The Constructs

The Constructs

By Vic James

vicjames2@hotmail.com

Copyright 2014 by Vic James

http://www.vicjames.com

If you enjoy this story or the other stories at Nifty, please make a donation at: http://donate.nifty.org/donate.html

This story is fiction. None of the characters are based on real people. You can see a list of my stories at http://www.nifty.org/nifty/authors.html#vicjames

Five

We spent the rest of the day learning about the ship. We learned how to look out the 'window', which was really a camera view from outside the ship. The view was very strange. The stars looked like lines of varying lengths. We found out we would be entering a wormhole the following day. The wormhole would bring us twenty-eight light years closer to Remeskil. The ship explained to us what a wormhole was and how it connected two points in space that might seem, by direct observation to be far apart. It was because space was not flat, but was curved and irregularly, at that. Mike asked what a light year was.

"That's how far light can travel in a year," I said.

"Oh."

The ship was able to travel at four times the speed of light, but even at that incredible speed, the stars were still too far apart to make travel between them practical. The ship pointed out that the closest star to Earth's sun was the Alpha Centauri. It was about four light years away. Even at top speed, it would take a year to get there and another year to get back. A year might be fine for colonists on a one-way trip, but it was completely unsuitable for business and the Tiktik. The wormholes made their business empire practical. The wormhole we would enter would take us twenty-eight light-years in a very short time, a flight that, without the wormhole, would take more than six years at top speed.

The ship had acquired enough English that we could simply request things, rather than trying to pick them and customize them on the wall display. We had steak, baked potatoes, and ice cream for dinner.

"I liked it better when you weren't wearing pants," I said to Mike, when we finished. We were both wearing clothes at that point.

He burst out laughing.

"Some races wear clothing that displays and even accentuates their reproductive organs," the ship said. "Is that what you meant, Will?"

I laughed at that.

"It is! I love my mate's reproductive organs!" I said.

Mike grinned at me.

The ship surprised both of us by showing an image of Mike wearing a pair of jeans with the crotch removed.

"Something like this?" the ship asked.

Mike laughed.

"Oh, we definitely need a pair like that!" I said.

"Are you serious?" Mike asked.

"Sure! Why not? You don't have to wear them in public," I said.

Mike shrugged.

"True enough," Mike said. "And if you get excited looking at me in them, I'm happy to wear them. Make a pair for each of us, Ship."

"I will."

After dinner, Clicker told us about her race and her home. The chill in the air to accommodate her was not uncomfortable, as we had plenty of clothes by that time, including jackets and sweaters.

"We are looked down upon by many races," she told us. "Most insectoid races are xenophobic and have little interest in other races. They are thought to be cold and uncaring, and in many cases, that is true. We aren't like that, but because we somewhat resemble those, we get lumped together with them. When we get to Remeskil, many people will try to speak to you. They will ignore me completely."

That didn't seem fair, but I understood. I still thought Clicker was incredibly ugly. I avoided looking at her and looked at Mike, instead. I hoped that she would think I was looking only at him because we were new mates. It was hard for me not to think of her as a giant, intelligent cockroach, and if I came across her for the first time, standing next to a being of another race, I would probably do the same---ignore her and speak to the other alien. Who wants to look at a giant cockroach, much less talk to one? But I didn't want to hurt her feelings---the feelings that had very obviously been hurt before. I didn't know what to do about it. I was afraid she was going to show us pictures of her children. She had mentioned them a couple of times, and they were bound to be hideous. I would have to lie, and it bothered me that I would have no choice but to lie. I shuddered when I thought about a whole nest of cockroaches. Then I felt guilty!

"I'm sorry you have to deal with that," Mike said to her.

I smiled at him. It was the right thing to say.

"Thank you," Clicker replied. "Maybe humans and my race will be allies someday," she added.

I tried to keep a blank face. Not if my mother has anything to say about it, I thought. It seemed very unlikely.

"The ship told us that your race took slaves before it became illegal," I said.

"Some of my race still do, when they can get away with it. But it is a crime that can earn life imprisonment or even a death sentence, if convicted."

"Do you think other races dislike you because of that?" I asked her.

She was silent for a moment.

"I do not know. It has been illegal for over five hundred of your years. I don't know if that is common knowledge, or not. However, the Tiktik traded with us even when slavery was legal."

I didn't know either, of course. But five hundred years was a long time---plenty of time for other races to know that.

Mike put his arm around me, and I leaned against him.

"The ship told us you were a little envious of us," Mike said.

"Yes. It is an accident of fate that you are invaluable while my own children go hungry. But with this plan, your value can help us, too. I asked earlier if you were grateful. I want you to know that I am grateful to you for agreeing to the plan."

I nodded.

"How involved was Ship with working out the plan?" Mike asked.

I was surprised by his question. I had assumed it was all Clicker's plan.

"The idea was mine. It was the ship's idea to improve you. Will, I would have rejected you because of your illness. No buyer would want a specimen that was expected to die soon. And it seemed cruel to create a copy of you that would die. You would face two deaths, instead of one. But the ship thought he could repair you and he wanted to try. He told me he could do it virtually and only produce a physical copy if he succeeded. I'm glad he was successful."

I smiled

"Me, too. Thank you, Ship," I said.

"I was glad I was able to correct the problem," the ship said.

"You said you are getting a Doridge body," Mike said to the ship. "Are you a computer?"

"I'm not sure if I am a computer in the human sense of the word. The ship has a computer, to which I am connected. But each of us could function without the other. I am a machine intelligence," Ship said. "Because of the way human technology has developed, if humans ever create artificial intelligence, it will be based in a computer. But the Tiktik developed machine intelligences before they developed sophisticated computer technology. The original machine intelligences were sentient, but not very intelligent. That suited the Tiktik very well. They have no interest in creating intelligences who are smarter than they are."

Clicker left and I turned around to face Mike. I started unbuttoning his shirt and he grinned at me. I ran my hands over his chest. He tilted my head up. I watched him shake his head.

"What?" I asked.

"I never thought I would see such a look of lust from you."

My fingertips found his nipples through the hair on his chest. I pinched both of them. Mike closed his eyes. I pulled on them and Mike smiled. I smiled, then. I learned something else Mike liked. I moved one hand down to his crotch and felt his erection through the fabric of his pants. I began rubbing it.

"Take it slow. I don't want to come unless my cock is inside you," Mike told me.

I grinned at him.

"Does that mean you won't ever shoot on my face?"

He wiggled his eyebrows at me.

"Kinky! I love it! Well, forget that rule!"

I smiled.

I was horny, and Mike was definitely fully erect, but then fatigue hit me. It had been a very busy day, and suddenly I felt it. I smiled at Mike.

"You look tired," he said.

I nodded.

"I think I will give your cock a rest. I'm getting sleepy."

"I think I'm ready to sleep, too," Mike said.

I got undressed. Mike asked the computer for a blanket, explaining what one was. Moments later, one appeared. I lay down and Mike covered me with the blanket. Then he climbed in under it. I smiled as he took me in his arms. He kissed the back of my neck and then laughed. My neck felt strange. He pulled something off and showed it to me. It was more dried skin from the ridge on my back. He tossed it onto the floor. I fell asleep feeling very safe in Mike's arms.

The following morning, I woke up to a fabulous aroma. I saw that not only did we have furniture, including a table and two chairs and what resembled a sofa, but breakfast was ready. I looked at the pancakes and coffee on the table and hugged Mike. He had arranged everything before I woke up.

"The ship had scanned pancake mix, milk, and eggs. I told him how they are cooked and he whipped them up," Mike said.

"Wow! And coffee!"

While we ate, I thought on and off about what the ship had said about being a machine intelligence that predated computers. Was he some sort of analog device? I imagined a lot of old vacuum tubes. Those had been common and very useful before transistors were invented by humans.

"If you are interested, I will give you a tour of the rest of the ship," the ship said, as we ate.

"That sounds nice," I said. That made me start wondering.

"If you move into a body, what will become of the rest of the ship?" I asked Ship.

"The owners can hire a biological pilot or another machine intelligence to pilot," Ship said.

I nodded.

"How exactly do you transfer a machine intelligence into a biological body?" Mike asked.

"Sentience along with an individual's personality and memories is a very complex pattern of electrical activity. Each pattern is unique. As long as the biological brain has enough connections to support the pattern, it is not very complicated."

I almost laughed.

"It certainly sounds complicated!" I said.

"Maybe I phrased it badly. There is equipment that can do it," Ship said.

I nodded.

"Won't you eventually die in the new body?" I asked.

"I can die as a machine, too," Ship said. "I am fairly fragile as I am. The body I've constructed should live several hundred years. I can make a new copy of myself when the end approaches."

"Do you want to be biological to gain mobility?" Mike asked.

"No. I could have a mechanical body that is far more mobile than a Doridge. I want to experience existence as a biological being, especially eating and sex. Those two activities are enjoyed by almost all biological beings. I want to find out what they are like. I might also experience love, although I suspect I would have trouble loving another Doridge. We would have nothing in common but appearance."

"Maybe you'll meet a nice lady machine intelligence," I said.

Mike laughed.

"Speaking of which, have you chosen a sex?" Mike asked.

"I suppose male," Ship said. "But I don't necessarily only want sex with a female. You two are males and you seem to enjoy sex with each other very much. I would like to try it with both sexes."

I nodded.

"You told Will you had sex with females when you were younger. Is sex better with another man?" the ship asked.

"It is for me," Mike said. "But that isn't true of most human males. Men who like sex with men are definitely in the minority. I've read that it is estimated between five and ten percent of human males prefer sex with other men," Mike said. "Not all of them act on it, though. It is illegal in some countries. And even in countries where it is legal, many people are opposed to it."

"I will let Clicker know that," Ship said. "It will affect your price."

I felt a tinge of annoyance at the thought of being sold.

"It will drive the price up?" Mike asked.

"Yes."

"Why do we call you Ship when you seem to be just the pilot?" I asked.

The ship didn't answer. I looked at Mike. He seemed amused.

"I became sentient when I was installed in the ship," the ship said, finally. "That is what the first person who spoke to me called me. I suppose I should choose a different name."

We finished eating and Mike poured me another cup of coffee.

"Are you two going to mate again today?" the ship asked.

I laughed.

"I sure hope so!" I said.

"Yes, Ship," Mike said, winking at me. "We will probably mate more than once a day."

"I will let Clicker know. He will sell you as a mated pair. If you mate infrequently, your owner will be disappointed."

I gritted my teeth. Then I sighed. I needed to get used to the idea. I agreed to it---being owned---and it apparently would be a good life, as long as I was willing to have regular sex with Mike. And boy, was I willing! And the truth of the matter was, I was eager to see Remeskil. Clicker said it was nothing like Earth. How? Why? Was it like Saturn? Were there rings around it? Were there floating cities? What were the Tiktik like? From what we had been told, they seemed not too different from humans. Was that true? Certainly the urge to own the rare and unusual (like us) was common with humans. But they had to be very different. Their evolution and history were completely different from ours.

"I want to remind you again to keep secret the fact that you are constructs," Ship said. "If you are copies, for all your prospective owner knows, there could be hundreds of you."

Mike nodded.

"You aren't planning to make more copies of us after we are sold, are you?" Mike asked.

I was stunned. That had never occurred to me, but it seemed like it wouldn't be too difficult. They could go from planet to planet, selling copies of us.

"No. Absolutely not. Can you imagine your buyer's reaction if he found out you were copies after paying an enormous amount of money for you? Clicker and I would go to prison at the very least."

I was reassured.

"I am planning to delete the data before we land on Remeskil. I don't want to do that until I am sure you are happy. You might want to be reconstructed with your original brain chemistry."

Mike and I nodded.

"I don't think there is much chance of that," I said.

"I agree," Mike said.

"You should not mention that you were ill, either," Ship continued. "Your owner might worry that you will become ill again, soon. We know that won't happen, but we can't explain why."

I nodded.

"I suppose they will be eavesdropping on us all the time," I said.

"I doubt it. You will be an occasional diversion for your owner. He will have business concerns that occupy the vast majority of his time.

Mike got up and walked across the room to the toilet area. I remained and drank the rest of my coffee. When Mike returned, he was wearing the pants that had no crotch. I grinned at him.

"There is my mate's beautiful reproductive organ!" I said. "And it is waking up!"

Mike laughed.

"Is it like Christmas?"

I grinned.

"Better. After all, you're going to fuck me."

"I certainly am."

Mike reached down and pulled me up. I put my coffee cup down. We kissed and I wrapped my hand around his erection. His hands roamed over my body, possessively, I thought. I liked it! I moaned as he pushed a finger inside my ass. I began stroking his cock. He pulled away from the kiss after a minute, or so.

"Where do you want it, first?" He ran a finger over my lips. "In there?"

I grinned.

"I always want it in there. I love the taste of your jizz."

"Then my first load will go in your mouth. The second in your ass."

"Then repeat," I added.

Mike laughed.

"Of course!"

I knelt and swallowed his dick. Mike sighed and ran his fingers through my hair while I began sucking him. Then he held my head and began thrusting into my mouth. His balls slapped against my chin. I moaned around his cock. I loved it. I reached up and ran my hands over his chest and belly while he fucked my mouth. I moaned as a thought occurred to me. What if Ship made another copy of Mike? I could have two of them! It could never happen, I knew that. But it was an exciting fantasy. One Mike could fuck my ass while the other fucked my mouth, with both of them shooting in me at the same time. Mike began fucking my mouth faster. I wondered if he was close to shooting. I reached up for his nipples and pulled on them. Sure enough, Mike cried out and pulled his cock most of the way out of my mouth. I felt a spurt of his warm cum hit the back of my throat. I wrapped one hand around my own dick and came, too. I shot my load in an intense orgasm, while Mike shot his load into my mouth. I wrapped my free hand around his balls and heard a sigh of pleasure from Mike. Then Mike pulled his cock out of my mouth. A spurt hit my face.

"Bull's eye!" he said.

I laughed. It was hard to miss at two inches! I tried to get his cock back into my mouth. He let me. He shot the rest, which wasn't much, in my mouth. After he finished, he pulled me up and kissed me, passionately. We wrapped our arms around each other.

"I love you," he said to me, when the kiss ended.

"I love you, too."

Mike took my hand. We walked over to the sofa and sat down. I looked around. The room was starting to look better, with furniture. We could basically ask for anything in the way of furnishings. And not just furnishings. We could ask for clothes and food, too.

"You know, this is a pretty nice honeymoon. We've got great room service that can give us just about anything we want."

Mike nodded, smiling.

"I'm getting really excited about our destination," he said.

"More excited than you were about Mount Everest?"

"Well, that is pretty different. But I guess I am. I just hope we are happy in five or ten years."

I nodded.

"If you get bored, you can ask to travel," Ship said. "You might even ask to visit Earth, although you would have to sneak onto the planet the way we did."

I was shocked by that.

"Are you serious?" Mike asked.

"Yes. Keep in mind this ship was chartered by a poor family. You will belong to someone who spends more on one meal than Clicker will ever see," Ship said.

I looked at Mike. He seemed to be as shocked as I felt. It never occurred to me, but the ship had told us our owner would probably let us travel, if we wanted to. He---or she---might even become interested enough in humans to want to see Earth. As surprised as I was by that thought, I was even more surprised by the next one, which was why go to Earth, which we knew, when there were alien planets to discover? It would be nice to reassure my parents that I was still alive, but they would have buried me. If we couldn't admit we were copies, how would we explain to our owner why we didn't want to see our families? No. Our future was not on Earth, and wouldn't be for a long time, if ever.

Mike was still wearing his crotchless pants. I took his cock in my hand and felt it stiffen. Mike put his hand behind my neck and pulled my mouth to his. We kissed. I turned to face him and sat on his lap. He pushed a finger inside my ass, while we kissed. We moaned into each other's mouths as he started finger fucking me. My cock was erect, too. I began rubbing it against his hairy belly.

"Do humans normally mate so often?" Ship asked.

I pulled away from Mike and both of us laughed.

"We are newly---mated. We mated for the first time on this ship," Mike said. "We will probably mate less often later. Right now, it's all I want to do. I've wanted to mate with Will for a couple of years. But later, the passion will cool---a little."

"I agree. In fifty years, we may only want to mate once a day," I said, grinning at Mike.

"I hope!" Mike added.

"You'll still be just as sexy," I said, stroking his very stubbled cheek.

Mike was still finger fucking me.

"Does that bother you? I can shave."

I was curious to see how Mike looked with a beard. Instead of answering, I reached behind me and pulled his hand away. He looked uncertain. Then I took his cock and aimed it at my hole. Mike closed his eyes and sighed. I sat down on his cock, making both of us moan. I was still lubricated from the day before. Once he was fully inside me, I kissed him, again. I tasted coffee and pancakes. I supposed he tasted his own cum. It didn't seem to bother him, though. Mike began thrusting and I lifted myself enough to give him room. I got more pleasure out of being fucked by Mike than I had from any of my other partners. I wasn't sure if it was because he wasn't wearing a condom, or if he was better at it, or I wanted him more, or what. But I did love it. And intellectually, I was glad he wasn't wearing a condom. It probably didn't feel any different, but it made me feel---like we were married. I would never have to worry about catching a disease from him and he wouldn't have to worry about me. Condoms were for casual sex and disease prevention, I decided.

I began moving on Mike's cock when he seemed to tire. Right about the time I began to wonder if he could come, again so soon, he grabbed my waist and held me still while he groaned.

"Oh, yeah! Fill me up!" I said.

I wished I could feel his ejaculation, but I could picture it in my mind. He grabbed my dick and began jacking me off. I came quickly, shooting all over the black hair on his chest. His cock started to soften. I lifted up, planning to move on it to get it hard, again. But it slipped out of me.

Mike laughed.

"What?" I asked.

"The look of disappointment on your face was priceless!"

"Can I help it if I love my mate's sturdy weapon?"

He laughed.

"It will be sturdier later."

"I certainly hope so. Let's wash it so I can suck it."

He laughed. He seemed very happy and I was pretty sure it was because of me and not Ship's brain chemistry changes. That was what I chose to believe, anyway.

I climbed off him and we took a shower, washing each other. Mike knelt behind me and pulled my cheeks apart.

"I want to make sure your hole isn't getting too much of a workout," he said. "It looks fine. It winked at me, in fact."

I laughed for a long time.

Mike asked for a stream of hot air and the ship supplied it. We dried quickly in it.

I asked the ship for more coffee. When it arrived, I poured some for both of us. Mike stood at the display looking at what had to be aliens. I was curious, but I took the time to wonder about some things. Ship was made by the Tiktik. Just how much like a Tiktik was he? Was business first and foremost on his mind? Had he altered us to make us a better, surer investment? With his happy changes, were we more likely to go along with the plan of Clicker's? In a way, it was pointless to worry about it. I made the decision to cooperate and I still thought it was the right decision. Or maybe the only decision. I was only alive because of their mercenary plan, and I was very glad I was alive.

"Look at this!" Mike said.

I got up and walked over to him. He was showing what looked like a turtle or tortoise. It had a shell with legs and a head sticking out.

"Is it intelligent?" I asked.

"No. Many Tiktik keep them as pets," Ship said.

Tiktik looked like ostriches with arms instead of wings and these pets looked like turtles. Just how similar was life in the galaxy? Was it convergent evolution---animals evolving to look similar because they share the same environment? That was why sharks and porpoises resembled each other when they were completely unrelated. Sharks were more primitive in most ways than other fish while porpoises evolved from land animals and breathed air. Maybe porpoises would evelop gills again, since those were more practical for oceanic life.

"Ship, how similar are humans and Tiktik genetically?" I asked.

"Not at all similar."

"Is the Tiktik home planet a lot like Earth?"

"Yes. They are very similar."

I nodded.

"They look a lot like an Earth animal," Mike said. "So do these pets."

"Yes. I found that after interpreting some of the data I captured," Ship said. "The Tiktik may be interested, but don't expect them to be amused by it."

I frowned.

Not long after, Clicker visited us. The four of us, including Ship, worked on a cover story for how Clicker convinced us to leave Earth with her.

"I have an idea," Mike said. He turned to me. "We'll give them a Romeo and Juliet tale. They won't know we borrowed the idea."

"What do you mean?" I asked him.

"Why don't we tell them our families wouldn't let us be mates, because they don't like each other and because we are both males," Mike continued. "So when the opportunity with Clicker appeared, we saw it as a way to be together."

"I like that idea," Ship said. "You mentioned to me before that male mates are often frowned upon. But I don't understand who Romeo and Juliet are."

"They are characters from a play---a work of fiction by a very talented author."

"It will make your owner happy to know he is helping you stay with your mate," Ship said.

"I like the story, too," Clicker said. "It makes it much more romantic than the truth. And it makes taking you from your planet completely legal. Also, that sort of thing happens with my own people."

"Is there any chance no one will want to buy us?" I wondered.

"No," Ship said. "None at all. You raise your owner's status, both personally and professionally. Not only are you rare and expensive, but you give him insights into a future business partner."

"If we are so rare and expensive, why don't Tiktik visit Earth themselves and ask for volunteers to go with them?" Mike asked.

"At this stage in your development, Earth is not a safe place for visitors from other planets. Your military might try to blow up the Tiktik ship. They would be unsuccessful, but the Tiktik might be forced to defend themselves and they would win, of course. But that sort of encounter is terrible for business. The Tiktik want their reputation to be spotless. They would much rather have that unpleasant encounter happen with another race, like the Doridge. Humans might think the Doridge were their enemies and the Tiktik could offer to defend the planet for a fee. A Tiktik ship would remain in orbit around Earth, defending it against imaginary opponents and collect a hefty fee for doing nothing. Tiktik would be the heroes and they would risk nothing."

I shook my head. I was very unsure what to think about the Tiktik. Then a better use of an orbital Tiktik ship occurred to me.

"We don't have much defense against meteors hitting the planet from space," I said.

"That's true," Mike said. "Life on Earth has been mostly wiped out several times by impacts."

"But you have spaceships," Ship said.

"They can't really do much to stop one that is big enough to do real damage. We might be able to set off nuclear warheads on the rock, but we might not be able to get them to it in time. And there is also the possibility that the bombs wouldn't damage it enough to prevent catastrophic damage on Earth."

The ship didn't respond. After a couple of minutes, we assumed it had other things to do. After all, we were approaching the wormhole and that might take all of Ship's attention.

"What made you think of that?" Mike asked.

"I was thinking of that ship in orbit protecting us from imaginary enemies. It could protect us from real danger, though, too."

Mike nodded.

We spent the rest of the day learning about the Tiktik and other aliens. We asked for information about Remeskil, but the ship said he wanted it to be a surprise. Since it was the first alien world we had ever seen, it would be a surprise, anyway. We learned about the races we were likely to see, including the Doridge. The Doridge had long legs and a long neck, but they had fur, not feathers and scales. I thought they were more attractive than the Tiktik. Ostriches always looked kind of goofy to me, although I knew that was something I should keep to myself.

If you enjoyed it and want to read more, let me know.