This file is a part of Elf Sternberg's Collected Works on ASSTR.  The
complete archive of Elf's work can be found on his website at:

http://www.drizzle.com/~elf

The author can be contacted at:

mailto:elf@drizzle.com

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                                 Solitary

Journal Entry 261 / 01028

Elenya, Hiss 18, 01028

Chatenni sighed as he wandered through the Tiyima base, wondering what he
was going to do with it now that the forensics teams had had their way
with the bodies and the sperm samples. There were thousands of records
here to go through, and he had ordered his team to begin the process of
cataloging everything, but here, in the late evening, he found himself
with no tasks of his own to account for. It seemed something of a shame,
actually, to be so free with his time when he had so much to do, and so
little time to do it all in.

They had found a store of Ritan entertainment, obviously left behind by
the Tiyiman government as a way of giving the troops something to do in
their off hours. It was an enormous library that Chatenni was sure was no
better than the usual fare found in late 20th Century Terran libraries; it
featured documentaries, dramas, comedies, and adventures of all stripes.
Nix was in the process of putting them into his library, but translation
efforts were going slowly, given that the Tiyiman language was low on
the priority list and only Nickolai Dittrich was really putting any
effort into it.

At least the material format was well-known by now. They had used a
digital storage media of aluminum in pressed polyurethane, much like
a common storage medium found on Terra. It had proved difficult to
determine the encode/decode schemes used, since these were almost always
the material equivalent of primitive encryption schemes in the way they
worked, but they had most of the codecs cracked now.

Chatenni had watched a few, enjoying the sometimes primitive subtitles. He
was surprised to learn that many of the films had been made in Theba
before the first nuclear war. Apparently that nation had been the cultural
center of the Ritan universe, or perhaps the cultural imperial power;
it had certainly produced the bulk of the visual arts material they
had collected.

He sighed. "So much to do."

He walked into the tubes room, where the bodies had finally been removed.
Each tube held, along with the bodies, a small locker for personal
effects. None of them had been opened yet, so he looked down his list
of tasks and decided that this was the one he wanted to tackle right now.

He went to the team sample box that had been collected by the medical team
and deposited in a corner. In the box were keys, a thousand or so of them,
each with a pair of numbers indicating which cryo chamber the keys went
to. They were all lined up in order and he picked up the first twenty.

With a deep sigh, he walked over to the first box.and tried the key. Like
everything else in the facility it was still usable after a millennia
of waiting. He opened the drawer.

Maybe he shouldn't have taken this assignment, now that he looked into
the box. This one held a small book wrapped in plastic, a small doll,
and a collection of jewelry. The book was unmarked on the cover, which
said to him that it was either a diary or a photo album, and the thin
pages told him it was more likely the former.

Other boxes held similar items. Diaries, photo albums, dolls, personal
weapons. A few held digital storage media that they had seen before,
small silver disks twelve centimeters in diameter, not unlike the digital
media disks of old Terra.

He cataloged every item carefully, sending the paper items back to the
main base where the Shigokais could give them further careful disassembly
and analysis, having Nix check every item to make sure that they were
properly marked as to whom they belonged. Then he sat down with the
disks and began systematically feeding them into the reader.

Subtitles flowed across the screen as he watched a young femRitan
waving to her parents, playing with another young male, and generally
having a good time. There were shots of her having a party-- a birthday,
actually-- and it tore at his heart to see this living, vivacious girl
romping about in a cute, tartan-style dress and a bright blue blouse
that jarred wonderfully with the natural green of her fur.

He sighed and put it away, and went on to the next one, from another tube.
This one surprised him. It was a commercial effort, not a personal
record, and the title came up over a pair of completely undressed Ritans
came up on the screen. The subtitle said simply <untranslatable>, which
surprised Chatenni, but not nearly as much as the content. The voice on
the recording was gentle and quite obviously female, and as the subtitles
began to read in Quen again Chatenni realized that he had stumbled upon
at least one disk of Ritan erotica. But not just any erotica; apparently,
this was a comprehensive "how to" manual, based, or so it claimed, on a
translation of the <untranslatable> classic. "Nix, for the duration you
might want to make the untranslatable title into something meaningful,
like the 'Ritan Kama Sutra' or something."

"An excellent suggestion," Nix replied. Chatenni fast forwarded through
the record to find other examples. There were Ritans, gorgeous examples of
their species by any measure, demonstrating poses that were fascinating,
absurd, or just plain uncomfortable-looking, many of them requiring
multi-level platforms or equipment hanging from the ceiling. A few of them
made him laugh aloud, the positions were just that silly looking. They
weren't always the same couple, and it took him a few minutes to realize
that there were some couples of different physiological ethnohistories.

Chatenni didn't know enough about erotica to make an assessment of the
material before him. It lacked the production sensibilities of the 30th
century, but it wasn't his place to make that determination with this
material. It had to be compared to other media of the same era, and in
particular other erotica of the same era. "Nix, who can you recommend
regarding this kind of material, for a sociological background?"

"There is a woman named Kevvi Gallienus who would be the logical place
to start in any such investigation. She is probably the best-known
collector of Terran and llerkindi pornography and she has a number of
useful monographs on the subject."

Chatenni grinned. "Well, then, let's get this package to her. I'm sure
she'll appreciate it."

"Bandwidth back to Pendor is limited and is currently being saturated
with medical data, which has priority. Sorry about that, Chatenni,
but it will have to go back in cargo."

Chatenni nodded. "Understood," he sighed. "Anyway, Nix, thanks for
the lookup."

"My pleasure."

He swapped the disk for another, and to his amusement this one was also
pornography. It was less well-shot, with only a few settings, one of which
was clearly a primitive soundstage decked out with a bed, cushions strewn
about the floor, and pieces of hardware hung from the ceilings. It opened
with an outdoor shot of femRitans talking, and then proceeded to move
indoors, where one, and then two, and then three femRitans engaged in a
number of blatantly pornographic scenes, some of which had the camera
closing in on body parts filmed almost to detachment from the fems to
whom they belonged. Chatenni was somewhat shocked by the crudity of it,
although he understood that equally absurd and outrageous material could
be found in the archives of all the known worlds of the Corridor.

He watched with interest. One girl's named transliterated to Eciva,
which in turn translated to 'Crystal.' "Now there's an LCD actress's
name if ever I've seen one," Nix chuckled.

Chatenni smiled with amusement and then went back to his watching. Eciva
was, well, Chatenni found himself entranced with her. She had the most
beautiful eyes, which was an assessment that surprised him given how
much of her he was being allowed to see in close-up, but it was her
eyes that attracted him most, those beautiful, green orbs that seemed
to hint and something more. He didn't know if he knew how to read Ritan
expressions at all, but it didn't seem to matter here. He barely needed
the translations, and he certainly didn't need Nix to put [moans] or
[whimpers] into the text stream.

"Chatenni? Are you there?"

He looked up, startled out of his private reverie. "Rima?" he asked,
a little annoyed at the interruption.

"Are you in here?" she asked, stepping into the room. "There you are. I
was wondering where you'd disappeared to."

"Just working my way through the task list." He looked at her fine
Ssphynx form and said, "Hey, are you doing anything tonight?"

"No..." she started, a little surprised. Usually it was she who had to
initiate their loveplay. "Why?"

"Are you familiar with a work called the Kama Sutra?"

"I've heard of it. Isn't it a pre-tech sex manual for Terrans?"

"More or less, although it's applicable to all humanoids. One of the
problems taurids have had for centuries is that they don't have anything
remotely similar. Sure, people have tried to cook up their own versions,
but they've always been with the awareness that we have access to
anti-grav and waterbeds and self-modifying furniture that lets us do
things Terran ancestors could only dream about."

She saw the connection immediately. "The Ritans!"

He nodded. "They had one." He held up his padd. "And I found it."

She looked at the padd with sudden interest. "Show me."

"Back at the room?"

"Yes, yes!" she agreed eagerly.

They retreated back to their own cabin and closed the door. Chatenni
started the video on the wallscreen. It wasn't really the original
material, as the narrator revealed in the first few moments as screen
shots of the original book, as well as archaic Ritan erotic art of wildly
different styles appeared on the screen. The voiceover was chirpingly
cheerful, and the translation captions spoke of "wisdom of the ancients,"
"the secrets to a long and happy life," and "erotic mysteries."

It would have been worth a giggle if it hadn't been so much fun. They
watched as the story sped along, introduced to the six couples separately
who would help illustrate many of the positions that would be appearing
on the film. The narrator spoke of the odd names with a laugh, and the
couples, who were prime examples of their sexes, with a huskiness that
didn't sound completely honest.

Still, it was a movie. They started with the simplest of positions, ones
every Ssphynx and Centaur knew by heart, with variations for lying down,
side-by-side, face-to-face, stretched out. They worked their way into
positions that required furniture to achieve certain angles, starting
with seating benches, a bed, an odd wedge-shaped cushion that Chatenni
had not seen in any of the rooms so far, and on and on.

Rima giggled. "These people were creative."

"Yeah, well, they didn't want to get bored." He shifted closer to her and
pressed the length of his body against hers. She rolled slightly to let
him up against her, and the two of them cuddled closer as they watched.

"Like they had the time. Around the time the original Ritans were coming
up with these positions the average lifespan was probably no more than
50 years."

"Still, some of them had lives of leisure." Chatenni let his hands stray
down the length of her back, caressing her.

"I can't imagine it," Rima said, "living such a short life and yet getting
to the point where lovemaking is boring. Didn't these people have a
sense of, well, fulfillment? I mean, I'm not bored of pizza yet, either."

"Sex and food analogies only go so far." Chatenni grinned.

"I guess," she purred, looking at the newest position, which involved
ropes for oral sex. "I wonder what the advanced subjects they cover."

"Ropes and pulleys are pretty advanced. Why?"

"Oh," she said, coyly, "just curious."

"Anything advanced you go for?" Chatenni asked, his heartbeats suddenly
becoming much louder in his ears. "We could see." They fast-sped through
the linear media, reaching a title screen with "Subjects for Advanced
Students only." Much to the surprise of both of them, not only did it
cover sodomy, it covered inserting the hand into the vagina, an act
Chatenni would not have thought to find on a mainstream tape. "I wonder
what the glove is for," he mused.

"I can imagine a lot of reasons. Keeps the fur clean, keeps fur out of
the tract, makes insertion much slicker, needs less lubricant, reduces
injuries from burrs on the claws, and maybe stops infection?"

The sodomy section was very straightforward, but Chatenni caught Rima
watching it with intense interest. "My fah, but he's huge!" she gasped at
the couple that had been selected specifically for this scene, or so they
announced. "There's no way she's going to take that thing in there." The
purring from her chest grew a little ragged as her breathing picked up.
Chatenni's hand strayed lower.

On the screen, the melRitan was very carefully edging up behind his
partner, and the camera took getting the expressions on their faces
as he reached around and caressed her breasts and belly for quite a
while. His erection poked and prodded between her hindquarters for quite
a few minutes before he ran his hands along the length of her body, then
slid two fingers, ungloved this time, into the femRitan's asshole. She
moaned softly as he parted his fingers, while his open muzzle nipped
along her spine.

The melRitan slipped another finger into his partner, and she was
obviously aroused by sensations she was getting. She said something
that even the translator couldn't catch, and the mel positioned himself
behind her. With a generous covering of lubricant on his erection,
he began pushing himself into her. Rima's breathing grew hotter as
the melRitan's cock slid inward with very little resistance. First the
head disappeared into the fem, and then in short, gentle jabs he slid
ever deeper until most of his enormous erection had disappeared. "Fah,"
Rima gasped. She looked over at Chatenni. "Will you do that with me?"

"I... We could try. It's... "

"What?"

Chatenni blushed slightly. "Isn't it a little gross?"

"Where's you sense of adventure, Chatenni? It doesn't seem to be for
them."

"They're professionals," he said. "Maybe they do something to make sure
they're clean before they start."

"And I can always check to make sure that I'll be clean for you before
we start, Chatenni. You worry too much." She grinned at him.

Chatenni smiled. "Well, when you put it that way."

"Now?" she purred softly, stroking his chest with her hand. He thought
he had been teasing her, and now she was the one teasing him. And,
truth be told, he had never had another Ritan that way, in the ass,
and to be offered it made him a little anxious. Still, he was worried
about hurting her. He wasn't nearly as huge as the Ritan on the screen
but then she wasn't built like a femRitan, but a femSsphynx.

"Will you be clean?" he asked.

She paused for a moment. "Yes," she said, reaching for his hands and
pulling him towards her. "Now." She moaned softly as their muzzles met.
Chatenni found himself warming to the idea, or at least found his cock
warming and weighing in.

She unzipped the jacket she was wearing, her hand sliding between them
as she pulled down on the tab. Chatenni felt her small breasts spill out
against his own clothing, and he reached up to his left side, where the
buttons on his once-stylish outfit lay just out of sight.

His hand clasped one of her breasts gently and pinched at the nipple.
Rima's soft moan filled the air for a moment, as did his own little
whimpers as she nipped at him. His cock was already completely hard and
rubbing against the mattress, and he could barely contain his excitement.
"Rima? Have I told you you're beautiful?"

"No," she whispered. "And I don't believe you."

"Well, you are," he said as he worked his way down her back, to her lower
spine and down to her tail. "Do you have anything like that... stuff
they had in the bottle?"

Rima leaned down and tossed him a small cylinder. He popped the top up
and poured a clear, thick gel onto his fingers. "Are you sure you want
to do this?" he asked.

"Yes," she said. He reached down under her tail and slid one finger up
between the rounded arches of her haunch, finding the wrinkled opening
by touch.

"Oh!" Rima sighed, stretching out on the bed. "Cold fingers."

"Sorry," he said, laughing nervously. He let his finger trace circles
around the opening, then slowly pressed inward. He had never done
anything like this before, but he knew what we wouldn't want done to
him. It occurred to him that he wouldn't want anything like what Rima
was asking him to do to her happening to him anyway.

She was warm inside, and slick, too, as if already lubricated for him. He
knew that it wouldn't be enough and he should use the stuff from the
bottle. She shuddered and re-arranged her footing briefly, pressing
her backside further into the air as he slid one finger completely into
her.  With his other hand he stroked her along the length of her back,
caressing her fur gently. "Feels weird," she sighed. "I don't know if
I like it yet."

"I can stop."

"I don't want you to. I just want to figure out what it feels like,"
she sighed.

"Maybe it doesn't feel like anything else you've ever experienced before,"
he offered.

"Maybe," she sighed, her head hanging down as she took air in and out.

"You are such a beautiful fem, Rima." He slid in a second finger, much as
he had seen the male on the screen do. She shook with increased intensity
at his touch. "You are. And I want you." Chatenni could feel her hole
tighten and relax with each breath she took.

"You can have me, Chatenni. Just... go slow." Her head was lifted to
watch the screen. With one hand on her upadd she rolled back the video
to watch the penetration again as Chatenni positioned himself over her,
his four paws full on the floor over her body, his erection pointed
directly at her backside.

He bent back, turned, and slathered his cock with the lubricant. Pressing
up under her tail, he let it slide between her haunches. "Am I in the
right place?"

"Uh-huh," she said.

"Ready?"

"I think so." He leaned forward and landed on his hands. Kissing the
back of her neck, he pressed with his hips against her. He could feel
his cock against what felt like a flat surface of flesh, but slowly,
with the lubricant, his coaxing, and her relaxation, he felt something
letting him in. He warmed to her body, felt her spine against his belly
as she tilted her haunches up to him.

With agonizing slowness he entered her. Her felt her asshole part. "Oh!"
Rima gasped again. "Fah, you're big."

"Just feels that way," Chatenni said softly.

"No, it's bigger than I expected," she gasped. "Oh, fah, you're inside."
He deferred to her definition of 'inside' although he only felt the ring
of her asshole around the head of his cock. "More?" she sighed.

He pressed inward, and she moaned deeply as his cock slid into her rectum,
deeper into her. Her asshole seemed to expand and contract, pulling him
into her body until he felt the skin of his sheath bunch up against the
wrinkled skin of her hole. "I'm all the way in."

"I... know," she whimpered. "I've never felt anything like this." The
whimper didn't sound entirely happy, Chatenni thought.

"Am I hurting you?"

"Yes... no. Maybe. It's so big! It feels like a mining pipe was shoved
up there." Chatenni had no idea what size a 'mining pipe' might be,
but he didn't need to know to understand what she meant. He could feel
the heat of her guts surrounding his cock. Her insides weren't as tight
as he would have expected from a virgin, but he didn't know much about
sodomy. But he liked the feelings he was getting from Rima.

"I'm going to start taking it out," he said.

"Not all the way," she gasped.

"Okay," he agreed. "Not all the way." He slowly pushed back with his
hind legs, drawing his hard cock out of her. Her asshole continued its
grip on him, trying to hold him in. He pulled back until he could feel
that tight hole holding onto his cock, trying to keep him from leaving.

Then it was the slow exploration back into her body, pushing his way into
her until she was moaning hard. "Oh, Fah," she gasped again, reaching
back with her hands to grab for him. "Fuck, Chatenni, that's wonderful."

"Is it?"

"Yes," she said as she shuddered softly. "Yes, it is. You can go harder."

He took that as a hint to go just a little harder. He no longer took
every inch consciously, but let himself slide in and out of her gently,
carefully, allowing himself the time to look at her, watch her eyes as
she lay on the bed, head turned, mouth open. She was whimpering in a
way he had never heard before, a sound halfway between an overwhelming
need to climax and a desperate need to escape the sensations that were
pouring through her.

Chatenni lay along the length of her, his hips acting on their own,
each slow stroke accompanied by the sound of her breath loud in his
ears. Her asshole welcomed him in and drove him insane with pleasure as
the two of them reached for climax together.

She whimpered for "more," and he gave it with everything he had, still
gentle, but also hot and ready. "I'm going to come soon," he said,
unable to hold back the truth.

"Me... me too," she gasped. "Just a second longer, Chatenni, just, one,
second... ahhh!" She gasped and closed her eyes, and as she came Chatenni
felt his own climax boil out of him. He felt as if he were putting out
a fire, so much seemed to spray out of him as he came.

And maybe he was.

He withdrew from her slowly, almost sad to feel the last grasp of her
asshole to the head of his cock as he withdrew from her. "You were
wonderful," he whispered in her ear.

"Me?" she protested. "That was amazing. When I first met you I kinda
had the feeling that you were a gentle soul, but, wow, I don't think I
could have done that with anyone else." She turned over and looked down
the length of their long bodies. "Wow. Good thing I was clean inside."

Chatenni finally had the courage to look, and he was happy to see that
his fears had been for nothing. "Yeah. Still, I guess we need a shower."

"There are group facilities on level four," she said. "I found them a
few days ago." She pulled him down and licked his cheeks softly, the two
of them touching tongues to teeth and muzzles for a few moments. "Thank
you, Chatenni."

"Thank you, Rima. It was my honor."

She smiled at him. "A man of honor. Now that's rare."

He grinned. "Not so rare, just usually not so carefully thought about." He
turned over and stood up, suddenly realizing just how wobbly he was.
"C'mon. Hot showers are waiting for us."

She took his hand and accepted it. "After you," he said. She led the
way out, turning off the lights, and the video, behind them.

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The Journal Entries of Kennet R'yal Shardik, et. al., and Related Tales
are Copyright (c) 1989-2000 Elf Mathieu Sternberg. Distribution limited
to electronic media not-for-profit use only. All other rights are reserved
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