Off Rock

by Kieran Shea

  Attention all personnel, the following message is an official ASOCC bulletin. As you know, Azoick’s last scheduled freighter, the Adamant, has secured its orbit and commenced initial tender descents for final cargo transfers. While this is good news, station management recently received word from the Adamant of some note.

  Shortly after the ship dropped out of its skip and crossed into our sector, the Adamant’s communications detected a distress signal. The signal’s origin has been confirmed as emanating from an unmanned, exploratory Omega-Class vessel identified as the De Silento, operated by Enlai Universal. While further assessments are pending, it is the view of the Adamant’s onboard company envoy that no aid and/or salvage conventions be initiated at this time.

  In other news—all peripheral grind quarries, strip bores, schist and shaft sites are at long last ready for final demolition blows. That concludes this bulletin. See you at the pre-liftoff assembly. ASOCC, out.

  21. MADE, MOVES, MAKE

  Jimmy’s whole body throbbed.

  After taking what might have been the longest shower of his life and after he dropped off his gear at the ASOCC equipment stores, he moped his way back to his quarters with his rucksack strapped to his shoulders like a millstone. He had finally reached the lowermost level of the residential spider when he saw Leela sitting and waiting for him down the passageway next to his quarters. Jimmy nearly reeled around and hightailed it back up the ramp.

  Leela looked up. “Oh, you’re back. Everything out there go as planned?”

  Huh?

  Go as planned?

  Jimmy blurted, “What’re you doing down here?”

  Leela blew out a breath and tilted her head. “Now that’s a good question. To be upfront, I’d a mind to completely blow you off and get some shuteye, but it turns out I couldn’t get to sleep. Then I thought about maybe going to the gym for a run, but I figured—oh, what the heck. Now’s as good a time as any for you to spill the beans.”

  Ladies and gentlemen, behold the vortextual drop into the well of despair.

  Oh no, Jimmy thought.

  Did Leela actually know what he had been up to?

  Feeling faint-headed, Jimmy looked behind him. He half-expected a throng of deputized station personnel to suddenly appear, chuck him to the floor, and slap him in irons. Drawing a hand across his face, he turned back and eased his rucksack from his shoulders, lowering the heavy pack down onto the floor in front of him.

  “What beans?” he asked.

  Leela stood and stretched from side to side. Bending over, she picked up the hardcopy binder she’d been reading and jogged it in her hands. “Well, as I was saying, I was having trouble sleeping, and so with nothing better to do I cruised over to ASOCC and scanned the logs. Well, well… you finished up your back-to-back a mite early.”

  Jimmy glanced over his shoulder again.

  No marshaling heavies.

  Yet.

  “I just came straight from—”

  “A locker room shower. Yeah, your hair is still wet. I must say, it’s kind of strange that you didn’t return your crawler back to its usual spot outside ASOCC, Jimmy.”

  “Oh, that,” Jimmy said. “There was a warning light flashing in the cockpit. It seems a seal inspection was way overdue.”

  “Ah, I see. A seal inspection. Smart to take care of that.”

  “Right.”

  “So I guess you think your luck is still holding out then, huh?”

  “Oh wow.”

  “That’s all you have to say for yourself? Oh wow?”

  “Well, I’m… uh… I’m kind of at a loss here, Leela.”

  Shoving the binder under her arm, Leela started stalking toward Jimmy like a tiny lioness. From where he stood, her eyes gave away nothing and her gait was so self-assured that he imagined she was just making him sweat before she pulled the damn plug on his moral turpitude. Defensively, Jimmy stepped in front of his rucksack.

  “If you could, I mean, if you could just, like, give me a chance to explain.”

  “Ooh, mansplaining. Goody. I love me some mansplaining.”

  “I can’t possibly imagine what you must think of me, Leela.”

  “No, you most certainly cannot.”

  “Damn, I swear I know what it looks like, but I thought I could—”

  Leela looked down at the tips of her red cowboy boots and inhaled deeply. “Look, do me a favor and just shut the hell up for a minute. Maybe my sandbagging you like this after a back-to-back isn’t the best thing for me to do, but what you said out there? When we were on the private channel? It really got to me, Jimmy.”

  Jimmy’s world yielded. “It did?”

  Moving closer, Leela reached out and tenderly gave his left arm a squeeze. “Of course it did, silly. But we don’t need to go to the observational bubble or to my quarters or anywhere else for that matter. I’m right here. You’re right here. We’re both right here.”

  “Oh.”

  Ohhhhh.

  While Leela wasn’t there to call him out on taking the gold, Jimmy realized that back on the private channel he should have kept his big mouth shut. Goddamn, Leela expected him to explain himself! All of his purported misgivings, all his reasons for breaking up with her, and lord knew what else. The sudden downshift in his circumstances had Jimmy’s thoughts tangled and his mind was fricasseed. Holy moly, he needed to maintain.

  “Um, Leela…”

  “Yes, Jimmy?”

  “I really don’t think I’m up for this.”

  Leela let go of his arm. “You’re not?”

  “Well, I mean, in principle I guess I am. But I’m, like, totally wiped out on my feet right now. But hey, the demolition inlays? They’re all set to go in Fifty-Seven.”

  “Oh, Jimmy,” Leela replied softly, “I could give a hang about Fifty-Seven.”

  “But—”

  “I know I was all freaked out before, but you promised you were going to get it done and you did. I’m so proud of you. See? I told you ambition isn’t so bad.”

  No, it’s not, but…

  Oh man.

  Oh wow.

  Oh shit.

  Gulping and pulling himself together, Jimmy finally managed, “It was stupid of me to take all that equipment and the crawler without the proper okays.”

  Leela moved closer. “Uh-huh, but not to worry. It’s all good now.”

  Jimmy tried to shuffle back and when his heels bumped into his rucksack he almost tripped. Sweet mercy, he felt totally despicable. Despite all his premeditations, he’d never dreamed Leela would be so easily persuaded that she’d jump ahead and confront him on all his so-called changes of heart. Theoretically, yeah, he wanted to wrangle her into an intimate talk so that he could ultimately goad her into firing him, but he wanted to do it later after some rehearsal, and in public so people could witness it. It was a halfway decent plan, but now Leela had him off balance. He needed to reconsider his strategy and think quickly. First Jock pulling a fast one, now this. Once again, Jimmy heard his old rugby coach in his head.

  Spoon it up, men… spoon it the fuck up.

  “Gosh, Leela, there are so many things I really wish I could undo.”

  Nodding and giving his arm another patient squeeze, Leela turned and sauntered toward his quarters. From a sleeve on her jumper’s arm, she pulled an ASOCC bypass stick and slid it into a slot on the wall. All station management staff had bypass sticks, and the sticks, unless there was a dire lockdown emergency, enabled management to drop in unannounced just about anywhere on station. When the lock to Jimmy’s hatch clacked free, Leela turned back with a provocative smile.

  “I can think of a few things you could undo,” she said.

  Oh boy.

  Like a soldier condemned to a firing squad, Jimmy slowly lifted his rucksack from the floor and followed Leela inside.

  22. THE CANTEEN SCENE

  Stormkast and Østerby were chugging their third round of ale when Piper sat down with them in the canteen booth. Unapologetically,
Stormkast let out a belch foghorn-loud.

  “Hey, chief. Have you heard the latest?”

  Piper settled in her seat. She rested her CPU on the table and folded her hands. “The latest? The latest what?”

  “About Enlai Universal,” Stormkast replied. “One of their ships is, like, totally hosed.”

  Østerby groused something indecipherable. Grabbing Stormkast’s empty cup and his own from the table, he motioned out of courtesy to Piper to see if she wanted anything, but Piper swiped a hand across her throat. Shrugging, Østerby wandered off toward the bar.

  Stormkast continued, “Yeah, apparently Azoick’s final inbound picked up a distress signal from one of EU’s Omega-Class Explorers. Looks as if the Omega-Class went all kaplooey either just before or after they dropped out of their skip and crossed into the sector.”

  “Oh really. And where’d you hear all this?”

  Stormkast put a fist to his mouth to suppress another belch and then amiably gestured toward the bar. “A talking head has been cycling on those VDT screens every, like, twenty minutes. Take a look, the message is up there now.”

  Piper turned. Above the bar on the large VDT screens, the woman she’d met in the gym earlier was speaking. The immediate din in the canteen was noisy and she couldn’t make out what the woman was saying, so she tried to read the crawl.

  Stormkast laughed. “Anyway, it’s like this huge crate called the De Silento. Man, oh man, I can’t imagine what that kind of screwup is going to cost Enlai Universal.”

  Piper turned back around. “I’m sure the crew is addressing whatever issue their Omega-Class is having.”

  “Ha, right. You’d be no less than a hundred percent wrong on that one, chief.”

  “Oh? And why’s that?”

  “The De Silento is unmanned.”

  “Get out.”

  “No, it’s true.”

  “And they’re all the way out here?” Piper raised a thoughtful eyebrow. “Huh. That is a problem. I suppose now you’re going to tell me there’s some cooperative rescue-slash-salvage mission in the works.”

  “Nope. The talking head up there claims the Azoick envoy aboard the Adamant says that’s a no-go. Guess there’s too much bad blood between Azoick and Enlai Universal. I’m telling you, man, these mining companies… bunch of cutthroats, don’t you think?”

  23. THE SWEET PAYOFF

  On the balls of his feet with the hazmat suit folded in a protective pouch, Zaafer Daavi beamed. Everything had gone according to plan, just as Mr. Roscoe had said it would. When his hatch at last opened Zaafer gushed proud.

  “The whole thing is set, sir.”

  Jock glanced left and right down the passage outside and then stared down at his boots. He didn’t reply.

  “I followed your instructions,” Zaafer added. “Just like you told me. The AHB disposed of the quarantine materials and I checked. If you don’t mind me saying, I must compliment you on the, um, the ah—”

  Jock looked up. “The what?”

  Zaafer whispered, “The diversion.”

  “Bah,” Jock frowned. “Stacked and bound as they were, those drafting pipes were an accident waiting to happen.”

  Zaafer rubbed his hands together expectantly. “So?”

  “God, you can’t hold your vinegar for a second, can you?” sniped Jock balefully. “Fine. I suppose a deal is a deal, so here you go.”

  Taking the second duffle of promised candy, Zaafer was so excited he began to tremble. Oh heavens… Mookoomarsh Bars and Super Sour Waddlee Wees! The bag was stuffed to the point of bursting. When Zaafer pinched the bag’s zipper, Jock reached out and slapped his hand.

  “Not here. We must keep up appearances.”

  “Oh, of course, Mr. Roscoe. I forgot. Right.”

  “Wait until you’re back in your quarters. Swear to me by your god.”

  Stunned, Zaafer paused. Swear by his God? Swearing by the Lord of the Worlds was something no devout man of Zaafer’s faith should ever take lightly, and under such false and mendacious circumstances swearing as such might be considered a sin of irreparable consequence. Oh why, why must he have to swear? Had he not done everything that had been asked of him? Here he was, everything completed and moments away from succulent pleasure, was it truly necessary? Zaafer made a quick promise to himself. He pledged he’d be stronger next time and would refuse to do favors for Mr. Roscoe ever again. Feeling so helpless and humiliated, he told himself he’d pray extra special hard for forgiveness and devote hours to seeking expiation. Zaafer lifted his eyes and mumbled.

  “All right… by Allah, I swear.”

  “Again,” Jock demanded.

  “Pardon?”

  Jock cupped a hand to his ear. “Say it again. Swear on your useless excuse for a god.”

  Blasphemer!

  “Mr. Roscoe…”

  “You cherry-picking monkey, I said say it!”

  Zaafer sniveled. He curled his toes in his boots and repeated his oath. “By Allah, I swear I will wait until I am in my quarters.”

  Jock turned his head and spat. “Beat feet, candy-boy.”

  * * *

  Minutes later, Zaafer tore into his quarters, locked his hatch, and opened his second bounty at long last. Packed right at the top were the most forbidden and most difficult sweets to come by—a pristine two hundred and fifteen gram box of Whiplash Pogoes.

  Zaafer danced in a circle and leapt up and down.

  Slitting open the box with a finger, he slid two Whiplash Pogoes into his damp palm. Fascinating. The candy was just like the pictures he’d seen. Each Whiplash Pogo portion was curled in on itself like an immaculately spiraled wheel and the frosted shells of each successive band were of a different kaleidoscopic color. The candy was more beautiful, delicate, and enticing than he could have ever imagined. While he was aware of the candies’ latent toxicities, Zaafer was so overcome that he hastily slapped both portions into his mouth.

  The taste was fabulous.

  So explosive and intense. It was as if a dozen different sugary tangs were bathing his tongue all at once. In utter ecstasy, his knees actually jellied. But when Zaafer bit down to release the promised nougat inside the Whiplash Pogoes a second later, something tasted unbearably wrong and off.

  His esophagus constricted.

  Taken aback and dropping the box, Zaafer felt his pulse take off fast, and soon the awful contractions in his muscles grew so acute that gray dots began to score across his vision.

  Astaghfiru lillah! What is happening to me?

  Doubling over in pain, Zaafer spat out bits of the candy still in his mouth and tried jamming his fingers down his throat. The latent toxicities, he thought, ohhhh… he should have known better. He probed his fingers farther down and gagged, but the cloying fragments he’d already swallowed wouldn’t come up. He smelled a bitter scent of almonds, and his throat swelled completely shut. No longer able to take in air, he fell to the floor writhing in agony. After a minute and a half of frothing at the mouth, a cool and empty darkness slipped over Zaafer like a long, black cape.

  24. OH BOY (CONTINUED…)

  After Jimmy followed her into his quarters, Leela sealed the hatch. Allowing him to slip past, she watched as Jimmy jammed his rucksack into a cubby beneath his bunk and didn’t turn around.

  Jimmy, Jimmy, Jimmy. Leela had always admired how he looked from behind. To be perfectly honest, for a dude he hadn’t much of a caboose, but his shoulders were broad and he was tall and lean and Leela always liked that. She thought possibly she was rushing things again, but then thought, so what? The tiny lights over Jimmy’s terrariums were throwing everything in the narrow room into soft shapes. With the balminess of the fragmite incinerators next door, the room was so warm and cozy. Even Jimmy’s dumb ship model with its broad stripes, black cannons, and ridiculous plastic sails seemed romantic.

  “Jimmy?”

  A low and oblique response. “Yeah?”

  “Come here.”

  Jimmy turned. “Leela, th
is isn’t exactly what I had in mind.”

  “I don’t care. Don’t make me say it again.”

  With his chin down, Jimmy mooched his way across the room to her. Placing one of her hands on his hip, Leela lifted his chin with the other and smoothed a wet lock of hair back from his forehead.

  “Listen,” she said, “this isn’t what I had in mind either. And I know you said you’re dead on your feet, but why waste an opportunity like this, am I right?”

  Once she kissed his lips whatever reluctance Jimmy was holding onto fell away. It wasn’t long before he had his arms around her and soon his hands feverishly began to roam. When Jimmy lifted her up, Leela experienced a slight vertebral stretch in her spine and felt his cock thickening against her thigh. Impatiently, she tugged at the talon zipper on the front of his jumper. Sweeping around, he lowered her down onto his bunk.

  “Undo, undone…”

  Jimmy lifted his head. “What?”

  “Get this jumper off me!”

  Jimmy grabbed the zipper and yanked it down.

  “Boots! Boots first!” Leela cried.

  “Oh, right.” He pulled her cowboy boots off. “Got ’em, just a sec.”

  Leela sighed. It was all so awkward. A small part of her always despised how undressing and getting down to the act never seemed to be as dreamy as one hoped it would be. Working together, though, the two of them removed the rest of their clothes lickety-split and then she pushed Jimmy over on his back. Her breasts now bared, Leela pressed her body against Jimmy’s heat as he reached around for a good ten-digit knead of her ass. Sliding a hand down between them, she took hold of him and briefly considered if some slickening was required. It wasn’t like she wasn’t up for a little extended foreplay, but what the hell—she was already wet—why mess around with a preamble?

  As if reading her mind, Jimmy licked his fingers and stretched a hand down as well, circling his moist fingertips across her damp, puffed clit.