The Seeker: A Pax Aeterna Novel

by Trevor Wyatt

  Of course, I do, too, because the answer to that? I have emergency data scheduled to send when necessary. When we engage faster than light speed travel, well, then it will be enough time for us to get farther out than any other ships and make sure that the discovery is ours. This is as good a time as any to rise. "I have maintained well within protocol," I offer. I can hear a few reactions as I head for CNC, but I'm already engaging my comm to contact Rina.

  "Report?"

  "New route engaged." I hear the excitement in her voice. "Approval for large distance light speed travel is all that remains...and then your location data for emergency services will also send." She keeps any of her opinions to herself, as I'm certain she must have some about my choice to send location data when we can't be followed by non-medical ships. All assigned fleets aren't going this far out. Medical ships could save us, but no other crew is finding what I am.

  Whether it be a new ally, a possible threat to engage, or just a prime new colony to forge ahead on, this is mine.

  I round into the cockpit and Rina stands to receive me. "Briefing is ready for crew, Sir," Rina says.

  I look over the materials she has on the abnormal readings. Bio-energy, possible communication technology, and signs of inorganic materials in the outer nebula all suggest that another civilization could be present.

  The AI was right. This could be big for my career. New Washington is exactly the kind of place I'm probably supposed to want to work up to, but I am at home on my ship. So Mandy is right. I don't intend to let anyone take me out of the sky and land me in a station or behind a desk with some Admiral’s stripes. If I have to do paperwork, it is going to be among the stars. Out in space. With my crew. We had a few issues with our last mechanic, and we got approval for our AI mechanic, Jrelo, and I just don't need to fuck up a good thing. We all work really well together, and I don't need some upstart rolling aboard The Mariner and deciding he knows better. I worked hard to get to the top and if there's going to be a big discovery, it is mine. It belongs to this crew. My vectors found the parameters. Rina will get us there.

  "Crew, briefing in five," I say over the intercom.

  If there's anything to come of this, our investigation will make it happen.

  Chapter 3

  "Okay, but will the dicks be green too?" Mandy, Keva, and Uxor forgot to turn off their comms.

  Davan and I are listening to them discuss the possible genitalia of little green men, and we both gave each other the wide eyed "don't let on we can totally hear this conversation" look before I finally can’t handle it. I'm about to burst into laughter at the discussion of possible cock configurations when Davan clears his throat loudly.

  "Captain," Uxor says, and I can almost hear the blush on his face. I mean, I'm not the only one who finds the Captain attractive, but Uxor, who does the hospitality duties and related maintenance for the ship, let's just say he avoids being in the same room with Davan as much as possible or his whole face flushes around him.

  "There's some kind of a joke to be made about probing," Davan says. The way he's grinning right now makes me hyper-aware of my cheeks heating up. "But suffice to say, I understand that we all leave our comms on from time to time. Davan looks at me.

  Umm, so what is that supposed to mean? I gulp, grateful to be able to head to my quarters for the night while the crew apologize for discussing possible alien equipment.

  I vacillate between thinking about starting the investigation officially tomorrow and about the possible meanings of what the Captain could have meant. Did I read too much into him looking at me?

  The sinking feeling in my stomach isn't just the light speed drive activating. It is the thought that he might know about the upgrade to my holographic generator I made in my quarters. I studied as a hologram engineer while I was training for pilot school at the Academy, and I made a certain hologram of my own with modifications...well, let's just say it is a good thing my quarters are soundproofed. I know a lot of people have program modifications to their personal holoprojectors. Modifications that they use for self-gratification, but I took an old idea about masturbation melded with a new one. I have a hologram of the Captain that is capable of both forms of simulated activity and stimulation. The last time I used it, did I leave the sound engaged on my comms? I fucking hope not. It isn't like I'm going to ask and that's just about the most embarrassing thing that I can think of.

  So much for professionalism!

  I can't imagine that Davan would ever say anything about it if he knew. I mean, it would mortify me, and it is so wildly inappropriate. But then again, he and I listened to the alien dick FAQ while someone else's comm was engaged.

  Fuuuuck.

  I get to my quarters, clearing my throat and checking in with the CNC crew before I turn in.

  I undress and get into bed. I inhale and shut my eyes, clenching them shut. Some things, the more you do them, the more you get used to them. Not so much the case with sleeping before a mission. It is vicious to the entire human body when you know you’re going into something unknown that humanity may never have potentially seen before.

  I don't want any distractions from sleep tonight. I’m so exhausted lately. We’ve been in space for a long time. It is the longest stretch of duty that the crew of The Mariner has ever engaged in. I do my final checks of the crew in my personal tablet. The green shining lights counting down the status indicators remind me that, if I need to, I can disengage the FTL drives and shut this mission down if I feel the need to.

  Everything seems fine, however, and I let myself be excited for just a moment before that sinking feeling hits. I squeeze my eyes shut as the green numbers disappear, and the sleep pulls within every part of my body.

  Not even this can dampen my enthusiasm, however, for starting the investigation officially tomorrow. I know that Davan is excited, too, and that gets me more excited than I can admit to you anyone but you!

  Chapter 4

  I hate the idea of Rina spending another night with that hologram of me instead of with the real me more than I hate the idea of cleaning a hyperdrive with a toothbrush. Right. Forgot to tell you. I know about the hologram. I discovered when she left her own comm engaged, well, I don't need her to have her hormones in overdrive.

  We tend to not tell anyone at the Academy what happens to prolonged contact with the opposite sex when your out in space for months on end. Sure, there's duty. Exploration. Conflict. Protecting the Union. But after you’ve been through a few different systems, pretty much the only thing your body thinks about is fucking.

  I don't know if I have the heart to tell you that my real cock? Well, I've got twice the inches on the impressive equipment she envisioned. Who would think the consummate professional that studied holo-engineering would use it in such a filthy way? Rina does a very good job remaining professional with me. I could never have been certain before that she was attracted to me, but after witnessing that about a week ago, well, now I know. Now I see her attraction to me everywhere. I want to act on it often, but there's no time for that now.

  Not when we’re on the verge of a discovery unimaginable 500 years ago.

  I mean, this is exactly the wrong time, but I can totally feel blood rushing to my cock. Fuck, I'm some kind of idiot to think about Rina's soft, curvy body covered in a sheen of sweat because she's imagining me inside of her. But I'd be blind and stupid if I didn't.

  Tomorrow's investigation is what I should focus on...after sleep. I should be thinking about nothing right now, but I'm so distracted, I open my eyes for a second and see the double and triple vision of my ceiling in my quarters. Clamping my eyes shut, I attempt to clear my mind of all the thoughts.

  Because no one should be hard and distracted at the same time.

  I let my mind fall into blackness against black. I hear thoughts and ideas passing through my mind without consequence or meaning.

  A single voice permeates my thoughts for a moment, but it doesn't hurt. "You'll find us," it says.

&nbs
p; I don't know what to think of that. I should probably not be at ease to hear that.

  Rina is waiting outside my quarters. Not being Earthborne, she's not as affected by the prolonged exposure in space as I am. Her body is more comfortable with space, having evolved further to handle more. Still, I see the slightly glassy look in her eyes that tells me she's struggling too with too little sleep and too much stimuli.

  "The crew is ready, and I'm ready to begin prepping our exploratory equipment at your call, Captain." Rina's smile is begging to lift the corners of her mouth.

  I give her a wide grin. "Lets see what we're going to find!" I pat her on the shoulder and start walking towards the meeting deck.

  The crew files in, one by one – the toll of no shore leave showing. But I can tell Rina, like me, is too excited to wait another day to view our findings and explore what they could mean.

  "Captain Davan and I selected the criterion we did as our parameters for discovery of possible other colonization sites." She pauses, knowing that part of what we're looking at involves bio-forms.

  Rina doesn't share my thirst for conquest, and I know that the history of nuclear war has certainly left me wanting to resolve tensions with diplomacy, not violence. But expansion isn't the kind of thing a man lets go of. That's why I don't trade in New Washington or shuffle paperwork or train there. No, I'm a ship captain because I want to explore.

  "Yes," I say with a nod.

  "We look for bio-form and inorganics because it means intelligent life could be building their own civilization there, or have an established one. We must be cautious and open-minded as we seek to discover what lies ahead. We know that there's a chance we'll discover false readings. They happen. But today we'll seek to discover what no one else has."

  The crew starts to cheer. I can't blame them.

  And then the entire ship quakes. Shakes like nothing I have felt in space. Our lights flicker, our comms emit a strange sound, and then everything stops and returns back to normal.

  "What the-" I can't even finish my sentence when I see what's before the deck, and see what reads on my comms.

  Chapter 5

  Okay, so whatever just happened with the ship is totally a cause for alarm. I mean, I know everything went back to normal almost immediately after, but that's not enough to make me shrug off the rest.

  "Davan!" I say, hearing him exclaim something and I follow his eyes to the deck. I rush towards our data screens and we look to our readings. There's more data to interpret here than we could have imagined. One of my tech assists, Hima, comes to my side and we start pulling reports and testing strings of information against our model algorithms.

  "Compatible," I report to Davan. "They seem to be...intelligent alien life, and they are sending several versions of a signal that is peaceful."

  I look to the crew, and they are all out looking out to the deck now.

  I can't help but look either.

  There’s a sleek, gilded and shiny black metal ship. A sharp oval taking up much of the view screen before us.

  Not human.

  A transmission comes through and I know that it must be true.

  Davan looks at me, his eyes following me as I accept the transmission. “Our analysis of your human language says that we can provide a rudimentary translation in our language.”

  My eyes widen. The sound of the alien voice on the other end isn’t harsh, yet it isn’t smooth. The translation is almost terse. It sounds even dangerous.

  We probably should be worried. I’m just too damn amazed right now. Can you fucking believe this?

  Real fucking alien life.

  “Accept video transmission?” The voice asks.

  Davan steps next to my side. He presses accept on the video transmission request, his hand dropping to hold mine. I can barely breathe. Not just because I see the probably 7 or 8 feet tall big, blue, ripped dude that’s basically naked. Umm…advanced language, sure, but they don’t give a damn about covering up the wall of abs.

  Still, Davan’s hand is on mine and I can’t believe today.

  “Hello, Earth humans. We bear you no ill will. We praise your eventual acceptance of diplomacy over war. We wish to broker trade arrangements with you. Call a representative of your higher government and meet us tomorrow at a time of your choosing. Coordinates for our nearby station are being to sent now. Is good?” I am amazed at that slight little flub there. Their translators are amazing quality.

  “Understood,” Davan says. His words garble into something almost Germanic sounding in its roughness. The vocal texture language makes sense for the way their translated English sounded.

  The transmission disconnects.

  The whole crew, we just all look at each other.

  “Holy shit,” Mandy says, the first to break the silence.

  “Yeah, holy shit,” Davan says, his fingers grasping mine tighter. “Crew, don’t contact anyone yet. We will contact an official, but don’t share this information with anyone else.”

  Everyone speaks in the affirmative and shuffles toward the mess hall, talking.

  Davan looks at me. He tucks a finger under my chin. “I don’t plan to forget this night. It could be our last…or the first of something.”

  My lips part slightly and I look at Davan. Is this really happening? “Davan,” I say. “Are you…” my words trail off.

  Davan finishes them. “Hitting on you most inappropriately? Yes, you’re far too professional to tell me you want me between your thighs instead of an imagined holo version of me with a smaller cock,” he says, actually waggling his eyebrows.

  Wait!

  Did you hear that?

  Before I have a second to contemplate that further, his lips are on mine.

  The smell of Davan’s masculine scent makes me weak as he pulls me into him. The touch of the form-fitting uniform against my chest is getting my nipples to get hard. His rippling muscles are so gorgeous even clothed. My heart skips a beat as Davan takes hold of my head and covers his mouth with mine. It takes a second for me to find my rhythm as our tongues start to dart and dance around each other's mouths entangle in a passionate tango. Wrapping my arms around his back I press my body into his until it feels like I am melting into him.

  I let my mouth find and fondle Davan’s bottom lip, god his lips are soft I close my eyes and feel myself getting wet. Time seems to stand still for Davan and I, while we are here in each other's arms. We run our fingers up and down each other’s backs, touching and caressing every inch of covered skin.

  Standing here together we slowly open our eyes gazing right at each other. We say nothing but the burning desire in our eyes say a million things at once. We get lost in each other’s eyes as it feels like the ship is spinning around us. Feeling Davan’s tongue exploring my throat deeper makes me let out a moan that makes my vocal cords vibrate. I can feel the imprint of Davan’s huge shaft pressing up against my thigh, sending a quiver through my body. I can’t help but feel this is a moment I could be lost in forever, nothing else matters right now.

  As Davan sucks on my bottom lip I can hear the moan that escapes his throat, breaking the silence that surrounds us. My tongue clicks against Davan’s teeth as I keep searching his mouth, craving to explore and taste every inch of his soft, moist mouth.

  Running his fingers through my hair before Davan fists it to dip me backward never breaking our intense lip lock. His body is swaying in tune with mine, as I am suspended in air nothing but Davan’s arm to keep me steady. Bringing us slowly back to standing up right after what felt like forever, I’m falling into Davan’s arms. He is so strong; my body relaxes and is at peace here in this embrace.

  Davan holds me like he never wants to let me go. No matter what happens after this we will always have this time together. Nobody would ever believe that Davan and I could share something so intimate and laced with such passion like this kiss. This will remain between us, every time we see each other from this moment forward we will see the burning desire of our sec
ret passion flicker in each other’s eyes.

  Holding me at arm's length by shoulders Davan breaks our lip lock, our breathing is ragged and we desperately try to catch our breath. It takes a moment for the tingling to subside in my mouth, feeling the cool air brush across my skin that was covered by his arms sends a chill through my body. Davan runs his tongue across his lips, and I know he’s tasting our kiss.

  “Why don’t you come back to the Captain’s quarters and let me show you what you’ve been missing?” Davan asks. But the way he throws me over his shoulder, uh, he already knows that if I could talk right now I’d be saying yes.

  And that’s when the ship shakes.

  And the entire world goes black.

  To be continued…

  Encyclopedia Galactica Vol. 1

  2024: Formal treaty to set a 25 year term towards political integration between the United States, Canada, and Mexico in an extension of NAFTA. This was agreed to in the backdrop of The Accords of Expedition amongst member nation states of the European Union for greater political integration by 2040.

  The first private spacecraft to carry passengers into space, and allow them to spend one week aboard a private space station operated and owned by the Taylor Corporation was launched. The passengers paid $3.5 million and there were 15. They were returned successfully to earth after a period of one week in space.

  2025: Realizing that the integration between the United States, Canada, and Mexico would lead to a large superpower and with the addition of a greater political union between the member nations of the European Union the countries of Asia decided that only one course of action existed for them; a political union. The countries of China, India, Japan, Singapore, Indonesia, Vietnam, and Malaysia decided to form a political union with the goal of full integration by the year 2054. The seat of power for the Asian Bloc sat in the city state of Hong Kong.