Chapter Seven

H arwin sat in the room with the last of the machines and chatted, and they watched the minutes tick down on one of the units. When the timer rang and the unit cycled her awake, they all stood braced, and when the enclosure opened, they yelled, “Surprise!”

Molly froze, and her yellow stripes rapidly flashed before she burst out in crying laughter. Addy went to her side and helped her out of the restoration unit, and Molly looked around. “You are all so beautiful.”

Harwin asked. “What are you seeing?”

Molly looked at her and smiled slowly. “Everything, Your Majesty.”

The eyes were as yellow as the stripes on her body, but Molly looked comfortable and relaxed.

The unit was reset, and when it was ready, it sent out a soft chime. Addy nodded. “Me next, I guess.”

The ladies all settled her in and saluted as the unit closed. Harwin watched as it closed and verified that everything was going well. Twenty minutes would finish whatever was going on with Addy, and the ladies continued their little party in the restoration chamber.

Two hours later, they were all done and smiling, looking around them with glee. Down below, the other ladies would finish their repairs in a week.

Ra appeared in the doorway and said, “Harwin, you are tired. Come.”

Harwin blushed. Molly put a hand on her arm. “He’s right. You exhausted part of yourself during the attack. It is just another area of here that needs more stamina. You just need to practice, and that is what we are here for. We can help.”

“You may, little miss, but for now, I will do what I can to help my consort. Harwin?”

Harwin walked over to him. “Yes, Overlord.”

“I have those cookies you like.”

She grinned and moved faster while the others laughed, and one of them whispered, “What kind of cookies?”

Ra picked her up and was chuckling. “Your species is very food-motivated.”

“We were starving for two years, and they were on restricted rations in the lab. But, yeah. You could probably lay a trap for humans right now with some pretty cake or roasted meat.”

“Good to know.” He kissed her temple. “Did you have a good day?”

“I did. The ladies in the lower level will be in for a minimum of two days. I really want to have a chat with those researchers,” she grumbled as he walked up the stairs, and the temple kissing turned to nuzzling.

They hadn’t spent any time together during the day, and when they were in their room, he turned her and lifted her for a scorching kiss. “I am glad you had fun, but I missed you.”

“I was only a few hundred metres away.”

He chuckled. “Too far. How are the ladies’ corrected biologies?”

“They are great. Molly is some kind of seer. Addy won’t be out for a few hours, but she is going to be something spectacular. She has all the tools; they just aren’t plugged in.”

“The species that the researchers chose are only tenuously compatible with yours.” Ra scraped his canines along her neck.

“Bastards.” She sighed and turned her head. “Is there a way to penalize them?”

“No. They were doing what they were hired to do. New species are tested before they are treated as worthy. They didn’t know you were my people of record.”

He moved down her body and disrobed her on the way. When he pulled her onto his lap, they came together, and she sank onto him, her body slick and aching as it stretched. It had taken days for her body to conform to his, but now, it did it with pleasurable effort.

Ra chuckled and raised and lowered her on him. Their bodies knew how to read each other at this point. One hand moved her, and the other touched her sensitive spots, ramping her higher, causing her to gasp and whine as she rapidly moved to climax. She inhaled sharply as her body jolted and throbbed around him, and she held still as he groaned against her lips. She didn’t know when the kiss had started, but now, his lips were on hers as she felt the spill of heat inside her.

Harwin stroked her tongue along Ra’s as the kiss slowed to soft contacts until he lifted his head and caressed her hair. “That was too quick, my queen.”

She blushed. “And yet, it had the desired effect.”

Ra laughed and wrapped his arm around her waist. She blinked when she realized that their encounter had been up against a wall. They had started with him sitting, but he was now moving toward the bed, so he had obviously changed positions without her noticing.

She felt a little uncomfortable and looked down to see her clothing pulled aside to expose her breasts, and the skirt was up past her waist.

“You were in a hurry.”

He snorted and slipped his claws beneath her clothing and between her skin and fabric. He pulled down, and the fabric shredded. “There. Better?”

She sighed. “Yes. I don’t like being constrained by anything but you.”

He laughed and pulled her in close. “That is what I enjoy most about you, my queen. You have no fear. It is gratifying.”

“Thanks. It came with trying to scream my way out of that repair unit. After that agony, when I could feel every cell in my body, there wasn’t much left to fear. You obviously didn’t want to injure me, so any pain I do feel is short-lived. And weirdly, none today.”

He smiled and stroked her back as he settled them on the bed, facing her. His hand on her hips kept them attached, but she felt very squishy where they connected.

“So, is there a reason you are still inside me and why things are different?”

“Ah, you mean the sudden contribution from myself?”

“Yes, I thought my belly was going to expand.”

He chuckled. “Eventually, when you and I can act in unison, that will be the result. Until then, continue this practice.”

“Practice?”

“We have been granted an ideal match; it would be a shame not to see what it could produce.”

“Are Hmrain babies huge?”

“They take after their mothers, whether their female parent is Hmrain or not.” He stroked her back. “The idea is to keep the gestation parent alive so that there is an option to try for additional offspring.”

“I thought your primary concern was being fed?” she mumbled against his chest.

He laughed. “You took care of that some time ago. Now I am looking for the next development.”

“Wow. You move fast for a guy your age.”

He eased her to her back and covered her completely. Things got uncomfortable before he settled against her, keeping his weight on his arms and wings. He started moving, and she brought her legs up on either side of his hips. The depth was strange, but it wasn’t painful and became exciting after not too long. She smiled when she realized that she was facing his collarbone. Normally, he contorted a little, but today, he was all stretched out and completely surrounded her. She felt heat building, and then, her body frantically clenched around him, but she wasn’t sure that he could even feel it. He kept moving, and her body got frantic. It was partially irritation and partially panic. Her body was burning, and the heat built again until she clawed at him and screamed. Fire wrapped around every cell, and the pressure inside her became undeniable as he shouted and his thrusts slowed.

Her ears rang with the sound he made, and she realized her scream was probably no better for him. He bent and kissed her then held her and rolled to his back.

She tried to wiggle, but he kept his hand on her hips. He chuckled. “Stay where you are for a little.”

“Why?”

“Because if your body isn’t absorbing my semen, then you are complete, and now, we can see when and if your body will carry a piece of mine.”

“I stopped absorbing all of it a few times ago.”

“Yes, but now, you smell different. I remember the scent of receptive humans and had thought it would be far longer before I experienced it again.”

She slowly sat up, straddling him with him butting against her cervix. She didn’t feel the pain she had experienced in the past and wondered where her uterus had ended up. She really needed to learn how to read med scans.

“I thought you didn’t take any of the handmaids to your bed.”

“I didn’t. But your species does become receptive frequently. It was hard not to notice. It was probably why the station headed for your world in the hopes that your species was still there.”

“Did they? It took them nearly two years.”

“Moving a space station isn’t quick.”

“Right.”

“Begin easing upward.”

She blinked and slowly started to angle her head toward his. It took a minute, but she came free of him, and her body clenched to hold in the cum. “Oh. That is why the easing was a thing.”

Ra laughed. “You are remarkably tight.”

“Um, thanks. I need to get rid of the rest of this if it won’t absorb on its own.” She kissed him quickly and then slowly moved to dismount.

He was chuckling, and she slowly moved to the restroom and took care of the contents of her body, cleaning up before she walked back to Ra. His body was gleaming, but the nanites in him made him self-cleaning. She wasn’t there yet.

Three weeks later, Harwin was having breakfast with Addy and some ++++of the others when Ra came in. “Harwin, we are expecting guests. Please go and apply makeup and the jewellery we discussed.”

Harwin nodded. “Sure. Can Addy come?”

“Certainly.”

Addy got up and said, “I have got to see this.”

Harwin smiled and nodded to the others as they continued breakfast. “See you guys later.”

Only three ladies were still in the repair units. The other twenty-seven were making themselves at home, and with the assistance of the fabrication units, they had a delightful football league. Soccer. It helped them get used to the particular skills their enhanced bodies had developed. Watching Lavender sprint with enhanced speed was amazing.

Some were fast, others got additional senses, three spent time in the river in Ra’s office, and one woman spent time in the freezer where she was completely at home.

The research team was frantically interviewing them daily, trying to get their stories of them and their transformations, as well as the type of injuries that had gotten them into the lab. There were a lot of traumatic brain injuries that had been caused years earlier. Now, the women were back on their feet with their minds under their control and powers given to them by alien DNA and brain structure.

Addy asked, “Makeup?”

“Yeah, it makes me look like I just stepped off a temple wall. The jewellery is heavy as hell, but it adds to the look.”

“Is there anything I can do?”

“Just hand me stuff as I ask for it. I swear, Ra is trying to weigh me down.”

Addy laughed, and they headed to the bedroom.

The diaphanous formalwear that reached her ankles but highlighted more than concealed was first. The belt, collar, cuffs, anklets, and crown were all different from her daily wear. She was going to be carrying forty pounds of gold and jewels around when she descended the steps.

The anklets were hoops that barely fit over her feet. They covered her from ankle to mid-calf. The long, pleated dress was decent as long as the sun didn’t outline everything, and on Aten, it did. She opened a box and smiled. “This is the makeup.”

Forty vials were in the case, and she took one of them out, opened it, and drank it.

Addy asked, “What is that?”

“Nanites. The same type of robots in my veins, and the same type that repaired your links between body and mind.” She looked in the mirror and smiled. Dark lines started around her eyes, and her lips were staining dark gold.

The crown came off, and the bots fixed her hair again, hundreds of gold strands mixed in in minutes. She put on the heavy belt with the front piece that hung to her knees and had layers of metal and fabric.

“Geez, Harwin, that looks heavy.”

“Oh, it is. You get used to it.” She waited while the bots put the formal collar on her, and her knees bent when it settled. “Or you hope the nanites reinforce your spine. Either works. Well, yours aren’t active anymore.”

“Thankfully. Being blue is bad enough. Oh, wow. That’s stunning.”

The crown with the large disk for the sun was settled on her head, and she looked at Addy. “Can you hand me the cuffs?”

Addy nodded. “How do they open?”

Harwin took one, and it sprang open. She clasped it to her right wrist and then did the same on her left.

She turned and looked at Addy. “How is the makeup coming?”

“Holy shit. That’s... you look like you just walked off a temple wall.”

“Excellent.”

“What is that on your arms and chest?”

“Oh, the mark of Ra. He decided that I would be tempting to other elder Hmrain, so he wanted to make sure I was marked, as he didn’t have the type of glyph the others had. He was a prototype.”

“Right. The team mentioned it.”

Harwin turned slowly and walked to the bathing room, laughing as she surprised herself. She snickered and turned to walk with Addy.

“Come on. I can feel the shuttle arriving.”

“You can?”

“Sure. In the time since I arrived, my mind has spun a fine web of senses across the area. The shuttle changes the pressure that tells me when anything moves. That includes entering the atmosphere.”

She looked at Addy. “I am going to cheat the stairs. Walking like this is difficult.”

“Uh, sure. Whatever you need.”

Harwin floated gently down the stairs, realizing that she had forgotten shoes. She glided across the floor and went outside to see those Ra was welcoming.

Ra stood in front of the pyramid and held his hand out to her as she glided toward him. She took his hand and smiled. “I forgot my shoes.”

He looked at her, paused, and stared. “You look spectacular.”

“Thank you. You look shiny and very handsome.”

He chuckled. “Our guests are here.”

“Are... they aren’t Hmrain.”

“No. They are descendants. Third generation and fourth.”

“What is he wearing?”

“A cold suit.”

She turned her head toward Ra. “You called in a strike on Lucinda?”

“She cannot live in a freezer.”

“What about the other one wearing the deep hood?”

“He is for Ariadne.”

“What? No.”

Ra looked at her. “Yes. It is up to her whether they reside here or leave.”

She was about to argue, and then, she said, “What?”

“He is a trained guardian; she needs additional training. They will have quarters in the new city, and if they are agreeable to each other, they will be the first mated citizens.”

“Oh.”

“And he has a similar adaptation to hers?”

“With a Hmrain element.”

“Oh.”

He laughed. “The designers were varied in their creations.”

The two men walked from the shuttle to the walkway in front of the pyramid.

They were definitely male in silhouette.

When they were ten feet from Ra, they both went down on one knee. The man in the hood said, “Ancient Ra, we thank you for considering us and contacting us.”

“Den, Vanek, please rise. This is my queen, Harwin. She is of the same species as the ladies in question.”

Harwin watched the men raise their heads, and she blinked at the feline features of the blue-striped man. This was different from Yasku. This was intense. The blue was navy and cobalt. It was the same skin tone that Addy was darkening toward.

The other man was blue, but he was a pale silvery blue with a wave of white hair, just like Lucinda.

“How long did you look for matches, Ra?”

The men both stared at her, and she sighed and looked at her partner. “Overlord Ra.”

He laughed. “When they arrived and the diagnostics began. The lab tried mutations on your people without a full mapping of their brains. They used samples from species that had been involved with the Hmrain for thousands of years and used those. The ladies aren’t just remade; they are primals. They carry the power of lost generations in them.”

“What?”

“Just as you, they have been remade. Other worlds will carry your people and continue your bloodlines, but the Hmrain has taken a select few, and others are now recovered from the blending and are something completely new.”

The two men looked at her and said, “You are looking well, Your Majesty.”

She inclined her head carefully. “Thank you. Please rise and be welcome.”

They got to their feet.

Ra nodded. “There is a meal prepared and guest quarters available.”

Vanek nodded. “Thank you, Ancient Ra. Is there a place I may recharge? I also have a cool suit for the female.”

Ra turned. “Addy, will you show Lord Vanek to the freezer where your companion resides?”

Harwin turned carefully and looked behind her. Addy was leaning around the corner, and her face was screwed up in a wince. “Of course, Overlord Ra.”

She stepped forward, and Harwin literally saw Den straighten and tense. Addy walked toward them, and Vanek smiled slightly, his suit obviously thick and containing some kind of cooling system. “This way, Lord Vanek. I am guessing that the coolant you need is the same stuff that keeps the freezer running. Lucinda will be pissed. She’s got everything set to her preferences.”

Harwin smiled as Den tensed.

Ra said, “Let’s show you to your quarters. The primals will join us for a meal.”

Harwin smiled as they walked back into the pyramid. Well, he walked; she floated.

Lord Den asked, “Your Majesty?”

“Yes, Lord Den?”

“Are you floating?”

She pressed her lips together to keep from laughing. “I forgot my shoes.”

Ra chortled and murmured, “In that case, Harwin, head up and get the shoes and then come down.”

“The shoes are here. I have gotten better at pulling things around corners.” She wrinkled her nose as she caught the sandals in her free hand. “I just can’t bend over.”

He took the shoes and knelt, and Den gasped. “Left foot, precious.”

She slipped her foot forward and let him fasten her sandal. The same routine with her right and he rose to his feet. “Down you go.”

She thudded to the stone, and he leaned in and kissed her cheek. “Now, let’s show our guest where he can rest.”

They walked to the guest area near that of the ladies, and the bots had two rooms open.

Lord Den said, “Vanek will not be staying. It is uncomfortable for him to remain in warm climates for long.”

Harwin asked, “You are staying here without a shuttle?”

“Overlord Ra will provide me with emergency transport if needed, but I am here to stay if the primal he mentioned is interested.”

“Addy. Ariadne,” Harwin muttered.

“If the Lady Ariadne is interested, I will know one way or another when we actually meet.”

“How will you know?”

He smiled and pushed his hood back, exposing his black hair and gold feline eyes. His nose twitched slightly. “I will know. She will know.”

He was striking by human standards. Blocky, rugged features in a lovely shade of blue. Black hair waved from his forehead, and pointed ears poked out of the locks. She saw echoes of Ra’s features.

She looked to Ra. “They used a similar template for features?”

He laughed. “You can see that? Yes. Kethen is the only true rough one. Species responded well to my features and wings, so they were kept for the other Hmrain with one experiment. A sister was made without them, but it is easier to manage a crowd if you can fly above them. Lord Den is three generations past his Hmrain grandparent.”

“So, if we have kids and grandkids, you are going to be stamped on them.”

He shrugged. “It is what we were designed for. We were put here to guide and guard these worlds. Putting guardians in the population was part of that.”

“But you didn’t do that initially.”

“I did. I just did it to worlds that were in small star systems with singular worlds.”

“I meant you didn’t have kids.”

“Your species is small, and the details of mating were terrifying. I made do for sustenance with group contributions and blood.”

Harwin blinked and smacked a hand over her eyes. “Public orgies?”

He pulled her over to him. “If that is what you call it. I prefer your private attentions.”

“Don’t change the subject.”

He leaned in to kiss her. “Your makeup worked well.”

“It’s your makeup. Don’t think I didn’t notice your mark between my breasts on my back and shoulders.”

He laughed. “I wanted to make sure our guests didn’t do anything that would get them killed.”

Lord Den said softly, “No one would make that mistake.”

Ra chuckled and stroked her back. “That is a good thing.”

“Was her skin always that gold?”

Harwin snorted. “No. It wasn’t. I don’t think anyone on Aten is the same colour I used to be, but my species had quite a variant. It just wasn’t soft metallic gold.”

Ra stroked her back again. “Like sun on a winter’s day.”

Harwin looked up at Ra. “Perhaps we should let Lord Den settle and go to find Addy, Vanek, and Lucinda?”

Lord Den smiled. “I will find my way around.”

“Give the other ladies a wide berth. Two of them are venomous, and I am not going to tell you which two.” Harwin smiled as Ra led her away.

It turned out that he really enjoyed the fit of her formal finery, and it was amazing what he could do with gentle hands and an eager mouth. Shockingly, her crown stayed on.