The species imperative a.., p.8
The Species Imperative: A Post-Apocalyptic Pandemic Fantasy, page 8
"You don't even realize it," Loren said, looking around herself as if seeing all the women for the first time, "I guess I didn't either, but it's plain to me now."
"What are you talking about?" said the woman who had whispered in the queen's ear, and with a start, I realized she was a famous movie star.
“I know who you all are,” Loren said, “I came from the same world as you Brentwood, Bel Aire, Malibu. I look around this group, and I see all the same women I knew growing up in the gated community in Malibu. But none of you are acting right; you're all crazy. I don't know if it was the virus or changes that happened to us after it, but it’s plain to me you’ve all gone insane.”
The queen looked at the girl like it was she who had lost her mind. Then she laughed along with all the rest of the women. The only people not laughing were Nadia and Vanessa, who looked around warily. They had been nodding along with Loren as she spoke.
"You think we're crazy, girl?!" The Queen asked, "It's not us that has gone crazy. It's the entire world! Every man we knew and loved passed away in weeks. Sons! Fathers! Husbands! All gone and buried and nothing left in their wake except for giant empty houses and canned foods in the pantry. No, it’s not us that has gone mad, it’ the world. We decided to leave the chaos of the mainland and build a paradise on this island. It had defenses, water, and supplies, enough to get us started. We are planting a garden that will sustain us for the rest of our lives.”
"Madness," said Loren, "You sank your boats, giving yourselves no chance to escape if things went wrong. One month after the virus kills the last person and you're on this island creating a feminist utopia? Doesn't that seem rather fast?" Several of the women behind the Queen glanced at one another as if realizing this for the first time, faces troubled.
“How many of you masturbate two or three times every night before going to sleep?” Loren asked, and the women shared uncomfortable glances all around, "How many of you want to kill this man right now?”
As she spoke, about a third of the hands rose. Loren's voice was casting a spell on the women, growing in volume and force, now dropping to just above a whisper, those in the back straining to hear. “And how many of you want to fuck this man right here and now more than you’ve ever wanted another man?”
Another third of hands went up around the group, and more women were walking over from the village and fields, sensing something was happening. Vanessa saw what Loren was doing and nodded along. Nadia was on alert for any trouble hands hovering near her weapons.
"The rest of you are so mad and confused by lust you don't know what to do, right Queen?"
"How," the woman, so poised and elegant a moment before, looked shaken, "How do you know these things?"
“Because yesterday I was just like you all are now, and then Adam touched me, and I saw just how crazy I had been. How the world has become."
“What is the cure to this madness?” The woman behind the Queen asked.
"I told you what you need to do," Loren said, her face grim.
“Adam,” Vanessa said, “prove it to them.”
I looked from her around the circle of women who had gathered some two dozen or so. I went to move, and several guns were raised and pointed at me. I held up my hands and very slowly set my backpack down on the ground.
"I'm unarmed," I said, "So don't shoot." Turning to the angry girl, I saw her face red with fury, her hands trembling on the stock of her gun — definitely one who had raised her hand about wanting to kill me.
“Your name is Arrow?” I asked her.
“So what?” She asked belligerently.
“You hate me and want to kill me?” I asked her, loud enough for all the rest to hear.
“You just figuring that out, wiseguy?" She said in disdain.
I walked up to her, and she stiffened in shock as I reached out and ran the backs of my fingers down her cheek.
“Fuck you get aaaaaahhhhhhh," I saw her pupils dilate, and she lost her train of thought, a sigh of soft pleasure coming from her mouth as I stared deep into her eyes. Then I stepped back to my pack, still watching the girl. Her pleasure turned to confusion and then worry as she glanced around herself.
"Arrow?" A tall blonde woman asked from behind the Queen, and I saw the uncanny resemblance between mother and daughter, "Honey, did he hurt you?"
“No,” Arrow breathed, “Not that there’s just… something wrong with me, with us, oh god.”
One of her hands had reached down and pressed itself between her legs without her even realizing it. A deathly silence rang out in the group, and I saw the puzzled expression on women's faces as they tried to figure out what the hell had just happened. The Queen stepped forward and approached me, stopping a foot away. I saw her eyes tracing the lines of my face as she breathed deep. Her eyes softening and cheeks reddening even from breathing in my pheromones for a moment or two, then she reached out, slipped a hand behind my neck and drew my head down to hers, our lips meeting.
My shock at the kiss was dashed away by the shuddering pleasure that rippled through my body. My fingers were trembling, and cock grew rock hard from only the contact of her thick pillow-soft lips to mine and the feel of her hot fingers on my neck. I felt the older woman sinking deeper and deeper into the kiss, her tongue sliding along mine for a quick second before she pulled away with a gasp and a wide grin.
She stood there, panting, chest heaving and the trembling fingers of one hand reaching up to her lips. Her eyes grew curious as she looked at me, her lips still smiling, then she nodded as if coming to a decision. All eyes were on their Queen, some in shock, some in envy, others in pure bewilderment. That’s when the sirens began.
Chapter 13
The klaxon call of air horns rang out all over the island, and I saw all the women around us start, looking around for a second in confusion. Then they began to move as one. The Queen stood in the center of the chaos, shouting orders and bringing all into order.
“Lacy, Taylor get to the gun emplacements and prime the rockets just in case. I want the comms team on the radar and radio, and engineering be ready with the land mines and the remote underwater mines. Gunners! Get in place, ladies. This is not a drill!"
“What’s going on?” Vanessa asked Becky when she began to hurry us to one of the buildings.
“That’s the warning of an attack coming, at least a half dozen ships in order to set off the island's warning system. Quickly get inside!"
No matter how hard Vanessa or Nadia protested, the women wouldn't let them into the command building. They pushed us into a side room with no windows, and when Becky shut and locked the heavy metal door, Vanessa pounded on it once in frustration.
“What are we going to do?" Loren asked, frightened, glancing up quickly at the screaming sound of a fighter plane overhead.
“That’s the first airplane I’ve heard in months,” Vanessa said, eyebrow raised.
“F-16,” Nadia said with a firm nod, tacking its path through the air through the concrete ceiling.
“They sent out fighter jets?" I asked incredulously.
"They really want you, Adam," Vanessa said with a hard grin, "Just two jets. I bet that's all the pilots they have or operational fighters.
THUMP THUMP THUMP
The sound of a great gun fired echoed around the island, and the ground shook beneath our feet. The four of us huddled down into one corner, Loren terrified and clinging to me. Even Vanessa and Nadia looked worried. As we waited, no more shots could be heard or felt, and the screaming sound of the fighter jets faded away.
Slowly our heartbeats calmed down, and we waited. Sitting down on the cold concrete floor minutes turned into hours, and I fell asleep, nodding off from all the exhaustion. The door opening waked me, my neck and ass sore from the hard floor and walls.
“Get up,” A woman with mocha skin and almond-shaped eyes said with a sneer, “On your feet, the Queen wants to speak with you.”
We marched out across the small village and into the other building. The sun was just beginning to set, the horizon stained with a red-orange glow. Inside were several banks of monitoring systems that looked like a hodge-podge of equipment. There were modern computers and monitors pressed in beside old model radar detectors. In the center of the room was a wide table with maps, and a couple of laptops laid out on them. Onto the opposite wall, a map of the area was projected, showing the islands in green, water in blue, and three red dots of ships arrayed between the island and the shore.
“They want us to hand you over to them,” Queen Lysenia said, looking at me.
“Who are they?” I asked.
“They call themselves The Protectorate, from what we can tell they're mostly former Navy, Air Force, and Marines." The Queen pointed to the projector, "They left a small guard force to watch the island, but Becky here says they will return with more ships and planes tomorrow.”
“You fired on them?” Vanessa asked with concern.
“No,” Becky said, her hands clasped behind her back as she stood watching a readout on one of the monitoring systems, “Just across the bow of their lead ships. They lost discipline then, several of the vessels breaking away and heading back to Santa Barbara, a couple heading down south to Los Angeles.”
“Orders? Or a lack of discipline under fire?” Nadia asked with her arms crossed.
“We think lack of discipline,” Becky said, “The fighter jets that flew by overhead weren’t intended for us, they went up to the Bay Area. Which makes me worry even more for what you all want to head into.”
“I have been speaking with my council,” the Queen said, her narrowed eyes never leaving me. "about what to do with you. Some would like to see you get back on your ship and leave us. Others think we could get much-needed supplies and protections from the Protectorate if we handed you over to them." I felt Vanessa and Nadia tense at my sides. The women were still armed, and I worried they might do something precipitous.
“And you, Queen?" I asked her, "What do you want to do?" I couldn't read her expression, but her eyes held mine with their hypnotic beauty. She was so flawless I still found it hard to form coherent thoughts when I looked at her. She ignored my question, though, and went on.
“We’ve decided to perform our own test. Arrow still is upset and… insistent on agreeing with Loren’s proposal, but the girl is young and prone to volatile mood swings." The Queen motioned to the side of the room, to her group of councilors, and an older woman stepped forward. She was tall and stately with dirty blonde hair, large pale blue eyes, and a full sensuous mouth. Those eyes glared at me now, however, and she crossed slender arms beneath an impressive bosom.
“Julia is one of our wisest and most secure,” the Queen said, her look upon the woman fond, “she is not one prone to changing her opinion without a strong argument. So, she will be our test subject to see if what you say is true. She also hates the very sight of you," The woman spit onto the ground, her hatred for me evident. “She will take you into her tent, along with two guards, to ensure you do nothing funny. We have decided to place our trust in whatever she decides after she's done with you."
"I don't know," I began, but Vanessa and Loren cut me off at the same time.
"Done!" They both agreed and glanced at one another with smiles.
“I tell you now boy,” Julia said, “You will not lay one finger on me without my permission, or else I order these women here to shoot you,” she motioned to the two armed guards just inside the door, “As it stands now that’s the decision I’m leaning towards.” Her words dripped scorn and malice as she glared at me.
“Julia,” the Queen warned in a soft voice and a fond smile, “we agreed to give them a chance.”
“One,” said Julia, holding up a finger, “that’s all. Put him through the baths first, I can see from here he smells.”
With a sigh, the Queen nodded, and motioned to the guards, “Show the man to the baths, I would speak with the others.”
"We aren't letting you separate us," Vanessa said, looking at the queen.
"You mistake me, girl," the Queen's voice grew hard and brooked no argument, “That was not a request.”
I nodded to Vanessa that it would be ok and resettling my backpack on my shoulders, tried to remind her that I was still armed. She relaxed slightly and stepped back, removing her hand from her sidearm. The guards came forward and led me around to a small room on the back corner.
The small room was all rough gray concrete with several showerheads attached to the ceiling, jury-rigged into place. There was a shelf attached to the wall with two dozen different shampoos and soaps. I expected to have a cold shower, but when I tested the water, it was steamy and hot. I felt a surge of unexpected joy at the prospect of a hot shower and chose to ignore the circumstances. The two guardswomen, each older, shorter, and dark-haired, stood just outside the door, giving me some privacy as I stripped and began to bathe.
I took my time getting clean. I found some lovely smelling soaps and a loofah and scrubbed myself. The water was the perfect temperature, and the cascade soothed my muscles and stress. I thought back on the past couple of days madness and couldn't help but worry what our current situation might lead to. I needed to figure out a way that we would be safe and hopefully never captured again. Although I was beginning to think more and more, that was a pipe dream. I still had a trump card to play with the bottle of pills I’d stolen from the pharmacy that first morning, but I hoped I wouldn't have to use them. I was a little worried about what they might do to women, so changed by the Species Imperative. Eventually, I climbed out of the shower and found they had removed my old clothes to be washed. There was a robe, matching what the women wore, and I put it on, finding it to be very comfortable.
Chapter 14
The guards led me away from the building and through the little tent village. I saw Vanessa and Nadia walking with a pair of other women, taking a tour of the place. The two women were pointing out various things about the community to my friends. They both noticed me and waved, Nadia's eyes concerned, but in Vanessa, I saw total confidence. I saw Loren on the other side of the village talking with a small group of gorgeous young women. She seemed to fit in here really well, and I was happy she had found her people.
"This is Julia's tent," said one of the guards with an angry scowl, "don't go doing anything funny or stupid in there and force us to shoot you." Her finger caressed the trigger in a way that filled me with fear, and her companion glared even harder, her pretty mouth turned down in a hard frown.
With a sigh, I nodded and stepped into the tent. It was a large canvas tent, with a cot on one side, a small trunk covered in blankets on the other, and two chairs set up in the middle of the room. Julia sat in one, and her hard gaze took me in as she motioned to the opposite chair.
“At least you no longer smell like a sewer,” she said with a sneer. She relaxed when the two guard women entered and stood to either side of the door, weapons out, “The very sight of you here and alive when my husband… It sickens me to my core. How are you going to change my mind, young man?"
“I am sorry for your loss,” I said with sincerity. The woman was beautiful in an elegant way, and I could see the sadness buried down deep beneath the unresolved anger. But twisting all of that was some madness that had ensnarled her thinking. "I know only what I've experienced and seen," I said and launched into my tale — letting the woman know all of the details, minus some of the more salacious ones. When I finished, she still looked unconvinced, her arms now crossed beneath her large breasts.
“You’re our captives, you’d say anything to get free of us and continue on your way,” she said with a dismissive wave, “How can we believe any of that young man?”
"If you'll permit me to try something?" I asked, and I leaned forward closer to the woman.
"Careful there, boy!" Said one of the guardswomen angrily.
“What are you trying to do?” Julia asked suspiciously, leaning back in her chair. She looked almost frightened, and I realized she was wary of whatever it was I'd done to Arrow. So I sat back, changing tack.
“I want to kiss you,” I said, shocking the woman. I felt my heart racing as she glared at me, "but instead, I think you would be more comfortable kissing me. I promise not to lift my hands or move. Just one kiss. If, after you still hate me, then I'll promise to do whatever you decide, without argument, and get my two… dangerous companions to agree to it."
"Nadia and Vanessa… what are they, really?" Julia asked, "They never said what they did before, and they seem far too capable and competent to be traveling with some frat boy college kid."
“I was never in a frat,” I said with a chuckle, “Unless the frat house was the library, I was certainly there enough. Both Vanessa and Nadia are trained and world-class operatives. I don't know much about their background, but Vanessa was in the NSA, among other things, and Nadia worked for the KGB as an assassin and spy, I believe." Julia’s eyes widened at the confession, and she nodded as if she could see it.
"You think one kiss is going to magically change my mind?" She asked, clearly not believing.
I heard one of the guardswomen snort in derision, but I simply nodded. She looked at me for a long minute. Finally nodding, she stood quickly and leaned forward. Her cold fingers were taking the sides of my face as she leaned down. Our eyes were locked, and so I saw the change hit her plain as day. Her pupils dilated even before our lips met, and I saw her face turn from anger to disbelief, and finally to desire as her lips met mine. Her hands went from holding my head in place to sliding back into my hair, caressing me as her passionate kiss extended and extended. A soft mewling sound of desire escaped her throat, and I felt my cock thicken as lust began to consume me. I kept my hands down at my sides with a struggle as the kiss went on. Finally, the woman pushed back with a gasp, as if she had to tear herself apart from me.
"Julia?" One of the guards women asked, stepping forward, "Are you ok?”
