Cruz was sitting down on the edge of a bench, way down on the relaxation center's ground floor. He was bawling his eyes out as the flying chair zoomed out of the elevator. It only took a moment for its two occupants to hone in on him.
As soon as the chair was stable, Washington hopped off and quickly approached the ensign. "Cruz, what happened?"
This only made Cruz start crying even louder.
Washington turned to Gar and Lora, who had stopped a few yards away. "Where did you find him?
"Your man stepped into the elevator, but we don't know what level he was on." Gar reported. "He was hysterical and screaming. He frightened the operator so much that the operator brought him to this first level. The operator notified me and I came over here as fast as I could. When I got to him, he was saying over and over that he killed the woman who was missing earlier. Her name was Blue."
"I killed her..." Cruz croaked, his final words trailing off into tears.
Lora was near tears also, Washington noticed.
"I was afraid something like this might happen." Gar revealed. "I know that humans can be violent creatures at times. We have seen this firsthand in the past."
"Not violence..." Cruz sobbed. Again, the rest of his words were lost.
"I'm going to gather several of my people and we're going to begin a search for Blue." Gar said. "The operator was too frightened to recall which floor your Doctor Love was on when he entered the elevator, meaning that we will have to search the entire building. Mentor Braxton, for the meantime, everything I told you earlier must be set aside. If you choose to leave Our World at this time, then so be it."
"No, Gar." Braxton said. "We will help you find Blue. And as long as you don't treat us as prisoners, we will talk later about this planet's future."
"Thank you, Mentor Braxton. You truly are a worthy mentor." Gar stepped away, while Lora nervously stepped closer to the blubbering Cruz and the captain.
For a moment, Washington thought she might come over and hold him by the arm again, but no, she kept her distance. He turned back to the crying man. "Cruz, where is this woman?"
"It was a Savannah floor." He sniffled. "There was grass and shit all over. We'd gone into one of the bedrooms further back to make love, and now she's dead."
Washington didn't believe he heard correctly. "You said you were making love when you killed her?"
"Yes, I guess I got carried away, I don't know..."
Lora moved forward. "You were making love when she died?"
"Is there an echo in here?" Cruz snapped. "That's what I said! We were making love up there and we were going at it pretty good. Now she's dead, so I killed her!"
"Describe what you were doing to her." Lora demanded.
"What kind of freak planet is this?" Cruz looked at her in disbelief.
Braxton concurred. "I don't think that's such a good idea, Lora."
"This is very important. We must know exactly how this woman died."
"Oh, for crying out loud!" Cruz grumbled. "Fine, fine, fucking fine." He sighed. "She was sitting in a reverse cowgirl, and riding me like a fucking bronco. I was in the process of turning her around, when she started convulsing. Her eyes rolled up into her head and she just fell over. She wasn't breathing, she had no pulse, and I tried to revive her in a couple of different ways. Nothing worked. That's when I ran into the elevator and started screaming for help. Are you happy to hear that?"
"Did you ejaculate?" Lora asked.
"You people really are sick." Cruz grimaced. "How can you ask me a question like that? The poor woman is dead thanks to me. All you can think of to ask me is if I came or not. There is no hope for this cruel planet!"
"Did you or did you not?" Lora persisted.
"Yes. Yes, I did. Does that somehow make everything better?"
"Yes it does, and you have no idea by how much." Lora answered. She pressed a jewel on her silver bracelet and held it up to her mouth. "Gar, this is Lora. You have to come back to the first level. The Love Doctor just said that Blue died during sex. He did not hurt her through violence, as we thought he did at first."
"I'm heading there directly." Gar's tinny voice replied.
"So that's how they communicate." Washington looked impressed.
"You mean you didn't know that?" Braxton asked. "Didn't you see all those people at the landing site? What did you think they were doing, talking to their hands?"
"I guess I must have missed that part." Washington mumbled.
"Doctor Love," Lora stepped right up to where Cruz was seated. "Blue is not dead, but we have to get to her right away. Can you remember what the room looked like, if I took you to the Savannah section?"
"She had no pulse." Cruz stated. "How can she not be dead if she had no pulse?"
Lora snatched him up by the wrist. "We're wasting time here. Come with me!"
Ensign Braxton motioned to the captain, he hopped on, and the flying chair sped toward the elevator door as well.
Officer Wattakunt opened her eyes. The pretty blonde felt so soft and fluffy, as if she were sleeping on a cloud. She took in the cotton candy shapes on the walls, painted in soft whites and very soft grays, and with vague patches of pale blue sky in spots. For a long moment, Mary thought she really was in the clouds. There were pillows everywhere, it seemed. She grabbed one, and then a second, and she hugged them both to her body and squeezed all the air out of them. As she released the pillows, she watched as they sucked the air back in and puffed back out to their former might. Before she could squeeze the life out of the pillows a second time, she realized she was naked.
"What happened to my costume?" Mary asked herself, trying to recall if she'd gotten naughty with someone, but she didn't think she had.
She'd wanted to, of course, after that booty shaking at the head of the conga line. And after the cartwheels she'd done before that, where she'd been showing off her tight pink panties.
Mary remembered all those oldies but goodies, staring at her nice, round boobies as she pretended to check their pulse. She recalled how they'd looked at her legs when she'd sat on their laps and wiggled around in her special way.
"I think my nipples are hard." She glanced at the tender swells of her breasts. "Because it's nippy in here, and my nipples are hard, so that means it's nipply." She giggled. "I bet Cruz is going to like that one." She snuck her hand between her legs, and fiddled with herself for a few seconds. "Oh, Cruz, I'm feeling a little nipply in here, and I need you to come and warm me up right now. Warm me up, up, up. Cruz!"
"Cruz!" Mary called out again. "This is a Priority One booty call! Cruz!"
"They've all gone." A voice she didn't recognize replied.
Mary sat up, seeing not one, but three Wrinkles staring at her from the arched doorway. "What are you guys doing there, other than watching me Jill off like little perverts?"
"We've brought you gifts." One man said, while the other two ran off to grab some. Not wanting to be left out, this last ogling man hurried to join the others.
In short order, all three old men returned with necklaces, bracelets, anklets, as well as rings and pendants. They bowed their heads and held the jewelry out in front of them, as if offering it to her as some form of tribute.
"Ooooh, you've got some shinies!" Mary marveled at the collection she was being shown. "Bring them closer."
The men looked at one another.
"Come on, I don't bite." Mary did her come-hither motion, slightly peeved when the three men didn't respond right away. "You old boys don't know what that is, do you? What does a woman on this planet do when she wants to attract a man?"
The three men looked to one another in confusion.
The elected spokesman for the group addressed her. "To attract a man, a woman will smile at a man. She pull her veil away from her head and show her face. This is a sign that a man may approach her."
Mary grabbed a nearby pillow and folded it over her head. "Well, pretend this pillow is a veil, and pretend I'm pulling it back." With that, she tossed the pillow at the three men, but she missed them by a few feet. "Now, let me see all those baubles and trinkets you have there. I really like shiny stuff!"
The three men reluctantly stepped closer.
"On my planet, when a man wants a woman, he kisses her feet." Mary lied, just to see if she could get away with it. She wiggled her toes. "Who wants to kiss my feet?"
The two pushed the one forward. He straightened up. "I will do this."
"Well, somebody better." Mary said. "And instead of saying 'I will do this.' I want you to say, challenge accepted! I want you to say this same phrase, every time I tell you do to something for me. Try it."
"Yes." The man nodded. "Challenge accepted. Is this good?"
"Eh, it was okay." Mary shrugged. "Now, give me your best gift, and then you can get started with my feet."
Mary was presented with a ring that had a big fat ruby on it. She tried it on, finding it just a tad too big for her fingers, so she gave it back. "Got anything else?"
One of the others gave the official spokesman a silver bracelet. He stretched his arms out to give it to her.
"Why are you guys so scared of me?" Mary asked, as she took the bracelet and studied it. It was nice, she thought, but not too fancy. When she tried it on, she also found it too loose. "Oh, it doesn't fit!"
"You can squeeze it and it will shape itself to your arm." The spokesman said.
"Show me."
The man did squeeze it, gently. Right away, Mary could feel the metal wrapping itself around her wrist.
"And how do you take it off?"
"Simple, you squeeze it again, from the bottom only." The man gave her a deep nod, but she still didn't understand what that fully meant. He added, "But this is a very special bracelet. It is a communicator. If you press the jewel on it, it will light up. You can speak to anyone else who wears a communicator."
