Page 39 of The First Omega Made
He’d been in a war zone, unflinching to the background noise of ancient explosive technology. Percussives shook the camera, and Noel was nothing but a camo-clad blur, tail whipping as screams rang out. Dozens dead in mere moments as I looked away.
Noel stared at his hands as the camera cut out to a scene with his younger self ramrod straight, covered in human blood and seated in a metal chair. The way he spoke was chilling, confirming his orders were met. Noel shut the video down and pulled away.
“They made you…” I froze up. War was something that everyone had knowledge about, but human earth wars were something else entirely—cold and unfeeling.
“Kill people? Yes. Lots of people. There was a reason they put me in stasis. They couldn’t kill me, and I was dangerous. It’s what all the first generations were made for. Once they figured out what I was good for, that is.” Noel cleared his throat and closed his eyes, taking a few even breaths. “Maybe it was this. Maybe it was partly because I was never meant to have a mind to begin with. I was meant to be harvested from and spread, but who knows?”
“In any case, Noel, I’m glad you’re here. Even if you are weird. But we all are.” I offered Noel a half grin. “Thanks for everything.”
“It’s nothing. It is nice to have omega company, even if you are a horny space lizard.” Noel forced a smile that didn’t meet his dark eyes.
A soft ding preceded the scoreboard popping up.
“Space, space, space, space, space,” Noel said, peppering the scoreboard with tallies. The smirk that followed seemed genuine.
Before I could say anything, a twinge of pain wrapped itself over my belly, constricting my stomach into a hard knot. I breathed through the sensation and glanced up, finally realizing what Noel had been petering about doing. He’d been gathering things for the birth… Laying. “You knew?”
“Good guess.” Noel offered me a nod as he strode by with a stack of linens in his arms. “Now get to your nest before you get more dreadful to deal with.”
I slid from the table with a soft hiss of unease and relished the sensation of far too much slick pooling in places. “Things are definitely getting wet down there.”
“Wait until your phallus retracts. The sensation is violating.” Noel marched into my quarters next door where Sarge and I had shacked up, and made himself comfortable, bringing in a stool and the likes.
“My phallus…what?” I shuffled in behind him and slid into my nest of tangled blankets and pillows. “You’re kidding, right?”
“Nope.” Noel stared me down before perching on the stool. “Vil and Nexus will stay away. I am here until Eggbert makes his appearance.”
“I regret that name from the bottom of my heart.” I pulled a blanket over myself and kicked my shorts off. “Eggbert…really?”
“Eggitha?” Noel canted his head.
“No. We already decided on Noah.” I sneered at Noel before pulling the blanket over my head.
“It is a good name. I shall call him Noah. Eggbert is stupid.” Noel’s stool creaked, and I peeked out, ready to say something, when another sensation wracked my belly. It started as a contraction, clenching around my egg and forcing things down. All as to be expected until thesensationthat Noel had described to me happened. My internals becamemore internal. I didn’t know it could retreat that far into myself with such a strangely hollow and violating feeling. I gasped and nearly crawled out of the bed, hand braced on my stomach.
“Progenitors’ sake! Fuck!” I pedaled my legs and kicked at the blankets while Noel watched me, unfazed.
“Like a woodpecker’s tongue, right?” Noel stared me down, and I lost track of my sensations while puzzling that piece out.
“A what? Is that a euphemism?”
“No, it is a bird that pecks wood, eats bugs and things, has this really long tongue that sucks in and wraps around its brain.” Noel brought up a view screen in midair and played a fairly apt video.
I stared as my thoughts strayed to Mater Terra before I’d left. Most species of Picidae had been extinct a generation before I was born. Of all the birds that survived, we still had pigeons, and a colony of magpies had repopulated a rather bleak planet we’d dubbed New Australia. Unfortunately, it too had giant spiders, ’roid-raging hopping rats and had somehow been given the wrong opossum—the north American one. It fit the bill, so to speak.
“Noel, I care for you dearly, but why are we researching birds while I’m about to lay an egg that I really shouldn’t have ever been able to lay?” I breathed through my nostrils and relished the fading echoes of that sensation. “And yes, my cock sucked back deep inside me, and I don’t know if it’s ever coming out. It’s terrified!”
“Made you think about something else for a minute.” Noel gestured toward my bedsheets, which were streaked with fluid and a light twinge of magenta blood.
“That you did… This hurts a lot less than I imagined.” I reached between my legs and regretted it. Things felt wet, burned slightly, and horridly loose, like the seam from my slit had opened and…yep.
“Mm-hmm… It gets worse.” Noel nodded. “I’ll be here with you.”
“I appreciate this, Noel.” Sarge gave Noel a nod before sliding in beside me. Whatever was going on between my legs didn’t seem to faze him. I imagined it wouldn’t, as he was a body burrowing parasite…was. But it didn’t matter. He was mine.
A quiet voice rang over the speakers as I rested, waiting through one contraction after the next, waiting for the pain to grow. Merriel spoke up. “Can I alert the crew? If so, status?”
I winced and breathed through a contraction that made my ears ring with pressure and sighed. “Sure, whatever you want, Merriel.”
