Episode Fifty-Five The Cataclysm

N adira

Thallose has been flying at top speed all day. He wants to arrive home tonight. I, on the other hand, would like to camp out. The farther north we fly, the colder it gets, but I have an ulterior motive. Just as with my other two mates, I'd like our first night together to be a private affair.

I push the memory of our actual first encounter to the back of my mind. We both agree we wish it hadn't happened that way.

Once we return, it's going to be awkward between the three males, and I can't even imagine what it will be like with the four of us in the furs. All of that will need to be ironed out, but I want to get off to the right start with Thallose. To do that, we need to be alone.

As the sky pinkens in the west, I lean up and say, "Can you look for a safe place to make camp tonight?"

"I can keep going, get some more miles in before we stop for the night."

"You must be tired," I say.

"I'm fine."

Okay. The subtle approach is getting me nowhere.

"Thallose, I'd like to stop now," I say bluntly. If this isn't clear enough, my next comment will be to tell him I'd like to have sex with him. That would have embarrassed me only a few weeks ago. Today, it won't be too difficult, although I'd prefer not to.

He slows his speed, clearly looking for a place to settle in for the night. Finally, he points to a small clearing amid some evergreens tucked against a stone bluff.

After we land, as we gather firewood, he ensures I have my pistol at the ready, then takes his bow and arrows into the forest to find us dinner.

Things I read on the computer in my father's study said Earth was densely populated when Up Above was built. All explanations of what happened to create what they called "monsters" were either scrubbed or censored. What happened to reduce the population to the sparse numbers there are today has also been wiped from the databases.

Although it's been hundreds of years, there are still lots of houses dotting the rural areas we've flown over. Twice today we flew over old, abandoned cities. We were both very quiet for the long minutes it took to pass them. Seeing them, knowing they used to bustle with activity, but are now empty of life, was eerie.

I'm no judge of these things, but to my untrained eye, I'd say there were thousands of houses, apartments, and vast industrial areas. Whatever happened to all those people, it couldn't have been good.

Although most structures were crumbling, it wasn't a result of bombs or war. I saw portrayals of those things on vids Up Above. The cities would have looked different if they'd been attacked. There was something frightening about the cities we passed, like everyone simply died one day.

When Thallose returns, after he spits the rabbits, we sit around the fire. I imagine he's still thinking about what we saw at the Works. He needs the distraction, and I'd like some answers.

"Why do we sleep out in the open when we passed some cottages a few miles back?"

"You wouldn't like what you found inside," he says as he grabs a stick and fiddles with the logs.

"What would I find?"

"Upsetting things."

He leans closer to the flames and moves the tree limbs more forcefully with his stick.

"Tell me Thallose."

"I've heard a dozen theories about what happened that killed millions in the cataclysm."

Cataclysm. Now that he mentions the word, I recall my father and his cronies using that term.

"From what I can tell, a lot of people died in a short amount of time," he says.

"Like they were poisoned?"

"Maybe. From what I've heard, the atmosphere was toxic back then. The horrible smells and puffs of black smoke you saw at the Works? I think something like that covered the whole world. But that wouldn't explain how people all just died one day."

I had dragged two stumps in from the woods and set them upright beside the firepit, but I abandon mine to sit on his lap.

"After my parents were slaughtered, I couldn't bear to stay in our little cottage anymore. I wandered for years. At first, I entered the abandoned dwellings that dotted the area. Most had the remains of people just lying on the floor. Some were in their kitchens, some in bed, a few were keeled over as they tended their gardens or were in the metal vehicles they drove."

I tuck my head against his chest as I try not to picture what he's describing.

"Humans?"

He shivers, and although I don't want to hear what he's going to say next, I don't ask him to stop.

"Some were human, some were grotesque mutations. Nothing like the people you've met Down Below, Nadira. Some had fish heads and human bodies, some had a head where their legs should be, some had no heads at all. Something happened, Nadira, and it wasn't accidental. It was like a giant experiment went wrong."

I inhale deeply, needing the comfort of his scent to calm me.

"I believe most of the population died in a short period. I'm sure some were walking in the woods or driving in their vehicles, but many were at home. Trust me, it's better to sleep outside under the stars."

It sounds like they were poisoned. Deliberately. And if knowing my father, the senator, and many of their cronies taught me one thing, humans are totally capable of doing such a thing.

So many lives were destroyed. I can't bear the thought of this and don't want to live another minute being taunted by the pictures Thallose just painted.

"Pleasure me, starflyer, like only a true mate can." It's the only way to get those images out of my mind. I'll replace them with something even more compelling—Thallose.