Jae's Fortune

"The greatest discoveries of science have always been those that forced us to rethink our beliefs about the universe and our place in it."

Robert L. Park,

New York Times,

December 1999

***

Jake was pacing restlessly. They'd been kept in isolation for three hours. He looked at his chronometer for the fifth time and sighed.

"What's taking so long? Why are they keeping us here?" he asked.

"I know Mike. He's just not telling us everything." his uncle said.

You have no idea.

Jake thought.

"I noticed you two have become good friends." Jake observed.

"He's a good guy, good with a wrench too." his uncle defended.

Just as he was about to bang on the hatch, it opened and Michael stepped in with two rugged men. He looked at the crew apologetically.

"I'm sorry we kept you this long, we just had some security considerations to take care of." he said as he looked at the crew.

"Security considerations? What

is

this place?" asked a crew member.

"Please let me explain."

"My real identity is Brigadier General Michael Cromwell of the UEF." he stated calmly.

The crew looked at him with confusion. His uncle squinted. Jake didn't look surprised.

"You have nothing to fear from me. I'm an old man, and my bad reputation comes from false UEF propaganda." he said with a smirk.

"This place is called Ita, a derelict military forward operation base that was once held by the UEF in Gliese 667."

"The UEF mothballed this base one hundred and twenty five years ago, when The Republic of Tansa declared its independence."

"Now, what I'm about to tell you is classified. So don't go telling others. You'll only be putting them in harm's way."

"The original purpose of Ita was to be a staging point for attacks against another sapient race, known as The Progenitors."

Jake recognised the name from the general's memories on the research station.

"The Progenitors were the original settlers of this world, as well as many others. They lived on those worlds long before we evolved, and long before humanity drove them out to settle in their place."

The crew looked appalled.

"That's right. We couldn't communicate with The Progenitors, so we killed them and reduced their worlds to ashes."

"Me and my friends here," he pointed at the two men who accompanied him, "Are deserters."

"We all come from different military forces on different worlds, and we all have a common background: we refused to commit genocide, and we were hunted because of it. So, we decided to settle here."

"Up until recently, I was the commander of this settlement. I decided to leave that post when our friend here..." he pointed at Jake, "Appeared."

"But why?" Jake asked.

"I knew you'd need my help, and I was right." Michael said.

"Now, let us discuss your particular predicament."

***

After going through their options, they decided to wait till Hannah gave birth.

They were assigned living spaces, and the workload was divided amongst them. They discovered that the base housed around three thousand people working different trades, most of them worked in the greenhouses that provided sustenance, while others worked with the fabricators and various other odd-jobs here and there.

Jake hadn't had to deal with the reality with the situation, but now that they were safe, it occurred to him that he was going to be a father, and it scared him.

"I'm going to be a mother too!" S

iren was ecstatic.

"What?"

he thought.

"Your son will have my daughter, just like you have me."

she replied.

"My son? How do you know it's a boy?"

"A baby bird told me. My kind can identify with each other."

He sighed and was wondering what it would have been like to have had Siren in his childhood, when his uncle broke his reverie.

"We need to talk." said his uncle.

"Sure, uncle."

"You knew who Mike really was when you introduced us, right?"

"I only didn't tell you because I promised him not to reveal his identity!" Jake defended.

"We'll talk about that later. For now I wanted to talk to you about Hannah."

"I think I know what you want to talk about."

"Good. When is the wedding?"

"What? I thought you were here to lecture me about birth control."

"Bah! Are you kidding me? I would have encouraged you to do it. Now I'm going to be a grand-uncle!" his uncle said with glee.

"But first, son, I want you happily married." his uncle continued.

"You're not married, why should I be?" Jake asked him.

"You know why I'm not." his uncle responded with sadness in his eyes.

"I'm sorry, uncle. I didn't mean to bring it up."

"It was my fault, son. I arrived too late." his uncle said with a defeated voice.

"It wasn't your fault, and blaming yourself won't change anything." Jake said in consolation.

"But had I arrived any sooner..."

"Stop it uncle."

"Fine. But you're marrying that girl, no matter what. She's got nobody else."

"I will uncle, and not because you're telling me to. I'll do it because I love her."

"Good, it's settled then. Next week it is."

"What? Who said anything about next week?"

"I already took care of it." his uncle waved him off as he stepped out of the compartment.

He sighed again.

"I need to talk to Hannah." he murmured.

***

He found her in the greenhouse. She was inspecting the plants with fascination.

"I've never seen a real plant before." she said.

"Me neither." he said as he observed her instead of the plants. She looked beautiful with all the greenery surrounding her.

"Hannah, my uncle wants to have us married next week."

"What?"

"I know. Do you want to marry me?" he asked.

"That's not the most romantic proposal in history." she said.

"I'm not the most romantic person in history, either." he quipped with a smile.

"Let me think about it." she smiled back.

He held her hand as they looked at the long rows of plants arrayed before them.

"Yes."

she thought to him.

***

The wedding wasn't a fancy ordeal.

The crew gathered, as well as some of the base's occupants, and Michael performed the ceremony with a big smile. They were all happy to see it finally happen.

After the ceremony, they were escorted to their compartment, where Jake stood and looked at her with adoration.

"You really are beautiful, you know that?"

"Oh stop it! You're just saying that to get into my panties."

"I already got there, remember?" he said as he kissed her forehead and caressed her back.

She smiled and gave him a peck on the lips.

He grabbed her and kissed her long and deep, and she responded by wrapping her legs around him. When they had enough, they broke the kiss and looked at each other long in the eyes. Their looks spoke volumes.

"I hope you're not against having sex with pregnant women." she said as she started taking off her wedding gown.

"I might be, but not with you. Besides, you're barely even showing yet."

She took off his shirt and admired his naked chest. His body was more toned than ever, his muscles taut and well defined, and he had an aura about him.

"When did you become so fit?"

"The training paid off."

"It was only for three months! You look like a Spartan warrior."

"What's a Spartan?"

"Never mind." she said as she took off his trousers.

His erection was evident, and she wasted no time taking his undergarments off. His member sprang free.

"I think it's about time I gave you a special treat." she said as she kissed the tip.

"Oh, I see, you're going to... Oh god!" she took his entire length in her mouth.

She started slowly at the tip. Then she went deeper, and the deeper she went, the wider his eyes got.

Her tongue massaged his shaft as she sucked him, and slowly, but surely, his climax was building up. She kept him at the edge and wouldn't let him have his release. Every time he got too close she stopped her motion till he calmed down again, then she'd resume once it subsided. Drops of pre-ejaculate escaped his shaft every time and she enjoyed the alien taste. She had never experienced this before and it was driving her wild, and it was driving him insane.

Finally, he couldn't take it any more, he grabbed her head and started thrusting. She was taken by surprise and gagged. He stopped when he thought he hurt her, but she urged him on. He continued thrusting and finally found his release. His eyes rolled back as he released ropes of semen into her mouth.

She tried to swallow as much as she could, but globs of semen escaped her mouth and floated in the compartment. She grabbed one and put it back into her mouth. She didn't particularly enjoy the taste, but she enjoyed the effect this act had on him more than anything. She looked at him with a smirk on her face. He started at her with his mouth agape.

"Well, that was... different." he said in astonishment.

"It was a new experience for both of us. Did you enjoy it?" she said with a smile.

"Hell yes." he said in excitement.

"Consider that payback for the first time you made me climax, with your mouth." she said.

"Are we keeping count? In that case, I'll have to start scoring extra points." he said with a leer as he softly massaged her breast.

She enjoyed the feeling and closed her eyes for but a moment. Then she felt him encompass her in an intimate hug. Their chests pressed together and she enjoyed the feel of his warm flesh on her body. His erection was up again and pressing between her legs. He started to rhythmically push and pull his member between them. She felt on fire as his member came in contact with her inflamed sex, igniting a twirl of pleasure in her mind. She softly kissed him on the lips and he swayed with her in a silent dance.

In his arms she felt safer than she ever was. It's where she felt she belonged. He acknowledged her feelings when Siren melded their minds yet again, and assured her thoughts.

"I'll never leave you. You are everything I'll ever want."

he thought to her in their silent dance.

She caressed his back slowly and put her face against his shoulder. She kissed his skin and touched his scars.

"I know."

He carefully thrust up, and gently slipped inside of her. She cooed with pleasure as he entered her warmth and they felt complete again.

He started thrusting slowly, and their minds transcended the joys of flesh and into new and uncharted heights. They melded completely and could feel as one. He felt his thrusts against her flesh, and she felt her muscles clamping on his mast. They exchanged emotions like they exchanged thoughts, and every movement and every sensation was synchronised. They were united in their bliss.

Their pleasure rose gradually, and he started speeding up at her beseeching need. She wrapped her legs around him and grabbed hold of his back. She kissed his neck and felt it on her own. She started kissing him with fervour. He returned her kiss as he thrust in and out of her.

She was close now, and so was he. They both ached with need. She started meeting his thrusts with her own, but they never broke their kiss throughout the sensual consummation.

Their eyes started glowing. She couldn't believe it at first, but she saw her own eyes glowing through his eyes, just as he saw the same vision through hers, and together, they meshed as one.

When they both climaxed, the glowing intensified and overwhelmed them, and when they separated, they both regretted it. Their whole bodies emanated a faint glow for a short time.

***

It was two weeks later, and Jake was touring the base with Michael and his uncle.

"And here you see the fabrication units. We fabricate everything here, from machine components to supplemental proteins for the food." Michael was saying.

"We mine the resources for the fabricators ourselves. This asteroid is full of minerals awaiting harvesting."

"That's outstanding, you could use the Metanoia to do some of the drilling. The crew would feel excited to be out mining again." his uncle said.

"I'd rather not. It's a very delicate process. We have to preserve the asteroid so it doesn't collapse and destroy the base." Michael cautioned.

"Oh, I see." his uncle said in disappointment.

"That doesn't mean we can't get your crew mining again though. The asteroid field we're in is abundant."

"I'd rather not mine outside right now. We're being hunted, remember?"

"Oh, don't worry about it. The field is so dense, no scanners can penetrate it."

"We'll see."

"Would you mind if I use the fabricators to maintain my armour? It was damaged slightly in my fight on the research station." Jake asked.

"Not at all. You can use them whenever you want." Michael responded.

They progressed further into the facility.

"This is the greenhouse, we grow all the food here. It's an integral part of the base, and everyone is expected to work here at some point."

"Of course. I'll have to get a handle on field work myself." Jake said diplomatically.

"All the plants here are edible, except for the trees." he pointed at a row of trees that extended as far as the eye could see, "But they bear fruit. They're mostly here to recycle the carbon dioxide into oxygen though. They also handle some of the waste."

"This plant here," he said as he pointed out a stubby plant with translucent pods, "purifies our water."

"This is definitely different from the mechanical systems on the Metanoia." his uncle said.

"It's been 23 years since you last upgraded her... Hey, that reminds me. We should upgrade her now that we have the time." Michael replied.

"Are you sure you have the resources?"

"We have the fabricators, and all the ore we need. Your crew will have to mine the ore though."

"No worries. We're miners by trade, remember?" his uncle said with a smile. He was excited at the prospect of upgrading the Metanoia, and to be mining again.

They stepped through the greenhouse and into the hangar bay.

"What is this?" he asked Michael.

"That's a Progenitor frigate, or the equivalent of one."

Jake was bewildered. The giant ship looked like a fractal crystalline formation in the distance. It glimmered with its azure blue colour and even the turrets looked like little crystal indentations.

"It's beautiful." he said in awe.

"Everything about them is. It's a shame humanity couldn't be bothered to develop meaningful means of communications."

"Can I see it from the inside?" he asked.

"You can't, it's completely inert. Nobody has managed to open one. Even the military with all of their might could not. We found it here with the rest of the abandoned equipment."

"That thing can take a beating too, it's so tough it could withstand two direct hits with missiles, and then it will regenerate."

"They grow the ships, you know. The Progenitors grow their ships from little crystals. This one stopped growing when it was captured. The logs we found state that it can grow into a cruiser in a year."

"I want to see it up close."

"Do you need a pressure suit?"

"No, my armour can handle the vacuum. I'll go get it." he said as he stepped out.

Minutes later he was inspecting the surface of the ship in his armour.

"It's marvellous." he told them over the comms.

"You should have seen them fly and fight." Michael replied.

"Touch it."

said Siren.

"What? Why?"

he asked.

"You'll see."

she said.

He touched the ship and it started to glow.

"Jake! What the hell did you do?" Michael shouted into the comm.

"We are the C'Nosi."

it said.