Worlds Apart Pt. 02

Gradually, his memories started to return to him, as though his neurons were reestablishing their connections. His vision started to clear, the shapes becoming more defined, the buzzing in his ears morphing into the sound of muffled conversation.

"Jamie," someone said, the husky voice sparking recognition. He blinked his eyes, seeing Liz's familiar features materialize in front of him. "There we go," she chuckled, "he's back. Don't try to get up yet, just sit there for a while, get your bearings."

She released the clamps on his chair, Jamie able to lift his arms again, finding that his muscles were twitching erratically. He pressed his fingers against his temples, wincing as another throb of pain dizzied him.

"Feels like someone's drilling into my brain," he grumbled, his words still a little slurred.

"It'll subside in a few minutes," Liz promised.

He looked around the bridge, but it seemed that some minutes had passed since they had completed the jump, and the crew had all left the room. Only Cassidy remained, rising from her chair and walking over to join them.

"Now that we're alone, I wondered if we might talk?" she asked. "We were diverted twelve light-years from our course to pick you two up, and the UAS didn't give me a very satisfactory explanation as to why. If we're going to be living together for the better part of a year, I'd like to get better acquainted with you, assuming you have no objections."

"It's alright," Liz replied, crossing her arms in a way that came off a little defensive. "We're not UNNI agents on a secret mission or anything like that."

"You don't look like scientists or researchers to me," she mused. "Should I keep guessing?"

"I work in a supermarket, and Liz is a translator at an embassy," Jamie added, his mind slowly clearing as the effects of the jump wore off. "We're pretty ordinary."

"Ordinary people don't get chauffeured to colony planets that are under UNN blockade," Cassidy replied, giving them both a skeptical look. "Whatever you guys are doing there, the higher-ups at the UAS are treating it as top priority."

Jamie and Liz exchanged a silent glance, an unspoken question. It seemed that the UAS had respected their privacy, choosing not to inform the crew of the Magellan of their intentions. It was a personal matter, but it wasn't exactly a secret, and refusing to explain why they were traveling to Jarilo would only make Cassidy and her people mistrustful.

"I don't see any reason not to tell her," Jamie said, Liz nodding. The Borealan paid very little mind to what others thought of her, and he knew that she would have no objections to revealing the nature of their journey.

"We're trying for a baby," Liz said bluntly, the previously stoic captain raising her eyebrows in surprise. "The technology to make it work doesn't exist in UN space, but it might on Jarilo."

"So that's why the UAS are being so uncharacteristically accommodating," she mused. "I might be the Magellan's captain, but this is their ship, so I wasn't exactly in a position to demand an explanation. An experiment in inter-species reproduction," she added, glancing between the two of them. "Alright, I'm less mad about being diverted now."

"We've exhausted every other option," Jamie explained. "The doctors told us that it wasn't possible, then we learned about the Bugs on Jarilo. If it wasn't for the UAS agreeing to fund the trip, we'd have no way of getting out here."

"Do you want me to keep it a secret from the crew?" Cassidy asked. "They don't have to know if you don't want them to."

"It's fine," Liz replied. "We're sharing a cabin, it's not like they wouldn't figure out that we're a couple eventually."

"We're all scientists here," Cassidy said. "I'd expect some curiosity that might border on the inappropriate, but nothing negative."

"Alright then," Liz replied, helping Jamie out of his chair. His legs were still shaky, but the worst of it had passed now.

"Drink a lot of water," the Captain advised, "you'll thank me later. I guess that's all I needed to talk to you about. You have the run of the ship, so feel free to mingle with the rest of the team, make use of the facilities. It's going to be a long ride to Jarilo."

***

"What did you think of your first jump?" Liz asked, supporting Jamie by the arm as they stepped into one of the corridors outside the bridge.

"Feels like the kind of hangover you'd get after drinking a gallon of absinthe," he replied, eliciting a chuckle from her.

"It'll pass soon. Let's get you back to the cabin."

"So, we're going to be stuck on this ship with a bunch of strangers, and all they know about us is that we're fucking," Jamie muttered. "We're in space. We can't even make small talk about the weather."

"You can talk about the thermostat in the cabin," Liz added with a sarcastic smile. "That almost counts as weather."

"What do you think the crew is going to make of us?" Jamie wondered, the pair pausing to check that there was nobody in earshot. "I've known you practically my whole life, and I didn't even question your presence on Earth until I was maybe nine or ten years old. You being there was just normal for me, part of everyday life. Sometimes I forget that most people have never even seen an alien."

"If you're worried that they'll disapprove, I don't see why," Liz replied with a shrug. "Yeah, inter-species couples are rare, but not as much as you might think. Back on Borealis, when I used to hang around with the auxiliaries, practically every one of them had a story to tell about an encounter with a human colleague. It seems to happen pretty routinely, at least in the Navy."

"I guess this is the first time I've had to consider what other people think of our relationship," he continued, leaning back against the bulkhead. "We're going to be stuck with these guys for months. It's going to be miserable if we don't all get along."

"Honestly, I doubt that most people have thought about the subject long enough to form any kind of opinion," she said. "Think of it this way," she added, leaning a hand on the wall beside him as she leaned in to whisper. "Maybe it's our job to give them the best possible impression."

"That's a nice way to look at it," he chuckled.

"Either way, get ready for a lot of probing personal questions that are preempted by an apology," she added with a smirk.

***

They had almost finished unpacking their gear when there was a knock at their cabin door.

"Come in!" Jamie said, the panel sliding out of the way. Standing behind it was a pile of sheets and blankets on legs, which slowly began to amble its way into their room. Jamie quickly realized that it was a crew member who was overloaded with the extra bedding that Liz had requested before the jump. She strode over to the newcomer, who gladly passed off the load to her, an errant pillow falling to the carpet. The man was in his late thirties, maybe early forties, a pair of dark eyes peering out from beneath a bushy brow.

"Hope you guys are settling in alright," he said, clearly relieved to be free of his burden. His accent was hard to place, maybe Britain or Australia. "Name's Bradley, I'm the ship's requisitions officer. You need anything, food, soap, toothpaste, come see me. I can probably sort you out."

The two men watched as Liz hauled the blankets over to the corner of the room. She tossed them in a heap, crouching to begin spreading them around. When she was satisfied, she did the same with the sheets on the bed, stripping the mattress and tossing the bedding into the pile. The result was a rat's nest large enough for her and Jamie to sleep in.

Bradley was confused by the odd sight, but Jamie had been around Borealans long enough to be familiar with their preferred sleeping arrangements. Her parents had foregone seating entirely while they were living on Earth, preferring to lounge on similar piles of cushions in their home.

"Thanks," Jamie said, Bradley giving him a nod.

"I'll be around if you need anything else," the man said, leaving the way he had come.

Liz gripped the metal frame of the bed, lifting it easily, propping the now useless piece of furniture up against the wall to give them a few extra feet of usable floor space. She dusted off her furry hands, looking pleased with herself.

"What do we do now?" Jamie wondered.

"I'm hungry, how about you?"

"You're always hungry," he chuckled. "Alright, let's go find the kitchen."

They made their way out of the cabin and down the corridor, the signs on the walls soon leading them to the galley. The room was split between a dining area with a pair of tables that could seat a dozen people, and a kitchen that was tightly packed with worktops and appliances in shining steel. There were two people already seated, Jamie recognizing one of them as Sarris. The other was a woman with red hair who was sitting beside him, digging into a microwave burrito.

"Help yourselves to food," Sarris said, raising a hand in greeting. "The crew is too small to warrant a full-time cook, so we make our own meals. Just be sure to record what you eat on that tablet beside the fridge so Bradley can keep track of our supplies."

There was a wide selection of meals, most frozen or canned, Liz pulling out a few pieces of shrink-wrapped beef from the freezer while Jamie examined the unusually large microwave that was built into one of the counters. He had been expecting some kind of military-style rations, but it seemed that they would be eating pretty much the same as they did back home. Liz began to slice open the packets with her claws, laying the meat down on a plate before cutting them into thin strips, electing to use a knife for hygiene reasons. After locating a suitably large pan, she lathered it in oil, setting it to warm over an open flame as she prepared the sauce. Liz had learned to blend human cooking with the native styles that she had picked up during her time on Borealis, resulting in a kind of fusion of both cuisines. Borealans were decadent when it came to their feasts, favoring meat above all else, along with a smattering of gourds and grains. They weren't sensitive to sweet flavors, but Liz had adapted her cooking to better suit Jamie's tastes, glazing his share of the meat with sauces and condiments.

Today, she was making something akin to crispy beef with a sweet, sticky glaze, the smell of cooking soon attracting a couple of passers-by. Daryl, the helmsman from the bridge, and another crew member they hadn't met before poked their heads into the galley to see what was going on.

Knowing that food would make a great ice-breaker, Liz waved the strangers in, offering to cook up portions for them. Before very long, she had a whole table of hungry crewmen eagerly waiting for her to finish. She tasked Jamie with locating a suitably large serving tray, then joined them at the table, pushing a chair aside and sitting on the deck as she often did when there was no seating that could accommodate her. Even with four crewmen and Jamie to feed, Liz's portion was roughly half of the food that she had prepared.

Her cooking was a hit, and it quickly loosened their tongues, idle conversation filling the galley as they ate. It wasn't long before questions about Liz and Jamie's relationship and the nature of their journey came up.

Daryl was the first to ask, gesturing with a piece of crispy beef as he ate.

"So, you two are...together?"

"That's correct," Liz replied with a smile.

"Bravest man in the Galaxy right here," he muttered, giving Jamie an appreciative glance. "Why are you going to Jarilo if I might ask?"

"We're trying for a baby," Liz explained, four pairs of eyes widening. It would be a stretch to assume that two different species would be in a relationship to begin with, let alone that they would be searching for something most would consider impossible.

"I told you they didn't look like researchers," Sarris added, suggesting that the passengers had already become a topic of some debate amongst the crew.

"Why would you need to go all the way to Jarilo for that?" Daryl wondered.

"Isn't it obvious?" the red-headed woman asked. "Different species can't reproduce, but the Betelgeusians living on Jarilo have an understanding of genetic engineering that outstrips our own, possibly by thousands of years. They're hoping that they can find a way."

"I wouldn't let the Bugs go rummaging around inside my genome," Daryl muttered.

"I think it's romantic," the woman replied, turning her nose up at him.

"You guessed right," Liz continued. "Jarilo might be our only chance to conceive naturally. At least, as naturally as two completely unrelated species can conceive."

"I analyze biochemistry," the woman continued, "it's my job to learn about alien ecosystems. In order to determine the habitability of a potential colony planet, one has to know what kind of life lives there, if any. The last thing you want to do is land a ship on a planet that meets all of the criteria for being a second Earth, only to discover that the plant life there excretes hydrogen cyanide."

"Do you have to land for that?" Jamie asked.

"No, we usually use spectrometers to analyze the composition of the atmosphere and oceans. We can tell what kinds of organisms are active there based on factors like methane levels, anomalous trace gasses, that kind of thing. If we need samples for further study, we can send down probes. I'm Jessie, by the way," she added.

"What do you think our chances are?" Liz asked.

"Who can say?" Jessie replied, shrugging her shoulders. "It would be like asking someone living in the fifteenth century whether nuclear fission was possible. It's so far beyond their understanding that they wouldn't have an answer for you." She paused to take a bite of another piece of beef, Liz waiting as she chewed. "All I can say is that the Betelgeusians do things with genetics that we don't fully understand."

"What would the baby even look like?" Daryl wondered aloud, sucking some barbecue sauce from his fingers. "Say the Bugs can do it, would it be like...half and half?"

"And would it be able to reproduce with humans or Borealans?" Jessie added. "Lions and tigers are genetically similar, and they can reproduce, but the resulting offspring are sterile."

"Ligers," Jamie said, Jessie nodding her head.

"We haven't gotten that far yet," Liz said with a shrug. "Assuming the Betelgeusians can do what we ask, and that certainly isn't a given, we'll have to see what our options are."

"It's exciting, though," Jessie continued. "Even with all the uncertainty, you two might be the first people ever to cross this boundary."

***

Liz and Jamie returned to their cabin, Jamie sliding off his jacket as they stepped through the automatic door. He didn't really need it anymore, as the climate in the ship was kept at a constant temperature and humidity.

"What time is it?" Jamie asked, stifling a yawn. "There's no sunlight, I have no idea if it's day or night."

"You tired?" Liz asked. "It's been a long day, we've done a lot of traveling."

"Yeah, I guess we've been pretty busy. It was nice to start getting to know some of the crew," he added, kicking off his shoes. "What do you think of them so far?"

"They seem cool," she replied, pulling her shirt over her head. "I'd like to talk to Jessie a little more. She seems to be the resident xenobiology expert, so maybe she can shed some more light on what we can expect on Jarilo."

"You're finally surrounded by academics again," Jamie chuckled. "Now you can have some stimulating conversations."

"If stimulating conversation was all I wanted, I'd be dating a mathematician," she replied as she leaned over to pull down her sweatpants. She gave him an admirable view of her butt, wriggling to get the elastic waistband past her wide hips, the tight panties that she was wearing leaving nothing to the imagination. Her hips were broader than his shoulders, her butt like a pair of beach balls being tightly squashed together. Even beneath the black fabric of her underwear, he could see the way that her muscles dimpled her cheeks, the elastic hem digging into the cushion of soft flesh.

Now wearing only her t-shirt and her undergarments, she flopped down into the pile of bedding, wriggling to bury herself deeper in her nest. Jamie stripped down to his shorts, Liz reaching out to wrap her tail around his waist, using it like a furry tentacle as she dragged him into the pile. She caught him in her arms, her ample breasts cushioning him, then deposited him on the blankets beside her.

"How is it?" he asked. "Can you feel the deck through the sheets?"

"Feels soft enough," she replied, leaning back as she loosed a contented sigh. She soon turned her eyes on Jamie, that predatory gaze all too familiar to him.

"Wanna practice?" she cooed.

"Practice what?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Making babies," she replied, propping herself up on her elbows. She swung a meaty thigh over his waist, planting her hands to either side of his shoulders as she straddled him, her breasts swinging beneath her shirt. Her legs were so long that her knees reached his armpits, Jamie finding himself sandwiched between her steely thighs like a hotdog in a bun. He was already hard, Liz grinding against his bulge, her warmth penetrating the layers of their underwear. She exposed her fangs in a grin as he winced, pushing up to meet her reflexively.

"I'm not sure that's how it's going to go down," he chuckled, Liz's boobs bouncing as she shrugged her shoulders.

"It doesn't hurt to be prepared," she added, doubling over so that she could whisper in his ear. "Maybe they'll fix it so we can do it for real. Doesn't the idea of that get you going, fucking a baby into me? That's what I imagine every time we make love," she cooed, pausing to nibble on his earlobe with her sharp teeth. "My Borealan instincts think I'm making kittens, even if I know better, and I wallow in it. I'd never say that I was glad I can't get pregnant, but not having to use condoms is a perk. Means I can feel everything," she added with a sordid chuckle.

"How thin do you think these walls are?" he asked, reaching up to tap on the bulkhead.

"I can't hear anything through them, even with my ears. I think we're free to make as much noise as we like..."

Jamie didn't need any more convincing, starting to tear off his shirt as Liz smiled down at him. She ran her claws across his belly, their light touch making him shiver, tracing the faded cuts that she had left during some of their more heated sessions. Liz had never given him a scratch deep enough to leave a scar, not since their first encounter, when her Borealan instincts had reared their head for the very first time. He wore the marks that she hard carved into his back with pride, a memento of the night when they had finally confessed their true feelings for one another.

He reached up in turn, sliding his hand beneath her shirt, feeling the toned muscles of her midriff flex at his touch. Each one was the size of his fist, a flawless six-pack, her velvet skin irresistible beneath his fingertips.

She was in too much of a hurry to disrobe, already soaking the crotch of her panties in anticipation. With one of her hooked claws, she reached down to pull them aside, exposing her flushed lips. They were puffy and rosy, swollen with desire, flesh the color of a blushing cheek visible between them.

Jamie fumbled with his shorts, tugging them down just enough to free his erection, his member throbbing against her leg. He felt her silky fur brush against his sensitive glans as she reached down to grab it, guiding it towards her drooling loins, a droplet of her juices sliding down her inner thigh. They winced in unison as she brought his tip to her vulva, rubbing it between her lips, the pleated folds of her loins caressing him. When he was suitably slippery, she shifted her position, pressing the head of his cock against her twitching opening. With one confident thrust, she took him inside her, undulating walls of wet satin enveloping him.