by Tom Holloway
Anna is a little bewildered, not sure what to say. She looks at them, smiles, and says, “I am Anna Summers and glad to meet you. I think I have it right. You are G-BE, F-LA, M-HO, and K-HO. You are not what I expected, and I am really impressed. I am amazed you operate the Cyclone. I am no expert at this—it’s a first-time experience for me. I just got up this morning thinking it was another same old normal day on Earth, and here I am in deep space, checking out the solar system. And now I am looking at four beings that look like computer angels without wings and are telepathic, yet surprisingly enough I can now be telepathic, too, and we are going to have a telepathic conversation.”
Anna laughs. “Who would think this could happen? Out of curiosity, I have to ask, do you guys have families, babies, like little computers maybe? Do you ever leave the ship? How old are you?”
There is a long pause, no response.
I look at her. “Anna, this will be a little strange for you. They process information and events differently from a human. I think before they will open up to you, they need to know who you are. They crave your personal data; you are then official in their memory banks. You are of great interest to them, as you are a female me, part of my species, and you also can reproduce. By the way, they know something about you, as we have integrated communications; or, simply put, they hear my thoughts, and I hear theirs, too. We are sort of like kindred spirits.
“They are also part of my command structure, keeping track of me, operating as my support staff, and following my commands, sometimes offering me really good advice. To answer your questions: actually they do reproduce but not like we do. They just clone another like themselves, create synthetic neurons, energize it, and feed it with data, lots of it. They are thousands of years old; not sure who originally built them, and they never leave the ship. I am not sure they can survive off ship. They do not know, either, as they have never left the ship; they receive their energy from it. The Cyclone is very old, too, although updated. It has been around awhile, I think for many, many centuries.”
Anna looks at each of them and nervously says, “All right, to start out, I am a twenty-eight-year-old female, born in the United States, just a young thing, no boyfriends, as I am too dedicated to my career, and I love what I do. I am an actress, as you may know. I am hoping to achieve great success in my field, an Academy Award maybe. My stepfather is Senator Sam Jordan; my mother is Linda Summers Jordan; and my biological father is Mike Summers, who is also an actor. I have a younger half sister I love dearly, Nikki Jordan.
“My birth father has not had much success in his life, drinking too much when things went poorly and now working as a waiter in a fancy restaurant in Chicago. My fame has helped him, and I bought him a condo in downtown Chicago, which he is ecstatic about, not thinking he would ever have a place to live other than a cheap apartment. The restaurant makes a big deal out of him because of me, and I stop and eat there when I am in Chicago. They have my photos on the walls all over the restaurant. They are my biggest fan club. The food is wonderful. I am taking Henry there when we are back on Earth.
“I also have a charity foundation I am very proud of. I set it up to help support children born with no homes—kids not in foster care, just on the streets. We supply a safe place to stay, meals, and guidance. It never has enough money; it’s a constant challenge. There is a lot of suffering on planet Earth. Maybe I can get a contribution from you guys. Still not sure who everyone is here or where you come from and really not sure I want to know.
“My favorite hobbies are many: reading, as I love books; cooking, as I love to have dinner parties; and all outdoor sports, such as horseback riding, tennis, swimming, boating, skiing, and running. I like to dance, too, and I love music.
“I live in LA, or Los Angeles, California. Maybe you’ve been there. I have a place there on the ocean, a large estate. It’s beautiful. I love it. I also spend time at my parents’ farm in Richmond, Virginia, a great place. I ride my horse. I also run many miles on the country roads. I am a real competition runner, too; I have competed in several charity marathons, and though I actually never won, I bring publicity to the events, as I am a celebrity. You probably don’t understand the concept of being a movie star.”
“On Earth people are slightly crazy, and they follow my every move because I have been in a couple of movies. Guys take photos of me everywhere and sell them; newspapers write about me. I have even met the president of the United States. What’s hard to understand is I have done nothing to be worthy of the fame, yet it is fun, and I get free tickets to everything. The downside of it is the real crazy people I meet, and then I have to have security people to protect me. Maybe you could help me on the security stuff, some ideas. I bet you have real humdingers, some out-of-this-world stuff.”
Anna breaks out laughing and looks at me. I can’t help it; I start laughing, too.
G-BE, F-LA, M-HO, and K-HO start talking all at once, thanking her for her background data, asking Anna if she wants to know more about the Cyclone and where we come from, maybe more about our home planet and the rest of the universe we cover, maybe also about the Consortium of Civilizations, about my function, who I am in the whole plan and how civilizations throughout the universe depend on me. Anna’s head is spinning as all this information starts downloading into her brain telepathically; I feel her alarm, and I soothe her with a happy thought: my memory of her sister meeting me, her smile. I share it with Anna. It helps her, and I feel a thank you coming from her.
Anna then learns about the part of the universe we know. Not all the universe is known. And she hears about the Consortium. She learns about me, even the World War II stuff, although I was not excited about her learning my real age versus the age of this body. G-BE, F-LA, M-HO, and K-HO are surprisingly forthcoming, and I have no idea why. Actually I think it is overkill on their part, and they know I am not that pleased with them for giving so much detail since it is overwhelming to Anna.
They go into the immensity of space, the galaxies, the planets where life exists and doesn’t exist, the political structure in my world, the overall leadership, and my role. They tell her we are from the world called KA*AM, which is the English translation, and it is 1,758 trillion miles from Earth. She learns about the clone soldiers, the starships, the military guardianship, the Consortium’s laws of the universe, and the elders, my bosses. They explain the committee of elders, guys thousands of years old who lead our part of the universe, more or less, what we know about anyway. It’s a big place. They even tell her about Gabriel, my very good friend, my mentor, whom I report to, one of the head guys in the Consortium. They explain Gabriel has been like a father to me and helped me through the years when things did not go as well. He was there to see me through it. To my surprise they also say Gabriel will probably want to meet her.
I am not sure how Anna will take some of this information. There have been some real enemies through the years, dangerous beyond comprehension, and I think they were all evil, or at the very least I can say they did terrible things to a lot of beings, made a lot of lives miserable. Of course I think they deserve what they received from me, and thankfully I can say they are all dead, or most of them are not around anymore to cause trouble. Yet still a few are out there, still doing terrible crimes. Unfortunately my old friends explain my role in detail to Anna—the policeman thing, the commander of the entire Consortium’s military, the guy who has lots of responsibilities and challenges.
I am starting to understand F-LA, G-BE, M-HO, and K-HO; they are either recruiting her or warning her off. I guess they sense a female of my species who is interested in me, and they are giving her the whole story. They know I am not happy with their performance, and they start to apologize to me without Anna knowing they are concerned about my feelings.
Fortunately Anna cannot handle the information download anymore, looks at me, and shakes her head. She says she is too tired to receive any more information, truly overwhelmed and dazed from all of it.
She p
ronounces, “I am hungry! I have go to the bathroom. I’m tired. And what time is it?”
Chapter 16
Day Three
“Anna, I am sorry for all of this. I know it’s too much for one sitting, and you must be starved. It has been a really long day, as in Earth time, it is three in the morning now.” I am thinking, Day three for me. “Please follow me. We have a galley, and they can fix you anything you want, including Earth food. I changed the menu years ago, could not stand the stuff they called food. This is better, although maybe not perfect. As for the bathroom thing, you can use my facilities off my cabin. Since I have lived here for years, I am used to it, not sure if you will feel the same about it. You may not like it.”
She looks at me with an odd expression. Surprisingly, I am not sure what she is thinking.
“Anna, I apologize. Relieving yourself of fluids aboard ship is not easy because of the lack of gravity. As you can imagine, the use of a bathroom in outer space is much different, as we are weightless most of the time. There is no flushing the toilet here. I will have to show you. It is a suction thing, easy once you get used to it. Don’t be embarrassed. I can help you. You have to do what you have to do.”
Anna smiles and looks at me. “I have heard every line in the world, but let me show you how to use the bathroom is brand-new to me!” She laughs and says, “Big guy, I think I can figure it out. Just show me the facilities.”
After a brief training overview, Anna masters the process, and afterward she says it was not that difficult. She smiles and says she did not need my offer of assistance; she can do the starship stuff.
My personal cabin is a small room, dull-gray walls, fourteen feet by twenty-eight feet, which is huge by starship standards. I have some comforts, as I can eat in here, although there’s no real furniture—no bed, no pictures, yet a few soft chairs for reading platforms, a big magnet desk and lots of side cabinets to hold things like clothing, and everything is locked down. I do have my many precious Earth books secured in wall bookshelves. I like old-fashioned books. On the port side I have two torpedo-type holes that are little bedrooms, both with sleeping bags. It has a simple bathroom facility for bathing and for the rest of my needs, also a little round room. All fluids are recycled.
I also have a full communications center, which is always on, giving me visuals of what is going on everywhere in the ship and in all directions outside the ship. It shows me everything in three-dimensional images. Other beings calling in are displayed visually, in hologram form, suspended on the starboard side of the cabin. I can also pull up a real-life display of the entire universe if needed, showing the locations of all Consortium fleets. Condensed news briefings are always available. I usually have hologram staff conferences daily, some with virtual reality. With the sophistication of the Cyclone, anything is possible when reaching out to other worlds and other starship fleets.
We have dinner in my cabin. Anna is learning to eat in no gravity. We are both tired after a long day. It is about four o’clock, early in the morning using Earth time. Even tired she is charming, and I love watching her every move. I know the ship is still heading for Jupiter, originally about five hundred million miles away, now maybe twenty million miles away. We will be there in about two hours, as we slow down to make the interception. We need to sleep and might have to orbit Jupiter until we wake up. I will show Anna Jupiter and tour around the ship tomorrow, introduce her to more of the crew.
“Anna, the sleeping arrangements are not like bedrooms, more like sleeping in a torpedo tube in a submarine. I point toward two, four-foot portholes about six feet up on the wall. You have a big comfy sleeping bag in there that you get into, holds you down, keeps you from floating away. My cabin only has two tubes. You are welcome to either one. We have nothing else. I am sorry.”
“Henry, I am sleeping in your sleeping bag with you. I may look like I am brave and have it all together—not so! I am really scared, more than I have ever been in my life. I am over my head beyond belief. I understand only half of what’s going on. You are the only real human on this ship, and I am not straying far from you. You have a sleeping buddy whether you want one or not. This is so surreal; I think I am in a movie.”
I am startled learning about her fears and more surprised about her proposed sleeping arrangements. I never thought I would be sleeping with Anna tonight. And it will be really close and intimate. What could happen? I am now worried about me, as all of a sudden I feel a lot of anxiety. This is really new for me. It has been many decades since I slept with a woman. Yet I think, somewhat reassuringly, I am sure we will be both be asleep quickly. In the next few seconds, I realize I am in big trouble.
Life is sometimes not predictable. It is hard to believe yet I am looking at Anna undress. I can’t take my eyes off of her as she slowly takes her clothes off, each piece floating away in the no gravity. I suddenly realize I am not used to the bodies of young women or the underclothing they wear. She leaves on her gray T-shirt, which is clinging to her almost visible breasts, displaying her nipples as hard and extended. She is almost naked except for a little white-lace panty thong. As she moves to the sleeping tube, I get a good look at her bare bottom, as several times she bends over to maneuver—just maybe, I realize, a couple of times for me to see.
Surprisingly, she is giving me a perfect view of her, and she is flawless. My heart is pounding, and I feel awkward, embarrassed, yet really aroused, feeling my face turning red from my thoughts. She ignores me, pulls herself into the bag, laughs, and says to me, “Henry, hurry up. I am exhausted.”
I undress and am with her quickly, and I feel her warmth immediately. I love her scent, sweet and salty and delicious. I feel her body intimately close to mine, touching in all the right places. Her skin is soft. I have not been with a woman for seventy-two years, not since 1942. I am very much aroused and just thinking about how unexpected this is. Incredible! What can I say? I love feeling this way, so human, so truly magical.
I am too excited to sleep, my tiredness gone. The telepathic connection between us is boosting the emotions, and now I feel my wild, surging hormones. I am hot all over. I am in way over my head.
Anna is suddenly not that tired either. She is breathing hard and rapidly, her face flushed, and she is eagerly kissing my face, then my lips, caressing my face and murmuring my name. She is saying it is OK, that she wants me, then moaning, opening her legs, pressing her hips, rapidly pivoting her pelvis back and forth, with a very wet mound pushing up and hard against me. She says she needs me now.
I can feel her heart pounding, hear her heavy breathing, and her excitement is exhilarating. I am overwhelmed, trying hard to steady my nerves, trying to remember what to do and contain the force of my passion, too. I am trying not to manhandle her, not to hurt her. I try to slow down, not hurry, stay gentle, yet I can hardly control the flood of emotions and the massive physical urges. I am astounded by this and even more so as I feel her emotions telepathically. I am ecstatic, as I know she feels me mentally also. The physical intimacy and mental awareness are somewhere between ecstasy and sublime. We are together as one mentally; the intimate awareness of her emotions is extraordinary, wonderful, like nothing I have ever known!
I finally remember what to do; some things come naturally. To my great excitement, I am truly surprised by how I enjoy the job of stripping her of her thong and T-shirt. I am delighted in the intense pleasure of feeling her body, teasing her, petting her. To my joy I can sense what she likes best, and I am using my fingers to tease. Her desires become more urgent, and she becomes even more eager, hungry, needing me, wanting much more. She is magnificent. Her body is gorgeous. Her breasts are perfect and reacting to my touch. I am starting to enter her, my thrusts deep into her, becoming fast and hard, and she is meeting me, thrusting up and down with me. I am intimately part of her as she uses her legs, wrapped around me with the power to clasp me tight. It is beyond belief! She is demanding yet submissive, and she surrenders to the sheer joy and ecstasy. I fill
her needs more than once. I feel her elation and pleasure each time. The thrill of her completion is astounding as I can feel it, too. I never knew how good it is to be human until this moment.
Afterward I am exhausted, yet I feel like I could conquer ten worlds. Let’s say this hour rocked my universe, changed the course of my life. I know Anna felt it, too, although she is now fast asleep in my arms. My mind is thinking again, and I am wondering if I could have gotten Anna pregnant. A little late to think on it, not sure I am even capable of it. My DNA is not the original I was born with, and I may not be able to reproduce. This has never come up before. Too late to worry now.
We sleep a long time, maybe eight hours, and I usually never rest for more than three or four. We fall asleep spoon style and wake up the same way. Anna gets up and uses the facilities, and coffee is automatically ready. I smell it. Coffee is my one true pleasure, and it is real Earth coffee; I bought it at Barnes & Noble when I was there. I had put my purchases, including the books, on the ship’s tender right before Anna picked me up, for delivery to the Cyclone. Even though it’s served in a bottle, it tastes the same. I give Anna her coffee, and she tenderly smiles at me, looking rested and happy, floating close by, holding a handle, wearing only her T-shirt and lace panties, watching me intently. I am the happiest I have ever been, and I do not want the moment to end. I dread the issues of my leaving Earth. I have no clue what the future holds for us; I wish to be part of Anna’s life, although that’s probably impossible.
We chat some about little things, about her family, her friends, her life. I love hearing it. It is delightful.
