The planet was burning.
Justin could see that, out of the corner of his eye. On the curved wall at the back of the bridge, the planet Tanah was falling away from them. The acceleration, while not as bad as what he had seen US astronauts go though, was still enough to limit how much he could turn his head. Or, to be more exact, how much he dared look. What he saw, in those sideward glances... black clouds, covering most of a large land mass. Huge glowing sections where night fell across the dying planet. The scope of it! His eyes returned to Daium. Her gaze was squarely on the forward view. She knew... and didn't want to.
"God..." Tammy's voice came from somewhere behind him. "Why would someone do that?"
"We did it," Chuck said, voice calm, sad. "Humans. America. On a smaller scale, but... it's no different than the firebombing of Tokyo, or using nukes. The intent is the same." Justin disagreed slightly, as it didn't seem like this was an attempt to force a surrender, but he was way ignorant of the politics of this. A moment's reflection, sadly, told him that to even consider something like this as political just proved Chuck's point.
"Do you think there're survivors?" Melinda's whisper was desperate for some shred of hope. Justin willed Chuck to lie.
"Probably," the stocky boy said, once again proving Justin's faith in him. "Planets are big, and it sounds like they had some warning. If nothing else, I'm sure some escaped, like we're doing."
Alicia's voice, shaken, came from his left.
"Where is she taking us, Chuck?"
"I don't care..."
****
The force of the acceleration lessened, then ended.
With a deep breath, Justin let himself relax. Before them... a blackness he had never seen. There were stars, yes, but he wondered if they were really visible, or if the computer was putting them in. How much of the view was real, how much simulation?
Did it matter?
Such deep philosophical questions could wait. Flexing his shoulders, which were suddenly sore, he unbuckled and tossed the safety strap out of his way.
To his shock, it continued in the direction he threw it until fully extended, then began to float slowly to the left.
He was in space.
Space. Him. In space. Justin Boslon, son of Marc and Tracy.
Slowly, still not believing it, despite the last twenty hours, Justin grabbed the arms of his chair and began to push himself up while staying in the sitting position. It took effort, as he was moving mass if not weight and wasn't the strongest teen, but slowly his butt left the seat. Once his arms were fully extended, he let go.
He was floating, a half foot or more above the chair.
"Heh... hehe...Hahahahahaha!"
He couldn't help it. He was in fucking space! The laughter just poured out of him. He felt his head lean back, his body starting to follow. Afraid for a split second he was about to spin uncontrollably, Justin frantically grabbed at the chair, managing to get a hold of the back. The position of his body, legs now straight off to the side, floating in air, caused another wave of laughter.
Daium was looking at him, amusement clear on her four eyed, alien face. Grinning at the girl, Justin just shrugged and laughed again. She grinned back, unbuckling from her seat. With a sudden, graceful movement, she pushed off at an almost perfect forty-five degree angle up towards the middle of the bridge. His mouth dropped in appreciation, as she came to a perfect landing on one of the large tree branches over his head. It dropped even further when he realized his view now was right up her green skirt. She had panties, or the alien equivalent, a bit lighter in color than the skirt. Justin's eyes quickly went to the much safer ground of her face, but on the way they lingered a bit at the woven cups covering her breasts. When he reached her eyes, they were regarding him with... was it nervousness? Almost without thinking, and certainly without paying attention to the zero g antics of his fellow humans on the bridge, Justin got his feet under him and pushed off from the chair towards a point near Daium. He came in a little fast, but still managed to stop himself without too much trouble. He copied Daium, wrapping his legs around the branch, facing her.
They sat, talking silently with their eyes, ignoring the world.
****
"Gah! Coming through!"
Alicia found herself flying head first towards Justin and the chimp at much too fast a speed. This, she thought to herself, tensing at the approaching collision, was what happens when you try and show off at something you're not good at. Melinda had been spinning in air, taking to space like she was born there (this, actually, would explain much about the homely geek), so NATURALLY Alicia felt she had to do something to top that. Flying seemed like a good start, so here she was. Crashing. That'll show her.
She expected the two to get out of her way, let her go slamming into that big branch. And, they DID move, separating a bit. However, as she approached each shot a hand out to grab at her, to try to both slow her and change her course. Justin managed to get her bare forearm, which she'd had held out to cushion the blow. Daium's arm managed to wrap around her body, just under her breasts, stopping her forward momentum and knocking some of the air out of her lungs (her dignity had already fled). Her feet and legs kept going, swinging around under her, lightly hitting the bottom of the branch. She hung there, in space, held by her two saviors.
"Thanks, Justin."
"Anytime." He let go of her, a slight blush visible on his brown face. Or so she thought she saw. He should blush, having touched her. So, quite frankly, should the other one. Alicia looked down, where a long blackish furred arm just touched the bottom of her breasts, then up into the four eyes of Daium. Those eyes were puzzled for a moment. Alicia saw them glance down, notice where her arm was, then shoot back up to meet hers.
"Ah! Maaf!" The creature released her, face now embarrassed.
"That's OK," Alicia found herself saying, with more calmness than she would have expected. She grabbed the branch, floating between the two. This was the closest she'd been to Daium, and... hell, maybe she was starting to accept the alien a bit.
Looking around the bridge, Alicia also had to admit that she was also starting to accept this design, and Orang designs in general. The tree made perfect sense here, giving handholds in the middle of the sphere and in general making the bridge more livable. They'd have to see about putting some out around the new home of the Bells.
The sound of a door opening came from below.
"Everyone OK?"
Anthony floated in, followed by Hannah carrying two shopping bags. They looked a bit disheveled, leading Alicia to wonder what exactly they had been doing, all alone. The thought made her heart race a bit. Chuck, standing on the central walkway with both feet in foot holds most likely made to be gripped by long toes, waved to them.
"Oh, we're fine. Did you guys manage OK? Sorry about the lack of warning."
"Well, I'm sure you had reasons." He looked up as Justin launched himself from next to Alicia and floated down a yard or two away from Anthony. He had managed to flip around and land on his feet. "I see you guys have been practicing. Good."
"How's the store?" Tammy came up next to Chuck, loose hair floating all over the place. She reached up to grab it, muttering. "Looks like this is going back into a ponytail."
"The store is OK," Hannah said, arm around Anthony for balance. "Lots of dust floating around, inside and out, so we'll have to deal with that. Oh, and..." Her eyes went hard, as she turned to regard Melinda. "SOMEONE forgot to cover the toilets."
Melinda's hands shot up to cover her mouth.
"Oh shit!"
"Exactly. Any volunteers to clean that up?"
****
Luckily, they had robots for that.
Daium activated the ship's complement of mechanical helpers, dubbed "R2's" by the male humans, telling her shipmates that everything should be better by morning. She wasn't sure that was true, but this was her ship so she kind of felt the need to project an aura of competence. The idea of letting them know how much of this was her Dad's design, and how little comparably she had done, was kind of embarrassing. Not that, really, she should care what these aliens thought of her, but, still...
A rumble in Daium's tummy, and comments from the humans about food, soon had her leading them for the first time into the heart of the ship. Going through the bottom of the two doors on the bridge, or, at least, the one closer to the roots of the tree now that 'up' and 'down' were no longer absolute, they entered the gathering area. Tables, chairs, video screens, various entertainments. She was relieved, never having taken the ship up before, to see that everything was in fact secure. Her dad always said; never assume something works until after the tenth test. She did like the decorations he had put in here, a nice white wood paneling with dark brown geometric patterns inlayed. It reminded her of the family home, and the living room she had spent so much time in. Floating through an archway, she showed them the kitchen. Or, was it galley? Tammy, looking around, muttered something in their incomprehensible language.
"Daium," Nona asked, drifting closer to her, "I assume all this stuff is for cooking in zero gravity? Do you know how to use it?"
Her first instinct was to say, yes, of course! It was her ship! But, looking at it again...
"Um, maybe. I can probably figure it out." She shrugged at her translator. "I'm not a good cook anyway." Making her way to one of the three refrigerators, she opened it and pulled out a rambutan. Ignoring the looks of the others, she deftly peeled the red spiny skin and popped the white fruit into her mouth. Mmmm... she needed that. Getting down to the seed, she debated whether she should just eat it, despite the rather bad taste when uncooked, but decided to just be herself. No need to act all proper in front of her new companions. Turning her head, she spit the seed out.
"Don't worry," she told Nona, "I'll grab it in a minute."
****
Making sandwiches in space requires a certain skill.
The entire concept of the construction of one, after all, is based on the idea of the weight of each layer keeping the ingredients in place. One can put cheese on top of meat with a fairly good idea that it will in fact stay there. Without gravity, though, those assumptions and techniques fly out the window. Humans would have to create new food preparation skills from scratch.
Tammy's first attempt, after realizing the problem, was reasonably successful. Looking around the kitchen, with its alien utensils that were somewhat similar to theirs (she'd have to raid the Bells kitchen utility aisle later to bring in real supplies), she found a set of thin spikes that attached to the counter. By impaling the bread on it, then the meat and such, she was able to create edible results. Tomatoes were a bitch, as only one slice in the middle of the bread could be attached this way, but so be it.
"I was really looking forward to a HOT meal," Melinda grumbled, taking her sandwich spike. Tammy sighted.
"I know, me too. But, it's gonna take time. It's not like food is going to stay in a frying pan. Tomorrow I'll explore all this equipment and see what I can do."
She was looking forward to it, actually. Tammy loved cooking, always had, and the idea of being the first human to actually have to do this kind of thing... well, it excited her.
"I should have paid more attention to that female cook NASA sent up to the space station," Chuck said, shaking his head. "She tried a bunch of stuff, to see what worked and what didn't."
OK, the second, but Tammy could be the first to actually do a good job.
Anthony had his cellphone out, looking at it as he munched away at his meal. Crumbs floated away, which Daium said wasn't a problem so long as most eating was done in this section. They'd be filtered out of the air rather quickly.
"Would you guys believe it's already after 8 PM?"
"Is that it? I feel like it's been days already." Alicia shook her head. She was floating, back to a wall, drinking a diet coke out of the bottle with a straw. The hole around the straw had been covered with some plastic wrap, with mixed success, some of the drink still floating away.
"Know what you mean." Anthony looked around. "We probably should, after Daium shows us around a bit, try and get some sleep. Or, at least, get some alone time. I'm sure all of you have some music or books on your phones to keep you entertained."
"What about tomorrow?" Chuck asked.
"Tomorrow, we try to finish moving in, learn about the ship, about Daium, teach her about us... hell, I don't know." He brought a hand up to his forehead, then ran it through his hair. "We'll worry about tomorrow when it comes."
"That's leadership," Alicia said, rather good naturedly. Anthony grinned up at the girl.
"The best thirty thousand a year can get you!" His expression turned more serious. "Look, you're all adults. If you have ideas, see problems, feel free to speak up. I won't pretend this is a democracy at the moment, as for now we probably do need me to be the evil overlord, but if we're in this for the long term..." Tammy's expression, along with all the others, turned grim, "then we all have to be responsible, and take charge when that's clearly the best option."
"So," Chuck asked, "when we challenge you for leadership, should it be a knife fight, or just poison you?"
"Poison. I don't like bleeding."
****
This ship wasn't built for family excursions. Chuck was certain of that. It was much too big.
The hatch from the gathering area led to a long hallway, running the length of the central lower section (the solid part of the "egg", the store now sitting in the domed upper half). On either side were cabins, twenty a side. Given how much space that was in zero g, the ship could easily hold over a hundred people! Daium was being rather quiet about this. Chuck let it slide... for now. She showed them her room, decorated much the way the one they had found her in. Woven green reeds on the walls, with swirls of flowers woven into them. The bed was attached to both the floor and ceiling by green vines at the four "corners" of the oval mattress. She told them she might end up just sleeping in a bag attached to the wall, pointing out the built in hooks.
At the end of the hall, the engine room. The sphere at the back end of the ship was the actual engine, and from here there were access tubes into it. Melinda dubbed them "Jefferies Tubes", for reasons he didn't feel like asking about. Apart from the tubes, the rest of the place was beyond him. He had the feeling, though, that this would end up his part of the ship. Most of the others looked more frightened than interested in all the controls and monitors. He was going to school, or had been planning to at least, for engineering. Plus, he had worked on his junker of a car a bit. That would probably be useful experience here...
Running under the living space was the storage and robotic level, filling the rest of the half-egg. Here supplies, both food and equipment, shared space with an incredible assortment of droids. They were all inhuman, running on wheels or treads, and even as they watched, a number were being modified to fly through the air using fans. His car repair experience suddenly seemed more apt. Daium replied to his question with the interesting tidbit that at no time had her people even considered making robots look like people. That would just be... wrong.
It was almost 10 PM by the time the tour ended. By the type of coincidence they were becoming numb to, Daium's day was close enough to that of Earth that their sleep patterns would match up. Floating outside Daium's cabin, they watched her open the door and stand in the doorway. She looked back at them, tired.
"Malam yang baik."
"Goodnight to you, too," Justin told her. Her eyes seemed to go to him for a moment... then the cabin door closed. Chuck looked around.
"So, we just pick a cabin?"
"I think so," Hannah replied, yawning. "I don't think it makes much difference, they're all about the same."
"Just don't pick that one there," Anthony reminded them, pointing. "It would be rude to use her father's room right now."
"What are we gonna do for clothes?" Alicia moaned. "I am NOT wearing these panties again!"
"Don't wear any," Chuck replied, grinning. Her eyes narrowed.
"You'd like that."
"So would any hetero male or gay female," Tammy told her. She looked down at her own outfit, the same white shirt and thin black pants as all the others apart from Anthony. "We can probably get these cleaned, but we should also think about raiding any supplies and creating new, more functional outfits. What Daium wears is probably all we'll need."
"Well," Justin told her, maybe a bit forcefully, "we're not stealing her clothing."
"There's a bunch of whites, aprons and such, in the bakery and meat departments. They can probably be made into stuff." Chuck looked around. "Assuming one of you can sew."
Nona laughed.
"Maybe there's a sewing robot here."
****
Chuck's room, in his mind, was definitely a "male" room. The reeds on the wall were a dark brown, as were the vines holding the bed. Light came from bulbs woven into those reeds. The room was about ten feet wide, fifteen feet long, and seven feet high. Furnishings were sparse, just what he assumed was a dresser with some drawers, and cabinets. Looking around, a wave of homesickness swept over him. What he wouldn't give to see that stupid lamp, with the faded porcelain cowboy body, he'd had since nursery school. Or the beat up desk, from that garage sale across the street. His mom, standing in the doorway, telling him to clean up this pigsty...
The door opened, Melinda floating in. Grabbing one of the bed supports, he swung himself around to face her as the door closed behind her.
"Can't find your room, Melinda?"
She bit her lip, eyes not meeting his.
He sighed.
"Melinda... I need some time alone. You've been hanging on me all day." The gaze that came up to meet him...
Chuck gave in, opening his arms.
"Come here..."
****
Justin floated in the darkness.
In his head, the music of Pink Floyd softly echoed, weaving between one thought after another. He let it wash over him, into him. He didn't know how often he had listened to this album, in the year since discovering the group, but never before had it... meant so much. It was home. Earth.
"Shine on..."
He'd never see Roger Waters play. Never see the new tour of The Wall. He'd never hear that new Rush album. Never read a new novel. See a new movie. All he had was the contents of one iPod. One flash drive with the sum total of all the human culture left to him. God, he did want to go home after all...
A soft flash of light played over his eyelids. Cracking them open, Justin saw it came from just over the door. It came again, traveling through the darkness up the ceiling and over his head. Maybe it was some sort of doorbell. Well, he thought he could guess who would know such a thing existed. Floating over to the door, he hit the button.
The hallway lights were dim, not blinding as he had expected. Daium, however, was there, floating in the doorway, still dressed as he had last seen her. She looked at him with an expression he couldn't place, a nervousness. He smiled what was probably a tired, confused smile.
"Hey, Daium. What's up?"
Her eyes darted around, then settled on his face again. One hand slowly gestured at the dark cabin behind him.
"Saya boleh memasuki?"
"Wha... oh, sure, come in." He moved aside, letting her enter. As she drifted past the doorframe, one hand went out and slightly turned the light control. They came up just enough to match the hallway, enough to see comfortably without much adjustment for his eyes. Closing the door after her, Justin saw Daium come to a stop beside the bed, one hand holding a vine as she sat in space. Floyd still flowing through his ears, he went over and sat in front of her, legs crossed mirroring her.
Realizing the music wasn't going to help him deal with his new friend, Justin took the white earbuds out of his ears and put a hand into his pants pocket to turn the iPod off. Daium looked at the earphones, questioningly.
"Apa itu?"
"What, these?" He caught them in his free hand, the other now holding the iPod. "They're for listening to music." Seeing her expression, he laughed. "Here, let me show you." Maneuvering a little closer, he took one of the buds and slowly moved it towards her ear. As it came closer... her eyes lit up.
"Ah!"
"That's music."
"Mu-sic." She was trying the word out, rolling it around her mouth. He went to bring his hand back, only to have Daium gently take it and move it back close to her ear.
Justin could feel the blood rush to his face. Her hand was warm, smooth against his skin. It was a hard smoothness, like the calluses his grandfather had, yet nothing like that. Her eyes, behind those glasses, were locked on his.
"Music", she repeated. "Music."
"Yes..." A thought came to him. A daring thought. Turning off the iPod and letting go of it and the headphones, he stretched his fingers out and touched the back of her ear.
"Ear."
Her breath caught. Her own hand, slowly, came forward, mirroring his touch.
"Ear."
Justin brought his other hand up, touching her other ear, fingers gently caressing the lobe.
"Ear-s. Ears."
"Ears..." He felt both her hands caressing his ears, the feeling almost overwhelming him. He'd never been touched before. Never had a hand, female or otherwise, make him feel like this. Sliding his right hand up, he briefly touched the string of beads tied there, then gently held some of her fur between his finger.
"Hair."
"Hair."
His hand slid back down the back of her head, her fur incredibly soft and warm, then up to her cheek. Daium's hand mirrored his.
"Cheek."
"Cheek."
With a smile, one of his fingers slid over to her black nose. It was flat, hairless, with two nostril slits at the bottom.
"Nose."
She smiled too, touching his larger nose, sliding a finger up until it touched the bridge of his glasses, then back down to the tip. It paused for a second, then moved down and touched his lip. Her smile faded, as Justin's own finger moved down to her pink mouth.
"Lips," he whispered, softly running his finger around them. She did the same, her other hand going back to cup his cheek.
"Lips. Cheek."
Justin placed his fingers back on her cheeks, then, slowly, ran them down her neck, to her shoulders. Daium shuddered, her own hands trembling as they made their way down his neck. His fingers stopped when they found the braided cord that made up her suspenders/bra, hers when they reached the collar of his dress shirt. The two stared at each other, time stopping. After an eternity... Daium removed her hands from Justin, brought them up to her own shoulders... and undid two clasps. The straps came undone, but stayed in place for the moment.
In a dream, Justin brought his own hands back and began unbuttoning his shirt. Her eyes followed every move, her breathing almost stopping. The last button done, he shrugged the shirt off and tossed it aside. It floated over towards the wall, joining the iPod. Hands moving back to Daium, Justin took hold of the straps and, seeing no objection, slowly peeled them and her bra away.
Her breasts, like the rest of her chest, were of white fur. The hairs were shorter, though, gradually decreasing in length until they vanished in the center, replaced by light pink nipples. Justin's hands, acting on their own volition, gently dropped down into that white fur. Pausing for a moment, as they reached the swell of her mounds, his fingers began to trace their outline. A whimper came from Daium's throat, her own hands beginning to rub his smooth, brown chest. As his fingers completed one circuit around her breasts, Justin began to spiral them inward. She moaned again, closing her two inner eyes for a moment, one of her hands moving to his bare back and drawing Justin closer. Fingers finally reaching those pink nipples, Justin cupped both her breasts with his hands and ran a thumb over the nubs.
"Ah!"
Daium pulled him against her, head buried in his neck. He could feel her entire body against him, trembling, as he continued to caress her breasts. Her breathing was coming quickly, hot air against his skin. Hearing her mumbling, he pressed his head even closer to hers.
"Justin, Justin, yes, yes..." His heart was bursting. Nuzzling against her soft face, he whispered.
"Daium... lips..."
Her head came up, eyes wet, mouth quivering. Leaning over...
Justin kissed her.
****
A kiss.
Her first kiss.
Daium's heart was about to burst. This creature. This beautiful, brown skinned creature... She loved him. Daium knew that. Had known, all day. It was fate. The Gods. The Ancients. Or pure chance.
She loved Justin.
His lips were soft, wet. They slid over hers, uncertain, questioning. Daium slid a hand up his smooth, strong back into his curly hair, holding his head in place. She never wanted it to end. Fingers rubbed her nipples again, pleasure shooting throughout her body. She wanted to mate. Wanted to be one with this male, wanted...
The last vestige of her self-restraint came to the fore. Both hands quickly found themselves on his chest, and with great effort she pushed them slightly apart. Their lips separated, a line of liquid connecting them for a moment, before vanishing.
The human looked at her, those big brown eyes boring into her soul. She had to leave. Now. That she had been the one to come, the one to start this, the one to WANT this, only made it more urgent to flee. It would happen. She knew that. She and Justin were destined for each other. Soon, they would bed down together, he would give her children. They would be one. But...
Not tonight.
He seemed to understand. Hands leaving her breasts, which ached for the return of his touch, Justin caressed her cheeks. He smiled.
His smile was music.