Genesis or Exodus
Chapter 16
The only sound within the confines of the research vessel was mechanical. The rumble of the engine's, the rattle of supplies as they descended through the upper atmosphere of Old Earth and the sporadic beeping of the navigational apparatus. Lauren's breath hitched at the unexpected sight through the large front window panels.
"Looks like we are a tad overdressed, oh omniscient one," Mackenzie drawled with a derisive snort, the verbal jab clearly aimed at The Matriarch.
Bo turned from her spot beside Lauren and gave her best friend and second in command a pointed stare. "Don't make me regret letting you out of the brig, Malikov!"
Mackenzie raised her arms and gave her friend a look of mild contrition. "I'm sorry, but obviously the intel was wrong. You must be seeing what I am."
Bo turned back to the view in front of them. "Matriarch?" Bo unzipped and removed the Thermal cold weather parka, tossing it aside. "Malikov's attitude aside, she isn't wrong. We seem to be severely overdressed." Bo gave Lauren's hand a squeeze out of view from her squad in a show of support.
Lauren didn't take her eyes off the terrain they were flying above. What should have been Arctic tundra was instead a lush tropical rainforest. "There haven't been any expeditions to this part of the planet for hundreds if not thousands of cycles. Antarctica was a virtually uninhabited ice-covered landmass. This is a huge surprise. Vex how far are we from the coordinates I gave you?"
The medic and pilot took in the navigational apparatus on his control panel. "We are approaching them now, but there isn't an area large enough to set this bucket down. We are going to have to schlep a few clicks through that jungle to get there. There are no structures showing up on my sensors though, Matriarch. Are you sure there is something down there?"
"The facility was largely underground. Very secret, very valuable. A billionaire who was convinced the world was going to end well before it actually did face the demise of eighty-five percent of the global population. His legacy was continued well after his death through a foundation he set up with unlimited resources passed from a group of loyal scientists and interplanetary Explorers, including several keepers. Though the human scientists never knew. They would change their bodies under the guise of mentor and students so that their work was never interrupted. From what information I could gather there was some kind of accident and the site went dark and that was several decades after the great purge. I don't know what we are going to find, especially with the discovery of the altered terrain. Put her down as close as you can, Vex. We can use one of the hover carts to help transport the equipment. The new climate will at least help us to travel lighter." Lauren finally turned and gave Bo her undivided attention. "This is really important to my work, Commander. I need you and your team to get me to that research facility. It's imperative. If I can salvage even a small percentage of the research data... If there is a chance that there are experimental resources still viable in that facility..." The Matriarchs voice trailed off.
"We'll get you there. Vex land this bucket. Malikov, Hammer, get changed into your regular gear and make sure to pack some light armour and portable shields. We don't know what's out there, be prepared for anything. We'll need the energy swords to cut a path through that dense vegetation." Bo turned back to Lauren. "Can you show me what is crucial to take with us. I know you'd love to take the entire lab, but that won't be possible. Do you have any lighter weight clothing to change into?"
The blonde didn't say anything, just gave Bo an affirmative nod before turning around and heading towards one of two private rooms off the main fuselage. Lauren tingled beneath the layers of clothing and it wasn't from the insulation that had her heating up. Her body flared with arousal with the commanding leadership Bo exuded. She was strong and self assured in her abilities. Bo was remarkable and she made Lauren experience things she had never encountered in her long life. She started to strip off her gear until all she wore was her body suit. Lauren hadn't noticed that Bo had followed silently behind her. She was distracted not just by her physical reaction to Bo's commanding persona, but also at what she may find in that research facility.
The Matriarch let out a surprised yelp when a pair of hands ran up her back, over her shoulders and down her arms. She felt Bo's body press against her back and could tell that Bo was also wearing a lot less than she was. Holding Lauren's hands she brought them to rest against the blondes stomach in a hug of sorts. She felt Bo's breath tickle her hair resting against her ear. "You are so beautiful. It is hard to be so close to you and not reach out and touch you. What have you done to me Matriarch? I burn for you in the most delicious way imaginable."
Lauren leaned against the solid body pressed against her. Bo pressed her lips upon Lauren's neck just below her ear and she tilted her head allowing the soldier more access. The Matriarch felt like she may melt, her legs shaking slightly from Bo's kisses.
She wanted her mouth, needed to kiss her just once to take the edge off her arousal. There wasn't time for this, there wasn't the privacy and Lauren knew it was also incredibly dangerous for Bo if her control slipped and her essence seeped out. She didn't want to enslave the woman who was setting her body on fire. Lauren turned her head and met Bo's waiting mouth with her own, their hands had moved and the soldier was pressing the Matriarchs hands against her own breasts as they kissed. Lauren moaned and the sound was equal parts exquisite bliss and frustrated torture. Lauren broke the kiss and managed to pull away, disentangling their connected bodies and breathing heavily, her bosom heaving. "Not here, Bo. Heavenly celestial beings above, oh, how I want you, but we can't. Not here. Not now." Lauren's eyes dropped to the floor, her next words barely a whisper. If it wasn't for her superior hearing Bo wouldn't have heard it at all. "Maybe not ever."
Bo took a step to her, but the blonde countered the move. "I'm sorry. I know this isn't the time for this, but please don't give up on this. On us. I am stronger than you think and we will be together. I won't accept anything less than to have all of you. To feel all of you."
Lauren's head snapped up her eyes full of such strong emotions. Arousal. Hope. Desperation, but most notable fear and a little anger. "Even if you lose yourself in the process, becoming a mindless puppet that only lives to please me? No, that would kill me and even if you couldn't realise it would kill you too!"
They just stared at one another for several long moments until finally Bo gave a small nod and she took a deep calming breath. "You're right. I know you are. It's just so hard to not touch you and it isn't because I am under your thrall. It is just because of who you are and how you make me feel. Keep hope alive, Lauren because I care about you way too much to give up on what we could have. Please don't give up on us."
The Matriarch gave Bo a smile that reached her eyes and pushed the despair and sadness away. "I won't give up. I promise. There has to be a way. I just haven't found it yet." Lauren sighed, "but alas this isn't the time for this. We should..."
Vex's voice cut through the ship, "hold on to your hats ladies and gentlemen this is gonna be a tight squeeze!" The floor tilted a couple of time before the vessel settled with a groan and shudder against the planets surface. "Thank you for travelling with inter-galaxial airways. I hope you have had a pleasant trip."
Bo laughed and Lauren shook her head with a big smile at the pilots antics. "We best get organised," Lauren said, stepping forward and giving Bo a quick chaste kiss and an almost shy smile before she turned around and started rummaging around in a supply crate and pulling out several pieces of light armour to go over her body suit.
"Gods, this humidity is oppressive! I'm sweating like a pig!" Mackenzie grumbled as she helped Vex guide the hover cart behind Bruce.
"Do pigs even sweat?" Bruce said with a grunt as he hacked away at the vines and shrubs in front of him. Lauren followed behind the cart at a safe distance with Bo taking up the rear. Everyone except for The Matriarch and Bruce had their weapons at the ready.
"Actually no! Pigs sweat very little," The Matriarch answered cheerfully. She appeared unaffected by the wet heat surrounding them, her eyes glued to the hand-held scanner. "The readings I am getting are incredible. There seems to be a mix of species of flora and fauna that are not even native to this planet. Some signatures I have never even seen before. They are like hybrids of different planetary species both the animals and plant life."
"Well, as long as there aren't any huge predator surprises with huge fucking teeth," Mackenzie muttered under her breath.
"Where's your sense of adventure, Malikov?" Bo said with humour in her voice. They were all suffering in the heat, though Lauren appeared fresh faced and excited and it was keeping up her own mood because of it. The Commander wondered if it was because she was in the closest proximity to the keeper and her other worldly energy. "Just keep your eyes open and your guard up. Be ready for any.." Lauren had moved over to the right slightly, her eyes focused solely on the device in her hand.
Bo heard a soft almost whistle like something was travelling at high speed through the air. Instinct kicked in and Bo leaped towards Lauren grabbing her and putting herself between the Matriarch and the jungle. It happened in a split second and she felt three points of impact, one in the side and two in the back. Bo felt her momentum bringing Lauren to the ground, her own body acting as a shield. The Commander heard the commotion as her team activated the portable shields. A dome surrounding them. A distinct ping ping sounded as several more projectiles hit the barrier.
Bo could feel Lauren trying to get free from underneath her and she wanted to get up, but her limbs weren't responding. Her chest was getting increasingly tight and she was having trouble breathing. Her eyes were open and she could hear the commotion around her but that was all. She felt herself being lifted off of the struggling blonde beneath her. Bo looked over Lauren even as her breathing became more and more laboured to ensure that she wasn't hurt. She tried to speak, but her vocal cords seemed to be paralysed as well. Bruce placed his Commander on her stomach on the crates atop the cart. She heard Lauren's voice strong and steady, but she couldn't see anyone's face. She couldn't move her head so she saw everyone at chest height. The ping ping sound of projectiles bombarding the shield barrier continued.
"Don't touch them!" she heard Lauren say. "Vex! I need the mesh gloves from the kit. Now!"
Mackenzie's face came into view in front of Bo, her second in command crouching and tacking her Commanders unresponsive hand in her own. "Some kind of dart or thorn from a plant it looks like. It's pulsing as if still alive. Lauren's gonna get them out. Two pierced through your armour, the other through the gap and into your side."
"Take the one from her side first. It's probably pumping the most poison into her," Vex said urgently holding out a small metal box out to receive the projectiles.
Bo vision was starting to go dark around the edges. Her mouth was open slightly, she could hear herself trying to take a decent breath. Bo knew her nanites were the only thing keeping her alive right now. They were allowing her lungs to inflate just enough to stay alive as they tried to nullify the poison rushing through her cells.
"Stay with us, Bo Bo." That was the last thing she heard before she lost consciousness. Her lids remained open until Mackenzie gently closed them when Lauren assured her that her best friend wasn't dead, just unconscious. After safely removing the thorns and ensuring that the nanites were slowly counteracting the poison they continued through the jungle, Mackenzie now hacking away at the vegetation and Bruce guarding The Matriarch. Lauren's eyes and scanner now exclusively monitoring the soldier laying atop the supply crates on the hover cart. Lauren sighed with relief when she saw the occasional twitch of her fingers and the expansion of her chest as it became easier for the soldier to breath. Lauren knew she wouldn't be completely relieved until she saw Bo open her eyes and speak her name.
Bo opened heavy reluctant eyelids and took inventory of her new surroundings. She was nestled in a lightweight sleeping bag with her jacket acting as a pillow. The dome shaped energy tent was blanked out for complete privacy and security. If there were predators with sharp claws and teeth in the jungle surrounding them, they wouldn't be getting into this shelter. Bo presumed that the rest of her team were secured within the second tent they had packed.
Lauren was a few feet beside her pulling out several silver packets, which she presumed were rations. As if her observations of the possibility of food had awoken her stomach it let out a loud growl as if demanding to be fed.
Lauren's head snapped up at the sound and the relieved and loving smile that graced the Matriarch's face warmed Bo's heart with affection. Bo opened her mouth and only a little breathy rasp came out. Lauren wordlessly handed over a small cup of hydration fluid and Bo sipped at it her hand shaking so badly that Lauren helped hold it steady before trying again. "Lauren," Bo grimaced at the roughness of her voice. Encouraged to finish the cup, she drank it gratefully. "Thank you." Her voice sounding much improved she smiled. "Can I have some more? My head is pounding."
"Of course," Lauren responded softly, poring another cup of the light blue liquid from the pouch beside her. She once again helped hold the cup steady.
Bo was embarrassed and frustrated at appearing so weak in front of the Matriarch. As if reading Bo's mind Lauren rested a comforting hand on her shoulder and said, "Don't rush it. If it had been anyone else that took three of those poisonous thorns they'd be dead within minutes. There was enough poison injected into you to take down an entire herd of elephants!" Lauren exclaimed emphatically.
Bo frowned tilting her head to the side, "what the hell is an elephant?"
The Matriarchs eyes sparkled with delight as she pushed several buttons on the data bracelet attached to her wrist and several moments later a holographic image appeared above her wrist of a large animal with a really long nose and humongous ears shown to scale with a humanoid beside it. Bo let out a delighted snort at the strange looking creature. "It was this planets largest land animal. The big males weighing up to seven tonnes. So that should show you just how remarkable you really are Bo. I may hate the Galactic Alliance, but I am grateful for the nanites that reside within you. Anyone or anything else would have died. Your dexterity will continue to improve and you should be completely recovered by morning. Some food will help too. Here." Lauren grabbed one of the pouches and snapped the heating mechanism. After the heating process was complete she opened and passed the steaming meal to Bo along with an eating utensil.
The soldier wiggled awkwardly feeling incredibly uncoordinated until she was sitting more upright. Bo growled in frustration when her fingers refused to grip her spork firmly enough. "I feel like a child!"
Lauren set her own food aside and moved closer to Bo. She placed her hands over the frustrated woman's unsteady shaky ones and sent out some calming energy towards her. "Will you allow me the pleasure of feeding you?" Lauren enquired softly.
Bo blew out a frustrated breath and eyed the blonde with incredulous disbelief. "Yeah, a pleasure, sure!" she snorted with a shake of her head.
Lauren squeezed Bo's hands again, "Yes, a pleasure." Lauren's tone left no room for doubt. She meant every word she was saying. "Besides the fact that I care deeply for you, Commander Bo Dennis, this will be the second time that you have saved my life. Please let me do this for you." Bo saw no pity in Lauren's eyes only love and gratitude and she leaned forward and gave the caring woman a chaste kiss before pulling away and nodding her acquiesce.
Bo continued to notice an improvement of her motor skills as the night wore on. The sounds from the jungle outside were surprisingly calming despite the hidden dangers that may lay within. Lauren had almost shyly asked if they could join their sleeping bags together so that she could hold Bo while they slept. The Commander had eagerly agreed and was now happily ensconced within the Matriarch's arms.
"So, not that I'm complaining, but why isn't Mackenzie in here with us?"
Lauren let out a snort and shook her head. "As worried as she was about you, her dislike for me is stronger and I wasn't leaving your side. So she said she'd rather bunk with the guys, drink a bottle of wine and play cards."
Bo chuckled, "Yeah, that sounds about right. She is a pain in my ass, but I love her to bits and she is loyal to me almost to a fault. Her protective streak can also display as almost jealousy if I become close to someone. I saved her from a life on the streets grifting and stealing to make ends meet. She has the ability to slip in and out of shadows like nobody I have ever had the pleasure of serving with. Her way around knives and other sharp implements make her dangerous. Silent, deadly and incredibly efficient, she is my assassin when the job calls for it."
"And yet when she opens that mouth of hers, with her equally sharp tongue can be incredibly annoying." Lauren shook her head. "Do you think it is me that she hates or is it more the assignment and the fact that what you are doing is glorified babysitting instead of fighting amongst the dozens of battlefields across the galaxy?"
"More of the latter, I think. She takes a long time to trust people, even if you have already earned it. And she is not good at sitting back and being idle. Her affection towards Hale could help her lighten up when it comes to you. I ask that you be patient and give her time, she can be aggravating and petulant, but her heart is in the right place."
Lauren held Bo tighter and kissed the tip of her nose playfully. "I'll try to exercise some more patience with her and ignore her snarky remarks."
"Thank you, Lauren. You truly are an enlightened celestial being," Bo said with a cheeky smile showing off those dimples she loved so much.
"You seem to be moving a lot better and your facial muscles appear to be back to normal. I had missed those dimples of yours."
Bo flushed and decided it would be safer to change the subject, because she was already aroused being cuddled in Lauren's arms and she didn't want to push for more yet. The piece of alter that was tucked away in her combat cargo pants was a warm reassuring reminder that in time she could have everything with this exquisitely special being in her arms. She had found herself putting her hand in her pocket often to touch the warm chunk of material that was imbued with Lauren's essence. It made her feel closer to the keeper and surprisingly to her ancestors. To the mother and father that she had forgotten. Bo felt a sense of completion that she had never felt before. There had always been a part of her that felt hollow as if something was missing inside of her, but since setting foot on Genesis and opening up the repressed memories of her origins, that hollowness was being filled and it brought a sense of overwhelming joy to her.
"So where are we? Did we make it to the coordinates?"
Lauren hummed and nodded. "Yeah, we're in the small clearing direct in front of some extremely heavy and reinforced doors. Vex believes he can rewire the doors control panel attaching it to one of our portable power devices and use the computer to override the codes to allow us access to what is most like an elevator beyond. Hopefully it won't be too difficult."
"We could just blow the doors," Bo suggested
Lauren frowned, "No, there is no way of knowing if the concussive force of the explosions would damage the structure within. We don't know how stable the lower levels are. I'd rather not damage anything in case we need to make more than one trip inside. There is just too much I don't know, Bo. Please refrain from using any explosive devices if you can. I know how much you soldier types like to blow things up." Lauren finished her speech with a wink to show Bo that she was just kidding with the soldier remark.
Bo smiled with a resigned groan and she playfully pretended to be put out and aggrieved at not being
able to blow the doors off their hinges, "Fine, have it your way. Play with little wires and codes when a good well directed blast would do the job ten times faster with a lot more excitement. Boring Keeper."
Lauren laughed softly and punched Bo lightly on the arm. "All right soldier girl it's time for bed. It's late and we have an early start. Wake me if you feel strange in any way, okay. I have never come across a poison so potent and deadly before. I don't know if there'll be after-effects. Sleep well, sweetheart and thank you again for saving my life."
"I will always try to protect you to the best of my ability, Lauren, not just because you are my mission, but because you are my future and I couldn't bear anything happening to you permanently. Plus, I really like this body!"
Lauren pressed a sweet lingering kissed upon Bo's smiling lips. "It's a good thing I have some backup body's just in case then, isn't it? Now, shush. Sleep now," Lauren finished with a yawn, suddenly feeling exhausted. She rested her head against Bo's chest and closed her eyes to the steady, strong thump of her lovers heart.
Hey there! I know it has been a bazillion years since this story got a chapter, so I sincerely hope that you enjoyed it! I cannot promise a timeline for more chapters, but I will promise to not abandon it if I can help it. So barring being in a vegetative state or death this story will eventually be finished.
Please take the time to leave a message if you feel inclined to make my day a little brighter. Thank you as always for your support of me and my writing. Bless each and every one of you, my dear readers. Doccubus21.