Page 6 of Jessica's Mates
I followed some of the soldiers out and into the mine. It was huge, the dust and dirt was purple and white. It was deep in many sections where they had dug down low to get the aket. I was finally alone, walking to my post in Section A. The others broke away to man their sections, chatting to each other like this was a normal day on Mori Mori. Except they abused and took advantage of unarmed slaves.
Section A came into view. There was a post high above the mine here, it was to watch the prisoners and make sure they were doing their duty. I had a list of numbers that referred to each prisoner and slave that worked and lived in this section.
“K’Tem, I assume. You’re younger than I expected.” I stopped and stood tall in front of the M’Mori who greeted me. His uniform was unwashed and he had an odor about him that wasn’t pleasant. He was my superior, so I had to show him respect. Not that I had any for him. Or any of the soldiers here.
“Yes, first time here. Working my way up,” I replied, hoping he could hear the fake enthusiasm in my voice and not the shame I had for being M’Mori in this moment. He looked me up and down, then spat over the side of the post. I couldn’t see much below, the fog covered most of the mine this morning.
“Ah, one of them achievers. Well, you will take watch on the ground, make sure these fuckers don’t get out of line.” He nodded for me to follow him inside. “Put your shit in there and move down into the mine. Don’t worry, aket takes months to cause damage… Maybe not the best place to be if you ever wanna have kids in the long run, kid. Might want to pick somewhere else to work up the ranks.”
I froze at his statement. I had never heard of aket causing fertility damage. I felt a hot wave wash over me as I realized what we had done. And how a vicious cycle was starting to be made. The Aashi were struggling to give birth to females. They needed females, we gave them humans in payment to mine aket. This was the reason they needed the humans in the first place. We had upset the balance here. Nature. We were slowly killing out the Aashi race and they didn’t seem to care.
I knew then I had to call my brother. I couldn’t leave today. I would have to leave tomorrow. He needed to know, he had to warn the Universal Federation on what was going on here. How did they not know this?
First, I would do what I could to help the Aashi, then I would find my Jessica.
Chapter Seven
Jessica
Ihad been staying in a hut that was very small compared to the other girls’. The stupid chosen guys had been locked away in a primitive jail cell. They would call out randomly and threaten the males here. They didn’t know what to do with them. I was asked what I wanted, and well, I didn’t want them dead, that was for sure. Because, yeah, that was an option. I just wanted them to leave me alone, so they were set on their way back to Clan Ariaan. They left without any issues. I was glad to have that behind me.
I had spoken to a few of the single guys here. I had no intention of doing more than that. I wasn’t going to just pick one because I had to. We were here now, and everything was good. Well, as good as it could be. One that I enjoyed talking to was Koh. He was a builder here, and apparently had been here from the start. He was working on a special hut just for me. He had been the one to organize all the building around here. Quinn had him constructing a large covered hut for the main eating area.
“Do you like Koh?” Brooklyn asked as she pointed to where I just left him. I shrugged. I was kinda getting annoyed with her trying to set me up with single guys.
“Yeah, he is nice, but that’s it. I told you to stop trying to set me up. We’re just friends and I like that he doesn’t follow me around like a dog, so it makes it easy to talk to him.”
Plus, hewasnice and made me happy when I was around him. He was always asking what I would like in my hut, which I thought was wonderful. He was making sure it had everything I needed. I wanted a smaller room in there where I could put the “pot” used for peeing. I didn’t shit in it. I would just have to deal with digging a hole and squatting behind a tree like everyone else did for that.
But the thing I liked best about him was he didn’t follow me around with puppy dog eyes and leave me gifts like so many others did. I saw them watching me and I had no interest in this; I wasn’t here for them. I was here because I thought the girls would understand me needing to go to the Goddess Arena to find K’Tem.
“I’m sorry, I don’t mean to.” Brooklyn’s face fell and I knew I had been a little snappy.
“I’m sorry, I have my period and have really bad cramps.” It was the truth, but still, I shouldn’t have been rude. I had just started to really form close friendships with all the girls, and I didn’t want to set myself backwards because I was feeling crabby, but my period had come just like clockwork. Which was why I didn’t bathe like the others did this morning. I took some water with me and washed to the side. I just told them I wasn’t feeling like a bath. The fog in the morning hid everyone, but it wasn’t the warmest time to be in the water. It was barely warm. I needed something hot to help with the cramps.
“Oh wow, yeah. That’s gotta suck, and there is no Advil here to help out with the cramps. Did you want anything? Shit… What are you using to… you know? I could ask one of my mates or maybe they wouldn’t understand… No, I think that would be new for them because their females go into heat and this is not the same…” I smiled and shook my head at her. Brooklyn was one of a kind, that was for sure.
“I have it all under control. Don’t worry, I don’t need you to tell anyone. I don’t want more males chasing after me.”
She nodded in understanding. I was worried if they knew I was in “heat,” as their females were, they might up their game. And I didn’t need any more than what I was dealing with already.
“No, you’re right. I wouldn’t want to think about mates and stuff while I was cramping. Which, sometimes I feel cramps and I worry that I’m losing the baby. But it’s a strong little baby. I hope childbirth isn’t too hard.”
I looked down to where she held her belly again. And for someone eight weeks along, she sure was showing big. I worked with a woman who you couldn’t tell she was pregnant until she was six months along. Brooklyn was two months, and for her tiny frame, she really had this little round belly.
“You mean babies?” I questioned. She had to know she might be baking more than one. She laughed and nodded.
“Yes, we have all been talking about how there must be more than one in there. Or one really big baby.” My eyes widened at that thought. I wouldn’t want to have a baby here on Aarzyn, well, without medical help. I wanted to be a mother, that was something I had dreamed of since I was a little girl.
But I sure as hell knew I didn’t want a big baby coming out of me. Maybe it was one but it had all those extra arms and tails taking up space? It was going to be interesting to see what the babies looked like when they all arrived. I was excited for that part. I wanted to be here and support all the girls. Even if I didn’t have a mate.
“Let’s go help out Makee and Tomlee. They are stripping some leaves for us to make baby blankets. It will give us something to do. Pass the time.” I nodded. Sounded better than working myself up on a guy that didn’t seem to be coming. I knew it wouldn’t be by choice. He did say it would be hard. I just hoped he wasn’t in trouble.
Brooklyn wrapped her arms around me. I sighed as I wrapped mine around her. I needed that. My chest already felt lighter. “Thanks,” I whispered into her hair.
She pulled away and gave me her beautiful smile. “I love hugs and it looked like you needed one. Anytime you want a hug, I’m here for you.”
I followed her over to where Makee and Tomlee, his brother, were stripping the leaves. I had seen how they made them into blankets last week but I hadn’t joined in. Until now.
