Zeke and the Space Aliens
Copyright (c) 2004 by xyvos


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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...