Dark Planet Pt 01

This is a continuation of Cell Mate and is largely story driven. Thank you to everyone who responded to my first story with encouragement – I know I said I didn't read comments, but I have reformed. I apologize to anyone who has enjoyed Cell Mate for taking so long with the sequel. I hope this is a worthy continuation. I will likely publish a third installment if there is still any interest. Thank you again.

*

I rolled over on the thin mattress pad, reaching out in the darkness for comfort. Something cool, hard and serpentine coiled around my hand and wrist and I relaxed, pulling it closer, nuzzling against its shapeless mass.

I had been plagued by nightmares for over a month now. I couldn't decide if the worst dreams were the ones where I was still trapped in a tiny cell on a barren prison planet run by sadistic guards determined to torture me till I broke, or the dreams where I arrived at my new home to find there was no way to possibly survive the horrors of perpetual night on a war-torn world of sightless monsters. I gasped in the dark as its tendrils enveloped my torso and twisted into my hair. After a moment of wakefulness I usually remembered that it was the dreams of Kragosa that frightened me most. I was wrongly imprisoned there for eight months and escaped less than four weeks ago but that didn't stop me from checking all the view windows on the small ship at every opportunity, paranoid I'd see a Kragosi or Union ship in hot pursuit. As for the sightless monsters, well, seeing how I was in love with one that sorta took the edge off.

A tendril fluttered by my ear, tickling. "

You are still having these dark thoughts, these nightmares

?" The sound was more melody than words, each note empathic and precise.

"Not on purpose," I answered, rolling to face Perikos as its tendrils tightened around my waist, careful to avoid one tender spot where I had stitches removed last week.

"

Perhaps not but obviously you are thinking these thoughts. No one else can make you dread your decision

." There was more than a hint of guilt in Perikos' tone that made me bristle. I sat up.

"Look, I explained this before. Good dreams happen, bad dreams happen. I can't control them but it's normal." Woe betide anyone else unfortunate enough to try to explain the concept of dreaming to a Perikos. Quantum mechanics and H'ctian Rhythm Structure they can handle but try explaining the idea of subconscious thought to a Perikos and that's it. Forget about it. They barely sleep, let alone dream. Not my fault.

"

Last we spoke of this we decided that if when we reach my planet you still regret your decision we will restock the ship will fuel and provisions and you can return to Rhydia Station

."

That pissed me off enough to retreat to the bathroom, or what passed for a bathroom on a Kragosi ship. There was a wide hole in the floor I was sure I would fall into each time I needed to use it, a small mirror I'd moved from the surgical table and what looked like a long, wide trough and I originally supposed was a communal urinal but now I suspected was intended for washing something although I couldn't imagine what. There was also a long, narrow window from floor to ceiling on the far wall and a door that locked from the room I slept in. The room was actually pretty big for such a small ship, which I attributed to the girth of the average Kragosi guard.

I reached for the faucet and a small measure of clean water filled the trough and I splashed it on my face. I had such a short fuse lately; the slightest things would set me off. I couldn't help but worry whether Perikos was trying to guilt me into staying or whether it was sending not-so-subtle hints that it was having regrets. I knew one thing for certain – all hope that whatever we shared was any less emotionally fraught and complicated than a human relationship went right out the window about forty-eight hours after takeoff.

We had used our time wisely, once we had recovered well enough to have conversations about something other than sex, fear and bullet wounds. My emotions had fed Perikos and I believe my decision to stay on board rather than going to Rhydia Station saved its life. Perikos in turn set my wrist and extracted a bullet from my gut and then stitched up the hole. We were safe, whole and uninfected. I didn't regret my decision now and I didn't anticipate regretting it, sunless planet notwithstanding.

Which was being a bit unfair, I suppose. The planet did have a sun and it rotated fully every eighty years. The Perikos were nomadic for a reason. Apparently life exits because of some very complicated geochemical thermal-type reactions under the planet's surface. The vegetation was technically fungus that fed off the planet's energy rather than from photosynthesis. According to Perikos the air has a greater oxygen concentration than Kragosa or Ferox 4, where I used to live. I didn't understand how it could but I believe it. It has water too although Perikos couldn't speak to its drinkability so I guess it's just there to moisten the fungus. For pretty obvious reasons I hopes it was clean and somehow vitamin D enriched.

Apart from all the concerns about whether I'd die of thirst or get rickets or whatever was possibly an even bigger worry. If I couldn't survive there then there was nothing for it, I'd have to leave. Not really a problem, at least not one I could control. No, Perikos and I had spent a pretty sizable chunk of the last week discussing the reason we met in the worst prison a convict can be held in by Union law. Regicide. Back on Kragosa Perikos told me it had killed its "king" (for want of a better term) to avenge the deaths of civilians during peace talks. Which was true but it neglected to mention that it was the leader of the Resistance against imperial control. I wasn't even convinced the Perikos had buildings. They were nomadic after all. Who knew you could have an empire and no infrastructure? Not me.

Apparently the king was six kinds of evil and unjust and had to be done away with, which sounds fine and all but all things are relative and the leader of the Resistance would say the guy he killed was evil. Perikos also expressed its worry that the King's second-in-command, the one who sentenced it to Kragosa, had taken over and picked up where the dead king left off. Murder and mayhem, which explained why we were making all due haste to get there in spite of my nightmares and my ever-expanding list of questions. Figured prominently among them was whether or not I could expect a cheery welcome or a flurry of blows from my new community of sightless, shapeshifting tentacle creatures. Perikos seemed disinclined to wager on their actual opinions, insisting that my role as its friend would protect me from any negativity or disapproval and that my ability to generate large quantities of delicious emotion would no doubt win the hearts of plenty.

But I wasn't supposed to be worrying or having nightmares.

I heard a soft rap on the door outside. I turned my back to the door, looking instead out the window to see trails of light behind us as we traveled in hyperdrive. I still couldn't help but look out for ships from Kragosa.

"

Please do not ignore me even if you are upset

," said a voice in my ear. I tried to move away but wide black tentacles seized me from behind, spinning me in place and pressing me against the bathroom door. It was still locked.

"

I am darkness and shadow. Do not bother trying to hide. I will be able to afford you little privacy on Perikos, you would do better to get used to it now so it will not come as a shock

."

Thick tentacles held my arms behind my back just above my elbows. Pinning me or binding my arms was its favorite game regardless of what kind of conversation we were having. I felt another tentacle trace wide, lazy circles over the globes of my naked ass. Gee, I wondered what it would be like to have no privacy.

"There's no point in trying to talk to you if you don't listen to me or trust me. It's as simple as that," I said, feeling fingers of darkness reach around my sides to massage my breasts. No, I wasn't going to get distracted. It wasn't going to steamroll over me again just because it knew what I liked. I tried to focus on something else.

After a moment I heard its music by my ear again, although it didn't cease caressing my breasts or ass. "

What you say is true. I have been unfair to expect trust from you when I have been reluctant to extend it myself

."

"You don't trust me?" I asked, my voice slightly shrill. I hadn't really thought Perikos didn't trust me, I had been trying to make a point.

A tendril barely thicker than a length a thread wound itself around my nipple and pulled it taught, drawing an agonized moan from my lips. No point in pretending not to like it anymore.

"

Forgive me, Little Shade, I was unclear. I was immensely pleased by your decision to return with me to my home. I was so pleased that I could not help anticipating disappointment. You might well change your mind about my planet or about me. I fear your anxieties will overcome you and I do not wish to keep you with me against your will

."

"Against my better judgment maybe, but not my will," I whimpered as a thin tendril wound around my other nipple and I felt almost electric currents pulse through my entire body.

"

As you say

," Perikos agreed, stroking the creases of my thighs while carefully avoiding my swollen wetness. "

Allow me to propose a compromise? I shall make no more mention of my childish fears and trust your decision and you will allow me to help you relax

."

I shivered as a thick appendage wrapped itself around my waist, its tip dangling inches from the swell of my mound. "You can't possibly be hungry again. We did this less than five hours ago." My voice sounded hoarse and heavy with an air of protesting-too-much.

"

You are correct, I do not seek my own satisfaction in this, only yours. Come with me to the bridge and I shall propose a game

."

That sounded ominous, I thought, my thighs coated with my own arousal. Not like I had much choice though, since Perikos still held my arms behind me as it marched me out of the bathroom and sleeping quarters and to the cockpit of the ship. Perikos might have thought it was worthy of being described as "bridge" but I didn't share the sentiment. It didn't even have a proper-sized viewing screen.

Perikos stopped me in the middle room, facing the controls. "

You wish for dreamless exhaustion and I wish to make amends. Here is my game: when I release you I will also release the artificial gravitation. You will have ten seconds to flee to the best of your abilities and then I will find you and force your body to climax until you lose consciousness. Would you like to play my game, Jayn

?"

Oh hell, I felt my entire body flutter like a leaf in a storm and I felt a renewed deluge of dampness between my legs. When I spoke, my voice shook with need. "Y-you can change shape so I don't s-stand a chance…"

Perikos' music was elated, tightly coiled like a big cat waiting to pounce. "

You do not stand a chance anyway but if that is your concern then I promise not to change my size or density until I have caught you fairly. Are you ready

?"

No.

Perikos released my arms and I made a mad dash for the surgery, the only other accessible rooms being the two bed sleeping quarters and the small bathroom and I didn't want to find myself weightless in there. There was the cargo bay but there was no life support system in there. I dashed towards the surgery and felt curiously dizzy for just a moment before I felt my feet leave the ground. It was the oddest sensation and I'd only felt it a handful of times in my life. Every other one of them I'd been buckled in. I swam towards the table, thinking to hide behind it and keep the table between us when I saw movement out of the corner of my eye. It was pursuing with even more unnatural grace and speed than it usually did, like a sea serpent in water. I stifled a squeak and propelled my body over the table and found my back against the wall between the surgery and the brig. I had never been inside, avoiding it for obvious reasons but Perikos' mass was closing in and I was caught up in the thrill of fleeing. I hand traced over the panel and the door to the brig slid open. I pushed off the wall and floated inside.

The room was small, only just larger than the bathroom, but with no windows or bed. As in the bathroom, there was a hole in the floor on the far side and various brackets intended to be used for various restraints drilled into the walls. Perikos entered the brig behind me as I circled the perimeter of the room, kicking off the far wall and propelling myself towards the open door in front of me.

My body collided something with a dull thud. The door had slammed shut just as I was making a break for it. I glanced around the adjacent walls for the exit panel but found nothing. No way to get out. I spun around to see the dark mass behind me, recalling vividly the moment I was first given to the Perikos to use, to feed from. The cage, the fear, the creature looming before me.

Dark tentacles captured my upper arms again, pulling them away from my body while two others seized my legs just above my knees and held them open. I tried to twist and turn away but I couldn't get any traction.

"

It is quite a bit like your cell at Kragosa, is it not

?" Perikos said as still more tendrils wound through my hair and around my neck, over my cheeks and between my breasts. "

The difference, I suppose, is that this time there are no guards to interrupt us and no one watching me fill your body. It is just your body and mine and while I promise to make you scream and beg, I also promise that you will experience only pleasure

."

Still more tentacles held my waist and shoulders, my ankles and aching nipples. Perikos arranged my body so I floated on my stomach, with my face held down and my ass pointing up, soft and exposed. Without further preamble Perikos jammed a thick, long shaft into my pussy, ripping a throaty scream from my lips. For once it didn't try to silence me, perhaps because it promised to let me scream and beg. The shaft withdrew from my body with a wet sucking sound before it slammed itself inside me again. I tried to squirm, to adjust the angle of my body so I didn't feel so painfully full but I couldn't and instead received a short rain of sharp blows to my ass and thighs even as the shaft inside me widened and quicken its pace. It wasn't long before I felt the blurry edges of climax ripple through me and surprisingly the shaft pushed even deeper, holding still inside me while my hips bucked madly.

As I began to come down the tentacles turned me over and tightened their hold over my entire body. The tentacles above my knees now held my legs closed and arms locked over my head. One deft, thin tentacle burrowed between my thighs the cleft of my mound, teasing and flicking my clit. I shrieked, fighting against my living bonds.

"Too sensitive!" I yelped, able to do little else as the tendrils in my hair and on my cheeks stroked my head with impossible gentleness.

"

Yes, I know. It is almost painful, is it not

?" The tendril ground against my swollen nub and I howled at the intensity, unable to turn or move or get any traction or resistance held as I was above the ground in zero gravity. I came again and this time the wash of hot bliss laced with something sharper, scarier. Orgasming till unconsciousness seemed like a good idea at the time but it was very quickly becoming too much.

Perikos pulled my legs wide apart, holding my arms above my head like before. It squeezed and stroked my swollen breasts, twisting my body so it held me sideways, lining up its shaft at the entrance. I saw its darkness split apart, dividing itself into ten thinner, longer tendrils, each writhing and reaching for my wet hole at once.

"Perikos, please, no! It's too much!" I tried to inch my body away from the tendrils but they engulfed me, several twisting and teasing and playing with my swollen clit and the rest tickling and caressing my puffy lips and just inside. My eyes rolled back in my head.

"

I will stop when you have had enough

."

Six of the thin tendrils grew in length, wiggling up inside me, rubbing and stretching my inner walls. "I just said I've had enough. I thought this was about my pleasure!"

"

We have long since established that I know what you need better than you do, Jayn. Beg, scream, protest if you wish but I will stop only when your body is exhausted from pleasure

."

The tendrils tickled my cervix while pumping and pulling at my clit. My vision blurred again and I felt like I was falling fast and hard, like something sharp and dangerous was closing in on me.

Perikos turned me over and brought me to climax four more times before my memory gets hazy. I remember being pulled down on its enormous shaft over and over while my feet dangled pointlessly in the air and I remember being held upside down while its tentacles plunged into me. I also remember begging, making deals, asking it to use my ass like it had on Kragosa – anything to stop its assault on my aching, swollen pussy. And then I remember everything fading to darkness and feeling the slightest hint of remorse as I went, the smallest wish to have indulged in such ecstatic torture just a little bit longer.

I awoke, even more unsure than usual whether it was night or day. The door to the cockpit was open and florescent light bathed the metal floor of my quarters in an eerie oblong shaft. Not that I should complain about light. I got up, feeling the intensity of the night before between my legs as I hobbled onto the cockpit to find a familiar cloud of darkness at the controls.

"Good morning," I said, hearing my voice crack, parched from the night before.

A tendril coiled lightly around my neck to my ear and I heard Perikos' music, bright and pleasant. "

Perhaps you mean good evening. Are you well? In any pain? Did you have any nightmares

?"

"Evening huh?" I thought about it. "I'm okay. A little sore. And no, no nightmares."

"

Then we have a remedy ready should the problem arise again

," Perikos said, its tone too hot and smug to be teasing. "

Also, you needn't concern yourself with bathing. I cleaned you after you lost consciousness. We have very little water left available onboard so I would prefer if we didn't waste anymore needlessly

."

I raised my eyebrows but said nothing as I slide onto the metal pilot's chair. "How long now?"

"

In eight hours we will be within range of the Perikos System and we will need to come out of hyperdrive. Given the planet's current coordinates, we will have no choice but to resume our old arrangement for thirty-three hours, until we get within range of the planet proper

."

I nodded. We had already discussed resuming "our old arrangement" when we entered the Perikos system. This was the polite way of referring to the way we escaped the prison on Kragosa and eventually the planet. Perikos changed its mass dramatically and burrowed deep inside me, hiding from the harmful UV light in my womb. Not actually as harrowing as it sounded but fucking weird nonetheless. The problem was I missed it. I missed feeling so full, so bloated and strange, the feeling of it entering me and the feeling of it pushing its way out. I missed stroking the swell of my stomach and feeling Perikos twitch inside me. Mostly I missed feeling indispensible and sharing such a bizarre, wanton intimacy. We had talked about this in the long hours we drifted through space and agreed that when Perikos had to hide from the light of its planet's star, it would use me instead of the brig or the cargo hold, both of which were lightless. This would probably be my last chance to experience it – on Perikos I would be the one needing the protection and not the other way around.