Volume 3: Gamma-12, Chapter 3.21

Immediately after our encounter with the odd alien couple, we messaged the rest of our team saying we had important business to discuss. Thinking it was about the mission (and in a way it was), everyone gathered together on one of the highest floating planetoid lounges where we’d be safe from prying eyes and ears.

I crossed my arms and eyed our eager compatriots who waited to hear our news, “So, did you guys know what all the Bliss-Indulgence tour is about?”

Confusion once again swept through the faces of the people around us—save for a few who seemed to know exactly what I was referring; the agents along with Doctor Gorgam looked a little uncomfortable but clearly knew what I was getting at.

Agent Roote nodded, “It was decided this would be the best tour for the team to take since it went through the widest variety of stations.”

Vinnago sighed and shook his head, “The other reason they wanted our group to all go as couples.”

The other researchers looked at the agents, wondering what it was they apparently knew.

Eve was holding onto me quite possessively ever since our meetup with Glemsh and Tyarm, holding my hand, arm, and wrapping her tentacles all around my torso and neck, “And you didn’t think that was something we should know prior to joining the tour?” Eve pressed.

Roote shrugged, “You all have your itineraries, could’ve researched any of our scheduled stations before the mission.”

Zyno looked back and forth between Eve and Roote, “What the hell is this all about?”

I gestured towards him, “Have you looked at the station itinerary?”

Zyno nodded, “Yeah, I looked it over.”

I shook my head, “Did you check out the detailed descriptions of the stations?”

Zyno looked at Yun who just shrugged, then he shook his head, “No, I guess not.”

I sighed, “Look up the

Hedonism

stations; we’re going on two during the tour. They’re quite different from all the rest.”

Zyno pulled out his tablet and a hologram of the tour itinerary popped up; all the researchers leaned in to read it together, and as they saw more details on the station, their eyes grew wide and horrified.

Gorgam held his hands up quickly, “Just to be clear, I was against the idea but was eventually overruled.”

Lobae sighed, “It’s going to be wildly uncomfortable, but mission command was insistent this would be our best way to visit enough varying stations to cast the widest net in finding Gamma-12.”

“This is part of the mission people, I expect you all to act professionally—handle it like mature adults.” Roote said with authority.

Zyno glared at him, “Easy for you to say, you’re from a race without a biological sex-drive!”

The Bliss-Indulgence tour was a mix of maximizing relaxation and indulging in all kinds of pleasure. The

Hedonism

stations we’d be boarding in a few cycles were basically giant sex party stations; the atmosphere was filled with mating pheromones and aphrodisiacs, while clothing was completely prohibited in the paradise-core. There was also all manner of sex-shows, pleasure-bots, and every imaginable degenerate simulation readily available. It was an adults-only space station wholly dedicated to maximizing sexual pleasure.

Yun glared at Roote, clearly furious, “You’ve got to be fucking kidding me! You know damn well we celicapoz are incredibly susceptible to aphrodisiacs! It’s absolutely unacceptable you brought me on this kind of mission without so much as a warning!” She shouted, stomping off and away on the small planetoid as she vented out her frustrations.

Kianna turned to glare at Gorgam next, “And why wasn’t I told about this? I’m on the command council too.”

Gorgam shook his head and sighed, “Again, I tried to prevent all this.” He gestured to the agents, “It came down from orders on high; military came in with the final decision, far beyond anything we could overrule.”

Vinnago shrugged, “Worst case scenario you all just hold up in your rooms for a cycle, wait until we move to the next station.”

Roote held a hand up quickly, “Absolutely not, we will treat the

Hedonism

stations same as we will any other station.”

“Again, big fucking talk coming from a sexless race!” Zyno snapped.

From there it devolved into rather unproductive yelling; Roote was adamant it was the best course of action and everyone needed to just grow up and get over it, while his partner Uinda tried to back him up. Vinnago and Lobae were a little more sympathetic, trying to offer suggestions how to make it all more tolerable. Gorgam, an older man who seemed rather dedicated to his job, clearly seemed uncomfortable about the whole thing, but his hands were tied. Sorra was pissed at Gorgam specifically since she was his partner and yet she hadn’t heard anything about this. Kianna, Zyno and Densdor were upset and kept talking about how they were doctors and researchers and how it was all wildly unprofessional to subject them to this kind of treatment, saying this all should’ve been left up to clandestine agents specifically—trained for this kind of dirty work. Yun was upset more than anyone and was not about to calm down; apparently her race had very low sex-drives naturally, so whenever they wanted to mate they relied heavily on aphrodisiacs, and they affected them more than most races—some weird reversal of their normal low sex-drives. Yun thought it was wildly unfair someone of her race specifically would be on a mission like this where she’d be subjected to aphrodisiacs, and she was quite worried she wouldn’t be able to control herself much once we got to the

Hedonism

station—incredibly embarrassed over the whole thing.

“Honestly? What’s really fucked up is how it seemed like you guys kept it a secret.” I interrupted their pointless arguing, “Like really, it wouldn’t have been a big deal if you warned us so we could prepare—hell, part of me feels like it could fun even.” I admitted, and Eve trilled a funny little giggle at that, “But all this shady spy shit, you know how that all looks, right? Makes me have very little trust in our mission leaders.”

Roote’s beady little eyes narrowed at me, “Your job is not to trust us, it’s to follow orders and complete the mission.”

“Oh fuck off, we’re not nameless soldiers willing to throw our lives away in response to any orders we receive. I’m a

doctor

; I have two PhDs and was headhunted for the Predazoan research project due to my academic accolades.” Zyno snapped, really getting heated now, “This is bullshit and you know it.”

Kianna nodded along, “I’ll certainly be writing a formal complaint over this, and I can promise you’ll find researchers much more reticent to be on mission teams from now on.”

“And I wouldn’t blame them.” Gorgam confirmed.

“This isn’t some regular research mission in case you all forgot.” Roote bristled quickly, “We’re here cleaning up your mistake in letting the Predazoans escape. This is a dirty, secret mission on the deepest need-to-know basis. If you think any of our superiors in mission command will give a shit about any of your complaints, that’s hilarious.”

Vinnago held up his hands, trying to keep the peace, “Let’s all just calm down and take a moment to breathe. Obviously this is an awkward and uncomfortable position we find ourselves in, but we have our orders and need to work together to finish the mission.” He shrugged, “And who knows, maybe we’ll find Gamma-12 before we even make it to a

Hedonism

station.”

“Maybe Gamma-12 is

on

a

Hedonism

station, at least that’s mission command’s thought process.” Lobae offered.

“Right, like the Predazoans known for not having any sexual drive or desire to propagate their species would be hiding out at some sex-crazed party station.” Zyno countered quickly.

I chuckled at that, “Considering Eve’s a Predazoan with a wild sex drive, it’s not like it would be totally out of the realm of possibility.”

Eve nodded along, “There’s a chance, however unlikely, another Predazoan has developed a sex-drive through their own drive to supremacy.”

From there the arguments started winding down, no one really ready to relent their position, but not much else anyone could do about it. Mostly people were just uncomfortable or felt they’d been manipulated; Doctor Yun was the most upset simply due to her biology and her concerns over what might happen to her in the aphrodisiac atmosphere.

I wasn’t really upset—honestly found the idea of an alien sex-party space station hilarious, but what bugged me was how mission command seemed to keep it hidden from us. I knew we were just numbers in a report to them, but here more than ever before we had our humanity stripped from us, forced into some embarrassing roles all for the sake of the mission. I wasn’t concerned what might happen on the

Hedonism

station, no, what I was more concerned with was how disposable we all seemed to mission command—a bunch of bodies and numbers to be thrown at a problem they needed to solve.

Still heated with no obvious resolution available, everyone paired off and left the planetoid to vent their frustrations amongst themselves, leaving Eve and I alone lounging around on comfy hover-recliners.

“What are you thinking, darling?” Eve asked, still holding tight against me in that possessive way.

Strangely enough, with all my doubts over mission command, I felt a sense of peace with the way Eve clung to me—like I was held safe in her embrace.

“Oh, I dunno, just how disposable we all seem before mission command.” I offered.

Eve nodded, “Just numbers on a report.”

I looked down at Eve, “Are you concerned about the

Hedonism

station at all?”

She shook her head, “Not at all.” She smiled playfully, “Could be fun—a chance for us to get weird.”

I rolled my eyes, “This from the girl who freaked out when we got propositioned to swap and swing.”

Eve glared at me, “I told you before

no one

will ever be allowed to touch you same as no one else will ever touch me; we are forever exclusive and monogamous with each other.”

“Again, this coming from the girl who said she wouldn’t mind getting freaky in front of an audience.”

Eve sighed and sat up more to look at my face better, “Adam, I love you dearly, but you really don’t understand how naïve you can be at times.”

I was taken aback by that response, “What, how?”

Eve looked into my eyes, concern in her gaze, “You don’t sense what I do in the minds around us.”

I scoffed at that, “So Glemsh and Tyarm wanted to fuck us; obviously they would be thinking in their minds what all they would want to do with us.” I shrugged, “If we ever get into your exhibition kink, you can damn well bet people will be having all kinds of nasty thoughts about us if they’re watching us fuck.”

Eve shook her head, “No Adam, I understand how freely lust and fantasies run through people’s minds, that’s not my concern at all; it’s something I would expect and even enjoy, showing off my darling and feeling how you fill their thoughts with desire—but only

I

can indulge in the pleasure of your touch.”

Now I was totally confused, “Okay, then what the hell is the issue? I don’t get this at all.”

Eve held my gaze for a few more moments, then let out a weary sigh, “Adam, how do you think people view you, the lone human in the galaxy?”

Again, her response surprised me, “I dunno, people have been pretty nice and accepting so far.”

Eve quirked up an eyebrow, “And you think that’s it, they all just accept you completely as you are?”

I crossed my arms, getting irritated, “Well obviously I’m wrong, so why don’t you tell me what the aliens think of the dumb, naïve human.”

I could see my words irritated Eve, but she didn’t say anything about it and answered regardless, “To many people you

are

freely accepted—especially aboard

The Radiance

where your value as the handler of the Predazoan asset is widely known.” She gestured to the space around us, “But there are so many different kinds of people around who only see this rare, exotic creature as a beautiful oddity, stolen from his home and thrust into a world he can hardy understand.” Eve leaned forward, putting a hand on my cheek, “They don’t even see you as a man—as a

person

, more like a once-in-a-lifetime conquest.” She let out an angry huff, “They basically see you as a living dildo they want to fuck and then tell their friends about.”

That certainly wasn’t the response I’d been expecting, but still…

“But why does that bother you so much—who cares what they think of me, whether it be as a real human or exotic oddity? They’re free to think what they wish, and we’re free to deny them if they make any weird propositions.”

Eve eyed me flatly, as though I’d said something very dumb, “Darling, don’t sit there and ask

why

it bothers me some people don’t think of you as a properly evolved person when you specifically tried to get people aboard

The Radiance

to treat me as a real person—tried to involve me with your friends since it bothered you so much if they only looked at me as the Predazoan asset.”

Holy shit, she was absolutely right, we were totally the same in the way we were protective of each other and got upset when someone looked at the other as though they weren’t an actual person. I’d spent cycles—

all

of last mission trying to convince everyone Eve should be treated as a valuable team member; I was always insistent they call her by name, even getting angry if they called her Alpha-03 as though she was just some test subject.

Eve had me completely beat there, her supercomputer brain smarter than I could ever be. I pulled her into my embrace and kissed to top of her head, “I’m sorry Evie.”

She shook her head against my chest, “Adam, you have

nothing

to apologize for, it’s the people who look at you as some dumb exotic

animal

who should apologize.”

I sighed, “I know, but I feel like I wasn’t considering your feelings, and for that I’m sorry.”

Eve chuckled to herself, pulling her leg up on my lap more, “it’s okay, silly boy; despite how clever you can be, sometimes I’m surprised by how oblivious you are as well.”

I laughed at that too, and then it turned into a slow sigh. I rubbed Eve’s arms slowly, “So when exactly did you find out Glemsh and Tyarm only saw me as some…’living dildo’?”

Eve giggled at that, but it died away quickly, “Well I’m trying to keep my perception focused more like a human—as you suggested, so I’m practicing muting my extra-sense. However, once their inhibitions were lowered by the nitrous, I could clearly sense their loud thoughts and how they wanted to claim you.”

I nodded at that, “Yeah, it seemed like you really weren’t having fun back there.”

“I was not.”

I looked down at Eve, “But with all your concerns are you still okay with wanting to show me off? What if people in the audience only see me as some exotic toy you’re playing with?”

Eve shrugged, “It was more how Glemsh and Tyarm propositioned us that bothered me—a plan in place to conquer what they perceived as a rare treat. If you and I are playing around and people are watching, I’m sure there will be some who want to possess you—or us.” She leaned up to give me a playful kiss, “But while we’re indulging in each other I won’t really care what all people are thinking—I’ll be fine to put on a good show.”

I chuckled at that, “I guess we’ll find out once we make it to the

Hedonism

station, won’t we?”

Eve giggled, “I’m actually looking forward to it.”

I quirked up an eyebrow, “Oh yeah?”

Eve nodded, “Of course. I’ll have free access to you no matter where we are, and the atmospheric aphrodisiac will surely lower your inhibitions to the point you won’t even

want

to resist any of my wild demands.” Eve’s gaze turned hungry, “I won’t even care about the people around us at that point, I’ll take you whenever I want, wherever I want.” She leaned up and licked my lips, then bit my cheek playfully, “I plan on fully dominating you then.”

I felt a shiver run down my spine, but this one definitely wasn’t fear or even nerves; with the way Eve teased me—with how she looked at me, I had to admit I was getting a little excited myself.

We’d be going to

Hedonism-36

at cycle 10 on our tour, so eight more stations until Eve would be able to have her way with me in any way she wanted—publicly, in front of an audience, all while I would be under the influence of some atmospheric aphrodisiac.

Eve chuckled and leaned up to nibble on my ear, “Seems like someone’s getting a little excited already.”

Of course she was right as my body reacted to her so easily—so readily. I was always eager for her, desperate for her. I still had to guard my perception to make sure I wouldn’t be completely consumed by her, but as for my body, it was already well past addicted to her.