Integration Read online

  Chapter Two

  Nick inspected the neat formation of the assembled crewmen as they awaited the shuttle. It wasn’t a large turnout, it didn’t need to be. All sections and departments were represented, of course, a cross between an honor guard and a welcoming committee for their admiral. The Rovani twins, Tsandriko and Tsandraki, paced him to either side and a step back. They were assigned to gunnery, but their identical, impressive physiques made for a fine display in the role of ceremonial guards.

  Dark Star remained docked at Hevetich, awaiting both a full crew complement and an assignment. Nick had a sneaking suspicion that Nbuntu was coming aboard for more than just a routine inspection. He hoped they weren’t about to be sent on a mission, they had barely half their expected crew complement. They could run with a skeleton staff, but it wasn’t ideal. Tired men made mistakes, and in space, mistakes could kill.

  The airlock indicator turned green once the landing bay was refilled with air. Nick motioned, and a crewman opened the hatch. The assembled honor guard marched into the hangar and reformed at the bottom of the recently arrived shuttle’s ramp. Nick followed them, the twins followed him. He found their presence reassuring in a strange way. He was perfectly safe on his own ship.

  Admiral Nbuntu exited the shuttle, took a quick survey of the landing bay, performed a brief inspection of the assembled crew then fixed his gaze on Nick and descended the ramp. He paused at the very end of it. “Permission to come aboard?”

  “Granted. Welcome to Dark Star, Admiral.”

  Nbuntu took the final step off the ramp and onto Dark Star’s deck. “Thank you, Captain.” His gaze sidled left then right. “Twins?”

  “Yes. Much more rare in their species than ours, I’m told.” Nick smiled faintly.

  The admiral nodded. “That makes them Tsandraki and Tsandriko. Sons of the War Leader, aren’t you?”

  “Yes, Admiral,” the one to the left replied.

  “Yeraki is our sire, Admiral,” the one to the right concluded.

  Nick held his peace. Honestly, he had trouble telling them apart. The other Rovania claimed they didn’t smell identical, but his nose lacked the power to distinguish something that subtle.

  Nbuntu closed the distance between them, gesturing for Nick to come alongside.

  “Security detail, dismissed,” Nick announced as he turned to walk with the admiral. The assembled crew broke up, heading for their various destinations, except for the twins, who took up positions behind the two officers.

  The inspection that followed was a thorough one. Nbuntu seemed intent on poking into every nook and cranny of the newly constructed ship. “I assume you’ve done your own inspections?” he asked at one point.

  “Of course. I don’t have the entire schematic memorized... yet. Cai has the advantage there, he can construct a full model of his ship-self from memory alone.”

  “Of course he can,” Nbuntu agreed, grinning. “He’d be a piss-poor Astrogator if he couldn’t.” They returned to subA, the subdeck below A deck where the bullet-car system had been installed. “How is he? And your son?”

  “Cai is doing well. He’s very happy with his new ship-self, but he misses the black hull of Laughing Owl. So do I. As for Hector, let’s just say it’s a good thing I don’t need a lot of sleep.”

  Nbuntu obligingly chuckled. “New babies are exhausting.” The admiral slid into the bullet car that had just arrived at their platform. “Engineering next,” he said. Nick and the twins also climbed into the car. The bullet cars used magnetism to move. Since there was no engine to cause vibration, the cars didn’t bother the sensitive Rovani ears.

  Once the car was in motion, Nbuntu said, “Once you return from your next mission, I’ll have worked out something satisfactory for your hull. I need more time, but it’ll be worth it. The models have been very promising, and I think you’ll like it.” He held out a data hedron. “Here’s the specs for what I’m hoping to install on the hull. Have Cai vet this as well, obviously, since it’s his hull.”

  Nick accepted the cube and pocketed it. “What mission?”

  “After the inspection,” Nbuntu said firmly, and that was that.

  Nick continued to accompany the admiral through the inspection until, at long last, they reached the conference room used for mission briefings and other general officer meetings. Nick dismissed the twins to their usual duties; the inspection was over, and he was well aware of the Rovania penchant for gossip.

  Once the twins had saluted and departed, Nick and Admiral Nbuntu went into the conference room. The admiral’s aides were already present, waiting for them. The traditional black case containing mission orders sat on the polished faux-wooden surface.

  They’d barely taken seats when Cai walked in. He strode over to Nick and took the seat beside him. He murmured a greeting, but his attention was locked on the admiral.

  “Astrogator,” Nbuntu replied, inclining his head. “Your ship is in good order. I assume you’re ready for departure?”

  “We only have half a crew,” Cai said firmly. “I would question the wisdom of an assignment under these circumstances.”

  “I’m aware of your roster. This mission was thrust on my office with a great deal of urgency. We’ve lost contact with one of our remotest colonies, and we need to send someone to ascertain why. You’re the best ship for the job even with only half a crew.” Nbuntu held up a hand, as if to forestall the objections Nick and Cai hadn’t even raised yet. “It should be quick and straightforward. Go to the colony, find out what’s wrong, and report back. It could be as simple as a downed transmitter.”

  “And if it isn’t something simple?” Cai asked pointedly.

  “It’s at the wrong end of space for it to be Rels, so the worst-case scenario here is a plague. If it is a plague, I don’t want to you render aid, just place the quarantine markers and return. However... there’s a lot of reasons for contact to have been lost between those two extremes, and that’s why I’m sending the two of you. I trust you both. Use your best judgment to deal with the situation you find then come home and tell me what we did.”

  * * * *

  They were five jumps past Hevetich, heading toward the galactic edge along the Orion Arm of the galaxy. The star they were aiming for had never been visible from Earth, it was too small, too distant, and thus, the locals had gotten to name it. Orobas was about as distant as one could get in human-controlled space. Skaith had been further, technically.

  Three more jumps would get them to Orobas, an average golden sun with twelve major planets, three of which were inhabitable, only one of which had a colony at this time. Cerebus was the most hospitable of the three, but it wasn’t an easy planet to live on. The native fauna was diverse—and lethal to humans. It was easy to imagine that perhaps the wildlife had won the fight, but Cai’s paranoia doubted it would be as simple as that.

  He studied himself intently, mainly the various devices between his outer and inner hulls. They were designed to eliminate his emissions, hide his singular footprint, but would they be enough? Dark Star lacked the full black hull of the Owl frigates. That wasn’t much of a problem since very few spaceships had windows, but it still bothered him.

  What he wanted to do was simple on the surface of it. He wanted to enter the system without being detected. He wanted to slingshot around the planet, Cerebus, without being detected. He then wanted to exit the system without being detected. A cometary orbit would be ideal; however, no comet could possibly travel as fast as he would. If he were noticed, there would be no way anyone would think him just a space rock. I’ll have to risk it. Besides, it probably isn’t Rels. It’s probably a local planetary problem—plague, revolution, or native fauna uprising.

  On that cheery thought, Cai collapsed the group mind, leaving his ship-self with the usual sense of let-down and disappointment at the return to mortality. He opened his eyes as the crystal array retracted then stretched and stood. Nick was waiting for him.

&nbs
p; He exited the Chamber and fell right into his husband’s embrace. Nick’s strong hands caressed him soothingly. “Let’s get you fed, love.”

  Cai allowed Nick to lead him to the dining room where his six adjuncts were already setting out the platters containing their meal. He inhaled the aromas appreciatively as he sat down. A plate was immediately set before him. He dug in. After the second bite, it occurred to him to wonder where Nick had gone—the man had been right beside him. A moment later, he felt a familiar tugging on his pants. He glanced down. Nick was under the table, naked and beautiful. He was opening Cai’s fly with his teeth.

  “You don’t need to do that,” Cai told him.

  Nick finished opening Cai’s pants, looked up, and said, “I want to do this.” He lowered his head again and nuzzled Cai’s package.

  Cai sighed in quiet enjoyment and resumed eating.

  Nick gently exposed him, bringing Cai’s semi-erect cock and balls out through the flap in his shorts. Nick teased his cock using a combination of kissing, lipping, and licking to stimulate Cai into full erection. Cai particularly enjoyed it when Nick teased the skin over his balls between his sensuous lips. He pressed his sac against Nick’s mouth in silent demand.

  He paused to fully appreciate the intensely pleasurable sensations as Nick worked his balls into his mouth and gave suck. Cai reached down and stroked Nick’s head, running the silky black hair through his fingers. He rocked his hips, enjoying the feel of Nick’s mouth tugging then relaxing against his scrotum.

  Nick slurped and gave him an extra-strong tug. Cai glanced down and smiled as he met Nick’s gaze. Nick’s lips were stretched, almost strained, in the effort to encircle Cai’s jewels. Drool dripped down his chin. Cai’s hard cock pressed against Nick’s face, bisecting it from the tip of his nose and up between his eyes, then across the forehead and into his black hair.

  His husband looked so hot at that moment, so unbearably sexy. Cai immediately used his implants to record several images. He used other sensors to record the scene from different angles. He discovered that Nick was only semi-erect. Reaching out a mental hand, he used his telekinetic ability to squeeze Nick’s balls in a similar grip to the one Nick had on him. He trickled electricity through them to give his spouse a pleasurable jolt and was rewarded by Nick’s instant erection.

  “That’s better,” he said. He stroked Nick’s head again. He loved having his balls sucked on, so he did nothing to encourage Nick to switch to his cock. Instead, he resumed eating. He would rather teabag his spouse through the meal so he could pay closer attention to what was happening once Nick was actually fellating him.

  He continued to tease Nick with his teek, bringing him to the edge of orgasm then backing off to deny the climax. Once Nick had cooled sufficiently, he resumed, bringing him back to the edge. He did this at least three times before he pushed his plate away, contentedly full. The entire time, Nick had continued his beautiful work of sucking Cai’s balls, but now, it was time to take things further.

  Cai shifted his position. Nick smoothly released his scrotum and immediately went to work on his cock. Cai closed his eyes, absorbed in the delightful sensations evoked by Nick’s mouth and tongue. He rocked his hips as Nick swallowed him and pressed Nick’s head more firmly into his crotch with his hand. At the same time, he intensified his telekinetic torment of Nick’s jewels, bringing Nick closer and closer to climax. Nick’s action sped up, his sweet mouth sucked for everything it was worth as he bobbed his head in synch with Cai’s rocking. They climaxed together, bound by psi and love. Cai leaned back, eyes still closed, surrendering to the pleasure.

  Nick released him and slid up beside him. “Love you,” he murmured.

  Cai embraced him, snuggling their bodies together. “I love you, too.”

  Chapter Three

  Veloki eased himself along the uppermost and smallest of the catwalks ringing the singularity containment system. Most of engineering referred to it as the sphere because it was easier to say. The inner space of the metal behemoth was indeed as perfect a sphere as could be designed, with tolerances measured in fractions of nanometers. The component he was checking was small, but when it came to the sphere, all components were deemed critical. This one had been giving some odd readings over the last hour.

  He reached the section of walkway closest to the probably faulty component and turned to face the sphere. The component he needed to check was at chest level and only inches away from the inner edge of the walkway. There wasn’t enough space between the machinery and the catwalk for anyone to accidentally fall, by design. Tools were another story, however, so Loki kept a good grip on the diagnostic probe as he inserted its tip into the matching docking port on the machinery.

  He put his glasses on and studied the probe’s readout. There was a fault, but it was an easy one to fix. It merely needed to be restarted. He removed the probe and returned it to its holder then thumbed the small handheld. “Sir, Nathizo here. Component G-eight-F-ninety-six needs to be rebooted.”

  “Standby,” was the terse reply.

  Loki waited, keeping his attention on the component. The indicator light turned off. A minute later, it turned on again. Loki waited another minute then reinserted the diagnostic probe. This time, the readings were much better.

  “All readings in the green now,” he reported as he put the probe away yet again.

  “Thank you, Mister Nathizo. Return to duty station.”

  “Yes, sir. Returning to station.” Loki removed and pocketed his reading glasses before he turned and padded back down the walkway toward his usual station, one of the four monitoring rooms set at specific points around the sphere. One was “above” the sphere as defined by the gravitational field of the ship. There was another below it. The third one was at the sphere’s equator, port side. Loki’s station was at the equator’s starboard side and was responsible for the starboard hemisphere. The topside station was responsible for the upper hemisphere, and so on.

  The stations were set to overlap on purpose. Redundancy was safety where the sphere was concerned. There was at least two of everything, sometimes more than that, and every station had the assistance of the others at need. If Loki had needed help, someone from the topside station would have come to assist. He returned to the monitoring room and set both the probe and the handheld on the charging docks before padding to his station, a cluster of screens set in a semi-circle around a comfortable chair. There were two other stations like his in the room. His was the leftmost of the three.

  The other two men who shared his duty nodded to him. “Good job,” said Mikal, the closest. Tina, on the other side of Mikal, gave him a grin and a nod.

  “Thanks. It was a simple fix this time.” The last time his station had gone out to check a problem, it had ended up needing a five-shift repair job in situ.

  Loki finished out his shift without further problems arising. The incoming shift entered the station, and each member of the three-man team took report from their counterpart. Loki told his replacement, Steve, everything that had happened in the previous eight hours and the highlights from the past twenty-four hours. There wasn’t much to report other than the one component needing a reboot, which was fine with everyone.

  Once he’d given report and was officially relieved, he padded out the door with Mikal and Tina. They headed for the main engineering bay. The sphere wasn’t accessible from the main network of ship corridors, mostly to keep the uninitiated from blundering into areas where it wasn’t safe. Along the way, the other three teams who’d just been relieved caught up with them. Loki slowed his step until he was alongside Jeff.

  Jeff grinned at him. “Hey, Loki. Want to grab a beer?”

  Loki grinned back, cheered by Jeff’s usual greeting and the scent of Jeff’s interest. “Of course.”

  They reached the engineering bay and quickly reported off to their chief, SubCommander Harve. Then they split, most of them heading for the bullet cars on subA. Loki and Jeff didn
’t head for the subdeck since the Rovani quarters were close enough that walking was faster. When the Rovania had first come aboard Dark Star, the quartermaster had created a separate berth for them at the Rovani Council’s request. The council had feared that if the Rovania were berthed with the rest of the crew, they’d be used whether they wanted it or not.

  Since then, every one of the Rovania living aboard Dark Star had found humans to enjoy, but as all Rovania knew, sex and sleep weren’t the same things at all, and they preferred to sleep away from the temptations of humanity. The human crew didn’t appear to mind, it seemed the general consensus was that the Rovania needed their own space. Loki padded into the common room that all the Rovani bunk rooms opened into and quickly exchanged greetings with the few Rovania who were up and about but not on duty. He ducked into the room he shared with the twins and stripped off his uniform.

  Once he was comfortable, he gave his fur a quick once-over then headed back out to collect Jeff. His human was waiting quietly, leaning against the bulkhead. His whole face lit up when he saw Loki, his scent changed from boredom to happiness in an instant, and he stepped forward to greet him. Loki willingly entered Jeff’s embrace, silently luxuriating in the feel of the hot, human hands stroking the fur of his back.

  “On second thought, to hell with the beer,” Jeff said hoarsely.

  Loki smiled and pressed against him. “The beer can wait,” he agreed gravely. “I can’t. You smell so good.” He ducked his head to the base of Jeff’s neck, inhaling the man’s scent before setting his lips to the warm, salty skin. Jeff’s fingers dug into his back, pressing him even closer. Loki soaked in the man’s heat as his whole being focused on Jeff. His heart hammered in his chest, his skin felt too tight, and all he could think about was pleasuring Jeff.

  “This isn’t a good place for this,” Jeff protested, too little, too late.

  “Nobody here will care,” Loki replied flatly. He didn’t know how to explain it. Rovania were far more tolerant of sex than most modern humans. It wasn’t taboo to them, it wasn’t even something they considered private. Sex was something they’d indulge in whenever, wherever the mood or the need took them. In the old days, when the Rovania had been a slave race, the humans had understood this. Modern humans, however, were prudes by the ancient standards and acted as if sex were a shameful act that must be kept secret.