From: elf@coho.halcyon.com (Elf Sternberg)
Newsgroups: alt.sex,alt.sex.stories
Subject: Journal Entry 263/1024  [ Planetfall: Erecting Tents ]
Date: 25 Feb 1995 16:52:24 GMT
Organization: Northwest Nexus Inc.
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Hiss 22, 1024

	We spent two days setting up the camp.  We erected tents, set up 
water sources using fusion-driven atmospheric condensers, established 
functional waste-disposal units. 

	One of the problems with the expedition lay in the nature of the 
crew of the Rat's Inquiry.  While the botanical crew occupied itself 
with the primary task of this mission, there would still remain 
members of the crew who would not be happy with the essentially 
ground-based nature of the investigation.  Anticipating this need, 
David had agreed that for however long the preliminary investigation 
took, the Rat's Inquiry would be free to investigate nearby stars.  
He explained that he had never had a college education, jumping into 
the merchant marines at the first opportunity, and now that he had a 
chance to contribute to something other than his bank account he 
wanted to enjoy it for all it was worth. 

	Four geosynch and nearly two-dozen near-atmospheric orbital 
satellites were launched from the Inquiry in the first two days.  The 
fourth geosynch satellite (only three were really needed for coverage 
of everything but the polar regions of the planet) was also our 
primary Huffman communications satellite.  It took less than sixteen 
hours for us to establish a communications link with Pendor.  
Something of a hit-or-miss operation, we were still managing a 
reasonable data link.  Even with our best compression, however, it 
still wasn't good enough for voice transmission. 

	The primary mission tent was a monster of a flexible structure, 
going up and forming a giant double-bubble over the grasslands.  
Around it arose the smaller box- and circular-shaped tents that would 
be housing for many of the mission specialists-- botanists, 
biologists, zoologists, geologists, oceanographers, and so forth-- 
and the support personnel. 

	Aaden and I spent an hour getting ours up.  It wasn't as easy as 
it looked.  The tent consisted of a groundsheet, fifteen meters 
across and in the shape of an octagon, with holes where the 
groundstakes would go.  Each hole was fourteen meters from it's 
opposite.  We drove the eight primary stakes into the ground, then 
telescoped them up to two meters.  After that the hoop sectionals had 
to be arranged around the stakes, the  groundcloth had to be folded 
up against them, and the first layer of off-white cloth strung out 
from one to eight, leaving the gap between those two for the main 
door.  Smaller side-gaps every other panel made airholes.  Then the 
bubble overhead was clamped down over the top, with a 15cm overlay to 
keep the rain out.  Tensile lines criss-crossed the roof to hold our 
roof up.  From the eight spokes we could string interior lines and 
make privacy rooms in any pattern we liked.  Which was good, 
considering we were going to need room for four in here.  After that 
we attached the rain-canopy to the outside and staked those down with 
ropes as well. 

	The meteorology report from the Inquiry indicated that we would 
get our first taste of planetary rain that night.  Aaden and I were 
just confirming the waterproof status of the tent when P'nyssa 
arrived from the *Inquiry*.  "So this is home," she said. 

	"That it is," Aaden said, giving her a huge furry hug.  "How do 
you like it?" 

	"It's... homey," P'nyssa said cheerfully.  "I'll get used to 
it." 

	"Aw, it's not that bad," I said. 

	"No, it's not," she said, smiling and giving me a hug as well.  
"Like I said, it's not quite home, and it's not a starship.  It's 
something new and I'm going to have to get used to it.  But I'm a 
doctor and I'll do my job as well as I'm able." 

	"Good attitude," I said.  "How do you want to arrange the 
insides for Sheja?  Just like we agreed beforehand?"  Noah was 
already fifteen and was soon going to be sleeping alone, by himself.  
Or not.  He had argued for his own tent and we had given it to him. 

	"I don't see why we should change it now," she said.   

	"Then let's get to it," I said. 

	The planet turned once every fourteen hours and eighteen 
minutes.  There was a lot of grumbling over the new schedules; we 
were all going to be brutally out of synch with the dusk and dawn for 
the first couple of weeks.  I knew of a few people who had announced 
their intention to stick to at least a twenty-eight-hour schedule no 
matter what.  I had pointed out that no matter what, their bodies 
were going to insist that dawn happened when it was light out, and 
they weren't doing themselves much of a favor. 

	As the dusk came, I still found myself wide awake.  But with the 
dusk, the wind whipped harder and faster, and along the mountainside 
we could see the coming storm. 

	"It's beautiful," P'nyssa said softly, watching the clouds. 

	"Mom," Sheja said, tugging on her sleeve, "Can the storm hurt 
us?" 

	"Only if you go outside and get struck by lightning, hon." 

	"Is that possible?" 

	"It is if you're the tallest thing around.  We've got lightning 
rods on top of the Mission Center, though, see?  If lightning hits, 
it'll hit those." 

	"Good," Sheja replied. 

	I hugged P'nyssa softly.  "At least this time, when we're 
stranded on a deserted planet in the middle of nowhere, we've got 
lots of friends and equipment." 

	She hugged me back.  "And this time we've got Aaden." 

	I laughed.  "He means a lot to you, doesn't he?" 

	"More than you might ever know."  She kissed my cheek.  "Stop 
trying to understand us and just love us." 

	"I'll do that."  Inside, I picked up my PADD and with a few 
quick requests located the raw overhead meteorologic footage.  It was 
a large if undifferentiated storm, bearing lots of rain and wind down 
on our locale.  Reading the meteorology report I spotted that someone 
had already sent several probes into the windstorm and reports of 
gusts up to seventy KPH were coming in.  I whistled softly on the 
inhale. 

	"I hope we got those stakes down solid." 

	"Asimov solid," Aaden said, smiling. 

	I grinned back at him.  "They'd better be.  Check out these wind 
reports." 

	He looked them over and nodded.  "We'll be fine tonight." 

	"Let's hit Mission Control, then." 

	Consisting of the same architecture as the smaller tents but on 
a grander scale, the two massive tents that made up MC were each 
distinctly different from one another.  The first one was left as a 
huge open space, 120 meters across, lined with tent doors that led 
off to offices or residencies or whatever was needed at the moment.  
The open space at the moment was occupied by a medium-sized SDisk and 
people in Stark armor busily moving crates to one side.  Despite the 
relative silence that Stark was capable of, the din of moving and 
unpacking carried in the enormous hollow room. 

	The other tent had been broken down into laboratories and more 
offices, a rat's maze of complexity.  I got lost in there, having to 
ask Lance for help out of the place.  He was very helpful. 

	Catching back up with Aaden, he and Dr. Garenna were already 
excitedly going over a plan of attack.  "Okay, the Sister reported 
that the networked plant-form was found between here and here on 
their map.  That corresponds with these locations.  That's less than 
an hour away." 

	"Evening, Doctors," I said as I stepped up to them. 

	"Evening, Doctor Shardik," Garenna said, smiling in that fangy 
way only Uncia can manage.  "Aaden tells me you plan to stay 
planetside for the duration of the investigation.  Have you decided 
what you plan to investigate yet?" 

	"Actually, no."  While many of the people on the ground were 
listed as 'support' or 'family,' those people who found themselves 
with time on their hands were encouraged to contribute to helping out 
with children's groups or other needs, or to join a sector of the 
investigation and gain an education.  Although I was not in any real 
need of 'education,' I was more interested in getting a good look at 
the planet first.  "Although, at the moment," I said, suddenly 
slapping at my thigh, "Entomology might be my thing." 

	Garenna laughed.  "Yes, the insects can get oppressive," he 
observed.  "We were a tad surprised at just how large they are." 

	"I noticed that.  The first one that bit me was quite a 
monster." 

	"Yes," he repeated.  "I heard about that." 

	"We could always use you in the biology department, Ken," Aaden 
said.  "You're no slouch there." 

	"No, but I'm still considering my options, Aaden." 

	He nodded.  "Whatever you decide.  Just let me know, so I know 
where to find you." 

	"Sure thing," I said, smiling.  "I'm going to go rejoin Nyss and 
Sheja before the rain begins." 

	"I'll be back in a little while," he said. 

	Leaving the mouth of the MC, I catapulted out into the wind, 
holding on tightly to my coat and making my way across the short 
distance to my little residential tent.  I ducked under the 
rainguard, slipped in between the two flaps that made up the door of 
the tent, and brushed my hair back.  "Whoosh," I said. 

	"Is Aaden with you?" P'nyssa asked, coming out of the bedroom 
she had set aside for us. 

	"Nope," I said.  "What's the bed look like?" 

	"It's a watercell mattress, as large as the one back home.  
It'll do for all four of us." 

	"All four?" I asked. 

	"For when she wakes us up in the morning."  We smiled at each 
other, and then she jumped suddenly when lightning struck.  Then we 
giggled. 

	"You okay?" I asked. 

	"It's so... elemental," she said.  "I'm not used to being this 
close to the weather." 

	"And instead of a weekend or a night or some such, this is going 
to be for a long time." 

	"Are you sure you can handle it?" she asked. 

	"I can.  How about you?" 

	"I think I'll manage.  I don't think Paul and Carroll would 
appreciate it, but they're very comfortable people."  She smiled at 
me again.  "Come on, let's get to sleep." 

	She led me by the hand into our bedroom, our little corner of 
the fourteen-meter diameter tent.  I followed quietly, and together 
we bedded down for the night. 

	I was awoken later that evening by the sounds of the tent being 
rustled, of rain falling hard upon the upper shield, and of Aaden 
grumbling as he came in.  I laughed softly and rousted myself out of 
bed to see if he was okay.  "Hey!" I hissed at him, whispering so as 
not to wake our daughter.  "You're late!" 

	"Sorry," he whispered back sheepishly.  "Garenna and I got into 
a long debate about the reasons for the network arising." 

	"Well, stop worrying about that and come into bed, silly.  Are 
you wet?" 

	"Just a little, on my face," he said.  I found a towel on the 
wooden table we had set up in the center room of the tent and tossed 
it to him.  "Here." 

	He dried himself off as well as he could and we bedded down 
together, he to my right.  P'nyssa had edged towards the left side of 
the bed, so I took up the middle position, lying on my stomach.  I 
was trying, slowly, to get some sleep, when I felt Aaden's hand press 
against my naked backside.  "Aaden," I mumbled softly, "Get some 
sleep." 

	He slid up close behind me and said, "I think it would be 
romantic, don't you?" he said, pressing a finger up against my anus.  
"With the wind and the rain.  With all the white noise, P'nyssa might 
not even wake up." 

	The finger against my asshole was the worst part, tempting me to 
agree with him.  He pressed harder and I moaned as silently as I 
could, which wasn't very silently at all.  I relaxed my left leg, 
turning completely over onto my stomach; Aaden slid on top of me, his 
cock pressing against my buttocks.  "I love you," he whispered. 

	"And I love you," I whispered back.  "Gently, this time, love."  
His cock, already erect, pressed against my asshole without much 
resistance, but once he slid completely inside me I concentrated and 
tightened my hole around him. 

	He growled his pleasure at me, stroking against me with his 
hips; the pleasure of his cock within me made my head go light, the 
pain of his intrusion made me gnaw on my pillow for surcease.  Even 
gently, it still felt like he fucked me possessed of some inner 
daemon, like I was a field to be plowed.  My fingers flexed 
reflexively and I whimpered as he came, shoving his semen deep within 
me. 

	We lay panting together, my hand reaching up behind me to stroke 
his head, to touch him.  "I love you," I whispered.  "Now can we get 
some sleep?" 

	"Sure thing.  I--" 

	"ANIMAL!"  The sound was a guttural snarl from the other side of 
the bed.  P'nyssa had grabbed up the sheets we'd pushed aside in our 
lovemaking and was holding them to her chest, covering herself.  
"Animals!" she growled again.  "You..."  Then she blinked. 

	"P'nyssa?" 

	"Ken?  Aaden?" she said.  "Oh, you two were..." 

	"What happened?" Aaden asked, rolling over to one side and 
unceremoniously pulling out of me at the same time. 

	"I... I don't know.  I had this dream, that you two were 
animals, and..." 

	"Well, yes, there is something vaguely animalistic about the way 
Ken and I have sex," Aaden said, chuckling. 

	"I know that," she said, batting him on the arm playfully.  
"That's not what I mean.  There was... it wasn't like I was looking 
at you.  I was just looking at two animals, and I had to do something 
about that." 

	"About what?" 

	"About the animals.  Like I had to get rid of you, or something.  
Move you aside.  Make room." 

	"Make room?" I asked.  "Room for what?" 

	"I don't know," P'nyssa said, sighing helplessly.  "I wish it 
had gone for more." 

	Aaden put his hand on her shoulder.  "It was just a dream, 
P'nyssa.  A combination of the storm and the noises you heard us 
making in your sleep.  That's all." 

	"No, Aaden, I don't think so," she said, wrapping a mitt around 
his arm for reassurance.  "I don't have really vivid dreams like 
this.  Not often, and when I do they're usually feeding off of 
someone else." 

	"Hmm," Aaden said.  "Do you want to see a psipath?  Should I 
call Nance or someone over to see you?" 

	"No..." she said.  "Not yet.  Let's just go back to sleep and 
we'll see what happens in the morning.  If I don't have the dream 
again, I'll just log it as a weird occurrence, and we'll worry about 
it later." 

	"Okay," he said.  I nodded and the three of us bedded down again 
for the night.  This time there were no dreams. 
 
--
"Planetfall: Erecting Tents"
The Journal Entries of Kennet R'yal Shardik, et. al. 
are copyright (c) 1989-1994 Elf Mathieu Sternberg.  Distribute freely 
via electronic media.  This copyright permits individual users to 
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not be sold or otherwise distributed for profit.

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elf@halcyon.com          Another victim of involuntary performance art. 
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