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Just a Guy in Space

Chapter 22

“So I just need to squeeze this ball?”

“Yes. Start off lightly then slowly increase the pressure you’re putting on it.”

“Right. That sounds simple enough. I have another question though.”

“Go ahead.”

Gus glanced at the holoscreen and narrowed his eyes. “Why am I naked?”

Trando didn’t even have the decency to look embarrassed. “It’s an opportunity to get additional data for the medical and science departments. You’re a new species and you can never get enough data on new species. Why? Is there a problem? As I understand it humans tend to get naked quite often.”

“Yes, we do, but it all depends on the context. Being naked usually involves courtship rituals or reproductive activities. We don’t normally go around in a birthday suit.”

“Birthday suit? A human expression, I presume?”

“Yeah, it means to be naked.”

“Hmmm… Then do you feel embarrassed? I highly doubt you’d be interested in me sexually, what with your affinity for the good Lieutenant. If that is the case, I advise you to not mind it. I have seen many strange, naked beings in my time.”

Gus grumbled something under his breath before sighing heavily. “So, what with this ball anyway?” The object in question was perfectly spherical, had a metallic touch and gleamed silver. It was warm, the same temperature as his hand and felt oddly solid but turned soft whenever he pressed on it. “It doesn’t feel like anything I’ve ever seen on Earth.”

“One should hope not. It’s a synthetic material that was created through derivations. I doubt you’d seen it outside of Council space.”

“Derivations? What does that mean? You just calculated this into being?”

“Very close. Our main think tank got together and started working on theoretical materials, materials that were unfound in nature but were somehow discovered while rearranging the structural configuration of known elements and materials. From time to time, we get new, exciting discoveries and this material is one of them. It’s called phelante and its main use currently is in stress testing.”

“How does it work? It’s soft when I squeeze but it gets harder other times. Does it respond to stimulus?”

“Something like that. It’s a modular material which consists of groups of molecules which align in a particular pattern in response to an impulse. The impulse itself is generated by stress produced from a striking force on the surface of the material. This allows it to quickly harden when struck with a fast kinetic blow. However, the molecular modules will shift their alignment when subjected to a gradual force. It effectively means that with a sensor linked to a phelante surface, it is possible to read very fine gradual increases in pressure.”

“That sounds like a lot of trouble. Wouldn’t it be simpler to just use a pressure plate? I’d just press on it until I reached my limits. It would accomplish the same thing, right?”

“It would, and it this were some sort of backwater planet, that’s exactly what we’d do. Pressure plates are very nice and simple but are bulkier and on a ship like this, space is at a premium. So we try to trim whatever we can. In truth though, it’s just more impressive this way.”

“Fair enough. So back to squeezing then? A very light amount of force, then gradually increase to my maximum with one hand. Alternate to the other hand, get some rest, then switch to both hands. Is that right?”

“Exactly. You may begin whenever you wish.”

Gus started squeezing. “I’m warning you though, you’re gonna be disappointed. I grip like a girl.”

* * *

“I do believe the screaming was unnecessary.”

“It helps me focus my strength.”

“Does it really?”

“Nah, it’s more instinctual I’d say. Whenever a human is doing something strenuous, it will involve some sort of screaming or grunting.”

“Is that true for all humans or just you?”

“All humans, as far as I know.”

“I see. If you’ll direct your attention to your left, you’ll see an innerwear exosuit that fits you. Please wear it.”

Gus walked to the space-trolley and grabbed said exosuit. It was surprisingly light, with smooth material interspaced with rough blocks at regular intervals. He put it on, marvelling at how the measurements seemed to be just right and how comfortable the suit was. The blocks felt cool against his bare skin but he quickly got used to it. He stretched, testing his range of motion and noting that the blocks did not hinder him in any way.

“All good. What now?”

“Now we’ll be doing some more comprehensive tests. First off will be your endurance. Please get on the treadmill and start walking at a leisurely pace.”

The treadmill looked like something straight from a gym from back home. He got on and felt the machine beneath him thrum quietly as the belt started moving at a snail’s pace. “How do I adjust the speed?” He touched the handrails and the panel in front of him to no avail as the belt’s speed didn’t vary.

“No need to worry about adjusting it. The speed will slowly increase in small increments. I will be monitoring your body’s activity whenever you reach a new milestone. I’ll be looking at your reaction before and after changing speeds. To get consistent data I hope you’ll cooperate and keep your pace constant for every given speed point. Since this is a stress test, you might get a bit… uncomfortable.”

It was a while before Gus reached the first significant speed milestone and he decided to chat for a bit. “So Trando, tell me about yourself.”

“What do you mean?”

“Just introduce yourself, I guess. Tell me more about why you joined this crew. Why the military? How’s your homeworld? Tell me of your people. That kind of stuff…”

“Hmmm… I’m Lieutenant Trando Uvisulim. I am the head of the Engineering Department, as I’ve told you before. I’m a member of the Kmoz’iq species, from the Uruth star system. As you’ve no doubt guessed we are a species from a very high gravity world. The Uruth worlds are considered category six planets on the index of survivability. Nowhere near your homeworld but they present their own challenges, mostly when we’re off-planet.”

‘Too heavy to move around normally?”

“Exactly, which is why we are pioneers in the gravitronics department. Every member of the Kmoz’iq that goes off world must have a gravity harness equipped so that he or she doesn’t break any surface he or she is on. Every harness is calibrated for a specific Kmoz’iq and they are responsible for its maintenance. As such, many of my species end up in engineering or science departments. It makes it easier to continue our research of maintain our equipment.”

“That sounds inconvenient. That gravity harness, is it that the belt thing you’re wearing? And from what you’re saying you’re more worried about what’s around you than your own well-being.”

“Yes, it’s exactly that. Milestone reached. I am increasing the speed. Compared to the other environments, natural or manufactured, we are much sturdier. Our organs and dermis, our skeletal structure, everything has evolved to be able to withstand tremendous amounts of pressure. As such, when we can tolerate a great many conditions that others cannot. The gravity harnesses allow us to move unimpeded in lower gravity. Just imagine, hurting someone else or breaking the furniture around you simply because the gravity is too weak and you’re not used to the lack of resistance. Concerning myself… Well, there’s not much to say. I have a very strong interest in gravitronics and my research has actually been progressing very smoothly. I’d tell you more about it but your world doesn’t have sufficiently advanced science for you to understand it. Perhaps when you’ve had an opportunity to study it in more details, we can sit together and have a chat about it. How is this speed by the way? Any strain?”

“None. This is still pretty slow. Hey, this stress test business is pretty easy.”

“For a human perhaps. I remember reading from the reports that you mentioned humans being endurance hunters. This section of the test should be the easiest for you.”

“Endurance hunting hasn’t been in fashion for centuries. The humans you’ll encounter nowadays are mostly lazy fucks like me. I mean sure, we have pretty good stamina depending on the situation but there’s no way we can track an animal for three days and nights with no sleep anymore.”

“With civilisation, the need for such evolutionary traits was lost. Fascinating.”

“Yeah, I’m sure. You were telling me about yourself?” Gus prompted once more.

“Ah yes. I grew up wishing to see other worlds and wanting to expand my horizons. Joining the engineering branch of the military was ideal in that I could do both and I’d be getting paid as well. I got assigned to the Pride of Vanatu as a result of my research on gravity anomalies that might affect warp travelling during long hauls. Perhaps the higher-ups thought I might be of help if there ever was an incident involving gravity wells during warp travelling. Beyond that, there’s really not much to tell. Milestone reached. I am increasing the speed.”

Gus felt the belt move a bit faster. He now had to jog along to keep up. It felt surprisingly good to move his body again like that. He never thought he’d miss doing light exercise but being cooped up in his room – no matter how large it might have been – wasn’t a very good idea. He could feel the kinks and aches of his body fade into the all-encompassing weariness that accompanied exercise. He still had the leeway to talk so he asked another question.

“Hey Trando, as the Head of Engineering, you must have access to special manufacturing equipment right? I mean, you’d have military or factory grade synthesisers and no restrictions on materials whatsoever, right?”

“Assuming that is correct, what would you do?”

“I have some ideas for some really cool stuff that can’t possibly be made on Earth due to the lack of technology and I wanted to see if it was possible using your tech. I mean, throw me a bone here – I’ve been kidnapped by a coalition of super-advanced aliens and I don’t even get to play around with some new toys? That’d be really sad…”

There was silence for some time before Trando replied. “I’d have to check with the Captain. Giving non-military personnel access to those devices usually ends up badly. Your request will be put on hold pending approval. Milestone reached. I am increasing the speed.”

Gus was now at a brisk jog, arms pumping up and down. He was panting now, not quite struggling to breathe but feeling a familiar burn coming back to him like a long-lost friend, just dropping by to visit but overstaying his welcome and passing out on the couch. He tried to keep his head up but the white walls of the room were suddenly glaringly brilliant and he squinted through the pain of suddenly burning eyes.

“Milestone reached. I am increasing the speed.”

The treadmill sped up quite a bit. He had to genuinely run to keep up now. “Uh hey,” Gus said, huffing and puffing, “that’s kinda fast… Could you *huff* could you slow down *wheeze* slow down a bit?”

“What do you mean?”

“Slow down!” He nearly tripped over his own feet and decided he had enough. He grabbed the handrails and got off the belt. He was desperately trying to catch his breath when he felt a shock travel all over his body. He stiffened and yelped at the suddenness of the sensation of the muscles in his arms and legs clenching uncontrollably.

“What the actual fuck?! What was that?!”

“That is a countermeasure set up to prevent recalcitrant participants from completing the stress test. Please get back on the treadmill, for your own sake.”

“What the fuck Trando! I’m not some sort of- FFFFFUUUUCCCKKK!!!” Gus screamed as another shock, this time of higher amplitude, travelled though his body. “Dammit Trando stop that!” he roared as he tried to ineffectually rip the exosuit off him. It was much too tight now, trapping him in this electrical nightmare of a prison. His left arm was still twitching from the aftermath of the last shock.

“I don’t suggest you do that, the suit is designed to trigger the shock if it is tampered with. Getting on the treadmill and finishing the stress test is your best bet at this point.”

“I swear to fucking God, Trando, as soon as I get out I’m gonna kill you!”

“Yes, of course. The treadmill?” Trando prompted nonchalantly.

Gus hopped back on and immediately regretted his decision. The exhaustion that followed was almost as bad as the shock but he could somehow keep up until he heard the familiar words.

“Milestone reached. I am increasing the speed.”

He had to run for his life now, arms and legs pumping like mad, muscles positively burning in agony and mouth absolutely dry. He couldn’t fathom why Trando would be doing this to him.

Another case of the over-eager engineer? Fuck, I really fucked up! I knew stress testing wouldn’t be this simple!

“You must be wondering why I’m doing this. As I said earlier, this is a stress test and I must know your limits if I am to effectively design your suit. This also doubles as a medical examination. If I do this now, then you won’t be subjected to another more rigid examination when we reach our destination. Trust me on this, you do not want to show up with incomplete documentation. I know, I know, this is very painful and perhaps the electric shocks were a bit too much but I needed a way to ensure your cooperation. Given that you’re an unknown lifeform from a category thirteen planet, this much exertion shouldn’t be a problem for you anyway. You’ll thank me when you’re stranded on a hostile planet with nothing between you and certain death except the suit I’ll be making you.”

Gus was far too concerned with keeping up the pace than Trando’s words and honestly couldn’t spare a second to listen to him. His world had shrunk to the belt moving at break-neck speeds and his legs screaming in agony. He could see black spots and silvery flecks swimming in his vision and his lunch was coming up in a very distinct manner. He struggled to keep the nausea from overwhelming him until he heard Trando again.

“Milestone reached. I am increasing the speed.”

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Just a Guy in Space

Chapter 18

“So Sil, where does that leave us?”

She still wouldn’t talk to Gus, curled up in a ball and half-covered in her blanket. Her tail however was curling along his arm. He kept stroking her head through the thick material.

‘You know, if you’re not going to speak I’ll have to do all the talking.” The bundle didn’t move. “I don’t really know much about Dintphs or even about you. I’m probably not your first choice for a mate and I’ll understand if you don’t want to associate with me anymore.”

Sil still didn’t seem interested in conversing so he decided to go solo.

“You know, I really have no clue what to do right now. I’m not a paragon of social grace and I’ve never had a girlfriend before. Ah, a girlfriend is a companion who’s in a relationship with you. She’s supposed to stick with you through thick and thin and while the arrangement may be temporary, it usually leads to marriage, which is a long-term relationship. I don’t know the Dintph equivalent.”

“As I said, I’m not very good with women.” He paused, organised his thoughts and continued. “I really like you Sil, you’re fun, energetic, interesting and your fur has the most amazing coloration I’ve ever seen. I love the way your eyes light up when you talk about science. I love the way your tail swishes around. I think you look really cute.”

“I know I called you my mate back there but that’s contingent on your approval. I wouldn’t want to force you to do that. I feel bad that this whole mess started because I couldn’t keep in in my pants. They said going into a mating period was an instinctual response to my pheromones so I don’t know that you’d have chosen me to be a mate if you had a choice.”

“I need you to tell me Sil,” he said, voice breaking a little bit. He really wasn’t used to these situations. His palms were increasingly sweatier. “I need to know you’re ok with being my girlfriend or mate or whatever it is you call this. It would really help if you spoke to me as well.”

He kept stroking what he thought was her head but she didn’t respond. After a while he sighed in disappointment and pulled his hand back. Just as he was about to get up and put Sil down, a hand shot out from underneath the blanket and grabbed his wrist. He tensed but she only put his hand back on top of the blanket.

Definitely her head then.

He silently kept caressing the blanket as he waited for Sil to speak up. After a while, the bundle in his arms moved around as Sil curled up against him. Her bottom was sticking out sorely from under the bright orange covering and he could see her tail lazily curling and uncurling as she began to purr.

That’s a good sign, isn’t it? Fuck, let that be a good sign.

On a whim, he decided to grab the tail and fiddle with it. The purring changed in tone but soon returned to its previous iteration. Emboldened, Gus slowly worked his way up the tail, soon reaching her bum. She’d been wearing a strange hospital gown type of thing when he’d come in. It was rather loose and he could easily reach underneath to touch her furred skin. He started scratching the small of her back where tail met coccyx and enjoyed the feel of her luxuriant fur.

The change in Sil’s behaviour was immediate. She squealed and struggled in his arms, trying to get away from his hand. He grinned and held her close with one hand while continuing with the scratching. His strength was more than enough to prevent her from escaping his hands and he kept it up until she spoke up.

“St-stop that!”

He ignored her and kept scratching.

She squealed louder and physically reached out to grab his wrist. “I’m serious, stop that,” she said in a muffled voice.

“Sorry, I can’t hear you that well with that blanket on your head. You’ll have to speak up,” Gus said as he ignored her.

Sil made a weird noise before pulling her hand back and tearing the blanket off her. It landed a few meters away from them. It was a good thing that they were alone in the room; the white gown she was wearing was doing a great job of not covering any of her important bits. There were two slits on the sides that were gapping wide open, giving Gus a very nice view of her sideboobs and taut stomach. He felt something grow in his pants but made no move other than to scratch Sil’s backside.

She somehow got on her knees while still in his lap and turned to him. Her face was flushed crimson. “It’s embarrassing so stop,” She said in a quivering voice.

“Oh? Why is it embarrassing?” He still didn’t let up.

“It’s…” She blushed even more furiously. “It’s something you do in private.”

“Is it? But there’s no one here. I’d say we’re private enough,” Gus said with a grin.

Sil averted her eyes and leaned into his chest. “I’m still not used to close physical contact with my mate, so it’s embarrassing.”

His heart skipped a beat. “What was that? I didn’t hear properly.”

Her head burrowed further into his chest. “I said I’ll be your girlfriend or mate or whatever it is we can call this.” He could tell from her voice she’d started blushing again.

He laughed with a loud booming voice and whooped as he stopped scratching her and hugged her tightly to him. For her part she didn’t say anything but her tail was lashing left and right like crazy. Probably an indicator of happiness in a Dintph.

They’d probably need to have a long talk about what this meant for the both of them but for now they cuddled in silence, content with the knowledge that they had each other.

* * *

Lieutenant Vatta Ren was observing the new couple through a viewscreen and listened to the sappy conversation with no shame. Sil had been right to be embarrassed. Vatta didn’t really have a notion of privacy when she was interested in something and the human was very interesting.

At first she’d dismissed the reports of sapiant life on the deathworld they’d departed from but she’d gone through the scout probe data they’d collected and had been fascinated with what she learned. The deep tissue scans she had been able to take during the human’s sleep were a treasure trove. The human’s physiology was remarkable. His body was uniquely adapted to the challenges of growing and thriving on a category thirteen planet. Dense bones and dense, layered muscles coupled with a nervous system capable of very fast responses marked him as a species used to fighting for survival. His immune system was adaptive, a trait rare enough that any research paper about a new species exhibiting something like that would be widely read and debated. His body chemistry was in perfect balance and judging from the way it was righting itself after the debacle with the Coxizu virility serum, didn’t depend on external stimuli to maintain stability.

“Remarkable. I am grateful to the Captain for picking him up. Studying him will advance our field by decades.”

Her assistant scoffed at that and loudly grumbled. “I don’t see what’s so special about it. It’s just a savage from a backwater planet. It has no business being here.”

“She rejected your proposal of a mating contract twice already, Ensign Orithi. Get over it. She didn’t choose you and if you let your animosity over this get in the way of my work, I will get you re-assigned to permanent reactor clean-up duty,” Vatta said testily, staring at the offending ensign until he looked away in sullen silence.

She went back to spying on the new couple but gleaned nothing new. They were chatting quite cutely she thought when suddenly the human slipped his hand inside the gown Lieutenant Sil Nubo was wearing. The ensuing shriek nearly made her ears bleed but didn’t cover the sound of the resounding smack the human received.

* * *

“What am I looking at?”

Lieutenant Vatta Ren jabbed her finger into the holographic brain in front of her. “Right here. See?” she asked as she turned to the Captain expectantly.

Echina squinted and tried to figure out why her Chief Medical Officer was in a tiff but still failed. “I’m not seeing it. Care to explain?”

“Look.” She brought up another rendering of the human’s brain. The projection was pale blue, with red, jagged lines showing neuronal connections. There was a separate section highlighting his complete nervous system. “This is from a scan we randomly did before his mating with the Lieutenant.” She pointed at a section of the brain. “This cluster here is inactive. Now look at the same cluster seven cycles after we pulled him off the stasis bed.”

Echina could now spot the difference. That tiny cluster was now more brightly lit on the second holo. “So what, there’s more activity there, is that it?”

“Yes, more activity. That’s the problem. I’ve compared the pre-mating brain to the data we’ve compiled using the scout probe and figured out that this is the standard brain activity mapping for average humans. Notice that this cluster isn’t activated in any of the scans we’ve had for this particular specimen. Now, only seven cycles after recovering from the side effects of the virility serum, there’s been a noticeable increase in activity in this cluster. A cluster that was hitherto inactive. Do you understand the implications Captain?”

Echina thought long and hard. Lieutenant Vatta Ren wasn’t prone to such displays of exuberance unless she was speaking about her wife. “Let’s see… Was the change induced by introducing that Coxizu monstrosity into his system? I don’t see the big deal. This happens all the time, right?”

Vatta Ren shook her head in frustration. “No, this is different. This scan was taken when no active molecules from the serum were in his system. So now we have a human that’s exhibiting permanent signs of new neuro-cortical stimulation even though the responsible agent is absent from his system. It’s a huge discovery Captain! It’s… it’s…” She seemed to be at a loss for words.

She started pacing in a circle, a habit she’d never gotten rid of since her days at the Academy. “It’s not just the brain activity that’s the issue. I’ve found traces of incomplete Coxizu active molecules in his blood. I’m guessing… I think his body is adapting to the serum. I’ve compared the scans we’ve taken over time during his mating with Sil Nubo.” She tapped a few commands into her datapad and brought up all the scans she was talking about. “As you can see, the brain mapping shows the increasing activity in the highlighted cluster. It also shows how the effectiveness of the serum is dropping each time he uses it. He’s developing more resistance to the serum’s effects the more he uses it. I think the side effects were exacerbated by that resistance.”

She resumed her pacing with her hands behind her back. “What’s more worrying are those incomplete molecules I found. If I’m not wrong I think his body is trying to manufacture more of the serum. It must have somehow recognised the active molecules as a necessary survival tool after the strenuous mating with Sil Nubo. I say strenuous but we both know that if it was another Dinpth in there with Sil, he would most likely have ended up severely injured or traumatised, or even both. I think this kicked his survival mechanism into gear and now he’s simultaneously developing a resistance to Coxizu virility serum and trying to make more in his own body. I think if we change his diet he might be able to have the necessary raw materials to successfully make more functioning molecules on his own. They might even be more effective in his case given that the artificial serum is having diminishing returns.”

Echina was silently contemplating what Lieutenant Vatta had just said. “So where does that leave us? What can we do about this? What should we do? It was his own decision to use the serum and to mate with Sil Nubo. Besides, I fail to see how this is a ship-wide concern.”

“You’re right Captain. It’s not a concern right now. But what happens if he uses Telani psychotropes? What if he starts producing his own?”

“I see… What’s your recommended course of action?”

“We should be very careful about what he puts into his body from now on.”

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Edit: I done fucked up. I got caught up in some other stuff and just forgot to write more stuff. I’ll try to churn out a new chapter pretty soon, but you know me, I’m a lazy fuck. I had a mild case of writer’s block too but I seem to have gotten over that, thank God for that.

Just a Guy in Space

Chapter 17

“I can understand why the Lieutenant is in the medical bay but why is Human in there too?”

“Well, beyond the fact that we have to keep him under examination for possible sequelae from his mating with the lieutenant, we have also detected several life-threatening complications due to his overdosing on the Coxizu virility serum.”

“Fair enough. Tell me what you’ve found so far.”

“I’ll start with Lieutenant Sil Nubo. As far as we can tell, there’s nothing wrong with her. Slight dehydration and lack of nutrients associated with malnutrition, some muscular and joint pains due to overworking and slight mental disorientation are all consistent with the aftermath of a Dintph mating period.”

“Nothing wrong? What about all those germs Human is lugging around in the incubator that is his body?”

“Quite a poetic description Captain. Did you perhaps miss your calling?” A glare did not deter her. “In any case, none of the microbiota on the human managed the jump from his body to hers. A most curious case. I shall investigate and find an answer, although I cannot say with certitude that I will even find one. If my wife were here though, she’d find a solution in a jiffy.”

Not again. “Yes, yes. I’m sure she could. So, the germs?”

“Ah, yes, my theory is that the germs either could not make the cross from Human to Dintph or that they did and the Dintph system is so different that there simply was no pathogenesis. As I said, I’ll have to investigate a bit more. I did recover some unknown organisms on the Lieutenant’s skin and inside her vagina. I plan on cross-referencing whatever I find on her with what I found on the Human. That’ll be a good start.”

“Keep me apprised. In the meantime I need to talk to our guest.”

“Of course. He’s this way.”

Lieutenant Vatta Ren turned and lead Echina to a stasis chamber holding the human. Echina leaned over his motionless form and observed him more closely; she’d rarely had the opportunity to see him so still. He was not too tall, measuring about 178cm, with brownish skin and a decently toned physique. Looking at his face, he was not what Echina would have described as handsome but he wasn’t altogether unpleasant to look at. His skin isn’t green enough. His shock of black hair was as usual thoroughly unkempt – a sure sign of a lazy mind, she thought.

“So why is he in a stasis chamber? I thought the only side effect he was suffering from was the vomiting.”

“Well, that’s only the first of many symptoms that appeared with time. He said something about pissing blood then collapsed. We put him in the stasis chamber to buy time and performed an in-depth, full body scan.” Vatta Ren tapped on her datapad before continuing. “The scan revealed multiple organ failure, including but not limited to the kidneys and the liver. Both are heavily involved in maintaining a balance within the human body.”

With another tap a complete map of the human anatomy appeared on a viewscreen. The same diagram was represented on a holoscreen. Vatta Ren pointed to several red-lighted features. “It’s amazing he was able to function to that level given how severe his organs were damaged by the virility serum.”

“He doesn’t seem that bad looking at him now.”

“I’m getting to that. So, here I am doing a full body scan and I notice a ping from AI indicating that the condition of the body has changed. When I turn to the human again, I can see that his organs are slowly but surely righting themselves. His liver released or inhibited several key enzymes that normalised the liver’s function. The renal failure took longer to correct but eventually, the water balance in his body righted itself. It’s not surprising that a species would be able to self-repair to such an extent, it’s the speed that was employed. Barely a few hundred units, Standard Galactic Time.”

Echina was still peering at the human. “Can you find out the source of his fast healing and replicate it? That would go a long way towards salvaging this mission.”

“Unfortunately that would take much more extensive research than I could do on this ship. Perhaps when we get back I’ll ask Rhil if I can access the Concourse labs to do a couple of tests. It’ll be easy. You know, since she’s been promoted.”

“She’s been promoted? I didn’t know,” Echina deadpanned.

Vatta’s face split into a wide smile. “Yes! She’s recently been promoted to head of her own department! She’s only the twentieth Chachiss to achieve this you know? I’m so proud of her! We’re all proud of her. If she were here, you’d have no problem in the medical bay whatsoever!”

“Are you admitting to running a sloppy medical bay?”

“Why, yes, of course! There’s no way I’m as good as my wife you know,” Vatta said with a booming laugh.

“Enough of this. Wake him up, we need to talk.”

“Right away captain.” Vatta tapped her datapad a couple of time before the field covering the human shimmered out of existence. A loud and protracted groan could be heard coming from the stasis bed.

The human feebly rolled onto his side and a thin stream of brownish sludge dribbled out of his open mouth. Is he still suffering from side effects, even after stasis treatment? Just how much serum did he use? He tried to sit up and barely made it with Vatta’s help. His eyes were unfocused as he tried to get his bearings in an unfamiliar room.

“Where… where am I?” his voice cracked as he tried to speak with a dry throat.

“You’re in the medical bay. What’s the last thing you remember?”

“I was with…” He swallowed with great difficulty and tried again. “With Sil. In my cabin. We were… you know…” he smirked. “Mating urges and everything. Then I think I started – did I puke everywhere and piss blood? Because that sounds like what happened…”

Echina’s face seemed to be locked in a permanent frown. “AI contacted security when both you and Lieutenant Sil Nubo failed to respond to any hails. They found you passed out in a puddle of blood and a brown… fluid. Your suit was in tatters and the lieutenant was comatose on your bed. You were then brought to the medical bay for treatment.”

“How long was I out?”

“A bit more than eight hundred units Standard Galactic Time. How are you feeling?”

“Like I just made out with a bear. What happened to Sil? Is her thing over?”

“Bear: native mammal from Earth. Ursidae family of caniforms. Can weigh up to 730 kilograms (Earth units). Often hibernate to conserve energy. Tend to be aggressive if encountered after mating period or if encroaching on their territory,” AI helpfully added.

“I see… Fascinating. So bears are an integral part of human courtship rituals then? They must be some sort of rite of passing challenge to obtain courting rights for a female right? It must be! Oh Captain, if Rhil were here, she’d be ecstatic! So much research to be done! So much to learn!” Lieutenant Vatta was practically foaming at the mouth. Not that anyone looking at her would be able to tell. She still maintained a stoic demeanour.

“To answer your question, yes, Lieutenant Sil Nubo mating period is over. It seems her circumstances were a bit different than the general Dintph population. A mating isn’t normally as … intense as hers was. We think it was due to the pheromones you released. She’s fine and is resting in a separate unit.”

“I see. Whew, she sure did a number on me!” Gus’ hand reached up to his shoulder, feeling for a bite scar. “No scars I see.” He got up and slowly spread his arms wide, inspecting himself for defects. “I guess technology does wonders, eh? Is there any chance I can speak to Sil? I think there’s quite a lot we need to discuss.”

“We still have a few tests to run. You can meet her after that.”

* * *

“AI, how much time in Earth minutes is eight hundred units Standard Galactic Time?”

“Calculating. Eight hundred units Standard Galactic Time are equivalent to four hundred Earth minutes.”

“Two units for one minute. I get it. From now on, can you give me any units in the converted and appropriate Earth value please? I think it would be much easier until I get the hang of this Standard Galactic unit system.”

“Confirmation. Values will be calculated accordingly.”

“Thanks.”

“You’re welcome.”

Gus was alone in the bay, the other xenoi keeping a careful distance away from him. The tales of his being a microorganism incubator had spread and they feared to see him without his vacsuit. He’d have to do something about that. Walking around in the suit was sending the wrong message, like he dangerous or something. Well, he was dangerous, but that was beside the point.

He wondered what Sil’s reaction would be when he met her. They were lovers now. Or were they? Sil hadn’t really touched on what happened after a successful or unsuccessful mating session. Did they stay friends? Take care of the kids? Get married? Could they get married? Did they still have sex? Because in spite of all the biting and hip-crushing, the sex was very fun.

He grinned. Oh yes, loads of fun. I still can’t feel my dick, but that’s nothing next to what Sil made me feel. He really hoped they could still have sex without the excessive violence. Speaking of sex, what happened to Art’ah? Haven’t seen her in a while. Haven’t seen anyone in a while. Wait her or him? Hir? Hem? What do I call her?

He cast his gaze around the room and took stock. It was surprisingly similar to a lab back on Earth. Tables and workstations neatly arranged and divided by sections, with reagents and apparatuses of various colour, shapes and sizes. Their use remained a mystery. There were no computers and none were necessary when the ship AI would crunch all your numbers and store all your data. There were many viewscreens and a lot of those holographic displays he’d seen here and there. The walls were a brilliant white colour with colour-coded stripes indicating which section was where. Gus peered at the writing on the walls and tried to get closer, only to bump his nose on an invisible force field.

Hello my old friend. Fancy meeting you here.

From beyond the field, various space races would wander around, holding datapads and curious instruments. They would sometimes look up from their work and see him and stare with open mouths or whatever passed for shock and surprise in their species. He felt like a beast in a cage at the zoo.

A man goes to a zoo. There’s only a dog there. It’s a shit zoo.

Gus chuckled. At least he wasn’t losing his sense of humour. He tried to distract himself from the boredom by observing his ‘captors’. There were many Dintphs walking around staring openly, some with revulsion, others curiosity and a small fraction with open disgust (even hate he might say). More Agaraxians with their tall, stocky builds and green skin and long hair with varying colours. Purple seemed to be the most predominant one, though orange and blue were seen occasionally. He even spotted some blue and *gasp* even black hair.

Gasp, black hair. What a shock.

There were scant few Kmigars like Xar’usk but he attributed that to the fact that they seemed to like science more than medical stuff, at least based on what Xar’usk and Van had told him. The doctor who fixed him up was nowhere to be seen.

He’d been quite surprised at seeing her. Her four eyes (a pair above the ones placed in the same spot as a human) were already daunting enough but she had obsidian skin that seemed to drink light and weirdly shaped blocky joints. She was completely bald, not a speck of hair anywhere that he could see. To his great disappointment her chest was more akin to an airport runway than to the hills and valleys he dreamt of. If Van hadn’t told him that she was a female he wouldn’t have believed it. She was taller than him by about a couple of centimetres, couldn’t have been more than five. She struck him as a no-nonsense doctor type based on her appearance and the small speech she’d given him.

He saw her come back with another Dintph assistant taping onto a datapad. She went to the console next to his bed and checked something, frowned then clicked her tongue.

“It seems that your body is already healing the damage you sustained from your activities with the lieutenant. How remarkable.”

“Thanks doc. You got any news on Sil for me?” he asked, hope filling his voice.

“Yes, she’s recovered and is currently rehydrating and getting more nutrients. It doesn’t seem like your microbiota affected her at all, we have that to be thankful for. She seems to be suffering from some psychological trauma though. I suspect the ship’s counsellor will have to spend some time with her.”

“Trauma? What kind of trauma?” Gus felt his guts go cold at the mention of that. Did I do something wrong? Fuck, does she think I somehow mind-bended her into having sex with me? I mean those pheromones are pretty powerful. “Is she alright? Can I speak to her?”

“As I said, physically, she’s fine but her attitude shows signs of mental scarring. I’m not sure as to the origin of that but you can try talking to her in a minute. I just need to calibrate the fields in this room and hers.”

She taped a few more times then turned to Gus. “All done. You can head to the adjacent room as soon as we exit this one. I don’t want to breathe in your atmosphere if possible.”

Her assistant turned and left as soon as she uttered those words. He really didn’t seem to like Gus. The doctor walked out at a more leisurely pace, hands clasped behind her back. He got off the bed when the door to the room slid shut, waited five seconds for the field around his bed to wink out then proceeded to Sil’s room.

He saw her through a viewscreen on the wall, sitting on a similar bed, clutching what looked like a blanket in her hands. Her ears were down on her skull, tail curled dejectedly down. She really didn’t look that fine to him. Apprehension filled him as he walked into the room.

Sil looked up, saw him and froze. Her mouth slowly opened, stayed open then slowly closed. Her tail started twitching, ears now fully erect. He was about to say something when she jumped off the bed, crouched down, covered her head with the blanket and screamed.

“Noooooooooooo!!!!”

Well excuse me bitch, nice to see you too. Gus was pretty pissed. I mean, he wasn’t that ugly. Was he?

The doctor strolled in with her assistant looking mighty smug in the face of Gus’ distress. What a cunt. She turned to him.

“As you can see, her vitals are normal. It’s just that she’s… like that,” she said, pointing to the Dintph now rolling on the floor, hiding her face with her hands and blanket.

He slowly approached her and crouched. “Sil,” he said gently. “Sil, it’s Gus.” She trembled at his touch but didn’t throw his hand off. “Sil, talk to me. What’s wrong?” he gently shook her. That assclown assistant scoffed loudly enough for the doc to give him a measured look. What the fuck is his problem? Gus tried to ignore him and turned back to Sil.

“What’s wrong Sil? Did I hurt you? Are you mad at me?”

She suddenly jumped up, her face practically five centimetres from his own. ‘No! I’m not hurt! You didn’t hurt me!” Her tails was lashing left and right, seemingly agitated. She sounded as anxious as he felt. “I’m not hurt,” she repeated, “I feel great actually but…” She averted her eyes once more, face turning a deep crimson.

“Are you blushing?”

She blushed even harder. “No I’m not! You’re blushing!”

“Yeah, I am. Cause I’m looking at you, you beautiful creature.”

She screeched and covered her head once again, squatting down on her haunches. She didn’t want to look at him but the way her tail was trashing around told him she was quite happy with his compliment. He smirked.

‘It’s ok Doc,” he said to Vatta Ren. “She’s not hurt, she’s just embarrassed.” A soft squeal escaped the blanket at these words. He grabbed her and ignored the additional squealing, gathering her to his chest like a child. His upper body had recovered enough that he could hold her up with no difficulty. He sat back down on the stasis bed and stroked what looked like Sil’s head. It was hard to tell, that blanket was pretty thick.

“I don’t suppose you could give us a couple of minutes? I need to talk to my mate,” He said, savouring the last word.

Yeah, that was totally the right thing to say.

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This is a preview chapter of Tales of an Enchantress, the sequel to Tales of a Seductress. This is not an official chapter. Just a preview. A sampler, if you will. Like a movie trailer, it may or may not appear verbatim in the book. It just gives you an idea of where the next book is heading. Let me know what you think.

_________________________________________

I felt an aching pain in my stomach, the stress of the last few days had started to catch up to me. The chains rattled as I tried to readjust myself in a more comfortable position. I was simply waiting at the moment. I was waiting for the end.

I was dressed in a black and red dress. Perhaps it was a suiting dress to bring me to this end. I tried to consider all of the events that had lead me to this point. I had simply wanted to class up and succeed as an adventurer. Then there were the succubi, the adventurers, the rape farm, the invasion, the attack on the capital, and now I was here.

The flap to the tent opened up, and a skeletal looking man in a black robe peaked in. “It is time.”

I gave him a nod and moved to my feet. He checked the chains around my ankles and then put his hand on the chain hanging from hands, lifting me up to a standing position. Immediately, he started tugging me, pulling me along while keeping his distance.

We emerged into the early morning. There was a massive crowd of people around the tent, separated just enough to create an aisle for me to be walked down. People screamed and shouted, trying to reach out and grab a chunk of my dress or hair, to rip it out as a keepsake of this event. However, the guards surrounded me and made sure no one touched my body. The guards also made sure to keep their distance, putting weapons between us as they escorted me warily. Even here and now, I could see the fear in their eyes. While the crowds didn’t know, these people did. Touching me was death.

Of course, calling them people was a gross misrepresentation. These were monsters, not people. They were demons that came in all shapes and sizes. Their differing colors from red to blue to black created a chaotic cacophony that spread across either side of the aisle.  I didn’t particularly hate demons, but the effect of so many of them was palpable. The roars were enough to shake even the sturdiest heart. An orchestra played as I was dragged down the row, giving me music as I was brought up to the unholy altar.

At the foot of the altar was a giant beast dressed in a black cloak. He held a long and massive axe, and he watched me expectantly as I approached. His skin was absolute red, and he had two massive ram horns. He was nearly eight feet tall and was the very idea of a devil. I was finally brought up to the front, and he grinned down at me with sharp teeth. I starred vacantly back, knowing that there was no way I’d be able to escape from this one.

Another man stood up in front of us and raised his arms, causing the crowd of screaming demons to quiet down. This man was actually a skeleton, his face devoid of skin, a hood I wish he had up failing to obscure his monstrous features. When the crowd of monsters finally silenced, he began to speak.

“Demons of Dragus, you have all been waiting for this event to arise. This woman… she has brought devastation, ruin, and destruction in her wake. It is about time that she was stopped.” There was more screaming, along with shouts and clapping, but the man quickly silenced them all with a single wave. “When a creature such as she comes into this world, there is but one option to restrain her.”

The demonic looking man put on a wicked smile, taking a step forward as he readjusted his hand on his axe. Once the yelling finally settled down, the skeleton put on a look that seemed like a smile.

“Aria… titled the Mother of All Monsters, the Reborn, and the God Slayer… Kree, The Demon King and Lord of Dragus, titled the Keeper of the Lost… we are gathered here today to witness and celebrate the Union of these two powers in holy matrimony!”

There was more screaming and my face began to grow more flushed. I looked off into the distance. We were on a hill overlooking the main city, but I was looking beyond that point, towards the western shore. The clouds seemed to be raining with enough force that fog draped down to ground and carpeted the land beyond, almost like the horizon was being swallowed. It looked like a storm was coming.

I idly wondered if he had made it alright? I didn’t know. The only thing I knew was that I was about to be betrothed to the monster that called himself Demon King. This wedding had come as a complete shock. He had wanted to possess me, but feared my powers if he was to give in before wedlock. I could barely hear the words as the skeletal priest continued to drone on, reciting passages that were from no bible I had ever read.

“Do you, Demon King Kree, take this bride to be yours until the darkness consumes us all?”

“I do!” Kree’s voice was a low and deep baritone.

“Do you, Mother of Monsters, Aria, take this man to be yours until the darkness consumes us all?”

I turned to face the man that I was being forced to marry. There was a palpable growing tension as the priest finished those words. Of course, there was the possibility I could say no. Not that I really had a choice in the end. Kree readjusted his hand on the axe. This day could just as easily end with him cutting me down on the altar. I had to do what I was told, or I would face the consequences.

“I…I…” A horn blasting in the distance blocked the answer that I gave.

There was a stir of confusion and a low mumble of voices. The storm in the distance was growing closer, but it had now arrived close enough that even I could tell that it was composed of rising dust, not clouds and rain. A low rumbling sound could be felt through the earth, and some of the more sensitive demons who had missed the abnormal vibrations in their states of revelry started to get uncomfortable looks.

The demon king looked over my head, which wasn’t difficult, as he talked. “What is this? Who is daring to disturb my wedding?”

“It’s an army, my lord, a human army! They’ve started their invasion.”

“Devon…” The words came out of my throat before I could stop myself.

Of course, that was absolutely crazy. It couldn’t possibly be Devon in charge of that army. I had already broken all ties between the pair of us. He wouldn’t build an army and try to take me back, would he? He couldn’t…

Kree shot me an irritated look before moving off to the side. “Postpone the wedding, retreat to behind the walls. I want to know how an army of humans got 600 miles deep into demon territory and show up nearly on our doorstep without us knowing it.”

There were several cries of surprise and protest as the wedding was ended in a flash. At this point, the army could be seen in the distance, a long line of men on horseback that stretched a mile in either direction crested the hill. Things were starting to go into motion as Kree grabbed my chain and began to yank me towards the city wall. If I pulled and ran, there was a chance I could make it to the human army, although I was just as likely to be killed by Devon as I was to be rescued. I had no clue if this was a rescue or an execution.

We were heading down the long line of people fleeing from the party for safety behind the city gates when another man came riding up in a hurry. He immediately saluted, but he seemed nearly in a panic.

“My lord! There is an army approaching the city!”

“I’m aware…” The Demon King snapped, “You can see them from here.”

He pointed out to the cloud of dust, which was starting to show the silhouettes of men on horseback during their approach.

“No, my lord, not the humans. Th-this… is an army of monsters!”

“An army of monsters? Monsters don’t form armies.”

“These do… my lord, I’ve confirmed it three times. The monsters have gathered into a massive horde, and they’re heading this direction. They’ll be at the city by tonight.”

The Demon King’s advisors all wore surprised looks on their faces, but the man himself thoughtfully scratched his chin, then he suddenly froze and his gaze fell on me. “What… have you done?”

I shrank back at his stare impulsively, but then took a breath and met him face on, squaring my shoulders as much as my shackles allowed. “You’re the ones who named me the mother of monsters. Tell me, Kree, what did you think would happen when you take a mother away from her children.”

“You…” His eyes began to narrow, and for a second it looked like he might swipe me away with his scythe, but then he relaxed. “It seems like you are the most valuable person here. By the time the sun sets, there will be a river of blood at your feet.”

“If you let me go, that can be avoided.”

“No…” he said slowly, then gave a laugh. “Let them break themselves on the walls of our great city. Demons, humans, monsters, the supremacy of this world can be decided tonight. I will keep you, Aria, you are mine, and I won’t let any army or horde take you from me.”

He turned and continued moving on. I was ushered on by his guards until we were inside the city gates. They closed just as the army crested the hill and started to make their final approach towards the city.

The Demon King was instantly surrounded by retainers, and with a shout the crowds split and he and his men moved on towards the castle. They likely had much planning to do. The guards pulled me along in tow, but the agitated and fearful crowds closed up faster than expected and my guardsmen were quickly cut off from the retinue following the Demon King.

They continued to pull me along by my chains, trying to keep a continuous separation between me and the panicked crowd as the pushed through. With demons running around desperately trying to find family and seek shelter, even the bulky demons who made up my guardsmen struggled to do this.

“It’s you!” A voice cried out as I was dragged on through the frantic crowd. “You’re the one who brought the humans upon us!”

It was a haggard looking woman with certain features that resembled a fish. She was pointing at me with webbed fingers and shrieking. Many people started turning towards me and the crowd of panicked onlookers started to turn around and whisper to each other. The guards held up their weapons immediately, forming a circle around me.

“That’s right, this is her fault!” A man with a snout shouted.

“It’s the monster’s whore! Burn her!”

“The Demon King has ordered you all to stand down. She is under his protection!” a guard bellowed back.

However, his voice quickly became lost in the shouting. The people of this city were already driven to the brink with fear, the normal fear they felt from the guards was lost in this moment. Something came flying past the guard and struck me in the temple. I fell to the side, the chains catching me before I landed on the ground.

More stuff was thrown, and the crowd started surging forward, pressing against the helpless guardsmen. One of them swung a blade, cutting down a shifty looking man. This seemed to be the catalyst, and with that the guards became overwhelmed. A surge of flesh shoved through the remaining guards, grabbing towards my body with a more violent purpose this time.

Of course, they didn’t know. How could they? As soon as a hand grabbed on to me, I released the power I had been holding on to. There were three men who had grabbed me first, including one of the guards which had fallen back and grabbed me inadvertently as he stumbled. Their bodies stiffened and their eyes seemed to dilate. Their jaws went slack, and all thought seemed to leave their brains.

More grabbed at me. I was being scratched and torn, some of the grips were very hard, the force of a demon behind those hands. However, I waited for more to grab on. When I felt like my body would be ripped apart, I released the power again. It was six this time.

This crowd which numbered well over a hundred hadn’t caught on to what was happening. In their anger, they pushed aside the men who had gone limp, leaping at me with their anger and hatred. When nearly half of the crowd had turned, that was when some started to notice the trend.

“Wh-what is this bastard doing?” Someone shouted.

The crowd broke up and separated in a circle around me. I slowly stood up. My dress had been ripped in a dozen places. Blood dripped from the corner of my mouth. I had earned several new cuts and gashes that would likely scar. However, I gave the crowd my best smile. I didn’t know it, but that smile had turned into something that chilled the bones of even the heartiest demons.

Half of the crowd looked down on me with fear and hate. The other half looked on with slack-jawed looks of adoration. To those that had gone slack-jawed, a few in the crowd snapped their fingers and tried to bring their loved ones back, but no matter what they did, the people I had touched continued to have eyes only for me. There was no coming back from that.

“My loves…” I spoke up. “Capture them all, bring them to me.”

The crowd broke into chaos as the affected suddenly turned on the rest, grabbing and dragging the closest people over to me, forcing their skin against mine. Although there was nothing to say that one demon was stronger than another, the demon’s that fell under my command would complete any action, even if it cost them their lives. They would carry their commands absolutely. They would die for me. And so, no normal demon could resist.

I changed more of them. At some point, a key was found and I was freed from my shackles. Within twenty minutes, everyone in the vicinity had been converted. A few had escaped, but they likely didn’t understand what was happening. There was a statue of the Demon King in the center of the square. I headed towards it while passing through my crowd of loyal followers. Every eye was on me, waiting for my next command.

I sat up on the statue’s base, which put me up higher than anyone else, taking the pedestal like a queen taking her throne.

“Commands… mistress.” The person who asked was one of the guards who had previously been my escort.

“Recruit. Bring me more. Women, men, children. They will all fight for me. Break into homes, drag them all out. Bring them to me. Build me my army!”

There was a shout, and immediately, the group of a hundred followers moved off, kicking down doors and breaking into the nearby buildings, effectively ransacking their own city.

“The Demon King will fight back…” the guard remained by my side as we watched my army break into the nearest buildings and drag out the demons nearby.

“The Demon King has his army. I have mine. Which of these four armies will win? I wonder…”

“Mistress?”

The first of the newly captured demons were dragged to my feet. It was a young blue skinned woman who was holding tightly to a child no older than six.

“Please… let us go.” The woman was openly crying.

“The demon king thinks that there will be a river of blood at my feet by the time this is all over.” I stated nonchalantly as I approached them. “But he’s wrong.”

The woman shook as she looked up at me. I reached down and touched her forehead with a finger, releasing the magic. The fear dissipated and the only thing left in her eyes was adoration. Her hands dropped, freeing the child of her grip.

“Mom? Mom?” The child looked up and tried to get her mom’s attention and failed.

I moved down to my knee, and then put a hand on the boy’s shoulder as he glared up at his mother who was now ignoring him.

“By the time I’m done, the blood will be an ocean.” I released my power.

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After the cat boy pulls his pants back up, you follow him with a glower on your face as he leads you over to where his sick “little sister” is. You have high hopes for her, since he turned out to be such a disappointment. The result?

“Cough, Cough, big brother?”

A little girl was in a small room on a small bed. The bed was in rags, and so was the girl. This was barely a step above living in a cardboard box. Worst, the little girl was too little. She looked to only be about ten. This was far too young. It leads you into some dangerous territory here.

Still, the look on all of your girls’ faces, well, not the quadruplets, they still had dead eyes you’d need to fix at some point, but the other girls, you knew that if you didn’t help this girl they’d think less of you. You put on a show of healing her, ready to just get this over with as quickly as possible.

“Th-thank you… you saved my brother and I. You’re our savior.” The sickly girl put on a smile after you were done.

The color was returning to her face and she was already looking like she had energy again.

“Yes, thank you!” The boy bows once, keeping his head down.

You give a sigh and nod, “Well, if you don’t mind, we’ll be on our way. I’m looking for a new house for my ha-, er… my household. I need a place with a lot of space.”

“Oh! If that’s true, I know a place!” the cat boy spoke up excitedly.

The place he spoke of was a mansion on the outside of town. There was a lot of land involved. It used to be owned by a lord. However, apparently the man was a summoner, and there was some things about the place being haunted that you really didn’t pay attention to. Well, it’s not like if ghosts really did exist you couldn’t get rid of them quickly.

Going to some firm and actually buying the place seems like a hassle, so you cast a spell that does the work for you. Magic is nice. You go ahead and send the four sisters ahead to clean the place. With some magical motivation, they don’t even make a sound as they take off. You could do it all with magic, but you wanted you maids to have to work for their place.

When you’re done with that, you return to the room, ready to take your girls off on another adventure.

“There is good news, hero!” Ariel runs up and grabs your own. “Jasmine here was just telling us that she can cook!”

“The little girl’s name is Jasmine?” You cringe.

“Ah, yes!

“Hmm… and what’s the brother’s name?”

“My name is Elena!”

“What? Isn’t that just a girl’s name!” You tsukkomi.

“That’s the name I was born with!” He shot back.

“Well, you were born with a girl’s name!”

The pair of you stare daggers at each other while Jasmine watches curiously and then snaps her fingers. “Does that mean Savior is in love with Brother Elena!”

“The hell I am!” You snap.

“What is sister saying!” Elena cries, a blush forming on his cheeks.

“It’s just that you guys fight like mom and dad used to, before. They’d go to their rooms after and then we’d hear this and that, remember Elena?”

Elena exploded in red at her explanation, you just shook your head in annoyance.

“Look, I got five beautiful girls here, if I was going to do this and that, I could do it with them. Or my maids. I don’t need some thieving streetrat, even if he does look like an adorable catgirl.” You explain.

Jasmine nods her head. “Ah, so it’s the catgirl you want to try, does that mean Savior will be having me?”

She said it in a surprisingly seductive voice.

“Sister!” Elena tried to admonish her.

“Eh, I’m not a pedo!” you snap.

Jasmine nods, “Then, I’m no good, it must be brother. Everyone out, brother must give his all for my Savior.”

“What is sister saying!”

“I can’t even tell if you’re joking,” you shake your head. “But let’s just finish this at the mansion, I’m getting hungry.”

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Just a Guy in Space

Chapter 16

“He wants what?”

“You read that report right Lieutenant.”

“How is he even… Does that…”

Lieutenant Xar’usk was rubbing his forearms together, a sure sign of perplexity in the Kmigar. His voice trailed off, mandibles clicking distractedly as he imagined why Human could require something like that.

“Captain, I need to check our stores. I think I have something that fits the description but not the species, if you know what I mean.”

“No, I don’t know what you mean Lieutenant.”

Xar’usk clicked his mandibles in reprimand. Never one to have a laugh, this captain. “I mean to say, the material is certainly tear-resistant but it was not adapted for use by Human. I need to contact Major Nimson. I will report back on the success of my endeavour.”

Xar’usk cut the comm off before he could hear the Captain’s customary gripe about her fellow Agaraxian. Why does Human even need this suit? It’s not like he’s going to go into combat… Unless… this has to do with the lieutenant’s condition. Tear-resistant would fit given her tendency to resort to clawing in moments of high stress.

Xar’usk camly brought up the specs of what he had in mind while also checking the ship stores for any spare suit. His thin, nimble hands manipulated two consoles at once, compound eyes focused on each at the same time. Multi-tasking was rarely a skill neglected by the curious Kmigar and made them highly efficient.

There it is; nanomesh exosuit innerwear. Displays all the characteristics that Human requires. A bit of overkill for his use but it’s the best I have on short notice. He glanced at the wall chronometer. Roughly four cycles had passed since the onset of Lieutenant Sil Nubo’s mating frenzy. I should be getting some good data. I can’t wait to cut Human up and see what’s inside him.

A comm chime brought him back from fantasies of dissections and strange xenos species. Major Nimson was hailing.

“Salutations Major Nimson. I see you got my message. You must have queries.”

“You’re right I do. Why in the name of The Nine do you need a discarded exo-in? I’m not complaining but it’s a damn strange request.”

“Oh no, it’s not for me. You remember Human? The guest we picked up a while ago? It’s for him.”

“Human? That scrawny thing isn’t going to fit in that, you know that. Besides, why does he need a combat-grade innerwear and why are we giving it to him? Why do you need a damaged one? Does he not have genitals in the normal places? I mean, that hole is pretty big and I’m sure making a new one is more viable than fixing a broken one.”

“Questions, so many questions! Major if the Captain hasn’t told you, then you may consider this matter need-to-know only. It is quite sensitive information that I cannot tell you right now. Perhaps when some time passes we can meet at the Commons and discuss this most… strange being we have picked up,” Xar’usk chittered. “In the meantime, would you be so kind as to send me the exo-in at the soonest so I may get on with my task?”

“Sure, sure. But I expect some answers from you Xar’usk. You’ll not ply me with sweet shollom and make me forget the matter. And tell your captain I don’t appreciate being kept out of the loop. If there’s a situation that needs combat-grade ordinance, then I should be made aware too,” Nimson grumbled.

“I’ll be waiting for your package then,” Xar’usk briskly said, cutting off the comm. Major Nimson did tend to get long-winded when it came to Captain Echina. Must be that Rinvi-Umdyn clan rivalry.

Xar’usk busied himself with the innerwear’s requested design, putting the measurements in the military-grade dispenser’s synthesis matrix. He was clicking his mandibles idly in what humans would equate to a sing-song manner when AI informed him that Ensign Vytrikx was approaching with his package.

“Ah, excellent. Let me see,” he said, holding the battered innerwear up. It was ripped and had holes in many places. There was a huge gash at the crotch level, courtesy of those pesky Almikue eater-plants. Xar’usk silently mourned the departed members of the security team. He then stuffed the nanomesh mess into the dispenser input rack. His eight fingers flew across the command console and the machine swiftly prepared Human’s required apparel.

Xar’usk was still hammering away on the console, analysing the data from the most recent coupling of Lieutenant Sil Nubo and Human. It was fascinating, so fascintating! The hormonal changes in the Lieutenant were nothing short of astounding. Her whole system was going into overdrive, which would explain her insistence with Human. His genetic material – stored in spermatozoa – consisted of twenty three chromosomes but they seemed… incomplete.

Xar’usk was puzzled. What manner of reproductive system was this? Was Human similar to the Aellag? Did he have to undergo binary fission to produce offspring? No, no that wasn’t possible, his entire physiology was ill-suited for such a thing.

So many questions, so little time. I could solve all this by cutting him up, but noooo. We can’t damage the Captain’s precious debriefing specimen. Xar’usk clicked his mandibles in frustration until AI signalled him that the modified nanomesh innerwear was ready. I should go deliver it in person. It’ll make for a nice change and maybe I can observe the mating in closer details. Scans probably missed minute details.

* * *

And so it was that Lieutenant Xar’usk found himself outside a diplomatic cabin listening to what appeared, to the casual listener, to be a life and death fight. He could hear the lieutenant’s shrill screeches and occasional hisses and yowls, followed almost immediately by Human’s screams. He sometimes sounded in pain, sometimes not. It was a mixed blessing that they didn’t have any other ambassadors on board. They’d surely have complained about the noise.

He was undecided. Should he just drop the package off and go? Leave without even attempting to investigate the curious mating ritual? As a being of science, he could not condone that! But the sounds were turning more bestial, more brutal even and he wasn’t sure he wanted to put himself in there with those two.

In the end curiosity won and he entered his security override on the wall panel, entered the cabin and witness chaos.

* * *

The entire cabin was trashed. The desk was laden with scratches and the sparse furniture was thrown haphazardly all around the room. There were patches of wet material of various sizes all over the walls and the soft synthmoss carpet. Xar’usk gingerly stepped in and waited for his hosts to acknowledge him.

It didn’t work.

Lieutenant Sil Nubo – usually so reserved (at least in his eyes), enthusiastic only at the prospect of dissections – was now like a primordial she-beasts from the annals of the Dintph history holos. Human was fighting her off valiantly, holding her arms behind her back and screaming as she savagely bit his shoulder. His hips wouldn’t stop moving though. A muscular spasm perhaps? Xar’usk could not understand it. Was this bizarre scene a pre-mating ritual?

He held up the suit and waited. He waited a long time. The human had thrown the diminutive Dintph on his bed and was once again assaulting her with his hips. This continued until they both screamed very loudly then lay still. The suit was still held up for display in his hands.

Lieutenant Sil Nubo rolled off and appeared to have almost immediately fallen asleep while Human got off and ran to the lavatory. The sound of dry heaving filled the air. Must be the side effects. How fascinating. Did they finish mating? I couldn’t see properly. Next time I’ll bring a holocorder.

Xar’usk idly noted the blood splashed all over the bed and most of the walls. It had ended on the ceiling too. He clicked his mandibles in appreciation. Few species truly understood the notion of bloodletting but it seems that Human was a true artist. He would have to meet him in a more private setting and discuss the various cuts he enjoyed. Maybe they were kindred spirits?

Human returned, looking quite haggard since the last time he’d seen him. There were deep bags under his eyes, scratches everywhere with rivulets of blood running down his arms, back and chest. He could also see myriad bite marks all over Human’s dirty, sticky-looking body. His mandibles clicked in appreciation. He didn’t know Lieutenant Sil Nubo would be so territorial, marking her mate like that. He must have just mated, Xar’usk realised. His data on humans suggested they would not release this amount of fluids under normal circumstances.

Human still did not acknowledge him. He staggered to the dispenser, grabbed a medical gel patch and carefully applied it to his crotch. He immediately sighed in contentment and set about to apply more patches on his sorry-looking body. He then grabbed a container, drained its contents into his mouth and sharply exhaled. When he turned around still holding the container and saw Xar’usk, his eyes widened and he froze.

“When the fuck did you get here?”

* * *

Xar’usk underestimated how vigorous the Lieutenant could be while mating; Human was entirely drained and lifeless when he was done. His body was covered in patches and he still winced from remnant pain. He had righted the ambassador-standard gel-chair and was sprawled on it, sipping an exotic-smelling brown drink. A vial of Coxizu virility serum was clutched in one hand.

Mandibles clicking in disapproval, Xar’usk explained how he had refitted a nanomesh exosuit innerwear for Human’s uses. The nanomesh fitted him perfectly, covering his body from ankles to wrists and collarbone. A dull mixture of grey and black reinforced threads with smooth patches at the joints to allow for easy movement, the exosuit innerwear was worn under the combat armor the Agaraxian Ground Forces routinely used. Xar’usk now understood why Human needed this kind of protection after witnessing the almost barbaric nature of their coupling.

“Does it match what you imagined?”

Human stood up, stretching and checking the range of motion. Quite a sensible fellow. He bent down, touching his toes, got back up and bent backwards, eliciting a curious crack. It seemed to come from his back.

“Yeah, it’s great. And you’re sure this will protect me from Sil’s nails?”

“Of course. This is military-grade material we’re talking about here. It should withstand anything short of a Chachiss scythe-hand and we’re not likely to find that here, are we?” His mandibles clicked in good humour.

“Great, great.” Human put a hand between his legs, adjusting his reproductive organ. The nanomesh sported a huge open hole where his crotch was. He now understood that this was meant to allow his reproductive organ to have contact with the Lieutenant. There was a curious sack dangling underneath his organ. When asked, Human only said it was his family’s heirloom. So many mysteries.

“So you didn’t get any trouble from the captain? I mean, you just said this is military-grade stuff. I wouldn’t normally give that to a civilian, let alone an alien who basically hitch-hiked his way onto your ship.”

“It was no problem. I was able to acquire a damaged nanomesh and fix it to your specifications. It was going to be recycled anyway, so giving it to you was not difficult.”

“Cool. So listen, I know you’ve got tons of questions but I’ve been timing how long she sleeps between bouts and I can tell you she’s gonna wake up soon. I don’t have much time so if you have anything important to ask, now is the time.”

Human wasn’t lying, he could see the lieutenant stir on top of the bed, tail randomly lashing left and right. At the moment though, he couldn’t think of any of the questions he had over the course of his analysis.

“Can I watch?” he blurted out.

Human arched an eyebrow (Such delicate muscle control!) and leaned back on his gel-chair. “Mate, that’s something you only ask when you’re good friends with the parties involved.”

“Apologies, I didn’t mean to overstep.”

“Nah, it’s cool. I get why you want to do that. I’d be curious too,” he said, widening his lips and displaying his front teeth. A curious action. He’d have to ask about that too. He glanced behind him, saw his partner stir awake and got up.

“Well, thanks a lot for this suit. If it works as advertised, this mating frenzy business will be a breeze!”

“Glad to help. You will keep me informed as usual?” Xar’usk asked with a hopeful click of his mandibles.

“Sure man. All for science, right?” He turned back, grabbing the vial of virility serum. “Off you go now, I have things to do. Dragons to slay.”

A curious turn of phrase to be sure but Xar’usk did not want to overstay his welcome. He was about to exit the cabin when he turned and had a final look.

Lieutenant Sil Nubo had eyes only for Human and was on her haunches, looking like a predator about to pounce. Human put the vial to his neck and pressed the release trigger. After a short hiss, he threw it away in a corner of the cabin.

“Let’s see how you like a fair fight, bitch!”

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Just a Guy in Space

Chapter 15

“Query. The human Gustavo Martinez has sent you another message. Would you like to hear it?”

“Go ahead.”

“He says ‘I don’t got this.’ Do you require clarification?”

“No. He’s probably done something really stupid and is regretting his decision.”

* * *

Gus’ solution to the scratching problem was doggy style. It sounded quite simple but was surprisingly effective. He could plough Sil with reckless abandon while controlling her hands and avoid the deadly nails she sported. As an added bonus she seemed to really like this position. It was quite pleasant and hearing Sil yowl and moan like a mixture of a woman and a cat was very enjoyable. However Man proposes and God disposes. Sil freed herself of his embrace and returned to her bite-happy, scratch-heavy, I’m-going-to-eat-you tendencies.

This time however, armed with adrenaline and the coxizu virility serum, Gus was able to keep up with the fierce Dintph. His balls and dick still hurt something fierce but by God he was able to keep up! This session lasted as long as the previous one but there was none of that disappointment bullshit.

As usual, Sil fell asleep as soon as she had her fill and Gus was left to treat his wounds and bruises in relative peace and silence. He got a quick meal of the same nutrient paste he’d previously been eating and settled himself next to Sil, enjoying the feel of the body against his. She felt so good against him like… like…

Gus frowned. She felt awful. Her fur was sticky with sweat and she smelled like a gymbro right after chest day. He hadn’t realised (or rather he’d rationalised everything he felt) that hours of sex with no shower wasn’t going to win them any cleanliness prizes. He rolled off and hopped into the sonic shower. That, however, did nothing to remove the smell so he settled for sprawling on the gel-chair and getting a quick nap away from the cesspool of odours, sweat and dried juices that was Sil.

He awoke to the insistent ministrations of Sil already trying to mount him. He didn’t want the comfortable chair to get dirty so he picked her up and went back to bed. Thus ensued a few odd hours of happy, violent, life-threatening sex. He ate, slept again, got another shot of that virility serum and got abused by Sil like clockwork. He decided Van had been pulling his leg about those side effects until he started puking uncontrollably mid-coitus.

The stream of vomit hit Sil’s back who only glanced back, frowned and continued backing dat ass up. He lost his grip on her hips as his stomach kept clenching and tried (in vain one might add) to roll off the bed and into the lavatory. Turns out Dintphs don’t give two fucks about a silly thing like vomit. Sil growled angrily, stalked him into the lavatory and mounted him right then and there.

Needless to say, additional hours of painful, dirty (so dirty and not in a kinky way) and generally uncomfortable sex exhausted our poor human’s reserves, who collapsed. Gus opened his eyes to the sight of a reeking Sil sleeping on top of him, his now soft cock still partially inside her pussy.

Oh God, the smell is killing me.

He dragged her to the sonic shower, cleaned them both up, grabbed the stained sheets on the bed and balled them up. Van informed him that a compartment could open up in the wall that acted as a debris chute for any garbage he might have. Gus gladly dropped his bundle of vomit down the hatch and watched in amazement as the bed spontaneously grew a second sheet.

“Huh… I guess I’ll never have to worry about fitted sheets versus normal sheets ever again.”

“Warning. Side effects from Coxizu virility serum are surfacing. Violent nausea detected. Should the medical bay be alerted?”

“Nah, thanks Van. I’ll take my chances here. I don’t want to leave Sil alone. Something’s telling me I’ll wake up missing something important if I do that.” He grimaced as he applied yet another medical gel patch to his bruised skin. “Say Van, how long does the mating frenzy of a Dintph generally last? It’s been what, almost a day? And we’ve done nothing but have sex, sleep and eat.”

“Confirmation. While the length of the mating period varies, it is ends consistently within eight Earth cycles. Several factors affect the duration of the frenzy; desirability of the partner, hormone levels, ovulation, ambient temperature, availability of nutrients to name just a few. Would you like the complete list of variables?”

‘No thanks, that’s not necessary. So basically what you’re saying is that it’s gonna end when it ends.”

“Confirmation. An accurate statement.”

“Is there any way to cheat? I wanted to get laid but this is getting to be detrimental to my health, mental and otherwise…”

“Denial. There is no known way to ‘cheat’ out of such a situation.”

“Dammit…”

Another bout of stomach-emptying puking interrupted his thoughts and he hastily went to worship the Porcelain Goddess. He idly noted between each puke that the toilet wasn’t actually made of porcelain and that for some reason it looked strangely similar to toilets found on Earth.

“Van, can you connect me to Xar’usk please? I need to ask him something.”

“Confirmation. Pinging Lieutenant Xar’usk. Stand by for communication.”

A chime echoed in the cabin, followed by some clicking and Xar’usk’s voice.

“Ah, Human, how good of you to contact me! I have so many questions I need answered. I imagine you do too.”

Gus frowned. How come the translation sounds like Xar’usk? If Van’s the one doing it, then shouldn’t it sound like a computer-generated voice or something? Gotta ask her about it. “Hi Xar, I’m in a bit of a bind. So you know the whole mating frenzy thing Sil’s got going, right? Do you know of a way to end it early?”

“I see, yes, based on these readings it seems you’re going through a bit of a *click* rough patch.” He didn’t seem to mind Gus shortening his name. He sounded quite excited actually. “I assume that the lieutenant has been most *click* insistent in her haste to procreate.”

“Yeah, insistent is hardly the word I’d use. Anyway, do you know of anything that can stop that frenzy or attenuate it?”

“AI has informed me that you’ve taken several doses of the Coxizu virility serum. Is that accurate?” He didn’t wait for Gus to answer. “That is not good, not good at all. You see, the virility serum works differently for different species and while you haven’t suffered some of the more debilitating side effects, there is an interesting interaction happening between the serum and your unique biology.”

“This doesn’t sound good at all. Care to explain?”

“Yes of course. You see, you release quite potent pheromones when you – what’s the word? Ejaculate? Yes, when you ejaculate. This is how it all started, driving Lieutenant Sil Nubo into her mating period. I have several theories as to why she is so *click* driven, one of which being that whenever you ejaculate, you release those very same hormones which are extending the lieutenant’s mating period. May I suggest that you … not ejaculate during coitus?”

“That’s really helpful Xar. Thanks a bunch. I might as well cut my dick and give it to Sil because that seems to be the only viable option left to me.” Gus heaved a long sigh. “I never imagined sex would be so harrowing.”

And it was a harrowing experience. He didn’t deny that he was enjoying himself immensely; Sil was responsive, aggressive, vocal and uninhibited. He doubted he could find a human woman who would act like her. The downside was that she was aggressive, vocal and uninhibited. She would sometimes scream into his ear, bite or scratch a bit too hard and would just not stop. He has massive bruises on his hips and cock and long scabbed scratch marks all over his back. His frequent use of that serum was coming back to bite him in the ass. The side effects now included long migraines that would only abate if he took the pain blocker the captain had authorised Van to synthesise.

I guess it wasn’t really a good idea to push Sil into estrus. I am slightly regretting this decision. On the other hand, she’s reeeeeally wild in bed. Gus pondered his options for a while before he had a Eureka moment.

“Hey, are you still there?”

“I am.”

“What if we sedate her? So we mate, she falls asleep, I sedate her and time passes until she’s no longer in the frenzy. How does that sound?”

“I wouldn’t recommend it. There are known complications to prematurely ending a mating frenzy, none of which are pleasant.”

“Dammit, there goes my best idea… Alright, thanks for the talk, man. I appreciate it. I’m out.”

“Yes, do contact me if you have additional data.”

The comm cut off and left Gus with a still snoring Sil in the background. He suddenly felt very alone.

* * *

It was in the middle of yet another violent romp that Gus found the perfect idea. Sil was busy gnawing on his left ear. Her lags were wrapped around his waist with her arms hugging him tight and to be honest he couldn’t really complain about how that made him feel. It was one of the slowest, most gentle copulations they’d had since her mating frenzy overwhelmed her. Well, gentle is a relative word. He too was hugging her tightly to his body in an effort to maintain a semblance of control over her.

The smell of their sweat was heavy in the air; her skin tasted of salt and a curious something else he couldn’t identify. He grabbed her hair and pulled her head back roughly, licking her throat and endeavouring to give her yet another hicky.

I got it. A suit. Like the exofilm clothes I wear with the exosuit. Ideally something with high tensile strength that won’t rip after being manhandle – or cathandled. Gus chuckled. All I need is for it to cover most of my body, with an opening for my dick. Some sort of shock-absorbing material would be the best. Let’s see if the captain will approve of that.

He leaned back, shifting to cowgirl started pounding Sil’s tight snatch with all he had. She enjoyed the rough treatment and was less likely to get aggressive when Gus took the initiative. His left hand shot up to grab her by the back of her neck and pulled her to him. She was leaning over him now with her ass up in the air. His right hand rested on the small of her back and pushed her hips down into his own as best he could.

“Van, can you ask the captain if it’s possible to get a custom-made exofilm clothing that’s resistant to tearing, can breathe and has an opening for my dick? I think it’s essential for my continued survival and if they can get more of their ‘valuable’ data with a little field testing. I hardly think I’m the first guy to try and bone above his weight class.”

“Confirmation. Sending the captain a request. Query. Weight class is a fighting sports terminology that refers to weight classification. Why are you using it in this context?”

Gus was actively slamming his hip into Sil. “I’m kinda busy here Van! I’ll be happy to answer your questions at a later date if you don’t mind!” More wet, sloppy hip slamming coupled with Sil’s ever-present moaning/mewling. “I gotta get this done first!”

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Just a Guy in Space

Chapter 14

I’m going to die.

It was several hours after their first romp that Sil released Gus’ quivering body and went to sleep. She was quite literally an animal in bed. He was scratched, bitten, clawed at more times than he ever been in the span of just a few hours. He had completely lost track of time and he could feel his head spin from the dehydration and malnutrition. His cock was painfully sensitive and he could feel agony every time the head brushed against his inner hip.

“Van, can you make me some coffee and a chocolate coconut-sprinkled doughnut please?” he groggily asked. “I don’t think I can get up to that dispenser.”

He gingerly rolled off his bed and headed towards the sonic shower as Van made him breakfast. The sonic barely soothed him, aggravating the scabbed and still dripping trails on his back. He gritted his teeth and bore it for the full thirty seconds before groping around for a fresh change of clothes. Under his instructions, Van had made a few T-shirts and shorts for his use in the cabin. He took his food, heavily sat down on the ball-seat and started eating like a starving wolf.

“Van, can I ask you a question?” he asked after the fourth doughnut.

“Affirmation. Go ahead Gustavo Martinez.”

“How come Sil’s speaking all funny now? Does that come with her being in heat?”

“Affirmation. When a Dintph goes through a mating frenzy, they generally tend to revert to a more animalistic version of themselves. This includes temporary loss of syntax, social inhibitions and greater aggressivity in the pursuit of their goals. In this case, mating with you.”

“Fuck. Do you think I can get her to tone down the scratching? My back is killing me…”

“Query. You appear to be in good health baring the minor scratches. What is causing your health to decline until death?”

He sighed. “Figure of speech, Van, figure of speech. I really need to get started on integrating human speech patterns into your translation vocabulary. Regardless, how do I get her to stop? I mean, don’t get me wrong, it’s a huge turn on seeing her lose control over my dick like that, but I don’t want to die because she bit or scratched a vital part of Gus.”

“Confirmation. It is possible to get Lieutenant Sil Nubo to stop her current behaviour. There are two ways of achieving this. Which would you like to hear? The slow version? The fast version?”

“Let’s go with slow first, then fast.”

“Affirmation. In the past when Dintphs in the throes of a mating frenzy turned violent, it was customary to bind them to prevent damage to both themselves and their partners. While this practice has slowly been phased out, it is still a viable option. Confirmation. It is considered shameful for a Dintph to be so restrained. In their society this means that they are reverting back to an animal and are no longer civilised.”

“I’m not gonna lie, that sounds really kinky and all but I don’t know how to do any of that SM shibari shit. What’s the fast one?”

“Confirmation. The quickest way to resolve the issue of violence during mating is to impregnate Lieutenant Sil Nubo.”

Silence.

“You mean…”

Whoa… Everything I know about human biology is telling me I should never, ever do that, no matter what the occasion because getting someone pregnant is gonna fuck your life up.

Gus had a very skewed view of relationships given that he’d never been in one before and had read many accounts of relationships going sour at the drop of a hat. There were as many stories of people splitting up or ruining their lives because of unwanted pregnancies.

“Uh, Van, I don’t know how it works here in space, but back on Earth, you don’t just knock someone up and go about your merry way.”

“Query. Is ‘knock someone up’ another figure of speech?”

“Yeah, it means to impregnate.”

Gus sat still and allowed his thoughts to wander. He saw scenes of him and Sil laughing together, holding a small, squirming bundle of arms and fur. Other scenes of Sil rubbing a bulging belly and gazing at him with warmth. Dammit Van, putting these thoughts in my head! He definitely wasn’t ready to get hitched or be a father and he didn’t want to compromise his harem-building plans. He’d been discretely trying to sow the seeds of that plan ever since Sil first talked to him.

He was brought back to reality by the now aching bruises he had on his whole body and the stinging of the scratches Sil had so graciously gifted him. “Van, is there any way to treat my body? I mean, I definitely need some medical attention after getting used like that.” And used was the proper word. Sil had been particularly relentless and focused in her pursuit of happiness. He glanced at her sleeping form.

She was still naked and caked in their fluids, fur sticking out at random angles. She was spread-eagled all over the bed, snoring a bit. Contrary to belief it was not a cute sound at all but since it didn’t really bother him, he didn’t do anything about it. Her still form belied the savagery lying underneath her skin. He grinned as he recalled a few of the things she’d done to him. Man, cat in the ship halls, tiger in the diplomatic sheets.

“Affirmation. Your wounds and abrasions can be treated using standard medical gel patch. Should you have need of it, it can be made using the dispenser. Special permission has been granted by the captain for the production of class 3 restricted materials during this time frame.”

Now I’m curious. Standard? Does that mean everyone gets access to them? No wait, Van said class 3 restricted. Isn’t that higher than coffee? Must be military-grade or something. Yeah, it makes sense. It would look bad if the first human “ambassador” died having sex with a crewmember. Awww… captain, did you finally go dere for me?

“Confirmation. The captain authorised the use of class 3 restricted material because having to answer questions about why that nine times damned human was walking to the medical bay would likely cause her a massive headache. Those are her own words.”

Guess there’s no dere in space.

‘Fine, fine. Can you make me some of that gel? I’d like to treat myself before she wakes up.”

“Affirmation. Cross-referencing human genome and physiological databases and ship medical databases. Calibrating synthesis matrix. Commencing medical gel patch synthesis. The medical gel patches will be ready in thirty four Earth minutes.”

“Thanks, Van.”

“You’re welcome.”

Gus started fidgeting nervously then stopped when the intense pain from his cock flared up.

“Goddamit!”

He decided to manspread as much as possible to avoid any contact with his own skin. Curiously, the gel-ball seat he had had an oddly soothing touch. He looked at Sil once more. She was very… enthusiastic. Too enthusiastic truth be told. He never thought a day would come when he’d say this, but she was asking for too much sex. He was unable to keep up. I seriously need to start hitting the gym. I wonder if the Captain can hook me up. And I need to check Van’s databases for information from Earth. Sil groaned, a hand idly clawing through the air, tail lashing hard against the bed. Dreaming?

He frowned, recalling some of her earlier griping about how he was taking too much time to fuck her. Being a young, hot-blooded man, he decided to do what any sane man would do in this situation: cheat.

“Hey Van, is there anything you can make me that will boost my libido to match Sil’s?”

“Query. What do you mean by ‘boost my libido’? More information is required.”

“Ok, so she can keep going for literally hours, but I can’t. Humans have this thing called the refractory period where it’s really hard or down right impossible to get an erection again after ejaculation. I bet you aliens have a convenient drug I can use to keep a long-lasting erection or to eliminate or reduce that refractory period. Can you think of anything like that?”

“Calculating. Several matches found. Reporting closest match. Coxizu virility serum. The coxizu have developed a serum that boosts production of genetic-forwarding material (in this case, sperm) and reinforces the genitals to ensure that copulation can last for extended periods of time. Effects vary according to species. Effects on human physiology unknown. Warning. It is not recommended for use.”

Leave it to the sex-loving Coxizu to think of something like that, Gus thought as he recalled his first partner’s irresistible body. “Is it a restricted material?”

“Confirmation. Virility serum is not restricted but its use is highly controversial due to both risks of medical complications and social stigma.”

“Fuck the social stigma. Tell me about the complications.”

“Affirmation. Complications include heart failure, liver failure, lung failure, renal failure, shortness of breath, light-headedness, nausea, temporary loss of hearing, temporary blindness, temporary skin lesions, sudden-onset reactive diseases and hunger. Side effects on humans are unknown.”

“Well, fuck. That’s just great. Either Sil fucks me to death or I take space Viagra and my heart gives out anyway. That’s fucking great, Van.”

“Query. My data suggests those outcomes are not favourable. Is there additional data that has been overlooked?”

“No Van, that was sarcasm. Try to look it up in your human database.”

He sighed and once more waited for the gel patches to pop out of the dispenser. His thoughts kept straying to the disappointed looks Sil had given him when she finally realised that poor Gustavo Martinez couldn’t keep up with the she-cat. It left an odd taste in his mouth. You know what, I can live with heart failure.

“Van, can you make one dose of that Coxizu virility serum? I’d also like you to report its use to the captain and assure her that I will be seeking medical help as soon as any side effects appear. Contact Lieutenant Xar from science as well and tell him I’ll have some interesting data for him soon.”

“Confirmation. Messages sent. Awaiting reply. Coxizu virility serum is under synthesis. Time to completion is one Earth hour and seventeen Earth minutes.”

“Cool… Thanks, girl.”

There was a slight pause. “Correction. AI is genderless and as such, should not be addressed as ‘girl’.”

“I don’t know, you sound like a girl. If you don’t like it I’ll stop.”

“Correction. AI does not feel and as such has no like or dislike regarding terminology.”

“Ok, I’ll keep it under wraps then.”

* * *

The medical gel felt like God himself was giving Gus a delicate tongue job as he slapped a patch on his battered skin and bruised balls. Well, more like softly and gingerly applied. He leaned back and moaned, nearly getting an erection as the patch worked its magic and soothed old and new hurts. Technology is an amazing thing.

He laid back into the gel-chair and dozed off. A chime woke him up with a start. He looked around and saw the dispenser’s blinking indicator. He got up, marvelling once again at the lack of pain and grabbed the serum. It was a tiny vial, no bigger than a double A battery with a soft trigger on one end and a sharp needle on the other.

“Warning. Effects of serum on human physiology unknown.”

He was about to reply when a yawn interrupted him. He looked back at the bed and saw Sil stretching languidly. The sensuous motion of her naked muscles and the musk he suddenly smelled caused his little willy to rank up to big willy. Sil blinked the last vestiges of sleep away from her eyes and hungrily stared at him from the bed. She got on all fours and turned away from him. She was half-kneeling, with her butt stuck high in the air, her tail moved to the side for easier access and her pussy was already starting to drip. The scent of her womanhood slowly filled the cabin. Gus deeply inhaled, feeling his meat torpedo reach launch density. Sil glanced back at him, ears cocked, with a coy smile and an eager look in her eyes.

Gus forgot all about the silly little side effects like pissing blood or puking himself out that Van had told him about and slammed the needle into his arm, injecting the serum in one go.

“Yeah, Van, don’t worry, I got this.”

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Edit: You guys didn’t get the promised chapter because I am both swamped with work and a lazy piece of shit.

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Just a Guy in Space

Chapter 13

Getting Sil to their cabin proved to be more difficult than expected. She wouldn’t let him go and would glare at anyone who even remotely got close to him. Gus finally lost his temper and tore her off him. All that did was turn that glare on him. She struggled quite hard to get back to hugging him and that’s when it hit him – he was actually considerably stronger than her. The delicate-looking felineperson in front of him was struggling quite hard but he seemed to be holding her literally at arm’s length with little effort. He decided that carrying her would solve both the clinginess and convenient travel problems.

So it was that the confused crewmembers of the Pride of Vanatu saw Gus casually strolling towards the diplomatic quarters with a rather content Dintph female on his shoulder in a fireman’s carry. He would never have been able to do that back on Earth with a human woman but in the Vanatu’s reduced gravity and Sil’s deceptively light frame it only constituted mild exercise.

Sil was trying to coil herself around his neck by the time he got to his cabin. Her hands were wrapped around the top of his head, partially obscuring his view and her legs were across his mouth and over his left shoulder. Thoroughly imbalanced, Gus had to slowly make his way to the bed where he irately threw his lovely companion.

She landed with a yelp and turned back to him with a hurt expression on her face.

“Ok Sil, we need some ground rules. I know you’re still in there and you’re listening, you just don’t care at the moment.”

Sil sprawled on the bed, buried her nose in the sheets and deeply inhaled.

Gus sighed. “Look Sil, I don’t want you to regret any of this when your… thing… is done. I’m trying to help you out here.” He sat on the bed and Sil immediately rolled towards him, settling her cute head on his thigh, left hand idly stroking his leg. “If you need anything, you need to let me know. I don’t actually know anything about Dintphs and there’s only so much AI can do, so I need your input.”

Sil kept staring at him with a goofy grin and slowly lifted her hand towards his face. It stayed suspended in mid-air, as if she had forgotten her original intent, then suddenly bopped him on the nose. What’s this cute creature? Fuck, I’m gonna lose it at this rate. She took this chance to bury her face in his crotch and circle his waist with both arms. He felt a certain part of his anatomy respond to the sudden warmth.

Gus gently stroked Sil’s ears and watched them twitch cutely. “Look Sil, this is serious stuff. I’ll understand if you want to do this with another Dintph. I really don-” he was interrupted when Sil suddenly lunged up, mouth open and small fangs bared.

It took him completely by surprise when her jaws clamped down on his shoulder. He yelped and fell backwards, dragged down by Sil’s weight and momentum. The pain was awfully distracting and he lost his current train of thought. Sil kept biting down, growling like crazy, tail erect and fur bristling.

Gus was on his back as Sil pulled back, saliva trailing from the viciously stinging bite wound on his shoulder. Sil’s green vertical irises were staring at him with the predatory glint a three hundred kilo man had when looking at an all you can eat buffet. “Don’t want else. Want you.” She bent down and gently licked the wound. “Human is best. Sil wants human.”

That effectively broke something inside Gus’ head. He grabbed the back of her head and brought her lips down on his and thoroughly kissed her. She stiffened for a only an instant before melting against him. His tongue began exploring her mouth and he felt her tentative attempts at reciprocation. One hand kept a tight grip on Sil’s head and the other crawled across her body to her pert butt.

The aggressive kissing continued for a few breaths until Gus yanked Sil’s head back and attacked her neck. She seemed to enjoy it given how much louder her purring got. His other hand was groping around, trying to find a seam to get rid of her uniform. His was still on his back and his underused muscles were already starting to ache. He released his deathgrip on Sil’s hair and roughly pushed her back. She recovered with a yelp and glared at him. He was too busy trying to rip his clothes off himself to notice though.

When he finally extricated himself from the mess of clothes he wore, he found that Sil had figured out what he’s been trying to do and got herself naked too. He took a moment to drink in the sight of her body. She stood at nearly the same height as him with those nice C-cups defying gravity (such as it was on this ship). Her smallish nipples were not quite erect. He looked at her taut, flat stomach, her shapely, fur-covered legs and her slender arms. Her cute triangular ears twitched once in a while as he inspected her. Her fur was orange with some white haphazardly streaked here and there. It covered her back, legs, arms, the back of her neck up to her hair. For some reason, her hair and fur had different feels. Her belly, the inside of her thighs, the inside of her forearms, palms and breasts were devoid of the orange, soft fur.

He decided not to wait any longer as the look in Sil’s eyes grew gradually more dangerous and intense. He grabbed her, pulled her close and kissed her again. Her hands shot up to his head and held the back of his neck and gripped his hair. He retaliated by stuffing his tongue roughly into her mouth and slowly moving his hands from the top of her shoulders to her lower back, taking care to caress the muscles on either side of her spine. She somehow managed to purr with his tongue shoved down her throat.

Gus had managed to blunder his way into pleasing Art’ah the first time he’d had sex but kissing was an entirely different story. He was just clumsily pressing his lips to Sil’s and putting his tongue into her mouth like he’d seen in porn. The fiction he’d read didn’t go in too much depth on the subject of kissing and he was woefully lacking in this department. In the meantime, his little soldier was standing at attention and by coincidence ended up between Sil’s legs. It pressed and rubbed against her opening and if he had the presence of mind to focus on the sensations, he would have felt Sil’s pussy convulsing occasionally as he mauled her open mouth.

Her fur was so soft under his hands that he couldn’t help but repeat his shoulder to butt movement several times. Her tail would occasionally hit his hands with all the coiling, uncoiling and lashing around it did. He decided to switch tactics. Sil’s hands were still holding his head to hers. A few stories said to move your tongue like you were trying to write a letter then stick to the letter that makes her go crazy.

By the time Gus got to ‘K’ his tongue was starting to flag with fatigue. Sil was getting more intense and a tad rougher too. He extricated himself from her hands, pinned them behind her back and kissed her neck. The hicky he left stood out quite obviously but he couldn’t care less at the moment. He shuffled closer to the bed, feeling the edge hit her shins then pushed her down.

He advanced, grabbed hold of her ankles and spread her legs wide open. He was standing at full mast, his cock hovering above her dripping entrance. He couldn’t see if she had a clitoris or anything similar due to the thick fur around her genitals but if her physiology was anything close to a cat’s that made sense; she wouldn’t need to be turned on because during estrus she would not be in a state other than horny.

I wonder how she tastes. He released her legs and bent down to kiss her right breast. She started mewling when he pulled her nipple into his mouth and sucked. It quickly expanded, growing larger with every passing second. He switched to the other breast and kneaded the wet nipple left behind. Sil started squirming under him, her hands around his neck, roving all over his back, sometimes gripping, sometimes scratching lightly.

After a while he decided to check out the goods down there. Her fur didn’t really taste like anything but her sweet honeypot was a very different story. She didn’t go crazy and start trashing the bed when he licked her, didn’t explode into a shower of wetness in his face, didn’t scream her ecstasy for everyone to hear. In fact she didn’t really change her behaviour. The occasional purring and squirming were all Gus had as a reward for going down on her. He theorised that while Sil was still highly aroused and felt good from his ministrations, she probably didn’t have the proper nerve endings that resulted in a human woman’s mind-blowing orgasms.

While giving her a good lick was enjoyable in and of itself, he decided he wanted to get to the “meat” of the matter. He adjusted his position and guided his cock to Sil’s pulsing entrance. He looked her in the eyes as he slowly pushed himself into her. She wasn’t that tight and her hole was well-lubricated from all the juices she was dripping all over his bed but as soon as he was fully inside her, she suddenly clenched and arched her back.

Gus nearly exploded inside her then and there. The pressure was incredible. He could see her abdominals contract, her hands clenching tight around those sheets, her eyes scrunched shut as he ruthlessly invaded her deepest spots. The pressure eased up as she relaxed a little. He seized this chance to press himself to her body in missionary. His arms held her tightly, going under her own to hold one shoulder with a hand and grip her hair with the other. She purred louder, head held back by his hand.

He started thrusting slowly, carefully at first, trying to get a feel for what Sil enjoyed best. He licked her ear, the side of her neck, her fur, her cheek, the corner of her eyes (though that one didn’t go as well as planned when she blinked and yelped when part of his tongue jabbed her eye). Her arms snaked around him, hugging him tight. He found a position that didn’t stress his arms and hips as much then went to town on her.

The thrusting caused Sil to switch from purring to full on caterwauling. He could feel her chest vibrate as her cries increased in volume. He was unfortunately unable to enjoy the feeling of her now stiff and engorged nipples pressing and rubbing against his own skin because of the concentration he had to maintain to prevent himself from coming. The pressure in her pussy was an intermittent thing, like a fist clenching and unclenching around his cock. He didn’t realise that it would happen more often when he hit what he later assumed was the back of her pussy.

Sil got rougher and louder the faster and widler Gus’ thrusts became until she started bucking underneath him and he had to pull her head all the way back to keep her top half steady. She started scratching him like crazy, each finger leaving blazing trails of agony on his back. He was too far gone to care about that though. As he felt himself approach the point of no return, he savagely bit her left shoulder in an imitation of what she did to him earlier. That caused her to scream and clench all the muscles in her body, arching her back and driving her fingernails deep into the meat of his back.

The sudden convulsion around his cock was too much for him as he felt all the sperm in his body well up from his balls and travel at light-speed towards the now blazing hot insides of Lieutenant Sil Nubo. He poured everything he had into her, holding nothing back, still thrusting and trying to get to the deepest parts of her pussy. When he finally collapsed on top of her, she was still clenched tightly around his now softening member.

He huffed into the bed, now feeling how his whole back was burning from Sil’s attention and how tired he felt from the exertion. He rolled off Sil’s heaving chest and tried to catch his breath.

“Fffffffffffffffffffffffuuuuuuuuuuck! That was so good Sil!”

Her only response was a content purr. He turned to his left, watching her dazed form. She slowly rolled into him, putting her head on top of his meagre chest, tail lazily coiling and uncoiling at his side.

“Chose well. Good mate,” she purred.

Hell yes! Score one for Gustavo Martinez!

“First time feeling this. Mother right,” she continued. “Incredible if good mate.” She slid on top of him and smiled wickedly, eyes still blazing with lust. “Human can still go.” Her tail softly stroked his spent member and she rocked her hips against his own.

“Come one Sil, I just finished. I need some rest,” Gus said, feeling a dangerous vibe from his newest partner.

The vibe was confirmed when she bared her fangs and hissed. “No waiting! Want more!” She turned around and gripped his already hardening member. Gus yelped as the sensitive head was forcibly shoved into Sil’s hot, moist opening. She squatted on top of him in cowgirl position and grinned madly.

“Want much more!”

I am so fucked.

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