Time of Troubles

by MAC

Edited by Sharon Best

(Revision 1.1)

The planet Tetra, one year after the First Arion War, 10:07 hours local time

I sat quietly in my old seat in my old ship. Everything was covered in that same beige dust that settles on everything that doesn’t move on this planet and some of what does. There was a musty smell to the ship now, mixed with aromas of oil and steel and aluminum and titanium. This seat was the only thing left to remove. Every instrument, every wire, every thing not welded to the hull had already been removed and stored near our habitat. I daydreamed in this seat, sometimes for hours.

"William?" I stuck my head out through the empty window frame, looking down at the ground for Lillith. Not seeing her, I looked up right into her pretty face as she floated just above the side window, her stomach muscles rippling softly to generate the power to fly. "Um, William? I’m going to patrol south today. Do you need anything while I’m out?"

"No, honey. Can’t think of anything." She continued to just look at me before speaking again.

"Everything ok?"

"Oh, fine......fine." I patted the hull mindlessly.

"Ok then. I’m gonna go then. Kiss me bye?"

"Oh! Yeah! You bet!" I craned out further as she floated to me. I still loved to kiss her even after doing so almost constantly for a year!

"Love you!"

"Love you too, honey. Bye." Lillith smiled, turned, and accelerated away. "Oh, and be careful!" I don’t think she heard me.

Alone again, I sat and thought and sat and thought.

"Are you in the process of a dump, sir?" I had forgotten about Phil.

"No, Phil, just daydreaming. It’s sort of like, um, inactivity to allow one to quietly think about something." I had finally learned how to explain things to Phil to avoid more questions.

"Most interesting, sir. Do you find it difficult to think without inactivity?" Well, I sometimes avoided more questions.

"Not usually, Phil. But today I prefer it."

"I see. What thoughts are you contemplating today, sir?"

"I’m contemplating flying, Phil." I looked out at the sky.

"The mistress flies!"

"Yes, she does, Phil."

"She will fly you anywhere you wish!"

"True enough, Phil. She’s good about taking me anywhere. Sometimes we even just fly for fun. But that’s not the same as what I’m talking about."

Phil thought a moment, I could hear him pacing over the aluminum deck just behind me. I waited. And I waited. Then I counted backward in my head. Three - two - one - bingo.

"The only possible avenue of our conversation must be that you intend to fly yourself! That is not possible, sir! You do not posses the power to do so! I see no way to resolve this problem."

I looked at my own two hands and stood up to leave. "Like hell I don’t have the power to fly, Phil! Think again!" I walked quickly to the hatch and walked straight down the ladder. Phil remained motionless as he mumbled.

"I see no error in my..."

"PHIL!"

"Coming, sir!"

The Faldref Mountains, elevation 9734 feet.

A bone, tossed precisely, landed vertically in a pile of similar bones. A small fire in this yawning cavern burned insistently under what had once been a Tetra Mountain Goat. They were tiny, but edible. No one knew how edible they were more than the dark hair figure that had consumed so many over the last year.

Rising from her squatting position, she wiped her mouth with her arm as she observed the behavior of the smoke. It must not escape from the cavern entrance, only collect in the large plenum overhead, allowing it to cool slowly. The smoke behaved correctly. Her presence would remain a secret for yet another day.

As she turned toward the entrance, sunlight illuminated her jagged face. She had been a Captain in the Arion military when they invaded this stinking rock! Caught between two bulkheads when the flagship went down, she had, amazingly, been thrown clear when the ship impacted on the surface! There she faced that Velorian woman. Woman? Hah! Child! A mere slip of a girl! Who tricked me... and.....and......ambushed me as I tried to protect my Colonel! Yes! And she gave me THIS!

Her fingers delicately ran down a broken cheek that had healed all wrong. The side of her face appeared collapsed, her left cheekbone flattened completely. What semblance of beauty she might have once had, now only a memory.

But I’ll be here when they return. Once again that great Arion fleet will appear over these very mountains and lay waste to the surface of this stinking, bug infested planet! They will sweep them all away to hell! And then my vengeance will be sweet indeed! But she must be ready, she thought, yes, ready.

Turning away from the sunlight, she walked further into the cavern. There, various sizes of rocks were organized along one wall. She fitted her arms into holes in the side of two rocks that must have weighed many thousands of pounds each. Standing up, she proceeded to curl them, her biceps expanding to incredible size.

"I must be ready." she gasped through clenched teeth.

Behind the habitat, 14:15 hours

"Dammmmitt!!! Shit!" The steel tube hit the rock wall and buried itself midway. Tetrites scattered everywhere.

"Oh, I’m sorry guys. I didn’t mean to throw that!" I fetched the steel tube from the wall. "I’m just getting frustrated. Everyone ok?" The Tetrites may have understood, but they were taking no chances as they all moved around to the other side of the area. "I promise, no more throwing tantrums. Promise." They weren’t buying that either.

"Perhaps the metal is to blame for the lack of fusion, sir."

"No, Phil, it’s me. I just can’t control this heat vision the same way everyday! It’s like it’s either working or its not, no consistency! All I’m doing today is melting the hell out of this stuff. Shit!" I flung the rod on the ground as more Tetrites scampered back. "Sorry! Sorry."

"It seems to me that this is a wonderful exercise to gain the very control over your heat vision that your require, sir!"

"Yeah. Chicken or the egg."

"Sir?"

"Nothing, Phil." I stood and walked a bit. "If I only had more steel to practice on. I don’t suppose you have any mild steel in your pocket, do you Phil?"

"Sir, I have no pockets."

"Oh, yeah. Too bad. We’d be all set if you did." I turned my back to Phil so he wouldn’t see me smile. I knew what I had just said would confuse him for quite a while.

The habitat, later that evening

Lillith cuddled close, resting her head on my arm.

"Dinner was wonderful, William. Tomorrow I’ll have trouble topping that."

"No you won’t. You’re a better cook than I am every time." I was staring blankly, thinking. There was a long pause as we just sat together.

"William. The Tetrites are all talking about you lately.

"Hm? About me? Is there a problem?"

"No, no problem. They say you’re trying to melt steel. What are you doing that for, hon?"

"Nothing." I started staring again. Lillith sat bolt upright. I was in trouble.

"William! Talk to me! There’s only two of us here...

"Mistress?"

"Sorry. ...three of us here, so you better keep talking and be open mister or you’re going to have more trouble than you know how to deal with!" She was on her feet now.

"You’ve been like this ever since the Old One came and I’ve gone along with you. But no more! I’m your lover and your friend and I will NOT be shut out of your life! Do you read me, mister!" Lillith had a habit of getting right into my face when she got wound up like this. Her arms were straight down at her sides ending in tense fists. Her cheeks got so chubby when she tensed her chin that she looked comical. But I never dared laugh. She did this because she loved me and she felt she had to straighten me out about something. To my great dismay, she was always right. And frankly, I was probably the one who looked silly.

"Honey, I want to fly again."

Lillith’s expression immediately took on a look of thought as her eyes fell to the side. "Alright." She didn’t really want to go outside now and sounded a little confused. "Let’s go!"

"No, sweetheart, on my own."

"Without me? Why?" She did look a bit hurt as she sat back down. I pulled her closer.

"Not necessarily without you, darling. I want to build a flying machine. I’m a pilot, Lillith. I fly. It’s what I do."

She remained silent, searching my eyes. "You really want to do this?" I nodded as I gazed hopefully back into her eyes. I needed her on my side for this.

Lillith was right about there only being the two of us. She was my love and my partner in life. A yes or no from her may not change what I wanted, but it would definitely influence any final decision that I would make. It was the two of us, making decisions together.

There was a long pause before she finally touched my cheek. "William. I don’t understand everything you do sometimes. Why you want to do this is one of those things that I don’t understand. But... if you feel that this should be done, then, William, you should build the best damn flying machine that you can."

I embraced her, kissing her neck again and again. "Thanks, honey. Thank you."

"Oooo. Build two!", she cooed. We laughed before settling back into our favorite cuddling positions.

"No, Lillith. One will do just fine."

"Can I help?"

"Sure!" A thought suddenly came to me. "But I’m going to have to figure a lot of this stuff out first. Plans, materials, that sort of thing. I have no idea where I’m going to get materials. You know, I used to have a plane that I was building years ago! When I went on active duty, I had it all crated up and stored at my brothers place."

"Hm! What kind of plane was it?" Lillith was smiling brightly. She truly seemed to enjoy it when I’d get excited about something.

"Honey, you’ll never believe this."

Outside the habitat, the next morning.

Walking past Phil, I noticed him snuggling down on yet another rock. "Phil, what is it about you guys and rocks?"

"They are quite nice, sir."

"And?"

"Well, they are smooth and warm. All in all, very satisfying."

"Really?" I noticed a large, smooth rock right next to Phil. I walked over and sprawled over the top of it, face down. "Like this?"

"Well done, sir."

Just then, Lillith walked out of the habitat. "William, I’m going to....." She just stopped and froze. I raised my head slightly.

"Oh, hi honey. Rocks."

"So I see. Don’t tell me any more. I don’t want to know." She was trying unsuccessfully to keep from snickering when she turned and went back into the habitat.

I remained still on that rock and just groaned my resignation. "You know, Phil, my credibility has really been taking a nosedive lately."

"Does the rock help, sir?"

"Ummmmm, no. I think I better stop doing this."

"It might be for the best, sir."

I walked into the habitat as Lillith looked up.

"Does your belly feel all nice and comfy now?", she joked.

"Aw, I was just curious." I wrapped my arms around her from behind and snuggled her neck. "I suppose you’ve never tried, eh?"

"Well, once.", she giggled.

"Ah-ha!" I rocked her playfully from side to side.

"When I first got here!"

"Shame I missed that!" She was tying up a small bundle and laying out clothes that I didn’t know she had. "What’s up?"

"I have to pay a visit to Kara, hon, so I’m getting ready. I forgot to mention it last night, what with all that talk of flying machines and such."

"Protector business? I always wondered if you guys had conventions and what-not." Lillith made a silly face at me. "You have to visit her? I thought you Protectors could, you know, communicate between each other."

"No, we can’t. But I haven’t seen my sister for over a year, so this is a perfect opportunity for me. I’ll only be gone a few days."

"Um, isn’t Earth a bit further than Thebe?"

"Yes, mister know-it-all." She placed her finger under my chin and did her ‘lah-tee-dah’ dance. "But I’m a Velorian Protector! We know how to fold space-time!"

I was incredibly impressed! "Lillith! Honey, you really have to tell me these things!"

"It doesn’t come up in normal conversation, silly. ‘Please pass the mushrooms and I’ll have some more quantum singularities please.’. Honey, it’s just what I do. Like you fly."

"But wormholes are dangerous. You never know where you’re going to come out! We avoided them like the plague! Hell, I got caught in one and ended up here!"

Lillith glared. I thought fast.

"Lucky for me!" She cooled.

"Well, sweetheart, we have a bit more control over them. I can recognize a proper one, use it, and come out within two or three planets from Earth. There’s really no danger! Honest!"

"No big deal?"

"No big deal."

"Well,.......alright." I still didn’t feel good about it all. "When are you going?"

"I thought I’d head out this afternoon, if you don’t need me for anything." Things were pretty normal around the home planet.

"No, babe, go ahead. Enjoy yourself and say hello to Kara for me!" I looked over her stuff all laid out on the bed. "What’s with all the clothes?"

"Earth."

"Oh, right! Earth."

*******

I was pacing leisurely waiting for Lillith to get dressed and come out of the habitat. It was time for her to go. I really wanted to say my goodbyes and get back to those damn tubes! I wasn’t going to let them beat me like this! I heard the shuffle of feet behind me and turned. What I saw made my jaw drop.

Lillith was coming out of the habitat with her red and blue Protector uniform on. She had never worn it for as long as the two of us were together. It was the skimpiest piece of material that I had ever seen! It was all one piece, but it consisted of little more than a few well-placed straps. The bottom disappeared between the cheeks of her ass and plunged to a deep V in the front. The bottom part was red with gold trim while the rest, what there was of it, was a deep azure blue.

The top was so formfitted tightly enough that it looked like it was painted on. Completely open down the front, to this day I don’t know how that material stayed in place on her breasts. Even the sleeves did not cover her entire arms, running only from the wrist to the elbow, the upper arms were exposed. The second thought in my mind, right after I thought how incredibly sexy she looked, was why bother with wearing so little? Lillith was still adjusting the right sleeve when she appeared.

"My goodness, Lillith! You’re one helluva babe in that outfit."

"Thanks, hon. I haven’t worn it in so long, I was worried that it might not fit alright."

"Jeez, Lillith, there’s so little of it, how would you know if it fit or not?"

"Yeah, there’s not much, but it’s functional in a fight."

"Oh, go-on! Functional how."

"These uniforms are designed to maximize the initial visual impact on an opponent, serving as the stimulus to retard their initial capabilities to withstand and/or respond to an attack." Lillith repeated what she had learned during training verbatim.

"Oh, bullshit." I had never heard such nonsense. These gals looked good and showed off. That’s all. Case closed. I chuckled and turned to walk her up the hill. But, I noticed that Lillith hadn’t kept up. Instead, her voice came from far behind.

"Oh, William."

When I turned, Lillith was standing in a combat stance, feet far apart. She was turned almost at right angles to me, yet twisted a bit at the waist. Her fists were raised into combat positions. And every muscle in her body was flexed hard and large, her breasts stretching the light material to what looked to be near the breaking point. Her head was down slightly, making her eyes peer up a bit at me, giving her what would have been a sexy coy look through the frame of bright blonde hair if it wasn’t for a very mean crooked sneer exposing her clenched teeth. The effect on me was electric as I felt the most overwhelming rush go through my body. My arousal was incredibly immediate!

"Holy....."

Suddenly, a blinding flash occurred in front of me. Lillith was instantly so close that our noses were almost touching. Her fist was touching my chin lightly as she spoke in a very, very seductive tone.

"Boom, baby."

I’d been had.

"....shit.", I finished meekly. Lillith gave me a quick peck of a kiss on my nose and smiled.

"Honey, your mouth is open." I fixed that immediately.

"Lillith, I, uh, see what you mean. Say, that works pretty good." I was suddenly completely convinced that there wasn’t a being in the universe that stood a chance against a Protector in one of these uniforms. Lillith nodded as she picked up her red cape and opened the clasp of the choker.

"Honey, would you help me with this?"

As I took the cape from her, Lillith turned her back to me and gathered her long hair out of my way. Her shoulders and back were completely bare. The cut of the uniform was so low that the two dimples just above her ass showed as well as both cheeks as well as....hell, there just wasn’t a whole helluva lot of anything back here. The cape suddenly made sense too.

Fitting the choker around her slender neck, I was feeling a bit overwhelmed as I sort of thought out loud.

"Is there anything about life with a Protector that’s simple and straightforward?" The clasp closed with a click.

Lillith turned and slid her arms around my neck. She was grinning sweetly.

"Yes, darling. My love for you."

It occurred to me how right she was. Nothing at all to figure out there. She was in love with me and that was all there was to it. She saw to it that I knew it, felt it, lived it every day. She made it easy to love her back and made it plain to me that she wanted that too. No, life with this Protector was no guessing game. And since it wasn’t, we enjoyed the best of our relationship.

I kissed my supergirl deeply, never having felt so fortunate in all my life as I did at that very minute. We held each other for another long moment before I whispered in her ear. "Lillith, honey, I love you so much. Be careful out there and come home to me. Okay?" I felt her nod her head and hold me tighter. It was a few more minutes before we finally, reluctantly separated.

Lillith’s blue eyes never left mine as she floated slowly up. Her cape fluttered slightly from her slow speed. She looked like an angel ascending to heaven, her arms outstretched, looking down upon me with her lovely face. I watched her like this until she was out of my normal sight, turned, and began the walk to the workshed.

"Sir? Was the display by the mistress useful in your understanding of the purpose of her uniform?" Phil at least waited until a better moment to start with his questions.

"Yes, Phil. VERY useful."

"She appears to be quite formidable."

I couldn’t help but stop as I looked down at Phil.

"You know, Phil. She knows how to play mind games pretty well when she has to. Between you, me, and the lamppost, I don’t think the universe has a chance! I’m just glad she’s on our side."

With that, I continued on as Phil stood still, thinking about what was just said to him. He thought about Lillith’s display just now, about the vastness of the universe, about the infinite possible alien dangers that posed a threat to Lillith and this planet. He thought of many, many things until finally he had just one thing to say.

"Lamppost?"

*******

A pair of intense brown eyes had followed Lillith’s progress upward from the surface and were now intently following William’s progress to the workshed. She sat quietly among the high boulders of the Faldref foothills, pursuing the same covert reconnaissance that she had done hundreds of time before. Although still miles away from the habitat, her telescopic vision was as good as any Supremis. Even this far away, she could see Phil blink his eyes in confused concentration as William walked on smiling.

She had no particular fascination with the Velorian and her mate other than to develop a clear picture of their habits. Any patterns would certainly be useful later. But she was curious about the male. She didn’t give a damn who he was, but WHAT he was.

Velorian? No. He had dark brown hair. And not Arion either for the same reason, not to mention that no Arion would set up house with a Velorian Protector. Rape her then kill her, maybe. But not live with her.

A Gehiemite? That was her best guess until she found that hulk of a Terran fighter corroding away further out in the desert. It was his, she had no doubt. Especially after seeing him sit alone in it for hours at a time. No, no doubt. He was a Terran. Stronger than what she would expect from such a feeble species, although her own experience with them was limited. Mostly training holos and simulations. So, if he was Terran, her job just became a lot easier. Her training was very specific - Terrans broke easily.

An opportunity had just presented itself to the Arion Captain as a plan began to formulate within her active mind. She knew of a large cache of weapons and other materiel was somewhere beneath a large metal door, padlocked and watched, just adjacent to the habitat. With the Velorian gone, she might be able to get in there and get some of the materiel she needed, especially weapons. She began to think in terms of a sword. The Arion Empire was that sword. And right now, she was the razor sharp tip. A rumble behind her made her turn slowly, her narrow eyes cold. There, before her, a mass of swirling dark clouds were forming, building in intensity, the ominous darkness of a massive storm prepared over the peaks of the Faldref for its assault on the valley below. She sneered at the blackness above and behind her.

"Perfect."

*******

I noticed the breeze building first when the tarps started to flap. That breeze was quickly turning into a sweeping wind as everything smaller than a bucket went flying with the first gust. The sky was rapidly turning dark as gray clouds swirled angrily and came down lower to threaten the ground. We had no friends in the sky today.

"Phil! Storm’s coming! Let’s close up shop and get inside!" I found that I really had to yell to be heard over the blowing wind, now I would guess to be a constant 20 miles per hour, gusting to 35.

"Yes, sir! It appears to be the Time of Troubles! This would certainly be the month for it!"

"Oh, I remember that from last year! It’s like a monsoon or something back on Earth. But last year wasn’t bad at all. Lots of wind and not much rain." It was gusting to 45 now. Even Phil was having trouble staying upright.

"Sir! I think perhaps we should gather the local Tetrites together into a shelter. If it begins to rain as expected, the present-time Tetrites are too small not to be overcome by it! They still nest on the ground! And when the heavy rains come, it mixes with the light top soil to form a sticky mud that asphyxiates them! They know to seek higher ground, but the winds can relocate them to the ground without warning! Even if they remain on top of a raised surface, the strength of the rains can be devastating! It is not a good time on Tetra, sir! It is the Time of Troubles!" Phil was really yelling to be heard now over the pelting rain that began to spot the area. But I heard it all.

"Get ‘em into the habitat, Phil! Move it!" Phil spun around and began calling to his fellow creatures. Nests began to empty of males, females, and children, as they scampered in earnest for the door of the habitat.

It took a short while, but we finally gathered everyone together. It was as dark as night, raining fiercely! Lightning flashed occasionally and was becoming more frequent by the minute. I was just following Phil and the last of the Tetrites through the door when I noticed that the door to the underground cache was flapping wildly in the blistering wind.

"Phil! Stay with ‘em! I’m going to go get that door locked down!" Phil nodded his understanding as I ran like hell toward the banging door.

The rain was so intense now and the lightning so brilliant, that I found it difficult to see clearly. Grabbing the door in one hand, I saw that the entire lock had been cleanly sheared away along with one large piece of the door. Shit, that wind was doing a number on the hardware! But then I detected movement down in the darkness of the underground cache! Something was down there!

I had only stepped down two steps when the ‘something’ knocked me right back out of the door! Landing on my back in the mud, I jumped to my feet to see a woman coming out after me. A woman!

I put my hand up to try to calm her down, but she swatted it away and caught me square with one helluvan upper-cut! It knocked me back a couple of steps and set me up for a kick that spun me around face-first to the ground! Ok, I thought, she just made it plain what she wants to do! I jumped to my feet, ducked under her right-cross, and tore into her.

*******

From the window of the habitat, Phil was watching everything. Behind him, hundreds of nervous Tetrites were running everywhere as the lightning flashed again and again, throwing back the darkness. But they were safe and dry in the habitat. Safer and drier than William.

Outside, a battle between William and the Arion woman raged as fiercely as the storm! Pummeling fists impacted indestructible bodies as female and male took massive punishment while dealing out even more!

It was so dark outside that Phil could only make out what was happening when a flash of lightning gave him the chance. A macabre series of images presented themselves to the frantic Tetrite as he struggled to see what was happening to William!

Finally, Phil saw William unleash a furious series of punches and kicks that threw the woman back down into the blackness of the cache! Alone in the darkness, Phil saw William stagger slightly before charging back down after her.

Unbelievably, the brightest green lightning flashed brilliantly from the door of the cache. William was instantly thrown back out of the door! Following him was that woman with two Tiafun rifles! Just as William struggled to his feet, she pointed the weapons at his face no more than a foot away and fired them both! Phil froze in stunned fear as he saw William’s head almost vibrate from the rapid repeating impacts of the powerful energy pulses! As he fell back, the Arion walked forward, emptying both rifles into him! A bright green light from the steady stream of energy illuminated the image of the Arion woman as she laughed wildly. Finally, William fell backward like a tree falling under a woodsman’s blade. The firing stopped.

She stood over William for moment, admiring her work, when she noticed him moving, trying to get up. She angrily threw the rifles down, straddled William, grabbed him by the hair, and repeatedly smashed her fist into his face until he stopped moving. Standing once more, she kicked him in the side, throwing his body over face down. She glanced over at one of the rifles laying in the mud, picked it up, shouldered it, and fired it into the back of his head until it was empty. The impacts of the rounds drove his head deep into the soft mud as water from the continuous rain filled in from behind.

Satisfied that she had finally killed this tough Terran, she ran quickly back into the underground cache, gathered up what she came for, and ran into the raging storm to disappear.

Phil couldn’t believe what he had just seen! Running back and forth in front of the window, he was frantically trying to think of some way to help. Something! Anything! But now she was gone. She was gone, wasn’t she?

Phil ran for the door, warning the smaller Tetrites to stay inside. As he peered out of the door, the rain seemed to have settled down into just a steady downpour. No one was out there and Phil took a step out.

Slowly at first, then faster, he approached the motionless William. By the time he finally got to him, Phil had been running as fast as he could.

"Sir?"

There was no answer.

"SIR?"

William remained motionless and unresponsive. Phil moved closer, touching William’s shoulder. His voice filled with emotion.

"Oh, sir. You mustn’t lie here like this. You should stand and walk, sir. You really should!"

Phil was tugging at William now. The other Tetrites began to gather around as well, pulling and tugging.

"No! You must not come out! It is the Time of Troubles!" Phil tried to push them back to the habitat, but they only turned once more and ran back to William. Phil stood silently in the rain, watching the small Tetrites try in vain to save William, struggling with all their strength, but his body was just too much for them. Slowly, Phil walked up onto the back of his beloved William and, as if in resignation, lowered himself down to hold him, urging him one more time.

"Oh.........sir..........please......."

Outside the habitat, the next morning

The morning was not a bright one on Tetra. The storms of the night were past, but a lingering overcast gave a sadness to the day. It was not a bright day on Tetra, today.

Three female figures emerged slowly from that overcast. Silently descending, one of them carried a large rectangular container over her head. They were all blonde. They were all Velorian.

They did not approach the habitat by air, choosing instead to land back behind the rocky walls to the south of the habitat area. There they set down their large package, and stealthily approached the habitat.

Lillith jumped around the corner of the habitat to complete her surprise. With arms outstretched, she yelled her most exciting "Surprise!", only to see a sea of muddy Tetrites gathered around the body of William, still lying face down and motionless. The Tetrites, at least the ones who were still alive, all turned toward her simultaneously, suitably surprised. They had worked throughout the night building a berm around William and trying to construct levers and a winch to lift him. None of which, apparently, were successful.

"Oh, tus Skietra!" she screamed as she rushed through to William. The Tetrites quickly moved aside to allow her to help him, hoping that at last, the William could be moved.

"Please be alive, please be alive, please be alive, please be alive...." she chanted as she pulled his motionless body around onto his back. His face was blackened, but looked whole. Scanning him for damage, she could find nothing broken. She quickly decided that he could be moved safely.

"Let’s get him into the house, guys!"

The Tetrites move aside as she easily lifted William up from the ground. To the side, she noticed a pile of dead Tetrites stacked nearby.

"Skietra! What happened!"

Phil replied solemnly, his fatigue evident in his voice. "The Time of Troubles, mistress. And yet, no one would leave the William."

Lillith’s face contorted briefly as she fought against the swelling emotion within her. How she loved these noble creatures! She tried to say something, anything to tell them what she felt. They stayed to help her lover and died for him. Lillith couldn’t find the words as again and again she tried.

"Phil....I....."

"Please, mistress. Tend to the William. There is no time! We will see to our dead."

"Yes.....yes, of course."

Lillith carried William quickly into the habitat. Everyone followed, the Tetrites wiping their eight feet out of habit as they entered. The scruffling sound was continuous for nearly many minutes as the house filled with Tetrites. Finally one of the visiting blonde women whispered to the other. "This is creepy! I hate spiders!"

"They’re Tetrites, Sharon.

"I know, I know. But they look like spi...yeeeek!" Her sudden scream made Phil stop immediately. He had crawled up on the table immediately in front of her. He turned to Sharon, raised one leg, and simply said "Warmest of good mornings to our visitors!"

"Hi." Sharon could not have said it any more briefly, having pulled her arms back to hold position as she looked wide eyed at the "spider" before her. This one was huge!

Phil looked first to Kara. "I am the one referred to as Phil. I will serve as your gateway. Through me all things.." Kara politely interrupted by placing her hand on Phil’s head.

"I know of your species, little one, and your talents. It is a very great pleasure to meet you, Phil." She extended her open hand, showing her knowledge of the acceptable greeting of a humanoid to a smaller species. "I am Kara, Velorian Protector of the Terrans." Phil took a step forward, placing a leg gently on Kara’s open hand in greeting.

"A Protector? Such as the mistress Lillith?" Sharon couldn’t believe that Kara was letting a spider touch her hand, her blue eyes widened even more as she pulled her mouth into a grimace.

"Yes. But my species of protection is Terran." Phil nearly crawled up her arm from enthusiasm.

"Oh, like the William!"

"Yes, something very much like the William."

"I am very much pleased to meet you indeed, Kara, Protector of Terrans!" Phil really did sound very pleased indeed. Releasing Kara’s hand, he turned to Sharon, who pulled back even further at the sight of his approach.

"You appear to be a Velorian Protector as well."

"No......no......I’m a Scribe."

"A most honorable profession!"

"Thank you."

"You are welcome."

Phil then turned to leave, paused a brief moment, and turned back to her.

"I believe you could possibly be what the William has described to me on many occasions as beings in the universe often referred to as a ‘babe’." Sharon blinked once. "Does that description adequately suit you?"

Kara and Sharon traded glances, not sure what the motives of the small creature were. She finally relaxed, a broad smile moving her lips apart to display her bright teeth as she shrugged. "Yeah, I could live with that one. Just don’t call me that. My name is Sharon."

"Then I shall refer to you as the Sharon. Does that please you, mistress Sharon?"

"Yes, Phil. Very much." Phil appeared very pleased himself as he continued his short journey to check on the William.

As Phil scuttled away, Sharon leaned close to Kara to speak. "Actually, that one’s not so bad. Looks more like a crab, really. Not too spidery, you know?"

Kara smiled. "First time I saw a Tetrite, I thought they looked like a spud on pipe-cleaners! But I soon learned they’re very nice and very intelligent. Don’t downplay this species, Sharon. There’s more to them than meets the eye."

*******

Lillith was beside herself as she checked him over. William wasn’t breathing and wouldn’t respond to anything she tried. Mouth to mouth, CPR, it was all useless. She was losing him! But then she pulled his eyelids open and checked once more. She didn’t believe what she saw!

"Kara! Kara! Check this out! Is it possible?" Kara quickly moved around to William’s head, pulling his lids up to see what had made Lillith get so excited. What she saw made her jaw drop. There, in each of his dilated pupils, a small image danced, almost too small to see. A tiny string of florescence, flowing through the colors of the universe in infinite variation. An indicator. An indicator of a connection. A connection that should not be.

"I don’t believe it! He’s in a Supremist coma! A Terran! Lillith, what’s going on here? This should not be happening!"

Lillith was smiling so wide, so fully, the tears of her relief rolling down her cheeks! Phil approached her, confused.

"Mistress? He lives?"

"Yes, Phil, he lives. HE LIVES!" The room erupted with the chittering of the Tetrites as if they were cheering! Phil looked visibly relieved.

"We’ll have to perform a reenergization. This guy’s damn lucky, he’s surrounded by Velorians. Lillith, do you want to do it?" Lillith did not respond immediately. She leaned down to Phil.

"Who did this, Phil?" Lillith’s temper was growing.

"She was a large female humanoid, mistress. Dark hair, dark body-covering around her lower half. Nothing covered the top half of her. Mistress, she removed the weapons."

"Arion?", asked Sharon.

"Sounds like it, all right." Kara knew better than most. "Probably military by the sounds of the clothes. Any ideas, Lillith?"

Lillith thought a moment, then froze. "Oh, shit! I think I know who it might be!"

Turning to the Tetrites she asked angrily, "Where did she go?" Hundreds of tiny legs all pointed toward the window simultaneously, where Lillith could see the distant peaks of the Faldref Mountains. Her eyes narrowed.

She turned back to William, caressing his cheek with her delicate fingers, whispering to him alone.

"Just live."

Whatever her thoughts were as she gazed upon the scorched face of her lover, only her decision was clear as she pulled her tender hand away, forming it into a tight fist. So tight that it began to heat. Her rage building in intensity.

"Kara? Sharon? See to William, will you? I have to tend to some local business." Both women nodded as they moved closer to William. "I should be gone about a day or so. Will you guys be alright here?" Kara smiled and waved her away.

"You have a duty here, Protector. We’ll be just fine. Just hurry back and be careful!"

"Thanks." Lillith stepped forward and kissed her sister on the cheek. Turning to Sharon, she went to do the same, but Sharon always turned her head to kiss on the lips. "Bye, Sharon. Sorry about this."

"No problem! Go get her!" Lillith grinned slightly and turned to leave.

Just as she approached the door, Phil stepped in front of her. "I shall remain here, mistress, if that suits you."

Lillith was still looking at the mountains, her mind not totally on her conversation. "That’s fine, Phil."

Phil stepped closer and whispered. "I think the Sharon likes me."

"I’m sure she does, Phil. But don’t break any hearts while I’m gone. Okay?"

"Mistress! Please! I would certainly do no such thing!"

Lillith smiled. "Sorry, Phil. I forgot that you’re a Tetrite of honor."

Phil had already started to scamper back toward where Kara and Sharon were with William. "Mistress Sharon, may I assist you?"

Just as Lillith exited the door, she heard a familiar shriek and smiled.

"Poor Sharon. She’ll never visit me again."

*******

Kara and Sharon had picked away most of the dried mud around William’s mouth and nose. Kara paused to lean over William as she prepared for the reenergization. Closing her eyes for a moment, her hands slipped up over the silky fabric of her uniform, her fingers tracing across the tight fabric that clung to her breasts. Sharon watched her as her fingers caressed the ever-present points of her nipples. They seemed to firm slightly, but she saw that Kara was having to work at. Moving closer to stand behind her, Sharon reached her arms around Kara to slowly hold her hands. Easing them downward, her fingers now replaced Kara's as she began to gently trace them across the tightly stretched fabric of her top. Tracing the curves of her round breasts, she gently stroked her fingers back and forth across nipples that suddenly grew so huge that they threatened to rip from the invulnerable fabric of her top! Raising one hand to Kara's strong shoulder, she eased one side of her top down, gently baring one perfect breast. Continuing to play with her nipple, Sharon's intimate attention brought it fully erect. Pressing her body tightly against Kara's back, she guided Kara downward to gently part Williams lips with one of her firm nipples. At the same time, Kara's hand rose back up to workher breast, kneading her firm mammary until finally it produced a few drops of her 'milk', the energy content of which would be more than sufficient to power any major metropolitan city for months! Within seconds after her 'milk' entered William’s mouth, his body convulsed once as his body arched upward. Sparks momentarily swirled around him before dissipating as quickly as they had come.

Sharon stepped around to the side of the heavy granite table.

"Let me try once." Reaching up to unbuttoned her blouse, it was Kara's turn to take her hands in hers and gently pulled them down to her waist, using her superior strength to overpower a woman who had rarely experienced power greater than her own. Holding her slim wrists in one hand, Kara pulled the fabric back away from Sharon's abundant breast.

"I’d prefer him to do this on his own, you know?" Kara smiled as she repeated the procedure exactly as Sharon had done. A few more drops fell into William’s waiting mouth.

Within seconds, William convulsed once again, his body arching up from the ground in a contortion that looked like it was going to break his back. Blue and purple arcs danced up and down his body like St. Elmo’s fire as ball lightning shot throughout the room! His body was almost lifted completely off the table as he unconsciously arched back, lifting his pelvis up off the table. Again and again, he shook with uncontrollable convulsions as the energy flowed into him. Finally, just at the proper moment, Kara locked her hands together and slammed her combined fists down onto the chest of William, cracking the granite table from the immense force! William’s mouth flung open as he gasped for air, sucking it in as quickly as he could before he finally collapsed.

Kara and Sharon stood by silently, watching, waiting. Then a flicker of movement. First an eyelid, then a finger twitched. Then his eyes wearily opened.

*******

When I came to, I was totally exhausted. My head was spinning so bad, I wasn’t even sure I was alive! I though I was dreaming and saw two angels, but I’m not sure. One of them told me to rest and get some sleep. I couldn’t think of anything better! And, just as I fell off to sleep, I could have sworn the shorter angel said "G’nite, Sparky!"

The Faldref Mountains, later that afternoon

Lillith had flown over the entire mountain range twice and hadn’t spotted a single sign of the Arion. The Faldref Range extended for hundreds of miles along the northern extreme of the desert region. Rising as high as 11,000 feet, they weren’t the highest in the universe, but they were certainly remote. Hundreds of thousands of places to hide. But she couldn’t stop the search without finding that woman. Leaving an armed Arion military officer loose in these mountains was no way to fall off to sleep tonight. No, she would keep looking until....there!

A small wisp of smoke could be seen coming out of a cave toward the summit of one of the largest peaks. Lillith had scanned that cave earlier with her Tachyon vision and had seen nothing interesting. Must contain some heavy metals to deflect her vision or something, she thought. Well, the only thing left is to check it out on foot.

Landing out of sight of the entrance nearby, she approached the mouth of the cave from the side. An Arion Prime female can be a real handful! And Lillith knew all too well about the capabilities of this one. For that edge, Lillith wanted the element of surprise to be with her, not the Arion!

She was up to the cave entrance now as she leaned tightly against the mountain wall. She could hear the slight crackle sound of a fire just inside the cave entrance and the echoes of those crackles, but no other sound. Listening carefully, her super-hearing strained to hear something, anything, but only nothing. Reaching up higher on the surface, she pressed her hand firmly into the rock and stepped inside the entrance.

Cautiously she walked into the dark, dank coolness that surrounded her. The cave was very large, illuminated only by the sunlight that found its way through the entrance. Swirling strata of sediment decorated the walls in colorful hues of brown, purple, blue, and red. The ceiling must have risen above her 40, maybe 50 feet. It was an immense chamber. There was a musty smell to the place as if standing water had taken up permanent residence somewhere further on. Scanning ahead, she could just make out a pile of bones along one wall far to the back of the cave. At her feet, the fire smoldered. And it was seeing the fire that made an ice cold shock shoot through her entire system! There was green grass thrown all over the top of the firepit to make it smoke! It was a trap!

Lillith turned quickly to get out! Go anywhere but to get out of there! But something incredibly powerful smashed into her face at the same instant she turned. Her vision filled completely with the tiniest speckled stars as she was flung back into the cave! She felt her body slam hard against a rock wall just before she fell to her knees. Tons of rock, jarred from it’s place above her, tumbled down pounding her yet more. Lillith forced herself to her feet as boulders shattered to pieces on her head and shoulders. Finally, as the small cave-in ended, Lillith could make out the form of a huge female through the rock dust that persistently hung in the still air.

"I thought it was you! You’re that Arion Captain that I nailed last year." The figure didn’t respond right away, but soon a female voice came through the particle mist.

"I enjoyed beating your male to death, Velorian. He didn’t handle a true woman very well, did he?" Lillith was pissed, but she wasn’t falling for any of this baiting crap.

"Just keep talking, you piece of Arion pistu. I’m looking forward to shutting you up once again." Lillith walked calmly out of the rocks that had piled up around her. The Arion decided to turn it up a notch.

"So tell me, did you bury him yet or are you saving the corpse for one last fu...."

Lillith flung herself in a rage at the Arion, intent on killing her on the spot! The fury of her lunge even surprised the Arion female who only jumped to the side at the last millisecond! Lillith landed on her feet just outside the cave entrance and spun around angrily. The Arion was laughing as she also landed on her feet, well within the cave. Turning toward the sunlit entrance, she spread her feet and put her fists on her hips. She seemed to be enjoying herself as her laughter echoed off of the hard, cold walls.

"Is this a Protector who’s chasing me around this hole in the ground? I’ve killed regular Velorians who put up more of a fight than this! But then you’re just a child......who likes to fuck Terrans."

Another blur swept in through the entrance, but this time, the Arion didn’t move. With blinding quickness, the Arion deflected the charging Protector, turning her raging power against her, throwing her into a small chamber hollowed out of a side wall. Lillith again crashed headlong into the back wall of the pitch-black chamber.

Lillith immediately felt a wave of weakness throughout her body. She knew that feeling, she had to get out of that chamber! There was just enough room for her to twist herself around to push herself out with her legs. But just as her head appeared outside the chamber, two massive legs gripped her around the neck from above. The Arion had trapped her in a small, hollowed-out vein of pure gold that ran through these mountains and her strength was rapidly dwindling. She pushed with all of her remaining strength, but the Arion just held her in place, laughing, looking down at her upturned face. But quickly the Arion’s expression changed as her legs tightened still more.

"I owe you something, Velorian." The Arion turned her head to give Lillith a good look at her broken face as she once again ran her fingers over the damage. Lillith understood what was coming, closed her eyes, and waited.

The habitat, the next morning

I opened my eyes, hearing a subtle trickling of water nearby. Turning my head slowly toward the light, I saw the nude figure of a tall, slender woman. She was in her thirties, perhaps. Long blonde hair fell over her shoulders. The sun illuminated her in beams of light through the nearby window as she stood in a shallow pan of water, sponge-bathing herself.

I watched quietly as she raised the sponge to her shoulders and slowly moved it down across her abundant chest. She possessed the most beautiful breasts! The wetness made them glisten in the sunlight, the nipples large and erect. Her hand cupped one of them as she stretched her long slender body, arching her back slightly in the most sensuous of poses. Her hand descended her chest down along her torso so slowly that my eyes were transfixed on it! I could feel my erection grow as I noted every curve, every muscle, every part of her. Passing over her flat stomach, the hand paused momentarily at the top of her blonde bush. Her hips rotating so slowly that the movement was almost imperceptible. Upward her hand moved, trailing fingers that dragged so wonderfully along her body. They circled her sexy navel a few times before sliding over her perfect hip to outline her gorgeous ass. Up and down her hand gently moved, caressing her own cheek with those long sensuous fingers. My eyes followed intently, my cock now fully erect as I felt a warmth building inside me!

Just then, another woman looked in the window and spoke.

"Sharon? How’s our patient today?" The spell broken, I glanced up to see that the woman whom I had been watching so intently had in fact been watching me! She had the most interesting smile on her face as she answered.

"Oh, he’s up now."

As they both giggled, I self-consciously bent my knee to raise my leg, hiding my all-too-obvious erection behind it. I tried to smile as if nothing happened.

"Morning, ladies! Um............LILLITH!!"

*******

Over a morning meal, the two Velorian woman explained that Lillith had gone after the rogue Arion woman. The tallest one, Kara, was familiar to me. I had seen news reports about her and even an interview that she had done a long time ago. I didn’t mention any of the fantasies about her that I once had! But it was really something to finally meet her. She had superstar status back home! I felt a bit like an awe-struck fan as Kara continued explaining.

"So we took care of you here. You weren’t breathing at all! I’ll tell you, William, your enhancement saved your life! In fact, I wanted to talk with you about that. From what Lillith tells me, you’re enhanced beyond anything I’ve seen in the past."

"Very much so." Sharon added. She just kept looking at me over her cup of hot chocolate with those blue eyes of hers. Kara smiled briefly and continued.

"Anyway, like I was saying, we reenergized you and got you breathing again, but Sharon really cared for you. You were just covered head to foot in mud! She bathed you....."

Sharon raised both eyebrows momentarily as she smiled. "My pleasure." She winked at Kara.

"Sharon! You’re gonna make the poor guy feel self-conscious!" It was too late for that. I hadn’t gotten up from the table for over an hour! But the problem wasn’t with Sharon completely. The fact was, I found her very attractive. I made a point of not looking at her as much as I could get away with, without seeming to be unfriendly. I mean, Kara was a knockout, but there was just something about Sharon that.........Lillith!

"Any word from Lillith? How long has she been gone now, Phil?"

"About 21 hours, sir."

"21? Oh, Kara, that’s too long! Look, I’m okay now! We have to go find her!"

"I was thinking the same, William! Lillith had said to wait a day, but this has been long enough. You and I can travel together. Sharon, would you bring Phil?"

Sharon looked over to where Phil had just a split second ago been sitting, but he had already scampered around behind her and was just reaching the tabletop. He always did move fast when he was enthusiastic! When she didn’t see him, she turned back only to jump from fright at the sight of him. Phil was on his hind legs, flailing his remaining legs as if he were a young human child wanting to be picked up. "Lucky me.", moaned Sharon. She lightly swatted Phil on his head. "Stop that! Where’s your dignity?" That settled Phil down immediately.

"My apologies, mistress Sharon, I was carried away with the moment!"

"Phil is nothing if not enthusiastic." I smiled. "Phil, tell her how many children you sired back home. Or should I say ‘back time’."

"I have four thousand, seven hundred, eighty-seven offspring, mostly males."

Sharon laughed. "Phil! You stud! But, don’t you miss them?"

"Oh, no mistress Sharon! I performed my duties. It is best that I vacated the vicinity of the nest when I did!"

"You ran out on them?" From the disapproving tone of Sharon’s voice, I thought I’d better step into the conversation.

"He would have been breakfast for them, Sharon."

"Oh. OH! Oh, yech!"

"Indeed, mistress Sharon."

The Faldref Mountain range, 11:47 local time

We searched for four hours without any luck, then Kara saw a handprint in the surface of a rock by a cave. Scanning the cave, she didn’t see anything, but when we landed and approached the cave on foot, we could all hear the Arion speaking deep within the cavern’s labyrinth. We pulled back away from the entrance to discuss our options.

"I can’t see anything through these rocks." I was hoping it was just my inexperience, but Kara and Sharon both nodded.

"Shit. We’re going to have to go in there and find out what’s going on. We can’t just go barging in there. We might make things worse!" Kara nodded.

"Agreed. We have to get in there without being seen."

Sharon looked behind her and around us.

"Where’s Phil?"

*******

Lillith hung from the cave ceiling by a chain wrapped around her wrists. There were crude handmade gold chains wrapped around her neck, waist, and chest. Each leg was tied with a separate chain anchored to each side, pulling her legs wide apart. Immediately below her, aiming up at her exposed crotch, was an Arion Borer weapon, the trigger wired directly to Lillith so that if she were to struggle or move too much, it would go off. In her weakened state, that sick weapon would have devastated her.

Lillith’s face had been severely beaten, covered in dry blood, but was healing well enough. Still, she was very weak, suffering from severe gold poisoning.

The Arion was working nearby, talking to herself and to Lillith in a constant stream of consciousness, although none of what she was saying made any sense. Lillith occasionally mumbled a snide remark, prompting the Arion to sneer at her or even to spit on her.

"With you out of the way, the fleet can return and finish the job we came here to do." It wasn’t until she said that that Lillith knew what she was working so hard on. She had recovered one of the Arion subspace transceivers along with the weapons! William had disabled all of the sets "Just in case." he said. This was one of those in-cases, but the Arion was working hard to remedy the problem.

Lillith was devastated! She had allowed herself to be tricked by this woman. Her temper had played right into the hands of her enemy. And now the planet and its inhabitants whom she had sworn to protect would soon be destroyed! All because of her childish temper! Her feeling of failure tortured her. If I ever get out of this, she thought, if I live through this, I swear! Never again! But if that fleet returns and I’m still hanging here.....

But right now, all she could do was hang there and try like hell not to give in to her nausea.

*******

"Mistress?"

A familiar voice was whispering behind her head. Lillith opened her eyes weakly and looked around her without turning her head. The Arion was nowhere to be seen. The voice returned.

"Mistress? Do you wish to be saved?"

Lillith could barely speak. "Yes, Phil. That would be nice."

Deep within the labyrinth of the network of caverns, the Arion snapped to her feet and listened intently. She heard something with her enhanced hearing.

"The William has devised a wonderful plan to extricate you from your predicament. But it did require the Arion woman to be present." Phil tapped the ledge that he was on thoughtfully, looking around the room as if trying to find a way to fix the problem.

"I’m sure you’ll find a way around that, Phil. Is William here now?"

The Arion was climbing the sheer rock wall of the pit where she had made her arms cache. There was someone up there! Clearing the top of the pit, she saw nothing different from what she had left earlier. The prisoner still hung silently. The Borer weapon was still in place. Nothing was moved, nobody was here.

"Velorian! If you talk to yourself like that again, I’ll stuff rags into every orifice of your body to silence you completely! Do you understand?" Lillith weakly raised her head.

"I said nothing."

Cursing under her breath, the Arion turned to resume her work in the pit when she noticed the cover on the transceiver was open. She distinctly remembered closing it before. As she cautiously walked to it, she glanced around the cave, looking for the intruder. She saw nothing until she looked down into the transceiver enclosure. A damn bug!

"The warmest of good evenings! I hope you do not mind if I nest in your equipment this season, but I simply must find a nice..."

"GET OUT OF THERE, YOU STINKING BUG!!" The Arion was shrieking, making Phil literally bound out of the transceiver! She was going for her Gar pistol!

"Perhaps another location would be worth consideration. Good evening!"

Phil quickly ducked behind an outcropping of rock as the Arion shifted her startled gaze from his retreating form to back inside the transceiver. And as her eyes grew incredibly large, all she saw was the thermite grenade rolling around inside without the safety cap attached. A tiny plume of smoke puffed pleasantly out of the remains of the chemical fuse housing indicating that it had successfully timed out.

The explosion completely vaporized the subspace transceiver, detonated four nearby Taifun rifles, and blew the Arion half way across the chamber. Lillith swung on the chains, but miraculously, the Borer weapon did not go off! And the miracle was scuttling back behind the rocks with the Borer weapon dragging behind him.

The Arion appeared stunned and was just getting to her feet when I stepped in front of her. The look on her face was pure amazement when she saw me.

"You! You’re dead! I killed you myself!"

"You fucked up." I hit her square with everything I had. The concussion from that punch shook the ground as that Arion bitch flew head-first back into a solid rock wall. When she slumped to the ground, there were stress-cracks all over where she had impacted. But that black-haired warrior was getting back up and she did not look pleased to see me.

I glanced over at Lillith. She looked completely out of it as she swung slowly from the chains. The sight of her like that just filled my head with thoughts of revenge. I turned my full attention to the Arion. "Oh, come on, you piece of Arion crap! Come on!"

The Arion jumped toward me as I swung, catching her solidly on her chin. Her stance was so wide that I only threw her head back momentarily before she drove her fist into my stomach with a loud thud. The power of her fist was incredible, lifting me off my feet!

Her muscles grew larger and larger as we fought, as if she were trying to equal my strength blow for blow! And she was hard, incredibly hard. Hitting her was like hitting a concrete wall! But I was going to take this bitch down!

Suddenly, Kara clamped her arms around the Arion from behind, pinning her arms behind her. The Arion struggled against the power of Kara’s mighty hold, but could not break free. It sort of pissed me off.

"Kara! I was in the process of pounding that bitch! Do you mind?"

"William, you were taking much too long! Lillith is still hanging there. Why don’t you get her down. I’ll hold on to Miss Congeniality here."

Holy shit! She was right! I ran over to Lillith and stripped away the chains from her legs.

Kara’s grip on the Arion was unbreakable. As Kara strained, she asked "What should we do with her? She’s not giving up here!"

"Hm. Here’s an idea. Why don’t I take two Taifun rifles, empty them into her face, stick her head into a mud hole, and empty a third into the back of her head!" Kara smirked her disapproval. "Yeah, you’re right....it’s been done."

Reaching up, I pulled off the three gold chains that encircled Lillith but I wasn’t ready for what happened next!

Sparks instantly flew out of her breasts as a corona completely surrounded her body. Huge lightning bolts flashed throughout the cave as her body heaved upward, tethered by that single chain! There seemed to be a sudden whirlwind around us as the intensity of the lightning storm increased to incredible proportions! A massive amount of energy was flowing back into Lillith! And I couldn’t believe how much she was taking!

All through this terrible storm, Kara calmly held on to the Arion. Even as the Arion continued struggling, cussing, and spitting. I was getting the impression that this particular Arion was not totally sane.

The storm abated as fast as it had come upon us. Lillith was standing on the ground now, whipping small amounts of molten steel off of her wrists. I looked up to see the remnants of a much shorter steel chain still dancing from the ceiling.

"Hi, guys! You’re terrific! Nice plan!" I looked at her confused.

"What plan?"

Lillith glanced over at Phil and shrugged.

"If you don’t want to talk about it fine." She smiled and kissed me wonderfully. "Thank you, sweetheart. My protector!"

Suddenly, the Arion swung her leg up almost vertically, striking Kara squarely in the face! Her grip momentarily loosened, just enough for the Arion to free herself as the Arion swung around in a flash and powerfully kicked Kara completely out of the cave!

Lillith forcefully pushed me down as the crazed Arion’s eyes exploded with two wide, powerful heat beams that swept along the inside of that cave as she slowly panned around! Those beams were so powerful that a rumbling sound shook the ground and the rock melted instantly to white hot lava! Everything was being vaporized as she laughed dementedly! Phil ran for his life toward the entrance of the cave, repeating "Oh, my! Oh, my!", over and over.

Lying face down where Lillith had pushed me, I suddenly felt the searing heat of those beams as she turned them on me! Damn they hurt like hell! But within an instant, the heat was gone yet the floor still rumbled! It was Lillith, placing herself between that crazed Arion and me! Her body glowed white hot, becoming incredibly incandescent as she absorbed the energy from the Arion! And while the Arion’s breasts grew smaller, Lillith’s grew larger!

Finally, Lillith was within reach of the desperate Captain. With the strength and power of the strongest beings in the universe, Lillith drove her fist deep into the belly of her enemy. The heat beams sputtered and faded as the Arion gripped her stomach in pain. Lillith’s fist cracked against her jaw making the Arion stagger back a few steps. Another punch staggered her back yet again. But Lillith took her time to hold the bleeding Arion up by the jaw.

"Do you want to return to Aria on your feet or on your back?"

The Arion was incensed at the question! Slapping Lillith’s hand off of her chin, she swung her fist to give Lillith a proper Arion answer. Only Lillith wasn’t interested. Catching the punch in midair with one hand, Lillith quickly twisted the arm downward. The Arion shrieked in pain as she bent backward to alleviate the pressure. Lillith spoke one last time to her.

"An Arion Captain. So young. Too bad." When Lillith connected with her punch, my ears went blank for a moment from the shock wave. The blow threw the Arion right into that gold chamber head first! She impacted so hard, that the entire cave started to collapse!

As we ran for the entrance, we saw the chamber walls fall in as the top of the chamber sealed it all completely. Only the boots of the Arion protruded from tons and tons of rock surrounding a layer of pure gold around a center of Arion female.

We just made it out of the cave as the entire summit of the mountain lowered 50 feet to fill the cave. As the swirling dust cleared, Lillith’s hand print in the rock served as the only sign that anything significant had ever existed here. It served now to mark a tomb.

Lillith and I held each other for a moment to catch our breath. Kara joined us as I put my arm around her as well.

"You don’t suppose there’s any more of them lurking around here, do you?" Lillith sounded very tired.

"If there are, kitten, we’ll just drop a mountain on ‘em."

Lillith smiled a tired smile and extended her hand out to Kara.

"Oh, sis, thanks for saving me in there. Really."

"It wasn’t me at all, Lillith. It was your Terran there and his Tetrite gateway. Speaking of which, where is he?"

Sharon spoke up as she appeared with Phil resting on her shoulder. "Here he is!" None of us could believe what we were seeing!

"Sharon! I thought you hated spiders!"

"Can’t stand ‘em. But I like heroes."

The habitat, the following evening

I had the bonfire going pretty well when Lillith came back out of the habitat. The local Tetrites enjoyed the first evening without rain in days. We all did.

Lillith handed me a glass of a wine that Sharon had brought with her. Something called Merlot, a red wine. Taking a sip, I voiced my approval.

"This‘ll do!" I looked up at Lillith, but she anticipated my next question.

"Three bottles left."

"We’ll just about make it. Where are our guests?"

Lillith was just snuggling close when she answered. "Oh, they’ll be out in a minute."

I ran my finger lightly over her cheek. "Are you all healed up now? I don’t see any damage." She looked as beautiful as ever.

"Nothing on the outside. But I learned something about myself in that cave. I just can’t give in to my temper anymore. I have to control it or this planet and everyone on it is history. I have to ........um...."

"Grow up a bit?" That didn’t come out quite the way I had intended and I hoped like hell she wouldn’t misunderstand me. Then I saw her grin.

"Yeah. Grow up a bit. I grew up a little more that day."

"Great! You know, I’ve always had this thing for ‘older’ women!" She wiggled in my arms to show her dissatisfaction with my statement before settling back down to her comfortable cuddle. We watched the fire in silence for a little while, then she wanted to talk some more."

"Do you like Sharon?"

"Yep. She’s nice."

"She likes you too, you know."

"I’m flattered."

"No, really. We talked a lot about you."

I didn’t like where this conversation was going.

"Lillith? Do we have any more Merlot?"

Lillith took my glass and set it on the ground behind us.

"William, do you remember when I told you about how it was kind of okay for a Supremis to make love to another Supremis if the mate of the first Supremis said it was okay to make love to the second Supremis?"

I had my hand over my mouth trying hard not to laugh at her explanation.

"Wait, wait. Was that the first Supremis that could make love or the second Supremis?"

"William! I’m serious!" She pulled up onto her knees as if position counted to increase understanding.

"You know what I mean. Don’t you remember?"

"Yes, Lillith, I remember. It’s okay for you Supremis to make love among yourselves if the mate says go for it. Well, forget it. No way. You’re not going anywhere."

"Not me, honey, you."

"ME! I’m not a Supremis, I’m Terran!"

"For all intents and purposes, you are Supremis, hon! The Tetrites saw to that!"

"No I’m not."

"Yes, you are!"

"Nope."

"William!"

Lillith had jammed her fists onto her hips, set her jaw, and made her cheeks as chubby as ever. I broke up.

"Lillith, what do you want me to do!?" Her glare was intense now.

"William, you are never going to make use of the great gift that was given to you if you don’t start to realize that you are no longer simply a Terran! You have a great responsibility, but you also have a wonderful life to enjoy. Do you know how long you’re going to live?"

"Um, well, my Dad went at 72, so I figure..."

"You’re going to live almost 500 years!"

"Wha.."

"500 years."

"No, I’m not."

"WILLIAM! Stop doing that!"

"Sorry."

I picked up a log and absentmindedly threw it onto the fire. Sparks exploded, rising up into the night sky. Lillith waited for me to say something.

"Supremis, huh?"

"Yep. You’re one of us now, honey."

"Do I get one of those Velorian libidos?"

"No dear, your own will have to do." I was getting glared at again.

"What about Sharon and Kara?"

"Velorians."

"Hm. Libido?"

"Huge."

"Hm."

"Sharon’s fascinated by your enhancement."

"Really?" It was as if I was just told that the girl down the block really liked my new bike.

"Yep." Lillith now leaned close, her mouth open as if to kiss me, but only held back a bit, her breathing became heavier as she straddled my lap facing me.

"You're my mate, darling, mine. But I do like to show you off. Do you know how we show off our mates?" I shook my head slowly as she slid her hand around the back of my neck. "We share them."

My mouth dropped open in surprise mixed with arousal as she slid herself up the front my face, her body lightly gliding past my mouth. When she stood, her pussy was only an inch from my face. Her scent of wildflowers and honey was so strong and overwhelming that I couldn’t resist! I reached up to her, but she only took my hand, leaned down to kiss it gently, and spoke in the most beautiful voice.

"Someone wants to say goodbye."

With that, she walked quietly away into the night and I was alone.

Sharon approached out of the darkness, the firelight playing off her nakedness. She moved seductively, her hips swaying in the most suggestive manner. Now here’s a woman, I thought, that knows how irresistible she truly is!

She knelt down beside me as I began to speak. But she touched a single finger to my lips, shushing me with hers. That finger then lightly traced down my chin and neck. When it reached my chest, three other fingers joined it as she spoke with a voice that would seduce a deaf man.

"Do you know....."

Her fingers continued their light touch down my chest, bouncing delightfully over my abs.

"....what I......"

Finally the fingers were joined by the rest of the slender female hand as it curled around the base of my steel hard shaft.

".....could do to you?"

The hand held me firmly as a thumb slowly played back and forth over the glans of my cock. Each movement had the most incredible effect! I could barely speak! She was in the process of making me cum with nothing more than her thumb and the tantalizing sound of her voice! I finally forced out a single word.

"Yes."

Her eyebrow raised immediately, but the tone of her sensuous voice didn’t change a bit.

"Do you. Do you indeed."

Her eyes washed across my body like two hoses of blue light as she easily swung one leg over me. I started to get up, but her firm touch stopped me immediately. "Stay where you are, Terran. I have control tonight. And right now, you’re mine."

Tilting her pelvis forward, she slid her wet pussy over the length of my cock. She felt incredibly warm and I thought I could feel her labia moving. But when she reached the top, she slid me into herself so smoothly and so quickly that I didn’t even realize at first what was happening. She took me all in one movement as I felt her pussy hold onto my shaft firmly. Her mouth fell open so sexily as her head fell back. But it was only to last a moment before she once more looked down on me, and smiled coyly, her long blonde hair framing her sexy face.

"Now, William. Let’s see just how enhanced you really are."

She didn’t wait for an answer. She didn’t need one.

I suddenly felt her vaginal walls constrict tightly as she raised her body up from the ground about a foot. Her legs exploding in a wonderful muscular display. I must have looked a bit panicked, because Sharon laughed delightedly, then grinning from ear to ear, put an upraised index finger to her lips to keep me silent. She held me there for only a moment before the most incredible sensation that I have ever felt made me scream out in overwhelming delight!

Sharon did not move, but she lowered me by fluttering the muscles in her vagina! Rolling waves of female muscles worked over my shaft as I settled slowly to the ground, releasing me a little at a time! The feeling inside me was as if someone had grabbed me and physically thrown me violently toward orgasm! It was overwhelming as every muscle in my body went rigid, my mouth agape, words escaping in panic from a body on fire.

"Ohhh......my.......GOOODDDDD!!"

My ass had just touched the ground when Sharon slid down once again taking me all swiftly into herself. Once again I felt her tighten over me. Once again I felt her pull my body up into the air.

"Hm. You didn’t enjoy that as much as I thought you would. Let’s try that again."

"No...wait..."

Again she lowered me down with her fluctuating pussy. This time the waves of pleasure shooting through me were even stronger than before! I unconsciously bucked upward, only to be stopped instantly by a firm female hand. She held me there as she continued the movement by pulling herself up. I was completely frozen in place as this Velorian goddess worked her magic.

"Mmmmm. That’s more like it! I was getting worried that you didn’t appreciate me." I was panting now, trying to get my head back together, when she gripped my hair, forcing me to look up at her. "Let’s see how much of that you can take.....and how fast."

She then proceeded to milk me in this way, more and more, faster and faster. Never allowing me to cum by keeping each move just brief enough. But I was experiencing small orgasmic explosions that started to run together into one long luxurious megaorgasm! I had never been manipulated so expertly by any woman in the universe! Even Lillith hadn’t done this to me!

Everytime I tried to rise, Sharon would forcefully push me back down. But finally I couldn’t stand it any longer! I flung myself at her, overpowering her! I heard her yell out "Skietra!" as I pinned her against a boulder. I was humping now faster and faster! We became a blur as steam began to drift from between us! The boulder cracked and splintered from the force of each stroke into her incredible pussy! Her screams filled the night!

"Oh, tus Skietra!!!"

My hand gripped her hard ass, feeling her cheek tighten and relax with each stroke of me inside her! My other hand on her tits, feeling her fullness, the wonderful firmness of her large solid breasts! Her nipples so hard that my fingers could barely pinch them without real effort. But as they yielded to me, Sharon arched her back more and more, demanding without words that I center my attentions on those aroused peaks, fulfilling her desire to feel them adored in this way! Holding her tit firmly, my mouth paid homage to her waiting nipple, at first gripping one firmly in my lips as I pulled and kneaded it before they parted wide, taking more of the heaving roundness between them, letting my tongue join the assault on the sensitive dark flesh that couldn’t seem to get enough!

I could feel her legs around me, pulling me tighter and tighter into her, until my waist began to glow red from the pressure! She held me by the hair, her teeth gritting as she kept urging me to fuck her harder, fuck her faster, fuck her more and more! Sometimes in English, more often in Velorian!

Suddenly I felt an iron grip on my shoulder as someone pulled us backward. Lillith!

For a moment, I felt the shock of fear shoot through me, but she kissed me briefly before she shoved my head between her own legs without a word. I could hear her kissing Sharon passionately as Sharon continued pleasuring me. Once more on familiar ground, I quickly worked my tongue into Lillith in the way she loved so much. The scent of her filling me, driving me stronger! I sat up, forcing Lillith forward and up off the ground, bending Sharon backward almost back onto the ground. None of us stopped for even a moment as the sounds of our breathing and moans and cries filled the air. But just as I sat up, yet another hand pulled me back.

Kara’s more mature pussy was like being taken from a fast sports car and put into a luxury limo. Her clit extended well beyond her lips, a convenience I appreciated! The attention I paid to her was making her absolutely violent with Lillith, as she took my place at tending to Lillith’s pussy. But when I nibbled her clit with my teeth, she flung herself backward, screaming for more!

The boulder was dust now as we all fucked, sucked, licked, bit, on and on! All of us experiencing forces that would have reduced normal beings to broken shells, forces measured surely in millions of tons! Speeds so fast that the eye couldn’t follow! All lost in a blinding rapture of Supremis sex and universal lust!

Every now and then, someone would briefly fly, causing all of us to raise up into the air, only to come tumbling down, leaving a crater at the point of impact. All of this would have meant death to anyone else, but we four passionate lovers on that cool Tetra evening were finding it all incredibly wonderful!

Kara was screaming louder now! Begging to cum, wanting her release! I gave her what she pleaded for, faster and harder, until she violently came! When she did, her fingers that had been expertly pleasuring Lillith, jammed deeper into her, triggering Lillith’s orgasm. Blue bolts of lightning shot out from Kara’s breasts, hitting Sharon square in the chest! I felt Sharon’s clit rub hard against my cock inside her causing her to scream out as her vagina clamped down on me one last time!

All of this was too much for me as I finally felt myself give in to a final orgasm! I had never in my life ever felt such a deep, intense orgasm as what I felt right at that moment! What I didn’t figure on was that my ejaculate would explode with such force that Sharon would literally be blown off of my cock! When this happened, our little group unwound like a coil of string, all of us still stuck together. Except Sharon and me, of course.

There was absolute silence for a brief moment as the dust around us settled. Sharon’s annoyed voice, now down at the far end of this Supremis link, broke that silence.

"You asshole."

Everyone immediately broke up laughing! Rolling to our sides to sit up or lean over, we all just fell into each other laughing as hard as we could.

"Hell, Sharon, you’re suppose to hold on!" Lillith teased.

"There’s a couple of guys back home who could use this Tetrite stuff too!" Now Sharon was also laughing.

I leaned toward Lillith and whispered in her ear. "I’m not sure about this, honey. You told me about Supremis attitudes, but I’m just not sure what to think right now." Lillith smiled and looked me in the eye.

"As long as I’m with you, darling, as long as I’m here too."

Kara was still lying on her back, just smiling from ear to ear. "You guys are going to have to come to Earth to visit us real soon. You can stop by anytime, William." Lillith faked annoyance at her sister’s obvious meaning.

"Hey!" Sharon sounded truly annoyed. "I think I lost an earring!"

We immediately all started to look through the rubble for it.

Outside the habitat, the next morning

Our guests were ready to leave to return to their home. The passage through the wormhole would be as uneventful for them as it had been overly eventful for me a year ago.

Our goodbyes were brief, yet heartfelt. I kissed Sharon warmly, thanking her for coming. She winked and joked about just how did I mean that. She kissed Lillith warmly and long, causing me to raise my eyebrows and make a mental note to ask Lillith about Sharon and this whole kissing thing of hers later.

But its Kara who reminded Lillith that they can’t go until Lillith showed me some kind of surprise. Lillith jumped with excitement at the mere mention of it. Evidently she had completely forgotten! Becoming little more than a blur, Lillith rocketed around behind a nearby rock wall, returning with a huge 40 foot long wooden crate held overhead. The edges of the crate were seared black from the passage through the wormhole, but it looked intact. I immediately recognized it!

"Holy shit! It’s her!"

Lillith, Kara, and Sharon were all beaming.

"I have to get a hammer to open it!" I looked back at the workshed.

"Terran thinking, darling. You don’t need anything." Lillith had taken it upon herself to wean me from my old ways of thinking. I nodded and stepped forward to the crate.

Gripping the top by jamming my fingers through the brittle wood, I sheared all of the nails progressively as I twisted the plywood away. Wood splinters scattered everywhere as small Tetrites gathered them up for inspection. Wood from another world! they seemed impressed with the idea of pressing wood and glue together in laminated sheets to make something flat like this. You guys haven’t seen anything yet!

There she was! My old airplane project, just as I had crated her up so long ago. I was thrilled to my core!

"Oh, Lillith, how did you..."

"We visited your brother and he gave it to us in a flash. Something about space in his garage or something. Anyway, he said you should have had it finished by now and that he was very happy that you weren’t dead like the military told him. He didn’t seem all that happy though, he cried a lot. But then he told us to tell you that you had better get your sorry ass back home for a visit real soon and not be the lazy dickhead that you’ve always been. Well, honey, I told him that your ass wasn’t sorry looking at all and that I liked it very much! And as far as the head of your dick being lazy, well that simply wasn’t true!"

"Lillith....". My embarrassment in front of our guests was just about complete. I would have liked to have found a nice rock to crawl under as Sharon and Kara began to giggle.

"And I also told him that your dick is just as active as any in the universe! And all he did was laugh!"

"LILLITH!"

"What."

"He was joking around using Terran slang. He didn’t mean anything by it."

"Oh." Now Lillith was the embarrassed one as she glanced over to Kara. "Um, sis, looks like you were right."

Kara tried hard to keep from laughing and was barely successful.

"No problem, Lillith! Live and learn, I guess. But I’m sure glad I was here to see this!" She broke up laughing once more before speaking to me.

"William, you really should teach her more about Terran expressions and slang."

"Oh, I would Kara, but I simply don’t know any." Lillith stood with her mouth agape at my attempt of such a huge lie. Seeing her stare like that made me nervously clear my throat before fixing the situation. "Um, maybe I could, you know.........I will, Kara, I will."

Now I could finally thank each of them for what they had done for me. When I hugged Kara, she whispered to me that Lillith was a lucky girl. I thanked her yet again for that.

Sharon smiled sweetly as I took her in my arms. I kissed her softly and whispered into her ear.

"Does Lillith know how to do that thing you do?" Sharon smiled and whispered back.

"She does now."

"Oh, man! It doesn’t get any better!"

As Sharon slowly pulled away, she winked and said aloud.

"Oh yes it does, Terran. You haven’t seen the intense stuff yet."

My jaw dropped open as she giggled, obviously pleased with getting me once again. I had no idea whether she was kidding or not!

Lillith and I waved as Sharon and Kara rose into the clouds. We were alone once again. I leaned up behind Lillith and spoke softly to her.

"Um, about this Supremis lovemaking stuff, honey."

"What about it?" She was acting coy.

"Anything in particular that you’d like to show me today? Anything that I might find.....interesting!" I scooped her up in my arms as I trotted back to the habitat with her. She held on to my neck, nuzzling insistently as she smiled broadly.

"Practice, practice, practice!"

Phil proceeded to warn the surrounding Tetrites away from the habitat.

The foothills of the Faldref Mountains, six months later.

Hundreds of sleepy Tetrites sprawled over acres of exposed boulders. The early morning sun was just clearing the horizon as the mists of a ground fog hid the dusty surface. Only the tips of the boulders jutted out from the slowly swirling vapors, giving the Tetrites the appearance of survivors of some distant shipwreck stranded separately on islands in a sea of fog. The clear sky overhead transitioned from a bright orange toward the sunrise, fading light to dark through the hues of blue as one looked progressively away from the horizon. The air was crisp and windless. And the silence, except for the sound of an occasional snore, was complete.

Suddenly, overhead, a great noise was heard as a giant birdlike creature appeared menacingly above them! It had two giant wings on either side, separated by sticks and wires! They did not flap, yet the bird flew! The noise it made was horrendous as it seemed to pass overhead in slow motion! The Tetrites looked up in horror at the vision above them! But then, they saw a familiar face! The William was riding the back of this great bird, obviously keeping it from doing harm! The William would protect them! And there! Lillith, the Protector, now flew along side, staying with her lover and watching over them all! What a magnificent sight!, thought the Tetrites, What a wonderfully magnificent sight!

And as this strange vision passed over them, soaring toward the rising sun, the Tetrites raised themselves up onto their hind legs in homage and awe of what they had witnessed this day.

*******

I passed over the field of sleepy Tetrites, waving to them from the open cockpit of the freshly built biplane, unable to control my excitement! It flew! And it flew well, even hands off! I could see Lillith’s face beaming at me as she flew a tight formation abeam my right wing. The feeling of accomplishment was incredibly overwhelming! The sound of the wind in the wires! I could have flown on forever! But I just didn’t have a lot of fuel, just what I had stored away in the crate, so I turned back to the habitat to set her down, disappointed, but still very, very happy.

As I shut down the big radial engine and the propeller stopped, Lillith touched the ground lightly just next to the open cockpit. The sound of the engine ticking away as it started to cool was like music!

"William! It looked wonderful! Such a machine as this! Terrans actually flew these frail craft?"

"Oh, Lillith! It’s perfect! Absolutely perfect! I love it, honey! And yes, they actually flew machines like this years ago. When it comes to flying, I like the old ways best." I patted the fabric-covered fuselage lovingly.

Lillith was visibly pleased, but had one concern. "It’s a bit noisy, though. I hope we didn’t scare the Tetrites!"

The planet Tetra, two thousand seven-hundred years in the future.

Large Grey sat among the young. The Elder of the Tetrites, he was revered for his knowledge, as well as his advancing years. He was just finishing the telling of one of the most favorite Tetrite myths. His audience of children sat spellbound, except for a few who dozed comfortably in the warmth of the fire.

".......And William, Father of All Protectors, was displeased. And with his hand, formed a giant bird from fire! And on this bird, who obeyed his every command, soared over the Tetrites, filling them with awe and wonder! Higher he rose, joining Lillith, the Mother Protector of our Planet, in the heavens! And no evil could ever harm us while this was so. For the bird was his constant companion, as Lillith was his only love."

A tiny young female Tetrite blinked her beady eyes, caught in the rapture of wonder. Her childlike voice barely above a whisper.

"Wowwww!"

THE END