Chapter 50: Contact

Bea and I return to the island three days later, accompanied by four adolescent elves who have volunteered to help us. We have brought with us a ladder and some tools to build a more permanent ramp to provide access to the Potiora. While the crew of the Fair Catch don’t know what we are doing at the tower, they have the business acumen to recognise a profitable arrangement.

Our first duty is the grim task of clearing the skeletons from the corridor floor. The elves prepare a huge pyre and we move the bones as respectfully as we can onto the pyre. Once we have checked that there are no more skeletons in the tower, we set the pyre alight.

My next task is to send a message to Atene. Cassandra should have arrived in Atene by now, but I add Makareta’s and Ihapera’s names to the message just in case. I need to keep the message short, and I presume that Dioxippe can explain to those in Atene that Lampetia is functioning once more and where it is located. My initial message is simply to establish contact and report that good progress is being made at restoring city life to normal. I send a second and more personal message to Cassandra, advising her that her father, the Emperor, died about a month ago. It appears he died of natural causes when his ‘time-bomb gland’ activated in the same way Akenehi had suddenly faded and died.

While the four adolescent elves set about building a ramp to the door, Bea and I explore the rest of the tower. The doors to the lower levels are locked shut, and I know from past experience that only someone of the correct race can unlock them. Lampetia confirms that the lower levels are empty of life. The machines in the chambers would be worth salvaging if we could gain access, but that’s a problem for another time. The door to the upper levels is unlocked so Bea and I explore.

When I explored the upper levels of the Dioxippe and Merope towers, the original contents of the rooms had been moved and used by those coming out of hibernation. In the case of the Lampetia tower, the contents are untouched, although we’ve no means of knowing if the tower was fully stocked before it was abandoned. There’s certainly a lot of strange equipment and storage chests containing tools I don’t recognise.

“These look like weapons,” says Bea, holding a strangely shaped metal blade.

I’m inclined to think of them a farm implements, but I can see how they could be used as weapons.

“Lampetia! Will you tell us the purpose of the items stored in this room,” I call to the invisible being that inhabits the tower.

“You are standing in a storage room holding equipment and supplies for hunting and farming,” replies Lampetia. “However, not everything was delivered before the project was abandoned. If you tell me the number displayed on any of the items, I can tell you its purpose and how to use it.”

Bea and I continue to explore the upper levels of the tower. The next level up is identical to the equivalent levels in the Dioxippe and Merope towers. I don’t understand what all the machines do, but they seem to be what the Potiora uses to sense the external environment and whatever it needs to function. The floor above contains more storage boxes. However, our search is interrupted.

“Alexandrescu!” comes the voice of Lampetia. “I have received a message from Dioxippe Potiora. Do you wish to hear it now?”

“Who is the message from?” I ask, wondering if it is a private message from Cassandra, or one from the Atene leadership.

“Dioxippe,” replies Lampetia.

“No. I mean who is the author of the message?” I reply, remembering that imprecise questions to a Potiora can result in misleading answers.

“The message is signed Cassandra. Do you wish to hear it now?”

“Yes. Tell me the message.”

“Alex. All well here. Excellent discovery. We can coordinate actions across Thurn much easier with another Potiora. Discover what you can from Lampetia. I’m sending two of the recently roused Atenex scientists to help you with Lampetia. Take care. Your loving wife, Cassandra. P.S. I hope you are giving BH632 all the attention she needs.”

I’m relieved that Cassandra has obviously reached Atene. Her postscript is slightly embarrassing with Bea (aka BH632) standing next to me.

“Thank you, Lampetia,” I say. “There’s no reply.”

“Does your wife not mind that you fuck me?” asks Bea.

“No. She was the one who suggested you assist me in my work. She fully expects us to have sex.”

“And if you make me pregnant, will that not upset her?”

“There are several Elf Maidens and Atenex who have given birth to a child sparked by my seed. However, all of the babies are clones of their mother, so I can claim no biological connection.”

“Hmmm. But would you think differently of me if I was capable of delivering a male child who is half elf and half Thurnian?”

“I don’t think that’s possible. Those who created our races seem determined to ensure each race remains separate from the others. What makes you ask the question?”

“Because I had a clone sister, BH631, who gave birth to a male child. When she became an Elf Maiden she was sent to live in Thurn city. She claimed she only ever had sex with Thurnian men, but her child was undoubtedly a boy.”

“Where are your sister and baby now?” I ask.

“Dead. When the elven leaders discovered what had happened, they killed both mother and child. The lives of all Elf Maidens could be put at risk if we start producing half-breed babies.”

I’m unsure what to say. It seems more likely that Bea’s sister somehow managed to have sex with an Atenex male and lied about it. And the racial features of the baby don’t seem to have been positively determined. Was it a pure-blood elf, or a half-breed as Bea implies?

“Well, that might not matter in the newly merged Atene and Thurn. Everything I’ve come across in my research suggests that half-breed children are impossible. However, I won’t dismiss what you say without further research. As you heard, Cassandra is sending two Atenex scientists to us. We can ask them to investigate the feasibility of what you say.”

“Would Lampetia know whether it is possible for a woman of any of our races to give birth to a half-breed baby?”

“Possibly, but I’m unsure how to phrase the question without risking a misleading reply. Hopefully the Atenex scientists will be able to help. I promise that we will ask them to investigate your concern.”

“Thank you, Alex. I have been worried that I might have inherited the same problem.”

“Do you wish to stop having sex until we can find out more about the issue?” I ask.

“I don’t think that’s possible. When I’m in heat I crave for a man’s cock inside me. When we were besieged in the cloisters, DF19 would only allow adolescents and Elf Maidens not in heat to defend our position. It was the best way of ensuring the Thurnian soldiers didn’t become any more aggressive and prevented elven defenders from surrendering themselves to lust.”

We leave the Potiora once the ramp to the door has been completed. Since we’ve a couple of hours to wait until the Fair Catch returns to pick us up, we take the opportunity to relax. For Bea and me that involves plenty of sex, while the adolescent elves explore other parts of the island.

Now that Bea has told me about her sister and the possibility of a pregnancy leading to a half-breed child, I’m suddenly conscious about spilling my seed inside her. Fortunately, Bea likes anal sex and I find that I’m fucking her arse more and more often. When I fuck her cunt, I invariably withdraw before I come, and spill my seed on her stomach. Bea can’t fail to notice the change in our sexual pattern, but she doesn’t comment. In reality she is more interested in how her limbs are restrained while we have sex.