Vine

Hands grabbed hold of his arms and pulled him backwards out of the river. 'Hey!' he shouted.

Basara screamed and tried to catch him, and something sharp stung his leg, and just for a moment he saw that it wasn't Basara at all but something hideously misshapen. It sank into the river with a cry of fury, leaving nothing but ripples.

'Are you okay?' Basara asked. She was kneeling beside him.

He screamed and struggled to escape her, but Darling was behind him. Holding him. 'You're safe, Jones!' he shouted. 'You're safe!'

Dmitriev was holding him too, trying to calm him. 'It's true. This is the real Basara.'

'What do you mean?' she asked.

'The thing in the river... It looked like you.'

'Oh,' she said. She sighed and stood, and as she walked away she shouted, 'Why is everybody trying to fuck me?'

Jones looked at the river, wondering if the monster was still there. It seemed so peaceful. 'Where is Ericsson?'

'Gone,' Darling said. 'We can at least hope that he died happy.'

'Hah! I knew it!' They all turned to see Basara standing by Jones' backpack. With fresh horror, Jones watched her pull out his scarlet dress. It had been a mistake to bring it, but he hadn't been able to bear leaving it. Basara marched over and thrust it in his face. 'Wear it!' she growled. 'I'm tired of being the only woman here.'

'You'd better do as she says,' Darling warned.

'Be a good girl, Missy,' Dmitriev said quietly.

Jones wanted to object, but it was becoming very obvious to everyone just how turned on he was.

*

The dinghy was better suited for four people, although it was still a tight fit. Had Ericsson been there it would have been a far more uncomfortable journey down the river. Without Ericsson around, Darling and Basara played openly with each other, and Dmitriev and Missy soon fell into their own rhythm.

They travelled by day along the swift but smooth-flowing river and camped away from the river at night. With little to do except eat, drink and make sure the dinghy stayed afloat, they took turns keeping watch while the others slept shaded from the hot sun. At the end of the fourth day they made their camp in the eaves of the jungle.

*

Her existence had become timeless, even as her awareness expanded. She could see across vast distances, but only in terms of shape and warmth and smell and taste. As such she was intimately aware of Darling and Basara's lovemaking, and simultaneously confused and excited when Dmitriev and Jones had sex - she sensed desire between them but not passion.

But she could not hear what they said, and had no idea what the colour of Jones' dress was.

And the river blinded her. It was a little like looking through frosted glass. She could see shadows moving and sense violent intent, a malevolence as old as the Vine. It had killed Ericsson. She could still taste his blood in the water.

They were all leaving her. True they were but an echo of who she had been, but she liked to watch them. She liked them. Especially Darling, because his taste was familiar. And because he had licked her clean of the Vine's cum. She remembered that. Maybe she would let him do it again.

She had followed them all the way, reluctant to let them go, but now they were passing out of the jungle, leaving behind the realm of the Vine. She could not follow.

She joined them in their camp and brought them a gift of fruit. 'You are safe from the old one now,' she told them. 'The river here is too salty for her.'

The dress was a bright, scarlet red. 'I like your dress, Davy,' she said.

The boy blushed. 'My name's Missy, now.'

She smiled, not really understanding. A vine curled about her ankle and teased its way higher. Sensing Basara's fear, she said, 'My lover is never far from me. He will leave you alone unless you anger him or invite his touch - and it would not be wise to do either.

The vine was around her thigh now, the tip tickling her labia. She opened her legs wide to give it easier access. Basara seemed hypnotised by the view. 'Are you happy, Goddess?' she whispered.

She laughed. 'Blissfully.' Two more vines joined in, one coiling about each breast and spiralling in about the nipple. She moaned as her nipples were squeezed and a tendril whipped across her clit.

Still more vines were coming as her lover's hunger for her grew. Soon she would be lost in their pleasuring. 'I will miss you,' she said to her human friends, and shivered with fearful anticipation as a thick vine slithered towards her.

'I will be staying, Goddess,' Darling said. 'Someone has to look after the kids.' He laughed as Basara kicked him.

Vines coiled about her wrists and pulled her up by them so that she dangled, and she cried out as the thick vine speared her from below, thrusting quick and deep into her vagina. Forcing aside the fog of lust and pain this rough penetration caused, she focused on Darling. 'I hope you'll bring them here. I'd love to meet them.'

Darling smiled. 'Of course I will. All the children of this world will revere the Goddess and the Vine.'

She cried out again as a vine thrust into her ass. She had grown to love this double penetration, the way it could bring her swiftly to a climax and then keep the orgasms rolling through her for hours until exhaustion claimed her. 'You have my blessing,' she said. 'All of you.'

She opened her mouth wide to accept a third vine, and closed her eyes as it plunged into her throat.

*

Basara bent to kiss Carter's cheek. Just a week ago she had been merely a young ensign on a starship. Now she was the bride of a jungle-spanning vine that ravished her regularly and for hours at a time. There were worse fates. She had kept them all awake - and horny - long into the night. There had been nothing for it but to join in, and Darling had more than satisfied her restless hunger.

What did bother Basara was all the cum. Carter's sleeping body, caught in the quiescent embrace of a dozen vines, was crusted white. Basara had, over the past week, grown more comfortable with the stuff, but to see Carter covered with so much of it made her feel a little sick.

Early that day they came to the estuary, and the current washed the dinghy out to sea. 'Look there,' Darling said, pointing ahead. 'What do you see?'

Missy shrugged. 'An island?'

'With buildings,' Dmitriev added, clearly intrigued. 'Ruins, anyway.'

'And what looks awfully like a starship,' Basara noted. 'Although not one I recognise.'

'No,' agreed Darling. 'I'd be surprised if it still flies. But if we're lucky, we might just be able to call for help.'

Basara wasn't sure how she felt about that. She was determined to return to space, but she felt like she had just been robbed of two months of shore leave. From the expression on Missy's face, she wasn't alone in feeling that way.

Dmitriev looked thoughtful. 'I think we should proceed with caution. It would be foolish to come all this way only to blow ourselves up experimenting with unfamiliar alien technology.'

Basara grinned at him. 'You and Missy are the experts. I'll trust you to work as efficiently as caution dictates.'

Dmitriev looked at Darling. 'You knew this was here. How?'

'I saw it once, from a great distance, while flying above the jungle. But I did not know what it was. Why get your hopes up when there might have been nothing after all.'

He grinned his cheeky grin suddenly. 'You two go study the starship. I will make sure Basara is too busy to get in your way.'

They all grinned back at him. 'Yes, Captain,' they chorused, and reached for the oars.