by Robin Roseau
"What?"
"Exceedingly grateful."
"I'm teasing you."
"You are making me feel alive. Yes, it is teasing, and it will grow frustrating. But if touching me helps you, then touch me. You are making me feel alive, Sapphire, and I would have given anything to have these feelings again. This is not pressure. Tease me if you want. I'm going to enjoy it if you do."
"I've never in my life been a tease. Not that kind. I've been on the receiving end, and I really don't like it. And I am not promising sex. I am not promising anything, Bronze. You need to understand that. I expect to go home in five months."
"What I am saying is also not pressure. Five months of teasing, of feeling alive, is five months more than I thought I would have. I'd rather have those five months of teasing than nothing at all."
"This isn't fair to you."
"No. It's nearly as unfair to me as it is to you. Life is not fair. But you didn't make this situation." She cocked her head back and forth once. "Be comfortable. Your touch feels good. If touching me feels good, then touch me. It is what I want."
I nodded. "When will our suits be ready?"
"They are just ready now, a minute or two ago. Come." She led me to the other end of the room, and there were two nooks in the wall with our waiting suits.
I don't know what I was expecting, but I wasn't expecting this. The exposure suits didn't look at all like what NASA astronauts wore. If anything, they looked more like wetsuits used in scuba diving although with a full helmet.
"That's it?"
"Yes. They are compression suits and self-sealing in the case of minor punctures. Do you need me to explain?"
"No. It is safe."
"It is safe for a stroll across an airless moon. I wouldn't be able to take you here if we had young to protect. This is probably your one and only lunar stroll across the surface. When we come and go from Earth, we come here to transfer between ships, but it is unlikely I will let you step outside again."
"You believe you have this authority?"
"I certainly do for the next five months."
I lowered my eyes. "Yes. I think I need help."
It took time to slide into the suit, and I required a significant amount of assistance. We left the helmet off, and the front of my suit remained open while I then helped her into her suit.
"If we weren't at this stage of our relationship, we would have had more help."
"I understand," I said.
Soon enough, we were both in our suits. She sealed mine and added the helmet, then the suit ran diagnostics. Once she was satisfied, and once I'd gotten used to the claustrophobic feeling, we did her suit. That involved more diagnostics. Then we double- and triple-checked everything one more time.
"Are you sure we shouldn't ask someone to help us?"
"The suits would warn us if there was a problem," she said. "And we do more diagnostics in the airlock."
"Once there is no air?"
"You are safe, Sapphire."
"Yeah, you're looking out for me. But who is looking out for you?"
We reviewed our excursion. We reviewed the emergency procedures. And then we stepped to the airlock.
* * * *
I stared. It had been one thing to look out from the shuttle bus, but it was something entirely different to stand upon the lunar surface, looking all around.
I stared at Earth the most. Bronze stepped beside me and set her hands on my shoulders. It was the gesture that counted the most.
"Do you like Earth?" I asked her.
"Very much, especially now that the air is cleaner."
"The mix must be different than your planet."
"It is, but it's within a comfortable range. Some of the species have their bodies altered. Others must wear some sort of filter. And some couldn't come here, as the air is entirely poisonous for them. They evolved on an atmosphere of methane."
"Could you make Earth your home?"
"That is not a conversation for now. You must assume a life with me is not on Earth. I don't want you to set your hopes on dreams of a life on Earth with me. You must think of a life with me and not think about anything else."
I could just make out the shape of some of the continents. "It's night at home."
"Sapphire." She turned me around then touched her helmet against mine.
"The stars are pretty," I whispered. "The moon is not."
"In its way," she replied. "So stark."
"I can't see into the shadows, not even with help from the visor."
"There's no atmosphere to spread the light."
"I understand that much. I weigh nothing here. How high could you throw me?"
"Far higher than is safe."
"Could you toss me and catch me? Just a little?"
"Just a little."
I turned around again. She picked me up by my waist and threw me towards the stars.
I shrieked. "Just a little" must have been fifteen feet. But when she caught me, I laughed. "Again!"
In all she threw me three times, and she was very careful. And then she let me jump, but she was there to catch me, to ease me to the surface so I didn't trip, fall, and tear the suit.
"I wish we had a bat and ball. I bet I could really belt one." I had to explain that. She laughed.
"You could. I believe it was your Alan Shepherd that hit a golf ball. He was hampered by the nature of human space suits from the time, and struck the ball one handed."
"Could I throw something?"
"Why not? Everyone else does." We chuckled together. Then she found a good rock for me and another for herself.
"I bet yours goes a lot further than mine."
"This will be the furthest you've ever thrown anything, however." She gestured. "Go ahead."
I really wound up and let it go. It flew about ten yards and hit the ground, bouncing across the surface before it was swallowed in some dust.
"Well, shit. That was going to be my star moment. I thought I was ready for the majors."
"That was a warm-up." She found another rock for me. "Maybe release in a somewhat upward trajectory, and maybe think about control instead of distance."
I did better the second time. I didn't think I threw it as far as a professional baseball player would on Earth, but it went a lot further than anything I'd ever thrown.
"I want you to throw yours in a different direction. I don't want the comparison to be that obvious."
"You realize I've never done this. Temier don't throw anything."
"You've never thrown anything?"
"No, and especially not in this type of gravity."
"Perhaps release in a somewhat upward trajectory, and maybe think about control instead of distance."
She growl-chuckled and threw her rock. It disappeared over the next ridge.
"Did you put it into orbit?"
She growl-chuckled again. "No. You can't actually put something into orbit by firing it from the surface. Discounting rotational forces, orbits tend to pass through the same point each time-"
"Bronze."
"It was a joke, wasn't it?"
"Yeah."
"Do you have any idea how cute you are?"
"Yeah. I used to have girls lining up on my doorstep to tell me. Come on. Can we walk up there?" I pointed to the ridge.
"Are you attached to that particular spot?"
"I want to climb somewhere, but if it's dangerous..."
"There's a path over there," she said, pointing in another direction. "I'd rather we stuck to the path if we're more than a few seconds from the nearest airlock."
"Less chance for the clumsy one to do something stupid. Sure. That's perfect."
She took my hand, and together we turned to the trail. Walking through the lunar silt was a little difficult, but the path was a lot easier. We walked quietly for perhaps a hundred yards before she said, "Sapphire, may I ask a favor?"
"You can ask."
"It hurts when you say denigrating things about yourself.
Do you think you could stop?"
"I'm not saying anything everyone else isn't thinking."
"That's not true. I'm not thinking these things. I'm thinking about how amazing you are."
"I'm not, Bronze. I'm not. If you think I'm amazing, you're looking at the wrong girl's test results. I'm plain and a little chubby and clumsy."
"And kind and charming and clever. And I think your body is perfect."
"No. Yours is perfect."
"Perfect in different ways."
"Yours is perfect the way everyone wants."
"I like your body. I like looking at it. I like touching it. I like holding it. I like thinking about it. Maybe there are people thinking the things you say, but there isn't one single soul for 400,000 kilometers thinking them but you."
"Well, shit," I said. "That puts things into perspective, doesn't it?" I paused, then turned her to face me. "Look, I think I have a pretty reasonable view of my good parts. I know, at least for a human, I'm smart enough. I'm loyal to my friends. People think I'm funny. And I'm good at my job and the skills involved in my job. I'd say all that is more than most people can say."
"You're skipping things, and you know it," she replied. "Are we agreed on that part?"
I looked down.
"And you're uncomfortable about it. Why?"
"I don't know."
"You are perhaps the least athletic person I've ever met. So what?"
"That's not entirely true though."
"No?"
"I'm a decent snow skier. Not great, but decent."
"Well, there you go then."
"I bet you'd be an amazing snow skier."
"But we're not going to compare, or we have to also compare the better musician."
I smiled tentatively. "Okay, I totally owned your ass on that challenge."
She growl-laughed. "You certainly did. And I am pleased at how focused you seem to be on my ass."
"Shut up," I said. But then I leaned over and made a point of looking at her backside. "Even in the suit, it's a great ass."
"Thanks. And you have now officially given me permission to look at yours all I want."
"Go ahead, but remember the rule at the museum."
"We haven't been to any museums. What rule?"
"Look, but don't touch."
She growl-laughed.
* * * *
It took perhaps ten minutes to climb to the top of the ridge. There was a bench waiting right at the top, and so we turned around and sat down.
The base was spread out before us. There were the buildings, which I knew were just the tops of the buildings, and three different landing pads for spacecraft. The shuttle we'd taken to get here was still here, and there was another craft at one of the other pads.
Hanging over everything was Earth, now easier to see when we weren't in the little valley. I leaned against Bronze and took her hand.
"What time does the sun set?"
"In another four days."
"Are we staying that long?"
"We can if you really want. It takes a lot longer for the sun to set on the moon than it does on Earth. That's what happens when days are actually 27 days long."
"But the Earth is always exactly there." I pointed. "Although we get the opposite view as they do on Earth. When it's a full moon, it's a dark Earth."
"Exactly. We missed that part and would need to stay a little more than two weeks to see it."
"When is the shuttle to the space station?"
"Whenever we leave."
"I don't understand."
She pointed to the second of the spaceships down on the landing pad. "That one is ours."
"You have your own spaceship?"
"It's chartered."
"You chartered a spaceship."
"Yes. It's not as expensive as it sounds."
"I feel like a rich gazillionaire stopped by some crappy backwater country somewhere, picked out a girl, and is now taking her home with him."
"That sounds about right," Bronze replied. "What's a gazillionare?"
"It's slang. Someone with far, far too much money. Someone with a million dollars is a millionaire. Someone with a billion dollars is a billionaire. Gazillion is the word people use to mean 'more than a billion'. That's slang, too."
"Thank you for explaining. I'm not a gazillionaire. I'm not even a billionaire."
"You own things money can't buy, at least things Earth dollars can't buy."
"And I can't sell them for Earth dollars, either."
I thought about what she said. "But you're a millionaire."
"Something like that."
"So a multi-millionaire and probably close to a billionaire."
"It's pretty, isn't it?" She gestured. "We have ten more minutes here then we're heading back."
"I shouldn't feel guilty asking for things."
"No. You should not feel guilty asking for things."
"So you'll buy me a Lamborghini."
"I don't know what a Lamborghini is, but I believe if I knew, I would realize you are making a joke."
"You're right. It's a ridiculously expensive car. I don't know if they even make them anymore, since you came and replaced internal combustion engines. So I guess that makes it a collector's item." I nudged her. "Don't worry. I don't want a Lamborghini."
"Good. I'm not buying you anything with an internal combustion engine in it."
"Damn it. I wanted a Ferrari."
"Is that another ridiculously expensive automobile?"
"Maybe."
A couple of minutes later she asked me, "What are you thinking?"
"I'm trying to think of something expensive to tell you I want."
"Come up with anything?"
"I bet it would cost a mint to get a Luigi's pizza right now." I began to laugh. "You really should rethink this whole human mate thing."
"I don't think so."
"There's something human women do when we're pregnant."
"Oh?"
"We have cravings."
"What sort of cravings?"
"Food cravings, and they can be very particular. Or so I'm told. Not having been pregnant myself, I have no first hand knowledge. But it's in all the movies, the pregnant wife sending her husband out for a particular type of pickles and a weird flavor of ice cream. Do you know how hard it's going to get a jar of Baby Dills and a quart of Cookies and Cream on a Saturday night on Saturn? I mean, talk about a drive!"
She leaned her helmet against mine. "I will take very good care of you when you're pregnant, Sapphire."
"Better stock up ahead then."
We stayed there a few more minutes before she stood.
"Time to go back?"
"I'm afraid so."
"I wish I'd brought a golf ball."
"Do you golf?"
"No. I wish I'd known I was going to be kidnapped by space aliens, repeatedly probed, and then taken to the moon. I would have learned to golf and had a golf ball in my bathrobe pocket and a golf club by the front door."
"I'm sure that would have been your first thought."
"Probably not my first thought, but I would have worked my way to it, if you'd given me ample warning. It's your fault I don't have a golf ball and club. You could have warned me. During testing. You could have said, 'Sapphire, it is going to become very important to you to know how to golf, and to always keep a golf ball in the pocket of your bathrobe and a golf club by the front door.' And being the naïve but incredibly sweet and trusting Earth woman, I, of course, would have followed through immediately."
"You're right. You have my deepest apologies. Can we now head back?"
"I suppose. Next time you kidnap me, though, I'm bringing a golf club. Or a sling shot. That would be cool, too. Oh, wait! Bow and arrow. Oh, that won't work. Well, I'll think of something."
But I stood up and let her lead me back to the base. But before I stepped into the airlock, I turned and looked at Earth.
One last time, or so it felt.
; Earth Behind
Sleeping in one-seventh gravity has its advantages, I must admit. Receiving an extremely thorough massage from a talented space alien is pretty darned good. Sleeping on a soft, alien smart bed, one that adjusts itself to your body, has its advantages, too. Sleeping on such a bed in one-seventh gravity after the massage?
Priceless.
I woke to caresses on my arm and back. The bare skin of my back. I stiffened.
"What are you doing?" I whispered.
"Touching."
"Why am I not wearing anything?"
"That question is based on an inaccurate assessment of the situation," Bronze replied. "You are wearing your panties."
"Why am I topless?"
"You fell asleep in the middle of a massage."
"Oh." I paused. "It was a nice massage, I must admit."
"I'm glad you enjoyed it."
I let my eyes close. What she was doing felt good. I felt good. Maybe I should encourage her to touch a little lower. Maybe I should roll over and let her do that to the front for a while.
Wait. I was supposed to be mad at her. I was supposed to resist this.
But it felt good, and I wanted her.
I wondered if she would be a good lover. I wondered if she'd figure out what I liked.
Morning sex is the best, right?
Something was wrong about this. But it didn't feel wrong. It felt really good.
I moaned in enjoyment, and from behind me, Bronze growled lightly. It was comforting. I wanted her to growl again. I wanted her to make me moan again.
"You like this," she whispered.
"Yes," I whispered back.
I wanted her. I rolled over, pinning her arm, then rolled all the way on top of her. I lay with my head between her breasts, and when she clasped my ass, I wriggled.
I inhaled deeply.
"Oh god, Bronze, you smell good."
Wait. Something about smelling good.
I launched myself off of her, scrambling away. I found my robe and pulled it around me.
"Where are you going? Come back, Sapphire."
"The whole room smells like you," I said. I moved around the bed and snatched up my pillow. I smelled it. God, it smelled good! "My pillow smells like you. Did you rub yourself everywhere after I fell asleep?"