Sarah woke for the start of another day.
They left her alone. That, perhaps, was the source of most of her depression. She had her own little corner of the garden, with her few possessions, changes of clothes, and a bottle of water. Every evening, after dinner, and any entertainment planned (often a movie, sometimes Melinda reading and acting out parts of one of her favorite books, to laughter and catcalls), Sarah separated from the others and came here. She sat, thought. Maybe read. Then sleep, only to start again the next morning.
It was not a life.
She understood. They hadn't accepted her. Not yet. Oh, Justin, and maybe some others, talked to her, somewhat. But... only when there was something to say. Never... about nothing. The girls still gave her looks, even while showing off the babies to her. Almost as if to lay claim to their man, even though she had made absolutely no move towards any of them.
Maybe she should. Anthony... intrigued her.
Sitting up, she stretched. Her body was slimmer, at least a little bit. A combination of human food, and the slightly higher gravity of the dome living space, had taken a bit of weight off of her. She was also doing gardening, although that wasn't all that labor intensive. The others took turns with the watering and such, and she was included in that rotation. It was fun. She had never done much with living things before, much less plants, and they definitely had a beauty to them. That the humans had surrounded themselves with all this said something. What, exactly, she wasn't sure yet.
It was still dark around her. The others, she knew, would be waking soon, going through their morning routine. Judging by the very faint glow coming from the large lights that would soon be simulating dawn, she had a bit over an hour before breakfast. An hour to herself. Stretching again, getting the kink out of her muscles, she spread her legs. Leaning forward, she opened herself with the fingers of her left hand, two fingers of her right slipping inside her sex. Her body shivering with the contact, Sarah began her morning exercises.
****
Anthony's hand slowly ran over the soft curve before him.
The body of a pregnant woman, he had come to discover, was perhaps the very definition of beauty. For half a year the woman asleep beside him had been changing, life growing within her. Every altered curve, every swell of the belly and breast, only succeeded in bringing another lump to his throat. Anthony couldn't even imagine Hannah as she had been. She was the woman before him now. Radiant. Incredible.
Snoring.
His eyes flicked up to the clock. Well, it was time to wake her. Not time to actually get up, but there was always quite a delay between when they woke and when the bed was actually abandoned. She lay on her side, facing away from him. How to attack the problem...
Gently, Anthony slid up against her. His cock, mostly hard, made its temporary home nestled up between her two lower cheeks. Kissing her neck, his right hand slid down her side, over the= swell of her hip, dipping in between her legs. Fingers feeling soft brown hairs, they followed the trail down until folds and slight wetness revealed his target. With long practice, his middle finger divided smooth lips, sliding up and down between them, as the others gently rubbed around her sex. After a minute, the body next to him began to stir, his finger now wetter. Curving it, he entered, rewarded with a drowsy gasp.
"Oh, no, stop," came a drowsy, joking voice, music to his ears. "I'm being molested in my sleep. Anthony, save me..." Her body pushed back against him, hips now moving of their own volition. A second finger entering her, his lips moved up to her ear.
"I'm not sure I can. You may have to save yourself..."
With speed belying her condition, Anthony found himself on his back, Hannah swinging her leg over him as hands pinned his arms up next to his head. With long familiarity, she dropped down, engulfing him.
"Take that, you rapist..."
Anthony groaned, in the thrill of defeat...
****
Sarah's breath came shorter, faster.
The daily regimen of exercising the vagina, attempting to stretch it, was perhaps the last remaining vestige of her temple training. The rest had fallen aside. It was easy, once outside of the circle of novices, to slip back into what until three years ago had been the real her. Not that she had been something else, really. Sarah had not so much given up herself to the Temple, as taken on attributes that were extra. Mostly. She HAD discovered some things inside herself that had been repressed. Or ignored.
For example, orgasms.
M'ntsn males were small, puny things. They had small, puny phalluses. The Temple had shown Sarah she did not have to settle. She could have pleasure, pleasure beyond what any of her kind could provide. Pleasure...
Fingers together, her entire hand up to the knuckles pounded in and out. Against her will, his image appeared before her eyes. Tall. Hair as black as her own, on his head as well as between his lips and nose. His eyes... those eyes... she wanted him. Imagined him nude, standing before her, like one of She Who Fucked's paintings. Imagined his hardness. His hardness inside her....
Mouth open, she silently screamed into the empty garden.
The ritual was over.
****
Hannah could feel her husband's eyes on her as she bent over to pick yesterday's dress off the floor. From the bed, he probably had a good view of her profile, belly rounded, breasts hanging down. She paused, holding that pose. Without turning to face him, she smiled.
"Like what you see?"
"Always."
It was the honesty in such praise that always got to her. While Anthony, she was sure, could be a charmer, in bars or out on the dance floor, she had only ever seen honest attraction in his eyes. Maybe he was good at faking that, who knew. And, so long as she never found out, it didn't matter. Position starting to stress parts of her now susceptible to stress, she continued the motion and grabbed the dress. Standing, she balled it up, tossed it in the hamper, and moved to the closest to grab today's outfit. Her ass wiggled a bit, drawing a laugh from behind as the creaking bed indicated he had finally decided to join her in the land of the standing.
Her eyes swept over the day's clothing options. Tammy had mentioned some "girls day" activity for later on, possibly requiring an outfit change, but for breakfast just a one piece sundress would do. Purple, she thought. It was a purple day.
"So, what do you have planned, Honey?"
Not bothering with underwear, she slipped the dress over her head. She had already washed up a bit, using the basin they kept in the corner. Nice big bathroom at the end of the floor, and it was often more convenient to just do things in the room. It avoided the morning rush, if nothing else. Although, if everyone was doing that, they had built that sucker for nothing...
"Not a heck of a a lot," his voice came to her, briefly muffled by a shirt passing over his head. She hadn't heard a wash cloth being used. Typical male. "Chuck mentioned something about a 'guys day out', so we'll probably be down in the ship for a bit."
"Sounds kinky."
"We'll take photos."
Deciding that she would, in fact, put some panties on, Hannah walked over to the dresser. Her eyes briefly touched on the Baby Mary shrine, still up in the corner.
"I'm not sure what Mary will do, if she can't spend the day playing with machines."
"Oh," said the voice right behind her, accompanied by arms going around her waist, "I'm sure she'll survive. You can try her again on more girlish activities." Smiling despite herself, she stopped and enjoyed the hug. His tall, lanky frame, now covered by jeans and a shirt, pressed against her. The roughness of his clothing rubbed against her skin, the thin dress almost not even there. She let out a sigh.
"I'm glad she enjoys it down there, but she doesn't seem to want to take sewing or cooking seriously. Unless it's just her and Goldie fooling around."
"Oh, don't worry about it." His lips kissed her neck, mustache tickling her skin. "There's lots of time for her to gain an interest. Maybe the sewing gene just skipped a generation, and you'll have to wait for her kids to come along."
Hannah felt her body stiffen. Damn it, she had been avoiding thinking about that. His arms tightened, sensing, as always, her mood. He always knew her mood. Always knew what to say. Her eyes closed as his voice spoke softly in her ear.
"Don't worry, Love. Chuck's watching out down there, and has Danny fully in hand. There probably will be kids, before she's 17, but that's just our new reality. It'll be awhile yet before the two of them are ready."
And if a problem could not be avoided, she shouldn't spend her strength worrying about it. She nodded.
"I know. Now, let me get some underwear on." Chuckling, he released her, stepping back. Opening the drawer, she sorted through it. Hannah, thinking ahead, and lacking good elastic, had created a series of panties based on what she remembered of her sizes while pregnant with Mary. Odds were this wouldn't be her last use of them, between the lack of birth control and little desire from either of them to hold back, so it wasn't like it was a waste to create good maternity clothing. She'd get her money's worth. Finding a pair with a small '6' embroidered on them, she grabbed it.
"I wonder what it's going to be like."
She looked up as she pulled the silk panties up her legs. Anthony was looking over at a new photo of Mary over on the vanity.
"What is going to be like?"
"Five generations from now. Human, Orang, and whatever those bear things Goldie and Danny's dad was, all mixed up. How are the genes going to mix?"
"Don't forget squirrel."
There. She'd said it. They should be getting downstairs, Tammy and Nona probably having breakfast already out on the table, but the opening had been there. They needed to talk about this. She saw his head slowly turn, eyebrows raised. All the well reasoned facts and arguments she'd been going over in her head for the past month came to the fore, and quickly vanished.
Typical.
"She's not staying," Anthony told her, stating again his position. He crossed his arms, leaning back against the cabin wall. "After we deal with the temple, however we deal with it, we send her on her way home."
"But..."
"No buts."
****
She wasn't proud.
Using some of the water in her drinking bottle, Sarah cleaned her hand off, using a bit more to clean between her legs. The Orang's would be able to smell it if she didn't. Maybe could smell it regardless. Who could say. At the very least, the odor wouldn't be enough to draw comment, or a distrustful look.
Humans were not playthings to be mated with. They were not otherworldly creatures, abstract, mythic. They were actual people.
Yet...
Damn it. She wanted him. The other three males, no. They did nothing for her. But, Anthony...
Slipping into her one piece dress, making sure the side ties were securely fastened, she made her way towards the store, towards breakfast. Maybe food would make her less horny.
****
The others were already seated and eating. There was a schedule, unofficial but more binding perhaps because each individual had chosen it for themselves. Tammy and Nona came down first, half dressed and drowsy, starting some hot caffeine enriched drinks brewing. Alicia was next, popping down to help as they decided that day's breakfast plan. The others slowly filtered down, order unchanging.
Last was Sarah.
"Over here!"
Sarah's mood lifted. Goldie, sitting with Danny and Mary away from the older Humans and Orang, was waving frantically. The other two seemed to exchange a glance that communicated much, although Sarah was not able to interpret such telepathy. An empty chair next to Danny, directly across from Goldie, awaited her, Goldie beaming as Sarah slipped into it. She squirmed for a moment, large furry tails not designed for seats such as this. Despite being older, she was the shortest at the table, a fact she took as reinforcement of her subservient position even among the youngsters.
"I'm glad you're here!" Goldie's human face was bubbly, furry ears on the top of her head twitching with excitement. She gave off such energy Sarah almost felt like running. Next to her, Danny just shook his head at his sister.
"OK, she's here. Now are you going to settle down and eat, or do Mary and I have to hold you down and pour orange juice down your throat?"
"Hey, why am I on your side?" Mary's eyes seemed to sparkle. Sarah had seen that sparkle before, when Hannah was with her man Anthony. Was this the human mating dance? The back and forth that led to pair bonding? There had been none between those two when she first came on board. Was it something she could try with Anthony? Or did the male have to initiate it? So much to learn...
"Sarah, I read that book you translated the other day!" The comments of the others seemed to wash off Goldie, at least when the youngster had a goal. An admirable trait. Sarah thought for a moment, trying to remember which one the furry girl could be referring to, as she went on. "It was SO interesting! I have so many questions!"
Well, questions she could answer, even not knowing exactly which book it was. She smiled, grabbing a fruit off the plate in the center of the table.
"Ask."
"Well, first, there's all the talk of bringing humans over. But, why nothing about you guys going to Earth? If it's such a paradise, why don't you want to go there?"
The murmur of voices from the other tables seemed to quiet, Goldie's loud question carrying quite well. It was a good one, too, although not one she herself had asked. Maybe she should have. Again, her mind cast back into her teachings.
"I... THINK, for I was far from the inner circles, that the machines that first allowed She Who Saw to see, were in fact allowing light from your world to enter ours, but NOT light from ours to enter yours. Thus, the first machines based on that first design would bring people this way, following the light." A memory came to the fore. "But, I think they were, are, working on something to go the other way. To send a volunteer to Earth. Perhaps to arrange transport of males, who knows. They were building something as I left, something HUGE. Expensive."
A moment's silence followed her words, conversation returning once it was clear she was done. Goldie's mouth twitched, as she considered the information. The other two had gone back to eating some sort of checkered bread covered with a brown, thick syrup. Sarah took a bite of her own fruit. It was sweet, juicy. Not as good as a nut, but more refreshing. Goldie leaned forward again, fur covered breasts coming down on the table top before being hidden behind her arms.
"OK. Makes sense! Next thing. Why is there so much talk about penises? And if she never actually had one in her mouth, why does She Who Fucked insist human semen tastes like hickory nuts?"
****
The four males floated in the Bells engine room.
"This isn't a 'bitch about the girls' meeting."
Chuck's opening comment had Anthony smiling. As if, really, they had anything to bitch about. Life wasn't perfect, no, but it was damned close as far as he was concerned. Justin, to his left, let out a mock sigh.
"Damn. I wanted to bitch about Alicia for a few hours. How the hell did you deal with two pregnant women, Chuck?"
"Set them against each other, and stayed out of the way."
They laughed. Even Danny, who probably was just thrilled to be included as an equal. Really, why shouldn't he be, given he was only four years younger than Justin and Chuck. Anthony, grabbing a ceiling handhold, decided to get down to business.
"So, what is this about?"
Chuck looked around the room.
"We have to make plans for if things go wrong."
He had their attention. Anthony nodded at him to continue.
"When we get to squirrel world, we don't know what we'll find, what our plan of attack will actually be. We DO know, however, we'll have two pregnant women and two babies. How do we keep them safe, who do we leave behind, and how do we get them ready to stay alive in case the shit hits the fan."
Justin shook his head.
"We just don't do anything stupid that puts us in danger. Then it's not an issue."
"It's not that simple. Who, now, can fly the ship on a moment's notice? Not learn, given time, but set good coordinates in an emergency and take off and warp?"
"Daium and me," Anthony said. Chuck nodded.
"Which means one of you gets left behind if we leave the ship for an 'away mission', or we have to spend the next month training up some of the girls to do it. I have Danny here as backup for the engines, with Mary coming along. We have to get everyone ready for the possibility we lose someone."
"No!" Justin shook his head more violently. "We don't put anyone in danger! Yes, we have to stop them from bringing others over, but it's not something I'm going to risk Daium or anyone else over! If we can't do it, we fall back!"
"Nona won't accept that."
Justin turned to Danny, surprised. The bear faced boy looked at him with sad eyes.
"I've talked to her. She wants that destroyed. At any cost. It took her away from her family, and she never, ever, wants anyone else to have to go through that."
"Hannah feels the same," Anthony added. He sighed. "She'll have to stay behind if it comes to that, naturally, but you didn't see her crying out in the middle of the night for her daughter. We shut it down, blow it up, convert everyone to Buddhism, whatever it takes."
****
The sight that greeted the males as they entered the garden put the legendary Eden to shame.
The girls were wearing bikinis. Skimpy, almost nonexistent bikinis, of various colors and styles. Red, blue, green... The ladies were stretched out on the ground, blankets and towels under them, one of the upper spotlights shining directly on the group. It was a breathtaking sight, to be sure. Anthony could hear the gasp from Danny, as he got his first look at an unclothed Mary. She was definitely her mother's daughter when seen this way, breasts under the stretched red fabric still small but full of potential. Goldie, though, was the real revelation. She, too, wore a bikini. The black fabric highlighted her breasts, revealed the secrets between her legs by the very act of covering them. For the first time, she looked like a furry woman.
Something had to be said, naturally. Something complimentary, yet witty.
"Having fun, ladies?"
OK, that probably wasn't it, but he was distracted. Hannah, eyes closed, shifted, bending one leg as she lay on her back.
"We're just taking in the sun. Getting some tanning in."
Anthony looked up. The sky, above the dome, was the usual dark swirl of colors. The spotlight, while bright, most likely was not suitable for tanning as such. Should he mention it? Naturally not. That's what they wanted.
Amusement clear on his face, Chuck walked over to his wives, kneeling between them. Rinda was on her back, both babies napping on a blue blanket next to her. Her four eyes regarded him drowsily.
"You know," Chuck said, hand going to her furry knee, "you really should have some suntan lotion on so you don't burn. Want me to rub it in for you?"
"I already DID her," Melinda said, turning her head as she lay on her front. "Why don't you do me?" Her bottom, much more rounded than Anthony would have given her credit for, wiggled suggestively. Shaking his head, he once again looked over at Mary.
It was only because he was looking at Mary's face that he caught that first reaction. Her eyes, perhaps to avoid seeing anyone looking at her and thus becoming more self conscious than she wanted to be, were on the universe beyond the dome. As Anthony watched, those eyes suddenly shot open. Thin arms pushed her body up, mouth falling open. Anthony immediately shot his own gaze upwards, seeing it the same moment warning klaxons rang throughout the ship.
Something was above them.
Nothing could be there. They were nowhere. In no time, no space. There was even no movement: it was more like they stayed still, while reality flowed around them. Yet, there it was: A cylinder. Tube. Something. It was a bright swirl of colors, stretching... you couldn't say. There was no sense of scale. It could be small and touching them, or lightyears away and larger than a solar system. It was short, though, compared to its diameter. A swirling tunnel of colors...
"What the hell is it?!" Alicia's cry cut through his mind. What WAS it? Was it dangerous? And the alarm! He knew it! It meant something specific! Daium was on her feet, eyes wide with recognition.
"It's the signal! From before!"
That was it! The ship was picking up the same energy pattern as when Mary came through! Did that mean this was...!
It suddenly flashed. Hands shot up over watering eyes. Anthony couldn't look away. He had to see. See what this was. See what had just happened...
"NOOOOOO!"
Nona's scream cut through his mind like a knife.
He saw.
Just for a moment.
The tunnel, for that was what it had been, had vanished. Gone. There, silhouetted by the exploding light, had been three shapes. One was like a boat. A small one, for a lake, or river. Next to it... not in it, but next to it, were two smaller shapes, one half the size of the other.
Like little stick figures.
****
"Aaaaaahhhhhhhhh!!!!"
Sarah didn't see her cry draw every eye to her. She didn't even notice her legs failing her, her body falling to its knees. Her eyes never left the sky. The dark, swirling sky. Even after the light faded, even after all traces of the portal were gone, she could still see it.
She had believed the humans. Believed them when they said that what She Who Saw was doing was wrong. Believed them when they said the rituals must be stopped.
But now she knew.
And KNOWING, KNOWING....
She fell to the grass, crying the tears of sin.
"WE DIDN'T KNOW!"