Fire (4 page)

Chad didn’t really know how creating fire would be important to the new
community. They had alternative sources of heating on the spaceship and weren’t
reliant on actual wood fires for any of their needs, although he supposed when
they first began to live in the village houses a real fire might be nice. It
would burn the rubbish caused by their building and renovation work as well as
heat the house and keep them warm at night.

He shrugged and said, “The easiest way to learn what your skill will be
is for us to explore the village. Besides, today is my only opportunity to take
a full day off work. After today, likely Duncan will expect me back at work in
the kitchen at least part of the time. Let’s go.”

****

Flame walked through the village with her master—no, with Chad. He was
her master but she wasn’t his slave. She was his bride, his equal in the work
they were to do.

Flame still didn’t really understand how she’d learned to speak Mu
Araen just because they’d fucked, even though they’d fucked a lot. Although
she’d been a virgin until Chad had claimed her she wasn’t completely naive. She’d
lived in a community. Men and women fucked under their blanket at night,
usually distant from the fire so they had some privacy, but she heard their
grunts and their sighs of happiness.

She’d seen plenty of naked bodies as they’d bathed in rivers on hot
days, and she’d seen engorged cocks and men and women disappearing behind trees
sometimes in the daytime, too. But she’d never guessed it would be so much
better than touching herself had been. She hadn’t appreciated the
spine-tingling feeling of a man’s fierce possession of her body, and the rush
of heat his touch would send along her nervous system. Her honey dampened her
pussy and her nipples hardened inside the soft shirt she wore at the thought of
his touch on her delicate skin. Especially on her naked pussy. He’d been so
right about shaving her. Even now her bare pussy reacted to the touch of the
harsh clothing on her genitals. That aroused her, too.

Flame forced herself to ignore Chad’s tight grip of her hand, and look
around the village. She hadn’t had the opportunity for more than the briefest
glimpse as she’d been rushed into the spaceship.

Fortunately the gaining of his language told her what some things were
that she had no English words for. The center of the village was made of
cracked old concrete. She knew that word from places she’d stayed in the past.
But now she knew that the buildings around them had been people’s homes, even
though they were much, much bigger than anything she’d known before. Chad led
her inside one of the houses. There were four rooms on the first floor, and a
stone staircase up to four more rooms upstairs.

“Our community would only need one of these rooms for everyone to fit
in. It’s hard to believe a single family had so much space.”

“We’ll need several houses. Each man will want a room of his own, and
they will need a living room to relax in as well. But we also need to find
houses suitable to use to set up our hydroponic gardens. Establishing our food
sources will be more important than making a living space at first.”

She shook her head. Even her new language didn’t help her understand
him this time. “What is hydroponic?”

As they walked from house to house he explained how they would grow
their food to feed the entire group. Finally he said, “So the vegetables all
grow in the tray of soil or other medium, and several times a day nutrient-rich
water is fed into their tray, draining out the bottom to be reused. The amounts
and needs of the various plants have to be carefully monitored. The seeds we
bought with us have been tested to work well on Earth and are hardy, so we
should have crops in plenty of time before we absolutely need to rely on them.”

“But how could you bring so much food with you? It takes many hands and
feet of years to grow a tree.” She remembered his lesson on how to count and
blushed as she said, “More than twenty years.”

“But it only takes three or four years before a tree starts producing
fruit, and vegetables can be grown in just a few months. Besides, we have
cheated by bringing some semi-mature trees with us as well as seeds.”

The path became very steep and narrow but was still concrete, so much
easier to walk on than dirt. Flame thought that even in the middle of winter it
wouldn’t be hard to climb the hill to these buildings thanks to that path. The
concrete might become dirty, but walking wouldn’t be as problematic as slipping
and sliding in mud and slush.

While a lot of the buildings had lost their roof or part of it, some of
these buildings, constructed hard against the hill, were still in good
condition. One of them was a long rectangle with one very large room downstairs
and several smaller rooms upstairs.

“This building would be better for your crops. This one room would hold
your trays of seeds wouldn’t it?” she asked.

“Possibly. The roof appears better. Let’s climb higher up the hill to
check it properly.”

She followed him outside and they walked to the end of the path. It
twisted up to one level higher up, but there were no more buildings. She looked
down on the rectangular building, staring at the roof. It would need mending,
everything in the village required some maintenance, but it seemed in
surprisingly good condition really.

Up here, the sun shone brightly and glinted off the rocks that formed
the roofing material. The roofs in the village were quite strange with rows of
rocks lined up on wooden frames, and the entire buildings covered in green
plants from their roofs down to the ground.

Flame opened the front of her coverall and pulled it off her arms,
tying the sleeves around her waist and relishing the heat of the sun on her
arms and face.

Chad looked at her and rubbed his cock through his uniform. “You’re
giving my dick inappropriate ideas. We have work to do this morning, although
I’d very much like to fuck you instead.”

Flame went to untie the sleeves of her coverall to put it back on.

He took her elbow. “I’m not chastising you, simply stating a fact.”

“The sun is hot. See how it shines off the rocks on the roof of that
building?” she said. She didn’t want to annoy him. Even though she knew now she
wasn’t a slave who he could simply kill if she annoyed him, she liked him and
wanted to please him, not distract him.

“Yes, I do see how the roof catches the sunlight. It’s high enough up
the hill that nothing overshadows it.”

“The sun is so warm. It reminds me of a fire. It’s such a shame we
can’t use the sun to warm us all the time instead of only during the day time
in summer,” said Flame, She pushed her sweaty bangs off her forehead, glad he
didn’t tell her to put the coverall arms back on.

Chad grabbed her and hugged her. “Damn it, woman, that’s the answer.
That’s your power.”

“What?”

“We can use the sunshine to power our village all year around. It’s
called solar power. The sun’s energy can be reflected and multiplied and stored
to use to light the buildings, warm them, and run the hydroponic system. I’m
sure we’ll have the makings of solar panels in the ship. They sent us with everything
they thought we might need. If we don’t have a particular item, we do have the
information source to build something similar that’ll work. But Mu Araens have
been coming to Earth for years and our spaceships are very well equipped. I’m
sure they’ll have thought of solar power. It merely took your comment to bring
it to my mind. Well done. Now, let’s go explore the rest of the village before
I succumb to temptation and fuck you right here and now.”

Flame felt all bubbly and happy inside that she’d pleased him, been
useful to him. She’d have been very happy if he’d pushed her back down on the
grass and fucked her, but she understood about needing to complete his work.
That was how her life had always been. Scavenging for food and all the
community’s needs always had to be the top priority. Even little children
learned to play only after they’d helped gather firewood and collect the day’s
food. Survival came first, relaxation and happiness second.

Flame hurried ahead of him down the narrow path, and began exploring
all the buildings on her way down the hill. She ran up the stairs to the upper
level in each one that still had stairs, checked the rooms and looked at the
roof.

“There are enough buildings left with parts of their roofs in place for
all your men to have their own home. But how would they ever use so much
space?”

“I think that’s what will happen eventually. Each warrior will have a
house with space to live in, and also plants to tend. One bedroom for him and
his bride, a living room to relax in, and rooms of seeds growing into food. And
one day a room for the children to share.”

He pulled her back into his arms and pushed his hand down inside her
coverall, sliding his fingers over her naked cunt and then inside her channel.
Instantly her inner muscles gripped him, welcoming his touch.

“I want to fuck you right now although I’ll wait until I can do it
properly. But I plan to keep filling you with my seed over and over again until
your belly fills with my child. Another warrior to build this planet and redeem
it, but he must have your red hair, so everyone will know who his mother is. My
bride. Mine.”

His fingers drove deep inside her cunt, making her damp with need.
Greatly daring she lifted her hands to his head and pulled his mouth down so
she could kiss him.

Flame kissed her warrior with all the passion in her body. He’d been so
good to her, given her so much pleasure that she wanted to give him something
back. She slid her tongue inside his mouth, tasting his flavor, teasing her
tongue along the insides of his cheeks, behind his teeth, and over the roof of
his mouth.

He kissed her back harshly, his thumb rubbing her clit and three
fingers driving in and out of her cunt. His tongue fucked her mouth until they
finally drew apart panting.

“Watch me,” he gasped. She lifted her gaze to his face and watched as
he sucked her juices off his fingers.

“Tonight I’ll suck your cunt. You taste so good I want all of your
cream for myself. And we won’t just have one child. I’m never going to stop
fucking you, my bride. We’ll have a dozen. I won’t be happy unless your belly
is always full with my seed and my children.”

Flame liked the idea of a child of her own. One with its father’s
purple eyes. But the idea of giving birth wasn’t so good. There was no older
woman to guide her through the pregnancy and labor. Just her three friends,
none of whom had ever delivered a child.

“Do you have a wise woman on your spaceship? I’ve only seen men.”

“A wise woman?”

“One who knows how to heal injuries and how to deliver a baby.”

“Oh, a paramedic. Fletcher is a qualified nurse and has delivered
several babies. He’s also studied the diseases of Earth in case we catch any of
them.”

Flame wasn’t completely reassured. The idea of an unknown man watching her
give birth seemed strange to her, but she supposed if she ever did get pregnant
any wise woman was better than none, even if the wise woman was a man.

“Come. We have a lot more buildings to check before we can fuck.”

Chapter Five

Despite his bride being so much shorter than him, and her legs being
far too skinny, Chad had to admit she had boundless energy as she followed him
and up down the hillside, and in and out of the various houses. As they went he
took pictures and measurements of the various houses to help them decide what
plants should be grown where. One building had a very high ceiling downstairs.
It was as tall as all the other houses, but had only one room upstairs leaving
half the downstairs with its ceiling two stories high.

“This will be the perfect place for us to grow our trees. There’ll be
no need to limit their height here. Some trees can get very tall and this is
where we’ll cultivate them.”

Flame smiled at him. “I’ve walked through a forest where the trees were
so tall it was almost impossible to see their tops. But those trees were very
old. Some of the elders said trees can live far longer than the oldest people.”

“That’s right. I’ve heard of trees over a thousand years old, but it’s
not usual.”

“What is a thousand?”

Chad smiled at his precious bride. He liked that she was curious and
willing to learn, instead of just ignoring what she didn’t understand.

“I showed you twenty. Imagine if each of your fingers and toes was
twenty. Even then that wouldn’t be halfway to a thousand.”

She stared at him in amazement. “That’s very old.”

“Exactly.”

His communicator beeped and he took it out to look at the screen. They
were much too far from Mu Arae 7 to have contact with their home planet on
their personal devices, although the spaceship still could contact their base
perfectly well. It was more than thirty light years away from earth, but that
was nothing for a spaceship. Their personal coms units could still be used to
talk to the other warriors and to the ship itself. He’d been sending all the
pictures and data he collected back to Herman on the ship. This time it was
Andreas the pilot calling him.

“The men have made a big net and we’re all going fishing. We need to
learn what species are available here and in what kind of quantities. Gabriel
has assembled a holding tank for our catch, but we need everyone to process it
quickly as some of the fish will likely eat the others and I’d prefer that we
ate them ourselves.”

“We’re about halfway up the hill. We’ll be there in ten minutes or
less.”

“Go straight to the shore and meet us there.”

“Yes, sir.”

He turned to look at Flame who was staring in amazement at him.

“Coms unit. Personal communications device,” he explained.

“You were also writing on it though. Old Anny can write. She taught us
some things so we could recognize where we went.”

He watched as she drew a letter N in Earth language in the air. “That
is used to show north, although we almost never saw signs with it on anymore.
When Old Anny was young there were still many direction signs, but most had
fallen down or been used by scavengers before us.”

“Tonight you can show me what other letters you know. Would you like to
learn to read and write? I’d be teaching you in Mu Araen though, not in Earth.”

“You said you had stores of learning about how to grow plants and make
solar fires. Would they be in your language?”

“Yes.”

“Well, that’s the language I need then. I would like you to teach me Mu
Araen please.”

“We’ll do that.”

He hurried down the hill then slowed, aware her legs were much shorter
than his, but she was close behind him.

“Would I be permitted to teach Skye, Raine, and Terah as well? We all
might need this learning.”

Chad felt a little embarrassed. He hadn’t even thought of the other
women, but of course they’d be much more useful to his people if they could
read simple instructions.

“Only Andreas can speak for Terah. She is his bride. But I expect he
will agree.”

Chad led the way to the seashore, Flame still walking behind him even
when the path was wide enough for them to go side by side. He wondered if that
was the way her people usually walked, or if she believed she must follow him.
He could talk to her later. Right now they were needed.

****

Flame was excited to see everyone gathered together again. She’d only
seen them all once, at the meal they’d shared the previous night. Those
memories had been pushed to the back of her mind because since then she’d been claimed
by Chad and fucked so very thoroughly by him. Her breasts tingled and her cunt
filled with honey when she thought of all the ways he’d aroused her desire. And
then, not long ago, she’d taken the initiative and kissed him. She wanted him
to know that she appreciated the way he’d taken care of her. Even when he’d
spanked her it’d given her pleasure. It’d made her desire for him hotter than
ever.

There was a pile of purple uniforms on a rock at the back of the little
beach, and all the men were naked apart from their underwear. Her new
understanding of Mu Araen gave her the word.
Briefs
. The men’s undergarment was called
briefs
.

Suddenly Flame had a horrible thought. She wasn’t wearing her panties.
The ones Chad had brought for her were too big and instead of sending her to
collect her pack and her own panties he’d told her to go naked under the
coverall. If she took it off everyone would know. The cotton shirt she wore
fell to her hips but as soon as she moved around it’d become obvious her pussy
and ass were bare. Yet the coverall was heavy fabric and once it was wet it’d
drag her down in the water. Wearing it would be dangerous.

“Chad?”

“What’s wrong, Flame?”

“I can’t wear my coverall in the water. The fabric will be too heavy
when it’s wet.”

“So take it off.”

“But I’m not wearing panties. They didn’t fit.” She didn’t say it was
his fault, that she could have gone and gotten her own ones. He wasn’t to know
they’d be visiting the sea today.

“Damn. Just leave your shirt on. Once you’re in the water no one will
know anyway.”

She took her sandals off but left the coverall on as she stood on the
beach while the men organized their net. It was much, much bigger than any net
she’d ever seen before, and whatever it had been woven from was much finer than
the nets her community used to make. Their fishing nets were thin sticks woven
together as a frame, and then vines and coarse fibers to make the net itself.
The fibers used on the Mu Araen net were so fine it was difficult to see them.
They were also a lot closer together than her community would have made the net.
It was very important to scavengers to always leave more for the future, so the
smallest fish would always wiggle free from their net.

These people must have had different rules, or maybe they’d throw back
any fish they caught and didn’t want. Flame watched intently to learn how the
warriors worked.

One thing she couldn’t help but notice was how effectively they all
cooperated with each other. Her people usually cooperated as well. When people
worked together they were more likely to succeed. But sometimes someone, almost
always an older man, disagreed with the way a project was being carried out,
and refused to do what everyone else was doing. There was nothing like that
here. One of the men was giving the instructions, and the other men were laying
out the net as he said, spreading it out, marking the edges, and getting ready
to walk it out into the water.

Flame found herself hoping there were fish in this ocean. She knew
there were supposed to be, but she also knew from hungry nights in the past,
that fish didn’t always get caught in a net. Some of them seemed to be wise
enough to avoid it, and other times they simply weren’t where they were
expected to be.

Raine had skills at finding fish. She was always the first to see the
bubble in still water or the slight ripple that showed a fish was hiding under
the edge of a river bank or behind a rock. Flame wondered if they’d be carrying
the net out to some rocky outcrops not too far from the shore. She also hoped
the water wasn’t too deep. She could swim, they all could, but not very well.
Once again, Raine was better than the rest of them, although none of them were
truly expert.

Skye and Raine were waiting off to one side where they must have been
told to stand. Flame stayed by her sandals, unwilling to remove her coverall
until the last minute. She ached to go and talk to her friends, but that would
mean getting undressed and once she was walking around people would see her
bare behind.

Terah was with the blond leader, her warrior. It was fitting that she,
the firstborn of the four of them and always their leader, should be the bride
of the Mu Araen leader. Flame wondered how Chad had known she belonged to him.
He was clearly correct because the language had come to her just as he’d said
it would. Well, he’d used words she didn’t understand back then, but now she
realized that
unleashing her power
was that she would know the language and could communicate properly with him,
although there were still many things she needed to learn.

Flame looked at each of the warriors, wondering if one of them would be
for Skye or for Raine. It seemed logical that their warriors would be here as
well, yet no man was claiming either of them. Chad had said he recognized her
scent. She wasn’t sure how that worked. All Mu Araens smelled different from
Earth people to her.

She also wondered why they all had purple eyes. Maybe it was a Mu Araen
characteristic. Certainly their uniforms were purple so the color must mean
something to them.

Just then one of the men yelled out, “Women, come here.”

Flame slid the coverall off her body and walked very upright, hoping
her shirt hid her nakedness.

The men ranged themselves around three sides of the net and picked up
the edge of it. It was hardly even a frame. It was a thicker piece of fabric,
but still hard to see. Flame was sure it would trick the fish.

“You women take the fourth side. We will go first so you remain in the
shallower water. Hold it down as low as you can. I don’t want all the fish
swimming underneath it get away. We can’t go as deep as I’d like anyway since
you’re all so short.”

The man seemed disgruntled, but Flame didn’t want to tell him they
could swim. He might think they were very good swimmers and go out much too
deep for them if she said that.

The sea got deeper only gradually so they were able to walk many paces
from shore before the water was up to Flame’s neck. The man, who the other men
called Duncan, instructed them on how he wanted them to hold the net and they waited
silently and completely still in the hope that fish would be trapped. All the
women had done this many times and were good at waiting. Flame noticed some of
the men grimaced and frowned but no one moved until Duncan gave the word to
lift the nets up and walk it back to shore.

Flame was pleased to see they had caught some fish. Not very many but
one was big enough for several people to eat.

She used her new counting words and decided there were ten plus three
fish, enough for all of them to have one to him or herself, which was an
absolute feast, plus the big one for some of them to share another day.

However Duncan was very annoyed. “These women are useless. I know we
could do better if we went much deeper into the water.”

Flame was glad he spoke in Mu Araen so her friends didn’t know what he
said.

However Raine spoke up very hesitantly. “Masters, may I speak?”

She looked very frightened, yet determined.

It was Andreas, Terah’s warrior, who answered her. “Speak.”

“If we took the net over there to those rocks we would catch more fish.
The fish are swimming in and out of the rocky outcrop and hiding in the
crevices. Fish prefer to rest during the daytime and they like a place without
turbulent water.”

“How would you know?” sneered Duncan.

Flame longed to speak in Raine’s defense, but wasn’t brave enough to
answer. However Terah was. “Raine understands water and fish. We are
scavengers. Catching food is how we survive.”

The fish they’d caught had been put in a large pot with seawater in it.
Flame couldn’t identify them all, but they looked just like ordinary fish to
her and she was sure they’d be good to eat. Some kinds of fish had a lot more
bones in them than others, but they were all adults so a few bones shouldn’t matter.
They were all too smart to swallow one. Besides, the bones were good to use for
sewing. She would save some to make the clothing Chad had given her fit better.
First she’d have to find a plant with strong fibers to use as thread, but
having fish bones for a needle was half of what she needed already supplied.

The warriors straightened out the net again, and then they walked it
through the water and formed a ring around the rocky outcrop. This time they
didn’t wait as long, maybe because the men were getting tired of waiting, or
possibly because Duncan wasn’t convinced Raine was correct. However, when the
net was raised there were a lot of fish in it. More than Flame could count. She
was hugely relieved that Raine had been vindicated.