Chapter 20: Lorna

“Yes,” replies Lorna, briefly stopping her nibbling of Caitlin’s earlobe. “I thought we might have stopped and that we were at our destination. But nothing happened and the usual noise resumed not long afterwards.”

“Would you think less of me if I admitted that I’m fearful about what will happen when we arrive at wherever we are going?” asks Caitlin.

“Not in the least. I’m afraid for the future too. I think we all are. But I draw comfort from believing that nobody would go to the huge trouble and expense of transporting us across the galaxy if all they intended to do was kill us.”

“Hmmm. But there are fates where death would be a welcome outcome,” muses Caitlin.

“Perhaps. But we are all strong women in our own way. Each of us has suffered persecution and brutal treatment at one time or another. Perhaps some more than others, but I don’t think any of us will simply curl up and cower like beaten dogs. If I’m right, and we are going into Valkyrie territory, then we will be in the hands of a species whose civilisation and technology are many centuries ahead of our own.”

Lorna moves slightly so that she can work on Caitlin’s neck. The control collar around Caitlin’s throat inhibits free access, but there is enough exposed neck for Lorna to bring Caitlin to a state of ecstasy. Caitlin forgets about her worries for the moment and enjoys the attention Lorna is providing. Suddenly Lorna stops her passionate assault on Caitlin’s neck as an idea flashes into her mind.

“What’s wrong?” asks Caitlin.

“I’ve just had a thought,” says Lorna. “Do you recall what we felt just before the android took us from the others and told us that we were now a pair?”

“Yes. It was a weird sensation. Like some garbled message was being flashed through my mind. It came and went so fast that I didn’t have time to make any sense of it.”

“I felt the same. Can you recall exactly what we were doing when that happened?”

“Sure. We were having sex in the ‘69’ position. I think your cunt touched my collar.”

“And yours touched mine at the same time. Evelyn said she experienced the same thing when she and Rebekah were taken. Isn’t that how the Valkyries mate?”

“That’s what we are taught at school, but Seeta says nobody really knows if that’s true. Why?”

“Because what if it isn’t how Valkyries mate, but how they communicate?”

“That would be a peculiar way to communicate,” says Caitlin. “But I suppose we know very little about the Valkyries. I couldn’t even tell you what one looks like.”

“Seeta might know,” says Lorna. “She worked at the Alien Species Research Institute on Ganesh for a while before she annoyed the chief researcher once too often.”

Having exhausted that topic of conversation for now, Lorna resumes her sexual assault on Caitlin’s yielding body. Caitlin reciprocates when she can, but there can be no doubt that it is Lorna who is in control of their games. The peculiar selection process used to match each pair of women on Dog Star Six has achieved remarkable success. In normal life, it would be unlikely that Lorna and Caitlin could have developed a relationship to the extent they’ve achieved on board this ship. The same could be said for the other pairs of women.