by Jane Brooke
“Thank you Jane.”
“You’re welcome Captain.”
Krull looked at Adray, curiosity welded into his eyes. Adray winked at him, turned back to the computer on her desk.
“Might I add a welcome to Colonel Krull. I am happy his journey has been a safe one.”
“OH, I’m sorry Jane. Krull, I’d like you to meet Jane. She is my very best friend.”
Krull looked at her with a confused look on his face and, then the pulsating light bulb on the ceiling and, then back to her.
Venus nodded at the small light bubble on the ceiling urging him with her Peridot eyes to acknowledge her.”
“Nice to meet you Jane.”
“Likewise Colonel. Glad you are aboard.”
“Thank you.”
“Jane, might you go dark here? I need to spend a little time with the Colonel?”
“Of course Captain. Have a good night.”
“Thank you. See you in the morning.”
“Yes, the morning.”
Krull and Adray watched as the ceiling bubble light seemed to dim and go dark.
Feeling that they were now alone, Adray smiled and began to move towards Krull. What she did not know was that she was not alone and that Jane was watching.
Standing in front of Krull, he looked at her with a hard question in his eyes as he whispered.”What was that all about?”
“OH, that’s Jane. She’s my new best girl friend in the entire Universe. She runs the entire Central Command show. She’s quite brilliant and she is going to help us. I love her so.”
Looking at her strangely, what they did not hear we’re the banks of computers in the computer room begin to whirl.
For a DNA Organic Super Girl, created in an Arctic Cold world, hearing that her girl friend loved her, well she felt a warmth deep into her cerebral cortex of her bio engineered wired heart.
Girls will be girls everywhere, deep space, in a Bubble, or on a transport over three and a half years moving into an uncertain dark void.
Love is a mysterious and magical thing.
ADRAY VENUS felt her skin beginning to heat up, as a low degree hint of violet begin to ignite along it.
Krull was lying on the white down of the bed, his back pressed against the wall. Venus was straddling him, her knees and the top of her feet pressed on the down comforter, his Man penis deep inside of her.
He three gill plates were expanding and her Lillie like fingers were wrapped around the back of Krulls naked dome. Obviously, Krull was spent, yet eager to this time make love to her. There was nothing violent involved in their love making they had experienced over the past hour. They now needed tenderness as a man might need oxygen while space walking in space.
Earlier, missing him so, she had swallowed his penis down her silicone throat, and had allowed him to gently fuck her. She had swooned internally as she felt his saline life force explode down her throat.
It took a matter of minutes for him to be erect again and she had gone to her knees, pushing her tiny butt at him. Needing no code form to understand any of it, he had mounted her. Not violent this time, he had fucked her until she had a Cerebral orgasm. She was, after all what she was.
Now straddling him, and in a rhythmic motion, moaning and groaning, her hands swirling in the air to some melodic rhapsody she only heard in her head, she felt an organic orgasm growing.
Krull, completely mesmerized watching her billowing Gill Plates expanding and sucking in Oxygen laid his hands on her hips. Guiding her, loving her he seemed to go with the flow as she roamed her vagina in an almost slow motion way on his cock.
She then threw her head back, and moaned a guttural animalistic growl. Her hands fell to her sides, and she white knuckled the sheets. Ripping at them, and as Krull’s body tensed with an orgasm promising in moments, she threw her head back and moaned, climaxing as she did.
Instantly Krull climaxed, his body shuddering as he did. Adray then, her body vibrating, fell into his arms, her small breasts blending into his scared chest.
Holding her for dear life, she nestled her cheek into the cleft of his neck and, then spooning him she began to with blue tears, weep.
Within a world so horrific, two lovers perhaps lost with in an Armageddon against all matters of love exposed, held each other as if it were the last moment of time left in the Universe for them.
Moments passed, as Adray’s emotions calmed and she feeling Krulls skin pressed against her skin whispered.
“Space sex is fun...I love you Krull. I love you so.”
He laughed just a little.
Swallowing his own raw emotions, he tilted her lips to hers, and kissed her tenderly. Laying her face back to the cleft of his neck, he hugged her fiercely and whispered. “I know my darling. I know. I love you too. We’re going to make it.”
He felt her body shudder as she wondered if he was lying.
As the black darkness broken only by stars, asteroids, planets and moons showed through the half glass bubble and they raced through space to their destiny, no one knew, certainly not he or his woman, if anything was certain or sane left in the Universe.
All they could do was try.
It is often said:
Great fetes come, from great risk and failure.
And now as British Moon and their uncertain destiny neared, they both knew if they were to survive for the next hundred years that failure was not an option.
They would get one chance and one chance only of pulling off the most wild and intricate caper The Universe had ever seen.
As Krull fell to sleep, and with Adray’s hand on his chest, pretending sleep and monitoring his vital signs, no one knew that more than she.
Well almost no one.
Covertly watching two half human/machines making love, Jane, if she could have shed them felt a tear within her inner digital programs begging to gather.
Feeling her great heart moved, she now knew that she would do anything to help the woman that she loved and had befriended with the success she needed to find ultimate happiness.
As she dimmed out of the room, she thus began the final calculations for her girl friends plan of salvation and above all the likely hood of her own DEATH.
IF she died, it mattered little to her. What she had just witnessed in her mind was stunning in a Universe that no longer held anything beautiful in it.
What did matter was that the Cyborg female she loved, and the man Adray loved found some kind of happiness in an Out-World gone insane.
That simply said was the kind of girlfriend she was.
One Month Later
VICE Admiral Walter Bryan, a direct descendant to the infamous British pirate, Lord Bryan stood in the Bubble Monitoring room of CCSBM as the ship orbited British Moon some one thousand kilometers above the planet.
In his crisp black uniform, with the Admiral bars on his lapels, he hesitated for a moment watching the three meter by three meter flat screen on the wall before him. On a conference call with General Clark and Warden Hendley Admiral Bryan checked his data on a bank of computer screen before him.
Moving around the room, He scrutinized the computer screens. Moving around them, were the fifteen or so black clad lower echelon officers and technicians. His skeleton crew-were crunching data from the five hundred Bubble Info Screens struck in the walls of the room. He was bored.
“Jane, please update Earth shuttle 21.”
“Yes Admiral. PASS at one hour, five minutes. ETA British Moon, two-hours, three minutes. Crew. Krull, Colonel, human. Venus, Captain Cyborg. Mohammad, prisoner, human.”
“Status, return shuttle to CCSBM, Warden Hendley.
“Shuttle 21...Maintenance, 17 hours. Refueling, three hours. ETA CCSBM one hour, seven minutes.”
“The same shuttle
that is approaching. Why is that?”
“Two Earth Shuttles Admiral, in British Moon maintenance bays. Parts shortages. Budget cut backs from Central Command.”
“Blast...Bloody Command. Alright Jane. Make sure maintenance is completed on #21. Updates when available.”
“Confirmed Admiral.”
Turning bqck to General Clark and Warden Hendley looking back at him on the video monitor, Vice Admiral Bryan groaned, clearly angry and frustrated.
“Well Hendley, you bloody well heard it. Fucking Central, the bleeding sots. Cut backs. Bollocks. What’s the status down there?”
“One-hundred per-cent Admiral. We’re still at least one year away until the construction base for the first Bubble will be ready. We could use more workers, but nothing new about that.”
“Yes, we’re trying...Warden Hendley...It looks like at least two days until you’re up here for Final Debriefing and then back to Earth. Good job old man. What do we know about your replacement, this Colonel Krull character?”
Hendley looked at General Clarke. He raised his thick, white eyebrows at him. Warden Hendley exhaled, and turned back to the Admirals video image.
“Ex Military, Ozone cop, PR hero now, apparently has some kind of relation with a Cyborg female. Dodgy stuff. Central wanted him out. Couldn’t handle him. So they gave him this spot.”
“Extermination?”
“No Admiral. He’s a bloody hero. Enlistment’s up for Military by twenty-per-cent. Good stuff, that.”
“What about this Mohammad criminal?”
“Show trial Admiral. Drive the fear of Central Command into the wogs. We’ll bury him here.”
“Good. Good, General Clarke. What about this situation with Krulls Cyborg. Bit of abomination that, don’t you think?”
“We’ll let it all settle in a bit General. Then, The Crushers. Just basic A-22 Protocol General.”
“Yes, can’t have that going on. Good. Let’s chat in 24. Warden Hendley.”
“Yes Admiral.”
“You’ll soon be home lad. Good job.”
“Thank you Admiral. Can’t bloody wait. Thank you.”
The screen went black as General Clarke looked at Warden Hendley.
“You lucky bugger.”
“Just the cards General. I got lucky with this Krull character. How much time do you have in this piss hole?”
“One year, three months, four days. Bloody hell hole.”
“Good show General. You’ll be home before you know it.”
“Yes. Get the cell ready for Mohammad. Protocol Extreme. Let’s see what the filthy bugger says with an Electron Probe shoved up his wog ass.”
“Of course...Good show that.”
Admiral Hendley turned, moved to a wall and slapped his hand on a Laser Palm Recognition Scanner.
Jane’s voice said. “Hendley. Confirmed.”
An octagon carbon reinforced shaped Force Door slid open and then sealed closed behind him. Once in the great glass tube that connected Command and the prison, he moved some three hundred meters along it.
Coming to another Force Door he saluted two black clad uniformed guards, with side arms in holsters hanging on their side. He repeated the laser palm recognition process. He got the same reply from Jane. He entered the octagon door and passed through it. It sealed closed behind him.
With the infallible Jane running the entire show, and the fact that she was equal to a thousand guards, the prison was staffed with no more than ten guards. All wall posts and armaments were manned by guards and her, as well as all of the air tight security concerning every aspect of Command and the prison.
With a hitch in his step, and thrilled he would soon be off one of the most dreaded places in the universe, he knew that the wind was finally in his sails.
What he did not know was as he approached his office, not all winds in those proverbial sails are tepid winds, and that some winds were constructed of cyclonic and hurricane force gales.
They were capricious winds that and can vaporize a skipping and happy warden into an Armageddon of unrealized terror when he least expected them.
A lesson perhaps learned and one to remember.
Always say thank you to a female when she is sweet and helpful to you. For they, never ever forget such slights.
“PASSING CCSBM Captain. One hour five minutes landing, Bay #2, British Moon. Tractor Beam enacted, twenty minutes. Please, Colonel Krull, Captain Venus, secure seats.”
“Thank you Jane.”
“You’re welcome, Captain.”
Sitting in her high backed Captains chair, her console at her finger tips, Adray tightened her re-entry straps around her lithe body. She looked at Krull, who was just now doing the same thing.
Both were dressed in their smart black military uniforms, black heavy boots on their feet. Adray looked, in her modified skin tight skins like a sexed up liquorish stick and Krull, well he looked like rugged Krull. Both had small ear pieces attached to wrap around wire small mouth microphones on their heads.
Reaching her hand out and clutching Krulls and as the ship began to turn and poke it clear bubble nose at British moon, both she and mall gasped.
British Moon, with her two night moons and glowing like a golden bauble, was stunningly beautiful. Beauty can be deadly, and few knew her horrific secret. But three did. Yet, it could not be denied the cosmos surrounding her, was dramatic.
“Jane, I know you are perfect, and well, we humans are not. Might I get an update on the computer programs, please.”
“I am perfect?”
“Yes, Krull and I think so. We are very fond of you know.”
“Thank you Captain. I have never had friends before. I am fond of you both too. Yes, all the programs have been downloaded to OUR time continuum. Video feeds, Hologram modification, security lock down, Shuttle readiness, all on a very tight time clock Captain.”
Looking at Krull who raised his eyebrows at her, she smiled and turned back to the small domed light that was Jane’s eyes.
“Thank you Jane. I have all of the time marks, turning in my head. We will keep it all on schedule.”
“You’re welcome Captain. Might I say something?”
“Yes, of course, anything.”
“You and Krull look very smart in your uniforms.”
“Why thank you Jane.”
“You are welcome Captain. I will miss you and Colonel Krull when you are gone.”
Adray stared at Krull, who like her had a look of sadness and questions welded into their faces.
“Jane, they say in Earth sports, a long time ago: That it is never over until it is over. Do you trust me?”
“Yes Captain, I do.”
“Well if we survive all of this, well I have a surprise for you.”
“A surprise for me, Captain? I have never had a surprise before. What is it?”
“Well, it wouldn’t be a surprise if I told you, would it?”
Actual moments of silence as her domed light seemed to grow brighter in illumination.
“That does compute Captain. Why Captain?”
“Why?”
“Yes Captain. Why me, I am just a computer?”
Adray swallowed her angst and sorrow, as a tear fell down her cheek. She clutched Krulls hand tighter. Fuck, he loved her even more now, if that was possible at all. Only she could make a lonely and soulful organic computer a friend and above all, actually care for her
“Why Jane? Because Krull and I love you. You will never be alone with us around. I promise.”
“I did not know what love was until I met you Captain. Thank you Captain.”
“You’re welcome, Jane.”
“Captain, please secure, Tractor Beam Attachment in fifteen seconds. ETA British Moon
Shuttle Bay 21 twenty minutes.”
“12, 11, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. Attached”
The transport jolted and, then shuddered as the Tractor Beam attached it’s self to the hull. The planet became no longer a golden ball and its surface showed it topography of oceans, deserts, and construction of the prison and Command Central buildings. There were also green savannahs and forests off on it perimeters’ from the reforestation program created to decrease the brutal temperatures.
Krull looked at Adray, and squeezed her hand. He waited, for she read the question in his eyes.
“It’s all about the timing now, Darling. We get it right, or we die.”
Krull smiled, and said. “What’s new about that, doll?”
“Oh you.”
She playfully scolded him as the planet began to really focus in its entirety through the nose bubble and she turned her eyes and stared at it all.
The time clock had been activated now. Now tick, tock, tick, tock, each passing of a second was one more moment of precious life. It was time now that would make the final decisions, tinged with fate.
It would, in the end decide whether they lived or died.
Time always won in the end, one way or the other. There was nothing new about that.
THE shuttle technicians two of them dressed in their blue cooling Hermo Skins were waiting at landing bay #21. Off to their right, in a hermetically sealed glass dome, three other mechanics, were working on the repairs of the two Off World Transports.
There in actuality was nothing wrong with them.
But, since Jane The Invincible computer never made mistakes, there suddenly seemed to be a Ignition Rocket #1 problem with Shuttle #20. The other, Shuttle #22 mysteriously began showing problem with its Organic Storage Food Vacillators.
Like all wrench heads, whether On Earth, or Off Earth, they were frustrated not being able to nail down the problem. Every time they had thought they had repaired the problem, Jane has told them to fix the damn things again. They never questioned her reasons. She never made mistakes, and everyone knew it.
One of the mechanics could have sworn he heard her singing something about a MOON RIVER, but knew that was impossible.
