Jasira beckoned to me. Xathan smiled, the pleasure so obvious. “Would you like to be inside her too?” he asked. I nodded. “Then let me lubricate you, and you may take her anus”. He took my hand and I stood beside him. I looked down to see Jasira’s lovely pussy sucking on his large penis. He stroked the side of my face and smiled lustfully at me.
“Kiss me, Earth Boy”, she said, and I met her tongue with mine, holding her ass and feeling the strokes going on between her legs. Her anus was already quite moist from juices which had run down from her cunt. I felt moisture on my cock. Xathan had coated his palm with saliva and was stroking my penis, transferring his wetness, making me ready. It felt a little weird, but I decided I liked it. Thoroughly moistened, I whispered thanks to Xathan, and positioned myself behind Jasira. She helped place my cock at her small, tight entrance and bore down to let me inside. Pushing forwards, my cock was quickly sheathed in her bottom. I could feel Xathan’s huge member stroking against the underside of my cock, through the thin wall between Jasira’s pussy and her ass. It was heavenly.
I held his thighs and began to thrust into our mutual lover. She was loving the attention and pleasure, her face a picture of happiness as she rested her head against Xathan’s chest. He leaned forward and gently kissed my forehead. Then the side of my face. Then my nose. Jasira was coming, and I knew our own orgasms were not far away. He looked into my eyes. I knew what he wanted, but I wavered. Instead, I kissed his forehead and let my tongue tease his earlobe. He smiled. As his orgasm approached, it showed on his face. I resolved to come with him. Slow, rhythmical strokes into our respective orifices, combined with the highly erotic sensations of holding and making love to the same girl, were hugely pleasurable. He began to come. I leaned forward and put my mouth on his. We kissed as our cocks filled with hot sperm, and as my torrent began, our tongues met. Powerful muscular jolts carried through the wall between our cocks, and my cock pulses echoed his, my tongue in his mouth and my hands grasping his ass.
We broke the embrace to let Jasira rest. She had come a dozen times while being penetrated by her two lovers. I spent a moment in the bathroom, cleaning myself and reliving the experience. Weird. But wonderful. Did I want more?
Jasira was splayed out on her bed when I returned, lying alongside a happy, satisfied Xathan. I looked at him. Did that just happen? His eyes said, yes it did. Jasira began playing with the huge amounts of our seed we had shot into her body. She brought two sticky fingers from inside her cunt and began writing in strange glyphs on Xathan’s chest. Then she brought the first seeping spunk from her anus and added to the artwork. Xathan grinned and whispered in her ear. She smiled back and knelt up, opening her ass. He went behind her, rubbed his half-hard cock against both of her entrances, and then began kissing her anus. He tongued her, slid his tongue inside, licked her. He wanted to taste me.
Jasira motioned for me to join them on the bed. I was nearly hard again anyway, watching Xathan’s expert analingus, and there was plenty of time. As soon as I lay back, she took my penis into her mouth and began delicious sucking and licking. Xathan finished tasting my cum, licked his lips very obviously, and slipped his cock back into Jasira’s pussy from behind. I watched him fuck her. His hands wandered all over her body – ass, breasts, tummy, playing with her hair – and his love for her was obvious. After a few minutes’ steady pumping into her cunt, he withdrew and whispered to her again.
Jasira lay back on the bed and let Xathan lick her out. He knelt between her legs, ass in the air and open. He paused for a second to smile at me, winked and made a gesture which I understood at once. I got up, knelt behind him and, for the first time, looked at another man’s anus – real, live and in colour. Following his example, I dropped saliva onto my cock and more onto his entrance, and then placed my cock there. It felt hot, hotter still than Jasira’s anus, and I could feel him opening himself to let me in. I paused for a second, telling myself this was OK. I was experimenting. New experiences – that was what my life these days was all about. Enjoyment. Pleasure. Sex.
I entered him. He squeezed my cock gently as if to encourage me. I pushed a few inches inside, withdrew most of the way, and pushed in again. He made a gesture. Go all the way inside. I pushed forward, sheathing my whole penis in his bottom. My hairs tickled his butt cheeks. The heat inside him was amazing. Jasira moved around to be able to suck him while he kissed her pussy. I gave him a few strokes and he continued to encourage me. Jasira did wonderful things to his cock, and within moments, he was ready to come. Again, I wanted mutuality. I accelerated, using my whole shaft to penetrate him, and as he emptied his balls into Jasira’s mouth, I let my orgasm happen inside him. Sperm boiled forth from my cock, bathing his rectum with my hot seed.
We collapsed together, relaxed together, slept for an hour tangled up together on the bed. I looked at my watch and decided to get back to Falik. Should I tell her about this? We would see. I put on my shirt and kissed Jasira tenderly, thanking her. Then Xathan got up to walk me to the door. He hugged me, told me how much he had enjoyed our time together, and we gently kissed. He was naked, and this simple kiss gave him another large erection. He kissed me some more. His tongue was different to a girl’s, a little harsher, stronger. He took hold of his cock and began to stroke as we kissed. I had not had time to get dressed and his cock was pointing straight at mine, which was coming back to life. He rubbed his cock against my stomach, my balls and my own stiffening member, stroking quickly, kissing passionately. He pulled off my shirt. I knew what he wanted.
I turned around and faced the wall. Covering my back and neck with kisses, he pressed his cock against my ass. I could hear him adding saliva to his penis, and then I felt his probing fingers lubricating my opening. I would allow him, as he had allowed me. I opened my legs, tried to relaxed, waited for him. He didn’t delay. Pressing against me, letting me get used to his size, I forced myself to push down and open my anus. He entered me. I gasped at the sensation. Gently, caringly, we made love. He slipped only the head of his cock and perhaps an inch of his shaft inside me, fondling my balls and stroking my cock with his free hand. I could hear him whispering behind me, about how amazing I felt, how he wanted to have me every day. And about how he was going to come, to fill my bottom with his sperm. Quickening his strokes, and daring to push a little further inside me, he approached his orgasm. I could feel everything. His cock grew further, engorged with sperm, and then jolted six times, emptying his seed into me. He withdrew after a moment of enjoying the sensations, and kissed me while stroking my cock, which was close to its own peak. As he tongued my mouth and our two tongues wound around each other, he jerked me to a finale and I shot more heavy drops of sperm over his stomach and balls. He quickly rubbed them into his skin, coating his cock and testicles with my warm cum.
We went back to bed for an hour, recovering. The two slept, and I felt it was time to leave. Glancing back at them, I again relived the orgasms of the evening, and made my way out. Falik was asleep when I got back. Even for my reinvigorated cock, any further sex tonight would be difficult. I went to sleep satisfied, with the odd sensations of a barrier broken.
*****
Daedalus continued its long journey, catching up with Gaspiri and its moon where the fugitives had made their home. On the day we entered orbit, we held a final video-conference with the Holdrian scientists. The final details were being worked out. Gaspirian Spacedock staff had dispatched our refuelling rig, a bundle of six 100 meter-long tanks of hydrogen, which were connected to ports on Daedalus’ underside. The Captain assured us that by the time we were ready to leave, the big ship would be fully fuelled.
The Elders were, as we had expected, almost overcome with surprise at the change in the mood from Jakalzzi. They hurriedly signed the non-aggression pact, the overall agreement which promised peace and understanding between the two factions, and enhanced the package of trade links with a proposal to establish a committee, half Elder and half Jakalzzi, to oversee profits and steer monies to worthy
causes on both planets. A new company was formed to begin daily shuttle flights. A joint exploration of a nearby star system was proposed, as was a joint celebratory concert and laser show, to be held on Jakalzzi and repeated on Gaspiri.
A lavish dinner was thrown, perhaps the largest amount of food I had ever seen, which had taxed even Daedalus’ modern replicators. The Captain gorged himself on his favourite stew and gobbled whole legs of chicken. Falik and I confined ourselves to trying some of the local delicacies. There was a flatbread, spiced with something which resembled juniper and carefully pan-fried. Some of the seafood was truly bizarre, including a seven-legged, beaked creature which roamed the deep sea floor and produced bright blue eggs which were astonishingly tasty. There was a meaty version of a bat, with huge ears. The local wines were strong and delicious. The party continued late into the night and, when Falik and I went down for breakfast the next day, some revellers were still holding out, ordering more wine and consuming a large breakfast. How could two races who knew both how to party so well ever have fallen out so badly?
Chapter XXVII: Lightspeed
Two days later, Daedalus was ready to leave. Delegates and journalists were offloaded and would be the first to take advantage of the new shuttle service, which connected neatly with the existing routes. Garlidan would stay onboard to finalise our plans, but many of the ship’s company departed. We said our farewells, watched the fuelling rig disengage and return to its slow, orbital patrol.
In the hours before our departure, the crew seemed a little on-edge. Only the Captain had been out this far, over 4 billion miles from the home star, and the psychology of such remoteness was a background constant. I wandered around, marvelling at the emptiness of a ship which had until recently provided a temporary home for so many thousands. The giant atriums were quiet without their strolling couples or jogging journalists. The Captain’s bar was empty, save for Garlidan and I exchanging ideas on yet another aspect of our plan. I asked George about the mood on the ship.
“A little tense, sir”, he answered, pouring me another double scotch. “The ship has never been taken faster than point-six-C and we’re going to really tax these new engines for the first time.” He was using the shorthand used by long-range spacefarers. 0.6-C was sixty percent of the speed of light. The fastest we had been on this voyage was around 0.23-C, and that had been regarded as one hell of a lick.
With an hour until departure, the ship manoeuvred itself steadily into a higher orbit, and then gently away from Gaspiri. The tell-tale signs of a large ship accelerating to tremendous speeds would be hidden from the planet. Indeed, we would not hit our full stride until we were out of the system entirely. I found the Captain in the command centre, where I had scarcely been before.
“All set?” I asked quietly. He nodded, tapping at his lectern and calling over one of his staff to confirm some numbers.
“Yeah”, he answered gruffly, a little short. “We’re set. This is going to be quite a ride. Strap yourselves in and try to stay out of the way. OK?”
Falik and I decided to experience the trip in our cabin. We had a replicator for food and drinks, and the accommodation was well sealed in case of trouble. The worst-case scenario, I read, was that the ship would lose structural stability and break up, in which case the emergency beacons would sound, instructing us to occupy specific sections of the ship which were designed to remain intact. The fact that we’d be streaking out of the system at half the speed of light was not included on the emergency card. Getting us back would be almost impossible. Power would drain away in weeks, this far from the sun, and shortly after, we would be adrift, at tremendous speeds, without food or water. I was reminded of the Apollo-era rumours of suicide pills, carried with just such an irrecoverable failure in mind.
But this haste was essential. We didn’t have the three months to spare. The Ministry had sent the fuel, the Captain had prepared his crew, and everyone was ready. His voice came over the loudspeaker.
“Crew and passengers of the Daedalus, this is the Captain. We are a minute from the beginning of a remarkable journey. No ship of this class has ever attempted 0.99C before, and we intend to accelerate to that speed over the next twenty minutes. All safety precautions have been taken, but I must remind you of this…” he cleared his throat, “that this is the best ship, the best crew”, his voice tightened a little, “that I have ever had the pleasure of serving with.” He took a moment. “Thank you all. Godspeed.”
Falik and I looked at each other. “I love you”, we said together. Then it began.
The six engines which would power Daedalus drew their first energy from the massive underbelly fuel tanks, now brimming with hydrogen from Gaspiri. I had read about them – the Casimir Drive, it was called – and their startling ability to accelerate even a large mass to tremendous speeds. Engine specifications were scrolling down the screen of our cabin’s lectern. They We were underway, it was clear, but the first effects were yet to be felt.
As the impulse grew, I knew the engines were beginning to emit their characteristic blue light, a thin stream of charged particles which was all that remained of the tonnes of hydrogen being consumed each minute. The plasma grew in intensity and the acceleration was finally detectable. This would not stop, we knew, until we reached a quite preposterous speed. Behind us, a gentle push began and the craft accelerated from a little more than orbital velocity to a full 0.01-C – one percent of the speed of light - in little more than a minute. As the hydrogen was consumed, the ship would lighten and the engine’s task would become easier. 10% of our fuel was already gone. Falik and I held each other, checked our restraints and sat back.
0.08-C. The acceleration continued, like an incessant force behind us, urging the ship forward. The readouts were normal. Engine performance was precisely where it should be.
0.19-C. We had cruised at this speed for much of the voyage, but now the ship smashed easily through that invisible barrier. The engines were now reaching full thrust and would stay there until we either reached our target speed, or… I didn’t really want to think about it.
0.34-C. The ship was shaking slightly. Falik glanced at me, just the slightest hint of concern in her eyes. We had never experienced vibrations on board before and the sensations were unsettling.
0.51-C. Half the speed of light, only six minutes into the journey. There was a definite vibration now, as if the walls were humming with electricity. I took my own pulse; my heart was pumping hard.
0.67-C. The vibrations were coming in waves, a thrumming throughout the entire ship. Every second there was a new shaking, which was brief but increasingly harsh.
0.78-C. The waves were every half-second. The noise was intense, loud, grating. Every physical object on the ship was being vibrated at the same frequency, with an intense throbbing. My skin shook with each wave’s arrival. I began to get nauseous.
0.88-C. We sat at the centre of a pulsating, vibrating mass. My stomach felt like it was trying to move through my spine. Falik had buried her face in my shirt, her fingers tight around the cloth. I waited for the alarms to sound.
0.98-C. The ship was surely breaking up. The walls of our cabin receded, becoming smaller, then my feet followed them, stretching me out until I was sure I was being sucked forward, into a vortex which was consuming the ship. Falik’s hands went limp on my shirt. I tried to turn my head to look at her, but my face was being pulled out of the room, stretched to vanishing….
*****
I woke up when my head knocked against the padded ceiling of our cabin. The lights were low and we had clearly lost gravity on-board; numerous objects were floating aimlessly. There was no sign of Falik. I checked my watch, then my communicator.
3 days had passed.
A lump of panic hit my stomach and solidified into a leaden ball. What the hell had happened? I clicked on the cabin’s readout but it showed only static. The replicator refused even to switch on. Oh, Jesus. The ship had been destroyed, and I was floating through space at the
speed of light in some random direction, alone. The realisation was as terrible a sensation as ever I had felt.
In vain hope, I tried my communicator. It claimed there were no booster stations in range and therefore I was cut off. I didn’t even know where the fuck I was. I couldn’t have been asleep for three days, surely?
My communicator beeped softly, calling for attention. There was an incoming message. “Come to the bridge when you are able”. A wave of relief washed over me. The ship was intact. But where was Falik?
I pushed down from the ceiling and headed out of the room, along the corridor and to the elevators. None of the three in the accommodation section were working, their panels dark. I headed through the ship, seeing no-one, using grab-handles to pull myself along in the weightlessness. I reached the bridge. The door was already open, apparently unable to close. I went inside.
The Captain was at the main console in the centre of the bridge area, flanked by three officers. Many of the main viewer screens and data readouts were blank. Falik, I noticed with immense gratitude, was helping a young crew member at a lectern, pointing out something to do with the Casimir Effect. She noticed me and immediately pushed off to head in my direction.
“Thank God!” she gasped as we held each other. “The doctors told me just to leave you to rest.”
“I was asleep, all this time?” I rubbed my eyes. I guess I felt pretty well rested.
“They think you had a flashback, of some kind, to the Cosmic Sleep of your journey to Takanli. It was like a coma, but not dangerous, according to them. We’d have gotten a second opinion, but communications are a bit complex at lightspeed...” she explained.
I recognized the problem, put aside the coma weirdness, and tried to focus. “How’s Daedalus?”
Voyage Page 21