("`-''-/").___..--''"`-._
`6_ 6 ) `-. ( ).`-.__.`)
(_Y_.)' ._ ) `._ `. ``-..-'
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K R I S T E N' S C O L L E C T I O N
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WARNING!
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Those Of A Mindstar Born
by Jeff Buser - (C) 1990
***
The future holds many surprises, none more intriguing
than what sex will be like in the future centuries.
(MF, FF, 1st, aliens, reluc, sci-fi)
***
CHAPTER 1
Wendy sat through the show frustrated and bored. Most
of the entertainment crystals had not been accessed in
hundreds of years and were hopelessly dated, even by
the less than current standards of the compound. Many
of the crystals, which were supposed to have an
indefinite lifespan, no longer played, and she had seen
most of the ones that did still work several times each
in the years since the invasion.
Of course, until the invasion, no one had had much
interest in crystals. Life had seemed too vital then to
waste time on passive entertainment. Now that had
changed, and many of her friends now favored increasing
the trade limit so that new crystals from off-world
could be purchased. Wendy felt her old resentment for
the Prophylactans building again. If only their
gleaming ship had never touched down.
But Wendy had never been much interested in politics.
The founders of the colony had seen to it that their
governmental system was a self-sustaining one; those
few who did maintain a historical interest in their
heritage sometimes debated whether less stability would
be beneficial, but hundreds of years of peaceful,
comfortable existence had eliminated any serious desire
for change.
This most recent change had been forced upon them, but
the inertia of social conditioning seemed to make most
people view the invasion as another act of nature and
something that, like the cycles of day and night, must
simply be lived with.
A knock at the door interrupted her thoughts. Wendy
killed the show access. She punched the door monitor up
on the screen and saw the face of Sarah Liman, someone
she knew vaguely from the plant. She punched in sound.
"Yes?"
"Wendy, it's Sarah from BTech. Could I speak with you a
few moments?"
Wendy wasn't really in the mood for visitors, but
anything must surely be better than the third or fourth
repeat of a show she hadn't really liked the first time
she saw it.
"Okay."
She buzzed the door and Sarah entered, glancing
casually about. Wendy saw with some interest that she
was covered. Unusual, and a little exciting. Maybe this
visitor would be entertaining after all.
Wendy offered a chair and a drink. Sarah accepted both,
and when she took the drink she showed none of the
disappointment that Wendy would have. Since the
invasion, flavored water and liquor were the only
readily available beverages, and liquor brewed from the
biocustomized terrain vegetation seemed to Wendy to
pale next to the local fare. Sarah seemed nonetheless
content with a tall glass of vodka.
Her curiosity aroused, Wendy sat and gazed at Sarah.
She had long, luscious black curls which dangled to her
shoulders. Her face wasn't what Wendy would have called
beautiful, but it wasn't really unattractive either,
and had a strange intensity of expression that
compelled one to look at her. Her legs were long and,
like nearly everyone's, were deep bronze from the sun's
mild UV spectra and the seasonless year.
While she had no facepaint on, she wore decorative
bodypaint in strong colors; an abstract pattern wound
from her knees up the fronts of her thighs. The two
segments then disappeared under the cover, but Wendy
could imagine that they met at her abdomen and
continued up between her breasts, because a similar
pattern emerged from her cleavage and ended in a point
under her chin. From her angle Wendy couldn't tell, but
she thought a similar pattern graced Sarah's back.
Sarah's flat, black footpads were ornately carved, and
projections twisted up around her ankles to the knee.
Her cover was of a style with which Wendy was
unfamiliar; perhaps it was a black market purchase from
one of the free traders, or perhaps Sarah had made it
herself. It was made of some black, heavy cloth with a
shiny appearance and fell loosely down her back to mid-
thigh.
The front was of a similar length and was tied to the
back panel with double-laced bindings; the panels were
also connected by a thin strip of material over the
left shoulder. Wendy saw Sarah several days a week at
BTech, but she had never seen her covered. Wendy felt a
strange curiosity building within her; the way Sarah's
breasts gently prodded the fabric as they swayed gently
from side to side and the way the garment folded on the
flatness of her stomach made Wendy realize that though
she had seen this woman a hundred times she had never
really looked at her.
"What brings you," Wendy asked, smiling.
"You," Sarah said. "I belong to an organization which I
feel you might be interested in joining, and I came to
tell you a little about it. But first, I have something
for you. May I?"
"Please."
Sarah strode over to Wendy's autochair, the cover
floating out away from her hips with each graceful
step. She pulled something from a concealed compartment
on the garment and reached around Wendy's neck,
brushing her long red hair away from her back. A long,
thin black cord dropped over Wendy's chest; something
warm was suspended from it and nestled between her
breasts. Sarah lingered with her arms around Wendy; she
seemed to be having some trouble with the catch.
Wendy felt Sarah's breath hot on her neck. Wendy
clasped the back of Sarah's neck with her right hand,
gently massaging the base of her skull. Sarah dropped
her head another centimeter, bringing her hot lips into
contact with Wendy's neck. She pursed her lips and
sucked on the skin, then releasing, and then moving and
reapplying the gentle suction.
Sarah moved her lips up Wendy's neck to her ear,
drawing the earlobe between her lips. After her tongue
had circled the lobe several times, she ran it around
and into Wendy's ear; as it was darting in and out of
the canal, she stopped to nibble at the edge
occasionally.
Sarah brought her head around to face Wendy. Her hands
moved down to Wendy's shoulders. Wendy stared into
Sarah's dark eyes. They were the deepest brown Wendy
had ever seen; the line where iris met pupil was barely
distinguishable. Sarah's lips were parted slightly and
moist from kissing. Sarah bent her head forward and
planted her lips softly on Wendy's.
Wendy opened her mouth and kissed her back. On the
first tentative probing of Sarah's tongue, Wendy
circled it with her lips and sucked it deep into her
mouth. She flicked it with her own tongue as she felt
it writhe along her teeth and gums. Wendy intertwined
her tongue with Sarah's, thrusting between her lips and
devouring the sweet taste of her mouth.
Sarah's hands moved down Wendy's chest to her breasts,
cupping them with her palms. Wendy moaned into Sarah's
mouth as the visitor pinched one of Wendy's nipples
into hardness between the second and third fingers of
her left hand. Sarah squeezed her hand gently,
compressing the flesh and then releasing it.
Her right hand flattened out and stroked slowly down
Wendy's side and along the outside of her thigh. It
moved over to the inside of the thigh and worked up to
Wendy's crotch. Her fingers separated Wendy's hair and
began exploring the contours of her labia with short
tugging motions. Her left hand circled Wendy's breast
and then again squeezed the protruding erection there
between her first finger and thumb.
Sarah disengaged her tongue, dragging it heavily over
Wendy's chin and down her neck. She trailed it wetly
into Wendy's cleavage, using her hand to press the
breasts closer and to rub her face with them. As the
fingers of her right hand eased Wendy's vagina open,
her left lifted a breast so that her tongue could lick
it's underside.
Wendy moaned again as Sarah began sliding the entire
length of her first and second fingers lightly from
clitoris to anus. As Sarah's tongue completed the
circumference of Wendy's breast it spiraled inward,
ending with a thick swipe at the nipple still held
between finger and thumb. She moved her hand away and,
beginning with the merest portion of the tip of Wendy's
reddened firmness, gradually sucked as much of the
large breast into her mouth as was possible.
Wendy, now almost constantly issuing a low growl from
the back of her throat, fumbled at the side of the
autochair for the controls. Finding the panel, she
tapped a key and the memplast began to metamorphosis.
As the autochair silently changed, she reached for
Sarah's body. The fabric of her cover was thick, and as
Wendy brushed the swaying breasts beneath it she
noticed for the first time that Sarah's nipples were as
hard as her own.
She pressed the garment to Sarah's body with her hands,
rubbing it between them and the flesh beneath. Sarah's
breasts seemed quite firm and were as large as her own,
or larger; it was difficult to tell through the cover.
As the autochair carefully lowered them to a reclined
position, Sarah brought her knees onto it and kneeled
perpendicular to Wendy's prone form. Her mouth still
connected to Wendy's right breast by gentle suction,
she then opened her host's vagina fully with her first
and third fingers and slowly slid her second finger in
to the knuckle. Wendy released a short cry and started
to groan even louder.
The autochair was now fully transformed into a wide,
soft mat. Wendy lay with her legs spread wide and her
knees propped up, hips rhythmically rising and falling
from the surface and Sarah's hand thrusting and
gyrating between her thighs. As Sarah's mouth engulfed
her breast, Wendy brought her right hand again to
Sarah's breasts, bobbing under the cover with her
motions. As she stroked them, she began to inch the
material up over Sarah's ribs. Her movements somewhat
jerky due to the pulsing of her lower body, she finally
exposed thin crescents of skin at the bottom of Sarah's
breasts. Just as they were about to fall free, Sarah
got up on her knees, causing the cover to fall back
down to her thighs. As it fell, Wendy got a quick
glimpse of Sarah's crotch, the curly black hair closely
trimmed and styled into a perfect diamond shape.
Wendy's suspicions about the bodypaint were confirmed
as well; the pattern trailed up Sarah's stomach and
between her breasts.
The motions of Sarah's hand stopped, though she did not
withdraw her finger. Wendy continued to hump against
Sarah's hand as Sarah opened her mouth to speak.
"Eat my cunt," she said, her voice deeper, husky and
forceful.
Sarah drew her left knee over Wendy's head and lowered
her crotch onto the waiting mouth. She slid her left
hand down to Wendy's groin and plied her labia further
apart with the fingers of that hand. She then slipped
her third finger into Wendy's pussy alongside the
second and began shifting them both slowly in and out.
Wendy's increasing gasps were stifled by Sarah's cunt,
now riding back and forth over Wendy's outstretched
tongue. Wendy brought her hands over and on top of
Sarah's buttocks, pulling her closer. As Sarah rocked
forward on her knees, Wendy thrust her tongue as far
into Sarah's dripping snatch as it would go , then
withdrew it a little and flicked it back and forth as
rapidly as she could when Sarah's return motion brought
her clit into reach. The sweet secretions covered her
mouth, nose, and chin, and were running down her cheeks
onto the autochair. Sarah added her first finger to the
others already inserted into Wendy's wet hole and
increased the speed of her strokes. Wendy's pelvis now
bucked wildly to meet Sarah's thrusts as Sarah began
spreading and pressing together Wendy's pussy lips with
the fingers of her left hand in time with the motions
of her right. Simultaneously she started rubbing
Wendy's clit between her left and right thumbs.
Sarah had started moaning as well, her throaty voice
mumbling an almost incoherent stream of pleas, "Oh yes,
come on Wendy, oh please, come on, oh lick it faster,
please, please, faster, oh eat it eat it eat it!"
Wendy realized that Sarah was nearly coming, feeling a
gradual buildup of quick spasms in Sarah's thighs that
were not at all in time with the now quicker back-and-
forth motion of her groin. Wendy opened her mouth
further and flattened her tongue against Sarah's clit,
following it forward and backward with a slow, hard,
swirling motion. Sarah's rhythm disintegrated
completely; she was jerking wildly to and fro, her
thighs closing and clenching Wendy's head so hard that
Wendy thought it would burst. Wendy kneaded Sarah's
buttocks roughly, and furiously twisted her head and
mouth in what little free space she had. Sarah's
violent reaction threw Wendy over the brink as well and
she felt herself try to engulf Sarah's whole arm with
her cunt, flinging her crotch madly at Sarah's hands.
Sarah fell forward onto Wendy's stomach and they
thrashed wildly, rolling from side to side, bucking and
humping until they lay half on and half off the
autochair.
Gradually their flailing quieted to a slow twitching
and eventually they lay quivering on the floor, stomach
to stomach, Sarah's crotch snuggled against the
underside of Wendy's chin and her head resting on a
pillow of damp thighs.
When Wendy regained consciousness, Sarah was not in the
room. Her cover was thrown casually on the chair she
had originally been sitting in. Wendy hit a button and
the autochair began to reform into it's original shape.
She got up and went to the kitchen where she heard
activity. Sarah was there, fixing a small pot of water.
"I hope you don't mind; I thought you might like some,"
Sarah said.
"Mmm," replied Wendy wistfully. She embraced Sarah from
behind. "Is your organization's usual method to seduce
potential recruits?"
Sarah arched her back and tilted her head to rub cheeks
with Wendy. "No," she smiled, "but you're not a usual
recruit."
Wendy stiffened fractionally, still smiling. "So this
was part of your plan?"
"As some Mother said once, 'I cannot tell a lie'. Yes
it was."
Wendy was floored. Looking at Sarah, Wendy knew that
she was the type that never lied and never apologized.
"You mean...You mean you really... I don't believe it!
Oh, you...you man! Just get out..."
"Now wait, I had no idea tha..."
"No idea? Get out! Take your cover and leave! Now!"
Sarah had set the pot down and was moving toward the
door. As she picked up her cover, she spoke. "Look, it
wasn't like you think. We decided..."
"What was it like then? And how do you know what I
think? Look, I don't care! I don't want an explanation
and I sure don't want a sales pitch right now. I'm
sorry, I kind of lost my head for a minute there, but
this really does piss me off and I really do want you
to leave."
Wendy reached for the access pad by the door. "So
just..."
"It's about the Prophylactans."
Wendy stopped. No one talked much about the invaders,
and Wendy didn't know of any organizations that would
care to make them a topic. She was intrigued, but not
deterred. "Fine. Goodbye." She opened the door.
"May I call you?"
"Later. Goodbye."
As Sarah left, Wendy watched her walk away. Now really
seeing it uncovered for the first time, Wendy closely
observed the contours of her receding body. The
bodypaint was applied to her back as well; it was a
good job and Wendy wished she knew where Sarah got it
done. She didn't really believe that the lovemaking had
been completely passionless; quite the reverse, in
fact. But the mere fact that Sarah had contemplated the
act beforehand bothered Wendy. When Sarah was gone,
Wendy went back into the room. Then she remembered the
strange object dangling between her breasts. She hadn't
yet had a chance to look at it, and would probably have
returned it if she had remembered it. She removed the
necklace and held it in her palm.
Attached to a chain which looked very delicate but
which, from the weight and color Wendy guessed was
probably made from strong monofilament braid, was a
small crystal sphere no larger than the nail of her
fourth finger. Inside the crystal was a white
substance. Wendy gasped. She held the crystal to the
light, her fingers trembling. The substance was a thick
fluid, rolling around the interior of the crystal.
It looked like...Wendy pressed the small prize to her
breast; yes, it did give off its own warmth! Surely it
must be the precious discharge from the native life,
which had been so common before the invasion. Where had
Sarah gotten it? And Wendy had thrown her out. If only
she had looked at the gift before...But no matter.
Sarah would call again. Wendy curled up like a child on
the autochair, the necklace embraced tightly in the pit
of her stomach.
CHAPTER 2
Wendy called the plant in the morning, telling them she
would not be in. She buzzed Sarah, but cut the
connection when Sarah's autoanswer message came on. She
used the hygiene closet and emerged slightly fragrant,
feeling more awake and even more eager to tackle the
mystery ahead. She switched on the viewer and examined
her body. She saw a woman, rather attractive by her own
standards, standing before her. Curly red hair halfway
down her back, wide, expressive green eyes, big
breasts, narrow waist, wide hips, muscular legs, a nice
package.
Her bodypaint depicted white and yellow flames dancing
about her ankles and feet, rising to yellow and orange
at her waist and fading to a red which matched the
color of her hair where it played around and between
her breasts. Her back was done similarly, and the whole
was executed in a new holocrystal paint which gave a
realistic impression of actual fire consuming her body.
She had been really impressed with the effect when it
was introduced, but now it was getting a little tedious
to see it on everyone she passed on the street.
Her facepaint was done in a similar motif, but was more
subdued, a mere hint of flame around the corners of her
mouth and eyes. Fortunately, her red hair and natural
radiant sexuality made her one of the few women who
could carry the flame paint well, and therefore few
others had it. But she had seen enough 3D dancing lines
and churning waters and rising smoke and sparkling
stars and whirling galaxies to make her think it was
time for a change. And thinking about it, she began to
look under the paint at the woman herself.
For the first time she began to notice the effects of
'jac juice deprivation. Around the corners of her mouth
and eyes, tiny wrinkles were forming. And some, no,
quite a few of her fiery red hairs were now a lighter
color, a kind of gray. Scanning downward she began
noticing other little imperfections which had happened
so gradually that she had never seen them.
Her breasts which, though large, had once projected
firmly outward, now hung down against her body; her
once flat stomach had expanded slightly, creating a
sloping mound between her crotch and chest, and her
legs, still muscular, nonetheless looked thicker,
heavier. She knew from the shows that on other worlds
these traits were characteristic of aging; women of her
age were often portrayed in those shows as either
grossly fat or painfully thin, wrinkled, sunken-faced,
and gray, but here these symptoms only occurred in the
truly ancient or mortally ill.
She remembered that years before the invasion she had
met a free trader in person; how old had she been then?
Thirty-five? Thirty-six? The trader captain had been
only a few years her senior, but at the time Wendy had
thought she was the victim of some strange malady. The
captain had been strong and quite sturdy looking, and
yet her short cropped hair had been silver and her face
lined and twisted; the sight of the trader's twisted
face when it contorted with laughter had sent shivers
up Wendy's spine. If it was the fate of everyone who
lived without 'jac juice to live two-thirds of their
lives like that, then something had to be done.
She fixed a quick breakfast and sat down at the
console. She queried the net about the ejaculoids and
confirmed most of what she already knew. All life on
the planet seemed to consist of various large and small
organisms which reproduced by emitting a discharge of
countless single-celled proto-beings. Out of these
vast, photosynthetic colonies of single-cell life, one
or more cells would eventually develop into a replica
of the originator.
How the colony chose one cell to develop while the rest
supported its infancy, or why the discharge of all life
forms on the planet seemed genetically identical, or
any of an endless number of questions remained
unanswered. The compound was adequately equipped for
exobiological research but long ago it had been decided
that use of live ejaculoids for experiments was
immoral, and the creamy discharge had yet to reveal its
secrets to human science.
Many varieties of ejaculoid possessed very high
intelligence; though they had no way of duplicating
human communication, many people believed them to be
fully sentient beings. Even the discharge radiated an
essence of life; the psi people said it had a
rudimentary telepathic empathy which disappeared in the
mature organism. Wendy clenched the crystal tight in
her palm. The warmness she felt was not entirely the
heat of the cream's biological function but also an
impression of something vaguely like emotion.
Wendy punched up all information on the Prophylactans.
Not much was known about them. They had landed fourteen
years ago, origin unknown. They looked like large,
semitransparent bags made of some highly resilient
membrane in widely varied sizes. They could fly or
crawl with surprising agility. They seemed to posses no
technological artifacts other than their odd, shiny
starship. Some had speculated that they had not built
the craft; that they had hijacked it, or were merely
escaped specimens.
Their only direct interference with human life was to
bar entry to the alien ship, but the indirect
consequences of their other actions were bad enough.
They had emerged from the ship by the thousands only
hours after landing. They had quickly enfolded every
ejaculoid in sight, absorbing the discharge; within two
days they were multiplying by budding new copies of
themselves from their outside surfaces.
In captivity, they disintegrated into a pool of simple
organic slime. No effective weapon other than brute
force had proved effective against them and their close
proximity to the ejaculoids and their overwhelming
numbers made extermination impossible. Once a team had
used heat wands to burn their way through the guards
into the ship without damaging it, but nothing useful
had been found. The Prophylactans had merely swarmed
into the ship, burying the explorers, and had their
power packs been exhausted before burning through the
layers of living entombment the brave souls would
likely have been lost.
So, the humans had turned back to their daily work, and
found new entertainment in the systems which the
original colonists and their descendants had long had
little use for. How could everyone pretend that nothing
was wrong, that life inside the compounds was enough?
Wendy remembered when she had been nearing the end of
primary training. She had been relieved that
performance evaluations were over, and decided to go
out into the natural sectors for a while. She was
nearly an adult, and her mother had been eager to let
her experience the natural beauty of the world away
from human engineering and technology. She and two
friends had taken a minimal amount of survival gear and
had walked straight away from the compound in a
randomly chosen direction.
She was alone. Nyri and Gwen had gone off to look for
flyjacs and she had stayed to ready the gear for the
next day's walking. She had gotten done before they had
returned; now having a highly practiced and efficient
routine for making and breaking camp. She had walked in
the opposite direction, down into a small hollow where
two hills joined. She came into a clearing and saw a
'jac like she had never seen before. It was round and
wide with a broad, concave back perhaps four or five
meters across. Its skin was light ivory with a purple-
red tint. All around its circumference were the
beautiful heads which were the trademark of most of the
larger, mobile 'jacs. The heads (she thought there were
eight) rose up on long, slender necks and bent inward
over the back; from them poured a constant stream of
discharge.
She slid down a steep embankment and walked toward the
creature. She extended a hand and rubbed along the
outside of the creature's body. Its flesh was warm and,
like most, was very smooth and firm. There were no
individual muscles that Wendy could see; instead, any
part of the body seemed able to become rigid or springy
at will. She stripped out our her briargaurds and
pressed her own body against one of the necks towering
above her.
She stretched her hands up over her head as high as
they would go, caressing the thick, slowly swaying
neck. The head still bent over the creature's back,
pouring cream onto itself in a heavy, pulsing stream.
Wendy reached down to where some of the 'jac juice was
dripping over the edge onto the ground. She dabbed her
fingers in it and brought them to her mouth, trailing
sticky tendrils of juice from the creature which then
snapped and hung dripping from her hand. She tasted the
juice; somehow it was even sweeter and more satisfying
that that of the more domesticated 'jacs at home.
Not much cream dripped over the creature's sides,
however; it must have been recycling the juice it
sprayed. Suddenly Wendy clambered up onto the back of
the creature. She slipped on its damp side and fell
headfirst into the center cavity, cream washing over
her in thick, stringy waves. Her chest made contact
with a long slit in the creature's body, and the
suction of rushing cream into that opening tugged at
her breasts.
An abrupt awareness of sexuality burst into her mind,
and then several of the 'jac's heads plunged beneath
the surface to pull her up. Amidst the tangle of
twisting necks, Wendy's head broke surface. She shook
her head, huge gobs of sticky cream flying from her
long hair. She wiped her face with her hands, licking
residue from her lips and fingers. All of the heads
were now bent down, nuzzling her from all angles. Her
ass was wedged into the creature's back opening but the
flow of cream had stopped.
One of the heads was lying in her lap, about the size
of a human head, rounded and with a single oblong
opening nearly a foot long and several inches wide from
which cream had just been pouring. Wendy embraced the
neck with her arms where it met the head, and pulled
the head up to her face. She began kissing it, dipping
her tongue and lower lip into the opening to drink the
residual juice there.
"It's OK. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to scare you or hurt
you. I just wanted to play."
As if in response Wendy felt the suction of the back
opening start up, pulling jism through her legs and
over her crotch in a constant flow. The heads around
her began sliding against her and the one in her arms
erupted into a glorious fountain of juice, coating her
face in a strong stream of white fluid. Wendy opened
her mouth, drinking deeply of the sweet, thick
discharge, but there was far too much to consume and
most of it splashed out, flowing down over her chin and
chest in torrents of hanging drops.
She twisted her head, showering in the downpour as she
felt a strange tingling in her crotch begin to build.
It seemed as if there was a buzzer in her chest, deep
beneath her breasts, connected to another buzzer in her
cunt by glowing electrical wires. The wires began
extending to her arms and legs as the heads of the 'jac
performed their synchronized dance around her, sending
waves of living jism up and down her body. She began
opening and closing her legs to vary the flow over her
crotch, and periodically a head would splash beneath
the surface to double the pressure on her awakening
organs with its output.
The wires were now burning bright along every nerve of
her body. Her toes and fingers first stretched to their
limits and then clenched into balls with the
stimulation. As the glow seeped into the base of her
skull and spread out into her brain she believed she
was one with the alien. It was no longer a creature to
her; she knew without doubt that it was a soul, like
her, alone in a prison of flesh which they could now,
only briefly, transcend.
And then the light exploded from her, illuminating the
living stuff which penetrated her every opening. She
cried out, a long, high cry of sheer exhilaration which
rose above the hills into space and time. The light
slowly, slowly, slowly faded to black.
When she had awoken, the heads of the 'jac had been
back to their original positions, pouring a steady flow
of juice over her body. She lay in the cavity, her head
hanging over the edge and her hair still dripping
remnants of jism from earlier. It was dark and the
stars were out, clearer than she had ever seen them
from the compound. She mustered her strength and
dropped from her lover's back. She carried her
briarguards back to camp and wiped off there, taking
care not to wake her friends who had returned and were
already soundly sleeping.
They might have just thought she had been bathing, but
somehow they always knew what each other had been up
to. She wouldn't have been too embarrassed, except that
her experience with the 'jac had been the first orgasm
of her life. Some girls bragged about their exploits
with 'jacs, and while most people publicly expressed
with mild humor that it was sick, Wendy knew that
everybody fantasized about making love to them.
Just how many really did it she didn't know, but normal
human relationships were much more fashionable and much
less prone to humiliation upon exposure. But after her
experience in the hollow, Wendy wondered how making
love with another woman would ever be able to compare
with the feeling she had shared with the 'jac.
Wendy snapped off the console and rested her head on
her arms. This was getting her nowhere. As a control
systems tech, she better than anyone should be able to
get useful results out of a machine, but her heart and
mind just weren't in it. What had some Mother said?
'The more things change, the more they stay the same'?
Wasn't everyone's blind acceptance of recent events
just like the attitude they had displayed since the
colony's birth?
When the seed ship had landed, and the suspended
chromosomes had been nursed by the autodocs into
adolescent colonists over the years, how had that new
breed reacted to the discovery that all the children
were sterile? They had lived out their lives almost to
extinction before Mother Krystal had proposed
perpetuation through cloning.
The autodocs had all the necessary equipment, and soon
a new generation of female children was alive. The
decision not to clone the males was based on many
factors; the one recorded for posterity was that to
make a male clone, male and female chromosomes are both
needed but female clones only require female cells. The
fact that the males had already shown more major signs
of genetic damage and the possibility of worse defects
was also mentioned.
The most basic reason, however, was that in the fifty
odd years after the seed ship had landed and the hoped
for the future was lost, men had fucked up the planet
almost irreparably. Clique warfare, destructive
hedonism and complete disregard for the native ecology
had reduced the colony to a state of near barbarism.
But in the four hundred and fifty nine years since a
dying woman's brilliant vision, there had been no
warfare, no ecological abuse, no cultural excess of the
sort which had destroyed countless empires before.
There had been times of stress, of course, times at
which the future had seemed bleak; there had also been
women of action and women of insight, but the
overwhelming majority of the planet's human history had
been a tale of survival by indifference.
When the MetaC drive had been invented, allowing
journeys that had taken tens or hundreds of years to be
made in weeks, merchant ships had begun arriving every
few days. What had the government done? They had
imposed trade limits to keep the planet's economy the
same as it had been during the time that a single
ship's arrival made the history crystals. When the Free
Planets had rebelled against the oppressive Earth
Empire, the government had actually seemed a little
reluctant to let the Imperial offices close as the end
of rebellion finally arrived.
And now their indifference was not only costing the
planet's inhabitants their happiness, but might also be
harming the planet's ecology. Nobody knew how much
damage the Prophylactans were causing because nobody
really fully understood the workings of the native
ecosystem. The 'jacs were mostly dormant now, enveloped
by the parasites. They seemed to have almost no
discharge, and at least this had reduced the
reproductive rate of the Prophylactans to a near halt.
The accepted theory was that the discharge was not just
the reproductive matter of the ejaculoids, but was also
their food. Since the jism was no longer free to enter
the environment and photosynthesize before being
reabsorbed, the 'jacs were probably being slowly
starved to death. The humans would still be fine after
the planet's own life came to a grinding halt, within
the enclosed ecosphere of the compounds, but it was a
tragic, stupid, fatal thing to simply let happen.
Wendy, her head still heavy on her arms, began to cry.
CHAPTER 3
The console buzzed. Wendy answered; it was Sarah.
"I hope you're not still angry."
"It doesn't matter."
"I think I really made a mistake by telling you that I
had planned what happened. I mean, the thought had come
up, but when I was there what I did was completely
spontaneous. It wouldn't have been any more misleading
to say that I hadn't planned it, actually, so if..."
"Look, I really don't care," Wendy lied. "Just tell me
about the organization."
"It doesn't have a name. We plan and implement
strategies to assist the 'jacs in their current
struggle for survival. We're meeting tonight at 1900.
Here's the address."
Sarah flashed the address across and Wendy hit the save
bar.
"OK. I'll be there. But please, just don't try to come
across all chummy to me in front of your friends or I
won't be sticking around."
"Whatever you want."
Wendy started to say something and stopped. "All
right," she said, "thanks."
She broke the connection and brought the address back
up on the screen. It was in another residential section
of the compound, near the seed ship monument. She
noticed that she had saved the whole screen and not
just the address, so she separated the text and filed
it. Then, before clearing the screen she ran a hardcopy
of the remaining image. She tore off the output,
wondering as she did so why she had. Sarah's smiling
face stared from the paper. She pulled off the edges
and put the paper with her other pictures.
At 1830 Wendy threw her document pack and other stuff
in a shoulder bag and left her rooms. She had decided
to walk rather than take the transit, something she had
once done more often than not, but recently had
stopped. The evening air was warm but she felt slightly
chilled, not necessarily cold, but unprotected. The
morning's enthusiasm had worn off and had been replaced
by a growing, malignant melancholy. Maybe tonight there
would be others with the same feelings, others with
ideas.
As she approached the central compound, Wendy began
feeling a little more secure. Soon she was within the
oldest, sealed part of the complex, walking through
tunnels bright with artificial light. The glow of the
residential dome to which she was going shone on Wendy
through the skylights above as she approached. Many
transits whistled by, but she saw few pedestrians. She
had expected the meeting to take place in a public
conference room or activity center, but when she
reached the level specified in the address all she saw
were living quarters. This was one of the oldest domes
in the compound, and seemed in relation to her new
place in the outskirts very spartan and dull. She
pressed the announcer, noticing it was an quaint old
style mechanical contact switch, and was buzzed in.
The room was abuzz with conversation. The host (at
least Wendy assumed she was the host) introduced
herself as Carli Silver and offered Wendy a drink;
Wendy took an unflavored water. Carli was a
particularly attractive woman; her face had bold
features which she chose not to accentuate with any
cosmetic aid; in fact, she wore no face or bodypaint at
all. She had deep set blue eyes, pale as ice with long
black lashes, nose straight and thin as a laser, full
red lips with just a trace of pouting, down turned
corners, and a chin and jaw line so gracefully curved
that Wendy thought they must surely have been computer
generated. Her thick blonde hair was cropped close to
the skull in a spacer cut, something not ordinarily
considered too fashionable; on Carli it was the coup de
grace that marked her as one of the compound's truly
beautiful residents.
There were some brief introductions but the walk had
taken longer than Wendy had anticipated and the meeting
started only a few minutes after she arrived. There
were about a dozen people in the room, only a few of
whom Wendy recognized. Sarah was there, and beside her
was Vera Ellefson, another co-worker from BTech. Vera
was from Control Systems, Wendy's own department; she
and Wendy knew a lot of the same people professionally
and socially.
The only other person whose face was known to Wendy was
Maria Dio, a local representative of the information
service. Maria was also a highly attractive woman, but
her appearance was that of Everywoman; she was the true
generic standard by which all who were really
interested in keeping up with the latest fashion would
be judged. Her long, brown hair was curled in just the
right places, pulled at just the right angles.
Her face had an uncanny symmetry; perfectly spaced eyes
balanced a perfectly formed mouth and her perfect nose
turned up at just the right angle. She used just the
right amounts and shades of subtle, natural facepaint
and bodypaint which a casual observer might not even
have noticed she was wearing to direct one's attention
to the right spots, and was so poised and graceful that
there seemed to be no wrong spots. Wendy thought she
looked amazingly close to her on-screen appearance.
When the meeting began, Carli began by welcoming
everyone and presenting Wendy officially to the group
and then turned the meeting over to Sarah. She came to
the first order of business immediately.
"As always, our first priority is to locate others who
may be interested in our goals. If anyone has thought
of an acquaintance who has ever expressed as much as a
little discontentment over the present state of
affairs, please mark it in the register."
Wendy noticed that everyone had produced a datapad.
Carli, was apparently taking minutes, as her fingers
were flying over her pad keyboard-style. Wendy wondered
why they didn't just use one pad and set it for A/V
record. They talked about some prospects, and about
recent experiences and observations that were relevant
to the discussion. Finally, Sarah dropped her
bombshell; she and Kate Jons, the exobiologist, had
procured a specimen of an affected ejaculoid and had
smuggled it into the central compound. They were going
to try to save it. She asked Wendy to assist. Wendy
felt a little uncomfortable, being new and yet chosen
out of all these other members, but everyone looked as
if they had expected her to be asked, so she consented.
Kate was a pretty girl with an intelligent face; it was
always difficult to tell, but Wendy knew she couldn't
possibly be more than thirty years old. She was very
thin, with small breasts and narrow hips; the bright
red sash she wore at her waist offset this somewhat,
but Wendy thought that it was probably worn because
Kate liked the nonconformist image it lent her and not
because it made her look fuller.
Kate explained some of her theories, obviously
uncomfortable in front of the group. She keyed on what
was known about the ejaculoid life cycle and how the
Prophylactans, by absorbing the discharge of the 'jacs
were interrupting not only the reproductive cycle but
probably the food chain as well. Soon following this,
the meeting broke up, and after some perfunctory 'good
nights' four of them were alone in the main room.
Wendy followed Carli, Sarah and Kate to the
'examination room', really just a spare bedroom with
some space cleared and a few pieces of equipment. There
in an electronic cage sat a 'jac, covered by a
Prophylactan. The 'jac lay motionless, about half the
size of a human. Its neck was long and about the
thickness of a human wrist, ending in a rounded head.
The body was an almost perfect sphere and at the front
where the neck connected to the body were two swollen
convex projections like breasts. The prophylactan
covered very nearly the whole body; it constricted at
the neck to fit the 'jac like a glove. The only opening
was a slight gap where the Prophylacatan's perimeter
had drawn up after covering the 'jac.
Kate seemed now to be in her element. She switched off
the cage barrier and directed the others in the removal
procedure with a speed and grace which amazed Wendy;
she was able to communicate her instructions with such
clarity and efficiency that within twenty minutes the
Prophylactan was struggling madly in their hands. It
was fortunate that the 'jac had not been discharging at
all recently; only the crisp dryness of the
Prophylactan's skin allowed the four of them to hold
onto it at all. Kate stomped a switch to open another
small cage and they threw the creature in, fluttering
and thrashing. Kate touched a pad on the control panel
and the invisible barrier snapped on, signaling it's
activation with a warning buzz.
They turned immediately to the 'jac. It lay still,
motionless on the table. Kate administered a
moisturizer to its cracked, dry skin. She examined it,
but could not get it to respond. She looked to Wendy,
questioning. "The sacs seem to be full, but there's no
discharge at all. It must be a defensive reaction to
the Prophylactans; trying to starve the invaders
without starving themselves. It looks like it's not
working..."
Wendy moistened her hands in a basin of water and
carefully stroked the skin, feeling the damage done by
the invader; the flesh was soft and limp. She pressed
her face against its body, nuzzling her nose between
the sacs and licking tenderly. The head moved a little,
straining to reach her loving face.
Wendy took the ejaculoid's whole head into her mouth.
It was all she could do to get it in to the rim, but
when her lips slipped over that edge and brushed the
'jac's neck, she felt it quiver and begin to stiffen.
She splashed her hands in the water again and ran her
hands up and down its neck; it responded by growing
firmer as she touched it. She gently stroked down to
the base of its neck, massaging its body and holding
the two rounded organs lightly cupped in her hands.
When she softly squeezed them in her palms, the 'jac
went fully hard; she felt a surge of movement beneath
it's skin which rippled up through the neck, pulsed
through the head, and erupted down her throat as the
thickest, hardest, longest wad of discharge she had
ever felt from a 'jac this size. She swallowed madly,
but it was no use. The juice sprayed from the tiny gaps
between her lips and the 'jac's head at high pressure,
spattering large droplets on the 'jac's body and on the
watching group members.
As the wave subsided, Wendy allowed the 'jac's head to
slip from her drenched lips. The juice was thicker than
she had ever seen it, almost like putty; a strand from
the wad still running down her throat extended out of
her open mouth to the 'jac's discharge orifice,
tenaciously hanging in midair, silvery droplets running
along it's length to the center point. She pulled the
strand to one side with her tongue, shaking it; some of
the running droplets dislodged and began rappelling
from the thickest line of jism to the floor on little
streaming trails of their own.
Wendy closed her lips and pulled her head back and the
line finally broke. One end of the strand now was
hanging from the 'jac's head; the other swung backwards
and contacted Wendy's breast, sticking and forming a
shiny little buttress from her nipple to her chin.
Carli looked hungrily at the residue on Wendy's body.
"May I?" she asked.
"Sure."
Carli moved over to Wendy and began licking the jism
from her face. Her tongue circled the perimeter of
Wendy's mouth and then dipped between her lips,
scooping the sticky fluid from between her teeth and
gums. She moved her mouth down over Wendy's chin,
lapping up the remaining gobs dangling there and then
followed the slimy trail down to Wendy's breasts. She
cleaned all around the area and finally sucked the last
traces from Wendy's hardened nipple. This last was a
little more difficult due to the corrugated contours of
that surface and Carli lingered there, tasting the last
few minute portions of juice flowing into her mouth.
"Thanks. I needed that," Carli smiled.
"My pleasure," Wendy grinned back. With some relish,
Wendy noticed that Sarah was conspicuously ignoring the
whole exchange. A little guilt, perhaps? Or, more
likely now that she thought about it, Wendy figured
that Sarah really was totally absorbed in assisting
Kate with the 'jac. A born leader. She and Carli set
about cleaning up, though Sarah and Kate did most of
the real work. When everything was secure, they went
back to the main room.
"So now," Sarah began, "we obviously can't let this guy
back outside; it'd just be attacked again as soon as it
got outside the seals."
"I say we wait until the next meeting and put it before
the group," Carli stated.
Kate disagreed. "No, they'd probably want the
Prophylactan destroyed, and I want to examine it
further."
"Why bother examining it?," Wendy asked. "They've
captured specimens before without results."
"If they had tried everything, they might have had
results. There has to be something they missed," Kate
answered, "or something they never thought of."
"Alright," Sarah decided, "you keep the Prophylactan
and we'll decide next time about the 'jac. Do you have
facilities?"
"Already set up."
"Good. Carli, can the 'jac stay here?"
"It seemed to respond better to Wendy; don't you think
she should take care of it?"
"Too dangerous. It's too big to move inconspicuously,
and if anybody found out we had native life inside the
seals we'd be history."
"Then maybe Wendy should stay here," Carli said,
turning to face Wendy, "if that's OK with you."
"That might be a good idea, especially if it's ok to
have the next meeting here as well," Sarah added.
"Well," Wendy began "I don't..."
"You'll be closer to work, and it won't be long from
where it had been resting, propped up on her elbow. She
was smiling.
CHAPTER 4
Wendy and Carli sat in the main room, talking about the
evening's events.
"What you did was really beautiful. I thought the poor
thing was dead for sure. I've never seen anything like
it."
"I just knew what it needed."
"Amazing."
"Why do you say that? It doesn't seem that
extraordinary to me."
"Because even if I had thought to do what you did,
which I wouldn't have, it probably wouldn't have
worked. They say that's what makes you special."
"They? Who's They? Where exactly," Wendy cocked her
head suspiciously, "did you get this information?"
"Well, at a meeting we were talking about people with
special relationships with 'jacs, and Vera mentioned
something she had seen someone do at a party once.
Everybody must have been green with envy; I know I was!
She said you made love to a two-headed ropejac and
brought its heads to discharge simultaneously with your
cunt and mouth."
"Yeah, I do remember that. So?"
"Well, ropejacs are notoriously stupid. They do what
they want to do, when they want to do it. Not to
mention shy; to have gotten it to even show itself in a
closed roomful of people is a feat in itself."
"I still don't see what the big deal is."
"When your name came up, Sarah remembered you too, from
Btech. She said you always complaining, being sarcastic
about the usual fuckups and so on. I said that that was
the kind of person we needed. So we did a little
checking and found..."
"A little checking? What are you guys, Intelligence?"
"No," Carli chuckled, "just careful. We occasionally do
things which aren't totally by the book and we want to
make sure that nobody causes any official trouble for
us."
"Oh, that's good, coming from somebody who works in
Security."
Carli laughed. "Anyway, we got hold of your psi report
and when..." "My psi report? I can't even get access to
that," Wendy lied. Anyone with a little control systems
know-how could get into supposedly private information,
and someone with her skills could get access to highly
confidential official information if they really tried.
She even knew some of the real information crime
biggies from contact over the net, but nobody knew who
they really were.
"I wouldn't count on it. We got your BTech file too.
You're really good, or at least they think you are,"
Carli said, raising an eyebrow.
"Yeah. I know they do," Wendy grinned back, "but I've
never had a real urge to see what's inside my head on a
screen, and I'd kind of like to keep it that way,
unless there's something you really think I should
know."
"We didn't look at any of the really private stuff,
personality matrices or all that, but we did want to
know about any paranormal manifestations and guess
what? You have a demonstrated meta-emotional empathy."
"I know what people want."
"At least some of the time, right. Most importantly
your ability works as well or better with the natives
than it does with humans."
"I guess I do, except it seems that when I try to
figure out what somebody wants, I'm usually wrong."
"You probably only receive when you're in an emotional
state too, or not thinking about it. Whenever you
consciously try to second-guess somebody, you don't do
any better than a normal person would, and to you that
seems like you're wrong a lot of the time."
"Mmm. Well since you know so much about me, mind if I
ask you a personal question?"
"Fire away."
"Are you and Sarah lovers?"
"We have been, off and on."
"Currently off?"
"Yeah. The past few years, she hasn't done much other
than this. It's an obsession. I think she wants to be
future history - 'how Mother Liman saved the
ejaculoids' or something."
"Must be rough."
"Nah. I always tell people that when I hit fifty I
started to prefer younger women, but that's bullshit,
because I find someone like you more physically
attractive than I ever found her. I guess if I analyzed
it closely enough I could figure out what the deeper
attraction is, but on the surface she's really not my
type at all. We both have too much will."
"What is your type?"
"I like somebody who knows what I want."
Wendy looked closely at Carli's body. It was as lovely
as her face, very smooth and angular with clean, well
defined lines. Every muscle stood out clearly, lean and
strong. Her breasts were smallish, the nipples tiny
little perfect circles of dark brown pointing perkily
upward. Her crotch was bare and smooth, her beautiful
pink lips folding over one another almost coyly. No
bodypaint to hide anything, and nothing which needed to
be hidden.
God, the woman was the most beautiful thing Wendy had
ever seen. Wendy looked back up into those eyes. She
saw ice on fire; the shadow of Carli's strong brow cut
across the clear, pale blue of her eyes and where the
light fell on them they gleamed like gemstones. As
Wendy fell into those eyes Carli hooked her knees over
the arms of her chair, the muscles of her thighs
flexing with a dockworker's strength and a dancer's
grace.
"Do you know what I want, Wendy?"
Wendy went to her. She sat of the edge of the chair,
perched between Carli's legs. She laid her head down on
Carli's breast, feeling the slow rise and fall of her
breath. She wrapped her arms around Carli's torso and
felt the rippling strength beneath her skin.
"Oh, my beautiful, beautiful Wendy," Carli crooned, "oh
where have you been all my life? I already know I love
you; just let me hold you now."
They sat together a long time, motionless but for their
breathing; then Wendy tilted her head up from Carli's
chest. Carli leaned down and kissed her, slowly at
first, gently biting and sucking Wendy's lips, and then
fiercely with an open mouth. At long last, their heads
parted. Never taking her eyes from Wendy's face, Carli
lifted her with fluid ease and carried her into the
primary bedroom.
Carli laid Wendy on the bed and began making love to
Wendy's body with her mouth. She covered every inch of
the supple flesh from her face to her feet with long,
soft kisses. She rolled Wendy onto her side and spread
her legs. Then she maneuvered one of her own legs
between Wendy's and eased forward until they were
joined at the crotch. Slowly, she began to rotate her
pelvis clockwise. Wendy matched her motion in the
opposite direction, and soon they were moving much more
rapidly in a strange syncopated rhythm which included a
momentary delay in each cycle when their clits brushed
together.
"Oh, Wendy, you cunt feels so hot, it's hotter than
mine. Oh god, look at your cunt hair; mmmmmmm, it's so
bright red and so long and wild, don't you ever trim
it? Ooh, it feels so good, it tickles my bald pussy,
ohhhhhh, it scratches my cunt lips, it drives me wild!"
Carli raised her body off the bed face up, arms
outstretched behind her and both feet planted on the
bed. She twisted her body slightly to the left to
maintain contact and continued her motions. Wendy tried
to mirror Carli's position, and for a minute a
gyrating, eight-legged spider was formed, but Wendy
lacked the stamina to keep it up for long and soon
collapsed back down on her shoulders.
Her right thigh was still hooked over Carli's left,
supporting her pelvis' suspension in midair. Wendy's
left foot was planted on the bed again, but Carli's
left was supporting most of the weight of Wendy's lower
body and she showed no signs of letting up. Wendy
thought she knew some moves that would make Carli's
head spin, but this woman had a sheer athletic prowess
that was unbelievable.
The wetness at the point of their unison was growing,
and Carli finally disengaged, rolling over onto her
stomach after what Wendy thought must have been fifteen
minutes of well-paced grinding. Carli backed up,
lifting her knees over Wendy's flat shoulders and
planting them to either side of her head. She rested
her elbows to either side of Wendy's hips and, wedging
her hands under Wendy's behind, lifted the soaking
crotch to her face.
As Wendy lifted her head to Carli's bald opening Carli
squeezed her thighs around Wendy's head and rolled over
on her back, positioning her guest on top of her. As
Carli began nibbling at Wendy's cunt, she spread her
legs wide and locked her heels behind Wendy's head,
forcing her guest's face hard against her smooth pussy.
"Oh, Wendy, your cunt is so beautiful, I love eating
it," Carli said, lifting her face away from the wild,
red, unrestrained tangle of fur for a moment.
Stifled moans and slurping noises came from both ends
of the arrangement, growing in intensity until finally
they ended in muffled screams.
CHAPTER 5
At the meeting, it was decided to allow the ejaculoid
to stay at Carli's and recover. Kate had already
removed the prophylactan to her own quarters where it
had died within twenty four hours of removal from the
'jac. The post-mortem had shown nothing which was not
already known. Maria mentioned that a source at the
starport had told her people that a free trader which
was now rummaging about the moons of the planet for
valuable minerals had contacted the government about
the Prophylactan ship but had been rebuffed for unknown
reasons. Carli offered to try to get a message through
if the ship sent down any cargo shuttles for groundside
goods.
Wendy suggested it might help the 'jac if everybody sat
with it for a while; everyone in the room keyed several
different available times into the local net and it
generated a schedule. Sarah asked if Wendy would
perform a security check on the local net they were
using since a lot of sensitive data was being entered
and she agreed.
There were several guests who had not been there at the
previous meeting and one suggested using 'jac juice as
a lure to entice the Prophylactans away from their
victims where they could be killed with weapons.
Volunteers were selected and an evening chosen for a
trip to the natural sectors. Sarah seemed more intense
than ever and by the end of the evening, everyone was
filled with excitement and hope for accomplishment.
After the meeting, Wendy and Carli made love. They
looked in on the 'jac and returned to bed. As they lay
there, Wendy felt her melancholy slowly seep back into
her.
"How will you get a message to the ship? You don't even
know if anyone there really knows anything, much less
who to contact or why they're interested."
"This ship's been here before, so they know that we'll
pay for any information that might help us. So I
figure, now that they know the government isn't going
to deal with them officially they'll have feelers out
among their groundside crews for unofficial channels."
"But even if they do know something, what can we offer?
We're not the government, you know. I mean, if the
council won't talk to them maybe they know something we
don't."
"There's only one way to find out. Besides, every time
a ship comes in somebody has something they want to
smuggle in or out. Maybe turning my head is all it'll
take to get their cooperation."
"I don't want you to get in any trouble. It's too early
to..."
"I'm not going to get into any trouble. Don't worry
about me. We all have to take risks sometimes, and this
isn't a very big one."
But Carli's enthusiasm was not contagious, and Wendy
pressed her body close to her lover until morning, even
through sleep. Wendy awoke and looked at the clock. It
was still more than an hour before she needed to be up,
but she could not fall back asleep. She kept thinking
of the time before the invasion, the time before she
had felt this awful burden of responsibility for
another race.
She was in control systems training in another
compound, halfway around the planet. She was used to
the Capitol; the towering seed ship monument and all
the sealed domes and passages at the center of the
sprawling outskirts made this gathering of a few dozen
major structures seem tiny by comparison.
There were probably no more than a thousand
inhabitants, and not much in the way of culture. Wendy
spent most of her spare time on the roof of her
residential unit, entertained by the flyjacs that
nested there. This day she was studying, and had just
returned to the roof with another crystal for her
reader when she stepped in a puddle of cream which had
run down from the corner where the flyjacs nested.
She flopped heavily onto the old-style mechanical
lounger and lifted her foot onto her knee to wipe off
the discharge when two of the flyjacs fluttered down
onto her leg. Wendy was amazed; she had never seen a
flyjac get this close to a human before. As she
watched, motionless, the 'jacs crawled over her ankle
and clung to her foot with a funny-feeling suction.
Their wings still beating for balance, they sucked her
foot clean and flew off.
Wendy had an idea. She walked to the puddle in which
she had just stepped and scooped up an overflowing
amount with both her hands. She walked back to the
lounger and reclined in it, opening her hands over her
body and smearing her shoulders and chest with the
fluid.
The flyjacs once again came to rest on her legs,
shuffling up toward her body with what Wendy assumed
was their suction orifice. The 'jacs covered every inch
of Wendy's body that had the cream on it with gentle
suction and amazingly dexterous mouths. Upon closer
observation, Wendy noticed that the 'jacs had long,
liplike organs which folded into the bottoms of their
bodies during flight but which they used to eat and
crawl when on the ground.
The lips seemed to stretch and pull Wendy's skin in a
thousand directions at once to expose the fluid to the
suction cavity. The effect was tantalizing. By now
Wendy had experienced several human lovers but none of
them had been like this. As the 'jacs covered her
breasts, Wendy moved her hand to her crotch, slowly
pressing and rubbing her rapidly moistening mound.
As her nipples hardened, their contours made it more
difficult for the 'jacs to suck the jism off and they
redoubled their efforts in that area; they sucked first
at one impossibly tiny point and then instantly
expanded their openings to engulf the whole erection.
After a few moments of this, Wendy was breathing hard
and her fingers were rubbing her clit directly,
stopping periodically to plunge into her vagina and
rotate for a short time before returning to her clit.
Suddenly the roof door opened, and before the startled
flyjacs took to flight she heard a human voice.
"Wendy, are you up...Oh, shit, that's really sick."
It was Treece, who Wendy had forgotten she had invited
over to study. Wendy's roommate must have told her to
look on the roof. Wendy rolled onto her side to face
the door, smiling, face as red as sunset.
"Sorry, Treece, I didn't realize what time..."
But Treece had apparently only stayed this long to look
Wendy in the face with the look of revulsion frozen
onto her features since she had opened the door.
"Forget it. Just forget it. You need help."
And then she was gone. Wendy lay back and started to
cry. Eventually the flyjacs returned, but she batted
them away with her hand and they left her alone on the
roof. No one said anything to her about it, which made
it worse since Wendy really saw nothing wrong with what
she had done, but there were rumors, and little
snickers behind her back that she ignored.
When overall evaluation results were announced and she
had top honors everyone applauded, but behind their
eyes there was still that look that said 'Well, genius
has it's price'. Knowing she was no genius didn't help;
she had been more surprised than anyone else at her
status. There were others (not many, but enough) with
superior technical ability, others with more sheer
intelligence, but Wendy always seemed to be the one who
knew what the evaluation staff thought was important.
Laying there, the thoughts of her past washing over
her, Wendy smiled.
Empathy has it's price.
CHAPTER 6
The expedition had been a complete failure. The
Prophylactan enveloping the 'jac they had found had
showed no interest whatsoever in relinquishing its
grasp on its victim for a vat full of discharge
collected from the recovering 'jac. Even more
disappointing, they had been forced to leave the
afflicted 'jac in the wilderness. They were barely able
to keep the captive 'jac alive by recycling it's own
jism, and were having to find outside sources already
because of losses like the one just experienced. The
mood gloomy, the party returned to Carli's rooms for a
discussion which led nowhere and soon disbanded.
Wendy was in the examination room tending to the 'jac
when the console buzzed. A moment later Carli entered,
face serious but excited.
"This could be it. One of the cargo hands wants me to
meet her in half an hour at the starport. I'm going out
for a while; I don't know how long this will take. Stay
here in case I need you for anything."
"Shouldn't I go? What if it's dangerous?"
"If it's dangerous, which I highly doubt, then that's
an even better reason for you to stay here."
"But shouldn't we call someone else? Sarah, at least?"
"No. This might get pretty illegal and I don't really
trust open communications."
"Well at least take a weapon."
"Too hostile. And I am armed, anyway," Carli said as
she wheeled and lashed out into midair with a lethal-
looking kick at about head level. "We in Security take
our jobs very seriously."
Wendy couldn't help but smile; she loved it when Carli
showed off her body and the control she had over it.
"Seriously enough to consort with smugglers, harbor a
native life form in your apartment, and skulk around at
night like somebody in Intelligence," she grinned.
"Yeah, about that seriously."
They both laughed. Wendy moved to Carli and held her,
pulling her close and kissing her lips passionately.
"Be careful," she said as Carli grabbed the shoulder
bag she had waiting and opened the door.
"I always am."
Carli was still not in by morning. Worried, Wendy got
ready and went to BTech; she had missed several shifts
recently and didn't want to draw attention to her now-
missing host. She got a call around midday from Carli.
There was some small talk, mostly nonverbal reassurance
that Carli was ok and a brief notification of a meeting
that night.
At the end of her shift, Wendy went with a few of her
co-workers for a meal and drinks. When time for the
meeting arrived she excused herself and walked to
Carli's place. Sarah and Carli were conferring in a far
corner, very serious and very quiet. Not all the
members were present; besides Carli, Sarah and herself
there were only five other people present. Wendy walked
over to Maria Dio who was sitting slightly apart from
the other four, watching them discuss the reason for
the meeting.
"What's up?"
"I don't know. Sarah called and told me to be here."
"Any ideas?"
"No. I suppose we'll find out soon enough."
Wendy nodded. A few minutes later, Kate entered. Sarah
looked up from her conversation with Carli.
"Well, now that everyone who is going to be here is
here, we can start. The big news is that last night,
Carli made contact with the starship crew. The reason
the government refused to deal with them is because
their captain refused to deal through
intermediaries..."
"So? What's wrong with that? Why would that stop them,"
Wendy asked.
"That's easy enough. Allow me to introduce you to Free
Trader Captain Akira Salvay."
On cue, the captain emerged from the spare room in
which Wendy had been staying. Even Wendy felt a small
gasp escape from her mouth. She knew, of course, that
on every other world in the Old Empire and in the Free
Planets human reproduction functioned very differently
than here. She had seen many shows which vividly
represented this fact. But the difference between
watching a crystal and seeing the first living man to
walk the planet's surface in nearly four hundred years
was quite a difference indeed.
The effect was not a pleasant one. The man was oddly
proportioned, thin like most spacers and well-muscled,
but his shoulders were wide and his hips narrow. The
lower half of his face was covered with a close black
growth that resembled pubic hair and the remaining
portion was wrinkled and creased like those of most
offworlders. His body was entirely covered by his
skinsuit; the hermetic seals at the cuffs and neck for
his gloves and helmet dangled like ugly bracelets and
necklace. His head showed a shiny smoothness that could
only have been achieved by having all of his hair
permanently removed.
The man seemed undaunted by the staring faces.
"Ladies," he began with a thick trader accent, "I know
you haven't seen a man in hundreds of years but please,
I'm not just a piece of meat."
There was polite laughter which broke the silence,
though no one really understood what he had meant.
Sarah spoke. "Captain Salvay has asked to speak to us,
since we are the only group on planet which is
interested in hearing what he has to say."
The captain explained. "Ladies, I have an interest in
what's going on here, a personal interest that means a
lot of money. I'm going to be honest and tell you right
up front that I am one crass, materialistic son of a
bitch, and if I didn't think your problem would cost me
anything I wouldn't be here. Now that you know what
motivates me, there shouldn't be any questions about my
motives.
I agree with you totally that these pests that have
invaded your planet have to be eliminated. That's as
important to me as it is to you, and it's probably a
lot more important than you realize."
Wendy spoke. "So we sit here and listen to the ravings
of some man who comes here, doesn't know our culture,
doesn't know our problem, and admits the only reason
he's here is so his profits don't drop? Why? What can
you do for us that we can't do for ourselves."
The captain smiled at some private joke and continued.
"I'll tell you. While you ladies sit here fucking
around with your little animal welfare society, the
balance of power is shifting. You're so totally blissed
out, here on a rock that nobody wants, that you don't
even have a standing army. Your Security division makes
the cooks in my galley look like kill-mutants in
powered battle armor."
Wendy glanced toward Carli and saw that she was
bristling at that, but was keeping amazingly silent.
"You don't communicate with anybody, you hardly do any
trade; the only reason you're not still part of the
Empire is that the revolution pushed their borders back
so far that they weren't willing to send ships out here
any more."
At this, Sarah stood. "Look, Captain, you said you had
something to say to our members before you told us what
you know, but insulting our culture and our lifestyle
isn't what I expected. Get to the point, or I might let
my cook here," she gestured to Carli, "toss you out on
your ass so you can see how our Security reacts to
illegal, male, aliens."
"Sorry. I may have been a little out of line, but
you've got to realize that things are much more dire
than just the extinction of your local pets."
Wendy couldn't stop herself. "They aren't pets. Some of
these life forms are just as advanced as you or I. And
besides, the extinction of any species is a crime
against..."
Sarah stopped her. "OK, I think the captain understands
our position. We will not be patronized." She turned to
the captain. "Say what you have to say about the
Prophylactan origins."
"Look, I'm just going to tell you what I know without
discussing terms or asking for anything. If what I'm
about to say doesn't convince you to cooperate, then
I'll leave and you'll be signing away all of our
freedom for ever more." He paused for dramatic effect
and saw only cold, waiting faces. "OK. The
Prophylactans and the ship which brought them are from
Earth."
This raised a few eyebrows. Kate was the first to
speak. Wendy was shocked, having become accustomed to
Kate's usual shyness.
"That's ridiculous. The Prophylactans conform to no
known life form type, particularly not to anything of
Terrain origin."
"I know you don't keep up with the latest news here,
but I take it you have heard of genetic engineering?
What do you eat, the native life? Or do Tehran plants
just grow here without..."
"We eat genetically altered Earth life forms. But the
Prophylactans aren't a mutation, they aren't
recombined, tailored or otherwise derived from anything
known to human science."
"No they aren't, and if you'd listen, I'd tell you. It
doesn't take much of an engineer to take a kernel of
corn and change stuff around in it so it'll grow on a
planet that doesn't have any seasons. But it does take
quite a bit to custom design a new life form from a few
molecules up."
"You mean..."
"That's right, little lady. Your friends and mine on
Mother Earth sat down at a console and created a
completely new creature in the universe for the
explicit purpose of collecting the discharge from your
pets."
"But why?"
"You got me, but it's got to be big. We're talking
billions of Earth credits for this project, maybe tens
of billions. And you can rest assured that they
wouldn't have spent it for your benefit alone; they
could practically have bought this worthless little
rock you call home for that amount."
Sarah interrupted the silence that fell. "That's it?
What proof do you have? It's easy enough for you to
come in here and blame our problems on Earth; your kind
have been blaming everything that goes wrong in the
Free Planets on Earth ever since the revolution."
"I take it the little lady with the red sash is your
biologist or something? She'll want to look at my
proof, if and when we reach an agreement about solving
our mutual problem."
"What proof," Sarah asked patiently, "is that?"
"I have on my ship a crystal with the entire
specification for the creature. Gene matrices,
physiological summaries, all kinds of stuff that
doesn't make any sense to me. Our biologists haven't
made much out of it since they don't have any live
specimens to work with, but I have what conclusions
they have drawn on file as well."
Kate looked at Sarah, nodding. Sarah spoke. "OK. If
Kate looks the data over and tells me it's legit, we
will abide by any agreement we make tonight."
"Wait a minute," Carli interjected, "we don't even have
a plurality here for a vote tonight, much less a
majority."
"It's OK. They'll have to trust my judgment, just like
you will."
Carli looked at her for a long time. "Then it's your
decision," she said finally.
"What do you want," Sarah asked the captain.
"All I want is your assurance that you will cooperate
in any action we take to stop this Imperial plot."
"We already have an action team for that purpose. We
would, of course, appreciate any assistance you could
render us."
The captain looked into her eyes. Their unwavering
darkness reminded him of a black hole he had seen from
much too close, once in his youth. "Six of one and a
half-dozen of the other," he said, "as long as we can
count on each other."
"Then it's settled. Kate, make arrangements to see the
captain's ship. Carli, I want you to go as well. Take
whatever equipment you feel you need, both of you. And
everyone, keep this to yourselves. For now, all anyone
needs to know is that we may have located a source of
detailed information about the Prophylactan
physiology."
After the meeting broke up, Carli and Wendy lay
together in bed.
"I guess you'll be gone a while, since Kate decided to
set up a lab on their ship."
"It was a good diplomatic move. And a good practical
one too. She can set up a much more well-equipped lab
there than she could here without arousing suspicions."
"Mmm. Be careful. I don't trust these spacers."
"They're OK. They all just have an attitude. I might be
a spacer, if it was legal."
"I still don't trust them. I don't think Captain Salvay
was telling us everything he knew."
"Would you?"
"No, I guess not. Just be careful."
"I always am."
They made love fiercely that night, Wendy submitting
totally to Carli's hard, hungry body, reflecting and
concentrating Carli's passion further with her own
desperate desire.
CHAPTER 7
Over the next few weeks, many afflicted ejaculoids were
transported to the traders' ship. Wendy accompanied
these shipments at Sarah's request, comforting the
'jacs as they were lifted out of their natural
environment. On one such a shipment, Wendy saw Carli
alone for the first time since her departure for the
ship. The ease with which Carli wore her skinsuit was
somehow depressing; Wendy loathed the feel of the space
gear more than any other part of the trips. They
embraced, but immediately Wendy could feel that it was
the touch of a friend and not that of a lover.
"How are things planetside," Carli asked when they
separated.
"Fine. The net's still secure, and from what tapping
I've done it looks like nobody suspects anything."
"And you're always telling me about illegal stuff?
Shit, Wendy, they'd better not find out."
"And you're always telling me 'don't worry, I know what
I'm doing', so there."
They both smiled. "And how are thing up here?"
Carli's face lit up. "Great. I'm really learning a lot.
You know, things have been happening out there in the
Free Planets that would amaze you. Plus, Kate thinks
that she's close to some real answers. She's really
amazing, you know."
"Yeah, I know. I see her every time we bring one
across. Look, I've got to get back to the shuttle. I
hope to see you planetside sometime."
"OK. It's really good to see you. Catch you later."
When she was out of sight, Wendy leaned against a wall,
or, as she had been corrected by the spacers a hundred
times, a 'bulkhead'. She took a deep breath and wiped
the beginnings of a tear from her eye. Quickly, she
strode back to the shuttle.
Carli went off duty at 2100, ship's time. She went to
her cabin and stripped off her skinsuit. She checked
her console and confirmed the appointment she had made.
When the captain entered, he stopped for a moment,
looking at her outstretched body. Then he straightened,
looking quite seriously at her face.
"Sorry," he said, "I'm not used to seeing naked women
in many of my appointments. Most people keep their
suits on even when they're off duty. What did you want
to see me about?"
"Close the door," Carli said.
"There. Now what can I do for you?"
"In my culture, nudity is simply fashionable. However,
in my culture, a nude woman reclining on her bed before
a visitor in her cabin with the door closed is doing
the same thing as a nude woman reclining in front of a
visitor in her cabin with the door closed in your
culture. Figure it out."
"I see. It's just, well, in the first place it's weird
that you're older than me but look like my daughter."
"And?"
"And, you've never had a man before."
"So? You've never had a woman before, either."
"I'm not sure where you get that idea, but it's not
quite true."
"I mean, not 'til you've had me, you haven't."
"Ah. I see."
Carli got up and went to him. She undid his skinsuit
with the casual spacer's ease that most people from
planetside never develop. "Aren't these things too
inconvenient? I'd go nuts if I wore one 24 hours a
day."
As she began to stroke his chest with her fingertips,
raking through the dark, curly hair there, he grabbed
her shoulders. Looking into her clear blue eyes he
shook her and said, "You'd better be sure you want
this. I've wanted you from the first time I landed on
your planet. I want you like I've never wanted a woman
before. But I like it a little rough, and I don't like
to be disap..."
He started to drag her back onto the bed, shaking her
like a toy, but somehow when they landed they were not
on the bed but on the deck, and his face was being
shoved into it. And his arm was twisted behind him. And
Carli was sitting on him like he was a chair.
"Disappointed? Gee, asshole, I'd just fucking hate to
disappoint you. But if I'm not rough enough for you, I
guess I'd better just go back down to the planet and
live in that gravity that I've had to fight all my life
while you were up here floating around like a fucking
fairy. How's that?"
"OK, OK," he grinned, his voice straining somewhat to
get the words out through the half of his mouth that
wasn't pinned to the deck. "I get your point. But you
know, an ally can quickly become an enemy..."
He uttered a short burst of command syllables and
instantly the artificial gravity in the room was
lifted. They had no momentum in relation to the floor
and so they didn't actually move far, but the sensation
momentarily disoriented Carli and in that second Akira
pushed off and they were floating across the room.
Akira twisted his body around to face Carli and got her
arms pinned behind her. Carli locked her legs around
his waist, and as they drifted toward the far bulkhead
she stretched her neck to nibble at his throat.
Just before impact she felt the slightest contraction
in his buttocks. At the second his feet made contact
with the bulkhead she flexed her legs, kicking at the
backs of his knees, and his legs folded; he released
her arms to slap the wall with his hands to prevent his
head from crashing into it. His frantic flailing sent
them spinning, drifting slower but rotating wildly.
Akira was amazed.
"Where did you learn to handle yourself in free-fall
like that?"
"Yeah, I've been meaning to compliment you on your
ship's facilities, Cap'n. You have a really great gym."
"I hope you haven't learned everything, 'cause there
are a few things I'd like to teach you personally."
Carli pulled her body down Akira's stomach with her
heels, still locked behind his knees; she stopped as
she felt his cock, hot and erect, pressing against her
longing entrance. His organ was stiffer than a 'jac but
seemed to lack independent control; it didn't nuzzle
against her or try to wriggle it's way in except in
reaction to the movements of Akira's pelvis.
She made no attempt to stop him as he deftly controlled
their impact, sending them in a long, slow journey
across the room. She locked mouths with him, their
tongues penetrating and receding, lips pulling and
sucking, throats tasting the delicate flavors of a
mouth from across the stars. Their bodies had made one
slow, graceful rotation as they drifted so that Akira's
feet once again struck first.
This time, however, he used the energy of their motion
carefully, bending slightly at the knees and then
bracing, driving Carli's cunt onto his cock. Once he
had penetrated her outer lips, her wetness engulfed him
and he slid smoothly into her. He then stretched out
his legs once again, forcing himself in to the hilt and
propelling them once again across the room.
Carli cried out, a little yelp of surprise, pain and
pleasure. Never before had she felt a penetration so
swift with something so hard; nothing like the slow
burrowing she was used to. Her skin felt raw where he
had first rammed her doors open, but it was a pleasant
rawness; she arched her back in ecstasy as they soared
across the room. He bent to kiss her breasts and she
gripped his head to her chest tightly, rubbing her tits
to and fro with his bearded chin.
When he next shoved off from the wall she began humping
her hips against him, but with nothing to press against
she found it impossible to establish any rhythm. The
distraction of his mouth around her nipple made it all
the more difficult, and she nearly separated from him
before finally violently pulling him back inside her
with her heels pounding his ass. In a low, rough voice
which was little more than a clarification of the
growls she had been emitting, she began to command him.
"Come on, Cap'n, fuck me! I want to feel you pound my
cunt. God, you're so hard, use it! As deep as you can
go, as fast as you can go, fill me up. I want your cock
to swell up 'til it bursts me open. Come on, do it,
fuck me now!"
Akira removed his mouth from her breasts, gently
swinging his hips in a short rapid oscillation that
stretched the walls of her cunt deep inside with the
tip of his cock. "Hard and fast doesn't work in zero-G
without a lot of practice, which I hope to eventually
give you but which you don't have now; sorry."
"Then fuck zero-G. I want you to ram my cunt with that
big, solid dick until I can't take it any more."
Akira angled their next rebound toward the bunk and
when they reached it he held on. They bounced away to
the extent of his arms, then floated back, bounced away
and floated back again. With each bounce his cock
shoved a little further into her and then eased back.
When they were stabilized, floating a few inches away
from the bunk, he turned the gravity field back on and
they fell to the bed.
His weight forced his cock even farther into her than
she had thought possible and she groaned long and low
with the feel of it. She spread her legs wide, opening
herself entirely to his thrusts. He began to tease her
with short, slow strokes and she began kicking his ass
with her heels again to spur his movements. She arched
her back to bring her breasts up to meet his face; he
began sucking them, quickly alternating between them
with brief hard kisses and tongue flicks.
Akira's strokes were now gaining length and pace, and
at the end of each he stopped and rotated his pelvis to
make his cock dance inside her. She moved her legs up
so that her calves rubbed his sides. He threw his head
back and began to moan as she clawed at his chest,
pulling his hair and pinching his nipples.
He lifted first one arm, hooking her leg and
positioning it so that her ankle was at his shoulder,
and then the other. Her cunt lips were now tight on his
cock, a narrow, constricting passage to the heaven
beyond. With each time he rolled forward to thrust into
her, her ass now lifted from the bed, opening the
entire length of her channel as a straight, slick tube.
His movements became furious and his voice melted with
hers in a chorus of uncontrolled gasps and outbursts.
His cock was now moving even faster, emerging almost
totally from her pussy so that only the very tip
remained nudged between her lips and then ramming
forward so that his cock was entirely submerged and his
hips compressed her thighs even more while his heavy,
tight balls slapped her ass.
With each of his strokes she jerked her ass upward to
feel him strain into her as far as he could, filling
her up and then some. She whipped her head back and
forth and gripped his shoulders, arms and chest
spasmodically. Each of his breaths was now a staccato
burst of pleasure and then she felt his cock lash like
a whip inside her.
His cock head seemed to swell to twice it's previous
size with the pressure of his cum, which then spewed
into her with unbelievable force. With each continued
stroke another burst of his love juice squished into
her; the sensation was more than she could take and
feeling the slowing pulsations pump his last reserves
into her waiting hole, her body rippled like the
surface of an ocean with waves of orgasm that tore
through her body like the tide.
His body collapsed on top of her, heavy, sweaty and
panting. As his cock softened it slipped from her; she
felt his semen trickle down the crack of her ass to
form a puddle under her. Soon he was snoring, and under
his weight she closed her eyes and dreamed of zero-G.
She fell asleep with visions of stars on her eyes.
CHAPTER 8
"As you already know, the discharge of the 'jacs is
actually a colony of billions of single-celled
organisms. They are photosynthetic and store this
energy in dead organic cells which then split from the
living cell. The 'jacs then reabsorb this discharge,
using the dead cells as food. I have found that the
'jacs also produce more organisms than they consume,
emitting the familiar discharge which I have found to
be almost purely living cells.
"The next supporting observation to my thesis is
another which is already known, that the living cell
colonies possess a poorly understood form of telepathic
communication. We have always assumed this
communication to be purely empathic, an adaptive trait
which allows the 'jacs to locate one another for
socialization or reproduction. I believe there is
another explanation.
"Finally, I have found that the 'jacs themselves
fertilize about one living cell every local year,
completely replacing the portion of the cell which, for
lack of a better term, I will call it's 'genes'. This
cell is discharged with the rest, lives and grows
within the colony feeding from the dead cells, and if
environmental conditions allow, eventually develops
into a young 'jac.
"My theory is this: the highest life form on this
planet is not any of the varieties of 'jac, but the
discharge they emit."
There were excited murmurs around the room. Kate
continued, "The 'jacs themselves are nothing more than
reproductive engines which keep the colony alive. And
the colony is not bounded by the physical dimensions of
any one puddle of 'jac juice, but consists of all the
cells on the planet, all linked telepathically into one
huge organism."
Questions were hurled from the floor, but in the
general chaos no one could be heard. With more
difficulty than she was used to, Sarah managed to quiet
the crowd of members and spacers. "Ok, assuming we
accept this premise, what conclusions have you drawn
about techniques for assisting the organism and the
'jacs? And do you have any ideas why the Prophylactans
are trying to destroy it?"
"I don't believe they are trying to destroy the
organism, though that is the effect they are having.
The Prophylactans are designed to feed on the dead
cells just as the 'jacs do; in fact, they should be
able to exist wholly on the few dead cells that pass
through the ejaculoids' system undigested. They only
filter the living cells through an organ that I don't
yet fully understand, and then eject them. It's the
'jacs themselves that have sucked up all the organism's
cells and refuse to pass them through except for the
barest minimum needed to produce food."
"Great work, Kate. Recommendations?"
"For now, other than to suggest finding a way to make
the 'jacs ejaculate while afflicted, no. I don't fully
understand the Prophylactans' physiology yet and when I
do I may be able to recommend more active measures."
"Well, I have a suggestion," bellowed Akira. "I say
that since no government will claim that ship out
there, we blow the shit out of it. It probably won't
help but I know it won't hurt and we might get some
idea of who sent it."
One of the members spoke up. "What if it is from Earth,
like people have been saying?"
"They've already denied it," said Akira, "so even if
they did they couldn't complain." Good rumors travel
fast, he thought.
"That's where I think you're wrong," corrected Sarah.
"I think that if they did send it, then they'll be
pissed off if we blow it up, whether or not they admit
it. And then they'll be breathing down our necks hot
and heavy."
"And your government has the distinction of being the
only one in the Free Planets that doesn't maintain a
fleet of military starships. Why, any Kirellian Free
Trader is required by our government to keep up a
military reserve status, which means armed to the
teeth. I'd take that fat old cargo boat in orbit up
against anything short of an Imperial light cruiser
just for the exercise!"
"That just proves my point. I will not have," and as an
afterthought she added, "and our government will not
have," and then continued, "you or anybody else turning
this planet into a battlefield for the Free Planets and
the Empire. If you want to provoke them into attacking
you, go home and do it!"
"I agree with him." Carli stood from the planetside
section. "They won't come out here for one little ship
that they say isn't even theirs."
Sarah glared at her. How far apart they had drifted.
"And which we aren't even sure is theirs," she
corrected, knowing that by now nobody would believe
that it was from anywhere else. "But we still can't
take the risk."
"I say we can and I call for a vote."
"Very well. The question asked is: 'Should we attempt
to destroy the alien craft?'. Answers are: 'Yes', 'No',
or 'Undecided', forty five second time limit.
'Undecided' counts as 'No' for decision tabulation,
expired time votes are discarded."
The members made brief entries on their datapads. Wendy
looked at Carli, who quite dramatically remained
standing and pressed her pad with a flourish. Sarah was
equally intense, standing in front, her vote cast
already. Wendy's finger hesitated over the 'Undecided'
rectangle and then descended and pressed 'No'. She
avoided Carli's gaze as she scanned the room, looking
instead at the numbers flashing away the time limit on
her pad. Things were out of her control; her personal
reality was succumbing to the forces of politics and
personality whirling and eddying around her and she
felt as if she might go under. She had already lost her
only two human lovers in years to the current; she felt
she might lose more.
Finally, the numbers flashed double zero and then the
results were displayed. There were twelve 'Yes'
entries, five 'No', four 'Undecided' and five votes
with expired time limit.
Sarah, emotionless, recited the results. "We destroy
the craft. Carli, suggestions?"
Carli, suppressing a smile, answered. "We could try
demolitions. I can get appropriate equipment from
Security, I think, but probably the best way to do it
is to bombard the ship from space. The trader's weapons
are designed for ship to ship combat."
"What about government repercussions? If these guys
open up on our planet with heavy weapons they'll
probably get blasted immediately by the planetary
defense batteries, and at best they'll be ejected and
never allowed to trade in this system again."
"Right," confirmed Akira, "I think demolitions might be
the best route. But we have some stuff on board that'll
save you the trouble of stealing it. Nice, state of the
art explosive packs that are designed for blowing holes
in starships."
"All right. Carli, coordinate the mission with the
starship crew and our people. Next item of business..."
As the meeting ended and people began to filter out,
Sarah stopped Wendy. "Could you work on trying to get
our captive 'jacs to cum with the Prophylactans still
attached?"
"I really don't think that will help. I think they're
holding back for a reason."
"Yes, but Kate suggested it might help their chances of
survival until we find out what's really going on."
"They're still alive now, and if that's the only reason
behind forcing them to discharge, then it's pointless."
"Kate doesn't think so."
"Kate knows biology. I know the 'jacs, and I know that
they're doing what they should be doing."
"If that's really the way you feel, then I won't force
you to be in charge. Thanks anyway; I know you're doing
what you feel is best." Sarah turned away and began
giving orders to her new aide, Sanny.
Wendy interrupted her. "You mean if I don't do it,
somebody else will?"
"Somebody has to try."
"All right, I'll do it."
"Good. There's nobody better for the job. Whatever you
need, we'll get, though with your ability I doubt
you'll need much other than your self. Good luck."
And then she had turned around and was dictating again.
Wendy left quietly, drowning in the sea of things
beyond her control.
CHAPTER 9
Wendy wasn't quite sure why she was with the team. They
surely didn't need a control systems specialist for
something as simple as a remote detonator, and she
couldn't think of anything else they would need her
for. But Sarah always swore by 'better safe than sorry'
so here she was, waiting for the shuttle to descend. In
a matter of minutes Carli and Akira would be here with
others from his crew to wreak havok upon the invaders.
It was all so foreign to Wendy that she could hardly
anticipate what her feelings would be upon completion
of the mission, exhilaration or repulsion, who knew.
Unexpectedly, the communicator she carried burst into
life.
Akira's voice, under some unknown strain, shouted, "We
thought you should hear this in case things get really
hairy up here and we don't make it..."
Her voice urgent, Wendy activated the communicator,
"Open channel, lock on current frequency. Hello Akira,
what..."
But before she could finish, Sarah had sprung forward
and knocked the communicator from her hand. "Close that
channel," she hissed.
"But they're..."
"Do it! Whatever's happening, we can't give ourselves
away no matter how worried you are about your lover.
Now close that channel!"
Wendy complied, stunned. The chatter on the
communicator continued.
"Kirellian Federation Free Trader 'Morning on Loriar',
Registration Number AT-4917912346H, this is Imperial
Battle Carrier 'Deaths Head'. Stand to be boarded."
"'Deaths Head', this is the First Officer of the
'Morning on Loriar', we copy your message, but question
the authority on which you base your demand. We are a
vessel of the Kirellan Federation, and protected by the
Writ of the Free Planets. We will allow no boarding
attempt by your vessel."
"'Morning', this is 'Deaths Head'. Please put your
captain on."
"The captain is not on board."
"Then you, as first officer, are acting captain in his
absence and I advise you to stand down from battle
stations and prepare to be boarded. If you do not
comply, then you will be blown from the sky like all
pirates."
"But you have no..."
"I have the authority of the Emperor and the authority
of my guns, and that is all the authority I need. If
your shields are not deactivated and your weapon pods
retracted within five minutes, we will open fire.
'Deaths Head' out."
The channel went dead. "My god, an Imperial battle
carrier, here," Wendy whispered in disbelief. "What's
going to happen to us?"
"Get a grip on yourself," Sarah admonished. "We don't
even know what they want yet."
"It doesn't matter. They're here and they're going to
take whatever they want, and we all know what it is."
"That's enough. We have a plan and we're sticking to
it. When the shuttle arrives, we unload the gear and
proceed before the Imperials can coerce the government
into cooperating. It would take everything they've got
to break through the planetary defense batteries, so
they'll try bribery first, and then intimidation before
they resort to force. By that time the Prophylactan's
ship will be history."
"Why? What difference does it make with that carrier
hanging over our heads? Once they've landed, and they
will, eventually, they'll just round us up and kill
us."
"I've told you for the last time to lock it up. We'll
deal with the Imps when they get here, but for now
we've got a job to do."
As if on cue, the shuttle appeared over the ridge and
settled into the rocky valley. Akira emerged, hands on
his head. Behind him came the shuttle crew and the
volunteers from the ship, also apparently captive.
Sarah and her troops stayed under cover, weapons
leveled at the shuttle airlock. Finally, Carli and two
of her assistants emerged, weapons leveled at the
spacers. Sarah rose and walked toward the shuttle.
"It took some persuasion to convince these fine
crewmembers that their place wasn't with their ship,"
Carli shouted, "but I think we about have them won
over."
Akira dropped his hands and started shouting, "You
bitch, you're as bad as they are! You hijacked my
shuttle; oh I should have known better than to trust a
planetful of dickless pacifists, fuck fuck, fuck YOU!"
"Are you finished," Sarah asked. "I have people on your
ship too. But going back to get captured wouldn't have
accomplished anything. Good work Carli."
"Thanks. If these people decide that it's too late to
try anything I suppose they could put their hands
down."
"All right, everybody," Akira ordered, "we're here to
stay."
Carli lowered her weapon. The contingent filed into the
transport Sarah had arranged and they reviewed the plan
one more time as they flew through the night toward
twilight.
A few hours later, they arrived at the central
compound. Having traversed the time zones at high
speed, night was just falling here. No one bothered
them as they unloaded the crates containing their
deadly cargo. Not until they were near the site of the
Prophylactan ship did they notice the guards posted
there. The were from Security, wearing armor and armed
with what Carli recognized as deadly, rapid fire rifles
that were about the most effective personal weapon in
the armory.
"How did they know," started Wendy.
"Not now," Sarah cut her off. "They don't know, but
whatever's going down, it has to do with that ship. The
Imps probably just told the Council that the ship was
theirs, and the Council did the rest. Those idiots
wouldn't be able to figure out that that's exactly what
the Imps want.
"OK, this changes nothing. We go, but carefully. Carli,
take someone and sneak through; set those charges.
Wendy, we'll get you as close to the perimeter as we
can before we blow the ship; they won't be able to
locate the detonation signal as easily."
"They won't have to. They'll be right on top of us."
"Don't worry. We'll make it. Now let's do it!"
Carli and one of her assistants snaked off through the
grass. Sarah, Wendy, two of their companions and two
others from the ship began working their way around the
perimeter of the guard patrols to a position directly
across the field from the guard command post. They were
waiting for a signal that the charges had been planted,
but before it came, one of the guards walked within
twenty meters of the prone group. Her helmet light
flashed over them, but she did not stop, her rifle
still slung over her shoulder.
Wendy stood up, not really knowing why; something just
wasn't right.
"Please, don't shoot," she cried, "I'm unarmed!"
The guard nearly jumped out of her armor and turned,
the barrel of her rifle shaking. "Don't move. Stay
where you are and put your hands on top of your head,"
she ordered and then spoke something into her helmet
communicator. Within minutes everyone was in custody,
the explosives in a containment vessel and other
equipment piled in a heap on the post commander's desk.
No one spoke, though the post commander asked many
questions. She was particularly insulting to Akira, but
he was remarkably restrained. Finally a transport came
and took them to a detention center in the central
compound.
Wendy wasn't sure how long she was locked up, alone,
but she thought it was about two days. Except to
deliver meals, no one came to her cell. When she
finally got a visitor it was a woman in a uniform Wendy
didn't recognize but which must have been Imperial;
high boots, dull black synthetic pants and jacket with
decorations over the breasts and on the shoulders,
battle helmet.
Wendy stayed on the bed and the woman remained standing
though Wendy offered her the only chair. The woman
pressed a pad and the console which Wendy had tried
vainly to activate countless times flickered to life.
Not speaking, the woman dropped a crystal into the
receptacle and typed a few commands. The console screen
brightened showing a still frame of an large, white
empty room with a single chair in the center.
"Wendy," the woman began, "I'm sure that you are aware
that there is a delicate diplomatic situation currently
in progress. I am here in lieu of my commanding officer
as a concession to your government's sanction against
any male presence upon your planet. You see that we are
reasonable people, willing to negotiate."
She paused but Wendy said nothing, staring into the
hideous face across from her. It was difficult to tell
where the scars of old battles ended and the inevitable
cracks and wrinkles common to all offworlders began.
"I am Imperial Marine Major Jennifer Andria. I am going
to ask you a few simple questions. You will answer them
truthfully. In my generosity I have consented to abide
by the rules of this detainment facility in my
interrogation, but I warn you, if I find your testimony
unsatisfactory in any way your government has agreed to
deport you and the rest of your terrorist comrades for
prosecution under Imperial law for crimes against the
Empire."
"What's that?"
"This? This is merely an informative crystal which will
provide background on the situation. The background
information was gathered from pirates captured in
interplanetary space who were dealt with in the usual
Imperial manner.
"Since you seem so interested, let's watch."
She pressed a pad and the crystal started it's display.
A woman Wendy recognized as one of Carli's staff was
walked into the room by two Imperial guards. As they
reached the chair they stopped and one guard bent to
release the ankle cuffs on the woman's feet. When the
first cuff snapped free she released a savage kick at
his groin and he doubled over. As the other guard drew
his gun, she wheeled on one foot and contacted his
head.
He dropped the gun and she fell on it, firing behind
her back. The energy blast threw him across the room to
lie in a heap in one corner. Looking over her shoulder,
she turned the gun on the other guard still groveling
on the floor; the gun took his head off from the chin
up with very little gore and a thick wisp of smoke. She
knelt beside his body, the gun dangling from one hand
while she fumbled in his pocket for something.
The camera angle was wide and Wendy couldn't see
exactly what happened, but she supposed the woman had
found a key because she suddenly brought both hands out
in front of her, gun at the ready. Then there were
shots from off screen, below the camera, which
splattered against the far wall with little flashes of
light. The woman returned fire, apparently
successfully, because there was no motion for about ten
seconds.
Then suddenly she started firing madly at something
below the camera before a shot impacted directly on the
chair she was kneeling behind. She spun out and away
from what was left of the chair and as she fell, Wendy
saw a gout of black-brown smoke rising from the ragged
emptiness that had been most of the woman's stomach.
Then the scene skipped and the room was once again
empty and clean. The chair had been replaced.
Major Andria stopped the display and looked at Wendy.
Wendy was revolted by what she had seen, but the
woman's defiance in the face of overwhelming odds had
strengthened her. The Major must have seen this because
she hesitated a moment before speaking.
"A dramatic gesture. One worthy of an Imperial soldier,
I must admit. You have a right to be proud. And you
will have no reason for shame at the next segment.
After all, not everyone is a soldier. Some are
technicians like yourself. Some are theoretical
scientists."
She reactivated the console but before it even started
Wendy knew what was coming. A single, friendly-looking
man entered the room and turned to face the doorway
beneath the camera.
"Come on, there's nothing to be afraid of," he said.
"We're both scientists, aren't we? I really wish I
could do something about the shackles, but regulations,
you know?"
Through the entrance below Wendy saw a woman enter with
straight, dark, medium length hair and a narrow red
sash tied around her waist. Wendy, over and over,
thought, it's not her, it's not her, but when the woman
turned and sat at the man's request she saw it was
Kate.
The man knelt at her feet. "I'm afraid I can't free
you, but this might be a little more comfortable." He
undid her ankle cuffs and positioned her left ankle in
a shackle attached to the chair. He moved to the other
leg, putting the cuffs in a compartment on his uniform.
He moved her other ankle to the far side of the chair,
spreading her legs, and fastened the other shackle
attached to the chair there. He moved behind her,
adjusting something on the back of the chair.
For the first time the camera panned in. The screen now
showed only Kate, almost straddling the small seat, and
the man pacing first in front of and then behind her.
The fear on her face was obvious; she was in tears and
for the first time Wendy could hear the small whining
noises she was making. The man walked to stand behind
her. His face was cut off at the top of the screen but
his voice was still audible, reassuring.
"Relax. There's nothing to worry about. You are safe
here. I am going to ask you a few simple questions. You
will answer them truthfully."
Wendy saw the man produce something black that looked
like a short whip from another compartment on his
uniform. He was still speaking as he raised it,
removing it temporarily from the screen. "You really
needn't worry. The first question is..."
Wendy closed her eyes, but she couldn't stop the
screams coming from the console. When she could hear
him over the cries, the man was still cheerfully
chatting away. At the first, short lull, Wendy heard
Kate rush the names and places and deeds out between
her sobs. Before she was even finished, there was
another wet thump and the screams returned.
There were a few such breaks, during which Wendy heard
Kate pouring out streams of information. Toward the end
she was babbling, making up things, spouting out reams
of formulas and equations, pleading for mercy. And then
finally, the screams started again and did not stop;
they were punctuated by occasional unidentified noises
which were always followed with even worse screams.
Finally, there was silence.
Major Andria spoke. "Wendy, I really think you should
see this; this is my favorite part."
Wendy opened her eyes and the major started the crystal
again. Kate's body had been destroyed; Wendy could not
believe she was still alive. "Now little Kathrin,
you've been such a good little girl," he crooned. "I
have a present for you if you want it." He undid both
sets of cuffs, put his arms very gently around her
waist, and hoisted her to her feet. She almost fell, so
he carefully walked her to the wall. The camera
followed. "Here's a nice solid wall to lean against so
my little baby won't fall down. But what's this old rag
you have on?"
Kate's sash was amazingly intact. Though not a single
square inch of her body was not swollen, bruised, cut
or burned, the sash had but a few dark blood stains on
it. "This is filthy. We must get this off." He hooked
his hand under the sash and tore at it. Her neck
snapped back as his motion pulled her whole body
forward. The sash did not come loose. He tried several
more times before he finally lost patience and cut it
with a knife which he produced from his uniform.
He dangled it in front of her face. "This can't be
fixed. I know it's your favorite but you've ruined it.
I'm sorry, but this is the way it has to be. You ruined
it, and now you won't have it any more." Then he burned
it right in front of her face. When the flames had
almost reached his fingers, he dropped it. It fell and
went out, one tiny corner of red still visible.
Kate's body was now racked with spasms, and tears
streamed down her face. Wendy couldn't tell if her
gasps were due to some internal injury or if they were
just sobs. The man pulled her away from the wall,
holding her tenderly in his arms. Into her ear, he
whispered, "Poor little Kate, ruined her favorite sash.
It's all right, Kate, I have something even better for
you. Do you want it?"
He held her away from him so he could look into her
face. "Do you know what it is?"
She shook her head.
"It's lovely, lovely death, Kate. Beautiful death. Do
you want it now?"
She nodded.
"That's my good girl. You stand right here and I'll get
it for you."
She leaned back against the wall. He turned away for
just a split second and then wheeled back. His left
hand clenched her throat as he pummeled his right fist
into her face. He hit her again and again, pulling his
punches to make his gift last longer. Kate could no
longer scream; the only sounds coming from what was
left of her face were disgusting gurgling noises. He
lowered her body to the ground by the throat. Only when
his hands were covered with blood and the very last of
her convulsions had stopped did he make another sound.
When he was very, very sure she was dead, a scream
built from a low rumble in the back of his throat to a
wail that lasted forever in Wendy's mind. He cursed her
for dying, begged her body for forgiveness, threw foul
epithets at her eternal soul and then wallowed, crying,
in her gore. Eventually two guards entered the room and
reported to him, saluting. "Cleanup detail reporting as
ordered, sir."
The man straightened and returned their salute. He was
covered with blood.
His face became totally expressionless. "Proceed," he
said, and then left.
CHAPTER 10
"I love watching a professional at work," Major Andria
said.
"Rot. In. Hell." Wendy sat straight and still, fists
clenched and shaking, voice barely audible.
"Wendy, please don't take this as a threat. We have no
intention of harming you. I can tell you that straight
out because you probably wouldn't respond well to
torture anyway. We need your mind, you see. And the
easiest way of ensuring your cooperation is by
repeating the performance you just saw with one of your
other compatriots. Lovely Carli Silver perhaps, though
it would be a shame to waste such a perfect physical
specimen. We could even try your leader, Sarah Liman,
though..." The major looked closely at Wendy's face,
seeing what she was trying desperately to conceal.
From the small pile of personal effects that she had
dumped on the table, the Major selected Wendy's picture
of Sarah and stared at it a minute; she then crumpled
it into a small wad. "That's it, isn't it. Even though
the woman seduced you to get you to join her little
rebel band, you still love her. Good, good. I'd hate to
make a martyr of her, but I will if necessary."
"It's not up to me. They'll never just let you take me
out of here."
"Very shrewd. You're quite correct. Thus, the
environment suits and gas grenades," she explained,
gesturing to her uniform which Wendy now noticed had
cleverly concealed hermetic cuffs and collar like a
space suit. In some of those bulging pockets there were
probably gloves and a soft helmet that would completely
isolate the wearer from the outside air. "We'll be out
of this cell block and out of the center before anyone
far enough away to be left alive has a chance to even
raise an alarm. Unless you waive your right to local
prosecution and submit yourself to Imperial law aboard
my ship."
"Why me?"
"You don't know? Either Sarah's little group has much
better internal security than I thought or you all have
been fighting rather stupidly against things you really
don't understand. Amazing. At any rate, that, as they
say, is for me to know and you to find out."
Defeated, Wendy consented. Within hours she was aboard
the Imperial carrier, slowly drifting, almost a million
kilometers from the planet. She was marched immediately
to a large white room which she recognized with some
horror as the torture room from the crystal. The guards
went through the procedure she had seen before,
strapping her feet to the chair. They left the cuffs on
her wrists but attached them to the back of the chair
as well. She was left alone for a long time; she
guessed it was an hour or more.
A man in a white lab coat and protective mask entered,
carrying a large clear container full of what Wendy
assumed was 'jac discharge. As he came closer, Wendy
stared into his eyes and abruptly recognized him. It
was the man who had murdered Kate.
"Hello, Wendy. My name is Doctor Eldin and I will be
handling your case from here on. Relax, Wendy, there is
nothing to be afraid of. I'm not going to hurt you."
"Like you didn't hurt Kate, you evil bastard?
Murderer!"
Wendy spat at him, but her head was turned too far to
the side and it merely spattered on the floor, leaving
a thin bead hanging on her chin. The doctor seemed
totally unperturbed.
"You are mistaken. I do not know anyone named 'Kate',
and I have certainly never tortured or killed anyone. I
am a scientist."
"You son of a bitch, I'll see you dead!"
"Now, now, temper, temper," he admonished cheerily.
Wendy fell silent, her breaths short and shallow. The
man was behind her now and she had no idea what he was
doing; no matter how she turned her head she could not
get a glimpse of him. She jumped and barely suppressed
a scream when she felt a gloved hand touch her
shoulder.
"Really, Wendy; you should try to relax. This kind of
stress is not good for your mind or your body."
He patted her reassuringly. He stepped in front of her,
holding a clear cylinder filled with some transparent
fluid. It had a plunger at one end and a long, sharp
needle at the other.
"Do you know what this is Wendy? Long ago, instruments
like these were used to administer medicine through the
skin. This needle is hollow, and once it has penetrated
into the desired area the plunger is used to force the
medicine into the body.
"Do you know what I find very interesting about
subcutaneous injections, Wendy? I think this will amuse
you; very frequently they were used to administer
painkillers. Quite ironic, don't you think?"
Without warning, he grabbed a handful of her thigh and
jabbed the needle deep into the flesh. It hurt, but not
as badly as Wendy had expected. The needle was thin,
and if people had really used these things all the time
in the past, she could deal with it now. Then he
started pressing the plunger. A burning agony shot
through her leg, spreading out from the location of the
injection toward her toes and up into her stomach.
Wendy screamed though she tried not to; the pain was
unbearably intense and she clenched her eyes shut,
hoping for unconsciousness that did not come.
When her screams had stopped, he whispered into her
ear, "This particular injection is a nerve stimulant, a
relatively new development of mine. I'm very proud of
it. It intensifies the sensitivity of your sense of
touch, in a way. Aren't you proud of me?"
Wendy remained silent. The man laid his hand softly on
her shoulder, but his touch was like a branding iron
against her skin. She screamed as he lightly rubbed her
neck, feeling a scraping like a high speed sander
tearing her skin away.
"Now Wendy, you recognize what I have in this
container, don't you?"
Slowly she nodded. "Yes. It's discharge from an
ejaculoid."
"Besides being white and sticky, what other unusual
properties does it have?"
"It's alive."
"Very good. What else?"
"The 'jacs eat it."
He smiled. "You're avoiding the question. You know what
I want to hear. Be a good girl and tell me so we can
get this over with and have some real fun."
The shackles at her wrists and ankles seemed to be
grinding through her limbs down to the bone. She
shifted in her chair but it sent thunderclaps of pain
up her spine. She croaked out, "If a 'jac fertilizes
it, it grows into another 'jac. It's alive. I don't
know, I don't know, what do you want me to say?"
"Wendy, you're a beautiful little girl. Please don't
make me punish you. I only want to help you. Please
tell me what makes the ejaculoids' cum special."
"It's...it has an empathic response with some humans."
"See how easy this is? Yes! That's it! Now, tell me how
you communicate with it."
"What?"
He walked over to her, lowering his face until it was
level with hers, only centimeters from it. His hand
rested on the chair between her legs. "Wendy," he said
softly, "the one thing that I can't accept is playing
stupid. Please don't act stupid, or I will be forced to
treat you like a stupid person. Please answer the
question."
"But I can't! I can't communicate with the natives. I
don't know where you got that idea but I can't!"
"Wendy," he whispered softly, "that's not what Kate
told us."
"You bastard." She spat at his face, and this time it
was impossible to miss.
When Wendy was finally carried from the room, there was
not a mark on her body, but she had told them
everything there was to tell. She lay in her cell a
long time, trying not to move while the effects of the
nerve stimulant wore off. When the door was finally
opened again, it was by Major Andria.
"Come, Wendy. I have some things to show you."
The command bridge of the Imperial battle carrier was
huge. Wendy's hands and feet were free, and she was
being given a tour as if she were one of the Emperor's
children. They stood now before a massive console with
banks of screens and extensive keypads. Most of the
screens were blank; the remainder displayed reams of
technical data which Wendy did not understand.
"This is the Fleet Control console. This ship carries
over two hundred smaller vessels of various types. When
those craft are operating, this console monitors and
coordinates their activities. Lieutenant Hanson, show
our guest the docking bays."
The officer seated at the console pressed keys and some
of the screens switched to various views of the immense
bays in which the smaller ships were stored and
maintained. Wendy stood expressionless.
"Our final stop is the one you will find most
interesting. Walk this way. I suppose I really needn't
have bored you with all the other details of the
operations of this ship, but I couldn't help myself.
I'm quite proud of her, you know. Ah, here we are."
They stood outside a closed hatch leading from the
command bridge. Major Andria pressed her thumb to the
lock. It acknowledged her thumbprint and required her
to type in a complex code of numbers. At last, the
hatch slid open.
The room beyond was nearly empty; surrounded by blank
walls sat a man, strapped into a chair. His eyes were
closed and for all Wendy could tell he might have been
dead. The chair itself was large and complex, various
screens and keypads built into it. Oddly, most of these
were on the sides and back of the chair and not on the
arms where he could easily reach them. Large tubes and
bundles of wires dangled between the ceiling and the
back of the chair.
"This," explained Major Andria, "is Commander Jon
Karlson. Commander Karlson is our communications
officer. What you see before you is his life support
system. I know it must look outrageously bulky to you,
but there is a requirement for multiple redundancy on
all systems and the ability to automatically handle any
medical emergency which might arise. In fact, if you
were to remove the Commander from his seat, he would
die.
"The Commander has the supreme honor of having given
his life, quite literally, to the Empire. He is the
recipient of certain experimental drugs which enhance
the meager psychic abilities of most humans and which
unfortunately have serious side effects on the human
metabolism."
"Why are you telling me," Wendy asked suspiciously.
"Because, my dear Wendy, I feel that you have the key
to our problem. We originally thought we could use the
native organism on your world to stimulate psychic
activity in our communications officers, or even use
the organism itself in the communication apparatus.
Thus, the prophylactans were designed and sent to
collect the raw psychic energy of your planet. When the
organism shut down it's own life cycle to end our
gathering attempts we were forced to investigate in
person. And here we found you, an unenhanced psychic."
"Why not stick with radio?"
"Too slow. If I were to send a radio message to your
capitol from here, they would not hear my voice until
two or three seconds after I had spoken. Psychic
communication is instantaneous. With Commander Karlson
at his station, and a telepathic receiver on the
ground, that message would be heard at the very same
time I spoke it. But perhaps more importantly, the
range is not limited. As we speak, our conversation is
being monitored on Earth."
"But that's impossible. Messages take seventy years to
reach Earth from here."
"Radio messages, yes. Telepathic messages, no. So you
see why this technology is vital."
"So your scouts can spy on the Free Planets and
instantly inform Earth? So your fleets can anticipate
our every move when you make war against us? This is
what you want from me? Well, you're wrong. I'll die
before I help you. If you torture me I might give in,
but not before my mind is so wrecked that it would be
of no use. Find your own..."
"Calm down, Wendy. I have no intention of killing or
torturing you. The very worst case I can imagine is
that I fail to find any answers here. In that case I
would merely insure that the Free Planets don't get the
answers either."
"And how would you do that?"
"As you must know, Wendy, within a week this ship could
reduce the entire surface of your planet to molten
lava. I believe that would suffice."
"You wouldn't," Wendy protested, but she knew that the
Major would.
"We have an entirely separate link here, Wendy. What I
would like you to do is try to send or receive anything
from our subject on Earth." She handed Wendy a thin
lead which extended from the chair and terminated in a
shiny metal sphere.
Wendy took it. She didn't really think it would work;
she knew absolutely nothing about the technology she
was dealing with and had no idea how to control her
ability. Indeed the only times she had consciously
tried to feel the emotions of others she had failed.
She was still wondering what she was supposed to do,
when the feeling hit her, unmistakably real, though at
a great distance.
"Fear," Wendy said, "Pain. I feel that." And abruptly
she realized that they were torturing someone on
distant Earth for her benefit.
"Stop it. All right, you've seen what you want to see;
now stop it!"
"Don't worry. The person whose emotions you are feeling
is a convicted criminal who agreed to participate in
this experiment in exchange for waiver of his
sentence."
"What was his crime? A traffic violation?"
"Repeated absence from his labor schedule. Now try to
send something."
Wendy tried to send comfort, reassurance, love. There
was no change in what the victim at the other end kept
sending.
"Roger, Earthbase One," the Major said in response to
something which only she could hear. "Nothing. It looks
like you are a receiver only, Wendy. Please place your
other hand in this container."
The Major had produced a clear container of 'jac
discharge from a compartment which slid back into the
wall. Wendy placed her hand into the container and felt
the familiar comforting warmth. Almost instantly things
began to happen. The Major held her hand to her ear and
cocked her head.
"Earthbase One, I'm not reading you," she calmly
stated, then more frantically, "Earthbase One, we have
lost your transmission. Please respond." Her requests
grew more strained as she continued trying to
reestablish contact.
Wendy saw now that Commander Karlson's monitors were
all flatlined, the artificial life support which had
been keeping him alive now nonfunctional. She heard
pounding on the hatch behind her, muffled voices behind
it shouting. Coursing through her was an energy which
she had always been on the very threshold of feeling,
but which she had never felt. The mind of the vast
colony encompassed the planet and was as indescribable
as love itself.
It was a glorious feeling, something that made her very
glad to be alive, though she could easily die at any
second. The raw emotions that surged through the colony
segment in the container, in and out of her body, into
the ship's psychic hardware and from there into it's
communication circuits were not revenge or even anger,
but a great protectiveness. Wendy felt the
undercurrents of self-preservation, but as much of the
feeling was directed toward her and her people as was
toward the 'jacs.
Alarms were now sounding outside the hatch. Wendy felt
fear, clear directed fear aimed specifically at her;
the colony was trying to signal her, to tell her
something. As she realized this, she was filled with an
urge to run. She dropped the lead into the container of
jism and wiped her hand, looking frantically about.
A flashing yellow light appeared above head level from
the previously blank surface of the wall.
Simultaneously, a rectangular outline of black dashes
appeared beneath the light with a red square at waist
level. Wendy ran to it. She jabbed at the red button,
and as the hidden emergency hatch slid open she heard a
loud hissing noise behind her. Turning as she ran out,
she saw Major Andria trying to open the main hatch.
The emergency escape slid closed behind her. The
corridor she was in was narrow and long; opening
another hatch at the end, she finally emerged into one
of the docking bays. An Imperial officer stood not more
than five meters from her, staring. She started to run
but he called to her.
"Ma'am, Ma'am! This way!"
She stopped, not sure why.
"Hurry! Emperor's orders! I'm to take you planetside
with no further delay. Come on!"
She hesitated, and he stepped forward, taking her arm.
Then she ran with him to a small shuttle, boarded it,
and sat quietly while he guided the craft out of the
bay through the growing confusion. When the shuttle was
safely away she went to the cockpit. Sitting in the
empty seat next to the pilot, she started to ask where
his orders had come from when there was a bright flash
from several of the screens on the console. Quickly
glancing down, they saw the carrier engulfed in a huge
explosion.
The pilot became a flurry of activity, activating
scanners and calling the ship, but there was no answer.
No other craft had escaped; there were no survivors.
Wendy didn't know what false information the had
organism had fed the ship and it's crew to achieve such
a spectacular result, but she hoped desperately that
what it had told the observers on Earth was as good.
The shuttle landed and soon everything was back to
normal. The Imperial troops on the merchant ship and on
the ground surrender when they heard their base ship
had been destroyed; they were released and sent by slow
liner back to Earth. The Prophylactan specification
document eventually revealed a series of sound
frequencies that were the recall signal for the
invaders to return to the ship, which was then
annihilated. Maria managed to give one full report of
the events onscreen, and then later avoided the topic
as if she had been asked not to mention it again.
Everything was soon forgotten, or, if not forgotten,
then at least repressed.
CHAPTER 11
"I'll be shipping out when the last of the ore is
loaded, probably tomorrow evening," Carli stated a bit
too matter-of-factly.
"I hope you find what you're looking for," Sarah said.
"I've already found it; that's why I'm going."
"You must really love it out there."
"I do. And others might too. I know that you'll change
things. You're a planetary hero, Sarah. You've got to
make them see that opening to trade is a good thing."
"First I have to make them see that they have to
consider forging an alliance with some of the other
Free Planets; the Kirellians are already interested and
when word spreads, others will be too. After that, the
trade will come naturally."
"I guess you finally got your place on the history
crystals. It's only a sentence now, but before long I
bet you have a chapter or more."
They both laughed. Then Sarah looked at Wendy, who was
still staring ahead, the faintest trace of a smile on
her lips.
"Wendy, what is it," Sarah asked.
"Hmm? Oh nothing. Just thinking."
"You're thinking about it pretty hard for nothing,"
commented Carli.
"The future. What's going to happen. Light stuff like
that," Wendy said, smiling and seeming to return to
their common plane of reality.
"Oh, I get it. The converted cynic becomes a prophet,"
grinned Carli.
"When was I ever cynical?"
There was a moment of silence and they all burst into
laughter. When it subsided a little, Wendy got up.
"Come on, I have something to show you. One of the
advantages of life in the outskirts."
They stood and Wendy wrapped an arm around each waist,
guiding them toward her room. In the center of the room
was one of the most unusual 'jacs they had ever seen;
it had a long slender body as big around as a woman's
waist which coiled on the ground. It was impossible to
tell how long it was, but the coils were stacked waist
high in a mound about two meters across. One end was
suspended above the rest of it's body and turned to
face them; there seemed to be dozens of waving necks
and heads which sprung from the end of the body. All
the heads seemed to be between the thickness of a thumb
and a wrist, and the necks were all about two or three
meters long.
They noticed that this was not the only other being in
the room; through an open window flyjacs came in and
out and there were numerous other smaller 'jacs roaming
about.
Wendy guided them into the room and took them over to
the large 'jac. It's skin was very smooth and warm; it
was a darker brown than their own skin but slightly
transparent, letting a slight purplish hue show
through, most noticeably around the heads. They stroked
it's sides and rubbed it's necks and it nuzzled against
them, quietly drawing a loop around their legs to pull
them closer. There in the 'jac's embrace they hugged, a
close, warm triangle of sharing.
When Carli looked into her eyes, Wendy could not resist
cocking her head to meet Carli's lips with her own. As
they kissed, mouths open and hungry, Sarah softly
stroked their bodies, caressing and massaging them.
When their lips had parted, Wendy turned her head to
Sarah and kissed her. Sarah's mouth was more demanding
than Carli's; her tongue was harder and more insistent
and the force of her lips was stronger. Carli kissed
Wendy's shoulder and neck while her hands dropped to
knead the buttocks of both women.
They had barely noticed the 'jac wrap three or four
more coils around them until that point, when it lifted
them all from the floor and gracefully slid across the
room to deposit them on the bed. They were then lying
in a tumbled heap, making no attempt to disengage but
rearranging some limbs for more comfort and better
access.
The big 'jac withdrew a little, gliding up onto the bed
to outline the edges with it's length. Sarah lay flat
on her back, legs spread and tangled with the others'.
Wendy was facing down on Sarah's right; her knee was
rubbing the outside of Sarah's right thigh, and her
tongue was still in Sarah's mouth. Carli was on Sarah's
other side; her crotch was astride Sarah's left thigh
and her face was buried between the other women's
breasts.
Carli smothered herself in the four lovely boobs,
licking and sucking them, first squeezing them together
with the left hand she managed to get in on the action
and then pulling them apart. She rubbed the erect
nipples on two breasts together and then forced her
tongue between them, flicking it back and forth to
separate them and let them tap back together several
times a second. She began humping her pelvis against
Sarah's leg as she began soaking her face and both
women's chests with her gyrating head, mouth wide, and
tongue extended.
Wendy curved her back and scooted her knees up further
on the bed to bring her pussy within reach of Sarah's
straining right hand. The memory of Sarah's fingers
inside her made Wendy's head spin and she groaned into
Sarah's mouth as Sarah started rubbing her palm over
Wendy's hairy mound. Wendy moved her own right hand to
Sarah's cunt and was surprised to find it not only wet
but already wide open. As her fingers began to type on
an imaginary keyboard with Sarah's clit as the space
bar, Sarah returned Wendy's moans and the little noises
which escaped between their lips and tongues filled
their heads.
Three equal parts of the same growing fire centered in
their bodies as they moved, not yet forming an
explosion but making one inevitable. Carli removed her
head from it's position, hearing the breasts plop wetly
back together. She slid her crotch gracefully up
Sarah's thigh; her own left leg made contact and
pressed Wendy's hand hard against Sarah's crotch.
Carli felt her lips part slightly as they moved around
Sarah's pelvic bone; she stopped and rocked back and
forth on this projection for a minute before sliding
back down to integrate her crotch and Sarah's. Wendy
removed her hand and slid it up between her own chest
and Sarah's. Carli's left thigh was now snug against
Sarah's crotch and Sarah's left thigh was against her
own crotch and they began a rhythmic series of short
thrusts against each other.
Carli reached over to Wendy's ass, stuck high in the
air, and guided her with firm squeezes to straddle
Sarah's stomach. Wendy drew her hands from between her
body and Sarah's and planted them firmly on either side
of Sarah's head. Sarah brought her own arms up to pinch
and tug at Wendy's nipples. Carli then firmly grasped
Wendy's hips and lifted her lower body from the bed.
Wendy spread her legs wide, stretching them out into
the air at almost right angles. The muscles in Carli's
arms bulged as she lifted Wendy's crotch to her face,
resting the fronts of Wendy's thighs on her shoulders
for support. She then began to eat Wendy's cunt,
turning her head from side to side and coating her
already wet face with Wendy's womanly perfume. Her
extended tongue followed the contours of Wendy's crotch
as it traced it's arc from thigh to cunt to thigh and
back again. At the center point of one of her cycles,
Carli stuck her pinkness out between her lips as far as
it would go and began tongue-fucking Wendy's cunt.
Wendy's mouth was still interlocked with Sarah's, and
between their slurps and moans occasional fragments of
sentences escaped; "Oh Wendy, yes" "Sarah, Sarah!," and
together "Carli, oh god don't stop, ohhhh!"
Finally, Wendy turned and said, "I'm sorry, but my arms
are really killing me."
"No problem. Hold on..."
Carli gently put Wendy's body down beside Sarah's and
those two rolled to face one another, kissing again.
The momentary lull served only to fan the flames of
their desire; Carli clenched her little tits in her
hands and growled, "Oh, yeah...I'm so hot; I want to
fuck forever!"
The groans increased from the two interlocked faces in
response. Carli rolled them the rest of the way over,
so that Sarah was on top of Wendy. She lifted Sarah
from the bed just as she had with Wendy. Her hands
reached up and over and squeezed Sarah's ass over and
over.
Sarah's wetness was unbelievable; her neatly trimmed
black hair was drenched and dripping and she was
creaming against Carli's face in what seemed to be
actual spurts of pussy juice which Carli licked up as
fast as she could, lavishing much attention on Sarah's
dripping thighs and lips. She started to position her
own crotch with Wendy's, when Wendy spoke. "Wait, hold
on just a minute."
Wendy reached to the head of the bed where a two-headed
ropejac had found it's way. It was about half a meter
long and not quite as big around as Wendy's wrist. At
each end was a beautiful head with the usual single
ejaculatory orifice.
"I remembered you were pretty intrigued by this, the
first time you heard about it," Wendy managed to say.
Wendy positioned the 'jac between her legs and it
instantly began a soft burrowing motion against her
pussy. It's way was easy due to the lubrication already
present and soon almost half it's body was buried in
her cunt, slowly wriggling and shifting. Wendy guided
the other end to Carli's pussy and it strained to reach
it, pulling back out of Wendy a few centimeters. Carli
lowered her crotch very close to Wendy's, close enough
that Wendy's pubic hair tickled the bare skin of
Carli's crotch.
The ropejac dug into both cunts, linking them together
with it's own motion as Wendy continued to stroke it
with her hands. Wendy and Carli both felt it's motions
and gasped, nearly screaming, with delight; the 'jac
was slowly rotating inside them, turning round and
round with periodic throbbing that drove them crazy.
The fire was burning much brighter, threatening to
engulf the powder keg of orgasmic release and detonate
it.
Now Sarah's arms were tiring. Carli lowered her onto
the bed, taking care not to dislodge the ropejac still
turning inside her. Sarah swung around, planting her
knees on either side of Wendy's head and begged,
"Please Wendy, nobody eats my cunt like you. Oh, come
on Wendy, eat me Please!"
Sarah spread her knees a little further to lower her
nest against Wendy's face. Wendy started licking her,
and an involuntary contraction rippled through her
thighs. She raised her head to face Carli, and
something in those ice blue eyes sparked old memories.
"I thought I'd never get to lick my cunt juice off your
face again," she said quietly. She started licking
Carli's face, tasting her own sweetness there. When her
tongue slipped between Carli's parted, moaning lips,
Carli sucked on it, beginning to devour Sarah's mouth
with her own. Sarah put her hands behind Carli's head,
stroking the short, bristly growth there and pulling
her closer. Carli locked her own hands in Sarah's curls
and they kissed passionately, fiercely.
"I'm glad we...oh god that's good...we're getting to do
this, oh Wendy, I can't even think when
you...ohhhhh...do this once again, Carli, it's
been...ohhh yesssss...so long..."
"Just shut up," Carli sighed, "and kiss me."
Carli threw her head back and Sarah bent forward to
kiss her breasts. Sarah hadn't remembered how much
smaller than her own they were, how round and dark and
smooth and hard her nipples were. Carli's little
erections felt like warm, round rocks in her mouth.
They had none of the rolling contours of her own, no
puckered subtlety, just small, smooth hardness. As she
flicked them with her tongue she felt how tight they
were, how they hardly moved at all as she played with
them and instantly snapped back to position when she
released them. And then Wendy's tongue-lashing overcame
her again and she moaned and twisted her body
violently. Her mouth found Carli's once again, filled
with the taste of love, and they groped at each other
with terribly uncoordinated movements as their tongues
and lips thrust and strained together.
Wendy felt a contraction between her hands, rippling
outward from the exposed center of the ropejac. A split
second later, she and Carli both felt the explosion of
jism from both ends of the 'jac, filling them and
spraying out around the edges onto the bed and their
thighs and buttocks.
Hearing the squishing sounds from below, Sarah looked
down and saw the freely flowing cum from the crotches
there. "Oh, Carli, let me suck the cum out of your
cunt," she pleaded.
When Wendy had disengaged the 'jac and laid it softly
aside, she prodded Sarah to lay down. Sarah, leaning up
on her left elbow, spread her legs and allowed Wendy's
face to reconnect with her crotch. Wendy rolled onto
her side and spread her legs, admitting Carli's probing
tongue to clean her thighs of the stringy white fluid
there. Carli, also on her side, shifted her hips down
to where Sarah's face was and Sarah, mimicking the
others, rested her head on the inside of Carli's left
thigh, lapping furiously at the jism receding from
Carli's pussy. The fire was now burning all through the
perfect triangle now; an explosion was imminent.
Sarah pulled her head slightly away from Carli's cunt,
trailing thick, dripping strings of cum between her
lips and teeth and the interior of Carli's pussy. She
pursed her lips and sucked, and the slimy material
oozed out of Carli and up along the dangling cables of
jism in sticky globs, finally passing between her lips
and sliding down her throat in wonderfully whole
clumps. The mixed taste of the cum and Carli's cunt
juice brought her close to the edge and her entire body
started to shudder like a flier in strong turbulence.
Wendy's mouth responded with by giving a sensation that
Sarah could not possibly imagine the initial explosion.
Slowly, over what seemed like centuries, or millenia,
the galaxies and stars spiraled in toward their
creating flame, crashing into it and sending up showers
of sparks which caused little showers of their own as
they floated down.
Eventually the original flame was back to a slowly
churning ball of star-stuff which cooled a little,
countless little whirlpools of yellow and orange shadow
on the white surface pulling the heat back down inside.
As the surface cooled, the fireball faded in intensity,
allowing some sensations of the cold, ordinary world
back in. As the women slowly regained their perception
of common reality, the fire faded into the background,
dimmer but not completely out.
It did not go out.
It would never go out.
CHAPTER 12
When they had come to, the big 'jac had been wrapped
between them, twined among their bodies, supporting and
holding them. The pile of bodies was covered totally
with the richest, heaviest cum any of them had ever
seen. It ran slowly off them, dripping down the sides
of the bed and onto the floor. When they got up, wiping
the warm juice from their eyes and faces, it trailed
behind them like melted cheese, running and stringing
until they were all connected throughout the rooms by a
dripping, oozing lattice of jism. They cleaned up
somewhat, and then the call came that the last shuttle
up to the merchant ship was leaving in an hour.
"I love you, Wendy, Sarah. I love you both." she said.
"I love you, Carli," said Sarah.
"We all love you. I love you," whispered Wendy.
"I love you," they wept in unison as the three of them
embraced for the last time together.
After the final, emotional farewells to Carli, Wendy
and Sarah lounged on the bed once more. Sarah's hand
moved again to Wendy's crotch; the hair was still
soaked and sticky. There was still some warm 'jac juice
dangling from her hair, but the cunt excretions and
saliva were cool now from evaporation. It was the first
time Sarah had touched her there since that first
seduction which now seemed so long ago. Wendy's
excitement grew with the slow, much calmer motions of
Sarah's hands.
"Eat my pussy again, Wendy."
But this time, Sarah pulled Wendy's crotch toward her
own face as well. Laying on her back, she moaned as
Wendy's mouth found her snatch; Sarah then began to
lick playfully at the residue on Wendy's cunt. They
spent the rest of the evening fucking each other's
cunts, mouths, hands, any anatomical part imaginable,
with and without the aid of the roaming 'jacs.
When at last they lay totally spent and exhausted,
Sarah asked, "Will you come and stay with me?"
"Why?"
"Well, you know the 'jacs; you know what they need and
those needs are going to be a major part of the plans I
take to the Council. And, you can fuck a body to
death," she smiled.
"Is that it?" Wendy's face was solemn.
"No. No that really isn't true at all. I mean, both
things are true, but neither one is the reason. The
real reason is...I love you."
"Oh, Sarah, I love you too. I'm sorry, I really wish I
could stay. I want to help you and I love the way our
bodies fit together. And I really, really do love you
very, very much. But there are too many things that
have to be done."
"The 'jacs?"
"Yes. I'm setting up a camp in the natural sectors.
They need me. I don't know what for, yet, but I know
they need me. And we need them, don't you see? Someday
the Empire will be back, or if not them then some
maniac from the Free Planets, or if not them some total
alien, but someday, somebody will want what the 'jacs
have and we'll have to stand together to keep our world
the way it should be."
"Oh Wendy, I love you so much, and I do understand. I
wouldn't really expect anything else. But I keep
thinking how beautiful we could have been together."
"Keep hoping. Someday our callings might bring us
together again."
"I love you, Wendy."
"Oh Sarah, I'll always love you. I won't ever, ever
forget you."
"Neither will I."
"I love you."
"I love you."
When Wendy finally closed the door and Sarah was gone,
she fought back the tears that threatened to bring
events to an unnecessarily tragic close. She walked to
the bedroom to rest her mind and her sore, swollen
cunt. When she entered the door, she wasn't sure if it
was just the silvery mist caused by the tears or if
there really was a light glow coming from each of the
large and small pools of shiny white discharge in the
room.
Whichever it was, she could feel the colony talking to
her as it always had, even when she hadn't been
listening. The messages were becoming ever clearer,
rising through the black layers of the unknown. What
had once been no more than a vague impression that
disappeared when she thought about it, was now a clear
identification of the emotions and desires of the
colony.
Someday, she knew, those emotions would become words,
words of breathtaking beauty and clarity, words that
would change her life and the lives of everyone from
that day forward. But for now she was content to
snuggle amidst the warm wetness of the 'jacs who sought
her out for comfort and companionship, relief and
relaxation.
Her dreams were warm and white, and filled with love.
END
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
It's okay to *READ* stories about unprotected sex with
others outside a monogamous relationship. But it isn't
okay to *HAVE* unprotected sex with people other than
a trusted partner. You only have one body per lifetime,
so take good care of it!
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Kristen's collection - Directory 33