Page 21 of Darken
He wasn’t expendable to her. Darken knew that without a doubt from sharing feelings with her during sex. Nothing he had ever imagined compared.
Since this was the last day before they went out into the field, Darken decided they would end training early in favor of a leisurely breeding session. He’d been thinking about it all day, enough that his cock was hard more than half the time.
He knew that Gina was completely aware as her belly pressed against his erection. “Oh, I like the feel of that,” she said, rubbing her hand over the outside of his pants. “I think we can take care of that for you.”
So, they spent the rest of the afternoon making love. They ate dinner in bed, had sex again, then showered and slept until morning.
Chapter Fourteen
Joaquin Morenza
Darken flew the sky cycle in a wide circle above the rural property they thought belonged to Morenza. After the flyover, he went back to the old road to land and morph the vehicle from a small flyer to a hovercraft. They hovered in on the converted hovercycle, bringing it to settle in front of the largest house on the property.
Pausing as the handlebars lowered to take in his surroundings, Darken swung his leg up over the front of the craft and waited for Gina to join him. Scanning the house with his sensors, he learned that four people were inside.
The curtain moved in the window beside the front door, then someone walked heavily to the door. A large man of mixed race emerged with an old-style long gun that he held pointed to the ground. He was handsome with dark tan skin and black hair that hung in a long braid down his back.
“Who are you, and why are you here?” he demanded.
“I am Ranger Darken Wolf, and this is my wife, Gina. We are from the Civil Restoration Enclave based in New Chicago. The war is over, and the Enclave is reaching out to the North American Territories to rebuild civilization.”
“I still don’t know why you are here; we take care of our own here. This ranch helps support the whole community.”
“We are not here to interfere with your business or community, Mr. …?”
“Morenza, Joaquin Morenza.”
“Mr. Morenza, while it will be my job to uphold law and order in the territory, I’m doing recon and reconnecting with communities. We have com-tablets to hand out to restore communications among the territories.”
“There is an incident that happened several weeks ago that I want to discuss with you. We crashed our flyer west of here and lost communications. Gina was injured, and we were low on water, crossing the desert on foot.”
“A man calling himself your foreman said we were trespassing and threatened us at gunpoint demanding we leave immediately. There were five of them together on horseback. All we wanted was some water and a place to rest. Gina suffered from heat exhaustion, dehydration, and a concussion from the crash. Is that how you do things out here?”
Joaquin frowned. “He is my foreman, but he overstepped his authority. He damn well knows I wouldn’t deny anyone water and rest in the desert. Please, come inside and tell me more about this Enclave.”
They followed Joaquin into the sprawling earthen home. He led them to the dining room and bid them the sit. “Isobel, we have guests. Can you bring them some tea and join us?” he called. “Isobel is my wife.”
She came a few minutes later and peeked into the doorway. “I just needed to see how many. I will be right back.” She was an attractive middle-aged woman of mixed race, likely Native and Mexican, dressed in a muslin tunic and pants that appeared to be handmade.
Joaquin appeared to be more Native. They were an attractive couple.
“You have quite the little village here,” said Gina.
“Yes, my great grandfather was an independent rancher when the aliens bombed Earth. He told me the stories of how everything just stopped afterward. No more public utilities, no communication networks, no trade, no credits. Before everything shut down, he saw the damage to the cities,” said Joaquin. “He told me we were lucky because the ranch was off the grid. Our solar arrays and windmills give us all the power we need. People drifted out to our ranch when things ran out in the towns. Great grandfather let them stay because they shared working the ranch and fields to grow food for them all.
“So many came they had to start building homes for them. We have about forty families here now. Once they learned how to grow crops and raise livestock, some of them went out on their own to properties that had been abandoned.”
Isobel soon joined them with a tray of ceramic mugs of cold herbal tea. She set them in the middle of the wooden plank table and bade them help themselves, sitting beside her husband.
“Now that Isobel is here, tell us about the Enclave, so we know whether or not we wish to cooperate.”
“The Enclave started with a group of scientists who developed cyborg technology for the Federation Defense force, late last century. They also developed a program to restore civilization to Earth after an apocalyptic event such as the war with the Mesaarkans caused after the Procyon massacre. I am a cyborg marine ranger, and I fought most of the war. I was called back to Earth to help restore law and order as a law enforcement ranger. Currently, I am doing recon to determine the current situation and needs of the old New Mexico and Arizona Territories.”
“Does that mean the government is going to come in and start telling us how to run our lives?” Joaquin growled.
“No, sir. We are here to serve and protect. As long as you aren’t holding people against their will and forcing them to work your land, you won’t have any problems with the Enclave. Back east, they have Overlords with gangs of thugs running things. They have kidnapped people to enslave as sex workers to entertain interstellar travelers. They have someone high up in the Federation protecting their rule there, and we are not allowed to interfere.”
“There have been incursions to Enclave territories to take people for their enterprises. This is why they are sending us out to assess the communities' situations not just as law enforcers, but to see where the Enclave can help restore communities and trade throughout the territory. Towns, villages will retain their autonomy to govern themselves.” Darken said.
