Interstellar Sex Dreams Pt. 01

"The look on your face tells me I chose well, and my eyes are up here," Amy said with a teasing smile as she gave him a slow turn to show off the rest of the dress. The back plunged even deeper than the front, and must have stopped just barely above the cleft between her buttocks.

"Wow," Mike eventually managed to squeak out. "You look truly sensational.'

"Thank you. I wasn't sure when I'd ever wear this dress, but something told me tonight was the right night."

"Well, I'm honoured and flattered," Mike replied with as much dignity as possible. "May I order you a drink?"

"Champagne, please," Amy replied.

"Something specific?"

"Moët is always nice."

Mike ordered from the android, only to be informed that his staff rating was insufficient to access the drink. "Well, that's a bit awkward. I can order you something standard, or you should be able to order it yourself."

"Oh, I didn't realise, sorry," Amy replied, successfully ordering the drink for herself.

"Same with the food, I'm afraid. Crew are looked after to a point, but we can't access the higher end of the equation. "

"Well then, maybe for the time it takes you to get the pod working, I can help you live it up a little."

"I don't want you to have to front that cost for me!" Mike objected.

"Shush, it will be a blip on the radar for me, and if I keep you sufficiently well fed, maybe you'll be motivated enough to sort out that pesky stasis pod a tad quicker."

"Okay... well, if you're okay with it, thank you."

They went through to the restaurant and enjoyed their dinner together.

"Tell me, Mike," Amy asked at one point during the evening. "What happens if you're unable to fix my pod? Is there a backup?"

"Um, no there's not, actually. If I can't fix yours, I give you mine and I get to grow old gracefully."

"What? That's outrageous! How could anyone ever be put in such a situation? I certainly couldn't do that to you!"

"Shh, don't worry, it's never happened, and I'm one of the best med techs around, so I have no doubt I'll have your pod issues resolved without much hassle. But you know, if that were to happen, I might ask you to comp me access to Out of this World before I put you under."

"Huh! I can imagine. So what would you program if you went in there? Is there something kinky it would feature?"

"Who says this isn't it?" Mike laughed.

"Well I've been thinking about that," Amy laughed. "Surely if you were in a stasis dream or in a virtual sex reality, you wouldn't have programmed me to say no to you. So you could ask me to do anything you wanted, and I would do it."

"Unless I got off on rejection, or I'd asked for a realistic challenge in my seduction of the target of my attentions," Mike countered.

"Oh, I didn't think of that."

"It really is easier not to," Mike grinned. "Anyway, thank you for a wonderful meal, but I should be getting some sleep so I can get an early start on your pod."

"Will you at least walk with me a while?" Amy asked. "I'd enjoy the company, and I did get all dressed up for the night." Mike took the opportunity to openly admire her body and the amazing dress it was contained in.

"I doubt I could ever say no to you," he replied. "Maybe you're the one who programmed me," and offered his hand to escort her from the restaurant.

"You never answered my question about what you might indulge in," Amy pointed out as they strolled the corridors of the ship.

"We've just met, a man needs to keep a few mysteries about him," Mike countered.

"Fair enough."

They walked for an hour and finished up outside Amy's suite.

"Goodnight Amy, it's been lovely getting to know you."

"Thanks Mike. I really appreciate what you're doing for me, and that you've been so gentlemanly about it. "I had a wonderful evening. I'll see you in the morning." Amy leaned in and gave him a peck on the cheek. He blushed furiously, resenting himself for doing so, but unable to prevent his body's reaction.

He walked back toward his own cabin, his mind whirling. Considering the entire package, personality and all, Amy was far lovelier than he'd even expected from their first meeting. She also seemed so far above his social status that he wondered if there could be any chance at all of actually seducing her. He began doubting both himself and the possibility of achieving his desired outcome.

Over the course of the next week, Mike pretended to make steady progress on fixing the imaginary fault with Amy's pod, whilst mostly just taking things apart and putting them back together again. Even taking them apart was overstating the case. Really, he just pulled modular things out so it would look like a complete mess if and when Amy strolled past, which was usually at least twice a day.

They shared their meals together, Amy being generous enough to fund upscale opportunities beyond those Mike was entitled to. He was surprised at how natural things were between them. He'd thought he would struggle to keep her engaged and entertained, but given her interest in people and his in her, it turned out to be easy. Everything went extremely well, except for a lack of romantic spark. Each night he'd walk her to her suite and bid her good night. Each time he walked away, he lamented the fact he'd not been able to kiss her goodnight, although she'd often give him a peck on the cheek. He'd return to his cabin, review the images he had stored of her and most nights would crank one out.

He started to feel badly about how long he was keeping Amy out of stasis. He gave it a further three days.

"We should celebrate tonight," Mike advised Amy when she visited him in the afternoon. "I've identified and repaired the final error. I'll run the final diagnostics on it overnight, and tomorrow morning you should be able to return to stasis. When you awaken near the end, you'll only be a week and a half older than you would have been without this interruption. "

"That's wonderful news, Mike," Amy replied, beaming her intoxicating and irresistible smile at him. "A celebration sounds like a grand plan. Any ideas?"

"How about the French restaurant? We haven't tried that one yet."

"Perfect. I'll be sure to dress up."

"That dress you wore the first night would certainly work well," Mike suggested.

"As would your dress uniform. I've always enjoyed seeing a man in uniform."

"Eighteen hundred for drinks?" Mike suggested.

"Done," Amy replied. As she walked out of sight, Mike couldn't help but notice the spring in her step.

He restored the stasis pod to working order and set the diagnostics going for real, just to make sure he hadn't accidentally tampered with something that might cause harm. Then he headed to his cabin to make sure he would be immaculate for their dinner that night.

~~~~~~~

With a final check of the mirror, Mike headed up to A deck where the restaurant was located. He arrived at exactly eighteen hundred hours and took a seat at the bar, just as he'd done the first night they'd dined together. He ordered a whiskey on the rocks and sipped at it while he waited.

Amy arrived only a couple of minutes later, wearing the spectacular dress Mike had suggested. It captivated him as much the second time he saw it on her as it had the first.

"You look amazing, Amy," Mike offered as he stood to greet her. Gathering his courage, he stepped close and kissed her on the cheek, pleased when she didn't pull back.

"And you do that uniform splendid justice," Amy complimented him in return. She ordered a drink and they moved to sit at a table in the restaurant's foyer rather than heading straight in.

"I still find it a little weird how we go through these societal rituals even though there isn't another soul about," Amy commented as they sat.

"Yeah, but I find it helps me stay sane," Mike replied. "Otherwise it would just be a quick feed and done. And if you treated everything like that, you'd be left struggling to fill all the hours of the day, so it makes sense to stretch it out a bit."

"Well I've only had a week and a half of this, but I can begin to see how tedious it must be for you to have a whole month to yourself."

"Yeah, that's why we're allowed to access the entertainment sectors of the ship. Well most of them."

"It does seem a little harsh not to allow you access to Out of this World. I mean, surely a bit of relief in that way would be good for morale."

"I think it stems from an incident where a crewmember lost himself in it. I mean, since then there have been any number of safeguards implemented to ensure that people don't end up stuck in a virtual world, but the provision persists, probably because of my being the only person not in stasis on the entire ship."

"I'm sure it made sense to someone at the time," Amy replied.

"You've had no desire to check it out?" Mike asked her.

"Actually no," Amy replied. "I guess with it having been just a week and a half, I've not built up the sort of tension that might prompt me to... enliven, so to speak."

"Fair enough," Mike replied. "Shall we eat?"

"Yes, let's," Amy replied.

They moved through to the restaurant and ordered indulgently, Amy insisting on top shelf to try and to provide Mike with the best meal he'd ever tasted.

"What should we do after dinner?" Amy asked as dessert was delivered to the table.

"How about a swim?" Mike suggested.

"Now, that sounds like a great idea," Amy replied.

They chatted through the remainder of the meal, then agreed to meet at the pool after retrieving their swimwear... the pool that gave the impression of swimming through space.

Mike arrived at the pool to find Amy waiting for him. Her suite was significantly closer than his cabin was. Amy greeted him with a kiss to the cheek before stepping back and discarding the light robe she'd worn over her suit. Mike struggled not to gape and stare as she revealed a white one-piece suit with long sleeves. It hugged her figure perfectly, with a deep V that showed her cleavage off beautifully. As she turned to fold her robe, he saw that the back scooped almost as far down as her dress had, while the lower portions of her taut buttocks were barely covered.

He quickly pulled off his polo shirt and laid it on a deck chair next to where Amy had placed her folded robe.

"Last one in ..." Mike started, then darted past her and jumped into the pool without waiting. He surfaced to see Amy still standing by the pool.

"Gets to remain elegant and receive free drinks?" Amy suggested as a completion of his sentence.

"Ahh touché," Mike laughed, even as he snapped an image with his ocular sensor of her standing at the pool's edge like a tempting angel. Amy simply stepped off the side of the pool and plunged feet first into the water before surfacing and flinging her long blonde hair back dramatically with a toss of her head.

"It's really quite amazing in here isn't it?" Amy asked after having swum along the bottom of the pool, looking out into the void of space beyond.

"It can be a little intimidating at times," Mike replied. "Not everyone copes well with such a vast view beneath them."

"I can see how it could unsettle some people," Amy agreed.

After swimming for a while, they climbed from the water, Mike ensuring that he followed Amy from the pool, maximising his viewing opportunities and grabbing images from every angle that he could. He thought of his image captures as a fall-back plan. If he couldn't seduce her, he'd at least have the pictures.

They had cocktails at the bar adjacent to the pool before Amy decided it was time for a final walk around the ship before calling it a night.

"Thank you for everything Mike," Amy said when they stopped outside her door.

"It has been an absolute pleasure. I almost wish I couldn't fix your pod," he replied. Amy smiled at him.

"Well, I can think of worse company were that disaster to befall me. At least tomorrow we'll both be able to hop back into stasis and sit out the rest of the journey. I'll see you for breakfast?"

"I ... I don't suppose you would like company for the night?" Mike asked, throwing all his courage into the request, amazed that it was so difficult to force the words out. It wasn't like it was the first time he'd talked himself into a passenger's cabin, though all the other times had been near journey's end.

"Mike, I'm sorry, you're truly a gentleman and lovely, but ... sorry, no."

"It's okay," Mike assured her, "I understand. I just didn't want to die wondering."

"Thank you," she replied, her hand resting on his forearm briefly as she leaned in and kissed his cheek again. "Your gallantry is much appreciated."

Mike left her in her suite and went to his cabin where he failed to sleep, wondering what might have been. What could I have done differently? Was there something I said or did wrong?

Sleep came eventually, though it seemed like an eternity, which meant when his alarm went off it felt all too soon.

He joined Amy for breakfast and she noted he wasn't quite himself.

"Are you okay Mike?" she asked him as they finished up.

"Yeah, fine thanks. Just thinking about going into the pod again."

Amy didn't push him, and he didn't offer anything further, just told her that he'd meet her at her pod an hour later.

He reluctantly arrived there on the stroke of the hour and found Amy waiting for him. He briefed her again just to be sure she was comfortable, then advised her it was time to climb in.

"What about you? You're going under soon?" Amy asked.

"In a week," he advised her. "I need to make absolutely sure this thing won't malfunction again."

"Oh, an entire week? I'm sorry Mike, I hadn't realised."

"It's fine," he told her, "All part of the territory. And besides, you didn't choose to come out of stasis."

"Well, you're truly amazing, Mike," she offered, stepping close to him. "I know this isn't what you were hoping for, but maybe it will ease the disappointment a little." She brought her lips to his and kissed him gently.

Mike was caught by surprise. Her lips were soft and moist, and parted just ever so slightly as she kissed him. But before he even quite registered it was happening, she broke away and it was over.

"Damn," was all he managed to say.

"See you in thirty-seven years," Amy said with a smile before climbing into the stasis pod.

'I'll be sure to keep a look out for you," Mike replied with a genuine smile.

When the pod slid from the room to take up its position in the stasis bay, he sighed deeply. She'd kissed him! And then she was gone. It was heartbreaking. He wandered back to his cabin and ran through the images and memories he'd collected over the brief time he'd managed to spend with Amy.

By the end of the day his thoughts had turned darker. He was frustrated he hadn't managed to achieve his goal. He hadn't slept with the incredibly beautiful Amy Barden.

Should have coerced her, he thought to himself bitterly. Should have stuck to the original plan. If seduction fails, take what you want anyway.

He thought about pulling her out of stasis again. It could be easily done. But while he lay on his bunk considering how that might run, a strange thing happened. He realised that he liked the woman too much to do that to her. He'd become too attached, too caring. Damn!

Maybe I should have taken her up on her offer of access to Out of this World. I could have at least had a virtual experience with her. Virtual reality was never the same, though. As much as it seemed like reality with its full sensory experience, at the point he was walking out of the lounge he always knew he hadn't actually had sex. It was in essence no more than highly sophisticated masturbation.

For two days Mike contemplated just jumping back into stasis. After all, he didn't really need to spend a week when he knew there hadn't been a malfunction, just his plotting and tinkering, but he couldn't ignore everything that had passed between them during their interlude together, and sticking to protocols whenever possible was always wise.

During those two days he found himself going back through the passenger profiles. Well, not all of them, just the most attractive women. Without really thinking why, he started making a list and then editing it. It was basically a yes, I'd sleep with her list. The longer he stayed at the game, the more refined the list became.

By the end of the third day after returning Amy back to stasis, the list had taken on a form. His list had been sorted by characteristics: hair colour, breast size, height, weight, nationality/ethnicity, age. The women were all single and childless. The overall list was long, but he selected a prime target for each category, even though the categories were more intuitive than describable.

Cheryl Ward: Caucasian, blonde, eighteen, AA cups, tall, petite

Fang Woo: Chinese, black hair, twenty-three, A cups, short and tiny

Melissa Short: Caucasian, red hair, twenty-eight, C cups, medium height, curvy

Suki Yakimora: Japanese, black hair blending to silver, nineteen, double D cups, short and curvy

Olivia Mendez: Hispanic, dark hair, thirty-five, B cups, short, petite but curvy

Indira (for some reason, maybe cultural, no surname given): Indian, medium height, long black hair, brown skin, thirty, B cups

Oluchi Attah: Nigerian, short black hair, twenty-seven, D cups, tall and curvy

Mary Angelsea: English, shoulder-length brown hair, forty-two, D cups, medium height and slim

Ursula and Ingrid Svenson: Swedish, Long blonde hair, twenty, C cups, athletic, twins

Each woman on his a-list had flawless skin and knockout looks to go with their body type. He considered how many options he could add to his list and the myriad of combinations that could be used to select a target, but he had to draw a line somewhere. He'd decided messing with families went beyond even what he might consider kinky fun.

Each time he pulled someone from stasis there would be a risk. He hadn't thought the whole plan through, but decided that if needed, he could refine things as he went.

That night he went to sleep excited. He'd decided that he may as well use the time he was supposed to be monitoring Amy to his own advantage.

~~~~~~~

Mike stood looking into the stasis pod housing Olivia Mendez. Whoever had positioned her in the pod had been kind enough to arrange her long dark hair in a halo about her head. Her arms lay at her sides and she looked utterly at peace.

He pressed the button to bring her out, then waited as the pod went through the process of revival.

When Olivia's eyes fluttered open, Mike gave her his most reassuring smile.

"Good evening, Miss Mendez, please relax and take your time reviving."

"Are we really there?" Olivia asked, her voice husky from lack of use.

"Not yet, I'm afraid. My name is Mike, and I'm the lead medical and security officer on the flight. I don't want you to panic, but there's been a malfunction with your stasis pod. I've been pulled out early as well, so I can run some diagnostics and repair it."

"How ... how far away are we?" Olivia asked him.

"Thirty-seven years, Miss Mendez."

"Too early then."

"Way too early to remain out of stasis. Company protocol dictates that any person suffering early release from stasis within the last two years of a journey should spend the remainder of the journey out of stasis, but any period greater than that dictates a return to stasis if at all possible. So in your case, we'll get it sorted and put you back under as soon as I can guarantee it's safe." Mike worked hard to keep his eyes from scanning the perfection of Olivia's stasis-suited body.