1
It was 2 past noon and the light from Kyalic—a red dwarf, but quite close—was far too bright.
"Fuck," Zoya said as she swayed the scanner over the bush again. Still nothing. No signs of fauna. The wind began to pick up, sending a chill through her spine.
"Nothing?" Miyumi asked, surprised that she swore. Zoya was such a petite, shy girl.
"Sorry," Zoya apologized. "No, nothing."
"Well. . . there's some bushes up ahead. We'll scan those."
Zoya stood up and stretched out her arms, yawning. She was tired and irritated and the mission was not going well. It was her second: mega-planet Tyrene, huge, hilly and beautiful, with much still undiscovered. Scientists theorized that only plants evolved upon it, but the theory wasn't confirmed. ISO-9—the seventh largest intergalactic corporation—was paying good money for its exploration and documentation, with bonuses for new species found. And if non-plant forms of life were found, the bonuses were enough to retire on for a year.
This mission was particularly taxing: to find non-plant life in an already mapped sector. Hours of scanning plants, looking for something which might not be there.
Miyumi, a veteran with over 50 missions under her belt, didn't mind the work, even when tedious. She knew how to make the best of it, and a simple and mostly hazardless planet like Tyrene was a cakewalk for her. Plus she had her eye on Zoya. 23, unfreckled for a redhead, thin, petite and sexy in a bookish way, Zoya was exactly Miyumi's type. ISO-9 forbid work trysts of any sort, even for management, but that never stopped Miyumi from fantasizing.
The wind howled. Zoya groaned. Despite the cold and her thick black jacket, she was sweating.
"Do you think maybe we should take a break?" she asked.
Miyumi looked at her watch. "Well. . . I suppose we can. It's a little early."
"Yeah, well. . . today is a bad day."
Miyumi smirked. "You said that yesterday."
"Yesterday was bad too."
"Maybe it's your outlook that's bad."
"Maybe. . . It's just more tedious than I thought it would be. The work, I mean."
"Yes," Miyumi sighed, "it's a lot of the same, over and over. But, trust me, when you find something you can bonus on, it's awesome. Nothing like it."
Zoya frowned. "I do want that bonus."
"Me too."
Zoya looked to the next group of bushes.
"Besides," Miyumi continued, "at least we don't have to wear masks. And the gravity isn't bad. It's a little cold, but it's a nice planet. I like it here."
Zoya smiled. "Yeah, I guess you're right. It's just so dull."
"Awww," Miyumi cooed. "Well, it's only your second mission. As time goes on, you'll find things to like about it."
"Right."
Miyumi yawned and stretched. "Let's go back to the ship for a bit. I'll make some tea. We'll relax. Break the tedium."
"Alright."
2
The two sat outside the ship in their bacchanium-alloy folding chairs sipping orifel tea, a thin glass hover-table floating between them. They had landed on a mesa overlooking the Tyrenean sea and, paradoxically, it was warmer up high. Neither needed to wear a jacket.
She didn't want to admit it to herself, but Zoya was starting to like Miyumi. She'd liked her since she first saw her—raven black hair cut short at her shoulders, porcelain white skin, a cute, fragile face, mischievous smile, large brown eyes, black form-fitting tights displaying her perfect figure. Nothing not to like.
Plus, Miyumi had what Zoya lacked: confidence.
But work relationships were a bad idea. If it was found out, both would be fired. ISO-9 was strict. People still did it, of course, but Zoya was a by-the-book girl. And it was her first job out of university—she wasn't about to ruin that. Miyumi might not be into girls, anyway.
"So what would you do if you did find an animal or something here?" Miyumi asked. "With the bonus money, I mean."
Zoya sipped her tea and thought.
"I don't know. There's so much I could do. I just. . . I like money, I guess. I want it in my bank account. Just to know it's there. Of course, I'd buy a lot of new outfits. More shoes. I'd pay off my loans. But, first, some new outfits."
Miyumi smiled. "You're such a girl. Even worse than me."
"I am." Zoya grinned. "What would you do?"
"Good question. Honestly, I have enough outfits. I'd really like to get my own place outside the city. A nice little house in the suburbs. As far away from the city as possible. I grew up in the suburbs, you know. A small town called Clovis." She drank down the last of her tea.
"Yeah." Zoya said. "That mustn't been great. I wish I grew up in a small town."
"The people are awful, but the scenery is great. Lots of nature."
"The people are awful?"
"Close minded. Judgmental. Especially of girls like me."
Zoya took another sip of tea. "Girls like you?"
"Yes. Futanari."
Silence.
"Oh. . . I didn't know."
"Yeah. . . I mean, no one really knows unless you tell them. Or they see you nude."
Zoya glanced into her cup, wishing it wasn't empty, wishing Miyumi hadn't said that. Though a lesbian, Zoya was always curious about futas. That was her kink, though unexplored. She lost her virginity to a guy and she'd had girlfriends in the past use strap-ons, but no futas. Futas were rare, after all 1 in 20,000. Zoya had only seen them in movies.
Fuck my luck she thought. I finally meet a futa my age and we're both contractually forbidden from hooking up. She scowled into her empty tea cup, thinking of something to say.
"Are you okay?" Miyumi asked.
Zoya blushed. "Yes. Just. . . I didn't know."
"Well. . . yeah. I guess I should have said something."
"Oh, I don't have a problem with it. I just—"
Zoya stopped herself. She didn't dare say what she wanted to say. When it came to love or money, Zoya had long ago picked her side. There was no changing it.
Miyumi laughed. "Oh God! You're red!"
Zoya blushed harder, now annoyed. "Why? Are you a futa-hater?" Miyumi asked playfully.
"No," Zoya said. "I just. . . blush easy."
"You sure do."
Zoya got up to get herself some more tea. "We should probably get back to work."
Miyumi laughed again. "Yeah."
"Out of all those bushes, how many have a real animal on them, you think?" Zoya asked, plaintively.
"Don't worry about it. Enjoy the fresh air. Exercise. It's just a job. You could be in a cubicle, drowning in data."
"Yeah."
The two folded their chairs and put them back in the ship. More tedium. Aerial scans of the whole surface found nothing in terms of non-plant life. Every manually scanned mission before them found nothing. Zoya was sure they, too, would find nothing. No bonus—only regular wages.
Still, it was the job Zoya wanted. Specimen gathering, planetary exploration, the occasional freight piloting—real adventure in all cases. Not her usual bookishness. It was her way to go beyond herself and, so far, despite the tedium, it was working.
Miyumi didn't care. Bonuses were nice, but she wasn't like Miyumi. She needed to be out, exploring. She'd done it as a little girl and she would do it till she died.
The wind picked up, sending a biting cold through them both. Shivering, they quickly put on their jackets.
3
Zoya was uncharacteristically quiet as the two scanned a new set of bushes for non-plant lifeforms. She was often quiet, but she had said nothing at all in the past three hours. Miyumi knew why: from the way Zoya acted, it wasn't bigotry. It was lust. Or, more innocently, infatuation. The thought of a girl with a cock turned her on. Perhaps too much. Miyumi could already tell. Shy girls like her were easy to read.
"Why are you so quiet?" Miyumi asked. Zoya paused from her scanning and sighed.
"Tired I suppose."
"Still?"
"Yeah."
"That tea should've woken you up."
"It didn't."
Miyumi yawned. "I guess I'm tired, too."
Zoya's scanner pinged loudly. She gasped. "I got something!" she said.
Miyumi ran over to her and looked into her scanner. Carbon dioxide, 0.90.
"Something's breathing!"
Zoya zeroed in on the source, then switched to infra-red. A small red dot gleamed against the blue. Whatever it was, it was warm and motionless and hanging on a branch.
"Holy fuck!" Miyumi squealed. "Look at that!"
"I see it. Do you have your specimen jar ready?"
"Ready."
Zoya tried not to shake as she placed the small vacuum-nozzle near the red dot's location. She flicked the button and it began to suck. The red dot zipped away from her screen.
"Got it!" she said.
"Oh my God! We're going to be rich!" Miyumi held out the jar as Zoya placed the nozzle in. Flicking the button again, a tiny zip noise sounded. Then silence.
"Scan it." Zoya said.
Miyumi held the jar above her head and waved her scanner over it.
"Yep!" she said with a grin. "We've got him."
"I wonder what he is. He's so small," Zoya said. "3 millimeters Oh my God. . . I could get bonus, maybe. If it's what I think it is, I mean."
"It is. No plant is going to give off that signature. You're set! Bonus time." Miyumi wrapped her arms around Zoya, squeezing her tight. Miyumi felt so warm and good, Zoya thought she would melt. She hugged her back, awkwardly and almost trembling.
"If I get a little house out in the suburbs, you'll visit me, right?" Miyumi asked.
"S-sure." Zoya stuttered.
"Good. Fuck, I love it! I can't believe it! Rich!"
Realizing she was half-hard, Miyumi pulled away. Be professional, she told herself, thinking about her money.
Zoya, still stunned, pulled away.
"Oh my," she said. "Should we call HQ?"
"Yes! They may even send a crew out. I know I gave you a pep talk before but I really didn't expect to find anything. I can't believe it!"
They smiled at each other in silence. For a moment, tedium gave way to greed as they each pondered what they would do with their fat bonuses, now that it was assured. Still smiling, the two walked back to the ship to make their victory call.
4
Later that evening, the two were still reeling from the high of finding their specimen. Zoya reported to HQ and they said they could both take rest of the day off and go back early, if they wanted. After Zoya sent her data, it didn't take long for HQ to confirm she had, in fact, found an animal specimen—likely a form of insect. The consensus scientist's theory was confirmed false. Mission completed. Kyalic was just beginning to set on the horizon, the sky was a strange and beautiful melange of purple shades, and the tea Miyumi made had never tasted so good. Both were on their third cup, seated comfortably on their bacchanium-alloy folding chairs overlooking the Tyrenean sea as it caught and spread the evening twilight across its rippling waves.
"I still can't believe it," Miyumi said.
Zoya looked over to her and grinned. "Mission completed."
"Do you know how many missions before us found nothing?"
"How many?"
"Over 80."
"Damn."
Miyumi stretched her neck and popped her knuckles. She felt too good. After the mission, her account would be 56,000 vijous richer. Just the thought of it made her hot—she'd fuck her bank account if she could. Something about big paydays always made her horny.
She looked at Zoya. She looked so innocent. She blushed so hard when she learned I had a cock. How cute.
Miyumi felt her cock begin to harden.
"Do you think the weather will be good enough for us to sleep outside tonight?" Zoya asked. "I want to see the stars. It was so cloudy last night."
"Yeah," Miyumi said. "I checked. Tonight's the perfect night."
"Good."
