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

Six

The wormhole was disappointing. The ship announced when we were entering it, but only the position of the stars changed. That was about as exciting as looking up at the night sky on Earth and then tilting your head. The tour of the ship was pretty disappointing, too. I guess I expected too much. But it was an alien ship that could travel from star to star at four times the speed of light. The whole ship looked like our room, with blank white walls, floors, and ceilings. There were five floors, but they were mostly empty. There was no furniture, no controls, and the only other living (biological) being on the ship was Clicker. The engine produced a lot of dangerous radiation, so we couldn't get anywhere near it. Ship showed us a picture of the ship. It had a bullet-shaped front, which was the living quarters. There were five levels. A long, thinner cylinder connected it to a half- sphere at the other end. The engines were in the half-sphere, which, to us, was below the floor, although we were on the third level of the living quarters. The first level, the one closest to the engines, had a shuttle craft that looked a lot like a small airplane. There was nothing unusual about it. In fact, just about the only thing interesting about the ship was its size. It was pretty small. Our room was an entire level, so the ship was only about thirty feet across. Both Mike and I assumed a starship would be big. When we commented about the size of the ship, we were reminded that Clicker's people were poor. They couldn't afford a large, fancy vessel. Mike and I talked. He was as disappointed at I was. What a letdown! We wondered aloud if Remeskil be disappointing, too. But Ship assured us that it wouldn't be.

We asked Ship what he looked like. He didn't have a room. He was at the very front, or top of the ship, above the ceiling, next to the computer. But he showed us a picture of himself. He looked like a gold pyramid, and was about eighteen inches high. He was actually quite attractive, for a---thing. There were patterns etched into his shiny, golden surface. He wouldn't have seemed out of place locked in a glass case in a museum as an objet d'art.

On the fourth day, Clicker wanted us to have sex again in front of her, again. She told us she wanted to be certain we could mate with an audience. She planned to charge a premium for us because in their research about humans, there was no mention of same sex couples. Humans were extremely rare, but Mike and I were much rarer. She wanted to take advantage of that, but she was terrified of developing a Tiktik enemy who thought he was cheated. And a Tiktik who paid extra for a same-sex couple would want proof that we really were mates. Our owner would want to be able to show us mating to his friends. So we performed. I didn't have a problem as long as I didn't look at her. I did get cold, though, and started shivering. Ship warned her about human respiratory diseases and she left to put on what she called an environment suit, but seemed like a space suit to us. I asked the ship what temperatures the Tiktik liked, thinking that might be a problem. Fortunately they liked similar temperatures to humans. Ship reminded us that it was our owner's job to make us comfortable and that we could request whatever environmental conditions we wanted. We sixty-nined, which Ship told us fascinated Clicker. Then Mike fucked me while he jacked me off. Clicker told us she was relieved and left us.

"She worries a lot, doesn't she?" Mike said to Ship.

"You have no idea. She borrowed the money to rent this ship and she has no way to repay it unless she is able to sell you. She bet everything she has and more on the success of this endeavor. You would have to see her world after you've seen Remeskil to really understand. Those worlds are at opposite poles of the economic scale. She and the Tiktik she hopes to sell to are at opposite poles, too. The Tiktik are wealthy and powerful. She is poor and powerless. But despite that, she is trying to do business with them and come out ahead. If we are successful, her share of the proceeds will make her the richest person on her world by a large margin, and she can stop worrying about her family."

"Do you like Clicker?" I asked the ship.

"She annoys me," Ship said, surprising us. "But her plan is a good one. She sometimes calls me 'Computer'. I have explained that the computer on this ship is not sentient. That is why I am here. I have told her eight times that you can't have a conversation with the computer but she still says, 'How long to Remeskil, Computer?'"

I tried not to laugh.

"Why didn't you bring more humans?" Mike asked the ship. "Why just us?"

"We scanned many humans," Ship said, surprising me. "You were initially rejected because of your illness. The virtual versions of the others were either very scared or angry and violent, but they were all unhappy. That is the reason I began working on your brain chemistry. Even with the brain chemistry alterations, the others weren't suitable. They wanted to go home. Clicker had the idea that you might be grateful for being cured." I nodded. "I cured the virtual version of you and both of you were happy. You two were the only ones who seriously considered going with us. So you were the ones we constructed."

"So you knew we would say yes?" Mike asked.

"Did we say yes before the brain chemistry change?" I asked.

"I asked after I cured you, but before the brain chemistry change. The two of you said you would think about it. I then altered your brain chemistry and asked again. You wanted details about Remeskil. I ended the simulation then because we were running out of time. Clicker has to return home soon with food and running those simulations prevented me from using the computer to map our flight to Remeskil. If you said no, you would have been returned to Earth and Clicker would have lost her big gamble."

That was a lot to absorb.

We began having sex a couple of times a day with Clicker in the room. We both ignored her completely.

"I feel kind of like a porn star, having sex for an audience," I told Mike one day.

"Does it bother you?"

"No. I feel like a professional!" I said, with enthusiasm.

He laughed.

"You are a hell of a lot more appealing to me than any porn star I ever saw."

I kissed him for a long time for that nice compliment.

Once I asked him if he had any regrets about leaving Earth. He looked at me like I was crazy.

"No. None. I wouldn't have missed this adventure with you for anything."

I smiled at him.

When we weren't having sex or cuddling, we studied the various cultures of the aliens we'd learned about. Some of the cultures were remarkably human-seeming, and some were very inhuman. There was one race, the Festoon that I hoped I never met. The female injected her eggs into the male. The young developed by eating the father's body from inside. Sometimes the father died before they were ready to emerge and the female had to find another living donor for them. Since the males were as intelligent as the females, I couldn't understand why a male would want to reproduce. But old, unmarried males were pitied by the Festoon, by both females and younger males. I thought the old, unmarried males were smarter, but I had never wanted to reproduce.

Finally, we arrived in the Remeskil system.

"Security is tight on Remeskil," Ship said.

"I'm not surprised, if the Tiktik there are as wealthy as we've been told," Mike said.

"It will take several days before we will be allowed to land. Clicker will be contacting various Tiktik who might be interested in you. They will arrange to get us through security. I recommend you sleep through it. We will let the prospective buyers get you through security, but it will be much simpler if you are sleeping- --sedated. Security will worry much less about you if you are unconscious until then."

I looked at Mike. He shrugged.

"OK."

"They will want to implant a device inside you," Ship said.

"What?" I asked. "You never mentioned that!"

"What kind of device?" Mike asked.

"Something that will disable you, if you ever become violent or lose control."

I sighed. Considering how wealthy Remeskil was supposed to be, I shouldn't have been surprised. Security was tough at airports on Earth. What was it like on Remeskil? Sleeping sounded better to me, too.

"OK," I said.

"Are you sure?" Mike asked me.

"Yeah. I mean, they aren't going to give us the opportunity of hurting them. Why would they? It would be dumb."

Mike nodded.

We got ready for sleep. I was disappointed, yet again. We wouldn't see Remeskil from orbit. It was a good thing we were being sedated, because my heart was pounding like crazy. There was so much to think about---and worry about. But as I fell asleep, Mike wrapped his arms around me and I stopped worrying.

I opened my eyes. Mike's arms were still around me, but we weren't in our room on the ship. I looked around. We were on a table or a narrow bed in another white room, but this one was rectangular. I sat up. Mike let go of me. I looked around. The room was mostly empty, but I saw a gold pyramid on a shelf near the floor. I wondered if it was Ship. The wall above it had a window and there was a large group of Tiktik on the other side of the glass. They were watching us. They looked less like ostriches in person. Their faces were flatter, like human faces. I couldn't tell how tall they were. They didn't look scary. I thought they looked interesting. They didn't wear clothes, but small objects that glittered hung from the undersides of their beaks. I supposed they were jewels, but they seemed brighter than they should have been for jewels. It was as though they had a small light source inside, although they weren't nearly as bright as Christmas lights, which is what the colors reminded me of.

I climbed off the table and stood up. Mike joined me and put his arm around my waist. I wasn't afraid. I wondered if I should have been. There were aliens studying us and for a moment I felt my fear was stolen from me by Ship's manipulation of our brain chemistry. That made me almost laugh. Did I really want to be afraid? Ship could always give me a pill to make me afraid, not that I would ever take it.

"Are you afraid, Mike?" I asked.

"No. Not really." He pulled me closer to him. "Are you?"

"No, but I think I ought to be."

Mike looked confused.

"You could pretend to be afraid, then," he said.

I laughed.

"Do you speak English?" Mike asked the pyramid.

"Yes. This is Ship, although I have adopted the name Retna. I no longer pilot a ship so my old name would have seemed odd. Plans changed. I was convinced to stay here as your doctor. I will be remaining with you indefinitely."

The sound was coming from him. Did he have a speaker on his surface, I wondered.

"Forced?" Mike asked.

"Oh, no. Definitely not. They made me an offer that was too high for me to refuse when I admitted I had studied human anatomy and medical information. I own the medical information I gained on the trip to Earth. I negotiated that with Clicker. They need my knowledge."

"When will we be offered for sale?" I asked.

"The auction---I believe that is the word---is about to begin."

"Are you still going to move into a Doridge body?"

"Yes, but not until you are settled in. It will take me a while to gain full control of the body."

"Oh," I said. I wondered how long that would take. Ship had never had a body before. He didn't know how to walk, or eat, or do any of the other things we did without thinking. Would he be like a newborn?

I looked around the room and was surprised we didn't have a security guard in the room. Then I realized there were no doors. Maybe it was a jail cell. It was as stark as one, anyway. Starker even---it didn't even have a toilet.

I looked through the window for Clicker, to see if she was with the Tiktik, but I didn't see her. I supposed that wasn't surprising. She was probably in a different room. The wealthiest people on a very wealthy planet probably didn't want to be that close to her.

"The four Tiktik in the front are the ones who are most interested in you. The one on the far left is the one who hired me. If he loses the auction for you, he plans to sell me---at a profit, of course---to the winner."

"So you are owned, now?" Mike asked Ship.

"Not owned as a slave," Ship said. "The human and Click idea of slavery is illegal with the Tiktik. I am owned, but only for the length of my contract. And I sold myself. It is more like your idea of an employee, but there is a contract involved. I can't simply quit---that is as illegal as stealing. I would have to negotiate to be released from my contract. But I was offered so much money that will never happen. The money is much more appealing to me than the freedom I am losing for the duration of the contract."

"Do you get paid at the end of the contract?" I asked.

"No. I was paid in full when I agreed to stay with you. That is customary. It is why I can't simply quit," Ship said. "As I said, I sold myself and they pay for a sale at the time of purchase."

I nodded. That made sense.

"Are you happy to be staying with us, Ship?" I asked.

"My new name is Retna."

"Sorry! I forgot."

"It is OK, as you say. Ship wasn't really a good name for me anymore."

"OK, Retna. Are you happy?"

"Oh, yes. Not only was I purchased for an enormous price, but I will get a percentage of your sale price, too. And I will get to live on Remeskil. I am extremely pleased."

I looked at him and almost laughed. Live? He was a gold pyramid. He didn't have eyes. He could live on a shelf on Clicker's planet and pretend he was on Remeskil! I didn't say anything, though. It seemed....discriminatory. Besides, he would be a Doridge before long. Then it would matter where he was.

"Will we ever get to see the outside?" I asked.

"Of course!" Retna said. "And probably soon."

I looked at the Tiktik through the window, again. Their mouths were opening and closing, but we couldn't hear them.

"I sold the rights to a new market, also," Ship/Retna said. "I am now the wealthiest machine intelligence, as far as I know."

"What do you mean?" Mike asked, for both of us.

"You told me humans have no defense against space debris and that you were concerned about it. I researched it in the materials I captured on Earth and discovered the mass extinction events in your past. That is a new market---selling space debris defense to humans. I was paid a considerable amount for the market, too. Nothing may come of it, of course. Humans might find the price too high, but the Tiktik are good at making their services seem invaluable. I hoped to go in business for myself and do it myself. The ship we were on was capable of destroying most debris with its existing defensive weapons, and I planned to buy the ship and augment them. The Tiktik are professionals at that sort of thing, though, and I'm not. They will be able to succeed where I might not. I am very pleased. I got money for the market and don't have any expenses at all."

"I don't think humans will be able to pay the kind of money the Tiktik would want," Mike said.

"It is not just the money. There is prestige involved," Retna said. "The Tiktik will not ask for an amount they know they can never receive. Also, blocking or destroying space debris can be done with an automated ship and very cheaply. As I said, I planned to do it myself, with just one ship."

I nodded my head. That made sense. The Tiktik would have their foot in the door, so to speak, and would be able to see what other business opportunities they could pursue with humans.

The Tiktik mouths were still moving, but we couldn't hear anything. I sat back down on the table we had awakened on. Mike stood in front of me, facing me, between my legs. I began running my hands over him. I smiled as I watched his cock grow erect. After a minute, I leaned forward and bit one of his nipples. Mike pulled my head to him, so I continued sucked on his nipple for a while.

Suddenly, we heard a strange grunting noise. The grunts were pitched and almost seemed musical in a weird way.

"What is that sound?" Mike asked.

"Those are Tiktik voices," Retna said. "Unfortunately they are asking a lot of very technical Tiktik legal questions that I cannot express in English."

It was really strange having a conversation with a pyramid. I found myself looking at him and wondered if he could see us. Was he connected to cameras? Could he see out of his pyramid? There were etchings or engravings on his surface, but nothing that looked like it could function as eyes.

"What kind of questions?" Mike asked.

"Basically, they want your assurance that you consent to be owned and will abide by their contract. But there are specific questions they want you to respond to."

Retna began making the same kind of noises. He stopped and the ones outside the window spoke again. That continued for about thirty minutes. I was starting to get anxious. Anxious and bored. I didn't know that was possible.

I looked at Mike. He looked hot. There were aliens---and a machine intelligence watching us, but I didn't have any trouble at all ignoring them. Was that normal? I didn't know. And right then, it didn't matter. I wanted him and I wanted him badly. I reached up and pulled on both his nipples. I looked at his cock and watched it grow erect. Mike tilted my head up and kissed me. I was very happy that he seemed to want me just as much. I wrapped my arms around him as we kissed. I wondered if we were going to be asked to have sex. After the kiss, I looked at his cock. It was stiff. Mike took my head in both hands and began licking my face. I groaned.

"God, Will, I want you! You get me harder than anyone ever has."

I took his erection in my hand and began stroking it. Mike smiled at me.

"I want you just as much. You get me hotter than two Eds."

Mike grinned.

"Now that is a compliment, considering that the best sex you ever had was with him."

"Nooooo. The best sex I ever had is with you. His was the second best," I said.

Mike kissed me, again, while I stroked him.

"Excuse me," Retna said.

We pulled apart and looked at him.

"I think we have it narrowed down to questions I can ask you," Retna said. "Do you agree to be owned by the Tiktik personage who purchases you from Clicker and myself?" Retna asked us.

"Yes," Mike said.

"Yes."

"Do you value your personal freedom more than your signature on a contract?" Retna asked.

I looked at Mike and shrugged.

"No," we both said.

"Are you willing to abide by the conditions of the contract-- -I have explained you can't do that without an understanding of Tiktik law and contracts, but they want a response."

I sighed.

"Yes," I said.

Mike echoed me. He turned around to face them.

"Do you understand that your personal freedom will be reduced by the terms of the contract?"

"How many times and ways are they going to ask if we agree to be owned?" Mike asked. "Do all of their pets agree to contractual terms?"

"Well, they are expecting humans to be recognized sooner than I expected. That is because of my new market. The Tiktik will be introducing themselves to humans and hopefully beginning business with them. That may impact the date your race requests recognition. They are negotiating with you based on the assumption that you will request recognition sooner. Your new owner will know what makes humans happy and that makes you even more valuable."

"Oh," Mike said.

He looked thoughtful.

"How about if we tell them that as long as we are treated well, we agree with their terms? Or is that too simplistic?" I said to Mike. "Never mind. You know a lot more about business than I do. You should decide."

Mike sighed. "They didn't exactly cover this in school. How can I agree to a contract I've never read?"

We looked at each other for a moment.

"Do you trust me?" Retna asked.

"I suppose I do," Mike said.

I nodded my head.

"I will be living with you and I think the terms are very reasonable," Retna said.

I looked at him. He was a machine intelligence. Did he have the same idea of good---in this context---as we did? I didn't have any reason at not to trust Retna and he had cured me.

"What do you want to do?" Mike asked me.

"I trust Retna," I said.

Mike nodded.

"We agree to all the terms," Mike said.

"Do you want to hear a list of the owner's obligations under the contract?" Retna asked us.

"Is there anything you haven't told us?" Mike asked Retna.

"No."

"Then no."

Retna spoke in 'Tiktikese', or whatever their language was called.

Mike's cock had softened. I began stroking him, again.

"We need to get you back in pants," I said. We were both naked. "I have trouble thinking of anything but sex when I can see my bestest buddy."

Mike laughed.

"Besides, we can't have Christmas unless I can open the package!" I said.

Mike laughed. Then he laughed a second time.

"What?" I asked.

"You licked your lips. You do that before you suck me. You want to suck me, don't you? Tell the truth!"

I laughed.

"I always want to suck you. That's not a difficult prediction."

"I am certain they will want to watch your sex act," Retna said.

"One of the Tiktik just asked whether you like the taste of your mate's reproductive fluid, Will. Clicker is showing them videos of you swallowing it."

I laughed.

"Couldn't you tell?" Mike asked Retna. "He gobbles the stuff down."

"I knew he swallowed it, but the question is about the taste."

"Oh, god! This is embarrassing!" I said.

Mike laughed.

"Wait! Maybe I can sell it to them!" Mike said.

I laughed at that.

I sighed. "Tell them I love it but it might be because I'm his mate."

"Your straight friend Ed wasn't your mate but you loved the taste of his," Mike said to me.

"I think I thought of him that way. My only fantasy when I knew him was that we were lovers."

Mike nodded.

Retna spoke to the Tiktik.

"I have told them," he said, in English. "One asks if you think of yourself as a female, Will."

"No, I don't. And I never have," I said.

"Another one asked if you have sex with females also," Retna said.

"Tell them I have, but Will has not," Mike said. "You can also tell them I didn't enjoy mating with females. That is why I chose a male mate."

"I will," Retna said.

He spoke to the Tiktik, again.

"One of them asked if you have two fathers," Retna said. "I don't think that is possible with humans yet---artificially, is it? I didn't come across it in the medical information I obtained."

"No, Retna. It isn't. We both have a father and a mother," Mike said.

"One of the prospective buyers asks why you aren't afraid like the other humans he has seen. Evidently, they are always terrified."

I looked at Mike. He answered for us.

"There are still primitive parts of our planet," Mike said. "Those humans may come from an area with little technology and very little knowledge of our own world, much less other worlds. They may think the stars are simply lights in the sky. They might imagine you are demons or some other religious mythological figures."

"He said that was a very good answer, Mike," Retna said. "I believe you may have impressed him."

"Oh, you're so smart!" I said to Mike. "And your dick is cute, too."

Mike laughed.

"You love me for my dick!"

I smiled at him. I loved everything about him.

"One of them asked what you are going to do with your wealth, if you have no offspring to bequeath it to," Retna said.

I guessed people with enormous wealth had to worry about things like that. I had never thought about it.

"Spend it all before we die!" I said.

Mike laughed.

"That's a good plan!" Mike said to me. He turned to Retna. "But we don't have any wealth, Retna."

"I expect you will be very wealthy. I am very wealthy because of you and Clicker will be, too."

I was still stroking Mike's erection. It was getting wet. I squeezed a drop of precum out of it. I wiped it off and put my finger in my mouth.

Retna tilted his head.

"They have begun making offers to Clicker. Evidently, what you just did intrigued them."

I grinned at Mike. I was surprised they could see, since they were behind Mike. But then, there were probably cameras throughout the room. I squeezed another drop of precum out of Mike's erection. Mike wiped it off with one of his fingers and then stuck his finger in my mouth.

"How much was the offer?" I asked Retna.

"Fifty thousand---" Retna paused. "I don't know what English word to use for their money. It isn't dollars, of course. It is a great deal of money."

I climbed off the table and knelt in front of Mike. I swallowed his cock and began sucking him."

"Sixty thousand was just offered," Retna said.

I looked up at Mike while I sucked him. I ran one hand over his hairy chest and belly.

"Are you doing that to raise our price?" Mike asked me.

I pulled off him and laughed. Then I rubbed his wet cock on my face.

"Seventy-five thousand," Retna said.

I grinned. I just made us fifteen thousand...whatevers! Then I realized we wouldn't be getting any of the money. Clicker and Retna would get all of it. That didn't seem fair. I stood up.

"Why did you stop?" Mike asked me.

"We aren't going to see any of it," I said. "Why should we go out of our way to make our price increase?"

Mike frowned.

"Oh, yeah."

"I will give you half of my share," Retna said. "Now you have a personal incentive to increase your price."

I knelt and began sucking Mike, again. He began thrusting a little and his balls slapped gently against my chin. After a moment, Mike pulled his cock out of my mouth. He rubbed it on my face again before thrusting it back in my mouth. After a minute, he pulled his cock out and slapped my face with it. He didn't hit it hard, but it made a sound and I loved it!

"More!" I said to him.

Retna was speaking to the Tiktik, but I ignored that.

Mike slapped me several more times. The sound of the wet slaps filled the room before he pushed his cock back into my mouth.

"Eighty thousand," Retna said.

His precum began collecting at the back of my throat. I swallowed. Mike grabbed my head and pushed hard into me. My lips were pressed into his pubic hair. I swallowed around his cock, making him groan.

"Are you shooting your reproductive fluid into him?" Retna asked.

"Not yet," Mike said. "But I will."

I pulled off Mike. He picked me up and put me on the table. He stayed standing on the floor. He pulled me to the edge and pushed my legs up. He bent down and began rimming me. I groaned when his tongue slid inside me. He began fucking me with his tongue.

"One hundred thousand," Retna said.

I held my legs up with one arm and I stroked myself with my other, free hand. Mike stood up. He pulled and slid me down the table onto his cock. I groaned as he stretched me.

"Oh, fuck!" I said.

"Exactly," Mike said, as he began fucking me.

"One hundred and ten....One hundred and fifteen."

After a minute or so, Mike said, "Wrap your arms around my neck and your legs around my waist," he said, as he leaned forward. I did he lifted me off the table. He fucked me in the air, bouncing me on his cock.

"God, you are so fucking hot," I whispered in his ear. I sucked on his earlobe. He began bouncing me harder, though, so I couldn't keep that up.

"One hundred twenty."

I pressed my mouth to his and we kissed, briefly.

Mike was getting sweaty and I was having trouble hanging on.

"Put me on the ground," I told him.

He did. I bent down in front of him. He grabbed my hips and pushed back inside me. I groaned again as Mike began fucking me hard. He was really pounding my ass. He reached under me and began jacking me off.

"One hundred thirty," Retna said.

The room was full of the sound of his body slapping against mine. I was really turned on by his aggressiveness. He hadn't been aggressive on the ship. Mike was still jacking me off. I groaned as I shot onto the floor. Retna spoke to the Tiktik, probably telling them I was shooting my own fluid. I watched the floor suck up my spunk as Mike pounded my ass.

"Come...on...my...face," I said, between his thrusts.

"That sounds...good. You...are a....natural....porn actor," Mike told me, panting.

"So are you!" I told him.

"One hundred thirty was the last bid," Retna said. "There have been no more bids."

"I'm going to shoot!" Mike said.

I pulled off him and spun around and fell to my knees. He stroked himself as his spunk shot out of his cock, onto my face.

Retna said something to the Tiktik before saying, "One hundred and fifty."

I opened my mouth and some of Mike's spunk landed on my tongue. Then some hit my eye and I closed both of them.

"One hundred seventy five."

"Stick it in my mouth," I said.

"Are you sure?"

Porn stars did it, I thought.

Mike pushed his cock into my mouth and I sucked him. Retna was speaking, but it became background noise. After a couple of spurts, his orgasm was mostly over. I wrapped my hand around his balls and tugged on them, earning a groan from Mike.

"Two hundred thousand."

Mike pulled out of my mouth. I wiped the jizz off my face and licked it off my fingers, while I looked at his still stiff cock. I squeezed the last of the spunk out of his dick and licked it off the head of his cock. His cock was still hard. I stood and turned my back to him. I guided his erection back to my hole. He pushed inside me as I turned my head back. We kissed while he made short thrusts into me.

"Two hundred and twenty thousand."

Mike began jacking me off. I could taste his spunk, his tongue was in my mouth, and his cock filled my ass. I came, again, groaning as Mike stroked me. When I finished coming, he pulled away and licked my lips.

"Two hundred and thirty thousand."

"God, how I love you," I said to him.

Mike kissed me passionately. I wrapped my hand around his cock and held it while we kissed.

"Two hundred and forty thousand."

I stopped listening, then. Mike's arms were around me and I was happy. I rested my head on his shoulder as my heartbeat slowed. I hoped our share would be enough to get us back to Earth someday. I kissed my love's sweaty neck. We both needed a shower.

"A medic has been called for Clicker," I heard Retna say.

I pulled away from Mike.

"What happened?"

"She rolled onto her back and is non-responsive," Retna said. "The purchase has been made. Egelleron has paid two hundred and fifty thousand for you. He is your owner. I'm afraid the amount was too big a shock for Clicker."

"Was it a good shock? Will she be OK?"

"I'm not sure it is good if she is permanently damaged, but while she hoped for one hundred thousand, she would have been happy to get sixty thousand," Retna said. "She borrowed thirty thousand for expenses---most of that was the rental of the ship. The rest is profit for all four of us. Unfortunately, I don't know anything about Click biology or medicine. The guard in her room said her legs are twitching. Hopefully that is a good sign."

I had an image of a cockroach on its back, with its legs twitching. I'd seen that more than once---while I held a can of bug spray! But I did hope she was all right.

"She seems to have recovered," Retna said. "She just flipped over and said, 'No medic,' five times. I am fairly certain she is worried about the cost of a Remeskil medic, especially one that treats these particular Tiktik."

Mike and I laughed.

I sat down on the table and Mike sat next to me.

"How much is our share?" Mike asked.

"I was getting twenty percent after expenses, but I'm giving you half," Retna said. "You two will get ten percent and I will get ten percent. That is two hundred fifty thousand minus thirty thousand in expenses. So I get twenty-two thousand, as do the two of you. The rest is Clicker's. As I mentioned, she would have been pleased to get twenty-four thousand in profit---that's eighty percent of a sixty thousand sale price, minus thirty- thousand in expenses. Instead, she ends up with one hundred seventy-six thousand as profit."

I sighed. Twenty-two thousand 'whatevers'. I had no idea what that meant. Were we the equivalent of millionaires? Billionaires? Who knew? Then I realized I did have some idea. It cost Clicker thirty thousand to rent a ship to get from her world to Earth and then to Remeskil. And there may have been additional stops. Twenty-two thousand might very well be enough to get the two of us to Earth someday. Apparently we would have no expenses. We could save the whole thing. By the time we were free, there might be regular flights to Earth and we wouldn't have to charter a ship.

"I have no idea how that relates to human money," Mike said.

"Well, it isn't that much on Remeskil, but you would be very wealthy on most planets, even on some Tiktik planets."

We heard a clicking sound.

"Clicker wants to thank you and says her children and her children's children will thank you as well," Retna said. "To show her gratitude, she is giving you twenty thousand of her share."

I smiled at Mike.

"Tell her thank you," Mike said.

"From both of us," I added.

"I have," Retna said. "Clicker is leaving immediately. As you know, she is worried about her children."

I nodded. And probably worried about her mate who won't even dance! She didn't mention him much, though. I wondered if they loved each other.

"I understand your questions about money. The fact is, what you have is an enormous amount of money on some planets and very little on others," Retna said. "Remeskil is the most expensive planet in the Tiktik trading zone. Most Tiktik couldn't even afford to take a vacation here. Clicker chose this planet because it has the wealthiest Tiktik and he thought you would be more likely to approve of her plan if you got to live on such a beautiful planet. Egelleron probably thinks the amount he spent on you is 'almost' significant. You are only one of his hobbies, but you will benefit his business, too. He probably feels he will recoup his money, eventually, because bought the new market I identified---defending Earth and humans from space debris. He is also my owner."

"Oh!" I said. "I'm glad we have the same owner. It should simplify things."

I looked through the window at the Tiktik. Several of them had left. There were only two left. Then one of them turned and left. I thought the remaining one must be our owner. But then it occurred to me that it could be the person who held the auction or the person in charge of whatever building we were in.

"Egelleron wants to implant a translation device in your ear so you will understand him," Retna said.

"Oh. OK."

"Get up on the table. You will sleep while the device is implanted," Retna said.

We both got up there and lay down on our backs. A fog entered the room and I fell asleep immediately.

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