Popslash. Space Cowboys V. For every question, there might be an answer.
Title: For every question, there might be an answer.
Fandom: Popslash.
Characters: Chris Kirkpatrick / Kevin Richardson
Prompt: 51. Water
Word Count:4,550
Rating: Nc-17 (yep, finally ;) )
Summary:The Clan reconnects with each other, while Crazy still tries to understand the human Captain.
Author's Notes: Super special thanks to milosflaca for her incredible help with this story (Especially the section in Sweet’s pov… that would’ve never been written without her help, and it should be considered as co-written with her) and her endless support and first beta so I wouldn’t forget important plot points. Also to bellamyrose and otherdeb for their fast beta and encouraging words.
Scoop fully concentrated on the sounds and harmony of the open space before him, but it was not as easy as usual. His mind was too full of all the things that had happened in the last few weeks. Since the human Captain had discovered Sweet’s identity, everything had changed.
Crazy had renegotiated their truce with the human, and now they could travel with him without fear that he would try to kill them because they weren’t human. Scoop wasn’t sure that the Captain wouldn’t try anyway; everyone knew you just couldn’t trust humans. As each day passed, however, he was rethinking all the things he’d been taught since childhood.
As part of the truce, the human had accepted that the clan needed some privacy. They were allowed to leave the ship for short periods of time every week. Originally, Scoop had thought that would make it easier for him to find the path home, but it was really hard to hear the distant call of their home planet with his clanmates arguing next to him.
“There’s something very wrong with the human’s nano units,” Crunk said, shrugging lightly in Aaron’s direction. The boy was riding behind Spark, and didn’t seem to be paying attention to the conversation. “Nick doesn’t follow the Captain’s orders at all.”
“They’re not machines. At least, I don’t think they’re just machines,” Spazz said, shaking his head. If it weren’t for their helmets, Scoop was sure that Spazz’ hair would be tangling into itself, creating confused knots. The shaman sounded lost. “Brock talks about himself as if he was a living being…”
“B.R.O.C.K. is alive,” Aaron interrupted, surprising them all. “Spark told me so.”
“Care to explain that, Spark?” Crazy asked. The Prince had been silent for almost the whole meeting, and Scoop was startled to hear his voice.
“All things that can think for themselves are alive,” Spark said, reciting the Shamans’ teachings. “If Brock, Nick and AJ can think… I guess that makes them living beings.”
“They still follow the Captain’s orders,” Crazy stated, although he was starting to sound convinced. “We only have to figure out why they disobey him sometimes. Is it because they truly can think for themselves, or because of something Sweet did?”
“They didn’t want to lose Aaron, even when the Captain was set on killing him,” Spark offered. “You think Sweet caused that?”
“That wasn’t me,” Sweet shook his head. “I don’t care what Captain Kevin thinks, my knowledge of human machines is limited. The only thing I could do was to make AJ believe the clan was formed by human beings. By the time I came here, the Captain was already used to Nick disobeying him from time to time, even though it wasn’t as obvious as it is now. I’m not even sure that they all suffer the same problem. I am sure that Nick had been testing how much he could disobey without getting caught.”
“What do you mean, Sweet?” Crunk asked, sounding worried.
“I probably wouldn’t have noticed if you hadn’t come on board because they aren’t acting that different, except for Brock,” Sweet explained. “Brock is the only one whose behavior has changed since you came aboard.”
“You mean Nick has always acted as if he was keeping a big secret from the Captain?” Crunk didn’t sound convinced.
“He’s always been keeping a secret from the Captain,” Scoop pointed out. “We know he knew Sweet was one of us from the beginning, and that’s evident because he created a drone just to protect Sweet. He was also guarding Aaron. Who knows what else he’s hiding?”
“And AJ was already flickering between the two personalities when you arrived?” Crazy asked Sweet, who just shrugged.
“I don’t know. I honestly hadn’t noticed a huge difference between when AJ is showing skin marks and when he isn’t, until Scoop said that the one with skin marks seems to be on our side,” Sweet explained. “He rarely spoke to me without skin marks, so I couldn’t tell.”
“Bottom line is that we still don’t know if we can trust them. But we do know that at least those three don’t obey the Captain, and they have tried to help us at times,” Crazy said, slowly. “We can use that to our advantage.”
“What do you mean, Crazy?” Scoop asked, frowning.
“From what AJ told you, I think he wants the Captain to become a rebel,” Crazy said, turning to look at the Millennium. “At least, half of AJ seems to want that. And if Nick really wants what’s best for Aaron, we can also trust him.”
“N.I.C.K. is very good keeping secrets,” Aaron interrupted again. “Not only from the Captain. From B.R.O.C.K. and AJ too. I bet he would keep your secrets if you asked him.”
Scoop wondered how many secrets Nick kept from Aaron, but didn’t say so. Later, when the kid went with Spark to learn about the bulls, he would tell Crazy. There was something about Nick that made Scoop nervous, even more than Brock, AJ or the Captain himself did. Maybe it was because Nick had weapons. They had only seen the ‘combat mode’ of the blonde nanodrone once, but the image was still embedded on Scoop’s brain.
He hadn’t seen one of the human battledrones in combat before, as he usually only fought in outer space, but Crunk had told him stories. One single human battledrone was as dangerous as a squad. They could reform themselves and create weapons out of their broken parts. And they never stopped until you destroyed them completely.
“We have to go back before the Captain starts thinking that we’re conspiring against him,” Crazy was smiling, Scoop was sure of it. Especially because they were conspiring. Maybe not against the Captain himself, but against the humans. Scoop was sure that Crazy wanted to figure out a way to capture the Millennium without breaking the truce. “Did you have any luck, Scoop?”
“I need a bit more time, Crazy,” Scoop admitted. “It is not easy to navigate at the same time we’re having a meeting. Can I stay alone for a few minutes?”
“Of course. We’ll wait for you near the ship,” Crazy signaled the others to return to the Millennium’s dock before turning his attention back to Scoop. “If you happen to find a planet in our way, that would be perfect. I still can’t connect with Sweet completely, and perhaps what we need is a few hours under a sun.”
Scoop smiled, despite himself. He knew that Crazy was asking for a place where they all could reconnect with their clan mate, away from the curious eyes of the human, and Scoop couldn’t say he disagreed with the idea. It had been too long since they all had reaffirmed their bond.
“I’ll do my best, Crazy. If there’s a suitable planet, I’ll find it,”
* * *
Crazy walked alone through the hallways of the Millennium. Although he knew his clan mates wouldn’t approve, he had spent enough time inside the human ship, and he trusted Captain Kevin’s word that he would not be harmed. It was strange but he felt some kinship for the human Captain, since he knew how it felt to be away from home for a long time. Crazy had the company of his squad, but Kevin was completely alone. That made Crazy believe that there was a huge chance to make him see that they could be friends. Even humans had to need company at some time.
“Can I help you, Mr. Crazy?” the shimmering body of AJ appeared in front of Crazy, startling him. The prince knew that most of the time, the hologram was on their side, but it still made him uncomfortable to see the AI, as he had no real way to know if that would be the day AJ wouldn’t be happy to see the Clan.
“I’m looking for the Captain,” Crazy said, keeping his voice even. He wasn’t going to give the hologram the satisfaction of knowing that he was nervous. “Where can I find him?”
“The Captain is on the bridge,” the hologram answered, smiling. “Do you want me to inform him that you need him?”
“Will he shoot at me if I appear unannounced?”
“The Captain has no weapons on him while on the ship. His defenses depend completely on N.I.C.K. and myself,” AJ lowered his dark glasses, and for the first time since they had met, Crazy realized that the hologram *had* eyes. They were brown, with a small blue halo of electricity around the irises. They made the AI look almost alive. “You will be safe.”
With that, the hologram disappeared. Crazy shook his head, his braids curling around his ears in confusion. There were too many mysteries aboard the Millennium for his taste.
Crazy had only been on the bridge once, but as he walked the corridors, the lights blinked and showed him the path he was supposed to follow. This was more proof that the hologram wasn’t necessarily working with the human Alliance’s best interests in mind.
As AJ had said, the captain was on the bridge, in his control chair, seemingly watching the endless universe in front of them.
“Can we talk, or should I come back later?” He asked, staying at the door to give the Captain the same courtesy the clan had been given recently.
“Whatever you need, you can ask B.R.O.C.K. for it, there’s no need to ask me,” the human said, not even turning to meet Crazy’s eyes. “We agreed on that as part of the truce.”
“Unfortunately, Brock can’t authorize a change of course,” Crazy tried to joke. It was very important for him to get the human’s agreement for what his clan needed, and not be disgusted. Though Crazy knew that Captain Kevin was surely going to be disgusted. “Scoop found a planet, six light years or so away. We need to go there.”
That made the Captain turn around, looking slightly annoyed. “We were just on a planet. Why would you need to go to the surface again? Now will you tell me that B.R.O.C.K. and N.I.C.K. are also your spies also, just like Sweet was?”
“It’s for a ritual,” Crazy answered, ignoring the hurt on the Captain’s voice. “We need to reconnect Sweet to the clan.”
“And I guess it has to be on a planet, right?” It was obvious by the Captain’s tone that he wasn’t happy with the idea. This was yet another thing he didn’t get about the human. Crazy couldn’t understand how Captain Kevin could be happy never seeing the colored skies that could only be found on a planet’s surface.
“It doesn’t,” Crazy answered truthfully. “But since it involves a lot of well… a lot of touching, I thought you would be more comfortable if we did it outside your ship.”
This seemed to surprise the human, who frowned.
“You’re willing to wait to until we get to a planet, so I won’t feel uncomfortable during your ritual?” the Captain asked. Crazy knew that every single time he offered his understanding to the human, he challenged the Captain’s notions of the Clan, and he let himself feel triumphant for a second.
“We need to do the ritual as soon as possible,” Crazy admitted. “But yes, we’re all willing to wait if you can meet us halfway and take us to the nearest planet.”
“What exactly does the ritual entail?” the Captain looked curious, despite himself.
“I don’t think you want to know.” Crazy was honest. Part of him wanted to describe to the human exactly every little detail of the ritual, from the what it felt like to have his clanmates’s warm bodies next to him, to the way in which Sweet’s hair could caress everyone at the same time, but he knew it wouldn’t be much help to his case. “There will be a lot more naked skin than you are accustomed to or would like to see.”
There was a long silence and it seemed that the Captain was considering what Crazy had said. Finally, he nodded.
“Give the coordinates to AJ. We’ll stop at the planet Mr. Scoop found.”
* * *
The water of the stream that crossed the clearing Prince Crazy had selected for the ritual was warm. That was the first thing Sweet thought as he took off his clothes and entered the small river that rose to his hips. It wasn’t the artificial warmth of the water inside the Millenium, but natural warmth that came from below the surface. It reminded Sweet of home, the house where he had lived with his parents and sisters, built on top of an ancient sulfur deposit. The smelly waters were always warm, and Sweet had spent many lazy afternoons with different partners in those thermal waters.
It felt almost like that.
Crunk, Spazz, Scoop and the Prince were waiting for his signal to start. They all were naked, next to the shore, watching him. It had been a while since he had been with more than one partner, and a lot longer since he had felt connected to his clan mates. He really couldn’t wait.
“I’m ready,” He said to the Prince, smiling as Crazy entered the river and walked towards him until they were almost touching. His hair rose to meet his prince’s hair, so they could make a small braid together.
“You have been missed, Sweet,” the Prince said, and leaned forward to capture Sweet’s lips in a kiss. Sweet opened his mouth and deepened it, reconnecting with his Prince, trying to let go of all the loneliness, all the fear, he had felt during his ten years inside the Millennium. And he could feel the Prince’s presence in his mind, making him feel whole, taking that fear away. “Don’t pull away again.”
“I won’t,” Sweet smiled weakly, as Crunk, Scoop and Spazz joined them. Crunk took his place behind Sweet, embracing him as their hair joined, just as Sweet’s hair had entwined with Crazy’s, while Spazz and Scoop kissed his arms. They were giving Sweet all their attention, languid and slow, in a way they hadn’t been able to do so inside the Millennium.
Sweet gasped as he felt Spazz’s hair tickle and tease his penis, while Spazz kissed his thigh. He looked down to his clan mate and smiled. Spazz had always been inventive when it came to sex, and he seemed to be quite clear on not letting Sweet forget.
Scoop was kneeling down to his left, and started to lick Sweet’s buttocks. Sweet knew that at the same time, he was massaging Crunk’s cock, preparing him so he could penetrate Sweet for the first time in ten years.
It was hard to focus on any of them because the feelings kept overwhelming him. It was almost too much, too fast, and he couldn’t believe it had been so long. It was like breathing again after almost drowning, and he didn’t want to think about what would happen when they left the planet, and he had to return to the darkness of the Millennium.
“Let yourself go,” the Prince told him, wiping the tears that had formed on Sweet’s eyes with his hair. “Let the feelings come. I’ll shield you from the bad, and let you have all the pleasure.”
Sweet took a deep breath and nodded, even though it was very hard to let go of the fear. It was only now, surrounded by his clan mates and away from the Millennium, that he realized how much he had missed them. Sensing his distress, Crazy started to slowly follow the pattern of Sweet’s skin marks with his tongue, at the same time Crunk finally kissed him.
It was more than enough to make Sweet give in to the pleasure that his mates were giving him.
“I missed you, Sweet,” Crunk whispered, as their hair braided together. Sweet had let all the others go. For a moment, it was just him and Crunk. Then Crazy took his cock into his mouth, slowly, carefully, exploring every inch of his skin. Sweet forgot everything that wasn’t the pleasure and companionship he was feeling.
He was feeling the love and support of his Prince, welcoming him back to the clan. The unconditional love that Crunk had always felt for him. The friendship and loyalty that Scoop and Spazz gave him. Sweet was so lost in the feelings and the pleasure of his flesh, that he never noticed when they moved from the river and into the grass next to it, All that mattered was not losing the skin-to-skin contact with his beloved and his clan mates.
* * *
Spark had found a small creek on the shore, and to his surprise, Aaron took to learning to swim quite fast. Since his attempt to climb trees Spark now knew that Aaron could pretty much survive any accident, and so was a bit more relaxed in his vigilance than he had been.
“Why the others aren’t here?” Aaron asked suddenly, when he came up after walking on the bottom of the creek for a while. The kid still hadn’t learned to fake needing breath, so Spark guessed he would love diving in deeper waters.
“They’re busy welcoming Sweet back,” Spark answered. Aaron was too young to hear details, but old enough to know that.
“And why aren’t we there? We’re part of the clan too, aren’t we?”
That was a harder question, and Spark looked away before answering.
“Of course we are, but you are too young. Children aren’t part of the welcoming party. And I chose not to participate.”
“Why not?” Aaron got out of the water and sat next to Spark, curious. Spark sighed; he hadn’t really talked about his decision to avoid all intimate contact, not since Spear had demanded that they got married after his rescue. Spear, his beautiful wife, who had coaxed him out of his depression, even offering to mutilate her own hair if that was what he needed to accept her.
“I’m damaged.” Spark finally said. “I don’t want to infect the rest of the clan.”
Aaron’s eyes turned dark, and Spark had the distinct feeling that he was being studied. At moments like this, it was easy to remember that Aaron wasn’t exactly a living being.
“Is it because you have nanos in your head and they don’t?” Aaron asked, and his tone made it clear that Spark had hurt his feelings. “You can’t transplant nanos by touching. You need a special device. You can’t even exchange nanos from one nano-unit to another without it.”
“Who said anything about nanos?” Spark said, trying to stall the boy. “You know I touch my brothers. You’ve seen me.”
“They kiss, you don’t,” Aaron stated, simply. “And you’re the only one who has nanos, so I assumed that they were the reason why you don’t act like them.”
“You spend a lot of time analyzing us?“ Spark asked, frowning. He still wasn’t all convinced that there was no danger to the clan from the human-made machines, even though he liked the boy a lot.
“Only you. The others are all biological, like the Captain. But you have nanos, like me, N.I.C.K. and B.R.O.C.K., so I thought at first that you were like us, only built different.“ Aaron explained, as he tried to catch one of the sea creatures that swam around their feet.
“Don’t to do that unless you plan to eat them, “ Spark admonished. “I am not like the units on the ship. I was born just like the others. Humans injected nanos in me.“
“AJ said that sometimes humans used nanos like that, as punishment for the most serious crimes,“ Aaron said flatly. “And that I should ask N.I.C.K. about it if I wanted to know more.”
“And what did Nick say?”
“Access denied,” Aaron answered. “I never asked again.”
Spark nodded. They had come to realize that Nick kept secrets from everyone, especially from those he wanted to protect.
* * *
Spazz smiled as he watched Aaron show Spark and a scowling Scoop how he had learned to dive in the deep water. After the enjoyable reunion with Sweet, Spazz felt rejuvenated again. It was a wonderful change from the closed atmosphere inside the human ship, to feel the life and freedom on the water planet’s surface. It almost felt like home, before the war, before the human ships had arrived in the farthest colony that the Clan had in one of the outer planets of their colonized system.
He could imagine how his clanmates had reacted when that first ship landed and the humans came out to talk with the colony leaders, Crazy’s great uncle and great aunt. They had opened their arms to the newcomers, surprised by the similarities between humans and the Clan. No one knew what exactly had happened to the colony, after two decades of apparent peace with humans all communication had been lost. Three years later, humans had started attacking the clan, calling them the space cowboys and kidnapping their young to do experiments on them.
Spazz knew that not all humans were unfeeling monsters who enjoyed destroying all life. He had seen the rebels who worked with the King, who believed that there was a common origin for both humans and the Clan. Spazz didn’t know if that was true, but his teachers thought it was possible. Given the similarities between human and Clan, and the fact that Sweet had managed to live in a human ship for ten years without being discovered, one had to give some credit to that theory.
Before meeting Captain Kevin and his strange mechanical crew, Spazz hadn’t given much thought to how humans were raised. During war, it didn’t matter that some humans wanted to live in peace with the Clan. Their leaders kept killing for the sake of killing, and then was not the time to wonder what human society was like. But that had changed when Spazz met Captain Kevin, who was afraid of his own body, and seeing how his machines, who were supposed to obey him, didn’t seem to follow even simple orders. Now Spazz couldn’t help but feel sorry for the human.
Despite all his reasons to distrust humans, Spazz could understand why his prince constantly looked for the Captain’s company.
Spazz only prayed to the universe’s life force that Crazy’s curiosity wouldn’t turn into fascination. His prince tended to ignore differences and look for common ground, and while that was a commendable attitude for a leader, it could also lead to trouble.
While everyone was having fun swimming in the planet’s clear pink ocean, Crazy had dressed and was riding his bull towards the Millennium. Spazz knew he was going to talk to the human, but he couldn’t understand why Crazy would prefer to sacrifice the few moments they had on the surface to talk to a man they would be living with for at least ten more years.
* * *
“The water is fine,” Crazy said as soon as he spotted the Captain behind the transparent panes of the Millennium. “You could join us, you know?”
“I can’t swim.” The answer was sincere, of that Crazy was sure. After all, there was no reason why the Captain would’ve learned to swim, if he wasn’t even supposed to land while he was on the Millennium. On the other hand, it was another piece of the human’s mind to try and understand.
“And I’m guessing getting some sunlight is out of the question,” Crazy said, shaking his braids. “Still, thank you for allowing this stop. It meant a lot to Crunk and Sweet.”
“I figured that they were close,” the Captain said, avoiding Crazy’s eyes. “But from what you said, all your people are close like that.”
“Not like them.” Crazy looked at the horizon and decided to take a small risk. “Sweet and Crunk are engaged, but their joining ceremony has been delayed because of the war.”
“I don’t understand,” the Captain sounded confused. “Do you mean they were going to get married? Live together, raise kids?”
“Yeah, joined,” Crazy answered, smiling. He thought he could see some interest in the Captain’s body language. “Married. Different words, same idea.”
“Then why did Sweet came on board the Millennium? Why didn’t he stay with you on your planet?”
“Because we are at war,” Crazy answered, trying not to sound accusing. Even though Captain Kevin was a human soldier, he wasn’t the one who had started the fighting between the races. “Any of us would’ve volunteered too, he just made the most convincing plea.”
“It must have been hard for Crunk to be away from a loved one for so long.” There was an odd inflection in the Captain’s voice, one that Crazy hadn’t heard before. It was like longing, like the Captain actually had feelings and didn’t exist just to fulfill his mission.
“It was their duty,” Crazy said, very slowly, trying to figure out what was bothering the human. “What about you? Do you have a wife? A husband?”
A shadow passed through the Captain’s eyes at the question. The human frowned, as if he were thinking deeply about the question. For a moment, Crazy thought the Captain was going to lie to him. But there was something else in the Captain’s expression. It wasn’t the same thoughtful expression he had when he lied to Crazy, there was a lot of worry too. It was as if the Captain wasn’t answering because he honestly didn’t remember the answer easily.
“No,” Captain Kevin said finally, before shaking his head. “Wait… Yes. I think so. Yes. A wife?”
It was a strange answer, but Crazy was almost sure that the Captain wasn’t lying. He had said no as a reflex, but there was a partner somewhere on the humans’ home planet that was still waiting for the Captain to return.
Just like Crunk had waited for so long.
“Sweet didn’t know,” Crazy said, quietly. Though he hadn’t talked to Sweet about it, he knew his clanmate well enough. “If he had, he wouldn’t have taken ten years on his mission. I’m sure he never meant to keep you away from her.”
* * *
As the sun set on the surface of the planet, Captain Kevin looked at the green tinted sky submerged in thought.
Outside, the Clan was still playing in the ocean. Crazy had gone to join his friends after their talk, and had left the Captain alone to ponder what had been said.
He was convinced he wasn’t married. There was no wife in his past. All his life began and ended within the Millennium’s hull.
But he also vaguely remembered green mountains, blue skies, and a blonde woman smiling at him. A blonde woman with a round belly and sparkles in her eyes.
He could see her saying something to him, but he couldn’t remember the words.
“AJ,” he said to the empty room, knowing that his ship’s A.I. would be listening anyway.
“Yes, Captain?” the holographic body of the A.I. shimmered in front of him, looking somewhat worried.
“What happened to my wife?”
To be continued.
Fandom: Popslash.
Characters: Chris Kirkpatrick / Kevin Richardson
Prompt: 51. Water
Word Count:4,550
Rating: Nc-17 (yep, finally ;) )
Summary:The Clan reconnects with each other, while Crazy still tries to understand the human Captain.
Author's Notes: Super special thanks to milosflaca for her incredible help with this story (Especially the section in Sweet’s pov… that would’ve never been written without her help, and it should be considered as co-written with her) and her endless support and first beta so I wouldn’t forget important plot points. Also to bellamyrose and otherdeb for their fast beta and encouraging words.
Scoop fully concentrated on the sounds and harmony of the open space before him, but it was not as easy as usual. His mind was too full of all the things that had happened in the last few weeks. Since the human Captain had discovered Sweet’s identity, everything had changed.
Crazy had renegotiated their truce with the human, and now they could travel with him without fear that he would try to kill them because they weren’t human. Scoop wasn’t sure that the Captain wouldn’t try anyway; everyone knew you just couldn’t trust humans. As each day passed, however, he was rethinking all the things he’d been taught since childhood.
As part of the truce, the human had accepted that the clan needed some privacy. They were allowed to leave the ship for short periods of time every week. Originally, Scoop had thought that would make it easier for him to find the path home, but it was really hard to hear the distant call of their home planet with his clanmates arguing next to him.
“There’s something very wrong with the human’s nano units,” Crunk said, shrugging lightly in Aaron’s direction. The boy was riding behind Spark, and didn’t seem to be paying attention to the conversation. “Nick doesn’t follow the Captain’s orders at all.”
“They’re not machines. At least, I don’t think they’re just machines,” Spazz said, shaking his head. If it weren’t for their helmets, Scoop was sure that Spazz’ hair would be tangling into itself, creating confused knots. The shaman sounded lost. “Brock talks about himself as if he was a living being…”
“B.R.O.C.K. is alive,” Aaron interrupted, surprising them all. “Spark told me so.”
“Care to explain that, Spark?” Crazy asked. The Prince had been silent for almost the whole meeting, and Scoop was startled to hear his voice.
“All things that can think for themselves are alive,” Spark said, reciting the Shamans’ teachings. “If Brock, Nick and AJ can think… I guess that makes them living beings.”
“They still follow the Captain’s orders,” Crazy stated, although he was starting to sound convinced. “We only have to figure out why they disobey him sometimes. Is it because they truly can think for themselves, or because of something Sweet did?”
“They didn’t want to lose Aaron, even when the Captain was set on killing him,” Spark offered. “You think Sweet caused that?”
“That wasn’t me,” Sweet shook his head. “I don’t care what Captain Kevin thinks, my knowledge of human machines is limited. The only thing I could do was to make AJ believe the clan was formed by human beings. By the time I came here, the Captain was already used to Nick disobeying him from time to time, even though it wasn’t as obvious as it is now. I’m not even sure that they all suffer the same problem. I am sure that Nick had been testing how much he could disobey without getting caught.”
“What do you mean, Sweet?” Crunk asked, sounding worried.
“I probably wouldn’t have noticed if you hadn’t come on board because they aren’t acting that different, except for Brock,” Sweet explained. “Brock is the only one whose behavior has changed since you came aboard.”
“You mean Nick has always acted as if he was keeping a big secret from the Captain?” Crunk didn’t sound convinced.
“He’s always been keeping a secret from the Captain,” Scoop pointed out. “We know he knew Sweet was one of us from the beginning, and that’s evident because he created a drone just to protect Sweet. He was also guarding Aaron. Who knows what else he’s hiding?”
“And AJ was already flickering between the two personalities when you arrived?” Crazy asked Sweet, who just shrugged.
“I don’t know. I honestly hadn’t noticed a huge difference between when AJ is showing skin marks and when he isn’t, until Scoop said that the one with skin marks seems to be on our side,” Sweet explained. “He rarely spoke to me without skin marks, so I couldn’t tell.”
“Bottom line is that we still don’t know if we can trust them. But we do know that at least those three don’t obey the Captain, and they have tried to help us at times,” Crazy said, slowly. “We can use that to our advantage.”
“What do you mean, Crazy?” Scoop asked, frowning.
“From what AJ told you, I think he wants the Captain to become a rebel,” Crazy said, turning to look at the Millennium. “At least, half of AJ seems to want that. And if Nick really wants what’s best for Aaron, we can also trust him.”
“N.I.C.K. is very good keeping secrets,” Aaron interrupted again. “Not only from the Captain. From B.R.O.C.K. and AJ too. I bet he would keep your secrets if you asked him.”
Scoop wondered how many secrets Nick kept from Aaron, but didn’t say so. Later, when the kid went with Spark to learn about the bulls, he would tell Crazy. There was something about Nick that made Scoop nervous, even more than Brock, AJ or the Captain himself did. Maybe it was because Nick had weapons. They had only seen the ‘combat mode’ of the blonde nanodrone once, but the image was still embedded on Scoop’s brain.
He hadn’t seen one of the human battledrones in combat before, as he usually only fought in outer space, but Crunk had told him stories. One single human battledrone was as dangerous as a squad. They could reform themselves and create weapons out of their broken parts. And they never stopped until you destroyed them completely.
“We have to go back before the Captain starts thinking that we’re conspiring against him,” Crazy was smiling, Scoop was sure of it. Especially because they were conspiring. Maybe not against the Captain himself, but against the humans. Scoop was sure that Crazy wanted to figure out a way to capture the Millennium without breaking the truce. “Did you have any luck, Scoop?”
“I need a bit more time, Crazy,” Scoop admitted. “It is not easy to navigate at the same time we’re having a meeting. Can I stay alone for a few minutes?”
“Of course. We’ll wait for you near the ship,” Crazy signaled the others to return to the Millennium’s dock before turning his attention back to Scoop. “If you happen to find a planet in our way, that would be perfect. I still can’t connect with Sweet completely, and perhaps what we need is a few hours under a sun.”
Scoop smiled, despite himself. He knew that Crazy was asking for a place where they all could reconnect with their clan mate, away from the curious eyes of the human, and Scoop couldn’t say he disagreed with the idea. It had been too long since they all had reaffirmed their bond.
“I’ll do my best, Crazy. If there’s a suitable planet, I’ll find it,”
* * *
Crazy walked alone through the hallways of the Millennium. Although he knew his clan mates wouldn’t approve, he had spent enough time inside the human ship, and he trusted Captain Kevin’s word that he would not be harmed. It was strange but he felt some kinship for the human Captain, since he knew how it felt to be away from home for a long time. Crazy had the company of his squad, but Kevin was completely alone. That made Crazy believe that there was a huge chance to make him see that they could be friends. Even humans had to need company at some time.
“Can I help you, Mr. Crazy?” the shimmering body of AJ appeared in front of Crazy, startling him. The prince knew that most of the time, the hologram was on their side, but it still made him uncomfortable to see the AI, as he had no real way to know if that would be the day AJ wouldn’t be happy to see the Clan.
“I’m looking for the Captain,” Crazy said, keeping his voice even. He wasn’t going to give the hologram the satisfaction of knowing that he was nervous. “Where can I find him?”
“The Captain is on the bridge,” the hologram answered, smiling. “Do you want me to inform him that you need him?”
“Will he shoot at me if I appear unannounced?”
“The Captain has no weapons on him while on the ship. His defenses depend completely on N.I.C.K. and myself,” AJ lowered his dark glasses, and for the first time since they had met, Crazy realized that the hologram *had* eyes. They were brown, with a small blue halo of electricity around the irises. They made the AI look almost alive. “You will be safe.”
With that, the hologram disappeared. Crazy shook his head, his braids curling around his ears in confusion. There were too many mysteries aboard the Millennium for his taste.
Crazy had only been on the bridge once, but as he walked the corridors, the lights blinked and showed him the path he was supposed to follow. This was more proof that the hologram wasn’t necessarily working with the human Alliance’s best interests in mind.
As AJ had said, the captain was on the bridge, in his control chair, seemingly watching the endless universe in front of them.
“Can we talk, or should I come back later?” He asked, staying at the door to give the Captain the same courtesy the clan had been given recently.
“Whatever you need, you can ask B.R.O.C.K. for it, there’s no need to ask me,” the human said, not even turning to meet Crazy’s eyes. “We agreed on that as part of the truce.”
“Unfortunately, Brock can’t authorize a change of course,” Crazy tried to joke. It was very important for him to get the human’s agreement for what his clan needed, and not be disgusted. Though Crazy knew that Captain Kevin was surely going to be disgusted. “Scoop found a planet, six light years or so away. We need to go there.”
That made the Captain turn around, looking slightly annoyed. “We were just on a planet. Why would you need to go to the surface again? Now will you tell me that B.R.O.C.K. and N.I.C.K. are also your spies also, just like Sweet was?”
“It’s for a ritual,” Crazy answered, ignoring the hurt on the Captain’s voice. “We need to reconnect Sweet to the clan.”
“And I guess it has to be on a planet, right?” It was obvious by the Captain’s tone that he wasn’t happy with the idea. This was yet another thing he didn’t get about the human. Crazy couldn’t understand how Captain Kevin could be happy never seeing the colored skies that could only be found on a planet’s surface.
“It doesn’t,” Crazy answered truthfully. “But since it involves a lot of well… a lot of touching, I thought you would be more comfortable if we did it outside your ship.”
This seemed to surprise the human, who frowned.
“You’re willing to wait to until we get to a planet, so I won’t feel uncomfortable during your ritual?” the Captain asked. Crazy knew that every single time he offered his understanding to the human, he challenged the Captain’s notions of the Clan, and he let himself feel triumphant for a second.
“We need to do the ritual as soon as possible,” Crazy admitted. “But yes, we’re all willing to wait if you can meet us halfway and take us to the nearest planet.”
“What exactly does the ritual entail?” the Captain looked curious, despite himself.
“I don’t think you want to know.” Crazy was honest. Part of him wanted to describe to the human exactly every little detail of the ritual, from the what it felt like to have his clanmates’s warm bodies next to him, to the way in which Sweet’s hair could caress everyone at the same time, but he knew it wouldn’t be much help to his case. “There will be a lot more naked skin than you are accustomed to or would like to see.”
There was a long silence and it seemed that the Captain was considering what Crazy had said. Finally, he nodded.
“Give the coordinates to AJ. We’ll stop at the planet Mr. Scoop found.”
* * *
The water of the stream that crossed the clearing Prince Crazy had selected for the ritual was warm. That was the first thing Sweet thought as he took off his clothes and entered the small river that rose to his hips. It wasn’t the artificial warmth of the water inside the Millenium, but natural warmth that came from below the surface. It reminded Sweet of home, the house where he had lived with his parents and sisters, built on top of an ancient sulfur deposit. The smelly waters were always warm, and Sweet had spent many lazy afternoons with different partners in those thermal waters.
It felt almost like that.
Crunk, Spazz, Scoop and the Prince were waiting for his signal to start. They all were naked, next to the shore, watching him. It had been a while since he had been with more than one partner, and a lot longer since he had felt connected to his clan mates. He really couldn’t wait.
“I’m ready,” He said to the Prince, smiling as Crazy entered the river and walked towards him until they were almost touching. His hair rose to meet his prince’s hair, so they could make a small braid together.
“You have been missed, Sweet,” the Prince said, and leaned forward to capture Sweet’s lips in a kiss. Sweet opened his mouth and deepened it, reconnecting with his Prince, trying to let go of all the loneliness, all the fear, he had felt during his ten years inside the Millennium. And he could feel the Prince’s presence in his mind, making him feel whole, taking that fear away. “Don’t pull away again.”
“I won’t,” Sweet smiled weakly, as Crunk, Scoop and Spazz joined them. Crunk took his place behind Sweet, embracing him as their hair joined, just as Sweet’s hair had entwined with Crazy’s, while Spazz and Scoop kissed his arms. They were giving Sweet all their attention, languid and slow, in a way they hadn’t been able to do so inside the Millennium.
Sweet gasped as he felt Spazz’s hair tickle and tease his penis, while Spazz kissed his thigh. He looked down to his clan mate and smiled. Spazz had always been inventive when it came to sex, and he seemed to be quite clear on not letting Sweet forget.
Scoop was kneeling down to his left, and started to lick Sweet’s buttocks. Sweet knew that at the same time, he was massaging Crunk’s cock, preparing him so he could penetrate Sweet for the first time in ten years.
It was hard to focus on any of them because the feelings kept overwhelming him. It was almost too much, too fast, and he couldn’t believe it had been so long. It was like breathing again after almost drowning, and he didn’t want to think about what would happen when they left the planet, and he had to return to the darkness of the Millennium.
“Let yourself go,” the Prince told him, wiping the tears that had formed on Sweet’s eyes with his hair. “Let the feelings come. I’ll shield you from the bad, and let you have all the pleasure.”
Sweet took a deep breath and nodded, even though it was very hard to let go of the fear. It was only now, surrounded by his clan mates and away from the Millennium, that he realized how much he had missed them. Sensing his distress, Crazy started to slowly follow the pattern of Sweet’s skin marks with his tongue, at the same time Crunk finally kissed him.
It was more than enough to make Sweet give in to the pleasure that his mates were giving him.
“I missed you, Sweet,” Crunk whispered, as their hair braided together. Sweet had let all the others go. For a moment, it was just him and Crunk. Then Crazy took his cock into his mouth, slowly, carefully, exploring every inch of his skin. Sweet forgot everything that wasn’t the pleasure and companionship he was feeling.
He was feeling the love and support of his Prince, welcoming him back to the clan. The unconditional love that Crunk had always felt for him. The friendship and loyalty that Scoop and Spazz gave him. Sweet was so lost in the feelings and the pleasure of his flesh, that he never noticed when they moved from the river and into the grass next to it, All that mattered was not losing the skin-to-skin contact with his beloved and his clan mates.
* * *
Spark had found a small creek on the shore, and to his surprise, Aaron took to learning to swim quite fast. Since his attempt to climb trees Spark now knew that Aaron could pretty much survive any accident, and so was a bit more relaxed in his vigilance than he had been.
“Why the others aren’t here?” Aaron asked suddenly, when he came up after walking on the bottom of the creek for a while. The kid still hadn’t learned to fake needing breath, so Spark guessed he would love diving in deeper waters.
“They’re busy welcoming Sweet back,” Spark answered. Aaron was too young to hear details, but old enough to know that.
“And why aren’t we there? We’re part of the clan too, aren’t we?”
That was a harder question, and Spark looked away before answering.
“Of course we are, but you are too young. Children aren’t part of the welcoming party. And I chose not to participate.”
“Why not?” Aaron got out of the water and sat next to Spark, curious. Spark sighed; he hadn’t really talked about his decision to avoid all intimate contact, not since Spear had demanded that they got married after his rescue. Spear, his beautiful wife, who had coaxed him out of his depression, even offering to mutilate her own hair if that was what he needed to accept her.
“I’m damaged.” Spark finally said. “I don’t want to infect the rest of the clan.”
Aaron’s eyes turned dark, and Spark had the distinct feeling that he was being studied. At moments like this, it was easy to remember that Aaron wasn’t exactly a living being.
“Is it because you have nanos in your head and they don’t?” Aaron asked, and his tone made it clear that Spark had hurt his feelings. “You can’t transplant nanos by touching. You need a special device. You can’t even exchange nanos from one nano-unit to another without it.”
“Who said anything about nanos?” Spark said, trying to stall the boy. “You know I touch my brothers. You’ve seen me.”
“They kiss, you don’t,” Aaron stated, simply. “And you’re the only one who has nanos, so I assumed that they were the reason why you don’t act like them.”
“You spend a lot of time analyzing us?“ Spark asked, frowning. He still wasn’t all convinced that there was no danger to the clan from the human-made machines, even though he liked the boy a lot.
“Only you. The others are all biological, like the Captain. But you have nanos, like me, N.I.C.K. and B.R.O.C.K., so I thought at first that you were like us, only built different.“ Aaron explained, as he tried to catch one of the sea creatures that swam around their feet.
“Don’t to do that unless you plan to eat them, “ Spark admonished. “I am not like the units on the ship. I was born just like the others. Humans injected nanos in me.“
“AJ said that sometimes humans used nanos like that, as punishment for the most serious crimes,“ Aaron said flatly. “And that I should ask N.I.C.K. about it if I wanted to know more.”
“And what did Nick say?”
“Access denied,” Aaron answered. “I never asked again.”
Spark nodded. They had come to realize that Nick kept secrets from everyone, especially from those he wanted to protect.
* * *
Spazz smiled as he watched Aaron show Spark and a scowling Scoop how he had learned to dive in the deep water. After the enjoyable reunion with Sweet, Spazz felt rejuvenated again. It was a wonderful change from the closed atmosphere inside the human ship, to feel the life and freedom on the water planet’s surface. It almost felt like home, before the war, before the human ships had arrived in the farthest colony that the Clan had in one of the outer planets of their colonized system.
He could imagine how his clanmates had reacted when that first ship landed and the humans came out to talk with the colony leaders, Crazy’s great uncle and great aunt. They had opened their arms to the newcomers, surprised by the similarities between humans and the Clan. No one knew what exactly had happened to the colony, after two decades of apparent peace with humans all communication had been lost. Three years later, humans had started attacking the clan, calling them the space cowboys and kidnapping their young to do experiments on them.
Spazz knew that not all humans were unfeeling monsters who enjoyed destroying all life. He had seen the rebels who worked with the King, who believed that there was a common origin for both humans and the Clan. Spazz didn’t know if that was true, but his teachers thought it was possible. Given the similarities between human and Clan, and the fact that Sweet had managed to live in a human ship for ten years without being discovered, one had to give some credit to that theory.
Before meeting Captain Kevin and his strange mechanical crew, Spazz hadn’t given much thought to how humans were raised. During war, it didn’t matter that some humans wanted to live in peace with the Clan. Their leaders kept killing for the sake of killing, and then was not the time to wonder what human society was like. But that had changed when Spazz met Captain Kevin, who was afraid of his own body, and seeing how his machines, who were supposed to obey him, didn’t seem to follow even simple orders. Now Spazz couldn’t help but feel sorry for the human.
Despite all his reasons to distrust humans, Spazz could understand why his prince constantly looked for the Captain’s company.
Spazz only prayed to the universe’s life force that Crazy’s curiosity wouldn’t turn into fascination. His prince tended to ignore differences and look for common ground, and while that was a commendable attitude for a leader, it could also lead to trouble.
While everyone was having fun swimming in the planet’s clear pink ocean, Crazy had dressed and was riding his bull towards the Millennium. Spazz knew he was going to talk to the human, but he couldn’t understand why Crazy would prefer to sacrifice the few moments they had on the surface to talk to a man they would be living with for at least ten more years.
* * *
“The water is fine,” Crazy said as soon as he spotted the Captain behind the transparent panes of the Millennium. “You could join us, you know?”
“I can’t swim.” The answer was sincere, of that Crazy was sure. After all, there was no reason why the Captain would’ve learned to swim, if he wasn’t even supposed to land while he was on the Millennium. On the other hand, it was another piece of the human’s mind to try and understand.
“And I’m guessing getting some sunlight is out of the question,” Crazy said, shaking his braids. “Still, thank you for allowing this stop. It meant a lot to Crunk and Sweet.”
“I figured that they were close,” the Captain said, avoiding Crazy’s eyes. “But from what you said, all your people are close like that.”
“Not like them.” Crazy looked at the horizon and decided to take a small risk. “Sweet and Crunk are engaged, but their joining ceremony has been delayed because of the war.”
“I don’t understand,” the Captain sounded confused. “Do you mean they were going to get married? Live together, raise kids?”
“Yeah, joined,” Crazy answered, smiling. He thought he could see some interest in the Captain’s body language. “Married. Different words, same idea.”
“Then why did Sweet came on board the Millennium? Why didn’t he stay with you on your planet?”
“Because we are at war,” Crazy answered, trying not to sound accusing. Even though Captain Kevin was a human soldier, he wasn’t the one who had started the fighting between the races. “Any of us would’ve volunteered too, he just made the most convincing plea.”
“It must have been hard for Crunk to be away from a loved one for so long.” There was an odd inflection in the Captain’s voice, one that Crazy hadn’t heard before. It was like longing, like the Captain actually had feelings and didn’t exist just to fulfill his mission.
“It was their duty,” Crazy said, very slowly, trying to figure out what was bothering the human. “What about you? Do you have a wife? A husband?”
A shadow passed through the Captain’s eyes at the question. The human frowned, as if he were thinking deeply about the question. For a moment, Crazy thought the Captain was going to lie to him. But there was something else in the Captain’s expression. It wasn’t the same thoughtful expression he had when he lied to Crazy, there was a lot of worry too. It was as if the Captain wasn’t answering because he honestly didn’t remember the answer easily.
“No,” Captain Kevin said finally, before shaking his head. “Wait… Yes. I think so. Yes. A wife?”
It was a strange answer, but Crazy was almost sure that the Captain wasn’t lying. He had said no as a reflex, but there was a partner somewhere on the humans’ home planet that was still waiting for the Captain to return.
Just like Crunk had waited for so long.
“Sweet didn’t know,” Crazy said, quietly. Though he hadn’t talked to Sweet about it, he knew his clanmate well enough. “If he had, he wouldn’t have taken ten years on his mission. I’m sure he never meant to keep you away from her.”
* * *
As the sun set on the surface of the planet, Captain Kevin looked at the green tinted sky submerged in thought.
Outside, the Clan was still playing in the ocean. Crazy had gone to join his friends after their talk, and had left the Captain alone to ponder what had been said.
He was convinced he wasn’t married. There was no wife in his past. All his life began and ended within the Millennium’s hull.
But he also vaguely remembered green mountains, blue skies, and a blonde woman smiling at him. A blonde woman with a round belly and sparkles in her eyes.
He could see her saying something to him, but he couldn’t remember the words.
“AJ,” he said to the empty room, knowing that his ship’s A.I. would be listening anyway.
“Yes, Captain?” the holographic body of the A.I. shimmered in front of him, looking somewhat worried.
“What happened to my wife?”
To be continued.