sigrid and Sigrid back at her. For Sigrid, she had never seen such a lovely sight.

She held her hand out, beckoning for Suko to come to her. Rather than take her hand, Suko launched herself off the console, charging for her, as if to claim Sigrid right then and there. Sigrid found herself pushed all the way back, landing on the mattress with a huff as Suko dived on top of her. With little to no preamble, Suko moved her knees apart, falling upon her to let her mouth and tongue fully take her in. For Sigrid, this was like pouring gasoline over an already raging fire. Five days,
or five years
, it didn't matter. She had been parted from Suko for far too long. But they were together now, and that was all that mattered.

Sigrid was never known to be a quiet lover, and she wasn't quiet now. Each lash of Suko's tongue, every caress of her lips, whipped her into an ever-quickening frenzy. She gathered fistfuls of Suko's hair in her hands, holding her face against her as she drove her hips up to meet her. Her breaths came in short, rasping huffs, and when she came, it was with a fierceness that left the room spinning about her and her stomach rising and falling rapidly. Her limbs were quivering and quite useless. Standing, even kneeling was out of the question. It was all she could do to lie there, damp and sweating and gulping in lungfuls of air. Yet Suko would still need tending to.

On her back, Sigrid slid down the length of the mattress, allowing Suko to straddle her and for Sigrid to take her from underneath. She had only but to extend her tongue, letting Suko glide over her. In fact, Suko appeared quite happy to do most of the work for her.

Kneeling over her, Suko pulled her hair free of its red sash. Her hands ran through her hair, over her shoulders and down her sides, then all the way down to reach between her legs. There, she let her fingers intertwine with Sigrid's tongue, taking turns in pleasuring herself.

There had always been a connection between them. It went back as long as Sigrid could remember. But it was on Alcyone where that bond had taken on a new meaning. Already in love, already devoted to each other, the process of
Activation—
the culmination of Dr. Garrett's work—delivered their joining into an entirely new dimension
.
Sigrid could sense Suko. Everything about her. It was an awareness that went beyond empathy. Her feelings, her fears, and of course her desires, Sigrid was aware of it all, just as Suko was with her. There were no secrets between them. There never could be. Suko's yearning wasn't something to be imagined or guessed at. Sigrid could taste it as easily as the saltiness of her skin. Suko's signal to her was strong. She knew exactly what Suko wanted and she was more than happy to give it to her.

While Sigrid's mouth was otherwise occupied, her hands were free to roam where they would. Lifting her knees, she reached down between her legs. Suko was, of course, aware of the goings-on behind her. Their connection was never more literal than during their lovemaking. Suko's arousal—knowing what Sigrid was doing to herself, feeling what she was experiencing—became quickly apparent as her breathing fell in time with Sigrid's. It was a purely subconscious reflex, perhaps a result of their artificially engineered connection, but it was as real to her as her lover's touch. And that connection, those reflexes, worked both ways. When Suko came, Sigrid's sensor nodes took in the cascade of incoming data, allowing her to experience Suko's orgasm, if vicariously. The shared experience proved overwhelming, bringing on a chain reaction within herself, and she climaxed instantly.

Spent, and breathless, Suko rolled off of her, coming to lie next to her in a sweaty heap. When Sigrid released herself, withdrawing her hands and fingers, it was only so that she could pull Suko on top of her, wrapping her legs around her waist, squeezing tightly to her like a constrictor around its prey. Suko's arms, her legs, even her hair mixed and tangled with Sigrid's, making it difficult to see where one lover began and the other ended.

Closing her eyes, Suko began to slowly and methodically kiss her lips, her neck, her shoulders.

Sigrid was hardly passive. Her pelvis was busy performing a slow and rhythmic grind against Suko's leg.

"Perhaps you
are
a monster, after all," Suko said as she caressed the nape of Sigrid's neck. "You are a beast, Sigrid Novak. But if you are a monster, then you're
my
monster."

"Call it a curse," Sigrid said, relishing each and every one of Suko's kisses. "The curse of genetically enhanced lady parts."

Suko's laugh came out as a single, pronounced snort. The respite was short lived, though, and Suko returned to her free-flowing exploration of Sigrid's skin.

"My God," Suko said. "You are beautiful."

"Beautiful?" Then, after some thought, she added, "You know, I don't think I've ever heard you say that before."

"What? Of course I have. I always say it. In fact, just the other day I remember saying, 'Sigrid, you are the most beautiful—'"

"No. You haven't. I've accessed my PCM and all the records in my database concur. You've never once called me beautiful, Suko Tansho."

"Well, you
are
," Suko said with a frown. "Though, I should suspect you know it too—carrying on like that with a
lady's maid
. For goodness' sakes, Sigrid."

Sigrid sat up, her mouth hanging open. "What? Suko, you can't be serious. You're not still jealous. There's nothing between us."

"Of course I'm jealous!" Suko pulled her back on top of her, clamping her legs around her waist in an unmovable grip. There was no escape for Sigrid, not that she had any wish to escape—hardly. "She
had
you all to herself."

"She
works
for me, Suko."

"She
gave
you a bath. Probably scrubbing those very same lady parts."

First letting out a gruff growl, Sigrid leaned down to kiss her on the nose and then on her lips. "You know you're the only one I let touch those parts."

"Really? You seemed to be quite free with those parts yourself, and only a moment ago."

Sigrid punched her hard on the shoulder.

Suko snickered, then pulled her down on top of her. "She was with you, Sigrid. I will always envy her for that. And I'll always be jealous. So you best get used to it."

"Well, I suppose it is in your nature. And I do love your nature."

"We are what we are. Nothing more. Nothing less."

"And I'm far less without you."

Suko kissed her, and Sigrid let herself be kissed.

"We really should get some sleep—"

"No," Sigrid said, brushing Suko's hair back with the tip of her finger. "No, my love. There will be time enough for sleep later. I'm afraid my lady parts still need more tending. It is, as you say, in my nature."

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
Exodus

It was forty minutes before sunrise when Sigrid finally relented and released Suko from her chores. Gathering their clothes, they dressed in glowing silence. Sigrid was beginning to think sleep was overrated. After the hours of lovemaking, she felt a renewed strength growing within her, though, of course she knew this was because of Suko. She was back and she was alive. With Suko at her side, she felt unstoppable.

Working together, they found what looked like the least damaged cargo trailer in the lot. It was a flatbed rig one hundred meters in length. Only two of the tires needed swapping out.

With a loud rumbling of power, Suko brought the rig's reactor back online. She backed the truck expertly, hooking up the trailing rig on her first try. Suko drove the rig back to the camp, following the same maintenance access road Sigrid had found. Despite the many bumps in the cracked tarmac, the creaks and lurches of the antiquated transport, seated next to Suko with her arm looped through hers and her head resting against her shoulder, her lids grew heavy and her chin slumped forward.

She was just nodding off, falling into what promised to be a deep and restful sleep, when she felt Suko tense at her side.

"What is it?"

"Trouble," Suko said. "It's Victoria. She's calling me. She's tracking a new group of signals moving toward the camp."

"The Independents? The ones I spotted?"

"No, it's something else. This group's moving down from the north. Here, look for yourself."

Suko synched her communications module directly with Sigrid's, allowing her to see what Suko was seeing. It was exactly as she said, a small force moving down toward the encampment from the north. Seventeen armed soldiers backed up by what looked like two ground vehicles, possibly APCs.

"Merchantmen," Sigrid cursed.

Sigrid was instantly awake and alert. This was partly through sheer adrenaline, but mostly it was because of the heavy dose of stimulants her PCM had just ordered dumped into her system. Even the billions of nanomites coursing through her body came into play, stimulating her tired, knotted muscles with subtle but steady pulses of electricity.

"Floor it," Sigrid said. "And tell Victoria to start moving the refugees toward the road. We're getting them out of here. Now."

~ - ~

Suko drove the rig hard, bringing it as close to the encampment as she could. The road paralleled a bank of hills, and their encampment was just over the rise, a few hundred meters distant. Through the trees, Sigrid saw the first of the refugees moving their way. She leapt down from the truck, waving them on. Hector came first. He was followed closely by Nuria; she had all seven of the Merchantmen's concubines in tow, urging them along.

"Get them aboard," Sigrid shouted to Nuria, directing the girls onto the flatbed cargo carrier. "Hurry."

Victoria was the last to arrive, with Niklos at her side.

"It's the Merchantmen," Victoria confirmed. "And they've brought friends. Mercenaries, by the looks of them, or freelancers. Hard to tell."

"You can still blow the ship," Niklos offered.

"No. Not without killing us all. We're still too close, and they know it."

"And they don't know you
won't
either," Suko said. "They don't know your resolve."

"A bluff?" Sigrid said. "It may come down to that. But I have something else in mind."

"Oh? And what exactly is that?"

Ignoring the question, she turned to look at the stream of refugees, counting until she was certain no one was left behind. All forty-one, plus Nuria and Niklos, of course. Good. Everyone was aboard.

"Suko, I need you to do something for me."

"Am I going to like it?"

"No. I doubt that very much. I need you to get these people out of here. Take the transport. Get to the Crossroads. Nuria will show you the way."