Chapter 2
'Chadwick Ponkert! This isn't the time for deadasses!' the feminine voice continued. 'Up and at 'em!'
Ponkert sighed as the consuming fire in his veins dulled to a pleasing warmth. His mind fought to ease back into the restfulness of DEEP-sleep and ignore the drugs that worked to wake him.
'Come on, Ponkert!' the woman's voice nagged. 'Stop wasting time!
Time-Shift Universal is paying you good money for this job! Now let's hop to it!'
The loud hiss of in-rushing air temporarily drowned the strident voice of the demanding harpy. Exploding crimson sun bursts raced across his closed eyelids, and reality smashed into his brain like a wet sandbag!
'Hurry, Ponkert!' the voice of the ship's computer commanded again.
'Shut up, bitch!' Ponkert snapped in return, his eyes blinking open to focus on the flickering lights of the control panel.
'Who are you calling a bitch, Chadwick Ponkert the Third?' the feminine voice of the computer retorted, with a touch of indignation.
'You! You hunk of tin with a motorized mouth!' Ponkert snarled as he groggily stepped out of the DEEP-sleep pod into the control room. His magnetic boots stopped him from drifting in free-fall.
'Why, you ungrateful blob of animated flesh and bone!' The computer wouldn't keep silent. 'How can… '
'I said shut up!' Ponkert shouted as he stumbled to his control couch.
'Another word and I'll take a screwdriver to you!'
'Hummphf!' the monitor grunted metallically, then hummed without another word.
'Good!' Ponkert sighed, settling into the form-fitting contours of the couch. Man triumphant over machine once again! 'Now bring me a brandy, then wake Jan. And if you want your ration of oil today, you'll have two more brandies here before she arrives!'
'Yes, master,' the machine acknowledged somewhat sarcastically, then hummed peacefully again.
Ponkert relaxed in the deep-cushioned chair, wondering what had possessed him to give the ship's computer a female voice. He made a mental note to have it changed, along with a notation to erase any mention of Time-Shift Universal in the computer's memory banks. He had given them their five trips. Now he was an independent.
'Your drink, master,' the computer said as a tube slipped into Ponkert's hand from a slot in the arm of his couch.
He sipped the amber liquid and found it to his liking. The distilled wine took the edges off his rude awakening and helped fade the memories of his dream. Karin happened a long time back. She didn't wait. The memories were no longer painful, just unpleasant. He would have to be more careful in programming his dreams for DEEP- sleep. No more frosty blondes!
The brandy settled in his stomach, spreading its heat through his body.
He glanced around the control room, feeling a rush of pride stir gooseflesh within his chest. This was his ship, no longer Time-Shift Universal's. He was an independent, no longer an employee. He smiled. He felt like the captain of the IGV (Intergalactic Vessel) Werewolf.
His eyes surveyed the cabin again. His pride swelled higher. Every cent he had made during his time with Time-Shift had gone into the purchase of the Werewolf and the equipment it contained. It was worth it! Raising the half-emptied tube, he toasted, 'To my pride and joy! To the Werewolf!'
As his lips nursed the last drops of brandy from the tube, a very feminine and very, very sexy voice cooed from behind him, 'I'd like to join in that toast. I need a drink-desperately!'
Smiling, Ponkert twisted his head. His breath was taken away anew by the sight that greeted his eyes. Unashamed of her plentiful and desirable attributes, Jan lounged in the hatch, one flaring hip jutted out in a come-hither pose. Her every voluptuous curve strained against the plastic jumpsuit that covered her from her small perfect feet to the base of her long, graceful white neck. The jumpsuit itself was made of alternating three- inch squares of wet-look white and perfectly transparent plastic. Although the white squares deviously hid the vital targets sought by Ponkert's probing eyes, the transparent panels broadly hinted at what lay beneath.
Ponkert's penis did a cartwheel within his own jumpsuit.
'Your wish is my command,' he said, sailing a tube of amber liquid through the weightless atmosphere of the cabin into the woman's waiting hands. 'How do you feel?'
Gulping down a hasty swallow, Jan replied, 'Hot and Bothered. Those electronic wet-dreams of yours are enough to drive a sweet, innocent young girl up the walls!'
'Bitch, bitch, bitch!' he returned. 'If you prefer, I'll see that your pod receives a private screening of Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm next time around. Now put that sweet, young bottom of yours in your couch. We've got to arrange a nice soft planetfall.'
'Yes sir, chief!' she answered somewhat mockingly as she lowered herself into her own contour couch. 'But you forgot the 'innocent' when describing my rear.'
'You forgot innocence a long time back, so why should I remember?'
Ponkert chided.
'Screw you!' Jan replied. The comment came more as a suggestion than a curse.
'Later, woman!' Ponkert chuckled.
As they busied themselves with landing preparations, Jan grinned, 'I'll store that away for future reference, Chad!'
Without further ado, man and woman, pilot and co-pilot, fed data hand over fist into the Werewolf's monitor. For over an hour, figures and facts went in and twice as many figures and facts were blurted out. The process completed, the two sank back into their respective control couches.
'We're lucky, Chad,' Jan sighed, 'to find an Earth-type this soon.'
Ponkert nodded. 'Howsabout another drink to celebrate?'
He chuckled to himself. He and his female-type co-pilot shared one thing in common: an old-fashioned belief in the free enterprise system and an unshakable faith in the power of money. If they hadn't they would have never stepped foot on the deck of a rocket in an attempt to discover and exploit an Earth-type planet. Their basic plan was the establishment of a recreation centre, wild and free, away from the hands of the numerous governments throughout the galaxy. When overpopulation cursed most planets, there was a premium on 'space to get away from it all.' They planned to cash in on this need.
'Make mine a Margarita.' Jan suggested. 'It'll fit my sexy mood.'
The computer responded immediately, slipping a pale lime-coloured tube into his hand.
'Woman, if you make another comment like that, I'll begin to think you're propositioning your captain,' he said, floating the drink container in her direction.
Their eyes met and held each other.
Jan let the tube wobble by her and bounce off the bulkhead behind her.
Her eyes were alive with impish light and a wide smile spread across her lips, 'We've got two hours until atmosphere entry,' her eyes flashed at him wickedly, '… master!' she added with emphasis.
The 'master' coursed through Ponkert's groin like an electrical shock.
He had chosen Jan as his co-pilot because they made a good exploratory team. Three flights for Time-Shift had proven that. The same flights had also proven they were good together.
'Master,' Jan repeated to be sure Ponkert realized which game she was in the mood to play.
Ponkert understood!
'Strip, slave!' he ordered firmly, falling into the role she sought from him.
Jan complied, peeling off the checkerboard plastic jumpsuit that clung to her full lush body like a second skin. Completely naked within a few seconds, she tantalizingly pivoted to allow Ponkert a view of her attributes from every angle.
Jan could never be called beautiful. She was cute. From the shining strands of black hair that topped her head to her small, child-like feet, she radiated a glow of innocence that cried out to be taken and protected. This very aura of innocence made the dominance she needed and wanted all that more enticing to Ponkert.
'The gravity!' he commanded. 'You know you aren't worth a damn in free-fall!'
