AZU-1: Lifehack

by Joseph Picard

  Alisia stood, holding the foam pole like a quarterstaff. It was amazing how alive Regan seemed here. It was nice to see for a change. Alisia started running after Regan after being coaxed some more. Alisia loved the water. The feel of it, the weightlessness. She was soon in up to her shoulders. Regan was nearby doing underwater flips, rotating around her pool toy. Oh god. Toys. Did Regan have any other ‘toys’ in the luggage? Fear spread through Alisia. What the hell was she doing here?! At that moment, Regan’s foam pole descended on Alisia’s head. Fap!

  “Pow!” Regan yelled. No, this was not the same Regan that made sexual innuendos and brash attempts at seduction. She did, however, deserve retaliation. Alisia started to lift her foam pole out of the water, but not in time to block the next strike. Alisia used the pole to send a large wave at Regan, which made her recoil for a bit. Alisia chose her actions very carefully.

  Playful, fine, but she wasn’t going to be dragged into some wet, tropical ‘pillow fight’.

  While Regan was in a minor retreat, Alisia flipped back and floated onto her back, gently kicking away. It served to end the little fight before it got too physical. Alisia felt very proud of the flexibility of her heavily trained tactical mind, but there was one effect she hadn’t thought about.

  Regan stood there, half-floating, water lapping just below her nose. In the sudden quiet with only the sea, and distant music, she watched in awe as Alisia swam slowly away.

  It was art. No, it was something greater than that. Alisia lifted her arm slowly and reached back, to stroke the water again. Regan just watched silently as her goddess floated along. Time was meaningless.

  Alisia was suddenly aware that it was too quiet. Worried that Regan might not be okay, or worse, that she was sneaking up on her, Alisia rose to an upright position and looked at Regan. She was now several meters away. Regan’s eyes were wide, but the expression told little.

  “You okay?” Alisia said quietly.

  Regan took a moment to realize that her goddess was addressing her. “.... uh, hi.” She said, momentarily rising her mouth above the water.

  Alisia suddenly looked very worried. “Hi. Are you okay, Regan?”

  Regan sighed and closed her eyes, unable to endure the goddess’s gaze any further. “Yeah, I’m fine.” She said, wondering if her voice was convincing. She felt the water move her around, and listened to its sounds. Regan imagined the vision right in front of her that she could not bear to actually look at.

  Alisia treaded over to Regan. The sound it made became all Regan could think of. She listened to Alisia’s body getting closer and closer. Less than a meter now? Close enough to touch, for sure. Alisia let out a tiny sigh, a music beyond beauty to Regan’s ears.

  Regan opened her eyes, surprised that no tear escaped. Alisia was looking right into her eyes. My god, those green eyes. Regan felt like trash in front of this perfection, which looked at her like this, with compassion.

  Alisia clued in a bit. “Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea.” she said, turning her eyes to shore. “Maybe we should go back.”

  “I’m okay.” Regan sighed, closing here eyes and floating back like Alisia had before.

  For some time, the two enjoyed the sea, floating peacefully, but keeping a distance from each other. Alisia worried while Regan cried salty tears into the salty water.

  Some hours later, Regan realized that the sky she’d been staring up at was turning dark. She righted herself and looked around. She had floated farther from the shore than she thought. She looked around for Alisia, finally spotting her up on the beach, sitting back on the blankets. She swam back to the beach, but when she got closer to Alisia, Regan found she was already asleep. Regan thought about setting up the tent, but with the weather as it was, it seemed like the tent would not be needed on this trip. She made herself a ‘nest’ out of blankets near Alisia and watched TV on the terminal for a little bit. It was still a bit early.

  She turned her attention to Alisia, sleeping peacefully and oblivious. She was on her back, leaning up a bit on a couple of blankets under her head and torso, just lazily spread out. It was far better a thing to watch than the terminal, so Regan turned it off. Alisia had a surprising number of empty cooler bottles near by. Three was a lot for Alisia. Maybe it was a sign that Alisia was relaxing a bit, finally. Was it because Regan wasn’t around at the time?

  It was all so awkward. Regan curled up close, but not too close, moving a couple bottles out of the way. She watched Alisia breathing. Her chest rose and fell, and Regan found her own breathing becoming faster. She reached out for Alisia’s nearby hand but decided not to touch.

  It felt like forever, but even with her greatest temptation laying nearly naked just an arm’s reach away, Regan finally found sleep.

  The next day found Alisia awake first. Although Regan had packed mostly junk-food and pre-fab meals, Alisia did her best to arrange what she felt was a presentable breakfast, which she laid in front of Regan for when she awoke.

  When they were both ready for the day they made some use of the inflatable raft, and later explored the jungle a bit. There were no awkward moments, Regan put extra effort into not causing them, but it was very difficult.

  When the evening came, they settled into their nests and watched some TV on the terminal over a snack-ish supper, and more drinks than Regan had ever seen Alisia pack away. The movie broke to commercial, and Regan turned down the volume.

  “Leesha?” She asked in a shy voice, “Have I been good today?”

  Alisia was a bit surprised. “Good? Oh. You mean... well... yes, you’ve been really good, actually... When you brought this whole thing up, I was expecting some tourist trap resort. To be honest, I had all these plans to.. well.. not avoid you.. but escape the kinds of situations where.. well...”

  “Where I would hit on you...” Regan said shamefully.

  “Well, yeah. But here, I can’t rely on any of the distractions I was counting on. I wanted separate rooms, but that didn’t work out because there are no rooms!”

  Regan giggled under her breath. “I could have used this time to be really bad.”

  “Yeah,” Alisia said, getting a bit nervous, “I... heh. Have no where to run.”

  “Since I’ve been so good, can I.. do something?”

  Alisia’s eyes widened with fear. She didn’t speak, not knowing how to say “Oh god, please no, just leave me alone!” without sounding hurtful. Regan got closer and put an arm across Alisia’s middle, snuggling up close.

  Alisia’s body was rigid with tension. Was that it? Could be worse. Regan felt the tension and was already ashamed. No, not ashamed. It was just painful to think that her touch would bring such displeasure.

  The movie came back on and Regan turned the volume back to normal. She felt the humidity between her arm and Alisia’s abdomen. The movie was not important in the slightest.

  Alisia tried to ignore this woman, latched on to her side. If it was just a friend, it would be awkward, but this woman loved her. Stupid lesbian. She tried to relax. Better to watch the movie than give herself an ulcer over this. Just imagine it was a big teddy bear. In a bikini, who’s smelling your hair. “Oh my god,” Alisia thought, “She’s smelling my hair.”

  Regan was in heaven. Holding Alisia wasn’t quite as nice as she’d hoped, since she was so tense, but Regan was thrilled with having her face buried in Alisia’s fiery mane. The gentle scent seemed to fill her heart, when suddenly, magic happened.

  Alisia relaxed.

  Suddenly, this tense bundle Regan was holding just melted. Regan felt them fit just a little bit better together. A tiny bit more body contact. It was incredible. Regan felt her heart speed up again. Her body filled with adrenaline. The relaxing moment was over for Regan, just as Alisia had found it. Regan began to tense up, fighting her passion. She closed her eyes but found only irrepressible, erotic urges. Alisia was right in her arms! Regan imagined all the things she might be able to do before Alisia could squirm away. No, no. That wouldn’t do. That
would ruin everything. But she had to do something.

  “Alisia,” Regan whispered nearly in a rasp. Alisia’s body tensed again, but this time it only served to fuel Regan’s lust. “I want my birthday present now.” She almost sounded as if she were in pain, and in a way, she was.

  Alisia backed her head up so she could look at Regan. “Uh... I told you, I didn’t get a chance.” She knew that’s not what Regan meant, but she could hope. Regan tightened her grip on Alisia. “I... may I kiss you?”

  Alisia tossed back her head. “I came with you to your little trap, you’ve been cuddled up to me for half an hour, isn’t that-“

  Alisia felt a kiss on her neck, followed by hot, heavy breath, and another kiss closer to the chin. Alisia was shocked. The next kiss was bound to be aimed at her mouth. She felt Regan’s breath draw near, her hair, everywhere, her near-closed eyes looking up at her own. She was almost on top of her.

  “No” Alisia whispered, pushing Regan away gently. “That’s more than enough.” Despite her objections there was pleasure in the kisses on her neck. The tingle of them still remained, and she was terrified of it. She faced Regan who was sitting with her eyes closed, and breathing heavily, still awash in the moment past.

  “Alisia... “ Regan swept her hair out of her face and looked at her. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to. Not like that.”

  Alisia curled up with a nearby blanket. She’d never been so close to Regan’s .... Regan’s heat. They looked at each other silently for a while, hoping the other would say something.

  Eventually, Alisia lay back down, covered by the blanket. She looked back at Regan and held out an arm. “Come back here, friend.” She was inviting Regan to cuddle up again through the protection of the blanket.

  Regan was speechless. Slowly, as if afraid of a trap, she returned to the original position, and they continued watching the movie. Alisia felt the need to break some tension. “Now see, silly? You made us miss part of it.”

  Regan giggled, tightening her hold, happy to again have a face full of red hair. Her giggle silenced and slowly turned into a meek little cry.

  “Shh.” Alisia soothed. This only made Regan cry harder. Regan didn’t know if she was crying because she couldn’t have Alisia, or because Alisia called her ‘friend’ with such a compassionate tone, or that she allowed her to cuddle back up. Whatever it was, it hurt somehow. The more she tried not to think of it, the harder it was, and she was soon sobbing uncontrolled. Alisia clutched Regan hard.

  “Hush, Regan. Nothing’s wrong. I’m doing my best not to hurt you, but this is only going to get harder.”

  Regan struggled to get words out, “I know!”

  Alisia turned off the terminal and held her sobbing friend tight, with all the love she could dare to give. Regan’s crying and the soothing sea were all there was to be heard, until mercifully, sleep came to take away their problems until the next day.

  ~~~~~

  Chapter 38: Bitter Reunion

  ~~~~~

  Parker stood silently at the entrance of the dark operations cockpit, leaning against the bulkhead. He’d been there for some time. Kris sat facing away, watching various displays, none of which were important. She could feel Parker’s eyes drilling into the back of her chair. She couldn’t stand it anymore.

  She removed all emotion from her face, and turned around. “What do you want?” Her voice was calm, but accusing.

  Parker scuffed his boot onto the floor and looked down grimly.

  “Sex?” Kris asked, “If that’s it, go away. I’m not in the mood.”

  Parker stood silent for a moment more, then replied. “No.” Then a long silent pause before he elaborated. “I’m not sure what I want.”

  “Then bugger off.” Kris turned around, back to her meaningless displays.

  Parker stayed. He struggled to find the right thing to say. “I’m sorry.” It always seemed like a safe thing to say.

  “What? What the hell for?”

  “Accusing you of using me to hurt Regan.”

  Kris turned back around, looked at him, and hunkered down on her elbows. “Why?” she shrugged carelessly. “I did.”

  Parker had hoped he was wrong. “So... that’s it?”

  Kris’s expression turned bitter. “What the hell do you want? You want me to run into your arms and profess my undying love or some shit?”

  Parker was silent. No, he didn’t expect that, but he was hoping she’d say that there was something between them. Parker stood straight. “I’m sorry to have inconvenienced you, Sir.” He turned and left for his quarters.

  Kris stared spitefully in his direction for what felt like a long time. She’d show him. A small sound came from her terminal. They were approaching the island.

  Regan and Alisia spotted the airlimb and were ready for pickup. They didn’t talk much that morning, but the usual tension was sprinkled with a small, temporary confection of peace. Regan walked over to Alisia, who was leaning on the big luggage heap.

  “Hey, ‘leesh, wanna mess with their heads a bit?”

  Alisia raised an eyebrow with a small smile.

  “Hehe, good. Then just play along a bit when we see them. Let me handle it. Subtlety is the key.” Regan lowered her own shoulder strap and let it fall into a lazy position. The airlimb was soon parked on the beach. The bay door opened, revealing Parker.

  “Hey ladies, how was your weekend?” Alisia noted that he seemed to lack a bit of his usual enthusiasm.

  Regan gave her most seductive smile and glanced her hand across the small of Alisia’s back as she walked past her. “Mmm, no complaints.” She then ‘noticed’ that her strap was down, and pulled it back up with an exaggerated motion which caused her assets to bounce a bit. If Parker took the hint, he wasn’t showing it. He stepped forward to help with the cargo. “Good, good.”

  Regan’s tease did hit one target though. Unnoticed in the relative dark in the far end of the main bay, Kris walked off, back towards the ops cockpit. “Great,” she thought. “Look at the happy couple.” She considered flying the airlimb into the nearest rock. Of course, between the limb’s safety systems and remote HQ piloting assistance, that would be impossible... but it was still an attractive thought.

  ~~~~~

  Chapter 39: Poor Parker 2

  ~~~~~

  Officially, AZU-1’s leave was over, but there was still nothing new to do. Zombies had kept quiet, and Doc Brock’s crew were still fussing over the samples taken.

  Alisia noticed that Kris and Parker were both acting odd. She wasn’t too concerned with Kris, but she was worried about Parker. Alisia kept an eye out for an opportunity to corner him, and finally she noticed him going into his room. She followed a little after, and knocked.

  “What?” His voice came a bit sharply.

  “Parker? Can I come in?”

  Through the door, she heard him jump up and approach. The door opened, to reveal Parker’s surprised face. “Major! Sorry, ah, what can I do for you?”

  “You OK? You seem ... off.”

  “Oh, no Major. Nothing to be concerned about. I’m perfectly fit for duty.”

  “That’s not what I asked.”

  “Major?”

  “Look, Parker. I’ve worked with you a long time, right? I requested you for this post and you’re just kinda...my responsibility.” As she said that, it reminded her of parts of her feelings for Regan.

  Parker, on the other hand, took it differently. “Oh, Major, don’t worry. I’m not going to do anything to endanger the unit or anything!”

  “No, no, no. I’m not worried about that. Stupid, I’m worried about you. Are you...” she pointed at him and jabbed his chest with her index finger, “alright?”

  At that moment there was the sound of a door opening down the hall. Parker was immediately alarmed that he would have to face Kris, and forgot the obvious; that Kris’s door was right across from him and still closed. He yanked Alisia by the jacket and pulled her in, closing the door. He rested his back
against the door with an expression of fear. He then realized what he’d just done, and looked over to Alisia.

  She looked furious, but somehow calm. “Parker. Robert. What the fuck is going on?”

  “Oh shit.. sorry Sir!... ah....”

  “Sit down, stupid.”

  Parker obeyed, and sat on the corner of his bed, head in his hands. “It’s Kris.”

  “What, she’s hunting you through the ship with a harpoon?”

  “Damn, for all I know, she is.” He took a breath and began to spill his guts. “We... uh.. slept together a couple times, and she wants to hurt Regan, and she thinks I wanna marry her or something, and she’s kinda scary when she talks to me now, and Regan warned me, and-“

  “Hold the hell on.” Alisia needed to absorb a bit. “Ok, first, she wants to hurt Regan?”

  “Yeah. She wanted me to seduce you and take you away from Regan, just to hurt her.”

  “You? Seduce me?” Granted, Parker was attractive enough, but even ignoring the whole rank thing, she and he had a very smoothly running platonic working relationship, which neither of them would want to change.

  “Yeah, that was her plan. She tried to trick me into it, but I called her on it, and now she’s mad or something, and things are ugly.”

  “So... now you’re avoiding her. I noticed she was acting funny too. It explains a lot... I can’t believe all this happened under my nose...!” She just now began to absorb the part about the Captain and the Sergeant sleeping together.

  “Er.... sorry...?”

  “Ugh. You’ve gotten yourself into a mess, Parker. So, what happens now?”

  “You court marshal me and have me shot?” Parker joked, but he was worried about official ramifications.

  “Relax. I’m not a stickler for those kinds of rules. What are you going to do about Kris?”

  “I don’t know....”