Chapter 4

When Jagati opened the bathroom door, glanced at the clock next to the bed. It read just a bit before eight in the morning. She stared out the window. The sun was up but it was still early. She listened and knew Joe would be heading out to his garage. In the kitchen, she could hear the the clatter of pots and pans as Lilith started breakfast preparations.

She stopped at the foot of the bed and gazed at Bas. She'd awoken when his breathing had evened out and he'd dropped off to sleep. Looking at the bags under his eyes, she decided to let him sleep. She dressed in a hurry, then slipped out, quietly shutting the bedroom door behind herself.

Bas awoke with a jerk.

"Jagati!" He looked around the room frantically. The lace curtains flapped in the breeze, filling the room with a scent of clean air. The bathroom door was ajar, the light off. He shoved the covers off his legs and swung them over the edge, once more yelling her name.

Lilith appeared in the open doorway.

"Bas, I see you're finally awake. Are you hungry?" She shifted the laundry basket to her hip.

"Where's Jagati?" He looked around for his denim pants.

"Relax. She's out in the garage with Joe. She seems quite interested in how he's fixing her car."

"Sorry, Lilith. For a moment there I thought she'd run off again." He rubbed the back of his neck.

She walked into the room and set the basket down on the bed next to him.

"I washed both yours and Jagati's clothes. I figured you'd both appreciate something clean to wear. Come down when you're ready and have something to eat. Jagati was hoping you'd be up before she left for work."

Bas sat down at the table and waited for Jagati to join them. He could hear her through the open screen door connecting the garage to the house as she laughed at something Joe said. Lilith set down a plate piled high with fluffy scrambled eggs, crispy bacon, golden hash browns and toast. He could feel his mouth start to water.

"Go ahead and eat, BES. Jagati will join you shortly. She said something about washing up and changing into her uniform first." Joe entered the kitchen, drying his hands on the red shop rag.

"Work? Where's she working? How safe a place is it?" Bas asked after washing down the scrambled eggs with coffee. He nearly moaned with pleasure. Coffee must be a gift from the Gods.

"Safe enough. I figured since I've got a couple of days before the sola-car is ready, I might as well work and make some credits. Besides when I called the diner this morning, Rosa told me they were short-handed. Mr. Nyguen had to rush his wife to the hospital," Jagati said as she came into the kitchen tying a starched apron around her slender waist. She leaned in and snatched a piece of the crisp bacon off his plate.

"Hey, that's mine!" He jerked her onto his lap.

"Let me go, you fool!" She broke the bacon in half and fed him a piece before shoving the other half in her mouth. "You're going to make me late." She tried to free herself.

Bas smiled down at her before gently setting her on her feet. She smiled back and ruffled his hair before grabbing her cap and heading out the door.

Silva sat on her reclining couch watching the communication arc with Aleja, Kurlack's younger brother at her feet. He had his back to the screen as he slowly rubbed warm oil on her feet. Recalling the whipping she had given him to assure his obedience, she thought about what more pain would motivate him to do for her. Shivering with the anticipation of further discipline she imaging the virile young stud in her bed, servicing her needs. Now that I know his weakness, he is mine to do as I please with.

"Your Majesty, I have the arc-feed that you requested," the nervous communication tech noted.

"Show me the great doctor's demise. This should be interesting." She turned back to pleasurer at her feet.

"Aleja, move further up, right now. My calves and thighs need attention too." Lifting her robes to expose her short legs, she expected instantaneous movement from him, but she did not see it. Angry, she slapped him hard across the face.

"Do I need to get the whip again?" She offered with icy resolve. "Or will you behave?"

His hands moved in the compliant obedience of one who cannot take more pain. "No, please, your Majesty."

"I thought not." She purred as she turned her attention back to the communication's arc. She watched as Dr. Liu stood in restraint in his lab protesting loudly. "You have the wrong man, your Majesty. My name is Aakil Liu, and I have done nothing wrong!"

"Oh really, doctor, I think not. You have broken the law, by releasing the chhetri. Soldier, do your duty." A muscular guard dragged Dr. Liu to a metal cross and bound his arms to the crossbeam.

"I did what, released what?" Dr. Liu protested as if he still did not understand. "You placed the chhetri in a human body, thus releasing him from his bondage." A light seemed to dawn on Dr. Liu "This about my security program being downloaded into the cyborg? Why do you care about this matter?"

"You fool, that was no "security program" that you placed in that body."

"What?"

"You released the soul of the chhetri whom my mother had imprisoned, and now I demand retribution for your insolence." Silva was angry, and that was always bad for the object of her anger.

"Retribution? What do you mean? I had no idea that he was anything other than the computer program that I'd designed."

"So you thought an idiot like you from a backward civilization designed something so advanced, so complex."

Now Dr. Liu hesitated, his uncertainty filling the room. Well ... it could have been my design."

"Not likely, from such a lowly species. The chhetri was cast out of our world to your wasteland to be punished for spurning my Mother's attentions, but now you have given him his life back, defying me." Silva was now screaming, and Dr. Liu knew he was in deep trouble.

"Wait you're not making sense, your world, are you saying you're from another planet."