Chapter 100: Sex in the rain.Chasm half pulled half pushed Rhylent down the hall in his rush to see Norwell. The alien chuckled at his eagerness all the way. When Chasm reached the bedroom, he threw the Nebos aside and raced past the bed. As soon as he entered, he scanned for Norwell. She was nowhere around the room."Commander?" Chasm looked back at Rhylent accusingly. "She is in the garden," the alien said as he gestured with his tentacles.Chasm nodded and stepped toward the large entrance to the outside. Right as he stepped forward, a roll of thunder sounded. Lightning flashed in the sky as he stepped to the threshold. The lightning from the thick gray clouds lit up Norwell. The woman sat in the center of the garden naked on a pile of Nebos. Rain pelted her. The water made her hair curl and stick to her spine and shoulders. Norwell looked perfect as always. Her skin was flawless. The only sign that she had been with JP was the knotted gray fabric strips around her ankles and wri
Chapter 101: Friends.While Rhylent slept on the bed of Nebos, Chasm curled near his feet and stared at his glass plate. He watched the characters talking and interacting, and he also stared at the items they used to eat and live. He took a few notes on the food items that were in the fridge. When he got to Earth, he would have to learn how to buy food. They had to go to the store often. In the past few weeks, Chasm had made quite an extensive list of things he would need when he got on the planet, and he had to admit this show was a helpful guide. He wished that the humans had suggested it earlier."So, what did you learn from the humans today?" Norwell stroked her fingers through Rhylent's tubes while the alien snoozed. Rhylent's head was cushioned on Norwell's thighs, and she leaned her shoulders against the wall and sighed with contentment. Chasm had no idea how the thin woman handled all that weight of a fully grown Dagerstanteen draped over her legs with his head in her lap."No
Chapter 102: Breaking a rule.Rhylent and Norwell were missing from the bed when Chasm woke the following day. He rolled around and inhaled their fading scent. After he got up, he checked the hammock in the garden doorway. When he didn't find Norwell, he checked his mind. The alien and Norwell spoke to other Dagerstanteens in the alien court, and the topic appeared to be a severe matter of some kind. Even though the tone was solemn, Norwell and Rhylent were not unhappy or worried. Their minds were calm and clear, so Chasm decided that he would ask them later what they were doing.Leaving the hammock, Chasm did what he always did in the mornings. He used the bathroom, ate, dressed, and by the time the Nebos was pulled back to produce Murry, Chasm was ready for the day. Since he would go with the humans today, he had even put on a shirt as Rhylent wanted. As Murry entered Rhylent's rooms, Jazz followed with Peltratria behind them. Chasm remembered the young Dagerstanteen from the slave
Chapter 103: What is a Rosh?Everyone was on their bellies high up near the windows of the enormous room in the palace. Chasm peeked between massive waves of Nebos as he watched the giant assembly of Dagerstanteens below him. At the front of the room stood Octnavin with all of his siblings. The great ruler stood on a raised platform with his offspring next to him and Sloan seated behind him. On the floor stood all his family in a row except for Rhylent.Chasm didn't see Norwell or Rhylent anywhere. He scanned the mass.A large gathering of Dagerstanteen warriors stood on the right and left sides of the room. The crowd left an aisle up the middle, leading to their glorious leader."This kind of looks like a wedding," Jazz whispered to him. "Everyone is in jewels."Chasm had followed everyone up the Nebos silk ladder to Peltratria's secret spot. Now, as he hid, he started to change his mind about this being a good idea. Honestly, this assembly appeared to be a dull political matter to hi
Chapter 104: Liars.After leaving the ceremony, Chasm reached the bottom rung of the ladder. He paused while the other humans got to the floor. He stood in a long back hallway off of the great room where the meeting was held. The walkway was silent, and the Nebos was thick here. As he stepped to the side, Chasm could feel the eyes of Jazz, Murry, and Peltratria on him. By the time they started walking down the hall back to the training area, Chasm was so mad that he had the feeling even the humans could tell. "Are you okay?" Peltratria asked him."Fine," Chasm snapped. He could barely be respectful right now. His mind was on all the sex he had. Chasm had sex with a bear.He had fucked a bear."Chasm?" Murry put his hand on Chasm's arm to slow his stomping forward, but Chasm shook the other man off him."I'm fine," Chasm repeated.His rage reached a boiling point right as they got to the end of the hall. Never did he think he could be this angry, but this was a betrayal of the worst ki
Chapter 105: Earth.Talking to Sloan and getting human clothes was nothing but a blur. Speaking with Octnavin and JP was nothing but a mist in his mind. By the time Chasm got on the spaceship to take him to Earth, he was in a haze of pain and betrayal. Chasm had been on hundreds of ships, but some part of him was so broken and angry that at the moment that he didn't even notice the differences of the Dagerstanteen's space vessel. He went to his assigned room and slept. As the ship approached Earth, Chasm was awakened by JP. The alien inspected Chasm's body thoroughly. JP touched Chasm from the tip of his head to the tip of his toes, trying to sense if Chasm was carrying a Dagerstanteen baby alien. When JP stroked over places only penetrated by Rhylent, in his head, Rhylent lost his temper. Chasm didn't pay any attention to Rhylent's rage at him sharing his body with JP. At least Chasm didn't lie about what was happening to him, and besides, JP wasn't the first alien to touch him and
Chapter 106: Maybe whiskey will work?"I'll be home later tonight. Don't watch TV all day." Elijah's words didn't stir Chasm from where he curled on the man's couch. As soon as he heard the door click shut, Chasm rolled over and stared unseeingly into Elijah's apartment. It had been three weeks here on Earth, and Chasm was no closer to being happy here than any of the other places he had lived in his life. Even though Elijah took him all over the city and showed him one thing after another, all of the sight-seeing left Chasm hollow. He missed the view of the mountains, and he missed Norwell even though she lied to him. And he missed… all of Rhylent.Chasm found the remote and turned on the television. The show was the one he had watched before. The music played, and the characters flashed across the screen. While he stared at the laughter and drama, he thought about Rhylent. His thoughts brought the alien to his mind. Though the link had started to fade, Chasm still felt the connectio
Chapter 107: In the hospital. The beeping wouldn't let up, and Chasm didn't know how to get the annoying noise to stop. Was this a new kind of cruelty? His head throbbed, and his mouth was so dry he felt like he had not drunk water for years. While agony beat at him, he tried to turn off the beeping with his mind. Would he have to listen to that damn sound over and over again forever?As Chasm gained full consciousness, the steady beep had him confused. He didn't think he was in Elijah's apartment. His entire body screamed after every inhale and exhale. Chasm was used to pain, but this frozen pain feeling was new. He couldn't move, and that was the thing that he didn't understand. Where was he that he was suffering like this? It was as if his body now matched the torment in his soul.Chasm's eyes opened first to a fuzzy light and then to a white paneled ceiling. The room was primarily white walls with pale blue and tan accents. Odd-looking machines were to his left and right, and he w
Chapter 136: The end of... Life and Death.Standing between his grove of apple trees and his rows of orange trees, Ike stopped and inhaled the blossoms in the wind. The bright star of the Dagerstanteen planet had him closing his eyes and sighing in delight. He'd never been outside this much, and he was addicted to the warm fresh air. He grinned. There were a few things he was addicted to now, one of which was the three humans laughing, chatting, and strolling toward him.Ike opened his eyes and smiled at the three men walking between his carrots."Ike," Chasm called. "We are here to learn.""Thank you for agreeing to take care of my plants while I travel with JP." Ike nodded."Caveman." Sloan approached him using the nickname he'd given Ike after they met. Sloan held up his hand, and Ike slapped Sloan's palm before his new friend jogged over to where the row of raspberry bushes was growing. "This is badass."Ike glanced at Chasm and raised an eyebrow."It means good," Chasm translated.
Chapter 135: Taking the fire back.JP didn't make a sound after Lee's announcement, but Ike could see his thoughts moving in a whirl. JP was making plans. The alien was rigging up a way to pull him from the fire if he said yes. The alien was also simultaneously trying to figure out how to keep Ike alive for a long time if he didn't hold the fire and if they didn't get the lifesaving water. Ike was very old and his Dagerstanteen blood would only do so much. Plus, all the humans needed the healing water. It wasn't just his life they were talking about here."I…" Ike pictured going back to the rain planet. He would have to watch time tick by while he held the fire again. The loneliness would eat at him. "I will have to return to the sanctuary," Ike murmured."Never," JP snapped."You do know that you burned that to the ground, right?" Keltrix asked."I will forbid you from returning to your old home." Octnavin's sentence was unmovable stone. "If you were to take the ember and regrow the P
Chapter 134: Life after the fire.As soon as Ike had the sensation of being set on a cold table, his eyes opened wide. It had been a long time since Ike felt the sensation of cold."JP?""He is here."Ike looked into Keltrix's eyes and then pushed away from the tentacles holding him. He sat and swung his legs until he was on the edge of an exam table in a laboratory."Where am I?" Ike glanced at Keltrix and then at Octnavin. Next to him on a second table was JP. The alien looked burned from head to toe. He wasn't moving, and Ike felt panic. Did the fire kill JP? Why was everyone acting like it didn't matter?"JP?" Ike set his hand on his blackened skin. The hard surface was rippled and rough."What is that thing that Sloan likes to say?" Keltrix asked Octnavin."He bounces back fast." Octnavin crossed his middle tentacles over his chest."Yes," Keltrix agreed. "That's it.""Where are we?" Ike glanced at the leader of the Dagerstanteens. "Is JP dead?""This is our ship, and we are parke
Chapter 133: At the fire temple.Ike kept himself conscious by listening to the Dagerstanteen that carried him. JP found the most boring things to list in Ike's head until he had to fight not to sleep. Although Ike struggled to stay awake, he did agree that JP kept his emotions and the fire calm.As the air got colder, the cooler air had him focusing. The six of them started to climb up a wide rock staircase on the closest side of a small mountain. The guards that had followed them stayed at the bottom. All around them was water, and there were no sides or railings to the steps. One move to the left or the right, and they would fall into the dark, murky moat.Ike lifted his chin and tipped his head as they marched. His heart beat a little faster when he spotted the Panchen Fire Shrine.This is where he would die.When they reached the end of the staircase, JP stepped onto smooth marble. Ike noted that the water lapped at the highest point and splashed like the liquid wanted to take ove
Chapter 132: Albeon.When Ike awoke, he was cradled in JP's tentacles, but the skin was not soft and silky. The tentacles that held him were stiff and hard and throbbing with heat. The alien had turned his skin into armor, and Ike didn't know why.Blinking rapidly, Ike was about to explain again how he was heading to Albeon no matter what JP said, but as he focused his eyes, he was shocked and speechless at what was happening around him.JP stood in front of Princess Lee and three old Albeon women. Ike knew who those women were. Shay had told him about the three elders. There was Dilma, Payson, and Rolla. He was finally on the planet Albeon and besides the women in front of him, all around the open field, stood male Albeon guards of every shape and size. The number of weapons pointed at him was concerning, and he found himself holding his breath.On the right of JP stood Octnavin holding a sizeable pink bundle in his arms. On JP's left side stood a fully armed Keltrix like a silent sen
Chapter 131: Out of control. Fenton and Shay stood in his living area. As Ike walked out of his bedroom, he began to roll a cigarette. He felt nauseous and wanted to curl up and cry and rail against the unfairness of life. But he wouldn't do that in front of anyone. He could fall apart later when he was alone. Right now, he had to get dressed and leave with some dignity. He could hear Baja in his head. He needed to get it together and keep the fire calm."Ike—" Fenton stopped when JP strode out of Ike's bedroom. "JP? What are you doing here?""Greetings," Shay murmured as her eyes went from JP to Ike. "I didn't know he was...." Shay lifted her eyebrows and then grinned. "What were you doing in your bedroom?""Talking." Ike gave Shay a warning look to let it go and then brought his cigarette to his lips."Arguing," JP said at the same time."Did you bring me a new ship?" Ike asked as he lit his cigarette and ignored the Dagerstanteen."I brought mine. I will escort you." Queen Shay nod
Chapter 130: Time to leave.Ike used JP's tentacle as a pillow as he stared at the ceiling above his bed. For the last two days, he'd had sex, talked, ate, laughed, and had more sex. In the end, he did everything he could so that he wouldn't have to tell JP that he was going to his death. He'd never been this happy, and he hated to end his relationship with the Dagerstanteen but....He knew he had to, and soon.Any moment Lee or Shay would show up with a ship, and he was leaving to fly to Albeon. He must get rid of the fire. The flame was staying calm right now, but the blaze could get out of control, and it was only a matter of time before the fire burst from him. His exhaustion was rising from trying to keep the fire from blowing, and he was scared to find out what would happen if he ran out of energy. He would not be responsible for that kind of destruction. Ike had to tell JP and explain. It was the right thing to do.Ike rolled over and cushioned his cheek against JP's shoulder. H
Chapter 129: Playing."I cannot believe I am about to make a fool of myself." Ike sat in the middle of the bench and stared up at the massive instrument. The strings were on the right and left and came down from a long bar across the top. He couldn't even reach some parts of the instrument unless he got up and ran around. He refused to be that ridiculous.Cracking his knuckles, Ike paused as he decided he would play the easiest song he knew, and even though he couldn't hit all the notes, it would probably sound good enough that his ears wouldn't bleed."Any time," JP teased."You'll regret this." Ike glared at the alien and then reached his hands outward and wiggled his fingers.JP made a slight giggle under his breath.Ike ignored the alien and began the song. He plucked at each string until the notes shimmered in the air. The sound waves rolled off the loominairin, and he grinned at the beauty of the music. The song was simple, and he had just reached halfway went JP moved behind him
Chapter 128: Flying back home.When Ike awoke, he pulled himself into a sitting position and leaned against the front window of his ship. He was naked and covered in a blanket. After he rubbed his eyes, he glanced over his shoulder. His home planet was coming into view."What happened?" Ike bounded to his feet in shock and then wrapped the cloth around his waist. He hunted for his armor and picked up the pieces of clothing strewn all over the command deck."I do not know what you are asking me. Nothing happened." JP gave him a quick look before he went back to flying his ship. "You fell asleep after you reached your third climax. You have quite the stamina. I think that is your Dagerstanteen blood." The alien sounded amused. "When we were free to leave the ocean floor, and there were no threats to the ship, I took over flying and let you rest. I said goodbye to Tullie for you.""I bet you did," Ike muttered as he pictured what JP probably said about Ike being placed in a sexual stupor