Rise of the Star Ch. 02

The Gull were quite adorable.

*

It would be unfair to say that this was the only thing happening in the empire. At any time a million things were happening, some of colossal importance and many utterly minor. A fourth habitable planet was discovered, and this one was an archaeological treasure trove... a world that once was nothing but a sprawling city, with towering skyscrapers of a size that physics seemed to disapprove of. Research showed this to be the capital planet of a now-extinct space empire, one that grew by incorporating many species into its function.

The empire had not gone too far from its origin system, with the Wayfarer going the furthest as it charted hyperlanes and star systems they could touch. Of note was that not EVERY system was reachable, the gravitic connections between stars that they depended on to move from one system to another were so frayed in some places that utilizing them was a risk with low odds of success. At this point in time, Astoria had seven star systems under its belt... and three planets soon to become four. While there were minor outposts on less-habitable planets, on asteroids, or in the orbit of gas giants, such operations were considered just a "station" rather than a planet. A dozen research posts were set up with staff eager to study local anomalies, extraction centers were organizing systematic excavation of minerals, from the very basic ones like iron and copper, to the utterly exotic like uranium, petroleum, helium, and crystals.

Plasteel had become a standardized material for all space-bound operations, known for its resilience and lower weight, almost anything serving a long time in the void was crafted from it, the manufactories on New Astoria and Athuras chugging out not just the raw ingots of such stuff, but crafted components of universal utility. If one needs to know, plasteel is made by fusing together several metals and plastics, a process that is quite precise in its work, but the result is something that is almost inexplicably lighter than its components while having more strength than titanium. Chemical fuel was still heavily employed, though the reserves on their home planet were running thin, mining operations drilling deeper and deeper for any leftover fuel. Most chemical fuel was rendered from biological matter, and thus some farms were not producing edible parts. The flower fields on Athuras were quite a sight.

Dawnlight was growing and quickly impressed with the quality of its crops. People said that the foodstuffs coming out of the place were a level above their homeworld's production, with several studies and televised shows demonstrating that one could tell the difference even when the odds were a bit stacked in New Astoria's favor. The world was quickly becoming the empire's breadbasket, but that did not mean that other planets would fully discard local food production. The planet they had just discovered was a lesson... as a world without any sort of food production was dependent on imports and any disruption would result in an overnight collapse of everything. They would not repeat that mistake.

That new planet would be colonized, and it would be called Solaria. The new residents would make their home in partially-restored ruins, they would take apart the ancient buildings for still-viable materials, they would thoroughly study the signs of this ancient civilization and hope that sometime in the future they could restore it. The prospect of clearing away all of the ruins and turning it back into a planet where nature could flourish was unrealistic and destructive. Thankfully, there was still some functioning technology to ensure a livable planet.

And Athuras... looked to be going in a different direction. Its system had substantial deposits of minerals, while the planet itself had decent ones, if it was in no way outstanding. It had its local peculiarities, like this one plant that was named Kacha, a plant that was so paranoid as to infuse itself with both capsaicin and caffeine, both substances that plants use to dissuade animals from feasting on them and humans found delicious. It had this optimal, hard-to-reproduce mix of both that, when made an infusion of the dried and ground plants, would make for a spicy coffee that locals found particularly invigorating. It also seemed to be dependent on local planetary conditions, meaning that the growth of this plant outside the planet was difficult. But, the planet would find its fate in industry. After system-wide operations would need to deposit their hauls on the planet, it was deemed much more efficient to process them here rather than hauling them away. Athuras would become a production powerhouse, with factories and workshops becoming plentiful on its surface. This did not equal ludicrous levels of pollution. They solved that problem decades ago and the air on that planet was breathable.

Slowly, the empire came together. The empire that one day a young man would find at the peak of its ability, from which a young girl would leave and constantly think back on. The empire that James could be proud of. But it was not yet there. It took significant efforts to keep these worlds in balance, to make sure that the food produced reached eager mouths, that the consumer goods were enriching someone's life rather than waiting on a shelf, and that the void-dwellers had all they needed to provide the unifying service of keeping these systems in working order.

It was getting a bit better.

*

"They're kind of cute, right?"

Ben asked that question to get any sort of conversation going between Max and him. The observation station was such an exciting place in its early days, but after twenty years they kind of exhausted that spirit. Sure, the Gull were still a fascinating study as they were ever so slowly improving, with some early attempts at steam engines noticed in some mountain bases.

"Ya still think about fucking one? And yeah, I guess they still are."

The Gull were objectively adorable. They had a perpetual optimism and seemed to revolve their culture around removing any source of sorrow. They were highly communal, putting to shame the community system of the empire in how they could come together to solve the problems of one. Even for the planet, they seemed remarkably strong and resilient, so they were even less troubled by physical injury. However, one might see them as lacking in pain tolerance, one of the twenty-four components of education in Astoria. Since they held trouble at bay with fervent determination, when they could not it was a bit worse than usual.

"Oh, I still do. They'd probably break me by accident, but... hah... shame we can't bring some over. Would be nice, maybe."

"They could tear this place apart without trying. And you heard why to do the passive study. Interference could mess with the results."

"Yeah, but we kinda saw all that we might get for a while."

These were boring times for the Observers, but they needed to remain vigilant. Any moment they could notice something amazing. The room they were in was comfortably wide, intended for ten people, but now had only two. The staff of the station also went down, not just because the pay was becoming unable to compete with what the people studying Solaria would get, but also because that place had a bit more comfort. Here, you didn't even have an outside, the moon being a barren rock that was not tempting any for a walk even in an environmental suit.

Behind them, the door slid open as the one face that could restore vigor entered the room. Sasha was the station's caretaker and the older woman had been here since the start. Her mature curves had aged gracefully, and one might call her even more attractive at fifty years of age than she was at twenty-five. The woman walked up between them, eyes first on the screens before turning her attention to the men.

"You two look bored. Nothing going still?"

"Nope. Just the usual." Ben could not make a happy face for her.

"I'm still entertained by them." The woman almost shared the Gull's optimism. "Like watching children grow up. Cute, small children."

"Well, you don't have to be here eight hours to go over everything."

"Perhaps. Well, it looks like you two need a break. Got any footage of those girls getting it on to have some fun watching them?"

She did not mean a break including snacks, drinks, or mere conversation. As the woman reached for the hem of her shirt, Max knew where to go. These were not just surveillance screens, but proper computers and all their footage was organized. They had an often-viewed folder of "sexual events" including the Gull. Ben helped his pants off, then his own, believing that free legs made the experience better, and pulling your cock out through the fly was not giving it much freedom.

Max had gone through this footage so much that nothing was new, so they agreed to just hit random and see what came up. Even the newer stuff lost its charm after a while. These videos were shared with the public and they were not the only ones cranking it to alien porn, if unintentional alien porn. The algorithm blessed them with a scene showing half a dozen of the green girls, naked and sweating, their bodies rubbing against each other as hands grasped at breasts, asses, and pussies... Since Gull could not impregnate each other, being exclusively female, sex was a fun pastime for them, one to bring the women closer. How they got babies was a different kind of porn.

With cocks free and her tits there to be enjoyed, the woman pulled a chair in-between the two, being just in reach of each other. Sasha took one dick in each hand, with Ben on her right and Max on her left, her actions synchronized between the two. Each man took one of her breasts to appreciate, hands squishing at the sagging, but full tits, the sign of a mother who used those for more than just to feed babies.

All their eyes were on the screen, on the recording of the short women fucking, fingers going in wet pussies and asses, palms massaging enormous breasts, sounds of approval coming from their muffled mouths, a few of them engaging in some eager tit-sucking and drawing out milk. It was still impressive, even by astorian standards, seeing those girls loving each other such. Ever so often there would be a kiss between them, those Gull sharing such acts eagerly.

Sahsa let out moans of pleasure at having her breasts played with, her hands moving steadily on their lengths, not rushing too much, but neither extending this too long. Enough to entertain these two before seeing to some other staff. She was the last caretaker working here, as the population of this outpost had gone down. At its height, it had five hundred people, now it had only 48. Only so much you can study.

She might almost orgasm from the tit play, but the two men in her grasp fired their jets at slightly different times, after twenty minutes of watching that amateur porn and having the woman stroke them. Ropes of cum flew over the edges of their chair, impacting the floor once more... not the first time they had fun here. Not the last. The caretaker pulled her hands back.

"A bit better?"

"Yep. Thanks, mom." Ben said the words without any irony.

He had joined this more to see his mother again. Comfort workers still did not quite match one's family. And his aging mother had not lost her touch. Those words added an extra tinge of excitement to this... the reminder that he was having this fun with a family member, and sharing that family with someone else.

While they covered up and Sasha went to clean up after their mess, her son planning to reward her later with some proper fucking, the two returned to the observation of the cameras placed all around the planet. It was sheer fate that they saw a particular event right now.

And suddenly, something interesting happened.

*

Valla felt pain. She was out to gather supplies, her pack overflowing and pulling on her shoulders heavily, the mountain paths treacherous as usual. This was not her first trip. She did not assume it might be her last. A slip, that's all it took.... And she started to fall. That descent was punctuated with several points of striking legs, head, and arms against rocks, her pack torn to bits by the rocky crags and her body getting battered by the result of gravity. She fell... for almost a solid five minutes. That impact promised death. Her body left an imprint on the ground.

But she was not dead. Everything hurt as consciousness returned... and she heard strange voices, strangely deep voices.

"Uh, Max... I don't think bodies are supposed to keep bleeding, right?"

"They could if there was severe internal bleeding but... Oh. She's... not dead."

"Uh-oh."

The woman stirred as much as her wounds allowed her, eyes opening to see a very strange room, in which two freakishly tall figures were bent over her... or they were until she half-opened her eyes and they jumped away like she was a dangerous animal.

"Where...?"

She spoke in her language, the one taught by her mother, one that these strange beings seemed to not share. Instincts told her to run, but she could not even lift her head. There was so much pain. Probably broke something. Or everything.

Ben was seized by panic. This girl fell hard enough that if he was there, he'd be paste. And yet, she stirred... the Gull they brought onto the station stirred. This might be a big problem. His thoughts went to how easily she might destroy it. Their hands came up before them, a defensive gesture to try and not have this go anywhere, but they knew the score. This thing could potentially kill them by accident.

It was an amazing opportunity... they had never managed to secure a Gull body for dissection, as all their dead were in underground crypts and all those they saw perish before were too quickly destroyed by other elements. Unfortunately, you cannot dissect a living being. That's called vivisection, and their minds were mostly concerned with survival now.

His colleague was the one to seize some initiative. Fishing in his pockets for that data tablet, the notes on their language could let him try and make this very unusual first contact. He butchered the language, but came out clear enough for the half-paralyzed figure on their operation table to understand him. So strange to hear them use it.

"You fell. We took you for study. Thought you dead. We mean no harm."

The scalpel in Ben's hands with her blood on it seemed to disagree, but it seemed they had a different idea in using it. Panic, and so many facts came at the girl. She was in no way special up until today. Now she was the first to talk to these strange beings.

"Who... are you?"

"Humans. Astorians." That one had to be said in English since not like the Gull had a word for it. "We... come from above the sky. We are above the sky."

Give him some slack, the civilization had no word for outer space and aliens. With so much focus underground they had barely looked to the skies. The concept was frightening for her. Though the girl felt much better than she might expect. Everything was so much... lighter.

"How... Why?"

"Too much to say. Let's make you better."

It seemed like a good idea to establish that they were not out to hurt her. A bandage for that fresh cut and some pain meds. They had no idea if it might help, harm, or do nothing, but they had to try. Max took one of the heavy-duty pain pills to show he did not consider it harmful.

"This take pain away. For us. Don't know if it help you."

Anything to make the hurt go away. She almost chewed the pill before being told to swallow it whole with some water. That was something in common. The things they shared would help bring them together. But now there was a very, very big issue.

They obviously had to take this with the station admin. No need for any sort of telling them off. Intent was good and not like the drone could check for a pulse. The aging man thought hard on what to do.

"You spoke to her?"

"Yes, she can... understand us well enough. I think. I hope. Right now it looks like she can't move, but we left Williams in there in case of anything."

"Well, we have a few choices going forward. I'll list them even if we don't do any of them. One option would be to finish her off and proceed with the dissection." Beat. "We won't do that. Unless her condition worsens and it's a greater torture to keep her alive. The second is to return her down to the planet, though now that you pretty much told her what we are and what we are doing, it could change things down there. Not saying one makes for such a great impact, but it can. The third choice... if she wants to... is to keep her around."

"Maybe we should ask her?" Ben was the one to propose that.

"She's no child, so I suppose hearing her thoughts on it makes for a better choice. Though, I doubt we can keep her contained. Defiance is inevitable, and all that."

"Even if we custom-ordered the best prison cell, she might surprise us. Right, we'll ask. But... what would be your opinion, chief?"

"I think that having a live one gives us far more knowledge than before." Beat. "And I bet we'll have a ton of budget coming as well as potential colleagues."

"Maybe keep off on that. She's in a strange place. Overwhelming her might be a bad idea."

Funnily enough, they told those options as they were presented, giving the preference to keeping the girl around. Valla was still so confused, but this was an interesting chapter in her life... and these tall humans were certainly interesting. And nice. Maybe they couldn't speak any better than children, but they seemed to have good intentions.

She'd stay.

*

It was still difficult to walk. The lower gravity meant that her healing bones did not ache as much, so the Gull had the luxury of being carted around in a big chair made with very fat people in mind. She weighed 280 kilograms and that was apparently the average for her people. And as the scientists refined their ability to speak her language, Valla started to learn theirs.

"How long you here?"

"How long HAVE you been here. About twenty years. Eh..." He tried to remember her word for a year. Ben started to find her less cute now that they had one. She was remarkably intelligent, if no more than your average person. A natural curiosity and ability to put things together. "I hope you don't think worse of us for it. We didn't want to disturb you."

"Why not come help?"

"Well, for one side... being on your planet would probably break the bones of the average human. The second is that we have this... belief... that if you deprive people of their challenges you just make them weaker. And if we interfered, we wouldn't get to see you as you are."

"Belief?" Valla asked to know that word.

"Hm..." He searched for something similar in his Gull vocabulary. "Like obeying something you were told, that might show you how you're wrong to not do so only after you disobey. Not a threat, just... a lesson."

"Ah, like listening to ancestors. Wisdom." That was their word for it.

Slowly, she was carted into the observation room. Everything around her was just so fantastical, so high-tech and beyond what the Gull could do. The girl was fascinated with everything. It was not magic, as they seemed to still use what the world gave them, just that they knew how to make more. The screens in the observation room still showed live footage from select cameras, including some inside their homes.

"How you do that? See us from afar."

"Cameras. Small devices that drones put in there." He pinched his fingers to show how big they were. "Just watching, seeing how you do things."

"Can I watch you?"

The man knew what she meant. Some footage of their worlds. Agreeable. He parked the wheelchair right beside his chair before switching from the live feeds to access some recordings. News might be the closest thing. He showed a recent bulletin that made its way to them via data drives.