A Darkness Returns to Light Ch. 01

Carver awoke with a start, as well as a massive erection. Sensations of sex and the images of a woman's silhouette quickly emptied from his memory as alertness took over. It couldn't be a NeuroSexNet signal bleeding into his DataNet stream, as he was light-years from any subspace hotspots. Plus he had turned off the implant before leaving the station anyway. Still, the sensations ebbed their way out of his memory as dreams tend to do, leaving only lingering fragments to piece together. And a rock hard cock to deal with, as well as a throbbing headache.

As masturbating without an NSN connection wasn't his idea of a good time even without a headache, and the nearest human was many light-years away, Carver decided to go check on the mapping program Oscar was running to see if there were any interesting results this early on. Maybe this system would provide substantial water or hydrogen supplies, ore, or even habitable planets. None of the others had so far, which was making for a rather boring six month expedition.

He got up out of his bunk and shuffled out of his quarters, pausing for a glass of water in the galley as he made the short trip to the command center directly next door. He was glad he designed his ship with the galley its focal point, the remaining eight rooms encircling it, while storage, power, and other systems were down in the "basement". It was quite a comfortable setup, even if he was alone this voyage.

"Hi, Oscar! Anything in your prelim scans sticking out tonight?"

His ship responded via Direct Interface, and kindly kept his volume and tone low and comfortable.

"You are awake early, Carver. I can only detect one thing sticking out, and it is connected to your groin. Is everything OK?"

"Funny," he replied out loud. "Just a dream is all."

Having a ship's command computer with new AI AND personality subroutines can have interesting side effects. At least the conversation was never dull.

"Nothing extraordinary here, other than heavy asteroid activity, though not enough to worry too much about. I can keep us well out of the path of any stray objects...."

The proximity alarm sounded as Oscar spoke. Carver instinctively jumped to the command chair and started looking for the offending object's location and path. The ship had no real weaponry to destroy a large object, instead relying on standard shielding and deft piloting.

"Don't worry, I have already adjusted for it. I AM much faster at this than you now, you know. The asteroid somehow sneaked up on us. It would have missed us by a few meters anyway, but I nudged us a little to play it safe." The ship sounded smug about his skill, yet bothered that he had missed the asteroid.

"Thank you. You definitely have surpassed the teacher, no doubts about that." He felt odd still stroking the ego of a computer, but knew from long experience that positive feedback was important. "That was a big one, how did that manage to get by your sensors?" He knew that Oscar was probably more concerned than he was, and would run some background trajectory scans to figure out what had happened.

"I do not know, perhaps there was a collision which changed its path, but I haven't fully analyzed the scan data. The asteroid field is fairly large and I have not yet projected the trajectories and orbits of all the major bodies."

"I don't think I'd bother with this one if you think it's safely out of the way."

"It is. in any case, that spike you have there probably would have shattered it if necessary." He paused for effect, then continued:

"You really should reconsider your choice of attire, or rather the lack of it. I am finding it distracting."

"I didn't hear you complaining last month."

"You had different bits sticking out then."

"I am going back to sleep, Oscar. Sweet dreams!"

"You already seem to have had one yourself. Good night, Carver."

Carver headed back to his bunk, regretting one more time both Oscar's still-developing personality subroutines and his lack of NSN recordings. Thankfully, sleep returned quickly.

Dark, hazy swirls of sex AGAIN filled Carver's sleep. Feelings of desire, of need, of pure lust. The touch of unseen fingertips caressing his cheek, of hair brushing his chest. The surprise of lips caressing, then enveloping his already hard cock. The sound of his moans of pleasure. He tried to open his eyes, hoping to discover who this dreamlover was. All he could see was the shadow of a woman surrounded in a swirl of red.

All he could feel now were the lips and tongue working their way up and down his cock. Oddly, there was a coolness about that mouth, yet it didn't diminish the pleasure as the mysterious, faceless lips perfectly fit around his shaft, exerting just the right amount of pressure as they rose and fell. The anonymous tongue flicked expertly on his head as the lips paused there just a touch before plunging down again, making him gasp with each little pause. He tried to touch the face of the shadow-woman, but his hands could not find anything.

The dreamlover's mouth was now getting warmer as the tempo increased, absorbing and reflecting the heat of Carver's hardness. The lips began fluttering, impossibly vibrating as they worked their way up and down his shaft. The tongue danced around, having it's own agenda as it pressed and flicked against his cock. The tempo slowly increased until it almost became a spasm. This made him moan more and more, accompanied by sudden and frequent gasps as the tongue lapped the head of his cock at the top of each stroke. He arched his back as the tension built inside of him, the gasps and moans merging into one unreal sound. Finally, he was allowed to release in his own spasm of an orgasm, his hands grasping in the nothingness for something to hold on to as he cried out in pleasure and release. But again, there was nothing to touch.

All he could see as he left the dreamworld was that swirl of red as the shadow-woman's silhouette faded away.

"Who are you?" he asked the nothingness.

There was no reply, just a sense that she was nearby.

Carver woke a few hours later, eager to look at Oscar's preliminary scans of the sector. It could take a few days to fully map this sector, even with his ship's multiple sensors. An interesting anomaly or the chance of a significant deposit of minerals, water, or gases would sure break the current monotony in this mapping mission. A little profit wouldn't hurt, either. The mapping itself payed well enough, but it was an unwritten policy that the location of anything interesting was a ship's Captain's to sell, trade, or keep as he saw fit. There probably wasn't much to recommend this area to anyone, however, with its small, dim sun.

He got up, climbed out of his bunk, and decided to dress for the day, to appease his Command Computer's apparent unease with his recent gender change. Could Oscar be a "male", a straight one even? Or was it just the fact that it's (his?) sentience occurred while it's (his) Captain was a woman? He grabbed a work kilt, wondered how Oscar would react to that if he was alive when Carver was a young man, so very long ago. He chuckled to himself as he dressed, happy for a distraction from his nighttime escapades.

His distraction was short-lived, however, as he pulled on a t-shirt while he walked to the command deck. He hadn't had dreams like those since he was very young man. He had purposefully disabled his NeuroSexNet interface for this mission specifically to break away from the growing distraction it was creating. He needed a break from the rampant hedonism it was creating. This of course made the previous night's stained sheets all the more puzzling. He hoped it wasn't some sort of withdrawal symptom or some sort of defect in his NeuroSexNet implant. He did not relish the though of having to remove it while alone and so far out.

He slid onto his seat and the multiple displays came on automatically. He looked over the ship's system logs for any errors. This was pure habit as Oscar was more than qualified to handle most things on his own. Ancient habits were hard to discard, however, and the computer never commented on the subject. After seeing that everything was in order, he then called up the various preliminary sector scan reports, placed them on separate screens, and then asked for a summary report:

"Oscar, what's your initial opinion, based on what you have scanned so far?"

"Good morning, Carver. Overall I don't believed that there is much of note here at first glance. Type K sun, only one gas giant with a couple of good-sized moons, so nothing for the real estate market. There is slightly elevated asteroid activity, which could bring some mining possibilities, but that would depend on the results from more thorough scans."

"So, overall, just another boring system then," Carver replied with a slight hint of disappointment.

"Not quite. As usual I save the good for last. Or at least the possibly interesting. Take a look at screen 3."

Carver did so; the image he saw was not too revealing at first glance, just a round, blob of reflected light. Looking at the scan data below the picture revealed some astounding facts. He wasn't sure if he was interpreting the data correctly, but if he was, that object was not a natural one

"Is it...round? As in a disk?"

"It is round, yes, but I do not believe it is a disk. Rather I think it is a ring. It is around 1800 m in diameter, 150m wide. A classic Stanford torus, perhaps."

"Holy Shit! Are you sure? Can you determine it's origin or anything more about it?"

"Not yet. I only just discovered it myself. It may be spinning, which could mean it is functioning, but I cannot determine yet if it is occupied."

If the ring was Terran, it had to be pre-diaspora. But how would It have arrived way out here? Rings weren't designed for mobility. Could something that was over 400 years old possibly still be operational? Could it be from an alien race then? In any case he wanted to go there NOW. As an archaeological find, it was quite interesting. If it were somehow populated by a lost group of humans, that was astounding and newsworthy. If this was the oft-anticipated First Contact, well then Carver would become a piece of history.

"How close can we get to it? Maybe we'll first send out some drones."

"I have already launched two, and yes, we can move in much closer without serious risk. But I think we should wait on that."

"Are you serious? Why?"

"You remember the near-miss we had? Analyzing the trajectories on that rock shows that it originated from near the torus, and astonishingly seems to have its own propulsion system as well as a docking ring and a couple of air locks. The images on screen 2 show these quite clearly. It also has changed course and is headed back towards us."

The asteroid-cum-space ship was headed on an intercept course, though it wasn't traveling with any threatening speed. In fact, at its current .2 gee acceleration, it wouldn't rendezvous for approximately a half hour so Carver used that time to study the curious stone ship. It was vaguely cylindrical at 5 m wide and 15 in length. There was what appeared to be a docking ring on the nose, as well as t hatches along the sides. Attitude jet nozzles ringed the circumference near each end, apparently fuel lines snaked from each one towards the back end. The main boost engine was set into a hollow at the tail, which partially masked it. Overall it was a fairly small ship, and though obviously makeshift, it looked neat and well done. There was also a distinct lack of anything resembling weaponry, though the natural nooks and crannies of an asteroid could well be hiding those.

"Oscar, any response to our hailing signals?"

"Not that I can detect. I am broadening the frequency spectrum as I cannot be sure what they are capable of receiving."

The rock-ship began decelerating. For some reason, this seemed to make the hair on Carver's neck stand on end. His head also began to throb lightly. The anticipation of the upcoming discovery must have been the cause of that, he hadn't had a headache in many decades.

"The vessel has stopped. And we are being hailed," Oscar reported, sounding as surprised as a computer could be. "Audio and video over standard channels actually. You'd better wipe the barbecue sauce off your face before I open the link."

"OK, and you need to check your fly, smartass," Carver retorted.

"Opening link, screen 1," Oscar replied, and the video feed switched on.

What appeared was the face of a human female, and quite attractive. Her face was oval, with a slightly pointed chin, the lips thin, the eyes a stunning green. Her hair was an expansive red, curly mass, her long locks floating in every direction. This made it obvious that there was no grav unit in her ship.

"Hello!" she spoke in a personable, almost perky tone, a sight grin on her face.

"I am Anyessa. You must be Carver."

"Ah, yes I am, actually," he replied, completely at a loss for anything else to say. How could she know his name? Why was he so focused on her hair? Why did he have a sense that he should know her? And why did his head suddenly hurt?

"Wonderful! It is a pleasure to meet you. I have been chosen to flit out here and, well, check you out, to be honest. If you haven't guessed, I am from the ring you just sent some probes to. It's the Varley 3 station, actually. Which is of course part of a long story I hope to be able to tell you. Might I ask permission to board your vessel?" His head throbbed with each word.

He could not help himself in answering:

"Yes, of course."

"Excellent!" she replied, the throbbing no longer punctuating her words, her grin just a little bit bigger. "Just give me a few moments to maneuver for docking."

Anyessa cut the connection, and Carver watched as the stone ship quickly and deftly rotated and sidled up to his ship's docking node The attitude jets puffed in small, seemingly random spurts to gently spin and nudge it towards the larger ship to line up it's docking ring with a quickness and precision that impressed him.

As Oscar extended the docking tube out towards her ship, Carver went over to the grav-chute and was lowered to the basement where the main airlock was.

As he walked towards the lock, he realized he probably should have changed out of his work garb and into something more presentable. But it was too late for that. The airlock was already cycling. He stopped short of sticking his face into the viewport, not wanting to seem to eager for a look as his guest waited for the pressures to equalize.

When the lock finally opened, he was glad he had held back as he had a hard time keeping his eyes going wide and his jaw from dropping in amazement. She had definitely had the forethought to change her clothing, and somehow had done so with remarkable speed considering the short amount of time between maneuvering and docking.

She was slightly taller than Carver's 175cm, but he was a rather short man. Her long, wild bright red hair was pulled back slightly with a thin diamond-studded headband. Matching stones hung from her ears, with a smaller one studding her nose. Her jewelry was finished off with a matching necklace that was actually the collar of her dress.

Her lips were painted green, which matched her gown. Which was more suited for a gala or ball. It was floor-length, slit up the side up to her hips, and backless. Anyessa had smallish breasts, but the cut both separated them and gave the wonderful impression that they were about to fall out at any time.

"Boy, are you under-dressed. You probably aren't even wearing underwear, are you?" Oscar said, privately via Direct Interface. At least he had learned some tact, Carver thought.

"I am overdressed for what I want to do to her," he replied, also privately.

He must have been staring for a few milliseconds too long, as Anyessa extended her hand in greeting with a grin.

"Carver! It is so good to meet you! Permission to come aboard?"

"Likewise, Anyessa. And yes, please, join me" As she stepped aboard, he took hold of her hand in both of his and gave a friendly shake, looking directly into her green eyes. Her hand was cool to the touch. His fingertips tingled slightly, as did the back if his neck.

"I would like to introduce you to my ship, Oscar. He hasn't had many visitors since he became and AI, so this is a treat for him as well"

"It is a pleasure to meet you, Oscar." She said, glancing around as many do the first time they meet an AI, unsure of where to direct their gaze, especially as Oscar preferred to place his voice in the left ear, slightly to the rear.

"The pleasure is all mine, Welcome aboard!"

"Now, I definitely have a billion questions for you, but I must ask this one," Carver said. She knew which one it was going to be as she answered before he could ask:

"Why, Carver, surely you remember our, ah, date last night, don't you? I sure do!" She beamed, her smile broadening to reveal her bright white teeth, including two thin, elongated canines. "You were so delicious then, and smelling your blood now, I am finding it rather difficult to control myself. I haven't tasted human blood in over 200 years!"