“There you go again!” Reinhard burst out. “Jumping to conclusions, as usual. I think he’s telling us that his name is Arel.”
“Arel,” the alien repeated and nodded. Then he pointed at Reinhard, his head tilted slightly.
“My name is Joseph Reinhard,” Dr. Reinhard said slowly.
“Joseph Reinhard,” the alien said and nodded. “My name is Arel,” he added. He looked at the Captain, pointed, then at Romanof, Dr. Wong, and Dr. Crestin.
“My name is Cunningham,” the Captain said and indicating the professor he said, “Romanof, and this is Dr. Wong.” Before he could point at the woman, she said, “I am Amaya Crestin.”
Arel nodded his head. “Cunningham, Romanof, Dr. Wong, Amaya Crestin.”
“Amazing,” Dr. Wong said and looked at Romanof. “I’m aware of the wild theories you’ve dreamed up. Forget them. This man is in possession of all his faculties, and quite intelligent.”
“He’s not a man, he’s an alien,” Romanof countered.
“Pah!” Dr. Reinhard exclaimed, “you’ll never admit that you may be wrong, Romanof. You’re such a hothead. I’m siding with Dr. Wong.”
“All I’m doing is analyzing what he says, and so far he has said nothing intelligent.” Romanof looked at the alien. “Say something intelligent!”
“I am alien man. My name is Arel. You are Joseph Romanof.” Arel smiled. “You are a hothead.”
“What?” Romanof stared, and then he laughed. “Like I said: a parrot. He doesn’t know what he is saying.”
“I understand,” Arel said. “What is ‘goddamn parrot’?”
Everyone chuckled, except the professor. “I still say he is a moron. A moron with a good memory,” he growled. “You’ll see.”
Cunningham cleared his throat again. “Gentlemen! I suggest you stop arguing. And please, choose your words carefully when you speak. Obviously, our new friend here does have an excellent memory.”
The alien had been listening to the Captain. “Memory,” he said and pointed to a spot behind his ear. “You speak. Arel good memory.”
Cunningham turned when he heard the pounding against the double doors. Beringer, who stood by the doors, grinned at the Captain. “I think they’re getting impatient. My men are having a hard time keeping the crowd from breaking down the doors.” The Commander was the only one with his communicator in standby mode.
“Let them in,” Cunningham said. “But they better be civilized.” He didn’t listen to what Beringer told his men outside, turned back to the alien man, who was just climbing out of the half-open cylinder. Naked and apparently unashamed, he stood in front of the humans. He spoke in his own language, shook his head when they didn’t understand him.
McGuinness held out a robe, which the Captain brought with him. Arel looked at it for a moment, then down at himself. Smiling, he took it from McGuinness and draped it over his broad shoulders. Then he walked over to the wall with all the gauges and blinking lights. He busied himself throwing tiny levers and touching the lights in a sequence that made only sense to him.
Bret McGuinness stood beside him, watching with apparent great interest. Neither of them turned when the first of the crowd came through the opening doors.
Cunningham watched them walk in, suppressing a smile when he noticed that they seemed almost reluctant to enter the room. He glanced at Beringer, who gave him a little grin. Then he saw the laser in the Commander’s hand.
Beringer shrugged when Cunningham raised an eyebrow. That’s the problem with these military types, the Captain thought, they always have to play with their toys. However, he was relieved to see the orderly conduct of the scientists and the crewmembers who were allowed to be present. All of them were eager to meet the first intelligent alien humanoid the human race had encountered. This was history in the making.
He turned when someone tugged on his sleeve. Staring at the young woman who looked shyly up at him, he searched his memory to find out who she was.
“I am Tiana Ling,” she said, smiling. “I hear you need a linguist.”
He remembered her name. He also remembered that she was a psychologist. She had been part of the psych-team that he sent down to Nu-Eden. “Yes, I do,” he answered. “Do you have someone in mind?”
“Yes, me.” Her smile widened when she saw his skepticism. “I used to teach children with speech problems,” she explained.
“Well, you may just be of help to us. Later. Right now Arel, that’s his name, is busy with his controls.”
“What’s he doing?” the young woman asked.
“I’m not sure.” Cunningham hesitated to make a guess.
“He’s reviving the rest of his people,” Dr. Wong said from behind the Captain and pointed at the transparent cylinders.
“They’re glowing!” Tiana exclaimed. “Oh, this is so exciting. Thank you, Captain, for letting me be here.”
Arel turned away from the blinking lights and walked over to one of the cylinders. The liquid inside it was beginning to drain away. When the alien man reached up to touch a control at the top of the cylinder, he stood facing the watching crowd, his robe fell open to reveal his naked body.
Beside Cunningham, Tiana sighed audibly. “He looks human,” she whispered. “And he’s so perfect.”
Dr. Reinhard, who stood close by, chuckled. “You think he is perfect. I can’t wait to see the females,” he said. “I took a peek at one of them inside her tank. Her face was almost angelic.”
Listening to their comments made up Cunningham’s mind. He knew there would be protests, but he was the captain, and this would be his decision. He turned to face the people who were standing in the back of him, lined up against one wall. Seeing their anxious faces, he hesitated momentarily, almost changing his mind, but he knew this was in the best interest of everyone, especially for the aliens.
“Listen everybody,” he said with a loud voice, “I know you’re all eager to see what happens next, but it will be a while until some of the others wake up. You’ve seen Arel, he seems to be all right. There has been some communication with him. Right now, there is no reason for anyone to be here. I think it is best if everyone leaves now, and I mean, back to the tower. You all have jobs to perform. We’ll keep you posted. Thank you for your co-operation.”
As expected, there were outcries of protest, but when Beringer and his three marines began herding them back into the corridor, they left reluctantly.
“You too, please,” Cunningham said to Dr. Reinhard and Professor Romanof.
Romanof opened his mouth, but one look at the Captain made him close it again.
“You want us to leave, too?” Dr. Wong asked.
The Captain shook his head. “You and Dr. Cristin stay. After all, you’re part of the team.” He looked at Tiana Ling. “You can stay, also. I hope you’re as good as you say.”
Her almond eyes twinkled. “No confidence, Captain?”
“These are not little children with speech problems, Miss Ling. They may look human, but who knows how their minds work.”
Tiana smiled. “I am also a psychologist. It may be of some benefit.”
“I hope so.” Cunningham turned to Beringer. “Maybe you should also stay, Commander. But keep your boys out of sight. We don’t want to give these people the wrong impression.”
“I understand, Captain.”
Cunningham smiled and padded Beringer’s arm. They were only formal in public; privately they used each other’s first name.
Out in the corridor people were getting into their spacesuits. It would take some time to get everyone out of here. He walked over to one of the tables where a couple of the maintenance men sat on a metal bench. “Mind if I join you?” he asked.
Both men stood up. One of them cleaned the table with his sleeve. “Have a seat, Captain. Would you like a cup of coffee? We’ve got a pot going.”
Cunningham sat down, dabbed his brow. “I think I could use a cup, thank you. Please, sit down.”
They both sat. Th
e one who wiped up the table filled a cup with the black brew, offered it to the Captain. “We don’t have any whitener,” he apologized.
Cunningham waved him off, took a sip from the cup. Both men watched him eagerly. “Is he awake?” one asked.
Swallowing, Cunningham nodded. “He is, and he is awakening the others.”
The younger of the two drummed his fingers against the tabletop. “Do you think it’s wise, Captain?”
“Wise? What makes you say that, Mr. Aranson?” The name of the young man had finally popped into his mind.
“There are fifty aliens in there.” Aranson hesitated. “What if they are hostile? What if they want their station back? They could evict us, you know. We are the intruders.”
Cunningham smiled, downed his cup. The caffeine seemed to calm his raw nerves, even though the stuff was supposed to be a stimulant. “You have some valid points there, young man, but I believe there is no reason for panic. We’ll work it out.” He rose. “Thanks for the coffee. I think I’ll get back to my office. But first I’ll have to go and see how things are progressing in there.”
Chapter Twenty-three
Space Station
Tom stumbled on in the darkness, panic gripping his chest. Low hanging branches and thorny shrubs cut his skin; once he tripped over a vine and fell. He lay there, gasping, listening. The sounds of the forest suddenly seemed menacing. The challenging roar of a swamp-tiger made him bolt to his feet. It sounded so close. A shaft of light broke through the treetops. The two moons were beginning their journey across the sky. Soon he would be able to see where he was going, maybe he’d find himself in familiar territory. He never liked the darkness, it brought back too many childhood memories, things he tried hard to forget.
Movement in the upper branches of the tall trees caught his attention. Looking up, he saw the dark shapes of tree-elves against the night sky. A couple of them descended, jumped down in front of him. They stood for a moment, studying him out of large purple eyes. One of them said something in their high-pitched language, then they turned and began walking down the path. Tom followed them. He had nowhere else to go.
It wasn’t long before the path ended. They stepped into a large clearing, similar to the one close to the human’s settlement. To one side there was a pond, a huge flowering plant floating in its middle. Tom saw a small group of alien females under the trees. They sat in a circle, watching something within the circle. Tom stared, it took him a moment to realize what was happening. Two of the girls were lying on their backs, between their wide spread legs moved two of the tree-elves.
The two with Tom let out a sharp high-pitched whistle, and then they ran toward the circle of females. Tom seemed forgotten. They never looked back. They jumped into the circle and stood waiting.
The two moons suddenly illuminated the clearing, and Tom was surprised to see the enormous size of the tree-elves’ penis. Two of the females in the group that were watching, got up, walked into the center of the circle and lay down on the ground, their knees up and their thighs open. The two standing tree-elves fell between their inviting thighs and without preliminaries shoved their huge organ into the females.
As Tom stood watching, a half dozen more tree-elves broke from the tree branches above him. Running into the clearing, sprouting huge erections, they fell upon the waiting girls, and soon all of them were engaged in what Tom could only call an orgy.
Tom watched fascinated, suddenly becoming aware of the eerie silence. There were no sounds of pleasure or even heavy breathing. He saw one of the tree-elves stop rocking, saw his small buttocks quiver as he emptied his seeds into the female. Then he pulled out, moved over to another waiting female. The female he had been with got up, ran toward the pond and walked into it.
She was quite close to where Tom stood in the shadows of the trees. As he watched her, she peeled a semi-transparent, quivering sheet from below her belly. It contracted itself into an oval ball. She dropped it carefully into the water. Groping under the surface, she pulled out another quivering sheet and put it between her legs. It flowed up her belly, around the insides of her thighs, and part of it went inside her vagina.
She swirled her hands in the water again, pulled out another transparent sheet, this she put around her neck. Lifting her head, she looked straight at Tom. Then she climbed out of the water and came toward him.
He watched her come closer, looked into her green luminous eyes.
“The Mother has chosen me to speak to you,” she said, smiling. “Why did you run away? You are not done yet.”
Tom moaned. “What does she want from me? Why me?”
The girl shrugged. “Because the Great Mother wills it so.” She ran her soft hand over his chest. “She promises you great pleasures still.”
“I must speak to her directly.” Tom fought the impulse to grab the girl, throw her to the ground and enter her lovely body.
“Very well.” The girl took his hand, pulled him toward the pond. She stayed with him until he climbed onto the giant floating plant. “The Mother will come,” she promised and waded back to shore.
Tom squatted on the edge of the great plant and watched the girl walk away. “I just want to get back home. See my wife again,” he called after her.
A hand touched his shoulder.
“Thomas,” said a familiar voice.
Startled, he turned to look into her smiling face. “Anina,” he stammered. “How did you get here?” He studied her lovely naked body. She looked younger, more beautiful. She opened her arms. He flung himself into her embrace, hugged and kissed her hungrily. “I’ve missed you,” he whispered into her ear. “I’ve missed you so much.”
“I’m here now, Thomas,” she said gently and kissed him back. “Make love to me,” she whispered. “Now.” She pulled him on top of her.
With a stifled cry, he entered her, cried out once more when the waves of pleasure washed through his body. Silently they worked against each other. She was tender and passionate, different then he remembered. She was the way he always wanted her to be.
“I love you, Anina,” he said, looking into her green eyes. “You have beautiful eyes, I’ve always loved them.”
His lips fastened on her nipples; they seemed to grow longer as he sucked on them. He swallowed the sweet nectar flowing from them. “Your breasts, they seem larger,” he murmured.
She laughed. “That’s because you like them that way. Everything to please you, Thomas.”
His body stiffened as he erupted inside her. When he made love to her the second time, she seemed even more passionate.
“Do you like it this way, Thomas?” she asked, as she milked his stiff penis.
“You know I do,” he gasped, trying to hold back, but his control was slipping. He came with a mighty roar. After that he lay beside her among soft petals, looking up at the, by now, familiar stars. Overhead the two moons were parting already, soon the third one would rise.
“This is a beautiful world,” he said dreamily, “maybe some day we can call it home.” He turned to look at the profile of his wife, reached out to move a strand of auburn hair from her face. “Do you like it here?” he asked.
She smiled. “I like it here. It is home.”
“I’m beginning to like it too, now that you are back with me.” He stroked her cheek, ran his finger along her slender neck, over her breast. “Your skin is so soft,” he murmured, lying back. Closing his eyes, he asked, “Have you spoken to Sister Angela lately?”
“Sister Angela? Do you desire her?”
He was beginning to feel drowsy, his answer came out slurred, “She’s quite beautiful, you know. She is very desirable.”
A pair of soft lips touched his. He opened his eyes.
“Brother Thomas.” Sister Angela lay half on top of him. Strands of long blond hair tickled his cheeks. There was a soft glow in her blue eyes, and her beautiful smile lit up her face.
“What are you doing here? Where is Anina?”
Her lips brushed ove
r his. “Hush. My dear sweet Brother Thomas. You seem unhappy, so I came to make you happy.” Her soft hand touched his penis, stroked it until it was hard and solid, and then she straddled him. Her vagina was soft and moist. It closed around his penis like a tight velvety sheath. While she moved slowly on top of him, her blue eyes stared into his. Then she offered him her breast; he took the long nipple into his mouth, began sucking. Sweet nectar flowed down his throat, giving him strength and endurance.
“Bless me with your gift, Brother Thomas,” she whispered into his ear.
He lunged upwards, released his spermatic fluid with a loud cry of triumph. Her vagina was a pulsating, living thing around his spurting organ.
“Thank you, Brother Thomas,” she said, as she kept moving untiring above him.
As the waves of pleasure surged through his body, his mind detached itself and began to wander. When his eyes focused on the woman above him, he looked into a pair of almond eyes.
She shook her long black hair out of her face and laughed. “Preacher-man,” she said, her black eyes sparkling.
“Orona!” His voice was suddenly hoarse, “what happened to Sister Angela?”
She lifted her slim shoulders, rotated her hips lazily above him. “She left. You were asleep, but sprouted such a wonderful erection, so I took advantage of you. I didn’t think you would mind. I just want to make you happy.” She snapped her hips, making him climax inside her. Her vagina sucked his seed into her womb.
He put his hands on her round buttocks, squeezed. As his fingers probed her back, they closed around a thick ropey thing growing out of her lower back.
He gasped, sudden understanding dawning in his murky mind. “You are not Orona!” he cursed.
She never stopped moving, just kept milking him.
“Stop it!” he shouted, fighting the urge to climax. “You are not human. You are a Thing!”
“Do I not please you, Preacher-man?” she asked in Orona’s voice.
The Xandra (Book 1): Daughter of the Dark Page 15