“No,” she said, getting to her feet. “I’m fine. I’m coming with you. You might need me.” She sniffed and rubbed her eyes.
“All right.”
There was a sign at the station indicating that the maternity school was just up the main corridor, at the end of which, we found a pair of huge wooden doors with an iron clapper attached to the front of one. That impressed me; making anything out of real wood was unusual, let alone anything that large.
“I don’t see an intercom or anything,” said Valka.
“I guess this is the way to summon someone.” I lifted the clapper from the iron plate that was under it and let it fall back against the door. It made a satisfyingly loud noise in the quiet corridor.
“It’s dark shift; do you think anyone will come?”
“They have to have someone to handle emergencies in the middle of the night. Someone will come.”
It took another two knocks, but eventually the door opened. An Ovor girl, just on the edge of adolescence, pushed the door open and looked us over. She was wearing a white thigh-length robe with long flowing sleeves. I started to speak, but she put a finger to my lips and shook her head. Evidently, we were to keep silent. I nodded to Valka and followed her in.
The corridors were dark except for a pale orange glow coming from recessed indirect lights near the ceiling. The girl led us a short way down a side hall and indicated a doorway. Through it, we could see a small sleeping chamber.
“No, no, I . . .”
The girl stopped me with an upraised hand. Clearly, she was not going to hear anything I said. Before I could try to get through to her, Valka pulled me in and closed the door. Behind it, there was a pair of short robes similar in cut to the one the girl had been wearing, but blue in color.
“What are you doing? We need to get to Suna.”
She glared at me and whispered, “And we’re not going to do that by talking to that one. Look, there aren’t any cameras and I don’t think the door is locked. Once she’s gone back to bed, we’ll sneak out and have a look around. Maybe we can find Suna.” She handed one of the robes to me, and then put on the other one.
“Of course. I’m sorry, I guess I was just too focused on getting to her as soon as possible.”
“Just keep your head straight and your eyes open, Challers.” Valka poked her head out and looked both ways. “Looks like it’s empty. Come on.”
As we crept through the empty halls, I shrugged my shoulders and pulled at the garment around me. It felt heavy and constricting even though it was only loosely tied.
“What’s wrong with you?” Valka whispered.
“I guess I got used to wearing the cadet uniform.”
“Well get used to
this
and keep alert. You’re not doing me any good like this.”
All the rooms along the corridor where we were staying were the same—small apartments with two beds. Some were occupied, but most were empty. Luckily, the doors were very quiet and we could peek inside without waking anyone.
About halfway down the hallway, I stopped. “We’re not going to find her here.”
“No?”
“No. All these Ovors? They’re not carrying eggs. No belly. I’m not sure what they’re here for, but it’s not for help giving birth.”
“Hmm, okay, so?”
“So Suna came here with a belly full of eggs. I’m thinking she’ll be in a different wing.”
We doubled back and went out to the entrance. Sure enough, across the main hall, there was another archway. We crossed over and started looking through those rooms.
As I had suspected, the Ovors on this side of the school had huge bellies, even larger than a pregnant puregen would look. Unfortunately, this made our search harder. I had to get a good look at each one’s face to know it wasn’t Suna. Still, I felt that we were on the right track and the corridor wasn’t very long. We were going to find her.
That’s when I blew it.
I opened the door and saw a male Ovor dressed in a green robe, sitting in bed, reading from a tablet. He looked up, saw me before I could duck back out of sight, and smiled. He gestured for me to come closer. I shook my head and pulled the door closed.
We ran back towards our room, pausing at the corner to look back. His door was opening. My heart thundering, I pointed back towards our room.
“He never saw you,” I hissed. “Get back, I’ll try to distract him.”
Reluctantly, she complied. Once she was out of sight, I crept back out into the hallway.
He smiled again, a genuine smile full of warmth. He gestured for me to join him in his room.
I went in, he followed me, and he closed the door behind us.
“There,” he said quietly. “We can talk now.”
“Isn’t that against the rules or something?”
“So is wandering the halls during dark shift.” He stepped over to a low table and poured two small glasses of a thick white liquid, and offered one to me.
I took it, but didn’t drink. “I couldn’t sleep. I was just . . .”
“You were looking for someone, maybe?” He took a sip from his glass and licked the residue from his lips. “Maybe I can give you what you came looking for.”
There was a twitch in the front of his robe and if it was what I thought it was, I wanted no part of it.
“I’m looking for a friend. I need to give her a message.”
“Maybe I can help you. Then we both can accomplish our goals.”
“And your goal is?”
“Expansion of the species, of course. That’s what we all want, here, don’t we?” He pulled off the belt of his robe and it fell open. Underneath, he was naked. His cock, only half-erect, seemed monstrous.
I gasped.
“There’s nothing to be afraid of. In fact, if experience is any guide, I’m sure you’ll quite like it.”
“No.” I went to the table and set the drink down. My hands were trembling. “No, I don’t think I will. I’ll go back to my room now, thank you.”
His hand caught my arm, just above the elbow. His voice went cold. “We have a duty to perform. Leave now, and I’ll report you to the headmistress.”
“I said
no
.” I grabbed his hand and twisted, forcing it up and behind his back in a classic armlock.
He squawked in surprise, but I knew he was going to shout for help any second. I needed to end this confrontation, fast and quiet. My other arm went around his throat and he began struggling in earnest.
We fell, bounced off the table, and landed on the floor in a heap. The impacts were far less forgiving than falls on the practice mat back at the academy. Still, I managed to keep my forearm across his throat, stifling any shouts he might make.
He was bigger than me, though, and stronger. He grabbed my arm with his free hand and pulled. Air flowed into his lungs again.
Instead of screaming, he purred, “Oh, so that’s how you like it, eh? I can play that game.”
With his arm still in my grasp, he pulled his legs under him and rose up onto his hands and knees. I tried to force his arm higher, but he had tensed the muscles in it and I wasn’t strong enough to make the most of my advantage.
I tried to rear back, forcing his arm into an even more painful position, but he pushed off and flipped backwards, slamming me into the floor and blasting the air out of my lungs. He pulled his arm free and clambered to his feet while I lay gasping.
“Not bad,” he said. “You’re pretty scrappy.”
He pulled his robe off his shoulders and threw it aside. His cock stood fully erect. The bastard was turned on by this. The thing loomed over me.
I tried to speak, but I couldn’t get any air. I shook my head, nearly choking. He knelt down and pulled my robe open.
“Tsk, tsk, you’re not supposed to be wearing anything under this. Another violation. Quite a naughty girl, aren’t you?”
I coughed, finally able to draw half a breath. “No,” I croaked. “Stop.”
“Oh, we’ve gone way past that point,” he said, leaning forwards to grab my neck with his hand. He leaned on me, hard, and I had to hold him back with both hands to keep him from crushing my neck. My shorts, tied at the waist, pulled away when he yanked on the knots.
Thrashing, I tried to get him off me, but he was too heavy, too strong. I felt his cock bump against my thigh.
“Hold still,” he growled. “You’re not going to do the Service any good this way.”
The Service? Did he mean the S
couts
? Of course he did.
There was no time to consider the implications. His cock bumped against my thigh again, and then he was in position. Through the red haze clouding my vision, I saw a smile of satisfaction come over his face
“Just relax,” he said, “and think of the Scouts.”
No. It couldn’t end like this. I wasn’t going to allow it. I grabbed his thumb, prying it loose from my neck, and yanked.
It broke with an audible snap. He growled and pulled back, cradling his injured hand. I reached up for the bottle on the table next to us and swung it with all my strength at his head.
He dodged. It landed on his shoulder with a crunch. He gave a strangled cry and collapsed to the floor. I scrambled to my feet, still dizzy from lack of air, and brought the bottle down again.
He lay still.
I’ve killed him.
My first thought spun through my brain and I retched, thankful that there was nothing in my stomach to bring up. I bent down and put my fingers on his neck. There was a pulse, weak but steady.
The door opened. I spun around, ready to use my improvised weapon on whoever had come to investigate the scuffle.
Valka flinched. “No! Challers, it’s me!”
I put the bottle down and pulled her into a hug. “He was about to rape me. I had to . . . I had to . . .”
She put my head down on her shoulder and patted my back. “It’s all right now; he can’t hurt you.”
After a minute or two of soothing, I got my head back together and slipped out of her arms. “We have to do something about him, in case he wakes up.”
“Don’t worry,” she said, taking the bottle. “I’ll handle it. Go look for Suna. I’ll catch up with you.”
“You have something to tie him up with?”
“I’ll find something. Go on.”
I crept back out into the hallway, still trembling but glad to have something to do. I searched more carefully now, listening for movement and peeking before entering fully. As the number of available rooms dwindled, I worried that I was wrong, that Suna wasn’t there, that this whole endeavor would turn into a fiasco.
And then I found her. She slept, facing the door, her face serene in the dim light spilling in from the hallway. Relief swept over me and I slipped inside.
I knelt down beside the bed and shook her shoulder. “Suna. Wake up.”
She blinked awake and squinted at my face. “Hmm?”
“It’s me, Challers?”
“You’re not Challers,” she mumbled, eyes fluttering closed.
“I used the gentank so I could come talk to you. Suna, you’re in terrible danger.”
“Mmm. Thanks for the warning.”
I shook her again, whispering desperately, “Suna! They shot Joco.”
Her eyes opened. “What?”
“They shot Joco Gata.”
“Who did? Why?”
“The Scouts. I saw it happen. Suna, you’re in danger. If they find out that Joco built the hideout, if they trace you to it, they’ll come after you, too.”
She pushed herself up to sit on the edge of the bed. “How did he die?”
“They shot him. They flew out to where he was working in a skimmer, got out, asked him some questions, and shot him. They think he was trying to look into Cassandra.”
The color drained from her face.
“That name means something to you,” I said, trying not to make it sound like an accusation. “You have to tell me what you know.”
She glanced at the door, then back at me. “I promised Joco I’d never tell, but it looks like that doesn’t matter now. Challers—he knew too much. If I tell you, you’ll know too much, too.”