Pack Leader

"Take me! Breed!" she cried out before another female shut her up by pouring more of that lust-inducing brew down her throat.

"Ready for it? Here it comes..." I growled.

Another orgasm. Another female bred by my seed. I felt it pump out from between my legs, shooting out of my cock as I pushed it all the way inside. Greuwil's body went stiff and she panted heavily while the rest of the group kept pushing us together, stroking and licking.

As soon as I slid out of her, two adoring girls dropped to their knees and started worshiping my cock. Another one lay between Greuwil's legs and lapped at her pussy, licking away as if hoping to taste my cum inside her. My latest conquest looked up at me.

"I... never mate before... Thank you, chief..."

Now that I thought of it, I had never seen any of the others cuddle up to Greuwil like they did with each other. She had always been the one to offer affection to someone else, not the other way around. Now, it seemed, that had all changed. Now that the chief had mated with her, it looked like she was being accepted, no longer being at the bottom of the tribal hierarchy.

Just as I thought about this, another female stepped in between us and rubbed her hindquarters against me. She waved her bushy tail back and forth, looked back at me and begged:

"Me now..?"

Because she asked so nicely, I fucked her too.

Days and days and days... I don't know how long I spent with these sex-crazed Coreli. The days did seem to be short, but I had no idea how short, really. Eventually, life did seem to go back to some kind of normal; the wild party ended and everybody went back to the business of hunting for food, maintaining the village or playing with the youngsters.

I was also able to go out for a walk without being stalked, taking a bath in the little stream and cleaning myself up somewhat. The place was actually pretty nice - despite the first impression of this as a desert, there were plants scattered around along the stream. A nice little oasis in an otherwise pretty unfriendly landscape. As darkness fell, I lay down in a patch of grass, enjoying the feeling of it against my skin.

I still hadn't gone back to wearing any clothes. At first, it was because it was easier not to; with sex being offered every time I turned around, being dressed would just have been a hindrance. By now, I had just gotten used to it. The climate was also perfect for it, so I hadn't felt any need to put my clothes back on.

I looked up at the night sky. Stars started to become visible, one of the small moons shining down... a solar flare flashing through the...

I sat up with a jolt. Once you've seen the batteries from a Humboldt cruiser unleash a full volley, you'll never forget it. From the planet's surface, it looked like a thin wave of flames spreading across the sky, then the flames suddenly changing into a million exploding particles, like the biggest fireworks imaginable. I had only seen it from this angle once before, but there was really no mistaking that light. My ship was in orbit.

I kept looking up. Somebody up there must surely be picking up the signal from my scanner. Or spot the wreckage of the shuttle when running a search for survivors. Surely?

Sure enough, after what felt like an age, I could see the retrorockets of a shuttle as it dropped down in the distance. I stood up and started running towards it. It was hard to see in the dark, but I followed the stream until I got to a big rock, and then moved towards where I thought the lights from the shuttle had been going. Eventually, I could see the lanterns on the shuttle - it was parked right by the crash site. Two figures were walking around, investigating.

"OYH!" I shouted and ran towards them.

"Who's there!?"

They immediately took aim at me. I kept stumbling towards them and almost fell over, exhausted from the run over here. The soles of my feet ached.

"Point those sticks somewhere else, dumbshits! It's me!"

They lowered their weapons and opened the visors on their helmets, revealing the familiar faces of Tallis and Kudry.

"Beck? What the shit...?"

I had forgotten that I didn't have my uniform on - it probably looked really weird, coming across me like this on a strange planet. Right now, though, I was just relieved to be rescued. Memories of the crash came flashing back; I really had been luckier than anybody deserved.

I headed straight for the open hatch of the newly arrived transport, giving my shipmates a stern look as I walked past them.

"The fuck you looking at? Get me off this rock, pronto!"

"Sure. Yep. You got it." they replied, apparently too taken aback to ask any questions.

Less than two hours later, I was sitting in Med Bay getting the full treatment by Dr. Abioye. It felt unreal, being in there after having spent all that time planet-side. The bench felt hard and sterile, there were no sounds of nature... no sounds at all except the occasional beeping of some kind of machine.

"So, what do you think, Doc? Can I go?"

"Just a minute, Beckelman, I still need one more sample..."

I sighed. Nobody used my full name except this guy. I had gotten so used to the short version that whenever somebody used it, I had to remind myself. Abioye was looking at a screen with results flashing past faster than someone like me could make heads or tails of.

"Although testosterone levels are a bit high, I suppose the extreme stress could account for some of that... Your toxin levels are within acceptable parameters..."

"Good." I said, hopping off the bench and reaching for my shirt.

"... except this one here... I'm not sure what that is. Some kind of ... alkaloid...? Tell me, are you hallucinating at the moment?"

"Not at all, big friendly talking mushroom. Can I go now?"

"No. Take this seriously, would you, please? I am trying to..."

"Look, Doc, I don't know what else to tell you. I feel fine. Yeah, I'm a bit banged up, but seeing as I just survived a crash that turned a titanium-clad shuttle into origami, I'd say that's pretty normal, wouldn't you?"

"I would. Still, I want to run some more tests on this..."

"Go ahead. You've got plenty of blood there. So can I..."

"Are you sure you weren't exposed to any..."

"I'm sure I was. I was stuck on that rock for I don't know how long..."

"Just over a week."

"...I had to survive, somehow, so I ate and drank whatever I came across that didn't seem poisonous, and since it didn't kill me, I should be good to go back to work. Right? Now, if you'll excuse me, I have an appointment with the biggest burger anybody has ever seen, and I don't even care that it's made from reconstituted meat."

I finished getting dressed and put on my new boots. All new stuff, that's one good thing that came out of leaving everything behind, I thought.

"Fine, you can go. But if you experience any dizziness, loss of memory or motor control, I want you back here, ASAP. Got it?"

"Understood."

I turned to leave when the doctor called out one last thing:

"Oh, by the way, professor Gupta wanted to speak with you when you have time. Make sure you stop by her quarters, would you?"

"Got it!"

I headed straight there. The burger could wait. I really needed to talk to her; she was the xenobiology expert, so if anybody could make sense of what I'd just been through, it would be her. On my way there, I saw the captain making her way towards me. Dammit, I thought. I wasn't ready to talk to her yet. I tried to slip by and hoped she hadn't spotted me. Fat chance.

"Beck!"

"Captain."

I stopped and saluted her as I normally would.

"Report."

"Yes, Captain. Uh... on what, exactly?"

"Everything."

"Oh, uh... Well, the doc cleared me for duty, so I'm going to..."

"No, no, you idiot, from the planet. I wanna know everything you saw down there."

"Okay... well, it's a long story and I was told professor Gupta wants to see me, so could we..."

"The professor?"

"Yessir."

"Okay, go there first. Report to me later."

She made her way past me and I continued towards the guest quarters when something occurred to me. I stopped and called back down the hallway.

"Captain?"

"Yes?"

"Seriously... That pilot deserves a medal. For his family... or something. That shuttle... we should all have been dead."

She stood still for a moment and looked back at me. Captain Rizzo was a no-nonsense, special kind of hard-ass who expected a lot from her crew, but she was also the kind of captain who would do anything for us. Having lost crew members this recently would have put her in a really bad mood. After pausing for a few seconds, she straightened herself up and gave me a nod.

"Noted. Thank you."

She headed off. Thankfully, that meant I was in the clear for a while, giving me time to think about what to say.

I went to Gupta's quarters and knocked on the doors.

"Open." she responded, making the doors slide open. "Come in, come in."

"Professor. I was told you wanted to see me?"

"Yes, very much. Please, sit down, I heard you had been down on the Corelus planet and I cannot wait to hear what you experienced down there. Did you see the Martaxx plants? Did you encounter Coreli? Did you see any Kartof geysers?"

I sat down and tried to think where to start.

"Well... I do have some stuff to tell you about, actually..."

"Splendid, splendid."

"... but could you do me a favor? Turn off the recording? Some of this is a bit... well, embarrassing, maybe... or at least... inappropriate."

She looked at me for a second or two and then reached over to click a button on her computer.

"Go on."

I told her everything. Surviving the crash, getting captured, fighting the chieftain and taking his place, the wild orgies that followed... It actually felt really good talking about it with an academic. Whenever she interrupted my tale with a quick question, it was clear that she had a scholarly interest, nothing more. She wanted to know about the drinks we had ingested, about the level of vocabulary of the Coreli, the social interactions... She made notes on her pad, seemingly eager to use whatever she could to further her research. When I finished, she had already started writing down key points for her next publication.

"So, professor... I was wondering..."

"Yes?"

"That's why I came to see you, actually... I was wondering what you think will happen down there now that I'm gone. What do you think will happen to them?"

"Oh, I would not worry - if it is as you say, their culture should be quite resistant to changes in leadership. This type of hierarchy is very interesting... it is as if they worship their leaders, but as soon as they are replaced, they turn their attentions to a new focus of worship... Very interesting..."

"So... I didn't mess everything up for them down there?"

"I do not think so. You said that the chieftain is the only one who mates with the females?"

"Well, I don't know that, but it seemed like it..."

"Well, if it is true, then there will be less genetic diversity as all the offspring have the same father. In evolutionary terms, this can be a disadvantage, but changing leadership frequently would be a very effective way of compensating for this. You also said that their aggression is short-lived?"

"Yes, very. They fight one minute and make out the next."

"Interesting. That is not in the existing reports. Those are over five years old. I suppose it makes sense: in order for the tribe to survive, infighting cannot go on for too long. They all need to work together. We really must find an opportunity to observe these people more closely..."

Yes, she had called them 'people'. Not just 'creatures' or 'beasts'. Because they were sentient, they were people. Possibly somebody who could become friends or allies one day. That's why she was so eager to study alien cultures. To see if there were any grounds for coexistence.

I stood up and prepared to leave.

"So, professor... when you write your stuff... I hope you can leave out some of the... details?"

"I will find a way to explain around it, do not worry."

"Thanks."

I turned to leave and heard her reading from her notes as she kept touching them up.

"Clan practices were observed closely... hmm... 'first-hand'...? No, 'closely' should do... Now to find some comparable examples from old Earth..."

As the doors closed behind me, I thought I had a pretty good idea of what I should say in my report to the captain. Even if I'd upset things down there a bit, I was glad to hear that the Coreli would probably be okay.

I felt my stomach rumble. With a quick leap up the stairs, I headed to the mess to get myself that burger.