From: elf@halcyon.com (Elf Sternberg)
Newsgroups: alt.sex,alt.sex.stories,alt.sex.furry
Subject: Journal Entry 130 / 1022  [ Planetfall: Ask The Rat ]
Date: 31 May 1996 17:58:47 GMT
Organization: Pendor, UnLtd.
Lines: 320
Message-ID: <4onc0n$3cc@news1.halcyon.com>
NNTP-Posting-Host: coho.halcyon.com

Noren, Narnya 9, 1022

    Although the need for it had passed nearly a century ago with 
the death of his first chief engineer, David still paused at the 
door to his own office and knocked.  When he was satisfied that 
there was nobody inside, he took his seat behind his desk and 
turned on the terminal, listening to the familiar >beep<.

    "This is a stupid routine," he said aloud to an empty room, 
punching in his Captains Authority just to get an Internet 
connection.  The screen dutifully announced "Identity Address 
Suffix of The Rat's Success... Prior Address... Present Address... 
Originating Address... Identity Established.  Mail Routing 
Underway; Please Wait Fifteen To Twenty Minutes."  David nodded, 
touched a few more buttons on his keyboard, and summoned his 
spreadsheet program.  What he saw initially made him frown; 
although he made his way to Augustus mostly to pick up raw 
materials, good trading practices dictated that he try and find 
cargo he could sell here as well.  Prices weren't wonderful.  A 
more in-depth analysis revealed a different situation; some of the 
processed timing circuitry he had in the back would sell very well 
to the local mining operation.  He rarely turned a profit on the 
outward leg of the Augustus route, but it seemed this time he would 
actually succeed in paying profits to his crew.

    As he worked his way through his manifest and juggled numbers, 
a red circle annoyingly popped up in one corner and announced YOU 
HAVE MAIL.  "That's a surprise," he playfully mocked the 
announcement.  He brushed his finger over the circle on the screen 
and banished it to the background.

    When he closed the spreadsheet, the circle returned.  Deciding 
to get it over with now, rather than later, he asked to see his 
mail.  The list was short; only seven letters had accumulated in 
the nine days since he'd left Wisdom.  Two were official, one was 
from home, one was from a consortium of art dealers he had dealt 
with before with some success.  The fifth address stopped him 
momentarily.

              -               -              -

    Kennet Shardik at Shardik Castle, Rocchodain, Pendor.

    TEXT ONLY.

              -               -              -

    David looked at the header with concern.  Why was Denni's 
grandfather contacting him?  He touched the screen over entry five 
and proceeded to read.  He wasn't halfway through the letter when 
he snapped his terminal off and left his office, running.

    He reached his cabin a little out of breath, opened the door 
and walked back to the bedroom.  "Denni," he said, sitting on the 
bed and shaking his wife.  "Wake up."

    "Mrf?" she replied grumpily, looking up and blinking at the 
clock.  "David... my shift ended less the five hours ago.  'M 
exhausted."

    He smiled, stroking her head gently.  "I know, love, but I got 
email from your grandfather, Ken."

    "So?" she said into her pillow.  "'ll read it when 'm awake."

    "No, you don't understand, Denni.  I„ got mail from Ken 
Shardik.  A business deal.  Here, read it!"

    "What?" Denni said, sitting up suddenly.  David noticed with 
satisfaction that she treated business with seriousness; an offer 
from a Pendorian trading group was nothing to be looked at lightly.  
Taking one could be extremely lucrative or ruinous.  So far, any 
such deals he had accepted had been the former, probably in no 
small part because his wife was Pendorian.  Not to mention a member 
of the Shardik household.

    She stretched out on the bed facing the bedside terminal and 
punched up her access.  David unlocked the letter and she read it 
with apparent interest.  David spent the time looking over his 
wife's body.  In the past century she'd gained a little weight 
about her hips, but nothing could destroy the beauty he saw in her.  
Her dark skunkfur was still lush.  And he still had trouble not 
wishing to reach out and stroke her butt.  He knew it would 
distract her, but he finally did reach out anyway and touched her, 
running the bare pads of his fingertips down her back and butt, 
over her fur.  She squirmed softly under his touch.  "David, I'm 
trying to read."

    He smiled and stopped reaching for her more secret places, 
simply rubbing her back instead.  She turned and looked at him when 
she was done.  "What do you think?"

    "I think you have the most beautiful butt in the galaxy."

    Denni rolled her eyes and dragged her husband down onto the bed 
by the lapels of his shirt.  "And I think you're silly, David.  
But, coming from a starship captain who's seen a lot of the galaxy, 
I guess that's something of a compliment."

    "You don't mind that I tell you that often, do you?" he asked.

    She shook her head, smiling.  "I don't mind.  Maybe you say it 
too much sometimes, but I don't mind."  She smiled, letting the 
second pass.  "So, what do you think of the offer?"

    "I think it's incredible.  A three-planet joint mission?  A 
chance to explore uncharted space?  Did you see what he's offering 
us in the end?"

    She nodded.  "'Anything your heart desires.  We'll talk.'  But 
do you want to do it, David?  You're no Fleet captain, no explorer 
hero.  You're a merchanter, not a kirk.  And this isn't a crew of 
twenty or so plus stewards; ships like this have nearly two 
thousand people on board.  It's three years without seeing a 
standard P of C.  Think, hon, before you make your decision."

    David nodded soberly.  Among the other things this trip would 
mean abandoning his present trading effort, which up to this point 
had been coming along quite well.  For the first time in a long 
time his holds were full, his ship was maintained, and his guns 
were charged.  He reached for the screen and pulled up the bottom 
of the letter.  "Denni,"  he said, "I want to do it."

    "Why?" she asked.  "Not that I'm telling you not to, but I'm 
curious why."

    "Because I've been a free trader for my whole life."

    "It's all you ever wanted," she pointed out quietly.

    "Yeah," he said.  "Then I met you."  He leaned over and gave 
her a gentle kiss.

    "Flatterer.  So what are you saying?"

    "Think of this as a vacation," he replied.  "Down here at the 
bottom.  'I'll cover transportation costs to Pendor, including lost 
revenue and severance for your crew that doesn't want to go with 
us.'  I think that's pretty blanket, Denni.  He wants to see us on 
Pendor.  We should head there now, if I'm going to become 
accustomed to this enormous ship he wants me to captain."

    She nodded, a little confused.  "A vacation?"

    "Yeah," he said.  "We've *always* been free traders; we know 
every P of C in the galaxy; remember the time we agreed to take 
Bantha carcasses to Remus just so we'd have an excuse to be there 
during a planet-to-planet eclipse?"

    She laughed softly.  "Yeah, I remember.  That was so romantic."

    "Speak for yourself; those carcasses made a disgusting mess of 
the hold."  In his mind's eye he remembered the high-powered steam 
hose and the dark-brown, almost black blood that had dried to the 
floor of his cargo holds, making them stink with a ferocity he knew 
would never be matched anywhere in the galaxy.

    "I was talking about your getting me to Remus in time to watch 
the eclipse, lover."

    He grinned at her and nodded.  "Anyway, I just want to do 
something where it *isn't* 'just another port of call.'"  He 
smiled.  "Maybe it sounds funny, but with entire centuries ahead of 
me, maybe I'm suddenly feeling the need to do something that will 
get me into the history books."

    "David... do you remember the name of the first human to go as 
fast as light?"

    "Captain Stephen L. Wysack," he said, smiling.

    "Damn," she said quietly.  "I keep forgetting your interest in 
history."

    "Exactly, Denni.  This is a chance to make history."  His smile 
faltered for a moment and he looked down at his wife.  "Please tell 
me you'll be my Number One."

    She reached up and stroked his cheek, brushing aside his 
whiskers and making them twitch gently.  "David, my love and my 
captain, I will always be your Number One."

    He nodded.  "So, do I send Ken mail telling him we're on our 
way?"

    She nodded.  "And then tell the crew.  We have to lift as soon 
as possible.  How fast can you move the cargo?"

    "Two days.  Maybe faster.  Depends on how fast we can get fuel.  
The real market for most of our hold is on the larger moon."

    "Let's do it."  She smiled at him.

    "Are you going back to sleep?" he asked, looking over her naked 
body as she stretched and yawned in bed.  

    "I was having such a nice dream before you woke me," she said, 
her voice deepening and taking on a husky, dreamy quality.  "You 
were there, and the sea was there..."  She nodded once, slowly, and 
then David felt sure she was asleep.

    He shook his head, smiling, and started to rise to leave when 
her hand reached up and grabbed his tail.  "David?" she asked 
gently.

    He turned.  "Hm?"

    "Help me back to sleep?"  She opened her eyes and looked up at 
him, her smile wistful and wanting.

    He sat back down on the bed as she released his tail, leaning 
over to kiss her chin and lick her muzzle.  She murred softly, a 
sigh escaping from deep within her as his hands roamed over her 
chest, feeling her breasts underneath his fingers, touching her 
nipples as they hardened.

    He unclipped his jacket and tossed it aside, followed 
immediately by his pants.  He rolled into bed besides her, their 
bodies melding together.  David found it fascinating how the 
decades had made them so accustomed to each other, how every time 
they lay together they just fit.  Her hands stroked along the sides 
of his body, and he touched her back, caressing his wife urgently.  
She took her time, dreamily touching his body in the places she 
knew.  He took his care; Denni was always so very ticklish.  His 
melhood hardened under her caresses, and as she rolled him onto his 
back and slid him into her, David appreciated just how much he 
loved, her broad, blackfurred body, her bright eyes and her soft 
voice.

    They made love without urgency; their life together had often 
demanded that, together or independently, they act with all speed-- 
such was the life of a starship merchanter.  They had both long ago 
agreed that they would not bring that kind of impulse to bed with 
them.  She leaned over and rested her hands on his shoulders, her 
hips rising and lowering slowly, her eyes open to stare into his.  

    "I love you," he whispered up to her as he ran his hands 
through the thick, deep fur of her thighs.  

    She rolled her head around, never taking her eyes off of his, 
as they made love.  "I love you too," she replied, meaning every 
word of it.  

    Their lovemaking went on, David feeling his climax flowing into 
him as if it came from her, and when he came she joined him.  
Neither was particularly noisy or overcome by their pleasure, for 
it was a soft, pleasant release shared between them, and it was all 
they asked of each other.  Contact, reassurance, and love; they 
gave it to each other unreservedly and unquestioningly.

    As David rolled her over onto her back, slipping out of her as 
he did so, she was already well on her way down into sleep again, 
this time for sure.  He smiled, gave her a kiss on the cheek, 
dressed and left.

              -               -              -

    "Tasha."

    The Katckin on the screen looked composed and reserved, fitting 
her usual demeanor.  She was sipping from a steaming mug of 
decaffeinated coffee.  "You need me, David?"

    "Set a course for Pendor.  Best possible of speed; no ports of 
call."

    Both of Tasha's eyebrows shot up, her ears swiveling forward as 
if to confirm what David had said.  "Pendor?"

    "Pendor.  Specifically, the Pelcityran Shipyards, but we'll 
probably have to go through Parma to get there.  Is that clear?"

    "Yes sir."  She was still staring at him.  David could hardly 
blame 
her; she had been with him longer than Denni, and she knew better 
than anyone just how rarely he gave in to impulse.  This order was, 
literally, coming out of nowhere.

    "There'll be a conference in CF3 at 011:00.  It's already in 
your mailbox."

    She nodded.  "I'll be there."  She set to fixing a course.  
"David?"

    "Tash?"

    "Fuel considerations?"

    "None.  Burn all of it if it'll get us there faster."

    She nodded.  "The money's good on this one?"

    "I don't know," David admitted.  She turned back to the screen 
again, the look of incredulity returning.  "You know how curiosity 
killed the Katckin?"

    She looked nervous suddenly, and David realized that, from one 
direction, it almost sounded as if he was about to tell her to mind 
her own business.  He smiled in hopes of relieving her concern and 
said, "Tasha... this one's just full of satisfaction."

    She smiled, easing.  "Course set, David," she said in her most 
forward and professional voice.

    "See you in four hours, Tasha."

    "I'll be there."

--
"Journal Entry 130 / 1022  [ Planetfall: Ask The Rat ]"
The Journal Entries of Kennet R'yal Shardik, et. al., and Related Tales
are copyright (C) 1989-1995 Elf Mathieu Sternberg.  Redistribution of
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Any redistribution must include this copyright notice intact.
--
Elf Sternberg            FUCK THE CDA!       (Cohen vs. California, 1971)
elf@halcyon.com          Nos numerus sumus et fruges consumere nati.
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