“Elias!”
“Krevis, sir!”
Elias turned smartly and attempted to salute his boss and make it look respectful whilst simultaneously giving him ‘the finger’. The straight-lipped, glazed-eye look on Elias’s face was suggestive of an acceptance of his lowly rank and relative inferiority; suggestive only.
“Got a new guy starting; picking him up on Alzira.”
“Species?”
“Human … name of ‘Dunno’ … been on the dark side of the moon for last three cycles, so be nice!”
“Human …?”
Elias quirked his eyebrows and quizzed his lips, feeling a shudder getting ready to quake; he suppressed it and clenched his buttocks. He had no inkling about where the reaction had emanated from, except that it had been cycles since he clapped eyes on another human. Aliens came with the territory. Elias never thought of himself as alien; no human ever did despite being the poorest and the smallest relation of the Cosmos.
“That’s what it says. Clean up this shithole and sort out his quarters.”
“Yes, sir!”
Krevis moved off at a quick clip towards the cargo bay exit, so intent on checking the display of his handheld command device that he stepped right in the pile of doodoo by the door which Elias had strategically placed there for the express purpose of causing his supervisor acute embarrassment and maddening inconvenience.
Elias avoided Krevis’s tirade by diving behind a pile of Shrock, where he found Dalbert.
“Hey, boy!”
Dalbert wagged his tail and nuzzled for a treat, eliciting a scratch behind his ear and a frang chip.
There wasn’t much cleaning up to do because the cargo bay was nearly full of Shrock; delivered by a succession of surface-to-craft carryalls throughout the current seven cycle tour of duty. Elias’s craft was a big, inter-galactic carrier which collected the Shrock and delivered it to the processing facility on Alzira which stood at the end of the expedition. A parto-cycle of recreation time also lay ahead before the next tour … and so it went on as it had for most of Elias’s working career as a security guard aboard the carrier; Dalbert, his only connection with home. Krevis was once married to Elias’s cousin, Alicia … some things are best forgotten.
Having cleaned the cargo bay, Elias moved to the quarters and opened up the suite which was destined to be Dunno’s space within Space for as long as he could remain sane. A standard suite which had lain empty for more cycles than Elias could remember. Loneliness was like a poison which numbs the body and sheaths the nerves so that even Krevis’s officiousness was nothing more than the annoying buzz of a Cremfly.
A hive of drones quickly and expertly removed all traces of dust and Elias requisitioned clean bedding and towels from the store, placing them on the bed platform, which, like the one in his own room, faced the persiplex viewing aperture. Too many nights, he’d lain awake, looking out into the guts of the galaxy to see nothingness staring back; and only Dalbert’s whining to be let out, convinced him at times that he was actually alive. Space felt too much like the dreams he had been having of late.
This night, he dreamed of something entirely unexpected … Earth.
Earth is like a man’s lover; a lover left behind at the start of a war. At first, the remembrance of their face is as fresh and as wet as the tears which sprang from their young, blue eyes whilst you kissed them and promised all kinds of impossible things; chiefly, to be faithful and write once a week. The picture dried and faded like a leaf, cracking and crumbling with each successive tour which took you farther and farther away. Finally, it was going to take so long for letters to reach them that you didn’t bother. Occasionally, you spent a good part of a cycle’s bonus on using the instaviewing tube and if you were lucky you didn’t catch sight of the hulky dark form of the interloper disappearing out of the frame of the shot as the screen clicked and buzzed before the image suddenly exploded onto the screen. When the eyes are as dead as the leaf, you stop phoning home.
Tonight, Elias dreamed of Earth before any of that took place or mattered. The scenes were from barely remembered trips to beaches, hiking up hills and hastily constructed campfires.
In the dying moments of the dream, he caught sight of the blond lifeguard whom he had once spied upon as he had lain naked, asleep behind some dunes.
Dalbert was dreaming too; of chasing Catch-Me-Can and in his dream, he was momentarily distracted by the bright flare of a comet, streaking passed the persiplex viewing aperture between C and D decks.
“Krevis, sir!”
Elias turned smartly and attempted to salute his boss and make it look respectful whilst simultaneously giving him ‘the finger’. The straight-lipped, glazed-eye look on Elias’s face was suggestive of an acceptance of his lowly rank and relative inferiority; suggestive only.
“Got a new guy starting; picking him up on Alzira.”
“Species?”
“Human … name of ‘Dunno’ … been on the dark side of the moon for last three cycles, so be nice!”
“Human …?”
Elias quirked his eyebrows and quizzed his lips, feeling a shudder getting ready to quake; he suppressed it and clenched his buttocks. He had no inkling about where the reaction had emanated from, except that it had been cycles since he clapped eyes on another human. Aliens came with the territory. Elias never thought of himself as alien; no human ever did despite being the poorest and the smallest relation of the Cosmos.
“That’s what it says. Clean up this shithole and sort out his quarters.”
“Yes, sir!”
Krevis moved off at a quick clip towards the cargo bay exit, so intent on checking the display of his handheld command device that he stepped right in the pile of doodoo by the door which Elias had strategically placed there for the express purpose of causing his supervisor acute embarrassment and maddening inconvenience.
Elias avoided Krevis’s tirade by diving behind a pile of Shrock, where he found Dalbert.
“Hey, boy!”
Dalbert wagged his tail and nuzzled for a treat, eliciting a scratch behind his ear and a frang chip.
There wasn’t much cleaning up to do because the cargo bay was nearly full of Shrock; delivered by a succession of surface-to-craft carryalls throughout the current seven cycle tour of duty. Elias’s craft was a big, inter-galactic carrier which collected the Shrock and delivered it to the processing facility on Alzira which stood at the end of the expedition. A parto-cycle of recreation time also lay ahead before the next tour … and so it went on as it had for most of Elias’s working career as a security guard aboard the carrier; Dalbert, his only connection with home. Krevis was once married to Elias’s cousin, Alicia … some things are best forgotten.
Having cleaned the cargo bay, Elias moved to the quarters and opened up the suite which was destined to be Dunno’s space within Space for as long as he could remain sane. A standard suite which had lain empty for more cycles than Elias could remember. Loneliness was like a poison which numbs the body and sheaths the nerves so that even Krevis’s officiousness was nothing more than the annoying buzz of a Cremfly.
A hive of drones quickly and expertly removed all traces of dust and Elias requisitioned clean bedding and towels from the store, placing them on the bed platform, which, like the one in his own room, faced the persiplex viewing aperture. Too many nights, he’d lain awake, looking out into the guts of the galaxy to see nothingness staring back; and only Dalbert’s whining to be let out, convinced him at times that he was actually alive. Space felt too much like the dreams he had been having of late.
This night, he dreamed of something entirely unexpected … Earth.
Earth is like a man’s lover; a lover left behind at the start of a war. At first, the remembrance of their face is as fresh and as wet as the tears which sprang from their young, blue eyes whilst you kissed them and promised all kinds of impossible things; chiefly, to be faithful and write once a week. The picture dried and faded like a leaf, cracking and crumbling with each successive tour which took you farther and farther away. Finally, it was going to take so long for letters to reach them that you didn’t bother. Occasionally, you spent a good part of a cycle’s bonus on using the instaviewing tube and if you were lucky you didn’t catch sight of the hulky dark form of the interloper disappearing out of the frame of the shot as the screen clicked and buzzed before the image suddenly exploded onto the screen. When the eyes are as dead as the leaf, you stop phoning home.
Tonight, Elias dreamed of Earth before any of that took place or mattered. The scenes were from barely remembered trips to beaches, hiking up hills and hastily constructed campfires.
In the dying moments of the dream, he caught sight of the blond lifeguard whom he had once spied upon as he had lain naked, asleep behind some dunes.
Dalbert was dreaming too; of chasing Catch-Me-Can and in his dream, he was momentarily distracted by the bright flare of a comet, streaking passed the persiplex viewing aperture between C and D decks.
“Krevis; why are we docking here?”
“Orders; suit up and be ready.”
Elias punched the ‘off’ button of the communication panel and reached for the suit he was required to don when working in the cargo bay whilst the outer door was open to allow the carryalls access.
“Dalbert! … Stay here; this shouldn’t take long.”
In reality, Dalbert had no intention of moving from his basket. However, in raising his head, he at least gave the impression that he was listening and possibly keen to accompany his master to the cargo bay; suggestive only.
Knowing the rhythms of the ship as well as he did, Elias had detected the fact that they’d been slowing down long before he had decided to call in with Krevis and ascertain the nature of the detour. An unscheduled stop was rare.
The facility with which they were planning to dock was an old orbiter which had long since been decommissioned. In its useful past, it had reported weather system developments to the engineers and miners on the surface of the planet around which it had cycled. Except these days, there was no planet, yet the orbiter still behaved as if it was still six hundred clicks away. The lonely, pointless orbit around a holed out ball of Shrock, which was more dust cloud than anything of any greater substance, felt like a metaphor for something but Elias was in none too good a mood – as usual - for the creative thought process to delivery anything bar a string of Old English expletives.
Krevis was already in the cargo bay when he arrived; suited and booted with his helmet on but visor up. Leaving the visor up was the easiest way to indicate that you weren’t ready yet.
“Got a call from Alzira; apparently, some fuckwit engineer …”
When Krevis was planning to drop a shitty job on Elias, he always used the Old English. Elias knew it was intended to engender a warm feeling of camaraderie and provide the feel-good factor.
“… left a comm-pack aboard and he wants it back-“
“So why do you need me?”
“You know the rules.”
“Send in drones.”
“It’ll take too long; just watch my back.”
Elias had no issue with boarding the orbiter; it made for a rare distraction. He was only pissed because Krevis was breaking with protocol because he needed a distraction.
They checked each other’s suits and secured each other’s visors before checking the intercom and giving each other the thumbs up signal.
Krevis opened the first door of the airlock and stepped inside the compartment, moving forward to open the second door once Elias was inside and the door had closed behind him. Krevis turned to check that the door was closed and finding it secure, he opened the outer door and both raised their weapons, simultaneously moving forward along the short docking bridge towards the orbiter’s hatch. With no power in the orbiter and no means to hook up due to the poor condition of the satellite, they had no choice but to attempt to open the door manually. Between them, they just managed to turn the wheel and free the lock. Once unlocked, the door slipped back smoothly for a few feet but then got stuck. There was just enough room for the men to squeeze through the gap. With only their helmet-mounted lights, they edged forward into the Space-black void … and instantly wished they’d ignored the call.
oOo
“Dunno!”
He heard his name and his guts tightened; no painful ‘goodbyes’ had been the promise he’d made himself.
“Rafael …”
“Leaving without saying goodbye?”
“I haven’t left yet … Why aren’t you on the Turenne headed for Aida?”
“Delayed … you weren’t gonna leave without saying goodbye, were you?”
“Of course not …”
The men moved off in the direction of the leisure-time hanger. The fact that Dunno was already packed and standing at the departure gate was generously overlooked by Rafael, who generously overlooked most things, especially Dunno’s bare-faced lies and lack of sentimentality.
“Why are you taking this job anyway?”
“I need a change …”
“You could come with me to Aida … you still could. If you want-”
“I need a change and it’s not like we won’t see each other ever again.”
“Seven cycles!”
“I’ll be on Aida in two.”
“Promise me that you’ll look me up.”
“I promise … you’ll do just fine. There’s nothing else I can teach you about mining Shrock.”
Rafael hated Shrock as much as he loved Dunno. He didn’t believe that there was anything more to learn about mining Shrock but was convinced that there was plenty to learn about the only human he’d ever seen.
“Grab a table and I’ll get the juice.”
Rafael weaved through the relatively sparse crowd and grabbed a table by the persiplex viewing aperture which looked out onto the landing field. It reminded him of the first time he’d seen Dunno, three cycles before when, seated as he was now, the gangly, ill-at-ease Shrocker had ambled across the landing field, eyes fixed on the ground. What had he said to him; ‘buy you a drink?’ How lame that must have sounded but at least Dunno had smiled. Three years of sharing more than just meal times hadn’t elicited anything in the way of this thing which they called love but Dunno had watched his back … on and off the Shrock. Rafael was still deep in reverie when Dunno placed the cups on the table.
“Always pack the last tube with a half weight charge; and don’t fucking shorten the fuses …”
“I wish you were coming with me …”
“I can’t always be watching your back …”
The obvious question remained unvoiced and they drank the fiery liquid in silence. Just as Rafael was about to say something, the Lander came in from the Carrier and even their thoughts were drowned out by the hubbub.
“That’s me!”
“Dunno …”
“Yeah?”
“Take care …”
Dunno left the table and as he passed Rafael, he squeezed the guy’s shoulder and then quickly marched across the hall to the exit, punching the door release pad with something like nervous excitement but it could have been anger; the tears streaming down his face were no clue as to which it was.
“Orders; suit up and be ready.”
Elias punched the ‘off’ button of the communication panel and reached for the suit he was required to don when working in the cargo bay whilst the outer door was open to allow the carryalls access.
“Dalbert! … Stay here; this shouldn’t take long.”
In reality, Dalbert had no intention of moving from his basket. However, in raising his head, he at least gave the impression that he was listening and possibly keen to accompany his master to the cargo bay; suggestive only.
Knowing the rhythms of the ship as well as he did, Elias had detected the fact that they’d been slowing down long before he had decided to call in with Krevis and ascertain the nature of the detour. An unscheduled stop was rare.
The facility with which they were planning to dock was an old orbiter which had long since been decommissioned. In its useful past, it had reported weather system developments to the engineers and miners on the surface of the planet around which it had cycled. Except these days, there was no planet, yet the orbiter still behaved as if it was still six hundred clicks away. The lonely, pointless orbit around a holed out ball of Shrock, which was more dust cloud than anything of any greater substance, felt like a metaphor for something but Elias was in none too good a mood – as usual - for the creative thought process to delivery anything bar a string of Old English expletives.
Krevis was already in the cargo bay when he arrived; suited and booted with his helmet on but visor up. Leaving the visor up was the easiest way to indicate that you weren’t ready yet.
“Got a call from Alzira; apparently, some fuckwit engineer …”
When Krevis was planning to drop a shitty job on Elias, he always used the Old English. Elias knew it was intended to engender a warm feeling of camaraderie and provide the feel-good factor.
“… left a comm-pack aboard and he wants it back-“
“So why do you need me?”
“You know the rules.”
“Send in drones.”
“It’ll take too long; just watch my back.”
Elias had no issue with boarding the orbiter; it made for a rare distraction. He was only pissed because Krevis was breaking with protocol because he needed a distraction.
They checked each other’s suits and secured each other’s visors before checking the intercom and giving each other the thumbs up signal.
Krevis opened the first door of the airlock and stepped inside the compartment, moving forward to open the second door once Elias was inside and the door had closed behind him. Krevis turned to check that the door was closed and finding it secure, he opened the outer door and both raised their weapons, simultaneously moving forward along the short docking bridge towards the orbiter’s hatch. With no power in the orbiter and no means to hook up due to the poor condition of the satellite, they had no choice but to attempt to open the door manually. Between them, they just managed to turn the wheel and free the lock. Once unlocked, the door slipped back smoothly for a few feet but then got stuck. There was just enough room for the men to squeeze through the gap. With only their helmet-mounted lights, they edged forward into the Space-black void … and instantly wished they’d ignored the call.
oOo
“Dunno!”
He heard his name and his guts tightened; no painful ‘goodbyes’ had been the promise he’d made himself.
“Rafael …”
“Leaving without saying goodbye?”
“I haven’t left yet … Why aren’t you on the Turenne headed for Aida?”
“Delayed … you weren’t gonna leave without saying goodbye, were you?”
“Of course not …”
The men moved off in the direction of the leisure-time hanger. The fact that Dunno was already packed and standing at the departure gate was generously overlooked by Rafael, who generously overlooked most things, especially Dunno’s bare-faced lies and lack of sentimentality.
“Why are you taking this job anyway?”
“I need a change …”
“You could come with me to Aida … you still could. If you want-”
“I need a change and it’s not like we won’t see each other ever again.”
“Seven cycles!”
“I’ll be on Aida in two.”
“Promise me that you’ll look me up.”
“I promise … you’ll do just fine. There’s nothing else I can teach you about mining Shrock.”
Rafael hated Shrock as much as he loved Dunno. He didn’t believe that there was anything more to learn about mining Shrock but was convinced that there was plenty to learn about the only human he’d ever seen.
“Grab a table and I’ll get the juice.”
Rafael weaved through the relatively sparse crowd and grabbed a table by the persiplex viewing aperture which looked out onto the landing field. It reminded him of the first time he’d seen Dunno, three cycles before when, seated as he was now, the gangly, ill-at-ease Shrocker had ambled across the landing field, eyes fixed on the ground. What had he said to him; ‘buy you a drink?’ How lame that must have sounded but at least Dunno had smiled. Three years of sharing more than just meal times hadn’t elicited anything in the way of this thing which they called love but Dunno had watched his back … on and off the Shrock. Rafael was still deep in reverie when Dunno placed the cups on the table.
“Always pack the last tube with a half weight charge; and don’t fucking shorten the fuses …”
“I wish you were coming with me …”
“I can’t always be watching your back …”
The obvious question remained unvoiced and they drank the fiery liquid in silence. Just as Rafael was about to say something, the Lander came in from the Carrier and even their thoughts were drowned out by the hubbub.
“That’s me!”
“Dunno …”
“Yeah?”
“Take care …”
Dunno left the table and as he passed Rafael, he squeezed the guy’s shoulder and then quickly marched across the hall to the exit, punching the door release pad with something like nervous excitement but it could have been anger; the tears streaming down his face were no clue as to which it was.
“Welcome aboard; I’m Krevis, the Supervisor … Is that all of your gear?”
“Yup …”
“Elias will be here soon; he’s from Earth, like you …”
“Human?”
“Not too many of you guys left … Why did you ask for this transfer?”
“I fancied seeing the sun … this place is shrocked out and everyone is heading to Aida; I want to see something different.”
“Different we can do!”
Krevis hated the small talk and willed Elias to materialise. As if on cue, Elias walked into the loading bay, Dalbert by his side.
“Is that a fucking dog?!”
“Hey! He is … pure-bred mutt … much like his owner!”
“I’m Dunno.”
“Elias; where you from?”
“New World; you?”
“Old World - the last of the migrants ... been here twenty cycles.”
“Been three on the dark side; Shrock blaster …”
Krevis very sensibly just melted away, leaving the men to forge their connections.
“C’mon! I’ll show you around. Why did you ask for this?”
“Change is as good as a rest … Why have you stayed so long?”
“Dunno ... sorry!”
“Forget it; no one else gets the joke. Where are we headed?”
“The sun fields to charge up for the long haul ... I hope you play cards.”
“And some ... Who else is on board?”
“Krevis, me and Dalbert - a thousand drones ...”
“No one else?”
“Not officially ... too big to check for stowers ... Once we go through the ray wash, it won’t matter.”
“Aren’t you like so incredibly fucking bored?”
“No ... horny, yes ... bored, no ...”
“Why don-”
“Complicated ... Let’s get you settled; you know you have to decontam first, right?
“Figured I would.”
“C’mon! Can’t wait to show you around.”
Elias was bouncing with energy; not since Dalbert had come aboard had he felt so ... human!
Then, Dalbert had been the first truly Earth species he had seen for ten cycles. Sure, plenty of hybrids, and, despite the fact that the mutt had been kept in styrostasis for years, Elias could detect the musty, damp hair smell which had been captured along with the dog for export. He always imagined that Dalbert had been running through the woods when he had been stunned and put to sleep, ready for export.
Anything from Earth was highly prized - shipped across the Universe to the highest bidder. Dalbert had been destined for some Emperor in Zone 45 but the ship had taken a battering during an asteroid storm. Elias had picked up the distress call and taken the hopper to go and investigate - he found only Dalbert intact. The rest of the crew had died when a rock had hit and ruptured a persiplex viewing aperture. He’d brought Dalbert aboard, hiding him for six months from Krevis, who would have sold him. Docking on Anturia, he went to the market and came back with Dalbert; Krevis couldn’t say anything about it.
“Decontam is just down here and our quarters are just a bit further on ... Three years on the dark side?!”
“Not so bad once you get your shit together ... team was okay.”
“Here; come and find me once you’ve been through and I’ll sort you out clean clothes.”
“Where will I find you?”
“My quarters are furthest down this hallway ...”
Dunno was grateful for the momentary sanctuary of the decontam room; being blasted from every direction by the jets of soap and hot water took his mind off of the butterflies in his stomach. Butterflies - how long had it been since he’d seen one of those?
He let the driers do their work, detecting the slightly acrid tang of the shrock which was carried throughout the ship by the vent system - once you’d worked it, you never lost your sensitivity to the pepper-like dust. They said that you always remembered exactly what you were thinking when you first smelled shrock. If that were true, then Dunno had spent the cycles since, trying to obliterate the memory. All he recalled now was the taste of it on Raoul’s fingers.
Clean, wrapped in just a towel - his clothes having been incinerated as policy dictated - he padded down the hallway to find Elias’s quarters. The door was open as usual; it allowed Dalbert to go out whenever he felt the urge.
“Hey! Elias?”
“Come in! Oh; you need clothes; I forgot.”
“No worries; what’s my door code?”
“We use biometrics; I need to scan you and program the system.”
“Can I borrow a coverall?”
“Sure ... Are you hungry?”
“A little; do you eat together?”
“Depends on what we’re doing. Now that you’re here, I have the perfect excuse to keep out of Krevis’s way ... Here you go.”
Elias held out the standard issue coverall which he had retrieved from his own closet, turning quickly, once he had handed it to Dunno, to spare his blushes. When he turned back, having allowed Dunno a minute or two to don the suit, he was surprised to find Dunno just standing there naked.
“Is it too small?
“Shrock has rotted your brain,” Dunno laughed.
Elias was desperate to catch up, suddenly aware of just how empty his head had become.
“What? Oh! Sorry ... I was hoping but you never know - been burned a few times.”
“Yeah, me too ... but we don’t have to worry about that, do we?”
“I guess not ...”
“Are you going to close the door?”
“... yeah ...”
By the time he had closed the door and turned back, Dunno was already in his bed.
“... I have an enhancer,” Elias admitted.
“I have an idea we ain’t gonna need it ...”
“Yup …”
“Elias will be here soon; he’s from Earth, like you …”
“Human?”
“Not too many of you guys left … Why did you ask for this transfer?”
“I fancied seeing the sun … this place is shrocked out and everyone is heading to Aida; I want to see something different.”
“Different we can do!”
Krevis hated the small talk and willed Elias to materialise. As if on cue, Elias walked into the loading bay, Dalbert by his side.
“Is that a fucking dog?!”
“Hey! He is … pure-bred mutt … much like his owner!”
“I’m Dunno.”
“Elias; where you from?”
“New World; you?”
“Old World - the last of the migrants ... been here twenty cycles.”
“Been three on the dark side; Shrock blaster …”
Krevis very sensibly just melted away, leaving the men to forge their connections.
“C’mon! I’ll show you around. Why did you ask for this?”
“Change is as good as a rest … Why have you stayed so long?”
“Dunno ... sorry!”
“Forget it; no one else gets the joke. Where are we headed?”
“The sun fields to charge up for the long haul ... I hope you play cards.”
“And some ... Who else is on board?”
“Krevis, me and Dalbert - a thousand drones ...”
“No one else?”
“Not officially ... too big to check for stowers ... Once we go through the ray wash, it won’t matter.”
“Aren’t you like so incredibly fucking bored?”
“No ... horny, yes ... bored, no ...”
“Why don-”
“Complicated ... Let’s get you settled; you know you have to decontam first, right?
“Figured I would.”
“C’mon! Can’t wait to show you around.”
Elias was bouncing with energy; not since Dalbert had come aboard had he felt so ... human!
Then, Dalbert had been the first truly Earth species he had seen for ten cycles. Sure, plenty of hybrids, and, despite the fact that the mutt had been kept in styrostasis for years, Elias could detect the musty, damp hair smell which had been captured along with the dog for export. He always imagined that Dalbert had been running through the woods when he had been stunned and put to sleep, ready for export.
Anything from Earth was highly prized - shipped across the Universe to the highest bidder. Dalbert had been destined for some Emperor in Zone 45 but the ship had taken a battering during an asteroid storm. Elias had picked up the distress call and taken the hopper to go and investigate - he found only Dalbert intact. The rest of the crew had died when a rock had hit and ruptured a persiplex viewing aperture. He’d brought Dalbert aboard, hiding him for six months from Krevis, who would have sold him. Docking on Anturia, he went to the market and came back with Dalbert; Krevis couldn’t say anything about it.
“Decontam is just down here and our quarters are just a bit further on ... Three years on the dark side?!”
“Not so bad once you get your shit together ... team was okay.”
“Here; come and find me once you’ve been through and I’ll sort you out clean clothes.”
“Where will I find you?”
“My quarters are furthest down this hallway ...”
Dunno was grateful for the momentary sanctuary of the decontam room; being blasted from every direction by the jets of soap and hot water took his mind off of the butterflies in his stomach. Butterflies - how long had it been since he’d seen one of those?
He let the driers do their work, detecting the slightly acrid tang of the shrock which was carried throughout the ship by the vent system - once you’d worked it, you never lost your sensitivity to the pepper-like dust. They said that you always remembered exactly what you were thinking when you first smelled shrock. If that were true, then Dunno had spent the cycles since, trying to obliterate the memory. All he recalled now was the taste of it on Raoul’s fingers.
Clean, wrapped in just a towel - his clothes having been incinerated as policy dictated - he padded down the hallway to find Elias’s quarters. The door was open as usual; it allowed Dalbert to go out whenever he felt the urge.
“Hey! Elias?”
“Come in! Oh; you need clothes; I forgot.”
“No worries; what’s my door code?”
“We use biometrics; I need to scan you and program the system.”
“Can I borrow a coverall?”
“Sure ... Are you hungry?”
“A little; do you eat together?”
“Depends on what we’re doing. Now that you’re here, I have the perfect excuse to keep out of Krevis’s way ... Here you go.”
Elias held out the standard issue coverall which he had retrieved from his own closet, turning quickly, once he had handed it to Dunno, to spare his blushes. When he turned back, having allowed Dunno a minute or two to don the suit, he was surprised to find Dunno just standing there naked.
“Is it too small?
“Shrock has rotted your brain,” Dunno laughed.
Elias was desperate to catch up, suddenly aware of just how empty his head had become.
“What? Oh! Sorry ... I was hoping but you never know - been burned a few times.”
“Yeah, me too ... but we don’t have to worry about that, do we?”
“I guess not ...”
“Are you going to close the door?”
“... yeah ...”
By the time he had closed the door and turned back, Dunno was already in his bed.
“... I have an enhancer,” Elias admitted.
“I have an idea we ain’t gonna need it ...”
"Do you remember how we do this?” Elias asked, grinning.
“Vaguely ... last time was with a Fubara - actually not so different.”
“Fubara ... human hybrid species ... limited telekinetic ability, sight-adapted for underground living.”
“Wow! Did you study The Guide?”
“What human hasn’t?”
“Yeah; the unending search for the Atlantians ... never met any of the higher orders on Alzira ... you, Elias?”
“A few - mostly Dactoreptors ... never been with a Fubara.”
“No one understands us like we do ... When did you see your last brother?”
“At least three cycles ... he was Old World ...”
Despite the fact that Dunno had climbed into his bed, Elias was the one to make the first move - just a simple kiss on the mouth. It unleashed an ocean of remembrances; thousands of fractured slices of time, each etched with the same faint watermark - the man’s face in profile, the hair flowing in the breeze, the eyes turned out to sea.
Dunno broke off but merely to take a breath - not used to the oxygen saturation aboard the ship; the purity of it made his head spin. As if to emphasise the fact that he wanted Elias, he dived straight back in, loosening the simple clip that held his hair back, finding Elias had done the same.
“Jesus! You taste so good!” Dunno bellowed, throwing his head back.
Elias pulled Dunno back down, rolling them over one way and then the other, getting drunk on the taste, feeling braver, venturing to explore between Dunno’s thighs and grip him - he was right; no one knew better. He found the hot spike and wanted to suck it.
“I wanna suck you.”
“Me too,” Dunno gasped and they scrambled to get head-to-toe and dipped their heads like men finding an oasis.
“Stop, Dunno! I’m gonna cum.”
“Fuck me!”
Elias grabbed a thin silver atomiser from the nightstand and sprayed his cock with the silicone mist - some progress had been made in the preceding two hundred and fifty years.
“I won’t last-”
“I don’t care; I need the seed; you can have mine.”
A moment of tranquillity as the target was found followed by a frantic few seconds, ending with a silent scream as Elias pumped his load out, deep into the willing hole. Before he could capture his breath, Dunno was manoeuvring him into position, misting up and probing ... and finding the target, punched in just before he ejected his own load, bellowing like before, shaking his head, sending droplets of sweat in all directions.
“FUCK!”
They crashed side-by-side; Elias just had the presence of mind to flick the ray wash switch to bathe them in the shower of nihilium which was akin to replaying the fuck - solely within the construct of the mind - a learning tool which Elias had adapted as a sex toy.
It cut off after ten minutes, bringing its own kind of release.
“Have I got one of these?”
“No; I stole it.”
“I ain’t moving!”
“I don’t want you to ...”
oOo
“Finding your way around is easy; just wear this navigator, program the destination - like mess hall - and follow the lights which come on as you move through the hallways - just like the good ol’ Garmin.”
“Do you know what I’m meant to be doing - assignment sheet said Genassist ...”
“My assistant; security, inventory and minor repairs ... Krevis may ask you to do stuff; and now you’re here, I’ll bet ya he never takes a walk on the outside again if he can help it.”
“Spacephobia?”
“Lazy cunt.”
Dunno shrieked - as much at the joke as at the sound of the word which no one else understood.
“So; what’s first?”
“Had a situation just before we arrived at Alzira; c’mon, I’ll show you.”
They walked the halls to keep fit, shunning the pod car.
“How long do we stay in the sun fields?”
“A parto-cycle; then the long haul to Epsong ... but it’s worth it - we get paid and have free time on the surface.”
“Your twenty-first cycle?”
“Yeah ... I don’t know what else to do.”
“Go home?”
“Changed too much.”
“What about New World?”
“Never appealed; why did you leave?”
“Let’s just say that the Judicarers didn’t appreciate my brand of humour.”
“Rebel?”
“Through and through; it was get off or get zoned.”
“Guess we’re stuck on this piece of shit then!”
“I can think of worse places to be ...”
And without thinking, they stopped and turned to each other and kissed - the simplest gestures translated such complicated needs when home was a billion light years away and anyone who might have loved you was dead.
“C’mon! You’re gonna freak.”
“What happened?”
As they continued, Elias recounted the events, leading up to the boarding of the orbiter, and then placed his finger over his lips - a strangely human-only trait - and nodded his head in the direction of a secure area at the end of the hallway.
“Lucky it was sleeping at the time ...”
“Hibernating?”
“Most likely. Currently held in a form of styrostasis, actually frozen nitrogen.”
“What is it?” whispered Dunno.
“Huachihua ... fucking snappy motherfucker ... and venomous; worth a fortune at the market on Epsong.
“You and Krevis gonna sell it and split the proceeds?”
“That’s the plan ... see the colouration; male, breeding age. Gonna make a mint if this fella doesn’t die first.”
“What’s to do?” Given the work he had always done, the prospect of a change and the chance to use his brain and different muscles put a broad smile on Dunno’s face.
“We have to prepare for the ray bath; gotta check every door and persiplex seal; boring as fuck but at least you get to know the whole ship.”
“What do we use?”
“Standard heat viewers that detect even the faintest changes in heat at the seals. Need to wear these googles - like Old World night vision glasses.”
Dunno donned the googles, sweeping the hall, detecting the differences in temperature as different colours in the viewer. Tiny numbers appeared beside each different coloured region.
“Jesus, Elias; you’re so hot!”
Two seconds elapsed before they collapsed in fits of laughter, which brought tears to their eyes.
“That is so lame!”
“Actually, you are ... really hot ...”
Elias blushed in spite of himself and sent Dunno’s viewer wild as hot spots erupted all over the screen, centred on Elias’s groin, which registered one hundred and ten degrees.
“Let’s get to work before Krevis comes to check up on us. With two of us, we’ll do the job in the half the time and the time we save we can spend in the pleasure dome.”
“Haven’t you been just the most incredibly lonely here?”
Elias found Dunno’s question difficult to answer.
“Sometimes ...”
Realising that the answer spoke volumes, Dunno very sensibly let the subject drop and got on with the business of the day. When they came across a seal which was faulty, they marked it with a special paint so that the drones could find it and repair it.
“Why don’t you get the drones to check the seals?” Dunno asked.
“No computer can detect as many different variations in colour as the human eye ... not even with all this technology. It’s why we’re still around - special.”
“A dying species ...”
A fact that it did not pay to dwell upon for too long.
“C’mon! We’ll finish this section and now that the hold is empty, Dalbert can have a really good play - he loves Frisbee.”
“When you’re shrocking, there’s no real down time; everything is hot and dusty and you never feel like you’re ever gonna be clean again.”
“Three years on that rock!? I’d have gone crazy.”
“I had company - young guy called Rafael - we were close but he wasn’t someone I wanted to get serious with.”
“Fubara?”
“Yeah; had a lot of fun but he was always destined to go home and perform his duty by the family.”
“Egg carrier; that’s fucking tough.”
“He showed me the pouch where the eggs are laid; amazing!”
“Inside his fucking body?”
“Unreal ... oh; have you had your seed harvested?”
“Company policy; you?”
“Not yet; will have to though.”
“Later. Shit! I hear Krevis’s pod car; make like a busy person.”
Unlike Elias, Krevis used the pod car for all journeys inside the ship. When boredom got the better of him, Elias worked on the car, modifying it so that it resembled a 1958 Cadillac Eldorado Biarritz.
“Elias! Dunno!”
They greeted Krevis, aping the Nazi salute, snapping their heels together.
“We’ve got trouble. Emperor Gung Seng wants his dog - his representative is just coming aboard now.”
“Dalbert?”
“Unless there’s another dog on this ship.”
“I bought him fair and square at the market.”
“You show him that official receipt, Elias, and I’m sure he’ll reimburse you what you paid ... Get the dog ready. Don’t need any delays; we’re next up at the ray wash station.”
“He can’t have him!”
“No choice, Elias; get him into styrostasis and crated up and moved down to the docking station ... NOW!”
And with that, Krevis pulled away, shooting off in the direction of the docking station to greet the Emperor’s emissary.
“CUNT! No fucking way is he having that dog - he’s mine!”
“What the fuck are we going to do, Elias?”
“I don’t know; but he isn’t taking Dalbert.”
As if on cue, Dalbert appeared, carrying the Frisbee.
“Hey, boy!”
“Go to the cargo bay, Elias; don’t come back until I say.”
“What-”
“Go down to the cargo bay and stay there; leave this to me.”
“But-”
“You’re just gonna have to trust me. Go!”
Elias ran off, leaving Dunno and Dalbert to contemplate the approaching spacecraft. It did indeed bear the Emperor’s insignia. The craft was now clearly viewable through the persiplex viewing aperture; the last one they had checked for leaks.
Dunno understood loyalty. Countless times, he’d taken the rap for Rafael for some misdemeanour, paying fines and spending nights in the Judiary so that the younger man could go back home with his full bonus and maybe buy himself a little time before relinquishing himself to the family duty that all Fubara men had to perform once in their lives.
With Dalbert skipping playfully at his heels, he stepped smartly in the direction of the stores to requisition a stowcrate and a mobile styrostasis unit.
oOo
“Where’s Elias?”
Dunno ignored Krevis’s question. Two or three lackeys were pushing the stowcrate aboard the craft of the emissary, who was looking on with an uncamouflaged look of satisfaction playing out on his Moon-like face - a shiny and cratered visage, bearing the diamond-shaped forehead marking of a higher order being.
“Fucking hate Dachtoreptors,” Dunno mumbled under his breath.
“Paid compensation - a nano-Universalium ...”
“I’m sure Elias is gonna care about that - not!”
Krevis said nothing more and turned on his heels and left the bay, leaving Dunno to watch the craft leave and to secure the door.
Once the craft had left, Dunno searched out Elias in the cargo bay.
“It’s done ...”
“Fucking hateful cunt!”
Elias collapsed into Dunno’s arms, sobbing uncontrollably.
“C’mon; let’s go.”
“Next chance I get, I’m gonna leave this fucking shit crock.”
“C’mon; gotta do my biometrics ... got some real weed.”
“You go; I need to be by myself ...”
“Sure; I’ll get us something to eat ...”
Dunno watched as Elias slouched off to his quarters; tears welled in his eyes as he tried to ignore Elias’s attempts to stifle his cries and stop his chest from heaving.
Dunno met up with Krevis in the mess.
“How is he?”
“How do you think? How long before we go through the ray wash?”
“A centi-cycle ... then a short blast to the sun fields for a parto-cycle to recharge. First stop is Epsong and downtime.”
“All of the seals are checked; would appreciate some time to get orientated.”
“Don’t need either of you; personally, I’m entering styro once we get to the sun fields until we reach Epsong ...”
“Elias would probably appreciate it if you stayed out of his face.”
Krevis was about to reprimand Dunno for his tone but thought better of it.
“Do all humans form these attachments to dumb animals?”
Dunno turned to leave, “Dumb is as dumb does ...”
With which he left, loaded with snacks and a crate of Mule.
Entering Elias’s quarters, he braced himself.
“What the fuck?!”
“Said you needed to trust me.”
“How the fuck did you do it?”
“I put the Huachihua in the crate ...”
“But; what happens when they open the crate?”
“I said that you had to trust me-”
“Dunno!”
“Just relax and get your chops around the neck of a Mule and kick back ... if I said that the styrostasis module was faulty and will, in about four centi-cycles, fail and release the beast, what do you think will happen?”
“It’ll attack and kill everyone ... oh, shit!”
“By then, the craft will be in the midst of the Medusa system and without a pilot, it’ll drift closer to the eye and eventually disappear ... and while Krevis is in styro, we’ll get another Dalbert - we’re heading to Epsong - and nobody will be any the wiser.”
“But you’re risking your life for this stupid mutt.”
“I’m risking nothing that I’m not prepared to lose ... for a brother ...”
Placing the supplies on one of the tables, Dunno stepped over to the bed where Elias was holed up, watching old episodes of Farscape.
“... I need you ...”
He stepped out his boots and shrugged off the coverall. Years of shrocking had endowed him with the body of Trojan. Elias feasted his eyes as he pulled back the sheets to welcome him into the first embrace.
“Thank you; I mean it,” planting a kiss on Dunno’s mouth.
“No sweat; got ya back, Elias.”
“Vaguely ... last time was with a Fubara - actually not so different.”
“Fubara ... human hybrid species ... limited telekinetic ability, sight-adapted for underground living.”
“Wow! Did you study The Guide?”
“What human hasn’t?”
“Yeah; the unending search for the Atlantians ... never met any of the higher orders on Alzira ... you, Elias?”
“A few - mostly Dactoreptors ... never been with a Fubara.”
“No one understands us like we do ... When did you see your last brother?”
“At least three cycles ... he was Old World ...”
Despite the fact that Dunno had climbed into his bed, Elias was the one to make the first move - just a simple kiss on the mouth. It unleashed an ocean of remembrances; thousands of fractured slices of time, each etched with the same faint watermark - the man’s face in profile, the hair flowing in the breeze, the eyes turned out to sea.
Dunno broke off but merely to take a breath - not used to the oxygen saturation aboard the ship; the purity of it made his head spin. As if to emphasise the fact that he wanted Elias, he dived straight back in, loosening the simple clip that held his hair back, finding Elias had done the same.
“Jesus! You taste so good!” Dunno bellowed, throwing his head back.
Elias pulled Dunno back down, rolling them over one way and then the other, getting drunk on the taste, feeling braver, venturing to explore between Dunno’s thighs and grip him - he was right; no one knew better. He found the hot spike and wanted to suck it.
“I wanna suck you.”
“Me too,” Dunno gasped and they scrambled to get head-to-toe and dipped their heads like men finding an oasis.
“Stop, Dunno! I’m gonna cum.”
“Fuck me!”
Elias grabbed a thin silver atomiser from the nightstand and sprayed his cock with the silicone mist - some progress had been made in the preceding two hundred and fifty years.
“I won’t last-”
“I don’t care; I need the seed; you can have mine.”
A moment of tranquillity as the target was found followed by a frantic few seconds, ending with a silent scream as Elias pumped his load out, deep into the willing hole. Before he could capture his breath, Dunno was manoeuvring him into position, misting up and probing ... and finding the target, punched in just before he ejected his own load, bellowing like before, shaking his head, sending droplets of sweat in all directions.
“FUCK!”
They crashed side-by-side; Elias just had the presence of mind to flick the ray wash switch to bathe them in the shower of nihilium which was akin to replaying the fuck - solely within the construct of the mind - a learning tool which Elias had adapted as a sex toy.
It cut off after ten minutes, bringing its own kind of release.
“Have I got one of these?”
“No; I stole it.”
“I ain’t moving!”
“I don’t want you to ...”
oOo
“Finding your way around is easy; just wear this navigator, program the destination - like mess hall - and follow the lights which come on as you move through the hallways - just like the good ol’ Garmin.”
“Do you know what I’m meant to be doing - assignment sheet said Genassist ...”
“My assistant; security, inventory and minor repairs ... Krevis may ask you to do stuff; and now you’re here, I’ll bet ya he never takes a walk on the outside again if he can help it.”
“Spacephobia?”
“Lazy cunt.”
Dunno shrieked - as much at the joke as at the sound of the word which no one else understood.
“So; what’s first?”
“Had a situation just before we arrived at Alzira; c’mon, I’ll show you.”
They walked the halls to keep fit, shunning the pod car.
“How long do we stay in the sun fields?”
“A parto-cycle; then the long haul to Epsong ... but it’s worth it - we get paid and have free time on the surface.”
“Your twenty-first cycle?”
“Yeah ... I don’t know what else to do.”
“Go home?”
“Changed too much.”
“What about New World?”
“Never appealed; why did you leave?”
“Let’s just say that the Judicarers didn’t appreciate my brand of humour.”
“Rebel?”
“Through and through; it was get off or get zoned.”
“Guess we’re stuck on this piece of shit then!”
“I can think of worse places to be ...”
And without thinking, they stopped and turned to each other and kissed - the simplest gestures translated such complicated needs when home was a billion light years away and anyone who might have loved you was dead.
“C’mon! You’re gonna freak.”
“What happened?”
As they continued, Elias recounted the events, leading up to the boarding of the orbiter, and then placed his finger over his lips - a strangely human-only trait - and nodded his head in the direction of a secure area at the end of the hallway.
“Lucky it was sleeping at the time ...”
“Hibernating?”
“Most likely. Currently held in a form of styrostasis, actually frozen nitrogen.”
“What is it?” whispered Dunno.
“Huachihua ... fucking snappy motherfucker ... and venomous; worth a fortune at the market on Epsong.
“You and Krevis gonna sell it and split the proceeds?”
“That’s the plan ... see the colouration; male, breeding age. Gonna make a mint if this fella doesn’t die first.”
“What’s to do?” Given the work he had always done, the prospect of a change and the chance to use his brain and different muscles put a broad smile on Dunno’s face.
“We have to prepare for the ray bath; gotta check every door and persiplex seal; boring as fuck but at least you get to know the whole ship.”
“What do we use?”
“Standard heat viewers that detect even the faintest changes in heat at the seals. Need to wear these googles - like Old World night vision glasses.”
Dunno donned the googles, sweeping the hall, detecting the differences in temperature as different colours in the viewer. Tiny numbers appeared beside each different coloured region.
“Jesus, Elias; you’re so hot!”
Two seconds elapsed before they collapsed in fits of laughter, which brought tears to their eyes.
“That is so lame!”
“Actually, you are ... really hot ...”
Elias blushed in spite of himself and sent Dunno’s viewer wild as hot spots erupted all over the screen, centred on Elias’s groin, which registered one hundred and ten degrees.
“Let’s get to work before Krevis comes to check up on us. With two of us, we’ll do the job in the half the time and the time we save we can spend in the pleasure dome.”
“Haven’t you been just the most incredibly lonely here?”
Elias found Dunno’s question difficult to answer.
“Sometimes ...”
Realising that the answer spoke volumes, Dunno very sensibly let the subject drop and got on with the business of the day. When they came across a seal which was faulty, they marked it with a special paint so that the drones could find it and repair it.
“Why don’t you get the drones to check the seals?” Dunno asked.
“No computer can detect as many different variations in colour as the human eye ... not even with all this technology. It’s why we’re still around - special.”
“A dying species ...”
A fact that it did not pay to dwell upon for too long.
“C’mon! We’ll finish this section and now that the hold is empty, Dalbert can have a really good play - he loves Frisbee.”
“When you’re shrocking, there’s no real down time; everything is hot and dusty and you never feel like you’re ever gonna be clean again.”
“Three years on that rock!? I’d have gone crazy.”
“I had company - young guy called Rafael - we were close but he wasn’t someone I wanted to get serious with.”
“Fubara?”
“Yeah; had a lot of fun but he was always destined to go home and perform his duty by the family.”
“Egg carrier; that’s fucking tough.”
“He showed me the pouch where the eggs are laid; amazing!”
“Inside his fucking body?”
“Unreal ... oh; have you had your seed harvested?”
“Company policy; you?”
“Not yet; will have to though.”
“Later. Shit! I hear Krevis’s pod car; make like a busy person.”
Unlike Elias, Krevis used the pod car for all journeys inside the ship. When boredom got the better of him, Elias worked on the car, modifying it so that it resembled a 1958 Cadillac Eldorado Biarritz.
“Elias! Dunno!”
They greeted Krevis, aping the Nazi salute, snapping their heels together.
“We’ve got trouble. Emperor Gung Seng wants his dog - his representative is just coming aboard now.”
“Dalbert?”
“Unless there’s another dog on this ship.”
“I bought him fair and square at the market.”
“You show him that official receipt, Elias, and I’m sure he’ll reimburse you what you paid ... Get the dog ready. Don’t need any delays; we’re next up at the ray wash station.”
“He can’t have him!”
“No choice, Elias; get him into styrostasis and crated up and moved down to the docking station ... NOW!”
And with that, Krevis pulled away, shooting off in the direction of the docking station to greet the Emperor’s emissary.
“CUNT! No fucking way is he having that dog - he’s mine!”
“What the fuck are we going to do, Elias?”
“I don’t know; but he isn’t taking Dalbert.”
As if on cue, Dalbert appeared, carrying the Frisbee.
“Hey, boy!”
“Go to the cargo bay, Elias; don’t come back until I say.”
“What-”
“Go down to the cargo bay and stay there; leave this to me.”
“But-”
“You’re just gonna have to trust me. Go!”
Elias ran off, leaving Dunno and Dalbert to contemplate the approaching spacecraft. It did indeed bear the Emperor’s insignia. The craft was now clearly viewable through the persiplex viewing aperture; the last one they had checked for leaks.
Dunno understood loyalty. Countless times, he’d taken the rap for Rafael for some misdemeanour, paying fines and spending nights in the Judiary so that the younger man could go back home with his full bonus and maybe buy himself a little time before relinquishing himself to the family duty that all Fubara men had to perform once in their lives.
With Dalbert skipping playfully at his heels, he stepped smartly in the direction of the stores to requisition a stowcrate and a mobile styrostasis unit.
oOo
“Where’s Elias?”
Dunno ignored Krevis’s question. Two or three lackeys were pushing the stowcrate aboard the craft of the emissary, who was looking on with an uncamouflaged look of satisfaction playing out on his Moon-like face - a shiny and cratered visage, bearing the diamond-shaped forehead marking of a higher order being.
“Fucking hate Dachtoreptors,” Dunno mumbled under his breath.
“Paid compensation - a nano-Universalium ...”
“I’m sure Elias is gonna care about that - not!”
Krevis said nothing more and turned on his heels and left the bay, leaving Dunno to watch the craft leave and to secure the door.
Once the craft had left, Dunno searched out Elias in the cargo bay.
“It’s done ...”
“Fucking hateful cunt!”
Elias collapsed into Dunno’s arms, sobbing uncontrollably.
“C’mon; let’s go.”
“Next chance I get, I’m gonna leave this fucking shit crock.”
“C’mon; gotta do my biometrics ... got some real weed.”
“You go; I need to be by myself ...”
“Sure; I’ll get us something to eat ...”
Dunno watched as Elias slouched off to his quarters; tears welled in his eyes as he tried to ignore Elias’s attempts to stifle his cries and stop his chest from heaving.
Dunno met up with Krevis in the mess.
“How is he?”
“How do you think? How long before we go through the ray wash?”
“A centi-cycle ... then a short blast to the sun fields for a parto-cycle to recharge. First stop is Epsong and downtime.”
“All of the seals are checked; would appreciate some time to get orientated.”
“Don’t need either of you; personally, I’m entering styro once we get to the sun fields until we reach Epsong ...”
“Elias would probably appreciate it if you stayed out of his face.”
Krevis was about to reprimand Dunno for his tone but thought better of it.
“Do all humans form these attachments to dumb animals?”
Dunno turned to leave, “Dumb is as dumb does ...”
With which he left, loaded with snacks and a crate of Mule.
Entering Elias’s quarters, he braced himself.
“What the fuck?!”
“Said you needed to trust me.”
“How the fuck did you do it?”
“I put the Huachihua in the crate ...”
“But; what happens when they open the crate?”
“I said that you had to trust me-”
“Dunno!”
“Just relax and get your chops around the neck of a Mule and kick back ... if I said that the styrostasis module was faulty and will, in about four centi-cycles, fail and release the beast, what do you think will happen?”
“It’ll attack and kill everyone ... oh, shit!”
“By then, the craft will be in the midst of the Medusa system and without a pilot, it’ll drift closer to the eye and eventually disappear ... and while Krevis is in styro, we’ll get another Dalbert - we’re heading to Epsong - and nobody will be any the wiser.”
“But you’re risking your life for this stupid mutt.”
“I’m risking nothing that I’m not prepared to lose ... for a brother ...”
Placing the supplies on one of the tables, Dunno stepped over to the bed where Elias was holed up, watching old episodes of Farscape.
“... I need you ...”
He stepped out his boots and shrugged off the coverall. Years of shrocking had endowed him with the body of Trojan. Elias feasted his eyes as he pulled back the sheets to welcome him into the first embrace.
“Thank you; I mean it,” planting a kiss on Dunno’s mouth.
“No sweat; got ya back, Elias.”
Elias turned over and raised his rump; while looking back over his shoulder, licking his lips at the prospect of being pounded by the meaty bludgeon swinging between Dunno’s thighs, he croaked through a thick throat, “I want you ...”
Dunno grinned while spraying his cock with the silicone mist, plunging in to Elias’s sweet pucker as he flicked the switch of the Nihilium ray shower, “You got me ...”
He ploughed, experiencing sensations like never before - while Dalbert licked between his toes.
Dunno grinned while spraying his cock with the silicone mist, plunging in to Elias’s sweet pucker as he flicked the switch of the Nihilium ray shower, “You got me ...”
He ploughed, experiencing sensations like never before - while Dalbert licked between his toes.
“C’mon! We gotta patrol while we head through the ray wash. Dalbert will have to stay out of sight.”
“Krevis ain’t gonna come snooping; told him to stay out of your face.”
“Jesus; Dunno! He’ll write you up a report.”
“Don’t care if he does. C’mon then; can’t be arsed to get dressed.”
“What’s it like to shrock?”
They moved out of their quarters, leaving Dalbert in his basket, dressed only in their regulation underwear and boots.
“Filthy dirty and dangerous, especially if you’re the one who draws the short straw and has to crawl through the fissures, planting charges every kilo ... once you’re through the seam, the charges get detonated and the pickups move in to shovel the stuff into the carryalls ... simple enough but as boring as fuck.”
“Why d’ya do it for so long?”
“Pretty much off grid, pay was good ... not like I had much choice; bailed out of school for the most part ... What about you?”
“Big dreams; but the further I got, the smaller the dreams became, and for a while, I just wanted to forget everything.”
“Everything or someone?”
“Both ...”
Fleeting remembrances of those salt-stained cheeks whipped through his head like shooting stars.
“Sorry; didn’t want to dredge up anything you’d rather forget.”
“It’s okay; better now.”
They walked the hallways, checking for leaks, feeling the sweat running down their bodies as the climate system struggled to combat the effects of the ray shower, which cleaned the craft of every trace of debris, pathogen, and parasite hoping for a free ride.
“I’m really grateful for what you did, Dunno.”
“Don’t mention it; we’re good. WOW!”
They were just passing a persiplex viewing aperture when a shower of asteroids got caught in the ray and exploded like fireworks.
“Oh, man! Fourth of July and Guy Fawkes Night all at once!”
Elias pressed himself up against the panel so that he could see the trailing fireballs as they whizzed off in every direction. Dunno pressed himself up close behind him and slipped his arms around Elias’s chest and hugged tight.
Nudging Elias’s legs apart, Dunno slipped a hand down and pushed it under the waistband of the trunks, grappling with the firm flesh, trying to get everything into one hand.
“Fuck!”
“Relax ... just gonna ride you slow and easy.”
Elias reached back and pulled his trunks down, shuddering as the fabric of Dunno’s trunks grazed his bare skin. He reached up and pulled the front of Dunno’s trunks down to liberate his cock, which was already slick with sweat. It thwacked him squarely between his cheeks and, like a proton missile, found its target.
“Go in easy ... oh, m-a-n.”
Dunno eased in, still massaging Elias’s packet, pressing their bodies up closer to the clear panel to brace them for the ride.
“I’m gonna seed you, Elias ...”
Dunno voice was like gravel tumbling onto the stretched skin of a Happi drum. Each slap of thighs against buttocks sent a musky wave up to envelope them; like a drug, they sucked it down - no alien ever smelled like a human; no alien tasted as good; no alien gripped as tight or pumped as hard or shot such sweet seed.
“H-o-l-y-s-h-i-t ... gonna cum!”
Dunno clenched and fired salvo after salvo of hot, sweet cum deep into Elias’s hungry ass.
“Dunno, I’m cumming!”
He whipped out, spun Elias around and sank to his knees to take the pulsating rod deep into his mouth. Elias gripped Dunno’s shoulders and jettisoned his load, accompanied by a howl to rival a Huachihua in heat.
Once he’d sucked Elias dry, he backed off. Wiping his mouth with the back of his hand, he gasped, “You taste so fucking good!”
“Oh, God! Fuck; you’re leaking out.”
Rivulets of hot cum were running down his thighs. Dunno spun him again and lapped up the juices, ploughing the crevice with his tongue to bring Elias off again.
Krevis found them in the shower block, scrubbing each other, drowning in suds.
“Going into styro until we reach Epsong.”
“Right; we’re good.”
“I’m sorry about Dalbert, Elias ...”
“Don’t beat yourself up; I didn’t expect you to stand up to the Emperor for a stupid mutt.”
“Uhm; yeah. Your pay is in the mess ... full bonus, and something extra.”
“Thanks ... sleep well.”
“Check the beacons, and it’ll be up to you to move out of the fields when the cells are charged.”
“Got it ...”
He left quickly and the men rinsed off before heading for the drying cabinet.
“Got some proto-beef if you want steak,” Elias suggested while he teasled out the knots in Dunno’s unbraided mane.
“What was the last proper Old World food you remember tasting?”
“Peaches!”
“I remember a plate of green tomatoes, swimming in honey, mustard and chilli sauce ... oh, man.”
“After this cycle, Dunno, I’m seriously thinking about going back.”
“For real? I thought you said it had changed too much.”
“Not the worst place to settle down and grow stuff ... if maybe we perhaps could think about going together ...”
“How long to get back?”
“Five cycles on a standard transit pass; three if you can afford a cycle’s pay ... I wanna see the ocean!”
“Trees; I wanna see trees ... and birds flying in the sky.”
“Best we save the bonus and skip Epsong then.”
“Ain’t nothing I need except you.”
“Ssseriously?!”
Dunno looked over his shoulder. “Never felt this way with anyone - human or alien - don’t know why - ain’t gonna question it ... just gonna enjoy it and work hard to make you happy ...”
Elias stopped teaselling and wrapped his arms around Dunno’s neck. Pressing his lips to the man’s ear, he mumbled, “Gonna cook you that steak ...” hoping the emotions colouring his voice didn’t betray his thoughts too much.
“I think I’m falling in love with you ...”
oOo
The men were kicking back, having stuffed their bellies with proto-beef. Back in their quarters, Dunno pulled out a pouch of true-weed and rolled a joint while Elias cracked the last remaining bottle of Reeker; booty from the last trip to Epsong.
“Where the fuck did you get that weed?”
“Grew it; took over an old hydroponic facility on Alzira; best goddamn weed that I ever fucking tasted. Reeker?!”
“It ain’t vodka but it does the job ... here ...”
“Cheers!”
“Cheers!”
They took a moment to reflect on rare good fortune.
“How was it when you left Old World, Elias?”
“I left on the last migrant ship ... that was in the May of 2225. Only when we were up high could you see the emptiness; it was like the place had been hulled out.”
“Why did you leave?”
“Excitement mostly; I thought my dreams had to lie someplace else - not on Earth, not anymore.”
“Then what?”
“We headed to the Moon to refuel for the long haul to Mars - two years it took, mostly in styro. When we got there, I hated it but pretty soon afterwards, Gala Inc posted some jobs and I applied for this. They took me to Son Le Ville for training. My cousin Alicia came with me; that’s where she met Krevis. They got married but she divorced him as soon as she realised that he was a complete dickhead ... she went to Eisle - I haven’t seen her since.”
“What about your parents?”
“They wouldn’t leave Earth; they said they wanted to die there - the farm is mine by now, I guess ... what about you?”
Dunno took a swig of the Reeker and settled back, taking a moment to reorder his thoughts - it had been a very long time since anyone had asked.
“Was born on New World in 2200; hated the system, hated the rules, hated the work and the Judicarers were senseless and barbaric. Fought back but it got me in a lot of trouble. Left for Alzira; took five cycles. I spent most of it trying to learn all the stuff I had repelled at school. Once I got to Alzira, I signed up for The Shrock.”
“Three years ago.”
“Yup; now I want to see things and do something different.”
“Now’s your chance. First things first, gotta pilot the ship out of the ray station and plot a course for the sun fields.”
“Me?”
“Why not? If anything happens to me while Krevis is in styro, you’d have to at least be able to pilot the ship to the nearest beacon.”
“Elias; you’re serious?”
“Of course; this old bird ain’t too difficult. Ever navigated a ship?”
“I know a little about it; what is she?”
“Last of the old Cadvette Magnum’s ... operating system is standard i99 tech ... what I wouldn’t give for a biosys ... anyway, c’mon!”
Slightly drunk and high, they headed for the command centre.
“It’s like playing a really, really big video game. Gotta navigate out of the ray wash and then you can pilot her to the sun fields; okay, Dunno?”
“Wow!”
“Awesome, yeah? Just hold the joystick like this and move the sliders up to increase speed - four quantum thrusters for close manoeuvres ... try it!”
Dunno stood at the command console and grasped the stick in his right hand, using his left to operate the four sliders. After a few wobbles he got the hang of it, moving each slider independently to vary the power, while the joystick allowed him to vary the angle of each thruster - navigation at close quarters was easy; he could just look out of the huge persiplex viewing aperture.
They glided out of the ray wash, which was nothing more than a huge tunnel. Once clear of that, Dunno increased the speed and they moved away quickly.
“Still travelling at sub-quantum speed - that’s okay until we pass the first marker - mind her fat ass!” cautioned Elias.
Dunno was having more fun than he could remember.
“How do we navigate, Elias?”
“Look at the monitor to your left - see the image?”
“A standard six referential display?”
“Absolutely ... hit that button and you’ll get head’s up display, then you’ll have a different view - adjust the position of the ship to make the circles all line up - when they’re all lined up, you’re dead on the next beacon - two hundred and fifty thousand miles away as we would say it. Once the circles are lined up, give her full power for a couple of seconds ... and hold tight!”
It took a little bit of effort to get the circles completely lined up. When he had, he slide the thruster controls to the max level and counted out loud, “One ... two ... three-”
“Cut the power!”
Dunno slid the controls back to the lowest position - and only then did he realise that he hadn’t felt a thing.
“Did we move?”
“Drop the head’s up display and look out ...”
“Holy shit! ... But I didn’t feel anything - why?”
“Dynamic Gravity System - or DGS ... a bit like the traction control of the old days ... there’s an iron core, deep in her cuts, which creates gravity close to Old World’s, and a magnetic field ... it’s like driving a moon ... only a fucking sight more fun!”
“Do you always have to navigate from one beacon to another?”
“That’s the safest way. If we have to venture out of the system then you have to rely on the scanners ... once we’re out of the sun fields then we’ll be navigating out of the system and that’s when it gets a little bit trickier.”
“Do we have shields?”
“Shielding and auto-guided weapons that will blast an asteroid out of the way long before you’d see it ... take us to the sun fields.”
“How do I know which beacon to aim for?”
“Beneath the Standard Six monitor there’s a pre-programmed list of destinations - select sun field.”
Dunno was loath to take his eyes from the viewing panel even though he knew they weren’t moving. After he had composed himself, he scrolled through the list of destinations and selected sun field. The Standard Six display refreshed to show all beacons. Switching to head’s up, he manoeuvred until all of the circles were aligned ... and hit the thrusters.
“How long?”
“Too long to stand here; hit auto and we’ll take a break.”
Having punched the auto button, they left the command centre and headed back to their quarters.
“Thanks, Elias.”
“No worries ... gotta take Dalbert for a run; you coming?”
“I’ll pass, thanks ...”
Elias took Dalbert off to the cargo deck and did his usual run. It was easy to let it go and get fat. Which was fine until you stepped off of the ship and encountered true gravity - then you paid the price.
Dunno realised that he hadn’t even unpacked his kit bag. He found a storage unit that was empty, and placed his clothes on the hangers and shelves, scratching his cheek when he realised that he might have to buy a few more clothes now. Emptying his personal effects into a couple of drawers, he was surprised to hear the flap of feet just outside of the open door.
“Did you forget something?”
Not getting a response, he turned round.
“Don’t move human ...”
“What the fuck?!”
“The ray wash is ninety-nine percent effective ... unluckily for you, I’m immune ...”
“And you are?”
“I am Tonka ... Where is the other one?”
“A Drukan - interesting - light-shy, venomous bite, hypersensitivity to silicates, parthenogenetic, butt plug ugly.”
“Krevis ain’t gonna come snooping; told him to stay out of your face.”
“Jesus; Dunno! He’ll write you up a report.”
“Don’t care if he does. C’mon then; can’t be arsed to get dressed.”
“What’s it like to shrock?”
They moved out of their quarters, leaving Dalbert in his basket, dressed only in their regulation underwear and boots.
“Filthy dirty and dangerous, especially if you’re the one who draws the short straw and has to crawl through the fissures, planting charges every kilo ... once you’re through the seam, the charges get detonated and the pickups move in to shovel the stuff into the carryalls ... simple enough but as boring as fuck.”
“Why d’ya do it for so long?”
“Pretty much off grid, pay was good ... not like I had much choice; bailed out of school for the most part ... What about you?”
“Big dreams; but the further I got, the smaller the dreams became, and for a while, I just wanted to forget everything.”
“Everything or someone?”
“Both ...”
Fleeting remembrances of those salt-stained cheeks whipped through his head like shooting stars.
“Sorry; didn’t want to dredge up anything you’d rather forget.”
“It’s okay; better now.”
They walked the hallways, checking for leaks, feeling the sweat running down their bodies as the climate system struggled to combat the effects of the ray shower, which cleaned the craft of every trace of debris, pathogen, and parasite hoping for a free ride.
“I’m really grateful for what you did, Dunno.”
“Don’t mention it; we’re good. WOW!”
They were just passing a persiplex viewing aperture when a shower of asteroids got caught in the ray and exploded like fireworks.
“Oh, man! Fourth of July and Guy Fawkes Night all at once!”
Elias pressed himself up against the panel so that he could see the trailing fireballs as they whizzed off in every direction. Dunno pressed himself up close behind him and slipped his arms around Elias’s chest and hugged tight.
Nudging Elias’s legs apart, Dunno slipped a hand down and pushed it under the waistband of the trunks, grappling with the firm flesh, trying to get everything into one hand.
“Fuck!”
“Relax ... just gonna ride you slow and easy.”
Elias reached back and pulled his trunks down, shuddering as the fabric of Dunno’s trunks grazed his bare skin. He reached up and pulled the front of Dunno’s trunks down to liberate his cock, which was already slick with sweat. It thwacked him squarely between his cheeks and, like a proton missile, found its target.
“Go in easy ... oh, m-a-n.”
Dunno eased in, still massaging Elias’s packet, pressing their bodies up closer to the clear panel to brace them for the ride.
“I’m gonna seed you, Elias ...”
Dunno voice was like gravel tumbling onto the stretched skin of a Happi drum. Each slap of thighs against buttocks sent a musky wave up to envelope them; like a drug, they sucked it down - no alien ever smelled like a human; no alien tasted as good; no alien gripped as tight or pumped as hard or shot such sweet seed.
“H-o-l-y-s-h-i-t ... gonna cum!”
Dunno clenched and fired salvo after salvo of hot, sweet cum deep into Elias’s hungry ass.
“Dunno, I’m cumming!”
He whipped out, spun Elias around and sank to his knees to take the pulsating rod deep into his mouth. Elias gripped Dunno’s shoulders and jettisoned his load, accompanied by a howl to rival a Huachihua in heat.
Once he’d sucked Elias dry, he backed off. Wiping his mouth with the back of his hand, he gasped, “You taste so fucking good!”
“Oh, God! Fuck; you’re leaking out.”
Rivulets of hot cum were running down his thighs. Dunno spun him again and lapped up the juices, ploughing the crevice with his tongue to bring Elias off again.
Krevis found them in the shower block, scrubbing each other, drowning in suds.
“Going into styro until we reach Epsong.”
“Right; we’re good.”
“I’m sorry about Dalbert, Elias ...”
“Don’t beat yourself up; I didn’t expect you to stand up to the Emperor for a stupid mutt.”
“Uhm; yeah. Your pay is in the mess ... full bonus, and something extra.”
“Thanks ... sleep well.”
“Check the beacons, and it’ll be up to you to move out of the fields when the cells are charged.”
“Got it ...”
He left quickly and the men rinsed off before heading for the drying cabinet.
“Got some proto-beef if you want steak,” Elias suggested while he teasled out the knots in Dunno’s unbraided mane.
“What was the last proper Old World food you remember tasting?”
“Peaches!”
“I remember a plate of green tomatoes, swimming in honey, mustard and chilli sauce ... oh, man.”
“After this cycle, Dunno, I’m seriously thinking about going back.”
“For real? I thought you said it had changed too much.”
“Not the worst place to settle down and grow stuff ... if maybe we perhaps could think about going together ...”
“How long to get back?”
“Five cycles on a standard transit pass; three if you can afford a cycle’s pay ... I wanna see the ocean!”
“Trees; I wanna see trees ... and birds flying in the sky.”
“Best we save the bonus and skip Epsong then.”
“Ain’t nothing I need except you.”
“Ssseriously?!”
Dunno looked over his shoulder. “Never felt this way with anyone - human or alien - don’t know why - ain’t gonna question it ... just gonna enjoy it and work hard to make you happy ...”
Elias stopped teaselling and wrapped his arms around Dunno’s neck. Pressing his lips to the man’s ear, he mumbled, “Gonna cook you that steak ...” hoping the emotions colouring his voice didn’t betray his thoughts too much.
“I think I’m falling in love with you ...”
oOo
The men were kicking back, having stuffed their bellies with proto-beef. Back in their quarters, Dunno pulled out a pouch of true-weed and rolled a joint while Elias cracked the last remaining bottle of Reeker; booty from the last trip to Epsong.
“Where the fuck did you get that weed?”
“Grew it; took over an old hydroponic facility on Alzira; best goddamn weed that I ever fucking tasted. Reeker?!”
“It ain’t vodka but it does the job ... here ...”
“Cheers!”
“Cheers!”
They took a moment to reflect on rare good fortune.
“How was it when you left Old World, Elias?”
“I left on the last migrant ship ... that was in the May of 2225. Only when we were up high could you see the emptiness; it was like the place had been hulled out.”
“Why did you leave?”
“Excitement mostly; I thought my dreams had to lie someplace else - not on Earth, not anymore.”
“Then what?”
“We headed to the Moon to refuel for the long haul to Mars - two years it took, mostly in styro. When we got there, I hated it but pretty soon afterwards, Gala Inc posted some jobs and I applied for this. They took me to Son Le Ville for training. My cousin Alicia came with me; that’s where she met Krevis. They got married but she divorced him as soon as she realised that he was a complete dickhead ... she went to Eisle - I haven’t seen her since.”
“What about your parents?”
“They wouldn’t leave Earth; they said they wanted to die there - the farm is mine by now, I guess ... what about you?”
Dunno took a swig of the Reeker and settled back, taking a moment to reorder his thoughts - it had been a very long time since anyone had asked.
“Was born on New World in 2200; hated the system, hated the rules, hated the work and the Judicarers were senseless and barbaric. Fought back but it got me in a lot of trouble. Left for Alzira; took five cycles. I spent most of it trying to learn all the stuff I had repelled at school. Once I got to Alzira, I signed up for The Shrock.”
“Three years ago.”
“Yup; now I want to see things and do something different.”
“Now’s your chance. First things first, gotta pilot the ship out of the ray station and plot a course for the sun fields.”
“Me?”
“Why not? If anything happens to me while Krevis is in styro, you’d have to at least be able to pilot the ship to the nearest beacon.”
“Elias; you’re serious?”
“Of course; this old bird ain’t too difficult. Ever navigated a ship?”
“I know a little about it; what is she?”
“Last of the old Cadvette Magnum’s ... operating system is standard i99 tech ... what I wouldn’t give for a biosys ... anyway, c’mon!”
Slightly drunk and high, they headed for the command centre.
“It’s like playing a really, really big video game. Gotta navigate out of the ray wash and then you can pilot her to the sun fields; okay, Dunno?”
“Wow!”
“Awesome, yeah? Just hold the joystick like this and move the sliders up to increase speed - four quantum thrusters for close manoeuvres ... try it!”
Dunno stood at the command console and grasped the stick in his right hand, using his left to operate the four sliders. After a few wobbles he got the hang of it, moving each slider independently to vary the power, while the joystick allowed him to vary the angle of each thruster - navigation at close quarters was easy; he could just look out of the huge persiplex viewing aperture.
They glided out of the ray wash, which was nothing more than a huge tunnel. Once clear of that, Dunno increased the speed and they moved away quickly.
“Still travelling at sub-quantum speed - that’s okay until we pass the first marker - mind her fat ass!” cautioned Elias.
Dunno was having more fun than he could remember.
“How do we navigate, Elias?”
“Look at the monitor to your left - see the image?”
“A standard six referential display?”
“Absolutely ... hit that button and you’ll get head’s up display, then you’ll have a different view - adjust the position of the ship to make the circles all line up - when they’re all lined up, you’re dead on the next beacon - two hundred and fifty thousand miles away as we would say it. Once the circles are lined up, give her full power for a couple of seconds ... and hold tight!”
It took a little bit of effort to get the circles completely lined up. When he had, he slide the thruster controls to the max level and counted out loud, “One ... two ... three-”
“Cut the power!”
Dunno slid the controls back to the lowest position - and only then did he realise that he hadn’t felt a thing.
“Did we move?”
“Drop the head’s up display and look out ...”
“Holy shit! ... But I didn’t feel anything - why?”
“Dynamic Gravity System - or DGS ... a bit like the traction control of the old days ... there’s an iron core, deep in her cuts, which creates gravity close to Old World’s, and a magnetic field ... it’s like driving a moon ... only a fucking sight more fun!”
“Do you always have to navigate from one beacon to another?”
“That’s the safest way. If we have to venture out of the system then you have to rely on the scanners ... once we’re out of the sun fields then we’ll be navigating out of the system and that’s when it gets a little bit trickier.”
“Do we have shields?”
“Shielding and auto-guided weapons that will blast an asteroid out of the way long before you’d see it ... take us to the sun fields.”
“How do I know which beacon to aim for?”
“Beneath the Standard Six monitor there’s a pre-programmed list of destinations - select sun field.”
Dunno was loath to take his eyes from the viewing panel even though he knew they weren’t moving. After he had composed himself, he scrolled through the list of destinations and selected sun field. The Standard Six display refreshed to show all beacons. Switching to head’s up, he manoeuvred until all of the circles were aligned ... and hit the thrusters.
“How long?”
“Too long to stand here; hit auto and we’ll take a break.”
Having punched the auto button, they left the command centre and headed back to their quarters.
“Thanks, Elias.”
“No worries ... gotta take Dalbert for a run; you coming?”
“I’ll pass, thanks ...”
Elias took Dalbert off to the cargo deck and did his usual run. It was easy to let it go and get fat. Which was fine until you stepped off of the ship and encountered true gravity - then you paid the price.
Dunno realised that he hadn’t even unpacked his kit bag. He found a storage unit that was empty, and placed his clothes on the hangers and shelves, scratching his cheek when he realised that he might have to buy a few more clothes now. Emptying his personal effects into a couple of drawers, he was surprised to hear the flap of feet just outside of the open door.
“Did you forget something?”
Not getting a response, he turned round.
“Don’t move human ...”
“What the fuck?!”
“The ray wash is ninety-nine percent effective ... unluckily for you, I’m immune ...”
“And you are?”
“I am Tonka ... Where is the other one?”
“A Drukan - interesting - light-shy, venomous bite, hypersensitivity to silicates, parthenogenetic, butt plug ugly.”
“Styro-”
“Not him! The other human ...”
Dunno concentrated on breathing steadily. The creature - half-human and half-bat in appearance - had a stun gun trained at his chest. The face was snub and the lips were curled back to display two even rows of sharp teeth.
“Answer me!”
“Not him! The other human ...”
Dunno concentrated on breathing steadily. The creature - half-human and half-bat in appearance - had a stun gun trained at his chest. The face was snub and the lips were curled back to display two even rows of sharp teeth.
“Answer me!”
