I hauled the fully loaded rowboat across the sand then used a rope and pully to lift the salvage up to the top of the ridge. Thanks to Holly, we had a ton of comfortable bedding now. I stowed the rowboat and our canoe underneath the ladder.

  Even though Billie regained consciousness, she was still pretty messed up from her encounter with the electric squid. We put her to bed while Holly hung the sheets, blankets, and comforters up to dry in the afternoon sunshine. It wasn’t raining, and it was clear enough we could see the line of ice crystals crossing the sky.

  Khanna, though, wouldn’t leave Billie’s side. It seemed everything had changed between them, and Khanna kept asking if Billie needed anything in broken English.

  “No,” Billie said, her voice slurring a bit. ‘I’m…I’m fine. Just need to sleep. Never felt anything…like that…”

  I tried to calm Khanna down. For whatever reason, that was a huge fucking mistake.

  “Khanna, she’s going to be okay…”

  “Sid Marshall doesn’t know that for sure! Sid Marshall can’t know.” The Huntress shot to her feet. “Bil-lie save Khanna. Maybe Bil-lie die…just like…”

  Then Khanna shrieked and went running out of her house.

  Billie coughed a little. “You should go after her.”

  This was my life, chasing after the emotional women on Lonetree Ridge, when they went running off after an emotional outburst. It had happened with Billie, with Holly, and with Khanna, multiple times.

  I sighed. “This is my life now. You know, I don’t mind the physical work of survival, but the emotional work just might kill me.”

  “Poor baby. Nobody said having a harem would be easy.”

  “I don’t have a harem,” I growled.

  I went out the front door, but Khanna wasn’t there. Holly was, and she shot me a worried glance. “Khanna went out to the Point. Anything I can help with?”

  “I’m not sure yet.”

  I’d put in a little wooden walkway on the outside of the house, and I used that to walk to what we called the Point, the westernmost edge of the ridge. The sun was sinking down toward the edge of the ocean, and the sky was alive with oranges, pinks, and an array of blues. A sweet wind blew from the ocean. Yes, it smelled sweet, but the truth was, the various oceans held dangers we’d been lucky to survive. I was a little surprised that the shark men had been easier to fight than the electric squid.

  Khanna sat on a bus seat we’d moved out to the Point just that afternoon. For now, the flowery orange chairs and Formica table were outside, but I planned on building a front patio, which could act as an outdoor living room. I also had plans to build a deck out on the Point and create another firepit. I’d like an awning because it rained all the time, but I wasn’t sure what kind of waterproof fabric we could use.

  I could picture us all out there, cooking over the fire and enjoying each other’s company. Lonetree Ridge was already so welcoming and comfortable, but I wanted to make it really special. We needed more places for the women in my life to cry in peace. I’d thought Khanna was beyond tears, but no, she sat on the bus seat and wept, her whole body shaking.

  I went to her.

  Part of me wished that Opal would be able to help me, but Opal was as silent as the grave.

  “Khanna…what’s wrong?”

  The Huntress gulped in a breath, tried to talk, but then continued to cry, eyes squeezed shut, mouth open, tears raining down.

  This was going to take some time. I took her in my arms and held her while she cried. I stroked her hair, but I couldn’t help but let my mind wander. We had backpacks, we had bedding, and the mission to San Submerged had been a success. Yes, we’d come dangerously close to death, but that was the reality of K’Shaul. I was little surprised that Opal had failed to optimize my body in the fight against the electric squid, and it had taken quite a bit of energy to even try. She had dropped to 77% of full, but I still had enough Inferna crystals to get her back to 99%.

  I continued to hold Khanna tight until she finally stopped sobbing. It took a little bit longer for her breath to return to normal.

  Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.

  We were both quiet as the sun touched the edge of the horizon.

  “I lost Djevojka,” Khanna whispered.

  “Tell me about her.” My heart nearly stopped. Was Khanna finally going to tell me about her past in the Fabrikata Enclave?

  “Djevojka was my specha momach before Sid Marshall. It was forbidden, though, for the women of the Enclave to be special in that way. We could have the sex, but there couldn’t be love. All love should be for the Iron Descendant.”

  “I don’t know what that means, Khanna. Who was the Iron Descendent?”

  “The First and Forever Chieftain. The Iron Descendant, a man with a metal body, but inside was the soul of Zuulman, the First Padishan, lost to time. Lost to time.”

  I felt the hair on my arms stand up. “Like Phillip Zuulman and Carl Zuulman of the Ameritronics corporation?”

  “Khanna does not understand Sid Marshall’s words. The man in the picture was a man, not the Iron Descendant. We were created to worship the Iron Descendant, to serve his needs…to him, we were to be specha momach. But he wasn’t alive. It was all trickery, for the First Wife, the Eternal Sultana, to control us.”

  “Was the Iron Descendant a robot?” I asked her.

  That didn’t work. Khanna obviously didn’t know what a robot was. She kept talking, as if I hadn’t said a word.

  “When a girl reached nineteen summers, she was prepared for the Iron Descendant, given strong liquor, taken, washed, and then, she was set on the altar. Then, the Iron Descendant came forward, a metal man, and he…would take her maidenhead.”

  “Did that happen to you?” I asked gently.

  Khanna nodded sorrowfully. “Afterwards, there was the Wand of Life, for children, because the Iron Descendant couldn’t make the onalayla”

  I knew that last word. It was sperm.

  “The Eternal Sultana administered the Wand of Life, and she said it was for the good of the Enclave, and maybe it was, but it was cruel. She was cruel. Only once did Khanna submit. All other times, Khanna make excuses. Khanna smart. But then, when Djevojka reached nineteen summers, she was to go. She was chosen. She would’ve…it would’ve happened to Djevojka. Khanna say to her that we run away. Khanna tell her to keep it a secret. Djevojka knew who her mother was. Normally, that was forbidden knowledge. We were told that all the women of the Fabrikata Enclave were the daughters of the Iron Descendant and the Wand of Life. No one had a mother, only a father. A lie…”

  I knew what happened after. “Djevojka told her mother, didn’t she?”

  Khanna nodded. “And her mother betrayed her. Betrayed me. We were to be taken, killed, like the boys were killed. No boys allowed in the Fabrikata Enclave, only women, women with the souls of servants. Khanna not have such a soul. Khanna fight but it was too late. Djevojka killed by Eternal Sultana’s guard, and then Khanna flee. Never to return. Evil. Betrayer.” Khanna spat on the ground.

  She then looked me full in the face. “Khanna tell Sid Marshall that Bil-lie and the old slut—”

  “Holly,” I corrected her.

  “Hol-ly, “ Khanna said slowly. “Khanna think they betray her and Sid Marshall, like all women. Khanna know how, Bil-lie and Hol-ly not betray us. We family now. Bil-lie so brave. Khanna so wrong. Khanna sorry, Sid Marshall. Khanna so sorry.”

  She started weeping again.

  I held her tight. “You were alone for a long time, weren’t you?”

  “Alone, in the Shade Forest, but Khanna know how to survive. The Sultana live in palace, with metal servants, with magic cooking, but Khanna not grow up like that. Khanna know the forest. Khanna alone for a long time…until the Black Storm came and put her here. Khanna not care, but Khanna so focha all the time.”

  Focha was kind of like the word “lust” only it was more like the “the madness of lust,” almost hinting at a psychosis.

  “Then Khanna see Sid Marshall. Then rest happens.” The Huntress kissed me tenderly. “Khanna now have specha momach. Khanna now have everything. But maybe Khanna lose it. Khanna now have heart open to Bil-lie. Would Bil-lie have a heart big enough for Khanna?”

  It was a question I couldn’t really answer. Billie had said she’d had all kinds of fantasies about everyone on Lonetree Ridge. That had to include Khanna. But fantasies were one thing. Reality was another.

  I took Khanna’s hands in my mine. “I don’t know about Billie. I do know I’m honored and grateful to you for telling me about your past. I’m sorry about Djevojka. She died when the Eternal Sultana tried to arrest you, didn’t she?”

  The Huntress nodded. “Khanna not trust anyone. Now, Khanna trust you, and Bil-lie, and Hol-ly. Khanna learn English. We become our own Enclave. But Khanna not have babies for Sid Marshall. Khanna not get pregnant from Wand of Life. Khanna maybe not ever get pregnant.”

  I kissed her. “Let’s not make any assumptions. Let’s just take things a day a time.”

  I hadn’t forgotten what Opal had said about her. She was enhanced in some way, and I didn’t know if that was from her mother being impregnated by the so-called Wand of Life. Who really knew what all that meant.

  I was about to ask when Khanna pointed.

  Then I saw them, in the fading light of day. There were red lights twinkling out in the ocean. It took me a minute to realize what they were. Shark men chieftains, a ton of them, were out there sitting on their bus sharks, with their eyes on our ridge. I counted them…a least a dozen of the power crystal necklaces, and with them were hundreds of shark men. It was an invasion force.

  Part of me wanted to swim out there and start hacking apart shark men to get the power crystals around their necks. Another part knew what I had to do to defend Lonetree Ridge from any and all invaders. I’d been putting it off, but now it was time.

  Khanna frowned. “Those shark men not happy to eat their own dead. Those shark men want to eat us.”

  “Maybe, but we’re not on the menu. I do have an idea for a buffet though, and those shark fuckers would make an excellent main course. But I don’t want to talk about them for now. If we pull up the rope ladder, they’ll have a helluva time trying to attack our ridge. And we have the bus as well as guns now. And, I think I know how to find us some good guard dogs.”

  It was time to test the intelligence of my favorite armored T. rexes.

  Land of the Lust: Guns of K'Shaul), so if you can't wait, you can run on over there to keep on reading. And if you have some extra cash and like the story, I have a PayPal.