The Next Morning

By Bekka Mouri

(Bekka and Tim decide it would be best to set out again.)

Bekka woke up to the feeling of soft kisses being planted on her cheek. She fluttered her eyes open to look into Tim’s aquamarine blue eyes. “ What are you doing? “ She whispered playfully.

“ Just making sure I’m not dreaming, “ Tim whispered back, his eyes sparkling. “ Some people thought we lost you for good, darling. “

“ I don’t go down that easily, “ Bekka smirked.

Tim kissed her lips, “ I know. That’s why I came for you. “

Bekka chewed her lip, “ Well, I did have a lot of help. I probably would have dies in the fire that Mehrunes managed to get out of if it weren’t for my friend. “

“ Really? You’re here with someone else? “ Tim arched an eyebrow.

Bekka nodded, “ Uh-huh. It’s Mehrunes’ little sister, Namira. She rescued me before the fire started. “

“ That bastard had a sister? “

“ She’s a real sweetie, Tim. You really should give her a chance even though she carries the Dagon name. So far, she’s been nothing but golden to me. I think she is a complete opposite to Mehrunes, “ Bekka didn’t want Tim to hate Namira before they even met.

“ Oh. When do I get to meet her? “ He asked, wondering if the girl was as wonderful as Bekka made her out to be.

“ I don’t know if she’s awake yet. She sleeps like a rock, “ Bekka looked a little wistful, “ I hope nothing horrible ever happens to her. “

Tim kissed Bekka’s forehead, “ With you as her friend, I doubt anything will. “

Bekka smiled, “ So, how are we going to get home? “

“ I’ll contact Aly in a bit and tell her to get a cruiser out here to get us. “

Bekka snuggled down against Tim, “ Not too soon, mind you. We have a lot to talk about. “

“ Like what? “

Bekka shifted, “ A lot. “

**

Ryat opened his eyes slowly to find Namira still cuddled up to him. He smiled a little, remembering how the girl reacted to her first session of lovemaking. He hoped that he hadn’t robbed her of too much of her innocence by doing it; he had ruined enough young women that way. He looked at how she slept on his arm and let his mind wander back through the years.

Ryat had always wanted to be a teacher but no one would take him on for the position. He tried schools, private citizens and any place he could think of that would need a teacher. None of them wanted him though; he was fantastic and well educated but his rough looks made his would-be employers wary. In desperation, he took a job from a man to transport goods all over Doom.

Things had gone well for a while but Ryat wanted more money and approached the man for more work. This man was named Nionus and was a very secretive man whom often wore a hooded cape to conceal his identity. Ryat had often heard that Nionus was covered in a body tattoo and had other parts of his body pierced besides his ears. Nionus offered him a job that would pay much more and Ryat couldn’t refuse.

His two oldest brothers had worked for Nionus as well and lived very comfortably on the money they made working for him. Ryat took the job to work as a seeker; that is, to groom young women to enjoy pleasures of the flesh and then give said girls to Nionus to use in his brothel. His stomach turned as he thought of how many girls he had sent there since becoming a seeker. He wondered just how many of them were still alive.

When he met Bekka, things took a strange turn. The girl had climbed into his cruiser and he had intended to, at first, rape her and then sell her back to Mehrunes. After taking her the first time, he decided he would be a fool to get rid of such a rare find and would get a good payment from Nionus for a human girl. Instead, he kept her and tried his best to make her into the perfect whore. That plan backfired as well.

For almost a year, he used his teaching abilities to educate her in other ways than lovemaking. He taught her how to read and write in the Drule language, two things she didn’t know how to do. She had a rather colorful and full vocabulary; obviously adapting to the spoken language from the time she came to Doom. Her English was a bit rusty but he helped her with that because the tongue was quickly becoming the second language of choice.

Namira reminded him of Bekka a little. She slept deep like she had when she was with him and had that air of bright-eyed wonderment that only a young girl can have. Bekka probably still had some of it somewhere but Ryat was sure he wouldn’t see any of it because she hated him so much. He muttered a curse in Drule; he had to get Namira back in her room before Bekka came looking for her.

“ Namira? Darling? You need to wake up. “ He shook her gently. Namira didn’t stir. Ryat sighed, shaking her a little more.

“ What? What? “ She mumbled finally, blinking her eyes as she wiped the sleep from them. “ Is Bekka okay? “

“ Yes, I think so but I won’t be if she finds you here. We need to get you back to your room. “

Namira’s eyes grew wide, “ Oh no! That’s right! “

Ryat helped Namira put her gown back on and walked her to the door. He kissed her and looked into her eyes, “ Don’t tell anyone. Not yet. “

Namira nodded, “ I won’t. When can you show me more? “

Ryat blushed a little, “ Uh. I’ll let you know when the time is right. I just don’t… “

“ Want Bekka to be any more mad at you? “ Namira completed the sentence.

Ryat nodded, “ Yeah. Stay in your room for a few minutes and then go to Bekka and see if she’s awake. After that, come ‘wake’ me. “

“ Okay. See you in a few minutes, “ Namira smiled and stood on her tiptoes, kissing Ryat’s chin.

**

Dr. Sarah sat at her desk, reviewing some papers when the sound of the afternoon news drew her attention away. The announcer stated there was a birth control recall in progress. Apparently, several batches of three different kinds of contraceptive had gotten through quality assurance unchecked. She listened carefully, her tail hitting the floor as the announcer said the name of the birth control she used on the harem ladies before rattling off the batch numbers.

She reached for the folder that contained the information on the shots (and the pills Maeve took because she hated needles). She raised her tail up so it could fall on the floor again, “ Better talk to Lotor about getting a nursery ready… I fear we will be hearing the sounds of little feet other than Kennith’s. “

She scribbled the names of the women who had gotten their treatment from the bad batch and wondered when she would be seeing them. “ I don’t think this is what they mean by the miracles of modern medicine, “ She grumbled, looking at the paper.