Story: Eve Sky (all chapters)

Authors: StarCross

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Chapter 1

Title: "It was supposed to be a normal work day!" (groans)

Eve Sky
Chapter 1 - "It was supposed to be a normal work day!" (groans)



'Twas the aftermath of the Eugenesis Period

People became perfect, and all was good

But Goddess Nature frowned on humankind's arrogance

And dealt to them a crippling pestilence.



The Men had suffered greatly

Their numbers reduced severely

With no seed to accept

The Women's wombs wept.



We spiral to extinction maybe

Perhaps it is overdue destiny

Of the destruction we have inflicted

On others and ourselves conflicted.



--



The tomboyish Jerri (Germaine Adams as it said on her expired driver's license) stood inside her low-rent apartment in the foyer before the front door raring to go. Today will be the day! she thought enthusiastically.

Finally after much jogging in place, she cracked open the door and saw two wrinkled eyes glaring at her. Frightened, she closed the door. Mission failed.

"I know you're in there Germaine!" yelled an old and wrinkly voice. "You can't run away from me!"

Of course Jerri wasn't running away. She was quietly tiptoeing to the living room.

"Your rent is four days overdue!"

"Misses Duster," spoke Jerri, almost childishly.

"That's Miss Dustins to you! Get it right!"

Jerri finally reached the couch and proceeded to unlatch and unlock the window.

"Look, I'm sorry," said Jerri, as she slowly slid the window open. "This time I promise to give it to you tomorrow."

"Forget it! I'm calling the police!"

"Oh, please Miss Dust--ins... Anything but that! If I don't get the rent to you--plus the late fees--I'll do anything for you!"

There was silence.

"Anything?" asked Miss Dustins.

Ugh, anything but that.


"Of course," Jerri smiled uneasily as she lifted her left leg over the ledge. "Anything. Almost anything."

"Well, it has been a while..."

Like forever you old bitch.

"Okay then," said Miss Dustins. "Come on out and we can work something out."

"That's going to be a problem," said Jerri.

"Why is that?"

There was a crash.

Outside Jerri had landed luckily on a trash dumpster and disturbed a homeless woman who was searching through it. It also disturbed the other neighbors of the same two-story apartment, some of who were in the middle of some hard sex. Female faces stuck their heads out of their windows and when they saw Jerri, they knew she was in trouble once again.

Jerri leapt out and ran round the corner towards the front.

"Germaine!"

Jerri looked up and saw outside of her own apartment on the second floor the long gray-haired and thin Miss Dustins leaning angrily on the rusty and metal railings. She was probably around fifty, but years of stress and smoking aged her badly. Her clothed figure was still amiable, but that was her only good trait. Her naked was revolting.

"That's it!" screamed Miss Dustins. "I'm kicking you out now!"

"I'll be back with your money Misses Duster!" Jerri yelled.

"That's Miss Dustins! And I'll be changing the locks before you get back!"

"Ah, but that will take time, and you really don't want to trust some shady laborer to change it while you're at bingo, would you?"

Jerri was right, and it showed on Miss Dustins twitching eyebrow. If there was one weakness in the skinny middle-aged woman, it was bingo--the gambling version. She could not be late for that.

"You'd better have it tomorrow then," growled Miss Dustins.

"Thanks a lot!"

Jerri ran off jogging. She wasn't that late to her job as the sun went down. It was a long way to the local red light district, but she never get tired although her stomach growled. Due to budget constrains, she was forced to eat only two meals a day. There was a good reason why she didn't have any money on her person.

As got closer to her workplace, she passed by pedestrian crowds, most of whom were clients walking and talking with some of Jerri's acquaintances. The other female workers smiled, waved, and said hello to her as she passed by.

"Old woman Duster giving you hard time?" said one.

"As always," said Jerri.

"You're not going to skip the city are you?" another asked. "A lot of people are going to miss if you do."

"That may be the case if I don't make a lot of money right now."

"Why can't you just suck it up and do McAllister again?"

"Don't worry! I'm sure I'll make some money off someone else."

Jerri finally reached the neon-glitz of the red light district, also known as Crowe Street. It was infested by all kinds of prostitutes and escort gals of every socially conceivable fetish. There were the fishnet stocking sluts. There were the over-twenty "schoolgirls". There were nuns. There were bondage babes. There were salary girls. There were cosplayers. Then there were the tomboys, which Jerri fit under.

"Have they made their rounds yet?" Jerri asked the angelically dressed girl known as Angel.

"Not yet Jerri," said Angel.

"Oh good. How do I look?"

"Like a tomboy back from a fight."

"Excellent."

After catching her breath, Jerri stood tall and erect. Using a store window as a mirror, she fixed her short nutmeg-brown hair, her brown jacket, and her relaxed jeans. She was a bit dirty, but it wasn't noticeable. Then she realized that she almost forgot to expose her midriff, but she wondered if today would be the day. That could make her look feminine if she did, so she decided to leave her smooth belly unexposed. Jerri looked plain, but it really didn't matter to her and her clients. Her reputation as "Lady Ejaculate" had spread rapidly through word of mouth, so she was quite sought-after by those who loved to be bathed and even ingest her cum. Unfortunately, the ruling McAllister Syndicate had explicitly prohibited her from doing business.

Thus, she loitered with the other girls searching out and thinking about how to have sex with each client that passed by either on foot or on car. Usually the rich ones were in cars, and they were protected by two or more Amazons--sterile women who were, on their choices alone, both genetically and steroidally enhanced as muscle to fulfill many labor roles that were once traditionally held by men. Jerri didn't particularly like Amazons on the account that they were being rough.

There was an unwritten rule for all prostitutes and escorts that they should not sell their services to each other, and the reason being that it creates a non-productive economy. But it was done anyway, despite the religions and governments frowning on the rampant lesbianism gripping the world. So it would be no surprise that a prospective client passing by them in expensive sedans happen to be high-class prostitutes and escorts looking for fun and possibly an "apprentice". On the extremely rare occasion, a man, disguised as a woman for security reasons, would arrive. Either way, it didn't matter which gender they performed their services towards. So far, the worker girls of Crowe Street had served nothing but women.

Jerri wouldn't mind if he performed her service on a man, but that man would probably have a fetish for young boys. Thus, she might be forced to wear a strap-on dildo and penetrate him through the anus. If she did a man, she would be world famous, and, if she was lucky, pregnant with a boy. If that were to happen, she would be well protected by the elite and live a high life with no worries of money and the old Miss Dustin.

Alas, it was just an extremely distant pipe dream. Unfortunately, the males species have experienced a sharp decline in an undefined number of years. Perhaps it was ten, a hundred, or even one hundred thousand. The governments of the world were quite mum on what could have caused it.

Of course, such histories were already public. As Jerri had heard from a brainy client (or was it a poem?), it seemed that a long time ago eugenesis were widely practiced. People became free from disease and other birth defects, and as an added bonus became almost universally beautiful. Then something happened afterwards. An ancient disease that had mutated wiped out a great majority of the world's eugenicized population, for they had no immunity. To further their dismay, they discovered most the males' Y-chromosome were so severely damaged that very few boys could be produced.

Though the disease had subsided, humans could not recover fully to the Y-chromosome. Despite all the best efforts, the damage could not be reversed nor could they produce working clones. Synthetic Y-chromosomes were used, but the child born from that were either stillborn or born with severe birth defects.

As the population dropped dramatically, the world's governments were forced to take action. All fertile males were now under special protection under a network of matriarchal elites. Though treating them inhumanely like cattle was illegal, in reality they were traded and bargained as virtual slaves owned by powerful women. They were labeled as Princes, though they were colloquially called Princess due to their status in society. Despite their lush lifestyle, males were under constant threat of kidnapping by rival groups wanting their precious sperm, if they were feasibly fertile. If not, they were kept around anyway as living bait.

Even if the sperm was potent, it did not guarantee the birth of males. The unfortunate crisis was that more and more females were being born either through in-vitro fertilization or traditional mating, the former of which were being done on a worldwide scale. However, male sperm was an expensive commodity. Sperm with an X-chromosome fetches a very disproportionately low value compared Y-chromosomes. Even if one could afford a Y-chromosome vat, it did not guarantee fertilization. In fact, there was absolutely no guarantee at all. It just seemed to get worse and worse.

If a girl was born through traditional mating, almost always the she was shunned and cast out of an elite matriarchal family. There were an entire population of "trash girls" who were sent to the streets unable to become part of their family. Often, they fell into a life of crime or committed suicide.

Jerri might have been one of the those Trash Girls, but there was no way of her knowing that she was born from an elite family. She was a rambunctious girl raised in a decrepit orphanage until she was literally sold off to a perverted old woman and her Amazon partner. She ran away and lived on the streets. She had been doing her job as both a prostitute and escort ever since she was thirteen.

Despite her hard life, she had a lot of pride and independence. Of all things, Jerri wanted to be free and not be owned by anyone or anything. Her spirit was what got her trouble at many places all over the world. Now she was in Marietta Metropolis trying to survive until the next day.

She was feeling uneasy. Although she blended in, her face was remembered by all of Randy McAllister's goons, which included almost all of the ward's police. It had been fifteen minutes, and she hadn't been spotted, which was good. Perhaps in the next minute a rich female client will pull up in her limo and solicit her service.

It so happened, a limo pulled up--a white one. The rear window rolled down, and an effeminate white hand gestured.

Angel pointed to herself, but the hand waved, implying that she didn't want her. Then Jerri pointed to herself. The hand gave her a thumbs up.

Jerri cautiously approached the limo, hoping that it wasn't sting set up McAllister. Luckily, it wasn't. Instead of a bratty eighteen-year-old, there was someone else.

"Are you the one they call Lady Ejaculate?" asked the girl.

"That's me," Jerri smiled as she brushed her hair back with her switchblade comb.

"I can't believe I almost missed you! I was about to call it quits after one round the block, but I decided to do another one."

"I almost missed you too," Jerri lied. "I caught the flicker of your beauty behind those tinted windows."

The girl giggled. She was quite young and a little bit chubby, but Jerri could not be picky. For all she knew, sex with her would be electric. She was rich to boot.

"I fell in love with you when I saw you," said the rich girl.

"I get that a lot," said Jerri. "But I'm not one for long-term relationships. You have to understand that."

"I do."

"You seem young. How old are you?"

"Thirteen."

Shit! Jerri thought. Jailbait! Wait, I just did a twelve year-old last week I think...

"You look mature for your age," smiled Jerri.

"Why thank you."

"So have you had sex before?"

"With my mom--first time ever."

What the fuck? Wait, that shouldn't surprise me after all the weird shit I put myself through.

"She did it so she can relieve my tension before my exams."

Jerri looked past the girl and saw an older woman winking back at her. Obviously, she too was "shopping". Obviously, Jerri might get a bonus payment after doing her. She might even end up in a threesome with her and her daughter for all she knew. Taboos aside, it was a perfect monetary opportunity.

Then suddenly, she heard sirens. She looked past the rear of the limo and saw a sinister police car wedging through the crowds and cars. Already the girls who were trespassing on McAllister's turf were fleeing in great fear.

"Jerri!" cried Angel. "You have to go!"

"Right!"

Jerri sprang off, but was pulled back the girl in the limo.

"Please don't go!" she cried. "I'll protect you! Forever!"

Jerri tenderly releases the girl's grip off her hands.

"I told you before," smiled Jerri. "I'm not one for long-term relationships."

Jerri waved goodbye to her and Angel as she ran into an alleyway. Already, she was running alongside other workers who were from either from rival syndicates, pimps, or on their own. As she reached a street, four police cars screeched before them, and out came the normal-sized female officers and their Amazon partners. Some prostitutes were caught and beaten down, but Jerri and a few others managed to escape.

Chased further still, they ran and then jumped into a ditch. There, they diverged themselves into three damp aqueducts. This was where it divided the experienced workers from the new ones. The new ones would take the center one, which led to a dead-end--and a trap. Jerri took the right one, which then led to pipe big enough to fit her. She crawled through the pipe and ended up another tunnel far from Crowe Street at another tunnel. From there she climbed up from another ditch, leapt over the wall, and landed on her feet to begin her leisurely pace as a pretend drifter with her hands in her pockets.

That didn't last long, for she saw a familiar black Euro-style sedan waiting up ahead at the bridge. Jerri turned around and saw another one following her close by. Eventually a black limo drove next to her, but Jerri kept on walking pretending that she didn't notice. The rear window of the limo rolled down.

"Get in," said a voice.

"You must be mistaken," said Jerri. "I'm not a servicer."

Just then, two hulking Amazons sprang from the two sedans and grabbed her. As the rear limo door opened, they threw her into back seat. The door closed, and Jerri rose to see what she really didn't want to see today.

She was eighteen, the same age as Jerri, but she looked a lot younger probably due to the pigtails. She was right between two buzz-cut Amazons in dark sunglasses. The girl bent over held Jerri's face with both her hands.

"Where have you been all this time?" she asked.

"Randy," said Jerri. "McAllister."

"Yes?"

"No."

"But I haven't even asked you."

"The answer is still no."

Randy lets go of Jerri's face and reclines back to her seat with a deep sigh.

"Why do you put yourself through this?" asked Randy. "If you could just be with me, you won't have to deal with all those fools and their fetishes."

Jerri sat up. "Ah, but that's the beauty of it," she said. "You get something new everyday."

"Don't you get tired of it? Don't you get hurt?"

"When job requires it, then yes."

"Jerri, I run this ward. My aunt runs this city. My grandmother runs the entire state. Do you think you can work without my family's permission?"

"I think so."

"Jerri, I love you. Why won't you marry me?"

"Let me think... it's 'cause you're nasty and mean, and lesbian marriages are 'illegal'."

"Not to you and me."

"I wasn't talking about me. It's the way you treat and demean your servants and workers. And what about the independent pimps and hookers you maim, torture, and kill off?"

"If you could just marry me, then I'll stop those things."

"How can I trust you? You're a pathological liar. I tell you that I don't want to get butt-fucked by you or your Amazons, and you tell me you promise it won't happen. Next day comes, I get tackled and the next thing I know my butt is bleeding."

"Sorry, I completely forgot."

"Okay, enough about that. There is one good reason that I don't want to marry you."

"And that is?"

"I just don't like you."

Randy became heartbroken, yet again, and selfish and sinister tears welled up in her evil eyes. She loved Jerri, and she didn't want anyone to touch her or even look at her. But to be turned down made her so angry that she kicked her Jerri's handsome face. Then she ordered her Amazons to throw her outside and beat her up. They continued until Randy calmed down and gestured them to stop. As much as she was angry, she truly did not want Jerri's beauty to be permanently scarred.

"I will have you Jerri," declared Randy. "Mark my words."

The Amazons returned to their cars. Randy rolled up her windows, and finally cars drove off.

Jerri was in pain, but she was still alive. No bones were broken, so far so good. Yet, she earned some scars on her face. Her nose and mouth were bleeding, and there was a possibility that one of her teeth been chipped. Her body was bruised, but her smile wasn't. Slowly she rose back to her feet, and slowly she hobbled her way out there.

After cleaning her face at a public water fountain, Jerri went wandering. Her destination was everywhere, yet nowhere. Though the city was quiet, it was definitely crowded. Fairly recently, Marietta had received an influx of citizens of two nearby cities due to a population reduction. Usually, that caused a lot of problems between migrants and the natives in regards to employment and forced residency. Jerri simply got used to the new faces, most of who were also prostitutes and escorts.

The police were everywhere and made doubly sure that she didn't solicit her service. It was useless to sell it to them no matter how great the temptation was on both parties. It was either a police car that followed her, a police bicyclist, a police on a robotic horse, or just on foot and on the beat. Despite her plain looks, she could not blend in and become lost in the crowds of many female faces.

As the night prolonged, the activity dwindled, and soon seedier types appeared, such as hustlers, drug dealers, and gang members--all female and intimidating. Jerri knew some of them, but there were still that were hostile towards her.

Jerri hung out at the somewhat chic main street watching working women of noble jobs hanging out and doing last minute shopping, sometimes with their young daughters or older mothers. A muscular female officer, who was not an Amazon, swung her baton at Jerri and the rest of the homeless loiterers to clear off.

She didn't know how long she wandered, or how often she had been doing this ever since there were increased police activity due to the McAllister Syndicate. Jerri was alone, and it was probably her destiny and her self-conscious choice. She didn't want to depend on anyone, and if she did, they would get hurt. Because of her handsome boyish looks, women fought and died over her. Perhaps she was a suitable substitute for a male sex partner due to her unusual reputation as Lady Ejaculate. It was either a "loaded" dildo or her vagina she used during paid intercourse. Despite all the one-time relationships she had, she never quite loved women.

She was now crossing a bridge overpass. Jerri looked around and saw that the streets were empty and no police were around. She looked over the concrete rail and saw rail tracks running underneath the bridge.

A girl committed suicide here, she thought, just yesterday. They already cleared up the chalk markings. Jerri climbed up and balanced herself on the railing. Looking down, she figured she would survive the fall, but would end up in a hospital for a while. She wondered if a train would come around this time. The thought of suicide did pass by her mind, but she was still reluctant. Jumping off and getting hit by a train was not the way she wanted to go. There were some things she wanted to do in her life, such as meet a man, and maybe fall in love.

"Help me!" screamed a feminine voice. Furthermore, she heard a struggle. A girl was being indecently handled by a gang of three, maybe that of the McAllister Syndicate.

Ignore it, thought Jerri as she continued to look down.

"I'm not a servicer!" the girl cried.

"But you're trespassing on our turf," said a brash woman. "And there is a fee for doing so. If you don't have enough money, then we have other ways."

"Please, no!"

"Damn it," said Jerri.

Jerri leapt off the railing and ran honing on the voices. She slid to a halt to an alleyway leading to a shopping street and saw a normal-sized female goon accompanied by two tall Amazons, one of which was holding at bay an innocent East Indian girl. The goon snatched her purse from her arm and began searching her body invasively.

"Hold it right there!" Jerri screamed.

Perhaps it was not a good idea to scream out her presence. In any case, she still had the advantageous jump on the gang. Jerri ran and jump-kicked the female goon. As she landed she ran back and elbowed the first Amazon before she could even move. With the two targets toppled over, the remaining Amazon clutched the Indian girl tighter and moved backward.

"Stay back or her neck gets snapped!" growled the Amazon.

Jerri chucked a rock to the Amazon's head she picked up during the attack. Then she ran and kicked right through the girl's legs and struck the Amazon's knee. She pulled the girl aside and the punched the Amazon hard in the gut. The Amazon clutched her stomach and fell to knees and then to her face.

"Thank you so much ma'am," said the girl.

"It's no problem," said Jerri. "You shouldn't be traveling alone."

"I'm sorry, but I got separated from my family."

If Jerri walked with her, the police will think she picked up a new client. Still, she could not leave her alone. Her eyes showed fear and distress.

"I'll help you find your family," said Jerri.

Her stomach growled yet again.

"Just ignore that."

It growled even louder. Jerri became dizzy and slumped onto the girl's shoulders.

"Are you okay?" she asked.

"Need food," muttered Jerri.

The two then walked together at one of the shopping streets, although the Indian girl had to help Jerri retain her balance. Of course, Jerri could walk by herself, but the hunger now gave her a bad headache, and the fighting made it worse.

It was about closing time, and most the stores and diners were already closed. Women, mostly vagrants and groups of teenagers that might be part of gangs, still loitered, but were scolded off by the increasing police to vacate the premises and go home. Jerri knew that she was going to get caught as one of the police cars steadily approached her and the girl from behind. Her heart began beating nervously as the passenger window opened. A pony-tailed Amazon officer poked her head out and glared at the two.

"Not doing anything funny, are you?" she asked.

"My friend is just drunk, that's all," said the girl.

"Hey, she looks familiar..."

The Amazon was silenced by her normal-sized partner, the driver, who put her hand her shoulder and shook her head "no."

"Stay out of trouble you two," said the Amazon officer.

The window rolled up and the police car sped off to blaring its sirens to other loiterers. Again, Jerri's stomach growled.

"Hey, you could have asked the police to take you to your family," said Jerri.

"I can't leave you looking like this," said the girl. "How should I pay you back?"

"A thanks is sufficient. Just leave me be."

"You're hungry."

"I can manage," said Jerri as she tried standing straight. "People can survive days without food you know."

"Is there a restaurant that's open at this hour?"

"There should be a Denny's just around the corner ahead of us."

"Denny's is open?"

"Of course. Twenty-four hours."

"All right."

The girl moved the dizzy Jerri into the restaurant. After seating themselves, the middle-aged waitresses immediately served Jerri some dinner rolls that she ate hungrily. The place was somewhat empty, and they were one of the few patrons dining in the main area, whereas the rest idled their time at the bar drinking and shouting on occasion.

"Do you want some?" Jerri asked as she stuffed her face with rolls.

"You can have them all," the girl smiled.

"Suit yourself."

Jerri gobbled the last two rolls. After drinking for a long time from her glass of water, she patted her stomach in relish of her meal.

"Okay we're done," she said. "Now let's go."

"Wait! We didn't even order!"

"But I don't have any money."

"I'm paying."

"That's okay. Taking me here is enough."

"We are you so adamant in refusing generosity from others? Do you not trust me? Or you do you have a lot of pride in yourself to not accept handouts?"

"That. The last one."

"Could you at least once in a while accept help from a complete stranger? You know, I had no choice but to accept your help."

"TouchÇ, but you've already done enough."

"Please?"

It was the way she blinked with her pretty and wanting eyes that made Jerri stay.

"Okay," said Jerri. "But try not to take advantage of me. I had a rough day today."

"Why would I?"

"A girl with money is always fishy in my eyes."

"You think I want to buy a service from you? Absurd!"

"Who's to suggest that I'm one of them?"

"In any case, please order. I don't like talking about those things."

The middle-aged waitress came back and took their order. They left them soft drinks that they drank in their talk.

"So you're straight?" Jerri asked. "That's rare."

"My family is traditional."

"Ah."

"But don't think we're rich or anything! We're simply related to an elite matriarchal family, and all heirs are forbidden to harbor homosexual lust."

"That's good."

"Why would you say that?"

"Because I'm getting tired of having sex with women who treat me like trash."

"That's odd of you to say that."

"If you do realize, almost every woman in this city is a closet heterosexual. Getting a man is fantasy very few of us can afford, so we settle with each other--which is not bad but it gets tiring and unfulfilling. I mean, we're supposed to have sex to have children, right?"

"I hear you."

"Then I think of the past on how men used to oppress women and treat them like property. So maybe I'm only seeing the positive aspects of having a male lover. Would things turn out better if I had sex with men? Who knows? Even if we reduced ourselves to a one-gender society, the problems of oppression would still exist."

"If that happens, that would spell the end of the human race."

"Sad isn't it? But if that is the way it should be, then let it end with a faint feminine moan."

The girl smiled.

"Was that funny?" Jerri asked.

"A faint feminine moan," said the girl. "It sounds the end of the human race begins and ends with two women having sex."

"What are you implying?"

"I'm not implying anything! It's just that for a street girl you sound very smart."

"That could have been an insult, but I'm not quite a street girl. I live in an apartment."

"That you rent. You're still a street girl since you hang out in the street."

"Where do you get off throwing out your elitist superiority? You're just a distant and insignificant relative of some traditionalist family!"

"Be careful what you say. I'm paying for your food bill."

"On your behalf of course."

The girl looked past Jerri and say another waitress giggling with the bartender.

"Look at them," she said. "They think we're going out."

"They got another thing coming," said Jerri.

"So where do you learn how to fight like that?"

"My master who I call Aunt."

"Was she you first lover?"

"Shut up!"

"I guess not."

"Well, she was just like me. She had to raise herself in the streets and sell her body to sexually desperate women. She also had to learn how to fight due to the syndicates, gangs, and all other forms of evil bitches. Jeet Kun Do she called it I think. She might have learned from another woman like her. Well, she died a long time ago. I only trained under her for about two years. She was kind of like my family."

"How nice."

"She once told me to 'learn a lot of things along the way and as much as you can.' I'm not particularly intelligent, but I know some facts here in there, like the letters used in gene sequencing, which is A, T, G, and, um..."

"C?"

"Hey I almost got it!"

The girl giggled.

"You're funny."

Jerri blushed. "Well, at least you don't call me stupid like all the others."

Their waitress came back with their dishes and a smile.

"Your new 'friend' Lady Ejaculate?" she asked.

"Lady Ejaculate?" said the girl.

"Shh!" Jerri hissed. "You've mistaken me someone else!"

"Okay," winked the waitress. "Enjoy your meal."

The waitress left. Jerri and the girl began eating.

"God damn it. I get this a lot. They always mistake me for this infamous prostitute-slash-escort in this city. Lady Ejaculate is her name."

"She ejaculates?"

"Oh yes. Some say her cum looks like a man's semen, but I'm not so certain if that's really true. I mean, have they even saw semen?"

"On the internet."

"But not in real life. You know that female ejaculate isn't as full as semen. It's just some small spurt urine and some stuff from the Skene's glands. But for some reason, all her clients love her because of it. The have sex with her pretending that she is a man without a penis. Often they would request tribadism, or rubbing her pussy onto theirs so they could feel impregnated and hear the sticky, smashing, and sloshing noises of mashing vaginas. And during oral sex, oh do they drink that stuff like it was crack. Now, a woman's ejaculate as well as her vagina depends on what she has eaten or drank, thus Lady Ejaculate would always eat and drink whatever the client requested her to consume. Hell, they even made a special drinks you can get from vending machines to add certain tastes to your pussy."

The girl dropped her fork. Jerri realized that her face was red and she was breathing heavily. She was sweating and clutching her beating chest with her hand.

"Stop it," she said. "Stop it."

"Sorry," said Jerri. "I got carried away."

The girl leapt out of her chair and bolted the restroom. Jerri was indeed concerned for her, but felt it would be best to leave her alone for a while. So Jerri slowly finished her meal. Fifteen minutes had passed, and the girl had not come back. It was getting late at the hour after midnight. Jerri could loiter a little while longer since she knew the all the waitresses and cooks who worked in the restaurant, but she didn't want to burden them with her continuing presence. She would leave, but she didn't have any money. Jerri simply would not open up an unofficial restaurant tab.

She went over to the restroom and entered. Jerri found the girl washing her face repeatedly at the sink.

"Are you okay?" asked Jerri.

"I'm fine. Let's go now."

"Don't you want to finish your food?"

"No. Have them throw it away."

"A lot of plants and animals died for your meal. Think of the cooks as well."

"Do want to eat it? Have them pack it up. It's yours."

"Sure, but you're the one that's paying, remember?"

Score! It may be leftovers, but the girl's unfinished meal can tide her over until her next job, whenever that would be.

So the two left the restaurant waving friendly goodbyes to the workers. They didn't walk off. They hung around looking about until they turned and faced each other.

"They seem to know you well," said the girl.

"I go here from time to time," said Jerri. "Say, I haven't gotten your name."

"My name is Eva. Eva Nataraja."

"I'm Germaine Adams, but people here call me Jerri."

"Nice to meet you Jerri."

"Nice to meet you too."

They shook each other's hands for a while, but still they did not part.

"About what I said back there," said Jerri.

"It's okay," said Eva.

"They say that in order to affirm one's heterosexuality, one must admit to having homosexual feelings. It's nothing to be ashamed about."

"That's ironic. You're lesbian or a bisexual pushing me to be hetero."

"Perhaps I am. But whatever the case or sexuality, never deny your feelings. They may be truer than you think."

"I'll keep that in mind."

"Thanks for the dinner--and your leftovers."

"It's your reward for saving me."

"Will you be okay?"

"I will be. I don't want to burden you unnecessarily with me being around."

"It's no trouble."

"By now, the police should be out looking for me. So, um, take care."

"You too."

The two turned away and walked off. For Jerri, this was one of the rare moments she spent time with another women without involving the pretext of sex, and that made her smile. Indeed, Eva was quite pretty and innocent-looking. Jerri was almost jealous that Eva, being related to an elite family, would have a greater chance of getting a man.

"She was cute," remarked Jerri.

Her thoughts now centered on how she would pay Miss Dustins the rent bill, and of all things she truly did not want to have sex with her again. Whatever the case, Jerri needed a place to sleep. So she then planned in her mind that she would sneak into her apartment, grab a few hours of sleep, and sneak off with any belongings she could carry before the landlord woke up.

Then she heard running footsteps behind her. Jerri turned around and saw Eva stopping before her breathing heavily and bent towards her knees.

"Is something wrong?" Jerri asked. "You're not in danger again, are you?"

After catching her breath, Eva stood up looked into Jerri's eyes.

"About what you said about never to deny your feelings," she said.

"Yes?"

"The truth is, I didn't get lost or got separated from my family. I ran off here on my own."

Jerri blinked.

"I was looking for a woman," said Eva, "to have sex with. Jerri, will you have sex with me?"

The look in Eva's eyes was that of utter sensual desperation. She didn't really catch her breath. She was almost hyperventilating. Eva was sweating, her body shook as if it were about to explode or fall apart. There was no one else around, and Jerri felt Eva needed someone experienced and with a good heart to handle and contain her.

For some reason, Jerri found herself feeling very hot. Was it the girl or was it the moment? Or was it the right time after all the frustration she had put herself towards? Whatever the case, the two were running frantically hand-in-hand looking for a vacant hotel, and it did not matter which. They settled for an expensive four-star one that was close by. For them, it was a blurring experience. The registration process flew over their heads, and they cared not who was watching them. What mattered was getting their card key and going up to the floor of their room. Right as they got in the elevator, they could not hold it any longer.

Immediately, they made out with passionate abandon. Their wet mouths puckering with each tongue-strong impacting kiss. Their hands were almost all over their sweating bodies, fondling and undressing. Their torsos were close to grinding. They even knocked each other into the elevator walls.

Even after the elevator stopped and beheld the floor of the their room, they still made out along the way. Shoes and socks were falling out of their feet in the middle of the hallway, and they dropped their clothes right outside the front door. It took while to open door as they kissed and rubbed breasts. Once inside and then slamming the door, Jerri and Eva quickly tossed the rest of their clothes, including their underwear. Jerri threw the now-naked Eva onto the bed and pounced her immediately. After kissing, Jerri lifted herself as Eva hungrily licked and sucked on her breasts and nipples, and she even jammed her smooth knee up against her vulva. Jerri gripped the comforter sheet tightly as her whole body quaked in fiery pleasure.

Her thigh rubbed against Eva's wet vulva, which Jerri knew was already wet when Eva ran back to her. Before that, she could even smell Eva's uncomfortable arousal back at the restaurant when she described herself in third person.

Eva's lips on her nipples caused Jerri to moan with unusual loudness. However, it was not just her job to be pleased by her client, although Eva didn't specify on how she wanted to have sex with her. So Jerri allowed her libido to sync with Eva's. She then turned around so that her crotch hung over Eva's face. She bent down on all fours and arched her back so she could orally please Eva's vagina while Eva pleased hers.

In this "69" position they made simultaneous love. Jerri had a routine when it came to oral sex, or cunnilingus, on women: nuzzle, the clitoris, tease it with the tip of your tongue; finger the labial walls, lick them, go inside, suck whatever fluids, and then repeat process. She preferred looking at a woman's vagina instead of the faces and bodies of clients, whether they were beautiful, average, or ugly. Jerri didn't want to remember their faces, especially the bad ones. When she did Eva, however, she completely forgot the routine and went onto sucking, which she knew pleased Eva when her body buckled and her moaning. Though the vagina was before her eyes, her mind wandered off to the light brown-skinned solemn beauty of Eva's face.

Eva was even more aggressive, and the way she moved her tongue and lips around Jerri's vagina seemed as if she wanted not just to taste it but devour it. It was so intense that Jerri had to stop doing Eva. She latched onto Eva's legs and knees moaning hard until she screaming upon ejaculation. She could feel herself pouring onto Eva's face.

It wasn't exactly semen, but for some reason it was not urine. It was sparkling. Eva was joyously surprised when it came from Jerri's vagina, and with just one taste she became addicted. Quickly, she scooped all of Jerri's cum from her face and onto her fingers. She sucked them all in. Jerri was still dripping, so Eva lifted her head up and sucked even more of Jerri's cum that caused Jerri to moan so more. Eva had to taste and ingest everything, for it was beyond the sweet taste of honey and more divine than ambrosia. Eva stopped abruptly before Jerri could come.

"So beautiful!" Eva exclaimed.

She pushed herself up against the headboard and pulled Jerri towards her for a long kiss. Eva shared with her remnants Jerri's ejaculate, but Jerri didn't notice anything special despite the spitball exchange she had done with other women. However, Jerri was too absorbed with act of kissing that she found to be very passionate.

"Jerri."

"Yes?"

"Cum into me."

"Okay."

Jerri had to give what she wanted. While still facing each other, they interlocked their legs and pulled themselves close right until their clitorises came into contact. That sent a shockwave to their brains that caused them to hump and rub. It started out slow, even though they were already well lubricated. During the warm-up, their breaths became deep. They fondled each other's breasts, and sometimes they touched their own vaginas. Throughout that time, they could not take their eyes off each other.

After a smile and a giggle, they rhythm of their tribadism increased. The whole bed began shaking, and the bedsprings that were reportedly silent began to squeak. Jerri took the aggressive stance by pushing and rubbing herself circularly onto Eva, while matching her moan with hers. As their moans became louder, so did the bed, and the rhythm became faster. They sensed in their eyes that their orgasm was nearing, so they interlocked their hands.

Screaming, they came, and Jerri's sparkling cum overflowed to her and Eva's joined groins. Eva scooped some of it and puts in her mouth. Then she kissed Jerri whilst holding her head and body towards her.

"More," Eva said. "I more of you inside of me. Please."

The process then repeated for an hour or so. The positions varied, from scissoring to missionary, that latter of which Jerri performed, Jerri made sure that when she ejaculated, it was not just on Eva's vagina, but it spurted inside of it, which was usually a difficult task. For some reason, Eva was "built" correctly to accommodate her special request, as was Jerri.

It was the missionary position that they finished in, and the most passionate. Jerri allowed herself to fall on Eva's body. With arms wrapped around each other, they rolled with breasts touching and lips kissing.



They must have fallen asleep in their embrace, as Eva was beside Jerri with her arm crossing her breasts. Never before Jerri felt so relaxed. Usually, she would feel sore at this caliber of lovemaking and service. Instead, she felt an overwhelming calm. It was what she needed.

Slowly but surely, the dawn sun poured through the shut blinds. Both Eva and Jerri awake for at least an hour romantically stroking their bodies with their index fingers.

"I never knew lesbian sex would be like this," Eva smiled.

"It's a job for me you know."

"Did you enjoy this one?"

"Truthfully, yes."

"I'm getting married."

"Oh."

"To a man."

Eva lets go of Jerri and turned away feeling ashamed. Jerri propped herself against the headboard and looked down at Eva.

"Is that why you came down here?" Jerri asked. "You shouldn't have done that. You're supposed to remain a virgin until you are married."

"For paid lesbian prostitute, you say very ironic things."

"Also, you don't seem happy."

"I know. I should be happy. I am one of the luckiest women on this planet. I'm getting married to the male heir of the Congregational Corporation. But I haven't even met him or even seen his face."

Jerri's ear twitched on the distant sound of a armada expense sedans and SUVs screeching. It seemed that Eva was finally getting picked up.

Both Eva and Jerri crawled out of their bed and got dressed. With the purse that Jerri helped saved, Eva began rummaging in it for her checkbook.

"How much do I owe you?" Eva asked.

Jerri walked over and puts her hand on Eva's hand, preventing the checkbook from appearing.

"It's okay," smiled Jerri. "You don't have to pay me."

"But you need the money don't you? You've done more than enough to please me."

"Of course I need money, but we didn't exactly made a binding deal when you asked me to have sex with you. It is my rule that if I don't specify the price, the service is free. So it's my fault, really."

"Jerri..."

Jerri hugged Eva and kissed her forehead.

"I think being with you is payment enough," said Jerri. "Thank you."

"I wish I could say that I would see you again," said Eva. "But Jerri."

"Yes?"

Eva looked up to Jerri and stroked her cheek. Without hesitation, they kissed.

"I won't forget you," said Eva.

Eva parted and ran away. She collected her coat and shoes that was left at the front door as a courtesy by the hotel maids. After collecting her coat and shoes, Jerri ran after Eva, but even if she could catch her, there would be no way that they could be together. It wasn't that they were women. Eva simply belonged to a different world than that of Jerri's.

Jerri took a different path and exited the hotel through an alleyway exit. She walked along the walls towards the front and poked her head towards the front lobby where Eva solemnly marched to what looks like her mother. Eva's mother scolded angrily her with harsh words, and then slapped her. Grabbing her wrist, the mother dragged Eva and threw into the limo. After getting in and closing the doors, the limo drove off along with two dark sedans and two dark SUVs. Jerri tried to look for Eva past the dark windows as the limo passed by. Although she could not see her, she felt that Eva saw her for one last time at the alleyway.

Jerri sighed with grin. "Who am I kidding?"

She began running. There was no reason to stay in Marietta Metropolis anymore for a number of reasons. She hitchhiked out with an honest hardworking middle-aged woman who had a falling out with a close female friend. Maggie was probably her name, and Jerri looked past the window of the truck Maggie drove.

The paved highway they drove on was old. How old was not certain. As far as Jerri had known, it was one of the originals during the Eugenesis Period or recently built in the last hundred years ago. The scene passed by her eyes seemed like a distant memory. In the distance there was an abandoned spaceport that launched shuttles or jump ships on a daily basis. Now it was rusting and choked with vines and moss. An omnivorous vulture flock flew overhead. That reminded of a bird watcher she had sex with who claimed that they had evolved from city pigeons.

Though there were still mysteries in the history of the world, but most people, including Jerri, didn't seem to nostalgic or bound to it. Something had happened before, but that didn't worry them. They all felt that they were living in a perpetual limbo and awaiting some divine spectacle that will save the human race. Otherwise, and many others have felt, humanity would go extinct without a raving scene.

"So where are you heading to?" Maggie asked.

"Anywhere where there is work," said Jerri.

"For you, you can find work everywhere. Obviously it's the metropolises that pay the most. If you work at a small town or village, you'll probably end up as a slave--or worse."

"Where are you heading to?"

"Pottsville Metropolis."

"I guess I'll head on there too."

"Will you be living there?"

"Who knows?"

Suddenly Jerri felt Maggie feeling up her leg. She turned back to face the woman.

"Sorry," said Maggie. "It's just that I get lonely without Linda."

"I thought you were just close friends."

"We occasionally have sex once in a while."

"Look, if you want have sex with me, just pull over to the side of the road and let's get it on."

Maggie screeched to a halt, and maybe one of the cargos fell off the truck bed. She unbuckled her seatbelt and made with Jerri, who received her with slight hesitation. As they had sex, the truck rocked, although fortunately no more cargo fell off the truck.

Eventually, they reached Pottsville. Maggie left Jerri at a busy pedestrian street, with a wink, a smile, a blowing kiss, and some cash (or pity money as Jerri would call it--this happened almost all of the time). Jerri hitchhiked again, and was picked up by a group of four female teenagers out on a road trip to Dodge City Metropolis in their wagon. As usual, she had sex with all of them on the way, and received more pity money.

During her brief stay in Dodge City, she saw Eva on the newspaper that announced her wedding to the male heir of the Congregational Corporation. It was well talked about, for it would eventually merge two powers, one from the country of the Congregational Confederacy, and one from the Empire of India. The wedding was extremely secretive. There was no location of the church of temple, and only close guests were invited. The media was shut out for security reasons. Absolutely no one knew the identity of the male heir, for knowing his real name or face would invite terrorism and kidnappings. If he were to travel, he'd travel with a military-grade convoy, disguised, and even veiled from head to toe.

Jerri saw the picture of Eva in a wedding dress she might wear, and smiled. The twenty-two year-old Eva looked quite happy with her smiling white teeth, but in her eyes told a different story. Eva looked uneasy, and most likely afraid. Jerri wondered about the immense pressure put on her and the jealousy coming from her cousins and other potential suitors for the mail heir. She was selected, of course, for her purity and fertility, and there were enough scientific data to back it up.

Resuming her journey, Jerri then headed further westward to Brigham Metropolis, and then finally settled to the coastal country of Pacific Mariner, which was formerly the western half of the state of Washington in the now-defunct country of the United States of America. The country, was a little less corrupt and henceforth more freer than others in the entire world. It was one of the few places exempt from the forced population migrations that had been taken place for decades.

Jerri had expected to settle here for a couple years or so. She was not one to settle in one place. Traveling and meeting all kinds of people suited her. One of the reasons being was that she didn't want to be anchored down by responsibilities of any kind, whether it close friendship or duty. She just didn't want to deal with women fighting over her or fighting to keep her. She wanted to be free.

As she continued her services, her fortune became better. She finally managed to buy a cheap apartment, and she made a couple new friends that she didn't have to have sex with. Sadly, she reminded them that there will be a time to part, but she did not know when.

Before she knew it, almost nine months had passed, and she grown unusually accustomed to living in the city of Seattle in the country of Pacific Mariner. She remained a prostitute and escort still, but her work was becoming a chore yet again despite the money she was raking in. Slowly but surely, she was becoming disinterested in it.

On a rainy day--and it rained in Seattle--Jerri found herself overlooking a creek bridge thinking about it. Already drenched, Jerri now felt emptiness in her. Thoughts of finally quitting filled her head, but would she be able to survive with no viable work skills? Selling her presence and body to other women was all she knew when she ran away from her owner. For some reason, she thought about Eva when she had sex with her clients.

She jumped, but landed back on her feet on the sidewalk. Jerri was still overlooking the bridge contemplating suicide for the sake of it. No one had killed herself here very recently.

"Damn it," she said. "She's gone. She's happily married to what's-his-name. She's the luckiest woman on earth. Well, today is not the day."

So she went home to her apartment complex. Looking up at the second floor she saw someone waiting there. That someone, with her face obscured by her raincoat, was carrying something in her arms. Then she started walking away.

Jerri didn't think much of it. Perhaps she got the wrong address or room. She passed by her as she headed upstairs to her apartment. But then the two stopped and felt a pull between them. Slowly, they turned and faced each other's recognized faces.

"Eva?" Jerri asked.

The woman pulled down her hood. It was Eva all right, but there was a desperate look in her eyes. Suddenly, she rushed forward and embraced Jerri.

"I'm so glad I found you!" she wept.

Suddenly, the cries of a baby were heard. Eva stepped back and gently shook and cooed her.

"Don't cry," she said. "She's here now."

"Let's get inside," said Jerri.

Jerri took her inside the apartment, and then hung their coats on the coat rack.

"I thought I'd never see you again," said Jerri as she closed the door.

"Jerri," said Eva. "Do you mind that I stay here?"

"Sure, you're always welcome. But you have to tell me why you're here. It's not your husband, is it? Or are you threatened by your cousins?"

"It's neither."

Eva handed the wailing infant to Jerri. The baby, looking into Jerri's eyes, stopped crying and began smiling.

"Oh, how cute," Jerri smiled. "So this is your and your husband's child? Is she or he in danger?"

"Jerri," said Eva. "It's our baby."

Chapter 2

Title: "I'm not the baby's 'daddy'!" (grr...)

Chapter 2 - "I'm not the baby's 'daddy'!" (grr...)



Jerri blinked. The infant was reaching her tiny arms towards her face.

"Eh?" Jerri said. "Come again?"

"She's our child," said Eva.

"Okay. I don't know what page you're on, but whatever you're planning is not going to happen."

"Aren't you happy to see me?"

"I am, but this is too much. I don't think I'm fit to raise you and your husband's child."

"You got it all wrong--Evie is a product of our union."

"No, you got it all wrong. There is no way you and I could conceive a child. Unless there was some voodoo-jitsu you performed on me without my knowledge. Or did you sneak a hair from me and used it to create her? Oh, I get it now. You're one of those types. Tryin' to trap me with a forming a child with our genes are you? Your kind is the very reason why I can't permanently settle down. It's not going to work!"

Jerri shoved a now-wailing Evie into Eva's arms.

"I want you two out!" Jerri cried. "Now!"

"I can't go back!" Eva yelled. "I can't!"

Jerri sighed and turned away in frustration. It would be wrong to turn her away, for there was a look of genuine desperation in Eva's eyes.

With Jerri sulking, Eva sat down on the couch slowly rocking Evie to silence. She had slung over her shoulder a large purse that carried necessities for her infant child, Evie, a small notebook computer, and a manila folder full of paper documents.

"Jerri, this may be hard to believe," said Eva, "but Evie's parents are both you and I. It wasn't genetic engineering, cloning, or anything artificial. Somehow, you impregnated me, and the end result is Evie."

"You're joking."

"Do I look like I'm joking?"

It was a big shock, but still Jerri could not believe it. Eva scooted over so that Jerri could sit next her. Jerri looked down at the calm and smiling infant that was not just hers, but Eva's as well. She didn't want to feel any familiarity or any responsibility.

Eva gave Evie to Jerri and said, "Here, hold her."

Then she started to unload her large purse so she could show the documented proof, but Jerri threw her hand out and stopped her.

"There's no need," she said.

"You believe me?" Eva said.

"I still don't believe you. The data you have could be falsified."

"But they are real. I used everything that came off you as a sample, including a trace amounts of your ejaculate."

"Are you sure the testers didn't give you falsified data?"

"They wouldn't because I personally know them."

"Do you know them well?"

Evie suddenly started wailing, and Jerri in all her attempts could not determine on what was displeasing her. Jerri gave up and handed Evie to Eva.

"Here," she said. "I think she might pee."

"She's probably hungry," said Eva as she exposed her breast and nipple. Immediately Evie, began suckling.

"You pack light."

"But I still have to make it up."

"In any case, Eva, you can stay, but not for long."

"Why?"

"It's just that... well... I'm just not suited to settle down."

"With me and Evie, Jerri, I think were going to be on the run for a while."

"Ah, why do you bring this on me! I was starting to like this city."

"You just said that you're not suited to settling down."

"I meant to say that I don't want start a family of any kind."

"Jerri please. Think of your daughter."

"She's not my daughter!"

Jerri huffed, but she took a deep breath to calm herself. Eva, however, remained very calm. It was

"I want all of us to do a live blood test," said Jerri.

"I don't want to go to a normal doctor," said Eva.

"You ran away from your family?"

"Once again."

"I see. We may have to go underground, and I know just the person to go to."



Big Sally--one of the smartest Amazons in the world, and whose intelligence rivaled that of normal females. However, she didn't like being called big despite her height and muscular bulk. She owned a warehouse workshop near the docks at Seattle and runs custom machinery business. However, she was also a queen-of-all-trades, dabbling in whatever interesting science she could get her hands into. She was an honest woman that would not snitch on her friends, provided that her friends were good in heart to begin with. If they weren't good in heart, she would have her normal-sized females escort the client off the premises and then call the police.

On the next day, Jerri had bought a reliable yet used basket-like infant carrier to put Evie in so she could take her along with Eva to Big Sally's Machine Shop. The shop, despite the name, was relatively small compared to the other shops around the warehouse area.

"Big Sally's," said Eva.

"Just don't call her big," said Jerri. "She hates that."

"She is big, right?"

"Yes, but a long time ago she used to be very small before she decided to become an Amazon. She's really nostalgic about it and misses being petite."

They went in through the glass door, and the bell that was attached to it. Sally's assistants, Mina, Rin, Leticia, and Patricia stopped their welding work on the latest performance buggy car Sally had them build as a personal hobby. The four assistants dropped their tools, lifted their masks, and ran to Jerri with smiles on their faces.

"Jerri!" they cried.

"Hey gals," Jerri smiled. "How's the car coming?"

"Quite well," said the black and teenage Patricia. "We'll have running for the races in a day or so."

"Jerri, you didn't..." said Eva, implying something sexual.

"Of course not," said Jerri.

"Oh, and whose your girlfriend?" asked the East Asiatic Rin.

"Which one? The Indian or the baby?"

Eva latched her arm onto Jerri's. "My name is Evangeline," she said. "But just call me Eva."

"And in this cute basket is her daughter Evie."

"Our daughter."

"Shh!"

"How cute!" cried the tall and blond Mina. Including herself, the young assistants took Evie into their possession and began cooing and giggling around her.

Finally, Sally appeared from a separate room of the warehouse. She was indeed big, muscular, and dark-skinned, and had red-orange hair. It was her white coat and small glasses that made her look very intelligent.

"Oh, hi Jerri!" squealed Sally.

"Hey Bi--Bi--Bi--Beautiful Sally!" Jerri smiled.

You were about to say big, weren't you? Eva thought.

Sally giggled. She picked up Jerri and hugged her with her massive arms. Eva nearly panicked, for it seemed like she was squeeze-crushing Jerri. However, Jerri landed on her feet in perfect condition, and then she punched Sally's fists as greeting gesture.

"What brings you to my shop?" Sally asked. "Need your oven fixed? Got a new computer? Or do you want some 'toys' for your and your new girlfriend?"

"Sally, this is Eva," said Jerri, "and your assistants are playing with her daughter Evie."

"Our daughter," hissed Eva.

"Um, yeah. Whatever. Say Sally, you wouldn't happen to have a blood extractor and a gene reader machine would you? I need to run some tests."

"I know I have a blood extractor device, but I'm not sure if I have a gene reader. Let me go check in the back."

"We'll help you Sally!" announced Leticia.

"Thank you."

The assistants gave Evie back to Eva and went off to help their master look for the gene reader. During that time, Eva changed Evie's diapers on one of the worktables, and ordered Jerri to dispose the used one.

"Don't order me around," said Jerri.

"You're supposed to be the perfect gentlemen," said Eva as she playfully shook Evie.

"That's the thing--I'M A WOMAN. And stop insisting that she's our child."

"Then don't refer to her as just my child."

"Whatever the case, she's your child for all I know. And get used to it because we don't want the whole world to know."

"I thought you trusted these people here."

"I do! It's just that you've been acting very bitchy lately."

"Zip it."

"No, you zip it."

Sally and her four assistants came back with a smile on their faces. This made Jerri and Eva cover up their fight with their smile.

"We have one," said Sally. "It's a little old, but I guarantee it will work."

"Good," said Jerri. "I want you and your girls to extract blood from me, Eva, and Evie."

"What for?"

"I just need to check something."

"Whatever you say."

"Thanks."

"This won't harm my baby, would it?" Eva asked.

"The needles might bother her," said Sally.

"Sally," said Patricia, "we could use the baby's feces."

"That would work too."

"No," said Jerri. "I need a live blood sample with no decomposition."

"Jerri, you're cruel!" said Eva.

"I don't want to be, but I don't want any errors!"

"What should we do Sally?" asked the red-haired and red-eyed Leticia.

"Even if we do use feces," said Sally, "Jerri still wouldn't be satisfied."

Sally sighed. Her eyes turned on Eva, who was the only one who had the final decision.

"Fine then," said Eva. "We should probably wait until she falls asleep. Will that be all right Jerri?"

"As you wish my honey," Jerri said with a sarcastic bow.

"I don't like that tone of voice," said Eva.

"Jerri," said Sally, "did you get married?"

"Of course not," growled Jerri.

So they waited for a few hours. During that time, everyone except Eva prepared the blood extractor and the gene reader inside the enclosed office room. Then Jerri assisted with Sally and the other girls in assembling the buggy while delving into idle chatter of their city. Eva retreated to an often-used couch to take care of Evie's every needs. She fed her, but used a baby formula instead. And she also changed her diapers again. Occasionally, the assistants dropped by to check on Eva and Evie, and they would sometimes hold the baby. Jerri, however, did not even visit her once.

Finally Evie fell soundly asleep, and Jerri was the first to notice it. Jerri motioned to everyone else to get ready for the blood extraction. With everyone else moving, Eva followed their lead and headed to the office room. Everyone was inside except for Jerri who lingered behind trying to prolong the revelation of Evie's genesis. She passed by the couch where Eva had left her large purse. Everything that she saw in there was still in there, but then she noticed something else that she had not saw before. She fumbled around it and found a loaded gold-plated Berretta 92FS pistol along with four loaded magazines.

"Hey Jerri!" yelled Mina. "We're about to start!"

"Mina come over here!"

Mina came, and Jerri gestured to speak in low whispers. Then Jerri took out one of the magazines and showed it to Mina.

"Do you have any bullets like this?" asked Jerri.

"We might," replied Mina. "Thirty or more. Not sure of the cartridge magazines."

"Just get what you can. I'll pay you back somehow."

"No need to worry about that. That orgy with me and the others month ago is payment well enough."

"About that..."

Mina winked and puts her index finger vertically across her lips. "Don't worry," she said. "I won't tell your spouse."

"Look, she's not my spouse."

"Sure it is."

"She may insist, but we're not. I just don't want her to get so angry."

Jerri patted Mina's shoulder and headed over into the office, which was a lot more furnished and comfortable. Inside, the blood had been extracted from both Eva and Evie without a noticeable fuss. Evie was still asleep in her birthmother's arms. Sally and Patricia were already looking at the flat computer monitor that was hooked up to the gene reader on the ebony desk, and Rin and Leticia were manning the blood extractor.

Without a word, Jerri sits down next to Evie on a burgundy leather couch. She held out her right hand so that that Rin and Leticia could clean the index finger and insert the extractor onto it. The blood extractor machine could accept various extractor apparatus, and what was being used now was the finger-type. It was, in a sense, "the world's smallest syringe", but in reality it was a combination of a retractable microscopic needle many times smaller than a human hair and a micro-vacuum system. Literally, the needle snaked its way through the packed skin cells and sucked only the blood that it was wide enough to accommodate. It took a while to extract at least one drop from Jerri. When the process finished, the extractor was taken off her finger. No need to bandage it, for the blood extractor was a marvel of past technology.

Jerri leapt off the couch and stood between Sally and Patricia. The three were now looking at the monitor, but to Jerri, most of the data was gibberish. However, she already saw three window panels on screen of the DNA sequence of Eva, Evie, and hers.

"Congratulations Jerri," said Patricia. "You're a father! Or mother."

"So half my genes are in Evie," said Jerri.

"That's correct."

"It's a clone?"

"The telomeres are at the right age. It's not a clone."

"Oh. Is she a test-tube baby?"

"Doesn't seem like it. The sugar-phosphate backbone has been left untouched. Besides the usual genetic disposition for diseases and certain behaviors, this baby is as normal as she can be. However, the most shocking thing I have ever seen is that I found both yours and Eva's mitochondria in that child."

"You're shittin' me."

"We're not joking Jerri," said Sally. "You really are the child's 'father'."

Jerri calmed down and sighed. "I need to get out for a sec."

"Sure."

"Let me come with you," said Eva.

"I'll be back," said Jerri. "Just stay there."

Jerri walked out of the office. Mina, who was in the warehouse searching through the personal arms bin for bullets and empty cartridges, noticed Jerri walking outside. Not long after, there was a loud scream. It was Jerri's, for it had a tomboyish tambre.

"Is she happy?" Rin asked.

"Do men act like that when they find out their wife is pregnant?" asked Leticia. "Or maybe it's because that Evie's a girl?"

"Eva," said Sally. "You might want to go after her."

"She said she's going to be back," said Eva.

"Trust me," winked Sally. "Oh, and take your child and your stuff. I don't think Jerri would want to come back after hearing all this."

"Okay. Thank you so much." Eva rose and bowed back to Sally and to her three beautiful assistants. Rin and Leticia helped Evie into her carrier, and then gave the carrier to Eva.

Right as Eva left the office, Mina intercepted her with Eva's large purse in her hand.

"Thank you as well," said Eva.

"I only managed to give you three cartridges," said Mina. "One is filled halfway though. This is on Jerri's request."

"I see then."

"Take care."

Taking the purse, Eva made it outside. As Sally had hinted, Jerri was gone. Eva turned the corner of the building from where they came and saw Jerri quietly walking away.

"Jerri," she called out.

Jerri turned around. "I wasn't running away," she said. "I just needed to pace around a bit."

Eva narrowed her eyes back at her. Jerri was lying. From Eva's eyes, Jerri knew that she had been found out.

"Want to get some lunch?" Jerri asked.

The expression on Eva changed for the better. "Sure," Eva said with a smile.

Jerri waited until Eva caught to her. They began walking to the nearest bus stop. Though it wasn't too far, Eva linked her arms with Jerri, and remained that way until the bus finally came. The muscular female driver, whom Jerri vaguely remembered, smiled at her and her new "spouse" and child as they got on. A few other passengers smiled at them as Jerri and Eva sat down.

"I'm sorry," said Eva. "For bringing this all down to you."

"I suppose voodoo-jitsu is the most plausible answer so far," said Jerri. "Does your family do that kind of thing? Like some sutra or something?"

"Despite being in the Brahmin caste, no."

"Oh. Well..."

Jerri looked at Eva, and through her eyes she asked permission to hold Evie. Eva gave the sleeping Evie to Jerri. By then, the bus started and headed back to the innards of the city.

"Was she a lot of trouble for you?" Jerri asked.

"Lots," smiled Eva.

They got off close to Jerri's apartment and nearest to a "mom & mom" diner. Its name was Floralia, and it was owned by two lesbians who were almost always seen arguing in public. It was also said that they also have the hottest sex whenever they got home, something Jerri found to be amusingly romantic. The diner was staffed by pretty women in girlishly pink waitresses uniforms that enhanced their bust and exposed their cleavage. It was a very popular spot for tourists and return costumers, and Jerri had made her presence there.

There were giggling whispers around them right as Jerri and Eva had entered. Jerri had sometimes entered the diner with a woman; even mothers with newborn children. But something about her being with Eva made her somewhat "settled" and "familial".

Jerri and Eva sat down at their own booth-table, and the twin waitresses Aya and Brea took their orders. As they waited, Evie finally woke up and cried. Eva quieted her down with a snack from the milk bottle.

"Is it appropriate to breast feed in this country?" Eva asked.

"If lesbianism's sanctioned, then almost anything is possible," said Jerri. "Just don't show your cunt. That's a big no-no."

"Okay," Eva smiled. "This seems like a nice country to live in. A perfect place to stay in."

"Getting in is very difficult, as you have experienced."

"I snuck in."

"Good thing you didn't get caught--or killed. Did you bring anything else with you besides your purse?"

"No."

"So what are you going to do?"

"I'm staying with you."

"So we're going to form this ad-hoc family thin."

"If that is what you call it, then yes."

Jerri sighed. She rested her chin on her hand.

"I have money," said she, "but it won't last."

"I didn't bring any," said Eva.

"Living here isn't exactly cheap."

"We'll manage."

"I sure hope so."

Jerri pulled out her wallet and looked inside. She made a mistake and discovered that she didn't have enough paper bills to pay for the food. There was just seven dollars.

"Something wrong?" Eva asked.

"No, it's nothing!" Jerri replied with an uneasy smile. "Actually, I have to make a quick call to my doctor. I have to make these regular check-ups for the jobs I do."

"Okay."

Jerri walked off towards the payphone next to the restroom and the employee access that was out of sight from Eva's eyes. It was a lie. She wasn't making a call. She was trying to make a decision what to do in the upcoming embarrassing situation. She could brave it out and confess to Eva that she didn't have enough money on her. In fact, she spent her hard-earned savings on the baby carrier, diapers, toys, a baby bottle, and the baby formula early in the morning. What was in her wallet was all she had left. Then there was the issue of paying off the mortgage bill for the apartment. She needed fast money, or she would never forgive herself for being a dishonorable breadwinner.

Just then, the twins Aya and Brea came out of from the employee access door. Seeing Jerri frustrating herself, they ran to her side.

"Jerri," said Brea. "Are you okay?"

Jerri looked up. "Girls," said she. "Do you have any money on you?"

"Sure. Anything for you."

"So what do you want?"

"What?"

"I have to give you something in return."

"No, that's okay," said Aya. "It's on us."

"That won't do. Look, I'll give you two oral and fingering for ten dollars each. It's a sweet deal! You're essentially getting a fifty-percent discount! What do you say?"

"Well..."

"Please girls? For my honor."

After much thinking, the twins nodded. Jerri's face brightened, and she allowed Aya and Brea to take each of her hands and lead her into the employee's locker room.

Meanwhile in the diner, food was finally served to Eva's table, but by a different waitress named Camille Fosia, who was a tall, lanky, and tomboyish black woman with blond-dyed hair that looked almost neon-yellow.

"Hey, what happened to those twins?" asked Eva.

"Dunno," said Camille. "The two of them suddenly had a bathroom break. At least that's what my manager says. I bet they're sexing each other up."

"That's gross."

"Unfortunately, they only have sex with each other since their teens. The only exception would be Jerri."

"That's not surprising. Say, have you seen Jerri around?"

"She was by the restrooms."

"Where the phone is at."

"Yes."

"Was she talking?"

"I'm not sure."

Eva's heart began to pound with worry. She stood up from her seat and shuffled past Camille.

"Miss Fosia, can you please watch my baby for a while?" Eva asked.

"Okay," said Camille. "But what are you doing?"

Eva was well away from Camille as she frantically dashed across the restaurant. She went past the pay phone and searched both restrooms. Then she burst through the employee access door. The kitchen was ahead, but the short left hallway led to the employee lounge and lockers. A cook and a waitress ran past her towards the employee lockers. Eva followed them and saw that a crowd had gathered at a corner watching a scene and listening to the intense moans of two girls. The air was hot and sensual. Something was going on, and there were a few female-to-female couples making out, while the rest watched the scene with gulping voyeurism with hands dug into their soaking crotches.

"Dear God," gasped Eva.

Resisting the erotic air, she forced her way through the crowd and found a disturbing sight. The twins were naked, and their legs were interlocked so that their identical vaginas came in close contact. Although they would have done tribadism while they were alone with each other, the experience was a lot more pleasurable with Jerri going down on them simultaneously.

"Jerri!" Eva yelled. "Jerri!"

Startled, Jerri turned around but nearly fell backward. The mood was broken, and Aya and Brea started back at Eva with shock.

"Ah, Eva!" Jerri cried as she wiped the clear ejaculate from her mouth. "I can explain."

Eva didn't feel like staring down at Jerri's innocent face. She turned back to the crowd and pushed them away.

"Piss off!" she yelled. "Piss off! Piss off and get back to work!"

"Aw, woman," whined a cook, "why did you have to go and do that?"

"We already paid for the viewing fee," said waitress.

"Viewing fee?" gasped Eva.

"Five dollars per person," smiled Jerri. "It's a one of a time bargain from ten dollars."

Eva then saw Aya and Brea trying to walk away as well as getting dressed.

"You two!" she barked.

"Ah, it's Jerri's girl," said Brea.

"Look, we're sorry," said Aya, "but Jerri came on to us."

"She needed money."

"I can't believe you Jerri!" said Eva.

"What are you getting so worked for?" Jerri asked. "I do this almost every day."

"But you could have..."

"It was just oral."

"Just oral? The nerve of you!"

Eva stepped right into Jerri and began searching her pants' pockets. She took out the wallet and found it to be stuffed with a great number of five-dollar Pacific Mariner bills and some ten-dollar ones.

"How much do you two pay her?" Eva asked the twins.

"Twenty dollars total," replied Aya.

Eva took out twenty and handed it towards Aya and Brea.

"Take it," Eva commanded.

"It's okay," said Aya. "We didn't get the full course, but you and Jerri need it for the family, right?"

"I was short on cash actually," said Jerri. "I realized I didn't have enough to pay for lunch."

"How much money was originally in your wallet?" Eva asked.

"Just seven dollars."

Eva took out all of the money save for the seven dollars. The dry bills felt repulsively tainted, and Eva slammed it onto the bench. She then snatched Jerri's hand and stormed out of the employee's locker room and back into the dining area. Evie was loudly wailing, and a confused Camille held her in her arms rocking her.

"Thanks Miss Fosia," said Eva.

"Hey Jerri," greeted Camille.

"Hey Camille," greeted Jerri.

"Jerri, give her the seven dollars," said Eva.

"Sure."

Camille handed Evie to Eva, who then put her into the carrier. Jerri gave the seven dollars, her remaining money to Eva, or reluctantly accepted as a tip for looking after Evie. With Eva all packed up, she took Jerri's hand and made way for the exit.

"Bye Camille," said Jerri.

"Bye Jerri," said Camille.

Eva felt sickened that such a friendly place could be so perverted, especially when Jerri was in their midst. She had to lead her daughter and Jerri away as much as possible, even if she had to bump through other pedestrians, including one police officer. The officer happened to be the Asiatic and purple-haired Aureal Zanzì, who was just visiting her lover Camille back at the diner. Aureal was about to interfere with Jerri and Eva's problem, but Camille showed up and silently communicated to Aureal to just watch.

"You're hurting my hand you know," said Jerri.

"You deserve it," hissed Eva.

Jerri snapped her hand away from Eva, and the two of them finally stopped to face each other.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" Jerri asked. "This is way more bitchier than usual. You're destroying the nice image I had of you."

"I didn't like it when you whored yourself to them," said Eva. "We have a family now, and it's about high time you get an honest job for our daughter."

"She's your daughter! Not mine!"

"Your genes and mitochondria are part of her!"

"Shh! Not so loud!"

"Whatever the case, you have to be good role model."

"Look, I'll help support her, but I won't raise her."

"How could you not? You're a part of her life."

"Ever since you came back to my life, you've been screwing it up. I hate being ordered around more than anything! You don't command me Eva! I run my own life!"

"Oh really? Not when you sell yourself to the entire city for filthy money. When the price is right, you'll do anything."

"Did you forget that you were also a client? How would Evie react when she knew her other mother lost her virginity to some whore?"

Eva walked up and slapped Jerri.

"You're lucky you're holding Evie or I would have kicked your ass," snarled Jerri. "I despise women like you."

At that moment, Eva became frightened by Jerri's piercing eyes. Then Eva became deeply saddened, as if her heart had been pierced.

"How could you say that about me?" wept Eva. "You're cruel. You're cruel!"

Eva broke down to her knees crying, and her wails overpowered that of Evie's. Soon a crowd gathered around them, but were held back by officer Zanzì and her compatriots. Jerri looked around and saw everyone murmuring amongst themselves.

"She made a girl cry," said a woman.

"She even has a child," said another.

"That's Jerri for you."

Jerri's face became red with embarrassment.

"Eva, stop," said Jerri.

"I love you," wept Eva.

"Oh, not this."

"I love you Jerri. I love you, I love you, I love you!"

"It's not going to work."

"You're a cruel woman Jerri. You may have lots of friends, but you think of nothing but yourself and money."

"But I try to protect them!"

"You're not! You're afraid of getting close to people! You're afraid to trust! You're afraid of falling in love! If you can't accept the complete kindness of others, you'll be nothing more than a selfish and greedy whore!"

"I guess I am," sighed Jerri.

She offered her right hand out almost angelically to Eva, who then began to dry her tears and calm down. At the same time, Evie also quieted down. Eva looked up and saw Jerri smiling very earnestly.

"Come on," said Jerri, calmly. "Let's go home before we further distract everyone from their business."

Eva nodded. She took Jerri's hand and allowed herself to be lifted up back to her feet. Jerri brushed the last of Eva's tears and patted her shoulders. The crowd let out a polite cheer and applauded.

"Jerri, you player!" cried a teenage bystander.

"Rock on!" cried her friend.

"Okay, okay," said Aureal. "Everyone clear off. Show's over. Nothing more to see here."

"Thanks a lot Aureal," said Jerri.

"It's no trouble," Aureal smiled. "After all, it was you that brought me and Camille together."

"The details of how it happened we will not reveal," blushed Camille.

"Of course. In respect for the future Misses Adams and her daughter."

Despite the innuendo, Eva blushed.

"We'll see you later Jerri," waved Camille as she and Aureal began walking back to the diner. "I'm make sure the whole restaurant apologizes for that incident."

"See ya," waved Jerri.

With Camille and Aureal linking arms and advancing their pace, Eva picked the carrier containing Evie and followed Jerri back to the apartment.

"Camille and Aureal met when my client organized a six-girl trib orgy," Jerri said right before the front door.

"Ah," said Eva. She decided not to become angry anymore at Jerri's sexual antics. After unlocking the door, the two and their child entered.

"Fortunately no woman came up with a bastard child when I came to this city," continued Jerri as she put away Eva's and her own jackets. "That is until you came along."

"I'm sorry," said Eva. "For what I did just now."

"It's all right," said Jerri. "After all, I am nothing but a selfish and greedy slut."

"But you're more than that Jerri."

Jerri headed into the kitchen and searched the refrigerator and cupboards the remainder of any food. There was a pizza box with a two slices in it of unknown age she put in the oven. Then she served out crumbs from a tortilla chip bag onto a stained plastic bowl, two cans of beer, and Evie's filled bottle of baby formula. Eva carried Evie into the kitchen and sat down on the small oval table across from Jerri. All three started drinking.

"Whore with the heart of gold perhaps?" said Jerri. She chuckled a bit and slouched in her chair.

"We prostitutes and escorts aren't meant to have long-standing relationships," she continued. "Some had tried, and some of those who did broke up very tragically."

"Have you ever loved someone with all your heart?" Eva asked.

"You, perhaps."

"Oh," Eva blushed. "I didn't realize."

"At first, I was afraid of falling in love, and denied those feelings since I first met you. I always felt that in the end that the people close to me will always hurt me in the end. You see, the headmistress raped me when I was seven. At ten, I was essentially sold to a middle aged woman and her Amazon who did many things to me. I ran away from the joke of a foster family at the age of thirteen to live on my own on. I sold my presence and body since then, and at first the jobs were quite brutal and bordered to rape essentially. But I kept myself strong knowing that I can escape the hell one day at a time with a few dollars in my hand. Even when I have finally grown up, women looked at me as some exotic pet they want to keep locked up forever. Yet for some reason, you seem different."

"Probably because I'm somewhat similar to you. I'm just used as a bargaining chip for my grandmother's empire. Despite our prestige, we women of the Nataraja family are prisoners. The outside world isn't safe, and neither the inside. Cousins will murder cousins in an effort to win grandmother's favors and eventually get themselves a man. Even then, a man's position in my family is even worse."

"About your husband--did you two do it?"

"Yes."

"How was it?"

"I don't know. My husband is maybe not what I expected."

"His dick is too small?"

"I'm not sure. Making love to him was the first time I seen it in real life, and it took a while to make become erect. No, it wasn't love. We were watched with scrutiny as if it was some science experiment. His penetration of me was mildly pleasurable, but throughout the intercourse my mind was always on you Jerri. You were all I thought about since my marriage.

"After the intercourse, I didn't see my husband again since he was always sick and constantly needed treatment. I became pregnant, but my distant cousin and me discovered that it was not his child. Something compelled me to compare your DNA with Evie's and I discovered that you were the father. From that moment, I knew I was in danger, for if my grandmother discovered that not only the child was girl but also yours as well, she would both disown me and execute me and my child. I couldn't bear that thought! I had to run away to find you!"

Evie began crying. It was about time to change her diapers, and it was about the same time that the slices of pizza of unknown age were reheated. After the diaper change, Eva and Jerri began eating.

"I suppose I'm the same as you Jerri," said Eva. "I couldn't be with you because I wanted to protect you from the prison that is my family. I'm such a terrible woman."

"You know, I thought of you from time to time," said Jerri. "It has occurred to me that while I was having sex with all these women, I saw your face. I nearly got beaten up after I uttered your name in one session. Funny because the woman's name was Eva--at least her nickname was."

"So what are you going to do about work?"

"Beats me."

"You're a good fighter. You can be a bodyguard or a bouncer."

"That's a problem in itself. Because of my reputation, I can't get a normal job nor could I work normally. If I were a bouncer at some nightclub, the girls would flock to me instead of the nightclub in question. Then there would be the employers would simply not leave me alone."

"You're that popular?"

"Oh yes. My fame has spread throughout the whole world, even though I've only roamed around this continent."

"I bet you have a lot of interesting tales to tell."

"Indeed. Let's face facts, I may have to sell my body again to raise funds for you and your child."

"No. I won't allow it."

"My life is flashing before my eyes."

"You're not dead yet. You're just not trying hard enough to find your calling in life."

"A deadbeat father-mother?"

"Jerri, you're going to have to demand to these people that you've quit being a prostitute and escort. I'm sure they'll listen."

"The mayor, the president, and the president's wife are going to throw a huge tantrum when they hear about it."

"They won't. This time tomorrow you are going to look for an honest job."

"Aw..."

"Don't whine. Just do as I say."

"Then what are you going to do?"

"I'll be a stay-at-home mother."

"Can't it be the other way?"

"Technically, Evie came out of my womb, so I'm the mother--or femme. Or whatever you call it."

"Can't I be the mother? I'm a woman too."

"No."

"You're cruel. I can see where you inherited that trait."

"Don't compare me to my grandmother."

"Whatever."

Their lunch was then finished. For the remainder of the day was concentrated in watching over Evie and wasting their time in between. It was a tough job for the two of them, for Evie cried a lot and loudly, and also pooped and peed a lot. Jerri and Eva were almost always tired of taking care of her, watching her, and playing with her. There were some peaceful moments, such as a moment's nap or when they were watching television together. Despite all this, it was a like serene dream. Jerri watched Evie crawl after the ball she had bought her in the early morning with a smile. She wondered if this was the life families had.

They could barely eat, let alone make dinner. While Evie was well fed, Eva and Jerri were starving, and they ate the last bits of leftover Chinese-style food and drank the last pints of beer. Evie cried again, but they simply left her on her own on the couch. Both Eva and Jerri slumped on the floor, exhausted.

"On second thought," said Eva, "maybe I should look for a job, and you take care of Evie."

"No can do," said Jerri. "I've declared that I'm the breadwinner."

"Think of me for a change. I've had to bear the burden of carrying her in my womb for almost nine months. And I wasted all my money on her while looking for you."

Evie wailed even louder.

"Do something about her," Jerri said.

"I'm too tired," moaned Eva.

"Damn it woman. You're the worst wife."

"Takes one to know one."

"Fine. We'll settle this gun, claw, and hammer."

Gun, claw, and hammer was like rock, paper, and scissors in the old days, but the format hadn't changed much. However, Jerri had the unfortunate luck of underestimating Eva, who was bred in her family to win at everything.

"I hate you," wince Jerri.

So Jerri got off the floor and picked up Evie off the couch. She rocked her back and forth with a droning moan.

"Sing something to her," said Eva.

"Sheesh, all right."

Jerri cleared her throat, and then sung the most obscene lesbian-erotic lullaby ever. Then again, it wasn't even a lullaby in the first place. It was a hip-hop song that she liked. Eva would have slapped her for singing such a song, but she was too tired. So she simply stared and glared.

"You can't sing that!" she hissed.

"I don't know any other songs," said Jerri. "Doesn't matter what I sing. These babies don't know words anyway."

"Didn't they sing you something like that in the orphanage?"

"Love songs--the kind they play when two people are about to make love."

"I'm sorry."

"Don't worry about it. Oh look! Evie's asleep now."

"Really?"

Evie was indeed asleep, and Eva got up to look at her peaceful face. She and Jerri sat together on the couch just looking at her. Simultaneously they felt a sense of calm entering their bodies. It may not look like it, but they could feel that a part of Eva was in her, as was a part of Jerri.

"She really has your eyes," smiled Eva.

"You're just saying that," said Jerri.

"I guess I am."

They cleared the floor and put some kind of barrier as a makeshift crib. After laying blankets and on the ground, they gently lay Evie in the middle. Yawning, they slowly walked away to the only bedroom of the house while keeping their eyes on their child.

"I guess we should go to sleep too," said Jerri.

"I guess so."

"Good night."

"Good night."

It was an awkward moment. Both Jerri and Eva stood at the doorway of the bedroom glancing at each other and looking around. Jerri seemed to forget to ask Eva if she wanted to sleep on the bed with Evie, while she slept in the living room. Or perhaps she secretly wanted all three to sleep on the same bed. Such thoughts gave way as Jerri was entrenched by Eva's motherly beauty, as was Eva entrenched by Jerri's subtle masculinity.

They closed their eyes and kissed. They pulled back staring into each other. Then they kissed again. The kisses became passionately longer. During which, Jerri's hands ran across Eva's buttocks, and Eva's hands running up Jerri's blouse and into her breasts.

Clutching their bodies, Eva and Jerri spiraled each other into the bed. They continued kissing, and while doing so their grabbed tufts their hair as well as their breasts. Eva managed to become on top first, and she parted for a short while from Jerri's lips so she could remove her long-sleeved blouse and her bra. Her breasts were larger than before, and it excited Jerri to a smile. Eva aggressively took off Jerri's sweater and bra, and then lowered herself down for a kiss that allowed them to mash their breasts and nipples. As they continued kissing, they two women slipped off their pants and their panties to expose their lubricated vaginas into the cool air.

There was no routine to follow and no time deadline. Jerri could do what she wanted and how she wanted unlike her many previous clients. She allowed herself to be thrown into Eva's intimate presence. Never before she felt so free and euphoric. Eva was now the woman Jerri completely surrendered to.

First Eva moved forward so that her vagina was right above Jerri's face. Jerri immediately set to work in pleasing it with her tongue. Eva moaned lustfully and maintained her balance by holding to the wall. It was so great that she literally scratched deeply into the wall.

"Jerri."

"Hm?"

"I want to do it together."

"All right."

Remaining on top, Eva turned around and went down onto Jerri's vagina to titillate it. She soon started lapping up her sparkling ejaculate while Jerri sucked up Eva's. After one or two orgasms, Eva turned around and vigorously kissed Jerri, during which they exchanged and mixed their own pleasant-tasting cum into their mouths.

Without realizing, their legs were interlocked. Jerri rolled over so that she was on top and Eva was happily on the bottom. Clasping their hands onto one another, Jerri began humping her vagina onto Eva's, and finally increased in speed and intensity as they started moaning. Absorbed in this pleasure, the completely lost track of time. The bed rattled noisily and they screamed over and over as they orgasmed for a great many times. During this time while humping, Jerri's upper body fell onto Eva's so that her breasts could mash against hers and so that she could kiss her. When they thought they were getting tired or felt it was the last one, they became hot humped some more. Their sex lasted many hours. Eva felt as if a lot Jerri had poured through her vulva and into her uterus.

Evie had been awake the whole time silently watching with innocent curiosity her mothers mating.



Seattle had always been a free city where people can come in, but not necessarily to stay in. The country that it was in, however, was highly secured and nearly impenetrable, though it had no walls, barbwire fences, and land mines. Pacific Mariner had one the most cost-effective and deadly border security in the continent of North America, or perhaps the entire world.

Pacific Mariner supposedly had control of a spy satellite of long ago, but they don't solely rely on that. They also had a fleet of helicopters, small airplanes, a couple of airships, and border security on motorcycles, buggies, robotic horses, or hover bike. There were large towers with an array of security cameras and a lost technology known as the Entity Targeting System. Sometimes the towers automated sniper gunners would shoot any unauthorized trespasser or any suspicious person or persons who were running to and from the city with deadly accuracy. Most of the shootings were done by human female snipers (and sometimes female androids and Amazons) equipped with guns that not only could shoot far away, but could also follow a target until it had silenced it.

The twenty year-old Jeremiah Charity Nataraja and his company, despite their familial lineages, would be considered very suspicious, and Pacific Mariner would have them shot them down if they attempted to enter through the road gates, air gates, or cross through the tundra-like wilderness. A while ago his caravan of three SUVs, one van, ten robotic horses, six mono-bikes, two hover bikes, and one hulking Garuda Interceptor Mk. II-SZ, an aerial attack robot, had went off the road and made an encampment.

He sat in the van in his bed coughing and wheezing. He was covered head-to-toe in dark red robes, and his face was veiled so that only his blue and brown eyes were shown. Underneath these robes cover almost his entire waist was a composite-metal belt "cup", something like a chastity belt that protected his sperm from force harvesting and his body from outright rape. His belt rattled and sometimes clanged whenever he moved. In this special van, he was hooked up to a chemical pouches that constantly pumped his medicine into his veins as well as a sensors that constantly monitored his health on the monitor equipment that surrounded him.

His personal doctor, Anila Nataraja, was charged in taking care of him. Thus, she was forcibly sterilized to prevent her from mating with him. She sat very close to him constantly watchful and always concerned. Despite being in an armored van, she feared for his safety. Their driver, the Amazon Kelly Richardson, was also alert of the surroundings. Sitting next her was the hired mercenary, the middle-aged Farrah Drake with her assault rifle in her hands. Seemingly distracted was the bespectacled Devi Kunigo tapping her away in her silver-aluminum laptop computer.

She wanted to touch him, but refrained herself from doing so even though she had complete authorization from the Congregational Corporation and Nataraja Agriculture. Then again, she and Jeremiah were not supposed to be here. Though they weren't marked for expulsion or death, more than likely they would meet their dooms if they returned to their matriarchs. Jeremiah was nothing more than a bargaining chip like his wife, Eva. If he didn't produce a male at first mating, his medical support would be withdrawn from him and he would die. Even so, he did not have long to live anyway. He had to seek out the wife he was forcibly married to and find out why she ran away and if she was still alive.

Jeremiah coughed again.

"Sir, don't push yourself," said Anila. "We should go to a city in Dakota for your treatment."

"Not when I am so close," said Jeremiah.

"Reports say that Eva is doing fine and living with another woman."

"I see. Given the circumstances, I don't blame her."

"Jeremiah, don't say that about yourself. You are a great man."

"You're being paid to say that."

"No one's paying me, remember? It's just that..."

"Mona's come back," said Farrah.

The dark skinned Mona Runner had come back on foot from her scouting. She approached the side window of the van wheezing, and Anila opened up the window.

"Can we get in?" Anila asked.

"Even with the Garuda, there'd be no way," said Mona.

"Perhaps we should send one of us in there," suggested Farrah. "Then we can use her to lure Eva out."

"That could be an option," said Anila.

"We've got a problem," announced Devi. "The Congregational Corporation and Nataraja Agriculture have just launched their airship fleets and are heading into Pacific Mariner as we speak. Eva has been found out."

"But I destroyed the data."

"They must have been tipped off."

"What is the time of estimated arrival?"

"Five days from now."

Jeremiah began to cough violently, and Anila rushed to his aid.

"Jeremy, hold on!" Anila asked.

"The nerve of my grandmothers!" he growled. "Why can't they leave us alone?"

"Is this an honor thing?" asked Farrah.

"Something like that," replied Devi.

"We're going to have to into hiding in the town we passed," said Anila. "Mona."

"Yes?" Mona answered.

"You have a special assignment. You have to go undercover into Seattle. Find Eva and warn her."

"Yes ma'am."

Mona ran off to one of the SUVs and changed into her civilian clothes. After donning a backpack containing her fake identification, a personal guard of Anila and Jeremiah gave her a mono-bike. Mona rode off. Then, everyone hitched onto or got into their vehicles. The Garuda Interceptor hovered off the ground as Jeremiah's caravan drove slowly into hiding.

"You know they'll have difficulty getting in as we are," reported Devi. "They'll probably delay the force for a couple of days."

"They could arrive in two days and sent their spies already," said Anila.

"Let us not idle," said Jeremiah. "My spirit will keep this broken body alive until I see my wife once more."

Chapter 3

Title: "And I was just getting used to this place..." (argh)

Chapter 3 - "And I was just getting used to this place..." (argh)



Perhaps sleeping with a woman in your arms in the greatest of all sex might be like that with a man, except you're in his arms. Still, the thoughts of being with a man hadn't occurred to her. In fact, Jerri never thought a whole lot about men after Eva left her.

To hear the near-shrieking cries of your infant child in the early morning was annoying, regardless of the coupling. It was unfortunate for Jerri that she was awake. She dearly wanted to snuggle with Eva until six, six-thirty, or seven, but no, Evie just had to start wailing at four in the morning.

"Jerri, could you get that?" mumbled Eva.

"You should get it," said Jerri. "You're the mother."

"You're also a mother."

"Convenient for you to call me that... when you're snoring."

Right then, Eva fell back asleep, snoring just as Jerri had said.

"Damn it."

Jerri crawled out of the bed to put on the panties, bra, and t-shirt that was on the floor, and then slouched her way to the family room to pick up the wailing Evie. She shook her up and down a bit, rocked her, held her upside down, and even attempted to burp her. Then she changed her diaper, which initially quieted her, but Evie soon wailed afterwards.

Hungry perhaps. With Evie in one arm, she headed over to the kitchen to search the fridge. No baby formula. There was none in Eva's bag. How the hell did they run out?

"Now what am I going to do?"

Then a brilliant compact fluorescent light bulb flashed inside Jerri's head, indicating, figuratively speaking, that she had an idea. So she took off her shirt...

Evie wailed even louder than ever, and it was loud that Eva woke up one hour later annoyed. Putting on her underwear and bra, she headed out to the source of the cries and found a pathetic scene in which Jerri was about to cry in sheer frustration.

"What are you doing?" Eva asked.

The topless Jerri had Evie cradled in her arms, and she was trying to get her to drink through her lactating nipple. Evie simply refused, even when Jerri tried to force her.

"What's it look like?" exclaimed Jerri. She turned back to the infant and cried out, "Suck it girl! Suck it! Suck it! Suck it! Suck it! Suck it! Suck it! Suck it! Suck it! God, I spent almost an hour trying get milk from my tit and you won't drink?"

"With that kind of face, you'll never make her drink from you."

"I thought babies will drink anything."

"They won't drink when they're irritated, and especially when the milk is not from their mother."

"I'm her mother," Jerri whined.

"Just give her to me."

Eva folded her bra upward just so her left breast spilled over the edge, and then a grumbling Jerri gave Evie to her. With her nipple exposed, Eva held her daughter to it, and Evie immediately began drinking.

"Both the mother and the child needs to be in the right mood," said Eva.

"And you're an expert in this?"

"I've studied."

"And I'm still lactating. After all that effort!"

"I suppose we can't let it go to waste."

Eva sat down and immediate puts her mouth onto Jerri's lactating nipple to drink with serene pleasure. Jerri was taken aback, but she was frozen by this strange moment and strange act.

"Hey, this doesn't seem right," she said. "Yet it feels so... pleasant... and arousing..."

Pleasant and arousing. Jerri simply allowed herself bask into this, with her lover drinking her milk, while their daughter drank milk from her birthmother. Jerri imagined there being a direct line from her milk sac running through Eva and into her nipple. She wondered if this would continue on in their lives. Who knows? This might be one way to feed Evie.

With Evie fully fed, Eva and Jerri rested a bit until they got dressed and headed out begin their normal lives as a family. First off, they sent off an application to get married in the most discrete way possible at a courthouse. Then they went to the mall to apply for a smart credit card, which Jerri was always reluctant to do since her personal philosophy in life was never to owe anything to anybody. Plus, she had deep privacy fears of credit card companies looking into or rather creating a credit report, and that she might not get one. Surprisingly, it was easy for her to get one due to her obvious reputation.

"Don't worry about it!" smiled the pretty female credit counselor. "Your record is fresh and if you choose to, you can ban our company from looking into your personal transactions at other financial institutions."

"Are you sure about that?" Jerri asked.

"I think I'll handle all your money problems," announced Eva. "After all, I will be your new wife as of today."

The counselor choked loudly on her gulp. She couldn't take in what she had just heard.

"Wait, she's your new wife?" she asked.

"Oh yeah," said Jerri.

"Oh. Oh. Oh. That's... good. Um, oh, hey! The card's ready! Here you go!"

"Thanks."

"Good luck!"

Both Jerri and Eva received their own smart credit card--a shiny plastic flat object with a reader chip containing some of their combined DNA on it. As they left the mall, it seemed that they left the counselor at a confused daze. The possibly, others might have overhead that Jerri was getting married; so it was obvious they were whispers behind their backs.

Jerri and her family went back to the diner Floralia, where Eva apologized for her conduct, but the waitresses and the managers also apologized for egging Jerri into such a sexual act. Then after Eva announced that she was getting married to Jerri, the whole restaurant was sent into a loud near-uniform gasp. In no time, the news spread to the media, and it was now being reported on the news channels on the diner's flat-panel televisions.

It was an eerily quite morning as Jerri, Eva, and Evie had a peaceful breakfast that was to be eventually paid through their new smart credit card. The other waitresses and their patrons could not concentrate on their eating, and tried to steal some glances at the new and happy family. Eventually, police officer Aureal Zanzì dropped by as usual for a late breakfast and to see her girlfriend Camille. Upon seeing Jerri, she readily approached her and her family, and was then offered to sit next to them.

"Oh, sure why not," smiled Aureal.

"I'm sure you know her from yesterday," said Jerri, "this is Aureal, a friend of mine and girlfriend of Camille. Aureal, this is Eva, my new wife, and here's Evie, my new daughter."

"It's pleasure to meet you two."

"Likewise," smiled Eva. "Say, you haven't arrested Jerri for..."

"This is city is a little more liberal than everywhere else in the world, although it wouldn't have made the difference."

"But one notable difference is that we don't tolerate crime lords," said Camille as she passed by.

"Thus, all our prostitutes and escorts are covered by our country's health care policy and are, in a sense, employed by them. We just don't do Lolita, gore, and snuff fetishes."

"Speaking of which, the president and the first lady might have heard about Jerri's 'retirement'."

"You did the president and the first lady?" asked Eva.

"Just once," said Jerri. "Just once."

"If news were to spread real fast, then they should arrive five, four, three, two..."

There was a crash just outside the diner at the street. An expensive black limousine plowed into the rear end of the sports coupe. Jean Owens, a stressed-out media producer, who had just taken over her elder sister's empire, stepped out of her damaged coupe and yelled out:

"My car! You're going to pay for that bitch!"

The bitch in question dashed out of her limo and pushed Jean aside. The woman was blonde, blue-eyed, and rich to boot. She ran with a frantic pace inside the diner and fell to her knees before Jerri.

"Say it isn't so!" she wept. "Say it isn't so!"

"Hey Lapis," said Jerri.

"I'm Sapphire."

"Sorry."

"Is this the President of Pacific Mariner?"

"I get that a lot," smiled Sapphire. "I'm actually the first lady."

"Then the President should arrive in..." said Aureal.

Suddenly, there was another crash, and this time it came from the air--a sleek small airship to be exact, and it had just crushed Jean's coupe. The female President, blonde and blue eyed like her wife, except with a different hairstyle and professionally dressed, fell out of the passenger hatch of her airship and ran into the diner. She pushed her wife away and fell to knees before Jerri. Eventually, the black-suited female secret service agents surrounded her and the entire restaurant as well.

"Say it isn't so!" Lapis wept. "Say it isn't so!"

"I was here first bitch!" Sapphire snapped.

"Don't you dare talk to me after what you did to my secretary."

"What I did? What about what you did? You're the one who got licked by her."

"That's because you were shagging the vice president!"

"You weren't around because you were shagging President of Siberia!"

"Actually," Aureal whispered to Eva, "the President and the First Lady are madly in love with each other."

"Then why do they cheat on each other so much?" Eva asked.

"To build up tension for the end of the month where they have the hottest sex of their lives--on live TV."

"I was there in the shooting," said Jerri, "and between them as well."

"Builds up public morale, don't you think?"

"What kind of country is this?" Eva asked.

"The best there is."

"Madam President," said Jerri. "First Lady--meet my daughter, Evie."

"Oh how cute!" giggled Lapis and her wife.

Their anger disappeared as they each took turns holding the giggling Evie and making noises at her. Then they realized if there was a daughter, then there was a mother, and thus her significant other. They each turned their heads and faced Aureal.

"I'm not her wife," said Aureal. "She is."

"Hello," said Eva.

Lapis and Sapphire bent over low and scrutinized the young Indian woman with narrow eyes.

"How old are you?" asked Sapphire.

"Twenty-two," replied Eva. "About to turn twenty-three soon."

"Slightly older than Jerri," said Lapis.

"Yet she looks younger than her," said Sapphire.

"It's the height thing."

"She could be deceptive."

"I don't need to take that crock from you two," growled Eva. "Even if you are President and First Lady!"

"Calm down honey," said Jerri. "There are agents around."

"But they won't do anything when you're around."

"True, true."

"Oh, say Jerri," said Lapis, "I heard you were looking for a job. Perhaps you can work as my aide. What do you say?"

"Are you kidding me?" cried Sapphire. "She should work discreetly in my tech company."

"Like hell. She'd be with you most of time."

"Oh, it's not like you have the same idea."

"Heh-heh," said the cosmopolitan Middle Eastern woman. "You're putting her to waste."

"What do you mean Miss Zahida Eldrige?"

"With a body like hers, Jerri must be a model for my new line of lingerie."

"Zahida, you must put into interest of Jerri's new wife," said Tina Gainsberg, the president of an expensive brand name dresses. "Jerri is not meant for such smut. To think that you're Middle Eastern? Has all modesty have been lost there?"

"Just because we're Muslim doesn't mean we have to adhere to sacred laws--which is a moot point since there are few men left there. In a reversal of roles, they're the ones that have to be covered from head to toe."

The entire diner, as it turned out, was filled with powerful women of many corporations or countries. The place soon degenerated into a shouting match on what company Jerri would work for, regardless of her lack of education and work experience.

"See what I mean?" Jerri said to Eva.

"You had sex with the entire city?" asked Eva.

"More like half."

"How on Earth would that be possible?"

"Two words: group lesbian sex."

"That's three words."

"It's two words in certain countries."

"Jerri," said Aureal, "we might have to do something. It's starting to get rowdy."

"You're right," said Jerri.

Jerri got up on the table and banged her glass with her fork.

"Quiet everyone, quiet everyone," she said. Everyone quieted down.

"Now, I know all of you want me to be nearby, but you should put aside your lust for me and think of what I really can offer you--besides sex and my tomboyish looks of course. So..."

In a near-daze, Jean stumbled into the dinner and pushed herself between President Lapis and her wife Sapphire.

"Oh, hey Jean-chan," said Jerri. "What's up?"

"Jerri," Jean wept. "My car..."

"Miss Owens!" snapped Sapphire. "Be quiet and wait until she finishes her speech!"

"But my car! My Aston Martin!"

That gave Jerri an idea.

"From now on," she said, "I'll be working with Jean Owens of Starlight Nexus Records!"

"Huh?" said Jean.

The entire diner gasped in horror. Almost immeditaely the television went into a late-breaking news story that Jerri was going to work with Jean Owens.

It was a wise decision. Jerri knew Jean well after dating pop star Lola Troy for one day. Jean Owens was probably one of the very few monogamous women in the entire country and quite possibly the entire world. She claims to be straight, even though she was married to Leslie Beatrix Annette for "personal" reasons. Of course, Jean and Leslie were very madly in love each other since their marriage many years ago. Oddly enough, Leslie also claimed to be straight, and hated the fact everyone called her Les B. Ann. Perhaps their similar character was what brought together in love and lust.

Thus for the next couple of days, Jerri worked in Starlight Nexus Records in the archive department mostly doing logging. Even though she worked in the background, it didn't discourage the other agents and music artists from flocking in. Stressed out by exponentially growing profits, Jean Owens was very tempted to fire Jerri, but Jerri pleaded to her to ride it out. Jean gave in. At least she managed to get a new and rare Aston Martin, but even that was not enough to ease her stress.

The work was stressful on Jerri as well. Constantly, she was getting looks by the clients and the other coworkers, but fortunately they all restrained from asking her to perform some service. She commuted through mass transit, and she was still getting looks. She knew that all of them were asking in their heads, "Say it isn't so?" They still could not believe she was now settling down.

"It was just that time," Jerri said.

It wasn't as bad as she thought. She learned quite a lot of things, and discovered music that was made during and before the Eugenesis Period. She listened carefully on what was going on politically and socially speaking. Unfortunately, they were mostly pop songs used as reference. Furthermore, even though she knew English very well, she couldn't decipher through the old accents.

On the day after landing her job, Jerri and Eva was married without much of a ceremony in the courthouse, but they could not keep the press and Jerri's fans out of their affair. Reluctantly, they agreed for a party back at the Floralia Diner where Jerri's fans celebrated with both joy and sadness.

With Jerri settling down, she and Eva began planning for not just their future, but for their daughter as well. Besides the discussion of moving to a better residence, Evie's health, and Evie's education, there was the primary concern of concealing the secret of her genesis. It must not be known that Jerri impregnated Eva and begot Jerri. Fortunately, their friends at Big Sally's Machine Shop were trustworthy. Jerri wanted to keep the secret to protect the city, the country, and most importantly her many friends.

The passion between Jerri and Eva had subsided to make way for the upbringing of the high-maintenance Evie. Yet they even found times where they made passionate love, especially on Saturdays or whenever Eva was feeling really horny.



It had now been two weeks. For the first time Jerri felt relaxed, though she still felt a little nostalgic of her being a servicer. Yet there was this nagging feeling that she was being watched by someone. At times she called home and checked if Eva and Evie were doing all right. She even enlisted the help of officer Aureal.

"I feel you," Aureal said to her. "We do have confirmed sightings of a mysterious woman, but she's quick to escape our sights. If she does anything, you have my word that we'll intercept her."

Still, it was not enough to ease Jerri. So she hurried off from work and came home. She found Eva sitting on the couch with Evie. Tea and biscuits was prepared, and Eva was happily humming a one of the tunes Jerri brought home from the company music archives.

"It's a really nice song," said Eva. "They should really re-release it."

"Is that so?" Jerri asked. "So what are you so happy about?"

"I'm pregnant."

"Really?"

Eva held out the pregnancy tester and the included chart indicated that she was.

"Jeez woman, stop making babies!" Jerri cried.

"Doesn't that responsibility fall on you?" asked Eva.

"But last Sunday you got horny, and you couldn't keep your hands off me."

"Only because you played that song you brought from work."

Jerri slumped onto the couch, and Evie crawled to her arms. "Jeez, I don't think I could keep up being the breadwinner."

"Then we just have to make some sacrifices."

"Let see that tester."

Eva handed the white plastic strip to Jerri.

"What does these symbols mean?"

"Oh this?" asked Eva. "It means I have twins."

"You're kidding me!"

"Even though twins detection is only 80% accurate, the manual says that we should see a doctor for an ultrasound."

"I don't think we can do that."

"We have to. And I don't want to have to call for help from Big Sally and her girls. You know that they're not doctors."

"All right fine. Let me look through the black book for anyone who I could trust."

Eva expected the black book to be paperback-sized, but she was shocked to see that it was large as a phonebook.

"It has photos," said Jerri.

"Uh-huh," said Eva. "Erotic ones I might add."

"Evie won't notice."

She flipped to the section labeled doctors, which was surprisingly sparse. Jerri had a phobia of doctors, for they could put her sleep and have their way with her. It wasn't because of perceived rape. Jerri didn't want to give out freebies.

"Wait a minute," she said. "Of course!"

Jerri flipped further back to the nurses section, which was larger. She ran her finger down the list of names until she found the one she could trust. Picking up the phone she dialed the number hoping the nurse she met was still available.

"Hello," said Jerri. "Is this Marie Anderson?"

"Jerri is that you?" said the voice on the other line.

"It's me! So how are you doing?"

"Fine." Marie coughed.

"Say, you're still in the practice, are you?"

"Of course I am."

"Good! Say, can you fit me in for an ultrasound for my wife?"

"I can. But it sounds like you want me to do it alone."

"Yeah. I just don't trust doctors."

"Not Emerald Rogers?"

"Not even her. Say, are you two still..."

"I'll sneak you early morning tomorrow. Go through the back door of the office. We're still at the same place."

"Thanks."

Though the next day was a normal work day, Jerri managed to get herself up accompany Eva and Evie to the Rogers Ultrasound Clinic, which haven't really seen much in the manner of heavy business, but nonetheless the older doctor, the young nurse Marie Anderson, and two other nurses managed to keep it afloat during tough times.

Jerri and her family were let in through the back. They headed down to the ultrasound room where Evie began mounting herself on the bed slab. Jerri was sitting nearby feeding Evie with baby formula.

"Now if you'll please relax," said Marie.

Eva could not get her eyes off the bruise surrounding Marie's left eye.

"Ma'am," said Eva. Are you all right?"

"What are you talking about?" asked Marie.

"Marie, you have a big bruise on your right eye," said Jerri.

"Yeah, I got punched by a woman dissatisfied that her child was a girl when she was guaranteed a boy. I called the police on her because she threatened to abort it."

"Hrm," grunted Jerri, not fully believing it.

Marie ran the technologically advanced wireless scope across Eva's exposed tummy, and almost immediately the three-dimensional computer image of the developing twin fetuses were displayed on the large monitor.

"Twins," said Marie. "Congratulations. But unfortunately, they're both girls."

"I don't mind," said Eva.

"I guess I should be looking at the bright side more often. Anyway, I need to perform a couple more tests to make sure you'll have safe birth and if your children will live healthy lives. It might be necessary to perform a caesarian operation."

"Test on girl," said Jerri.

They all went to another room where Eva sat before highly advanced lost technology that Marie knew only how to operate partially, but even her aptitude was enough to run all the necessary tests. As it went on, Jerri wandered about the clinic cooing Evie, although most of its was unsuccessful.

"You really want your mommy, don't you?" asked Jerri.

She heard a car pull up. Jerri looked past the hallway and saw the older yet amiable Doctor Emerald Rogers fumbling through her keys to open the door.

"The doctor's here," noted Jerri.

"Shit!" yelled Marie. "You all have to get out of here!"

"I knew it," said Eva as she began getting dressed back up. "We're doing something illegal."

"I don't think it's that, but we have to heed her advice anyway," said Jerri.

Jerri handed Evie to Eva and the three of them went out through the back. During that time, Marie had made print outs of the results and handed it to them.

"It's gobblygook," said Jerri.

"It's all good," huffed Marie, "but I can explain it to you over the phone if you call me tonight."

"MARIE!" yelled Emerald. "WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU?"

Without saying goodbye, Marie shut the door before Jerri and Eva's faces and hurried down the hallway. Jerri tugged Eva away as they heard further yelling from the doctor. Then they heard a slap right as they made it to the street.

"That doctor must be harsh to her nurses," said Evie.

Jerri sighed. "She is."

They went home where Eva prepared a more complete breakfast for the family instead of a small meal before their appointment at the clinic. Then she stayed at home taking care of Evie and watching television while Jerri headed off to her job at Starlight Nexus Records.

She got home in time for dinner, and although the sun wasn't fully down, Eva pressed the issue on calling up Marie to interpret the results of the printout.

"I'd like you to call after we put away the dishes," she said.

"Could still be too soon, but okay," replied Jerri.

Thus, Jerri called at around seven-thirty at night, but there was no answer on either Marie's work, home, or cellular phones.

"Call a couple of hours later," said Eva as she and Evie tried to read through the printouts.

"Sure."

Two hours later, Jerri called again. No answer.

"I guess she must be busy," said Jerri.

"You said the ultrasound clinic doesn't get a lot of business, yet manages to stay afloat," said Eva as she carried a sleeping Evie to the crib.

"Busy with other things in her personal life."

"I see. Do you think we can ask your friends?"

"I'll admit that we shouldn't because they're not exactly doctors, despite one of them having a stint in nursing school. Besides, I'm feeling a bit paranoid about that woman who is following me."

"So I heard. Who could she be?"

"Private investigator perhaps? There are a lot of powerful women who could be looking for me."

"Maybe it's that time..."

Eva walked up to Jerri and wrapped her arms around her.

"I guess you're right," said Jerri. "We'll pack up quick first thing tomorrow, but we have to make so it looks like we're just going for an evening walk. I don't want the others to find out about our flight."

Jerri sighed. "I was just getting used to this wonderful country."



On the very next morning, Jerri called her employer Jean and gave her a somewhat lame or perhaps misunderstood excuse for her upcoming absence of work, to which the producer herself had accepted by surprise.

"Okay then," said Jean. "I hope your wife gets better with her outbreak of, um, butt herpes."

"Thanks a lot Jean," said Jerri. "You don't know much it means to her to remain by her side."

"Sure. Just makes sure to clean each seat before you sit on it or don't sit on anything."

"Righty-o."

They hung up. Jerri then turned around and saw a fuming Eva.

"Butt herpes?" Eva asked with a raised eyebrow.

"The line had lots of static, so she misunderstood me."

"Right..."

"Anyway, are you and Evie all set?"

"We're packed light enough to go for a walk. Although the bullets..."

"We'll need them all. Trust me."

"And transportation?"

"Sally and her gang are giving us their buggy. We just have to go there as if it was a normal day."

"How are we getting out? This country may be prosperous, but it is very watchful."

"Sally said that they'll have the stealth plating installed right when we pick it up. Then we drive out through the most secured places at back roads?"

"But why?"

"I'm sure if we come in contact with security, we could convince them in person of our intentions. They will surely let us go through."

"You wouldn't happen to know the border security through sex, haven't you?"

"I don't exactly have a good memory of all the women I have sex with. Only the worst and best stick out, and I really would like to forget the worst."

"Just remember that you will not use sex to get through when we're left with no other options."

"I know, but I'd rather not have to resort to killing them."

Eva held her large purse tighter against her chest.

"Let's try not to run into anyone, okay?" she said.

They put Evie in the wheeled carriage and walked out of their apartment, and locked the door as if it was normal. They had breakfast as usual at Floralia Diner and said hello to their friends such as Camille and Aureal.

"Eh?" gasped Camille. "You're not going to work?"

"My wife is feeling a bit... lonesome," said Jerri. "So I decided to take the day off and spend time with the family."

"Really, what's the problem?" asked Officer Aureal.

"I felt a little lonely without Jerri," said Eva.

"I see then."

They left after announcing that they would be going to the park. Aureal was trailing them as usual as protection. Just as her shift changed was when Jerri and her family made a break for it.

They took the taxi to the somewhat a far walking-distance from the warehouse district where Big Sally's Machine Shop was located. The streets were mostly deserted as they walked leisurely towards their secondary location.

"I'm still on edge," whispered Eva.

"Feeling watched?" asked Jerri.

"We're on the run obviously."

"I guess being in that state makes you feel like that. Anyway, try not to arouse any suspicion. Just walk normal. We're just going over to see some friends."

Right before they approached the corner of a traffic light intersection at the corner of a building, a woman suddenly appeared before them. She was dressed normally, but she looked quite pale. There was the same bruise on her right eye, and now a bandage had appeared on her left cheek. She rose after catching her breath and looked at Jerri and Eva with desperate eyes.

"Marie?" Jerri asked.

"My God," said Eva. "Are you all right?"

Suddenly, Marie sprung towards them and knocked the carriage over. Eva screamed, and then she saw that Marie had grabbed a now-waling Evie from the cart. She ran away with the infant hostage that she held at bay with compact revolver pistol to the head.

"Don't move!" Marie cried. "Just listen to me--I just want you two to come with me."

Eva didn't listen, as she drew out her Beretta pistol and fired a precise shot that grazed Marie's left ear.

"SET HER DOWN NOW," commanded a furious Eva, "OR I'LL FUCKING KILL YOU!"

Marie was thrown into a panic. Instead of heeding Eva's commands, she turned tail and ran.

"COME BACK!"

Jerri grabbed Eva's arm before she could fire another shot.

"She has our child!" Jerri shouted. Letting her go, Jerri ran after Marie with Eva following behind closely. They followed Marie into an alleyway, and finally into a small warehouse building. It was dark inside, perfect for Jerri to get struck by a walking staff. She was tripped and struck in the stomach. The green staff then exerted a blade from its end before Jerri's neck.

"Jerri!" Eva yelled.

"Put down the gun," said a familiar voice.

The doors behind Eva were shut, and the overhead lights flickered on. Eva complied as both Jerri and Evie were held hostage, and two women, one of whom was an Amazon named Jan and other a normal female named June, appeared before her sides to take the pistol away and frisk her. They happened to be the other nurses who worked at the Rogers ultrasound clinic, and the one holding staff and masterminding this scene was the Doctor herself standing in front of her white sedan.

Marie flinched as her left ear continued bleeding, but she held fast onto Evie who continued wailing.

"Marie, did you betray us?" asked Jerri.

"I'm sorry!" Marie cried. "I tried to hide the data from Emerald, but she found out!"

"Hush," said Emerald. She stooped over rubbed her face against Jerri's.

"Nice to see you again doctor," said Jerri.

"Nice to see you too."

"What do you want from us?" asked Eva.

"Parthenogenesis is quite uncommon among human species," said Emerald, "and it only occurs when a woman senses inevitable genetic isolation in a heavily isolated location. Of course, such a thing only works in the short term in anticipation of a new genetic material that would be delivered upon by a male mate. In a sense, we have been continuing this hackneyed parthenogenesis for generations ever since the fall of the Eugenesis Period. And lo, what lands at our doorstep in our humble technological country that might be the key to saving humanity itself--or rather, beginning a new era of humanity.

"They thought I was mad for believing full well to the so-called scientific heresy of Professor Zoya Adamantite, that if provoked, two women would be able to mate and produce a child of unique genetic heritage. But the country of Bay-Haven in the northeast betrayed them and had allowed the armies of the Congregational Corporation and the Nataraja Agriculture to destroy all of her facilities and killing everyone in the 7th Vermont Special District. Though I was a member, I happened to be out when it happened. I tried to replicate her experiments only to meet with complete failure, including Marie right here."

"Marie is..."

"A created human, something of a homunculus but blessed with my ova and DNA. She is something like my daughter-clone, but not quite so since her DNA patterns are arranged differently. Unfortunately, she is sterile, and she couldn't even seed me no matter how many times I mated with her. Then again, she is a terrible lover."

"Please forgive me!" Marie bowed.

"You're useless."

"I'm sorry!"

"Stop apologizing. That is what I hate about you; clinging on to me like some piece of unwanted trash that I can't seem to get rid of. I'm surprised you haven't ran away from me after all the abuses I put you through."

"But I can't live without you! Don't send me away!"

"I'll dispose of you when I'm successfully impregnated by Misses Jerri Adams. Then I'll run numerous tests on her to determine the secret of your 'seeding' ability, and once I find the secret we'll finally have the power to control the world!"

"I'm not a 'thing' Emerald," said Jerri.

"Are you not interested in saving humanity? You must be shared with every woman in the world! I'm sure you'll sleep with your wife again once she has given birth."

"There is a reason why I rejected you when you approached me. I thought there was hope in you when you walked away from it coolly. Now I realize that you're just a sad and frustrated woman who just can't be proud of her one and only success. Incest, lesbianism, whatever; Marie will always be in love with you."

"What can a created human know about love?"

"More than you, and you know nothing of it."

"Silence!"

Emerald scraped the blade across the Jerri's neck, but she didn't cut deep. Still, the scar on the surface of the skin was red and bled slowly.

"Many of my friends and lovers had died Vermont Special District," wept Emerald. "To turn my back on their work they poured their lives into would be an unforgivable insult. It has to continue on, no matter what!"

She took a deep breath and sighed. "No matter. You don't have to participate Jerri. Your daughter will suffice."

"Leave Evie out of this!" Jerri screamed.

She grabbed hold of Emerald's weapon staff and then wrestled onto her on the car. In the confusion, Eva broke free from her two nurse captors and grabbed her gun. She dashed away avoiding their gunshots, while she fired back. The Amazon and the regular woman were shot in the stomach, but it wasn't life threatening. It was, however, enough to disable them.

All the while as Jerri and Emerald dueled with fists and a staff respectively, Marie still stood confused on what to do. Then Eva moved towards her with her gun pointed at her head.

"Just put my daughter down," said Eva.

"Marie!" Emerald yelled as she blocked two of Jerri's kicks. "Hold onto to that child and don't let her go no matter what!"

"You don't have to obey everything she says!" Jerri yelled to Marie as she dodged another swipe of the weapon staff.

"I command you to obey me or else!"

"Do you really want to live the rest of your life under constant abuse?"

Marie wailed. She then set Evie top of the car.

"You bitch!" Emerald screamed.

"Good," said Eva. "Now just step aside."

"No," said Marie.

With her revolver in both her hands, she aimed it at Eva with cold preciseness.

"You'll have to get through me," said Marie.

"Don't do this," said Eva. "I'm a better shot than you, and I won't hesitate to kill you for the sake of my daughter."

"You underestimate me. I am a created human, and I have senses sharper than yours."

"But why do you do this?"

"It is true that she abuses me, but it was Professor who gave birth to me and took care of me. In return, I have given her all my love and loyalty. I love her more than anything in this world, including myself. You must understand that I will do anything for her."

"You poor woman."

Jerri and Emerald continue fighting, while Evie wailed less intermittently. For Eva and Marie, the world around them seemed quiet and still as their palms sweated in the gripping of their pistols.

Bang. Eva's shoulder was grazed. Marie, however, wasn't so lucky. She was shot at least three times: two at her left shoulder, and one in her left forearm. The gun fell from her hands as her arms fell limp. Though in pain, she did not yell from its effects. Instead, she stepped forward still obeying Emerald's wishes in an effort to hinder Eva's retrieval of her infant daughter.

"I'll still fight you with my teeth," said Marie.

"Then I have no choice," Eva said as she pressed the pistol's barrel upon Marie's forehead.

Suddenly, the upper levels windows crashed, and in came a helmeted and goggled female rider on a mono-bike landing on the narrow catwalk. She rode along with it until she launched herself towards the car. She rolled off the roof the vehicle, narrowly missing Evie. She leapt off her vehicle, and then the mono-bike transformed into an assault weapon apparatus attached to her back and her right arm.

"Hands off her you knave!" cried the rider.

"No!" Marie screamed. She dashed away from Eva as she absorbed the enhanced punch of the rider meant for Emerald, thereby breaking her back in the processes. Emerald fell backward, and Marie collapsed into her bosom still alive but badly damaged and unable to move her lower body.

"Oh dear," said the rider.

"Please," Marie coughed. "Leave Emerald alone."

"Marie," said Emerald. "You're hurt."

The doctor flipped Marie so she could look into her eyes.

"It's all for you Emerald," wept Marie.

Emerald hugged Marie and rubbed her face into her hair.

"You're strong, but you're an idiot as always," said Emerald.

Eva finally retrieved Evie, whom she quickly quieted down. Jerri dusted herself and turned towards the rider who reverted her power-enhancer apparatus into her mono-bike.

"Hey you look familiar," said Jerri. "You're that stalker!"

Eva aimed the gun at the rider, who then took off her helmet and her goggles to reveal her head-length silken black bangs and light brown skin. She turned around and revealed her Hispanic eyes back to Eva.

"It's been a while Lady Eva Nataraja," she smiled.

"It's you," gasped Eva. "Mona Runner. What are you doing here?"

"I wanted to warn you subtly, but you three were having the time of your lives. But I can no longer wait after days of watching. We have to get out of this city and fast."

"How come?"

"Head outside and I'll show you."

The warehouse door was opened, and Mona moved her bike on foot outside with Jerri and Eva following her. They walked around the many buildings of the warehouse district until they reached a street that ran west to east. Facing eastward, Mona showed them the spectacle everyone else who was outside was looking at. Though they were blotches or dots, everyone knew that they were the airship armadas of the Congregational Corporation and Nataraja Agriculture, two very powerful entities of the entire shattered world. They have arrived.

Chapter 4

Title: "This is not good for my health!" (Augh!)

Chapter 4 - "This is not good for my health!" (Augh!)



The Congregational Corporation had always stressed utility over form, so it was no surprise that their airships and aerial attack mechs were large, flat, and somewhat boxy. However, it did not mean they had to compromise sleekness, for they needed great speed to reach from one of their investments to another.

On the other hand, Nataraja Agriculture's airships and attack mechs were both beautifully adorned with gold lining against colors of green, red, or both, and they were built so that one would behold such beauty until they revealed their true colors and destructive hidden weapons.

The small country of Pacific Mariner hated the presence of these corporations who combined owned nearly half the planet and their resources. The country was never in good terms with the two corporate entities, and now was the true test of the non-interference treaty they had signed since the Bay-Haven and 7th Vermont Special District incident.

The country could not hold back the two entities any longer, and so at the request Helena Charity of the Congregational Corporation and Susheela Nataraja, a meeting was held at the oval meeting room at the Red House meant for the President.

Two blonde and blue-eyed women entered and were flanked by numerous black-suited and sunglasses-wearing secret service agents as well as two tall Amazons. Helena and Susheela rose up to greet the first blonde woman.

"I'm not the president," said Sapphire Heisen. "My wife is."

"My apologies," twitched the middle-aged and brown-haired Helena.

President Lapis Heisen sat down at a round table put together by the staff to which the other two heads of the guest parties sat as well. Sapphire stood by serving tea and cracker biscuits, and remained standing close to Lapis as if she was important.

"Does she have to be here?" asked Susheela.

"She does if she wants to," said Lapis. "She's my wife."

"Anyway, you do know why we have come here, and you put us through so much unnecessary trouble at the border."

"Coming in with a armed aerial phalanx is very disconcerting to me and my people."

"And yet your search for Susheela's granddaughter and my nephew have turned up nothing," said Helena.

"We have exhausted our efforts, but please be aware there are a lot of hoops we have to jump through in order to eavesdrop on our own citizens."

"Something tells me you're hiding them," said Susheela. "And more than likely, you're trying to delay us in finding them."

"We truly do not know where Jeremiah Charity Nataraja and his entourage are at. As for your granddaughter Misses Nataraja who was rumored to be here, we have a tough time finding her amidst all the illegals."

"President," said Helena. "I know you mean well for your people and your country, and I respect the treaty to the letter. However, there is a stipulation of you promising to return foreign fugitives to their respective homelands."

"Oh? And what crimes have those fugitives committed? Running away from their families?"

"That is a major treason in our eyes," said Susheela.

"I for one see this is as a personal manner, which I do not want to get involved with."

"How dare you mock the name of marriage?"

"Mock? Two people can come together in marriage the name of love. Other couples do so in the need to reproduce and start a family. You two, however, see it as a solidifying cozy business and political relationships. I mocking marriage? Perhaps I am, but you two spit in the name."

"You very well are mocking the name of marriage," grinned Helena. "You and your entire lot of liberal sodomizers."

"And your wife," said Susheela. "Her presence in such matters is very disrespectful. She should go back to the home like all good wives."

"Or perhaps she's really the President, and you're just her whore."

"How dare you insult Lapis!" cried Sapphire. She pulled out her compact pistol and shot at both Susheela and Helena. The bullets passed through as if they were ghosts or tricks of light.

"Sapphy!" cried Lapis as she snatched the pistol from her wife. "Those are just holograms! In fact, they're just A.I. imitating them!"

"I know but..."

"So that is how you show your respect for the women who saved the world?" said Helena.

"You're just trying to rile us up for armed conflict," said Lapis. "And I'll admit it worked on a longshot."

"Regardless, we will find our children and bring them back," said Susheela. "Even if we have to turn this small country of yours inside out."

"May God have mercy on you," Helena bowed.

The women, or rather just computer simulations, dissolved into particles of light.

"I'm sorry," said Sapphire.

"Don't be," said Lapis. "They were planning on blasting their way through anyway. Miss Yuki Chrysant!"

"Yes?" answered the bespectacled woman of the Interior Intelligence Deparartment.

"What are the current whereabouts of Jerri and her wife?"

"They have made their rendezvous with the woman from Mister Nataraja's group and are now making their way of the city through the south gate. But Madam President, why do you have to through great lengths to protect one woman?"

"I guess you can fault me for playing favorites. But from the informant we had heard from, the Congregational Corporation and Nataraja Agriculture are vicious entities who look down on people like us. What they wouldn't give to destroy our beloved country along with Bay-Haven."

"You think we could hold them off?" asked Sapphire.

"I was hoping to get the two groups to bicker and fight each other, but I was asking too much."

"So we have to fight then."

"We can hold them off. In fact, I guarantee that none of our own citizens or our soldiers will die in the upcoming fight."

"It's events like this that reminds me how much I love you. Make love to me."

"Later. Right now, we have to evacuate everyone to the subterranean city-shelters. Prep up the General Viola and General Kruger's forces and have them remain on standby upon my command."



The bridge of Susheela's flagship, the Viraat, looked more like a posh and cozy den than a traditional bridge. The floors were carpeted, the furniture were made of mahogany wood or in the case of the computer terminals encased in wood. All of the female intel officers and the driver were required to be dressed in the finest uniforms acceptable in the eyes of Susheela, who had often occupied her lavish "balcony" that doubled as a steering platform for the driver.

She sat at the head of a small table having tea along with Helena charity and her husband, Cary Charity, who was veiled top to bottom and covered with a hollow white mask. His mask had a "jaw" to which allowed him access to his mouth, because in every few hours he had to take his pills. He looked healthy on the outside, but something inside of him made him think otherwise. At least he wasn't bed-ridden like many other males of Helena's harem sporadically planted in various places all over the Congregational Confederation.

It was uneasy to have him in the bridge. Susheela was adamant in forbidding men to be present in such sensitive command areas, but she gave in to Helena's nagging insistence, possibly to showcase Cary as a trophy. The officers were occasionally distracted, but remained so even in their deep focus of their duty. Susheela was very suspicious of this, but she still had to keep her face before her potential business and political partner, or her potential rival if things did not go to well between the two mega-corporations.

"Ending transmission of A.I. copies," reported the Intel Lieutenant.

"They have taken the bait," smiled Helena.

"Brilliant plan," said Susheela. "While they prepare to fight us, we'll go intercept my granddaughter and her lover's escape to the south."

"But we'll have to put up a fight, so they won't suspect anything."

"And what of your nephew and the group he took away from me?"

"Just like the President, we don't know where they are. Did you have any updates on your end?"

"None at all."

"You could do this more peacefully," said Cary. "Like put up wanted posters, and march in to do our own investigation. They would probably lets us in because of the sheer size of our aerial force."

Helena looked at her current husband of interest. Her face was irked, but she forced herself to smile and pretend to pinch his cheek.

"I was kidding," said Cary. "We should wipe out those damn dykes."

"In due time," smiled Helena. "They'll soon die out as God have planned for them."

"And now we wait for Pacific Mariner to launch their forces," said Susheela. "Then we launch our own robotic forces and maybe fire a few rounds to the city from our cannons."



"What is that sound?" Eva asked.

"It's the sirens," said Rin. "We're being invaded."

"Grandmother... How could you?"

"Hurry up and get in!" cried Leticia.

Eva, who was carrying her infant daughter Evie fitted themselves in the rear seat while Jerri took the front driver seat of the stealth buggy the Amazon machinist Sally and her girls had been building up. The garage was open, and Mona Runner was still tapping her foot at the outside front of the shop waiting to accompany Jerri and her family out of the city.

Close to the entrance inside the shop were the bound Amazon Jan, the normal June, and the now-calm Doctor Emerald Rogers. They were kept an eye on by Mina and Patricia, while leaving the bandaged Marie Anderson in a wheelchair. She tried to get up, but Patricia put her hand on her shoulder and brought her safely back down.

"I'm all right," said Marie. "I thank you for the on-the-spot surgery, but I can heal the rest. After all, I am a created human."

"You still look pretty banged up to me," said Mina. "Hey Jerri! What do we do with the mad doctor and her goons?"

Jerri, who was in the middle of the final review the controls of the stealth buggy, looked over to Mina and the group. Emerald, Jan, and June looked really defeated and Jerri felt a lot of pity of them, despite their recent assault on her and her family.

"Let them go," said Jerri. "And don't send them to the police if you please."

"Are you serious?" asked Eva. "They attacked us?"

"I know, but just look at them."

"They won't look that way once they untie them. Besides, they might still pursue us."

"At the risk of revealing their secret to the Congregation and Nataraja?"

Jerri lowered her head thinking about the revelation Emerald gave to her about engineered woman who were able to impregnate other women.

"And doctor."

"Yes?" answered Emerald.

"Thanks a lot. Now untie them, guys. They can't give us a proper send off if they can't move their hands."

"Serious?" asked Mina.

"I'm serious."

Mina and Patricia did as they told, and during which Marie got back on her feet after a bit of a struggled. She looked on to Jerri with longing eyes.

"Please take care," said Marie. "And you take care Misses Adams."

"Thanks," said Eva.

The engine of the buggy finally roared to life, and Jerri pulled it out of the machine shop. Mona Runner had her engine running on her mono-bike since she arrived her and then pulled up close to the buggy.

"The government already knows about this," said Mona.

"They do?" asked Jerri.

"I told them myself. But you must understand that they support you all the way, and they want you and your family to escape the clutches of Congregational Corporation and Nataraja Agriculture."

"Nobody seems to like those groups."

"With good reason. Anyway, follow me. I will rendezvous you to Jeremiah's group."

"I'll finally get to see Eva's husband. I wonder what he's like."

"We'll leave it at that," said Eva. "Now let's go."

They drove off with Sally, Emerald, Marie, and the rest of the girls waving goodbye. Even June and Jan were weeping as they waved.

The streets were almost totally deserted as they drove through the city, but Jerri and Eva had caught a glimpse of officer Aureal, the waitress Camille, Jean the media producer, and many of their friends. Jerri, Eva, and even Evie waved back, although for the two adult women they were smiling quite sadly.

They drove close to the city's limits where the border patrol nodded and allowed them to pass through. From then on, the journey took them through long stretches of mud wilderness occasionally populated by crooked trees and out-of-control vines. They drove fast as possible without upsetting Evie.

Then suddenly they heard a high-pitched buzzing sound as they drove through a expansive savanna.

"Oh God no," gasped Eva. She quickly drew out her pistol and cocked it.

"Can you see it Mona?" asked Eva.

"I don't see it," replied Mona as she drew out her pistol. "They must have known that we'd be coming here. The assault on the city was just a bluff!"

"What is it?" Jerri asked.

Something struck the side of the buggy, nearly veering off course into a valley. Jerri recovered and she immediately felt as if she hit something. She looked to her right and saw accelerating at the same speed as the buggy a tiger-like creature that was mostly organic, but looked as if it was also mechanical. To her surprise, another one manifested on her left, the front, and behind. Then appearing at eye level were numerous bat-like creatures of the same design. The tiger creatures kept on ramming onto the buggy with their heads and shoulders, and the bat creatures were trying to confuse Jerri by screeching and getting into her eyes.

Before Jerri knew it, Mona was thrown off course onto the side of the road by the tigers.

"What are those things?" she asked. She swatted a bat away and rammed a tiger into some large rocks, which upon impact disintegrated like dust. To her dismay, another one manifested in its place.

"Those are just nanomachine manifestations created from local matter," said Eva as she fired at the bats and the tigers. "The control unit is close by, but the thing is it's very small like a bee."

"So we're screwed?"

"If I could shoot the control unit. Jerri, keep driving. I'm strapping Evie to the back seat."

"Whatever it is that you're doing, be careful."

Evie was strapped on, and surprisingly she remained quiet and smiling as if this was a game. Eva, however, precariously climbed through the windowless window balanced herself on the roof in a crouching position with one hand on the tube rail of the roof that served as her only link to the buggy. The bats were crowding her eyes and no matter how many times she destroyed them they quickly manifested again before her, and sometimes they multiplied twofold.

She was looking for something past the bats and the tigers. Was it below? Was it behind her? Was it really far?

Aha! She spotted the small winged golden orb device zipping back and forth almost like a hummingbird, but without the rapid flapping of wings. She took position, however limited it may be on the roof of the buggy and in a snap she fired. The small golden orb shattered to pieces, and immediately the manifested tigers and bats disintegrated.

"You did it!" Jerri cried.

"Jerri watch out!"

"Huh?"

Jerri floored the brake pedal as she came to abrupt stop before she fell in one of the many sinkholes that appeared before her. Eva was thrown off and landed in one of them. Jerri leapt out of the buggy and ran to her beloved, who was now resting in a shallow yet soft pit of sand.

"Eva!" Jerri cried.

Suddenly, Eva pulled Jerri out of hole and ran towards the buggy as something burst from the holes nearby. Eva held out her pistol at two hulking human-like machines, which were actually armored power suits called Archons used by the Congregational Confederation's forces, and they were there because in a sense they too served the Congregational Corporation.

"Throw down your weapon and surrender!" cried a woman's voice from first power suit.

"Don't make us hurt your lesbian lover and that child in the back seat," said the other.

Evie was crying. Soon enough, a relatively small corvette type airship of the Congregational Corporation descended and deployed more piloted Archons, each of which were armed with a heavy titanium sword blade on the left arm and a motorized Gatling gun on the right, and rode on legs that deployed wheels if needed. Jerri and her family were surrounded, and soon the airship landed before them opening up the main hatch. Female soldiers, both normal-sized and Amazon, hustled out with their assault rifles aimed and ready. Soon, their captain whose nametag read D. Scots walked out puffing out her cigarette, and then put it out when her eyes met Eva's.

"It's nice to see you again Misses Eva Nataraja," said captain D. Scots.

"You know her?" asked Jerri.

"Not on good terms," replied Eva. "Dana, please. Just let us go."

"Nice try," said Dana. "You have to go home and beg your grandmother and your family for forgiveness before you are on your way to become reincarnated as a lower primate."

"I won't go. I am going to be with Jerri and our daughter."

"How touchy. You have your own secret family when my brother won't suffice? I wish you were dead Eva, but I can't kill you since I'm under orders. I will however kill your lesbian wife and your daughter."

Eva fired a bullet that blew off Dana's hat.

"I'll die protecting them if I have to," said Eva.

"That's my job," said Jerri.

Dana frowned. "You're really asking for it bitch. Move in! Make sure the Nataraja girl is taken alive and make sure her dyke wife and child are brutally tortured to death."

With a gesture of her Dana's arm, the soldiers and Archon suits moved in, and Jerri and Eva huddled closer.

"I'm not going back," said Eva.

"I won't let them," said Jerri as she flexed her fists.

"It's an uphill battle."

"Yeah, but I been into crazy situations like this."

"Really?"

"No."

"A lot of help you are."

"Yeah."

They looked around. The environment was altered enough by Dana's troops so that Jerri and her family could not escape. Yet there were small and lonely mountain crags off to the sides that might hold some caves.

"Mona didn't exactly say where they're hiding at," Jerri noted.

Suddenly, one of the advancing soldiers collapsed. Then another one collapsed. More collapsed until Dana realized what was going on.

"Snipers!" she yelled.

Then one of the Archon was sliced cleanly in half, and another was disabled by destroying its optics head and piercing the center torso. Jerri blinked and she narrowed her eyes on two human figures so close to invisible was fighting off Dana's soldiers and machines. Just then, a black winged robotic creature landed on all fours and crushed the cockpit of the airship, and then bored through it like a drill. The airship exploded, throwing all the other soldiers and Dana off their feet. At least half were killed in the blast.

Dana rose and saw a woman with punching out the soldiers and the Archons

with a mechanical apparatus on her right arm, and she soon realized that she was the only one left alive and standing. She dropped her guns and made a run for it, but she soon stopped at the face of an Indian woman who looked somewhat similar to Eva.

"Dana," said Anila Nataraja.

"Oh, hello there," said Dana. "I was just..."

In one move Anila shot and killed Dana in the head with her Beretta 8000 pistol. Anila caught Dana's body, and allowed it to fall softly onto the ground.

"Anila!" Eva cried out. "And Mona, you're all right too!"

"Had a little trouble on the road," said Mona as she transformed her arm-enhancement apparatus back to a mono-bike.

Then to her surprise, the Amazon Kelly Richardson and mercenary Farrah Drake manifested before Jerri for they turned off their cloaking suits. Kelly had spiked onto the ground a massive buster sword whereas Farrah wielded a halberd-rifle.

"Cloak suits," said Farrah.

"Never seen them in person before," said Jerri.

"I'm not surprised you haven't. There's only like a few hundred thousand working ones left in this world, and the militaries hoard it all."

Anila's group buried the bodies and blew up all the machines. Riding in SUVs that picked them up, Jerri, Eva, and Evie were taken to the small crags and were then led into a cave. There were more armed guards; at least half were snipers who had just finished firing their weapons. They walked further in where a makeshift medical hospital was set up to keep up what appears to be a covered and adorned human laying in a bed while coughing.

Anila only allowed Jerri, Eva, and Evie to come forth, while the others watched from behind. She dismissed the two assistant nurses, and then knelt to her knees.

"Please forgive me," said Anila, "but Dana Scots is dead."

Jeremiah sighed. "I see."

"But I have fulfilled my duty and brought your wife."

Anila looked up and to her horror Jerri was bent over and close to Jeremiah. She then moved her hand close to his crotch, so it seemed, and Anila sprang up and pulled her away.

"I was just curious," said Jerri.

"Have you no respect?" snarled Anila. "This is Lord Jeremiah Charity Nataraja! If you were any other woman you would have been dead! You hear me?"

"I can't take a peek?"

"Out of the question!"

Jeremiah coughed, and Anila ran to his side.

"I am so sorry!" she said.

But behind his mask he laughed between the coughs. "That's a first. I almost wished that she did feel me up for a big surprise."

"That's... unlike you."

"Anyway, Eva, can you come closer?"

"Yes my husband," said Eva.

Evie was handed over to Jerri, and Eva bent over and tried to look into the eyeholes. It was dark and she couldn't see anything.

"Take off my mask," said Jeremiah.

Eva nodded. After receiving the keys from Anila, Eva unlocked the mask and slowly pulled it off her husband. The women in the back all turned their faces away, except for Anila, Jerri, and Evie who was now fast asleep.

With the mask off, Jerri saw the face of a live man, but her expectations fell short. His hair, though brown, was thoroughly grayed. His face was terribly sunken, and his right eye had no blue iris to match the one on the left. There was blood coming out of his mouth, to which Anila quickly wiped off. He wasn't ugly, let alone repulsive. He was rather pitifully handsome.

Eva stooped over and held his left gloved hand.

"You're so beautiful as always," he said.

"Thank you," said Eva. "You are too."

Jeremiah smiled, but he quickly coughed up again.

"My lord," said Anila. "You have to put your mask back on! The air here is bad!"

Jeremiah gestured Anila to calm down. "I appreciate all the care and love you have given me, but it is about time."

"No! You can't die! You can't!"

"Eva, I'm sorry I wasn't the husband you wanted me to be."

"No," said Eva. "You were more than enough. It was me that wasn't a proper wife, but I had to run away because the child I was pregnant with isn't yours."

"It isn't?"

Eva didn't want to yell it out loud, so she motioned her head towards Jerri.

"I see," said Jeremiah. Then he laughed. "Doesn't that beat all?"

"My husband, I love you, but my heart is with Jerri and my child. Please understand."

"I understand completely, and I am proud of your decision. I guess this is all part of God's plan, which I wholeheartedly accept. Miss Jerri."

"What is it?" asked Jerri.

"Please protect my wife and her child as long as possible, and always remain faithful to her."

"I will."

"Good. Ah, I think it's time for me to finally rest. I am so tired..."

Jeremiah closed his eyes, thus exciting distress in Anila.

"My lord!" she cried. "Speak to me!"

The equipment he was connected to flat-lined. In a panic, Anila tried to electro-shock him while Eva ran and held onto Jerri's arm. The two assistant nurses assisted her into bringing Jeremiah back to life, but they just could not do so. The man remained still, still smiling, and now deceased. Anila broke down in tears, and soon Eva and the rest of women had followed suit. Eventually, Evie woke up and started crying, and the only one who did not know how to react, and hence was not crying, was Jerri.

After the great outpour of tears, Anila covered up Jeremiah's face with the mask and locked it. Then she fixed up his robe and veil and folded his arms across his chest in regal manner.

Immediately, Anila, Eva and the group helped began assembling wood pyre to lay Jeremiah in while Jerria and Evie watched curiously. His body was then laid in, and was soon torched by a pocket lighter. The women gathered around and made their best effort to dress in white. They then recited many old Indian scriptures until at last they sang Jeremiah's favorite song that Jerri recognized as "Oh! Susanna."

Then they watched the burning, which was a bit of a risk as it would give away their location, but Anila would not allow Jeremiah's body to be tainted even after death. To her, it was purification. Many women decided to pack up and head out before the fires were to be discovered, but Eva remained watching. She even began stepping closer to the pyre as if she was attracted by its destructive beauty. Jerri suddenly grabbed her arm.

"Don't go in," she said.

Eva looked back at her and smiled. "I'm not that stupid and desperate."

"That's good."

"If things turned out otherwise, I would have remained with him till the end. Yet you are my first and hopefully my last love."

"Eva..."

Then Eva kissed Jerri so as to not to disturb the sleeping Evie in Jerri's other arm.

They were the last to board the van that Kelly drove and had Farrah, Devi, and Anila inside. Jeremiah's bed and his equipment were moved back inside. Anila would not allow anyone to touch them, especially the bed, and yet she was the one who was rubbing her upper body on the sheets in a vain attempt to soak up whatever remained of Jeremiah.

"You loved him," said Eva.

Anila looked at Eva with tearful eyes, and then nodded.

Then the van started and went with the caravan of robotic horses, SUVs, and mono-bike riders with the Garuda Interceptor hovering over the van itself. Anila fell asleep on top of Jeremiah's bed while Eva leaned on Jerri's shoulder at the rear-facing passenger seats. The information specialist was sitting with them and was snoring quietly despite the bumpy journey over the vast savanna of the western North America.

"What do we do now?" Jerri asked.

"Sleep," said Eva. "For the time being."

Chapter 5

Title: "I'm a little freaked out." (shudders)

Chapter 5 - "I'm a little freaked out." (shudders)



She had to go pee, and nearly done it between Eva and Evie if she hadn't seen Anila first thing in the morning. Eva's second cousin and top nursemaid, and now a fugitive along with her group, was very close to Jerri and her family on her knees and snoring.

How long was she there? Jerri asked herself.

Then again, Anila was essentially a servant to Eva and her late husband. They were vassals, nearly twenty-four of them minus the mercenaries Farrah and Kelly. Despite being cast off, Anila and her group still retained their servile behavior.

That was the beginning of the trouble.

Jerri snuck off from the room and went into the bathroom to urinate. It was dirty, smelly, and there was no running water for the apartment, or rather the condominium compound, hadn't been inhabited ever since the town had been deserted for an unspecified period of time. The toilet wouldn't flush, but expelling urine took priority for Jerri. Her finishing sigh of relaxation was cut short when she saw Anila past the crack of the bathroom door.

"Wah!" Jerri jumped.

"I'm sorry to surprise you," said Anila. "But I have to apologize for not waking myself up for your urination."

"Huh?"

"I could have cleaned the toilets for you!"

Anila and the vassals did try to clean it as best they could, but some of the stains and smell remained.

"And you forgot toilet paper too," said Anila.

"Uh, thanks."

Jerri accepted her toilet paper, which were actually rough paper towels, and then threw into the paper-clogged toilet. As she exited, two of Anila's assistant nurses burst in to spray and disinfect the bathroom with stinging fragrances. Jerri looked down the all and saw the female soldier vassals dressed very regally and had their heads bowed down just like Anila.

"Breakfast is ready for you and your family Misses Adams," said Anila.

"Thanks?" Jerri said.

Then they ate. The nicest table the vassals could find was set up along with the nicest wood chairs, although the looks did not matter in the end as they were covered with extravagant cloths to cover up the tears and chipped marks. The vassals waited upon Jerri, Eva, and Evie with the utmost respect, and oddly enough Jerri was quite used to it in her experience as a female servicer. But she never experienced such gracefulness on how the assigned tea pourer poured tea into Eva's cup. Even Eva looked very regal herself despite being dressed as plain clothes.

"Have you guys eaten?" asked Jerri as she munched on some toast.

Anila and the women shook their heads.

"Why not eat with us?"

"Heaven forbid!" Anila spoke. "We have a custom of eating only if our lords and ladies are satisfied with their meal."

"If they are not?"

"We reduce our meal to a energy bar or starve. Most of us do the latter, but a few commit suicide whether they were ordered to or not."

"A little strict there, don't you think Eva?"

"I'm used to it," replied Eva.

"So were you ever dissatisfied with your meal?"

"A few times."

The plates were then promptly taken away right as Eva and Jerri finished together. Feeling that she needed fresh air, Jerri walked outside amidst more organized chaos of Eva's vassals.

Just recently, the entire group had hid themselves at an abandoned town that was once seaside, but age and sand had extended far past the docks and the original beach. Jerri walked out of the motel by the main street where she and the others had taken residence. She along with her wife and child took a large suite, while Anila and the vassals took the other rooms.

The streets were cracked because of plants and an ancient earthquake. Many of the buildings suffered the same fate of ruin, but as told by Farrah the entire town had been deserted ages ago before whatever natural disaster befell them. There was almost nothing they could use from the town for it had been mostly plundered. To their luck, they had unearthed various supplies many travelers had left sporadically through the years.

It was a short time when Farrah and Kelly returned with the repaired and refueled buggy Big Sally had given to Jerri and her family.

"Thanks a lot," said Jerri. "I suppose you two going to leave because we can't pay you anymore."

"Truthfully, we'd like to stay and protect you two," said Farrah. "But the two us have to feed ourselves."

"We guarantee that we won't work for the Congregational Corporation or Nataraja Agriculture," said the Amazon Kelly. "In short, we won't go against you or your family."

"We may see each other again, so take care Jerri."

"Bye."

The two mercenaries hitched themselves onto the robotic horses given to them by Eva's vassals and rode off away from the sun and away from sight.

Then the day passed quite slowly. Even the next day was no different as Jerri, Eva, and the troupe moved slowly through the mountains, forests, and even deserts to evade sight from the powerful entities who wish to capture them for nefarious reasons. Scouts were almost always sent ahead, but would always return many hours later to give little or no reports on their pursuers.

Jerri was simply growing impatient and irritated of this lifestyle. She wasn't even getting enough sleep despite the care and protection she received. At the same time, she saw that Eva had apparently reverted to her elitist behavior as she was treated with the utmost worship like a princess. There were even times that Eva slapped a few of her vassals for seemingly minor transgressions, such as getting water that was minutely dirty or receiving a cup that had a tiny speck of dirt.

Worried, Jerri pulled Eva far away in private when they were encamped in the shadows of Thompson Peak of the Klamath Mountains.

"Something concerning you?" Eva asked her.

"It's about your treatment with your vassals," said Jerri.

"What about it?"

"Are you being a little too harsh?"

"I don't think so."

"You just slapped two girls, and nearly punched one for that matter."

"They're used to it."

"Used to it?"

"My mother and grandmother were worse if you ask me."

"I thought a little better of you. What happened to that kind and overprotective wife I knew?"

"That was back then. Really Jerri, what is it that you want with me?"

Jerri sighed. "Not act like an elitist maybe? You're starting to remind me of those rich women I slept with before I settled down."

"I do?"

Jerri nodded. "Can't you set your people free? This isn't the family lifestyle I gave my regular job for and they're kind of creeping me out. You do realize that some of them are getting all sexual towards me."

"You got a point there. But Jerri, they're on a lifetime contract. They can only be released from their servitude when they die or become seriously infirm."

"Screw the contracts Eva!"

"It's not something that's written on paper. It's tradition."

"Screw tradition!"

"Then what should I do then? My vassals are pretty much lost without me, and that is the primary reason why they came for me. Besides they are our protection."

"Think about it Eva. Traveling with such an armed group invites danger. We're better off traveling with just the three of us. Your vassals will be fine by themselves. They'll just have to learn to think and act independently. Would they kill themselves if you left them?"

Eva rested her chin on her hand and gave Jerri's words some thought.

"I am your 'husband'," added Jerri. "So it would be best that you listen to me right now."

"We're both women Jerri. Stop bending the rules of our lesbian marriage."

"Look who's talking."

"All right. I'll agree to this since the number of Wingray scout drones is increasing in number. We have to come up with a plan to leave them. Even if I order them to go this way, they'll soon see through my intentions and become so worried that they'll chase me. Anila especially."

"I'm way ahead of you."

"What do you have in mind?"

"I'm going to seduce them."

"Please tell me you're joking," growled Eva as she clenched her fists.

"I'm not, but don't worry. I won't go past flirting and the occasional kissing."

"I hope you won't, or you'll be sleeping in the couch."

"Or the gravel."

"So what exactly are you doing in regards to seducing Anila and my vassals?"

"I dunno. Teach them sex education?"

"You're sleeping on the rocks Jerri."

"So you don't approve then."

"Of course I do. Pretend to teach the said sex education and I'll find a way to distract Anila."

"Good plan, good plan. By any chance, are Anila and your vassals virgins by chance?"

"Oh yes. Don't get any ideas though."

"You know my clit is for you my love."

"And no hand jobs."

They decided to enact their plan immediately a few hours after sundown. After dinner, Jerri invaded the vassal encampment within the trees and pretended to be interested in their sniper rifles and other gunnery. They were all silent and flustered by her presence, and knowing this Jerri made a sudden announcement that she wanted to teach them a special lesson.

"What is that you wanted to teach us Miss Jerri?" asked a young sniper barely out of her teens. Her name was Manjula.

"A very important life lesson," grinned Jerri. "Sex between women."

All the female vassals faces blushed with total redness. Many winced. Some smiled. And there were a few couple of women who looked at each other rather longingly as if they were secret lovers.

"Um, Miss Anila forbids to engage in sexual relationships as it distracts us from our honorable duties," said the older Vimala. "Especially with women."

"It would be treasonous for us to do so," said Sri.

"But accompany me and my wife is a treasonous act itself," said Jerri.

"Regardless," said Vimala, "we are Lady Eva's vassals, and we must serve her and you with the utmost honor and piety."

"Despite the fact your Lady is engaging in a voluptuous lesbian relationship with yours truly."

Jerri could see the vassals' mental defenses being comprised before her eyes. They were now more red in the face and nervous than ever.

"I'm not asking you commit to lesbian sex after I dish out the lessons," said Jerri. "I do not like imposing my lifestyle on you. I simply want to make you aware of the advantages and the disadvantages of an alternative to hetero-sex to the female audience taught by a female. I can see that many of you are very curious, and a few of you might have been doing this for a while--but I'm not naming any names. I think it is really important to learn this if you are to serve my wife and me more effectively, seeing as you readily approve of our relationship instead of your possible lesbianism. I mean, lesbianism isn't explicitly forbidden in most major religions, not even lesbian incest, although that last one is going way too far and I just think that's too gross for my tastes."

"Jerri is right," said Manjula. "I think we should learn this for the sake of milady and her new family. After all, Jerri is her wife and hence we serve her. What do you say Vimala? Why don't we broaden our horizons? It won't hurt us overall."

"Jerri does make a convincing argument," said Vimala. "Perhaps we should tell Anila..."

"Knowing Anila, she won't approve of it," said Sri. "But I am very curious on how sex between women is done."

"Which is why we have to keep this a secret from her for now," said Jerri. "She will find out eventually, and you all may get punished severely, but isn't a learning and enlightening experience worth suffering for? Even so, I'll make sure Eva tells captain Anila to be lenient. What do you all say?"

Every vassal whispered amongst herself excitedly, and fell silent when Vimala stood up.

"Please teach us Misses Adams!" she cried out.

It was unanimous. Jerri then led them to down the incline at the edge of the creek on the excuse that there was some kinky sex acts that could be done with water.

"Let's see here," said Jerri. "Sex between women requires two women, and boy do we have a lot. Oh, damn! I forgot something!"

"What Miss Adams?" asked Sri.

"Lingerie! And sex toys!"

"Sex toys?" asked Vimala.

"Things you use as a substitute for a man's penis, but softer and sculptured for increased pleasure. Some are stand-alone while others you can wear. Anyway, I think I left them in my tent. Let me go get them."

"Shall some of us accompany you?"

"Oh, you don't have to trouble yourselves! Besides, if any of you followed me, you'd wake up my daughter with your footsteps."

"You do need at least one to come with you."

"Don't worry. It'll be a short trip. Also, I'd like to surprise you all with the stuff I will bring. I'm sure you'll cover me with your pistols."

"All right," said Sri. "Don't be too long."

Jerri then dashed away quickly and almost quietly as she had said. Climbing up the incline of leaves and loose rocks, she made her way to the mostly deserted campsite where two vassals, Sita and Radha, sat by on guard with the infant Evie, although two of them were forcing themselves to keep awake despite the many hours of rest they had.

She snuck in almost invisibly, but Radha opened her eyes wide and peered inside the tent.

"I didn't mean to be rude," said Radha, "but is there something you need?"

"Oh yes," said Jerri as she neared her daughter. "Vimala wants you two to come down to change shifts with her and Sri."

"She usually comes up to us to switch."

"She'll be meeting you two halfway."

"Is this a trick Jerri?" asked Sita.

Think fast, thought Jerri. Jerri then crawled up to the vassals and pulled their bodies into her with a soft touch.

"Sorry, but it's a little embarrassing for those two to see me," Jerri spoke seductively. "They saw me splashing naked at the creek and confessed that they were aroused. Now they do not have the right to see me."

"What about the others?" asked Radha as she tried desperately to hold back her arousal.

"That's the thing; they too saw me naked. Vimala is lecturing them right now."

"I see then," huffed Sita. "We'll go down and meet them for the switch. We won't be long though."

"Please hurry. I'd like my daughter to be safe."

Finally, Sita and Radha left, but took their time doing so. It was good since it allowed Jerri to pack many more things than she had intended to in her duffle bags, particularly the only set of lingerie she and Jerri had bought but did not wear.

As it turned out, they didn't have sex toys.

Quietly, she slung Evie onto her back with a carefully tied cloth, and then ran off with the packed belongings. Jerri didn't like to leave those girls hanging, but she deeply felt it was best for all parties.



Anila, however, was away with the two shooters Nandita and Shabana. After their final patrol around the mountain, a panicked Eva approached them with terrible news.

"I can't find Jerri anywhere!"

"Are you serious Eva?" Anila asked.

Eva nodded. Immediately, Anila and her two accompanying shooters went down to the main encampment within the woods only find no other vassal much to their inconvenience.

"Darn it," growled Anila. "Of all the times they are not around. Hey, where is Eva?"

Nandita and Shabana looked about and finally realized that in the confusion of the situation Eva was gone. Eventually, they along with Anila were met up with Sita and Radha.

"Is there something going on?" Sita asked.

"Jerri is missing," said Anila. "And now Eva."

"Jerri was just with us at her tent," said Radha. "She told us that Vimala was waiting for us at the creek so we could change shifts and... Oh, shit."

Anila then ran off to Jerri and Eva's tent and found it empty. Then she furiously marched over to creek where all the rest of the vassals were waiting.

"What are you all doing here?" Anila asked.

"Ah, forgive us Anila!" said Vimala. "We were brought here by Jerri so she could..."

"Enough! All of you get up! This is just a rouse to confuse us so they could escape!"

"Why would they flee from us?" Manjula.

"It does not matter! We have to find them before they escape!"

"The horses!" cried Shabana. "They're taking the horses!"

The sounds of whirring neighing and metallic galloping spurred everyone to their feet. When they approached the designated camouflaged lot for their transportation, the motorized vehicles were still in place but two of their robotic horses were gone. In fact, the two were galloping away with its two adult-sized passengers on their backs.

"After them!" Anila yelled.



"That Anila is one stern bitch," said Jerri.

"Tell me about it," said Eva. "I grew up with her."

Evie underneath Eva's arms stirred, and began making noises.

"It looks like our cue to move," said Jerri. "Hold on tight."

Precariously they descended lower and lower into the valley via a narrow ledge for many hours until they reached stable ground amongst the trees. They kept on walking throughout the night, for they expect Anila to keep a two or more vassals at the campsite incase they spot Jerri and family. By then, however, Jerri and her family were far from their eyes, and now they were fast approaching the end of the forest.

Jerri, Eva, and Evie took a rest in an abandoned barn in a flat savanna of what was once Northern California, which was now under the rule of the Congregational Confederation. Yet this land was essentially neglected and left to ruin to all-female bandits, gangs, and deranged cults; almost a perfect place for the likes of Jerri to hide.

They finally had their sleep from dawn to the blazing afternoon when they were awoken by Evie's cries. They fed themselves with the little food they packed up at a moment's notice, thus Eva reverted to breast-feeding Evie again.

Besides a laundry and a bit of scouting, the family spent most of their time idling inside the barn planning their next movement.

"We could definitely lose ourselves in Vegas," said Jerri.

"I'd rather not go to that decadent place," said Eva.

"But I know the Queen of Rock there."

"No means no."

"Then what do you suggest?"

"We can't get into Mexico since they built that great wall and installed those human-eating Bio-Mechanical Dragons at the border. Then we have no choice but to take a sea ship to Eastern countries."

"Going back home?"

"I'd prefer getting lost in China. You know of a place we can get onto a ship?"

"There is one, but I'm not too fond of that route. It's not the oceanic journey I'm worried about, nor it is the shady denizens of occupy San Castra."

"Then what is it then?"

"There is a dangerous cult that has taken over, and that cult has cost the Congregational Confederation and their subsidiaries billions in their fighting and anti-propaganda schemes. I don't like the Congregationalists, but that cult scares me even more."

"San Castro... I have heard that name mentioned before."

"It at all possible, I'd rather go down to Diega."

"Whatever the case may be, we have to drop by San Castro to resupply. We don't have any food left."

"I see."

It was a two-day journey when it should have been one, but that was due to more dodging of the roads and going through uncharted paths. Also, Jerri didn't exactly have a good sense of direction when it comes to finding cities.

When they arrived at San Castro, it was alarmingly deserted. It was as if the entire city had upped and moved away, and left many of their belongings ready to be looted. Jerri and Eva were not quite fond of stealing, but emergencies took precedence. They broke into an abandoned general store and stocked up on dry food and lukewarm water. Then they took up camp deep inside an office building, which was nearly hot and stuffy due to the lack of air conditioning, let alone power. At the very least, the family gorged themselves in the meals they had managed to cook up.

"They must have shifted the population again," said Jerri.

"Probably," said Eva. "All of the governments in the world have been doing that a little too frequently."

"Pretty soon, they're going to stuff us into one big mega-city unless we do something about the declining birth rates."

Eva leaned closer into Jerri's side. "If we keep up with in-vitro pregnancies, we should be doing fine. They're only moving entire populations just to stabilize economies."

"Maybe I'm being pessimistic, but I'm not sure if our technology would last long. Perhaps I should..."

Jerri was silenced by Eva's sudden kiss. Gripping her wife's shoulders, Eva pounced her down as she continued to kiss.

"Evie's sleeping?" asked Jerri.

Eva nodded with a smile.

"Can you still have sex while you're pregnant?"

"I'm not in my first trimester silly. Besides, we haven't made love when we joined up with my vassals. That was one of the reasons I wanted to ditch them."

They were inside a meeting room where the table and chairs were moved to one side of the wall. Evie was left on a leather desk chair pulled from the president's office when Jerri and Eva went over to that office again. This time, Eva was on top of Jerri on the couch stripping her clothes off with their thighs interlocked between their legs. Once they were naked, Eva bent over to please Jerri's entire being with long kisses, pecks on the neck, breasts rubbing against breasts, and their thighs stimulating their vulvae. Then Eva sets to work stimulating her lover by inserting her fingers of her left hand into the vagina while gripping the couch with her right hand.

Jerri trembled and gasped rapidly as Eva fingered her back and forth. Eva quieted her a few times with more kisses. Then, after Jerri felt herself gushing onto her lover's fingers, Eva pulled her hand out and a long, silky, and sparkling thread of ejaculate ran between their bodies for Eva hungrily licked it off from her fingers. She then kissed Jerri again, and when their lips parted the thread now mixed in with saliva remained connected between them for a good moment.

"I want to fuck you," smiled Eva.

"Fuck? Me?"

Eva mounted Jerri in a position where her vulva slipped into hers. Slowly she began humping into her, causing subtle moans that soon quickened passionately. Wincing, or perhaps smiling, Eva arched over and clasped onto Jerri's shoulder the more they mated. After many minutes, they climaxed together in one unified scream. In a long gasp, Eva landed on top of Jerri between her breasts.

"Is there something wrong?" Jerri asked.

"Nothing's wrong."

"You were a little more passionate and aggressive than usual."

"I didn't want to lose you."

"I'm right here."

The two shuffled in the couch so now that they were face to face and with legs locked with one another.

"I'll admit that I am possessive over you," said Eva, "but you shouldn't jump the gun and mate with all the other fertile women to repopulate the world. This isn't like the story of Lot and his daughters."

"I have heard of that story. Didn't those two cities get destroyed by God because of homosex?"

"To tell you the truth, they were pretty vague about the exact reasons why. Regardless those two cities were said to be decadent in more ways than one."

"I'd say that this entire planet is decadent."

"You'd still say that after all of the kind people you met?"

Jerri sighed. "You don't understand how I was raised. There were times I wanted all the women to die out after what my so-called mothers did to me. I was a total hypocrite when I was a servicer. I sold myself to women while I despised them. I was a self-hating female who just couldn't have any kind of relationship with anyone.

"But you and Evie changed things a bit. I am wondering about who my real parents were, if I had one, and if I'm a created human like Emerald had said."

Eva stroked Jerri's cheek. "You're human in my eyes Jerri."

"Am I?"

"You are. Your heart beats passionately like mine, and your skin feels smooth, warm, and real."

"I am a woman who is able to impregnate other woman. That's not human."

"Then you're a goddess."

Eva kissed Jerri, and the rose above her lover and into position while breathing sensually.

"I'm still horny Jerri. I want to make love with you again... and forever."

It was too soon and too unrealistic for the latter, but Eva immediately commenced on jumpstarting their second lovemaking by rubbing her soaked groin on Jerri's belly, and then bent over to kiss her neck. Jerri, deciding that it was her turn now, flipped each other over so that Eva was on her back on the couch. Jerri mounted herself in a similar position Eva took in their mutual love making, and began pushing herself in.

It started out slow again, but that gave Jerri time to realize how beautiful the female form was, in particular Eva's form. Eva's light brown skin was smooth, and her breasts, though small, were not tainted grossly by implants. The sweat on her body glistened beautifully. Her hair was messed up yet pure, and her reddened cheeks were pulled back to expose her perfect teeth. It was the very body Jerri fell in love with.

Jerri wanted to hold her in the midst of their upcoming climaxes. Her body fell forward, and felt herself penetrating Eva with her clit and her nipples caressing Eva's breasts. Eva moaned louder, and in response she wrapped her arms and legs around Jerri's tall body and pulled her in further.

At every chance, they shared furious and near-suffocating kisses that produced viscous drool that ran across their cheeks. They kissed further still as Jerri's humping became frantic, and Eva gripped her lover's buttocks until she felt the gushing ejaculate flowing onto her labia, which signaled their mutual orgasm. After a short moment of rest, they continued mating in this manner for an entire hour, and not once did their bodies part.



They woke up in the early morning by the sounds of their daughter's cries. Eva sprang up first and gave Evie her breakfast through breastfeeding. Eva nursed her daughter while bathing in the morning light by a broken window.

"Can I have some too?" Jerri asked.

Eva turned around, and saw her naked lover approaching her. "Aren't you too old for milk?"

"You have an extra tit."

"You can always drink your own."

"And go through all that work to lactate? No thanks."

Jerri lovingly hugged her wife from behind, and inhaled her being through her hair.

"Maybe this is what it likes to be a man," Jerri said.

"Maybe."

"Regardless, I have an obligation to fulfill for my family."

"Jerri, I think we should rendezvous with my vassals. I feel a little terrible for ditching them."

"But what about our privacy?"

"We'll leave them once we apologized. They must be worried sick about us."

"I hope they're still close by."

Eva and Jerri dressed up and packed up. With an old map, they planned their route by walking alongside the freeway, but not too close as they were still on the run from the Congregational Corporation and Nataraja Agriculture. They had also expected that their vassals would also be on the run as well, and if worse fighting against the two meta-conglomerate entities that they betrayed.

Right before the family stepped outside the building, they saw a small fleet of large trucks and armor-plated RV van parked outside. Jerri and Eva hid back inside as armed women in ragged uniforms stepped outside. Three more stepped outside, two of which were in red business suits while the older one looked something like a new age or pagan priestess.

"Have we been spotted?" asked Jerri.

"I'm not sure. They don't look like they're from the congregation or Nataraja."

Evie then made some noises.

"Shh!"

That only incited Evie to wail. The cries caught the attention of the armed women, especially the three that stepped out of the van.

"This isn't good," said Eva. "They're going to find us."

"I guess we'll have to expose ourselves. Eva stay close to me."

Jerri walked out, and Eva, despite all anxiety, followed close behind. They finally stepped outside, and the female guards aimed their sub-machine guns at the family. Jerri held up her hands as a sign of peace.

"Do not shoot us," she said. "We are just passing by."

One of the women in a business suit, a blonde, whispered something in the priestess's ear.

"You do understand us, right?" Jerri continued. "If you won't mind, we'll just be on our way."

But one step only caused an audible click from the gun held by the nearest guard.

"Please?"

The priestess only smiled. She ran up to the family with her glittering dark blue robe dragging on the ground and grabbed Jerri's hands.

"We have found you two!" she said.

"Eh?"

"The prophecies handed down to me from our goddess told us that the destined family who will save this world from the residual evil of man have come true! You two--and your child--are the chosen ones."

"Okay," winced Jerri. "Now that you found us, can you let us go?"

"We cannot! We must take you to our fold and protect you until the Day of Judgment comes! Stacie! Xue! Escort them to our van! Give them our best clothes and our food!"

The two female attendants bowed and saluted. "Yes my priestess!"

The blonde, Stacie, and the Chinese-looking, Xue, linked their arms with Jerri and Eva respectively and walked them to the armored RV against their will.

"No, that's all right," said Jerri.

"Jerri, is something the matter?" Eva asked.

"Oh no honey, we'll be fine. Let's allow them to take care of us now."

The family was now in the van. The priestess fell to her knees and bowed to the direction of the office building from where Jerri and her family emerged from.

"Bless you o' Melfa," she praised. "Your vengeance shall commence soon."

Chapter 6

Title: "That was... very intense." (whoa...)

Eve Sky
Chapter 6 - "That was... very intense." (whoa...)
by Starcross


Though armed, Kelly and Farrah were a bit relaxed as they broke into the food storage warehouse. With the huge rolling door opening up for them, a small gust of wind blew inside and kicked up dust from the messy floors. As expected, every inch was thoroughly raided of its wares, leaving only collapsed rubble that were once towering metal shelves and discarded boxes.

"I guess we'll mark this one off," said Kelly the muscular Amazon.

Her mercenary partner Farrah lifted up an empty box up to her face, as if any foodstuffs would miraculously appear before her eyes. She tossed it outside and seated herself in the passenger seat of the buggy given to her and her partner by Jerri and her wife. Soon, Kelly sat in the driver's seat, and the two rode off to another sector of the city of San Castra.

Even though they were generously paid by Eva's vassals, Farrah and Kelly still had to scrounge for food and supplies as mercenary jobs were few in this changing world, and they would not avail themselves to the likes of Nataraja Agriculture and the Congregational Corporation. They liked Jerri, Eva, and their twenty rouge vassals.

They made a discovery of food stash in a small and plain deli store hidden from view if one were to drive only on the main streets. There was not much, but it was enough for them to survive for about a week if they rationed correctly.

As Kelly loaded up the trailer of their buggy in an alleyway, she noticed a caravan of motor vehicles passing through, and the armored RV that passed by her eyes gave her sinister chill that almost rendered her speechless. When Farrah appeared behind and asked her what's wrong, Kelly covered her mouth and the two hid. In silence, they communicated that there was a possible threat to their well being. They decided to investigate, taking only pistols instead of their heavy bladed weapons.

Darting from one alleyway and wall, they drew closer to the caravan. A commotion piqued their interest, and against their better judgment they peered over a concrete tree planter.

There, in front of an abandoned office building, Jerri and her family were hauled into the armored RV. The robed priestess knelt to the ground and prostrated towards the office building and before her goddess. Once she returned to the RV, the caravan drove off.

"Did you see what I believe I saw?" Farrah asked.

Kelly vigorously nodded. "What should we do?"

Farrah turned around and sat with her back to the planter. "We're already released from their duty, but as good friends we should tell their vassals about their kidnapping. Speaking of which, why aren't they with their vassals?"



The RV windows were darkened and covered with blinds, but one could not see much anyway as the caravan were driving down an unmarked road in the middle of a vast desert expanse sparsely dotted with sagebrushes.

Their clothes were changed into robes of spiritual extravagance. They weren't heavy even though it looked so. Jerri was in a masculine dark blue and dark green robe, whereas Eva was in a pink and white one. Even the blissful Evie was dressed in a cute robe similar to her birthmother.

They were fed quite generously, particularly from their business-suited escorts Stacie and Xue who could not help but play with Evie at every chance, much to Eva's hidden dismay. Taking a cue from Jerri, they were still distrustful of their new and heavily armed companions, but they accompanied them nonetheless in all passivity. Fighting them would be dangerous, and hence it would garner attention from the enemies they were running away from.

Along with one short rest stop, the journey took the entire day. Jerri and Eva woke up from their slumber in their shared bed when they had arrived at the destination. When they were escorted out, they found out that they had arrived in a cavernous subterranean hangar filled with technological weapons of old. There were many vertical take-off jets lining the long aisle, and thus the high ceiling had access tunnels closed off with reinforced steel doors. A few heavy assault robot drones commanded by their operators who rode on their back, and farther still the lair was bustling with the movement of supplies and guns into another darkened hangar.

"Welcome to our abode my humble saviors," said the priestess Fanny Francesca. "This secret underground base is the last remnant of our great religion, the Valkyries of Melfa."

"It's a really snazzy place," Jerri joked.

"Indeed. Come, you must rest in our chambers after our long journey."

Jerri, Eva, and Evie boarded an electrical trolley along with Francesca and her aides Stacie and Xue. They rode down the hangar and stopped into the corner where there was a stairwell leading to a door. They were led up there, and now found themselves inside a relatively empty hallway. They walked down and entered through the double doors into an extravagant chamber stuffed with silk draperies of many colors reminiscent of oriental legends.

"This will be your new home for your family," said Francesca. "Please enjoy your stay, and rest up for the ceremony that is to take place tomorrow."

"Thanks," said Jerri.

Francesca and her aides left, and shut the doors. Immediately, Eva sat on the soft bed in a room she felt was recently dusted and cleaned for their arrival. She laid the snoozing Evie on the bed and then dressed out of her robe.

Jerri, on the other hand, searched about the walls for anything that looks like a security camera or listening device.

"It looks like we're not being bugged," she concluded. "I guess we're too sacred to be voyeured upon."

"What's the deal with these people?" asked Eva. "All I have known about them is that they are dangerous."

"Not to mention apocalyptic. This hyper-feminazi lesbian cult thinks we're the ones who purify the world or something like that."

"You believe in that?"

"Of course not. I'm not interesting in saving the world from the male race and their residual influence. The men already suffered enough."

"So what now? Should we stay here for a while?"

"That is my plan, but I intend to find a way out of this mess. With this kind of force, it will a lot more difficult than escaping Anila and the rest of the vassals."

"It was your idea that we should escape."

Jerri sighed. "Let's not argue about that. Eva, stay here while I scour the place."

"You might get caught."

"So? They'll just send me back here. I'll try again hopefully before whatever ceremony takes place."

"Please do not take so long. I don't want to be alone in this kind of place."

Jerri smiled and nodded. Quietly, she tiptoed out of her chambers and moved down the empty halls jiggling the handles of each door only to find them locked. She did not know what she would be looking for, but the first thing that she should have thought of was some kind of map. She could ask for one, but she dared not to talk to one of the followers of the Valkyries of Melfa for that would arouse suspicion, and thus some kind of imprisonment in her chambers.

Still she pressed on, and left the "residential" sector she assumed she was in and went back into the hangar to which she became acquainted with upon her arrival. There seemed to be less activity and movement in there, and now there were only a few female guards patrolling the area. Braving their gaze, Jerri went down the stairwell and discovered upon reaching the bottom that there was a carved pathway leading further into the cave system. She went in, expecting it to be short, but turned out to be quite long. There were doors lining the walls, many of which were locked, and the unlocked ones, she dared not go in.

However, there was one door that led into what looked like some kind of hospital. Jerri crept in, but was surprised by the presence of two blond nurses who were fondling each other whilst sharing a rolling desk chair behind a front desk.

"Ah, I'm sorry!" said one of them. "We'll be back to work."

"I see," winced Jerri. She glanced at their nametags that read Britney Heisen and Heather Gates. Both nurses looked very similar to one another.

"Did you come here for a pregnancy consultation?" asked Heather.

"Me? Oh no, I was just exploring."

Both girls dropped their jaws.

"You must the one Francesca mentioned in her prophecies," said Britney.

"Eh?"

"What's going on here?" boomed a voice.

Behind Jerri, a stern-faced Xue, accompanied by Stacie approached the desk.

"Oh, it's you Misses Adams," said Xue. "I see you met our two in-vitro clinic nurses."

"This is an in-vitro clinic?" asked Jerri.

"Of course. This room we are in leads into the sperm storage units."

"Ah."

"However, both the natural and artificial sperm have been dying out inside the tanks, and the ones we can salvage for artificial insemination produced stillbirth."

"So the curse of the damaged Y-chromosome is still persisting."

"Even 'blank' sperms using our own DNA break down. But that is nothing for you to worry about. For your own safety, you must return to your room."

Drat, thought Jerri.

Xue and Stacie escorted their revered guest out of the in-vitro insemination clinic and sperm storage sub-facility after giving a stern warning to their nurse couple.

"Really, I don't feel that I am in danger," said Jerri as she walked followed her escorts.

"Due to the prophecy, there is a chance you will get assaulted by one of our more fanatical members," said Xue. "And I feel there are those within our fold who do not believe you're our chosen savior."

"Like you for instance?" grinned Stacie.

"Of course I believe in the prophecies!"

"You weren't too keen in letting Francesca go on her journey to San Castra after the latest vision."

"I accompanied didn't I?"

"You might want to be careful Misses Adams," Stacie said as she linked her arm with Jerri. "Little Xue thinks you're a fraud."

"It's not that," said a now-blushing Xue. "I am just a little skeptical. I mean, there was also a prophecy that the destroy may take the guise of the destroyer. And stop flirting with the Savior!"

Stacie lets go. "Okay, girl. Sheesh."

"If I am the supposed destroyer," said Jerri, "you'd guys let me go, right?"

"We'd probably kill you," said Xue.

"Drat."

"Look, the prophecy is not definite. One says that you'll be the cause for the world's destruction, while the other says you'll save the world and humanity as well. It's just that..."

"Our priestesses prophecies have been known to contradict each other from time to time," said Stacie.

"Personally, I would be glad if you were just an ordinary woman, Jerri."

"Ah, but that would make Fanny and the others sad."

"It's best you stay here for the meantime Jerri until we can find out what to do with you. The outside world is dangerous and teeming with the likes of the Congregational filth."

Jerri obliged as she learned that she possessed the possibility of the role of being either savior or destroyer. Yet even this subterranean base would not keep her locked up forever. Armed female guards were everywhere and fixing their hungry eyes at the handsome Jerri.

She was now back at her chambers breathing a sigh of relief. Eva, dressed in a pink and transparent negligee ran up to her from the edge of the bed, where beforehand she was watching over the sleeping Evie in a crib.

"Did you find an escape route?" she asked.

"They found me out," said Jerri. "We may have to figure something out during the ceremony."

"I see."

"They mentioned that I may be their destroyer or something, but everything's pointing to me being their savior."

"Their savior huh? Could that mean they have found about your impregnation abilities?"

"Hard to say. They're more militaristic than scientific."

"Then if you're their destroyer..."

"They might kill me--and you and Evie as well."

Jerri received Eva in her arms.

"We have to get out," said Eva.

"I know," Jerri sighed. "God, why can't I just have a normal life?"



Jerri might have surmised that Stacie and Xue were very close the Melfan priestess Francesca. She could not be further than the truth, as the two aides were essentially her wives by habit, and after today's exciting discovery all three made love on that night.

Francesca was in her middle ages, and Stacie and Xue were young adults of similar ages. Xue was usually the serious and timid type, while Stacie was flirtatious. Stacie, however, was not what she appeared to be.

With Francesca and Xue asleep, Stacie sneaked out of their embrace and quickly put on her underwear and a jumpsuit. Sneaking through the residential halls, she climbed the unguarded emergency access ladder upward until she exited out from the side of the desert mountain. From there, she slid down the relaxed slope and began her trek across the cold desert of the night.

An hour later, she reached the edge of an abandoned town close to total ruin. She approached an unassuming trailer house, went behind it, and kick-started a gas generator. Stacie went into the said trailer that turned out to be filled with a small rack of guns and communications equipment. Switching on the power, she sat on a weathered chair and pulled the microphone close to her mouth.

"Hidden Praetorian calling Walking Elysium," she repeated. "Hidden Praetorian calling Walking Elysium."

The radio emitted static and Stacie listened closely.

"What is your status Praetorian?" cracked a voice on the speaker.

"The Valkyries of Melfa have retrieved Lady Eva Nataraja and her wife. They have a child."

"That's not important. Where is Mister Jeremiah Charity?"

"He is not with them. There is a possibility that they are with the vassals."

The speaker remained relatively silent.

"If it beseeches you," continued Stacie, "they are about to hold their ceremony. At least three-quarters of the cult will be unarmed and defenseless."

"You still have not told me in detail about this ceremony they are about to hold."

"Even though I have not participated in one, it is best for you not to know."

"I can only imagine."

"I guarantee you that tomorrow will be the best time to strike. I also suggest that we kidnap the Nataraja daughter in the midst of the fighting."

"Well put. We'll use her to find our Jeremiah."

"But what if we don't find him?"

"We'll use her somehow."

"Understood."

Stacie turned off the radio. Quickly, she shut off the noisy generator.

She arrived back to the underground base, and then awaited a guard to arrive to take post by the emergency ladder access. Walking down the halls, she saw Xue in a light blue one-piece pajama that made her looked like a big child. There were tears in her eyes.

"Where were you?" asked Xue.

"I took a walk out. Had a bad dream again?"

"No I didn't! Francesca kept tossing around."

"It was enough to make you cry."

"It hurt."

Stacie smiled. She walked up to her partner to brush the tears from her eyes and then kissed her.

"You really can be such a child," said Stacie.

"I'm not," pouted Xue.

Stacie skipped away back to her chambers she shared with Francesca and Xue. Xue, on the other hand, lingered in the hallway trying to remember why she was there.

She really did have a bad dream.



The next morning, Francesca woke up with a very bad premonition.

"I have to..." she gasped. "I have to consult the goddess."

Xue and Stacie nodded. Quickly, the organized the set up of the oracle chamber, which didn't look like much as it was just a round room with a four-post bed covered with red-orange sheets and draperies lined gold. Everyone donned their ceremonial robes of black and dark blue. Four ornamentally masked witnesses stood by the walls to form a square formation, while Xue and Stacie knelt on large floor pillows opposite of each other across from the bed.

There were two doors that created a path that crossed Xue and Stacie's line of sight from each other. The first door opened and in came Francesca in her sparkling dark blue robe and two masked escorts. The door opposite door opened, and an Indian-looking girl barely in her teens was in a plain black cloak along with her two masked escorts.

Beside Xue were a silver goblet and a matching platter. She dropped a shiny yet dark pellet into the goblet that was quickly dissolved by the heated water. Francesca and the cloaked girl met one another by climbing onto the bed.

"What is your name young one?" asked Francesca.

"Sati," replied the girl.

"You're so pretty."

"T-thanks."

Xue handed them the goblet. Francesca took her long sip, and Sati hesitantly took hers, which was not much. Xue walked away with the goblet and platter, and after setting them aside she knelt back down onto her pillow. Francesca stroked Sati's dark hair. The girl was trembling.

"It's okay," smiled Francesca. "Just relax."

Francesca took off the girl's cloak and discarded it. Sati was totally naked save for the jeweled bracelets wrapped around her neck, wrists, and ankles. Francesca kissed her for almost a minute, and then pecked her on the neck. Sati moaned, and though she was nervous she fell back to allow her mistress's hands cup her right breast and then run its fingers tenderly across the tummy towards the groin.

Francesca eventually took off her robe, revealing her smooth naked skin that she rubbed against her young lover.

It was only after a little foreplay and titillation that things began to get rough. Francesca mounted her vagina onto Sati's and began humping her. As the minutes passed, the humping became more frenzied, as if Francesca had become a man raping a young girl, and she even grunted like so. Sati, on the other hand, was moaning, if not screaming loudly with tear-filled eyes. She clutched the bedposts as she tried to hold back Francesca's weight and momentum. Indeed she was in pain and even sore, yet she was so sexually starved she could essentially die if she wasn't satisfied. Whatever she and Francesca drank made them like this, and they mutually orgasmed in numbers that could not be achieved naturally.

Xue, Stacie, the four silent masked witnesses, and the four silent masked escorts watched the sex with focused intent, though they themselves were feeling wet without any of them knowing. They had the option of writing what was going on, but it was pointless as they did not receive the words of divination from their beloved priestess. Yes, this was same method Francesca received her prophecies from the goddess. It was not enough for her to be pleasured in the body. Along with her "divination" partner, she had to be pleasured to the point of near-death with a nubile virgin, and it was likely that a few of her partners had died in this process.

Two hours had passed, which was the limit of Francesca and her lover. Sati soon fainted, and veteran Francesca separated from her, which stretched a long, wide, and sticky thread of her and Sati's ejaculate from their crotches. Xue covered her with a robe and gave her glass of cold water, while Stacie checked the pulse of Sati. Fortunately, she was still alive.

The four masked witnesses gathered around Francesca readying their notepads. Francesca was breathing heavily, and had to lean on Xue for support.

"This is bad," Francesca.

The tone of her words felt as if they were part of Xue's bad dream.

"There are explosions," Francesca continued. "Bullets flying; rocky debris falling from the sky. The heavens will rain down its wrath, and many, if not all of us will die."

"Shall we cancel the ceremony?" Xue asked.

Francesca opened her mouth in a gasp, but it was difficult to interpret from it. Did she want to or not?

"We can't!" Stacie cried out. "Think of the morale of your followers!"

"I have a bad feeling about this," said Xue. "My dream, Francesca's divination..."

"They may be bad, and maybe it's only just for you two. However, it doesn't mean our cause will die in any way possible. Perhaps this is a vision of our enemies' demise."

Stacie knelt to her knees and clasped her hands around Francesca's left. "Please Fanny! We cannot cancel the ceremony and let your followers down. We have found our savior and it should be a cause of celebration. Without it, we will weaken internally, and eventually our enemies will defeat us with cunning and deceit. Please remember that some of the recorded prophecies contradict each other. Hopefully, the next one will contradict the one you just had."

Francesca thought about it for a moment. Stacie looked up to her with a face that favored the proceeding of the ceremony, while that of Xue was worried and favored the opposite. With her heart calmed down, Francesca took a deep breath and stood on her feet.

"We shall proceed," she said.

Stacie smiled widely, while Xue's face became even more sullen.



After their in-room breakfast, their room attendants came a few hours later to dress Jerri and Eva in even more lavish and heavier robes, although Evie was changed into another copy of hers. Stacie arrived with a cheerful smile with six lightly armed escorts to bring Jerri and her family out of the residential wing and into Hangar 2 through Hangar 1 where the ceremony was about to take place. Along the way, they passed by groups of children led by nursemaids, who were corralling them to a low building within Hangar 2.

Most of Hangar 2 was filled with women from their teens onto the beginning edge of old age, around fifty years or so. Many were beautiful while the rest were average but not terrible-looking. Not one was obese, and all of them were physically fit to a certain extent. Jerri had yet to see one Amazon, and she figured so given the Valkyries of Melfa stance against steroids and muscle enhancements.

It was like a concert with no seats, thus each couple or group marked their own spot in Hangar 2 with a plush blanket or comforter, to which they recently had their light meal. At various points on the floor there were large pots that could be of the chamber type.

The entire perimeter of the hangar was lined by a suspended catwalk high above them, which had access to at Jerri's estimate six entrances to tunnel pathways. The catwalk, just like the ground level, was patrolled by armed guards with their assault rifles of different origins.

There was a large and raised stage where Francesca and Xue met up with Stacie, Jerri, Eva, Evie, and the stern escorts. On that stage was long table draped with a dark blue cloth, and lining it enough chairs for the leaders and the guests of honor. Francesca's seat was the most ornately decorated, but not overtly so.

Francesca quieted everyone down with a ring caused by her spoon hitting her wine glass. She stood up, with Stacie beaming at her and Xue still vainly covering her deep concern for the recent prophetic divination that she worried for Jerri and her family's sake.

The Melfan priestess Francesca stood up and spoke:

"My friends; we are currently emerging into the twilight of humanity. The corrupt leaders of the world shift and merge entire city populations only to delay the inevitable of their regime. Because of their actions, gang violence and wars over men have become worse. Sperm, both artificial and natural are committing suicide in this sick planet. I feel that the legacy of the male species had finally realized the error of their ways and decided to correct them by ridding themselves slowly but surely.

"However, this does not spell the doom for female species. Not long ago, I have dispersed a prophecy unto you all that a new savior in the body of a woman shall save us. She is just like us: nurturing and maternal, and never selfish, greedy, and violent. But there is one key gift she possesses, and that is that she can impregnate any woman on her and her partner's sole discretion without a need of rape or a phallus."

During the speech, a number of armed female guards not taking part in the ceremony set about the hangar to dispense to the audience dark pellet-like objects or heated drinks the pellets dissolved into.

At the same time, Stacie beckoned Eva to hand her Evie. Thinking that was all she wanted, Eva handed the infant to her. Then Stacie handed Evie into Francesca's arms.

"We have found our savior, Germaine Adams," continued Francesca, "and through her lover Eva Adams, they have produced this child you see right now!"

Francesca held up the blissful Evie for all to see. Jerri and Eva expected the worshippers to fall into disbelief, but it was entirely the opposite. As indicated by their loud cheer, they completely believed every one of Francesca's words.

"Um, my baby," said Eva.

"They can't be serious," said Jerri.

"Evie has your eyes," smiled Stacie.

Francesca handed the infant back to her birthmother.

"And now let us celebrate!" Francesca cried. "Dig in!"

Yet there was no food. Whatever the guards gave to the audience was immediately consumed, and many of them began kissing each other while the guards stood erect and watchful.

Stacie gave both Jerri and Eva a goblet filled with heated liquid swirling with a mix of silvery foam and darkness.

"You want me to hold your child?" she asked them.

"What for?" asked Eva.

"You might not want to drink that," noted Xue.

Jerri put down her goblet.

"Well, you can," said Stacie, "if you desire to impregnate others."

"Then give it to me straight," said Jerri. "What's in this?"

"Oh, just a highly potent synthesized version of ecstasy, except it reacts well to the same sex--our sex."

Jerri and Eva could see the effects of this sex drug unfolding, as the female audience were now undressing and performing oral sex on one another from one end of the hangar to the other. It was as if almost the entire cult was engaging in a mass orgy, which drew a perverted smile on Francesca's face.

"Wow," smiled Jerri. "This is... quite interesting."

Eva tugged on Jerri's sleeve. "Let's not be here. It's degrading."

"But I never been in a hundred-girl orgy before."

"Actually, it's two-hundred and fifty," said Stacie. "Which is almost half of our entire convent."

"The other half is on guard duty," said Xue. "With a few taking care of our children."

"And we'll hold another ceremony after lunch."

"That's nice and all," said Eva, "but would you please escort us to someplace where we can't see or hear all this?"

"As you wish," bowed Stacie.

"Honestly, you people. At least you have the decency to exclude children out of this."

Stacie and Xue escorted Jerri and family deep into another hangar, which was designated as number 3. This was the storage hangar. There were very little lights and it was partially caved-in. The moaning noises of a few hundred women passed through the cavernous walls, so the family was escorted into a building similar to the one where the nursemaids took their children in.

"This is both our rec room and our storage and maintenance office," said Stacie. "We should have some food and drinks around here."

"What is this?" Jerri said. She stood in front of a large plastic box filled with dark pellets.

"You can help yourself with those if you wish," Stacie winked.

"Not now," said Eva with a disapproving gesture.

"Okay," said Jerri. She then pocketed a few of the dissolving pellets.

"May I ask you two a question," Eva spoke. "Do you truly believe that Jerri is your savior?"

"Of course," replied Stacie. "You believe it too, don't you Xue?"

"Only when I see it," said Xue.

"Well, in order to test that out, Jerri must have sex with one of us and see if we get pregnant."

"You said it only works if both she and the other partner are willing to have a child," said Eva.

"If Jerri can't produce a child," said Xue, "we'll simply apologize to our fellow members and call it an honest mistake."

"But that means you'll be forced to join us," said Stacie. "You can't leave the Valkyries of Melfa, and that's a big no-no."

"I guess you're right about that," said Eva. "You have all these weapons stashed underneath an ancient base, to which you could start a war."

"Which we intend to do."

"We thank you for your hospitality, but Jerri, my daughter, and I do not intend to stay here for much long. We would really appreciate it if you would release us."

"To release you or not. Xue what do you think?"

"They have seen much of our base," said Xue.

"And they could surmise this location when they come out. Nope, I don't think we can do that."

"We'll fight through you if we have to," said Eva.

"We?" said Jerri.

"Whoa, let's not get violent," said Stacie. "I really don't want too sadden Fanny with bloodshed, so we'll do this instead: Xue and I will leave you guys alone and see you try to get out of this base. How does that sound?"

"You're letting us go like that?" said Eva. "I smell a catch."

"I suppose there are, but we're not telling you what they are."

"I guarantee that you'll be stumped by our electronic security our caught by our guards," smiled Xue.

"So don't cause any trouble for us, and we won't cause any trouble for you three."

"Bye for now."

The two aides left, and Eva slammed herself onto the nearest chair.

"That was uncool," said Jerri.

"I don't care," said Eva. "We have to get out."

"They're really nice people once you get know them."

"You didn't feel that way days ago. God, why can't they be the peaceful kind of a feminist-lesbian cult? You know, like the Dianic Wiccans?"

"You don't want to get involved with those kinds, and I had a couple of regrettable experiences with them."

"Didn't live up their pacifism?"

"It's not that. They were just too damn stuffy. Not enough exciting sex with them."



Before they could approach the reinforced doorway to Hangar 2, Stacie suddenly grabbed Xue right into her bosom and playfully knocked her pelvis with her.

"With the ceremony underway, we should get it on," said Stacie.

Xue pushed her away. "Please. Not now."

"Why not? Are you still worried about that vision?"

"I am, and we of all people should be alert."

"You have a point. Want to make the rounds with me?"

"I'll remain with Francesca."

"I see. Save your energy when I come back. We need to have a hot threesome."

Stacie kissed Xue farewell, and together they entered Hangar 2. Xue sat next to Francesca, who was allowing a nubile girl suck on her fingers, while Stacie walked alongside the wall and into Hangar 1 where all the vertical take-off jets and other weapons were stored. Through the residential barracks, where all the key rooms were, she took an elevator up a long incline and stopped right at the few entrances to the outside. Four guards came to attention, but not in a military fashion. Instead, they pointed their assault rifles at Stacie.

"What are you doing miss?" one of the two guards on her right asked.

"Just making the usual rounds to see if everything's okay," smiled Stacie.

"Everything is fine ma'am."

"By why all this hostility? Do you girls not trust me?"

"We are on high alert. We have to be suspicious of everyone, including you and our priestess."

"I expected nothing short of your vigilance. I'm glad."

The two guards were suddenly gunned down in a few bullets. Stacie motioned her head to the guards on her left to quickly follow her to the control room not far from the elevator shaft. They quickly and quietly killed the staff and set to work in opening the door.

Outside, the rocks shook loose and slid as if they were on tracks to expose a large door at the side of the mountain. It soon opened, and Stacie and two of her cohorts shot up three colored flares into the sky. Thirty minutes later, three small boxy airships touched down and planted at their spots. Each deployed twenty non-Amazon soldiers and two Archon power armor.

A uniformed woman with very short blond-dyed hair that was covered by a beret approached Stacie and her cohorts, who they saluted her presence.

"I told all the operatives inside Lieutenant Cutter," said Stacie.

"Excellent work Captain Lenner," said Cutter. "Now you put on your uniforms. We don't want to confuse you with the enemy."

"Yes ma'am."



They weren't sure if it was an exit to the outside or an entrance to another hangar. Regardless, Eva stood by the access control panel repeatedly entering random numbers of four-digit numbers, while Jerri paced close by in her attempt to calm a wailing Evie.

"Why am I not good with babies?" Jerri asked.

"Shush!" said Eva. "I'm trying to concentrate. Damn! This one doesn't work."

Jerri was the first to hear of a low rumble, but Eva was too absorbed in cracking the code.

"Eva," said she. "We have to clear off."

"Let me get at this for a little while longer."

"Now!"

Jerri grabbed Eva and pulled her far away from the door, which then exploded. Debris of it flew about, and the force caused rocks from the ceiling to fall down. Jerri and her family were well shielded and hidden behind the junk, which was to their advantage because female soldiers and their hulking Archon power armor were ferreting in to blow up the large door to the second hangar. They could now hear screaming, including Francesca's command voice to send out their robots against the enemy that was the Congregational Corporation.

"Of all the times," growled Eva.

"Especially during a two-hundred and fifty-girl orgy," remarked Jerri.

"We really have to get out of here and fast. I'm not getting caught by the likes of my grandmother's rival."

"Or your grandmother."

"THERE SHE IS!" cried a Congregational soldier, accompanied by three others.

Having being spotted, Jerri tossed Evie into Eva's arms, and then leaped over a crate to punch and kick into unconsciousness the soldiers. However, one of them quickly regained her consciousness and aimed her pistol at Jerri. The soldier was then shot down. Jerri turned around and saw Eva holding a pistol that flew out from one of the soldiers' holsters during the fight.

Eva tossed the gun into Jerri's hands, and she then grabbed one of the combat knives to cut apart her robe to create a sling to carry Evie on her bosom.

"There's more coming your way!" Eva cried.

Jerri took cover behind the rubble. "Sorry, but I can't use guns."

"This is no time to be pacifistic!"

"I'm a bad shooter! Look!"

Jerri fired at the five incoming reinforcements and only wounded them at the shoulders, legs, and feet. After depleting the bullets, she tossed the pistol at one of the soldiers' heads, and then went over to beat them down.

"Perhaps it's your eyesight," said Eva.

"I need glasses?" Jerri asked.

Eva finished creating her makeshift sling and slid Evie into it. Grabbing one of the M4 assault rifles from one of the soldiers, she accompanied Jerri in their search for an exit. They then went inside the building and through the back exits that led into a winding tunnel.



Almost a hundred of Francesca's naked and half-naked followers lay dead in Hangar 2, and now the nursery the children were taken into was set on fire after a grenade explosion. The guards on the catwalk were severely reduced in number, and there was hardly any stable platform as bazookas destroyed at least three-quarters of them.

Along with a few of their escorts, Xue frantically accompanied Francesca stage right to an emergency tunnel.

"Damn those Congregationalists," said Francesca. "It was almost as if they knew where we are."

"Or rather, we have traitors in our midst," said Xue. "Priestess, we must launch our warheads at the enemy, or at the very least detonate it while they are here."

"Then we'll have to make our sacrifice then. Everyone, to the control room!"

At a multi-forked pathway, they ran into the enemy down one of the paths. All of the escorts, who valiantly threw themselves in front of Francesca and Xue, were shot down and killed. Xue pushed Francesca aside, and with the assault rifle she got from one of her guards, she shot down the marauding Congregational soldiers.

"Priestess, get up. The way is cleared."

Francesca didn't move. Looking down, Xue saw that a trickle of blood spilled from the left edge of Francesca's mouth. Immediately, Xue mouth dropped down to check if her priestess was stunned, but when her hand touched her bosom she picked up blood from her glittering dark blue robe.

"My priestess," wept Xue.

She heard a gun click. Withholding her tears and sadness for now, Xue spun around and aimed her rifle at the enemy, but instead of seeing an unrecognizable soldier, she saw Stacie in a Congregational uniform.

"Stacie?"

"Xue, I--"

Stacie was shot, and then she fell forward.

"Miss Xue!" Sati cried. "We've been betrayed by her and a few others!"

The noises of explosions and gunfire grew louder, and the armed girl Sati left Xue to fight alongside her comrades.

Stacie was alive, yet gagging into her death. Xue frantically turned her over, and saw that Stacie's left lung was shot.

"It isn't true," wept Xue. "Is it?"

"It is," replied Stacie. "I was sent here to spy on you until a perfect time to attack came."

"Then our love... Was it fake as well?"

Tears fell from Stacie's eyes, and she softly brushed Xue's left cheek with her knuckles. Her right arm became limp, and her head rolled towards the side with a limp.

Cradling Stacie's body in her arms, Xue kissed her, and then held onto her until the end.



They did not where they were going. The tunnels forked and made wide turns that could lead them back where they started, but so far that hadn't happened. Some pathways were blocked by rubble caused by grenade and outside explosions, and it was getting worse. There were paths they could not go down after hearing and seeing the cross insignia of the armbands of the Congregational Corporation, and even seeing the guards of the Valkyrie of Melfa was not welcoming. Jerri and her family wanted to avoid both them as much as possible. Encountering any of them was an invitation to danger.

They reached a wide cavern hallway after feeling that they were pursued by some soldiers. Jerri had always taken point in front of Eva, who acted as firing support, and they were both careful to make sure that their daughter Evie was comfortable. Fortunately, she was quiet though aware of the dangerous environment she was in. It was as if she really knew what was going on.

As they went further down, they saw a pair of Congregational soldiers guarding a metal door. Jerri and her family hid in a niche of a doorway to another room, which they dared not go in lest the noises of the door arouse their enemy. After giving each other silent and nodding expressions, Eva slid from hiding and shot the two soldiers in the head. As the soldiers fell forward, Jerri and Eva made a dash. The doors the soldiers were guarding burst open. Jerri fell behind to take care of the soldiers who were now ferreting out of what looked like a technological control room.

"Eva, keep on going!" Jerri yelled. "I'll catch up!"

"I can't leave without you!" Eva yelled back as she fired at the soldiers.

Though they were ordered to capture Eva, the soldiers fired back, and Eva was forced to hide behind a corner.

With a knife she grabbed from one of the soldiers, Jerri sliced and killed her enemy until she was surrounded by five standing soldiers. Despite having their guns aimed at her, they did not fire. Instead, they waited for a tall and blonde lieutenant to present herself from the control room.

"So you must the lesbian wife of the Nataraja girl," said Cutter.

Jerri did say anything as she remained in her fighting stance. This beret-wearing lieutenant wasn't like the others. Though not an Amazon, she was pretty muscular and agile. Jerri was relatively tall, but Cutter was much taller.

Cutter took off her beret, her side arms, and her jacket. She put herself in the circle formed by her subordinates and took in her Muay Thai stance. She immediately launched herself at Jerri, delivering a hard kick to her shins, and then a hard knee into her stomach. Jerri took in all the pain in order to stab Cutter's side. Cutter leaped back, cracked her neck, and simply took out the knife and tossed it to one of her subordinates.

"Come on bitch," said Cutter. "Give me all you got."

It was taunt designed to distract Jerri's focus. Jerri had too many things on her mind, particularly the fate of her wife and child. They were not in her immediate view, and she worried that they might have been captured. Still, if she could not get past Cutter, she would not proceed.

With one battle cry, Jerri flew in with a double-punch to Cutter's chest, an uppercut to the head, one kick to the stomach, and one to the crotch. Cutter staggered back, but she did not fall. She shook off all the blows and spat out blood that came from the uppercut.

"Is that it?" she asked. "You're just a stringy little twig."

She was right. Jerri's body was built for speed. Although deceptively slender, Cutter's body was built for brute strength. Quickly, she ended the fistfight with just two punches to the face and one hard kick to the stomach. In so much pain, Jerri fell forward, and Cutter placed her in a tight and painful hold. She along with her soldiers turned and faced the corner where Eva disappeared.

"Come on out daughter of Nataraja!" Cutter yelled out. "I know you're there!"

The sounds of Evie's cries reached Jerri's ear. Jerri lifted her head and saw her wife and infant daughter standing in full view at the corner.

Just then, Cutter breaks Jerri's pinky on her left hand. Jerri grunted hard to suppress the pain, but she finally let out her cries when Cutter broke her ring finger.

"I'll break more than that if you don't surrender," said Cutter. "Mrs. Charity would like to see you, so I'd advise you to put down that gun and come forward with your hands up."

"Eva, just run!" Jerri yelled. This prompted Cutter to break the rest of her fingers of her left hand.

Eva became distressed her wife's pain. She had heard stories of a sadistic Lieutenant of the Congregational Corporation who deals well with torture and who had extremely high tolerances of pain.

She put down her assault rifle and raised her hands up as commanded. Then she slowly marched forward.

"Eva..." gasped Jerri.

"Jerri," said Eva. "I'm sorry."

She suddenly grabbed a tight hold on her child, and leapt back. All of a sudden, shooters not affiliated with both the Congregation and the Valkyries appeared right in front of her and killed off all of Cutter's subordinates.

Bullets pierced through Cutter's right thigh and left shoulder, and grazed her right ear and right cheek. Holding Jerri as a shield, Cutter slowly walked backward into the control room.

"I'll go on ahead with Kelly and Farrah," announced Mona, who was now equipped with a technological buster-gauntlet and her right arm. The mono-bike rider Mona Runner and the two mercenaries ran towards the doors that shut between them, and in one punch she pulverized them inward.

"Get back!" Kelly yelled. She pulled Mona away as bullets flew from the control room, which was bigger than Eva had realized. There were a lot more armed soldiers of the Congregational Corporation that was covering for Cutter's escape.

"First squad, move in!" Anila commanded.

Ten of Eva's vessels skillfully dodged the enemy gunfire and quickly killed the soldiers. Noticing an open door leading down a pathway inside the control room, Eva, who had given Evie to Vimala, dashed into it with her Beretta 92FS pistol in hand. Anila caught up to her, and Eva was exchanging gunfire with a few remaining subordinates of Cutter who was making her way up a spiral stairwell of an enclosed intercontinental ballistic missile silo. The hatch was open, and a small airship was lowering a ladder rope down.

"Milady, you must fall back," said Anila. "Allow me to rescue Misses Adams."

"Cutter!" Eva screamed. "Give her back!"

Cutter had taken Jerri up to the top, and had now grabbed hold of rope ladder. With a smile, she was hoisted away, leaving her subordinates to deal with Eva and her vassals. Anila had then shot dead the soldiers with her assault rifle, allowing Eva climb up spiraling stairs and then out of the silo.

She was outside in a flat plateau surrounded by four mountain peaks, whose sides were now on fire due to the bombing and the burning of the brush. The small boxy and utilitarian airship was flying away, while five others continued to drop bombs or soldiers to the many entrances of the Valkyries of Melfa's secret base.

"Milady, get down!" Anila cried as she tackled Eva. A missile screamed right past them and detonated at a safe distance. Eva was careful to prop herself up so she could protecting the two fetuses developing in her womb.

"Anila," said Eva. "We have to call my grandmother."

"Are you sure?"

Eva nodded. "I'm going to get Jerri back, even if I have to wage war against the Congregation."




Chapter 7

Title: "My first experience." (blushes)

Eve Sky
Chapter 7 - "My first experience." (blushes)
by StarCross



She left Evie in the care of Kelly and Farrah.

Eva was riding in a mid-sized SUV over a crackling desert road along with her vassal caravan in the midst of sundown. She sat in the middle of the second row between Anila and Vimala. Nandita was on the steering wheel with Shabana sitting in the front passenger seat.

Eva was angry at everything and at everyone, and she blamed herself for willingly taking part in Jerri's plan to ditch her fanatically loyal vassals. Yet, she also blamed Jerri, and her vassals as well.

"I can't believe you were tricked by my wife," she mumbled. "I mean, if you wanted to know more about lesbian sex, you could have asked Nandita and Shabana, or Sita and Radha."

"Sita and Radha are an item?" asked Nandita.

"Keep your eyes on the road," snapped Anila.

"Sorry. I didn't realize that Eva found out about us."

"It was obvious way before then," said Eva.

"But Sita and Radha," said Shabana. "I don't feel so isolated anymore."

"Me neither," said Nandita.

"Actually though, we played along with Miss Jerri's deception because we really thought she would teach us something new."

"Our relationship did need another revitalization after leaving New Bombay."

"Eyes on the road," said Anila.

"Sorry."

Anila sighed.

"I knew about them too," said Vimala.

"You be quiet as well," said Anila. "We have to be mentally prepared to meet Lady Nataraja after our defection."

"You know we could be executed for treason on the spot."

"But this is our Lady Eva's wishes."

"Lady Nataraja will not like it when she learns of her granddaughter's lesbian marriage."

"Eva, we can always find another way to rescue Jerri."

Eva took a deep breath. "Right now, there is no one to turn to who can match the firepower of the Congregational Corporation. This is the only thing I can think of."

In about an hour they reached the meeting spot by the ruins of a small airport of the abandoned city of Barstow. Waiting for around thirty minutes, the personal aerial armada of Susheela Nataja arrived, with the smoothly curved and gold-lined flagship Viraat descended first and foremost before Eva's eyes. Eventually, the other ornate and elegant smaller corvette and frigate airships.

Eva's vassals got out of their vehicles and stood in line. In her best dress and sari, Eva was led by hand by Anila towards the middle port gate of the Viraat, which slowly folded open. Bright golden light shone through the cracks, and once fully opened, the bangle and jewel-laden Susheela, her masked and veiled third husband Vipin, and her royal guards escorted slowly up to Eva.

No words were exchanged for many tense minutes when Susheela stared down at her prodigal granddaughter. Finally, she slapped Eva, and after a momentary hesitation she slapped her again. Then, she clenched her fists and proceeded to beat Eva into a fetal position.

Anila and the rest of Eva's vassals dared not look or else they along with their mistress would face further punishment. Any signs of their distress or disgust they could not show for Eva's sake. Knowing this, Eva was on her own in her grandmother's spurring punishment. She could not reveal to her about the developing twins in her womb, and yet she must do all she could to protect them. Susheela was kicking her, and Eva put her arms over her womb to block to her sharp kicks. The forearms quickly became bruised and bloodily scraped, and eventually she felt one of her bones fracture. Still she discreetly protected her unborn children at all costs.

"Leave the vehicles and take that Garuda Inceptor into maintenance with the others," Susheela commanded to the captain of her personal guards. "Let us board."

Anila stooped over to come to Eva's aide, but a piercing glare from Susheela implied that her granddaughter should help herself. So Anila complied, as with the rest of the vassals, and they sheepishly followed Susheela and the others.

Eva finally struggled just as the port doors whirred into operation. She lumbered just as they began folding into closing. Then the airship powered its vernier boosters, which caused a tremor that knocked Eva to her feet. This time, Vipin caught her.

"Anila," he said. "Take her to the ward."

Anila finally stopped following Susheela to turn around and bow towards Vipin. "As you wish my master."



It was another beating and whipping session, and that was required to receive the meager meal. Of course, Lieutenant Cutter could have allowed Jerri to eat before the torture so that the food would certainly be regurgitated. There was no need for Cutter to go into extremes as much as she wanted to, for there was no information to extract from the prisoner. After all, Jerri was just bait, and the torture was done as a reminder of the power of the Congregational Corporation.

The room was almost a perfect steel plated cube. There were a total of twelve round rings embedded on the floors in the ceilings primarily at the side walls, and they were used to hook up chains or strong cables to hoist the prisoner above the floor or tie her down. Jerri was hoisted up.

There were grates at the sides and one small one in the center to drain out fluids, and in this case it was Jerri's blood mixed in with bits of her sweat, skin cells, and hair. Her chest was scarred by the whippings and bruised by the punching. Before that, Cutter done her back, and even before that Cutter broke Jerri's nose and took out some of her teeth.

Cutter motioned to the two guards to let go of her restraints. Jerri slammed onto the hard floor gagging and coughing, but before she could even rest Cutter lifted her up by the hair and stared down. She never liked the look of Jerri, even in a beaten state. She knew that Jerri was resisting and challenging her as she was tortured, and so much she wanted to go to the extreme like dismembering her or pouring acid. Cutter had to take her time. She will have her chance when CEO and President Helena Charity had given everyone confirmation of Eva's capture.

She threw Jerri to the wet floor, and exited the dimly lit cell with the two guards. Jerri gathered herself as she sat up against the wall. Eventually, her meal came through the door slot on the floor, which were just a sloppy sourdough roll and a half-filled cup of water. She ignored it and waited for an hour.

Even though it had only been a day, she began preparing herself for a routine visit. It was enough for her to make her smile before the heavily robed and veiled Amazon nurse to come in and bandage up Jerri as well as give her medicine. She never knew her name, but she could only distinguish her by the albino white hair and skin and the light blue eyes. Of course, most people on board the carrier-class flagship, the AS-Ashcroft, had blue eyes, but the Amazon's were more solemn.

They hardly talked whenever they came in contact, but that was until now.

"If I may," said the Amazon, "I would like to transfer you to more comfortable quarters to rest."

"You don't have to," said Jerri. "I've been in this kind of situation at least once."

"Still, I do worry for you."

"You're too kind, but you might get reprimanded."

"Of course not. I have quite a bit of influence in this place. Wait about an hour, and I'll come back to sneak you out. Oh, and take this. I know it's just an energy bar, but it's better than what they gave you."

"Thanks."

After giving Jerri the edible energy bar, the albino Amazon forced herself to devour the sourdough roll and drink down the water. She took the tray away and exited the chambers. Jerri waited an hour later, and she heard some talking outside the door. The door opened, and the Amazon nurse bent over to hand Jerri a robe similar to hers.

"Put this on," she said. "Don't limp when we get out."

Jerri hesitated, as she thought this would be a trap put on by Cutter. But she complied, as she was presented with a slim chance of escaping. With the robe on, she moved the hood so that her bandaged face was mostly covered. She followed the Amazon's lead out of the cell. There were no guards outside.

They walked down the off-white painted steel walls that were plain and utilitarian as was the usual design of the Congregational Corporation. They passed by many soldiers, who merely smiled and nodded at the Amazon, but ignored Jerri entirely. They went one level up and past pair of elite guards into a more luxurious residential wing indicated by the glossy wood plated walls and lining and a carpeted floor. This wing was small, and it only took a moment to reach the double wooden doors that was unguarded. The Amazon took one good look around, and with the coast cleared they entered.

Once in the room, Jerri took off her hood and beheld a large, clean, and luxurious room filled with elegantly carved oak furniture and crystalline vases filled with livid and colorful flowers. This room had the additional amenities like a mini-bar, a small kitchen, a personal bathroom complete with a separate tub and shower, and a walk-in closet.

"Please make yourself at home," said the Amazon.

Jerri sat on the cushy bed. "Are you sure about this? You might get in trouble."

The Amazon proceeded to take off her veil and hood. "Don't worry. I have a lot of influence that you might think."

Her face was rugged and handsome, but a bit sullen. Her pure white hair was cut short yet had flowing bangs. And yet, there was something unique about the Amazon Jerri could not figure out.

The Amazon coughed. She quietly headed to the bathroom to procure several medicine bottles from a mirror cabinet, and from each she consumed a pill.

Jerri took off her robe and curled up comfortably on the bed. The Amazon came back and sat on a stool to watch over her.

"I can only guarantee you two hours rest," said the Amazon. "Or even less."

"It should be plenty. But before I snooze, could you give me your name?"

"I'd like to be called Carrie."

"My name is Jerri. Jerri Adams."

"It's a pleasure to meet you Jerri."

Soon enough Jerri fell asleep, and with a warm smile Carrie leaned over and brushed Jerri's cheek with a soft stroke of her index finger.

"You're so beautiful," she said.



Vipin and the nurses quickly treated to Eva's bruises and scratches, and then left her alone in the infirmary. Eva had already noticed two guards posted at the front door, so it was assumed that her position as the law-breaking prodigal daughter was that of a prisoner in own her family and corporation. She paced about the room occasionally taking a drink of water or snacking on an energy bar, and wondered about if her daughter was okay, and if her grandmother and the others realize that she was pregnant with Jerri's twin children. Most important of all, she was deathly worried about Jerri.

"Why did they have to take her?" Eva wondered. "To lure me out? For revenge of Jeremiah?"

The door was knocked, and in came Vipin and two female assistants.

"Grandfather?"

"Are you feeling better?" he asked.

"Can't say for sure."

"In any case, we brought your clothes. You will be having a private dinner with Susheela and I."

"Then it must be serious."

With that, Vipin and the assistants left Eva her new clothes and left the room. Eva promptly changed into her dark green and golden sari and waited for her escorts to pick her up. When they did, she realized it was a silent and stern Anila and Vimala.

She walked down the carpeted and elegantly lighted hallways to the majesty's sector, where the dining room and Susheela's chambers lie. Anila and Vimala bowed and excused themselves without ever turning their back at their mistress, who then allowed herself to personally enter the dining room.

After closing the double doors from behind her, Eva faced her grandparents, who were standing by their chairs waiting for their granddaughter. Eva approached her seat, and simultaneously they sat down and began to consume their warm and prepared meal.

Vipin was, in his rare occasion, allowed to show his face, even to his own granddaughter. He was a medium-brown skinned young man, barely older than Eva and has a moustache. Eva knew well that he was actually her fourth cousin, but did not know any further details let alone care to. All he knew that he was nice man that was taken by the stern and conservative Susheela after her second husband died.

Susheela was even more adorned lavishly with a more delicate sari and more expensive bangles and jewels. Her dark hair was recently colored to cover the graying, yet she could not cover the wrinkles below her eyes due to the stress of running Nataraja Agriculture, one of the most powerful conglomerate entities in Asia and the eastern hemisphere. In a sense, she was the de facto leader of the Empire of India, for without her power nothing could be done. Nataraja Agriculture and the Congregational Corporation always clashed, but they always resolve them through marriages and the trading of their subsidiary companies and property.

Eva never knew her mother, and she did not know if she was even alive, let alone existent. Susheela essentially raised her with an iron fist, and trained her in both high-class etiquette and self-defense, particularly in gun combat. They were of the Brahmin caste, and Eva was told that they were of the highest sub-caste that was so high that they were referred to as the "Upper Untouchables." Eva and her family had little or no interaction with the common people, and their contact with the sub-castes was seldom.

Would right now be the time to apologize? Even if she did, Susheela would not look at her own daughter the same way again, and perhaps this would be the last dinner should ever have. Even Vipin had a serious and somber look on his face.

It was too soon for her to despair. She must find every opportunity to prolong her life for the sake of her children and for Jerri.

"My fiancé, I mean, my wife has been kidnapped," Eva suddenly said.

The expression in her grandparents' faces did not change. Calmly, Vipin headed over into the kitchen counter to retrieve desert.

"Then you must know already," said Eva.

"You think I wouldn't?" said Susheela. "I also know that you not only had a child with her, but you're pregnant again with twins."

Eva's head sunk lower, but she did not avert her defiant gaze towards her grandmother.

"I want you to please rescue her," said Eva. "I'll abdicate my position if I have to!"

"And allow Misses Helena Charity to learn about your fornication with that woman? I will not allow it! Your lover's fate is sealed. Now, if you'll please tell me the whereabouts of your husband."

"He's dead."

Susheela raised a curious eyebrow.

"His health took a turn for the worse when he set out to look for me," continued Eva.

"I see then," Susheela smiled. "Ho-ho-ho. This is most interesting."

"Honey," said Vipin. "Don't tell me you're--"

"We must change our course and follow the Congregational fleet. Dear Eva, I might be able to rescue your lover. However, I cannot guarantee anything else."

Susheela finished her desert quickly, and hastily exited the dining room with her bangles and jewels rattling with every step. Vipin slapped his own head in disgust.

"Susheela has the blood-lust of Kali," he said.

"What's he doing grandfather?"

"You of all people should already know. She's planning to wage war against the Congregational Corporation and its nation."

"You can't be serious!"

"She has been planning even before she became head of our corporation. Your late husband may be a pawn in a marriage of convenience, but he has enough key holdings attached to him that Susheela is after."

"But she doesn't even have any kind of proof!"

"The fact of the matter that he misused your vassals to find you will be used as leverage."

"He did not misuse--wait, that is what grandmother is planning?"

Vipin somberly nodded. "And the fact that your wife is there, Susheela will do everything to erase all evidence of her capture and existence."

"Damn it... I can't believe grandmother! Vipin, I have to rescue her before an aerial battle commences!"

"I am sure by now that Susheela will be contacting Helena Charity. I'll try to help as much as possible, but for now you must go to your room. I will escort you there."

"Thank you grandfather!"



Jerri was suddenly shook into waking, but it felt more like a hard slap or hit. Carrie was leaning over her with a panicked look on her face.

"You have to hide!" she cried.

"Where?" Jerri slurred.

"Head into the closet inside the bathroom! Please hurry!"

Jerri leapt off the bed and hid as she was instructed. Yet she was still curious as to what was going on, so she left a small crack on the closet door so she could see the mirror that reflected the bedroom. She saw Carrie prettying herself up and sitting in a prim position on the bed. Moments later, the sound of the bedroom door opened, and in came Lieutenant Cutter whose appearance made Jerri's heart beat with hatred.

"Staying pretty usual aren't you?" Cutter smiled.

"Hello Enna," said Carrie. "What brings you here?"

"Oh, the usual."

Carrie lowered her head. "We should stop. Helena will find out."

"And what will she do? She'll probably execute one of my subordinates."

"I hate that about you. You shift the blame on them when they're innocent!"

"Even if she really knew, she'll still do what I have intended to do. I am a very important member of this force, who is quickly on her way to becoming major general."

"You're almost just like her. It's frightening."

"Aw, is Cary being a naughty boy?"

Boy?

"I'm afraid I'll have to teach you a little lesson," Cutter grinned.

"We just did it this morning."

"But I'm a horny bitch, and you know it."

"Please," Carrie coughed. "Stop."

Enna Cutter kissed Carrie, and then ran her hand underneath her robe. Jerri had seen situations like this where a demure and effeminate Amazon being dominated by a regular woman, but this made her unusually hot.

Cutter was now underneath her robe slurping, sucking, and swallowing. Swallowing? Jerri had been involved in fetishes where she was paid to drink her clients' urine and in a few cases devour the scat (which she had bad memories of). Yet the oral sex was too not too short and not too long.

Cutter then pushed Carrie onto the bed and stripped all of her clothes, and then proceeded to strip off her own uniform. Carrie was apparently flat-chested but muscular, and Jerri assumed that she was injected with male hormones or had surgery to appear like a man, which essentially was a service industry. She was not surprised that Cutter was riding on her as if Carrie was a man.

Wait, there would be no way Carrie would have extensive surgery. Sure, a woman, whether normal or Amazon, could radically modify oneself to appear as a man, and there was an underground service industry and illegal human trafficking of the female-to-male transgendered. Sex changes are illegal in the world, and the law was heavily enforced and addled with severe punishments. There would be no way the head of the Congregational Corporation would be holding a transgender female unless, to Jerri's sudden shock, Carrie was actually a man named Cary.

Still Jerri continued watching a live sex between what seemed to be a man and a woman, the former of which didn't appear sickly and weak as Jeremiah. Cutter was practically relishing in it and even screamed once or twice in her orgasm, while Carrie or Cary was almost limp on the bed yet struggling to endure his intercourse. With things winding down, Cutter looked down upon her or him with disappointment.

"You're done already?" she asked.

"I need my medicine."

"You can't be done. You can't! Because I'm still hot!"

"Please Enna. I might pass out."

Furious, Cutter slapped him. Then she flipped him forcefully, and as Cary lay their gasping, Cutter reached from underneath the bed and procured a double-ended strap-on dildo.

"You're supposed to be man," Cutter cried. "A man! What kind of man are you?"

Then it happened. Cutter began to penetrate Cary's exposed anus with her strap-on and began to ruthlessly fuck him. Jerri couldn't see Cary, but he could hear him groaning in pain. She could definitely sympathize with him, for anal sex, if done improperly, could hurt a lot. Jerri did not watch further, and simply stared into the darkness that was with her in the closet.

When the act ended, Jerri opened her eyes again and saw Cutter suiting back up.

"Uh, I'm sorry Cary," she said. "I got a little angry."

Cary, who was face down, groaned in response.

"I didn't mean to do that. Honest! I was just a little jealous of you spending too much time with Helena."

Cary turned and faced Cutter.

"Someday," continued Cutter, "I'd like to run away with you and have lots of children. Or at least become head of the Congregation. Whichever comes first. Anyway, I'll try to come back and see you tonight, okay?"

Cutter left the room, and immediately afterward the nude Cary sprang off the bed to run to the bathroom. He rummaged through the medicine cabinet and swallowed a couple of pills from various bottles.

It was about time for Jerri to emerge from the closet. "What a terrible woman," she said.

Almost forgetting that Jerri was there, Cary jumped and turned around. Jerri's eyes drifted towards his groin where his penis was dripping with semen, and the back of his leg running with blood. Realizing this, he covered himself.

"Sorry," said Jerri as she turned around. She then produced a bathrobe from the closet that Cary gladly received.

"Didn't mean to deceive you," said Cary.

"So that means, you're actually a..."

"Yes. I am a man."

"Oh. Wow. This is my first time seeing one in the buff. You don't look that much different from the Amazons save for what's below. And above. The breasts I mean."

"I know."

Jerri turned around, and was relieved, yet at the same time disappointed that Cary was robed. Cary went inside his small kitchen for a glass of water he poured for himself and Jerri.

"If you don't mind me asking," began Jerri, "how does it feel like?"

Cary sighed. "It's like diving into the mouth of the beast."

"Damn straight. Except I use my hands or tongue. Sometimes my tit and clit."

"So you're a prostitute then."

"A servicer to be exact. I do lots of things for women like Cutter."

"You and I must be alike then."

If you only knew, thought Jerri, as she remembered that she had the mysterious ability to impregnate other women.

"I heard from Cutter that you are the wife of Eva Nataraja," said Cary. "Did you by any chance knew the fate of Jeremiah, my brother?"

"I'm sorry Cary, but he's..."

"I expected so given that he's both my brother and uncle."

"Wha?"

"We males born into family invariably become paired up with our sisters, cousins, mothers, aunts, grandmothers, and to some extent our great-grandmothers. My wife, Helena Charity, is both my grandmother and second cousin."

"How the hell does that work?"

"It's a bit complicated, but you can guess what all that inbreeding has done to us. I was chosen by Helena because I was the most healthy of my brothers, but I'm not so sure if I was fortunate. I'm forced to live a life as a virtual love slave and a mere sperm factory. I have dreams of flying free in the world, but it cannot happen due to my gender that affords great power yet little freedom. But even if I were to go out, I would only enjoy it for a fleeting moment due to my deteriorating health and my albinism."

"Even so, at least it will be a moment you will cherish forever."

"Really?"

"You should be allowed to walk the planet in your own shoes and with your own determination. People shouldn't own people, because slavery is illegal in this planet."

Cary smiled. "Maybe you're right. The way we're trying to preserve the human race is all wrong. We shouldn't do it objectively as if we are all machines. There should be love in it. Maybe that's why the birth rate is declining dangerously.

"These women who rule the world are no different from the ruthless men of the old days. Driven by power and greed. I think they're only interested preserving themselves and a select few. I don't know if it is karma or not against males, and I accept the punishment willfully. Perhaps it is because of we defied nature during the Eugenesis Period and beforehand that all of us are punished.

"Well, it's probably about time for you to return to your cell. Wait for me as I get dressed."

"Are you sure? After that sex you don't look okay."

"I'm fine."

"You could just let me be escorted by couple of your guards."

"I insist. I like being with you."

"Oh, why thanks."

Cary dressed in his robe and disguise, and with his face properly veiled, he escorted the hooded Jerri back into her cell without incident. Once there, Jerri took off her robe disguise and handed it neatly folded to Cary.

"I am sorry that I cannot do more for you," he said.

"You've done enough."

"I'll find a way to get you out of here."

"I may be guilty of some crime."

"You're not. I know you are innocent."

Cary stroked Jerri's cheek, and then kissed it to her surprise.

"You know I love you."

Cary left, leaving a confused and blushing Jerri inside the cell. It was on that moment she almost totally forgot about Eva and her children, and then deliberated on how she and Cary could escape the clutches of Helena Charity, Cutter, and the Congregational Corporation.

Chapter 8

Title: "I'll save you!" (roars)

Eve Sky
Chapter 8 - "I'll save you!" (roars)
by StarCross


They were facing each other in their best clothes, as usual, but they were not within each other's presence. A camera unseen was broadcasting their likeness onto the holographic screen, in Susheela's case, and a glass monitor, in Helena's case.

"I am deeply regretful to inform you, Misses Helena Charity, that your son, Jeremiah, is now deceased," said Susheela. "We have done our best to keep him alive as much as possible."

Helena's eyebrow did not twitch. "I would not dream of suggesting that you were the cause of his death. However, you posses no proof of his death let alone retained his remains."

"It is our custom for him to be cremated in a pyre if sending him up the river Ganges is not an option. After all, he has been married to our family and not the other way around."

"Then I guess you are contacting me on a encrypted digital wireless transmission in order for you daughter to claim his assets, however little they may be. However, we posses his will that not only Eva's vassals will be transferred to us, but also all the property associated with her."

"I wasn't aware of such a will."

"Well, we underestimated by my son's lifespan, and we only have uncovered it just now."

"That seems a bit too convenient to bring that up now when it should have been talked over during the marriage arrangements."

"I just felt it would not be appropriate to talk about business under the sacredness of marriage."

"You sure have a way of spinning words and ideas Helena. No wonder you rose to the top of your corporation at a very young age. Very well then. We'll put off the inheritance distribution. If I may, I would like to know if there was prisoner onboard your aerial flagship, the AS-Ashcroft."

"A prisoner you say? We do not keep trash like them aboard my ship."

"She goes by the name of Germaine Adams, nicknamed Jerri. She is a confirmed lesbian, and has been reported to have close liaisons with my granddaughter."

"Hmm, perhaps we might have her on the other ships. You want her back, or do you want to execute her? If it is the latter, we'll happily do that for you."

"Oh, I would like to execute her, but you know that her existence cannot be leaked out to the public."

"I will assure that I will snuff her out without a show."

"I am not convinced."

"Not convinced? Do you not trust me? Are we not good friends?"

Susheela grinned sinisterly. "I hope you'll forgive me in heaven Helena, but I cannot take any chances."

The communication was cut off and lost for good. On the bridge of the AS-Ashcroft, Helena's eyebrow was twitching as she tried to remain calm on her seat.

"Ma'am," said the intel monitor. "The Nataraja forces have split up and are bearing our way."

Helena smirked. "I get it. So you've revealed your true colors, pagan."

She then leapt off her chair and threw out her arm in a commanding pose.

"ALL PERSONNEL PREPARE FOR BATTLE STATIONS! CALL ALL REINFORCEMENTS FROM NEARBY AUXILIARY BASES!"



Despite all the dampening systems installed in her room, Eva could always tell that the ship was moving, but the way it moved right now was very unnatural.

Vipin entered the room, and once the door was closed he pulled down his hood and veil to expose his face.

"So it has begun," said Eva.

Vipin nodded.

"Is there something we can do? I have to save Jerri."

"And yourself. Right now, Susheela could care less if you no longer existed."

"I'll do her a favor and disappear. First, I need to board the AS-Ashcroft and rescue my wife."

"Not in your condition!"

"I may have twins, but I'm only a few months pregnant! Grandfather, you must allow me to fight!"

Vipin rested his chin on his hand to think about it. "I'll be back with help. Please be patient."

"Okay."

Vipin obscured his face and head as he headed out. The hour that passed was stressful to the helpless Eva, who could now hear the growing murmurs of rotating cannons, the rapid footsteps of the soldiers, and the shouts of the chain of command. Vipin came back, and he was with a uniformed Anila and a soldier that Eva faintly recognized.

"I've came back with your closest nurse and advisor," said Vipin. "And this girl's name is Sati Kunio."

"Sati?" said Eva. "Have I seen you before?"

Sati tensed up. "You must be mistaken with the other Satis onboard this ship."

"Master Vipin, you know I am supposed to lead the medical team," said Anila. "I am sorry to say that Eva's vassals are now under the direct command of Mistress Nataraja."

"Then I order you to assist your former mistress," said Vipin.

"But you can't do that! Sure you are Mistress Nataraja's husband, but you certainly have no such authority."

"I can make it so that you are made to obey my commands. I am not as helpless I appear to be."

Anila sighed. "Very well."

"Don't forget that you, Eva, and I used to be close friends, and we should never betray that relationship."

"Grandfather, it was I who betrayed you," said Eva.

"It is all right. Being with the one you truly love never counts as such. Anyway, the plan is thus: Sati will become your double as you will take her position amongst the ranks. It will be a very dangerous air battle, but with the harsh training Susheela instilled into you, you'll be fine. Anila and your former vassals make sure of it."

"Thank you grandfather."

The switch was made. Sati and took on Eva's luxurious sari and jewels, and Eva fitted herself with a bit of effort into Sati's ivory-colored uniform. It felt small, due to Sati's slightly shorter height and the abdominal girth.

Vipin, Eva, and Anila left the room discretely, which came at a good time amidst heavy battle preparations. While Vipin retreated to his chambers, Anila led the disguised Eva down into the first dock to line up in formation with the rest the vassals mixed in with regular soldiers.

The lieutenant general then gave them the details of the operation. They would be sending out the hundred Garuda Interceptors and Conjurer Units (the nanomachine beast generator that Eva and Jerri had encountered when they were escaping Seattle) in the first wave in an effort to utterly annihilate the Congregational Corporation's quick cruisers, any Archon power suits magnetically planted on the ships' hulls, and the transformable and flying Aeon suits. The second wave would then involve the invasion of the larger destroyers of the Congregation, and the third and last wave would take on the flagship and carrier itself, the last of which Eva's unit was a part of.

The one order that was to be held above others was that they should leave absolutely no survivors. Even prisoners were not exempt. It was disheartening, but it strengthened Eva's resolve to rescue her beloved.

The unit Eva and Anila was in transferred over to aerial corvette equipped with four side launch tubes for penetrating spears, two standard vulcan automated Gatling guns, a silo-based missile launcher, and an ornate ramhead. The quarters of the corvette was cramped, and the ride was shakier than the flagship when it took off.

Eva and the others were given one bullpup assault rifle, a bayonet, and an automatic pistol. In addition to the chest armor, a lightweight parachute pack, and boots, she felt weighed down.

"Hey," Anila whispered to Eva. "I didn't mean to abandon you like that."

"It's all right," replied Eva. "I know very few who could stand up to Susheela."

"Yeah, I know."

"Anila, please do not worry so much about me. I will be fine by myself."

Anila sighed. "Old habits die hard. In that case, I wish you the best."

"You too."

They shook each other's hands as friends and cousins.

Soon enough, they could hear the sounds of an aerial battle. The first set of explosions and screeches tensed up Eva and the others, and the almost indiscernible screams of death further their anxiety.

"Will be boarding the AS-Ashcroft in approximately five minutes," blared the overhead intercom. "Godspeed to all of you."

Eva gripped her rifle and prayed deep inside her mind.



Footsteps of many rang throughout the hallway, and Jerri could see the rapid succession of shadows moving. The airship was rocking, and there were multitudes of whirring noises amidst low sirens. Moments later, the first initial explosion made her heart beat faster, but subsequent ones became part of the regular noise and eventually calmed her down.

As the shaking and the explosions increased, Cary eventually burst in now dressed in a dark grey military uniform standard of the soldiers of the Congregational Corporation, its nation, and its subsidiaries. He threw down an extra uniform, and Jerri, inferring from his desperate face, immediately changed into it.

"That's it," he said. "We're escaping."

"Do you know what's going on?"

"Nataraja Agriculture has attacked us without provocation. They mean to kill us all."

Have I been betrayed by Eva? Jerri wondered. That can't be the case since she's not on good terms with her grandmother.

"We'll escape through the escape pods towards the hangars," said Cary. "This way."

He handed Jerri a handgun while retaining his assault rifle. As they ran down the narrow claustrophobic halls, there was huge rocking explosion. The yellow lights flashed red. Thousands of shots were fired and screams echoed from almost all directions.

"Damn, they breached the ship," said Cary.

"These Nataraja soldiers mean business," said Jerri.

Cary smirked. "I thought it would come to this based on my wife's relationship with the head of Nataraja."

They ran some more, and eventually they encountered growing pools of blood. Further still, the dead bodies of both Congregation and Nataraja were pushed to the sides, and sometimes they piled on top of one another. Further still they went, and the shooting and screaming became sporadic amidst blaring sirens and flashing lights.

Ahead of them were a small group of Congregation soldiers fighting off an enemy at a corner, and in three shots in their head they fell forward dead. Cary and Jerri slid to halt, and listened closely to the advancing footsteps, the reloading of a pistol, and the shadow growing at the wall before them.

Cary coughed, and the shadow stopped.

Crap! We've been given away!

The shadow moved to their direction in a quick pace. Jerri dropped her pistol and ran towards the corner to intercept enemy. When the met, the barrel of a pistol was right in her eye. Jerri quickly dodged the firing shot and grab the soldier's arm for a quick takedown. Jerri shot out her palm-thrust punch at the head, but narrowly stopped when she immediately recognized soldier.

"Jerri?"

"Eva?"

Jerri pulled Eva to her feet. "Thank god you're all right! And sorry about that attack."

"Better safe than sorry."

"Yeah."

After lingering in their stare into each other's eyes, Jerri and Eva embraced each other for intense kiss. Jerri was slammed against the wall grabbing her wife's butt while Eva tightly clutched her lover's breasts. They continued their fondling, while a dejected Cary watched on as if he lost the game.

"God I have missed you," Eva said.

"I was horny for you throughout," said Jerri.

"Um," spoke Cary.

Jerri and Eva let go of each other.

"Uh, Cary, this is my wife Eva," Jerri said.

"Yes, I have seen her once before during the wedding of my brother," he said.

"Cary?" Eva said. "Cary Charity?"

"That's me."

Jerri accurately sensed Cary's disappointment. "I'm sorry Cary, but you should understand that I am in love with my wife, and I can't exactly break my bond with her. I am a family girl with one child, and two on the way. I'm flattered that you like me though."

"We should hurry to the escape pods," Cary said with his composure regained and with a stiffened and commanding voice.

"I don't believe that is possible," said Eva. "My unit was amongst the few that have destroyed them."

Then loud and huge explosion rocked the entire airship so much that it began to tilt to the side, causing Jerri, Eva, and Cary to hug the walls for balance.

"I didn't mean for things to be this way," said Eva. "I needed to rescue my wife, even if I have to suck up to my grandmother. I am sorry Mister Charity."

"Apology accepted," said Cary.

"Is there anyway to get out of here?" asked Jerri.

"I could have left with you if my parachute pack didn't get all shot up."

"Of course," said Cary pounding his fist onto his palm. "My chambers should have a pair of AngelTech wings for emergencies."

"AngelTech?"

"A personal flight system, or PFS. It's an ancient technology. It should be good for about 100 miles before the energy cells run out. With the way things are going now, my place should be heavily guarded."

"It's nothing the two of us can't take care of," said Jerri. "Danger seems to follow us, although I'd rather not have it this way. A normal life is all I ask for."

"I can see why the granddaughter of Nataraja loves you. This way please."

The journey to the bridge and residential wing was made difficult due to the random tilting of the ship. Cary had explained on the way that the massive back and front engines were compensating to balance each other out to keep the airship right-side up, and now it had settled to a forward incline. The way there could have been more difficult if not for the endless wall rungs that was installed for this very time.

They made to the entrance of the residential wing, which would then lead to the executive quarters for the likes of Helena and the higher-ups. Just then, the entire ship made a sudden drop towards the back. Jerri, Eva, and Cary were on the stairwell when it happened, and they managed to grab hold of the rails at the nick of time. The ship then veered towards the right, and suddenly bodies of Nataraja soldiers began falling through the stairwell and hit the wall behind Jerri and the others. Looking down, Eva gasped at the sight of her fallen and recognizable comrades, which included her vassals Anila, Devi, Vimala, Sri, Manjula, Sita, Radha, Nandita, and Shabana.

"This can't be," said Eva. "They were with me when they took down the escape pods and the hangar. They advanced this far only to... damn you Grandmother!"

Jerri peeked over the wall and saw a group of four Congregational soldiers recovered from the sudden dip. She somewhat leaped over the corner and ran to them as if she needed help.

"Soldier, are you okay?" asked one of the soldiers, who was immediately fooled by Jerri's disguise.

Jerri was heaving and taking deep breaths, but she wasn't tired from running let alone fighting. After a couple of moments, she quickly dispatched the four armed soldiers by headbutting the first, kicking the second in the stomach, landing a chop on the third's neck, and then breaking the neck of the last in a takedown move.

She looked to her right and saw Eva helping the coughing Cary to the floor. The ship again made sudden drop, which was forwards. It was so abrupt, that it sent Jerri in a running pace down towards the end of the hallway where she saw the grinning and blood-splattered Lieutenant Cutter brandishing her bloodied combat knife.

"I've found you bitch!" she cried.

Jerri did not panic. Instead, she leaped right into Cutter and nearly avoided the knife-attack and the arm towards the wall wrestled.

"I suspected you'd be working with the Indian pagans," Cutter said. "Now I will show you real pain."

"You have issues," said Jerri.

The two leaped back. Cutter jumped up and made a swipe, during which the ship began tilting once more. Jerri took advantage of the tilts to bounce of the wall and slide under Cutter, only to rebound back for a flying kick that contacted with Cutter's foot. Cutter countered back with another kick, though it was block. The ship tilted sharply towards the right, forcing the two fighters to slide down the floor or the adjacent hallway. Jerri broke her fall by grabbing onto a doorknob, but Cutter latched onto her leg, ready to stab her. Jerri opened the door which dipped them downward and then slammed Cutter against the wall a few times until the ship tilted sharply to the left.

Jerri flipped over and held onto the doorknob while Cutter jumped to the corner of another adjacent hallway. The ship then dipped forward so sharply that now the floor and ceiling were the walls and the walls the ceiling and floor. The two crashed into a stairwell leading into the executive wing.

Cutter threw Jerri off her and into the wall. She rose slowly, and looked down upon herself to see the knife now stuck to her abdomen. She pulled it off, knowing that she would be bleeding into her death, for she advanced towards the bruised Jerri to attempt to kill her before anything else.

Then she was shot in the head from the top. Cutter fell forward and limp, and Jerri looked up and saw Eva retracting her gun.

"She killed my vassals," Eva coldly said.

Eva and Cary climbed down the wall rungs, and jumped into the stairwell that they "climbed" into executive wing. They took a roundabout way, for Cary's chamber, shared with Helena, was fortunate enough to have a side entrance to enter through in situations like this. When they entered, the room was a mess with almost everything but the bed and dresser (which were bolted down) against the forward wall.

"It should be in the next room above us," said Cary.

"How do we get up there?" Jerri asked.

"There is a switch that will activate the rungs. It should be right next to you Miss Nataraja."

"That's Misses Adams," Eva said proudly.

With the switch pressed, the rungs popped out of the floor. Jerri was the first climb up, while Cary rested against the drawers breathing and coughing.

"I think Cary needs his pills Eva," said Jerri as poked her head out of the closet-like room.

"I'm fine," said Cary. "Just get the wings."

"Okay."

Jerri tossed out the first set, which had four boosters attached to what looked vaguely a pelvis and shoulder bones, which was then connected by a metallic spine.

"I can't get the other one!" Jerri yelled. "It's stuck."

"It's all right!" said Cary. "You take your wife and go!"

"We can't leave without you!"

"You have to! You have your children to worry about!"

"Fine! Just find a way to get out of here."

Cary nodded. He then directed them to the other side exit where they leaped to a hallway leading to the side airlock. Jerri strapped the wings on her back and then Eva to her front. The airlock door was jettisoned, and Jerri and Eva carefully stepped towards the edge.

"You stay alive somehow," Jerri yelled to Cary.

"I will," he said.

Jerri said those words knowing full well that he would not live very long, even if he escaped, and there was a chance he would not escape on time. It was not just her, but Eva and even Cary himself knew about his fate. Jerri, and even Eva, tricked themselves into thinking that he would survive, and that enabled to make the leap.

Cary waved goodbye, even though he could not longer see them as they disappeared into the clouds. He started coughing more violently than ever, and seeing that his end was near, he decided to find a more appropriate spot to die, and at the very least someone to die with.

As if lured by fate, he climbed "down" into the bridge, where he discovered that most of had been bombed out. He found Helena, still alive and weeping, but she her legs were blown off and she was holding desperately against the railing of the steering platform. Cary leaped down towards her and took off his jacket to cover the gruesome wound.

The sight of him made Helena cry even more. Everything was now gone from her: her business empire, her political empire, her armies, and soon her life. This was the first time she felt true powerlessness, and it was very painful physically and spiritually.

For Cary, he wasn't all too sad. Dying would be his way to freedom, but he was still Helena's husband, and he had to remain with her as his back payment for all the times she took care of her, even if his life was full abuse. He stroked her cheeked, and then kissed her. Eventually, Helena calmed down.

"Cary," she sniffed. "Did I deserve this?"

"No."

"Have I done any wrong to you?"

Cary hesitated. "No."

"You're lying."

Cary embraced her, and began reciting the Lord's Prayer. Helena soon joined, but she only uttered, "hallowed by thy name" when the airship finally nosedived into the Coconino Plateau just south of the Grand Canyon.



It would be ludicrous to think that Cary tricked them, but they sure wished he gave some hint on how to control the AngelTech wings. After many hundreds of feet of freefalling, Jerri managed to activate by thinking that she was flying. It wasn't so much as thinking really. She tensed her muscles in her thighs, butt, and shoulders as if she had wings.

It felt oddly natural that she would get a hang of it. Shifting her body forward flew her forward. Leaning back made the wings fly backward. Letting her muscles relax a bit lowered her altitude but enough for a safe touchdown. Jerri and Eva lingered in the watching the smoke and explosions of the aerial battle

"They were there to kill you and the others," said Eva.

"Your grandmother?"

Eva nodded. "And she would have probably killed me too. If I'm gone though..."

"Out of sight, out of mind."

"As long as I don't claim any of my holdings or cause a scene, we'll be left alone."

Jerri hugged Eva. "I hope that is the case."

"Let's go find Kelly and Farrah. They're taking care of Evie right now."

"Okay."

With a firm grasp on Eva's body, Jerri took flight to the place they would be reunited with their daughter. Jerri thoughts wondered on if she or her descendants would share fate like that of Cary, but she shrugged such thoughts off. Though the prospect of having a normal life came closer to reality, the fact that she was a woman who could impregnate another woman lingered in the back of her mind as a mystery.

Chapter 9

Title: "Ah, a peaceful life." (relaxing sigh)

Eve Sky
Chapter 9 - "Ah, a peaceful life." (relaxing sigh)
by StarCross


It felt more like a honeymoon than a rediscovery excursion for Doctor Emerald Rogers and her personal nurse Marie Anderson. Ever since the event in Seattle, they let go of their coworkers Jan and June and took a road trip east to see the ruins of the 7th Vermont Special District of the country of Bay Haven, during which their relationship improved considerably. In fact, despite all genetic taboos, they were having regular sex along the way. They merely did so because it felt so natural in their desire to become closer to one another.

Getting off the main road, they drove off the road, then past a barbwire fence, and then past a warning sign indicating that it was a radioactive fallout area, which it wasn't really because the Geiger counter was not ticking. Although Marie could survive whereas Emerald would not, they remained in the two-door SUV until they reached the edge of a very flat valley.

The Geiger counter was still not ticking. Assuming that the sign was put there for show, they risked going outside anyway. It was hard to believe that this area was full of grass, trees, and other floral, and now it was a scorched desert created by the bombardment done by the Congregational Corporation and Nataraja Agriculture more than twenty years ago. It was cold and very breezy despite the sun dodging between the clouds every often. Emerald and Marie were dressed in overcoats that flapped occasionally to the wind. It also was lead-lined, as an additionally safety measure just in case.

"Was this where I was born?" asked Marie as they walked.

"You were born in the 9th Vermont Special District," replied Emerald, "in the place once called Michigan. I was in charge of a sub-project that created you and your sisters."

"Only I survived, right?"

"Yes."

"So I would have been like Jerri."

"Miss Adams was too human to be like you, unfortunately. Yet I can't help but wonder how she is able to do it? Was she a natural occurrence or did Professor Zoya Admantite actually succeed?"

"Doctor! Doctor! Was this here before?"

Emerald looked and saw Marie looking down upon something. She went over, but Marie held her arm out to prevent her from falling. Emerald was shocked to see a massive conical hole that could not have been possibly made by any type bombardment. It was wide almost as if it was deep, and they could not grasp the sight of the bottom.

"It can't be," Emerald gasped.

Emerald turned around and headed back towards the SUV.

"Doctor?" said Marie.

"I have to make sure. Maybe they have--"

When she climbed up over the incline she suddenly saw a pretty young woman with pearl-white hair and a pearl-studded white dress in the far distance. Then she heard a loud bang-pop behind her. Emerald turned around and Marie collapsing due to a big hole in her chest. Suddenly, a blur of a fast-moving white created more holes in her body until she was bloodily decimated.

Emerald was too shocked to scream. She turned back around and saw the woman in white grinning right before her.

"Are they mad?" she gasped. "They've actually released you?"

The woman grinned. She raised her flexing hand, and Emerald felt a huge pop go through her chest...



After recovering Evie, Jerri and Eva handed the AngelTech wings to Farrah and Kelly as a reward for putting up with Evie, who was surprisingly calm and happy being with the mercenaries. To her dismay, Evie started wailing when Jerri held her, and Jerri then handed her to Eva who immediately breastfed her.

However, they did not leave without any means of transport, and thus their friendly mercenaries gave the family a beaten-up but working sedan they used to drive east until they ran out of fuel. They walked the rest of the way to the small and occupied town of Victoria of East Texas. It was inhabited by those who were tired of city life, and they did their best to get away from not only the hustle and bustle but also the constant population shifting done by the Congregational Corporation.

Although Jerri and her family were still technically in the Congregational Nation, the inhabitants were overjoyed that they were toppled, yet at the same time worried that the Nataraja Agriculture would continue the oppression started by Helena and her forbearers. It was possible that the power shift would have no effect on a small town literally on the fringe of society.

The local café was deserted save for the old bartender named Ol' Bella, who also served part-time as a doctor, therapist, sheriff, sage, and sometimes the stand-in mayor. Working under her was a mute waitress, a pretty teenager whose hair was mostly grayed by an intense trauma. She was never paid, but she did not have anywhere else to go lest she would be taken advantage up by the unscrupulous.

"Would you girls have?" asked Bella.

"Sorry, but we don't have any money," said Eva.

Bella served Jerri beer and Eva some juice. "It's on me."

"We will pay you back somehow," said Jerri.

"If you're looking for a job, this isn't the place," said Bella. "You'd be best served in the cities, however decadent they may be."

"We'd prefer not to head back there."

"You're fugitives? Say no more. The Charity's were total bitches, and with Nataraja in power, I don't things will change much. However, this does not mean you'll find work here. You're welcome to stay, but it'll be struggle to feed yourself and your children."

"You now I'm pregnant?" asked Eva.

"I'm primarily the bartender, but I'm also the doctor... and even a gynecologist if needs be. The poor girl working for me is Tenaya, or at least that's what's she's given me in writing. I don't know much else."

Tenaya, who was sitting at the farthest booth, blushed and hid her face.

"She's mute and shy," whispered Bella. "But really pretty. I'm even tempted to do her, but that might make things worse."

"So there's really no work in this town?" asked Eva.

"Nope."

"I see. Well, thank you anyway."

"Take care. All five of you."

"You even know I have twins?"

"I am the town's doctor you know."

The family waved goodbye and walked outside staring at the empty and dusty streets and then past it.

"We could always go back to the cities," said Jerri. "Under new identities."

"Uh-huh," said Eva, looking elsewhere.

"Houston is close by. I just hope they haven't moved the population from there."

"Uh-huh."

Jerri looked at Eva, was now staring a significantly different direction than her. In her eyes, she was staring out to space.

"What are you looking at?"

"Do you see that?" said Eva.

"See what?"

"That barn over there."

"What barn?"

"Hold Evie. Let me go ask Bella something."

Jerri received Evie, who immediately began crying.

"Is my eyesight that bad?" Jerri asked herself.

Evie quieted down, and stroked Jerri's cheek. Then Eva came back with a smile on her face.

"We're moving in."

The barn in question, was a long walk away, and beside was a run-down house that could be mistaken as an ugly shack. It occupied a once-thriving farmland, but the expression on Eva was overwhelmingly positive. What was she thinking?

On that day, Bella and Tenaya helped the family with initial cleanup and gave them a pair of sleeping bags and food to last the entire day. Bella then told them that she'd get the rest of the town to refurbish not just the small house but also the entire barn as well.

The next few days were spent on the refurbishing. Jerri worked on it without question, although she wondered if she was allowed to work on it. Reading her expression, Bella relaxed her worries.

"Officially the town owns it," she said. "Or rather, the town council. I'm part of it, and it is usually the mayor who has to approve of the deed transfer."

"You're giving this away for free?" asked Jerri.

"Might as well since it's not making any money. Although I am curious on why you need this dusty place."

"Beats me."

"Anyway, don't worry about paying in the near future. In fact, you might not have to since our current mayor is so stoned and forgetful that she'll think you've been here longer than any of us put together."

Jerri shrugged her shoulders and kept on working.

Around that same time Eva made a number of orders of various fertilizer, seeds, chemicals, a tractor, and even had a silo of water installed in case the plumbing went bad. The farm essentially became her lab that drew the curiosity of the townsfolk almost daily in her "experiments", although she was mostly doing mixing and the sort. Bella and Tenaya volunteered to be part-time assistants.

"This is some strange concoction," said Bella. "Are you sure you and your wife are fugitives? Maybe you've been laid off by a large corporation."

"You could say that," said Eva.

It was then Jerri remembered that Eva used to be part of Nataraja Agriculture.

The modified fertilizer Eva concocted was loaded up onto the tank of the tractor and was then poured onto the dry farmland. With the further help of the townsfolk, Eva and her family planted seeds and waited weeks for the seedlings to sprout, much to everyone's amazement.

"We can essentially have our own food supply here!" Bella cried. "Misses Adams, we cannot help but appreciate you coming here! If you want anything else, just ask us and we will get it."

"You're too kind," smiled Eva, "but right now we're fine for the time being until I think of something else."

Jerri and her family were settling in very quickly. In the months that came, they bought a truck and a pair of cows, which Jerri thought they were going to slaughter for meat. She forgot that Eva was part vegetarian, and that she wanted a pair of cows and one bull just to have around for comfort and for a bit of reverence since she was Hindu. However, she needed the cows for milk and use the bull to assist in plowing if needs be.

The pregnancy was taking a toll on Eva, and so Jerri now performed most of the work on the farm almost like a husband. She did the best she could as a woman, but Bella, Tenaya and the others dropped by very often to help her.

Many months later, Bella assisted as a midwife to help Eva give birth to twins without the need of a caesarian. It was around that time that not only the cows gave birth to a calf each, milk and crops were being sold to pay off the town for the farm, however small they may be. The crops and milk were then instead to celebrate an impromptu party for the birth of the twins Nikhila and Odilia.

Jerri soon found out that she was significantly nearsighted. She did not want to wear glasses, but Eva insisted that she wear a pair. The resourceful Bella gave her perfect mach, which now made her a bit bookish. She received a few laughs from Evie, and Eva, however, became attracted to her wife all over again that they had a passionate of sex. Months after the twins were born, Eva became pregnant again--with one child this time.

Amidst work, raising children was becoming very hard. All three children were constant troublemakers, especially with the growing Evie whose first word was "fuck", and Eva laid the blame on the cursing Jerri, who then laid the blame back on her wife. Jerri was informally assigned to raising Evie as a father figure while Eva took care of the twins. Evie didn't seem to like the prospect and threw a lot of tantrums that caused her to pick on her little sisters that was under Eva's care. As an unusually precocious child, Evie acknowledged Eva as her mother and Jerri as the "other mother", very much to Jerri's chagrin. Jerri did her best to teach her how to fight using marital arts, perform basic farm and home maintenance duties, and even took her hunting with a classic Winchester bolt-action rifle. Steadily, under Eva's tutelage, Jerri's aim improved.

Regular help for their farm did not come until one day a neighbor alerted Jerri and family that an all-girl biker gang that called themselves the Kamikaze Lolitas had arrived and taken a few teenage girls hostage and proclaiming that they were now the new leaders of Victoria of East Texas. Jerri sprung into action with Eva trailing behind at backup.

From the information she gathered on the way, Jerri was told that there were about ten members united under the leadership of teenage Ichiko Kreuz with the older and long black-haired Lucifer "Lucy" Zero as second-in-command.

She spotted the gang holding themselves in Bella's café. Bella was across the street being tended to for a bloodied blow to the head. The decorated bikes the gang rode on varied from choppers, import speedbikes, dirt bikes, scooters, and motor-assisted bicycles. The costumes they were either gothic and intimidating or outright outlandish. Almost true to their name, they were dressed in a modern gothic lolita dresses cut appropriately for their bikes, and some had shoulder pads or gauntlets studded with aluminum spikes.

The three teenage girls they took hostage were seen at the farthest window of the café, and Tenaya was one of them.

This wasn't the first time a situation like this had happened. Smaller groups and individuals had caused trouble in Victoria of East Texas. Usually the townspeople would drive them out through strength in numbers. However, the frequency of dangerous outsiders was growing, and that was because of the morality sweeps Nataraja Agriculture had imposed on the cities once governed by the Congregation.

In this situation, the townspeople were frightened by the tough look of the gang, but Jerri knew better. She marched up towards the café with a grin.

"Wait!" Bella cried out. "We have to think through this."

"Oh, I think can take care of it," said Jerri.

"You don't have to! We'll call the authorities from the city to deal with this."

"That won't be a good idea, because they'll force us to move. And I'm sure that many of us don't want to be found out due to past crime we have committed. Besides, I got my backup."

Eva arrived beside Bella, with her arm folded and staring objectively at the situation.

"Please be careful," said Eva.

Jerri nodded. Proudly she approached the entrance that was guarded by two of the gang members, one of which was a bespectacled black woman with red-orange hair and the other had a hairband over her hair.

"This café's for invited guests only!" said the black woman.

"We're having a party!" said the girl with the hairband.

Jerri pocketed her glasses. "Clearly, you can't resist a piece of ass like this."

"What the hell's going on you two?" demanded Ichiko.

"This ho is trying to whore herself in," replied the black woman.

"Let her in then!"

Jerri brushed past them. The majority of the gang members were fawning over the teenage hostages, while their leaders watched on from the bar.

"You wanna join the party?" smiled Ichiko.

"Tempting," replied Jerri, "but personally, I feel this isn't the best way to pick up girls. You're acting way too mannish--whatever that means."

"She has a point," said Lucy as she calmly sipped her tea.

"Hush bitch," said Ichiko.

Ichiko leaped off her stool and walked right up to Jerri, who was taller than her. In fact, Ichiko turned out to be the shortest female in the group, but she was certainly not the youngest in age. She could even be the oldest. She almost looked like a short girl barely into her teens, and her stature and bratty demeanor did not frighten Jerri one bit.

"What the fuck do you really want?" she asked.

"Let the hostages go and we'll let you bunk her for a day or so," replied Jerri.

"Ah, but you see, we've sort of lost our turf ever since the Nataraja bitches came in and ran us out. So we need a new home. This seems like a perfect place, and I hear there is a nice farm where we can have salad and steak."

"My wife won't allow it. She's Hindu."

"Fucking Indians fucking taking over the world."

"Please watch your mouth. My wife is near."

"Fuck her."

Jerri calmly struck the short Ichiko hard in the head. Ichiko fell to her knees clutching her head, and soon she began wailing like a baby. The rest of the gang members drew their weapons--knifes, brass knuckles, pistols--at Jerri, while the maternal Lucy embraced her leader.

"It hurts!" wept Ichiko.

"Shh, you'll be fine," said Lucy. She looked up and focused her black eyes at Jerri.

"I thought better of you," said she. "Using violence from the get go isn't like you."

"She needed a good hitting," said Jerri. "I knew right away when I walked in that you're the real strength behind this gang.

Lucy threw off her leather jacket. "We'll have ourselves a one-on-one fight. If I win, we'll stay in this town as long as we want. If you win, we will leave peacefully."

"You're on!"

"Oh, and get a doctor for my dearest Ichiko."

"She's not that hurt."

"Please do so. It'll help her deal with her defeat."

Everyone then organized themselves in a nearby park, with Jerri and Lucy as combatants. The entire town was in an excited uproar, while Eva sighed exasperatingly at such glorification of violence and the sudden placing of bets. Still, it turned out for the better since no one was killed let alone injured seriously. Not yet at least.

With her head bandaged, Bella checked on the wailing Ichiko at the sidelines, and concluded that it was just a small bruise. Ichiko threw a tantrum and proclaimed that her skull had been fractured. Her tantrums disappeared right as the fight started.

Once Jerri and Lucy were dressed down appropriately, they soon began their fight purely for sport and not for their lives. The excited look in their faces indicated that they wanted this way anyway. Their moves were mainly for show, and it was a like a kickboxing match. Actually, it ended up being a kickboxing match as they agreed to a three-knockout rule after the first knockout for Jerri.

Several blows to the face and stomach later, Jerri and Lucy were tiring. Each had their two knockouts, and in the last moments, Jerri dealt a punch to Lucy's face that earned her the third knockout. Jerri was declared the winner, and the Kamikaze Lolitas humbly accepted their defeat despite their self-proclaimed leader's protests and accusations of cheating.

The biker gang boarded their bikes and rode westward, but not before townspeople gave them one day's worth of food and water upon Jerri's insistence.

"I told you!" Ichiko complained as she rode behind Lucy on their chopper. "They cheated! You took the fall for this measly shit!"

"Yeah, why did you?" asked Jerri.

Lucy smiled. "I know a loving wife when I see one. Something about you makes me think that you've been blessed by the Goddesses."

"Shut-up!" cried Ichiko. "We're not leaving until we get a proper rematch!"

Lucy silenced Ichiko with a long and passionate kiss.

"Somewhere and somehow, we may see each other again," Lucy winked to Jerri. "In the meantime, take care of your family, and Ichiko and I will find a way to start of our own."

"I hate kids," said Ichiko.

"But you are one sweetie!"

"But I'm twenty-eight!"

The gang then left, almost like a dream, and it was said that they entered in the same way.

Jerri was swarmed by her admirers, especially the teenage hostages who had become overly smitten by her. She blushed and smiled in embarrassment, while Eva watched on with a annoyed wince until she noticed Evie pushing herself through the crowd. Jerri lifted her up and put on her shoulders.

"So you saw the fight?" Jerri asked her.

Evie nodded. Eva was unaware that her eldest daughter and snuck off from the house to watch the fight.

"You're cool Other Mother," said Evie.

Jerri sighed. "Why can't you call me mother or mommy?"

"That's for her," Evie pointed to Eva. "You're just Other Mother."

"At least I'm 'cool'."

The night ended like a dream. The excitement died in the next day, and life went on as usual. Days later, Bella came over one late afternoon with the timid Tenaya, but with them was a suitcase of clothes and a sleeping bag at the front porch. Eva was the one who answered.

"I tried to talk her out of it, but she insisted on boarding with you as a live-in housemaid," said Bella. "She feels it is her payment for being rescued by your wife."

"I guess that would be okay," said Eva, "seeing as I have too much trouble raising my children and the farm." Then she called out, "Jerri! Would it be okay if we fit in Tenaya?"

The bespectacled Jerri then arrived before them, and the mute Tenaya blushed and averted her smiling face.

"Sure," replied Jerri. "We would love to have her in. But what about you Ol' Bella?"

"I'll be fine," said Bella. "The café can run itself seeing as I don't get a lot of customers."

Tenaya then made some hand signals towards her former employer.

"Of course you're welcome to visit," said Bella. "Bring the Adamses along with you."

Tenaya nodded. She lingered at the porch until Bella gently pushed in to her new and welcoming masters, if not her new family. Soon after, she had dinner with them.

The incident with the Kamikaze Lolitas was how Jerri earned Tenaya.

Chapter 10

Title: "I don't need no war!" (rage!)

Eve Sky
Chapter 10 - "I don't need no war!" (rage!)
by StarCross

It was supposed to be a normal routine involving the simple herding of one of the cows, Courage, out in the nearby green and grassy pasture by the creek a good walk away from the family farm. Tenaya the live-in housemaid was just dutifully minding usual herding duty, and when she had to go urinate, she left Courage to do the business in the creek. That was still a good walk away, but Tenaya was confident that no one would steal Courage in the small town she came from.

She heard a huge stomping sound. Then it became quiet. Tenaya ran back and found the cow missing. It was perplexing for her, because Courage wasn't a good runner, and she was old to boot. The land before Tenaya's eyes was flat and almost featureless, so if Courage had gone out far, Tenaya would have already spotted her.

Then she remembered that not far away there was a small valley large enough to hide a small corvette or cruiser-class airship. She headed over, but before she could even peek over, a bio-mechanical monstrosity rose onto its four feet and stretched itself like a dog.

Its nuanced movements looked so natural, yet its entire slender body was encased in a deceptively rigid pale red metal skin. The six-eyed head was long and pointed; perfect for piercing through narrow crevices so it could snatch its prey from hiding with its jagged teeth bloodied from a recent meal. It outstretched its four techno-demonic wings, two of which were connected on the shoulders above the front legs, and the other two connected on the pelvis above the back legs. Then it whipped its very long tail, which created a cracking sound of thunder.

Instinctively, Tenaya fired her hunting rifle, and fell on her butt in doing so. She should have known that was a bad idea, for bio-mechanical dragons automatically attack when they were to be struck first. The bullet was stopped by its near-invisible and rubber-like "membrane barrier. The mute Tenaya cowered silently and prepared for the worst, but instead the dragon turned its head and sadly stared at her with its six red eyes.

Regardless of why she wasn't attacked, let alone eaten, Tenaya got back onto her feet and ran home. She ran into the arms of Jerri, who was tilling the fields with her hoe. The panic of Tenaya was animated enough to attract Eva and Evie from the house.

"Is there something wrong?" Eva asked. "Where's Courage the Cow?"

Tenaya did her best to explain through pantomime and grunts to no avail. She then led her mistresses into the house and made use of the construction paper and crayons Evie was using to draw a childish drawing of the monster she saw.

"A four-winged six-eyed dragon," said Jerri, fixing her glasses. "Tenaya, we talked about this before. You don't have to make up stories to cover up for your mistakes. Things like this isn't that of a big deal. We'll just have to get another cow, although I'll really miss Courage."

"Jerri," said Eva, "I don't think Tenaya is lying. That dragon did eat Courage."

Tenaya nodded with a desperate wince.

"I thought those things were supposed to be stationed at the Great Border-Wall of Mexico," said Jerri.

"Unless somebody's killing off their operators or there's some battle going on," said Eva.

Suddenly they heard a wailing roar from a far-off distance, the sound of which had a mechanical timbre underlying it.

It was then agreed that everyone in the town should not venture far out lest they become attacked or eaten. A bio-mechanical dragon was one of the most formidable and fearsome living weapons created during the Eugenesis Period, with emphasis on nigh-impenetrable defenses due to its membrane barrier generated through its countless microscopic pores all over its metallic body, and it was capable of short bursts of flight like a vertical take-off aircraft. It requires vast amounts of energy to perform such a feat, and while it gets it mainly intravenously through an umbilical cable, it can also do so by devouring other organisms, especially for emergencies and as a means of attack if instructed by its operator.

A dragon did posses an artificial consciousness like an obedient dog, and in many cases it had the instincts of such. The full control of such creatures always required a blood-pact between it and the operator. The dragon would remain loyal at the utmost until the blood-pact was broken or if either it or the operator dies, the latter of which was more likely. If without an operator for a long period, the dragon will go in a very destructive rage, and it will likely be destroyed (killed).

Dragons were highly sought after, and until recently the Congregational Corporation had the most of what remained. They stationed them by the Great Border, not because of illegal immigration. As it so happened, the wall of the Great Border had one of the most fortified military installations in the continent. Hence, it served as a secondary headquarters.

No attacks were reported so far in the town of Victoria of East Texas. The only things that rattled their anxieties were the lonely roars in the distance.

In all inevitability, the town decided to react, particularly when a good portion of Farmer Joan's cattle went missing. A meeting was called for everyone to attend in the town hall to discuss the solution to the problem, and their expert on the issue was the town's Jack-of-all-trades Ol' Bella.

"How do you know so much about this?" asked Joan.

"That's because I used to be the bitch who maintained them for the damn Congregationalists," Bella proudly replied. "Anyway, we will have to do something, because it will eventually wander into town and may decide to feast on the rest of our cattle, if not us. However though..."

"However what?"

"The way it's wailing sounds like it failed to protect its operator, and in its distraught mind it continues to search for her.

"Attacking it directly would make things worse obviously, and I don't want to have to rely on outside help--especially from Nataraja Agriculture. We have to calm it down, and I know of a method. It is a bit of a longshot, not to mention risky."

"What do you mean?"

"I need someone with a will stronger than that of the missing operator in order for the dragon to acknowledge the new one as its master."

All eyes looked about for that someone, but Bella had someone perfect in mind when she stared directly at her.

"I wonder which gal will tame that thing?" Jerri wondered out loud.

"You are," replied Bella.

"Me?"

"Who else given your outstanding track record of heroism, not to mention your impeccable popularity with the ladies."

"Ahem," Eva coughed.

"I didn't forget about you Misses Adams. You too have the capability to tame that dragon, but I didn't want you to risk the child inside of you."

"Despite it all, I will say that this is most certainly a crazy and dangerous suggestion on your part Miss Bella. But I will agree to it on the count that we should only rely on ourselves. Are you up to it honey?"

"I'm taming the dragon?" Jerri exclaimed.

After listening to the further details of Bella's plan, Jerri finally agreed--reluctantly though. The pretty teenage girls, Tenaya especially, cheered her thus giving the courageous Jerri the necessary confidence.

The operation slowly went underway when a small scouting group consisting of Jerri's teenage fans set out to find the said dragon. In no time its location was found a good ways east from the town. The reports indicated that the dragon was moving slowly in a mope, contrary to the perceptions many. The plan then moved quicker, with half the town coming with Jerri as backup.

It was positively sunny on the day of wrangling, and after hours of waiting the dragon finally fell asleep, and it was lying peacefully in a grassy field dotted with patches of daises. That was the time for Jerri to climb up the beast as quietly as she could. Like all things, it was easier said than done. Three times she slipped off its body, and on the third fell she cursed and yelled. Her family and her fellow townsfolk shook with total anxiety as they watched from a safe distance. The dragon kept on sleeping, purring occasionally.

With her patience run out, the irritated Jerri redoubled her efforts and in a screaming rage she clambered on the dragon's back to position herself at the back of the neck where the access hatch for the blood-acceptor was located. She drew out a hunting knife, but then the dragon stirred into waking. Jerri fell onto her butt, but she remained on the beast's back as it rose to its feet to let out a rumbling yawn. It shook left. It shook right. It even bucked up and down, not knowing that Jerri was on its back screaming as she held on for dear sanity.

Then suddenly, the dragon took flight, although relative to its size it looked more like it was hovering. It sped away and disappeared off to the horizon still not knowing that it was carrying the panicked and screaming Jerri.

Eva and the others weren't just speechless--they were dumbfounded at what just happened with the scene being so anti-climatic. They remembered that Jerri was still in some kind of danger, so they quickly boarded their vehicles and searched the surrounding farmlands for both the dragon and Jerri.

Almost an hour later, they saw something suspicious at the brewery plant north of the town. They did not just find the dragon, which was inside stirring and hiccupping, they also found the missing cattle, including Courage, mooing quite happily. To their relief, Jerri was found without a scratch but was lying against the dragon napping with a smile and bottles of rum surrounding her. She was finally hurt when Eva woke her up with whack to the head.

"You had us all worried, and here you are drunk on your ass!" Eva yelled.

"What did I do?" Jerri slurred. "I tamed the dragon didn't I?"

"Did you perform a blood pact?" asked Bella.

Jerri showed everyone her bandaged left wrist. "Of course I did."

The rest of the townsfolk cautiously advanced towards the resting dragon.

"Is it safe to approach?" asked Joan.

"If the blood pact was successful," said Bella, "then Jerri should have full control of it."

"Of course I do," said Jerri. "Once you get to know her, she's a well-behaved gal. Though she's a bit of a heavy drinker."

"She?" said Joan.

"Dragons are genderless you know," said Bella. Bella then moved fearlessly right up to the dragon to feel its metallic skin.

"It's been in battle," she continued.

"It has?"

"A hard battle. There are numerous scratches on most of its body."

"Against whom?" asked Eva. "Nataraja Agriculture pretty much rules the world now."

"An interesting thought. But hey! Our town now has its own dragon, so no one will mess with us! Let's bring this baby back and celebrate!"

"All this was your plan all along, hasn't it?"

"I've always wanted one of my own ever since I started taking care of them."

"It's technically my wife's since she made the blood-pact."

"I can still pretend, can't I?"

Later they all found out that it was a cattle-rustling gang responsible for stealing the cows, and that the dragon rescued the cows and scared the offenders out of town.

That was how Jerri and her family acquired their new pet and another protector of the town. Jerri named it Roja, and even ascribed it a feminine gender. Bella assured her and her family that they needn't worry about feeding Roja, because bio-mechanical dragon could operate in minimal activity mode for a year. She decided to put in a large order of liquefied food, an intravenous-umbilical feeding system, and silos of beer just in case.

Besides performing menial guard duty and farm work--like large-scale digging, hoeing, and towing--Roja usually lounged around in her designated plot of land behind the barn and house. She occasionally acted as a babysitter for Jerri and Eva's children, which they enjoyed because they loved playing on Roja and even rode her. Her presence, as well as the few town visits, served as an effective deterrent, not that it was needed since Jerri and Eva were effective enough.

The peace of the town continued. Eva was now in her fourth month of pregnancy, and the quiet Tenaya was so acquainted with the family that Evie, Nikhila, and Odilia assumed her to be an older sister or an aunt. Evie want as far to call her Jerri's second wife, but she was scolded by Eva and forbidden from saying such things again.

"But Other Mother and Tenaya were kissing!" exclaimed Evie.

"That's enough!" Eva cried. "Go to your room!"

With tears of frustration, Evie silently marched away and whimpered once she was in her room shared with her toddler twin sisters.

Children liked to say outrageous things (especially Evie), there was always some ground truth behind it. Knowing this, Eva had to make sure it was a mere exaggeration by confronting Jerri who was feeding the cows just outside the barn.

"Did Evie say something inappropriate again?" Jerri asked. "Man that girl is just too young say such things, let alone say anything at all."

"Um, yeah."

Jerri spiked the pitchfork into the ground, not because she was done.

"What is it really?" she asked.

Eva backed away with a feigned smile. "It's nothing really! I just forgot about it, that's all."

Before she could hurry away, Jerri pulled her back for a passionate kiss.

"I love you," said Jerri.

"Jerri..."

"I'll do my best to never make you sad."

They tightened their embrace and kissed again. If it weren't for Eva's current predicament, they would be making love.

The idyllic peace soon came into a clichÇ end. Dark clouds formed across the lands, and the crops were withering--it wasn't even Fall yet. Sounds of distant mechanical thunder and explosions echoed and frightened the cattle, the children, and even Roja.

In one pre-dawn morning, intimidating visitors in tanks, trucks, and green military uniforms at the entrance to the family farm. Tenaya, who was doing her usual chores at the front porch, was the first to notice, and she also noticed that Roja was stirring herself into waking. She took a quick look at the back lot and saw soldiers surrounding and standing calmly before the confused bio-mechanical dragon.

Tenaya quickly ran inside to alert her mistresses, which wasn't really needed since sensing danger was almost natural for Jerri and Eva. They sent Tenaya off to look after the children, and the couple watched discreetly from the window as a high-ranking officer accompanied by four Amazon soldiers approached the house up the unpaved pathway.

"Did they finally find us out?" Jerri asked.

"Their uniforms are that of the Congregational Special Forces," replied Eva. "I guess they're under my grandmother's command now."

"What the hell do they want from us now?"

"Jerri, wait!"

Throwing her overcoat over her shoulders, Jerri marched right up to the normal-sized officer who upon closer inspection was missing her right arm and had eye-patch over her right eye.

"May I help you with something?" Jerri asked with a feigned smile.

"Are you the operator of that dragon?" asked the officer.

Conscription. That's what it was.

"I am," Jerri replied. "I only use her for farm work though. As you can see, it is badly damaged, and it was about to be destroyed until I came along to make the blood-pact."

"A damaged dragon is many times better than a regular regiment, and I'm pretty sure that its membrane barrier defenses is working quite fine. Please come with us so we can brief you on the situation."

"Hold on! You can't just waltz up here and forcibly draft me. I have rights you know!"

"There is no time to argue over this! The enemy is approaching fast!"

"That's a lie!"

"She's telling the truth Jerri!" cried a familiar voice.

Hobbling towards them was someone Jerri had not seen in a long time.

"Lieutenant Drake," said the officer. "Are you okay with that new leg of yours?"

"I'm fine," said Farrah.

"I'm sorry it ended up like this."

"It's all right. After all that had happened, we'd all be agitated."

"Farrah?" Jerri said. "Really, what's going on?"

"Why not we all go inside? It's a bit chilly, and I'm sure we're all a bit starved for breakfast, eh?"

Reluctantly, they were allowed in. Eva remained cordial as possible even as the soldiers were already settling not just on the land but the barn as well. Even though Farrah reassured the family that nothing would get damaged or stolen, Eva sent Tenaya out to keep watch on the soldiers from a safe distance of the porch.

"I should have introduced myself first," said the officer after sipping her coffee. "I am General Tesla Cole of the Unified Forces, and this here is my second Lieutenant Farrah Drake, which seems you know so well."

"I never heard of the Unified Forces," asked Eva.

"We were formed fairly recently after the fall of Nataraja Agriculture."

Eva's face became grave. "Are you sure?"

"It is no ruse, I assure you."

"Then who's the enemy then? Has the Valkyries of Melfa struck back?"

"If they did, we wouldn't be here soliciting for your help. So many have died since their continuing assaults."

"Kelly is dead by the way," said Farrah.

"Farrah was fortunate to escape with a missing leg, while I lost my arm and eye. In fact, we're one of the few survivors of that battle."

"Yeah."

"Fine, I'll believe your story," said Jerri. "Just tell us who it is that was powerful enough to take out Nataraja."

"They weren't just taken out," said Cole. "They were wiped out to the last bloodline. They didn't spare the males either.

"They are killing machines created during the Eugenesis Period, long thought to have been destroyed. They highly sentient and sapient, and are capable of rapid matter transmutation beyond that of Nataraja Agriculture's Conjurer Units."

"There are three confirmed units, and there is said to be a total of seven spread all over the world conducting a campaign of annihilation against humanity," said Farrah. "They take human forms of beautiful women."

From her pocket, Farrah pulled out three photos for Jerri and Eva to see. Indeed they were beautiful, yet even their smiling facial expressions were indicative of their heartless and mechanical malice.

"Silver Spinner Annette was reported to be the one who destroyed Susheela and her entire airship convoy over the Atlantic Ocean," Cole explained. "Pearl Caster Cherise was said to have obliterated the countries of Bay-Haven and Pacific Mariner. Right now, we are currently being pursued by Blade Ribbon Hina, who is said to have destroyed the nation of Central America."

"The only advantage we have over them is their vast energy requirements and their risk of time-space atrophy," added Farrah. "When their time limit is up, they revert to an orb-like state and return to the heavens to rest and recharge. The period is only just twenty-four hours."

The Silver Spinner was a teenage-looking female with very thin pigtails, while the Pearl Caster looked like a supermodel with white hair. The Blade Ribbon looked like the most beautiful Indian woman in the most luxurious lavender sari ever.

Suddenly they heard a death-like gasp. Tenaya, whom everyone did not notice coming in, was at the head of the table backing away with her frightened eyes still set on the photo of Blade Ribbon Hina.

"Mama..." she uttered. She then collapsed on the floor to curl up and wail and scream, and she uttered Spanish phrases that hinted her place of origin.

With the help of two of the Amazon escorts, Farrah hobbled over to comfort Tenaya, while Eva shooed a waking Evie back into her room.

"Poor girl," said Cole. "Misses Adams, I implore you to lend us you and your dragon's assistance. We don't have much time!"

"We are already recruiting at your town hall as we speak," said Farrah.

"We'll dutifully compensate you by sending a hired hand or two for your wife, though I hate to request some of your crops for our troops."

"That's if things are going well for us in the battle," said Eva as she nursed one of her twin daughters Odilia. "If things are really bad as you say it is, then it is pointless for me and my daughters to wait here for inevitable annihilation."

"Then I shall arrange for an aircraft to evacuate you to safety."

"They'll still find us even if we run away. I'm taking my children with me when I accompany my wife."

"Eva you can't!" Jerri cried. "You can't fight in your condition!"

"It never stopped me before you know."

Jerri paced about, thinking that once Eva made up her mind, she would be a force to be reckoned with. Finally, she faced her wife and placed her hands on her shoulders.

"All right," she said. "You can come with me, but only as support. No heroics either."

"Okay," Eva nodded.

"We would dare to bring a pregnant woman and her children to the front lines," said Cole.

"I won't fight unless they are with me," Jerri declared.

"But..."

"You might as well," said Farrah. "I know for a fact that Eva is an excellent sharpshooter, and the kids may very well motivate us to victory."

Cole sighed. "I'll let them, but I have an obligation to protect the pregnant and the young. If things do get really dangerous, Eva and her children should be the first to evacuate."

"I'll accept those terms," said Eva.

"I..." said a soft voice.

With tears dried, Tenaya suddenly sprung to her feet.

"I... want... join," she stuttered. "I want to join."

"Will you be all right with this?" Farrah asked.

Tenaya nodded. "I want to fight... along... with Jerri."

"Very well," said Cole. "I need every able body to fight in this battle. Let us all head over to the town hall so I can brief you in the battle plan and equip you all with your armaments."





Chapter 11

Title: "Stop this madness!"

Eve Sky
Chapter 11 - "Stop this madness!"
by StarCross


Tenaya, Jerri and her family rode atop of Roja, who was slowly accompanying the convoy of the Unified Forces at the side of the main highways. Many of the women from the town had been conscripted, but mostly of their own will. As they approached the limits of the city of Houston, the black smoke and darkened clouds became greater. The new recruits, who included Ol' Bella in the ranks, were more convinced that an unavoidable war was drawing near.

Eva didn't feel like weeping over the death of her grandmother and the rest of the family. She loved her young grandfather, but there was not enough sadness to grieve over him. The experience was too unreal, yet she already knew of the existence of the Mistress Aggregation Units (MA Units) from her company's archives.

Pearl Caster Cherise; Silver Spinner Annette; and Blade Ribbon Hina. They were names of the most dangerous weapons ever created during the Eugenesis Period and were said to be the cause of the many global wars and the inadvertent destruction of the male sex. They take the form of beautiful women, but possess the precise destructive capability of entire armies. Each one, in a sense, was the same model, but their gift of sapience allows them to develop their own "style" of dress and assault befitting their names.

Her grandmother told her that the MA Units were sealed, not destroyed, by a world alliance consensus at the end of the Eugensis Period. Now Eva's heart and body was quaking to the sheer notion that someone or something had released these monsters from their prison to recreate the wars that nearly destroyed the entire human race. Yet things did not seem right. Why would they go off and annihilate all known males?

Eva gripped Jerri's arm tighter.

"Something wrong?" Jerri asked her.

"It's nothing," said Eva.

They arrived in the city of Houston, which looked abandoned due to the ruin of the buildings, but it was bustling with the sight of machine gunners and cannons perched on the top of buildings. Jerri steered Roja above the city as they separated from the caravan. From a bird's eye view, the city had holes and seemed to be sliced like cheese. They never thought it would be so ruined, but the smoke they saw did not come from here. It was farther up north to the Dallas Metropolis.

In the air they encountered and were accompanied by other flying attack robots and a few human-operated aircraft. They were told to land at the northern outskirts where all the Unified Forces were gathered. When Jerri and her family landed, there were six others like Roja but they were of different colors yet of similar make and models in the landing pad. They disembarked from their beloved and massive pet to allow the maintenance crews to hook her up with a large umbilical feeding tube.

An entire sturdy barrack was reserved for Jerri and her family. Evie was the first to enter to claim her own bed, and Tenaya, who still retained her servile behavior, tried to bring all of the luggage into place. Later, they all had a private dinner with Ol' Bella, General Tesla Cole, Lieutenant Farrah Drake, and many other military heads of the Unified Forces that came from the various fallen factions of the former Congregational Corporation and Nataraja Agriculture. Ol' Bella was enthusiastic in helping with the bio-technical side of the operations, and thus Cole assigned her to be the head of the biotech forces and as a biotech advisor, for the last one was killed on duty.

"So Nataraja Agriculture really have fallen to one of those monsters?" asked Eva.

"We have at least two credible eyewitness accounts," said Cole. "They were not even given a chance to retaliate."

"I see."

"Why are you so interested with them??

"Let's just say I have a bad relationship with them in the past."

"But it is unfortunate because they could have stood a chance against them," said Farrah.

"Agreed," said Cole. "The timing of those monsters is too precise, and thus they drove the rest of their company and their home country into disarray."

"They are, after all, mechanical," said Bella.

"I hear you know of those things."

"I only know what you know already. But I am aware of the code name of the project of the monsters you are talking about, and they go by the name of the Mistress Aggregation Units, or the MA Units."

"Do you think you know why they are killing off the men along with the women?"

"Now that's a first. Even sapient machines aren't stupid enough to kill them off unless they are ordered to do so."

"Then the machines have finally decided we are not needed anymore, considering what we have done to this planet and to ourselves."

"But that doesn't make sense," said Farrah. "With all the massive population reductions, nature has finally been able to recover. Why eliminate us now?"

"If we can ask them, we can, but I don't think these MA Units will tell us. They'll kill us on sight."

"So when do we come into the picture?" Jerri asked.

"First thing tomorrow at 0600 hours. The battlefield will be the ruins of Dallas."

"That fast?"

"I have told you that their period of rest is only twenty-four hours. I know that affords us with very little training, if not sleep, but the enemy is seeking to destroy all of us fast. They spare no one, not even children."

"Then I guess I'll have to go to sleep early."

"The same should go for most of us. Drake and I will be staying up drafting the battle plans. You are all dismissed."

Jerri and her family returned to their barrack with so much anxiety that would most likely shorten their sleep time. The exception was Evie and her infant sisters, who immediately plopped in their beds dozing, while Jerri, Eva, and Tenaya gathered on one bed looking at one another.

"I really hope that this is just stupid mind game put on by your grandmother," Jerri said to Eva.

"I hope so too," said Eva, "but I think what is happening is true. Those MA Units do exist."

Tenaya tensed up.

"And if Tenaya was a survivor," Eva continued, "then that lends creditability to their existence."

"But I do really wish you didn't have to come with me this far," said Jerri.

"As I said before, there is no place to hide. I just want to be with you."

"Just to say goodbye to me, right?"

"Don't say that. You know I support you all the way in defeating those monsters but..."

Eva turned to Tenaya. "Tenaya, could you fetch us some extra blankets?"

Tenaya nodded, and went outside. Eva waited until she felt for sure that Tenaya was well away from the barrack.

"If they're after fertile males, they might come after you first," said Eva. "Jerri, I'm deathly worried about you this time!"

"What does that have to do with anything? They don't know that I can reproduce."

"They might find out somehow. And our children."

"Listen Eva. When you feel that you're in danger, take the children and run. Never turn back, not even for me."

"But Jerri..."

"As long as our kids survive, humanity might still have a chance."

"But I can't go without you!"

"Damn it Eva. I'm not some man you can cling on to."

"It's not about that! It's just that... I am still in love with you."

Eva grasped Jerri's hand and placed it on her womb.

"I want to have many more children with you. Isn't that what it means to be a mother?"

"I don't really know. You know that I will never experience the feeling of being pregnant."

"But you are a woman, aren't you? Please don't go into battle with the premonition that you will die. If you know that there is no way to defeat those monsters, then run away. I'll run away too, and somehow we will reunite with one another. We will survive somehow just as always."

Jerri felt herself hiccupping in sadness, but she wiped whatever tears were forced out of her eyes. She hugged, and then kissed Eva.



Though they had a comforting sleep snuggled in each other's arms, Jerri and Eva woke up early in the next morning by the loud trumpeting alarm and the banging on the barrack doors. Jerri was the first get up half-naked and slowly dressed herself until a young Indian soldier burst in.

"Hurry up Miss Adams!" cried the woman.

"But I'm half dressed," groaned Jerri.

"There's only us women here and no man in a thousand kilometers, although we'd be crazy enough to have them close to battle."

"I'm still getting dressed."

"We can't start the briefing without you. Please hurry."

The children were now awake, and the twin infants Nikhila and Odilia started crying. Tenaya proceeded to comfort them, while Evie sat up rubbing her eyes and Eva looking at the Indian soldier suspiciously.

"And you are?" she asked her.

"Sergeant Sati Kutner reporting," saluted the soldier.

"Haven't I seen you before?"

"Um, no, of course not! Jeez woman, you're Indian you should know that there are plenty of us with name of Sati, even in this country."

"You didn't have to snap back at me."

"Let's not argue right now," yawned Jerri. "You'll wake the kids, and we don't want to go off to war at a bad start."

"Sorry."

"Well, you're finally dressed Miss Adams," said Sati. "Right this way."

Sati led the sleepy Jerri through the encampment in a misty yet dark pre-dawn morning. The clouds were still dark, and smoke poured from lands far away.

Jerri was now inside the command barrack with Bella, General Cole, Farrah, the other army generals, and the other six bio-mechanical dragon operators who she was introduced to.

"We don't have much time, so I'm only going to make this short," said Cole. "Our male bait and his guards has put themselves in the underground bunkers of Dallas, so it is likely the Blade Ribbon will try to destroy them first before moving on to our encampment. We have sent out scouts just in case so they could spot her through sight alone.

"At the appointed hour, we will send an armada of airships, aerial robots, mechs, and helicopters to carpet bomb the city and turn it into a wasteland. As the smoke gather up, our dragons will move in and put up a membrane barrier to shield us from incoming attacks. The ground forces and our backup air forces will move in to pulverize the to produce more cover. Then our snipers will close in to destroy the core of the MA Unit once and for all.

"Lieutenant Farrah Drake will be staying behind to command this encampment and, in all likelihood, will become general of the Unified Forces incase I perish in battle.

"We cannot afford any mistakes in this battle. Our species--no, our world depends on it. Move out!"

"Yes sir!" they all saluted.

General orders was what was given, so Jerri assumed that she would get the specifics as she was deployed. Might be difficult because she had already forgotten the name of the other dragon operators.

There were many questions she wanted to ask concerning the bait, but she shook it all away as she returned to the dragon lot where Eva and the rest of her family waited. Eva handed her an assault rifle with bullets, and Evie gave her other mother a first aid pack and goggle to hold the glasses in place during battle. Tenaya, however, rushed to Jerri's side and grabbed her.

"Let me come!" she said.

"No, you stay and protect my family," said Jerri.

"But I want fight."

"I'm sorry Tenaya, but you have to say here."

She kissed Tenaya on the forehead, which Eva didn't notice since a nearby nervous dragon distracted her. Evie noticed, and she was frantically pulling on her birthmother's clothes to get her to notice.

Without any more words to say, Jerri boarded Roja and waved goodbye to her wife, family, Tenaya, and Ol' Bella. Roja unfurled her semi-transparent wings, and then took off following all the other dragons.

It was now six o' clock, and the bombardment began. The city of Dallas exploded in bright flashes of fury, creating dark gray smoke and a radial dust storm from the center. Jerri shielded her mouth with a bandana she was given. As she rode Roja through the dust storm, an operator on a turquoise dragon pulled up to her left side and yelled out to her.

"We're all going to surround the bombardment area," she said.

"What position shall I take?" asked Jerri.

"Don't worry! Your dragon will know. Just tell Dawn over to your right."

"Okay!"

The operator of the turquoise dragon rode off and disappeared in the dust storms. She did not know exactly who Dawn was, but regardless she relayed the message to the operator of the black bio-mechanical dragon. Then those two separated, and now Jerri rode it out alone relying on the instincts of her red dragon Roja.

Finally she passed by a recognizable landmark, that of a fallen skyscraper. As the dust storm settled, she began to see more and more, but it soon lessened when she and Roja drew closer to the edge of the bombardment area marked by nothingness. Tugging on the control reins, Jerri made Roja land. Roja folded her wings into her limbs and then opened up her pores to deploy her membrane barrier.

Jerri waited. The dust storm was gone, but it was still too hazy to see clearly. Eventually the ground forces pulled up from the rear, and then thanked Jerri with gestures, nods, and a couple of cheers and yelling.

But then, a sharp ever-extending lavender ribbon cut through the ground forces before a majority of them ever made it to the battle center. Jerri shifted Roja right to shield her comrades, but it was too late. The cutting ribbon shot back up and sliced more soldiers and their machines to their destruction.

With the dust settling, Jerri finally saw the scourge of humanity in human skin. The Blade Ribbon Hina stood still in her sari with the ribbon exerted from her back.

Missiles, bombs, and bullets rained from above, and like lightning the Blade Ribbon sliced up the aerial forces and their weapons with utmost precision that nothing exploded. It just fell apart. Then she did the same to the remaining ground forces, their vehicles, and their weapons.

Then, three of the bio-mechanical dragons flew to pounce at the mechanical being. Hina retracted her blade ribbon and shot it through the dragon's membrane barrier. In one arc, she killed their operators and sliced the creatures themselves into gruesome pieces.

Jerri's heart was beating fast, and she could even feel beneath her feet that Roja was shaking in fear as well. With the fleshy and metallic pieces of her victims collapsing in their places, Hina retracted her life-like blade ribbon and slowly advanced on foot towards Jerri and Roja.

No one was coming to their rescue. Jerri now felt that she was the only one surviving human against this human-shape monstrosity, and she could vividly hear Eva's pleas to run away and not look back.

"Roja," said Jerri. "Exert a level 9 membrane barrier."

Roja moaned.

"Please. You have to! We're going to run!"

Hina shot out her right arm, which sent out the blade ribbon that lobbed off Roja's front left leg. The wailing Roja collapsed, and Jerri fell over. She got onto her feet and fired her assault rifle into Hina. Bullet had no effect for it passed right through her or she had absorbed it.

"JERRI!" yelled a voice.

A jeep roared into her sight from a dust cloud. Along with the driver was the one-armed general Tesla Cole firing the mounted machine gun into Hina. More bullets passed through Hina, but it made her look more demonic with each hit. Agitated, Hina sent out her blade ribbon and decapitated both the driver and Cole. She pulled it back and started hovering off the ground. Then she flew towards the panicked Jerri, but then Roja pounced her into the ground her remaining front leg and exerted her level 10 membrane barrier. But the blade ribbon tore the leg, skewered the barrier and decapitated the red dragon.

"Roja!" Jerri screamed.

Her pet and her friend fell, and rising from the destruction cracking her joints and artificial bones was Hina. Jerri turned around and ran, but the blade ribbon wrapped around her ankle. She was tossed up and then slammed back down. The ribbon pulled Jerri to the hovering and curious Hina, who had now commanded her blade ribbon to float around her victim like a charmed snake.

Jerri could feel her heart burst at any time. She could attack with her pistol or knife, but she had no idea where the core control unit was located in Hina's body. There, Hina continued to hover almost mystically about Jerri, often muttering "Hmm," as she rested her chin on her fingers.

In an instant, Hina and her weapon disintegrated into white dust-like particles leaving only her metallic and reflective orb-like core half the size of a fist that buzzed and hummed. It shot off in a blink, leaving Jerri wondering why she was spared.

"Oh god," she said. "Eva!"



The first sight of the hovering orb in the middle of base signaled the end. Blade Ribbon Hina's human form exploded into existence by gathering and transmutation nearby matter, which produced a small crater below her feet. Hovering, Hina set to work in tearing and slicing the base and its inhabitants, and she even went as far to destroy Dallas as well.

In an instant, the base was put on red alert, and mere minutes later the screams, sirens, and explosions were suddenly silenced to give way to howl of distant winds, the tumbling of rubble, and crackling of fires. Eva was on the bed against the wall of the barrack hugging and covering her children's mouths. Tenaya stood at the other side with her rifle cocked and ready.

Then they heard the high-pitched hover sounds of Hina, and they could see her silhouette past the windows. Passing the barracks, Hina suddenly stopped and turned around to stand in front of the door. The doorknob turned, and everyone inside gulped.

Fortunately, Hina was now distracted by the rumble of the hovering airships and screams of fighter jets. She took to the hair to dispatch producing explosion after explosions. It was at that time Eva took her children off the bed.

"Evie, whatever you do, keep looking forward as you walk," Eva told her daughter.

"How come?" asked Evie.

"No more questions. We have to leave."

"What about Other Mommy?"

"Let's go!"

The whimpering infant twins were strapped to Eva's front and back. She grabbed Evie's hand and followed the alert yet frightened Tenaya outside.

The scene they beheld was like a page out of a nuclear apocalypse. Not single building stood intact save for the barrack they had emerged from. The ground was ripped apart, and there were no semblance of any transport or a person. There were dismembered corpses here and there, and Eva covered Evie's eyes at they started their necessary trek out of the city.

"Mommy," said Evie. "What happened here?"

"Just keep on moving Evie."

Tenaya gasped and went to a full stop.

"Watch out!" she screamed.

A massive blade ribbon cut right before them, and made more cuts of the land until it began tilting away from them. Soon, a sudden mountain rose before them, and descending from the heavens was Hina with her right hand gripping the ever-extending weapon.

"Run!" Eva yelled to Evie.

She took her family away, while Tenaya stayed back and fired all of the bullets from her assault rifle into Hina's body. She then charged forward to hit her with her empty weapon, but Hina pulled the rifle out her hands and struck her head with it. Tenaya fell unconscious, and a curious Hina stared at her body until she realized the other prey was getting away. In a blurring blink, she arrived right in front of Eva and her family. Eva quick-drew her pistol and fired all her bullets.

Hina only smiled sinisterly at her prey's futility. Eva, as a last resort, threw her pistol at her, and then staggered back holding her children to her bosom and crying as she fell to her knees. By then the infant twins Nikhila and Odilia were wailing loudly, and Evie clutched her birthmother's bosom as tight as she could.

"Please," wept Eva. "Spare us!"

Hina loomed over and bent her back towards the helpless family.

"They're just children! Why do you want to kill them?"

The blade ribbon now surrounded them.

Eva and Evie hugged each other tighter and closed their eyes.

"Hmm," mumbled Hina with a satisfied smile. The smile suddenly disappeared when something far off distracted her.

"Cherise," she said. "Do not attack."

Descending from above was a woman with white hair and a pearl-studded white dress surrounded by an array fist-sized pearl orbs.

"You're taking too long toying with them," said the Pearl Caster Cherise. "You've let more slip past you than last time."

"Yes, but you should a make a scan of these people."

"Oh?"

Cherise hovered uncomfortably closer to Eva and her frightened family with her near-blank eyes fixed on them.

"I see," grinned Cherise.

"We should report this," said Hina.

"Of course. Our mistress will be pleased."

Hina and Cherise disintegrated to revert to their control-orb forms, and then they disappeared to the sky. Eva was still too frightened for her children to notice, let alone listen in on the MA Units' conversation. Evie, however, remembered everything.

Chapter 12

Title: "Is there no hope left?" (despairs)

Eve Sky
Chapter 12 - "Is there no hope left?" (despairs)
by StarCross


Survivors numbered around fifty for the entire makeshift base, with many maimed by the destruction. None bothered to send out scouts to see if there anyone alive from the assault in the Dallas Metropolis, and even the stunned and shocked Eva felt no need to inquire about her loved one.

Then Jerri finally arrived in the newly erected yet shanty encampment, heroically yet tragically at sundown. Life returned to Eva who had came out of her tent after all the commotion of a returning soldier. Before Jerri could collapse into exhaustion, Eva ran into her wife's arms kissing her. The sight of her wife brought Jerri enough strength to embrace her just as passionately.

Jerri was then carried into the medical tent, and immediately Evie ran into her other mother's bedside to wail in her embrace. She yelled out repeatedly, "Oma!"

"How nice," said Jerri. "She's shortened 'Other Mother' now."

"Actually," said Eva, "Oma is German for 'grandmother'."

"What? You're calling me grandmother now?"

Jerri gave Evie a hard noogie and started tickling her. Immediately, Evie's troubles were erased, and she then playfully fought back against her other mother.

Soon, she received into her arms her twin infant daughters, Nikhila and Odilia, who cooed happily at the sight of their other mother. Evie became jealous and wanted to be held by Jerri. So she poked them until they cried, which made Eva discipline her by hitting her softly on the head.

"But I wanna drink oma's milk!" Evie complained.

"You're too old," said Jerri. "Besides, I'm not in the mood now. And stop calling oma."

"Oma is oma!"

"Evie, Jerri doesn't like it when she is called that," said Eva.

"She is older than you mama."

"Actually, I'm older than her."

"Is that true? Okay, how about I call her amam?"

"I suppose that is okay."

The main entrance of the medical tent was cleared to make way for the wheelchair-bound Farrah Drake, general of what remained of the Unified forces. She was missing her prosthetic leg, but Eva had learned from the others that it was damaged and it needed repairs. Ol' Bella was accompanying her, but now with her head wrapped in a bandage once more. Sergeant Sati Kutner was beside the general, apparently unhurt.

"Farrah?" Jerri asked.

"It seems that you're the only survivor we have," said Farrah. "I can't believe you came back with just scratches and bruises."

"I failed you."

"Jerri, I didn't mean..."

"I failed everyone. The General, I mean Tesla died trying to save me."

"You never were supposed to defeat the MA Unit."

"I was supposed to damn it!"

"Wait a minute," said Bella. "We're forgetting the fact that Mistress Aggregation Units had suddenly stopped attacking us. It's way too early for their period of rest."

"Could there be reason for this?" said Farrah. "This isn't like them."

"I don't know. They could be allowing us to live in order to rendezvous with the rest of our surviving forces to kill us."

"They're just toying with us."

There was a moment of silence for thinking.

"Well," said Bella, "at least they left the food and medical supplies alone seeing as they we wouldn't be needing them if we're dead. Whatever we did, we really gave them a big scare."

"So what should we do now general?" asked Sati.

"We'll have to evacuate this city of death," said Farrah. "We'll travel light and take only what we need."

"And the wounded?"

"I'm promoting you to Second General. You'll be staying with here with Bella to get them bandaged up for travel. If you can't save them... I'll leave that up to you."

"Understood."

"Where will we be going?" asked Jerri.

"To the Great Border-Wall of Mexico," replied Farrah. "We may be able to find something there to fight off those machinations, or at the very least use it as temporary shelter."



Jerri decided to accompany the first evacuation wave, which consisted of fifteen able people not counting herself and her family. Tenaya came along as well, and a van was given to them along with a few assault rifles and a grenade launcher. Everything they needed was packed into the drunk and into the third-row back seat.

Farrah rode in an armored Humvee with her personal drive. That vehicle would be the one to lead the small car caravan across the southern deserts of North America to their destination. They traveled on roads that were paved, unpaved, and falling into ruin due to a lack of repair. The towns and cities had already been deserted even before the advent of MA Units, but eventually they rode through a city that suffered from the assault.

Phoenix was the name of the metropolis, and though it was under the administration of the late Congregational Confederacy (and the Nataraja Agriculture for a brief stint), its position allowed for massive exchanges of both legal and illegal commerce, as well as a melting pot of cultures of the world. Now, it was riddled by massive coral-like web structures that pierced the towering buildings and the ground like frozen lighting. Jerri and Eva could see from their windows that the very same coral "lighting" had pierced countless robots, military machines, and women, whose corpses were mummified due to extreme dehydration. No life, not even insects inhabited this city.

"You think they're destroying the animals as well?" Jerri asked.

"Can't say for sure," said Eva. "They can be programmed to."

"What madwoman would want them to do such a thing?"

Eva began to remember the words the MA Units spoke to another about their mistress being pleased.

"A horrible woman," Eva replied. "A horrible, hateful woman."

They made a twelve-hour encampment in a clearing of the metropolis, and quickly resumed their journey at the break of dawn. The caravan would be passing by the Phoenix town district of Tuscon, which would mean that the Wall would be seen in plain view. Jerri, who had never really seen the Wall, was anxious to behold it, but she saw nothing.

The lead Humvee vehicle stopped. Jerri looked over and saw that Farrah was arguing with the driver. Just then, Farrah climbed out of the vehicle and stumbled to the ground. She then propped herself on her prosthetic leg and hobbled towards the southern horizon screaming, "It was supposed to be here! How could they have destroyed it?"

Jerri turned off the van. She passed by the other cars and their stunned drivers on her way to catch up to a lamenting Farrah.

"The Wall was supposed to be the most robust and impenetrable structure ever built," said Farrah. "Ancient technology is buried underneath there."

"It's all right," said Jerri. "Let's just camp here for the rest of the day and figure something out."

"Okay..."

The Wall gone like that. It would not be surprising given the destructive power of the MA Units. It was like it was a coordinated team attack to cripple any chance for humanity to fight back.

It was now a somber moment in the Tuscon encampment. They all took shelter inside an abandoned school gymnasium that had no chance of running water, let alone electricity. Power was drawn for the vehicles, and a few had to sacrifice all their gas and battery to do so. Water was gathered on foot from a nearby sewer line, and they had to boil it first to kill the germs. Jerri also began to wonder if the MA Units were also killing off all fungi and bacterial life.

One night was spent, and on the next day Jerri and the women discussed amongst themselves on where to go from Tuscon. They suggested finding an airship to search for more peaceful grounds--provided that the MA Units didn't destroy them. They suggested taking a boat to Asia--provided that the MA Units didn't sink them all. They also suggested finding and hiding in the many ancient bunkers of the world--provided that the MA Units didn't collapse and bury them. They even thought about constructing the said transports and shelters--provided that the MA Units didn't destroy all the tools and the power generators.

"So we could be living like savages until the very end," said Eva.

"With no hope of saving what's left us," said Farrah. "The in vitro clinics would be gone. The clone vats would be gone. Males would be gone. Perhaps we should really welcome the twilight of our kind."

Eva and Jerri looked at each other, and the nodded discreetly.

"Can we excuse ourselves?" Eva said to the group. "My wife and I need to talk to our children about all this."

"As you wish," said Farrah.

Eva and Jerri exited the old gymnasium to talk with one another in private. Their children were playing outside with Tenaya babysitting them.

"Do you think we should tell them?" asked Eva.

"Why ask me?" Jerri asked.

"You're the one who can impregnate all the known women in this world. You could be our last hope!"

"I... I'm a little scared. If we tell them, those monsters will know about me... and about our girls."

"At least... at least we should give them hope. I know you don't want to be protected like last time, but Jerri..."

"Think of the children, huh?"

"I know we can survive this somehow. We just have to figure out how to evade those MA Units."

"Okay. Let's go in and--"

"Amam!" cried Evie. "Amam! This lady wants to see you!"

Lady? Jerri and Eva spun around and saw their Evie holding the hand of a Spanish-looking woman in a black matador's suit, the traje de luces. Attached to her back in an X-formation were two long pikes decorated with blood-red banderillas, or little flags, close to the spearhead. She also had a sword attached to her side, and she was carrying one of the infant twins in her other arm.

Though there was no malice in her eyes, Jerri and Eva immediately knew who she was and looked around for Tenaya and the other twin. Tenaya came running into view with the baby, and it was just then that a silvery orb zipped right in front of her. The ground in front of her disintegrated to form a crater, and there materializing in a green Grecian dress was the Coral Thunder Reese.

"Danya," said Reese. "Thank you for finding them for us."

"Sure," mumbled the Pike Matador.

"Oh God, Evie!" Eva cried. Jerri held her wife back from doing anything rash that would anger the machinations.

"What's wrong mama?" Evie asked.

"Get away from her!"

"Please don't resist daughter of Nataraja," said Reese as she hovered right behind Tenaya. Without touching her, Reese nudged Tenaya closer to Jerri and Eva, while Danya brought the other two children towards their mothers.

At the same time, the rest of the MA Units materialized inside the gym using the walls as their source of material. Their appearance caused the panic necessary for the woman to shoot at them with their guns. Again, it proved useless as the bullets passed right through their false human bodies.

The Pearl Caster and the Blade Ribbon had appeared once more, and this time they were joined by the rest of their sisters who had been busy around the world.

The Flame Sniper Lindwe was a black woman garbed in a fiery traditional Nigerian dress and adorned with clattering fiery golden bangles on her wrists. Staring at her and even being in her presence made one feel hot in a hellish way.

The Crystal Dancer Kaguya was a demure-looking Japanese woman in a snowy white kimono and a hood-cloak that obscured the upper half of her face exposing only her snow-white cheeks and blood-red lips. Her cold audible exhales sent more than just physical chills.

And the Silver Spinner Annette was a girl barely in her teens in a sparkling prom dress, and her platinum blond hair was cut and styled to accommodate her two very thin and very long pigtails. Though young and seemingly innocent, Annette had a grin that made even the strong-hearted shudder. She ran her fingers through her hair and sent out an attack wave of silver strings that sliced apart the guns of Farrah and the rest of the women. However, she "accidentally" amputated a few of their hands and arms, decapitated a head, and took out Farrah's prosthetic leg.

"Whoops," smiled Annette.

"You meant to do that, didn't you?" said Lindwe.

"I guess I did. I'll just have to finish the job."

"Annette, we only came down here to pick this family up," said Danya. "We can't traumatize them any further."

"You mean," gasped Farrah, "that you're only here for Jerri and her family."

"Of course," replied Annette. "We spared your miserable vile human existence just because you're with her. Be thankful that I didn't kill you in an instant."

"You're here for us?" asked Jerri.

"That's right! You win! You have now been awarded a free trip for your and your family to our mistress's humble abode in the heavens. Now, if you'll--"

"We're not going."

"Eh? But it's a free trip, and you'll receive all the luxurious amenities of--"

"You'll take us there and kill us!"

"Do you really think that? Oh, I feel so insulted and ashamed, but I guess it is understandable given our apparent malevolence. Anyway, our mistress has expressed a deep interest you, for as you all should know--if she hadn't told you--that our tomboyish glasses-wearing lady possesses the unique ability to impregnate other women. In some ways, she--whatever her name is..."

"Jerri Adams," said Danya.

"Jerri Adams, in some ways, is like the last virile man on Earth. Does it not strike you odd that she already has three children, with one more on the way? They ain't adopted for all I know."

Farrah and the fourteen women gasped.

"Is that true Jerri?" Farrah asked. "Are you able to impregnate other women?"

Jerri looked down. "It is."

"So if you'll please," said Annette, "let's all take a ride up to Fortress Eschaton and visit our dear and lonely mistress. She would really like that."

"Jerri," said Eva whispered. "I don't like this."

"Neither do I," said Jerri. "But we don't have much a choice, do we?"

"Rest assured Misses Adams," said Danya, "that no harm will come to you and your family."

"As for these wretches of flesh here," said Annette, "I'm not sure if I can guarantee them surviving for more than a minute."

"Annette!"

"What?"

"Misses Adams, we'll guarantee the safety of your friends as well if you would just come with us. Isn't that right Annette?"

"Huh?"

"Annette."

The two MA Units stared each other down.

"Fine," Annette sighed. "I'll let them off."

"Good. Does that meet your approval Misses Adams?"

"It does," replied Jerri.

"Good. Reese, you'll carry the older child. Cherise, carry the wife, and you Hina will carry the 'seeder'. I'll be taking the infants."

"So we meet again," Hina smiled as she approached Jerri.

Danya grabbed either Nikhila or Odilia from Tenaya's arms. Leaving Lindwe, Kaguya, and Annette behind, Danya and the other MA Units began ascending to the air. As for Tenaya, she began to run after her adoptive family with desperate worry.

"Hmm, that girl wants to come with us," said Hina.

"Wait, stop," said Jerri. They all stopped in midair. "Do you think you can take her along? She is a close family friend. In fact, we consider her as family than a personal maid."

"Ah, I see," said Danya. "Kaguya, you'll take this friend of Misses Adams."

Then Tenaya felt the and heard the cold breath behind her. Kaguya had teleported or perhaps materialized behind her, and she further felt her coldness when she wrapped her arms around her body. Tenaya was taken up, and accelerated further up when she met up with Jerri and her family.

Back on the ground, Lindwe and Annette remained in the remains of the gym staring down at the surviving humans they were supposed to watch over.

"Hey Lindwe," said Annette. "Danya didn't say how long we're supposed to keep them safe, did she?"

"She didn't," grinned Lindwe.

"Our safety means that we don't have to die by your hands!" Farrah yelled.

"Then we won't use our hands," said Annette. "Won't we sister?"

"True, true," said Lindwe.

"You monsters!" Farrah cried.

"Then I guess we lied then," said Annette as she brushed the hair of her thin pigtails. "That is a real pity."

Chapter 13

Title: "Mother..."

Eve Sky
Chapter 13 - "Mother..."
by StarCross



Not once did they felt like being carried to the heavens by angels. At least in their minds, they would eventually end up in the depths of hell by going past the highest point of God's domain. Jerri and Eva already had a bad experience in the sky, but they were going higher than normal travel altitude of airships.

Evie barely grasped the situation she and her family were in, and in contrast Nikhila and Odilia were giggling euphorically in their ascent. It was good since the Pike Matador Danya, unlike the rest of her MA Unit sisters, had a warm smile that went against her imposing stature. The Pearl Caster Cherise, Coral Thunder Reese, Blade Ribbon Hina, and Crystal Dancer Kaguya carried their passengers as if it were an exasperating chore. They didn't bother to construct an elaborate, if not comfortable platform, but then again they did not want to expend unnecessary energy and matter in doing so.

Evie began coughing, and the infant twins started gagging. Eva tried to stir her sapient transport, the Pearl Caster, to go to them, but she began to feel a bit light headed.

"I apologize," said Danya. "The air is getting thinner."

"How much longer?" asked Jerri.

"Oh, a lot longer," smiled Hina, Jerri's transport.

"Hina, Kaguya," said Danya. "Create a radiation shield for our passengers. The rest of us will broadcast an oxygenated medium."

Hina nodded. She then unwrapped her ever-extending sari ribbon that wrapped the group to form a sphere, while Kaguya sent out from her sleeves hundreds of ice-like crystals to filter the light and radiation. They did see the medium generation happening, but the lightheadedness of Jerri and her family disappeared.

"Behold my guests," said Danya. "The Fortress Eschaton."

Hina adjusted her ribbon so that she could show Jerri and her family the might of the black fortress the size of a metropolis. It was conical-shaped with the tip pointed to the bottom. From the top edges spread a spiraling array of curving and intimidating spiked accents that looked vaguely like a torn black cape and demonic wings. The architecture was both technologically gothic and organic, and it would not surprise Eva if the entire fortress were a living being. She had learned from her history books that during the Eugenesis Period metals and superstructures were grown from a colony of nanomachines. Whether it was the case for Fortress Eschaton, she would not know.

They all navigated their way through the web of accents that hid the many disguised antimatter and rail cannons and approached the side of the main structure. One of the hexagonical hull plates folding open organically to grant the group access to the tunneling pathways. Again, the interior was gothic and organic, but not enough to pulsate at every heartbeat. All there was a deep hum and a few lines of subtly glowing cables leading back to its source.

The MA Units dropped their passengers on a magnetic levitation platform, and boarded it themselves. As they rode upwards through the tunnel, Jerri wondered why the machinations didn't just take them to the destination themselves.

Eventually they arrived in a small roofed station that looked buffeted by works of postmodernism. Mainly it was concrete and metallic junk, but that and the half-dome of the living level were deceptively sturdy.

The living level was a paradise in space protected by a geodesic half-dome that had its trusses arranged so that the outside universe could be shown in the blue-to-black transitionary beauty. Exotic and alien plants and trees grew on their own concrete mini-terraces, and the walkways between were made out of soft bleached asphalt. The group was at the edge of the half-dome, and they realized there were others below their eye level that contained a desert environment, a forest environment, an arctic environment, a savanna environment, a beach and ocean environment, a congested 'city' environment, a farming environment, and a blank environment consisting of a smooth bleached concrete floor.

The living level also happened to house a small village that could have been a throwback of parochial times if not for the postmodernist buildings. In the center was a bell tower attached to what looked like a church.

"What took you guys so long?" asked a bratty and childish voice. Appearing in a blink to their sides were Annette and Lindwe.

"You do have to consider the passengers we had to carry," said Danya. "Not to mention the danger of overexerting our fifth-dimensional energy limit."

"I made the calculations myself, and it should only delay the lot of you thirty seconds."

"We would have made it sooner if Danya hadn't slowed us down," said Hina.

"She could be getting old in the tooth if you know what I mean," grinned Reese.

"Enough," said Danya. "The time between our birth-creation was only mere hours. Now then, have you told our mistress that her guests have arrived?"

"I have," replied Annette, "but she seems to be hurrying to the house for some reason."

"The house, then she must be..."

Immediately, they heard the faint tune of a sad harpsichord, which twitched the ears of Jerri and the woman herself into a near-trance. Jerri was the first to lead the others, and she moved right into the village square. Up ahead and past the church was a large two-story house that was built with wood in a prairie-school style. Jerri ran up the path and went inside, and honing her ears she instinctively headed into the sitting room decorated traditionally with embroider couches and wood furniture. The harpsichord was sitting by the window, and the harpsichordist was somewhat tall and bespectacled middle-aged woman with short blond-brown hair in a dark green blouse and brown corduroy jeans.

The woman stopped, and looked up when she sensed the presence of her guest.

"So you must be the wonderful woman who is able to impregnate others," she said.

"I guess I am," Jerri smiled childishly.

"Then I must embrace you appropriately."

The woman rose from her bench to walk over and hug Jerri with tender tightness. She was the same height as her, Jerri had noticed, but her body felt cold and lifeless. And yet she could not feel any anxiety. Instead, she was drawn to her looks and the music herself.

"It feels like I'm hugging myself," the woman said.

"Jerri," said Eva as she and the others caught up with her. "Don't go running off on your own in a strange place. You should know better."

"I assure you Misses Adams's wife that there are no traps in the Living Level," said Danya.

"Because we're sufficient enough to annihilate all intruders," added Annette.

"Annette!"

"Oh Danya," smiled the woman. "Forgive your sisters for being a bit sociopathic. She's only jealous of the love I shower towards you."

"But mistress..."

"Again with the mistress. Can't you just call me Zoya?"

"Yeah Danya," said Annette. "Why can't you call our mother Zoya?"

"Zoya?" Eva said. "Zoya Admantite? The heretical scientist of the 7th Vermont Special District of Bay-Haven?"

"You have heard of me recently," said Zoya. "But me heretical? I suppose I can be looked upon as such, but that is only the opinion of others. As long as I have the strength and will to do good for this world, my heresy will be looked upon as miracles and martyrdom I committed."

"Like sending out these killing machines to destroy all of humanity?"

"Eva shush!" Jerri snapped. "Don't speak to her this way!"

"Why not? We're her guests and I have every right to!"

"Jerri, it's all right," said Zoya. "I admit to committing such sins upon the world."

"Then stop."

"Okay. I'll stop. But that's only if Jerri approves as well."

"Well," said Jerri, "I guess I'll have to agree then."

"You're not serious are you?" Annette said. "You'll give the human filth a chance to strike back at us like last time!"

"It is all right," smiled Zoya. "Do what they have requested."

"But Zoya!"

"You do remember that I am human as well."

"That was back then!"

"Annette, you cannot disobey a direct order from our mistress," said Danya.

"Grr, fine! But when those monkeys attack, I will fight for the cause you have laid out for us!"

Then, Annette's disintegrated back to her orb-form. The orb flew off and disappeared, and the sparkling particles she used to form her human visage were funneled into the few vents of the house.

"Maybe it was a bad idea to give us sapient wills," said Danya.

"Oh, don't say that," said Zoya. "You wouldn't have the drive to protect Jerri after all those years."

"Eh?" Jerri asked. "You protected me?"

"Of course. Believe it not, Danya was your nursemaid and your heavenly guardian. But the one who gave birth to you... was me."

Jerri almost gasped, and she felt as if she was shot through the heart. Zoya her mother? Was Jerri like the MA Units? That would not possible as Jerri didn't posses rapid-transmutation abilities, but that fact that there was a mention of her being a created human resurfaced in her mind after her odyssey. Zoya was indeed a scientist that toyed with artificial beings, and the reality of Jerri being one was closer than ever.

"You all must be tired," said Zoya. "Why not rest in this house until dinner? Or if you prefer, you can use the guest houses in the village."

"If you insist," said Eva.

"We'll rest here," said Jerri.

"Jerri! Of all places."

"We're going to rest here, and that's final!"

"Hmph. Come on Evie. Danya or whatever, hand me my babies."

"Where are we going mommy?" Evie asked. "Are we sleeping in this house?"

"We are," replied Jerri. "Aren't we?"

"Yes," Eva nodded grudgingly.

"I shall show you the way Misses Adams's wife," said Danya.

"It's Eva. E-v-a."

"I apologize. Please come this way."

Danya remained in her human form as she led Eva, Tenaya, and the children upstairs. The rest of the MA Units walked away with a bow without turning their backs, and soon enough they disintegrated back into their orb forms. In that form, they disappeared into mouse holes that were on the ground or in the ceiling.

Jerri, however, lingered in the sitting room watching her "mother" close away the harpsichord and picking up the music score.

"My daughter, you should rest," said Zoya. "And it seems that you may have to talk to your wife."

"Um, right," said Jerri. "I'll see you then."

Jerri waved to Zoya nervously as she ran upstairs. She found Eva alone sitting on the bed in one of the first rooms she searched in, and walked past her in order to sit on the opposite side.

"Evie and the twins are in the next room with Tenaya," said Eva. "And you forgot to close the door."

"Oh."

Eva quickly closed the door and sat back down.

"They could have bugs," said Jerri.

"It doesn't matter."

"I see then."

"I guess that's the reason why we were able to survive for so long. It's all because of one madwoman's sick plans."

"I don't think she's mad or sick. Lonely perhaps."

"And you're siding with her because?"

"I'm not siding with anyone! I mean, I am too shocked to think straight when I learned that she's my mother."

"I can understand that, but you can't let your emotions get in the way of our personal survival."

"She's keeping us alive, isn't she? Look, we really can't do anything right now since we're here."

"You did say that they took us here to kill us."

"We're only here to save our friends."

"There is a big chance that they are dead already."

"Eva..."

There was a knock. "May I come in?" asked Danya's voice.

Jerri lied down. "Sure."

Danya entered, and this time she was dressed in a frilly maid's outfit. She brought in a tray of snacks and wrapped garments in her arms, the latter of which she hung in the closet.

"I have already given Miss Tenaya and the children some snacks and a change of clothes," she said. "It will be some time for the mistress to prepare the food, so you are free to wander around Zoyana."

"Zoyana?" said Becky.

"I apologize. I used to call you Zoyana when I nursed you."

"Eh? How does that work when you're a machine?"

"It's simple enough for me to artificially create milk in my breasts. Otherwise, I would create a hollow in them and I drink the milk cultivated from the milk-producing machines."

Jerri covered her mouth to anticipate throwing up, but she had no inclination to do so. If it were the other MA Units who nursed her, she would have, but seeing and even being with Danya made her comfortable.

Then there were thoughts on why Zoya didn't nurse her, but alas Jerri remembered that she was a created human. But there might be other reasons for that.

"Zoyana, I mean, Misses Adams," said Danya, "feel free to give yourself a personal tour. We have dangerous biospheres, but the automated security systems should warn you beforehand."

With a bow, Danya exited the room and shut the door. She had disintegrated back to her orb form, as indicated by the metallic splashing sound and sharp howl.

"Shall we have a look around?" Eva asked.

"Sure," replied Jerri.

After a quick shower together, they changed into the clothes given them. For Eva, it was a summer Eastern European dress, while Jerri fitted herself in tight jeans, a t-shirt, and a vest. They walked next door to call Tenaya and the children. Tenaya came out carrying Nikhila and Odilia in her arms, while Evie was adorably donned in smaller version of Eva's dress.

"These clothes suck," said Evie. "I wanna wear what Amam has."

"We'll ask grandma for some later," said Jerri.

Setting off through the downstairs hallway, they could already smell the cooking in progress. Zoya, with an apron over her front poked her head out of the kitchen to watch her daughter's family exit the house. They put the infant twins in a double-stroller Danya had left beforehand.

The village was homely and peaceful, despite its postmodernist looks. There were actually insects, birds, small reptiles, and rodent critters the likes no one had seen. The species Eva saw looked like nothing what she read in her family's archives, past or present. Besides a church, there were ten additional small homes, a small hostel, one hospital, a wood shop, a metal foundry, and a general store. Each of the building was unlocked, and the family went into a few of them look around. There were handmade wood furniture ready to be used by the new inhabitants, and each interior lacked dust due to the lack of human inhabitants.

They then toured some of the other biospheres, Evie took particular interest on the ocean and beach one because she wanted to jump in and swim. The larger city biosphere with its high ceiling was modeled after a small city, and came complete with stoplights, a mini-mall, an arcade, a multi-purpose theater, and even bright and bright clothes that caught the eye of Tenaya who wanted to try some on. They took a short trip through the farm biosphere, which was full automated and showed promise of edible yet seemingly alien crops.

They boarded the maglev platform at the station, and the automated system asked them for their destination.

"The MA Units' Quarters," said Eva.

"Eva?" Jerri said.

"CONFIRMED," spoke the system in a female voice.

For Evie and the twins, it was yet another rollercoaster ride through the metal-organic tunnels, but it went deeper and spiraled counter-clockwise. They arrived in the interior of the orbiting fortress in a hallway that was purple and pink.

"Why are we here mommy?" asked Evie.

"Yeah, why are we here?" asked Jerri.

"We are allowed a tour, aren't we?" said Eva. "This place isn't dangerous or restricted."

"Going into the belly of the beast, huh?"

"Why not?"

Not knowing what they wanted to find, they proceeded down the curving halls passing many empty computer terminal rooms and locked doors that led to the fifth-dimensional particle maintenance guns. They were then drawn to the sound of chattering, and passed many uninteresting rooms where they spotted the MA Units in their human forms floating in an egg-shaped chamber. Instead of being in their usual battle costumes, they were in colored semi-transparent leotards that would have been very revealing if not for the solid color coverings over the breasts and crotches.

"Look who's here," smiled Annette. "Have you come to play?"

"Is this a bad time?" Jerri asked.

"No, never! Just step in."

"You know we can't fly--hey Evie!"

"Hey!" Evie cried. "I'm floating!"

"Evie come back!" Eva yelled.

One step into the chamber and the family was floating. Evie swam away from her birthmother, while the twins swim with pure instinct. Jerri floated towards the middle, watching her family struggling to get used to the zero gravity. Her natural drift swept her towards the wall, but Annette floated to catch Jerri from behind.

"Mmm, you smell nice," said Annette as she nuzzled onto her hair.

"You can smell?" Jerri asked.

"If Danya can lactate for you, then anything human is possible," said Hina, who then latched onto to Jerri's right arm.

"You're handsome and pretty," said Cherise, who snuggled on Jerri's bosom.

"Nothing short of our mistress's beauty," said Reese, who latched onto Jerri's left arm.

"Hands off her," said Eva, who now had given up chasing Evie.

"Feeling jealous?" Lindwe said as she grasped Eva's arm. "We can keep you company, won't we?"

Kaguya then appeared with a cold grin and a cold breath, which sent chills up Eva's spine.

"You're making them uncomfortable girls," said Danya.

"Then why aren't you fawning Jerri like you used to?" Annette asked. "It is because of your attachment that you protected her from the shadows."

"You even went as far as masquerading as her 'Auntie'," added Hina.

"You were Auntie?" asked Jerri.

"Um, I'm sorry that I didn't do more to protect you," said Danya.

"Forget it. Even if I knew it wouldn't erase the scars of my childhood."

"Jerri, I..."

"Help me!" Tenaya cried.

Tenaya, who was chasing the twins, was flying towards the roof. Seeing as she had failed Jerri somehow, Danya turned her attention towards catching Tenaya, even the entire chamber was padded.

"Are you all right Miss Tenaya?" she asked.

All Tenaya could do, after staring into Danya's eyes, was look down and make a blushing nod.

"All right you six," Danya said. "Let go of Misses Adams and her wife."

"But if we touch them more, they might succumb to our whims," said Annette.

"Humans are not like that Annette."

"Very well. We'll have time when the world is cleared of the human filth dirtying the surface."

"Annette, we have orders not to conduct any more attacks."

"Right, right."

Jerri and her wife were set free from the grip of the MA Units, and for further spite they were giggling as the family left. Danya accompanied them towards the second entrance on foot, during which Tenaya shyly kept her distance from the Pike Matador.

"I apologize for their behavior," said Danya. "Ever since the mistress gave them sapience, they have been acting that way."

"But you are different from them," said Eva.

"Though were technically the same model, we are able to develop our own personalities and styles of battle as you have witnessed. With I being the oldest, I was ordered by the mistress to keep them in line."

"You seem to be losing your control over them," said Jerri.

"I have not. They have to behave or else the mistress will cut off their data-energy link."

"I see."

"Are there any other places we can go see?" Eva asked.

"From the security videos, you have visited almost all of the free access. The restricted access are left, but they are so because of the dangerous radiation and cross contamination."

"Do you think I can see the place where I was born?" asked Jerri.

"Are you sure?'

"I'd like to know how I was created."

"Well..."

"Danya!" cried Annette as she skipped out of the zero gravity chamber. "Danya!"

"What is it Annette?"

"It's almost time for dinner!"

"Okay. I apologize Misses Adams, but we'll have to postpone the tour of the birthing chambers. Our mistress awaits us."

Danya escorted the family back up to the living level. Once they were inside the house, the rest of the MA Units were already gathered at the long table in their dresses. Danya sat among them, and she without the family realizing it had instantly changed into a frilly Spanish-style dress.

Jerri and her family sat close to the head where Zoya would be sitting. Like the typical mother, Zoya had already laid out the food, drinks, and plates beforehand.

"Jerri my daughter," she said, "would you like to begin some kind of prayer?"

"I don't know any," replied Jerri.

"That is all right. I'm not religious despite having a church here. But perhaps your wife can lead us."

"Sure," said Eva. "Hinduism and Christianity do have similarities."

Eva recited a prayer, which she would do sometimes during holy months when she and her family were back at the family farm. When she finished, the MA Units began filling their plates with anything they could get their hands on and gluttonously cleaned them off with forks, knives, spoons, and mouths. That was not surprising to the family, but they were more surprised on how little Zoya ate. In one serving, she was done, and she sat with her chin rested on her hands watching her biological and surrogate family eat.

The food that was cooked and prepared terrestrially was succulent, but like the biosphere domes they tasted exotic and alien. Nonetheless, it did not make Jerri and her family sick, let alone spit their meals out in disgust. There were thoughts of them being poisoned, but they kept on eating lest they would worry Zoya.

With everyone having their fill, Zoya cleaned the table, and adamantly refused all help from Danya, Tenaya, and Jerri. She came back from the kitchen bringing trays of desert two at a time until the table was filled. Jerri's family tried the best to at least one equivalent of a slice of cake, while the MA Units again gorged on whatever their mistress ate. Once more Zoya ate very little, and contented herself watching her families eat for the rest of the short meal.

Finally, she allowed help from Danya, Tenaya, and Jerri in dishwashing by hand, which was done quickly. Afterwards, Eva ordered Tenaya to take her children to bed, for she accompanied Jerri to the sitting room where it was cleared off to create a small dance floor with Zoya creating music from the harpsichord. Jerri and Eva mainly watched as the MA Units, excepting Danya, took turns dancing in line or with partners in various folk melodies coupled with a few pop ones. Eventually, they coaxed Danya, Jerri, and Eva into dancing, and even Zoya joined in with Annette taking over the harpsichord.

Annette's style sounded to mechanical. Jerri was eventually partnered up with her mother, and again she could feel her heaviness, the coldness of our touch, and the lack of a pulse. Zoya, as Jerri saw it through her eyes, was pushing herself to be lively as if it was a new effort for a machine. Jerri thought her own mother being a MA Unit herself, but that didn't seem to be the case. Rather, there was something so half-human about her.

"Now wasn't that fun?" breathed Zoya as she rested on a leather reading chair.

"With the addition of Jerri and Eva, it was more so," smiled Annette. "Say what time is it?"

"Twenty-three hours and twelve minutes," replied Danya. "We should return to our capsules to rest."

"Ah, can't we go on for little more? We can get back there in less than five minutes."

"Danya is right," said Zoya. "Even though you only exerted yourself less than usual, you should rest due to the increasing space-time fluctuations in your fifth-dimensional circuit."

"So it's becoming worse then," said Hina.

"We have been fighting a lot last week," said Reese.

"Oh, all right," pouted Annette. "If it is for the best of us."

"I understand your need to play Annette," said Zoya. "I promise that you'll be the first in the conversion process."

"Thank you Zoya!"

In order to make their guests comfortable, Danya and the other MA Units left the room so they could disintegrate back to their orb-forms.

"Conversion process?" asked Jerri. "Fifth-dimensional circuit?"

"Come with me to the nook where we can talk about this over hot chocolate," said Zoya.

Eva and Jerri were led to the breakfast nook that was just "south" of the dining room. Zoya came back with hot chocolate for each of them and began answering the questions the couple had in their mind.

"You might be wondering why they eat and drink when they don't need to," said Zoya. "They see it as practice in becoming human."

"Practice?" asked Jerri. "Why would such powerful weapons want to become human?"

"True that they could be god-like--or perhaps demonic. Of course, the energy and matter requirements to perform the feats they do are vast, and needs to use the fifth dimension to process it on-the-fly. Their core unit is their mind and real body, but in truth it is not as stable as it could be. Rapid matter transmutation damages the core's molecules not just at the quantum level, but also at the fifth-dimensional level. The capsules they 'sleep' in allows them to repair themselves, but it only delays the inevitable space-time atrophy."

"I keep hearing about that. What does that mean?"

"It means they'll implode into a singularity, kind of a like black hole. That is why I intend to transfer them into human bodies. No, I shouldn't be calling them human. Perhaps it would be 'enhanced human', or--"

"Created human?"

"That too. Jerri, it is likely that you will have many new sisters very soon."

"Sisters, huh?"

Eva frowned at the fact that Zoya was doing nothing but smile amidst Jerri's internal shock.

"Danya will be out for twenty-four hours, so I will be giving a tour of your birthplace tomorrow," said Zoya. "Please get plenty of rest. We'll start the tour after breakfast."



Zoya had delivered Evie's new clothes in the early morning, and then immediately got started in making breakfast for the family. After the meal, at Zoya's suggestion, Jerri and Eva sent Tenaya off to the playground in the city environment, for the things the parents would see might disturb the children.

The couple followed Zoya to the nearest maglev platform station, and once on they went further below the MA Unit's quarters. The three ended up in the same metal-organic hallways, but it was darker, perhaps more so than the exterior of Fortress Eschaton. The birthing facilities seemed a lot larger than the MA Units' quarters due to the long walks that went several levels up and down.

They ended up in the completed bodies section where they beheld the ready yet soulless bodies that were identical to the visages the machinations. There were seven in all each nude and inside their capsules, and they were sleeping for the time when they would receive the minds and personalities of MA Units. The rest of the hundred capsules were empty.

"So these will be Danya and the others' new bodies," said Jerri.

"Once they complete their duty, then yes," said Zoya.

Eva made an "hmph" under her breath.

Zoya then led the couple to the adjacent chamber where there were hundreds or at least around a thousand empty capsules large enough for infants.

"This where you and your sisters were born," said Zoya.

"I had sisters?" Jerri asked.

"Yes, but tragically almost all of them did not survive past their infancy. You might think that genetic engineering would be easy considering that this technology dates back to the 'Eugenesis Period' the world refers to as such, but consider the vast amount of variables you have to consider when creating a human you have recently reverse-engineered so to speak. Simple things as tolerance to Earth's gravity and the amount of nitrogen could produce a still-birth created child, and those who did survive the turmoil of infancy died with a debilitating disease both external and genetic in mere years.

"In my long life, I wanted to create a perfect human not hindered by the rape-minded aggressiveness of testosterone and the submissive manic weakness of estrogen; a human that would not possess the sword between its legs to attack its victims and mark its perceived territory; a human who would posses the drive to procreate, yet the tools to take care of the children if for any event the birthmother were to meet her untimely demise.

"Mankind ruled by male superiors thought it best to control the masses by tweaking their genetic code to their fitting, but their folly was that they forgot to fix themselves. Thus, after numerous removals of undesirable human traits, like sex drives and the purported 'gay gene', the masses simply stopped copulating, and despite pressures from the male and female rulers very few children resulted. Almost all girls were produced since then, and the Y-Chromosome was suffering rapid atrophy. Then the wars happened between who wanted to preserve their empires, and eventually we settled into the inept males who think they rule when in reality they do not.

"At first I felt rejoice of the removal of males from actual leadership, but it turns out I was wrong. Taking a page from the opposite sex, the female rulers began aggregating power and began oppressing their commoner brethren, and the only difference that they were more vicious. They were the reason for the second fall and the massive population reduction of this scarred Earth.

"I have once felt that Adam was the very reason for the fall of mankind, because he was not valiant enough to stop Eve from devouring the Fruit of Knowledge. Now I feel they both share equal blame for the sins of humanity. Eve was but a stupid bimbo, and God was too proud and arrogant to realize Adam was a dumb and distracted jock. So I decided to rectify God's mistake to create a woman who could impregnate other women only if pure love exists between them. I made no mistakes in creating one who would be like the males who sleep around as if he is God. My children are tweaked so that perfect monogamy would exist, and through that perfect monogamy the offspring will be raised in a better world."

"How could I impregnate other women?" asked Jerri.

"You should have already figured out that it was your ejaculate that did the trick. No, it's not urine. Rather, it came from your modified ovaries that not only produce your ovum, but also a 'string ovum', which is created during sex with your wife. That string ovum is drawn to a vaginal lining not of its own, and when it senses it, it attaches and struggles its way your wife's ovum where the ova merging occurs. I expect the wife to get pregnant after a couple of intercourses being that the string ovum doesn't carry as much genetic material as a burst of sperm."

"No, it wasn't a couple. I impregnated Eva on my first try with her."

"So brilliant! You are indeed my best work! I mean, not in a objectifying sense, but I am really proud of you."

"Then why was Jerri left on the surface if you knew she would succeed?" asked Eva.

"I never expected her to succeed," said Zoya. "Nor did I expect her to survive. Jerri was sick, and in my depressive state I wanted to be merciful and euthanize her. But Danya had secretly took her to the surface and delivered her to the hospital. It was best for me to forget about my Zoyana and planned on to commit revenge on those who rejected my ideals and threaten my children's existence."

"You nearly destroyed the entire human race in the process."

"They tried to kill me first! I was alone, and my MA Units wanted to punish the world for rejected me, in order to create a clean slate for me to rule. But when I finally learned of your existence and survival Jerri and the fact you had children with your wife, I was overjoyed. I had to see and feel you in my grasp Jerri. You are truly a success and the future of our new humanity!"

"Um, thanks?" Jerri said.

"I still don't forgive you for sending out those monsters against the world," said Eva.

"I may never be forgiven for my past sins," said Zoya, "but surely we can put it aside in the name of peace."

"Please Eva?" said Jerri.

"I solemnly swear to cease all hostilities to what remains of humankind. If needs be, I will offer myself to be put on trial for my war crimes."

"You swear?" Eva said.

"Of course I swear!"

Eva sighed. "Very well then. I would request that you take me and my family back down to the surface as soon as possible."

"Won't you please stay for a while? I want a chance to get to know my grandchildren a little longer."

"At this height I feel precarious."

"This is one of the safest orbital fortresses of the Eugenesis Period. No debris large or microscopic can pierce its hull."

"Eva, can't you grant her that request?" asked Jerri. "I mean, I want to know more about my mother."

"Then we'll stay for seven days," said Eva. "Agreed?"

"Agreed," said Zoya.



On the next day of Eva's reluctant stay, she accompanied her family for swimming at the ocean and beach biosphere. The MA Units also swam, and they also held a sandcastle contest, a volleyball tournament, and luau dance.

Eva didn't participate due to her developing womb. The baby inside of her was now many months in development, and she had hoped she didn't indirectly traumatize it after all the adventures she had. Eva had the unfortunate circumstance of reclining next to Zoya underneath the umbrella, and again Zoya was covered in her dark blouse and corduroy pants. The only difference was that she was now wearing flip-flop slippers, sunglasses, and a straw hat.

"Come swim with us grandma!" Evie yelled out from the water.

"Oh no, I can't," said Zoya. "I'm too old."

That's not the reason why, Eva thought.

Eva didn't have to tell her children about their grandmother's cold strangeness. Nikhila and Odilia were uncomfortable in arms and would cry immediately. Evie would always remark that Zoya was always cold to touch, but Zoya was tolerant and smiling, and allowed her granddaughter to say apparently obvious things.

Jerri, on the other hand, was completely fawning over the mother who nearly put her to death, and thus Zoya returned her love equally. It was as if the two were catching up to their relationship of mother and daughter. Jerri assisted Zoya on everyday matters, and eventually became a competent cook herself. Together the two repaired various buildings and some computer terminals in the lower level lab facilities. They even did a pretend shop at the city biosphere, with the MA Units acting as cash tenders. It was disconcerting to Eva, yet she didn't want to spoil her wife's happiness, however false and momentary it may be.

As a side development, she noticed Tenaya gravitating to Danya every chance she got. During Danya's days of rest, Tenaya would look very worried, and when she wasn't Tenaya was at her happiest. Eva had never seen her that way ever since she and Jerri took her in as a live-in housemaid.

It was now confirmed, for Tenaya had confessed to Eva on Danya's day of rest that she fell in love with her, and wanted to know how she could get her to notice her. Eva helped as best she could by picking out the best clothes from Zoya's many wardrobe collections, styling her hair, and applying the right makeup.

Yet there was the problem of Danya not knowing how to respond to love. She always acted like an emotionless brick in the presence of Tenaya, and was completely unaware of Tenaya's feelings. It drove Tenaya to tears that Danya would not respond, and soon Tenaya completely stopped seeing the oblivious MA Unit.

Danya, who had heard that Tenaya fell in love with her, confided with Jerri in private in the forest biosphere. Danya was too embarrassed to ask Zoya, and too ashamed to ask the snickering MA Units.

"I don't see what the problem is," said Jerri. "The only barriers are the she's a human and you're a machine."

"I'm one of the monsters who murdered her mother," said Danya.

"But you didn't murder her directly, didn't you? Besides you're different than the others."

Danya reclined herself against the tree. "We MA Units know nothing about love. We just pretend that we do."

"You are learning, aren't you?"

"A little at a time."

"If I may, how do you feel about it?"

"I am terrified."

"Oh."

"And frustrated."

"How about I ask this: does it feel like the time you looked after me?"

"A bit."

"Is the feelings you have now stronger?"

"I... I think so. Is this what you call love?"

"Well, there is a love of one because you care about the well being of that person. Then there is the love of where not only you care about the well being of that person, but you also want to 'make love' in order to feel complete and whole. Adding to that, there is a love used to create children."

"You're lucky you get to experience all three."

With a somber smile, Danya disintegrated into her orb form and disappeared into a pool of water to go through a pipe that led back to her chambers.

After another day, Danya asked Tenaya out on a date of some sort, which the human girl readily agreed to. To back them up, Jerri and Eva accompanied them, although there really wasn't much to do in Fortress Eschaton other than visiting the biospheres to find ways to have fun. Jerri and Eva did their best to leave the Danya and Tenaya alone.

Then they realized that the rest of the MA Units were spying on the new couple with disgust. Ridicule was not enough to prevent Danya from taking an interest on a human, and it was soon apparent that the MA Units did not want to be in the same space as their perceived traitorous older, and outright excluded her from their activities in their holding level. Danya barely noticed, as she was worried she might upset Tenaya's bliss.

Jerri and Eva realized they overstayed their time in the orbiting fortress by about three days. Evie was getting restless and wanted to go home to the farm. Eva wanted to as well, but she wasn't sure if their town had survived the onslaught of the MA Units' attacks. All in all, she and her family couldn't stay here forever, and it wasn't because of fears that Zoya and her followers would change their mind. Eva talked about it with Jerri on the night of the MA Units' resting period in their bed.

"We really should leave now," said Eva. "We'll use Danya to transport us to the surface since she is trustworthy."

"And we leave without saying goodbye?"

"We'll use her to say it for us."

"But why so soon? If it's boredom, I can understand, but Tenaya seems to be very attached to Danya and I want to spend more time with my mother. We can't exactly take those two with us."

"Something isn't right Jerri."

Jerri sat up. "What's not right?"

"I worry about our children and Tenaya, and I don't think the rest of the MA Units will keep their word."

"Then we have to teach them the consequences of betraying trust and dishonesty. Why don't you tell them off Eva?"

"You are too relaxed about this situation."

"It's a nice place and almost self-sufficient."

"A lot of accidents can happen at this altitude."

"Stop making things worse than it is."

"You're making it worse! Ever since you came here you've been fawning over that woman like a lost child."

"Because I am a lost child! Do you realize how happy I am to find out that I have a mother?"

"What mother would abandon her child who she sees as nothing more than an experiment?"

"Don't you have some commandment of forgiving your enemy?"

"I do, but I am not stupid enough to not sense imminent danger coming towards us."

"Eva, don't you dare talk about my mother like that. She's my family."

"Jerri, what about us? We're your family!"

"Screw this shit. I'm sleeping downstairs."

"Jerri!"

Jerri exited the room at around midnight. It was dark, but hardly cold in the artificial night in the house. She quietly made her way to the sitting room and moved the couch pillows accordingly for her slumber. During that time, she saw Tenaya in her pajamas being embraced by Danya. Tenaya was smiling sadly, and she clung onto her love not wanting to let go. But Danya gently pushed her away, and then beautifully disintegrated into her orb form that then flew away. Tenaya returned to the house, sniffling, and Jerri reclined herself in the couch so that her housemaid would not notice.



"It's breakfast time girl," said Hina.

It was not the face she wanted to wake up to. Jerri got off the couch and pushed away Hina somewhat rudely as she headed to the breakfast nook. There was only Annette and Cherise at the table eating the food cooked by their mistress.

"Boy did you sleep like a log," said Annette.

"And you snored the part," said Cherise.

"What time is it?" Jerri asked. "And where's my family?"

"Your family is at the concrete biosphere trying out roller skates."

"Did you and your wife have a fight?" Annette asked.

"Where's my mother?" asked Jerri.

"In the church tuning the carillon," replied Cherise.

"Thanks."

"You're not going to eat?" asked Annette.

Jerri came back to munch on a piece of toast and drank down half of a glass of orange juice. Throwing an overcoat over the pajamas she wore, Jerri headed out into the village and entered the church through the front. Even though there were clocks and a regular solar schedule, it was still difficult to tell what time of day it was in Fortress Eschaton since it could move against the spin of the planet or faster than it. The sun that should be lighting the area would usually be too bright and harmful, so the biosphere windowpanes were constantly tinted even though it did not seem so.

There were stained glass windows depicting no one but colored patterns. There was a cloth-covered altar, but no religious books abused by human hands or gothic candles to light the night. There was no cross and no crucifix. There was nothing to indicate what denomination the church was a part of, but then there was no indication if it was supposed to be Christian church or a Jewish Synagogue. It might was well be the chapel of pure atheism or agnosticism.

The door that led to the bell tower was open, but it was actually carillon, a keyboard instrument that was designed to play the twenty-four bells like piano, but fists was used to hammer the keys. Jerri went through the door, which she never did since her arrival. It went straight into a stone staircase that led below the level, and as she went down it spiraled deeper. Once she hit a solid ground, Jerri could now hear the solid hum and whine of machines. Above her were wires, pistons, and shafts that controlled the carillon bells, and it led into room behind a plain double-door. Jerri entered, and she felt as if she entered a technologically enhanced music room.

There was an array of overhead video screens that were bordered by curtains. The control panels looked like an endless line of white piano keys and organ switches and dials with an ancient script printed onto them. The room dipped downward, and had a railing separating the walkway that to two adjacent rooms Jerri knew not where it went.

And direct in the center was a harpsichord more elegant and shimmering than the one in the house. Zoya, still in her blouse and corduroy pants, was giving such a detailing cleaning that she wore goggles and rubber gloves.

"Ah, Jerri," said Zoya, finally seeing her daughter. "Did you have a hearty breakfast? I am sorry that I wasn't there to eat with you and your family. But I didn't want to wake you from your peaceful slumber."

"You didn't show me this place."

"I suppose I forgot. My age must be catching up to me."

"Do you need any help?"

"Oh, don't trouble yourself. Please, sit down at the bench. I am almost finished."

Jerri sat. Zoya immediately put away her goggles and gloves into her tool bag along with the other tools and set aside. She gestured Jerri to scoot so that she could sit with her. With key cover flipped up, Zoya ran her fingers across the keys letting the sound reverberate for her to hear.

"Yes, it is in tune," she said.

"You're quite a fan of this instrument."

"I loved the harpsichord since I was young. Back then the piano was a more popular instrument, but it became too common for bubblegum pop ballads. The harpsichord has the voice of an elegant era governed by class and nobility."

Zoya began playing a bright and melodious tune that entranced Jerri as if it was a lullaby. Jerri swayed side to side as she basked her mother's audible talent, and then she accidentally fell onto her shoulder.

"Sorry!" said Jerri.

"That is all right. This was the song I would play to you when you were but an infant."

Finally, the tears rolled down from Jerri.

"Jerri, I'm sorry," said Zoya. "You know that I didn't want to euthanize you, but you would have been put into a much worse situation if the Congregational Corporation or Nataraja Agriculture discovered you."

"You should have... you should have taken care of me even when I was supposedly dying. Because of that, I had to put through sexual abuse, rapes, and being used as a toy by other women."

"But if I haven't sent you down, you wouldn't have met Eva, correct?"

Jerri nodded. "She's very suspicious of you."

"I understand completely."

"Then why all this? Why must you commit these sins against humanity?"

"It's because I love you. The truth is that I want to create a world you can live happily with the sisters you will mate to produce a new era. I can't let these people survive after how they treated you. After all, half of their genes came from arrogant men and the other half from hysterical women. I can't let you go down now because... I have already killed all the known males on this planet."

Jerri's eyes widened.

"I didn't mean to. My children confirmed it right after you came up to live with me here. Word will spread fast that you and your daughters are the only people able to impregnate us. Wars the likes of which you haven't seen will be fought over you and your family due the access of ancient technology that nearly destroyed our world and civilization hundreds of years ago.

"I truly care for the safety of your wife and your children. I really do. So please do not leave my sight until the time is right. That is why I am sending Danya and the others to seed the land with strong crops and strong creatures for your domination. Right now, only I can protect you from the world at large."

"But we'll forsake the people below."

"I am sorry, I cannot find the means to save them. You should know that you can't impregnate them if you can't experience true love."

"But my children can..."

"I can't risk it. Many will have died by the time the are older and willing, and I don't want them to be exposed to the ancient diseases sleeping on the surface."

"So my friends down there... we're going to let them die naturally then."

"I won't harass them any longer. For the future of all humanity, please stay here."

Zoya hugged the trembling Jerri, who had finally stopped crying.

"Mommy," Jerri said.

"Jerri," said Zoya. "Oh, my Zoyana."



The twins were put on a wagon towed by Tenaya on in-line roller skates, while Evie dashed and skipped around attempted to perform tricks, but it would not be so under Eva's supervision.

She didn't want to confront Jerri when she woke up, so watching her children and nursemaid play would have been a good distraction if not for the presence of Flame Sniper Lindwe and Crystal Dancer Kaguya. The fire and ice duo were watching them too intently, and their eyes blinked in all-too regular intervals.

"Mama!" Evie cried. "Look at this!"

"Evie, let's go back to the house and wake up Amam," said Eva.

"Already?"

"I think it is still too soon Jerri's wife," said Lindwe.

"Eva," replied Eva. "It's Eva. Tenaya, bring the twins to the platform. Evie come over here."

"Danya won't be back for quite a while."

"Tenaya, don't listen to her."

Tenaya nodded, but then Lindwe and Kaguya appeared before them.

"Out of the way," said Eva.

"Very well," said Lindwe. "Kaguya, shall we?"

"Indeed," hissed Kaguya. The two MA Units stepped aside to allow Eva and her family to pass.

Before they could even step into the platform, the ground suddenly disintegrated, and the family was now freefalling rapidly to the blue Earth. Lindwe and Kaguya remained where they were as if they were still on the ground, watching with playful grins the hapless family disappearing into the atmosphere.

[End notes: Why harpsichord? I was originally going to use an organ, but I felt that was starting to be too cliché. I nearly settled with carillon, but it turns out to be less elegant that I have expected. So I chose harpsichord to give a more elegant and feminine feel for Zoya Adamantite. ]

Chapter 14

Title: "Why must you commit these sins?"

Eve Sky
Chapter 14 - "Why must you commit these sins?"
by StarCross


Even after being given sapience by her maker, Pike Matador Danya still thought of herself as a machine that had to strictly take orders by their human masters. Being the eldest of her sisters, she had to set an example for them by performing Zoya's to the letter. Questioning her was moot. All that was required for the MA Units was to do the job.

So it was not surprising that when the order to destroy all humans came up, she promptly descended via orb form and lay ruin to all.

She had not done so for almost a week since Jerri and her family was taken into Fortress Eschaton. Then when Zoya suddenly requested her and the others to resume their campaign on the surface, she acknowledged and simply told her:

"Your will shall be done."

But Danya did something differently today. After midnight, she returned to the living level and threw a pebble at Tenaya's window at the large house. Tenaya answered quietly through gestures so she would not wake the children, and Danya gestured back to come down.

Tenaya came in her cute pajamas. "What is it Danya?"

Danya hugged her.

"Jerri recommended me that if I am to love you," she said, "I am to make sure you know everything that I do."

But hugging her isn't a requirement, thought Danya.

"What are you doing?" asked Tenaya.

"There is a mission I must do."

"A mission? It doesn't involve killing people, does it?"

"No."

Why am I lying?

"We don't just do killing," Danya continued. "We also do monitoring duties of the Earth's environment to check the progress of forest regrowth and wildlife reintroduction."

They parted.

"You don't believe, do you?"

Tenaya shook her head. She just pecked Danya on the lips.

"Please go," said Tenaya.

"I'm sorry."

Danya disintegrated back to her orb form and went outside. As she fell into the atmosphere, she met up with Coral Thunder Reese's orb form.

"Where are the others?" she asked her.

"They'll be coming down later," replied Reese. "Our mistress had to perform some last minute checks on them."

"I see. We'll meet back before dinner."

"I can't wait."

They parted ways, with Reese heading to North America and Danya heading to South America. The target was a military and refugee encampment at the foot of the Andes Mountains directly east of the ruined port city of Temuco. Such instant encampments made Danya's job easier the more she attacked, and this one was quite big compared to the ones she encountered more than a week ago. Hovering at the peak of the Andes, Danya formed her body, battle costume, and almost a million flagged pikes. She commanded the pikes to hover in the air, and then launched them all to the unsuspecting people.

They were caught off guard, and even if they weren't they would not have a chance anyway. Very few lucky survivors had a chance to strike back, and in response Danya simply had to appear at the encampment, form another long pike from nearby matter and energy, and launch it to the attacker would then be skewered and stuck like an animal.

"There should be no survivors," she was told. She took it too literally, as there still those still alive albeit skewered to their spot. Whether mercilessly or not, Danya would immediately cut their lives shorter with a slit on the throat with her sword, or a stab on the chest. Usually, there would be about ten or less of these type incidents.

She hunted them down through heat signature, and distinguishing them from burning fires was quite easy for the likes of her. So after much scanning, Danya was about to revert to her orb form when there was a blip on her optical sensors. It was close, and the sounds of tears and wails confirmed that there was at least one more survivor.

"Mama! Please wake up! Wake up!"

She was speaking Spanish, as Danya's translator had determined. Danya walked on foot and saw a child crouched beside her dead and bloodied mother. She remembered the mother as one of the guards she had hit in the initial attack, but she never realized that there was a child with her. On top of that, the pike that pierced her torso had been miraculously removed by the child despite her being six years old.

"Mama! Don't leave me alone!

No matter. Danya had killed helpless infants, so slaying a child would be no different. She unsheathed her sword and raised it high for the one-cut kill.

"I don't want to die!"

But the blade was stuck in the air. Danya was hesitating.

After finally noticing the MA Unit, the little girl wailed even louder and hugged her dead mother, which in effect spilled more blood onto her clothes. Danya redoubled her function to kill the girl, but the troubled machination only shook harder. The blade went down, but it cut nothing but the ground.

Danya staggered back clutching her head in horror.

There is an error in my programming! she thought. Why can't I kill her?

She then remembered a campaign long ago in the military outpost of Mexico City where she and her sisters were sent to carry out many years ago. The order was to eliminate anyone who was associated with a defected created human Zoya wanted to test out, including the subject itself. They had to make it look like it was done by terrorists, and the method to carry out was up to them.

It soon became a bloodbath, and as expected they left no survivors. However, Danya was the last to leave the burning base, and she saw a girl of fourteen years or older shaking her dead soldier-mother who had a pike skewered through her chest. Her hair was black instead of snow white back then...

Danya had always convinced herself it was the others who killed Tenaya's mother. Of all the MA Units, why did had to be her? There were so many errors in her programming and memory circuits in her rendered core. Or perhaps it wasn't just numbers, but actual human feelings? How could Danya ever exist knowing she committed genocide of millions and killed her lover's mother?

She had a bad feeling welling up her that urged her to see if Tenaya was okay. Still retraining her human form, Danya shot off into the air to meet up with Fortress Eschaton, which would be passing over very soon.



Sometime in the past, a man named Joseph Kittinger made a world record of having not only the highest air balloon ascent, but also the highest parachute jump from about 31,300 meters. That was the info that ran into Eva's mind as she and her family fell. It was fortunate that she wouldn't have to experience negative and below freezing temperatures due to her falling from a starting position of about 15,000 meters, which could make her the first highest female freefaller, and the first family to freefall from such a high altitude. They might as well be the first to break speed records.

She remembered an airship attack between rival conglomerates at such an altitude in the distant past, and there were two survivors who survived impact on the ground without a parachute. But they soon died afterwards due to injuries before help arrived. She also remembered that a rich daughter in her family, who loved skydiving, had a malfunctioning parachute during one of her jumps. She crashed into the bushes in the Punjab, surviving with a broken ankle and a punctured lung. Alas, Eva and her family were descending into the ocean just west of South America. Even if they were to survive the impact of hitting the water at such high speeds, there was the problem hypothermia, and then sharks.

Tenaya had in time caught both Nikhila and Odilia, and the held her to bosom. Eva held Evie tightly to hers. Eventually the two adults grabbed hold of each other, for in this altitude it was cold.

"What should we do?" asked Tenaya.

"I don't know what to do!" cried Eva.

"You should flap your wings like this," said Annette as she appeared before them. "That'll produce some resistance provided you don't break your arms."

"Annette! Help us!"

"Um, no. I'm here to gloat over your punishment for dirtying our older sister Jerri. Although it is likely all of you will die during the fall or in the impact, I'd better triply make sure that you do."

Annette clasped her fingers, and pulled them apart to pull out a silvery and near-invisible cat's cradle.

Suddenly her left arm separated, and it was hanging above her while still connected to the silver strings. Danya slashed Annette on her back, sending the teenage MA Unit spiraling upward. Danya then formed a red cape that protectively wrapped around the family, warming them up and providing them with a more tolerable and breathable medium.

"This wasn't part of the deal!" Danya yelled.

"This is exactly why Zoya sent you down you pighead!" Annette yelled back. "We all knew you'd pull some shit like this, and so I come to the conclusion you must die! We won't mind missing one of ours. Plus you're always bossy."

"Take cover!" Danya yelled to the family.

Danya shielded the family with her body as Annette threw out her silver strings from her hands to wrap around them.

"Forget it!" Annette said. "It's not going to do you good."

With one pull, she sliced apart Danya and the family, but immediately she realized it was a clever double or illusion created by Danya. The real Danya and the family were right above her. Annette fired her strings back up them, but Danya countered by sending her cape to wrap around her younger sister's face. As Annette struggled to get it off, Danya formed another pike and threw straight to Annette's head. Annette spiraled downward attempting to disintegrate her invasive attachments, but failed at doing so for the pike's spearhead struck the head of a nuclear warhead.

Danya shielded herself and the family from the ensuing explosion and the radiation. When the bright flash died down and the mushroom clouds cleared, Danya moved her cape so she and the family could see an armada of warheads, high-altitude airships, Gargoyles and Zums created by Conjurer Units, Garuda Interceptor attack robots, and fighter jets coming from all over to attack one thing that threatened the remains of humanity.

"So that's why," said Danya.

Danya used her cape to shield the bullets from the aerial force, and dodged the slashes by the Gargoyles and Zums. Carrying her family, Danya had no choice but to fly back to her home by turning her cape into four fluttering cloth-wings.

"You're not taking us down?" Eva asked.

"They'll strike us if we do so," said Danya. "I won't have enough data-energy to defend and transport you at the same time. Plus, we still have to get your wife."

"Jerri's in danger?"

"No, because she is a success. The mistress--Zoya I mean have sent many of Jerri's predecessors on the surface in order to determine if any of them could impregnate other women. All were failures up until now, and what Zoya ordered for the failures was their complete annihilation. And I don't mean we just kill them outright. Along with them, we kill everyone involved with them."

"Then why haven't you told us then?"

"'Reveal no secrets'. That was Zoya told to me time after time, but never before have I felt so compelled to tell them."



Hours before, Reese had descended into a secret air base that once the home of a deranged lesbian cult. Although it appears to be in shambles due to the invasion of the military forces of the Congregational Corporation, the key parts were well into operation by the remnants of the Unified Forces.

No diligent securing of holes and air vents could keep her from coming in and causing ruin to the tunnel base. Flicking her hand into the air, she sent out a web of corals that pierced through the female and Amazon soldiers, as well as their robots. Immediately, she burst into the first control room she saw, and met up with heavy gunfire.

"Ol' Bella!" cried Sati.

"Don't step away from the console!" said Bella as she fired her assault rifle. "You're the key to amassing the launch of these things!"

Reese flicked her hand, and the corals struck like lightning through all of the soldiers in the room, including the old woman who was yelling.

"I'd better destroy these things before..."

Just then, a techno-dagger struck her chest. She tried to move it, but a spark from its innards prevented Reese from doing so. There was still one survivor, and it was the young woman from the console.

"Good thing I saved that thing," Sati grinned.

"I thought they stopped making those," said Reese. "Who are you really?"

"Sometimes they call me Traveler. Others say I am one of the Lost Capulets. And I was a bit embarrassed when the Muslims referred to me as the Al-Mahdi when I have been Hindu all my life."

"It's quite befitting."

Reese choked. Her body convulsed, and suddenly she imploded into an instant singularity, taking anything within a five-foot radius into a imperceptible black hole that disappeared in seconds, thus creating holes on the floor, the wall, and the ceiling. The coral lightning-webs she created started their slow disintegration, allowing Sati to move more freely in her immediate space.

"Agh!" She felt her right side and came up with blood in her hands. Indeed she had survived the MA Unti's attack, but it took a chunk of her right torso. She shuffled to the ballistic missile control console and inputed the final set of codes onto the keyboard. The rocket thrusters roared to life and pushed their payload through the many opening hatches of the mountain base.

"I invoke thee," Sati recited, "oh Lord Shiva, Destroyer of the foul and wicked."

She fell onto the console, never to breathe again.



The combined attack at Fortress Eschaton forced Pearl Caster Cherise, Blade Ribbon Hina, Flame Sniper Lindwe, and Crystal Dancer Kaguya to return back to defend their home and their data-energy source. With the four of them, holding back the combined forces of the world was easy, and they thought that the Fortress's natural defenses could take care of it. But even now it was too many for them to handle. The intercontinental ballistic missile warheads from the era once called the Cold War were too troublesome to destroy carefully without detonating them. Some were, and MA Units had to put up membrane shields to protect the sub-orbiting fortress from debris and radiation.

"At this rate we won't last more than four hours," said Cherise.

"Not to worry," said Lindwe. "Our mistress will synchronize with the Geomancer Cannons in orbit and destroy the wretched human lot and their toys."

"You know those things are terribly unreliable. We have to hold up!"

"Incoming!" Hina yelled.

Ten ICBMs were dead ahead, and the four MA Units used their power and style to destroy them save for one that detonated prematurely. The debris mortally struck Hina's core deep inside her human body, causing her to convulse inadvertently towards Cherise.

"Hey!" Cherise yelled. "Get away from me!"

"Cherise," moaned Hina. "Help me! I don't want to die!"

"Don't touch me you fool! Stop!"

Hina imploded, taking Cherise with her into a singularity from which they could never return from nor revive from.

"Damn it!" Lindwe cursed. "Kaguya, go cover the west! Kaguya!"

"The Pike Matador had just entered the Fortress," breathed Kaguya. "I must stop her."

"Kaguya, come back!"

Kaguya reverted to her orb form, and reentered the fortress. Lindwe followed her in.



"MEMBRANE DEFENSE SYSTEM ACTIVE."

"Do they realize we're up here?" Eva asked.

"They won't take a chance," said Danya. "Our first priority is to rescue Jerri."

They were in the maglev platform tunnels, but it was blocked off by folding door-barriers.

"Evie," said Danya. "Can you repeat this after me?"

"Sure," said Evie.

"It's simple really. Just say to microphone 'Open up tunnel access four'."

"Open up tunnel access four?"

"COMMAND ACCEPTED," said the system.

The doors folded back open, and the maglev platform stirred into operation, taking its passengers up the winding tunnels.

"I did it!" Evie cried.

"I guess it did work," said Danya.

"What worked?" Eva asked.

"Since Evie has a significant genetic relation to our mistress, the fortress control system recognizes her as a valid user."

"Even with such a high voice?"

"Of course."

There was a huge tremor shaking everything around them. The platform continued regardless until it reached another door-barrier.

"Open the door for me please," said Evie.

"I'M SORRY," said the system, "A BREACH IN THE HULL HAS RENDERED THIS SECTION INACCESSIBLE. PLEASE USE THE EMERGENCY SHAFTS TO THE LEFT OF YOU."

"They'll destroy this place before we get to her!" Eva cried. "We won't have time to navigate the shafts."

"I guess I have no choice then," said Danya. "We'll have to cut our way through."

Danya took out her sword and sliced the wall to her left. A pathway was then carved up from the falling pieces, wowing both Tenaya and Evie into an applause.

They continued on and upward, with Danya leading them like a safari explorer with a machete. Sometimes, she would "feel" the wall with her hands to see if it was safe from electricity, hard reinforced metals, pipes for channeling liquids or gases, or any semblance of security measures.

"You're taking a lot of time with that wall," said Eva.

"There is a lot of electrical lines and pipes in this one," said Danya. "I'll have to cut up, and we may have to jump down into the chamber below."

The Fortress rocked again.

"Hurry up!" Eva cried.

"Aw, screw this!" Danya retorted. "Brace yourself!"

Using her transformable cape as a shield for her human friends, Danya cut without regard. Sparks, gases, and liquids poured onto the ground until the automated chamber systems shut them off. The bright lights that poured out dimmed to a dull glow of red, then to yellow, and back red in repeat succession. Danya motioned to the family to follow her inside as soon as possible. It looked like they ended up in the birthing chambers, but this one was taller and held more capsule tubes. This time, it contained bodies.

Each body was nude, and varied greatly from dark skin to almost pure white. Their hair was generally short to prevent hairs from clogging the pipes and filters. It was as if every race or ethnicity was replicated in each of these created humans, and it even included hybrids. They were most certainly women complete with breasts and a vagina, but their builds were a lot stockier, but not enough to be the enhanced Amazon type or even a man at his prime.

"What's with these women?" Evie asked. Now there was no point of shielding her eyes.

"This isn't the place I visited before," said Eva.

"I thought Zoya showed it to you before," said Danya.

"I only saw the empty ones and the bodies reserved for the MA Units."

"Then she must have only taken you to the prototype section."

"Why haven't you told us?"

"I assumed you knew."

"So all these girls..." said Tenaya.

"They are all Jerri's clones, except they are tweaked for extended longevity, enhanced strength, and devoid of all possible defects. These are Zoya's ultimate creations, a compromise marriage of female and male into one body."

"I get it now," said Eva. "She's been planning become some crazy goddess of a new human race. That's why she's been attacking us."

"I'm sorry."

"And you nearly allowed us to fall to our deaths."

"That's because... she promised me that I could transfer to my human body if I complete one last mission. Because I... I love you Tenaya."

Tenaya felt her heart skip a beat. She then smiled after the love her life finally said the words she wanted to hear since she met her.

"But I killed your mother!" Danya said. "I don't deserve your love! I don't even deserve to be a human!"

"That doesn't matter anymore," said Tenaya. "I can forgive you for killing my mother, but don't ever say that you don't deserve to be a human or my love. The fact that you realized that you love me makes you human. That and your kindness to our family."

"Oh Tenaya."

"I love you too Danya! It doesn't matter if you are machine or human! I love you!"

The Fortress rocked once more.

"First things first," said Danya. "We have to rescue Jerri and defeat Zoya."

"What about your body?" Eva asked. "Not to mention your data-energy link to this fortress."

"That no longer matters now. I've sinned long enough to exist anymore. Your world does not need my kind."

"You know, I fancy myself as a scientist. I will figure out how to transfer to your human body."

"You will?"

"I will."

"That's to be expected from the Daughter of Nataraja."

Tenaya smiled even wider. The dream of giving birth to Danya's children was becoming more real.

Danya and the family ran through aisle of capsules and then climbed up the emergency access stairwell. Then Danya stopped before the door.

"Why did you stop?" asked Eva.

"This level," said Danya. "And they're here."

"Who's here? Zoya? Jerri?"

"My sisters."

Danya stepped out and arrived in the hallway. Using her transmutation abilities, she formed two sets of submachine guns and three pistols for Eva, Tenaya, and Evie to wield. She handed them the weapons, and then her protective cape.

"They won't disintegrate in the even I'm gone," said Danya. "This cape will protect from some of their attacks, and they don't have the strength of a membrane barrier."

"I want to fight with you!" Tenaya said.

"Please don't. You have to protect the children."

"But Danya!"

Danya kissed her, and then she flew off. Immediately, she formed two long pikes from the walls to pierce through the crystal lances thrown at her. Forming her body from the ceiling, the shrouded Kaguya appeared exhaling with a hiss-like cold breath. From her sleeves, she fired crystal shards like machine gun bullets that Danya avoided through leaps and by swinging her sword.

Then the wall behind her melted away when fiery arrow shot through it. Lindwe was to rooms behind her, and Danya formed two pikes that she threw towards her. She missed, and ended up damaging the fifth-dimensional repairing guns.

"Whatever you're doing, please stop," said Lindwe as she pulled back the fiery arrow that bent her fiery bow.

"I'm going to stop Zoya!" Danya exclaimed.

"Zoya knew you'd betray us, but we didn't expect to be too soon."

"We're damaging the repair guns."

"So what? All the more reason to eliminate the human filth and put ourselves in our new bodies."

Lindwe fired her arrows in rapid succession, also like a machine gun. She kept on blasting her way from room to room aiming at walls that hid Danya. Danya, had to parry the close-quarter onslaught of Kaguya. Soon enough, their chambers and the level was sliced up and riddled with holes. Sparks flew from exposed wires, gas steamed violently out from cracks, and liquid bled the metal-organic pipes like blood. The emergency overhead lights blinked intermittently, and the system's feminine voice kept on reporting assorted emergencies and warnings into a malfunctioning stutter.

Danya got the upper hand on Kaguya by lobbing her head off, and then by skewering into the wall with two pikes. Kaguya's head rolled on the floor with a laugh and cold smile.

"Danya!" Tenaya yelled.

"Tenaya, no!"

Tenaya leaped in front of Danya to shield her from the flaming arrow. Tenaya fired as many bullets as she could from her submachine, and by chance they struck Lindwe's core. Lindwe dropped her fiery bow, and staggered screaming and convulsing until she imploded, taking many matter into the disappearing black hole.

"Lindwe!" Kaguya screamed.

Kaguya disintegrated and reformed her human body over the hole Lindwe once stood. At the same time, Tenaya, shot through her chest, fell into Danya's arms.

"Lindwe," wept Kaguya. "You were supposed to be my life partner."

Throwing her shroud away, Kaguya pointed her cold black eyes at the dead girl who killed her lover, and the MA Unit who betrayed them.

"I'll cut her body to pieces!" Kaguya shrieked. "Then I'll cut you!"

From her sleeves, Kaguya formed serpents of crystalline ice that lunged at Danya with daggered fangs. Danya protectively held Tenaya's body as she parried the serpents with her sword.

"Evie, fire!"

Bullets struck Kaguya, and eventually the link to her serpents shattered. Eva was firing her submachine gun, while her daughter used a pistol. Kaguya was forced back, but she immediately began forming her crystal serpents from her sleeves.

Eva and her daughter had to keep on holding out a bit more, and she was figuring out where the core was going to end up in the MA Units body. Eventually, it was struck. The crystal serpents shattered, and Kaguya staggered to the hole where Lindwe was destroyed by space-time atrophy gathered dust and debris as if they were remains into a small pile. Like her lover, Kaguya imploded, and the holes she created were the same radius and a bit off center from Lindwe's.

"Evie, watch after your sisters," said Eva.

"Yes'm!"

Eva ran off to Danya, who continued to look at the deceased Tenaya with disbelief.

"I'm sorry," said Eva.

None of them said anything further. Danya got up, formed a red shroud from a wall and used it to wrap Tenaya in.

"We must hurry," said Danya. "The Fortress's structure is heavily compromised. It's only a matter of time before it goes down."

"Sure," said Eva.

"Odilia is heavy," said Evie, who was holding one of the wailing twins with her right arm. Nikhila was dragged on the floor using the cape Danya gave her.



Jerri held fast on her chair as more tremors increased with every hit.

"What's the status of my family?" asked she.

"Do not worry," said Zoya. "One of the MA Units had picked her up."

"But the monitors went silent."

"I have faith in them."

"The data-energy link hasn't been severed, right?"

"The generator is still active. This fortress system is doing its best to hold together."

"I hope so."

Hours ago, the motherly Zoya put Jerri into a very feminine and frilly Victorian dress of periwinkle blue. Jerri felt out of place in her clothes and embarrassed, but she was happy that her mother was smiling. Zoya took pictures from an old film camera, and even helped comb her short hair and fixed the bow on her head.

When the attacks started, Jerri wanted to go out and search for her family, but Zoya forbade her from doing so. After repeated requests, Zoya remained steadfast and told her daughter to sit still.

"If you went out," said Zoya, "you'd be in danger. I cannot allow it or else your family won't forgive me."

Jerri gave into her words. She sat on her chair to consume the tea and biscuits Zoya took out.

As the attacks increased, the worry began mounting up in Jerri. But Zoya remained calm even though the screens in the music room or the command center would drive a normal person to complete worry. The Fortress was crumbling bit by bit by the Unified Forces attacks.

"Mother," said Jerri. "Are we going to die?"

"I don't intend to give up," said Zoya. "I must do all I can to protect my daughter and her family."

"You'll strike back?"

"The fortress does have offensive capabilities. Plus I can link to the Geomancer Cannons."

"But there are people down there."

"Do you truly believe that they'll welcome us after what we did? How will they react when they find out that you can impregnate women? Think Zoyana, think!"

"I..."

"Exactly. They can never accept us human, so we must be better than them. Now remain still and listen closely to my concerto."

Zoya sat on the harpsichord stool and cracked her fingers. After hovering her hands over the keys for a few seconds, she began playing a mad maestro melody that caused the monitors in the room to light up and flash windows of the Geomancer Cannons in orbit and their targets. They were firing apparently, but Jerri couldn't be sure as there was no live video. However, there was outside footage of the Fortress began firing lasers swatting and shooting down most of the ballistic missiles, airships, aerial robots, and Conjurer Units.

Jerri watched numbly. She already knew that Zoya was actively attacking the remainder of humanity. It was something she secretly wished for, though the sins were great. Besides, she kept reminding herself that her mother loves her.

The door to the room was sliced open. Zoya stopped playing to face the intruders, which was Danya and Eva as backup.

"You're here to take my Zoyana away from, aren't you?" Zoya cried. "You can't! She's my prized possession!"

"Relinquish her," said Danya. "And we'll be on our way."

"I won't! You filthy humans are going to defile and rape her!"

Eva continued to point her pistol at Zoya as she moved over to pull Jerri from her chair.

"I know she's a bit kooky," said Jerri, "and that's she's been alone for such a long time..."

"Don't be taken in by her!" Eva cried.

"Eva, stop saying this! She's my mother! I finally have a mother!"

"Jerri, you had predecessors your mother murdered due to them being defects," said Danya. "She had already sent them out to see if they could impregnate other women."

"Is that true mother?"

"Why yes," Zoya answered. "But I did it out of love."

"She murdered them after they were deemed useless," said Eva. "Then she killed everyone associated with them afterwards."

"But I only ordered it to protect Zoyana!"

"There's already a thousand of your clones ready to be released Jerri. She's killing off the entire human race just so she could be a goddess!"

"I'm not! I'm only protecting my children!"

"Jerri, she tried to kill me. And Evie. And Nikhila. And Odilia. And our unborn child. And Tenaya. Now Tenaya's dead."

Jerri's eyes finally widened, and she forced herself from her mother's arms in order to confront her eye-to-eye.

"It can't be," said Jerri. "You lied to me."

"I'm only doing this for your sake," Zoya said. "I shudder at the thought of making yourself more impure by mating with that woman after she had her child."

"Don't talk about her like that! Eva's my wife!'

"Her lot are imperfect beings. I'm just clearing this planet for you and your sisters."

"I can't believe I'm hearing this. I thought you reformed, but you didn't. You're just a madwoman as Eva had said."

"I'm your mother Jerri. I do all this because I love you."

"You don't love me!"

"I do love you."

"You're not my mother! You were never my mother! I don't want to be with you again!"

Jerri said all this as she backed away to the entrance to reunite with Eva. She then took her bow off and ripped the frilly skirt from her waist. Zoya, feeling as if she was emotionally betrayed and stabbed, fell to her knees and began wailing.

"Zoyana," she wept. "This cannot be. My daughter would never betray me. She wouldn't!"

She looked and stared directly at Eva.

"It was you! You defiled her! You made her like that! If it weren't for you, none of this would have happened!"

"Dear god," Eva said.

"Stand back!" said Danya. "She's coming this way!"

In an in human pace, Zoya ran towards Eva, but she was blocked by Danya who swung at her with a sword. Zoya blocked the blade with her arm, but it did not cut through. Zoya made a claw with her left hand, which then exerted sparks from the fingers. Then she struck Danya's chest with it, and dug through her body to clasp the MA Unit's core. Danya was now screaming in pain as Zoya clenched her fist on the core tighter until cracks began to form.

Eva shot all her remaining bullets at Zoya, and though they hit vital areas, it did not pass through. They just stuck, and Zoya stood her ground as she continued to crush Danya's core.

"Leave her alone mother!" Jerri yelled. She kicked away Zoya's left arm, freeing Danya's cracked core. Then Jerri did a roundhouse that slammed Zoya into the harpsichord, and the impact the destroyed the wood-keyboard instrument. Jerri quickly ran up to her mother and punched her face. She then staggered back, clutching her right face due to the pain of hitting something very hard. Zoya leaped back to her feet and did a one-two kick to her daughter's body reminiscent of Jerri's martial arts style. Jerri fell to the ground as she spat out blood. Her mother pounced her and then she wrapped her cold hands around Jerri's neck.

"I'm doing what's best for you," said Zoya. "Aren't I? You've been defiled by that woman Zoyana. You know that it's best to die honorably than to live forever in shame, right?"

Jerri gagged. She gagged even more as she saw her wife trying to pull Zoya off her. Zoya swatted her easily away with one strike of her left arm. During which, Danya tossed Jerri her sword, and Jerri drove the blade into Zoya's chest where her heart should be.

Yet Zoya continued to choke Jerri, and Jerri felt herself blacking out. Everything was slowing down and she closed her eyes after realizing that she'd die, and what's worse her family would die as well. Then, she blinked once more and realized that it wasn't the world that was slowing down. Zoya was slowing down, and her grip on her daughter's was now mechanical and jittery. She still had the manic face when she finally stopped moving. Jerri pushed the hands off her neck and moved her mother off to the side. Zoya's arms, legs, and even her face remained frozen in place.

"Eva, are you all right?" Jerri cried as she picked her up.

"Ugh, my back and head," she said.

"You can still move your legs, can you?"

"Yeah."

Jerri helped to her feet. At the same time, Danya recovered and then proceeded to remove the sword from Zoya's chest and move her limbs to a straight position. She closed her eyes, and pulled her cheeks in order to shape her face into a calm one. Then she used the broken harpsichord to form another red shroud that she used to wrap Zoya in.

She started staggering almost drunkenly, and she clutched her chest has she breathed hard. Putting Eva on a chair, Jerri caught Danya before she collapsed.

"Are you al right?" Jerri asked.

"I'm fine. Have the system give you a status report of the fortress."

"How do I do that?"

"Just tell it."

"Um, status report please?"

The system responded. "FORTRESS MEMBRANE SHIELDS DROPPED TO 10% OPERATIONAL CAPACITY. ANTI-GRAVITY THRUSTERS AT 50% OPERATIONAL CAPACITY. MISTRESS AGGREGATION UNIT GENERATOR COMPROMISED SEVERELY. OUTER HULL STRUCTURE 50% DAMAGED. ACCESS TO ESCAPE PODS IS CURRENTLY INACCESSIBLE."

Another tremor rocked the Fortress, and they could hear glass breaking. The women now felt the ground leaning, and things began to slowly slide out of their places.

"WARNING. FORTRESS ESCHATON IS LOSING ALTITUDE. IMPACT TO SURFACE IS IMMINENT. ALL PERSONNEL PLEASE EVACUATE TO THE ESCAPE PODS."

"What's our current position?" asked Danya. "Jerri ask the system our current position!"

Jerri asked.

"CURRENT POSITION: PACIFIC OCEAN, LONGITUDE 144 DEGREES, LATITUDE 13 DEGREES."

"That's taking us towards the Philippines," said Eva. "Will this ship hold?"

"I don't think so," said Danya. "We won't survive impact or air friction. I might be able to do something though."

"Like what?"

"If I am given control of the Fortress, I may be able to soften the landing provided we land on a soft place. The ocean will be too hard, and I'm not sure if the land is soft enough."

"The beach then," said Jerri.

"Won't that overexert your powers?" asked Eva. "You'll die if you attempt to save us! You're part of the family now! Tenaya would never want to sacrifice yourself like that!"

"As a family member, I must protect you all. This is what I must do for the crimes I have committed. And for Tenaya. Besides, my human body will be destroyed during the burn-up, and my core is cracked beyond repair."

"I'm sorry my mother did this to you," said Jerri.

"No need to apologize. Now I'm going to create some restraints in this room to hold onto. After we have landed, and if my body does not survive, please give Tenaya and me a proper burial."

"I will."

"Please do the same for Zoya for well."

The covered bodies of Tenaya and Zoya were in a safe position leaning on the door at the railing walkway. Eva and Jerri brought Evie, Nihila and Odilia inside as Danya draped the room with red cloaks to serve as bumpers for her human passengers. Seats for the family was bolted down to the floor, and seatbelts were added in as well.

"Jerri," said Danya.

"System," said Jerri. "Grant all Fortress functions to Mistress Aggregation Unit number 91, codenamed 'Pike Matador Danya'."

"ACKNOWLEDGED," said the system. "YOU HAVE CONTROL PIKE MATADOR."

"Wish me luck," said Danya.

Danya disintegrated, and her orb form navigated through the rubble of the living level and ended up outside of the western part of the Fortress. She formed the upper half of her nude human body that was now merging and reforming the hull as if she was a living figurehead of a crashing ship. Eventually, she created massive wings at the sides to slow down the superstructure and to give it a softer landing on the beach.

Inside however, the structural comprise, the gas leaks, the liquid leaks, and the electrical sparking was further breaking apart the experimental chambers, the MA Units' quarters, and birthing chambers. Soon the capsules containing the MA Units human bodies and the unborn perfected clones of Jerri shattered and then destroyed the bodies before they could awaken to life. The glass of the biosphere domes shattered, and the trusses were twisted until they flew off their foundation. What ever was inside, dirt, sand, plants, and concrete were ejecting out. Fires broke out all over, most particularly in the living level. The house Jerri and her family stayed in disappeared from the lot due to the wind, as did the rest of the buildings and the plants. The church, however, stayed still, but the bell tower collapsed and was no more.

In the command center, the family held fast to their seats. The children were crying in terror of the searing heat entering the room, and Eva assured them, like every parent had told their young ones, that everything would be all right. Yet the system kept on dolling warnings that MA Unit data-energy generator was failing rapidly. Despite Danya's efforts, the Fortress was breaking apart more than ever. Soon the, church flew off its foundation, dangerously exposing the family to the blue cloudy sky.

Jerri held her wife's hand and braced for the worst.

Chapter 15

Title: "Has the world ended?" (I feel fine though.)

Eve Sky
Chapter 15 - "Has the world ended?" (I feel fine though.)
by StarCross


It was morning, although it was only hours ago they had it. Jerri opened her eyes and saw that the walls around her had collapsed outward. There was a blue sky above her head, and the tide of water was prickling her feet.

Eva was breathing heavily, and the children were still wailing. They landed safely, though the terror of falling from the sky was still in their hearts. Where were they?

"You okay?" Jerri asked her wife.

Eva nodded. "Give me time to breath."

"I'm going to go have a look around."

After unbuckling her seatbelt, she climbed up the floor that was now at an incline. Large parts of the fortress were now all around them, and it was almost if only their room was left intact.

There was land westward, but it looked like they would not have to swim a bit using a raft of some sort. Then, she saw something jutting beside a rock formation. Realizing what it was, Jerri jumped into the water and swam after it.

"Danya!" Jerri cried. "Danya!"

She climbed up onto a massive angel's wing the MA Unit Danya had formed and approached closer. Danya had indeed become a tall and towering statue with missing arms like a Roman goddess, and her face frozen with sad determination.

"Are you in there?"

A single touch of the statue was enough to make it fall apart like dust. Even the wing Jerri stood on broke apart as well. Soon, many of the structures Danya had formed when she transmuted almost the entire Fortress disintegrated.

Jerri swam back to the ruins of the control room where Eva was comforting her children one by one. She headed over to walkway to move the shrouded bodies of Zoya and Tenaya out of the water, and placed them on a raft made out of a table.

"I'm going to find another raft to use," said Jerri.

"E-E-EMERGENCY R-RAFTS LOCATED IN THE S-SECOND CLOSE ON YOUR--zzsshh..."

"That's still working?"

"That could mean..." said Eva.

"System give me the status report of--"

The control room split apart cleanly in the middle. Eva held her children as she slid towards the middle while Jerri swam back towards her family. Suddenly, she was whipped by at the head by a silvery string, which was enough to cut her forehead.

Literally standing on water was the Silver Spinner Annette, but due to her core being damaged beyond repair, half her body, her left side, was falling apart into millions of silver strings.

"You fucking monkeys," said Annette. "Heathens of God. Descendants of Lilith."

"Annette stop!" said Jerri. "There's no point in fighting anymore!"

Annette advanced, and nearly each step caused her to sink a bit into the water. "Fighting? Oh no. I'm done fighting. I've decided to take a long vacation into the abyss, and you and your wretched family are coming with me. Don't you think that would be a lot of fun? Oh yes it will be."

Annette's body was pinching into itself like a regular heartbeat. Using the strings of the left side of her body like insect legs, she skipped the water towards Jerri and her family and lunged at them like a hungry wolf. Then a flag-winged pike skewered her at the right side of her chest, sending her flying towards the massive slab of concrete jutting from the water. Screaming, Annette attempted to pull the pike with her remaining hand and her silver strings.

"Goodbye," said the sad voice of Danya.

The pike and Annette imploded, taking the slab and some water into the disappearing miniature black hole.

"ALL M.A. UNITS H-HAVE NOW BEEN SILENCED."

The system finally shut down in fizzle and static.



It was a bit of trouble to transport her family to the beach without the use of life rafts. Then Jerri swam back to bring the bodies of her mother and Tenaya using the table slab before the currents became stronger. It was in the middle of her swimming that the life rafts finally floated up each side of her. She slapped the water in anger, but she continued on ignoring the floatation devices.

"We could use them as shelters!" Eva yelled from a shore. "And to fish."

"I know!" Jerri cried back. "Damn it."

After running the table slab ashore, Jerri swam back to retrieve the rafts, and came back dog tired.

But she still had to give her mother and Tenaya a proper burial. She almost wished there was a more solid ground than just sand gathering at the side of tall cliffs.

With a little help from Eva and Evie, two graves were dug and two bodies were laid in and covered. Jerri returned back to the twisted ruins of Fortress Eschaton to retrieve something that was a part of Danya, not counting the shredded red draperies that cushioned the fall of the family. She found the Pike Matador's sword, still intact possibly left behind for the family. Even a sheath was included as well.

Jerri cut apart as much draperies as she could, and dove in the water for any food that was left behind. All she could find were sealed containers of tea and biscuits, which she promptly wrapped in the red cloth. She swam back to the beach just in time as the Fortress collapsed unto itself. The tides were becoming stronger as the winds picked up. There wouldn't be any chance to recover anything else from now on.

After a light and rationed snack, a prayer service was held for the deceased both physical and destroyed. Danya's sword was laid on Tenaya's grave in addition to the rotten old wood planks found on the beach that served as markers.

"I'm hungry mommy," said Evie.

"We have to put up a shelter just for today," said Eva. "Evie, you can go out with amam to find some food."

"Okay."

Eva stayed behind to create some kind of encampment using the rafts and damp cloths. Jerri took Danya's sword as she and her daughter treaded the beach exploring as far they could. They found an old Asian fishing village that was long deserted. Evidence of the MA Units onslaught was evident, and already the victim's bodies, however few they were, had turned into skeletons.

"Evie," said Jerri. "Go back to your mother."

"I can take it amam," said Evie.

"Okay."

But Evie clasped her amam's hand tighter, as they walked through the scene of death and destruction. Who was it that attacked it? Hina? Reese? Cherise? Kaguya?

The little food they found was already rotten, but they at least found pots, pans, matches, blankets, and duffle bags to hold their loot. There were many items of interest, but it was left alone since it would be there when they would come back.

The supplies were a welcome sight for Eva, but the state of the village would not be appropriate to move to until they found a lone house away from everything.

"I could always move the bodies," said Jerri.

"Let's not risk it," said Eva. "You could contract a disease."

"I suppose you're right."

Jerri did see a few rats though.



They spent one night in their makeshift tent before deciding to move on. They left the rafts, and took what they could carry as they headed towards the village. Eva stayed at the outskirts with the children, while Jerri searched harder for canned food, which she discovered was thieved away a long time ago.

"Jerri!" Eva yelled. "Jerri! Come here!"

Jerri poked her head out of a random house and saw Eva waving to her on a road leading up to hill. She caught up to her, and the wife pointed to a road sign.

"Vinh should be down this highway," said Eva.

"Vinh?" Jerri asked. "So you're saying that we're not in the Philippines?"

"We landed in the Vietnam coast apparently."

"That wouldn't mean that that city has been inhabited."

"It wouldn't hurt to look."

"Hrmm..."

Jerri did not feel hopeful. The street had not paved, let alone cleared of weeds and vines. Still remembered the population transfers of city to city even in North America, and she felt that Hanoi Megalopolis would be a better place to go. Yet she also agreed that it wouldn't hurt to look.

It was almost a two-hour walk when they arrived. Vinh had been abandoned way before the attacks of the MA Units, yet there was sure evidence of refugees camping there. And there was also evidence of the MA Units attacks, although it was not as destructive as the megalopolises.

Avoiding the sight of skeletons, Jerri and Eva searched the trucks and the encampments for food to no avail. They settled their children in an abandoned hotel suite and continued their search. They found two canned beans, which was better than nothing.

They fought hunger until they had their meager dinner at night. As they all slept in one bed, mosquitoes flew in the room, forcing Jerri to put a net surrounding the bed. There was the sound of a stray dog, but its howl was undeniably sad. The parents woke the next morning at daybreak to sound of the infant twins wailing in hunger.

Food seemed to be scarcer, even though none was found. Evie accompanied Jerri, and with the few candies Jerri found, she gave to Evie to eat.

"I'm saving it for Nikhila and Odilia," said Evie.

"They don't have teeth yet," said Jerri. "So it's all yours."

"Maybe mommy can have it."

"She'll be fine."

Thus, Evie ate her candy with guilt.

They went with little or no food for two more days. On the third night of their stay, Eva discovered Evie eating the last of the rations, and she scolded her with a hard blow to the head. Evie threw herself on the ground wailing that she wanted food.

Jerri got up, put on her clothes she found in a warehouse, and grabbed the sword off the dresser along with a flashlight.

"I'll be back with some food," said Jerri.

"At this hour?" Eva said. "Can't you wait until morning?"

"I can't stand to see my children suffer like this. Maybe I'll get that dog that keeps howling."

"That dog stopped a long time ago."

"I'll find something. I have to."

Jerri left. The city of Vinh was now foreboding due to a lack of electricity, but her worries disappeared when Eva lit a gas lamp by the window as a beacon. It was both reassuring and reckless, as there might be unknown enemies, both beast and human lurking out there.

Jerri went right into the forest cutting away the branches and vines with ease, and the thickest of them were no match for Danya's sword. She scoured the floor looking for any creature, reptilian and mammalian, she didn't care. She too was very hungry, and that hunger caused her a migraine. She thought there would be monkeys in the trees, but there was no sign. It was too quiet. Then the batteries in the flashlight died.

"Damn it," said Jerri.

She heard a twig snap, but she didn't cause it. Jerri gripped both hands on the sword trying to focus her eyes in the darkness, with only stars and moon serving as the only source of light. She stopped moving, and focused her ears and the light footsteps.

"Eva, is that you?" Jerri asked.

"Who's there?" said an Asian-accented voice. "You speak English?"

"Quyen, of course she speaks American English," said an Australian voice. "Terribly sorry there. We thought you were a wolf."

"We haven't heard a wolf ever since we ate the last one."

"That was no wolf."

"I hope you don't mean any harm," said Jerri.

"Same goes to you," said Quyen.

"In any case, is there any place where I can find food for my family?"

"I hope you're not pulling our leg just so you can have more."

"Quyen, let's give her our share," said the Australian. "They'd get rotten anyway."

"I'll find someway to pay you guys back," said Jerri.

"You don't have to really."

"I insist."

"Very well," said Quyen. "We show ourselves."

Gas lamps were lit, and two women appeared from the sides. One was undeniably Vietnamese, who was indeed Quyen, but the other was a half-white and half-aborigine Australian who was the same height as Jerri. Both, however, had their pistols aimed at Jerri. Jerri could not risk attacking them even if the guns were loaded, as they knew where the food was. There was a slight temptation of killing them and using their bodies as meat.

"This is Quyen," said the Australian. "And I'm Agatha."

"I don't have much," said Jerri. "But I can offer this fine sword and many fine fabrics."

"We don't need those," said Quyen. "We have guns."

"This sword does cut good. Watch."

In one slice, Jerri toppled a tree, thus surprising and even scaring both Quyen and Agatha. The crash was loud, but little birds flew from their roosts.

"Cool," said Quyen. "We can cut down a lot of trees with that."

"And some bulls," added Agatha.

"If we had bulls."

"Please," said Jerri. "Give me some of your food and I'll give you this sword."

"Dunno. I don't exactly believe her."

"How about we do this," said Agatha. "I'll return to our house and get what I can carry. Quyen, you guard Jerri until I come back."

"Roger."

Jerri willingly allowed herself to be guarded. Agatha disappeared into the depths of the forest, while Jerri and Quyen sat on the recently fallen tree trunk.

"I hope I didn't worry Eva and the others," said Jerri.

"I'm still not convinced with that," said Quyen.

"It's all right. You'd have to be suspicious of other people's motives since transportation of all things has been halted."

"When you had my life, it's only natural."

"Oh."

They waited for a few more minutes.

"Your name is Quyen," said Jerri. "You're definitely Vietnamese."

"You're expecting a Filipino? Or a Chinawoman?"

"I'm expecting to see another survivor."

"You're obviously not from around here. Where did you come from?"

Jerri pointed to the sky.

"Did the machinations shoot your airship down? Are you from the Congregational Corporation?"

"No, they have been taken over by Nataraja."

"Nataraja Agriculture? Now that you think about it, they have retreated their troops from the border. I was overjoyed that the Indians and Arabs were now gone, although I wasn't a fan of the Chinese Democratic Imperium. When those machines toppled them down, I was very happy until the decided targeting Hanoi. I just happened to be hitchhiking when it happened."

"I'm sorry."

"Hell no am I sad! I was glad that happened as well. Although I eventually realized that I'd have to adjust my lifestyle since I can't really sell myself to the poor and starving."

"You're a prostitute?"

"I'm a city gal. And yes I am one."

Jerri smiled. It brought back fond and painful memories of herself being a servicer.

"What are you smiling about? You want me to suck your pussy? It doesn't look like you have anything of further value besides that sword."

"It's not that," said Jerri. "It reminds of the time when I used to be in your shoes."

"No way! You were one too?"

"Technically I was a servicer in North America."

"Servicer huh? I'm not surprised because you look a little boyish. We really must talk more. But what are you doing here in the first place?"

"Me and my wife decided to touch down here."

"Hell of a place you chose. I haven't seen a soul in weeks besides Agatha. When I met her... oh the sex we had since then. I didn't even see myself as a lesbian until I met her."

"What's Agatha's story?"

"Apparently, she and her girlfriend was vacationing near Perth when it all started. So they decided to take a boat to Thailand when tidal waves separated the lovers. I found Agatha wandering naked and alone when I was looting Ho Chi Minh Megalopolis. After I fed her, we then proceeded to have sex on the spot. She was really horny and lonely."

"That's... an interesting and detailed account. Was she really naked?"

"Quyen doesn't lie! Hey, you're not thinking about seducing her are you? She's mine, unless you want a threesome, and that's going to cost you. A lot."

"I'm curious. How much?"

"Four hundred liters of gasoline to keep the generator running."

"I don't have a four hundred liters."

"Exactly. You're not cunt-bumping my woman, nor am I doing any other girl. I'm tired of the kinky shit."

"Heh. Amazing how settling down changes us."

"Look, I'm only trying to protect Agatha. Contrary to her appearance, she is a fragile girl. And I still don't believe you have a family."

"You'll believe when you find out."

Agatha finally came back with a small bale of rice wrapped with palm tree leaves, as well as a small assortment of fruit.

"Let's go," said Agatha.

The three trekked back into Vinh. The light to the room was still on, and Eva stepped over there.

"Don't worry!" Jerri told her. "They're friends."

"A nice catch," grinned Quyen.

They went upstairs to the suite in the hotel where upon the sight of the sleeping children Agatha and Quyen put their suspicions of Jerri aside. Evie, who was sleeping on the floor, woke up immediately to receive some fruits from Agatha, while Quyen beamed her smiles on the cute twins.

"I can pick them up, can I?" Quyen asked.

"If they allow you to," said Eva.

"It's a good thing you didn't come after me," said Jerri.

"I wasn't worried. The felling of the tree gave me a bit of a shock, but not hearing screams was reassuring. That and the fact I can listen in to your conservations."

"Is it that quiet?"

"Surprisingly, it is."

"Wait, you're Indian?" asked Quyen who was holding either Nikhila or Odilia.

"I am."

"Sorry I talked ill of you. And of your country."

"It's no problem. I never liked the way they ran things in the world."

A small feast was held downstairs in the small restaurant. Evie and the twins ate until they were full, and afterwards they dozed off to sleep. The adults starved it out the entire feast, and finished what the children could not eat.

"Still hungry though," said Jerri.

"I can go back to the farm for some more," said Agatha.

"You shouldn't," said Eva. "It's dark out."

"Besides that wolf we ate," said Quyen, "you won't run into any animals or humans."

"That was a dog," said Agatha.

"It did look like a wolf."

"Still, this is perplexing. There are hardly any animals left, let alone strays dogs or cats. Even the rats and insects are dwindling."

"At least we can still grow food."

"That is fortunate. But we need to have some kind of biodiversity in order to survive in the long term. Our rice won't hold out."

"Who cares? None of us won't meet a man in our lifetime to have babies."

"You are correct in that one."

"If I may ask," started Eva, "Agatha, are you a biologist by any chance?"

"Why yes," replied Agatha. "Actually, I am a assistant to my professor in Melbourne trying to get my master's degree."

"I have heard good things from the University of Melbourne."

"We did supply regular input of scientists to the Congregational Corporation and Nataraja Agriculture."

"Speaking of those corporatist confederations, I still don't know how you guys got here," said Quyen.

Jerri sighed. "It's a long story."

Jerri told them about how they were kidnapped by Zoya Adamantite and taken into the Fortress Eschaton, the home of the MA Units. After the last battle of the Unified Forces, the Fortress fell, taking out the MA Units data-energy generator, thereby putting an end to them permanently.

However, Jerri didn't reveal to them that she was able to impregnate other women, nor there were artificial women able still sleeping in their capsules.

"Yes, I have heard of that madwoman," said Agatha. "Now I know where those ICBM missiles went."

"And the fire in the sky," said Quyen. "A lot of things fell in the oceans."

"Not to mention a lot of earthquakes caused by those Geomancer Cannons you were talking about."

"Since the enemy is now gone, I now hereby proclaim myself as Queen of Vietnam! All of you are now my loyal royal subjects!"

"One thing at a time Quyen-baby."

"Oh, you can rule as my queen. Or king. I don't know how this shit works. Maybe you'll be my vizier."

"That's a Muslim official my love."

"Who cares? Let's go back to the farm and begin forming our new nation! Maybe we'll incorporate Thailand as well."

"Let's rest here until morning. We have to let the children sleep."

"Oh yes. Children are our future."



The farm home of Agatha and Quyen was beside the Song Ca river. It was originally a straw-roofed hut now reinforced by the wood planks gathered from all over. There was a generator, but no gasoline was inside its tanks. It had one room, one kitchen, and one bathroom. It could have been homely if not for the junky souvenirs Quyen had gathered in her looting around the country and abroad.

Eva and the children quickly settled, but only on the condition that Jerri had to help with the rice field.

"Thank you so much!" Jerri said. "You two have been a great help!"

"Think of it this way," said Agatha. "We're volunteering our hands to raise your children."

"But what about me?" Quyen asked.

"You have to help too."

"I'm fragile!"

"No you're not. Now grab a hoe and start sifting."

"I wish I was pregnant."

Of course, Quyen had always helped, and she thought with Jerri present she wouldn't have to and resort to home duties. However, she was lacking in that, and Eva and Evie more than made up for it.

The group was routinely fed with the rice that was in storage and with the fruit they picked from the forest. Yet even with the help, they still had to ration. Eva did her best to perform housework, but her developing child within her made her take frequent breaks. Evie then took over, and often helped the clumsy Quyen.

Jerri continued to use Danya's sword, although it was technically "borrowed" from Quyen. She along with Agatha routinely kept up a supply of firewood, but the sword's technological enhancements made the cutting easier. It even cut through metal Agatha used to create tools and other things with her basic understanding of blacksmithing.

"I read books," said Agatha, "but they were in Chinese or Vietnamese. I had Quyen translate some of them."

She had also mentioned that she wished she could make bullets. As it turned out, their pistols had none, while their rifle and shotgun had but a few.

Sometimes, Agatha and Jerri ventured out looking for supplies and more importantly food. Jerri took Agatha to the crash site, which further collaborates the story regarding Zoya and the MA Units. Though the places they went in Vietnam had been visited before by Quyen and Agatha, Jerri's sword and helping eyes helped them find new things, however few they may be. They finally found bullets for the pistols, yet at the same time they found more skeletons of the deceased. They even took the life rafts back.

"I often wonder if Gail is still alive," Agatha had said when she looked out to the sea.

Back at home at some nights, the sky lit up with the bright red streaks that looked like comets moving slowly.

"They're actually ancient satellites," said Eva. "In the olden times, people used launch many besides Geomancer Cannons. It looks like they have ceased their operation."

"I do hear that some of them were in operation fairly recently," said Agatha.

"It wouldn't be surprising."

Slowly but surely, Agatha and Eva were respecting each other's intelligence, and Agatha even asked Eva advice on proper farming on wet marshes.

As the months passed, Nikhila and Odilia were now walking, and Evie was more grown up than the parents had expected. Eva, was in her sixth month of pregnancy, and she could not do much to move around. Unfortunately, the food sources were still dwindling.

"Where are all the food?" moaned Quyen. "Where are all the animals? I could even a eat a cockroach if they are still here."

"As I expected," said Agatha. "The toying with nature during the Eugenesis Period eventually caused the atrophy of biomass."

"The trees are still up," said Eva.

"Some life forms can survive without a certain class of organisms, but in the end everything is dependant on one another."

"In other words?"

Agatha got up. "We gotta go hunting."

"Eh?" Quyen asked. "We're not going to cannibalize?"

"Not in front of the children, please."

"They don't know that word, right? Evie, do you know what cannibalize means?"

"It means that you eat another person," said Evie. "I don't wanna cannibalize my sisters."

The adults made an uncomfortable wince, but things needed to be done.

So with their food stock packed, Agatha and Jerri set out to hunt just about anything to feed a family of eight. But they did not get far when a fierce storm blew through the lands. They hurried against the winds to the farm where it was being flooded. Already Eva and the children were loaded on the raft, and Quyen was swimming them to high grand. Jerri and Agatha swam up to them and together they reached safety.

The spent a night in a hut. On the next morning the water did not recede. Sighing, Agatha suggested:

"Want to go to Laos?"

Everyone agreed.

Packing what they could bring, they headed south in order to walk on the highway leading into the country that was technically part of the Thailand Administrative District created by the Chinese Democratic Imperium. It was a few days that they crossed the border station that they used to camp. As usual, they ate the fruits they found and the scavenged rice bales and canned foods. Sill no signs of human life.

The land of Laos and Thailand from their high vantage point was green and lush, but flooded because of the storms. It was an astounding sight, because standing like frozen giants were the terrace-making farming mechs of the Imperium, all of whom were rusted from years of disuse, or perhaps due to the onslaught of the MA Units. The land they decided to settle in was a lot more stable and high up from the ground, but still vulnerable from mudslides. They took a house next to a towering mech whose arms was spiked deep into the earth.

The rice was once again planted, and the silt sifted. The women settled into their homes, which was christened duplex when it was really a large house with a wall hastily built in the middle. Food was still barely abundant, but they did need some meat, or at least fish. Thus, Jerri and Agatha were sent off to gather fish from the river, along with supplies and amenities from the town.

They always ate together, and even bathed together being that they were of a single gender. Evie and the twins, who were now starting to talk, referred to Agatha and Quyen as their aunts. Months later, Eva finally gave birth to Suzette.

"To bad it's a girl," said Quyen.

"Yeah," muttered Jerri. She and Eva still had not told the couple of their secret.

But Agatha was suspicious. It all started when she went fishing with Evie that they had a long conversation about where babies come from.

"Are you allowed to ask that?" Agatha asked. "At your age?"

"I'm only three or four?"

"Three or four? You're mighty precocious for a child. Say, how old are the twin sisters?"

"They should be two I think."

"Two?"

Agatha thought deeply.

"We're you always with your parents when you were born?"

"Of course! Mama and amam gave birth to me."

"That's because your mother received sperm from a donor."

"I don't understand."

"You know a man can leave his, um, seeding sperm to help a woman have babies."

"What's a man?"

"It's a woman without breasts and a horn between her legs."

"Eww. That's a nasty creature."

"I guess it is."

The child is just ignorant, thought Agatha. Given the rarity, or perhaps extinction, she has never met a man in her life. Yet I can't help but wonder about the traits she shares with Eva and Jerri.

It was suspicious. Evie, the twins, and Suzette all had blue or hazel eyes, light brown skin, and curly hair. As Evie grew up, her resemblance to Jerri became even uncannier. It was still conjecture and guessing on Agatha's part.

"Agie, who come you and Quyen don't have children?" Evie asked. "You're both adults and women."

"Women can't mate with each other to make children."

"Mate?"

"It's sort of a dance that they have when they want to have children."

"You mean sex."

"Er, yeah."

"I've seen Amam do it with mama and Tenaya. But Tenaya's gone now."

"Tenaya?"

"Tenaya was our housekeeper. She died trying to protect Danya."

"I'm sorry."

After catching their fish, Evie then said to Agatha:

"I'm sure if you have sex with Auntie Quyen, she'll be able to have children."

It was such an innocent yet outlandish thought that Agatha almost laughed.

"Evie," she said. "There are women who can't make children and others who can't."

"How come?"

"Nature commands it."

"Is Nature a god?"

"Something like that."

At the same night, Quyen was dressed loosely in her red robe sewed by the combined efforts her and Eva. She became frisky and started groping Agatha's breasts.

"No TV and no radio make Quyen a horny gal."

"Okay," said Agatha. "I'll undress."

"Come on! Be a little resistant! It's kinkier that way."

"The children are at the other side of the wall."

"They're going to find out anyway. The only sex they'll get in the future now is from women."

Finally undressed, both Quyen and Agatha had their passionate lovemaking the dark, thus keeping Eva and Jerri awake.

"What they doing?" asked Nikhila.

"They're dancing to make children," replied Evie.

"Evie, go to sleep," said Eva.



The next morning, Eva scolded Quyen about the incident last night, and all Quyen could say was "why me?" This was not the first time, and the couple even had sex in their old one-room house back at the river near Vinh. Eva could never get a chance to scold Agatha since she was almost always away with Jerri.

The next day when Jerri was plowing for rice, Quyen, dressed in her robe, whistled at her from the porch-walkway of the house. The two were alone as Eva took the children for a bath in the river and Agatha went fishing.

"Hey sailor," said Quyen.

"You hitting on me?"

"I could be."

"Oh."

Jerri continued plowing.

"You know," said Quyen, "for some reason I want just to fuck your brains out."

"Oh," blushed Jerri. "I'm flattered by your honesty. But really, is there something wrong?"

"Agatha's getting rusty."

"You two have been going at it two days ago for one hour."

"One hour? Ha! Before we met you guys, we went for two hours, maybe even three. We mashed pussies like there's no tomorrow--and we really felt like there was no tomorrow. The cum we make would make you think there was an orgy of men around."

"How... descriptive."

"Here."

"Thanks."

Jerri sloshed over the rice paddies to receive a bottle of water from Quyen. Suddenly, Quyen snatched Jerri's arm and rubbed her face on it.

"You really smell good."

"Quyen."

"Jerri."

Jerri leaned over as Quyen pulled her face in.

"Ahem," said Eva.

Jerri jumped back. Eva was before them holding the "Sleepy Suzette" in her arm.

"I seem to have forgotten my bathing suit," said Eva angrily. "Don't mind me."

Eva disappeared into the house, and Jerri immediately followed her in. Suzette was now in bundled in blankets inside her basket that was used as her bed.

"It just sort of happened," said Jerri. "And you don't have a bathing suit in the first place. None of us do."

"Just sort of happened?" Eva retorted.

"Please not this again. You always get hysterical when you see me sexually attracted to another woman. Just because I want to have sex them don't mean I want to make children with them."

Eva sighed. "If you do that, you betray their notion of love, however short it may be."

"I know."

"Kiss me."

"Eva?"

"Kiss me now."

"All right."

They kissed. They stared into each other's eyes until they kissed again. The kisses that proceeded became more passionate, if not slobbery, and Jerri backed Eva into the wall while running her hands over her wife's breasts. The two slid to the floor as they began pulling their clothes off their bodies, and immediately Jerri scooted back to giver her wife oral love to her vagina.

It was then that Suzette finally woken up crying for some food.

"Suzette's awake," said Jerri.

"Ignore her!" moaned Eva. "She'll be fine!"

"Okay."

As Jerri continued performing oral sex, Quyen snuck in and watched a bit, but eventually she took Suzette out of her bed basket. She took her outside, and after a bit of an effort she began breastfeeding her.

Agatha and the children returned from bathing in the river, and when they were closer to the house, Quyen motioned and gestured to her lover that Jerri and Eva were having sex. It was becoming obvious due to Eva's loud and uninhibited moans.

"Say," Agatha smiled to the children. "Want to go play over at the village past the river?"

"Are mommy and amam dancing to make babies?" asked Odilia.

"Er, of course they are."

"Really?" said Nikhila. "Are we going to have another baby sister?"

"Of course. Quyen, are you coming?"

Quyen nodded.



A few months later, Eva began to feel her womb blowing up. She knew for sure what was happening, and she revealed it to Jerri in secret far off from the house.

"I'm pregnant again," said she.

"Oh," said Jerri. "That's nice."

"Am I just a baby factory?"

"You don't want to have any more children?"

"Of course I do! I don't mind really. After all, I have to do my part in preserving what's left of the human race."

"The female race as it should be."

"How long has it been since we ran into other people?"

"Not counting Agatha and Quyen?"

"This doesn't look too good. Evie may have to mate with her sisters to--"

"Let's not worry about that right now. The current worry we have Agatha and Quyen are going to find out about this. We'll just tell them it's parthenogenesis or something."

"Parthenogenesis produces clones of the original mother. Evie's growing up pretty fast, and they're going to put two and two together and realize she's our daughter."

"So eventually I'll have to mate with those two. Do you want me to do that? I hope you won't spaz out."

"Of course not! I just think it's about time for you to, um, share with all the women of the world."

"I suppose your right. However..."

"However what?"

"I love Agatha and Quyen, but not in love with them. The impregnation might not work."

"You'll have to try."

"Maybe this is a good time to finally tell that I wasn't exactly faithful when all this happened."

"What?"

"I did it with Tenaya."

Eva widened her eyes. "So you waited until this time to tell me?"

"I think I might have impregnated her, which might be the reason why the MA Units took her up to the Fortress so readily. They couldn't have told us being the liars they are--save for Danya."

Eva furiously paced until she sat on the ground.

"I'm sorry!" Jerri cried. "She and I got horny when you were pregnant with Suzette. I'm not sure if I came onto her and she came onto me. We were alone when we were letting the cows graze..."

"I'm not angry with you because you cheated on me. I'm angry because you didn't tell me when it was important!"

"Eva..."

"Tenaya... had to die like that. Two lives were lost on that day."

"I said I thought I impregnated her. Do you want to check the body at the beach?"

Eva rose. "No. I'd rather not know. Now let's head back to prepare dinner."

"All right."

Jerri guiltily followed her wife back down towards the house. Midway, Eva then said:

"Were you in love with Tenaya?" Eva asked.

"I was," said Jerri.

"Honestly?"

"From the bottom of my heart."

Eva breathed a deep sigh. "I'm glad."



As expected, Agatha and Quyen were becoming suspicious of Eva's strange development regarding her stomach. The question would almost always arise during dinner.

"Really, you are getting fat Eva," said Quyen. "You should eat less."

"I guess I should," said Eva.

"You don't have to hide it from us," said Agatha.

"What do you mean?"

"You have a swelling in the stomach due to parasites."

"Sorry."

It was now apparent that it was Agatha they should watch out for. Just recently when she and Jerri went fishing, they slipped into the mud, which compelled them to bathe in a creek. It was then Agatha decided to truly inspect Jerri's body to see if she was really what she claimed to be. Despite her tomboyishness, Jerri was undeniably a woman, but Agatha had to make sure she wasn't otherwise by finding an excuse to check her vagina.

"I think you should have your vagina inspected," Agatha said out of the blue.

Jerri blushed. "Are you coming on to me?"

"I don't mean that. I meant as a gynecology exam."

"Are you qualified?"

"Among the four of us, I'm the only one who could do it."

"Is it necessary?"

"Well... let's just do it in case some male shows up."

"Okay. Probe away."

She accepted too readily, thought Agatha.

The nude Jerri sat at the edge of the creek with her legs spread out, while Agatha almost had her entire body on the ground closely inspecting Jerri's vagina.

"Anything?" Jerri asked.

"Doesn't seem to be any problems. You mind if I insert my fingers?"

"Is that part of the procedure?"

"I don't have any choice."

"As I said, probe away."

Agatha inserted two of her fingers into Jerri, who then quivered as Agatha spun around the lining looking for something. Jerri was squeezing her mouth shut she would not orgasm and ejaculate accidentally. After finding nothing that would appear upon stimulation, Agatha had to use her last resort and pretend to accidentally rub her thumb against engorged clitoris.

"Ah!"

Agatha jerked her hand away, and Jerri sprang up to her feet to gather her clothes.

"I'm sorry," said Agatha. "It slipped."

"It's all right," said Jerri. "Please don't tell Eva."

"I won't if you don't tell Quyen."

As Jerri dressed, Agatha inspected the silky and sparkling ejaculate as long as she could, and she almost wished she had her usual lab equipment. She sniffed, and she even licked a bit of it. The scent and taste was so erotically intoxicating and pleasurable that it raised her heart rate and nearly made her wet herself. She looked at Jerri and immediately had thoughts of having sex with her.

Despite the incident Quyen had suddenly lashed out against Agatha, accusing her of lusting after Jerri when it was really just an observation. The argument continued into the night, but all of a sudden everything was dropped and Agatha and Quyen were having sex again.

"Women are such strange creatures," Eva commented.

"Tell me about it," said Jerri.



On the day after in their shared duplex house, Agatha confronted Jerri and Eva, particularly during Eva's first trimester. Quyen was away babysitting the children and bathing them at the creek.

"You won't fool me with the parthenogenesis argument," Agatha started. "I am certain that Jerri has the ability to impregnate other women."

"I knew we couldn't escape your eyes," said Eva.

"I felt that you were pretty sketchy on the details of your capture by Zoya Admantite, and I assumed that traumatic things, which I will not deny its existence, had happened to prevent you two from revealing detailed information. Stories about Zoya was only whispered at my university of her mad ideals at the country of Bay-Haven, but I never thought she would create the perfect woman--no, the perfect human."

"I wouldn't say I'm perfect," said Jerri. "I'm getting more nearsighted by the day. These glasses aren't helping me a bunch."

"At the very least Zoya had fortunately passed on to you your seeding ability. That is more than perfect for me, as evolution would take care of the rest."

"I guess I'll have to have mate with you gals from now on."

"I wouldn't jump to that conclusion yet. I must know if there are any special requirements for the impregnation for it to work."

"Jerri has to be in love with the person for it to work," said Eva. "Again, she is, pardon my words, a prototype, so it is inconclusive."

"So Zoya thought she could quantify love."

"It could be done if one could exert the appropriate hormones, which I admit caused a bit of distress on my part."

"I'll admit that I was attracted to her, but what about the children?"

"It is likely they have inherited Jerri's ability, but we won't know of sure if Evie has become of age."

"And by then we'll be old ladies for them to mate with," said Jerri.

"But if possible, I don't want them to inbreed."

The three sat in deep thought about the situation.

"I'll go," said Agatha.

"Go where?" Jerri asked.

"Find other survivors."

"That's crazy!" Eva cried. "Who knows what lies out there?"

"That's right," said Jerri. "My mother tried to alter the biodiversity of the planet with her engineered creatures. She did leave the fish alone though."

"All the more reason for me to head out," said Agatha. "We need to combine our womanpower to protect the children and find potential mates of similar age for them."

"You don't have to do that," said Eva. "I may dislike inbreeding, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't do it. Many mammalian species, including humans, had to go through that phase in order to reach the peak of population of the Eugenesis Period."

"At the very least, we should share Jerri's gift to the world. We shouldn't be as selfish as to reserve only to ourselves."

"Selfishness is sometimes necessary."

"But we can't delude ourselves thinking that we can stay here forever. Most certainly things will happen that will threaten our home to the point that we cannot return, and we need a larger population to guarantee our survival."

"Aren't you acting a little to chauvinistic?" Jerri asked.

"Perhaps, but someone has to see what is going out there."

"Please reconsider Agatha," said Eva.

"I have to go."

"What about Quyen?" Jerri asked.

"She is in your care now."



Quyen had burst into tears when she heard that Agatha would be departing to explore the world. Thus, the only ones who would be seeing them off were Jerri and her family at the overgrown highway.

"Wish me luck," said Agatha as she hauled her backpack to her back.

"You will come back, won't you Agie?" said Nikhila.

"Only for a six months."

Agatha petted each of the children's heads and started off. Then Quyen suddenly sprinted and wrapped her arms around her lover as she kissed her.

"I don't want you to go," said Quyen.

"I must," said Agatha.

They kissed one more time, and Agatha nudged her lover into Jerri's arms.

Chapter 16

Title: "Don't leave me!"

Eve Sky
Chapter 16 - "Don't leave me!"
by StarCross


Agatha had stated that she would venture out for three months, and then return back in three months. She would have made it in time when Eva gave birth to her fifth child.

The first three months went by with a bit of worry and fear. Quyen had seemed to act more docile and obedient since Agatha's departure, and had volunteered to take care of most household duties in the house and the farm. Eventually, that wall in the middle was torn down and often joined in sleeping with everyone one same blanketed floor.

Jerri had to discard her glasses due to her degenerating eyesight, but her sight was still useful enough to perform manual labor, and her hearing and sense of smell compensated her emerging disability. Quyen often helped and served as her eyes. Sometimes Evie helped, as she was now five years of age, rapidly becoming six. The twins Nikhila and Odilia were not far behind at age four, while sleepy Suzette was now around two years old.

At nights, the family huddled together due to the unearthly sounds of beasts, birds, and insects. Sometimes, they had sighted a strange green fox-like creature with two tails, glowing eyes, and fur that glowed radiantly. Evie claimed of have seen a bull that was not quite a bull. The twins also claimed that there were large birds that looked awfully metallic.

At the end of the fourth month of Agatha's departure, the worried Quyen asked if her lover had come home yet. She asked again at the end of the fifth month, and then asked at the end of the sixth month.

"She'll come around," said Jerri.

She didn't. Weeks later, Eva gave birth to Teila. The parents had always expected that Quyen would realize that Jerri was impregnating Eva, but she was too depressed to notice, let alone call it to attention. At Teila's birth she remarked, just as she did with Suzette's birth, that Eva was unlucky to give birth to another girl.

Then a full month passed after Agatha's promised time of return, during which Quyen was often heard whimpering at her side of the single room. She asked Eva, who had kept time and the calendar, if her beloved had returned yet.

At the second month it had gotten worse. Quyen attempted suicide twice. The first was when she tried to drown herself in the river, but Jerri's intervened and rescued her heroically. The second time she tried to jump off a cliff. She chickened out that time.

Aggravated, Jerri forced her to face the children worried about their aunt.

"Do you want to leave them behind and make them sad?" asked Jerri. "We need you because we all love you."

Quyen instead screamed. "What's the point? We're all going to die lonely and unable to reproduce! It's all hopeless!"

Jerri slapped her, and in a clichÇ moment Quyen burst into tears and cried into the Jerri's chest.

On that night though, Jerri had slept so close to Quyen that they were essentially embracing each other. Eva, on the other hand, didn't sleep much.

The weeks that followed, Quyen would always accompany Jerri in almost all excursions, including manual labor, fishing, and hunting trips that produced no game. At the same time Eva jealously watched them from the house as she watched over the children, although they pretty much raised themselves under Evie's eyes. It had become so boring that she decided to teach the more about English and her native language Hindi, as well as basic math problems and general knowledge. She had often wondered when Jerri would make love to her again to produce another child. Six might become too much of a burden, and she secretly wished she would wait until Evie grew up or when Agatha would show up with new faces. But the third overdue month had passed again.

Quyen would whimper during nights, sometimes about her torturous childhood, but it was mostly about Agatha. Again, Jerri had to act as a living body pillow for Quyen, which would almost always comfort her and quiet her down.

Quyen was clearly using Jerri as a substitute Agatha, and Eva's jealousy had risen in kind. Yet, Eva held back her feelings, realizing that if Jerri and Quyen mated, they would indeed produce children. There were close calls though, and Eva had walked into one. Quyen was the one who was taking initiative, but Jerri, oddly enough was hesitant. Whenever Jerri was gone, Quyen would always look at Eva apologetically, and one time, she had said to her:

"Please forgive me. You should know that I am really lonely."

"It's all right," said Eva.

"I'd like to look for Agatha, but I don't have the strength she does. Eva, is Jerri really a man by any chance?"

"No. That can't be since we would often bathe together."

"You're right. She does have a retractable penis does she?"

"Not that I know of."

"I see."

"Quyen, you don't need a penis inside of you to reproduce."

"Really? Well, you are a really lucky woman Eva, or perhaps a freak. Or maybe Jerri's a freak since she's always making children with you."

"I don't mind that you two... well..."

Quyen smiled. "Jerri really loves you."

"I know."

"You don't understand. She really loves you. Well, I got to prepare supper for the kids."

Quyen left Eva who was feeling guilty at being loved so much. Yet even with such feelings hanging over her, the need to preserve humanity as much as possible took precedence. Eva confided with Jerri alone in their house on the next day and bluntly urged her to have sex with Quyen.

"Just like that?" Jerri said. "Just walk up Quyen, who was really attached and depressed about Agatha and say, 'let's rub cunts together'!"

"I'm not asking you to take pity on her," said Eva. "Maybe a little, but if she was pregnant, her worries of Agatha would be taken off her."

"I'm not sure if I can work it out like that."

"Just think about the feelings you had for Tenaya."

Eva bit her lip, and she and her wife looked away from one another.

"I'm sorry," said Eva.

"I know," said Jerri.

"Look I won't spaz out. I'll just take the kids out to play by the river, and you just happen to be alone with Quyen."

"Um, okay."

"Please; forget about everything good about me. In fact, just remember how I was a real jealous bitch."

"No, don't say that about yourself."

"Jerri! You have to do this! Not for the sake of humanity, but for our children!"

Then it all became quiet. Jerri, stunned until Eva left the house, then sat on the woven chair. Eva called up the children, and with Teila in her arms they all marched down to the river with snacks and toys. In order for it to work, Eva had to be out of view and not run into Quyen along the way. The rest would then be up to her and Jerri.

So Eva sat on the blanket by the riverbank underneath the hand-made umbrella nursing Teila. Sleepy Suzette was napping right next to her, and the rest of the children, Evie, Nikhila, and Odilia, stayed at shallow waters. Evie was indeed taller than the twins, but she could not keep up with their double-trouble pranks that could be attributed to the things their older sister dealt to them.

The mother sat wondering if she did the right thing leaving Jerri alone with Quyen, as if she was forcing her to the single woman like a whore. But it wouldn't be such since there was a human emergency concerning the preservation of their kind.

She could imagine the situation unfolding in her mind. Jerri and Quyen, both nervous and understanding of the situation, approaching each other with caution and slowly taking their clothes off. They would kiss. They would touch each other's breasts. They would then lower themselves to the carpeted floor fingering their vulva as they continued to embrace. Quyen would gently lower Jerri to her back so she could orally please her. Eventually, Jerri would ejaculate, and Quyen would hungrily lap up the sparkling silvery cum to which she'd share with Jerri.

Aroused in mind, spirit, and body, Jerri would pounce Quyen onto her back and then mount her vagina onto hers as close as possible until they feel themselves merged in one body. They would then begin a slow rhythmic circular rub, which would increase exponentially as they were already wet. They would keep humping until Jerri would ejaculate, but being women they were, they would keep going. They would change positions, but Jerri would always be on top to make sure her ovum-string had gone inside Quyen.

It made Eva aroused thinking about it. Her heart was racing, and unknown to her children she was wet. She would masturbate if she wasn't with them, and she did want to ditch them to do so. If she did though, she would naturally return to Jerri's arms.

She wasn't thinking about Quyen. She was imagining herself as her.

"Suzette," said Nikhila. "Wake up."

"Suzette," said Odilia. "Sleepy Suzette."

The twins poked Suzette until she woke up. She threw a tantrum, flinging her fists at her older twin sisters and started crying. She latched onto her birthmother's side, bringing Eva back to reality.

"Nikhila!" Eva said. "Odilia! You know Suzette doesn't want to be woken up from her sleep!"

"It wasn't us!" grinned the twins.

"I saw you two do it," said Evie.

"You did it!" Odilia cried. "You always like to wake us up like that."

"I do not!"

"Never mind!" Eva said. "Come on. Put your clothes on. We're going back home."

The children were dressed, and Eva took them back up towards the house on the hill. Midway, they saw a dazed Jerri dressed in nothing but a robe.

"It's amam!" Nikhila said.

"Amam!" yelled Odilia. "Amam!"

The twins ran up to their seeding mother and latched onto her legs. Jerri petted their heads, and then stared sadly into Eva's eyes.

"Evie," said Eva. "Take Teila back home. Amam and I will catch up."

Evie obediently nodded, and took her little sister in her arms. She led the twins back home, who were holding slow and sleepy Suzette's hands as they playfully marched up.

The couple stared for a while in the midst of a breeze and cloudy sky. Both of them looked as if they were defeated. It was only an hour since they last saw each other.

"I couldn't do it," said Jerri. "I felt so dirty trying to do her."

After dropping her things, Eva tightly grabbed Jerri's shoulders. "Jerri!"

"I love you!"

After one kiss, they were on the ground. Jerri furiously undressed her wife who had given up resisting a moment ago. Eva surrendered to the passion, as she had missed Jerri's lips caressing her breasts and tummy, and her tongue inside of her vulva. What she had imagined an hour ago transpired now.

They knew not how long their lovemaking went on. They lost count of how many simultaneous orgasms they gave to one another, but they knew it was more than eight. They were more intent on maintaining their oneness and their union connected at their meshing vulvas soaked with their juices. Somewhere in their mixture, Jerri's ovum-string was flowing into Eva, but never invasively. Almost never did they take their eyes of each other's faces, not even when they finished.

Perhaps hours later had passed since their lovemaking. In their nude bodies, their legs were intertwined and tightly locked. Their torsos and breasts in particular were pressed as close as possible, and their arms and heads holding their heads and shoulders. Their faces were close, with the tips of their noses nuzzling one another as they started deeply into their own eyes that they could see their faces in the reflection. Occasionally kissing, they just stared without speaking for a lot longer.

It was likely that the attraction complex of Zoya's created daughters was in perfect working order, and Eva felt that after repeat mating with Jerri it was passed onto her. Even she could not bear to be without the love of her life against better judgment. Then again, it was not just because Jerri was an artificial marvel. Though she was in a man in a sense, Jerri was still not.

Even after having sex again, Eva knew for sure that she was pregnant once more.

"Eva," said Jerri. "Let's not worry about humanity. Let's worry about ourselves."

"It's possible," said Eva, "is that we're all that remains of it."

"It will be all right. I'm sure of it. Just as long as we are together."

"Together..."



Agatha was definitely not coming back. Despite occasional mentions, she was almost forgotten. Even Quyen didn't seem to miss her as she merely smiled a bit uneasily or shrugged her shoulders. There were some thoughts of Agatha being killed and eaten by a beast, falling to her death, drowning, dying of thirst or hunger, heat stroke, or a disease.

Eva eventually showed signs of her fifth pregnancy of her sixth child almost a month later. Quyen would then give her some glances, and by now she knew. But she had already accepted the fact that she was not Jerri's chosen, and gladly accepted her duty as their second live-in housemaid.

The family had stopped making pilgrimages to the beach of Zoya and Tenaya's graves, as it was now flooded. Floods were becoming more frequent as were the storms, and the house nearly collapsed due to a mudslide. The family nearly starved to death if not for Jerri and Quyen's venturing to find fruit and meat from a strange bull-creature.

The chickens they raised weren't exactly chicken-ish, and there were no roosters to impregnate the hens. It seemed that a dominant female would impregnate the others, just like Jerri, but when it died, another would take its place amongst the hens. There were strange boars sighted, for they were slim and sleek. They finally confirmed the sighting of the strange glowing fox creature. Jerri had killed the one that had been killing their chickens, and took two cubs home as pets. They were then named Zero and Une by the children, and christened water foxes by the adults due to their fondness of pools of water.

With Nikhila having a brush with death due to a cold, Eva began to think hard about their future. Surely they could stay here in their own paradise, and interbreeding amongst the family was becoming more likely. That would indeed make them more vulnerable. If any thing were to happen, humanity would be extinct at the spot. They couldn't really stay here forever, but Eva didn't want to leave nor did Jerri. There still hadn't been any contact with any humans since they settled.

Her womb was growing. Eva was becoming more worried, and in her mind having Jerri impregnate Quyen was currently the best means of long-term survival. However, the attraction between Jerri and Eva was epically strong, and it was the very thing that stood in the way. It was noble and morally correct, but it was not the best solution. Eva had thought they wouldn't be having these problems if Zoya had succeeded in populating the world with Jerri's perfected clones who probably had dissolved away at the bottom of the sea. For Zoya to succeed, Eva and her children had to die back then, and that elicited shuddering thoughts.

She shouldn't have thought that way. Eva had a fervent desire to protect her children no matter what.

To break such a strong attraction, either Jerri or Eva had to die or disappear. Jerri's existence was vital, but Eva could be replaced. There was no need for death though. Just having herself missing from Jerri's life was sufficient though.

That would be the solution. Eva had to make her disappear, but leaving the children behind would remind Jerri of her wife, and would prevent her from mating with Quyen for a short while. Or perhaps Jerri would not mate before her children until they grew up.

Decisions. Eva needed to make doubly sure that Jerri would fall in love with Quyen once she was gone. Yes, removing herself and the children from Jerri's life would immediately sever the attraction and create a new one with Quyen. Eva could survive it out in the wilderness with her children. She was smart enough, and Evie was old enough to wield a pistol and even a rifle, which the family had found in their excursions throughout Laos, Vietnam, and Thailand.

The problem was that Eva herself was too attached to Jerri. She anguished over her thoughts and plans throughout, and she even cried herself to sleep on some occasions. She was hurting herself thinking of such things, and she imagined the amount of pain she and Jerri would inflict on each other if they were to separate.

I don't want to go! Eva wept.

She once recalled having a pair of ferrets, both male and female, in her garden in India. The two were so devoted to each other, that when one of them died, the other died almost a week later. As it so happened, the ferrets were the last of their kind and were forever extinct.

Eva hoped it would not be the case for her and Jerri. They were not ferrets, but she really did feel that she could die if she was without Jerri for a long period. Jerri would likely feel the same way.

I have to do something. It is, after all, my responsibility, and my burden.



The planning was done only in her mind. Every action she did was scrutinized by her own eyes and had the potential to be scrutinized by the others. Preparation was subtle, such as storing non-perishable food and hiding bullets and other supplies. Now all she needed was the right moment to put it in action.

There were many times, though, they could have left, particularly when Jerri and Quyen would head out fishing and scavenging, and it made Eva a bit happy since her wife and housemaid were becoming very close, yet at the same time she was jealous and heartbroken. Often Evie would accompany them on their excursions. Then there was Evie's personal marksmanship training that Eva oversaw, although it was difficult due to the already limited supply of bullets. She had thought about teaching Nikhila or Odilia, but there would be no time.

Then one day, Jerri and Quyen had decided to go out scavenging further out than usual. This time, Evie was forbidden to so, for the location of interest was the sunken port city of Da NÉng.

"We do need some more steel to buttress our house," said Jerri. "And maybe we'll find some more guns in case our children need to go shooting."

"We could always make bows and arrows," said Eva.

"Mmm, I don't think so. I'm open to the idea, but if we want to rebuild civilization, we have gather all that we can."

"I wanna come too," said Evie.

Jerri petted her first daughter. "This journey is dangerous. It'll take a couple of days of diving and walking. Eva, I'm sure you can handle the kids alone, right?"

"All supplies are well and ready," replied Eva.

"Good. Quyen."

"Don't worry," giggled Quyen. "I won't let Jerri knock me up."

The two women left with their wove bags and baskets. Jerri had taken the Sword of Danya with her, while Quyen was armed with an old rifle and a single cartridge. They didn't expect to kill anyone or anything, but it was safe that they prepared.

With them gone, Eva quickly packed everything she needed in patched up duffle bags and a rolling suitcase. She shoved one loaded pistol into Evie's hands, and armed herself with one shotgun and all the bullets she could carry. Teila was strapped onto the back.

"Are we going somewhere mommy?" asked Odilia.

"We are," said Eva. "We're going on a safari."

"Yay, safari!"

"What's a safari?" asked Nikhila.

"It's an adventure to see the world," said Eva. "It's about time we do so."

"Are waiting for amam and auntie Quyen?" asked Odilia.

"Don't worry. They'll catch up to us."



If her calculations were correct, the ruined road should be taking them up to the megalopolis of Vientiane, which was once the old capital of Laos. The Korat Plateu was mostly flooded, and made the lands swampy and difficult to cross over. Eva had to journey around the flooded plains, to a direction she wasn't even sure of.

The twins Nikihila and Odilia blissfully skipped as much as they could, and they had the burden of coaxing the lazy Suzette to the pranks and games. Like loyal pets, the greenish water foxes Zero and Une followed them protectively. Evie, on the other hand, kept the rear with a worried frown. She might be the rear guard, but she began to suspect that her mother was lying. She followed her anyway, as she was powerless to overcome her seniority and height. She prayed that the lie became the truth, and that Jerri and Quyen would catch up.

They mostly scavenged for the fruit, roots, and grains Eva and identified after the years in their home at the side of the hill. Sometimes they ate from their rations, and a few times Eva shot and killed what looked to be an aquatic rabbit creature Zero and Une retrieved. She wasn't sure if the new species had emerged past the Eugenesis period or was realized by Zoya Adamantite. Fortunately, the meat of the rabbit was nourishing, and she fought hard to share most of it to her children.

The child in her womb was growing rapidly, as did the kids. They slowed her down quite often, and had to invent games to keep their feet moving, which would end up having her to repair the shoes a kilometer of so.

But Evie was reluctant to have fun in the "safari". She kept on asking on when Jerri and Quyen would catch up. She even brought to attention she heard voices in the night, calling out for their names.

"It was just the wind," Eva replied.

That was mostly her answer. Sometimes, she tried to spook her children by telling them they were evil spirits after their souls. While the twins were scared, Suzette and Evie weren't since the former was too sleepy to be scared, and that Evie was simply not fooled.

Then, as the days passed, the voice was becoming clearer once they were inside the maze-like city limits Vientiane, which had been destroyed before by destructive MA Units.

"Mama," said Evie. "I think I heard amam's voice."

"It's a spirit dummy," said Odilia. "It's gonna take your soul away."

"It's not a spirit! Mama's lying!"

Leaving Teila with the twins, Eva jerked Evie aside and into an abandoned corner shop.

"Evie, please," said Eva. "We must get away from amam as much as possible."

"Why? Did something bad happen?'

"This is for our own good. I know you and the others will hate me for doing this, but when you're old enough you'll understand the reasons for all this."

"I don't understand. Why can't I see amam?"

"Evie!"

She hugged her weeping daughter.

"I want you to do something for me," she said to her. "Here, you take this shotgun, and give me your pistol. Did you see that highway leading north?"

Evie nodded.

"Take your sisters up there and don't turn back no matter what happens."

"But mama..."

"Please, please do as I say."

"Okay..."

They emerged from the corner store, and Evie immediately corralled her little sisters to follow her. It was bumpy at first, since the twins would not listen and instead made faces at their older sister. One quick shout from the mother sent them running and chasing Evie. Suzette, however, remained behind wide-eyed and awake. She started at her mother with the lingering alert eyes, almost as if she knew too what was really going on.

Eva shooed her away after a couple of tries. She was now alone, save for the two water foxes who nuzzled her side lovingly before running off to catch up to the children. The emotional experience and the yelling wore her out, forcing her to rest on a bench of a bus stop overrun with vines. She ate her bread rations and waited.



She woke up hours later sensing that Jerri had found her, which she did. Jerri was alone with the Sword of Danya strapped to her back. Her clothes were soiled. There was dirt on her face. Even her hair had seen better days. Jerri immediately hugged her wife.

"Thank God," said Jerri. "I was so worried! Why did you have to run away like that?"

"I had to."

"You had to? Eva, I don't understand. I felt as if I was going to explode if I spent a day without you and the kids. The kids are fine, right?"

"I sent them ahead."

"Then let's go after them!"

Eva held Jerri back. Then she got off the bench and blocked her.

"We can't do that," said Eva.

"Why not?"

"Jerri... It pains me to say this but... I have to leave you."

"But why? Is it because you're tired of having children? I don't mind just having six. I'll stop, I promise!"

"It's not that."

"Is it because of Quyen? We still need her when Evie gets old enough. Or would she be too old by then?"

"It's not that either!"

"Then tell me what's wrong?"

"You know as well as I do that we can't survive on the long term if we stay there."

"Then we'll move! This city looks fine."

"I wanted you to mate with Quyen, and you can't do it! I mean, I don't really want you to, but we have no choice. That's why I'm leaving. I'm in the way."

"That's it?"

Eva nodded shamefully.

"It doesn't matter," said Jerri. "The kids won't mind inbreeding if we tell them to do so."

"We have to share our gift to the world."

"We might be the only survivors out there."

"We don't know that for sure."

"But Agatha had died."

"We don't know that either."

"Then why take the kids? Why?"

"As I am saying, I am in the way. The children are half of me, and if they're there I will still be in the way."

"That's nonsense! I won't mate with Quyen just because of that."

"I can't leave any evidence of our attraction to one another. Jerri, we have to split up. That's the very thing that prevents you from mating with others."

Tears welled up in Jerri's eyes, and after a wail, she rested her body on Eva's shoulders.

"Eva, I'm not some goddamn man that germinates every woman he sees! I'm not a whore either!"

"Jerri, I don't mean to..."

"I gave up that profession because of you! You were the one who save me from the darkness and despair. Eva, I need you! You can't do this to me!"

"It's just your attraction to me saying this."

"I don't care! Please don't leave me Eva. I'll... I'll die if I am without you."

Jerri eventually slouched to her knees and continued weeping and wailing. It was enough to break Eva's own heart and drove her to similar tears. Eva pulled her wife tightly towards her bosom, and in her mind she ran through her thoughts of I can't leave her, and, I don't want to leave her!

"Noooo!" Eva yelled. She kicked Jerri away. She stepped back and drew her pistol at her.

"Stay away!" she cried. "Stay away from me!"

"Eva," said Jerri as she rose. "Please... don't go..."

Two shots rang out, and before they knew it Jerri was on the ground with blood on her thighs.

"Eva," Jerri cried. "Don't leave. Don't leave!"

Eva shrieked her saddest at what she had done. She threw her pistol away, turned tail, and ran north after her children without ever looking back.

Chapter 17

Title: "Savages?" (Become alert!)

Eve Sky
Chapter 17 - "Savages?" (Become alert!)
by StarCross



"It really isn't that necessary," said Ivette, speaking in the Sino-Persian tongue. "Amam is old anyway, and by the time you come back she'll be gone."

"Please reconsider," said Adva, Ivette's Israeli wife, who also spoke in Sino-Persian. "You'll worry your mother, and it would be more prudent for you to spend Amam's last days with her."

"You know that shouldn't matter," said Ivette. "You are her favorite."

"I'm not exactly welcome anyway sister-in-law," said the tall and dark-haired Jerda. She shrugged her second-generation rifle comfortably on her back. Her personal pet, a purple waterfox named Gertrude, circled around the dusty ground chasing one of her two tails, while Ivette and Adva's little children threw a ball at it from the trading wagon.

"Which is why I must not fail her," said Jerda. "I'm going to bring back the legendary herbs from the southern continent so she can live a little longer. Without her Tehran would spiral into chaos."

"Do you really care about the situation that much?"

"I don't care at all. But I don't want to see grandmother suffering like this."

Ivette and her wife looked at each other worriedly. Ivette motioned to Adva to rummage through their trunks on the neocamel-driven wagon to procure an old and withering map. It was transferred to Ivette's hands, who then gave it to Jerda.

"This map isn't very reliable," said Ivette. "The lands have changed so much almost a century ago."

"It's better than nothing," said Jerda.

"Are you sure you want to do this?'

"I have to. For our people's sake. At the very least it'll give Amam enough time to choose an heir."

"Almost all of us knows who it is going to be," said Adva.

"I'll be going. Take care sister."

"You too," said Ivette.

The sisters exchanged embraces and kisses on the cheek, and Jerda did the same for Ivette's wife. Jerda petted her nieces goodbye, and signal-clicked for her Gertrude the waterfox to come.

The family watched one of their own and her pet descend towards the beach, where a lone sail raft was waiting. Jerda and Gertrude stepped in, and pushed away from the land she knew very well. She waved goodbye to her sisters and nieces until her arm grew tired. The wagon could still be sighted, even after it disappeared at the horizon.

The journey across the Sinai straight was easy, for all Jerda had to do was make sure to keep the bald Sinai mountain in sight. The journey took one entire day, and Jerda passed the time by looked at the old map her older sister gave her.

The writing was familiar, but she could not read it. Arabic was supposedly the script, but the art of writing it was lost long ago. Sinai Mountain had been connected to the now-swampy marshes of Arabia and to the unknown continent once known as Africa. No one knew exactly what was deep inside the lands, but there were tales of scared travelers driven off by savage warriors or beasts.

However, its forests held many exotic treasures like rare herbs and fruits, and it was said that there were precious gems deep inside its lost and ancient mines. Still, the Tehran Queendom

was not too interested on what lied outside their Persian lands. Everything they needed was at their own idyllic Eden in the forest queendom, and slowly they began to rediscover the lost technology dating from hundred if not one thousand years ago.

Jerda touched down on the beach of Africa just south of Sinai island, and then spent hours sleeping underneath the sail she used as a tent. She woke up a few hours later to pull her raft ashore. Then, after eating her rations and allowing Gertrude to splash on the water, she resumed her journey.

All she had to do was follow the river once known as Nile to the land of Sudan. She expected to see a vast desert like the markings of the map, but all she found was a wide raging river surrounded by bits of forest and marshes. Using a raft to ride the river would be prudent, but then again she needed it to cross back to Arabia.

The journey took days, and she moved fairly quickly. She camped high on the trees with Gertrude if there were any carnivorous beasts that would eat her, if she didn't eat her first. She only shot and consumed the meat from deer and elk-like creatures, but had to leave the rest and cover her tracks lest she was followed.

She saw so many creatures vaguely resembling the ones in the ancient picture books. Things that looked like elephants weren't really such as they were sleeker and had shorter trunks. They didn't posses those superfluous tusks that were responsible for their extinction. There were the spotted giraffe creatures, but they didn't have extremely long necks. Their necks were still long, but they had long fleshy tails to compensate their bulk.

She saw more creatures, like tapirs, striped horses, and even black chimpanzees she mistook as the savages. The savages she was told about were cunning and could kill a woman without the victim realizing it. It was said that they were armed with poison on their nails, and could attack quickly like a hawk.

She found none of the herbs resembling the ones she needed in the picture book. Granted, it was written almost fifty years, and was sparsely updated. Jerda almost wished she had some kind of native guide to help her out. She knew that wasn't possible due to the catastrophe that befell the world almost eighty years ago. What Amam told her that she and the people of Tehran were the last of the survivors.

Almost two weeks later, she arrived in the ruins of a submerged megalopolis. Khartoum was its name, she believed, and as far as she could see only the skyscrapers and other tall structures were accessible. Fortunately, there were spiraling thick tree vines that bored through almost all of the buildings, which would serve as a means to hop to one place to another.

Jerda was now curious. She had heard from her elders of ruined cities like this one, but never was she so fully immersed in one. Since she was here, she might as well take along some artifacts to prove where she had been, but for every building she had hopped into they were filled with useless junk or were empty. They were all cleaned out, and it should be expected since an apocalypse happened recently.

After musing over it in her stay in a once luxurious penthouse room, she began to think that the looting felt too recent. There were buildings that had its walls cleaned out of its copper wiring. Little chandeliers were left hanging, and there were very few windows intact. Carpets were pulled out, and even then there was a radio tower dismantled almost entirely down to the water level.

Were there people living in this continent? Jerda wouldn't think so, as she and her people were the Chosen of the Goddess and blessed with ability to mate with one another to produce children. There couldn't be any significant population of fringe barbarians living out in the world in the past eighty years. There would simply be no way.

She would soon get her answer though. In the crack of down, she woke to the sound of Gertrude growling.

"What is it?" she asked her.

Gertrude would not respond, even if she could. She sprinted out of the room and leaped off the balcony and into the floodwater. Maybe she needed a bath, since waterfoxes do love water, and to keep one required the owner to have a sizable pool to play around in. It was a problem decades ago, but with the rising water levels, many breeds of waterfoxes were being born.

Then she saw and heard a shadow zipped in the distance. Jerda didn't like the feeling of it, so she immediately grabbed her rifle and loaded a magazine it. She climbed up the stairs and onto the roof. There she hid behind the roof access station, and cocked her rifle.

She saw and heard it again, and amongst the zipping sound she heard a gun click, or so she thought. Still, she had to be careful. Jerda took her bandanna off her neck and flagged it out in the open.

Two quick bullet shots ripped through it. Jerda jerked her hand back and pocketed quickly. Savages using guns? They had to be intelligent, and if so they could be reasoned with. Alas, whether they were or not, it was shooting at her. Jerda could not die in a place like this. She had to shoot whoever was using a pistol, she had accurately surmised, down for good.

The shadow zipped at the corner of her eye again, and it was obvious that it knew its environment quite well. Jerda narrowly avoided two quick shots and listened in on what the assailant was carrying on her. Yes, she was lightweight, which meant she only had the barest minimum of one pistol and fully loaded cartridge. But what kind of pistol? There were handguns that held nine rounds in one magazine, and some that held up to nineteen.

She couldn't be thinking of such things. Kill or be killed. Otherwise, she would not only fail herself, but her family and Amam. She must shoot regardless. After all, she was one of the greatest markswomen of Tehran.

So Jerda ran out and took position behind air conditioner vent. She fired her rifle at a thick vine. The shadow slipped, but it didn't fall. It then fired back, causing a slight grazing on Jerda's shoulder. Jerda then jumped onto a vine and ran to the next building. She fired again, and the shadow fell in the water.

Perhaps she shouldn't have done that. If that assailant knew its own environment, then it could stealthily navigate the waters to eventually slay its prey.

To counter this, Jerda had to find a high location to snipe from, and fast even though she was at least one floor above the water level. The building east of her was two floors higher, but there was no quick access to it. So she stayed her position and fast-walked the perimeter with the rifle pointing into the water.

She heard a splash at the other side at the corner farthest from her. Jerda was going to check it out, but realized that could be a diversion. She resumed her perimeter search and continued to ignore all the splashing that was happening opposite of her.

Then she stopped. What if the assailant was trying to double-trick Jerda, by testing her response to the splashing? After a few more diversions, the assailant would emerge from the spot opposite of Jerda and it would be over. Jerda had to make sure, and so she stepped towards the source.

Then again, it was, as it turned out, a diversion. The shadowy assailant emerged from the spot Jerda had just searched over. In a near-blink she disarmed Jerda with one kick, and tripped her. The assailant, wet from all the swimming and gasping from all the breath she held underwater, swung her knife at Jerda's neck.

"WAIT, STOP!"

The assailant--a girl with light brown skin and reddish hair--blinked with surprise. She back-flipped over and kept her defensive distance. She was dressed in nothing but cloths, the first of which wrapped around her upper torso and covered her nipples, and the second, possibly two-piece, hid her vagina.

"You speak English?" said the girl.

"Yes," said Jerda. Why did I yell in English?

"Leave."

"I mean no harm."

"Liar!"

"Fine, so I tried to kill you, but please let me go and I won't bother you anymore."

"I don't trust you."

"I'll give you everything! Even my waterfox!"

"I already have two."

The girl whistle-clicked. Jumping out of the water was Gertrude, Jerda's purplish waterfox along with a greenish waterfox.

"Nandi selected her mate," said the girl. "She's mine now."

"Fine. I'll leave."

"Wait a second."

The scantly clad girl, while still holding her knife, circled around the tall Jerda inquisitively.

"Why you speak English?" she asked.

"I'm wondering the same thing," said Jerda.

"What are you doing here?"

"I am just looking for a special herb that grows in this continent. I'll show you an illustration in a book I left in that building over there."

"I'll get it; don't move. Nandi, look after her. And what is your fox's name?"

"Gertrude."

"Gertrude, look after her as well."

The girl skipped off to the building Jerda stayed at, and the two waterfoxes of different subspecies circled around their prisoner menacingly.

"I can't believe you betrayed me," Jerda said to Gertrude.

A few minutes, later, the girl emerged with Jerda's sack, and she was already eating her snacks. She spilled all the contents on the ground and sifted through it hazardously. She flipped through the book in question.

"I not know any of this," said the girl.

"Oh," said Jerda. "It's okay. I'll be on my way."

"Wait."

The girl paced about thinking. Then she grinned.

"I have to take you prisoner."

"I have committed no crime!"

"You are trespassing! Nandi! Gertrude!"

The waterfoxes hissed and growled at Jerda. The girl gathered all of Jerda's items into the sack, and laid the rifle next to it.

"Stay here," she said. "I have to grab my things."

"I thought you were going to let me leave."

"I changed my mind," the girl grinned. "I can't let you leave--at all."



It was likely she was going to killed. Executed perhaps, and maybe even offered as a sacrifice to their deranged pagan goddess. The girl marched forward twirling Jerda's rifle with a smile on her face. Jerda was behind her, and pulling up the rear were the waterfoxes, one of which sold her own owner out. She couldn't really escape. The girl chould shoot her dead in one shot, or the foxes could chase her and bring her back scarred and mauled.

They were climbing higher ground as they trekked through the forest, whose trees weren't particularly high but it was enough obscure most of the sunlight. The birds and monkeys chirped and hollered in a welcoming way, and the girl waved back at them as if they were her friends.

"I can't believe there's a girl your age living out here," said Jerda.

"'Out here'? I'm more surprised I found a foreigner. Our last one happened fifty years ago, which was why built up the wall."

"And to find someone else who speaks English."

"You and me. But you should get it through your head that you're going to learn our language. English is dead, and we're forbidden to speak it fluently."

"I know."

The girl stopped. She spun around and rose on her toes up to Jerda's face.

"I'm Evelyn," said she. "Evelyn Matthews."

"I'm Jerda Evaz."

"Evaz? Hmm, that last name reminds me of..."

"What?"

"It's probably just a coincidence. You foreigners have weird names."

Evelyn resumed the trek, and by dusk she, her foxes, and her trophy stopped before a wall and a gate made from barks of wood. There were two watchtowers at the side, and each held a female guard with her rifle pointed at Jerda.

Evelyn then spoke in her native tongue, possibly to order the opening of the gate and the presence of Jerda. So the gate swung open, and a small troupe of armed female guards stood by with their guns pointed at Jerda. Evelyn again went round to ease off the agitated guards. As the gate closed, the villagers, as they looked to Jerda, gathered around to have a good look at their fair-skinned foreign. The elders forty and above were uneasy by her sight, while the young teenagers were smiles and giggles. Many of the people were dressed in loose robes wearing nothing underneath them, thus at least a good portion of one of their shoulders were shown without shame. Many of them walked barefoot. The guards had a little more on them. Actually, they just had trousers and wood sandals.

Then more guards appeared, which drove Evelyn angry. She soon stopped arguing with the captain until a line of six elderly women appeared garbed in the cleanest and most exquisitely patterned robes. The one at the head was tall and had buzz-cut like appearance. Behind her were two giggling yet identical women with mischievous eyes. The one behind the twins was a really drowsy woman whose hair was half gray. She was constantly poked to waking by the thin and timid one behind her, who looked as if she was in her middle ages. At last, the sixth woman was short in stature and had a peeved look about her. As they passed, the villagers bowed respectively towards them, without leaving their eyes on them.

The tallest and most masculine was apparently the leader, and she immediately yelled at the rambunctious Evelyn. The other elders, however, drove away the guards and began to make their own personal inspection of Jerda. The short one sized her up with fiery eyes, and the twins began poking Jerda's breasts. They then muttered to themselves in their language and gave a nod. The timid woman waved her hands worriedly, and then the sleepy one fell asleep on Jerda's right shoulder from behind.

The twins giggled. They took the sleepy woman's hands, and slid them inside Jerda's clothes, which in effect caused groping. It made Jerda blush and open her mouth in a quiet cry. The twins snickered, and the timid woman was held back the shorter woman who also snickered.

"SUZETTE! NIKHILA! ODILIA!"

The sleepy woman woke up, and looked around wondering what was happening. The timid woman finally pulled the hands out of Jerda, who then finally relaxed.

The leader motioned to the five women to follow her, but they took along Jerda. Evelyn was left looking down on the ground, and she was probably punished judging by the scene.

It wasn't really a street Jerda and her escorts walked on, but the dirt was indeed soft for barefoot walking. The houses were built on stilts, possibly to resist possible flooding. Chickens and waterfoxes moved about a freely, as did an occasional tailless longoxen.

At the end of the main pathway they reached a very large house--no, it was more like a mansion built and carved by finest wood. It almost reminded Jerda of the great gathering hall Tehran.

She followed the six elders into the mansion, but she was separated and taken into bedroom to be changed out of her soiled clothes. The maidservants could not resist smiling as they fitted Jerda into a loose robe like the ones they wore, except the fabric on hers felt more exquisite. She was then sent out to join the six elders at the dining hall, and sat on a pillow cross-legged on the floor beside the fiery short woman. There was no one but them.

The electric chandeliers above her blinked on. This mansion had electricity, and it should be since it was an important place of residence.

"Are you comfortable Jerda Evaz?" spoke the tall elder at the head of the table.

"You speak English too?" Jerda cried.

"Not so loud. We prefer not to use that language in this city. For now, quiet voices will suffice.

"My name is Evie Nataraja, the chief elder of New Khartoum. To my right are my twin sisters Nikhila and Odilia, and next to them is Suzette. To my left is Teila, and you're sitting right next to Padma."

Jerda figured out already. The mischievous and perverted twins were Nikhila and Odilia. The sleepy one was Suzette. The timid and thin one was Teila, and the short and bratty one was Padma. Padma didn't look that old. Evie was indeed the eldest and strongest, but something about her reminded Jerda of a certain older half-sister she did not like.

Food was soon served by the many devoted and young maids, which caught the eye of the twins. They would have groped them, but Evie's darting eyes prevented them from doing so. When the eating started, the women got into an argument on who would be feeding Sleepy Suzette.

"Let's let the barbarian feed her," said Padma.

"Jerda, you need not," said Evie. "I gave the order to Padma."

"Don't worry Padma," said Teila, whose voice was soft and beautifully fragile. "I can do it again today."

"You're really suffering yourself girl," said Odilia. "It's been like, what, almost eighty years and you still haven't grown a backbone?"

"You're the only one that's called 'mama' out of all of us," said Nikhila.

"Oh, I don't mind," said Teila as she sat next to her immediate older sister Suzette. She poked her, and fed a spoon of the hottest curry into her open mouth.

"So Jerda," grinned Odilia. "You think Evelyn's hot?"

"You gotta be careful," said Nikhila. "She beat down every girl who asked her out."

"She doesn't want to get married or have children. Thinks it's degrading."

"You think she'll be able to earn the title of amam?"

"Quite possible. Padma's short and she managed to win it."

"I have too," grinned Padma. "I am the overseer of the security forces."

"All right, then it's settled," said Odilia. "Jerda, you're marrying Evelyn."

"Odilia, please," said Evie.

"By Goddess Evie," said Nikhila. "We're doing you a favor getting your granddaughter tied down."

"That's too soon elders," said Jerda.

"Too soon?" cried Nikhila and Odilia in unison. "What kind of talk is that? A young woman like you must get married as soon as possible! You're not leaving this city unless you do!"

Evie groaned. "Jerda, you say you're looking for herbs for your grandmother?"

"I am," said Jerda.

"In that case, I will have Teila to grant you access to the pharmacy storehouse to see if she has one. Otherwise, she may have to go out and recover some. Once you got what you wanted, I would then request that you leave as soon as possible."

"I won't trouble you again Elder Nataraja."

"She can't go so soon!" Odilia said.

"Don't listen to the old crone of a sister," said Nikhila. "You can stay as long as want."

"Provided that you marry Evelyn. Oh, that doesn't matter. You two are going to grind pussies together sooner or later. I just know it."

"We are never wrong," Nikhila winked.

"Ahem," said Evie. "Stop please?"



Jerda was allowed her own room for the night, and quite luxurious to boot for it had its own light bulb. But electricity had to be turned off for the night, and glass windows were cracked open to let in cool air to combat the intense humidity.

She looked at the clock on the wall, and then checked her pocket watch. The hours were off, but where she was it was midnight. It was then she had to go to the bathroom after a few hours of sleep.

She crept through the halls barefooted, hoping to not wake anyone lest she incurred their wrath, or at most the perverseness of the twin old ladies. A single creak of the floor frightened her a bit, but she calmed down after taking a few quiet breaths.

"Ah, that is good hashish shit..."

Jerda's spine was chilled. Someone else was awake, and she found that person at the end of a horizontal crossing holding what looked like a flask bottle of alcoholic drink and smoking blowing smoke out of the window. Jerda quietly moved as she stared at the woman, who then finally noticed her.

"What the fuck are you lookin' at?" she demanded.

Jerda gulped. "Bathroom."

"Down the hall, after first door on your right."

"Thank you."

"Tch."

She saw the woman before at dinner, but wasn't sure if it was the same person personality-wise.

Jerda finally went into the bathroom, which to her joy had a working toilet and a faucet. Once she went out, she heard creaking. It wasn't her feet, but it came from another horizontal hallway crossing ahead of her.

She looked and saw a very elderly woman reaching for the door handle from her rickety wheelchair. Instinctively, she hurried off to help her.

This was a different woman from the six elders of the village-city. She was very old, and visibly past one hundred. Jerda wheeled her inside her room, which was large and very furnished, but opposite of the bed were many strange machines of wood and metal. Some of them Jerda recognized, some she had seen in picture books, and some she had never seen before. At one wall, there were many photos of what seemed to be her and six children, and at the opposite side there were a few mini-shrines holding statues of Hindu gods and goddesses.

"Where are your servants in the middle of this night?" Jerda muttered in Sino-Persian. "Can't be sure if you understand English or not, but I better not speak lest I arouse your fancy."

The frail old woman was helped into her own bed, and Jerda lingered in case she needed anything else.

"Well," she said. "I bid you good night."

Jerda couldn't leave. A leathery and wrinkled hand had enough strength to hold her back.

"You found me," said the frail voice in perfect English.

Uh-oh.

Jerda turned around, and the old woman she helped was in tears.

"You weren't supposed to find me," continued the woman. "Yet I have waited so long to see you."

"Um, I have to go."

"You haven't changed a bit. Ah yes, you were created for longevity."

"Ma'am?"

"I'm sorry for what I have done to you. I don't deserve your forgiveness!"

The old woman whimpered loud enough to arouse the attention of Evie and one of her younger sisters. Evie separated Jerda from the woman.

"Suzette, escort her back to her room," said Evie as she held the old woman.

"Yes sister," said Suzette.

As they walked, Jerda finally was convinced it was Suzette who was smoking and drinking. Her items of vice were gone, possibly due to her brief argument with her older sister before the incident happened. It was strange to see her wide awake and alert, but her attitude was informal and rude instead of mellow and sleepy. Must be a day sleeper.

"Did I do something wrong?" Jerda asked Suzette.

"You opened one helluva can of worms back there," replied Suzette.

"What?"

Suzette patted Jerda's shoulder. "Look, I don't mind you being here, but I won't tolerate you causing mother emotional pain. When you're done here, please don't back ever again."

After that, Jerda tried to go to sleep.



She was woken up for breakfast by the servants. Again, she ate with the six elders, but not with the mother of them. As expected, Suzette was drowsy and dumbfounded, and she was once again spoon-fed by her younger sister Teila. Suzette didn't even recognize Jerda from last night.

When the meal was over, Jerda was placed under Teila's watch. As they exited through the main entrance, they say Evelyn waiting at the steps.

Evelyn and Teila greeted each other in their own language, and she joined up with her and Jerda on their walk to Teila's clinic.

"I wanted to see how you are doing," Evelyn said to Jerda.

"Despite some setbacks though," said Jerda. "I offended your grandmother and your great-grandmother somehow."

"Don't say that," said Teila. "You have done nothing of that sort. They just wanted to protect our mother."

"Is she the true leader of this city?"

"She is, but she has become so frail and infirm that she handed all her power to us, the Six Daughters of Eve."

"Still, I cannot believe there would be such a place here."

"I couldn't believe there are survivors out there, a young one like yourself."

"I wouldn't call myself young..."

"Oh, no you are. And I can already tell that you are one of us."

"As in?"

"You can impregnate or become impregnated."

"Grand-aunt," blushed Evelyn. "You're not buying into the Matchmaker Twins..."

"Nothing of that sort! I'm just a doctor, that's all."

The walk through the city was long, but at least in the morning there was more life. The business of shuffling crops, lumber, and metal pipes in animal-driven carts was in motion. Children were playing with toys Jerda thought was only in her home. They had skateboards, roller-skates, and sometimes bicycles that was seemingly reserved for the upper class of this society.

Jerda and her party were obviously followed. She ignored the constant giggles of the teenage girls of their fair-skinned foreigner. But her main worry was that she would be hounded by the perverted elder twins, Nikhila and Odilia. She felt so sure that they were around hiding from tree to tree with mischievous smiles on their faces.

They went down a pathway to a humble yet sizeable clinic by a running creek, where the few nurses were already taking care of the elderly at the front porches. Amongst the old, Jerda finally saw some fair-skinned ones, who sprang to the feet muttering a language that was clearly different from the main one of the village city. Teila stood between them, and calmed the fair-skinned old woman by speaking, as best as she could, the language in question. After the commotion was calmed down, they went inside.

There were a few people waiting, but the nurses dressed in white jackets shuffled them to one checkup room and back, or to the operating room. Jerda and Evelyn went inside Teila's office, which then immediately changed into a blouse, a skirt, and a white lab coat.

"It's the same at my place," said Jerda.

"I guess back then all cultures were one or similar," said Teila. "I would not be surprised."

"That woman who tried to speak to me."

"Ah, that was Franzi. She's German."

"German?"

"A country long perished. She doesn't posses the Gift of the Goddess, but at the very least she was able to bore many of our children. She's a foreigner like you, but she is an old one; one of the survivors of the Great Catastrophe that befell our world."

"Come to think of it, we do have some of those type back at my home, but they're rapidly disappearing."

"It is unfortunate. That's why we made an effort to write down the tales of the eras of the past."

"Not at my place. They're so rigid that they want to control history."

"That is unfortunate as well. Anyway, let's head to the pharmacy."

Teila led Jerda and Evelyn through the hall, during which she dispensed orders to all the nurses and assistants with utmost authority. This was a total contrast of her timidness she displayed in the presence of her sisters. Then again, her personality matched well with her profession. She was the same height as Jerda, but in her uniform she seemed taller.

The pharmacy had a counter, and there was almost always a routine order of medicine for the mundane to the serious. It was a fairly large section of the clinic, with about four rows of tall shelves in addition to the shelves of the walls. The place even had high-tech equipment such as light bulbs, a working refrigerator, and a freezer.

Teila flipped through the pages of Jerda's book with fascination. Most of things she already had, but there were some that were exotic that she dearly wanted to send an expedition to find such ingredients in far-off places such as Latin America and jungles of Malaysia.

"Is there anything in particular you're looking for?" Teila asked.

"My grandmother has been coughing up blood lately," replied Jerda.

"Ah, tuberculosis. We do have some medicine, but it is not potent. A better solution would be to move her to a tropical environment."

"She's blind as well."

"Unfortunately, we can't cure blindness."

"Then don't you have something that can prolong her life? Anything?"

"I'm sorry Jerda, but all of the creatures of the Goddess must die eventually."

"I came here for nothing."

"Can't you do something grand-aunt?" asked Evelyn.

Teila mused over it. "How old is your grandmother Jerda?"

"She's about a hundred or so," replied Jerda.

"Almost as old as mother... I may be able to use the same medicine and herbal remedies that kept my mother alive for your grandmother, but I can't make any promises. However, it is not those things that is keeping her alive."

"Then what is?"

"Her own self-punishment, but more or less she is waiting for someone."

"She thinks it's me."

"I suppose..."

Teila wandered off in deep longing thoughts.

"Jerda, Evelyn," she said. "Please wait outside for me to prepare the package. It may take a while since I am really busy, but I'll try to get it to you as soon as I can. Oh, and Jerda. Could I make copies of this book you have?"

"Won't that take days?" Jerda said.

"It won't take long. I have a copying machine."

"A machine that makes copies? Amazing..."



At the parlor porch where they waited, Jerda was at the center of attention, and Evelyn acted as translator. For the foreign elderly, they conversed with Jerda in their own language, and Jerda pretended to listen. At times, they spoke to her in broken English, and despite their fumbling of communication it was a pleasant experience.

Jerda received the most attention from the teenagers and a few young adults, which Evelyn did not take too kindly. Her translations of Jerda's words back to them felt too scornful, and at one point one of the girls insulted her with a offensive gestures.

"You're not exactly friendly with your own people," said Jerda.

"It's not that," said Evelyn. "They're being rude for asking you such personal questions." Then she mumbled something in her own language.

"I am flattered that you defended me, but I can't shake this creepy feeling that the twin old ladies I met are around."

"They've been here the whole time. DAMN IT GRAND-AUNT NIKHILA AND ODILIA! COME OUT OF HIDING!"

The two twin old ladies emerged from behind an ox-cart.

"You don't have to yell," said Odilia.

"Our ears are still in working order," said Nikhila, who was picking earwax off her ears.

"Really you two," grumbled Evelyn. "Stop it now."

"Don't be so rude to your elders."

"Indeed," said Odilia. "We did you a favor by staving off those girls interested in you."

"I don't need any more favors," said Evelyn.

The twins playfully skipped to the porch and sat in the unoccupied chairs beside the young women.

"It is written all over you," said Nikhila.

"It is not!" cried Evelyn.

"It's obvious that Evelyn has the hots for you," Odilia said to Jerda.

"I do not! I am just concerned that's all. I mean, I'm the only one who can speak English fluently besides you guys, which you are no help."

"No help?" Odilia and Nikhila said in unison. "Do you doubt the greatest matchmaking duo in the entire world?"

"Ugh. I am so sorry Jerda."

"How do you get them off your case?" Jerda asked.

"There is one surefire way."

"And that is?"

Evelyn whispered into Jerda's ear, and the words from her made her grin.

"Eh?" Nikhila said. "You finally confessed?"

"Oh, no," said Jerda. "Evelyn has just told me on the weight you have lost."

Nikhila smiled, and then straightened her back. "Well, when you're my age, shaving it off is quite difficult. But I say I wasn't too bad myself."

"Oh, go to hell," said Odilia. "You lost nothing! You gained a few more pounds from the dinner last night."

"At least I won't weigh as much as you porky."

"Stop calling me porky. You know well we weigh the same."

"Keep dreaming sister. We all know you're the fattest. Even big sis Evie says so."

"That was almost seventy years ago!"

"She did mention it fairly recently."

"When? When was that?"

"I'm not telling."

"Damn it Nikhila! You stupid little..."

It degenerated into a shouting match in both the village language and English the likes of which no one could follow. It caused enough spectacle that people stopped what they were doing just to watch, and the instigators of the incident, Jerda and Evelyn, covered their mouths and chuckled.

"Oh, not again," said Teila, who was holding a wrapped package of medicine and herbs. "Evelyn, you did this, didn't you?"

"I can't help it!" laughed Evelyn. "They were bothering Jerda."

Teila sighed. "Here, take this. Evelyn, please escort Jerda to the gate. This will take a while for me to resolve."

"Okay."

With the package in hand, Jerda and Evelyn set off towards the main street, and only looked back once to see Teila vainly trying to calm her older twin sisters down.

Once again, Jerda was the center of attention as Evelyn took her to the gate. Waiting for them was Padma, chief of the security forces, hence she was the leader of the officers stationed at the gate. Padma was flanked by two guards who were holding Jerda's belongings, including the original clothes she wore that she was ordered to change into in one of the guardhouses. Once that was done, Jerda received the rest of her belongings as well as a basket lunch that was created beforehand.

The parting was quiet, even as the wooden gate noisily opened. During which, Jerda saw Evie and the rest of her younger sisters watching her go. It seemed that Teila had successfully calmed the feuding twins, and twins watched Jerda and Evelyn carefully if they were to confess their love anytime soon.

"What an interesting moment," said Evelyn.

"Yeah," said Jerda.

"You'll be okay, though, right?"

"I'll be fine."

"Okay. Um, you know..."

"Hurry it up," said Padma.

"Oh, yeah. One more thing."

Evelyn whistle-clicked. Gertrude and Nandi, the waterfoxes, sat obediently before Jerda.

"I'll give you Gertrude back," she said, "but since she's too attached to Nandi, I guess she'll be yours too."

"No, that's all right," said Jerda. "I'll be fine on my own really."

"You need them to find good water, don't you?"

"Evelyn," said Padma.

"I'll take good care of them," said Jerda.

"Thank you," said Evelyn. "I'll see you later then."

"Bye. "

Jerda walked out, and the gate closed behind her. The guards in the towers did not point their rifles at her, but their faces were well hidden. The things that she would be taking from this newly discovered human settlement were the medicine, the herbs, the basket lunch, Nandi the green waterfox, and the memories of her short time there.

Who knew when she would be back? They could be just letting her out to kill her later, but they wouldn't hand over the waterfoxes so readily, unless Evelyn commanded them to attack Jerda later on. Still, the waterfoxes were now on friendly and obedient terms.

Alone again she was in the forest, and now she had to rely solely on her memory tread the path to the submerged city of Old Khartoum. From there, she'll navigate her way back based on the old map.

She was followed, as she had expected, many minutes later. The waterfoxes didn't hiss or bark at the pursuer. However, Jerda didn't feel threatened, but rather she was annoyed. She then stopped suddenly right before the many water pools that leading up to Old Khartoum.

"What is it Evelyn?"

From above, Evelyn landed on her feet right in front of Jerda.

"You forgot this," said Evelyn. It was the picture book of herbs Jerda gave to Teila to make copies.

"Oh, thanks."

Evelyn lingered in front of Jerda with her hands behind her back and digging her toes into the ground.

"Did I forget anything else?" Jerda asked.

"...yeah."

Facing Jerda on, Evelyn grasped her head, pulled forward, and locked lips so that her tongue intertwined with hers. Their bodies were eventually pressed against each other, and Evelyn was then rubbing her hands about Jerda's back.

Jerda, in turn, immediately succumbed to the passion. She was then grasping Evelyn's buttocks, but Evelyn then moved her hands so that she would touch her breasts.

They parted after a long moment, and their waterfoxes had watched the whole thing. Evelyn jumped to the side of Jerda and held her arm.

"You forgot me," she said.

Chapter 18

Title: "Am I fit to inherit the Earth?"

Eve Sky
Chapter 18 - "Am I fit to inherit the Earth?"
by StarCross


"Padma has this thing called a 'Napolean Complex'," said Evelyn. "I don't know what that means, but they say her being so short is the reason she's so aggressive. I guess that is why she's the chief of the security forces. Then again, I think her aggression stems from the twins teasing her during childhood."

From high vantage point, Evelyn saw Jerda huffing and puffing her way towards her. The waterfoxes Gertrude and Nandi weren't far behind.

"Teila's always been timid as far as I can remember," Evelyn continued. "But I don't know exactly the reason why she became the doctor of our village. I suppose it's in her nature, but then again she was the only qualified.

"That's because Suzette's almost always asleep. She's supposed to be record keeper, but not a particularly good one I might add. I do hear she is a day sleeper, and you can see her haunting the mansion halls at late nights.

"The twins Odilia and Nikhila aren't much help because they always try to grope the young women and meddle in everyone's love affairs. They're supposed to be the high priestesses, but all they rather do is play matchmaker. Ironically though, every girl comes to them for advice on love, and it is always helpful. Another interesting fact about them that they each had ten children each from their respective wives, but they have gotten so confused on who had who that they decided to be parents of all twenty. It was all well and good ever since their wives passed away long ago.

"Then there is my grandmother, Evie. She is the strongest out of the Six Daughters, but also the strictest. She usually has the final say in all our affairs. She is actually a very soft woman, especially when she takes care of great-grandmother. Great-grandmother was the one who taught me English by the way."

Evelyn looked down. Jerda was resting against the trunk of a tall tree. Evelyn leaped down and procured a water bottle for her companion.

"Just let me catch my breath," said Jerda.

"You move so slow," said Evelyn. "You're wearing too much clothes."

"You move too fast!"

"Your grandmother is not going to last long. Wait, don't move! You should rest! You wouldn't want to die before you got home."

"Okay."

Evelyn sat very close next to Jerda. She linked her arm with her and leaned on her shoulder.

"I love you by the way," said Evelyn.

"Since when?"

"Since we first met."

"It's a little too fast."

"I thought so too. I don't know what came over me though. Usually I'm quick to kill, but when I saw you up close, my heart just fluttered."

"Don't you have any sweethearts back at your village city?"

"I do have lots of admirers probably because I'm the granddaughter of Evie. I wasn't interested in any them, and I thought I should live my life as lone soldier of Padma's forces. They all think its weird that I don't want to become a mama or an amam."

"The chance of becoming pregnant or impregnating another is half and half."

"I am aware of that, but I wasn't too interested then. That is, until I met you."

"I don't know how to respond to this..."

"You respond well to my kisses."

"I don't know."

Evelyn rose to her feet and paced a bit. "The thing about the Twins boasting that they are never wrong... They actually have a very good track record. Almost all of the couples they paired together end up living happy lives with lots of children."

"Do you believe that?"

"No. I believe in love at first sight."

Jerda got up. "I'm done."

They resumed their journey north along the raging Nile River. It had been days since Evelyn started accompanying Jerda after the incident in New Khartoum. Evelyn had said to her family that she went hunting and scavenging, but to certain key elders she said confessed that she wanted see what Jerda's home was like as well as the outside world.

What the case may be, she wanted to be with her. She made sure her every movement, both intentional and unintentional, flaunted her thin body and her exposed skin, and had always insisted on Jerda taking a bath with her.

"Baths are a private matter where I come from," Jerda had said. "And flaunting of skin is frowned upon as well."

"So it is," said Evelyn. "Well, baths are a private matter back at my city."

"Then why are you coaxing me?"

"Don't know. I'm waiting for you to ravage me."

"That won't happen."

"I guess we all know who's going to be the mama in our relationship."

Jerda did have illicit thoughts of touching Evelyn inappropriately, and she even dreamed of licking every part of her brown skin. Her culture prided themselves in modesty, both behavior and in dress, so Jerda would be dressed in a matter that exposed the least skin--and also it was cold in Tehran.

Then again, Evelyn could in fact be the one destined to her. That was one of the things her culture had in common with Evelyn's, and that there were certain women fated to be together to create the perfect monogamy.



"You must tell me more about your home," said Evelyn, as she sat by Jerda at the campfire. "So I could better prepare."

"We live in or by the forest," said Jerda, "just like you guys. We're more reserved and modest, and we have very cold winters."

"Does your grandmother have any power in that society?"

"Once, but since her blindness and sickness, it has been delegated to Ten Daughters of Quyen; my half-aunts."

"Half-aunts?"

"Yes. I'm the offspring of the third and last daughter of Mistress Laleh, who my grandmother took after Quyen, the First Wife, died. My aunts and my mother have been expelled from main city and forced to live outside by the Ten Daughters. It seemed that they didn't take too kindly of grandma taking a mistress and having children with her. Thinks that goes against the doctrine of Perfect Monogamy."

"That's a lot of crap. Your grandmother was alone! She was bound to fall in love with another woman."

"The thing is, however, is that all direct descendants of my grandmother are potential heirs of the Sword of Danya, the legendary relic that symbolizes the leadership and the pride of our city."

"I get it now. It's all political. Great-grandmother disliked politics, and that's why we kept laws at a minimum. If that should be the case, who is the heir?"

"No one knows yet..."

Evelyn noticed Jerda blinking fast and moving her eyes.

"It's you isn't it?"

"That's silly," said Jerda. "I'm only twenty-one, and there are more qualified adults than me."

"You're twenty-one? I thought you were young as me."

"How old are you then?"

"Fifteen, turning sixteen."

"Oh, darn. Um, is that an age of consent where you come from?"

"If your cum is sparkling, you're ready for sex. That's what Nikhila says. Or was it Odilia? I can't tell those two apart. Anyway, it seems like you don't care about what's happening at your home."

"Not really. I don't even have any hard feelings against my aunts for banishing my family and me. But there is faction developing between the Ten Daughters, and at least half of them want to branch off to create their own Queendoms. Some of those lands are rich in soil and minerals that it might cause future conflict."

"I can see why your grandmother was wise to include you in the list of heirs."

"I don't really care. I just want to live in peace by myself and my future wife."

"Why not live in my city?"

"I'm not welcome."

"Then we'll form our own settlement free of this political-xenophobic crap. That's almost how great-grandmother began New Khartoum with her six daughters."

"Or how grandmother started Tehran with Quyen."

"Just like that. I guess great-grandmother and your grandmother have a lot in common. Still, I can't help but wonder about who great-grandmother mated with to have grandma and the others."

"Was she mama or amam?"

"She won't say. Not even her daughters know."



"Why not Cairo?" Evelyn said as she looked at the map, and then at the marshes of Egypt from a high tree.

"Cairo?" asked Jerda, who was chopping up fruit with her knife. "Where's that at?"

"It should be around here judging by this map."

"The map is old. Why are you deciding things like this?"

"If we're going to have a family, we need a good place where there is lots of resources and good historical value."

"We're not married yet."

"I know. We will be once we have sex."

"It doesn't work that way. We get married, then we have sex."

"But marriage before sex produces incompatibilities later in life. That's what great-grandmother taught me."

"You can't soil the sacredness of institution."

"I'm only saying that it's illogical. You need to fall in love first, and with love sex inevitably comes."

"We don't follow such pagan ways."

"I'd say you're pagan, girl. Did you base your society on a book written by man-devils?"

"I will not stand this insult!"

"You're pissed, and yet you're staring at my butt as if you want to rape me."

"How can't I? You're wearing close to nothing!"

"You're acting like zealot with a silver pole stuck up your butt. Fine then! You're not bathing with me tonight!"

"That's all and well you naked savage!"



Sinnai Island wasn't exactly bald if one were to wash ashore and traverse its small land to find the few plants and grass that struggled there. It was the case for, in their unfortunate circumstance, for Jerda, Evelyn, and their waterfoxes crashed and was forced to find shelter amidst a storm.

"Your raft sucks!" Evelyn said. "Why didn't you build it to accommodate one person and an additional waterfox?"

"How was I supposed to know I'm taking home a savage?"

"You're just a poor planner!"

"It's not like you can jerry-rig an additional platform."

"We people are master river navigators I might add."

They finally found a cave. The waterfoxes stood at the entrance shaking the excess water off their bodies. A fire was quickly started with the help of sticks, straw, and a lighter. Their clothes and even their underwear were neatly tossed aside after Jerda and Evelyn stripped themselves to the bare skin.

Now, they did not know who started it, how it got started, or if an argument was a leading cause. Before they knew it, their bodies were pressed against one another furiously kissing in the thrash of their lovemaking. The limited space and the hard surfaces around them was not enough to hinder them, but they did manage to scrounge some comfort when Evelyn had pushed Jerda onto her back on top of a flattened bundle of straw.

"Are you all right with this?" Evelyn breathed.

Jerda kissed her. "Fuck me now. Please!"

Evelyn grinned. The f-word was one of those words her great-grandmother and grandmother told her to use sparsely. She kissed her lover once more and mounted so that her breasts her mashed against the other pair and her clitoris was nuzzled deep into Jerda's vulva.

They kept humping each other for more than an hour, kissing each other as much as possible, and ejaculating into themselves. Their mixture they made was sparkling, none knew who made it. Like almost all the lovers in their respective homes, the scooped it up with their fingers for a sweet taste, and shared it between one another.



She was only dressed in her bra, panties, and her cloak the next morning when she scrounged the island for pieces of the raft and additional driftwood. It felt unusually relaxing for Jerda to be half-nude in the breeze.

"Grope-grope!" Evelyn cried.

"Let go," said Jerda, pushing her lover's hands off her breasts. "And why aren't you helping me?"

"You're doing most of the work. I'm horny."

"I have no time to play around."

Evelyn tackled Jerda onto the beach and groped her all over whilst kissing.

"I won't stand that," said Evelyn. "You know I love you."

Jerda sighed. "We'll have more time to make love when we arrive at Tehran."

"Okay."

Yet the two lingered in their embrace.

"Does this mean we're married?" Evelyn asked.

"It would be a great offense in my culture," replied Jerri. "But yes, we are married in my book."



It was a week's journey from the Jordan beaches to the ruins of the Baghdad Metropolis, where the city was surrounded by the gravestone-like oil refineries, and skeletons of ancient mobile weapons. Gertrude and Nandi had performed their duty in finding water sources for their masters, despite the setbacks of them mating once in a while. It was likely that one of them would had pups, and usually it was the one who showed significant slowness in movement.

Evelyn had never seen a desert, let alone a savannah. She was spared from a sweltering desert, but with the state of the world, both she and Jerda would not have to cross any in their lifetimes.

"This is a weird place," remarked Evelyn as she walked atop of a grounded trailer of a truck. "What are we looking for again?"

"A shrine," said Jerda. "Or a sign. I forget which. Ah, there it is!"

They entered a mosque, which to them was a ruined holy place of a religion long gone. Tehran had similar structures, but they no longer pointed to the fabled city of Mecca. Instead, the niche, or Mihrab, pointed southeastward to the holy land of Vietnam.

Jerda searched underneath the ruined Minbar (a pulpit equivalent) and procured a box of supplies left behind fairly recently by her people. In it contained maps and tools, but the item of most importance was a flare gun that she used on that very night.

"Pretty," said Evelyn. "What does that do?"

"It sends a signal," said Jerda. "If the scouts spot us, they'll come by to pick us up in a day."

"And if they don't?"

"We move on to another stop to fire another flare."



To their surprise, the response came at the morning. Evelyn, Jerda, and their waterfoxes emerged from sleeping inside the mosque expecting a small welcome party, but what they got instead was a heavy convoy complete with an ornate and heavily decorated long-carriage in addition to a smaller and religious carriage. There were twenty handsome, tall, and beautiful female riders on their own striped swept-eared horses, or swept horses. The riders each wore regal uniforms of thick cotton green cloth and furred capes, and they were armed with one sword, a rifle, and a pistol. There were two drivers for the carriage, and accompanying them was one priestess and her two handmaidens, each of them were dressed in demure Asiatic robes.

Everyone dismounted, surrounded Jerda, and kowtowed before her.

"Jerda," said Evelyn, who was still standing. "What's going on? Are we in trouble?"

"It's worse," replied Jerda. "I've just been made queen."

"How can that be worse?"

Jerda was now crying. "Because grandmother passed away."



She was quickly changed into her regal white garbs of jade and silver, and topped off with a felt hat and a white cloak. Her foreign companion, had to be dressed appropriate, and the cavalry's extra uniforms would not suit Evelyn since it would be offensive to their new queen. It was then decided, under Jerda's pressure, that Evelyn should wear the extra clothes reserved for the new queen. It did not quite fit Evelyn, and most of the jade and silver accents were unbuttoned off in order to make her less regal than Jerda.

The ride was unusually swift. Even the Zagros Mountains did not slow them one bit. They only made one stop in the empty city of Hamadan, populated only by a small family that the cavalry would have mistreated if not for Jerda's intervention. The family was almost forced out to vacate the home for their new queen, but Jerda convinced them all, despite everyone's insistence, that she would be staying in her carriage since it was luxurious.

The family turned out to be consisted a close cousin of one her aunts and a granddaughter of one of the Ten Daughters of Quyen. They had three children, one of them a teenager, and all of them Evelyn barely got a glimpse of when the convoy parted on the very next morning.

"Jerda," said Evelyn. "I'm really sorry."

"It's all right," said Jerda. "The trip was still worth it though."

Evelyn reached out and held her lover's hand. "At the very least, you can use the medicine and herbs for someone else who needs it."

The convoy passed by the ruins of the Old Tehran, which was once a thriving megalopolis that was now decaying underneath sands and straw. Further they journeyed, and the convoy finally arrived past the rigid-wood gates of the Tehran Queendom and capital at dusk. Evelyn could see out of the windows the people and the soldiers kowtowing in reverence as they headed through the main street crowded with log cabins made from thick trees.

The city was surrounded by a forest, but it was more open and cleared away. She could see in the distance black smoke rising from the hills and mountains, and the clanging sounds of industry. The people of all classes were dressed very warmly, and some had their faces veiled so well that only eyes could be seen. It was cold in the Tehran Queendom, and it readily made Evelyn shiver so easily.

When the carriage was stopped, the doors were open, and regal knights in leather armor helped their new queen and her companion out. Evelyn saw that they were inside a segregated section of the city barred by a thinner wood wall. Before her was a long red velvet carpet leading to one of the large buildings in the area. People in their kowtow were lined up, and by the jade, silver, and gold ornaments, they were clearly of the upper nobility, and quite possibly the Ten Daughters of Quyen and their descendants.

But the real Ten Daughters of Quyen were waiting inside the tri-level Tenaya Palace. Each had their unique air of superiority, save for one or two, particularly the Queyen Daughter who had a mechanical hook for a right hand and wild white hair. There was one Quyen Daughter, the eldest apparently, that looked remarkably like Evelyn's grandmother Evie. In fact, she would be considered her twin if not for her slightly longer hair and fair skin.

Jerda gave her greetings to her older half-aunts in Sino-Persian, and tried to hurry off to her room with Evelyn at her side. The eldest of the Ten Daughters tried to call Jerda back down. Jerda indicated through her words and gestures that she was tired.

"You're going to have to choose a wife sooner later," said the eldest Quyen Daughter in perfect English. "I really don't believe that girl you have will suffice."

Evelyn turned around to yell back, but Jerda covered her mouth and pulled her back upstairs. During which, she conversed with the other maidservants of high-ranking, and finally settled into the room right next to the stairwell to the third floor.

"Oh, that bitch," said Evelyn. "Me not sufficing? For Goddess's sake, we just fucked!"

"Don't let her get to you," said Jerda as she threw off her cloak and jacket in order to jump onto her bed. "Lien is only acting seriously since she is the oldest--and has the most power."

"Someone needs to pull the silver shaft out of her ass one of these days. There is no way I'm letting you marry one of the girls here."

"They'll try to. It's one way for them to gain power. You see, when the queen takes in a woman as a wife, they share equal power. After one or more of their children are born, their roles of mama and amam are determined. The one who is labeled as amam becomes the queen, while the mama is relegated back to simply being a wife."

"Jerda, you're bound to be mama no matter who you marry."

"If I marry you that is..."

"Hmm..."

Evelyn threw her cloak to the floor and leapt onto the bed along with Jerda. Immediately she interlocked her legs and kissed her lover.

"So what's going to happen now that you're queen?" Evelyn asked.

"Lot's of things," replied Jerda. "I'll visit my grandmother's grave tomorrow morning, then a ritual coronation will take place afterwards. At the same time, my half-aunts' granddaughters will do everything to seduce me."

"Not going to happen. They'll have to get through me."

"They're not going to like it."

"They don't have to. They'll hate me, and I'll hate them. Simple as that."

"I do wish you could get along with them. Almost everyone in the city is my cousin."

"I wish they were more like you."

"Then I'd be jealous."

They giggled and kissed one more time.

The maids called them out downstairs for dinner, which was a private for only the two of them. Before that, however, they were changed into white indoor clothes that had a medieval flair.

They table they ate in was long, for it was meant accommodate a feast of twenty. Not wanted to be alone and separate, Jerda and Evelyn sat at the head next to each other. They were not exactly alone in their eating, as the head matron of the servants and her two immediate subordinates were close by to serve their mistresses every possible need. Yet there were low whispers about the presence of their foreign visitor, and it was likely they were not positive comments.

After dessert, they took a bath together in the carved marble bath and availed themselves to be sponge-washed by four chaste and voluptuous maidservants, each of who were garbed in a tight white long-sleeve garments that became wet and stuck to their skin. Their dress was supposed to keep them modest, but it had an opposite effect. Then again, it was erotic in its own way since their skin could be seen through.

They slept together in their room, and then in the next morning, they were woken up by the head matron to be dressed and primed for the day. Jerda wore a similar outfit the likes of which she wore when she arrived at the new Tehran, and Evelyn was dressed in a less-than luxurious and fashionable outfit. They were led back down to the dining area for breakfast, where this time they were joined by the Ten Daughters of Quyen.

"Since we're alone," started Lien, "I guess it is safe for all of us to speak the dying language since our guest understands it quite well."

Evelyn felt cautious about the Ten, who looked at her and Jerda with cunning, disgruntled, or apathetic eyes. Lien introduced them down the line, by ranking and by age. The second daughter was the demure Hoa, who looked as if she resented her older sister's power and influence. The third was the shorter Tuyet, who seemed to look up to Lien. The fourth, Xuan, was the prettiest, as she was blond and adorned with the most jewels and the best clothes. The fifth, Kitty, was shifty-looking for her eyes looked as if they were closed in comparison to her sisters, who already had small slit-like eyes. For being in the middle, Kitty usually hid her sadistic and secretive smile behind a folding fan. She relied on a servant to feed her.

The sixth daughter was Arzu, the tallest and the strongest of the lot. The seventh was the bespectacled and serious-looking Gul. Gul looked to be a doctor, who could rival Teila's skills. The eighth was the jittery Yasmin, who had a constant fondness for coffee. The ninth daughter, Dorothy, was the one Evelyn saw who had the hook for her missing hand and wild hair. Evelyn could not guess her motivation, as it seemed she was too preoccupied with a rectangular block that was clearly ancient technology. The tenth daughter and last was Shirin, who looked pitifully weak in comparison to her older sisters. Shirin almost reminded Evelyn of Teila in her worse days.

"I hear you returned from the savage lands," Tuyet said to Jerda, "and brought home a interesting, albeit pretty girl."

"I wouldn't exactly call her land savage," said Jerda. "Sure they live in a more challenging environment, but they have a thriving technological civilization there."

"Might I ask on how well armed their military force are, if they have one?" asked Arzu.

"We do keep our own share of rifles and pistols," said Evelyn.

Arzu began whispering to Lien and Tuyet in their language.

"But we do not posses any massively destructive weapons," added Evelyn. "Like bombs of a biological, radiological, and atomic nature."

"And you don't posses any flying chariots?" asked Arzu. "They are also called airships if you may ask."

"Not that I know of. We are a peace-loving society."

"A society that needs guns and swords to defend itself."

"We're not dumb enough to allow ourselves be attacked by outsiders. Only one incident had happened before I was born fifty years ago."

"Dear Arzu," chuckled Kitty. "Don't tell me you're planning to start an invasion to the girl's humble queendom."

"I am merely curious," said Arzu. "If needs be, it may be possible to lend our assistance to New Khartoum in case natural disaster were to occur."

"Or perhaps you, Lien, Tuyet, and Xuan want to find a place to rule after the split."

"We would never dream of doing that," said Lien.

"Miss Evelyn Matthews, I will make sure that my sisters won't have any desire of invading your lands. This is what happens when you spend too much time with a certain book instead of your wife."

"Why must you stir up trouble like this Kitty? You think this is some game here? There are other survivors out there, and we have a duty to spread our culture to them."

"Life is a game dear Lien, which I elect not to participate in until all but one of the players have given up."

"And that's when you'll reveal your true colors."

"How do you know my true colors when you have not seen it?"

The two sisters stared each other down. For some reason, Kitty reminded Evelyn of her twin grand-aunts, except she was vicious like a snake.

With breakfast finished, the women led themselves outside to join with a an armed royal regimen. That was when Evelyn finally met Jerda's parents, the amam Afra and her mother Zaray, as well as her sisters, aunts, cousins, and nieces. The reunion was short, as the visiting of the late Queen of Tehran took precedence, and Jerda and Evelyn had to be in lead, while the descendants of Laleh were excluded from the ritual.

They arrived at a tomb, half-erected, half completed, and under construction at the side of the mountain after a half of a kilometer walk. It was pointing southwest to the Vietnam Holy Land, which would allow Jerda to pray at her grandmother's tomb. The youngest daughter of Quyen, Shirin, laid out a bouquet of flowers at the half-open stone-slab entrance, as she as always done. She was mentioned during the breakfast that she was a botanist, and had no interest in inheriting the Sword of Danya.

Most of the other daughters of Quyen seemed to be jealous of Jerda's ascension. Evelyn could feel the foreboding air ever since she stepped into this new land, and already the great-granddaughters of the late Queen were eying their primed faces at Jerda, and some had to gall to converse cordially with her during the journey to the tomb.

Lunch was served at a separate building, the Great Hall, which was located right next to the Great Temple built on the foundation of an old and ancient building. In here the conversation became livelier, but the air of foreboding jealousy could not be quelled. Jerda's immediate family was segregated towards the entrance doors, which could not afford any chance of her talking with them.

Jerda conversed with the daughters of Quyen and their descendant in their own language. Evelyn would have been isolated if not for the interest of one of the more moderate of the Ten Daughters. Unfortunately, she was also the shadiest.

"I'm rooting for you," grinned Kitty.

"Um, thanks," said Evelyn.

"I guess you know how Jerda felt like when she was at your land."

"I don't know. She was cautious, but perhaps it was our cultural xenophobia that drove them away."

"My, you know some big words."

"Still, I cannot understand how we know a common language the majority of us don't understand."

"I ask myself that too. English was our first language, for it was the language of our Amam. But she eventually learned Vietnamese, and then Persian, and in no time those two merged. We're fluent in Sino-Persian in our own right, but we would never utter a dead language of English unless we're dealing with programming, which is Dorothy's department."

"What do you mean?"

"Don't worry about the programming part. The reason we don't utter it is because it makes Amam very sad. Lien strictly forbids everyone to speak it or else they would be punished. It did not matter if they were Englishwomen, American, or not. No one was to speak it--that is until now."

"I could understand that. But what's this split going on?"

"Oh, it's just a simple and ridiculous power struggle happening between Lien and Hoa. Amam knew that it was happening, and she wanted a young and innocent girl to inherit the Sword of Danya and not some old crone seeped into politics."

"But why Jerda? Her family is essentially banished from general affairs."

"Only when they reach adulthood. Even though we look down on the daughters of Laleh, we are compelled to educate their children in academics, the sciences, religion, and physical combat. Our Amam personally trained them even though she was blind and getting perverted... much to the parents' dismay. Ahem. She was, as I have perceived accurately, quite intimate with Jerda. I have eavesdropped on her conversation with the English matron that Jerda had always reminded her about herself. Jerda was indeed oppressed by our society and picked on by her peers, but she always retained a pure heart and never wished for anyone's destruction. Even with the powers going against her, Jerda still thinks of us as her family."

"Why would you care about me marrying Jerda?"

Kitty chuckled. "I would love to see the pissed faces of Lien and her cohorts, and it is likely there would be riots, and a split of the queendom would be inevitable!'

"I don't know if I could trust you or not."

"Ho-ho, my dreams of a chaotic yet interesting world could just be a passing fancy for now. I really don't care if you trust me or not, but in this current situation, I'm really the only one you can trust."

She was right. Evelyn had to trust her, for she obviously owed no loyalty except for herself, and enjoyed watching the spectacle with a sadistic smile.

With lunch ended, Jerda stepped out to floor to personally greet the young and willing granddaughters of the Ten Daughters, and even danced with a few until the formal coronation began. In the short trip outside, Evelyn beheld hundreds of people standing outside kowtowing or bowing to their new queen who was about to be formally crowned.

Jerda was led away to be dressed in her formal robes and cloak, leaving Evelyn with the grinning Kitty along with the other sisters inside the temple where they took their seats directly on the ornately woven carpeted floor. Evelyn looked round for Jerda's family, but gave up assuming that they were barred from sitting from the "true" heirs, such as those descending from Quyen. About ten minutes later Jerda emerged flanked by royal guards and beautiful handmaidens to meet up with the head priestess Hoa, the second daughter of Quyen.

"Hoa?" said Evelyn. "Why would she be doing this when she's against it?"

"What else?" said Kitty. "To spite Lien. Hoa can expel Jerda later once one of her granddaughters marry her and become an amam."

Then, two armored women each veiled with a black niqab headdress appeared from the side entrance to bring in a wooden case.

"The Sword of Danya," chuckled Kitty.

"What's so funny?"

Hoa opened the case and ceremoniously pulled out the sword. It was uniquely decorated, but the blade was dark and a bit tarnished. Hoa then transferred the sword to Jerda, who then lifted up for everyone to see. This signaled everyone to kowtow to the floor, and even Evelyn was compelled to do so. After a few moments, they raised their bodies up, and Jerda was now standing by an Asiatic pulpit.

"Now she's going to give the coronation speech," explained Kitty.

"But I can't understand Sino-Persian," said Evelyn.

"I can translate for you. Let's see, she's praising the Goddess, blah-blah-blah... She's decrying the social situation and our over reliance on an ancient book, blah-blah-blah..."

"You're not helping."

Then Kitty started chuckling.

"Oh, my," she smiled. "I can't believe she's going to do it!"

"Do what?"

"Watch and witness the hilarity."

At first, it looked as if Jerda was going to slice the pulpit in half. Instead, the blade broke off from its handle and was sent flying into Lien's head. The blade, as it turned out, was so dull that it whacked Lien with a bloody thud. The blade bounced off her forehead and crashed into a candle stand, sending the carpet on fire.

Quickly, everyone scrambled to her feet as the royal guards rushed over to stomp and stamp out the fire. Kitty burst out laughing, and received stares from her peers, but she wasn't alone in laughing at the ridiculousness of the religious ceremony. A smile drew across Shirin's face, and the commoners outside were also laughing.

Evelyn found it funny as well, but she was more concerned as to where the royal guards were taking Jerda. She tried to chase her, but the spears from the remaining guards blocked her path. Someone grabbed her hand and dragged her through the commotion of people, and they ended up outside of the temple.

"Wasn't that a blast?" Kitty yelled. She was the one who pulled Evelyn out.

"Where are we going?"

"You're going to seduce my distant niece."

Out of the crowd they arrived at the side of the log palace of Tenaya towards the rear. Kitty searched the walls and upon finding something no one could see, she pushed a secret button, and a hidden entrance revealed itself.

"This goes through the storehouse," she said. "Take the stairs and head into the same room you and Jerda slept in."

"I still don't understand why you're helping me."

"Neither do I, but if you marry Jerda, interesting things are bound to happen. I would like to see that."

Evelyn smiled. "Say, do you fancy yourself as a matchmaker?"

"Of course not! I'm terrible at it. At least one of my daughters hasn't forgiven me for hooking her up with a weirdo of a woman. Why do you ask anyhow?"

"No reason, but I do guarantee that this one will be a success."

"I hope you will. Now go and get yourself knocked up. Or knock her up. Doesn't matter, just do each other anyway."

"I'm way ahead of you."

Evelyn parted with a wink, and disappeared into the passageway, with Kitty closing up the entrance.

Evelyn followed the path as directed. The palace was guarded, and thus getting to the second floor where Jerda was being held at took longer than expected. But when she reached there, she found that she could not get past the four guards by the doorway.

"Psst!"

Evelyn shivered in surprise, but an old hand dragged her away into the closet.

"Put this on," said the stranger.

It turned out to be the head matron, who spoke an old accent of English. Evelyn complied and the put on a maidservant's outfit.

"Wait, you speak English as well," said Evelyn. "Why didn't you say anything?"

"I'm forbidden to speak it," said the English matron. "Of course, I also have to respect the rule of not speaking unless spoken to."

"I see."

"Now let's go."

The head matron led Evelyn to the entrance, and after a short exchange of words with the female guards, they were allowed in. Once inside and secure, Evelyn ran into Jerda's arms and kissed.

"Thanks a lot Agnes," said Jerda.

"No, you have Kitty to thank," said the matron.

"You support her faction?" Evelyn asked.

"What faction? I just think she's a fun woman."

After bowing, Agnes chuckled her way out of the room. Then both Evelyn and Jerda jumped onto the bed and kissed some more.

"What a day," said Evelyn. "I can't the sword broke."

"That's because it's a fake," said Jerda.

Evelyn's eyes widened.

"Kitty didn't tell you?"

"She did a bad job."

Jerda sighed heavily. "I sure made an embarrassment of myself and everyone else."

"How?"

"I totally ridiculed our society and our religion. I lambasted them for expelling a group of people whose only crime was being descended from a second wife. And after telling everyone that the legendary Sword of Danya was a fake, I demonstrated it on the pulpit, but I never expected to hit Lien's head and cause a small fire."

"What happened to the real one?"

"Grandma confessed to me that it wore out. Then she lost it."

Evelyn chuckled, and eventually Jerda joined in.



Jerda and Evelyn had an uncomfortably quiet dinner with the Ten Daughters of Quyen. Lien now had a bandage wrapped around her head, and Kitty could not stop chuckling. Lien repeatedly commanded her in their language to stop laughing, but gave up after a couple of tries. Then she faced Jerda:

"I hope you're happy about our embarrassment of today."

"I did not intend for it to happen," said Jerda. "Again, I apologize."

"Give it up," said Xuan. "We all know it is a fake."

"I didn't know," said Dorothy.

"We already told you before," said Shirin. "But you were too excited to research it that you forgot."

"Oh, I wish we had the real one. That way I can research its atomic properties and make duplicates--all in the name of science!"

"Are you intending to lose another hand again Dorothy?" asked Gul.

"If it will bring me closer to knowing the secrets of the universe, then I will gladly lose not only my hand, but also my eyes, ears, nose, tongue, legs and my liver--all in the name of science!"

"Drop it, all of you," said Lien. "Embarrassments aside, there is still the important matter of Jerda selecting a wife. I do realize that most of you right now want to nudge her towards this foreign woman, but you must realize that this might not go well with the rest of the populace."

"A lot of them think she's cute," said Kitty.

"And many have impure thoughts about her," said Hoa.

"I sure would like to have brown skin like hers," said Xuan.

"Don't you think it's too early for this?" asked Jerda.

"It's never early," said Kitty. "Or rather, you're already late. I can tell from you two that you are madly in love, and that you have already lost each other's virginity."

"Oh, dear Goddess in heaven," said Hoa.

"Let me ask you this Jerda," said Lien. "Are you intending to marry this girl, thus making her the amam and future queen of this queendom?"

Jerda finished the last bite of her steak and rose from her seat. "I am. Good night grand-aunt."

Taking Evelyn's hand, Jerda retreated to her bedroom, and called it a night. Though the place had heating vents, the couple stripped to their skin and buried themselves underneath layers of blankets in comforters for their naked sleep and embrace. Disregarding all things, they made love most comfortably and surprisingly quietly for almost an hour.

Their bodies remained intertwined, and often they kissed at every interval. They could not sleep, for the future of the Tehran Queendom was uncertain yet in their very own hands.

"I want to marry you," said Jerda.

"What's stopping you then?" Evelyn asked.

Jerda sighed. "This inheritance thing. The position of queen is something you have to take seriously. As we stand, this is the center of universe and the last remnants of human civilization, save for New Khartoum. Evelyn, do you think I make a good queen?"

"To be honest, I'm not sure. As for me, I have a feeling I might screw things up if I ruled. What do you truly want Jerda?"

Jerda rubbed her cheek on Evelyn's. "I just want to have children and my own plot of land. Is that so much to ask for?"

"No. You just haven't asked."



The third floor was restricted until today. Lien and Hoa permitted access to the late Queen's rooms, but the ones who were to be visiting first was Jerda along with two select companions. Evelyn was the first, followed by the old Englishwoman and head matron Agnes.

The floor wasn't exactly restricted, as a regular staff of maids swept and cleaned every dust from every surface possible without spending too much time. Everything remained still and in place as if the Queen was still alive, but the floors were cleaned and clear for everyone to walk through.

Jerda and Evelyn toured the personal bedchamber, which was quaint as it had a four-post bed with draperies, a personal desk, and some personal weapons at the corner. Evelyn picked up the walking stick the Queen used since she was blind. The handle was ornately carved and smoothed, and the opposite end allowed for attachments like a nail-picker or a blade. There were a few rifles on the wall, and one shotgun. There wasn't an animal trophy head, but hunting in general was frowned upon as graven.

"She was still a good shooter even without her eyesight," said Agnes. "Even in older years the girls would always yearn for her. The daughters sometimes say that she got perverted when she became senile, but she was still in her right mind. Too bad about the complications."

"We're allowed to search through her things, right?" Evelyn asked.

"If the reigning queen permits, then of course."

"For some reason, it feels like great-grandmother's room."

Jerda felt the same way as well. Meeting Evelyn's great-grandmother did elicit memories of the late Queen. There were devices common to all of them, like a pair of spectacles, old books, and strange electronic devices dating back to the ancient era. There seemed to be a lack of black and white photographs on the wall. All there were a few pictures of Jerda's grandmother with her first wife, Quyen, and their children. Then there was another, displayed less prominently at the nightstand, of Jerda and Laleh with two of their three daughters. The third, Jerda's amam, was in a personal picture frame located elsewhere.

Evelyn scanned the books, and found that they were written in the old languages of English, Hindi, Chinese, Persian, Arabic, and Vietnamese. Some looked as if they weren't touched for centuries, while a few, particularly the English books, were falling apart. There were photo albums consisting of the blind Queen in dark sunglasses and various people, mainly her family. Well, the entire city was essentially her family, and almost everyone claim a certain descent to her.

She saw Jerda on the floor pulling out a long and heavy locked wooden box.

"Looks like another gun," said Jerda. "But why is this one locked?"

Agnes sighed sadly. She rummaged through her robes and procured an old tarnished key.

"The Queen had asked me to guard this until you ascended," she said. "What it contains will the histories of our people and our world."

"Do you know what's in it?" asked Jerda.

"She had not told me. It is a secret she and the First Wife had kept when the restarted the world. I think you young ones would be best to look at them, as my presence would be an intrusion. After all, I have no blood relation despite having given birth to many children since I came here."

Agnes dropped the key into Jerda's hand, and without turning her back she exited the room.

Evelyn watched as Jerda unlocked the secret. When the lid was lifted, numerous tri-folded letter-sized papers fell out, as if they were stuffed as best they could. Jerda and Evelyn collected a bunch and set them on the bed. Evelyn picked up a few to read, while Jerda dug through the papers and found a small stack of old and faded photos.

On one, she saw her youthful grandmother standing with an unknown woman along with six unknown children, as well as Quyen. She saw a familiar photo before.

It couldn't be. Those six children couldn't be the elders she had met at New Khartoum. She had heard of the lost art of photo manipulation, where humans once used computers to place people in places they weren't in before. But perhaps Evelyn could recognize the picture.

"Evelyn," said Jerda. "You might want to look at this. Evelyn?"

Evelyn, who was intently holding the letter before her eyes, sat frozen and in tears.

"What's wrong Evelyn? What's written in the letter?"

Evelyn held her hand to her face and sniffed. "That explains it. That explains everything."

"What does?"

"Here."

"I can't read this very well."

"Your grandmother... and my great-grandmother... They were lovers."



Evelyn spent the almost the entire day reading the letters to the best of her ability to Jerda. Lunch was served to them in the room as Jerda had commanded that she and Evelyn should not be disturbed. Even after lunch they continued reading well into the night, and had dinner brought up to them. The light bulbs were lit up for their convenience, and the heating system powered on for their warmth.

Jerda had laid out all the photos around her and the more she looked the more she felt convinced that her grandmother seeded the birth of the Six Daughters of Eve in New Khartoum. News of this would certainly topple the power of the Ten Daughters of Quyen who prided themselves in being born from the alleged First Wife. Yet Jerda was hesitant to cause any disruptions that would tear her queendom apart.

Evelyn had difficulty reading the letters at first, for she constantly fell into tears when reading them. After a while, she stopped, especially since she was now leaning on Jerda's shoulder for support. Yet she could not help but to feel sad about the plight of Jerda's grandmother, and the alleged reasons why Eva, the True First Wife, left her.

"I just could not believe if," said Evelyn. "Great-grandmother leaving Germaine? They were in love!"

"They must have their reasons," said Jerda.

"It's a stupid reason! They hurt themselves in the most horrible fashion just to repopulate this damn Earth!"

"If not for their separation, we wouldn't have been born. We wouldn't have met."

"Why aren't you feeling sad about this?"

"I am sad. I'm just too shocked to shed any tears."

Jerda lied down on the bed of Germaine, and Evelyn followed suit.

"I could see it in her eyes," said Jerda. "She harbored a lingering regret of something she did in the past."

"Or something that happened to her," said Evelyn.

"I guess that was it. That's why English was being outlawed in our lands."

"Also a stupid reason."

"Your great-grandmother mistook me for Germaine."

Evelyn looked at the photo again. "You sure do look like her."

"Do you think you should give all these letters addressed to her? That wouldn't be wise. The shock would kill her. But to leave her in a loop about her beloved would be worse than a resolved death."

Evelyn leapt off the bed. "Then I got to get to her before she dies. I'm sure you can arrange a carriage and a boat to rush me over there."

Jerda rose. "You're going alone?"

"I could take a few of your escorts."

Jerda took her lover's hand. "I'm coming too."

"Jerda, you have a country to rule."

"I don't want to be without you!"

"It's just your attraction saying that..."

"She said the same thing when they parted."

Evelyn trembled. Realizing that she nearly committed the same mistake committed by her great-grandmother, she pounced Jerda and passionately kissed.

"You're right," said she. "You should come. I can't journey without you as well."

"Then it's settled then. We'll journey together to your home."

"Even after that we'll keep on journeying. I never want to be without you."

They kissed once more, and began undressing themselves as they decided to make love on the former Queen's bed.

Chapter 19

Title: "I will always love you."

Eve Sky
Chapter 19 - "I will always love you."
by StarCross


The trunks were loaded, and the orders doled out. Jerda and Evelyn, each dressed in their regal hunting uniforms despite the fact they were not hunting, marched out of their room carrying on their person, besides their weapons, a pair of miniature suitcases that contained the letters and the photos. Head matron Agnes and her regiment of maids bowed as they passed by, but somewhat rudely Lien and Tuyet ran up the stairs to meet up with the departing lovers.

"What in Goddess's name are you doing?" demanded Lien. "You were recently crowned, and you're leaving to visit the savage lands again?"

"I..." Jerda stuttered.

"Jerda and I are getting married," said Evelyn. "But we need approval from my parents."

"Why should we worry of them?" asked Tuyet. "Surely you can get married anyway under Hoa's discretion."

"Later. Jerda and I have things to do at my land. And by the way, we are already considered married since we already have sex. So there."

They all exited and boarded the royal carriage waiting for them. Their waterfoxes would not be joining them this time, as Gertrude was pregnant with Nandi's cubs.

"You can't do this!" Lien cried. "You're spitting on our Founder's beloved name!"

"You guys seem to be running things quite well without a queen," said Evelyn. "Was she a figurehead?"

"You ungrateful..."

"Evelyn, please stop," said Jerda. "And Lien, I apologize for my actions."

"I will only accept your apologize if you get out this instant!"

"You're not my mother Lien. You should know well I could banish you as the new queen."

"Ha! With your standing? As the granddaughter of a consort?"

"It takes one to know one," said Evelyn.

"What is that?"

"Let's go. We don't have time for this. Let the queendom fall apart under their command."

"You still can't leave," said Tuyet. "You still have to install temporary leadership to one of us."

"Way ahead of you. Jerda put Kitty in charge."

Lien and her younger sister's jaws dropped.

"Again, I apologize," said Jerda.

"There's no need," said Evelyn. "Have fun you guys!"

At the crack of a whip, the four horses pulled the royal carriage. Kitty finally appeared and wrapped her arms around the shoulders of her two older sisters. With a crafty and earnest smile, she waved goodbye to Jerda and Evelyn, and they waved back to her as well.

Outside the royal grounds, Jerda gave a quick parting kiss to her parents and her two younger sisters, and formally introduced them to Evelyn as best as she could. In their own language, they thanked Evelyn for choosing to become Jerda's wife. They gave them parting gifts that were perfumes, and hand-woven muffler hats and lounge sandals. The whip cracked again, and the carriage sped off with children following from behind to wave goodbye and the adults bowing in line.

It stopped again before the main gate, and when it opened a small cavalry force led by Arzu was waiting for them outside. Accompanied by two young and pretty riders, one of them blonde the other brunette, Arzu galloped her horse to the side of the carriage.

"I Arzu Adams and my two granddaughters shall accompany you to this foreign civilization you speak of," said Arzu.

"No, it's fine," said Jerda. "I made it there alone and back."

"This time as different. As our new queen, it is my duty to protect you."

On Arzu's command, the convoy moved to surround the carriage and the journey began.

It took weeks to traverse the barren mountains, the badlands of Mesopotamia, and crossed through the marshes to reach the beach. The weather change was welcoming for Evelyn, but she still could not take off her garments to expose her skin to the warm air. The convoy had been reduced at every stop, with riders staying behind or returning to their homes to give reports of the journey to their comrades and to the queendom. Only the essential personnel, such as the escort riders and shipwrights remained at the final stop before the trip to Africa.

A sturdy sailing ship was readily made a few days later. It was well large enough to fit a little more than five people and a couple of pets. Supplies and gifts, the latter of which Arzu did not skimp on, were loaded on as well as the passengers.

The same path was taken when Jerda sailed almost a month or so before. Seas and wind were calm, but Arzu, not suited to water voyages was visibly seasick but did not once throw her head out over the side to throw up. It was most likely done when the majority of the crew was sleeping.

Evelyn eventually learned the names of Arzu's granddaughters; both of who spoke no English except for a few common words and phrases that would have been common anyway in the languages before the Great Fall. The brunette, almost the same height and same age as Jerda, was named Banu, and she was the amam of her relation with her wife and children. The shorter blonde, Pari at age eighteen, was recently engage to another girl at home that she did not have time or the patience to spend with. Both were born cousins who were the best markswoman and the best swordswoman, but only in training. They had yet to face off against another person.

Arzu and her granddaughters were armed with the newest rifles and pistols from one of Dorothy's gunshops. The barrels and magazine cartridges were ornate decorated with silver and a few pieces of symbolic jade for their guns, and the rifle had beautiful carved and painted buttstocks. They also carried thin and pure scimitars with gold-plated handles that had a few gems on them.

Jerda had armed herself with simple rifle in comparison, as she didn't want to tarnish the regal and ornate version she was bestowed with as the new queen. Evelyn just carried her old pistol that received a fresh set of ammunition. She was surprised that there would be compatible bullets made or stored at Tehran.

Like Jerda's journey, they camped on the beaches of Egypt for the night, but this time they slept in tents, with Jerda and Evelyn in her royal one and Arzu and her granddaughters in their more utilitarian one.

By memory and by map, they trekked through the rain forests of northeast Africa, and kept relatively close to the raging Nile River. The trek would be quicker since they were well equipped and that the path was charted before. It was the supplies and gifts that were slowing them, so in essence it took the same amount of time Jerda had taken.

Evelyn had remained relatively quiet throughout their journey. Whether Jerda was used to this, or simply did not notice, Arzu and her granddaughters were revising a basic outline of the continent, taking pictures with a pair of SLR film cameras, and plotting poles with colored flags at every direction. They also talked with each other in their own language a lot often, and one of the young shooters constantly wrote notes on her journal.

She was suspicious, but Evelyn couldn't exactly tell her feelings to Jerda. Arzu had been unusually interested in journeying to New Khartoum even though she was allied with Lien. Evelyn had not seen what was in the gift boxes. Jerda hadn't either, and Arzu wouldn't be privy to tell everyone. Was there a weapon? Did Arzu want to seek to dominate a new human civilization?

Perhaps Evelyn dressing down to near-nakedness offended Arzu and her granddaughters somewhat, and thus reinforced the alienation between two cultures. Often Jerda had to serve as translator, as Arzu spoke English less often that usual.

After about a week, they reached the submerged city of Old Khartoum, and coincidentally they stayed in the abandoned hotel suite in the penthouse floor. Again, Banu and Pari ventured out moving from building tops to building tops snapping as much pictures afforded to them before calling it a day.

On the next day, however, began with exchanges of gunfire. Evelyn woke to see Jerda standing by the wall, while Arzu was running out to join her granddaughters in the fight.

"It's happening again," said Jerda.

"Shit, and there's a lot more scouts on my side," said Evelyn. "Jerda, you got to help me stop this."

"What can I do?"

"Tell your relatives to stop firing. Now come on!"

They ran up to the roof through the stairwell, and then saw Arzu and her granddaughters laying on their stomachs returning fire towards the New Khartoum snipers.

"Hey you!" Evelyn yelled. "Stop!"

"They fired first!" Arzu snapped. "My Pari's been wounded!"

"Stop now or they'll kill us!"

"I won't!"

"Do it!"

"I think it would be best to surrender," said Jerda.

Arzu grunted. "Fine then. But your Ladyship's companion must tell your people to stop."

"I'll certainly do that," said Evelyn.

Arzu and her granddaughters stopped firing, as they were told, and then Evelyn yelled out her commands in her own language. The bullets stopped moving, and minutes later, the ten New Khartoum snipers arrived via rafts, and among them was Padma, the youngest of the Six Daughters of Eve. Padma did not want to call out Jerda's name, especially when she would be using English words that may give Arzu a signal to strike back. The snipers kept their guns aimed the party, and they nearly shot when Banu held her gun out.

"Jerda!" cried Evelyn. "Tell them to put down their weapons."

Jerda told her relatives, and grudgingly they did.

Luckily, the wound on Pari was relegated to the leg, and the bullet passed through. Though she was bandaged, she was still treated as prisoners along with her relatives, including Jerda. After Evelyn explained the reason for the return to Padma, the party was allowed to enter New Khartoum with the gifts they had brought.

So they marched westward and uphill through the forest. The Tehran women were unarmed, and saw that their guns and swords were being tossed from sniper to sniper to ogle their eyes towards. Evelyn never understood why such weapons had to be so ornately decorated, but she felt that Arzu and her granddaughters wanted to show her superiority in the arts. It was a vain effort, because the Khartoum snipers just laughed and threw it in a sack they used to carry the strange gifts.

At the same time, Evelyn and Jerda saw a similar situation that happened to them before. Pari, who was unable to walk properly on her own, was visibly smitten by a female sniper of similar age who volunteered to help her.

The gates of New Khartoum were open once more, and Evelyn rushed to embrace her parents and her little sister, three persons that Jerda never got a chance to meet. Not much had changed, except for the fact the village or cityfolk gathered around to stare at their new visitors. They considered Jerda a stranger one more time, for he clothes were much more regal and refined.

Evelyn had to part from her family after such a short reunion, as she had to accompany Jerda, Arzu, Pari, and Banu to the mansion, and they were implicitly compelled to be seated on the floor the gathering room. Padma sat opposite across the room, and soon the rest of her older sisters, Teila, Suzette, Odilia, Nikhila, and Evie joined her in rank.

"It seems that you did not heed my command of not returning to this place," said Evie in English. "And now you brought more trouble?"

"It is very rude to refuse the grace of our newly crowned Queen of the Tehran," said Arzu.

The six sisters gasped. There was another speaker of one of the deprecated languages. Thus, they ordered their guards and servants to leave the mansion.

"Newly crowned?" asked Evie.

"Indeed," smiled Arzu. "I apologize for my granddaughters behavior, and I will not dwell into the discussion on who shot first."

"Auntie," said Jerda, "what are you..."

"So our Ladyship Jerda Evaz returned here under my protection as a sign of goodwill between our two nations. And to extend that goodwill, we offer you gifts."

"Those things?" asked Padma. She then commanded the maidservants to return with the sacks of gifts her forces carried in. Banu and Pari laid them out, for they were in neat round cardboard boxes.

"I am Arzu, General of the Tehran Queendom, and these are my granddaughters and my finest soldiers, Banu and Pari. Our land have been blessed with great mines rich with gems, sliver, and gold," continued Arzu. "This is but a sample of our wares."

Banu and Pari opened the boxes, and the six sisters leaned over to see with interested eyes--apparently.

"Wow, so they have those out there," said Nikhila.

"They are pretty," said Odilia, "but I am sorry to say that we might not be able to find any use for them."

"They could prop up that chair for Suzette."

"Ooh! It could also plug up the hole in that sink."

"Truth is," Evie said, "we have tons of these stored in the mines. We don't like to be showy."

"Um, perhaps you could be interested in our camera technology," said Arzu, who motioned her granddaughters to show their SLR cameras. "With these things, we can store memories on something called photographs."

"Whoa, you still use film?" said Odilia.

"We already have our cameras," said Nikhila. "Digital by the way."

Odilia pulled out a silver camera a snapped a flashing picture. She turned it around to display on its LCD screen of the very snapshot.

"Not everyone has it," said Nikhila, "so we keep a small set for special occasions."

"Charging and not to mention making those batteries have become a bitch," added Odilia.

"Let's not forget the printing costs."

"Although if we revert back to film, we might be able to offload the burden at the print shop."

"We would sacrifice some ease of use."

"Um, okay," said Arzu. "Perhaps optical technology is not our nation's strong suit."

Arzu commanded her granddaughters to show them a couple of working electronic toys, such as a portable video game system and something called an MP3 player.

"I can't believe you have those!" Odilia cried.

Arzu finally smiled.

"But we have the more recent ones," said Nikhila. "Such as this one, where you can play games using a stylus. A lot of children like that."

"And that MP3 player," said Odilia, "we got a bunch that uses no moving parts. I can't believe you have the first generation model."

"Perhaps you need a computer, a notebook if you may, to upload the data," said Arzu.

"Ah, we got those palm computers that stores one terabyte of information.

"A rudimentary network system?"

"We got a wireless test set-up at the other side," said Nikhila.

"A working airship?"

"Just a small fleet, but where the hell do we want to go?"

"Cars?"

"Saving them for a rainy day," said Odilia. "We need the oil for the cranes and diggers."

"How well are you armed?"

"We do have a connection to one of the few working Geomancer Cannons," said Padma. "It took a while to get connected, but there is nothing my girls can't hack."

"What about the EMP Cannon?" asked Evie.

"That's about to be tested later, although I worry it might knock out our systems.

Arzu blushed in her embarrassment. "Jerda," said she in Sino-Persian. "Why didn't you tell me they were well-equipped?"

"I only stayed here for one whole day," replied Jerda in the same language."

"Darn. I should have brought Dorothy along. She knows our capabilities."

"What are you two saying?" asked Padma.

"It's nothing!" Arzu replied in English.

A warm grin drew across Evie, and when that happened she had a definite feeling that she along with her sisters had triumphed over a common obstacle without having to resort to violence.

"Arzu of Tehran," said Evie. "I take it that you did not come here just to bring us gifts from the 'civilized' world."

"I won't deny it," said Arzu. "I needed to see for my own eyes this new nation and its capabilities."

"I understand completely. It is only natural to be cautious of the unknown, but rest assured that we harbor no severe hostilities to outsiders, save for the incident before. Of course, that is only if you harbor none for our land."

"Of course not."

"I suppose this is the end of our isolation."

"It was inevitable sister," said Teila.

"At the very least we didn't start a war," said Padma.

"It's all thanks to your rambunctious granddaughter sister Evie," smiled Nikhila.

"You know I nearly killed Jerda," said Evelyn.

Arzu's eyes widened.

"That was before though," said Evelyn. "After that... you know what happened next."

"We appreciate the gifts," said Evie, "and we shall treat them with respect since they were brought along with the new Queen of Tehran. Although, it seems that there are two more in less-than regal cases."

"Yeah, what's in those?" asked Nikhila. "It doesn't have to be anything relatively recent."

"In fact," said Odilia, "the older the better."

Jerda and Evelyn looked at one another, and they stared ahead at the six sisters.

"They are letters," said Evelyn. "From Germaine Adams to Eva 'Evangeline' Nataraja."

Five of the six sisters gasped, and Suzette finally woke up. The smile on Evie's face disappeared, and she solemnly rose.

"I would like to speak to the Queen of Tehran and my granddaughter alone," said Evie. "Come this way."

Taking the suitcases, Jerda and Evelyn followed Evie and disappeared into the hallways. Suzette got up later to head off to the kitchen for a drink and a smoke, which was unusual since she would only do this in very late at night instead of the morning.

So Nikhila, Odilia, Teila, and Padma were left alone in uncomfortable silence with Arzu and her granddaughters. Eventually, the twins' mischievous smiles returned, and slightly towards their foreign guests.

"So," began Odilia. "Which one of you is single?"


Jerda and Evelyn were sitting on guest chairs inside Evie's room, and they could not help but feel sympathy to the strong old woman, who was weeping over the few scattered letters and photographs she had looked over on top of her bed.

"Why must you always bring trouble?" Evie asked.

"I am sorry," said Jerda.

"We just thought that it would be a good idea to show them to great-grandmother," said Evelyn.

"Do you realize that you will be breaking her heart for the second time!" cried Evie.

"We do not intend to do that."

"If you don't wish to show them to Eva," said Jerda, "then that is all right."

"Jerda!"

"Banish me permanently if you wish, but I will not leave without your granddaughter Evelyn. I intend to marry her."

"That would mean she would rule Tehran with her," said Evie.

"I intend to abdicate once the ceremonies of our respective nations are complete. I only wish to have a simple life."

"Grandmother, please don't hate Jerda for all this," said Evelyn.

Evie sat and straightened herself up. "No Evelyn, I don't hate her. I was just a little angry, that's all. However, I still need time to think about all this."

"Of course," said Jerda. "A lot has happened.'

"Very well. You are excused for the day. I'll arrange for Padma and a few of her guards to give a tour of our lands for Arzu and her granddaughters."

"Thank you grandmother!" Evelyn cried.

When they exited the room, they saw the elderly and wheelchair-bound Eva poking herself past the corner with an earnest smile.

"You've returned!" she exclaimed.

"Um, I don't mean to disappoint you," said Jerda. "But I'm not who you think I am."

"Oh, I already know."

"What's going on?" Evie asked as she stepped out. "You two head off."

Jerda and Evelyn went away so that Evie could privately wheel her mother back her bedroom.



Lunch was served for Jerda, Evelyn, Arzu, Banu, and Pari before Padma and her forces escorted them for a detailed tour of the New Khartoum. As confirmed by their guests' eyes, there was indeed a small computer and network technology center run by intelligent and enthusiastic youths giggling at the appearance of their fair-skinned distant cousins. Further past the center was the assets warehouse where gold, jewels, and other luxury gems were stored for the rainy day the Six Daughters constantly talked about. Also saved for a rainy day were a fleet of polished cars and buses, but already working in operation were a few trucks, diggers, and tree cutters. Finally, the tour ended at a clearing where there was a fleet of small airships that bore the name of Nataraja in Hindi script.

"I thought you said you didn't have airships?" Jerda asked Evelyn.

"I misunderstood," replied Evelyn. "These are corvettes--covervette class airships I realize."

Throughout the tour, Pari had spoken to both Jerda and Evelyn on learning basic greetings, phrases, and specific words of New Khartoum's language, Hindi-Afrikaans. It seemed that the girl who helped her walk to the city village, named Nontle, was accompanying the party quite shyly. Nontle and Pari did greet each other in a few words, and that was just it.

The party returned to the mansion for dinner, but not attending was Evie and Suzette. It was then that the twin sisters Nikhila and Odilia teasingly interrogated Arzu on many romantic matters concerning the Tehran Queendom. Arzu was extremely reluctant to answer questions she felt were perverted, and Jerda wasn't much help since she didn't really live in her own city.

"I swear," Arzu spoke to Jerda in Sino-Persian, "these two remind me of a certain sister I loathe."

"They don't remind of anyone," replied Jerda.

"You can't be serious! I mean, just look at them! It's like Kitty times two!"

Jerda shrugged her shoulders. There was resemblance of the Ten Daughters of Quyen in the Six Daughters of Eve, but hardly any exactness in behavior.

They were given guest rooms for the night, and due to Jerda's upgraded status she was given a large suite close to Arzu and the others. Evelyn had convinced her parents that she would be staying at the mansion, which would be like before when she often hung out with Eva in her adolescent years.

As Jerda and Evelyn prepared for bed, Arzu came in with a serious look on her face.

"Let's speak in English," said Jerda.

"Fine," said Arzu as she sat down on the guest chair.

"So is there something wrong?"

Arzu sighed. "I guess we can't really one-up them."

"That is too bad," said Evelyn.

"Well, it's no big loss. Lien and the others will be angry though."

"So a split will happen?" asked Jerda.

"It will be all up to you. But if we bring news of this new queendom back home, it will certainly cause a commotion. The curious will want to go there and maybe exploit it on their personal time. And I know Dorothy cannot resist the technology that is here.

"I would like to also add that as your half-aunt, I express my great approval of your pending marriage to Miss Evelyn Matthews. I don't say this because I see it as a political maneuver, because even you don't we would find a way to establish contact and power exchanges with New Khartoum. I simply feel that you two are just right for one another."

"Regarding a foreign ruler," said Evelyn, "I won't mind if I am not qualified, even if I am labeled an amam by my children."

"In any case, please do what you must do here as soon as possible. Tehran too would like to have a marriage ceremony and celebration. The citizens always love those.

"One more thing though. You said you brought letters from Amam for someone named Eva. Is it for one of those women?"

"It isn't," replied Jerda. "They have a mother over one-hundred years old, who is said to be the founder of this city-village."

"So she must be like Amam then. Do they know each other?"

Jerda nodded.

"As a matter of fact," said Evelyn. "My great-grandmother was your Amam's first wife."

Arzu's jaw dropped. "Surely you are not joking?"

"Half of me wants to think so, but the truth is no doubt apparent. I am actually your distant niece, and my grandmother and grand-aunts are your half-sisters."

"Dear goddess," huffed Arzu. "No wonder they reminded me so..."

A knock on the door compelled Arzu to answer, and presenting herself was Banu. The grandmother and granddaughter started to talk to each other in their own language worriedly.

"Is there something wrong?" asked Evelyn.

"Banu says that Pari has just gone missing," said Arzu.

"I'll ask the guards to report this Padma. I am certain that she isn't in any danger, but I don't wish for an international incident."

"That is very well appreciated."

But in their minds, they knew what was really going on.



Evie volunteered often to bathe her elderly mother, and tonight was one of their nights. Once Eva was carefully dried off, she was robed and put on her wheelchair to be taken back to her bedroom where the gadgets created by the woman stood silently in the dark.

The lamp was flickered on, so that Evie, who had never faltered in her physical strength, could pick up and place Eva on the bed.

"You look sad," said Eva.

"I don't," said Evie.

"She's come back."

"No she hasn't."

Eva held her first-daughter's hands. "She has. She lives inside that girl and those visitors. She has come back."

"Mother," sighed Evie. "I have to say that I am sorry."

"Sorry for what?"

"For hating you since that day."

"Dear Evie, I am the one who should apologize. It was my decision for the future of all of us."

"I know. I realized it when I got older, and so I took upon myself to protect you from come what may as my repentance."

"I am okay. You should focus more on protecting your family."

"She's becoming more like you every day."

"She is me."

"Well then..." Evie kissed her mother's forehead. "Good night."

"Good night."

Evie quietly walked away, and closed the door. As she walked down the hallway, she met up with Suzette who was blowing a puff of tobacco smoke from her mouth.

"I told you not to smoke in this place," said Evie.

Suzette defiantly put out her cigarette on the floor. "So have you given them to her?"

"I decided to save them for another day."

"I knew you'd chicken out. That's why I snuck them in when you were bathing her."

"How could you?"

"Thinking of going back to retrieve them? How will you explain that to her?"

"I..."

Suzette patted Evie's shoulder. "Let it go. She's suffered enough, and she can relieve the pain she has caused herself."

"But it is my responsibility!"

"You heard mother. Protect your family."

"How can you say this?"

"Do you think I want to do this? Sure I want to shield her forever, but we're getting old to do this anymore. Too much time has passed for us to fret over the past."

"You won't understand because you were too young."

"I remember perfectly asshole. I envy Teila and Padma for that."

Suzette brushed her older sister aside as she, in her attempt to hide her intoxication, headed back to her bedroom. Alone, Evie had the chance to retrieve the letters and the photos brought from foreign lands, but wondered if she was too late. Her mother could be reading them already, and she would immediately be placed in an awkward situation of taking away precious memories and shielding her against her will.

Evie always felt herself to be responsible, as she viewed herself as a failure in stopping mother's separation from Jerri. Her younger twin sisters hid their depression in their frivolity. Suzette just had the unfortunate chance of being old enough and awake to realize what was going on. Teila and Padma had no recollection of the woman who helped seed their birth, and the latter wasn't even held in her arms.

It was a burden she placed upon herself, and she extended that burden to her younger sisters to never remind their mother of the woman she had dearly loved above all. So many times she wanted to relieve herself and quit, but she continued on and became stronger in the process.

But now she was too tired, and too old. She went back to her own room and hoped for the best.



Eva had already noticed the piece of bright yellow cloth sticking out of her dresser drawer as a signal that something was added in her room. She slowly leaped off the bed and walked to the best of her legs towards the furniture in question. Looking down at the side, she saw two small suitcases of interest. There was enough strength for her to carry them back to her bed.

When the cases were opened, the flood of memories came back.

She looked at every photo numerous times before she intently read each letter through her reading glasses. Each letter was a snippet of Jerri's daily life and her thoughts of the society she had created with Quyen and their proud daughters from the New Era calendar years, which matched closely to that of New Khartoum's. There was one letter dated almost half a year ago that served as the "Last Letter", which was a summary of the events and her final thoughts. That was the one Eva had to be at her most comfortable in when she read it.


Dear Eva,

I did not bother recalling how many letters I wrote that will never reach in either of our lifetime, but I have convinced myself that with each one you will be in my eyes and close to my heart.

This may be the last letter I may write, or rather, dictate to my scribe due to my poor eyesight. I might have said this before, but for certain I feel that there will never be any more opportunity do this as my health deteriorates. Ah, if you can only see the pathetic state that I am in! You'd think you'd have just wedded bones and skin.

To recap that fateful day, Quyen and I searched for you and the girls when my legs healed up. It took a while since you have crippled me a bit, but we searched high and low in almost the entirety of India, which by now half should be submerged underwater. We did not find any survivors there, nor did we find Agatha.

I impregnated Quyen, just as you have expected, yet we continued to move on. Lien was born nine months later, and afterwards we arrived in the ruins of Tehran. We discovered a group of scared women, most of who were Muslim, and their daughters, who I have a feeling that they were adopted after the Great Fall as we now call it. Quyen and I made no attempt to hide the fact I can impregnate other women. What happened after that, which I could still recall clearly (and perversely I might add) was that the woman threw off their shrouds, veils, and robes as they threw themselves to me. Quyen still disputed this and said it never happened. Poor Quyen. Now only my version of the story still stands.

As the years passed, more of my new daughters were born, the nation known as the Tehran Queendom was building up in a new location east of the old one. I seeded ten of them: Lien who looks remarkably like Evie, pious Hoa, stubborn Tuyet, the pretty Xuan, the mischievous Kitty, the tough Arzu, the scary and tall Gul, the jittery Yasmin, the curious-as-a-cat Dorothy, and shy Shirin. When Lien was fifteen, she took a wife five years older than her and gave birth to my first granddaughter. Can you believe it? Me a grandmother at my thirties, and I must have cried my eyes when I cradled my own granddaughter for the first time. In no time, my other daughters took other wives, and some of them had those decades older than them. They too had their own children one after another, and at the same time newcomers were flocking to our new nation.

I was then looked upon as their messiah, and the Sword of Danya was now the weapon blessed by God--or rather, the Goddess. A universal consensus was decided that their plight was the cause of women with no breasts and a sharp and deadly horn between her legs, and my people began burning all manner of religious books and desecrating churches, mosques, and temples. Quyen and I pleaded to stop, and although a stature was enacted, the destruction of the dark histories continued without any enforcement. I gave up, but Quyen fought tirelessly to preserve the history that made us what we were today. But a severe case of pneumonia got the better of her. It was around then my children took action to prevent all possible deaths and thus they fervently researched the sciences of the world. As a reward for their diligence, infant mortality was almost nil as were the reduction of deaths from injury and disease.

I was alone once more for many years, and my eyesight had gotten so bad that I could be considered blind. I became well acquainted with a forty-something woman named Laleh Sinh, a personal maidservant Agnes (my first maidservant since Tenaya) recommended to me. I can take her as a beautiful yet sad woman through the features I touched on her face and body. Though she was destined to marry one of my granddaughters, I fell in love with her just as she fell in love with me, and together we had three daughters until she died right after giving birth to the third.

My daughters with Quyen weren't too happy of having bastard half-sisters. Ironic though because some of them remarried after their first wives died, and some of them were forced to marry one of their own nieces. It seemed that took the idea of Perfect Monogamy very sacred, and I do not blame them. The relationships my descendants had with their spouses were so strong that lovemaking behind closed doors was almost a daily affair. Many had difficulty focusing on their work, and some pairs worked together at the same jobs. I often blamed myself for not protecting the daughters of Laleh and me, for my other ten daughters had systematically expelled them from the affairs of the capital essentially making them outside laborers along with the ones did not receive the Gift of the Goddess. To my fortune, the children of my three daughters were allowed in the city gates for compulsory education.

I personally taught a few of the classes of my descendants, and even trained them in hand-to-hand combat. Amazing how the other senses pick up when you're essentially blind, although I did cheat since I could distinguish significant shapes. Of course, I still have trouble running long distances and standing for too long.

I tried not to play favorites on my descendants, as there was too much pride on all my daughters. Politics, as usual, reared its ugly head when it split into the camps of Lien and Hoa, and I did my best to refrain from their affairs and to decline their vain tributes to me. I needed someone pure and young to inherit the Sword of Danya, the symbol of the leadership of the Tehran Queendom, although I am not sure how that will turn out. There is a ritual of using the Sword of Danya to cut down the mightiest tree or rock in one swing. My daughters all know that it is just a replica or fake since I wore out and lost the first one. Goddess, I must be getting old.

Regardless, I selected the daughter of my last daughter Afray Evaz to be my heir. Jerda is her name, and she has a more practical outlook on her life. She does not hate her older half-aunts, and is not interested in ruling in general. Why did I select her, may you ask? I don't know really. She is smart, a good shooter, popular with the girls, but timid though. I guess you could say that I see myself in her, despite my bad eyesight. Either that, or I'm getting old. I have a feeling that she or at least her wife will knock some sense in my elitist daughters. The first ten I mean.

I hardly see Jerda anymore though, so I just spend my time in the palace I named in honor of our housemaid and dear friend Tenaya. I can hear the city progressing well, and new technologies being rediscovered year by year. Not a week goes by when Dorothy blows up one of her experiments. I hear she lost an arm, but I hope that is not the case.

What a strange odyssey we have been through since we met on that fateful day! I never expected that I, in fulfillment of that one deranged lesbian cult's prophecy, would end up being both the cause of the world's destruction and its salvation. But I could not have done it without my dear Eva "Evangeline" Nataraja. I suppose you can extend the thanks to my mother, despite the monster she had turned to. I do not regret being born as a created human for her experiments, and it is because of her I can consider myself human.

I will also thank Danya for helping us. I also thank our deceased friends: Farrah, Kelly, Cole, Ol' Bella, Anila and the vassals, Big Sally and her gals, Emerald Rogers, Marie, our friends in Seattle, and all those girls named Sati.

Evie, I hope that you grow up strong to protect your mother. Nikhila and Odilia... I could never tell you two apart, but please go easy on your older sister. Suzette, try to stop staying up late at night. Teila, I wish you well and take care of your sisters. And to my unborn daughter I have not named yet, please grow up strong to look after your family as well.

Oh great. Now I'm crying. By now there would be tears on this paper or papers my writer is penning for me. I have the photos in my hands, but I can't see your faces any more. The memories of them are not enough. I want to see you all again, but I can't because my people need me. And I am too weak and too old to go on searching anymore.

But Eva, I want to see you, even when I cannot! I want to hold you, touch, and feel those lips against mine! I have loved Quyen and Laleh, but you earn special place in my heart because not only you are the first, you are the one who saved me.

The image of you is still so strong in my mind, and I feel as if you are getting closer and closer to me as each day passes. I can only see you as that innocent and lonely girl I saved, and that will be the last image I will have of you.

I cannot despair though. Whether what you did is right or wrong, I do not regret the separation and the children I bore with Quyen and Laleh. I am certain that we will reunite through them or in the afterlife. I know I will see you again.

No matter what, I will always love you. I will always love you as long as love exists, and I will always love you as long as our legacy exists.



Always thinking about you, forever and ever,

Always in love with you, forever and ever,



Germaine "Jerri" Adams

a.k.a. Lady Ejaculate



All Eva she could do was smile. She was sad though, yet at the same time amused that Jerri kept up her peppy attitude towards life even in her advanced years.

Eva diligently folded all the letters nearly and then cleanly placed them inside the suitcases placed on her desk. For the photos, she procured a blank photo album from the bookshelf reserved solely for such reunions, and fitted them in their sleeves in a stately pace. She left the album on the desk as well, and shuffled to her bed where she laid down and pulled the covers over her.

Then she dreamed. Once again, she was falling from the trap set against her and her family in the stratosphere at Fortress Eschaton. Death, she felt was imminent, as she knew that the monstrosity that were Mistress Aggregation Units would not fly down to rescue them as per Zoya Adamantite's orders. Yet she would wish that they had at least one gram of pity, even if they regretted saving them.

Suddenly from above, an angelic woman in a white cape and uniform caught her hand.

"Danya?" the young Eva asked.

"It's me!" smiled the young Jerri. "Hold on tight!"

"What about the children?"

"They're fine!"

"They're still falling!"

Before she knew it, she was on the ground. Looking around, she was surrounded by jungle brush and bushes. Behind her was a huge sphinx covered in vines, and not far were three worn-down pyramidal structures. Five children were walking alongside the largest of them all, and the oldest and tallest of twelve years old was carrying a rifle.

"Quit slowing us down!" Evie yelled back. "We gotta find food for mama and Padma."

"Don't look at us!" cried one of the bratty twin sisters, Nikhila. "Suzette's back there sleeping again."

"Suzette!"

"A few more hours," sighed Suzette.

The sisters ganged up to haul Suzette to her feet to continue their hut.

Then the world funneled into itself, and Eva and Jerri found themselves in pine tree forest, where Quyen and her teenage daughters were building up one of their many log cabins.

The world funneled again, and she saw the pregnant Laleh reading stories to her two existing daughters inside a log mansion.

They ascended at light speed from the surface until they were past the orbit. Earth was in full view, and after all that had happened on the surface it was still beautiful in blue, green, brown, and swirling white.

"See Eva," said Jerri. "Our children and their children and their children's children are doing fine. Look at the peaceful world they have created!"

"So many have died for us," Eva said. "I feel as though we're responsible."

"Everyone is responsible in their own way."

"Jerri... I too have been waiting for so long. I wanted to stay alive as my penance for doing what I did to you!"

"It's okay. You already know that I forgive you. Is that what love is about? And the proof of my existence has already been delivered to your doorstep."

"Then my mission is over then."

"Oh, don't give yourself so easily like that! There's still your great-granddaughter."

"But I am so tired. I need a little rest before I can do anything."

Jerri moved her legs in a position that would seem like she was sitting. Eva laid her head on top of her lap, and clasped Jerri's hand with hers. She was pure and warm, and there was a steady and comforting heartbeat.

"Then you can rest here," said Jerri.

"Yes," said Eva. "I think I'll do that."

Chapter 20

Title: Epilogue - "What will tomorrow bring?"

Eve Sky
Epilogue - "What will tomorrow bring?"
by StarCross


Since most of the world's remaining landmasses were "north" of the equator, spring was at its peak in the year 82 A.E. (After Eve). For New Khartoum, a village-city that did not experience rapid changes in weather temperature, today was just a normal day. Nikhila and Odilia occupied the shrines giving sex advice to young couples. Padma made her rounds at the guard posts and watch towers. Teila had just dispensed medicine to an elderly Arab woman. Suzette was sleeping, and Evie had finished her breakfast with Jerda, Evelyn, Arzu, and Evelyn's parents, during which they discussed in detail of an upcoming wedding.

A maidservant for Eva had told the elder Evie the distressing news. Evie had left them to finish their meal, and sent a message to summon Teila. Teila and two of her nurses came at fast as they could in the Founder's room where Evie and Suzette were standing in.

The pulse and heartbeat was checked. Eva "Evangeline" Nataraja passed away and declared dead at 7:02 AM. The remaining sisters gathered and requested that the maidservants to leave immediately. Together, Evie, Nikihla, Odilia, Suzette, Teila, and Padma shared a moment's mourning and silent tears. The mood was sad, and it was made sadder that their beloved birthmother had died with a slight smile and a single tear on her face.

The news of this spread quickly throughout the village city. Everyone dropped what they were doing to gather around the mansion to beat their chests and vent their wailing sadness. Even the guards who were supposed to be blocking entrance to the mansion had trouble performing their duty, as they too were just as sad.

Then there was a ruse that the foreigners who came to their protected land were the cause, and demanded their heads. Padma quickly ordered her forces to quell the commotion, and Evie stepped forth with dried and wiped tears to successfully compel the people to calm down with the strong words of her speech.

"If you dare act out violently," she said in her own tongue, "you would be spitting on the very ideals she had worked so hard to manifest. Our Founder, Eva Nataraja, have lived so long and suffered so much. She is with the Goddess now, and also with the one who was her wife."

"The Founder had a wife?" asked a villager.

"We know nothing of her," said another. "That's one of the great mysteries that they do not answer."

The answer would have to wait. Nikhila and Odilia now became serious in their duties as priestess, and ordered their shrine maidens to properly clean the body of Eva and clothe her in a single white sheet. She was laid in an ornamental stretcher carried by her six daughters throughout the town, for people to mourn. Jerda, Evelyn, Arzu, Banu, and Pari kept close by in the funeral procession, and they were guarded by the best of Padma's forces, which included Pari's crush Nontle.

Eva's body was taken to a clearing right outside the entrance to the shrine where logs were already stacked into a rectangular structure by the shrine maidens. People had already circled around it from a safe distance, for just as Jerda and her relatives realized, a pyre was about to be ignited with Eva's body and stretcher on the log stack. Ceremoniously, the Six Daughters placed their mother on the stack, and stepped back and away towards the entrance of the shrine. A flaming torch was given to Evie, and she then proceeded to throw it into the pyre.

The fires built up, and everyone sang a song vaguely resembling "O Susanna." It was then that Jerda, Arzu, Banu, and Pari felt a part of the village city, and did their best to sing along though they could only memorize the chorus line.

Arzu watched the blaze engulfing the body not in horror, but in awe. Surely, she would be offended by such displays, for in Tehran the dead were buried instead of immolated. She could not help but admire the universal love received this woman whose face she had never seen. It most certainly moved her to tears.

"Auntie?" Jerda asked.

"She's so beautiful," cried Arzu.

The singing stopped, and everyone bowed their heads for a moment of silence.

"Is it okay now?" asked Nikhila.

"It is," Evie solemnly uttered.

Nikhila turned to her twin sister, and the two nodded to one another.

The twins let out a cry, and then everyone let out a cheering roar. Half dispersed into the village city, while the other half poured into the shrine with smiling faces. Jerda and her relatives were being caught up by the wave and soon found themselves inside and sitting very close to the head of the table with Evelyn.

"What the hell?" Arzu cursed.

"Evelyn," said Jerda. "What's going on?"

"We're having a fiesta!" Evelyn cried.

"You just had a funeral pyre!" Arzu exclaimed.

"So?"

"But isn't this out of place?"

"Oh, I didn't realize. This has always been a tradition to eat, get drunk, and party after a funeral. And since great-grandmother died, this one is going to be big!"

"Drunk? As in drink alcoholic drinks?"

"It just so happens, we saved enough for this! We have to thank Suzette for planning this in advance."

"I won't criticize your culture any further, but there is no way I am going to partake in a vice as alcohol."

"What is that I hear?" yelled a woman's voice.

Suzette literally jumped over the table and faced dead-on into Arzu with aggressive eyes.

"You won't drink?" said Suzette. "We put up a lot of shit for you guests, and now you won't participate? Do you want to fucking start an international incident? For shame! I can't believe my own half-sister would say such shit like that?"

"Grand-aunt, please," said Suzette.

"If this gal and her gals won't drink, then I'm fucking wiping out their place with a Geomancer Cannon. Here! Drink up or else!"

"Just do as she says."

Suzette-awake was the scariest person Jerda and her relatives had ever faced, and she could probably rival the frightful visage of the stoic Gul. Taking the glass stein or mug from her hand, they immediately drank down the frothy beer.

"Good now," smiled Suzette. "Food's gonna arrive, so you best be hungry. That's gonna be lots!"

Suzette then hurried off to grab another stein to use and fill from the nearest keg. Another set of filled steins were given to Jerda and her relatives, but before they could drink it, Evelyn drank a half each and then poured water into them from a plastic bottle.

"Just water it down," winked Evelyn. "They won't notice."

The guests from Tehran never seen such a carefully prepared bountiful feast that everyone regardless of age and social status shared and eaten. The participants got drunk and rowdy, but never did any of them become overly violent despite many drunken arguments and verbal fights breaking out inside and outside the shrine. Evelyn drank a lot, but never showed signs of drunkenness, whereas Jerda's cousin Banu was already passed out. Children were present, which worried Arzu greatly, but they drank very less and had already gone off to play outside.

"Don't worry," said Evelyn after she drank down her latest stein. "They usually go home and off to bed earlier than usual."

"I can see why," smirked Arzu.

There was wild dancing, drinking games that Suzette constantly succeeded at, and a bit of stripteasing well into the late afternoon. Many of the people took short naps in and out of the shrine only to wake up for the dinner portion of the party. It was then at the late hours that all of the children, at the very least the immature ones, had gone off home with one of their parents or older siblings. The party soon took an adult tone, and the moment everyone was waiting for began when all Six Daughters of Eve took the head of the table to pay a unique tribute to their deceased mother by insulting and ridiculing her.

However, not all were awake or ready to do so. Teila was already too drunk and had fallen asleep, and Suzette was biding her time by drinking shot glasses of whiskey at every interval. So it was left up to Evie, Nikhila, Odilia, and Padma to do the "roasting" as it was called, for their judgment and inhibitions had been severely compromised by alcohol.

"That woman was blind!" Evie lamented pathetically. "Every prank you two bitches pulled she blamed on me!"

"Oh, come off it!" Nikhila said. "You were always that damn woman's favorite!"

"And we would have succeeded the coup if it weren't for you meddling kids," said Odilia. "I'm talking to you shorty!"

"Who are you calling short?" Padma cried. "If it wasn't for me, we would nearly have that famine decades ago! But oh, mother doesn't acknowledge my actions! It's always Evie this, Evie that, blah, blah, blah. I need a fucking stool to get noticed!"

"It was my leadership that saved us if you don't realize," said Evie. "You can't take credit for everything Padma. Or do you have some kind of Napoleon Complex?"

"Mother always spoils the fun for all of us," complained Odilia. "I mean, which one of us ratted on us on the orgy we nearly had?"

"Wasn't me," said Padma.

"I think it was Teila," said Evie.

"If she was awake," said Nikhila, "I'd tell her that she is a whiny prick."

"Hey Teila!" Odilia yelled. "My twin says you're a whiny prick!"

Teila only stirred and waved her hand, gesturing that she didn't want to be disturbed.

"Yo Suzette," said Nikhila. "You've been quiet for all this time."

"Too quiet if you ask me," said Odilia.

"So are you gonna talk smack about mom?"

Suzette put out her cigarette on her ashtray. "Damn woman is dumping my booze."

"Definitely. She's always a hardass."

Then they decided to ridicule themselves, which then generated into harmless shove-fighting.

Evelyn had translated all this to the guests, but she didn't really have to since half of what the Six Daughters said was in plain English, and the gist of their talking were well represented by their moods. Arzu was so appalled that she ended up drinking more in order to drain that feeling.

"I can't believe all this," muttered Arzu.

"That's what happen after a funeral pyre," said Evelyn. "All of they said are half-true. You should know though that we do this to remember the good or interesting things about the person who have left this world. We celebrate their passing and their deliverance from the material world, instead of mourning for long periods of time. We have plenty of time to mourn after the party, but we do so privately. It would be a great insult to the departed if we were to worry too much of them after their death."

"Well, we do like to talk about their accomplishments at the funeral ceremony, but we prefer to be formal about this."

"You might be too formal about this."

"In any case, it is starting to smell here. I need a bath and a good sleep. Can't believe I bought into this. Where's Jerda and Pari?"

"Jerda's just outside."

"And Pari?"

"Shagging," muttered Banu in English.

Arzu slapped Banu, and ordered her to get up. Banu was now being walked out with the help of Arzu, but it was difficult due to Banu's weight and that Arzu was a little drunk. They unknowingly passed Jerda, as they were too tired. Once they were back inside the mansion, they just fell asleep.

Jerda had taken the sobering pills that were handed out during the party. It was a special medicine containing enzymes that would specifically break down alcohol rapidly. However, a great many forgot to take it, and inside and outside of the shrine people were sleeping or just sitting in a daze.

The pyre had burned away almost an hour ago, and all that was left was a hill of ashes and embers. Jerda stood over it, ready to run her foot through the edge.

"It's bad luck if you step on it," said Evelyn.

Evelyn now stood by her side, and linked her arm with hers.

"I didn't mean to," said Jerda.

"It is ironic though," said Evelyn. "Great-grandmother finally done in by a pyre that killed her husband."

"I wish I could scoop some up and take it to grandmother."

"She's part of the land now."

"Still..."

Evelyn looked around. She gestured Jerda to wait a moment, and went inside. She came back procuring a whiskey bottle. Evelyn bent over and scooped some ashes into it.

"Is that bad luck as well?" Jerda asked.

"Yep," replied Evelyn. "But no one's going to notice."



The next morning had passed, and people were still sleeping inside and outside the shrine. Cleanup slowly went underway, and the shrine maidens were mixing the dirt with the ashes from the pyre. More than one person had been burned there, and a low dirt mound had inevitably been erected. Part of the duty of the shrine maidens was to keep the mound as flat as possible, and to give the surrounding bushes a good trim.

Evie had been sleeping half-naked in her room when Jerda and Evelyn woke up.

"What?" groaned Evie.

"Grandmother," said Evelyn. "I'm marrying Jerda."

"Don't bother me."

"Grandmother!"

"I have a nasty hangover. Go ask Nikhila or Odilia."

"Does that mean you approve?"

"Yeah, sure. Whatever. Can you let me sleep?"

The young couple grinned, and then hurried back to the shrine.

The shrine was barely being cleaned up, and there were still a couple of female vagrants sleeping inside--not counting the twin priestesses who were found still dozing on the head table that turned out to be the altar.

"What?" Odilia groaned. "Marriage? You wanna get married?"

"Yes," said Evelyn.

"Did you have sex?"

"Yes."

"Then you're married. Done. Finished. Now go away."

"Don't we get a formal ceremony? Or at least a certificate?"

Nikhila rummaged through her robes and handed the couple a wrinkled tri-folded sheet of paper. It might have been soiled as well.

"Here," she said. "Now go. We need sleep."

"No ceremony?" asked Jerda.

"Come back next week," said Odilia. "We're tired."

"Thank you so much. I think."

With the certificate in hand, they headed outside and sat on the steps watching the shrine maidens sweeping and ashes and merging them into the earth.

"So that's it then," said Jerda.

"I'm really sorry about this," said Evelyn. "I lowered your expectations."

"Actually," Jerda smiled. "I was quite amused by your laid-back attitude towards life."

"Great-grandmother's strictness ironically allowed this to happen. Of course, we only let ourselves go wild on occasions like this."

"So what would a marriage ceremony be like?"

"Just like last night."

"I see."

Jerda rose up. "I guess we did have our ceremony."

Evelyn rose up and linked her arm with her new wife. "Jerda, I was thinking... Perhaps you should take leadership of your nation."

"But I'm not sure if I could do the job right."

"You don't have to do it forever. If you didn't realize, you have allies in your family as well. You'll have to do it anyway in order to foster relations between our nations."

"That would mean I would take you away from this place. There seems to be a lot of freedom here than Tehran."

"That is why I am going to live with you at your place. You should at least rule so that you'll have a significant and everlasting impact on our world. At least do it for our children."

"Are you pregnant already?"

"I don't think so. I suspect that we will be."

Jerda scratched her head and thought about it for the moment. Even with her height, strength, and combat ability, she always viewed herself incompetent to command the people. But right as she looked into her beloved's eyes, she realized that if Evelyn was around she could do it. It wouldn't matter if she did become mama or amam. Evelyn was her strength. Evelyn was her other half.

"Let's do it then," said Jerda. "Let's go home."



On that afternoon, the couple had announced that they would finally be heading back to the Tehran Queendom. Suzette, unusually wide-awake and focused, suggested that their guests take the corvette-class airship to land in the north, which worried the rest of her sisters, including the easygoing Nikhila and Odilia.

"We need a qualified pilot," said Odilia.

"She's right here," Suzette proudly said.

They were worried that she might fall asleep.

From the technology center Suzette recruited a co-pilot, a navigator, and a stewardess. The luggage of the passengers, Jerda, Evelyn, Arzu, and Banu, were packed on the airship Singer along with gifts of New Khartoum.

It was revealed, and perhaps obvious that Pari was staying behind, for she had impregnated Nontle after their many secret rendezvous. Arzu restrained her anger, and then she found the strength to pat and then hug her granddaughter.

"It will be difficult to communicate with her," Arzu said to Pari in Sino-Persian. "Not just in language."

"There is one language and culture we share," Pari responded. "And that's love."

The citizens gathered in the grassy airship lot to wave goodbye to one of Eva's great-granddaughters and her wife, the new queen of Tehran.

The Singer was originally an attack airship, but had been stripped all of its assault functions except for the machine guns. The seating arrangements were bare and sparse. There were no seats in the middle, and most of them were lined against the hull's sides. The cockpit wasn't too far, and it allowed the passengers to communicate to the elderly pilot, who was carefully flipping switches and pushing buttons on a touchscreen.

"You do know how to fly this, right?" Arzu asked.

"Of course I do," replied Suzette. "I trained lots in the simulations."

"That's not reassuring."

"Actually, I just played a lot of video games."

"No wonder why you sleep in the morning."

The takeoff was steady, yet nervous. The flight of a heavy yet sleek machine was a miraculous sight to the people below, and it was miracle for the pilot and the staff because this thing hadn't been flown for decades.

The citizens waved their last goodbye when the Singer shot off northeastward.

The fast ride was also nervous, as Suzette never once turned her head towards the back and blinked less often. She was sweating so much that her copilot had to wipe her forehead at various intervals. She had said to them to resist giving her whiskey flask, because Suzette always drank when she was nervous. She then started threatening and yelling to her subordinates to hand her the drink, but after reading the manual, the navigator pointed out something useful on the ship's controls.

After pressing some buttons on the touchscreen, Suzette took the flask from her copilot's hands and relaxed back. The fact that her hands were no longer on the steering wheel began worrying the foreign passengers, although the ship was now steadier than ever.

"Oh, don't worry gals," said Suzette. "Apparently, this thing allows you to choose location in its memory, and you'll zip right to there."

"But Tehran had moved eastward," said Arzu.

"Oh, that. Wake me up when we're above the old city."

"DON'T FALL ASLEEP!" everyone yelled.

The task of keeping Suzette awake succeeded, but when she manually controlled the ship to the new location of Tehran, she was nodding off. Fortunately, she safely touched down in the interior palace grounds.

The sight of ancient technology descending before them roused everyone to anxiety. Almost immediately, the soldiers were deployed and had their rifles pointed at the metallic bird as almost everyone referred it. Their guns were still poised as it was now on the ground and harmless. When the hatch opened, and Jerda stepped out dressed in her regal robes, everyone withdrew their guns and kowtowed before their queen. They made it in time, because Suzette had just fallen asleep.

Jerda, Evelyn, and the rest of their party were escorted into the Tenaya Palace where they were given time to rest and change their clothes to attend the sudden meeting in the Great Hall. The Ten Daughters looked down upon Jerda, Evelyn, and Suzette, like judges. It was then Jerda announced that she would be marrying Evelyn no matter what, shocking Lien and a few of her allies. It seemed that her power was being challenged, as there were more of her sisters supporting Jerda's decision. In fact, she was the only one marginally opposed to it. Dorothy wasn't present as she was outside feeling the airship with her remaining left hand and her right hook-claw hand.

"It's not that," said Lien. "It's just a sudden shock."

"Oh, you're worried that you might be booted out," grinned Kitty.

"I assure that I will keep you in power as long as you are compelled to and as long as you can manage," said Jerda.

"And I'll be here as your oversight!" cried Evelyn. "Just because I'm naive about this land doesn't mean I don't know what's going on."

"Or perhaps someone told you," said Lien, leering her eyes at Kitty. "In any case, we do have to prepare for the wedding ceremony. I am certain it will be big since it is new queen who is to be wedded."

"So we can go?"

"Of course."

"Suzette! Wake up! Let's go and look around this place."

"She, however, must stay here a little longer," said Arzu. "And you know why."

"What's going on?" muttered Suzette.

"Yasmin, give her some coffee. Lots of it. This discussion may take a while."

Jerda and Evelyn stepped out, and four guards blocked their path back inside. The perimeter was secure as the truth of the Suzette's relationship to the Ten Daughters was likely to unfold.

Evelyn was finally given a formal tour of the capital of the Tehran Queendom. It was less than technological than New Khartoum, as only half of the houses were wired for electricity. There were less bicycles, cars, and even construction equipment, so labor was done through beasts of burden or by hand. Evelyn finally saw the building that served as a research facility and a factory, but the smoke and pollution it puts out was offensive to Evelyn's eyes.

"Dorothy's working on that," said Jerda.

"I'd better get the tech team to clean this up," said Evelyn.

Mainly guns and bullets were being produced at the factory, which just had its first assembly line installed.

The reception Evelyn received from the people was very warm, but she could not make any comparison to her last visit since she did not stay for long. They all talked to her even though she could not understand the official language. There were a few old women who came from India or were Indian, and although they spoke Hindi or a derivative, Evelyn could not understand them completely. Ironically, Jerda had to serve as a translator for the Indians and Evelyn.

They never found out if Arzu and Suzette revealed the truth to the rest of the Ten Daughters. It was hard to gauge their reactions since they did not show it or kept it well hidden. The level of approval for Jerda and Evelyn's marriage was still the same though.

Many days were reserved for the upcoming wedding. During that time, Jerda and Evelyn spent a blissful time together learning each other's language, trying out Dorothy's new inventions, watching old films on a projector, and above all having sex behind closed doors. They did not move into the late Queen's room yet. Though Jerri's belongings were put away, it was still too soon to settle in for the mood was not yet right.

Jerri's tomb was completed and locked forever. Since it would be sacrilegious to open it up, Jerda and Evelyn decided to dump Eva's ashes directly on the top, which was a mound to be exact. It felt out-of-class to pour it from a whiskey bottle, which Suzette nearly drank out of a while ago since there were no alcoholic drinks in Tehran.

Dorothy was having the time of her life inspecting every inch of the corvette-class airship, and she often spoke to the foreign crew even though she knew they did not understand her. Knowing that there were women who understood English, she somehow requested that they take her to New Khartoum, which they did. They inadvertently left Suzette however.

Since alcohol was banned, or at the very least frowned upon, Suzette went in a withdrawal phase where she smoked a lot, slept irregularly, and cursed at her half-sisters at various intervals. She became coffee addict to compensate, and remarked that Yamin's coffee beans from the plantation should be planted back at home.

The airship Singer ended up making frequent back and forth journeys from New Khartoum to Tehran. The Singer came back with two of its sister ships, which Evelyn offered to the Tehran Queendom as gifts, but it ended up as passenger vehicles regardless. People from both nations, after learning about each other, were curiously anxious to see each other's lands and the people. Language and culture barrier was not enough to slow down the visits, and despite a few rough starts, each nation was very accommodating to the foreign visitors. It was mostly the youth who visited as well as elderly who did not received the Gift of the Goddess also took such trips to see if there were survivors who spoke their dying first languages.

The Six Daughters of Eve had to attend the royal wedding as a sign of good gesture. Taking many of their maidservants and guards, they arrived in Tehran in low-key pomp. The Six Daughters of Eve finally met the Ten Daughters of Quyen and the Three Daughters of Laleh for the very first time.

Evie and Lien froze when they first saw each other, for they felt they were looking at a reflection. The meddling twins met with the sly Kitty and got along on the spot. Suzette continued to hang out with her new caffeine-addicted friend Yasmin. Telia was immediately intimidated by the imposing Gul, and Padma and Arzu agreed to friendly wrestling match sometime in the future.

The city was so crowded it felt as if both nations were crammed in. Tehran's wedding ceremony took place after five days of preparation in the afternoon. Jerda was in a masculine royal garb, while Evelyn, who always hated heavy clothing, was happily and proudly dressed in a very beautiful white wedding dress.

Weddings were generally supposed to be a private affair in the Tehran Queendom, but such an important occasion like this could not be kept away from the public. Important guests from both nations were inside the temple, while the commoners were outside trying to get a good look from their vantage point. Fortunately, the techs from New Khartoum brought digital video cameras and monitors that relayed the feed to the outsiders as if by magic. As an added backup, a line of photographers took pictures as Evelyn walked through the aisle, and camerawomen cranked old film cameras without fatigue.

It was a fairly basic ritual. The head priestess Hoa recited, in Sino-Persian, the importance of the union from the Tome, and asked the couple questions, which they answered yes. Jerda and Evelyn kissed, which sealed their marriage vows at least in Tehran. They turned and glanced at everyone at the benches, almost all of who were crying happily. Then suddenly, Nikhila, Odilia, and Kitty shot out from their seats and shouted loud cheers. They were alone for almost a minute until almost everyone joined in.

The post-ceremony dinner celebration was reserved and formal, and if such a thing were to take place in New Khartoum would be booze and loud music. The Six Daughters of Eve behaved as much as they could for Evelyn's sake and for the sake of the land.

During the serving of appetizers, which were so large of a portion that they could be consider meals themselves, Jerda happily obliged to take Evelyn in the middle of the cleared floor for the first dance of the night. They were urged to use the entire area so that everyone could get a good look of Evelyn's skirt swinging out gracefully in every turn and spin. The newlyweds did, but their bodies were meshed together as they did not want to break contact from their own skin.

The couple retreated to the table to have their main meal. With everyone eating at their own pace, many couples danced at the floor. The most prominent dancing pairs were those from each of the of the two nations, many of who had already hooked up days before, and Jerda's half-cousin Pari was amongst them with her new wife Nontle.

The dresses almost everyone wore covered almost all of their skin, but the ones single females wore were form-fitting to their torso and bust, while some of the married and older women were a little more fuller and to hide their features. That was not necessarily the case for the attendees outside, as their dresses were plain and homemade. Regardless of their exclusion due to class or the fact there was not enough room, the party held outside was a lot more jovial, and even those from the Great Hall, particularly Jerda and Evelyn, stepped out to watch and even participate in the outdoor activities which including less formal dancing and games.

It continued on well into the night. Most of the elders had went off to sleep, while a few, Nikhila and Odilia in particular, stayed up to give love advice to eager listeners with the help of Kitty as translator. Many couples loitered about, and Jerda and Evelyn could not help but notice the mixed pairs created by the fateful encounter months ago. For them, it they have accomplished something greater than they could ever imagine.



In less than a year, Jerda and Evelyn gave birth to their first two children. In one of many rare cases, even amongst royalty, both Jerda and Evelyn became pregnant, which refrained them performing many of their ceremonial and government duties in the Tehran Queendom.

From Jerda she gave birth to Evangeline. Days later, Evelyn gave birth to Jeri. With the six years that had passed, Evan (shortened from Evangeline) and Jeri acknowledge Evelyn as the dominant partner out of their two parents. Another ceremony was held to recognize Evelyn as the new Amam, and thus through her marriage to Jerda she was now the Queen. At first, some of the citizens balked at having a foreign ruler, but to everyone's surprise Evelyn was an effective and progressive ruler and a highly competent stateswoman.

Her ascension to royalty and her rule would be attributed to the chance circumstances on the day she first met Jerda. Since the two nations found themselves, travel between them was so frequent that both blood and language were diluted. The languages of Sino-Persian and Hindi-Afrikaans would eventually merge to be the de facto language of the known world, Evenna. Inevitably though, dialects would arise be currently divided into North Evenna in Asia, South Evenna in Africa, and Middle/Mordern Evenna in the Middle East.

Though her rule was short, Evelyn had announced after Evan and Jeri's seventh birthdays that she would be abdicating. No, there wasn't any political pressure for her to step down. It was the opposite, as many wanted her to keep occupying the throne. Evelyn and Jerda were too stressed out in running the daily affairs of the Tehran Queendom (now renamed the Democratic Republic of Tehran), and wanted to spend more time raising their children. Everyone accepted it, and soon elections were held to fill in the new governmental positions of chancellor and many others.

Tehran had split up, but this wasn't due to infighting. The population boom forced the nation's peoples to settle elsewhere, and a new nation of New Kazakh formed in the north with the help of Lien, Tuyet, Xuan, and Arzu. New Kazkh was highly autonomous, but kept close ties with the mother nation of Tehran that Hoa and the rest of the Ten Daughters kept running.

The Middle East blossomed with new villages and towns since it was a hub between New Khartoum and Tehran. From the Three Daughters of Laleh as well as Evelyn and her relatives formed the modern nation of Meso, which would be the new home for Jerda and her family. It was a sharp change to their children who were used to the palace life, and it was unfortunate that their oldest daughter Evan did not adjust well. She ended up becoming a flirt and a troublemaker in her teens, and had once gotten arrested for vandalism. This was in sharp contrast to the more demure and timid "twin" sister Jeri. Both went to the Dimashq Academy with their amam who eventually graduated with a degree in linguistics. Jeri was at the top of her class and her sister at the bottom. Evan might as well not attend.

Evelyn gave birth to a third daughter when Jeri and Evan were ten. The daughter's name was Tenni.



It might be a couple of years off due to a disagreement in calendaring systems, but it was yet another spring in the year 98 A.E. Evelyn and Jerda lived in their small and quaint two-story home in Dimashq--the new by the way as the ancient metropolis of the same name was still in ruins in the northwest. The bespectacled thirty-two year-old Evelyn, dressed in jeans and a blouse sat in the covered front porch reading over the letters from the First Wife to the Great Amam and translating them in Evenna in the late afternoon. There were many old books of reference on the table along with a working laptop computer running a modified operating system program called Linux.

Tenni was already home from soccer practice at the academy. Evan was studying for her make-up exams, hopefully. The family's pair of waterfoxes, Marie and Ema, was having their second-to-last wade in their personal pool at the backyard. With the help from Jerda, sixteen year-old Jeri was getting ready for her very first date with a fearsome-looking girl who despite appearances was a self-appointed "soldier for justice."

She was more worried about her daughter's date than the regular stream of angry letters and angry phone calls from angry protesters, most of who were religious, who viewed Evelyn's upcoming book as heretical. Sure, no one would want to believe that there was once a human species divided into two genders and that wars and oppression were rampant. Though many complained, it hardly escalated into an all-out war, and not even riots, aggressive marches, and burning effigies broke out. Evelyn was confident that her ideological opponents would not commit to the violent acts that defined the human-like creature that was breastless and had horns between its legs. No one alive knew what this creature this "man" or "male" was really like other than the books and visual media portrayed them to be. Even then no one believed that such creatures had existed.

Evelyn, as well her wife Jerda had hoped that the girl Jeri brought home turned out to be okay. The girl was like their troublesome daughter, but at least she corrected trouble instead of causing it. It should be around the time that Evan would throw a jealous tantrum and attempt to march out of the house.

Tenni made the first block, giving Evelyn ample time to throw Evan into a headlock and drag her back into the house.

"I have a date!" Evan yelled.

"You have studying!" cried Evelyn. "And I bet that girl already dumped you."

"She did not!"

Jerda, now with longer and more feminine hair, escorted her primed daughter Jeri to the door. It was just in time, since the date arrived in a decked-out bicycle modified to seat a pretty young girl behind her. She had short dark hair and had light brown skin. Jeri's date wore a white tank top, dark boots, black pants, and a black leather jacket. Evan broke from her amam's grasp to quickly fix her hair and run outside to wink and say hello.

"She's not your date," said Evelyn. "Jeri don't keep her waiting."

Jeri headed over and received a kiss on the cheek from her date. She cautiously mounted on the back and held tight behind her date.

"I'll take great care of your daughter Misses and Missem Matthews," smiled the date.

"Evv," said Evan. "We're still up for tomorrow, right?"

The girl on the bike, Evv, looked up. "I'll think about it."

"Don't bother," said Evelyn. "She's too good for you."

Evv and Jeri said and waved their goodbyes, and cycled off to the downtown district. There were happy tears in Jerda's eyes as she watched her daughter head off to become a woman, and Tenni just stared, as she was still too young to understand.

"You say that with every girl I bring home," said Evan. "They're never good for me!"

"Next time, bring a real good one," said Evelyn.

"Damn it! You're never going to get off my case!"

"Quit complaining and get your ass back to the books!"

Evan marched back into the house grumbling.

"You're being too hard on her," said Jerda. "Maybe academics is not her strong suit."

"She needs to at least do the basics," said Evelyn.

"I don't want her to go into the Global Security Forces."

"Even if she does, we hardly fight anyone. The war stories in those old books and videos makes you doubly glad we live in this era."

"About that..."

"Let me guess--more protest calls from the Danyanites?"

"Why do you anger them so?"

"You know I try not to. The truth about our world is found in those old media, and with each passing year there is evidence to back that up."

"They're going to say that it's falsified, or the bodies were once those Amazonians."

Evelyn sighed. "I wished I done this when those old ladies were still alive."

They had a quiet dinner a few hours later, and upon Jerda's insistence Evelyn helped Evan with the math portion of the exam until the daughter fell asleep. Evelyn then resumed translating more books for the academy as well as writing her new book on her great-grandmother's exploits with Jerda's grandmother, the Great Amam.

"Amam," she muttered in her own office stuffed with books overflowing from the shelves. She discovered the translation of it, and it was a feminine demonic or perhaps a divine beast that was the personification of divine retribution in ancient Egyptian mythology. Amam had other various spellings, such as Ammut, Ammut, or more commonly Ammit. Amam was said to devour souls not permitted to enter paradise, Aaru.

It could have been a fitting name. Jerri Adams was probably created as living act of divine retribution against the vileness of the two-gendered world. Then again, Amam was simply "mama" backwards, and it was first suggested by Evie, Jerri's first daughter. At that time, the family did not know or were not told the definition of the word. In this day of age, it simply got stuck as a label of the wife who was recognized by her children as the dominant partner in the marriage.

Dressed loosely in nothing but a nightgown, Jerda entered the room and lovingly embraced Evelyn.

"Jeri hasn't come home yet," said Jerda.

"She'll be fine," said Evelyn. "She won't get raped despite the media says. The statistics are abysmally low."

"She could still get assaulted in another way."

"She has Evv with her."

"I suppose."

"Anyway, I'm still busy. I'll come to bed later."

Jerda lets go, and solemnly, she marched out. She came back later with a pillows and a sleeping back, and laid it out in the middle of the floor.

"What are you doing?" asked Evelyn.

"Being with you," said Jerda.

"I told you, I'll come to bed. I almost have this page typed up."

"You said that last night! And the night before! Is your book more important than me?"

"I'm sorry. I'll stop for today. However, don't move."

After shutting down her laptop computer and closing all the books, Evelyn stripped herself to her underwear. She stuffed herself inside the sleeping bag with Jerda, and it was barely enough room for them to be together.

They embraced one another and kissed. Then they made love quietly, and when they finished an hour later, they remained awake and still in their embrace.

"Another child?" Evelyn asked.

"I don't know," said Jerda.

"How about I bear another one? That way, you can continue tending our garden and doing housework."

"You shouldn't! You need to move around for your research for your book, especially when you go borrow books from the academy."

"I thought you hated me for focusing on it too much."

"I don't mind. I just want you make time for me."

"Sorry. It just feels like it is my obligation to do this."

"For grandmother..."

"...and great-grandmother. But even if I complete, many will still see it as a work of fiction, and it may be because I somewhat wrote it like one. Goddess, I'm going to get blasted from both sides."

"I hope you're not hesitating, because a Switch might happen."

"A Switch? Oh, I'm not thinking of such things! Hesitation is normal, right?"

"Fortunately, Switches rarely happen, and even if it is apparent, you'll still be the amam in our relationship."

"Force of habits as usual."

"So have you decided for a title of the book?"

"Still haven't. I need something that has impact, but not overly long. Three words or less is preferable. Do you have any ideas?"

"I don't."

"Hmm..."

Evelyn had often took charge in family affairs, but there were times, perhaps a lot more than usual, that she ran into Jerda's comforting arms and asked her for guidance as if she was a heavenly muse. Evelyn might seem like a independent woman, but she would be lost if she was without Jerda's support. In her eyes, Jerda was the pillar of the Tehran Queendom during their rule.

"The sky's so beautiful," said Jerda, looking up at the window. There was an untainted starry night sky.

"It is," smiled Evelyn.

Right then in a moment of epiphany, Evelyn finally settled on a two-word title for her book.



Early next morning, Jeri came home before her family with an elated smile, and with ring that wasn't on her finger on the night before.

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