The Green Lantern Stories
Part Two: Before the Storm
by Michael
Chris was one of those people who, if there was a television on somewhere, could not help but look at it no matter how stupid the program or commercial. And lately, a lot of television programming seemed awfully stupid.
“Somehow, knowing a couple of alien races were bent on destroying your world puts things in a whole different perspective”, he once told Kara. She had agreed.
Nevertheless, he kept the little kitchen TV on constantly to distract himself from worrying about Fairchild. She had been gone over fifteen hours. The last he heard she had located an advanced-looking Arion cruiser and had sped out to intercept it.
She was taking way too long. Chris fretted that Fair hadn’t completely recovered, emotionally speaking, from Sh’lyra’s powerful domination...how long ago? Sometimes it seemed like years, sometimes it felt like it happened only yesterday. And now this new ship.
Chris shook his head. He wondered when the Arions were going to throw up their hands and just take Earth by storm. Surely they had the battlefleet to do so. Fair had mentioned some need of their’s for careful subtlety, but he did not quite grasp why. It was fortunate for Earth, whatever the reason.
It was times like these that Chris began to feel his age, despite his enhanced physique. He now had the body of a twenty-five year old, but in reality it wasn’t too many more years until he would be twice that age!
Ironically, he looked up just at that moment to see a Bally’s Fitness commercial on the TV when he heard a very familiar “WHOOSH-Thump” from the kitchen screen door.
Turning, he witnessed a completely nude Fairchild walk into the room from the patio!
Her state of undress was not particularly surprising—she often wound up that way after a pitched battle. He was glad to see she seemed quite unhurt. Still, it was plain something was wrong.
“Fair! Where have you been?! Laura’s not back yet from her...” he trailed off. Fair looked up at him with such a great uncharacteristic sadness in her eyes that he thought she would break into tears where she stood.
“What...what happened?” asked Chris, concern flooding into his voice. “Are you O.K.?”
Fair walked gingerly over to him as if she would bruise her soul with a misstep. She took Chris gently into an embrace and simply held him. Compassion and curiosity danced across his features, but he merely held her warmly, delicately stroking her back.
“Do you want to talk about it?” asked Chris softly.
“No...I just...it’s just that...” she stammered. Chris was aware of warm tears falling against his back, soaking into his shirt.
Fairchild took a deep breath and held Chris at arm’s length. “God damn those Arions and God damn their murderous little war,” she growled tightly. “That’s the second time they’ve done this to me!”
Fairchild stormed off to her room. Her room, and not what Chris liked to think of as the “communal bedroom”.
“Did what to you?” he said to no one.
* * *
Violently disoriented, Seth felt like he had been shot out of a rifle. With an act of willpower he slowed his wild spinning down to something he could manage. The Earth carefully settled into place below him. But which Earth? He scanned the area for Fairchild, not finding her.
Is this the same dimension that Fairchild came from? he asked his ring’s sophisticated computer silently.
“PROBABILITY 99.99 PERCENT POSITIVE,” it replied inside his head.
Then where is she?
“UNKNOWN. HOWEVER, THERE ARE INDICATIONS THAT THE DIMENSIONAL RIFT’S IMPACT WITH A RADIOACTIVE MASS CAUSED MINOR TIME FLUCTUATIONS.”
Time fluctuations?
“AFFIRMATIVE. CHECKING...AFFIRMATIVE. INTERNAL CHRONOMETER INDICATES A FIFTY MINUTE TWELVE SECOND JUMP FORWARD.”
Then she’s already gone...hold on. What radioactive mass?
“READINGS INDICATE A RADIOACTIVE METALLIC AND PLASTOMER MASS IMPACTED THE RIFT, CAUSING MINOR SPATIAL AND TEMPORAL FLUCTUATIONS.”
This explains why I was drawn into the rift from my side.
“AFFIRMATIVE.”
Can you locate the mass?
There was a pause.
“AFFIRMATIVE. THE MASS IS LOCATED TWO HUNDRED TWENTY-ONE MILES AWAY AT TWELVE MARK TWO-EIGHTY. MASS IS A SEVERELY DAMAGED SPY SATELLITE.”
Seth shook his head in disbelief.
Who would put a spy satellite in such a low orbit?
“UNKNOWN. HOWEVER, COMPOSITION OF DEBRIS STRONGLY SUGGESTS MASS IS NOT OF EARTH ORIGIN.”
Whoa. Maybe it’s from those Arions Fairchild was talking about.
“WARNING: MASS IS LEAKING SIGNIFICANT AMOUNTS OF PLUTONIUM. MASS IS ENTERING MIDDLE ATMOSPHERE.”
Without further thought Seth instantly streamlined his armor for hypersonic flight and raced toward the errant satellite!
Tactical display, he ordered. Indicate the plutonium trail and highlight.
Immediately a heads-up display floated in front of his eyes, overlaying the view he had of the Earth below. The satellite was a blinking near-white dot while the plutonium particles formed a glittering bright green trail.
The thin air burned past his helmet, shrieking like a wounded cat. Seth had approached within a mile of the badly warped mass when its air friction caused it to burst into flame! Bright yellow flame!
“Damn damn damn damn damn!” he yelled in frustration. “Not again!” He could not afford to move the satellite with directed air like he had with the semi-conscious Fairchild; he didn’t want the contaminated machine to hit the Earth at all! Anywhere! There had to be another way! Where was Fairchild??
“Think, man, think!” Plutonium was not only highly radioactive, it was so toxic one tablespoon could kill twenty thousand people! He had to act now.
His willpower energizing his ring to fantastic levels, Seth roared ahead of the satellite, diving downward like a green meteorite, clearly visible to those on Earth.
He came within four miles of a DC-10 passenger jet, his Mach thirteen shockwave rattling beverage carts and startling the people inside.
Flying now directly underneath the fireball, Seth faced his enemy. Thrusting his left fist at the satellite, a brilliant beam of emerald energy flashed out from him. It formed a large bubble around the ball of fire, moving at the same speed as the satellite was falling. Without the air rushing past it and heating it up the satellite cooled down almost instantly. But it did not quite stop burning.
Frowning in concentration, Seth rapidly drew the air out of the bubble. With little oxygen to burn, the remaining flames went out.
Now that the satellite was no longer wrapped in its yellow shield Seth grabbed it directly with the energies from his ring, enveloping it with a green glow.
The burned metallic lump flattened as it decelerated mightily. Seth pushed until it reversed its plummet and started upwards!
This did not, however, address the problem of the airborne plutonium. Seth scanned his tactical display. Fortunately, virtually all of the deadly particles were lined up in a straight trail following the satellite.
Taking a moment to gird himself, Seth said aloud “So much for any sort of subtlety. This will be all over the news!”
And, in an event thought miraculous to the people down below, Seth created an expanding disc out of thin air, a disc that quickly formed a gargantuan funnel easily half of a mile in diameter!
Continuing to fly upwards, Seth followed the trail of plutonium as he funneled the toxic dust into a little green container, ready for ejection into space.
Far below, from Hawaii to the Gulf of Mexico, cameras rolled.
* * *
Chris was chopping carrots for dinner. Fairchild did not really need to eat, but she enjoyed his cooking and, besides, he got hungry! She had just entered the kitchen from her room a few moments ago. Chris was surprised to note that she had not bothered to dress before coming back in, and between her state of undress and the television going on about some sort of green meteorite he was whacking his nigh-invulnerable fingers as often as the carrots!
“Feel any better?” he said after taking his fingers out of his mouth.
“Not really, no, but thank you,” she replied.
Shrugging mentally, Chris turned back to his work.
After a short while, he felt her draw very near him. Smiling, he turned only to see her attention caught on the television.
“What the hell’s going on?” she asked, her brow furrowed.
Chris turned back to his vegetables. “About an hour ago some satellite was knocked somehow out of orbit. There was talk about who’s satellite it was and where it would fall. Nobody was really panicking because most scientists agreed that it would burn up on reentry. I think it fell a little further than they expected. Anyway, I don’t know what this is...I thought maybe an episode of “The X-Files” or some such. Although...”
Now wondering himself, Chris turned up the volume of the TV.
“...reports coming in. We take you now to Doctor Harvey Baskell, Director of Astrophysics at Clemens University.” The television showed a rather pinched man in a badly buttoned white shirt. “Doctor, what do you make of this phenomenon?” The doctor, looking a bit strained and damp, spoke in a surprisingly low voice.
“Well, Byron, ah...it seems to be clear that the green...ah, ‘meteorite’, for lack of a better word, is under intelligent control of, ah, some sort.” The doctor mopped his brow with a stained handkerchief and continued. “It, ah, it’s also clear that this green object is responsible for stopping the satellite from, ah, from impacting the Earth. As to what the large green disc is all about...well, ah, your guess is as good as mine, Byron.”
The camera flashed onto the anchorman. “Doctor Baskell, do you believe the green meteorite caused the satellite to fall in the first place?”
“Well, ah, no...no, we have no reason to believe this to be the case. We were observing a dim, pale orange phenomenon earlier when we detected the satellite. We are of the tentative opinion here at the University that the orange, ah, effect was, ah, a lower atmosphere refraction and not associated with the satellite at all.”
“Thank you, doctor. And here again is live footage taken from a Los Angeles news crew from aboard a DC-10 passenger jet that just happened to be in the area. As you can see, the green disc is still clearly visible...”
“Fair,” began Chris as he turned away from the report, “do you have any...” Chris stopped as he saw Fair’s extreme reaction to the picture on the set.
“It’s him...” she whispered, wide eyed.
“It’s...it’s who?” Chris asked, terribly confused. “Who him?”
“It’s HIM!!” Fairchild exclaimed, flushing with excitement. Clearly overwhelmed, Fairchild danced in circles like an excited child. She looked abruptly around her, then down at herself.
“I’m not dressed,” she said with concern. “Oh, what the hell...”
On those words, Fairchild slammed open the screen door and, without a second more of hesitation, shot into the sky.
Open mouthed, Chris looked out the door after her. Closing his mouth, he shambled back to the counter, not seeing the vegetables there.
Whatever the hell was going on, Chris knew that look on Fairchild’s face very well, despite having seen it only once before.
Oh, please, he thought, not again!
* * *
Other eyes were watching with interest the newsworthy activity on Earth. These eyes, however, looked like solid silver orbs embedded in a riot of scar tissue, like metallic eggs in nests of flesh. They never blinked; they never needed to. Above the eyes one could easily make out the ribbed metal plates that made up the skull beneath the swarthy skin of the watcher’s forehead. Currently, the skin was wrinkled in concentration.
Lytarr’s skin was grown in a vat of syrupy plasm. It was as invulnerable to damage as his fellow Arions’ skin, but it was engineered never to transmit pain. Nor to feel pleasure, but that was hardly considered a priority at the time.
Aside from his eyes and the fact that his form was perhaps a little too...lumpy...he looked not very different from any other Arion Prime male.
True, few Arion Primes could claim to be hairless, seven-foot-five and weigh five hundred pounds...
Lytarr used his sausage-like fingers to adjust a channel selector knob he always found was too small for his comfort. Everything was too small for Lytarr’s taste, but he wasted no time worrying about it. He was the first Arion cybernetic organism to achieve the rank of Commander, and he felt it was a little early to be making waves. Admittedly, he rarely had any problems with anybody disobeying his orders.
He was scanning the broadcasts received by his moon’s Twilight Antenna (he never once thought of this oversized rock as the Earth’s Moon...) from the news stations on that miserable little blue-green planet below. Lytarr infrequently felt strong emotion, so the fantastic events shown on his screen merely caused him some concern. While it was unfortunate one of his spy satellites was irretrievably damaged, he was rather hoping its crash to Earth would be followed by numerous cases of plutonium poisoning.
And yet, something extraordinary was happening to prevent the mauled satellite from impacting altogether! And whatever it was was cleaning up the toxic debris as well, in a most impressive fashion.
As Commander of the deeply hidden Darkside Headquarters, it was clearly up to him to investigate these disturbing new developments.
Lytarr, salivating a synthetic fluid in anticipation, reached a massive hand for the intercom switch. He had some lengthy preparations to undergo, and he didn’t want to be disturbed...
* * *
Despite the fact the more prominent parts of her body were now cherry red from the friction, Aurora could not fly fast enough to suit her. The clouds themselves were churning in her wake as she flew through them like a bullet through smoke.
Her mind, however, was racing far faster even than her beautiful body. She was shifting rapidly between ecstatic hope and realistic denial. How could it be Seth, she thought. Why would he have followed her here when he clearly felt just as powerful a sense of duty to his Earth as she to hers? Maybe it wasn’t Seth. But, Christ, who else could it be!!
Her heart was beating like a triphammer. She knew she was acting like a schoolgirl...well, a vastly superpowered schoolgirl...but just could not help it. Her feelings for Seth surprised her. She knew she was smitten and she both loved and hated the emotions that made her feel! She had become powerfully infatuated with him during the short but intense time they had had together. And his obvious sacrifice in revealing his identity to her convinced Aurora that he had very much felt the same way.
She also knew, however, that she had been a stranger in his universe, and that her mission required her here on this Earth. It was one of the hardest decisions she ever had to make, leaving him like that. And if it really was Seth expelling that satellite, she did not know if she could make that same decision again.
* * *
The air now was so thin Seth had little trouble moving his grand funnel through the remains of the atmosphere, collecting the very last of the plutonium grains. Satisfied that his job was done, Seth took one last look at the storage box he had formed to hold the plutonium.
All that effort, he thought, just to fill a thimble.
But it was a deadly thimbleful, so with a flip of his mind he sent the little green package speeding away into deep space.
Seth took a deep breath and let it out slowly. He then ejected the deformed satellite to follow the capsule. Lastly, he collapsed the giant funnel with a thought.
“ALERT: OBJECT APPROACHING AT HYPERSONIC SPEED, BEARING 192 MARK 180.”
Seth turned quickly to look behind him.
Identify, he commanded of his ring.
“FEMALE HUMANOID IN UNASSISTED FLIGHT,” it replied.
Seth felt his mouth go instantly dry. He fought the urge to fly madly into the arms of the reported “female humanoid”. Instead he waited while the buxom missile came within visual range.
He saw whoever it was stop abruptly about five miles away, obviously looking in his direction.
She’s probably trying to decide if it’s me, he thought. Then he realized his armor looked a little different since he had streamlined it. He instantly changed its configuration to the form he knew his friend was used to. It caused an immediate reaction!
POW!
Seth flew backwards from the impact, his arms chock full of Fairchild!
“It IS you, it IS you!!” she cried. Then she got a hold of herself slightly and, holding him a greater distance away asked, “It is you, right?”
Laughing loudly, Seth made his armor surround both of them as an intimate green shell.
“It is me,” he replied quietly, his face still full of humor.
Her heart full to bursting, Fairchild embraced him soundly.
“Whoa...easy there...g-girl...” he managed. “Armor off...body squishy...”
Laughing now herself, Fairchild eased up a bit on Seth’s ribs, her own substantial chest barely compressed. She then drifted back slightly to look him over.
“Ooo, you’re still just wearing those little black underpants, I see,” she teased, snapping them.
“You’re still stark naked, I notice,” he countered, snapping her swelling left nipple.
She smirked, but quickly sobered as she searched his mesmerizing dark brown eyes as if reaching for the keys to his soul.
She drew him close and hugged him again, but very gently, almost timidly. Seth ran his fingers down her spine, feeling her smooth skin goosepimple. He understood perfectly.
“I know. I didn’t think I was going to see you again, either,” he said.
Fairchild’s voice broke. “I just didn’t know what I was going to do with myself! I-I felt like hiding from everybody...”
“Hey, I was only gone for, what, an hour or so?” he teased, rubbing her backside. “And with the time compression, it seemed like a lot less time than that to me!”
Fairchild looked into his eyes again with her striking deep blue ones.
“Seth, why are you here?”
He grimaced. “It has to do with that damned alien satellite that entered the Earth’s atmosphere. Let’s get down to the ground and I’ll fill you in.”
Realizing what he said, Seth shook his head and smiled.
Fairchild didn’t miss a beat. “Damn straight, boy,” she said, mock seriously.
Releasing her from his armor shell, Seth created the one-piece suit he had made for Fairchild when she was in “his” universe and fitted it to her.
She smiled with the recent memory, wriggled a bit, and then they both flew down towards her Hawaii home at a comparatively leisurely pace.
* * *
Chris felt a headache coming on. In the last five minutes six different news agencies called his pager and left their number. Predictably, after seeing the two of them acting so friendly as they floated in midair, the press wanted to hear from Aurora herself just who this new phenomenon was!
And frankly, Chris wanted very much to know, too. Although they were too high for the news crew aboard the passenger jet to capture their meeting on film, several video-equipped telescopes and one satellite certainly got more than adequate pictures of the two of them!
Whomever or whatever he was, he looked liked something out of a Japanese animation, what with the ultra-tech electric-green armor. Chris had never seen anything like it in real life, and it sure did not look Arion. Not that Fair would run passionately into the arms of an Arion male. At least he hoped not. He was so confused by recent events that he just did not know what to think anymore.
His headache had reached full blossom when he heard Fair’s voice by the front entrance mention something about the island of Molokai. Rubbing his temples, Chris walked over to where he had heard Fair only to be met halfway as she and her green companion strode into the kitchen.
Taken slightly aback, Chris looked directly into Fair’s magnificent blue eyes and his heart fell. Her whole face was lit up like a Christmas tree and she was literally floating on air. Chris’ stomach tightened into an acid knot. He shifted his gaze onto the armored stranger. He did not even attempt a smile as he addressed Fair while still glaring at the newcomer.
“Fair, could I speak to you for a minute?”
Without waiting for an answer he turned smartly and walked into her bedroom.
He could hear her excusing herself from her guest and walk into the room.
“Please shut the door, Fair,” Chris said flatly.
Wordlessly, she shut the bedroom door. The back of it was decorated with an original “Live and Let Die” Bond poster, summing up Chris’ feelings right now.
“Chris...” she began.
“Fair, do you know how many calls I got when the two of you...did what you did up there?” he interrupted testily.
Fair remained calm and sat down on a small wooden chair. “It’s not like we fucked each other, Chris,” she smiled gently.
Chris began pacing. “That’s not the point. I can feel my pager going off as we speak! Half the news agencies in the world are begging...hell, demanding a press release from you about this...this guy. Fair, it’s hard enough to keep your and Laura’s reputation up as it is, and most of this hemisphere is pretty damn jumpy with all the ‘alien sighting’ reports lately!”
“Chris, he saved part of the continent from plutonium contamination,” she said.
“Nobody else knows that! I admit, so far the press has been pretty kind, but that could change at any time.”
Fairchild sighed. “So, a press conference or something would be a good idea, is what you’re saying.” She stood up, rubbing the back of her neck. “Would tomorrow do?” she asked.
“Yeah, I’ll set it up for two p.m.,” he said, looking a little deflated.
She turned to leave.
Chris looked up. “Fair, what is that you’re wearing?” he asked, noticing the green PVC-like one-piece outfit.
She brightened as she looked down. “Just a little something Se...the Guardian cooked up,” she said, catching herself.
Chris knew he had a strange expression on his face; he could feel it like a tight rubber mask. “The Guardian...” he replied tonelessly. “Fair, who the hell is he? What is he?”
She turned and walked toward him. Her serious eyes added weight to her words.
“He comes from very far away, Chris, and he brought me back home when I was completely lost, lost and sick.”
Chris looked blank and a bit ill himself.
“I owe him a lot,” she said, then shook her head. “But it’s more than that. He sacrificed part of his spirit to me.”
She laughed, almost to herself.
“Wow, that sounds corny,” she chuckled. “Sorry. I’ll tell you all about it later, lover. Right now, though, I’m asking you to trust me. O.K.?”
Chris nodded. He gave a smile he did not feel and Fair turned and walked out of her room and into the bright hall beyond.
Chris didn’t think it sounded corny. He thought it sounded way too much like love.
* * *
Later, Fairchild and Seth went to a small section of island beach that was hard to get to if you could not fly. Reminiscent of their time on “his” Earth, they watched the sun set in a fiery eruption over the waters of the Pacific. As they admired the scene, they talked in earnest about everything except his situation. Soon, the stars competed with a half-moon for dominance of the indigo sky. The night air, barely any cooler than then humid day breezes, caressed them like a third lover as they talked until Seth grew hoarse.
Seth dropped his armor, saying that he would be able to detect any paparazzi in the area before they could get a shot. This suited her fine, for she loved looking at the “real”man, especially as he lay face up on the sand with the moon and star light draped across his smooth skin.
A tad shyly at first, he had removed his black stretch briefs. At her request, her one-piece evaporated into the fragrant air. Now they were skyclad and enjoying the sight of each other.
Fairchild lay next to him, tucking her arm under his head. She could smell his light musk and she knew he was taking in her special fragrance for he aroused her so! But she relaxed, absorbing the moment through all of her powerful senses, enjoying the gentle throb of her sex between her legs.
“Fairchild?”
“Mmmm?”
“Was I supposed to go with you to the conference tomorrow?”
“Not unless you want to,” she shrugged slightly.
He thought quietly for a moment.
“I think I will, but in this identity. Y’know, just to watch you,” he said.
She smiled.
“What are you going to tell them?” he asked after a minute.
“Not a whole lot. Just that you are a ‘good guy’, nobody has anything to fear from you, and that you saved us from plutonium poisoning. That sort of stuff,” she finished.
“If they’re like the press I’m accustomed to, they are going to ask more than that,” he said.
“I know,”she replied. “Too bad for them.”
Seth stroked her side quietly.
“Although,” she continued after a while, “I’m not sure what I’m going to call you!”
“Mmm hmm, I’m no longer the Guardian, am I?” he said thoughtfully.
“Not here, anyway, and I can’t call you Seth...”
“You’d better not,” he scolded, poking her playfully in her iron-hard ribs.
“The Green Knight?” she suggested, giggling.
“Well...nah.”
“Armor Man?”
“No.”
“The Amazing High-Tech Sex God?”
He tickled her again. “Probably not, you minx.”
She gasped and laughed with an embarrassing squeal under his light torture. She could not believe how aroused she was getting just from Seth tickling her. Nobody had ever really been successful at tickling her before; she had always chalked it up to her invulnerability. But he truly had her in happy tears!
“Stop!” she gasped between giggles.
He relented, his mischievous hands settling down to more sensual pursuits.
“Whew! No one who’s tried to tickle me has ever had the strength to really pull it off before,” she said. “You sure know how to use that ring of yours!”
He propped his head up on one arm and stroked her belly with the other hand. “Thanks, but strength must not be the key. I wasn’t using the ring.”
She stopped breathing. “What?” she asked carefully.
“The ring glows whenever I use its energies to do something. Did you see it glowing?”
She was silent while he continued to pet her.
“Fairchild? You O.K.?” he asked.
With a small growl in her throat she rolled on top of him and thrust her hips into him, feeling him immediately respond.
“Ack...” he choked from the force of her passion. “Think...I’ll use the ring...now, though...”
Suddenly his armor sprang up between him and her. She yelped in surprise.
“Seth...lover...” she panted, wiggling on top of him with enough force to grind marble into dust, “I want to see you...to touch you...”
“I want that, too...” he said breathlessly.
The armor became transparent, then collapsed inward upon him as if it were melting onto his skin. Soon, it was as if he were covered head to toe with a thin but incredibly tough and flexible second skin. His ring glowed brightly, and it looked like his features had a greenish cast, but otherwise he appeared quite naked and vulnerable.
Seth was impressed with himself. It was amazing how his lust for this goddess fueled his imagination!
Fairchild got on her knees and ran her hands down him, breathlessly testing his work.
“Oh, yess”, she breathed, perspiration starting to drip off her body onto his. She saw Seth tremble uncontrollably under her hands. He could obviously feel everything! She nearly swooned under the powerful feeling of being able to just let go. Her hands traveled everywhere, including her own body. She squeezed her left breast with tremendous force while she slid her still-naked vulva over her lover’s belly. She could feel his penis slide between her cheeks, rub past her anus to finally nudge her engorged clit! She picked up her pace, now practically vibrating her ass against his cock. Her unblemished skin flushed pink with pre-orgasmic heat.
Only Seth’s fantastic willpower kept him from coming, even after reducing what sensations he let his ring transmit to his raging cock! He did not have Fairchild’s superhuman stamina, however, so he knew he had to do something, and soon!
Fairchild felt two surprisingly strong hands grip her tiny waist. She was then lifted bodily up, her hips quivering uncontrollably, and brought back down to straddle his neck. Glancing downward past her gravity-defying breasts, her eyes widened as she saw a ghostly green tongue snake out of Seth’s mouth (his real tongue still inside) and dart between her nether lips! She saw Seth’s wicked smile as the tongue kept winding out of his mouth!
She gave a startled gasp as simultaneously she felt the tongue wrap around her inch-long clitoris and she saw another pair of strong hands grab her tits roughly from behind!
The ghostly green but tremendously powerful hands tried to flatten her firm breasts into her as they bent her over backwards, her waist still pinned down by his real (if enhanced) arms. Her muscles glistened as they expanded impossibly from her frame as she resisted the efforts of the multiple hands! She failed to resist, but only because a substantial part of her wanted to fail!
Her hair brushed his knees as the impossible tongue squeezed like a Veloran constrictor around her diamond-hard clit, sending fantastic signals of pure pleasure racing upwards only to be met halfway by the signals zipping down from her compressed nipples! The sensations crashed into her lower belly, creating the most deliriously excruciating contractions there!
Her hands sunk into the sand until she was buried up to her biceps. Loud gasps cut through the thick air. She was painfully aware of her labia opening and closing around her aching, empty gap.
Seth, for his part, had never seen her do that before, and was mesmerized by the sopping burgandy-colored orchid in front of his eyes. Juices were pouring down onto his neck. Her thighs expanded incredibly, squeezing his protected head and neck until he started seeing stars despite his efforts!
Concentrating his willpower, everything in the universe disappeared except for his moaning Fairchild. He was keeping her on the edge of a gargantuan climax, and she was beginning to get desperate for release! Her hips bucked mightily, her cries became a kind of wordless pleading, and he could hear her fists creating glass beneath the surface of the beach!
He heard her wail, “Ooooh...grab my hair, please!”
Unsettled, he managed to reply, “Uh, I can’t, Fairchild...I’ll explain later...”
Instead he somehow increased his grip on her breasts. At the same time he bifurcated his fake tongue so that while one tip continued throttling her nearly purple clit, the other pierced her spasmodic vagina.
The very atmosphere cracked open with the force of her orgasmic scream! Fairchild, long having lost control, felt her insides boil and every muscle in her body vibrate! Her breasts expanded against the strength of the ghost hands, defeating their grip!
Her yell became throaty and hoarse but did not stop as the consuming climax burned its way from her center outward. Paralyzed, she shook like a leaf, her mouth open, her eyes sightless.
Finally, completely bent over backwards, she collapsed against her panting lover, her muscles briefly failing her.
As her head cleared, she felt the slight sensation of Seth’s protective covering disappear.
“Oh, no you don’t,” she rasped, “I’m not finished with you yet...”
Forcing her stiff limbs to work, she moved her unfettered hips lower on his supine form until the swollen head of his cock pressed into the extremely tight folds of her bare pussy.
“You’d better get that field back up and working, or this is going to hurt a great deal,” she growled!
With a child-like yelp, Seth looked into her eyes and couldn’t tell if she were serious or not! He hastily wrapped himself in flexible energy again. No sooner had he completed the act when he felt himself slide painfully inside her hot flesh!
Grunting in surprise, he reinforced and “expanded” his taut penis inside of her. He gasped as he felt her impressive heat surround him.
Fairchild felt her eyes defocus as his rod swelled impossibly within her vagina. She shook her head to clear it. She was going to give Seth the ride of his life, and she wanted to be in control. She smiled as she saw his rather bewildered expression. It didn’t look like he was going to present a problem in the least.
As she lowered herself completely onto his new length, she realized that it was not Seth that she had to worry about controlling; it was her planet-sized libido that threatened to take her over. She knew her genes were programmed long ago to respond totally to a lover of equal or greater physical strength. It was a genetic imperative that had put her in jeopardy in the past! And while he was putty in her... hands... right now (albeit steel-hard and nearly invulnerable putty), he really did succeed in triggering her instincts mere moments ago! And she still felt those imperatives trying to take over; it was a delicious but very disquieting feeling. It reminded her too well of...
Roughly pushing aside thoughts of the past, Fairchild began in earnest to pleasure her amazing lover. Her hips began to pump against his solid pelvis, sliding him in and out of her. A moan escaped his lips as his head rocked from side to side. His hands came up spastically to grip her shoulders, but she grabbed his arms and forcefully held them above his head.
She saw something forming slowly in the energy around his chest. She slammed his hands down again with great power.
“No,” she commanded. “Don’t. Concentrate on the pleasure I’m giving you. Don’t worry about me.” She smiled evilly. “Not that you have a choice...”
His eyes dilated as she exerted her powers against his helpless body. Her arms expanded to the thickness of a swimmer’s thighs as cords rolled underneath her silky skin. Her hips now pounded onto him at two hundred strokes a minute!
She delighted in seeing his eyes glaze over in exquisite pleasure until she saw a little of her own spittle fall onto his chest. She realized she was starting to lose control herself. Focusing her efforts, she regained a bit of command over her reactions.
Her mind was just starting to cloud up again when Seth stiffened below her and groaned loudly, thrusting powerfully into her supple folds! She road him like a rodeo star as he expended himself.
Her grin of victory softened as she allowed a small, focused orgasm to seize her vagina.
Seth was vaguely aware of Fairchild’s strong grip convulsing against his trapped wrists before he relaxed from the clutch of his own impossible climax.
* * *
Seth was once again wearing his armor when they both virtually tiptoed back into the house, fearful of waking Chris. Fairchild nabbed a bottle of soda and some leftover stew from the refrigerator for Seth. They then stole away quietly into her room and closed the door.
“Here, Seth, have some of this. I’m sorry it’s cold,” she apologized.
“No problem,” he said. He dropped his armor and directed his ring’s energies onto the bowl of stew. After a few seconds it bubbled slowly.
Fairchild watched as he effortlessly formed a green spoon in his hand and began eating in earnest.
“That’s one handy ring,” she quipped.
“Yes, it is that,” he said, his mouth full.
As if to demonstrate, he poured some soda into a green tumbler that did not exist a moment ago.
“You know,” said Fairchild brightly, “you really don’t have to wear your armor in the house. Chris and Laura are completely trustworthy. They wouldn’t reveal anything.”
Seth looked up into her eyes as if to say “which one’s Laura, now?” but kept on eating his meal.
Fairchild was oddly reluctant to bring them up further, however. She was not sure why.
“I understand it’s something you’ve trained yourself not to do...” she began.
He nodded his head somewhat, still chewing and paying attention to the bowl in front of him.
He swallowed, took a drink, and tucked back into his stew.
“I’ll think about it,” was all he said.
Reaching for a topic of conversation that was comfortable to them both, she said, “I’m glad you took such good care of that satellite. I thought you only handled natural phenomenon.” With a start, she realized that what she said sounded like a criticism, so she smiled to ease any sting her words might carry.
He did not take it badly. “Or alien influences,” he reminded her. “Besides,” he swallowed, “I don’t quite know how my ethics apply to this Earth.”
As soon as he said that Fairchild realized that she was avoiding certain topics like the plague. They both were. She did not want to talk about his situation! Sadly, she understood that they would have to, sometime. They would have to discuss when he would leave.
She desperately did not want him to leave.
Fighting tears, her voice artificially bright, she announced, “I think I will be calling you the Guardian after all, tomorrow.”
“Oh?” he said, taking another drink. He was obviously famished!
“Well, there are no more like you in this dimension, right?”
“It doesn’t seem so.”
“Well, then,” she said.
There was a pregnant silence as Seth evaporated the dishes, holding them over the trash can as he did so.
When he turned back to her, she was very surprised to see a single drop of water running down his tired face. Her heart ached.
“Come here,” she said, uncovering the queen-sized bed. She lay down and took him gently into her arms. She stroked him until, exhausted, he fell soundly asleep.
Staring at nothing, she wished she could do the same.
* * *
Four hours before she was due at the conference (which was, she discovered, to be held in Redmond, Washington for some reason) she flew to the big island and bought some clothes for Seth. He was awake when she returned, and she proudly presented her stylish choices to him. She was delighted when he responded positively to just about all of the outfits.
For the conference he chose long black slacks, a soft dove-grey pullover shirt, an expensive black leather duster, black and silver boots, and a flat-brimmed black western hat.
“You look like a Gothic cowboy!” she said.
“Cool,” he said, looking at himself in her mirror.
“Should I carry you over there?” she asked, changing her outfit.
“What? Why?”
“So it doesn’t look like I’m being followed by a green meteor,” she replied, turning to look at her rear.
“Oh, right. No, I’ll just go underwater.”
She turned to look again at him and saw that he was staring at her barely dressed form. She playfully flexed and posed for him, creating a definite tightening in his new pants.
“This is how you dress for the press?94" he asked huskily.
“Yeah, they expect it now, and I love showing off,” she answered, enjoying his arousal. She had on a sheer blue halter that looked like it was painted on. The only thing about her relaxed nipples you could not see was their color! She also had white thigh-high boots and a red with yellow trim skirt that fell almost to her knees; very modest for her. However, she was not wearing anything underneath it. This fact was demonstrated when she reached under the skirt and scratched between her legs in a very unladylike manner!
“It itches,” she blushed. “The hair’s growing back.”
“I would keep it smooth, if I were you,” said Seth, looking into her eyes finally.
“Well, aren’t you kinky!” she teased.
“No, it’s not that. It’s just that...well, I wouldn’t be able to boff you in the manner to which you’ve become accustomed.” Now it was his turn to look embarrassed.
“How’s that?” she asked, confused.
Seth sighed heavily. Fairchild noticed with concern that he was trembling a bit!
Seth sighed again and drifted slowly toward her until his chest brushed her nipples. He was plainly frightened! What was doing this to him?
He looked up into her face.
“Do you remember last night, when you asked me to hold you by your hair?”
Now Fairchild looked uncomfortable. “Uh, no, Seth. Did I ask that?” She shifted on her feet, fidgeting.
“Yes, but you were pretty far gone. Anyway, I told you I couldn’t.” He stared straight ahead of him, right at her mouth.
They were both silent, aware of each other’s breathing.
“Yes?” she asked softly.
“My dear, dear friend,” Seth said with anxiety in his voice, “I trust you like no other. I’m going to tell you my Achilles’ Heel, and I don’t want you to tell anyone else, even Chris. Ever.”
She now understood the enormity of the impending revelation. It would be like telling him about Velorans and gold! “I...ah, well...” she stammered.
Seth looked deeply into her eyes, pleading with her.
“I understand, Seth,” she said, her mind calming as she reached a new understanding within herself. “No one. You have my solemn promise.”
His forehead rested against her chin as his head bent down in relief.
“Yellow,” he said.
“What?” she asked. She didn’t understand.
“Your hair is quite yellow. Unnaturally so. For a human, anyway. I...” he took a breath, “...the Master Guardians built two restrictions into the rings. One of them is that I cannot deliberately kill any sentient being. The other is that I can’t directly affect anything that is bright yellow.”
Fairchild listened to this. “Nothing yellow?? You mean if I...”
“If you tossed me a yellow ball,” he interrupted, “I couldn’t even catch it with the ring.”
She pondered the implications, but Seth was ahead of her.
“Which means that, yes, all it would take would be one well placed yellow laser beam and I would be history. Fortunately, most lasers are blue or red. At least on ‘my’ Earth...” he painfully joked.
She gazed at him sensitively, searching his face.
“Aren’t there ways around this? Things you could do?” she asked.
“Oh, yes, and not only do they tell you many of these tricks when they train you, but I spend quite a bit of time figuring them out myself, let me tell you!”
She smiled and shook her head. Embracing him, she whispered, “What am I going to do with you. First you tell me a secret that could ruin your life. Now, you let me in on something that could kill you if it got out.” She held him tighter, then looked down into his chocolate eyes. She smiled wickedly. “And all to keep me from growing out my pubic hair!”
His face split into a grin and his body shook with silent laughter. His eyelids lowered as he snuggled into her warm smooth embrace. “I promise I’ll make it worth your while,” he murmured.
Fairchild felt her nipples take notice of this announcement.
“Oh, yeah? Prove it,” she said into his thick hair.
He let out a tiny groan. But then he pulled back and said, “First, we have a conference to attend.” He looked up, eyes bright with desire. “But I’ll tell what I’ll do for the meantime...”
* * *
Fairchild flashed through the atmosphere just slow enough to keep her clothes from ripping off. She really should have waited to put them on when she reached Washington state, but she had to admit she loved the feel of her costumes on her body. It also helped her get into her Aurora persona for the eager press.
Chris had wanted to come, but even he confessed that it would be better if he waited at home base for Laura to get back from her mission in Australia so he could debrief her.
Aurora knew that, as frustrated as he was with her, he probably would ‘debrief’ Laura all right! And visa versa.
Poor Chris. She now realized what he must be feeling. Not since David had she seen him so...so competitive, so jealous. That was too bad. She loved Chris, she really did. And not just like a brother, to put it mildly. She could not put a finger on the difference between her love for Laura and Chris, and for Seth, but what a difference there was! It was not just the sex frustration, either; at least she hoped it wasn’t.
What she was particularly nervous about, though, was trying to predict Seth’s reaction when he found out about her very physical relationship with Laura and Chris. She had to tell him, however, or risk alienating two very special friends. What an abysmal choice to make. She hoped dearly that he was as understanding as he appeared.
Thinking of Seth got her thighs to clenching again. This was due largely to the ‘device’ he had conjured up and inserted deeply between her legs! It filled her wonderfully, yet was flexible enough to be quite comfortable. She would almost be at risk of forgetting it was there if it did not vibrate gently! It very lightly pulsed against her G-spot and gently buzzed her slightly swollen clit. It was not enough to send her over the edge, or even close to it, but it was very pleasant and reminded her of his presence.
Soon enough, she arrived at the Colton Convention Building in south Redmond. She did not have any time to kill so she immediately set out to the hall where her conference was scheduled.
Along the way, as she strode past the bystanders and staff of the center, she saw she caused: fifteen instant erections in various men, four sets of serious nipple erections in women, three people to drop what they were carrying, two people to completely forget themselves and fondle each other, and one poor man to walk smack into a rubber tree with some force!
Aurora winced but laughed quietly as she entered the smallish convention hall the reporters were at.
The hall was fairly full with what must have been sixty or seventy people. Immediately, flash bulbs went off in a rapid fire homage to her beauty and newsworthiness. She was motioned to the top of the stage by the Press Liaison, a gentleman she had met before also named Chris: Christopher Cousins, Jr. He was a silver tongued but fairly wholesome blond man in his late thirties. He offered her a hand up onto the stage. She accepted out of courtesy.
“Thank you for taking the time for us, Ms. Aurora,” he said in a slight Georgian accent.
“Of course, Mr. Cousins. You know I’m always happy to talk to the press.”
“And we do appreciate it, dear, we do.” He offered her the seat directly in front of the microphones.
Before she took it, she quickly scanned the crowd for Seth’s features. Not seeing him, she shrugged and sat on the proffered folding chair, the metal cool on her damp pussy. She bit her lip when the action of sitting forced the toy inside her to thrust gently against her cervix. But the sensations soon settled and she focused on the crowd of professionals before her.
Christopher sat next to her and scooted his chair closer in to the long table. He “ahem’d” experimentally into his own mike, then reached over and patted her hand.
“We’re ready if you are, and may I say what a perfectly fine perfume you are wearing today,” he spoke quietly.
Aurora laughed just as quietly and patted him back. Wow, she thought, I must be more aroused than I believed if he can smell me so well!
He was at his mike. “O.K. gentlemen and ladies, some quiet please. Aurora is ready to deliver her statement, after which there will be the standard Q and A, if we’re lucky,” he winked at her.
She almost missed it. Instead, she was becoming focused on her slowly rising clitoris! She stood up despite the cluster of microphones already at her level, if only to relieve the tantalizing pressure off of her cervix! She could hardly believe that his gentle little toy was causing these reactions in her; she wondered what was going on.
“Uh, members of the press, yesterday you observed me enthusiastically greeting someone or something that rescued a satellite from hitting the earth,” she began.
There was a general chuckle from the audience.
“Well, as a proven champion of life and welfare on this planet, let me assure you...” She continued reading the release that she had memorized “photographically”, but her attention was on the device inside her. What was happening? She did not feel it increase in intensity at all, but her clitoris felt like it was fully erect. Painfully so! Usually it took rough stimulation or Orgone energy to erect it to its full length.
She was also aware of the swamp that was her vulva. She sincerely hoped she was not dripping on the floor! Only barely aware of the words leaving her mouth, she instead could not help but fixate on her swelling labia and huge clitoris! She felt like she was trying to hide a bus between her legs, it was that sensitive!
Finally, she finished the prepared report and sat down, only to find that her superhuman clit actually propped her up off the chair a fraction! Her cheeks were still in contact, so she hoped nobody noticed.
Mr. Cousins was saying something about Question and Answer, so she struggled to concentrate on the reporters below, only to get a disturbingly pleasant jolt throughout her vagina. And it was not the toy that was responsible!
Of course! she thought. It was the crowd! Unbidden memories of Sh’lyra’s training invaded her mind: she remembered when she thought she was being stimulated in a crowded arena. Regardless of a blindfold around her eyes, her hearing the mass of onlookers as they watched her being roughly stimulated by her Miss...by Sh’Lyra caused a massive spontaneous reaction inside her at the time.
That was it, she thought, just the knowledge that she was being lightly aroused in front of all these unsuspecting people...it was really turning her on! She couldn’t help it!
She knew it would be very unseemly to dash out in the middle of this conference when all these reporters flew in from all over just to get a few facts from her. Beside, she might make the chair all wet, but she was not going to have an orgasm right here, in front of all these TV cameras! That would be disastrous! People might get hurt!
But just the image in her head of the TV cameras sending their signals to millions...of people...watching her..!
She looked at the crowd and saw they were all staring at the microphones for some reason. In a daze, she looked at the equipment but saw nothing wrong with any of it. Looking lower, she gasped as she saw the true target of all their eyes. Her nipples were visibly growing under her top! She could see them swell past the one inch point, and so could everyone in the whole fucking room!!
“Uh, M-Ms. Aurora, are you all right, dear?” Christopher managed to get out.
She swung her head in his direction without actually seeing him. “I’m...fine” she said. But it did not convince her; she was so extremely aroused! And the more excited she got the more she knew the crowd saw, and the more excited she got!
RIP! Shuddering, she felt her right nipple tear a hole in her tight blue top. Her clitoris was beating out a rhythm she could hear on the metal seat! As her vagina expanded under the now intense excitement, she felt the toy deep inside her expand along with her! The sensations were nearly unbearable!
Then, to her mixed ecstasy and horror, she felt the first stirrings of her impending orgasm start at her vaginal opening, then in her uterus. This was it...it was too late to do anything now! Everything she saw or touched increased her arousal. The microphones made her groan inwardly; the smooth plastic of the table top under her hands felt marvelous, causing her fingers to tremble audibly.
Then, just as her eyes began to roll back into her head...just as she had a premonition of the headlines across the world announcing the carnage she had caused...just as she was right on the very edge...
The toy disappeared from her body.
Trembling slightly with a burning need for release, yet desperate to control herself, she looked over the sea of wondering, alarmed, and/or highly aroused faces in front of her.
She lifted her left hand to forestall another question from the Liaison. She cleared her throat, took a gulp of water from the traditional glass in front of her, and, fanning her face with her hand said, “Whew! You folks just make me so very hot! I simply don’t know what to do—faint or ravish the lot of you!”
The audience broke into peals of relieved laughter and applause. She knew the press sometimes painted her as a super sexual bimbo, and her performance today did not alleviate that perception. But this was what many of them had hoped to see. They all believed it was a sexy, staged act on her part.
She played the role. She stood up and bowed, then turned as if to adjust her chair and instantly vaporized the puddle of excitement she had left on the seat with a very quick blast of her heat vision. The whole hall filled with the mixed scent of female musk and honeysuckle. She suspected many, many spouses, lovers, and call girls were going to get laid tonight!
Tucking her nipple back into her top (to the vocal dismay of some of the audience) she sat back down and finished the session with the reporters.
Later, Aurora walked outside into the light rain that was falling. She had used her super speed to dodge the most persistent of the photographers. She was just about to fly off to look for Seth when she spotted a Gothic cowboy holding a green umbrella in his right hand. His left hand was tucked away in his duster pocket so the glow could not be detected. He was smirking wryly in her direction. He dipped his hat as if to say “Ma’am...”.
Putting a cold expression on her face but only just succeeding, she stomped over to him, but stopped when she realized she might endanger his identity. Instead, she nodded slightly to him, all the while smiling ruefully. She knew his ring allowed him similar or greater physical senses compared to her superpowered ones. So she spoke to him from one hundred feet away in a voice nobody but he could possibly hear.
“You bastard. You knew what that crowd was going to do to me even before I did! I nearly came! That would have been a disaster, Seth. It was luck that you stopped the device when you did.”
“No, it wasn’t,” he whispered back. “I was monitoring your condition the whole time through the toy. I knew exactly how far along you were! Scare you, did I?”
She helplessly broke into a broad smile. “You scared me to death, you twisted little man! And you know you did, too! So you know what I’m going to do with you once I get you back to Hawaii?”
“Pray tell.”
Her voice dropped even lower into an evil snarl. “I’m going to fuck you until your nose bleeds.”
Seth this time couldn’t help but grin in mock astonishment. “Whoa,” he whispered, “that’ll teach me!”
With a haughty toss of her wet hair, she flexed her ass and legs and took off into the grey clouds above.
* * *
Much later, just before sunset hit the Hawaiian Islands, Chris heard someone come through the front door of the house.
Chris was in a barely controlled boil. He had watched the news conference and witnessed Fair’s “performance”. He knew real arousal when he saw it, and he was more than smart enough to put two and two together.
At that moment, the armored freak stepped into the room. It was clear he intended to go to Fair’s room, where she already was, having come in stark naked and covered in sand about thirty minutes ago. Chris had other ideas.
“Hey, you! Guardian! I want to speak to you alone.”
Mr. Armored Guy gazed at Chris with his fairly sinister-looking helmet. Then he turned and sauntered over to him.
“I saw what happened on television, and I more than suspect you had something to do with that.”
The Guardian stood passively.
Chris was furious. “Look, I’ll be blunt. Just how long are you planning on staying here?” Chris glared at him from head to toe. “And God damn it, take that armor off when I’m speaking to you!! I don’t want to speak to a fucking suit of armor, I want to speak to your face! Why are you hiding in there, anyway?!”
Chris was breathing heavily now. Any moment he expected Fair to stride in and intervene, but there was no sign of her.
And the suit of armor was still just standing there!
“Hello?! Anybody in there?!” Chris nearly screamed.
As quiet as can be, the Guardian spoke: “Fairchild said I could trust you.”
With that, the armor disappeared so completely it was as if it never existed.
Chris was quite taken aback by the sudden presence of the nude man in front of him. Momentarily speechless, he took the sight of this man in.
In no time he began to feel both better and a bit puzzled. What did Fair see in this guy? He wasn’t “super” at all! Aside from being kind of wiry and for the fact of his rather unusual choice of facial hair style, this so-called Guardian was a fairly short, pathetically normal man! Even his “equipment” was nothing compared to Chris’ enhancement! And look, he thought nearly laughing out loud, he even has a few flecks of dried blood under one nostril!! What a hoot!
He was so contemptuous and angry by now that he not only didn’t care if he offended this twerp, he hoped he would!
“What does she see in you, my man?” Chris laughed. “How long will it be before whatever you did to help her wears off? Believe me, it will happen! I know!”
Then, in the midst of uncharacteristic, cruel derision, something extraordinary happened. The “normal” man gazed levelly into Chris’ eyes. Chris felt his laughter cut off immediately, dying swiftly in his throat. The “twerp” focused his gaze to bore forcefully into Chris’ will. The deep brown eyes seemed to fill Chris’ vision! Then the Guardian spoke.
“Sit. Down. Now.”
Chris found himself sitting at the kitchen table with no recollection of having moved there!
The “spell” suddenly lifted, the naked man sat across the table from Chris, turning the chair around and straddling it. His expression had returned to controlled passivity.
Chris, for his part, felt he should have known Fair wouldn’t have fallen so hard for a normal man.
The mood utterly changed, Chris was again speechless.
“To answer one of your questions,” began the Guardian calmly, “I am not certain how long I can stay. I don’t know how to get back to my own dimension. My superiors didn’t feel it necessary to teach me such things, and I have never felt the lack until now.”
“Your own dimension?” asked Chris a bit weakly.
“That’s right. Fairchild was forced bodily into my dimension by an Arion ship’s malfunction. She was very ill when I found her. I...nursed...her back to health and was barely able to get her back here. Unfortunately, I was drawn here quite against my will.”
“With your will, I find that hard to believe,” said Chris, matter-of-factly.
The Guardian smiled. “Nature bows to no will I know.”
Chris nodded.
“So,” the Guardian continued, “while it was against my will, it was not quite an unhappy occurrence.”
“Because...wait,” said Chris, interrupting himself. “Let me just get this straight from you right now.” Chris took a deep, shuddering breath. “Do you love Fairchild?”
The Guardian merely sat gazing at Chris for the longest time, almost as if he hadn’t heard the question. Chris was a little fearful that he might be making him angry, and that was something he did not particularly want anymore!
But then, as if answering the question for the very first time for both of them, the Guardian said, “Yes. I do love her.” And to Chris’ surprise, the face of the man across from him grew very weary.
In the manner one would expect to hear the most tragic of news, the Guardian finished with, “I love her deeply, more than I have loved anyone in my life. And I don’t know what I am going to do.”
Chris was powerfully moved by this man’s depth of feeling. Chris’ natural compassion overwhelmed his acidic jealousy. Frankly, he knew how this man felt. His own love for Fairchild put him in a rather hopeless position, too. Only with the Guardian, he knew in his heart that Fair felt the same way. His jealousy was certainly still there, but now it was softer, sadder.
Chris stood up carefully and walked slowly to the man he knew as his new friend. He lightly touched him on the shoulder.
“Tell her this,” he whispered.
“I mustn't,” the Guardian said, raising his head to look at Chris’ face. “I will have to leave this universe and go home if I possibly can. I don’t want to cause her more anguish than she has already felt.”
It was now Chris’ turn to stare levelly into the eyes of the Guardian. “You must, sir. This is very important, so listen to me. You must go to her, and tell her now.”
They stared into each others eyes, the contact rich with understanding and mutual empathy.
They broke the connection as the Guardian stood up.
“And, by the way, sir,” said Chris, “you have a touch of dried blood right here.” Chris indicated using his own nose to point out the exact location.
Touching just under his nose carefully, the Guardian looked at the few flakes on the tip of his finger. He laughed out loud, surprising Chris with the sudden change of emotion.
Still chuckling, he then turned and headed to Fairchild’s room.
* * *
Fairchild heard the footsteps approaching her door, but still flinched when Seth knocked at it.
She made an attempt to straighten her hair and restore the proper color to her face, but decided to hell with it and said, “Come in, Seth.”
Seth opened the door to a dark room. He about flicked on the light when he saw Fairchild shake her head. Closing the door, he approached her gently. Then he stopped.
“Oh, dear, you heard every word,” he said simply.
She broke into tears, the dam behind her eyes finally bursting.
He knelt down swiftly and held her, stroking her fine hair.
“I-I couldn’t help it!” she sobbed. “Oh, S-Seth, oh...”
“Shhh shh shh.” he said, rocking her back and forth.
“Oh, what are we going to d-do?” she wailed into his shoulder.
Seth found his tears falling, too.
“You’ll be all right, you’ll do O.K. Fairchild. You have so many friends who love you, all those people you told me about.”
She hugged him fiercely. “No no no no,” she cried.
“Yes, Fairchild, yes you do...” he trailed off, beginning to realize what she was saying.
She wept in frustration, her hands making tight fists.
“What are we going to do?!” she asked again. “I so l-l-love you, Seth...I so love you, too.”
Even braced for it, the bittersweet blow hit Seth hard. He commenced to cry himself.
The two emotional lovers simply rocked back and forth on the firm bed for the next few minutes, soaking each other in their own sweet ocean.
While their minds were hardly aware of it, their bodies realized the naked warmth of the other. Very slowly, like the changing of the tide in the sea, their sobs metamorphosed into whispers; whispers grew into soft moans. Their rocking never stopped, but now their wet bodies touched in different places. As if commanded by the ocean waves themselves, Fairchild and Seth commenced to become, in a very real way, One.
They rhythmically made languid love. Their methodic rocking and pitching was exquisitely gentle, but it didn’t stop. Her legs were around his hips; he was deep inside her. His green field shimmered dimly in the darkness around both of them—to protect himself from her native strength, and to touch her in every place she could be touched, all at once.
And at the same time, he/she cried out their passion, softly but unstoppably climaxing, like the rolling of the sea onto the rocky shore.
* * *
On a world without the smallest trace of natural liquid water, much less an ocean, something was getting stronger. And stronger still.
Lytarr thrashed about in the power transfer capsule. This was the closest he ever got to pain. The tremendous amounts of raw, scalding energy invaded his flesh and forced itself into his naked muscles. Lytarr yelled in his delirium, actinic light arcing from his metallic eyeballs and ripping into the electrodes jammed into the joints of his unnatural body.
The Betan population of the Darkside Moonbase looked up in annoyance and fear at the flickering room lights and instrument panels. This had been going on for a long time; longer than ever before! What was their grotesque leader preparing for?
Doomsday?
The End
of Chapter Two
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