Down the straight, square corridor the boys marched in exact formation between seamless metal walls that were precisely the regulation distance apart.  The seven boys wore the same standard uniform: thick goggles over well-scrubbed faces, mouse-brown hair clipped short, heavy yellow radiation suits and heavy, black, lead-lined boots which rang against the floor in perfect time.  On each slim hip was strapped a blaster gun.  The patrol was marching out of the Sector, and beyond the Sector there were vixens.

Another long metal hall intersected the straight square corridor at precise right angles to it.  At the center of the intersection the senior boy stopped and gave the order to draw weapons.  In a single motion all guns were drawn.  The boys continued their march.  They were now beyond the Sector.  There would be vixens.

Every boy dreaded patrol duty, but it had to be done.  The vixens made it necessary.  They would rip apart the relay boxes and gnaw on the power cables.  This damage had to be repaired.  Maintenance of the Machine was a priority responsibility.  The Manual said so.  If the boys did not take care of the Machine, It would not take care of them.  Survival was the first priority.  And in order for the group to survive, some had to die.  Some boys did not survive patrol duty.

Vixens loved darkness.  Few boys had ever seen one.  They were savage killers who hunted the boys for sport.  They would wait in the shadows for their chance.  They struck quickly and brutally.  They tore their victims to pieces, gnawing at the bones and lapping at the blood.  Normally, a boy lost to vixens was never seen again.  The few remains that had been found made it clear what their fate had been.  

They kept close together as they stopped to check each access panel.  The boy at each end of the patrol covered the hall while they worked.  The boys worked silently and efficiently.  The patrol had to function like a finely tuned machine.  It was a matter of survival.  All the vixens needed was one mistake, one opportunity.

Moving slowly, alert, the patrol entered a productor chamber.  The silver maze of tubes above the synther glinted in the feeble, flickering light.  Across the chamber a relay box hissed and sparked.  The vixens had been here.  Falling into formation, the four drones faced outwards, watching the chamber and the door, guns held in front of them.  The senior supervised while the two techs began repairing the relay.  The senior was a tech too, but his priority responsibility as a senior was to supervise, not to work.  Techs worked.  Drones guarded.  Somewhere, vixens watched.  Everywhere, the Machine hummed.

The boy closest to one door cocked his head.  He listened.  He could hear something, a plaintive cry from the next chamber.  His heart beat faster.  "Hey, di'ja hear that?" he whispered.

"It's a baby," said the drone next to him.

"What?" the senior asked.

"In the next chamber," the first drone said.  "Can'tcha hear him?"  He leaned towards the door.

"Stay put!" the senior said sharply.  "Nobody breaks formation 'til we're done here."

It was hard to resist the impulse to run into the other chamber to see the baby.  The boys strained to hear the faint sobs.  They began to whisper excitedly.  It was the first new life to be found in a long time.  No one knew where babies came from or why.  The answer was not in the Manual.  It was a mystery.  Like vixens.  But each new find meant another generation of survival.  That was important.  The techs hurried to finish, dropping burnt casings on the floor and leaving them there.  As soon as they were done they snapped the repair kit shut and the senior gave the word.  The patrol bolted through the door.  The last drone slipped on the discarded casings and dropped his gun.  He paused to pick it up.  Vixens only need one chance.

The door slid shut.  He was cut off from the patrol.  The door on the other side of the chamber slid shut.  He was alone and trapped.  For several seconds he could not move.  He stared at the door in disbelief.  Panic seized him.  He began wrestling frantically with the catch.  He pounded on the door.  On the other side the other boys pounded and called, knowing he was already lost.

The lights began to dim again.  The boy spun around and flattened his back against the cold metal door that would not open.  The vixens controlled this chamber.  They would be watching him from somewhere close by, unseen, waiting for the right moment to attack.  He clutched the gun.  He knew it wouldn't do him much good.  It was only a matter of time until he felt those sharp fangs sinking into his skin.  Fear pressed solidly against his chest making it difficult to breathe.  Cold sweat dripped from the boy's face and ran like candle wax down the slick surface of the radiation suit, darkly spotting his boots.  He snatched off his goggles to see better in the fading light.  Every muscle in his body was tense and shuddering.  He didn't dare turn his back long enough to try to blast through the door.  He nearly screamed out loud at the imagined sensation of a vixen clinging to his back, her needle teeth ripping into his throat.  His breath came in sobs.  He shook so badly he could hardly hold the gun.

"Poochie-boy," hissed a liquid voice in the shadows.

A spastic yelp leaped from his throat and he jumped, the gun going off in his hands.  The flash filled the chamber, exploding a bulkhead across from him.  Thin laughter drifted down with the arcking sparks.

"You missed, Poochie-boy."

He fired blindly in gibbering panic until the chamber was filled with the acrid fumes of melting metal and burning plastic.  He stumbled to his knees, coughing and waving the gun around wildly, peering through the smoke.  His half-blinded eyes caught a glimpse of sudden motion and he swung his aim around towards it.  His sweat-soaked hand couldn't get a proper grip.  His finger slipped off the trigger and he felt a sharp pain in his shoulder.  Yelping with revulsion he hit at the vixen with the gun and twisted away.  The vixen retreated, leaving a long rip in the radiation suit.  Her fangs had found the pale, moist skin underneath.

"Poochie-boy, do not fight me," whispered the demon voice.  "Let me touch you.  Let me kiss your throat."

He scrambled on his hands and knees into the corner, gasping and whimpering.  He cringed there, his knees drawn up against his chest.  "No!" he wailed, "I don't wanna die!"

"We all must die eventually, Poochie-boy.  Toss aside the gun and surrender to me."

He felt dizzy.  There was poison in the vixen's bite.  He could feel a slow paralysis creeping through his limbs.  He fought the venom.

His grip began to weaken.  His vision began to cloud.

He could hear them moving closer.

The gun slipped out of his hand.

They hit him, tearing at the suit, shredding it with their claws.  They jostled each other, quarreling over him, tugging at his limp body.  The venom seemed to numb him against the pain.  He was grateful.

A deep, angry growl cut through the horror: "Thieves!  Trespassers!  How dare you hunt in our halls?"

A chorus of snarls replied: "The hunt knows no boundaries!  This is our meat!"

A heavy thud struck the floor.  "We were stalking the boy-pack.  The meat is ours.  You violate the Treaty by your presence."

"A treaty of toothless fools!  The Asura hunt where we will."

"Do you seek war?"

"The Asura fear no battle!" hissed defiant vixen voices.

The low growls grew closer.  "Then we shall give you a battle!  Be gone from our halls or be driven out by force!"

"Hah!  You are not fighters!  The Deva are as weak as boys!"

"Then let us test our strength and see!"  More thuds.  More growls.  The snarls around him became angry but uncertain.  "Kali will hear of this!"

"We care not of Kali.  The sisters of Tao are made strong by the Law.  We are many, and you are but a rebellious few."

"Kali will teach you the law!  Her teeth will teach you!"  Claws gripped his insensitive flesh, dragging him with them.

"Leave the meat!  You will not profit from your thievery!"

"You are the thieves!  The meat is ours!  We brought him down!"

"Leave him!  And do not trespass in our halls again!"

Fierce but impotent hissing retreated from him.  "Kali will make you pay for this outrage, Mithra!  You will pay with your blood!"

"Go whining to Kali.  We care not.  We are the Deva.  We are the sisters of Tao.  We are the Law."

"The strong are the Law!  You will pay!"

"Be gone!" the deep voice thundered.  Then, new claws seized him.  Hot breath panted on his skin.  "Be careful with him.  It is Tao's wish that he not be harmed."  Strong arms bore him off into the darkness.



Faint light glowed beyond his shut eyes.  The rhythmic motion of his vixen captors slowed.  The boy was jarred awake when he felt the floor beneath him again.  The numbness was leaving his limbs.  It left behind a nauseous sick feeling that was beyond fear.  Opening his eyes, he tried to sort out the shapes and movement in his gauzy vision.  There were excited vixen voices all around him.

"Come see!  It is Tao's new boy!"

"How pretty he is!"

"He would make a prettier meal!"

"Hush!  Tao will cuff you if she hears such talk."

His eyes tried to focus in the dim light.  They were all around him, speaking in soft, mewling voices, clutching and stroking each other's lithe limbs and twitching their long, drooping whiskers.  They had thick manes, some reddish-gold, some pale silk, which hung over their shoulders and covered their breasts and curled around their feline faces.  They crept towards him watching him with large, weird eyes, green, gold and coppery brown, slitted pupils, wide and black with interest.  They smiled with purring approval, wide, red-lipped mouths showing curved white fangs and darting tongues.  Slender fingers like tendrils tipped with scimitar claws curled and wove about in strange gestures as they spoke to one another.  Their voices danced with strange accents, and their long tails twitched and curled.  The boy wished for death.

A tall, golden-maned creature approached him, her movements eloquently expressing her authority.  The other vixens fell away to let her pass, bowing and nodding.  She wore a crudely-made, ornate pendant set with a translucent stone that reflected the brilliant green of her eyes.  She knelt to examine the boy.  "You were rough with him, Mithra," she chided.  "Surely he did not put up that much of a fight."

"It was the Asura who handled him so, not us, Tao."

"The Asura?  Explain this to me."

"They were hunting in our halls.  They trapped and took down this boy from the pack we were stalking.  We took him from them and drove them from our halls."

"That is good.  I am glad he did not perish under the hunters' claws."  She lifted his chin to see his face better.  "He is very beautiful.  I am well-pleased with your catch.  But there is little doubt that we have not heard the last of this.  The Asura do not surrender easily."

"Aye, this is so.  Were our numbers not greatly superior, they would have fought us.  But they swore revenge."

"It was they who broke the Treaty by hunting in our halls.  The Law is with us."

"They care not for the Law, Tao."

"Such are the Asura," the leader said.  "We shall defend the Law, for such are the Deva."  She smiled at the boy.  "What a lovely creature he is!  Well worth defending, I would say."

"That is what I thought," the other vixen said proudly.

Another voice called an alert.  "Tao!  The Asura are approaching!"

"They dare to come here?  Kali grows bold!"

"Let them come," the leader said.

Evil hissing filled the room as the crowd parted to let the hunters pass.  The tight knot of cold-eyed vixens approached the leader.  "Tao!  Face me!" the hunters' leader cried.

"I am here, Kali," Tao replied calmly.  The vixens stood a few feet apart, their hands extended before them, palms down and fingers splayed in an uneasy gesture of truce.  "What is your business here?" Tao asked.

"We come to claim our meat!" said Kali.  She was scarred and ugly, her upper lip torn and imperfectly healed into a permanent snarl.  Muscles rippled under her battle-furrowed skin.

"Go gnaw on a bone, Kali!" someone in the crowd jeered, and the hunters hissed threateningly in response.

"Silence!" Tao commanded, and the hostile growls dwindled into glares and muttering.  "Kali, the Asura grow fat upon the flesh of boys.  The loss of one cannot matter so much to you."

"You condemn us for being hunters, and then you steal our meat," Kali said.  "You are a liar and a thief!"

"Watch your tongue, scarface!" Mithra snarled, stepping forward as the others vixens began to growl again.  Tao raised her hand.  "Kali's opinion of me is not at issue here.  It was the Asura who broke the Treaty.  You were hunting in our halls.  The boy is not yours, and all your posturing and threats will not make him yours."

"The hunt has its own laws!" Kali replied.  "We are hunters, and we care nothing for the weak-hearted Law of the Deva.  We obey the Law of the Strong!"

"Then go and catch another, O hunter!" Mithra mocked her.  "What difference can this meat mean to you?  You would have torn him apart and forgotten him within the hour!  Go and find another boy to murder, O savage hunter!"

"Murder?" Kali cried.  "And what is your madness?  To keep him alive and torture him for your amusement?  Your righteousness rings hollow!  At  least we kill our prey quickly!"

"He will not be tortured," Tao replied.  "He will be cared for and protected."

"Why?" cried the angry leader of the hunters.  "To what end?  Why do you waste meat when your own people go hungry?"

"To prove there is a better way.  To someday end the hunger and brutal slaughter of these gentle creatures."

"You are mad!  And anyone who follows you is mad!  Boys were created to feed us and to provide us with young.  They have no other purpose!"

"Life is its own purpose," Tao said.

"Bah!  You are a fool!  And anyone who follows you is a fool!  Do not steal any more of my meat, Tao!" Kali said with menace, "Or you will regret it!"  She backed away, facing Tao with unshielded hate, she and her hunters showing their teeth.  "This will not be forgotten!" she cried, and she and her rebels vanished quickly down the dark corridor amid the taunting jeers of the Deva.

Mithra snorted with contempt.  "She puts up such a fuss!  She will have another before long, I wager!"

"No doubt," Tao sighed unhappily.  "Come, help me move the boy to my chamber.  I must tend his wounds."

Again he was picked up and carried, but this time with great care, as they were being supervised by the critical eye of Tao.  

As the boy grew more alert, his eyes growing more accustomed to the lack of light, he began to notice more of his surroundings.  The network of halls and chambers he was being carried through was not unlike the Sector.  The walls were regular and smooth.  Here and there were access panels and banks of lights, but the lights were very dim.  Relay boxes hung open, fibers frayed, cables dangling useless, unrepaired.  The walls were painted with strange designs, marked with alien symbols.  Everywhere there were vixens, their dark skins blending in with the shadows, their voices mewling in strange accents.

The chamber of Tao was more brightly lit than the halls and was hung with brightly colored cloths.  On the floor were soft pillows and thick rugs.  They laid the boy on the cushioned floor and the leader vixen spoke: "Bring me ointment for his wounds, and a clean cloth to wrap him in.  See how he shivers!  Boys are accustomed to wearing garments, their skin is unused to the air."  She smiled at him, seeking to reassure him.  "Do not be afraid, my Poochie.  We mean you no harm."  

Her subordinates hurried to do as she commanded, bringing the things she asked for.  The sweet-smelling ointment they smoothed over his wounds felt soothing, cooling the sting of the deep scratches.  Then they wrapped him in a soft blanket and the leader vixen put her arm around him to keep him warm.  She continued to talk to him in her musical, imperial voice, seeking to calm his fears.  Despite that, the shock of utter strangeness kept him stiff and silent.

"Bring food and water for him," Tao ordered.  "I shall keep him here with me."

Mithra wrinkled her nose, but said nothing until the others had left.  "In your chamber?" she finally asked with distaste.  "You intend to live with him?"

"I do.  What better way to accustom him to me?  And to make certain he is safe.  It would be a tragic shame if anything were to happen to him after all the trouble you went through to rescue him from the Asura."

"Oh, but surely he would be safe among the sisters," Mithra protested.  "Who would dare to touch him against your will?"

"Ah, there is hunger among them, and they cannot help being what they are.  There is no need to hang temptation before them.  And we must treat him with as much care as possible.  Boys are delicate, sensitive creatures, and we know precious little about them.  Every precaution must be taken to keep him safe and secure.  The Dream depends on it."

"Tao," Mithra said, and then hesitated.

"Speak.  A leader and her second must be free to confide in one another without fear.  What disturbs you?"  

"My sister, your compassion has always inspired the greatest admiration in me for you, but I fear you carry it too far.  You simply cannot apply the same principles of morality to boys and sisters.  It is noble of you to want to stop the suffering of these creatures, and indeed I was at first inspired by your dream.  But what you are attempting makes me uneasy.  Such a relationship between a boy and a sister is not natural."

"Not natural?" Tao questioned.  "What is natural, Mithra?  This hideous custom of rape and murder?  Do you find that natural?"

"I find it revolting, Tao, you know that.  Why else would your dream have moved me?  But we cannot let our emotions rule us.  We must feed, we must mate, and the boys resist us.  We have no choice but to use violence.  It has always been thus.  Much as I sympathize with your desire to end the pain and the violence, you are seeking to change laws that have governed the lives of our people for all time."

"And was not the Law of the Strong the law of all time until the mercy of Deva changed it?  Did she not react with horror to the cruel domination of the weak by the strong, just as we are revolted by the slaughter of the boys?  She did not let generations of tradition discourage her from attempting change.  She went forth and taught a new way.  I intend to do the same."

"Sister Tao, with all respect, it is simply not the same.  Boys are weak, simple beings.  They haven't the intelligence that sisters have.  How can you hope to reason with them and persuade them to share your dream?"

"I do not think they are less intelligent than we are," said Tao.  "They know the secrets of the Machine.  Only they understand its workings; we have but the barest comprehension.  What sort of minds must they have to know such things?  Different from ours, aye, but need they be inferior?  I think not.  Let us try to understand them before we judge them."

Mithra took a deep breath, her tail twitching uneasily.  "I shall grant that the attempt should be made to understand them as much as possible before we abandon hope, but I must confess that I am disturbed by your choice of method.  To share your chamber with one--to live in constant contact with one--"

"Why does this bother you?"

"It seems so-so...unnatural.   Such a thing simply is not done."

"Ah, that word again!  I have no misgivings about doing a thing which has never been done.  I do not find the idea of sharing my chamber with a boy to be at all repulsive.  In fact, I find it rather exciting.  I am eager to learn about these creatures.  I am eager to find out what they are truly like.  And I find the possibilities of understanding, mutual cooperation and even friendship to be especially exciting.  This boy is the key to the fulfillment of the Dream.  With time and patience perhaps he will come to be my willing companion.  Perhaps we may dare to dream of a time when all hunger and violence may be ended forever."

"Impossible!" Mithra cried.  "Do you also expect him to offer you his throat willingly?  A possible solution to our steadily dwindling numbers, aye, that I could believe, but dear Tao!  How can you honestly think that this timid creature can be taught to go against his deepest instincts?"

"We cannot know for certain until it has been tried," Tao said patiently.  "When there is trust, and all fear and pain have been removed, who knows what can be possible?"

Mithra shook her head with resignation, stirring her great mane of dark hair.  "Yours is a brave and beautiful dream, Tao.  But I have come to fear that your dream is folly, and dangerous folly at that.  Its failure may jeopardize your leadership.  As it is, there will be doubt and gossip when the other sisters hear of your plan to keep him here with you.  I beg you to reconsider."

"If you have come to doubt my leadership, and the others share your doubts, you have the right to call a meeting.  That is the Law," Tao said calmly.

"As your second and your friend I am sworn to support you always, even in folly.  I shall not be the one to call the meeting, and if called I shall testify for you.  But I feel I must confide to you my doubts, and my fears that others may not share my loyalty."

"I am grateful for both your loyalty and your confidence," Tao said.  "But I must do what I must do.  I must pursue the Dream even as Deva pursued her dream and made it our truth.  Do not lose faith in the Dream, sister Mithra.  Do not give up the battle before it is begun.  Be patient and give me a little time.  The results may surprise you."

Mithra bowed her head in respect.  "I shall try to be patient and have faith, my leader."

"Good.  I think you will not be disappointed.  Now, I must ask you to leave us.  I wish to talk to the boy alone."

"As you wish."  She rose and made a final genuflection before padding quietly from the leader's chamber.  Alone, the boy and the vixen took stock of each other.

"So, my Poochie, here we are.  I do not know how much you understood of what was said, but I hope to make it all clear to you in time.  You have been brought here for a very important reason, and I promise you that you will not be harmed.  How are you feeling by now?"

The boy said nothing, watching her intently with mixed curiosity and fear.  His wide, blue-grey eyes, their colored irises circled with white, small round black pupils in the center, looked into her large, emerald-green eyes, without whites, with almond-shaped pupils slitted vertically.  Each seemed fascinated by the strangeness of the other.  The vixen spoke.  "Still shy, are you?  Ah, well, that is to be expected, I suppose.  But I know you can talk, and I know that we speak basically the same language.  So we must try to communicate somehow."

The door to her chambers opened, and a servant begged leave to enter.  Tao granted it, and the vixen came in bearing two bowls and a pitcher.  "As you ordered, my leader," she said.

"Thank you, Sarawasti," Tao said, "You may go, now."

The young vixen, a blue-eyed creature with a pale amber mane that hung in small curls, approached Tao with her eyes lowered.  Her tail twitched nervously.  "High One," she said, "May I speak?"

"You may," Tao said, inclining her head in acquiescence.  "What is it?"

She hesitated, and then said, "Is it true what they say, that the boy will be kept in your chambers?"

"It is true," Tao said placidly.  "Does this concern you?"

Sarawasti held her hands folded across her chest.  She glanced her eyes up at Tao with mixed humility and hope.  "If it please you, High One, I would like to be permitted to attend the boy as his needs require.  Surely you will be needing someone for that purpose."

Tao smiled.  "Indeed I shall.  You desire this privilege?"

"Aye, High One," she said.  "I wish to learn about him."  She stole a quick glance at him.  "He is beautiful.  I want to be near him, and learn what he is like.  I want to know of your Dream.  I want to learn to love boys as I love my sisters, to love them and not destroy them."  She lowered her eyes again.  "If it please you, my leader."

Tao nodded.  "I shall consider your offer, Sarawasti.  If you prove worthy, the responsibility will be yours."

The young vixen knelt in a quick genuflection, gratefully thanking her.  "By your leave," she said, and withdrew through the door.  It closed, and Tao nodded slowly, thoughtfully.

"I suspect she is sincere, and can be trusted.  But I shall take no chances, not with my precious Poochie."  She smiled at him.  "Let us see, now..."  She rose to her feet in a single, graceful motion.  She went to the low table where her servant had left the pitcher and the bowls.  Taking the empty bowl she filled it with clear liquid from the pitcher.  "After all you have been through you must be thirsty.  Would you like a drink?"  She offered him the bowl with a hopeful smile.  Parched as he realized he was, he hesitated.

"Come, now, Poochie.  Don't be afraid.  The last thing I would want is for you to come to any harm.  Trust me."

Trust her?  Trust a vixen?  But he was very thirsty.

"It is only water," she said, holding the bowl out to him.  "Come.  Drink."

His mouth felt unbearably dry.  It would taste so good.  It was crazy, but she didn't seem to mean him any harm.  It was only water.  And he was so thirsty.

Cautiously he reached out, accepting the bowl from her.  She smiled delightedly.  "That is a good boy!  I thought you might be thirsty!  Is that good?  Would you like some more?"

He shook his head timidly.

"Are you hungry?" she asked, fetching the bowl of food from the table.  "No?  Perhaps later, then."  She set the bowl aside and seated herself on the floor, folding her legs gracefully underneath her.  She watched him silently for a moment, her tail slowly curling from side to side.  Then she said, "Is there any need of yours that I have forgotten?  Please speak up if there is.  We sisters know so precious little about you and your kind.  That is one reason I have had you brought here: to learn more about you."  She paused, searching his face for some kind of reaction.  He tried to make certain she saw none.  She frowned, taking a deep and determined breath.  "I will  get through to you, somehow, I am not certain how.  We must communicate.  It is the only way."  She shifted her position, eyeing him from another angle.  He watched her furtively.  "You are not the first," she said.  "It has been tried before, this keeping of boys in captivity.  But it has never worked.  Some claim you are not able to survive in captivity.  I think you can, but only if you are treated very carefully and with great respect.  The sisters say that I am foolish for believing that boys have minds and feelings and deserve justice the same as sisters.  But I do not think I am foolish.  Do you, Poochie?  You are the best one to judge."

He blinked at her, undecided.  It showed in his expression, and Tao felt encouraged; at least he was thinking about it.  She continued.  "If your people are as intelligent as I believe they are, then you have noticed how your numbers have declined over the generations.  Fewer and fewer children are born.  In time, there will be no one left.  This must not happen.  Things must change.  Our people must work together to prevent it from happening.  The eons of war must end."

He narrowed his eyes slightly; the corners of his mouth tightened.  Tao smiled.  Whether he believed her or not, he was at least listening.  "We need you, and you need us.  One cannot live without the other.  And yet we are at war.  What sense is this?  Talk to me, boy.  Tell me of your kind.  Let us try to reason our way through this crisis, this senseless war that threatens to destroy us both."

There was suspicion in his eyes, and doubt.  She drew closer to him, and fear was added.  He recoiled.  As soon as she saw his reaction, she froze, and then hastily retreated.  "You need not fear me," she said, holding out her hands, palms down, the gesture of truce he'd seen her use with the rival vixen leader.  "See?  I grant you your space."

He cocked his head curiously.  She was keeping her distance.  Could she be telling the truth when she said she meant him no harm?  What about the other things she was saying?  What did it all mean?  What did she want from him?  He hugged his arms around himself and turned his head slightly, eyeing her at an angle.

"Please," she said, "Talk to me, boy."

He pressed his lips together, almost, but not quite, defiant.  Then he said, "I wanna go home."

Tao smiled, sitting back on her haunches with a sigh.  "Well, my Poochie, at least that is a start."