Vanessa’s blissfully oblivious form, gazing at her powerlessly as you are
slowly and painfully drained of life force over the next two days before you
finally succumb. The tendrils complete their work, leaving your corpse as the
latest husk-like victim of the strange organism that has infested the
Magellan.
THE END
Go back a few moments and rethink your actions
You set a course for Omega station, leaving the remains of the Magellan behind you and flying between the tumbling wrecks of two
centuries of victims of the strange organism. Within a few minutes, you have
left the debris field behind you and prepare for the jump to hyperspace.
“Told you we were lucky.” You comment to Vanessa. She narrows her
eyes at you and shakes her head in disbelief. You press the hyperspace
button and the engine hum builds until the ship lurches as the stars fade and
you hurtle back into the swirling crimson vortex of hyperspace.
“What euphoric vision did the organism put in your mind anyway?”
You ask Vanessa as you sit back, watching the constantly shifting patterns of
hyperspace through the cockpit window. “What is sexual gratification to an
android? A software update and an oil change?”
“You really are a prick, Trent.” Vanessa replies hotly.
“Well, what was it then?” You reply, grinning.
“None of your business.” She growls, blushing.
“Maybe your fantasy started with you dressed all in white, walking
down an aisle towards a devilishly handsome and roguish smuggler?” You
suggest with a raised eyebrow.
“None. Of. Your. Fucking. Business.” She replies, in a tone that
encourages you to drop the subject. You grin and recline in your seat,
throwing your feet up onto the console and drifting off to sleep.
Continue
“Vanessa!” You cry out, starting back towards her. The tendrils fill the air around you and you yell out as they wrap around your legs, binding them
together and sending you crashing to the floor next to her. You reach out,
your fingertips falling just short of her own outstretched hand.
“I’m sorry Trent.” She tells you as the tendrils begin to drag her back
along the corridor towards the reactor chamber. The tendrils wrap around
you and you struggle futilely against them. Your hand sinks into the red
carpet of tendrils and you feel a familiar shape against your fingers. You pull Vanessa’s blaster from the spongy mass and open fire, energy blasts
peppering the mass of vine-like strands. You hear a roar of pain echoing
down the corridor from the reactor chamber and the tendrils slacken their
grip on you. You struggle free of them and race after Vanessa, blasting the
tendrils around her. Again the organism’s otherworldly bellow fills the air
and the tendrils release Vanessa and stop their writhing, the corridor again
growing dormant. Your euphoria is short-lived as you realise the tendrils
have badly injured Vanessa, crushing her body beneath their constricting
wraps.
“You’re going to be ok.” You tell her hoarsely, dropping to your knees
next to her badly misshapen form.
“You always were a terrible liar.” Vanessa smiles weakly, before
coughing up a mouthful of green hydraulic fluid. “Listen, I don’t have long. I
know you’ve always questioned what was real and what was programmed. I
always wish I could have eased your doubts, but perhaps now I’m at my end
you can truly believe me. I don’t know if an android could ever really love
someone, but if they can, then know that I love you and have done for a
long, long time. I might have been manufactured for sex, but I never truly
enjoyed it until I was with you. You made me feel… human…” She smiles one
last time before the light in her eyes dims and her hydraulics finally fail, her head flopping to one side.
“Goddamn it Vanessa.” You murmur, tears stinging your eyes,
squeezing her hand tightly as if that will bring her back. You wipe the tears
from your cheeks with the back of your hand, telling yourself she’s nothing
but a damn machine and you certainly wouldn’t have got emotional about a
broken power coupling or fuel valve. You remind yourself that Vanessa was
nothing but a partner and a convenient outlet for your lustful urges. You
laugh out loud, knowing that you’re only kidding yourself, before letting go,
pressing your lips to hers one last time and weeping for the woman you loved.
The organism, obviously wary of your blaster, leaves you unmolested
as you make your way back to your ship. You pass through the crew lounge
you had entered earlier, surprised to find a thick layer of dust and grime
over everything and all the cryo-tubes standing empty and unused. You
realise that you must have been under the thrall of the organism from the
moment you stepped into this room and never saw the real interior, just the
construct it had formed in your mind. You reach the Eclipse and quickly
withdraw the docking tube, leaving the Magellan behind before swinging
around and targeting the engine and reactor section.
“This is for you, Vanessa.” You murmur grimly before opening fire,
bolts of plasma energy lighting up space as they shoot towards the ancient
vessel. They rip into the Magellan’s hull and there is a blinding light as the
nuclear reactor explodes, ripping the vessel apart, the debris tumbling
through space to smash into nearby wrecks. Satisfied, you weave your way
through the debris field away from what is left of the Magellan.
With the organism destroyed, its influence over this part of space is
ended and you soon leave the graveyard of disabled ships and battered
debris behind. You plot a course for Omega station and take the Eclipse back
into hyperspace.
Continue
“Alter course and take us to the nearest civilised planet.” You sigh reluctantly. Vanessa nods, her fingers flying over the console in front of her.
“Eridani II is closest, just a couple of hours away.” She tells you.
“Do it.” You reply curtly, annoyed by this latest inconvenience.
Two hours later you drop out of hyperspace and enter orbit around
Eridani II. The only inhabited planet in the system, Eridani II is an ocean
planet but with huge rocky islands floating in the sky over the watery
surface. The islands vary greatly in size from some not much larger than
boulders, to others hundreds of miles across. You take the controls as you
enter the atmosphere, swooping low towards the azure seas before levelling
off and streaking towards one of the cities, the huge sprawling metropolis’s
skyscrapers extending high above the rocky island and hanging down from
the underside like glassy cuboid stalactites. As you reach the underside of
the city, you expertly pilot the ship through the forest of hanging
skyscrapers before bringing the Eclipse in to land in a hanger built into the
side of one of the larger buildings.
“Let’s go find Hector.” You say, climbing out of your seat.
“You know how I feel about that pervert.” Vanessa growls.
“It’s not like we have much of a choice is it?” You reply. “And we need
his help, so play nice.”
&nbs
p; You step down the boarding ramp and see Hector put down a plasma
cutter and pull up his protective goggles. He is one of the indigenous
Eridanians and as he strolls towards you, his scaly lips curl into a smile.
“Trent, my old friend!” He calls out, his voice echoing in the cavernous
hanger. The Eridanians, though humanoid, share many characteristics with
reptiles. They are cold blooded with scaly, leathery light green skin and no
hair, their heads crested to the back of their skulls.
“Hector.” You smile, shaking his hand. “Good to see you.”
“And you.” He nods before his eyes flick to Vanessa. “And especially
you my dear.”
He takes her hand and stoops, pressing his lips to it. She glares at you,
showing her distaste.
“Now what have you done to the Eclipse this time?” He asks, gazing up
at the boxy freighter. Hector has carried out a number of repairs for you
over the years and knows the ship well.
“Hyperspace coil on engine two’s running hot.” Vanessa replies.
“You make me run hot every time I see you.” Hector grins wolfishly,
his gaze dropping to Vanessa’s breasts.
“You want to keep your eyes, you’d best look elsewhere.” Vanessa
growls. Hector’s smile falters slightly, but he recovers quickly.
“Such fire. I like that in a woman.” He grins, before turning back to
you. “I’ll take a look at the coil. It’ll likely take a few hours to repair. You’re welcome to stay here and wait, or go for a wander around the city. Topside’s
beautiful this time of year.”
Stay
Take a walk around the city
“Thanks, we’ll go for a wander topside.” You tell Hector. He nods and
with one last leer in Vanessa’s direction, turns his attention to your ship.
You make your way from the hanger, walking along the suspended
streets of the underside, supporting struts and steelwork stretching up to
their fixing points in the rocky underside of the floating island. Even during
the day, with the underside forever in shadow, the streets are in an eerie
twilight.
You reach a terminal and board a huge turbo lift which quickly takes
you through the core of the floating island to the upper surface. You emerge
from the busy turbo lift terminal into the sun drenched, gleaming streets of
the rich topside district. Monolithic glass skyscrapers tower all around you as
you make your way through the bustling streets towards the Balcony,
topside’s main tourist attraction. You know the way, but even if you didn’t,
you’d just need to follow the sound of roaring water.
A few minutes later, you step out onto the broad terrace overlooking a
huge waterfall which cascades down from high above you before dropping
into the sea several hundred yards below. Groups of tourists of various
species admire the view, gathering near the edge of the terrace and cooing
in wonder. Expensive bars and restaurants catering to an intergalactic
clientele are arrayed behind you, but even with the rampant
commercialisation, nothing can detract from the natural beauty of the
waterfall.
“Even though we’ve been here before, it still takes my breath away.”
Vanessa murmurs in awe, leaning on the railing and gazing out at the falls.
“Thank you. I don’t think I could have tolerated that pervert for another
moment.”
“Is one sex obsessed reprobate in your life enough?” You grin.
“You said it.” She chuckles, her long red hair blowing in the gentle
breeze. “What do you want to do now?”
Have a drink in a bar
Time is of the essence. Get back to the hanger and see if Hector has repaired
the hyperspace coil
“We’d better head back.” You tell Vanessa. “We’ll see how Hector is getting on with that hyperspace coil.”
“You really know how to treat a girl.” Vanessa replies acidly, taking
one last longing look at the picturesque waterfall as you turn to leave.
“When we’ve claimed our bounty for this job, we’ll have plenty of time
to enjoy ourselves.” You reply as you begin to retrace your steps back
towards the turbo lift terminus.
“That’s what you said last time.” Vanessa grumbles, falling into step
beside you.
As you walk across the hanger towards the Eclipse, your footsteps
echoing through the cavernous space, Hector looks up from behind the open
engine housing. Your heart sinks when you see his grim expression.
“It’s not good news.” Hector tells you as you reach him, wiping his
hands on an oily rag. “I’ve patched the hyperspace coil up as best I can, but
it’s on its last legs.”
“How long until it fails?” You ask him.
“Difficult to say.” Hector shrugs. “Today, tomorrow, next week. But it
will fail and soon. You need a replacement and I don’t have any.”
“Know anyone that does?” Vanessa asks.
“Afraid not.” He grimaces. “Blame your partner there for owning an
antique. They just don’t make coils like this anymore.” He pauses, deep in
thought for a moment. “Having said that, it’s a long shot but…”
“What?” You ask, brightening.
“There’s a scrapyard on a nearby island west of here.” Hector replies,
stroking his chin. “It’s mainly rusty junk and the proprietor is a little on the eccentric side, but if your luck holds out, there may be a hyperspace coil you
can use. Equally, you might just be wasting your time.”
Try the scrapyard island
Get back into space and hope your patched up hyperspace coil holds out
“How about a drink?” You ask Vanessa.
“Sounds good.” She smiles, turning away from the waterfall.
“But not one of these soulless places.” You gesture derisively at the
upmarket bars behind you. “There’s a bar I know a few streets away from all
the tourists. A place with a bit more character.”
“You mean a dive full of lowlifes.” Vanessa replies rolling her eyes.
“Our kind of place.” You grin.
“Speak for yourself.” Vanessa growls before letting out a sigh of
resignation. “Lead on.”
A few minutes later, you descend a flight of steps into the dingy
interior of the bar. The air is thick with smoke and pungent with the smell of
stale beer and the body odour of several different species of alien. You
approach the bar and order some drinks from an Eridanian barman with a
jagged scar down his cheek. Moments later he returns, slamming the glasses
down before you, the beer spilling onto the bar. You gulp down half the
glass before letting out a satisfied sigh.
“I must admit I had reservations, but this is a fine establishment.”
Vanessa comments dryly, glancing around at the rough looking clientele
before sipping at her own drink. Her biomechanical innards would convert
the drink into various lubricants and though she wouldn’t become
intoxicated by the alcohol content, she was programmed to simulate the
effects and act accordingly.
“It has a certain bohemian charm.” You shrug apologetically.
“Trent.” Rasps a voice behind you. Your shoulders drop, recognising
the voice.
“Gr
imm!” You smile, turning to face the stocky giant of a man. His
shaven head has the appearance of being roughly carved from granite and
he regards you coolly with his one remaining eye. “Good to lay eyes on one
another! Well, eye.” You wince. “How long has it been?”
“Since you cut and ran with all the loot and left me to be taken in?”
Grimm growls.
“A long time.” You muse, your hand resting on your blaster and hoping
Vanessa is doing the same. “A lot of water under a lot of bridges since then
eh?”
“Not for me.” He replies, his eye widening and his nostrils flaring. “You
don’t know how many nights in Titan prison I dreamt about making you suffer.”
“We all have a dream.” You grin, weighing up your options.
Draw your blaster and shoot Grimm
Smash your glass over his head and make a run for it
Your hand tightens on your blaster and you pull it from your holster.
Too obvious and Grimm easily wrenches it from your hand. Behind you,
Vanessa struggles as one of Grimm’s cohorts rips her own blaster from her
grasp. Grimm’s single eye glares malevolently at you.
“No need for violence.” You grin, holding up your hands.
“No need,” He agrees, “But when has that ever stopped me?” He grins
before savagely smashing his forehead into your face. You drop to your
knees, tasting blood before everything goes black.
Continue
You awake in a gloomy, dilapidated warehouse. You are sitting on the cold, damp floor and are propped up against a steel column, your hands tied
behind your back.
“Awake are you?” Vanessa asks tetchily. You glance to your right and
find she is tied to the next column. The cavernous interior of the warehouse
is empty and only a few of the lights dangling from the ceiling are
operational, leaving most of it in shadow. From the musty smell and the
steady dripping of water through the ceiling, you guess you’ve been taken
back to the underside and probably aren’t far from Hector’s hanger. If you
Lure of the Sirens: A Sci Fi Choose Your Own Erotic Story Page 26