Chapter 1

Tye – Imagine a world

Imagine a world in which all adult females are—’women,’—smaller, more vulnerable versions of She. Smaller even than men.

The dank, musty air hangs heavy in the village jail as I rehearse what I would say to my five freemen cellmates, if only this were something I could tell them. But that would get Kay in trouble so I won’t, even though we could use a distraction as we sit locked behind bars wondering what’s in store for us.

Five weeks ago, I didn’t know that ‘women’ had ever existed. As a man, I’m not supposed to know that. Now, sitting here in the grips of injustice, they come to mind. I suppose because this is how they must have felt, in the ‘patriarchies’ of the Before.

It must be lunchtime, but we’ve seen no sign of food. The two local jailers, a pair of big She I’ve encountered before, have been stubbornly ignoring us. They won’t tell me what’s going on.

The door bursts open and several hulking enforcers crowd back into the jailhouse. It’s three of the hostile She who arrested us, their regalia unfamiliar. They’re not from around here, but one of them wears a silver collar. In the A-B-C ranking system, Alpha-Bravo-Charlie, silver shows the rank of Bravo, the strongest enforcers outside of the Elite Guard. That one out-ranks all the locals. They’re planning something, but I can’t make out what they’re saying.

A timid voice says, “Tye? What’s going on?”

It’s Trent, and I don’t know what to tell him. I stand, grab the bars of the cell door and start wildly rattling it as I call out to the large Bravo in charge. “Hey. You. Why are you holding us? You’ve got no right—”

The fury in her face as she strides toward me jolts me back. With a flash of wood, her bokken whacks against the bars where my hands had been. “Enough racket,” she roars. “You will shut your mouth, worm.”

She’s got at least seven inches on me and could squash me like a bug. Clasping my fingers, I suck air as she sneers and turns away.

But … nothing? They’re giving us nothing? I huff, steaming. ‘Brute force trumps discourse,’ I remind myself with disdain. I retreat and rejoin the others sitting against the back wall.

The irony sours me. As a freeman, I always expected to get unfairly arrested. Now that I’m with Kay, it’s the last thing I expected. What is going on?

I glance over, and the fear on young Trent’s face tugs at my heart. I shift over to sit beside him and put my arm around his shoulder, trying not to get tangled in his flowing brown hair. He was finally seeing a future for himself, and now he could lose everything. We all could. And for what? What’s the big crime here? Sedition? What else could it be? But how could it be? I shake my head. Like they say, ‘Those who can enforce the rules dictate the rules.’

Trent doesn’t deserve this. None of them do. “It’s just a misunderstanding,” I say. “It’ll get cleared up.”

“Maybe if you tell them your mother is a High Councilor?” he offers.

“No, there’s no way they’d believe me.” It’s still hard even for me to grasp. I grew up believing she’d abandoned me when I was twelve, only to recently discover that she had hidden me out here to protect me. Born and raised way out here in the sticks, I was her secret. Isolated in a village a two-day drive from our region’s central city, Provender, I knew nothing of politics. I was shocked to discover she is one of the twelve elected officials that sit on the High Council of the North-east Region. “Besides, she’s too far away to help.” And anyway, I don’t want to drag her into this. Kāya will fix …

This is bad. The last thing Kay needs is another disruption, especially one caused by me. I wish she didn’t push herself so hard, but she does. She’s always busy, always has her hands full managing that enormous project, and I’m supposed to be helping. I can’t be causing problems for her. I just can ’t.

But she’ll come. I know she will. I whisper into Trent’s ear, “We’ll be out of here soon. For now, let’s enjoy some lazy time.”

His attempt at a smile is unconvincing. We all know freemen who were arrested and then never seen again. I look around at the others and wish I could reassure them, but I don’t know what’s going on myself. Why is a new squad of six enforcers, a ‘kleek,’ intruding into affairs out here in Hillhaven? I slump back against the wall.

Imagine a world in which men dominate, in which men are in charge of everything, even families. A world where men are free to live their own lives, where they have unrestricted opportunity, unrestrained access to knowledge …

Maybe not such a good topic for right now. That world didn’t work out so well. Destroyed itself.

But I need to say something; the guys are scared. “Don’t worry, Kāya will fix this. She’ll have noticed me missing by now.” My problem, not yours.  

 

Chapter 2

Kāya—Alpha

Dammit, Tye, where are you? I’m holding on too tight. My clenched body bucks against the shoulder belt as we skitter across a rough patch of road. I release my fingers from the strap and flex them, but my heart won’t let go. Not of him.

The jeep drifts sideways as Val corners hard on the rough roadway. I check her, ready to grab the wheel if—no, she’s got it. At a glance, I take her in, a big, buxom beauty in boastful Bravo regalia, a friend I’ve come to trust with my life. She’ll get us there.

I close my eyes and see his sweet face, soft brown eyes wide with adoration, warm tan skin inviting caress, soft lips tantalizing. Concern grips me.

It’s not like him to disappear like this. And it’s not like the freemen to not show up for their shift. And then word of some arrests in town, and Bree thinks the Quo are involved. If she’s right, we need to go faster.

Not far now. This familiar roadway has been the only trace of human presence since we left the project site. What was once vast fields of farmland is now forests and meadows. The pristine wilderness surrounding us has laid untouched since the bio-war decimated the population seven generations ago, yet it has never seemed so barren and endless. The scent of untamed nature blows through my open window, failing to cool the urgency within me as the late-morning heat foreshadows the ruthless summer ahead.

I watch for the dome-tops of dwellings that mark the outskirts of Hillhaven, a village of some eight thousand. Without the barrier walls of the city, these hardy villagers rely on stormproof architecture for their dwellings, and their partially buried geodesic domes are classic. But they don’t stand out from a distance. I alert as we fly by the first few. We got here in under an hour, a new record, but not fast enough.

The river is ahead, and as we speed toward the bridge, I see traffic, and over there, pedestrians. There are always children around. Recklessness can kill, and in our new era, with its tiny population, each life is precious. I can’t be so focused on one that I risk others.

I scan the road ahead, ready to warn Val if I see something she might not. The local jail is downtown, beside the enforcement office. Come on, come on.

“Almost there,” says Val, preempting another prod from me.

Am I ready for this? I look down at myself and feel a jolt of recognition, a tinge of resentment, a pang of regret. This is how I always used to look. It’s like I’ve gone back in time when all I want is to be moving forward. I shift my focus and harden. I’m in my enforcer regalia again. With hard leather shielding to protect vital areas and open skin everywhere else, my regalia displays my dominance. In it, I stand out, and when I issue a command, people pay attention. How long has it been since I’ve needed to wear this? Only five weeks? I’m almost forty and I’m supposed to be retired. I have a new life now, a life I love.

But the peace must be enforced. And when other enforcers are the problem, I am the solution. Even if it means using force.

I sigh. This isn’t who I want to be anymore.

Tye will be pissed to see me wearing regalia again. Oh, he likes the way it looks on me, the shoulder, forearm and hip guards, leather bra, and open midriff. But he doesn’t want me fighting anymore. Well, too bad, because if I need to, I will.

Val honks as we swerve past vehicles. Get out of the way. Can’t you see we’re—I stomp on a non-existent brake pedal and bark, “Watch out for the dog.”

“I see it,” she says, honking again. The collie freezes and stares as we go by.

Come on. Come on. Almost there. Breathe. I rub my left hand up the slanted top edge of my thigh-high boot, along the wide strip of skin between the boot-top and my hard-thong. My hand arrives on the hilt of my bokken, Kaybo, the blunt-edged hardwood sword lying angled across my lap, and my fingers tighten on the grip. I savor the sensation of oneness with my Kaybo, so long a part of me, and embrace the firm, familiar connection to my weapon. If the situation is what I think it is, what Bree warned me about, I may need to assert myself.

I fume as I scan ahead, gritting my teeth. He better be okay. If they’ve hurt him, I’m going to inflict damage. They must know that. If they’ve shipped him away in chains … They wouldn’t dare. I rub my thumb up and down on the golden neck-band collar that signifies my rank. As an Alpha, I stand at the pinnacle of the enforcer hierarchy, with no equal this side of the city. Who in their right mind would dare challenge me?

It’s a good thing I’m getting back into training. My new enforcer team is making sure of that, expecting me to train along with them as I train them. It will keep me sharp, keep me sane. I need the stimulation of intense action. Always have.

But sparring is not fighting. It’s fight training, without any intention of harming your practice partner. The action ahead might be against enforcers trying their best to take me down. After that final fight with Luce, I thought I was done with the dangerous stuff, but here we are again.

This is why I train, why I’ve trained since the age of six. To dominate. And if Tye doesn’t like it, too bad. I squeeze my eyes shut. This is not who I want to be anymore.

I suck air.

Val alerts me. “Up ahead.”

People are milling around out front of the jailhouse. A mix of She and men have gathered, apparently in protest. Our community relations efforts must be paying off. As the closest town to our historical site restoration project, the village of Hillhaven has become an important partner in our work.

Among the protesters, I see two of the local enforcers, both Charlies. Enforcers stand out in a crowd, with their regalia and crew-cuts—no hair for an adversary to grab. I also recognize two village leaders. All have had early tours of our discoveries in the underground facility, and they’re all clearly here in support. Good to see. But they’re up against a kleek of six unfamiliar enforcers, all armed, who are blocking the entrance to the jail. Which they have no business doing. Their presence is a bad sign.

We cannot have Quo extremists opposing our efforts and trying to turn the community against us. At least six fighters, but there may be more waiting inside.

Val skids the jeep to a halt, and everyone looks over in alarm. By the time we leap out, I’ve already assessed the foe. Of the six guarding the jail entrance, only one has a silver collar—the Bravo in charge. The rest wear the black collars that mark them as Charlies, the lowest rank of enforcer, the least skilled. But still dominant among civilians, and still a threat if their teamwork is strong. This team’s presence confirms the news I didn’t want to believe: the Quo is staking a claim in Hillhaven. And worse, they’re taking action against us.

I had hoped it wouldn’t come to this.

I sense a presence behind my left shoulder and have a moment of disorientation. For twelve years, Onyx was right there beside me, her golden collar matching my own, her strength reinforcing mine. But it’s not Onyx. Never can be again, with her permanent injuries. I’m so grateful she’s still alive, but her absence has been a dull ache. I recenter. Here now, it’s Val who has my back, with her six-foot-eight stature and silver Bravo collar. My resolve solidifies.

Emboldened by our arrival, a big man standing front and center turns back to the Charlie in front of him. He’s a solid six-foot-two, average size for a She but big for a man. He confronts the enforcer, face to face, eyes fierce, fists clenched. “Release them!” he cries. What does he think he’s doing? He wouldn’t be that stupid, would he?

It’s an unfair advantage we have, being Eve-2 females. I’m still adjusting to the discovery. ‘Eve-2.’ Different from the original Eve. Genetically enhanced. With the entire female population being dominant in size, strength, and durability, we have all the advantages over men. The enforcer sneers to remind him that even though he’s her size, he’s no threat to her. But she can seriously hurt him. I don’t want to see that.

“Stop!” I command, striding up to the confrontation, Val at my left flank. The crowd parts as people shrink back out of our way. The man quickly defers, stepping back. I smell their anxious sweat as the unknown enforcers bunch up. All are clutching the grips of their sheathed bokken, braced, rigid, uncertain. I open my senses to take them all in at once. The first one to launch an attack will serve as an example to the rest of how foolish that is. They should all know that.

“Who’s in charge here?” I demand, a put-down aimed at the Bravo.

Sweat beads on her forehead as I look down at her. She seems to recognize me. I’m used to that. For many years, my position in the Elite Guard carried a degree of celebrity. And authority. “I will see the prisoner now.” And you should pray he’s unharmed.

“What is your business here?” The strained voice betrays the attempt at bravado. Her grip on her weapon shows white knuckles on only the last two fingers. She has injured her hand at some point, making her grip weak. She’ll be easy to disarm.

I examine her team of Charlies and see from their nonverbals that the one to her left is her second. I identify her to Val with a hand signal so we’re prepared to take them both down at once should they try a coordinated attack. From several of the others, I hear the rasp of shallow breathing through tight throats. They’re scared, as they should be. One spark, and this could turn tragic. I need to keep a lid on things.

This one to the right seems on the verge of panic. I speak directly to her. “I am not here to hurt you. You are safe unless you are dangerous.” I touch the Swordmaster crest on my chest shield and address them all. “Your weapon is no protection here; your peacefulness is your only protection. Do you understand me?”

The response is reassuringly quick. “Yes, Alpha.” Several hands fall away from their bokken grips.

Someone behind me says, “We tried to tell them he was with you. They wouldn’t listen.”

The leader says, “He’s with you? He told us he was a freeman.”

So they do have him. And she’s playing dumb. She knows exactly who he is. “He is a freeman.”

She plays baffled. “Then … what’s an Alpha doing with a little nothing of a freeman?”

It takes all my restraint to hold back from closing her mouth with my fist. She’s about six-four, only an inch shorter than me, and she reeks of bully attitude. Bullies bring out the worst in me. I step up to confront her and look down my nose. “If you knew him, you would know how stupid that sounds.”

Her face reddens, and she watches my feet as she backs away.

“Here’s the way it is. I am Kāya. And I will see the prisoner now.”

The Quo enforcers shirk aside as I barge forward and stride to the door. Val confronts the smaller Bravo to cover me. I draw my bokken, open my senses, and enter braced for an attack.

***