The Preacher's Daughter

"Just checking the sensors, everything's fine."

"No sign of our elusive visitor?"

Eliana sighed. "No. I hope it hasn't left the area. It has the whole world to hide in if it wants to." She paused for a moment and then smiled at her boyfriend. "We haven't talked about this for two days. What's your opinion of my monster now?"

"I guess I'm still sitting on the fence, and given the risks, I've decided to act as if the monster were real. The one hard piece of evidence we have is the UV flash. You were right, without the monster, there's no explanation for what caused it."

They had been slowly walking to his bedroom as they talked. "So," said Basel, giving Eliana a grateful smile, "want to give me a minute to change?"

She batted her eyes playfully. "Well, you'll like this better without the pajama tops. Why not just take off the top half of your robe?"

He raised his eyebrows playfully in return. "Okay!" A moment later he was lying down prone on his bed, arms by his side, the sheets pulled back, the top half of his robe forming a loose ruffle on his butt. He had his head turned in Eliana's direction, but his eyes were closed. Eliana stood and admired him for a moment. Basel heard her give a small cry before she climbed into bed to kneel on top of him, and it touched his heart to realize it was a cry of joy. Kneeling with her legs straddling him and her knees just touching his hips, her hands began to massage the upper muscles in his shoulders.

The sensations were exquisite, and Basel sighed in his pleasure. "My love..." he whispered.

"My love," replied Eliana. The massage continued for many minutes. Eliana could tell that her lover was deeply relaxed but still very awake. She decided to pop a question. "Basel?"

"Hmmm?"

"How is it that you're still not married? Don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining! But you're such a wonderful catch, kind, handsome, smart, everything women look for when they're looking for a husband. I can't believe my fortune in finding you."

"Ah, well... I am a little shy... Hmmm, that feels divine..."

"No, that's not it. I'm the one who's shy in dating. You're very well adjusted. Trust me, this is a trained Priestess talking."

"Oh, I don't know. I shudder to think how I acted with you, the first time we met."

"You had a perfectly valid reason for being nervous. I could well have been a dominating Commander who had just bagged you as my sex toy."

Basel gave a deep sigh. "Yeah, I do remember thinking that. Beautiful Eliana, the thought seems so impossible now..." He let out another deep sigh as she started working his lower back muscles.

"So how is it possible I still have my chance for you? Why don't you have a crowd of females pursuing you?"

"You really want to know?"

She laughed and gave him a playful swat on his rump. "Basel, don't tease me!"

"Okay..." There was a long pause as Eliana returned to giving her massage. Basel finally sighed. "You know the culture Eli..."

"Hmmm?"

"About one in four adults is a guy, but what percentage of the vote do we hold?"

It was Eliana's turn to sigh. "I know... about 21%."

"It was below 20.7% the last time I looked. My age group is very typical. There are ninety CL6 and six CL7 right now. Only six of the CL6 are men, and none of the CL7."

Eliana squirmed. "It's not as if the guys are slaves..."

"Oh, I know. The advancement tests are blind to gender. It's just that the guys have it so easy, there's so little reason to compete. It's so easy for most guys to find two to four women who are very happy to have him as the male anchor for their marriage. And they will love him and take care of him and give him a wonderful life. But when it comes to deciding when a wife gets pregnant, or what's the next city to move to, or whether to add a new sister-wife to the marriage..."

"Oh," Eliana said defensively, "I know lots of marriages where the wives take the input from their husband very seriously, especially before they propose to a new sister wife. Nobody can force you to marry anybody."

"Uh huh. Eli!"

A long pause. "Okay. I know what you're saying. The pressure on the man is enormous, to accept the choice of his wives for a new marriage partner. The common attitude is, it's a woman's world."

"Did you know as little as six hundred years ago, men still had 25% of the vote?"

"Of course..." Eliana continued her massage and sighed. "Basel, I can't be responsible for everything in the culture. I try to support full gender equality, I really do."

Basel nodded. "I know. You treat me as a true equal. That's part of what I love about you..."

Eliana caressed his lower back down to his tailbone, acknowledging the compliment and expressing her love in return. She pulled the bathrobe down to expose his coccyx, and seeing that Basel didn't mind, Eliana bent down and kissed and then licked his tailbone. She then pulled down his covering a bit more and gripped his hips and gave a nip with her teeth on his exposed butt cheek.

Basel accepted the nip and dominating grip as simple playfulness and wiggled his butt in response. "Sweet Eli, feeling frisky?"

"Yes! I don't feel nervous at all. In fact, I feel like dominating you!"

Basel laughed and teased Eliana with another wiggle of his butt. He continued with his story. "I've gotten a few invitations from women for sex, once even from a guy, but it always just seemed... wrong."

"They were bad people?"

"No, they weren't. That's what made it so difficult to say no. I wasn't interested in the guy, but the women were quite beautiful, and they took the time to get to know me..."

After a while Eliana whispered, "I know what you're trying to say. They wanted to try having sex with you, perhaps propose marriage if you performed well..."

"Exactly. And I don't want sex or marriage to be a reward for performance, I just don't. After a while at Aleppo, I got a reputation for being both shy and stuck-up, and things weren't much different at Cairo. A woman hasn't asked me out in years... except Varda."

"Ah..." said Eliana knowingly. She shifted her knees to be on the insides of his legs, pressing against his upper inner thighs and forcing him to spread his legs to accommodate her. Eliana was delighted to find the motion pulled the bathrobe down even further. It was now barely covering his anus and genitals. Feeling very sexy and possessive and wanting to know how far Basel would let her take this, she began to caress his butt with her fingertips. Her fingers did lifting strokes, starting just above and to the sides of the anus, and then pushing up and outward.

The massage opened the outer anal area on each push, and what Eliana was doing was a common and well understood first step for a woman with a strap-on dildo to request permission to anal mount her male. Eliana was not wearing such a device, but Basel was accepting her request by lying submissively. She suddenly began to pant and feel flush.

Her mind tried to catch the thread of their suspended conversation. "Varda asked you for a date?"

"Well, sort of... I..."

Eliana caressed his buttocks in apology. "Basel, forgive me. I didn't mean to pry into something so personal..."

"Oh no, it's not that. I want to tell you. Varda and I... We might have implied some things to each other, but we were never explicit. Looking back, I wonder now if some things were just my hopeful imagination."

"Oh, I don't think it was just your imagination."

"Really? Why do you say that?"

Eliana grinned. "In the storage space under my bed, I found a female strap-on kit."

Basel's muscles tensed under Eliana's fingers. "What? Really?"

"Yes. I think Varda had designs on you."

"Wow... She never let on. Oh, maybe a few comments that I had a cute butt, but I thought she was just fooling around."

"Hardly! You should see this kit! Two dozen different ways for a woman to mount her male, from something sexy and wiggly that looks like it could give a male a great deal of pleasure, to something so cruel looking that I can't imagine any woman ever using it in love."

Eliana let a finger slip beneath the fold of the bathrobe and she started lightly stroking the fur around Basel's anus. "Varda was right about one thing. You do have a very sexy butt."

"Cute," mumbled Basel. "She used the word cute, not sexy... Ah..."

"I think Varda was all set to ask you to be her boyfriend, maybe even propose to you, but then the other women asked her to join their marriage and she changed her mind at the last moment. You had such bad luck Basel."

He let out a slow, deep breath. "Oh, I can't complain. If it wasn't for bad luck, I'd have no luck at all."

Eliana blinked and then giggled. "I'll have to remember that one..." Her hands went back to massaging his back, starting at his shoulders and slowly working their way down. She felt her companion shudder in his pleasure as the massage dropped below his waist, and she allowed her fingers to descend again below the towel, lightly exploring his anal and genital areas.

"Basel, I'm not moving too fast for you, am I?" Her fingertips on one hand had nestled into his soft fur between his butt cheeks and found his anus. Eliana made slow up and down strokes very lightly across the sensitive skin, caressing the closed orifice. Her other hand had come up under the towel from between his legs, and she was cradling his testes on four fingers and gently tracing the outline of the back of his scrotum with her thumb.

Basel was in heaven. He sighed deeply and shook his head no to Eliana's question and whispered, "This feels so loving. All I want to do is accept you Eli. I've never trusted anyone like this..."

"My love," whispered Eliana. She pulled the towel down, completely exposing his rear. She watched in fascination and growing desire as her fingers caressed and opened Basel. "So beautiful," she whispered. "This is the first time I've ever done this, ever gotten this sexy with a man. You are so beautiful Basel, such beautiful, silky fur. Your bottom is a lot more interesting than a woman's... My love... My love..."

Basel whimpered in appreciation of the love and pleasure that Eliana was offering him. Overcome with her own emotion, Eliana bent her head down while separating Basel's ass cheeks with her hands. Basel felt a hot breathe of air at his butt, and then a playful tongue began to lap and moisten him.

Basel was breathing is short gasps. The act that Eliana was about to do was more than just anal sex. The announcements and celebrations and legal contracts would all come later, but this was the moment where the decision was made. Basel cried, his mind overwhelmed with the emotions of his love for Eliana and what she was proposing. He expressed his acceptance with his body, his legs flaired out to the sides and his rump lifted up for penetration.

Eliana cried in return as she realized that Basel had accepted her. She wasn't wearing a dildo, and most women in her position would have taken the time to get one or just have used a finger, but for Eliana the actual penetration was irrelevant. She stood up and quickly shed her pajamas. She then spread her legs wide and squatted back down, pressing her vulva against the soft skin between Basel's upturned scrotum and anus. She curled her body and lay on top of him, symbolically mounting him without penetration. She called out in crying gasps, "Mine! You are mine! I own you!"

Basel wept his acceptance, arching back with his rump to encourage Eliana to anal copulate. She made a few shaky thrusts with her hips and pubis against his offered anus, symbolically sealing her promise and commitment, and then she broke down in tears. She was being cradled in Basel's arms a moment later.

There seemed to be so much to talk about, yet neither wanted to start a conversation. The period of rest of quiet affection soon drifted into a state of great drowsiness. Basel was dimly aware that Eliana had fallen asleep in his arms. He had never seen her naked before, but the thought of exploring her while she slept never occurred to him. He covered both their naked bodies with a blanket and joined Eliana in her dreams.

Chapter 12. Test Flight

Four hours later...

Basel drifted up slowly from a deep and restful sleep. He shuddered briefly when he was almost awake, sensing a human presence next to him. Then his eyes blinked open and he turned his head.

Eliana was lying silently on her side, her head propped in her hand, her elbow on the mattress. She had bare shoulders, and the blanket over them fell across her breasts, covering her breasts from just above her nipples. She seemed totally at ease with her nakedness beneath the blanket, and as Basel looked at her she gave him a shy smile.

"Hi!" she squeaked.

Basel nodded and smiled back. "Well, now that you've just committed to me, have you discovered to your horror that I snore?"

Eliana laughed. "You don't snore! And I do enjoy watching you sleep. You looked so peaceful and contented. Did you have a nice dream?"

"I had a most wonderful dream." His hand came and touched her cheek. "And now I realize it wasn't a dream at all. Eli, we have so much to discuss."

She nodded and quickly scooted her body to press against his. Basel was delighted to feel the long length of her silky nakedness. His hand came across to caress her, starting low on the side of her hip and then petting across her pelvis, pressing down briefly on her womb and feeling the coarse stiff hairs of her pubis. Then the hand slid up, across the trim waist, lingering for a moment at her ribcage, and then completing the arc by cupping the underside of her breast. His forefinger formed a circle with his thumb around her areole, and he gently squeezed her breast, forcing it out from the blanket. He blinked at the fat nipple, erect and dark pink. Eliana gasped and then arched her back, offering her breast for suckling.

Her lips quivered as he leaned over and kissed her sweet nipple and caressed it with his lips. Her hand came up to hold his head to her breast. "I want you Basel, so fiercely my desire overwhelms me."

He nodded. His tongue found the nipple between his lips. He started to trace it lightly with the tip of his tongue until he felt Eliana shiver, then gave one quick parting kiss before he pulled back to smile at her. "Eli, we have so much to discuss."

She suddenly looked a little worried. "I know. Basel, I want you, but I know I moved in awfully fast on you. If you're having second thoughts, I'll understand."

Basel shook his head. "No, it's not that. Eli, if we're going to commit to each other, I want us to be equal partners."

"Oh of course. I agree. I will never treat you otherwise."

"Eli, do you understand what I'm talking about? I want to own you, fully and completely, as fully as you own me." His hand left her breast and dropped to press against her womb. "Your body will belong to me, one-hundred percent."

Eliana stared at him and considered. She finally said with a bit of hesitancy. "I want to give you what you're asking for. You deserve it. Okay, my body will belong to you, just as your body will belong to me."

Basel kissed her cheek. "You sound a tiny bit uncertain."

"Well... I'm just trying to think how this will work if someday we accept another woman into our union."

"Exactly Eli! That's just it. It would be impossible for us to fully own each other if there was another person involved. As soon as there's a third, everything becomes group negotiation. One-on-one ownership is completely different."

Eliana was still for a moment and then nodded. "Yes, I know. Three or more people together are a group, and they interact as a group. Being with a single other person is something else entirely. The intimacy is profoundly different. I've seen this as a Priestess, again and again." She returned his kiss. "Basel, you're asking me to commit to being monogamous, aren't you?"

He nodded and gave her a hopeful smile.

"Are you sure you want this Basel? What are the chances sometime in the next three hundred years that we'll find another woman we'll want to marry? I've done marriage counseling. Most men enjoy having two to four wives, especially for the sexuality. They find the diversity pleasing."

Basel shook his head. "No, I'm sure. One wife is what I want."

Eliana lay flat on her back and stared at the ceiling. "I think it'll be okay with me. I've never desired a sister-wife for sex. But if we make our desire public, we may become social outcasts. Committed monogamists are almost unheard of."

"Well, would we have to tell anybody? Isn't this our private business?"

"I guess so. But if we don't announce, sooner or later unattached women are going to be asking me and especially you for dates. What should we tell them?"

"Oh..." Basel sighed. "I haven't thought of that. I'm certain I want monogamy though."

Eliana gazed at him. "I understand." They spent a few minutes kissing each other, expressing their new affection with their bodies. "Basel, may I have a few days to think about this?"

"Sure. Take more time if you need it." Eliana nodded and a moment later left his bed and headed to her own bedroom to start the day. Basel soon heard her preparing breakfast.

One day later...

Time: January 24, 9570 4:40 AM UCT

It was three minutes before sunrise, and Basel and Eliana were waiting until the break of dawn to begin their first test flight. Daylight would last three hours and ten minutes today, with the sun making a forty-four degree arc along the horizon. Maximum light would occur at 6:07 AM, with the sun's azimuth at due south and its altitude at 1.4 degrees.

Eliana revved the core engine one last time while closely monitoring the performance displays. Basel thought she looked totally relaxed, a sizable contrast to his own feelings.

"What's the air temperature?" she asked.

"Right now, -41C, a typical dawn temperature for this time of year."

Eliana gave a small laugh as she continued her engine test. "Sure is different than living in Cuba! And I thought Bandar Arenas was cold..."

"Well, the gulf stream is expected to start up again within the next decade. Once that happens, the climate here should warm considerably. And the summers here are quite nice, you'll see."

"Uh huh," she muttered, concentrating on her tests and not paying much attention to what he was saying.

After she finished, he asked, "Are you sure we have enough power?"

Eliana gave a small laugh. "Two megawatts! Are you joking?! It's too much power Basel. This boat would start to tumble if I ever tried to drive the turbines with full throttle. We can hover with either wing engine alone. They're 850 kW each."

Basel nodded and looked out over the short wings of their crab-shaped CAT. The compact auxiliary wing engines that Eliana had installed were barely visible under the turbines. "Hard to believe something so small can generate so much punch."

Eliana nodded. "Yeah. But the high performance comes at a price. Unlike the CAT's core engine, the wing engines need to be turned off completely when they're not under load, and they're also not as reliable."

"What? What would happen if they both fail?"

"We'd still be okay. With just the 300 kW from the core engine, we would be able to glide for a very long time." She paused for a moment and then added, "But we would have to pick one of the frozen lakes to land on."

At 4:44 AM, the CAT exited the station, the airlock doors closing immediately behind them and the station performing a plasma sterilization cycle on the empty chamber.

Their exit ramp faced due southeast, in the general directions of their tracks from their previous outing. As soon as they cleared the shallow ramp, Eliana turned and headed west southwest, parking at the center of a large pond about 600 meters from the station.