1969 - Man walks on the moon.
2097 - The first permanent Lunar and Martian colonies are settled.
2198 - Artificial gravity allows thorough exploration of the solar system, and orbital colonies are quickly established around all major planets.
2268 - Warp Drive technology is perfected.
2301 - The DREAM era begins. The exploration and colonisation of the galaxy is in full effect. Several centuries of technological progress has propelled humanity into a golden age, where resources are plentiful, disease and famine are non-existent and human suffering is history.
The story takes place on a rocky, backwater planet in the western edge of the galaxy, Atheana-4. The planet was first settled seven years ago by a few hundred people. The atmosphere was roughly the same as Earth's, at least similar enough so that humans could breathe without Oxy-suits.
Colony 214-B-6, or Elmaty as it was know to the locals, was one of several colonies on Atheana-4. It was also the one of the first to be settled, nestled away in the corner of an island about the same size as France on Earth. The colony ship had carried several Terra-forming crews to the surface, and immediately they began removing the local habitat, making it more suitable for habitation. The colonies had no need for crop fields or livestock; food was grown in the huge biolabs at the centre of the colony, so despite the colony now numbering more than 11,000 people, it covered just a small area of land.
It was here that Jennifer had spent her teenage years. She reminisced back. The time she and the girls had snuck around the school after hours and filled one of the rooms with Pumice Bugs, her first kiss with David round the back of the library, the time she was almost crushed by falling Allstrand tree that had been hit by a Mag-truck the day before. Now she was a young woman, 19 years old, with piercing blue eyes and pitch black hair down her back. Her curvy figure always drew looks and cat-calls, her large soft breasts standing out from her body. Daughter of a Pylon engineer and an extra-terrestrial biologist, Jennifer was almost guaranteed to play a crucial part in the colony. Without the Pylons, Atheana-4 would be cut off from the rest of the galaxy, and there were still millions of species on the planet that had yet to be identified.
For now though, Jennifer was content to make the most of her youth. Promiscuity was hardly rare in this period of human history, but Jennifer was something else entirely. Her sexual appetite was legendary amongst certain circles, rivalled only by her ability to break hearts.
She smiled to herself as she slipped on the Haz-suit. She remembered last night, how Johny had flicked his tongue over her clit. How his hands squeezed her breasts. How his impressive cock made her scream and beg for more. She smiled to herself. "I'll be getting some more of that Friday" she thought and she put her other leg in the suit. Haz-suits weren't exactly needed around the colony. All wildlife close by had been classified a Class-5 threat or lower, and the local flora had been found to contain no harmful chemicals. But regulations were regulations, and it was always better safe than sorry on a colony world. The suit constricted her breathing somewhat, but she had learned to cope over the past 11-months with her job as an outpost relay-woman. It was a simple enough job, just drive the mag-truck full of supplies to one of the several-dozen outposts a few dozen miles outside the colony. And besides, she seized any opportunity she could to get out of the boring colony life.
Climbing aboard the huge vehicle, she shuffled around in her seat to get comfy.
"Stella, please check for malfunctions and damages."
"Yes, Jennifer... no damages or malfunctions found." replied the female voice.
S.T.E.L.L.A. was the artificial intelligence that had been created for the colonies. As intelligent as a human and also self-aware, she was programmed into almost everything, from mag-trucks to colony ships, to un-manned drones and even educational facilities.
"Thank you, Stella." said Jennifer.
Pressing the ignition button, Stella recognised her finger print, and Jennifer steered the truck off into the wilderness.
"Any news on the radio, Stella?"
"Nothing new around here. But there have been reports of attacks by Stump-worms around colony 214-B-2."
"Ugh, are the victims alright?"
"Yes, fortunately there was help nearby at both incidents."
Stump-worms were large, native creatures, about he size of a large dog in length, but slightly heavier than a fully grown man. One of the more bizarre specimens of Atheana-4, they reproduced by laying eggs inside an orifice of another creature, then fertilizing them. Even more bizarre was the fact that they evolved at an incredibly fast rate. A mere year after humans arrived on the planet, Stump-worms were capable of using them as hosts. Not only had their ovipositors and genetalia become more scaled to the human form, but they had been observed sexually stimulating and using aphrodisiacs on their victims, who were almost always women, to make them less likely to try and escape.
Fortunately, they were native to a different continent, and so far no Stump-worms had been reported around Elmaty.
Jennifer couldn't help but wonder what it must be like getting attacked by one of the creatures. Exactly how do they stimulate their victims? How could they have evolved so quickly? If they do those things to keep their victims from fleeing, does that mean that those women enjoyed it?
Jennifer snapped back into the real world as the radio crackled to life. But she noticed her day dreaming had left her a little wet between her legs.
"Come in Truck-7, come in truck-7, this is HQ."
Jennifer picked up the mic.
"This is Truck-7, what is it, HQ?"
"Jen, it's Al. Listen I know you were supposed to go to Outpost E, but... well, the colony has lost contact with Outpost A."
"Lost contact? How? Is their sub-pylon down?"
"We don't know that yet. But we haven't been able to contact them for at least an hour. They have a sub-pylon and a reinforced satellite link, so it's highly unlikely both have failed."
"So you want me to go and see if anything's wrong?"
"Pretty much, yeah."
"Can't you just use the Stella there to take control of the surveillance cameras and see what's up?"
"We can't. The Stella network at the outpost was disabled."
"Disabled? Why would they do that?"
"Like I said, Jen, we need you to go and figure out why. All the emergency response squads are tied up around Colony B-2 purging Stump-worm nests. They would come here they said, but only if there's proof of danger at the outpost. No sense in letting the worms go free if someone's just sat on the off switch for the sub-pylon."
"Alright, I'll re-route to Outpost-A. I'll be a while though, it's a long way."
"Thanks Jennifer. And listen, don't put yourself in danger there. First sign of trouble, get on your radio and call an Emergency squad."
"Will do, Al. Talk to you soon."