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 A World of My Choosing   An Out-of-this-World Story by Gil Gamesh   Chapter
Ten

   I had thought that this strange new world was a primeval paradise.  I
was wrong.  It now seemed that this world was primeval but hardly a
paradise.  It was a world ruled by evolution's cruel laws: kill or be
killed, eat or be eaten, a world of the fang and the claw, a world where
only the fittest survived.

   A few days after my exploration to the bottom of the mountain and the
coast, I went exploring again, this time to the top of the mountain. 
Again, I donned my Robin Hood outfit, strapped my knives around my waist,
and, with a machete in a scabbard at my right hip, a throwing axe on my
left hip, and a spear in my right hand, I set out for the peak.  I found
the trail going up the mountain that someone had cleared and followed it
all the way.

   I passed through shaded forested groves, over clear swift streams,
around gray outcroppings of rocks, all beautiful but not remarkable, until
I reached a saddle at the top.  Between one peak to the north and another
to the south, I found a huge translucent dome.  When I walked closer, I saw
what I believed was a huge array of solar panels under the dome, probably
the source of power for my new home.  I was awe-struck by the engineering
marvel someone had constructed.  When the sun traveled from east to west,
the dome would be in direct sunlight all day long.  I walked all around the
perimeter but saw no entrance to the dome.

   I remembered that Aimee had said that the isthmus connecting the
mountain to the mainland was on the northwest side so I climbed higher, up
the north peak.  I stood there, looking at the connecting jumble of rocks
on the isthmus, at the gray-green strip of forest on the mainland and the
misty blue-green mountains that filled the horizon.  A whole world
stretched out before me and Aimee had said I was the only person in it. 
She had also said that nine more males and ten females would appear in the
chair in her room.  Was that our purpose?  To populate this beautiful new
world?  Who was sending us here and why?  I stood there, looking up at the
beautiful blue sky and at the slowly moving clouds and at the sea and
mountains before me and thought about my part in all the mystery.

   I noticed a large bird gliding and circling above me and I wondered what
it was.  It had a wing-span something like a vulture but I couldn't tell
how large it was.  It seemed to be getting larger and I knew that it was
coming closer to me.  Out of curiosity, I lay down spread-eagled on a large
rock, motionless, and watched it as it grew larger and larger, closer and
closer.  It seemed to be huge, with a wing-span wider than any bird I had
ever seen.  I felt a little fear at its strange behavior and that invoked
the cool response in me.  I slipped the machete out of its holster and laid
it beside me, ready to use it if the bird attacked me.

   Suddenly its gliding wings seemed to collapse.  I saw feathers fly, as
though it had hit something or maybe something had hit it.  For a second,
it tumbled away from me and then quickly started flapping, and slowly
disappeared from sight.  I lay there, wondering what had happened - just
one more mystery to ponder.  I got to my feet and walked slowly back down
the mountain.

   A few days later, I decided to explore the isthmus.  I dressed the same
as before, with my knives, a machete, and a throwing ax strapped to my
waist, and a spear in my right hand.  I set off down the trail that Aimee
had told me would lead to the isthmus.  Again, I passed through shaded
forests, over more clear swift streams, and around outcroppings of gray
layered stone.  The many layers of stone meant that the mountain was an up
thrust from some ancient sea bed.  Finally I broke out of the forest and
onto a jumble of large boulders where the isthmus joined the mountain.

   As I went farther on the isthmus, the walking became easier and the
boulders gradually gave way to dark sand.  The south side of the isthmus
was evidently struck by a current and that side was littered with
driftwood. I saw more than a few dried carcasses of sea creatures and an
occasional scattered skeleton of some land creature.  In one area I found
big and little hoof-prints that might have been made by pigs as well as
disturbed areas of sand where they had rooted.  Then a swiftly moving
shadow caused me to look up.

   Another large buzzard or raptor was gliding and circling overhead.  I
stood and watched it for a few minutes but it did not seem to be moving any
closer to me.

   I decided to tempt the creature by lying down in the sand, spread-eagled
and still as a corpse.  I wanted to see if it would approach and, if it
did, whether it would hit some invisible barrier or be hit by something. 
My tactic worked.  After a few minutes, I saw that the bird was moving
closer and I gradually became cooler.  I unsheathed my machete and my axe
and put them close at hand on each side of me.  I drilled in on the bird's
image.

   Suddenly I saw the bird fold its wings, extend its talons, and drop like
a stone directly at me.  I knew I was probably its target so I became as
deeply cool as ever.  At the last second, I rolled to one side, grabbed the
machete, and, with all my strength, swung it at the bird.  We both
connected at the same time.  I was struck by its suddenly-outstretched
wing. My machete struck both the bird's legs and amputated them.  The
bird's wing strike sent me rolling across the sand and rocks.  My machete
strike made the bird go tumbling across the sand where it flapped and
squawked piteously and tried to get airborne again.  I quickly ran to the
bird and, with one more strike, cut off its head.  I knew I had been just a
few feet from death.

   I was amazed at the size of the raptor bird.  I kicked the wings into a
straight line and then roughly measured the wingspan.  If each of my
strides was approximately one meter long, the bird's wingspan was
approximately six meters, about twenty feet.  I found the bird's legs and
looked at its talons.  Even with its legs cut off, the talons looked longer
than my fingers.

   I stood there, breathing deeply, heart pounding, trying to calm down.  I
looked for more birds but saw none.  I became angry that Aimee had not
warned me of the danger but then I realized that I had not asked her any
specific questions about dangerous birds and I had not told her I was going
exploring on the isthmus.  I knew I should cut short my exploration and go
back home to question Aimee more carefully.

   When I told Aimee what had happened, she was apologetic.

   "Don't apologize, Aimee," I said.  "It's entirely my fault.  You
responded truthfully about wild animals.  I was at fault because I didn't
ask you about dangerous birds.  I'm also at fault because I didn't tell you
of my plans to venture out on the isthmus.  I will try to ask you better
questions in the future and I promise always to let you know where I'm
going."

   "Thank you, David, for taking the blame upon yourself," Aimee answered.
"I am learning a great deal from interacting with you but I do not always
understand your questions.  Just please remember, my primary purpose here
is to be of assistance to you in every way."

   "And I will try to be very clear in what I ask of you," I said.  "Now
tell me why the first bird was prevented from attacking me and the second
one was not.  Why was I safe on top of the mountain and I was not safe on
the isthmus?"

   "David, I maintain a shield over the entire mountain.  All small birds
may pass through the shield without harm.  All large birds may not.  The
shield disrupts the electrical impulses in their brains and they are
rendered temporarily unconscious.  Most recover with no harm and fly away."

   "I saw evidence of wild pigs on the isthmus, Aimee, probably a sow and a
bunch of little porkers.  You did not include them in the images of animals
on the mountain.  Why not?"

   "The wild pigs are very dangerous, David.  The shield is only over the
mountain, not out onto the isthmus.  Many large wild animals dangerous to
you venture out on the isthmus.  If they try to cross the shield to the
mountain, they are rendered unconscious by a disruption of the electrical
impulses in their brain.  Most learn from the result and do not attempt a
crossing more than a few times."

   "You say it does not harm them.  If I can lure some of the little
porkers into chasing me into the shield, would it serve as a trap so I
could have roasted suckling pig?"

   "Perhaps, David.  The shield will not permit entry of any small
dangerous animal to the mountain.  If you drag it across the barrier, it
will recover in a few minutes so you must be ready to kill it yourself."

   "Thanks, Aimee.  Now, why was I able to pass through the barrier without
knowing of its existence?"

   "David, I cannot anticipate all of your questions.  You could pass
through because I have given you permission to go anywhere you wish. 
Remember, you are in full control here; I am only your assistant.  You are
the master; I am only your servant."

   "No, Aimee, you're also my friend," I said, and meant it.

   <><><>

   "David, wake up!"

   I struggled to come out of a deep dreaming sleep.  Then Aimee called out
to me again and I quickly became alert.

   "David, someone else has arrived.  Please come to my room.  I need you."

   "I'm coming, Aimee," I yelled, and rolled out of bed.  I glanced at the
clock above the door and saw that the time was just after midnight.  I ran
from my sleeping chamber into the hallway and then to the doorway into
Aimee's room.  In the few seconds that elapsed, I heard two voices: a man's
voice speaking in a language I couldn't understand and Aimee's voice,
speaking what seemed like the same language.

   I had almost given up hope that anyone else would be joining me.  As the
thirtieth day after my arrival approached, I was increasingly eager to have
company.  I desperately wanted Anna to join me, even though I had no reason
to think that was likely.  Then as more days passed, and the thirty-seventh
was looming, I began to think that there would not be another arrival.  Now
I knew that someone else had arrived and it was a man, not Anna.

   In Aimee's room, I saw a young man or boy on his hands and knees beside
the recliner.  He struggled to push himself up and then, holding on to the
recliner, to stand erect.  He was naked and his penis was erect, as mine
had been when I arrived.  I assumed that, like me, he urgently needed to
piss.  From his small patch of pubic hair, I guessed his age as about
sixteen.  His head and body were weaving around and his eyes seemed unable
to focus on anything.

   The urgency in Aimee's voice when she called me had triggered my cool
response.  I had been ready to use my heightened reflexes to protect her
but, when I saw there was no danger, I breathed deeply a couple of times
and relaxed and let the cool response begin to fade.

   "I asked him to stay in the recliner until I called you, David," Aimee
said.  "He would not listen.  He says he has to urinate but he cannot stand
up.  Can you help him?"

   I went to the young man, held him by the shoulders, and stooped a little
to get my face in front of his.  He blinked rapidly and finally looked at
me.  His eyes were an unusual shade of green.  He seemed unable to focus on
me.

   "Can you understand English?" I asked him.

   He took a second or two before replying.  "Yes, I spe...I speak
English."

   "Good," I said.  "I'm going to carry you to the toilet so you can piss.
Then I'm going to bring you back here and Aimee and I will help you to feel
better.  Is that OK?"

   His head bobbed around and then he nodded to me.  "Yes, I've got to
pee," he said.  "I've got to go real bad."

   I scooped him up in my arms.  His head fell backwards and I told him to
put his arms around my neck.  He tried and managed to hang on to me while I
carried him back out in the hallway and to the toilet.  Once there and in
front of a urinal, I lowered him so his feet were on the floor, with me
behind him holding him up.

   "OK, let it go," I said.

   He put both arms downward toward his genitals and I assumed he was
holding his erect penis down so he could piss.  He grunted once and then I
heard his stream hitting in the urinal.  I held him while he emptied his
bladder and then sighed a couple of times in relief.

   I didn't even try to see if he could stand or walk.  I picked him up in
my arms again, took him back to Aimee's room, and put him down in the
recliner.  For the first time, he looked at me intently, recognized that I
was naked, glanced down at my genitals, and back at my face.  Then he
looked at the image of Aimee on the monitor.  She was wearing a different
outfit again, this time a colorful Chinese-looking dress which came up high
on her slim throat.  She was beautiful as always.

   "David, would you let me talk to him?" Aimee asked, looking at me. 
"Perhaps he will be more willing to cooperate with me."

   I knew what she wasn't saying, that he would probably be more willing to
respond favorably to an attractive woman than he would be to a big man whom
he might fear.

   "Sure, Aimee," I responded.  "You talk to him.  I'll help with him when
you ask me."

   She turned back to the young man, smiled at him with the same warm smile
she had used on me, and asked him his name.

   "What is your name?"

   "Iain," he answered.  "Iain O'Connor.  I'm from Ireland.  Who're you?"

   "Iain, my name is Aimee," she answered.  "The man standing beside you is
David.  You can relax.  We are both friendly.  We want to help you feel
better now.  We will answer all your questions later."

   "I hope so," he said.  "I feel miserable."

   "Iain, you are probably not feeling well but that is simply because of
your long journey.  You will be back to normal in a day or so.  Can you
describe how you feel?  I can give you medication to help you feel better."

   "Well, I ache all over and I think I've got a fever and I can't think
straight.  I'm sleepy too.  Have I been drugged?"

   I stood there looking at him while his attention was focused on Aimee.
He was an extraordinarily-beautiful young man, maybe somewhere around
sixteen.  I remembered that Mother said that I was a beautiful boy and I
didn't like it.  I had thought men were supposed to be handsome, not
beautiful.  But beautiful was the best way to describe Iain.

   His dark-brown hair seemed to be groomed to the shape of his head and it
probably never needed combing.  His face was unusually beautiful but it was
that of a boy becoming a man and would never be mistaken for a woman's.  He
had a little-boy's cute nose, a square strong jaw and flawless skin without
any pimples or imperfections.  His full lips looked dry, even parched, as
though he had been too long without anything to drink.  His cheeks were
pink but I knew that could be the effect of fever.  I couldn't see any hair
on his face, not even the stubble of whiskers, so I assumed he hadn't
started shaving yet.

   He wasn't fat at all but he looked a little soft.  I couldn't see any
underlying muscles when he moved.  I saw no evidence of hard work or
athletics.  But his body was still that of a young man in every way.  He
had the typical young man's broad shoulders, slender waist, narrow hips,
and slim arms and legs.  He was well tanned except for a few inches of
white around his hips.  I could tell that he usually wore something like a
Speedo in the sun, not the long baggies that most young guys I knew wore.

   He had a neat little patch of pubic hair just above his penis but I
couldn't see any on his testicles or between his legs.  Then I realized
that I also couldn't see any hair on his arms or legs.  With the dark hair
on his head, I expected to see the same color hair on his forearms and
calves.  I was still cool enough to zoom in and look closer at the skin on
his arms and legs.  There was absolutely no noticeable hair anywhere except
for his head and his pubis.

   I looked back at his penis and testicles, wondering if maybe he had just
started into puberty.  His testicles were certainly the size of a grown
man's.  I couldn't judge the size of his penis.  It had looked like it was
average in size when it was erect.  It was soft now but still looked full
and distended.  The skin on his uncircumcised penis looked strangely white
against his dark leg.  I saw the palms of his hands and then glanced at the
bottom of his feet.  Both looked soft, as though they had never been
exposed to anything hard.  He looked like he had led a sheltered life.

   I looked down at my own body, at the faint scars from scratches on my
chest and stomach and the iliac veins and arteries running down my stomach
into my legs.  When I arrived, I had been partially tanned like Iain except
that my white middle extended almost to my knees.  Now, after thirty or so
days of working outdoors totally nude, scratching out a garden among the
rocks, my white area had darkened to the same color as the rest of my body.
I had deliberately chosen to work without anything on my feet and they were
rapidly becoming callused enough to be comfortable without shoes.

   Anna had said I was a handsome man but I didn't think I was.  My body
was far better than that of most men but I had worked at making it like
that for years.  Weather permitting, I now worked out every day in the sun.
I was especially pleased with the muscles in my shoulders and biceps and
the strength they gave me.  My face was symmetrical enough but I didn't
think it could be called handsome, certainly not beautiful like Iain's.

   "Iain, you have not been drugged," Aimee said, still smiling at him. 
"Your ataxia and aches and confused mental state are the result of your
long journey.  They are temporary.  Sleep is probably the best remedy.  I
can give you some medication to alleviate those conditions and a mild
sedative to help you sleep.  What do you want me to do?"

   "What's ataxia?" he asked, his head still weaving unsteadily.

   I had been wondering too.  "It is simply dizziness, Iain," she answered.


   "I think I'd like to sleep some more," he said.  "I can hardly keep my
eyes open."

   "David, would you give Iain the medications?" she asked.  "I will give
him a bottle of juice to aid in swallowing.  Encourage him to drink as much
as he can.  He seems a little dehydrated."

   I looked in the receptacle under Aimee's image and found the pills and
another liter bottle of juice.  Iain was cooperative.  He swallowed the
five pills one at a time and then kept drinking until all of the juice was
gone.  Finally he handed the bottle back to me.

   "Iain, I'm going to put you in the bedroom with me," I said.  "There are
three beds so you'll have one of you own.  I'm going to put you in my bed
for a few minutes while I make up one just for you.  I like to sleep in a
bed with fresh linen on it, don't you?"

   He nodded but then his head kept bobbing and his eyes kept closing.

   "Iain, David and I will watch over you," Aimee said.  "If no one else is
in the bedroom when you wake up, please do n0t try to stand up by yourself.
Just call me or David and we will help you."

   I let him stand up by himself but, when I saw how unsteady he was, I
scooped him up and carried him to my sleeping chamber.  He didn't protest
when I put him down in my bed and then put fresh linen on another.  I think
he was already asleep when I carried him to his own bed.

   I went back to Aimee's room.  Iain's behavior had puzzled me.

   "Thank you, David, for being so kind to Iain," she said as soon as I
walked in her room.  "Perhaps that is to be one of your jobs here, to help
with each new arrival."

   "Il n'y a pas de quoi," I said, and then paused for a moment, thinking.

   "What is the matter, David?" Aimee asked.

   "Aimee, what was the first thing I asked you when I arrived?"

   "You asked where you were."

   "Iain didn't do that, Aimee.  I think maybe he knew he was coming here.
What do you think?"

   "I will leave all speculation up to you, David."

   "Well, I'm going back to my own bed.  I'll probably hear him if he wakes
up but would you monitor him too?"

   "Yes, David.  That is one of my responsibilities."

   <><><>

   The first morning after Iain's arrival, I left him still sleeping and
asked Aimee to monitor him.  I wanted to check my rabbit traps early.  The
one time I had waited until later in the day, I found enough fur at one of
the traps to tell me that a predator, maybe a bobcat, had got there before
I did.  I didn't want that to happen again.

   I followed my usual route, trying to move as quietly as possible,
holding my bow with an arrow notched.  My skill with a bow and arrows was
much improved but I had made only one kill so far.  When I tried, I usually
wasted too much time looking for my arrow.  This time I didn't even see
anything to shoot at.

   I disabled each rabbit trap as I checked it, knowing I wouldn't be back
the next day.  Again, I had good luck in my traps.  I had two kills, both
grown rabbits.  I used Little Boy to gut them and then hurried back home.

   I put the rabbits in the kitchen cooler, grabbed a nutrition bar, a
Nutty Buddy as I now called them, and some juice and went to Aimee's room.

   I heard Aimee and Iain talking when I approached her door and this time
they were speaking English.  I didn't want to be caught eavesdropping so I
walked in.  Iain was in the recliner and it was raised almost upright.  He
was steady and seemed alert.  He turned toward me as soon as I walked in.

   "Hello, David," he said.  "Thank you for taking care of me last night."

   "That's one of my jobs," I said.  "How do you feel this morning?"

   He smiled broadly and his smile was almost as captivating as Aimee's.

   "I'm much better, thank you.  I'm still achy but I'm not dizzy and I can
think lots better."

   "He woke up about thirty minutes ago," Aimee said.  "I saw that he could
walk without difficulty so I told him to go pee and then come in here with
me.  He has already had a nutrition bar and some juice.  We have been
getting acquainted."

   "Yeah, but I'm still hungry.  Can I have another nutrition bar?  They're
good."

   "Sure," I said.  "Go get it and then come back here.  Aimee and I need
to talk to you first and then I'll show you around the place."

   He jumped out of the chair and almost ran out the door to the hallway,
yelling, "Can I see outdoors too?  I want to see everything!"

   I watched his naked white butt disappear and then turned to Aimee.

   "Aimee, give him clearance to everything except weapons and tools and
the door at the end of the hallway.  Let him go outdoors anytime he wants
to."

   "Yes, David."

   "Have you got his measurements yet?"

   "Yes, David.  He was most eager to cooperate with me, except that he
could hardly stand still and he kept grinning while I was getting his
measurements.  I had to tell him to stop smiling and to open his eyes wider
so I could scan his irises.  He even kissed me when I was getting his
fingerprints."

   "Would you say he was having fun, Aimee?" I asked.

   "Yes, David.  He seems to enjoy everything.  Is that strange, David?"

   "I don't know, Aimee.  It just makes me think even more that he knew
where he was coming."

   Aimee held her finger to her mouth and looked toward the door.  I
understood.  Iain was about to come back.

   I spent the rest of the day with Iain.  I gave him a tour of the place I
already called home and he was fascinated by everything.  When we came to
the weapons storage room, I asked him to open the door.  He tried but he
was as baffled as I had been at first.  When he gave up, I couldn't resist
saying "Open, says me." The door quietly slid into its pocket.

   "Iain," I said, "Aimee has given you permission to open all the doors
here except the one at the far end of the hallway and the ones to the
weapons storage and the tools storage.  As soon as I know I can trust you,
I'll tell her to give you permission to open everything except the door at
the end of the hallway.  I'm the only one who can open that door.  After
you've been here a while, maybe I'll let you go through that door with me."

   "Why?  What's behind that d0or?"

   "My harem.  My seventy-two virgins," I said.

   He looked at me and grinned widely.  "Well, I'm good at cracking
virgins," he said.

   "They're all boys," I said, without looking at him.

   "You're kidding me; aren't you?" he said.  I just smiled and he smiled
back.

   When we went outdoors, I stood still at the edge of the terrace and
watched him run wild and look at everything.  After a while he returned to
me and I led him to two of my recent efforts.  He looked at the deerskin I
was drying in a rack I'd made with string between two trees.  His only
comment was, "It stinks." I didn't tell him what I'd rubbed on it to cure
it.  I showed him my small garden that I had spent a lot of hours carving
out in a sunny spot on the mountainside.  I was proud of my garden but Iain
wasn't impressed.  Cutworms had got a couple of bean plants but they still
hadn't found my tomatoes.  I wasn't worried since I'd learned from Mother
to plant extra seeds and thin them out as needed.  Iain and I found the
worm and I let him kill it with a stick.

   For lunch, I grilled a couple of big deer steaks.  I liked mine rare and
I suppose he did too.  The deer meat was tougher then steaks from cattle
but he didn't complain.  He took the last of the cooked potatoes but I
didn't complain.  I was just glad he had a good appetite and was willing to
try anything.

   We visited with Aimee for a while and Iain never ran out of questions
for us.  Perhaps Aimee didn't get tired of answering but I did.  I noticed
that he never asked her two important questions: Where am I?  How did I get
here?

   I fed him rabbit and more potatoes for supper.  He watched intently as I
carefully dressed the rabbit, getting the skin off in one big piece except
for the head.  I asked him to put the skin in the kitchen cooler and he was
back in about two seconds to watch what I did in cutting up the rabbit.  I
told him how I foraged for other vegetables and he wanted to help me,
especially after I told him how I used a tablet to identify anything
edible.

   We took a long walk around outside and I showed him some more things I
had discovered, like the small cave with salamanders near the entrance.  He
asked me if I'd eaten any of them and I told him I had not...yet.  As dusk
approached, we went back home and sat on the terrace talking until the last
light had faded.  He followed me back inside and to the toilet and then
stood at the adjacent urinal while we both had a good piss.

   When we were both in bed, he asked me more questions.

   "David, why do we go naked?  I like it but I got a little cold when we
were sitting outside."

   "Iain, we don't wear clothes when we're inside because, like everything
else here, the supply is limited.  I don't know if we'll ever get any more
so make sure you don't throw anything away, not even juice bottles. 
Someday we're going to have to provide everything for ourselves and I mean
everything."

   "Well, it feels good to go naked inside.  It's just warm enough to be
comfortable."

   "Yeah, Aimee controls the temperature and the humidity for us.  We can
change it but I don't see any need to."

   "What is Aimee, David?  I guess I mean, who is Aimee?  Is she real?  I
sort of think she's a computer image of some kind and then she says
something that...well, it's human and intelligent and I can't help but
believe she's a human being.  I like her."

   "She's real, Iain.  I don't know how but she's real.  I like her too."

   "I asked her if she was a computer and she said she wasn't but she could
give me access to one and I could go exploring.  What does she mean?  Go
exploring?"

   "Iain, Aimee has access to more books that you could read in a million
lifetimes.  She has access to more music than you ever could listen to. 
When it rains, spend an afternoon with her.  She'll give you a tablet and
you can access everything she has."

   "Boy, I can't wait." He said, then turned his back to me and pulled his
blanket over his hips.

   I lay in bed on my back with my hands under my head, thinking about
everything and wondering if I should masturbate with Iain in the bed across
from mine.  I wondered if he masturbated as often as I did and whether I
ought to talk to him about it.  I knew I didn't have any choice about
masturbating, jacking off as the kids I grew up with called it, because I
was hornier than usual since I came here.  I wasn't sleepy but I wasn't as
urgently horny as I usually was.  I decided I'd try to go to sleep without
it.

   "Lights on dim," I said, and turned over like Iain and pulled the
blanket over my hips.  I lay there for a while waiting for sleep but sleep
wouldn't come.

   I thought about what I knew with reasonable certainty about my
situation. I knew that I had been in a room in a filthy hotel in Mamoon,
that something had exploded in the room with me, and that I had been pulled
away from the explosion and was still alive and I was grateful.

   I knew I had been transported to this world but I had no idea how it had
happened.  I had learned that almost everything on this Earth was the same
as the Earth I remembered but, because of the length of the year, I knew it
was different.  I knew that my Earth's rotation was slowing down so I
wondered if I was on the same Earth eons ago or in the future when the year
was or will be longer.  From what little I knew of physics and cosmology, I
knew that time travel was impossible.  So that led me to believe I was on a
different Earth.  But how that could be true and how I got here and why
were mysteries.

   Someone had deliberately transported me and had chosen me to be the
first of a small number of people.  I wondered why and what was special
about me.  The elaborate facility in which I found myself had required a
great deal of work from someone.  Perhaps it was intended to be a safe
place for all of us.  Aimee had said that there would be an equal number of
males and females and eventually we would probably mate and have children.
So someone expected me and all the others to be here for the rest of our
lives.

   I reasoned that the one who had chosen me must have known about Anna and
how close we were.  Perhaps she was meant to come to me.  I wished with all
my being that I could believe that.  Instead, Iain had arrived and I saw no
reason why he should have been chosen to be second.

   I was still uncertain who or what Aimee was.  I suspected she might be
simply a computerized image chosen deliberately to interact with me.  But
she seemed so real and human and I had never heard of a computer which was
capable of her level of intelligence, artificial or human.  I knew that I
thought of her as human and I was grateful for her presence.  Without her
assistance and company, I didn't know what I would do.

   I had opened the door at the far end of the hallway, and found a room
full of machinery that was emitting a low hum.  I assumed that all the
equipment in there was essential to everything here and was powered by the
solar panels in the strange dome at the top of the mountain.  But I could
not believe that someone as human as Aimee could be a creature of some
strange computer in that room.

   My thoughts wandered back to Anna again and I tried to remember how she
had looked and felt and tasted and smelled and how good it was just to be
with her.  I wanted to keep my memories of her alive because, without them,
I knew I would give up hope, just as I knew that without the hope that Anna
could be with me again I would give up life.

   I rolled over on my back and wrapped my hand around my penis.  It was
almost hard and I slowly stroked it until it was stiff and pointing up
toward my navel.  I masturbated almost every night, and sometimes a time or
two in the daytime too, and perhaps my penis had become accustomed to being
used to enable me to get to sleep at night.

   Anna!  I felt like screaming her name!  I wanted with all my being to be
with her again.  I wanted to be with her when I explored my new home.  I
wanted to see the surprise on her face when she saw Lightning run in
circles.  I wanted to be with her in the night, spooned up to her ass with
my hand on her breast and her hair tickling my nose.  I wanted to make love
to her.  I wanted to let my beast loose with her and fuck her like an
animal.  I wanted to fuck her slowly and gently while looking in her eyes
and seeing that she wanted me to be in her body as much as I wanted it too.
I wanted to be with her for the rest of my life, no matter where I spent
it.

   I thought of the time in the hotel in Flagstaff, after fucking her
slowly and lovingly, when I came and she didn't and I insisted on going
down on her.  She protested, saying I was going to get in a mess because my
semen was drooling out of her pussy.  I told her I didn't care and I went
down on her and licked her clitoris again and again.  Once, I licked her
from her perineum, over her vaginal entrance, all the way to her clitoris,
and ended up with my own juices in my mouth as well as hers.  Even after
coming in her, I was still so hot and wanted her so much, that I didn't
care whose juices got in my mouth so I had licked her that way again.  When
she came she tried to pull two clumps of hair out of my head and I finally
stopped licking her.

   Again, I settled on a particular memory.  I resolved to play through it
slowly and to try to fix it in my mind as deeply as something embedded in
concrete.  I remembered what happened on Saturday night, after we'd made
love early in the morning and then gone shopping for underwear for her and
she insisted on buying me some too.  I wanted knit boxer briefs but she
wanted me to have something like a bikini or a Speedo.  I gave in and got
me three of the longer ones and one of the little things.  I promised to
wear the little one for her at least once while we were in Flagstaff.  I
even promised to let her take it off me if I could take off her panties.

   <><><>

   We ate lunch in the mall and, after shopping and looking for most of the
afternoon and going to a movie, we drove around Flagstaff trying to find a
Mexican restaurant which the hotel had recommended.  The food was great and
we dawdled, in no hurry to get back to the hotel to do what we both knew we
were going to do.

   After a quick shower, we brushed our teeth, standing naked side by side,
spitting in the sink, and trying not to grin at each other.  In the
bedroom, she wanted to look at the underwear and clothes she had bought.  I
crawled in the middle of the bed and sat there holding myself upright
Indian-fashion with my legs folded and watched her critically examining
each purchase.  After a while, I found myself slumping so I carefully
straightened my spine, sucked in my stomach, and tensed my muscles until I
was sitting bolt upright.  I saw her looking at me so I slowly tightened my
stomach muscles until my six-pack stood out.  She just looked at me,
grinned, and said, "Show off."

   With her derriere toward me, she bent over her suitcase and began
looking for something.  I wondered if her display was innocent or
provocative.  When she said "Oh," walked in the bathroom, and came back
with her hairbrush, I knew it was provocative and I was provoked.  My penis
had been more than a little engorged but now it stiffened and bumped into
my folded legs.  I let it stay bent down.

   She looked at me again, smiled, and began to brush her hair.  I sat and
watched her and counted the strokes.  I knew she gave her hair one hundred
strokes each time she brushed it.  I didn't mind the wait.  There is
probably nothing in the world more captivating than a beautiful naked woman
brushing her hair.

   "May I brush yours?" she asked, when she finished with her hair.

   I nodded yes and she knee-walked to where I was sitting in the middle of
the bed.  She wrapped one long leg around me, then the other, and sat down
in the cradle of my legs.  She squirmed back and forth a couple of times
and I felt her pussy settle on my penis.  She didn't say anything about
what she was sitting on and so I didn't either.  I cupped her ass with both
hands and let her play.

   She very carefully parted my hair in the middle and then brushed it back
on each side.  She leaned back, looked at me appraisingly, used both hands
to mess my hair up thoroughly, then parted it on one side and brushed it
again.  She leaned back and looked, shook her head no, messed it up again,
and parted it in the middle.  She brushed it back, tucked some strands over
my ears, leaned back, appraised her handiwork, and nodded yes.

   I didn't complain.  Her head was higher than mine and her beautiful
breasts were just out of reach below my chin but her long neck was in front
of my eyes.  I wanted to suck a hickey where her neck met her shoulder.  I
wanted her to lean over and kiss me.  I wanted to lean over and put my
mouth on one of her breasts.  I couldn't do everything at the same time so
I tilted my head upward.  She got the message.  She leaned over and kissed
me.  I closed my eyes and surrendered to her.

   My penis wanted to rise but it couldn't.  She was sitting on it.  I let
it nestle against her warm and wet pussy for a moment but it became
uncomfortable bent down.  I pushed one hand between us, rescued it, and let
it stand up straight sandwiched between our bodies.  From the way she
wiggled against it, I assumed she liked it there.

   She pulled away from my face, cupped her hands under her breasts, and
offered them to me.  Both nipples looked long enough to give a baby
something so suck on.  I chose one, bent my head down, and gave it a good
licking and then a good sucking.

   "I think that one's empty, little boy," she whispered.  "Would you like
to have the other one now?"

   "Yes, Mama," I whispered, feeling like a fool but enjoying the feeling
of her hard nipple between my lips.

   I wanted my penis in her but I had no idea what she wanted and I was
determined to let her lead me.  Suddenly she reached down, lifted her butt
up, and the next thing I knew my penis was, in a wild series of wiggles and
squirms and bumps, buried in her pussy.

   "You're about to get ridden," she whispered in my ear.  "Sit up straight
and let me do it."

   Who was I to argue?  I didn't mind being ridden.  She told me what she
wanted.  Suck my nipples.  Kiss me.  Damn, it's good.  Bite me.  Put your
hands on my ass.  I'm going to break it off.  Damn, it's so fucking good.
She was wild.  I was afraid I'd rip off a nipple or we might chip our front
teeth.  I slid my hands under her ass until I felt the shaft of my dick
where it was entering into her, all wet and slick feeling from the juice
her cunt was pouring out, and began to lift her and let her down on it,
trying to restore some rhythm to her wildness.  I wanted to hold off and
not come until after she did but I couldn't.  I didn't have a chance, with
her sliding up and down on my dick and moaning and alternately trying to
suck my tongue out of my mouth and to swab out my tonsils and her
fingernails digging into my shoulders.  I felt like I was about to come and
a split second later the feeling of inevitability hit me and I started
spurting.  Then she really went wild and I just tried to hang on while she
bounced her ass off my legs and wiggled and hunched back and forth until I
felt her pussy clenching and relaxing around my dick.

   <><><>

   How could I ever forget that night?  Not me!  Not in a lifetime!

   As soon as I came, I raised my head and looked over at Iain.  He hadn't
moved.  He was in the same position, on his side with his back toward me
and with the light blanket over his legs and hips.  I decided I wasn't
going to worry about masturbating with Iain around.  I did it.  I knew he
did it.  Damn, we might even do it together.  What's wrong with that?  If
the customs in this strange new world were mine to decide, I vowed that our
attitudes toward sex were going to be very different.  I eased out of bed
and went to the toilet to clean the semen off my stomach and to piss again.

   TO BE CONTINUED: