Stardust, Starlust

by Gabriella Bradley

  The shuttle and the space station seemed so far away now. What should she do? She had no means of communication, no way to get back to where she came from. The shuttle was sufficiently damaged that unless someone could repair it, she’d never be able to go back, and even if it could be repaired, the chances of ending up in the same area, the same vortex and her own time, were not good. Those odds were too great. He said he’d injected her with his DNA. Before long, she’d grow fins, a tail, and her toes and fingers would be webbed like his. The thought of her body changing, becoming a mermaid, was not appealing to her, but at the same time she was curious as hell about his life in the depths of the ocean. Were there cities? How did they live? What did they eat?

  She needed to find out more. Discover if their life would always be under water. But though he’d asked her to make a decision, what choices did she have? Starve in the vast expanse of sand, shrivel up under the heat of the sun, or join him in his world and become his woman, his mate.

  She spent most of the day in the water to stay out of the sun, her thoughts on what had happened. She closed her eyes and allowed her mind to go blank for a while, but then the ocean’s movement increased, startling her into awareness. A wave picked her up crashing her down to the sandy bottom. Spluttering, she surfaced and shook her hair out of her eyes. “It’s real,” she said softly. “For moments there I thought it was all a dream.” The sound of the waves rolling onto the beach was the only sound that disturbed the peaceful surroundings. There wasn’t a bird in the sky. Riding the waves, she made her way back to the beach and sat on the wet sand, allowing the gurgling, foamy water to roll over her. Dusk turned to night and she waited impatiently for Lanos to come back, all thoughts of the shuttle forgotten for now. She could think of nothing else but that gorgeous merman coming back to satisfy her desires. She’d never felt such longing for a man as she did for him. Had she fallen in love with the merman?

  When the moon was full and lit up the ocean until it was a shimmering silver pool, he finally came back. She watched as he walked out of the water toward her, his cock already stiff and pulsating for her.

  She groaned softly. If she coupled with him again, the parting would be even harder. This thought brought her to the conclusion that she’d try and go back to repair the shuttle. “Just one more time,” she whispered and heard his answering whisper. She couldn’t allow herself to become too attached to this man. After all, she had a career, a home to go back to.

  “We can see each other only one more time, I was told by our scientists. We are not allowed to see each other again after this.”

  “Why?”

  “We cannot change the past. They prepared me for this day, but they never told me who was to be the mother of our future race, that it was the young woman I’d been watching all this time. They gave me your picture, your holograms, and told me to study the ways of Earth women so that I would be prepared for the arrival of the woman who was to carry our genes back to the past with her. It was your destiny to enter the warp and land here in the far future. I suspected that you were the one that they’ve been waiting for, but I hoped you wouldn’t be. I was wrong. If you don’t go back, we will never exist and all life on Earth will cease to exist. You must go back,” he answered. “After you leave here, you’ll understand.”

  “The shuttle is broken.”

  “You can repair it. You will go back and repair the computer and the computer will effect repairs to the craft.”

  “How do you know all this?”

  “Our technology is far advanced. We also have all of Earth’s history in our databases.”

  She found it hard to imagine an underwater world having computers and wondered how it was possible. “Can I visit your world?”

  “No. There is no time. You must return to your shuttle soon. The nights are cool, pleasant, and your return to the craft will be so much easier. But now, no more talk. I need you more than you can imagine.”

  “And I you,” she said softly and opened her legs for him and her hands reached for his breasts, his hardened nipples. He drew her toward him and kissed her deeply, his tongue seeking, searching, drawing the life from her soul. He nibbled softly on her bottom lip, then trailing kisses down her neck, her breasts, he buried his head between her legs. Her breath came in short gasping pants as his tongue ran up and down her clit, teasing, nibbling, entering her, the mucus squirting into her vagina readying her for his entry.

  Suddenly she felt his finger on her anus. “Careful there, that’s a very tight hole,” she warned him.

  “I learned that humans once enjoyed being fucked there,” he said.

  “I’ve never tried it.”

  “I’ll make it so that you enjoy it,” he murmured and promptly turned her around, lifted her buttocks and inserted his tongue. She felt it snake inside, mucus spurting to lubricate her, and then felt a sharp twinge as something sharp dug into the sensitive walls of her intestines. But it didn’t bother her, it just heightened her senses. He withdrew and turned her to face him, then gently lowered her to the sand.

  When he finally positioned her and inserted his cock with one thrust, she was surprised to feel something else enter her anus but she had no time to wonder about it as he brought her to heights of ecstasy. She felt the rim stretch as it searched and probed, until she felt filled in both holes and she thought her heart would burst from her chest. His hands kneaded her breasts hard, tweaked her nipples until they were sore, but she wanted more and screamed for it.

  The sensation of his tongue sliding around her nipples, twirling, the small forks curling around them and squeezing them, caused her to break out in perspiration. He released her nipples and trailed a blazing path down her quivering flesh, stopped at her bellybutton and the forks buried themselves in the skin of her bellybutton. It hurt, but it was a pleasant pain, one that helped her to climax again. She arched her hips, heard him shout her name again and again, until a final roar, matching the roar of the waves.

  “Janet!” he shouted, and his semen burst loose within her and she felt the strange prongs spring out and bury themselves into the tender flesh of her vaginal walls.

  “My God, how can I leave you?” she gasped as she felt her juices mingle with his, felt their cum on her thighs.

  “You must. It is time. I have to leave you now.”

  “I don’t want you to leave,” she whispered, tears threatening. She was torn in two directions, her need to return to the shuttle and try to go home, and her need for this merman, the seed of love that had suddenly nestled in her heart needed to be nurtured.

  “I don’t want to leave, but it must be. I knew you before you arrived here and came to love you a long time ago, my Janet, and I will never forget you,” he said and kissed her deeply. He yanked his head back and gazed down at her as if drinking in the sight of her and imprinting her image upon his memory banks.

  “Go now. The storm will hit shortly.”

  “I can’t.”

  “Then I will leave and you must return to the craft. I will not be back.”

  “Please…don’t…”

  But he already stood and swiftly turned to walk away from her.

  She ran after him as he entered the water and called out to him. “Lanos, come back!” But he was gone. Her eyes scanned the surface of the water, watching for dark shadows, but there were none. Sadness filled her. She’d so longed for this kind of feeling, to meet the man of her dreams, the one who would take her on endless journeys of ecstasy. Now she’d found him and it was not to be.

  A strong wind came up suddenly whipping the ocean into a frenzy. The waves became as tall as a high rise and heeding his warning now, she fled toward the dunes. She only turned around once to see the emergency kit bobbing on the waves, being drawn far into the ocean. Tears finally spilled from her eyes scalding her cheeks, dripping onto her breasts.

  She turned around and climbed the dune hill, only glancing back at the ocean when she reached the summit. Was it her imagination or did she se
e him riding the crest of a wave, his wild mane of hair flying with the wind? Did he wave to her?

  She lifted her arm and waved, then placed a kiss on her hand and held it up. “May the winds carry this kiss to you, my love,” she whispered, “and send you my love that you will hold in your heart forever.”

  “As I love you,” she heard his voice carried back to her on the wings of the wind.

  The journey back to the shuttle seemed to take forever, each footstep carrying her farther away from Lanos, deepening the empty feeling she now felt.

  When she arrived, the storm had become so bad that sand almost blinded her. It stung her body, her skin, her face and eyes, so she quickly climbed the ladder to the hatch and into the craft. She fought the wind to close the hatch; the sharp sand grazing her face, arms and hands, and slammed it closed and quickly sealed it.

  And he had been right. It only took her half an hour to reprogram and fix the problem and computer was active again. Why hadn’t she done this in the first place? But then she wouldn’t have met Lanos…

  “Computer, effect repairs to craft,” she ordered.

  “Have already begun, mistress.”

  “I’ve told you dozens of times to call me Jan,” she snapped.

  “Yes, Jan.”

  “I’d better get rid of that skeleton,” she told herself. “Maybe I should wait out the storm and at least give the man a decent burial.”

  “No, Jan. Leave him. We cannot waste time. I will plot the course that will take you back into the vortex that caused the time warp.”

  “I don’t want to travel with a skeleton,” she snapped.

  “You won’t have to. Trust me.”

  She sat in her chair, buckled up, and waited. While she waited she glanced at her enlarged nipples, her green stained thighs and cried.

  “Ready for departure. I have set the craft on automatic pilot,” said the computer.

  Within seconds she heard the soft hiss indicating that they were lifting off. The screen lit up suddenly with a full view of the planet. She could now see the plains of sand, but beyond that she saw lush green vegetation. “Oh, Lanos, if only I could tell you what I see,” she said aloud.

  “I can hear your thoughts, my Janet.” His voice sounded as if he were right next to her. She glanced at the empty chair, expecting a miracle, but of course he wasn’t there. She wanted him so much that her imagination was playing tricks.

  “Janet…”

  “Did you hear that voice?” she asked computer.

  “What voice?” computer asked. “I didn’t say anything.”

  Then she realized she’d heard Lanos’s thoughts. She answered him aloud and wondered if he’d hear her voice. “My love, the forest I can see from here, it’s beautiful. Maybe Earth’s surface is ready for you and your people after all this time, but how can you live on the surface now? The sun will burn you all to a crisp.”

  “Yes, we are almost ready to live on land again. This is another part of history—you tell me what you see, the vegetation, the forests. It was hard for us to believe and we couldn’t venture that far. Not yet. But we will, soon, and Earth will be born anew. We are connected at the moment. I am still with you in spirit and I see everything through your eyes, but when you take off, the connection will be broken.”

  Her heart lurched as the shuttle lifted and shot off into the dark skies.

  “Goodbye, my love.”

  “We will meet again, in eternity. Take care of him.”

  “Of who?” she asked, but Lanos didn’t answer. Their brief connection, their melding of minds, was broken.

  “Who are you talking to?” Computer asked. “I don’t understand your commands.”

  “Nevermind,” she said as she waited uselessly for Lanos’s answer. She finally assumed Lanos had meant her traveling companion when he’d said, “Take care of him,” but Dorian was dead.

  “We are entering the vortex now. Brace yourself.”

  “I am. Thank you, computer.”

  “You’re welcome, Jan.”

  * * * * *

  When computer spoke, the monotone voice woke her up with a start. She opened her eyes and felt disoriented for a moment, the strange dream she’d had still very clear in her mind.

  “We are approaching Space Station Hilroy,” computer repeated.

  Jan glanced at the digital clock. “Only seconds have passed since I sat down in this chair,” she muttered, “how is that possible?”

  “We have passed through the time warp without any problems this time.”

  “Be specific, computer.”

  “There was no damage to the ship.”

  She made a split second decision. Her fingers worked the control panel swiftly, then she ordered computer to set a course for Earth and she gave the coordinates.

  “Are we there?” a sleepy voice said.

  The sound of his voice freaked her at first, but then she unbuckled and jumped out of her chair. “Dorian, you’re alive!”

  “Of course. Shouldn’t I be?” he said with a grin, appraising her naked body. “What the hell is that green stuff all over you? What happened to your arms?”

  She glanced at her body and saw with consternation that her skin was turning a greenish hue and that small fins appeared on her upper arms. “So it wasn’t a dream then.”

  Lanos had coupled with her, had injected his DNA into her system. She understood now. Her landing on Earth in the future, had given Lanos and his people the opportunity to prepare Earth’s people and start the underwater race. When he’d told her it was destiny, she’d not understood. She was the one who would start a new race—a race that could survive under water. He had copulated with her and she knew deep within her heart and soul that they had also procreated. “Take care of him,” were his final words.

  She carried his child, his son. Wonderingly, she stroked her belly, a warmth settling in her heart. Even though she would never see Lanos again, part of him would always be with her.

  “What the hell happened to you? Maybe you picked up some kind of strange disease on that last mission on Plenago.”

  “Don’t be ridiculous. We were all thoroughly decontaminated when we returned and tested.”

  “Then what is it?”

  “I’ll tell you what happened and when I’m finished, computer will confirm my tale, or at least part of it.”

  He listened to her without interrupting once while she told him most of her story. She didn’t tell him about her copulation with Lanos, or the child she was sure she carried. And when she stopped talking and waited for Dorian’s reaction, she knew what she had to do.

  She couldn’t start a new race on her own with just one offspring. She needed a man by her side and Dorian would be that man. He would be a good husband, lover, and a father for her baby. She sighed, trying to still the deep longing within her for Lanos. At least she’d always have part of him. Dorian interrupted her thoughts.

  “And I was dead? A skeleton? I find it all hard to believe, but the evidence is staring me in the face,” he grumbled while staring at her changing skin. Why did they transform you? And if it’s all true, shouldn’t you be in the water soon?”

  “No, not at this point, and I’ll probably never need to live there. Lanos told me that the devastation will not happen for some time. Our children, our grandchildren and their offspring will help scientists to prepare many of Earth’s people for the sea. But for now, it has to remain a secret.”

  “Well, they’re lucky you crashed there.”

  “I didn’t exactly crash there. It was almost as if the time warp was meant to happen. The ship wasn’t really damaged that much. Computer repaired it easily.”

  “You’ll have to go into quarantine when we get to the station,” Dorian said thoughtfully.

  “It’s not contagious.”

  “They won’t believe that and they won’t believe your story.”

  She shuddered at the thought of being locked up in a sterile white room, doctors and nurses prodding an
d probing, sticking needles into her, taking skin samples.

  “Do you believe my story?”

  “Do I have a choice?”

  “If I’m contaminated, then so are you.”

  “I guess. You know, since I’ll be quarantined as well, maybe we should…”

  “What?”

  “You look damn attractive with that greenish glow all over your body.”

  “Thanks,” she said and sent him a grimace. “I guess I should take that as a compliment?”

  “I wouldn’t mind screwing an alien as attractive as you.”

  “Dammit, I’m not an alien.”

  “Well, a future mermaid then.”

  She looked at his cock, watched it pulse steadily against his flat abdomen and couldn’t help her own inner fires flaring up. Her juices started to drip down her inner thighs. She glanced down. They were also tinted a pale green pearly color. Reaching out, she took his cock in her hand and pulled him toward her. She licked her lips and with amazement saw her own tongue flick toward his face. It was long, slender, its tip fork shaped, like Lanos’s tongue. Instinctively, she knew what she had to do.

  Bending down, she wrapped her tongue around his cock, caressed the silken skin, while her hands cupped his balls and squeezed them until they felt very firm. When a pearly white drop appeared on the tip of the head, she knew he was ready. Gently, she licked the bulbous head, rested the tiny forked tip of her tongue near the hole and inserted it. She heard him groan as she pushed and entered all the way. She had no idea how to do it, but it seemed to happen automatically. She felt tiny prongs shoot out from the tip of the forks and bite into his flesh. It was done. She had transferred the DNA to him. Soon he’d start changing color.

  After a few seconds, she felt the prongs recede back into the forked tip and she withdrew carefully and lay down on the floor. Opening her legs wide, she waited for him to kneel between them and insert his cock, but he stared in amazement at the cum that trickled down her clit.