Beetle Juice (17 page)

She wanted to be sure she did get bred. She could not read his mind, so feared there would be some slip-up, as she knew there had been with virginal Pisa.

“Fair enough.”

“I'll choose the position for the first time. You choose for the second.”

“Fair enough,” he repeated.

She got on the bed on her hands and knees, then put her head down so that only her plump rump was high. “This way.” It was in her mind that the ejaculate would pool below, instead of leaking out.

He mounted her from behind, found the place, and shoved down in, knowing that she did not want love-play, only semen. Her anticipation had already made her wet. By the third thrust he was spurting vigorously into her. This was actually a business transaction, but he did enjoy it as he enjoyed any interaction with a comely woman. It lacked the edge of sex with a virgin, but that did not make it unpalatable. Not at all!

“Ooooh,” she moaned, grateful not for the sex so much as the copious life-promising fluid. She had neither had nor desired an orgasm. But she wanted him to think his sexual prowess had turned her on, knowing that men liked to believe in that sort of thing. This was of course part of the non-virgin syndrome, teasing men into better performance.

He picked up a secondary mental state. It was the red ants. Paige was not telepathic, but they were, and appreciated not her artistry so much as his powerful broadcast of bliss as he climaxed, just as LadyBug did.

They are females too,
LadyBug thought.
They don't get to breed, but wish they could.

Yet another nuance to appreciate.

They held the position, letting the last of the fluid transfer. Then he withdrew, carefully. She remained as she was for a time, making sure.

Finally Paige got up and dressed without washing, knowing that there would be more sex soon. She consciously clenched her vagina to hold in the thickening substance. Wetzel, reading her mind, was intrigued; this was a side of a woman he had not seen before. Vanja had no compunction about cleaning herself out after sex, and neither had Weava before her. He hadn't stayed with the other village women long enough to pick up on what they did post-coitus. For them the sex itself was important, not the aftermath, and certainly not any thought of conceiving.

Paige flashed a smile at him. “This way.”

She led him out the back door. There was what appeared to be a wishing well, a small stone structure with a cover and a roped bucket. “Look,” she said, indicating the well.

He peered down into it. Instead of water below there appeared to be a plug of fog. “What is it?”

“A kind of cloud, as far as we know. A portal to another world. We have lowered animals into it and brought them back up and they have been fine. We have loosed birds there and they have not returned except for one bound by a string on a foot. When we hauled it back it was fine. In fact when we untied the string it plunged into the well, returning to that world by choice. Once we tied the feet of a daring woman and lowered her headfirst through it, and she reported that the air is breathable and she thinks the gravity is normal, and the temperature, but she couldn't see past the mist. She wanted to use a longer rope, but we feared danger. We have not dared go farther. But it seems like a world where bugs could prosper.”

“Why didn't you send scarabs through?”

“What would be the point, without males? They would live for a while and die. So we wrote it off as a prospect. It's a false lead, unusable. But your team, with your bat—maybe she could fly there and verify it. Then you would know.”

“It's a great prospect, Paige,” he said enthusiastically. He embraced her and kissed her on the mouth. “We'll do that. Thank you.”

“I'm glad I thought of it,” she said, pleased. “If, after this is over, you wish to settle down, I would be happy to marry you.” Her mind revealed that this was a calculated ploy: she would get chronic breeding, support for her children, and perhaps even love. She would be the envy of all the villagers. She would in return make sure he was sexually satisfied. In fact she might even lend him to friends, as favors, during her pregnancies. She could thus work her way up to village chief, in due course.

Wetzel was sure that there would be many men who would gladly settle for that deal. But he could not: she wasn't a virgin. “I appreciate the offer, but I am committed to the team.”

“You and Tod,” she said, grimacing prettily.

They went back inside the house. She stripped again and lay on the bed face-up, anticipating his preference. He kissed her breasts, then mounted her and entered, again with no other foreplay, as she would have tolerated that only to keep her word. She just wanted it done so she could go home and hope for her baby. And, in a moment it was done. She now had a double load of semen.

Soon they were on their way back. It had been a worthwhile interlude, entirely apart from the sex. Each of them had gotten what they wanted.

At the village Paige dismounted, he transformed, and they separated. Veee had shorts waiting for him inside.

“There is a portal,” he said. “It's behind the Love Nest, masked as a wishing well. Breathable air, comfortable temperature, but they have not been able to see it. Vanja should be able to explore it and let us know.”

“Tomorrow,” Tod said.

Vanja joined him in bed. “She worked you over,” she said. “You know I regard that as a challenge.”

He knew. He let her address him, and soon he was climaxing a third time that evening. It was interesting comparing techniques of non-virgins.

“Now tell me the truth: how did it compare?”

“You are a much better sexual partner than she is. I read in her mind that though she would accommodate me if I wished, all she wanted was my seed in her. So I delivered it without foreplay; I simply shoved in and spurted. Twice. You, in contrast, do it for fun, and that is fun for me too.”

“You're not just mindreading what I want to hear?”

“Tell her, LadyBug,” he said.

He would rather be with you than any woman except a virgin. He likes you.

“That will do,” Vanja said, and spread herself against him for sleep. And, as she intended, that body contact and her mental eagerness slowly worked him up again, and they had sex during an intermission from sleep. Which was of course another thing he liked about her. She wanted to match the two times he had done it with Paige, but to do so from his desire rather than hers. So she quietly evoked his renewed desire. All that was in her mind, and it enhanced his interest.

In the morning they organized for the exploration. Tod was open about it, bracing Pinkie. “We have learned of the portal to another planet. We wish to explore it to see whether it is suitable for scarabs, and whether it is secure from poachers. Do we have your approval?”

“That world will do you no good,” she said. “You need to get at least one male scarab, and that male can't cross the Amoeba. So even if it is ideal, it's useless. That's why I didn't think to mention it.”

“We want to check it anyway. If it seems good, then we will tackle the problem of conveying a male scarab there.” Tod smiled. “Then we will see about finding one. It may seem haphazard, but we are amateurs finding our way.”

“That I can see.” But she smiled back. Her mind indicated that she was within breeding age and would do it if she ever got the chance, with whatever man was available. She knew about Paige's tryst, and was casting about to get similar trysts for herself and the other women of the village. If cooperating with the portal exploration meant the men would remain here longer, she approved.

“Thank you,” Tod said. “Wetzel, would you care to give this lady a ride to the portal, so she can supervise our effort?”

Stroke of genius! Wetzel gave his shorts to Veee and transformed. Tod helped Pinkie mount. She was not an experienced rider, but he could handle that. He walked sedately, carrying her, and though she maintained a sober facial expression, she was completely thrilled.

The others walked, joined by a number of the village women. They all knew of Paige's accomplishment, and all hoped for something similar. Maybe if one of them managed to help in a way the men appreciated…

At the Love Nest Pinkie took over. She had the women bring out a pulley framework and a thick coil of rope attached to a hanging seat. “We do not know the end of the fog,” she said. “But we presume there
is
an end. This is all the rope we have, and it does not reach below the fog. But if your bat can fly out of the fog, and return, then you will know.” She frowned. “I do not recommend this course. There could be danger.”

“We'll risk it,” Vanja said. Her mind was revving up; she liked the thrill of the unknown, and of danger.

Vanja sat in the chair, and Tod cranked her slowly down into the well. “Do not go far,” he said. “We can't follow you to help if you get lost.”

“I won't get lost,” she said confidently. Then, to Wetzel:
Track me. If I do get lost, you can be a beacon.

Wetzel nodded. He would stay in mental touch with her, using LadyBug's ability to send out thoughts.

Vanja disappeared into the well, and then into the fog at its base.
Nothing but darkness here.

Wetzel sent a reassuring mood.

When the rope reached its limit, and the descent stopped, Vanja transformed.
I'm taking off. I'm using echolocation to be sure I don't crash into anything, but there's nothing.

“She will now explore in bat form,” Tod said as the rope went slack.

I'm out of the fog! Bright sky! It was a cloud I was in, sitting at the top of a mountain. Green trees, mountains, rivers, fields—it's a verdant world! And there are insects here; I just ate one. Scarabs could live here.

Then something odd occurred. Vanja's thoughts seemed to accelerate until they became unintelligible. Was there some kind of interference? Best to get her out of there quickly.

Come back now,
Wetzel thought.
We have enough to assimilate.

Awww,
she complained. But she turned about and flew back to the cloud, and to the hanging chair, which her echolocation spotted. She transformed, and Tod, feeling the rope go taut with her resumed weight, began cranking her back up.

“It was great,” she said as she emerged. “I explored for a good fifteen minutes. There's a perfect world there.”

Fifteen minutes? She had been gone only a few seconds. But Wetzel elected not to make an issue of that until he had some better understanding. Something had happened, but Vanja seemed normal now.

They discussed it. “And the cloud sits atop a mountain?” Tod asked. “How much of a drop to the ground?”

“To the trees. It's almost brushing their top foliage, which is impenetrably thick. Just a little more rope and we could step from the chair to a branch, then climb down the tree.”

“Then let's do it,” Tod said. “We need to explore this world in more detail.”

“One question,” Veee said. “How do we get back to the cloud after we drop out of it?”

“I can fly up and tell them we're coming,” Vanja said. “They can lower the chair on a longer rope.”

“It seems feasible,” Tod said.

“I think this is not for me,” Wizard said. “I'm not good at rough country exploration. Better I remain here, and Vanja can notify me if my powers should be needed.”

“We shall be happy to entertain you while you wait,” Pinkie said warmly. She had seduction in mind, involving one or more of the nubile girls. Wizard knew it, and was not strongly disinclined. There were worse things than passing time with a number of interested women.

They were doing it immediately? Wetzel wasn't entirely easy with this, but had no objection he could make without generating needless alarm.

Vanja went down again, then Tod, then Veee, then Wetzel. They were out of immediate mind range, but he knew that would be restored once he joined them below.

He waited until the chair's descent stopped, then got off it, held onto it with his hands, and hung below it. Then he dropped. The distance was farther than he anticipated, but Vanja was right: the foliage of the tree was thick, and buoyed him until he could grasp a branch. He was in bright light.

Veee was there waiting for him. “Tod fell a little farther, and is wending his way on down,” she said. “Vanja is watching out for him in bat form.”

“Good enough,” he said. “We'll follow.”

“The cloud is moving.”

It took him a moment to assimilate her meaning. Then he looked up at the gray cloud he had just dropped from. It was not at the top of the mountain, but to the side. That was why he had dropped farther than expected.

Then he got the rest of it from her mind.
The portal was in the cloud
. “The portal is moving out of reach,” he said.

“We may have a problem getting back.”

“Vanja can fly up there and warn them.” Then he reconsidered. “That still won't help us. They don't have nearly enough rope to reach to the ground beyond the mountain.”

“Let's wait and see how it looks later,” she said.

They climbed down the tree, finding their way to its sturdy central trunk. Veee was surprisingly good at this; she had muscles where it counted. She must have climbed many trees in her original life.

Finally they reached the ground. There were Tod and Vanja. Tod opened his mouth to speak.

There was a horrendous roar. A giant lizard charged out of the brush, teeth snapping. It was going for Veee.

Wetzel didn't even think before he acted. He transformed to unicorn and stepped between Veee and the lizard. He lowered his deadly horn.

The lizard evidently had not encountered a unicorn before. It continued its charge.

Wetzel judged he massed only about half what the lizard did, but his weapon was highly effective against flesh. He braced himself for the impact. The lizard would run right onto the horn and be lethally impaled by its own momentum.