The Tales of the Aurora

This is a re-edit of the story. Thank you kenjisato for your time and effort in making my story better. Without you then it wouldn't be as good as it is now.

Prologue

In the mid-twenty-fourth century, scientists throughout the galaxy were trying to find a way to rapidly produce food for the rapidly growing population. In the year 2341, scientists at Agro-Genetics, an Earth-based company, had created Mutagen-241. Mutagen-241 was a plant virus, that attacked the cell structure at the DNA level. The outcome was that no matter where the crops were planted, they would thrive in any environment. As long as the crops had received the barest minimum of nutrition, water, and sunlight; they would thrive.

Mutagen-241 or 'Miracle Grow', as the public called it, was released to all planets that were in the United Federation of Systems. In less than thirty years, galaxy-wide hunger was eliminated. By the beginning of the twenty-fifth century, 'Miracle Grow' was in every crop, and plant in the galaxy.

Mutagen-241 attacked plants and altered them to have a perfect DNA structure, with no impurities or defects. That in turn, led to stronger, more robust plants that could grow anywhere, at a rapid rate, and generate higher yields. By 2410, every crop plant was altered by Mutagen-241, and everything that people ate was laced with it.

Unfortunately, what the Agro scientists didn't foresee, was that Mutagen-241 was slowly altering the DNA structure of humans, which would lead to the decline of the male birth rate. The mutagen was affecting fetal development by eliminating defective chromosome structure. That meant that the pair that decided to be female 'XX' or male 'XY' would lead it to be mostly the full XX chromosome. Once the Federation saw the rapid decline of the male birth rate, and what it meant for the human race, they sprang into action.

They started by outlawing the production, and research of anything that involved mutating or altering DNA. The next thing was the creation of the Galaxy Fertility Commission or the 'GFC'; whose sole mandate was the propagation of the human species. In the year 2469, the GFC's first act was the 'Grand Insemination', where all adult males were ordered to impregnate as many females as possible. The purpose was to generate as many boys for their next initiative: Aphrodite, the Greek goddess of Fertility. The initiative was to systematically impregnate specific pairs of male and female partners, to induce 'selective natural mutation' with the goal in mind to increase the male birthing ratio.

Having the foresight of the importance of the remaining male population, the Federation had a plan. In the year 2475, the GFC would house the dwindling male population into state-of-the-art facilities throughout the galaxy, where they would be cared for, and monitored until they reached the age of eighteen, whereupon they would enter into the 'Eros Candidate' program. The men were given the designation, Eros, the male son of Aphrodite, and at the time, were revered as heroes and saviors of humanity. Their sole job was to populate the human race by impregnating women throughout the galaxy.

Chapter 1

200 Years Later ...

Aurora Crew

"LETA, how does our course look?"

"WE ARE STILL ON COURSE. CAPTAIN," replied the ship's onboard the A.I. system.

"WE ARE CURRENTLY PASSING THE HALFWAY POINT OF OUR JOURNEY TO THE ALEXANDREA SYSTEM. TIME TO ARRIVAL 84 DAYS, 12 HOURS, 06 MINUTES," LETA replied, in an emotionless tone.

"Good. Let me know if anything changes," replied the captain of the United Federation Ship, the 'Aurora', Elizabeth Lane. Elizabeth, or Liz to her closest friends, was considered an angelic beauty. At twenty-five years old, she stood at five feet seven inches tall, with long-flowing, deep-crimson-red hair, that framed her angelic face perfectly. She kept herself in great shape, but still accentuating her feminine curves. She was also sporting a nice, firm bubble butt, and paired well with her very prominent 36DD breasts.

The UFS Aurora was a new Class-3 transport ship, under the control of the Rocinante Transport Company (RTC), and it was currently on a delivery route, with very important cargo. One of RTC's biggest and oldest contractors was the Galaxy Fertility Commission. They were tasked to transport stasis pods that housed Eros male candidates from planet to planet throughout the galaxy.

"Still trying to find something to do, Liz?" asked the ship's Executive Officer, Sasha Monroe.

"Yeah. We still have a long way to go, and I just ran out of books to read," Elizabeth replied, as she looked at Sasha, her longtime best friend.

Sasha was an intimidating woman, standing at five feet eleven, with short, dark hair, and a rich, dark, skin color. She was built like a brick house; strong muscles that were well defined throughout her tough body. The best way Elizabeth could describe her best friend and second in command, was that she resembled an Amazon warrior from Greek mythology. With her fierce warrior's body and no-nonsense attitude; she was ready to take on any problem, and any foe that came her way.

"Well, that's what we get for signing up for the longest run the company had to offer. At least the pay is almost double than our usual rates, and don't forget the beaches," Sasha stated, trying to lighten up her friend's day.

"I know the extra pay is good, and Alexandrea, at least what I was told, has some of the most beautiful beaches in all the Federation. Speaking of destination. LETA how is our cargo doing?" Elizabeth asked.

"ALL 100 GFC STASIS PODS ARE ALL FUNCTIONING AT OPTIMAL LEVELS, CAPTAIN."

"Good to know. LETA, run a diagnostic scan on them, the last thing we want is to have our cargo spoil," she replied, as she got up from her captain's chair, gesturing to Sasha. "Come on, it's almost dinner time, let's see what our cook has in store for us."

Arriving at the mess hall with Sasha in tow, Elizabeth realized they were not the first ones there. Besides Ava Kinley, the ship's cook, there was also Grace Sato, the ship's software specialist, and the person to turn to if their ship's A.I. LETA goes on the fritz.

While Elizabeth has long-flowing, crimson-red hair, Ava had more of a curly strawberry-red, a homage to her Irish heritage. Her skin was a pale-creamy white, marked with cute little freckles on her face. Just a year younger than the captain, standing at five foot six, with long slender legs, and a nice, petite frame that held a pair of firm 32B breasts. A body that you just want to pick up and have her wrap her long legs around you. Despite her beauty, she is what most people would call an airhead; always seeming to have something going on in her mind. That was probably why she was the ship's cook, the least-important job on the ship. Her sole job was to make sure all her shipmates were receiving all their nutrition and dietary needs, especially during the long-haul transit. While it was an important job, it was a non-mission-critical one, unlike the ship's doctor or ship's engineer. Still, she had a bubbly personality that made everyone smile while they were around her. While her food wasn't something to write home about, it was better than the standard RTC food rations.

Turning her attention back to the crewmate's table she saw Grace Sato. Grace was considered to be an exotic beauty. Having Asian features, standing at five feet four inches tall, Grace's skin was just as pale as Ava's. But unlike Ava, Grace's skin had no blemishes of any kind. She also has a petite slender body with long legs, but no one could tell her bust size, since she would always wear really baggy sweaters. Grace also has long, straight, raven hair to which it almost seemed to reach just to the top of her pert little ass. Grace was a very shy person who always kept to herself, or towards the ship's cook. To everyone, they seemed to be quite good friends, hitting it off when they trained together at the RTC training facility where they were first recruited.

"Dinner is ready. We are just waiting on the others," Ava said, to everyone at the crew table.

Just as she finished, the door to the mess hall slid open and in came the youngest and smallest crewmember on the ship: Emma Donavin, the ship's engineer. If anything broke on the ship, Emma was there to fix it. Emma was a tiny woman, standing at four feet ten inches, weighing just under one hundred pounds, and sporting small 32A size breasts. She was just tiny, in a very cute way. She had an impish face with long, curly blonde hair which, at the moment, was tied in two ponytails, accentuating her young teenage appearance. Despite her age, Emma was a certifiable genius. She graduated from college and technical school at the age of eighteen, with a masters in Robotics and Ship Engine Design. She can disassemble and reassemble almost anything on the ship. After graduating, RTC recruited her right out of school and put her on the fast track for the RTC's R&D division for their new line of space ships. The only reason why she was on the ship, was that she needed experience working on an actual working ship. Wearing her usual dirty-work overalls, she was covered in grease and grime. She also sported a pair of round welder goggles that were perched on the top of her head.

"What are we having for dinner?" Emma asked, while sitting down and grabbing a plate.

"We are having beef stroganoff, and no food for you until you wash your hands," Ava said, while snatching the plate away from Emma.

"Fine," Emma said grudgingly, and made her way to the sink and proceeded to wash off all the dirt and grime from her tiny little hands.

"Good. That's much better, now where is our ship's doctor," Ava said, in wonder.

"I don't know, the 'Ice Queen' was still in her office when I passed by," Emma stated, once getting back to her seat.

The 'Ice Queen', Emma had stated, was the ship's medical doctor, Dr. Aletta Blake, or 'Dr. Blake' when she was on the ship. At thirty years old, she was the oldest among the crew, and just emitted an air of professionalism around her. Always straightforward, no-nonsense, no socializing of any kind. The only time the crew ever got to see her, was either in med bay for checkups, emergencies, or in the mess hall for mealtime; due to Ava's rule that all crew members should always eat together at least once a day.

"I'm right here, 'Little Imp'," Aletta said, as she walked in, startling everyone.

"Stop calling me that!" Emma yelled back.

"Well, then stop calling me 'Ice Queen' and I'll stop calling you 'Little Imp'," Aletta fired back, with an annoyed look on her face.

Despite Dr. Blake's chilling attitude and neutral expression, she sometimes looked like she wanted to be somewhere else. Aletta was a stunning woman, standing at a solid five feet eight inches, but at that moment, stood at five foot eleven, due to the fact that as part of her attire, she wore sexy-but-yet-professional, black three-inch high heels. They allowed her to bring out the curves of her legs; especially when they were encased in dark-color pantyhose. Aletta was the only person in the crew who wore pantyhose and high heels; something you don't normally see on a starship. When they asked her about it, she just said,

' Because no one else was doing it and it presents authority, '

and emitting authority is what she did when she walked into the room. Following up her long, slender legs, was a true hourglass figure with a big round ass, a nice narrow waist, and a full 34FF chest. With her lightly-curled full-brown hair, horn-rim glasses, and her big plump very kissable lips; Dr. Blake was a true professional beauty.

Once Dr. Blake and Emma stopped throwing jabs at each other, they sat down as everyone waited for Ava. She served up dinner and they all ate, in relative silence with light conversation among relative groups. Once everyone had finished eating, Captain Lane started to address the crew.

"Okay everyone. Just so you know, we just passed the halfway point, and still have twelve weeks left in our journey. Now, is there anything to report on the ship or its cargo?" Elizabeth asked, while looking around the table. When no one spoke up, she turned towards Grace, "How's LETA and the stasis pods doing?"

"LETA is running at ninety-five percent efficiency. There are some minor errors, but they are in non-critical systems. As for stasis pods? LETA reported back and said the diagnostics you ordered are underway. You should have a full report by tomorrow morning, but experience says failure from the pods are extremely rare. Right?" Grace asked, looking at Emma, trying to shift the attention away from her.

"Yeah. Those pods have too many redundant systems built into them; it's just ridiculous. It's such a shame, though. I would love to take one of those things apart just to see how they tick. Unfortunately, they are GFC proprietary tech, and we do not have the authorization to work on them." Emma explained, as she picked at her food.

"All right, well, if that's all?" Elizabeth asked, taking one last look around the table to which no one answered, "Well, if everyone knows their night shift schedule, then everyone is dismissed."

"So twelve more weeks to go, should be fun," Sasha said sarcastically, as the last person left the mess deck.

"Yeah. I know no adventure is a good thing, but what I would do for some action, or at the very least, something to pass the time," Elizabeth replied, with an exasperated sigh.

"Who knows. Maybe you could get your wish and something on the ship breaks down, or we run into a rogue asteroid field, or maybe we run into those dreaded pirates, trying to steal all that creamy, frozen sperm we have locked up in storage," Sasha rambled on, trying to get a rise out of her best friend.

"Well, after six months of space travel, I can't wait for some sun, sand, and surf," Elizabeth said

"Yeah. twelve more weeks and beaches, here we come," Sasha said, throwing up her arms in excited glee; showing that joyful side of her, to her best friend, only.

Late at night, on the ship's bridge, Grace sat in front of her computer terminal working on LETA's core system to pass the time. Everything was looking normal, until a red warning light sounded in front of the captain's terminal. Grace rushed over to see what was going on. A red banner popped up and LETA spoke out the emergency message.

"LOCATION: AURORA CARGO HOLD. WARNING: GFC STASIS POD # 43, FAILURE, FAILURE, FAILURE. IMMEDIATE ACTION NEEDED."

Grace tried to see if she could fix the problem at her terminal, but nothing seemed to be working. She already contacted the captain and the XO because of ship protocol. As soon as Captain Elizabeth and XO Sasha came in, a new message appeared.

"STASIS POD # 43 FAILING, SYSTEM SHUTDOWN IMMINENT, BEGINNING REANIMATION PROCESS."

"Reanimation process!?" Elizabeth shouted, with some urgency, looking over to Grace.

"I believe it's a fail-safe in the GFC stasis pods to save the occupant."

"Well, stop it!" Elizabeth shouted back.

"I can't. I'm locked out of the system. It looks like the process has already begun," Grace replied, gesturing towards the screen.

"Then we need to get down there fast. Sasha. Contact Emma and Dr. Blake. Have them meet us at the cargo hold," Elizabeth ordered; taking command of the ship.

Rushing out of the bridge at full speed, they made it to the cargo hold. When Elizabeth, Sasha, and Grace reached the cargo-bay doors, they realized besides Dr. Blake, and Emma being there, Ava was also there standing beside the wall. Elizabeth prompted Sasha to open the cargo hold and a cold fog spilled into the corridor. Everyone filed into the room to which they were greeted by large metal tubes. In the room, laid out four rows of twenty-five stasis pods each, all laid dormant with white screens indicating all systems were good. All, except for one. Stasis Pod #43 was flashing red, and warning signs were flashing across the interface. Emma and Grace approached the pod trying to see what they could do, but it was pretty much futile at that point, as they read what was on the screen...

"STASIS POD # 43, SYSTEM SHUTDOWN IMMINENT, REANIMATION PROCESS COMPLETE, REVIVING EROS CANDIDATE ID: 2187. "

The pod opened and the cold vapor rushed out. Everyone took a few steps back as a large, dark figure stepped out on unsteady legs. The large figure turned towards the crew's direction; looking to either attack, or about to keel over.

In a long, bated breath, it said, "Where am I?"

But before they could answer, it fell to the ground, unconscious.

Chapter 2

Galaxy Fertility Commission stasis pods were designed to suspend metabolic function in its sleeping occupant. The technology was derived from earlier hibernation chambers for long-term space exploration. It was during a time when sub-light ion engines were in the theoretical stages of development. The purpose of it was to have the occupant sleep for long periods of time. While sleeping, the pod would suspend metabolic activity and temporarily stop the aging process. Then the occupant would wake up and only feel like a day had passed, even though it would have been months, or even years.

With the male population on the decline, GFC needed to find a way to transport Eros candidates without compromising their fertility potential. Eros Fertility Potential (EFP) was a figure that stated a male's ability to impregnate female candidates. For males, their EFP was at its highest between the ages of eighteen to thirty-five. After that, their numbers would rapidly decline. Since the galaxy was such a vast place and the male supply was dwindling; the GFC created the stasis pods to transport Eros candidates throughout the galaxy. Keeping the Eros Candidates in storage for weeks, months, or even years, until their genetic makeup was needed to conceive the next generation of children. Because of the importance of the Eros candidates, the GFC stasis pod was built with numerous redundancies, but nothing was ever a hundred percent foolproof.

Aurora Crew

On the auto dock was a sprawled-out Eros Candidate that was still unconscious after emerging from his stasis pod. Getting the unconscious body from the cargo hold to the Aurora Med Bay was no small feat. By the end of it, the crew placed his unconscious body on a flatbed cart, and pushed him to the Med Bay. Then, with the combined effort of Dr. Blake, Sasha, and Elizabeth, they managed to get his hulking body onto the auto dock bed scanner. Once onboard, Dr. Blake ran several scans to see if anything was wrong with him. If they lost even one of the Eros Candidates, there would be serious ramifications for the whole crew.

The only people in the room were Dr. Blake who was running scans, Elizabeth waiting for results, and Sasha who was standing by, just in case the Eros Candidate decided to go out of control. Despite Sasha's combat training and experience, even she might not be enough to subdue him. Eros Candidate 2187, since no one knew his real name, was an impressive specimen. He was wearing was white knee-length underwear, and nothing else. His stature, if standing, was about six foot four, with hard solid muscles. Instead of Amazon warriors like Sasha, he was more like the Greek heroes of old; such as Hercules or Zeus. His face was more rugged looking than his female counterpart with short, dark hair and a light stubble forming on the lower part of his face. That was the first time any of the crewmembers had ever been in contact with an adult human male, and his appearance and physique were quite striking.

"How's it looking, doctor?" Elizabeth asked, to try to glean some information from the monitor.