"I'm Kyriana," she said in a strong Australian accent. "Pleased to meet you, truly."
The four of them then exchanged pleasantries, compared notes, and then talked a lot of shop about their upcoming merger -- though they didn't go much below the surface on the personal level.
When they signed off, Kari gave a deep sigh and tried to marshal her many conflicting feelings. Ten days. Ten days before she and Pax would no longer be alone.
"So, you know each other?" said Pax, softly.
"Do I!" said Kari. "We did a shift up-top together. "
Kari didn't need to go any further -- Pax was able to infer the rest.
"Well, she's pretty," he said softly.
"So is Kyriana," offered Kari, not sure of what else to say.
"Who knows which way she leans, though."
"Oh Pax," chided Kari. "I've got the most accurate Lesbometer you've ever seen. If Kyriana could have crawled through the vid screen, she would already have you in the bedroom... if she could have waited that long."
"I see," murmured Pax.
Kari's guts were churning more than she had been willing to let on.
"Pax, we knew."
His vacant face was worse than any tears he might have shed. In a desperate, lonely time they had found a way to love each other in a fierce, protective way. Kari evaluated her feelings toward Kyriana and she realized she was jealous somehow.
Whether or not Kyriana and Pax ended up together, Kari had a deep love for him that she knew would never go away and she dreaded the idea that someone else might hurt him emotionally. Yet, she couldn't deny that things had changed between them in that brief video call. She knew that her heart had leapt upon seeing Grace, or that her libido had jumped up a couple of notches at the thought of having a woman in her bed again.
"Come here," she said to him in a kind but firm tone.
She sat him down in a chair and then straddled him, wrapping her arms around his neck and staring directly into his eyes.
"Can you answer me something?" she asked. "Can you honestly tell me that you weren't a bit excited to see that lithe and supple-looking straight girl? Answer me truthfully, because something pressing against my pelvis seems to run counter to you answering anything other than 'yes'. Did you find her attractive? Were you excited by the prospect?"
Pax looked away, but she took his face in her hands and brought him back to her.
"Pax, answer me."
"Yes, I was excited by her," he said shyly.
"And you should have been," she said, quite serious. "Pax, baby - you win. If we really would have been stuck here on this desert island in space forever, with just the two of us - I would have chosen you over any man I've ever met. I would have been happy, too. We would have been happy -- as happy as possible given the fact that both of us are innately attracted to women. I am so excited to be having your child, you have no idea. But no matter how we slice it, both of us would have always been hollow in here."
She put her hand over his heart and took one of his hands and placed it over her left breast.
"And in here."
"We have a new world coming to us. Thirty-eight other lonely souls, and you'll end up partnering with Kyriana, or someone else, or several people over your life. Looking at the usual odds, Grace might be my only choice for while -- but who knows. You and I will find someone who makes us whole. That's so important in this lonely cosmos."
"You're right," he said as he hugged her.
***
Grace and Kyriana would be arriving in less than a day. They had reached out to the wheels beyond that. 25 would reach them in another week, 26 two days after that. In wheels 21 through 40 there were - luckily -- twenty-two women and eighteen men. Six of the women were lesbian and two of the men were gay (and the men were thankfully, already partnered together). This left a good mix of couples for at least temporary bonding in the years to come.
Wheel 24 was now visible to them and growing larger by the hour.
Kari and Pax were watching it, their heads resting on the comforting grass of the sports pitch. They were still tired from a vigorous game of soccer.
Kari had been surprised. They hadn't made love again. Pax, actually, had been the one to suggest it.
"A)," he had explained, "I think it will make it harder. B) whether I hook up with Kyriana or someone else, I'd like to have that tension, you know?"
They sat in silence, Pax's head resting on her leg, both of them staring up through the glass toward the stars and the approaching wheel.
"Pax..." she started.
"Shh," he said. "Close your eyes and listen."
"Listen for what?" she asked, but still, she closed her eyes.
"For the children," he said. "Before we know it, we'll hear them playing here -- playing soccer and cricket and who knows what else. Maybe we'll even create new games up here."
She concentrated and she could hear them - children laughing, parents cheering. Digging further she envisioned feasts and celebrations, binding ceremonies and graduations, and (hopefully, far in the future) funerals.
"I can hear it," she said happily.
The next day found them helping each other get ready. They'd showered together and were rushing about, sans clothes as they often were.
Kari held up a blue dress and a summer-yellow jump suit.
"Which one?" she asked.
Pax's eyes were having a hard time focusing on the clothing, since Kari's naked body was between the two items.
"Do you really expect me to answer that?" asked Pax. "With the bounty in front of me?"
"Oh please, Pax," Kari said admonishingly. "You've already moved on."
"Moved on?" said Pax in a wry tone. "Moved on from breasts? From a naked woman's body? Not likely."
"You know what I mean."
"Yeah, well -- the dress is what I'd choose," said Pax. "The color suits you and it shows more cleavage. You've gotta do something to compete with Grace's bad girls."
"I can't compete," said Kari, "but you're right, I might as well share my wares a little bit. Couldn't hurt."
"Hang on one second though," insisted Pax.
Still naked, he knelt in front of Kari and looked up into her eyes. Wrapping his arms around her legs, he leaned in and kissed her belly where there was just a bit of a bump starting to show.
"I'm not sure how many more chances I'll have to do this," he said tenderly.
"Hey you," he whispered to her belly. "A few months now and we get to meet you for the first time. You're mom and me, we're different in some ways. We... we found ourselves in a situation no one ever would have expected and we made the best of it. We made more than the best of it -- I think we did better than anyone else in our situation could have. You need to remember one thing, though. I love your mom more than anything else in the universe, and she feels the same way about me -- but we're... we're just the priestess and the shepherd -- and the equinox is over. She'll fill you in on the rest when you're old enough to understand."
He kissed her belly once more and then hugged her tenderly, his cheek resting against the baby below.
"Hey shepherd," said Kari in a loving tone.
"Yes, Inanna-incarnate?"
"Equinox isn't quite over."
Before he could protest, took his hands and lifted him up to face her. Tipping her head back, she beckoned him into a passionate kiss.
"But..."
"We need this, Pax. Come on."
Kari led him into the bedroom laid him down, climbing astride of him and lowering herself down to rest on his chest.
"Let's see if I remember where that thing goes," she mused as she slid downward. "Mmm, how does the expression go? If you fall off the horse get right back on? Well, this cowgirl seems to be ready to climb back aboard."
It was tender, intense, and final. When Pax exploded within her, much like when she had known she had conceived -- they both felt a bell of realization -- a note that this unusual but lovely chapter was indeed over.
Pax and Kari found themselves sprinting toward the joining spoke and arrived just as the airlock connected and the system started its final check -- which involved a fifteen minute external inspection by service droids and full pressure check.
"Are you alright?" asked Grace's voice from the comm. "We couldn't get ahold of you for a little while there."
"All fine," replied Kari. "Probably just magnetic interference from the docking engines."
A few minutes later saw the doors opening at either end of the corridor which would be connecting the two wheels for the foreseeable future. The two pairs walked toward each other slowly. For some reason, Kari felt the need to loop her arm through that of Pax and walk with him -- as a couple -- toward their new companions.
As they drew closer, she could see the slight disappointment in Kyriana's eyes -- and the curiosity in the eyes of Grace.
They stopped and faced each other, a strange and surreal tension filling the air. The people of their world were dying and they had been living with only one person for so long. It was as though their minds wouldn't accept the reality of having someone else there... of the possibility of a society actually becoming real again.
Not knowing why, Kari made the first move. She took Pax's hand and led him not to Kyriana, but to Grace. She took Grace's hand in hers and placed it into Pax's.
"Grace, I'd like you to meet Pax -- a truly wonderful man."
Grace smiled into his eyes and reached up on tiptoes to kiss him gently on the cheek before hugging him.
"It's nice to meet you, Pax. Thanks for taking such good care of Kari."
"We took care of each other," he said softly.
Kari crossed to Kyriana and took both of her hands in her own.
"How hard has it been?" she asked tenderly.
"You have no idea," said Kyriana, sobbing.
Kari pulled her into a tight hug.
"Grace was lovely," Kyriana said, whispering into Kari's ear. "But it's just... just so..."
"Lonely?" offered Kari. "And I do have an idea, trust me. You're in good hands now, dear."
The four of them turned to each other. Now Kari crossed to Grace and Pax walked slowly to Kyriana.
Kari's hand went to Grace's cheek, then her other hand followed and she took Grace's face in her hands and brought her into a slow, loving kiss.
"Oh my god," moaned Grace as their bodies melted into each other. "I've never felt anything like that before in my life."
"I know," murmured Kari.
Her own skin was singing at the contact. They fell into a kiss again, more passionate this time. Grace's hands were clasped around her back, pulling her into a deep and dizzying embrace. Their bodies melted together -- their nerves crying out at having found a companion once again.
"Damn, girlfriend," said Grace.
Her hand had drifted down to Kari's breasts.
"Did you do something? Get work done? I don't remember them this big, and I knew 'em pretty well."
"No work," whispered Kari. "Nothing unnatural. See if you can guess."
Grace looked at her in puzzlement for some time. At last, a light dawned in her eyes and she gasped. Her hand pushed further down and came to rest on Kari's belly.
"Oh my god," she whispered. "How far?"
"Three months," said Kari.
"We decided to wait," said Grace. "Thought we'd get to know everyone, you know?"
"Sure. Good plan," agreed Kari.
At the same time as Kari and Grace's meeting, Pax and Kyriana had been meeting each other for the first time.
Pax reached out a hand to Kyriana for a handshake, but she would have none of it. She pulled him quickly to her and hugged him so fiercely he wondered if she'd ever let go. She buried her face in his chest and breathed in deeply.
"Oh my god, the smell," she said happily.
"What?" asked Pax. "I just showered. Just before you got here."
"No, you smell like a man," she said with a chuckle.
"We smell different?" he asked.
"Only a man could ask that," she said.
She had a good smile, a warm and open kind of smile that was purely inviting.
"Kari, can I ask you a question?" asked Kyriana. "And please tell me if it feels too forward."
"Anything."
"Would you kiss me?"
Generally, Pax wasn't a big fan of Australian accents -- but the word 'kiss', sounding like 'keese' with the differing 'i' vowel sound was one of the most seductive words he could ever remember hearing.
"Absolutely," said Pax.
Their lips soon touched and Pax now knew what Kari had been speaking of. Though he'd been with Kari, his body had never truly had the chance to appreciate the difference of the imperceptible chemical/psychological magic of attraction. The feel of Kyriana's body responding at every level to the touch of his gave him his first true glimpse of what would have been missing had they been fated to live their lives with only each other.
Kyriana's tongue danced with his and her hands caressed his back, his chest, his face. His own hands sought out her body, caressing her supple back and his fingers pushing hungrily through her hair.
"Oh my god," whispered Kyriana.
She was dizzy to the point of feeling wobbly on her feet.
"Oh my goddess," said Pax.
Kyriana smiled, but didn't understand the full weight of what Pax meant.
When they were all well 'acquainted', Kari made a suggestion.
"I think," she said, "that we should have a right and proper feast at the waterfall. Do you want to use yours, or would you prefer ours?"
"Yours is better," said Grace. "I did a shift on this wheel a couple of years ago. It's much more romantic."
As they walked, each couple hand-in-hand, Kyriana whispered to him softly.
"I need to make a confession," she said.
"What's that?"
"Well, since this is going where I hope it's going -- I thought I should be totally up front with you."
She was blushing furiously.
"Go on," said Pax.
"Pax, I slept with Grace. A lot. I'd never, ever had sex with a woman before. It was just so lonely. I'm not ashamed of it, or anything like that -- but I thought you should know in case you had any problems with it."
Pax chuckled.
"Kyriana, that would make two of us who slept with a lesbian during the lonely times. I can state with good authority that they make excellent companions, in bed or otherwise."
***
They had feasted. They had consumed generous quantities of alcohol (except, of course, Kari -- though she found the mood alone intoxicating enough). They were now all naked and seated in or around the waterfall pool. They had spent their time beneath the cascades, but had now moved to the far end of the pool, away from the deafening noise of the water.
They could not stop laughing. There was an euphoria in their newfound communion. It was the end. They knew there would be tough times ahead, that even with their edens in space -- the journey would not be easy. Yet, they were not alone. They were together - a society.Grace, always the saucy one, was the one to make the suggestion.
"Full disclosure," said Grace. "We all know that things have happened - excitingthings, wondrous things. Things so amazing and inconceivable they even made our Kari here -- the most confirmed and adamant lesbian I have ever known -- thesethings transpired to even lead Kari into the arms of a man. As attractive as Pax is, I never would have believed that possible. So, what I propose is that each of us tellone story about things that happened. One each, and make it a good one."
The mood changed a bit. Grace's proposal brought the sexual tension in the group directly to the surface- as well as the embarrassment lurking...at least for the three of them. Grace didn't seem to have any hangups, anywhere.
"Very well," said Kari. "But since you proposed it, you go
first."
"I will then," said Grace, musing. "What to tell, what to tell? We've got that time, and that time and... I know."
She gave Kyriana a particularly sly grin.
"As you might notice," began Grace. "I have particularly small hands."
"Noo!" shrieked Kyriana, turning seven shades of red.
Sci-Fi & Fantasy Erotica: Volume 1 (Sci-Fi & Fantasy Erotica Series) Page 6