Chapter 18: Nikki

 

The shuttle landing woke me. I’d not once managed a single shuttle ride without drifting off. I was like one of those babies that needed car rides to fall asleep. The shuttle was the magical cure to insomnia. That said a lot during the bugpocalypse. It felt like I hadn’t had a restful sleep since the bugs arrived early last year. In the past year, if I could’ve slept literally with one eye open like dolphins did, I would’ve.

I felt safe in Koriv’n’s shuttle. Every night since returning to the compound, we’d slept in his sleeping nook, limbs all entangled after the best sex I’d ever had. Every morning, I’d wake in his arms well-rested and ready to start another day. During the days, I’d helped out with the never-ending list of chores.

This group focused on the future, continually working to create a better one, while my old group concentrated on amassing existing finite resources, leftovers from “the before time” as Meghan called it, using any means necessary. This one worked to create new and renewable resources. It was a lot of work though, and it kept everyone busy.

If we weren’t running for cover every time a flyer showed up, which happened every day during the late mornings, signaling our time to head indoors and make lunch, I’d have forgotten we were in a bugpocalypse. When I’d first seen the compound, I’d been overcome by how utterly, and strangely normal everything felt. Now I was part of this new normal. Every so often, I reminded myself that things that seemed too good to be true often were, but so far, I couldn’t find the catch.

I gave Koriv’n a kiss and scratched the base of his horns playfully before getting off his lap for a stretch. The walls of the shuttle showed a life-sized feed of the outside. We were on a large roof covered in solar panels, all of them tilted to face south. There were enough panels here to cover several roofs at the compound.

“Come back here.” Koriv’n pulled me back into his lap, straddling him. “We have until Rayk’n shows up with Calvin. How about you put those hands back on me?”

I giggled. We both knew what that usually led to. Maybe Koriv’n wanted a quickie. We’d been so busy during the day that we hadn’t had time for those.

“Do you mean like this?” I slid one hand over his chest. I loved how he felt; his skin was thick and resilient but buttery like the softest leather. It was the best of both worlds.

I wove the fingers of my other hand through his dark, wiry hair and scratched behind his horns, right at the base. The tips of his horns weren’t nearly as sensitive as the base, and I knew what he liked best. Just as expected, he started purring. I didn’t call it purring to his face anymore, but the sound always reminded me of a big cat purring—the biggest damn cat ever.

He called me his kitten, but he was the one with the canines and the claws.

Koriv’n growled low, adding to the effect. That growl was sexy as sin too.

He grabbed me by the hair firmly but gently and tilted my head to face him as his lips crashed onto mine. I’d discovered I was the only woman he’d ever kissed; he was a fast learner. He was good at it too, devouring my mouth like he owned it. There was nowhere to hide from his exploration, and by the end of the kiss, I was gasping for more.

I ground my hips against the bump growing in his loincloth as I leaned back away from him. He kept one arm behind my back to stop me from falling as he trailed kisses down my neck and across my chest. He pushed up my t-shirt and continued kissing down my body.

The rumble of an approaching shuttle interrupted us. He kissed his way back up my body and ended with a soft kiss on my lips.

“Rayk’n sure got here in a hurry,” I said, a bit disappointed. But I knew we’d have all the time to explore each other again tonight. We needed to get these solar panels home.

Home. I already thought of the compound as home. I’d lived with the other group all winter, spring, and summer, and not once did I refer to that dump as home.

We reviewed the footage taken from the shuttle as we flew in, to check for humans or scourge trouble. There were no signs of danger of the two-legged variety in the area, but there were about a dozen scourge in the area: a mix of scuttlers and spitters, and a single ghastly centicreep. If we kept quiet as we worked and no flyers showed up, they would pass us by.

Just to be safe, I rummaged through my bag for the perfume.

Koriv’n wrinkled his nose and pointed to the door. “Not in here.” Then Koriv’n gave me another long, lingering kiss before I headed out onto the roof to spray myself down. Koriv’n joined me moments later, holding an Earth-style toolbox and looking like a sexy, post-apocalyptic alien handyman.

Calvin was already on the roof, checking the panels. Though I’d been introduced to him briefly, I hadn’t had the chance to get to know him yet. He came off as reserved and quiet. He had a sad look about him, even when he smiled.

All of us had lost important people—heck, most people still alive had lost every last person from their old life—but we compartmentalized it so we could survive in the aftermath. Calvin seemed to be doing the opposite; he lived solely to keep the memory of someone alive. I suspected he never got over the loss of his wife and thought of her every day. He still wore his wedding band, and he played with it often, twisting it on his finger. Thinking about it broke my heart.

He walked up and down the neat rows, mumbling something to himself. We followed him as he went around the corner to check all four external walls of the mechanical room. When he got to a series of boxes mounted on the wall, he grinned.

“We don’t even need to leave the roof. The inverters are right here. This was a commercial operation, and they put everything right here, out of the way. We don’t need the system to tie it to a grid that doesn’t exist anymore.” He pointed to some large boxes mounted next to the mechanical room door. “And those are the batteries.” His fingers followed the wires leading into the door. “And I bet the charge controllers are in there.”

“I’m glad one of us knows what all that is.” I’d spent my life using technology. I’d been umbilically attached to my cell phone in the before times, but it wasn’t until the world collapsed that I realized I had no idea how anything worked.

Calvin shook his head. “If I hadn’t been a cheapass and learned to install a system like this for my house just before the bugs arrived, I would’ve never known either. I’m glad I did it myself.”

“Our lives have become a series of emergency DIYs,” I mused, thinking of how the women at the compound had to figure out on the fly how to can and preserve foods safely and raise chickens for eggs. Failure meant going hungry. “I’m just glad we have access to the internet again.”

I used to roll my eyes at the amount of garbage posted every day on the web. Now, I’m glad for everyone who’d shared their expertise on all subject matters. Of course, we couldn’t always use the information as-is.

For example, we’d managed to find some commercial feed for the chicks, but the supply was limited. We’d have to figure out another solution in the future. When we got the greenhouse and mini orchard underway—they planned to move a few dwarf fruit trees to the patch of grass next to the greenhouse—the chickens could feed on any bugs bothering the crops and do double duty: egg-machine/exterminator.

Rayk’n shot out the lock to the mechanical room with his blaster, and Calvin peeked inside.

“Yup, there they are. Alrighty, let’s get started. We need to get the panels off the racking. Let’s work on this row here.” He pointed to the row closest to the shuttles. Then he handed me a socket wrench. “Try a nut, and if it’s tight, head to the next one. Do whatever you can. It’ll save us time. If you need another size, the set is right here by the shuttles.”

We got to work unbolting the panels. Most of the nuts were too tight for me to budge, but I got a few loose. Despite the autumn wind, I was a sweaty mess by the time I finished my first pass down the row.

I started a few panels in, as Koriv’n and Rayk’n worked on the first one. Then they followed behind me, removing any nuts that I couldn’t budge, which were most of them. Even with the hunter’s unfair genetically engineered strength advantage, there were still a few panels stuck on the rack by the end.

While we worked, Calvin removed and gathered all the other components. When he returned, he passed me a bin to collect all the loose nuts and bolts. We’d need those to reattach them to the racks back at the compound.

I wiped the sweat off my brow, and Koriv’n snuck in behind me to kiss the top of my sweaty head. Then he did that thing where he sniffed at me then growled like he wanted a piece.

“Ugh!” I pushed him away playfully. “I’m so sweaty. How could you like it?”

I knew the answer already. The ladies at the compound had explained it to me. When a Xarc’n hunter found a compatible female, she smelled amazing to him, even when super sweaty. Especially when super sweaty. They were surprised Koriv’n had yet to form a mating bond with me.

Now, every time he hugged me, I expected him not to let go, but it hadn’t happened yet. I found the idea of forever bewildering. A strong Xarc’n hunter, such as Koriv’n, who treated me like the best thing since sliced bread, was ideal during the bugpocalypse, but being stuck forever and starting a family during this madness terrified me. Which was silly, because Koriv’n was everything I could ask for.

Koriv’n’s communicator buzzed from his belt. “It’s Rajiv’k.” He took the call. Rajiv’k and Kaj’k’s faces filled the screen.

“We’re borrowing a handful of experts from the human settlement to try to decipher some of the ancient’s archives,” Rajiv’k said. “You are the closest group. Do you have room on the shuttles to bring them back? We know one of them; they called Lenny a computer-whiz.”

Koriv’n looked at the growing pile of panels, racks, and equipment. “As it is, I’m not sure how we are going to bring all this back in one trip.”

“Can we strap the load to the outside of the shuttle and tow it along in the air?” Calvin asked. “How did Tarv’k bring back the broken shuttle?”

“Shuttles can magnetically hitch together and fly as a unit. It won’t work here.”

“What about traveling by ground and pulling them along? We’ll need to find a route that avoids the blocked streets. The armed gang had marked all the jams they knew on a map.” I was glad that my opinion was taken seriously here. They would have told me to shut up and go back to the kitchen, back with the other group.

“We can send a drone up to scout ahead,” Koriv’n agreed. “We’ll pick up your experts.” He hung up.

I couldn’t help but notice the excited look on Rayk’n’s face. A whole settlement full of human women; of course he was excited. I wasn’t sure if they’d told him many of them were pregnant. I guessed if they were compatible, it wouldn’t matter. He deserved his happiness too.

I was also excited to visit the survivors’ settlement. I hadn’t seen Meghan since she’d left, and I wanted to know how she was doing.

We all got back to work, eager to finish up so we could start the next leg of our mission.