“Wait! Damn it, Cea! Wait up!” Tal shouted and raced after her. When he caught her at the doors, he put a hand over the knob to stop her from opening them. “You don't know what may still be here, so don't go storming off like a brain-dead Kintzje drone,” he snarled at her.
She hit his hand off the knob then opened the door. “I told you, I don't need your protection,” she growled as she stepped through the doorway. Once inside, she stopped dead in her tracks.
“Why the hell are you acting like this? Especially after...” Tal's words tapered off into silence. His gaze took in the room they'd just entered.
Row after row of oversized clear cylinders, filled with bubbling green fluid, trailed off into a room the size of a central train station. Lines of plastic tubing snaked into the bottoms of the cylinders from a vat that dominated the center of the room. The outside perimeter of the vat was shiny with rainbow-colored, blinking lights and a computer terminal built into the side facing the door. The yellowish overhead lights combined with the mist saturating the air gave the room a sickly look, feel and smell.
When the overwhelming odor of decomposing flesh hit her nostrils, Cea gagged, swayed on her feet and closed her eyes.
Tal quickly grabbed her and held on. “We don't need Malcolm to tell us what this place is for.” He stared into the face of a humanoid floating inside the cylinder next to him. “I think we've just landed in some very deep shit.” He shuddered with disgust.
Chapter Seven
“The Earth military built this place to grow mindless soldiers for war.” Malcolm said while he stroked Penny's hair as she rested on a cot they'd found in a room next to the central lab. “The people of Earth had rebelled so strenuously against clones being grown then used like animals that the government was forced to abandon the plan.”
“Well, from the looks of this place, it appears they'd gotten pretty far along in doing it anyway,” Tal remarked, sitting next to an operable food dispenser unit. He lifted a hot cup of coffee to his lips and took a sip.
Cea sniffed with disgust. “The bastards didn't abandon the plan; they just relocated so people wouldn't know what they were doing.” She fingered the end of her braid and glared at Tal. “The authorities always do just what they want, even if it hurts innocent people in the process.”
“Not all of us are like that, Cea,” Tal snapped.
“Every man I've met is. From the so-called upstanding citizen like you to the pieces of shit like Scorpion,” she spat back. “This is the place where he harvests his crewmen, or didn't you notice all the familiar faces floating in those containers?”
“I noticed, but I'm not like him, not by a long shot. I...” Tal blustered.
“None of this bickering is getting us out of here or any closer to Crowe's base, kiddies,” Penny quipped, her eyes closed while Malcolm petted her. “Did you by any chance find a storage depot for parts or fuel in the data you downloaded, cupcake?”
“Yes, there is an underground storage area for parts and fuel, but the logs show it all being used or taken when the people who operated this facility left,” Malcolm answered. He stopped stroking Penny's head and stood up.
Penny opened her eyes. “I was enjoying that. More?” she purred.
“Malcolm, go check it out, please,” Cea interjected. “Bring back anything we can use to get out of here. This place makes me sick to my stomach.” She lay down and threw an arm over her eyes. “Growing people like vegetables then leaving them here like so much trash. Sick bastards.”
Tal stood up. “I'll go with him.” He followed Malcolm to the door then paused to look over his shoulder at the two women. “Keep your sidearms handy, just in case.” He left before either of them could protest.
“That arrogant, self-serving, big-headed, chauvinistic son of a bitch!” Cea snarled at Tal's retreating back.
“Why don't you tell him you love him?” Penny asked, obviously intrigued by the strange human behavior.
“What?” Cea roared. “I'm not in love with that ape! I wouldn't have him if...”
“Yes, you do. It's so obvious it's painful to watch. Why won't you admit it, tell him, then get on with it?”
Cea leapt off the cot and stalked toward the door. “Mind your own business, you ... you ... nympho what-ever-you-are!” She tried to slam the door, but it had pneumatic arms that only allowed for a soft, slow hiss as it closed behind her.
As she walked toward the central vat in the middle of the room, Cea could hear Penny's snort of amusement wafting through the closed door. She sat down at the computer terminal and began to search the logs in an attempt to keep her mind off their situation and Tal's disruptive presence in her life again. Tapping into the central data bank was easier than she expected.
“They didn't bother with security, it would seem,” she mumbled, reading the names of the main file folders.
She clicked on ‘Project Phoenix’ and a list of names appeared on the screen. Halfway down the page a name grabbed her attention. Phineas Knight, Ph.D. It had the batch letter B, followed by the number 313.
“Dad?” she whispered with a mixture of fear and horror.
She slowly raised her head. Her gaze swept down the rows until it settled on row B. The row to her left started at number 251. Cea sprinted down the row until she came to tube 313. She stared at its contents. A very young version of her father floated there. His chest rose and fell with rhythmic pulses and the open mouth took in the green fluid-like air.
“That isn't your father,” Tal murmured behind her.
Cea jumped but did not turn around. “I know,” was all she could manage around the lump in her throat.
“Your dad wouldn't want anything to do with something as cold and ... unnatural ... as this.” His arm swept around to include the many floating human forms surrounding them.
“Yes, I know.” She reached down into her coveralls and pulled out a small plastic cube. “This is all that's left of my father. His knowledge, all his memories are in here.” Cea turned the cube in her hands. A rainbow of light shimmered off its seamless surface. “After he...” She grasped the cube tighter. “After he died, I kept this to feel him near me when I needed his strength.” She looked up at the body floating in the tube. “Now, I can have him back,” she whispered.
“Cea, you and I both know you can insert that memory cube into that thing's programming, but it still won't be your father. Not the one you knew and loved.” Tal voice turned raw. “Let him go, Cea.”
Her head whipped around until her gaze locked with his. “I can't. This may be my only chance to get him back.”
Tal heard the agony in her voice and saw the pain in her eyes, but he knew he couldn't fail her again. “No, it's not.” He pointed to the indicator lights on the tube. “This clone isn't ready to come out. Even if it was, I wouldn't let you do it.”
“Once a cold-hearted cop, always a bastard!” she spat at him. “You killed him! If it wasn't for you...” Her hand rose, open palm toward him.
Before her hand reached his cheek, he grabbed her arm, hoping she wouldn't notice his body shaking. “That won't solve anything, either.” He dropped her arm and turned his back on her. As he made his way back down the aisle, he ordered, “Come on, Malcolm and I have some things to discuss with you ladies.”
She stood and watched him leave, her hands balled into fists. Finally, she turned back toward the cylinder. Closing her eyes, she put the memory cube back into her pocket, hesitated then stepped back, still staring at the clone of her father. Finally, she turned her back and moved toward the dispensary.
Malcolm stirred a pot of something on the tiny two-burner stove. Penny browsed the list of the dispenser machine goods. Four plasteel plates, surrounded with cutlery and oversized plastic cups, were set at the table.
“I thought we might as well have something to eat while we discuss our situation,” Malcolm announced when Tal strolled into the room and sat at the table, followed moments later by Cea, who sat at the end as far away from
him as she could with clenched jaw and unshed tears in her eyes.
Penny dumped a pile of small plastic packages in the middle of the table then sat down. She divided the packets into four piles and pushed each pile toward a plate.
“Let me guess. Tasteless, cardboard, freeze-dried food?” Tal quipped, pushing the silvery packets around with a finger. “There are no labels on them.”
Penny poured water into her tumbler then tore open a packet. When the contents of the packet hit the water, it began to bubble and fizz. Penny picked it up and licked her lips. “Something much better. Alcohol,” she said, just before taking a long drink of the red liquid. With a sigh she lowered the empty glass to the table. “Having a human form is so ... sensual.” She licked her lips. “But, one has to be careful. Having so much sensory input can overwhelm the intellect.” She glanced at Tal, noting the his look of consternation. “You disapprove, partner?” She cocked a coppery eyebrow.
“Not on principle, just on your timing,” he responded. “We're in the middle of a very dangerous situation, and I don't think getting shit-faced will help.”
Penny snorted. “I don't see how it can hurt. I can metabolize alcohol very rapidly if I have to.” She looked around with a knowing look. “Let me get this right. The only ship we have is disabled and out of fuel, not to mention it's too small to get us to Crowe's base, anyway. There are some very nasty pirates out there who want us dead and, judging by your empty hands when you came back, this planet is deserted and without resources. We'll probably all die here of either starvation or boredom. How can it get any worse?”
“Technically, we don't have to starve. There is a great deal of edible flesh here...” Malcolm reported while dishing up what looked like spaghetti with some kind of blue sauce clinging to the strands.
Cea threw herself out her chair with enough violence that the chair left a dent in the wall behind her. “Shut the fuck up, you two morons! Don't you know what kind of place we're sitting in the middle of, eating dinner like we're at a fancy sit-down banquet?” she screeched, pounding the table with a white-knuckled fist.
“Captain Knight, sometimes your emotions fog your logic,” Malcolm replied, sitting down. “Mr. English has the right attitude. We must keep clear heads and sharp minds to survive.” He picked up a fork and began to eat.
“Whoa, people!” Tal held up a hand. “Let's just cool off here.” He stared at Cea until she retrieved her chair and sat back down. “First, Agent Penny,” he switched his scrutiny to Penny, who wiped the smile off her face and attempted to look properly serious for a change. “Getting drunk won't help the situation. No alcohol.”
“Is that an order, Commander English?”
“Yes, and don't push me, agent. You and I both know what disobeying orders will mean for you.” His look turned into a glare full of stubborn determination.
Penny pushed the empty tumbler away. “Okay, okay, I'll behave.”
“Second, we did find some resources here, so it's not all that hopeless,” he said with a quick glance at Cea's set, angry face.
“What resources?” she asked, making a tight-lipped attempt at conversation. “You two didn't come back with anything I can see.”
“You can't carry a thousand-pound piece of hull material without straining a few things,” Malcolm said after wiping blue sauce off his mouth. “Even I couldn't manage that.”
“Why didn't you say so in the first place?” A glimmer of hope appeared in Cea's eyes. “Then, we can get out of here. Try to find an inhabited planet, and get our lives back to normal. Without...” she stopped when she noticed the strange look on Tal's face and Malcolm's studied attention to his dinner. “You did find parts and fuel, didn't you?” She glanced from Tal to Malcolm then back again.
“No fuel. It's all gone. But we did find some surplus hull material,” Tal said. “The people who were here may have left in a hurry, but they did take the fuel.”
“Well, we did get here without fuel.” Penny stated the obvious then took another mouthful of her dinner before adding, “Even if we don't know exactly how the alien transporter worked, we should be able to figure it out and do it again.” She grinned mischievously. “Or, we could just repeat what we were doing when it decided to work the last time.”
“That's out of the question,” Cea stated, her cheeks blazing. “There must be some fuel here somewhere. And, dammit, we'll find it.”
“You know what? I've tried to like you. I've tried to get along with you. I've even tried to make this trip a little fun for all of us. But, I've finally had it with you and your nasty tempered, holier than thou attitude, Captain Cunt,” Penny snapped. “That may be your ship parked out there, but our mission is more important than your delicate sense of morality. With or without your help, we're going to stop Crowe. If screwing is what it takes to make that alien transporter work then screw we will, until we can't screw any more, if necessary.”
Tal pushed his untouched dinner away and stood up. “We'll discuss this tomorrow morning, after we've all had some rest and can think more objectively. For tonight, I suggest the women bunk down in here. Malcolm and I have a hull to repair, or we won't be going anywhere.” He walked out of the room and quickly disappeared from sight.
“Did I say something to offend him?” Penny asked, looking genuinely perplexed by Tal's abrupt departure.
Malcolm finished his dinner and stood up. “Humans are easily offended, but they get over it quickly.” He began to clear the dishes.
Cea's shoulders slumped, and she closed her eyes. “I give up.” She stood and moved toward the door. “I'm trapped here with a bunch of fruitcakes.” She stepped into the dimly lit lab.
“Touchy,” Penny said before opening another silver packet and dropping the contents into a tumbler. She reached for the water pitcher then looked up at Malcolm as he stacked dishes in the sink. “Drink?”
Malcolm returned to the table and sat down. “I cannot become intoxicated, you know.” He pushed his tumbler toward her.
“If what you eat and drink doesn't affect you then why bother?” Penny poured water into his glass.
“I eat to fuel my power plant, and water helps keep my cooling unit working efficiently. But alcohol doesn't affect me the way it does you.” He took the filled glass.
“Oh, so you're just indulging me?”
“No, I said it doesn't make me drunk. I didn't say it doesn't affect me at all.” He drained the glass.
Penny leaned forward, planted her chin on one hand. “Oh. Then, how does it affect you?”
Malcolm reached up, stripped off the gray shirt he wore for warmth under his bio-suit then opened the Velcro tab on the matching leggings. An erection, a good two inches larger than he normally sported, sprang into view. “Alcohol adds to the fluid that animates my body.” He stepped out of his pants and moved toward the nearest cot. “It also stimulates my positronic brain in strange ways, ways I've come to enjoy on occasion.” He positioned himself on the cot on his back and put both arms behind his head, watching her with an intense look. His erection stood straight up, beckoning and inviting.
Her mouth suddenly dry, Penny stood and walked toward him, her hips swaying and her nipples hardening as she approached. Soon, her grey under things were lying on the floor with his. She stood over him, enjoying the anticipation of climbing aboard. “How does it stimulate you?” she asked, prolonging the agony and knowing she wouldn't be able to do so for long.
He reached out and ran a thick finger lightly over the pink tip of her clit as it protruded from the coppery hair of her pubic mound. “My sensory input heightens—and I find I want more.” His penis throbbed. His tongue snaked out of his mouth to lick his lips.
Penny spread her legs as she watched his tongue play around his lips. She remembered what that organ had done on the door lock. At the recollection, her clitoris grew harder and her vaginal lips became engorged and swollen, revealing even more of the opening that now begged for that tongue to pleasure her. “I'll give all
the input you want love, but it will be hands on, not vocal. Enough talk, more action,” she murmured, thrusting her hips forward while reaching up with both hands to grasp her nipples.
He sat up, grasped her hips then slowly moved his tongue into the cleft where her clitoris waited, twitching and moist. Her legs spread further apart, inviting him in deeper. She moaned and rocked her hips against his mouth.
Malcolm leaned back, pulled her down and settled her onto his erection. Then he drove his cock deep within her. Her arms encircled his neck. His mouth closed on an erect nipple and began to suck. She rocked back and forth, rubbing her clitoris against the rock hardness of him as he slid out then back inside her.
His hips thrust up, reaching as deep inside her as he could go. Penny moaned again and again. Each moan, deeper and longer than the last. Until with wild abandon, she groaned, “Fuck me, Mal. Fuck me harder.” She ground her hips into his as he drove upward to meet her.
His mouth slid over her nipples, one after the other while his hands kneaded her round buttocks, urging her to rise further up then deeper down onto him.
With a driving, frantic beat, both their bodies slammed against each other, each thrust sending Malcolm ever deeper into her while her wetness dripped over his tensed muscular thighs.
Penny clutched his shoulders. The pace became even more frantic, both seeking release from the pressure that was building to an unbearable ecstasy.
With a groan, followed by a deeply sensual scream, Penny took him as deeply as she could then ground her hips against him, refusing to let him slip away again. Her orgasm washed over her like a wave of pure sexual energy; it hit her again and again like sensual breakers on a shore of flesh. With one last sexy gasp, she collapsed against his chest, panting and sweating.
“Dammit, why didn't anybody tell me screwing would be this fantastic?” she asked between breaths. “The videos and books I saw on Earth history were nothing like this.” She clasped his neck then lowered her head to his shoulder and went completely limp.
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