Stars, Shadows and Lust Ch. 01

"YES! YES! YES!" I screamed as Neal pounded me mercilessly. "Oh my god... Neal..."

Neal, panting slightly, laughed. "Last time I checked, Kat, I wasn't your god." He gripped my ear between his teeth and tugged on it. "Just really well hung..."

I was too busy climaxing to answer. The slight pain as Neal nibbled on my ear had pushed me over the edge into orgasmic bliss. I whimpered wordlessly as tremors overtook me. Neal laughed and pounded me harder, driving me into another orgasm.

As I came down from the high, I looked up, past Neal, at the strange stars gliding past above me. Joy that had nothing to do with sex pulsed through me. We were here. Really, really here. In another galaxy. In Pegasus.

Pegasus was a neighboring galaxy to the Milky Way. Several years ago a group of people had journeyed here as part of a secret government program and had found the city of Atlantis, deep beneath the sea on a planet called Lantea. They had also found the Wraith, a group of aliens who could literally suck the life from a human being.

I'd read all the mission reports from that previous expedition, or, a least, all the reports that hadn't been redacted. To make a long story short, they'd explored, fought the Wraith, and faced numerous other challenges over several years before finally flying Atlantis to Earth to fight the Wraith there.

They'd landed off the coast of San Francisco, intending to remain hidden under the cloak until it was time to return to Pegasus. However, all the good intentions in the world couldn't stop the city from being seen when a key crystal in the cloaking device failed.

With a yell, Neal began to pump harder and faster, his composure lost in the urgency of his impending climax. I urged him on, begging him to fill me, until my voice was cut off by another orgasm. Neal hung on, teeth gritted, as my pussy pulsed around his cock, his self control like iron.

With the revelation of Atlantis, the entire Stargate program had come out of the shadows, some bits more readily than others. Almost overnight, the entire world became aware of the existence of alien life, and the Stargates that allowed travel between worlds.

As I came a fourth time, Neal groaned, his self control broken. He plunged into me one final time and then froze, shaking and shuddering as he unleashed his load into my spasming pussy.

Before this revelation, Neal and I had been normal college kids. Well, more or less normal. After all, our income hadn't come from minimum wage jobs or internships. It came from our YouTube channel, Kat's Critters, which covered a variety of biology subjects ranging from exotic pet care to potential forms of alien life.

That last bit was what made us truly famous. Some of the predictions we'd made about alien life turned out to be eerily accurate. In particular, we'd more or less predicted the existence Wraith technology over a year before the Stargate Revelation.

Panting, Neal withdrew. I grinned up at him. "Can you- mmph!" Before I could finish my sentence, Neal thrust his wet cock into my mouth. An instant later, he began vigorously face fucking me into the pillow. One hand gripped my hair, and the other reached back to finger me. As this was exactly what I was going to ask him to do, I didn't protest.

We decided to take advantage of the publicity, and began to cover breaking news on the Stargate program. Somehow, we became the public face for both information on Pegasus and the movement for greater government transparency. Because of this, someone high up the government food chain had decided we should go with the city when it left Earth, as sort of a promise to the public that they were no longer hiding anything. And that was, in a nutshell, how we'd ended up in Pegasus.

I could taste myself on Neal's cock, as well as the remnants of his previous climax. Panting, Neal shot his next load straight down my throat. Then he flipped me over on my stomach. "You still all nice and clean still?" he asked. Before I could answer his lube covered finger was in my ass. I moaned.

After fucking me with one finger for a while, Neal switched to two. His other hand toyed with my pussy and clit. When he began to fuck me with three fingers in the ass, I climaxed violently. "Oh... Oh shit! I'm CUMMING!"

I felt myself tighten around Neal's fingers, almost squeezing them out. Then I relaxed, panting, allowing him to withdraw his fingers and slip his cock in through the back door. I moaned. "Oh, Neal... Love... you..."

He planted a wet kiss between my shoulder blades. "Love you too, Kat." Then he began to pound my ass. The violence of his thrusts hurt a bit, but that was just the way I liked it. I whimpered.

All too soon, my body began to accommodate Neal's swift thrusting. The pain receded. Sensing this, Neal pinched one of my nipples. I yelped in pained surprise, and then climaxed, clenching my pussy around his fingers and my ass around his cock.

Neal panted. "You do... that... again, and I won't... be able to hold back."

I deliberately squeezed him. "Then don't, silly. Fill up my big, round, perfect ass!"

Neal chuckled. "Someone thinks highly of themselves."

I thrust my butt upward. "Not without reason."

I'd known since I was twelve that I was good looking. For a long time, I'd considered it a curse, but, now, I liked being beautiful. Neal was cute, with rather large ears, long brown hair, a dimpled chin, and smattering of freckles, but I was drop dead gorgeous. D-cup breasts, a lovely face, a shapely ass, a wasp waist, and platinum blond hair... I had it all, and everyone wanted a piece.

Fortunately, Neal wasn't the jealous type. Quite the opposite, in fact. He loved hearing about- or better yet, watching- my conquests. He'd admitted that seeing me with a man better looking or more well hung than he was made him hot. My beloved, the cuckold fetishist.

Neal moaned, and exploded into my ass. I was in the middle of a climax, high as a kite, and the warm feeling in my gut sent me higher still. My scream of ecstasy choked off into a strained whimper.

Together, we went limp, Neal's flaccid and well lubricated cock sliding out of my ass. "You were right," Neal murmured as he slid off of me. "That order works great. Pussy first, to get things nice and moist. Mouth, so you can taste yourself. Then, when everything is dripping wet, ass." He chuckled. "I still like pussy, pussy, ass better, though. Better lubrication. You might not mind a bit of pain, but I do, love."

I flipped onto my side and nestled into his warm chest. "I thought you liked pussy, strap on, ass best."

I felt him shrug. "I like it when you pound me with a strap on, but it does nothing for you. Besides, no strap on can compare to the real thing."

I yawned. "We'll find you a man or two in Pegasus. Don't worry."

Neal shrugged again. "I'm not so sure. From what I read, it's a bit homophobic in many places. Couples that don't produce children just aren't practical with the Wraith killing a percentage of every generation. Impractical becomes against the rules. Against the rules becomes taboo. Same old song and dance."

I sighed. "Maybe one of the crew in Atlantis, then. They can't all be straight."

Neal snorted. "We've been traveling in the city for over a week. I've met most of the men in the crew by now. Everyone who isn't straight is either in a relationship, uninterested in dating a coworker, or put off by the fact that I have a girlfriend."

I rolled over and nuzzled him. "Are you saying you'd rather not have a girlfriend?"

Neal laughed and hugged me. "Of course not! I love you, Katherine. Plus, the sex is amazing."

I grinned, my face pressed against his hard pecs. "Amazing enough to make up for not having a guy?"

Neal yawned. "Of course. It always is." He yawned again. "In the morning, Atlantis will exit orbit. Land. We'll see our first alien planet."

I shrugged. "Not very alien looking. It'll be mostly ocean."

Neal sighed. "Still..." He trailed off. Moments later, his breathing deepened into sleep.

*

I tapped my mic. "Testing, testing, 1, 2, 3."

Neal nodded. "Your mic is working great." He paused, listening to his headphones. "Mine is too." He unhooked from the headphones and trotted around the room, making last minute adjustments to the various cameras.

Dr. Rodney McKay, head of sciences, sighed and whispered. "Do they have to be here?"

I snorted. "I heard that. Just FYI, whispering around powerful mics isn't the best of ideas."

Richard Woolsey, current commander of the Atlantis expedition, gave Dr. McKay a look. "Now that the Atlantis Expedition is public, we need something akin to a press presence. I have discussed this with you at length."

I gave the two men a cheery smile. "Besides, it's not like we're real reporters. Think of us more like reality TV show hosts." I winked at Dr. McKay. "I promise I don't bite."

He seemed taken aback. "Ummm... Errrr..."

I traced my finger slowly around the lip of my soda bottle and smiled sexily, enjoying the man's discomfort. Then I licked the soda off the tip of my finger, my eyes never leaving his gaze. I loved it when a man was easily flustered. I knew I shouldn't be doing this. He had a girlfriend- Dr. Jennifer Keller, the chief medical officer. Unfortunately, I couldn't seem to stop myself when a man blushed as prettily as Dr. McKay.

The other members of the gate team weren't anywhere near as much fun. Neither Colonel John Sheppard or Ronon Dex were the blushing sort, and Teyla Emmagan was both not a blusher and not my type. Unlike Neal, I wasn't bisexual.

Colonel Sheppard was also the head of security of Atlantis, and it was in this capacity that he was here today. Ronon and Teyla, both Pegasus natives, were here as experts on the Wraith. With Dr. McKay and Mr. Woolsey also here, we were only missing one person: Dr. Keller.

And here she came. Neal went over to her and fitted her with a mic as the other participants in this meeting took their seats. As Neal ran a final check on the cameras, Dr. Keller and I sat down. Finally, Neal slid in behind his computer, from which he could control complex net of cameras and mics.

When he gave me the thumbs up, I smiled at the camera. "Welcome to Kat's Critters, coming at you from the Pegasus galaxy. We're here with several members of the Atlantis Expedition to give you an introductory look at the Wraith, the main enemy the they will be facing here. For those of you new to my show, I'm Kat, one of the show's two cohosts. Neal's behind the cameras today. Say hi, Neal."

Neal laughed. "Hi."

After that, I introduced the people we would be interviewing. Then came the first of our questions. "So, what would you say are the biggest differences between the Wraith and us humans?"

Dr Keller took that one. "The two biggest differences, in my mind, are their healing factor, and their, ummm, eating habits."

"Healing factor?" I asked. "Like Wolverine?"

"Pretty much," said Colonel Sheppard with a dry laugh. "You shoot the guys with twenty, thirty rounds, and they just keep coming. Eventually they reach a point where they can't heal anymore, though."

"How much damage does that take?" I asked.

He shrugged. "Depends."

"On what?" I asked.

"There are several factors at work," Dr. Keller said. "Genetics. Age. The strongest factor, though, seems to be how recently the Wraith has... fed."

"What do you mean by 'fed?'" I asked. I knew the answer, of course. I'd read a lot about the Wraith. "I'm assuming you're not talking about munching on a burger."

"The Wraith eat humans," Ronon growled. "They suck out our life force."

"Not exactly," Dr. Keller put in. "They feed on humans, yes, but it is through a complex process we barely understand. The appearance of aging is a side effect."

Ronon snorted. "If you say so."

"Can a human recover from being fed on?" I asked. "If they don't die?"

Dr. Keller shook her head. "From what we've seen, no. Some don't even survive a partial feeding. The shock on the system is too great."

"They've got this enzyme," Dr. McKay put in. "It keeps their, umm, prey from dying immediately. When it wears off, well, then you've got problems."

"Especially if they have received enough of the enzyme to become addicted," Teyla added. She looked serene. From what I'd seen, she always looked serene. "Then they suffer withdrawal effects. Usually this is a result of the Wraith feeding on a human and then returning their life over and over again. This process is used to produce Wraith worshippers."

I raised an eyebrow, not sure what to ask next. "Wraith can return life?"

Colonel Shepard nodded. "Yeah. It hurts, though." He laughed dryly. "Not something I would recommend doing, if you have a choice."

"You've experienced this process?" I asked. I knew he had. I'd read the mission reports. They had provided a lot of food for thought.

Colonel Shepard nodded. "Yeah. So has Ronon." He shrugged. "The circumstances were pretty different, though. I was actually briefly teamed up with the Wraith in question. Ronon was turned into a Wraith worshipper for a bit."

Ronon growled. "I'd rather not talk about that."

"Wraith worshippers are an important aspect of the Wraith," Mr. Woolsy put in. "Whether you like it or no, Ronon, your experiences are critical to the understanding of the Wraith." He turned to me. "If you would keep going, Ms. Aquine."

I grinned. "Just call me Kat. Everyone does." I turned to Ronon. Looking him in the eyes, I told him, "Mr. Woolsey is right. Your experiences are a valuable source of knowledge. I'd consider it a personal favor if you would tell me about them." I batted my eyelashes, serious expression vanishing. "Please?"

Ronon slowly nodded. "Alright. If you really want to know." He looked uncomfortable. "What should I talk about first?"

"How about how it felt when the Wraith fed on you over and over?" I asked.

"At first it was agony," Ronon said, expression distant. "When I was a child on Sateda, I got a pretty bad burn once. The skin was all black, and you could see muscle through the cracks. Being fed on, and having my life returned, it was like that pain, except it was all over, inside of me. Then..." He shifted uncomfortably. "Then it- it was ecstacy. Like nothing I'd ever felt before. I- I needed it. The Wraith who did this to me, he said that if I cooperated, I'd get that feeling every day. And if I didn't..." He trailed off. "He let me feel the pain of withdrawal. For a bit. I..." He shook his head. "It warped me. Warped how I saw the world. Everything depended on the next feeding, and if I didn't get that..." He shrugged. "I'm glad it's over."

I wet my lips, wondering how to phrase my next question. "I had a friend once who had a drinking problem. She said there were two reasons she had a hard time not drinking. First, there was the physical addiction, the withdrawal. But, even when she was clean, there was also..." I trailed off. "She wanted it. She wanted to feel good, to get away from reality, if only for a little bit." I met Ronon's gaze. "Do you ever feel like that?"

"Yes," Ronon said. Then he appeared shocked by what he had said. "I mean, no! I'd never want that again. I hurt people when I was a Wraith worshipper. I hurt friends, people I care about!" He shook his head. "How could I ever... How could I ever want that again?"

"Animal instinct," I said. "As I said in episode 124, everyone has a part of themselves that's still running on instinct. Fight or flight. Survival at all costs. Me me me. It doesn't care about other people, or about the future. It's all about self, and the now. The trick is to overrule that part, to remind yourself about what is really important to you." I smiled. "And you seem to be doing that quite well. Even if you do sometimes wish for your addiction, I wouldn't worry about it."

Ronon relaxed. "You're- you're right." He nodded, looking thoughtful. "Thank you."

I smiled. "You're very welcome, and thank you for your honesty." I looked around. "Is there anything else about the Wraith as a whole you think people ought to know?"

"Their technology is biologically based," offered Dr. Keller. She smiled. "But you knew that already. Didn't you do an episode about the potential for biological spaceships?"

I nodded. That had been one of the episodes that got us famous. "Yes. Episode 257."

"Well, you were very accurate, so all anyone needs to know about Wraith tech they can find on that episode." Dr. Keller looked suddenly uncomfortable. "Except for one thing. Wraith hive ships need a seed."

I nodded. "Go on."

"What Dr. Keller is saying," said Mr. Woolsey, "Is that she almost became a hiveship."

I raised my eyebrows. "Can you tell me more, Dr Keller?"

Dr. Keller seemed to have gathered her thoughts. "Yes. Well. I was infected by a virus that tried to transform me into a hiveship. It drew energy from the city itself, and mass from a storeroom of food." She launched into a technical description of the virus. I probably wouldn't put that bit in the main episode. The main episode was always basic enough that an amateur could understand. Links throughout the episode went into more depth for those with technical know how. I liked to call them minisodes.

When she had finished, I nodded. "Fascinating," I said, already planning the minisode that would explain the process of creating a hive ship. It would have diagrams, and-

"You should also know that they destroyed Sateda," Ronon growled.

I blinked, startled out of my thoughts. "What?"

"The Wraith destroy any society they deem to be a threat," Teyla told me. "This included Sateda, as well as old Athos, and many others. When we get too powerful, they destroy us."

"Yes. The ruins of the city on Athos," I said. "I'd like to see that."

"A tour can be arranged," Mr. Woolsey assured me. "You can also be taken to see the ruins of Sateda."

"Just don't stay too long," growled Ronon. "That attracts the Wraith."

I nodded. "Makes sense. I bet you could salvage a lot of useful technology from those ruins." I smiled brilliantly. "Now, I believe the Atlantis expedition currently has a captive Wraith. Tell me about him."

Everyone turned to Colonel Sheppard. He shrugged. "Well, we call him Todd. He won't give us his real name, if he even has one."

Teyla put in, "Wraith names are telepathic. It is... difficult to translate them into words. Difficult, and highly taboo."

I blinked. This had not been in any report. "How do you know this?"

Teyla seemed as serene as she always did, but I thought I detected a note of discomfort. "At Todd's request, I briefly impersonated a Wraith queen. I learned a great deal about the Wraith then, most if it rather difficult to put into words, and none of it of any strategic value."

I smiled. "I bet our viewers would find it fascinating, though. Would you agree to a personal interview later about your experiences as a Wraith queen?"

Teyla nodded gracefully. "If you think it would help."

I turned back to Colonel Sheppard. "Now, tell me more about Todd."

As Colonel Sheppard recounted his first meeting with the Wraith in question, during which they'd teamed up to escape a common enemy, I zoned out a bit, wondering what to ask next.

The loudspeaker in the room blared. "We have an incoming space vessel. I repeat, we have an incoming space vessel. Mr. Woolsey, Colonel Sheppard, Dr. McKay, you are all needed in the gateroom."

Colonel Sheppard and Dr. McKay immediately rushed from the room, along with Ronon and Teyla. Mr. Woolsey stood, and hesitated. "I'm afraid we need to cut this interview short. We'll reschedule for more at a later time. Now, if you will excuse me-" He hurried from the room.

Dr. Keller stood. "I should get back to the infirmary." She rushed from the room.