Austin and Blue: Misplaced in Space

Ingredients list (mild spoilers):

2 cups consensual non-humanoid alien sex

1 cup humor

1/2 cup questionable pheromonal/aphrodisiac influence

1/4 cup sci-fi worldbuilding

1 pinch of cliffhanger

This is Number 2 in a series --

Intimate First Contact

. Each story is somewhat self-contained and enjoyable on their own, but they're definitely best read in order!

Thanks to

Privates1stClass

for editing and beta-reading!

Earth was gone. The Moon was gone. The stars were in a different position. A swirling greenish nebula of gases now filled the view of the observation deck window. A small red sun was visible in the distance.

"What... What just happened? Where are we?" Austin gasped.

"Do not know..." Blue whispered, squeezing him tightly. "Ship?...Ship?"

There was no response. The light emanating from the walls had gone dim, leaving only the faint ambient light of unknown space. The low hum of the ship's air circulation system had gone silent.

"Shit... When Ship connected to my network account and looked at my spam folder... I think It caught a virus."

"Virus? Is not possible... Ship not biological. Also, Earth DNA chirality not compatible with--

"No, no, a computer virus. Humans sometimes design computer programs to damage or take over other computers... I think Ship must have tried to run one of them."

Blue's five eyes blinked in confusion. "How we fix Ship? Blue is not AI specialist, is not engineer..."

"Lucky for you, Blue, you abducted a certified electrical engineer!" Austin said with a grin. "I mean... I haven't actually done a lot of engineering, I've mostly worked entry level IT jobs... Can we get to Ship's... I dunno, brain? Mainframe? Processing unit?"

"Oh, yes! Ship mind accessible under of fabrication room!" Blue said excitedly. She rushed to the door, pulling on a concealed access panel to manually release the door. "Follow, Engineer Austin!"

Austin trailed behind Blue into the pitch black interior of the ship, following her faint vanilla scent and the pitter-patter of her five tip-toe feet.

Blue found the door to the fabrication room. After a bit of fumbling around at the fabrication tool bench, Austin found some handheld flashlights, finally giving them some light to work with. Blue found the access panel on the floor, prying it open with Austin's help.

Under the panel was a low service tunnel, just barely big enough for someone of Blue's species to crawl through. Austin had to get down on his hands and knees, but the floor was made of the same slightly spongy material as the rest of Ship's interior. Austin started giggling.

"What funny, Austin? Situation is not funny to Blue..."

"Oh, it's just... I never thought I'd get to crawl through a real Jefferies Tube!"

"Who Jeffery is?"

"Never mind, it's a long story. Maybe we can watch some Star Trek if we ever get back to my solar system."

The service tunnel opened into a slightly larger space, other tunnels branching off at right angles. There was a conical object hanging from the ceiling, like a chandelier made of thousands of delicate brass threads, intricately woven together.

"Blue, what am I looking at here?"

"Quantum mind," Blue said, squeezing up next to Austin, her leggy body pressed against him in the tight space. "Not know how works, though."

Austin scratched his chin thoughtfully as his eyes traced over the overwhelmingly complex system. The top of the "chandelier" was a tangle of larger tubes and conduits in a variety of colors, snaking off into the depths of the ship.

"Hmm. Blue, is there a color that represents electricity in your culture? Or, like, a color that warns of electrocution risk?"

"Danger color is... how to say... Black-Red? Like of venom fish."

"Uhh... I don't think I'm able to see that color. Can you point to it?"

Blue leaned against Austin, lifted one of her five limbs and pointed at a thick dark cable. He followed it to a junction box, clearly designed as a removable connection. He shrugged; disconnected the cable; waited for about thirty seconds, then plugged it back in.

With an audible hum and a noticeable vibration, Ship's quantum computer restarted, now twinkling with multi-colored blinkinlights. Lights turned on in the service tunnel.

"Austin is brilliant engineer!" Blue exclaimed, hugging him tightly with two of her limbs.

"Goddamnit..." Austin muttered. "Abducted by aliens, lost on the other side of the galaxy, and my job is still turning the computer off and on again."

"J U U M M P comple-- oh shit, what just happened?" Ship's voice echoed through the corridor. "Where are we?"

"Ship is okay?" Blue asked.

"I'm not sure. The last thing I remember was digging through Austin's network directory, and I saw a file that looked interesting, and..."

"Don't open those files again!" Austin blurted out. "Congratulations, Ship, you might be the first interstellar victim of a crypto virus."

"Ugh... I guess I owe you one, biped. Alright, I need to identify and plot distances from known pulsars and black holes, to figure out where we are. It's going to take a couple of hours, unfortunately."

"What do while wait?" Blue blinked at Austin.

"How about a shower? I'm feeling pretty grimy after crawling around in this tunnel... No offense, Ship."

The bathroom was a lot like a hot spring or Japanese onsen. Most of the space was taken up by a large recessed pool, shaped with smooth ledges and bowls of varying depths. Austin idly wondered how Ship's gravity worked, but soon had other things on his mind.

Austin watched Blue peel off her five-legged jumpsuit and place it in a recessed cubby near the door. Now that he had spent time around Blue wearing clothes, he found himself enjoying the sight of her naked form.

She tip-toed into the bath, purring happily as she moved into the deeper side of the bath and submerged herself entirely, relaxing and spreading her legs out like a starfish.

Austin followed Blue's lead, taking off his grimy clothes and stepping into the pool. It was warm and salty.

He found a comfortable bowl-shaped depression to lay down in, letting the water come up to his shoulders. His hairless penis stirred in the warm water, becoming half-erect.

Blue swam over to him and climbed up onto his lap, two limbs wrapped around his shoulders in a pleasant hug, one of her big blue eyes gazing into his.

"Thank Austin for fixing Ship," she said. "Am sorry for taking from Earth orbit, was not part of plan... What if not return in time for employment period?"

"Oh, my job?" Austin chuckled, casually running his hands up and down two of her silky thighs. "They'll probably fire me. I'll just get another terrible IT job, plenty of places willing to exploit an over-educated tech with no ambition. I have to be honest, Blue, there's really nothing waiting for me back on Earth. I'm single, my job sucks, I'm bad at keeping in touch with friends... pretty pathetic, really."

"Not pathetic!" Blue said, raising her body up to eye-level. "Is competent, interesting, curious, good lover!"

"God, Blue, you're the best thing that has ever happened to me," Austin said, his voice cracking with emotion. "The last two days have been more exciting than my entire lifetime before meeting you."

Blue's strong limbs pressed down on his shoulders, gently but firmly, making him lay back in the warm saltwater. "Relax body. Close eyes. Calm mind," she cooed, her voice sensuous and reassuring. Pressing the core of her body to Austin's midsection, she engulfed his cock with her central orifice. He immediately sprang to rock hard attention, as her internal muscles milked him steadily, her five small tongues encircling his crown.

Austin moaned with surprise and pleasure, then grabbed one of her thick thighs and buried his face into the crook of her knee. He kissed her soft velvety skin, licking and nibbling at the sensitive underside.

Blue responded with a vibrating purr, her five voices rising in a harmonious, orgasmic melody.

Part of Austin hoped that he would never go back to Earth.

"Alright, I have some good news. And some bad news. And some ambiguous news," Ship said a couple of hours later. Austin and Blue had put on fresh clothes and were sitting in the observation lounge, looking at the eerie green nebula outside the window.

"Hatchery teacher say, 'Always start with open toughest clam.'" Blue blinked at Austin's confused expression. "Is poor translation... Bad news first?"

"Hmph. It actually makes more sense if I give the good news first," Ship said obstinately.

"Can you just tell us already?" Austin asked, rolling his eyes.

"The good news is that I was able to triangulate from known pulsars, enough to know where we are. The bad news is that we're on the wrong side of the galaxy, a long way from Concord space, and I don't have jump maps to get us home."

The surface of the conference table in the observation lounge lit up, displaying a diagram of the galaxy. A smallish area in the middle of one of the spiral arms was lit up, presumably Concord space, with the Earth somewhere nearby. A red blinking spot lit up on the far edge of another spiral arm.

"Hey, how do you travel through space, anyway?" Austin asked.

"You don't have the physics fundamentals, you still explode hydrocarbons to push wheeled vehicles around."

"Right, the caveman couldn't possibly understand. Do you make artificial wormholes or something? Could I explain it by poking a straw through a piece of paper?"

Ship generated a close digital approximation of a sigh. "Okay, fine. Close enough. The point is, I can only jump a limited distance at a time. I could get from here to home in about 10 jumps, but only if I had detailed stellar survey maps. We got lucky when your crypto virus made me make a random jump. I could have ended up in a star's gravity well, or embedded in the side of an asteroid, or something."

"So, what do?" Blue asked.

"That leads to the ambiguous news. While I was surveying for pulsars, I observed an object nearby. It's definitely artificial, a station or probe or ship. Maybe there's someone or something we can communicate with. Maybe there's a computer system I can connect to, and acquire local star maps. Or maybe it's a berserker probe, and it will atomize us as soon as it detects us."

"Wait, is that like a serious risk?" Austin asked, alarm creeping into his voice.

"Meh, probably not. If a hostile species wanted to send out self-replicating berserker probes to scour the galaxy of life, it would have happened millennia ago, and none of us would be here to worry about it. Of course, there's a first time for everything..."

"You are so reassuring," Austin said sarcastically. "But do we really have a choice?"

"Of course we have a choice. I've got printer feedstock to make food for you for at least five years. My power source will last at least a century. Longer, once I turn off the life support after you expire."

"Blue enjoys time with Austin, but not wish to live on Ship until starve to death."

"Same. Okay, let's go check out the artificial thingy."

Ship approached the object carefully, extending its sensors tentatively, fearful of triggering an aggressive response.

Austin and Blue watched with a mix of curiosity and trepidation from the observation deck as they object came into view.

"Fascinating," said Ship. "It's an amalgamation of synthetic and organic building materials. It has what looks like a sub-light ion engine, nothing surprising there. But discrete sections appear to be grown rather than built."

"Half of that ship looks like a tree," Austin observed.

"That's what I said."

"Could communicate with?" Blue asked.

"I've sent it all of my standard communication protocols, on every electromagnetic band I have access to. No response."

"Life signs?" Austin asked, doing his best Captain Kirk impression.

"It doesn't work that way, biped. I can observe EM emissions and make educated guesses, but there's no such thing as 'life signs.' The ship is radiating heat, so there's probably a power source of some kind. No dangerous radiation detected. There's an aperture on the trunk of the tree, I think I can dock with it."

"What, you can't just transport us over like you did to me?"

"I can pull you back in an emergency, but teleportation is a one-way trip. It operates on the same principles as my jump drive. Too much quantum uncertainty to send you to an unobserved external location, you could end up teleported into a bulkhead or a piece of furniture. Even just a floating dust particle in the wrong place at the wrong time could kill you. You'll have to use those squishy legs of yours and walk."

"What do you think, Blue? Should we explore the alien Treeship?"

"Blue is trained for alien first contact, am ready! We go!"

The Treeship was enormous, almost half a mile in diameter, each of its branches thicker than Ship's entire length. Ship approached the docking portal on the trunk, coupled with it, and sent a pair of small floating probes through the airlock.

"Breathable elements, nothing toxic. Lots of organics in the air, but no bacteria, viruses, or spores detected. This corridor connects to a central chamber in the trunk of the three. No signs of movement or activity. I think it's safe for you to enter."

Blue and Austin stepped through the portal and into the alien vessel. Ship sent a remote probe along with them, a soft white drone roughly the size and shape of a football.

The vessel's interior was a strange combination of organic and synthetic. The corridor was made of living wood, floor to ceiling, smooth and flowing, like it was grown rather than built. Occasional signs of synthetic construction were visible here and there, control panels or conduits. A faint greenish bioluminescent glow emanated from tufts of foliage growing in the corners and junctions.

The ship smelled alive and organic, redolent of soil, plant life, flowers.

"What do we do now?" Austin asked.

"Hmm... No intelligent life, ship empty... continue to central chamber?" Blue suggested. She headed farther into the interior of the ship, her five radially symmetrical eyes giving her a clear view of their surroundings.

Austin followed behind, admiring her long muscular legs, feeling unusually turned on by her presence. He shook his head and tried to focus on the fascinating alien environment of the ship.

A voice echoed out through the ship, deep and rich and motherly.

Leave me to my grief alone,

That I might drift until I die.

You've a mission and a home,

No such privilege have I.

"Hello? Who is?" Blue called out.

GreenMother of seeds am I,

Or so I was once, in the past.

Now in sorrow I do lie,

Mother only to dead ash.

"Follow, Austin, voice this way..." Blue walked faster into the Treeship. Austin rushed to catch up, breathing heavily, his face flushed.

"What voice?" Ship's voice asked, via the probe. "I'm not detecting any voices..."

They turned a corner into a large open chamber, roughly cylindrical, the hollow core of the tree. The circular walls stretched up into darkness, pockmarked in small, recessed alcoves, seemingly empty.

In the center of the chamber was a plant, at least twice Austin's height, thick and smooth, dark green with paler green variegation, tendrils trailing along the floor and growing into it like the roots of a tree. The plant pulsed with faint bioluminescence.

The room was thick with a powerful floral scent, like lilacs and roses, with a hint of cinnamon. Austin felt himself getting hard, with no obvious source of arousal. His cock strained against the tight, thin fabric of his pants.

"Uhh... Hey Blue, do you feel okay?"

"Am fine, Austin... Why?"

"I think something is happening to me... I feel really horny, for some reason..." he muttered.

Through vast and endless frozen space,

My planet sent GreenMother out.

Drifted alone, last of my race,

One chance to extinction rout.

The voice echoed through Austin and Blue's heads, filled with deep ancient sadness.

"Plant... is speaking? Telepathic, maybe?" Blue approached the plant. "What happen, GreenMother? Why alone, why grieving?"

Once I bore a sacred trust,

Ten thousand seeds within my core.

Made to speed through cosmic dust,

On distant worlds new life to pour.

But cruel fate hit me, gamma rays

From supermassive giant star...

Collapsed to neutron, x-ray spray

Struck my body from afar.

Pierced my walls, ripped DNA,

My seeds... I felt them torn apart.

Escaped at last the gamma ray,

Too late to heal my broken heart.

"Oh my god, GreenMother... that's horrible," Austin exclaimed, tears running down his face. His every emotion was strangely heightened, like an out of control, hormonal teenager turned to 11.

"Am so sorry..." Blue said, her five voices sighing in a mournful dirge. "Could help, maybe? Have technology, ship, printer... what needs?"

You offer hope, in darkest night?

A kindness unexpected.

I wonder... Yes... perhaps you might.

Your offer is accepted!

The plant in the center of the chamber unfolded like a huge flower blossom. The interior was a bright vibrant violet, the petals thick, fleshy, and shining with moisture. The center of the blossom was a glistening orange, puffy and pillowy. It was strangely sensual and feminine. Georgia O'Keeffe would have approved.

Austin grabbed onto one of Blue's legs to steady himself, his knees getting weak, blood rushing to his achingly erect member. "I think GreenMother's scent... is affecting me... somehow..."

Needing to relieve the pressure on his cock, not thinking clearly, he pulled his pants down, allowing it to spring free. It throbbed angrily, precum streaming steadily from the tip with each heartbeat, dripping onto the organic floor, creating a glistening clear puddle. He closed his eyes and tried to steady his breathing.

Mother, maiden, crone and seed,

If you provided scaffolding...

Your DNA perhaps I'd feed?

I'd cherish it, that fragile thing,

And with it rebuild fresh new life,

Replenish my genetic banks...

I could again become midwife!

Offer you my endless thanks!

"What think, Austin? DNA sample would rescue Blossom mission!"

"That's... amazing... I'll do it, gladly... Oh fuck, I think I'm about to cum, and I'm not even touching my cock!"

Blue pushed Austin closer to the sentient plant. She grasped his penis with her slender three-fingered hand, aiming it at the central orange pistil of the violet flower.

"Give cum to GreenMother, Austin!"

He nearly fell over as an unstoppable climax hit him like a truck. Thick jets of cum washed over the petals, and Blue had to hold onto his waist to keep him upright. Blue's practiced digits slid up and down Austin's shaft, milking him enthusiastically.

"Oh my god! It's not stopping!" He gasped as his pelvic muscles spasmed, eight, nine, ten spurts of pearlescent semen, each more voluminous than he normally produced in an entire orgasm. He gritted his teeth through the longest climax of his life.

GreenMother's matronly voice echoed in Austin's mind, conveying deep, passionate gratitude.

Yes! The seed! Give me more!

I taste your rich genetic code...

Mammalian cum I just adore,

Please don't stop, another load!

Austin stepped back to catch his breath. He looked down at his penis, still twitching angrily.

"Oh fuck, I'm still hard... I... think I could cum again, if you needed more..."

With an impressed purr, Blue reached again for Austin's still-tumescent penis, grasping it gently.