Olympia: Planet of Men (Ch. 7)

Chapter Seven | Terminus

I slept incredibly well that night in spite of it being the first time I’d done it with another person. I remember having an entertaining dream that involved happening across Hermes’s shoes. It must’ve been brought on by my curiosity toward their abilities. I stumbled around in the air as I tried to will them to work for me. 

When I woke up I realized that Derek had turned away during the night and I had positioned myself so that I was spooning him from behind. I gently kissed the back of his neck and rubbed his chest. I played with the small patch of hair between his pecs as he breathed deeply. I gradually ran my hand down his stomach, making sure to take in every dimple of his abdomen along the way. Eventually I found his navel and the thin trail of hair leading down to his groin. 

I traced a finger along its entire length until I found his short patch of trimmed pubic hair. I ran my fingers through it and gently pulled it away from him. I loved exploring him in this way. My hand bumped against his rock hard morning glory as the bits of hair fell from between my digits. 

Without hesitating I wrapped my hand around his cock. He was still breathing heavy and hadn’t made a sound in response. I kissed his neck again and smiled at how deeply he slept. 

I slowly started stroking his engorged member. He felt so warm and stiff in my hands. I really wanted to get him in my mouth but I didn’t want to startle him. Over time I increased the pace as I moved up and down. 

It wasn’t long before his heavy breathing stopped. I imagine it took him a few seconds to process what was happening. Eventually he let out a deep growly moan.

“M-m-m-m-mmmmmm”

“Morning…”, I teased as I gently bit down on his shoulder.

He turned his head slightly, smiled, and locked his blue eyes with mine. He looked so fucking cute with his eyelids barely open. I leaned forward and kissed the corner of his mouth as I continued jerking his cock. He rolled onto his back and stretched with my hand still firmly wrapped around him. 

My resolve melted away when he started slowly thrusting his hips in time with my motions. I jumped up and straddled him so I could plant a firm and passionate kiss on his lips. Once I broke free I immediately shifted myself further down the bed so that his dick was right in front of my face. 

Just like he had done to me before, I shoved my nose between one of his legs and balls to inhale his scent. He smelled like lube and his own natural odor. I couldn’t stop myself from running my tongue along the sensitive skin at the edge of his scrotum. 

“Ohhhh!”, he moaned in surprise. I looked up into his eyes with the lower half of my face buried into his crotch. I kept up the eye contact as I pulled one of his testicles into my mouth with my tongue. He tossed his head back as I gently sucked on his fertile orbs. 

When he returned to make eye contact he was smiling from ear to ear. He reached for his morning wood and quickly smacked it against my forehead. The unexpectedness of it forced me to giggle and his nut to fall from my mouth. 

I licked his sack from taint to shaft then plunged his cock down my throat. I moaned heavily onto his sweet and salty rod. I could taste both the lube and the cum from our late night activities. It felt so great to have him in my mouth again after being denied its savory flavor last night. 

Derek ran his fingers through my hair and stroked my face as I serviced him. He’d sometimes grab the back of my head and gently fuck my needy throat. I loved it when he took control. From time to time he’d throw in some of his sexy verbalisations to encourage me.

“Yea, suck me.”

“Just like that, just like that…”

“You want my load babe?”

“You ready for breakfast?”

I’d just moan in response every time. Sometimes with an inflection to affirm his query. 

“Mmhmmmm..”

When I was good and ready to taste his seed I gripped the base of his wet cock and stroked it while I sucked him. I took hold of my own rock hard rod with my free hand and began jerking it. I remembered what Xander had done with his foreskin last night and tugged on a little before pulling it back and engulfing him again. It wasn’t long after that Derek announced his release, and I wasn’t far behind.

“Oh fuck … here it c- ..”, Derek whispered as he took deep breaths.

Not even a second had passed when I felt the first gush of warm salty fluid splash the back of my throat. I shoved his cock down deeper and swallowed repeatedly as he erupted over and over. I loved the way his dick swelled up in the middle of an orgasm. I could feel his glans expand in my mouth. The thought of him unloading in me sent me over the top as well. I soaked the blanket below me with several ropes of ejaculate.

Once he was finished spasming I made another swallowing motion. He must’ve already been quite sensitive since he giggled in the middle of his heavy breathing and tried to pull himself out of me. I wasn’t so eager to let him go, but I did slowly release him from my hungry orifice. Once he was out I gave him one last lick from base to tip, making sure to lick up the last drop of jizz oozing from his slit. I loved his taste. He wasn’t as sweet as Theo, but still better than my own.

“Fhhhuuuuuuck…”, Derek sighed as I laid my head next to his deflating organ. I kissed his thigh a little as he caught his breath. 

“Ready for a shower?”, I asked once he had completely relaxed. 

“Sure, unless you want me to return the favor.”, he replied with a suggestive tone. I grinned sheepishly and rolled over to reveal the mess I had made of his comforter.

“Oh man, the cleaning crew’s gonna have fun with that.”, he teased. 

“Hehe, yea… I’lI bet the ship cleans itself with robots or something.”

“Probably”, he agreed. “…. alright, let’s go.”

We both climbed out of his bed and headed to the bathroom. The shower itself was mostly uneventful. We spent a lot of time enjoying each other’s bodies and making out. We both took turns bathing each other. It was kinda strange having someone else do all the work for you. Oddly enough though, he seemed to avoid letting me clean his hole. At least, he hurriedly washed it himself. He probably just didn’t feel comfortable with it yet. Afterwards we dried off, then brushed our teeth and hair. 

“What’s for breakfast this time? Maybe some croissants on the top of Mount Everest?”, Derek joked, referencing our ice cold morning meal from yesterday.

“God. noooo…”, I replied, shivering a little at the memory. “I wouldn’t mind trying the cafe again.”

“Yea? I bet their breakfast is good.”

Once we agreed, we started toward the door. However, we were interrupted once we were face-to-face with it.

“Good morning gentleman!”, Athenus’s voice came through the hidden speakers in the room. “Sorry to bother you. Seeing as it’s the day of arrival on Olympia, I’m instructed to inform you of our procedures. We’re on schedule to arrive at Orbital Station Pegasus at approximately 11:00 AM ship time. Two announcement will precede at thirty minute intervals. If you decide to use the Sims this morning your experience will automatically terminate after the final announcement. Please make your way to the atrium in front of the cafeteria at that time. You will receive further instructions on your integration once you’re there. Enjoy your morning! If you have any questions in the meantime, feel free to ask. I look forward to hearing from you both in the future!”

He went silent after he gave his message. Derek and I looked at each other. He seemed just as nervous as I felt in that moment. I had no idea what to expect. 

After we quickly exchanged looks the door to Derek’s room opened. We snapped out of our thought processes and continued through the door.

“I wonder where we’ll live…”, Derek interrupted the silence as we walked. 

“I was wondering that before… Surely they won’t stick us in some sort of camp for newcomers.”, I responded with my own worst case thoughts.

“Yea… guess we’ll find out pretty soon.”

We descended the spiral staircase to the first floor. Along the way we tried to lighten the mood by joking about some of the more outrageous possibilities of life on a planet full of homosexuals.

“I wouldn’t be surprised if deep throating is the most popular sport.”, Derek insisted at one point.

“That’s a sport I’d finally enjoy watching.”

“What?! You never liked watching my games?”

“Only when you wore your baseball uniform.”, I swooned, pretending to melt onto his shoulder as we crossed the circle to the cafe.

“You didn’t like the track uniform? My dick was always showing.”

“I don’t think I ever saw you in it.”, I admittedly with a tone of regret.

“Guess I’ll have to show you.”, he elbowed me gently as we approached the host stand.

A different host greeted us and brought us to our seat. We were fairly close to the bar this time. We were given a different set of menus for breakfast. Before looking over the food I immediately started browsing the drink options. They had so many to choose from. I noticed the bartender making something with orange juice that looked quite good. Before I could find it on the menu our waiter approached. 

“Welcome back boys!”, Donte greeted us excitedly. 

“Hey!”, we both replied.

“Good morning”, I added. 

“So, what can I get you guys started with?”, he asked looking at me first.

“What’s that drink the bartender just finished making?”, I inquired.

“Oooooo that would be a mimosa. It’s a really popular French drink. It’s just orange juice and champagne.”, Donte informed us.

“I’ll try that!”, I loved the way it sounded.

“I’ll give it a shot as well.”, Derek added, chuckling softly as my enthusiasm. Honestly I just love orange juice. 

“Alrighty! I’ll be right back!”, he announced. He quickly walked around our table to the bar and leaned over it to get the mixologists attention. His position gave us a wonderful view of his perfectly furry blonde ass. I knew without even looking at him that Derek and I were both getting an eye full. 

When I decided I’d been staring for too long I turned to him to watch him ogle that ass. A few days ago I’d have felt jealousy. Instead, I just can’t help but relate and respect his desires; especially after sharing the night with Xander. He must’ve felt my gaze because he glanced at me sideways and grinned. He hung his head and laughed when he realized he’d been caught. When we met eyes again I reassured him by biting my lower lip and quickly glancing at Donte’s ass. 

After laughing at our silent exchange we returned to browse our menus. It didn’t take me long to find what I wanted and it seemed Derek located something with similar haste. 

A moment later Donte returned to our table with our goblets of pale orange fluid. We both gave him our orders and he was off again toward the kitchen.

“Mmmm…”, I heard Derek moaning as I watched Donte leave. He had taken a sip of his drink.

“Good?”

“Yea, orange juice with a bubbly bite. Good choice.” He was exactly right. I loved it as well. 

We sat and talked for a bit while enjoying our drinks. We primarily discussed the possibilities on Olympia. I mentioned how I’d like to continue my education at an art school. He apparently wanted to do something more introspective.

“I’ve been told what to do, even in school, for so long that I have no idea what I really enjoy. I think I like engineering… or maybe something involving astronomy. I don’t know..”, he trailed off as he finished his train of thought. 

We also talked about the living situation possibilities. We hoped we’d get to pick a place to live or something like that. We agreed that we’d try to find a way to live close to each other if it was possible. The idea of being forced to live somewhere away from him was a little saddening.

Once we got our meals our conversation became far less serious. We talked about what it must be like to not ever worry about money. The fashion choices we saw last night had us pondering all the bizarre possibilities. 

We finished our meal with an hour and fifteen minutes to go. Anxiety rose within me when I noticed this on the clock in the cafe. 

“What should we do to kill time?”, Derek asked while stretching and rubbing his stomach.

“I don’t know… walk around? … maybe check out the library?”

“Why not?”, Derek agreed.

We said bye to our waiter and headed across the inner circle. The library looked somewhat similar to the nightclub. It was lined with tall columns with golden silk banners. The entrance had a similar Greek triangular roof with sculpted relief. The depiction was different from the previous, with an image that I had recognized as Athenus from the Sims holding a sword, wearing a decorative helmet, and an owl seemingly swooping in to perch on his shoulders. 

We crossed the threshold into the massive space. I was expecting to see towering bookshelves all over the place but they were completely absent from the scene. There were only two toward the back. Instead there were several large cylindrical platforms with the pearlescent material from the Sims on their upward facing surface. Most of them were empty, but on the largest one in the center was a huge spinning planet hovering just a few inches above it. We started to walk over to it when the pedestal nearest to the door shimmered.

“Welcome to my library! … can I help you with anything?”, Athenus greeted us. 

“Oh! … thanks, Uh… we were just checking it out before we had to leave.”, I admitted.

“Not a problem, feel free to browse. You can access my records by approaching any of the Sim Pedestals. You should be familiar with the interface already.”, he informed us.

“Thanks!”, Derek and I both called out.

We started walking towards the largest pedestal in the center. We both seemed pretty drawn to the huge blue orb that dominated the library. 

As we got closer I realized that it was almost entirely covered in water. Along the equator were thousands of islands scattered about in varying sizes. Coming over one of the horizons was a particularly large island with a massive circular bay. 

Derek and I just stared at a distance as it rotated. We were once again interrupted as we gazed at the realistic miniature planet.

“Good morning Gentlemen! This is Captain Hermes. 

In an hour we will be docked with Orbital Station Pegasus. Please take this into consideration as you continue your morning’s activities. 

You will hear from me once more thirty minutes prior to arrival. At that time I expect all newcomers to assemble in the bow section of the ship’s atrium, near the cafeteria. 

Thank you”

Hermes’s speech was short and stern, not nearly as lighthearted as the ones he gave previously. 

“He means business…”, Derek picked up on the change of tone as well.

“Yea… I imagine he just wants it to go smoothly for everyone.”, I suggested.

“Yea, probably.”

We returned to the globe hovering in front of us. I decided to step a little closer to it. As soon as I did a familiar interface appeared in front of me. There were several tiled images within it, much like the library in the Sims. I perused the list a little, but I was most curious about the first option.

“Apollon City”, I spoke at the hologram, hoping I didn’t mispronounce it.

Immediately after the sphere began to react. It rotated until the large island we had noticed before was directly in front of us. The whole orb began to sink into the pearlescent material and the island rotated away until it was on top. At the same time, the sphere expanded continuously. At one point only the island was visible with the slight curvature of the planet still noticeable. 

It kept zooming until a large three dimensional projection of a massive city was visible. 

“Woah…”, I heard Derek whisper beside me.

Massive is a bit of an understatement. I remembered pictures of Tokyo and thinking a city could be no bigger. We had the Sears Tower and the World Trade Center as pinnacles of engineering in America. None of these could compare to what we were looking at. The city itself was so vast you could still see the curvature of the planet. It encircled the entire shore of the perfectly round bay. Dotted throughout it were several spires reaching into the thin atmosphere, like tiny needles in a pin cushion. In a few spots these towers were very dense. I couldn’t exactly make out particular designs from our current view. 

“How many people do you think live there..?”, Derek continued in his state of amazement. 

The device must have recognized his question, because the images on the small interface disappeared and a number appeared. 

“Holy shit… that’s three fucking commas…”, he exclaimed. 

“Yea…”

1,421,894,228 people. Over one billion men lived in the city according to the number on the interface. 

“There’s no way they all came from Earth.”, I added. 

“How do you think they reproduce?”, Derek asked.

Again, just like with his previous question, the interface gave us an answer. 

“Reproduction on Olympia is a product of biological engineering. One or more donors may contribute genetic material to create a zygote that’s incubated in a controlled environment.”

We both paused to read and comprehend this new information. I hadn’t really given it much thought, but it seemed perfectly reasonable.

“Oh good, for a second I had disturbing images of men with baby bumps.”, Derek joked.

I laughed pretty hard at his remark. The mental image he’d painted was too much for me. 

We spent the next several minutes asking questions about the planet. We learned that it has the exact same 24 hour rotational period. Odd coincidence, but it was really convenient. The length of a year differs by 82 days, Olympia’s being 447 days long. We also learned that the star it orbits has a binary companion less than a third of a lightyear away. The main star is pale yellow and slightly larger than Earth’s Sun. The second star is a deep red/orange. Apparently for half the year the nights are a warm reddish color. The planet has three moons, two of which are quite small. The third moon is larger than Earth’s but orbits a little further out. There are also two separate systems of rings encircling the planet. It looked absolutely beautiful.

We had lost track of time as we gave the AI query after query. After we had learned all this we decided we should probably make our way to the bow of the ship. Just as we were walking down the hallway leading to the cafeteria’s alcove the captain’s voice returned.

“Gentlemen,

I apologize to anyone who’s activities were just cut short by my intrusion, but this is the aforementioned thirty minute notification. 

Please make your way to the bow of the ship at this time. In twenty minutes an ambassador will meet you to go over the procedures that will follow.

Thank you all so much for your patience.”

As soon as the captain’s message ended, the strips of light along the borders of the ceiling started animating. In the midst of the solid white, little blue arrows of light began racing down the hallway toward the front of the ship. A quick glance behind me showed that this was happening all over. Even the staircase had spiraling arrows motioning toward the bottom floor. Derek and I exchanged a quick glance in reaction to the illuminations then continued our walk.

When we arrived at the cafeteria, there were already at least a hundred guys waiting. A few were chowing down, getting in one quick meal. Most were sitting or standing around waiting for the next step. We were walking through the crowd to find a place to sit when we heard a familiar voice.

“Hey Damon!”, Jiho’s voice rang out over the murmur of all those nearby. I could see his hand waving over all the heads.

Derek and I waved back and started making our way towards him. We noticed Trent’s hand pop up afterwards. 

“Hey! How was the rest of your night?”, I asked playfully as we greeted each other. They quickly exchanged devious looks.

“It was good!”, Trent spoke up, skipping over plenty of details in his response. Jiho giggled a little. 

“Same, we spent a little more time with Xander before passing out.”, Derek admitted with a suggestive inflection. 

The four of us continued chatting with each other about what had happened since we split up after our night out. We shared with them all of the interesting details we had learned from the library. They had apparently already known about the geography of the planet from their visit. 

After a while the crowd around us started swelling as the remaining men poured in from all directions. A few minutes after they had all seemed to arrive, a small team of individuals walked out from the hallway we came down. One of them stepped up onto a table near the edge of the crowd.

“Can I have your attention?”, he half-shouted over the muttering of the crowd.

“…

Thank you,

In ten minutes you will all be exiting the ship onto the orbital station. 

Behind you, between the roped off sections, three staircases will appear that you will descend to disembark.”

I looked around to see what he was referring to. I hadn’t noticed them before but there were in fact three long rectangular sections of the atrium that were roped off.

“Once you are on the station you will be guided to a space that’s not too different from a customs terminal at an international airport on Earth. You’ll be lined up in a queue, ultimately leading to an integration officer who will help you build your citizen profile. 

Please do not get in a rush, there are several officers to make the process quick and easy.

Afterwards – “

Just as he began his next point, a loud *thwomp* noise interrupted him. I felt a subtle vibration from the floor below me. Nearly everyone turned to see what had caused the commotion. 

The radiant flare of light that once sat dead center in the direction of travel had disappeared spectacularly. The view had been replaced by the vast curved blueness that was Olympia. In that brief moment I felt so many emotions. I felt absolutely humbled by the awesome size of the planet before me. I felt anxiety at what awaited me on its surface. I felt terror in seeing that we truly were in the hostile vacuum of space. Mostly, though, I felt excitement. Olympia was a stunning jewel in the sea of coal that was my life.

“Afterwards”, the ambassador began again.

“You may either proceed to the shuttles, or wait for any companions you may wish to travel with to do the same.

You will all be shuttled to Apollon City, the capitol. There you will go through our traditional greeting ceremony. It’s not much of a spectacle, so you have no need to be anxious. 

Once that’s complete, you’ll be taken to our hospitality offices to meet with an agent who’ll help you decide on where you’d like to reside.

Thank you for your undivided attention

When you’re clear to board the station my associates will direct you.

Have a wonderful day!”

The ambassador quickly waved and stepped down from the table. The murmuring picked up quite abruptly as I’m sure many people were speculating on what’s about to happen. 

“Alrighty…”, Derek broke the silence in our own group with a tone of uncertainty. 

“Yep.”, Trent added.

“… I wonder what the ceremony’s all about.”, I questioned as I thought about everything we’d just heard. 

“Not a clue.”, Trent responded after exchanging glances with Jiho.

Our awkward conversation ended when we noticed Derek staring toward the massive glass window. We could see now Orbital Station Pegasus coming into view. I was expecting something with lots of pale gray modules and solar panels jutting out of it like in various illustrations I’d seen in textbooks. What I saw instead was a massive fluted structure, much like the horn on a trombone, floating in space. At its widest end was a bubble that seemed to contain an atmosphere with greenery and hundreds of buildings. It seemed as though it was an artificial livable space IN space. In the more narrow ends of the long cylinder were several spokes that emanated outwards. I could see several ships docked along these spokes like jets in an airport terminal. 

Most of the crowd continued to stare as the massive construct grew in size. It wasn’t long before our vessel had positioned itself at the tip of one of those spokes. After a slow and steady maneuvering process we felt one final quick thud as Starship Talaria paired itself with the space station.

After a series of mechanical vibrations the floor between the sets of barriers started to descend. They formed a gradual incline down to a space below. 

The three men that accompanied the ambassador before were already there waiting. They tapped something on their nearest poles and the railings at the top of the ramps quickly receded. 

I suddenly felt anxious again. I had just gotten used to being on the ship, now it was time to move on to an entirely new planet.

The crowd around me started to shift slowly. Derek and I started shuffling with them, along with our two new friends. The four of us were near the leftmost ramp so we made our way toward it. 

It didn’t take long for us to make it down with only a little more than two hundred people. At the bottom we could see three more large doorways that seemed to be where the ship had connected with the station.

Derek grabbed my hand as we crossed the entryway. I’m glad he did, I was getting more nervous by the minute. I’m not sure if he could tell, or if he himself needed some reassurance. We exchanged a quick glance. He seemed pretty calm and confident behind his comforting smile.

We crossed into a massive hallway that I assumed led to the narrow cylinder I had seen before as we approached. The corridor was very similar to the style of the ship, with marble cladding and decorative columns along its length. In between the columns were massive windows looking out into space where one could see both the cold vacuum filled with twinkling stars and the massive blue orb of Olympia.

I glanced at the herd of men around me as we made our way towards the center. They all seemed equally nervous about what was happening. I also noticed that the ambassadors from before were leading the pack.

When we finally made it to the end we were faced with a large convex door. After a moment it split apart and opened. Inside it was a vast empty cylindrical chamber with three other sets of doors. I guessed right away that it was an elevator. 

The ambassadors stepped inside first and the crowd followed suit. Once we were all in, the doors shut. A quiet hum vibrated the space for about ten seconds then faded away. Once it had completely ended, the door to our right split open.

On the other side was a massive room with, just as we were told, a long queue line right up front. The ambassadors began directing us into the queue like cattle. I thought about my experiences on a farm as we were herded into the maze of barriers. 

Once Derek and I were in line I could see where we were headed. At the end of the rows of rope, on the other side of the chamber were about three dozen stations. They looked almost like large decorative stone cubicles. Inside each was a seated individual with a large holographic screen in front of him. 

Our group slowly made its way through the zig-zag until we were at the end of the queue. It wasn’t long after when several more started finishing up their integrations. Derek was up next.

“Alright… I’ll wait when I’m done”, he said nervously as another guy left his station.

“Kay”, I agreed, squeezing his hand before letting go. The ambassador pointed him toward the empty cubicle and he walked off. I was feeling a little less nervous now that we were here, but not having him with me made me a little anxious.

Just as Derek took a seat across from his officer, another fellow newcomer got up and left. The ambassador pointed toward his empty seat. I looked back at Jiho and Trent before making my way to it. 

I wasn’t sure what to expect when I got there so I was getting flustered with every step I took. I felt a little better when the officer looked up at me and smiled. He was, of course, gorgeous…

“Hi there! Welcome to Orbital Station Pegasus.”, he greeted me warmly. “Have a seat, we’ll make this quick.”

I did as I was told and sat across from him, with the floating screen in between us.

“Hi..”, I returned the introduction.

“Alright, so I’m just going to ask you a few questions about yourself and how you intend to be identified. We’ll also need some biometrics.

First off, what’s your name? First, Middle, and Last. You’re more than welcome to change it to something you’d be more comfortable with.”

“Damon Michael …”, I paused. I hadn’t given this any thought. I didn’t want to keep my foster parents’ last name. 

I tried to think quickly. I wanted something that sounded cool. I thought about stars, and sci-fi. I really loved Star Trek, especially The Next Generation. I blurted out the first awesome sounding name that came to mind. 

“… Picard”

I put it all together in my head, I liked the way it sounded. 

“Alright, you sure? Damon Michael Picard.”, he asked as I thought about it.

“Yea, that’s fine with me.”, I assured him.

“Great! Ok, what day were you born on Earth?”

“December 19th, 1981”, I answered quickly.

“Excellent, so that would make you… 18 Earth years aaand… almost exactly 15 Olympian years. In fact… your Olympian birthday would be tomorrow! .. Which would be the 12th of Omicrion. Happy early birthday!”

I chuckled nervously, but also felt excited. I can’t remember ever enjoying my birthdays. We’d get the day off from chores, which was nice, and Trish would bake a halfway decent cake. It was a kind gesture at least. I never had anybody over from school, not that I had many friends that would attend.

“Thanks”, I replied.

“No problem! 

So, where were you born?”

“Ocean City, Florida”

“Great. Ok, for your physical attributes… 

Your hair is obviously brown.

Your eyes arrreeee…?”, the officer leaned forward a bit and squinted.

“Green”, I answered.

“Got it, and your height is?”, he asked.

“5’ 11”, last time I measured.”

“Awesome, that actually matches what your medical scientist documented.”, he added as he looked back and forth on his screen.

“Alright, so now I just need to do some scans for biometrics. You’ll feel a bit of a tingling sensation for a minute. Just sit still and it’ll be over in no time.”, the officer pressed a series of buttons and I felt slight vibrations at my feet. Almost immediately I felt the tickling crawling its way up my heels.

“This scan captures a detailed record of your completely elemental make-up. We use this for identification, medical attention, and many other services. For instance, if you access a Synth for clothing it knows your exact measurements based on your physiology. We also have medical pods that can rebuild damaged tissue using these measurements as well, should you unfortunately need one. It’s recommended that we update these scans as often as possible. It’s not mandatory, but it does help.”, he gave a brief explanation as the invisible scanner crept its way up towards my head. I struggled not to shiver as it passed the top of my spine.

“Hmm…. 

Ah.

Alright, that’s it!”, he chimed in as the scanner passed the top of my head. He stuck a hand out in my direction. “It was nice to meet you Damon Picard.”

“Nice to meet you too!”, I shook his hand.

“Just walk around this wall here to find the exit. There’ll be signs indicating the location of the shuttles when you’re ready to head to the surface.”, he instructed as he pointed to the wall on the farest end of the room we were in.

“Thanks!”, I waved goodbye and did as he told me to do. There was a large entryway where he had indicated. It had a large carved marble sign across the top with the words “WELCOME TRAVELER”, etched across it. 

I smiled as I passed under it. On the other side was a lounge area with a couple guys waiting, I immediately spotted Derek.

“Hey! How’d it go?”, I asked him as I walked up to him. 

“Good, apparently I’m 14”, he rolled his eyes as I plopped down on the sofa next to him. 

“Same, but my birthday’s tomorrow.”, I shrugged and grinned.

“No shit? Mine’s in like two months. At least you’ve already got your birthday suit on…”, he teased as he looked me up and down. 

“Hahaha, yea… it should be an interesting b-day.”

We talked more about the experience we just had while waiting for Trent and Jiho. I told Derek about my choice in last name and he gave me hell for it. 

“Such a neeeerd.”, he taunted playfully. “I like it though, it’s much better than Damon Michael Wesley…” 

“Yessss!”, I smiled and nodded. Just as I did Jiho appeared.

“You made it!”, Derek cheered.

“Yay!”, Jiho responded while he threw his arms in the air. Suddenly Trent ran up behind him and tickled at his exposed sides. Jiho giggled and his arms shot down in response.

“It wasn’t that bad.”, Trent bragged while teasing his Korean friend.

Derek and I chuckled at their display. We both got up from the couch and headed over to them. 

“You guys ready for this?”, Derek asked encouragingly. 

Trent gave a thumbs up. The four of us followed the elaborate carved signage along the walls indicating the location of the shuttle bay. 

We walked down a short hallway that opened up into a massive alcove in the side of the space station. On the opposite end it appeared to be completely open to empty space. The room had dozens of relatively small sleek vehicles scattered across its floor. They looked like fat gray futuristic Lamborghinis with no wheels. 

An ambassador was there to greet us as we walked in. He welcomed us and pointed to a nearby shuttle. It felt so incredibly odd to be walking in this space with the hazy blue sphere dominating the background with seemingly nothing between us. 

We boarded the small vessel together and found about six empty seats arranged in rows facing either the front or the back. There were six guys already buckled in looking quite anxious. Two pilot chairs were in the front of the vehicle, only one of which was empty. 

Jiho and Trent led the way to the back where two sets of chairs were facing each other. They took two of the forward facing chairs by the large window. I grabbed the one by the window facing the opposite direction. 

Once we sat down and buckled in I felt as nervous as ever. Being in a vessel as large as Starship Talaria wasn’t so bad as it felt massive and very secure. I never really considered that the infinite void was on the other side of its walls. Being in this tiny craft didn’t give me a similar sense of security. Space was gonna be only a few inches from my face. I grabbed Derek’s hand for comfort. 

After a few minutes of waiting anxiously two other occupants joined us on the shuttle. The ambassador waiting outside jumped in and sealed the door before taking the second pilot’s chair. 

“Welcome boys! 

Make sure you’re buckled in. It’ll be a smooth ride to the surface, but it doesn’t hurt to be secure.”, the ambassador suggested as he snapped his own harness on. 

As soon as he was finished the ship started a high pitched whirring noise. Hardly a moment passed before it effortlessly lifted straight up off the ground. I felt myself shaking a little almostly immediately. I took some deep breaths and squeezed Derek’s hand. I had never even been on a plane before and I was about to fly through space on something smaller than a commercial jet. 

As quickly as we lifted upwards the ship pointed its bow toward the wide opening and accelerated in its direction. In no time at all we were out of the space station. I had a great view of it looking backwards as we flew away. 

After a few seconds I could see its entirety from my vantage point. Something massive attached to it caught my eye. It only took a second for me to recognize it. I had only seen it from the inside of course and this was my first time seeing just how big it really was. Written along its glistening silver hull was the name of Hermes’s prized ship.

“STARSHIP TALARIA”

It was a stunning piece of engineering. I hadn’t expected it to be a gargantuan sphere. I could see the dark glass ring at the top where the public atrium was located. It occupied maybe 20% of the sphere. I could also finally see the perfectly circular ring that hovered precariously around the ship. It had to be at least a kilometer wide! On either side of the ship were massive sleek wing-like protrusions that gave the vessel a sense of motion even when it was sitting still. It reminded me of the Harry Potter book Anthony had been reading on the bus several months ago. There was something called a snitch on the cover that was similar except in gold. 

I pointed out the window to my companions to encourage them to take a look as well. Derek was already admiring it alongside me.

We all stared at our temporary home as it disappeared among the thousands of twinkling stars, growing smaller and smaller. We eventually turned our attention to Olympia now that it almost completely engulfed our view. 

In that moment though, a jarring alarm rang out in our small ship. With it red light flooded the cabin…