Chapter 4

The sun had been down for an hour or so, but the trucks plowed on like ships sailing through the ocean of sand. They had split into groups of three, two gun-armed trucks escorting each comns truck. Nate was seated in the turret of Ketri’s vehicle, his helmet’s optics scanning the horizon. The trip had been uneventful so far, they had had a bit of a scare when their comns truck detected a drone, but they had ducked into a canyon and powered up their active camouflage until it left. Ketri was in high spirits, even more so once night had fallen and her nocturnal instincts had come alive. They had been listening to music to pass the time, with Ketri singing along. Her ability to mimic was uncanny, her powerful voicebox could produce almost any sound. This was why nobody used voiceprint locks anymore: a Sha’dee could ape almost any voice with enough accuracy to fool one.

Her music taste was interesting to say the least. Most songs these days were electronic, a genre that had been called EDM centuries ago, but now was just “music”. Ketri didn’t like it at all; she said it was too clean, too perfect. She preferred ancient Human music from before the rise of the Conglomerate, back when people still used physical instruments and unaltered voices. Particularly, the instrument she called a “guitar”, and a genre known as “rock”. It was a bizarre name for music, Nate thought, but he found he liked it. There was something about the aggressive, fast-paced sound and the fact that it was made by real Human hands on a real instrument that was fascinating. He could feel the emotion and passion in the notes as they coursed through his chest. The English the singers spoke was archaic and peppered with slang centuries out of date, but you didn’t really need to understand it to get the message of the song.

“Carry on my wayward sooooooon, there’ll be peace when you are doooooooone! Lay your weary head to reeeeeest, don’t you cry no more!” The little alien belted, aping the singer’s tones perfectly, but in her own inflection. The instruments rose as the voice dropped off, and the guitar took over. Ketri had shown him a video of one, and the knowledge of how much skill it required to play added something to the music, made it more impressive and beautiful. Nate looked down between his legs into the cockpit, and chuckled quietly to himself at the sight. Ketri was bobbing her head back and forth, holding the steering wheel on course with her tail and making rapid, frantic hand motions as though playing an invisible guitar. Her foot thumped against the floor in time with the beat. It was ridiculous, but adorable.

Her performance was interrupted by an insistent beeping and a flashing icon in their AR vision.

“Sandstorm approaching.” Ketri commented, muting the music and putting her hands back on the wheel. She tapped her headset and spoke across the net to the other trucks. “Hey guys, this is Red Rover 3. I’m reading sandstorm, copy? Over.”

“Red Rover 1 here, we’re getting it too, over.”

“Red Rover 2, affirmative, over.”

“Alright, this is Red Rover 3, I say we pull over and dig in for the night. We’re almost due for a satellite pass as well. Over.” Ketri suggested, glancing at the timer that indicated the next time a Conglomerate satellite would be in position to detect them.

“Red Rover 2, roger that. Over.”

“Red Rover 1, ditto, over.”

“Alright boys, heading for those dunes at 18 degrees North. Over and out.” Ketri hauled on the steering wheel, pulling the truck onto a new course as Nate clambered out of the turret and down into the cab, slamming the hatch behind him.

The truck came to a stop in between a cluster of dunes, and they dismounted as the others pulled up. Nate hauled an active camo net out of one of their truck’s compartments and helped Ketri toss and drag it over the vehicle while the others did the same. The nets blocked thermal signals and absorbed LIDAR and milwave radar, protecting them from the watchful eyes of drones and satellites. The trucks were parked in an irregular formation; even with the nets they could still be seen with the naked eye and it was better to break up any potential pattern, just in case. They hung a net between two trucks and prepared dinner under it, heating up rations over a portable stove. The food wasn’t the greatest, but as far as Nate was concerned the fact that he could eat it and not die was good enough. It was cool out here in the desert after the sun went down. Nate liked the sensation, it was a welcome change from the blazing heat of the day, but Ketri with her lower core temperature was less than thrilled. This was fine by Nate, because it made her snuggle close to him for warmth.

When they had finished eating and cleaning up, everyone retreated to their trucks for the night. Nate climbed into the cab with his mate, and started to take off his armor while she grabbed the bench behind the command seats and pulled it out into a bed of sorts. Nate had gotten his helmet and gauntlets off when Ketri got a mischievous grin on her face and grabbed one of his hands, stopping him from unbuckling his chest rig.

“Wanna do it with the armor on?” She asked, suggestively.

“With the armor on? Kinky...” Nate chuckled. She glanced at him coyly, crossing her arms over her ample chest, pressing her breasts together and clutching her shoulders.

“I’ve been a very naughty little alien...” She crooned, shying away from him playfully and pushing one strap of her tank top off of her shoulder. “I’ve violated soooo much Protocol ... I wonder what a big, strong Merc like you is going to do to poor little me...”

Nate rose to his full height, towering over her. She shuffled backward slowly, mock-tripping and falling onto the bed. The strap of her top slipped down further, almost freeing her left breast. She crossed her legs and bit her lip, feigning an expression of fear.

“Oh yes, you’ve been a veeeery bad little Xeno. Working with Rebel scum is very much frowned upon here, Alien.” Nate put on his best nasty voice, but was unable to contain the grin that slipped through. “And is that a weapon I see? You know Xenos aren’t allowed to have guns. My, my, my, well I just can’t let you go unpunished for this...”

“Oh no!” She gasped, tightening her legs and flattening her ears against her skull. “Please Mister Human, don’t hurt me ... I know I’ve been naughty, but I’m a good girl inside, I promise!”

Nate grinned, and stalked towards her. He leaned over her, grabbed her belt and unbuckled it.

“You think you can get out of this so easily? After daring to carry a weapon against Humanity? We’ll have to take that away from you...” He sneered, pulling her legs apart, grabbing her shorts and yanking them down and off. They hit the floor with a thunk, gun, holster and all. Ketri was trembling on the bed, her legs just slightly apart and her tail curled suggestively. There was a large, dark stain spreading across her scanty blue panties. Nate bent over her, grabbing and pinning her arms above her head with one hand, and reaching in to rub the wet spot with his other. His fingers came away damp and slightly gooey.

“What’s this?!” He asked, shoving his fingers into her face.

“I’m ever so sorry...” She shied away and whimpered playfully.

“You Reds really are degenerates. Look at you, getting aroused at the mere presence of a Human. Such disgusting insolence!”

“I didn’t mean to Mister, I swear! I admit it, I’m a dirty xenophile and a pervert! I can’t help myself, the thought of a big, strong Human putting me in my place makes me shamefully wet!”