“We had better hope that’s it,” Tod said. “Otherwise they may outmaneuver us similarly, when it is our turn to be the prey.”
They kept working on the fortress, which was taking shape with reasonable dispatch because the entire village was working hard under Bem’s direction.
Then the androids returned. This time it was a pack of about twenty wolf-sized ones, each laden with a wolfkey. They scuttled right past the fort and splashed through the river without pausing. Soon they were gone.
“They must have seen the fortress,” Tod said.
“And did not react to it,” Veee said.
“Well, they’re not intelligent. The pool must have sent them after the wolfkeys and they ignored everything else.”
“I don’t trust that. The pool may be building up a swarm large enough to overwhelm the fort.”
“Maybe,” he agreed. “But I doubt it will attack with any particular strategy. If it just sends a huge pack, we should be able to fend it off.” But he was uneasy. “Still, maybe you should ponder what else it may try, so we won’t be caught entirely by surprise.”
“I will,” she agreed.
Work on the fortress continued, and it was developing nicely. Meanwhile there was no attack, and the men and women of the village ranged out to forage, always in pairs or larger groups, in case they encountered more androids.
Tod ranged out too, exploring the terrain, accompanied by Veee and Vanja so as to take the same precautions they required of the villagers. The women took turns embracing and kissing him on the fly, not seeking sex, just keeping him warmed up. How could he protest, as long as this did not interfere with their scouting?
They found a glade with patches of colored berries, and paused to pick and eat some.
“Continue picking,” Veee murmured. “And look to your left. There is an android watching us.” She was always highly aware of her surroundings.
Tod glanced and saw it: an orange crab the size of a rabbit, perched on a boulder, motionless. “Are there others?”
“Yes. But they too seem merely to be observing.”
“That’s curious. I would have expected them to mindlessly attack. That’s why we are in a group, with weapons ready.”
“That’s why they aren’t attacking,” Vanja said. “They know we can beat them off and disable them.”
“Rather, the pool knows,” Veee said. “But they have seen us, and may have been watching us all along. Why aren’t they going elsewhere?”
“Hoping we get distracted and become vulnerable?” Tod asked. It was eerie, having the vicious things lurking without making a hostile move. “Like a zombie faking friendliness, until the victim sleeps?”
“Why don’t we test it?” Vanja asked. “Veee, guard our backs.” She turned to Tod.
“I will,” Veee said, continuing her picking and eating, but with her knife ready to draw swiftly. She seemed to be a woman of no jealousy, and he appreciated that about her too.
“What?” Tod asked as Vanja embraced him.
“We’re going to seem distracted, to provoke their attack,” she said. “Get your pants off.”
“But if they do attack—”
“Veee will warn us, and we’ll be ready. Keep your knife in your hand.” She had her own knife out similarly.
Bemused, he cooperated. With Vanja, almost any pretext would do for sex. He disengaged, dropped his trousers and undershorts, then approached her. She now stood with her back to a tree-trunk, her clothing gone. Despite the tension of the situation, he got an erection. The vampire could arouse him any time she wanted, and loved proving it.
They embraced, each holding a naked blade as if about to stab the other. The androids did not attack.
“Get it in,” Vanja whispered, watching past his shoulder.
“But if they attack at that moment—”
“Then pull out and whirl, even if you have to spill on the ground. This is more business than pleasure.” She looked again. “One is coming closer.”
This was unusual sex, even for the vampire. He bent his knees, oriented, and entered her. He waited, but there was still no attack.
“It seems to be trying to get the best view,” Vanja said. “Well, android, what do you make of this?” She moved her belly against him while turning slightly outward, so that the connection of their bodies was visible. What a show-off!
“Maybe they are fans of pornography,” Tod said, not entirely facetiously.
“It is certainly looking.” She clenched her vagina, and that brought on his climax. He thrust repeatedly, ejaculating, trusting her to alert him when the attack came.
“They’re going,” Veee announced.
“They must be prudish,” Tod gasped as he ebbed.
“I wonder,” Vanja said. “I thought they were waiting for our inattention, but it seems they or the pool really were interested in what men do with women. Once they saw that, they moved on to other things. The pool has learned what it sought.”
“If they come again, my turn,” Veee said.
“Why should the pool have any interest in sex?” Tod asked as he cleaned up and put his trousers back on. “Bem says the androids are completely asexual. They reproduce by being made, not by breeding.”
“That is the mystery,” Vanja agreed.
“I don’t like mysteries when the enemy is this dangerous,” Tod said. “I think we’d better fathom what it’s up to. The individual androids may be mindless, but the pool has what amounts to dangerous cunning.”
“I will think about it,” Veee said.
They moved on, but saw no more androids. The mystery remained.
Nothing further occurred that day. The fortress was nearing completion. When would the attack come?
They consulted with Wizard and Bem in the evening. Wizard had recovered enough to talk, but remained physically depleted. “I apologize for becoming a burden.”
“No burden!” Tod and Veee said almost together.
“This is indeed odd,” Bem said. “The ones we dealt with attacked, retreated, or bided their time. They did not observe. That suggests a more devious pool entity. They should not care at all about prey interactions of any nature.”
“That was our thought,” Tod said. “We fear that we will not like the resolution of this mystery.”
“If only we could have taken out the pool early,” Vanja said. “Had I spotted that defense force in time...”
“It was hiding,” Veee said. “They knew we would try. It was an ambush.”
“The Amoeba has confidence in us,” Tod said. “So far we haven’t measured up. But we’ll get there.”
“I’ll sleep with Wizard tonight,” Vanja said.
“He’s not interested in sex,” Tod reminded her.
“Not interested yet. But he does need reassurance and comfort. I can do these things when I try.”
“And here I thought you were a sex machine,” Tod said, smiling.
“I am a sex machine. But not only a sex machine.”
Tod nodded. “Thank you, Vanja. If you can help him recover faster, that will benefit us all.”
The vampire was as good as her word. She joined Wizard under Bem’s blanket, holding his hand and whispering in his ear.
“She’ll seduce him if she can,” Veee said knowingly. “And if she succeeds, he may indeed recover faster.”
“I hope so.” Tod put his arms about her. “I could use some comfort too. Maybe before or after the sex.”
“Maybe instead of the sex,” she said. “I don’t have to match her tonight.”
“Instead of,” he agreed, disappointed.
But she compromised. She comforted him during the sex.
In the morning Wizard was significantly improved, though still weak. He was able to get up and walk, and to feed himself. Another day should get him back to par.
They did not ask Vanja whether she had succeeded in seducing Wizard, and she did not volunteer an answer. But later Tod queried Bem privately, as it had been the
re throughout.
“She did succeed,” Bem replied. “But he made her promise not to tell, perhaps because his performance was far less robust than yours. She did most of it herself, until she coaxed it from him.”
And they had forgotten that there was another witness to the action. At least Wizard had, and Vanja had not reminded him. That was perhaps her way of letting the others know that she had conquered. That was what counted, with her.
“It may be that she felt her promise included you,” Tod said. “So you should treat this matter as private, and not mention it elsewhere. I will do the same.”
“An interesting nuance,” Bem said. “I shall conform.”
But Veee knew anyway, when Tod saw her later. “He wanted to be seduced, without admitting it,” she said. “Keeping it private so that if he turned out to be unable to complete it, there would be no embarrassment.”
Tod realized that made sense. He would have felt much the same. Wizard was old, but still a man, and Vanja’s intimate attention would have reminded him forcefully.
No attack came, that night or the following morning. What was the pool up to?
“I have an idea,” Vanja said.
“What, here in public?” Tod asked as if shocked.
She smiled. “Not that. But if you tease me too far, I’ll seduce you in public. Again. You know I like an audience when I can get it.” She took an impressive breath. “We have displayed our arts, but Wizard has not yet done so.”
“I have no art,” Wizard protested. “Merely a desire for an art. That is not the same.”
“That will do. My idea is while we are waiting for the attack, and the villagers are nervous, to put on an entertainment. A little play, perhaps. You can tell a story, Wiz, and we’ll act it out as well as we can, and the villagers can watch and maybe be diverted. The children could use it; they’re scared.”
“But I can’t do that.”
“Now be reasonable, dear.” Tod saw Wizard start when she applied the term; it was a strong hint that they had been intimate. She was still working him over, in her fashion; Tod appreciated the art of it. “You are physically drained, but not mentally. You can tell a good story.”
“I don’t have a story!”
Vanja waggled a finger at him. “What, getting stage fright? You have stories, and now is the time.”
Wizard sighed, knowing how aptly he was being managed. “I have ideas, yes, but they are not complete. My experience is in magic, not tale telling. I have no proper resolutions.”
“Then tell what you have, and we’ll ponder resolutions,” Vanja said. “This could be an interesting exercise. Maybe the villagers will have suggestions, too. It will become a community effort.”
“It’s a love story about a man, a woman, and a fog. They—”
“Frog?” Tod asked. “Kissing a frog?”
“Fog. Dense mist. It—”
“Hold that thought,” Vanja said. “We must set it up for the villagers. Tod, you’re the leader; organize it.”
Tod had no choice but to comply. “Veee, get the details of the stage setting from him. Bem, help her set it up. Vanja, help me explain it to the villagers.”
“Of course,” she agreed.
They walked to the fortress, where the villagers were working. In the center several women were supervising the children, who did indeed look nervous. They had not experienced anything like this before.
Tod clapped his hands. “Your attention, please. We seem to have a while to wait before the siege. We will make a diversion, so you can relax at least briefly. We will animate a story, and will want your opinion on it. No one needs to attend, and we don’t want to interrupt the wall building or other preparations, but the children may find it amusing.”
“We need that,” a village woman muttered. “We are out of regular stories.”
“Organize for attendance. We are preparing the stage now. Make sure some remain alert for androids so they can’t sneak up on us.”
Several women smiled grimly. It was the stress of that alertness that was wearing them down.
Soon Veee’s stage was ready. It was a level section by the river, with the audience surrounding it. Wizard sat in a chair in the center. He seemed hesitant to begin.
“Start talking,” Vanja stage-whispered. “Or I’ll kiss you.” She pursed her lips threateningly.
A child laughed. They were already into it.
Thus prompted, Wizard spoke. “I am the Narrator. I will tell the story without participating in it. Pretend I am invisible, and that only you, the audience, can hear me.” The children nodded; they understood about narrators, who were there but not there.
“This is a wilderness. There is a mighty wall on one side.” Wizard indicated Bem, who formed into a small wall shape. There was a titter. “And an implacable dangerous swamp on the other side.” He indicated a marshy puddle. “Two people find themselves stranded here.” He indicated Tod and Vanja, who now stood beside him. “They do not know why they are here, or even who they are, because this region is shrouded by the Fog of Forgetfulness. They are aware only of each other and their immediate surroundings. They do know that their only salvation is to escape the fog. But how? The deadly predators of the swamp will consume them if they venture into it, and the wall is too high to scale. They are stuck here.”
Tod and Vanja looked at each other. He wore his ordinary clothing, while she had assumed a seeming red dress with a low décolletage and high skirt. Tod spread his hands, and Vanja shrugged. They did not know what to do, either as actors or as characters in the play. He hoped it turned out to be a good story.
“They try to get to know each other,” the Wizard continued. “But this is frustrating, because neither can remember anything. So the man brings out his woodwind pipe and plays a melody. The woman hears this, and dances to the music.”
Ah. This they could do. Tod played his ocarina, rendering one of his favorite tunes, Edvard Grieg’s lovely Song of the Morning. Vanja danced. It became a quite pleasant interlude, because it was apparent that the villagers had never heard this music before and were enraptured by it, and Vanja’s dance was phenomenal. Thus all ears were on Tod, and all eyes were on Vanja, and both of them were reveling in the cynosure. Tod realized that this was what he and the other members of the team lived for: genuine appreciation of their arts. They were not professionals, but here in the hinterlands their limited skills were sincerely admired.
They finished the interlude, and the narration resumed. “They decide to work to escape the fog and recover their lives. They discover an old waterlogged bench at the edge of the swamp, evidently left by some prior resident.” Wizard indicated Veee, who was now lying beside the puddle, her arms and legs extended stiffly at right angles to her torso. She was the bench. There was another titter. “Perhaps if they carry this bench to the wall, they can use it to stand on, and thus be high enough to surmount the barrier, and escape.”
Tod and Vanja considered the bench. First they had to extract it from the swamp. He took hold of the shoulder end of it, and she bent down to lift the hip end. In the process she showed a considerable view of her descending breasts. Tod paused, obviously looking, while Vanja pretended to be unaware. There were more naughty titters, augmented by a few adult chuckles. No one in the vicinity could offer a better vista of this nature than Vanja.
They got the bench out of the muck. Now they had to transport it to the wall. Tod heaved it up to his shoulders, awkwardly, because it did not cooperate at all; the limbs remained projecting inconveniently. The legs were on one side, the arms on the other, one of them crossing his face so that he could hardly see ahead. There were more titters.
He stumbled along toward the wall. “But there was a raging river between the swamp and the wall,” the Narrator continued. It was actually little more than a shallow trench with a dribble of water in it. “It could be crossed only by stepping on particular firm stones. To misstep would be to fall, and be borne helplessly out to sea where the ocean
predators would make short work of him.”
Tod stopped, holding the intractable bench. What next?
“The woman sees the problem, and tells him exactly where the first stone is.” Vanja squatted beside the river and gestured, pointing to a stone, illustrating what she was saying. Tod stepped forward and put his foot exactly where she said. Then on to the next stone, and the third, successfully crossing despite being largely blinded by the bench. He had not been swept away by the raging torrent.
“Because they are able to work together, they succeed in bringing the bench to the wall.” Tod set it down on its hands and knees. “Then he stands on the bench, but still can’t quite reach the top of the wall.” Tod was glad Veee was strongly built so he could stand on her back. Bem extended a tentacle to indicate how high the top of the wall was. “But then he boosts her up.” Tod put a hand on Vanja’s plush bottom, raising her a token amount. He paused to look at the audience, reacting to that contact, and there was more laughter. Children everywhere loved naughtiness even if they didn’t understand the full ramifications.
“This is finally effective. She scrambles over the top of the wall, then braces herself and reaches down to help haul him up. In this manner they are able at last to pass the obstacle.”
The two of them stood beyond the wall, holding hands, exhilarated by their success.
“Now they are beyond the fog. Their memories are returning. They look at each other, appalled. Because now they know that in real life they are of different tribes, implacable opponents who have sought only to kill each other.”
Tod and Vanja gazed at each other, trying to signal being appalled. They dropped hands and moved apart. This was as much a surprise to them as actors as to the characters of the story. They had been getting interested in each other. Was it to be abruptly ended?
“Why, then, did they agree to enter the fog? Now they remembered that too: there was a larger threat, to both of their warring tribes. They needed to coordinate to oppose the common menace, if they could, lest both tribes be extirpated. So they had entered the fog together to see if they could get along when there was no history between them. To see if they could interact compatibly to achieve a common goal. They had done so. Now can they do it when their memories are intact?”