XTC 2.4

Like virtually all colonies, Suntech Happy Valley wasn't founded by any government. Instead, it was established by a business conglomerate. In this case, the primary interest was, of course, Suntech. The Outerspace Treaty, written so long ago that it was a historical document, forbid governments from militarizing or nationalizing space. This wasn't the reason, though. The simple fact of the matter was that no government could afford it. Though most colonies and stations were named by some group of anonymous, self-important directors in a board room, not all were named for a corporation, or even by a corporation. It wasn't unusual for companies to hold naming contests to garner public support and interest. No matter who named them, though, it seemed to Gina that it was always some whimsical, utopian thing, as though naming a place Black Gold would make oil magically appear, or naming a colony Peace would eliminate crime. It made her think of how people would name an alleyway through skid row something like Grandview Crescent.

Establishing a colony was no easy feat, nor was it cheap. Though you could simply go the route of creating an orbital station, or setting up a dome, the grand dream was always terraforming, making a planet capable of supporting human life. Terraforming a planet was much more difficult than simply establishing a colony. A breathable atmosphere needed to be created, water needed to be liberated, created or imported, simple life needed to be introduced. The list of things that needed to be done was massive. As much as possible, companies liked to use robots for the labour because they were cheaper to maintain than people, and a lot easier to feed. Because it took a lot of time and a lot of machines to do, usually this was done while people were living on the moon or planet of choice, inside of whatever pressurized habitat the company had come up with. A larger habitat was then constructed over top of that initial one. For the first several decades, living in a colony was generally considered to be a dangerous one-way trip you weren't expected to return from. People got sick in a place where there were no hospitals and no medicine beyond what you'd brought with you, food and water sometimes ran out, parts sometimes failed with no means of replacing them, and sometimes those parts belonged to the life support systems. True, supplies were replenished to some extent by cargo ships like the Johnson Long, but these rarely brought enough, and they took a long time between trips, even assuming they weren't on opposite sides of the sun at the time. Still, people kept going and with the help of their machines would eventually prevail. Over time, these habitats would get joined up with others until they were little towns in their own right. There were only so many places in the solar system suitable for terraforming, so each one had several colonies on it. Of these, only Mars had reached the point of habitability outside of their little hamster tanks. Mars was the first real effort, and the easiest, so was the first to show returns. Venus was making great progress and was a much more attractive target, but the people there were still mostly relegated to orbiting stations at the moment. Titan, well... like all the other moons, despite the colonies there, that was a project she doubted would ever see people outside of their protective bubbles.

Law in the colonies was a confusing and dicey thing. They were generally policed by private security if large enough, or by no one, if small. The laws enforced were generally held to be those of the parent company's home nation, as per the OS Treaty. This could, in theory, mean that you followed the laws of the U.K. in one habitat, walk ten feet and follow the laws of China. In practice, though, the only laws enforced were those that the corporations felt like enforcing, and that was if anyone was around to enforce them, or to care. The corporations did have many cameras, and evidence from both those and from the eyes of robots was considered evidence, but cover-up was the most common answer to crime, lest scandal damage corporate image. Agents of various nations did have a tendency to police each other, and to check up on the colonists and corporations, which helped keep them honest, but this in itself relied on the honesty of the agents. Utopian dreamers, such as anarchists, who despite centuries of evidence to the contrary, believed that everyone would be nice to each other in the relative absence of laws and governments, were just as quickly disappointed by the reality of human nature in space as on Earth.

What this meant for Gina was that, while the colonies weren't exactly a hotbed of criminal activity, should anything happen, there was also no one to turn to. She may as well be on that Grandview Crescent running through skid row. Gina had only been to a handful of ports in her short career, but had usually refused to leave the ship... or, at least, the dock. The guys were quick to grab a shuttle to the colony, head to a nearby bar, look for the nearest prostitute, or try to sweet talk some starry-eyed teenager out of her virginity, but she was always intimidated by the general lawlessness of space. As a consequence, though the Johnson had made port at Mars Station once, Gina had never actually seen Happy Valley.

Gina couldn't help but stare at the small planet. Swirls of green and blue marked the progress of humanity, large seas of reddish-orange marked how far there was to go. That wasn't what had X's attention. Still naked and standing beside his seat at the comm, X studied the swell of Gina's beasts, and the dimpling of her nipples. His robotic eyes memorized every wrinkle in their puffy surface, every variation in colour. The droid's gaze dropped down to her cleft. Beneath a trim tuft of hair, her stiff clit stood at attention, pulling swollen lips into view. Its shiny, little crown peeked out from beneath its hood as if looking for something, beckoning to him. Curling his arm around her, he grabbed the back of her thigh and pulled her hips closer. Opening his mouth, XTC pressed his face into her. Gina gasped, attention yanked back to him as his tongue spread her wet folds and pressed inside her.

"Ah! Oh my, so..." she moaned. "Just like that... just like that..."

Her pussy clenched, desperately wanting more. The droid's free hand reached up and seized one big globe of her ass, squeezing it. Still smarting from her spanking, the tech hissed and edged into him more. So wet already from having been over his lap, she was practically flooding his tongue with her juices.

"Please, please, please..."

Holding his bald head for balance, Gina stood on her toes, quivering. One of his hands came back around front. A finger slipped inside her, thrusting and curling. She bit her lower lip and whimpered. Closer... closer... sweet heat.

"So... so... X...!"

Bucking against his face, she came hard. She squeezed his fingers in tight, wet velvet, but they just kept wiggling, pulling more and more from her. His tongue kept flicking maddeningly across her clit, and it seemed like forever before he let her come down.

Gina was still red-faced and panting when she flopped down into the seat beside him. XTC smiled and turned back to the controls without a word. Chest heaving, she caught her breath and watched the space station drawing nearer.

"I'm in love with an android," she mumbled.

"MC221 Le Petit Mort to Control. MC221 requesting permission to dock."

Several moments of silence followed, during which X repeated his request until he finally got an answer.

"MC221, this is Control. You're not scheduled to dock at this time."

"MC221, our ship suffered catastrophic failure. This is the emergency shuttle. Fuel and supplies low. Requesting emergency landing."

... "MC221, do you require emergency services?"

"MC221, negative, Control."

"MC221, you can use berth 3."

Gina found the whole docking process exciting in a way that made her squirm in her seat like a little girl. Normally, when they made port, she was in her work shop. She only knew they'd docked by the feel of the engine powering down and the captain's announcement. This time she was in the co-pilot's seat, and in such a small ship, everything looked positively huge. X was expertly navigating them to where they were going, the ship moving more and more slowly. She waved enthusiastically at the security cameras as they drifted by. She smiled and waved at the man in the control centre. The moment the ship stopped and the droid shut down the engine, she leapt to her feet and scampered to the door.

"Gina?" X called as she reached for the door controls.

"Yes, sir?" She puzzled over his expression. He had one brow raised, and an amused grin.

"You may wish to put some clothing on."

They were approached by a lone inspector, the same man they'd seen watching them from the window of the control centre. These inspectors didn't work for a company; they were appointed by an international body. They had the authority of border guards, which is precisely what they were. They controlled what went to and from the planet. They were concerned with contraband, the same as port authorities on Earth, but it wasn't drugs, people, or alien relics that concerned them so much as corporations bringing things to and from Mars that might contaminate either the red planet or Earth. More than once, equipment, animals, plants, and other such had managed to drastically alter the environment in unforeseen ways. This was a lesson that should have been well-learned over the course of human colonial history. However, corporations weren't colonizing the planet for a sense of accomplishment. If something had the potential to reap a profitable return on the investment, rules were easily forgotten. Given the shuttle wasn't carrying any cargo and wasn't capable of landing, Gina didn't anticipate many problems. Nevertheless, dealing with someone with so much authority made her nervous. It didn't help that she was still red-faced as the man arrived. She couldn't believe she'd grown so comfortable with her nakedness that she'd almost stepped off the ship like that. The man stopped as he reached them, and stood hands on hips.

"MC221 is one of Captain Miller's ships," he observed. "What happened?"

"Uncertain," X replied, "possibly a hull breach. I will file a report immediately."

"Miller already did, weeks ago. She didn't mention anything about missing crew as far as I know."

"She likely thought us dead. We were in stasis. It's truly extraordinary that we survived."

"I'll say," he agreed. "I heard the ship was totalled."

"Very nearly."

The guard leaned toward them, jaw jutting thoughtfully.

"You look kind of like one of Captain Miller's droids," he said, suspicion in his voice.

"This is not the droid you're looking for!" Gina abruptly blurted.

The guard took a step back and blinked at her. "What?"

"It's a skin condition," X interjected. "This is my nurse."

The guard eyed him critically.

"Gina, please collect your equipment and some of the remaining food."

"Sir?"

"We may need them."

Gina looked at him quizzically, but did as she was told. As she walked away, she saw that XTC and the guard were deep in conversation. She wasn't complaining, though for some reason, in the back of her mind, she'd just expected to be in charge again once they'd made port. She'd expected to be forced to immediately have to confront the realities of her situation. Anything that put that off was a welcome respite. She gathered up her gear and tossed some food tubes into the bag for good measure. She looked at them out the front window of the ship and wondered what they were talking about. Both heads turned to look at her the moment she stepped off the ramp, and she was feeling distinctly self-conscious by the time she returned to the men.

"We have these," the guard said, handing her a set of purple scrubs. "They were meant for station staff, but we haven't had any medical personnel on station for three years now, so you may as well use them."

"Thanks?" she said, taking them and casting X an uncertain glance. Were they seriously going to lie to the inspector that she was a nurse?

"You can change in there. The clothes you're wearing will have to stay here."

"What?" Gina blinked at him. Her heart skipped a beat.

"Possible contamination. Your ship may have passed through a radiation field, or come in contact with alien bacteria."

For a moment, she wasn't sure if he was being serious. She was pretty sure he was just being a pervert. Alien bacteria? To even get off the dock, she'd have to go through a decontamination chamber. On the other hand, he was offering her a closed room, when he could insist on being present, or even go so far as a cavity search for no reason other than he wanted to. It would be unethical and technically against the rules, but then, guards never abused their authority, did they? A guard at Titan's Atlas station had groped her so long that she'd wondered if she should charge him by the hour.

Nervously, she let him guide her to the cubicle. It was a small room, and Gina could tell just by the look of them that two of the walls were one-way glass—they were dark, and nearly floor-to-ceiling. Perv. She wasn't eager, knowing that he was watching her, probably recording her. Did she dare complain? The penalty for lying to the guard could see her in jail until she was middle-aged, at least.

In her mind's eye, just for a moment, she had a little fantasy about taking revenge by changing very slowly, pretending that she didn't know he was there. First she'd wiggle out of her space suit, working it slowly down past her full hips, revealing her panties. Tanga cut, they of course showed large swells of naked flesh. Then, she'd peel her top off, stretching, thrusting her breasts out towards the window. Perhaps she'd tease her nipples, as though trying to ease them after they'd been packed into that tight suit. She'd take her time, make him wait before getting to what she knew he really wanted to see. Eventually, though, the panties would come off. She'd go slow, hooking her thumbs in and bending at the waist as she peeled them down to her ankles, before lifting a foot behind her to grab them. He wouldn't get to see everything, though. Oh, no. She'd turn just enough that he'd get a sweet view of her bare buns... but not what they hid. He'd want it real bad, to see that tight, sweet pussy, but he wouldn't get it. Then she'd finish by dressing quickly and efficiently.

What actually happened wasn't quite like that. Despite her fantasy, Gina just couldn't do it. It was too embarrassing, too daring. Her inclination was to just get changed as quickly as possible, but things didn't go quite that smoothly. The bin where she was supposed to dispose of her old clothes was in the corner, forcing her to turn so that her side and back would be facing the windows in order to put anything in them, but the hook for her new clothes was in a corner on the other side, which would make her face him. The room was designed to make her turn 360. Not only that, but there was nowhere to sit. This meant she really would have to bend over to... pull her panties off. She blushed as she realized that her vengeful little vision had been prophetic. He'd said that all of her clothes would have to be disposed of, and that meant not just her suit... everything.

She hung up the scrubs and tried not to think about it as she turned away from the glass and bent to undo her boots. She hesitated as she went to drop them in the bin. It seemed a shame to throw out a perfectly good pair of boots. She would have to get another pair. The gravity on Mars was only a fraction of Earth's. Just like in space, adaptations had to be made for it. Grav boots were one of those adaptations. She tried to distract herself by thinking about what it might be like down on the planet. It didn't work. Her mind was brought back to the present the moment she unzipped her suit and tried to work it down over her hips. Her fantasy didn't account for just how form-fitting and clingy the suit was. She got it down off her hips, all right. It pooled around her ankles and took her panties with it. It took her several seconds to untangle them from the possessive fabric to pull them back up. She turned bright red again. She could only imagine the view she'd presented, her backside turned fully to the window. Worse, despite how creepy it was, for some reason, knowing that she was being watched, knowing that X was just outside the door, was making her wet. Though she didn't shave herself completely bald, what little hair she'd left didn't hide her pussy at all. He had to be able to see everything. And, she was only delaying the inevitable. She knew she'd have to take them back off again. Gina stuffed the suit into the bin and tried not to turn toward either window.

As she pulled off her shirt, she realized that her nipples were as hard as rocks. That was bad enough, but her efforts to keep herself covered with her arm were foiled when the scrubs top got snagged on the hook. It took both hands to free it, and then it was all twisted up, so that when she tried to put it on, her arms caught in the sleeves as she tried to untangle it, leaving her boobs in full view, jiggling with the effort.

The only thing that went almost right was when she peeled her panties back off. However, due to the layout of the room, she was presented the choice of having either her back or her front turned to the windows (she chose the back). Her panties came off without anything happening, and she almost felt triumphant after the debacle with the shirt. Then her foot caught in a pant leg when she tried to pull the bottoms on. She wound up hopping on one foot for several seconds before falling backwards. Her entire bare ass crashed into the glass. Stunned, she stood there a moment, just grateful that the window didn't break. Somehow, she managed to recover, quickly tie them shut, then fight for the courage to go out and face the men. She only set foot out the door because she knew that sooner or later someone would come in and make her come out.

"You look charming," X told her as she reappeared.

She scowled at him in response. "I'm starting to regret reactivating you."

Before either could say anything else, the guard reappeared. He was flushed and slightly out of breath. Gina couldn't help staring. She decided she definitely didn't want to know why.

"All right, you can go down," he said, handing them both a plastic pass. "You should be able to get some shoes at the duty shop before you reach the shuttle," he told her.

XTC thanked him on both of their behalves and they turned to go. They were well away from him before Gina spoke.

"Why did you tell him I'm a nurse? I don't know anything about nursing!" she angrily hissed.

"Hello, nurse," X responded.

She shot a look at him to try to show that she wasn't amused, but he didn't seem to notice.

"You're my nurse."

"I'm not your..." she started. She was his nurse. Just not in the way people expected.

"I told him that the experience of surviving the shipwreck had left you slightly traumatized and out of touch with reality, and that you were under the delusion that you were a nurse."

"You did not," she gasped.

"I also told him that unless he offered you some appropriate clothing, you were likely to strip out of your space suit before you left the station, convinced that alien bacteria had destroyed the ship."

Gina hefted her bag on her shoulder and followed along in silence. How do you tell if he's joking? He has to be joking. He seems so serious most of the time, but I know he has a sense of humour. He has to be joking. She was just about to open her mouth again when he commented.