Starchaser Ch. 02

"Maybe you would end up not liking it because the only person you could talk about it on Earth to is me, but," I pause for dramatic effect, "that would only be you couldn't tell anyone you already know. Where we are going on the adventure are people and beings who would be just as interested in what you have to say as much you would be interested in what they have to say."

I have decided to take Noel into my complete confidence and from now on I will speak freely and change her life forever. It is the nature of a Captain's decisions, to change people's lives forever, sometimes in little ways and sometimes in dramatic ways. I kiss the side of her head gently to convey my honesty and assure my interest in her. My mind made up, I signal Starchaser to enable the shuttle on its approach before returning my attention to Noel.

=N=

The command is a necessary update to coordinate timing. The shuttle itself has the range and duration to be able to wait on station for an extended period but in closer Earth proximity with the density of satellites increasing with a nearly regular launching of new satellites, it makes navigation to remain unnoticed more difficult. If the shuttle was to be in proximity to satellites for any extended period, the gravity of the shuttle would cause satellite trajectories to be altered and that would attract unwanted attention.

Objects in space follow Newton's Laws and cannot change what they are doing without something external in proximity to them influencing their speed and direction. Since it is science educated and intelligent people who monitor everything in orbit around the Earth and in the skies with dedication, it would not take long for the altered orbits to be noticed, the motion traced back to a moment in time and place, and a search to begin for whatever it was that altered satellite trajectories.

That kind of clue could change the direction of human study of space and what is out there. It would not be a good thing to have a cause pinpointed over the eastern Atlantic Ocean basin off the east coast of North America. A few questions in the right places on a strip of land in the middle of ocean and the possibility that a connection could be drawn to a cellular phone call comment by an island realtor from the Bahamas to a bartender could be made. It was best to take as many precautions as possible using all facts available and only the assumptions necessary to reduce the influence of false bias. Clues being strung together has fascinated Barrett recently with the mystery case problem solving ability of Earth legendary investigator Sherlock Holmes, so he knows it is wise to be cautious.

Barrett is well aware of how a number of odd happenings that appear in recent Earth history were caused by his predecessor with the disregard he had for his role on the planet and his failure to keep track of changes in technology. And with the emerging digital electronic society that made information readily available to everyone with a personal device connected to the information stream of the World Wide Web, it will only be a fool who underestimates the datamining capability possible with this planetary digital cortex.

This information network has the effect of gathering information in language and images from sources scattered widely across the planet. The durability of these data files is great with a much greater reliability and sustainability of information than had been previously been possible in the days of community criers, teaching of religious scholars, notices made on printing press, and analog radio and transoceanic communications.

The shuttlecraft transport had been kept at distance from Earth greater than the distance to the Moon at the null point directly between the Earth and the Sun to further mask its presence taking full advantage of its Proton Shielding. The shielding not only renders the shuttle invisible to direct observation but also aids how it rides on the cosmic wind and holds the shuttle in stasis better when parked in a null point in orbit.

Noel happens to be looking directly at him and deeply in his eyes and she is smiling. She watches his eyes do that talking to someone else glance and she doesn't wait for him to finish what he's doing to start speaking to him. Allowing herself to be the extroverted sexual woman coming into her own, she releases herself from holding back what she wants to say knowing that now is always the right time to say what needs saying as waiting can have its consequences.

-/v\-

"I have never been more ready for adventure than I am now. As for who I could possibly tell, that will not be a problem. First of all, I'm very good at keeping my personal life private, I don't tell anybody anything they don't need to know. There are very few people I would choose to let know in advance of anything to do with my plans, to move to this island for instance. I could probably go for quite a while before anyone would start to notice that I haven't been around."

I look at him and decide he seems to always hear everything I say anyway so I keep talking to him. "I don't want this to sound presumptuous Barrett but if my life, this part of my life at least, if it is going to be with you then it is nobody's business except ours. What we decide to let them know is strictly on a need to know basis and I really don't see how anybody needs to know anything." I know I have chosen this man to be my partner, all that remains is to see if he really has chosen me to be his partner.

The feeling I have inside me right now and how it's making my bikini feel so fricking wet has my mind made up. If he is from another planet and there is a spaceship somewhere out there, then that is our next place to go and I am ready to go there with him. I don't care where we go as long as we go together. And the first opportunity we get, I am going to find out what it is like to really make love to a man from space.

I keep searching his eyes as I speak, hoping that this is the reassurance Barrett needs to start opening up to me. The feelings I already have for him have only just started, but they are already strong enough for me to want to know more about him and for him to know more about me, and why I have these strong feelings for him. Maybe he is The One for me, maybe he isn't.

But one thing I know for certain in my mind is that I am exactly where I am supposed to be and where I want to be right at this moment. I am sure that his presence, his unexpected appearance in my life, his attention and energy that is making me feel so alive, is part of a grand plan by some force greater than either of us that we are powerless to deny, even if we want to.

My intuition tells me something is going on. Just in case, I am going to be prepared for this to be the beginning of our life together forever. Oh fuck Noel, get a grip on yourself, just the thought of that has me weak all at once. I should not be letting myself get so excited, so thrilled at the thought, but fuck if the idea can get me this excited so quickly, I definitely want all of this to happen.

His face is so very close to mine is making this an intimate moment, intended or not. Our bodies are still touching, I can feel his body and his warmth against me, his breathing and his touch have me craving him. It had felt like it was getting chilly before but my body feels hot now and I want so much.

o/o

I'm watching her through my eyes even while I'm paying attention in my minds eye to Starchaser feeding me information. I'm watching her behavior for anything that would be tense or an aversion to the events that had already in motion and I only see the opposite. Her words are honest and reveal her decision to commit to us being together, remarkable in ways I cannot fathom. The fact that she would have an intellect and instinct that we are compatible and that she is prepared to leave everything she knows to go on adventure with me is extraordinary.

And yet this adult woman Noel is behaving with the energy of a child who cannot stand or sit still with the level of her excitement. It is as if she has an idea of what is going to transpire, that I know fully well but she has nothing tangible to go on for this certainty of hers, that I know she is about to learn and experience for herself. I can feel her literally vibrating in my arms after she's spoken and I can breathe in her scent again, no doubt her state of arousal is part of her excitement.

I sideline the direct neural communication knowing my Equinox Flyer is inbound and should be able to approach with minimal disruption to Earth orbiting satellites. I can see her eyes recognize the change when I focused away from the neural communication to look fully at her again. I am sure she is a very smart girl and she knows something is going on with me and might even suspect I have a neural communication activity in progress. "Just wait until you know why I do that with my eyes." I say to acknowledge and validate her suspicions that something is really happening and that she is not losing her mind.

"So Noel, since you are so excited for this adventure with me, you need to get your phone out once more and let your favorite bartender know if anyone comes around looking for you that you'll be back when you can be. Tell him he has nothing to worry about because you have decided to accept my offer to go on the adventure of a lifetime. Then, once you are finished with that call, your adventure begins and you are joining in my lifelong adventure. I think you're going to love what I have to show you. We are going to be together in every way you can imagine and the sky is not the limit."

I can feel my masculine excitement against her with a rigidity I have not felt against a woman for a very long time and I can feel by her body molding herself to me letting me know it is wanted. Noel is truly different from all the other Earth women I have met and her effect on me is pervasive as if my body is remembering something from long ago and long forgotten. I can feel a harmony with my body energy and her body energy entirely in phase. She is indeed an Avalonian Human woman.

I kiss her forehead to convey the gentleness I intend she will know from me from now on. Something that needs to begin from the start setting a premise that all is well and there is no threat. I know in my heart that she is The One and as my One she has just become the most important person to me in the Universe. My arms slip down her sides and my hands cup under her butt as she wraps her legs around my waist to clench herself half way up my body reaching to get her phone out to make her last call.

-/v\-

Barrett says magical words I have been longing to hear. We are going on the adventure I had hoped for, the adventure of our lifetime together and it starts as soon as I make my phone call. I wrap my legs around him instinctively not wanting to have any distance between us. With my heels locked together, I get my cell phone out and look at the time, we have been together for exactly three hours and it is 2am. I unlock the screen and go to the messenger app and see Paulo is online, probably chatting with his girlfriend.

I dial his phone number and he answers immediately. "Hi Paulo, the best thing ever has happened. Barrett asked me to go on an adventure with him and I said yes! It is something I really want to do and it is my lifelong dream coming true! If you have any concerns, you can talk to Barrett if you want to." Paulo says no, says he is happy for me, wishes me well and says next time we are on Eleuthera to stop by so he can buy us a drink. "Thanks for everything Paulo you really are sweet as blueberry muffins, bye bye!"

My call is done and I turn off my phone, this time, purposely shutting it off completely. I want Barrett to know I do take his safety and mine as the most important thing and I want him to see my gesture of faith in him. I reach for my bag and put the inert phone away then unwrap my legs from around his waist to slide my body down and stand on my own two feet.

If we are doing this then we are doing it together. I am going to pull my own weight and be the best partner I can be for my amazing man. Barrett makes me want to be just as formidable a woman as he is a man. A proper force of nature as strong for him as he is to me. I love that I am standing with him, standing close together and well inside each other's personal space. I allow myself to think of him as my Barrett.

o/o

I know without question Noel has chosen to be with me and I know I already love her. How much I love her is yet to be discovered but a Captain must love his crew to be ready to sacrifice for her and die for her if it is necessary, as a final solution, though I never intend for that to be needed because then I am no help to her once that is accomplished. She has made her call and put her deactivated cell phone away. I can see in Starchaser's scanners the signal pinging the nearest cell tower has ended. With her phone put away in her bag I take it as her gesture that she has already joined me on my terms for our privacy and security.

Her legs release from around my waist I feel her body dragging down my body with gravity, but she is not clinging to me and instead standing next to me well inside our personal space. I can feel that we are a true couple looking outward together as real partners, and by standing on her own two feet further proving to me she is my first mate. She will know what that means and understand it in time. For now I am thrilled that she is the feminine compliment to my masculine and by uniting we become whole in our spirits.

I look within my neural interface, which is like choosing which memory to focus on, and think the proceed command to my Equinox Flyer. I have no need to look for where it is as I am accessing the forward external viewer and watching the approach in my minds eye. Already plunging quickly through atmospheric layers, the hull shielding is absorbing the energy that normal falling bodies give off as a bright trail of excited atmospheric gas. The Equinox Flyer is using that energy to recharge the energy cells that will be topped up and ready for our extraction.

The image of the island is bright in the infrared bands selected for nighttime viewing. A thin brighter line of the island in the darker cooler ocean is growing bigger with every moment as its dimensions expand rapidly in view. I can see the beach distinctly now we are standing on and raise the viewing frequency to visible light with enhanced sensitivity for low light conditions in the umbra. Plain as normal daylight I can see us standing together as a couple. A very attractive couple, but I must concentrate.

I instantly change to the virtual external view so I can watch as the shuttle spins on its vertical axis, turning it around to approach with the back sliding door facing us as it soundlessly arrives and comes to an arm reach distance from us. Nothing is disturbed, not the air nor a grain of sand.

The Equinox Flyer has stopped in front of us but I know to Noel's eye it is as if there is nothing there, or anyone else who could possibly be watching. I have the shuttle transport positioned so as soon as the back door slides open it is an easy step to get inside.

=N=

The Flyer with its external Photon Shielding bends light around its curved hull so efficiently that the stars and horizon are exactly as they should without being distorted or blocked from view. Even the sand viewed down at an angle underneath the shuttle is seen clearly without distortion or shadow. It is a visual effect that would cause concern if something were to try to pass through where the shuttle is, because it is a solid object and the something would impact the hull and be stopped in it's flight and fall. An observer would not be able to see what had stopped the something's motion and caused it to fall.

Barrett's Equinox Flyer was constructed at the beginning of his 13th year when he was confirmed as Captain apprentice, the official Academy designation for each student who demonstrates competence and disposition to be suitable to be a Captain of a DS Cruiser. The Equinox Flyer at the time was the latest standard 8 passenger design being produced at the Farpoint SCS Dockyards. Like the DS Cruiser, the interior features and surfaces are completely customized to each Captain's tastes and Barrett's has one of the cozier interiors of the type.

Growing up on his parent's DS Cruiser Recalcitrant, he had a fundamental concept of finding a perfect 'first and only' mate with whom he would share his life to be like his parents are who share their lives with a passion. Sexuality in the Avalonian Combine is an acknowledged fact and is expected. Frequent sexual activity of a committed life pair is expected at all times except when ceremonial and diplomatic protocols are required, when everyone's behavior is expected to be reverent and asexual.

Barrett's shuttle features a command bench seat at the front. The controls and viewers are easily accessible within easy reach for comfort and precise ship handling. The bench seat has a gap in the middle that opens to permit easy walk-through when moving fore and aft. The gap opens and closes swiftly so no pause is needed for himself and his mate to sit side by side while traveling in the shuttle.

From the back of the command seat on each side curving along each side of the hull to the sliding back door are plush couches with seating for three persons each and have filler panels that rise to fill the space between the couches and makes the entire aft of the shuttle into a large bed. The influence of his parents and the interior of Recalcitrant that they mutually designed while at the Academy together is what Barrett based his design on for his Equinox Flyer, and for Starchaser, in creating a similar idyllic adult playground to that of Recalcitrant, and any other sexual play place in Avalonian Space.

The interior surfaces are predominantly red made of a velvety liquiphobic and bioprohibitive material that will not absorb any liquid and that no biological materials including microscopic life forms can permeate. Highlights are black with blue pinstriping and blackout lighting glows green. The entire shuttlecraft is about the size of a small luxury van and it is comfortable and affords protection and life support when needed away from Starchaser.

The name Starchaser Barrett provided as the name for CCDSC hull 50883 was originally thought of as the name for a shuttlecraft he dreamed of one day having for himself while he was growing up on Recalcitrant. He never thought he would be worthy of his own DSC command, so when he was selected as Captain Apprentice he needed a name for his DS Cruiser and Starchaser was the only name he had in mind.

His Equinox Flyer shuttlecraft is nameless because with his neural connection to Starchaser and the shuttlecraft built after Starchaser was already in construction, the shuttlecraft from its beginning was a subset of the Cruiser and, in his mind not its own entity as he had imagined a shuttle in his youth. As Starchaser's first shuttlecraft, it has designation CCDSC 50883+A and no other name has been given. Starchaser has two shuttlecraft and the second built in time to be aboard at commissioning, it is generic and utilitarian interior design Equinox Flyer, one without any personalizing done to the interior, designation CCDSC 50883+B. The +B is primarily a cargo hauler and is unused to date. Barrett's custom Equinox Flyer +A is the one that has arrived.

o/o

I look at Noel with refocused eyes and take her hand. "Noel, you have everything you need, and our adventure has already begun." Without looking to where I know the Flyer is hovering I signal the door. The back door begins to slide open. At first it looks like a red line appearing from nowhere as the interior begins to be revealed. The vertical line expands wider revealing the interior of a plush space about the size of a small luxury van in front of us. Because the interior is physical and extends each side inside the doorway, it is possible to look around the corner on an inside that makes no sense to be there when one cannot see the outside of the shuttle transport at all. It looks like a veritable pocket in thin air.