1:23 Ch. 05

"Yes," Harriet said twisting the ends of her long hair. If her grandmother were here the old woman would have smacked Harriet's hand. Harriet flinched at the imagined slap even though her grandmother was long in her grave.

"Why don't YOU do it?" Donny asked.

"Um ... he's having too much fun and won't listen to me. You're his best friend he might come to you."

"Fun huh?" Donny asked sounding doubtful. "What's the brain thing doing to him?"

He is as horny as a frat boy on ecstasy, Harriet thought of saying but said in stead, "He's having adventures with his favorite movie and TV stars." Before Donny had shown up, Harriet had thrown a sheet over Kent's lower half to hide his obvious erection.

"The brain helmet—"

"Brain tube," Harriet corrected.

"The brain tube lets you do that?" Donny asked sounding interested.

"Yes."

"Awesome," Donny said, "So if I wanted to make out with say Supergirl I could do it?"

Harriet shook her head. "Kent could because he is the central user. You'll be going in with the auxiliary helmet so whatever you encounter will be creations from Kent's brain not yours. You can interact but not conjure."

"Still sound's cool," Donny said. "Maybe I can talk Kent into conjuring Storm from the X-Men."

"I just need you to get him to follow you to a virtual version of my lab then I can remove the helmet," Harriet said trying not to sound impatient and irritated, which she was. Donny never failed to put her in that state.

Donny gave her a sly look. "You use the brain tube yourself?"

"No," Harriet said. "Not directly. I've been in with the auxiliary helmet." She dropped her eyes. "I found Kent's fantasy world uncomfortable." She thrust her hands into the pockets of her lab coat to hid the trembling. She had raced back to the locker room to put on her Jeans, shirt and white lab coat. She didn't want to give Donny the wrong idea of why she was wearing Kent's oversized shirt, or his underwear for that matter.

"You still have those Sasha Gray fantasies?" Donny asked out of the blue.

Harriet's expression hardened. "I regret telling you any of that and I was drunk when I did. I'd appreciate it if you'd never mention it again."

"That first time you were drunk," Donny said. "But the dozen times after that you were stone sober. You liked talking about your dirty fantasies and I liked listening."

"Donny PLEASE shut up about that," Harriet said hating the whiny edge in her voice. Now she remembered why she had slept with him. After that one drunken night, she was afraid he would tell the world about her sick fantasies. He never did though as far as she could tell. And she had to admit, she HAD enjoyed talking to him. Plus the guy proved imaginative in bed.

"Sorry," he said with just a hint of a smile.

She had him sit in the second hand la-z-boy lounge chair that she herself used when wearing the auxiliary helmet. She adjust the la-z-boy so that he was just about laying flat. She put the helmet on him. It was so compact that it was more goggles then helmet really. She was proud of the reduced design. The first chance she got she would reduce the bulky helmet on Kent's head in the same way. Maybe go wireless too. She left off the mouth piece that would enhance taste and smells. She wasn't overly concerned about Donny's experience. She needed his mouth free so he could talk.

"Keep your eyes open," Harriet said. She went to the laptop that was hooked up to the brain tube on Kent's head. "You will see a light. A series of low beeping sounds will follow. Try and focus in on the sounds. It will help me if you vocalize you experiences. There is an audio plug in to the auxiliary helmet I'll be using. I've never tested it because I was the only one using the auxiliary helmet until now."

"So you can talk me through this?"

"I'll try."

"I'm not gonna get stuck in the Matrix like Kent am I?"

"You can take off the auxiliary helmet at anytime with no trouble. Or I'll take it off you if I see that you're struggling. Look for my avatar in the form of a peacock. His name is Huxtable."

"Like in the old Bill Cosby show?" Donny asked.

"I wouldn't know, don't watch much TV," she said. Like Kent had, Donny asked pointless questions. "Follow the peacock and he will lead you to Kent."

"Tell me again WHY you can't just yank that shit off Kent's head?"

"It will ruin the experiment," she lied. "I spent a lot of time setting this up. I don't want to start from scratch." ... oh yeah, he will go totally lolo, fucking flip, mad as a hatter like my poor cousin did. Harriet kept that last part to herself of course. She hit the enter key on the laptop.

All sound vanished. Donny lay in total darkness. He remembered some old movie of a guy laying in an isolation chamber in total deprivation. He went to some alternate universe where monsters ate him ... Fucking gnarly.

"I can see lights!" Donny said. "I hear beeps on my left ... no right!"

"Good ... toward ... ound," Harriet said.

"You're breaking up," Donny said. "I can only hear every other word. I'm heading in the direction of the sound on my right. Hey! I'm walking! I must have a body! This is cool. Can't see shit thought."

"... ood."

"I can see something ahead. It's a fuzzy lighter gray circle in the darkness. Wait, it ain't a circle. I think it's a tunnel. Should I go in? Harriet? You there? I'm goin' in better stop me if this is a bad idea."

The moment Donny stepped into the tunnel he found himself standing in what looked like a college dorm room after a heinous frat party. The place was a total wreck. The sudden shift in scene was a bit dizzying. He sat his butt down on one of the dorm beds to wait out the vertigo. He looked around and his eyes fell on a digital clock with the time 1:23 glowing red.

"I think I'm in dorm room." he said. "There's a poster of Lebron James on the wall. Gotta be Kent's room."

A sound near the door made him look. Kent, dressed like a mercenary commando dude stood looking at Donny.

"Thought a demon clown ate you?" Kent said then winked away.

"I just saw Kent! He disappeared. Where's that peacock?" Donny said. "Everything looks and feels totally real. This is better than any fucking video game or I-max movie." He stood and glass crunched under his sandals. "Broken glass everywhere. Looks like something busted in through the window. Big scratches on the door, blankets and pillows all torn up. Looks like something took a bite out of the desk."

He got up and looked out the broken window. The building across the way had big chunks of it missing and all the windows were broken out. Even the trees, most of them coconut palms, looked like they had been attacked. Most of the palm fronds were gone, those that still clung to the trees hung limp and broken.

"Looks like hurricane Kick Ass has been through here," Donny said.

He walked up to get a closer look at the scratches on the door then looked at the bite at the desk again. "Looks like a bunch of raptors went loco. What fucked up Juristic World shit happened here?"

He reached for the door nob and turned it. The door fell off its hinges into the hallway.

"Donny Stevenson?" Came a tiny voice from the hall just out side the fallen door.

"Yo, something lives," Donny said.

A tiny slip of a girl stepped over the broken door and into the room. She had dark skin, Taiwanese, Donny speculated. She wore skinny jeans and a lemon yellow blouse. She was on the cute side of pretty Donny thought.

"You know my name?" Donny asked. "Come ahead, I'm not gonna hurt you."

Clearly, the girl wasn't making the same promise as she pointed a Dirty Harry size gun at his face.

"You ain't the first chick to point a gun at me," Donny joked not taking the gun seriously. He saw this all as a video game.

She cocked the hammer. He backup on instinct and scratched his leg against a broken chair. The pain felt way too real. He quickly changed his attitude toward the gun.

"Whoa ... Harriet? There's this cute Thai chick pointing a gun at my face? Should I be worried?"

"I'm Filipino," the girl said. The gun didn't waver. "I saw a demon clown eat you. You can't be here. You're dead."

"That's what Kent said too," Donny said. "What kind of Steven King nightmare is he into?"

The chick was small, he could take her. He made a move to snatch the gun. She easily avoided his grab then swept his feet out from under him. He found himself on his butt with the gun still in his face. A piece of stray glass cut into his left hand. The pain was immediate, the blood warm and all too real.

"Who are you?" the girl asked.

"Donny Stevens! Kent Orlando's best friend from Ohio!" he said looking down the barrel of the gun. "Harriet? There's some crazy ninja chick that wants to kill me. What do I do?"

The girl's eyes narrowed. "You in contact with Harriet Kono?"

"Yeah! I'm wearing that auxiliary helmet thing! She sent me in to get Kent to stop having fun and come home. Who are YOU?"

"Nefertiti Ulamat."

"Neffie?" Donny said. "Kent emailed nice things about you. I think he has a crush on you."

She dropped the gun. "You really are Donny."

"Glad I could convince you."

"I can read your mind," Neffie said as she offered him a hand to get up.

"Read minds? Noway! What am I thinking right now then?"

"You're wondering what I look like naked," Neffie said.

"Oh wow! Sorry," Donny said. "Could you explain the eaten by a demon clown thing?"

Before Neffie could answer, an awful wailing scream pierced the air. The sound came from outside the broken window.

"You better get out of here," Neffie said. She turned and ran out the doorway.

"Hold up! Do you know how I can find Kent or a peacock named Huxtable?" He ran out into the debris strewn hall. The dorm building was circular and the hall curved away in both directions. The chick was already out of sight.

The screaming stopped and Donny looked around bewildered and more than a little scared.

"Harriet," Donny said. "This brain tube thing is totally better than a movie. I'm just about ready to shit my pants."

"Donny Stevens," came a voice behind him.

Donny twirled around and found himself face to face with, of all people, Storm from the X-men, Halle Berry if you wanted to go their. To his surprise and delight, she was totally naked.

"I thought I couldn't conjure?" Donny said slacked jawed.

Storm was beyond beautiful with her curvy dark figure, long white hair and glowing white on white eyes. Donny's eyes settled on the fluffy patch of white hair between her dark thighs.

"Awesome," he whispered.

"I am Kate," the woman said in a hollow voice. She had something in her right hand. It was a long neck bird, a peacock to be exact. She held the thing by its neck. The bird was limp and clearly dead.

"Um ... Harriet? I think I found Huxtable."

Chapter Four Positive Stimulus

"Who the hell is Marco?" Kent asked entirely confused.

"A killer robot that followed me here from the future," Alice said. "It was an Imperial Space Navy intelligence robot that they found in the bay."

"You travel in time?" Inara asked her voice full of doubt.

"I'm what they call a Liner," Alice said.

"You're from the future?" Kaylee asked just as doubtful.

"No, I'm from 2011 but got stuck in the future." Alice said. "Well, not me. I hate saying it this way but the REAL Alice got stick in the future.

"This Marco robot is from the future too you say?" Inara asked

"The robot yes. But I met the ordinal Marco in 1983,"Alice said. "That Marco was human, a hit man for the mob."

"Wait, I thought you said you're from 2011?" Zoe asked.

"I am," Alice said. "I tripped to 1983 after a crazy sex party. From 1983 I went to the far future. From there I landed in 2014 but my batu self has been here for years. I really don't know what year it is anymore."

"2016," Kent said.

"How did Marco turn into a robot?" Kaylee asked.

"He didn't," Alice said. "People I encounter are repeated in my time travels. Don't ask me why that is. It just is. In the future that Marco is a killer robot for the ISN."

"How do you travel in time again?" Zoe asked.

"Like I said, by having outrageous intense sex," Alice said. "That's what launches me through time or more accurately other dimensions. Its what Liners do."

"Is this turning into one of my crazy sexual fantasies?" Kent asked barely keeping up with the conversation.

"Wish it were," Alice said.

"We wait for Harriet's peacock to show up," Zoe said. "In the mean time we continue on to Golgoth to restock on food and ammo."

"I would like to find out if my friend Nefertiti is okay," Alice said.

"I can help," River said.

"Make it quick," Zoe said to River. "You and Malcolm are the only ones who can drive this crate."

River smiled, took Alice's hand and lead her out of the common room.

Zoe looked at Kaylee. "Get us more kick, I wanna get to Golgoth sooner than later. I'll be on the bridge if anyone needs me."

Everyone left the common room leaving Kent alone with Inara the beautiful courtesan.

"You come from the other place?"Inara asked. She sat on a common room lounge chair with her legs crossed. She looked elegant.

"Yeah," he said.

"What's it like?"

"Um ... how do you mean?"

"What's it like to be a god?"

Kent laughed. "To tell the truth I'm kind of boring. YOU are a goddess in my world. What's it like to be you?"

She pondered for a few seconds. "I know who I am. I have clear memories of things I've done but I also know that I'm a fictional creation from your world. It's confusing sometime. River is the only one among us that seems to have no trouble with the duality." Inara tilted her head and gave him a long look. "When are you going to ask me to have sex?"

"Um—"

"This world is based on your sexual fantasies," Inara said. "She stood up and took a couple of steps in his direction. "I am a courtesan. Part of my job description is exploring physical pleasure." She stepped in close, her dark eyes radiating enticing possibilities. "To be honest Mr. Orlando—"

"Call me Kent," he said doing his best to keep his voice steady. She put out a vibe that rattled his being. She looked great, she smelled great ... bet she felt great.

"—Kent, I'm curious as to what it would feel like to make love to a god?"

I am going to soooo disappoint this woman, he couldn't help thinking and was glad that she couldn't read his mind. She was close enough that he felt the gentle puffs of air on his face from her well formed consonants. Just another inch and he would feel the swell of her breasts against him.

"Inara, come to the bridge, please," came Zoe's voice over the ship's com.

"Duty calls," Inara whispered up at him. She gave him a small smile then turned away. His eyes drank in her curvy backside as she left the common room.

Not knowing what else to do, Kent stepped out of the common room into the narrow passageway. They didn't waste space and he almost had to walk sideways to make his way in the tight passageway. Cables and duct tubes ran overhead in chaotic bundles compounded the feeling of claustrophobia.

"Bet this is what a submarine is like," he said aloud.

He came to an intersection where a metal staircase went up and one went down. There were no signs telling where the staircases lead to. A loud clang came from the down staircase. Another clang followed then he heard cussing in what sounded like Chinese to him.

"You okay down there?" he called down.

"Fine," came a voice. It was Kaylee Frye.

"Need help?"

"Got a current Hsu titanium coated drive needle with dark matter converter on you?"

"Let me check ... no, sorry."

"Kaylee laughed. "Can you hold a flashlight steady?"

"I can do that," he said and went down the stairs. He found Kaylee rested on her knees, pointing a flashlight into an open metal hatch in the floor.

"Hand me the matter flax," she said not looking up.

He looked at a bench covered with tools. Some looked normal, a crescent wrench, assorted screwdrivers, a hammer, but most the tools were foreign to him. "Um ..."

"It's the orange square thing with the gold handle." He handed her the tool. She handed him the flashlight.

He pointed the flashlight into the guts of the confusing machinery. Whatever she was doing was vigorous for her butt swayed as she worked and he couldn't help but eye up her cute rocking backside.

She said something in Chinese then crossed herself. "We better clear out," Kaylee said in English as she stood. "These old Hsu dark matter needles get a little wonky when overheated."

To Kent's dismay, Kaylee made a run for the stairs. In a panic, he ran after her. At the top of the stairs back in the passageway, Kaylee laughed. "Just funnin' with you."

Before he could complain about her mean joke, she pulled him in for an unexpected kiss and his irritation with her quickly evaporated. Inara had him at full attention and he was more then willing to transfer his lusty affections to cute curvy Kaylee.

They pulled back from the kiss and Kaylee said, "Ever since we got your message for help, me, Inara and River talked about what it would be like to make it with you."

"Zoe not interested?" he asked.

"She's not much into girl talk. She fought in the war. Chicks like her are way serious all the time. Plus Reavers killed her hubby. That's always on her mind."

"Yeah, I know, it was pretty awful," Kent said recalling the shocking scene from the Firefly movie. Kaylee gripped and stroked the length of his erection through his khaki pants. She let out a lusty laugh and they kissed again. She pressed in close and wiggled. He gripped her ass and they did the grind.

Inara's voice suddenly filled the space. "Kaylee, I'm getting a flux from the auxiliary hookup that connects the Serenity's computer to my ship. My power is dropping. I need my computer to help Zoe."

Kaylee cursed in Chinese. "Duty calls," she said still in Kent's arms. She pulled away from him, turned and made her way up the passageway with a gratuitous sway of her hips. She stopped briefly, turned to face Kent, pull the zipper of her overalls down and lifted her dirty orange shirt up to expose a perfect pair of pale B's. "Remember these," she said with a crooked smile then was gone.

Kent took the up staircase and followed the curving dim passageway. Inara suddenly stood up ahead. Her dark eyes sparkled like jewel in her swarthy face framed by a cascade of shiny black curls.

"Um ... hey," Kent said and immediately cringed at his lame greeting.

She beckoned him with a tiny wave of her wrist. The moment he was close they melted into a kinetic lustful hug. Giddily he said, "I can't tell how long I've fantasized of doing this. If Harriet ever gets her head out of her ass, she's gonna make a billion science fiction geeks VERY happy."

"I'm going to be a busy courtesan it seems," Inara said.

"Why do you smell so good?" he asked.

"What do you smell?"

"A sexy perfume ... clove cigarettes ... strawberries."

"Harriet's devise must find areas in your brain that trigger scents with strong sexual retention." She looked into his face and blinked her long dark lashes. "And I can't believe that we are having this conversation instead of kissing." He quickly remedied that by covering her mouth with his. As they kissed, his hands frantically roamed over her silky dress and all that was beneath.

"We are getting communications from Golgoth," came Zoe's voice over the intercom. "They are speaking in Kaneeth. Inara, you know Kaneeth."

Inara made a tiny grunt and pulled away from Kent's kiss. She struggled out of his arms and walked over to a control panel a few feet away, Kent adored the way her slim ass swayed with each step. Inara slapped at the panel. "Kaylee knows Kaneeth," she said crisply.