Date: Tue, 9 Dec 2014 13:22:18 -0600
From: Vic James <vicjames2@hotmail.com>
Subject: Chapter Five of The Constructs

                         The Constructs
                          By Vic James
                      vicjames2@hotmail.com
                   Copyright 2014 by Vic James
                     http://www.vicjames.com


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This story is fiction. None of the characters are based on real
people.
You can see a list of my stories at
http://www.nifty.org/nifty/authors.html#vicjames



                              Five
    We spent the rest of the day learning about the ship. We
learned how to look out the 'window', which was really a camera
view from outside the ship. The view was very strange. The stars
looked like lines of varying lengths. We found out we would be
entering a wormhole the following day. The wormhole would bring
us twenty-eight light years closer to Remeskil. The ship
explained to us what a wormhole was and how it connected two
points in space that might seem, by direct observation to be far
apart. It was because space was not flat, but was curved and
irregularly, at that. Mike asked what a light year was.
    "That's how far light can travel in a year," I said.
    "Oh."
    The ship was able to travel at four times the speed of light,
but even at that incredible speed, the stars were still too far
apart to make travel between them practical. The ship pointed out
that the closest star to Earth's sun was the Alpha Centauri. It
was about four light years away. Even at top speed, it would take
a year to get there and another year to get back. A year might be
fine for colonists on a one-way trip, but it was completely
unsuitable for business and the Tiktik. The wormholes made their
business empire practical. The wormhole we would enter would take
us twenty-eight light-years in a very short time, a flight that,
without the wormhole, would take more than six years at top
speed.
    The ship had acquired enough English that we could simply
request things, rather than trying to pick them and customize
them on the wall display. We had steak, baked potatoes, and ice
cream for dinner.
    "I liked it better when you weren't wearing pants," I said to
Mike, when we finished. We were both wearing clothes at that
point.
    He burst out laughing.
    "Some races wear clothing that displays and even accentuates
their reproductive organs," the ship said. "Is that what you
meant, Will?"
    I laughed at that.
    "It is! I love my mate's reproductive organs!" I said.
    Mike grinned at me.
    The ship surprised both of us by showing an image of Mike
wearing a pair of jeans with the crotch removed.
    "Something like this?" the ship asked.
    Mike laughed.
    "Oh, we definitely need a pair like that!" I said.
    "Are you serious?" Mike asked.
    "Sure! Why not? You don't have to wear them in public," I
said.
    Mike shrugged.
    "True enough," Mike said. "And if you get excited looking at
me in them, I'm happy to wear them. Make a pair for each of us,
Ship."
    "I will."
    After dinner, Clicker told us about her race and her home.
The chill in the air to accommodate her was not uncomfortable, as
we had plenty of clothes by that time, including jackets and
sweaters.
    "We are looked down upon by many races," she told us. "Most
insectoid races are xenophobic and have little interest in other
races. They are thought to be cold and uncaring, and in many
cases, that is true. We aren't like that, but because we somewhat
resemble those, we get lumped together with them. When we get to
Remeskil, many people will try to speak to you. They will ignore
me completely."
    That didn't seem fair, but I understood. I still thought
Clicker was incredibly ugly. I avoided looking at her and looked
at Mike, instead. I hoped that she would think I was looking only
at him because we were new mates. It was hard for me not to think
of her as a giant, intelligent cockroach, and if I came across
her for the first time, standing next to a being of another race,
I would probably do the same---ignore her and speak to the other
alien. Who wants to look at a giant cockroach, much less talk to
one? But I didn't want to hurt her feelings---the feelings that
had very obviously been hurt before. I didn't know what to do
about it. I was afraid she was going to show us pictures of her
children. She had mentioned them a couple of times, and they were
bound to be hideous. I would have to lie, and it bothered me that
I would have no choice but to lie. I shuddered when I thought
about a whole nest of cockroaches. Then I felt guilty!
    "I'm sorry you have to deal with that," Mike said to her.
    I smiled at him. It was the right thing to say.
    "Thank you," Clicker replied. "Maybe humans and my race will
be allies someday," she added.
    I tried to keep a blank face. Not if my mother has anything
to say about it, I thought. It seemed very unlikely.
    "The ship told us that your race took slaves before it became
illegal," I said.
    "Some of my race still do, when they can get away with it.
But it is a crime that can earn life imprisonment or even a death
sentence, if convicted."
    "Do you think other races dislike you because of that?" I
asked her.
    She was silent for a moment.
    "I do not know. It has been illegal for over five hundred of
your years. I don't know if that is common knowledge, or not.
However, the Tiktik traded with us even when slavery was legal."
    I didn't know either, of course. But five hundred years was a
long time---plenty of time for other races to know that.
    Mike put his arm around me, and I leaned against him.
    "The ship told us you were a little envious of us," Mike
said.
    "Yes. It is an accident of fate that you are invaluable while
my own children go hungry. But with this plan, your value can
help us, too. I asked earlier if you were grateful. I want you to
know that I am grateful to you for agreeing to the plan."
    I nodded.
    "How involved was Ship with working out the plan?" Mike
asked.
    I was surprised by his question. I had assumed it was all
Clicker's plan.
    "The idea was mine. It was the ship's idea to improve you.
Will, I would have rejected you because of your illness. No buyer
would want a specimen that was expected to die soon. And it
seemed cruel to create a copy of you that would die. You would
face two deaths, instead of one. But the ship thought he could
repair you and he wanted to try. He told me he could do it
virtually and only produce a physical copy if he succeeded. I'm
glad he was successful."
    I smiled
    "Me, too. Thank you, Ship," I said.
    "I was glad I was able to correct the problem," the ship
said.
    "You said you are getting a Doridge body," Mike said to the
ship. "Are you a computer?"
    "I'm not sure if I am a computer in the human sense of the
word. The ship has a computer, to which I am connected. But each
of us could function without the other. I am a machine
intelligence," Ship said. "Because of the way human technology
has developed, if humans ever create artificial intelligence, it
will be based in a computer. But the Tiktik developed machine
intelligences before they developed sophisticated computer
technology. The original machine intelligences were sentient, but
not very intelligent. That suited the Tiktik very well. They have
no interest in creating intelligences who are smarter than they
are."
    Clicker left and I turned around to face Mike. I started
unbuttoning his shirt and he grinned at me. I ran my hands over
his chest. He tilted my head up. I watched him shake his head.
    "What?" I asked.
    "I never thought I would see such a look of lust from you."
    My fingertips found his nipples through the hair on his
chest. I pinched both of them. Mike closed his eyes. I pulled on
them and Mike smiled. I smiled, then. I learned something else
Mike liked. I moved one hand down to his crotch and felt his
erection through the fabric of his pants. I began rubbing it.
    "Take it slow. I don't want to come unless my cock is inside
you," Mike told me.
    I grinned at him.
    "Does that mean you won't ever shoot on my face?"
    He wiggled his eyebrows at me.
    "Kinky! I love it! Well, forget that rule!"
    I smiled.
    I was horny, and Mike was definitely fully erect, but then
fatigue hit me. It had been a very busy day, and suddenly I felt
it. I smiled at Mike.
    "You look tired," he said.
    I nodded.
    "I think I will give your cock a rest. I'm getting sleepy."
    "I think I'm ready to sleep, too," Mike said.
    I got undressed. Mike asked the computer for a blanket,
explaining what one was. Moments later, one appeared. I lay down
and Mike covered me with the blanket. Then he climbed in under
it. I smiled as he took me in his arms. He kissed the back of my
neck and then laughed. My neck felt strange. He pulled something
off and showed it to me. It was more dried skin from the ridge on
my back. He tossed it onto the floor. I fell asleep feeling very
safe in Mike's arms.

    The following morning, I woke up to a fabulous aroma. I saw
that not only did we have furniture, including a table and two
chairs and what resembled a sofa, but breakfast was ready. I
looked at the pancakes and coffee on the table and hugged Mike.
He had arranged everything before I woke up.
    "The ship had scanned pancake mix, milk, and eggs. I told him
how they are cooked and he whipped them up," Mike said.
    "Wow! And coffee!"
    While we ate, I thought on and off about what the ship had
said about being a machine intelligence that predated computers.
Was he some sort of analog device? I imagined a lot of old vacuum
tubes. Those had been common and very useful before transistors
were invented by humans.
    "If you are interested, I will give you a tour of the rest of
the ship," the ship said, as we ate.
    "That sounds nice," I said. That made me start wondering.
    "If you move into a body, what will become of the rest of the
ship?" I asked Ship.
    "The owners can hire a biological pilot or another machine
intelligence to pilot," Ship said.
    I nodded.
    "How exactly do you transfer a machine intelligence into a
biological body?" Mike asked.
    "Sentience along with an individual's personality and
memories is a very complex pattern of electrical activity. Each
pattern is unique. As long as the biological brain has enough
connections to support the pattern, it is not very complicated."
    I almost laughed.
    "It certainly sounds complicated!" I said.
    "Maybe I phrased it badly. There is equipment that can do
it," Ship said.
    I nodded.
    "Won't you eventually die in the new body?" I asked.
    "I can die as a machine, too," Ship said. "I am fairly
fragile as I am. The body I've constructed should live several
hundred years. I can make a new copy of myself when the end
approaches."
    "Do you want to be biological to gain mobility?" Mike asked.
    "No. I could have a mechanical body that is far more mobile
than a Doridge. I want to experience existence as a biological
being, especially eating and sex. Those two activities are
enjoyed by almost all biological beings. I want to find out what
they are like. I might also experience love, although I suspect I
would have trouble loving another Doridge. We would have nothing
in common but appearance."
    "Maybe you'll meet a nice lady machine intelligence," I said.
    Mike laughed.
    "Speaking of which, have you chosen a sex?" Mike asked.
    "I suppose male," Ship said. "But I don't necessarily only
want sex with a female. You two are males and you seem to enjoy
sex with each other very much. I would like to try it with both
sexes."
    I nodded.
    "You told Will you had sex with females when you were
younger. Is sex better with another man?" the ship asked.
    "It is for me," Mike said. "But that isn't true of most human
males. Men who like sex with men are definitely in the minority.
I've read that it is estimated between five and ten percent of
human males prefer sex with other men," Mike said. "Not all of
them act on it, though. It is illegal in some countries. And even
in countries where it is legal, many people are opposed to it."
    "I will let Clicker know that," Ship said. "It will affect
your price."
    I felt a tinge of annoyance at the thought of being sold.
    "It will drive the price up?" Mike asked.
    "Yes."
    "Why do we call you Ship when you seem to be just the pilot?"
I asked.
    The ship didn't answer. I looked at Mike. He seemed amused.
    "I became sentient when I was installed in the ship," the
ship said, finally. "That is what the first person who spoke to
me called me. I suppose I should choose a different name."
    We finished eating and Mike poured me another cup of coffee.
    "Are you two going to mate again today?" the ship asked.
    I laughed.
    "I sure hope so!" I said.
    "Yes, Ship," Mike said, winking at me. "We will probably mate
more than once a day."
    "I will let Clicker know. He will sell you as a mated pair.
If you mate infrequently, your owner will be disappointed."
    I gritted my teeth. Then I sighed. I needed to get used to
the idea. I agreed to it---being owned---and it apparently would
be a good life, as long as I was willing to have regular sex with
Mike. And boy, was I willing! And the truth of the matter was, I
was eager to see Remeskil. Clicker said it was nothing like
Earth. How? Why? Was it like Saturn? Were there rings around it?
Were there floating cities? What were the Tiktik like? From what
we had been told, they seemed not too different from humans. Was
that true? Certainly the urge to own the rare and unusual (like
us) was common with humans. But they had to be very different.
Their evolution and history were completely different from ours.
    "I want to remind you again to keep secret the fact that you
are constructs," Ship said. "If you are copies, for all your
prospective owner knows, there could be hundreds of you."
    Mike nodded.
    "You aren't planning to make more copies of us after we are
sold, are you?" Mike asked.
    I was stunned. That had never occurred to me, but it seemed
like it wouldn't be too difficult. They could go from planet to
planet, selling copies of us.
    "No. Absolutely not. Can you imagine your buyer's reaction if
he found out you were copies after paying an enormous amount of
money for you? Clicker and I would go to prison at the very
least."
    I was reassured.
    "I am planning to delete the data before we land on Remeskil.
I don't want to do that until I am sure you are happy. You might
want to be reconstructed with your original brain chemistry."
    Mike and I nodded.
    "I don't think there is much chance of that," I said.
    "I agree," Mike said.
    "You should not mention that you were ill, either," Ship
continued. "Your owner might worry that you will become ill
again, soon. We know that won't happen, but we can't explain
why."
    I nodded.
    "I suppose they will be eavesdropping on us all the time," I
said.
    "I doubt it. You will be an occasional diversion for your
owner. He will have business concerns that occupy the vast
majority of his time.
    Mike got up and walked across the room to the toilet area. I
remained and drank the rest of my coffee. When Mike returned, he
was wearing the pants that had no crotch. I grinned at him.
    "There is my mate's beautiful reproductive organ!" I said.
"And it is waking up!"
    Mike laughed.
    "Is it like Christmas?"
    I grinned.
    "Better. After all, you're going to fuck me."
    "I certainly am."
    Mike reached down and pulled me up. I put my coffee cup down.
We kissed and I wrapped my hand around his erection. His hands
roamed over my body, possessively, I thought. I liked it! I
moaned as he pushed a finger inside my ass. I began stroking his
cock. He pulled away from the kiss after a minute, or so.
    "Where do you want it, first?" He ran a finger over my lips.
"In there?"
    I grinned.
    "I always want it in there. I love the taste of your jizz."
    "Then my first load will go in your mouth. The second in your
ass."
    "Then repeat," I added.
    Mike laughed.
    "Of course!"
    I knelt and swallowed his dick. Mike sighed and ran his
fingers through my hair while I began sucking him. Then he held
my head and began thrusting into my mouth. His balls slapped
against my chin. I moaned around his cock. I loved it. I reached
up and ran my hands over his chest and belly while he fucked my
mouth. I moaned as a thought occurred to me. What if Ship made
another copy of Mike? I could have two of them! It could never
happen, I knew that. But it was an exciting fantasy. One Mike
could fuck my ass while the other fucked my mouth, with both of
them shooting in me at the same time. Mike began fucking my mouth
faster. I wondered if he was close to shooting. I reached up for
his nipples and pulled on them. Sure enough, Mike cried out and
pulled his cock most of the way out of my mouth. I felt a spurt
of his warm cum hit the back of my throat. I wrapped one hand
around my own dick and came, too. I shot my load in an intense
orgasm, while Mike shot his load into my mouth. I wrapped my free
hand around his balls and heard a sigh of pleasure from Mike.
Then Mike pulled his cock out of my mouth. A spurt hit my face.
    "Bull's eye!" he said.
    I laughed. It was hard to miss at two inches! I tried to get
his cock back into my mouth. He let me. He shot the rest, which
wasn't much, in my mouth. After he finished, he pulled me up and
kissed me, passionately. We wrapped our arms around each other.
    "I love you," he said to me, when the kiss ended.
    "I love you, too."
    Mike took my hand. We walked over to the sofa and sat down. I
looked around. The room was starting to look better, with
furniture. We could basically ask for anything in the way of
furnishings. And not just furnishings. We could ask for clothes
and food, too.
    "You know, this is a pretty nice honeymoon. We've got great
room service that can give us just about anything we want."
    Mike nodded, smiling.
    "I'm getting really excited about our destination," he said.
    "More excited than you were about Mount Everest?"
    "Well, that is pretty different. But I guess I am. I just
hope we are happy in five or ten years."
    I nodded.
    "If you get bored, you can ask to travel," Ship said. "You
might even ask to visit Earth, although you would have to sneak
onto the planet the way we did."
    I was shocked by that.
    "Are you serious?" Mike asked.
    "Yes. Keep in mind this ship was chartered by a poor family.
You will belong to someone who spends more on one meal than
Clicker will ever see," Ship said.
    I looked at Mike. He seemed to be as shocked as I felt. It
never occurred to me, but the ship had told us our owner would
probably let us travel, if we wanted to. He---or she---might even
become interested enough in humans to want to see Earth. As
surprised as I was by that thought, I was even more surprised by
the next one, which was why go to Earth, which we knew, when
there were alien planets to discover? It would be nice to
reassure my parents that I was still alive, but they would have
buried me. If we couldn't admit we were copies, how would we
explain to our owner why we didn't want to see our families? No.
Our future was not on Earth, and wouldn't be for a long time, if
ever.
    Mike was still wearing his crotchless pants. I took his cock
in my hand and felt it stiffen. Mike put his hand behind my neck
and pulled my mouth to his. We kissed. I turned to face him and
sat on his lap. He pushed a finger inside my ass, while we
kissed. We moaned into each other's mouths as he started finger
fucking me. My cock was erect, too. I began rubbing it against
his hairy belly.
    "Do humans normally mate so often?" Ship asked.
    I pulled away from Mike and both of us laughed.
    "We are newly---mated. We mated for the first time on this
ship," Mike said. "We will probably mate less often later. Right
now, it's all I want to do. I've wanted to mate with Will for a
couple of years. But later, the passion will cool---a little."
    "I agree. In fifty years, we may only want to mate once a
day," I said, grinning at Mike.
    "I hope!" Mike added.
    "You'll still be just as sexy," I said, stroking his very
stubbled cheek.
    Mike was still finger fucking me.
    "Does that bother you? I can shave."
    I was curious to see how Mike looked with a beard. Instead of
answering, I reached behind me and pulled his hand away. He
looked uncertain. Then I took his cock and aimed it at my hole.
Mike closed his eyes and sighed. I sat down on his cock, making
both of us moan. I was still lubricated from the day before. Once
he was fully inside me, I kissed him, again. I tasted coffee and
pancakes. I supposed he tasted his own cum. It didn't seem to
bother him, though. Mike began thrusting and I lifted myself
enough to give him room. I got more pleasure out of being fucked
by Mike than I had from any of my other partners. I wasn't sure
if it was because he wasn't wearing a condom, or if he was better
at it, or I wanted him more, or what. But I did love it. And
intellectually, I was glad he wasn't wearing a condom. It
probably didn't feel any different, but it made me feel---like we
were married. I would never have to worry about catching a
disease from him and he wouldn't have to worry about me. Condoms
were for casual sex and disease prevention, I decided.
    I began moving on Mike's cock when he seemed to tire. Right
about the time I began to wonder if he could come, again so soon,
he grabbed my waist and held me still while he groaned.
    "Oh, yeah! Fill me up!" I said.
    I wished I could feel his ejaculation, but I could picture it
in my mind. He grabbed my dick and began jacking me off. I came
quickly, shooting all over the black hair on his chest. His cock
started to soften. I lifted up, planning to move on it to get it
hard, again. But it slipped out of me.
    Mike laughed.
    "What?" I asked.
    "The look of disappointment on your face was priceless!"
    "Can I help it if I love my mate's sturdy weapon?"
    He laughed.
    "It will be sturdier later."
    "I certainly hope so. Let's wash it so I can suck it."
    He laughed. He seemed very happy and I was pretty sure it was
because of me and not Ship's brain chemistry changes. That was
what I chose to believe, anyway.
    I climbed off him and we took a shower, washing each other.
Mike knelt behind me and pulled my cheeks apart.
    "I want to make sure your hole isn't getting too much of a
workout," he said. "It looks fine. It winked at me, in fact."
    I laughed for a long time.
    Mike asked for a stream of hot air and the ship supplied it.
We dried quickly in it.
    I asked the ship for more coffee. When it arrived, I poured
some for both of us. Mike stood at the display looking at what
had to be aliens. I was curious, but I took the time to wonder
about some things. Ship was made by the Tiktik. Just how much
like a Tiktik was he? Was business first and foremost on his
mind? Had he altered us to make us a better, surer investment?
With his happy changes, were we more likely to go along with the
plan of Clicker's? In a way, it was pointless to worry about it.
I made the decision to cooperate and I still thought it was the
right decision. Or maybe the only decision. I was only alive
because of their mercenary plan, and I was very glad I was alive.
    "Look at this!" Mike said.
    I got up and walked over to him. He was showing what looked
like a turtle or tortoise. It had a shell with legs and a head
sticking out.
    "Is it intelligent?" I asked.
    "No. Many Tiktik keep them as pets," Ship said.
    Tiktik looked like ostriches with arms instead of wings and
these pets looked like turtles. Just how similar was life in the
galaxy? Was it convergent evolution---animals evolving to look
similar because they share the same environment? That was why
sharks and porpoises resembled each other when they were
completely unrelated. Sharks were more primitive in most ways
than other fish while porpoises evolved from land animals and
breathed air. Maybe porpoises would evelop gills again, since
those were more practical for oceanic life.
    "Ship, how similar are humans and Tiktik genetically?" I
asked.
    "Not at all similar."
    "Is the Tiktik home planet a lot like Earth?"
    "Yes. They are very similar."
    I nodded.
    "They look a lot like an Earth animal," Mike said. "So do
these pets."
    "Yes. I found that after interpreting some of the data I
captured," Ship said. "The Tiktik may be interested, but don't
expect them to be amused by it."
    I frowned.
    Not long after, Clicker visited us. The four of us, including
Ship, worked on a cover story for how Clicker convinced us to
leave Earth with her.
    "I have an idea," Mike said. He turned to me. "We'll give
them a Romeo and Juliet tale. They won't know we borrowed the
idea."
    "What do you mean?" I asked him.
    "Why don't we tell them our families wouldn't let us be
mates, because they don't like each other and because we are both
males," Mike continued. "So when the opportunity with Clicker
appeared, we saw it as a way to be together."
    "I like that idea," Ship said. "You mentioned to me before
that male mates are often frowned upon. But I don't understand
who Romeo and Juliet are."
    "They are characters from a play---a work of fiction by a
very talented author."
    "It will make your owner happy to know he is helping you stay
with your mate," Ship said.
    "I like the story, too," Clicker said. "It makes it much more
romantic than the truth. And it makes taking you from your planet
completely legal. Also, that sort of thing happens with my own
people."
    "Is there any chance no one will want to buy us?" I wondered.
    "No," Ship said. "None at all. You raise your owner's status,
both personally and professionally. Not only are you rare and
expensive, but you give him insights into a future business
partner."
    "If we are so rare and expensive, why don't Tiktik visit
Earth themselves and ask for volunteers to go with them?" Mike
asked.
    "At this stage in your development, Earth is not a safe place
for visitors from other planets. Your military might try to blow
up the Tiktik ship. They would be unsuccessful, but the Tiktik
might be forced to defend themselves and they would win, of
course. But that sort of encounter is terrible for business. The
Tiktik want their reputation to be spotless. They would much
rather have that unpleasant encounter happen with another race,
like the Doridge. Humans might think the Doridge were their
enemies and the Tiktik could offer to defend the planet for a
fee. A Tiktik ship would remain in orbit around Earth, defending
it against imaginary opponents and collect a hefty fee for doing
nothing. Tiktik would be the heroes and they would risk nothing."
    I shook my head. I was very unsure what to think about the
Tiktik. Then a better use of an orbital Tiktik ship occurred to
me.
    "We don't have much defense against meteors hitting the
planet from space," I said.
    "That's true," Mike said. "Life on Earth has been mostly
wiped out several times by impacts."
    "But you have spaceships," Ship said.
    "They can't really do much to stop one that is big enough to
do real damage. We might be able to set off nuclear warheads on
the rock, but we might not be able to get them to it in time. And
there is also the possibility that the bombs wouldn't damage it
enough to prevent catastrophic damage on Earth."
    The ship didn't respond. After a couple of minutes, we
assumed it had other things to do. After all, we were approaching
the wormhole and that might take all of Ship's attention.
    "What made you think of that?" Mike asked.
    "I was thinking of that ship in orbit protecting us from
imaginary enemies. It could protect us from real danger, though,
too."
    Mike nodded.
    We spent the rest of the day learning about the Tiktik and
other aliens. We asked for information about Remeskil, but the
ship said he wanted it to be a surprise. Since it was the first
alien world we had ever seen, it would be a surprise, anyway. We
learned about the races we were likely to see, including the
Doridge. The Doridge had long legs and a long neck, but they had
fur, not feathers and scales. I thought they were more attractive
than the Tiktik. Ostriches always looked kind of goofy to me,
although I knew that was something I should keep to myself.




    If you enjoyed it and want to read more, let me know.