Fantasy Journey to Year 1,000,000,000

Taylor heaved a sigh of relief. His mission was truly accomplished. But one other thought struck him. "If the time tunnel was generated in the year 500,000, why did it extend all the way to the year 1,000,000?"

"That was our doing," said Pam. "When we observed this crude, artificial phenomena, we wanted to study it further. We extended the bridge to our time so we could better observe its effects on the space time continuum."

"I see," said Taylor.

"Are all your questions now answered?"

Pam! What would happen to Pam, the real Pam? The question stuck in his throat. He shook his head. "Are you going to kill me now?"

"I have to go back first and report my findings to Us," said Pam. "Then I will return to kill you."

"How long will that be?"

Pam shrugged. "From your perspective, a short time. Why?"

"I... I would like an hour, of my time. Will you give that to me?"

Pam looked at him oddly. "Very well, you will have an hour."

"It is done," said Pam.

"What did you learn?" 49 asked.

"I am uploading," said Pam. And in an instant, it was done.

"Primitive. Chaotic. Without Tisson Crae," said 77.

"Something concerns you, 1018," said 37.

"I was not able to fully expra an aspect of these creatures."

"What aspect would that be?" 37 asked.

"They call it... love." Pam looked blank. "I am uploading now."

"Interesting," said 37, as the data was transmitted.

"Their concept of love seems a little like our concept of affiliation, but much stronger in nature, much more complex and nuanced," said Pam.

"Not all that which is examined is categorizable," said 1012.

"I am a research and diagnostic tool. That is my function."

"To research and diagnose in a reasonable period of time," said 49. "That time has passed. Dispose of the test subject and return to Formos."

"Of course," said Pam. "It shall be done."

Why had Taylor requested an hour? In some ways it would have been better to have been done quickly. He should have accepted Pam's offer. In just a few moments... he would not have had time to worry or fret.

And then, after Pam left, he realized why he had wanted an hour. He wanted to make a final log entry. Even though the chances were virtually nil anyone would ever read it, he wanted to make that final entry. It was the last duty of every Survey Service officer. And so he did.

He closed by awarding special commendations for the entire crew, the crew of all four ships, actually. Taylor made special note of Lieutenant Bill Carey, Professor Victor Berman, and Ensign Suki Tanaka, whose actions and bravery had helped save them.

And then, he was done... or was he?

He checked his chrono. There were still forty minutes left. Why had he asked for so much time? Did he really want to spend this long contemplating his oblivion?

Pam.

The thought came unbidden to his mind.

He missed her so terribly.

Even though she had rejected him.

Even though she had chosen another man over him.

Even though she had been dead for over a billion years.

He couldn't stop thinking of Pam.

The way she smiled at him.

The way she held him.

The way they just sat together on the beach; the way she looked in that tight, white fuck-cation outfit.

The way she looked at him over dinner.

The way she praised him and showed how impressed she was with him.

The way she sought his advice when she was troubled.

The way she snuggled up against him in bed.

The way she got up in the morning and gave him his first smile of the day.

The way she stood on the landing platform, when he came off the Westerner, just waiting for him, full of anticipation to see him again.

"Pam... Pam... Pam..." Taylor moaned. He closed his eyes and slumped in his Captain's chair. He realized he was crying.

And this was how it was all going to end. All alone, so far away.

So far from Pam.

Behind him, out of phase, Pam stood there, expressionless, monitoring his every thought.

Pam reappeared promptly at the hour's end. Taylor was sitting with excellent posture in his command chair. His face was expressionless, but his eyes were red.

He looked at her, without any hope in his eyes. He looked at her, this alien Pam, trying to see his Pam inside of her, glad, in a small way, that the last thing he would ever see in his life was Pam, even if she would be the end of him.

"I am ready," he said grimly.

Pam looked at him for a long moment. Did he sense just a hint of emotion, in her eyes? Was he imagining it, the look of almost... pity?

"I am not," said Pam.

"What?" said Taylor, sitting up abruptly.

"I am not ready to end you. I wish to study you further before I... kill... you. Are you amenable to that?"

"What... yes," said Taylor, looking startled. "Sure."

Pam looked around the bridge. "You have an intense feeling of emptiness. Loneliness. Because of your missing crew, is that correct?"

"Yes," said Taylor.

"Would you like me to turn them back on?"

"Turn them back on?" said Taylor, looking confused. "You killed them."

Pam frowned. "Again, I am limited to your vocabulary, which is quite imprecise. Perhaps it would be better to say I turned them off. Would you like me to turn them back on?"

"All of them? The ones who fell out of the Judicator-"

"No. Only the five I turned off. Perhaps that would not be sufficient for you. Perhaps-"

"Yes! Yes, turn them back on, please!" said Taylor.

Suddenly, the bridge was full of people. Ensign Daniel Wood. Victor. Doctor McCrae. Vincent Roman. And-

"Elizabeth!" said Taylor, rushing forward to take her in his arms. She hugged him back.

"Michael, what happened? We, we were in spacesuits, by the pyramid-" she seemed bewildered.

"Don't ask," said Taylor. "It's so good to see you all."

"What happened, Michael?" Victor asked. "At the top of the pyramid? And afterwards."

Taylor turned to Pam. She said, "I will give you some time to reacquaint yourself with your companions. Then we will continue our inquiry." She disappeared.

Elizabeth said, "Michael, who was that?"

"That was Pam," said Taylor quickly.

"Pam?" said Elizabeth. "As in the love of your life, Pam?"​

Elizabeth got a suspicious look on her face. "And did she?"

"Did she what?"

"Put you at ease?"

Taylor withered under Elizabeth's glare.

"A form of life which has evolved from self-aware atoms. Truly fascinating," said Victor. "So... they can be anything? Literally anything? Matter, energy, whatever?"

"So it seems," said Taylor.

"And we thought the United were evolved," said Victor. "Their cells had become self aware and could change into any biological form. But these beings can change into any substance which can be formed by matter. They could be carbon, iron, mineral, gas, hydrogen, anything!"

"Conceivably," said Taylor.

"And have they solved the problem of the United?" Victor asked. "Do they have motivation, purpose in life?"

"Yes. They are studying the nature of the universe," said Taylor.

"I thought the United had already done that. With their screan perception."

Taylor smiled. "Screaning is considered primitive here. They call it expra now. Pam tells me that there is so much more to expra of the universe than the United could even begin to understand."

"So that's it? They are content studying the universe?"

"I think... I think they do other things," said Taylor. "I'm not really sure what they do, actually. Most of the time I've been answering their questions."

"Well, you have to make it an even exchange! Answer their questions in return for answering ours," said Victor. "Just think of it, Michael. Getting the big answers to the true nature of existence. How big is the universe? What's beyond it? How was the universe created? Is there life after death? You have to ask, Michael!"

"I'll try," said Taylor. "But we have a bigger problem. Once Pam has finished asking me questions, she's going to kill me. To kill all of us."

"But... she just brought us back from the dead, apparently."

"Only to please me," said Taylor.

"To please you," said Victor. "I thought these beings didn't have emotions."

"They don't, at least, not as we do. But at times I think I've sensed... certain things from Pam. She's not quite as emotionless as the United were. I think she does have feelings, and motivations, but we just can't understand them," said Taylor.

"Then you have to get to her emotions, Michael. Get to them any way you can."

Taylor saw Elizabeth staring at him accusingly. "Any way I can," Taylor repeatedly woodenly.

They were making love again.

Taylor's penis was thrusting inside of Elizabeth's vagina, in and out, in and out.

Their lovemaking was partially for reassurance. They were both feeling extremely nervous, given what had happened, and each needed an orgasm to calm themselves down. But their lovemaking also had an exploratory quality for it. Elizabeth wanted to know how Taylor felt about her, and Taylor wanted to know how she felt about him. They looked deeply into each other's eyes as they performed the reproductive ritual, thrusting in and out, in and out.

When they both climaxed, Taylor dismounted her and lay by her side.

"That was good," he said mechanically.

"Yes, it was," said Elizabeth, equally mechanically.

Except, it wasn't.

Pam had changed the entire equation.

Taylor was well aware that this wasn't the real Pam. The real Pam was a billion years in another direction.

And yet... when she smiled, which wasn't often, she reminded him of the real Pam. When she looked at him, in that certain teasing way, she reminded him of the real Pam. She wasn't the real Pam, but could the real Pam be buried somewhere deep inside of her? Had this diagnostic tool taken more than Pam's physical form, perhaps her memories and personality as well?

The mere possibility of being with Pam had driven a wedge between Taylor and Elizabeth. They both knew it, and neither would publicly acknowledge it. But that would be the last time the two of them made love of their own free will for at least a billion years.

Pam appeared on the bridge a few hours later. "Has your Formos with your crew raised your spirits, Captain?"

"Yes," said Taylor, even as he was not entirely sure what Formos meant.

"Then let us proceed with our further examination of humanity."

Suddenly, her tight white dress was gone. Pam stood there, totally naked. She had the exact same body that Taylor had loved so much. She had heavy bell shaped breasts, larger on the bottom than the top, which big, red areolas. The hair between her legs was a rich triangle of freshly trimmed yellowish brown.

"What are you doing?" Taylor asked.

"You have said that I cannot understand humanity because I am not human."

"Yes," said Taylor.

"And so I have become human," said Pam.

Taylor looked at her body with an open mouth.

"Do I not have the appropriate anatomy?" Pam asked. "I modeled specific contours from your memory, but, if I am mistaken-"

"No, your anatomy is... appropriate," said Taylor. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Elizabeth looking aghast.

"Then make love to this body, Taylor."

"What?"

Pam stepped forward, and wrapped her arms around him. "Make love to this body, and perform the ritual of reproduction. I wish to experience the act of physical love."

They heard a hoarse cry, the rapid stomping of feet, and in seconds, Elizabeth ran off the bridge.

"You made love to that one a short time ago. She did not wish to observe us, for comparative purposes?"

"No, I guess not," said Taylor. A disturbing thought occurred to him. Had Pam been watching them?

Pam played with his shoulders. "Did she fear that by sharing you that you would lose some of your potency?"

"Not exactly," said Taylor. "It is difficult to explain."

"Then you can explain later. Come, let us make love," she said, taking him by the hand.

Taylor was aware of the eyes of Victor and Ensign Wood on him. He pulled his hand away. "It's not that simple."

"Why not? Do I not have all the parts you require?" She spread her legs, and then, with her hands, her nether lips. "Is my lower entrance not large enough? I endeavored to measure it most precisely."

Taylor looked down at her pink labial lips, nestled in the center of her blonde-brown triangle. Under any other circumstance, she would be flat on her back, with him pounding between her legs in seconds. But now, staring into those unfamiliar eyes....

"Your lower entrance... looks to be a good size," said Taylor. "But to make love to someone, you have to be in love with them, and they with you." He realized this was not strictly true the moment he said it. The times with Elizabeth... and the times with Suki....

"Very well. How do I make myself in love with you? Let us begin," said Pam. "Do we kiss? Let us start by kissing." She pressed her lips against his. They felt cold and unyielding. When she pulled back, she said, "Are you ready to have sex now?"

"No," said Taylor. "It is not like that. There are no set of rules for how you fall in love."

"Oh." Pam pulled back a bit, looking disappointed. "Then how will we do it, if you do not know how?"

"Just give it time. It will happen on its own."

Pam frowned. "I do not kockk."

"And right now, neither do I," said Taylor.

They were in the ship's cafeteria. Taylor had vaguely gotten the idea that if she was human, she would need to eat. He had persuaded her to wear clothes again. She was wearing the same revealing white dress that Pam, the real Pam, had worn on their fuck-cation.

Taylor followed up on Victor's suggestion. "If you want me to answer your questions, you will also have to answer some of mine."

"Why would I do that? How will it help my mission?" Pam asked, genuinely puzzled. She looked down at a salad like it was totally unfamiliar to her.

"It will not. But that is how my people behave. We do things for each other. We help each other. That is what it means to be human," said Taylor.

"Very well," said Pam, wrinkling her nose. "What kind of information do you wish to trade for?"

"Well, I was thinking... I'll teach you how to eat a garden salad, and you'll teach me... about the true nature of the universe."

Pam shrugged. "It sounds equitable. Let us begin. But first, you must show me everything there is to know about eating salad."

"I will," Taylor promised. "Take a piece in your mouth."

Pam, with her fingers, inserted a slice of cucumber into her mouth.

"Chew," said Taylor.

Pam looked at him solemnly, and began showing up and down. Taylor restrained the urge to laugh.

"Now swallow."

Pam swallowed. She immediately started coughing. Taylor pounded her on the back. She coughed vigorously. And then she spat--and the piece of cucumber went flying, across the room.

She recovered quickly, and looked at him. "Eating is quite an unpleasant sensation."

"No," said Taylor. "You just need to start with smaller pieces. I didn't realize I was feeding a baby." He took a fork and knife and cut up tiny pieces of cucumbers.

"I am not a baby," said Pam.

"You are to me," said Taylor. He brought a tiny piece to his mouth. "Eat."

Pam looked at him distrustfully.

"Eat," said Taylor. "It's all right. Really."

Pam opened her mouth. Taylor put the tiny piece of cucumber in her mouth. "Chew."

Pam chewed, still looking at him cautiously.

"Now swallow!" said Taylor. He restrained a smile. The last time he had asked Pam to swallow something had been... had been... an entirely different situation.

Pam swallowed. She felt the cucumber going down her throat. "A curious sensation," she said. "Let us do it again."

Taylor fed Pam the salad, bit by bit. "Why are you smiling at me?" Pam asked.

Taylor watched Pam nibbling on each piece he put in her mouth. "It gives me pleasure to feed you."

"Why?" said Pam, chewing as she watched him smile.

"Because you're beautiful," said Taylor. He remembered the time he and Pam had been living in a cabin. The time he had fed her grapes. It had been so wonderful, having her lying in his arms, watching her nibble as he fed her.

"Are you feeling ready to make love to this body?" Pam asked.

"A tiny bit," said Taylor.

"A tiny bit?" Pam asked, looking distressed.

"Call it progress," said Taylor.

And then Pam leaned over, the way his Pam used to. Taylor saw her luscious green eyes. Her elegant slender nose. Her gorgeous high cheekbones. Her lovely straight blonde hair. He loved every bit of her face. He found himself sliding forward, forward, and then his lips were pressed against hers.
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