http://www.asstr.org/~srb
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, and 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. Any websites that want to 
host my story must have expressed written consent to do so. I will list all websites that I 
have granted permission to list my stories there. If you are reading this now and find this 
on a new website, then please email me at somerandombastard (at) yahoo (dot) com

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. 
I created the entire fictional universe in which they inhabit, if you’re interested in writing 
in this world than feel free to email me. I’ve pretty willing. 

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…)

Thanks as always to Theromen and Crudebuster for their help in cleaning up the betas.

THIS CHAPTER contains futa/male, oral

Terra Chapter 30,
Things are Getting Interesting

David slowly opened his eyes, examining the dark room. It looked strangely familiar, as 
if he had been there before, but he couldn’t for the life of him remember where he was 
through the grogginess. He laid his head back, contemplating returning to sleep. The sole 
source of light was from the full moon, shining brightly through the window into the 
room in which he had been sleeping.

He had nearly drifted back off into a blurry hazy sleep when he heard the rustle of a 
doorknob. He shot up in his bed, examining through the darkness for a door, for a visitor, 
for the source of the noise.

“Who’s there?” he asked timidly, looking for something with which to defend himself.

“It’s me,” came a sweet familiar voice, wafting through the air. She stepped forward, in 
front of the pale light of the moon which shimmering into the window. She looked like a 
dream to him, and he relaxed in an instant.

“Oh, it’s just you Terra, where am I?” he asked, looking through the darkness again.

“It doesn’t matter. The only thing that matters is that you’re better now,” she said, 
stepping to the foot of the bed.

“I’m…better? You mean the cancer?” he asked, sitting up in his bed.

“Yes, you just needed a little bit of help from your friends,” Terra smiled.

“From, my friends?” he was bewildered. She was standing there, staring at him like he 
had never seen before. She seemed different, as if her air of innocence was gone.

“Aren’t I your friend?” she asked sweetly, her ruby red lips curling upward.

“You, you did this? You helped me? Is that why you kissed me?” he asked.

“Shhh,” she said, pursing her lips, obscured by her index finger. She startled him, resting 
her knees on the foot of the bed. She leaned in closer, on top of his body, whispering into 
his ear, “Now’s not the time for talking.” 

Before David could even begin to think, she kissed him on the lips. Not just a simple kiss, 
but a powerful deep kiss, penetrating past his lips. The kiss of lovers, of passionate ardent 
sexual desire. His eyes opened wide in surprise. He could taste the sweetness on her lips, 
almost as the same lingering drops of alcohol the first time that he had laid lips on her, or 
rather the first time he was awake enough to remember it. His tongue explored her 
mouth, in his groggy and dreamy state he was running purely on instinct. Her entire body 
seemed to be flighty and light, as if she had no weight. 

Almost in an instant she disappeared completely. He opened his eyes, straining in the 
darkness to find her. He needn’t have looked far as he caught the glimmer of moonlight 
illuminate Terra’s bright crimson hair. However where her cherry locks were surprised 
him.

“Terra?” he asked in between deep gasps. His mind was blurry but in a moment his proud 
raging hard on was freed from its trouser prison. He groaned, feeling Terra’s tongue 
complete on long lick starting from the shaft and running to the sensitive purple head. 
Terra looked him in the eyes as she flicked her tongue across the small slit, lapping up the 
precum which began to ooze from the opening of his cock.

He almost lost it when he felt her mouth wrap around the head, taking his throbbing cock 
into her wet lips. Her lips felt divine, like velvet as it glided along the quickly lubricating 
shaft. Her tongue danced across his skin wildly, ramping up his desire even further. Only 
in his dreams had he ever imagined something feeling this good, or to be with someone 
as incredibly beautiful as Terra. He was riding an incredible wave of pleasure, knowing 
he was near a volcanic eruption in Terra’s mouth of burning hot love lava.

Just as he was about to blow his load Terra stopped. She seemed to vanish a moment in 
the darkness of the room, just as she had only a moment before. He became worried, 
concerned that something was off, something had happened. He sought desperately in the 
room to find her.

Then just as abruptly as he lost her, she had reappeared. Before David could even begin 
to speak every ounce of attention he had focused over the delicious curves of her body. 
But one specific area of her body. It wasn’t her beautiful face, its paleness made even 
brighter and more beautiful by the moonlight. It wasn’t her breasts, the large luscious 
curvy mounds, accented by the tiny but pointed nipples. It wasn’t her long hairless legs, 
which seemed to go on forever.

It was her cock. Her fourteen inch cock standing at attention. Not only did it pale his own 
eight inch cock by comparison, but it was also thicker, her balls larger…in every way she 
outclassed him, and in some small insignificant way, it was emasculating to him. Perhaps 
more than that it frightened him. There was no way he wanted that inside of him. He 
could never imagine being able to withstand it, to satisfy it.

He glanced up, looking at Terra’s eyes. He was checking her out, and she knew that, he 
could tell. She smiled that sweet smile she had before climbing on top of him. He was 
frightened for a moment, not wanting to ask but wanting to know what they would do, 
how would they have sex?

He thanked the stars as he needn’t have asked. Terra, in what he knew was her infinite 
compassion, had climbed on top of him, but had turned her back to him, in a position he 
recognized instantly from his years of browsing pornography as a reverse cowgirl. He let 
out a deep sigh of relief, before realizing what was going to happen next.

Terra dropped her body down smoothly, so smoothly he barely noticed, except for her 
back digging against his chest. It was all a blur as she took him in. It was so effortlessly 
he had barely noticed, but as he glanced down he saw he had disappeared inside her.

She began to ride him. He was amazed at how it felt, despite being a virgin there was 
something so familiar about it. In fact it felt almost as if he were masturbating himself. 
He had imagined for so many years the soft hot wetness of a woman’s body, and here he 
was balls deep inside of the girl, shemale, hermaphrodite, whatever, that he had lusted 
after.

He reached out, grasping onto Terra’s breast with his left hand. The soft mound of flesh 
seemed to form to his hand as he cupped it, feeling it as if it were a novelty. He was a 
teenager, and he hadn’t the opportunity for many a grope fest. But it was when he tried to 
grasp onto her right breast that he noticed his largest predicament.

Instead of grasping the hard nipple of her soft breast, he grasped onto the spongy head of 
her hard cock. He froze for a moment, frightened of it. Truly, it was a shaft that 
shadowed his, and he still bore the concerns about whether or not it made him gay. 

Terra laughed, taking his hand with her own. She sucked on his fingers, one by one, until 
his whole hand was soaked wet with her saliva. He had grown at ease, calming down 
from his fright. Gently guiding his wrist to her cock, she slowly pumped his hand over it. 
Slowly but surely he eased himself, becoming more and more comfortable with the girl’s 
cock. It felt no different than his own despite the size and girth.  

In fact he amazed himself with how easily he became accustomed to it. As he relaxed he 
became more of a participant, his hand flying around Terra’s cock as he thrust his own in 
and out of her. He smiled, realizing that this wasn’t so bad. Perhaps it wasn’t so frightful 
of an experience as he thought.

He could feel that familiar rumbling in his balls, and he knew that his orgasm was nearby. 
He wondered if Terra was close, if she were near an orgasm of her own. Was he being a 
good lover? All he could see was the corner of her sweet smile, right as he was about to, 
about to, about to…

*

“Good morning David Tracy,” Erica said, opening the window blinds.

“Wha, Terra!” he said, as he was snapped suddenly from his dream.

“No Mr. Tracy it’s me, Erica, just here to check your vitals and see how you’re, oh,” she 
said, holding her hands to her face in a vain attempt to keep herself from laughing.

“I, wait, what?” he said, trying to put together all of the puzzle pieces. “How long have I 
been out?”

“A couple days. I think I’ll come back later,” she said, managing to close the door before 
she burst out into a fit of laughter.

“What’s so damned funny?” he asked himself, before looking down at his aching hard on 
sticking up, creating quite a tent in his sheet with a large wet spot.

*

“Looking forward to seeing David?” Nadia asked, tying her hair back.

“Oh, uh, yes,” Terra said, trying to fix her nurse’s uniform. It had seemed so neat just a 
couple days ago, but the novelty had worn off. Wearing a nurse’s uniform didn’t make 
her a nurse. Now it was just her work clothes.

“Sorry, I know that I said that you could see him yesterday, but we’re still looking at him. 
He’s recovering from the cancer fine, but his well, we’re not sure what is going on 
exactly. Something about his brain chemistry, it’s still off,” Nadia said, checking herself 
in the mirror.

“Oh, that,” Terra’s mind immediately focused on the stimulants which she knew that he 
had taken. ‘Are they affecting him even now?’ she wondered. ‘He must have stopped 
them, hasn’t he? It’s been almost two weeks, where could he get them?’

“What was that Terra?” Nadia asked, walking out of the bathroom.

“Oh, nothing,” Terra said, readying herself for another day. 

“Well, let’s get going. Oh, do me a favor, first thing can you go and check up on Leigha, 
see how she’s doing? Don’t let her think that we’ve forgotten about her. I’m going to see 
her the day after tomorrow, I’m just waiting for some medical supplies to come in. Takes 
forever here, but I’m sure every bandit would snatch anything just for the chance, and 
from what I’ve heard the government isn’t exactly doling out the medical supplies,” 
Nadia said, opening the door.

“Sure, I wanted to talk to her,” Terra said, curling up the corner of her lip. She followed 
Nadia out the door, into the bustling hallway.

“Okay, I’ve got to get going Terra, I’ll see you later,” Nadia said, waving.

“Later…” Terra said, watching her disappear behind a corner. She turned the other way, 
towards where Leigha was resting. She had found out that many of the rooms were built 
as residences for various church officials, but they were now housing people who were 
less fortunate than clergy members.

She smiled as she saw her father Emanuel there, sleeping on a chair in the hallway. He 
had insisted on staying there, even when offered a room of his own. Of course, during the 
night he had planned to sleep on the seat, not wanting to worry his daughter any. After all 
she needed her rest. Terra had gotten permission to move a more comfortable chair into 
the hallway, even though it took up slightly more space, and it was a pain to get it out of 
the room. She smiled before turning around to one of the church attendants.

“Excuse me, but can you bring him a plate of breakfast?” Terra asked, pointing at 
Emanuel.

“Sure thing beautiful,” he said, nodding at Terra. She could tell that he liked her, or at 
least liked looking at her. She heard someone who was unaware that she was listening 
talk about the things that he would do to her…she couldn’t help but wonder what he 
would do? She made a mental note to ask Yoshi or Nadia later.

“Also, a cup of coffee, if there’s any left,” Terra tried to say firmly, but politely. 

“No problem,” he said, smiling.

Terra shook off his creepiness and walked to the door. She knocked twice, waiting for a 
response. There was a murmur, and she decided it was okay to go in.

“Good morning Leigha,” Terra said, smiling. 

“Ugh, is it morning already?” Leigha asked, easily irritated.

“Yes, I’m sorry, would you rather I come back at another time?” Terra asked, trying her 
best not to offend. She had been told to bend as much as she needed to keep the patients 
in good spirits.

“No, I’m up, and you’re here,” the skinny girl said, leaning up in her king sized bed. 

“How are you feeling?” Terra asked.

“Cancerous,” she sighed. “More of the seizures yesterday evening. The pills help my 
headache but not that much. I can’t remember the last thing I kept down. It all just, I hate 
it.”

“I’m sorry to hear that. Have you made the list of everything that has happened, like I 
asked?” Terra hated to nitpick. She could tell that the girl was in pain. But she believed in 
Nadia’s abilities to help her.

“I think I wrote them all down, I forgot some of it,” she said, holding her head.

“Oh, okay. I’m going to have some food sent in, hopefully you can keep it down,” Terra 
said, trying to be positive. “Just some easy stuff, like oatmeal.

“Sure, yeah, we can try that, might be easier to toss back up” she said, watching Terra 
turn her back. “Hey Terra?”

“What is it?” Terra asked, maintaining that forced smile.

“How about that boyfriend of yours, what’s his name?” she asked, chuckling as Terra 
became embarrassed.

“He, he’s not my boyfriend. David, you mean,” she said hesitantly.

“How is he?” the girl asked, leaning up in her bed.

“They say he’s fine,” Terra said honestly.

“They say, you mean you haven’t seen him?” she asked expectantly.

“No, I haven’t, not yet,” Terra answered back cautiously.

“Terra, you have to show some interest in boys, or else they’re going to go after the next 
girl that walks by them. You should know that,” she said with one of the first honest 
smiles she’s had in a while.

“Thanks, I, I’ll keep that in mind,” Terra said surprised at the girl’s forwardness. 

“You do that. What are you doing these days anyway, do you already have a boyfriend?” 
she asked.

“No, why are you so interested in my personal life?” Terra asked, surprised at the prying 
of the twelve year old.

“I don’t have much to talk about. Nothing I want to talk about anyway. I don’t have any 
other girl friends to talk to now. You’re the only person who comes and talks to me. The 
rest just tiptoe around me and get out as quick as possible. I guess I’m bored,” she 
shrugged, clutching her head for a moment. “So what have you been up to?”

“Very little. This job is stressful, and takes a lot out of me. I’m helping people but I just 
wasn’t ready for it. It’s really my first job. I don’t get paid for it, and most of the boys 
stare at my chest or my, my backside. My friends are here but they’re just as busy, or 
busier, so I spend most of the time talking to strangers who complain about everything, as 
if it’s my job to fix their problems. I’m not a doctor, I’m not even a nurse, I’m not in 
charge of anything, I’m just, me,” Terra said, taking a deep breath.

“Feel better?” Leigha asked with a grin.

“Yeah, I do,” Terra answered, returning the girl’s smile with one of her own. 

“That’s good. So what else is there to do in a church?” the blond wondered.

“Not very much, from what I can tell. The only thing I’ve done besides work and eat is 
watch some TV,” Terra said honestly.

“Is that it?” Leigha asked disappointedly.

“Well, I was thinking about being baptized,” Terra offered weakly.

“Baptized, huh…” Leigha mused.

“I, I’ve never been,” Terra said reluctantly, as if she expected everyone to have been.

“Me either. My family isn’t really, you know, big, churchy type people. Well, my 
grandma was. My mom wasn’t that much, but she went to church when Gramma made 
her. She really wanted me to see me be baptized,” she said.

“Well, maybe she still can,” Terra said hopefully.

“No, she’s dead. My mom too, cancer for both of them,” Leigha said morosely.

“Oh, I, I’m sorry,” Terra said.

“No, it’s okay, you didn’t know,” Leigha said, waiting for a moment. “You know, maybe 
I should be baptized.”

“Well I mean it was just an idea, I didn’t, I mean, we weren’t, you know,” Terra said 
flustered, unable to come up with the appropriate words to speak.

“No, I want to. I think my family would have wanted it. When is it?” Leigha asked.

“I didn’t, it isn’t planned yet,” Terra tried to explain.

“Oh, well. If you can talk to uh, whoever is in charge of that, let me know. If possible, I 
want to do it today. Because there might not be a tomorrow,” Leigha turned her head, 
looking out the window.

“Don’t talk that way, Nadia’s a good doctor, she, she helped David, and she’s going to 
see you. She’ll see you the day after tomorrow, definitely,” Terra said, hopefully.

“Fine. But if they happen to start baptizing people today, count me in,” Leigha said, 
pausing for a second, “If there is a heaven, and my mom grandma is there, I want to make 
sure I can meet them.”

*

Tom sighed. In the last three days he had learned more about the compound that was 
encircling the planet within the forming rings than he had learned in three weeks while in 
space. It was fascinating, the substance shouldn’t even be theoretically possible, as its 
quantum structure was unlike anything he had ever seen. He had spent so much time in 
the science labs, only taking breaks when they were closed, that he hadn’t meditated in as 
much time. He needed to unwind, or get as close to relaxing as he could.

His mental discipline however, was short lived.

“There you are,” Amber said, her voice carrying a symphony of irritation.

“And there you are,” Tom said, opening his eyes. Even when she was pissed, the blonde 
beauty before him was dressed to turn heads. A low cut top with a bare midriff, and a 
very short skirt which left nothing to the imagination; especially given the angle of Tom’s 
view.

“You know, you’ve got a lot of nerve,” she said, resting her hands on her hips 
disapprovingly.

“How so?” Tom asked calmly, as he unfolded his legs. He knew with this woman he 
would not get the chance to meditate.

“I do you a huge favor, put my neck out for you, and you don’t even thank me. You get 
drunk and I don’t see you for days, you didn’t call me or leave me a message… Why the 
hell did I help you?” she asked angrily.

“I’ve been rather busy. We have made tremendous discoveries thanks to…” Tom tried to 
explain rationally.

“You haven’t been busy enough to sit in a grassy field outside a bunch of half naked 
bathing teenagers,” she said, shaking her head in disapproval.

“I just sat here only minutes ago,” he argued, knowing this was a futile fight. 

“Have you even talked to girls before? Or have you just spent your whole life in a science 
lab, or whatever you nerds do?” she asked.

“I’ve spoken to more than my fair share of women in my time,” Tom said coolly, not 
enjoying the obvious dig at him.

“Look, I’m going to give you a chance to make it up. And I’m being VERY generous 
here,” she said. Though she could not show it, she was enjoying the theatrics.

“Oh, and just what would I have to do to make it up?” Tom asked.

“Take me out to dinner,” she answered, changing her stance almost as an actor on stage. 
Tom noticed the change, wondering just what the game was.

“I’m afraid that I can’t take you out anywhere. I’m little more than a prisoner here,” Tom 
answered, stepping up.

“I know that. You scientist types think you’re so smart. Escort me to dinner, entertain me 
for a night, genius,” she said in a less than flattering way.

“Oh and why should I take you up on your offer?” Tom asked, teasing her.

“You just don’t get it do you? You owe me. Its time to start paying me back. Besides, 
what else were you going to do with your time, look at numbers and chemicals or 
something?” she said despairingly 

“And what if I told you I had plans for dinner tonight?” he had informal plans with Kyle. 
They almost always ate together in his room, as they didn’t enjoy the main cafeteria, nor 
could they eat in Kyle’s room.

“Cancel them. Honestly these scientists, it’s like I’m speaking another language,” she 
said, turning her back to him. She clutched her breasts, wondering to herself ‘Are these 
things on?’

“Okay, it’s your call,” she said, turning back to him. “If you don’t want to have dinner 
with me I won’t bug you anymore. Next time you have a favor you need filled, maybe I’ll 
be too busy having dinner with someone else.” She turned her head around, giving him a 
knowing look, sauntering while swaying her backside to give him a bit of incentive.

“Six o’clock good for you?” he asked.

“I’ll meet you at your room, dress nice,” she said, waving her hand behind her. She 
enjoyed the victory, even if it were a bit hollow. After all, what choice did he have? At 
least she would get the chance to try out her new dress.

*

“Well, Terra, it is rather sudden,” Teralyn said, taking a bite out of her salad. She was 
happy that her first rocky lunch with Terra had become a pleasant daily chat. She was 
amazed by the depth of the girl’s knowledge of Catholicism, for someone who had grown 
up in what she would characterize as a ‘two times a year’ catholic, visiting only on the 
major holidays, Christmas, and Easter. She had an almost encyclopedic knowledge, and 
could quote lines from memory as well as she herself could. But more than that there was 
something else to Terra, something that many people lacked. She had an almost childlike 
sense of right and wrong. 

“I know, your Eminence, but um,” Terra said, searching for the appropriate words, “it’s a 
pressing matter.”

“I understand,” Teralyn said, thinking for a moment. As a Pope she had no skills to mend 
bones. She was only equipped to mend souls on their path towards the heavens. 

“Well, what do you think?” Terra asked hopefully. Nobody had told Terra and so she 
didn’t know that she had some of the biggest, beautiful puppy dog eyes in the worlds. 

“Well I am sorry to say that less than a day’s notice isn’t enough. I’m afraid I can’t find a 
deacon who could perform a baptism in such short time,” Teralyn said, just to get her 
going.

“Oh, I see,” the redhead answered, digging at some lettuce in her salad.

“But Terra, I would be happy to baptize you and Leigha. Shall we say six, after work?” 
she offered.

“Yes, that would be fantastic, thank you so much,” Terra said, becoming giddy with 
excitement.

“Very well, it is unfortunate that you won’t have either your parents or any godparents 
present, but we will make do. It wouldn’t be the first time, and I doubt it would be the 
last,” Teralyn said with a knowing grin. She hadn’t performed a baptism in some time.

“Um, maybe,” Terra said, wondering if it was right to ask Nadia to be her godmother. 
“Well, should, is there anything I need to know, or wear?” Terra asked.

“Oh yes, yes, it’s all pomp and circumstance, ceremonies and all that. We wouldn’t be 
Roman Catholic if we didn’t have that,” she said sardonically with a smile. “You can do a 
simple search for it on any of the computer terminals or pads. It’s rather simple. I just ask 
you obvious questions. There’s a ceremonial white robe, do wear clothes underneath. I 
had this one instance where a young lady didn’t know…let’s just say that it wasn’t quite 
appropriate in the house of the Lord.”

“What do you mean, she, oh,” Terra said, letting out half a laugh before covering her 
mouth. Teralyn found the girl’s reaction too funny. There was something about the naïve 
redhead that was simply too much for her old bones.

“So, have you seen your friend David yet?” Teralyn asked, deciding to change the 
subject.

“No, not yet,” Terra said, twirling a piece of cucumber around with her fork. “Not yet.”

*

Giselle had made up her mind. She had done every bit of reconnaissance that she would 
need to do. It was an unimportant civilian supply depot with six soldiers, five lower level 
grunts with a sergeant running the operation, a mounted fast attack vehicle, one small 
cannon at the mouth of the base, and a dog. They could call in an air strike in what she 
estimated conservatively at five minutes from the nearest airbase, assuming they would 
be ready. And she had to make that assumption.

Given that at any time two of them would probably be sleeping, she had spent the last 
two days examining the group. She had made names for them, Sergeant, Fatty, Blacky, 
Body, Baby, and Dummy. Dummy and Baby worked the perimeter on the two night 
shifts, it seemed that Body and Blacky slept, while Sergeant was almost always indoors, 
except for morning inspections. The dog seemed to rest at night, or perhaps they simply 
had more to look at during the day.

The information hadn’t been easy to come by, especially since she knew there was no one 
else that she could trust to gather the information for her. She had just been thankful that 
there were still a number of her little packages scattered around town. Giselle Gabriel 
was no amateur. While rookie intelligence officers might try to hoard their supplies in 
one location for the sake of easiness, she knew it was too much of a risk. If one area 
should be found she would have nothing. All she needed was places to hide items, places 
that wouldn’t arouse suspicion, and ideally, out of the way.

Specifically, she needed to make use of the little cameras that she held in her hands. They 
were a special kind, biodegradable. They would record information up to a certain point 
in time, transmitting it via a low band signal that would be bounced off a number of 
routers to mask the destination, and then all of the information would be wiped clean as 
the camera itself began to degrade. After a day there was little more than a few computer 
chips and a circle of glass where there had once been a camera. And more importantly, no 
way to link it back to her. 

Of course she couldn’t have used a scanner for this type of job. It would have set off the 
alarms in no time. But well hidden cameras were just as useful as her own set of eyes. 

She packed everything that she would need. Among other things she had a spray to mask 
her scent, some rations, a grenade, rope, a flash grenade, a ghost box, and two handguns, 
one with bullets, the other with tranquilizers. Not that she was a softie by any means. She 
wouldn’t mind blowing everyone’s brains out. But she knew that it was an unnecessary 
risk. She was no weapons specialist, no blood thirsty soldier. Intelligence was her bread 
and butter. And keeping people alive was important. Every once and a while you would 
need a computer password, retinal scan, thumbprint, or some other piece of information 
that could only be obtained from a living and intact person.

She slung her backpack on her back, feeling the weight. She would be walking a bit 
today. She would change twice, go to three restaurants, and then take the long way 
through the woods, to avoid a tail, or anyone remembering her. She didn’t mind doing 
field missions. But the waiting was terrible. She hoped the new Indian place would be 
decent, at least. She hadn’t enjoyed good tandoori chicken in forever.

*

“What do you mean you’re getting baptized?” Nadia asked, checking on a pad of the 
condition of a child’s broken arm she had just put in a cast. 

“Today, at six, I’m going to be baptized. I, I want you to be there, please,” Terra said, 
knowing that look from Nadia. Nadia was tired and in a bad mood, and trying not to take 
it out on her. 

“You, why now Terra? Why can’t you wait until, until,” Nadia said, waiting herself for 
the answer to the blank. Wait until they were back on earth? Wait until she was back with 
her mother?

“Leigha wants to be baptized too,” Terra said solemnly. 

“Oh,” Nadia knew that was that. There was no questioning a sick child, especially for a 
request that was not only easily doable, but free. And she didn’t want Terra to know how 
dire Leigha’s situation was. Terra hadn’t seen her first death. That was the defining 
moment for most doctors, at least those who put themselves in the line of danger, not the 
ones who simply opened up a general practice and diagnosed boo-boos and sent their 
patients off to a specialist. She had spent far too much time in the trenches, and it was an 
experience she had hoped to continue avoiding. “Okay, when are you going to be 
baptized?”

“Six,” Terra said anxiously, checking the clock for the umpteenth time.

“I’ll be there,” Nadia nodded, handing the pad off before receiving another.

“You’re really busy, I’m sorry to bother you,” Terra said, nodding as she turned around.
 
“I’m never too busy for you Terra, I just have a lot going on. Besides, Dr. Edgewise 
might even be up and about in the next couple of days, if he keeps up like he is,” Nadia 
said to the air as her redheaded lover had disappeared. She didn’t even have a moment to 
be upset before there was yet another matter going on which demanded her attention.

*

“What do you mean you can’t have dinner with me?” Kyle asked angrily.

“I’m sorry Kyle, but something came up. It’s kind of important. Besides, it’s not like we 
had plans, right?” Tom asked, trying as best he could to lighten the mood. He knew better 
than to get on Kyle’s bad side.

“What is it?” she asked.

“I’d rather not say,” he answered hesitantly. He hoped that she would jump to the 
conclusion he wanted her to.

“I see,” she said, following the bait.

“Look, we can talk this over breakfast tomorrow morning, okay? I mean, it’s not like you 
have to have every meal with me,” he said, trying to be upbeat.

“Yeah, okay, fine,” Kyle said, hanging the phone.

“Um, is, is there a problem?” Chloe asked, brushing her long luxurious blond hair.

“I guess I’m on my own for dinner,” Kyle tossed her communicator on the bed. 

“If you’re not doing anything then maybe we can have dinner together I mean I haven’t 
eaten either and I know how it can be to have to eat alone and sometimes its really lonely 
not to say that you’d be lonely but I mean if you wanted to eat something I could go soon, 
or whenever you wanted I mean we don’t have to eat right now I could wait but if you 
want to eat I can eat now or later or whenever, whatever’s good with you,” Chloe babbled 
as she picked her blue dress up off of the hanger on the closet door.

“Yeah, fine, let me just get dressed,” Kyle said, digging around for the most modest set of 
clothes she had. It was like trying to find a normal set of jeans in a beauty queen’s closet. 
She managed to find a conservative top, or at least the most conservative top that she 
could find, and the one skirt she owned that went past her knees. She grabbed a pair of 
panties, almost shuddering looking at the things. It felt like her trouser snake was being 
choked every moment that she wore them, but she had little choice in the matter. Her 
mother had taught her more shame than to simply walk around commando.

“You, you don’t have to change in the bathroom you know I don’t mind if you change in 
the room it’s not a big deal to me its just like when you’re at the gym and you take a 
shower afterwards I’m not trying to peep you know, I mean I kind of like girls but I like 
guys too I guess that makes me bi but I’m not you know trying to look at you, not that I 
don’t want to look at you either because you are really, really hot, maybe even the hottest 
girl here and I’m not just blowing smoke up your ass,” Chloe said, jumping from one 
topic to the other almost as if a nervous wreck.

“Relax,” Kyle held her palm up, browsing through her shoes. Most women would have 
gotten wet with her selection of shoes, anything from toeless high heel stilettos to knee 
high leather boots, and everything between. She just wished she had a pair of sneakers. 
“I’m not worried about you taking a peek at my tits, believe me. Besides, you turn plenty 
of heads with that body,.”  ‘If she knew the reason why it would flip her lid.’ She 
thought, ‘Again.’

“Oh thanks you don’t have to say that I mean I’m not nearly as beautiful as you or any of 
the younger girls but I do try to keep myself in shape and they give me all the best 
makeup I could ever need and---“

“Thanks Chloe, just say thanks next time. And I did mean it. How about we get going in 
about a half hour?” Kyle suggested, closing the bathroom door behind her.

*

‘That wasn’t so bad,’ Tom thought, putting his communicator down to charge. Kyle 
wasn’t an unreasonable person by any means. In fact, he got along with her rather well. 
Truth be told he would be looking forward to this dinner more if he didn’t have to lie to 
her about it. 

In his eyes Kyle had a determination as fiery as her red hair. She was passionate about 
what she believed in, and what she expected of people. But he believed that beyond that 
tough as nails outer shell, there was a part of her that was probably as lonely and 
homesick as he was. She just wouldn’t reveal it, not for the life of her.

He sighed, reaching into his closet. He had asked if there were some place where he 
could get a suit. Twenty minutes later a suit was delivered to his room, adjusted perfectly 
to his size and frame. And not just any suit, it was professionally cut and tailored, better 
than any other he had owned. He couldn’t help but wonder if Amber had already planned 
this out. 

It had been quite some time since he had worn a suit. He searched his mind for the exact 
time. The last he could remember was Capistrano’s…

Tom shook his head. He didn’t want to let this night be ruined because of some ill actions 
in the past. He could understand Esteban, not that he agreed with him. What was done 
was done, and he had to deal with what was happening now.

And now he was donning a tremendous suit. He grinned, enjoying himself in the mirror. 
Here he was, having drinks with the Prime Minister of a planet, in charge of a think tank 
that might be responsible for saving a planet, and by night he was going off on a date 
with a beautiful younger woman. He knew it was silly, but life had a way of doing crazy 
things like that.

He stopped himself for a moment as he donned his jacket. ‘Though the bars may be 
gilded, don’t forget it is a cage.’ He reminded himself, checking his tie.

Two quick knocks from the door turned his head. ‘Okay Thomas Pope, show time!’

“Well, I guess you clean up pretty good after all,” Amber said, grinning as she took him 
in. A gorgeous blue suit with a red power tie, spotless wingtips, even a matching 
handkerchief tucked in the right pocket.

“Yeah, thanks,” he said, nearly speechless. She was completely decked out, wearing a 
little red dress that barely covered her body. Backless it ended well above her knees with 
a bare midriff, save for a spiraling circle, centered at her belly button and reaching out to 
form the pattern for the remainder of the dress. How it stayed on was nothing short of 
magic. To accompany such a dress she wore matching shoes, three inch real leather 
stilettos, and had adorned her ears, fingers, and neck with all manner of glittering but 
tasteful jewelry. And of course, she wouldn’t be complete without makeup befitting a 
movie star. “You look…gorgeous.”

“What? This little thing?” Amber said, smiling that beautiful smile that all women had, 
some of them simply didn’t know how to summon it on command. “Ready to go?”

“Y, yeah, of course,” he said, exiting his room and offering his arm. He managed to do 
everything in his power to keep his tongue in his mouth as he escorted her down the 
hallway.

*

“Will Terra Byrne and Leigha Billingsly, and their sponsors please come forward?” 
Teralyn asked, standing before the two by a font of holy water.

“I present Leigha Billingsly for baptism,” Emanuel said, stepping up with his hand on his 
robed daughter’s shoulder. He didn’t believe much in all of this, but his wife did, and so 
did her mom, so he would oblige.

“Leigha, do you desire to be baptized?” Teralyn asked.

“I do,” she said with a smile, looking at Terra.

“I present Terra Byrne for baptism,” Nadia and Yoshi both said, stepping forward. 
Neither was thrilled to be here, especially after working for ten unpaid hours.

“Terra, do you desire to be baptized?” Teralyn asked.

“I do,” she said, returning the smile to Leigha.

“Sponsors, will you support the people you present with your prayers and examples as 
they grow into Christ?” 

“I will,” Nadia, Yoshi, and Emmanuel said in unison, before stepping down. They hadn’t 
gotten much of a chance to rehearse this yet, and despite it being the first time for all 
three it all seemed rather simple. 

“Those who are baptized are called to worship and serve God.  From the beginning, 
believers have continued in the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, in the breaking of 
bread and in the prayers. Terra, Leigha, will you commit yourself to this life?” Teralyn 
asked, getting into the act. It had been a while since she had been a deacon and presided 
over baptism.

“I will,” they answered together.

“Do you believe in God, the Father Almighty Creator of Heaven and Earth? Do you 
believe in Jesus Christ, His only Son our Lord? Do you believe in the Holy Ghost the 
Holy Catholic Church?” she asked.

“I do,” they answered.

“Will you forgive others as you are forgiven?” 

“I will, with God’s help,” their voices echoed through the altar.

“Terra Byrne, Leigha Billingsly, do you renounce Satan?” Teralyn asked, playing it up. 

“I do renounce him,” Terra said, looking over to Leigha.

“I do, renounce him,” she said, beginning to feel lightheaded. Terra grabbed onto her 
hand, holding her up. She smiled and nodded in appreciation.

“And all his works and all his pomps?” Teralyn asked, lowering her voice as she kept an 
eye on Leigha, becoming wary of the girl.

“I do renounce them,” they said together.

“Terra Byrne, will you be baptized?” 

“I will,” she said, holding Leigha’s hand extra strong. She felt like she was holding the 
woman up.

“I baptize thee in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost,” Teralyn 
said, cupping her hands in the holy water of the font before her. She poured the water on 
Terra’s head, letting it pour down the girl’s face. She had forgotten to tell her not to wear 
makeup, as it would run, but thankfully she hadn’t worn any. Terra smiled brightly.

“Leigha Billingsly, will you be baptized?” 

“I will,” Leigha said, trying to shake it off.

“I baptize thee in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost,” Teralyn 
said, cupping her hands in the holy water of the font before her. She looked into the girl’s 
eyes for a moment. There was something there. She poured the water over her head, 
letting it pour down the girl’s face.

“Our help is in the name of the eternal God, people who are making the heavens and the 
earth. Come Holy Spirit! People bearing your gifts…of…Grace,” Teralyn said, watching 
in horror.

Terra first noticed the small rumblings when the water was poured. She had mistaken it 
for nervousness, or the shock of the water pouring down her body. Somehow the water 
was cold, the room was stuffy, hot, it seemed almost devoid of air. And Terra was 
preoccupied with her own feelings of excitement, of happiness at the moment.

When she felt a sharp tug she turned her head just in time to watch Leigha drop to the 
floor like a sack of potatoes, the only thing keeping up from hitting her head on the hard 
tile was Terra grasping her arm.

“Help her!” Teralyn said towards the two futanari doctors, who rushed towards the 
convulsing girl, along with her father.

“Damn it she’s having another seizure,” Yoshi said, knowing something would go wrong. 
In his eyes anything could go wrong in a church.

“Put your finger in her mouth, stop her from choking,” Teralyn suggested.

“Don’t you dare! She’ll bite your finger off,” Nadia said, trying to stabilize the girl. She 
pulled off the coat she was wearing, propping it under Leigha’s head. “Help me turn her 
over,” she said to Yoshi, as the two managed on the second try to flip her.

“I, I didn’t want this,” Terra said, holding her hand over her mouth in fear. Only a 
moment later a steady stream of vomit poured forth from Leigha’s mouth.

“Dammit, we’ve got to get her onto the other side,” Nadia said, turning the shaking girl. 

“Oh God, bless this child,” Teralyn said, walking over to Terra. They stood there, 
helpless to assist but drawn to the sight. Terra wanted to weep but held her tears in. Now 
was not the time.

*

“I never imaged that there was such a place here,” Tom said, amazed by the ambiance.

“Oh this little thing? I used to eat here with Smith all the time, back before he built his 
personal dining room,” Amber said, enjoying it. It wasn’t too often she got the chance to 
surprise someone with such opulence. It was a job but she could enjoy it too.

“Such a difference, from just a floor up,” he said. They were just one flight of stairs 
above the main cafeteria, and yet this room was fantastic. The cafeteria was simple and 
plain, the type of eatery that one might expect out of a cafeteria or school, just far cleaner 
and much better food. 

But this was like VIP room taken from a five star restaurant. One single table in the 
center made of fine dark mahogany, covered with an elegant silk tablecloth, with their 
places set and appetizers in the middle. Beautiful art on flat screens, changing every few 
seconds adorned the walls like paintings. Background string music plucked lightly in the 
background. Still, none of it compared to the view. An entire wall had been removed, 
showing the courtyard and the steep gorge below, as the setting sun behind them painted 
the entire scene in a beautifully dim orange glow.

“Well calm down, I didn’t bring you here for the view,” she said, walking to the table. 

“Of course not,” Tom said, shuffling towards the table. He put his hands on the fine 
wooden chair and pulled it out for her.

“Good boy,” Amber said, seating herself.

“I do know a few things,” he said, seating himself opposite of her.

“So they say. From what I’ve heard it sounds like you’re the big boy, the quarterback of 
the scientist squad,” she said smirking. ‘Stroke his ego,’ she thought. Most men wanted to 
feel big, to be the best. Complimenting a man’s mind was the second best thing to telling 
him he had a big dick, or even better that it was ‘the best sex I’ve ever had in my life’.

“Oh, I’m nothing special,” he answered modestly, taking off his coat before seating 
himself.

“Is there anything I can get you?” The waiter asked, bringing over two wine glasses and a 
chilled merlot.

“Oh, uh,” Tom looked around the table for a menu. “What are the specials?”

“There’s no menu, you can get whatever you want. I used to have a little game when I 
first got here, trying to beat them, try to stump them with something they couldn’t bring 
me,” she winked at the waiter.

“And?” Tom asked, knowing there was something else to the story.

“Long story short, they beat me every time,” she said with a laugh. “I’ll have a thick t-
bone steak, nice and bloody, baked garlic potatoes, and some mixed veggies.”

“I’ll have the same, but cook the hell out of mine,” Tom answered, enjoying the look 
from her.

“Huh, wouldn’t have expected a Buddhist to eat a steak,” she said, sipping from the glass.

“I’m not Buddhist, I just believe in it,” Tom didn’t bring up that alcohol was against 
Buddhist practices as well. 

“Like the fundies that run around preaching about church without following it?” she 
asked raising an eyebrow.

“I don’t preach Amber, ever. People are free to believe what they want. Honestly I don’t 
care enough to try to get people to believe in the same thing I do. Too much effort, not 
enough to get back. But I didn’t know you knew anything about Buddhism, there aren’t a 
lot of people out there that do these days,” he sipped from his wine.

“You think I’m dumb?” Amber asked, imitating shock. She had only looked up a vague 
encyclopedia entry on Buddhists a couple days ago, as research on this dinner.

“Not at all, I find it impressive. Not only beautiful but brilliant as well,” he said, laying it 
on thick. ‘What the hell, if I should try, I should try.’

“Now Dr. Pope, when did you suddenly learn how to charm a girl?” she asked, flashing 
her pearly whites.

“I can’t help it if a guy like me spends too much time in a lab to realize a good thing 
when it comes along. At least I have something much more interesting to look at than 
numbers tonight,” he took another sip. He figured she should like that.

“And you said you weren’t that important. No wonder you were so preoccupied, doing 
everyone’s work for them. From what I hear you are the top dog, the big man on the 
block. Hell, they picked you up from Earth just to pick your brain,” she said, exchanging 
one compliment for another. He was right there in her hand and all she had to do was 
mold him. Men were so simple in her eyes. Smile, show some skin, make physical 
contact, and compliment their mind, their body, stroke their ego and they were yours. 

“No, I’m not that great,” he said, glancing at a breadstick. 

“What are you talking about? You helped bioengineer plants that cleaned ocean water. 
Your formula to breakdown pollution and fallout is famous. You probably saved a billion 
teenagers from the effects of late night grope fests by coming up with feasible cures for 
STDs. You even have a strain of grain and rice named after you. You solved hunger, 
thirst, and disease, they even renamed your high school after you!” she said, realizing a 
moment later that she had played her cards poorly. She put too much on the table far too 
early but she was trying to fight him from acting depressed. The best way to deal with a 
depressed man was sex, and she didn’t want to throw herself at him on the first date.

“Hah, I know, it’s funny how things get reported. I’m not a super genius. I didn’t 
discover all of those things, not really,” Tom said, taking a bite from the breadstick and a 
sip of wine. 

“So what, was it all a lie?” this threw a major monkey wrench into her plans. She didn’t 
like it when she didn’t know what was going on.

“No, not really. You see, I started early in life as a well known scientist. I went to the 
right schools, fell in with the right crowds, joined the right boards, and said the right 
things. I was a good public speaker, which is a rarity among my colleagues. I had a good 
sense of ethics, something which is surprisingly missing from some scientists these 
days,” he reached over to the bottle of wine and helped the two of them to some more 
wine. 

“So how does that matter? Did they just give you the credit for everything because you 
were a well speaking pretty boy?” she asked, genuinely interested.

“Not exactly. The first breakthrough I had was for Desyinatrinom syndrome, a terrible 
disease which paralyzed the nerves of the body. It was airborne, and spread like wildfire. 
I was in a group, actually, it’s funny, but most of us are here. It made all of our names. 
You see, I worked with a group of scientists. We were close, but one colleague, Esteban 
Capistrano, took the idea and ran with it, testing it on human subjects far before we were 
ready. He wound up saving a lot of lives, at the cost of eighteen,” He said, examining the 
glass.

“But was it worth it?” she asked, feeding into his story. To her trading eighteen lives for 
nineteen or more was worth it.

“I don’t know. Back then I was against it. I stood on my soapbox and spouted off morals 
like a braying fool. Looking back I think I was just pissy because he beat me. But worse 
than that, he used my idea and beat me,” he said, taking another bite of breadstick.

“Your idea?” she sat up in her chair, leaning in.

“Yes, my idea. It launched me into fame, I got to take credit for the cure but keep my 
hands clean. You see I’ve never been some super genius, like I said. The way that I’ve 
gotten where I am is I see through numbers,” he said, searching for a way to explain it.

“See through numbers?” she had no idea what that meant. 

“Yes, I see through the numbers on the screen. I dissect, analyze, and sift through the 
information that’s sitting there in front of me. I see these things, these patterns, where 
things are going better than anyone. Science is all the same thing. Run the scientific 
method over and over again. Hypothesis, experiment, analyze the result, run more 
experiments, change hypothesis, until you have the truth, the answer, right or wrong. 
Anyone can come up with a hypothesis. The experiments are easy to run, we usually have 
grad students do the grunt work for us. The information all comes in on computers, it’s 
all automated. But the human element, analyzing, looking where it’s going to go and 
deciding where to focus the time and energy, that’s where I made my living,” He said, 
pointing on the table for emphasis. Maybe it was just the suit but damn if he didn’t feel 
smart and important.

“Because you’re able to analyze the numbers better? No offense but can’t a computer do 
that?” she asked, amazed at the change in the man. He seemed so timid, so laid back but 
now he was fiery and passionate. ‘Leave it to an egghead to get worked up about 
numbers.’

“If it could it would. But it hasn’t, not yet. Think about it this way, they look for patterns, 
but they don’t look for patterns that aren’t there. They don’t notice when one test shows 
an absolute, or a negative every time. Sure maybe it’s an aberration, but sometimes it’s 
not. It’s like knowing a city and being able to use all the shortcuts that tourists don’t 
know. I just zoom right through the wrong areas of research and go to the right ones,” he 
took another sip of wine.

“So you are gifted,” she smiled, taking a breadstick.

“Not that way. As I said, I’m not a genius. But because I knew where to research, and I’m 
a passable speaker, I managed to make a living being in charge of research groups. When 
reporters come, they talk to me, because I’m in charge, because I speak well, heck, 
maybe I keep in shape and look better than the average scientist. Sometimes I think that 
they just liked me because I offered up good short quotes. And as time went on I 
developed a good relationship with the reporters. They liked me, and I liked them. We 
had drinks together, I was celebrating making some breakthrough or another and they 
were celebrating having the big scoop,” Tom sighed, knowing he was drudging up bad 
memories.

“You sound depressed, that sounds like a good time. You made a discovery, why not 
celebrate?” she was starting to realize that this man had more under the hood than the 
average one. Not that she couldn’t figure him out. Now she had a challenge for once in a 
long while, something that really piqued her curiosity.

“Truth is as time went on some of my contemporaries had grown to dislike me. It only 
got worse as more and more of the discoveries were attached to me, or to be more 
accurate, my group. So I had to drink with reporters. It was funny, the same cycles would 
happen. New faces would come and be attached to research groups. We’d discover 
things, and they’d all think I was a genius. Then as time went on they’d come up with 
great ideas, and I’d put them forward. They’d think I was so magnanimous for using their 
idea and exploring it. As time went on they would think what I was doing was all smoke 
and mirrors, parlor tricks that could be reproduced by themselves. Then once I started to 
go with another person’s ideas, they would become bitter, joining with the others in my 
group that took exception to what avenues of research I choose to explore. They would 
resign from my group and join into another group, or if they could get the funding they 
would start their own, and have difficulty reproducing the results. It got to the point 
where I got out of the research game, for quite some time, until I started to work for the 
government,” he sighed, taking a bite out of a breadstick.

“Well, well, Dr. Pope, I never realized there was so much politics and backdoor 
discussions in the scientific community,” Amber said, pushing her hair back 

“But here I am with a beautiful woman just rambling about unimportant things from the 
past. I’m much more interested in hearing about you,” he said, doing his best to change 
the subject skillfully.

“Me? What is there to know about little old me?” she asked innocently. She had just 
learned a lot about the man sitting across from her, and it changed all of her plans. But 
when a man asked, always try to capture his interest.

“How does a woman like you manage to get to where you are?” he wondered aloud.

“Having dinner with you? A girl must eat after all,” she avoided the question skillfully.

“No, not that. How did you wind up here, the main consort of the Prime Minister?” he 
asked.

“Either really good luck or really bad luck, depending on your point of view,” she 
answered honestly, realizing her mistake.

“I don’t believe in luck,” Tom said.

“I don’t either. It’s a strange thing living the kind of life I lead,” she paused, before 
adding, “I have no regrets, and no one to blame but myself.”

“Well, I don’t want to bring up a bad subject if you don’t want to answer. You look so 
much nicer when you smile,” He tried unsuccessfully to lighten the mood.

“You know it’s funny, I can’t remember the last time someone bothered to ask,” she said, 
her voice sullen. “Honestly, I can’t complain. I’ve got what most women could only 
dream of. I’m richer than just about anyone on the planet, I’ve got the power to do 
whatever I want, get whatever I want, and all I have to do is deal with Josiah. It’s not that 
bad of a gig.”

“But you don’t like it,” Tom said, folding his hands together.

“Yeah,” Amber said, nodding. She looked up, flashing a smile. She had planned on being 
the one to open him up, to reveal any chinks in his armor, but she became the one to 
show weakness. He was craftier than any other man she had known, but he acted like he 
wasn’t playing a game. She knew this was going to become interesting.

Her smile became genuine when she saw the waiter open the door, approaching with a 
dining cart. After all, nothing improved her mood better than food, except for drugs. And 
she didn’t have any drugs.

*

“How is she?” Terra asked desperately the moment Nadia entered their bedroom.

“She’s, okay now,” Nadia hesitated. “She had another seizure due to her brain cancer. 
Hopefully in two days the medicine will come here, and with any luck she’ll respond to 
the medication quickly. Then we can move on from there.”

“Oh Nadia I was so scared,” Terra said, hugging her. She wanted to cry but the tears 
wouldn’t come. She felt so guilty, so selfish to want to cry when such a young girl dealt 
with so much pain.

“Terra, just, take it easy,” Nadia herself found the situation so difficult. There was 
nothing that she could do for the girl she held in her arms. Worse, she was misleading 
Terra. If the girl’s condition continued to deteriorate, no medicine or operation on Earth 
or Mars could save her now.

“I’m sorry,” Terra said, turning her back to Nadia. “I know I’m being childish, but I like 
Leigha. I don’t want to see her…her…”

“Terra, come on now. You can’t focus on it right now. I just checked on her and her vital 
signs are fine. Worrying about her doesn’t help her out, and I know she wouldn’t want 
you to feel bad. Her father is there watching over her, and she should be fine,” Nadia 
said, searching for a way to change the subject. “How is David doing?”

“David? Oh, I, I don’t know,” Terra said, avoiding Nadia’s look. She turned around and 
walked to the nightstand.

“Weren’t you supposed to check on his vital signs?” Nadia asked, surprised at her 
hesitancy. 

“Yes, but I asked Erica to do it for me,” Terra said honestly, opening up a bag of chips. 
She found out in the last couple of days that she liked chips.

“What? But you were looking forward to seeing him, weren’t you?” Nadia looked at 
Terra. There was something amiss there.

“Yes, but, oh I don’t know what to say to him Nadia. Everything sounds so wrong. What 
do I tell him, that I’m glad everything went so well? That I’m happy that he’s okay? 
What is he going to think about it?” Terra asked rhetorically, forcing another mouthful of 
chips in.

“Why are you so worried about what he thinks?” Nadia asked aloud, not really expecting 
an answer. ‘Why is she so worried? She’s almost acting like a schoolgirl…with…a 
crush…’ 

“I’m sorry Nadia, I promise I’ll see him tomorrow,” Terra said, sucking off the crumbs of 
chips off of her fingers. Nadia recognized Terra was eating comfort food, which only 
gave her more reason for concern.

“Terra, it’s your choice about seeing him or not. He’s going to be out of his bed 
tomorrow anyway, he can see you. But, well, having people visit can be nice when you’re 
recovering. Remember what I said about keeping a positive attitude? You wanted to help  
him so much, even, sharing the, you know, that I just assumed you would want to check 
up on him. I’m sure he’s probably wondering where you are,” Nadia said, turning her 
head as she heard a knocking on the door. She lifted her hand to tell Terra to stay there. 
She knew she was being paranoid but she went next to the dresser where Kyle’s service 
revolver, which she had been hiding for what seemed like forever, was hidden.

“Who is it?” she asked, bracing herself against the door.

“It’s Erica, there’s a man, who wants to see Terra. He said his name was Erratical, or 
something,” she said from the other side of the door.

“Erraticus?” Nadia asked.

“Yeah probably. Do you want to see him or have me send him away?” she asked.

“He probably wants to see David. Terra, do you want to see him?” Nadia looked at the 
girl, who seemed very much in question.

“Okay. I guess there’s no reason to put it off any longer. I’ll go see David,” Terra said, 
nodding as she stood up to answer the door. “Sorry if I’ve been kind of funny. I just don’t 
know how I feel about things right now.”

*

“Wow Kyle you really eat dinner fast I mean I’ve barely even eaten my chicken 
parmesan but you’ve already finished your turkey breast and mashed potatoes I mean it 
looked delicious but you ate like you were starving I don’t know if I’ve ever seen anyone 
eat that fast before ever not that you eat too fast or anything because I mean obviously 
you don’t eat too much,” Chloe said, babbling in front of everyone in the cafeteria.

“I ate so quickly because I didn’t talk,” Kyle said, shaking her head. “Just keep eating.”

“Okay, sure thing Kyle I can do that, I’m on a diet but I can still eat some stuff and I get a 
lot of exercise but not as much now that you stopped the other girls from being mean to 
me I’m so thankful for that because they were making me do all their chores and stuff—“

“Just, keep eating,” Kyle said, standing up, “I’m going to get Tom something for dinner. 
He’s probably stuck behind a computer pad burning the midnight oil.”

Kyle made her way and quickly got an order of ziti and meatballs to go, a meal she knew 
that Tom enjoyed. ‘Maybe if he’s working this hard he’s close to really having a chance 
of fixing this crazy world’ she wondered to herself. She looked over her shoulder, happy 
that Chloe was actually eating, and close to finishing her dinner. She waited another 
minute, just to be sure that her roommate would actually be ready to go sooner than later.

“Hey Kyle welcome back you know I got to thinking you were really nice saying that I 
was pretty and all but you know if you ever wanted to do anything I would be willing to 
do anything after all you’ve been so nice to me and I really appreciate everything that 
you’ve done plus you are really hot and I just wanted to tell you that I’ve done that kind 
of thing before with one of my other roommates she was really nice and all and since I 
hadn’t done anything before she had been really patient with me and let me take my time 
slowly and honestly I don’t mind it actually I kind of prefer it than having sex with a man 
but the only man I’ve had sex in a long time is Smith I mean it’s been forever since my 
husband and child died and besides sometimes Smith likes to have more than once person 
at the same time you know a three-way and if you ever had to do that I wouldn’t mind 
helping you out with it I mean if you want it of course I’m not saying that you need my 
help or anything but sometimes it’s easier when there’s two of you and besides Smith has 
a mean streak but he can only do so much in one night and it’d be like dividing it in half,” 
Chloe said, taking a deep breath.

“Okay then,” Kyle said, shaking her head. “I’m going to go drop this off, then back to the 
whorehouse. Feel free to tag along.”

“Okay Kyle I’ll go with you because,” Chloe said, stopping herself after Kyle’s steely 
glare. “Okay.”

*

“Well Amber, I had a really nice time tonight,” Tom said, carrying her on his arm. 
Despite the rocky start to the date, the two had loosened up with some fantastic food, 
some of the best wine on the planet, and a dessert that was to die for. 

“Me too, actually. I didn’t know what to expect,” Amber said honestly, realizing her 
mistake. 

“Didn’t know what to expect? You make it sound like it’s a job,” he laughed, leading her 
down the hallway.

“Oh yeah, right, a job,” she said sarcastically, flashing a smile. ‘If only he knew.’

“Sure you don’t want me to take you to your room?” he asked, trying to be chivalric.

“Oh sorry Tom, but they’d shoot you on sight,” she said seriously, which made him burst 
out into a fit of laughter.

“Tom,” Kyle said, holding a big plastic container of dinner in her arm. “I…didn’t realize 
that you had already eaten.”

“Oh, Kyle, uh, yeah, we already ate, uh this is Amber, and,” Tom said, in one of the more 
awkward situations he had ever been in his life. 

“We’ve met,” Amber said with a voice meant to show her boredom and infuriate Kyle. 
She was happy to see it work.

“Well, I didn’t realize that this was what had come up. Good night Tom,” Kyle said, 
thrusting the meal into his free hand. She turned around angrily and stormed through the 
hallway, with Chloe fast on her heels.

“Well,” Amber said into his ears, “Things are getting interesting.”

*

“It’s nice that you came to visit David in the hospital,” Terra said, trying to make small 
talk with the hooded Erraticus.

“Well I figured I owed the little sunovabitch a hello at least,” he said, nudging her. “So 
how the hell is he doin’ anyway?”

“He’s doing well, he’s just recovering right now. They believe that he’ll be up and about 
tomorrow,” Terra said, leading him back towards the room where David was. She was 
getting nervous, her heart was starting to pound though she knew no reason why. She was 
just so anxious, so nervous about what to say to David, about what he would think.

“Ah good, good, little baby was probably faking it the whole time,” Erraticus laughed as 
he stumbled through the hallway. Terra could tell he was drunk, but she couldn’t tell if 
she had ever seen him not drunk.

“I, I don’t think he was faking it,” Terra had checked all of his vital signs herself, not that 
she could understand it.

“Oh I wouldn’t blame the baby for faking with a beautiful nursemaid like you, ah ha!” he 
shouted, nearly stumbling into a shelf as he continued to walk down the hallway.

“Right here,” Terra said, knocking on the door.

“Who is it?” David asked from inside.

“Ah it’s me you little crybaby, I’m comin in whether you like it or not!” Erraticus 
shouted, so drunk he was unable to manage the difficult task of mastering a doorknob. 

“Here let me help,” Terra said, opening the door for him.

“Erraticus you drunken old bum, how the hell are ya?” David asked, sitting up in his bed.

“Better than you, the last thane of the house of Tracy. Boy you must have built up one 
hell of a bill here. Oh no, don’t bother getting up,” He said, lurching through the room.

“What the hell are you doing here anyway, get lost on your way to the bar?” David shot 
back.

“Actually I needed to use a pisser, got one?” he asked. 

“Down the hall on the right, or so I’ve heard,” David said, pointing in the general 
direction of the door. His guest staggered towards it, eager to relieve himself.

“Um hello David, how, how are you doing?” Terra asked, standing in the doorway.

“Oh, Terra, uh, hi, I’m good, thanks,” he said, scratching the back of his head.

“I, I was happy to hear that, you know, the cancer is gone now,” Terra smiled.

“Well, I owe it all to your friend Nadia. I’d thank her but I guess she must be as busy as 
you are,” David said, shrugging.

“Busy?” Terra asked nervously.

“Yeah, well I heard you were like a nurse or something now, so I figured you were busy, 
there’s like a billion sick people coming in and out of here,” David waved towards the 
hallway where she stood.

“Oh, yes, there are a lot of people. I’ve been trying to help them, all of us have. But, I 
should have come to see you before, I’m sorry,” she said, half smiling. She suddenly 
began to feel very guilty from how nicely David was treating her.

“No, no-no, don’t be sorry,” David said, his dream from last night running through his 
mind. She was standing right there too… “You were busy, it’s cool. Stuff happens, 
right?”

“Well, I guess, but I should have been here,” she said remorsefully.

“I don’t know about that, but you’re here now, that’s all that matters. Come on in, make 
yourself at home,” he said, waving her forward. She looked even more beautiful than he 
remembered. ‘Damn why do I have to think about that stuff now?’ “So what have you 
been up to?”

“Oh, uh, well like I said I’ve been helping people. I mean mostly I’ve just been doing the 
little things, to make everything easier for people, it’s nothing special,” Terra said 
modestly. She knew that she wasn’t doing that much, but she wanted to do something, as 
long as she felt she was making that difference. 

“Hey, everything’s gotta start somewhere right? I mean what the fuck, hospitals usually 
have a million people to do the unimportant little things,” he said, his face suddenly 
becoming painted with concern. “Not that I mean what you do is unimportant, but it’s 
like, shit, you know, not cutting people up, but you help people with that. You know, give 
them the info they need so that they can do it.”

“I got baptized,” Terra said, trying to change the subject.

“No shit, uh, congratulations. I would have figured you’d be baptized by now, with that 
big clunky bible of yours. What’d you take with you, that and the flower, and that’s all 
you figured you’d need in space huh?” David said, putting on a smile. Terra was standing 
right at the foot of his bed, just like she had been during his dreams, and he couldn’t keep 
his mind clear of the dirty thoughts.

“I hadn’t been to space before,” Terra said, feeling immature. ‘Should I have brought 
other stuff? Was it right to bring that? What should I have brought?’

“Oh hell most people haven’t. It’s cool, we didn’t have a list of banned stuff or anything. 
How is that flower doing anyway? It tough enough to deal with Mars?” David didn’t 
know what to ask the girl, he was still feeling woozy from the sedatives he was on, and 
not having eaten much solid food.

“It’s good, but it’s not as bright as it used to be. I think it’s sick but I’ve kept it watered 
and everything,” it had become the least of Terra’s concerns. 

“Ah its Mars, not much you can do about it. You know I got to thinking Terra, 
 David said, rubbing his unshaven chin. 

“About what?” she asked, feeling nervous.

“What are you doing tomorrow night?” he asked, just as nervous.

“Tomorrow, nothing really, sleeping I guess,” Terra said.

“What do you think about going out?” he said, letting out a deep breath.

“You, you mean,” Terra said, her face blushing, “Go out on a date?” 

“No, no, I didn’t mean that. I mean not that I don’t want to go out on a date with you, I’d 
uh, you know I’d love to go out on a, oh fuck me,” he said, tripping over his own words. 
“I meant I was thinking about having a little party, you know, celebrate that I beat 
cancer.”

“Oh, that sounds nice,” Terra said, the relief flushing over her.

“Count me in,” Erraticus said, ambling in from the bathroom with his fly down.

“Good, Terra, you should invite your friends too, I owe them my life, least I could do is 
buy them a drink,” David said, smiling.

“Maybe we should get Sergio,” Terra suggested.

“Maybe not,” David laughed.

“We should do it at Sofrito’s, that’d be the easiest, and the cheapest,” Erraticus said, 
reaching into his pocket to find his flask.

“Would probably save me a buck. And I’d want her to be there too. Oh, what about 
Giselle, have you seen her?” David had almost forgotten her.

“I saw her today, she looked like she was buying cheap crap in the marketplace like a 
tourist,” Erraticus said.

“Why would she buy, uh stuff like a tourist?” Terra asked.

“Hell if I know, I didn’t want to bug her. Figured she was on the job or something. She’s 
supposed to find us the resistance, so I can get some money. Oh and I guess you got other 
reasons and stuff,” Erraticus said, taking a long drink. It had been almost half an hour and 
he was beginning to lose his buzz.

“Fucking Giselle, I wonder what she’s up to,” David said, rubbing his chin stubble.

*

Giselle Gabriel was, as she calculated it, had completed more or less eighty percent of her 
job. It had actually been easier than she had imagined. She couldn’t have wished for 
better luck. Fatty and Dummy were both drunk, chain smoking cigarettes and talking 
about “bitches”. The only time they moved was to piss, and their bathroom was nearby, 
on the far side of the building.

She had managed to use four ghost boxes to create a hole in their surveillance network. 
She then broke in through a wire fence she had reconnoitered earlier. A few snips of the 
wire and she was able to get in quietly, without arousing anyone’s suspicion. The path 
she had entered was a small path between two cliffs, a path which seemed as if he hadn’t 
been used in quite some time.

She had assumed after her good fortune that the only difficult part would be to get into 
the building where the supplies were stored. It would be, if the building hadn’t been left 
unlocked. The door was in good shape and she was able to open it silently. Whoever was 
in there had even been lazy enough to leave the computer on, and she was able to search 
the inventory and locate the batteries she needed easily. 

‘I knew this was an amateur operation but god, civilians aren’t this bad,’ Giselle thought, 
closing the door behind her. ‘Then again with the way the planet is going, civilians can’t 
afford losing this shit. They must have every decent soldier watching that cocksucking 
bastard Smith every minute of the day now.’ She could only imagine every would-be 
assassin loading rifle gun in anticipation of nailing him. She just hoped her bullet would 
beat them to it. 

“Fuck,” she mouthed as she reset the door’s lock. She made a noise. It was a small one, 
barely audible, but she made a noise. She knew she had to be like a ghost. She ducked 
into the corner behind the building, peering over. Fatty and Dummy hadn’t moved an 
inch, they weren’t even looking over. Their rifles were resting against the wall in front of 
them. They seemed at ease. She peeled off her latex gloves before taking out her 
binoculars and got a closer look on the two. They were lighting up another round of 
cigarettes. She let out a sigh of relief and turned around, preparing to leave the way she 
came.

Her heart nearly leapt from her heart. She turned around, frightened from the growing of 
the attack dog growling from behind her. She glanced to the exit. Twenty feet away. 
There was no way the dog wouldn’t follow. She stepped slowly away, inching towards 
the broken chain link fence. She could barely see the dog in the night, but she had seen 
him before on camera. Doberman Pinscher, adult, male, and very violent. 

In action movies they make fight or flight actions, deadly encounters seem to pass in slow 
motion, as if a bullet seems to slow down when it’s on route to your head. The hero 
makes a move to save his skin my mere millimeters, whereas he has the ability to turn 
around and fire back with no deleterious effects from almost being killed. It makes for an 
easier way of storytelling rapid action scenes so that the viewer can understand it.

But real life happens fast. The dog dove at her. Instinctively she threw up her hand, trying 
to protect her vitals. Her body was flush with sharp stabbing pain. She wanted to scream 
but managed to hold her silence through the agonizing anguish. The dog bit into hand, 
trying to tear her arm from its socket. She reached into her shirt, digging desperately. No 
effort was easy. The dog yanking her one way, her body flailing as she tried to fight the 
other. She felt like she was going to lose her hand. The pain was so severe she wondered 
if she would lose consciousness. She wasn’t a soldier, she was a spy, and she made her 
living avoiding situations such as these. 

Finally she pulled the gun out, shooting three shots in quick succession point blank into 
his chest. She let out a deep sigh as she felt the dog’s grip start to wane. 

She looked down, realizing she had grabbed the tranquilizer gun. She tried to see if the 
guards had noticed. They hadn’t. She managed to pull the dog’s dead or tranquilized 
body into the shadow and plucked the darts from his body. She didn’t want to give them 
anything. She pulled out one of her spare shirts, wrapping it around the bleeding wounds 
in no time, and reaching into her bag of tricks for one last thing.

Ammonia, among other chemicals, is capable of destroying blood samples, making it 
almost impossible to determine a person’s identity through a blood test, sometimes even 
with a DNA test. She had a spray bottle for just this instance, and sprayed the ground 
where her blood had spilt, then covered it with a thin layer of dust. Grabbing her 
backpack she ran, still cradling her bitten left hand in her untouched one. 

One hundred and fifty yards past the crevasse, she was out in the open woods and 
meadows. She took the main escape path by the river, avoiding noise by running through 
the wet sand with barely an inch of water. The tracks would dissipate quickly by 
morning. She kept checking her back, watching for something, anything pursuing her. 
She was out in the open with minimal cover and no support. Scanners wouldn’t pick her 
up but thermal imaging would. 

After five klicks she was satisfied that there was no one behind her. She had almost 
gotten back to Amazonis, and was more exhausted than she had been in some time. 

She stopped, taking her time to breathe and relax as best she could. She gently dropped 
her backpack on the dry sand, checking the batteries carefully. They were unharmed, and 
she let out a sigh of relief. ‘Giselle, what the hell did you do all of this for? Was finding 
out about these nanobots so important? I could have gotten myself killed.’

She crouched down at the water before beginning the process of unwrapping her hand. 
She expected the worse. Vicious dog bite, it could be ugly. They didn’t keep using attack 
hounds because they were useless. Aki was a great doctor. She hoped that with his help it 
wouldn’t set her back too far. She was actually amazed that it didn’t hurt as much as it 
did, but she assumed that the adrenaline and endorphins were pumping fully through her 
system now, and when they wore off it would be a bitch.

“Fucker,” she said, feeling the cloth rip away from the forming clot on her wound. A few 
random drops of blood dripped into the water, before dispersing. She looked down at the 
caked red which painted her wound. She put her hand in the water, washing the blood and 
whatever had gotten in there away to stave off infection.

‘It doesn’t look too bad actually. I don’t know how that is, that dog was vicious. I can 
still move all the fingers at least, so that’s good. Too good. What the hell?’ she thought, 
looking at her hand as the last minor cut healed itself. She almost couldn’t believe it, as 
she ran her fingers along where deep puncture wounds from dog bites should be. The 
moon shone brightly, exposing her hand with enough detail to examine it in length. 

‘That’s fucking amazing. Even my old scar is gone…am I on drugs? No, I can’t be, I’m 
perfectly lucid. What the hell is happening to me?’ she asked, staring frightfully at her 
immaculate skin. 

“Is this what nanobots do?” she asked herself, wishing the moon might answer.


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