New chapter:) Hope you like it, I tried to improve the grammar and sentences again after getting some advice to improve my english writing from a friend who lives in united kingdom. Please comment what you think about it. And because I was busy with finishing the Hero Pandemic chapter will the second chapter of Inma be released in a few days.
Parthios
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Just a Guy in Space
Chapter 21
The Engineering Bay was a disappointment: every tool was in its place, every workspace clearly defined, every project self-contained and everything looked sterile. What happened to the brilliant chaos? What about the quirky Head that enjoys throwing shit everywhere? What is this? Give me some goddamned tropes please, not this sterile hospital shit! Gus looked around for a while, trying to find someone free enough to help him out before giving up.
“AI, where do I find the guy I need to speak to?”
“Query. Who do you need to speak to?”
“The head of the Engineering department. I don’t remember his name.”
“Calculating. There is a zero percent chance that Lieutenant Trando Uvisulim is in the Engineering bay.”
“Thanks, that’s really helpful.”
“You’re welcome.”
“I really need to show you how sarcasm works.”
Gus scanned the bay once again. In retrospect, maybe running an engineering bay full of dangerous experimental materials and prototypes this clinical way was actually a good thing. I mean, no chance of a catastrophic reactor breakdown if everything is by the books I suppose. Kinda boring though. Gus remembered his own workbench back at the lab had been far more cluttered. Granted, he could always find what he needed but he was the only one who could decipher where each individual component was.
He flagged someone down and questioned him about that Trando’s whereabouts.
“Oh, the Lieutenant’s probably calibrating the reactors. He loves calibrations, that man.”
“Uh, okay, sure. How do I get to the reactors?”
“You don’t. You need a level five clearance for that and you’re definitely not on the list. Just wait there, in that corner over there,” he said, pointing to an empty workstation.
“Can I log onto the ship subsystems from there? I don’t want to waste time just sitting there and since I’m here to improve my vacsuit, I thought I’d get started on that.”
“Sounds like a wise idea. I’ll unlock that station. You can speak to AI to link it to your datapad.”
“Thanks man.”
The Agaraxian lead him to the station, fiddled with the holoscreen then went back to his beautifully intricate work. He seemed like he was working on some sort of wire mesh – reactor hybrid thing. Who am I kidding? I have no idea what he’s doing, but it looks cool. Like jewellery. For a reactor core.
He turned to his holoscreen and asked Van to link his datapad database to that station. He awkwardly cracked his fingers through the suit and leaned forward.
“Let’s get this party started.”
* * *
The Pride of Vanatu was nominally a scout ship but boasted state of the art facilities and equipment according to Van. All of that meant that it was vastly more advanced than anything Gus had ever encountered. It had taken him hours of slogging through text just to be able to use his datapad with a modicum of success. This beast in front of him was different. Waaaay different.
Gus was losing his mind going over the necessary steps to properly access the Frame Management Simulation Program. He finally gave up and asked that good Samaritan from before to help him out. All it took was some fiddling with the console and a flick of his wrist to access the FMSP. Gus was mortified and resolved to become at the very least competent in the use of this program.
Thanking the guy profusely, he then set about to modifying his suit. The FMSP was surprisingly similar to the unit upgrade interface from those 4X games he played before. It was a tad more complicated than that, but hey, whatever works. Unfortunately, Gus had no idea what any of the materials or upgrades listed actually did and what their properties were. It was with a heavy heart that he sighed and slumped in his seat.
He didn’t know how long his head was on the desk but he certainly felt the huge weight on his shoulder shake him awake. He blinked sleepy eyes and turned around awkwardly in his vacsuit. At first he thought he was dreaming. Then reality set in and he looked up. And up. And up.
The newcomer was to a mountain what a toy plane was to a jumbo jet. He … she… it? He hada craggy exterior similar to the rocky face of a mountain. Irregular protrusions peppered his huge arms and chest. He was humanoid in shape with no neck whatsoever that Gus could see. One of his huge hands was currently on Gus’ shoulder. How did I not end up squished when he touched me? He looked about two to two and a half meters tall and Gus’ neck was starting to hurt just looking up. He got up, turned around once more and got a better look.
He looked like an anthropomorphic cliff suddenly sprouted limbs and started walking around. Size aside, the sheer density of him should have made it impossible to walk the ship’s decks, yet he was standing with nary a thought to care. Gus noticed a belt-like contraption tied around his waist. It had three slowly blinking lights set in a silvery circle of metal and what looked like a touchpad next to them. There were several wires leading from the buckle-like metal circle to other parts of the belt. The pattern of the lights would sometimes shift in response to stimuli that Gus couldn’t determine.
He tried to introduce himself but words failed him. It was with a dry mouth that he swallowed and finally managed to thrust a gloved hand in front of him.
The rock mountain looked at the proffered hand in puzzlement before doing the same. They just stood there for a minute, both hands outstretched in front of the other, parallel and ungrasped.
“You’re…” his voice broke and he swallowed once again, rallying his mental faculties. “You’re supposed to shake my hand. It’s a human greeting ritual. Here, I’ll show you,” Gus said as he reached for the looming hand in front of him. He gently guided it to his own and closed rugged fingers around his palm. His entire fist disappeared in the giant’s grip and he slowly pumped the hand up and down. “That’s it, you can let go now.”
“A most curious ritual. Why do humans do this?”
“I’m not sure, but I think it stemmed from the fact that a very long time ago, humans were quite war-like and tended to stab each other constantly. To show that you meant no harm, you’d approach and offer your hand to demonstrate your lack of weapons and ill intentions.”
“Fascinating. I’d love to hear more of your culture when you have some free time. But where are my manners? My name is Trando. Trando Uvisulim. I am a Lieutenant on board the Pride of Vanatu and the Head of the Engineering Department. You may call me Trando or just Lieutenant if you so wish.”
“Uh… Nice to meet you. I’m Gustavo Martinez. You can call me Gus or just Human. Everyone seems to believe that’s my name. I’m… I guess I’ve been abducted by aliens so I’d say I’m a kidnap victim,” Gus said as he chuckled nervously.
Trando’s rock-like face betrayed no emotion as he rumbled out an apology. “I do apologise for that incident. The ensign responsible for the transporter mishap was one of my subordinates. I will endeavour to train him more properly so that such a thing never happens again.”
“That’s cool, everyone makes mistakes. Besides, it’s not like I’ve been mistreated since coming here, so no harm done.”
“But you’ve had to abandon your entire life. All your friends and family and work and culture, all gone, left behind you in a trail of ions and warp signatures.”
Gus was silent for a moment before he replied. “My life wasn’t exactly the greatest back on Earth, contrary to what people might think. I think a change of pace was just what the doctor ordered. I’ve been feeling a bit more energised since I’ve been on board the Vanatu. Well, it took some getting used to at first, but I’m good.”
“I see. Did Lieutenant Vatta Ren prescribe you this change of pace? I find it hard to believe that she’d use such a process in lieu of medication.”
“It’s a human figure of speech. I’m still helping AI calibrate the vocabulary database for the human translation matrix, so there are still things we’re missing.”
“Remarkable. You’re actively helping the AI integrate your language into our matrix? You’d need more than a passing familiarity with the various languages and expressions used amongst the species that populate the Pride of Vanatu. Do you not find it difficult or worse, tedious?”
“It’s not that bad. Besides, I’m cheating. AI is constantly helping me out. I just tell it what each human expression means and it automatically finds the closest equivalent in whatever alien tongue it’s translating.”
“I need to observe the next time you do so. I think I might learn something useful for my own research.”
“Research? I’m curious now. I am – was.” Gus paused. “I was a scientist back home. I have an interest in research.”
“I’m working on gravitronics and quantum locking signatures.” Noticing Gus’ blank expression, Trando elaborated. “I study gravity fields and their use. My other research is more esoteric. I don’t know how far you’d understand it.”
“Not very far I’m afraid, I’m more of a biology kind of guy. Anyway, I didn’t ask to meet you to talk about research porn. I need help with my vacsuit.”
“Is it damaged? You have a replacement vacsuit in your cabin if I’m not mistaken.”
Gus quickly shook his head thought the suit didn’t lend itself to that kind of action. The result was that his head was moving while the exterior of the suit didn’t move at all. He gave up on trying to convey negation through head shakes. “No, it’s not damaged. I just thought it could use some improvements is all. It’s functional but not very comfortable. It’s also unwieldy and I’m losing a lot of my range of motion when I wear it.”
“It wasn’t designed for someone of your stature nor was it intended to be used as you do now. Hmmm… What improvements did you have in mind?”
Gus’ neck was starting to hurt so he sat back down in front of the console and turn his back to Trando, feeling him move closer to him. “AI, display Project Plugsuit.”
“Confirmation. Displaying Project Plugsuit from datapad floating data stream. Displayed.”
“This looks like innerwear used for piloting.”
“Surprisingly accurate. It’s based on a fictional piloting suit from Earth media. I’ve been playing around some of the materials you have available here but the list is so exhaustive that I literally cannot find anything to use. I figured I’d wait for you and get your input.”
“Certainly, that seems to be the wisest move. I am intimately familiar with all the materials that are available for synthesis on the Pride of Vanatu. With your ideas and my knowledge we might come up with something appropriate for your use.”
* * *
It wasn’t until Gus checked his chronometer that he realised five hours had passed. Trando was a beast. He would come up with the best possible materials whenever Gus had an idea. He would listen carefully then shoot his down if the idea wasn’t feasible or suggest improvements for the unshaped mess that were his more viable concepts. He should have done this much sooner. The new vacsuit was shaping up to be a great success. It had considerably slimed and the material was much thinner than before but more comfortable or so Trando claimed. Gus wasn’t convinced though.
“It’s obvious we can’t say it’s going to work just based on the statistics we’ve assembled. It looks functional on paper but we need a prototype and a field test. I don’t need to remind you how different human physiology is from xenoi physiology.”
“You’re right. Hmmm.” Trando pondered the issue with a thoughtful face.
Gus really couldn’t read him thought. All he saw was the ever-expressionless, craggy exterior that was Trando’s face. Does he ever smile? Can he smile? How does he turn his head? He can tell where something is without using his eyes though. Extra sensory organs? I need to study his species more. He straightened as Trando slowly turned back to him.
“It’s decided then. I’ve already launched the synthesis of the latest prototype. Now we only have to carry out a stress test.”
“I’m surprised you still have to do that. Doesn’t the simulation accurately calculate the specs including the stress values for each material or component?”
“Indeed it does. There is however a variable that doesn’t exist in our databases and I need to account for it in the final iteration of the suit.”
“What’s that then?” Gus asked. Trando only looked at him. Time passed and his gaze did not waver. Gus was starting to get a bad feeling. He got up and turned to leave. “You know it was lovely speaking with you but I really need to get going. I forgot I left something on the stove at home.”
He tried to hurry away when a vice closed around his waist and he stopped moving. He heard a deep growl mixed with the disturbing echo of boulders crushing against each other. He slowly turned back and realised the deeply reverberating grating noise was in fact Trando laughing.
“No need to leave so quickly. I’ve heard many stories about you and I’ve always enjoyed testing new materials. I promise it won’t hurt. Well, not in the beginning.”
Trando’s laughter echoed in the Engineering Bay with the finality of a rockslide.
Thanks to all my patrons on Patreon especially these people
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Shadowshift
New chapter:)
Net chapter we will have a mother daughter reunion:) I hope you like the chapter:)
Parthios
New chapter:)
Net chapter is very long so it will take some time but look forward to it:) Will Kurumi also change after what happened?
Parthios
Thanks to all my patrons on Patreon especially these people
Jahannum
Naito
John
nolan nickelberry
Cody Konczeski Sullivan
Ventel
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Fightas
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Archeron5842
Shadowshift
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Just a Guy in Space
Chapter 20
Sil wasn’t quite glued to him but it was a close thing. The diminutive Dintph was sitting practically next to him and was currently glaring daggers at Nyph Rohor. The latter was trying – and failing – to explain the previous situation to Gus’ mate.
“Like I said, we were just talking. There’s nothing wrong with that.”
“You were too close. Much too close! You can talk from over there, can’t you?” Sil said, pointing at the far end of the table.
“You know that’s not reasonable.” Nyph sighed then perked up. “Still, I have to say this development is quite interesting… For you to be so enamored of someone you’ve only just met…” her voice trailed off as her ears twitched forward.
Sil reddened for some reason and pressed herself closer to Gus. It was unfortunately a wasted opportunity for him given how thick the vacsuit was. If dramas had taught him anything it was that he should keep his silence and wait until spoken to. The silence stretched as Sil looked at her feet with a red face and Nyph leered at them. Gus realised the time for actions was here.
“You know when I first realised I was here for the long haul I was kind of lost. And then I got thrown into this crazy situation with Sil and things were pretty touch-and-go for a moment there. And see, I …uh… I like Sil, I really do. She’s fun and smart and she makes me feel like things are going to be ok when I’m around her. At first I was worried that I screwed things up between the two of us but since she’s agreed to be my mate, I’ve been relieved.” Sil’s face was positively fire-hydrant coloured and even hiding her face with both hands didn’t cover up the fact that her ears were now crimson. He wrapped a suited arm around her shoulders and grinned at Nyph, this time showing his teeth. “What can I say? When I’m with her I feel like I can do my best.”
“Ohooo? Coming to her rescue? How romantic. I can see why she likes you.”
Sil started hammering his arm with her cute fists. “Wha-wha-what are you saying?! It’s so embarrassing! Stop it!”
He grinned and suddenly hugged her. She squealed and even her fur was in danger of turning red but she ultimately settled down. Seeing how Nyph was leering at them, he let her go and cleared his throat before eating some more stew. It was lukewarm now. Better eat that more quickly. It’s time to share.
Gus took the opportunity to rub Sil’s shoulder affectionately and passed her his spoon. She quickly gobbled some stew before passing the spoon to her fellow Dintphs. Funnily enough, the first person she passed it to was Nyph. In Dintph culture, you bring a meal to share but only one set of utensils. You then pass the spoons and what not around in order of affection. While this might seem like a popularity contest, it allows outsiders to get some information on the relationships between Dintphs. Gus passed his spoon to Sil for obvious reasons but among them, Sil considered Nyph to be her closest friend.
I guess being litter-sisters trumps jealousy.
“So Nyph, you said you were litter-sisters with Sil right? Are there any embarrassing antiques I should be aware of?”
Nyph smiled and leaned forward once more. “Oh, there are so many of them. This is Sil we’re talking about; she might be smart enough to make Lieutenant in less than thirty years but she’s easily flustered. I remember that one time with the Andalax embassador, she –”
“Ah! He doesn’t need to know that!” Sil shrieked as she pounced on Nyph. Her hands tried in vain to cover Nyph’s mouth and they started play-fighting.
“What’s that about the ambassador?”
“This girl, she *get off* she tried to *I’m serious let me go* push the ambassador *got you there!* off a cliff!”
While it was admittedly quite fun to see his newly-minted girlfriend get in to a fight with her sister, news of cliffs and pushing off of was alarming to say the least. “What’s that about a cliff?” he asked to one of the other Dintphs.
One of them shook his head but the other had heard of that incident. “Yeah, the Andalax ambassador visited Dith while his troops were making a stop at the nearby orbital station. Apparently he was smitten by Sil Nubo and tried to woo her in the ways of his people. It didn’t end well.”
“Yeah, I’m surprised we weren’t all arrested. He is royalty after all,” Nyph injected, having successfully locked Sil’s arms behind her back. “But Sil was really pissed. Apparently he tried to grab her tail before she shoved him back.”
“Oh? Tail grabbing is bad?”
“No, it’s only done when you’re close to someone.”
“What if you’re not close?”
“That makes you kind of a pervert then.”
Useful information to have. No tail-fondling in public.
“Sil, how about you come back here and leave you sister be? I’m going to learn about these things sooner or later anyway.”
Sil shot him an aggravated glare before shaking Nyph off and slinking back next to him. Nyph’s ears twitched in surprise at that.
“You’re pretty close already. I thought it’d take some more time for you to get there. Is that the results of the mating? Sil seems more lively too, you must have done something right.”
“Thanks but she’s helped me out more than I did her. It’s all thanks to her support that I haven’t had a breakdown yet.”
Judging by the way they’re looking at me, that might not have been the best thing to say. “I mean, I’m in space, far away from everything I know, plunging head first into the great unknown. It takes a toll a guy…”
Sil’s hand hesitantly reached out and squeezed his. God, I really need to get a better suit. I can hardly feel her hand. “Ah sorry about that. Wasn’t trying to be a bummer.”
“It’s not a problem. One can hardly blame you for feeling that way.”
“So enough about me. I came here to learn more about you guys, so the floor’s yours now,” Gus said gesturing to them. They all looked down at the floor. I should have known. “It means that it’s your turn to speak now. It’s a term used in debates back on Earth.” After the collective “ooooh”, the conversation picked up again, with Sil throwing in good-natured jabs at Nyph.
Gus enjoyed his time with them and was startled out of his contemplation by Van’s beep.
“Sorry guys, I need to go. I have an appointment with a guy from Engineering to talk about my suit. I’ll see you guys around.”
He waved and quickly left. Social gatherings still made him slightly uncomfortable and Sil and her friends had some catching up to do anyway.
* * *
“Quite a nice being.”
Sil harrumphed and kept eating the stew Gus left behind. “Look, he didn’t even finish his food! It’s your fault for making him talk all the time!” Sil said in a huff.
The other Dintphs smiled in sympathy as Nyph once again bore the brunt of Sil’s displeasure. After a time, the shnolock stew was done and Rheh Git and Smil Wurum left for their own shifts. Sil was left facing a grinning Nyph.
“What is it?” she asked sullenly.
“Nothing. I’m just happy to see my cute sister got herself a mate. He doesn’t look all that reliable but to be fair that might be because of the vacsuit.”
“He’s reliable enough when I need him.”
“That sounds like a juicy secret.” Nyph sidled next to Sil and their tails twined together in a subtle ballet of emotions. “You know you can tell me anything. You used to be so cute back at the Academy, telling me all about which boys you’d choose for a contract.” She grinned as Sil reddened. “So what’s so special about this one? I’m sorry to say he doesn’t look like much. That might just be my own sense of aesthetics though.”
“He’s…” Sil stopped, struggling with her words. “How much do you know about my mating period?”
Nyph shrugged. “Lieutenant Vatta Ren wouldn’t tell me anything about it. She said I should ask you myself. I just assumed it was embarrassing.”
“It is embarrassing. Shameful, even. I… I went feral.”
Nyph was stunned. Only a small proportion of Dintphs ever go feral during matings and they are kept on a strict hormonal treatment to mitigate the after effects of such aggressive behaviour! Yet Sil looks just the same as she always did. That’s not possible!
“You certainly don’t look like you did. I mean, you’re still eating with spoons.” She teased, trying to cover up her shock. “Is he the reason you came back from being feral?”
Sil nodded absent-mindedly. “I think so. I only got flashes of what I did during my time with him but I remember this… overwhelming lust. I remember getting really physical with him. There was scratching, biting, clawing and much more.” She paused again, organising her thoughts. “He looks weak, but he’s surprisingly strong. He can hold me down during one of my frenzies and he can easily carry me around on his shoulder. He’s also very good in bed. Really good. I’ve never done this before but all the reports I’ve read and the studies I’ve done show that matings aren’t usually this intense and pleasurable. I think… I think that if I go full on feral that he can restrain me.”
Nyph was silent for a beat. “Is that the reason you’re in a contract with him? Because it feels good and you’re scared of being with another Dintph? I’m not being xenophobic here, but he might not be the best choice of a mate.”
“That’s not the reason, it’s just a good bonus. I genuinely like him. He’s very sweet and he wants to know more about me. Did you really think he just bumped into you in the Commons and happened to have some shnolock stew with him? With just one spoon?”
Nyph snorted. “Yeah, that was kind of weak I have to admit. Not very subtle, our boy, eh? Well, I don’t hate that about him.”
“I think I’m going to stay with him for now. We’ll leave the future for the future.”
Nyph retracted her tail and slowly got up, giving her litter-sister a hug. “You take care of yourself now. I can’t always be there to help out but you know where to find me if you need me.” As she was leaving she couldn’t resist a parting shot. “If you ever get bored of your human pet, let me know. I’m really interested in his … prowess,” she said suggestively.
It was a good thing she was out of reach of Sil’s hands.
New chapter:)
I´m sorry for the late release it should have come yesterday but I was busy with work that I had no fun to translate. However here is the chapter and I have free now so I will release more chapters next week.
Patreon Page You can support me if you want. I still try to release chapters ahead there but I think I will really do it this month.
Parthios
Thanks to all my patrons on Patreon especially these people
Jahannum
Naito
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porkchopsandwiches
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Archeron5842
Shadowshift
New release:)
We get a new character which will be added on the weekend in the character introduction:) Hero Pandemic will come tomorrow.
Parthios