In This Life I Was Loved by You – 7
Zuni and her friends were hiding in Brian’s ship. It was one of their favorite places to play. They loved to touch the various bits and pieces and imagine they were flying through the skies as Brian’s crew. When they discovered the cabin that was his personal space they were ecstatic. It was their friend’s private place. At first they were devastated at the disaster that the lake water had created. But one of them came up with the idea that they would fix it up better than new.
The first thing Zuni did was code the door to allow only her and her friends to enter. Not that there was any electrical system on board since Brian had Reggi with him. But the young Gloinzen were inventive. It wasn’t long before they had set a small computer to work a few of the systems.
It took days before their mini ship com system would work. Days of tracing down circuits and cleaning and repairing any damage. But the kids found it amusing and fun. They’d even been able to convince the elders that they were using the time as a learning experience, so that they were actually assigned part of the day to the ship.
Lindsay and Melanie were, of course, a minor irritation. The two women continued to do their best to plunder the ship of anything they deemed usable. This necessitated almost half an hour of each day for the Gloinzen children to find the items, repair them and return them to the ship.
It was becoming increasingly irritating to Zuni and her friends, but they had promised the elders to stop teasing the women. Removing the starships equipment from Lindsay and Mel’s clutches wasn’t teasing as far the children were concerned.
“We need to set an access code for the main deck.” Zuni declared after painstakingly fixing the forward drive once again. Otherwise I swear I’m going to do something not very nice to that whiny one.”
“They won’t like it you know.” Mua said as he patted a circuit he’d cleaned back into place. “They are worse than rodents, always chewing away at this ship.”
“Big fat rodents.” Zuni said with a giggle. “Big fat rodents that smell funny.”
The two children giggled together for a few minutes. “We could make it scary, they don’t like scary.” Mua remembered the fun he’d had scaring the women in the dark before the elders had discovered his tricks.
“Okay, scary is good.” Zuni stood up and stretched. “I am tired of doing things a million times. I wish we had Reggi here, she’d fix them.”
“Hey, we could fix up a wireless relay and access Reggi. I mean Brian and the elders didn’t say we couldn’t talk to her.”
“Great, we’ll find Tiak, he’s good at it. But first can we please, please lock them out of the main deck. Just until we get Tiak to talk to Reggi.”
Outside the ship, Lindsay sat on an overturned log staring at her feet. “I can’t keep going like this. My nails are ragged, my polish is chipped, and there’s a mark on my left little toe that won’t go away.”
“Would you shut the fuck up?” Melanie snarled. The romance in the relationship was being sorely tried these days. “If you’d keep your boots on no one would see your damn feet. Actually when it gets down to it, I’m the only person who sees your feet and I don’t care if you’re snaggle toed. I just won’t look.” Melanie was examining the access hatch they’d used the day before. It appeared to be locked shut, which made no sense.
“Linds, sweetie, why did you close the hatch yesterday?”
“The hatch?” Lindsay looked up and then around as if searching for a missing hatch. “What hatch?”
Melanie thumped her hand against the metal door making Lindsay jump at the noise. “This fucking hatch.”
“I don’t think I closed it.” Lindsay bent forward as if to see the offending door better. “I’m pretty sure I didn’t. But what does it matter? I mean it should be closed each day, what if animals begin to nest inside, or bugs get in, or or…. Maybe there’s an animal in there now. One who closed the hatch to keep us out.” She looked at Melanie, triumphant that she’d found an explanation.
“One who can float because there are no foot prints leading up to the ship.” Melanie pretended to go along with Lindsay’s fantasy.
“That’s right, a floating animal, no a flying one.” Lindsay was reluctantly pulling on her flight boots to cover her offending feet.
Melanie glared and kicked the door, knocking herself backwards. “I don’t believe this shit.” She muttered. “I’m going to try the secondary escape hatch. It was damaged but I should be able to get in through there.”
“I don’t know why you want to go into that smelly old ship.” Lindsay turned up her nose. “We’ve taken all the good stuff.”
“I want to get the replicator working. I’m fucking sick of eating rations, not to mention we’ll be running out of the escape rations soon.”
“Well they do taste rather bad. I don’t understand why Brian bought class D rations. No one buys those kind anymore, they’re soooooo cheap and tasteless. My daddy would never have anything less than double A rations in his pods.”
“Your daddy is a cheap prick, he’d have whatever cost remove less.” Melanie kicked at the door again, only to find herself back on her ass in the sand. “I don’t know what in hell is wrong with this ship.”
“You should be carefully Sweetie.” Lindsay cautioned as she watched her lover pick herself up out of the sand once again.
Melanie glared at her before stomping down the length of the starship to look for the other escape hatch. “This makes no sense.” She began, “We broke open this door when we rescued Brian. I distinctly remember breaking that bolt off.” She poked at the offending bolt with a hammer.
“It must have been the hatch that’s under the ship now. You know it probably moved when the ship was taken from the lake.” Lindsay was trying to be reasonable, but she knew it was a useless battle. Her spouse had fire in her eyes, never a good sign.
“Don’t give me that crap.” Melanie snapped, “How did this piece of crap get up on the beach, no one ever mentions that little bit of mystery.”
“Reggi said it was a fail safe thingy Brian had installed after he landed in water once before.”
“What, he fucking gave the things legs? I don’t think so Linds.” Melanie kicked the door and surprisingly it sprang open. Something that shouldn’t have happened even if it wasn’t locked shut. “What the?” Melanie said, once again on her ass in the sand.
“See the door’s open.” Lindsay grinned and climbed through the hatch. “It’s cold in here.”
“It can’t be that cold. The climate is temperate.” Melanie followed Lindsay inside.
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Brian woke up refreshed after a short nap. He padded to the bathroom and indulged in a hot bubble bath, something he’d read about but had never enjoyed. It was definitely worth the hype. Water on Earth was in such short supply that bubble baths were only a myth unless you were very rich and wanted to risk being turned in to the environmental police. The fines would make sure that you never enjoyed another deep bubble bath.
Stripping off his shorts, he fingered the necklace around his neck, about to take it off, but somehow, he couldn’t make himself do it. It was a foolish thought, but he was sure that as long as the necklace was being worn by the two of them, then they would be together no matter where they were in the universe.
He lay full length in the tub, warm scented water up to his neck. “Hey Reggi, record this for the holo deck.” Brian called to the computer he’d placed on the counter. “I’m going to live this again.”
“Perhaps you should have someone to share the bath with.” Mex said, poking her head through the door.
“Uh, Mex, if you don’t mind, I’d like some privacy here.” Brian smiled.
“It’s fun to bathe with a friend.” She said, ignoring his request. Brian was sure she was a she, mostly because of her persistence.
“I’m sure it is, but my friend can’t join me. He’s on another planet.”
“I like your ship com.” Mex said, changing the subject as she ran her hand over Reggi’s case.
“Hey kid, hands off.” Reggi barked.
“Oh.” Mex jumped back. “She talked to me.”
“Keep your hands to yourself kid. Now leave the boss to his bath. He doesn’t need a damn female in here.”
“I can be a boy if he wants.”
“He has a boy.” Reggi sneered, “Now leave.
“I have to go now Brian,” Mex smiled nervously at the red bag and then looked toward Brian. “Our parents are having a welcome party for you later. Raji and I’ll come and get you.”
“I don’t need anything like that. I’m just passing through.” Brian began.
“It doesn’t matter, they’re going to do it, you might as well enjoy.” Mex smiled and shrugged. “See you later, you too Reggi.” She blew Brian a kiss before leaving the bathroom.
“I wonder what that was all about?” Brian asked Reggi.
“She has the hots for you.” Reggi giggled. “It happens all the time. I thought you’d know the signs by now.”
“Yeah, yeah, but geeze Reggi, I don’t know if these people are girls or boys.” Brian shook his head before sinking below the water. He stayed under as long as he could before surfacing again.
“Hiding isn’t going to help.” Reggi snarked. “Oh and by the way, those bitches are trying to strip the ship.”
“How do you know?”
“I have my ways, trust me.” She giggled and Brian rolled his eyes.
He tried to shut out all distractions and relax in his bath. “Play something soothing, would you Reggi.” He asked, knowing his computer couldn’t resist this particular request. And sure enough, the room filled with the sounds of music that spun tales of love and happiness.
Brian closed his eyes and tried to put himself back in his hut wrapped around Justin’s warm body. He could feel the strength of the man he held and marveled at how much that strength reassured him. He could almost see Justin’s smile start at the corner of his mouth until it wreathed them both in sunshine and light.
He sighed in his memories and wondered when the blond had crept into his heart as his fingers idly played with the chain around his neck.
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It was barely a second, but Justin couldn’t help but feel he was loved as he watched the instant in time when Brian touched his wedding necklace and remembered their lovemaking.
“Sorry Keisha, I know I should save the seconds, but I had to try it.” Justin lay on his sumptuous bed in his cabin, Keisha on the bed with him enjoying the weight of his friend’s head on his chest. He’d spent a long time on the bridge until they were sure they were out of the Federation’s radar for now. He knew that it was only a matter of time before someone reported them, but for the time being, they were safe.
Justin snuggled even closer to Keisha, loving the big cat’s warmth and reveling in herhis purr that seemed to match itself to both of their heartbeats. He idly wondered if Brian would mind Keisha sharing their room, maybe even their bed someday as his hand strayed to his hard cock, hard because thoughts of Brian always made it that way. He stroked the length, imagining it was Brian’s hand… when suddenly there was a pounding on his door that could only mean trouble.
“It’s Ben.” The intercom announced.
“Come in.” Justin said forgetting the state of his cabin and the effect it might have on Ben.
“Holy Shit!” Ben said when he stepped through the door. “Justin, I don’t mean to be rude, but what the fuck is all of this. I’m sure you only have a standard cabin. I mean the ship just isn’t large enough for something like this.” Ben fingered the silken draperies that covered the wall near where he stood.
“Hey, it’s okay, think of it as kind of a holo deck thing.” Justin grinned and sat up. Keisha rolled on her back and stretched, she loved the soft bed.
Ben looked around the room once more and then his eyes went to Keisha and Justin. “Uh, okay. But if you don’t mind, keep Michael out of here, I just don’t have the time to deal with him if he sees your cabin.”
“It wasn’t me,” Justin said. “It was Marilyn, she favors Keisha.”
“She favors you, everyone in the Pitts knows not to mess with you or face her wrath.” Ben sighed. “But that’s neither here, nor there. Right now I need some idea of where we’re going.”
“I’ve set the course, but once we’re close… I guess I’ll have to work on it….” Justin wasn’t sure how, but he thought that maybe as he came closer to Brian, they would be able to figure out just which planet he was stranded on. It was confusing and not anything he had any experience with. Justin’s hand touched the amulet of his wedding necklace taking strength in the center weaving that contained the essence of the two of them.
“You have your own replicator in here?” Ben asked heading for a state of the art piece of equipment standing in a small kitchen area.
“I do?” Justin laughed. “Marilyn is determined to fatten me up.”
“Shit Justin, it has Tiramisu cake. My grandmother used to make that.”
“Order it up.” Justin said with a grin. “I’m sure it’s well stocked.”
“Michael would kill me.” Ben looked at the machine, temptation in his eyes.
“Take him a piece.”
“Are you kidding, he knows our replicator can only make the Federations list of prescribed rations as far as food is concerned.” Ben walked back to the bed where Justin continued to loll. “If you could take the watch at four bells, I’d appreciate it.”
“I’ll do it.” Justin needed something to keep his mind busy. He’d looked forward to help with the operation of the ship.
Father, the Ben man is nervous. He shakes inside. He has much fear.
“I know Keisha, I can’t help it. He is putting his life on the line for us. For some reason the Federation doesn’t want Brian and I to be together. Though I think that’s just another side of what is really happening. It has to do with Lindsay Peterson. It’s her father who is funding the next presidency.”
Keisha growled deep in her throat. Father, find your other man fast
“I plan on it cat.” Justin scratched his friend under her chin.
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Emmett continued to tidy up the shop despite the fact his arm ached from the multiple breaks he’d suffered earlier in the day. The Med Center had repaired his arm, but he’d been told it would be forty eight hours before it was back to where it was before he’d been attacked.
Something evil had come through the doors first thing in the morning at a time when Mysterious Marilyn was tending to personal things in different dimensions as he did most mornings.
Emmett had been sipping a cup of tea when the heavy double doors snapped open, crashing back against the wall, knocking a stack of trunks askew. “I demand my apprentice returned to me.” The words roared, shaking pictures and mirrors, knocking them sideway though they were spoken quietly. It was the very essence of evil that caused them to reverberate through the many rooms of Splendid Things.
“Excuse me.” Emmett began, not easily intimidated by the tall black garbed stranger with the scarred face. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.(“) And he really didn’t. What had happened with Ethan Gold and his henchmen had taken place when Emmett had been away from the store.
“He is here, I feel his presence.” Two strides and Shane was in the very center of the store where power sizzled from all items surrounding him.
“Your minion is not of this world.” Marilyn said softly appearing behind the large man. “Now leave this place. It is under my protection, as you well know. You have no business here now or ever.”
“I demand the return of Ethan Gold.” Shane looked down on Mysterious Marilyn. “Or I will destroy this building and all that’s in it.”
“Now honey, don’t anticipate what you don’t know.” Marilyn walked around Shane three times, his fingers rapidly moving in the sleeves of his long robes as he cast a spell. But the spell wasn’t cast soon enough and Emmett was caught in the cross fire of energy, throwing him back against a shelf of hand carved deity statues, his arm breaking with a sickening crunch.
It was enough for Marilyn who until now had been miffed, but not angry at the audacity of the monster man Shane; the ensuing battle filled the shop with ozone as magic was thrown between the two of them, neither Shane nor Marilyn giving an inch.
Realizing that Shane wasn’t going to give up, Marilyn had to resort to something she didn’t like to do often and that was banish someone to the deepest darkest jungle of a planet in the next quadrant. It was a planet that was filled with the likes of this Shane and one she knew he’d return from sooner rather than later. But she’d deal with him another time, for now she wanted to get rid of him and rid of him she did with a bang loud enough to shake the windows of the entire block. For it took a great deal of power to send the evil magician so far away, more power than Mysterious Marilyn cared to use generally, but enough was enough.
Emmett, watching from where he’d landed, scuttled behind a screen hoping that he wouldn’t be noticed again by the man called Shane. He knew exactly who he was, for legends of his evil had been around for hundreds of years. They said he was immortal and Emmett was sure the legends were right.
He watched the air turn an electric blue making everything in the shop appear surreal. Marilyn’s special objects, the ones he tended carefully on his own, turned red, then yellow and then deep grey, almost black, before reverting to their natural state. Emmett feared for the lives of those kept by Mysterious Marilyn in these various receptacles. He reached his hand out for the small box closest to him and then pulled it back. He didn’t dare touch any of Mysterious Marilyn’s things.
A rumbling in the floor where he was sitting pulled him back from his thoughts and Emmett peered out from around the screen, only to stare transfixed at the two mighty wizards, each of them larger than life, each of them raised three feet off of the floor, arms raised toward one another, a steady flow of power from each fist meeting and temporarily stopped between them. Slowly and steadily, the power from Marilyn was pushing back that of Shane, despite the evil man’s ring that glowed and burned on his finger, actual flames, blue with heat creeping up the chain to his wrist.
Not sure if he was doing the right thing, but knowing he needed to do something, Emmett picked up a heavily carved mirror off a nearby chest. Taking aim, he used all of his concentration to throw it, like he used to throw fish off his uncle’s fish boat when he was a child. The mirror turned end over end, mirror side toward Shane and as it intersected the river of power, two things happened.
The side facing Mysterious Marilyn absorbed Marilyn’s power and magnified it times ten, the side facing Shane absorbed his bolt of power and ricocheted it back to him where he disappeared with a deafening bang.
“My, my, that was exciting.” Emmett said, standing painfully.
“Emmett my dear, never thought I’d ever say it, but thanks for interfering.” Marilyn looked at his friend. “Let me get the Med com and fix you up.”
“Uh, sure, but what happened?” Emmett winced when he moved over toward Marilyn. “That was fucking scary.”
“You are the master of the understatement.” Marilyn said as he bustled around with the Med Com. “I sent Shane to a planet rather off the beaten track as it were. I’m afraid with a tad more zeal than I intended, thanks to the mirror. He may survive, or not, I suppose it doesn’t matter, but I do make it a policy not to actually take a life. I much prefer to… well relocate.”
“Well relocating is less messy.” Emmett said. “And the karmic results, no doubt, aren’t as bad as making someone into a paste.” He winced as the Med com worked its magic. “This is about Justin, isn’t it?”
“In part, it’s also about the Petersons.” Mysterious Marilyn shook his head. “I’ve lived a long time and I still don’t understand why money takes precedence over family, time and time again.”
“Thank goodness it’s not everyone.” Emmett said, glad the pain in his arm was now subdued.
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Light years away on a planet that had been used for a time as a prison planet, Shane landed with a splash in a pool of molten metal. He slowly sunk beneath the surface. It happened without sound, and no one near the pool took any notice of what had happened.
But Shane knew. He felt the sizzle when the metal hit his skin, he absorbed the burn as inch by inch his body morphed from flesh and blood to something that only resembled a man, but was in fact made up of metal that when cooled, would form what was known as Shane from Sinvegas. Only this time when he was reborn, he would be virtually indestructible .
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There was something not quite right with Noorn as far as Brian was concerned. He’d been in the village almost two weeks and each day increased his doubts. . At first it was just a few little things. The radio for instance, where was the station? Everything that one could require for a relatively soft life was available. Yet other than those who fashioned the feather clothing, Brian never saw anyone actually working.
And speaking of feathers, where in hell were they getting them. He’d seen the odd bird, but they all looked pretty ordinary to him. Certainly none of them were wearing blazing reds, blues and greens, more like mud browns, whites and blacks.
And then there was the constant effort of seduction. It was getting ridiculous, every time he turned around, someone was there in different guises attempting to seduce him. Men, women, children, it was becoming more than a little annoying.
Justin, Justin was another problem. He couldn’t get the blond out of his mind. When he least expected it, he’d see him for a second and then he was gone. It was driving him out of his mind.
Reggi wasn’t any help. She was thrilled to be able to download information from the Noorn. At first there’d been a few attempts at uploading, but she’d blocked all of them. In fact, the damned computer was looking at these attempts at hijacking information as a kind of game. Brian was afraid it wasn’t going to end well. He knew his days in the Noorn village were numbered.
“Brian, the two kids are heading this way.” Reggi spoke through their ear coms. It was something they’d been doing more and more to keep their interaction quiet. “They’re coming as boys.”
“Isn’t that just peachy.” Brian drawled as he slipped on his jumpsuit.
“Brian, we’re here.” Mex and Raji bounced into the room, doing their best to look alluring and masculine. “Want to fuck?”
“No.” Brian said as he turned away to see if his hair was in place. He watched through the mirror wondering what in hell was up with these two.
“Brian, come and fuck us.” Mex said, ignoring the older man’s looks. In a flash Mex had taken off his feathered robe to lie naked and erect on Brian’s bed.
“Nice cock Mex.” Brian nodded.
“Mine is much better.” Raji flipped off his robe and joined his friend on the bed. “See, it looks exactly like yours.”
Brian rolled his eyes and picked up their robes, throwing them on the bed over the two boys. “Sorry boys, you’re not my type.”
“Oh, that’s okay, we can be girls. Or one of each.” Raji changed to a young girl and snuggled close to Mex.”
“Okay, fuck this.” Brian jumped on the bed between the two, grabbing each one by an arm. “Tell me what in hell is going on?”
“Going on?” Mex tried to look innocent. “Nothing. We just wanted to have sex.”
“Try another story. There is one thing I have noticed around here. None of you have any kind of sex drive. I suppose it’s because you’re not sure just what sex you are from one minute to the next.”
“That’s not completely true.” Mex said, his bottom lip out in a sulk. “We want to have sex with you.”
“That’s right, you say that, but somehow I don’t believe it.” Brian made himself comfortable, ignoring the two naked kids on either side of him. “Now tell me why do you want to have sex with me?”
“Because if we do, we get to have your babies. Lots and lots of your babies.” Raji sat up excited. “No one has babies anymore. None that live very long. It’s because our gene pool has been depleted, that’s what the Chief says. When he found out you’re from Earth like our ancestors, then he just knew you’d be what saves the Noorn.”
“Well your Chief can go pound sand in a rat hole. Because he’s not going to get my swimmers.” Brian thought for a moment. “Of course if it’s just a new gene pool he’s looking for, have I got a couple of winners for you guys.” He grinned. “I happen to know two young women who are dying to get pregnant. Not only that, but I bet they have a few hundred or so eggs you can harvest.”
“Really?” Mex was excited. “Where are they?”
“Back where the ship crashed.” Brian paused, “Of course they’re a bit skittish, you might have to do some sweet talking.”
“Will you take us there? We’d be highly thought of if we can bring them to the village.” Both kids were all but quivering with excitement at the thought.
“I could possibly be persuaded.” Brian jumped off of the bed.
“Boss, what the hell are you doing?” Reggi asked, barely able to contain her glee.
“The thing is, kids, there really is no benefit for me if I take you to the girls.”
“We’ll ask the Chief, he’ll do something.” Raji all but squealed as he put on his robe.
“Better yet, why don’t the two of you stay here. I’ll find the Chief. I have a few things I want to discuss with the guy.” Brian was not happy and Reggi knew it. There had only been a few times in their relationship that he’d spoken in that tone of voice and this was one of them.
“Boss, you’d better take me with you.” She whispered in his ear.
“I plan on it Dahlin’.” Her boss drawled. “I fuckin’ plan on it.” He checked that Reggi was secure in her bag before hoisting it on his shoulder. “I’m going to put you down near his com outlet. I want you to infiltrate all the little nooks and crannies that you weren’t allowed into and see what the fuck we’re up against.”
“No problem Boss, and by the way, turning the bitches over to the Noorn is rather diabolical, but damn I like it.”
“I’m glad you approve.” Brian was already moving down the hall, but not before securing the door to his room with a code he and Reggi had come up with a few days earlier. The two kids would not be leaving any time soon.
He turned to the left because he’d never been encouraged to go down that particular corridor. Soon he came to a set of granite stairs that led down. So far down, he couldn’t see the bottom with all the twists and turns. Face grim, Brian took the stairs, two at a time, pleased that his daily exercising was finally paying off.
“Boss, there’s a lot of machinery that isn’t working ahead of us.”
“Oh, what else?”
“Two life forms, one healthy, one almost dead, two machines in the last stages before the great mechanic in the sky comes and takes them off to bolt and screw heaven.” She snickered at her words. Brian rolled his eyes and continued down the stairs. “Careful, the next corner will do it. You know their com system is failing. He doesn’t want anyone to know, but his circuits are wearing out.”
“You just found this out now?” Brian asked.
“No, I knew it all along, but I thought I’d mention it now.”
“Brian, what are you doing here?” It was the Chief who’d looked up from his desk in surprise when Brian rounded the corner.
“I came for a couple of answers.” Brian replied, striding into the office. He carefully set Reggi’s bag down by the com outlet at the Chief’s desk.
“What can I do for you? As you can see, I’m busy with running the village.”
“I see you’re doing something, but I’m not sure what. I want to know the whole story about what’s going on with the Noorn.” Brian took a worn seat, leaned back and crossed his long legs. “The first question I have for you is, why do all of you wear those gawd awful feathered things? If you’re from Earth, surely to goodness you’ve got some kind of fashion sense.”
“I think they’re rather beautiful.” The Chief preened at the feathered robe he wore, smoothing the feathers and admiring the combination of colors. “It happened oh, maybe a hundred or so years ago. The replicator we were using to produce ready made clothing and material for us to fashion clothing, became jammed after a particularly fierce lightning storm. We had a few technicians left and they worked on it, but the only thing we could get the damn thing to produce was feathers. Feathers of every color in the rainbow, of every feathered species in the known universe at the time of the replicator’s birth. It took a number of years for what clothing we had to wear out. In that time our artisan’s had begun to fashion and design the clothing we all wear now. We had never bothered to stock pile fabric, as it didn’t seem important at the time, so eventually we were left with feathers and a few blankets and quilts that haven’t worn out yet.”
“Well that explains the damn feathers.” Brian drawled. “Now what’s this about wanting me to fuck all the village.”
“Hardly all the village. Once or twice with Mex and Raji would be enough to gain samples of your DNA. We could take it from there, Samti,” he nodded to the old man who lay on a bench, “Is our physician, he assures me he could impregnate most of our population who are healthy enough to carry a child with your ‘donation’.
“Samti doesn’t look like he could get past the first two pieces of snatch he’d have to look up.” Brian muttered. “Well buddy, you’re out of luck, because I’m not leaving this planet with a bunch of my offspring here. I had enough of absentee fathers when I was growing up. I wouldn’t inflict that on my children.”
“I’m afraid we have no other alternative Brian. Our race is dying, the gene pool has just about dried up.” He winced at his words. “We do need you. We’d like it to be on a friendly basis, but we’ll use force if we have to.”
“He’s right Boss, I’ve found a lot of hidden files. They won’t last the next fifty years without some kind of help.” Reggi whispered into Brian’s ear piece.
“Maybe you can make a deal with the two women on my ship.” Brian offered. “They’re heartless bitches, I’m sure they wouldn’t mind leaving a few hundred of their offspring here if you give them each one to take home. You might even make a deal with the rescue ship. They should be carrying the required DNA samples the Federation insists on. Ben will share, he’s easy that way. And the guys that donated the samples apparently don’t care what happens to the samples.”
“You would help us? Even after we….” The Chief faltered in his words.
“I’d want something in return.” Brian crossed his legs again, getting comfortable. “For one thing, I’d want a few of these damn feathered robes. I have a friend who has a store; something like this would go for a pretty penny. And I want one, oh about the size to fit a five year old child, something bright and colorful. It’s a gift.” He smirked, thinking of Zuni and how pleased she’d be to receive something unusual.
“And yourself, don’t you want children?” the Chief asked. “If you become stranded here on this planet, a child of your own would be good company.”
“I’m not having a child to entertain myself.” Brian sneered. “And I’m sure as fuck not like the Noorn. I can’t get pregnant even if I wanted to and trust me, I don’t want to.” But he was thinking, the Gloinzen had some of Justin’s DNA, maybe, just maybe, they could combine their DNA and cook up some kind of test tube baby that had both of their genes. It was a far fetched idea, but not outside the realms of possibility. The chance that Justin would be able to find him was remote, no matter how confident the blond was. This way he’d have something of the love they felt for each other to be found eventually by Ben and Michael.
“If, and I am saying only if, I was able to provide a viable life with my med com, could I borrow one of your people to gestate this life and then let me raise the child?”
“I would want the assurance that your women will provide us with the necessary eggs for fertilization.” The Chief began cautiously.
“I’ll make sure they deliver.” Brian couldn’t help but smirk at the fun he’d have with the two women. “And I’ll get back to you about having a child of my own. It isn’t something I’ve ever thought of before. I need to think about it.” He also needed to talk to the Gloinzen because it couldn’t happen without their help. He didn’t want any random DNA mixed with his and Justin’s. And he sure didn’t want the kid to be part Noorn and spending his or life changing sex every time they turned around.