Fantasy Journey to Year 1,000,000,000

[Note: This is a Science Fiction story with some erotic scenes. It is not a story with erotic scenes in every chapter. Some chapters have incredible sex scenes, but many others have none.]

The USS Devonshire was not a happy ship.

As the Devonshire sailed down the time tunnel, going farther into the future, there were fractures that Taylor knew could not be easily healed.

Jennifer had made numerous attempts to strike up a conversation with him. Taylor had shut down all her efforts with cold stares. Every time he looked at her, all he could see was Jennifer nude, on her back, while Obongo Babangida was thrusting between her legs. Jennifer would alternate smiles and moans with a turn of a head towards Taylor and, then she would give her now infamous line, "Just let it happen".

Taylor knew it wasn't rational. Jennifer wasn't his wife. She wasn't even his girlfriend. And yet, they had made a pledge of sorts, in the cave on the second moon of Sirius IV. If not for Michael, her Michael, she would be his. She should be his.

Taylor also realized that Jennifer had been made to want to have sex with Obongo, and Obongo with her. Again, speaking rationally, he shouldn't be angry with her.

And yet... when she said, "Just stay down" after Babangida decked him, and when she said "Just let it happen", it didn't feel coerced. In his heart of hearts, he didn't feel like Jennifer was being controlled. It felt like her real feelings, and that was what really bothered him.

It was as if Jennifer really wanted to have sex with Babangida. That she was happy when Babangida decked him. That's what he couldn't get past.

Again, thinking logically, Taylor had no reason to think this was true. It could all be blamed on alien influence. But he was there. At that moment, at that time, it felt real.

And so he avoided her.

There were still petty grievances among the crew as well. Those who had inflicted pain on them held grudges against those who had given them pain. With the scientists it was even worse--Taylor heard half the science team wasn't speaking to the other half. He still had yet to get a full accounting of what had actually happened to them.

And then there was something which had happened between Elizabeth and Vincent Roman. Something in an experiment. No one would tell him about it. All he knew is that they hated each other now with a passion. Or at least, Elizabeth hated Vincent. But Elizabeth wouldn't talk about it, and neither would the other scientists. Doctor McCrae only told him that Elizabeth had returned with physical injuries, but they were on the mend. He remembered seeing the whip marks on her back and titties when they returned to the ship. Could Vincent have done that?

The only person on the ship who no one was angry with, it seems, was Victor Berman. Once Victor had been revealed to as the source of information which had resulted in their freedom, he became the most popular man on the ship. Victor was typically modest about it, though, calling it a team effort, but everyone knew the truth. Sometimes Taylor wished he could be popular like Victor, until he reminded himself that it wasn't the job of a Survey Service Captain to be popular; only to be obeyed.

As the ship sped through the corridor of time, Taylor dreamed.

He was on Earth, but a different Earth; an Earth of long ago, with lush fields and grasslands. He was there with Elizabeth. Elizabeth had her hair down, and she was nude. She had the most incredible body.

And Taylor was making love to her.

Elizabeth had small, round breasts. They felt good underneath him as he slid in and out of her. She was smiling up at him, which he thought was odd, because he so rarely saw Elizabeth smile at all.

"Faster, Michael, faster," she whispered into his ear. "I'm running out of time."

"Running out of time?"

"It's reality, darling," said Elizabeth. "Once things become real, I must leave you."

"No... don't," said Taylor. He thrusted more and more rapidly, and Elizabeth hugged him tighter, and tighter, and he felt himself getting closer and closer-

And then Taylor gasped, waking up in his bed on the Devonshire.

He knew what had started this. When they had been teleported aboard the Devonshire, Elizabeth had been topless. For the first time he had seen her naked breasts. That's when he started having dreams about her.

Was he attracted to Elizabeth? She was certainly a pretty woman, if a bit repressed. Now that Pam was gone, and he was angry with Jennifer, maybe Elizabeth was a woman he could warm up to... in his dreams, of course.

After four days of travel, they came to another window in the time tunnel. Once again, they faced a choice: exit the time tunnel, or continue on.

"If our experience is same as before, if we leave the time tunnel, we should be able to reenter it," said Taylor.

"I think we should go on until the end of it," said Elizabeth. "My hunch is that the time tunnel is being generated by whoever is at the very end of the line."

"That's certainly possible," said Victor. "If this is meant to be a one way journey. But again, we don't know that. The tunnel could have been created to go both ways, forwards and back in time."

"But we have only been able to use it to go forward," said Taylor. "The currents only take us into the future."

"Yes, with our level of technology," said Victor. "But that's not to say that a more advanced civilization couldn't go in both directions."

Taylor looked at him. "What are you saying, Victor, that we should stop again? The last time we stopped for directions, we got taken prisoner and lost four crewmembers."

"I'm a natural born tourist, Michael," said Victor. "And as for the risk, they say lightning never strikes in the same place twice."

"We aren't in the same place, Victor."

"Oh, I beg to differ. We are in the same place. Merely a different time," said Victor. He pointed at the viewscreen. "Are you sure you want to pass up another piece of our future, Michael?"

"Captain, we're getting close to the end of the window. We have to decide," said Suki, her voice tight.

"Let's emerge into normal space," said Taylor.

Suki steered the ship out of the time tunnel. The ship buckled a bit, and in moments was in normal space.

"Where are we? And more important, when are we?" Taylor asked.

"Doing a star check, sir," said Suki.

Ahead of them they could see the Earth. In this time period, the ice age had receded, and the continents, which had been on the verge of merging, were now splitting apart again.

"Sir... you're not going to believe this," said Suki.

"What is it?"

"If I'm correct... we've gone forward another 14,000,000 years. We are now a total of 22,000,000 years ahead of our own space time," said Suki.

"Twenty two million years," said Victor. "How do you like that?"

"I don't know," said Taylor. "It depends on whether the natives are friendly."

"Sir, sensors are picking up something ahead," said Suki.

"What is it?"

"I don't know, sir. It's driving the sensors crazy."

Taylor looked at the viewscreen. All he could see was a glowing region of space. "Evase!" he said.

Suki started to turn the ship away, but they were moving too fast. In moments, the Devonshire entered the glowing area. The ship shook for a moment, and the stars on the viewscreen actually flickered out. The entire bridge seemed to fade and reappear.

When the ship stabilized, Taylor said, "Status!"

"All systems report normal," said Lieutenant Babangida.

"That certainly didn't seem normal to me," said Victor.

"Sir, we're picking up something on sensors," said Ensign Collins. "Multiple contacts."

"Identities?"

"One of them... it's Survey Service!" said Collins. "Identification confirmed. The USS Judicator."

The Judicator. One of the ships that had gone into the Black Box and never returned. The Judicator was a top of the line battle cruiser, the most powerful ship in the Survey Service fleet, commanded by Captain Robert Andrews. Taylor had met him once, briefly, at a reception in Perth. He was one of the Survey Service's most decorated officers.

And right now the Judicator was in the middle of a battle. It was on the edge of the Earth's atmosphere, fighting off a number of enemy ships.

"Sensors detect nine hostiles!" said Collins tensely.

Nine?

"Battle stations," said Taylor tensely. As the alarm sounded, the crew got ready for battle.

"Mr. Collins, try to contact the Judicator." Taylor asked.

A moment later Collins said, "Sir, there's no response."

"Warn off those enemy ships."

A moment later... "Sir, still no response."

On the viewscreen Taylor saw a flash, and an explosion hit the Judicator admid ships. The Judicator started to spin out of control. The enemy ships, all triangular shaped, flew around the Judicator, firing with some kind of beam weapons.

"Suki, take us in."

"Yes, sir!"

"Raise force fields to maximum," said Taylor.

"Force fields at maximum," said Jennifer.

"Mr. Babangida, lock plasma cannons and forward megajoulers on the closest enemy target."

"Yes sir."

The Devonshire closed. Taylor could see that the Judicator had suffered heavy damage. "Open fire," said Taylor.

The Devonshire let rip with its plasma cannons and megajoulers. It hit one of the enemy ships, which exploded.

"Well, at least we know they can be stopped," said Taylor.

But the Devonshire got the enemy's attention. One of them opened fire on the Devonshire. The ship rocked as its forcescreens were hit.

"Fire again, Mr. Babangida."

The plasma cannons had not yet recharged, and the megajoulers were only at 50% strength, but they were enough to destroy a second enemy ship. Taylor, who was acutely aware of the weapon's half strength, frowned. He ordered continuous firing as soon as the plasma cannons had recharged or the megajoulers had hit the 50% recharge mark. In moments the Devonshire was blowing the enemy ships out of the stars. The Devonshire took three more enemy hits, but no damage. The force screens were down to 40%, however.

Taylor frowned. There was something very odd about this encounter. The enemy had strong enough weapons to cripple a battle cruiser, but couldn't seem to penetrate a frigate's much more moderate shielding. And his half power megajoulers were blowing them away. They had already destroyed six enemy ships, each with one volley. If it were this easy, why had the Judicator not fended them off on its own?

But answers would have to wait. They were lining up to fire on the seventh enemy ship when it opened fire on the Devonshire. And this time it cut through their weakened shields.

"We're hit!" Suki yelled. "Captain, engines are not responding!"

"Damage report!" said Taylor.

"Engines are down!" said Babangida. "Reactor units one and two have failed!"

"Captain, we're being sucked into the Earth's gravitational pull!" said Suki.

"Compensate!"

"I can't!" said Suki, pressing buttons rapidly. "All we have left are thrusters!"

The Earth loomed larger and larger on the viewscreen. Taylor activated the comm. "Attention all hands! Prepare for emergency landing!"

An emergency landing without engines would be optimistic.

Taylor pushed Suki aside and took the controls. The ship buckled as it entered the atmosphere. Taylor used the thrusters as best he could, but he knew it wouldn't be enough. The ship was going too fast, and they had no way of decelerating. It was amazing that they hadn't burned up on reentry.

There was no time to consider that now, as a landmass loomed larger and larger on their viewscreen. The Devonshire was spiraling out of control somewhere in northern Europe. They would never survive an impact at this speed.

Nevertheless, Taylor did everything he could, setting thrusters to maximum. "All hands, brace for impact!" he cried. Taylor could see fields of green... endless fields of green... and then the ground came up on them, and there was a mighty jolt, and the ship hit the ground, hard, and everything went dark....

For a few seconds, at least, until red emergency lighting kicked in.

The ship had somehow landed, without engines, in one piece. But consoles had overloaded, and there were small electrical fires all over the ship. Taylor organized teams to go deck by deck to get everyone evacuated.

Taylor was one of the first to exit the ship, through one of the airlocks. The first thing he saw was fields of short grass, as far as the eye could see. He stepped out of the airlock, joined by other crewmembers.

"Are you all right, Captain?" said Doctor McCrae.

"I am," said Taylor. "But check the crew." With a rough crash like that, there would undoubtedly be injuries and fatalities.

But there weren't.

After everyone was accounted for, Taylor learned that there was not a single fatality. Not one. No one had worse injuries than bruises or cuts.

"It's not possible," said Taylor. He looked at the giant rut in the ground created by his crash landing. "We crash landed the ship without engines. The ship should be scattered in a million pieces. Most of us should be dead. In fact, realistically speaking, all of us should be dead. How is this possible?"

"It's a big universe, Michael," said Victor. "There's still a lot we don't understand about it."

"Well, it doesn't look like we will be going anywhere in this big universe any time soon," said Taylor. He had inspected the engines. They were a wreck. The Devonshire would never fly again.

He had also gone to check the shuttles, but found the shuttle bay collapsed. They had both been crushed. It was fortunate that no one had been in the shuttle bay at the time.

Taylor looked around at their new home: short green grass, as far as the eye could see. "So this is the Earth twenty two million years from now... a giant lawn. A giant, empty lawn."

"We're only seeing one tiny piece of it, Michael," Victor said. "You know it is very possible for life to exist somewhere on the 99.9% of the planet we haven't yet seen."

"But if there is life, it must be advanced," said Taylor. "You would think they would be curious, and come out to greet us."

"Perhaps they are shy," said Victor.

"Those alien ships that attacked the Judicator haven't come down to say hello either," said Taylor. "And I wondered what happened to the Judicator itself?"

"It looked pretty heavily damaged, the last I saw of it, sir," said Suki.

"I don't think we can count on help from the Judicator," said Jennifer.

"Neither do I," said Bill Carey.

"So what do we do, sir?" Suki asked.

Taylor slapped his hands against his pants. "We survive."

They set up camp near the ship, with tents neatly lined up, row after row, for all 64 crewmen and scientists. They had enough rations to last them for several months. They would have to find food or figure out how to produce their own.

The first night Taylor had fires lit and set guards on the perimeter. He didn't trust a supposedly empty planet, and didn't want to be caught unaware. But they had no nocturnal visitors.

The next day he sent out search parties, going north, south, east, and west. He also sent a team back to the ship to see if they could salvage anything which could be helpful.

Jennifer joined him with the group going east. "What does this mean for our mission, sir?" she asked.

"Our mission?" said Taylor. "I guess our mission is over, Lieutenant."

Jennifer looked at him. "It's not like you to give up so easily."

"It comes easy enough when I get stranded on a planet," said Taylor.

"It seems to me something very similar to this happened once before in your career, sir," she said.

"You mean on PR-52981?"

"Yep," said Jennifer.

"That was different," said Taylor. "The Survey Service found us."

"Maybe they'll find us again," she said, staring at him almost flirtatiously.

"Jennifer, on PR-52981 we were several light years off our travel route. Difficult to find, but not impossible. Here we are twenty two million years away from the Survey Service. How will they find us?"

"Maybe they will send another ship."

"No, I don't think so," said Taylor. He remembered Admiral Von Windhoek telling him that after the Devonshire, the next thing the Survey Service would send into the Black Box would be nova bombs. He wondered how that worked out.

"It's not like you to give up so easily," she said again, giving him that look.

There, she was flirting with him again! He was sure of it.

But what did it mean?

Taylor inspected the Devonshire again to confirm what he already knew: the ship would never fly again.

Meanwhile, one team found a wooded area where they could get fuel for their fires. A second team found a stream, with drinkable water. A third found food, growing in the ground. Wild potatoes. And corn. And cooked beef.

Yes, cooked beef. Coming up out of the ground. Elizabeth analyzed it.

"It's beef," she said conclusively.

"Beef from the ground?" said Ensign Collins.

"Beef... from the ground," said Elizabeth. Everyone watched as she cut off a piece, and put it in her mouth. She chewed experimentally. "And cooked well done, too."

"Imagine that, Michael," said Victor. "Food, water, a temperate climate... all the things we need to survive."

"How convenient," said Taylor. "A little too convenient, if you ask me."

Victor smiled back at him.

Days began to grow into weeks. The monotony of the routine started to grate on the crew. Then one day, Crewman Rudy Garrett said, "Sir, you have to come to the stream! You have to see this!"

They followed him at a run.

A waterfalls had appeared at the stream.

"That wasn't there two days ago," said Taylor.

"No it wasn't," Victor agreed.

"It's not just a waterfalls, sir," said Garrett. "Look into it!"

They did. All of them saw something different. Victor saw the Horse Crab Nebula. Ensign Collins saw his girlfriend back on Earth. Rudy Garrett saw his family. Babangida saw his family in Nigeria. Wade Tanner saw his home in South Africa.

And Taylor saw... Pam. She was getting up in the morning, looking at her face in the mirror. He had almost forgotten how beautiful she was, with her high cheekbones and green eyes and blonde hair. Could that be real? Was he really seeing Pam, back in the past? Or was that just a memory, an illusion? Somehow, it seemed important to find out.

"Isn't it amazing, Michael?" Victor said.

"It is," said Taylor. "First our basic needs are taken care of, and now this. Our need for entertainment. It's as if the planet is alive, and aware of our needs, and taking care of us. Or perhaps someone inside the planet is." He looked up, and around, expecting to see hidden watchers.

"It does seem that way," said Victor.

"But if it is a person, a people, how do we communicate with them?"

"Hello!" said Victor, cupping his hands around his mouth. "Hello!" he said, even louder.

Taylor shook his head.

Victor gave him a defensive look. "Well, you never know until you try, Michael."

The waterfalls proved immensely popular, as well as the two others behind it, which functioned the same way. After doing their daily chores, the crew would sit in front of them and stare. Each person would see something different. Sometimes they would see loved ones, or views of Earth from their time period, or even sporting events or entertainment serials. It was like holovision, with more channels then there ever was on old Earth.

At first, Taylor spent time watching Pam. Her smile, the way she moved, and the way she looked excited him. But quickly the pleasure was overcome by the pain, the pain of knowing he would never see her again, never have her again. So he stopped watching.

The rest of the crew enjoyed the waterfalls, however. It was their only connection, however tenuous, with the Earth they knew.

Taylor sat in the grass, watching a cooking fire burn. Victor and Doctor McCrae sat down next to him.

"Don't look so sad, Michael," said Victor.

"I came here to perform a mission," said Taylor.

"And you have, Michael," said Victor, literally patting him on the back.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, we were sent here to save the Earth from destruction, were we not?" said Victor. "Well, look around. The Earth doesn't look destroyed to you, does it?"

Suddenly, Taylor realized Victor was right. "We're twenty two million years in the future. If the Earth is still here... then the Black Box didn't destroy the Earth."

"Right, Michael!"

Taylor should have realized it earlier. He should have realized it in the last time zone, and would have, had he not been so distracted.

"But... we didn't do anything," said Taylor.

"Perhaps nothing needed to be done," said Victor. "Or perhaps we are yet to do something that will change the events of time."

"I don't see how we're going to be able to do anything stuck here," said Taylor. "So... maybe the problem solved itself, somehow."

"Maybe," said Victor smiling.

"But where does that leave us?" said Taylor.

"Stuck here in farmville," said Doctor McCrae.

"You're not happy, Doctor?" Victor asked.

"No I'm not," said McCrae. "I'm a doctor, not a vegetable. Have you seen the crew, Michael?"

"I have," said Taylor.

"They just sit around the waterfalls all day, like it's the best holovision they've ever seen. We've turned into cabbages," said McCrae.

"Doctor, after all we've been through, don't you think we're entitled to some rest?" Victor asked.

"Rest, yes," said McCrae. "But it's been several weeks. I'm a doctor with nothing to do. My place isn't here."

"What about you, Victor?" Taylor asked.

"I could use a break, Michael," said Victor.

"And afterwards?" Taylor asked.

"We'll figure something out," said Victor, stretching his legs. "We always do."

"Victor, the incurable optimist," said Doctor McCrae.

"What's wrong with that?"

"Pessimism is more closely akin to realism," said McCrae.

"Really?" said Victor. "Is that what you were thinking when you were being experimented on by aliens with big foreheads, with no prospects for escape?"

"He has you there, Doctor," said Taylor.

McCrae shook his head and wandered off.

"We have to find a way to communicate with the people who are providing us with all these... things," said Taylor.

"I have news for you, Michael," said Victor. "It may not be people at all."

"What do you mean?" said Taylor.

"Look around. The Earth is empty. If there was a civilization, they would have come visiting weeks ago."

"You said they might be shy."

Victor smiled. "Even shyness has its limits. No, my current theory is much more disturbing. I think there are no people here, people as we know them. I think maybe the Earth has somehow become vaguely self-aware."

"The Earth itself?"

Victor nodded. "It's a wild theory. But it would explain the absence of people coming to visit. I think the planet has become self-aware, and is providing us what we need to survive."

"Victor, you said this theory disturbed you."

Victor nodded again. "It does. Because if I'm right, there are no people on this planet to come to our rescue. We will be stranded here for the rest of our lives."

Days turned into weeks, and weeks started to turn into months.

Taylor's chilly relations with Jennifer started to improve. When she smiled at him, he didn't turn away. Jennifer made small talk with him, and he responded. Gradually, he felt his anger starting to fade. They walked together to the fields to pick steak and potatoes together.

"This reminds me of my childhood," said Jennifer.

"You grew up on a farm?" Taylor asked.

"In Nebraska, yeah," Jennifer said, giving him a smile. "With three older brothers. Can you imagine that?"

"I can't," said Taylor, who had a brother and sister.

"Yeah. They got all the attention... at least, until I turned 13," said Jennifer.

"And then?"

"The boys from the neighboring farm, who used to come over to talk to my brothers, all came to talk to me," said Jennifer, smiling at him.

Was she flirting with him... again?

"I wonder why," said Taylor.

"Let's just say I was an early developer, Michael," she said, staring at him slyly.

Michael. That was the first time she had called him Michael, since....

Taylor quickly glanced at her beautiful curves through her increasingly worn Survey Service dayshirt. "You must have been very popular in farm country," he said.

"Let's just say I had to fight them off with a magnetic rake," Jennifer smiled. "And what about you, sir?"

"What about me?"

"That time you were a God on that planet. You said there were women...."

Why is Jennifer raising this subject? And why is she looking at me like this?

"You gave me the broad strokes of what happened to you," said Jennifer. She wrinkled her nose. "But never any really juicy details."

"You... you want to know details?"

"Um hm," said Jennifer.

Taylor couldn't believe his ears. He debated how much to tell her. "There was... a woman. A body servant named Drusilla."

"Ah hah!" said Jennifer, and she suddenly had a wide smile on her face. "I knew it!"

Taylor reddened. "This is why I never tell you my stories."

"Are you embarrassed, Captain?" said Jennifer. She rubbed against him 'accidently' as they walked. "I'll bet she enjoyed every minute she spent with her God."

"I... I believe she did," said Taylor.

That wasn't the end of it. Not only would Jennifer openly flirt with him, but she would usually sit with him, in the evenings, at his right hand side at dinner. As the sun would set, the light would reflect off her beautiful dark hair, off her green eyes, and her smile, as she stared at him adoringly.

When they would go to bed afterwards, she would say "Goodnight, Captain" in that sweet voice filled with longing.

Taylor began to think there was potential for something between the two of them.

It had been nearly two months since the Devonshire had crashed here, and it was now quite clear to everyone that they had little chance of rescue. The crew did what was natural. They started to pair off.

The surviving crew of 64 had 42 men and 22 women on it.

That meant there were 22 very happy women.

And that also meant that there were 20 unhappy men.

Taylor's eyebrows arched in surprise the night he saw Ensign Clay Raleigh enter the tent of Doctor Michelle Weatherford. Doctor Weatherford was nearly 70 years old, with white hair, and Raleigh was in his 20's.

He said as much to Victor.

"Don't be surprised, Michael," said Victor. "Anyone with a vagina can get sex, Michael. Anyone. That's the way it's always been, since the beginning of time."

Taylor thought about it. It felt like ages since he had last had sex. Now that he was back on dry land, in a relaxed environment with no worries, he started to feel natural urges... surfacing.

"You should think about pairing off, Michael," said Victor. "Before it's too late."

Jennifer. He meant Jennifer. He saw the knowing look in Victor's eyes. Were he and her being that obvious?

"She won't wait forever," said Victor.

"I know," said Taylor, feeling embarrassed to even admit it. "But I'm her captain."

"Not here you're not. Not anymore," said Victor. He slapped Taylor on the back. "Make hay while the sun shines, Michael. You never know when there's going to be a nova bomb in your breakfast cereal."

A nova bomb in your breakfast cereal. That was so like Victor.

After Victor said goodnight, Taylor thought about it. He had been thinking of nothing else for weeks. But how would it look to the crew... if he and Jennifer.... maybe he should wait a little longer. It would look less... improper, if he waited a little longer.

But then he went on a walk with Suki Tanaka which crystallized the situation for him.

They went to fetch water from the stream.

Suki had altered her Survey Service uniform. She had cut off the trousers so that they were now short shorts, which accentuated her well rounded ass. She had opened up her collar and pulled down her neckline so that the sides of her large creamy Southeast Asian breasts were showing. It was all against regulations but... what did Survey Service regulations matter here?

Suki smiled every time she saw Taylor staring at her breasts. He couldn't help it. He remembered how beautiful she looked, the time... the time he had made love to her. It was true, that the Ascended had heightened his sex drive, but there was no denying he found Suki attractive. Very attractive.

"The crew are starting to pair off, Captain," she said, in a low, seductive voice.

"So I've noticed," said Taylor. He also noticed that Suki walked in front of him, wiggling her tight ass as she walked, well aware of the effect it was having on them.

"Are you going to take a girlfriend, Captain?" She asked slyly, fluttering her eyes as she looked back at him.

Take. She said take.

"Me? No," said Taylor.

"Why not?" Suki asked, fluttering her eyelids in a way which excited him.

"I'm the Captain. It wouldn't be... proper."

Suki turned and faced him, flashing those wonderful breasts again. "Take a good look around you, Captain. We're not on a Survey Service ship. And from the way it looks, we never will be again." She stared at him for a long moment, with those dark eyes, and then turned and started walking again, wiggling her ass as she walked.

Taylor struggled to respond to that. Instead, he turned the question around. "How about you?"

"What about me?" Suki asked innocently.

Captain's girl. I want to be your Captain's girl.

"Have you found someone? Adam Milbrand seems interested...."

"Adam is nice," said Suki. "But Adam's almost a boy. I want a man." And again those dark eyes flashed at him, along with that little smile.

"Or how about Bruce Tanner, or Carl Waverly-"

"I know who I want, Captain," she said, turning abruptly to face him. They stared at each other for a long moment. Suki paused, considering what she wanted to say. Finally, she spoke. "She doesn't want you, you know."

She?

"You know who I'm talking about," said Suki. Her dark eyes were intoxicating. He could practically fall into them. "She wants Obongo."

"No," Taylor breathed. Jennifer? The same Jennifer who flirted with him, day in and day out? The same Jennifer who sat next to him by the campfire every day?

The same Jennifer who had become friendly with Obongo Babangida. Taylor had noticed it, without really noticing it. He didn't know what had transpired between the two of them after they had been stimulated into having sex with each other. Were they angry? Embarrassed? Something else?

But whatever they were, Taylor could see they had become friends. Jennifer smiled at Babangida, and he at her. Jennifer still sat next to Taylor in the evenings, but sometimes he would see her having lunch with Babangida, smiling and laughing. Taylor hadn't thought much of it, at the time, but now....

He looked into Suki's eyes, and realized he could delay no longer.

The following day, Taylor asked Jennifer to come to the fields to pick some food with him. She agreed, and brought some bags.

But as they walked, Jennifer said, "Michael, this isn't the way to the fields."

"I know," said Taylor, looking around. They were in a small valley out of view of the camp. It would do. "I wanted to talk to you."

Jennifer's eyes grew wide.

Taylor took her hands in his own. "Jennifer... I think it's time we... talked."

"All right, Michael," she said, planting her arms on her hips, trying to hide the concern growing in her mind.

"I...." Taylor suddenly choked up.

"It's all right," said Jennifer. She put a hand on his, and looked in his eyes."Whatever it is, it's all right, Michael. You can tell me."

"I... I had this whole speech prepared. It sounded really good," said Michael.

"I've heard you give good speeches, Michael," said Jennifer, smiling at him. "Don't worry. Just say it."

Michael looked into her eyes and found the courage to continue. "I... I think it is increasingly unlikely we are going to be rescued."

Pause.

"Um hm," said Jennifer.

"And... I noticed that some of the crew are pairing off."

"I noticed that too," said Jennifer evenly.

"And I thought... I thought... you and I... maybe... we... we could...."

"Oh Michael," said Jennifer. "My dear, sweet Michael."

Oh no.

And so Taylor's heart was crushed.

Jennifer sighed. "Michael, I'm married. To my Michael. Or had you forgotten that?"

"I hadn't," said Taylor. "But we're stranded, twenty two million years in the future. The chances of your seeing your Michael again... I think, are almost zero."

Jennifer took a deep breath. "Speaking logically, you're right. Speaking logically." She repeated, looking up at him as she caressed his hand. "But Michael, dear, sweet, Michael, it's not all about logic. I still feel a strong emotional attachment to him."

"But surely you know you're never going to see him again-"

"I... yes, I suppose," she said, taking another deep breath. "But emotionally, I'm just not there, yet. I... I need more time, Michael. Can you do that? Can you give me that?"

"Of course," said Taylor.

"Thank you," she said. She reached up and kissed him on the cheek, which felt exactly the same as when Babangida decked him in the face.

She picked up the bags. "Now, shouldn't we get back to business?"

Taylor nodded dumbly.

"How are you doing, Vincent?" Victor asked, as he came over to Vincent's tent.

"Fine," said Vincent sullenly. He sat alone, in front of his tent, which was far from the other tents.

"I never see you at the campfires at night," said Victor, sitting down cross legged so he would be at eye level with Vincent.

While Vincent shared in the chores and the food, it was quite clear from the cold treatment he got from others that he was not welcomed to socialize.

"I'm not interested in that."

"People talk about you sometimes, Vincent."

Vincent gave a bitter laugh. "I'm sure they do."

Victor frowned. "I wasn't there, Victor. I didn't see what you did."

"You must have heard," said Vincent.

"I did," said Victor.

"It's true... all of it," said Vincent. "I broke. Completely broke. They not only turned me, they got me to torture Elizabeth."

"I know," said Victor.

"She won't forgive me. None of them will. Even the other ones who also broke."

"I know," said Victor again.

"Then... why are you here?"

Victor smiled. "Because I am capable of forgiveness, and I think they are too."

Vincent frowned at him. "You're nice. You're popular. Everyone likes you."

"Not always," said Victor.

"No?"

"No," said Victor. "I used to be quite different in my 20's and 30's. I was hard charging. Focused on the science. Very competitive. It cost me my first wife, and a lot of my friends."

"So... what happened?" Vincent asked.

"I changed," said Victor. "As all people do," he said. He patted Vincent on the shoulder as he got up. "Just give it some time."

"How are you doing, Elizabeth?"
​