Arrival of The RX-2000

'So are you doing alright?' Susan thought.

'I'm getting there. All these numbers and things are difficult to understand...but...my brain feels so much more alive and I can think so much faster. So it's working out.' Josh thought, examining all of the well-organized data in his head.

'Thank you for giving up all you did for me.' Susan thought in return, grasping his hand.

The two of them were sitting in the pilot's seats as the ship floated towards the moon. The moon was large in front of them and they could see other ships far away from them, heading for the moon.

'I told you I love you. Love is sacrifice.' Josh thought with a tone of solemness.

A light blinked on the dash and Susan pressed her hand to it. A voice came into Susan's head and Josh listened to it over their communication link.

'Shuttle four four nine, I am showing a lack of atmosphere and yet I still see two heat signatures. Please clarify.' A man said through Susan's connection with the ship.

'The ship was depressurized by a rogue asteroid and all passengers were killed. The two heat signatures you are seeing are two androids on board.' Susan replied through the communication equipment.

'Understood. Are the dead still aboard?' The man asked.

'No, they were removed after depressurization. I am unfamiliar with this ship, is it possible for you to remotely land us?' Susan asked.

'The Auto-pilot is programmed to bring you all the way here and land you on your designated location.' The man told her, 'Welcome to the United States Moon Colony.'

Susan let go of the panel and looked at Josh.

'We'll be alright.' Josh said, putting his hand on hers.

The ship neared the moon and slowly approached a large conglomerate of domes. A third of the moon was covered in domes and greenery underneath it. The ship landed on a large flat platform right next to a large terminal building. A rectangular tube extended and latched onto the rear of the ship. Josh and Susan walked through the door and closed it behind them. A man on the other side of the door at the other end of the tube knocked on the window and waved at them.

"We're going to close off the ship from behind you and re-pressurize the chamber." The man's voice was dulled by the lack of air.

"Alright!" Susan said, giving him a thumbs up.

An airlock door closed behind them and the chamber hissed loudly. Josh's ears popped and Susan nodded to him. He thought to change his body back to normal and his fission core hummed into life. His skin warmed and his eyes softened as the air around him warmed to a nice sixty degrees. The door in front of them hissed and slid open.

"Welcome to the USMC. Please join the refugees in the park dome, through that walk way." The man said, checking something on his holographic clipboard.

"Do you have anywhere I can get some clothes?" Josh asked the man.

"For an android? Well...I suppose you could go into the cafeteria over there and ask one of the emergency supply tables for a jumpsuit." The man said, "I've never heard of an android changing clothes before."

They turned and walked towards the cafeteria.

"That seemed a little strange didn't it? I mean, why wouldn't androids want to change clothes?" Josh asked Susan.

"Because most androids aren't like me. We usually aren't programmed with adaptive minds. Most of the androids that worked on you were simple androids with pre-programmed minds." Susan said, "I'm pretty unique."

The cafeteria was a large room full of round tables and a black and white checkered floor. Along the far wall were three tables. One had food, another had a few tubs of clothes and the last table had medical supplies.

"Come on." Josh said, nodding towards them.

They got in line with the other refugees and walked slowly towards the table. Both of them got a bowl of soup and walked to the clothing table.

"I need some clothes." Josh asked.

"Your size?" The man said.

"I dunno. I've never worn a jumpsuit before." Josh shrugged.

"Well...you look about a seven." The man said, digging out a gray and black jumpsuit.

"Okay." Josh said, taking the folded jumpsuit from him.

*******

They had eaten their meal and Josh had slipped on the jumpsuit in the bathroom. The man had guessed right because the jumpsuit fit him almost perfect. Right now, they were in the park dome with the other refugees. It was about a half a mile across with nice walk ways around the outside and two criss-crossing in the center. The rest of it was covered in grass and low cut maple trees.

They were sitting in the grass in the open, looking at the remnants of earth above them. The majority of earth was still together, a floating dead mass in space. The atmosphere was completely gone and the two large chunks of planet were floating close together.

"Will all refugees come this way please." A man called from one end of the park.

As the refugees grouped around him, he raised his megaphone again. There were probably a thousand people there. Hopefully more than just them made it off the planet.

"In about a day a large transport vessel will enter orbit around the moon and we will evacuate all non-essential personnel from the USMC. Because of the earth's destruction, the moon's orbit is now very unstable. We are unsure what will happen and our scientists are currently trying to figure it out. Because of the Galactic Civil War, we are limited in the locations we can send you. But, for the sake of time, we're going to send you to the Mars-American nation." The Man called, "From there, you can find your own passages to where you want to go or you can remain there in the refugee center."

"Mars?" Josh asked, looking over at Susan.

"I assume the technology in the future has allowed the inhabiting of other planets. Maybe domes like this one." Susan said.

"We do not currently have room for any of you in our sleeping facilities, so you will have to remain here. I apologize for the inconvenience, but we were only notified an hour before the Earth was actually destroyed." The man said, "The cafeteria will remain open for the next few hours for those who haven't gotten any food or supplies."

The man turned and left, leaving the crowd chattering and talking among themselves.

"So what should we do?" Josh asked Susan.

"I don't know. Sit back and relax for a day?" Susan shrugged.

"I mean about being in the future and what not? How are we going to get back to our own time?" Josh asked.

"I don't know if we can. I mean...we needed the spot where the space was already torn and weak. I don't know if we can anywhere else." Susan said, scratching her head.

"Oh..." Josh said, looking at his feet.

"It'll be alright Josh." Susan said, putting an arm around him.

They passed the day quickly. For around half the day, they just laid together talking back and forth inside their minds. It was strange to Josh that he was sharing a mind with another person, especially Susan. After a few hours, his head started to get drowsy and his thoughts started to get a little sluggish. Susan told him that it was his body telling him that he needed to shut down for a short time. Lying back under the tree, the two of them shut their systems down together.

*******

Josh yawned and rolled over. Next to him was a warm, soft body. A sweet scent bushed his nose as he cuddled up to her. Susan flinched and opened her eyes.

"What...what's going on...?" She asked, looking around.

"Nothings...going on...honey..." Josh yawned, "It's Saturday...go back to sleep.

Susan rolled over and looked at him, "Josh, where are we?"

"At home...are you feeling alright?" Josh mumbled, rubbing his eyes to look up at her.

"I feel alright. But what happened? We were in a dome on the moon and suddenly now we're here...this doesn't seem right." Susan said quickly.

"A dome on the moon? You were dreaming honey, go back to sleep." Josh sighed.

"Dreaming? But I don't dream. I'm an android." Susan said.

"An android? If you were an android, I wouldn't have met you at school and married you." Josh said, "It was all just a dream honey."

"But I am an android. I'm an RX-2000. Can't you see the...the..." Susan stopped as her hands felt the side of her head.

"Honey!" Josh sighed, "It was all a dream. Would you go back to sleep if I gave you your favorite treatment?"

"I...I'm not...an...android...this doesn't make sense..." Susan said, feeling around her human ears.

"I'm going to give you a reason to go to sleep." Josh smiled, slipping under the covers.

"Josh...there's something wrong. I don't...I...Ohhh!" Susan moaned as his tongue licked into her privates.

Josh was quite enjoying himself, licking Susan's wettening slit as she moaned and squirmed. She put her hands on Josh's head and moaned loudly.

"Josh...Josh...how...did we get...here..." Susan moaned.

"I asked you to marry me and here we are." Josh said simply before returning to lick her pussy.

"M...Married?!" Susan moaned in shock.

"Yes...middle of class over a year ago, I turned to you and asked you to marry me in front of over a hundred students." Josh said, scooting forward to put her legs on his shoulders so he could lick her deeper.

"Josh...we're not...ohhh...married...this is...what is this...?" Susan moaned, putting a hand on her head.

Josh licked around her clit and Susan gasped in pleasure. She arched her back and pushed her head into the pillow. Her body clenched and she cried out loudly. She fell limp, panting heavily.

"That's what I'm talking about." Josh smiled, climbing up next to her.

Susan laid back in the bed, breathing and looking around for a few minutes. She scooted up and sat against the head board.

"I know I'm not wrong...we were on the moon and we both were androids." Susan said flatly.

"Would an android have this?" Josh asked, putting his hand on Susan's breast.

"Actually yes, I do." Susan sighed.

"Well...if we were on the moon...how did we get there?" Josh asked.

"We took a shuttle from Earth when it was about to be destroyed." Susan said.

"Really?" Josh said, "And I'm an android too?"

"Yes, you are. Your body was shot up and they put you in an android's brain." Susan said, "And then you told me that you wanted to stay in the android's body so you could live as long as I can."

"Really? I do love you that much, but why would we be androids? You've been a beautiful woman your entire life. I remember when I first saw you back when you were looking or a job at the university." Josh sighed, scooting out of bed, "I fell in love with you when I saw you."

"But I know I was made in a factory. I remember it all. I remember this house too. But we went a few hundred years in the future." Susan said, throwing the blankets off.

"Did you take sleeping pills or drink something before you went to sleep last night? You're having some serious delusions." Josh said, tossing a green robe around his shoulders.

Susan looked over at him and grabbed the purple robe from next to his. She followed him into the kitchen and looked around.

"Look there! Doesn't that tell you anything? The world doesn't look like that!" Susan said, pointing out at the sky.

"What do you mean? It's always looked like that." Josh said, looking out the window at the sky.

A large ring of asteroids circled overhead and a second blue sun was glowing brilliantly next to the large yellow sun.

"There's two suns and an asteroid belt!" Susan cried, "The Earth doesn't have an asteroid belt!"

"Of course it does! It's one of the greats iron deposits in the galaxy." Josh laughed, pouring himself a cup of coffee.

"The coffee! You didn't even make it. The pot was empty when we came in!" Susan said, pointing at the half full pot of coffee.

"Yes it was. You just don't pay attention." Josh said flatly, "Have a cup."

"Josh! I...This...of course!" Susan cried, "Your mind must be treating your maintenance cycle like a REM sleep cycle and it must be making you dream! Then our swapped communication pieces are making me enter your dreams!"

"Really? Maintenance cycles? Communication pieces? Susan, you're making no sense." Josh said, putting down his cup of coffee, "Are you feeling okay?"

As he felt her forehead, she reached for the knife block. Pulling out a steak knife, she made a desperate move. She swung the knife at Josh and stuck it in his shoulder. Josh cried out and looked at her hand on the knife.

"You...Stabbed me!" Josh cried.

"Yes...and what would be the only reason why I would stab you?" Susan asked calmly.

"Because...your fucking psycho!" Josh screamed, back peddling across the kitchen.

He grabbed the knife and cringed painfully before pulling the knife from his shoulder.

"Josh! This is a dream!" Susan said, walking over to him.

"You're crazy! I need to get you help!" Josh cried, dropping the knife.

"Fine. Then I'll do this." Susan said, grabbing the knife off the floor.

She brought it to her throat and pressed it to her skin.

"S...Susan...don't...don't do that..." Josh said, holding up his hands.

"Josh...this is a dream. If I cut my throat, I won't die. You'll wake up or something. But I know this is a dream." Susan said, digging the serrated edge into her neck.

"Don't!" Josh cried, lunging at her.

He wrapped his arms around her and pinned her arm between them.

"You...you would never leave me..." Josh said, holding her tight to himself.

"Then listen to me." Susan said.

"If...this was a dream...what should I do?" Josh asked, looking up at her.

"Wake up." Susan said, "Wake up Josh."

*******

Josh snapped awake and looked around. He was sitting against the trunk of a tree and Susan was lying against him, dosing softly in his arms. She stirred and looked back at him.

"I had the strangest dream hon." Josh said, rubbing his eyes.

"I know...I was there." Susan said.

"You...you were...?" Josh said, "Then...what you said in my dreams was true. We were sharing a dream."

"And as I said, I was brought into your dream by the communication devices. I don't do anything during my maintenance cycle, so my mind latched onto the first active thing. I assume that if we fall asleep together again, the same will happen again." Susan said.

"So we just need to figure out a full proof way for you to prove to me that I'm in a dream until I finally start realizing my dreams." Josh said.

"We'll work on that later. It's been a little over twelve hours. That shuttle to take us to Mars should be here soon." Susan said, standing up.

"Okay." Josh said as he hopped to his feet beside her.

The ship was huge. A large oval ship with two wings, it orbited over top the colony while small shuttles brought people on board. The crowd in the park dome was slowly streaming back to the terminal building to be shipped to the waiting ship.

"So what do you think is on Mars?" Josh asked Susan.

"I'm assuming the same as the moon, probably just sealed domes and such." Susan said, "I wonder how fast this ship goes. I mean, if we can get to the Moon in hours from Earth, it should only take a few weeks to get to Mars."

"I bet that can go faster than the shuttles." Josh said, pointing at the two round engines protruding from the back of the oval ship.

"I wonder what it can do." Susan said, walking forward in the line.

It took them a little over an hour to get on the shuttle and just a few minutes to get brought to the ship. They got off the shuttle in the small landing bay and watched it pass through the energy barrier that was keeping the air in. The bay was about a hundred square feet and maybe fifty people were in it. A few crew members were walking around assigning rooms.

"You two are in room three four three on the first deck." A woman with a clipboard said to them, "And your in three four four...you two in three four five."

"Everyone's going through there, I suppose we should follow them." Susan said, pointing at the crowd that was filtering through the two small doors on the other side of the landing bay.

The clean gray halls all looked the same as they walked along. The doors on their left and right had small lit numbers on the front of them. They were in the three twenties. It took another ten minutes to continue down the hall to the three forties. They found three forty three and Susan pushed the open button next to the door.

The room was tiny. It had a single bed bunk with two large drawers under the bottom bunk. There was a single door that led to a closet sized bathroom with a toilet and a sink.

"This must be a military ship." Susan said, sitting down on the bottom bunk.

"Probably. Nobody but soldiers would pay for rooms like this and I bet they're just assigned to these rooms." Josh said, looking at the perfectly made beds and completely clean floor.

"So how long do you think this trip is going to take?" Susan asked.

"I couldn't tell..." Josh started.

"Attention refugees. Welcome aboard the Icarus Three Military Cruiser. We are taking a non-stop three day multi-dimensional trip to Mars." A heavy Scottish accented man's voice came over a loud comm system.

"Three days from here to Mars...holy hell." Josh said flatly.

"They did say multi-dimensional trip. We may not even travel that fast, just across another dimension." Susan said, tapping her chin.

"So what do you want to do?" Josh asked.

"I dunno...want to try sharing a dream again?" Susan asked.

"I'm not tired." Josh said.

"Your an android. You can turn yourself off anytime for any length of time." Susan said, "I think it would be fun."

"Okay...but what should we do if I don't believe you it's a dream?" Josh asked.

"Maybe I'll just play along with the dream." Susan smiled, "I know I could've gotten into the last dream. Plus...you could come up with some really fun adventures."

"Alright." Josh shrugged, "I'm going to lie in bed."

*******

Water splashed loudly against the sides of the ship. Joshua stood at the helm of his own pirate ship, a belt of pistols on his chest and a saber on his waist. His first mate stood on his right. Susan O' Hannen, a feisty pirate of Irish decent with deadly skill with hand to hand combat. The rest of his crew was made up of the most ruthless and lust filled cutthroats on the Caribbean. His ship was a terror in the late seventeen hundreds.

Josh, of course, had absolutely no idea that it was his dream and Susan thought it easier to go along with a pirate captain than try and prove him wrong. She actually thought it fun to be a pirate for a few hours.

"Captain! Ship off the starboard bow! She's flying French colors!" A man in the crow's nest cried.

"Good! Run out the cannons! Get the hooks ready! We're getting some damn loot today mates!" Josh cried happily, turning the wheel over to steer them towards the enemy ship, "And run up the colors!"

A black flag climbed the ship's mast and fluttered wildly in the wind. It carried a single skull with some strange ear-like adornments on it. The ship neared them and the bow cannons erupted with noise. Cannonballs tore past the opposing ship and struck one of their crew members in the chest. It took him off the ship and dumped him far out int he sea with a crushed rib cage.

"Ship coming up on the starboard side captain!" The crewman called from the bow as they approached the ship.

"Open fire when ready!" Josh laughed.

Cannons all down the starboard side exploded. Holes tore in their ship as they fired back, blasting holes across Josh's deck.

"Throw all lines! Board and conquer! Take no quarter!" Josh cried.

"Aye aye captain!" Susan laughed, taking a running leap off the rail and onto the opposing ship.

She, given skill by Josh's dreams, proceeded to punch a man in the throat and then throw another over her shoulder. The crews clashed in an all out brawl as Josh looked across the deck for the enemy captain. He often ended battles early by killing the captain and routing the crew.