Mech Zero: The Dominant Read Free Page B

and come back after the Mendelians had grown tired of their sport and flown home.
    Instead, he darted into the head. He let the door shut behind him with an audible click. Inside, he made a great show of urinating. Fortunately, this came easily to him, as he hadn’t used his personal waste tube for hours. He’d been too keyed-up.
    Among the many peculiarities of his people, the citizens of Tranquility lacked shame. They did not object to nudity in public or to public elimination activities. The door of the head behind him, in fact, had a porthole in it.
    Theller sensed a shadow behind him. Captain Beezel watched him through the porthole. He took no notice. He continued relieving himself and even leaned sleepily against the close walls of the tiny restroom. When he had finished, he turned around without closing his suit, exposing himself. He did everything he could to appear mildly intoxicated.
    There stood Captain Beezel, staring at him through the porthole. Her perfect-looking blue eyes were too big for a human face. They were child-like, exaggerated and strangely attractive.
    Theller slid open the door and almost stumbled into her.
    “Uh,” he said. “Captain? Sorry.”
    She didn’t say anything. Her manner was disturbing, and he thought she suspected something. He decided to keep with his act, however, and remained the bumbling intoxicated crewman. He moved to push past her, and she snapped out an arm to stop him.
    Her arm was thin, and it looked as if it might break when he leaned against it. But it was made with metal bones and artificial muscles, not weak flesh. He could not pass.
    “Sorry,” he mumbled again, eyes half-closed. He thought in all likelihood she had seen his sabotage, but he would continue to play his part to the finish, even if she grabbed him with those tiny, impossibly strong hands and threw him out the airlock. He was an academy-trained mummer, he told himself pridefully. If this was to be his last role, he would stay in character to the bitter end.
    “Ensign?” she asked.
    “Captain?”
    “Do you find me attractive?”
    This question surprised him. He had expected a hundred things, but not this. “Yes,” he said. “Sure.”
    She reached for him, pulling his face down to hers. She kissed him. Her lips were soft, and although they tasted slightly of plastic, they were convincing enough. He felt himself becoming aroused.
    She pushed him back into the restroom then, and followed him inside pulling the door shut behind them. It was a tight squeeze, but Theller didn’t mind the experience.
    He did feel fear at the moment of consummation. What if she were equipped differently than normal women? He soon found she had a very convincing set of apparatus, and apparently it was connected to her braincase with enough artificial sensory nerves to be very stimulating for her. She achieved her climax before he did, and she proceeded to repeat the process no less than five times before he could finish himself.
    Afterward, he maintained his bemused, groggy smile. “What was that all about?” he asked.
    Captain Beezel looked at him. Her big, blue, artificial orbs were more entrancing than ever. He felt certain at that instant he’d done the right thing by saving them all.
    “If we are about to die, I figured we might as well enjoy our last minutes. I saw you sleeping earlier…and when I found you up and relieving yourself….”
    “Ah,” he said. “Of course. But why me?”
    “Well,” she said without a shred of concern for his feelings, “you are the only other officer aboard.”
    “I see,” he said, nodding again. “Staying safely within regulations?”
    The captain laughed. “Hardly,” she said.
    Ensign Theller staggered back to his seat and buckled himself in. He quietly watched her moving about the cabin. He had to smile, feeling glad that due to his efforts she might just survive this war. Perhaps, if he were lucky, they’d get a chance for a repeat