Chapter Thirteen
It was dawn when Jolt and Iris made the hike back to the Enclave. In his weakened condition, the cyborg needed to rest for a while before making the trek. When they arrived, he sent Iris to his flier.
Iris waited there while he went to his quarters in the Enclave to retrieve her clothing and the few items he had left there. He made sure to include her new tablet and her meds. While he was doing that, a droid tram brought a large box and loaded it into the flier’s small cargo area.While she waited for Jolt to return, she concentrated on blocking out the buzzing.
After years of being sent on a mission with barely five minutes notice, Jolt emerged from the old milk house less than ten minutes later. Iris sensed his return even before he opened the pilot’s door to the flier. She opened her eyes and smiled at him tremulously as he handed her the blister pack of med patches. She had missed her next dose by about three hours.
“Once we are away from here, I won’t need these,” she said.
“But right now, I think you do,” he said gently.
She nodded and proceeded to take one out and apply it on the back of her wrist. “I’m going to miss Danya. We were just starting to become friends.”
“Once our home is built, I’m sure they can visit. Or you will be fully in control of your telepathic ability that we can go there to visit.” Jolt said as he was connecting the safety harness over his body.
Iris did the same after applying the tiny med patch.
Within moments, Jolt used his cybernetic connection to the vehicle to lift it vertically and rotate 180º facing east then set it into forward motion flying toward Farringay. But they were about a hundred miles west over the mountain range when he started circling.
The eastern mountains were ablaze with fall colors as most of them were covered with deciduous trees. The view from the sky was breathtaking.
There was a small clearing on the ridge about ten miles from Talia’s homestead. From the air, they could see her property in the distance. There was a tiny cabin on the next ridge further east, but barely enough space to set down the flier even with its vertical landing capability.
“How do you feel about this spot?” Jolt asked lowering the craft to just above the tree top level. The clearing was bigger than it had looked from cloud level. He guessed about four acres surrounded by dense woods on all four sides. The only road near it seemed like an old dirt logging road. Much of it was already overgrown.
“I think this is good. I don’t hear any buzzing, but I have the patch on. Still, it looks and feels like a peaceful spot.”
Jolt nodded and settled the craft to the ground. The two unharnessed from their seats and stepped out into the field. It was overgrown with tall grass and goldenrod among a variety of autumn wildflowers. The sun was low in the sky, appearing just above the treetops. Iris went to the cargo compartment to get her jacket while Jolt scanned the area for the best place to set up their temporary dwelling.
The kit unfolded into a Quonset structure approximately 12’ x 24’ with a single room and a bathroom about the size of a closet. The toilet didn’t require water, but the shower and sink did. They would need a water source for their permanent dwelling. That would require drilling a well.
Jolt felt confident they could get it all done before winter. He would have done all the setup work and built their home before bringing Iris here until he learned of her condition. On his way back to Farringay he had pulled all the information he could find about dawning telepaths. By the time he landed in Farringay, he knew Iris could not stay at the Enclave and keep her sanity.
Dawning psions with telepathic and empathic abilities were fragile because the thoughts and feelings of others feed into their minds as the voices of a crowd of people at a sporting event. Only there was no respite where a couple thousand souls occupy finite space like the enclave. A dawning telepath who hasn’t learned control experienced the random thoughts as a buzzing in their heads as a constant companion until they can isolate themselves.
That was precisely why Jolt didn’t wait for his wounds to heal completely before he went to get Iris from the Enclave. Just the few minutes she had waited while he collected their things had caused her great distress. But all of that was a few hundred miles behind them and Jolt signaled the droid tram to bring the temporary housing kit from the cargo compartment.
Before the sunset, they had the shelter completed and ready for occupancy. The scant furnishings were built into the structure. It was not that much different than Jolt’s quarters on theStarfirewith a sleeping area, a sitting area, and a food processor. It would provide sufficient shelter for the winter if necessary, but Jolt had no intention of using it that long. It would only take a few days to build his home once the supplies and equipment arrived. He would scan the grounds in the morning for the best place to sink the well then have Iris help him pick their building site.
Although Jolt wasn’t feeling up to any significant battles yet, he was more than well enough to make love to his female now that they had a bed. That she could share her pleasure in their coupling directly into his mind enhanced the experience to a whole new level of sensual bliss. He never imagined when he found that broken female lying in the alley more dead than alive that she would make him feel so complete.
They ate a light meal then undressed for bed, lying together naked, kissing and touching in foreplay. Iris was almost wet and ready for him to take her before she finished undressing. What a rush being joined together mind and body, giving pure love and getting it back again as they engaged and retreated in their sexual coupling.
At some points, it almost seemed they were outside their bodies watching themselves fucking, knowing the pleasure each thrust of their bodies gave the other. Reaching mutual orgasm was an explosion of carnal pleasure reverberating back and forth in their minds each time he throbbed inside her, and she contracted around him. It was almost nirvana, or maybe it was complete.
Their utter oneness in spirit lasted a long time after their bodies separated. Jolt knew beyond doubt that this was the love he’d waited his whole life to find. It came in the form of a little female named Iris Bloom.
Chapter Fourteen
A couple weeks later, the components to build Jolt’s and Iris’s home were brought in by shuttle transport. They were made with hardened concrete foam to form a single story elongated domed structure. It looked almost like the temporary Quonset hut with a rounded dome at each end.
Solar energy collectors were built into the exterior of the structure. The home was made to be completely self-sufficient off the grid because there was no grid. A well was dug and a windmill constructed to pump the water.
Most of the ten cyborgs working on their home had volunteered with the understanding that Jolt would assist the building of their homes. Even Commander Dark came and brought Danya. With the machinery and everyone helping, they finished the job in three days. They also used the concrete foam to make a framework for some of the furniture because except for salvage there was nowhere to buy furniture.
“I think the move up to the mountains has done wonders for you,” Danya said as she hugged Iris. “You look great.”
“It’s been great living here even in the temporary shelter. Jolt has just been wonderful,” Iris said. “I feel in control here, and I have learned to share thoughts with Jolt.”
