Journey to Year 1,000,000,000 Ch. 10

Her dark face looked down on him as she pulled back. "Only a Survey Service Captain can understand the needs and difficulties that another Survey Service Captain experiences." And then she kissed him again, with twice the emotional energy of the first time.

Their lips locked together for a joyous moment, and then she pulled back again. "Only a Survey Service Captain can love you like I can, Michael. I was attracted to you from the moment I met you, you dashing young man. Are you attracted to me?"

"Yes," said Michael thickly. Yes, but.... he wanted to say, but the rest didn't quite come out.

The face hidden in shadow stared at him for a few seconds. Then she reached down and kissed him again. Taylor responded. His heart thumped as he felt her warm embrace. Her breasts were warm against his chest. Her legs were intertwined with his. She pressed her lips against his, rubbing, playing, teasing. It all felt so wonderful.

And then he felt hands, pulling on his shirt. Reaching for his pants.

"No..." said Taylor.

The hands continued to move, continued to pull his clothing.

"No," said Taylor again. He found new strength, and gently pushed her back.

"What is it?" Audrey asked.

He saw the outline of her head and bun, but couldn't see the expression on her face. Taylor shook his head in the darkness of his tent. "No... not here. Not in a field operation. Not surrounded by my crew like this. They will hear."

"We'll be very discreet," said Audrey. She surged forward again, but Taylor held firm, pushing her back again.

"No," said Taylor. "After the mission. Later."

The outline of Audrey's face looked at him for a long moment. Then she nodded, and got up. "Until next time, then," she said, exiting his tent.

********

"He would not take the isotope."

"He would not? Or you wouldn't give it to him?"

"I tried. You said you wanted it done internally. I am confident I can do it, but I need more time."

[A new telepathic voice enters the discussion]

"I am ready to give Jennifer Hale the isotope."

"Do we want to give Jennifer Hale the isotope?"

"She is full of sensuality and sexual desire. I have felt it. Her DNA would add excellent motivations, once it had been properly modified."

"Will you be able to deliver the dose internally?"

"I think so, when this part of the mission is completed."

"Then do so, with an appropriate delay inserted so you are not suspected."

********

They resumed their journey a few hours later. Taylor was unsettled by Audrey Spaulding's nocturnal visit. He had been burned by so many women--Pamela, Jennifer, and Elizabeth. He was also suspicious of the Expedition, and Audrey was definitely associated with it. If the Expedition had a secret agenda, could Audrey be as much in the dark about it as he was?

All these doubts had caused him to push her away last night. But Taylor had felt a powerful attraction to her. The idea of making love to a brave, bold Survey Service Captain excited him. And he felt she was right when she said that only Survey Service Captains could understand other Survey Service captains. Sex with Audrey would not merely be sexually exciting; there would also be an exchange of empathy, of understanding.

It was a powerful inducement. If Audrey showed up at his quarters on the Judicator one night, he didn't think he would have the power to resist her.

Meanwhile Taylor couldn't help but notice that Jennifer continued to stay close to Alex Stone. He watched with heavy eyes as they walked and talked with each other. Alex wasn't just flirting with Jennifer; she was flirting with him! The way she smiled, the way she touched his arm when she talked... she wanted it.

The problem with Alex was one and the same. If the Expedition had a secret agenda, if Audrey was compromised, then Alex certainly was as well. But so far, all he had were suspicions. If he tried to warn Jennifer, she would simply attribute it to jealousy.

And she might well be right.

They continued to walk through the bizarre landscape. What kind of alien mind could dream up a surrounding made up of giant orange and white squares, punctuated only by tall vines with glowing white orbs on them? The white orbs he understood, they were the only source of light. But the orange and white squares? He asked Tammad about it.

"I have seen much stranger things in some of the dimensions I have visited," said Tammad.

"You have seen other dimensions?"

"A few," said Tammad. "Our technology is not as advanced as the United, but we have crossed over to a few of the more accessible ones. One time I saw a dimension consisting entirely of bright, wavy lines."

"Bright, wavy lines? What do you mean?"

"Exactly what I said. The entire universe, in that dimension, was bright, wavy lines," said Tammad. "Our scientists say that there was more there, much more, but we do not have the ability to screan it like the United do."

"To screan it?"

Tammad frowned. "I am trying to find a word for it in your language. There is no real equivalent. To screan is to... understand things, but to understand in a way using perceptual abilities that you do not possess."

"You mean, like sensing with the mind, like extra sensory perception?"

Tammad made a face. "Perhaps. That is a very broad and generalized characterization of it, but yes, it is the ability to sense the nature of the universe using a physicality you do not possess."

"And you do?"

"We are beginning to," said Tammad. "The United can screan much better than we can. But we can begin to sense the nature of things. What we see as stars, and the planets, and the solar system, and the galaxy... they are not just astronomical bodies. They are more, much more."

"Can you elaborate?" Taylor asked.

"I don't think there is time," said Tammad. He pointed. "Look."

They had nearly reached the other end of the rod. They could see a mass of giant squids, guarding some kind of outpost. Behind them they could see the end of the hollow rod they were inside of, and the stars themselves.

They could already begin to hear the voices in their head.

"Show us your bravery!"

"Show us your determination!"

"Let no opposition halt you!"

The United, it seems, was eager for battle.

There was no real cover here, except the thick, vertical vines. Taylor ordered the men to spread out, and to advance.

The battle commenced. It was just like the last time. Survey Service and Expedition forces fired their weapons, and giant squids blew into pieces. The United fired back at them, and people fell to the ground, unconscious. The United still wanted to take them prisoner, rather than kill them.

They advanced, and all seemed to go well, until Taylor heard Jennifer scream.

He turned around.

Somehow, four of the United had appeared behind them. How they got there when there was no place to hide was a puzzle that Taylor didn't have time to consider. One of them had an arm around Jennifer, and her body was stiff, her eyes wide, as she was dragged away.

"Jennifer!" Taylor cried, as he ran to her. But he had to hit the ground as he was nearly cut down by a blast from a United who attempted to flank him. "Show us your determination!" he heard in his head.

"I'll show you my determination!" Taylor cried. He shot the United, and it burst into pieces, but even as he got up, energy blasts from yet another United kept him from running to Jennifer.

Colonel Alex Stone, however, was in a much better position. There were no United between him and Jennifer. He ran to her, his compression rifle firing nearly continuously.

One, two, three... the squids blew up. The fourth fired a blast at Alex, but he dodged it. He swung his rifle butt against the side of the United's head, and it went crashing backwards, even as it pulled his rifle away from him. Alex swiftly drew his compression pistol, and blasted the squid to pieces. Then he went to grab a wide-eyed Jennifer, who was starting to recover from the effects of the paralysis.

The battle was soon over. They had won. Four members of their team had been stunned, not counting Jennifer.

By the time Taylor got to her, she had shaken the effects of the paralyzing tentacle. "Jennifer, are you all right?" he asked.

"Yes, I'm fine, Michael," she said. She turned to Alex. "Alex, you saved me. You saved my life."

"Anyone would have done the same," said Alex Stone.

And I tried to, Taylor thought.

"But you were the one who did it," she said, and her smile cut a small hole in Taylor's heart. "How can I ever thank you?"

Alex paused. "Ah... I don't know.... dinner, in my quarters, tonight?"

"Done," said Jennifer, and her broad smile crushed the remnants of Taylor's heart.

********

Taylor found Tammad inside the small installation. He stood over a container of small orange cubes.

"The second element, I take it," said Taylor.

"Yes," said Tammad. "We are making excellent progress."

But excellent progress towards what?

********

Taylor piloted the shuttle as they returned to the Judicator. Jennifer sat in the copilot's seat. He had arranged it this way, purposefully. He wanted a chance to speak to her alone, before, before....

"Jennifer?"

"Yes, Captain?"

"You're going to have dinner with Alex Stone tonight, in his quarters?"

Jennifer gave him an odd look and didn't answer for a long moment. "Yes, Captain."

"Are... are you...."

"Am I what, Captain?" Jennifer asked, her eyes hard as flint, as she turned her face and body towards him. "Are you asking me if I'm going to fuck him? Is that really what you want to know, Captain Michael Taylor?"

"I... yes."

"I cannot believe it. I cannot fucking believe it," said Jennifer. "Do you realize how fucking inappropriate it is to ask me that?"

"I'm concerned for you," said Taylor, feeling the conversation was spinning out of control.

"I don't think so. I don't think you're concerned for me at all." She paused another moment, staring at him in a way that made him uncomfortable. "Are you ever going to get over it, Michael? You're never going to have me. I'm sorry, but that's the way it has to be."

"I-"

"I think, if we get back to Earth, when we get back to Earth, in our time... I think it would be best if I requested a transfer," said Jennifer.

"A transfer?" said Taylor.

"We can't work together as a team anymore, Michael. We really can't. Your emotions are interfering with your work."

"Jennifer-"

"Look, there's the Judicator. Are you going to adjust our trajectory to enter the shuttle bay, or should I?"

For once, Taylor was completely speechless.

********

Jennifer was notably absent from dinner that night, as was Alex Stone. Taylor tried not to think about, to think about what Jennifer was doing with him....

His thoughts were interrupted by Captain Audrey Spaulding, who sat down next to him. "Hello, Michael," she said.

"Hello, Audrey," said Taylor, putting a smile on his face.

"How are you doing, Michael?" She asked. From her smile he was reminded of the unfinished business they had. He remembered how they had kissed in his tent the night before. How he had felt her touch. How they had a meeting of minds, a shared empathy.

Audrey started to talk to him, but Taylor found himself only half listening. He was starting to get visions in his mind, powerful ones.

Of him and Audry, completely nude in bed...

Audrey mounting him. As she slid his penis inside of her, she stifled his protests. "It's a Captain's prerogative," she said, as she started to move easily on his shaft, up and down, up and down. "I have a higher permanent rank, so I get to be on top, Mister." She smiled and winked even as she made love to him.

"We have two of the elements," she said. "Only one more to go," she smiled at him.

"Yes," said Taylor.

As he felt himself inside of her, he watched her go up and down, her heavy breasts bouncing with every push, the bun on top of her head looking like a thick, short, penis, moving up and down, up and down, symbolizing the movement deep inside of her....

"Have you given any thought to what we might do once we return to Earth?" she asked.

She leaned towards him, so he could better see the shape of her large, eggplant shaped breasts pressing against her shirt.

"Once we return to Earth? If we return to Earth," said Taylor.

"I'm an eternal optimist," said Audrey. "We'll probably get vacation. I'd love to see more of you." She smiled at him.

She smiled at him as he felt the head of his organ roughly stimulated. Her wetness permeated him, entering the slit at the very tip of his penis... he felt an unfamiliar burning, working its way down from the head of his organ....

"I'd like that too," said Taylor, feeling himself sweating. "Is it hot in here?"

"A little," said Audrey. "Would you like to go to my quarters and cool down a bit?"

Up and down, up and down, getting closer... tighter and tighter... it felt so good....

And then he thought of Jennifer.

"No," said Taylor, seeing the disappointment on her face. "I'm just not in the proper mind frame. I'd love to, after the mission is over."

"All right," Audrey said, in an even tone.

Three tables away, Elizabeth and Victor ate dinner. "I wonder what's going on there," said Victor, watching the sudden change of expressions on Audrey's and Taylor's face.

"I can guess," said Elizabeth bitterly.

Taylor got up and left.

"Can you really?" said Victor.

"Just wait. Count to ten," said Elizabeth.

It was actually a twenty count before Audrey got up and left, leaving after him.

"That's our Captain," said Elizabeth bitterly. "Always keeping up appearances."

Victor gave her an odd look. "I don't see why you have any need to complain. You made your feelings quite clear to him."

"Is that what he told you?" Elizabeth said.

Victor shook his head. "Michael didn't have to tell me anything."

"It wasn't real," said Elizabeth, putting her hand to her chest. "What we had... in that virtual layer... it was not real."

"Keep telling yourself that," said Victor, getting up with his empty tray. "Maybe if you keep saying it, you'll even believe it."

********

Lieutenant Jennifer Hale of the United Survey Service wasn't dressed in her Survey Service uniform when she entered Alex Stone's quarters that evening. She was wearing a long, flowing black dress that showed off her best assets, big and thick and round and the envy of every man who had ever had her. She knew full well what Stone's invitation to dinner had meant, and she was ready for it.

Indeed, she was even eager. Ever since that night when he had consoled her, after Obongo had died, thoughts had flashed through her mind. Erotic thoughts. Of Alex, thrusting between her legs... Alex, filling her so deeply... and in one recurring fantasy, Jennifer, on her knees, showing Alex the ultimate gesture of appreciation that a woman could show for a man.

So when she entered his quarters, she knew the time had come for her to be fucked.

Alex smiled as she entered his quarters.

Jennifer saw dinner prepared on a small table next to his bed. How convenient.

"Jennifer. You're looking so lovely tonight." He reached up and hugged her. He felt warm and wonderful. And then Alex pulled back, looked into her eyes, and gave her a firm kiss. She responded eagerly, grinding her lips against his, leaving no doubt that she was going to be a willing participant in the night's events.

They sat down for dinner, but Jennifer's mind was on something else. She was thinking of the visions, the visions of love between her and Alex. She was excited by it, and more than ready. And so after dinner, when he extended a hand, she took it, and she let him pull her down to his bed.

Soon they were kissing and hugging and touching, and before long they were nude, and then they were making love.

Jennifer smiled as Alex thrusted inside of her. He had such a hairy chest. It was wonderful. His face was beautiful too. That smile, and those green eyes... green, just like Michael's. For a moment, an erotic shudder went through her. Where did that come from?

And then it was all Alex again, on top of her, inside her, all around her. She felt thoroughly encompassed. He was so manly, with his hairy chest and strong arms! She reached her peak, and passed over the edge. "Aaahhhh!" Jennifer cried, her breasts heaving, with a broad smile.

Alex pulled out and held her hand as she enjoyed the afterglow. But Jennifer noticed something was missing. "You... you didn't?"

"Almost," said Alex. "It's not important."

"Oh, but it is!" Jennifer insisted. She pulled him up so that he was standing. She got to her knees. She took his organ, still wet with her juices, in her hand. It was hard and glistening. Suddenly, Jennifer had a sense of déjà vu.

She was in the exact same position she had been in her visions. She remembered seeing herself, as if she were a third person, on her knees, her heavy breasts leaning forward, smiling as she admired Alex's penis, and then opened her mouth and slowly but smoothly inserted it into her.

And so she did the same thing for real, this time, half wondering what was going on, as she started to suck and caress him with her lips and tongue. Alex helped, slowly working himself in and out of her, as he grabbed the back of her head firmly, playing with her hair as he pleasured himself on her willing mouth.

Jennifer serviced him lovingly, the man who had saved her life. And then when she could feel him tightening up, she didn't pull out, but instead let it happen as nature intended. Alex cried out, and throbbed inside of her, filling her mouth with a hot, sticky substance. Jennifer lovingly swallowed his issue, but she frowned even as she did so. His cum was hot, and it burned her throat, and even as she pulled out, she coughed, causing her breasts to shake.

"Are you all right?" said Alex, taking her in his arms.

"Yeah," said Jennifer, coughing again. "I guess I just swallowed the wrong way."

Alex laughed, and she laughed, and together they returned to bed.

********

"A cube?" said Victor.

"That's not possible," said Doctor McCrae.

"We see it, so therefore it is," said Victor.

They were staring at a small planetoid on the viewscreen. And it was shaped like a cube. A perfect cube.

"How can that be?" said Taylor.

"Planetoids can be produced in any shape," said Tammad.

"But why a cube?"

"Spatial energy moving across a cube shaped gravitational field can generate tremendous amounts of electrical power," said Tammad.

"I don't see how," said Wade Tanner.

"It would require much explanation," said Tammad. "Suffice to say that the last element we need, called Kratonium, is stored in one of the points of the cube."

"One of them? You don't know which?"

Tammad shook his head. "Our information was not specific enough."

"There are eight points on the cube!" Taylor said.

"Well, I know which point it's stored under," said Doctor McCrae.

They all looked at him.

"The last one we look at, of course," said McCrae.

Taylor smiled and shook his head. "How big is that cube?" he asked.

"It is one of the smaller ones," said Tammad. "In your measurements, it is only approximately three standard miles to a side."

As the cube rotated, they could see different terrain on it. One side was oceans. One side was desert. One was forest. One was grasslands. And other was... the sixth side was unclear.

"Amazing. If you want a different terrain, all you have to do is flip to the other side," said Victor. "Think of it, Michael. You can go on vacation and have the mountains and beaches and the tropics all in the same place!"