New Dawning International Bookfair
Presents
All Systems Optimal
A Science Fiction Short Story
By
Angela Daniels
Copyrighted © 2011
Smashwords Edition
Chapter 1
Sixty feet of coastal water separated the surface of the ocean from Tage’s kitchen window. Sunlight fanned down through the water in shimmering sparkles to illuminate the meadow of sea grass blanketing the ocean bottom like dancing carpet. Within the swaying plants, bright yellow and iridescent white stripes flashed as a school of butterfly fish chased one another. Tage retracted the knife he had been using to slice fruit and sighed as he admired the colors and depth of the underwater landscape.
Lolly brushed his hand as she reached around him to grab a slice of star fruit. He turned to her, another pleasing sight. Fluffy curls stood out in a longish afro around her head, framing a round dark honey toned face. Two kinky strands of hair fell artfully over one of her kohl outlined eyes. She brushed them aside to study him. "You really do love it down here."
He met her gaze, avoiding the sight of her soft, ample cleavage boosted up by the bodice-like top of her white cotton dress. "I prefer it, yes."
A stir of interest warmed his belly. He squelched it. Though pleasant, it was puzzling. His sexual function was designed to be an emotionless series of manual actions. These spontaneous responses should not have been possible. Tage began a systems check.
"Leave it to you to see luxury in what everyone else considers a hovel." Lolly shook her head, then looked up to the glass dome acting as ceiling and walls for the small living module. "It is beautiful, but a bit oppressive."
He followed her gaze. A coral garden in infinite colors of teal, yellow, and purple stretched up jaggedly some distance from the front of the dome. Beyond was endless blue. "I have lived here since the overcrowding laws required me to leave topside. Three years, and I am not tired of the view."
She shuddered. "So much water. And the damn seals always leaking. I worry that I’ll see a newsflash on the vid: Hydro Terrace apartment building implodes under weight of a napping jellyfish." She waved her hands in front of her face in mock terror.
Tage laughed, pleased that humor was within his parameters. She was so vibrant and gregarious that it would be difficult to relate to her otherwise. He enjoyed their interactions. He gave into an impulse to touch her and playfully flicked her earlobe. "It is not as fragile as that. Anyway droids cannot drown, remember?"
She pursed full, shapely lips colored with a rich cinnamon gloss. He stared a moment, wondering if she would taste like cinnamon if he kissed her.
Her eyes twinkled as she gave him a slow inviting smile. Did she know what he was thinking? His heartbeat quickened and his control over his body functions slipped enough that his shaft thickened. He turned back to the fruit on the cutting board and ran a hand through his tousled brown hair. He avoided her gaze as he tipped the cut fruit into a serving bowl.
Lolly, incurable flirt that she was, would perhaps let him satisfy his curiosity, but he had good reason to hesitate. That reason pinged the door hatch as Tage struggled to calm his erection.
Lolly skipped the three steps to the hatch and flung it open. Ian gave her a grin that accentuated the perfection of his face. A gently squared jaw and high cheekbones gave him a rugged look, while wide sky-blue eyes under shaggy chocolate eyebrows expressed sensitivity.
Tage’s throat tightened, accompanied by a pleasant lightness in his chest, at the sight of him. Ian had always been beautiful to him, but lately, as with Lolly, his body’s reactions were intense and off program.
"You’re late." Lolly frowned, hands on hips. She then contradicted this tart welcome with a searing kiss. Tage watched with interest as she tangled her fingers in Ian’s auburn locks and rose on tiptoe to suck his lower lip into her mouth.
Ian moaned as he pulled her closer, one hand running over her short white dress and tight, round ass. "I love your way of being upset with me." He gave Tage a teasing grin over her head. "And you mate? You upset too?"
Tage tilted his head as he attempted to decipher his friend’s meaning. Though sure Ian was making a joke rather than an invitation, Tage imagined walking over, squashing Lolly between them, and sliding his tongue between Ian’s lips. As the image burned in his mind, desire flared in his belly.
This is too much. Tage instructed the operating system of his positronic central nervous system to send out the necessary signals to calm the excited parts of his anatomy. His throat and erection relaxed immediately, but the lightness in his chest remained.
Lolly gazed at him with a smirk, and Ian’s eyes narrowed. Tage shifted uneasily, realizing that he’d been quiet for too long.
Fortunately, a hissing sound distracted them. Seconds later, pressurized water sprayed Ian, pushing him into the corner between the hatch and bathroom door. Lolly jumped back with a yelp. "Damn that jelly fish!"
Ian flailed uselessly as the water spurted through his fingers to smack into his head. Tage burst out laughing at the sight. He stepped back as Ian pulled off his shirt and flicked it at him before using it to staunch the deluge. Ian smirked. "Patch kit?"
Laughter trailing off, Tage stared, mesmerized by the sight of seawater trickling over the well-defined muscles of Ian’s smooth chest. His cock sprung back to full alert as he fought the urge to lick droplets of water off Ian’s skin.
Ian raised a thick eyebrow at him. "Tage. Patch kit."
Tage blinked then blew out a breath. As he pulled the kit from a cabinet, he again tried to calm his arousal with his inner processors and failed. However, Lolly’s next words cooled his blood just fine.
"Good thing you’re moving off-world. I tell you this place is a disaster waiting to happen." She warily eyed the water spurting through Tage and Ian’s fingers as they struggled to seal the patch. "I’ll check on dinner while you bail out the ship."
She walked deeper into the kitchen, ten steps, and peeked in on the roast. Soy protein, of course. None of them could afford meat.
The flow of water lessened as Tage tightened the seal.
Ian didn’t look at him as he spoke. "We’ve seen each other every day since we were five years old." He chuckled. "Well, since I was five, and you were a day old baby ‘bot."
Tage smiled but also kept his eyes focused on the patch. "I think I was even more clueless about the world than you. Your mother was so angry when she realized not only was I inadequate supervision for you, but also was in need of supervision myself. ‘We paid twenty thousand bloody credits for this sodding scrap metal!’"
They broke out in laughter at Tage’s very accurate imitation of Ian’s mother. Considering their rocky beginnings, Tage was grateful Marilee had come to defy social mores and love him. She’d even been active in the successful fight for Android Equality Rights ten years ago.
Odd that recognition as an independent species led to even bigger problems between humans and droids. Most people still thought of them as machines and treated them accordingly.
Ian’s laughter faded. "She’s all tough in front of you, but she cried when she found out you all are being exiled. Then the government announced this damn succession from the Empire. Cutting all travel and trade with other planets? I’m sure it’s just some temporary political bullshit, but mom’s afraid we’re never going to see you again."
Tage stared at his hands resting on the completed patch. He agreed with Marilee, but didn’t say so. "It’s not so bad. I still have the whole Empire to run around in." He smiled, but it was cheerless. "But this is home. Or was."
After several silent moments, Ian said, "I’m going to miss you." His blue eyes wavered with tears.
With a half-hearted smile, Ian brushed them away, then punched Tage in the arm. "I’m being an idiot. Getting all mushy." He sighed. "It’s just not possible for you to feel the same, right?"
His tone was light, but Tage recognized deeper emotion in his eyes. Hurt. Tage shook his head and looked down. "What I feel, I don’t understand. My chest feels…warm and light, which is ridiculous. And my throat is tight. There is nothing physically wrong. I know these are emotions, but they are not part of my programming."
"Maybe I’m not such an idiot then." Ian smiled as he stepped closer, real close. He laid his damp hand gently on the side of Tage’s neck.
Tage’s stomach fluttered. The sting of tears in his eyes was a surprise. "I didn’t know you felt that way, Ian."
The urge to close the distance and taste his friend’s lips was so strong. He resisted. He wanted to tell Ian that he returned his feelings. However, once his system repaired itself, these emotions would be gone.
He lifted a tentative hand and wiped drops of water from Ian’s forehead. Gooseflesh tickled his fingertips. "You’re freezing."
Tage pulled away to grab dry clothes from the dresser. Ian blew out a noisy breath and dropped his hand. Tage fumbled with shirts and pants, wondering how to soothe his friend.
When he pulled off his damp shirt, Ian's eyes lingered on his cut abs. He decided to ignore the situation. He covered up with a dry button down, then handed Ian a t-shirt and pair of cargo pants.
He hung his head as Ian slid through the narrow bathroom door with his shoulders hunched.