Vine

'South,' Captain Darling said as he strode out from the trees, munching on something that looked like a slightly elongated red apple with soft watermelon flesh. Basara was relieved to see him, alarmed at his lack of caution in eating an untested alien fruit, and disturbed by the sense of otherness she had about him. Where the rest of the crew, including herself, acted like chicks afraid to leave the nest of the ship, the captain exuded a confidence and energy she had rarely seen in him before, and found powerfully seductive now.

And he had done things to her that she couldn't adequately explain.

Carter had changed overnight, that was unmistakable, but the captain had changed too. 'A day's march to the south of here we'll come to a river,' he said. 'We have an inflatable dinghy, which survived the crash, fortunately. We'll travel down the river west and then south for four-maybe-five days, all the way to the estuary and out of the jungle.'

Basara frowned but said nothing. What little local cartography the ship's computer had managed during the landing showed the mountains to the north and east. Travelling south and west made a certain sense, but was Darling just guessing about the river and the sea? Seeing her frown, he winked at her and grinned cheekily. The same cheeky grin that he had worn while escorting her back to her cabin between fucking her from behind on the Bridge and fucking her face-to-face in her bed. She felt the heat in her cheeks as she blushed, and she scowled at him to cover her embarrassment.

Ensign David Jones, a young man barely out of his teens, was (as far as Basara could tell) only a starship officer because his father was an admiral. His piloting skills were abysmal but he was proving to be a talented engineer. 'Shouldn't we stay close to the ship, sir?' he said. 'How will the rescue party find us?'

'Don't worry, Davy,' the captain replied. 'I'll leave a map showing our intended route. My reasons may be different, but I agree with Basara. We can't stay here.'

Jones wasn't convinced. 'But there's water and food here, sir. We can get the welding torches out and make the ship secure.'

Darling winced. 'Please don't start any fires. And don't go chopping trees down either.' He sighed. 'I can't explain. You have to trust me.'

And with that, Basara finally understood what was so strange about him. Carter too. They seemed to belong here. This alien planet was their home.

Her new lover was an alien. She couldn't breathe.

Somewhere in the distance a woman screamed.

*

Carter drifted lazily through the forest, pausing to sniff a flower here, taste a fruit there. The Vine was present everywhere, often as the merest tendrils, invisible unless you knew what to look for, but thicker vines coiled between and draped the ancient trees, and from time to time her wanderings brought her to monstrously thick vines like serpents from horror stories.

She wasn't frightened. The Vine was her lover and she sensed its awareness of her. When she touched it, she was reminded of a cat purring, the thicker the vine the deeper the purr. It was awake and yet not awake, poised but resting. When she looked up at the high canopy and wished to be up amongst the branches and leaves, a dangling vine wrapped itself around her waist and lifted her, laughing, into the tops of the trees. She sat there enjoying the sunlight, watching the birds flitting around her, and when at last she wished to return to the ground the vine was there to help.

Her past existence was not forgotten, but it seemed unreal, undemanding. Except for her mother. Carter wished she could share her new existence with her, although she suspected her mother would not approve of her new boyfriend, no matter that he was Lord of the Jungle.

She smiled at the thought of introducing the Vine to her mother, but her playful imaginings were fueling her desire for him. Letting her dress fall to the ground, she lay on the earth and spread her legs. The earlier soreness was gone and as her fingertips eased apart her labia she discovered she was already wet. 'I'm ready for you,' she whispered, and sighed with pleasure as a vine slithered across the ground and dived between her fingers.

Just the one vine this time, but it was enough. It pounded her vigorously, stretching her deliciously wide all the way to her cervix, hard yet smooth. Carter thrust her hips in time, fingers of one hand on her clit, stroking gently, fingers of the other squeezing her nipples.

She liked it this way, able to concentrate on the pleasure of a single vine. It was like making love. Being ravished by many at once had been intense, and thrilling, but it had exhausted her completely.

She didn't think about the crew of the Archimedes at all. With her thrusts and her cries of pleasure she spoke to her lover, encouraging him to move faster as she climbed to the crest of her first orgasm and then convulsed blissfully about the wonderfully hard vine that was suddenly pulsing inside her, filling her with its cum that exploded out of her around the vine that continued its relentless assault.

'Enough!' she cried, panting in the lingering aftermath of her climax, and she tried to pull the vine from her.

The Vine, having been awoken, was not so easily denied. Carter whimpered as her wrists and ankles were snared and a vine wound around her waist. She screamed as they lifted her up into the air and held her there, facing the ground from a terrifying height.

She screamed again as a thin vine cracked across the bare cheeks of her bum. It whipped her again and again until her cheeks and thighs seemed to burn with stinging flames, and tears fell from her eyes onto the forest floor far below.

And all the while the thick vine in her vagina continued its attack, and despite her terror and the lashing of her bum her second orgasm was swift and mind-blowing.

Barely had she recovered when a vine pushed into her ass. 'No more!' she pleaded, but that was the last thing she was able to say for a long time, as a vine thrust between her lips and down her throat, and she yielded to the inevitable.

*

It was a small ship, what was left of it, and Basara was terrified of the jungle. Darling found her curled up shivering in an empty container in the storeroom. From the terror in her eyes, he knew she suspected something of the truth.

He sat beside her. 'You're right,' he said, 'but you're also wrong. I am who I have always been. My loyalty to Earth and to my crew is unchanged. But I am also the last of the Erdri, a once proud people who ruled the skies of Adina.'

'So you're what? A ghost?'

At least she was talking to him. 'No. I was alive when I chose to join with your captain. And it is a true joining. I am not just using his body as cover.'

'Why should I believe you?'

'Well, if you don't, you'll be the one staying home with the kids.'

She snorted quietly, and he sensed the tension ease from her. 'I'm not letting you off that easily.'

Darling leaned across and kissed her. She resisted at first, but then yielded and returned the kiss with some of the same passion she had given the night before. 'I promise I'll keep you safe, Jasmina. The only thing ravishing you will be me.'

*

Grigory Dmitriev waited ten minutes, then, checking to see no one was watching, knocked at Ensign Jones' door. Three quiet, evenly spaced knocks. The door opened a few seconds later and Dmitriev slipped inside, into the dimly lit cabin.

'Missy' Jones was waiting, on 'her' knees, just as he had taught 'her'. Carefully made-up with mascara and bright red lipstick, a long, platinum wig and a scarlet, knee-length dress, padded to give a suggestion of breasts. Fishnet stockings and red stiletto heels finished the slutty look. Not for the first time, Dmitriev congratulated himself on his purchases. Missy might not be female in the traditional sense of the word, but she played the part well enough for Dmitriev.

He dropped his trousers and presented his already erect cock to Missy. She looked up into his eyes and took the head between her glossy lips, sucking gently. Her enjoyment of his cock was plain. She moaned quietly as she took more and more of his shaft into her mouth, licking the underside and tasting his length. Such a perfect little slut.

He held her head and thrust into her throat, held her tight against him, pressed to his belly. She was used to this, accepted him eagerly, and waited patiently for him to withdraw, gasping for breath when he did. This was his favourite thing with Missy. He had never found a real girl that gave head this well.

Still holding her head, he fucked her mouth with long, gentle thrusts, loving the tightness of her throat. He wondered if the captain did this with Basara. He had thought her an ice maiden, too stuck up with her religious principles to even think about sex. It had been a very pleasant surprise to see her getting shafted on the Bridge. He had watched as long as he dared, long enough certainly to see her face reflected in the console displays as she whimpered through her orgasm.

He tried to imagine Basara on her knees in front of him. Tried to imagine covering her perfect face and perfect tits with his cum. And then he remembered Carter, covered in cum, cum leaking from all her holes, tried to imagine being three men all fucking her at the same time.

It was too much. He pushed as deep as possible into Missy's mouth and unleashed, sending his cum straight into the little whore's eager belly.

With the captain determined to leave the ship the next morning, this was his last chance to use Missy. And he was still hard. 'Over there, slut,' he instructed. 'Hands on the bed.'

She was ready for him, of course. Dmitriev flipped up Missy's dress to reveal tight black panties with a hole cut to reveal her tight, lubricated ass. He pushed his cock, which had wilted slightly in the wake of his orgasm, through the tight ring of muscle, enjoying its familiar squeeze, and was glad to feel his cock harden fully again.

He pushed slowly until he was fully inside her, then withdrew. Having already come once, he was able to take this slowly, to really enjoy the submissive ass of his pretty whore, while his mind drifted to thoughts of Carter's gaping cum-filled ass and the memory of Captain Darling pounding that startlingly big cock of his into Basara's wet pussy from behind.

He was deep in a fantasy of Basara being raped by multiple tentacles when he allowed himself to come again, and took great pleasure in filling Missy's ass with his cum.

Dmitriev pulled out after he was done and spanked her. 'You've been a good little whore. I'm going to miss you.'

He dressed quickly, although his injured arm in its sling made things a little awkward, and eased cautiously out of the cabin, very satisfied.

*

Ensign David Jones, son of the famous Admiral Gareth Jones, had the misfortune of being sent to a special academy for the sons of naval officers. The object, of course, had been to make him into a first class navy pilot, a warrior and a skilled tactician. He had never succeeded in being any of these things, however. The physics of FTL drives and plasma weaponry held far more interest for him.

Jones had been mocked for his weakness. His classmates had called him a girl and made him wear a dress as punishment, and in later years they had done more than make him wear a dress.

To his deep and abiding shame, he had learned to love the humiliation of it. He wasn't gay. He wasn't attracted to men. But as soon as he put a dress on and became Missy, he couldn't get enough cock.

His attempts at relationships with girls always failed. He was never able to explain his needs.

Which was why Jones welcomed these dangerous and illicit moments with Grigory. There was no romance - no kissing or cuddling or anything. Just a long cock to suck and a good, hard ass-fucking.

Today's had been very good. He had come in his panties while Grigory fucked his ass, and after cleaning himself up he closed his eyes, wrapped his hand around his hard length, and imagined being in Carter's place, with an endless supply of tentacles and cum to satisfy even his need for cock.

*

The rest of the day was quiet, both in the jungle and in the ship. The crew prepared for their journey, then retired to their cabins. After a brief hesitation, Basara invited Darling to come with her. 'Just to hold me and keep me safe,' she whispered, and he nodded. While this arrangement was unobserved by the rest of the crew, the sounds of lovemaking later that night did not escape their attention. Carter, however, slept like the dead, kept warm, safe and comfortable by a blanket of soft vines.

*

The crew set off at dawn, each with a heavy backpack, Dmitriev and Ericsson carrying the dinghy in addition. Of Carter there was no sign. 'Shouldn't we wait for her?' Basara asked.

Darling shook his head. 'I told her where we're going. She'll find us easily if she wishes to.'

It made no sense to Basara, but she had made her decision to trust her captain. Even if he was an alien. She kept quiet about that. It wouldn't be good to have 'Alien Lover' written in her file. It was bad enough that she was sleeping with her captain. Not that she had to worry about Dmitriev or Jones talking. Everyone knew they had something kinky going on. More than once she had seen the remains of mascara in Jones's eyelashes after one of their secret assignations.

Ericsson, however, wouldn't hesitate to expose her. The malice in his eyes made her blood run cold.

After an hour of trudging through thick bushes and ferns, following a non-existent path south without a reliable compass, Darling and Jones took a turn carrying the dinghy, and then another hour later it was back to Dmitriev and Ericsson. 'I can take a turn,' she said, grateful not to have to but irritated at the special treatment. Especially since Dmitriev still had one arm in a sling. 'Don't go easy on me just because I'm a woman.'

But the captain shook his head. 'No. Save your strength.'

Basara started to argue, but he flashed her that cheeky grin of his and turned his back, leaving her to glower uselessly at him.

At noon, the shafts of sunlight almost vertical and the heat building to an almost intolerable level, they stopped for lunch. They drank water from a nearby stream, and the captain plucked more of the strange apple-like fruit, passing it around. Since he had survived it the previous day, no one complained. It tasted odd, but not unpleasant, and was certainly refreshing.

By mid-afternoon the heat forced them to stop. None of them was used to this kind of terrain. They were starship officers, not ground troops. They were used to flying at speeds of hundreds of kilometers per second, and here they were managing maybe one kilometer per hour.

Only Darling seemed unaffected. He stripped off his tunic, exposing his bare, muscular chest for all to see, and sat beside her. It was distracting. It was also a very public admission of their relationship, although it was clear that no one was surprised.

Carter was there suddenly, entirely naked and oblivious to them all except Darling. Her emerald eyes gave her an otherworldly appearance, and hair was wild, as if it had never been combed, and even had a twig caught in it. 'If you want to hit the river downstream of the cataract, you'd best turn west,' she said, and pointed off at an angle.

'Thank you, Goddess,' Darling said.

Carter smiled delightedly for a moment, then frowned as she added, 'Stay away from the river when the sun's down.' She looked around at the others briefly, then walked off in the direction she had pointed, and was soon lost from view.

'Why did you call her that?' Basara asked.

He smiled. 'Carter is married to the Vine. She both commands it, and is commanded by it. Can you think of a better name for her?'

They rested for an hour, then Darling insisted they continue. 'I want to reach the river before dark.' He wouldn't explain why, but soon they heard the distant roar of a great waterfall, that grew louder as the afternoon progressed, and came to the bank of a great river even as the sun burned the horizon with its fire. The river running west was like a river of fire, a sight of natural beauty that struck them all silent with awe. Behind them, a huge curtain of water fell from a great height, lit by the setting sun.

*

Lieutenant Ericsson couldn't sleep. He was thinking of the captain and Basara, no doubt rutting in the little nest they had built away from the main camp. It was bad enough putting up with the weird game Dmitriev and Jones played, now he had to deal with his two commanding officers playing mummy and daddy. When they all got back to civilisation, he'd make sure they all paid for subjecting him to this indignity.

He gave up on sleep and walked down to the river. 'Stay away,' the captain had said, no doubt thinking of Carter's absurd warning. 'No matter what you see, or hear, don't go near the river. Trust me on this!'

Trust? Hah! What did he know. So far the only dangerous thing on the planet was the vines that had raped Carter - if you could call it rape. She hadn't complained about it. They had all heard her cries of pleasure, and now she was wandering naked in the forest as if inviting it to happen again. But the vines hadn't attacked anyone else. Except Grant, maybe, and who knew what had really happened there.

A movement caught his eye. The night was dark, lit only by the stars, the bright binary still low in the sky, but it was enough to see a shadow on the water, moving slowly towards him. For a moment he feared that the captain was right, that maybe there was a danger in the water, but then it all became clear.

The shadow was in the shape of a woman. There was just enough light to make out the shape of her legs as they waded through the water, and the roundness of her breasts, the hair long and straight. It had to be Basara, not Carter.

Closer she came, until he could almost see her face, close enough for him to admire her naked beauty.

There was movement beside him and he turned to see Dmitriev and Jones. 'Basara,' they whispered in unison.

Ericsson was annoyed. He had wanted her to himself. But he supposed he didn't mind if they watched. Fortunately there was no sign of Darling.

His cock was straining against his trousers. Basara was close now, almost close enough to touch. She reached out to him, beckoning him to come to her. How could he resist such an invitation! He stripped quickly, and waded the short distance to her, thinking he would grab her and kiss her before bending her over to take her from behind, like he had wanted to do for so long now.

But she bent down even before he reached her, and she grabbed him by the hips, pulling him close, and her beautiful mouth closed around his erect cock.

He didn't mind that at all.

*

As Basara bent over to suck on Ericsson's cock, Jones was startled to see an enormous, erect cock silhouetted against the river. There was no denying the feminine perfection of Basara's body, the lovely way her breasts hung below her and bounced as she worked Ericsson's lusty length, but there was also no denying the cock that jutted out from between her legs.

It was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen.

'I need a piece of that ass,' Dmitriev said, pulling his trousers down over the hard cock that Jones was so familiar with.

'You can have her ass,' Jones said, 'but that cock is all mine.' He raced to get his clothes off.

Dmitriev paused, one foot in the water. He looked back at Jones. 'What?'

Jones laughed. 'A girl with a cock. It's a dream come true.' He strode confidently into the water, his eyes fixed on Basara's stallion-sized appendage as it bounced along with her breasts, Ericsson fucking her mouth now with wild abandon.