"Railroad Spine," Part VI and VII
The next installment! Like yesterday, if I write another chapter today, I'll edit this post rather than making a whole new one. It just saves space in the long run and makes it easier to go back and start from the beginning. Fewer posts for people to scroll past. :D
This chapter involves sexy sexiness of quite a few varieties. M/M, F/F, M/F, M/F/F... get your dainty frilled fans at the ready to wave at your faces! Warning, Part VII has a threat of sexual violence against women. Potentially triggery, reader discretion advised!
VI
She dreamed, perhaps unsurprisingly, of Peri. They were in the Nursery, but there was only one bed in the vast and darkened space. Dice's ankles were in the stirrups, but she was comfortable and relaxed as Peri climbed onto the foot of the bed and knelt between her thighs. She was nude. She rested her hands on Dice's knees and ran them down, stroking the inside of Dice's legs before covering her sex. She smiled and then Peri was inside of her. Dice closed her eyes in the dream as Peri, somehow, penetrated her. She pushed down to meet her, and Peri began to thrust gently.
When Peri came, Dice looked down to see her abdomen swelling.
I told you I would help you get back your son, Peri said without moving her mouth. She bent down to kiss Dice, and Dice woke at the moment their lips touched.
She was still asleep on the couch, and still fully dressed she was delighted to discover. Cecily and Isaiah were curled together in the window seat, their bodies arranged so that neither was exposed. Even though they had exhausted themselves, there were more couples who seemed to think the night was just getting started. She stared for a long moment at her friends' serene sleep before she pushed herself up and wandered out of the living room to the stairs.
The bathroom was on the third floor with the bedrooms. She used the toilet and splashed her face at the sink. The debauchery seemed confined to the ground floor, so she decided to try one of the bedrooms for actual sleeping. The first two doors she tried were locked, but the third opened with a quiet click. She started into the darkness, but pulled back when she heard a soft sigh of pleasure coming from within. She backed up and lifted her eyes to utter an apology, but it was never spoken.
Paul and Micah were together on the bed, nude and facing each other. Paul's hand was between their bodies, and Micah's hands were on the back of Paul's head as they thrust their hips together. Frozen, Dice stared at the men though she knew the proper thing would be to back up silently and leave them to their privacy. But they were so perfectly imperfect. Paul was a little soft in the middle, with scars along his arms and torso. Micah was lean but not toned. They were both beautiful to her.
Paul's hand was cradling their cocks together as their hips moved in a matching rhythm. Dice pressed a hand against her own crotch as they kissed and Paul whispered something to Micah. He nodded and they pulled apart, Micah's erection swinging as he turned around. He flattened his hands against the headboard as Paul pressed tight against him, one hand guiding his cock over the curve of his ass.
Micah's back arched, and Paul bent down to kiss his shoulder. Dice backed out into the hallway as Paul stroked Micah's hip and then put an arm around his waist. Micah's moans grew louder as Paul moved faster, pushing inside of him. Dice felt cheated that so much of what was happening was lost in shadows and bad angles, but she was getting enough. She felt the warmth spreading through her lower body, one hand massaging her breast through her shirt without her realizing. She cupped herself as Micah gasped Paul's name, and then Paul lifted his chin and began the frantic grunts of impending orgasm.
Micah lifted up and Dice saw him spurt against the pillows, and Paul stiffened. "God, Mike," he groaned, his hips flush against the curve of Micah's ass, and then he stroked his hand up the center of Micah's back and squeezed his shoulder. Dice left the door open as she backed away, knowing they would hear the click of it closing now that they weren't so distracted. She retreated downstairs, strong in her resolve to be faithful to Peri.
Masturbation, however, didn't count. It couldn't count. She passed through the parlor where a woman - the brunette in the red shirt she'd seen talking to Paul - was receiving oral sex from a muscular man with dreadlocks, blushing as she found the back door and burst through it. The night air was cool on her face and smelled so clear after the den of sweat and sex she'd just escaped.
She pressed her back against the brick of the house and quickly unfastened her trousers. She didn't bother to lower them as she pushed a hand into her underwear. She closed her eyes and pictured Peri, her uniform top undone just enough for a hint of her lacy underwear to show, her hair down and spilling over one bare shoulder like an auburn waterfall.
Dice parted her lips and kissed the air, pretending Peri was there but just out of reach. She used two fingers, remembering the dream of an endowed Peri slowly fucking her, and let the breeze take her soft sigh of arousal. Her knees bent toward each other, her shoulders hunched, and she rolled her hips against the brick wall as she came.
Her hair was stuck to her forehead and she waited until the sweat evaporated before she hauled her pants back up and fastened them. She looked up at the stars and closed her eyes, wishing she and Peri weren't so far apart. Through the open door she heard the woman in the red shirt being brought to orgasm by her dreadlocked lover and waited until they fell silent before she went back inside.
She had fallen asleep once while the entire house was having sex around her, and she was determined to do it again.
#
Dice woke the next morning on the stairs, trying to identify the source of her headache even before she opened her eyes. It was half hangover, half the awkwardness of sleeping on the chairs, and half sleep-deprivation. The throbbing in her head was vast enough to encompass three halves, so she didn't bother correcting herself as she grabbed the balustrade and pulled until she was seated on one of the lower steps. Someone was coming down the stairs, the vibrations most likely playing a part in her being awake. She twisted and saw Micah descending, unable to stop herself from blushing and glancing at his crotch before turning away.
If he noticed or was embarrassed, he didn't show it. "Sorry. I was trying to step lightly."
"It's okay. What time is it?"
"Almost seven."
He offered her a hand, and she gripped his wrist to pull herself up. His hair was mussed, and his untucked shirt was unbuttoned to reveal the flat, hairless chest she'd gotten a glimpse of the night before. She followed him from the foyer into the parlor and saw that the other guests were taking stock of the night's damage as well. Isaiah had recovered his pants but was still bare-chested as he sat on the window seat. Cecily was curled into a ball behind him, a shirt draped over her hips to protect her modesty.
Micah led her into the kitchen. The dreadlocked man and his brunette lover had acquired a third member for their celebrations, a dark-skinned woman with red hair who was curled with the brunette. Micah noticed her watching them and spoke quietly: "Robert, Cora, and I guess Sarah finally accepted their invitation to join them. Good for them. Want to help with breakfast?"
"My assistance should be kept to a minimum unless you want to give these people food poisoning."
"It's more of an attempted cure than actual breakfast. You scramble the eggs, I'll make up some chili."
"Chili and eggs?"
Micah shrugged as they entered the kitchen. "Paul swears by it."
The kitchen was larger than she would have expected. The exposed brick walls were painted white to match the tile floor. Gleaming ovens and stoves stood in a line along one wall, and various utensils dangled over two islands in the center of the room. Micah went to the pantry while Dice opened the icebox and found eggs stacked on a shelf inside; it seemed like they had prepared well for their party.
She took out one carton and placed it on the stove. When Micah returned, she cleared her throat. "You and Paul are pretty close, I guess."
He paused for just a second as his mind made the connection, and he smiled as he placed the chili ingredients on the counter. "I knew we closed that door."
"Sorry."
"No, don't be. Nikola Night is a celebration of sharing and openness. It also happens to be the anniversary of the night Paul and I first got together."
Dice smiled. "Happy belated anniversary."
"Thank you. There's no reason to be sorry. I just hope you, ah..."
"Enjoyed the show? Yeah. Yes. Definitely had my full attention."
Micah turned away, but she was certain he'd blushed. They started breakfast when Paul finally appeared. "Morning. I was right about the door. Dice is the one who opened it."
"Aha. Voyeur." He put his arm around Micah's waist and pressed against him from behind. He kissed Micah's neck and then winked at Dice. "Did you get the full show?"
"I got enough, but I could have sat through an encore."
"Well, who knows. There's always next time." He patted Micah on the butt and examined the progress of the food. "I'll go make sure everyone survived the night and let them know brekkie's on the way." He winked at Dice before he left the kitchen.
Dice moved the eggs around with the edge of her spatula. "So I guess since you guys got together on... Nikola Night? I guess it's always that festive."
"That's one word for it. But yeah, we tend to let our inhibitions go."
"How do you deal with birth control?"
Micah scratched his neck. "The usual. Sheaths and pills go a long way. Occasionally there will be a pregnancy that either has to be explained or... dealt with."
Dice tensed. "You mean... dealt with."
"The parents could lie, or they could risk the same thing that happened with your son if either of them becomes exposed as a... Ruffian. It's not ideal, but sometimes it's the safest option. Midwives have questions, and they only work inside the frame of Administrations and bases. Parentage has to be documented in order for mothers to get care, and that can be risky when you're living like we are." He gestured toward the kitchen. "Take Isaiah and your friend Cecily. If she got pregnant, she would have to explain how she knew him. It could put the entire operation at risk, so it would be better if she just..."
He closed his eyes and leaned against the stove.
"I'm not saying I like it," he said softly. "Of course I would prefer an alternative."
Dice transferred the eggs to a plate as she considered the idea forming in her mind. "What if I could give you one?" Micah looked at her. "My lover is a Midwife. I actually met her when I was pregnant with Linus. I could ask if she's willing to help out, maybe share some information on prenatal care."
Micah straightened. "Your partner is a Midwife? Why didn't you tell us? Paul told you about what we found, right?"
"The encryptions. Yes, he mentioned that--"
"She would be able to read them. She could cut years off the search for your son."
Dice was well aware of that. She was silent for a long time before she risked speaking. "She's taking a big enough risk just sleeping with me. If the government finds out she's part of this, and if she starts sharing information, she could... she could end up..." She held up her left hand to show the missing finger. "I'm sorry. And I'm so happy to have found this place. No offense, but I wanted to keep her as far away from this place as possible."
"I understand. I don't think any of us would be here if we were given a choice. What changed your mind?"
Dice shrugged. "The women who end their pregnancies. I'm sure some of them are fine with the choice. But if even one of them makes the choice just because she has to, then I have to do what I can to help them. I'll talk to Peri."
"Thank you. We appreciate it. There aren't any pregnancies at the moment that I'm aware of, but if she could teach a few of our more medically-minded members what to do in case of an emergency."
"Anything I can do to help."
Cecily stumbled into the doorway, wrapped in an oversized jacket that, though buttoned, left no doubt that she was still naked underneath it. "I either need something extraordinarily greasy... or a gun."
Micah smiled. "Why don't we try the greasy food cure first?"
Cecily grunted and pulled up a stool. She looked at Dice, furrowed her brow, and sat up straighter. "Oh."
"It's okay."
"Right. Still..."
"Another time and place, it would have been a definite yes. So don't worry about it."
Cecily nodded, hissed, and touched her forehead. Micah put a plate of chili and eggs in front of her and she eyed it without much hope. "Have the gun ready, just in case."
"Yes, ma'am."
#
"You really, really should have fucked them."
Dice smiled and brushed her lips over Peri's forehead. "But I couldn't stop thinking about you. You were so good the whole four months I was away."
"Sure, but I wasn't at an orgy in New Amsterdam. Ninety percent of my abstinence was a lack of opportunity, trust me. Not a lot of flirting going on in the Nursery."
"That's where you met me."
"Well, you were pretty enough for me to make an extra effort."
Dice kissed Peri's nose. Nikola Night was two weeks in the past, but the memory of being sandwiched between Isaiah and Cecily. After "confessing," Peri made it clear that the next time she should go through with it and come back with details. Dice was stunned, then irritated that she had squandered the entire night. There was always next year, and if things went well, she would be attending the next celebration with Peri. And oh, the possibilities...
They were post-coital, wrapped loosely in the blankets of Peri's bed, and a music box was playing on the nightstand. It was a trinket Dice had picked up during a stopover in Conestoga. She was starting to get good at searching bazaars and markets near the Tamerlane's dockings for gifts. She never got anything particularly expensive or fancy; she knew whatever she brought back would be made special by Peri's reaction to it.
The evening was warm enough the windows were open, so Dice had to be careful about what they said. There were seldom security sweeps in the residential barracks, but they couldn't be too careful. Dice curled her fingers in Peri's hair and brought the strands to her face to smell her shampoo. "Speaking of Newams, some of my friends would like to meet you."
"Really?"
"If you're willing. They think it would be... enlightening."
Peri shifted, which made her naked thigh brush against Dice's stomach. "How would I even get there? I'm assigned here."
"You could ask for reassignment to a Newams base. I may be stationed here, but I'm up there just as often. You don't have to make a decision now. We could try to arrange some meetings between you and other members of the group."
Peri leaned down and nuzzled Dice's ear, brushing her short blonde hair away before she began to whisper. "If I can help, I want to. Do they want intelligence? About Midwifery?"
Dice nodded, her fingers tracing the soft skin of Peri's back.
"I'll meet with some of them, and if I'm convinced I can help, I'll arrange for a transfer." She kissed Dice's earlobe. "It'll be nice... working with you."
Dice smiled. "We do work well together."
Peri lifted her head and brushed her lips across Dice's before kissing her properly. She rolled over and covered Dice's body with her own before rising up, the blanket sliding off her back and leaving her exposed to the warm air of the bedroom.
"Now... what exactly happened in the dream you mentioned? Spare no details."
Dice smiled and began to intricately describe what she could remember.
VII
The old part of New Amsterdam was hazardous in more ways than one. Dice didn't carry her ditmarks with her, and she made sure pistol was fully loaded. She had a knife in her boot, the hilt resting reassuringly against her calf. The buildings in this area were mostly left to rot; some brick walls rose and ended in jagged, crumbling lines, and others formed unfinished squares like dollhouses. Dice wore gloves and a long-sleeved leather jacket over her jerkin to prevent getting cut on metal and stonework. The goggles she wore for exterior work at high altitudes now protected her from blowing dust and debris.
Peri was swimming in a jacket borrowed from Paul, and her eyes were protected by a pair of regular sunglasses as she trailed behind Dice on the ravaged road. Six weeks after Dice proposed introducing her to the Ruffians, a Newams barracks requested extra hands during an unexpected baby boom following a city-wide power outage. Peri volunteered to be relocated and met with Paul and Micah on her own. She agreed to help however she could, and soon she was making frequent trips into town. By the time the Tamerlane returned to the New Amsterdam docks, Peri was well-known around the townhouse.
The day of their trip into the cordoned-off area of Newams, Peri was off duty in anticipation of Dice's layover, and the Tamerlane was undergoing a bit of maintenance at the docks. They were gifted with seven hours of time to do with as they wished, and they turned into preteens let out of school early.
They were seeking out a sight Micah had told her about. She had the map, but Dice was leading the way in case they ran into security officials or, more likely this deep into the cordoned area, gangs of thieves. They were both about ready to admit failure when Dice spotted a chain-link fence around a broken and weed-choked concrete yard. The grass had grown almost as high as the broken windows, and in places the brick had broken and crumbled into small piles of red ash, but the carved words arching over the front steps were still legible.
"Thomas Alva Edison High Shool," Dice said. "My father told me about shools."
"I think it's pronounced skool. Like schooner."
Dice shook her head. "My father said shool. Like schilling or schedule."
Peri shrugged and followed Dice up the front steps. The doors were padlocked, but Dice stepped onto one of the flat concrete walls that would have prevented the students from tumbling into the garden and kicked away the remaining shards of glass from a window. She ducked inside, careful not to cut herself before she reached back to offer Peri her hand.
Dice let her goggles hang loosely around her neck as she looked around the shadowy interior. They were standing in a wide main corridor, halls branching off like tributaries that led deeper into the brick shell. Metal lockboxes stood in rows along the wall. Dice managed to get one of them open, wincing at the rusted squeal of hinges as she looked into the long-ago emptied storage box. "I wonder what they kept in here."
"I don't know." Peri had moved further down the hall to peer into classrooms. Dice left the lockbox door open and followed her. She felt like she was walking through a cemetery. The air felt completely undisturbed and full of potential at the same time, making Dice feel like someone was always just behind her, just out of her line of sight.
Peri opened a door, and both women leapt back as some sort of furred creature burst out of its burrow. They could hear the scrape of tiny claws on the tile before it disappeared around the corner, trailing a long and whipping tail as it vanished.
"What the hell was that?"
"I don't think I want to know." Dice swallowed and waited for her heart to slow down before she pushed away from the wall and joined Peri in the doorway. Chairs with flat wooden writing surfaces were stacked haphazardly against the far wall, blocking the window but letting the sun shine through their thin metal legs.
"Do you think it's true?"
Dice didn't know why Peri was whispering, but she discovered she was, too. "The stories? No." She just couldn't imagine children being lined up and marched into a building where they spent the majority of their day learning. Learning everything. Mathematics, science, history... it made no sense. Who would establish something like that? Hell, who would staff it? Volunteers?
"So what do you think these sch-- these shools were used for?"
"They were Archives. This is where they wrote the literature. Once everything got written, they put it on disc and shut the shools down. There are still some, for updates and additions for the history and science literature, but they don't need these big institutions anymore."
"Hm."
Dice said, "You don't agree?"
"No. But I don't have any better theory. I can't see this place filled with children, either."
"There's also the name on the outside. Thomas Alva."
Peri made a disgusted sound and followed Dice out of the classroom. They wandered down the corridor, finding the occasional locked door or room so full of garbage that they couldn't get inside. At the end of the hall, they found three double-doors that all led into the same, massive room. Rows of metallic benches rose on either side of the hardwood floor, which was marked with lines designating different sections.
"I don't like it here," Peri said, her voice dropping even lower. She gripped Dice's elbow and backed toward the door.
Dice let herself be pulled out of the room, and Peri shut the door. "Sorry."
"No, I'm with you. This entire place is creepy." She guided Peri back the way they had come. "Let's go back to the townhouse. We'll ask Paul if we can borrow one of the bedrooms. Preferably the one with the big four-poster bed and the--"
Something fell.
The sound of its clatter echoed down the corridors, obviously originating from far elsewhere, but both of them stopped dead in their tracks. Peri stepped closer to Dice, who wrapped her fingers around the grip of her pistol. "It's okay," she said to Peri's unspoken fear. "It's probably just that animal we ran into when we first got here. It's as scared as we are, and it's just looking for a way out."
"Right."
Dice took her hand. "Come on. Follow me."
They backtracked, moving faster now that they weren't peeking through glass or trying doors to see if they were locked. A cloud had passed in front of the sun, and the light filtering through the windows turned steely and gray. They were nearly to the front window and Dice was just allowing herself to relax when she heard footsteps on the tile ahead of them. They could still make it to the window. She sped up, and Peri hurried to keep pace with her. They were almost to the window when the man appeared.
"Aw, see? I told you, Ike. We scared 'em off."
Dice stopped moving. Peri twisted and tapped two fingers against the back of Dice's arm. Two more behind us, Dice translated. The man she was facing had a thick red beard and wore a hooded sweatshirt over what looked like several layers of other clothes. He was at least a foot taller than her, with the barrel chest of a boxer and the stomach of a boxer gone to seed. Even if he was out of shape, he could crush her and Peri both without much strain. His shovel-sized hands hung open by his sides, but his posture was anything but casual.
"We didn't mean to overstep any boundaries. We didn't know this was someone else's territory. We were just curious."
Redbeard nodded as if that was perfectly understandable. "Well, sure. It's not like we have a sign posted or anything. I like your goggles. Airskip?"
"Yeah."
"What's your ship called?"
"Annabel Lee."
"Hm." He squinted at the ceiling for a moment. "Don't recall ever seeing that on the registry. You wouldn't be lying to me, would you?"
Dice smiled. "Why would I lie? It's not like you're going to kill me, then head down to the docks and loot my cargo hold."
He laughed, showing a mouth of rotten teeth. "Exactly. Ain't like that at all. We're just friendly citizens trying to figure out who is trespassing on our property."
Peri said, "We were just curious. We've never been inside a shool before."
The men laughed uproariously, even the two behind Dice that had until then remained silent. Redbeard shook his head. "Hear that Ike? Shool."
Dice's face burned with humiliation. They were laughing at Peri because of her. "Sir, we just want to leave this place and go back home."
"And where would that be? Maybe we could escort you. There's worse than wolves out there, and a lot of 'em don't wait for dark 'fore they come out hunting."
"No. We can take care of ourselves."
"All due respect, Miss Airskip... I don't think you can. Because right now you're in a locked building with some very dangerous people."
Dice shrugged. "Maybe. But I have an advantage that's keeping me safe." She drew her pistol and aimed it between his eyes. "I don't want to fuck you before you die, so I'll fight dirtier. Your men will want to keep us presentable. At least for the first few hours. Right?"
Redbeard pursed his lips as if he was doing complex math in his head.
"You want to break our will. Make us bend. But me? I can just shoot you." She cocked the weapon.
Peri bent her knees, dropping with a dancer's grace, and pulled the knife free from the sheath on Dice's boot. By the time the brigands realized what she'd done, she had the blade aimed at their faces. She shifted her weight and turned sideways, presenting a smaller target as she moved to stand against Dice's back. Dice spoke to her without breaking eye contact with Redbeard.
"You want to switch? I can take the duo and you take Redbeard?"
"No, I'm fine."
Dice nodded. "Okay. Turn around and go back to wherever you were hiding, Redbeard. Take your pals with you. That's the only way you get out of this unbloody."
"Two against three. Two women against three men. Two beautiful woman against three horny men. Do you like those odds, Airskip? Because bigger women than you have tried, and they all ended up in my bed sooner or later."
"That may be true, but I kick harder than the local livestock."
Redbeard moved closer. "I'd watch my mouth if I was you, girlie. See, I don't mind bruised goods. And when they put up a fight, well, hell. That just gets my blood up."
Dice reached back with her left hand and touched Peri's hip. "Peri?"
"Yes?"
"Cut 'em."
Peri lunged away from Dice, and Dice dropped her aim. She fired at Redbeard's torso as he ducked to one side, as she knew he would. A shot to the head would have missed, but he was too wide to get completely out of the way. The bullet hit him in the chest and he rocked on one leg. Dice shifted her aim and this time fired at his head as she'd originally planned. He didn't move as fast, and he fell like a marionette with cut strings.
Dice spun on the ball of one foot and assessed the situation behind her. Peri had sliced through the hand of one man, who was too busy trying to staunch the bleeding to attack her. The other man had hold of Peri's wrist and was trying to twist her hand until she dropped the knife. Dice fired and hit him in the knee. When he released Peri, Dice silenced his screaming with a bullet to the chest.
Peri threw her weight against the last man standing and slammed him into the wall of lockboxes. She pressed the blade of her knife against his throat and showed him her teeth. Her face was red, and sweat trickled down either side of her face as she leaned in close. "You feel that, what my knife is touching? That's carrying blood directly to your brain. I cut it, you live but barely. You can't speak, can't walk, can't even control your bowels. Your buddies will have to clean up after you. Wipe your ass when you shit. You understand me, you waste of air?"
He glared at her, but he pressed harder against the wall.
"How many men?"
"Twelve."
Dice looked over her shoulder as if she expected them to materialize behind her. "Where are they?"
"Out hunting. North of here. They've been gone all day."
Peri said, "North. Are you sure?"
The barrel of Dice's gun notched perfectly into the divot between the punk's eye and his nose. "Think long and hard about your directions, son."
"North. They went north. There's a back way into the harbor from there. We root through boats. We stay away from airships usually, when we can manage it, but you just fell into our laps, so what--"
Peri pulled back as if she'd read Dice's mind, and Dice flipped her gun around. She swung the butt of it down against the side of the punk's head, and he dropped faster than Redbeard. She turned to Peri, adrenaline making her twitchy, and said, "Come on."
They scrambled through the same window they'd used to gain entrance, checked the road to the north, and ran south as fast as they could and as far as they could without stopping to rest. When they finally did stop, Dice grabbed Peri almost frantically and examined her hands, arms and face for injuries or marks.
"Are you okay? Did they hurt you? Where are you hurt?"
"I'm okay," Peri said. She could barely manage to gasp, eventually grabbing Dice's hands and pulling them away. "Candice. I'm fine. They didn't get near me."
Dice visibly relaxed and, a second later, smothered Peri with a fierce kiss. Peri backpedaled until her back was against the wall, clutching to Dice as if she was afraid she was about to fall. Dice pulled back and kissed her way down Peri's neck, and Peri made a guttural noise of arousal as she clawed at Dice's clothes.
"What are we doing?"
"Checking for injuries," Dice gasped.
Peri laughed. "Sounds good to me..."
They kissed again as they sank to the rubble for a frenzied affirmation that they had survived the encounter in New Amsterdam's badlands.
This chapter involves sexy sexiness of quite a few varieties. M/M, F/F, M/F, M/F/F... get your dainty frilled fans at the ready to wave at your faces! Warning, Part VII has a threat of sexual violence against women. Potentially triggery, reader discretion advised!
VI
She dreamed, perhaps unsurprisingly, of Peri. They were in the Nursery, but there was only one bed in the vast and darkened space. Dice's ankles were in the stirrups, but she was comfortable and relaxed as Peri climbed onto the foot of the bed and knelt between her thighs. She was nude. She rested her hands on Dice's knees and ran them down, stroking the inside of Dice's legs before covering her sex. She smiled and then Peri was inside of her. Dice closed her eyes in the dream as Peri, somehow, penetrated her. She pushed down to meet her, and Peri began to thrust gently.
When Peri came, Dice looked down to see her abdomen swelling.
I told you I would help you get back your son, Peri said without moving her mouth. She bent down to kiss Dice, and Dice woke at the moment their lips touched.
She was still asleep on the couch, and still fully dressed she was delighted to discover. Cecily and Isaiah were curled together in the window seat, their bodies arranged so that neither was exposed. Even though they had exhausted themselves, there were more couples who seemed to think the night was just getting started. She stared for a long moment at her friends' serene sleep before she pushed herself up and wandered out of the living room to the stairs.
The bathroom was on the third floor with the bedrooms. She used the toilet and splashed her face at the sink. The debauchery seemed confined to the ground floor, so she decided to try one of the bedrooms for actual sleeping. The first two doors she tried were locked, but the third opened with a quiet click. She started into the darkness, but pulled back when she heard a soft sigh of pleasure coming from within. She backed up and lifted her eyes to utter an apology, but it was never spoken.
Paul and Micah were together on the bed, nude and facing each other. Paul's hand was between their bodies, and Micah's hands were on the back of Paul's head as they thrust their hips together. Frozen, Dice stared at the men though she knew the proper thing would be to back up silently and leave them to their privacy. But they were so perfectly imperfect. Paul was a little soft in the middle, with scars along his arms and torso. Micah was lean but not toned. They were both beautiful to her.
Paul's hand was cradling their cocks together as their hips moved in a matching rhythm. Dice pressed a hand against her own crotch as they kissed and Paul whispered something to Micah. He nodded and they pulled apart, Micah's erection swinging as he turned around. He flattened his hands against the headboard as Paul pressed tight against him, one hand guiding his cock over the curve of his ass.
Micah's back arched, and Paul bent down to kiss his shoulder. Dice backed out into the hallway as Paul stroked Micah's hip and then put an arm around his waist. Micah's moans grew louder as Paul moved faster, pushing inside of him. Dice felt cheated that so much of what was happening was lost in shadows and bad angles, but she was getting enough. She felt the warmth spreading through her lower body, one hand massaging her breast through her shirt without her realizing. She cupped herself as Micah gasped Paul's name, and then Paul lifted his chin and began the frantic grunts of impending orgasm.
Micah lifted up and Dice saw him spurt against the pillows, and Paul stiffened. "God, Mike," he groaned, his hips flush against the curve of Micah's ass, and then he stroked his hand up the center of Micah's back and squeezed his shoulder. Dice left the door open as she backed away, knowing they would hear the click of it closing now that they weren't so distracted. She retreated downstairs, strong in her resolve to be faithful to Peri.
Masturbation, however, didn't count. It couldn't count. She passed through the parlor where a woman - the brunette in the red shirt she'd seen talking to Paul - was receiving oral sex from a muscular man with dreadlocks, blushing as she found the back door and burst through it. The night air was cool on her face and smelled so clear after the den of sweat and sex she'd just escaped.
She pressed her back against the brick of the house and quickly unfastened her trousers. She didn't bother to lower them as she pushed a hand into her underwear. She closed her eyes and pictured Peri, her uniform top undone just enough for a hint of her lacy underwear to show, her hair down and spilling over one bare shoulder like an auburn waterfall.
Dice parted her lips and kissed the air, pretending Peri was there but just out of reach. She used two fingers, remembering the dream of an endowed Peri slowly fucking her, and let the breeze take her soft sigh of arousal. Her knees bent toward each other, her shoulders hunched, and she rolled her hips against the brick wall as she came.
Her hair was stuck to her forehead and she waited until the sweat evaporated before she hauled her pants back up and fastened them. She looked up at the stars and closed her eyes, wishing she and Peri weren't so far apart. Through the open door she heard the woman in the red shirt being brought to orgasm by her dreadlocked lover and waited until they fell silent before she went back inside.
She had fallen asleep once while the entire house was having sex around her, and she was determined to do it again.
#
Dice woke the next morning on the stairs, trying to identify the source of her headache even before she opened her eyes. It was half hangover, half the awkwardness of sleeping on the chairs, and half sleep-deprivation. The throbbing in her head was vast enough to encompass three halves, so she didn't bother correcting herself as she grabbed the balustrade and pulled until she was seated on one of the lower steps. Someone was coming down the stairs, the vibrations most likely playing a part in her being awake. She twisted and saw Micah descending, unable to stop herself from blushing and glancing at his crotch before turning away.
If he noticed or was embarrassed, he didn't show it. "Sorry. I was trying to step lightly."
"It's okay. What time is it?"
"Almost seven."
He offered her a hand, and she gripped his wrist to pull herself up. His hair was mussed, and his untucked shirt was unbuttoned to reveal the flat, hairless chest she'd gotten a glimpse of the night before. She followed him from the foyer into the parlor and saw that the other guests were taking stock of the night's damage as well. Isaiah had recovered his pants but was still bare-chested as he sat on the window seat. Cecily was curled into a ball behind him, a shirt draped over her hips to protect her modesty.
Micah led her into the kitchen. The dreadlocked man and his brunette lover had acquired a third member for their celebrations, a dark-skinned woman with red hair who was curled with the brunette. Micah noticed her watching them and spoke quietly: "Robert, Cora, and I guess Sarah finally accepted their invitation to join them. Good for them. Want to help with breakfast?"
"My assistance should be kept to a minimum unless you want to give these people food poisoning."
"It's more of an attempted cure than actual breakfast. You scramble the eggs, I'll make up some chili."
"Chili and eggs?"
Micah shrugged as they entered the kitchen. "Paul swears by it."
The kitchen was larger than she would have expected. The exposed brick walls were painted white to match the tile floor. Gleaming ovens and stoves stood in a line along one wall, and various utensils dangled over two islands in the center of the room. Micah went to the pantry while Dice opened the icebox and found eggs stacked on a shelf inside; it seemed like they had prepared well for their party.
She took out one carton and placed it on the stove. When Micah returned, she cleared her throat. "You and Paul are pretty close, I guess."
He paused for just a second as his mind made the connection, and he smiled as he placed the chili ingredients on the counter. "I knew we closed that door."
"Sorry."
"No, don't be. Nikola Night is a celebration of sharing and openness. It also happens to be the anniversary of the night Paul and I first got together."
Dice smiled. "Happy belated anniversary."
"Thank you. There's no reason to be sorry. I just hope you, ah..."
"Enjoyed the show? Yeah. Yes. Definitely had my full attention."
Micah turned away, but she was certain he'd blushed. They started breakfast when Paul finally appeared. "Morning. I was right about the door. Dice is the one who opened it."
"Aha. Voyeur." He put his arm around Micah's waist and pressed against him from behind. He kissed Micah's neck and then winked at Dice. "Did you get the full show?"
"I got enough, but I could have sat through an encore."
"Well, who knows. There's always next time." He patted Micah on the butt and examined the progress of the food. "I'll go make sure everyone survived the night and let them know brekkie's on the way." He winked at Dice before he left the kitchen.
Dice moved the eggs around with the edge of her spatula. "So I guess since you guys got together on... Nikola Night? I guess it's always that festive."
"That's one word for it. But yeah, we tend to let our inhibitions go."
"How do you deal with birth control?"
Micah scratched his neck. "The usual. Sheaths and pills go a long way. Occasionally there will be a pregnancy that either has to be explained or... dealt with."
Dice tensed. "You mean... dealt with."
"The parents could lie, or they could risk the same thing that happened with your son if either of them becomes exposed as a... Ruffian. It's not ideal, but sometimes it's the safest option. Midwives have questions, and they only work inside the frame of Administrations and bases. Parentage has to be documented in order for mothers to get care, and that can be risky when you're living like we are." He gestured toward the kitchen. "Take Isaiah and your friend Cecily. If she got pregnant, she would have to explain how she knew him. It could put the entire operation at risk, so it would be better if she just..."
He closed his eyes and leaned against the stove.
"I'm not saying I like it," he said softly. "Of course I would prefer an alternative."
Dice transferred the eggs to a plate as she considered the idea forming in her mind. "What if I could give you one?" Micah looked at her. "My lover is a Midwife. I actually met her when I was pregnant with Linus. I could ask if she's willing to help out, maybe share some information on prenatal care."
Micah straightened. "Your partner is a Midwife? Why didn't you tell us? Paul told you about what we found, right?"
"The encryptions. Yes, he mentioned that--"
"She would be able to read them. She could cut years off the search for your son."
Dice was well aware of that. She was silent for a long time before she risked speaking. "She's taking a big enough risk just sleeping with me. If the government finds out she's part of this, and if she starts sharing information, she could... she could end up..." She held up her left hand to show the missing finger. "I'm sorry. And I'm so happy to have found this place. No offense, but I wanted to keep her as far away from this place as possible."
"I understand. I don't think any of us would be here if we were given a choice. What changed your mind?"
Dice shrugged. "The women who end their pregnancies. I'm sure some of them are fine with the choice. But if even one of them makes the choice just because she has to, then I have to do what I can to help them. I'll talk to Peri."
"Thank you. We appreciate it. There aren't any pregnancies at the moment that I'm aware of, but if she could teach a few of our more medically-minded members what to do in case of an emergency."
"Anything I can do to help."
Cecily stumbled into the doorway, wrapped in an oversized jacket that, though buttoned, left no doubt that she was still naked underneath it. "I either need something extraordinarily greasy... or a gun."
Micah smiled. "Why don't we try the greasy food cure first?"
Cecily grunted and pulled up a stool. She looked at Dice, furrowed her brow, and sat up straighter. "Oh."
"It's okay."
"Right. Still..."
"Another time and place, it would have been a definite yes. So don't worry about it."
Cecily nodded, hissed, and touched her forehead. Micah put a plate of chili and eggs in front of her and she eyed it without much hope. "Have the gun ready, just in case."
"Yes, ma'am."
#
"You really, really should have fucked them."
Dice smiled and brushed her lips over Peri's forehead. "But I couldn't stop thinking about you. You were so good the whole four months I was away."
"Sure, but I wasn't at an orgy in New Amsterdam. Ninety percent of my abstinence was a lack of opportunity, trust me. Not a lot of flirting going on in the Nursery."
"That's where you met me."
"Well, you were pretty enough for me to make an extra effort."
Dice kissed Peri's nose. Nikola Night was two weeks in the past, but the memory of being sandwiched between Isaiah and Cecily. After "confessing," Peri made it clear that the next time she should go through with it and come back with details. Dice was stunned, then irritated that she had squandered the entire night. There was always next year, and if things went well, she would be attending the next celebration with Peri. And oh, the possibilities...
They were post-coital, wrapped loosely in the blankets of Peri's bed, and a music box was playing on the nightstand. It was a trinket Dice had picked up during a stopover in Conestoga. She was starting to get good at searching bazaars and markets near the Tamerlane's dockings for gifts. She never got anything particularly expensive or fancy; she knew whatever she brought back would be made special by Peri's reaction to it.
The evening was warm enough the windows were open, so Dice had to be careful about what they said. There were seldom security sweeps in the residential barracks, but they couldn't be too careful. Dice curled her fingers in Peri's hair and brought the strands to her face to smell her shampoo. "Speaking of Newams, some of my friends would like to meet you."
"Really?"
"If you're willing. They think it would be... enlightening."
Peri shifted, which made her naked thigh brush against Dice's stomach. "How would I even get there? I'm assigned here."
"You could ask for reassignment to a Newams base. I may be stationed here, but I'm up there just as often. You don't have to make a decision now. We could try to arrange some meetings between you and other members of the group."
Peri leaned down and nuzzled Dice's ear, brushing her short blonde hair away before she began to whisper. "If I can help, I want to. Do they want intelligence? About Midwifery?"
Dice nodded, her fingers tracing the soft skin of Peri's back.
"I'll meet with some of them, and if I'm convinced I can help, I'll arrange for a transfer." She kissed Dice's earlobe. "It'll be nice... working with you."
Dice smiled. "We do work well together."
Peri lifted her head and brushed her lips across Dice's before kissing her properly. She rolled over and covered Dice's body with her own before rising up, the blanket sliding off her back and leaving her exposed to the warm air of the bedroom.
"Now... what exactly happened in the dream you mentioned? Spare no details."
Dice smiled and began to intricately describe what she could remember.
VII
The old part of New Amsterdam was hazardous in more ways than one. Dice didn't carry her ditmarks with her, and she made sure pistol was fully loaded. She had a knife in her boot, the hilt resting reassuringly against her calf. The buildings in this area were mostly left to rot; some brick walls rose and ended in jagged, crumbling lines, and others formed unfinished squares like dollhouses. Dice wore gloves and a long-sleeved leather jacket over her jerkin to prevent getting cut on metal and stonework. The goggles she wore for exterior work at high altitudes now protected her from blowing dust and debris.
Peri was swimming in a jacket borrowed from Paul, and her eyes were protected by a pair of regular sunglasses as she trailed behind Dice on the ravaged road. Six weeks after Dice proposed introducing her to the Ruffians, a Newams barracks requested extra hands during an unexpected baby boom following a city-wide power outage. Peri volunteered to be relocated and met with Paul and Micah on her own. She agreed to help however she could, and soon she was making frequent trips into town. By the time the Tamerlane returned to the New Amsterdam docks, Peri was well-known around the townhouse.
The day of their trip into the cordoned-off area of Newams, Peri was off duty in anticipation of Dice's layover, and the Tamerlane was undergoing a bit of maintenance at the docks. They were gifted with seven hours of time to do with as they wished, and they turned into preteens let out of school early.
They were seeking out a sight Micah had told her about. She had the map, but Dice was leading the way in case they ran into security officials or, more likely this deep into the cordoned area, gangs of thieves. They were both about ready to admit failure when Dice spotted a chain-link fence around a broken and weed-choked concrete yard. The grass had grown almost as high as the broken windows, and in places the brick had broken and crumbled into small piles of red ash, but the carved words arching over the front steps were still legible.
"Thomas Alva Edison High Shool," Dice said. "My father told me about shools."
"I think it's pronounced skool. Like schooner."
Dice shook her head. "My father said shool. Like schilling or schedule."
Peri shrugged and followed Dice up the front steps. The doors were padlocked, but Dice stepped onto one of the flat concrete walls that would have prevented the students from tumbling into the garden and kicked away the remaining shards of glass from a window. She ducked inside, careful not to cut herself before she reached back to offer Peri her hand.
Dice let her goggles hang loosely around her neck as she looked around the shadowy interior. They were standing in a wide main corridor, halls branching off like tributaries that led deeper into the brick shell. Metal lockboxes stood in rows along the wall. Dice managed to get one of them open, wincing at the rusted squeal of hinges as she looked into the long-ago emptied storage box. "I wonder what they kept in here."
"I don't know." Peri had moved further down the hall to peer into classrooms. Dice left the lockbox door open and followed her. She felt like she was walking through a cemetery. The air felt completely undisturbed and full of potential at the same time, making Dice feel like someone was always just behind her, just out of her line of sight.
Peri opened a door, and both women leapt back as some sort of furred creature burst out of its burrow. They could hear the scrape of tiny claws on the tile before it disappeared around the corner, trailing a long and whipping tail as it vanished.
"What the hell was that?"
"I don't think I want to know." Dice swallowed and waited for her heart to slow down before she pushed away from the wall and joined Peri in the doorway. Chairs with flat wooden writing surfaces were stacked haphazardly against the far wall, blocking the window but letting the sun shine through their thin metal legs.
"Do you think it's true?"
Dice didn't know why Peri was whispering, but she discovered she was, too. "The stories? No." She just couldn't imagine children being lined up and marched into a building where they spent the majority of their day learning. Learning everything. Mathematics, science, history... it made no sense. Who would establish something like that? Hell, who would staff it? Volunteers?
"So what do you think these sch-- these shools were used for?"
"They were Archives. This is where they wrote the literature. Once everything got written, they put it on disc and shut the shools down. There are still some, for updates and additions for the history and science literature, but they don't need these big institutions anymore."
"Hm."
Dice said, "You don't agree?"
"No. But I don't have any better theory. I can't see this place filled with children, either."
"There's also the name on the outside. Thomas Alva."
Peri made a disgusted sound and followed Dice out of the classroom. They wandered down the corridor, finding the occasional locked door or room so full of garbage that they couldn't get inside. At the end of the hall, they found three double-doors that all led into the same, massive room. Rows of metallic benches rose on either side of the hardwood floor, which was marked with lines designating different sections.
"I don't like it here," Peri said, her voice dropping even lower. She gripped Dice's elbow and backed toward the door.
Dice let herself be pulled out of the room, and Peri shut the door. "Sorry."
"No, I'm with you. This entire place is creepy." She guided Peri back the way they had come. "Let's go back to the townhouse. We'll ask Paul if we can borrow one of the bedrooms. Preferably the one with the big four-poster bed and the--"
Something fell.
The sound of its clatter echoed down the corridors, obviously originating from far elsewhere, but both of them stopped dead in their tracks. Peri stepped closer to Dice, who wrapped her fingers around the grip of her pistol. "It's okay," she said to Peri's unspoken fear. "It's probably just that animal we ran into when we first got here. It's as scared as we are, and it's just looking for a way out."
"Right."
Dice took her hand. "Come on. Follow me."
They backtracked, moving faster now that they weren't peeking through glass or trying doors to see if they were locked. A cloud had passed in front of the sun, and the light filtering through the windows turned steely and gray. They were nearly to the front window and Dice was just allowing herself to relax when she heard footsteps on the tile ahead of them. They could still make it to the window. She sped up, and Peri hurried to keep pace with her. They were almost to the window when the man appeared.
"Aw, see? I told you, Ike. We scared 'em off."
Dice stopped moving. Peri twisted and tapped two fingers against the back of Dice's arm. Two more behind us, Dice translated. The man she was facing had a thick red beard and wore a hooded sweatshirt over what looked like several layers of other clothes. He was at least a foot taller than her, with the barrel chest of a boxer and the stomach of a boxer gone to seed. Even if he was out of shape, he could crush her and Peri both without much strain. His shovel-sized hands hung open by his sides, but his posture was anything but casual.
"We didn't mean to overstep any boundaries. We didn't know this was someone else's territory. We were just curious."
Redbeard nodded as if that was perfectly understandable. "Well, sure. It's not like we have a sign posted or anything. I like your goggles. Airskip?"
"Yeah."
"What's your ship called?"
"Annabel Lee."
"Hm." He squinted at the ceiling for a moment. "Don't recall ever seeing that on the registry. You wouldn't be lying to me, would you?"
Dice smiled. "Why would I lie? It's not like you're going to kill me, then head down to the docks and loot my cargo hold."
He laughed, showing a mouth of rotten teeth. "Exactly. Ain't like that at all. We're just friendly citizens trying to figure out who is trespassing on our property."
Peri said, "We were just curious. We've never been inside a shool before."
The men laughed uproariously, even the two behind Dice that had until then remained silent. Redbeard shook his head. "Hear that Ike? Shool."
Dice's face burned with humiliation. They were laughing at Peri because of her. "Sir, we just want to leave this place and go back home."
"And where would that be? Maybe we could escort you. There's worse than wolves out there, and a lot of 'em don't wait for dark 'fore they come out hunting."
"No. We can take care of ourselves."
"All due respect, Miss Airskip... I don't think you can. Because right now you're in a locked building with some very dangerous people."
Dice shrugged. "Maybe. But I have an advantage that's keeping me safe." She drew her pistol and aimed it between his eyes. "I don't want to fuck you before you die, so I'll fight dirtier. Your men will want to keep us presentable. At least for the first few hours. Right?"
Redbeard pursed his lips as if he was doing complex math in his head.
"You want to break our will. Make us bend. But me? I can just shoot you." She cocked the weapon.
Peri bent her knees, dropping with a dancer's grace, and pulled the knife free from the sheath on Dice's boot. By the time the brigands realized what she'd done, she had the blade aimed at their faces. She shifted her weight and turned sideways, presenting a smaller target as she moved to stand against Dice's back. Dice spoke to her without breaking eye contact with Redbeard.
"You want to switch? I can take the duo and you take Redbeard?"
"No, I'm fine."
Dice nodded. "Okay. Turn around and go back to wherever you were hiding, Redbeard. Take your pals with you. That's the only way you get out of this unbloody."
"Two against three. Two women against three men. Two beautiful woman against three horny men. Do you like those odds, Airskip? Because bigger women than you have tried, and they all ended up in my bed sooner or later."
"That may be true, but I kick harder than the local livestock."
Redbeard moved closer. "I'd watch my mouth if I was you, girlie. See, I don't mind bruised goods. And when they put up a fight, well, hell. That just gets my blood up."
Dice reached back with her left hand and touched Peri's hip. "Peri?"
"Yes?"
"Cut 'em."
Peri lunged away from Dice, and Dice dropped her aim. She fired at Redbeard's torso as he ducked to one side, as she knew he would. A shot to the head would have missed, but he was too wide to get completely out of the way. The bullet hit him in the chest and he rocked on one leg. Dice shifted her aim and this time fired at his head as she'd originally planned. He didn't move as fast, and he fell like a marionette with cut strings.
Dice spun on the ball of one foot and assessed the situation behind her. Peri had sliced through the hand of one man, who was too busy trying to staunch the bleeding to attack her. The other man had hold of Peri's wrist and was trying to twist her hand until she dropped the knife. Dice fired and hit him in the knee. When he released Peri, Dice silenced his screaming with a bullet to the chest.
Peri threw her weight against the last man standing and slammed him into the wall of lockboxes. She pressed the blade of her knife against his throat and showed him her teeth. Her face was red, and sweat trickled down either side of her face as she leaned in close. "You feel that, what my knife is touching? That's carrying blood directly to your brain. I cut it, you live but barely. You can't speak, can't walk, can't even control your bowels. Your buddies will have to clean up after you. Wipe your ass when you shit. You understand me, you waste of air?"
He glared at her, but he pressed harder against the wall.
"How many men?"
"Twelve."
Dice looked over her shoulder as if she expected them to materialize behind her. "Where are they?"
"Out hunting. North of here. They've been gone all day."
Peri said, "North. Are you sure?"
The barrel of Dice's gun notched perfectly into the divot between the punk's eye and his nose. "Think long and hard about your directions, son."
"North. They went north. There's a back way into the harbor from there. We root through boats. We stay away from airships usually, when we can manage it, but you just fell into our laps, so what--"
Peri pulled back as if she'd read Dice's mind, and Dice flipped her gun around. She swung the butt of it down against the side of the punk's head, and he dropped faster than Redbeard. She turned to Peri, adrenaline making her twitchy, and said, "Come on."
They scrambled through the same window they'd used to gain entrance, checked the road to the north, and ran south as fast as they could and as far as they could without stopping to rest. When they finally did stop, Dice grabbed Peri almost frantically and examined her hands, arms and face for injuries or marks.
"Are you okay? Did they hurt you? Where are you hurt?"
"I'm okay," Peri said. She could barely manage to gasp, eventually grabbing Dice's hands and pulling them away. "Candice. I'm fine. They didn't get near me."
Dice visibly relaxed and, a second later, smothered Peri with a fierce kiss. Peri backpedaled until her back was against the wall, clutching to Dice as if she was afraid she was about to fall. Dice pulled back and kissed her way down Peri's neck, and Peri made a guttural noise of arousal as she clawed at Dice's clothes.
"What are we doing?"
"Checking for injuries," Dice gasped.
Peri laughed. "Sounds good to me..."
They kissed again as they sank to the rubble for a frenzied affirmation that they had survived the encounter in New Amsterdam's badlands.