Fantasy Making of a Starship Captain

[Note: This Science Fiction story is an intense character study with occasional sex scenes.]

The next morning they shuttled back down to the planet. Andrea Farber met them at the landing field and escorted Taylor and Sophie Astor to the Australian Concession in an air car.

"How was your dinner with Joanna last night?" Andrea asked casually.

Taylor raised his eyebrows.

Andrea's bright red hair whipped in the wind as she drove the air car. "I'm the senior Survey Service officer here, Mike. At least, I was until you showed up. It's my job to know what's going on here." She licked her lips. "I couldn't help but notice that I, the ranking Service officer, wasn't invited to dinner."

"She just wanted to catch up on things. We were both at the Academy together," said Taylor.

"All three of us were at the Academy, Mike. Four of us, if you count Sophie. I guess she just wanted to catch up with you," said Andrea.

She's jealous, Taylor thought, as he looked into her eyes.

"You want him, don't you?" said Taylor's Lust.

"Maybe," said Andrea's Lust.

"He fucked Joanna. He fucked her blind last night," said Taylor's Lust.

"He did?" said Andrea's Lust, sounding distressed.

"Yes. A two hour wild sex binge. And you want to know the craziest part?" Taylor's Lust asked.

"Do I?" said Andrea's Lust.

"You do," Taylor's Lust affirmed. "As he was coming inside of her, he closed his eyes and dreamed it was you."

Andrea's Lust gasped, and started rubbing herself between her legs.

Andrea suddenly blushed. She struggled to regain her composure. "So Mike... did you learn anything?" Andrea asked, trying to sound calm.

"No. Just that they're having problems with animals getting stoned."

"Yeah. I had my techs look into it. It could be some kind of rapid chemical conversion. We're really not sure."

"The kind that are done in Fabricators?" Taylor asked.

"What are you saying, Mike? That the Chinese grabbed one of Joanna's goats in the night, shoved it into their Fabricator, turned it into stone, and then brought it back, all without being seen?" Andrea asked.

"Maybe," said Taylor.

"Ping might do it, but not Pong. Pong is a good guy, I can feel it," said Andrea, grinning.

Was she making a joke? Taylor suddenly remembered that Sergeant Chappie had expressed a liking for one of the twins, but Taylor forgot which one.

When they got to the ranch, Joanna was there to greet them. "Andrea, darling, so nice to see yew again!" said Joanna, giving Andrea a warm and insincere hug. Then she turned to Sophie, and opened her arms. "Sophie, come and give me a great big hug!"

Sophie just looked at her. "Fascinating. Does feeling the warmth of a person's body near yours mitigate the social awkwardness you feel when you greet someone you have no interest in seeing?"

"Still the same old Sophie! Colder than a July day in Tasmania!" Joanna grinned. "Come! Let me show yew my stone animal farm!"

She led them on a tour. "First over here yew see the tree," she said. She pointed to a giant tree, at least fifteen feet tall, made entirely of stone.

"Is that really stone?" Taylor asked.

Sophie looked into her scanner. "Yes. Some kind of sedimentary rock base."

"What could turn a tree into stone?" Taylor wondered.

"Wait, there's more," said Joanna. She led them to another part of the ranch. "Meet Napoleon the Pig."

They found themselves staring at an obese pig, made entirely of stone.

"And over hear we have Obamma the Goat," said Joanna. They saw a stone goat in the neighboring pen.

"So... how does this happen?" Taylor asked. "Has anyone actually seen it happen?"

"It's olways at night," said Joanna. "No one has actually seen it, but we've oll heard it."

"Heard what?" Taylor asked.

"The roar of the Gorgon," said Joanna.

"The roar of the Gorgon," said Sophie, sounding singularly unimpressed.

"It's kind of like a deep, growling sound. Like the sound of something big, something heavy," said Joanna. She gave a deep roar that was almost comical. "Like that, only... loudar."

Sophie looked at her without blinking. "A Gordon is a mythical creature which can turn people to stone by looking at them. Mythical creatures are unreal."

"Whatever this is, it's certainly real," said Joanna. "Just look around yew," she gestured with her hands.

"I see a stone tree, a stone pig, and a stone goat. That does not follow that there is a mythical Gorgon," said Sophie.

"We have explored so little of Sheppard's World," said Andrea. "It's possible there can be a form of life here that can do this."

"That can petrify animals with a glance?" said Sophie.

"I'll tell you who's petrified, it's my staff," said Joanna. "A half dozen have quit olready, and a dozen more are making noises. If this continues, we'll have to pack up and head home." She looked at Mike. "Mike, can yew help us?"

"That's what we're here for, Joanna," said Taylor firmly. "I'm going to bring a squad of Survey Service Marines down here tonight from the Relentless with IR goggles to patrol the perimeter." He felt Andrea's eyes on him. "Andrea, can you bring down a squad of your own people from the Scunathorpe, so we can run a joint operation?"

"That would be great, Mike," said Andrea, with relief in her voice.

"Mike, what if yew come face to face with this creachar?" Joanna asked fearfully.

"Then I'll make sure it blinks first," said Taylor.

That night, Taylor stood in the darkness at the Australian Concession, with his comm in hand. Andrea stood by his side. "Thank you, Mike," she said quietly, squeezing his hand.

"For what? I haven't done anything yet," said Taylor.

"For letting me be involved in this operation," said Andrea. "If we find this creature, you're arranging it so that we both get the credit, aren't you?"

Taylor turned to her. "Andrea, I'm only here to keep the operation on Sheppard's Planet going smoothly." He stared at her in the darkness. She didn't look vulnerable, but he screaned that she felt vulnerable. "And also, to help a friend."

He felt rather than saw her hug him. "Thanks, Mike."

Suddenly they heard a roar. It sounded like a bear, only deeper. Andrea, stiffening in his arms, pulled back.

"The Gorgon?" said Andrea.

"Perimeter stations, report," said Taylor, speaking into his communicator. He listened as they reported in. No one had sighted the beast. Taylor scanned the ranch with his IR goggles. Nothing.

And then they heard the roar again. It was louder, this time. "It's coming from zone two," said Taylor, speaking into his comm. "All units, converge."

But when they got there, they found nothing. They were in an area of the ranch filled with crops. They scanned the area with IR intensively, but saw nothing.

It was twenty minutes later when Sophie Astor called them, over their comm. "I'm at Zone 4. By the large red barn. Please come at once."

When they arrived, they saw Sophie standing blank faced, right next to a large stone cow. She went over and rapped it with her knuckles. "It seems we've been visited in the night."

"No one saw anything," said Taylor.

"We all heard it," said Andrea.

"We heard something," Sophie corrected her.

"Something... that snuck right by us," said Taylor, looking out of the barn.

"Something presumably big, from the sound of it, that leaves no visible tracks," said Sophie, pointing to the ground.

She was right. For a growl that size, they would have expected to see animal tracks, big ones, leading away from the enclosure. There were none.

"So what do we have?" Taylor asked. "A big, lightweight, stealthy monster who can turn animals into stone."

The next morning, Joanna came to them tearfully. "A quarter of my staff has quit, and the rest are threatening to. I can't blame them. I wouldn't want to be turned into stone neither."

"So far no one has been harmed," said Sophie.

"You think this creachar has a respect for human life?" said Joanna. She turned to Taylor. "Mike, please, catch this thing."

"We'll try, Joanna," said Taylor. "Sophie. I want you to start arranging shuttle trips. I want half the crew down here by nightfall."

"Half?" said Sophie.

"Armed with blaster rifles," said Taylor crisply.

"I'm not sure we have enough blaster rifles."

"Then give the rest compression guns," said Taylor. "I want them to form a perimeter around this place. Andrea! Can you spare twenty of your men?"

"Gladly, Mike," said Andrea.

Taylor turned to Joanna. "We'll have this place locked up so tight that nothing can get by. I'm through playing around."

That night Taylor and Andrea Farber stood in the darkness at the Australian Concession, listening to the routine reports of their men over the comm.

"Do you know what this reminds me of, Mike?" said Andrea, leaning against him slightly.

"What?" Taylor asked.

"Our survival training. Remember how they dumped us in the wilderness for four days and left us, all on our own?"

"How could I forget?" Taylor said. Suddenly he remembered a story, a wild, preposterous story Cherry had once told him, about how she claimed to have seen Andrea captured by the Blue Army, and turned into a brainwashed sex slave who willingly let members of the Blue Team fuck her right in front of Cherry... but better not to ask her about that, Taylor decided.

"I was paired with Tom Foggarty," Andrea said. "There were times... when we were snuggling together at night... when he would try to make advances on me." She smiled knowingly at him.

"And did you give in to them?" Taylor asked.

"No, Mike," said Andrea. "I was too dedicated back then. What about you and Cherry?"

Taylor tried to restrain a grin.

"You did!" said Andrea, her eyes widening. "You dirty dog! I knew it!"

"How did you know?" Taylor asked.

"When you came back, you were both kind of different. You especially."

"Me? How?" Taylor asked.

"You were more... relaxed," said Andrea, grinning at him in the faint light of their comm units. "Was... was it good?"

"A gentleman doesn't tell," said Taylor.

"She was incredible," said Taylor's Lust. Both he and Andrea's Lust were completely nude. He was hugging her from behind, and had his hands wrapped around her. "We came out of the river all nude. She was dripping wet and shivering. Cherry looked so sexy!"

Andrea's Lust groaned as Taylor's Lust grabbed her breasts from behind.

"We made love in the forest. We even made love while a patrol was around us. The thrill of it, the fear of being caught, it added so much to our lovemaking," Taylor's Lust murmured, as he squeezed and played with Andrea's Lust's titties.

"Oh, I wish it had been me!" said Andrea's Lust.

"It could still be you," Taylor's Lust murmured. He worked a hand between Andrea's Lust's legs and started rubbing.

"No, I can't! I'm an engaged woman!" Andrea's Lust cried.

"Engaged means not married," said Taylor's Lust. He started rubbing her clitoris. "You had one chance to make love to me, and lost it. This will be your last. Do you really want to lose out on it?"

"I... I don't know," Andrea's Lust cried, as she felt pleasure coursing all over her virtual body.

"Here, let me help you think," said Taylor's Lust, as he started rubbing her clit even harder.

"Oh!" Andrea cried, jumping slightly.

"What is it?" Taylor asked.

"Nothing. Just a bit cold," said Andrea.

Taylor reached over and gave her a hug from behind. His hands wrapped around her waist.

"Really, Mike, what if someone walks by?" Andrea hissed.

"Then they'll see a Captain keeping a Commander warm," said Taylor. He pressed against her from behind, rocking slightly. "You know the Survey Service motto, don't you?"

"Doesn't everyone?" said Andrea, enjoying the warmth of Taylor's body against her back. It felt so good! "We don't leave people behind."

"No," said Taylor. "You're wrong. It's 'We don't leave people's behinds."

Andrea laughed out loud as she felt the warmth of Taylor's groin against her ass. She turned around and faced him. Taylor couldn't see it, but her chest was flush and her nipples were hard. She wanted him. She looked into his eyes, and tilted her chin upwards...

And then they heard footsteps behind them. Andrea took a step back and cleared her throat as Sophie Astor approached.

"Am I interrupting?" Sophie asked. Andrea's cheeks burned in the darkness.

"Not at all, Commander," said Taylor. "What have you to report?"

"All the perimeter reports are quiet," said Sophie. "We're almost ready to do the 2 AM shift turnover. Do you want to get back to the ship and get some sleep, sir?" She looked at them pointedly.

Taylor thought about it and nodded. "Yes, Commander. I'll go back to the Relentless." He paused for a brief moment. "What about you, Andrea? I'm sure we have a spare cabin on the Relentless."

Andrea felt Sophie's eyes glued to the back of her head. She took a deep breath. "That's quite kind, Captain, but I should be getting back to the Scunathorpe. I'll... see you in the morning, Michael?"

"Count on it," said Taylor. He watched as she walked away into the darkness.

Sophie said, "I hope I did not disrupt your conference, Captain."

"It's quite all right, Sophie," said Taylor. "We were just about finished."

"From the look of it, you had barely begun," said Sophie.

Taylor gave her a glare, and then headed off to the shuttleport.

There were no more reports of "Gorgons" that night. Nor the following night. With the added security provided by the Survey Service, Joanna was able to persuade most of the staff to stay on, and keep the ranch going.

But then disaster struck the morning of the third day. Joanna called Taylor in a panic.

Taylor had been on the ship, relaxing in the Officer's Lounge. He frowned as he watched Ensign Miles Redding sitting by himself in the corner. He noticed Miles glancing at Yeomen Audrey King and Ann Marie Queen, who were sitting with their legs spread in their short miniskirts and high heeled boots a few tables away. Technically, Yeomen had no place in the officer's lounge, but Taylor made a special exception for his Captain's assistants.

"Miles, come here," said Taylor.

Ensign Redding came over. "Sir?"

"We have to work on your social skills, Miles. Do you even know how to talk to a woman?" Taylor asked.

Redding frowned. "The same way as you do a man, sir?" he said, trying to give the proper World Government answer.

"No, that won't do at all. Royalty! Get over here!"

Yeomen King and Queen came over, wiggling their hips, crossing one long, pantyhose encrusted leg in front of another in their large, high heeled boots. They walked like cats.

"Sir?" said Ann Marie. Ann Marie was the luscious blonde.

"Captain?" Audrey smiled. She was the brilliant redhead.

"Miles, make small talk with one of these women here."

"Small talk, sir?"

"Talk casually to them Ensign," said Taylor. "Pick one, Miles... Audrey. Talk to Audrey."

Audrey King put her hands on her hips, and bent her knee, exposing even more of her long, dark pantyhose encased legs tipped with her high heeled knee high leather boots.

Redding bit his lip. "I... I can't."

"Why not?"

"She's..." Redding dropped his head. "She's too pretty!" he whispered, completely embarrassed.

"No, she's not," said Taylor.

"Sir?" said Audrey King. "I'm not pretty?"

"You're not too pretty," said Taylor.

"How slightly pretty am I?" she asked indignantly.

"You're pretty enough, Yeoman." He gave her a dominating glare. "Listen, I'm trying to build up Miles' confidence, not vaporize it with a Nova Bomb." Taylor turned to Miles. "Look at her, Miles. Really look at her." His voice hardened. "That's an order."

Redding slowly lifted his head. He looked at her. To him, Audrey King was gorgeous. Her low cut uniform revealed the top of her large, round breasts. Her long legs, her slender figure, her gorgeous smile... they all made him blush.

"You see? You didn't melt. You didn't turn to stone," said Taylor.

"We have just established that Yeoman King is not a Gorgon. We should contact Commander Farber immediately and inform her of our discovery," said Sophie, from the next table.

"Quiet, you," said Taylor. He turned back to Miles. "Now, Miles, I want you to talk to her. "

"About what, sir?"

"About anything. About lunch. The weather. About how interesting this planet is."

Miles took a deep breath, and tried to look Audrey King in the eye. She was so beautiful!

"Isn't... isn't this planet interesting?" he stammered.

"I wouldn't know," said Audrey, crossing one leg in front of the other. "I haven't been down there. What's it like, Miles?"

"I.. I... It's... a colony planet," said Miles. Her smile unnerved him. Standing right next to him was a hundred and twenty pounds of very attractive girl. If things were otherwise, he would be kissing her, hugging her, pounding into her-

"What kind of colony planet, Miles?" said Audrey, battling her eyelashes. Miles couldn't help but notice how she rubbed her hands against the ass flap of her tiny blue miniskirt.

"There are con... concessions on the planet, one for each country," said Miles.

"No!" said Taylor.

"There aren't concessions, sir?" said Miles.

"No, not that," said Taylor. "It's not what you're saying, it's how you're saying it. Smile, Miles! Smile, like you're facing the firing squad, and just got a pardon!"

Miles smiled. It looked a little pained, but it was a start. Taylor nodded for him to resume.

"It's full of projects, from different tit-territorial nations on Earth," Miles stammered. Did he really just say "tit"? He hoped no one noticed.

"That's so fascinating, Miles," said Audrey. Her eyes sparkled at him, and made him want to melt.

They both looked at Taylor. He sighed. "It's a start. Audrey, go over there and practice with him. I want you to turn Miles into a secret agent."

"A secret agent, sir?"

"Yes. One who is impersonating a confident officer."

"Yes sir," she led Miles over to the other side of the lounge.

Sophie frowned as she came over to Taylor. "In my observations, it is very difficult to teach a bird without wings to fly. "

"Really?" said Taylor, looking up at her. "And exactly how many wingless birds have you tried to teach?"

Suddenly, they were interrupted by a comm call from the planet. It was Joanna. Something terrible had happened. They needed to come at once.

They took a shuttle down. When they got to the ranch, he found a crowd of ranch hands talking angrily in a circle around one of the barns. He and Sophie made their way through the crowd. When they got to the center of the circle, they found Joanna, her face full of horror, as she stood right next to...

A statue of a ranch hand.

"His... his name was Slim Jenkins," Joanna sobbed. "He was one of our best poultry managers."

Sophie trained her scanner on the statue. "It appears your Gorgon has moved onto more substantial targets."

"When did this happen?" Taylor demanded. "We had a cordon around this ranch so tight that a chicken couldn't have got through it."

"It didn't happen last night," said Joanna, sniffling. "The last time Slim was seen was at breakfast."

"This creature attacked in broad daylight, and no one saw it?" said Taylor. He turned to the crowd. "Did any of you see anything? Anyone?"

No one made a sound.

"Sophie, take a sample," said Taylor.

There were angry murmurs as Sophie took out her blast pistol, adjusted the setting, and shot off one of the fingers of the petrified ranch hand.

"You're desecrating the dead," one of the ranch hands shouted.

"We are conducting an investigation," said Sophie, picking up a blackened finger and putting it in a pouch. "Hopefully, this investigation will uncover what is happening here and prevent this from happening to any of you."

"You're right, this isn't going to happen to us," said one obese woman with white hair. "That's because we're leaving. Aren't we, boys?"

There were loud murmurs of agreement.

"I'm not going to wait around to be turned into stone."

"I'm not being paid enough for this."

"I'm leaving on the first shuttle out of here."

Joanna tried to talk sense into them, but they were too agitated. She looked at Taylor, and gave him a look of pure need.

"They are packing up! They are leaving!" said Ming Wa Ching. He was on the tenth story of the tall Fabricator plant, on one of the many balconies, looking out with field glasses.

"Let me see," said Ming Wa Chang excitedly, taking the field glasses. He grinned as he looked. Sure enough, he could see crowds of workers at the Australian Concession with virtual valises, gathered around several air busses. "Very good! Which shall we go after next?"

"The Europeans, I think," said Ming Wa Ching. "They are weak. They-"

He turned as he heard the sound of heavy footsteps. He saw Captain Michael Taylor and Sophie Astor coming out onto the balcony. They were followed by two Survey Service Marines. Then two more. Then two more after that, and two more after that.

"Lovely view you have here," said Taylor, leaning over the balcony. "Admiring the vista, boys?"

"Yes," said Ming Wa Chang. "We were just-

"-taking a break."

"And why shouldn't you," said Taylor. "You work so hard, don't you?"

"Especially at night," said Sophie Astor.

Ming Wa Chang and Ming Wa Ching exchanged glances.

"You were always our top suspects," said Taylor. "What we were missing was proof. Sophie did a scan of the stone pig and the stone goat. At first, it seemed to be simple stone."

"But when I took a sample of the stone farmer, Slim Jenkins, I did an analysis on the atomic level," said Sophie. "I found a unique molecular signature."

"The very same signature that we found on the sample of wood the two of you were so kind to give us on our tour here," said Taylor. He looked at them. "You didn't turn a tree, or a goat or a pig into stone. You stole a tree, a goat, and a pig, and replaced them with stone copies, didn't you?"

Ming Wa Chang and Ming Wa Ching exchanged glances. "We didn't mean-"

"-for anyone to get hurt-"

"-we were just being-"

"-a little competitive-"

"-perhaps-"

"-a little too competitive."

"A little too competitive," said Taylor, considering their words. "I see. Tell me, boys, where is Slim Jenkins?"

The twins looked at each other again.

"If I have to ask you again, it will be in the brig of the Relentless," said Taylor.

One of the brothers raised his comm unit, and started to speak into it. But Taylor was quicker, raising his compression pistol. "I don't know a word of Chinese. We don't have Sergeant Chappie here to translate. But I do know how to fire this at point blank range, get it?"

The twins nodded. One of them spoke rapidly into his comm. He got an incredulous response back, and the twin spoke even more urgently into the comm. Finally, he nodded. "He is-"

"-coming now."

A few moments later, a Chinese worker at the Fabricator plant came out onto the balcony.

"This is-"

"-Wang."

Taylor's eyes narrowed. "I didn't ask to see your Wang, boys. I asked to see Slim Jenkins. Release him at once, or you're all going to-"

"This is Jenkins," one of them insisted.

They looked at the skinny, Chinese man. "Howdy, ya'all," he said.

Taylor raised his compression pistol and looked at the twins. "Did you know that this has eight settings?"

"Wait!" said Ming Wa Ching. He gave a curt nod. The Chinese man touched something just inside his collar. Suddenly his face shimmered, and changed. He was now a white man.

Taylor's jaw dropped. "Chappie was right," he whispered. "Anyone can be Chinese."

The man called Wang said, "I am Slim Jenkins."

"A spy," said Sophie. "That is how you were able to move in and out of the Australian Concession undetected."

"Yes," said Ming Wa Chang. He turned to Taylor. "As you can see-"

"-no one was hurt-"

"-We admit we were a little overenthusiastic-"

"-but were hoping in the spirit of friendship-"

"-and our kinship and camaraderie from our wonderful Academy years together-"

"-that you might allow us to apologize and-"

"No," said Taylor suddenly. "A apology won't be sufficient, boys. You've gone too far." He gestured with his hands, and the Survey Service marines stepped forward, brandishing electrocuffs.

"Please!"

"We are allergic-"

"-to captivity!"

Taylor looked hard at them for a long moment. "All right boys. I'll let you go free. But I want both of you off this planet within a day."

"Yes sir!"

"And, I want a small favor."

"Favor?"

"I want you to Fabricate something special for me."

It was late in the afternoon and the staff was still packing their belongings. The pile of virtual luggage outside the busses were only getting bigger and bigger. It would require a number of trips to get them to the landing field.

Suddenly, they all heard the distinct sound of blaster fire. Again, and then again. It was coming from behind the cow barn.

Many of the workers raced there to see what had happened.

When they got there, they found an incredible sight.

Captain Michael Taylor was standing in front of a creature. The creature was shaped like a bull, but larger, much larger, and its skin was thick and furry, and it had large claws on the bottom of its legs. Two giant horns came out of the top of the beast.

And the creature was made entirely of stone.

And as they looked more closely, they saw that Taylor was holding something that shined brightly in his hands.

A large mirror.

People's jaws dropped collectively as they realized what had happened.

Taylor smiled at them. "I don't think you're going to have any more problems with the Gorgon, boys."

The crowd started to clap and cheer.

Joanna gave him a series of hugs and thanked him profusely.

And an hour later, Andrea was just as grateful, as he debriefed her in her Captain's quarters on the Scunathorpe.

She smiled at him. "But why didn't you just arrest them and have them make a full confession?" she asked.

"Because people might not have believed it," said Taylor, reclining in his chair as he sipped a drink. "By now people were convinced there was a creature. So we had to give them one."

"Very smart, Mike," said Andrea, her eyes shining. "You're not only handsome, but brilliant too."

"I'm handsome?" said Taylor.

"You've always been handsome," said Andrea. "Every girl in the Academy thought so." She frowned. "You really didn't know, did you?"

"I'm not the same person I was at the Academy."

"I can see that," said Andrea, sighing. Mike was so rugged and handsome and... available, just feet away! She realized they were in her command office. No one would dare enter without permission. They had perfect uninterrupted privacy. Could she... and should she....?​