The Nourisher

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The Nourisher

ISBN: 978-1-55487-798-0

Cover art by Angela Waters

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Life Changes

ey, I’m Drake Glauco. I have a damn good life.

I’d have to say the best thing about being alive right

now  is  my  wonderful  husband,  Jankin.  We  got  married  in
2042, the year before his father passed away. We wanted him
to  see  the  ceremony.  Both  Jankin  and  his  father  cried  like
little school boys when the celebrant declared us together. It
was beautiful.

I was on my way home to him. Traffic was pretty bad

today,  being  a  Friday.  Then  again,  it’s  always  been  bad  no
matter what day of the week, so who am I kidding? We’ve
got  a  special  dinner  tonight.  Our  anniversary.  Can’t  wait.
He’s  an  awesome  cook  and  I’m  a  lousy  one.  Perfect
combination.

“I need the office,” I commanded to the car’s computer,

realising I hadn’t heard back from my PA about the case
we’ve been working on this past month.

A dashboard screen lit up and a connection noise buzzed

for a few seconds. A pleasant, female voice answered, “Hello,
sir. What can I do for you?”

“Patricia, do we have that deposition ready yet? The

Wilkinson one?”

“Finalising it now.”
“Good. Call me back when it’s done. Get Johnson to call

me, too. I don’t want to lose this one. We need the whole
team on it, pronto. I want a final meeting set up as soon as
possible. No son-of-a-bitch is going to get away with trading

Mark Alders

outside the boundaries of the treaty.”

“Yes, sir.”
I pressed the disconnect button and the screen returned to

navigation mode, showing me the route home.

About forty-five minutes later, I parked the car into my

slot,  a  tricky  affair  that  involved  making  sure  I  manoeuvre
properly  into  the  stack.  Parking  is  now  an  art  form  since
buildings introduced tiered parking. I still can’t get used to
the idea of one or two hundred cars stacked up on top of each
other  on  a  rotating  conveyer,  each  car  only  separated  by  a
metal frame.

Once satisfied with my parking effort I headed for the

entrance  to  my  apartment.  The  parking  stacks  on  my
building  are  on  the  rooftop  underneath  the  gardens,  I
suppose they can stack more cars that way. The sun burned
the  sky  orange  as  it  slipped  behind  the  pacific.  We  had  a
great view.

“Welcome home, Drake,” the door chimed as I passed my

ident card over the reader.

“Thanks,” I replied. I know the door doesn’t give a toss

whether or not I answered, but you know, it’s kind of a habit
of mine to do so.

I took the flight of stairs down to our living room. There

was Jankin, my most beautiful husband, standing there with
his shirt off. Next to him was another man. He was in his
underwear.

“Oh, hi there, Drake, honey…I wasn’t expecting you home

so soon,” Jankin murmured in his usual husky tone of voice
as  he  came  over  to  me.  The  look  on  his  face  told  me  more
than  anything  he  could  say.  He  had  been  caught  with
another man.

You could say that right about now I saw red, but that’s

not true. Not at first anyway. Sure, I was as pissed as all hell,
but things seemed to become clearer for me as I watched

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Jankin fumble with his shirt and the stranger cover himself
up.

Our relationship was over.
I opened my mouth but no sound eventuated. It was like I

was watching this on holovid and I wasn’t really in the room.
I was a bystander, waiting for the car crash or the explosion
or whatever, dumbfounded by what I was witnessing.

The man stood up, snapping me from my reverie. “This

isn’t  what  it  looks  like,  I  swear,”  he  said.  Fuck  he  was
painfully  handsome,  all  toned  and  tanned  and  rippling
muscles. Fucking bastard.

The sound of something snapping in my mind struck me.

Those cars I had visualized did indeed crash…or was it that
explosion? Whatever it was, what I now saw horrified me
and I reacted. Sure, I jumped to conclusions, who wouldn’t in
my place? I had come home to see my husband and another
man half naked on my couch. What was I supposed to think?
“What the fuck is going on here, Jankin?” I stormed over to
my husband, ripping his shirt out of his hand. No use him
putting it on now. The damage had been done.

“Seriously, Drake, baby, this isn’t what it looks like. Jeff’s

right.” Jankin reached out and placed his hands onto my
shoulders.

I smacked his hands away. “Oh, so it’s fucking Jeff now, is

it?”

“Jeff’s a friend. He’s come over to help—”
“Don’t lie to me!” I interrupted. I was so furious now. The

guy named Jeff had slinked away like the snake in the grass
he was. “I can see it in your face, Jankin! I can see it in your
body language. What? You don’t think I can read you by
now? You’re a fucking liar! A fucking liar, you hear me?”

Jankin came closer. “Baby, it really isn’t what it looks like.

Jeff is training me…honest to God. I’m doing this for us…for
you.”

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“Don’t baby me. I can see what he’s training you for. Shirts

off and all. What kind of training requires being naked on the
couch? You’re a cheating son-of-a-bitch. I’m leaving, Jankin,
and  I’m  not  coming  back.  Not  until  you  can  come  up  with
something  better  than  that.  I  need  an  explanation,  Jankin,
and I need one that holds water, you hear?”

“It’s the truth. I’m telling you the truth. Jeff’s here to help

me be a better man for you. He’s training me to—”

Again he tried to console me and again I knocked him

away. “Oh, please! Forget it, Jankin. You can have your bit of
fluff to get on his knees for you for all I care. You can have
him  bend  over  and  take  your  lying  cheating  ways.  I’m  not
doing  it  no  more.  Pathetic…that’s  what  you  are.
Absofuckin-lutely pathetic.”

“Fine! You just don’t want to listen to me while you’re all

hot-headed, do you? It’s so like you! Jump to conclusions. If I
was  a  case  and  you’d  done  your  research,  you’d  be  eating
your  words  right  now.  No  matter  what  I  say  you  won’t
believe…”

I stormed back up the stairs. Jankin’s words trailed off as I

left him and Jeff to think about how they ruined our
marriage. As far as I was concerned it was all over. My eyes
became misty from tears that now rolled down my cheeks. I
had to get out. I had to get some air. I had to stop thinking
about Jeff touching my Jankin.

“Leaving so soon, Drake?” the door chimed as I swiped

my card.

“Fuck off!”
The sun had set. I took in deep the cool, crisp evening air. I

needed to get away from the apartment so I dialled for my
car. The seventeenth stack began to rise. My car was in bay
forty-two, so it would take a few seconds to get to it. I hoped
Jankin wasn’t following me. I was ready to punch his lights
out.

The Nourisher

A sting pricked on my neck. I turned, only to be

confronted  by  two  Boldiens,  a  green-skinned,  amphibious
and  frog-like  race  native  to  Boldien’s  world.  One  of  whom
was  holding  a  needle—a  now  empty  needle.  “What  the…”
before  I  could  finish  my  sentence  everything  fell  into
darkness.

Mark Alders

Rude Awakening

hen my eyes decided to open and my brain returned to
full consciousness, I found myself in a steel room. To

call it a room was an understatement. It was more like a cage
of solid steel. I could hear the hum of engines, so I guessed I
was being transported somewhere. But where? Well,
probably more to the point, why me?

“Hey!” I screamed at the top of my lungs. “Let me out of

here.”  Knowing  that  shouting  such  a  thing  was  completely
and utterly useless, seeing as the people who kidnapped me
did  so  for  a  reason.  Why  would  they  let  me  out  because  I
asked of it?

I wasn’t bound in any way. I knew the reason for the lack

of such things when I  realised I  was naked. Right  down to
my  skin  I  was  and  not  at  all  happy  about  it  either.  Where
were my clothes, my ident cards, my money? The steel felt
cold against my flesh and no matter what I did I couldn’t get
comfortable. The temperature wasn’t helping, it was freezing
in here, I could see myself breathe.

I ended up standing, looking around to see if there was

any way of getting out of this cage. There wasn’t. I felt every
millimetre  of  the  room  carefully.  There  was  a  door,  only
slightly  visible,  with  a  perfectly  hidden  grating  within  it.  I
assumed that was so I could breathe in this prison.

There was nothing else. No power switches or sockets or

anything of any description to get my fingers into and try to

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pry away. There weren’t even any joins in the metal. It was
like I was inside one big solid chunk. If it weren’t for the door
I’d say that was true. I rubbed my arms and legs, trying to
create some warmth for my bones. It wasn’t working.

This was an awfully good cage. Seems these Boldiens were

serious when they drugged and kidnapped me. Great. My
life was flushed down the toilet and now I was a prisoner. I
was so looking forward to the weekend, too.

Of all the things I could have thought of, I thought of

that…that man and his antics on the couch with my husband.
Queasiness  overcame  me  and  bile  rose  up  in  my  throat.  I
tried to shake the image of him out of my head, the image of
his  perfect  body  clambering  all  over  my  Jankin  and  the
intimacy they must have shared together before I spoiled it
for them. I swallowed. In some way I was happy I walked in
on them. I now knew. How long had they been doing stuff
behind  my  back  anyway?  Days?  Weeks?  Months?  Years?  I
felt sick again.

There was a hiss.
The seal of the door cracked and in walked two Boldiens.

One was carrying a gun, some sort of newfangled disruptor.
The kidnapping business must be paying well. The other was
holding a syringe with a huge needle attached to it.

“You’re not sticking me with that needle again,” I said as

bravely as I could, considering I was defenceless. I took a
couple of involuntary steps back until my back felt the cold
steel of my cage.

The Boldien who harboured the needle sneered, then said,

“You have not served us well, Mr. Glauco. A pity. We could
have used you.”

“What are you talking about?” I stepped forward slightly,

probably the defiant side winning against the cowardly side
inside me. “I’ve never seen you before in my life.”

“Oh, yes you have.”

Mark Alders

My cheeks flushed and burned. “You all look the same to

me,”  I  spat,  more  out of  anger than  of  actually  meaning  to
sound alienist. Generally I liked aliens—heck they were the
main  source  of  my  income.  Knowing  about  them,  their
culture, what they did was all valuable to me in some way.

The Boldien who held the gun smiled and fired.
A shock wave struck me and a warm sensation trickled

down my leg. Seconds later, I crumpled onto the cold, hard
floor.

Before my mind sank into darkness and the oblivion

beyond, one of them said, “He did say he didn’t want the
needle,” he snickered. “Oh, and I’ll wager the Priaxians will
find him much more useful than he was for us.”

“The Priaxians!” I burst out as consciousness once more

returned to me. “They’re murderous bastards!” I was on an
ornately carved bench of stone. Sweat trickled from my brow
and  in  complete  and  utter  contrast  to  before,  I  was  really
quite hot. I was still naked, too. The room I had woken up in
was bare and gloomy, but furnished with all sorts of exotic
tapestries and sculptures. At least there was a small window
above  me  unlike  the  steel  cage  of  my  previous  residence.
Unfortunately the window was too high to climb up to, even
if  I  did  stand  on  the  bench,  I  think  the  room  had  a  fifteen
metre ceiling or something. As I looked up out the window I
noticed  the  famous  double  yellow  suns  of  Priax,  my  spirit
sank. “Fuuucking heeeell,” I moaned.

That accounted for the warm sensation I was feeling. Priax

was  a  semi-arid  planet  populated  by  four  metre  high
spider-like aliens known as the Priaxians. They had a sort of
insatiable but somewhat unsavoury liking for humans, even
though  relations  with  them  had  been  good.  Trade  for  their
silk  was  not  only  valuable  but  vital  for  our  economy,  in
return the Priaxians only wanted easy to obtain medication
from us, penicillin and the like. Sweet deal as far as humanity

The Nourisher

was  concerned.  But  there  were  always  those  stories  of
disappearances  and  of  people  who  were  never  the  same
again if they did return.

A Priaxian must have entered the room when I was

looking  out the  window,  because  a  shadow  came  over  me.
My  heart  skipped  a  beat  when  I  caught  a  glimpse  of  those
huge mandibles and its numerous black pearl eyes. It glared
down at me from beyond the gloom, its outline only slightly
illuminated by the light that filtered in from that window.

Yep. The sight of a giant spider, all legs and ugly

confirmed it. I had been sold like some sort of object. I hoped
it  didn’t  pay  too  much  for  me  because  I  would  do  my
damndest  to  give  it  hell.  I  sighed.  Could  this  day  get  any
worse?

The Priaxian chattered something in its own language

before dexterously picking me up with its front hands, if you
could call them that. More like claws on the end of muscular
insect-like legs. Its abdomen pulsated and before I knew it I
was wrapped in a cocoon of silk, unable to move except to
breathe.

“What do you want with me?” I strained out before the

Priaxian had spun enough silk to cover me up to my neck.

Again it chattered something in its own language, but I

caught  a  familiar  word.  That  word  was  possession.  Was  the
Priaxian  using  some  human  words  or  was  I  able  to
understand some Priaxian?

My stomach turned over and over. I had lost my husband

to some air-headed gym junky only to find myself belonging
to an alien spider. That final thought made me feel like
actually heaving my guts up and I had to concentrate so that
I didn’t. The taste in my mouth made me wince.

Quickly, the alien covered me in its silk and once more I

found my old friend darkness. Surprisingly, I could breathe
through the silk, a notion I couldn’t comprehend considering

Mark Alders

the stuff was smothering me. At least I was conscious and I
could hear what was going on. Not that it helped to do so. All
I could actually hear was the scurrying of my new Priaxian
owner as he took me to wherever it was he was going to take
me.

A funny thing struck me as my mind wandered and I

recounted the events of the day. I soon realised that the
cocoon I had found myself in was comfortable. It was like I
was in a womb, all snug and secure. Sure, I had no idea of the
fate that awaited me, but for the here and now I decided to go
with the flow. Yes, I was as anxious as all hell, but hey, who
wouldn’t be in my situation? What could I do about it now
anyway?

I had to bide my time.

The Nourisher

The Priaxian Master of Mine

here was a terrible ripping sound that filled the space I
had found myself within. Light began to filter in through

the silk as each layer was peeled away.

The air smelled sweet. I found myself in another room,

this one completely different to all the others. It was, for lack
of a better term, luxurious. There were cushions and couches
and soft things in all sorts of odd shapes and sizes scattered
about everywhere, and everything, right down to the fabric
that billowed decoratively from the ceilings and walls was
cotton white. It was surreal to say the least.

The room wasn’t as large as the other room I had come

from, but big enough to accommodate my Priaxian master.
Something struck me as I looked around the room, and no,
I’m not talking about the fact that a great big alien spider was
busily  unwrapping  me  as  I  studied  the  room.  I’m  talking
about the fact that  the room looked as though it were only
made to accommodate humans—or beings of human height
and  size  anyway.  All  the  furniture  was  for someone  of  my
size. The couch, the table, everything.

The alien, the massive thing that it was, looked

uncomfortable  in  its  own  created  surroundings,  because
that’s  what  this  room  was.  A  creation.  I  had  noticed  the
reason  why  the  room  was  cotton  white  and  oh,  so
comfortable.  Everything  was  made  of  silk,  including  the
floors  and  walls.  I  was  in  a  larger  cocoon,  but  a  cocoon

Mark Alders

designed for a different purpose. I was in a sort of, and I
hated to say this, but I could think of no other word for it…I
was in a nest.

“Fuuucking heeeell” I said with a gasp as the last of my

cocoon was ripped away from me. I missed it—mainly
because I now had to face the reality of whatever was going
to happen to me next.

The Priaxian came over me. “*chatter* obey *chatter,

chatter*.”

My stomach churned and my anxiousness overcame me

once more. What did I have to obey? All sorts of macabre
thoughts wheeled around in my mind, mainly because I had
no idea what was being said to me. Was I going to be eaten?
That horrible thought was certainly at the top of my worry
list. Oh damn it, what was the old saying, the one those early
explorers used to say, If you can’t have sex with it, eat it.

“Shit!” I blurted as I clambered under the numerous legs

of my captor and crawled across the room. Was I going to be
ravaged then eaten?

I found myself cornered between the silken wall and a

created couch. The Priaxian was coming toward me, its
mandibles moving grotesquely and its beady black eyes, all
eight of them, bore down into my soul.

My mouth was wide open, mainly from shock as I

watched with grim interest as the alien once more came over
me. I was helpless. Its body was huge, at least double the size
of mine, and I was a six foot tall kind of bloke.

As it picked me up with its middle legs, all four of them, I

couldn’t  help  but  realise  the  simple  yet  painfully  obvious
truth  about  my  predicament.  A  naked  human  in  his  late
thirties  was  no  match  for  any  Priaxian.  My  extremities  felt
numb  and  my  mind  went  blank.  I  was  doomed.  I  missed
Jankin—no scratch that. I needed Jankin right now. Why did
I  have  to  be  so  hot-headed?  Why  couldn’t  I  have  at  least

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heard him out before jumping to conclusions? Sure, what  I
walked into certainly didn’t look good, but my husband, my
dear  sweet  husband,  had  never  hidden  anything  from  me
before. Why now? There was more to this, I could feel it in
my bones.

The alien pulled me up toward its thorax. I could see the

gaps between its chitin armour shimmer and pulse as I came
closer and closer.

Two tiny feeder-like appendages, like the proboscis

apparatus  of  the  terrestrial  butterfly,  emerged  with  a
squelching  noise  from  out  of  the  alien’s  body.  I  closed  my
eyes.  Then,  compelled  by  something  I  couldn’t  explain,  I
opened them again. I was so close to the alien now I couldn’t
see the room around me, only its body, all hairy and moist
and ghastly. This was a nightmare. A living nightmare.

What I saw next would have astounded me had I not been

the one directly involved. The two feeder arms, or whatever
they were, attached themselves with a warm, wet suction to
either side of my body, right about where my rib cage ended.

“*Chatter* extraction *chatter*,” the alien said as a pulse

rushed  through  me,  as  though  drums  were  being  beaten
inside my body. As each beat sounded I noticed it copied the
beating  of  my  own  heart,  became  in  tune  with  my  body
rhythms. Soon I didn’t notice it anymore.

I calmed. My eyes did close, but not because I wished it so.

Rather, my mind began to fill with images I couldn’t control.
But that control was not lost to something terrible—no, what
I witnessed filled me with great joy. You could even say
pleasure.

In my mind’s eye I saw my Jankin, as large as life and as

real as if I were back on Earth in our home. He was wearing
nothing  but  that  wonderful  boyish  grin  he  has  when  he
wants  something  and  that  something  usually  requires  us
both to be naked and in each other’s arms.

Mark Alders

Before I knew it, that’s what I saw. No wait. That’s what I

experienced.  We  were  in  our  bedroom.  It  was  a  hot  sticky
summer’s evening. Jankin was kissing my neck. I could feel
his  stubble  tickle  me.  The  warmth  of  his  lips  then  moved
down  to  my  chest.  He  rolled  his  tongue  over  my  nipples,
arousing them, waking them from their softness.

I giggled. I knew where he was going. I loved this

moment.  The  anticipation  as  he  moved  his  way  across  my
body,  roving  his  lust  across  my  skin.  His  warmth  came
around  my  now  hard  cock.  He  retracted  my  foreskin  and
began to lick and suck me, making delicious noises as he did
so. Fuck it felt good.

My balls, my stomach, my groin and everything I had in

my body, including every sinew that held me together began
to ache with ecstasy as I charged toward climax. That
wonderful point of no return.

“Oh fuck!” I screamed as I blew my load. My own fluid

sprinkled my stomach as Jankin pulled himself away from
me.

I opened my eyes. The vision, even though it had been

wonderful,  had  deceived  me.  I  was  still  being  held  by  an
alien.  I  was  still  an  alien’s  play  thing.  I  felt  cheated,  even
more  than  when  I  had  walked  in  on  Jankin  and  Jeff.  The
Priaxian had controlled these images I had been seeing.

Welcome to my home, Drake Glauco I heard in my mind. It

was the alien who had said it. Its voice, the alien insect-like
chatter I had become familiar with, was unmistakable. Yet, I
could understand it now. How was that so?

“What did you say?” was all I could manage even though

it was probably the stupidest thing I could have said. I had
far too many important questions I could have been asking
racing around in my mind. Like what the hell just happened,
being one.

Before I realised and before I got an answer, I was placed

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down onto one of the silken couches. It was soft and warm
and comfortable and moulded to my shape without sinking
me into it.

You are the nourisher and we have just performed the first of

many extraction ceremonies. I thank you for helping me, for obeying
the protocols and becoming my symbiotic partner for the duration of

the hatchling’s gestation I carry within me.

I blinked a few times. I knew the alien was speaking into

my mind, I got that. What I didn’t get were the words it was
saying  to  me.  “I  don’t  understand,”  was  my  automatic
response,  even  though,  as  I  said  before,  I  had  plenty  more
questions  that  should  have  been  asked.  Like  did  I  really
experience an orgasm? If so, where was my semen? My skin
was clean and I knew with absolute certainty that I had felt it
cover my stomach—I mean, that’s something a man knows
and has experienced many times in his life.

Hush now. I will tell you all you need to know once you have

eaten. I shall get you some sustenance. You will need all your

strength. We are both tired.

Before I could ask another lame arse question, the alien

scurried, oh so very spider-like, out of the only visible door
or window to this room. The exit was round and sort of cut
out of the wall. Outside I could see many, many lines of silk
crisscross the sky. I also saw even more nests, ones that
looked exactly like terrestrial spiders’ egg sacks.

I was in a spider’s nest…sure, an alien spider’s nest, but

such details didn’t really interest me now. Why was I here?
What was an extraction ceremony? But more importantly,
why did I need to keep my strength up?

Mark Alders

His Master’s Voice

hen the last remnants of climax had left my body, I went
over to the door. I was unusually calm, like a storm had

passed and I was experiencing the quiet moments afterward,
assessing the damage, but happy nonetheless. The Priaxians
were an enigmatic race—keeping to themselves. During the
drawing up of the treaty they only wanted contact under
their own terms, the only dialogue with them through a third
party, the Rasck. A race just as confounding.

At the door the view was stunning, but at the same time

disturbing. The nest was suspended high above the ground,
so  high  I  couldn’t  see  the  ground  below.  Great  alien  made
spires, all shiny and metallic looking, towered all around me
like  monstrous  skyscrapers.  Between  the  towers  the  nests
clung,  held  seemingly  precariously  by  numerous  silken
threads,  to  me  as  thick  as  steel  cables.  But  were  they  as
strong?

Unless I fancied a quick death there was no way out of the

nest. Sure, I could climb onto one of the many, many threads
that helped suspend it, but really, I wasn’t all that sure my
weight could be supported by just one of them. I tested a
cable to confirm my suspicion. As soon as my hand touched
the silk, numerous Priaxians scurried out of their nests to see
what was going on, only to go back to where they came from
when they realised I wasn’t making an escape attempt.

Okay, the silken threads could probably hold my weight,

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but that didn’t mean squat. No sooner would I get out onto
one  I  would  have  some  Priaxian  whisk  me  back  into  my
latest prison. Jumping was out of the question. I wasn’t ready
to  die  yet.  I  had  an  argument  to  finish  with  Jankin  and  by
God I was going to finish it.

I had completed the survey of the nest and decided it was

quite  a  comfortable  arrangement,  although  for  living
quarters  there  was  only  a  smaller  room  to  the  side  of  the
main room. Inside that  there was a rudimentary toilet, and
by  that  I  mean  a  spun  lidded  bucket  in  which  to  do  your
business. Or so I thought that’s what it was for.

There was no running water. There was no kitchen. The

nest was just that, a comfortable lounge room minus the big
screen holovid TV.

As I came out of the toilet, my Priaxian master came back,

carrying a tray filled with all sorts of exotic fruits in its front
claw-like hands. There was also a huge pitcher of water and a
small bowl of golden jelly on offer.

Here. Eat this. You’ll feel better.
“I’m not doing anything until you answer a few

questions,” I said, folding my arms for emphasis to my
intended defiance.

The Priaxian tilted its head. Eat. Then we’ll talk. It shoved

the tray in front of my face. The stuff on it sure smelt great,
and I had to admit, I was kind of hungry. Then again, what
man isn’t after he’s cum?

“No!” I screwed up my face.
Please eat. The Priaxian picked up an orange looking thing,

shaped like an aubergine but with scales on it. Dexterously it
began peeling the fruit. The room quickly filled with a sweet
citrus smell. I will feed you, if you like.

I gave in. Seemed I wasn’t getting anywhere with my

stubbornness. “Okay, I’ll eat your dinner, but you’ve still got
to answer my questions.”

Mark Alders

Yes, I will tell you all I know. Please eat, it’s all good for you.
I sneered, then said, “Good for me or good for my sperm?”
Both.
I  couldn’t  help  but  let  out  a  chuckle.  Seemed  my  alien

master had a sense of humour. “How old are you?” I said in
between bites of the fruit. The thing tasted fantastic. It was
citrus, but not acidy like most Earth oranges can be. It was
sweet, there’s no doubt about it, but it was also filling.

I have come of age.
“I see.”
The Priaxian handed me another peeled fruit. This time a

banana shaped purple thing. It tasted mellow and watery,
like honey dew. Do you not think me worthy of your presence?

Okay, now I was completely confused. What was this

Priaxian talking about? I thought it kidnapped me. From the
sound of it, things certainly weren’t what they first appeared.
Great, just my luck. Seemed I had a long road ahead of me.
This  situation  wasn’t  as  black  and  white  as  I  had  first
anticipated.  This  alien  had  no  idea  about  how  I  got  here,
other  than  I  was  the  nourisher  to  the  egg  it  was  carrying
within it. I sighed, sat back and said, “I think we need to start
from  the  beginning  here.  Tell  me  everything.  Tell  me  who
you are and why I am here. Tell me what it is you are doing
to me, and above all, tell me how I can get back home.”

The Priaxian also seemed to get comfortable. He had

settled onto one of the larger couches, yet looked awkward
with all his legs hanging over the furniture. This is the great
colony of Priaxia South, the largest colony in this region. The alien
shifted his weight. Is that as far back as you would like me to go?

What a smart arse, but I humoured him and decided to let

him continue. “I want to know everything.”

There was an excited chatter before the alien said, Thank

you, Drake, for letting me share with you my knowledge. I have
come to the age where, as a member of the male incubator caste, I can

The Nourisher

carry the next generation offered to me by my great Queen. I

suppose to mammalian standards I am about twenty years old, but
to my people, I have only just begun existing.

“So you’re young and a male…how interesting.”
I am an infertile male, but one that is born with an egg pouch, a

special gift, for I am the hope of our colony, just like my other
incubator brothers. The fertile males become the servant caste, the
lowest in our society. I swore the Priaxian screwed up his face
when he spoke of the fertile males.

“What other castes are there?” Okay, so I was interested.

As a lawyer, I was trained to get as much information out of a
client,  no  matter  how  trivial.  Everything  had  it  uses,
especially  information.  Sure,  the  alien  wasn’t  a  client,  but
hey, this was now my life we were talking about.

There are the females, the Queen is included in that caste. Then

there are the soldiers, the Incubators, the nourishers and the
servants.

“Wait. Wait. You said nourishers?”

Yes. They are the mammalian primate life forms that have

evolved with us and who live in the forests below our nests.

“So if you have nourishers already, why do you need me?

Why are you kidnapping humans to perform the task that
can be easily done by a species on your own world?”

If I didn’t know any better, I’d say the alien was saddened.

The nourishers are dying. They have a disease we cannot cure and
their numbers have dwindled dramatically over the last decade.

Only a few viable young males remain. We dare not take them for
nourishing duties for fear of stopping any births and making the
situation worse. The alien stood up and began pacing the
room. If we don’t get humans to help us, as humans are the most

compatible species next to the nourishers, we as a race will soon

become extinct.

That explained why they only traded for medication. I

slumped back into the couch. “Aww, fuck!” I blurted. Yep.
This certainly wasn’t as black and white as I hoped it was

Mark Alders

going to be. Damn it, why wasn’t anything simple? “But you
kidnapped me. You took me from my home against my will.
Why should I help you, Priaxian?”

My name in your tongue is Vernon. And if you don’t help me the

egg I have been blessed with, the egg that is our next generation will
shrivel and die. If that happens the others will either kill me or send

me out to the wastelands. Please, Drake, please be my nourisher. I
was not responsible for your capture. I have only been chosen this

season to carry the egg. You have been chosen to nourish it. I will
make sure you are as comfortable as you can be, your every whim

my command.

“Well…Vernon, if I agree to help you, and let me be very

clear on this, if I agree, then you will help me get back home
to my husband. Tell me, how long must I nourish this egg of
yours?”

Only four of your years.
“What? Holy fuck! Four years?”

Human semen is not as potent a protein source as what we are

used to with our native nourishers. Like I said, humans were the
next best match.

“So how often do I have to provide this nourishment?”

When the egg is given to an incubator there is a two day yolk

storage within. The nourisher is then chosen and placed into the
sacred temple for collection. The incubator is then summoned to the

temple where he must wrap his nourisher in his own silk and parade
him for the entire colony to see. The extraction ceremony then
begins and the nourisher’s sustenance is absorbed into the egg, to

maintain the yolk which feeds the hatchlings within. Every day, at
the setting of the second sun of Priaxia, the nourisher must provide

his sustenance.

The blood drained away from my face. That explained

why  I  was  wrapped  up  like  some  gift  store package.  “Um,
why  don’t  you  get  another  human  to…you  know,  provide
the  semen  instead  of  me?”  No  sooner  had  I  asked  the
question, I had a terrible sinking feeling about the answer.

The Nourisher

The next words out of Vernon’s mouth confirmed my

fears. Your semen is the only nourishment the hatchlings will now

accept. To get another after the extraction ceremony means death for
the incubator and the egg. You should understand symbiosis,

Drake. It is a common thing. How is it I can now communicate with
you? I don’t speak your tongue, only the Queen can. Yet here we

are, talking with each other.

That fixed it. Vernon was a smart arse. But he was also

right. “Oh, this is just getting better and better,” I grumbled.

So will you stay and help us?
“What if I say no?”
Vernon gestured toward the door. Then you are free to leave.

I do not want to be responsible for your misery. I am here to provide

for my people. Will you, Drake Glauco, help me accomplish my
goal?

Mark Alders

An Audience with the Queen

ow, being me, I knew there was a lot more going on here
than what Vernon was telling me. But I also knew that

what  he  had  told  me  was  the  truth  as  far  as  he  was
concerned.  After  all,  someone  can  only  tell  you  what  they
know from their own perspective and experience. “Will you
help  me?”  I  offered  in  reply.  Answering  a  question  with  a
question was always a good tactic.

Of course I will help you, but we will have to see our Queen. I

cannot make that decision alone. The future of this colony rests with

me being safe and secure here with my people. No incubator has ever
left the colony.

I was beginning to understand Vernon. He was a proud

individual, no question. But that didn’t help me. Kidnapping
was a crime. I had to know more. Why me? Why now?
“Deal.” I finally said, “We will go see this Queen of yours. I
have more questions to ask anyway.”

But I have told you everything I know. To have you as my

nourisher was the greatest day of my life. I paraded you with such
pride in my being that I couldn’t contain my joy. I will do anything

for you, Drake. Anything.

“So long as I remain your nourisher, is that it?”

Yes.
“Well then, I don’t think we have any time to waste. Let’s

go.”

Climb up onto my back. I will take you to the Queen’s tower.

The Nourisher

Vernon crouched so that I could get upon him easily. I had to
admit, this was going to be the weirdest ride I’d ever
undertaken.

I then noticed my nakedness. “Um, don’t you have any

clothes I can wear?”

Why would you want clothes? It is warm enough here, isn’t it?

Besides, how would I access you if you are covered?

“You said it yourself, you only need me once a day. I can

take my clothes off when the sun—say, when does the
second Priaxian sun set?”

So you are accepting my offer of being my nourisher then?
Jesus, he was quick on the mark. I had to make sure I

treaded carefully when talking hypothetically. “Not yet.”

I swore Vernon smiled, before adding, In your time, fifteen

hundred hours, I believe.

Vernon, with painful ease and lightning speed, clambered

out  of  the  door.  He  jumped,  launching  himself  into  the  air
and at the same time began spinning a silken thread. Before I
could  comprehend  what  was  happening,  I  was  gliding
through  the  air  heading  straight  for  the  largest  tower.  This
means of travel was somewhere between a bungie jump and
free fall. The wind against my skin made me feel alive, more
so than I had ever been. Perhaps it was an effect of being on
an alien world or perhaps it was because of Vernon himself.
He was a rather interesting character, I had to say. I think I
liked him.

“Will the Queen mind us dropping in on her?”

I’m the incubator of the next generation. I’m given whatever I

please and can see whomever I wish and at any time, too. Nothing I

ask for is too small or too large in the eyes of my people. As I have
said, I have come of age.

“Except to ask to go off-world.”
That has never been asked. If something did happen to me then

there would be no healers to help recover the egg or save my life.

“So there is a way of separating you from the egg if need

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be?”

No.
Vernon’s last answer was a bit too dismissive for my

liking.  Perhaps  he  genuinely  didn’t  know.  Perhaps  he  was
hiding  something.  As  my  mind  mulled  over  those
possibilities we landed on a balcony, all steel and shiny, like
the rest of the tower.

Two Priaxians immediately came over to us.
They were completely different to Vernon in appearance,

heavily  armoured  with  many  sharp  and  horn-like
protrusions  all  over  their  bodies.  Their  front  claws  were
distorted  to  such  a  degree  they  were  nothing  short  of
weapons,  ones  that  looked  like  scimitars.  Their  abdomens
were  tiny  compared  to  Vernon’s,  but  that  was  probably
because  they  didn’t  harbour  an  egg  within  theirs.  These
Priaxians were obviously members of the soldier caste.

There was some verbal chatter between them, something I

couldn’t understand, before Vernon turned to me. The Queen

is waiting for us.

The queen, again another completely different looking

Priaxian, was huge. At least double the size of Vernon. Her
limbs and body were smooth, but she was much more
slender and, dare I say it, elegant. She had a crest, too, a great
shield that surrounded her rather small head.

“Welcome to my home, Drake Glauco,” she said.
At first I was taken aback. Actually hearing a Priaxian

speak  was  something  to  behold.  The  words  were
recognisable,  yet  at  the  same  time  alien,  like  listening  to  a
foreign translation, complete with clicks and hisses. “I can’t
say that I am glad to be here, your Majesty.”

She came off a silken bed and stepped up to me. I only

came  up  to  her  first  leg  joint.  I  had  to  admit,  I  was  feeling
somewhat  intimidated  by  her  presence.  Not  only  her  size,
but  the  way  she  carried  herself,  too.  Every  movement  was

The Nourisher

smooth,  calm  and  calculated.  Every  step  measured.  “You
want  to  know  why  you  of  all  people  were  kidnapped  and
made a nourisher of our people?”

Jesus, she didn’t beat around the bush either. I nodded.

“Yes, that about sums it up.”

“You also think that kidnapping humans for our own

agenda is deplorable, do you not?”

Again, she was right on the money. But this time I didn’t

fall into her pattern of questioning. I needed to reverse this,
make me the questioner and have her answer me. “Vernon
has told me why. Tell me, how much did I cost you?”

She chuckled, a haunting echo that reverberated around

the chamber we were within. “You cost us nothing. You were
delivered to us two days ago.”

Okay, now I was thrown. Did I overestimate my own

importance? Who would want to kidnap me for no return? “I
don’t understand.”

She came down to a seated position again, and if I didn’t

know  any  better,  I’d  say  her  facial  features  softened.  “Mr.
Drake  Glauco,  you  are  an  important  man  on  your  world.
There is no denying that. But getting to the top of your tower,
if you understand my analogy, is not without its drawbacks.
You see, you have made many enemies.”

“So one of these so-called enemies kidnapped me and

bought me here?”

“Not so-called. It was the Boldiens. You see, you are the

architect of the Borders of Worlds treaty, are you not? That
agreement opened up trade between the sentient life forms of
this galaxy. Quite an achievement.”

“Yes…and?” I was getting impatient. She knew and now

she was drawing it out, making me aware that she had
something over me. She’d make a great lawyer.

“The Boldiens had the monopoly on trade before humans

interfered in galactic affairs. Seems you have cost them quite

Mark Alders

a bit. Delivering you here, knowing your fate, was something
they relished. Their price was knowing you will no longer be
able to interfere in alien relations.”

Slowly the pieces of the puzzle were fitting into place.

Now  I  understood  what  the  Boldien  meant  when  he  said  I
could have served them better. But how could I have known
that  such  a  treaty,  a  treaty  of  fair  trade,  would  stifle  a
particular race? “As far as I was concerned it was the greater
good and not the individual that mattered when we drew up
the plans  for that  treaty. Survival of humanity is of utmost
importance  to  me,”  I  blurted,  more  thinking  out  loud  than
actually consciously aware of what I was saying.

The queen smiled in the capacity only a Priaxian could, an

ugly smirk on an ugly face. “That is our logic also.”

Oh, she was good. “I understand. Vernon has told me that

the simian creatures who are usually your nourishers are
dying out. But I have still been kidnapped against my will.
That doesn’t change that fact. I feel for you, but in the end a
crime is a crime.”

She turned away from me. “They are not dying out. They

are dead. The forests below our nests no longer ring out with
their song. Priaxia will be a dead world if something drastic
is not done right now. Humans have been helping us for the
last decade, willingly and with great reward. Will you do the
same?”

I had no words to express my grief, yet I was also

surprised to hear her say we had been helping the Priaxians. I
even felt Vernon take in a deep breath as the queen said those
words about the nourishers. “You leave me no choice, do
you?”

Again she turned to me. This time there was a distinct

sadness to her appearance. “There is always choice. One
must live with the consequences of whatever it is they chose,
however. Vernon has said you can leave. I will tell you the

The Nourisher

same. Drake, you are free to do as you wish, just know, we
need you. What happened to you, how you got here, is not
our concern, but if you help us we can help you.”

She was right. Again I was shocked to the point of being

speechless.  Finally  I  managed,  “So  will  I  be  able  to  go  to
Earth  and  see  my  husband…if  I  agree  to  be  Vernon’s
nourisher?”

“You have already made up your mind?”
I nodded. I understood that desperate times led to

desperate measures. The Priaxians, as far as I could tell, were
only  doing  what  they  had  to.  “I  have.  I  will  contribute  to
your next generation. It’s not like I’m going to contribute to
mine  any  time  soon,  not  unless  Jankin  gets  pregnant,  and
really,  that  isn’t  going  to  happen.”  I  chuckled.  Male
pregnancy  had  occurred  on  our  planet,  but  really,  only  in
freakish  cases  did  they  make  a  success  of  it.  “Vernon  and
I…well,  we  understand  each  other.”  I  turned  to  my
incubator. He was bowing at me. “Oh, get up…don’t do that
Vernon. I don’t deserve it.”

“What do you think, Vernon?” the queen said.

I think that to ensure our survival, we must do what we have to,

my Lady. I will go with Drake and help him in whatever way I can

so he finds his peace. If he wants to see his husband, then that is
what will happen. If he wants to seek out those who kidnapped him,

then that, too, is an option.

It occurred to me that this was the first time Vernon had

spoken. But why did he mention that I might want to seek
out my kidnappers? Had he already accepted my offer and
was only doing this as a mere formality? The queen stood up
once more. “It seems Priaxians and humans are very much
alike on some matters, doesn’t it, Drake?”

I raised an eyebrow. Perhaps she was right on that. “I will

look after him, you can be assured of that.” Had I achieved a
minor victory or taken on more than I could handle? It was

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true, I did find a strange sort of affinity for Vernon. He also
had a point, finding those who kidnapped me would be a
great satisfaction.

She smirked once more. “Oh, you will, I know it. Priaxians

don’t take things lightly.  If anything  happens to Vernon or
the egg he carries within him, then I would consider it an act
of war.” She came down so her pearl black eyes met  mine.
“And Priaxians don’t fight  wars in rooms pushing  buttons,
like  humans  do.  We  massacre  those  who  are  our  enemies
with no remorse until every last one of them is dead.” With
that she turned and was escorted out of the room.

I was left with Vernon. I realised I was underneath him.

Was I subconsciously using him as protection while I was
speaking to the queen? “Were do we start then?”

The nearest spaceport is Magellan Prime, just beyond the

Priaxian system. From there we can get to the Earth system. I shall
requisition a private shuttle and some sort of clothing for you, my
nourisher. The sound of his voice rose and fell. He was keen.

“Please, call me Drake.” I’d say if he understood the

concept Vernon would have hugged me right there and then.
The big lug was certainly getting all emotional. Then again, I
couldn’t blame him. He did have his nourisher, and
me—well, let’s just say I had a chance to help another species
and leave it at that for now.

The Nourisher

Spaceport Magellan Prime

ernon didn’t waste any time. I was whisked away,
dressed and taken to the Priaxian intergalactic spaceport

centre north of the citadel in under an hour. The clothes the
Priaxians  made  for  me  were  of  a  silken  fibre  mix  and
extremely comfortable. The style and colour left a little to be
desired, though. The outfit looked like a drab grey creation
for farmer’s weekly or something. Basically, it was an overall
with two buttons at the shoulders. It would be easy for me to
remove  this  garment and  I  suppose  that  was  its  function.  I
didn’t  complain.  At  least  I  wasn’t  flashing  myself  for  all  to
see. Some things a man only likes to show when he really has
to, like when he’s drunk with his mates or in the arms of his
lover.

Our shuttle is fuelled and waiting, Vernon said rather

enthusiastically. Perhaps he relished the idea of travelling off
world. I could only imagine how he would be feeling seeing
as this was the first time he’d be leaving his home world, let
alone the citadel. I know I got a thrill out of travelling. All
those new sights and smells, so refreshing to the soul. Or was
I only feeling that way since I had discovered Priaxia?

The ship was like nothing a human would have created. It

was stylish, sleek, and oh, so weird. It was basically a leaf
shape, with a bulbous bit at the front and back. There were
no discernable windows or even a door for that matter. Even
the metal of its hull shimmered green. Although, I had a

Mark Alders

sneaking suspicion the metal I thought had been used to build
this spaceship and indeed many other structures around the
citadel, including the queen’s tower, was actually a specially
hardened Priaxian silk. Everything was made of silk here. I
bet the stuff was worth a fortune to many worlds other than
Earth. No wonder the Boldiens traded humans with them.

As we approached the ship a door materialised. The cut

out of the door lowered and doubled as a gangway. Rumour
has  it  that  the  Priaxians  were  the  first  space  fairing  race,
seeding other worlds with arachnid life forms. Really, there
was  no  evidence  for  that.  They  may  look  like  spiders,  but
they  were  an  entirely  different  species.  Kind  of  like
comparing humans to apes. Still, their resemblance to spiders
was uncanny. All I  knew, for the here and now, was that  I
was  helping  the  next  generation  of  these  alien  spiders  in
return for passage to Earth.

There were no surprises when it came to the inside of the

ship  either.  It  was  completely  foreign  to  me.  The  bridge,  if
you could call it that, was all organic and looked as though it
had been grown. There wasn’t anything I recognised—well,
nothing  I  could  say,  yep,  that’s  the  captain’s  chair.
Everything  seemed  as  though  it  were  an  amorphous  blob
with things sprouting out of it everywhere.

Vernon sat on one of the larger sprouts and waved an arm.

Instantly the room was filled with a vision bubble, the view
that of outside the ship. Please make yourself comfortable, Drake.
Relax. I know how to fly this thing. I’ve been trained.

“Simulated or real training?” How could he know how to

pilot a ship if he’d never been off-world? As he said himself,
he’d only come of age today.

Genetically learned, he replied. How else?
“Indeed.” I applauded him. He most certainly did have a

different perspective on things. Okay, I had a human
perspective, he had a Priaxian one. There were bound to be

The Nourisher

some cultural differences, but as I thought about it I realised I
liked those differences more and more. “Tell me, Vernon, the
nourishers of your world, were they sentient?”

Vernon turned to look at me. No they were not. Being with a

human nourisher has been an interesting experience for me already.
Our vision share during the first extraction ceremony was the
most…vivid I have ever experienced in my life. Other Priaxians

don’t have those sort of thoughts.

I think I actually blushed. “Really?” was all I could

manage. The screen around us was quickly filled with stars,
the double yellow suns of Priax dominating the view. I take it
we had taken off and were now outside the atmosphere of
Priaxia.

Vernon did a bit more waving, and within a split second

the  screen  became  a  multi-coloured  blur.  It  was  beautiful.
Seemed  we  were  now  in  what  a  lot  of  space  travellers  call
heaven’s light. A term used for an object travelling near light
speed and the blur was caused by that acceleration as stars
and matter and everything else the universe was filled with
rushed  past.  Humans  only  recently  had  gained  access  to
heaven’s light engines, a benefit of the treaty I was proud to
say.

The real fun in travelling would happen when we reached

Magellan Prime Spaceport. There is a gateway there. No ship
can  travel  faster  than  light,  but  with  heaven’s  light  and  a
gateway  readily  and  cheaply  available,  travel  across  the
galaxy  has  become  pedestrian.  To  me,  or  as  best  as  I  can
explain,  gateways  are  like  natural  tears  in  space,  and  are
easily contained and able to be used reasonably safely once a
station  is  built  around  the  fissure.  Most  stations  look  like
donuts,  circling  the  hole  in  space  through  which  ships  fall
down.

I watched the heaven’s light for about an hour. Okay, to be

truthful I watched Vernon command the ship. He did so with

Mark Alders

such ease I would have sworn he was a pilot by trade. It was
like he was conducting an orchestra, quite hypnotic and
relaxing.

Soon the light faded and normal space filled the vision

bubble once more. Ahead, Magellan Prime loomed. It was a
great big floating steel city orbiting a mineral rich moon and
embarrassingly  human  in  design.  All  clumsy  and  chunky
and  rather  unattractive.  I  think  I  liked  Priaxian  aesthetics
much better.

“Please cut off your engines and reduce speed to inertial

normality. State your designation and occupants and
duration of your visit to Magellan Prime Spaceport,” a rather
disinterested voice crackled throughout the bridge.

You will have to speak with him. I cannot verbalise human,

Vernon said, sounding rather flustered. He did cut off the
engines, I could no longer hear the hum. Our designation is

displayed.

“Hello, Magellan Prime, this is Drake Glauco. We have

done  as  instructed  and  wish  to  advise  our  designation  is
P131a.  I  am  with  a  Priaxian  named  Vernon  and  we  are
planning  on  an  overnight  stay  only.  Passage  through  the
gateway is required.”

“Did you say, Drake Glauco?”
I opened my mouth to answer, then hesitated. Why, I

didn’t think I was so important that my name was known out
here near the Priaxian system. “Yes, that’s correct,” I finally
said.

I could hear a bit of mumbling, then the man said, “There

is a bounty on your head, Mister Glauco.”

“Really?” I almost burst out into laughter. How ridiculous.

The Boldiens must be desperate.

What does that mean, Drake? Vernon’s voice was tainted

with both fear and concern, like a child’s when he doesn’t
understand something being said to him.

The Nourisher

As I was about to answer Vernon, the controller

continued, “We are sending out an escort ship to bring you
into bay fifteen located on the diplomatic wing. Please follow
all instructions. There will be a security contingent waiting
for you at the airlock. From there you will be escorted to your
room.”

Drake, I can’t be separated from you. I can’t.
I gave Vernon a reassuring pat on one of his legs. His skin

was remarkably soft. From what the controller was saying, or
rather, between the words he was saying, he didn’t seem to
be taking this bounty thing too seriously. Sending us to the
diplomatic  wing  proved  that.  Nevertheless,  caution  was
warranted. “We will do as you say. But I’ll have you know, if
you are detaining us without the proper authority there will
be  hell  to  pay.”  There  was  a  crackle.  The  controller  had
switched off the communicator.

What will happen to us now?
“Vernon, believe me when I say, nothing will happen.

Sure, the bounty means that the Boldiens have been here and
are  probably  covering  their  bases  just  in  case  I  do  get  off
Priaxia.  They’re  smart,  I’ll  give  them  that.  But  really,  I  can
just file for diplomatic immunity. After all, I have a Priaxian
with me. Do you think they’re going to argue with you?”

Vernon seemed to relax a little and the glint in his

numerous eyes returned. I am glad I am with you, Drake. I

wouldn’t have known what to do in this situation had you not been.

“You’re a big softy, aren’t you?”

No. I am a Priaxian incubator.
I let out a chuckle. “I’ll explain what a softy is to you one

day.”  Then  again,  I  understood  his  concern.  Diplomatic
immunity was a stop gap measure. We had to pass through
many  outlaying  worlds  before  we  reached  the  Sol  system.
This trip could be rather interesting.

I hope you do.

Mark Alders

“So, what were you like…as a child I mean?”
Vernon paused for a moment, obviously thinking back. I

was a difficult child, always behind in my studies and getting
myself into all sorts of mischief. My educators would regularly

chastise me for disappearing for no reason. It wasn’t my fault,
Drake. I just like exploring. I like to feel as though I have been the

first Priaxian to ever step foot on a place. I like going to the ocean. Is
that wrong?

“Not at all.”
He continued, I did get rewarded once. Before I was chosen for

this season’s incubation, I was given a medal for bravery. I saved a
young hatchling from certain death. The last hatchling from one of

our natural nourishers, I believe.

“What did you do?”

I pulled him out of the forest’s sinking sands. Seems he was a

curious thing, too, and wandered onto the ground where he

shouldn’t have. I happened to be in the right place at the right time.
The Queen personally thanked me. Then I was given you.

“Sounds like you’re perfect incubator material to me.
Thank you.

The Nourisher

A Vision of Loveliness.

had to say our diplomatic quarters were rather lavish, but
typical of what humans would consider five star. There

were  leather  chairs,  plush  curtains  and  gold  fittings
everywhere.  Thankfully  the  room  was  huge,  although
Vernon didn’t seem to think so. His legs touched the ceiling
when  he  stood  and  nothing  he  sat  on  or  used  was  big
enough.  He  couldn’t  get  comfortable  and  in  the  end  spun
himself a bed and stayed there, in a sulk.

Having Vernon come out of the airlock with me sure

raised  some  eyebrows.  Even  those  big,  burly  spaceport
guards took a few paces back. I actually enjoyed the second
glances  and  comments  behind  hands  he  was  getting  as  we
passed, or rather, I was probably getting seeing as I was with
him.

It was late when we arrived. At Vernon’s request I slept

with  him  in  his  created  bed.  I  hated  to  admit,  the  bed  he
made was a lot more comfortable than the mattress. I didn’t
mind sleeping next to him, but I think he was scared being in
a human facility because he held me most of the night. The
place made weird noises and having a bounty over our heads
did cause  concern. Sure, we’d be fine here, but what  about
other places?

Thankfully, my dreams were peaceful. I dreamt of soaring

skies and vast forests, of mountains whose roots tunnelled
deep into the earth and of sweeping oceans filled with life.

Mark Alders

For  the  first  time  in  my  life  I  felt  as  though  I  were  part  of
something.  Was  it  Vernon  who  communicated  his  dreams,
showing his longing to me for his home as he slept? I wasn’t
sure, but I had never dreamt like that before.

The next day Vernon and I shared breakfast. I introduced

him  to  the  delights  of  human  food,  mainly  our  fruit.  He
seemed to enjoy what I offered and I liked eating with him. It
was  like  I  was  experiencing  things  for  the  first  time,  too.
Although, when I ordered the bacon substitute he  turned it
away once he saw it. Priaxians are vegetarian so I discovered.

I like these banana things the best, he stated.
“Yeah, they’re good.” God, I’d kill for some meat, even the

soy based fake stuff.

I had placed a request for passage through the gateway

with the station controller. All we had to do now was wait for
the  all  clear.  Travelling  through  the  gateway  required
precision,  both  from  the  pilot  of  the  ship  and  of  the
controllers within the spaceport. Only one ship could pass at
any given time, the logistics of more than one doing so was
too  mind  blowing  to comprehend.  The  calculations  for  one
ship to pass were enough to fry anyone’s noodle, two would
be  a  disaster.  Ships  and  anything  within  them  are
disassembled atomically and re-assembled on the other side.
I’ve heard lots of stories of things going wrong, especially in
the early days of this type of travel. The Bonaparte, a cruiser
carrying over five-hundred passengers was the most famous
disaster of recent history. Some say they’ve seen a ghostlike
image  of  the  ship  appear  randomly  at  gateways,  the
passengers  gaunt  and  frozen  in  time,  looking  out  the
windows in desperation. I shuddered at that thought.

We didn’t venture out of our room, spending our time

watching holovid, something Vernon found quite amusing.
He would chuckle at everything, even the sad dramas they
always put on in the middle of the day. He liked cartoons.

The Nourisher

After lunch, one comprising of bread and fruit and nuts,

Vernon said, It is time, Drake.

I knew what that meant. Seemed the second Priaxian sun

had  set.  I  unbuttoned  my  overalls,  letting  them  slip  off  me
and went underneath him. “Where do you want me?” I said
casually,  but with my stomach turning  with anticipation of
the experience to follow.

Lay down on the floor. I will do the rest.
Vernon picked me up with his two middle legs, like

before. I was pulled close to his thorax, some four metres off
the floor. Instead of being petrified out of my mind as I had
been  the  first  time,  I  actually  found  myself  fascinated  with
this  whole  extraction  process.  So  much  so  I  stirred,  even
before the proboscis arms touched my body.

I closed my eyes once Vernon made contact with me, my

mind  began  to  fill  with  images  as  we  joined  mentally.  The
beat of his heart quickly matched mine, the thump, thump,
thump  resonating  throughout  my  body.  I  was  relaxed  and
our thoughts once more turned to the images of my greatest
desires.

Once more Jankin came over me, rubbing his strong hands

over my chest, massaging me. I groaned. I then felt hands at
my legs, caressing the inside of my thighs. But that couldn’t
be. Jankin couldn’t be doing both things at once.

I opened my eyes within the vision. Above me there was a

man I hadn’t seen before. I began to panic and momentarily
lost my erection.

“Relax, my friend,” Vernon said—yes, he could talk to me

in a vision share. “Let my thoughts and feelings guide you
toward the extraction.

“Vernon?” Was Vernon the man of my dreams this time?

He sure knew how to move. I could feel him touch my cock. I
could feel him rub my leg. I could feel him caress my nipples.
“Is that you?”

Mark Alders

“Yes.”
I let myself relax again, but not as quickly as I had hoped. I

became  flaccid  and  my  arousal  took  longer  as  he  caressed
me, nurtured me back to the state he needed. I  studied the
man  above  me.  He  was  handsome,  dark  haired,  thick
eyebrows and eyes that went deeper than the eternity of the
universe. Yet, he wasn’t fully human. He had some Priaxian
characteristics,  too.  Those  eyes  were  black.  His  body  was
segmented and he had four arms with big meaty hands. Was
this an image of Vernon as a human? Or was it an image he
projected to help me accept him more? I began to enjoy all of
his attention.

“Take me,” I said with a gasp, surprising myself. If a man

with many hands was clambering all over me then count me
in, alien or not.

Before I could hear another beat of our hearts, Vernon

parted my legs while caressing my hair at the same time. My
bottom lip quivered, as I  knew what  was about to happen.
The  anticipation  was  killing  me  as  he  teased,  touching  my
anus then pulling away when I whimpered or let out a moan.

“I will take you, Drake. Take you like only a Priaxian truly

can.”

I didn’t understand what he meant by that comment until

he pierced me. It was unlike anything, and I mean anything I
had ever experienced before with any man. It was like he was
statically charged and as he thrust deep inside me, my whole
body jolted. Moments after that everything within me
tingled, like pins and needles except it was internal, too.

“Fuuucking Heeeell!” I screamed as more jolts charged

through my body, as my arsehole burned and as I struggled
to  get  air  into  my  lungs.  With  each  thrust  Vernon  made
inside  me,  the  intensity  of  the  experience  increased.  He
grabbed me tight with all of his arms and I almost suffocated
in his embrace. I loved it.

The Nourisher

Quickly and oh, so willingly, I became inebriated with so

much passion and so much pain that I couldn’t hold out any
longer. Before the vision share collapsed around me, I blew
my load. The biggest load I had probably ever delivered in
my life.

I opened my eyes to see Vernon back on his bed. I was

panting—no, scratch that, I was literally gasping for my life. I
was covered in sweat and looking up at the ceiling. For the
longest time I did nothing. “My God, Vernon, where did that
come from?” I finally blurted out.

I thought that would please you, Drake.
“Please me? Jesus, it blew my mind, that’s what it did.”
Vernon chuckled.
Before I could get up off the floor and fix myself a much

needed  drink,  the  intercom  buzzed.  Vernon  clicked  the
switch and the voice of the controller filled the room. “You
have clearance for gateway travel with ship registry P131a.
Please  be  aware  diplomatic  immunity  for  the  Priaxian  is
galaxy wide. For you, Mister Glauco, we could only obtain
such a privilege for travel to planets within the boundaries of
the Borders of Worlds treaty.”

I had come off my high only to hear such crappy news.

“Thanks, Controller. What time is gateway travel for?”

“1600 hours sharp and to the nanosecond.”
We had an hour before we travelled. “Thanks,” I said as I

gestured for Vernon to flick the intercom off. I got up off the
floor  and  struggled  to  the  nearest  sofa,  my  body  coursing
with after effects of my ecstasy. Also, I was still wobbly from
the  whole  extraction  experience.  “Great.  Seems  I’m  not  as
important as I thought.”

Why is it I have immunity everywhere and you don’t, Drake?
“Well, your Queen said it best, Priaxians don’t fight wars

in rooms pushing buttons. I think the galaxy are scared of
you—your species I mean, buddy.”

Mark Alders

They shouldn’t be. Priaxians are a peaceful people, only fighting

when we really have to.

“Who were the last race your people fought, Vernon?”

The Amodilians, I believe.
“See, that’s my point.”

What’s your point?
“I’ve never heard or even seen an Amodilian. They’re

extinct now, aren’t they? Their world is just a massive desert
now, isn’t it?

Vernon hung his head low. I see your point.
“Don’t worry, you Priaxians make great lovers. No doubt

about it. I could eat a whole pizza right about now, and that’s
saying something.”

Vernon’s face flashed confusion for an instant. But we only

vision shared. I didn’t actually do anything, not physically anyway.

It’s all in our minds and as such, I can take you anywhere you
desire.

“You did something more than what my cheating bastard

of a husband could ever do.”

What’s that?
“You did something just for me and me alone. Thank you

for that, it was wonderful.”

The Nourisher

The Starfish of Annaz VI

ith all the kerfuffle of making sure we were right for
gateway travel, when we actually did pass through the

vortex,  I  understood  what  all  the  commotion  was  about.
Gateway  travel  was  nowhere  near  as  pretty  or  peaceful  as
heaven’s light. We experienced a terrible roar, like we were
hearing the screams and twisted voices of the passengers of
the  Bonaparte.  Our  vision  bubble  displayed  darkness.  Only
darkness. It was quite harrowing. Thankfully gateway travel
was quick.

The computer is telling me that we need to stop off at Annaz VI

for fuel, Drake. It’s the closest compatible planet.

“Sure. What kind of fuel does this ship need?” It was a

proper question, I mean, nothing the Priaxians made or did
seemed normal to me. For all I knew their ships were
powered by water.

Vernon’s answer confirmed my thoughts. The fuel cells of

the engines must photosynthesise. It should only take about six
hours or so.

“I see.” I caught Vernon reading something on a screen

that had materialised in front of him. He had no clue about
the  running  of  the  ship,  but  obviously  wanted  to  sound  as
though  he  did.  If  I  didn’t  know  any  better  I’d  say  he  was
showing off. Did he have feelings for me? Then again, did I
have  feelings  for  him?  On  the  third  thought,  was  all  this
getting  to  me,  making  me  jump  to  conclusions?  “So  why

Mark Alders

can’t we just do that out here in space? We’re close enough to
the Annaz star now, aren’t we?”

Again Vernon scanned the readout before continuing, It

needs atmospherically filtered light from a yellow sun and also
needs to land so it can power down its systems as it refuels—

I cut him off, changing the subject. “Say, Vernon,

something’s been bothering me since…well, since you and I
were thrown together by fate.”

He looked up, turning to me. You think the kidnapping may

have been staged? You not being paid for, I mean?

I stopped my train of thought. What I was actually going

to  ask  him  was  why  I  was  suffering  physical  effects  even
though  when  we  vision  shared  it  was  supposed  to  be  a
purely mental experience. I mean, I’d been with men all my
life, with Jankin for most of it. I knew damn well when I had
been…made  love  to.  I  felt  the  same  right  now.  “Um,  yeah,
that’s  it.”  I  lied.  Perhaps  I’ll  ask  him  that  question  another
time.  Perhaps  it  may  be  simply  a  case  of  what  the  mind
experiences the body replicates. Who knows? Vision sharing
isn’t exactly something humans can do. I had no experience
to help guide me.

Knowing the Boldiens I would say anything was possible,

including paying humans to help them get who they want.

“You know, come to think of it you may be right. It did

seem to be a little bit too convenient. I mean, why didn’t they
break into the house if they wanted me so badly? Or for that
matter, they would have been waiting for me for God knows
how long, so why didn’t they kidnap Jankin and that bastard
Jeff, too? Priaxia needs as many human males as it can get,
doesn’t it?”

Yes, we do. Many have come from the lower ranks of your

society. We do not discriminate. Vernon waved one of his hands
and the ship changed course. Did you know who the man was

that was with your husband?

The Nourisher

“I’ve never seen him before in my life.”

He may have been a Boldien agent.
I nodded in agreement. Something was definitely fishy

about this whole affair. Then again, when did anything about
kidnapping ever seem right? Was Jeff sourcing Jankin out so
he could inform the Boldiens of my activities? Come to think
of it, when did Jankin ever want to be trained for anything?
The only training he ever did was culinary in nature.

Vernon reached over and wrapped one of his arms around

me, drawing me closer to him. I could hear him breathe, and
for  a  long  moment  we  both  watched  the  heaven’s  light
displayed all around us on the vision bubble. I was secure in
his  arms,  like  he  was  my  protector  and  I  needed  his
protection. I appreciated his gesture, this whole kidnapping
thing  was  starting  to  play  on  my  mind.  I  caught  myself
rubbing  his  leg  as  his  hold  on  me  tightened.  “You  know,
you’re not only a softy, you’re a romantic one, too.”

Sometimes I don’t understand the words you speak, Drake. What

is this romance?

“In our next vision share I’ll show you.”
I look forward to that. Yep. I think he did have feelings for

me.  Then  again,  I  couldn’t  help  feeling  something  for  him,
too.  He  was  caring,  kind  and  above  all,  considerate.  The
perfect man. Pity he wasn’t human.

The heaven’s light dissipated and ahead a planet filled the

screen,  bright  blue  against  the  eternity  of  space.  Annaz  VI
was  a  water  world,  and  many  had  claimed  it  is  the  most
romantic  place  in  the  galaxy,  especially  when  the  starfish
native  to  that  world  began  mating.  I  didn’t  know  how
watching another species mate could be considered romantic
in any  way, shape or form, but I  guess I  was about to find
out.

We descended from orbit and I chuckled to myself. The

next extraction was due within the time the ship needed to

Mark Alders

re-fuel. Annaz VI could be the perfect place for me right now.
I  mean,  getting  romantic  with  Vernon  in  our  next  vision
share could be just what I needed to help keep my mind off
the  whole  argument,  kidnapping,  Jeff  thing.  I  hoped  so
anyway.

Vernon landed the ship on one of the many natural coral

atolls that populated the shallower waters. Annaz VI doesn’t
have  any  sentient  life,  and  even  though  tourism  is
encouraged,  building  anything  that  will  encroach  on  the
surrounding eco-system is not. The owners  of the planet, a
sentient  life form who  reside off Annaz V are a part of the
Borders  of  Worlds  treaty.  Somehow  that  reassured  me,
especially considering I could only be protected within treaty
worlds.

The sun was rising and Vernon and I decided to venture

out of the ship while it refuelled. The air smelled sweet and
salty. The water looked stunning, a slick of orange as the
brilliant Annaz sun rose above the horizon.

I sat underneath Vernon once he had created a bed on

which  he  could  sit.  It  started  to  rain,  but  not  how  I  would
have  expected.  There  weren’t  any  clouds  in  the  sky  for  a
start. It wasn’t until I noticed a couple of the droplets strike
my skin that I realised what the rain was.

It was raining starfish. Tiny, fingernail sized starfish. Not

only  did  they  seem  to  fall  from  the  clear  sky,  once  they
landed they began copulating with each other, right on my
arm, too. I was fascinated to watch them scamper over me,
find  a  mate  and  then  intertwine  their  limbs.  There  they
stayed  until  I  either  brushed  them  off  or  another  falling
starfish knocked them away.

Can I ask you something, Drake?
“Sure. No need for the formality. We’re friends now, ask

away.”

I would like…I’d like to start an extraction now.

The Nourisher

Seemed to me Vernon couldn’t wait for me to show him

what I had meant earlier. I smiled up at him. What he lacked
in  the  looks  department,  you  know,  all  spider-like  and
mother fucking huge and hairy, he made up for with how he
behaved  and  how  he  treated  me.  “I’d  like  that,”  I  said  as  I
began unbuttoning my overalls.

Was it the planet we were on that made me say that? Sure,

the view was stunning and having starfish do their thing all
around me sure put me into a kind of mood I only got before
I  wanted  some  loving,  but  Jesus,  I  couldn’t  wait  to  get  my
gear  off.  Seemed  those  who  said  Annaz  VI  was  the  most
romantic place in the galaxy were spot on. I’d never felt so
horny. Was there something in the air here? Did the starfish
secrete some sort of potent pheromone that made other life
forms feel like mating,  too? Or for that  matter, make  me, a
red blooded human in the prime of his life virtually beg for it
from an alien spider?

Lay down onto the coral.
“You don’t have to be so formal, Vernon. We’ve done this

a  couple  of  times  now,  surely  you  can  come  up  with
something  a  little  more….appealing.”  The  breeze  caressed
my  nakedness  and  more  and  more  starfish  fell  onto  me.  I
brushed  them  off  as  I  went  underneath  Vernon.  He  really
was my shelter, my protector now.

I want to touch you in a way only an incubator and a nourisher

can be touched by each other.

“Well, that wasn’t what I had in mind, but hey, that’ll do.”

I lay down and immediately he picked me up in those strong
arms of his. My anticipation rose and my cheeks flushed as
my blood coursed faster and faster through my veins. I had a
full on erection already. Seemed the starfish weren’t the only
ones getting some action on Annaz VI today.

Mark Alders

The Coral Atolls of Desire

he view of Annaz VI remained while our thoughts
coalesced and the extraction began. The sun had risen

higher in the sky and the waters of this world were a vivid
blue. Clouds had rolled in and the starfish had crawled back
into the ocean. Vernon and I were alone.

“You look more human this time, Vernon,” I said as I

studied him. He still had those beautiful black eyes and thick
eyebrows, but the rest of him was achingly familiar and
absolutely magnificent. Everything like it should be.

“I am becoming familiar with your physiology,” he said

with a gorgeous smile.

“You don’t need to make it sound so clinical. You’re so

handsome.” I spoke the truth, as a human he was stunning.
Built  like  Jeff,  all  rippling  muscles  and  a  tan  you  either
worked  on  every  day  or  bought  out  of  a  bottle.  He  was
naked, as I was, and I couldn’t help but stare. Many times I
caught myself and turned away, only to be drawn back, like a
moth to a light source, compelled to do so.

I reached out and grabbed his hand. He smiled again, all

innocent and beautiful and so Vernon. Fuck he was hot. In
that moment I knew he wanted me to show him everything I
knew. Before I could blink I was in his arms, his big strong
arms. I melted inside as he squeezed me, as our flesh
touched. My skin tingled and I found, unable to help myself,
that I wanted to kiss him.

The Nourisher

“If this is romance, then I like it,” he whispered into my

ear, sending shivers down my spine when his lips touched
my skin.

“There’s much more to it than this, Vernon, my friend.

This is just the beginning.” I then kissed him. When our lips
touched I felt as though I would jump out of my skin. It was
electric. I sent in my tongue, conquering him, telling him that
I  was  in  control.  He  submitted  with  a  whine,  letting  me
explore him with such carefree and unbridled passion that I
felt as though this were the first time I  had ever been with
another person, human or not.

My head spun and I went weak at the knees. Our kiss

went on and on, far longer than what those starfish spend
intertwined in each other’s limbs. My hands roved over his
back and buttocks and he returned the favour.

I broke away from him reluctantly. “I want more,” I said

with a gasp, as if those words were the last I’d ever speak in
my life.

“What did you want me to do for you?”
My fucking God, he was hot. No one, not even Jankin

asked me what I liked or what I wanted. I then felt
embarrassed. What I wanted, what I liked was something he
may not know how to do. “Let me show you.”

I moved my way down his body, licking and kissing as I

did so. When I got to my knees I grabbed his cock, feeling the
weight  of  it  in  my  hands.  If  you  asked  me  I’d  say  he
understood  humans  quite  well.  He  had  given  himself
magnificent  genitals.  His  cock  was  thick  and  meaty  and  I
couldn’t wait to arouse it. His foreskin was so beautiful and
so manly, the vein that fed it made it even more appealing, I
ran my fingers over its silkiness, delighting in his reaction as
I  did  so.  Even  his  testicles,  ripe  with  hormones  hung
perfectly below.

I was about to take him into my mouth when his hand

Mark Alders

touched  my  chin,  pulling  me  up.  “Oh,  I  know  what  you
want.  You  don’t  need  to  do  that.  I  understand  everything
now.”

Before I could argue he was sucking on me like a newborn

at his mother’s teat. Wave after wave of raw ecstasy washed
through me as Vernon ran his lips along my length, applying
enough pressure to really make me squirm with delight. He
sure did understand.

Moments later, and with a moan that would have woken

the starfish from their ocean home to mate again, I blew my
load.

My body shuddered with each pulse of pleasure I

delivered  into  Vernon’s  mouth.  He  took  all  of  me,  not
spilling  one  drop.  When  I  finally  finished  and  he  pulled
himself away from my cock, all wet and glistening from the
attention I had received, he looked up at me and smiled. He
swallowed.

“You were magnificent, Vernon.” I helped him to his feet

and again we embraced. “I think you got the hang of being a
human quite nicely.”

“Thank you, Drake. I enjoyed learning about romance.”
“Oh, that was more than romance, my friend. Let me just

say that not even my husband treats me as you do.”

“I don’t make you happy?” His eyes flashed hurt.
I kissed him, tasting my own salt, before adding, “Quite

the opposite. You make me feel important. You make me feel
special.”

He embraced me tighter. “You make me feel like that,

too.”

I closed my eyes and the vision share experience came to

an end. The real Annaz VI filled my vision. I found myself
lying on the coral looking up at my Priaxian lover. Yes, lover.
That’s what he was, a beautiful, magnificent, unselfish lover,
one who would never cheat on me. That much I knew and

The Nourisher

with every fibre of my being, too. Why? Because he treated
me unlike anyone I had ever known, including Jankin.

“Is there time for us to be together again before we leave

this planet?” I caught myself asking. Okay, so I wanted more.
Who could blame me?

Vernon looked at his ship, as did I. The Flying Leaf—as I

had now come to call it—shimmered a dark, healthy emerald
green. Obviously the ship had taken what it needed from the
Annazian sun.

It is time to leave this place. Vernon said helping me to my

feet.

“I can’t believe we’ve been here six hours already.”

We have. I don’t want the ship getting too much sun, it’ll become

sluggish otherwise.

I ignored him and decided to poke around a bit to see how

he felt about what had just happened between us. “Gee, time
flies when you’re having fun, doesn’t it?”

Vernon looked puzzled. You’re funny, Drake. Time is a

constant.

Well, that was a typical Priaxian answer if I ever heard

one.  I  held  onto  one  of  his  legs  as  we  walked  side  by  side
across  the  coral  toward  the  ship.  “But  you  had  fun,  didn’t
you?”

I did.
“Good.” Now we were getting somewhere. He did have

feelings for me.

We went inside the ship and immediately he began

gesturing  like  he  was  listening  to  his  favourite  music  or
something. Actually, come to think of it, did Priaxians even
have music? The vision bubble formed and I experienced a
sort  of  childish  rush  as  we  left  Annaz  VI’s  atmosphere.  I
wanted to know more about him.

“Do you sing, Vernon?”
We all sing. You have heard my song, the beating of my heart in

Mark Alders

tune with your own when we have gone through our extraction

ceremony. I have also heard, as a hatchling, my own incubator’s
thoughts and feelings, his song as you call it.

“No. I mean do you create music that you listen to for

enjoyment or because it tells a story?”

For the second time in as many hours Vernon looked

puzzled. I don’t know what you mean.

“I wish I had a good singing voice so I could show you

what I mean. Perhaps when we get on Earth I will let you
hear some of our music. I have a lot on crystal.”

It can’t be any better than the song I hear from you when we are

joined. The flow of your life blood, the beating of your heart, even the

movement of your muscles as they help send you toward climax, all
is beautiful from you.

I laughed. “You know, you have a strange way of making

something that’s already beautiful even more magnificent. I
never thought of the extraction like that.”

That is our song. What other music do you need?
I nodded, finding myself in total agreement. Before I could

continue  this  rather  enlightening  conversation,  a  warning
shrill  pierced  the  air.  “What  the  hell’s  that  noise?”  I  said
stating the bloody obvious.

The Nourisher

Aurora the Mighty

he noise sounded out again and again.

That’s the proximity warming. Someone or something is too

close for the ship’s comfort.

“You make it sound like the ship is alive and has feelings.”
It is.
“Oh.”
I see that it’s another ship coming toward us. The ship tells me

it’s closing fast from the port side. Switching views…now.

The vision bubble changed its view, making me feel dizzy

and nauseous from the shift in perspective. Whatever, the
ship—our ship, was right. There was another ship closing in
on our position. I could also tell immediately that the vessel
was Boldien, the unmistakable winged bird shape typical of
their design.

“Seems these Boldiens are persistent buggers,” I

grumbled.

I’m going to engage the heaven’s light engines, perhaps we can

outrun them. I don’t know their intention, but I don’t want to stay
here and find out. I know you have an interest in getting away from

them, Drake.

The screen burst into multi-coloured light, a dazzling

display before me. “You could say that, my main interest is
staying alive. Hey, do you think they’re after us because it
has something to do with the fact the Boldiens are out to get
me?” I said wryly.

They have put a bounty on your head, have they not?

Mark Alders

Strangely, I let out a great big belly laugh. Vernon had that

effect on me. He was so innocent in many ways. I  couldn’t
stop  the  urge,  I  had  to  reach  out  and  hug  him.  So  I  did.
Thankfully,  he  was  at  my  height  when  he  commanded  the
ship. “I was being sarcastic, you know?” I whispered into his
ear hole.

I took his silence as meaning he had no idea what I was

talking about. Finally he said, Perhaps you can show me more of

this sarcasm when the next extraction ceremony is performed.

I smoothed my hand over his back. He was soft there, too,

the hairs actually like fur instead of brittle and course like I
would have expected. “Believe me, what we share when we
do that is the furthest thing from being sarcastic.”

Vernon waved his arms about as a scream—yes, a scream

rang out. I knew he didn’t make that noise. It must have been
the  ship.  Flashes  of  light  erupted  everywhere  outside.  The
Boldiens  had  unleashed  their  energy  weapons  and  that
scream  was  our  ship  being  hit  and  yelling  out  in  pain.  A
spaceship  who  screamed,  how  freaky  was  that?  My  mind
couldn’t  quite  grasp  that  concept  and  for  a  long  while,  as
Vernon  frantically  commanded,  I  remained  silent  as  I
witnessed the ballet between ship and pilot as they tried to
out manoeuvre the Boldiens. More fireworks erupted as we
tried to out manoeuvre and outrun them.

We’ve been hit many times by an energy weapon, he yelled

above more screaming. I turned to the display in front of us,
letting go of Vernon at the same time, realising I was holding
him tight, restricting him from doing what he had to, which
boiled down to hopefully getting us out of here.

The screen and the vision bubble went blank for an

instant. If I didn’t know any better I’d swear it felt like we
were on an amusement park ride, one that had de-railed. We
were now careening toward our doom, I could feel it in my
bones.

The Nourisher

I was thrown about the bridge like a rag-doll in a washing

machine. I hit my chin on one of the organic nodules. “What
the fuck’s going on?”

The inertial dampeners have failed! The last strike hit the

generator. I don’t know how we’re going to get away from these
Boldiens so we can give the ship time to regenerate.

Again the words Vernon spoke seemed strange, but

somehow I felt reassured he did actually understand how to
fly this ship. I respected him for that, in fact. Sure, he may
have to read from the manual every now and again, but who
the hell cares about that? Not me.

“Can you find a gateway?” I blurted, not really thinking,

but trying my damndest to sound like I had some semblance
of an idea of what I was talking about.

Vernon didn’t question me. He began searching his screen

for an operational gateway, its event horizon would be easily
detected  even  by  the  simplest  of  scanners.  Any  would  do,
even  an  unmanned  one.  I  didn’t  have  the  heart  to  tell  him
that  travel  through  a  gateway  at  heaven’s  light  speed
probably  wasn’t  the  smartest  idea.  The  maths  involved  to
safely pass through a gateway at such speed may be beyond
the ship’s capabilities, manned or not. If the gateway wasn’t
manned,  we  could  easily  become  frozen  in  time,  another
Bonaparte. I swallowed hard.

Found one!
My stomach turned. “You sure?” Was he really going to

attempt gateway travel because I said so? I held onto what I
thought was a handrail. Heck, gateways were everywhere,
but only manned stations, ones tried and tested and as stable
as they could possibly be, were guaranteed at least a ninety
nine percent chance you’d make it to the other side. I didn’t
want to even think about the odds of our situation right now.

Yes, I’m sure.
The ship screamed again. I was knocked to the floor, as

Mark Alders

was the wind out of my lungs.

I sucked in air through my teeth. “We’ve got no choice,

have we?” I regretted saying that. Verbalising my fears
didn’t do us any good, but I couldn’t help myself. “We either
get blown up or ripped to shreds.”

There’s always choice, Vernon said as he raised all of his

arms up into the air and bought them down over his screen.

The ships veered and I was thrown across the bridge as I

got  to  my  feet.  Above  me,  the  vision  bubble  crackled  for  a
split  second  before  being  plunged  into  that  haunting
darkness as we passed through the gateway.

We had done it.
We’ve lost the Boldiens, Vernon said nervously as he looked

intently at his screen. He obviously understood exactly what
the risks were of the manoeuvre he had attempted. He had
become sullen and his gestures weren’t as clear and crisp as
they had been before this incident happened.

“That’s a good thing,” I said, trying to keep the focus on

the positive.

The screen became static for a moment before the vision

bubble  returned.  On  screen,  the  wonderful  and  reassuring
view of heaven’s light appeared, a wonderful and reassuring
rainbow  of  light.  I  waited  for  a  few  seconds,  the  danger
period if we were indeed caught in a time loop, and let out a
sigh of relief when I thought we were okay. It was only then
that I realised I was holding my breath.

That was a close call. I will return to normal space, the ship is

telling me it needs to rest and recuperate. As Vernon spoke those
words the blackness of normal space surrounded us. I’ve got
to find a yellow sun. That should be our first priority.

I sucked in the air. “Thanks.” I came over and hugged him

again. His warmth was reassuring.

What was that for?
“You saved me. We made it.”

The Nourisher

Vernon giggled. On the contrary, you saved me, Drake.

Without you saying you’d be my nourisher I wouldn’t be here. I
would be an outcast…or worse, dead.

I thought about that, and I suppose he was right.

Nevertheless, he had saved our skins with his quick thinking,
living ship or not. “So where are we then?”

There was a lot more commanding and a couple of course

changes before Vernon said, Aurora system…I think.

I felt as though someone had punched me in the guts and

was laughing at me as I went down.

“What? Did you say the Aurora system?”

Yes. The nearest yellow sun is Aurora Major, about fifteen

minutes away at our current speed and course.

“Turn back! Get out of here.” I bellowed. “Find that

gateway. We need to go back. I’ll take my chances with the
Boldiens, at least they had the decency to announce they
were after me.”

Vernon looked flustered and his eyes, normally a deep

lustrous black, dulled. The gateway is gone. It must have been

unstable…either that or us travelling through it at such a speed
disrupted its fabric and it dissipated. He waved some more. The
nearest gateway is on the other side of the Aurora solar system.

“Fuuucking heeeell! We’re screwed!”
I know what you mean this time, Drake. Aurora isn’t exactly

known for its hospitality. We have had a couple of altercations with
them in the past when they came into our system and tried to take it

over. We fought them off, but losses were high.

“At least you fought them off. I know many worlds that

haven’t.  They  are  now  rocks  floating  in  space  never  to  be
inhabited  again,  not  even  by  single  cell  amoeba.”
Nervousness  overcame  me  as  the  Auroran  sun  filled  our
view. It was a giant yellow star. Perfect for the ship. Not so
perfect  for  us.  “There’s  also  the  little  known  fact  that  the
Aurora system is on the other side of the galaxy to where we
want to be.”

Mark Alders

The Hunt is On

fter I had paced a groove onto the bridge’s organic floor, I
said, “Can we hide on a moon or something until the

ship has repaired itself?” I didn’t like the look of the Auroran
home world as it came into focus, mainly because seeing it
meant that it was too close for comfort. It was Earth-like, no
question about it, but the inhabitants, let’s just say they like
to  conquer  those  around  them.  They’re  a  military  based
society,  ordered  and  with  a  hive  mind.  Like  the  Priaxians,
they  are  insect-like,  but  that’s  where  the  similarities  stop.
Whereas Priaxians resemble giant spiders, generally peaceful
and generally interested in those around them, the Aurorans
are not. They are the size of humans, wasp-like in appearance
and basically as pissed as hell even on a good day. They were
the  ones  who  single  handily  tried  to  quash  the  Borders  of
Words  treaty.  They  failed.  Over  the  last  decade  they  have
stepped  up  their  military  campaign  and  have  taken  over
many worlds, mainly for the resources to fuel their voracious
appetite for conquest.

They say that the Aurorans produce a honey that’s like the

gold  of  the  galaxy,  worth  thousands  of  times  more  than
Priaxian  silk.  They  guard  that  honey  with  their  lives  and
when not doing so, search out other systems for their hives to
harvest.  Basically,  they  perpetuate  their  species  by
conquering those around them.

I hope they never reach Earth.

The Nourisher

There are three moons orbiting Aurora Major. One has an

atmosphere.

“We’ll land there then.” Finally, some good news. I

clapped my hands together, excited at the thought of being
able to do what we had to without landing on Aurora Major.

Vernon sighed. There is activity there. The ship tells me there

are signs of a hive. I can’t tell from this distance whether or not it’s

occupied, but there are definitely Auroran structures all over that
moon.

Okay, the good news didn’t last so long. “Um, can we get

closer to find out?”

Not without being detected. Our ships have been registered with

their hive mind in the past. They know who we are and how to look

for us. It would only be a matter of time before we were found out.

“Then we have no choice. We have to land on a moon

without an atmosphere.”

We can’t. Photosynthesis not only requires sunlight it also needs

carbon dioxide at the very least, too. The ship can’t repair without

an atmosphere.

“You know, I had a feeling you were going to say that.”

I’m sorry, Drake.
“Don’t be sorry, you big lug. I understand.” I looked up at

the screen. The moon with the hive came closer and closer. I
could see a world scarred by the activity of the Aurorans
even from this distance They took everything they needed to
help in the production of their jelly. “I think we should try
and sneak in on the dark side. Perhaps that will increase our
chances of not being detected.”

Vernon waved his hand. The ship agrees with you. It also says

that if it doesn’t get sustenance soon it won’t be able to accelerate

into heaven’s light until it does.

“Pushy bugger, isn’t it?”
Vernon let out a nervous chuckle. It likes you. I can’t say I

blame it. Humans are very interesting.

That terrifying warning siren sounded out again.

Mark Alders

“What is it now?” I sure as hell could feel my heart thump

loud in my chest and my fingers and toes tingled as
adrenalin rushed through my blood stream. A bead of sweat
trickled down from my temple.

The moon has activity and I’m afraid to say I think we’ve been

detected. At least four Auroran ships are closing in on our position.

“Fuck!” If I thought the Priaxians were ugly when I first

set eyes upon them, then the Auroran ships redefined that for
me.  They  were  hideous,  but  in  a  frightening  nightmarish
way. Their ships were armed to the hilt, all spikes and claws
and gun turrets everywhere. Black beetle looking things that
were basically great big flying organic tanks. “Can we outrun
them?” Gee, that sounded familiar, didn’t it? I held onto the
railing  again,  not  wanting  to  hold  onto  Vernon  for  fear  of
restricting him in our moment of dire need…again.

Yes. They are slow. That is their weakness. If we dive into the

used hive tunnels, then perhaps we can lose them long enough for

the ship to regenerate. I know Auroran tunnels have access to the
surface, sort of like air shafts. Where air can get in, sunlight can,
too. All we need is a bit of direct light and the ship can repair itself

much quicker.

“Do it” I said with boyish enthusiasm.
The Auroran ships passed eerily above us as we dived

toward the moon’s surface. Perhaps they didn’t see us as a
threat. Perhaps they didn’t need to, the hive we were heading
into was occupied, as Vernon had said. Auroran hives had to
be seen to be believed. I had never seen one, only read about
them up until this moment.

The wheels of industry had certainly turned here on the

second  moon  of  Aurora.  The  whole  moon,  every  square
millimetre, was covered in some sort of structure. There were
ghastly  stark  shaped  buildings,  a  multitude  of  bridges,
platforms  and  towers  everywhere.  Not  like  the  smooth
elegant Priaxian towers at all. I couldn’t take it all in at first

The Nourisher

glance. In fact, you couldn’t really say there was any of the
moon left. I couldn’t see any natural surface. Not from orbit.
All the rock had been used.

I whistled and said, “Now I think I’ve seen it all. Look at it

all, it’s just crazy…organised, but fucking crazy.” I assumed
most of what  I  saw below was for mining.  Vehicles, rovers
and an assortment of military craft travelled across roads that
criss-crossed  the  moon.  Above  the  huge  moon  sized  city
many  ships  flew,  a  lot  of  them  looking  like  they  were
designed  to  haul  minerals  or  cargo  or  anything  else  the
Aurorans extracted from the moon.

The whole scene in front of me was terrifying, fascinating

and disturbing all at the same time. I knew we had to land on
that moon. But where?

Those four Auroran ships have turned around and are now

making their way toward us,  Vernon  stated  as  he  guided  the
ship  toward  what  I  could  only  describe  as  a  huge  gaping
mouth. I assumed that was a vent.

“I thought they’d given up on us?”

No. They were probably seeing what move we were going to make

before deciding their course of action. A common tactic of theirs.

“And what move is it we’re making?”

We’re going into the depths of the moon where the Aurorans

mine the minerals they need to make their wars and produce their
jelly. It’s the only chance we have of evading them.

The vision bubble changed to a sort of bluish night vision

as we dove into the vent and darkness surrounded us. Inside
the vent I could see many places where the ship could land,
the  structures  honeycomb-like.  I  couldn’t  help  but  wonder
how  long  we’d  need  to  be  down  here  considering  the  ship
wouldn’t  be  able  to  get  direct  sunlight.  Refuelling  took  six
hours.  How  long  did  regeneration  of  damaged  engines
require?

They have separated. Two Auroran ships now follow us. I don’t

Mark Alders

know where the other two have gone.

That actually scared me more than when he had said that

all  four  ships  were  following  us.  The  Aurorans  were
obviously  employing  some  sort  of  strategy  and  I  couldn’t
help  but  get  the  nasty,  deep  down  feeling  that  we  were
heading for some sort of trap.

I think Vernon felt the same way. He began checking his

screen for somewhere to land. I could see him trying to pin
point  any  structure  big  enough—and  in  sunlight—for  the
Flying Leaf to land on. Obviously he didn’t want to go deeper
into the vent to see what waited for us there or if the other
two ships had taken a short cut and were about to ambush
us. I agreed, not fancying a close encounter with an Auroran
yet  or  at  any  time  for  that  matter.  All  I  could  think  of  was
how  some  terrestrial  wasps  laid  their  eggs in  other  insects,
including spiders. My stomach churned with disgust. I didn’t
want to explain to the queen anything like that happening to
Vernon. He already had an egg to worry about.

“Have we found a place to land yet?” I said impatiently,

verbalising that I understood he was doing his best but
letting him know I was at my wit’s end.

Yes. But we’re going to have to do it quickly. They’re gaining on

us.

“But if we land won’t we be sitting ducks?”

I don’t know what that is you’re referring to, but it doesn’t sound

good.

“No. It’s not good.” I wiped sweat from my brow. “Hurry,

Vernon.”

He turned from his study to look at me. Don’t worry. I have

a plan.

“You do?” You know, the longer I knew him the more I

realised that he was amazing. Certainly a lot cooler in a crisis
than I ever could be. Then again, I’d never been in this sort of
crisis.

The Nourisher

Hold on. I am going to engage the heaven’s light engine.
“But I thought you didn’t—I mean, the Flying Leaf didn’t

have those engines online? Weren’t they damaged? No wait,
wasn’t the fuel for those engines expended? Aww, fuck I
don’t know, but whatever you’re going to do, do it now.”

There is enough reserve for one short burst, say three seconds or

so. Enough to get us to the other side of the moon. Hopefully that
will confuse them. His calmness was almost annoying, but at
the same time I was glad he seemed to have this situation
under control.

“Well, what are we waiting for?”
Vernon passed his hand over his screen. A split second

later heaven’s light burst around us, a split second after that
there was darkness.

When I say darkness, I mean complete and utter darkness.

There was a black nothing on the vision bubble, even deeper
than what the screen showed when we gateway travelled, if
that was at all possible. It was like we were in a void and
what made it worse was the fact the night vision no longer
wanted to work. I don’t know why. Was there a dampening
field present? I swallowed hard as Vernon tried to gather any
information as to our whereabouts.

Mark Alders

The Darkness Looms

n the darkness there was silence. Inside the ship all I could
hear was Vernon’s gestures as they cut the air and my heart

pound loud in my ears as I watched him. He was trying to
talk to the Flying Leaf, to find out anything that may be
helpful to our current situation.

I was holding onto the rail so tight I’m sure I’d have left

indentations along it. Finally, I broke the silence. “So—where
are we again? It sure doesn’t look like the other side of the
moon to me.” Now, pointing out the painfully obvious fact
that we were certainly not where we were supposed to be
served no purpose other than to make me feel better.

According to what Vernon had said before we engaged

the  heaven’s  light  engine,  we  were  supposed  to  have
travelled  through  the  moon  to  the  other  side.  There  was
nothing here, not even stars. So where were we?

Vernon ceased his movements. We are near the moon’s

core…or to be precise, in the honeycomb of tunnels where the core

used to be before it was mined.

“We’re stuck here, aren’t we?” I knew the Flying Leaf

needed  sunlight—that  wasn’t  here.  I  knew  the  ship  also
needed  an  atmosphere  to  refuel  and  regenerate.  Well,  that
could be here at the centre of the moon, but could the ship do
what it had to if devoid of one of the elements it needed?

Vernon visibly sunk down into his organic podium. We

are, as you say, stuck. With no sunlight the ship will eventually fall

The Nourisher

into a coma, rendering it useless for our needs. There isn’t enough

fuel left now to engage heaven’s light. There isn’t even enough fuel
to get us back to where we were on auxiliary engines. I’m so very

sorry, Drake. I really am.

I went over to him and did the only thing I could think of

right now. I hugged him. “Don’t you dare apologise, Vernon.
You did your best. In fact, you are brilliant.”

His body was warm and soft. As I ran my hands along his

back,  I  wished  we  could  share  and  extraction  experience
now. To see him as a big strong human, having him hold me
tight and caress my nakedness, would be perfect. I yearned
for the sunlight of  Annaz VI and the coral  atolls where we
were intimate.

His arms came around me. Don’t worry, I think we’ll soon be

out of here.

“How can you be so sure?”

Someone or something is approaching.
I let go of him, turning my attention to the vision bubble.

He was right. In the distance two tiny specks of light loomed
in the darkness. At first, they were the size of firefly light,
then as each agonizing second ticked by, the points of light
increased in size. It was definitely a ship that approached.

“Auroran?”
It would seem so.
The  silence  of  the  darkness  was  soon  pierced  by  the

sounds  of  something  attaching  itself  to  the  Flying  Leaf.  A
ripping  sound,  like  cloth  being  shredded,  could  be  heard.
The ship screamed and began to move. I could only assume
that  we  were  not  only  being  towed  to  wherever  it  was  we
were being towed to, we were also being boarded.

“Hold me.” Was the only thing I could come out with. If I

were going to die, right here and right now, then I would do
it in the arms of my lover. Yes, that’s right, Vernon was my
lover. I admitted that to myself for the first time. It’s funny

Mark Alders

how  in  the  darkest  moments  of  our  lives  we  come  to
appreciate what is really important to us. When I saw Jankin
with that other man, I realised I was fortunate to be healthy
and alive, and now, as the Aurorans made their way toward
the bridge, I realised that my perfect life, my beautiful house
and my fantastic job meant absolutely nothing unless it could
be quantified by love. As a human I needed to love. It didn’t
matter who or what that love was, so long as it bought us joy,
spiritually,  mentally  and  emotionally.  Vernon  did  that  for
me. He completed me. More than Jankin ever did. Walking in
on  him  with  Jeff  was  probably  the  best  thing  to  have
happened,  it  woke  me  up  from  the  rose-coloured  glasses
view I had of my life up until that point.

Whatever happens, Drake, don’t let us be separated. I need you,

and I’m not just talking about the extraction either. I have come

to…I have come to love you for who you are.

I squeezed him tighter. The sound of his pulse coursed

through my body as I pressed my head onto his thorax. I was
at peace for the first time since I could remember. “I love you,
too, Vernon.”

No sooner had I spoken those words when three Aurorans

burst onto the bridge. They were chattering something in
their own tongue, a dialect similar sounding to Priaxian but
with a lot more clicks and whistles.

One Auroran came over to us, the biggest of the three. “If

you want to live, Priaxian and human, then do exactly as we
say.” I was surprised to hear it speak.

The Auroran, as wasp-like as you could ever want to

imagine, was holding some sort of energy staff, a blue light
hissed at the end of it. I let Vernon go, not wanting to feel the
brunt of the weapon. I had experienced enough pain with the
Boldien disruptor, I certainly didn’t want to test out Auroran
arsenal, too.

“Where are you taking us?” I blurted. The Auroran

The Nourisher

grabbed  me  harshly  by  the  arm  and  pulled  me  away  from
Vernon. The two other Aurorans grabbed him as I was taken
to  the  door.  “I  said,  where  are  you  taking  us,  you  fucking
bastards?”

There was no reply. Instead, the Auroran pushed me so

that my back found the wall with a hard thud. I winced as
pain coursed through my body from the blow. As my head
cleared and I futilely tried to dash for freedom, the Auroran
jabbed me with his staff. Seemed I was going to get a taste of
what that weapon was like whether I liked it or not.

The pain delivered by the weapon was indescribable, like

nothing I had ever felt before. An intense sensation where the
weapon touched my skin shot through me. My head then felt
as though it were going to explode and after that, all I can say
is that every orifice on my body relaxed and I soiled myself
as I crumpled to the floor. Vernon screamed something
incoherent as they jabbed him, too.

I couldn’t form words, my mouth didn’t respond to what

my brain wanted it to do. Nothing worked. It was like I was
inside  someone  else’s  body,  seeing  and  hearing  what  was
going on around me, but ultimately having no control. I was
a  twitching  mess  on  the  floor  of the  bridge as  the  Auroran
came over me.

“You will do as we say or the next action we will

undertake is to end your life. Is that clear, human?”

I couldn’t even look up at him, my eyes wouldn’t move

either.  All  I  could  see  were  his  ugly  insect  legs  as  they
stepped closer to me. I then began to lose focus and through
the haze that consumed me, the Auroran struck me with the
staff  again.  The  pain  I  suffered  from  the  initial  strike
intensified, and once  more I  lost control of my dignity. My
body  involuntarily  jumped.  My  tongue  felt  large  in  my
mouth  and  breathing  became  harder  and  harder  with  each
breath.

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The Auroran picked me up.
From there everything was as if a nightmare, a set of

ghastly  disjointed  images  as  my  mind  ebbed  and  flowed
between  unconscious  and  conscious  thought.  I  witnessed
Vernon being struck, fighting off as best he could the other
two Aurorans. I so wanted to help him, show these Auroran
bastards who  they  were dealing with. I  hoped Vernon was
okay. I certainly wasn’t.

I was taken aboard the Auroran vessel. It was organic, like

the  Flying  Leaf,  but  more  sinister  in  appearance.  Well,
actually, it was much more stark than what a Priaxian would
have built. This ship was built for what I assumed was some
sort  of  military  purpose.  Many  Aurorans  were  stationed  at
screens,  their  level  of  technology  looked  like  it  even
surpassed that of the Priaxians. On those screens I could see
maps and an assortment of other things that had a decidedly
military appearance. I was scared out of my mind, but tried
not to show it.

Vernon, like me, was being carried. His eyes were closed

and his legs folded into his body. He looked like a terrestrial
spider after it had been sprayed with insecticide. He looked
like he was dead.

Tears flowed down my cheeks and an overwhelming

sadness consumed me. I couldn’t control myself and I let out
a pained cry. If Vernon was dead, what was left to live for?

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The Nectar of the Aurorans

he Auroran had placed me into a cold room. I was alone. I
was naked. I didn’t remember

them taking off my clothes. Then again, I had soiled them

thanks to some overzealous prodding on their part. I suppose
they did me a favour.

Feeling slowly returned to my extremities and I found I

could soon move my hands and feet. The focus returned to
my eyes. I hated to say it, but I was in a cell, one that seemed
impossible to escape from. On one wall there was a door. On
the other, to the left of me, there was a window. Every other
wall, including the ceiling, was featureless. What was it with
aliens and their impenetrable prisons?

The cell was a dark, dull green in appearance and organic

like the rest of the ship. The floor was soft underneath me
and it squelched as I moved.

Finally, I made it up onto my feet. My legs wanted to go in

two directions at once, but I went straight to the window. The
view made me sick. I could see another cell, exactly the same
as the one I was in. Vernon was curled up, still looking like
he was dead, in the corner.

“Hey, Vernon, wake up!” I screamed.
Nothing.
I  repeated  those  words  over  and  over  until  my  voice

became hoarse. Vernon didn’t respond. I know they struck
me twice with their staff weapon, two welts on my stomach

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were evidence of that. But how many times had they hit him?
I could see numerous red boils on him, even though he was
covered in hair.

I sank down onto the floor. Again, I was overcome with

sadness. I held my knees and sank my head so that I was
curled up as tight as I could be, not wanting to be disturbed. I
didn’t want to move. I’d rather starve and die here than go
on without Vernon. I had tried many times to climb through
the window to get to him, if only to hold him one last time,
but I was too big and the wall too slippery for my feet to grab
hold.

I gave up in a fit of disgust and annoyance. Why hadn’t we

taken our chances with the Boldiens?

As I contemplated the ifs, buts and maybes, sleep found

me, and I had to say, my dreams were even more disturbing
than the reality I  had  experienced of late. I  would give my
last  breath  to  experience  Vernon’s  dreams  with  him  once
more, of when he showed me the forests and mountains of
his home world, to soar carefree over Priaxian oceans and to
be snug and safe in his nest. Fuck I missed him so.

I was woken by something touching my head. Okay, when

I say touching I actually meant ruffling my hair. I opened my
eyes,  hoping  I  was  only  dreaming  this  whole  Auroran
episode  and  it  was  Vernon  waking  my  up  from  my
nightmare to comfort me.

It was not to be.
An Auroran was standing over me. “What the fuck do you

want?” I spat. “Leave me alone. Haven’t you done enough
damage already?”

The Auroran’s mandibles moved hypnotically as it said,

“You are such a weak being I am surprised your species has
now spread over most of the galaxy.”

“Whatever. If you’ve come here to gloat do me a favour

and kill me now. I have nothing left to live for since you

The Nourisher

killed Vernon.”

The Auroran looked puzzled and took a step back. “You

have this all wrong, human. Your friend, your symbiotic
partner, is very much alive. We put him to sleep to protect
him.”

I snorted. “You’re a filthy liar. I know Aurorans and

Priaxians are enemies.”

The Auroran held out its insect-like hand. “I apologise for

my guard’s heavy-handedness, but that is how they do
things. Please, let me help you up.”

I ignored his gesture. “Why have you separated me from

Vernon?”

“There is no need for you to be together at this moment.

Not while he sleeps anyway.”

Again I scoffed. “We sleep together.”
For the second time in as many moments the Auroran

looked surprised. “Such devotion to another not of your own
kind.  Perhaps  that  is  the  reason  why  humans  are  so
successful,  you  care  for  more  than  yourselves.  How
unpredictably interesting.”

“I owe him a lot and let’s just leave it at that. Now leave

me alone if you’re not going to help me.”

A scraping noise confronted my ears, not harsh like metal

on  metal,  but  a  noise  that  sounded  like  two  wet  sponges
rasping  together.  Behind  me  the  wall  moved  and  before  I
realised what was going on, I had taken the Auroran’s hand
and was on my feet.

“Then I offer you my help,” it chattered.
I didn’t answer it. I ran over to Vernon as soon as the wall

had melded into the floor. He was warm to the touch. When I
pressed  my  head  against  his  thorax  I  could  hear  his
heartbeat,  his  wonderful  heartbeat,  welcome  my  senses.
embraced him so tight I hoped I didn’t hurt him.

“Thank God, you’re alive,” I said with a joyous gasp. He

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didn’t move, but knowing he wasn’t dead was good enough
for me, for now. I turned my attention back to the Auroran.
“So what’s your story, then? Why have you attacked us?
Why have you detained us?”

The Auroran produced a small bowl filled with golden

jelly, from where I had no idea. “Eat this. It will heal the
stings you have experienced.”

“I’m not eating anything you give me, you bastard.”
The Auroran turned away. “Fine. Starve. What good will

that do your incubator if you cannot perform an extraction?
Would you see the next generation of his species die, too?
You are a selfish being, even by human standards.”

I snatched the bowl off him, scooping up a handful of the

jelly and stuffing it hungrily into my mouth. I hated him, but
he was right. I needed to remain as strong as I could for
Vernon.

As soon as the stuff hit my tongue and melted into my

mouth I did feel relief wash over me. I no longer felt stiff and
sore. I stood up, making sure I was between the Auroran and
Vernon.  Behind  me  Vernon  shuffled  his  leg,  seems  he  was
waking  up.  I  couldn’t  tell  you  how  relieved  I  was  at  that
moment. I wanted to comfort him, to tell him I was all right.

Unfortunately, I had another problem staring right at me

“You haven’t answered my question, Auroran.”

“I could answer you by simply saying, you were in

Auroran space unauthorized. What happens to you while
you are under our jurisdiction is solely and wholly up to the
authorities here—”

I cut him off. “Don’t give me that crap. I know off-handed

talk when I hear it. I’ve been delivering those kind of
speeches all my life.”

The Auroran stepped closer. “Ah, yes, the famous Drake

Glauco.” Again its mandibles moved frantically. “But as I
was about to say, thankfully for you and your friend, I am

The Nourisher

not part of any authority here. Quite the reverse.”

“Then who are you?”
The Auroran seemed to stand taller, as if pride washed

over it. “I am Agnon, appointed speaker of the Cult of
Starfall, and it is I who rescued you from certain death at the
hands of the Auroran military.”

I stood dumbfounded for a brief moment. I knew that the

stings must have affected my brain, too, because that was so
unlike me. I could no longer hear Vernon behind me. I
turned. A feeling of confidence and security washed over me
when his magnificent frame came above me, his legs around
me. I was underneath him.

“Give me one good reason why we shouldn’t knock the

living daylights out of you.” Seemed to me a Priaxian and a
pissed off human could take on an Auroran, especially one
who didn’t have his stinger. I smiled, and I think Agnon
understood the situation he was in.

He stepped back and immediately the wall began to rise

up  with  a  squelching  ooze.  “I’ll  give  you  two.  You  won’t
make it out of here without my help and more importantly,
the second Priaxian sun is about to set. Seems you two are
going  to  be  indisposed  for  a  while.  I’ll  come  back  soon  to
continue this conversation.”

The wall sealed us in. Vernon and I were now alone.
I turned to him, reaching up and scratching him on his

underside. “Are you all right? I was so worried about you.”

I’m fine, Drake, just stunned a little. But Agnon is right, it is

time.

“Then I am ready for you.” He scooped me up effortlessly

as  I  reached  for  him.  This  time  I  hugged  him,  running  my
hands over his back as the two proboscis arms touched my
skin.  I  shuddered  with  delight  as  his  song  filled  my  mind.
“Take me to Annaz VI, I want to be on that atoll with you.”

Yes, he whispered with such sensuality that my

The Nourisher

A Deal to Behold

n my mind I saw the atoll of Annaz VI where we had
previously landed. The sun was setting, the ocean around

me a bright orange hue, and the starfish, having danced their
last dance, were returning to the ocean. I sensed someone
behind me, turning to see Vernon.

He wore nothing but a smile. He was perfection, but

something  about  him  this  time  was  different.  I  smiled.  I
realised he had changed once more to please me. He wasn’t
smooth skinned anymore, thick black hair over his chest and
stomach. Oh, fuck how I  wanted to run my hands through
that  manly  hair  to  discover  the  delight  my  actions  would
give him.

“You like what you see, Drake, my saviour?”
I licked my lips. Up until this point I had been frozen on

the spot. The beauty I beheld and the setting we had found
ourselves in made me feel—no, made me want this moment
to last forever. I didn’t want to be in that Auroran prison. I
wanted to be here forever. I knew that wasn’t possible, the
vision we shared wouldn’t last long.

He came over to me and embraced me tight, my head

buried in that hairy chest of his. He smelt divine, like
lavender and honey and musk. I became intoxicated as I took
in his scent. He ran his hands down my back to my buttocks,
hard enough to know he meant business but gentle so as not
to hurt. He squeezed my cheeks and I then knew he didn’t

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want to waste any more time.

I let out a moan, a moan that was muffled as he pressed his

lips  against  mine.  He  pulled  me  by  my  hips  so  that  I  was
closer to him, so that  our now erect cocks touched. Vernon
was in control, his actions direct and deliberate, and for all I
cared I would let him do whatever he wanted to me. I was
his,  utterly  and  completely,  with  my  mind,  body  and  soul
and everything else in between.

“Take me, my lover,” I said with a gasp as he let go of his

kiss but continued to nibble on my lips. I began to feel hot. I
began to feel the heat of orgasm rise up inside me. All this
from a hold and a kiss. “Fuuucking heeeell.”

As our skin on skin contact continued and we kissed and

licked and nibbled each other for what seemed an eternity,
the waves of ecstasy washed over me more and more.

He stopped, letting me go. I was about to question why he

would  do  such  a  thing,  when  he  grabbed  me  by  my
shoulders  and  with  enough  force  to  know  I’d  better  not
resist.  He  pushed  me  down  onto  a  silken  bed.  I  hadn’t
noticed  the  bed  before.  Then  again,  my  eyes  were  only  for
him.  There  could  have  been  twenty  Aurorans  in  the  room
watching  us  as  our  extraction  reached  its  climax.  I  didn’t
care. This was my moment with Vernon.

“I want to have you, Drake.”
“You can have me!” I said as my lips trembled. His words

held  so  much  power  and  his  stare  was  more  than  that  of
hunger  and  lust.  It  was  of  passion  and  love  and  desire.  I
opened my legs for him and from that moment on everything
became  heightened.  My  senses  screamed,  my  extremities
tingled, and for the first time in my life a man hit my spot
when he made love to me. I could feel my stomach tremble. I
could feel the beat of my heart pound in my chest with my
want for him.

I arched my back and let out a scream of sheer jubilation as

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he  became  one  with  me.  Moments  after  that,  his  huge
muscular  and  wonderfully  hairy  body  came  over  mine.  I
embraced  him,  forced  him  to  go  deeper  as  I  pushed  my
pelvis  up  toward  him.  He  groaned  and  beads  of  sweat
trickled down his temples. His smile never left his face, and
more importantly, that yearning never went out of his eyes.

We stared into each other, as deep as a stare could go as he

continued to make love to me. I had climaxed long ago, but
he went on. He was fucking magnificent. He was perfect. He
was mine and more than anything, I was his.

Our union came to an end when he collapsed onto me. I

succumbed  to  the  fullness  of  his  weight  when  he  pressed
upon  my  heated  body,  letting  him  cool  while  we  still  held
contact.  He  had  reached  climax,  too,  and  as  his  body
shuddered  with  throes  of  ecstasy.  I  held  him  tight  and
smoothed his hair gently. It was wonderful. I cherished this
moment, the time after the rush as our hearts calmed and our
bodies relaxed. Jesus, I could really go for a burger right now,
one with lots of meat and heaps of pickle sauce.

Our extraction was over.
I opened my eyes, still holding onto him, but this time in

his  Priaxian  form.  I  still  didn’t  want  to  let  him  go.  The
proboscis arms left my body, and already I yearned for them
to  touch  me  once  more.  I  didn’t  want  to  face  the  reality  of
where I was, of where we were.

Vernon’s familiar voice lulled me into the here and now.

You were wonderful, Drake, he whispered into my mind as he
placed me gently onto the floor of the cell.

Before I could say anything, a harsh voice said, “I always

wondered  how  you  Priaxians  bonded  with  your  symbiotic
partners. An interesting show I admit. To me it looked more
like  you  were  mating  than  extracting  protein  for  your
hatchlings, Priaxian.”

My name is Vernon. Speak about what it is you want, Agnon, for

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I know you desire something from us. I had never heard his voice
tainted with so much disgust. It was like he was talking to a
disobedient dog, rather than another sentient life form. Then
again, I couldn’t blame him. Agnon certainly didn’t instil any
feeling of respect, even if he did save us from the Auroran
military as he claimed.

“Now, now, Vernon, let’s be nice and civilised. True, our

species have had unpleasant encounters in the past, but that’s
no  excuse  to  be  nasty,  now  is  it?”  The  Auroran  moved  in
closer to us. I noticed he had his three guards with him this
time.  They  had their  stingers, too.  “But I  do  confess  I  need
something from you both.”

I knew it.
I went to the Auroran. His guards got jittery and raised

their stingers. Agnon waved his hand. They seemed to relax,
for  now.  “I  know  what  you  want,”  I  said  with  as  brave  a
voice as I could muster, considering I didn’t want to be stung
again,  I  was  in  an  alien  prison  and  I  was  naked  and
defenceless.

Agnon eyed me up and down. “What is it you think I

want, human named Drake?”

Vernon came over me again, offering his support. I was

unusually calm when his front legs come around my chest to
protect  me.  “You  want  to  make  sure  the  Auroran  military
don’t capture me—you said it yourself. You would rather see
me disappear, and having me here will see to that. Why else
would  you  have  imprisoned  me?  I  know  the  Aurorans
haven’t  exactly  benefited  from  the  Borders  of  Worlds  treaty
and  having  me  gallivanting  around  may  jeopardise  any
chances you have of gaining a foothold on any amendments
to that treaty.”

“How clever you are. I am glad I didn’t give the order to

kill you.”

“Oh, how very nice of you,” I said with a sneer.

The Nourisher

Agnon turned and paced the room. “Tell me, how are the

sores from the stingers you received earlier?”

I looked down. My skin was blemish free. I touched my

stomach. It felt normal. “How did you—oh, wait, the honey
or jelly or whatever it is you call it. That healed me, didn’t
it?”

Agnon nodded. “Our honey, as you call it, heals many

things. It can heal wounds the easiest. It can even, in the right
concentration and dose, cure infertility. Quite something,
isn’t it? It’s worth a fortune, as you can imagine.”

I laughed. Yes, I let out a guffaw so loud it echoed. “Oh, I

see what this Cult of Starfall is. You’re business men.
Nothing more. Nothing less.

You want me to stay silent so you can continue to profit

from  your  operations  or  whatever  it  is  you’re  doing,  don’t
you? Yeah, I can see your angle now. The Auroran military
are practically xenophobes, leaving you with no other means
to  do  your  business  without  fear  of  retribution.  Since  the
treaty  shut  down  a  vast  network  of  your  contacts  you’ve
been  isolated,  too,  haven’t  you?  No  wonder  you  knew  my
name. You set this all up, didn’t you?”

“Your husband was paid handsomely for his services to

our Cult and our cause,” Agnon said with a chatter and a
chuckle.

My mouth dropped open. I’d had a feeling they had a

hand in my kidnapping when Agnon mentioned my name in
our last encounter, but saying that Jankin was involved made
me  realise  the  depth  and  desperation  of  these  people.  I
couldn’t  speak.  My  stomach  knotted  and  for  the  first  time
since this whole ordeal began anger poisoned my reasoning.
Raw  unadulterated  anger  that  crept  up  from  the  depths
within me only to rise up and consume me.

Vernon held me tighter. He must have known exactly how

I felt. “I beg your fucking pardon?” I screamed. I balled my

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fists. Okay, so I wouldn’t be able to make it across the room
to punch Agnon’s lights out, but I tell you what, I was sure
ready to. “You paid my husband to betray me?”

Agnon shook his head. “It goes deeper than that, Drake.”
Easy now, Drake, he’s trying to get a rise out of you. Be careful.
Vernon was wrong. Agnon had already raised me as high

as I  was going to go. I  was ready to kill him with my bare
hands  and  probably  would  have  if  those  guards  of  his
weren’t  present.  “How  deep?  How  deep  does  this  go,
Agnon?  Tell  me  everything.  Tell  me  the  depth  of  your
treachery. Tell me!”

Agnon went over to his guards. He paused, brushed his

mandibles, then said calmly, “It goes as deep as employing
the  Boldiens,  the  only  species  able  to  enter  our  space
unchecked by the military, to open up the trade of humans to
Priaxia, knowing they were the only other compatible species
in the galaxy for continued Priaxian survival. Priaxia may be
the Auroran military’s enemy, but not ours. Not the Cult of
Starfall. Trade for their silk is still a vital component of  our
economy.”  Agnon  paused  for  effect.  “It  goes  as  deep  as
making sure Jankin, a man who eight years ago crash landed
on one of our moons and bargained for his life, would entice
you into a relationship and when the time was right, deliver
you  to  us.  Do  you  think  the  chase  with  the  Boldiens  was
coincidence? Do you think the gateway leading you here was
a  random  occurrence?  Don’t  be  foolish  in  thinking  that  we
won’t go to any lengths to make sure we get what we want.
Time is of no importance. We are patient. The cost has been
extremely  high,  we  have  lost  many,  many  members  of  our
cult. But all of that pales in comparison to the wealth we will
soon come to know. We need the trade routes opened to us to
remain  so  and  capturing  you  has  ensured  that.  You
understand now, don’t you, Drake Glauco?”

I felt faint, but not from what he was asking me.

The Nourisher

I think he may be speaking the truth, Drake. We know the

Boldiens couldn’t finance what they do without support from
another species… Vernon trailed off as his voice broke, only to
fall silent. I imagined he was feeling concern for me. When he
bought me in closer to him, I knew that he was. Thank fuck I
had Vernon. Thank fuck.

“The hive tells me I have been summoned to other

pressing matters, but I shall return soon,” Agnon gestured
for his guards to leave. “I think you need to digest everything
that has been said here today, Drake. I think you also need to
get comfortable. You and your Priaxian friend will be here a
long time.”

The wall closed. We were alone once more.

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The Cult of Starfall

ankin…never…loved…me,” I said with all of the weight of
all of my emotions boiling up inside, constricting my throat

and making my eyes sting with tears.

Do you still want to try and get to Earth, Drake?
“I don’t know,’ I answered him honestly.

You know that my original statement stands. I will do anything

for you and go anywhere. You have found out not only those

responsible for your capture, but the ramifications of that, too. I feel
for you, my love. I really do.

Jesus, he was a big lug, a big hairy soft-hearted lug. I loved

him for that. “You know, doing good or evil is a matter of
perspective, isn’t it?”

I don’t understand the question.
“Well, I mean take me for example. I thought I was doing a

great service by drafting up that treaty, a giant leap for man
as it were. Seems the right thing for one is not so for others.
The Aurorans have become factionalized and the Boldiens
have become the scavengers of the galaxy. Not exactly what I
had in mind. Two once great races now washed up in the tide
of humanity’s good intentions—my good intentions.”

Vernon squeezed me tighter and bought me up to his

thorax. You have done a great service to your people. That is all you

can be measured on.

I scratched the underside of his frame as his body

engulfed me. I was at home with him. I was reassured. I

The Nourisher

was—well,  I  felt  as  though  I  belonged  to  something  more
than  what  I  was  before.  I  mean  not  only  was  I  was
contributing  to  the  next  generation  of  his  species,  I  was
painfully  aware  of  the  sham  I  was  living  before  my
kidnapping.

Something clicked inside me. It was like a light had been

turned on in my mind and now burned away the darkness
and confusion I had been experiencing for the last thirty odd
years or so. I had what many religious men call an epiphany,
but  I’m  far  from  religious.  Yes,  I  had  a  revelation  and  I
couldn’t believe how I hadn’t come to it sooner. I knew the
fight with Jankin was a set up—I mean why would he have
Jeff  there  when  he  knew  I  was  coming  home  for  our
anniversary dinner? Jankin was many things, but he wasn’t
careless.

I turned so that my stomach pressed against Vernon’s

underside. I could feel his pulse course through me, his song
make its way through my veins and into my very soul. “I’m
going to help the Aurorans by letting them know about the
leeches they have right under their noses. I’m going to
expose the Cult of Starfall for what they are.”

You are? Vernon replied with a giggle. Not because what I

said  brought  him  amusement,  but  because  I  had  reached
under  his  chitin—where  there  was  a  joint—and  began
rubbing his bare skin. He began to laugh.

I couldn’t help myself either and I laughed, too. A laugh

that released everything I had within me. It was cathartic,
emotional and oh, so fucking relieving to let out a belly laugh
for no reason than for the hell of it.

We tickled each other for ages, rolling around in our cell,

hugging and wrestling and just plain mucking around as
new lovers often did. I even threw in a couple of really good
play punches to his soft spots on his underside.

Exhausted and completely and utterly filled with the joy

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of life I had only experienced in my youth up until this point,
I turned to Vernon and said, “Will you help me fix
everything I’ve done wrong?”

You realise this Cult of Starfall lot are probably playing you for

their own gain? Exposing them may be just what they want to
discredit you.

“Oh, don’t I know it. But really, if we’re ever going to get

out of here and make  sure that egg you carry hatches with
healthy  little  Priaxians  then  we’re  going  to  have  to  play
along, for now anyway. When the time is right, we’ll get out
of here and then they’ll be sorry they ever heard my name.”

Vernon nodded his head. Oh I get it, you suspect something

more is going on here?

“I’d bet Jankin’s sorry arse on it.”
Vernon drew me close again. You suspect that the Cult of

Starfall have had their hand in many misfortunes of many races for

their own gain?

“No. I only suspect one thing.”

What’s that then, Drake?
“That the Cult of Starfall were the ones responsible for

wiping out the Priaxian primate nourishers. Whether directly
or indirectly, I know they had something to do with it.”

How can you know this? Vernon paused, shuffling one of his

legs in circles across the cell floor anxiously. But…if what you

say is true…there could be serious consequences. For not only
Priaxia but for all the sentient beings of this galaxy.

“I know when someone’s hiding something and by the

way Agnon looked at you, I’d say he’s hiding something big.
I’d stake my reputation on it.”

But I don’t see what purpose that would serve now. Surely it

would be better if we went to Earth and—

“And do what? I have nothing there anymore. The only

reason I would go back there now would be to smash
Jankin’s face in.

Ooh, that would be messy.

The Nourisher

I laughed. “But you’re right about one thing, we need to

get out of here.”

I think I know what you mean now when you said you’re going

to give them what they want.

“I knew you’d get it. When people get what they want,

then  they  become  a  lot  more…let’s  just  say,  susceptible  to
exposing  themselves.  On  second  thought,  we  will  go  to
Earth,  Vernon.  But  I  think  our  time  there  would  be  better
served getting us some firepower in what I am sure will be a
very interesting turn of events real soon.”

You’re going to set them up, aren’t you?
I hugged him. “You bet your sweet life I am.”

So what will be our first move be once we eventually get out of

here?

“I don’t know, but I know we’ll need Jankin. He’s the

key.”

Will he agree to help us, I wonder? I think seeing me with you

will give him a scare.

“No more than the scare I got when I saw Jeff.”

So it’s about revenge, too?
I hadn’t thought of that. Vernon was right though and I

scratched him once more before I curled up underneath him.
Sleep wanted to find me and I had to admit, I welcomed it.
“Perhaps,” I replied with a yawn.

Vernon embraced me, curling up so that I was wrapped in

his body. Soon I could hear his breathing become more deep
and rhythmic. I’d say he felt as I did and wanted for sleep.

I closed my eyes and let our dreams mingle.

Mark Alders

The Hand of Aurora

don’t know the exact moment I woke, I was too involved in
the magical dream world my Priaxian lover provided for

me.

There was a klaxon sounding in the distance. When I

opened my eyes Vernon was no longer my shelter. He was
clawing at the sliding wall. If I didn’t know any better I’d say
he was having some success pulling it down.

“What’s going on?” I blurted as I went over to him.

Something has happened to the ship we’re on. I don’t know if

there has been an engine failure or we’ve been attacked, but I can no
longer hear the ship’s song. He had pulled the wall a good ten
centimetres from the ceiling, an accomplishment highlighted
by the excited chatter in his voice. How long he had been
doing that I couldn’t tell, but from the look of him, all hot and
sweaty, I’d say he’d been pulling at the wall for a while.

I didn’t hesitate. I helped him. The wall was soft to the

touch, yet firm at the same time, like touching  flesh with a
taut muscle inside. It was a weird experience, but I didn’t let
that deter me. I pulled down on the wall with all my might.
Perhaps  this  was  our  chance  of  escape.  Perhaps  it  was
fruitless and Agnon would walk into the cell at any moment.
No matter. We had to try.

Finally, after much heaving and cursing—the cursing

mainly from me—we managed to get the wall about three
quarters of the way down from the ceiling.

I will lift you up so you can climb to the other cell and release the

The Nourisher

door mechanism. I can see that the other cell is open.

Vernon heaved me easily up to the height required for me

to  begin  my  journey.  I’d  swear  he  groped  my  arse  in  the
process,  too.  Feisty  for  an  alien,  wasn’t  he?  Then  again,  I
offered no complaint. In fact, I enjoyed his attention.

I lay across the wall as Vernon kept as much of his weight

on the wall as possible. I didn’t fancy becoming a squashed
human pancake if the wall decided to challenge Vernon’s
strength and re-join with the ceiling.

I could see the control panel beyond the open doorway. A

red light was flashing and I’d say an alarm had been tripped
warning of our escape. But where were the Aurorans?
“Which button controls the wall?”

I think, knowing Auroran technology, that you’ll need to press

the green symbol next to the amber ones, Vernon instructed. They

are never ones for complicated controls.

I chuckled. “Just like humans, really. There’s no way we’d

invent a ship that needs hand movements to control it like
you guys.”

We are in tune with the things we create, that’s all, Vernon said

as though it were something so basic that I should have
understood. I didn’t, but decided not to add any more to the
conversation.

I pushed myself over the wall, landing on the soft floor on

the other side with a squelch. I didn’t waste any more time. I
went over to the control panel and did my thing, which was
obeying Vernon’s instructions.

The wall slid down into the floor. Vernon ran over to me.

We hugged. Seemed we had achieved a minor victory.

“Now what? I don’t want to get outside this cell only to

find our neighbourhood cult friends waiting for us on the
other side.”

I don’t think that will happen. I can’t even sense any Aurorans

on board. They must either be occupied with something bigger or

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there was a dangerous situation on board that required them to

leave.

“I don’t like the idea of something dangerous happening,

it may happen to us.” I paused, thinking about how he got us
out of the cell. “Have I told you that you’re amazing?”

No.
I touched him, running my hand across his body, letting

his soft hair tickle my skin. “Well you are.”

I think Vernon blushed, he batted his many eyelids and

came down to press his head onto mine. The warmth of him
permeated through my body when he tightened his hold. I
became  intoxicated  with  his  presence.  His  scent,  his  touch
and his strength around me made me feel like I was melting
inside.  Our  next  move  should  be  getting  to  the  bridge,  he
whispered into my mind.

“Wouldn’t it be better to get the hell out of here?”

Yes. But first we have to find out what has happened. You said it,

we don’t want the same fate befalling us, now do we?

I looked up to him and kissed his chin. “You’re right. Now

where would the bridge be from here?”

He unfolded me from within his grasp. Follow me.
Before we had even made it across the corridor from the

cells we had been abandoned in, Vernon stopped. “What’s
wrong?” Nervousness rose up inside me.

There is a new noise. A sound I’ve never heard before, not since

we’ve been on this ship, anyway.

My stomach turned. I didn’t like this. Not one bit. “From

where?” was all I could manage as I came closer to him. I was
a scaredy cat when it came to situations like this. I’m glad I
was  with  a  four  metre  tall  Priaxian—unless  of  course  the
noise was made by something bigger than Vernon. My head
spun  as  the  possibilities  rolled  around  in  my  mind.  I  had
visions of some great mad beast crashing toward us from one
of the corridors, all horns and teeth and attitude.

The Nourisher

From the bridge. No…wait. From all around us…I think. Or is if

the bridge…I’m not sure but there’s something weird happening
here.

I realised I was still naked. I also realised we weren’t

armed. A fat lot of good a naked unarmed human would be
in a fight. I  mean,  we—us humans to be  more exact—can’t
even last more than two minutes or so without oxygen. Not
to mention how easily we can be killed, and sometimes with
no  effort  at  all.  One  bullet  would  do  it  and  that’s  ancient
technology. Fuck, I was pathetic.

“I think we should go the other way.”
Vernon stopped. And where would we go? Even if the Flying

Leaf is in the cargo hold, has she been given light?

Damn. He had a point. We were either in the depths of

space or the inside of a moon. Either way the only way out of
here would be to take this ship and fly out. That’s assuming
there weren’t any Aurorans on board as Vernon had
suggested.

If we did take the ship it would be a daring plan, but a

good one in my opinion.

We continued up the corridor. Obviously we had decided

to take our chances on the bridge without really
communicating that fact. I think we both had a pretty good
understanding of the situation. We had to do something.

“Tell me, Vernon, how long can you go without oxygen?”

About three days, give or take. Why do you ask?
“Oh, no reason.”
We  came  to  a  door.  It  was  marked  with  an  Auroran

symbol for what I believed to be a turbo lift or zero G chute
that led to the bridge. Jesus, I hated those things. They
always set my teeth on edge. Freefalling wasn’t my thing.

When the door slid open my suspicions were confirmed. It

was a zero G chute. Vernon stepped onto the platform first
and I followed, coming underneath him. As we began our

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assent to the bridge and my stomach wanted to occupy the
same space as my feet, a groan rang out, a sound similar to
what  a  trombone  would  make  but  much  deeper  in  register
and  intensity.  The  walls  of  the  chute  vibrated.  I  became
consumed by that terrible nauseous feeling.

You heard that didn’t you?
I looked up at Vernon. “Yes, I did. What the fuck was that?

Was that the sound you heard before?”

The very same. Only this time I believe I know what has

happened to the Aurorans and where we are.

Again the noise reverberated throughout the ship, the

organic walls vibrating with such intensity I thought they
would give way and collapse or something. The noise even
resonated through me. It was a weird experience having my
insides vibrate.

The zero G chute announced we had arrived at the bridge

and the doors slid open to a view that took my breath away.
“What’s this I’m looking at, Vernon?” I asked in a stupidly
naïve way that only a human who had never really ventured
into the mysterious depths of space could have. Or more to
the point, a human that at one point thought he knew
everything and recently came to realise he knew jack shit.

The vision bubble didn’t show the eternity of space, or

indeed even the darkness of the tunnels of the Auroran moon
we had travelled into. Instead, I was looking at more organic
material, reds and oranges and blood vessels and all sorts of
things, some large and most very much animal like, moving
through what appeared to be a yellowish liquid that the ship
was floating within. My mouth fell open. We were inside
something. Something mother fucking huge.

Vernon came onto the bridge. There were no
Aurorans here either. I believe we’re inside a creature known

as an Eldon.

Again, I had another stupid question. “A what?” See? Real

The Nourisher

intelligent, wasn’t it? But I couldn’t help myself. Since I had
been with Vernon I was experiencing everything as if for the
first time. Jesus, my life had been sheltered. No wonder
Jankin had to be paid to be with me. I was fucking boring, so
engrossed in law and procedure and the treaty I forgot about
my real life. I bet he went with Jeff just to be with someone
with some spark in him.

The Eldon are a super species found in the Hyperion system.

They float in the stratosphere above the third planet, scooping up
atmospheric organisms. I suppose you could say they are similar to

the whales of  your planet, but creatures of  the  air  and not of  the
ocean. Perhaps whales evolved from them? Vernon paused for a
moment  as  he  went  to  a  control  panel  at  one  of  the  many
stations on the bridge. He examined the data on screen and
began  pushing  buttons.  Their  bones  are  extremely  strong  and

very, very light. Ah, yes, just as I thought.

“What?”
The Aurorans were mining the creatures for the Eldon bone

material. Do you know how much their bones are worth on the open
market? It’s more valuable than our silk.

“You sound like an Auroran.” I went over to him and

studied the screen he had pulled up. It was a diagnostic of
the Eldon we were inside. I could see where the Aurorans
were mining. According to the schematic we were inside the
creature’s stomach. That explained the stuff floating around
here with us and the noises reverberating all around us.

Sorry. I’m just…well, it’s a major operation. You have to

appreciate that on some level.

“So, according to this readout in front of me they mine the

bone while the things are still alive. Fuck! Their poaching,
aren’t they?”

You could say that—Oh no! I turned to him. Before I could

ask the inevitable, he added, No wonder I couldn’t hear the

Aurorans on board. The Eldon song was too powerful. Drake, we’re
not as alone as I first thought. They are coming.

Mark Alders

The Living Mine

here are they then?” Vernon scrolled the screen,
obviously searching for life signs on board the ship.

Most are in the cargo area, a squad are out mining…and yes, a

couple are scattered about at strategic locations around the ship,
mainly at weapons control.

“So why aren’t there any Aurorans on the bridge? Surely

that would be considered an important place to be?”

He came over me. Now, Drake, stop thinking like a mammal.

Auroran ships are hive mind controlled, which means that when a
certain part of the ship isn’t required there’s no need for it to be

stationed and its asked to run on minimal power or is shut down.
Besides, an Auroran bridge is just for guidance and environmental
control anyway. Not like Priaxian or human vessels at all.

“You know, even when you insult someone you sound

like a perfect gentleman. An impressive quality. You sure
you’re not a lawyer?”

I don’t understand what law has to do with what I just said.
“What is and isn’t said is one of the best ways of

determining the truth.”

But Priaxians always tell the truth—I always tell the truth.

Vernon picked me up and at first I wondered why he would
do such a thing. He placed me gingerly onto his back. I got it
now. He didn’t want me to walk. The sweetheart. His hairs
against my skin felt fantastic and I found myself getting quite
comfortable quite quickly.

“W

The Nourisher

“I wasn’t accusing you, you big lug. I was complimenting

you…besides, I don’t think that a species who communicates
with ESP would be able to lie, would it?”

Vernon giggled, then said, Now who is insulting? But you

sure have a funny way of complimenting someone.

“All part of my charm,” I said with a laugh.
And you are charming.
I ran my hands through his hair and scratched the back of

his head. He cooed. Yep. He actually cooed. He obviously
liked that. “So what’s our next move, then? Try and make our
way to the Flying Leaf, or what?”

I hope she has some reserve fuel left. Even enough to get out of

this Eldon will do. The sun outside will be our only hope at this

stage.

He moved over to the zero G chute. The door slid open

and before I could brace myself for the queasy feeling that
would follow, we were freefalling down to the shuttle bay. I
assumed that’s where our ship was.

When the nauseating journey was over and the doors

opened, the view of a large shuttle bay opened up before us.
Many ships were parked in neat lines along the length of the
bay in typical military fashion. At the far end I could see the
Flying Leaf. It was yellow.

“Is that a good sign…the colour of the ship, I mean?”
What I’m more concerned about right now are the two Auroran

guards just over there, Vernon said as he gestured to the
guards in question.

I noticed they had their stingers. I also noticed they had

seen us, because they were coming our way.

“Fuuucking heeeell,” I blurted as Vernon stepped out of

the chute, raised his front legs high in the air and curled his
abdomen under his thorax, a defensive pose if I ever saw one.
He even hissed. It would have certainly scared the crap out of
me if I were confronted by the sight of a Priaxian in a not so

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happy mood. I get shit scared when I disturb a little Earth
spider and it does the same thing. I could only imagine how
the Aurorans must now be feeling as Vernon charged toward
them.

The two guards stopped in their tracks. After a moment of

hesitation and a brief deliberation between themselves they
split up and came at Vernon from either side. A bad move in
my opinion. They should have tackled him as a united front.
It’s the only way really when you hold the greater numbers.
What  was  the  old  Earth  saying,  divide  and  conquer?  Well,
Vernon  divided  them.  I  looked  forward  to  the  conquering
part.

Vernon’s claws extended. He swiped at one of the

Aurorans as it got too close for comfort, cleaving it in two.
The stinger of that guard clanged onto the floor. I took that
moment to slide off his back, making a desperate dash for the
weapon.

Seconds later, as I was about to pick up the stinger and use

it to help my beautiful Vernon defend us, a scream rang out.
He  had  been  struck  and  he  cradled  one  of  his  legs
underneath himself. He still had seven more legs and could
move mother fucking fast. I don’t think a little sting on his
leg  would  have  stopped  him  anyway.  It  had  taken  many,
many strikes when the Aurorans had captured us in the first
place to even subdue him.

The poor Auroran didn’t know what hit him. Vernon

smothered  it.  Slashing  with  his  claws  and  ripping  at  the
Auroran  with  his  mandibles.  If  I  thought  the  first  Auroran
guard came out worse for wear by being cut in two, his legs
still quivering on the floor in front if me, the second Auroran
was turned into instant sushi.

Vernon let out a cry as he backed away from the carnage

he had created, returning to his normal serene self. I held the
weapon in my hand now, but unfortunately I didn’t get a

The Nourisher

chance to use it. My lover, my brave knight in shining
armour protected me even though he carried the hope of his
species within him.

My mouth was open in awe, a common occurrence these

days. Not for how quickly he had dispensed with the guards,
but by his swift action in defending me. “I know I’ve said it
once, Vernon, but you’re fucking amazing.”

It was nothing. Now quick. We’ve got to get to the Flying Leaf

before more Aurorans than I can handle pour out of the zero G

chutes around this shuttle bay. I’m sure an alarm would have been
raised by now.

He didn’t need to say anymore. I ran. I ran as fast as my

legs could carry me, even though running naked wasn’t
exactly a glamorous or comfortable experience.

We were at the ship before I knew it. I was exhausted,

gasping for air and generally relieved we hadn’t encountered
any more Aurorans. I still had the stinger, just in case there
were any more scuffles. I felt better knowing I had a weapon,
even though the biggest and best weapon I could ever have I
also happened to be attached to, and not just symbiotically
either.

Inside the ship I felt strangely at home. The sight of its

flowing organic walls and nodule controls pleased me.
Vernon ignited the vision bubble. He was right. There were
Aurorans everywhere and they were all coming toward us.

“How much power does she have left?”
Vernon did some of that frantic waving, before replying,

Hopefully enough to get us out of here.

The ship came to life. Scampering noises came from

outside, I assumed some of the Aurorans had made it onto
the hull as we took off. The shuttle bay doors were open, and
again I could only assume that was because the Aurorans
were using the bay to ferry in their ill-gotten gains. That
theory was proven when I noticed many piles of freshly cut

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Eldon bone near the entrance.

The vision bubble went yellow once we passed the

holding  field.  We  were  now  inside  the  Eldon’s  stomach.  I
could  see  Auroran  bodies  floating  lifelessly  in  the  mire.  I
supposed  they  paid  a  price  even  for  this  operation.  “So,
exactly how are we going to get out of here? As far as I know
there  are  only  three  ways,  and  I  really  don’t  fancy  the  last
option if you know what I mean.”

I do. And no, were not escaping through the creature’s rectum.

We have to take our chances through the nose or mouth. We must
get out of the stomach of this creature as soon as possible, the Flying
Leaf’s hull isn’t used to this sort of thing and she may become

damaged by the acids.

As the Flying Leaf breached the stomach’s sphincter a

klaxon sounded and the ship let out a cry. On the screen in
front of Vernon I could see we had a hull breach in the right
aft section.

“Fuck! Those bastards have got in.”
Vernon did more waving. The ship has sealed the breach, but I

don’t know how many got in. We should be out of here soon. I’m

going to go out through the nasal cavity.

“Sounds like a plan. I just hope the ship is small enough to

pass through this thing’s nose.” I held up the stinger, feeling
its weight in my hands. “How do I use this thing? I have a
feeling I’ll need a crash course real soon.”

The Nourisher

The Eldon Winter

hen the stinger is on stun, it has a blue light at its tip. If you
turn the handle clockwise it will change to yellow, then amber,

then red. Red is instant kill.

As he explained the weapon’s function I watched as the

light did indeed change. All I knew was the simple fact that
when I  was touched  with the stinger, and I lost everything
inside my  stomach, bladder and anus, the light  was blue. I
dreaded to even think of what would happen to me if I got
touched  with  any  other  colour  light.  “I  think  I’ll  set  it  on
yellow.”

Wise choice. You don’t want to sting yourself accidently and do

more harm than good.

As the light settled on yellow and I tested the weight of the

stinger in my hands, about five Aurorans charged onto the
bridge. One of them was Agnon. Automatically I stood in
front of Vernon, brandishing my deadly new toy.

“Next time I think we’ll have to place you both into a

stronger cell,” Agnon said as he stepped forward. “Either
that or separate you.”

Vernon was above me. You cannot separate us, it’s against the

hostage and war conventions of our planets. Incubators must be
with their nourishers at all times, you know that, Agnon.

“If you haven’t already figured it out, Priaxian, we—the

Cult of Starfall, aren’t a part of any convention, with Aurora
or any other planet for that matter. We are our own entity

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and I plan to keep it that way.”

“You’ll murder a generation of a species to make sure I

don’t escape, is that it, Agnon?” I stepped forward, too.
“Fuck, you’re a piece of work, aren’t you?”

Agnon signalled for his guards to make their move. They

charged. Their stingers were on yellow.

I raised my stinger just in time. Unlike before, all four

charged together, keeping themselves a united front against
Vernon’s claws and mandibles and my stinger.

You’re going to wish you never came aboard this ship, Vernon

screamed.

I screamed, too, as my stinger touched one of the Aurorans

and the shock recoiled down the handle. On the yellow
setting the Auroran collapsed onto the floor, a twitching pile
of muscles and chitin.

Before I could register in my mind that I had killed the

alien, I had to parry another charge. My stinger was thrown
across  the  bridge  behind  me.  I  was  forced  to  the  floor,  the
wind  knocked  out  of  my  lungs  by  my  attacker.  I  coughed,
trying to get back up onto my feet. The Auroran guard came
over me. If I didn’t know any better I’d say he was smiling
his  arse  off  as  he  rose  up  his  stinger  and  bought  it  down
without  hesitation.  The  light  at  the  end  of  the  weapon  the
only thing on my mind, the only thing I didn’t want to touch
me no matter what. I rolled, dodging the blow. The heat of
the weapon was at my back. It seared my skin and I know the
light didn’t even touch me. I’d be dead if it had.

Again I rolled and again I missed the guard’s attack. Either

I was so shit scared I was moving the quickest I had ever
moved in my life or this guard was playing with me. I had a
terrible feeling it was the latter.

I scrambled across the floor to try and get away from the

guard as best I could. My back found something hard. It was
one of the ships many organic nodules. I could see my

The Nourisher

stinger, it was within arm’s reach. Perhaps there was hope.
Perhaps I was kidding myself and really, there was no way
we were getting out of this situation alive.

On the vision bubble I could see the outside world, the

view of the planet where the Eldon spend their lives floating
in the clouds. It was a beautiful sight. We had made it out,
but would this view be my last?

The guard came over me once more. I reached out for my

stinger.  The  guard  stepped  on  my  arm.  I  couldn’t  move,
other  than  to  thrash  my  legs  in  a  futile  attempt  to  get  the
Auroran off me. I couldn’t get away.

“Get it over and done with then, you bastard,” I screamed.

Spittle flew from my lips. You know, it’s funny, I felt rather
serene, content even as I began counting the last seconds of
my life. Sure, I had shouted out my anger, but that was more
a reflex than an actual reflection of my feelings.

Does your life flash before your eyes when you know

you’re going to die? I couldn’t really say. All I know is that I
thought  of  Vernon. My  big  beautiful  Vernon.  How  we  had
shared  something  rare  and  precious  together.  We  had
become one, learning, growing and being with each other. I
wouldn’t have swapped that now for anything.

From the corner of my eye I saw the guard raise his

stinger. I closed my eyes, wanting to leave this life with some
dignity. I mentally counted. One…two…three. By the time I
got to five, I opened my eyes. I no longer felt any pressure at
my arm. Where was the guard? I turned to a sight that not
only delighted me, it made me weep with joy.

Vernon had skewered the guard who stood over me, his

body twitching. I’m so sorry I couldn’t help you sooner, Drake my
love, but the other two were a bit more bothersome than I had hoped.

I went to him. I embraced him and as I did so, he flinched.

“What’s wrong, buddy?”

Their stingers got me.

Mark Alders

“Where?” But I didn’t need to really ask. I could see on his

thorax the damage the weapons had done. Bright red blood
oozed out of three gaping wounds. I reached out to him,
running my hand over his body in an effort to comfort him.

Vernon let go of the guard who had attacked me and it

crumpled  to  the  floor  in  a  lifeless  mess  of  limbs  and
antennae. After that, Vernon also went to the floor, carefully
and  deliberately  he  curled  up  near  the  nodule.  He  was
wheezing.  My  stomach  turned.  I  fell  over  him  to  embrace
him. How badly had he been hurt? What the fuck could I do
about  it  anyway?  Would  he  be  okay?  Were  his  hatchlings
okay?

I need to rest for a little while, he said with a stutter that sent

shivers of panic across my skin.

“Vernon, talk to me. What can I do to help you? You need

some medical attention, surely there’s something in this ship
that’ll  help  you.  Tell  me.”  My  voice  rose  in  register.  I  was
mother  fucking  scared.  He  looked  terrible,  his  eyes  had
glassed over and he moved his head to look at me even more
slowly than usual.

Just get Agnon. We’ll talk about everything else once I know he’s

no longer on this ship.

“Where the fuck did he go?” Jesus, I was useless, only able

to  ask  questions.  Why  wasn’t  I  better  able  to  handle  that
guard? Perhaps I would have been able to help Vernon with
his scuffle if I were. Why was I a pathetic human? Why was I
so weak boned and thin skinned, easily subdued and easily
defeated?  Fuck  I  hated  being  a  human.  Then  again,  if  I
weren’t  I  wouldn’t  have  been  able  to  become  Vernon’s
symbiotic partner, his nourisher. I love being his nourisher.

Vernon coughed. The Flying Leaf can tell you. He left the

bridge as soon as he became aware of his guard’s imminent defeat.

I got to my feet. “That bastard. Wait until I get a hold of

him.” I picked up my stinger and turned the handle. The red

The Nourisher

light ignited at its tip. “How do I communicate with the
ship?”

Touch the screen I have been on. I have given you access. What’s

mine is yours, my Drake, my love, my hope.

Without hesitation I went over to the screen. As soon as I

reached out my hand, a tingling sensation passed up my
fingers. In my mind, in a feminine voice, I heard, The Auroran

is heading toward the exit hatch near the rear of the ship. I can close
a few doors to delay it, but you must be quick,

Vernon’s symbiont. I don’t want it disrupting any systems, my

energy is low and the planet we are on is turning toward evening in

the winter season. There is not much light here.

I looked up. The vision bubble confirmed the Flying Leaf’s

words.  It  was  getting  dark.  Just  fucking  magnificent.  I  had
two  things—no,  three  things  to  worry  about  now.  Healing
Vernon, getting Agnon and now hoping that the ship could
get us away from the Auroran bastards on this planet. You
could bet your bottom dollar that they wouldn’t give up so
easily,  especially  if  Agnon  got  off  the  ship  to  warm  them.
Seemed there may be a race to Earth.

The next thing I did was kiss Vernon on his forehead

before  I  headed  off  the  bridge.  The  corridors  of  the  Flying
Leaf  were  dim.  I  assumed  she  was  conserving  as  much
energy as she could. Every door I came across opened before
I could touch the control panel, seemed she was also looking
out for me.

Not enough time passed before Agnon was before me

again. If I had my way I’d never want to see the fucking
bastard again, but as it was, I had to make sure he couldn’t
get off this ship to warn the other members of his cult.

“Seems the shoe is on the other foot now, isn’t it, Agnon?”

I yelled at him as he tried to pry a door open and I came
closer.

He turned. “I don’t understand what you are referring to,

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100

but then again, I never did like anything humans ever said or
did.  You  disgust  me.  You’re  repulsive  and  more  than  that,
you have no idea what you’re doing as you blunder across
the cosmos. You, Drake Glauco, are a prime example of what
I’m talking about. A treaty indeed. The galaxy has run quite
smoothly  without  the  higher  than  mighty  humans
interfering, thinking they’re doing good.”

I chuckled. “Seems you’re showing your true colours now,

too.”

Agnon moved toward me, his arms outstretched, the

gesture to show me he was unarmed. “What are you going to
do next, human?” he spat. “I don’t think you’ll attack me, you
have too much moral fibre, don’t you? Lawyer of the treaty,
bah!”

I narrowed my eyes, only thinking of Vernon on the

bridge in agony, attacked without cause by Agnon’s guards.
“How wrong you are, Auroran,” I screamed as I went for
him, using the stinger like a lance.

Agnon tried to dodge my advance in the narrow corridor.

The weapon glanced his flesh on the right side of his body
and stuck itself into the wall behind him. He let out a yelp
and fell to the floor. But I was no longer concerned with the
Auroran. I had stung the Flying Leaf.

Vertigo overtook me as the ship screamed and I was

violently  thrown  on  top  of  the  Auroran.  Every  light  in  the
corridor darkened to the point of pitch black. An emergency
light ignited, everything was bathed in an eerie blue light. I
squinted from its intensity. I could see on the wall where the
stinger had struck, fluid flowed from what appeared to be a
wound. I tried to grab hold of anything that would help me
get up, but the forces applied to me were phenomenal. The
corridor spun and spun and I lost all control I had over my
own body. I  screamed. I  felt  like I  was being turned inside
out.

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101

From what I could tell we were falling, or to be more exact,

crash  landing.  Had  my  strike  on  the  Flying  Leaf  possibly
damaged  her  beyond  repair?  I  now  knew  what  the  red
setting did.

The klaxon sounded, but the ship fell silent, her screams

no longer echoing through my mind. Seconds later, I was
thrown up to the ceiling where I hit my head on a lighting
nodule. We had landed.

I blacked out.

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102

The Walking Dead

was woken by being prodded by a harsh hand. My head
felt as though I had spent a hard night drinking, it ached

dull and painful, especially at the back of my skull where I
had hit myself.

“Get…up…human,” Agnon wheezed. He was lying next

to me and looked how I felt, which was absolute fucking shit.
“You…have to get us all…out of here.”

I know I hadn’t stung him, but I also knew that someone

didn’t have to be struck directly by the weapon to be affected
by it. My back still burned.

“Where’s Vernon?” I had one thing on my mind and one

thing only, his safety. If he were hurt I’d make sure the next
blow with the stinger would end Agnon’s life once and for
all.  Speaking  of  which,  where  was  the  stinger?  I  looked
around  and  couldn’t  see  it  anywhere.  Did  Agnon  hide  it
while I was unconscious?

Agnon eventually came to stand over me—okay, when I

say that I meant he was leaning against the corridor wall to
support himself. He was clutching the side where I had come
close with the stinger. A large burn wound marred his skin
and oozed blood. To my horror it looked exactly like those on
Vernon. Fuck he’d better be all right. Otherwise I’m
searching the ship for that stinger.

“Your…partner is where I…left him. He is fine. I…have

given the…some of my jelly rations…to heal him.” Agnon

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offered me his hand.

I really didn’t understand this guy. First he kidnaps me,

then he attacks us, now he’s being downright friendly.
“You’re fucked up, aren’t you?”

“Such colourful…language, I am sure…and… how

observant you…are, human,” he said with a hacking cough.
“The stinger…cauterized most of my insides…I don’t
have…long to live. My body is shutting down.”

“No. I didn’t mean that. I meant—”
“I know what you meant.” Again he emphasised his

gesture to me. “I am no longer….a part of the…hive mind. I
have  been  cut…off.  I  don’t  know  why.  It  must  have
something  to  do  with…this  place.”  Again  he  avoided  my
question. I  knew he would no  longer be in favour with his
cult. He let us get away on his watch, after all.

I realised he was right. Where were we? Without thinking

I slapped his hand away and got up to my feet without his
help. I wish I hadn’t done it so quickly though. The corridor
spun and I’m sure my stomach wanted to release its contents
all over the floor. My head throbbed and I clutched it. I felt a
clump of matted hair, obviously caked with my own blood.
That must have been some blow and one hell of a rough
landing.

“How long have I been out?”
Agnon reached out and grabbed me, steadying me. I

didn’t offer any resistance, my feet felt light and my head felt
heavy. Not a good combination for balance. “Nearly
a…day.”

“Vernon? Does he need me yet?”
Agnon must have known what I was talking about, his

answer confirming that. “The second…sun hasn’t set yet. It
will soon. You must hurry. We must get out…of here. I
cannot hear my brothers and sisters…and for an Auroran to
die alone…is the greatest dishonour one can…have.”

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104

I turned to him. “Wait a minute. Why should I help you?

You’ve  spent  God  knows  how  long  planning  my
disappearance,  heck  the  disappearance  of  hundreds  of
humans for all I know. And for what? Money? You’re sick,
that’s  what  you  are!  Hell,  for  all  I  know,  and  for  what  it’s
worth, I bet you’re responsible for killing off the nourishers
in  the  first  place,  knowing  that  humans  would  be  an
acceptable replacement, hey? I don’t care how you die.”

We had reached the bridge without me even really

knowing we had travelled that far. “You are…correct, of
course and I understand your reasoning, but let me just say, I
can help you, whether you believe so or not.”

“Whatever.” Him confirming my suspicions hit me harder

than the blow I had received to the back of my head. To
actually hear Agnon say it, that solidified it in my mind and
brought it home for me. “So why the change of heart, really?
Before you’re spouting how pathetic humans are, now you’re
all nice as pie. I don’t get it.”

The bridge doors opened and I was welcomed by the

wonderful sight of Vernon at his station. I could still see his
wounds. They didn’t look as bad as before. I ran as fast as I
could to him. He scooped me up and we hugged like we
hadn’t seen each other in an eternity.

His warmth wrapped around me, making me feel better

immediately. I ran my hands over his hair, enjoyed his body
against mine.

I was worried about you, my Drake.
“I was worried for you.”
We both giggled. I was relieved, pleased and thankful he

was okay. I don’t know what I would have done if he
weren’t. But there is some bad news.

“Yeah, the Auroran still lives.”
Vernon looked over to Agnon. The Auroran had slumped

to the floor, using one of the nodules to prop himself up. His

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105

head hung low and I could hear his laboured breathing for
the first time since I went to Vernon—no, actually since the
first time I had woken up. Was Agnon getting worse? He
sure sounded close to death.

He is no threat to us now. You have made sure of that, my brave

love. No, I’m talking about something much worse.

I began to panic and those terrible butterflies rose up in

my stomach to taunt me. “What is it, Vernon?”

The Flying Leaf is dead, I think. I can’t get anything to work.
Again I was stunned, almost to the point of becoming

speechless. “She’s what?” was all I could manage through
dry lips.

And not only that, we seem to be in some cave system deep in the

ground. There is no light here, either. Not that I can see from the
glimpse I got before her systems shut down. I’m really worried.

Another cough came from Agnon. “Perhaps…I

can…help?”

Vernon unrolled me from his grasp. “Yeah, if we help you

get back to your hive, is that it? Then what, you capture us
again? Let all your cult friends know where we are, is that it?
Is that your final plan? Your final revenge?”

“No. If you help me …get out of this place…that is

blocking my communication with the…hive I will help you. I
know you cannot…hand me over to my people, they would
kill…you as thanks. No…as I said, I only…want to hear my
people in my mind for one…last time.”

Agnon is right, he must be with the song of his hive, even at the

end of his life, perhaps even more so then. I know he won’t betray us,

not now. He has his honour to uphold in the next life. His final act
must be good, no matter who is the recipient. That is the Auroran

way.

I turned to Vernon. “You’re on his side about this. I say let

the bastard die. Who cares if he dies alone? He deserves it for
what he has done—he murdered the nourishers, he said so
himself.”

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106

Vernon patted me on my shoulder and picked me up. I

was on his back once more, enjoying the feeling of his hair
against my nakedness. We would be no better than him if we let

him die in a way that would bring about dishonour to his soul.
Would you let that happen, Drake? Really?

I scratched his head with my hands and he let out that

lovely  cooing  noise  again.  “Okay…you’re  right.  But  he’s
going  to  do  more  than  help  us  revive  the  Flying  Leaf,  he’s
going  to  tell  us  everything  there  is  to  know  about  all  the
operations the Cult of Starfall have been undertaking. All of
them. I want them exposed for what they are.”

Agnon staggered to his feet. “I have enough of the…jelly

left to possibly revive your ship…but you must hurry. I don’t
have much time. I need to hear my brothers and sisters again.
I  am  going  mad  in  the  silence  that  consumes  me.”  The
Auroran held his head to emphasis his words. He hacked out
a  wheezing  cough,  one  that  struck  me  deeply  on  a
subconscious level, because for the first time since I had met
him, I felt for him.

Vernon took a vial of jelly from Agnon once he had

calmed.  It  didn’t  look  like  much.  Then  again,  the  stuff
worked  on  Vernon.  I  could  hardly  see  where  he  had  been
stung.

I need to place this directly onto the Flying Leaf’s heart.
Now that was probably the weirdest sentence I had heard

since this whole crazy adventure happened a few of days
ago. The ship had a heart?

Vernon went to one of the nodules and opened it. Inside

the organic mass there was darkness. He poured the contents
into that darkness.

“I hope this works,” I said with a certain amount of

trepidation in my voice.

So do I. Otherwise we could be here for a very long time. Only

tourists visit the Eldon home world, and then only after birthing

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107

season is over, the Eldon are more docile then. We have at least six

months until that happens.

Oh, great. Just what I wanted to do. Spend six months in a

dark,  dead  ship  waiting  in  vain  hope  for  a  rescue  from  a
bunch  of  tourists.  “So  what  now?”  I  was  becoming
accustomed to asking  the bleeding  obvious. I  think  Vernon
liked it that way. I didn’t mind, either.

We wait.
“I don’t know how long I can hold out,” Agnon

spluttered.

“Well, you’ll have time to tell us everything you know

about the Cult’s activities, won’t you? Starting with Jankin’s
involvement in all of this mess.”

Vernon coughed politely. Actually, he won’t be able to do that

just yet.

“Why not?”

Because it’s time, my Drake, for us to be together as one.
I had never been so excited by so few a words before in my

life. “You asked that in such a perfect way, this time.”

I’m learning from you.
“As I am from you.”
He reached over and picked me up off his back, bringing

me  around  so  that  I  was  in  the  position  required  for  our
joining.  Seconds  later,  the  proboscis  arms  touched  me  and
the sounds of his body melded with mine, our hearts beating
as one in our passionate rhythm.

I opened my mind to him.

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108

The Caves of Wind and Light

e were on the coral atoll of Annaz VI once more. A place
I had come to dearly love. The sun was setting, the sky a

vibrant orange hue and the water reflected that colour more
dynamically than I had ever seen it.

Vernon, my big, burly and hairy-chested lover, came

slowly out of the ocean. His body glistening. His smile even
more enticing. “Come into the water, my Drake. I will tend to
the wounds you have suffered lately.”

Without another thought I was in the water with him. The

surf lapped gently at my feet, the water surprisingly warm.
In fact, the water was so heated it was like I was stepping into
a  bath—a  bath  as  big  as  a  planet,  I  admit.  By  the  time  the
water had reached my groin I had succumbed to the ocean,
become  part  of  it,  like  I  was  a  part  of  Vernon.  I  had  been
washed  by  the  water’s  warmth,  touched  by  the  richness  of
life within it, for millions upon millions of organisms, some
tiny and others the size of large fish, swam around my body,
joining with me, celebrating my inevitable coupling with my
lover as the starfish had done on our previous visit.

It was like I was within a great symphony of life. Then, as

if on cue, the starfish did indeed begin to fall from the sky.
The sky and the water became one, both in colour and texture
and purpose. I fell into Vernon’s arms, felt his strength, his
warmth around me, intoxicating me further. We were a part,
a complete and important part of the circle of life that went

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109

on around us.

We kissed. A kiss filled with so much passion and so much

fire  that  I’m  sure  the  starfish  would  have  stopped  their
mating  to see  how it  was really  done.  My skin tingled, my
lips became numb and my head spun as Vernon took control
and dominated me. I was his, to do with as he pleased.

His tongue, wet and silky and delicious rolled around in

my mouth, chasing my own tongue, catching it, then letting
go once more, to tease and delight me. He applied more
pressure upon my lips with his own, groaning and roving his
hands all over me, touching me lightly, then rubbing hard in
time with the movements of his tongue.

I couldn’t breathe, totally and utterly overcome by his

actions. My heartbeat became louder and louder and I could
feel the heat between us more than match the waters we were
within. I broke the kiss. I had no choice. I thought I was going
to faint. I had become surrounded by an erotic passion, one
that ignited my desires and made me gasp for air.

Vernon’s intentions were clear, the sparkle in his eye as

intense as the sun that made its way toward the horizon. He
wanted me and he wanted me now, his erection as big and
beautiful as him.

I reached down to grab him, but he caught my hand and

uttered into my ear, “I will please you first.”

“No.” I said with an almost silent whisper, like it was the

last breath of my life.

He looked forlorn, staring into me, bearing his gaze into

my soul. “Please,” was all he said.

I melted again, my stomach knotted and my legs gave

away underneath me so that I had to grab hold of him, fall
once more into his arms, to let him become my master again.

I managed to nod. That being the only signal he required,

he gently pried me away, letting me sink deeper into the
sensual living ocean of Annaz VI. The water tickled my chest

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110

with its movement, the ground I once stood on, a soft silica
like sand, came around me. It was like I was sitting on soft
down. I quickly sank deeper into it so that it surrounded me
completely, comforted me and gave me support at the same
time. Actually, it was like sitting on Priaxian silk. I loved that
feeling.

Before I could question his intentions, ask what it was he

desired  from  me,  he  went  under  the  water,  embracing  me
around my waist as he kicked his legs to steady himself as he
floated.  I  was  his  anchor.  I  could  see  my  cock  sway
hypnotically from the currents, even though it was as hard as
it was ever going to be, so much so I ached for sexual release.
A large squid-like thing swam casually by, not even noticing
us. I suppose Annaz VI was a veritable breeding ground for
all sorts of life forms, two more doing their thing wouldn’t
have raised an eyebrow here.

For me, I was in raptures. This was everything, my

universe, my life, my soul. Being with Vernon on this level,
sharing with him the extraction experience was what I now
craved, more so than life itself. Here we were equal, both
physically and emotionally.

My stomach continued to do its dance and I let out a

delighted yelp as he grabbed my cock. I put my hands gently
upon  his  head,  his  hair  dancing  in  the  water  around  my
fingers  as  if  it  belonged  to  an  alien  anemone.  I  drew  him
closer, pushing him down onto me at the same time.

He grabbed at the root of my cock, pulling at the skin so

my foreskin relented and exposed my glans to the warmth of
the ocean. The water now touched every part of me, every
fold of skin washed and cleansed by the sensual fluid. I felt
so alive, so free. I couldn’t help but smile with quivering lips
heated with the attention ravished upon them only moments
ago.

Vernon’s mouth, even hotter than the water itself,

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111

engulfed my erection. I shuddered as he worked the length
of me, forceful yet gentle at the same time, applying enough
suction and pressure to keep me stimulated without losing
any hold on the passion we had built up earlier.

He soon developed a rhythm, his movement perfect, his

touch  so  wonderful  I  quickly  felt  the  pangs  of  ejaculation
release  my  sperm  into  his  mouth.  My  balls  ached  as  I  my
climax continued. He took all of me, finally letting go when I
became flaccid.

How long he had held his breath I couldn’t say,

everything happened so fast. I was numb, exhausted and
empty, wanting nothing more than to lie in his arms and take
in his scent after he had taken all that he could from me.

Once the extraction ended I found myself on the bridge of

the Flying Leaf once more.

The vision bubble was active, but I couldn’t make out

what it was showing me. Had Agnon’s jelly worked? Was the
ship alive once more? Or was it all an after image, an effect of
my ecstasy on my hormone soaked brain?

“Somehow I envy you both,” Agnon said with a sickening

wheeze as Vernon placed my heated body gently onto the
floor. My skin had a sheen of sweat all over it and my hair
felt wet and heavy on my head. We truly had been through a
lot together. I loved it.

I no longer felt my head pound from the blow I had

received  earlier.  Had  the  waters  of  Annaz  VI  healed  my
wound? I reached over to touch the back of my head, feeling
my hair anxiously. The blood and the pain no longer greeted
me. Fuck, that  was some blow job—no,  scratch that.  It was
some experience.

My lips still trembled and my stomach was only now

unwinding from the experience. I was hungry and I craved
for a pizza or something equally as unhealthy and
comforting.

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112

“Is there any food around here, Vernon?” I said, getting

up off the floor as best I could, considering my limbs still
didn’t want to do exactly as I instructed them. My legs still
felt like rubber for a start.

Over there, my love. You will find all sorts of sustenance inside

the food delivery nodule. He gestured to one the many organic
protrusions here on the bridge. How he could tell them apart
I couldn’t say. Then again, I was famished. I didn’t care about
the how or the why.

Agnon continued, obviously he needed to say more, “The

hive is not like that.”

What do you mean, Agnon? Surely being linked with a hive

mind would give you just as much pleasure as what Drake and I
experience during extraction?

“It’s not a physical thing like I have…witnessed twice now

between  you  both.  Symbiosis  is  completely  different  from
what I can see. Being part of the hive is more like…more like
being  part  of  a  whole.  Being  with  a  symbiote  is  more  like
adding to the whole, enhancing it. You are very lucky.”

Yes, I am.
Inside the nodule there was a nozzle. From that a green

paste oozed when I squeezed on it, as someone would when
milking an Earth cow. The paste looked disgusting, smelt just
as bad, but tasted pretty damn good. It was like—I don’t
know, like fruit and fresh baked bread and lashings of butter
all rolled into one.

The paste filled me up and satisfied me. Sure, not as

enjoyable as eating any sort of meal, but it served its purpose.

I noticed the vision bubble again, my head a little clearer

than  before.  What  I  thought  were  fuzzy  stars  against  the
blackness  of  space,  were  in  fact  glowing  worm-  like  things
living on a cave ceiling.

“Hey, we’re in a cave,” I blurted between gulps of paste.

The larval form of the Eldon give off a natural phosphorescence so

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113

it would seem. I think that’s what the Flying Leaf has been using to

heal her wounds and regenerate.

“What about the jelly stuff Agnon gave her? Didn’t that do

something to help things along?” I had to admit I was feeling
a little guilty. I had killed the ship with the stinger before,
hadn’t I?

“The jelly of the Aurorans would have helped, yes,”

Agnon said.

Vernon came over, bringing his massive body so that it

sheltered me. I know you thought you hurt the ship earlier with
the stinger, but you didn’t, my Drake. The Flying Leaf can isolate

parts of her structure, a defensive mechanism if you will. She wasn’t

affected by what you did. She’s proud of you, just as I am.

“Thanks. I needed to hear that. Say, isn’t what she did

kind of like when lizards drop off their tails after a predator
grabs them?” I felt better, even more so seeing as Vernon was
all right and he was telling me the ship was, too.

He nodded. Thanks to the Eldon’s young we should be out of

here within a few hours. I am beginning to get back the ship’s
systems one by one.

Agnon coughed and gurgled, a sound that if I wasn’t

mistaken was more like a death rattle than anything else. “I
don’t think Agnon will last that long.”

Vernon sighed, He will have to if he wants to hear his hive for

the last time.

The Auroran gestured for me to go to him. I did. When I

got close he whispered painfully, “I know you tried to help
me, and for that I thank you. I haven’t exactly been a gracious
host. Forgive me…Before I go, know that Jankin does love
you and that we—” before he could finish he closed his eyes,
let out his last breath and passed away.

Mark Alders

114

The Solar System of Home Approaches

gnon’s death affected me more than I thought it would.
Not by the fact that I witnessed his passing, I didn’t care

for him on that level to warrant any concern, but by the fact
of what it was he was going to say before he did die. What
was the rest of his  sentence going to be? Sure, I now knew
Jankin  did  love  me—well,  that  was  surprising  seeing  as  I
could only recall a few occasions where he actually said so
and one of those times was at our wedding and he really had
no  choice.  I  had  experienced  more  love  with  Vernon  these
last few days than what I did in five years with Jankin. Sure,
we  had  sex,  we  shared  stuff  and  we  even  had  some  good
times,  but  really,  compared  with  now,  they  really  were
forced.  I  can  see  that.  What  I  had  with  my  husband  was
nothing, a mere acquaintance compared with the bond I have
shared  with  Vernon.  Which  is  scary  in  a  way,  because
Vernon isn’t even of my species.

Again my mind turned back to the last few words of our

Auroran captor. What else was Agnon going to tell me? What
were  they  up  to?  I  remembered  the  lengths  the  Cult  of
Starfall would go to get what they wanted, including mining
from a living being, kidnapping humans to replace a species
they  helped  wipe  out  and  paying  others  to  do  their  dirty
work.  God  knows  what  else  they  were  doing  across  the
galaxy to fund whatever it was they were funding.

He didn’t get to touch the hive mind before he passed on. Vernon

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touched me gently on my shoulder, reassuring me and
reminding me we had things to do before we could fly out of
here. Hopefully without incident.

I didn’t answer him. To some degree I understood his

concern. What was more important in the here and now was
getting out of here. We had to get the  Flying Leaf ready for
space again and for that she needed to be in perfect working
order,  her  systems  checked  and  above  all,  she  had  to  be
re-fuelled. Sure, regenerating would take a few hours using
the light of the Eldon larva, but we needed another hour on
top  of  that  to  make  sure  everything  was  A-OK.  If  we  had
another close encounter with the Boldiens on the way back to
Earth, I wanted to make sure the ship was capable of getting
away from them.

Those few hours went quickly, the time spent helping

Vernon check and re-check everything. All we had to do was
wait now while the ship refuelled, getting back the healthy
green glow she’d had before this whole mess began.

As I finished rattling off various numbers for him to enter

into  his  control  screen,  something  struck  me.  “Holy  fuck,
Vernon!  I  know  what  it  was  Agnon  was  going  to  say,  I’m
sure of it.”

What was it? he replied without even looking away from

his study.

“He—I mean, the Cult of Starfall are going to kill Jankin!

Why else would he mention such a thing before he was going
to die? There were plenty of other things he could have said,
including nothing at all. He said it to let me know of their
plans, didn’t he?”

Now he stopped. You may be right. It would certainly be

something the Cult would do to protect their interests. Jankin does

know things.

I smiled up at him. “This is why I love you, Vernon. You

believe me. I would have to spend ages trying to convince

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others to see my point of view, but not you. You can see into
me and…I don’t know, you just know, don’t you?” I hugged
him, more of a thank you than anything else.

Because what you said made perfect sense. If it didn’t, I would

tell you that, too.

“How long before we can take off?”
Vernon studied his panel. Soon.
“I have a feeling we don’t have much time.”
The next hour was excruciating. I spent most of it pacing

back and forth, deepening the groove I had already created
on the Flying Leaf’s floor. Finally, the ship’s systems all lit up
and the engines whirred to life.

We can glide out of here, the winds that travel through this cave

can give us a much needed boost without wasting any fuel for
take-off.

I didn’t really care about the how or the why, just the

result.  I  didn’t  even  really  take  much  notice  of  the  journey
though  the  cave  we  had  found  ourselves  within  or  of  the
journey  back  up  to  the  Eldon  who  lived  high  in  the
atmosphere. Before I knew it, the vision bubble showed the
beauty of space around us. The swirling galaxy’s light years
distant, of dust clouds created by stars long gone and of all of
the uncountable stars of the here and now. It was a beautiful
sight.

The Eldon sun, Hyperion, loomed large before us. It was a

fading yellow star, soon to become a red giant in a few more
millennia. An eternity for a human and a blink of an eye for
the universe. I felt so small, and not because I was standing
next to Vernon, either.

“There’s a gateway near here, isn’t there?”

Yes. The one the tourists use to come to the Eldon home world.

We should be in your solar system soon. I’ll use the heaven’s light

engine to get us there a bit quicker. I can sense your anxiety, my
love.

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Those words were music to my ears, and yes, I was

anxious. I noticed I was fidgeting, rubbing my fingers
together in front of me as I watched him conduct the ship to
the gateway and increase its speed.

Hyperion Monday was the name of the human inhabited

gateway  that  funnelled  travellers  to  this  part  of  space.
Vernon had engaged heaven’s light, and no doubt the ugly
human construction around the gateway, just like the one at
Spaceport  Magellan  Prime,  would  soon  be  upon  us.  I
yearned  to  see  Priaxia  once  more.  To  be  surrounded  by
natural things of beauty and function.

Jesus, I didn’t know what I wanted. No. first I must get to

Jankin, if only to warm him. Then I’d punch him for being a
bastard, then I’d divorce his sorry arse.

The heaven’s light engines disengaged and sure enough,

Hyperion Monday, a much larger spaceport around the
gateway than the Magellan Prime one, came up on the vision
bubble. It was oh, so very human in looks, drab and boring.

“Approaching vessel, please state your designation and

destination,” a stern authoritative voice announced over the
communicator.

I replied and Vernon did his thing. Before too long we

were  stacked  above  the  gateway  ready  for  entry,  a  process
that  seemed  a  lot  more  efficient  than  the  operation  at
Magellan Prime. Then again, gateways closer to Earth were
usually the more organised ones—being farther away meant
more  liberties  were  taken.  A  normal  and  natural  human
thing if there ever was one.

When our time came and we passed through the gateway,

the welcome sight of the double dwarf planets of Pluto and
Charon greeted us on the vision bubble. I had never been
happier to see two huge balls of ice in my life.

I’m going to engage the heaven’s light engine again, we have

plenty of fuel. Seems the Eldon larva light was quite potent for the

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Flying Leaf.

Again, those words were music to my ears. I spent the

next moments underneath Vernon, rubbing the underside of
his body and legs, something I knew he enjoyed. Having him
coo kind of gave that away.

The heaven’s light around us was certainly romantic. I

wished we could be together without having to wait for the
next  extraction.  It  wouldn’t  have  mattered  one  iota  what
form he was in, Priaxian or human, I’d let him have me in a
heartbeat, right here and right now. I was as horny as a love
sick  teenager  as  I  caressed  his  beautiful  hairy  skin.  He
continued to sing out his delight, fuelling my desires.

I was about to suggest we become more intimate with

each  other,  right  here  on  the  bridge  for  all  I  cared,  when
something within the heaven’s light caught my eye. It was a
dark  blob  with  no  distinguishing  features  other  than  mass.
Well, to actually say it was something within heaven’s light
was a misnomer. What was actually displayed was a kind of
displacement  within  the  light  itself,  an  object  or  mass  not
normally  visible  when  travelling  using  heaven’s  light.
Planets, stars, and indeed even large comets are all usually
programmed  into  the  computer  of  any  ship,  resulting  in
them  not  having  to  be  displayed  on  screen  when  using
heaven’s  light.  When  something  did  show  up  on  sensor
during travel at that speed it meant one of two things. The
object was extremely  large or it was unknown. Not a good
thing.

I knew from the readouts on the screen that we were at

this moment passing through the orbit of Neptune. Vernon
had  seen  it,  too.  He  immediately  disengaged  the  heaven’s
light engine, the eerie blue of Neptune taking up most of our
view as normal space surrounded us. As we came around the
planet  to  back  track  where  the  ship’s  sensors  had  detected
the  object,  Triton,  Neptune’s  largest  moon,  made  itself

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apparent.

The object was near the moon. Vernon did a bit more

gesturing, making sure it wasn’t a false reading of the moon
the ship had picked up. It wasn’t. On the dark side of Triton a
large  ship  could  be  seen  hanging  ominously  in  the  space
between  the  planet  and  the  moon.  Now,  to  say  it  was
large—well,  that  was  an  understatement.  This  thing  was
huge.

“Fuuucking Heeeell,” I said with a gasp as we came closer

to the moon and I began to realise the weight of what it was
we had discovered.

The ship was Auroran, no doubt about it. On its flanks the

symbols  and  flags  of  that  empire  were  emblazoned.  There
was  also  the  crossed  stinger  design  of  the  Cult  of  Starfall
there.  Had  the  Auroran  military  and  the  cult  worked
together  to  create  this  massive  war  ship?  Being  in  human
space, in our own solar system no  less, there was only one
intention  for  such  a  vessel  of  that  size  and  firepower.  The
Aurorans were preparing for a strike against humanity.

As I looked at the ship, in both amazement and a fear that

struck at the very core of my being, I couldn’t help but notice
that the thing was basically a grotesque organic mass, its hull
like  blistered  chitin,  armed  and  aggressive  and  mother
fucking  dangerous  looking.  Exactly  what  Auroran  design
was meant to be, I supposed. Such philosophy sure worked
on me.

I think we’d better get out of here, Vernon said as he turned

the Flying Leaf around and engaged heaven’s light once more.
We were back on course for Sol. I sighed relief, realising I had
been holding my breath all that time.

You know, seeing an Auroran ship deep within my own

solar system really killed any mood I had of getting romantic
with Vernon. Bloody typical. Now I not only had Jankin to
worry about I had this, too. Why couldn’t life be simple?

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Then again, my life certainly had been a lot more exciting
and definitely a lot more interesting since I was kidnapped.
Hey, funny how something terrible can actually be a blessing
in disguise.

Vernon obviously understood the ramifications of

everything we had been told by Agnon and what we had
witnessed with our own eyes. Now I knew what the Cult of
Starfall had been financing with their underhanded deals. A
military strike. Seems their greed knew no bounds.

Earth came into view once the heaven’s light receded once

more on the vision bubble. I hadn’t really noticed the passage
of time, my mind on so many other things.

We got clearance for travel into the atmosphere as quickly

as the bureaucratic red tape allowed us considering it was a
Priaxian vessel that approached Earth space. Nevertheless,
we had made it. I hoped we weren’t too late.

“We should be able to land on the roof of my apartment

complex,” I said with a certain amount of nervousness in my
voice.

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The Wasps at the Picnic

s soon as the Flying Leaf touched down, Vernon grabbed
me and placed me onto his back. He was out the door

seal  quicker  than  I  had  ever  seen  him  move.  As  the  late
afternoon sun of home hit me I realised I was naked. Having
not worn clothes for so long I had become used to the idea of
being  loose  and  fancy  free.  Vernon  was  right,  being  naked
meant everything was easy to access. Being naked was also
only  fashionable  among  the  youth  of  our  species  at  the
moment.  Many  clubs  and  pubs  were  packed  to  the  rafters
with  sweaty,  naked  youth.  Most  would  end  up  copulating
and getting drunk, and not necessarily in that order. Nothing
changes really,  the young  are the young,  but humans are a
fickle species and for all I know next year flares may be back
in again for the umpteenth time. I smiled as I approached my
apartment. I  loved being  human, and it took a Priaxian for
me to realise that.

I had to admit I felt kind of hip at the moment, being

naked and the symbiote of a Priaxian. How life had changed.
Sure, I was in my mid-thirties, but I had a body many others
my age would be envious of. Why not show it off? Besides, I
came to the conclusion that when you’re naked there is
nothing left for you to hide. Something I think Jankin could
learn.

Vernon carefully took me off his back once we reached my

apartment’s entrance. I kissed him on his chin. He didn’t

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need to carry me. The walk across the car park was only a
few metres. He was a big lug. A big beautiful, caring lug. I
know I’ve said it many times, but really, it’s true.

“Welcome Drake, it’s been a while since I saw you last,”

the door chimed as it clicked open.

“You’d better stay out here for a bit, Vernon. I don’t want

Jankin scared out of his wits just yet. I have some harsh
words for him and I want him to hear me out.”

But what if it’s a trap you’re walking into?
I patted him reassuringly on one of his front legs. “How

about you wait out here for ten minutes then come in. If it is a
trap, you can come and rescue me, okay?”

Then I get to ravish you after that?
“Hey, I was going to ask you that before we saw that huge

Auroran ship. Can we…I mean, is it possible for us to get
together without being in the extraction?”

Yes.
Fuck me. That one word sent shivers of joy throughout my

body. I even stirred and had to think of something distracting
pretty damn quick. I thought of our ordeal on Agnon’s ship.
Thankfully that worked. I didn’t want to face Jankin with a
raging erection. He might get the wrong idea.

I entered my home. Vernon was right. It was a trap.
There was Jankin, a sorry sight if I ever saw one. He was

on  the  couch,  the  same  one  I  had  caught  him  mucking
around  with  Jeff  on.  He  was  naked,  hog  tied  and  beaten.
Beaten  badly,  too.  Blood  and  bruises  covered  his  skin.  His
lips were cracked and one eye had swelled so terribly that it
had closed. It looked like he had a couple of broken ribs and
all across his body I could see stinger welts. He was laying in
his  own  filth,  his  breathing  laboured  and  his  hold  on  life
probably failing, too.

I went to him without thinking, without even noticing the

six Aurorans in the apartment with him. I caressed his

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forehead, brushing away his blood soaked hair and
whispering, “I’m here, Jankin. It’s me, Drake.”

For all I had found out about him, a man who had been

bought to be my lover, I still had feelings for him. He was
only human, after all.

Jankin turned his head slowly to look at me. A weak smile

crossed his blood stained lips and in his eyes a sparkle of
recognition

flickered

for

the

briefest

moment.

“I’m…so…sorry, my Drake. I’m so…sorry.”

Before I could answer him, the familiar and terrible

clicking voice of an Auroran said, “Where is the Priaxian,
human?”

I looked up, seeing for the first time the Aurorans who had

invaded my home. All of them held their stingers. All of
them glowed yellow. I think they meant business.

“Agnon killed him and all the hope of his species with it,”

I lied, now clutching Jankin’s head close to my chest.

A sneer crossed the Auroran’s face. If I didn’t know any

better I’d say he was disappointed or concerned at the very
least.  “That  was  not  his  duty.  Agnon  was  only  meant  to
capture  you  both,  have  you  both  disappear,  available  only
for our future use. Perhaps it is better he has died, too, for
when  our  leaders  hear  of  his  disobedience  they  will  make
sure his name is one held with no honour.”

It struck me then. They didn’t know what had happened.

No wonder Agnon wanted to link with the hive mind before
he  passed  away.  He  wanted  to  make  sure  his  version  of
events  was  taken  into  account.  At  the  moment  I  had  the
advantage.  I  could  say  anything  and  they  would  have  no
choice but to believe me.

“Now leave us alone. You have done enough damage,

Auroran.”

The speaker nodded for his comrades to come forward.

They did so, brandishing their weapons. I could hear the air

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sizzle even from where I was kneeling. I swallowed hard,
fearing the worst.

“It will be up to us to take over the hive’s intentions. You

are to come with us quietly and quickly, Drake Glauco,
otherwise you will suffer a fate worse than your betrayer.”

I supposed by that statement he meant Jankin. Sure, he

was right, Jankin did betray me. But at what cost? When he
crash landed on one of their moons all those years ago, what
deal did he have to make to stay alive? Probably nothing I
wouldn’t have done in his place.

Jankin, knowing what I must have been thinking, uttered,

“They made me do it, Drake. They made me do it. I didn’t
have a—”

“Silence!” the Auroran commanded, pulling Jankin away

from my grasp and tossing him onto the floor as if he weren’t
even alive, a nothing, a nobody.

My husband groaned and then fell silent, slumped on the

floor like a rag-doll, arms and legs askew. A sickening sight.
Before I could get up and go to him, one of the stingers came
close to

my face. I could feel its intensity even at the relatively mild

setting it was on. I was hot and the weapon’s heat permeated
my skin, making it even more uncomfortable. I flinched and
turned away. “You will come with us. I won’t say it again.”

I got to my feet. Now would be a perfect time for Vernon

to  charge  in  and  rescue  me.  Then  again,  I  hadn’t  seen  him
tackle  six  Aurorans,  and  really,  he  might  be  the  one  who
ended  up  needing  to  be  rescued.  Not  something  I  was
capable  of  being  a  thin  skinned  naked  human  against  six
stingers.

One of the Aurorans bound my hands behind my back.

Not a task that was done with any finesse let me tell you. The
ropes or ties it used hurt, digging into my wrists. I couldn’t
even turn my hands. Two of the other Aurorans pick up

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Jankin.

We were both hauled out of our homes like some sort of

commodity.  Jankin  was  carried,  I  was  pushed.  I  wondered
how  they  got  past  Interstellar  Home  Security,  surely  an
Auroran  ship  approaching  Earth  would  have  raised  some
questions.  Then  I  knew  how.  For  the  first  time  I  noticed  a
Boldien  ship  on  our  building’s  roof.  Had  it  been  there  all
along? Surely we would have spotted it as we came in for a
landing. Then again, perhaps we were both preoccupied not
to have. I cursed under my breath for being so careless.

I couldn’t see the Flying Leaf anywhere. Had Vernon left

me?  No.  I  scratched  that  thought  out  of  my  head.  Vernon
would  never  leave  me.  Perhaps  he  had  a  plan.  Perhaps  he
was at this very moment taking action that would see me out
of this mess. I sure hoped so. Whatever he was going to do, I
hoped he’d do it quickly.

We were led onto the Boldien ship, and I had to say it

looked  exactly  like  the  previous  Auroran  vessel  I  had  the
misfortune  of  seeing  from  the  inside.  That  was  it,  the  ship
was  in  disguise.  Very  clever.  Being  organic,  it  would  have
been  harder  for  our  sensors  to  detect  what  was  inside,  the
whole ship would have read as a life form. I know, that was
part of the delay we had getting the Flying Leaf clearance.

I was in one of the organic cells before I could think about

it anymore. Jankin was with me.

As soon as the dividing wall touched the ceiling with a

wet squelch, I went over to him as best I could, considering I
was tied up. It was more like a stomach crawl than anything
else. After a lot of huffing and puffing I finally reached him.
He opened his good eye as soon as I was close enough. I’m
glad he was conscious after my effort to reach him. I was
exhausted. He slowly began to undo my bindings.

“What have you done, Jankin?” I asked. Not in an

accusing way, I knew he was probably just as much a victim

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here as I was. I wanted to hear his point of view, how he got
messed up in all this.

He licked his lips and I wondered how long he had been

left beaten and tied in our apartment while they waited for
me to get there. Had he even been fed? Had he been given
water? Those Auroran bastards, I bet they had been there for
days  or  at  the  least,  since  we  left  Magellan  Prime  and  the
Boldiens  had  alerted  them  to  the  fact  I  was  no  longer  on
Priaxia.

“I had no choice, Drake. I was forced to do their bidding.

They cured my injuries yes, but not before I had begged them
for my life. Not before I had to swear an oath that I would do
as they said, exactly as they said or suffer a fate worse than
death.”

“What did they have over you, Jankin?” Again I

comforted him, running my hand over his forehead, trying to
make him as comfortable as possible.

“They were going to kill my son if I didn’t do as I was told.

He is on Aurora, as insurance.”

“What?” I was gobsmacked. Jankin had a son. The room

spun around me for a brief moment as I tried to digest this
latest piece of news. “Go on,” I added.

“He was in the ship with me. He was thirteen at the time.”

For a moment Jankin’s eyes stared at the space above my
head, not focusing on anything.

He snapped himself out of it and continued. I was all ears.

“We were on our way to the Delta system. His mother is a
star freighter pilot and we were going to surprise her. It was
her  thirtieth  birthday  and  we  both  wanted  to  be  with  her.
Then…then  our  shuttle  had  some  engine  troubles,  nothing
major, but I wanted to land just to make sure. Well, my idea
wasn’t so great. We did land, but because the atmosphere of
the moon was a lot thicker than what our technology is used
to,  we  crashed.  It  stuffed  up  the  engines  real  good  and  we

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basically fell out of the sky. Little did I know it was an
Auroran moon I had landed on. I gather you know the rest.”

I was speechless. Jankin was married before he met me—I

mean, before he was forced to meet me. He also had a son. I
hugged him, thinking of nothing else I could do right now to
comfort him. I could only imagine what he had been through
over the last five years. No wonder he never said he loved me
in any sincere way. He didn’t. Not in the way he loved his
wife and son, anyway.

Finally, after what seemed an eternity, whispered,

“What’s your son’s name?”

He looked into my eyes. I could see for the first time since I

knew him vulnerable sincerity. I truly felt for him, and not
how I had felt for him before my kidnapping. I felt for him as
one human would for another in tough times. I felt more of a
mateship with him, a connection on a basic level that bound
us all. I felt compassion.

“His name is Ranjay.” Again he had that reminiscent look

about him. I let him continue. It was the least I could do. “His
mother, Taseem, was so proud when he was born we named
him  after  her  grandfather.  She  was  as  beautiful  as  he  was
handsome. I had to do anything to protect them both. I don’t
know where Ranjay or Taseem are now, but I  assume they
are prisoners on Aurora. That is what they have been telling
me anyway. I haven’t heard from them in a while.”

“So your father…when we got married, was he?” I trailed

off. I could hardly finish the sentence. Tears had begun to run
down my cheeks and my throat felt constricted as I tried to
fight off becoming a blubbering mess in front of the man I
thought I knew.

He coughed, a wheeze similar to Agnon’s before he

passed away. Jankin needed medical attention real quick.
“Everything was set up for your benefit. The man at his
death bed, the man paid to pose as my father, was no more

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related to me than Taseem is to you.” He paused, then looked
at me, intent in his eyes. “I hated you at first, Drake, I really
did. I hated you for setting up that treaty. A treaty that made
all of this possible.”

“Do you still hate me?” I was now crying.
“No,” He coughed again, “I forgive you. You did what

you did because you thought  it was right. I understand. In
fact, I do love you, Drake, but more like a man would love his
brother. It took some time for me to get used to the physical
side  of  what  I  was  asked  to  do.  I’m  not…well,  I’m  not
someone who chooses to love men of his own free will, like
you. But I love my wife and son so much I would have, and
did do, anything for them, to see that they were safe. I hope
they are safe right now. The Aurorans know that they have
failed to capture you and that I know of their plans…I fear
for them both.”

“Thank you for telling me all that. I’m so sorry you had to

be  with  me  when  you  would  have  rather  have  been  with
your real family. I don’t know what to say to make it up to
you, Jankin. I’m truly sorry.” I  fell over him and embraced
him again, placing my face into his neck, letting myself cry
like a little boy in his arms. He held me, too.

“Do you forgive me, Drake?”
“Yes,” I replied with a tear soaked gasp. “And I—I mean

we, will help you find your wife and son, it’s the least I can
do.”

“Thank you.” He let go his embrace. “We?”
“You’ll see.”
After  we  had  both  wept,  our  tears  now  dry,  the  wall

opened. Four beautiful Priaxian legs appeared in the gap and
began pulling down the wall.

“What’s that?” Jankin asked as he tried to scramble

toward the corner of our cell.

“My knight in shining armour,” I replied with pride

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The Rescue

ernon came into our cell with all the grace and careful
movements I had come to admire from him. Are you all

right, Drake?

“I’m so glad to see you, my lover,” I said. He ran his

clawed hands over my body, obviously making sure I wasn’t
hurt. He tickled.

Me, too. Now, let’s get out of here before our Auroran friends

detect my presence. Can Jankin move?

I untied Jankin. I looked down at my husband—well, I

couldn’t really call him that any more, now could I? Sure, we
may have signed a piece of paper five years ago, but really,
our marriage was a fraud.

Going over to Jankin I held out my hand, offering to help

him up. The look in his eyes said it all. He was in shock at
seeing a real life Priaxian. Sure, most humans knew what one
looked like from books and stuff, but to actually see one, that
was an experience. “Let me help you up, my brother.”

His mouth moved, but no sound eventuated. Finally, he

uttered, “Who’s this, then?”

Vernon came over us both, his head touching the ceiling of

our cell. I’m Vernon, Drake’s symbiotic partner. Pleased to meet

you, mister Jankin.

I helped Jankin to his feet. He used me as his support. Both

of us were picked up and placed on to Vernon’s back. Jankin
was in front of me so I could hold him, comfort him in his

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weakened state. He did look a little better than he had when I
first  saw  him  in  our  home,  but  he  still  needed  medical
attention.  The  stinger  welts  looked  the  worst,  the  wounds
weeping.

“Where’s the Flying Leaf?” I asked.

Attached to the underside of the ship. We’re now in space,

heading for Triton from what I have been able to understand.

“They’re going to the mother ship,” Jankin said.
“You mean that huge thing orbiting Triton?”
“Yep, the very same. The Aurorans mean to use it against

us,  their  goal  the  enslavement  of  humanity  for  their  own
gain.  It  seems  humans—I  mean  we,  are  a  commodity  the
Aurorans would like to get their filthy hands on.”

Vernon scrambled out of our cell, doing a fantastic job of

staying  out  of  sight  as  best  as  possible.  It’s  amazing  how
small  he  can  become  when  he  wants  to  be.  Just  like  Earth
spiders, I supposed. We seemed to be able to fit into all sorts
of  hiding  places  when  an  Auroran  passed  nearby.  He  held
onto us both tightly with two of his hands at one stage as he
crawled  across  the  ceilings  of  the  many  corridors  of  the
Auroran ship, making his way toward the Flying Leaf near the
lower cargo bay and avoiding the detection nodules. We both
clung onto him, too. Being upside down and moving fast was
an interesting experience.

“I already know of the use they have in mind for us,

Jankin.” I ran my hand across Vernon’s back. “But it’s a good
thing being a symbiote to a Priaxian, let me tell you. My life
has become more…enriched.”

Thank you, my love, was all he said as he made a dive into

an alcove near the cargo bay. The two Aurorans he had seen
didn’t see us. Thank God.

“No. You don’t understand. The Aurorans have many

uses for us, trade with Priaxia is just the tip of the iceberg for
what they have planned.”

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When I thought about it, I tended to agree with him. From

what  we  had  seen  so  far,  the  Aurorans  were  not  only
resourceful,  they  were  without  principles,  too.  Whether  a
human was used for meat or trade as a symbiote would make
no difference to them, so long as they were paid. “I can only
imagine what they have in mind for us,” I said with a sigh. I
felt  lucky.  My  life  had  become  better.  What  about  all  the
other millions who may not be so fortunate under Auroran
rule? Exposing the Cult of Starfall to the Auroran authorities
would prove fruitless. What we had seen of the mother ship,
I’d say this invasion and the financing of it had been in the
planning for a long time. The military and the cult working
together. Might and money, a powerful combination.

Vernon growled, then said, We must make sure we get back to

Priaxia first. My queen would be most interested in hearing about
this. It was the first time I had heard him sound so forceful.

Jankin said, “I agree. An assault from Priaxia would be the

last  thing  the  Aurorans  would  be  expecting  seeing  as  they
have  concentrated  their  efforts  on  the  domination  of
humanity.  They  think  the  Priaxians  are  weakened,  their
nourisher  caste  no  more.  They  think  the  Priaxians  have
become dependent on them, seeing as it is the Aurorans who
have been controlling the supply of symbiotes to that world.”

I was taken aback. “So you’re suggesting an alliance

between the Priaxians and the humans?”

“Yep. What else? Oh, and you’d be the perfect man for the

job.”

A great idea, mister Jankin. Vernon sprung out of the alcove

and scurried down a service hole. We both hung on for dear
life as he moved with lightning speed. When we were inside
the service tunnel, he continued, When we discover how they

wiped out our nourishers I’m sure retaliation will be

the only option. My queen, all queens of all colonies, will want

swift action. Priaxia may be a peaceful place, but when we are riled,

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we fight back. Killing our nourishers would warrant severe action to

those responsible. Mark my words.

Jankin looked back at me, that sparkle of life ignited his

eyes once more. I’d say he was actually enjoying this. I hope
he  understood  the  ramifications  of  his  actions.  A  war  with
Aurora wouldn’t be pretty, but I could see how it could now
become inevitable. It was either that or fight the Aurorans by
ourselves.  I  didn’t  fancy  our  chances.  “I  know  how  they
murdered the nourishers,” he said matter-of-factly.

“You do?”
We had made our way along the service tunnel until we

came to a hatch. Inside the hatch, a sort of makeshift airlock,
it  was  cramped  but  thankfully  devoid  of  any  Aurorans.
Vernon pressed some buttons and the opposite wall opened.
On the other side, the wonderfully familiar sight of the Flying
Leaf’s  beautiful  entrance  corridor  caught  my  attention.  We
had made it.

Don’t tell us how they did it, not until we get to Priaxia and we

are in front of my queen. She should hear as we do of the Auroran
treachery, of how they nearly bought us to the edge of extinction. If

it weren’t for humans, we would all be dead now. We owe you a
great deal. We would no doubt be honoured to fight off the great
wasps with you at our sides.

I swallowed hard. This was some serious shit. Then again,

I had a feeling deep down that it would come to this. I know I
would have been pissed if something like that happened to
our  species.  Heck,  humans  have  gone  to  war  for  far  less.
Fighting  for  survival  was  a  noble  cause.  One  I  would  be
proud to be a part of. Vernon had taught me one thing, life
wasn’t  meant  to  be  perfect  and  even  an  imperfect  one  was
worth almost any price.

“I will respect your wishes, Vernon,” Jankin said,

knocking me out of my reverie. “Take me to your queen.”

Before I could tell Jankin how wonderful he was, how

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understanding  he  had  been  about  all  of  this,  I  was  placed
onto the floor with him. Vernon did his orchestral gesturing
and  the  engines  of  the  Flying  Leaf  came  to  life.  The  vision
bubble  ignited  and  to  my  horror,  an  Auroran  mother  ship
seemed to be taking up most of the view.

“Fuuucking heeeell,” I said as Vernon became frantic and

tried to get the ship to undertake evasive manoeuvres.

About a half a dozen Auroran fighter ships poured out of

one of the hangar bays on the mother ship. All of them
headed toward us. Fuck! We may have evaded the Aurorans
on the disguised Boldien ship, but we certainly weren’t free
of them now.

Vernon screamed something, I think it was the Priaxian

equivalent of hold onto your hats. Before his words registered
in my mind, I was thrown onto the floor on top of Jankin. He
let  out  a  pained  cry.  The  heaven’s  light  engine  had  been
engaged,  but  also,  and  to  my  complete  surprise,  we  had
passed through a gateway, too. I didn’t know of any gateway
in the space around Neptune. How had Vernon found one? I
didn’t even know that was possible.

Everything was a blur for the longest time. Vernon

continued to do his thing while I watched in stunned
amazement as he and the Flying Leaf dodged and out ran the
Auroran fighters on our tail, and all at incredible speed, too.
He flew like a seasoned pilot. I was so proud of him.

When normal space returned to the vision bubble, the

reddish  light  of  a  Red  Giant  star  filled  the  bridge  with  its
eerie  light.  I  had  no  idea  what  the  name  of  that  star  was,
meaning I had no clue where the hell we were, but it was nice
to be away from the Aurorans.

I spoke too soon.
Ahead, one of the fighters emerged from a gateway—no,

wait two came out. Shit! Shit! Shit! They had managed to
follow us. Damn it. Seconds later, the blaze of weapons fire

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disturbed the serene red glow.

“Where the fuck are we?” I screamed. Knowing where we

were may give me some indication of what we could do to
get out of here. Perhaps another gateway was nearby. I know
we couldn’t go through the same one we had just travelled,
an Auroran mother ship waited for us on the other side.

Never mind that, Drake, tend to Jankin. He needs healing. The

nodule next to the food dispenser is a first aid station. Do what you

must. He must not die. We need all of the information he has. I will
worry about getting us out of here.

I didn’t waste any time and I did as Vernon said. He was

right. Jankin looked terrible. He shouldn’t have been moved
without medical attention. Then again, we had no choice.
Those Auroran bastards had seen to that.

As Vernon did what he needed to do to avoid the fighters,

I placed a dark red paste the nodule dispensed all over
Jankin’s wounds. It seemed to offer him some relief. He was
able to sit upright within no time.

“Are you okay?” I said.
“I’ll live,” he said with a wheeze. “But I think I need to rest

now if you don’t mind.”

I smiled, kissed his forehead and let him rest. “Okay,

Jankin’s going to be fine for now. I’ll let him sleep if he wants
to.” I went over to Vernon after I had made sure Jankin was
as comfortable as he was going to be.

On the control screen I could see where we were, or more

to the point, where we had found ourselves. My jaw fell open
and  my  spirit  sank.  Wherever  we  were,  we  had  found
ourselves  smack  bang  in  the  middle  of  an Auroran  mother
ship building yard out in space.

The vessels were everywhere. Hundreds of them. An

invasion fleet. I think the war with humanity was just the
start, their intention obviously the control of the galaxy once
they had dominated us.

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The Machines of War

knew it was too good to be true when I detected that artificial
gateway. Now I know why. The Aurorans created it to travel

unnoticed between here and Sol once they claim victory over
humanity. I bet they have created hundreds of others to get their
mother ships to key locations. This is becoming more serious than

even I could have thought possible.

I could only nod in agreement. Well, that explained the

gateway mystery. Somehow the Aurorans had harnessed the
technology to create their own rip in the fabric of space and
create a gateway. Now all I needed to know was how the hell
we were going to get out of here. I hoped Vernon had a
bright idea. I certainly didn’t.

After he had done some more of his fancy flying, all

dodging and diving, I said, “Can we go into heaven’s light,
you know, get us out of here quick smart?”

No. The mother ships are transmitting a field stopping us from

doing so. Besides, being near a Red Giant the ship can’t

photosynthesize. I wouldn’t want to waste fuel only to become
stranded here like we were on the Eldon home world.

“So we’re fucked then?”
Vernon looked at me. No. We haven’t been detected yet. The

field is also cloaking us or displacing our energy signature. Perhaps
because the Flying Leaf is organic, too. Look.

Sure enough, he was right. The two fighters that had

followed us out of the artificial gateway were no longer in

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pursuit. The mother ships made no moves towards us, either.
It was all quite strange and somewhat eerie seeing all these
ships hanging motionless around us as we flew between
them. “Wow,” was my considered response.

I’m going to attach ourselves to one of the mother ships.
“Then what?”
Wait.
“I don’t get it—no, hang on, I think I do. We’re going to

hitch a ride on one of those babies, aren’t we?”

I so love you, my Drake.
A metallic thud rang out as the Flying Leaf attached itself to

the  nearest  mother  ship,  as  ugly  and  threatening  as  all  the
others,  its  hull  like  living  skin  covered  in  blemishes,  warts
and liver spots. I guess Vernon was right. We had no choice
now but to wait.

I grabbed him, holding him tight. “I love you, too. But

what about Jankin? Will he be okay?”

He’ll be fine. The healing paste will do him wonders. Not as good

as Auroran jelly, but just as effective given time. He sleeps now.

When he wakes up he’ll feel like a new man, up on his feet and ready
for more of what life throws his way.

That was some good news. I ran my hand over Vernon’s

skin, enjoying the feeling I got when I touched him. “Say, can
you show me how we can…you know, become intimate
without performing the extraction ceremony?”

I thought you’d never ask. Lie down. I will teach you the pure

physical pleasure you can get when we will join in body only.

As soon as I lay on the floor he came over me. Anticipation

rose up within me, making me do nothing else but smile.
“What now?”

Patience. What is worth doing takes time.
Vernon came down and folded his legs underneath me so

I became suspended off the floor, our bodies touching. I
shuddered, his skin was hairy and warm, like a great blanket
engulfing me. His mandibles came around my neck, not to

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harm me in any way, but to gently hold me. Our faces
touched, and I could only describe that sensation, that action
as kissing. We kissed.

Like the times I had shared with him in the extraction, I

was completely his. Again he was in command. Again I let
myself be taken away by his advances.

Every touch was done with gentle caring, my skin

prickling with the heat of our exchange as he pressed his
body more firmly onto mine.

Then it happened. A slight tingling sensation touched me

at first, right at the pit of my stomach. Instinctively and I had
to admit, with a certain amount of wanting, I embraced him
tight, my arms not completely reaching over his body, but I
didn’t care. I held him as he held me. Together we moved as
one, enjoying the feeling of each other’s touch.

I could hear his heartbeat, feel his breath against my

cheek, and as I became lost in our passion I began to writhe,
move my body more vigorously against his. Was it because
he had done so first, for I had felt his hairs brush against my
skin well before I began squirming with delight in his grasp. I
was following his lead. He was teaching me, re-educating me
about what it was like to be with another, without condition
or restrictions.

My body didn’t take long to react. I was aroused, my

nipples, my cock and more importantly, my mind, all awoke
to what would happen next. I began to gasp for air as my
body became more and more ignited with our passion.

We shared each other’s breath, became one as our bodies

stayed connected in our erotic dance.

His skin against mine, his body with mine and his stare

locked with mine. I was so wonderfully lost in his grasp. I
ached for this experience to last forever.

“Fuck,” I said with lips hardly parted as I climaxed, an

ejaculation that blew my mind, making me convulse with

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ecstatic rapture. I wept tears of joy.

My stomach muscles contracted so tight I became curled

up in his grip, like a baby inside his mother’s womb. Warm
and safe. I could smell him, taste him and feel him over every
part of my body. I then smelt myself. I loved the smell of sex.
As we both cooled he slowly let me go, unwinding me from
his hold.

What we have shared is something very few have ever

experienced. It is often seen as unproductive and there is a phrase for
it on our planet. It’s called a dry extraction, a coupling that results

in no sperm feeding the hatchlings. But I will call it something else
now that I have experienced it with you.

“What will you call it?”

I will call it a bond where we have shared our mutual physical

love.

I looked down at my stomach, not only was there my own

sperm, there was another fluid, too. A thick, creamy ribbon
wound its way up to my chest. “You came, too, didn’t you?”

Yes. As I said. Very rare.
His penis, a huge barb-like appendage, retracted back into

its sheath, just above where he stored his egg in his abdomen.
I felt special. A human and a Priaxian can be together. There
was  nothing  inside  me  but  a  deep  emotional  sense  of
belonging,  the  first  time  I  had  ever  felt  such  a  thing.  I  was
Vernon’s and he was mine. We were truly a couple. We had
shared  everything,  from  our  body  fluids  to  our  mental
experiences.  I  already  yearned  for  our  next  joining,  dry
extraction or not, I needed him.

I got up, the vision bubble was ablaze with heaven’s light.

“I wonder where we’re going?”

Vernon went to his control panel. Go clean yourself up, my

love. I think we’ll need to be prepared for whatever confronts us soon
enough. We have travelled quite a distance already.

“How long were we together?”

Over an hour.

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As I wiped away our love from my skin, using a cloth I got

from  one  of  the  storage  nodules,  normal  space  came  into
view,  the  billions  of  twinkling  stars  so  welcome.  We  had
arrived  at  the  Proxima  system,  a  young  star  whose  planets
had  not  yet  evolved  to  harbour  any  intelligent  life.  The
mother ship had emerged near the fourth planet. In orbit of
that planet, a kind of safari world populated by all sorts of
beasts  the  tourists  loved  and  the  conservatives  tried  to
protect, there was another ship. An ominous black, organic
pulsating  mass,  a  ship  that  looked  like  a  mobile  hive,  very
different  in  appearance  to  the  mother  ship  but  just  as
threatening.  The  thing  dwarfed  the  mother  ship  we  were
hitchhiking  on,  I’d  say  by  at  least  ten  fold.  Thousands  of
other ships, freighters, shuttles and fighters flew in and out
of  the  hangars  all  around  the  ship.  The  Aurorans  certainly
meant business.

I think this is their supply vessel, Vernon said as he read the

panel, receiving the diagnostic from the scan he had
performed as soon as we appeared out of gateway. We’re

about halfway between the Auroran system and Sol.

“That makes sense,” I said, more interested in how we

were going to get out of here than admiring the view.

Jankin stirred. I had to say, even though I knew we were

never really married and that he had a wife, I still found him
attractive, especially being naked. That was always his best
quality. Clothes spoiled him. He could have easily been a
model or something. A thought then popped into my head.
What was the deal with Jeff?

I went over to him, offering him some water I had grabbed

from the food dispenser. He took it greedily. His wounds had
crusted over, a good sign.

You will need to apply more of the healing paste, Drake, Vernon

said as he continued to do whatever it was he was doing.
Hopefully, figuring out the best trajectory for a gateway that

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would lead us nearer Priaxia.

“Say, something’s been bothering me,” I said, dabbing his

forehead with a dampened cloth.

He chuckled quietly. “It wouldn’t be you if you weren’t

bothered by something. Tell me, what’s on your mind, my
brother?”

I think he liked the idea I had called him that earlier.

“What the fuck was Jeff doing in our apartment?”

Jankin coughed, then let out another giggle. “Jesus, Drake,

you think I wanted you to get kidnapped? Sure, I was paid to
do that, but I knew those toads were waiting for you. Roping
Jeff into my plan last minute, I thought you would have stuck
around  a  bit  longer,  you  know,  asked  more  questions.
Typical  you  though,  you  got  all  hot  under  the  collar  and
stormed off. Serves you bloody right.”

“Well, picking Jeff sure got my blood boiling, you’re right

about that, you bastard.”

He reached out and patted me on my shoulder. “Maybe I

should have got the local strip club in there, then you would
have stayed.”

“So…what? You wanted me to—fuck me, Jankin, who do

you take me for? I wasn’t interested in anyone else but you at
that point in time. It was our anniversary, remember. Having
Jeff there as a…threesome partner or whatever just to keep
me from being kidnapped. Wow, you did sink low.”

He looked hurt. “You have no idea how desperate I was to

try and keep all of those I have ever loved from getting hurt.
You included.”

I felt the sting of his words. I lowered my head, ashamed

to look him directly into his beautiful, blue eyes. “I’m sorry,”
was all I could offer.

“Don’t worry about it. Seems we have bigger fish to fry

right now.”

I looked up. He was watching the vision bubble. The

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Auroran supply vessel loomed large, the view filled by an
organic blackness. “Seems we’re going for another ride.” A
docking bay, a slit of light against the gloom emerged and we
seemed to be heading straight for it.

No we’re not. I can disengage and hopefully float quietly away.

Unless of course an Auroran decides to look out a window. Now it
was Vernon’s turn to chuckle. Only he saw the humour in
what he said. Jankin and I were in awe at the scale of the ship
we now approached. Vernon continued, I have analysed the

field  the  ships  have  been  transmitting.  It’s  similar  to  an
electro-magnetic  field  all  life  forms  generate  only  much  more
intense.  The  Flying  Leaf,  also  organic,  is  swallowed  up  in  the

signal. I suppose they use it to detect foreign ships, sort of like how

some creatures do so to detect prey.

I didn’t like the sound of that. Prey. I wondered what sort

of armaments the ships actually had. The stingers were bad
enough. “Let’s just get out of here quickly and quietly, hey?”

Before I had finished my sentence, the ship was detached

and gliding silently away from both the mother ship and the
supply vessel. I crossed my fingers, somewhat instinctively. I
was never one to believe in luck and superstition. I think now
was a good time to start.

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The Leaf’s Blessing

he Flying Leaf managed to get away from the supply ship
well enough, the Proxima sun returning to fill our view. I

had a feeling deep down that getting away so easily was a
little too good to be true.

The next words out of Vernon’s mouth confirmed my

fears. I can’t engage the heaven’s light engine…the field must have

interfered with some of our systems. It’s going to take a while to get

them back online.

Jankin slowly got to his feet, hobbling over to stand next to

me, using me as support. He did look better, especially since
I had applied the second dose of healing paste. “We may not
have that much time. I think they have known about our
presence all along. It takes a lot to fool an Auroran, believe
me.”

Sure enough, two—no three, Auroran fighters came

toward us, previously hidden by the glare of the sun. A good
tactic.

Okay, again I had to ask the bloody obvious. “What do we

do now?”

Vernon waved his hands across his control panel. As he

turned to answer me a flash of light burst all around us. We
had been hit by some sort of energy weapon. I could see
more fire being laid upon us as we tried to dodge the enemy
fire. The ship screamed, the klaxon sounded and I was on the
floor before I could ask another stupid question, Jankin was

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there, too.

The bridge spun and not because I was feeling any ill

effects. The ship, obviously damaged by that first attack, now
plummeted  toward  safari  world.  We  were  caught  in  the
atmosphere. The blaze of fire and superheated plasma filled
the  vision  bubble  with  it  eerie  beauty  and  a  terrible
whooshing sound accompanied that sight as we entered the
atmosphere.

Moments after that, Vernon yelled something in Priaxian

as he came over us both, protecting us from whatever it was
that was going to happen. The ceiling became the floor and
did so a few times, all three of us thrown around the bridge
like paper in the wind.

Another moment after that and all was silent. And dark.

The  Flying  Leaf’s  systems  had  died—was  she  all  right?
Emergency  lighting  had  been  activated.  Everything  was
bathed in that creepy, hospital-like blue light. Vernon picked
us  both  up,  but  not  before  he  checked  me  for  any  broken
bones or damaged skin.

You both okay? he asked.
I looked in horror as one of his legs dangled uselessly from

his  side,  like  a  broken  branch  hanging  precariously  from  a
tree.  From  what  I  could  see,  his  leg  had  been  broken  in  at
least two places. As I went over to him, he cradled it with one
of  his  other  legs.  “Vernon,”  was  all  I  could  manage  as  I
touched the leg in question.

He flinched. I’ve been hurt.
“Will the paste work on broken bones…do you even have

bones?  Besides,  that’s  one  of  the  legs  you  use  during
extraction,  isn’t  it?  How  will  we  do  it  now?  Your—our
hatchlings must be fed.”

We will figure something out. A more immediate concern is

Jankin. He’s not conscious.

“Jankin?” I turned. Vernon was right. Jankin was on the

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floor, looking as he did in our apartment after he had been
thrown aside by one of the Aurorans. “Holy fuck!”

I went to his side and attempted to wake him. Nothing. I

closed my eyes trying, rather futilely I had to admit, to calm
myself. It was safe to say I had a situation here. The ship was
damaged and only God knew at this point in time whether or
not  she  was  space  worthy.  The  Auroran  field  had  frazzled
her  system  and  the  weapons  fire  would  have  finished  off
anything  the  field  missed.  Jankin  was  still  recovering  from
his assault and was now unconscious and probably hurt even
worse than before. Then there was Vernon. He was definitely
hurt.

I gasped in shock as a thud caught my attention. Vernon

had fallen to the floor. I went to him, seeing him fight off the
temptation to fall into sleep. His eyes glazed over and his
movements were slow and clumsy, not like him at all.

Something else was wrong with him. “Where else have

you been hurt, my lover?” I didn’t need to ask. As I took my
hand off his thorax I could see the blood. I was covered in it.
A large wound darkened his side. That sick feeling overcame
me.

He had cradled me the most during our crash landing,

protecting me. I think Vernon and Jankin were the ones who
needed the protecting. I was useless. I was a useless fucking
lawyer. Jankin knew the Auroran secrets and Vernon, well he
could defend not only himself, but all of us, too. Now both of
them were injured, including the ship, which I had
absolutely no idea how to operate. I was alone.

Naked, useless and alone. Fuck.
I went to the control screen. On it I could see the jungle of

safari world. All sorts  of life forms registered on the panel,
including  plenty  of  Aurorans.  The  sound  of  the  ship  being
boarded filled me with dread.

Seemed things could get worse, after all.

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I panicked. That was the first thing I did. An action that

was more than appropriate for the situation we were in. I
was about to sink to the floor, my hands over my face and my
knees curled up to my chest, wait for the inevitable hoard of
angry stinger wielding Aurorans to charge onto the bridge,
when I inadvertently waved my hand over the panel.

What can I do for you, Drake? the ship said, although not in

as chirpy a voice as I had heard from her previously. I had
forgotten I had access to her controls. The next question was,
had she forgiven me for stinging her?

For a moment, I was stunned. “Um…well… what do you

suggest?” I gathered that her talking to me meant that she
had forgotten about that previous altercation.

I suggest you get out of here. There are about fifteen Aurorans

making their way to the bridge as we speak. I have a plan, but you

must go.

“Can you get back into space?” that was a lame question,

something I was becoming famous for, but one I had to know
the answer to.

No. But I can delay their approach. Please, Drake, do as I say.

You must get out of here. You have three minutes.

“What?” the screen was now showing a countdown, sure

it  was  in  Priaxian,  but  a  countdown  was  a  countdown  no
matter  the  language  it  was  in.  “Shit!  Where’s  the  nearest
exit?” As I said those words the near wall opened, a door seal
making itself evident.

Now go…and Drake, you are much more than what you think.

Remember that.

“Thanks.” I think I understood what she meant, being

with Vernon had given my life more meaning, more
direction. Sure, I had drawn up the Borders of Worlds treaty,
but—hey, hang on…that’s what she meant. I had to use my
abilities to help not only humanity against the Aurorans, but
everyone else, too. The treaty had to be amended. A

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newfound sense of determination washed over me.

But all of that was for another time. I had about two and a

half minutes to get my arse out of here, Vernon and Jankin,
too. I went over to my brother first, plucking him off the floor
and heaving him over my back as a fireman would. Vernon
was still wrestling the unconscious world. When my shadow
fell over him he offered a slight nod, got up, rather clumsily
for him, and together we walked to the exit.

I supported him as best I could, which really meant

walking underneath him in the vain hope he didn’t collapse
onto me. Carrying Jankin was hard enough, having his
weight, too, would probably break every bone in my body.

Outside, the sounds, smells and sights of the jungle

overwhelmed me, including the stifling humid heat. I was
glad I was naked. I wouldn’t be so glad to smell myself once
this was over.

What I gathered was two minutes later, a deathly silence

overcame the jungle, even the chirping of birds and the buzz
of  insects  calmed.  A  split  second  later,  a  rush  of  heat  and
wind nearly caused me to fall, my balance not as good as it
should be considering I  was carrying Jankin’s weight  upon
my  shoulders.  The  Flying Leaf  had  sacrificed  herself  for  us.
Self-destructing with the Aurorans on board.

She was dead.
My throat tightened and sadness overcame me. I never

thought  I’d  feel  that  way  about  a  spaceship,  but  I  did.  She
was like our family. She will be missed. I had no choice now
but  to  try  and  find  one  of  the  Auroran  ships  that  had
followed us down to the planet, taking it into space.

Many animals, mostly primitive monkey-like things,

accompanied us through the thick jungle. Movement was
slow, even Vernon became entangled a couple of times and I
had to free him, placing Jankin onto the ground, hindering
our progress. An eternity later, and me covered in grime and

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sweat, a clearing loomed. Within it, three Auroran ships had
landed,  one  was  a  ship  I  hadn’t  seen  before,  sort  of  like  a
shuttle,  I  supposed.  The  other  two  were  fighters,  probably
the shuttles escorts.

There were two guards near the shuttle from what I could

see. Many more could be hiding. My spirit sank. I had hoped
to walk on up the gangway of one of the ships and fly on out
of here. It was not to be. Why was nothing simple?

I will create a distraction while you get inside one of those ships. I

suggest the closest one.

“Are you crazy? What if they pursue you? Then what? No

way. We do this together or not at all. You’re injured,
remember? You can’t move as fast as you used to, not until
you get treatment.”

Vernon didn’t answer. He stepped over me, straight into

the  clearing.  I  followed,  at  first  frustrated  that  he  hadn’t
listened  to  me.  The  guards  saw  us—well,  I  suppose  we
couldn’t really be missed, now could we? I suppose Vernon
saw no point in delaying the inevitable.

I swallowed hard, waiting for the guards to attack us or

detain  us  or  whatever,  their  stingers  at  the  ready.  Jankin
stirred.  Great,  he  woke  up  just  in  time  for  his  death.  How
nice. I placed him onto the ground.

For the longest time we stared at each other. Why weren’t

the Auroran attacking us? Something was up here.

“Quick, come with us, we’ve been expecting you, Drake

and Vernon. Our leader wants to see you both,” one of the
guards said.

Now that was a surprise. An invitation to our deaths?

Jesus, these Aurorans sure knew how to make someone
suffer.

Who are you? Vernon blurted.
“Friends,” the guard replied. “Now quick, before we are

detected by the others, then it won’t matter. Then it won’t

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matter who we are, will it?”

Friends? Well, that was a turnabout, wasn’t it? Since when

were Aurorans friends of anyone other than themselves?
“Prove it,” I blurted.

The guard lowered his stinger, turning off its light. “You

wouldn’t  be  here  if  it  wasn’t  for  us,  Drake  Glauco.  You
hadn’t  been  sold  to  the  Priaxians  to  become  a  nourisher  as
you believe, but you had been labelled for slavery, to be sent
to one of the hives on Aurora Prime for the disposal of the
empire. Luckily, the Boldiens who captured you understood
the value of our offer to keep you alive and deliver you to
Astra, queen of the great colony of Priaxia south.”

That’s my queen!
“Yes.”
I  think  Vernon  had  already  made  up  his  mind.  He  was

walking  toward  the  Auroran  shuttle  with  the  other  guard.
Jankin,  now  awake  and  rubbing  his  head,  as  sore  as  ever I
would have imagined, had joined him.

“Okay…we play it your way…for now.” Then again, what

choice did we have? We were stranded.

I boarded the vessel. As the doors shut behind me, a

terrible feeling crept up to consume me. I was washed with a
feeling I could only describe as that queasy sickness I got
before I was about to throw up.

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The Proxima Campaign

e were taken to a large room filled with all sorts of
riches, from Priaxian silk beds, to weird and wonderful

sculptures  and  pieces  of  art,  both  on  the  walls  and
everywhere in between. Vernon and Jankin were given some
jelly. I was given food and water. I hardly touched any of it,
pushing  the  exotic  fruits  around  my  plate.  I  was  more
worried about what we had got ourselves into.

“So who are you? And more importantly, why the hell are

you  helping  us,”  I  blurted  to  one  of  the  Aurorans  as  they
fussed  over  us,  applying  bandages  to  Vernon’s  leg  and
examining Jankin.

“Perhaps I can answer that question,” a female voice said

from the darkness behind a hideous sculpture of an Auroran
in a pose reminiscent of Michelangelo’s David.

The one who spoke was human. She was beautiful,

smooth olive complexion, shiny long, black hair and moving
like only a woman could, with grace and carriage. She held a
presence few can muster and I couldn’t help but become
intrigued by her as she came forward to greet us.

“Taseem!” Jankin bellowed with a voice verging on

breaking  as  he  charged  at  her,  knocking  his  Auroran
attendants  away.  He  embraced  her  tight,  lifting  her  off  the
floor.  After  that  they  kissed,  a  kiss  with  as  much  passion,
wandering  hands  and  romance  as  I  had  ever  seen  between
two people.

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She parted their kiss, running her hands over Jankin’s

cheeks with such tenderness, such caring he collapsed onto
her, bringing his face to her chest, more tears flowed. “I
missed you so, my beautiful husband.”

“I missed you, too, my Taseem.”
They kissed again and again and again.
“Taseem?” I said.
Vernon looked at me. I don’t understand.
For once I didn’t feel like the one who was the odd man

out.

After they had shared their touch, a touch that had been

absent for so long, and Jankin’s face had been stained with as
many tears as he was going to shed at this point in time, she
came over to us holding her husband’s hand. We all sat at a
table and more fruits and drinks were placed before me.

“I know what you’re all thinking,” she said. She gestured

for us all to eat. “Drake…Vernon…

Jankin, please understand, we—the resistance, have been

planning a long time, too. Only now you can see the fruits of
our labour and only now can we truly begin the upset to the
balance of power within the Auroran empire that threatens
the rest of the galaxy.”

“Resistance to the Auroran military, not her people, I

presume?” I said, somewhat interrupting her.

“And the Cult of Starfall.”
Yes. Them, Vernon spat.
She shifted her weight in her chair. Jankin looked at her as

if it were the first day he had fallen in love. I was happy for
him. Seemed his wife had been busy while he was married to
me. “My son—our son,” she patted Jankin’s other hand,
looking lovingly into his eyes as she did so, “he was taken
from us eight years ago and I was forced to live on Aurora
with him, never to see him, only to know that I had also lost
my husband. My silence was the price of both their lives. One

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day,  a  couple  of  years  after  that  incident  on  the  Auroran
moon,  I  was  approached  by  Pragor,  an  Auroran  who  had
built the resistance in secret, one weapon at a time and day
by  day  with  his  wisdom  and  compassion.  He  is  no  longer
with us, but part of his promise to free me was that I take his
place  as  a  leader  of  the  resistance  he  created.  He  loved  me
with all his heart.” Jankin looked hurt when she spoke those
words, but his face relaxed as soon as she pecked him on his
cheek, and added, “Never fear, my husband, we all had to
make sacrifices to ensure the safety of our family. I only ever
thought of you as I’m sure you only thought of me.”

I felt dirty. I had been with Jankin many, many times,

expecting him to act like a man who loved me, all the while
his wife was doing the same thing for the same reason. They
had both given so much of themselves in the hope that one
day they would be together again. That day had come. No, I
didn’t feel dirty at all. I felt…I felt as though I had done my
part to protect them. Yes, that was it. I had protected Jankin
by not raising any concern, letting him do as he was
instructed without fuss. I became filled with pride.

I coughed into my hand. “So what’s the resistance doing

here near the Auroran supply ship hide out?”

She leaned forward and touched a button on the table. A

vision bubble came up and on it I could see the supply ship,
the planet we were on and the Proxima sun and everything
else  around  it.  We  were  getting  a  bird’s  eye  view  of  the
system  as  we  flew  out  of  it.  She  pointed  toward  the  sixth
planet. “Watch.”

As I watched, a rather surreal experience, both passive

and disjointed, not like looking at a vision bubble on a bridge
at all which is all smooth and immersive, Vernon bought his
arm around me. I touched him, letting him know I
appreciated his support right now. Behind the sixth planet of
the system, an armada of fighters, frigates and various other

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ships came out of orbit from the dark side of the planet.

Are those resistance ships?
“Yes,” she replied slowly, obviously relishing what was

now playing out in front of our eyes. “This has been months
in the planning. Your arrival here was perfect, distracting the
scouts long enough for us to get a clear gate into this system
without detection.”

One by one the ships of the resistance plunged themselves

into the supply ship. None of them used any weapons. None
of them even attempted any evasive manoeuvres. They just
flew  right  into  the  Auroran  vessel,  destroying  themselves
and damaging the ship at the same time. Specks of light, the
death of the pilots and all within the attacking ships, covered
the  supply  ship’s  massive  organic  frame.  I  could  see  fluid
bubbling  into  space  from  many  of  the  hits.  The  ship  was
bleeding.

My mouth was agape again. “Isn’t there another

way…other than suicide?” I said without thinking.

She looked away, I would have sworn a tear fell onto her

cheek.  “It’s  the only way.  Supply  ships  are  massive  as  you
can see. Our weapons fire does nothing against their shields
and we don’t have the arsenal of the military at our disposal.
Suicide is our only attack, the only way to damage them in
any  effective  way.  Trust  me,  I  personally  feel  every  death,
our numbers are precious…but what choice do we have?”

“You’re terrorists?” I was still stunned as I watched the

supply ship veer off course and begin its slow decent to the
planet below. More and more resistance fighters continued to
bombard it, the ship’s own defences proving useless against
such  an  attack.  The  shell  of  the  vessel  was  now  a  mass  of
twisted  and  broken  flesh,  debris  floated  all  around  it  as  it
began  to  burn  up  in  the  atmosphere.  Smoke  and  fire  soon
consumed it as it disappeared from view, crashing  into the
planet below.

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She looked directly at me. Her eyes filled with sadness.

“And how would you accomplish this task? Within the week
the pieces for the Auroran invasion of Earth would have been
set. Tell me, oh great Drake Glauco, how you would have
done it?”

I couldn’t answer her. Perhaps she was right. Perhaps

there weren’t any people on board that supply ship and
destroying it bought us some time. I was uneasy again.

Jankin, too, looked shocked. Was his wife the woman he

thought he knew or had they both changed too much to be
recognisable to each other? He slipped his hand out of hers.
“Where’s Ranjay?”

“I…don’t…know,” was her emotion filled reply. Her voice

cracked  and  she  soon  began  to  cry,  her  shoulder  heaving.
Jankin  held  her  again,  smoothing  her  with  his  touch.  Once
more they  were in each other’s arms. Nope, they  were still
the  same  in  each  other’s  eyes.  They  both  had  their  son  to
worry about. Anyone could see that.

Don’t judge these people too harshly, Drake my love. Many have

done much worse to protect those they love and hold dear. Wait
until you see the reaction of my people once they learn of the ones

who killed off a vital part of my race. Remember, the nourishers are
no more. The ones who did it are worse than the actions of the

resistance in my view. At least the resistance have shown
themselves so those who died by their hand got to see their enemy.

What chance did our nourishers have?

I went to him. He was right. These people, the Auroran

resistance, had sacrificed themselves to protect humanity,
Priaxia and anyone else the Auroran military and the Cult of
Starfall had in their sights. Who was I to judge them?

On the screen I could see many hundreds of mother ships

gate into the system, obviously they had been alerted to the
events that had transpired. Taseem must have let Jankin go,
for she had turned off the vision bubble and pressed another

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155

button. “We need to get to Priaxia as soon as possible. The
Auroran retaliation for this attack will be swift and deadly, I
just know it. Any ally will be most valuable right now.”

“Yes, my lady,” a voice boomed over the intercom. “We

shall leave immediately before any more mother ships enter
the system and hinder our escape.”

She turned to look me directly in the eye, switching off the

intercom. “Drake, I think it will soon be time for you to shine.
The resistance will need your services. Only you can rally the
people of Priaxia and Earth together as one to stave off any
Auroran advances. You have built the framework of the
treaty that binds us, now we must unite to keep it there, stop
the Auroran’s from becoming the power they crave.”

I nodded. “I’m sorry I judged you, Taseem. I want to thank

you for paying for my passage to Priaxia. It has changed my
life…for the better.” I hugged Vernon and he picked me up
and cradled me in his strong arms. He began to coo and
smother me with his affection, rubbing his head along mine
and groping at my body. I knew it was time for an extraction.
He always got frisky when his hatchlings got hungry. Jesus, I
loved him.

She smiled. “I know you have been looking after Jankin. I

couldn’t have asked for more from you without putting your
own life at risk. Please, that concludes our meeting for now. I
think Jankin and I have a lot to catch up on.” She kissed him
on the top of his head. “It’s a good thing you’re naked
already, isn’t it, my husband?”

Jankin smiled boyishly as he stood up. I could see how

much he wanted her. Men can’t hide their arousal.

Clothes do hinder access, Vernon said with a giggle.
She ran a finger down the bridge of her husband’s nose,

then over his lips, teasing him. “I agree. Why waste time?”

Where can Drake and I have some privacy, Taseem? We would

like to be alone for what we need to do.

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“My guards will show you to your quarters. You will find

the room most pleasant, meeting all of your requirements,
I’m sure.”

Excellent.
Jankin embraced his wife. “I so want you, my darling, but

I fear the resistance is no longer a secret and has lost some of
its potency as a result.”

“You are right, everything will happen quickly from this

moment on.” She grabbed his buttocks and he let out a
delighted groan. If we didn’t leave them quick smart they’d
fuck each other right in front of us, I’m sure. “At least we got
to cast the first stone,” she added before they kissed.

I scratched Vernon under his chin, letting him know I was

ready, too. “It’s the next stone I’m worried about.”

Me, too.

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The Double Yellow Suns of Priax

fter Vernon and I had joined for the extraction, and again
I became immersed in the beauty of not only him, but the

Annaz VI experience, we decided to take a walk together. I
was planted comfortably on his back while he scurried with
the inquisitiveness of a child throughout the ship. His leg had
healed. That Auroran jelly sure was marvellous stuff.

It’s not every day when you get a chance to see inside an Auroran

ship, now is it? It’s fascinating.

“Well, not without running for your life, anyway.”
He giggled. Yes. That’s true. Say, they use an organic network

similar to Priaxian technology to power the ship. I wonder where the
heart  is?  He  was  examining  a  vein-like  thing  that  ran  the
length of the wall. I’m glad he got excited by such things. To
me  it  looked  like  any  other  organic  ship  I  had  been  on
recently.

A guard came up to us, saluting. “We have made it out of

the Proxima system without incident and are now taking the
Priaxian gateway into your system, sirs.”

I didn’t know how to reply to him. Was I supposed to

answer him or was he just passing on a message? I offered a
casual salute. “Thanks. I think.”

The guard smiled. “I am Wilang, and it is my duty to

protect you with my life. Please, follow me to the bridge, that
is where the others are waiting for you.”

“The bridge?” Jesus, was Jankin finished with his wife

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already? I would have thought he would have fucked her for
hours, catching up on missed time. Then again, after all those
years I understood that quality sometimes took a back seat. I
bet he blew his load within a couple of seconds of her getting
her knickers off. Not that any of this way my business. Let’s
say it was hard for me to let him go, especially as he’d been
mine for so long.

Ooh, the bridge. I want to see that. Take us there.
I laughed. At least Vernon saw some merit in having an

Auroran escort. I wasn’t so sure. Were Aurorans even
allowed on Priaxia?

The bridge was spectacular, a massive space filled with

many Aurorans all doing their thing at their stations. The
vision bubble above and all around us showed that we were
indeed performing a gateway travel, its light unmistakable.

Taseem came over to us as soon as she saw us. She was in

a different dress, one no less beautiful than what she wore
before. I noticed Jankin had some clothes, too. Shorts and a
T-shirt. I preferred him naked. I preferred being naked.

“We shall be in your system within a matter of moments,

Vernon.”

Sure enough, as I looked up, the vision bubble changed

from gateway light to heaven’s light, without pause and as
seamless as I had ever witnessed it. When Vernon flew the
Flying Leaf, he would usually have to wait until he was clear
of the gateway before he could engage any other engine. Not
so for the Aurorans. Then again, there were a lot more pilots
on this bridge, so some level of expertise should be expected.
Vernon was only one being after all.

As I watched the heaven’s light, lost in my own thoughts

for the longest time, normal space came into view before I
realised. The double yellow suns of Priax hung before me
like two beautiful glowing orbs. I had come to know Priaxia
as my home, even though I only spent a short amount of time

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on it. Vernon sure converted me. I was glad for it, too.

He plucked me off his back, moving me so that I stood

underneath him, sheltered by his beautiful body.

It’s good to be home, he said reinforcing my feelings.
A light flashed on one of the stations. “My lady, we are

being contacted by the Priaxian authorities,” the Auroran at
that station bellowed.

“Let’s hear it,” she said.
“Auroran vessel, please state the nature of your intent.

Your appearance in our space could be considered a threat
and will be treated as such. Again, I repeat, please state the
nature of your intent.”

Taseem sighed and winked at me. “I knew this would

happen. Priaxians get so jittery.”

Before she could answer the Priaxian controller, another

light ignited on a work stations panel, this  one about three
down from the previous one. “My lady,” the station worker
cried out, “about fifty Auroran mother ships have just gated
into  the  Priaxian  system…they  must  have  followed
us…they’re behind us and closing in fast.”

The smile was wiped from her face. “What?” she

questioned, rushing to the station and pushing the Auroran
aside. I could see the precise moment when she realised he
was telling it how it was, her face drained of blood and the
look of shock so clear no other words needed to be spoken.

Looks like the next stone has been thrown.
I stepped back instinctively, falling into Vernon’s shadow.

On the vision bubble I could see hundreds of Priaxian ships
come  around  from  one  of  their  moons  like  a  great  swarm.
Many of them, in fact the vast majority, looked like the Flying
Leaf, only armoured and a little sleeker in design. The rest of
the  Priaxian  vessels,  I  assumed  they  were  the  frigates  or
heavy fighters, were a more beefed up version of the fighters,
their armament unashamedly evident.

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“This is your last warning, Auroran fleet. State your intent

or prepare for retaliation.”

Taseem ran back to the first station and stabbed at one of

the buttons. “You don’t understand, we—I mean this shuttle
and  its  two  escorts  are  friendly,  we  have  humans  and  a
Priaxian aboard. We mean you no harm. The other ships are
chasing us. Please, I implore you, do not open fire upon us.
We  mean  you  no  harm  and  seek  sanctuary  on  your  world.
We are the Auroran resistance. We need your help.”

A sudden pang of panic rose up to consume me once

more. I knew I had a terrible feeling the moment I stepped
onto this ship. Why didn’t I listen to my instincts more?
Vernon must have been feeling the same, he came down and
embraced me tighter, his legs wrapped around my body.

An intense light flared up on the vision bubble. A klaxon

sounded,  one  more  military  and  authoritative  compared
with  the  Flying  Leaf’s  gentle  buzz,  but  the  sound  was
unmistakable  all  the  same.  We  were  in  trouble.  One  of  the
fighter escorts had been blown to smithereens, from where I
couldn’t say. I only saw the result. Lots of floating debris all
around us.

Taseem screamed, “We are not firing upon you, please

desist immediately. We have come for sanctuary, do you not
have any compassion? We mean you no harm…” She went
on and on like that, but her words must have fallen on deaf
ears.

All around us the Priaxian fighters and the Auroran

mother ships began exchanging volleys of weapons fire. We
were caught in the middle. Vulnerable and oh, so very much
defenceless. I hadn’t noticed any weapons station here on the
bridge. I supposed that’s why there was that fighter escort, to
defend the shuttle in times of crisis. I think this qualified as a
crisis.

Another blast filled the vision bubble for a split second. I

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stand corrected. There were no fighter escorts now. Both had
been destroyed.

Jankin went to his wife. She continued to do whatever it

was she was doing. I think she was attempting to re-contact
the Priaxian controller. Once the first shot had been fired the
communication line went dead.

Do you want to stay here, Drake my love, or would you rather go

back to our quarters and share our final moments in peace? Vernon
picked me up, bringing me closer to his thorax, cuddling me
as a child would its favourite teddy bear.

I patted him reassuringly on his underside. “I think we’d

better stay here. Jankin and Taseem would worry where we
are otherwise,” I lied. Why would they care where we were?
I think Taseem was a little bit preoccupied, and Jankin, well
he looked about as useful as an Auroran guard without his
stinger. He stood there next to his wife, trying to be as
supportive as he could as all hell broke lose all around us.

Many, many ships were blasted into oblivion as the

Auroran  mother  ships  closed  in  on  our  position.  Their
firepower simply—and there was no other word I could use
to  describe  such  a  thing,  but  it  was  simply  awesome.  One
weapon  they  used  was  a  great  ray  that  shot  out  from  a
central turret and obliterated anything in its path, including
their  own  mother  ships.  They  also  had  many  other  turrets
along their hulls, but nothing seemed to be as effective as the
central one.

I witnessed the first battle of a war that was pretty much a

foregone conclusion. As I watched, the shuttle took a couple
of hits, thankfully from minor weapons fire. The pilots spent
all of their time trying to evade anything serious.

Taseem continued to plead with the Priaxians for

sanctuary. If you’d ask me, I’d say the Priaxians had more
pressing matters to deal with, namely fifty or so Auroran
mother ships which so happened to enter their system right

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after we showed up. I’d be pissed if it were proven that they
were after us all along and we had led them here. Not a good
way to make friends.

You know, Drake, I think we are being protected. Look at the

pattern of our attack.

I looked. At first I couldn’t see anything, then as I studied

the  deadly  dance  playing  out  before  me,  what  he  said  was
true.  The  Priaxians  were  defending  us.  I  also  noticed  the
simple  fact  we  were  getting our  arses  kicked.  The  Auroran
mother  ships  were  too  powerful,  too  big  and  above  all,
out-numbered us gun for gun. The Priaxian ships were agile
and fast, but all in all, sheer brute force seemed to win out.
Only  ten  mother  ships  looked  as  though  they  had  been
injured  in  any  way.  Five  had  been  put  out  of  commission.
Not  bad,  but  then  again,  not  good  either  considering  the
Priaxian fleet was being decimated, sometimes ten or twenty
fighters at a time with a single blast from the Auroran central
turrets.

The Priaxian fleet had been reduced to less than half in no

time  flat.  A  voice  crackled  over  the  intercom,  a  more
desperate  voice  than  the  one  before,  “Auroran  resistance
shuttle, please take evasive manoeuvres so you are clear of
the battle zone immediately. I repeat, please do the best you
can to get clear. You have thirty seconds before we engage
operation sting back.”

“What does operation sting back mean?” Taseem said as

she went over to the navigation station and tried to help the
pilot there do as the Priaxian controller had instructed. Her
face reflected her frustration.

We swerved, and for a moment I became disorientated as

the vision bubble became a blur of light and dark. When we
steadied  and  my  eyes  adjusted  to  what  was  shown  on  the
screen,  there  was  a  massive—and  I  mean  even  bigger  than
the  Auroran  supply  ship  here—vessel  gate  into  the  system

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163

right in the middle of the battle.

The ship immediately began taking weapons hits, most

from the Aurorans, because as I examined it, I realised it was
Priaxian. It was leaf-like, as were all Priaxian ships, but this
one was so much more and mother fucking ugly, like a
disease ridden clump of leaves, bulky and as bad arse as you
could ever want to see.

Vernon cooed. He was excited about something. Our wave

ship  is  here.  I’ve  never  seen  one  in  real  life.  What  a  thrill.  If  he
weren’t  holding  onto  me,  I’d  swear  he  would  have  started
jumping up and down right about now.

“What’s a wave ship?” I asked, again being bloody

obvious.

Watch, was all he said in reply. A common phrase lately.
Taseem, Jankin and everyone else on the bridge looked on

as  the  wave  ship  began  to  glow  as  it  absorbed  hit  after  hit
without being damaged. It was eerie, looking more like a hot
lump  of  coal  than  anything  that  would  resemble  a
weapon—if indeed that’s what it was.

The Aurorans concentrated their fire upon it, one hit after

another continued to strike, but for what I could see this ship
was  designed  for  something  completely  different.  It  didn’t
have any turrets for a start. So what did it do? Every strike
upon it seemed to be absorbed and the glow intensified. Or
was  that  because  the  ship  was  simply  powering  up  for
something. But what?

I didn’t have to wait long. I noticed all the Priaxian

fighters had left the battle zone, too, joining us at what I
hoped was a safe distance. I got the feeling that whatever was
going to happen, we needed to be as far away as possible.

As the mother ships surrounded the Priaxian behemoth,

the glow of light radiated out from it like a ripple from a
pebble thrown into a pond of water.

As soon as that wave struck an Auroran vessel it dimmed,

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no  longer  able  to  move  or  retaliate,  the  wave  like  an
electro-magnetic  pulse  but  thousands  of  times  more
powerful,  charged  with  ions  and  energy  and  able  to  easily
pierce the hulls of the living ships of the Aurorans.

“What is it?” Jankin uttered.
Vernon unwrapped me, putting me gently onto my feet. It

is an energy converter. Whatever is thrown at it is repelled back
once a certain saturation point has been reached. A beautiful sight if

I have ever seen one.

“I’ve never heard of such a weapon,” Taseem said, now

holding onto her husband, relief in her eyes. “But to see it
was amazing.”

It’s a prototype. Something we’ve been working on for a long

time. I’m so glad it worked. Those Aurorans didn’t know what hit
them.

“Well, not entirely, one-hundred percent effective.” I

noticed about half a dozen Auroran mother ships retreat
back to the gateway. The rest of the ships hung dead in space.
The fighters came around us to finish them off, now an easy
task.

The view became ablaze with Priaxian victory as the

mother ships were destroyed. The wave ship had
disappeared, too. Where did it go?

“We owe Priaxia our lives, Vernon,” Jankin said. “How

can anyone defeat such a weapon?”

As I said, it reflects energy thrust upon it. Earth weapons, ones

that use projectiles, would most certainly be able to destroy it. But
you didn’t hear that from me…and I will deny anything, of course.
He ruffled my hair. Seems kicking Auroran butt got him in a
good mood. I wonder if he was open to a dry extraction later,
once we were home, of course.

“Knowing the Aurorans as I do, I don’t think this will

deter them for long. A small victory, yes, but the war rages
on. Priaxia cannot be everywhere at once,” Taseem said.

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165

I realised the weight of her words. Aurora wanted the

galaxy. How many wave ships were there? I bet nowhere
near enough.

“Auroran resistance shuttle, you are clear for landing at

the  Priaxia  south  colony  main  terminal.  Please  follow  all
instructions  given  to  you  by  your  appointed  escorts,”  the
controller said, sounding a hell of a lot friendlier than he did
in his last communication.

“Of course. Your instructions will be followed to the

letter.” Taseem said, giving her pilots a nod.

Two of the fighters broke off from their group and flanked

the shuttle. We headed toward the planet.

Come, Drake, we need to get ready for an audience with our

queen. I shall bathe you, rub minerals and scents into your skin and
you can do the same to me.

“I like the sound of that.”

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166

An Alliance of Spiders and Mammals

was so much better after Vernon had bathed me—well,
okay, we got dirtier first by enjoying another dry extraction

before he actually did bath me. Although, I had to stop using
the term dry extraction and learn to call it what Vernon had
described it as, a bonding. Yes, we enjoyed another bonding.

Before I knew it we were in the queen’s tower. Jankin,

hand in hand with Taseem, were the first to address her after
the formalities were dispensed with, mainly consisting of her
caressing  Vernon  and  thanking  me  for  making  sure  he  got
back home in one piece. It was almost embarrassing. Okay, I
loved it, and I sure appreciated the welcome feeling I got as
soon  as  I  stepped  foot  onto  Priaxia.  A  lot  better  than  the
welcome I got when I went to Earth, that’s for sure.

“Tell me, human Jankin, I hear you have some news we all

need to hear.”

Yep, that was the queen I knew. Not beating around the

bush at all, getting straight down to business.

Jankin cleared his throat, his nervousness radiating out so

even  I  could  feel  it  from  where  I  was  standing.  “I  have
discovered  that  it  is  the  Aurorans  who  are  the  ones
responsible  for  the  genocide  of  the  nourishers.”  He  turned
around  to  look  at  me,  and  I  nodded  at  him,  hopefully
spurring him on. I know standing in front of a Priaxian queen
would have melted even the most hardiest person’s resolve,
even I had forgotten how imposing she was.

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167

She came off her silk bed, moving closer to Jankin. “Please,

go on. I would be most interested to hear what an insider to
the Auroran empire has to say.”

Again he cleared his throat. “Your Majesty, I know for a

fact they have used their jelly to kill the nourishers. It has
been genetically modified to bring about infertility and act as
a poison when combined with certain other chemicals.”

I wasn’t as stunned at this news as I thought I would be. I

recollected the tray Vernon bought in for me when we had
first experienced an extraction back in his nest. It was filled
with fruits and water and of course, a small bowl of yellow
Auroran jelly. I didn’t know what it was at first, considering I
had never seen it, but after Agnon had used some to heal us,
the association became clear.

“What kind of chemicals?” the queen blurted, coming

down to meet Jankin face to face, her mandibles opening.

Jankin replied, “The chemicals of certain exotic

fruits…I—I don’t know the exact chemical combination, but
everything else I have said is the truth, Your Majesty.”

Like the fruits found on the welcome dish for all new nourishers,

the jelly given to those chosen as a special treat, a thank you for
serving our future generation. Vernon said.

I’m sure glad I didn’t eat the jelly. Being infertile didn’t

mean much to me, it was the poison part I was more
concerned about. Actually, the Auroran plan to wipe out the
nourishers was a clever one, the poison would get rid of the
nourisher over time and when he was released back into the
forest he couldn’t father any children. No wonder they had
been wiped out within a decade.

The queen’s brow creased. “It seems the Auroran’s have

made their intentions very clear now, and this added
information will only make my decision that much easier.”

Taseem stepped forward, “If you plan to take military

action against them, then let it be known that the Auroran

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resistance will fight by your side, if that is what you decide,
Your Majesty.”

“As generous as your offer is, lady of the resistance, I have

other  concerns,  more  pressing  matters  to  deal  with  at  this
present moment. The legacy of the Auroran poisoning of our
nourishers  is  of  utmost  priority,  and  one  that  needs  to  be
addressed if we are to survive, war or not.”

I think I knew what she was concerned about. Sure, saying

you’ll  go  to  war  was  a  black  and  white  question,  the
consequences of that decision might not be as cut and dry. “I
have  a  question,  my  Queen,”  I  said,  stepping  out  from  my
usual place underneath Vernon.

“You do not need to ask, Nourisher Drake. Your voice is

always welcome here in my chamber.”

“Thank you. Um, how many hatchlings are produced with

each  egg?”  I  was  trying  to  do  the  math  in  my  head,
something wasn’t adding up. If the nourishers took ten years
to  become  wiped  out,  surely  the  population  of  Priaxians
would  be  stable  for  a  little  longer,  at  least  until  they  could
come  up  with  a  medical  solution  to  their  problem.  I  know
they were advanced in that field, the healing paste evident of
that.

“Two. A male and a female. A pair bond if you will.”
“Ah, I see.” Well, that helped clarify it. They had a slow

birth  rate.  “Okay,  how  long  is  a  season?  I  mean,  how  long
before  a  new  egg  can be  laid  and  two  more  hatchlings  can
join the population?”

What is your concern, my love?
“Well, I was just trying to figure out the difference

humans can make, considering the incubation period has
been extended because—well, you know, we’re not as potent
as the native nourishers of this world. All I’m saying is that it
may be too little too late now I know of your birth rate.”

She rose up to full height. “You see things clearly,

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169

Nourisher  Drake.  The  news  of  this  Auroran  treachery  is
indeed sad, but really, without help, how can we mount any
sort  of  attack  to  defend  this  world?  Our  resources  in  that
regard  are  low,  replenishment  of  your  people  not  what  it
used  to  be.  A  native  nourisher,  a  male  in  his  prime  could
bring an egg to maturity within six months—humans, as best
we  can  calculate,  can  take  up  to  four  years  to  achieve  the
same goal.”

I felt inadequate again and Vernon patted me tenderly on

my head. I thought I was doing okay, climaxing twice a day
so far for not only the cause but for the love I had for Vernon.
A record for me.

This time Taseem chimed in, “But you can use the

resources of the Auroran resistance. We may not have much,
but what we have can be yours.

We must act soon, I fear the Auroran response will be

swift and deadly. We need to be allies.”

The queen turned away, looking out at the view beyond

her  balcony.  “Then  we  are  already  defeated.”  Her  voice
became broken and for the longest time she paused. Finally,
she added, “It’s not technology or weapons or ships we need.
We need nourishers. Medical science cannot undo thousands
of millennia of evolution. An incubator has been designed to
link into the mind and body of his nourisher, become a part
of him as  he becomes a part of the incubator. Without that
link  the  incubator’s  body  will  not  accept  the  nourishment
and  the  egg  will  starve.  Do  you  not  understand  that?  Our
medicine  is  not  so  advanced  it  can  control  the  emotions  of
two entirely different species. Symbiosis is a complex matter
and not to be trifled with.”

I understood. I was emotionally involved with Vernon, as

he was me. I could see how such a thing as emotional
attachment was necessary, being confronted with a Priaxian
wanting to feed his young wouldn’t exactly be a turn on. In

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fact, when I first experienced extraction I was scared out of
my mind until we touched each other mentally and I could
hear his song within me.

“Then Earth will help you, too, my Queen,” I said without

even thinking about what the words meant to me. I blurted
them out.

She smiled. “Only you could offer such a thing, I know

that. You have done so much for your people, and from what
I hear the Aurorans have gone to a great deal of trouble to
make sure you disappeared. I’m glad they failed.”

I smiled, too. “You knew I was going to offer my services,

didn’t you?”

“Yes.” She went back to her silken bed. “I would accept an

Earth alliance with military aid from the Auroran resistance.
After all, from what I witnessed of the battle above our home
world, we are the only ones who can defeat the Auroran
military.”

“I’m sure they’ve got a lot more surprises up their sleeve,”

Jankin said. “They are resourceful.”

The queen nodded. “And we are determined once we

decide to act.”

I shuddered at the thought of an army of Priaxian soldiers,

all determined to carry out their queen’s orders. “That ship,
what did you call it—a wave ship? Now that was something,
my Queen. I’m sure Earth could use one of those babies in
their system to help defend them…something to sweeten our
alliance.”

“I am glad it impressed you, but I am sure Vernon made

you aware it’s a prototype. The ship suffered greatly in that
little  demonstration,  its  systems  became  corrupted  and  the
reflection turbines seized only seconds after it displaced the
energy it held onto from the Auroran mother ships. It’s safe
to  say,  it  only  managed  to  gate  out  of  there  in  the  nick  of
time.”

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171

Damn it. That wasn’t good to hear. I had a feeling this was

going  to  be  a  long,  bloody  war.  “I’m  sorry  to  hear  that.
Thankfully  the  Aurorans  don’t  know  of  this,  they  would
have  only  experienced  the  result  of  what  it  did  do—quite
devastating for sure from their standpoint.”

She nodded slowly. “You are suggesting we have bought

some time?”

I was beside her created throne. “Enough time for Vernon

and I to get back to Earth and make sure the alliance between
us is ratified, of course.”

“So you—or more precisely, Earth, will agree to provide

the  human  resources  we  need  to  nourish  the  future  of  our
society in exchange for military protection? Each and  every
queen  on  every  colony  able  to  return  to  full  egg  laying
capacity? Is that what you’re saying?”

“That’s about the sum of it,” I replied. I also had a feeling

my influence would be tested to the limit, I think I needed to
contact Kosco and Main, my partners who helped draw up
the Borders of Worlds treaty. I was going to need all the help
I could get.

“Agreed,” she bellowed with joy.
Jankin came up to me. “I know this may not be important

at the moment, Drake, but you did promise me you’d help
me—us, find Ranjay.” Jankin reached out to touch his wife.

I had totally forgotten about that. I looked him in the eye,

then turned to address my queen once more. “I have one
final request. I wish to use whatever resources you can spare
to help me locate my husb—my brother’s son.”

The queen sat back in her bed. “I will give you an

accompaniment of soldiers to protect you and a new ship to
get you  to  wherever  it  is  you  need  to  go.  This  ship  will  be
armed this time. You can draw up the details of our alliance
and  locate  this  son,  too,  all  without  hindering  the
nourishment you will provide for the egg Vernon carries.”

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172

I bowed to her. That seemed fair. Jankin nodded his

approval.

Before I could thank the queen for being so

accommodating, Vernon came over me. He picked me up
and placed me onto his back. Before we do anything, Drake my

love, I want you to spend a night with me here in my nest.
Tomorrow we can begin our new adventure.

“I thought you’d never ask. I can’t wait to snuggle into

that silken bed and dream share with you.”

Vernon laughed, and said, I’m sure you’ll get me into more

trouble, when we leave tomorrow.

“Would you have it any other way, my lover?”

No.
Vernon and I left the queen’s chamber with her

permission and blessing. Outside the double suns of Priaxia
were setting, the sky reminiscent of Annaz VI, a brilliant
orange. Pity there were no starfish raining down on us, I kind
of missed them.

I held tightly onto him, his soft beautiful hair clumped in

my hands, as he jumped off the balcony and glided toward
one of the strands of silk that held up the many nests before
us, spinning his own thread as he did so.

We had left Taseem and Jankin to their own thing,

quarters  had  been  provided  for  them.  But  I  didn’t  think
about them, not at all. I didn’t even think of what tomorrow
would bring. Tonight is was about Vernon and me. Tonight
my only worry would be making  sure we were completely
and utterly involved with each other and nothing else.

Tomorrow would be a new challenge.

To be continued in

The Soldier the Borders of Worlds Saga Part Two

About the Author

I’m Mark and I live in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. By day
I am a public servant, but by night, when I get in front of my
computer, I can be anyone. I let my imagination go. I can go
anywhere,  from  the  farthest  reaches  of  space,  to  the
dilapidated house at the end of the street, and anywhere in
between.  I  write  about  people  from  all  walks  of  life,  from
teenagers  finding  out  what’s  it’s  like  to  be  an  adult  or  to
adults  that  discover  what  it’s  like  to  become  a  child  once
more. Characters move my stories just as much as they move
me.