Zeke and the Space Aliens Copyright (c) 2004 by xyvos ================================================== CHAPTER 1 Zeke moved the joystick with the smooth, easy, manner of someone well accustomed to its use. He manipulated the video game character on the TV screen, dodging attacks and taking out enemies. Zeke was not consciously thinking about the controls, but focusing on what his character needed to do: jump down the tube, dodge the pincer worm, grab the powerup, blast the worm, swim through the water exit, use megablast to get up speed so he wouldn't drown before the first airhole. Although the action looked frantic on the screen, Zeke's mind was calm. The intense game was, in its own way, relaxing. Walter burst through the door of the dorm room. "You gotta go with me out to the desert tonight!" Walter, Zeke's roommate at the university, was the embodiment of the word "geek," even down to his taped glasses and pocket protector. Now sophomores, they had shared a room since they were freshmen. "What's out in the desert, man?" asked Zeke, calmly zapping three tentacle plants. "Come over here and check this website out!" Curious, Zeke paused his game and peered over Walter's shoulder. The website had some cheesy pictures of UFOs and a story. In 1958 aliens had discovered intelligent life on the planet Earth. While the majority of the Earthlings were not ready for contact, a few Earthlings were. The aliens were interested in contacting those Earthlings, and provided instructions. It looked to Zeke like one of those just-for-fun websites, but it sure seemed to be pulling Walter's leg. "And all we have to do is go to one of these locations and call them up on CB channel eight," enthused Walter, holding up a printout. "I already emailed we will be there tonight." "I don't know, dude, I was going to finish my new game tonight." "Aw, you spend too much time on those games," argued Walter. "It's not good for you, you should get out and do something real for a change." Exactly what Zeke's girlfriend had said before dumping him, Zeke mused. Maybe it was true, but Zeke wasn't the only one with unreal interests. "You mean real like calling up aliens on the CB in the desert?" grinned Zeke. Zeke was trying to be cool, but Walter was acting kind of weird. Zeke figured he should go with Walter to make sure he didn't get into any trouble. Besides, he just had to hear the response some long-haul trucker would make to Walter's CB message. "It took me two months of emailing to get this set up. If you don't want to go, fine. But that's no reason to make fun of..." "Sorry about that dude. I'd like to go, but you left yourself wide open for that comeback and I just couldn't pass it up," laughed Zeke. An hour later, Zeke drove his car along the dirt road, high beams illuminating the darkness. There was no one around for miles, and they hadn't seen any traffic for the last half-hour. Zeke had been careful not to make any more jokes about the aliens; he knew Walter was into this stuff and didn't want to hurt his feelings -- sometimes you just had to be there for your buddies. "The odometer reads 47.5 miles. Stop here and turn off the engine," said Walter. Seems someone on the website had done their homework, there was a pullout just where the instructions said one would be. Zeke drove his car well off the road before killing the engine and lights; he hadn't seen any traffic, but parking too near the road at night would be stupid. "Well, let's do this," said Walter as he grabbed the CB. Turning it to channel eight, all he got was a faint static. "This is the Earthman looking to meet up with the Spaceman," said Walter, "anyone got your ears on?" Zeke suppressed a chuckle. The CB continued its static, but no response. Well, Zeke would wait a while before suggesting they go back. It was peaceful out here away from everything, with the cool night air blowing through the windows. "All right," started Walter, "I guess I really didn't expect... Holy shit! Look at that!" "That" turned out to be a ring of lights descending directly above them. The lights were dim, and whatever it was made no noise. Zeke wondered if this was an elaborate practical joke. Maybe someone in a hot air balloon? Was Walter in on it? Did whoever was behind it really think they were going to fool anyone? Well, Zeke would play along. "Zeke, I'm not so sure about this. Maybe we should get out of here," said a panicked Walter. "Be cool," said Zeke, grabbing his car keys. "We came out here to meet the aliens. Let's go meet them. Besides, you know the cars never start in these situations." Zeke got out of the car and looked around. The lights from the craft above them illuminated the rocky ground. There was no sign of civilization except for the deserted road. Walter was still in the car, peering out the window. The illumination got brighter and Zeke saw the craft was still descending over them. As it got closer, he could see that the craft looked solid. The lights framed a depression in the bottom of the hull. Before long, the craft was directly over them, and came to a complete stop about 20 feet up in the air. Seen from this distance, the craft was at least several hundred feet in diameter. If this was a prank, it must have cost a bundle. The craft was the classic flying saucer shape, dark grey in color, just like the pictures on the website. It hung in the air, absolutely silent. The ship looked real. If it were, thought Zeke, he was about to meet some actual aliens. A little scary at first, but it could be awesome. They might get to see things most people only dream about. How much technology would the aliens show them? What would they look like? A motion on the craft interrupted Zeke's thoughts. From the depression, a grey circular disk about eight feet in diameter started descending. Zeke watched, spellbound. As it moved lower, he saw a slender railing come into view and someone, or something, standing in the middle. The disk settled on the ground right in front of the car and Zeke got a good look at the alien. Any remaining doubts he had were banished -- no one on earth made costumes this good. The alien was about five feet tall and bipedal, but nothing like a human. Its skin was light blue, mottled with dark blue splotches, and completely hairless. The head was sort of like a mushroom; the top half was the same size as a human head, but the bottom half tapered off like it didn't have a jawbone. Large unblinking pink eyes protruded from the sides, and a vertical slit for a mouth completed the front. The head merged into the body without a neck, and the shoulders were almost non-existent. Two double-jointed arms ended in spindly fingers with no fingernails. Something that looked like a cross between gills and feathers covered the chest in a mixture of green and blue, stopping just short of its head. The two legs were thin, and looked like they each had two knees spaced six inches apart, but tan pants and boots prevented Zeke from making a closer examination. "I am Mvek," started the alien. "My pleasure to meet you." The alien had deep, almost musical voice. Zeke noticed the mouth remained still, the voice seemed to emanate from the chest area, probably the gill things. "You may be startled by the ship, by my appearance, by your stories about aliens," continued Mvek, "Know I will not hurt or detain you. I invite you to step on this platform, tour the ship, ask questions, and listen to my words." Mvek stepped back, leaving plenty of room on the platform for his guests. "Hi, I'm Zeke, and this is Walter," said Zeke looking over at Walter, who was still in the car. "Hey Walter, come on man, let's check out the ship." "Zeke... we should get out of here," stammered Walter. "Are you crazy," said Zeke, "You would never forgive yourself in a million years if you ran off now -- you know that. So suck it up, dude." "I don't know about this. We shouldn't be here," said Walter, in a panicky voice. "This was your idea in the first place, dude. You deserve to see it through. A friendly alien is offering to take you aboard his ship, you have been dreaming about stuff like this for years. How can you pass this up, man?" asked Zeke, opening the car door and pulling a scared Walter out, and dragging him towards the platform. Walter broke free of Zeke's grip and ran behind the car. "If you don't get on that platform right now, what are you going to tell yourself tomorrow?" asked Zeke, "You do what you have to do, dude. But me, I'm going before Mvek gets tired of us dicking around." "Sorry about that, Mvek," said Zeke, stepping on the platform, "my friend Walter really wants to come along, he's just freaked out." "Understandable," said Mvek. "Walter, I will take Zeke aboard now. You will remain here, you will be safe." Mvek pressed on a small console and the gap in the railing closed. Now the railing completely enclosed the platform, preventing them from falling out. "Wait!" shouted Walter, "I want to go too!" Mvek opened the railing once again and a hesitant Walter stepped aboard. Walter kept as far from Mvek as he could, obviously frightened of the alien. "Walter, you are safe," said Mvek. "Know I will not hurt or detain you." Zeke knew Walter would soon get over his fears. After all, Walter knew the Enterprise deck layout by heart; he would forget all his concerns once they were aboard the ship. Likely, he would be asking questions non-stop. "We will ascend to the ship now," said Mvek, pressing the console. The platform rose smoothly and silently upwards, and slid into the ship, becoming the floor of a small circular room. A strange tingling sensation engulfed Zeke's entire body, but it quickly passed. Probably just the excitement, thought Zeke. Lights came on in the room, and Zeke looked around. Dark purple walls made of a smooth, unfamiliar material surrounded them. A section of the railing slid back and at the same time a section of the wall opened, leading to a larger area. "Walk with me," said Mvek. Zeke walked beside Mvek. Walter followed, but was still keeping his distance from Mvek. This room was about 100 feet long, the ceiling a light blue. The walls had dark green stripes framing what looked like yellow cabinets with no handles. For some reason, there were two normal Earth-type vehicles: an old Ford truck and an RV. "What's with the vehicles?" asked Zeke. "Other people of Earth were shown this ship," said Mvek. "We invited them to come with us. We keep their possessions here. They may decide to return." "Will we get the chance to go with you?" asked Zeke. Zeke was busy looking around as he talked with Mvek. Walter remained silent, but his eyes were darting everywhere. "Yes," said Mvek, "I will explain in a moment." They preceded through the storage room into a hallway. It was big enough to drive the RV through and twice as long as the storage room. The ceiling and walls were blue and green, the same colors as the storage room. Doors shaped like arches were interspersed along the hallway, most of them closed. Between the doors, alcoves featured a variety of plants. Many of the plants were unfamiliar. One had hard pink disk-shaped protrusions covered with short spikes; it was surrounded by a white moss-like growth. Another looked like a sculpture, just a set of dark brown hoops halfway embedded in the ground. Some of the plants would not look out of place on Earth, they may have even been from Earth. Mvek motioned at one of the doors and it silently opened, revealing a large circular room with a domed ceiling. The walls were a vivid white, with no visible joints, not even a smudge or speck of dust could be seen. The party stopped in the center of the room. The door closed, blending perfectly into the wall. Something subtly changed in the room and suddenly all they could see was white; with no focal points, the room seemed an unending white expanse. The light dimmed and a miniature representation of the Milky-way galaxy appeared, floating in the air. A hologram, Zeke thought. To one side, about a third of it was glowing brightly, the rest was dimmer. Mvek explained the glowing portion indicated the explored parts of the galaxy. In this explored part, thousands of intelligent beings lived, on thousands of planets. Some of those beings had developed space travel. Of those, a small number were despoiling other worlds, enslaving their peoples, and just generally being a nuisance. Other beings, seeing this devastation, had pooled their resources in an effort to protect the weaker worlds. Mvek was a member of this group, collectively known as the Hirthal. As Mvek was explaining, the image of the galaxy expanded, showing fleets of spaceships battling in space. Then it zoomed on to a small yellow star. "Hey, that's our solar system," said Walter, breaking his silence for the first time since boarding the ship. Some worlds, like Earth, were still in the very early stages of space travel. Most were unaware of the danger. "Why haven't you contacted our planet?" asked Walter. "Told them what's going on?" "In the beginning," said Mvek, "the Hirthal contacted developing worlds. Knowledge of the threat caused panic. Some governments collapsed." With the number of developing worlds being protected, the protectors were stretched thin. Help was needed, and while the entire population of a developing planet might not be able to handle the truth, some individuals could. Those individuals provided the sentient beings needed to defeat the aggressors. Contacting those individuals proved a challenge, but was feasible through a variety of methods designed to isolate only those appropriate for contact. "I request each of you to consider giving your help," said Mvek. "You would choose a useful skill for running one of our ships. The Hirthal would train you in the skill. When training is complete, you would choose a ship." This was heavy stuff, thought Zeke. Being a crewman on a starship was definitely several steps above Zeke's previous career path. Mvek was a recruiter, maybe like for the army, Zeke considered. Was there a catch? "Can I be a captain?" asked Walter, suddenly very interested. "So is this like the army?" asked Zeke. "Superior officers, enlisting for a certain amount of time, standing at attention?" "I will answer both questions with one explanation," said Mvek. Mvek went on to explain there was no chain of command as they were used to. There was a captain, or captains, but the relationship between the captain and the crew was of an informal nature. The crew agreed to follow the captain's direction but nothing more than their agreement compelled them to do so. Should a crewmember decide to ignore the captain, he could, with no penalty. "How can that work?" asked Walter. "What about if nobody wants to patrol some sector? What if they all just leave?" "My task," said Mvek, "is to find beings who will patrol that sector. Leaving is allowed. If no one can be found, the sector will not be patrolled." "After our training," said Walter, "we will know all about your technology, your secrets. What if we left and took the information back to Earth?" "I request you to refrain," said Mvek. "Should your government or industry discover what you know, you might lose your freedom." Zeke tried not to think about that. He definitely would not be telling tales if he went back though. What a way to end the week, Zeke thought. A lark had become a major turning point in his life, something he had not even thought possible. Now he could be on the crew of a starship, all he had to do was say yes. Well, and go through the training of course. "Is Earth not being protected?" asked Walter. "Is that why you are here?" "Earth is adequately protected," said Mvek, "as much so as my own homeworld." And what would Zeke do aboard this starship? Engineer? Not likely, coming from (as he now knew) such a backward planet, it could take forever to get up to speed. What he would really like to do would be to fly the starship. That would be better than any video game, ever! "Well, count me in," said Zeke. "Where do I sign up?" "I am pleased with your decision," said Mvek, "You are signed up. I will continue the tour now." The door opened and Mvek led them back into the hallway and to the right. He motioned at another door and it opened. "That's great!" enthused Zeke. "Hey, Walter, you're going to join up aren't you?" "I probably will," said Walter, "just give me a minute to think." The next room looked to be a living quarters with a blue ceiling, light green walls, and a dark green floor. The room was circular, about 30 feet in diameter. An enormous round bed with light green covers filled a depression in the middle. A few of the smaller arched doors were on the far wall, and Zeke wondered what rooms they led to. Built-in cabinets covered the far wall, and a few built-in desks graced the near wall. Tables and couches looked more like sculpture than furniture. This was one nice living quarters, Zeke thought. "Zeke," said Mvek, "this room is your living quarters. While you are aboard this ship." Mvek continued towards the door in the middle. Mvek showed them the activation gesture, a twisting circular motion of the hand in mid-air. It worked for doors, computers, just about everything. Mvek motioned at the door and it opened to reveal a small, bare room. Wall-length mirrors covered all four walls. What Zeke guessed to be a large sink was on one wall and in the center there were three oval depressions, each about a foot wide. Zeke had a good idea what they were, even aliens had to go sometime. "Deposit your bodily wastes in the depression, then use the activation gesture," said Mvek, picking up a glass of water and a small, circular object from the sink. "This leaf will demonstrate," said Mvek, dropping the leaf into the depression. It slowly sank into what had appeared to be a solid surface, disappearing. Mvek filled the glass from the sink, then poured the water into the depression, where it disappeared into the surface. Zeke noticed there was no splatter. Definitely a nice feature. "What happens if we fall in?" asked Zeke. "I recommend you avoid falling in," said Mvek. "You would sink in a few feet. You could get out with minor effort. You would suffocate if your head remained under." Zeke resolved not to fall in. It did seem like a lot of technology just to take a dump, but considering the sewage infrastructure and waste treatment plants on Earth, maybe not so different after all. Mvek exited the restroom and proceeded to explain the rest of the quarters. The next room was larger and for bathing, with a sizeable tub and shower. The last room was a storage closet. In the main room, the deep cabinets had a variety of shelves to hold all manner of possessions; Zeke opened a few, they were empty. The built-in tables each had a holographic computer interface. Having explored the living quarters, Mvek led them back to the hall and into another room. This room turned out to be the dining room, with the same blue ceiling and green walls; the colors must be an attempt to replicate the outdoor Earth environment, Zeke suddenly realized. The room, large enough to seat two dozen people, was empty. "Are we the only ones aboard the ship," asked Zeke. "Eight other beings are here," said Mvek. "Do they all look like you," asked Walter. "Five are different species. Three are human. They have joined the Hirthal," replied Mvek. Mvek continued the tour, they entered an area filled with plants. The tall, long room had row upon row of plants growing close together in clear tubes on multiple levels. Zeke recognized corn, potatoes, tomatoes, cabbage, spinach, and others. Many he did not recognize, some had large pink or speckled leaves, others were just jumbles of spikes. A gentle, cool breeze blew his hair. "You mean you don't replicate your food?" asked Walter. Mvek paused, took out a small oval object, and began manipulating it. Zeke figured it was some kind of small computer. Shortly, Mvek was finished. "Reconstructing consumables is dangerous. Small errors may cause harm to the consuming organism." They continued through the maze of plant life. Stairways provided access to the many levels of platforms. The plants grew in a colored liquid, held in place by what looked like cloth ties. "So I guess you don't have transporters either," said Walter. "Transporting a living entity is unethical," said Mvek. Walter and Mvek discussed the moral ramifications of transporter technology, but Zeke tuned them out. They had not run across anyone else so far. Was the ship really that big, or was Mvek hiding something? He thought back to their initial encounter and Walter's reaction. Perhaps that was it, if Walter freaked as much as he did with just Mvek, how would he have handled six different-looking aliens? Next on the tour was the control room of the ship. The control room was a half-circle, twenty five feet in diameter, with large viewscreens on the walls. Most had different views of the Earth from space. A few showed status information, with faint circles and simple moving shapes. At the center of the room was a curved panel rising seamlessly from the floor with three comfortable chairs behind it. Aliens occupied two of those chairs. One of the aliens was of Mvek's race, the other attracted Zeke's attention immediately, since he recognized it from the movies and the UFO abduction shows on TV. It was one of the Greys, four feet tall, humanoid, spindly grey body, big head, and black eyes. Looks like some of the abductees were telling the truth, mused Zeke. From the viewscreens they looked to be in orbit around Earth, but Zeke had not felt the ship move. For that matter, they were still standing on the floor when they should have been weightless. The aliens flying the ship looked up briefly, but did not speak to the newcomers. Walter was too busy looking around to speak anyway. "I know English. The others do not know English," explained Mvek. All too soon, Mvek led them back to the hallway and into another room. This was a medium-sized, circular room with several seating areas. Three humans were having a discussion in one of the areas. Mvek sat on a couch in the nearest empty seating area. Zeke sat down beside Mvek, and Walter sat on the couch across from them. "Our tour is concluded. Walter, have you decided?" asked Mvek. "Oh sure! I'll do it!" said Walter. "I am pleased. I welcome you to the Hirthal," said Mvek. "The Hirthal requires members to show civilized behavior. You must not harm other members. You must not force other members to perform disagreeable actions. I will explain more later." "I'll agree to that," said Zeke. "Me too," said Walter. "I am pleased," said Mvek. "We will contact one more human tomorrow. We will depart your solar system tomorrow. Our journey to the training facility requires six Earth days. You will learn our language." Mvek went on to explain the language they would learn was the galactic standard language, spoken by most known races. Standard was created expressly for ease of communication, was simple to learn, and pronounceable, with some limitations, by most sentient beings. They would be able to learn the language in under six days with the help of mental stimulation technology, but the method did have some disadvantages. "You will be disoriented during the procedure," Mvek told them. "We start tomorrow." Learning standard was to be their first task and they would remain aboard this ship to do so. This would give them the opportunity to get accustomed to the other aliens, and see what life is like aboard a spaceship. They would not start the training process until the ship was underway, to give them time to reconsider. "I don't plan on changing my mind," said Zeke. "But I'm worried about my family finding me missing, and freaking out. Can I tell them something so they won't worry?" "The computer maintains different approaches to your issue," said Mvek, "use the gesture to activate it." Zeke resolved to do so before he went to sleep. No one could possibly notice him missing until at least a few days from now, probably not for several weeks. The other humans had all been picked up earlier today. The three here were Susan, Dan, and Mike. They had gone through the same website as Walter, exchanging emails for a time, then coming out to meet Mvek. Zeke noticed Susan and Dan were wearing similar clothes, a two piece white outfit that wouldn't have been out of place on earth. Susan wore a form-fitting tank top and a pair of loose pants, almost like pajama bottoms. Dan wore a looser tank top and the same type of pants. Both Susan and Dan were barefoot. "So are you guys wearing the official uniform?" asked Zeke. "They were in the closet in our room," said Dan, "so we figured we'd try them out." "It's really comfortable," said Susan, smiling at Dan. "The top acts like a bra, but you hardly notice it's there." Hardly there at all, thought Zeke, noticing the outline of Sally's nipples. A moot point though, Susan and Dan were obviously an item. "This ship has some amazing things," said Dan. "The walls in the quarters are viewscreens. You can set them to any color or even a moving image. And get this," added Dan, "they don't generate light. I dimmed the room lights, the images will still move, even if it's dark." Dan and Susan explained the quarters and other things were controlled by communicating with the ship's computer. It wasn't a true AI, but it did have an advanced command recognition. All commands to the computer had to start with the spoken word: "Computer." Later, they met the remaining alien. She was wearing the same white outfit as Susan, and looked a lot more human than Mvek and the Greys. She stood about four and a half feet tall and had very pale skin. Except for the ears and missing nose she could almost pass for a human that had never seen the sun. Her hair was short all over, but strangely divided into two sections. The top of her head was covered with a stiff, thick, light-green hair about three inches long. Her eyebrows swept back and joined it at the sides, where the hair thinned out into very fine shorter white strands. Her eyes and mouth looked mostly human, but in place of a nose was a flat area with two horizontal slashes half the width of her mouth, one right over the other. Each slash opened slightly as she breathed. Her ears swept back, the outsides were covered with the fine hair, the insides were light pink. Her body was shaped like a human's, a very thin human, with almost normal-looking arms and legs, and five digits on each hand. But she had no visible breasts, and her bare feet were half again as wide as human feet, with three widely-spaced, equal-sized toes. Mvek introduced her as Sori, the ship's medical specialist. Sori did not speak English. Alien, but cute, thought Zeke. He smiled at Sori, not having a better way to say hello. Sori tilted her head and looked at Zeke; her face was expressionless. Sori took the opportunity to give each of them an examination. All she did was pass a small tubelike device over their heads, not touching them. The device then emitted a complex hologram in midair, lots of circles and lines of all different colors. Sori carefully examined the hologram after she finished with each of them. She then spoke with Mvek in an alien language. "Sori reports good health for all of you," said Mvek. Not having a common language prevented Sori from joining the conversation, and she soon departed. After a while, they wound up looking around the ship as they talked with Mvek. A few areas were inaccessible. "Some areas are dangerous," said Mvek. "Examples are ships engines, medical facility, crew dining room." Even though the different alien species shared many things, food was not always among them. Food for some species was poison for others. To make sure the humans did not come to harm, the crew's dining room was off limits. As were other areas where the curious humans could inadvertently get hurt, especially when they were disoriented by the mental stimulation procedure. "The mental stimulation procedure is unpleasant," said Mvek. "Speaking Standard is necessary for communicating with others." "Hey Mvek," said Mike, "how much do we get paid for working on your ships?" "Approximately 150 credits a week," said Mvek. "Food, housing, clothing, medical, and other needs are provided to everyone." "What's a credit look like?" asked Mike. "A credit is a number in a computer," said Mvek. "It has no physical existence." Mvek went on to explain credits were not exactly like money. Credits could not be invested, earn interest, or be transferred to another. Credits were merely an accounting method to control distribution of resources. While all necessities were provided at no cost, credits allowed the acquisition of for-fun items. Finally, as it was getting late, most of the group decided to get some sleep and headed to their quarters. Zeke was still too excited to sleep and wanted to have one last look around the ship. He found his car in the storage bay and gave it a quick cleaning, since the backseat and trunk doubled as a storage bin and garbage can. Most of the stuff was junk and Zeke put it in the disposal. Zeke then hauled the keepers back to his quarters, putting his stuff in one of the empty cabinets. Feeling the need, Zeke urinated in the elimination device, watching bemusedly as his stream pooled in the bottom and disappeared. Finished, he made the hand gesture and felt a strange tingling on his hand for a moment. Interesting, that hadn't happened before when he gestured at the door. Was there something wrong with the device? He examined his hand. It seemed just fine. Weird. Zeke decided to check out the computer terminal, take a bath, and then get some sleep. He wanted to be well rested and alert for tomorrow. Sitting down at the desk, Zeke used the gesture. No tingling, but a holographic display appeared. It was a three dimensional representation of several boxes, each having a label. On the first row: quarters, ship, health, food, contacting, emergency, Standard. Zeke touched contacting and text appeared. There were a number of stories people had used, from the Peace Corps to becoming a monk. The story Zeke liked best was joining the Peace Corps, and going off to some remote country with limited communications. There were several sample letters with what looked like a solid story; Zeke added a few personal touches and quickly pieced together a brief email. He wasn't sure how it would be sent, but this *was* alien technology after all. His family would still worry, but at least he wouldn't just vanish off the face of the earth. The truth would probably worry them more, even if they did believe him. With nothing else to do, Zeke checked out the "quarters" box and found some really interesting things. The clothes cleaner was in the closet and would automatically clean whatever clothes he hung there. The room with the tub also had a "shower" that cleaned without water. He could have a holographic window showing any views he wanted anywhere in his room. The water temperature in the bathtub adjusted by computer command. His room cleaned itself. The door opened and Walter walked in. "I just found out something you will want to know," said Walter. "I'm all ears," replied Zeke. "You won't find any toilet paper. Just make the gesture and it will tingle you clean," said Walter. One mystery solved. "You're a lifesaver, dude," said Zeke. "No problem," said Walter. "It's pretty late, I'm going to get some sleep." After Walter left, Zeke explored the bathtub. It was an eight foot circular depression, about four feet deep, to one side of the room. The wall above had a geometric pattern with several two inch diameter holes. The sides of the tub were rough, offering good traction, but comfortable. The gesture started it filling with water that ran down the far wall out of the holes. Within minutes the tub was filled with warm water. Cabinets in the wall held towels and bottles of clear liquid. Someone had been nice enough to label them soap and shampoo in English. The water could have been a bit warmer, but it was OK for now. Zeke would remember to have the computer adjust the temperature next time. Right now he would just enjoy a good soaking. After he was finished with the bath, a gesture drained the tub very quickly, although there were no drain holes visible. Zeke noticed it was completely dry. Since he hadn't packed a suitcase, Zeke hung his clothes in the closet. He would have to sleep naked to allow his clothes time to be cleaned. Probably Mvek would get him some more clothes, but that hadn't happened yet. The top of the mattress was a few inches above floor level, the floor around the bed well-padded. Wondering what would happen, Zeke made the gesture over the bed. Covers which had been neatly tucked in now floated back gracefully, surprising Zeke. The bed was even more comfortable than it looked. Zeke got settled under the covers, and realized he didn't know how to turn off the lights. Not wanting to get out of bed, he tried the gesture, but nothing happened. There didn't seem to be any switches on the walls either. Of course there was a way, but it certainly wasn't obvious. Maybe the aliens slept with the lights on. Oh, the computer. "Computer..." The door opened and Sori walked in, apparently the aliens didn't knock either. Sori walked over and stood by the bed, her face expressionless; she pulled her lips back, showing her teeth. What was with the teeth? Maybe she was trying to smile, like Zeke had smiled at her before. Zeke returned the smile, not sure what Sori wanted. Sori quickly took her top off and stepped out of her pants. With her top off, Zeke could see she didn't have any breasts at all, not even nipples -- she was completely flat-chested. Her groin had a small patch of light green hair, and Zeke could just see what looked like pussy lips. That part of her could pass for a human, from the outside at least. She stood before Zeke, her face still expressionless, and showed her teeth again. No way, thought Zeke. She couldn't mean... But what else could she mean? And why not, decided Zeke, feeling a little turned on. The only human female on this ship was Susan, and the only time he would get from Susan was what time Dan would be back. But Sori looked ready to give him some time right now, and Zeke wasn't about to chase her off. Doing it with a cute alien would make the mile-high club seem like a boring lecture. So what next? Right now Sori was just standing, waiting for Zeke to make the next move. Zeke decided he would go slowly, so he wouldn't startle Sori and scare her off. He carefully pulled the covers back, sat up in the bed, and slowly moved his hand towards Sori's hand. Zeke gently took her hand, keeping his grip loose. Sori closed her lips and tilted her head slightly, regarding Zeke. Zeke gently tugged Sori towards him. Sori slowly walked up on the bed and knelt beside Zeke, looking up at him. She placed her free hand lightly on Zeke's chest, Zeke responded by lightly touching Sori's chest. Zeke could feel her heart beating fast, he wasn't sure if she was excited or if that was her normal pulse rate. Certainly he couldn't tell from her face, it just didn't show any recognizable human emotions. Sori let go of Zeke's hand and rose up on her knees, until her head was level with Zeke's. She slowly moved her head towards Zeke, and Zeke wondered what kissing Sori would be like. At least they wouldn't bump noses. But instead of the kiss Zeke was expecting, Sori started tenderly blowing on his nose. It was nice, thought Zeke, but it tickled a bit, especially when Sori blew into his nostrils. Zeke noticed Sori was blowing on him through her breathing slits; she seemed to have excellent control of them. Zeke figured he should reciprocate, but wasn't sure about blowing through his nose. He could blow well enough through his mouth however, so he lightly blew on Sori's breathing slits. Zeke guessed he was doing all right, at least Sori didn't pull back. After blowing for a while, Zeke noticed Sori breathing heavier, so he probably was doing the right thing. Enough of the blowing, Zeke decided, time to get back to familiar territory. Zeke brushed his lips against Sori's, her lips felt dry. Sori quickly pulled her head back, so Zeke decided to work on mouth-to-mouth kissing later. Zeke started caressing Sori's sides with his hands while tenderly kissing her neck. Sori didn't pull back, so Zeke continued. Not being familiar with Sori's reactions or her language, Zeke couldn't tell if Sori was liking what he was doing, so he decided to go slowly and explore her body. Taking Sori by the shoulders, Zeke gently pushed Sori down on the bed. Sori complied as soon as she realized what Zeke wanted. Soon she was lying on her back, looking up at Zeke. Zeke moved his caresses to Sori's stomach and hips and trailed kisses down Sori's chest to her bellybutton. At least she had a bellybutton, and a pretty sensitive one from the way she jumped when he blew into it. This was the best reaction he had gotten yet, so Zeke spent some time blowing and licking Sori's bellybutton. Sori hadn't made any noises yet, but she was breathing harder than before. Zeke didn't want to overdo the bellybutton, so he moved his attention down lower, to the light patch of green fur covering Sori's pussy. Since Sori's legs were only slightly parted, Zeke started by tracing around Sori's patch of hair and then lightly brushing his fingers through it. Zeke could see a few trickles of clear fluid leaking out from between Sori's pussy lips, so he just had to be doing things right. At least he hoped this meant Sori was excited; the events had gotten Zeke pretty worked up. Sori's pussy lips were completely closed, resting against each other; her pussy still looked normal to Zeke, but he wanted to get a closer look. Zeke gently pulled Sori's legs wider apart and moved between them. First running his fingers lightly over Sori's slit, Zeke slowly parted her pussy lips, revealing flesh the same light pink as her inner ears. Now Zeke could see some differences. Sori didn't have inner lips, her little vagina was open and leaking more clear fluid. About once every few seconds her vagina would squeeze closed and then reopen, forcing more fluid out. As for her clit, Zeke couldn't even find the clitoral hood; just smooth pink flesh. Zeke lightly blew over Sori's entire groin. Sori didn't react other than to take a very deep breath and let it slowly out, so Zeke blew some more and started lightly, very lightly, tracing the opening of Sori's vagina with his fingertips. This brought on another deep breath from Sori. Encouraged, Zeke moved a finger inside of Sori's vagina, which quickly squeezed closed around his finger. Sori immediately sat up, pulling Zeke's finger out of her vagina. While Zeke was still trying to figure out what he had done wrong, Sori started pushing at his shoulders. Zeke allowed Sori to push him down on the bed, so he was lying on his back like Sori had been before. Zeke's cock had lost some of its rigidity from his concern when Sori had jumped up. But Sori started gently stroking it back to life, and soon Zeke was fully erect once again. When Sori saw he wasn't getting any bigger she quickly straddled him, placing her pussy directly over his cock and slowly lowering herself onto it. She stopped the minute his glans touched her pussy, adjusted Zeke's cock with her hand and continued lowering. Sori got just the tip of his cock inside her vagina when Zeke felt her vagina squeezing his glans. The feeling was incredible. Sori quickly placed both her hands against Zeke's stomach and held herself still for several seconds, breathing hard and trembling. Sori then lowered herself a little further onto Zeke's cock, until the next contraction of her vagina brought her to a halt once again. Halting at every vaginal contraction, Sori took several minutes to fully lower herself on Zeke's cock, and Zeke loved every inch of her warm, tight vagina. Finally, after Sori managed to engulf Zeke's entire cock, she rested for a short time, breathing hard and trembling, her chest and face noticeably flushed. Zeke lightly touched Sori's hips, but Sori gently removed his hands. She started rocking her hips back and forth, slowly at first, then picking up speed. Sori's deliciously tight pussy was warm and wet; Zeke could feel it caressing every inch of his cock, driving him towards what was sure to be a monumental orgasm. Every so often, Zeke could feel Sori's vagina contract, but Sori was no longer stopping, she kept up the pace right throughout the contractions. She moaned softly at each contraction, the first sounds Zeke had heard her make tonight. With each vaginal contraction, Zeke felt waves of pleasure flow through his cock, bringing his orgasm that much closer. He knew it wouldn't be long now. Suddenly Sori's vagina contracted harder than it had before, but only for an instant. Then it relaxed and immediately contracted again, the contractions starting to come so fast Sori's vagina was fluttering around Zeke's bursting cock. Already near the edge, this was too much for Zeke. His impending orgasm erupted. Zeke let out a moan and he started his own contractions, forcing his cum deep into Sori's pulsating vagina. Zeke looked into Sori's eyes. She stared past him, unseeing, as her contractions continued for a little longer. As her vagina settled down, Sori slowed her rocking, eventually becoming still. Sori then rested for a while, breathing starting to slow, her vagina still stretched around Zeke's softening cock. Sori slumped forward and lay upon Zeke's chest, her body going limp. She was surprisingly light, Zeke noticed. After staying in the same position for some time, Zeke concluded Sori had no intention of moving. That was fine with Zeke, Sori felt soft and warm resting on top of him. The way Sori was lying on him, Zeke could feel her heart beating faintly. It was much slower than before. Eventually, Zeke realized Sori had fallen asleep. He should probably pull the covers over the both of them and go to sleep himself. Not wanting to disturb Sori by struggling with the covers, Zeke tried the gesture. The sheets pulled themselves out from under Zeke's legs and gently came to a rest, covering both of them. Zeke gently wrapped his arms around Sori, trying not to wake her. "Computer," whispered Zeke, "lights out." The lights went out. As Zeke's eyes adjusted to the dark, he noticed a simulation of stars overhead. Sleep came easily. ================================================== CHAPTER 2 Zeke woke the next morning and discovered the lights were already on, probably the light had woken him up. He was in the same position as when he had gone to sleep. Sori was still curled up on top of him, but had shifted position during the night and was now resting peacefully under the covers on the left side of Zeke's chest, with Zeke's arm draped loosely around her. What an experience, thought Zeke. Just yesterday he was an average college student; today he was going to become a defender of the galaxy, and had spent the night making love to a cute little alien named Sori. The door opened and Walter walked in. "You'll never guess..." started Walter. Walter froze, speechless, his mouth hanging open. Finally, Walter found his voice, "No way." Zeke made shushing motions, pointing to the sleeping Sori. "You didn't," stammered Walter, "Zeke, tell me you didn't." Zeke pointed to the door. Walter finally got the hint and left, looking back in disbelief. Zeke lightly stroked the hair on Sori's head. The look on Walter's face had been something else. As interested in aliens as Walter was, Zeke would have never figured him for a xenophobe. Well, Walter would get over it, like he had gotten over his fear of Mvek after their first encounter. Sori wiggled a bit, waking up, then crawled further up on Zeke's chest, so her face was directly above Zeke's face. She looked into his eyes for a bit, then blew softly into Zeke's nose. Zeke blew back at her and ran his fingers teasingly down her spine. Sori stopped blowing on Zeke's nose and climbed out of bed. She grabbed her clothes and headed towards the toilet cubicle. Shortly, she came out and entered the bath cubicle. Zeke took the opportunity to use the toilet cubicle himself and remembered Walter's advice from last night, apparently whatever exposed flesh was over the device got cleaned thoroughly. He would never have to worry about skid marks again, Zeke laughed to himself. Sori had already left when Zeke checked the bath cubicle, so Zeke took a quick shower. He looked around and found some supplies in a cabinet over one of the built-in desks. A short, blunt stick was labeled "toothbrush." There was no toothpaste, but, remembering the toilet, it didn't take a genius to figure out how it might work. After some experimentation, Zeke found squeezing the end activated it. The stick labeled "shaver" worked even better. In seconds his light stubble was gone. In the closet, Zeke found some clothes he had not seen before -- several sets of the same light, comfortable pants and sleeveless shirts he had seen Dan wearing. There were no shoes to go with the other clothes so Zeke decided to go barefoot. The clothes were a comfortable as they looked, but ordinary; certainly nothing like one would imagine alien clothing to be like. Looking at the unmade bed, Zeke tried the hand gesture. To his delight, the sheets straightened and the covers tucked themselves back in their place -- a perfectly made bed in seconds. According to the computer, the bed was self-cleaning, so no worries about changing the sheets. Zeke found the other humans in the dining room and went over to greet them. Breakfast was laid out neatly for them, buffet style; it looked like a normal Earth-type breakfast food. None of the aliens were about. Walter was sitting at a table by himself. He was wearing yesterday's clothes, but they were cleaned and looked like they had been ironed. Even the pencil marks over his pocket protector were gone. Zeke had forgotten to check his own clothes, but they were probably just as clean. Zeke picked out has food took his plate over to sit by Walter. "Hey dude," said Zeke, "You're not going to stay freaked out over this morning are you?" "No," said Walter, avoiding Zeke's eyes. "But?" prompted Zeke. "It's just..." started Walter, looking disgusted, "I mean, she's not even human." "We're up here with all these aliens," said Zeke, "and you're talking like a xenophobe. How would you feel if Mvek and Susan got it on and Sori said eww, gross, she's not even an alien'?" "Well," sighed Walter after a minute, "I guess you've got a point, but Mvek is pretty gross. If you look hard, you can see his insides through those feathery things on his chest." "Aw," said Zeke, "those are just some sort of gills. I don't think it's gross, just different. Anyway, it seems to me the Greys and Sori are more humanlike. You don't think they're gross, do you?" "No." "See," said Zeke, "that wasn't so hard. If you get more comfortable with the aliens, just smile at Sori; she might pay you a visit." "No way," said Walter, eyes wide, "You just... smiled?" Zeke smiled at Walter, not saying anything, and started on his plate. What he thought were eggs and bacon turned out not to be real meat at all, but something like vegetarian food. They definitely tasted different, but were not bad. After breakfast Mvek invited them to the sitting area. Mvek requested the humans wait in the sitting area while he conducted the tour for their last guest, who was being picked up this morning. To Zeke's surprise, Mvek activated some holographic viewscreens so they could watch. The ship rapidly descended towards Earth. They were headed towards the night side of the planet, but the viewscreen showed an enhanced image making it easy to see. Not that there was much to see, they seemed to be descending towards an ocean, far away from land. Soon a small watercraft came into view, and the ship stopped just above it. Mvek did his platform trick. A man came out, dressed in a heavy coat. This time the platform hovered beside the boat, and after a few minutes of looking at Mvek, he jumped aboard the platform. Mvek had not turned on the sound so they could not hear the discussion as the man toured the ship, but the man definitely seemed impressed and was asking Mvek a lot of questions. For some reason, Mvek did not lead the man to the sitting room when they were done, but instead took him back down to his boat using the platform. Once Mvek came back aboard, the ship rapidly left the ocean surface and returned to space. It did not stop after exiting the atmosphere, but continued onward, the Earth visibly dwindling in the viewscreen. "I somehow expected the stars to streak by," said Dan, "but if it weren't for the view of the Earth shrinking so fast, I'd swear we were standing still." "We're probably still in the solar system," said Walter, "the stars are so far away we'd have to be moving a lot faster to even notice them moving." Just then, Mvek entered the room. "How come the guy didn't join us?" asked Zeke. "He stated joining the Hirthal was not his desire," said Mvek. "He's not the only one," said Susan to Zeke, "five people chickened out before you two came." "You are all here," said Mvek, "do you reconsider your decision to leave Earth? Know we require a month to return after today." "No way, I still want to see the galaxy as much as before," said Dan. They all agreed. "I am pleased," said Mvek, "We now start the mental stimulation procedure. Please follow me." Mvek led them to a room they had not seen before. Circular, about 30 feet in diameter, with comfortable looking chairs around the circumference. The chairs each had a built-in padded headset in the open position. Sori was also there, but did not give Zeke any special attention. Was last night it, or was she just being professional around the others? Zeke wished he could speak Sori's language now. "Be seated," said Mvek. The humans each took a chair and Mvek showed them how to get into the headsets. It was pretty simple, just position their heads comfortably against the mesh and pull down the top part. With the headset closed, it shut out most of the light and ambient noise. Zeke wondered what the mental stimulation would be like, and soon got his answer. A gentle prickling radiated throughout his scalp, barely noticeable. Then a hologram appeared before his eyes. It was an empty space surrounded by a faint wavy line, and was soon replaced by a single dot, then two dots, then three dots, all the way up to seven dots. Then he heard a monotone voice say "numbers." The voice then said "Ovi," as the an empty space glowed. "Nai," as the single dot glowed. "Sri," as the two dots glowed. It continued up to the seven dots, "Tei." Was he supposed to remember them all? Zeke realized he had already forgotten what number one was. The voice went through the numbers again. This time each word was accompanied by a strange feeling, as if his attention were completely focused on the moment. Zeke found himself forgetting everything else, his entire world the voice and the numbers. And then it was over and he could think again. Zeke realized he could remember the words for all the numbers easily: Ovi, Nai, Sri, Hoi, Wui, Lyi, Mbi, Tei. He didn't have too much time to congratulate himself though, an outline of a circle appeared, the voice said "shapes," and in moments it had gone through more shapes then he even knew existed. From circle to dodecahedron. And it continued with units of measurement, body parts, household items, foods, plants, planets, spaceships, actions, and everything under the sun. In between times of the strange focused feeling Zeke knew he was remembering everything. Too bad he hadn't had this to study for zoology tests at his college. Zeke was startled when it finally stopped and Sori was lifting his helmet up. He started to get up but as soon as he raised his head he felt dizzy. Sori gently pushed his head back down. "Four. Minutes," she said. Good idea thought Zeke as he waited for the spinning to stop. In a few minutes it did. Zeke considered what Sori had said, he knew she had told him to rest for a few minutes but had said it in Standard. Not a complete sentence, just individual words. And he knew what those words meant without having to translate them into English in his head. He knew Wua's of Standard words, but probably not all of them. But he had no idea how to put them together in a sentence. Well, that could come later. "Holy shit!" said Susan, "I remember them all!" Now that was definitely English, thought Zeke. He didn't think they had covered cursing yet. "Lunch," said Sori. Somewhat unsteadily, they made their way to lunch. The dizziness had mostly stopped, but no one felt very much like talking. An hour after lunch Sori led them back to the teaching room and they went another round with the machine. When it was over they somehow found their way to their quarters. Zeke took a nap and suspected the others were doing the same. Zeke woke up in a few hours, better but still feeling a bit fuzzy. A few people were in the dining room. Dinner was subdued, they just didn't have the energy to make conversation. Zeke finished eating and left. Wandering about the ship for a few hours cleared Zeke's head, and he started thinking about Sori. Did Sori consider them in a relationship? And if so, what kind of relationship? Zeke had no idea. For all he knew, they were either married or she was preparing to cook and eat him for her next meal. Zeke decided not to assume anything, he would just follow Sori's lead. She was definitely different, and more importantly, she was not human. Her face did not show expressions the way a human female's would, but from her heavy breathing, flushed face, and gentle moaning, Zeke was positive Sori had enjoyed last night as much as he had. Perhaps she would be up for another night of fun. He hadn't ran into her so far, maybe she was in her quarters. But even if he did know where it was, should he just barge in on her? Well, Sori had barged in, so maybe that would be all right. Perhaps his computer listed the location of her quarters... Shortly, Zeke gestured his door open and sat down at his computer. The box labeled ship looked promising. He touched it and a cut-away three-dimensional image of the ship appeared, showing the layout of the decks. But it did not identify who was in the individual quarters. Would the computer be able to tell him? "Computer," said Zeke, "show me Sori's quarters on the hologram." One of the rooms glowed brighter. That must be it, decided Zeke. Third door from the end of the main hall on the left. It was starting to get near bedtime, so Zeke took a quick shower, hung his used clothes in the closet to be cleaned, and put on some fresh clothes. Hopefully he would catch Sori before she went to sleep. Zeke walked down to the other end of the main corridor, and used the gesture on the third door. It opened, revealing a brightly lit room. The room seemed to be in the middle of a forest, but Zeke quickly realized the viewscreens were at work. Thick trees with large fanlike leaves covered the walls of the room, a light blue sky with a few fluffy clouds graced the ceiling. Other than the interesting wall display, the room was the same as Zeke's, right down to the large bed in the middle of the room. Sori was seated at a computer with lots of alien text floating before her. She turned in her chair towards Zeke as he entered. "Tai," said Sori, looking at Zeke. "Tie," said Zeke, wondering what he was agreeing to. The language lessons hadn't gotten to the words for making out, so Zeke walked over to Sori, knelt in front of her so he was eye-level, and slowly blew on her nostril slits. "Three. Minutes," said Sori, firmly pushing Zeke's head away. Sori hurriedly walked into the center room with the toilets. In about a minute she came out and entered the room to the left. There was a reason for putting the toilet and bath in one room, Zeke mused, as he waited for Sori to finish bathing. Before her three minutes were up Sori came out, naked. She lay down on top of her bed and regarded Zeke. Sori was something else, Zeke thought. She didn't seem to have any hangups about sex and she certainly looked ready enough to give it another try. Zeke remembered Sori going to sleep soon after cumming, and decided to prolong their encounter as long as possible. Sori had seemed content to just lie there until Zeke's finger had gone inside her vagina, what would happen if he just avoided the inside of her vagina for a while? Only one way to find out, Zeke concluded. He got undressed quickly (not having shoes or underwear made that easy) and lay down beside Sori, propping himself up on his elbow. Zeke started blowing gently into Sori's nose slits again. Sori responded by blowing back at Zeke. This was nice, but didn't do much for Zeke except tickle his nose. Sori hadn't liked mouth-to-mouth kissing, so Zeke decided to move on to something they both would enjoy. Starting at Sori's neck, Zeke trailed kisses down her chest until he was close to her bellybutton. Last night, Sori had really seemed to enjoy having her bellybutton touched, so Zeke decided to spend some time there. Before touching her bellybutton, Zeke delicately kissed circles around it for a while. Sori's breathing had already deepened a little, Zeke noticed. A few licks into Sori's bellybutton caused her to suck her stomach in, but Zeke, undeterred, kept licking. After a while Sori started squirming a little. Zeke stopped, afraid she was getting too excited. He didn't want Sori deciding it was time to end their encounter like she had last night, in a quick fuck. That would be just fine for later, but would mean Sori dropping off to sleep. Leaving Sori's bellybutton alone, Zeke lightly caressed her stomach and sides, watching for a reaction. Sori's breathing slowed, telling Zeke he was getting cold. Zeke moved her legs apart, allowing better access to Sori's pussy. If caressing arms and legs didn't work, what about her pussy lips? Zeke remembered Sori sucking her breath when he blew on her pussy last night. Running his fingers through Sori's pussy hair, Zeke moved to get a good view of her pussy. Once he was in position, Zeke lightly caressed the outsides of Sori's pussy lips, paying attention to her breathing. Zeke kept up the caresses for a while, but couldn't detect a change in Sori's breathing. Interesting, Sori seemed to have just a few hot spots. However, Zeke knew two of them: bellybutton and the inside of her pussy. Zeke slowly parted Sori's pussy lips. Sori's vagina was relaxed, not slowly contracting and leaking fluid like the night before. But that was about to change, decided Zeke. Taking a deep breath, Zeke softly blew over the insides of Sori's pussy, avoiding her vagina for now. Breath after breath, Zeke kept up his attentions until Sori was breathing heavier again, her vagina leaking and slowly contracting. Sori didn't seem to have a particular spot she liked, so maybe the entire pussy area was it. All the blowing was starting to leave Zeke a bit light-headed, so he switched to kissing and licking. Zeke slowly licked the undersides of Sori's pussy lips, and then started at the top of her pussy and licked down towards her vagina, but stopped just short of it. Sori's vaginal fluid had leaked down over her thighs. Zeke moistened his finger in the fluids and lightly touched Sori's anus, which immediately tightened. "No. Please," said Sori, still breathing heavily. Hmm. Did Sori mean she didn't enjoy having her anus touched as an individual, or was her preference biological? Enough exploring, Zeke decided. He was going to determine how much Sori would get worked up without having her vagina touched. Zeke massaged Sori's pussy lips with his fingers while licking up and the insides of her pussy, always avoiding her vagina. And this time Zeke did not stop to try something else, but continued his assault in a measured pace -- he was prepared to lick her until he dropped. After a while, Sori started to moan between her breaths. It was working! Zeke didn't change his pace a bit, listening excitedly to Sori's lengthening moans. Sori started to squirm, her vagina pulsing faster. Sori suddenly sat up and put her hands on Zeke's shoulders. "No. Please," said Zeke in Standard, placing his hands gently on Sori's shoulders. Sori slowly complied and allowed herself to helped to a resting position on her back once more. She was still squirming as Zeke resumed his attentions to her pussy lips and inner pussy. Sori alternated between moaning and taking deep breaths, her squirming increased. The sounds were getting Zeke really turned on. Sori sat up again. "Now. Please. Urgent," Sori gasped, pushing hard on Zeke's shoulders. Zeke saw Sori's face and chest were deeply flushed, and her eyes didn't seem to be focusing very well. Zeke allowed Sori to force him to his back. Sori was on top of him in a flash, impaling herself on his erect cock. This time, Sori didn't waste time slowly lowering herself, inch-by-inch, on his cock -- she took the entire length at once and immediately began rocking her hips back and forth. She crossed her arms over her chest and hugged herself tightly. Sori's vagina was pulsating rapidly around Zeke's cock, and the sensation was even better than last night. Tight, warm, and wet. Zeke could feel Sori's fluids dripping down on his groin. Unable to help himself, Zeke started slowly thrusting his pelvis up and down. This caused Sori to moan louder and shiver, her flush deepening further. In seconds, Zeke felt the familiar fluttering of Sori's vagina. The sensation was fantastic, driving Zeke to the brink of orgasm. Zeke grabbed Sori's hips and began thrusting harder, lost in the exquisite sensations. Sori's orgasm seemed to go on forever, stimulating Zeke's cock until he could take no more. He came hard into Sori, groaning at his release. Sori's fluttering stopped soon after. Sori sighed and fell gently forward, resting awkwardly on Zeke's chest. Zeke moved her arms and head to a more comfortable position and pulled his deflating cock out of her. "Computer, covers, dark," said Zeke. The lights went out and the covers somehow pulled out from under Zeke without jostling him too much, and came to a rest over him and Sori. The lights went out, leaving just three small moons for illumination. ================================================== CHAPTER 3 In the morning Zeke awoke with Sori resting on him; Sori was still sleeping, so Zeke just watched her sleep. After a while Sori woke up and they both got ready for the day. At breakfast everyone was pointing at and naming every visible object. Apparently the teaching was not about to start for a while after breakfast, and Sori took the opportunity to give each of them a repeat examination. She passed the same small tubelike device over their heads, and examined the holograms. "Good," she said, after she finished with each of them. "At least our brains aren't fried," said Walter, looking warily at Sori. "Good thing," agreed Zeke, "I'm anxious to learn sentences." "No sentences today," said Mvek, "more words." And so it continued. The words poured into their brains, they stumbled through lunch and sometime later went back for more words. The day passed in a haze, and this time Zeke's head didn't clear after a walk around the ship. He felt drunk, and couldn't focus his thoughts. Sori caught up to Zeke and led him to his own quarters. She helped him get into bed, but did not join him. "Sleep," said Sori. The next morning, he couldn't even remember if he had dinner. But he felt a lot better, and knew a lot more words. In fact, there wasn't a thing in his quarters that he couldn't name. "Today you learn sentences," said Mvek, at breakfast. Zeke was looking forward to this. Sori helped them into the training chairs and they got started. Instead of the simple pictures of the last two days, today was something new. Zeke's hologram showed a person walking along, dragging his feet, about to collapse. The voice said the word for "tired," and shortly Zeke could say "I am tired," in Standard. By lunch they could almost hold a conversation in Standard. And the mental fatigue, although present, wasn't nearly as bad as yesterday. Zeke hoped it would remain that way, he didn't want to go though that again. "I am speaking Standard," said Zeke. "I am eating a fake-meat burrito," said Susan. Then back to the machines. By the end of the day the disorientation was back. Zeke was so exhausted he went immediately to sleep upon reaching his quarters. Zeke awoke the next morning feeling better, but still a bit woozy, and headed for breakfast. Susan was the only one in the dining room, and Zeke sat down beside her. "How are you feeling?" asked Zeke. "I'm not so sure I can take any more of this," groaned Susan. "I don't think we have very much left," said Zeke, "since we are having this conversation in Standard." Sori came over and did the scans again. Zeke wanted to talk to her about their relationship, but didn't feel comfortable doing so in front of Susan. Hopefully they weren't married or something. Well, he would catch up to Sori later. "You will be feeling better in a few hours," said Sori, "we will start the teaching session then." "Do we still need it?" asked Susan. "We can talk in Standard pretty well, don't you think?" "Yes," said Sori, "but you can't read it yet. Don't worry, today is the last day of the teaching." Zeke found Sori after breakfast. "Hi Sori," said Zeke, "before my head gets all fuzzy from today's teaching session, I wanted to tell you how fantastic you were those two nights. I'd like to be with you again, soon." "I agree," said Sori. "You were excellent, pushing me to my limits, bathing my body in pleasure. We will have other times together, during this trip, and perhaps when chance allows us to meet afterwards." When chance allows, considered Zeke. So the relationships did seem to be different with the aliens. Sori wasn't talking about any kind of commitment, she was describing more of a casual thing. At least it sounded that way. "So," said Zeke, "does this sort of thing happen often between the different alien species or are we an exception?" "Not all species are biologically able to enjoy recreational sex," said Sori. "Of those that are, a significant number have experimented at least once with another species. Sometimes physical differences prevent success, but most of the time it is enjoyable, or at least interesting, for all involved." "Do any of the participants ever..." started Zeke. He didn't know the word for marriage. Either the lessons missed that one or it didn't exist. "...ever form a more lasting relationship?" finished Zeke. "I am not sure of your question," said Sori. "After our experience we have a relationship as sexual partners, and should we meet again after this trip I hope we might renew the relationship for a time." Bingo! So their relationship had just been a casual fling, nothing more permanent. "That's exactly what I wanted to know," said Zeke. "I hope I'm recovered enough from the training to be with you tonight." "You will likely not be," said Sori, "but we still have tomorrow night, then you will be starting your training. Have you decided on your specialty?" "Sure," said Zeke, "I'm going to be a pilot." "A very good choice," said Sori, "Earthlings have excellent reflexes. When you get to the base, ask for instructor Yzran. He is perhaps the best instructor in your environmental tolerances." "So I can just pick any instructor I want?" "The instructor may refuse," said Sori, "but that is unusual." Zeke talked with Sori until it was time for their lessons. Sori rounded everyone up and the Earthlings entered the teaching room for yet another round with the mind-numbing machines. The day passed in a haze and when Zeke awoke the next morning he could read Standard. After getting ready for the day, Zeke switched the computer display to Standard and fooled around with it. Reading Standard was not as easy as reading English, but Zeke was fairly proficient; he just needed some more practice -- the old-fashioned kind, Zeke had had enough of the training machines. Zeke found the others in the sitting room talking to one of the Greys. His name was Vish. Vish's people, the Shao, had expanded to 112 planets and several thousand gigantic artificial worlds. Their population numbered over 203 trillion, and they were one of the more advanced peoples in the galaxy. The ship they were on had been built by the Shao over two hundred years ago, and it still looked new. Vish showed them holograms of his artificial worlds and they were very impressive. One was a double torus larger than Jupiter housing almost one trillion individuals in luxury. Another looked to be a series of concentric rings containing enormous cities. Most Shao preferred the artificial worlds, since they were not a physical race. A comparatively smaller number of Shao lived on the planets, but they were the exception -- if you could call 250 billion individuals an exception. "So Vish," asked Zeke, "is there any truth to those stories about you guys and the anal probes?" "And what about those cattle mutilations?" asked David. "Some truth," acknowledged Vish. "You shouldn't do that," complained Susan, "it's just wrong." "Possibly," acknowledged Vish, "On the other hand, no Earthlings are harmed, sometimes minor medical problems are corrected. And we are conducting important research that could benefit countless species. Your system of food production has become intertwined to such a degree, that a bacteria or virus could quickly spread to a majority of livestock. Such conditions encourage a disease that could devastate your population. The same is true for many other developing worlds." "That still doesn't give you the right to snatch people up for your experiments," said Susan. "In any event," said Vish, "I am not involved with those projects, and with more human participation in our cooperative defense, such research is no longer looked upon favorably." Another mystery solved, thought Zeke. A bit disconcerting though, humans had been looked upon as little more than experimental animals, at least until enough of them joined the alien's organization. How was the Shao's experimentation any different from those "other" aliens they would be defending Earth against? Zeke resolved to find out about this, but he wouldn't be asking the Shao on this ship. Before it got too late, the group decided to get some sleep for the upcoming day. Starting their training would be exciting and Zeke could hardly wait. Zeke went back to his quarters and used the waterless shower, intent on paying Sori one last visit. When Zeke entered Sori's quarters, the lights were already off. Two simulated moons overhead provided enough light for Zeke to see Sori under the covers in her bed. Hopefully, Zeke thought as he sat on the bed, she wasn't asleep yet. "Hi Sori," said Zeke, "are you asleep yet." Being able to talk with Sori was a dream come true, and Zeke resolved to take advantage of it. "No," said Sori. "Computer," said Zeke, "increase light level five times." The room brightened, not too bright, but enough to see reasonably well. Zeke pulled the covers off of Sori and looked her over. She was, as expected, naked. Zeke got undressed himself, and lay down on his side, near Sori. Zeke moved his head over Sori, and lightly blew into her nostril slits. He gently traced around her bellybutton with his hand. "Sori," said Zeke between breaths, "I'm going to miss you after tonight." "Do not miss me," said Sori, "remember our times together, anticipate our times in the future, and enjoy our time in the present." "Zeke," said Sori, "in our prior encounters, you have devoted yourself to my pleasure. This time, lay back and allow me to devote myself to your pleasure." "Sounds like fun," smiled Zeke, making himself comfortable on his back. Sori knelt beside Zeke and softly blew into his nostrils. It tickled, but was kind of nice in a way, even if it wasn't turning Zeke on. Really, Zeke considered, everything he had done with Sori probably didn't turn her on either -- like kissing on the lips. Sori's mouth had been dry, and she hadn't seemed to like it. Or when he touched her anus, she had actually said "no." And touching her sides or neck didn't seem to do much for her either. Once Zeke left the ship tomorrow, and assuming he eventually found another cute alien to have fun with, he was going to remember to watch carefully for what turn-ons his partner had. Perhaps the computer would have more information. Sori moved down and started blowing softly on Zeke's bellybutton. It tickled a little. However, Zeke remembered, Sori definitely did have her turn-ons. Her bellybutton was one of them, she also liked her nostrils blown into, and she liked the inside of her pussy rubbed and licked. Touching the inside of her vagina seemed to set her off, Sori had jumped Zeke as soon as he had touched her there. The second night they were together, Zeke had kept away from Sori's vagina, but Sori still seemed extremely aroused with just the pussy licking. Zeke couldn't read her facial expressions very well, she seemed not to have them. Except... Her flushed face and unfocused eyes as she came, that was an expression Zeke hadn't had any trouble reading. And that was one expression Zeke wanted to see again. A touch on Zeke's penis returned his attention to the present. Sori had stopped blowing on his bellybutton, and was holding his flaccid member. As she had on their first night together, Sori gently stroked Zeke's cock. Blowing on Zeke's bellybutton may not have done much for him, but Sori's hands worked their magic on his cock. Before long, Zeke was breathing heavy and groaning, his cock tingling and ready to explode. Sori kept him on edge for what seemed like forever. Finally, Zeke felt the pressure inside him build in a way that could no longer be denied. He was seconds away from coming. Zeke started thrusting his hips, wanting more. Sori increased her attentions, and Zeke's entire body stiffened as he came, a few spurts landing on Sori's chest. "Computer," said Sori, "clean." Zeke felt the tingling, just like in the waterless shower, and suddenly Sori's chest was spotless. Looking down, Zeke noticed his cock and Sori's hands were completely clean also. Neat trick. "Sori," sighed Zeke, "that was awesome." "I am pleased you enjoyed it," said Sori, lying down beside Zeke. Another oddity about Standard was its lack of a word for thank you. Zeke was starting to get a feel for how something as simple as a missing "thank you" could impact normal conversation. The words "thank you," Zeke considered, didn't convey much meaning, they were just a polite noise. But take away those words, and the speaker had to use other, more personal, more accurate words. Interesting, Zeke mused, reaching out to gently stroke around Sori's bellybutton. Standard had no concept of marriage, no words for "thank you," and no curse words. Well, at least Zeke hadn't learned any curse words. "I was wondering," said Zeke, "have we been taught all the words and concepts of Standard?" "Yes," said Sori, "you know all the words." "Are you familiar with languages where some words are especially insulting?" asked Zeke. "Yes," sighed Sori, "Standard is an artifically created language, unpleasant words were not included." Zeke moved down, between Sori's legs, and started licking the edges of her pussy lips. Sori moved her legs further apart. "Why did they leave out the unpleasant words," Zeke asked, licking underneath Sori's pussy lips. "The intention," said Sori, starting to squirm, "was to encourage the expression of actual issues." Sori panted, "Meaningful dialog, instead of generic insults." The aliens seemed to have thought of everything, Zeke decided, giving Sori's pussy a thorough licking while his hand teased her bellybutton. Sori was now holding her breath for a time, releasing it in gasps, then holding it again. "Zeke," gasped Sori, "are you recovered enough for intercourse?" "Not just yet," Zeke grinned, continuing to lick every inch of Sori's pussy. Sori's vagina was pulsing, dripping a steady stream of juice. Zeke ran his tongue around Sori's vagina, but was careful to avoid touching the inside of her vagina. Sori's squirming made it increasingly difficult to avoid her vagina, but Zeke persevered. "Are you recovered now?" gasped Sori again. "Not yet, but shortly," Zeke replied. Teasing Sori was so much fun. Zeke continued until his tongue started to get tired. Sori's breath was coming in deep shuddering gasps, her hips rocking gently back and forth. "Now," gasped Sori, "Please be ready now." Zeke carefully positioned his body over Sori and entered her, making sure not to put his weight on her. Sori's vagina was so wet that Zeke's cock slid in with no trouble whatsoever. Zeke started fucking in a steady rhythm, while Sori's vagina fluttered constantly around his cock. Sori's eyes stared, unfocused, past Zeke; her face was completely flushed, and Sori's hips moved frantically as she tightly hugged Zeke with her arms and legs. Zeke realized she must be having her orgasm already. Soon Sori's vagina stopped fluttering and she released Zeke, slumping to rest on the bed. Zeke, already having come once, knew it would be a while before he came again. Zeke continued his slow rhythm, luxuriating in Sori's tight vagina. After a while, Sori's vagina started slowly contracting again. By the time Zeke neared his own release, Sori's vagina had started a slow, gentle fluttering. The feeling against Zeke's cock was different from the faster contractions Sori was having earlier. On the verge of exploding, Zeke groaned, trying to hold back. Suddenly Sori's vagina stopped its fluttering. Even with the decrease in sensation, Zeke was too close. Zeke's body went rigid as he came. Slowly Zeke pulled out of Sori, and lay down beside her. Sori's eyes were already closed. "Computer," said Zeke, "lights out." -------------------------------------------------- When Zeke awoke the next morning, Sori was staring into his eyes. "Twice," said Sori, "you are very skilled to make me climax twice. I will remember our encounter, very fondly." "I'm already looking forward to meeting up with you again," said Zeke, blowing softly on Sori's nostril slits. The two stayed like that for a while, before getting ready for the day and heading to breakfast. -------------------------------------------------- An hour after breakfast the spaceship arrived at the base. The group watched from the sitting room; Zeke and Sori sat together and talked, Walter ignored them. The base didn't look like much. Just a long, featureless, white cylinder floating by itself in space. Like in the hologram room, no windows, seams, or other markings showed. And without any marks or reference points, determining the actual scale of the base was impossible. As the ship maneuvered around to the end of the base, a dark circle became visible in the center of the cylinder's hub. Only when the ship flew into this dark circle and docked in an enormous hanger along with countless other ships, did the true size of the base become apparent. "It's enormous!" said Susan. "Why so big?" asked Mark. "The base is divided into a multitude of different environments, each with a unique atmosphere, climate, and gravity," said Sori. "Centrifugal force simulates the gravity, and the different levels provide the necessary gravity variations." "With all the different habitats, you must be very careful where you go," continued Sori. "Entering the wrong habitat could prove fatal." The computer would warn them against inadvertently entering a hostile habitat, but they needed to know the environment encoding scheme if they were to live aboard a multi-environment station. Four numbers represented an environmental profile which described the impact of all environmental factors on an individual. Given the number of combinations of environmental factors such as gravity, temperature, pressure, and atmospheric components; the details of the profile were complex. However, the mapping was done is such a way that it was easy to quickly determine an individual's tolerance of a particular environmental profile. "The human environmental profile is 91-8-136-57," said Sori. "And this ship is currently set to 88-12-130-66. My profile is 87-17-128-72. Since our numbers are not too far off, we are both comfortable. Do not enter an area where any of the numbers differ from your profile by more than 30, it could be dangerous." "What about eating?" asked Zeke. "Is there a profile for that too?" "We have a similar method for that," said Sori. "Food has a planetary origin and a six number profile, yours is 12-32-393-102-1-52. Deviations of any number by less than sixty are edible. Depending on individual tolerances, you might deviate by as much as two hundred before it becomes poisonous." "The planetary origin," interjected Mvek, "is a better method. Keep to food from Earth and you will be safe." "Will there be meat on the base?" asked Walter. "I'm getting tired of this vegetarian diet." "It's really vegan," interjected Dan. "No animal products at all. I miss them already." "Yes," said Sori, looking at Mvek. "your normal diet is available. Although it is not polite to mention such things in public." "Oh, sorry Mvek," said Dan. "I am used to worse practices as a recruiter," said Mvek, "but new recruits on the base are much more easily offended by talk of eating animals." "Worse?" asked Walter. "Well, as long as no one starts eating me, it can't be much worse." Zing! Walter always came up with the good ones, hopefully Mvek was not offended. How did an offended Mvek look anyway? Zeke considered, and decided to see what the computer had on alien expressions and moods. "Before I lose interest in food for the remainder of the day," said Sori, "we have arrived and docked. We will help you pack your belongings, and get you started with your training at the base." Packing went quickly for Zeke. He didn't have much except for the few things salvaged from the car and the clothes Mvek had given him. It all went into a single hovering anti-gravity container. Sori explained the container would go into storage for now and later find its way to Zeke's new quarters on its own, once Zeke had selected a quarters. "You mean our quarters are not already assigned?" asked Zeke. "The location of your quarters will depend on the skill you choose to train in," explained Sori. "Quarters are located in proximity to training. And, depending on the training selected, some quarters are specially designed to enhance training." "I'm going to miss you," said Zeke, giving Sori a hug. "Do not miss me," reminded Sori. "We will see each other again, and others on the base will share your time." Some of the others took longer to pack, but before too long everyone was assembled and Mvek led them into the base. Sori and the Greys remained aboard the ship. The base had an entirely different look than Mvek's ship. The docking port joined smoothly with a large circular chamber, about forty feet in diameter. The walls were a bright white, and merged seamlessly into floor and ceiling. Illumination spread evenly throughout the room, with no apparent source. The only items not white were Mvek's ship and a fifteen foot diameter blue circle in the center of the room. Mvek led them to the blue circle, which Zeke guessed was related to the disk used to board Mvek's ship. Apparently the others thought the same and were soon standing within the circle. Mvek gestured and a railing appeared. "Computer," said Mvek, "transport us to indoctrination." The platform smoothly rose towards the ceiling, which opened into a fifty foot diameter tube with the same bright white walls. Strange, thought Zeke, the opening to the tube had not been visible from the ground. Filing this detail away for the future, Zeke continued to look around. One side of the tube had a definite end, but the other stretched into the distance, seemingly forever. The platform moved rapidly towards the end they couldn't see. Surprisingly, there was very little wind or noise. For a moment, Zeke was disoriented, but then realized the tube must run the length of the cylinder that was the base. A few other platforms were zooming through the tube, but passed by too quickly for Zeke to see the occupants. Zeke did see other tubes branching off from this one at regular intervals, possibly this was the main way of getting around on the enormous base. Within a few minutes they turned into another tube and came to a halt in a white room like the docking port, but with three blue platforms on the floor and several open archways on the walls. Another blue platform came to a rest beside them, the single occupant was six feet tall, with five furry blue legs, three purple tentacles at the top of a stalk, and no visible head. It crawled off the platform and left through the archway on the left. "Computer," said Mvek, "blue guide to indoctrination." A glowing blue ball appeared before them, then moved to one of the archways and hovered. Mvek motioned for them to follow. They went down a short hall; the blue ball stopped at the only open archway. The group entered a large room with alien furniture designed to accommodate a variety of species. The ball disappeared, this room was their destination. It was unmistakably a waiting room. Alien, artistic, and white, but a waiting room nonetheless. "We will wait here," said Mvek. "Shortly an indoctrination expert will discuss areas of training with each of you." Zeke sat back and got comfortable. Apparently the aliens hadn't found a solution for waiting, and this would probably take a while. Zeke was a bit too excited to take a nap, so he imagined what piloting a starship would be like. After a few minutes, Susan started pacing back and forth nervously. "What's taking so long?" she said, annoyed. "They'll probably be here soon," said Zeke. "So, what are you going to train in?" "I want to do something that involves exploring the galaxy," said Susan. "You know, finding new worlds, new cultures. That sort of thing. What about you?" "I want to pilot a starship, and Walter wants to be captain of a starship." "Hey, that could work out," said Susan. "Maybe we'll be on the same ship." Zeke was about to reply when another alien entered. The alien reminded Zeke of a jellyfish, but with the tentacles coming from all over the body. It was circular, three feet in diameter, and transparent. They could see its internal organs and what was likely its brain at the top. Definitely not an air breather, it floated in a transparent hovering container just big enough to keep it submerged. "Good afternoon, I am Maeoglaiere. I will discuss the numerous specialties available to you and find one best suited to your abilities and interests. Before we begin, please introduce yourselves and tell me if you are already considering a particular specialty." "I'm Susan Gladshaw, and I want to explore the galaxy, see new planets and discover new peoples." "I'm Dan, and I'm not sure what I want to do yet. But I'm happy to be here." "Mike Donaldson, undecided." "Walter Westerfield, I want to be captain of a starship." "I'm Zeke, and I'm interested in piloting a starship." "Excellent," said Maeoglaiere. "Walter and Zeke, how certain are your choices?" "A hundred percent," said Zeke. "It just feels right." "Well, 99.999 percent for me," said Walter. "In that case," said Maeoglaiere, "you two may wish to proceed to your training sections now rather than listen to my lecture on the different specialties. It is primarily for the undecided, although you are welcome to listen if you like." "Hey!" said Susan. "I'm decided about being an explorer." "There are different specialties covered by your interest," said Maeoglaiere, "including pilot, captain, engineer, diplomat, and many others. In a moment, I will start the lecture with these." "Computer," said Maeoglaiere, "red guide for Earthling pilot training, blue guide for Earthling leadership training." Two globes, red and blue, appeared. Both moved to hover over the archway leading back to the entry hall. "Maeoglaiere," said Zeke, "may I be assigned to instructor Yzran for pilot training?" "You may choose any instructor you wish," said Maeoglaiere. "Many Earthlings are more comfortable with an Earthling instructor and we try to accommodate that preference; however, the final choice is always left to the individual. Are you certain of your choice?" "Yes," said Zeke. "Computer," said Maeoglaiere, "cancel red guide. Red guide to pilot instructor Yzran." The red globe vanished and a new one appeared, again moving to hover by the archway. "Bye Maeoglaiere," said Zeke, "Bye Mvek. I'll see the rest of you later." Zeke walked towards the red globe and Walter followed. The globes led back down the hall to the room with the platforms. Here the globes separated, each hovering over a different platform. "I guess this is where we split up," said Zeke. "I guess," said Walter. "Computer, green guide for finding Zeke." A green globe appeared, moved over Zeke for a moment, and disappeared. "Pretty sharp," said Zeke, stepping on his platform. "We'll have to meet up after we get settled in." "OK," said Walter, "bye." Walter gestured and his platform rail raised; the platform lifted up and out of sight. Zeke gestured and his platform did the same, zooming down the tube towards its destination; wherever that was, thought Zeke. ================================================== CHAPTER 4 The platform arrived in a room just like the one Zeke had departed. It had marked circles for three platforms, Zeke's platform settled into one of them. The railing dropped away and the red globe moved to hover near one of the archways, Zeke followed. Beyond the archway, Zeke could see what looked like a well-landscaped park. Brightly and evenly lit from an unseen source, the ceiling was a featureless white, and it was impossible to tell just how high the ceiling was. Zeke didn't have to use his imagination much to get the feeling of being outside under a white sky. The park was about 300 feet across and continued far into the distance on either side, the floor gradually rising and disappearing upwards, following the curvature of the mighty cylinder that was the base. Smooth, clean white walkways meandered around a multitude of plants with green, blue, red, yellow, and even brown leaves. The brown and yellow leaves looked healthy, not dried up or wilted, so that must be their normal color. Flowers and streaming tendrils displayed a staggering number of shapes and colors. Plants from perhaps hundreds of worlds grew in this park. Further on, the walkways merged into larger open areas with platforms three feet in diameter, a foot off the floor, arranged in small groups. And the park was not empty of aliens either. Zeke didn't spot any humans, but he saw some of the Shao, and a few of the furry blue legged aliens. One alien looked birdlike, with backwards knees and a thin neck supporting an elongated head. A single eye in the front below three bumps, a small mouth, and speckled orange and green skin made this alien stand out from the crowd. Two other aliens also caught Zeke's attention. One was like a centipede standing on its end. It was composed of a dozen flat body segments, each with about a dozen short stubby appendages distributed evenly around the circumference. The lower appendages were used as legs, the upper appendages probably functioned as arms. No separate head, but Zeke thought he saw eyes on each of the segments. The other alien had a small round body and three slender legs ending in a double flipper arrangement. It's body was about a foot tall and covered in bright green fur, except for three thin, pink tentacles rising about six feet into the air. Each tentacle had an eye on its tip. It looked unwieldy, but the alien moved gracefully down the path. Engrossed in his surroundings, Zeke forgot about the red globe. Luckily the globe did not forget about Zeke, and came back to circle his head before floating away to his left, near the wall of the park where Zeke had entered. Along the park walls, the smaller walkways joined a thirty foot wide swath of clear white floor that ran continuously as far as Zeke could see. The ceiling merged smoothly into a clean, white wall with several archways in it. A small group of archways here, and more groups of archways further down the wall of the park were the only features of the wall. Zeke could see a few groups of archways on the far wall of the park also. The red globe hovered over an archway near the one Zeke had entered the park through. Zeke could identify that archway since it was the only one open, the rest of the archways had closed doors of various colors. The globe was hovering near a yellow door. Zeke walked over to the yellow door. Once Zeke got within three feet of the door it vanished. It didn't open or slide out of the way, it simply disappeared. One second it was there, the next second it was gone; no sound, no glittery flashes, just gone. Slightly more advanced than Mvek's ship, Zeke thought. Zeke followed the red globe into the room, a fifty foot diameter circle with a domed ceiling. Zeke was the only one in the room. Walls and floor were a spotless white, the only color was a light blue padded couch that was built into the wall and ran halfway around the perimeter of the room. The couch was interrupted in only two places, the door Zeke had used to enter, and another door ninety degrees to the left. The red globe disappeared, and Zeke headed for the other door, it too disappeared when Zeke got within three feet. Beyond the door a five foot wide hallway with a dozen open archways leading to small rooms, but no other exit. Inside each room one of the familiar floor toilets awaited. As Zeke entered one, the archway filled in with a door, which also obligingly disappeared as Zeke exited. Zeke went back to the couch room and considered. Perhaps he was early or late. He could always ask one of the aliens in the park. Or he could ask the computer. If the doors were more advanced than those on Mvek's ship, perhaps the computer would be also. Heck, if the computer were anything like the sci-fi Walter liked, Zeke could probably get all the information he needed. "Computer, am I in the right place for pilot training?" "Yes," replied a neutral voice. The voice wasn't mechanical, or even identifiable as male or female. It seemed to originate from behind Zeke's right ear. Zeke turned but saw nothing. "Where is everyone?" Silence. Oh, right. The computer had to be addressed specifically each time, like on Mvek's ship. "Computer, where is everyone?" "Statement not understood," replied the computer. "Computer, what times are pilot training sessions in this area?" Now that was pretty specific. "Pilot training is scheduled in three sessions per day, on active days. Two in the afternoon and twenty three in the morning, each are five hour sessions." Zeke knew the alien's hours were just a little longer than Earth hours, but twenty three in the morning? Maybe a bit of information on the calendar was in order. The language lessons certainly hadn't covered twenty three in the morning. "Computer, summarize the calendar and divisions of the day." "In this habitat," began the computer, "the calendar is divided into weeks of six days each. The first three days are resting days, the last three days are active days. A day is divided into four parts: afternoon, evening, night, and morning. Each part of the day is seven hours long, for a total of twenty eight hours per day. The day begins in the afternoon, from 0 to 6 hours. Evening is from 7 to 13 hours. Night is from 14 to 20 hours. Morning is from 21 to 27 hours." The day started at noon? Training was before noon in the morning, and in the afternoon, leaving the evening free and the night for sleeping. Oh, so the hours just started at noon. Different, but not so great a leap. "Computer, what day and time is it now?" "Day two," said the computer, "hour five." "Computer, which days does training take place?" "Days three through five," said the computer. So this was the weekend, no classes today. And a three day weekend at that. Definitely better than the old five and two system Zeke was familiar with. Well, Zeke understood why no one was here, but now what? Perhaps he could hang out with Walter for the rest of the day. Maybe the computer could place a call. "Computer, let me talk with Walter. He came in with me on Mvek's ship." "Connected," said the computer after a few seconds. "Zeke?" came Walter's voice. "Hey Walter, it's the weekend. No classes today, want to get together and check out the base?" "Weekend?" Walter sounded puzzled. "Oh, we're in different habitat rings. I guess the habitats have different schedules. Over here, my first leadership training class is starting in a few minutes. I've got to run." "That's cool," replied Zeke, "I'll catch you later. Computer, end connection." "Disconnected," said the computer. "Computer, does pilot training include practicing on a simulator?" "Yes," said the computer. "Computer, where are the nearest simulators?" "Flight training simulators are located in this room," said the computer. In this room? Zeke sat on the nearest section of couch. All he saw was the couch, no video screen, no controls. Maybe the computer could get it going. "Computer, begin flight simulation." A section of the floor opened and a set of controls extended towards Zeke. Two joysticks on free-floating arms and a small touch panel, also on a free-floating arm settled in front of Zeke. The joysticks felt solid in his hands, each had four buttons in easy reach of Zeke's fingers. Zeke found he could easily position the floating arms to get the joysticks and panel in a comfortable position. Touch buttons on the panel locked the free-floating arms in position. The touch buttons controlled ships speed, energy distribution, shielding, and docking mechanisms. A section was labeled "preset maneuvers," whatever that meant. Zeke also noticed a button to start and stop the simulation. He pressed it. A starfield appeared before Zeke, and a large gas giant with dozens of moons dominated the foreground. The hologram was solid, a square about three feet across, the planets looked real. Zeke moved the left joystick slightly and the view shifted. The right joystick started him careening towards a moon. After a few close calls, Zeke quickly got the hang of the controls. The left stick set a direction, but did not actually move the virtual ship. The right stick moved the ship in respect to the direction. Speed was controlled by tilting the joystick further, larger increments of speed were possible with buttons on the joystick or touch panel. Moving the joystick to the side started the ship tilting in that direction. The joysticks were responsive to Zeke's every move and the ship handled beautifully. Before long Zeke had explored the gas giant's moon system, diving down and skimming the surfaces of the moons, mere inches from the surface. One of the larger moons had a ring system and Zeke tried dodging the asteroids, but they were far apart and not much of a challenge. "Computer, move the asteroids closer together. About twenty ship lengths apart. And have them move in random directions." Now this was more exciting! Zeke spent some time dodging the asteroids, the random motion making it a challenge. Zeke brought up some additional views showing object proximity and predicted direction to avoid getting hit from behind. After a while, Zeke was moving at a good clip through the asteroid belt, and dodging rocks instinctively; he just had to watch the screens and focus. Finally tiring of the asteroids, Zeke headed out to explore the inner planetary system. At top speed, he was quickly there. The three inner planets were of equal size, about five times the diameter of Earth according to the readout. All of them were desolate and lifeless. They were still interesting, and the images were top quality, so Zeke took a leisurely tour of the second planet. It had jagged geological formations, which made for some interesting skimming, but nothing difficult. Zeke's mind had time to wander. "Computer, what time is it?" "Eight in the evening," said the computer. Eight. That was early evening, night and bedtime wouldn't come until fourteen in the evening. But there was dinner to see about and Zeke still needed to find his quarters. "Computer, where are my quarters?" "Quarters are not currently assigned," said the computer. "Computer, how do I get assigned quarters?" "You request quarters, and are assigned the nearest matching your request," said the computer. "Computer, assign me the nearest quarters to this location, and give me a guide globe to take me there." "Done," said the computer. A blue globe appeared in front of Zeke, then moved to hover above the entry door. Zeke got up and walked towards the door, which disappeared as he neared; the flightpad and joysticks automatically retracted into the floor. Back in the park, Zeke followed the globe as it floated along the wall. In less than a minute, Zeke saw a white archway with a label, Etoona. The white archway blended in with the wall and was easy to miss from a distance, the labels were only visible once Zeke got close to the doors. Near the doors the labels were dark black standard letters; more than ten feet away the lettering faded, appearing white. Looking closely at the walls, Zeke noticed other white archways evenly spaced about thirty feet apart. The next archway was labeled Thaymelv. These were most likely quarters, Zeke concluded. Before too long the globe hovered above a white archway, labeled Zeke. Nice, thought Zeke; this wasn't too far from the training room. The door vanished as Zeke got close, the inside was rectangular room about thirty feet wide, forty feet deep, and twenty feet high. The corners were rounded, Zeke couldn't see a single sharp edge in the room. As Zeke entered, the door silently reappeared. At the center of the far back wall, a bathtub twice as large as the one aboard Mvek's ship dominated. To the left Zeke found a dry shower and a six foot wide shelf. Further left, in the corner, were three floor toilets. To the right of the tub, built-in white cabinets ran all the way to the other corner. In the front corner of the room, a twelve foot circular depression contained a bed. The soft mattress was even with the floor, padding around the sides would prevent sleepers from bumping heads against the floor. A pile of pillows sat on the bed nearest the corner of the room. Pillows, mattress, and padding were all the same shade of crisp, clean, white. The rest of the room was empty, no furniture, not even a chair. Seeing the toilets prompted Zeke's bladder. As Zeke relieved himself, he felt odd urinating in such a large room. For some reason the aliens built this room without an enclosure around the toilets or bath areas. Well, it was a single-occupancy room. Maybe the aliens weren't embarrassed about bodily functions like Earthlings. Zeke remembered the separate toilet and bathing rooms in Mvek's ship, and suddenly realized the layout might be for the comfort of the Earthlings. The Earthlings liked walls for privacy, the aliens liked openness for convenience. After finishing with the toilets, Zeke examined the shelf. The shelf was about waist high, and the edges curved up to hold water. It was really a sink. The lack of faucets had misled Zeke, but as soon as Zeke moved his hand over the sink, water arched into the basin from several sources on the wall. The water stopped when Zeke withdrew his hand. Zeke couldn't find the source of the water, the wall was smooth and felt solid where the water streams had originated. Weird. A noise to Zeke's right drew his attention. Near the cabinets, a small robot floated beside the box Zeke had stored his belongings in. The robot was a white foot tall cylinder half a foot in diameter with three slender arms. It was storing his possessions neatly in the cabinets. Soon the robot finished and disappeared into an opening in the ceiling, which closed seamlessly. "Computer, can I get some furniture? Will it cost me any credits?" "Normal furniture is provided at your request," said the computer, "specialty items require credits." Zeke found normal furniture covered a lot. He decided on a large green couch covered in the softest material available, two small oval tables for the sides of the couch, and a kitchen table and chairs. The furniture arrived within a few minutes. It dropped in from the ceiling with the help of some larger robots like the first one. With the help of the computer, Zeke had the robots arrange the furniture until he was satisfied. The couch ended up in the center of the wall near the bed, the kitchen table by the cabinets. "Computer, what time is it now, what times are meals?" "The time is eight hours, thirty two minutes," said the computer. "Normal mealtimes are 0 to 2 in the afternoon, 8 to 10 in the evening, and 20 to 22 in the morning. Food is also available upon request at all times." Well, at least he wasn't late to dinner, Zeke thought. Perhaps he could get the computer to cough up a video game. Maybe later, Zeke decided; right now dinner seemed a good idea. Zeke left his quarters, the door reappeared behind him. Now where was dinner? "Computer, blue globe to dinner." A blue globe appeared and moved to hover over the door. Zeke followed it outside. The globe went back towards the training room, stopping to hover over a green door, just two doors away from the training room. Obviously the green door was the dining room. A few aliens were in the area, including the one with multiple body segments that looked like a centipede. "Computer," said Zeke, deciding not to enter the dining room yet, "dismiss guide." The centipede alien was interesting; Zeke wanted a closer look. But he didn't want to be rude: Hey, you're weird looking, tell me about yourself. The alien was making slow, but reasonable, progress on his stubby lower limbs; going about half as fast as Zeke normally walked. In fact, the alien was following a red globe and coming closer to Zeke. The red globe stopped over the yellow door. Probably the alien had just arrived and was checking out the training room. The alien was probably either an instructor, or more likely a trainee. No point in letting the alien wonder where everyone was, Zeke decided, heading towards the centipede. "Hi, I'm Zeke, one of Yzran's new trainees. Are you a trainee too?" The centipede's twelve body sections were about two feet in diameter, each six inches high; the tan-colored alien stood four feet tall. On closer inspection, the dozen appendages on each section were all the same -- short, thick limbs ending in three opposing, evenly spaced, stubby fingers that served as feet or hands. Standing vertically, only the appendages on the bottom segment worked as feet. The rest hung, relaxed, on the body. "I am Etoona, also a trainee. I am surprised to find an Earthland in this section. Most Earthlands are uncomfortable around other species." Etoona spoke with a low, gutteral voice that reminded Zeke of a frog croaking. Etoona. The name sounded familiar. Ah, it had been on the door of the first quarters Zeke had passed. Etoona had come prepared and secured his quarters sooner than Zeke. "I think I see what you mean," said Zeke, "when I asked specifically for Yzran, they modified my globe's destination. Otherwise I'd probably be in a habitat with mostly... Earthlands, and not the trainee of the best instructor available." "A disadvantage of those species newly joined the Hirthal," said Etoona, continuing towards the yellow door. "The social instincts limit them to interaction with species of a similar appearance, unless overcome by a period of adjustment." "Social instincts?" asked Zeke. "One of the natural behaviors," said Etoona, "such as tending to walk towards water, or away from darkness. Some social instincts useful in the evolution of a species can be annoying once intelligence evolves." "Computer," said Etoona, "red guide to eating room." "It's the green door over there," said Zeke, walking slowly beside Etoona. The red globe hovered over the green door and disappeared as Zeke and Etoona entered. This room was a circle about twice the size of the training room. Like the training room, white was the predominant color. A large, low, circular counter enclosed what had to be an open kitchen. Small, foot high platforms were evenly spaced around the counter, most likely seating, but it looked uncomfortable. No one else was in the room except for a single Shao behind the counter. This dining room wasn't set up for a buffet like on Mvek's ship; it was pretty obvious to Zeke they should pick a spot and be seated. If Zeke's guess was right, the Shao would come over and take their order or something like that. Cool, not many people could say they had been waited on by an alien. "At least you have overcome most of your instinctive limitations," said Etoona. "Are you still uncomfortable around other species?" "No," said Zeke, "I guess I'm so overwhelmed with finding out other intelligent species even exist, that I didn't think of being uncomfortable." Etoona gestured at a seating platform and it sank into the floor. Moving over the spot where the platform had been, Etoona gestured again and the platform rose up. Neat, thought Zeke. Zeke gestured at his own platform and it rose slightly, a narrow section at the back continued to rise at a slight angle, forming the back of a seat. Really neat, thought Zeke, sitting in the newly formed chair. "Hello Etoona," said the Shao, noticing the pair and walking over to them. "I am Otheshiil, nutritionist. Will you accept my suggestion for tonight?" "None of that," said Etoona, "splekk, prepared old style, and nothing extra." "As you prefer," said Otheshiil, "Computer, transfer one siplekkol here, restrained, table two." "Hello Zeke," said Otheshiil, "as this is new to you, I will explain. My purpose is to provide optimal nourishment to each trainee; I have studied in detail your species' requirements and I monitor your current condition. Correct nourishment will allow you to experience the best performance from your body and mind. However, the final decision as to your diet is your own. Will you accept my suggestion for tonight?" Proper nutrition, Zeke mused. Back at the university, Zeke's diet hadn't been all that great; certainly he hadn't bothered with nutrition. But then, no one had offered him "optimal nourishment" tailored to his specific needs. If he accepted Otheshiil's advice, Zeke would probably get something like health food, bland and tasteless. But again, what could it hurt to try it? If it tasted too bad he could always ask Otheshiil for a burger and fries. "That sounds... interesting," said Zeke, "give me whatever you think is best." A motion overhead caught Zeke's eye. One of the robots was lowering a small creature, about the size of a cat, to Otheshiil's preparation table. The creature was green with blue stripes and had six legs. It was still, but Zeke could see it breathing. Zeke decided he would avoid watching Otheshiil prepare the splekk. "Excellent," said Otheshiil, "your meals will be completed shortly." "You will regret your choice," said Etoona, "nutritional food does not mean enjoyable food. Otheshiil would have me eating leaves if he could." Otheshiil returned shortly with a large glass of clear liquid and a small plate for Zeke. It looked like a salad, tasted like a salad too. Not as good as a burger, but it wasn't that bad either. Think optimal performance, Zeke told himself. "The food's not so bad," said Zeke, taking a drink. As he had suspected, it was water. "Besides, I want to be at top performance for my training." "How much experience do you have," asked Etoona. "None flying," admitted Zeke, "but I'm pretty good with simulations." Standard didn't have a word for video games, so that was as close as Zeke could come to explaining. Otheshiil arrived with five plates, most of which went to Etoona. The one plate Zeke got had several wafers on it. Etoona's food actually looked pretty good, not like in the movies where the aliens ate nasty squirming worms. Etoona had several steaks, each skewered on an individual stick, and also some long orange bars. "What type of simulations?" asked Etoona, "You just learned about the Hirthal." "Well," said Zeke, munching on a wafer, "lots of recreational simulations where I control some kind of object." Zeke noticed Etoona was holding multiple steaks on sticks in appendages belonging to various body segments. Each of the segments had a mouth, and each mouth was chewing the food. With all those mouths, Etoona ate fast. "Better than nothing," said Etoona, taking his last bite. "I'm going to organize my quarters, bye for now." Etoona gestured his platform down and headed out the door. Having only one mouth, Zeke tool a little longer to finish his dinner. "Was dinner satisfactory?" asked Otheshiil. "Not what I'm used to," said Zeke, "but not bad." After talking with Otheshiil for a bit, Zeke headed back out to the park. With plenty of time before the night period, Zeke decided to look around. He started walking down one of the smaller paths; unlike the wider paths, this path was bare earth. In no time, the training plaza was out of sight and Zeke was alone, in the middle of the nicely kept park. The plants were tall and thick enough to limit Zeke's visibility to the immediate area. Soon Zeke came upon a small open space with two benches positioned in front of a natural looking, three foot high waterfall. The gurgling of the water masked sounds coming from other areas of the park, giving Zeke a feeling of solitude. The benches were low white rectangles with no backs, like in the dining room. Did they adjust in the same way? Zeke made the gesture at the bench; the rectangle rose six inches while a inch thick portion of the seat rose almost vertically, forming a back. Zeke sat on the newly formed bench, watching the waterfall, reflecting on the last week, and considering his future. Before all of this, Zeke had not believed aliens existed. Now he was going to be learning how to pilot a ship with them. Taking up the challenge of becoming a pilot was going to be fun, and Zeke could hardly wait until the training started in the morning. Back at the university, Zeke had been an average student, just doing the minimum to get passing grades. But now things were different. Zeke resolved to give the training his maximum effort; he was not going to be an average pilot, but the best pilot he could possibly be. How long did it take to learn piloting, anyway? "Computer, how long does pilot training last?" "Time spent training varies, average duration is 180 days," said the computer. Suggesting that if Zeke worked hard, he could complete training sooner. After the three hours on the simulators today, Zeke knew he could fly the ship in the simulation with more practice. But there was always more to it than that. Probably the aliens would have procedures to be memorized and who knows what else. Kind of like the introduction to music course Zeke had taken his freshman year. It had sounded like an easy course, just listen to some music. No problem, right? Well, they had listened to music. They had also had to memorize music's history -- that had been a lot of work. Hopefully, the pilot training wouldn't be so boring. And there was something else Zeke really liked about the Hirthal: the attention to individuals. The training base was huge, but Zeke had come on board and been given personal attention. Zeke's preference for being a pilot was listened to and immediately acted upon. The cook, or nutritional specialist, had recognized Zeke on sight, and had taken the time to design a diet just for him. And no one had requested Zeke to fill out any paperwork. The Hirthal really had their act together. Zeke saw a movement out of the corner of his left eye, a yellow globe moved to hover over the waterfall; Zeke realized that could only mean someone was coming. Turning around, Zeke saw an alien walking down the narrow path towards him. This particular alien was a species Zeke had not seen before. Obviously female, she stood over six feet tall. She wore the standard white pants, but the tank top left her narrow midriff bare. Completely hairless, her skin was an unblemished light pink over most of her body, except for a patch of pure white skin covering her belly. The white skin extended down under the pants, and ended in a semi-circle above her very humanlike breasts. Her face was vaguely human, oval shaped with a small, rounded chin. Her eyes were large, featuring black pupils surrounded by dark red irises. An unusually wide mouth with thin lips, a flat rounded nose, and lack of ears gave her a distinct look. Not pretty in the human sense, but not ugly either, just different. Her body was another story -- large breasts and hips with a narrow waist gave her a figure any human woman would be proud of. As she came closer, Zeke noticed her feet. Each foot had four equal sized toes with black toenails; she was walking on the balls of her feet. Not surprising, Zeke considered, due to her elongated foot and almost non-existent heels. "Hi, I'm Zeke." Zeke stood up to greet the new arrival. "I am Aurel. I do not remember your species." Aurel's voice was high-pitched, and her words seemed to have a faint echo as she spoke them. "Oh, I'm an Earthling," said Zeke. "Earthlings are kind of new to the Hirthal, most don't even know about the Hirthal." Aurel was a few inches taller than Zeke. Up close, Zeke could see a faint outline of nipples through the fabric of Aurel's top. How humanlike were her breasts, Zeke wondered? "Are you looking at my breasts?" asked Aurel. Busted! Zeke decided he had better apologize and hope Aurel was not too mad at him. But Standard was lacking a specific word for "sorry." "I didn't mean to upset you," said Zeke. "My eyes just sort of wandered down there." "Do you find me sexually interesting?" asked Aurel. "Ah... yes," said Zeke, feeling himself blushing. "Computer," said Aurel, "tell us the Earthling and Geltharv sexual profiles." "The Earthling profile is an estimated 80-30-100-300," said the computer. "The Geltharv profile is 62-40-97-7. Physical compatibility is indicated." Mvek and Sori hadn't mentioned sexual profiles, considered Zeke. Why was the Earth profile only estimated? Had the environmental and food profiles been estimated also? Zeke resolved to ask the computer about these things. "Good," said Aurel, taking off her top. The patch of white skin included her breasts, which Zeke noticed were very humanlike indeed. Aurel wasted no time taking off her pants and dropping them on the bench with her shirt. Zeke could see her groin was hairless too, the white patch of skin extended to the tops of her legs and continued between her legs as far as he could see. Aurel's sex looked normal to Zeke, at least from the outside. "Why are you still dressed?" asked Aurel. "Do you need to perform an Earthling ritual before sexual activity?" "Ah... no," said Zeke, taking off his clothes. "I was just watching you and got distracted." "You are reasonably attractive," said Aurel, standing close to Zeke. "Except for your pointy nose and strange feet." Zeke wrapped his arms gently around Aurel's waist, pulling Aurel towards him. Aurel's soft, firm, breasts pressed intrigingly against Zeke's body. Aurel was several inches taller than Zeke so he used his left hand to carefully pull her head down. Zeke moistened his lips, tilted his head, and gave Aurel a quick kiss on her lips. Aurel didn't pull back so Zeke decided to continue. Kissing Aurel again, Zeke parted his lips and ran his tounge across Aurel's closed lips. Aurel started caressing Zeke's back and neck with her hands; Zeke returned the favor as he continued to kiss her. After a few times of Aurel not responding by opening her lips, Zeke decided to move on. He started kissing Aurel's neck, trailing his kisses down to her breasts. Zeke started kissing slow circles around Aurel's breasts while liesurely massaging her back and buttocks with his hands. As Zeke's kisses came closer to Aurel's now erect nipples, Aurel started making soft groaning noises. Zeke began licking Aurel's nipples, one at a time. He felt Aurel's entire body shiver as she let out a long groan. While continuing to lick and suck Aurel's nipples, Zeke moved his hand downward and traced along the inside of Aurel's thigh. Aurel squirmed and moved her legs further apart, giving Zeke better access to her moist sex. Running his fingers along Aurel's slit caused more shivering. Encouraged, Zeke slowly ran his fingers up and down Aurel's slit a few more times. Then Zeke gently moved Aurel's nether lips apart and began carefully exploring Aurel with his fingertips. When Zeke touched a large, fleshy lump near the front of Aurel's slit, she jumped and pressed hard against him. Inspired by Aurel's reaction, Zeke continued sucking on her nipples while he located the fleshy lump again. Cautiously, Zeke imperceptibly probed the edges of Aurel's hot spot. By the time Zeke's fingertips determined the lump was a flat, rough circle, about two inches wide and firmly attached to Aurel's body, Aurel was pressing against Zeke and shivering uncontrollably. Her moans were continuous. Aurel's responses had Zeke hard as a rock. Zeke stood up and started to manuver his cock between Aurel's legs. Aurel grabbed Zeke's erect cock, moved him inside her wet vagina, and started frantically thrusting her hips. In moments Zeke matched her rhythm and the two became lost in the exquisite sensations of their lovemaking. Zeke made sure to grind against Aurel's sensitive fleshy pad on each downstroke. Soon Zeke felt he was going to explode. Aurel climaxed first and Zeke could feel her vagina repeatedly clamp down hard against his cock, triggering his own orgasm. The two stood, locked in their embrace, as they recovered and their breathing slowed. In a few minutes, Aurel pulled away from Zeke and sat on the bench. Zeke sat down beside Aurel and held her in his arms. "Aurel," said Zeke. "That was wonderfull." "My throat is still tingling," said Aurel. "I need to complete my living arrangements tonight, but I would like to have sex with you again soon." "Same here," said Zeke. "Are you going to be on the base long?" "Yes," said Aurel. "What are you doing on the base?" "I'm training to be a pilot." "I am also a pilot in training," said Aurel. "Who is your instructor?" "Yzran," said Zeke. "Someone told me he was one of the best." "It," said Aurel, resting in Zeke's arms, "Yzran is not a reproductive member of its species. Yzran is my instructor also." Zeke and Aurel continued talking as they got dressed; they agreed to meet the next day. "See you tomorrow," said Zeke, as Aurel left, still pulling on her shirt. Zeke was just pulling on his own shirt when he noticed a green globe move to hover over his head, then dissappear. Looking around, Zeke saw Walter standing at the entrance to the clearing. "Zeke," said Walter, pointing in the direction Aurel had gone. "Did you just..." "Isn't she cute?" asked Zeke. "You're crazy Zeke," said Walter, in English. "Are you going to fuck every female alien you see?" "Just the cute ones, man," grinned Zeke. "What happens if you get them pregnant?" asked Walter. "I can't get other species pregnant," said Zeke, "any more than I could get a goat pregnant." "Well," said Walter, rolling his eyes, "I'm sure you would know." "That's a good one, dude," laughed Zeke. "I'm going back to my quarters to get a shower, why don't you come along and we'll check out the base afterwards." -------------------------------------------------- Back in his quarters, Zeke stepped in the dry shower without bothering to get undressed. Zeke wasn't sure the shower would work with his clothes on, but it seemed worth a try. If it didn't work he could always undress and try again. Zeke made the gesture at the shower and felt a tingling pass over his entire body. Zeke's clothes lifted slightly away from his skin and vibrated for an instant before settling back down. Zeke felt clean; even better, the dirt from the clearing floor was gone from his pants. "Computer," said Zeke, "what's the time here, and in Walter's habitat?" "The time here is ten hours, forty two minutes," said the computer. "The time in Walter's habitat is five hours, forty two minutes." There were still a few hours before night in this habitat. Zeke figured he would try to sleep around fourteen hours, so he would be alert in the morning. Walter had about the same amount of time before his dinner. That meant almost four hours to go sightseeing. "This is pretty nice," said Walter, looking around Zeke's quarters. "Did it come with the furniture?" "Just the bed," said Zeke. "I got the rest by telling the computer what I wanted. We've got about four hours to mess around, you want to go check out the base?" "Sure," said Walter. The Earthlings made their way back to the transport room and stepped on one of the blue platforms. "So," said Zeke, "where do you think we should start?" "What about the docking bay where we came in?" asked Walter. "We could get a better look at all those ships." "OK," said Zeke. "Computer, take us to the docking bay." "Destination not understood," replied the computer. "Computer," said Zeke, "take us where we can look at some of the ships docked with the base." "Understood," said the computer. "Nearest environmental match is 60-40-120-40. Conditions are outside Earthling comfort zone, but survivable. Do you wish to override enviromental limitations?" Well, it was survivable. "Yes," said Zeke, "override environmental limitations and take us there." "Understood," said the computer. "Prepare for reduction in pressure." The platform lifted off and they were in the main transport tube once again. Zeke felt an ache in his ears and worked his jaw until his ears popped. "I wonder what the computer meant by survivable," muttered Walter, digging at his earhole with a finger. "Computer," said Walter, "why isn't there a environment within Earthling comfort zone?" "The docking area is designed with limited space for viewing rooms," said the computer. "Available viewing room area is insufficent for all environmental profiles to be maintained at once. Environmental profiles currently maintained are chosen based on the majority of species utilizing the viewing rooms." In addition to the slowly changing air pressure, Zeke noticed the temperature was getting cooler, and he felt strange, somehow... lighter. The gravity and air pressure were being reduced on the platform, Zeke realized. How did that work with an open platform? The platform must have some kind of force field around it, and the cabability to adjust its own gravity and atmosphere, Zeke concluded. That would explain the lack of wind on the platform, the faint breeze could be from the platform itself. Interesting. "I think the platform is slowly adjusting environmental conditions," said Zeke. "If it gets too bad before we get there, we can always call it off." Zeke moved closer to the edge of the platform and cautiously stuck his hand out. As he had expected, his hand encountered a resistance and shortly could go no further. The force field wasn't hard or uncomfortable; as Zeke's hand got closer, it just quickly built up from a mild resistance to an invisible, impenetrable barrier. "Hey, Walter," said Zeke. "There's a force field around the platform." Walter felt the force field also, reminding Zeke of a mime doing the invisible box routine. "Why do you think the aliens used a force field instead of having real walls?" asked Walter. "I don't know," pondered Zeke. "Maybe it's just easier to get on and off without messing with doors." "I'll ask the computer." said Walter. "Computer, why don't the platforms have walls?" "Please rest assured the platforms are safe and reliable." said the computer. "No fatalities have ever been caused by a platform malfunction. The platforms are carefully maintained and possess eight redundant molivon wave and gravity repulsion elements. Do you wish to exit the platform now? Do you require assistance for emotional distress?" "Computer," said Walter, annoyed, "that wasn't what I wanted to know. What design or asthetic requirement resulted in platforms instead of an enclosed transport room?" "Unable to match query to informational model," said the computer. So the computer did have its limitations after all. This might mean the computer wouldn't be able to answer Zeke's question about the sexual profile. Zeke resolved to find this out later, rather than explain to Walter why he was asking. In a few more minutes the air became thin, hard to breathe, and cold. If conditions got much more uncomfortable, Zeke decided, he would call this off. Just then, the platform changed direction and entered a side tube, then a smaller vertical tube with the same diameter as the platform. They quickly slowed and the wall in front of them disappeared, revealing a small room also the size of the platform. Their platform moved forward and came to a stop; the wall in front of them disappeared. Zeke momentarily forgot the uncomfortable environmental conditions as he took in his new surroundings. The room was about a hundred feet long, twenty feet wide, and ten feet high. At first glance, it looked like they were standing on a white, railless outdoor terrace, but Zeke quickly realized they were surrounded by seamless floor to ceiling windows. Through the windows, stacks of densely packed spaceships were everywhere. Zeke approached the nearest window and found he could not see the bottom or top of the brightly lit docking bay, the stacks of spaceships disappeared in the distance. Looking closer, Zeke saw each stack of ships clustered around a large white cylinder. One of those ships could be Mvek's, Zeke realized. "Damn," said Walter, "that's a lot of ships!" Zeke turned to look at Walter, and for the first time noticed they were not alone in the viewing room. Three aliens were taking in the view as well. Eight feet tall, they had round orange bodies on tall, spindly legs. "And a lot of different kinds of ships," added Zeke, turning back to the window. "We didn't see all these ships when we came in," said Walter. "There were a lot, but not stacked up like this." "They are pretty tightly packed," said Zeke. "Maybe this is like, storage or something." Most of the ships were the standard greyish or silver disk, like Mvek's. But some were white and teardrop-shaped, with dual fins running from the point to the rear. Zeke looked over the ships, wondering which type he would be piloting, until Walter distracted him. "Hey, Zeke," said Walter, shivering. "We've been here a while and it's kind of cold, let's go back." "OK, dude," said Zeke, suddenly realizing he was cold too. The pair headed back to the platform, looking forward to getting back to a warmer environment. "Computer," said Zeke, "Walter's quarters." -------------------------------------------------- By the time they got to Walter's habitat, the environmental conditions were much more comfortable. This habitat was the same shape and design as Zeke's, but the ceiling was light blue and the plants were all Earth-type plants. Walter's quarters looked mostly like Zeke's, except the back wall had three doors instead of open toilet and bathing areas. Other than the round bed, the main room was empty. Zeke hung around and talked to Walter about the day as Walter picked out furniture for his quarters. Finally, deciding it was late enough, Zeke headed back to his own quarters to get some sleep. Upon entering his quarters, Zeke was startled by the computer's voice. "Attention Zeke," said the computer, "you have one message." A message? "Computer," said Zeke, "give me the message." A hologram of Otheshiil's head appeared before Zeke. "Hello, Zeke. To help your body adjust to the new timezone, drink the small bottle on your table before going to sleep. Your body's internal rhythms will be adjusted, and you will sleep easily. Also, if you get hungry between meals, instruct the computer to give you a snack at your current location. Sleep well, Zeke." The hologram vanished. Cool, thought Zeke. Now, despite the timezone change, he could be sure of getting some sleep and being alert for tomorrow's training. "Computer," said Zeke, "wake me up by 21 hours every morning, and notify me thirty minutes before my training starts." "Acknowledged," said the computer. Zeke found the bottle Otheshiil had mentioned, it was a clear container about the size of a thimble. After getting ready for bed, Zeke drank the bottle and crawled under the covers. Sleep came quickly. ================================================== CHAPTER 5 Zeke awoke, feeling well rested. So Otheshiil's bottle had worked after all. What time was it now? A clock would be handy, and Zeke's quarters was lacking one. "Computer," said Zeke, "give me a clock visible from everywhere in the room." "Your clock will arrive shortly," said the computer. After Zeke got ready for the day, he noticed one of the robots positioning a clock in the center of the ceiling. The clock was a flattened circle with time readouts visible on three sides, and Zeke could see the time from most angles. The clock read 21:07, just about time for breakfast. But before breakfast, there were some questions Zeke wanted answers to. "Computer, why is the Earthling sexual profile only estimated?" "Unable to match query to informational model," said the computer. "Computer, are the Earthling environmental and food profiles estimated?" "No," said the computer. "Computer, how is the Shao experimentation on Earthlings different from the actions of the aliens the Hirthal are protecting Earth from?" "Please rest assured unwanted experimentation is disallowed here," said the computer. Experimentation on unwilling intelligent species is against the Hirthal code of conduct. Were you subjected to unwanted actions? Do you require assistance for emotional or physical distress?" "No," said Zeke. After Walter's question last night, the computer's inability to answer questions of this nature was not surprising. The computer easily handled the "where are my quarters" type questions but was unable to understand the more abstract queries, responding with what seemed to be canned answers. If Zeke were going to get his questions answered, he would have to ask someone or review the computer data manually. His quarters hadn't come with a computer interface like on Mvek's ship, perhaps Zeke should ask the computer for one. "Computer, give me a computer interface terminal." A three foot square terminal appeared floating in the air before Zeke. Surprised, Zeke touched it and his hand passed through. Only a hologram, thought Zeke, but it looked solid. Zeke spent some time looking through the information, but did not immediately find what what he wanted. The information was in Standard and arranged in an unfamiliar heirachy. After a few false leads, Zeke found information about the Shao and Earth, but was interrupted before he had a chance to read much of it. "Attention Zeke," said the computer, "will you accept a communication from Maeoglaiere?" Maeoglaiere? Oh, the transparent floating alien from indoctrination. Now what could Maeoglaiere want, Zeke wondered? "Yes," said Zeke. "Zeke," said Maeoglaiere's voice from midair, "I hope you are comfortable in your new environment and I would like to meet with you to discuss any concerns you may have. As you have some time before your training starts, and your species sometimes desires company during meals, and communication is more effective when the participants are in physical proximity, would you be agreeable to meet in the dining room near your quarters this morning? I would schedule my arrival for whenever you originally intended traveling to the dining room, so as not to inconveniently adjust your schedule." "Sure," said Zeke, "I was just about to leave, I'll see you there." "Excellent," said Maeoglaiere. "I will arrive at the location in five minutes. Computer, close my connection to Zeke." "Disconnected," said the computer. Maeoglaiere had not arrived when Zeke entered the dining room. Five other aliens were in the dining room, but no one Zeke had met before. Zeke gestured at a platform and sat down in the newly reconfigured chair. Behind the counter a five foot tall bipedal alien stood. Thick, but not chubby, the alien was completely covered with coarse, orange hair, except for his head, which was bare with lighter orange skin. The head was elongated and narrow, with solid yellow eyes, pointed teeth, and long pointed ears. "You are Zeke," said the unfamiliar alien behind the counter. "I am Flezg. I will present you with your meal soon." Flezg turned and walked away, short stubby tail twitching as he walked. "Sounds good," said Zeke. Zeke noticed Maeoglaiere float to a stop next to him. The alien hovered silently in his clear container, tentacles swirling in slow patterns. "Zeke," said Maeoglaiere, "in adjusting to your new surroundings, have you encountered difficulties of any type?" "No," said Zeke. "Everything has been great, no difficulties at all." "Excellent," said Maeoglaiere. "New arrivals to the base usually have questions, even questions about seemingly unimportant matters. I am sure you have at least one question; perhaps you have many questions. I would be very pleased if you would do me the favor of asking at least one question, no matter how insignificant the question may seem to you." Flezg presented Zeke with a glass of purple liquid, toast with jam, and a bowl of oatmeal with banana slices and raisins -- at least Zeke hoped they were raisins. Zeke took a bite. Well, they tasted like raisins. "I did have a few things I was curious about," said Zeke. "The computer gave the Earthling sexual profile as estimated, but another species' sexual profile was not estimated. Does that mean anything?" "Before I fully answer your question," said Maeoglaiere, "allow me to briefly discuss the reason behind the estimation of the Earthling sexual profile. A sexual profile is a four digit representation of most physical and emotional factors utilized in sexual interactions. The physical factors are relatively simple to determine and are used to avoid physical injury from incompatible biologies. The emotional factors are difficult to determine, but are determinable to an extent with sufficient study. "For Earthlings and other species with divergent and isolated or semi-isolated subgroups, both in a geographical and cultural sense, an absolute sexual profile is impossible. While an average could be determined with sufficient study, the deviations from that average would be too great for the average to be useful in classifying a single individual. "For some few species, usually more advanced species, the possibility of rapid travel and a single culture on a planetary or multi-planetary scale allow a single sexual profile to apply to all members of the species. However, a non-estimated sexual profile is rare; only a small percentage of species have a non-estimated sexual profile. "If you choose, you could have your individual sexual profile determined. Simply ask the computer to make an appointment with the medical facility on this base. The emotional determination usually takes several sessions of three hours each. Only a few of the sessions should prove unpleasant. Three hours? Unpleasant? "I'll just stay with the estimated profile," said Zeke. There was no issue with the sexual profile after all, thought Zeke, relieved for some reason. "Now I am curious," said Maeoglaiere, "if you have any experiences related to your sexual profile that are troubling you, even if in only the most insignificant way. Or perhaps experiences not troubling you at all, but only engaging your curiosity, even if in only the most insignificant manner." "So," considered Zeke, "how do the sexual profiles work? How can I tell if two profiles are compatible?" "For Earthlings," said Maeoglaiere, "if the first three numbers differ by less than 50, the 50 being your variation number, you are in no physical danger. However, the other individual or individuals participating would have their own variation numbers. My variation number is 30, for example. So if you compared our profiles and found mine to differ from yours at most by 40, we would not be compatible. Sexual contact between us would leave you unharmed, but could possibly be physically damaging to me. "However, the sexual profiles represent the worst case contact. Even with incompatible sexual profiles, two individuals may still have a sexual encounter if they understand the biological incompatibilities and act accordingly. The incompatibility could be due to harmful bodily fluids or harmful physical actions. Some species might penetrate their sexual partner with a stinger for example. Other species might flail their limbs uncontrollably, injuring their partner. "If you are considering a sexual encounter with an individual having an incompatible sexual profile, have the computer list the incompatibilities. The computer will be very clear and you should be able, in most cases, to avoid the incompatible behavior. If anything is unclear to either of the participants, call a medical facility for clarification. "Now, the last number in the sexual profile is related to possible emotional conflicts due to sexual interactions. A lower number means an individual will not be unduly distressed, a higher number means an individual could be unduly distressed. If the number is greater than 500, you should proceed with caution, and take every opportunity not to distress the individual. Usually, this means asking before initiating a new behavior or changing the current behavior. If the number is greater than 700, please consult with a medical facility before initiating sexual activity. Zeke finished his oatmeal and took a sip of the purple liquid. It tasted a bit tart, but Zeke didn't recognize the flavor. "What is your opinion of the sexual profiles?" asked Maeoglaiere. "Does the usage of sexual profiles seem reasonable? Have you experienced any problems with the sexual profiles?" "No problems at all," said Zeke, "now that I know how they work." Maeoglaiere's lower tentacles stopped for a moment, then resumed their movement. "You were not informed of the details of the sexual profile before." said Maeoglaiere. "How does this make you feel?" "I guess..." pondered Zeke, "I guess it makes me feel a bit... disappointed. But everything seems to have worked out OK, so I'm not worried about it." "However," said Maeoglaiere, "you would have preferred to be informed, and you may be wondering why you were not informed. Standard procedure is to not inform any individuals of the existence of the sexual profile if the fourth digit of their sexual profiles is 300 or above, as the information might cause distress or discomfort." None of this was worth worrying about; it was just the standard procedure. Why was Maeoglaiere asking these questions anyway? What reason could... Of course! Maeoglaiere was probably the alien equivalent of a psychiatrist, making sure Zeke wasn't a nutcase before handing him the controls of a spaceship. So what now, Zeke wondered. How should he act? Realistically, Zeke had only a vague idea of what they were looking for. Probably, the best approach was to be honest. "Attention Zeke," said the computer, "your morning training class will begin in thirty minutes." "I do not wish to delay your arrival at your training class," said Maeoglaiere. "However, I would like to continue our discussion. Would you be agreeable to meet in my office at nine this evening?" "Yes," said Zeke, "I'll be there." -------------------------------------------------- A few minutes later, Zeke entered the training room. Several aliens were present and already experimenting with the flight simulators. The backs of the hovering holographic displays were not blank, but showed moving views of the solar system Zeke had practiced in. None of the aliens acted like an instructor, so Zeke decided to experiment with the simulator for a while until Yzran arrived. One of the aliens, the blue ball with the three pink tentacles, was in the section of the room where the couch was missing -- perched on a white sling-like contraption. It must be the same as the seating in the dining room, Zeke concluded. Since the long couch took up most of the wall, very likely most aliens were bipedal enough to use the couch. Zeke couldn't see faces because of the displays, but thought he recognized Aurel's lower body seated on the couch. Sure enough, it was Aurel, skimming over the surface of what looked like one of the inner planets. "Hi, Aurel," said Zeke, sitting down beside her. "Computer, begin flight simulation." A set of controls rose from the floor and positioned themselves in front of Zeke, the holographic viewscreen also appeared. conveniently, Zeke's simulator configured itself to the same positions and settings he had selected last time "Hello Zeke," said Aurel, focusing on her controls. Zeke's ship was where he left it, and he quickly zoomed to the first inner planet and tried some skimming of his own. "How long have you been here practicing?" asked Zeke. "I arrived an hour before the start of training," said Aurel. "And I practiced six hours last evening. I will complete the training in much less than the average 180 days." Zeke continued to chat with Aurel as they both flew their simulated ships around the solar system. Caught up in his flying, Zeke barely noticed the other aliens filing into the room, until an eye on a stalk appeared over his viewscreen. "You are doing very well with basic flight, trainees," said the alien behind the eye. Diverting some of his attention from the viewscreen, Zeke took in the new arrival. Instead of a head, the pale-blue alien had two thick, three foot long, eyestalks that joined a barrel-shaped body directly at the shoulders. Thick arms ended in large hands; no thumbs, but four opposable digits looked capable enough. Short, thick, legs featured feet that were larger versions of the hands. Naked, the alien had no discernible genitalia. Only one eye was watching Zeke, the other was watching Aurel. Aurel had mentioned Yzran was not reproductive, and the alien had called Zeke a trainee. So this had to be Yzran, Zeke realized. "Do you understand the navigational system?" asked Yzran. "I have a general understanding of the system," said Aurel. "No," said Zeke. "The galaxy," started Yzran, "is considered as a loose aggregation of individual components, joined to make a rough disk. Considered from a gravitational standpoint, the galaxy has reasonably constant centers of mass, represented both as a single point, and as a disk bisecting the galaxy. "Imagine a line drawn from the point at the center of the galaxy to your current position on the disk of the galaxy. The line to this position would start at the center point and diverge at an angle away from the disk. These are the three elements of your position: distance from center point, distance from the disk, and the rotational point on the disk. The zero rotational point begins in the gravitational center of the first arm of the galaxy. Distances are given in kleths, rotation is given in thousandths. Inquire of the computer for more details. This base is at 01593323.532238322, -00001359.494838251, .323332237; in open space, but near the simulated solar system you are practicing in. "Use these touch panel buttons to display coordinates and galactic position," said Yzran, indicating a subsection of buttons. "Aurel, Zeke, I request the two of you work together to practice navigation. Staying within the solar system, one of you will pilot to a position and send coordinates to the other. The other will navigate to the given position; then you will switch roles. I will return and check your progress." Yzran moved on to the next trainee. "Computer," said Aurel, releasing her controls, "transmit coordinates to Zeke." A set of coordinates appeared on one of Zeke's navigation views, and Zeke played with the buttons until he got the windows arranged to his satisfaction. Once the navigation window was scaled to a solar-system level, the lengthy coordinates appeared in sharp, white digits. A portion of the coordinates were larger and brighter, the rest dim. Zeke guessed only the highlighted portion was needed for navigation within the solar system; certainly the reduced number of digits were easier to work with. After a bit of fumbling around, Zeke located Aurel's ship. "There you are," smiled Zeke. Zeke took off to the ring around the large gas giant and transmitted his coordinates to Aurel, who shortly found his position. Zeke noticed the asteroids were not as he had left them, but restored to the original, sparse distribution. "Stay away from the rings," said Aurel, moving her ship off, "the particles are dangerous." The two practiced finding each other until lunch, then returned early and continued through the afternoon. By the time training was over for the day, Zeke could find Aurel in his sleep and was starting to get bored. Saying goodbye to Aurel, Zeke left. Hopefully they would do something more interesting tomorrow. Back in his quarters, Zeke brought up the computer terminal and reviewed the navigational information. The first arm of the galaxy was two arms clockwise from Earth's arm, and the top side of the galaxy as well as the first arm was defined based on the planet Oshalo, the Shao homeworld. More investigation showed the Shao, one of the older spacefaring species, had originated the navigational references as they expanded into the galaxy. -------------------------------------------------- After dinner, Zeke headed to the transport room, determined to arrive early for his appointment with Maeoglaiere. The transport room was busier and Zeke noticed something new about the platforms. As one platform lifted up to the ceiling, another platform rose up from below the floor to take its place. The same thing happened when platforms arrived, multiple platforms would smoothly stack and unstack from the three landing points, allowing an uninterrupted flow of passengers. Without having to wait for more than a moment, Zeke had his own platform which lifted off before he could state a destination. Once in the tunnel, the platform moved to the side and stopped. Before, the platforms had waited until a destination was given. Why was it different this time, Zeke wondered? "State destination," said the computer. "Maeoglaiere's office," said Zeke. "Environmental profile is 97-103-120-83," said the computer. "Fatal to Earthlings without appropriate protective suit. Do you wish to return to originating transport room?" "No," said Zeke. Fatal to Earthlings? Well, Maeoglaiere had been in a floating bubble when he had talked to Zeke before. Obviously Zeke needed his own version of the bubble to visit Maeoglaiere. Only, why hadn't Maeoglaiere warned him about this little detail? Could it be a test? "No destination given," said the computer, "returning to originating transport room." The platform went back to the transport room and Zeke wandered out into the park of his habitat ring, towards his quarters, thinking. This just had to be a test of Zeke's resourcefulness, and the resource Zeke needed was a survival suit for Maeoglaiere's environment. So far, the computer had provided everything he had required. "Computer," said Zeke, "give me an environmental suit suitable for getting to Maeoglaiere's office." Shortly after Zeke got back to his quarters, a robot floated down to Zeke carrying a flexible suit with a clear helmet. The suit was white with a series of colored stripes on the left side. A large opening in the front allowed Zeke to put the suit on without too much difficulty, his head fitting comfortably in the transparent helmet. The suit had no air tanks and the only stiff part was the collar and bubble helmet. How did it recycle air? Were there supposed to be air tanks? Other than that, the only part Zeke had difficulty with was how to seal the suit's front opening, both sides of the opening were smooth, with no obvious method of joining them. When in doubt, ask the computer. "Computer," said Zeke, "give me instructions on how to seal the suit and verify it's working properly." "Slide into the suit through the front opening," said the computer, "feet first. The suit is voice controlled. Instruct the suit to activate, and perform self check. Upon returning to a safe environment, instruct the suit to deactivate." The computer continued explaining the functionality of the suit, but Zeke had what he needed. "Suit, activate." The front of the suit pulled itself closed. Zeke heard a low hissing sound and felt a faint breeze blowing on his face. "Activation complete, ready to enter hostile environment," said the suit. "Suit, perform self check," said Zeke. "Self check complete," said the suit. "Environmental recycling normal." That hadn't taken long, Zeke thought as he left his quarters. Zeke could still make his appointment on time, if he managed to avoid further delays. Shortly, Zeke entered the transport room and stepped on a platform which immediately started to move upwards. "Computer," said Zeke, "take me to Maeoglaiere's office." "Environmental profile is 97-103-120-83," said the computer. "Fatal to Earthlings without appropriate protection. Do you wish to return to originating transport room?" "Computer," said Zeke, "take me to Maeoglaiere's office, override environmental limitations." "Acknowledged," said the computer. "Scan shows appropriate protective suit. Be advised conditions at your destination are lethal and remain within your protective suit until returning to safe conditions." As the platform continued down the tube, Zeke noticed the platform was starting to fill with water. Already up to his knees, the water continued to fill the chamber. Shortly, Zeke was underwater but still breathing normally. How had the platform made such a rapid change, and where had all the water come from? The platform was only a few inches thick -- another mystery. Zeke still felt a faint breeze from the suit's recycling, so obviously air tanks were unnecessary. This was some technology all right, the only solid part of the suit was the collar and that wasn't all that big or thick. Somehow the aliens had packed an advanced computer, power, and a complete atmospheric recycling system into that collar. "Suit, perform self check," said Zeke, nervously. "Self check complete," said the suit. "Environmental recycling normal." "Suit, how much time do I have before I run out of air or power?" "Approximately 1,798 standard years at current usage," said the suit. A standard year was almost three Earth years. Well, that would probably be long enough, decided Zeke. Zeke definitely had to relax. The alien technology was way ahead of anything Zeke was used to. If the platforms hadn't been the cause of any accidents, the environmental suits were probably just as safe. Shortly, the platform arrived in another transport room and stopped. This transport room was like the one Zeke had left, except for being completely underwater and having large circles instead of archways. Since he was underwater, Zeke had difficulty moving forward as fast as he would have liked. Could the suit help him out there as well? "Suit," said Zeke, "take me to Maeoglaiere's office." "Acknowledged," said the suit. The suit moved forward, picking up speed and tilting Zeke to a headfirst, horizontal position. Zeke looked up and saw one of the entry circles approaching. Zeke looked around, fascinated, as he passed through the circular entrance into the underwater habitat area. The water was crystal clear, and Zeke almost felt he was floating through the air. Overhead, a diffuse light filtered down through thick, semi-transparent plantlife. Dozens of Maeoglaiere's species floated gracefully below the plantlife, their round bodies contracting and expanding as they moved forward. Other than the sentinent aliens, nothing else was in the water or on the barren, rocky bottom of the habitat. The only sounds were muted swishings, probably from the aliens as they moved through the water. Interestingly, the only aliens Zeke saw were Maeoglaiere's species. Was this a situation like the Earthling habitat, or was this because of a specialized environment only suitable for a single species? The suit continued to move through the water as Zeke took in his surroundings, and shortly Zeke was approaching the far wall. The wall was a light blue and was covered by circular entrances; light streaming from some of them. Freed of the limitations of gravity by the watery medium, the entrances covered the entire wall from top to bottom. The openings were arranged in a spiral pattern, with numbers at the top of each spiral. Zeke was headed for the third arm of spiral 261, and soon entered the lighted eighth circle from the tip. Inside, the room was brightly lit, barren, and open. The floor and ceiling were a smooth light-blue color, with shelf-like recesses in the walls displaying objects Zeke did not recoginze, but took for artwork. Completely devoid of furniture, the area was a circle about 50 feet in diameter. Zeke saw Maeoglaiere floating to one side, tentacles wrapped around a set of thin bars descending from the ceiling. Noting more descending bars near Maeoglaiere, Zeke had to revise his earlier impression about the furniture -- it was there, just of a type Zeke did not recognize. Would Maeoglaiere be able to hear Zeke when he talked? "Hi, Maeoglaiere," said Zeke. "Hello Zeke," said Maeoglaiere, "wrap yourself around a bar and we will continue our discussion from this morning." Zeke swam forward and grabbed one of the bars. There wasn't much current so he was in no danger of floating off, probably this was Maeoglaiere's equivalent of a chair. "We had just started talking about sexual profiles," said Maeoglaiere. "And how you had a slight sense of dissappointment in not being informed about sexual profiles and how they worked. When we stopped our conversation, you were no longer dissappointed." "Right," said Zeke, feeling a faint tingling sensation in his head. "All species also have aesthetic profile," said Maeoglaiere, "which describes your emotional and physical comfort in a particular environment. The environment in this habitat is slightly outside the range of your profile, meaning you would be comfortable here for a few days before becoming emotionally distressed. Did you know about the aesthetic profile?" "No," said Zeke. He had an aesthetic profile? Zeke felt his whole body relax, his grip on the bar slowly loosened. "You were not informed of the details of the aesthetic profile before." said Maeoglaiere. "How does this make you feel?" "Well," considered Zeke, "it really doesn't make me feel anything." Zeke felt he could float here forever. "In your thoughts," said Maeoglaiere, "compare your present feelings about the aesthetic profile with your past feelings about the sexual profile. Consider your current feelings, and re-expereince your past feelings." Zeke focused his thoughts inward, thinking about those feelings. -------------------------------------------------- "You are now awake and alert," said Maeoglaiere. Zeke blinked and tightened his grip on the bar. "How are you feeling?" asked Maeoglaiere. "I'm feeling pretty good," said Zeke. "Excellent," said Maeoglaiere. "Our discussion was very productive tonight and I would like to continue next week. Would you be agreeable to meet in my office at nine on the next third-day?" "Yes," said Zeke, pleased everything had gone so well. "I'll be here." "Suit," said Zeke, "take me to the transport room." The suit obliged and Zeke was soon floating over a transport platform. "Computer," said Zeke, "to my quarters." "Environmental profile is 80-10-130-90," said the computer. "Significant variation from current location. Unable to comply without override." "Computer," said Zeke, "to my quarters, override environmental limitations." "Acknowledged," said the computer. "Please remain in your protective suit until arrival at destination." The faint background noises ceased and the suit oriented Zeke towards the floor as the platform rose. By the time the platform arrived back in a familiar transport room, the water had been evacuated. Zeke looked down at his suit and the platform and was surprised to find both completely dry, as if they had never been underwater. Once Zeke was back in his quarters, he deactivated the suit and put it away with his clothing. The clock read 15:41, later than he had thought. Zeke decided to go ahead and get some sleep for tomorrow. To be continued...