Page 30 of Soliv Four
EIGHTEEN
Tomak was up early the next morning even though he had a day off after the gladiator matches. He would have liked nothing better than spending a few hours in bed with Angie, but he was meeting his team for recon in the jungle. Emon had discovered the prison colony comprised only a small portion of the jungle continent. He had learned that some space vehicles had crashed in the jungle North of the prison.
Praxus and Lazko were supposed to be recovering from injuries they got while cage fighting. Only Tomak told them to milk it so they’d be free to do some recon in the North. Since they didn’t have any fights scheduled, no one would be looking for them for a few rotations.
They had been running recon deep in the jungle for several rotations. While there were places in prison compound where they weren’t allowed to go, the jungle wasn’t one of those. Not many of the inmates strayed far from the main compound because they weren’t experienced in jungle survival.
Without transport, there was no escape from that continent. The parts that weren’t covered with tropical rainforest resembled the outback of Australia on Earth. That gave way to a desert. Without tech to guide them to water, they couldn’t carry enough to cross it. Even if they made it to the ocean, the island continent was remote from other landmasses.
Praxus and Lazkowere out searching for anything in the jungle they could use. Emon’s research turned up reports that various transport had crashed in the jungles. In some cases, the beings contained were rescued, while the fates of others were unknown. Emon couldn’t find any information that the wrecks were salvaged. There were at least five known crashes over the last thirty star orbits.
This was the rotation Praxus and Lazko were due back. They were going to meet in the jungle out away from the constant surveillance in the prison compound. Camera drones wouldn’t follow them because, beyond the jungle maze used for the female hunts, flying predators frequently mistook them for prey and took them out.
Angie hadn’t stirred by the time Tomak showered, dressed, and set out their simple first meal. He went to wake her, pausing just to look at her before he sat down on the bed and leaned over to kiss her cheek and nibble her earlobe. She moaned sleepily as he moved down her neck, kissing and nibbling.
She turned toward him and blinked a few times before reaching up to caress his head. “Why are you up so early? I thought we weren’t training today.”
“We aren’t. We are going for a hike in the jungle,” he said with a wry smile.
Angie frowned and slowly sat up. She knew better than to ask him why, since their flat was likely bugged.
“First meal is ready on the table,” he said, but his glance was drawn to her breasts bared when the sheet fell away.”
“Mm. I know what I would rather be doing,” he said with his familiar sexy smirk and cupped her breasts with his hands.
“But, we can’t.” Angie leaned into his hands for a moment before she gently pulled them away. “Let me up so I can hit the bathroom and dress.”
Tomak rose reluctantly, turned back the sheet, and offered his hands to help her up. He made a wistful sound in his throat, indulging in the tempting view of her naked body. It took a bit of willpower to step aside and let her pad away barefoot to the bathroom. Her nudity and the memory of the night before was all it took to make him hard, and the thin, loose boxer style shorts did nothing to hide it.
A few mini spans later, she emerged from the bathroom dressed, and her hair combed. Tomak had already started eating without her. There was a small synthetic cloth bag on the table bulging with provisions for the “hike.”
“Are we having a picnic?”
“Yes, something like that. We’ll leave as soon as we finish eating.”
Angie nodded and picked up her protein patty and bit into it. They finished eating in silence, and she waited until they were outside, heading into the jungle before she asked, “What are we doing?”
“Meeting up with the men from my unit. Emon has discovered some interesting information about our little paradise here.”
Angie chuckled, knowing he was glib at the end.
“We are trying to find a way off this hell hole. Those fucking sadists thought they were going to put me in a death match with Coraz,” Tomak growled. “It’s only a matter of time before they try to use you to force me to kill again.”
“The mines?”
“Or worse,” he murmured. “Even though I treat you indifferently in the training field, the warden knows we have bonded. That you are more than my sex toy. They don’t give us females out of kindness. They do it for leverage to control us and intensify the rivalry between the cons who have females and the ones who don’t.”
“And that’s why we’re hiking into the jungle at the crack of dawn?”
“Yes. Praxus and Lazko have found two downed spaceships in the jungle so far. “We’re going to meet up with them at the first one.”
“Won’t we get lost? Hell, I got lost in that damn maze.”
“We won’t. They have left a trail that even you can follow.” He smiled to soften the apparent dig on her wilderness skills. “After I find the string that marks the point where they started.”
“Hey, I’ve only ever seen jungles on vids before I came here. That’s how I knew to hide my trail in the hunt.”
They walked for about half an hour, by Angie’s estimate, before they reached the back corner of the maze that was cordoned off by a two-meter chain link fence. It wasn’t electrified or anything, so Tomak boosted Angie to the top so she could climb over it, and he followed.
