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In The Darkest Of Nights 01

By: Beatnic_jazzman



I pressed my hand to the plate, watching as the pad energized and glowed green. With my ID confirmed the airlock field began to thin and fade. Before me was the semi-transparent umbilical that connected to my ship some fifty yards out, one of the few places where natural zero G still existed and could be enjoyed.

I was off on another routine trip, my third since graduating the academy, my first outside our home group of core planets. My first solo long range hyper jump mission. Okay, it was only a courier milk run but I was keyed up and bubbling with excitement at the prospect.

Beth, the ships MI system, greeted me as I swam across the gap, savouring the few moments of weightlessness as I watched my lock door slowly swing out to accept me.

"All systems are green, we have permission to lift off and proceed to the jump point," Beth's mellifluous voice informed me as I boarded.

"Thanks, Beth," I acknowledged, collapsing my suit field and unclipping my helmet and the re-breather as the tell-tale green light illuminated.

I made my way slowly up through the command pod, still feeling the sexual glow of my previous night's escapades. It was a pity I couldn't invite my escort of last night along. The blow job she'd given me this morning was still making my cock twitch again as I thought about that prehensile tongue of hers.

The single seat looked welcoming as I entered the bridge, the displays and view screens already fired up by Beth. I took my seat and began to run through the check list, paying special attention to the pods that contained the scientific equipment that was the purpose of my trip.

They were reliant on my power feed for their own grav and environmental controls, sealed by customs before reattachment and 'None of my businesses.'

I noted that the other pod was fully pressurized and only a half G, probably exotic fruits or something equally expensive. The shipping manifest had me dropping it off at Climax, deep inside the Crux Empire, another first for me.

My checks complete, I asked Beth to tell control we were ready to go hot and request push off. On my monitor I could see the umbilical tunnel detach and shrink back into the station, leaving just the cradle. Then the cradle gave us the ten foot push out into free space.

I waited the patient minute to drift the hundred yards or so till I got clearance for manoeuvring jets. Looking back at the station, I could see the alpha class liner berthed beside me, the long fat living pod nestled into a structure ten times my size.

Beth used the jets to manoeuvre us, sending us skimming up the side and out over the top, out the quarter mile to the 'live' zone. My target star was currently shadowed by the planetary disc so my departure would be a dogleg, looping around to the anointed way out of the gravity well to where the hyper drive could be safely engaged.

I sat back in my pilot's seat watching the screens as Beth drove the outward leg aiming for the closest orbit that would give us the parabolic fling onto the new course. The sun grew larger every time I looked at it while I studied the display with the court recording for my full lieutenant exam, the ethics of discipline being the current topic and the subject of a five thousand word minimum essay in my weeks study leave when I next landed on a federation base.

The questions had no answer, only value judgements on the witnesses who gave evidence, a little more like an ethics test than the disciplinarian one it purported to be, excepting we also had to recommend a sentence where guilt was proved.

I spent an hour stop starting the video and capturing my thoughts before I wandered off to my cabin to relax and read nineteenth and twentieth century novels, seeing how technology interacted with lifestyle as it developed.

I found it more interesting than the video casts and films of the time. Radio was good for a time at the beginning but drowned itself in banal sponsorship except for the BBC. Right now I was enjoying a rerun of Gulliver's Tales and still finding amusement in the hidden meanings.

Beth interrupted me some hours later as she prepared to take the ship into the next stage of our journey. I watched the screens as she tickled the attitude jets to keep us centred on the grid and in the green.

I sat there a while, contemplating the three week hyper jump, diving through quantum space while time stood still around us. Shortening my normal life by those 'extra' three weeks, the least reward was the boost onto space pay and a fat wallet when you got leave with somewhere to spend it.

An hour or so of idling and I felt like a snack and made my way up to the main replicator in the 'mess', a cubby hole with a counter under the face of its chamber and a wall mounted bench seat opposite filling the rest of the room.

Wedged next to it was the medidoc section, an automated treatment centre. And then the toilet with the rest room/rec area with its long circular wall taking up the lion's share of the rest of the level. Above me were the two cabins, mine and the guest cabin.

My domain extended downwards, courtesy of the tube, through the cargo section and into the drive section, another area that was 'None of my businesses.' I knew better than to think I could mess with the Tesla drive; it was esoteric physics and way beyond my understanding.

I dialled up coffee first then a double cheddar and red onion on granary, and took them through to the rec area, sitting and letting my thoughts turn introspectively. Three weeks solitary, then a day's layover for cargo transfer then another four day jump to a hub station for my other drop off.

I'd taken the six week isolation test in the academy but this was the real thing and still had an edge of sharpness to it. 

I popped back down to have a quick check on how we were going, see if we were tracking the natural parabola yet. Beth was down to millisecond of arc as the sun tugged us forward, looming ever larger on the port bow.

I felt the routine descend as I settled into the command chair and watched as Beth tweaked our course till we were nanosecond accurate then shut down the engines. We wouldn't need to restart them till we'd finished the ride.

My circadian clock was coming to bedtime, left to drift during the six week of my test I had worked to a twenty five hour cycle, and I wandered off to take the tube up to my quarters to read myself to sleep.

Morning arrived and I checked in on Beth after showering, wearing only the obligatory medivest and enjoying the relief of not having to wear anything else. We'd past perihelion and were outward bound with Beth still keeping us on the true track, accelerating to fifty G's as we drove to the jump point still a day distant.

Satisfied, I made my way back up for breakfast, then on to a coffee and some retro music from the eighteenth century. Beth interrupted. 

"Choi." Her voice commanded my attention.

"Yes, Beth?"

"I am receiving a revival warning signal from one of the capsules." 

"What?" I jumped in, unfolding myself from the chair and striding for the tube.

My heart leapt into my throat as I thought first of pirates and dismissed them, thinking next of some malfunction. Nevertheless I would go armed, and I needed to put some trousers on. Instead of descending I ascended and dressed and took my stunner.

Beth had located it in the pod bound for Climax, the half G one. I'd never been to the cargo level since I'd strolled the ship on assuming command. Warily, I rode the disc down to the connection ring and the tunnel to the suspect pod. 

Beth had a multi armed maintenance bot there before me. It broke the seal while Beth overrode the door security to open it for us. The pod was virtually empty. I'd twisted myself though the ninety degree gravity shift and stood with six capsules in front of me, each locked in its cradle.

As I walked to them I saw the one flashing, the red light demanding attention.

"Beth?" I asked tentatively. "Tell me what I'm seeing."

I looked directly at the control panel.

"It is a standard hibernation capsule to avoid time loss during jumps, usually when people are making several hops," Beth informed me. "The timer will open it in forty-seven minutes."

It was tied down to the cradle for the journey; it needed freeing up if it was to open soon. With the help of the bot I soon had it laid on the floor and ready to pop. The other five with it were all coded and told me nothing except to confirm good health.

I half sat, half leant on the capsule, watching the countdown timer. As it neared time I rode the disc back up the lift shaft for two coffees, returning with minutes to spare to see the cover release and retract. Inside fluttering her eyes was a redheaded beauty, dressed in a halter top and shorts.

I watched her, fascinated, as she stirred and sat woozily up.

"Where am I?" were her first words, as she looked round at the near empty cargo pod, no doubt expecting to wake up in the med bay.

"On the Cuccioli, outbound for the Climax system," I informed her, wondering if this was some bizarre practical joke gone wrong.

She sat up with a start, "I should be on the Empress Galia. Who are you?"

"I'm your captain for the trip," I said handing her the coffee, which she took, still warily looking round. "Lieutenant Choi Asimov. I might ask you who you are, and how you came to be here?"

She shook her head. "I'm Maid McArion, Daughter of the Duke of Argonia, first councillor to the king. I was going to the Spiceworld planet with Lord Willikins. There were six of us escaping for a wild week for Chotmoy's birthday," she stated. "This has all gone horribly wrong. You'll have to take me back."

I listened to the haughty tone. "I'm sorry, but you're stuck with me for the next three weeks at least," I told her. "I'm on route accelerating to the warp point. They can rescue you from Climax when we get there."

"You can't do that, you've got to turn around immediately. I want to go home."

"We'll talk about that in a minute," I said. "Let's first get you upstairs and run you through the autodoc."

"That's not necessary, I feel fine," she snapped back at me. "I want to talk to the port authorities."

"We can do that upstairs," I replied, offering my hand to help her out of the capsule.

She plonked the coffee cup in my hand and struggled out of the capsule herself. She bent into the capsule and retrieved her bag, looking a little unsteady when she straightened up.

"Let me help you," I offered.

She gave me a sniffy look and started for the door.

"I'm perfectly alright, thank you," she said as she walked toward the exit.

Picking up my coffee cup, I tailed along behind her, watching as she held herself steady in the umbilical wall and made her way round the liftshaft. I followed her onto the disc, amused as she tried to ignore me, and ordered it up to the rec level.

"Are you sure you don't want the autodoc to check you out?" I asked as we disembarked

"My title is Lady Brendigan, and I don't need your machine's help," she said wearily. "I want you to stop this ship and let me off." 

"Lady," I replied. "To stop without orders would cost me my command. My cargo has priority. You can use the radio to contact my agent and get him to turn me around."

If she had the clout to frighten him into changing my orders, I thought, then he was in the firing line. Port security was his responsibility and that had been a screw up; mine was delivering my cargo as ordered, no blame for that. 

"I will," she said, reaching for the bag and rummaging before pulling out her communicator. She touched the screen and said, "Vizier."

Beth relayed the signal, beaming it back through sub space as we streaked away, aiming for the Way point to enable the warp drive.

"Your Highness." The words came from Beth's speakers. She looked up and around as if expecting to see him.

"Gregit, you've got to help me. I'm stuck on some spaceship and they won't let me off."

"Let me speak to the captain if you would, my lady," he replied.

"This is the captain," I broke in. "Lieutenant Choi Asimov of the Federation Scout Service at your service, sir. On the scout ship Cuccioli on route to Climax."

"Captain, I require you to return the Lady Brendigan back to the station."

"Sorry, I'm a Federation ship, and I've long passed my recall point," I said calmly. "Please talk to my commander, Captain Bloatof, the commercial attaché at the Federation embassy. I take my orders from him."

I was knocking the ball firmly out of my court. This was a diplomatic level decision. They could flex imperial power if necessary, paying the penalty cost of the late delivery. I was merely a pawn in the game. 

"Leave the matter in my hands, Your Highness," came the suave reply of the Vizier and the link closed.

I looked at her as she thought through the options left. 

"They'll get me off somehow," she said confidently.

"Sorry, I'm only a small cog in a big machine; they're paid to make decisions like this," I said, waving her towards the seating in the rec area.

I glanced to her face and saw she'd seen me running my admiring glance over her gorgeous body.

"The best genetic manipulation money can buy," she said sourly, frowning at the thought.

"Huh?" I inquired, wanting to draw her further.

"That all you men see in me, the beautiful body that daddy bought for me, it's not that much of an ego boost when you know you've been programmed to do it."

I held my thoughts as I watched her sit. It had the feel of an old wound not yet healed, another N O M B to add to the list. I showed her the small galley with the replicator, and pointed out the toilet next door and left her to her own amusements as I returned to the bridge below. 

There was an extensive film, book and audio library but little other recreational facilities. I didn't imagine my collection of historical data would suit her but there were plenty of other options.

It was another hour before I received any communication from the embassy. 

"I have an incoming message on the secure channel," Beth informed me.

"Put it on," I ordered

"Attention, Cuccioli," the speakers announced.

"Yes, Asimov here."

"Captain Bloatof here," he announced. "You are not authorised to stop. You will continue as planned."

I had expected the answer but I knew the princess was going to be upset that she was stuck for the duration and would have to contact the Verde embassy who would collect the errant princess from me.

When I got back to the rec area upstairs I found my stowaway in the midst of a temper tantrum. She leapt at me as I entered, trying to hit me with her communicator.

"You've got to let me off. It's important, I've got to be with My Lord Willikins," she half shouted between sobs.

"I'm sorry," I said softly, expressing my genuine regret that her escapade had gone so wrong.

"You can't do anything, give me a lifeboat or something?" she asked, calming a little.

"Not at our speed," I replied. "You're going to Climax and I'm going to have to explain breaking the seal when we get there."

"Well, I'm tired. Is there somewhere I can lie down?"

"Yes, there's a cabin one stop up, the one on the left is empty. I'll show you where it is."

I started towards the tube.

"Are you hungry? It's about dinnertime for me."

"No, I just want to lie down."

"Okay."

She walked onto the disc with me for the short trip up. I showed her the room and left her to it, returning down to dial up lunch for myself

As the day passed, slipping through the afternoon, I kept to the bridge, idling my time away watching my court case when Beth broke in to tell me that we were being hailed.

"On screen," I ordered.

The head and shoulders of a planetary defence officer appeared.

"Shut down and prepare to be boarded," he ordered me.

"By what authority?" I questioned him.

"Captain Argot, VSS Scythe of the Planetary Defence Command," he quoted to me.

"You have no jurisdiction," I answered back.

"We are arresting you for the kidnap of Her Highness Maid Brendigan," he came back at me.

"There's a cruiser class ship vectoring in on a contact heading," Beth informed me.

"Increase speed to outrun her," I commanded. I had reserves enough to boost up to my max acceleration of four hundred G's and hopefully outrun my chaser. With my lower inertial mass I could easily out manoeuvre the patrol ship sent to detain us but this was a straight line run.

The captain onscreen turned away and the screen went back to the forward star view, with Ryan's star still squarely in the cross hairs.

I put the plot up on the screens, Beth's radar showing live coverage, while my battle screen showed the extrapolation. I could see the cruiser accelerating to maintain an intercept course, though the intercept point was currently well beyond our jump point and that I would be point oh two percent in excess of optimal velocity. As long as things stayed that way I was home and dry.

I spent the next two hours declining further communication and watching as the projections gave us a clear hour to spare, he'd still be at extreme range some millions of kilometres behind when we hit the jump spot well outside the gravity well behind the shock front of the solar wind.

As the jump point came closer, the cruiser behind threw every gram of power into the chase and brought our margin down, till with us minutes out from ploughing through the stellar bow wave, they came to ten minutes behind.

I hadn't expected them to use energy weapons, not with their precious princess on board, but shoot at us they did. Beth reported one slash of an E beam that flashed across too quick to burn us as the warp core fired up.

The near simultaneous stomach turning drop into and out of warp space caught me off guard, with the surreal colours and patterns of subspace a mere flicker before the darkness enveloped us.

Beth's analysis started immediately, the screens before me displaying out new surroundings. Visible light showed blackness, on infrared there was a hazy display of the stars around us.

"We're in a nebular," she informed me. "It's the Crabs Claw, about thirty light years from the jump point."

"Damage report?" I requested.

"Give me a minute on that," she answered. "Getting exterior view in place now."

The shot had cut through a feed, unbalancing the warp core. The tri-lithium crystals at its heart had been denatured, evaporating into thin air. Well, it was the vacuum of the chamber in reality, ending up as a vapour deposit to its polarised walls.

We were beyond reach and help, adrift in a dark corner of space. My heart sagged at the thought of the thirty light years of emptiness surrounding me, cussing that there was no replacement crystals in store.

If we could find the Lithium to make a new one then I could get our warp drive back online. The other damage was minor, but with odds starting at a miracle out here, my hopes of getting home were nil. Our best bet would be the asteroid belt of a star. 

Out here in the nebulae there would probably be young star with a disc forming that we could tap into if we've got the fuel to get there in a reasonable time, and keeping the reserve of fuel to both accelerate out and decelerate when we got there.

We were going to be presumed lost. That local security cruiser would have seen us go in knowing that he scored a hit. They'd presume we were destroyed when we didn't pop out the other end. We'd be just another of those lost ships that never come out of warp space. 

This was something that was going to be a big pill for her highness to swallow. Her three week sojourn was now open ended.

I flipped the viewcam off. "Okay, Beth, for what it's worth you can repair it. You can also do a complete scan of the local area for any possible sources of lithium."


In The Darkest Of Nights 01



"Will do, Choi. Bren is on her way up, shall I stop her?"

"No, she deserves to know the situation; we're all in this big mess together."

"What happened?" she demanded to know as she exited the lift shaft.

"One of your cruisers shot at us," I said as I spun my chair to face her. "We're dead in space in the Crab Claw nebulae."

"Dead?" she queried.

"Yes, they've crippled our warp drive. A million to one shot destroyed a feed and there's nowt I can do about it."

We had years of drifting through the void in front of us. The ship would outlast even our children but with no warp drive we were light years from civilisation and doing point nine three light speed in the wrong direction. With no sub space radio it would be at least thirty years to make our Mayday heard the other way.

"Choi," Beth interrupted. "There's a star system half a light year away. If we make a twelve degree turn we can intercept in about two weeks."

"Two weeks!" exploded Bren, alarm growing on her face.

Two weeks was a good deal to me, a straw to be grasped and a chance to replenish our lithium was the one hand clapping. It was something to give us hope in an erstwhile hopeless situation.

"Make it so," I ordered, quoting from a nineteen seventies sci fi series.

Bren was looking franticly around the view screens, each void of discernible objects in the blackness of the dust.

"No, we should stay here where they'll look for us," she cried.

"No one's going to come looking," I corrected her. "They won't even know we're alive. We'll be just another ship that's lost to the void. Getting back is entirely our problem. We need to find the lithium to re-enable the drive."

She stormed off. How long she stayed in denial was a moot point.

"What have we got on the star, Beth?"

"Our star is a runaway, travelling at a ten degree vector. It's travelling at nearly half lightspeed," she informed me. "I have corrected our course; our intercept is now twenty three days."

There was less chance of a runaway having its system intact. Whatever had thrown it out would have needed a close encounter to have given it this much umph. Likely as not all the planets would have their obits disturbed.

The news was a blow, lessening the odds of us getting the early bath.

"Okay," I said, acknowledging the information. "As soon as you get a glimmering on the planetary system, tell me."

The small rise of hope was squeezed back down. The slim chance was getting slimmer by the hour. If I could find lithium in any form I could recrystallize it here. 'Still, only time would tell on the long shot,' I told myself. 'It was the only shot we have'.

Beth was trying to build a radio picture of the distant star. She estimated at least several days more of observations before any planets became discernible, more like four or five before enough detail to determine if it had the asteroidal ring I was hoping for. 

I spent time on the bridge, looking at the data from the planetary system as the dust stream thinned in its wake. We were playing catch-up with nearly a half c to spill if we weren't to coast through, though if it proved barren it'd be better to keep our speed to target another star, a decision I could put off for a few days yet.

Brendigan was sitting in the rec room when I came up for coffee, sitting sulking over hers. I grabbed a coffee and joined her in the easy chairs with the library screen. I gave her a glance as I settled into mine, coffee balanced on the arm.

"Aren't you afraid you'll spill it balanced there like that?" she questioned me.

"Hasn't happened yet," I replied, trying to make light of the situation. "Touch wood."

"It's a little scary being alone like this, in the middle of space where no one can hear us," she confessed.

The knowledge was another thing that had me cursing. Our subspace radio was linked through the warp drive and caught the spike, fried well beyond ship repairs. We had electromagnetic but at light speed it would take half a lifetime to summon rescue.

Bren interrupted my thoughts.

"Choi, we're really, really stuck out here?" she asked quietly as she came to my side.

"Yes, and the thought depresses me as much as it does you. My family back home will cry for me and erect a cairn for me, another son lost to space." I took her hands. "Your family will grieve, too, and we'll be here, still drifting in the interstellar seeds looking for a miracle."

She was starting to cry, tears rolling down as I pulled her to my shoulder, giving what comfort I could. Acceptance of the absolutes of our current predicament, and the slim chance of changing them, was something I had already come to terms with.

As the tears subsided along with the sobs she looked up at me.

"I feel so helpless. Things are going so out of control. Three weeks was an eternity but this...."

She gave another sniff.

"I'm lost. This ship hasn't even got a serving bot and I haven't got people to do things for me, I can't talk to my friends, I can't drink or get drugs. I can't see a future, just sitting doing nothing day after day."

Then out of the blue she asked. "Will you make love to me?"

The question sent shockwaves through me, the growing bulge in my shorts paying testament to my body's willingness and need. My thoughts, however, where schooled by my years of service.

"No, it wouldn't be right. Protocol says that you're technically my prisoner and the rules forbid fraternisation," I said regretfully.

"And I'm a princess but the rules don't count out here. I don't want to spend lonely nights by myself, I want the comfort of your arms," she countered. "And we've got no option but each other. Making love is part of friendship. We could pass away the boring hours screwing each other. You must like sex; every other man I know does."

Logically she was right. Rules were for the guidance of wise men and the obedience of fools. Wisdom was on her side. The time for any platonic relationship was past.

"Okay," I said. "We can if you want." 

"I knew you would. You men are all the same. What happened to your protocol?" she asked me, looking up.

"It's presumed dead like me," I answered. "Sometime in the future I would succumb and make love to you, so why not start now."

She laughed, the first genuine laugh I'd heard from her, and tilted her head to kiss me.

I bent and lifted her in my arms, pulling her legs round me. My cock was already getting hard, her pussy a few layers of cloth away bringing it rigid.

I backed her into the tube and up to my cabin. I set her down and my hands went to her waist to peel up her top. As I did her hands found the Velcro strip sealing my ship's suit. I let her continue undressing me, pushing my suit down from my shoulders and taking the briefs I wore under it down to my ankles as she leant over the edge of the bed.

I held her shoulders as I lifted each leg to free my feet. She had a hand to my cock as she freed the last foot, taking it straight into her mouth as she pulled me to her. I let her suck it for a moment before drawing her upright. I loosened her shorts and pushed them down, revealing her orange landing strip and the already engorged lips dangling from her slit.

We lay back on the bed and I crawled between her legs. As she lifted the second leg, I pulled her knee over my shoulder and bent my head in to inhale her aroma, and then run my tongue along those silky lips. I felt her body tense as my nose pushed at the base of her clit and heard her sigh as I withdrew to stand and pulled her to the edge of the bed.

I pulled off my medical vest and together we entered the shower, the spray coming on as our presence was detected. I beat her to the soap and made her turn for me to do her back first. As I did her sides I teased her, brushing the sides of her breasts before I turned my attention to her ass.

I built up the lather doing circles as I edged nearer to her valley, letting my thumbs caress down it and over her rosebud before drawing back up again. She leant hands against the wall and widened her legs as my hand made the first pass over her pussy, groaning softly as my finger brushed over her clit.

After a few more strokes I continued on down her legs and each dainty foot. She turned as I stood and I brought my hands straight to her breasts, running my hands across them and trapping the nipples between my fingers. As I rolled them I felt her fingers encircle my cock.

She dipped down again, cramming my cock into her mouth and deep throating the whole seven and a half inches of me. The thrill that ran the length of it made me shiver. She looked up into my eyes, her face reflecting happiness, like a baby with a pacifier.

As she brought me close I backed her off. There was a lot of sex to come before my cum came.

Drawing her up again I handed her the soap. She made me turn around while she did my back. As I felt her hands slide under my ass I widened my legs for her. She didn't disappoint, her hand gently squeezing and stroking my sac before caressing my cock, sliding along it several times before withdrawing.

She pulled my hip to turn me and she caught and kissed my cock before soaping my pubes and groin. Then she two handedly slowly stroked my cock, her hands running the skin over the knotted veins as she squeezed.

She rubbed her hands up to my nipples as she stood, lingering to pinch them as she stepped back. She stood in the spray, rinsing the soap away then pulling me under and washing it off me with particular attention paid to the groin.

The warm air blasted down over us. I held my arms out as the water evaporated from us. Stood naked before me, her coffee coloured skin glistening, nipples that could poke you in the eye on firm mounds, a slim waist and hips running into long legs, crowned by a ginger mop, two green eyes and a full lipped mouth.

Despite her party life she must work out to keep her body in that shape, something a trainer would be proud of, too. She bent forward, her short hair flopping onto her forehead as she opened her legs to let the air circulate there, craning her head back to watch me as I parted my legs as well.

I slipped my vest back on, picking my crumpled clothes and carrying them in front of me, heading for the washing bin.



In The Darkest Of Nights 02



She dropped her clothes and grasped at my arm, spilling my clothes as she pulled me to the bed. She rolled back onto it, pulling me with her. I reached and pulled us together, tilting my head to kiss her as she drew close.

The kiss was frantic at first then slowed to the passionate languorous explorations whist my hand caressed her neck and played with her ear. She released me with a gasp, snuggling into me and pulling my hand to her breast.

While she was grateful for her connection back to the human race, I was enjoying her firm, youthful breasts, my fingers quickly bringing her erect. I turned and lay across her, taking the nipple with my lips while my hand sought the other. I fluttered my tongue over the tip of it as I sucked firmly, my lips feeling the areole stretch and swell as she moaned in delight.

I swapped one for the other several times before she wanted me to fuck her, her hips grinding my side and her breath in short pants. Instead, I scrambled down her, opening her legs as I bent my head in. I sucked on her protruding flaps as I pulled her by the hips to the edge of the bed.

I knelt before her. She propped on her elbows watching me as I dipped my tongue between her lips, stroking it up and down as I lapped at her juices. She was the sweetest I'd tasted and I played my tongue in her hole, seeking more.

She wriggled her hips and collapsed back with a groan. I licked and stroked till she trembled and shivered with a precursor, then I went in for the nub. She orgasmed within the minute as I licked and caressed her clit, her hips bucking as I clung to them, continuing the stimulation.

Her scream made me glad the walls were sound proofed. As she calmed I slipped two fingers inside her and started finger fucking her as my tongue worked at her clit again. In less than a minute she was screaming again and was begging me to fuck her with my tool.

I stood between her legs and rubbed my cock over her pussy to coat it, then pointed it and pushed my head in. She gasped as it entered and I gently eased it in for full penetration. Pulling her legs up over my shoulders, I began to rock, long gentle strokes as her heels pressed against my head.

She was soon begging me to go faster between the rhythmic grunts as I stretched her fully. I did my best, bringing her to her next orgasm. With her clenched muscles sending waves of pleasure through me as well, I pumped harder as she relaxed back again, the breath still hissing through her teeth. 

I felt her third coming as I came, pumping slower strokes with the jerk of my eruptions as the muscles clamped down again, giving me a second peak. I clung to her legs till my own legs stopped trembling while she squeezed my head. As she recovered she let her legs fall, letting me lay on top of her, my hand cupping a breast and softly kneading it.

As I lay, I heard her heart slow down. She was rubbing a hand through my space crew stubble hair, her other hand covering mine on her breast. I lay enveloped in the afterglow, sated and relaxed, bonding to the body beneath me through the sexual relief it had shared with me.

She stirred under me, pushing me back so she could sit up.

"I'm hungry. What's the best that monstrosity in the kitchen can concoct?"

"There's a nice Swigerly if you like fish and the Rhan tuber can be cooked like steak--"

"Come and show me," she cut in, standing and edging me back.

I swapped out the module and put V2 in, bringing up the Rhan steak and fried chipsticks and sweet calypso beans. I selected a splash of onion gravy to complete the meal. 

As we waited for it she looked at me. "Choi, tell me about yourself."

I told her of my upbringing inside a spinning asteroid, complete with an artificial sun and a positive horizon. How the lottery had seen me an émigré, fate dictating that I was amongst the excess population. My parents had had their one guaranteed male child and my ticket was a goodbye.

My schooling provided the opportunity to get me into the space academy back on Earth. I graduated in the top ten of my year and got signed on to be a pilot and the training. My tale lasted through the dinner. As I stood from the wall I leant against I turned to her.

"Two years later I'm sitting here with you. My glorious career over before it's begun," I said with a half serious sigh.

"Well," she replied. "If we ever get anywhere I'll be past nineteen and have to settle down, find someone nice to marry and make a family while he climbs the career ladder. Up till now I've been a queen bee. This was my last 'party party' year."

She sighed, the corners of her mouth curling down a degree or two.

"I had six months left," she complained. "Six months and I was chasing my Mr. Right, My Lord Willikins. His father's status was equal to mine, I got on with him, same sense of humour and things," she went on then finished with another sigh.

"Both our lives blighted," was all I could think to reply.

If we ever got back to civilisation I knew that theses months of isolation would change us all in a profound way. This was a life change in the extreme. I intended to fill my time with writing, I wondered what sort of pastime Bren might pursue.

The thoughts flashed past and I saw Bren looking at me.

"Sorry, lost in thought for a moment," I said, "Shall we go back up?" 

She came and linked her arm to mine.

"Wait!" I said, delinking and turning to one of the cupboards where the towels were kept and retrieving a fresh uniform.

Bren went and lied back against the headboard, watching as I stripped my old uniform from me.

"Stay like that," she asked as I bent for my clean clothes. "You can take mine off as well if you want. I've got six months of immunity to babies left, as well. I'm glad you decided to start now while there's time."

I stripped off my medivest as well, knowing the missing data would upset the data flow and rate a comment from Beth later, a double entendre no doubt

She arched her back as I leant over her and I eased her shorts down, her pubes dancing as she wiggled her hips to help. She sank back and let me pull them off as she raised her legs in the air. As her legs came down she sat up, reaching to grasp me and pull me to her.

I let myself fall across her, my hips on her thighs, my hand to her neck as I drew us together to kiss. I wanted to kindle love between us as well as lust.

As our lips met she probed forward with her tongue. I slipped mine under and sucked, stroking it's underside while her lips massaged mine. I curled my arm down behind her back as she cupped my cheeks, and eased the other behind her, letting my ass slip onto the bed as well.

My loins were stirring, the sexual charge building between us stirring my cock into rigidity. I felt her nipples brush across me as she half rolled on top of me, her thighs trapping my cock and pressing the shaft along her mound.

She wriggled again, opening her legs so that she could press it into her lips. As she finished the kiss and pushed herself up, I slid my hands to the fastenings on the front of her top. She reached and did it herself as she straightened and rose to her knees.

Her naked breasts fell free and were then pushed proud as she shrugged the cloth over her shoulders, jiggling as each arm slid down. She put her hands to my ribs and rocked her pelvis, stroking her pussy down my cock. 

I leant up and reached to take a breast in each hand, cupping them and massaging them. As I looked back up at her she blew me a pouted kiss then closed her eyes and rocked a bit faster. Then she paused, shifting her knees and positioning my head at her clit.

Her rocking now was teasing my head, drawing it onto her clit slowly before plunging back down. That it was bringing her off was in no doubt; her little 'Ah's' and the jerkiness of her hips had me waiting for the scream.

I was rolling her nipples when her back arched and pulled them from me, her 'Ah...' and then a loudly screamed 'Yes...' equalling her last. Her cum was trickling down over my balls and running into my navel. 

She let herself fall forward, still pressing against my cock, till she lay panting on top of me. I put my hand on her head, running my fingers into her hair and teasing it out. She murmured something I didn't catch and kissed me, adding a lick for luck after.

As she recovered she drew herself up off my cock then found my head with her pussy, sliding down on it inch by inch as she eased herself back down. I watched her breasts sway as she pushed herself erect again with a smile on her face that spoke volumes.

She began again slowly, feeling its length as she bounced lightly on her knees. I watched her, looking me in the eyes as she upped the tempo, her breasts jiggling as she smacked her pussy against me. I just closed my eyes, put my hands over hers and enjoyed her enjoying me.

I knew from experience that a second fuck in a couple of hours took me longer to get off. She was still flushed from her first and well on her way to a second. She was grunting now as she 'bottomed' and I could feel the little shivers in her knees pressed against me.

She came with her scream, her orgasm rippling through my cock giving me a small share of the waves sending shudders through her. Her fingers bit into my sides as she arced back, her weight pressing me deep into her as she sat on my groin.

I watched as she contorted, the sheen of perspiration making her shine, then her hands pressed against me again as she looked back at me. She leant forward slightly and I moved to take her breasts, holding her nipples in the V of thumb and fingers and gently rotated them.

Her smile was part pleasure, part glee and a hundred percent lust as she started to fuck me again. Within seconds she was riding it hard, her eyes closed, her mouth open and emitting a guttural, throaty grunt as she drove it up inside her.

She was stirring my juices, too, the friction of her frantic pace sending surges of pleasure to my tingling balls, building in my groin as my body gave its first shudder. My hands clamped her wrists as I came, delivering my load deep inside her, my hips rising and pushing against hers. 

She gently lay forward, curling her feet under my legs as she held me inside her still, resting her head on my chest and raising her hand to my cheek. I turned and kissed it, licking her palm as I put a hand on her head.

When my cock plopped out she groaned and climbed further up me to rest her head next to mine with one arm circling under my neck. I let my arm enclose her as I kissed the back of her head.

"Happy?" I asked her.

"Hmmm."

I gave her a squeeze and let my body relax back into the post sexual glow.

She woke me. Rolling to my side, as I opened my eyes to look, her lips took mine, her arm around my shoulder pulling me in tight as she rolled our lips together, then her tongue snaked through and she ran it over my teeth before plunging it in. 

Our kiss lasted minutes before she released me and rolled to her back.

She was leaning toward me, her hand suddenly creeping across my thigh.

I felt my cock twitch as she ran her finger along underneath it then her head was bending as she twisted round and stuck her tongue out to lick it.

I just let her do it, savouring the feel of her tongue as she burrowed under my foreskin and followed with her lips. She let it grow into her mouth, licking the shaft as it edged through her lips. 

I gave an involuntary shiver as she pressed on it, swallowing it down deep into her throat, her hands curling down into my widening crotch and softly caressing my sac. She let it come out slowly; licking and sucking my purple head before grasping it again and shifting so she straddled me.

My arms circled her thighs, pulling her down till my lips could touch her pussy, my tongue probing for her velvet cavern. I felt her wiggle her hips above me as she settled, her juices coating my tongue as it pushed inside.

She sucked and licked my head all the while giving little bursts of strokes to my shaft. I continued to wash my tongue up and around, moving up and down her silky folds, my chin pressed to her mound. When the first shudder took her I sucked her lips into mine and fluttered my tongue across them. 

As she jerked, I bent my head and sought out her clit, pressing hard against it with the tip of my tongue. Her legs tightened on my head as her hand squeezed my cock, her breathing short and ragged. Then she screamed again as her warm cum flowed into and over my mouth.

I lapped at her hole, licking and clearing the sticky stream as her undulations subsided and she took up my cock again. She pushed her head down onto it, letting it fill her. I could feel the hot snorts of air from her nose as she jiggled my shaft and twisted her head.

My tongue sought out her clit again as my lips pushed in to suck on it. My head forced her legs apart as my teeth nibbled on the intruding tip. I gripped tight as her hips gyrated, and her head jerked up, freeing my cock again.

She came again, more with sobs than screams this time as the aroma of her fresh cum assailed my senses. Her bucking hips jerked free of me and she pushed herself forward, pinning me down as she lay along me.

I could feel her hand softly stroking me, her knees under my arms and her head resting on my thigh. I was content just to lie with her, letting her play with my cock for want of anything else to do.

I heard her sigh heavily and she began to stir, pulling her legs up from under me. She turned round and came to lie at my side again, her head resting snuggled into my shoulder, and her leg folded across my abdomen.

"Choi," she said softly. "I'm scared. Will I grow old and die out here?"

The honest answer was a qualified yes. If the star we were tracking was a bust then our planetary EM radio was going to travel for thirty years before getting to the nearest inhabited system. Even then it would be a weak signal. 

"No," I answered. "We'll be three hour tabloid stars when we get home and then it'll be a tale to tell our children and grandchildren."

"Mm," she murmured, reassured. "Notoriety of the kind my papa can't object to. He'll be standing with his hands behind his back and mama will be a half step behind."

She pushed herself up and leant over to kiss me, passionate yet subdued.

"Let's get some coffee," she said, rolling back off me and to the side of the bed.

We dressed quickly, me in just my medivest while she still wore her only panties, and walked to the galley. Brendigan dialled up a pot of coffee while I asked Beth for a quick update.

Not that knowing was going to help this far out but all information was valuable and I could only hope.

Brendigan came over with the drinks, putting both cups on the little table.

"What did Beth say?" she asked.

"Not much more than we already know. Do you have another name? Calling you Brendigan is a bit of a mouthful."

"My nickname is Diggie," she giggled.

I could see the connection back, but it was a loose one.

"Okay, Diggie, there's a slim chance that the star we're chasing might have the lithium we need. I don't hold out much hope at the moment; we're still days till we get a better picture," I explained. "It looks like a one in a thousand long shot to my mind."

"But that teensiest chance might happen?"

"It might but don't hold your breath," I answered, lazily stretching out on the armchair, letting my cock flop over as my feet stroked the carpet.

I was taking a pessimistic view of that side of our situation. Even if we found lithium we would be weeks if not months refining it and growing a large enough crystal.

"What sort of cargo are you carrying? Anything useful?"

"I don't know to be honest. The capsule you were in had five other hyber units along with you. Best leave them alone 'cause I'd have to get Beth to use her override," I started.

"The other two pods are carrying equipment for some university; I don't know what's in them. Given the circumstances we could unseal those and see what they contain. The fourth has my little orbital, an eletrograv ship that'll take us down if we find a planet, and some other scouting gear."

"Shall we find out now?" she said, standing.

"Why not, we've got nothing better to do."

"Oh, I wouldn't say that," she said with a giggle.

I put shorts on and she her panties and top. I watched her breasts jiggle under it as she stood ready. A few seconds later and we were riding the disc down to the cargo level. I consulted Beth and walked into the transverse umbilical and up to the open door with its circular sideways view. There were racks of boxes staked to the roof and held in with webbing.

I grabbed the edge of the door and hopped over the rim. Diggie gave a shriek as I nearly lost my grip. The gravity in here was turned off and I was flailing out with Diggie reaching franticly for me. I quickly steadied myself.

"I'm okay now. Stay where you are," I told her and gave myself a gentle push to the side, aiming for the table and chair by the end of the first rack with the box of files netted to it.

I bounced gracefully to a stop and held steady, grabbing it and freeing the net from the table, then pushing off and towing it back to the door.

"Catch, Diggie!" I shouted as I twisted my body to flick it through the door first.

She caught it and hauled us back through to the gravity side, rushing to help as I tumbled to the ground still clutching the net.

"You could have killed yourself," she scolded me.

"I'm a spaceman, I'm use to it. Trust me, I don't want to die."

She knelt and set it down, bending over it to untangle it from the net. It was a box of files, each proclaiming on the cover 'Chemical Lab' in some prominence. We had the complete inventory in our hands. No doubt the other container would have its own 'box' as well.

A quick trip up the other link and we had our answer. This one was a biology lab, or more specifically a botany one, with hundreds of food seeds in their own 'hibernating' chamber.

There was some potential in the chem lab, it could make the task of making a new crystal easier. The agricultural one would serve if we found somewhere to settle, which was another remote possibility. After our brief examination of the documents we carried them back up to the rec room where my first thought was more coffee.

"Do you want a coffee or something?" I asked as I set my box down on a table.

"Nah, not yet," she replied.

When I got back she was idly flipping through the folders from the chem lab. I flopped down in my chair and let out a sigh. I had been hoping to find something of real use in the pods and was wallowing in the futility of our search.

I watched her as she scanned the folders, sitting there cross-legged with just her panties and top on.

"Looking for anything special?" I asked morosely.

"No, not really.... What's the matter with you?"

"Oh, nothing. It's been a tiring day so far."

"Do you want to go to bed?"

"No, I was thinking of checking in with Beth."

"Wouldn't she tell you if anything came up?"

"Yes, but I've nothing better to do. It's only early evening ship time, far too early to think of sleep."

"I wasn't thinking of sleep," she replied with a giggle.

Her laugh broke my mood a little. "Sorry, I'm still churning my mind in case there's something I've overlooked."

"Which reminds me. I doubt if you've got any clothes my size, do you have somewhere I can wash the ones I'm wearing?"

"Yes, there's a Fresher up in the cabin. It takes about half an hour to cycle."

She softly threw the file she was reading on the table and uncrossed her legs, stood up and stretched her limbs with a feline grace, then stripped off her top and tossed it to me. Hooking her thumbs in her panties, she took them off and took the short step around the low table between us.




In The Darkest Of Nights 02



"Could you do these for me?" she asked, dropping the panties on her top where it landed on the arm of my chair.

"I think my shorts are upstairs on the floor," she added as she walked back to her chair.

My cock was rising in my shorts as she displayed her lithe young body, especially when she resumed her cross legged pose on the chair, showing me her open lipped pussy. I quickly glanced away as she leaned back, showing her taut, flat tummy and round, soft breasts.

As I shifted in my seat, trying to hide the tent in my shorts, the worst happened. My cock slipped through my fly, poking erect in full view.

"Mm, that looks interesting," she said, uncrossing her legs and leaning forward.

"Yeah, sorry, it's a lizard brain reaction to seeing an inviting, sexually attractive woman like you."

"Don't apologise. From a healthy cock it's a sincere compliment, it's honest about its intention to fuck you if it can. That's what it's designed for." As she said it she came round the table and knelt at my feet.

"Can I just play with it? You can sit there and enjoy it."

"If you want," I said, acquiescing, the disappointment still lingering from the two scientific pods.

She pushed against my knees and I opened them wide, letting her have free access. Truth be known, I felt guilty about her being here, stuck with me in the middle of nowhere and going nowhere for the foreseeable future.

She began massaging me from the root, stretching the skin out as her hand slipped up to the head.

"A cock's such a strange and wonderful part of sex. It's such a thrill when it enters you, soft and firm, swelling you out and giving you such a satisfied feeling as it sinks into you," she said, leaning her other elbow on my thigh as the slow massage continued. "Don't you think?"

I let the point go. I thought a good tongue was as good as a good fuck, and I loved the taste and texture of juiced up lips and hunny hole.

"What would it be like if we could swap bodies and I could feel how nice it is to fuck someone?" she asked after a moment.

"Weird, I guess. I don't think I could be a girl and suck cocks."

I'd met Bi's and TS's and never given much thought to their lifestyles, though I'd never gotten friendly with that crowd outside everyday interactions.

"I'd like to know. I've tried fucking a girl with a strap on but that was a disappointment."

She was still lazily stroking me, doing more than enough to engage the lizard brain. 

"Girls have better orgasms. A boy's is mostly a ten second spike as he cums his load," I countered.

"But I'd still like to try it once," she said dreamily.

She pulled my cock toward her and spat on the head then used the palm of her hand to smooth it over before bringing the other hand up to steady it while she stroked over it with her fingernails. I gasped at the sudden shock of pleasure surging through my cock, squeezing my eyes closed as my hips jerked instinctively.

"You like that?" she asked. "It's a speciality of mine. Gregor says it drives him wild."

"I'm not surprised," I said, my breath catching in my throat.

She did it again, causing me to arch up as I sucked air into my lungs, my breath hissing through my teeth, a warm glow of pleasure seeping into the rest of my body.

"Ah...," I responded.

She gave a little giggle. "Oh, yes, I can see that you like that."

She stopped and put one hand over the other and began to stroke my cock, squeezing tight enough to ride the skin up and down. I lay back in the chair, revelling in the ministrations of her hand, looking down at her as she sat curled between my wide open legs.

She stopped again and gave my mushroom head a little kiss. "Lift your bum," she ordered. "Let's get these shorts off so I can play with your balls as well."

I lifted my ass and wriggled as she leant back and drew them down, wrestling my cock back through the fly and pressing it flat as she slid the waistband down. My cock was bobbing in the air as she drew my shorts over my feet. She smiled as she looked up and saw my cock standing proud.

She eased herself back between my knees, one hand brushing up along my inner thigh and cupping my balls while the other crept along the top of my other thigh and moved in to grasp my cock. 

"Yours isn't as big as Gregor's, but his has been genetically modded so that don't count, and besides you make love much better than he does," she said, holding it upright.

"Umm, thank you, I think."

"You know, I was jealous of boys and their 'Pee Pee's' when I was a little girl. They could stand in the bushes and do it while I had to drop my pants and squat. I used to get so annoyed if it splashed on my feet," she confided in me.

"Ours went into the composter along with all the other organics," I relied. "I used to wonder if I'd peed the water I was drinking sometimes."

"Eeww," she said, wrinkling up her face. "We had fresh water from the polar cap."

She gave my cock a squeeze and started stroking me again while her other hand gently rubbed my scrotum, her fingers reaching into the crack of my ass.

"Do you like your button touched?" she asked, letting a finger probe far enough up to brush my rosebud.

"Never had it done before," I gasped out as the surge of pleasure tingled in my groin.

"I like it when it's done to me," she giggled. "Just a fingertip though."

"Mm," I replied, eyes closed, problems forgotten and wallowing in pleasure.

As she continued stroking me lazily and playing with my rosebud, I felt her hot breath on my cock, then the delicious touch of the tip of her tongue as she drew it up the underside.

"Mm...," I groaned in appreciation.

She bent my cock down toward her and I felt her smooth lips sliding over the head while her tongue continued to flutter under and onto my eyehole. I groaned again as she plunged it deeper inside, letting her teeth rake down its length as it filled her mouth. 

I opened my eyes and looked down at her, her hand clasping the root while her head bobbed up and down with her finger circling and pressing on my rosebud. I could feel the cum building inside me as my hips started twitching and jerking.

She responded by stroking the root, only an inch or so but enough to take me past the threshold and into my spurting orgasm, filling her mouth with my seed time and again as she swallowed it down. I lay there panting as she sucked and licked me dry, letting my cock shrink in her mouth as she lay against my leg.

After a while she stirred, sitting upright and leaning an elbow on my thigh.

"Was I good?" she asked.

"The best that I've had yet," I complimented her, stirring myself to sit upright on the edge of the seat.

She levered herself up. "I've got to go the toilet."

My balls had an empty ache as I stood. 

"I'll go and check if Beth has anything more on the star yet," I told her, walking stiffly to the lift shaft.

"Okay," she replied. "I'll come down in a minute."

The infra-red screen was the only one with a clear picture. Even the radar was still a bit fogged from the dust cloud as yet.

"Anything new?" I asked as I flopped into the command seat.

"Indications of a gas giant on the farside," Beth replied. "Other than that, nothing."

"Okay, thanks."

I sat there staring at the screens, pondering on the possibilities of finding salvation in the star staring out of the screen. If a gas giant had survived then there was hope that more planets had survived as well.

"Why do you call your computer Beth?" Diggie asked me, coming round the lift shaft. 

"I had to call it something and Bethany was one of my teachers back on Ergot Five," I replied.

"I was taught by a machine intelligence. They're not as smart as a real teacher," she said. "Though it was a very realistic bot in the image of an old man with glasses and all."

I smiled at the image it created in my mind. Glasses were an affectation these days. Modern surgery could reconstruct your eyes if necessary.

"Anything?" she asked, nodding toward the screens in front of me.

"No, we're still too far away."

"Let's go back upstairs and eat, then," she replied. "Then we can go to bed."

It sounded good to me. Sitting and staring at the screens was pointless.

"Okay," I agreed, as she leant over and circled my neck with her arms, her hands curling up around my ears.

I half turned in my seat and found myself looking into her smiling face.

"What's up? You look like the cat that got the cream." 

"Oh, I've got my reasons," she said, releasing me.

I gave a half laugh back, wondering what she had planned for tonight, and got out of the chair. I followed her onto the disc and we ascended the one flight up to the rec room to decide the menu for dinner.

After dinner we sat with our coffee while Diggie went through the film catalogue and chose a rom-com for us to watch. Unfortunately, apart from sitting on the floor together, there was nowhere for us to sit and cuddle. We ended up with our chairs drawn together and my hand resting in hers.

I picked her dirty clothes from the floor as we went up to the cabins. As we rode the disc up she put her arm round my waist and leaned her head on my shoulder.

"I'm going to take a shower. Will you join me?" she asked as the disc slowed to a stop.

"Mm, yes, but I need to get my Depilatory out first and do my face."

"Why don't you grow a beard, just a small one," she suggested.

"Can't," I replied. "Won't fit my space suit mask if I do."

She laughed. "When are you going to use the space suit, then?"

"I don't know, but I'm not growing one just in case, and that's a regulation I'm sticking to," I told her as I took the tube down from the shelf.

"Spoilsport," she came back at me. "You'd look nice with a 'stubble' look."

"I'll grow one when we get back," I declared, spreading the cream over my chin.

"Well, hurry up, I want you to wash me all over in the shower," she replied.

It took me only a moment longer to even out the cream. It would finish its work while I was washing her.

"Well, come on then. I'm ready if you are."

She grinned at me and took my arm, leading me into the cubicle.



In The Darkest Of Nights 03



The shower was barely big enough for the two of us, squeezing us together as I took the shower head from its holder and flipped open the shower gel, wetting her before dribbling it over her shoulders.

I cut the water and began to massage the gel in, making her turn round for me to do her back first. Her skin felt slick and smooth under my hands as she leant hands against the wall to brace herself. As I worked my way down her back, her moans and sighs of appreciation encouraged me as my fingers kneaded her muscles.

I squatted as I came to the back of her thighs, my hand resting on her hip to keep my balance.

"Make sure I'm nice and clean down there," she instructed me, opening her legs wide and bending her knees slightly to thrust her firm globes almost into my face.

I paused and squirted another smidgen of gel onto my fingers, smoothing it over her bum and into the valley of her arse, working it in well around her rosebud. She squealed and shivered in delight as my fingers brushed over the slippery skin with my finger pressing down into the wrinkly, sensitive folds.

I gave her a few moments pleasure and let my finger slip further forward and into the folds of her pussy, eliciting a shiver from her as her legs squeezed on my hand. I carried on down, swapping hands as I reached her foot and using more gel to repeat the process on her other leg.

As I finished the foot and rose she swivelled round, almost throwing me off balance as my hand slid across her firm abdomen and rested on the other hip.

"Turn back around," I ordered her. "I haven't rinsed you off yet."

"Do it later. You've got my front to do now," she said in her giggle voice.

I shrugged and applied more gel to her shoulders, silently wishing we were finished and on our way to bed and fucking the night away.

I started again on her shoulders and quickly let my hands find her firm breasts, her hard, erect nipples bouncing off my fingers as I brushed over them, flattening her yielding mounds with gentle pressure.

She pushed against me, my cock rubbing against her taut tummy. Her hand squeezed in between us to grasp it as my thumbs flicked over her rigid teat, her other hand brushing against my balls as she slid it down between her legs.

She had a blissful look on her face as I reluctantly moved my hands lower and onto her ribs. I pushed her a little ways back as I worked my hand around to her sides and lower still onto her hips. Reluctantly she released my throbbing cock as I paused to apply more gel to her pubes.

She spread her legs for me as my hand stroked and caressed between them, my fingers slipping over her silky folds. I saw a look of bliss shaping her soft, angelic face whilst voicing throaty sounds of pleasure, her hands playing with her breasts and nipples.

I leant into her and slipped a hand round her neck, pulling her into me for a kiss while letting the other hand continue its gentle massage of her pussy. Her tongue played frantic games with mine as our lips crushed together.

She slipped her trapped hands from between us and grasped me around the waist, pulling us closer. Bending her head further back as my fingers scrabbled through her hair, her quickened breath brushed across my cheek.

I bent my knees slightly and felt her breasts and the hard points of her nipples slide up my chest and my cock slipping down to nestle in her pubes as my hand slid down the valley, probing for the dimple of her rosebud.

Abruptly she pushed me away.

"Fuck me now," she demanded, her hand snaking down to grab my cock and push its head into her pussy.

I dipped a little further to let it slip inside then gripped her waist as I stood. She wrapped her legs around me and began to bounce, both hands around my neck. I took a half step back till my shoulders touched the wall and matched her gyrations as she franticly fucked me.

She lasted a few minutes and then screamed her way into the shuddering orgasm that sent waves of pleasure through me as the spasms milked my cock. She pulled herself tight to me, her breasts pressed against me as I felt her pounding heart and the hot breath of her panting.

I softened slowly as she recovered, bending my knees so she could stand as she let her legs slip.

"Come on, let's get to bed," she said excitedly.

She released her arms and eased back, letting me slip out. I turned and shut the shower off. She didn't bother drying herself but jumped straight onto the bed and lied down. I climbed on alongside her and she turned to start kissing me.

As we kissed I brought my hands to play with her breasts, holding the sides as my thumbs caressed her nipples. The kiss intensified as her nails dug into my back, her throaty moans vibrating through. My cock was as stiff as ever again as it pressed against her abdomen.

Her hand pushed me to roll me on my back.

"Let's do sixty nine," she said and started to scramble around, sliding her knee over my chest as her hand took hold of my cock.

Her pubes looked redder around the pink flower of her lips as I aimed my tongue at the valley between them. I lapped, broad-tongued, as the taste and aroma filled my senses, quickening my excitement.

Her tongue gave its first lick as it stroked over the head. I felt exalted as the pleasure tingled through me. Life with Diggie was life with a sex addict. Despite my need for release she came first, her back arching as the 'Yes...' burst from her lips.

I stopped while she recovered, her hand giving the occasional squeeze and stroke as she lay panting. She slipped off me, drawing her leg over as she came to her knees.

"Can we do doggy style this time? It's my favourite." she asked.

"Okay," I agreed, turning to get up. 

I held my cock and slid it in slowly, feeling it fill her as she settled on me. I rocked on my knees as I started slow and long, feeling the pleasure ripple out as my need urged me faster. She was squealing and squirming when I came, my jerking hips being enough to tip her over the edge as well.

We both sank to the bed and I held her and rolled her sideways to spoon her. She snuggled back into me as I draped my arm over and cupped her breast. She gave a sad sigh when it plopped out and wriggled to cuddle closer.

I drifted off to sleep thinking that life adrift in the stars had a major plus as compensation. She moaned 'Later' when I woke her after showering. I left her there and went down to check with Beth before having breakfast.

"You really should be wearing your medivest, Choi," she scolded me as I entered the bridge naked.

"Never mind that, what's the latest?"

"There's a strong probability of a small inner planet as yet unobserved. I could show you the findings if you want."

"Good, that's a start. Let's hope there's an asteroid belt as well."

Buoyed up by the news I went back up to the galley and dialled up a good breakfast, sitting at the counter to eat it. My mind was alive with the probable planet. With the dust and gasses of the nebula thinning in the wake of the star, the nearer we got, the happier it made me.

Diggie was still upstairs so I returned to the bridge after I finished my coffee to monitor our progress, and maybe make a start on the novel I wanted to write. 

I was pounding the keys when Diggie walked in. She had on a dress thin enough to show she was braless which caught my eye as she spoke.

"If you're naked I'm not bothering either," she said as she bent and took the hem.

Hauling it up and off she treated me to the sight of her delightful, nude form.

"Beth thinks there's an inner planet," I said, trying to be normal and willing my cock not to rise.

She looked at the screens. "But it's still a big if?"

"Yes, we're still playing a waiting game. We'll be curving into the clear space behind it soon and we'll get a good look then. This ship doubles up as a scout so we're well equipped with 'scopes and things."

"Can't we speed things up?"

"No, we're bound by the laws of physics, we're stuck waiting out the three weeks or so if we're going to stop there."

"Oh, this is all so frustrating, I still can't believe it's happening," she complained.

"Come on," I said. "Let's go upstairs and get you some breakfast."

It took us another four days before Beth was able to definitely conclude that there was a planet and at least some remnants of both the ort cloud and asteroid belt. I'd had her turn the craft to start the braking run for insertion into orbit.

Diggie and I made love regularly and she idled her time away going through my library while I continued to pound on the keyboard, and on the whole, time slipped by quietly as we counted down to the final few days.

Our first stop would be the inner planet, and the excitement was somewhat dampened by Beth's first detailed survey. The planet was a burnt cinder, the surface was mostly basaltic lava with a few outcrops of granite. Any lithium down there was going to be difficult to get at.

I had Beth turn us to the asteroid field. Here there was a strange formation of six large metallic bodies trailing each other and piquing my interest. The asteroidal belt was very sparse, excepting these six, their formation and orbit hinted at intelligence.

Our first sight showed pitted surfaces and irregular shapes, with each of them spinning on their long axes, another sign of intelligent design. The one we were headed for at the tail was probably ten to twelve miles long and three clumps joined together in a very slight V shape, each three/four miles in diameter.

With only a few hours left till we matched orbits we retired to bed to make love.

"Choi," she said. "What's so exciting about the spin?"

I climbed onto the bed to join her. "I don't want to get your hopes up but there's something artificial about them. They should all be random but they're all aligned and that suggests a deliberate hand behind it."

"You mean there are people out here?"

"I doubt its people, at least not humans."

"Aliens?" she said, startled. "But we've never found a trace of them yet."

"Well, I'm betting we will here."

She cuddled up to me. "As long as they're not bug eyed monsters or some slimy creepy crawlers."

She slid her hand to grasp my cock. "Does this mean we have a better chance of getting home?"

"I'm hoping it does," I replied, shifting to bring my hand to her breast.

She let out a soft sigh and rolled to her back. I turned and knelt across her, resting on my elbows as I bent down to kiss her. We made slow, delicious love and took ten minutes quiet time before we got up to monitor the final approach.

"It looks like a peanut," she said.

I could see the similarities. On the end we were homing in on there seemed to be a very small circular structure at its axial point, too small to be the main entrance and besides, there looked to be nowhere to moor the ship.

"Beth, take us around the other end," I ordered.

"Adjusting course," she replied, confirming my request.

It took us a couple of hours till we were staring at a metallic dome twice the diameter of our ship.

"But I've got to go out and look. It might be old enough to have stopped working," I argued.

"But if you get hurt or killed out there what will I do?"

"There's a very small risk of that. I'm a trained spaceman, I've been out and know the risks."

She looked unhappily at me. "Please take care. I want you back in one piece."

"I'll be taking very good care," I assured her. "I like me the way I am as well."

In truth, I was hoping it was inactive. I didn't fancy running into any defensive mechanisms. It hadn't reacted when I had Beth stabilise the ship relative to it, which was a good sign, but I was going down to the surface to look for a way in.

"I'm approaching the dome now," I said, keying the microphone. "It looks to be slatted."

"I can see it on your headcam," she replied. "Be careful now."

I felt my boots make contact and bounce me off. Whatever the metal was, it wasn't magnetic. I turned and gave a little burst of my thrusters, aiming for the rim. Even though Beth had scoped the area I needed to make a physical check to be doubly sure.

It took me an hour to circumnavigate it and prove to myself that there was no hidden entrance. I was exhausted when I finally clambered back aboard. Diggie was there to greet me, hugging and kissing me as she helped strip the space suit off.

"We'll have to go around the other side," I said as I packed the suit away.

"Can't you mine the surface or something?" she asked, standing nude before me.

"As a last resort, yes. But I'm curious as to what's inside. Unless there are propulsion units hidden away inside the dome this looks like an orbital ark. I bet the others are the same. There could be a little world shut away inside it."

"You could come back with exploration teams, do a thorough investigation, then."

"Doing an investigation now will only add a couple of days. Besides, if there is a world in there then they might have it already refined."

I looked up. "Beth, take us around to the other end and stabilise us there."

"Complying," came her disembodied voice.

"Have you got an ETA on that?" I asked.

"About an hour and three quarters," she added.

"Thanks," I replied.

"Are you hungry?" I asked Diggie as I turned back to her.

"No, but I could do with a nice kiss and cuddle," she replied.

"Let me get a cup of coffee first and we'll go to bed."

We took the tube up to the rec and I dialled up coffee for both of us.

"You can take your ship's suit off," she told me as we waited for the coffee to materialise.

I started to undress as she took the coffee and made her way to the lounge, sitting to free it from my feet.

"That's better," she said, handing me my cup.

"If it's refined then we'll get home quicker?" she asked.

"Yes, much quicker. It'll only take days to crystallise it out to its trilithium form. If we have to mine it and refine it ourselves then I could take months."

"So we could have a look at the others if this one's no good."

"Maybe," I said, halfway to taking a sip. "Let's get a look inside this one first."

We finished our coffee and she stood and held out her hand to me. I accompanied her upstairs and into the bedroom. She threw back the sheet and climbed in, holding it up to let me slide in alongside her.

She turned and snuggled to me. I turned and spooned her back, stretching an arm over to cup her breast.

"Can you take wives on ships?" she asked.

"On some of the bigger ships there are married couples, yes. But I think both are in the navy and serving together."

"So no civilians?"

"I don't think so, they all earn their keep."

"You'll have to join our navy then, then I can go everywhere with you."

"Your navy!" I exclaimed.

"Yes, we'll be heroes when we get home and you can be a captain or admiral and I can marry you."

"Marry me!" I spluttered.

"Yes, these three weeks with you have been the best sex I've ever had. I think I love you and I don't want to let you go."

"But you don't know me."

"You're bright and intelligent, you are caring and considerate, you've treated me as an equal. That's perfect enough for me."

"All that in only three weeks?"

She turned and faced me. "All that and more. Now shut up and let's make love."

Her hand slipped down and grabbed my cock, giving it a squeeze as it hardened in the grip of her fingers. I reached for a breast and took the nipple in my finger and thumb, tweaking it as it grew hard. 

She stretched up and kissed me. "How shall we do it this time? Reverse cowgirl is good."

"Any way you want as long as it goes more than halfway," I replied with a smile.

"We'll do it doggy style again," she said, freeing me. "That way you're in charge."

"No, I don't mind. We'll do it your way and if I don't get off with you then you can finish me off with a blow job. Beth will have us in place soon."

She got onto her knees as I lay flat. She held my cock and turned to look at me as she spread her leg over my tummy. She guided it in and slowly settled down, shifting her legs as she came to the hilt. She bounced with her knees as I held her hips, feeling the welcome pleasure flood back into me.

She fucked me harder and harder, using fast but deep strokes to pile on the pleasure and pump up the pressure in the pit of my groin. I felt it coming before my hips jerked and gave out a strangled 'Ah...' as the seed spurted deep in her, the second and third leaving me lying panting on the bed.

I felt her finger on my cock as she stroked and rubbed her clit, franticly pushing herself to her own even as I softened inside her. When she came her jerk with the first shudder let it plop out. It hardly mattered as she writhed with her best orgasm for days.

She lay back, rolling on her heels, repeatedly sobbing my name, "Choi, Choi."

I wrapped my arms around her and felt the slick skin under her breasts. I pulled her up slightly and began sucking and nibbling on her shoulder and neck as she recovered. She rolled over on top of me and squeezed her hands around my neck.

"I'm going to marry you. Whether we make it back or not, you're mine from now on."

"Don't I get a say?" I said half jokingly.

Who wouldn't want to marry a sex goddess with bedroom eyes? I'd never imagined so much good sex existed, three, four times a day from sometimes first in the morning to the last at night. All that and the power of her family and our discovery of the first alien civilisation, an ambitious man could take a big step up.

"What can you say but yes?" she joked back.

"I could say maybe. I could meet an admiral's daughter," I said, pushing the joke further.

"I'm better than any admiral's daughter," she said sharply.

"Choi," Beth interrupted us.

"Yes, Beth."

"We are in position and ready for the visual survey."

"You can start the survey; I'll be along in a minute."

"You think that circles a hatch of some kind?" Diggie asked, rolling free of me.

"I hope so or we might have to tunnel our own way in."

"Well, I want you to take care."

The circle was the only anomaly in the hemispherical scan. It's inside was in deep shadow and even infra red revealed nothing. I went back up for my slipsuit and made my way back to the airlock. Diggie was with me, fussing and checking if my suit was alright.

As the outer door opened I jetted out, watching the asteroid slowly approach as I aimed for the enigmatic circle. My feet anchored me as I grounded on the surface, the puffs of dust curling up to form coriolis spirals.

The circle was a two foot deep bore hole with a metal door plugging it. I jumped in to examine it and found three clamps around its rim. I had to wedge myself against the door to spin the locks open. With the last one free it opened of its own accord.

I backed off as it rose, letting it swing out like a platform. Diggie was urging caution over the airwaves, a clear worry in her voice. I reassured her even as I shone my flashlight in to reveal an inner door, an oval set in the centre with several scripted plaques adorning it and the wall next to the two clamps.

Diggie could see what I could see as I jumped and floated down to it. Wondering if they were instructions or warnings I undid the two clamps and stepped back. The door opened inwards and showed a chamber with another door at the other end.

As I entered the chamber my radio began to fade. I took a step back to hear Diggie shouting, "What's happening?"

"It's okay," I reassured her. "The walls are metal and they're causing a radio blackout. You're going to have to trust me. I'll take a quick look inside and be back out to report."

I ducked back in as her protest started and floated over to the inner door. This one opened out and it struck me that there must be power in this place. I stepped through it with a new sense of wariness. My torch showed a long tunnel that reached beyond its beam.




In The Darkest Of Nights 03



I turned and walked back to the platform. "There's a long tunnel, I don't know how far it goes but it runs into the centre of this thing. It may take me a while to find the end so don't worry if I seem to take a long time."

"Okay," she replied hesitantly.

I stepped back in as she wished me good luck, thinking that she had the hardest part of waiting. At least I was getting to do something and go somewhere. I travelled down the tunnel, bounding along in the near zero gravity. In ten minutes I could see the gleam of another metal doorway filling the tunnel.

As I got to it I saw that it looked smooth with a single orange button set to the edge. I pressed it and the door dilated. At the same time a strange voice gurgled and wheezed out a message that I wished I understood. 

Through the door was a wide flat concourse framed by the rectangle of a false doorframe. Lights were flickering on as I stepped through and a glance behind showed another orange button inset next to the closing door.

I walked forward and tried the other doors that led off along the other walls. Two of them looked like engineering workshops while a third and fourth had labs concealed behind them. The others were store cupboards of some sort.

The last doors on both sides were wider and dilated at my touch. Inside was a cavernous room with five lighted buttons set into the near wall. The door at the opposite end opened into a short corridor at the end of which was a smaller door, one that I barely fit through with my suit on.

Another three steps and I was onto a platform that made me shiver with the view. There was a circular world, trees, grass, houses and roads. I stood still and followed the arc around. I could see no movement, it looked totally deserted.

The platform was bounded but four great wires stretched across to the other side. At what was presumably the centre hung a ball of light and heat, so bright as to bring my auto-dimming into action.

I turned and walked back, scurrying up the tunnel as fast as I could to share the exciting news with Diggie. Their civilization looked comparable to ours. Judging by the final doorway they were smaller. The greenery suggested oxygen breathers with an atmosphere conducive to us.

I burst out of the final door. "Diggie, it's all there. There's a world inside with plants and trees and roads and houses. I can't see any movement but it looks habitable."

"Any lithium?" was her first question.

"I don't know yet," I said, a little annoyed by her lack of shared excitement.

"Well, what do we do now?"

"First off, I'm coming back aboard. My suit needs servicing. I'll tell you more when I get there."

I launched myself into the empty space between us, guiding myself back to the airlock. Once back onboard I let Diggie help me strip the suit and connect it up to recharge it. It was likely to be a long trip if I was going to find my way to the bottom and do a little exploring down there.

As it was connected I spoke to the air. "Beth, access the video recorder and do an analysis."

"Working," she acknowledged.

"Come on," I said, turning to Diggie. "Let's show you what I found."

We went up to the bridge and I had Beth bring up the video I'd shot from the point I entered the concourse. I let Diggie view it in full without comment. She gasped at the first view of the inner world, holding my arm as she stood by my seat.

"It's beautiful. I wonder if they have birds and animals there as well?" she said when it was finished.

"Ask me that again tomorrow," I said. "It's a pity there's no way to get you down there for a look."

There was one possible way I had in mind, using the hibernation capsule to get her down. I hadn't thought it through and needed to talk with Beth first but it seemed feasible if she wanted to go inside.

"It looks a nice place to live," she said.

"We'll find that out tomorrow. It'll be nice if it's got a breathable atmosphere."

"These would be worth a fortune in orbit about a decent planet," she mused.

"This one on its own is worth a scientific fortune. These are proof of intelligence other than our own. If the others are the same it'll prove a treasure trove for a whole host of scientists."

"There should be a reward."

"I doubt that but I'm going to set foot on all six before we leave, stake my claim on behalf of the navy."

I turned back to the screen. "Beth, any analysis of the machine rooms or the labs?"

"No, you'll need to make more detailed shots before I can make any meaningful interpolations."

"Okay, we'll see about that next time. Any thoughts on the cylinder world?"

"Not enough information for that yet either," she replied.

"Okay, thanks." I turned back to Diggie. "Let's get a coffee."

She walked with me to the rec room.

"So how long till we can go home?" she asked as we stepped out of the tube.

"That's still an unknown. It might take days or weeks down there till I find some."

I turned to the galley as she went and sat down, bringing the coffee back to join her. 

"Are you hungry?" I asked.

"Not yet," she said, flashing a smile at me. "But I am getting tired of all this waiting around, wondering what's happening while you're away exploring."

"I'm sorry. I'd love to take you with me, but...." I spread my hands. 

"I know. There's only one space suit."

At least she said it with a smile on her face. The trouble was my explorations were only going to be longer as I probed further inside. There were another two chambers that might take days to reach on foot.

The scale of the engineering was also impressive. Hollowing out the habitat would have taken years. Even more wondrous was the prospect of a further five habitats. It was puzzling that this one seemed uninhabited, all this work for nothing.



In The Darkest Of Nights 04



She stood and walked over to me. Setting her coffee down, she knelt then curled her legs under as she leant on my knee.

"Choi," she said softly.

"What?" I asked, leaning forwards.

"Oh, nothing," she replied."

"What?" I said more softly.

"It's just that I feel a little bit afraid. Will you hold me?"

I reached down and pulled her up onto my lap, holding her to me as she wrapped her arms around me. She lay naked, pressed between my legs, her head resting on my shoulder with her breasts squashed against me.

"There's nothing to be afraid of. Our chances of getting home are better than good, and believe me, I intend to take care while I explore."

I began to rub lightly on her back.

"But I feel so helpless up here on my own, watching and waiting for you to come back."

"That's something we're just going to have to live with. I'd need a mile and a half of cable to reach the end of the tunnel."

"I just wish there was some other way," she said quietly, sounding as if she were about to burst into tears.

"Diggie," I said, bringing my hand up to smooth her hair. "Hush now, it'll all be alright. It'll only be a few days more till it's explored and we know where we stand."

"I know, it's silly of me, but I couldn't face life alone, stuck here for the rest of my life with not a single soul to talk to." 

"You could always get Beth to wake up the other sleepers."

"Would she obey me?"

"That's easy. Beth!"

"Yes, Choi," she answered.

"Brendigan has full authority in my permanent absence, acknowledge."

"Acknowledged," she answered.

"There, that's done."

"I just want you safe. I can't marry you if you're dead."

I gave a little laugh.

"I'm serious, it's no laughing matter," she said, lifting her head.

"I'm sorry, I can't imagine me married. I joined up to explore new worlds. I'll be eligible for the survey teams when I pass my next promotion board."

"Life doesn't always let us do what we want. I'm proof of that."

"Life's not going to be the same for either of us when we get out of this. We'll both be famous for fifteen minutes, you'll have hundreds of eligible admirers sending you proposals."

She leant back. "And so will you."

"But I hope I'll be leading a survey team back, or at least be part of one."

"And I can come with you; we can make it a honeymoon trip."

"Oh, that I'd like to see. My captain would have a fit at the idea."

I started chuckling at the thought.

"Choi," she complained.

"I'm sorry. I just had the vision of Beefhart turning purple."

She turned on me and sat on one leg and laid back down, head on my shoulder.

"We could use my father's yacht, or even one of the warships if you wanted to lead your own team."

"That's a tempting thought," I said, as I felt her hand trail down across my ribs. 

I sat up, taking her with me. "Are you hungry now? I'm ready for some dinner."

Her hand took my cock. "If I can have some man milk for afters," she replied

I laughed again as we stood. "Come on, let's eat. We've hours before the suit is recharged."

She clung onto my arm as we crossed to the galley. We dialled up our food and ate. I contemplated my next journey into the waiting world, hoping that the end rooms were the lifts I thought them to be.

When we'd finished she took my hand and turned to me. "Now for my helping of cream."

She led me to the tube and took possession of my cock as we rode up. She led me to the bed and backed me up to sit on it. She knelt as I opened my legs out and then bent her head in to press my swollen head slowly through her lips.

She brushed her hair back and looked up at me as she started to play her tongue along the underside. The thrill warmed me inside and I dropped back onto my elbows, a small groan rumbling in my throat.

She sucked and licked and then started bobbing her head, building the sexual excitement in me till I was ready to explode.

"Ah, I'm cumming," I groaned out, my hips starting a thrust.

She sucked and swallowed as my seed filled her, sucking till I was empty and collapsed back onto the bed. She gave it a final lick and climbed up next to me.

"There, that's the one I owe you from earlier," she whispered, snuggling into me.

I brought my arm around her. "I don't remember."

"It doesn't matter. Call it a thank you, then."

She reached a hand across and started playing with my nipple. "Does this bother you?"

"Do you like to do it?"

"Yes."

"Then carry on. It's nice having you touch me."

She gave a little laugh. "Let's just lie here a while. It feels nice in your arms."

I wondered what would happen when we got back. We had enough now for it to be the discovery of the century; anything else I turned up in my search for our lithium would be a bonus. The trouble was our discovery was serendipitous; fate had put me here and need had led me to the door.

We woke at around five ship time and spent the first few minutes in a kiss that was passionate enough to stir my cock back to life, growing unseen till it was standing proud. She saw it when she broke our kiss and reached down to take it.

"No, later," I said reluctantly. "Let's get back to business. I need to get a look at the other chambers if there are any, see if there are any manufacturing facilities, see what's under that dome at the other end."

She let go and rolled aside as I sat up. I turned and offered my hand to her when I stood. She took it and stood facing me.

"You will take care."

"Yes, of course I will," I answered as I went for a fresh slipsuit.

I walked straight to the lift. Entering it I looked again at the lighted buttons and the legend next to them. Metaphorically crossing my fingers I put my gloved finger on the bottom one. Half a dozen rows of frames sprung up as the doors closed.

I grabbed the nearest one as the lift started to drop and forced my magnetic soles to the floor. The drop took five minutes at least as I gradually felt my weight returning. When we stopped the doors opened up to a much brighter room. Three sides were solid with the other lift in the opposite wall and a glassed wall showing a panorama of fields and trees.

I took out my tricorder and did an analysis of the air. At 800 mB it was thin but with 25% oxygen it was breathable and it gave the green light for me to crack my helmet and take a lungful. Gravity was about 0.8 and I felt like I was half flying, like running downhill as I bounded across the landscape.

I was headed directly across, following a straight road to the sheer side some two or three miles distant. The countryside I was running through was uncultivated, short grasses for the most part with trees dotted singly and in small copses.

As I neared my objective the countryside gave way to a cluster of dwellings, single storied with small doors and big windows. There was a wider road running around the rim angling up an impossible slope as it disappeared with distance.

I was tempted to explore one of the houses but carried on to the entrance into the wall before me. In the cavern inside there were dozens of little bubble cars lined up. I walked to the nearest and realised that I'd have to unsuit to fit in it, and even then it would be a tight squeeze.

I stood and pondered. As far as I could see the place was deserted but leaving my suit here would leave me vulnerable if there were any residents. It was too big a risk. The houses I passed would do for today then perhaps I'd have a closer look at the workshops on the concourse and maybe see where the other buttons on the lift took me.

I turned back and walked to the door of the first house. Inside the first surprise was the lack of wall coverings. The walls were a plain, pale mud brown. There was no furniture to give me clues about their size and shape.

All that I found were bare rooms. There was no obvious kitchen or bathroom which only deepened the mystery. The aliens were getting more enigmatic. The only real clue was the doorways. They were low but wide enough for me to duck through.

I glanced into the other houses before setting off back at a slow walk, taking a more careful look at the surrounding countryside. When I got back to the lift shafts I hoped that my remaining time would be more productive with only the levels left.

I resealed my helmet and pressed the fourth button. Holding onto the bar that appeared again I rode up into the lessening gravity. Our technology was probably more advanced than theirs; at least we had artificial gravity. In their favour, their power plant looked like it had outlasted anything we could build.

I guessed we were very near the axis by the near zero g I found as the lift stopped. It was the familiar concourse but the end was stoppered with a single glass window. The other way looked to have only a door at the end, one of the large dilating ones.

My approach triggered it open, revealing a vast laboratory complex with a high ceiling; predominantly near me were large blocks with hydraulics and several large pipes running in and out. I walked to the workstation of the nearest. There was a keypad set into the desk with a display set at the back.

I counted thirty seven symbols on the keys, and took the larger orange double symboled one to be an on/off master. What it did I had no idea. If form followed function then it might be a press of some kind. I took a walk around to capture things on my head cam and then made my way out.

What I was hoping for was a storage facility for raw materials; if they used electronics then they'd want pure lithium along with several other elements like gallium and silicon. As I got back to the lift I had reclassified this level as manufacturing of some kind, specialised near zero work.

Level three was a short stop. It revealed the same concourse and view and another dilating door at the other end. It looked like another factory. The machines were different, there were groups of spheres and cylinders with pipes and conduits snaking from them.

I was willing to bet that level two would be the same. It was an odd place to find them unless they were something to do with its construction. I filmed everything and finished my exploration then walked back to the lift to select the last level.

When the door dilated this time I was surprised to find a much smaller proper lab with benches and strange quarter moon stools that came to my upper thigh. I was disappointed to find it bare but filmed the signs that peppered the walls for Beth to analyse.

From the axis I made my way back out, calling up Diggie as soon as I exited. Beth answered.

"Brendigan is sleeping. Give her a moment to wake."

By the time she'd said it Diggie was talking over her.

"Choi, you're back!"

"Yes," I said. "Slight hitch in the plans. I'll tell you when I get back, okay?"

She was waiting outside the lock, her hands helping me strip the suit and then clasping me in a hug before we put the suit back on charge. Her sensual stripping of my slipsuit brought my cock to attention and after I had stepped out of my clothes she grasped it and led me off.

She paused as we stepped out of the tube and turned to her door, taking me straight to the bed.

"Wait," I said as she tried to sit us down. "I need to shower."

"You can shower afterwards. I want you now."

She pulled me down and I went with her as she brought her feet up to lie down. She rolled to me and took my lips, her tongue darting through to wrestle with mine. I took her breasts as she shifted on top of me, cupping them and rubbing the nipples with my thumbs.

She parted her legs to straddle me.

"Hold me and roll us over. I want you on top this time," she said softly.

I rolled us and lifted off her as she took my cock and began to rub it on her already wet lips, the soft silky pleasure hardening it till it strained. She guided it in and I pushed my bulbous head into the tight darkness, feeling my shaft slowly sinking into her.

I leant forwards and took her breasts before letting my hands slip to her sides as I began to stroke. Starting slow to get the measure I fucked her till she was shuddering under me, pinching and pulling her nipples. 

She thrust her hips into me as the words were choked by her groan, her back arched and I felt the pulses down my cock as her body trembled under me. I began a slow stroke as she collapsed back onto the bed, speeding up when she reached out and pulled herself to me.

She lay back, still panting as she began to groan and writhe from my fresh onslaught as I pushed for my release. She orgasmed again and took me with her, draining me as our hips rocked together and I fell to my elbows spent and exhausted.

She wrapped her arms around me and pulled me down to cuddle against me. I half lay on her till it slipped out and then pushed my hand under her to roll us over again. As she came on top she pulled herself up to kiss me, rolling her lips on mine.

My hands were on her back and waist, the one stroking her spine while the other held her tight. She broke the kiss and turned her head to lie on me, sighing as she relaxed. I lied quietly there with her as her breathing slowed and she hovered on the edge of sleep.

I laid there thinking things through. The lack of storage space at the bottom of the lift was puzzling. They must bring their space suits with them which made the question of transport a problem. If there had been any I would have expected to find it at the terminal on the other side.

If I was going to ditch my space suit then the best place would be at the lift. That reminded me of seeing if the suspension capsule could be used to take Diggie down.

"Beth," I called softly.

"Yes, Choi," she answered.

"Will that capsule take a vacuum, could I ferry Diggie down in it?"

"Theoretically, yes. It's got a battery backup of twelve hours for transfers and they're made airtight for bulk carrying."

"How are you doing with the video I shot?" I asked.

"The language looks complex. I fear it's beyond my processing abilities unless you can find simpler stuff. The rooms you visited look to be zero G and vacuum manufacturing, probably refining and purifying elements and simple compounds."

Diggie stirred on me. "Umm."

"Ah, you're awake."

"Umm," she said drowsily. "I was having a nice dream."

"I was just talking to Beth. She agrees that we can load you into the capsule if you want to go down and explore with me."

"What!" she exclaimed, coming fully awake and pushing herself up.

"We can...."

"I know, I heard you. Oh, thank you," she said, leaning back down to kiss me.

As we kissed I rolled her sideways. I broke the kiss and leant back.

"I still need my shower, and we should make sure that the capsule is fully charged," I said.

"Oh," she sighed. "Must we get up?"

"If you want to go down tomorrow."

"Alright, shall I wash your back?"

"No. Do you want to dial up dinner for us? I'll be down in five minutes."

"Oh, alright. Anything special?" 

"No, you can choose for me," I said, rolling to sit on the edge of the bed.

I walked to the shower while Diggie got up. Downstairs I told her about the problem with the car and needing to de-suit. I told her that we'd leave her capsule and my suit in the lobby at the bottom and trek across. My main worry now was nightfall down there and the length of the day.

We journeyed down to check on the status of the capsule; its five companions were sealed tight and would stay safe when I opened the outer hatch to ship her out. Satisfied, I led us back up to the rec where I stepped off.

"Let's have a coffee before we turn in for an early night," I said.

"Umm, that sounds nice, an early night."

"Eight hours sleep. We need to be fresh when we go down," I chided her.

I woke with her sprawled across me, holding my morning woody with her leg on top of both. I gently prised her fingers open and eased from under her, waiting till I was free before waking her with a shake.

"Mm," she complained, turning over and curling up.

"Come on. Quick shower and shave then breakfast and we'll see about getting you down to explore with me."

She gave a sigh and rolled to face me. "I suppose I should be excited but I'm only glad I'm going with you, not getting left up here again."

We went down to the cargo level and I packed her away and had Beth evacuate the hold whilst monitoring Diggie's capsule. I was back up and suited up in ten minutes while she waited blind to the world. The next thing she'd know would be when I released her at the bottom.

She sat up as soon as I opened the capsule, cheerily smiling at me as she clambered out.

"We're here," she said, stating the obvious.

She walked to the edge of the tiled area where it met the path. "Wow, its enormous, and there's a sun."

I was stripping the suit. "Yes, it seems like it's some kind of park."

She stood there exploring the view, getting used to the twisted perspectives while I packed my suit inside the capsule.

"Are you ready?" I asked, joining her.

She nodded.

"We'll walk till you get used to the lower gravity," I told her as we set out.

Our walk turned into a loping trot as we jogged across, she proving she was as fit as I was. She slowed to look at the dwellings on the other side.

"They're not very fancy, are they?" she questioned.

"The walls inside are like mud walls. The tricorder says they're manufactured but they look like clay," I commented, looking again at the squat structures.

"Where are these cars? That door up ahead," she said as she started for it.

I followed her in and walked her up to the first in line.

"Do you want to go first or get in the one behind?"

"How do they work?" she asked.

"They have an orange button," I said. "Just push it."

"Okay," she said, peering in.

There was a single wide seat with a transparent top that narrowed sharply; the two of us would be a tight squeeze.

She turned. "No, you go first. I'll watch and follow."

"Okay," I acknowledged as I reached to open the door.

I waved as the little car shot off on the press of the button, the seat expanding to cushion and trap me. The tunnel angled up and I soon felt the lessening of gravity. It spiralled to the other side as we crossed zero G, running downhill to about half normal when I entered the station.

The seat deflated as I stopped and I was quickly out to watch for Diggie coming. She pulled in behind me and I stepped forward to open her door.

"Whoa, what a ride that was, all those lights flashing by," she said.

Outside was a broad walkway with the same square blocks repetitiously lining it. As we walked down it I kept my curiosity in check till we reached the central column. Around it were banks of lifts with up and down, seemingly marked by angled ellipsis.

I pressed the orange down and it turned blue-green. We waited a while till soundlessly the doors opened. Stepping inside there was a bank of buttons all inscribed with symbols.

"Wait!" I said as she walked toward it.

There was a single button glowing with an amber light, the floor we were on I presumed. It was on the top line of the board and I counted in seven in from the left.

"We're here," I said, pointing. "I think it's linear across so if we press the one underneath we can't get lost."

I pressed the button and it turned amber. The lift fell smoothly and opened onto a similar scene, blocks of dwellings monotonously stretching out. I turned and pressed the bottom button of the row. Here the dwellings were more spacious but still the same construction.

"Boring lot," I commented as we gazed out. "I can't decide if they're unimaginative or is this utilitarian."

"I wouldn't like to live here, that's for sure. There must be more than fifty floors like this. No wonder they got a park next door."

"Let's check out the top," I said, stepping back.




In The Darkest Of Nights 04



We found the storage I sought starting from the second floor down, four floors of warehouses that, whilst being mostly empty, contained a chemical store that had enough in small glass sample files to make us a new crystal.

Diggie was dancing and hugging me, planting kisses where she could while I gathered the samples and looked around for something to carry them all. This was the first time I regretted not wearing clothes. The only thing around here was an oversize box.

Our earlier exploration on the floor above had turned up some clothes that suggested a creature with a large, powerfully muscled lower body and a quite thin upper body. Surprisingly, it also seemed to have a powerful tail making it almost three legged.

I let Diggie wait and 'guard' out precious lithium whilst I raced back up to collect something to wrap them in. I brought two tops back and rolled them up in the sleeves, tucking the extra cloth around them to make two bundles.

Diggie linked arms with me as we each carried one bundle, extremely happy at the prospect of going home and chatting about who would say what and what people were going to think when she announced our engagement.

It was dark and there was a drizzly rain when we arrived back at the 'park' cylinder. The globe above was clearly visible as it shed a wan light. We were soaked and bedraggled when we made the lift shafts and I gave Diggie my slipsuit to dry her hair then dried mine.

I couldn't be wetter so I put it on as Diggie unloaded my spacesuit from the capsule. I sealed her up with the lithium and donned my suit for the journey back to the ship. After depositing her back in the pod I raced around to clamber back aboard and de-suit, then wait while the tube delivered me to the cargo level.

I had one of Beth's bots meet me there to take the lithium for processing and handed over the two bundles when I released Diggie from her confines.

"Well, I'm glad that's over," she declared when I opened the lid.

I stretched out my hand to help her, taking her weight as she climbed out.

"We're as good as on our way home," I said to her, a broad smile on my face.

She hugged me till I gently separated us to retrieve the bundles for the bot.

"Now we can relax and celebrate. I think Beth will agree with me," I said, looking at the ceiling, "that a bottle of champagne is in order."

"And candles, can you replicate those?"

"They're both on the state dinner menu, though the food is deliberately bland to accommodate anyone," Beth informed us, avoiding directly allowing alcohol and contravening the regs.

We made our way up to the rec level, my cock getting stiff as she kissed and caressed me in the tube. She broke off and hit the top button before clasping me again.

"Let's make love first," she whispered, stretching to bite at my earlobe.

She took my rampant cock and led me to her bed. Turning and sitting on the edge, she pulled me in and took a mouthful of my cock. The pleasure flared through me as she brought her tongue into play, flicking over its underside as she sucked.

With a groan I pushed her off. "Let's do a sixty-nine."

She lay back on the bed and opened her legs. I climbed on and straddled her, letting her grasp my cock again as I went down on my elbows and dipped my head down. My chin nestled in her hair as my tongue began to stroke across her pink, open lips, tasting the juices of her moist pussy.

She took my cock back and resumed licking and sucking, her hand softly stroking its ridged length. We pleasured each other and took the pleasure freely given as I revelled in the joy of the intimacy of our sexual congress.

Her clit was hard as my tongue flicked over it and began to circle it, pressing down on the hood as I crossed it. Her hands went to my hips as her head bobbed to fuck me with her mouth, taking it as deep as she could while she snorted through her nose and sucked on it.

She came first, my cock spilling from her mouth as her hips thrust up and her back arched. Her fingers let go their hold as she slumped back. I eased myself up and turned to lay next to her, my throbbing cock slowly shrinking as I pulled her willingly into my arms.

I thought about the day and our luck, cumulatively adding to a miracle, whichever god you worshiped. The next problem facing us was finding an icy comet in the ort cloud Beth had scouted out as we came in. We needed enough fuel to accelerate up to near lightspeed and to kill the velocity when we popped out the other side.

I had used most of ours getting here and though I could still make it home with what I had, the journey would take months longer at the slow speed I could attain, and we would be coasting on fumes when we hit her home star.