Journey to Year 1000000000

Journey to the Year 1,000,000,000

Chapter 14

[Note: This is a Science Fiction story with some erotic scenes. It is

not

a story with erotic scenes in every chapter. Some chapters have incredible sex scenes, but many others have none. ]

"Finally," said Pam.

She was gorgeous. She was wearing her special white dress that Taylor had loved so much. Her beautiful blonde hair was perfectly combed. Her breasts were large and firm. Her smile was wide. Only her eyes were different, her green eyes vaguely blank.

"I have searched so long for you, my love," said Pam, giving him a kiss.

The kiss felt real. But Taylor looked at the blackness around them. He knew this was another dream.

"How long have you searched for me?" Taylor asked, playing along.

"For 500 million years," said Pam. "That's why it's taken me so long to find you. I had to go back in time quite a bit, my sweet." And she kissed him again.

"You mean forward in time, don't you?" said Taylor.

Pam smiled. "I meant what I said, my sweetest love." She ran a hand through his hair. "I have not seen you... in so long. I missed you so much."

Taylor looked confused. "Pam, if this were really you, you've been dead for at least 500 million years."

"No, you're the one who's long dead and gone, my sweet," she said, crinkling her nose in that irresistible way she did.

"You're not real," Taylor insisted.

"I am real," said Pam. "Because of your love for me, I am real. Or rather, I will be. It is you who are not real, from my perspective."

"Oh, I'm not, am I?" Taylor was beginning to find this dream amusing.

"No. But you soon will be. That's why I'm here. You have to fight on just a bit longer, my sweet. Your travails are almost over. 500 million years of time cannot separate us, my love. Not 500 million years, not a billion, and not infinity." And then she kissed him again. He felt the warmth of her lips against his.

"I came to you because you taught me to love," said Pam. "You taught me to love, and I could not bear the thought of what was being done to you here. But be strong, my sweet. It is almost over. Soon, we shall be together again. Look for me... look for me, Michael... I will be there for you, waiting for you, at the end of time...."

********

Taylor sat up with a jerk. His body was sweaty. His heart was beating rapidly.

It had been Pam, and yet, not Pam. The real Pam never talked like that. It had been another dream. His desire for Pam had fused together with his desire for escape, and this is what it had produced.

And yet... something about Pam had been so... compelling. Even though he knew it had to be a dream, it had to be a product of his feverish unconscious.

Didn't it?

He got up, and abruptly looked around.

"Michael, are you all right?" Victor asked.

Taylor looked around, and saw the despondent remainder of his crew. More than half of them had been taken.

"What are you looking for?" Victor asked. "What are you doing, Michael?"

"What am I doing? What am I doing?" Taylor repeated, as he worked to clear the sleep inertia from his mind. "I'm getting us out of here. That's what I'm doing, Victor."

He strode up to the bed in the center of the room, which was unoccupied, at the moment. "Suki!" he yelled.

"Suki!" he yelled again.

The others looked at him like he was insane.

Taylor climbed on the bed, and stood on it. "Suki!" he cried again.

"He's gone mad," said Bill Carey.

"It's the stress," said Victor. "It could happen to any of us."

Suddenly Jennifer appeared. "Captain Taylor?"

"I called for Suki," said Taylor.

Jennifer changed into Suki.

"No, I want Suki," said Taylor, as if he were talking to a small child.

Suki disappeared.

Suki reappeared.

Once again, Taylor had no way of knowing for sure who he was speaking to. All he could do was-

"Take us somewhere private."

********

They watched Suki standing in front of the graduating class at the Survey Service Academy in Perth.

"Who was sitting in the front row, watching you?"

"My parents," said Suki.

They watched Suki receive her formal rank of ensign. That Suki smiled and looked emotionally overwhelmed as the audience clapped wildly while she was decorated with her new shoulder bars.

"How did it make you feel to be awarded the rank and responsibilities of the rank of Ensign in the United Survey Service?"

"Proud," said Suki, her face a mask.

"And to have your parents there to see it?"

"Proud," Suki said again. "Very proud."

The scene changed. Suki was riding on Taylor's penis, on the soft grass on the banks of the hot spring.

"I'm your Captain's girl. I'm your Captain's girl," said Suki, smiling as she worked herself up and down on his shaft.

"How did you feel when you said that?" Taylor asked.

Suki watched herself work her body up and down on Taylor. She saw the feeling of pure pleasure written on her face as her younger self worked to elicit the same feelings from Taylor beneath her. She watched as her young body rocked under the sun, making love in the great outdoors, enjoying the sexual pleasure of taking a man and being taken by him in the arms of nature.

"I felt happy. Very happy," said Suki woodenly.

Taylor looked at her face and frowned. It wasn't working. She remembered all these things, but she didn't feel them. He stared at her blank face, straining to come up with another idea, an idea which would save them all. "All right," he said finally.

The scene shifted again.

Taylor was making love to Jennifer. He was plowing between her legs, his eyes shut, his face a mask of concentration. Jennifer was looking up at him, her eyes gleaming, with just the faintest hint of satisfaction on her face.

But then the scene moved outwards, and there was Suki, some twenty feet away, with the fingers of her right hand in her mouth, and her left hand clamped on her thigh. Her face was full of concern as she watched Taylor performing the ritual of reproduction with Jennifer, or whatever Jennifer had become.

"What were you feeling then?" Taylor asked.

"Jealousy," said Suki.

"Is that all?"

Suki was silent.

"Is that all you felt?" Taylor asked again, walking around her.

"No," said Suki. "I also felt fear."

"Fear of what?"

"Fear that you would be given the isotope," said Suki.

"Why?"

"Because a second dose of the isotope would likely be fatal."

"And why would you care about that?" said Taylor.

"Because... because I love you," she said, looking into his eyes.

And then he saw it. He had broken through.

Jennifer hadn't loved him. Not like that. Not in the way that Suki did. Suki's DNA had been twisted, altered, and her consciousness had been made to serve the United. But somewhere in the portion of her that had been swallowed up, was the memory of who she was, and the feelings that came with it.

Suki put her hands on Taylor's face. She stared at him wordlessly, but her eyes widened, ever so slightly.

"Help us," Taylor said.

Her hands roamed over his cheeks, and neck, and chest.

"Save us," Taylor pleaded.

Suki bit her lips, and her eyes turned ablaze.

*********

He was back on the

Judicator

. All the survivors were. Even though Taylor didn't see everyone on the bridge, he somehow knew everyone was aboard. Bill Carey and Ensign Collins and Elizabeth and Victor were there, as was... Suki.

"You don't have much time," said Suki. "Set a course for the anomaly, fast."

Taylor sprinted to the navigation console. In seconds, the mighty engines of the

Judicator

were fired up. They were in orbit around Corta; it would take about four minutes to reach the Black Box.

"Suki?" said Elizabeth, with a confused look on her face.

"Suki, can't they just teleport us back to Corta?" Taylor asked.

"I have set up a dispersion sublayer. They will have to work their way through it. But it will not hold them for long," said Suki. "Once you get into the Black Box, you should be safe."

"But the Black Box only goes forward in time," said Taylor.

"I will help you use it to go back," said Suki. She glanced at the viewscreen, and saw the distant shape of the Black Box move closer.

"But what about our mission?" Taylor asked. "Have we accomplished it? Is the Earth safe?"

"Yes, but-"

Suddenly, United appeared all over the

Judicator

, including the bridge. One of them reached out and touched Ensign Kevin Garrovick. Both the United and Garrovick disappeared.

"Don't let them touch you!" Suki shouted.

Another United appeared, and lunged for Elizabeth. Taylor instinctively reached for his compression pistol, but he was unarmed. Elizabeth retreated, but was cornered in one part of the bridge. The United approached her.

But then Bill Carey came up from behind and grabbed the United, throwing it to the ground. Both of them vanished. Elizabeth screamed.

The Black Box loomed large in the screen. Crew all over the ship fled as they were pursued by the United. Those in corridors were more fortunate as they had more space to run away then those on the bridge, but as the seconds ticked by more and more of them were apprehended and returned to Corta.

On the bridge, Taylor ducked a tentacle from one of the United. He saw out of the corner of his eye the Black Box loomed large on the viewscreen. Just a few more seconds!

"Hello, Captain."

Taylor turned to see Jennifer, smiling at him. "We're not done yet, Captain Taylor," she said, reaching out.

Taylor fell backwards, stumbling, and fell on the ground.

Jennifer reached down-

And a blast sent her sprawling.

"Get away from him, you

bitch

!" Suki yelled.

Jennifer looked at Suki with eyes as hard as flint. She launched an energy blast at Suki. Suki responded with one of their own. They blasted each other, each trying to overcome the other's energy bursts-

And then the USS

Judicator

entered the Black box.

All the United on the ship vanished. All except Jennifer and Suki.

Taylor watched with mixed emotions as he saw the large hole in Jennifer's chest. She lay lifelessly on the ground. She looked so much like Jennifer... on the outside. The smoky hole, however, held silvery flesh on the inside.

"Cap...tain," said a familiar voice.

Taylor ran over to Suki. She had a large smoking hole in her belly. She had partially transformed; her bottom half was squid, the top half still her original self.

Taylor held the human half in his arms. "Suki-"

"I'm glad," she said softly.

"Glad?"

"Experiment," said Suki, and her voice dropped in volume, to a whisper. "Experiment... a.... ahhhhh.... success." She started to lift her hand, faltered, and Taylor lifted it to his face. She looked into his eyes. "I... I feel." She actually smiled, for a fraction of a moment, and then she collapsed, and her body reverted entirely, and he found himself holding a creature with one giant eye.

Taylor raised his head, still holding Suki in his arms, with horror, surprise, and shock competing for primacy on his face. Elizabeth looked at him, and her face melted in sympathy as their eyes met.

********

Sixteen.

Out of a crew of 54 Survey Service officers and 14 scientists, there were only 16 of them left.

It wasn't precisely clear how many of them were dead, or still captive on Corta. At the time they escaped, Taylor had the impression that approximately 28 of his crew hadn't yet been given the isotope. That meant that the United had recaptured about a dozen of them.

Taylor's back grew taut. The Survey Service never left its own behind, not ever. But he had no choice. They were flying out of control in the Black Box. There was no way to go back. The guilt of this experience, of leaving crewmembers behind, would be with him for the rest of his life.

"There was nothing you could have done, Michael," said Victor. "It was amazing that you saved any of us. No Survey Service Captain could have done any better."

Taylor looked down. He felt incredibly conflicted.

"Hey," said Elizabeth.

Taylor lifted his head.

"You did well," she said, giving him a quick kiss.

********

Taylor set up a three shift rotating watch schedule with the skeleton crew he had left. He headed one watch; Ensign Collins headed the second; and Elizabeth headed the third. Taylor recalled that technically speaking, Elizabeth outranked them all, as a full Commander in the Survey Service Reserves. The day they had argued about her rank in Admiral Von Windhoek's office had seemed so long ago.

500,000,000 years ago, give or take a few million.

Taylor left crewman Mayweather in charge of the bridge for a brief period while he met with Elizabeth, Victor, and Doctor McCrae, virtually all that were left of the senior staff.

"It seems our mission is complete," said Taylor.

"And how do we know that?" McCrae asked.

"The United claimed that the Black Box is gone from Earth, that it didn't cause any further harm," said Taylor. "And Suki basically confirmed that."

"Basically?" said Elizabeth.

"When I asked her if the Earth was safe, she said, 'Yes, but'."

"Yes... but what?" said Elizabeth.

"We were attacked," said Taylor. "She never got a chance to say more."

"It's that 'but' part that concerns me," said McCrae, raising an eyebrow.

"Me too," said Taylor. "But I don't see that we can do anything about it. If Suki were here, she could have guided us back to Earth.... But she's not here, and we're flying out of control, into the future."

"I'm confused," said Elizabeth. "The time we just left, the year 500,000,000-"

"Plus or minus a few million years," said Victor.

Elizabeth gave him a dirty look. "The time period we just left. That's where the time tunnel was started from, correct?"

"That's where it was controlled from," said Taylor. "So we were told," he hastened to add. Could they really know anything with a certainty, under these circumstances?

"And their goal was to get people from the past, like us, to come to their time so they could use them in experiments," said Elizabeth.

"So we were told," said Taylor.

"So... why wasn't this the last stop in the time tunnel?" said Elizabeth.

"A good question," said Victor. "Perhaps they were also sending explorers into their own future."

"How far into the future?" said Elizabeth. "What if this time tunnel is... endless? Infinite? Like a chimney with no ending?"

"Let's not dwell on things we can't control," said Victor. "Let's try to look at the bright side. Suki said the Earth is safe. She said 'Yes, but', I'm an eternal optimist. I prefer to dwell on the 'yes' part. I think our mission is accomplished."

"Yes," said Taylor, looking out the window at the blackness of space. "But where are we? And when?"

********

Taylor and Elizabeth both had emotional scars to tend to. Taylor had been forced to watch helplessly as his crew get killed or converted, one by one. He had lost more than half his crew. He felt the weight of it heavily.

Elizabeth tried to console him. "Michael, if it had been anyone else, anyone at all, we would all be dead."

Taylor said nothing.

"Captain Margaret Astor, USS

Aurora

. Entire crew, lost."

Taylor remembered how the Ascended had tortured the

Aurora

's crew, until nothing was left of them.

"Captain Robert Andrews, USS

Judicator

. Entire crew, lost.""

Taylor remembered how the physical bodies of the

Judicator

crew had withered away, leaving them trapped in the virtual layer.

"Captain Audrey Spaulding, USS

Exeter

. Entire crew, lost.""

The

Exeter

crew had been killed or converted by the United. For a moment Taylor thought about Captain Spaulding. Had she really come to him in a dream, to try and help him? Or had that been Taylor's own wishful thinking?

"You saved us," said Elizabeth, interrupting his train of thought. "You saved all of us that could be saved. You were the only Survey Service Captain who could." She leaned over and kissed him. He felt her reassuring lips.

I love you, I love you.

Elizabeth still believed it. She believed that he was in love with her.

Taylor's thoughts naturally turned to Jennifer, and Suki. He hadn't been able to turn Jennifer.

But that was because Jennifer never loved him, not like Suki did.

Jennifer... for the rest of his life Taylor would not know what to think about his first officer. On one level she had been his loyal, dependable friend. But on another... she had been a temptress, one who delighted in leading men on, one who enjoyed the feeling of being wanted, and denying pleasure to those who responded.

In a way, Jennifer was a lot like the United. She had to go to extremes to feel anything. Thinking about it, Taylor wasn't sure how much Jennifer had actually changed when she became a member of the United. There had been some troubling continuity.

But at least Suki had come back to him, in the end. It was not her love for the Survey Service which had turned her, but her love for

him

, even though her love was unrequited, even though he had repeatedly spurned and rejected her.

And then, at the last, when she looked up at him... she had seemed happy, satisfied even. He wondered how much of her had been Suki, and how much the United. He would never know.

Taylor was suddenly aware that Elizabeth was sobbing softly.

"Hey, hey, what's wrong?" he said, taking her in his arms.

"I... I was just thinking of Bill Carey," said Elizabeth. "When he tackled that United... he gave his life to save mine." She swallowed. Her face was sweaty. "When I ask myself, would I have done the same for him, would I have sacrificed my life to save his, I have to say... the answer would be... no. And yet, he did it for me, without a second thought. Why?" She looked at him with pain in her eyes.

"He was a Survey Service officer," said Taylor, holding her closely. "That's his job."

"But... I'm a Survey Service officer too," said Elizabeth.

"In the Scientific Branch," said Taylor. "It's no disrespect to your work, but I wouldn't expect Doctor McCrae to lead a squad into battle. Nor you."

She looked at him tearfully. "Will you... will give them commendations in your log?"

"I will. All of them."

Especially Suki.

The Year 1,000,000,000

The

Judicator

was a ghost ship.

The ship had a normal complement of 234. With only 16 crewmembers aboard, it felt... empty.

Even more so as Taylor looked at all the empty positions on the bridge. Bridge watches were held by only a single watch officer and two crewers, crewers who were technically not qualified to even be on the bridge.

That left for a lot of empty chairs.

There was an empty chair for Bill Carey. They had started out very adversarially towards each other. Then they had bonded while both being interrogated by the Ascended in the year 8,000,000. But that had been nearly 500,000,000 years ago.

And now Bill was gone. Taylor hoped they would get home if only so he could tell Bill's family how brave he had been.

There was a seat for Jennifer, of course. Taylor had very mixed feelings about his former first officer. He couldn't blame her for what she had become. Despite the things she had done to him, both before and after becoming a member of the United, he still found that he missed her, to his surprise. He would never see that little smile again. He would never see the wonderful profile she cut in a Survey Service uniform, never be on the receiving end of a little flirtatious-