Mage Marine Misfits: Book 01

by Derek Wallace

  “Are those…your nerve endings or like blood rushing through your veins?” he asked.

  AX looked curiously down at his own chest. “I’m not sure,” he said in a detached clinical way, “they appeared shortly after I fused with AX-8721. They don’t feel any different than my normal body but sometimes…”

  Dr. Teke looked up suddenly, face flushing like he’d forgotten he had an audience.

  “Sometimes what?” Jordan asked.

  “Sometimes it feels like I am getting micro-reports about the status of every cell in my body. Like I could zero in on one area and just know…” he stopped, watching his uniform tent at the groin. “Like…that. It feels like every cell is coming alive, reaching out for…”

  Jordan sat up, leaning toward AX, unconsciously licking his lips.

  “Reaching out for what Matthias?” he asked, his voice low and hoarse.

  The good doctor looked away, seemingly suddenly shy. “You,” he whispered.

  Jordan stood up, startling AX, and he stumbled a step or two away.

  “Shh, relax,” Jordan said, reaching out slowly to take AX’s hand and pull him toward the bed. “Sit down. Let me get you a drink.”

  He moved to his cabinet, keying in a password and revealing a hidden compartment filled with alcoholic beverages. Matthias’ eyebrow went up in surprise.

  “I thought those were banned from Federation bases.”

  Jordan smiled. “Dude, I come from the Brotherhood. Banned to me is more of a suggestion than an absolute.”

  Matthias inclined his head in acknowledgement as Jordan turned back to his cabinet, grabbed a glass and poured a significant amount of amber liquid into it. He stood up, bringing it to Matthias, who simply stared at it, unmoving.

  “Why?” Matthias asked.

  “Because you’re clearly nervous. It will help you to relax.”

  “You don’t know that,” Matthias said, eyes flashing to blue and then back to brown.

  Jordan laughed. “Trust me. If you are even 10% organic, this will work on you.” He stretched his hand, holding the glass closer to Matthias’ face. Matthias reared back a bit but took hold of it, clutching it gingerly as Jordan went back and poured himself a drink.

  “What is it?” Matthias asked, taking a cautious sip.

  “It’s a personal blend that I made from Blue Lotus.”

  Matthias threw him a dubious glance. Jordan picked up his glass and took a sip.

  “Better drink it slowly. We just want to calm you down, not put you to sleep.” He grinned cheekily at AX.

  “I..it’s…I..” AX sighed, cheeks flaming.

  Jordan placed a hand gently on his knee. “Whatever it is, you can tell me.”

  “It’s just…I…at the lab where I worked, well…and before that, I was too busy with my studies and then…nobody wants to bed a hybrid so…”

  Jordan’s eyebrows had disappeared into his hair. “Are you trying to say you’ve never done this before?” he squeaked, voice rising to a soprano.

  “Ah, I mean…I…” Matthias said, taking a gulp from his glass and then coughing for thirty seconds. Jordan patted him absently on the back, still stupefied by his revelation. Matthias put his glass down on the bedside table. It clattered slightly since his hands had a slight tremble to them. Jordan grabbed both hands and began to rub them, smiling gently at Matthias.

  “We’ll take it slow then,” he said.

  AX shook his head frantically from side to side. “No, I don’t want…I’ve waited long enough. I don’t want slow.”

  Jordan laughed at that. “Okay then. But first tell me about what you have done. Have you done this for example?” He leaned in fast and placed his lips on AX’s, not giving the hybrid time to think about it.

  AX’s lips opened, letting Jordan in, and he took his time, exploring the depths of AX’s mouth, getting to know him, noting every small reaction every time he bit at AX’s bottom lip, sucked on his tongue or licked into his mouth. Every reaction was catalogued for future reference as was the spastic tic in AX’s hand every time Jordan pressed in closer, bit a bit harder, licked with passion or sucked with industry. The pulses in his blue veins were accelerating even as they seemed more confused in directional intention. Jordan ran his hands along AX’s naked chest, feeling the hybrid’s skin jump beneath his hands, so sensitive to every touch.

  He pulled back from AX’s lips and the hybrid’s whole body flowed toward him in protest.

  “Wait,” Jordan breathed, feeling the pulse in his throat beating a steady fast rhythm in reaction to AX’s eagerness. “Slow down.”

  “I told you…” AX breathed, “I don’t want slow.” He reached forward, snagging Jordan’s lips with his, hands cradling Jordan’s face, holding him tight as AX plundered Jordan’s mouth, exploring with abandon. Jordan could do nothing but hold on, feeling AX’s skin heat beneath his fingers; the intoxicating knowledge of how much the hybrid wanted him drowning him with pheromones. He reached down slowly to pull at the stretch denim spider silk fabric away from AX’s groin area. He wanted to see what the scientist was working with, mouth already watering in anticipation.

  He pulled his mouth away from AX so he could look down and was surprised when the hybrid covered himself shyly with his hand. He lifted an eyebrow, looking at AX in inquiry.

  “Y-you’re still clothed,” AX stammered, the blue lines beginning to show up in his face, pulse points zipping from place to place seemingly randomly, heating up AX’s core temperature, making his skin look flushed like he had dipped himself in hot water.

  Jordan stood up and hit the button that opened his suit, stepping out of it fully and then removed the thermal underwear he’d been wearing underneath.

  The temperature had warmed up in the days they’d been on Five and their round of making out had certainly raised his core temperature some more. He stepped forward – naked – and straddled AX’s lap, looking him in the eye. The hybrid removed his hands from his privates, snaking them around Jordan’s waist.

  “Like what you see?” Jordan whispered against the blue chip behind AX’s ear. That sent the pulses into overdrive and Jordan was slightly afraid that the AI might short circuit at this rate. AX’s breath was as loud as bellows and he dropped his eyes slowly to take in Jordan in his fully exposed tumescent glory.

  “Y-yes, I do like,” AX said.

  “Touch it,” Jordan whispered, and AX looked up at him, fear and incredulity warring with want in his expressive blue-brown eyes. “Do it,” Jordan insisted.

  AX’s left hand slowly trailed along Jordan’s waist, coming to a stop inches from his groin and simply hovering there uncertainly. Jordan covered AX’s fingers with his own and brought them down, curving them around his cock. He closed his eyes, letting out a breath. For a long time, he had thought that he might never have this again. Never be this close with another being. He hadn’t imagined that he would be allowed.

  “W-what sh-should I do now?” AX asked.

  Jordan smiled, eyes still closed. “Whatever you want AX, whatever you want.”

  He let go, leaving the hybrid’s hands to hold his dick on their own. AX was still breathing as if he’d been holding his breath for too long and now had to compensate. He was very still for a long time but Jordan was determined to wait him out. He felt a tentative finger poking at the head of his member and he struggled not to move. Not to surge forward, push AX down on the bed and just take him. This was the hybrid’s show.

  Whatever he wanted.

  A curious finger was circling his head, pushing aside his prepuce to rub at the sensitive skin of his glans, making Jordan jump, in spite of himself.

  “Apologies,” AX murmured, but he seemed preoccupied.

  “No need,” Jordan replied automatically as he placed his hands on AX’s shoulders and held on.

  “According to my infopaks, sucking on it is very pleasurable,” AX commented softly, and he glanced up to meet Jordan’s eyes, his brig
ht blue and filled with interest.

  “Are you looking for confirmation for your database or are you asking if I would like you to suck my dick?”

  AX gasped, eyes darting everywhere, face flaming. Jordan smirked.

  “I take it it’s the latter?” he said.

  AX nodded jerkily and Jordan sighed, grasping his shoulders firmly and pushing him to lie down. “How about I do it to you first? That way you’ll have a point of reference that isn’t some academic research document.”

  It was AX’s turn to smirk. “Actually, I accessed the Porn Hub and that is where I gleaned this information from.”

  Jordan let out a bark of surprised laughter as he shuffled backward, trying to make himself comfortable between AX’s legs.

  “You better not be doing that right this minute,” he admonished.

  AX shook his head. “Oh no, I am all here,” he promised.

  “Good,” Jordan murmured, licking a stripe up AX’s curiously shaped member. It curved to the right around halfway up its length and was larger than the average human size.

  “Are these side effects of enhancing your brain or were you just lucky?” Jordan asked as his tongue wrapped itself around the wide girth of AX’s member, licking at him like ice cream. AX’s mouth was open wide, as were his eyes, flicking from blue to brown as the pulses under his skin seemingly lost their minds. Jordan straightened up and looked at AX. It took a minute for AX to realize that his ministrations had stopped and his whole face dropped in disappointment.

  “Why did you stop?” he asked.

  “I asked you a question,” Jordan replied.

  He could see Matthias struggling not to roll his eyes. “Oh, you mean my size? Yes well according to AX-8721, the increased in brain activity works like an expander for every area of the body. Thus the things on me which have the capacity to increase in size do. Hence the need to cut my nails daily, and the larger size of my member.”

  Jordan smiled. “I feel like I just attended a lecture with Dr. Teke.”

  “I’ll be quite happy to give you all the lectures you desire, just please, don’t stop what you were doing.”

  “Alright,” Jordan replied, and he leaned back down and swallowed as much of Matthias’ dick as he could.

  The doctor cried out in surprise, back arching and convulsing as he jerked his hips and came down Jordan’s throat. Jordan almost choked at the sheer volume but he had the presence of mind to release Matthias’ member from his mouth, gently helping him along by massaging his massive length as Matthias’ hips continued to jerk, his legs shook and his whole body convulsed. His pupils were fully dilated, brown and blue swirling in lightning fast cycles, every muscle in his body tense and straining. It went on for so long that Jordan began to worry.

  He put a hand tentatively on AX’s chest and the hybrid’s whole body relaxed into unconsciousness. Jordan stared in shock, watching AX’s chest rise and fall, his eyes closed, the blue veined pulses slowly getting less frantic, settling into a more even pattern of movement beneath the hybrid’s skin.

  “Well…that was…crazy,” he said to himself, looking mournfully down at his own neglected member. He expected that once he was recovered, AX might want to do something about it but for now, he would have to make do with his own hand.

  ∞

  Epone slept soundly for the first time since they had taken Zorica. She could feel the savant’s spirit strengthening from moment to moment. Even though she had only said it as a consolation, she was glad that it was indeed true that Zorica’s body held the cure to this infection.

  It made sense.

  Her blood was indeed unique. The Stits and the humans had not interbred for generations and even when they were on speaking terms, there was not much of ‘that kind’ of interaction between them. What with the Stits obsession with demonic rituals and worship, they tended to find humans to be beneath their notice at best, or a pawn to be used to gain favor at worst. The demonic preference for humans added salt to an already festering wound; and like an older child decrying the existence of a new pregnancy, the Stits were forever in a war they were not equipped to win. It would not surprise Epone if they were the source of this contagion – except that they seemed as affected by it as everyone else in the universe. Perhaps it had been an experiment gone wrong. Or the thing they had with them was somehow responsible and they went along with it because it was clearly powerful and powerfully evil.

  Epone made a note to send for the old texts that might tell her what exactly the thing they were facing was and how to vanquish it. She knew Uzochi wanted to involve the Federation in this development but her spirit was wary of that course of action. Nothing good ever came from Federation involvement.

  She sighed, wishing Zorica were awake so they could consult.

  She turned over, going back to sleep and resolving to speak to her friend as soon as she could.

  Chapter Twenty: A Bit of Intrigue

  Jaime read through Uzochi’s report, and his gut twisted with fear. He had joined the Federation because he wanted to make a difference. He believed he was doing that.

  But this…

  This was beyond anything he could ever have imagined. A prophecy, sent to Uzochi by some god or prophet named Ariuk – Jaime made a mental note to read more about him – predicting the end of the Breksonites and, by extension, the entire universe by the hand of some horror. Uzochi believed this horror to be the thing that had infected Zorica with a virus.

  Furthermore, he believed that it was already late in the game, if the contagion had penetrated into the heart of the Federation. Nobody could be trusted but everybody needed to be warned.

  Jaime was skeptical about sending in this report. It was low on facts and high on conjecture. The general was not going to accept visions as proof of anything. And Jaime was still convinced that telling them about Zorica would end up putting her in danger. He knew they could not withhold the possibility of a cure if indeed it existed, but the fact that Zorica had thrown off the virus was not conclusive proof that they had. His instinct was first and foremost to protect his crew. It was a throwback to his childhood when all they’d had on the station where he was born was each other. He still felt guilty about leaving his playmates behind when he moved away; but by the time he had qualified to join the Federation, most of them were dead or indentured. There was no living to be made on Terra Nine.

  A hand on his shoulder startled him out of his musings and he turned around to see Zorica smiling at him.

  “Shouldn’t you be in bed?” he asked in surprise.

  “Maybe. But I feel so much better I wanted to stretch my legs. That medlab is a little depressing.”

  “Which medlab isn’t?” Jaime agreed sardonically, even as he gestured for her to join him at the table.

  Zorica’s face brightened. “So I can move out of there, right?”

  Jaime shrugged apologetically. “I’m afraid that’s up to Ash,” he said, making Zorica slump forward in disappointment.

  “Ugh,” she said. “That Drueerd is not letting me out of there anytime before the end of this century!”

  Jaime laughed at her despairing tone, reaching out to pat her hand consolingly. “Do you want me to have a talk with her?”

  “Yes please, captain sir,” Zorica said, lifting her head hopefully from her arm.

  “Calm down, I will ask. But like I said, she has the last word.”

  “Thank you.” Zorica smiled at him and Jaime felt his stomach twist for an entirely different reason. He saw in her face that she’d noticed his reaction and turned away in embarrassment.

  “What are you reading?” Zorica asked, and Jaime was almost relieved at the change of subject, though talking about the report was only marginally better than discussing his hugely embarrassing crush.

  “Uzochi’s report on recent events.”

  “Oh.” Zorica leaned over. “Can I see?”

  Jaime blanked his screen. “Not right now.
I have some decisions I need to think about first.”

  Zorica nodded, leaning back respectfully so she was out of his personal space. She looked around the room. “Wow, this place is primitive huh?”

  Jaime grabbed the change of subject with both hands, catching Zorica up on how they ended up in an abandoned sector on the moon. Zorica listened raptly and, for a while, there was nothing to fret or agonize about.

  ∞

  Uzochi needed more information. The cloud of unfamiliar anxiety would not let him rest until he had answers. He waited until an eight hour cycle was complete before striding over to Jordan’s door and knocking tentatively. There was no sound from inside the room and he guessed that Jordan might still be asleep. He hesitated, thinking that maybe he should return later. But the need was burning inside him, too urgent to be ignored. He knocked again.

  “Who is it?”

  Jordan’s voice sounded hoarse and tired. And again, Uzochi hesitated. But just for a moment.

  “It is I, the Seer. I need to speak with you.”

  There was a sigh, audible from outside the door, and then a second voice, murmuring quietly. Too quiet for Uzochi to make out whom it was. His forehead furrowed, trying to calculate who the other person might be. Was Jordan already plotting with someone else?

  The door opened but only a crack, Jordan’s naked chest on display. His lower half was encased in a sleeping shawl so that was alright.

  “What is it?” he asked, sounding short, and irritable.

  “May I enter? I have something of urgency to discuss with you.”

  Jordan sighed, peering inside his room without widening the gap in the door. Did he not want Uzochi to see with whom he was plotting? Suddenly, he stepped back and pushed his door wider so that Uzochi could enter.

  “Come in,” he said, sounding resigned.

  Uzochi’s eyes went straight away to the desk where he expected to see the other in the room but found the chair empty. His forehead furrowed in confusion before his eyes caught movement by the bed, where AX was pulling on a sleeping shawl as well.

  His eyes flicked from Jordan to AX and back to Jordan, taking in the flush in his cheeks and his air of satisfaction.