Border Station Five Ch. 02

John's body ached, and he couldn't move. He also thought that he was hearing things as people were talking. More important, though, was that he felt heavy and was somewhere with gravity. John tried to open his eyes, but they didn't respond. He then tried to move his arms, fingers, and toes. He even tried to clench his bum, but that didn't work either.

"Can you hear me?" a female voice asked. John tried to talk, but his mouth wouldn't move. He heard a beeping sound near his right ear, "try talking now," the female voice suggested.

"Where am I?" he croaked. His mouth was dry.

"Drink this," said the female voice. John heard it to his left. What felt like a straw touched his mouth, and a cold liquid poured in. When he started to choke, the straw withdrew, and then he felt something cool and soft touching his lips. "Sorry," the unknown speaker apologised.

"Where am I?" he asked again.

"You are in Medical," the female voice replied. John was confused. The last thing he remembered was getting into his stasis pod.

"Why can't I open my eyes or move my body?" he inquired. His jaw ached each time he spoke.

"I have disabled your brain's ability to control your body, and you have been in stasis for a long time," as she finished, John felt his heart race. A hundred different thoughts raced through his mind.

"Try not to get scared and calm yourself," there was a hint of concern in her voice. "Once I am sure your body has recovered, I will give back control to your brain," as she finished, John could hear another series of beeps to his right. "There, try opening your eyes. My scans suggest that they should have recovered by now," as she finished, John tried to open them.

At first, even trying to open his eyelids seemed to take more effort than it should. "What? I can't see!" he cried. All John could see was darkness. He felt something cool touch his face.

"Try and calm down. The blindness is temporary." Shortly after the female voice stopped, John saw specks of light appear at the centre of his vision. Unable to move his head, all he could do was lay there and watch his vision return. When he could finally see again, John only saw white walls and a ceiling.

"Am I inside something?" John asked.

"Yes and no," came the reply, "you are laying on a specialised medical bed, normally used to treat crew members who have suffered critical injuries. However," John heard a different set of beeps as the female voice continued, "I can set up a quarantine shield around the bed," an opening appeared above John and from the darkness inside, a mechanical arm descended. He tried to move, but his body wouldn't respond. "Calm down, it is just going to project a hologram," the female voice said calmly. John watched the arm stop just above his head and then retract slightly. A green light appeared at the end of the arm, and then it began to hum.

Projected a foot above his face was an image of a large room with what John assumed were several large medical beds. Each appeared waist-high, laying horizontally and attached to the floor in the centre. They were all an off-white colour, perhaps made of metal. It looked like each bed had a black pillow at one end. In the centre of the room, as long and wide as the other medical beds, was a plastic-looking wall that curved at both ends.

"Am I inside the one in the middle?" John inquired.

"Yes," came the reply, "the wall you see keeps you safe from anything that might harm you," she finished and then the beeps from before appeared again, and then the hologram disappeared.

"Wait!" John called out, "Can you leave that on?" His request had too much desperation to it than he had wanted. Before the arm could disappear, there were a series of beeps, and it returned, powering up; it projected the image of Medical again.

"Is this better?" the voice asked.

"Yes, thank you," John replied.

"I think you have had enough stress for now. I am going to put you to sleep for a few hours," John felt something travel up his arm, "when you are awake again, we will see how your body has progressed," as she finished talking, his vision disappeared.

*****

Captain Ema, Matriarch Theka, Lieutenant Ena, and several bridge officers stood around the Tactical Display Table. Projected in front of them was a live feed from Medical. They could see the whole room with Doctor Mizta sitting at her desk, the empty medical beds around the room's edges, and the quarantined bed in the middle.

"Can we see inside?" the Lieutenant asked. Using a keypad projected in front of her, Ema opened a new window that displayed the Terran asleep on the medical bed.

"I had almost forgotten what they looked like," Theka said, "it's odd seeing someone with no scales, just...skin," she finished and examined the scales on her left hand.

"Lupine don't have scales," one of the bridge officers pointed out.

"Bah, Lupine are covered in fur. I've never seen a hairless Lupine," Theka replied with an odd hint of anger.

"What's that between his legs?" the Comms Officer asked, pointing at the image. Using the controls with her right hand, Ema adjusted the projection to focus on the bottom half of the male's body.

"External sexual organs?" Tactical Officer Suhli said as she leaned closer to the image. Ema looked up at her and saw how the yellow glow of her bioluminescence, from the softer inside of her hood, was reflected off her light grey scales. Unlike most officers around the TDT, her nose and mouth were longer, almost ending in a point. She had darker, random shapes of grey scales dotted about her face and hood. Her eyes, mouth and tongue glowed yellow as she spoke.

"If I recall correctly," Theka said as she pressed a button on the TDT. A new window opened up, displaying scrolling text, "Unlike the majority of male mammals on the Terran homeworld, their reproductive organs are external," as she finished, more of the crew present tried to get a closer look.

"It doesn't look that big," Comms Officer Akhi pointed out. The Captain looked in her direction and saw that the neon pink glow of her bioluminescence had started to dull. Her primary scale colour was a mixture of lilac and light grey, while her secondary colour was dark grey. It started from the top of her neck, just below her lower jaw, and travelled down and across her torso. She also had them around her eyes, on the top and back of her head.

"Akhi, how long has it been since you last basked?" Ema inquired.

The Comms Officer looked at the metal claws on her left hand, "damn, I thought I had several more hours," she looked disappointed and upset.

"You can use mine, Akhi," Theka offered, "just be mindful not to wake Uszu. I think he's sleeping off our earlier encounter," as she finished, she handed her keycard to the Comms Officer.

"Thank you, Matriarch," she said, bowing before Theka. Everyone watched as Akhi hurried towards the Matriarch's viewing room.

"That was nice of you, Theka," Ema said with a smile.

The Matriarch shrugged, "I'll let the good Doctor know. Perhaps she hasn't been basking for long enough in the morning," when she finished, Theka looked back at the TDT.

"To answer everyone's question," Ema said to the group, "it should get bigger when the Terran male becomes aroused," she finished and placed both hands onto the top of the TDT.

"So, just like one of our males, except it's bigger, and they only have one cock?" Suhli chimed in. Ema nodded and looked around the bridge, noticing several of her crew were watching.

*****

John yawned, stretched his arms above his head and then sat up. It took him a few moments to remember where he was. Looking around where he sat, John could see how big the medical bed was. He guessed that it was ten feet long and four feet wide. "Just how big are these aliens?" he said out loud.

"On average, we are eight feet tall," John jumped in surprise as the female voice from before came from behind him. He turned around and saw a blurred head looking down from above. "I have adjusted the opacity of the quarantine shield," she said.

"Why is it blurred?" John asked.

"I was not sure you were ready to see what I look like," she replied.

John turned himself fully and placed his knees onto the black pillow his head had rested on. "I'm ready now," he declared.

"So you are," the blurred image adjusted itself, and it looked like she had opened a window to John. Staring at him with red eyes was a snake.

"Hello," John said weakly, looking up, surprised at how unsure he sounded.

"Hello to you, I'm Doctor Mizta," she said with a smile. "In case you were wondering, we are called Vipers, or just Viper when you are alone with one of us," she winked at him.

"Viper?" John had a confused expression on his face.

"Well, no. Not really. You would not be able to pronounce the actual name of our race. However, when we studied your various languages, we decided Viper worked best," Mizta smiled at him again.

"Why do you keep smiling?" John asked.

"Before interacting with you, I read the data on Terrans, and it said that you responded to friendly facial expressions," she replied.

"Hmm, I guess that's true," he replied with a shrug. "Would it be possible for me to stand on my feet?" he asked.

Mizta looked further down, "I will extend the shield so you can walk around the medical bed," she walked away from the transparent section of the shield. John heard a series of beeps, and then the quarantine shield started to move. When it stopped, he had a comfortable four feet of space between the shield's edge and the bed. John sat back on the bed, swung his legs around, and hopped off. When his feet touched the floor, he expected it to be cold, but John was surprised by its warmth.

"You have heated flooring?" John asked, still surprised that it was warm instead of cold.

"Your bio reading told me you had cold feet, so I activated the heat panels below," Mizta replied.

"Oh, cool," John said, and then he realised that he was naked. "Why am I naked?" he asked while reaching for the black pillow. Just as John went to pick it up, he realised that the Doctor had already seen him without any clothes.

"You were naked when we found your ship," Mizta replied.

"Good point," John admitted, "I assume you don't have gowns for Vipers to wear when they're in Medical?" he inquired.

"No, we do not," Mizta replied, shaking her head. John noticed that her hood flapped back and forth as she shook her head.

"Well, I suppose it doesn't matter now. You've already seen me naked," John said.

"True," replied Mizta. "Would you like to see the rest of Medical?" she asked, changing the subject.

"Yes..er, please," John replied. A small, clear circle appeared just above waist height to John, and as he watched, it moved to his right, along the length of the bed, around the corners, and eventually joined up where it had first appeared. The line of clear shield then travelled up until it disappeared into the ceiling.

"How high is the ceiling?" John inquired.

"Medical has a ceiling of twelve feet," Mizta replied, "most of the ship, including crew quarters, is ten feet high, and the rest of the ship you're not allowed to enter," John looked down again as she finished. Standing in front of him was Doctor Mizta, and she smiled again.

"What are you wearing?" John asked, staring at her.

"All crew wear Nanosuits," she replied, "see this collar?" she pointed to the metal object around her neck, and John nodded, "it contains a reservoir of Nanos. When activated, they follow their pre-set instructions and form a skintight suit," Mizta said shortly before stepping back and twirling. He watched as she spun on the spot, noticing that she had digitigrade legs and a tail. Without realising it, he had placed both hands onto the quarantine shield.

"Skintight," John tilted his head to one side as he said the word. "Your clothes underneath must be thin. I can't see any outlines," he pointed out.

"I am not wearing any," Mizta replied.

"Oh, sorry," John said as his cheeks went red.

"There is no need to be embarrassed, John," Mizta said as she looked down at him. "I think you will find that our society is very open. If you asked a Viper her thoughts on sex, for example, she would happily tell you," she pointed out. John looked puzzled.

"Of all the things you could have used as an example, you chose sex?" he said, and the Doctor laughed.

"John, if you walked into the ship's canteen and said you would like to have sex, I doubt that anyone would say no," Mizta said and then smiled at John once more.

"Okay. Why?" John asked.

"What do you mean?" Mizta replied.

"Where I'm from, that just wouldn't happen. It's odd," John replied while scratching his head.

"Not to us, John," replied Mizta, "we use sex to create strong bonds of friendship, and it is encouraged by our military leaders as an effective means of stress relief. I assume this is not the case where you are from?" she asked, and John shook his head.

"There are some who don't have sex ever or not for several years," he said, "sure, there are people who have a lot of sexual partners, but if I understand what you're essentially saying, then no," John finished talking and rubbed his chin.

"What is it, John?" Mizta inquired as he tried not to make eye contact again.

"Oh, I was just wondering what it'd be like to be with a Viper," he admitted.

"Well, as I said, if you asked one of the crew, they would be happy to spend time with you. Now, the Captain has instructed the crew not to be too forward. However," she said while accessing a control pad on the side of the quarantine shield, "you are one of only two males on board. The first is the Matriarch's Steward, and everyone on board knows not to touch him.."

"..and the second is me," John interrupted, and Mizta smiled.

"You are not in any way expected to have sex with any member of the crew, even the Captain," Mizta said as she turned off the display in front of her, "but.." Mizta paused as she heard familiar voices approaching from beyond the door to Medical, "..as your Doctor.." she bent down so her head was level with Johns, "..I advise you to consider it," as she finished he could see two Vipers enter Medical.

*****

Standing with her back to John, Mizta placed her hands on her hips as the twins entered Medical. "You two are late," she said when they saw her.

"Sorry, Doctor," Taki said while trying not to make eye contact, "you can blame her," Zoki replied while pointing at her twin, "how is it my fault?" Taki replied, looking at her sister, "You took too long when we went to get food," Zoki responded and mimed being fat, "I am not fat. Take that back!" Taki sounded hurt.

"Enough, both of you!" Mizta said in a commanding voice, "I suggest the two of you behave yourselves unless you have already forgotten that we have a guest," The doctor moved away from the quarantine shield, and the twins saw John.

"Ooh, I forgot we rescued a male," Taki said as the twins rushed towards John.

"Careful with that quarantine shield," Mizta said as she walked over to her desk, "the computer has not finished mapping his genome, and until it does, he cannot leave Medical," Mizta turned to face the middle of the room as she finished talking. "This is Taki and Zoki," Mizta said as she pointed to the two Vipers, "now, you two behave yourselves while I go and get your treatment. No touching that screen," John watched as Mizta left medical.

"Hello," Zoki said, looking down at John as she stopped before the quarantine shield.

"Hello to you," John replied, and Zoki smiled at him.

"Ooh, he speaks," Taki said with glee as she leaned closer to look at John.

"Well, of course, he speaks," Zoki replied. Taki went to put her face and hands against the screen, "Have you already forgotten what the Doctor told us?" Zoki said as she slapped her sister's hand away. "I remember," Taki replied with a pout. She then looked down at John, "Doctor says we are not allowed to play with you yet," she said with a wink. "But when we can, I think you will enjoy spending time with us," Taki said with a smile.

"Are you two sisters?" John asked, changing the subject and finding the current situation weird.

"They are identical twins," Mizta said, entering Medical. John could see that she was carrying a small rectangular box, "you two onto your beds," she commanded.

"Aww," Zoki complained, "I hope to see you soon," Taki winked at John again, and then the twins moved away from the quarantine screen and stopped at the two medical beds directly in front of it.

"I hope they behaved themselves," Mizta said, stopping next to where John was standing, "they are mostly harmless, a bit scatty at times, but I am sure you will enjoy yourself if you ever took them up on their offer," she made eye contact with John and then smiled.

"I'm not sure I could manage one of you, let alone those two, plus they're taller than you," John pointed out.

"Eight foot five, to be exact," Mizta answered, placing the box she had been carrying onto one of the beds the twins were standing between. "You two get undressed and start basking. I will be back shortly," Mizta turned around and headed back out the door she had entered through.

Watching the twins from where he stood, John couldn't hear what they were saying but then got an eye full as Taki (or was it Zoki?) deactivated her Nanosuit. As the Nanos headed back into the collar, he could see that the majority of her body was coloured light grey. The darker scales started from the soles of her feet, up the inside of her legs, past her most intimate of areas, and up her torso (which included a pair of breasts bigger than Mitza's, with a couple of glowing turquoise nipples, too), and stopped just below her lower jaw. John looked away when Taki smiled at him after she noticed he was watching.

A few minutes later, Mizta returned to Medical and found the twins giggling while they basked, and a red-faced John sat on his bed looking away from the Twins. She approached the twins, opened the box and proceeded to inject them with the device contained within. Scowling at them, Mizta walked over to where John was sitting. "What did they do?" she asked.

"Considering our earlier conversation, the Twins didn't do anything," John replied, "Is it normal for Vipers to get naked in front of others?" he asked.

"Pretty much," replied Mizta, "were you watching?" she inquired, and John nodded. "There is no need to get embarrassed, John," Mizta said, "we feel no shame in the naked body, and it is quite common for pairs and groups of vipers to be naked together."

"That's good to know," he said, "I think the next few hours and days are just going to feel weird and take some getting used to," John then sighed as he looked up at Mizta.

*****

John sat on the bed while the Doctor examined the twins. Once they were gone, she walked around the central medical bed and stopped just before him. "I apologise if they bothered you," she said while looking down at him.

"Oh, I'm okay," John replied as he continued to stare at the wall, "just not used to so much attention," he looked up at Mizta and smiled.

"Terran females are not forward?" she asked, and John shook his head.

"Not in the way Vipers appear to be," he said, "although I suppose they can be. It just depends on who you're with or talking to," John finished talking with a shrug.

Mizta pulled up a nearby chair and sat down, her head level with John's. "If the Twins bothered you, then I am happy to let the Captain know. She can talk to them on your behalf," she said.

"No need," John replied, "as I've said, I think it's just a lot to take in. It's only been a day or two since I woke up, so a lot to process," he smiled at Mizta as he finished.

"Before I forget," Mizta said as she picked up her tablet, "every part of this ship is monitored and recorded for security and legal reasons," she placed her tablet on her lap as she crossed her digitigrade legs. "If you decide at some point that you do not want anyone to see what you do in private, let an Officer know, or even the Captain and they will put a privacy restriction on the footage," Mizta finished talking and then pressed a few buttons on her tablet.