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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                       The Ritacha War: Alpha Brief

Journal Entry 033 / 01028

Anar, Nenim 08, 01028

Seren is probably my favorite day of the week, probably because it's the
first day of the week in popular reckoning. Pendorians aren't the sort of
people who break their schedules into days of work and days of play; the
concept of the weekend is long ago and ground into the dust of history.
But there's still some pleasure in contemplating a new day, a new week,
a new month. Weeks are the easiest to hold in my head, however; I can
imagine the next six days and know what the future, in some way, has in
store for me.

This particular Seren evening was taken up by bathing; for some reason,
Tails had decided to throw a pool party and had erected a swimming area
in one of the larger simaculae.

When the door opened, I wandered from the halls and walls of the Starship
Nyano Handele into the great summer cookout of 1028. Tails was leaning
over a barbecue, inhaling the carcinogenic aroma of briquettes. "Ken!" he
shouted. "Glad you could make it!"

I chuckled and shook my head. "What the Hell is this?"

"Terra kitsch!" he replied. "You want a burger or a wiener?"

"One of each," I said. His 'kitsch' was complete down to a pair of
beautiful fems fawning over him. I shook my head and wondered what
happened to my egalitarianism. The swimming pool was full of people,
many of whom I recognized and many of whom I didn't. Lindsay was there
with her baby, now almost a year old. "Lance?" I asked.

"Fifteen days until her birthday."

"Thanks." I didn't mind in the least that he knew what I was going to
ask and I didn't care how he knew. In fact, I had a good idea how he knew
but I just didn't care. I swam over to where she lounged beside the pool.
"Hi!"

"Hi!" she said.

"How's Maia?"

"She's fine. Still breast-feeding, but I'm weaning off as her teeth come
in." She scratched the baby's head gently and smiled at me. "I can't
believe all this."

"I know," I said. "You... all of you Han... are so very beautiful. I
feel I've been given an unimaginable gift, and I don't know what to
do with it other than just enjoy it." I smiled at her. "The Han have
doubled their population."

"I understand Cordelia has started her second baby." Lindsay looked
around. "At this rate, we'll be drowning in Han in no time."

"Just remember to slow down once you've gone crazy with your babymaking."

She laughed. "Don't worry; once we've run through all the semen samples
in reserve we'll be done."

"Do you realize that's nearly three thousand kids? Where are 37 people
going to find the time to have a hundred children each?"

"Well," she grinned, "You did say we were all immortal these days."

"That's still an exhausting schedule," I pointed out, smiling. "Keep at
it. You'll make Rachel Shardik look like an amateur."

"Who's she?"

"She's a... friend of the family who specializes in being pregnant. Her
body has been her own best experiment station; thus far, she's given
birth to one of every humanoid species on Pendor. It's actually to the
point when I feel surprise seeing her when she's not pregnant. Actually,
that's not fair; she's usually waited until one child is grown before
she moves on to the next. But it sometimes feels that way."

Lindsay nodded. "Well, I have no intention of bearing anything but Han."

"A wise decision."

I felt hands crawl up along my back in the pool and turned around. "Ken!"

"Olivia!" I looked up at Lindsay, then back at her. "I'm glad you two
are still hanging out together."

"Yeah," Lindsay smiled. "She's been good to me this trip. Helping me
learn Quen, taking care of Maia. I don't know how I would have survived
without her."

"I think all the Han have been adopted by someone just to keep up." I
grinned. "Every one of them has someone watching over them. Do you think
that's a good thing, or a bad thing?"

"I don't think it's a bad thing as long as the Pendorians aren't doing
it in some sort of conspiracy," Lindsay said. "Which I haven't noticed."

"That's because," Olivia began as she slipped out of the pool with
amazing ease, "You've fallen madly in love with me."

"Probably." They kissed, a vision which gave me instant erection.

And then dinner was thrust before my eyes. "Food!" Tails shouted.

"Thanks." I tried to keep sarcasm out of my voice. I climbed out of the
pool and sat down next to Lindsay and Olivia on the lawn furniture. "How's
the voyage going?"

"Fine, fine." He slipped his arm around a vision of loveliness wrapped in
Mephit colors. "I'm finding that people can't keep their hands off of me."

"It seems to be the other way around," I laughed. "What's your name?"

"Tabby." He kissed Tail's cheek. "Second Lieutenant, assigned to
Resources."

"Good to meet you, Tabby."

"I'm glad to meet you, too, sir."

"So, what do you think of our lovely Nishipo here?" I asked, gesturing
at Tails as I called him by his real name.

"He's... interesting." The Mephit blushed, his ears and nose darkening.

"I think you're going to burn something, Tails."

"Zut!" the shorter Vulpin said. "Enjoy dinner!" He bounced off, Tabby
in tow. I frowned as I watched them bounce off.

"Penny for your thoughts," Olivia said in perfect Anglic.

I laughed. "Just watching the incredible age difference between me and
Tails and Tabby," I sighed. "The homeward-bound part of any mission makes
me feel tired and old. I know the feeling will fade once I get home and
become part of life again, but in the meantime I just feel... tired. Does
that make any sense?"

"A lot," Olivia said. "I feel the same way."

"I feel very different," Lindsay said. "But it's obvious why. For you, the
journey out was going towards adventure; now you're headed home. For me,
both things are happening. I'm heading home... and home is the adventure."

"I understand that," I said.

"Ken?" Lindsay asked. "Are you too tired-feeling to, well, to join Olivia
and I tonight?" I picked up my head, curiously. "We'd really like to
have you join us."

I laughed. "I don't think I'd ever be too tired for that, beloved Lindsay.
I'll have to ask the family, but I can't imagine them telling me 'no.'"

"Do that." A few calls later and everyone assured me that, while I would
be missed, they would survive without me. I nodded to Lindsay. Olivia
clapped her hands. "Yay!"

  ----------------------------------------------------------------------

After a while, the ceiling darkened and the party slid into a night-time
sort of feel. I started yawning and Lindsay shook my shoulder gently,
startling me back into consciousness. I hadn't even noticed that I'd
fallen asleep. "You really are tired," she said. "I can see that O and
I have our work cut out for us. Ready for bed?"

I nodded, and she helped me to my feet. We walked out into the hallway
and down to her cabin. Fortunately, the starship ceilings are built to
Centaur specifications, seeing as they are our largest species, larger
than the Han in some cases. Only the very tallest Han were in danger of
bumping their heads, and Lindsay was considered short for her kind. Once
inside, she handed Maia to Olivia, who struggled under the load to carry
the child into her own bedroom. Lindsay led me into her bedroom, where
she knelt down so we could almost be eye-to-eye.

She watched my face, and I watched hers. She opened her mouth to speak,
then closed it again. "What?" I asked.

"I've been trying to think of a way to tell you that... I love you. I want
you, and I'm jealous of the people who've had you all their lives." She
shook her head. "I can't tell if it's because you saved my life, or
because you've shown me so much compassion since then, but I can't
stop wishing..."

I stopped her with a kiss. "Lindsay, we all meet times like this, all
our lives. I... I want you too." I looked down at the floor to avoid
meeting her eyes. "If... if our lives are truly infinite, then you'll
have an infinite number of chances of being intimate with me."

"I don't want to wait that long!"

I laughed. "I don't either." I brushed her cheekfur softly, marveling at
the delicate quality of her face. "We have to. We've made decisions. And,
yes, I love Aaden and P'nyssa just enough that I'll never go back on my
vows to them. I will return to them, always and forever. And you will
always have a place in my heart, always and forever."

She nodded. "Thank you for Olivia."

"She did that on her own."

"She wouldn't have if you hadn't been determined to get two upset fems
in the same room to overcome the terrible miscommunication."

"I'm a lousy ambassador," I sighed. "But I try. How long do you think
you and she will be together?"

Lindsay shook her head. "I would never try to predict that kind of thing.
A long time, I hope. I wonder how she's going to manage when Maia's
five and as big as she is. Probably pretty well." She stood up again
and crawled into the giant's bed. "Olivia jokes about her size, but I
think it bothers her."

"What kind of jokes?" I said, sliding up next to her.

"Things like how she learned to swim early on just to navigate in beds
made for Centaurs and Han, how she should learn how to use a skateboard
just to keep up with me, things like that."

I nodded. "We had to make some accommodations. Mustela frequently get the
short end of the stick because, at their size, they have to do so much
to keep up with the rest of us. On the other hand, they make excellent
sportsfolk in other regards and enjoy some things we can't. Every species
has its pluses and minuses. Some have so many I sometimes feel guilty,
but I can't let that stop me or make me wish I hadn't done that. I just
have to go back and resolve to not make that mistake again."

Our hands had acted in spite of our seriousness, and I was stroking her
soft body and breasts. Even my feet got into the act with her bellyfur,
enjoying the long, silky quality of it. Her monstrous penis had grown
slightly erect and poked from its sheath and was brushing against my
ankles. I laughed and looked down. "Ken?" she sighed. "I've made up my
mind... I want to fuck you tonight." She emphasized the 'you.' The last
time, Olivia had tied her to the bed and let me ride her cock until we
had both come.

Her cock is as thick as my wrist, and just as oval; it's not a perfect
cylinder, but instead almost twice as thick side-to-side as it is
top-to-bottom. It's not monstrously long; Aaden's as long as she is. It's
just thick. Looking at it, I realized I was in for an interesting ride
tonight. "I'd like that," I sighed.

"I heard about your dildo-ride at Trianna's hands a couple weeks ago.
Olivia said that the toy you were using looked suspiciously like me."

"I got it before Maia's birthday," I said quickly. "I picked it because it
looked about the right size and shape," I laughed. "I wanted to practice
in the hopes you would accept my request."

She nodded as I reached down and touched the massive flesh of her cock. If
I closed my hand around it, my fingertips just barely brushed my thumb,
and that was only if I squeezed a little. She shook as my fingers caressed
the purplish head of her cock, softly caressing the pale skin.

I licked at it like an ice-cream or candy. It tasted like that, to me
at any rate; I've always loved the taste of cock. If I opened my jaw I
could just barely get the head, but not without rubbing teeth so much I
could hear her grinding her teeth. I backed off and went back to licking
and stroking, and she went back to moaning. Slowly she rolled over onto
her back, her cock sticking up into the air, and I slid down between
her legs to keep at her lovely cock. My fingers slid down to the base
of her cock and found the top of her labia. I slid two fingers into her
and felt the rigid root of her cock buried deep within her body through
the roof of her vagina. She gasped softly, and I knew I'd found the
Grafenberg spot for Han. I laughed softly as she squirmed, then slid
my mouth up to the tip of her cock and tasted the salty emission. Even
that light touch within her had made a small spurt of pre-come stream
down her beautiful column of flesh.

The door opened and Olivia walked in. She waited for the door to close,
then said "I put Maia in my bed. She's sleeping soundly and Lance will
keep her from falling out of bed. I see you started without me."

"Yeah," Lindsay said, squirming slightly as I flickered my tongue around
the corona of her cock. Olivia bounced onto the bed and crawled over to
us, kissing Lindsay softly.

The sight of them kissing did more for more hard-on than anything else
so far. "Lindsay?" I asked. "Are you ready?"

She nodded. "I've never been readier. I hope you are."

I turned over onto my back, pulling my legs into the air. "Is this
ready enough?"

"It will have to do," she laughed. Her cock came up between my thighs as
she knelt in place. It looked for a moment like I had two cocks, one four
times larger than the other. Olivia handed her a huge bottle of lubricant.
"One liter?" I asked.

"We upgraded. We go through a lot," Olivia replied.

"I would guess," I said, watch as she poured some over the head of her
cock. It was slick and easy to pour, some dripping onto my own cock. I
stroked both my own cock and reached out to stroke hers until she was
purring and squirming. "Okay," I sighed. "Come on. Do it."

She leaned forward while I guided her shaft to my asshole. "Press,"
I whispered. Above me, her breasts hovered before my eyes as I felt the
massive pressure of her cock against my butt. "Harder," I said. My asshole
trembled, then finally, she pressed hard and her cockhead popped into me.

My body trembled. "Oh, my Gods," I sighed. "That's... that's so huge!" I
looked over at Olivia, but my vision wouldn't balance. "Endorphin rush!" I
giggled as I slid down onto her cock. "Lindsay?"

"It's... It's so tight it's almost painful," she gasped.

"Almost?" I asked.

"Just... just almost. Ken, you are so tight inside, so hot... Are you
sure you're okay?"

I nodded. "I'll survive," I gasped, my body still trembling from the
sweet invasion. "Gods."

She slowly pulled out, and I felt the monstrous shaft of her cock
filling me. She slid almost all the way out, then slowly pressed back
in. Her strong arms were planted to the sides of my head and I grasped
her wrists with my hands. "I love you."

"I love you too."

Olivia crawled up beside us and grabbed my cock in her paws. "What about
this, Ken?"

"What about it?"

"It's going to waste."

"Let it," I sighed. "We can take care of it later."

"But I want it right now." She ducked her head between our bodies and
took my cock into her mouth. If Lindsay dropped down, Olivia would be
in serious trouble.

Lindsay set the pace. Her huge cock slid in and out of me. "Are you
doing okay?" she asked, looking down at me.

I looked down and watched Olivia's head bobbing back and forth on my cock.
Her mouth was wet and hot, her lips stroking my shaft. Tremors ran through
my guts between the dual assault of the gorgeous cock in my ass and the
slick mouth around my cock. Olivia's tongue swirled around the shaft,
tasting and teasing the sensitive spots just under the head. I growled
softly, lost to the pleasures of the two gorgeous fems.

Lindsay's thrusts took on an urgency that said to me her climax was
but moments away. I felt her thrusts grow harder and faster. "Am I
hurting you?"

"No," I lied. It hurt a little, deep inside, but it was a good hurt, a
wonderful hurt. I wanted her to come inside me. "Come on, Lindsay. Come
for me." My concentration wavered back and forth between Olivia's mouth
and Lindsay's cock. They were both pushing me forward, but Lindsay won.
She thrust into me very hard, then tossed her mane back and cried
something softly as she came within me. I felt the energy of her coming
inside me, and it radiated through me, making me come hard into Olivia's
sucking mouth. I felt her lips hold down and her tongue lick up the last
drops of my come.

Lindsay's cock popped out of me, a small stream of semen following. I
shivered again. "Wow."

"Yeah," Olivia said, turning over to face Lindsay. "Wow."

"I can't believe how hard I came!" Lindsay said as she turned over and
flopped down onto her back.

"I think we can all say that," I smiled. "That was pretty awesome." Olivia
crawled up Lindsay's belly until she could kiss her. I smiled and watched
them; that still turned me on, but I was still recovering from the last
orgasm too much to get another erection.

We retired to Lindsay's bathtub to clean up. Lindsay got out first. When
Olivia and I joined her, she had already recovered Maia and was
breast-feeding her in bed. Olivia and I teasingly took the other nipple,
giving Lindsay a frustrating combination of sensation. Her milk tasted
warm and slightly salty. Then the four of us finally cuddled down into
sleep, Olivia and I on one side, mother and daughter on the other.

  ----------------------------------------------------------------------

It was around eleven at night, an obscenely early hour, when Lance
whispered in my ear. "Ken!" I tried to ignore him, knowing already that
that was a futile effort doomed to failure. He whispered again. "Ken,
wake up."

"What?" I groaned. I do not like being woken up like this.

"I have a priority call, Alpha one, from Aanji Peritav, on the line." That
made my eyes blink wide open. "I'll take it in the living room. Is there
a desk?"

"The low table is control."

"Got it," I whispered quietly, climbing carefully out of Olivia's hug
and crawling for the living room. I took a towel with me in case my butt
was still 'leaking' from the rather vigorous sex I'd had earlier, then
sat down on a pillow in front of the table Lance had mentioned. "What's
up, Aanji?"

The video screen cleared and the second in command of Alpha looked out
at me. "Sorry to wake you. I just got up myself about three hours ago,
and I'm not in a good mood either, Kennet."

I registered the 'Kennet' carefully. Somewhere between our 'let's sleep
together' familiarity and full "Doctor Shardik" formality. Something
was up. "I something wrong, Aanji? Did your team find something critical
about the Han that we missed out here?"

"No, nothing wrong with the Han. We have some suggestion for
post-maintenance improvements, but, as usual, your work is exemplary. How
are they doing, anyway?"

As if on cue, the door behind me opened and my two beloveds for the
evening peered out. "Ken?"

"This isn't secret, is it?"

Aanji shook her head. "Not really."

"Lindsay, Olivia, come here. Say hello to Aanji Satpulov. Aanji, meet
Lindsay Summer."

"Hi," the short femMephit on the screen said. "Pleased to meet you."

"Uh, hi," Lindsay waved back. "Is something wrong?"

"I'm about to find out. Aanji, why call at this unholy hour?"

The screen cleared to replaced with several dossiers. "Two days ago,
the starship Ille Pendoro reported that they had found a planet with
evidence that it had once supported a thriving, metropolitan population
in the beginning stages of Wave Three cultural development. However,
the evidence was countered by the overwhelming evidence that this
development had been cut short approximately a thousand years ago by
global nuclear war. The planet is still in the grips of a long-lasting
nuclear winter. Other than basic lichens, nothing was alive when the
crew arrived. It looked like an archeological dig and not much more.

"All of that changed when, about nine hours ago, Captain Tori Cafran of
the Ille Pendoro called in to report survivors."

"Huh?"

The screen cleared again to show an overhead map of a region on a planet
I was not familiar with. "The report may yet be premature. The ship's
sensors discovered a fast neutrino source on the planet's surface,
despite evidence that the culture was no sufficiently along to have
microfusion resources of the kind displayed by the power output. An
engineering team dropped down to investigate.

"Engineer Fezzik... that's her only listed name--"

"I know who she is. She's noted for some designer powered armor."

"You would know that. Anyway, she dug through several dozen meters of
cement, stone, and dirt to locate the source of the neutrinos." The image
on the screen whirled, leading me down to a complex of buildings, then
to an underground map. "This is the source of the neutrinos. The door,
here, opens up onto a complex of three primitive, massively parallel,
binary-state computers." A pointer flickered on the screen. "And, in here,
256 cryogenics chambers."

My jaw about hit the floor. Then I smiled. "They're eight- fingered,
aren't they?"

"I thought you would catch that, Ken. Yes, they are. However, all of
the chambers had failed. There's an attendant recording you can listen
to of the final command decisions to allow the chambers to fail." I
winced. "Of 256 cryo chambers, only seven had power. And of those seven,
three look like their immanent to fail." Aanji paused. "The Pendoro has
orders to rescue the seven by any means necessary and to return to Pendor
with samples from all the other bodies, burning drives if necessary. A
Shepherd-class maintenance berth and a White ship Conway is headed in
their direction."

I nodded. "Okay, Aanji. Hit me. What do they look like?"

The screen cleared and for the second time that night, my mouth fell open.
"My Gods, they're beautiful." They were a centauroid species, broad at the
hips. In Ssphynxes the pelvis tends to blend evenly with the forecage;
in centaurs the pelvis descends into the cage. These were a compromise;
they were about as long and tall as Ssphynxes, but the body was wide to
allow pelvic descent. They were very broad along the length of their lower
body, and the one in the illustration had visibly pronounced muscles. The
face was vaguely Vulpin, although this one was a dark-green color. "Is
that coloration natural?"

"Seems to be for this species," Aanji replied. "We don't know how much
variation there is yet."

"What are those things hanging from the head?"

"We don't know yet. We're guessing they're some sort of sensory device,
but we won't know anything until Chief Medical Officer Baker--" The
doctor's dossier appeared on the screen-- "reports back with an autopsy."

"Anything else?"

"There's a datastream to you of the entire package. I just wanted to call
and tell you that we're gearing Alpha up for a massive reconstruction job,
pending your approval."

"How soon before we get back do they arrive?"

"At best, they'll arrive eighteen days after you do."

"That'll give us time to get ready when I'm there. Do what you can
without me. And keep me updated."

"Will do. By the way, we've designated a star for Unity."

I groaned; I'd almost forgotten. I tried to put a smile on. "Thanks.
Anything else?"

"Yes. Good news. One schedule is moving perfectly. Yestar 1031 is when
we anticipate landing ceremonies for llerkin."

"Yes!" I exulted quietly. "Good. Aanji, give my regards to everyone,
and wish them the best... we're not getting any sleep for a long time
once I land."

"We know. Goodnight, Ken."

"By, Aanji. Keep the place warm for me."

"We will." The screen went blank, a little indicator in the lower right
hand corner indicating that a massive data transfer was underway.

I turned to Olivia and Lindsay. "What do you think?"

Lindsay shook her head. "Does this happen often?"

"This is only the second time it's ever happened," I said. "You were
the first."

"Incredible," she sighed. "I guess you're going to be up the rest of
the night reading the reports, right?"

"Are you kidding?" I said. "I'm going back to sleep. This will wait until
morning, when my brain is working." I stood and yawned. "And, besides,
I wouldn't do anything to jeopardize cuddling you two."

"Ha," Olivia said. I grinned and the three of us shuffled back to bed.
Maia never noticed a thing.

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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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