As Above, So Below

This story is a direct follow up from Gateway to the Stars but reading that, or any of my preceding stories is not necessary to enjoy this adventure. All you need to know is our heroine, normal earth girl Brenna, has leaped through a portal to find her missing boyfriend, Michael and ended up stranded in space. She's fallen in with the crew of the Silent Leopard and is now trying to book passage to where she believes her boyfriend to be.

Chet kicked a dusty rock at the base of the Silent Leopard where it bounced out into the harsh sunlight. Esiar rolled her eyes at him as he paced back and forth.

"You are not going to make this go any faster, you know." She says, "Lia has to haggle for our moorage fee and then it always takes forever for a free rattlecart to take us down to the surface."

Arven nods. "This is true. It is always obnoxiously long." Chet keeps fidgeting.

"I know, I just... it's been a long space flight and I'm ready to be here. Look, you can even hear them down there!"

It was true. From your vantage point up on the sandy cliffs, you could hear the sounds of music, machines and revelry drifting up from the narrow canyons cut deep into the rocks. Not that you stood anywhere near the edge, that drop off is steep!

You stroll up behind Esiar and absent-mindedly fondle her bottom. She gives you a flirty smile and wriggles her hips under your grasp.

"Okay, so what is everyone going to do when you get down there?" You ask.

Chet stops his pacing.

"Well, first stop, I'm going to find a commlink and talk to my folks back on Malkenair." Chet says. "And then maybe get a bite to eat..."

Arven cuts him off, the large Boraheld's voice rumbling in your ear.

"We all have things we have to do, what do you want to do?" He asked.

"Oh, well in that case, I was going to head over to the chopshop a little north of here and see if a couple of my old buddies from the Janus wreckyards are there. Grab a few drinks, shoot the shit and catch up."

Arven nods.

"That is good. Friends are good." He says simply. "I will seek out the Oracle of Lazerus. She has a temple here. I will give offerings and she may provide me guidance on my next path in life."

"You mean your path after us?" Esiar asks, a little reproachfully.

"Yes." Arven says unruffled, then seeing Esiar's face, add, "It is time. You should consider moving on too. We all have our own ways to go." He looks pointedly at you.

"Well, I'm going to go to the Octopus Bar and paaaaarty!" Esiar says with a whoop. "I'm going to dance, and drink and celebrate because, after all, we just got paid! Time to be wildly irresponsible!" Her laughter is infectious and even Arven cracks a smile.

"How about you, Brenna?" Chet asks. "What are you going to do here on this Planet of sin?"

"I have a job to do, actually." You say, "I need to book transport to the Abhaile Cluster."

"Boring!" Esiar says with a laugh.

"Are you going to be alright figuring out how to do that?" Arven asks, concerned. You shake your head.

"I'm not too worried. Once Lia collects payment for the job you all just finished, she's going to give me a share,"

"A completely fair arrangement. You've more than earned it over the last week." says Chet sincerely.

"You just say that because you are sleeping with her!" Esiar says laughing.

"We are all sleeping with her!" Arven contends and the group descends into laughter.

"But yes, Lia says that there should be more than enough money to provide for transport, if I can find a ship." You say.

"There's thousands of ships going in and out of orbit every day. I bet you could find at least one going out there, even if it is in the middle of nowhere." Esiar says reassuringly.

"I hope you find what you are looking for." Arven says.

"Thanks." You say. "Oh look, here comes Lia!"

True enough, Lia was making her way over to where you landed by skimmer bike with a large man-shaped robot riding shotgun. She skids to a stop in front of the ship, kicking up a cloud of dust.

Coughing, you wave it out of your face as everyone gets to their feet.

"Alright team, Bruno and I have come to terms. The ship is safe and we are free to come and go as we need." The automaton steps out of the sidecar and stands in front of the ship.

"The sentry knows our likeness so we are all good to go. Hop in!" and with that everyone clambors into the sidecar and whizes off to the edge of the canyon. From there, the five of you load into an open air elevator, barely more than a metal cage on a cable and you descend down, down, down to the bustling canyon floor of Twee Bon.

CA-CLANG! The elevator slams into the dusty base of the canyon as you and your crewmates disgorge into the flow of people, wrapped in varying degrees of clothing, armor and rags. Everywhere you look, you see wonders. Men with deep green leathery scales for skin, robotic people skittering along the ground, a cacophony of voices and languages, all yelling and bartering and laughing. A kaleidoscope of the universe.

Arven gives your arm a comforting squeeze and then vanishes into the crowd without another word. Esiar begins to head off towards a deeper ravine but Lia shouts for her to hold up and pulls you aside.

"Here," she pushes a handful of currency, narrow green metal bars like small jenga blocks, into your hand. "That's an advance on your cut of the job. I know you don't have any money and you should probably get a Zakitta."

Esiar kicks at the dirt impatiently a few paces off. Beyond her, you see a couple of shrouded women beneath the overhang of a market booth watching the elevator with interest. You take the money, jangling it in your hand and then realize, you don't have any pockets on your skirt.

"What's a Zakitta?" You ask but your eyes are drawn to activity above you across the cavern. The stone edifice is riddled with caves, holes and balconies. A muscular man, shirtless with blue skin and gleaming red eyes, tips back a drinking horn, guzzling a clear liquid till it runs down his neck and chest. He finishes and wipes his mouth with a meaty hand, and surveys the scene below.

"It's a jacket, keeps you warm and cool here on Twee Bon. There!" Lia points out a lanky woman coming with the flow of traffic, pulling a small hand cart. She is wearing a long brown coat. It rests on her shoulders with minimal adornment and split along the sides and up the middle. It has, to your eyes, an Arabic cut but now that you've noticed it, you see several other people wearing them up and down the street.

"Esiar will help you shop, trust me. It's worth it if you get stuck topside." Two floating robot orbs, chittering in a rapid fire series of clicks and beeps, float past you, nearly colliding with Lia's head.

"One more thing," she leans in close, speaking softly into your ear so that she can be heard, her breath hot on your neck.

"The OCC might not control this system, but they still have plenty of friends here. Be careful who you trust and watch your back." You nod solemnly.

With that, she gives you an affectionate pat on the cheek and slips off into the crowd.

"You ready?" Esiar asks, approaching.

"Not quite, we need to do some shopping first."

###

"I never expected it to be so comfortable." You say as you and Esiar descend deeper into the winding cavern. The blistering heat above is now reduced to temperatures closer to an overly air-conditioned office but thanks to your new Zakitta, with it's clever buckles in the front and strange fabric that is neither as stiff as leather nor as soft as cotton, you are comfortable and free to move.

Esiar takes you off the clogged streets and through a series of tunnels and half-buildings. Despite the thinning crowds, you get the distinct feeling you are being watched.

You keep glancing back over your shoulder but no shrouded finger appears.

Finally, Esiar comes to a white marbled stone wall with an octopus mosaic on the front. Faintly, you can hear the music thumping on the other side. She wraps her knuckles three times on the wall.

CREEAAAKK a door, previously camouflage, swings open revealing a shimmering room of blue light.

The entire club is situated on top of a water reservoir, a glistening pool that filled the main room and stretched its watery fingers down the numerous alcoves and tunnels that made up the club. Stone walkways and floating bridges connect islands with outcroppings in the rocks creating a million different vantage points and hiding holes for the most discerning drinker. In the water itself, drunken revelers swam, most sans clothing revealing a rainbow of skin tones and beauty.

In the center of the club, a giant robotic octopus whirls about, distributing drinks with speed and efficiency while blasting what can only be described as alien dubstep out of a speaker on the top of its head. Esiar takes your hand and leads you towards one of the arching stone bridges.

"Are they...drinking underwater?" You point to two patrons decked out in scuba gear, drinking covered drinks at a submerged section of the club.

Esiar laughs.

"Come on, let's party!"

###

It was your fourth drink and you were golden. It had been a long time since you had gotten properly drunk at a bar - between kids and getting older, the idea of getting smashed at Rumors had long since lost its luster but you must admit, you are having a blast. The drinks are incredible - you had just finished off something called a "Robby Vamoosh" which Esiar tried to explain was named after a famous galactic president but you lost the thread halfway through the story when her shoulder strap slipped off giving you a breathtaking, if familiar, view before she laughly fixed herself.

Now, you had just visited the bathroom, thankfully, not too hard to find, and was navigating the labyrinth of tunnels back to the alcove where you and Esiar had found when a man blocked your path.

He was tall, broad, wearing a sturdy leather flight suit. His hair was dark and there was something in his face that reminded you wonderfully of Michael.

"Hey there, where you off to in such a hurry?" His accent is lyrical and completely unplaceable. New Zealand? What are you talking about - he probably speaks Zygot 15 or something. You shake your head.

"Sorry, just getting back to my friend." You say.

"I could be that friend. I don't mean to be rude but you are the most beautiful woman and I would very much like to be knowing you."

His words are eager and sweet but there's something that doesn't quite sit right. You glance down and see his right hand, hoving inches above the blaster attached to his hip.

"No thanks, I'm married." You reply and try to slip by him.

Lightning quick, he whirls, pressing his body against yours and backing you against the wall of the tunnel, the palm of his hand flat against your sternum.

"Now, now, we both know that isn't a problem for you Brenna, is it?" He whispers fiercely. "How about you and I make our way towards the door back there," he jerks his head towards a narrow stone path with a foot of water in it. "I think you'll find we've got quite a bit to discuss."

CRASH! A mop haired young man tumbles into the two of you, sending you stumbling apart.

"Woah, sorry dude!" The youth apologizes, positioning himself between you and your assailant. He's wearing what can only be described as the loudest collection of fabrics you have ever seen, an ever-shifting conflagration of greens, purples, yellows and pinks.

"I like, didn't see you there?" He turns to you and mouths something. GO you lip read. Taking the opportunity, you give the bigger man a sardonic wave and splash down the path back towards your perch.

"Did you, uh, see a bathroom back here? I've got to majorly take a piss. Like my eyes are ready to water up, you know?" You hear him say behind you. The taller man gives a frustrated snort and stops off in the opposite direction.

When you reach the rocky outcropping, Esiar has been joined by another woman with sharp cheekbones and muscular physique. The two of them are stretched out in the abalone carved seating, blowing smoke rings into the air off the electronic hookah device and laughing.

As you approach, Esiar waves at you.

"Brenna! Meet me new friend! This is Jaxica! It's her first time on Twee Bon too."

"Hey." She gives you an upward head jerk as a greeting. "This place is pretty great. Hardly my first party planet though. I once hopped a nebula grazer to Altima Seventeen out in the belt - shit - those little green fucks know how to party." She takes a long drag off the hookah. "Spent a goddamn week there blasted out of my mind till my father showed up to drag me home."

Esiar gives her an indulgent grin. "She and her brother are on a trip of indeterminate destination." You chuckle as the microbes struggle with the translation of "road trip" idiom.

"Fuck yeah we are," says Jaxica. She punches the air triumphantly. "We're lighting up this galaxy. Seeing the fucking sights!"

Esiar gives you a raised eyebrow. Ah yes, potential transport.

If you aren't stopping to smell the flowers and kiss the pretty people, why bother?" You say grinning. "It's all about the journey, right?"

"That's what I'm talking about. The fucking journey! See, she gets it!" Jaxica says. Esiar hands you back your drink and you make a toast.

"The fucking journey." You say, and Jaxica clinks her glass with you.

"Oh shit, what I'd miss?" Your mop haired savior from earlier stumbles up to the table as you slide into the abalone seat.

"Maserat!" Jaxica says, "This gorgeous woman was just telling me that we should be kissing all the people we like on our trip."

He laughs but stops when he sees you.

"Oh damn, you alright girl?" He says. "That dude was fucking intense."

"What happened?" Esiar says, concerned.

"There was a guy..." you begin but Maserat jumps in.

"He was a fucking cop. You can always tell. They've got cop eyes." He makes a face, squinting a bit as Jaxica laughs.

"... and he tried to take me out of here, probably would have forced the issue if Maserat hadn't showed up." You give him your warmest smile. "Thank you."

His cheeks turn bright red and he's temporarily stunned into silence.

"Careful, you do that too much and he'll have a boner for a week." Jaxica says.

"Of fuck off sis." He says without venom and the table devolves into laughter.

###

You spend the next hour flirting shamelessly with your two new friends. Apparently Jaxica and Maserat are the children of a very wealthy family, something to do with shipping fleets, and but both of them have a severe allergic reaction to responsibility and sobriety. Finally, their father, "Fuckhead Senior" as Maserat affectionately dubbed him, gave them an ultimatum. Get clean and start serving on a transport carrier or be cut off from the family fortune.

Naturally the two of them took option C, swiping a sexy hotrod of a spaceship and bailing as fast and far as they can. They are two weeks into this venture and so far, no signs of serious pursuit.

In return, Esiar shares your thrilling escape from the data depot and your sudden arrival via space portal. Naturally, you keep all the details relating to the Abhaile cluster close to your chest but considering that Maserat has trouble keeping his eyes away from your chest, you aren't too worried about a careful inquisition from these two.

When Esiar goes to the bathroom, Jaxica leans over to you.

"Hey, want to do some Mongoose blood and go skinny dipping? I've got some on me."

You like the idea of skinny dipping. Jaxica has been eyefucking you for the last hour and since you are on your sixth drink, it sounds like a good idea. The mongoose blood on the other hand...

"What's Mongoose blood?" You ask, praying you don't sound like the lamest kid in school.

"Oh fuck, you got to try it." Maserat offers. "It lets you coast on the waves of time." He sweeps his hands through the air, letting the last word hang in the air as his colorful sleeves catch the breeze of the catacombs.

Jaxica rolls her eyes.

"It fucks you up for about 30 minutes, makes you high as a kite and ready to fuck or fly or swim and then you just have after shocks for the next hour or so and then you are fine. It's not addictive, which is why it is fucking expensive and it's a riot." She bites her lip a little bit.

"So, you in?" You glance back to see Maserat pulling off his color vortex of a shirt and start eyeing the water below.

You stand up, slipping out of your Zakitta. Jaxica pulls a vial of something bright blue from a pocket on her tight fitting pants and is shaking it violently.

"You guys go ahead with the mongoose blood, but I'm definitely down for swimming." You say and to punctuate your point, you pull your top over your head, freeing your breasts to the cool air of the club. Maserat stops, open mouthed, totally transfixed.

"Hey, dumbass, it's go time." Jaxica says, taking a quick swig from the vial before capping it and tossing it to her brother. She makes a face as she gulps it down, shaking her head.

"It's probably for the best that you're not taking some, we could use a time sink." she says.

"What's a time sink?" You ask as Maserat gulps down a swig.

"It's the sober person that helps remind you if you are in the past, present or fu... fuck those are some nice titties." Jaxica says, suddenly noticing your toplessness. You give her a saucy look and wiggle out of your skirt as Esiar comes walking up with a fresh round of drinks.

"Damn, what'd I miss?" She says, eying you up and down. You give her a shake of your hips.

"We're doing drugs and going swimming!" Maserat shouts a little too loud, peeling off his tight leather pants revealing a truly impressive dick.

"Okay then," says Esiar with a laugh. "You need me to join you or can I just stay here and finish my drink?"

"We're good." You answer as Maserat gives a loud whoot and leaps into the water. Jaxica sheds her clothes and takes your hand.

"You want to jump together?" She asks, her eyes a dizzying kaleidoscope of colors, the once light blue irises turning red, purple, green, yellow in rapid succession.

Her eyes are so captivating, you almost miss her nudity but as your gaze lingers south she gives you a hearty laugh.

"Don't worry, it won't be your last chance at this view. Come on!"

And with that, the two of you plunge into the aquifer.

The water is thankfully lukewarm and swirling with lights. You fumble around, your feet find purchase on the smooth floor of the cave and are able to stand, with the water level rising to your shoulders.

Jaxica throws back her head, sending water flying in all directions and waves you towards a half-submerged cave underneath the rocky outcropping where Esiar is sitting.

"Let's see what's in here!" she says and the two of you swim into the low hanging tunnel.

Inside, the light is refracted in a thousand sparkling dots along the abalone ceiling and there is a faint current, carrying you deeper into the honeycomb of caves.

Jaxica has a half-lidded look on her eyes as the two of you float along, marveling at the colors reflected on the walls.

"Shouldn't we call your brother?" You ask but she shakes her head.

"He'll find us before the chase scene." She says dreamily.

"Chase scene?" You ask alarmed but she lolls her head around indulgently.

"Come here, I want to taste you." She says, lacing her arms around your neck and drawing you close.

Her lips are soft and wet and she moans softly into your throat as you kiss her. She wraps her legs around you and you feel her lower lips pressing against your thigh.

"Mmmmm," she kisses your neck and nibbles at your ear. "This is nice." She sighs.

You hands support her firm butt, squeezing it as she presses into you.

"Is this the first time or the second time we fuck?" She asks, her voice echoing in the tunnel.