Fantasy Journey to Year 1,000,000,000

"I do," said Jennifer smiling.

The minister smiled. "Then by the standards of the munificent World Government, I now consider you, Jennifer Hale, and you, Michael Dellingrod, to be man and wife. You may kiss the bride."

The audience cheered as Michael, the other Michael, kissed Jennifer.

"And do you remember that?" Michael asked.

"Yes."

"You were getting married to Michael, your Michael. How did you feel?"

"I felt... excited. Very excited," said Jennifer.

The scene changed again.

Obongo was pumping between Jennifer's legs. Jennifer was groaning and smiling. Taylor, laying in a heap some distance away, watched with hurt and pain in his eyes.

"Do you remember that event?"

"Yes."

"How did you feel?"

"Excited. Very excited," said Jennifer.

"Excited how?"

"Sexually. And...."

"And what?"

Jennifer turned to him. "Happy that you were there. Happy that you were watching."

I knew it.

The scene faded.

Jennifer turned to him. "What is the significance of these events?"

"The significance?" Taylor had thought it would be self evident. "You're looking for motivations for existence. Look at all the motivations I just showed you."

"Those were the motivations of a small minded animal being," said Jennifer. "They do not resonate with the United."

And then Taylor looked at her, at her stone cold face, and he realized that Jennifer, the Jennifer he knew, was truly gone forever.

They were back in the main chamber. Suddenly, there was a flash, and Suki was there as well.

"Hello, Captain," said Suki coolly.

Taylor gave her a hard look.

"We will now resume our experiments," said Jennifer. "Doctor Norman Thompson, you will now make love to me. You will experience the full male orgasm. You will give me the full female orgasm. If you fail to be sufficiently stimulating, I will give you the isotope."

"No... no... please, not me," said Thompson, as an invisible force dragged him forward.

"Yes, you," said Jennifer, with a wicked smile.

"Ensign Eugene Torrence," said Suki. "You will now make love to me. You will experience the full male orgasm. You will give me the full female orgasm. If you fail to be sufficiently stimulating, I will give you the isotope."

"No!" said Taylor. "Not two at a time! Not you too, Suki!"

Suki gave him a cool look. "Why not?"

"It's not right!" said Taylor. "Try to remember who you are!"

Suki looked a little confused.

"Try, Suki try."

Suki frowned for a moment. But then Thompson and Torrence reached the stage, and her attention was drawn elsewhere. Suddenly both men were nude, and Suki and Jennifer were as well. Jennifer smiled as she wrapped her arms around Norman Thompson; Suki's was blank as she kissed Eugene Torrence.

The crew were forced to watch as Thompson and Torrence, against their will, were coerced into making love to Jennifer and Suki on the bed in the center of the room. Thompson and Torrence knew they had no choice. They had to try, or else they would be given the isotope. In seconds they were all nude, and hugging and kissing frantically, trying to arouse their partners as well as themselves. Jennifer smiled as Norman Thompson got between her legs, and inserted himself into her. Suki's grin was especially wide as Eugene Torrence carefully inserted himself between her nether lips. The yellow light of the molten core of Corta washed over their bodies as the men pumped hard between their legs.

"Michael, we have to find a way to stop this," said Elizabeth, grabbing his arm.

"I wish I could," said Taylor. "I tried to reach Jennifer, but I couldn't. There simply isn't enough left of her." But had there been something in Suki? Something about her expression?

They weren't forced to watch, but somehow they had to. Taylor watched as Thompson and Torrence hungrily kissed their partners, as their asses moved up and down as they pumped in and out vigorously.

No... that's not the way, Taylor instinctively knew. But he was powerless to intervene or help his crewmen.

And then, the inevitable occurred as both men climaxed. It could hardly have been otherwise. Despite the tension, despite who and what they really were, Jennifer and Suki had very sexy bodies. Thompson couldn't help but spill his seed inside Jennifer as he stared at her sparkling green eyes and thick black hair. Torrence found he had no choice but to come inside of Suki as her tight passage stimulated his penis to completion. They both cried out, and collapsed on top of their partners.

But the United were not satisfied. Moments later, both men screamed as they were given the isotope, and Doctor Thompson turned into a pile of liquid. Torrence, however, turned into one of the United, a giant one eyed silvery squid.

Taylor turned to Victor, with agony on his face.

"I'm all out of ideas, Michael! I just don't know what to suggest," he said.

Captain Audrey Spaulding was in her full dress Survey Service uniform. So was Taylor. Both were surrounded by blackness.

"Let me guess. You're the ghost of the real Captain Spaulding."

"I am the real Captain Spaulding," she said. "By your time standards, I died nine years and seven days ago."

"So what are you doing here?"

"Time and space are not as linear as you think, Captain," said Spaulding. "Neither is physicality. Do you not remember the virtual layer?"

"Are you telling me that dreams are a kind of virtual layer?"

"I could say yes, but the real answer is much more complicated than that," said Spaulding. "I understand your pain, Michael."

"Do you?" said Taylor. "You know, I just realized, we never even met. Unless... the United who seduced me was originally you?"

"No... not me," said Spaulding.

And suddenly the blackness around them disappeared, replaced by a different scene, of Spaulding and the crew of Exeter, held captive in a very similar looking room, with the yellow light of the molten core of the planet shining on them.

"We will not cooperate," said Spaulding.

"Cooperation is irrelevant," came the words of the United in their heads. "You will be used and experimented on and will serve us."

And then Spaulding watched as, one by one, her crew were taken away and used in various experiments. Some were used in pain tests; others were forced to make love to United, under threat of the isotope.

Spaulding watched helplessly as her first officer, Commander Bill Dey, was forced to make love to a United in human form. "No, Bill, no!" She cried.

She saw Bill looking at her, as he pumped between the legs of a United in human form, the form of Ensign Susie Hayward. Ensign Hayward, the original Ensign Hayward, was a cute blonde with plump breasts. Bill knew he wouldn't last long. He gave Spaulding a pained look, but he gritted his teeth and kept pumping. Then he suddenly stiffened, his back arched up, and he cried out as he released into her.

Bill pulled out after a moment and sat there, momentarily exhausted. The United female gave him a blank look. Bill turned to Spaulding and gave her a cautionary smile. It seemed he had passed the test.

But as he smiled, his body started to shudder.

"No!" Spaulding yelled. But before her very eyes her first officer turned into one of the United.

Spaulding turned to Taylor. "I had to watch my crew, taken one by one, right before my eyes."

"It must have been terrible for you."

"As terrible as it is for you," she said, with sympathy in her eyes. "They saved me almost until they end, when there were only six of us left. They even used Bill against me."

"No, Bill, no," said Spaulding, as she was pulled up to the bed.

"It is either this, or the isotope," said the creature in Bill's form.

Spaulding, holding back tears, nodded. Suddenly, Bill's clothes disappeared, as did her own. Bill gave an inhuman smile and held out his hand. Spaulding took it.

"I had to try," she told Taylor. "Even though I knew my chances of surviving were slim, I had to try. We're Survey Service officers, and we don't give up, do we?"

She seemed to be looking desperately at Taylor for something, something to justify the decision she made.

"Of course," said Taylor, realizing that he was worrying about the feelings of a ghost. If she was a ghost.

Bill, or the creature which assumed the form of Bill, lay back on the bed. He was already erect. He looked at Spaulding expectantly.

With horror, Spaulding realized that she was not only expected to cooperate and have sex with this creature, but she was required to be the initiator. She looked at Bill's handsome hairy chest, and his large erect penis. She had admired his physique ever since he had been assigned to the Exeter. Sometimes in a wild fancy she had even daydreamed about-

Keeping that thought in her head, she mounted him, grabbing his massive tool and inserting him inside of herself. She started thrusting up and down, working to stimulate him, and herself. Spaulding was aware of her heavy breasts bouncing up and down. As she made love she was aware of Bill lying back, observing her, with cold, alien eyes. Spaulding looked away; she had to; if she stared at them, she would lose the feeling she was trying to kindle, and be lost.

Instead, she stared down at their connection, looking at his organ appearing and disappearing into her nether hole. She felt his hardness inside of her. She closed her eyes, trying to focus on the feeling, trying to make the impossible happen. She reached down and started to diddle her clitoris.

Up, down, up, down, up down. Spaulding smiled when she felt herself climbing the right path. Up, down, up, down, up down. Very soon, she found herself close to the top. She grinded triumphantly, feeling it about to happen... happen... oh, it was happening!

She cried out, and collapsed on top of Bill. She had made it.

But was it enough to satisfy the United?

Spaulding opened her eyes, and looked at Bill's.

They were still cold, but then he gave her a wicked smile.

It was then that she felt the burning sensation inside of her, as if she was being changed from the inside out.

Spaulding gave a wild scream as she began the transformation.

"You became one of them," said Taylor.

"I became one of them," said Spaulding. "Briefly."

"Briefly?"

"I merged with them," said Spaulding.

Taylor saw an image of the United that Spaulding had become, slithering over into a giant meat pie which represented dozens or even hundreds of United, merged together. As Spaulding entered the group, her squid flesh literally dissolved into the whole.

"They all took part of what I was, my determination as a Survey Service Captain, my sense of loyalty, duty, and honor, and they made it part of what they were."

"Obviously it didn't have much of an effect."

Spaulding gave him a knowing smile. "They, in return, shared some of themselves. When I was in there, I didn't really exist. In fact, there was no 'I'. Some indeterminate amount of time later, I emerged. I was given instructions. By then, there were only three of my crew left. I was instructed to have sex with Ensign Brian Harris, and if it didn't stimulate anything in me, to give him the isotope."

"I appeared to Ensign Harris as Captain Spaulding, but he knew what I had become. He trembled and begged me not to do this."

"And what happened?" Taylor asked.

"And I didn't," said Spaulding.

"You didn't?"

"No," said Spaulding. "Some remnant in me, some part they didn't manage to erase, took hold and said, 'No, I cannot do this. This is wrong.' And I refused."

"And what happened?"

"The United eliminated me. The last words I heard was that I was a failed experiment," said Spaulding.

"And now you're dead, and with me in my dreams."

"And now I'm dead, and with you in your dreams," Spaulding agreed.

"Is there some lesson to be learned here?" Taylor asked.

"Try to reach your crew that has been taken over. They may still be reachable."

"Not Jennifer," said Taylor. "I know, I tried." He remembered that cold face, those gleaming eyes.

"Then try another. The United who took my form."

"What about her?"

"She was Lieutenant Romana Martin of the Exeter. Try to reach her."

"How?"

"I will tell you."

"Crewman Jack Henry, step forward," said Jennifer, with a little smile.

"Crewman David Petersen, step forward ," said Suki, with the same smile.

"Crewman Myra Sanduval, step forward," said Ensign Torrence, in the same tone.

Taylor was running out of time. He walked right up to Jennifer. She smiled at him. "Eager for another round, Captain? You'll have to wait your turn."

"I want to talk to Elizabeth."

"She's in a corner over there," said Jennifer, pointing.

"No, not that Elizabeth. Your Elizabeth. The one Victor has been talking to."

"Why?" said Jennifer.

"I have something important to reveal to her."

"Reveal it to me, Captain," said Jennifer, smirking.

"Only Elizabeth. If the others find out that I had something useful to screan, and you wouldn't let me reveal it...." he let his voice trail off.

Jennifer gave him a hard stare with eyes as cold as ice. Then she nodded fractionally, and Taylor suddenly found himself in another chamber, with Elizabeth, presumably, the other Elizabeth. Although... since the United could look like anyone, he had no guarantee that this was the same Elizabeth that Victor had spoken to. Conceivably it could even be Jennifer, pretending to be Elizabeth, in which case she would not be amused by what Taylor was about to attempt.

"Elizabeth," he said.

"Yes," she replied.

"Or should I say Romana," said Taylor. He waited for a reaction. There was none. Having nothing to lose, he continued. "Does the name Ensign Romana Martin mean anything to you?"

Elizabeth stared at him for a long moment. "I was Ensign Romana Martin."

Good!

Taylor resisted heaving a sigh of relief. He had to look confident. "You have her memories?"

"Yes," said Elizabeth.

"All of them?"

"Of course," said Elizabeth.

"Would you mind if we explored a few of them?"

Ensign Romana Martin was young, blonde, and beautiful... though completely flat chested. But like Elizabeth, when she couldn't attract the boys, she turned to her career. And so she was all smiles as she was graduated from the Survey Service Academy, being awarded the probationary rank of Ensign. She smiled and laughed as everyone clapped, including her parents and younger brother Fred, who were sitting front row center.

"Do you remember this moment?"

"Of course."

"How did you feel?"

"Proud," said Elizabeth. "Very proud."

"Why?"

"Because I was commissioned in the Survey Service. I always wanted to join the Survey Service," said Elizabeth. She looked at Taylor. "Didn't I?"

"Yes, you did."

The scene changed.

The crew of the Exeter was on a rogue planetoid, a rocky asteroid, engaged in a battle with the United. Two of the Exeter crew got pinned down and stunned by the United, and the squids moved forward to take them away. Ensign Martin and another crewmember charged forward to save them; the crewman was shot and fell to the ground, but Martin, her compression pistol blazing, blasted the two squids and saved her fallen comrades.

"Ensign Martin risked her life to save others," said Taylor. "Why did she do that?"

"Out of a sense of honor, and obligation," said Elizabeth. "But how do you know this occurred?"

Taylor didn't answer. He moved on to another memory.

Ensign Martin was the very last crewmember to be given the isotope. She was there when Captain Spaulding refused the order to mate with Ensign Harris. She was there when Captain Spaulding was liquidated. Through Ensign Martin's eyes, they saw Captain Spaulding blown to pieces, and heard Ensign Martin cry out.

"Why did you cry?" Taylor asked.

Elizabeth was silent.

"I asked a question," said Taylor, sharply.

"I was upset," said Elizabeth. "My Captain had just been terminated." She turned to Taylor. "You were not present at any of these events. How do you know what happened?"

"Captain Spaulding told me," said Taylor.

"Captain Spaulding is dead," said Elizabeth.

"But she told me nonetheless. And she's very disappointed in you, Ensign," said Taylor.

"Disappointed?" He saw the surprise on her face. Hopefully it registered even deeper than that.

"You're still a Survey Service officer. There are Survey Service officers being held here. It's your duty to release them."

"No!" said Elizabeth. "I am not that person anymore." She paused. "In any event, I cannot. The others would never permit it."

Taylor put an arm around her shoulders. "What if I introduced you to a new motivation?"

"A new motivation?" said Elizabeth.

"The pursuit of power. Power over others," said Taylor.

"We have power over you," said Elizabeth.

"That's not what I mean," said Taylor. "Power over others. Over the other United."

"We... make decisions as a group. The biomass decides. We execute. There is no way for the few to impose their will on the many."

Taylor smiled. Captain Spaulding had told him as much. "But what if your biomass has a substantially greater density than the others? Then your biomass would be greater."

Elizabeth looked at him, and for the first time, Taylor saw surprise on the face of a United. "It... it might work."

"You can alter your density?"

Elizabeth nodded.

"Then do it."

"I... I'm scared," said Elizabeth.

"Congratulations. You have motivations. That's what you've always wanted, isn't it?"

Elizabeth nodded.

"Then go do this."

"Is... is this what a Survey Service officer would do?" Elizabeth asked.

"This is exactly what a Survey Service officer would do," said Taylor.

Elizabeth nodded.

Suddenly, they were in a different place, a large room with a giant meat pie, lined with tentacles. The group meeting place of the United.

Elizabeth looked at Taylor. "Stay here." She turned and squared her shoulders, and walked into the meat pie, her head held high. Then she started to sink into it. In moments, she disappeared.

A moment later, there was a kind of ripple in the meat pie. The ripple became a wave, then many waves. The ground shook. Taylor heard an inhuman roar. The meat pie had competing waves which were smashing into each other. And then there was a loud ripping sound, and a large piece of the meat pie got shot out of it, and hit a cavern wall. There was a giant bleeding hole in the meat pie, but not for long, as it quickly sealed itself up. In moments, there was no sign of a battle.

Suddenly Jennifer appeared in front of him. "You did this," she said accusingly, her eyes ablaze.

"That's right," said Taylor calmly. "You wanted a demonstration of motivation. Well, I just gave you one."

Jennifer raised her hand, as if to strike him down, but then she heard a roar from behind her, and the tentacles in the meat pie waved furiously. "No," she said slowly. "We will save you for last."

And suddenly, Taylor was back with the other prisoners.

"It was a good try, Michael," said Victor. "And it proves an important point. Some of our people may still be reachable. If Romana Martin of the Exeter was persuadable, perhaps-"

Suddenly there was a flash, and Ensign Torrence appeared.

"Who are you here for?" Taylor asked.

Torrence gave a ghost of a smile. "I am here for Crewman First Class Karen Levenson. Crewman First Class Karen Levenson, please step forward."

"No!" said Karen. "Not me, please!" But an invisible force started to carry her forward.

"Torrence, listen to me. You can't do this," said Taylor.

Torrence looked at Taylor with dead eyes. "And why not, Captain?"

"You're a Survey Service officer! Remember who you are!"

Torrence stopped in front of Karen Levenson. He addressed her with dead eyes. "Crewman First Class Karen Levenson, you will now service me sexually. You will give me the complete male orgasm. You will also experience the complete female orgasm. Do this well, and you will avoid the isotope."

"No, no please," she cried. Thus far, Taylor was the only one who had been able to satisfy the United well enough to avoid the isotope.

Torrence looked into her frightened eyes. "You must come," he said. Something about his gaze was hypnotic. He took her by the hand and led her up to the bed.

Taylor ran up to the bed. "Torrence, you're a Survey Service Officer! Try to remember!" He reached out to grab Torrence's arm. He went flying into the air.

"Your turn will come soon enough, Captain Taylor," said Torrence, in an ominous tone. He looked at Levenson, and suddenly they were both nude. Karen had small but perky breasts and a blonde pubis. Her naked body trembled as Torrence brought her onto the bed. He lay her on her back, and then got to work between her legs.

"Michael, are you all right?" said Elizabeth. Taylor, sprawled on the ground, nodded as he quickly got up.

"We've got to do something!" said Elizabeth.

Taylor watched Torrence pumping between Karen Levenson's legs. He heard her moans. He watched as she wrapped her arms and legs around him, as she tried to give in to her passions, as she tried to make herself as excited as possible. In the strong light of the fiery planet's core, Torrence's yellow buttocks clenched and unclenched as he worked himself in and out of her.

"There's nothing we can do," said Taylor grimly.

"And how does that make you feel, Captain?"

Taylor turned to see Jennifer.

"I feel your hopelessness," said Jennifer. "It is strong, so strong. So... intoxicating," she said, momentarily closing her eyes and smiling. "One of the strongest feelings we have felt so far. Please, continue. The United are observing everything."

Taylor looked at Jennifer, what she had become. He wanted to smack her in the face, as Obongo had done to him. Her face was partially blank, but at the same time, also partially smug. It was a weird combination.

Jennifer pointed to the bed. "Observe, Captain. Watch as yet another of your crewmember gets the isotope. And then look around! Look, Captain!"

Taylor reluctantly looked around the room.

"More than half of your crew are gone! Soon, there will be no one left. And there is nothing you can do to stop it," she said, staring at his face from inches away.

Taylor struggled with his rage, as Jennifer smiled openly. Then he abruptly turned away. Elizabeth took him into her arms, giving Jennifer a look of pure hatred.

Jennifer's smile grew crooked.

"Hello, Captain."

Taylor stared out into the blackness. "Hello, Suki."

Suki Tanaka was dressed in her Survey Service finest, just like Captain Audrey Spaulding and Jennifer Hale before her.

"So, can we skip that part about whether I'm a ghost, and what this really means?"

"If you like."

"Under normal circumstances, I couldn't be here," said Suki casually. "But I, we, we've gotten a little outside help."

"From whom?"

"From someone you know. Sort of," said Suki.

"Very cryptic. Exactly what I'd expect--from a dream," said Taylor, looking at the blackness around him.

"I was angry at you for a very long time," said Suki.

"I know," said Taylor

And suddenly, the scene played out in front of them.

Taylor was making love to Suki, on the grass in front of the springs, in the virtual layer in the year 22,000,000. She was riding up and down on his penis. Her heavy pear shaped breasts, dripping with water, looked so gorgeous, so ripe, like fruit aching to be harvested. He felt the wonderful pressure as she rode him vigorously.

"Say it!" Suki commanded.

"You're my Captain's girl. You're my Captain's girl," said Taylor, feeling overwhelmed by the physical sensations.

"Yes! Yes yes yes!" she cried, and she reached down and kissed him furiously. She started to move up and down more rapidly now, harder, and faster.

"Forever," she said. "I'm your Captain's girl, forever and ever. Say it."

Taylor winced. The pressure on his organ was intense. He had to come. He had to climax.

"Say it!" Suki demanded.

"Yes," Taylor gasped. "Forever."

"And then, just moments later, you dropped me," said Suki. "You fucked me and discarded me almost immediately after. I was so angry with you for the longest time afterwards."

"I'm sorry," said Taylor, realizing he was apologizing to a ghost.

"But in time, I realized the truth," said Suki.

"And what is the truth, for you?" Taylor asked.

Suki walked up and stared at him, face to face. Her expression was unreadable. "I was trying to seduce you. I was trying to have you make a commitment, in the heat of the moment, that you never would have made otherwise. It wasn't real, and it certainly wasn't fair to you." She abruptly turned and walked a few steps away.

"And when did you realize this?"

"Recently," said Suki, still turned away. "I've had a lot of time to think about things, lately."

"Since you died," said Taylor.

Suki turned to him and smiled. "You don't have to believe, Captain. Just listen. You can reach me."

"Reach you?"

"The thing I've become. It hasn't taken me over. Not all of me, not like the others. The fact that I'm here is proof of that."

"Proof," said Taylor, restraining a laugh.

"Try," said Suki, looking earnestly into his eyes as she put a hand on his shoulder. "Try, Captain."

"Doctor William McCrae."

Taylor stirred out of an uneasy sleep. He saw Suki, standing in the spotlight next to the bed in the center of the chamber.

"Doctor William McCrae, step forward."

McCrae gave the others a quick glance, but knew they were powerless to help him. Seeing as he had no choice, he stepped forward.

So did Taylor. Suki ignored him.

"Doctor William McCrae, you will pleasure me sexually. You will achieve the male orgasm. You will help me to achieve the female orgasm. If you do this well enough, you will not be given the isotope."

"Suki, no," said Taylor. "You can't do this." But he felt so powerless even as he said it. He felt like he was simply repeating what he had said to Torrence. But he had to try!

"Why can't I?" Suki asked, her face a mask of emotionlessness.

"Because you're a Survey Service officer. Remember your oath! Remember your duty to your fellow crewmen!" said Taylor.

Suki blinked rapidly. For a moment, uncertainty crossed her face. Then it vanished.

She turned to Doctor McCrae. "Doctor McCrae, you will have the male orgasm. You will give me the female orgasm, in my vagina and clitoris." Suddenly, she and McCrae were nude.

McCrae raised an eyebrow and stared at her intently. He let her pull him onto the bed, so he was laying on his back. Despite the seriousness of the situation, McCrae got an immediate erection, as he looked at her naked, sexy body.

Suki smiled as she watched his penis inch up, and speeded up the process with her hand, looking up at him with mocking eyes. When he was ready, she moved to mount him. Taylor knew better than to try to interrupt them. He watched helplessly as Suki inserted McCrae's shaft inside of her, and started to ride him up and down.

Taylor moved to where he could make eye contact with her. "A Survey Service officer does not harm another officer."

Suki moved up and down on McCrae's penis, her face a blank.

"A Survey Service officer does not betray her oath."

Suki's blank face bobbed up and down, up and down. Her breasts, which flopped this way and that, showed more reaction than her face, which was still completely emotionless. Her eyes stared into the horizon.

"Try to remember who you are!" No response. In desperation, Taylor cried out, "Suki, if you give him the isotope, you'll kill him!"

She looked directly at him, for a moment, and suddenly it seemed the old Suki was there, her eyes pleading, fearful, and troubled. But then she looked away, and her face went blank. Suki's firm ass bounced up and down, as she continued the reproduction ritual. The crack between her legs widened every time she went down on McCrae's stiff organ. Her dark triangle was like an arrow, pointing down to what was about to happen.

Taylor went over to Victor. "I tried to reach her, Victor. I tried, just like she said. But I can't!" His voice was filled with desperation.

Victor looked confused. "Just like who said, Michael?"

In moments they heard the sounds of sexual climax. But the sounds they heard were all Doctor McCrae's. Suki didn't say a word.

A few seconds later, Suki dismounted McCrae. They could see drops of liquid dripping between her legs. But her face was as still as stone.

"No," Taylor whispered.

McCrae sat up. He looked at Suki, and saw the verdict. He put a hand to his chest.

"No," said Elizabeth.

McCrae started to breathe intensely as he felt fear grip him. Something was happening! It was inside him, changing him, turning him into-

Nothing.

It had all been in his mind. All self-induced. He hadn't been given the isotope.

He was totally fine.

McCrae looked up at Suki as he realized this. She gave him an unreadable look.

And then she vanished.

"I guess I satisfied her in some way," said McCrae, as everyone came up to congratulate him. McCrae had put on his pants and was working on his shirt. "I was pretty good in my day, but that was 20 years ago. I guess once you have it, you never lose it, right, Captain?"

Taylor smiled and nodded. The crew was happy for McCrae. It was nice to have one moment of positive morale, even if it was fleeting.

Victor spoke to Taylor in a low voice. "Not to cast aspirsions on the good doctor's sexual abilities, but was it is really him, or was it something you said, Michael?"

Taylor remembered the look on Suki's face in that one precious moment. "I'm hoping it was me, Victor."​