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- @BEGIN_FILE_ID.DIZ
- Journal Entry 013 / 0081@END_FILE_ID.DIZ
-
-
- I gritted my teeth and walked in the one-fifth gravity to the
- stepping disk and ordered it to take me home. The sudden increase in
- weight slugged me, and it simply fed my anger. GODDAMN HER!
-
- I stormed past some people in the hallway as I walked towards my
- home. I heard a voice behind me: "Ken..." Paul. Go The Fuck Away.
-
- The door slid open and I walked through, settling into the couch,
- still seething. Damn damn damn damn. I do not need this!
-
- There was a knock at the door. "What?" I snarled.
-
- "Ken?" It was Paul again.
-
- I took a deep breath, sighed, and said "Come in Paul."
-
- The door opened again, and the Centaur walked in and looked around.
- He stepped carefully over to the other side of the coffee table and
- settled onto the floor, folding his legs under him. "Are you okay?"
-
- "No, I am not okay, but thank you for asking." I looked down at my
- hands, which felt cold, and rubbed them together.
-
- "What's up? Last I heard, you were up at Alpha with Miss Traken."
-
- "Yeah, last you heard. And last you're gonna hear about that," I
- said, angrily.
-
- "Getting on your nerves?" he said.
-
- "Look, Paul, I know you don't like her. I know M'ress doesn't like
- her, but I need her. She's the most qualified Centaur obstetrician on
- the Ring. She's a bitch, a pain, but I need her."
-
- "She's not a Shardik."
-
- "No, she's not. We've never really settled on what that means,
- though, but she definitely does not qualify. Look, right now I'm more
- than a little steamed."
-
- "What happened?"
-
- "We were in Alpha again, and she started complaining again."
-
- "About?"
-
- "Paperwork. Look, you know how much of the original Centaur design
- is simply notes scattered around in a couple of notebooks I have.
- They're carefully put away, but that's not good enough for her. Paul,
- when I made you, I got it right, but Carroll is... sterile. I can fix
- it, I know I can, but I need the help of someone who isn't a
- microbiologist, someone who understands the big picture. She's it.
- P'nyssa Traken is the best, recommended by Rhys himself, but Rings,
- kiddo, I did perfectly well without hypertext. She wants everything
- hypertexted, and I just don't have that. I work up here," I pointed to
- my temple, "and she doesn't understand that. She's got a complete
- biocybe link in her head. She could do research all day just by sitting
- down and thinking. I can't. I'm a hands-on person. If it isn't
- bubbling away in Alpha somewhere, if it isn't made up of paper and ink,
- it isn't mine. I can't handle that kind of abstraction. I like using
- keyboards and mice and joysticks." I paused, took another deep breath,
- and said "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to rant and rave like that."
-
- He smiled. "I haven't got my wife's common sense, Ken, but I can
- see two choices here. I mean, it is your project, after all. You can
- either get her to accept your methods, or dismiss her."
-
- "Then who have I got?"
-
- "There's always Brieanna."
-
- "Rhys recommended her second, but he also said it was quote a
- distant second unquote."
-
- "Your only option, then, is to talk to her."
-
- "Not an option."
-
- He nodded. "Where is she now?"
-
- "Dave?" I said, addressing the ceiling.
-
- "Miss Traken is still on Alpha. According to Hal, she is having a
- comprehensive cross-index of your notes made up."
-
- "Well, maybe that'll keep her happy," I said. But eventually, I
- made up my mind.
-
-
- A few hours later, I walked back to Alpha. When I stepped into the
- lab, she was standing a few meters away over a desk, a b/r headband
- around her temples. She was about 170cm tall, dark blue fur and large
- elfin ears. I like Tindals, because for once they're not based on
- anything classical. Miss Traken was a little different, because she had
- distinctive patches of fur without any tint to them around her eyes.
- They gave her a slight 'racoon' look I found it attractive. Her arms
- were tentacles, like all Tindals, and she deftly handled the custom
- keyboard with her mittens. One pad and opposable thumb. Soft and
- dextrous. "Dr. Traken."
-
- "Dr. Shardik," she said, acknowledging my presence.
-
- "Dr. Traken. I invited you to help me on a rather difficult
- project that I sensed I could not manage on my own." This was a rather
- over-rehearsed speech, and I think it sounded that way. "Unfortunately,
- I now find our personal differences too large to make us an effective
- research team. While you are welcome to take notes and consult with Hal
- as you see fit, I'd like you to not return to Alpha labs in the future."
- Without waiting for a reaction, I turned on my heels and walked out.
-
-
- I spent the next five hours at home, fretting and fuming over my
- decision. Damn it, I had reasons other than just the professional for
- not wanting Brieanna as a research partner. I had a lot of personal
- reasons. I reviewed records. There was Hl. T. C. Rhys himself. There
- was Dr. P. Vaughnnel. There was a Dr. T. D. Mittleson, another Tindal.
- All competent, but none of them really had Dr. Traken's skill, and this
- was brought home to me over and over as AI Dave, AI Jean, and I reviewed
- the records. I sighed and leaned back in the couch, lying down and
- closing my eyes.
-
- I awoke to hear a pounding at the door. "Ken!" The pounding grew
- more insistent, and I said "Dave, let them in."
-
- The door opened to reveal Chelsea, an older Unczia female who I'd
- been friends with for years and years. She stood over me, her furred
- ears flared to their full width and her upper lip drawn back into an
- unpleasant snarl. "I heard what you did to Dr. Traken today."
-
- "Chelsea..."
-
- "No, Shardik. You listen to me, and you listen carefully. Right
- now that young lady is throwing her life down the tubes over at
- Michael's, and if you have any interest at all in saving one of the
- Tleil Centuries, you'd better get over there right now!"
-
- I sat up and said, rather dumbly, "What?"
-
- "Ken, as far as anyone can tell, Dr. Traken is trying to drink
- herself into a drug-induced coma. Mike's being careful and keeping her
- on the edge of consciousness, but she could go over any second and she's
- a doctor! She's got access to plenty of things she could use, some of
- them a lot more unpleasant than just plain alcohol. Get up and get over
- there."
-
- I blinked. "Chelsea. If she wants to kill herself, that's her
- perogative. But I can't have her as a lab partner, and I don't think
- there's much chance of my going back on my word."
-
- "Listen to you. Do I have to get Miss Flanders in here?"
-
- The mention of Brieanna got my attention. "No, Chelsea. Okay,
- I'll go get her." I sighed and rose. Chelsea followed me as I walked
- quickly to the internal SDisk and teleported over the Michael's.
-
- I walked in to find the place nearly empty. Empty that is, except
- for Mike, tending bar, Rhys, who stood at the far edge of the bar with
- his arms folded and his equine bulk leaning up against the railing, and
- Dr. Traken, who was sitting at a booth with eight or nine empty beer
- glasses sitting around her, all of them with a slight white residue.
- Milk laden with some sort of heavy sedative or depressent, I'd wager.
- Apparently, nobody else wanted to watch someone self-destruction.
-
- The bar looked the same, lots of heavy stone and glass windows with
- leaded alloy frames, notoriously easy to break. There was a burning
- firepit in the center, arranged with a cone grated center to allow lots
- of air in, and reflect heat out into the room. The cone-shaped chimney
- above was still painted a kind of puke-green color, but the place was
- exquisitely clean, as always. I walked over to the bar and said,
- "What's she been drinking?"
-
- Mike, a tawny Felinzi, looked at me, said "Secobarbital." I
- nodded, looked up at Rhys, who turned his head away.
-
- I walked over to the booth and slid in opposite her. It was one of
- those round booths that slid all the way, with a "D" shaped table in the
- middle. Her head was down on the table, and she didn't raise it when I
- sat. So I got her attention; I picked up one of the glasses and threw
- towards the firepit that burned in the center of the bar. The glass
- flew across the radius of the firepit, mysteriously shattered in mid-air
- and all of the glass fell into the pit with a loud crash. A good
- display of forcefield for effect. She looked up. "Wh'dd'ya wan?" she
- said.
-
- "Come home with me, Dr. Traken."
-
- "Nizza," she said, lowering her head back to the table.
-
- "Excuse me?" I said, not quite catching it.
-
- "Nyssa. Tha'z m'name. Silen' 'P' en-wi-es-es-ey. P'nyssa.
- Other'n th' 'P,' yu ga' me tha' name, Shardik. Yu shud know tha.'" Her
- voice was very slurred.
-
- "Come on, P'nyssa." I rose and grabbed ahold of her shoulder. She
- tried to push me away, but I held on tight.
-
- "Leave me alone!" she shouted.
-
- "Why?" I asked.
-
- "Because you don' wan' me. I can tell."
-
- I bent down and balanced on my toes. "P'nyssa..."
-
- She looked up and cast about for a second, I guess trying to see me
- clearly, then focussing finally at where I knelt on the floor. "No, you
- lissen to me, Shardik. Working wit' you is suppozzed to be the high
- poin' of my carr... carr... work. Bein' thrown ou' by you, I'll never
- be able to do m'job without somebody pointin' a' me an' sayin' 'She's
- the one Shardik threw out.'"
-
- "P'nyssa, you're the best. That's why you I asked you to Alpha in
- the first place."
-
- She looked up again and said "Tha' doesn' help. Ni'er does Mikey,
- there, keepin' me stinkin' drunk and na' given' me 'nuff to finish it."
-
- "Dr. Tr... P'Nyssa, I don't want you to kill yourself. I am not
- worth killing yourself over."
-
- "Wha' else? Wha c'n I do?"
-
- "You can come home with me. Sober up."
-
- "I don' wan' soberrup. Ah'm fine."
-
- "Come on."
-
- "No!"
-
- I figured there was no helping this argument, so I left her and
- went back to the bar, shrugging my shoulders. Mike poured another drink
- and left it at her table. She drank it down in a few short gulps and
- keeled over. I walked back and picked her up, carrying her towards the
- door. "Thank Mike," I said.
-
- He nodded. I was just about out the door when I heard "Hey, Ken!"
- It was the first thing the previously impassive Rhys had said to me all
- day. I turned and looked at him. "You take care of her. She's my best
- kid. A little on the high side, but still my best. You hear me?"
-
- I nodded and backed out of the bar. Despite the load in my arms, I
- got back to the Castle with little or no trouble.
-
-
- It took six hours for the Mickey Mickey had slipped her to wear
- off, and when she came to on my couch she groaned and put her mitts to
- her temples. "Tell the Ogre to knock it off," she said.
-
- I smiled and handed her a glass of orange juice. She accepted it
- impassively and drank it all. "What's in this? It tastes odd."
-
- "B-Complexes. Quite a few of them, in fact. You need it."
-
- She looked at me, nodded. "I should leave now," she said.
-
- "I don't think so."
-
- "What do you mean, 'You don't think so?' You told me to leave,
- isn't that enough? Why do you keep coming back to it, Shardik? Just
- let me be."
-
- "P'nyssa. Brieanna Flanders would not let me kill myself, or have
- you all forgotten that little incident in Pendor's recent past? I'm not
- about to sit around and let you try the same stunt, for equally stupid
- reasons."
-
- She stared out the window to her right, looking out over the ocean.
- "When your father kicks you out of the house, what do your brothers and
- sisters think of you?"
-
- "Depends on the individuals. Look, Nyss, to be honest, I don't
- understand why we argue over something as stupid as paper."
-
- "Because you're disorganized. I can't work with that kind of
- disorganization. Your notes are a perfect example. I mean, how am I
- supposed to know that the genecode for enzyme 5054 starts in the green
- notebook, but you scribbled the RNA code for it on the flap of the red
- notebook?"
-
- "You're not. I get ideas at random, and they go onto the nearest
- notebook or surface, not necessarily the best place for them." I
- paused, and said, "Did you really want to kill yourself?"
-
- She looked away and said, in a small voice, "Yes."
-
- "Still want to?"
-
- "No."
-
- "What's the difference?"
-
- "I changed my mind. That's all. Look, if this is over, I'd like
- to go."
-
- "If you want." She took that as a 'yes,' rose and headed for the
- door. I walked behind her and as the door opened I said, "Nyss..."
-
- She turned. I don't know why, don't ask me, but as she did I was
- filled with this crazy idea. We weren't far enough apart to be social,
- weren't close enough to be intimate: dangerous space. I had two
- choices: back off or advance. The first was unacceptable, so I took two
- steps towards her, backed her up against the hallway wall and pressed my
- lips to hers. She struggled for a few seconds, then I released her,
- backed away into that dangerous space again. She looked at me, her
- expression impossible to read, then turned and ran for the SDisk. There
- was a flash and she vanished.
-
-
- The next day I spent cleaning up Alpha and, much to my surprise,
- having Halloran and Dave hypertext everything I'd ever written. After a
- few hours of that I returned back the Castle, stepping out on the
- outdoor SDisk and taking the long way home, swimming up through the
- underwater exchange SDisk and coming up in the dolphin pool, getting out
- and grabbing a towel. Ress was standing there. "Hi," I said,
- cheerfully.
-
- M'ress looked at me with some faint amusement in her whiskers, and
- said "I think you should check out your home, Ken."
-
- "Whyfor?" I asked.
-
- "Oh, I think you'll find it amusing."
-
- I shook my head and dried off as I did so. I dropped down two
- stories and headed for my domicile. I opened the door.
-
- Inside, the lights were off, but the sun was still out and it's
- diffused light filled it. In profile, I saw someone sitting outside on
- the porch, a tall glass of something faintly yellow on the table. A
- tindal, and I knew who it was. "Dr. Traken?" I asked.
-
- She turned her head towards me and said, "You didn't call me that
- yesterday, why start now?"
-
- I crossed the distance, walked out onto the porch and sat opposite
- her. "Okay," I said, "P'nyssa it is."
-
- "Why not just, 'Nyss?'"
-
- "'Nyss,' then."
-
- "Can I ask you a question?"
-
- "Sure."
-
- "Why did you kiss me yesterday?"
-
- "Because... I don't know. Because you're so pretty? Because I
- care about you? How about, because it was simply the right thing to do,
- and I did it?"
-
- "Do you care about me?"
-
- "Hell, yes, I care about you. Despite the fact that you've been
- one of the biggest pains in my ass in recent weeks, I do care about you.
- You're still one of my daughters. You're still a whole person."
-
- There was something distinctly different about her demeanor.
- "Ken..." She stopped. Then, "I'm sorry."
-
- "For what?"
-
- "For being such a bitch. I don't like losing control, not for a
- second, not even to Shardik. I'm sorry for losing control in the worst
- way. I'm even sorry for messing up your notes the way I did."
-
- "Don't be, about the last part. I spent today organizing my notes
- the way you had been trying. I even got a good laugh when I saw you
- trying to hyperlink two texts together that had to be seven references
- apart."
-
- "I did?" she said, eyes wide. "Which ones?"
-
- "There was one on Drexler and one on genecode visualization that
- just do not go together, and you had tried to make two links between
- them."
-
- "They looked like they belonged together."
-
- "Trust me, they don't."
-
- "See? I can't work like that."
-
- "Maybe... Maybe they do go together, and I just never meant for
- them to originally. Maybe we can get something to work by combining the
- two. But that's why my work is so disorganized, really. Because by
- scanning the notes, I sometimes get these crazy ideas that work."
-
- She looked at me again, and said, "I need to ask you one more..."
- She stopped and stared out to sea for awhile, then said, "Two more
- questions."
-
- "Ask away."
-
- "Can I come back and work for you?" There was a hopeful, childlike
- gleam in her eye.
-
- "Probationary."
-
- She nodded. "I understand."
-
- She was quiet for a while, so I asked, "And the second question?"
-
- "There are a few reasons why I shouldn't ask this. I mean, you are
- my father, and Vatare, and, well..."
-
- "P'nyssa, ask me your question."
-
- "Would you kiss me again?"
-
- I rose from my seat and walked around the table and leaned over
- her. She tilted her head upwards and I kissed her again. Her thin
- black lips opened and her soft tongue stroked against my teeth. I
- responded in kind, my tongue meeting hers. It was nice to be kissing
- her like this, but I felt odd. This wasn't the lust-filled attraction I
- usually feel with someone new, the intense infatuation with learning a
- new response, getting a new smile.
-
- As we kissed I reached down and ran my hands over the material of
- her blouse, and she reached up and wrapped her tens around my head and
- neck. What was different was that she was after me, not the other way
- around. Or maybe it just wasn't reciprocated. I don't know. But as my
- hands strayed over her hardened nipples poking through her clothing I
- knew this wasn't a bribe or ploy to get into my good graces; whatever
- her motive, she was turned on.
-
- It felt... familiar. I liked it, and I liked her. Her ten came
- loose from around my neck and strayed down, over my chest and between my
- thighs, caressing my hardening cock through my clothes as I caressed her
- nipples. Trying to drop a hint or two, I undid a couple of buttons on
- her blouse and reached in, ruffling her fur as I caressed her breasts.
-
- She pulled away from the kiss and said "Stand up." I did. She
- reached down with both hands and undid the buttons of my fly, my
- erection springing free into the open air. "P'nyssa..." I said.
-
- "What?" she asked, looking up with an evil grin.
-
- "Someone could see us. We should go inside."
-
- "Mm-mm," she hummed negative as she slowly lowered her head to my
- groin and licked the head of my cock with her tongue. She took the head
- into her mouth, and I felt the wetness surround me. She had my
- undivided attention, and I responded with a groan. She took as much of
- my penis into her mouth as she could, sucking gently. She seemed a
- little awkward, but I gratefully took every little bit of friction she
- was willing to give.
-
- Her sucking was wonderful. The sunlight streamed down just outside
- the porch, and the in the bright daylight her dark blue fur developed
- hints of gold streaks, highlights that were just too much. I reached
- down and ran my fingers through her hair, feeling the soft sensuality of
- it. I traced my fingers lightly over her large elfin ears, tickling the
- little hairs that sprouted out along the trailing edges, and the short
- fur on both sides as I explored the nook between her ear and her scalp.
- She held very still, idly sucking my cock without any back-and-forth,
- and I could feel her throat and her tongue stroking me.
-
- After a while, she stopped, and leaned back in the chair. "What's
- wrong?" I asked, my erection sporting from my pants.
-
- She smiled apologetically and said, "My mouth is tired."
-
- "Then why don't I do something nice for you?" I said, getting down
- on my knees and undoing the buttons of her blouse. She helped me rid
- her of the shirt and she tossed it over the side. I bet anyone playing
- down in the lagoon must have found that amusing. She had small,
- slightly droopy breasts with tiny nipples poking out from her rich fur.
- I leaned up against her and took one in my mouth. She hummed with
- pleasure as I licked her nipple, caressing it with my tongue and teeth.
- With my left hand I idly stroked under her skirt, not really
- concentrating on what I was looking for. I spent a lot of time on one
- nipple, and she wrapped her tens around my head as I licked and sucked.
- Her breathing became harder, more pronounced as I licked her, and she
- whispered, "Father..."
-
- I looked up, smiling. That word didn't bother me anymore. "Fuck
- me," she said. I stood up and held down my hand. She took it and
- stood. She started to walk inside, but I took her mitten firmly and
- shook my head 'No.' She canted her head to the side quizzically, and I
- put my hands about her waist and turned her around so she was facing
- away from me. I walked her to the edge of the porch and placed one of
- her mitts about the railing. She placed the other firmly on the other
- side, and I pulled her hips away from the railing somewhat. I reached
- around her and untied her skirt, letting it fall to the floor. She wore
- calf-high white leather boots of the western type, and I found them
- immensely attractive. I approached her from the rear, sliding my cock
- between her legs but not into her. I put one hand on the outside of her
- mittens and stroked back and forth, my hard erection sliding wetly
- against her sex.
-
- "Put it in," she breathed. I pulled back a little further, and
- with an awkward jab I found her vagina and slid my cock home. She gave
- a small peal of pain, and she said, breathing hard, "I forgot... forgot
- to tell you... I've never... never done this... before."
-
- That stopped me in my erotic tracks. "What?" I said loudly.
-
- "No," she said, "Don't stop. Please. Don't stop." I fought
- between my desire to stop and find out what this was all about and my
- desire to make love to her out here in the open. I decided the second
- and slowly slid my hips back. With an easy thrust I slid my cock into
- her again. She groaned and pushed back to accept my cock all the way
- into her.
-
- I was still befuddled. A virgin? She must be, no, she is thirty
- years old. I shook my head in confusion.
-
- Fortunately, neither she nor my cock was quite so confused. I
- found that comforting as I thrust in and out of her, slowly and gently
- feeling her flesh clamp down around my cock with every stroke, exploring
- her unique and wonderful pussy. I made love to her there, and she
- leaned against the pipe railing, her hair out in the direct sunlight
- glinting wonderfully. I took my hands from the railings and as I
- stroked her I caressed her nipples.
-
- "Ken..." She said, quietly, "I'm going to come, I can feel it, oh
- please don't stop, please fuck me more, please," and I did as asked,
- feeling the fur of her buttocks strike my naked hips with every thrust,
- sliding my hands down to her hips to give me more leverage, making love
- to this woman who just yesterday was my enemy. It really was love, and
- I pushed on, and she dropped her head down, completely out of control as
- she shuddered and bucked with her orgasm. That was all the clue I
- needed, finally giving release to my own needs and coming deep inside
- her, releasing my come down into her body, coming in this shuddering,
- screaming orgasm that clamped my eyes shut and made me hold on for dear
- life.
-
- And then it was over. I shook my head a few times and looked down
- at her. I reached down to help her up from the railing and turned her
- around. She willingly let me lead her back to her chair, and I vaguely
- remember asking Dave for two more lemonades. The AI gracefully put them
- on the table. We sat, breathing hard for a while, eyes closed (at
- least, mine were). Finally I said, "Why didn't you tell me?"
-
- She lolled her head up to look at me and said, "Didn't seem
- important."
-
- "Did you want me, in particular, to take your virginity like that?"
-
- She shook her head. "No, not in particular. It just... seemed
- right, at the moment." She smiled. I relaxed a little further. A
- repeat of Ember's little obsession I did not need. Still, Ember had
- been so sweet and charming about it.
-
- "You're still on probation," I said, picking up my lemonade and
- taking a big swallow.
-
- "I know," she said, picking up her glass as well. "But I think
- I'll get over it."
-
-
- ----------------------------------------------------------------------
-
- As always, the Journal Entries are (C) Elf M. Sternberg, and
- may be freely distributed provided this copyright is left intact no
- editorial changes are made to the text.
-
-
-