In The Darkest Of Nights 04

She stood and walked over to me. Setting her coffee down, she knelt then curled her legs under as she leant on my knee.

"Choi," she said softly.

"What?" I asked, leaning forwards.

"Oh, nothing," she replied."

"What?" I said more softly.

"It's just that I feel a little bit afraid. Will you hold me?"

I reached down and pulled her up onto my lap, holding her to me as she wrapped her arms around me. She lay naked, pressed between my legs, her head resting on my shoulder with her breasts squashed against me.

"There's nothing to be afraid of. Our chances of getting home are better than good, and believe me, I intend to take care while I explore."

I began to rub lightly on her back.

"But I feel so helpless up here on my own, watching and waiting for you to come back."

"That's something we're just going to have to live with. I'd need a mile and a half of cable to reach the end of the tunnel."

"I just wish there was some other way," she said quietly, sounding as if she were about to burst into tears.

"Diggie," I said, bringing my hand up to smooth her hair. "Hush now, it'll all be alright. It'll only be a few days more till it's explored and we know where we stand."

"I know, it's silly of me, but I couldn't face life alone, stuck here for the rest of my life with not a single soul to talk to."

"You could always get Beth to wake up the other sleepers."

"Would she obey me?"

"That's easy. Beth!"

"Yes, Choi," she answered.

"Brendigan has full authority in my permanent absence, acknowledge."

"Acknowledged," she answered.

"There, that's done."

"I just want you safe. I can't marry you if you're dead."

I gave a little laugh.

"I'm serious, it's no laughing matter," she said, lifting her head.

"I'm sorry, I can't imagine me married. I joined up to explore new worlds. I'll be eligible for the survey teams when I pass my next promotion board."

"Life doesn't always let us do what we want. I'm proof of that."

"Life's not going to be the same for either of us when we get out of this. We'll both be famous for fifteen minutes, you'll have hundreds of eligible admirers sending you proposals."

She leant back. "And so will you."

"But I hope I'll be leading a survey team back, or at least be part of one."

"And I can come with you; we can make it a honeymoon trip."

"Oh, that I'd like to see. My captain would have a fit at the idea."

I started chuckling at the thought.

"Choi," she complained.

"I'm sorry. I just had the vision of Beefhart turning purple."

She turned on me and sat on one leg and laid back down, head on my shoulder.

"We could use my father's yacht, or even one of the warships if you wanted to lead your own team."

"That's a tempting thought," I said, as I felt her hand trail down across my ribs.

I sat up, taking her with me. "Are you hungry now? I'm ready for some dinner."

Her hand took my cock. "If I can have some man milk for afters," she replied

I laughed again as we stood. "Come on, let's eat. We've hours before the suit is recharged."

She clung onto my arm as we crossed to the galley. We dialled up our food and ate. I contemplated my next journey into the waiting world, hoping that the end rooms were the lifts I thought them to be.

When we'd finished she took my hand and turned to me. "Now for my helping of cream."

She led me to the tube and took possession of my cock as we rode up. She led me to the bed and backed me up to sit on it. She knelt as I opened my legs out and then bent her head in to press my swollen head slowly through her lips.

She brushed her hair back and looked up at me as she started to play her tongue along the underside. The thrill warmed me inside and I dropped back onto my elbows, a small groan rumbling in my throat.

She sucked and licked and then started bobbing her head, building the sexual excitement in me till I was ready to explode.

"Ah, I'm cumming," I groaned out, my hips starting a thrust.

She sucked and swallowed as my seed filled her, sucking till I was empty and collapsed back onto the bed. She gave it a final lick and climbed up next to me.

"There, that's the one I owe you from earlier," she whispered, snuggling into me.

I brought my arm around her. "I don't remember."

"It doesn't matter. Call it a thank you, then."

She reached a hand across and started playing with my nipple. "Does this bother you?"

"Do you like to do it?"

"Yes."

"Then carry on. It's nice having you touch me."

She gave a little laugh. "Let's just lie here a while. It feels nice in your arms."

I wondered what would happen when we got back. We had enough now for it to be the discovery of the century; anything else I turned up in my search for our lithium would be a bonus. The trouble was our discovery was serendipitous; fate had put me here and need had led me to the door.

We woke at around five ship time and spent the first few minutes in a kiss that was passionate enough to stir my cock back to life, growing unseen till it was standing proud. She saw it when she broke our kiss and reached down to take it.

"No, later," I said reluctantly. "Let's get back to business. I need to get a look at the other chambers if there are any, see if there are any manufacturing facilities, see what's under that dome at the other end."

She let go and rolled aside as I sat up. I turned and offered my hand to her when I stood. She took it and stood facing me.

"You will take care."

"Yes, of course I will," I answered as I went for a fresh slipsuit.

I walked straight to the lift. Entering it I looked again at the lighted buttons and the legend next to them. Metaphorically crossing my fingers I put my gloved finger on the bottom one. Half a dozen rows of frames sprung up as the doors closed.

I grabbed the nearest one as the lift started to drop and forced my magnetic soles to the floor. The drop took five minutes at least as I gradually felt my weight returning. When we stopped the doors opened up to a much brighter room. Three sides were solid with the other lift in the opposite wall and a glassed wall showing a panorama of fields and trees.

I took out my tricorder and did an analysis of the air. At 800 mB it was thin but with 25% oxygen it was breathable and it gave the green light for me to crack my helmet and take a lungful. Gravity was about 0.8 and I felt like I was half flying, like running downhill as I bounded across the landscape.

I was headed directly across, following a straight road to the sheer side some two or three miles distant. The countryside I was running through was uncultivated, short grasses for the most part with trees dotted singly and in small copses.

As I neared my objective the countryside gave way to a cluster of dwellings, single storied with small doors and big windows. There was a wider road running around the rim angling up an impossible slope as it disappeared with distance.

I was tempted to explore one of the houses but carried on to the entrance into the wall before me. In the cavern inside there were dozens of little bubble cars lined up. I walked to the nearest and realised that I'd have to unsuit to fit in it, and even then it would be a tight squeeze.

I stood and pondered. As far as I could see the place was deserted but leaving my suit here would leave me vulnerable if there were any residents. It was too big a risk. The houses I passed would do for today then perhaps I'd have a closer look at the workshops on the concourse and maybe see where the other buttons on the lift took me.

I turned back and walked to the door of the first house. Inside the first surprise was the lack of wall coverings. The walls were a plain, pale mud brown. There was no furniture to give me clues about their size and shape.

All that I found were bare rooms. There was no obvious kitchen or bathroom which only deepened the mystery. The aliens were getting more enigmatic. The only real clue was the doorways. They were low but wide enough for me to duck through.

I glanced into the other houses before setting off back at a slow walk, taking a more careful look at the surrounding countryside. When I got back to the lift shafts I hoped that my remaining time would be more productive with only the levels left.

I resealed my helmet and pressed the fourth button. Holding onto the bar that appeared again I rode up into the lessening gravity. Our technology was probably more advanced than theirs; at least we had artificial gravity. In their favour, their power plant looked like it had outlasted anything we could build.

I guessed we were very near the axis by the near zero g I found as the lift stopped. It was the familiar concourse but the end was stoppered with a single glass window. The other way looked to have only a door at the end, one of the large dilating ones.

My approach triggered it open, revealing a vast laboratory complex with a high ceiling; predominantly near me were large blocks with hydraulics and several large pipes running in and out. I walked to the workstation of the nearest. There was a keypad set into the desk with a display set at the back.

I counted thirty seven symbols on the keys, and took the larger orange double symboled one to be an on/off master. What it did I had no idea. If form followed function then it might be a press of some kind. I took a walk around to capture things on my head cam and then made my way out.

What I was hoping for was a storage facility for raw materials; if they used electronics then they'd want pure lithium along with several other elements like gallium and silicon. As I got back to the lift I had reclassified this level as manufacturing of some kind, specialised near zero work.

Level three was a short stop. It revealed the same concourse and view and another dilating door at the other end. It looked like another factory. The machines were different, there were groups of spheres and cylinders with pipes and conduits snaking from them.

I was willing to bet that level two would be the same. It was an odd place to find them unless they were something to do with its construction. I filmed everything and finished my exploration then walked back to the lift to select the last level.

When the door dilated this time I was surprised to find a much smaller proper lab with benches and strange quarter moon stools that came to my upper thigh. I was disappointed to find it bare but filmed the signs that peppered the walls for Beth to analyse.

From the axis I made my way back out, calling up Diggie as soon as I exited. Beth answered.

"Brendigan is sleeping. Give her a moment to wake."

By the time she'd said it Diggie was talking over her.

"Choi, you're back!"

"Yes," I said. "Slight hitch in the plans. I'll tell you when I get back, okay?"

She was waiting outside the lock, her hands helping me strip the suit and then clasping me in a hug before we put the suit back on charge. Her sensual stripping of my slipsuit brought my cock to attention and after I had stepped out of my clothes she grasped it and led me off.

She paused as we stepped out of the tube and turned to her door, taking me straight to the bed.

"Wait," I said as she tried to sit us down. "I need to shower."

"You can shower afterwards. I want you now."

She pulled me down and I went with her as she brought her feet up to lie down. She rolled to me and took my lips, her tongue darting through to wrestle with mine. I took her breasts as she shifted on top of me, cupping them and rubbing the nipples with my thumbs.

She parted her legs to straddle me.

"Hold me and roll us over. I want you on top this time," she said softly.

I rolled us and lifted off her as she took my cock and began to rub it on her already wet lips, the soft silky pleasure hardening it till it strained. She guided it in and I pushed my bulbous head into the tight darkness, feeling my shaft slowly sinking into her.

I leant forwards and took her breasts before letting my hands slip to her sides as I began to stroke. Starting slow to get the measure I fucked her till she was shuddering under me, pinching and pulling her nipples.

She thrust her hips into me as the words were choked by her groan, her back arched and I felt the pulses down my cock as her body trembled under me. I began a slow stroke as she collapsed back onto the bed, speeding up when she reached out and pulled herself to me.

She lay back, still panting as she began to groan and writhe from my fresh onslaught as I pushed for my release. She orgasmed again and took me with her, draining me as our hips rocked together and I fell to my elbows spent and exhausted.

She wrapped her arms around me and pulled me down to cuddle against me. I half lay on her till it slipped out and then pushed my hand under her to roll us over again. As she came on top she pulled herself up to kiss me, rolling her lips on mine.

My hands were on her back and waist, the one stroking her spine while the other held her tight. She broke the kiss and turned her head to lie on me, sighing as she relaxed. I lied quietly there with her as her breathing slowed and she hovered on the edge of sleep.

I laid there thinking things through. The lack of storage space at the bottom of the lift was puzzling. They must bring their space suits with them which made the question of transport a problem. If there had been any I would have expected to find it at the terminal on the other side.

If I was going to ditch my space suit then the best place would be at the lift. That reminded me of seeing if the suspension capsule could be used to take Diggie down.

"Beth," I called softly.

"Yes, Choi," she answered.

"Will that capsule take a vacuum, could I ferry Diggie down in it?"

"Theoretically, yes. It's got a battery backup of twelve hours for transfers and they're made airtight for bulk carrying."

"How are you doing with the video I shot?" I asked.

"The language looks complex. I fear it's beyond my processing abilities unless you can find simpler stuff. The rooms you visited look to be zero G and vacuum manufacturing, probably refining and purifying elements and simple compounds."

Diggie stirred on me. "Umm."

"Ah, you're awake."

"Umm," she said drowsily. "I was having a nice dream."

"I was just talking to Beth. She agrees that we can load you into the capsule if you want to go down and explore with me."

"What!" she exclaimed, coming fully awake and pushing herself up.

"We can...."

"I know, I heard you. Oh, thank you," she said, leaning back down to kiss me.

As we kissed I rolled her sideways. I broke the kiss and leant back.

"I still need my shower, and we should make sure that the capsule is fully charged," I said.

"Oh," she sighed. "Must we get up?"

"If you want to go down tomorrow."

"Alright, shall I wash your back?"

"No. Do you want to dial up dinner for us? I'll be down in five minutes."

"Oh, alright. Anything special?"

"No, you can choose for me," I said, rolling to sit on the edge of the bed.

I walked to the shower while Diggie got up. Downstairs I told her about the problem with the car and needing to de-suit. I told her that we'd leave her capsule and my suit in the lobby at the bottom and trek across. My main worry now was nightfall down there and the length of the day.

We journeyed down to check on the status of the capsule; its five companions were sealed tight and would stay safe when I opened the outer hatch to ship her out. Satisfied, I led us back up to the rec where I stepped off.

"Let's have a coffee before we turn in for an early night," I said.

"Umm, that sounds nice, an early night."

"Eight hours sleep. We need to be fresh when we go down," I chided her.

I woke with her sprawled across me, holding my morning woody with her leg on top of both. I gently prised her fingers open and eased from under her, waiting till I was free before waking her with a shake.

"Mm," she complained, turning over and curling up.

"Come on. Quick shower and shave then breakfast and we'll see about getting you down to explore with me."

She gave a sigh and rolled to face me. "I suppose I should be excited but I'm only glad I'm going with you, not getting left up here again."

We went down to the cargo level and I packed her away and had Beth evacuate the hold whilst monitoring Diggie's capsule. I was back up and suited up in ten minutes while she waited blind to the world. The next thing she'd know would be when I released her at the bottom.

She sat up as soon as I opened the capsule, cheerily smiling at me as she clambered out.

"We're here," she said, stating the obvious.

She walked to the edge of the tiled area where it met the path. "Wow, its enormous, and there's a sun."

I was stripping the suit. "Yes, it seems like it's some kind of park."

She stood there exploring the view, getting used to the twisted perspectives while I packed my suit inside the capsule.

"Are you ready?" I asked, joining her.

She nodded.

"We'll walk till you get used to the lower gravity," I told her as we set out.

Our walk turned into a loping trot as we jogged across, she proving she was as fit as I was. She slowed to look at the dwellings on the other side.

"They're not very fancy, are they?" she questioned.

"The walls inside are like mud walls. The tricorder says they're manufactured but they look like clay," I commented, looking again at the squat structures.

"Where are these cars? That door up ahead," she said as she started for it.

I followed her in and walked her up to the first in line.

"Do you want to go first or get in the one behind?"

"How do they work?" she asked.

"They have an orange button," I said. "Just push it."

"Okay," she said, peering in.

There was a single wide seat with a transparent top that narrowed sharply; the two of us would be a tight squeeze.

She turned. "No, you go first. I'll watch and follow."

"Okay," I acknowledged as I reached to open the door.

I waved as the little car shot off on the press of the button, the seat expanding to cushion and trap me. The tunnel angled up and I soon felt the lessening of gravity. It spiralled to the other side as we crossed zero G, running downhill to about half normal when I entered the station.

The seat deflated as I stopped and I was quickly out to watch for Diggie coming. She pulled in behind me and I stepped forward to open her door.

"Whoa, what a ride that was, all those lights flashing by," she said.

Outside was a broad walkway with the same square blocks repetitiously lining it. As we walked down it I kept my curiosity in check till we reached the central column. Around it were banks of lifts with up and down, seemingly marked by angled ellipsis.

I pressed the orange down and it turned blue-green. We waited a while till soundlessly the doors opened. Stepping inside there was a bank of buttons all inscribed with symbols.

"Wait!" I said as she walked toward it.

There was a single button glowing with an amber light, the floor we were on I presumed. It was on the top line of the board and I counted in seven in from the left.

"We're here," I said, pointing. "I think it's linear across so if we press the one underneath we can't get lost."

I pressed the button and it turned amber. The lift fell smoothly and opened onto a similar scene, blocks of dwellings monotonously stretching out. I turned and pressed the bottom button of the row. Here the dwellings were more spacious but still the same construction.

"Boring lot," I commented as we gazed out. "I can't decide if they're unimaginative or is this utilitarian."

"I wouldn't like to live here, that's for sure. There must be more than fifty floors like this. No wonder they got a park next door."

"Let's check out the top," I said, stepping back.