The Superiors Read online

  Draven glanced at the sky on his way out. His eyes hurt a bit at the brightness of the blue morning. He didn’t have time to pay Cali a visit that night. He would have to pop by Estrella’s the next evening before his meeting with Byron.

  Chapter Eight

  Ander’d be damned if he was going to just stand there and let the government steal his property. So he ran an illegal business—big deal. If people didn’t want the services he offered, he wouldn’t offer them. The government could shut down as many sapien whorehouses as it liked, and more would spring up in their place. What they should have been doing was making it legal. That would save everyone a lot of money and trouble.

  Ander went back to 28 Flavors only once, and he didn’t go inside the restaurant. He went out back to the one-room trailer where he kept his saps. Someone had bolted up the door to keep him out, but he’d expected that. Wasn’t the first time he’d gotten in trouble with the law. He cut the heavy lock and went inside. He came out with four saps and put them in the car and went back for Nina.

  Nina had turned out to be his prize bloodbag and top earner. She’d paid off the extra amount he’d lost in her purchase and then some. She hadn’t been so well-behaved at first. The first client he’d put with her had come out asking for a different sap. The next man didn’t much care what she wanted, so she’d scratched his face. Ander couldn’t have his whore maiming his clients, so he’d had a little talk with Nina.

  Ander himself liked her, and she was a good-looking kind of sapien. Some of the men who came looking for a hot-blooded lay picked the girls whose sap appealed to them, and some of them were too nervous to care, pretending that’s not what they came for even as they left with a sap. But a lot of them liked the pretty girls, and Nina was his best-looking sap for damn sure. Ander didn’t beat on his whores, even when they didn’t follow his orders. Soon enough, they all fell in line.

  Ander had called in a few prescriptions for Nina after the scratching incident. A muscle relaxer, an anti-anxiety, and a painkiller. He doubled up her dosage on all three, and she was good to go. That’s when he found she had another gift besides her good looks. She had a knack for knowing exactly who her clients wanted her to be. If the client dragged his feet and got jittery, one of those who didn’t admit even to himself that he got off on saps, Nina ran the show. After all, the poor man had been seduced—he couldn’t help himself, and he left feeling alright about what he’d done. And a man who left feeling alright was a man who came back.

  If a client wanted an obedient girl, she’d cower like the lowly sap she was. If he wanted a feisty sap so he’d feel a little more dominant when he got her subdued, well, she played that part as well as any other. Nina had a brain in her head, too, and she started charging customers extra if they liked to rough her up a little, wanted her to fight back. Ander let her keep the extra anyas she charged for the service. Sometimes she gave him the money to get her some wine to go with her painkillers. He didn’t even take a commission on the extra she earned. He ran a business, and he took care of his cash cow. That’s how it worked.

  He also liked Nina personally, and after he’d closed up shop for the night, he’d take Nina in the back and have a go at her himself. He knew her act was just that—put on and fake as the girls in the porno-pictures down on South End. After a while he’d get tired of the canned noises and her artificial persona the way he did with all the new girls he’d taken to, but for now she was still fresh enough for him to crave on a nightly basis.

  He went back in for Nina, and when he came out, one of the Enforcers had come through the restaurant to have a smoke. He saw Ander about the time Ander saw him. Ander released Nina and got the Enforcer before he could get his pod out and alert the rest of the Enforcement team. Ander hit the man’s head with a fist as hard as he could, and while the man was still reeling, he knocked his feet out from under him.

  Ander had always been strong, even as a human. He pinned the Enforcer and secured his hands with a pair of steel cuffs—procured illegally, of course. Ander had lots of things he shouldn’t. Running an illegal operation brought him in contact with all sorts of other illegal operations. After he’d cuffed the Enforcer to the support beam on the back of the restaurant, he grabbed Nina and opened the door of the apartment.

  “You are all free,” he said, but his remaining sapiens just blinked stupidly at him. Hell, he’d done his best for them. Not his fault they’d been bred to be so dumb half of them couldn’t find their own assholes.

  He took Nina to the car, and she squeezed in with the other four. He’d gotten the best of the bunch. He had to go see Eddie. Eddie owned the same sort of businesses that Ander did. He wasn’t a friend so much as competition. Eddie had opened Sap Haven right down the street from Ander’s Sap Heaven. What a prick. But like most men of his thinking, Eddie liked one thing more than everything else in the world combined—money.

  Ander didn’t respect Eddie, and he had a hunch the feeling was mutual. Ander liked to get friendly with his saps, something Eddie disdained, and Eddie liked to rough his saps up on occasion. Ander never damaged a sap—that was throwing away money. As much as he kept his saps in check and didn’t want them scratching up a client and hurting his business, he also didn’t want a client hurting his business by putting one of his girls out of commission. He had a reputation for having high-quality, well-behaved whores, and also for taking care of the men who didn’t treat them as such. He’d become legendary in his own way.

  Once about fifty years back Ander had a nice meek little sap on the menu, and he’d offered her services off the menu as well. Some Superiors really got off on subservient sapiens. One crusty old pervert had rented a room, got little Suzanne back there, had a good time, and left the poor sap with a broken hip. Ander couldn’t stand for that. Saps didn’t heal well, and putting her out of business for a few months cost him too much money. He tracked down the man who broke her hip and cut off the man’s leg. The legend went that Ander had turned around to the screaming man before he left and said, “That’ll grow back in a couple months. Now you know how it feels for the sap.”

  Ander didn’t pay much attention to rumors like these. He didn’t start them and he didn’t try to dispel them. He neither denied nor confirmed them. He only cared that the men who frequented his whores knew not to damage the merchandise. A prostitute was a loan, not a purchase.

  Ander left the saps in the car and went to speak with Eddie. The government would repossess all Ander’s remaining saps, but the business remained in Ander’s name for now. Before the government could confiscate it, he sold it to Eddie. Of course Eddie robbed him blind, knowing Ander was in a bind or he’d never sell such prime real estate. But getting half what the property was worth beat getting nothing. Now the government could try to repossess the property all night long, but in the end they couldn’t do anything. It belonged to Eddie Gonzales, and pretty soon Eddie’d be running the same sort of business out of the building, but with less quality and selection.

  Ander took the saps over to Sap Heaven and dropped off all but Nina. The diseased bloodbags at Sap Heaven were rejects, so the four new ones looked like prime targets for the riff-raff that frequented the place. But Ander would make some money off them, even charge extra for the still-clean saps. For now, Sap Heaven wouldn’t be shut down. Ander only rented the property, so it wouldn’t show up on a scan when the government went looking for his possessions. He had a few more pieces of property to get rid of, and then he’d go home and collect his things. He knew Enforcement already had an eye out for him.

  He called ahead to have his neighbor get his things together. His neighbor would probably rob him blind, too, but at least Ander would get what he could. He stopped by a few more places to sell his home and other businesses. It was either that or turn himself in, and he wasn’t about to do that after all the years he’d spent building up his empire.

  He got his things and gave Nina a good fuck before he got on the road. He didn’t have a particular destin
ation in mind, but getting out of there fast was crucial. He turned out onto the road and started driving. He’d have to get rid of his car and get a new one, preferably illegal, before too many nights passed. He had money for anything he needed though, and he had food and sex right beside him. All his needs right there in the car. Hell, Nina could even make him some money if it came down to it. That’s what he called a good investment. Three for the price of one.

  Chapter Nine

  Draven had a craving. He’d been having a craving for some time now, as he hadn’t gone to Estrella’s for many days. He had kept busy assisting law Enforcers for three days, and then he’d had another raid, this one for overdrawn livestock.

  Though most of the Enforcers treated him with courtesy, Draven caught the condescension in their comments. Byron treated him not only with courtesy, but rather like he considered Draven his apprentice. He was kind and had taken to asking Draven to join him for dinner at the end of the night. They lingered on several mornings, talking and playing Splizzle, cribbage, backgammon, or chess.

  Byron acted less formal than most of the Seconds Draven had encountered. At first it had made Draven wonder Byron’s motivation, but after a few invitations he got used to it. Byron was convivial, that’s all. He liked to talk and smoke cigars and study the chess board for what seemed like hours before making a move. Draven played occasionally, but didn’t have the patience to study the board so long. He was a quick thinker and a quick actor, not one to puzzle out the minute details and plan ahead the next ten moves.

  As much as Draven enjoyed Byron’s company, he hated drinking canned sap and wasting his ration card on food he didn’t enjoy. Five rations barely satisfied him, and he would rather use them on food that pleased him. But he never knew when Byron would call and ask him to help the Enforcers identity people linked to 28 Flavors. Refusing an invitation from a Second was unthinkable. Not only unpardonably rude, but a grave offense worthy of a small fine or even arrest.

  The first night he didn’t have to meet with the Enforcers, he turned his car towards Estrella’s. He passed a car advertising penile implants and smiled to himself. That would be an awful car to get. Draven’s advertised Furr-Bines Industries, the company that made fancy wind turbines with whimsical patterns. He found the whole idea silly, but he could have gotten a worse car—he didn’t want to advertise liposuction, hair removal systems, or personal hygiene items like breath-freshening implants or teeth whitening products. Still, if he’d gotten to advertise a good musician, a trendy club, or a new pod, that would have been nice. Or if, one day, he got to drive a Second Order car with shiny paint in one color and no ads, and seats laid out in a diamond pattern.

  But he would never have a Second’s car, so thinking on it only wasted time. He turned left onto Medico Street and sped up. Finally he would be able to satisfy his craving. He had hoped to pop by Estrella’s at the end of his shift, and he just had time. He thought about Cali as he pulled the Mert alongside the curb and stepped out into the humid dawn.

  A man was sitting at Cali’s table when Draven arrived. The hostess tried to show him to another table but he shook his head. He noticed again the length of her teeth. He wondered if she had to stop short of sinking them all the way into a vein. It wouldn’t be nearly so satisfying if he had to stop before he was fully inserted.

  His teeth had begun singing by the time the man left. Draven sat down across from Cali. She showed no signs of recognition, and this irritated him. Her eyes were bleary, and when he turned her arm over, he found red welts swollen up all over the inside of both her elbows. He looked up at her face in surprise.

  “Why do they not close your entry points?”

  She shrugged. “It’s just one guy.”

  “What one guy?”

  “A guy who’s always in here. He likes me a lot. He comes every day.”

  “Yes, I see.”

  “I’m not allowed to ask you for anything.”

  “I know,” he said sharply, frowning at her boldness. He glanced at the bouncer who watched their exchange, his face expressionless. The other two saps in his section slept, heads resting on their tables.

  “How many rations does she have left?” Draven asked the bouncer.

  “Two.”

  “I’ll take them both.” He turned back to Cali. “Would you like me to close two of these?” He brushed his thumb across the most enflamed spot and she jerked so hard her arm almost rose out of his hand. He closed his hand around her arm and frowned. She nodded, her eyes defiant.

  “Very well,” he said, sinking his teeth into the two spots without warning.

  Her body went rigid and her eyes rolled back so only white showed between the lids. As the familiar bitterness flooded his mouth and his nostrils, he took Cali’s hand and gave it a gentle squeeze. After he sucked hard once to get the clog from the holes, he slowed to let her delicious flavor replace the bitterness of unhealed bites. He closed his eyes and let his mouth linger on her skin, leaving his teeth in and measuring off the flow coming through her vein. The wonderful pulse in her upper arm throbbed under his thumb, and he pressed into the flesh until he felt her muscle tighten. He relaxed his grip, remembering himself. His thumb massaged the area to disperse the extra sap that rose to form a bruise where he’d pressed too hard.

  He withdrew at the last moment and swiped her arm with his tongue, leaving it on the two pinpricks for a few extra counts to make sure he sealed her properly. The redness and swelling remained. He hadn’t closed a lot of Superior bites, and he hated the bitterness an open bite put in his mouth, but the taste that came after made it worth the unpleasantness. With Cali it did, anyway. He felt better now that he’d eaten once.

  “Is it any better now?” he asked.

  “It doesn’t hurt as much.” She paused, studying him. “Thanks.”

  “How long until the swelling goes down?”

  “A day or two. But when you do that, it drains it and relieves the pressure. It won’t hurt at all after a few hours.”

  “Yes, that’s right. I remember.” He put his thumb back on the swelling. She didn’t react beyond a slight wincing. The hotness of it, both repulsive in its warmth and irresistible in the amount of sap pooled under the skin, intrigued him. He looked at the bouncer. “I would ask permission to close the five remaining unclosed entries.”

  “If you withdraw it will count toward your rationing.”

  Draven frowned. “It is suffering.”

  “We can’t be responsible for overdrawing her. We encourage our customers to treat the sapiens humanely. If they choose not to, it’s unfortunate, but it can’t be helped. It’s a hazard of the job.”

  Draven looked down at Cali’s arms and grimaced at the task in front of him. He didn’t know if he could stand the bitterness of sucking someone else’s mark five times, even if he was able to have her sap afterwards. And he couldn’t be responsible for her. She wasn’t his sap. He would have endured the awful taste if he could have had a full ration afterward, but she would have to be satisfied with him closing two bites. Now that he’d finally made it back to the restaurant, he couldn’t waste the pleasure of drawing from her.

  “Which one hurts you the most?”

  In response, she lifted her other arm. He could tell by looking which bite she indicated. “I will close one more tonight. I’ll try to come back more often. You are…irresistible to me.”

  “You haven’t been in for days.”

  “I’ve been busy. I am drawn back to you.”

  “At least you do it properly.”

  “Your mouth will get you in trouble. Keep it shut.”

  She raised her chin and pushed her arm up toward his face, and he lowered his teeth into the raised pink mound of flesh. She gasped and pressed her heels into the floor beside the table when he drew harder on the vein than he’d meant. He let up. She was just a sap. It wasn’t her fault that he was in a lousy mood. He released the suction on her skin and let her sap flow into him at the natural rate. The war
m sweetness surged into his teeth, spreading through his body and calming him.

  When he finished, he experienced a sort of dumb thankfulness to her, as he often did when satisfied. He closed the punctures. Instead of releasing her arm, he pressed his open lips down on her skin and licked her without touching his teeth to her. After he drew his lips closed on the wet spot his tongue had made, he sat up and looked at her. Her eyes were wide, and she had a look of shock and perhaps consternation on her face.

  “Was that proper enough for you?”

  He raised an eyebrow and gave her a half-smile, and for once she seemed at a loss for words. At least she amused him. Usually when saps talked to him, he thought his heart would stop beating out of sheer boredom if it hadn’t already stopped.

  He had a strange urge to pet Cali, as he had when she was eleven and terrified. He’d never wanted to pet a sap who wasn’t scared before. But she had the same amusing quality about her that made him want to pet a dog, even though he disliked the warmth of them as much as the saps’. He stood and ruffled Cali’s hair.

  “I’ve acquired quite a taste for you, Cali Youngblood. I will return to you.” He accepted his punch card from the bouncer, then pushed it back. “That one,” he said, gesturing to the sleeping sap at the next table. “I don’t have time to find something more to my liking.”

  He sat and drew the arm of the sleeping sapien. She didn’t smell half as enticing as Cali, but at least she wasn’t laced with pharmaceuticals. He flicked her arm until the vein rose up, and he pierced it expertly. She kept her head down on the table the whole time.

  Draven lifted his eyes and met Cali’s. Instead of leaving as soon as her shift ended, Cali sat and watched until he finished. She rose to leave when he did and met his eyes instead of looking down. Her lack of fear surprised him. Perhaps he should take offense. But he didn’t feel offended. He shrugged it off and turned to leave through the front of the restaurant as Cali turned towards the back where the saps slept in a bunker-style room.