Island Girls

by Rodzil LaBraun

  We stepped back out to the center section to decide what each of us wanted to do. Zach and Drexel only waited a few seconds to see if anyone wanted to join them before they headed to the virtual reality game. We were told that new players could jump in at any time, so I was not in a rush.

  "I want to start at the spa," Shira announced. "My muscles need some rejuvenating."

  "I'll join you," Amir announced, looking a little like a pervert in the way that he moved as he stared at Shira.

  "Anybody else?" Shira pleaded. She obviously was not wanting to be alone with the unusual guy, even though they had something in common. They both had middle eastern ancestry.

  "I need a drink," Nancy announced.

  "Me, too," Lin added.

  "They might have alcohol in the spa," Shira continued to beg. "We can ask."

  "This dress makes me wanna dance," Lin replied as she began to wiggle. The sight nearly had my tongue dropping to the floor.

  "Well, okay," Shira said sadly. "Amir you keep your distance. This is not a date, you understand?"

  Amir claimed that he understood as he followed her creepily into the spa. I assumed that the captors would keep her safe the way they did with Bobby. Otherwise I wasn't so keen on the idea of them two being by themselves.

  The upside of the group split was that it put me as the only man with the two most desirable women in my eyes, Lin and Nancy. We entered the dance club section and bobbed to the music as the bartender served us our drinks. The music was electrifying but somehow did not prevent us from having a conversation in almost normal tones.

  "I saw you two holding hands when you came in," Lin said to Nancy. "Are you a couple now?"

  "No," Nancy replied, all nonchalant. "We're just fuck buddies."

  Wide-eyed Lin responded, "Oh! I see."

  "How about you?" Nancy asked.

  "Do I have a fuck buddy? No. No, thank you."

  "You don't like Zach? He's a good-looking guy," Nancy told her.

  "He's a little immature for me. He's tried a few times to put his arm around me and once leaned in for a kiss before we had teammates. I wouldn't have it then, and I don't want it now. I think he's come to terms with it."

  "What about Amir, then," Nancy said with a smile. She knew that Lin would not be attracted to that guy.

  "He's a creep! I avoid him whenever I can. I'm glad Shira is keeping him distracted. He did have sex with Candice, though."

  "Really?" Nancy replied, intrigued by the gossip of the other team’s players. I was a bit surprised as well. But you never know what another person wants or needs until you ask. The girl in front of you at the grocery store checkout line might want to ride you like a cowgirl in the back seat of her car. You don't know until you ask.

  "Oh, yeah," Lin replied, still bouncing to the rhythm. "I heard them. Zach might have got some, too. I'm not sure. She was kind of slutty. I caught her masturbating one night when she thought that I was asleep."

  We all got second drinks and continued to dance as we made small talk. By the time the two of them finished theirs they were ready for some body contact. The invisible music selector picked up on the signals and started playing some slow stuff. I took turns holding them close and swaying to the music. At one point I had Lin against my chest as Nancy clung to my back with her arms around my waist.

  "I think you two might need to sit down," I told them, pointing toward one of the benches. I could feel the distribution of their weight shifting against me. The heels probably didn’t help.

  Nancy started walking that way before Lin announced with a slight slur, "I want to go swimming!"

  "Yes!" Nancy said, looking a little wobbly as she spun around. She then laughed at her own intoxicated imbalance.

  Having them both in swimsuits sounded like a great idea to me, so I guided them to that section. They were both tipsy but not in danger of drowning in the pool. I would keep a close eye on them anyway. That was a perfect responsibility for me, since ogling their fine bodies was difficult to avoid.

  "Which swimsuit should I choose?" Lin asked slyly, grinning naughtily at me.

  "You both better be in bikinis when you come back out?" I declared.

  "Will it be the banana hammock for you?" Lin asked. I was not all that comfortable in a speedo, so I was planning to go with the trunks instead. But now that would be hard to pull off after I demanded that they both where bikinis.

  "If they have one in my size?" I replied. Both girls laughed as they disappeared into the changing room.

  Though I had always taken pride in my body, and women regularly considered me well endowed, I was a bit self-conscious when I saw myself in the mirror wearing just the speedo. My thoughts of the two sexy women in bikinis had my penis slightly chubbed up already. There was no way to hide it. The material stretched but I wasn't a hundred percent sure that it wouldn't push one of my testicles out the side. The last thing that I wanted was laughter directed at my genitalia.

  I exited the changing room before them and stealthily slipped into the pool. I braced myself for the water to be cool at first but was pleasantly surprised to find it the perfect temperature. I don't know why. Everything had been planned so well to this point.

  I waited a couple minutes for the girls to join me. The thought occurred to me that I might have been tricked. They could have slipped out of the quadrant while I was changing, and I wouldn't have even known it. I didn’t expect that kind of behavior from Nancy, but she was a little drunk, and accompanied by someone that I did not know that well.

  Just as I considered checking on them Nancy stepped out of the women's closet first. I was almost disappointed. She had chosen the one-piece swimsuit instead of the bikini. Perhaps she had the same experience as me once she saw herself in the mirror. Only, no testicles. However, the swimwear looked absolutely amazing on her lithe frame. Her hips were fully exposed making her legs appear long and slender. The center chest cut and under arms were so low that her wonderful breasts could easily be freed with one hand. My 'fuck buddy' was looking even more desirable than she did naked.

  Nancy was overly modest for some reason and tiptoed toward me while biting her lip and crossing her arms in front of her. "How is the water?" she asked.

  "It's amazing," I replied. "Just like you."

  "Thank you," she blushed as she slid in to stand beside me, leaning against the padded pool wall. "Just wait until you see Lin."

  "Did she go with the one piece also?"

  "No, she did not," Nancy replied as Lin stepped into view. The Polynesian beauty was a confident woman every time that I had seen her. And understandably so. She was smart, young and drop dead gorgeous. When she approached timidly, I was confused. Had she not also looked in the mirror? She had a legitimate shot at winning the Miss America pageant!

  Lin had a beautiful southeast Asian face with large eyes and full features. Her body proportions were damn near perfect. That included the length of her torso compared to her legs, as well as the chest-waist-hips measurements. The bikini bottom was more like a slingshot, with her vagina barely hidden behind the pocket where the rock would go. No wonder Nancy decided against it. Her bush, though very well trimmed, would have looked awkward.

  Lin's skin was completely hairless above her pussy. Either she had been keeping herself perfectly groomed, or there was a service inside their changing room to assist in that endeavor. The top was barely enough to cover nipples while reaching the bottom of each amazing mound of flesh. I was speechless. She began to giggle when she saw my response.

  "She looks too good," Nancy said to me. It was true. She would make a killing in Vegas as a pool party waitress where sitting at a plastic table would cost you a thousand dollars. Not a straight man in the world would be able to stop from staring. "Why would you want me when you can have her?" Nancy asked rhetorically.

  "I must admit," I whispered. The fountain was keeping my voice from carrying to the hottie as she was dipping her toe in the warm water. "She does look fantastic in a bikin
i. But, Nancy, you look damn good yourself." I pulled her to me and planted a kiss on her lips. Afterwards, I asked, "Why would you assume that I could have her anyway? Didn’t she already tell us that she's not interested?"

  "No," Nancy replied. "She said that she was not interested in the men on her team. She likes you alright. Exactly how much is yet to be seen."

  Did they have a conversation in the changing room about me? Did Lin ask for permission to get close to me? If so, would Nancy really be okay with that? Or, would I have to choose one over the other?

  Lin smiled at us both as she crossed in front to reach my other side. That put a beautiful woman on each arm, so to speak. I had already placed one arm around Nancy after the kiss. I raised my other arm on Lin's side just an inch or so to check her reaction. She had told us how she felt about when Zach tried to do just that.

  "It's okay," Lin said as she caught my gesture. She then lifted my arm by the wrist and placed it around her shoulders. We all three took a collective breath and settled into an even deeper mode of relaxation. Nancy smiled at me in a way that told me that she was okay in the situation. She even appeared happy, which was difficult to do in a prison. I very much liked that look on her. I will do everything that I can to keep her in that state.

  We sat there enjoying submersion in the warm water for a while, talking very little. The scene on the wall at the end of the pool changed periodically. Every image was stellar and seemed to come alive like it was really there just beyond our reach. Some of the places depicted we were able to identify. Hawaii, New Zealand, Australia, Mexico, New York City. Others we could only guess what country or continent that they were from.

  After a while the scenes altered in theme and began showing very unusual locations, like salt pools and volcanoes. Eventually, we stopped believing that what we were being shown was even a place on Earth. Perhaps some of these images had been captured by NASA. It was about then that Shira walked in.

  "Hey, gang," she addressed us, and we all replied warmly but mellow. "You guys look relaxed. Have you tried the hot tubs yet?"

  "I was just thinking about it," Nancy answered. Shira invited my closest team member to join her in one of the tubs. Shira changed into a one-piece swimsuit that matched Nancy's. I didn't get a great glimpse of her exposed body, but she obviously looked nice by the way Nancy complimented her. They oohed and aahed once they got into the hot water and told us that we didn't know what we were missing. I was happy to hear it. It made my invitation for Lin to join me in the other tub expected instead of creepy.

  Lin laid her head on my shoulder when I put my arm around her once submerged in the hot bubbling water of the lounge seat. My body was reacting to the close proximity and reclined position of her body. I was feeling good about my chances of spending some quality time with the gorgeous young woman until she spoke.

  In a quiet voice she said, "We need to stop fucking around and find a way out of this prison."

  She was right, of course. Our captors were doing a tremendous job of pacifying us. Our confinement here was becoming the best resort vacation of our lives. Many of us had fallen for it already. Lin's statement was a wake-up call for me personally. I was allowing the seductive recreation center and beautiful women to lull me into a dangerous mindset. I was embarrassed by it.

  "I agree," I told her. "We are doing a great job of looking content. But our heads need to stay in the game."

  "Speaking of games, neither Zach or Amir even want to consider escaping now. Their plan is to just keep killing off the new people."

  "Really?" I said. "Wouldn't that keep putting your team at risk instead of ours?"

  "Actually, they would like to alternate between teams. They want us to agree to manipulate things so that Drexel goes next."

  "That might be a tough sell for my team," I replied. I didn't like the idea of plotting anyone's death. But protecting my friends was always a high priority for me. It was an uncomfortable fine line.

  "They both prefer to lose Nancy instead, but I told them that there was no way that you would go for that."

  "Nancy?"

  "She is the weakest link, unfortunately. But I'm with you," Lin said. "Escape should be the priority. Protecting the teammates that we are becoming close to should be second. But a close second. This recent realization that we have no one to go back to has made all the difference in the world. Whoever makes it out of this place with us will become our new friends. Our family even."

  "I'm not comfortable throwing the next team challenge," I told Lin. "That puts Nancy at too much risk. Like you said, she is the weakest link. Bobby was an asshole. That's why I was willing to sabotage his life to save hers. But Shira and Drexel have done nothing wrong. I can't cause their death. I can't do it."

  "Then let's get the fuck out of here soon!"

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN:

  I eventually joined the other guys in the starship game. If it weren't for the desirable women around us, I could completely understand the appeal of spending all my time in this quadrant. The game was simply amazing. And it was fully engaging. There was no room for worrying about dying in the arena challenges or wondering what your next provided meal might be. This simulation grabbed you and kept you.

  When I jumped in, a low officer on the bridge updated me on the current status of the mission in progress. It took me a moment to realize that the guy was actually the android servant for the unit. His job was to get me play ready at a comfortable pace.

  Once I understood what was going on, I went to a bridge station where I could pull up data on the mission. The console was real, not holographic, and I wasn't sure how they were able to do that. I didn’t look around for clues long before the data screen demanded my attention.

  The briefing earlier prepared me for a constantly shifting environment. As a single quadrant in the arena space, the room for this endeavor shouldn’t have been any more than fifty feet square. Surely, not everything that I would encounter here would exist physically. There was simply no room.

  I was the only real person on the bridge at the time. A non-playing character, presumably holographic, was in charge before I entered. Everyone present in my view looked so realistic that it was difficult at times to focus on playing the game. They breathed. I could see their chests rise and fall. Emotions displayed on their face. One guy even stumbled a bit when he changed positions with another crew member.

  The officer in charge offered to relinquish command to me. Apparently, I was the highest-ranking officer on the bridge at the time. Humans likely took on the highest-level role available when they joined. He wisely gave me the option of getting up to date before taking control, and I accepted it.

  I examined the information before me diligently. I genuinely felt like people were counting on me. The mission in progress was a rescue attempt on an alien world. A small spacecraft had crash landed and reported several survivors. Both Captain Zach and first officer Drexel had joined the landing party to investigate. That seemed unwise to me. One of them should have remained on the bridge. But it was a game and they were able to play it however they liked.

  Security Officer Amir joined the game after they left and took control of the bridge. While the top two officers were still on the planet there was a breach in one of the cargo bays. Hostile aliens had gained access to the ship. Amir then lead a team to rectify the situation. So far, things were not going all that well.

  A voice then buzzed in my ear, alarming me at first. Then I realized that the game had equipped me with a communication earpiece. I could feel it resting on the side of my head but did not notice when it arrived.

  "Joah! Get down here. We need help killing these nasty bastards."

  I laughed at Amir's enthusiasm, wondering if it was acting or had he been completely caught up in the experience. I answered his command to the affirmative and took off out the only door visible. Little arrows on the floor guided me down a hallway to an open weapons locker. There were a few futuristic arsenal options and I went with th
e oversized pulse rifle. It had a trigger and a scope. I could tell which end was the barrel and which was the shoulder stock, so I hoped that was enough to operate the thing.

  The arrows below then guided me next to a door that opened as I approached. It was a lift. It zoomed down a few floors, the sensation was surprisingly convincing. I exited directly into the combat zone. Again, not sure how the virtual reality game machine was accomplishing all of this.

  The cargo bay was huge, much wider than a hundred feet, and at least thirty feet high. Amir and two crew mates were hunkered down behind some large crates on the left. Another member of the security team had been separated from them and was taking cover behind a mech-like loading unit to the right. Three dead human bodies lay on the floor in front of me.

  A serpentine plasma blast caught my attention as it barely missed my head. One of the aliens in the center of the cargo bay was shooting at me with their unusual weapon that seemed to be mounted to their chest. There were three of them and they did not bother to seek shelter. Four more lay dead at their feet, each having the same weapon on their torso.