http://www.asstr.org/files/Authors/srb/www/ Don't read if under 18 or illegal in your little corner of the world, like you'll listen. This should appear only on my site http://www.asstr.org/files/Authors/srb/www/ F3, Futanari Palace, Pal's archive site, through Pal's yahoo group, on Pal's Forum... well, it basically should be wherever Pal's stuff is. Also at the Grey Archive, and some other places they might end up, they know who they are. This is copyright me, so don't call it yours. Feedback can be left here. I created all the characters, they are all fictional, and any relevance to anyone living or dead, is incidental BTW there is plenty of different portions which have been reused by numerous science fiction shows movies and books, including nanotechnology, rapid pregnancy, and various scientific mumbo jumbo, which I will try to keep to a minimum. (Bounce a graviton particle beam off the main deflector dish…) THIS CHAPTER contains no sex of any kind. Chapter 14 Spacers Terra was amazed as she watched the Earth from up on high. She knew abstractly that the world was large, and that it was round. She didn't have any idea of what space was truly like. To her space was just what was between her and her mother, in the same way that a hallway sits between two rooms. The sheer scope of where she was going and how she had gotten here was suddenly beginning to sink in. while Yoshi could tell her things like a hundred million kilometer distance, or traveling twenty seven thousand kilometers a second, to really appreciate the meaning was something her mind could only begin to understand. Sergio had assumed that the wonder in the girl's face was at his approaching ship. He had been in space as far as he could recall. His parents had been on a transport before he was born. His mother was an engineer, his father a pilot. He had learned everything he needed to know, along with a few other things from them, such as how to hustle tourists, or avoid getting caught by the police. Both were skills he had used in the past. He had gotten his own ship, and was even turning a profit. With some crafty book keeping he was able to get a down payment on his own transport ship. It wasn't the nicest, it was barely workable, but it was his, and he was the captain. 'That all ended when the Martian Cossacks acted like fools,' he thought to himself. "We're going to enter the docking bay in a moment, but don't open the door. Takes forever for the atmosphere to return to normal, and I wouldn't want to starve all you women of air." "Thankfully you've got enough hot air for the rest of us," Yoshi said. "Oh ho, I'm beginning to think that maybe we're going to be friends girl," Sergio said as he watched as the docking bay opened, at least the primary one. There were two docks, but this one was for ships, whereas the other was designed for ship-to-ship contact to transfer large scale personnel and equipment, but he had never had use for it. It was an extra storage closet. He disengaged the engines of 'Spirit of the Sky'. He activated his magnetic boots, feeling at home in the zero gravity environment. His stomach didn't push down so hard, and his feet were seldom sore where he was up here, on the Wings of Freedom II. He had named both girls himself, and took some pride in its name, even after having lost the original Wings of Freedom. The Wings of Freedom II was an old style cargo transport. While many transport ships were designed to ferry people along, initially the terraforming mission on Mars required large transfer of heavy equipment. At first some had tried to create a fully autonomous ship, but all attempts had proven disastrous. Thus it was decided that a crew was necessary. A crew that was ideally small enough to limit necessary provisions such as air, water, food, and crew quarters but large enough to steer the ship out of dangers way and keep it operational. Once the need for transport of large-scale machinery was through, many of the transports were converted into ferries. Those that weren't converted or couldn't be were for sale on the cheap. Of course the way that Sergio got his didn't cost him a dime. "Almost there," Giselle said, watching the readings on the terminal. She had enjoyed the time back on earth, getting the chance to shower regularly was a great privilege she missed. Besides, she had a chance to see a competent doctor for herself. Most of her companions had been used to spacing, as they called it. She still enjoyed soap and eating normal meals that didn't float away from you. "Here we go," she said, activating her own magnetic boots. She opened the door, walking out into the stale air of the docking area. Sergio followed a moment later right after her. "What took you so long?" a voice asked as the doors on the other end of the docking bay opened. "Ah Dave my boy, its good to see you. And you managed to keep the girl up and flying," Sergio said, stretching his arms out. "You said eight hours," Dave said. "EIGHT hours!" "Ah, sorry my boy, things got a little delayed. Would have called you, but we were under orders to black out communications," Sergio said. "Say, what are you doing down here anyway? I told you not to leave the helm until I got there." "Flynn took over for me, I wanted to…see…you…" Dave started to say, his attention drawn away as he watched Terra, Yoshi, and Nadia leave the ship. He had been stuck on the ship for months, going from one area to the other, usually ferrying technology or information back and forth. The only woman on the ship had been Giselle, but she was double his age and showed no interest in him, romantically speaking. Yet these girls, they were incredible. In his weariness he looked onto them lustily as one might ogle a girl in a magazine. "Yes?" Terra asked, confused by the young man's gaze. "Is, is there something wrong?" "Huh, oh, uh no, no, I'm sorry," David said, blushing. "Oh ho!" Sergio said with a laugh. "Dave my boy, you can't stare at the girls all day. Maybe you should try talking to them!" "Give him a break," Giselle said, turning back towards them. "He's been up for…what has it been? Two days straight?" "A little longer, yeah," Dave said, thankful for Giselle changing the subject. "Well," Terra said, tripping on the ground. Without the use of the magnetic boots, her body went flying through the air. "Ah! What the hell!" she screamed. "What do I do?" "Just relax," David said, laughing. "And don't hit your head!" "Don't laugh at me! Help me!" Terra said. She noticed that while Yoshi, Nadia, and Giselle were stifling their laughter David and Sergio had no intentions of stopping theirs. "Wait until you get to the ceiling," Dave said. In his exhaustion his usual compassion had abandoned him. He had been starved from stimuli for so long that watching this girl float haplessly up to the roof was so amusing he couldn't stop laughing. The stimulants running through his body weren't helping either. Terra looked up at the ceiling. The room wasn't gigantic, the ceiling was maybe twelve feet up, but she was far from gaining her space legs yet. Terra's body seemed to rotate in a circle; she was starting to get dizzy. As she got close, she managed to brace herself with her hands. "Just push yourself off," Giselle said. "Didn't you bring the boots?" she asked, turning towards David. "You said there were going to be two, I only brought two pairs," he said, handing them to Yoshi and Nadia, who took them as they watched the bizarre show Terra was putting on. "I'd put them on if I was you, unless you want to be like your friend up there." Terra braced her arms, pushing herself down from the ceiling. Giselle positioned herself under Terra, her arms waiting. "Gotcha," she said, taking Terra in her arms. "Thanks," Terra said. Yoshi was working his boots on as he held the 'Spirit of the Sky', and asked "So how does this work?" "Just push the button on the side twice, and it's on," Giselle said. "David, perhaps you can show Terra here a spare pair of boots? Then maybe you should get some sleep." "I can't, I'm so full of those stimulant packs I can barely blink," he said. "You know you shouldn't do that David," she said. While she had only known him for a few months, part of her naturally looked after him. Sergio had tried to take the boy under his wing, and Giselle had no doubt that could only worsen the boy's condition. 'Especially after what's already happened to his mother and father…' "I shouldn't stay awake for two days straight either. Come on, Terra, was it?" he asked, taking her by the hand. "Sorry, but I don't want you to go flying away from me again." "Oh, okay," Terra said. The boy's hand was clammy, and he looked strange. Terra had never stayed up for days before, but she thought there was something else that was wrong with him. He smelled, he had a patchy beard growing in random places, he smelled badly, and his clothes looked awful. "Don't forget to bring her back so we can show them around" Sergio said. Terra followed as he walked towards the double doors, looking somewhat akin to a kite being dragged by someone on the beach as her feet floated above her head. Having let most of it out, David was able to stifle laughter, for now. Going through the double doors, Terra saw a somewhat boring hallway. The sides had handrails, and there was a light up top, but otherwise it was uninteresting except for the dirty floor that looked like an army had trod over. "Here," David said, putting her hand on the handrail. "You can pull yourself, right?" "Yeah, sure," Terra said, annoyed at this boy. She hadn't been spoken to so rudely, and whether he was tired or not she was not in the mood. "This way," he said, walking ahead. Even struggling Terra couldn't keep up with him. "Hold up!" she shouted as he turned the corner in front of him. She continued to drag herself forward, pulling herself with all her might. As she turned the corner, she dragged herself right into David, pushing her breasts right into his face at top speed, sending his upper body reeling backwards. Were it not for the magnetic boots, he would have flown back in the zero gravity environment. He caught Terra's body above his, grasping her in a tight bear hug as he attempted to slow down the girls momentum. In doing so he incidentally pressed her breasts closer and tighter to his face. "Um, you can let go," Terra said, feeling squished by the awkward embrace. He let go of her, and Terra managed to grab the handlebar before floating away once more. "Just, just walk with me," Terra said, looking at the boy once more. He looked even stranger than he had previously. "Uh y, yeah," David said, getting himself up. He was completely embarrassed now. He hadn't been Casanova with the girls before leaving. In fact he hadn't even gotten to first base yet. Yet with that face full of Terra's breasts, he was suddenly sporting an aching erection. With the pants he was wearing, he was having trouble hiding it in any way. He turned around quickly, hoping that the young girl didn't notice and think him some kind of pervert. That was the last thing he needed the guys on the ship to hear. He reached his hand out, grasping hers once more. "Is everything okay?" Terra asked, feeling the boy's body seem to jump once again. His hands seemed clammier, and his walk was strange. "Y-yeah," he said, his voice cracking. He took a second to steady himself before walking on, carrying Terra behind him. He walked at an angle, trying to keep his body between Terra and his erection, now painfully pressed up against the pants. He swore he could have felt the girl's eyes piercing through him, knowing what his pants were hiding. He approached the elevator, and pressed the button. As soon as it opened he elevator he practically hid in the corner, trying to shield his erection away. He pushed the button for floor six as he tried to shift his hard on in his pants. He succeeded in pointing it upwards, and by pulling his shirt out of his pants had hidden it as best he could. "So how big is it?" Terra asked. "Uh, w-what?" he replied, looking back down again. He was sure he had hidden it away… "How big is the ship?" she asked, baffled by his strange actions. "Oh, well the Wings of Freedom 2 is about five hundred meters by two hundred meters by three hundred meters, total, but about ten meters on either side is reinforced shielding, to protect from special debris, solar radiation, or weapons fire. The nuclear core is located across from the docking bays, combined with the hull armor they make up the majority of the ship. The rest is the helm, which is a relatively small area, and living quarters. The helm is on the bottom floor, with a secondary station located near the, near Sergio's room." David said, not wanting to call Sergio a captain, although he technically was, as it was his ship. "The first floor is closest to the reactor, located near, well the middle of the ship. The sixth floor is closest to the outer armor, that's where we're going." "Oh," Terra said, not really understanding much of what he said. She was relieved to see the boy loosen up some, and talk normally. Or at least what looked like normal for him. "Here we go," he said, opening the elevator door. He wiped his hand on his pants, checking to maker sure that his erection had been hidden once more before taking her hand. He carried her down the hall, towards his room. Opening the room, he looked over his little piece of the ship. His room was actually a storage closet, which had been renovated slightly. Although it was bigger than the other rooms, half of it was closets and drawers filled with clothing, boots, and various other accessories necessary for space travel. He had been told it was because he was an unexpected guest, and the other rooms were occupied. Why he couldn't move into a room now made no sense. Of course his chances were all the less with the last three rooms being given to these three girls. "Over here, he said, grabbing the handle of a door. Swinging it open Terra saw over a dozen different pairs of boots, arranged by size top to bottom. "What size are you?" he asked. "I, uh, I don't know," Terra said, never really having given it much thought. She felt embarrassed, since it seemed like the kind of thing she should know off of the top of her head. "O…k…" he said dubiously. 'Is this girl stupid? She doesn't know her shoe size?' he thought, rolling his eyes. "Take off your shoes, it should be on the tag," he said, pointing down. Terra tried awkwardly to do it, but in zero gravity with one hand tethered to David, it was too much. "Just, sit here," he said, putting her on his computer desk. It wasn't a real computer desk; it was actually two short metal cabinets with a slab of metal bolted on. There was a nearby closet for her to brace herself upon, so she didn't float away. Dave bent down, untying one shoe before looking at the tag. "You're a size seven and a half," he said, going over to the storage closet. They were out of seven and a half for women, although truthfully there wasn't a difference in the magnetic boots. He grabbed the size eight, and handed them to her. "Could, could you, um," Terra said, feeling really awkward. She really didn't enjoy being with this rude boy. She especially didn't like asking him for favors. Yet, bracing herself between a cold metallic desk and a storage closet, and then trying to put on boots was something she didn't think that she was capable of. "Fine!" he said, frustrated at the helplessness of this girl. He wondered to himself why these three were of such importance. If Sergio were more important, he would almost think he had hired escorts. 'Like that old excuse for a captain would have the money, he'd have already spent it on cheap booze anyways.' He thought. Bending over he forced the first boot on. "Hey!" Terra said as the rough boot pushed up against her foot hurt. "Watch it! That hurts!" she said. "Oh Christ," he said, untying her other shoe before removing it. He pushed the second boot on slower, hoping not to hear any more complaints from the girl. When they were both on, he tied them up, and picked himself up off of the floor. "There you go!" he said, turning to his computer terminal. He had forgotten he left the game he had been playing paused days ago. He picked up the controller, and looked at where he was. "Thanks-w-whoa!" Terra said, as she released her grasp on the desk. She began to float once more, even with the boots on. "How the hell do these things work?" Terra asked, frustrated. Frustrated at space, frustrated at David, frustrated at these stupid boots. David shook his head. He should have expected this girl wouldn't even know how to turn them on. He reached his hand over, activating one, then the other, before pulling her down. About a foot from the ground the magnetic boots did the rest of the work, pulling her down a little harder than normal gravity would. Sitting down David picked the controller back up, and resumed playing the game. Well, as close to sitting as one does in space. While most of the chairs had seatbelts or straps to lock them into place, he had gotten used to the idea of just sort of half floating with his feet tethered to the ground. At least the chair gave him something to lean back on. "So how do these things work?" Terra asked, trying to get the hang of things. It wasn't like standing properly. Her feet wouldn't pivot or turn or do the slight adjustments that she was used to doing. "Huh? Oh, uh, you just push the button on the side twice to activate it, three times to deactivate it." He said, watching as his character in the video game picked up a 'plasma saw' and began attacking his opponents. "But how do you walk?" "Oh, it's got a pressure sensor on top of the toe part, just pick your foot up normally and all you have to do is step wherever, once it gets to within about six inches the magnetic element will pull it onto the floor," He said, absentmindedly. "What the…what is that?" Terra asked, watching as this boy began unloading a fury of senseless violence. "Oh this? It's Bonestorm. Basically I'm a super powered robot who gets sent back in time to stop an alien invasion," he said, as his character picked up a lighter. "Alright, this is awesome," he said, taking the plasma saw, cutting the head off of one of the humans. "So you mutilate and burn people in video games for fun?" Terra asked, horrified by the idea. "Oh, they aren't people, see?" he said, pointing at the oil gushing from the dismembered head. "These guys are robots who are secretly trying to take down humanity, they're working against me. Watch what happens when the lighter hits him," He said, and then flicked the lighter, and threw it at him. The resulting explosion killed not only the robot in front of him, but also a half dozen surrounding robots, sending shreds of shrapnel flying. "You…you think this is fun? Maiming and murdering people?" Terra asked, aghast. "They aren't people…what are you, one of those anti video game nuts?" he asked. "How can you even play this?" she asked, completely unable to understand. "Hey, I'm on so many stimulants that I can't get any sleep, and I haven't done much besides minor course corrections for two days, so cut me a little slack," he said. "Getting rid of my frustration is nice once and a while." "Fine, whatever," Terra replied, angry. 'Why does this boy have to be so frustrating?' she asked herself. "You might want to tie your hair up or something," Dave said, finishing off the last robot in the level. He watched as his score was tallied, diminished heavily by the fact it took him fifty-one hours to complete. "Why?" Terra asked, her hands instinctively reaching out to her head. He simply pointed towards the mirror, which showed the problem. In zero gravity, her hair went everywhere, some in front of her, some behind, some floating from side to side, some even twisted around each other, which would be a pain when she had to comb it out once on a planet. "Oh." She said, trying to tame her hair, but even when she pulled it into a manageable bundle it just floated away a moment later. "Yeah, besides it'll probably get caught in a door or something if you don't watch it. These doors hold up pretty good against hair, and that's probably going to hurt a lot," he said, saving the game before turning it off. 'So long as she doesn't cry about it anymore' he thought to himself. "So, are you moving in with me?" David asked, surprised that this girl was still here. "Um, I don't know. Sergio said the, uh," Terra said, thinking. "That we were going on some tour," she said. "Okay, just take the elevator, go to that floor, take a left turn, down the hall. All the room numbers are on the doors," he said, turning his computer off. "It's the same way we came. "Oh, um, okay," Terra said, picking up her shoes which were floating in midair. David rolled his eyes before saying, "Let me show you." "No, that's, that's all right," Terra said. She didn't want anymore of his forced help. Part of her didn't trust his directions in the first place. "Come on, I can't have you wandering into the engine room or anything, let's go," he said, walking towards the exit. Terra begrudgingly followed him, trying to move herself in the boots. She looked like she was walking in deep mud, the way her feet overstepped to try to compensate for the strange movement. She managed to keep up behind him, she thought she noticed he had slow down since before, but she couldn't tell. She didn't expect much courtesy out of the rude boy. "Dave, hold up!" came a voice from down the hall. Terra looked over as the man walked over to him. They did some elaborate handshake as they met. Terra looked on towards him, he was a good-looking guy, older than David, and a bit taller. He at least knew how to wear clean looking clothes, and had shaved. "Whoa, who is this now?" he said, looking Terra over. "Oh, uh Flynn, this is Terra, Terra, this is Flynn. She's one of our uh, guests coming along to see 'the wonder and majesty of the red planet'" Dave said sarcastically, quoting the oft said propaganda phrase. "Well, well, it had been some time since I had been on Earth, but I didn't know they were growing them up so nicely. Where are you too off to anyways?" he asked, rubbing his clean-shaven chin as he looked at the two. "Just picking up a pair of grav boots before joining the whole party for the tour," Dave said, twirling his finger in the air. "Oh, so Sergio is still there, that's good," Flynn said. "I have to talk to him about a couple things…Hey Dave, why aren't you sleeping?" "Can't keep my eyes shut," he said with a yawn. "Oh, well, I was going to head down to see everyone anyways, want me to bring this young lady…Terra, right? Want me to take Terra down to the docking bay?" he asked. "Sure, I don't really want to hear it from Sergio right now. Plus he's probably just going to try to force me into doing something else that I don't want to do." David said, turning around towards his room. "Well, you should get some sleep. If you want later I have to work on the 'Spirit of the Sky' later, and I could use some good hands. Milady?" he asked, motioning towards the elevator door. "Bye!" Terra said in David's general direction. He just waved in response, not even turning around. Terra's hands balled into fists as she shook her head in a frustrated way. "Give him a little break, he's having a real shitty time of it lately," Flynn said while he waited inside the elevator. "Everyone has had a bad time," Terra said, stepping in. "It's not an excuse to act like a jerk. Sorry I've never been in space before, it's not like there's an instruction manual or something I can read for everything!" "If there were Sergio probably lost it when he was drunk," Flynn said with a smile. "We're going to show you how to do a few things to get along. Being in space is tough for a lot of people. He's only been here a few months." "So?" Terra asked. If she could have, she would have tapped her foot. "Well, with all the stuff that happened to his old man, I mean, it's just hard for him," Flynn said, feeling as the elevator began to lurch forward. "What's happened with his dad?" Terra asked, her cold anger beginning to melt. "Oh, well I shouldn't…it's not my place to talk about that. Just, forget I said anything about it. Look, Dave's a decent guy, he's just a little spaced out, and dealing with some problems. He's been bored out of his gourd for the last two days. Just, give him a second chance." * "…and that's how the ships use the nuclear power to move the ship. It's actually an elegant design." Giselle said. "Of course, it's a pretty simple concept," Yoshi said. Part of him wondered how fast this rust bucket could actually get, since every kilometer a second faster would get him off of it. 'I wonder if I could find us a quicker way back. Of course, I'd have to find a fool like Sergio to give us a ride.' "What's taking them so long?" Yoshi asked, as he walked around the deck. The magnetic boots were giving him trouble too, although Giselle had been a more tolerant teacher than David. "I'm sure they'll get here soon enough," Sergio thought to himself as he stroked his unkempt beard. 'Maybe I should give the boy a few days off if he fancies that little redhead. Not my thing but I have to commend the boy on trying, and I'd rather see him do it than someone else.' "So what are we waiting for anyways?" Nadia asked impatiently. "I think Flynn dubbed it 'Interplanetary travel 101'" Giselle said. "There's a number of things you three are going to need to know, and it's easier to show you now, to help you get acclimated." "I remember we had to go to a six weekend classroom when my husband and I traveled to Mars. You're going to condense it down to what? A half hour?" Nadia asked doubtfully. "Yes well I'm sure whatever travel bureau trained you so well you could give us the lesson," Sergio suggested. "Besides, they were taking you in, they probably advertised about their cheap rate and then got you on the classroom. There isn't too much to know about being in space. Most of it is how to eat and drink, go to the bathroom, and not lose your mind when there's nothing to do." "Ah, here they come now. Oh, Flynn, it's you," Sergio said, a bit disappointed. Part of him wanted Dave to be making out with that little redheaded number. 'Have to give the boy a few pointers.' "Well, let's get started, shall we?" Flynn asked. * Tom held his body motionless as he heard the guard draw near. He had spent days meditating on what he was going to do. His choices were so few, and he had considered them thoroughly. His first choice was to deny helping them completely. This would almost certainly result in his death, and possibly Capistrano's, although Tom did not believe his story implicitly. Once they had gotten to Mars and he had been killed, they would surely try to rip the secret of the nanorobotic technology from Kyle's body, living or not. He knew that it would be better if they tried to take it from her corpse, as the nanos wouldn't survive for long in a dead host body. So ultimately, not helping these people would leave him and Kyle dead for sure, and possibly give nanotechnology into the wrong hands. Option two was to pretend to help them. Take as much time as possible, maybe gain the trust of someone capable of getting him and Kyle the hell out of there. If nothing else, then just spare their lives for the meantime. Of course, eventually one of a few things would happen. He would either be found out, in which case he will definitely be killed, and Kyle will eventually deal with the same fate. Or, they will find him to be too incompetent to waste anymore time with. Or, he would get sick from the radiation and die. In a prolonged case of exposure, they would surely notice Kyle's immunity to the radiation, and surmise her nanobots worked. Even if he could delay them indefinitely it would not matter. The last option was to help them in earnest. This of course was the obvious choice. Long before he became a scientist he was a doctor, and had even earned his medical degree ages ago. He had taken a Hippocratic oath just as all others had, and it was his duty to help people in need. But how far did that oath go, should he, could he unleash the nanos on the populace, to both heal them and possibly damn his own people? Could he find a way to save the martians? He had done so much to reduce radiation on Earth, but that was the results of nuclear fallout, not some extra planetary source. He opened his eyes, looking on towards Kyle, admiring her strength. She would fight tooth and nail against them for as long as she could hold out. Tom knew he wouldn't hold up for long against much. He would try with his might, but torture, drugs, psychological ploys, he knew he wasn't going to be able to stand up for that more than a fraction of the time Kyle would. While he would try to hide in his meditation, she had the strength to fight it fully, attacking the assault on her person in kind, and dealt with the lack of stimuli, with the lack of personal freedoms more than he could have. His retreat into his mind was an act of cowardice he knew, but it was his best defense. Even getting permission to be the one who fed her was more difficult than he had ever planned, but he couldn't stand to see her being forced to do something. He sighed as he turned towards the guard. "I'm ready to talk to Capistrano," he said in a low voice. * David kept pacing around the ship. He didn't have anywhere to go, but the stimulants in his body were beginning to wear down, and he was hoping to exercise a little bit to get rid of it. Besides, he figured some exercise wouldn't hurt. Flynn mentioned having to do some work on Sergio's bucket of rust he was so proud of. The sad thing needed to be put to rest, but he was under the foolish assumption that a coat of paint and an air freshener would make all the difference in the world. 'The Spirit of the Sky' was one of the lamest names David had ever heard of, second only perhaps to 'Wings of Freedom II'. David didn't expect almost the whole crew there when he opened the door. Had he known, he probably wouldn't have come. He didn't feel like enduring their insults right now, or ever, for that matter. "Alright, so I think I got the odds right here, who's betting?" Frank asked. Despite having never been to New York City he always emulated an ancient Brooklyn accent. Not that the inhabitants of Brooklyn had spoken like that for centuries in any case, his accent was copied from either movies or documentaries, either way David did not care. He just sounded foolish to Dave. "The odds on what, one of us ever getting off this garbage scow?" David asked as he walked in. "Yeah right kid, we can drop you out of an airlock anytime you ask," John said, coming from the backside of Sergio's ship. "It's the odds on who scores first. Since I myself plan on doing each one of them, I'm going to have to recluse myself," Frank said. "Was it that? I thought you were in the thousand plus weight class," David shot back. "Ha ha you little shit, what the fuck do you know anyways, at least I've gotten laid!" Frank said, pissed. "Oh come on now, it's not his fault you can't stop eating," Flynn said, wiping his hands on a rag, cleaning off the accumulated grime and dust that normally latches onto the hull of a ship, especially one this old and used. The rag just sort of hovered about in midair. "And who did you bang, some drunk chick, or did you just pick up a hooker?" "Oh here comes Dave's prince charming, to protect him from the mean guys!" Frank said in mock fear. "What are the odds already blob? I don't got all day you know," John said. "I don't even have to be here, so just read them off." "Alright, well it's even money they don't get laid, we shouldn't be out here more than ten days or so, two weeks if Sergio manages to screw something up." Frank said, putting the odds on the wall. "Taking all bets now!" "We're actually going at 90% speed now, believe it or not," Flynn said. David was impressed slightly, they hadn't gone that quickly in some time. That was close to two thousand five hundred km a second, which would get them to Mars in a record time since he had been on this ship. It was bad for the engines, especially with the ancient nuclear core, but if it was holding, then they should be fine. David looked at it. Flynn was at the top with two to one odds. He didn't even really care, but his own ego made him look at what he was set at. He looked around Flynn's side, and to no surprise was disappointed at what he saw on the board. 'A hundred to one, god Frank's an asshole' David thought to himself. The only one whose odds were worse was Sergio. David sighed, turning around towards the exit. "Oh what, gonna go pout because you don't have a chance?" John asked. "I wouldn't say that," Flynn said, turning around. "He was already hitting things off on that one number he was with before." "What the hell do you know about anyways?" Frank asked. "Just a look, I think," Flynn said, a half smile cropping up in the corner of his mouth. "I'll put fifty on me, and fifty on David." "What?" David asked, turning back around and looking at his friend like he was out of his mind. "I dunno, just got a feeling on this one," he said, handing fifty over. "Besides, even if I lose I'll still make my money back. Because that Asian one is mine!" he said, humping the air as he swatted the invisible person in front of him, as the group of them began laughing. "Your what?" Terra asked Flynn, as she entered through the door. The rest of the group dispersed, all of them trying to look busy doing something or another. Frank managed to pull the sheet of paper down before she had noticed. "Oh, uh nothing," Flynn said. 'How the hell did she get in here?' he asked himself. "There something you need?" David asked. "I just wanted to get my stuff from the back, Giselle said it was here," Terra said, opening the door of the craft. Sure enough, in the back were the plastic bags Giselle had stored there before their departure. She pulled them over, looking first at her bible, and then at the flower she had stowed away. "Anything good?" Flynn asked, admiring the view from behind as Terra fished her possessions out. He nudged at David and pointed, who admired Terra's backside as well. "Just a book, and a flower," Terra said, backing out from the craft. "A flower?" David asked confused. "Why?" "It's from a friend, but I don't think it's doing too good. Do you know what's wrong?" she asked, looking towards Flynn. Before he could speak David was already talking. "It's not doing well because it can't get the nutrients from the soil. It's floating in air, remember? Plus we can't pick up the right kind of light necessary for photosynthesis, not in the right quantities. Sorry lady, that plant is fucked," he said, smugly. "You…you don't have to be such a jerk about it!" she shouted, looking down at the plant in her arms, which had already startled to wilt. "Here, then just throw it in wherever the hell the trash is on this ship! I hate space!" she shouted, throwing the plant at David. It would have been much more dramatic on Earth, as it sort of floated in David's general direction. She stormed off out the door, muttering words she barely thought of before. David just stood there with a plant in his arms. "I think you just lost a bet Flynn," John said with a shit eating grin. * Far away a leader stood in her office. She watched with concern the events unfolding in space around her. The pale blue light covered the look of concern on her face as she followed Yoshi, Nadia, and especially Terra's travel into space. "Have you seen the latest developments?" She asked her leader. "I have, these Terrans are harder to predict than we had anticipated. All of these events should have been avoided," the leader said, watching the 'Wings of Freedom II' engage its engines. "They seem to have solved our problem for us, wouldn't you say?" the subordinate said. "No, not entirely. In fact, this might be exactly what's necessary to spark the war. I've read their history. Their so-called first world war had little provocation. Their most recent interplanetary war had almost no provocation. These people seem to go to war at the drop of a hat." The leader said. "Our instructions were clear, ma'am," the subordinate said. "Oh were they? This war will have grave implications, not only for just this small group but both of the planets and an entire region of space. We give chase," the leader said, turning around and looking out the window of her ship. "We were supposed to stay here and observe, there is another with the nanobots here," the subordinate said. "She is inconsequential, she does not know she has them, and is under no danger. These so called futanari are of the most important, it is their nature we may use as argument. We must protect both the nanobots in Kyle, Nadia, and Yoshi, as we must protect our nanos in Terra. As well as our original nanos," the leader said, looking down. "I know you care for him, but you cannot let it cloud your judgment," the subordinate said. "Oh? You claim to speak for me? He in no way 'clouds my judgment' His survival will be important, but more important is his nanos, as well as Terras. We will give chase, do not allow our position to be compromised. Do not take any actions, either aggressive or defensive." "Leader, the ship is experiencing difficulties, there is a good chance it may have a core contamination," the subordinate said. "We cannot reveal ourselves yet, let us hope they can detect and correct the problem," the leader said, waving her hand. The subordinate left her alone the room. The leader looked into space, her soul wanting to cry out to her son. To protect him, to save him, to hold him in her arms and be with him, for the first time since he was but a crying young babe. She looked out into the cold, dead vacuum of space. (This file was created by SomeRandomBastard (at) yahoo (dot) com, so send all flames there. Don't use without permission, and don't claim it's yours. Spread freely as long as this and the disclaimer above as well as the story entirely are untouched, unedited, and worshipped for the holy script they are not.) A critique, comments, flames, any responses are welcome, if they are pro, and then I'll consider making more. Don't be a jerk; send me a simple 2-minute or less message saying, hey, this was good. Thanks. Wow, so hard. http://www.asstr.org/files/Authors/srb/www/