Offspring

The next day I worried all day long I might have scared her off with my sudden departure. I could hardly wait for my lesson. When it finally came I was half sick with apprehension. I arrived in the room a few minutes before she was normally due, sat down and waited.

I didn't have long to wait. The door opened and there she stood, staring at me.

"You came back," she said.

"I had to come back to the most desirable woman I have ever met," I replied.

"You came back ... for me?"

"Yes Darling, for you."

"Then why did you disappear and how did you do that anyway. Even your clothes disappeared with you. What are you?"

"It's a long story."

She carefully locked the door and sat down next to me.

"Tell me the long story," she said.

"My name is Frank," I said, "will you tell me yours?"

"I am called Mara and you are stalling. Get on with it."

"I'm a time traveller Mara and as human as you are ."

She looked at me and shook her head in disbelief.

"Time travel? It can be done?"

"Yes, Mara."

"Then why did you disappear?"

"When I am time travelling it sends me back to where I have come from when I have an orgasm. No one knows why it does that but it's the truth. The same with the clothes. When I go home the clothes disappear too. I return naked. No one knows how that works either."

"Is that why there was no baby-juice inside me when you left?"

"Yes, it squirts out the moment I get home."

She laughed and then changed the subject.

"Tell me, did you really come back for me?"

"Yes Mara, I did."

She got up, sat on my lap and started kissing me as if there were no tomorrows. She was crying, tears were streaming down her face.

"I am so happy," she sobbed, "I have never been so happy all my life. Tomorrow I don't have lectures in the afternoon. We can spend all afternoon together if you like. Will you come?"

"Of course I'll come. I want to be with you."

"I'm yours, Darling. Make love to me now."

Our clothes came off in a hurry and we were at it again. In spite of everything, she had not forgotten to spread the towel on the bed. I grinned when she did that. The same mad romp as the day before. Of course, eventually I came again and disappeared.

This time I was not angry when I got home. I was looking forward to the next day.

***

The day went slowly. I was aching to get back to Mara. I had a couple of beers in the bar to pass the time. That's when I realised I was rapidly falling in love, though I knew next to nothing about her. No woman had ever affected me in that way before. I tried to figure out just what it was that attracted me so strongly. I could think of nothing specific. I guess that's what falling in love is about, no rhyme or reason.

Eventually the appointed hour arrived. That thing with the Oktonian ladies was becoming a drag, I wished there was a better way to travel. I couldn't think of an alternative.

Shortly after I got there Mara turned up carrying a bucket with ice, three bottles and two glasses in it.

"I've brought us some Gigglejuice," she announced.

"What's Gigglejuice?"

"That's what the women here call it, the men call it something else. It contains ethyl alcohol. I got it from the bar downstairs. They have loads of it."

She put the bucket down and said: "Are you going to kiss me or what?"

I gathered her in my arms and we kissed, gently, lovingly.

"That's better," she said as she pried herself loose, "Now we have a drink."

She poured two glasses and handed me one. I was a bit apprehensive at first but it was a very nice drink, something halfway between a wine and a cider with a light fizz to it. My first taste of Oktonian produce.

"Be careful with that stuff, it can kick you when you're not looking."

I grinned and told her when it came to alcohol I was an old trouper. It would take a lot to get me undone.

"Here's to not having to attend lectures," I said lifting my glass to her.

She laughed at my toast.

"I'm not a student, Silly. This is a research and teaching academy. I'm a senior lecturer here, I read advanced pharmacology. All my students are graduates working on their doctorates. I'm also head of the pharmacology lab. If it wasn't for that I would be working in the mines."

"That's an odd comment to make."

"Unfortunately it's also the truth."

"Will you tell me about it?"

"It's not a happy story."

"I want to know everything about you, but if you would rather not talk about it, that's okay too."

"Very well. Brace yourself for the story of my lousy life.

"I am a natural scientist. It showed up very early in life. My teachers in high school gave me all the help and encouragement they could. I graduated from high school before I was sixteen and from college barely three years later. At twenty-two I was lecturing students of the same age. I was popular and my students did well. Life was good and the future looked bright.

"At twenty-four I got married to an academic ten years my senior. He was lousy in bed. He would force himself into my dry vagina and ejaculate on the fourth stroke. I found out from the other wives that most men here are like that. In spite of it all I became pregnant within two months of my marriage. The pregnancy went badly. I miscarried three months later and was left barren as a result.

"To understand what follows I must tell you something about our society. By and large we are a fairly tolerant lot in most areas except sex. Here the rules are draconian. Only sex within marriage is permitted and only for purposes of procreation. Sex outside marriage and any form of sex that does not lead to procreation is a criminal offence. Prohibited acts include oral and anal sex, homosexuality and sex with a pregnant woman. These offences are punishable by life long exile to the mines. Life in the mines is harsh. Long hours of hard work, corporal punishment for minor transgressions and little food from what I hear. Life expectancy is poor.

"Barren women are considered a potential trouble source and are equally exiled. Only because of my outstanding academic record was I permitted to continue lecturing.

"No man will touch a woman they are not married to or even shake her hand for fear someone will interpret it as a sexual act and cart him off to exile. Until you came along I had not felt the touch of a man since my divorce. The divorce was mandatory because my husband was not allowed to live with me after it became known I was barren.

"Masturbation is illegal and punishable by a public caning. This applies even to children, though their caning is not so severe. Now you know why I have to masturbate in safe places. I get very noisy when I'm aroused.

"And that my dear Frank is my miserable life in a nutshell, I would do anything to get out of here," she concluded.

I was speechless for a moment. Poor Mara. I gave her a hug and a kiss.

"Don't despair," I said, "I'll try to find a way to get you away from here. At the moment I have no idea how to do this, but I will make it my business to find out. I have powerful friends."

"I hope you can Frank. I long to go to a place where I can be myself and be accepted for what I am. But, enough of that. Lets talk about more pleasant things. This is our afternoon. Remember? Tell me something about yourself. Where do you come from?"

Mara poured us a new drink. When I told her I grew up on Earth she was delighted and wanted to know all about it. I obliged happily, telling her stories from my youth and about people and places she had heard of. It had her fascinated. All too quickly the afternoon passed. The Gigglejuice was finished and it was time to call it a day. She put the bucket with the empty bottles and the glasses next to the door so she would not forget to take them with her, spread the towel on the bed and asked me if I fancied a ride home.

I did.