Fuel Me

By sacredlilac

Private Mark Yelding tipped his chair back on two legs and absently itched the translator implant behind his ear as he lazily surveyed the room.

Civilians filled the seats set at tables that faced a large array stretching across the front of the room. With blinking lights over its surface and gauges around its edges, he'd figured out it represented the four ships in the flotilla, but hadn't cracked the pattern of lights that were flashing across it in different hues of pink and red.

He had no idea why he'd been assigned here - he'd never heard of anyone of his rank being sent on a mission to a civilian vacation cruiser before - but in the end, he didn't have a choice. The Galactic Armada owned his ass for two more months. When he was ordered "Catch that comet!", he asked with what kind of net.

In this case, Captain slapped an info disk in his hand, said, "You'll be further debriefed on board" and shoved him onto a transport. He looked up the ship's company but hadn't found much more than it being listed as invested in research.

His best guess so far was they needed his tech skills to help with that array.

It had shocked the hell out of his family when he'd enlisted. They all thought he would take his place helping manage the family business since he had always been such a natural at it.

He just wanted to see a bit of the universe first before he tied himself to a desk dealing in the shrinking market of quardis. He'd always intended to go back, but now that he'd had a taste of life off his home rock, he wasn't so sure.

He sucked in his cheek, making a snick noise.

In the Armada, he'd uncovered tech skills he didn't know he had which got him a lot of attention. Captain was after him to extend, but private companies were also courting him with juicy contracts and asking him to fill in the amount.

Four years of service had also given him an unending supply of bedmates that earned him the nickname Old Faithful. It didn't matter how tired he was, he could get it up for anyone, anywhere. His crotch twitched thinking of the wide variety of hookups he'd had.

He chuckled. Who was he kidding? The real issue was where he would have access to the most sex. His skills ensured he'd always have work.

Armada-life was a guaranteed solid score every day. Often multiple times a day. No strings attached. Everyone knew the score.

Civilian hookups had always been trickier. More often than he liked, the partner ended up wanting more than just a screw.

The civvies in this room had the hungry eyes he expected on a vacation cruiser like this where casual sex was the number one recreational activity, so commitment demands probably wouldn't be a problem here.

He adjusted himself in his trousers when he caught the eye of the hot Goksu four rows up. She flushed deep purple with attraction. The buff Paratoria two seats behind her looked back to see who she was checking out. His wings fluttered in appreciation when Mark smiled at him.

The Goksu caught his eye again. His chair legs thumped down quietly. If he went and sat between her and the Paratoria, he could invite them both for a quick bathroom rendezvous before the debriefing started.

On their way out the door he could get a closer look at the array, too.

Just as he shifted his weight to rise, the door opened.

All thoughts of changing seats left him.

A voluptuous Jimmett paused in the entryway to survey the room. One of her top arms patted her hair while her bottom two arms plumped her sumptuous curves, then smoothed out the lines of the gossamer threads the beetle-like skynedy had woven around her as clothing.

Mark went rock hard. Below his desk, he pressed a hand to his crotch to ease the ache.

Apparently satisfied she had the attention of the room, the Jimmett sailed in. Most of her floor-length tentacle-coils formed a train behind her. Some reached up to caress the cheeks of the civvies she passed. Her eyes moved from person to person drinking in the effect she was having as every head turned to follow her in appreciation.

The goddess ambled up the aisle.

When she looked at Mark, her eyes followed his arm below the table. She licked her lips and winked.

That undid him.

With just the slightest bit more pressure, Mark groaned internally as he came in his pants. Humanity may have achieved space travel and settlements on other planets, but they still hadn't conquered badly timed erections or their accidents.

His eyes fluttered in relief.

He wasn't worried about the wet spot. He'd developed reinforced underwear to take care of just such situations shortly after he hit puberty. A product he'd just about convinced his father to start manufacturing instead of quardis.

The Jimmett's eyes flared and her mouth partially opened in excited knowledge of what had just happened in Mark's pants.

He felt himself twitch to life again at the fire in her eyes.

She leaned over so her tentacles would wrap around him and asked, "Is this seat taken?"

"Only by you," he replied, arching into the tentacles' caresses. He didn't care how cheesy it sounded.

She didn't seem to, either. Her eyes were glued to his swelling crotch as she slid into the seat next to his. "Is there anything I can... help you with?"

Mark stroked himself openly, enjoying the hunger in her eyes. A few others nearby were paying attention now too, including the Goksu and Paratoria.

Pleasure rocked through him. If these were his shipmates, this trip was going to be lush!

He was about to ask her to come to the bathroom with him when the door opened again.

A long-legged, middle-aged Diado came in. "Hello, everyone!" He waved a long-fingered hand and bobbed his furry head as he counted the attendees then turned to the array.

Mark watched him closely.

The Jimmett's tentacles continued to caress Mark, but didn't attempt to turn his head away from watching the Diado pinch and stretch sections on the screen to bring up a blueprint of their ship that matched the one Mark had memorised from the Captain's info disk. He'd been right about the array showing the flotilla.

Mark tracked the dots in various shades of red, from the palest pink to a few deep crimson, that flashed across the screen as it was manipulated. He couldn't quite make sense of them.

When the image settled on the section containing the hanger he'd recently arrived in and the room he was currently sitting in, realisation dawned.

He zeroed in on the dot that represented himself, satisfied to see it was one of the deepest shades of red in the room. Only the Jimmett beside him was darker.

"Excellent bunch," the Diado said quietly. He turned to the room with a welcoming smile and wide-open arms. "I'm Orit Kelleri Ba. Thank you all for accepting the invitation to join us. I'm sure you have more than a few questions. Our last transport is arriving now, and then we'll get started. If you would be patient just a while longer." With a quick head bob that set the decorative beads strung through his fur flying, the Diado went out the door again.

Dots appeared on the array beside the line representing the hangar bay door. He watched them move further in as the ship docked. It was fascinating. There were 17 dots, but did they represent everyone on board or not?

A small cluster of dots, darker than his own, moved off the ship and towards the passageway and the debriefing room.

The door opened and a group of five couples entered. The Diado motioned for them to sit. "I'd like to thank you all for coming. Each of you has come highly recommended and are among a very select pool of potential candidates we looked at."

Mark was curious at that. Considering how many species he saw in this room, he didn't envy the people who had gone through what was conceivably a galactic-sized list. What made this group so special?

Orit distributed a docu-sheaf to each. "Before you arrived, you signed a non-disclosure agreement. I remind you that breaking it will result in the severe consequences you are aware of, least of which is a complete mind-wipe.

"The docu-sheaf I've just given you details your role here along with any other pertinent information according to your security clearance."

Mark pressed the identifying insignia implanted in his forearm at birth to the thin black film while the Jimmett pressed it to her shoulder.

He scanned through the document that appeared in his retinal scanner. His breath caught at the first few lines. A new, clean, renewable energy source harnessed from sexual energy. Collected by sensors built into every ship's wall. Battery cell storage capabilities for resale.

This ship was designed as a microcosm vacation cruiser with all the normal amenities and attractions, but with an entire other level dedicated just to pleasure so they could test out their equipment.

His throat choked up in excitement, and he got rock hard again. They wanted to pay him to have sex? This wasn't a military assignment, this was a freaking fantasy come true.

Several research documents and one labelled 'Contract Offer' were also attached. He'd expected some kind of tech work, but the contract was unexpected. He opened and quickly scanned them.

In the research document, he could already see places where the system could be tweaked. There was untapped potential here.

He located his dot on the array. It was one of the darker red ones considering how turned on he was. He watched it carefully while he recalled some of his hottest sexcapades. The colour didn't change much.

The couples who'd just arrived were the darkest red in the room, but many weren't even touching. He'd never been in love like that, but his parents were.

His dot caught his eye. It had gone a hue deeper. He thought of his large, loving family. He hadn't seen them in a long time was looking forward to an extended visit when his military contract ended. Most of all, he wanted to have a close snuggle with his pet, Nuane, and kick back with his best friend.

His dot was a dark red now.

His family. His pet. His best friend. He had no sexual connection to any of them, but thoughts of them had clearly affected his dot.

The married couples. Already a deep red when they arrived.

His hands curled on his thighs. This was so much more than sex. They had harnessed the energy of love. How could the researchers have missed it?

He beamed, but the smile faded. They'd offered him a contract, but this was going to be the biggest thing in a millennium. His heart quickened at the potential. He wanted in deeper than just as a temporary employee.

From the front of the room, Orit said, "As you read, while this ship is owned by a private company, it does have significant military backing. You can imagine the ramifications of this kind of renewable energy source. Each of you has been carefully selected to help us investigate the different kinds of sexual energy from long-married couples to those with ravenous appetites. We need you to really put the system through its paces." The Diado motioned from the newly arrived pairs over to the intertwined Mark and the Jimmett.

Orit motioned to the screen. "This array tracks every single being in the flotilla that is giving off any sexual energy, which is constantly harvested by the sensors that are built into every wall. The colour changes according to how sexually charged the person is." Orit smiled in reassurance. "We can't tell their identity, only the energy reading."

After examining the screen for a second, he expanded a tiny room a few hallways over. In it were two overlapping dots. It was dark red, but still not as the deep as the married couples.

Orit tapped the room then pointed at the gauges on the side of the array. "As you can see from these crew members having a closet break, their sexual energy, shown over here, is uptake fuelling the engines, seen here. It's a win-win system."

Several attendees chuckled at that and cast appreciative looks around. The Jemmitt's tentacles squeezed Mark slightly, and he winked at her.

Mark raised his hand. He was more than happy to fuel the ship as much as possible, but he needed to know about owning the business assets since it wasn't covered in the contract.

The Diado smiled at him and nodded. "Ah, yes, Private Yelding. Your captain told us you would be an asset working out the final bugs in the system." Orit took in the Jemmitt whose tentacles were completely and seductively wrapped around Mark. "As well as being a reliable source of energy yourself."

"Can we buy shares in the company, sir?" If the answer was yes, Mark would first be calling the company lawyer to invest every single penny of his military salary he'd saved into this company, then his parents to encourage them to invest heavily as well.

Orit lifted a nonchalant hand. "If you'd like. Now, let's get you secured in your quarters so you can begin exploring." The Diado waved everyone up out of their seats. Mark grinned at the implied meaning and the smoothness of diverting people's attention from the prospect of investing. Another mystery to solve.

Before following the Jimmett who was waiting for him in the aisle, Mark called up a virtual keyboard and typed an encoded message to the company lawyer. He'd call his parents later.

He pointed at the array and grinned wickedly at the Jimmett. "Let's come back here later to see how much fuel we make? Maybe bring along a few others?"

Her tentacles picked him up and crushed him to her mouth while her lower arms tore at his trousers.

Oh, this was going to be fun.