Shock of the Other by MAC

Rev.0.3


Chapter One

In a tent near the construction site of the new habitat

Lillith just caught the falling mirror in time before it would have shattered against the stony ground. Relieved at the speed at which she could move, the mirror was shuffled back into place, this time not leaning against the constantly moving tent wall. Now she could again see how her preparations were producing the desired results. There in the dusty reflection was a smiling, young Velorian woman dressed in the shortest Terran cut-off jeans imaginable. Lillith had decided that the original pair that had been sent to her by her sister Kara were simply not sexy enough. She soon saw to the problem by cutting the jeans until they were little more than a beltline and zipper. That, according to Lillith's requirements, was perfect.

Around her abundant chest was a new blue gingham shirt. This too was modified so that Lillith could simply tie the shirt to cradle her breasts in such a way as to gain the undivided attention of her lover. That, in any final analysis, was the ultimate criteria in clothing for Lillith. It simply must make her so desirable to William that he would not be able to resist her. Noting how her breasts peeked out from under the knotted material, her abundant cleavage was made even more shapely by the blue-checkered shirt. Lillith decided that it all would most certainly have a positive effect on her wonderful Terran and smiled.

Lillith continued to turn, trying different poses, giggling at how defenseless poor William will be when he sees her in this cute outfit. As a final rehearsal, Lillith lowered her head, peered alluringly over her shoulder, and breathed his name aloud. As if she was taunting him in person, she flexed her arm in the way she knew he adored. The cutoff sleeve immediately went taut from the expansive bicep just before a sudden ripping sound broke her mood, making her jump with concern. She grabbed at the shirt with frightened anxiety to find the rip. "Pistu! Not now! Ohhhhhh!" Lillith groped her sleeve without finding any noticeable split. Disaster averted. She exhaled with relief as her cheeks puffed slightly. Her eyes warned the reflection to watch that sort of thing. The bicep flex part of the seduction was immediately canceled.

Reaching down, she retrieved a leather toolbelt that William had been missing for days. She hooked it together and slung it over her hips. It was much too large for her but if she hung it on one hip it just looked so sexy when she let it fall off the other hip. She simply had to have this belt. She positioned it perfectly and rolled her hips. The toolbelt passed the test. It would stay put when she walked.

The final touch was retrieved from under the table: a new white construction hardhat from Earth. William had requested them as well as the tools and materials, even though neither he nor Lillith truly needed any protection of their heads from falling material. But old habits die hard and the hardhats were included. When Lillith first saw them, she immediately got this idea. William, she thought, will be so surprised!

Lillith swept away her long blonde bangs to position the hardhat on her head. Tilting it to the left, she let her hair cover that eye as well. Now only one final look was needed before her grand entrance, or actually exit, from the tent. Placing her hands on her hips, she shifted her weight from one foot to another to find just the right, sexy pose. She finally settled on one and purred "I'm here to work for you, baby." Perfect! She was thrilled at how cute and sexy she looked! Bouncing up and down with anticipation, she pranced to the tent flap, paused to check herself one last time, and pushed the flap aside as if she was parting the proscenium curtains at Carnege Hall.

What greeted Lillith was a cacophony of snoring. William was fast asleep on his backside near a large boulder. On her left, Phil was snoring loudly as well as he slept on his favorite rock. To her right, Flare was lying on her back with her hind legs spread wide apart in a truly unabashed display. Even she was snoring! Lillith paused for a moment as she looked around herself with dismay, but the show was only temporally delayed. The opening act commenced as Lillith took position in sexy pose number one.

"Will'm..."

Her voice was golden, laced with possibilities of pleasure. William took no notice, snorted twice, shifted position, and continued to snore away in blissful sleep. Lillith immediately conceded that the moment was lost and tried sexy pose number two. She also added a bit of volume to her voice.

"WILL'M?"

Again William appeared to be completely unaware of the presentation before him. This simply would not do! Lillith had worked for hours to get satisfactorily sexy and cute for him and he will not sleep it away! Lillith's cheeks flushed red just a brief moment before her arms went rigid at her sides. He was going to SEE THIS!
Simultaneously, Lillith slammed her foot down on the ground and let William's name fire from her lips like the crack of a rifle!

"WILL'M!!!"

The blow to the ground would have registered as a force-five earthquake on Earth! Everything within six miles that was not bolted down was flung into the air! That included one sleeping Tetrite, one immodest blue dog, and one troublesome Terran lover. They crashed to the ground along with pots, pans, wood pieces, rocks, metal sheets, tools, and everything else imaginable.

Flare tumbled quickly to her feet and, in confusion, tried to bark in every direction at once. William had been lofted about ten feet upward only to disappear behind the large rock on landing. As he groggily reappeared, pulling himself up onto the rock, he noticed a beautiful young Velorian woman posing sexily and smiling at him. His first thought was that he now knew where that missing toolbelt was. Lillith was going to give him something else to think about.
"Hello, Will'm. I'm ready to go to work." She had reverted to sexy pose number one.
"Hi...hi, hon. What's with the hardhat?" Lillith's disappointment appeared on her face for only a moment as she watched William walk over to where Phil was struggling to right himself after his brief ballistic journey. William flipped him upright quickly and patted his confused head. Phil looked up at William once before shaking his head in a quick blur to clear his still sleepy mind. William began picking up some loose items that had been distributed around the area by Lillith's earthquake as he glanced at her. Lillith immediately beamed and posed. William smiled, but looked confused.
"What."
Lillith could not believe it! "Will'm, don't you think this outfit is cute?"
William shrugged. "Oh, yeah. Yeah! No, honey, yeah, that's a cute outfit! Where did you find my toolbelt?"
"Will'm! Never mind the toolbelt! I mean, look at the toolbelt...I mean...." Lillith was exasperated as she charged up to William and angrily placed her face inches from his.
"You wouldn't know `sexy' if it came up and bit you on the bata!" She immediately spun around and marched angrily away. Flare bounded after her, trying to understand why her mistress was so upset.
William watched Lillith storm away before looking down at Phil. "Bata?"
"Buttocks, sir. Velorian slang closer in translation to your Terran expression `ass'."
"Hm. Wonder what I did now?"
"I have not a clue, sir." Phil looked briefly around the area.

"Did something explode, sir?"

The work on the new habitat continued without Lillith for the time being. William, Phil, and about two dozen Tetrite stone masons worked side by side to complete the structure before the Time of Troubles. William was in the middle of telling Phil about a unique Terran creature.
"Sir, why would they extrude material from their bodies in such a fashion?"
"They make webs, Phil. It's a form of trap to catch insects."
"Why would they trap insects, sir. Do they ransom them or enslave them in some manner?"
"They eat them, Phil. Well, actually, they inject them with material that digests the insects internally, then the spiders drink that stuff. I guess it's all just one more way of doing things."
"Indeed, sir. You mentioned that these `spiders' have eight legs?"
"Yep. Just like you guys."
"How large do these creatures become, sir?"
"Well, nowhere near as large as you guys. There are some that get about this big." William stretched his index finger and thumb apart in front of Phil to display the approximate size of a large arachnid. Phil's head turned slightly.
"Most interesting, sir. I would like very much to observe such a creature some day." William noticed an obviously distraught Lillith walk slowly from behind a nearby rock. She was picking at a flower and would not look up.
"Yeah, well let's not bring spiders to Tetra, Phil, even if they would thin out the crickets."
"That would be most welcome, sir!" William smiled at the obvious reference to the annoying crickets that plagued every Tetrite nest. They would have more problems with spider webs, but that was best left for another discussion. William needed to go to Lillith.
"Excuse me a moment, Phil."

When Lillith noticed William coming toward her, she abruptly turned away and started walking back behind the rock.
"Lillith! Honey, please stop!" Lillith stopped but did not turn around. William stood behind her and placed his hands on her shoulders. "Honey, I'm sorry about this morning. I don't know what I was thinking. I guess I was just groggy from being awakened so quickly." Lillith pulled away and took a step forward.
"Maybe you don't want me anymore, Will'm. Maybe I'm not pretty enough." William immediately stepped in front of her, but she would not look up. "That's not true, Lillith. You're the most beautiful woman in the universe! I love you, kitten." Lillith again pulled away and turned.
"I used to believe you but not anymore. You hate me!"
"Lillith..."
"No! You hate me! There was a time when my body would fill you with desire! I used to be able to make you hard but not anymore!"
"Lillith, it's just that we're rebuilding the planet. There's a lot on my mind, hon! We've got so much to do! I thought you understood that!"
"I DO understand that! I understand more than YOU do!"
Lillith was getting angry and showed it by glaring directly into William's eyes. They were about to have an incredible fight when a momentary thought crossed William's mind. A thought about Lillith, about the war, and about what she needed from him right now more than anything else. Suddenly he wasn't angry at all. His brown eyes burned deeply into her blue eyes as his voice lowered to a whisper.

"Is that a new shirt?" His fingers felt the material as Lillith looked back down and silently nodded. "Very pretty. It looks nice with those jeans, kitten." Lillith smiled momentarily. "You don't need this." William slowly unhooked the toolbelt and let it fall to the ground. "Show me once more."

Lillith took two slow steps backward and began to model her outfit for William. As she turned and smiled, William watched every move, responded to every look, encouraged her in every way. Lillith quickly started to feel better about everything as her instinctive sexiness returned. Her lithe, sensual movements began an involuntary response in William. A response that he knew so well living with a Supremis woman whose ancient breeding and instincts focused on such pleasures as the arousal of a lover can bring. She was luring him to her, displaying everything about her to him that he would find irresistible. There was no scent of pheromones in the air. This was a seduction through the eyes only and his eyes took it all in. Her large breasts that spilled out of the tightly wrapped shirt. Her nipples that were growing so large they threatened to burst through the light gingham. The curve of her arched back with its deep crease that ran like a valley between two sensuously muscular mountain chains that ran from her broad shoulders down to her tapered butt. He watched as her fingers traced along a similar crease that ran from between her breasts down her long slender belly to her deep oval naval. Beneath her silken skin, a hint of the power her body possessed moved with such a subtle motion that it looked as if the muscles of her body were merely rising to the surface, only to melt back into the perfection that was Lillith. This was a seduction for the eyes. A seduction where her eyes too participated willingly.

Half closed in the rapture of the moment, her blue eyes never left the sight of William's growing erection. The rapidly swelling manhood of the enhanced Terran stressed his jeans until the rear seams tore loose! Loud ripping sounds came from each leg as the material gave way to form a large blue denim tent on the front of his body! Lillith squealed with delight as she gripped the remnants of William's pants and easily tore them from his body. The air suddenly filled with an intense aroma of wildflowers and honey as William's hands found the young Protector's body and pulled her to him. She spoke with a lustful, wanton voice as her hands caressed William's steel hardness.
"I adore doing that to you."
William could barely speak as the pleasure surged through him from her touch.
"I...I know."

A gray Tetrite and Phil watched the lovers from the construction site as the gray Tetrite calmly commented.
"An interesting species."
"Oh my, yes. Quite unpredictable."

The work proceeded quickly over the next few weeks. Neither Lillith nor William needed any of the tools. Driving nails only required pressing them into the wood with their finger. The resultant squeak annoyed the Tetrites, but they tolerated the noise. Lillith kept stripping bolts when she would finger-tighten them, but stopped doing so when William told her to just "snug them up". For Lillith, snug meant a torque of about 100 foot-pounds.

Most of the construction was done in Tetra stone that was quarried all around the nearby area. Particular care had to be made to not take anyone's favorite stone. In fact, all the local Tetrites gathered during any stone-gathering expedition to voice their approval or disapproval of the selected stones. It slowed the process down, but those same Tetrites returned to the site of the new habitat and gladly helped with the building process.

The day soon came when the new habitat was completed. It was a large stone structure, two stories high, facing the Freedom Fountain. It had a curious, rounded shape, somewhat like a large oval pill. Curious, that is, until one realized that it was shaped exactly like an underground Tetrite nest. The habitat was a gift from the Tetrites to their beloved Protector and it was designed in the only shape they knew homes should be. It was not until it was completed that even William understood this concept. When he did, he loved it, as Lillith loved it!

Everyone had gathered around the new habitat to celebrate. Phil was standing on the fountain, just finishing up his speech.
"...and so, in deep gratitude to the Protector of us all and her mate, we present this nest to you so that you may be shielded from the Time of Troubles, may eat in privacy, and may breed many, many offspring! Thank you!"
As everyone applauded, William cleared his throat at the thought of that last bit. Offspring! Ye gods!

Now it was Lillith's turn to speak. She rose, her cape fluttering in the subtle breeze. For formal occasions, Lillith always wore her red'n'blues.
"Tetrites! My mate, Will'm, and I thank you so much. We will live happily within this nest for many, many solars. I think it was the Tetrite poet, Balusnistus that once said..."
Behind Lillith, William watched her cape swing wide to the side on the Tetra zephyr. As it did, he noticed that her uniform had been tucked up into the crack of her ass. There, for all to see, was her shapely, hard butt. He wondered if she had intentionally done that herself. He stopped wondering when she peeked back over her shoulder and smiled a devilish smile at him. What was with her lately? He silently mouthed two words for her.

"Nice bata!"

Three days later, the new habitat

SHRIEK!!!

Lillith's scream as a new leak in the roof found her made William jump. The rains had come early this year and he had his hands full trying to deal with all of these damn leaks! There were hundreds of them! The roof was a sieve!
Phil had just trundled in the front door and was in the process of telling William exactly what he did not want to hear.
"What do mean they're not coming, Phil! The roof is terrible!"
"Quite right, sir. But they really do not have a lot of experience with roofing. You see, our nests are underground and..."
"I know that!"
"Yes. Quite so, sir. But you see, sir, it is raining..."
"That's why the roof leaks! Are you saying they won't come out in the rain?"
"That is an accurate synopsis, sir. Perhaps in the morning they..."
"Alright, fine. We'll just suffer through this. LILLITH!"

No sooner had William called up the staircase than a waterlogged Velorian slumped into view and staggered down the stairs. Her hair was soaked and covering her face. She looked miserable.
"Oh, my, Mistress. May I get you a clothe?" Lillith slowly shook her wet head and circled her arms around William. As she laid her head on his chest, she sobbed out the entire story.
"Oh, Will'm! I was standing upstairs when I heard something go creak and I looked up at the ceiling just as it gave way and all the water came gushing down on me and I screamed and everything got wet and it's so terrible up there I can't sleep when it's raining so hard on me and..."
William shushed her, trying to calm her as she quieted down into muffled sobs. Kissing her tenderly on her head, he looked down at Phil.
"Phil, go tell the Tetrites that served with me in the trench about this. It's time to call in a few favors."
"Yes, sir! Good idea, sir!" Phil scampered out the door into the rain as William guided Lillith toward the fire and the only dry room in the house.
"Here, darling, sit in here and dry off. It will all be just fine, you'll see. Just a few adjustments need to be made."
Lillith looked up at him like he had lost his mind.
"Alright, a LOT of adjustments have to be made. Nobody knows how to make a roof around here, that's all. We'll fix it. I have friends in high places." He smiled as Lillith snuggled closer.
"Your friends from the first war?"
"Yep."
"How many are still alive?"
"A few. Enough."
"They fought with Phil in the last war?"
"Yep."
"You sent him to fetch them?"
"Yep."
Lillith smiled slightly as she closed her eyes. The side of her face rested against the bare chest of her lover. She enjoyed the scent of him.
"You're so smart."
"Yep."

The next morning...

As the sun first peeked over the horizon, William stepped from a still sleeping Lillith toward the door. He had expected the Tetrites to come during the night, but they had not. Well, he thought, it's just as well. Lillith rested comfortably and that's all he really wanted. The roof could be fixed today anytime.
As he stepped out into the dull pre-sunrise glow, he was startled to see a huge angular structure being towed toward the habitat. Leading the way was Phil!

"Oh sir! They worked all night putting together this Vendorian steel roof! Nothing will penetrate it! Is it not marvelous?" William nodded absentmindedly as he stood stunned at the sight. There must be hundreds of Tetrites pulling this thing as hundreds more moved logs from the back to the front as it moved along. It was like a Tetritian scene from ancient Egypt! Finally, William collected his wits and sprinted down toward the approaching Tetrites. Greeting them all, he asked them to stop pulling, gathered up the ropes in his hands, and began to pull the massive structure easily himself. By the time the group reached the habitat, Lillith was standing in the doorway with her mouth open from amazement. William spoke matter-of-factly to her.

"Morning, honey! Would you put that up there?" Lillith's sparkling blue eyes moved from the huge steel roof to William. She suddenly realized that her mouth was hanging open, shut it quickly to form a goofy grin, shrugged once, and said "Sure!"

As Tetrites gathered around the habitat to watch, Lillith gripped the peak of the roof and slowly rose into the air. As others monitored the location, she slowly lowered it down onto the habitat. It fit so snugly that she actually had to tap it down a few times with her hand to seat it properly. As Tetrite workers sealed the remaining gaps, William turned to Phil.
"Where are they?" Phil pointed toward the fountain where three Tetrites stood together. William walked to them and knelt down.
"My gratitude to my brothers is endless. How may I return the favor?" One of the Tetrites stepped forward and touched William's arm.
"We have not done enough. You owe us nothing. We all only owe the others."
"Others? Those who could not live to be with us this day?" The Tetrite nodded. William rested his hands on them. "Then let us remember them always."

In the silence that followed, they remembered.

The habitat, six weeks later

Lillith waved as the Messenger's ship rose into the air. At her feet were boxes of pillows sent from Earth by Kara. In her left hand was a letter for William.

"Oh, look, honey! It's from Quebec, Canada!" The broad outline of a goose adorned the little throw pillow. William looked up briefly to see her new possession.
"No, hon, it's from Ontario. See, it says `Wa-wa'. That's in Ontario." Lillith shrugged as she held it up to admire it.
"Nice duck anyway."
"Goose."
"Whatever."
William went back to reading his letter in silence that only lasted a moment.
"Seems my brother is in the hospital, Lillith. Doesn't say why." Lillith looked up with innocent concern.
"Is he okay?"
"I don't know. I don't like this. Why didn't she tell me more?"
Lillith stood from the bed and walked to William's side. Peering at the letter, she saw it was written in English, but she never learned how to read that language even though she could speak it very well by now. "Who's it from?"
"My Aunt Laurie. She always kept an eye on my brother and me after my folks passed. We were grown men and she would still check on us from time to time. She's my mom's sister." William looked back to the letter. "Must be getting old by now too."

Lillith turned and walked a bit in thought. She tapped her teeth with her fingernail as she lost herself in concentrated thought. Finally, she turned and spoke brightly to William.
"Would you like to go see your brother?" William's head jerked up to meet her smiling look. She couldn't be serious!
"Lillith, I can't fly through a wormhole!"
"I'll take you! I think I can do that!"
Now it was William's turn to think about the possibilities. Weighing the variables and the probabilities, he saw no reason why it would not work.
"Shit, hon, it just might work! But we'd have to keep things quiet. Don't forget, I'm dead back there. Might be shock to a lot of folks if I just turned up. Not to mention the military. My service is long over, but I never checked out, if you know what I mean. I'm MIA or KIA or something."
"Well, your Aunt and brother know you're alive. That's who we're going to go see, so what's the problem with that? Oh, look, honey! Nashville! Just like the one we had!" William nodded his approval as Lillith waved a bright blue tourist pillow. But he was still thinking about the trip. Did he really want to go back? It would be nice to see his brother again. Especially if he was really sick. Besides, it might be fun to show Lillith around his old stomping grounds. He made his decision.
"You're right. You're right! Let's do it! Let's go to Earth!" Lillith beamed at his enthusiasm.
Just then, Phil trundled into the room. "Is the Mistress proceeding to Earth once again? How exciting!"
"Yep! It's even better, Phil! I'm going too!"
"That IS exciting, sir! It would be good for you to visit your planet of origin."
"I sure hope so, Phil" Lillith suddenly had another thought.
"Hon, where on Earth should we go?"
"Chicago."
"Ooo, I love Chicago! Kara and I used to meet there sometimes when I'd visit!"
Phil pronounced the name slowly. "Chi-ca-go. It sounds very exotic, sir."
Well, not really, Phil. It's a big, rough, wonderful city, is all. I grew up there and my family, what's left of it, is still around the area."
Phil tried to steady his old rock enough to climb onto it. "Do they have spiders there, sir?"
"Tons of them, Phil."
Phil tapped his foot a moment in thought. "I would imagine that they do not have a problem with crickets in their nests, sir." William shrugged.
"That's true."

William suddenly had an idea. Whispering to Lillith, she responded with an adamant "No!". Again he whispered some point of negotiation that made Lillith look at the struggling Tetrite with a curious, but fond expression. Just as Phil successfully mounted the unsteady rock, she nodded. "Okay, but you guys have to work out how." William turned to Phil.
"Hey, buddy! Want to go to Chicago?"

Phil immediately fell of his rock

"My goodness, sir! What is it?"
"It's an empty Arion casing. There's more junk still around this planet; we'll be cleaning it up for years. But here's the deal. We modify this casing to transport you through the wormhole. We put a hatch on top and a couple of straps here and here so I can hold on to you and presto! Transporter! What do you think?"
Phil stared briefly in silence before turning to leave. "I will wait for your return from Earth with great anticipation, sir."
"Phil! Now come on! This will work fine!
"Sir, the heat and stresses involved in such modes of travel are extreme. That casing is only a single layer of steel. I do not anticipate that it will survive such a passing intact."
William calmly tossed the casing a few feet away.
"You're forgetting something, Phil." He turned toward the casing and let loose a wide beam of heatvision. The casing immediately glowed dull red, then orange, then white hot. William picked up the case and touched a leaf to the outside. It immediately burst into flame. He then took another leaf and dropped it inside the casing. It just sat there undisturbed. Phil looked up at William for an explanation.
"Phil, this is thermal containment chamber. It's made to withstand and contain any explosions or fire of whatever is inside up to three megatons. That's a pretty small yield by Arion standards, I know, but that's a lot of heat. Those Arions bastards may be dickheads, but they sure build some great stuff. Phil was suitably impressed.
"Perhaps I overreacted, sir. This device just might work!"
"Just might? Hell, Phil, this will work, no sweat!"
"Appropriate choice of words, sir.

Two days later, just outside the habitat area

The departure day dawned sunny and clear. Thousands of Tetrites had gathered to see the Protector, her mate, and the first Tetrite to ever leave the planet, Phil, off. Lillith waited patiently as William opened the hatch of the converted Arion container. Phil appeared nearby and waved enthusiastically to the cheering crowd! On and on he waved as he lowered himself into the vessel. The cheering didn't stop even when William clamped the hatch closed. Suddenly, William heard tapping coming from the inside of the hatch. Undoing the latches, he painstakingly removed the hatch once more. As Phil reappeared to whisper into William's ear, some in the crowd could hear William respond "I thought I told you to go before we left!" Phil scampered toward a nearby clump of shrubs as everyone waited in silence. Within minutes, Phil again appeared and again the crowd cheered as before. Waving enthusiastically until William rudely shoved him down into the vessel, the hatch was secured for the last time that day.
William lifted the vessel up and slid his arms through the attached straps. Buckling the straps together where they crossed his chest, the vessel was secured to the enhanced Terran. In turn, William and Lillith got a firm hold on each other just before Lillith rose into the air. The crowd of Tetrites cheered wildly as the three travelers gained altitude. Through a small window in the vessel, Phil could be seen still waving back at his fellow creatures.

What an adventure this would be! The first Tetrite to leave the planet! What fascinating and exciting new things will be discovered? What exotic explorations await him? In his excitement, one single thought invaded his mind as he tapped on the hatch repeatedly.

He had to `go' again!

To be continued.....