Author's Note: This is a science fiction series featuring elements of reluctant/forced sex. This chapter contains harassment, name-calling, and humiliation; a woman says no to sex, but is coerced into it anyway. The explicit style tends more toward pornography than erotica; depending on your tastes, it may not be for you. Please read at your discretion.
1.1
Gwen Fairfax awakened with a shudder. She arched up in her cryo-hibernation pod as the telltale rush of stimulants coursed like ice water through her veins. She gasped for air. A momentary, claustrophobic panic descended upon her as her breath fogged up the glass above her face. A synthetic voice outside announced something indistinctly, and a moment later the pod hissed as it lifted open its canopy. Gwen sat up, trembling and woozy, trying to catch her breath.
She hated space travel. The
Tempest
was a quick vessel, much faster than the ungainly colony ship that preceded her here to Planet Inanna, but it still took years at superlight speeds to make the voyage. The training holo-reels made cryogenic hibernation out to be little more than a short nap, with none of the fasting and disorientation that it really involved. As she placed her bare feet on the deck, she vowed never to go into cold sleep again.
"Gwen, you're awake! Whoa, just take it easy... deep breaths now."
Wade Thompson, the engineer, had rushed over while she was trying to stand. He was in his late twenties but reminded her of an awkward teenager: tall and lanky, with an unruly mop of ginger hair and neon-green ocular implants. He was something of a child prodigy, having earned his first doctorate at seventeen before going on to work for the United States government. He had an obvious, boyish crush on her, having made a couple clumsy passes at her at the start of the mission. Compared to the rest of the crew, though, he was mostly sweet and harmless, trying with all his will to keep eyes north of her collarbone.
"It's all right, Wade," said Gwen. "I'm just a little dizzy. So, are we...?"
"Yeah," he replied with a grin. "We made it. We just entered orbit four hours ago. The rest of Alpha Team is getting prepped for the first survey mission. You're the last one out of cryo. Oh, there weren't any problems, mind you—I made sure your pod was in tiptop shape before we left!"
"The colony?"
He shook his head. "No contact yet. We've been trying to get them over radio. Look, you should probably get something to eat first. You've been starved since—"
"No staring!" interrupted someone in a Slavic accent. "I know she has nice
siski
, but poor girl just woke up!"
Mikhail Vasilievsky, "Misha," entered the hibernation bay. A former senior sergeant in the Soviet Spetsnaz and veteran of multiple Communist crackdowns in Europe, he was the leader of Alpha Team, which would be first to set foot on Inanna. He was a blond, musclebound brute who easily dwarfed Wade; the two looked almost comical standing side-by-side in matching olive-drab jumpsuits. Gwen might have found Misha intimidating were it not for his laughable machismo.
"What?" protested Wade. "I wasn't staring at your, I mean—"
"Don't worry about it," reassured Gwen. "Misha's just being an ass. As usual."
She contemptuously narrowed her eyes at the Russian as she took her first steps on wobbly legs. He only smirked back, deludedly taking her animus as simply playing hard-to-get. She had already shot down his advances numerous times, but he had not taken the hint. As she walked toward the hatch leading out of the hibernation bay, he made no effort to conceal his ogling.
The cryosuit, after all, was a formfitting, silver thing that left little of Gwen's curves to the imagination. Made from an elastic, bio-adaptive material and designed to regulate vital signs during hibernation, it was overlaid with a honeycomb pattern of electrolytic conduits that interacted with the body's chemical processes. Beyond the bubble of a pod, however, it did little more than protect the wearer's modesty, and even that just barely.
And what a lovely hourglass of a figure she had! Gwen was blessed with an improbable blend of shapeliness and supple athleticism: firm and toned, with smoothly tapering legs, rounded hips, and big, plump breasts. She had fair skin, lustrous black hair tied back in a braided ponytail, and a slender, high-cheeked face with slight nose and full lips. She was frighteningly attractive, and to the otherwise all-male, joint American--Soviet crew of the
Tempest
, her very presence was an unbearable tease.
She was leaving the bay when Misha cleared his throat. "You know, almost forgot. Boss says you go to him when you are ready."
"Commander Ellison?" asked Gwen, turning in the passageway. "What did he want?"
"Did not say. Should hurry. Man does not like waiting for, eh, how you say in English?
Unwrapping birthday presents?
"
Gwen rolled her eyes. It was always innuendo with Misha. She just hoped the meeting with the commander was not about her place on Alpha Team's expedition to the planet surface. She may not have been fully accepted among the crew, but she was determined to go. Visiting an alien world like Inanna was the opportunity of a lifetime. Besides, it was what she had spent months training for, not to mention the years in hibernation just to get here. She had not traveled across the galaxy only to stay cooped up on a ship full of sex-deprived men. She was an explorer and a scientist.
1.2
Gwen's arrival in the ship's mess hall was greeted with lewd stares and wolf whistles. She could have changed into something a little less provocative than her skintight cryosuit, but she was too hungry to care. Misha took his seat with some shipmates as they snickered over some raunchy joke at her expense.
Gwen ignored them and carried her tray to an empty table. As the only woman on board, she had already grown accustomed to boorish behavior, whether it was a stare that lingered too long, or a hand wandering where it did not belong. To the men, she was not a professional, but merely a sexy prize to be gawked at.
She ate ravenously, eagerly spooning the gray nutrient paste into her mouth despite its decidedly unappealing color and consistency. It had been literally years since her last meal, and her body craved whatever nourishment was available. She stopped only to take gulps from a tumbler filled with protein supplement.
"You've sure got an appetite!" exclaimed Wade as he sat down across from her. "Hey, it's better if you dump some salt packets on it. Almost tastes like mashed potatoes."
"So, what's the situation on the surface?" she asked, mouth full.
"We don't know any more right now than we did before we left. The
Ziusudra
arrived twenty years ago without incident and established an outpost on the southern supercontinent. They started waking the colonists from cryo in blocks of ten. Everything seemed like it was going fine, but... I don't know. They'd revived less than three percent of the population when they sent their last report. No explanation. That was thirteen years ago."
"It's a completely unfamiliar ecosphere; we have to face the possibility that the planet just turned on them," Gwen murmured as she continued eating. "Anyway, do
you
know what Misha was talking about? What did Ellison want?"
He shifted uncomfortably. "Oh, you know how the commander is. He probably gives twice as many orders as he remembers! I wouldn't worry about it. Say, how about I help you out getting ready for the surface? You know, with getting suited up and all?"
"Um, thanks, but I think I got it. I just hope there aren't problems with me being on Alpha Team. I know the crew doesn't see me as anything more than eye candy, but I've trained for this just like everyone else. We know almost nothing about this planet or the life on it." She dropped her empty spoon on the tray. "They need a science officer to go along."
"Well, I... I see you as more than eye can—"
Before he could finish, someone leaned rudely into the space in front of Gwen. "Excuse me miss, is this imitation of a man bothering you?" he asked, his Southern twang dripping with mock concern.
Danny Ransom was a tanned meathead with a buzz cut and a mustache, a sleazeball former cop from Texas who somehow landed a job as Misha's second-in-command on Alpha Team. He and his superior should have been divided by Cold War rivalry, but they were essentially twins with different accents, and they got along like peas in a pod.
"Uh, I'm fine, thanks," said Gwen with a patently fake smile.
"You
are
fine," agreed Ransom, looking her up and down as he put a hand on her shoulder. "But I feel obliged anyhow to rescue you from . . ." he motioned to a fuming Wade, "whatever pity-handjob Ginger here thinks he can guilt out of you."
"Oh really?" she asked with a mirthless laugh. "And I'm supposed to believe you're the perfect gentleman?"
"Well, of course, darlin! I always treat a lady right. I always remember to give her roast beef a nibble before feeding her sausage!"
He wriggled an outstretched tongue at her. Misha and the others at the other table, who had barely kept straight faces during the exchange, broke down in snorts and snickers. Gwen exhaled in disgust and pushed back in her chair, having had enough. Wade put a hand on her wrist, but she flicked it away and stood, staring defiantly up at Ransom.