The Seductress of Andromeda

by Callista Hawkes

  “Don’t stop on my account.” You grin. She hurriedly pulls off your cock, a thin strand of drool dangling from her chin. She stands up, flushing furiously and hastily covering you back up beneath the medical gown.

  “I’m so sorry.” She mumbles, her eyes downcast. “You’ve been in a coma for three days. I saw your ship crash and went out to find you. You were in bad shape, but I dragged you back here and patched you up. After three days, you were starting to smell a little ripe, so I was giving you a sponge bath.” Her hazel eyes flick up to meet yours and for the first time you get a good look at her. Her auburn hair cascades in ringlets about her shoulders, framing a pale, pretty face. While her cream coloured research base uniform is functional, it cannot disguise her petite though curvaceous body beneath. She chews pensively at her lower lip. “I’m not making excuses, but I’ve been on my own here for months. It’s been a long time since I’ve seen a man, let alone a penis. I just couldn’t help myself…”

  “Hey, I’m not complaining!” You grin. “My number one favourite way to be awoken from a three day coma is by a mysterious though beautiful woman sucking my cock.” Her face flushes again and she doesn’t quite disguise a subtle smile. She lowers her gaze and self-consciously sweeps a hand through her hair.

  “You really should rest.” She tells you.

  Rest

  Suggest she finishes what she started

  “You really going to leave me with blue balls?” You grin. “C’mon, you’ve got to finish what you started!” She giggles and glances at the bulge in the front of your medical gown, chewing her lower lip thoughtfully for a moment.

  “Rain check tiger.” She finally replies, tearing her eyes away. “You need to convalesce. Get some sleep.”

  “You’re a cruel woman.” You frown.

  “Or maybe I just want you to be fit enough to return the favour.” She smirks, raising an eyebrow suggestively. “So do us both a favour and get some rest eh?”

  Continue

  “Ok.” You smile. “Doctor’s orders eh?” She chuckles and nods.

  “You get better,” She smiles, “We’ll talk again later.” She turns to leave.

  “I guess I should thank you for saving my life.” You call out as she reaches the door which sighs open in front of her in anticipation. She glances over her shoulder at you.

  “You’re welcome.” She purrs, confident and composed now after her initial flustered reaction to you. “Now sleep!” She steps out into the passageway and the door slides shut behind her.

  A few hours later, you stir from your sleep. You crane your head forward, almost disappointed not to find an auburn haired head bobbing in your lap this time. You sit up, already feeling much stronger than you had earlier. You wince as you pull the needle from the drip out of your arm. Swinging your legs over the edge of the gurney, you get unsteadily to your feet, grimacing at the pins and needles as your feet press against the cold floor. You hobble across the room, finding neatly folded clothes waiting for you. The same dour beige uniform as your mysterious saviour was wearing, but better than a hospital gown. You slip them on and step out into the long passageway. The desolate icy landscape is visible through half frosted up windows along one side while you pass several laboratories on the other. They are all deserted. The silence and stillness of the facility is quite unnerving and you are glad to hear talking coming from a room at the far end of the passageway. You hurry towards it, stepping into what appears to be a communications room. The auburn haired woman is sitting with her back to you, hunched over the controls.

  “Hello.” You call from the door. She jumps in her seat before whirling around to face you.

  “Damn, you scared the hell out of me!” She tells you, clutching her chest.

  “Sorry.” You grin ruefully.

  “It’s okay. I’m just used to being here on my own.” She smiles.

  “Really? I thought I heard you talking?”

  “You did.” She replies. “Just trying the long range communications array. It’s fried, but it will still get a signal out system wide. The trouble is, Phrygidia is the only inhabited planet in the system.”

  “Look on the bright side, the population just doubled.” You tell her brightly. She chuckles before regarding you curiously.

  “Who are you anyway?”

  “My name’s Trent.” You smile. “Freighter captain and foolhardy Good Samaritan.”

  “You responded to the emergency transmission!” She gasps. “It worked?”

  “Well, I didn’t come here for the weather.” You grin.

  “Pleased to meet you Trent.” She smiles, getting to her feet and shaking your hand. “My name’s Kate.”

  “So what happened here?” You ask.

  “Some sort of viral outbreak.” She replies, her smile vanishing. “It swept through here in a matter of hours. Everybody got sick and… and…” She wells up and you take her into your arms, her tears soaking through the shoulder of your uniform as she quietly sobs.

  “I’m so sorry.” You murmur. She straightens, wiping away her tears with the back of her hand.

  “It’s okay.” She replies, regaining her composure. “I seemed to have a natural immunity, but in just over a day from the first outbreak, I was the only one left.” Your blood runs cold as a thought hits you.

  “Could I get sick?” You ask.

  “I don’t think so.” She replies. “I sterilised the base.” You nod, your relief palpable. “Look, I’m nearly finished here. Give me half an hour and maybe we can spend some time together. Get to know each other a little better.” She adds with a coy smile.

  “Well, looks like I may be here for some time.” You grin. “I guess I’ll explore my new home.”

  “Okay, but steer clear of Laboratory Two.” She warns you. “I’ve sealed it off as a precautionary measure. It’s where the first outbreak occurred.”

  “Thanks for the warning.” You nod.

  You walk around the base, the living quarters eerily silent. You pass a gym and a rec room and loop back towards the communications room and Kate. As you walk back along the corridor past the laboratories, you pause at the sealed door for Laboratory Two, your curiosity piqued. You shake your head and continue walking. Stupid to go in a room where a deadly viral infection may still linger. Maybe you should take a look at the communications array. You’ve spent plenty of time patching up the Eclipse. Maybe you can patch up the array and get you both rescued.

  Investigate Laboratory Two

  Attempt to repair the communications array

  You make your way to the airlock, finding several thick snowsuits hanging inside. You pull one on, draw the hood tightly around your head and lace up a pair of heavy snow boots. You jab a gloved finger at the outer door control. The inner door sighs shut behind you and moments later the heavy outer door rumbles open. You wince as the freezing winds of Phrygidia bite at your exposed face, the desolate icy landscape laid out before you. You grit your teeth and step outside, your heavy boots clanking on metal steps as you descend to the surface. Your feet sink into a thick layer of snow as you make your way from the research base towards the communications array, a series of dishes mounted on a mast nearby. You trudge towards it, your teeth chattering and wishing you had found a tropical world to maroon yourself on.

  As you draw closer, you can see the unmistakable shape of a figure hunched over at the base of the mast. The figure has obviously been there for some time, coated in a layer of snow. You quicken your pace, reaching the corpse and rolling him onto his back. He is frozen solid, an expression of agony etched on his face. The snow beneath him is darkened with blood and you can see multiple stab wounds all over his chest. He seems to have been the victim of a merciless and frenzied attack. You can see his name stencilled on his chest: ‘Junker’ while a heavy wrench is clutched in his right hand. You wonder whether the unfortunate Junker was attempting to fix the array. You glance at the control box on the side of the mast. The door is open and the circuit boards inside h
ave been smashed to pieces. So the array has been sabotaged. Whoever did it did a pretty thorough job. There’s nothing you can do. You glance over your shoulder at the research base, the long stilts supporting it making it look like a giant insect. You hurry towards it, your mind reeling.

  Once back inside the airlock, you pull off the snowsuit and try to decide what to do next. Kate is obviously not telling you everything, so do you confront her now or dig a little deeper first?

  Confront Kate

  Investigate Laboratory Two

  You return to the communications room, Kate still hunched over the controls, trying to send out a distress signal.

  “I think you’re wasting your time.” You tell her. “I’ve just been out to the array. The control relay at the mast is smashed. It’s a miracle you have even managed to broadcast the emergency transmission.”

  “You’ve been outside?” She asks carefully, her hazel eyes searching yours. You slowly nod.

  “You want to tell me anything?” You ask.

  “You’ve found a body out there.” She replies. A statement, not a question. You nod again. Kate leans back in her chair and sighs. “I was hoping to spare you the gory details. The virus didn’t just kill them. It made them all go insane. They were wild and violent.” Her voice breaks a little as she recalls it. “That man you found, that was my father. He was trying to stop one of the others from sabotaging the array. The other man had a knife and…” She buries her face in her hands.

  “It’s okay.” You reply gently. “I can work the rest out for myself.”

  “I’m almost finished here.” Kate tells you, dabbing at her eyes with her sleeve. “Why don’t I see you in the rec room in a few minutes? We can talk some more there.” She turns back to the communication station and you walk back out into the corridor.

  Go to the rec room

  Investigate Laboratory Two

  You do as Kate suggests and make your way to the rec room. The spacious room has several couches arranged before a wide window giving a breath-taking panoramic view of the frozen landscape. You stand there for a few minutes, enjoying the stark beauty of the barren snowy plain, the sunlight glinting off the ice. It’s certainly far better to see it from the comfort and warmth of the rec room rather than venturing out into the freezing cold.

  “Trent.” Kate calls out from behind you. You turn to find her walking purposely towards you, a scalpel glinting in her hand. Her jaw is clenched and there is a cold, determined look in her eyes.

  “Kate, what the hell are you doing?” You ask, backing away.

  “You know don’t you?” She replies. “I can tell you know.”

  “I don’t know what the fuck you’re talking about!” You reply, searching desperately for a way out, but she is blocking the way to the door. “Why don’t you put the knife down and we can discuss what exactly it is you think I know, because I really don’t have the first clue!”

  “You’re lying!” She snarls, her eyes wild, just a few paces from you. You step behind one of the couches, searching for a route past her, but she anticipates it and sidesteps, blocking your way.

  “Look,” You tell her firmly, “I don’t want to hurt you.” She smiles grimly.

  “That’s what they all say.” She replies, lunging forward at you, the blade flashing, slicing across your throat. You choke, the bitter taste of blood welling up in your mouth. You drop to your knees and she is on you, the blade stabbing into you again and again while you throw one hand up while clutching your throat with the other. You gurgle as you try to beg her to stop, but she is merciless, slashing and stabbing at you again and again. Your arms go limp as you lose your strength, mercifully slipping into unconsciousness as she relentlessly butchers you to death.

  THE END

  Go back a few moments and rethink your actions

  You walk back down the passageway towards the laboratories you passed earlier, pausing outside a door with a large ‘2’ emblazoned on it in black. You examine the electronic lock to one side, a red light indicating the door is sealed shut. You smile recognising the lock type. You’ve bypassed this type of lock numerous times before on some more legally ambiguous jobs. You flip the cover open and fiddle around at the electronics inside. Moments later, the red light switches to green. You grin and move your hand towards the door open control, pausing as you wonder if you might be exposing yourself to the virus if you open the door. You quickly decide to risk it, pressing your finger against the control. The door slides open and you enter the laboratory. At first glance it appears completely normal. Banks of complicated looking equipment and apparatus line the walls with work benches covered in more equipment in the middle of the room. Your gaze is drawn to a broad glass cylinder at the far end of the laboratory. It stands upright and stretches from the floor to the ceiling. You approach it and run a hand over the cool surface of the cylinder. You can see some notes on a table next to it and reach for them. It is the log book of a Dr Hans Junker. You flick though to the most recent entry.

  ‘The day is here at last. Klon Eight has nearly completed her incubation period. Preliminary data looks very promising and I am hopeful that at long last after seven failures, we will have a viable, fully functional clone. My assistant has taken to referring to Klon Eight by the initials, saying my German designation for the clone is a little too formal. Perhaps she’s right, so K.8. it is...’

  You drop the log book. ‘K.8.’: Kate.

  “Shit.” You murmur.

  “What are you doing in here?!” You spin around to find Kate standing in the doorway. Her eyes flick from your face to the glass cylinder and back again, her shoulders sagging slightly. “You know.” She sighs, crossing the room towards you.

  “So, you’re a clone.” You reply, gazing warily at her, wondering why she concealed it from you.

  “Dr Junker was a talented scientist.” Kate tells you, picking up at the log book and glancing sadly at it. “A few years ago, his daughter drowned in a tragic accident. She was just twenty-three. He was obsessed with using cloning technology to bring her back. As you know, cloning is forbidden throughout the galaxy, so he set up this remote research base and set to work. Eventually he succeeded, using cells from her body, he successfully cloned her. I was grown here in this laboratory and brought to life. He imprinted her memories into my brain, so I am her, but not her.”

  “So why the big secret? What aren’t you telling me?” You ask her. “Is it something to do with what happened to everyone else?”

  “They died from a virus like I told you.” She replies hesitantly. “But I was patient zero. It was an unexpected side effect at the moment of my creation. I killed them all.” Her voice cracks and a single tear runs down her cheek.

  “It’s not your fault.” You sooth, taking her in your arms. As you do, you notice a gurney with what looks like a corpse beneath a sheet in the corner of the laboratory. “What’s that?” You ask her, pulling away and taking a step towards it.

  “It’s nothing you need to see Trent.” She replies, panic rising in her voice. She clasps your arm, but you shake off her grasp, crossing the room towards it. You reach for the edge of the sheet. “Don’t do it!” She pleads. “Don’t. Please.” You look from Kate to the corpse and back to Kate. “Just leave it. Forget you ever came in here. Let’s go to the rec room. We can be happy together here.” You look back at the shrouded corpse. Despite her anxious pleas, you are desperate to know what she is so keen to conceal from you.

  Peel back the sheet

  Ignore the corpse and go with Kate to the rec room

  Somehow, the sincerity of Kate’s words makes you back away.

  “Okay.” You tell her.

  “It’s for the best, believe me.” She smiles, her relief palpable. With one last glance at the mysterious corpse, you follow her out of the laboratory, the door sliding closed behind you. You follow her along the corridor towards the rec room when she suddenly stops and turns to you.

  “I’m going to slip into something a
little more comfortable.” She murmurs, her hazel eyes gleaming up at you. You nod and flash her a smile as she disappears in the direction of the living quarters.

  You continue on to the rec room, gazing out of the wide panoramic window, the frozen wastes stretching out to the horizon, the sunlight reflecting off it in a blinding glare as it drops low in the sky. You stand there for a few minutes, pondering why Kate was so keen to prevent you from looking at the mysterious corpse. You have just about resolved to return and find out when you hear footsteps behind you. You turn to find Kate a few paces behind you. She has changed out of the functional beige uniform and is wearing a flimsy white nightdress. You blink in surprise, noticing the dark areolas of her nipples visible through the thin material.

  “Beautiful.” You murmur.

  “Thank you.” She smiles, stepping closer to you, her hips swaying provocatively. “You know, we might be here for some time before we are rescued. I think it might be a good idea to become more intimately acquainted with each other.”

  “You’ll hear no argument from me.” You grin, inhaling her subtle perfume. She runs a hand over your chest, her fingers tentatively sliding downward.

  “You know, technically I’m a virgin.” Kate breathes. “Though while I’ve never had sex myself, I have all these memories that aren’t my own.” She smiles at the thought. “Junker’s real daughter had quite a sex drive. She was an enthusiastic and imaginative lover,” Her hand slides past your waist, “And I share the same urges.”