Journey to Year 1,000,000,000 Ch. 03

The pain, and the pleasure.

His penis, filling her so fully.

The pain, and the pleasure.

His eyes... his body... his hands... his fingers....

There was the sound of an explosion, and then another and another.

Suki gasped, as if blinders had been taken off her eyes. She saw a man, with suction cups on his fingers bent over her face, pressing against it with his fingers. Suddenly the man was flung away by a powerful fource.

One by one they were all flung away, until she saw a new face, familiar face.

"Suki? Suki? Are you all right? Myers, see to her!"

Taylor went over to Jennifer. Like Suki she was lying on the ground, in a daze. He could still see the faint imprints of suction cups on her face. "Jennifer? Jennifer, answer me."

"Michael," she said, as if in a dream. From the way she said it, Taylor wasn't sure exactly who she was addressing.

"Come on, we have to get you back to the shuttle."

********

The shuttles were gone by the time they were returned, ferrying up scientists and crewmen to the ship. The remaining eight members of the landing party, all armed Survey Service crewmembers, stood in a semi circle, with compression rifles and pistols drawn. A crowd stood respectfully in the distance.

"Was there any trouble?" Taylor asked Lieutenant Babangida, who seemed to be in charge.

"No sir, not from this lot."

"Is everyone accounted for?"

"No," said Babangida. "I found the bodies of two of our men, Niles and Draper."

"Bodies?" That meant two more dead. "Were they beaten to death, like Asimov and Clark?"

"No sir," said Babangida. "They didn't have a mark on them. They were just dead. Doctor McCrae took them back to the Devonshire."

That meant there were four men dead, two scientists and two crewmen. "Anyone else?"

"Ensign Raleigh is missing. He was with Niles and Draper. We weren't able to find any sign of him."

Taylor looked up and saw a shuttle maneuvering to land. He would have liked nothing better than to tear this city apart looking for Raleigh. But he saw how quickly they could be overcome by sheer numbers. As the shuttle touched down, Babangida said, "Do we go after him?"

"We will," said Taylor. "But not yet."

********

After they returned to the ship, Taylor went to the sickbay to see to the injured men.

When McCrae saw the Captain, he insisted on bandaging his cuts. In addition to his forehead, Taylor had a cut on his upper arm that he hadn't noticed, and had bled onto his uniform sleeve. McCrae cleaned and bandaged both of his wounds.

"You examined the native girl, Doctor. What are they?" Taylor asked.

"Humans, more or less," said McCrae. "With a few changes. Their minds have become simple. And their purpose in life is to seek pleasure. Those suction cups on the fingers only come out when they're draining experiences or feelings from others."

Taylor nodded. He went over to Jennifer and Suki, who were being examined by a nurse. "Jennifer, are you all right?"

"Yes sir," said Jennifer. "Just a little shook up."

Taylor looked at Suki. "Suki?"

"I'm... I'll be fine, sir," she said. She still had the faint imprints of suction cups on her face.

"What... what did they take from you?" Taylor asked.

"Sen... sensual experiences," Jennifer stuttered.

Taylor looked at Suki, who nodded, blushing.

********

Four dead. Two scientists and two crewman. And possibly a fifth member of his crew, if Ensign Raleigh wasn't recovered. And it was all his fault.

"Don't blame yourself, Michael," said Victor. He smiled and patted Taylor on the back as he sat down next to him in the cafeteria.

"It was my decision to allow landing parties."

"You took all necessary precautions," said Victor. "You insisted the parties be armed. You insisted no one be alone."

"It wasn't enough," said Taylor, thinking of the bloody bodies of crewmen Asimov and Clark, literally beaten to a pulp. And they were still down there.

"This is what the Survey Service is all about," said Victor. "Taking risks. We all knew that when we signed up, Michael. Every time we step in or out of an airlock we're taking chances with our lives. It's all part of the game. Asimov and Clark knew that. So did Niles and Draper."

"He's right," said a new voice.

Taylor turned to see Doctor Shaw standing there. She was freshly bathed and in a clean uniform. "May I join you?"

"Please," said Taylor.

She sat down. Her hair was once again in a tight bun. "I feel the blame is mine, Captain," she said. "I was the one who persuaded you to allow landing parties."

"You can't blame yourself," said Taylor. "The decision ultimately was mine."

Elizabeth took a deep breath. "Captain... I'd like to apologize."

"For what?" Taylor asked.

"I... had the wrong impression about you. I thought you were reckless, irresponsible, and careless. But when I saw you charge off, all on your own, to save members of my science team against a mob of angry people... it was so foolhardy... but also brave. And I'm sorry. I had you all figured out, Captain, and I was so, so wrong about you. And I'm sorry," she added, giving a sad smile.

Taylor didn't know what to say. He nodded. "Thank you, Doctor."

"Now, can we make an agreement that if you won't blame yourself for this, then I won't blame myself either?" Elizabeth asked.

Taylor slowly considered, and nodded. "All right, Doctor Shaw."

"Elizabeth," said Elizabeth. "My friends call me Elizabeth."

"All right, Elizabeth," he said, staring into her green eyes.

"I knew the two of you would become fast friends," said Victor.

Both Taylor and Elizabeth blushed and momentarily looked away.

Victor sensed the awkwardness and changed the subject. "It's a fascinating puzzle we have down there, isn't it?" said Victor. "Eight million years. And almost no evolution."

"You call that no evolution?" Taylor asked.

Victor waved a dismissive hand. "Our own knowledge of evolution is limited, given how short a time humanity has existed. Only for about 200,000 years, if the scientists are right. In eight million years, we evolved from the apes, it is said. But in eight million more years... we apparently turn into these beings. But the difference between these beings and ourselves is much smaller than the difference between apes and humanity."

"What are you saying?" Taylor asked.

"I'm not sure," said Victor. "Only it seems that evolution has been... slowed down, guided somehow."

"By technology?"

"That is what one would expect, if humanity was slowly continuing to evolve. But what we saw on the planet was not just evolution, but de-evolution. Call them homo inferior, if you like," said Victor.

"It makes no sense," said Elizabeth, fingering her bun. "There has been no war or ecological disaster which could have caused it. It's as if man's brain has simply... atrophied."

"And yet, someone must maintain the machines which support their lifestyle," said Victor.

"Juci said that when the machines broke down, the big brains fixed them," said Taylor. "With all that was happening, I never got a chance to pursue that further."

"A more advanced, educated people?" said Elizabeth. "If so, where were they? We saw no sign of them."

"I don't know," said Taylor. "And frankly, right now I'm not very interested. We have a crewman missing. Until we recover Ensign Raleigh, everything else is on hold," said Taylor. "The Survey Service doesn't leave anyone behind."

********

"I'm glad you and Michael have reconciled," Victor said, as he walked Elizabeth back to the crew quarters.

"I'm not quite on the level of calling him Michael yet," said Elizabeth self consciously, fingering her bun.

"He's a good man, You will be soon, I'm sure," said Victor, smiling knowingly as he parted ways with Elizabeth, going down a side corridor to his quarters.

Elizabeth turned to go to her own quarters when Vincent Roman literally bumped into her.

"Oh, sorry," he cried, rapidly backing up after feeling the warmth of her small, scientifically minded breasts briefly pressed against his chest. As he recovered, Vincent looked up at Elizabeth. "Elizabeth , I hear you were attacked on the planet, are you all right?"

Look at her face, her face, look at her face, her face, only her face-

"Yes," said Elizabeth, feeling a little flustered as well. "The, the Survey Service made sure I got out."

Vincent looked at her face intently. "Are you sure you're all right, Elizabeth?"

"Yes, yes, I'm fine," she said, nervously fingering her bun, pushing her index finger in and out of it.

Somehow the gesture seemed to excite Vincent. His gaze involuntarily dropped to Elizabeth's breasts. She caught his gaze, and Vincent reddened.

"I'm so glad you're fine!" he cried, as he turned and rapidly walked in another direction.

********

Taylor went to sickbay to find out what had happened to the two dead crewmen they had retrieved.

"I don't know what to tell you, Captain," said Doctor McCrae. He had performed autopsies on Niles and Draper. "They didn't have a mark on them. Their hearts simply stopped."

"Poison?" Taylor asked. Jennifer Hale, in a clean uniform, stood at his side.

"No sign of it in their system."

"Then what?" Taylor asked.

"I detected signs of... intense trauma in the brain," said McCrae. "In a certain specific section of their brains."

"What section would that be?"

McCrae hesitated. "The part that regulates... the reaction to fear."

Taylor looked at McCrae with horror. "Are you saying these men were... frightened to death?"

McCrae nodded. "It's a distinct possibility."

"Oh my God," said Jennifer. "I thought what I went through was bad." She instinctively reached out and grabbed Taylor by the arm. Taylor laid a comforting hand on her shoulder. "Jennifer, are you sure you're up for duty?"

"Yes," said Jennifer. "I am."

"Good," said Taylor. "Because I want you to take command while I find Ensign Raleigh."

********

They returned in force. Two shuttles packed with ten armed crewmembers each. When the shuttles landed, one group of ten, armed with concussion rifles, formed a circle around the perimeter. Their commander was Lieutenant Babangida. Babangida was a former member of the Nigerian territorial army who had joined the Survey Service six years ago. He had a solid performance record. The first team was in good hands.

The other group of ten, lead by Taylor himself, marched to where the scientists Asimov and Clark had been killed. They gathered up what remains they could in body bags, and marched back to the shuttle, always staying together, in one group of ten. They linked up with Lieutenant Babangida's group guarding the shuttle and turned over custody of the bodies. Then Taylor again led his group of ten back into the center of town. They marched slowly and methodically, their hands tight on their compression rifles. Curious eyes followed them. No one seemed in the least bit upset that Taylor and his men had slaughtered more than a dozen of their fellow countrymen.

Taylor made his way to the administrative building where he had met Engin. Engin was there again, along with Bernard, waiting for him, it seems.

"Captain, you have returned," said Engin.

"Yes," said Taylor. "I'm looking for one of my missing men. His name is Ensign Raleigh."

"Ensign Raleigh, Ensign Raleigh... what a nice name," Engin smiled.

"Do you know where he is?" Taylor asked.

"No, well, I don't think so," said Engin. "Do you, Bernard?"

"No," said Bernard.

"You realize we're going to search this town, house by house if necessary, until we find Ensign Raleigh," said Taylor grimly. There was something in his voice, a grim tone, which made Engin and Bernard suddenly sober up.

"That's not necessary, Captain," said Bernard.

"Then tell me where he is," said Taylor. "Is he dead? Alive?"

"I don't know," said Bernard. "But the big heads would know."

"The big heads?" Taylor had heard references to them before. "What big heads?"

"Those big heads," said Bernard, looking up.

Taylor looked up. All he saw were clouds. Was Bernard making some kind of religious gesture? Or was he mocking Taylor? There was so much about these people that he didn't begin to understand.

"I don't see anything," said Taylor.

"Look again, Captain," said Bernard.

Taylor looked up, and his jaw dropped.

Suddenly, above them, was a city in the clouds.

It was big and gleaming and futuristic and... it hadn't been there mere seconds ago. Taylor activated his wristcom. "Devonshire, this is Taylor. Are you getting this?"

"Captain, this is Lieutenant Hale." Taylor found himself relieved to hear her voice. "Sensors are picking up a veritable city, floating two miles above your location."

"How did we fail to detect this city before?"

"Unknown, sir."

Engin pulled at his sleeve. "The big brains are only seen when they want you to see them."

"Captain Taylor!" a deep voice rumbled.

Taylor looked around. The voice seemed to be coming from everywhere, and nowhere.

"Yes? I am Taylor."

"My name is Arnack. I am speaking to you from the floating city of Chanda. We are a race of beings called the Ascended. We have been monitoring your situation ever since you arrived. You seek a missing crewmember, do you not?"

"Yes," said Taylor. "Do you know where he is?"

"Not at present. But we can help you find him. It would be of benefit if we could confer together."

"I would like that," said Taylor.

"Our city has landing facilities big enough for your ship, your Devonshire. Come and dock with our city's landing port, and we would happy to have you for a visit."

Taylor paused, carefully counting to ten. His first instinct was to accept. But then he remembered his instinct to trust the people on the planet, and where that had led him. He took a deep breath. "I appreciate your generous offer, Arnack. Right now I am on a mission of mercy. Let me return to my ship with the bodies of two crewmembers we recovered, and talk to my officers. Then I will respond to your offer."

"Very well," said Arnack. "We also are aware of your greater mission, and perhaps can help you with that as well."

Taylor grew excited. Now he would have to visit these people, these Ascended.

But first things first.