“Confirmation. The human Gustavo Martinez has made contact with Lieutenant Sil Nubo.”

“Good. I trust they are discussing the intricacies of human physiology.”

“Confirmation. Lieutenant Sil Nubo is asking a great many questions of the human. They range from the mundane to the scientifically relevant. Query. Should a prompt be sent to the lieutenant regarding the questions to be asked?”

“No need for that. I can excuse curious exuberance in the face of encountering a brand new sapiant species, let alone one from a deathworld.”

“Confirmation. Lieutenant Nubo is transcribing notes for her personal use. Should this be stopped?”

“No. As long as she’s not noting anything that would be considered classified, she can keep going. If need be we can redact the necessary information from her records should they turn out to be sensitive.”

“Affirmation. Issuing a non-sensitive classification to interview transcripts.”

Lieutenant Lashqran turned to her as soon as AI’s voice stopped. “Captain, you should be resting. This is the second double-shift you’ve pulled in a seven cycle period.” He kept going, ignoring Echina’s frown. “Medical has assured me that you cannot sustain such a pace for long without starting to suffer from deterioration effects due to lack of rest. May I suggest that you retire to your quarters and let the supplementary team handle the ship’s routine operations?”

This was a blatant way to ingratiate himself to her on a personal and professional level, however Echina was sorely tempted by the offer. Lashqran had been slowly becoming more insistent ever since their last visit to Landoval Station nearly a year (Standard Galactic Time) ago. She suspected this sudden interest in her was due to whatever information Clan Takk had sent him about her own situation in Clan Umdyn. Again, the familiar headache started making itself known.

Echina got up from the Captain’s chair, rubbing a temple with her left thumb. “You win this time, Lieutenant. I’ll be heading to my quarters. Standard rules of conduct apply in my absence. I will be expecting a situation report when I return.”

Lashqran beamed as he settled himself in the captain’s chair. He looks a little too smug in there. Echina put him out of her mind as she made her way to the commons. She fancied some shnolok stew before resting. The commons were suitably busy when she entered. Conversations hushed wherever she passed by but quickly resumed. She didn’t mind it. She had not promoted an easy-to-approach attitude to the crew since she’d taken command of the Pride of Vanatu. While many captains didn’t mind making friend amongst their crew members, Echina felt that was unnecessary. As long as we each do our duty, we’ll get along fine.

She reached the public dispensers and quickly ordered a small portion of shnolok stew. She selected a lone table and savoured the delicate balance of flavours in her mouth. She observed the crew around her while she ate. They’re all so… carefree… I wonder why. Is it the companionship they’ve forged among themselves? She smiled bitterly. Such companionship had been denied her in her own clan. Why would outsiders even consider befriending her if her own clanmates would not? All in the name of duty. If clan Takk thinks they can catch an undulotte by following the canal, then they’re very wrong. They will never enter Clan Umdyn through me.

She finished her meal and headed back to her cabin. It was noticeably lonelier than usual.

* * *

“So tell me Sil, we’ve been discussing human mating rituals for a while now and you know considerably more than you knew earlier. Isn’t it time for you to reciprocate?”

Sil blushed a deeper shade of red. Her tail curled around her left leg tightly. “I suppose that’s only fair.” Her breasts strained against her uniform. “What do you want to know?”

“You mentioned before that Dintphs have regular mating periods right? How does your behaviour change in that time period?”

She fidgeted even harder, making her breasts sway even more. Gus estimated she had something like a C cup but he couldn’t be sure. It certainly wasn’t bigger than a D cup. She was filling out that uniform quite nicely though. She was wearing what looked like the spats version of the Vanatu uniform, exposing her shapely legs to the world. Her orange fur was randomly streaked with shocking white. He looked up from her legs just in time to see her triangular ears twitch twice.

“Well, Dintphs are very social creatures but during their mating periods, the females will exhibit a few common patterns of behaviour. We tend to become more vocal, demand attention more often, rub our face and head against beings we find suitable for mating ,that kind of thing…” She blushed so hard, she couldn’t speak anymore.

Gus patiently waited for her to settle down, admiring the way her tail would display her mental state. It was lashing left and right in agitation right now. “You’re not telling me everything. Come on Sil, I’m as curious about you as you are about me,” Gus said, leaning forward towards Sil. The smell of his sweat once again caused her a daze but she quickly recovered.

“We-well, we also, you know… become more aggressive, especially towards other females. Sometimes a female Dintph will… coil her tail around…” She blushed some more before continuing. “… around her partner’s leg. If she is more advanced in her mating period, she might even expose herself to her partner. But that’s only in private!” she screamed while covering her face with both hands. She fell from her chair and rolled around on the floor, hands still on her face. Oh, is that the shame roll? Wow, Sil is turning out to be my second favourite alien so far.

“What else Sil? There has to be a sign that you give that means you absolutely have to mate and you can’t wait anymore.” She stopped rolling and peeked at him from between a gap in her fingers. He went to her and dropped to a knee. She squeezed her eyes shut and properly covered her face. Her ears were erect and twitching wildly. Gus chuckled as he grabbed her hands and forced them off her face. “You’re cheating Sil. I really need an answer from you.”

Sil finally relented and spoke in a tiny, shy voice. “In the final stages of her mating period, a female Dintph will often secrete clear fluids and expose her genitals. Sometimes she will even present her posterior in an easy mating posture.” Having said this incriminating piece of evidence, she fled and grabbed his bed cover, covering herself in it. She looked like a gigantic Chinese bun.

Gus laughed out loud seeing this typically human shyness display. What a girl you are Sil! I don’t think I’ll ever grow bored of you! He settled back into his chair and reflected on what had just happened.

This looks like a very embarrassing and private subject. I doubt she would have talked about this in her usual state. I’ve noticed she’s looked more out of it than usual. The sweat definitely has an effect on her. I think it makes her more susceptible to suggestions. Like how I’ve been forcing her to talk about mating rituals. I don’t think it works on stuff she really doesn’t want to talk about.

Sil’s cute head finally peeked out of the bed cover ball. “You’re a very bad person, making me say these kinds of things,” she pouted.

He laughed. “I can’t help it. I really want to know more about you Sil. To be honest, I’ve never met a woman before you who was so interested in my mating behaviour.” He got up and approached her, sitting next to her and leaning his back on the soft, bulky cover. “I think you’re fascinating and beautiful,” he said as he softly caressed her head. He ears twitched but she said nothing. He couldn’t see her face but he was sure it was crimson. He kept caressing her head, feeling the softness of her fur and the casually touching her ears. He traced them, lightly touching the edges, feeling a slight tremble. Sil groaned but still did not throw his hand off.

They must have spent nearly five minutes there, one hiding in embarrassed silence, the other caressing with curious delight. Gus felt that he needed to push Sil a bit more and stood up, grabbed the cover and yanked it off her. She yelped in surprise, still curled up in a ball. Gus grinned and tossed the cover in the same corner as his vacsuit. Sil looked up at him in accusation but quickly turned her head away with a hmph and a cute pout.

Time to go for broke.

He gathered her up, ball and all, and sat on the gel chair. She was surprisingly light in his arms. All that time in the gym had paid off it seemed. He strengthened his resolve to exercise more. Basic strength would help him more than writing abstracts now. Sil was starting to weakly struggle but Gus held her tight in his arms. The odour of his sweat permeated the air and in time Sil got that same dazed look she had before.

Gus kept up the caresses and Sil unconsciously purred. Her back arced and pressed against his. It was doing wonders to his lower body. He softly blew on her right ear and watched it twitch cutely. She pressed herself more firmly to him, turning the left side of her body into his. This had the unfortunate effect of crushing her hip bone against his growing erection but he did not mind the pain. Sil was putty in his hands as of now.

He contemplated making a move on her but he doubted she was as open to sex as Art’ah was. Given how embarrassed she’d been to just speak about it, mating was very interesting but somewhat taboo to her. He’d have to coax her into it. Is there a way to induce heat in Dintphs? So far, her mating behaviour is so similar to estrus in cats that it’s frightening. He kept stroking her ear with one hand, the other gently holding her against him. Wait… If sweat makes her more open to suggestions and it’s because of pheromones… then would something that’s theoretically more loaded with pheromones induce a stronger state?

He pondered the pros and cons for a while before settling on an answer. “Sil, can you hear me?” She purred some more, her right ear twitching once. “Is that a yes?” Her ear twitched again. He smiled. “Good. Do you remember when we first met? I was using a human ritual to control my mating urges. Do you remember that?”

Single twitch.

“Well, my mating urges are starting to act up again. I think I need to care of myself. I don’t normally do this in front of others but since you’re special, I’ll let you watch. Is that okay with you?”

This time, there was no purring, no twitching, no response of any kind. Gus grew increasingly more nervous with every passing second. Had he pushed her too far? He considered apologising and letting it go when he felt the ear twitch just once in his hand.

Sil’s eyes opened and she looked at him with the same dazed eyes. “Show me.”

He gently put her on the bed and turned her towards him. “This may seem shocking to you but I need you to stay still and not move while I do this. It’s not a good idea to interrupt a human once he starts this ritual.”

She absent-mindedly nodded, staring at him intently. He slowly stripped off the lower part of his outer exofilm cloth. Sil’s eyes immediately went to his growing cock. He felt a thrill he hadn’t felt even with Art’ah as he slowly moved his fist up and down his shaft. His girth pressed against his palm and his shaft peeked out from the top of his fist, growing to his usual length.

He stared at Sil, watching her eyes dart all around his genitals. Her ears were locked forward, like a wolf staring at prey. More like, a cat watching a mouse. Her mouth was agape, her soft-looking, pink tongue darting out of her small mouth to occasionally wet her lips. She sat up, shifting to all fours, all the while staring at his junk as he kept a steady rhythm. She slowly approached like a panther on the prowled, a soft purr rising from her throat, until she was at the edge of the bed. Her eyes never left his cock.

He was feeling tingly everywhere, like his blood was suddenly too hot and uncomfortable. He started panting and sweating with effort. His fist was now painful around his cock but he kept pumping it up and down. He could not bring himself to slow down or move more gently. Sil sat on her haunches, arms leaning forward, putting her weight on her arms, pushing herself towards him until her nose was nearly touching the tip of his cock.

Her hot breathe added to the cocktail of sensations he was feeling and he felt the familiar urge deep in his balls. He imagined he could sense the muscles in his nether regions contracting, the sperm rushing through his vas deferens and outwards. He loosened his fist but increased his pace such that the friction was starting to hurt him with the force and heat of it. He barely restrained his shout as thick ropes of sticky white fluid erupted from him uncontrollably.

Most of it ended up on Sil’s face, splattering her face and fur, even her uniform. She yelped and fell back on the bed. Gus kept his cock aimed at her, still spewing forth what felt like torrents of sperm at her. He finally relented then staggered back, drained. He fell onto the gel chair. It automatically adjusted to his posture and he focused on catching his breath. He brushed hair matted with sweat out of his eyes and peered at Sil.

She was sitting up on the bed with her knees pressed together and ankles angled outwards. She was staring wide-eyed at the sperm stuck on her hands. She seemed in a daze as she slowly brought the back of her right hand up to her mouth, tongue snaking out sinuously to taste it. The tip dipped onto the top of one dollop of the white fluid before swiftly retracting. She then took at long, deliberate lick of the stuff and swallowed. She starting breathing heavily, quickly panting and licking her hands, getting all the spunk spread across her digits.

Gus watched as she slowly cleaned herself up, rubbing the back of her hands across her face, dragging every last bit of his hot genetic material to her hungry mouth in increasingly more frantic motions. He got up, grabbed what he assumed was a towel from the cloth closet he had and starting to clean Sil’s face up as best he could. She let him do as he wished like an uncomprehending child.

Gus was starting to get worried. She had a vacant look in her eyes and her breathing was getting rougher. What had he done to her? He was racking his brain trying to figure out how to fix her when she purred once more.

Her right hand reached languidly for his cock and tugged at it slightly. He followed her motion and ended up in front of her face. Her mouth opened wide, her tongue reaching out with heavy strings of saliva dripping from it. She licked up what remained on his cock then purred.

He gently pulled her hand back and put his exofilm cloth pants back on. He knelt in front of Sil and snapped his fingers a couple of times. She blinked, looked at him and seemed to regain part of her faculties. She looked up at him, face flushed and ears flat against her head. Her tail was lazily coiling and uncoiling by her side.

She reached up and grabbed the hem of his exofilm cloth and dragged him closer. She purred as she rested her head in the crook of his neck. He stayed there in an awkward half-kneel until he felt his legs start to tremble from the strain then straightened up. Sil blinked absent-mindedly and reclined on his bed. She laid her head on his pillow and closed her eyes.

Her breathing slowed down, returned to normal, then got to the slow, steady rhythm of a sleeping woman. Gus stared at the sleeping figure on his bed, afraid of waking her up. He finally grabbed the bed cover from the corner it was in and gently covered Sil. The gel chair once again accommodated his frame as he thought about the events of the past thirty minutes.

I need to figure out what happened and fast. The effect of the sweat was unexpected but it wasn’t that bad. The sperm was a game-breaker though. I don’t like the way she was acting. I hope it’s something she can sleep off. I really don’t need to be in trouble with the captain.

He glanced at Sil. She had not stirred. On a whim, he decided to ask AI.

“AI, is there anything wrong with Sil?”

“Calculating. Sensors reveal elevated body temperature. Several factors could have affected Lieutenant Sil Nubo to produce such an effect. More observations are needed to provide a definite judgement of Lieutenant Sil Nubo’s status.”

“Thanks. Can you let me know privately as soon as you have an answer?”

“Affirmation. AI will contact you on your personal comms channel once a satisfactory answer has been reached.”

“Can you tell me when Sil’s new shift starts?”

“Calculating. Lieutenant Sil Nubo’s next shift will start in eight hundred and forty-two units Standard Galactic Time. The equivalent is seven Earth hours to the nearest hour.”

“Thanks AI.”

“You’re welcome.”

Ok, I have seven hours to figure this out.