Chapter Forty

Aaron

When Aaron climbs back in through the rear airlock of the shuttle, he can only see the silhouette of Arma outlined by the dim lighting of her control displays. He can’t see her in her black suit, but he can somehow tell she’s turned around in her seat watching him. Without his helmet on, they can’t say anything to one another. He points to her wrist, telling him to check his battle com again. The message says the main gun is out of ammo.

While he pushes his boots into the foothold loops on the floor, and hunches over to tend to his gear, she turns back around and jams away on a few of her displays. It looks like she’s talking to the others. Being dead silent in the evacuated cabin. It’s strange not even being able to hear the small rustling around he’d be making in his hefty suit. They’ll likely be going in and out when the others show up, so they’ve decided to leave it evacuated for now.

As second nature, he automatically checks his weapons first thing. He opens the breaches on his rifles, slides a new single round into each barrel, slams the bolt home, and changes out the magazines with new ones from the cabinet. The flack cannon and energy platform go back in their racks while he keeps only the standard rifle out and ready. While he relives each step of what went down outside, he takes rounds, one at a time, out of the ammo box dispenser and pushes them into his empty magazines. When he’s all done, the mesh bag full of empty brass cases goes into another box.

Out of the corner of his eye, the battle com on his wrist flickers with another message from Arma. The other shuttles are still another couple hours out, and everything appears to be in the clear. Neither of them, or anyone else, has picked up any more movement anywhere in orbit. After what’s happened, all contractors across the planet have ceased movement on all assets in a sort of cease-fire. No one wants to risk any more potential fallout, or catastrophic orbital collapse.

While Aaron isn’t looking, Arma slips out of her suit, leaving it behind in her seat. Being her very first ever feel of zero gravity, she very gently climbs over the top of her seat. There isn’t much room between the tops of their seats and the ceiling, but enough to float over them down the length of the cab. With the mere touch of her toe against the headrest, she very slowly floats toward the back of their little ship. With the airlock wide open, Aaron can’t hear her unzipping her flight suit, or anything.

Giving herself a little bit of a spin, she glides along the ceiling, watching him and the cabin seemingly rotate around herself. She stretches her long lanky body out straight, with her arms all the way over her head, taking up most of the entire length of the cab. It feels so good to be free of her suit and harness after being stuck in it for over two days straight.

When she looks down on him from above, she smiles at having won over such a handsome face. The fine scrape marks on his skin, from what he’s been through, are especially arousing. He looks dangerous, seasoned, and masculine. While watching him concentrated on plucking and placing bullets here and there, she grins so big, nearly laughing.

She runs her hands down her own chest, flanks, and hips. The sensual feel of it flows down her spine and through her legs like a subtle tingling of electricity. She’s imagining his hands on her again, driving her want for him ever higher. It makes her wonder if it’s even possible satisfy the desire she has for him. It’s almost all she can think of when she’s around him.

When she can no longer keep her hands to herself, she sneakily reaches for him and runs her fingers down the sides and front of his neck. She claws them back up under his jawline and tilts his head up to face her. She can see the same lustful look in his eyes as she has for him. While he makes sure his helmet is turned and facing the wall, his eyes don’t move a one bit away from hers.

While he unlatches the metal collar, and unzips the front of his suit, she reaches farther down, in under his jumpsuit, spreading her hands across his chest. When she starts to lose her balance, he firmly grabs ahold of her arms and lets her get that feel of him she wanted. The muscle in his chest flexes in her hands, making her grin with satisfaction.

When they get his suit all the way off, she pulls his body against the full length of hers, wraps her legs around his, and then pushes them off the floor. When her back reaches the ceiling, with him on top of her, she makes it their bed. She spreads her hands across his shoulders and presses the middle of her back against the headrest of his seat, pinning him down on the ceiling where she wants him.

Giving in to every bit of pent up need she’s been holding back, she presses her pelvis against him, grips around his bulky thighs with hers, and forces his legs down wither feet on the insides of his knees. All she leaves room for him to do is grab ahold of her hips and take it, as she gets everything she’s been waiting for.

When she’s finally overtaken by an unstoppable clenching orgasm, she relaxes and buries her face against the side of his neck. When the overwhelming sensations fade, and she can think straight again, she kisses his skin and tries to hide the shy look of having lost control of herself again. She’s not done with him yet though, and really never will be. She’ll always want more.

Aaron looks up toward the rear of the shuttle and then back down at her with a smirk. He can hardly see her there in the darkness. Outside, the sunlight has the dock and everything else lit up spectacularly. Now that she’s wrapped well around him, he pulls them towards the airlock door, and reaches for the leash on the floor on their way out. With the shuttle in positon hold, it gives off a couple small puffs from its thrusters when they reach the end of their line.

Where he can see her incredible translucent black skin glimmering in the light, he runs one of his hand down the back of her thigh, getting her to give him one of her feet. He pulls a loop through the carabiner and synchs their lanyard tight around her ankle. She looks up at him with almost bewildered eyes, wondering what he’s going to do with her.

It’s her first time being outside like this, so she’s nervous with wonder and even a little fear. She’s already started to heat up with all the effort she put in, since they’ve been in vacuum. Instead of manhandling her, like she was expecting, he takes it slow with her, softly caressing her skin everywhere he can get his hands. After her rigid posture melts away, her body turns supple, offering up the softness of her muscles to him.

Even in the light, everything is almost all feel. He can only catch glimpses of fine lines of light flowing across every intoxicating curve of her glossy black body. He doesn’t know if he will ever be able to wrap his mind around her perfect figure. There is so much to every inch of her.

When she can’t wait any longer, she hooks her ankles around the backs of his and reaches her arms behind her head to grasp around the back of his neck. She pulls her head back all the way, and runs her tongue across the side of his face. She has no idea what she’s doing, but it’s what she wants nonetheless. She knows she has him really riled up when he wraps his hand around the front of her long throat. All the muscle in his core tightens up when she slides her rear up against him and squeezes him tight between her thighs.

His patient pawing at her stops suddenly stops when she slips herself back down on him. He still holds onto her throat, but presses the other hand between her legs, forcing them open wider, and takes control of her. Putting an unexpected amount of strength into it, he presses her against him. As soft as butter, she closes her eyes and gives in. It feels like being completely consumed.

With absolutely nothing but the darkness around them, he loses himself to her body. There is nothing in his mind but the unquenchable need for her skin to be on his, to be inside her, body and mind. When she grips down on him, he makes it last, and never lets up. It feels like it lasts hours, or even days. Even time cannot come between them. By the way her chest heaves, her silent screams are surely the kind that would’ve been heard by everyone in the complex if they were back home. By the time he’s more than had his way with her, his entire body is reeling from the overload of it all.

Both of them are panting, but with nothing to breathe. They’re baking hot again, and they know they’d better get cooled off quickly. It feels like he’s going to start sweating when he realizes their heat signatures have probably been picked up a million times by now. He hopes to God the SSS crew doesn’t somehow have the two of them up on the big projector.

Arma is completely limp in his arms as he pulls them back to the shuttle with the leash. She closes her eyes when he looks down at her, and nuzzles her face into his neck over his shoulder. Just in time, a message on his battle com shows a text that the others will be coming up on them within minutes. He can’t believe they’ve been going at one another for almost two hours.

When they both climb back into the shuttle, Arma immediately heads to the console to pressurize the cabin, while he gets the airlock doors closed. As soon as the ship fills with the sweet release of cold nitrogen, they share a bottle of water between themselves, taking thirsty gulps between kissing one another. The sharing of their hot steamy breath and wet mouths has them about to forget about the Mars crew and hold up in their little ship for another hour.

He notices the way she looks at him now is somehow different again, not like the first time they were overtaken by their desires, or when she told him she loved him. This time, it feels like they’ve been bonded permanently, in a way that cannot be undone. It’s the two of them forever now, and she can feel it too. She smiles at him with the most pure and loving look that he’s ever seen from anyone.

After they’ve slipped back into their flight suits and are buckled up tight in their seats, they move their shuttle out a little ways away from the dock to give the Mars crew the room they need to set everything up. They watch in awe as so many astronauts spread out from the big crew ship and make their ways to the other landers and cargo. Twenty colonists all brave the emptiness outside the safety of their ships to put everything together. The two of them feel like they’ve been humbled while vulnerable flesh and blood humans, in their popcorn-white suits, move huge engines, landers, cargo, and another ship all on their own.

It takes a good five hours for the crew to set everything up and fix all the damage from the drones. The damn things have been trying for weeks to hijack the landers. They had managed to get into the thing, but they were also surprisingly very careful to not actually damage anything. Like Don had assumed, the things were not there to so callously destroy anything. Luckily, the contractors had the forethought to implement robust biometric access to the critical control systems on all the equipment.

While he and Arma patiently wait, he takes the time to install one of the spare lenses in his helmet and fill the gouge in the top of it. Over the com, they listen in on the others talking about the mission. It sounds like there’s still two drones drifting farther out past the moon. They’re on a completely different and slower paced trajectory, but they all know where the things will eventually end up. It’s beyond frustrating. The thought of the colonists getting wiped out anyway, after making it all the way there, is putting him in an ever darkening mood. Even if he gave the colonists rifles, and they could somehow miraculously survive fighting off a few of the robots, it won’t be the last of them.

While all of the colonists are finished with everything outside and are loading up in the landers, the weariness of their captain is beginning to show. Going to Mars was is likely going to be an inevitable and bleak end to him and his crew. Supply shipments will have to keep coming, and the chance that they will continue for another thirty years is hopeful at best. With killer robots coming after them now, it’s become a bit more disheartening. They thought they would be doing this for the world, but it turns out the world doesn’t even want them. In fact, it’s the opposite.

He and Arma reach out to the other shuttle to see if there’s anything else they can do for the colonists. “What do you guys think about just giving them all our guns and ammo?”

There’s a long pause from the other ship. Don only clears his throat. Onscreen, he and Vaun glance at one another awkwardly. Sy conveniently pops up on their main monitor, looking a bit sheepish. He’s in the bar with everyone else, and the whole room is quiet. With the angle having been made wider, they can see everyone in the room. Sy puts his hands at his hips, and kind of lowers his head. When he wrings one of his hands around the back of his neck, they know something is up, something not good. The two of them wait in patient silence as Sy takes in a full breath.

“As you have all surmised by now, this isn’t going to be the last of what’s coming for the colonists. Word around the world is, the colony won’t stand for long. Our military has already been gearing up for this, and they’re stepping in, but the truth is, they’re scheduled months out from now. It’s going to be a huge mechanized launch, and they’ve already been pushing as fast as they can go.”

Arma turns in her seat to look back at him. He can see it on her face that she knows what’s coming. He can tell by the sound of her measured breathing that she doesn’t want Sy to say the words. He closes his eyes and weighs everything they have to lose and what they have to gain.

Sy drops his hands back down, and puts his thumbs in under the belt of his pants before looking up at the screen again. Even though it’s on video, it feels like he’s really looking right at them.

“Now, I know it’s a lot to process right now, but Aaron, Arma… you guys are already as far out as the moon is. That’s a long ways, as I’m sure you’re already feeling. And I know you’ve still got your solid rockets too. From what I understand, the two of you stocked you ship up with enough emergency supplies to keep you going for quite some time.”

He wishes it were just the two of them on the line, so he could let Sy have it, but everyone is watching. He sees Five in the background with her hand over her mouth, scared to death of what’s happening. It breaks his heart knowing he and Arma would be leaving her behind like this. It won’t be weeks, or months if they go either, but years. Arma is completely turned around in her seat now. It’s still pretty dark in the cab, but he can clearly see the gleam on her wet eyes. He hopes to god she doesn’t tell him she doesn’t want to go. He wouldn’t be able to if she did.

He puts his hand over his eyes, pressing at his temples as he hangs his head. “Sy… it’s a lot right now.”

Sy look around the room, unable to mention such a secret, even amongst his loyal guards. “You know how to work the old stuff Aaron, and Quincy knows you do. He wants you up there. This is bigger than just SSS. No man has ever even seen it, not then, not now.” He holds his arms out wide, as if it’s simply a no-brainer.

His imagination takes him to crazy places underneath the Martian mountains, where a dust covered old-world army of robots waits in the dark. He imagines what kind of crazy base could be down there in the giant lava tunnels. It’s the true reason why no one wants the continental Americas to get there first.

The only two choices he and Arma have, are to abandon the colonists, their duties to SSS, and their country, or to abandon everyone they love back home. While he hesitates, not wanting either case, all the guards in the bar start shifting around. Eventually, Five, Valerie, Mikel, Clarice, Alexis, Marek, and even Gabriel are rounded up and moved to the front of the room. The finality of what is to come hasn’t yet completely sank in for them yet.

This job was only supposed to be an armed escort, a hell of a dangerous one, but that was it. Now he and Arma might possibly never see their loved ones again. There would be no more memory backup scans, or anything. They could die up there and lose everything from since over a month ago. Sy knows what his answer is going to be, he just doesn’t want to have to say it himself. He knows what it would do to them if he made them choose their job over their family. As the boss, he has to be the asshole this time. Even if it means some serious fallout from the other three on the Five-series project.

“I know we’re kind of winging it, but Vaun is going to resupply you with some shells for the immediate time, give you all the guns and ammo they have, and uh…” He puts his hands in his pockets and looks down for a second. “If there’s anything else you guys need. Let him know. We’ll schedule a drop as soon as we can. The military won’t be all that far behind you.”

As he and Arma watch the others onscreen, it’s mainly Five that they’re so worried about. It looks like she’s going to throw up. Absolutely heartbroken, she shakily covers her face with her hands and ducks out of the room in a hurry. It’s absolutely devastating for Arma, who tries to call out for her. She tries to call her on her battle com, crying and begging for her to pick up, but there’s no answer.

The second Valerie starts to accost Sy, Arma switches the com feed off and curls up in her seat, wrapping her arms around her knees up against her chest. He feels like pulling the skin right off his own body in a complete manic fit, but he closes his eyes and holds it together. The heavy nylon straps over his shoulders creak as he pulls on them as hard as he can. He knows damn well there won’t be any kind of a return launch from Mars. That kind of infrastructure will never happen. He’d be lucky if someone could eventually send his and Arma’s skulls back one day, and that’s a hell of a stretch at best.