by L H Whitlock
“Right. Shit,” Lily mumbled.
Alyssa touched her finger to her bottom lip and tilted her head. Her eyes locked onto an object in the ceiling. The room fell silent as the team watched her. Lily was about to ask her what was going on when her face lit with a smile, and she jabbed her pointer finger into the air in celebration.
“I’ve got it! I need the RAB.”
Lily unhooked the bangle from her wrist and held it out to the woman.
“No, I need Brock’s. We need yours for light.”
Brock handed it to her. She studied it for a moment, then bit her lip and slipped her fingernail beneath the screen and popped it off.
“Lily, you said that your team was in close proximity? Correct?”
“Yeah, they are several light years away, as not to be discovered.”
“Perfect. Call them and let me talk to their engineer. I’m going to teach them how to de-materialize so they can get us out of here.”
Lily nodded and dialed Rowan.
60
“Holy shit, you’re sure this is going to work?” Brock asked. He wiped his hands through his beard and his palm came back drenched with sweat. Trickles of liquid rolled down his back and with each breath it felt like he had a boulder on his chest as his lungs desperately sucked in what was left of the oxygen.
“As long as the engineer calibrates their beam right we should be fine,” Alyssa answered.
Brock bit the inside of his cheek. Not the most reassuring thing I’ve fuckin’ heard. The heat and thinning oxygen didn’t seem to be bothering Alyssa. Not a single drop of sweat marked her pearly skin and her hair didn’t have a strand out of place.
Alberta had long ago taken off her shirt and she sat slumped against the side of the ship in her bra, showing an array of bright tattoos. Alyssa had spent quite some time questioning Alberta over the meaning behind her tattoos before the pilot got irritated and told her to ‘shove off.’
Lily and Ulrick stood next to Alberta and spoke with Rowan and the team over the RAB while Alyssa worked. Brock made it his duty to be Alyssa’s right-hand man and helped her in whatever way she needed. She said that the de-materializer would recognize the electro-magnetic pulse of the small device she was creating and that whoever was going to de-materialize had to hold onto the device. If everything went right, they would all be de-materialized into Rowan’s ship. He didn’t want to know what would happen if everything didn’t go okay. Alyssa tried to tell him, but he quickly shut her up.
Bixom leaned against the wall and crossed his arms. The slender suit the Hilian wore was stained from oil, and a string of slime clung to his chest. Gloria sat in what was left of the pilot’s seat with her eyes closed. The woman was beyond her physical limits, though she tried to hide it.
“Okay!” Alyssa jumped up and fisted her hands above her. “Y’all ready?”
Alberta raised an eyebrow. “Sure, dollie, where to?”
Alyssa held up the device she had been creating. “Everyone hold onto this. It will calibrate with the de-materializer that the Renegade has created and we will de-materialize into their ship.
“Well that sounds easy enough,” Gloria said.
“Well, here goes nothin’,” Brock said.
He grabbed onto the metal ring. Alyssa motioned everyone forward.
Lily pressed on the RAB and took a deep breath before looking back up at the team. “All right, Rowan, we are ready when you are.”
“Stand by.”
Silence, except for the ragged breathing of his teammates, filled the air.
“Before we do this de-materialize thing I just want you all to know that I love ya.” Brock grinned at Alberta. “Even though some of you are assholes.”
Alberta held up a middle finger and Brock mirrored her, their fingers nearly touching in their standoff.
“You’re both assholes,” Gloria said and joined the others in their lovingly insulting standoff.
Lily snorted and stuck her finger up in the center with the others. “What, is this our thing now?”
Bixom grinned. “In the short time that I have known you guys, I just want to let you all know that you are all the biggest assholes I have ever met.” He stuck his middle finger into the circle.
“What is this symbol you all make?” Alyssa asked as she mimicked the others.
“It’s a sign of love,” Brock said.
“In other context mean fuck off,” Alberta provided.
Alyssa tilted her head. “I’m not sure of your meaning…”
“Come on, Ulrick, don’t you love us?” Gloria teased the Hilian warrior.
Ulrick stared at the group straight-faced for several moments before sticking his finger in the center of the circle as well. “Lily, your team is the strangest group of warriors I have ever witnessed.”
“Aws, how sweet,” Alberta said.
“I told ya he was just a softie,” Gloria said.
Lily snorted.
A sickening feeling gripped Brock’s stomach as he watched his teammates’ bodies fade in and out, and he knew his was doing the same. His stomach lurched and vision blurred. His body tingled and went numb. Memories of his last de-materialization flashed through his mind and he clenched his eyes shut, waiting to see if it was successful or if they would die a horrible death.
61
“What are you guys doing?” a man asked.
Alyssa looked at the man, who was standing in the control room. He was slightly pudgy with his belt tightened a notch too tightly on his waist. His white hair was slicked back and his six-fingered hands were adorned by multiple silver bands. His tanned skin seemed slightly off color.
“Holy shit! It worked!” Brock said before rushing forward and crushing the orangey man to his chest. “Rowan! Gods am I glad to see you!”
Rowan laughed. “Why are you nearly naked?”
Brock unraveled his arms and Lily clasped her hand to Rowan’s forearm. “Long story. Thanks for coming to our rescue! What is our situation looking like?”
“Well, we need to get out of here while we can. We managed to slip behind enemy lines, but getting out is going to be a battle. You guys certainly caused a stir down there. Ships have been arriving all day; the entire place is searching for you, not to mention that star looks awfully angry.”
“That’s putting it lightly,” Brock murmured.
“Rowan, this is Bixom and Alyssa. They helped Brock escape,” Lily said.
Rowan nodded to the two. “We are grateful for your assistance.
“Stay in radio silence until there is less activity. We can drift until we are able to open a TIP without dragging in any of the Developers’ fleet,” Ulrick instructed.
Rowan stared at the Hilian warrior for several moments before nodding rapidly in agreement. “Yes sir. I mean... Please, everyone get some rest while you can.
***
Brock and Alyssa sat in the room they had been assigned. It wasn’t extravagant, but it felt warmer than the Developers’ rooms. The floor was slightly tarnished and grit filled the grooves in the metal tile. A light blue area rug covered the center of the floor and the bed was nearly double the size of hers back home. Alyssa plopped down on it and giggled when the blanket puffed up around her. She trailed her fingers over the soft fabric and stared at the warm lamp sitting on a wooden desk. Any biological material the Developers used was just an illusion.
A small machine sat in the corner of the room. The screen flashed different colors over and over.
“Are you hungry?” Brock asked.
Alyssa nodded. “Yes, very.”
Brock smiled. “We’ll eat, then get washed up.”
Brock walked over to the machine and pressed a few buttons. It whined and a small door opened at the base. Brock grabbed the plate and sat it on the small table.
Alyssa sat on the stool and stared at the purple fluffy wedge. “What is that?”
“Try it, it’s one of my favorites.”
Alyssa picked it up and nibbled on the
corner. It was sweet and mushy, with a wonderful aftertaste.
Alyssa’s eyes widened. “Oh my! What is this?”
“It’s mok cake.”
Alyssa took a large bite and finished the wedge in three more. “How did you make it? Where does it come from?”
“I didn’t make it, the food processer replicates food. It has quite a bit of options, though this is an older one.”
Alyssa slid off the stool and pressed on the screen, selecting something called bitko. A slot in the machine opened to reveal a large, upside-down shell filled with mucus. Alyssa grabbed it, dug into the center with her fingers, and downed it in one large bite. A slimy, hearty texture. “Wow!”
“That’s a... crustacean... it’s probably not the best…”
Alyssa pressed on another button called grunza worms. A plate popped out with strings of writhing chocolate-colored worms. She shoveled a handful into her mouth while pressing on the next button. Sweet, semi-bitter, still wiggling worms, and with each crunch the taste seemed to get stronger. Are all animals this amazing? So tasty!
She pressed another button, then another, then another. She wasn’t sure what she liked best, sweet or hearty. Some didn’t have a lot of taste, like the meal bars. Some were salty, some gritty, others sweet, a few tart, one was disgusting, and one smelled so sour she couldn’t bring herself to try it.
The plates stacked up until she didn’t have much room on the table, so she began a stack on the floor. Brock tried to hand her small metal devices that he said were used to eat. But she couldn’t keep the food balanced on the tip, so she opted for her hands instead. Brock tried to show her a few times before he slowly backed away and sat on the bed.
“You should slow down, you may get a stomach ache,” Brock suggested.
Alyssa looked up from the machine. “This is remarkable! So delicious! Why did we only get meal bars when there is all this!” She held up the current item of her fascination: a crunchy, yellow stick. “I have never tried anything so amazing!”
Brock frowned. “Well, that’s a ruitunni branch. It’s a vegetable. There’s much better stuff then that.”
“It’s remarkable how many different concoctions it can make! How’s it work?”
“I don’t know.”
“Give me your tool kit!”
Brock scratched his beard. “Er... Lily’ll get angry if you break it. It’s not in the budget—”
Alyssa pressed on another button and a glass with a straw came out. The liquid inside was a rich blue.
“You drink substance too!”
“I’m telling you, you’re going to get a stomach ache and I’m not sure the Rebi-maid can handle all these dishes…”
“A Rebi-maid?”
“It’s a robot that helps clean up and do housework.”
“Peculiar. We don’t have housework. There is no reason for us to accumulate trash or become dirty. If we do, we have the cleansing spray and we discard all of our food bar wrappers immediately after eating.”
“Yeah. Usually we wash the dishes right after eating too, but normally there aren’t so many.”
“Would you like to try?” She held out the tangy blue drink.
Brock shook his head and held out his hand. “No, thanks. I’m full.”
Alyssa’s stomach rumbled and tightened. “I believe I am getting a tummy ache, like you mentioned.” She took another long sip of the tangy blue drink. “Does this happen every time? Is it a side effect of the food?”
Brock raised an eyebrow. “Not all the time. That’s how your body knows you ate too much.”
“Oh.” Alyssa frowned. She still had tons of buttons to try, each with a different food. But she supposed she would have to wait a bit.
“Do you want to get washed up now?”
“That would be awesome! Do you have cleansing spray?”
Brock grinned, his dark brown eyes twinkling. “We have something much better.”
62
Brock pressed the button to open his washroom and stepped to the side to usher Alyssa inside. She studied the room and pointed to a fan in the ceiling. “What’s that?”
“That circulates the moisture.”
She nodded before pointing to the toilet. “What’s that?”
“That is a toilet, where we... dispel our waste.”
Her emerald eyes widened. “You put your waste in there!”
Brock raised an eyebrow and nodded. He had been around her for so long he had forgotten that they came from two totally different worlds. Brock smiled and stepped forward to start the shower. Water spilled from the faucet and steam clouded the glass door.
Alyssa held out a hand and allowed the water to trickle off her arm. “It’s so warm.”
“This is how we cleanse.” Brock lifted his shirt over his head and stepped out of his boxers. Alyssa’s cheeks flushed and her eyes dropped, then quickly rose, then dropped and rose again.
Brock grinned and dipped to kiss her forehead. “Would you like to join me?”
The redness in her face spread to the tips of her ears. Gods, she’s so adorable.
She bit her lip and glanced at the shower before reaching behind herself and undoing the zipper of her slender suit. His breath caught as he watched the zipper in slow motion. She wiggled out of the jumpsuit with a light sway of her hips and let it drop around her ankles. Standing inside her discarded clothes, she unclasped her bra and snagged the top of her underwear with the tips of her fingers. Brock’s mouth dried up and his eyes hazed over. She really had no fucking clue how gorgeous she was and it drove him crazy.
She glanced over her shoulder at him, her gaze partially masked by a curtain of blue-black hair. She slid her underwear down, giving him the view of her bare, heart-shaped ass.
She hesitantly stepped into the shower, holding out her hand to catch the droplets. She laughed and looked over her shoulder again, her face alight with a smile. Water trickled down her arms and fell onto her long, slender legs. Brock stepped in behind her and shut the glass door, allowing the fog to envelop them.
Brock pressed his body against her back and wrapped his arms around her, reveling in the silkiness of her skin, of how perfect she fit against him. She leaned into his embrace, laying her head back against his chest. She dropped into the silky nook and he kissed down the slope of her neck, his hands running down the curve of her sides and over her flat stomach.
He moved his lips along the curve of her shoulder. Alyssa let loose a breathy gasp and tilted her head to offer him better access. His teeth grazed and his hands dropped lower until his fingers found the soft strip of hair between her legs.
“Spread your legs for me,” Brock rasped.
Alyssa complied without a word of question. She leaned into him, her ass brushing against him, then she spread her legs apart and his member slipped between her legs. Her heat coaxed him and his cock pulsed. He slid back, allowing his cock to glide against her, her womanhood dampening him, preparing him.
Brock dipped his fingers and brushed against her clit, circling until she moaned and rocked her hips against him.
He dipped his fingers lower, sampling her sheath. He plunged one finger inside and was pleased to find her ready for him. He pumped his fingers inside her, alternating between one and two and making sure his palm rubbed her clit each time.
“You’re wet,” Brock murmured against her ear before biting the lobe.
“Brock…” Alyssa moaned.
“Tell me you want me.” Even Brock was surprised by the hoarseness of his breath.
“Brock! I need you.” She ground her ass into him and he found himself pressing back against her, his cock nearly penetrating her and driving him crazy.
“Lean forward and place your hands on the wall.”
She immediately pressed her palms against the tile and glanced over her shoulder at him. Her emerald eyes were shadowed, her wet hair clinging to the side of her face and curling over her shoulder.
Brock stared at her perfection, entranc
ed. He ran his hands down the length of her back before dipping his fingers back in her to reassure him a final time that she was ready for him.
She whimpered. Brock grabbed her hips, his eyes distracted for a moment by the contrast of his hands against her ivory skin. Dark brown and shiny metal: he had never seen anything so erotic before.
“Spread your legs further,” he instructed, not sure how much longer he could hold back.
“Brock,” Alyssa groaned in protest, as desperate for him as he was for her.
Brock surged forward until his hips slammed into her ass. He held there for a moment, savoring her tightness and the silky bliss wrapped around him. Alyssa moved first, urging him on. He opened his eyes to see her staring over her shoulder at him, the look in her eyes one of lust and need.
She turned away and he immediately grabbed a fist of her hair and tilted her back toward him.
“I want you to look at me while I fuck you. I want to see you while you cum.”
A blush ravished her face and Brock couldn’t control it any longer. He slipped out, then slammed forward. Alyssa’s mouth formed an ‘O’ and she started to drop her head before forcing herself to look back at him, her eyes slits of emerald.
“That’s a good girl,” Brock murmured. He surged in and out, his fingers gripping her hips to the point he feared he had hurt her, but her symphony of groans told him that she felt only pleasure. He reached one hand around and gripped her tit, rolling the bud between his fingers, only pleased when it hardened into a tight peak.
The water trickling over his scorching hot skin only added fuel to the wild fire Alyssa had created. Alyssa’s back arched and she let loose a scream. Her pussy clamped around him, clenching him, urging him to finish. Not yet. He wanted it to last longer, needed it to last longer. But even as he acknowledged his desire, his cock pulsed, growing harder. His muscles were tightening until he was nearly dizzy.
He lifted her leg, needing to get deeper. She instinctively adjusted herself for a better grip against the wall, to hold herself up for him. The angle tilted her into view and he found himself fixated on the bounce of her chest as he pumped into her. Her hair clung to her shoulders, her chest, her face a mask of pure pleasure. She was a goddess. His goddess.
