Where No One Has Gone Before Pt. 02

That helped considerably, and the two of us had fun participating in some of the events he set up. He also asked me to play my guitar in the Officer's Club one or two nights a week, which I was more than happy to do. The Grav Tac classes I gave also helped, and the students who worked with me had progressed considerably. Kyra impressed me a great deal and had done well enough to earn a black belt by the time we reached Alpha Centauri.

Then there were the holidays, primarily Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year's and Easter. Early on, Axel suggested the senior officers and department heads serve the holiday meals to the crew, since we couldn't take those days off. His thinking was that it would help boost the crew's morale and give them something to look forward to.

Leesa agreed, so it became something of a tradition on the ship. And Axel was right -- the crew did appreciate it, and those of us behind the line served the holiday meals with a smile and wishes for a happy holiday.

My relationship with Kyra progressed to the point that I knew without a doubt that we were destined to be together for life. My love for her grew with each passing day. And I believe she felt the same way. It had gotten to the point that she was basically living in my cabin, using hers only to store some of her clothes and personal items.

We had talked about the possibility of using her cabin as a bedroom, and mine as a living and dining area. The only problem with that was that all of the furniture was bolted to the deck, so we couldn't move anything around the way we wanted. I made a mental note to discuss it with Leesa when we returned home.

During the two-year voyage to Alpha Centauri, I noticed some changes in Kyra. No longer the borderline submissive I first met at Galileo Station, she seemed stronger, more confident and sure of herself. Perhaps it was a combination of the diet, exercise and Grav Tac, I thought. Even with the changes, which I liked, by the way, she was still the same soft-spoken, sweet and unassuming person I first met.

And there had been some changes in me as well. The anger and mistrust I had upon coming aboard was gone. Thanks to some techniques Kyra had taught me, I was also able to take control of my dreams. I only had the nightmare once since Kyra recovered from her bout with afib. But never again. It happened the night before we officially entered the Centauri system.

...

I was in a small room. In front of me was an observation port that let me see into the corridor on the other side. Two people stood there, arm-in-arm, looking at me. They were both smiling. I recognized them right off. One was my ex-wife, Tabitha. The other was Commander Travers -- Bull. How was this possible, I wondered. He's dead. And she's in federal prison serving a ten-year sentence.

I wondered what I was doing in the small room and tried to find the hatch release. I saw Bull shake his head and reach forward. Then I heard the sudden hiss of air and knew I was in an airlock. All of the air was rushing out into open space.

But this time, it was different. I knew this was a dream and nothing they did could hurt me. I stood there and laughed as the air vented into open space. They looked at me, shocked.

"You're supposed to be in open space, Jones," Bull shouted, his face turning red. "Why are you standing there?"

"Fuck you," I shouted back. "This is just a dream. It's not real. And you're DEAD!" His eyes grew wide and as I watched, his body dissolved into a pile of ash on the deck. Tabby looked at the pile of ash, her eyes wide. Then she looked at me.

"You son of a bitch. You killed him!"

"That's right, I did, bitch," I said. "I tossed his ass out of this airlock for real a long time ago when the two of you tried to murder me."

"I'll kill you for this," she screamed.

"No you won't, bitch," I yelled back. "You tried once, but you failed. Besides, you're not real. You're in prison." She morphed in front of my eyes as I watched. Her hair was suddenly very short and resembled the crew cut Bull wore. Her uniform dissolved and turned gray, with stenciled lettering that read "Federal Penitentiary." Her face lost its soft features and became hard and angular.

Her eyes, once beautiful and shining, became dark and tattoos appeared on her arms and neck. Her body lost its once-alluring curves and she looked more masculine than feminine. Even her voice changed and became deeper.

"Noooooo," she exclaimed.

"Goodbye, bitch," I said. "I'm outta this dream. And I ain't coming back." For a moment, I felt like singing a version of the old Ray Charles tune, "Hit the Road, Jack."

...

The next thing I knew, I was awake. I laid in bed for a moment and thought about what just happened. Then I started laughing, which woke Kyra up.

"Are you okay, sweetheart?" she asked.

"I did it," I told her. "Thanks to you, I was finally able to conquer that dream."

"What? You had the nightmare again? It's been so long."

"That's right, but thanks to what you taught me, I was able to take control."

"Tell me what happened," she said. She listened quietly as I told her about the dream. When I finished, she smiled and wrapped her arms around me. "That's so wonderful," she said. "I'm so proud of you. I knew you could do it. Now let's celebrate. Make mad passionate love to me right now."

"Yes, ma'am," I said, kissing her hard. We made love for the next hour and fell asleep in each other's arms, happy and content.

...

"Well, you look chipper this morning, Number Two," Leesa said as I entered the bridge and took my station. "Get a good night's sleep last night?"

"Yes ma'am, I did. The best," I said.

"Good," she said. "We're officially entering the Centauri system today, so I need you at your best. Keep a sharp eye out."

"Yes, ma'am," I said. Leesa passed the word during the morning's briefing, and it didn't take long for the news to get around. I knew we were getting closer when I saw the sparkle effect indicating we were in Proxima Centauri's heliopause. When the sparkle effect ended, I knew we were no longer in interstellar space.

After consulting with the astrophysics department, Leesa gave the order and we dropped out of light speed, but kept moving forward using the plasma-ion engines. The navigator consulted his charts and worked up a course to Proxima B, the earth-like planet in Proxima Centauri's habitable zone.

"ETA to Proxima B 175 hours, Captain," he announced after plugging the course in. "Course laid in and locked. The road is clear."

"Thank you, navigator," she said in response. She punched a button on her console and addressed the ship. "All hands, this is the Captain. We are in the Centauri system. ETA to Proxima B 175 hours. Good job, everyone." I could hear cheers reverberate throughout the ship. "Comm, open a subspace channel to Houston," she directed.

"Aye aye Captain," the comm officer said. "Subspace channel open and ready for your use," she announced a few moments later. Leesa pressed another button on her console and looked into the small camera on her comm unit.

"Houston, this is Enterprise. We have reached the Centauri system. ETA to Proxima B 175 hours. Ship and crew in good shape. Out," she said, ending the call. We listened to the speaker for the next several minutes, waiting for a response. It finally came about 15 minutes later.

"Enterprise, this is Houston. Message received. You have entered the Centauri system, ETA to Proxima B 175 hours. Congratulations, Enterprise. We've waited a long time to hear that," a voice said from the overhead speaker.

As the ship's course changed, we could see the small red star through the front port. I knew that over the next few days, it would get a lot bigger as we approached the planet in its habitable zone.

The celebration on board was short-lived as the crew set about preparing for planetfall. Other departments, like the astro section, would be very busy scanning the system, cataloging every scrap of information available while mapping as much of the system as possible. We were quite literally in uncharted territory here, and no one knew what dangers lie ahead.

My shift over, I ate dinner and caught up with Kyra, who just finished a healthy portion of Jonathan's award-winning chicken cordon bleu. She looked up as I approached her table.

"Care to join me, sir?" she asked with an impish grin.

"I'd love to, little lady," I said.

"Please, have a seat," she said. I sat down and looked at her plate.

"Were you a good girl?" I asked.

"Yes, I was a very good girl and ate all my veggies," she said with a smile. "Does that mean I get dessert tonight?"

"I think we can manage that, my dear," I said with a wink.

"So, we finally made it to the Centauri system," she said.

"Yes, we did," I told her. "Now the real work begins. We have a lot to do here. There's an awful lot of space out there that needs to be scanned and mapped. We'll be at Proxima B in about a week. How was your day, by the way?"

"It was actually pretty good," she said. "I had a couple counseling appointments and then worked on my thesis. I hope to have it all completed so I can send it out the next time we stop at Checkpoint One."

"Excellent," I told her.

"So, when we get to the planet, are we going to send anyone down?" she asked. I shook my head.

"No, not this trip. We don't even know what it's like down there. This time around, we'll be charting it, taking high-def photos and video. We'll do the same when we go to Alpha Cen. The cartographers and astro sections are gonna be very busy on the return trip, that's for sure."

We finished dinner and headed for the gym, where we worked out a bit and practiced a two-person Grav Tac kata I had started putting together for us. After an hour of working out, we went back to the cabin where we showered and got ready for bed. We fell asleep in each other's arms after experiencing our mutual orgasms.

The rest of the week went pretty much the same. Then came the day we went into orbit over Proxima B. As we settled into our orbit, Leesa made a report to Houston.

"Houston, this is Enterprise. Now entering orbit over Proxima B. Stand by for photos and video. This is one helluva view," she said.

"Roger that, Enterprise," the reply came back 15 minutes later. "Standing by for photos and video."

From here, it was up to the astro section and the cartographers to document every square inch of the rocky planet below. Drones were sent to take samples of the upper atmosphere and measure the radiation from Proxima Centauri.

When my shift was over, I shared dinner with Kyra and the two of us went to the observation platform in the ship's common area. We were in awe as we looked at the planet below us. It seemed primitive, yet pristine at the same time. We had just crossed the terminator and were over the dark side of the planet, which was covered with ice and snow.

"Wonder what it'd be like to so skiing down there?" I asked.

"You like to ski?" she asked.

"Yeah. Dad used to take us to Schweitzer and Mt. Spokane when I was a kid. Been a long time since I've gone skiing. You ever do any skiing?"

"No, I've never had the chance, but I'd love to learn," she said. "It sounds like fun."

"It is," I told her. "But I bet it'd be colder than the dickens down there," I added, nodding at the planet below us.

"Doesn't look very friendly, does it?" she asked. I shook my head.

"Not really."

"How long are we gonna be here?"

"About 30 days, then we're heading to Alpha Centauri," I said. We stood at the thick window, watching the planet below for a while. Then Kyra put an arm around me and laid her head on my shoulder. I put an arm around her and enjoyed her warmth.

"I wonder what it'd be like to make love here in front of the planet down there?" she asked quietly.

"Seriously?" I asked.

"Yeah," she said with a wicked smile.

"Well, someone could walk in on us, you know."

"Yeah, they could, couldn't they?" I looked at her, surprised.

"You're serious?"

"I'm very serious," she said, giving me a deep tongue kiss that went all the way to my toes. "We can use that couch and if we're careful, no one could see us."

"You're gonna get me in trouble, you know that?"

"Isn't that what I do best?" she asked. We moved to the couch and sat down. She unzipped my flight suit and worked my cock out. She looked around to make sure no one else was in the area, then went down on me.

"Oh God," I moaned as she sucked. As she worked on me, I kept looking around to make sure no one else was in the area. I felt the familiar urge to ejaculate and warned her. "I'm getting ready to cum," I told her. She worked harder and faster as I kept a lookout. Then it happened. I filled her mouth and she swallowed as much as she could.

Then I heard footsteps coming from the opposite end of the area. Not wanting to get caught, I let Kyra know that someone was coming into the room. She quickly wiped her mouth, put my cock back into my boxers and zipped my flight suit back up. Two crew members, a man and a woman, walked into the room just as she sat back up.

"Oh, I'm sorry, Commander," the female crew member said. "I hope we didn't interrupt anything."

"Not at all," I said, taking note of the woman's name tag -- Elise Blackstone, from the engineering department. "We were just getting ready to leave."

"You know, sir, this is one of the most popular places for couples on the whole ship," the male crew member said. I looked at his name tag -- Alan Smith, also from engineering.

"No, Mr. Smith, I didn't know that," I said, taking a glance at Kyra. "But thank you for letting me know. Are you two..."

"Yes, sir, we are," Elise said. "We have to get back to our shift in an hour, so we thought we'd come here and spend some time looking at the planet together."

"I don't blame you. We were doing the same, but we're about done, so please, have a seat and enjoy your break," I said, standing up.

"Thank you, sir," Smith said. "Oh, by the way, sir, we really enjoy your music."

"Thank you, Mr. Smith," I said. "That's kind of you to say. Please, carry on." We left the observation deck and hoped they didn't notice anything off about us. I could hear them whispering and laughing softly as we left and when I looked back at them, they were deep into their own embrace. What the hell, I thought. They're adults and they're only doing what Kyra and I almost did.

"You think they know what we did?" Kyra asked quietly as we made our way back to the cabin.

"I'm pretty certain they knew," I said. "They're both engineers and they're not stupid."

"Oops," she said. "Will you get in trouble?" I chuckled.

"I don't think so, but I'm sure there will be some scuttlebutt."

"Scuttlebutt?" she asked.

"Rumors. But that's okay, we can finish what we started in the cabin," I told her. And we did. I heard nothing more about the encounter with the two crew members in the observation area, so I didn't give it any more thought.

After 30 days, the astro section completed their work and we received a briefing from George and Lt. Cmdr. Hamilton, the astro section chief. We learned the planet could conceivably support human life, but it wouldn't be very comfortable. Part of the reason for that was the planet is tidally locked and in synchronous rotation with its star. We knew what that meant.

The rotation of the planet matched its orbit around Proxima Centauri, which was just over 11 days. Because of that, the same side always faced the sun. George said he recorded temps as high as 145 degrees Fahrenheit on that side of the planet, while the dark side saw temps as low as -80 degrees F.

"Not a very comfortable existence to be sure," he said. But there was more. Being a red dwarf, Proxima Centauri was prone to rather large solar flares. One giant flare recorded back in 2017 scorched the surface of the planet and threatened its atmosphere, which he said was already slightly thinner than Earth's, despite the planet being somewhat larger than our own.

"Any signs of life down there?" Leesa asked.

"We found none, but there could be life in the oceans or underground," George said. "At any rate, we have more than enough information to put together a comprehensive map of the planet."

"Excellent," Leesa said. She turned to the chief engineer. "What's your progress?"

"We've completed the modifications Houston sent to us. Everything seems to be in order. We've run extensive testing and simulation, and everything works as advertised. According to the engineers at command, these modifications will improve the efficiency and strength of the warp bubble and allow us to cruise at speeds approaching 2.5 times the speed of light," the engineer said.

"Outstanding," Leesa said. "Alright, let's wrap it up. We depart for Alpha Centauri first thing in the morning." The meeting over, we went our separate ways. The next day, we broke out of orbit and made our way to the next Q-point, where we transitioned to light speed and made our way to Alpha Centauri.

Originally, this part of the trip was scheduled to last a week, but with the improvements and increased speed, we were able to make it in five days and dropped out of "warp" close to the star's habitable zone. We spent nearly a month cataloging five planets before finally reaching the Earth-like planet, which had been discovered early in the 21st century by the Southern European Observatory.

We were quite surprised when we approached the planet, as it reminded us all of Earth with blue oceans, large green and brown continents and icy polar caps. We could clearly make out the clouds in the planet's atmosphere and wondered if there could be intelligent life there.

After reporting to Houston, we settled into an orbit around the planet and began our work. As before, every inch of the planet was recorded for the cartographers and all of us speculated on the possibility that some form of intelligent life might be discovered there.

We spent a good month orbiting the planet, taking photos and video while sending drones into the upper atmosphere. We looked hard, but found no evidence of anything that might be intelligent. It looked too good to be true, and more than one of us expressed a desire to go down there and set foot on the alien landscape.

Then Leesa got word that Houston wanted us to cut our mission short and come home. She didn't give any reason for the move, but we figured she would let us know when the time was right. So we broke orbit and headed for home.

I won't bore you with the details of our flight back, since it was basically a reverse of our trip to the Centauri system. The main difference, of course, was that it only took about 20 months or so to make the trip at the increased speed. As before, we stopped at Checkpoint One to replenish our stocks, get the latest news and mail downloads and perform a system check.

There were two items in the news I found interesting. One article said the Military Judicial Review Board would examine all convictions over the last ten years due to overpopulation in the federal prisons. Tabitha was sentenced about five years ago and she still had five years left to serve.

The other article grabbed my attention when I saw the headline suggest "space pirates" were operating in the Solar System. Terrific, I thought. According to the article, the "pirates" were using old discarded Corps shuttles and had allegedly targeted two unarmed civilian cargo vessels between Earth and Jupiter.

No one knew where the pirates were based and no one knew how they managed to obtain the ships they used. Homeland Security and the Corps had put together a joint task force to investigate the matter. What's next, I wondered to myself.

From there, we began the last leg of our voyage. Those last months of the trip were somewhat bittersweet for most of us. We were all eager to get home, but a part of us wanted this voyage to never end.