Alien Games (6 page)

“With each successive cloning, more and more Reven embryos
have to be destroyed. Now, less than 20% of Reven from each cloning meet the
criteria for existence (criteria which they have regularly relaxed). Soon, if
this situation persists, there will be no Reven left. They are looking at
extinction within a finite time period.”

Ghanjihi stopped to allow the import of everything he had
said sink into their minds. Bruce took it as an invitation to interrupt.

“So the Reven are victims of their own grand plan. But how
is it that you Vedi have changed so much in the same time. Your ancestors were
far from impressive, Mahatma.”

“Ghanjihi,” corrected the Vedi humorlessly. “What you say of
my ancestors is true. But recall the Reven that resisted the majority. Certain
of those rebels took it upon themselves to find ways of preserving the beauty
and grandeur of their race. They spliced Reven chromosomes into the Vedi DNA to
produce a hybrid creature. When their compatriots found what they had done
their rage was terrible to behold. Any rebels caught died prolonged and cruel
deaths, but the greatest effort was put into exterminating the Vedi. Genocide
was almost the outcome, except that one Reven ship manned by rebels and
carrying a payload of less than two hundred genetically enhanced Vedi, escaped
to set up a new colony on a distant, inhabitable planet. Then, while the Reven
declined, the Vedi developed secretly into a mighty and powerful people.”

Images of the Vedian colony growing into a mighty
civilization scrolled across the screen. The colonists increased in number,
developed cities, and learned the secrets of space flight.

“Eventually the Reven conceded what we Vedi already
knew—that their only hope of survival was to reintroduce genes for sexual
function back into their DNA. But this is not a simple task, even for the
Reven. The only place they can source these genes is from other humanoid
species, and in that process they have to beware of contaminants. Not all
humanoid DNA is compatible. If they splice an ill-suited segment of a
chromosome into their own genetic structure they risk damaging other aspects of
their brain function or metabolism.”

“So for many hundreds of years they have been kidnapping
Vedi, Gort and Trrivv for their experiments. Through us they have acquired most
of the genes they need, but there are a few crucial gaps to be filled. Once
those gaps are filled they will have the ability to clone a new type of Reven.
These clones will have restored capacity to breed sexually. Through them, the
Reven plan to restore their species to its former glory.”

Ghanjihi looked into the eyes of each of the others one at a
time, as if to ascertain whether they understood the significance of what he
was telling them. Apparently satisfied, he continued.

“The mission of the Vedi has been to prevent the Reven from
filling the gaps in the genetic sequence. We learned, from their mistake, that
sexual function is the Universe’s gift to its life forms. For us, sex is life
and religion. We have elevated the Tantra of sexuality to the center of our
society and culture, and celebrate its gifts.”

Ranisha took up the telling of the story.

“Whenever we can, we intervene to prevent the Reven from
capturing and experimenting with other humanoid species. We have had many overt
battles, but our greatest triumph has been concealing from them the existence
of the fifth humanoid species in the Universe. We have known of you Terrans for
many thousands of years. We sent our ancestors, Premlord Kharman and Lady
Sutran, to visit your world a long time ago. Their mission was to educate your
species in the importance of sexual function. Some of your people understood
the wisdom better than others, but you have practiced sex adequately enough to
survive and develop.”

Ghanjihi reached up and reactivated the screen. Images of
splendidly attired Vedi moving among the awestruck ancestors of some of today’s
Indians appeared, and then were replaced by a kaleidoscope of pictures of the
nineteenth and twentieth century’s industrial and technological revolutions.
Steam power, electricity, flight, wireless, atomic bombs, space travel,
orbiting satellites, digital technology—these things and many others flashed
across the screen.

“But unfortunately in the last century you began drawing
attention to yourselves,” explained Ghanjihi. “It was easy to hide you before
you discovered space travel. But once you began escaping from the protective
envelope of your atmosphere, all the while beaming ridiculous messages into the
void, the secret was out. Your species shares the Reven’s love of technology,
and you are also just as dangerous in the misuse you make of it. You have come
very close to destroying yourselves by fooling around with the atom. It is no
secret that radical elements within the Vedi Congress have proposed that we let
you wipe yourselves out as the best way of forever depriving the Reven of the
missing chromosomes they need to complete their work. But the majority has
ruled that such a step would be too easy. To allow that would be to sink to the
level of the Reven themselves and deny the working of karma. We have resolved
instead to try to save you and bring you into the fellowship of humanoid
worlds. But now the end game is upon us. It may be that in this very ship the
final pieces of the puzzle will be discovered. If that occurs, only the cosmos
will have the power to intervene.”

“So what is going to happen to us, exactly?” asked Jenna.

“The experiments will most likely begin tomorrow. You, Bruce
and Jenna, will be the focus of their observations. They will place you in
sexual situations with various combinations of others here, and observe the
effects of these activities on your DNA, in the hope of isolating the optimum configuration
of genes to fill the gaps in their sequences.”

The import of this registered in Jenna’s mind.

“You mean they expect us to fuck you? Are they mad? Are you
mad?” She gazed at the hulking figure of Mort in horror. “I’ve never had sex
with anyone I didn’t want to, and I’m not about to start now. There’s no way
those little stick-men are getting me to play their sick games.”

“Review your experiences, Jenna,” responded Ranisha, smiling
softly. “Have any of us been able to resist the Reven up till now? Did you not
see my suffering? Did you not feel the pain yourself? Remember that the Reven
understand our nervous systems better than we understand our own thoughts. They
have spliced controller chips directly into our brain stems. How do you think
we communicate? The Reven controller chips allow our minds to speak directly to
each other. There is absolutely nothing we can do to resist their slightest
whim. They
will
select who they wish, and they will
make us
perform in whichever way they want. And outside of their experiments they will
prevent us from pleasuring each other. When we suffered pain while attempting
to pleasure each other, it was because the Reven controller chip sensed that we
were violating their parameters and it punished us for our actions. Bruce was
unharmed the first time because his responses were instinctive rather than
intellectual, but he was not so lucky the second time because what he did was a
matter of conscious choice.”

“Do not be concerned about the fact that the Reven will
compel you to take others here as lovers,” added Ghanjihi, continuing when
Ranisha paused. “The controller chips will rule us for the duration of any
experiment, and while that is occurring the acts will seem both pleasurable and
natural. The best thing we can do is accept this and surrender to the pleasure
their experiments will bring. We will not suffer. The Reven require us to be in
optimal condition. They will feed us well, keep us in relative comfort, and
mate us as they wish for the duration of their program.”

“Well I suppose it could be a little worse,” conceded Bruce.
“I’ve been watching too much
X-Files
, I thought they were going to
suspend us on spikes and start amputating bits.”

“No,” responded Ranisha with a smile. “Even the Reven are
not so crude. They will use us, and once they have what they want, they will
vaporize our brains quickly and efficiently.”

“You mean they’ll kill us?”

“Oh yes. Reven always kill if they can. There is no more
xenophobic a species in the cosmos. If their experiments succeed and they
rejuvenate their race, their next task will be to wipe the rest of us out. They
could do so now if they wished, but they need us for our DNA.”

Bruce considered this for a time. He had no doubt Ranisha
was telling him the truth, yet the prospect of his imminent demise didn’t seem
that big a deal.

“Given that I believe they will kill us, why do I seem so
unconcerned?”

“That is the controller chip again,” answered Ghanjihi. “It
is designed to limit the impact of that knowledge. The Reven need us to be
calm, relaxed and cooperative or their experiments will fail. While the
controller chip commands us we can all face our deaths with perfect
equanimity.”

“Maybe so, but I’d prefer not to die if I don’t have to.”

“Likewise, my friend. The Reven know we will make every
attempt to escape, but as always our attempts will be futile.”

“So let us enjoy the time we have left,” interjected the
husky melodious voice of Zhorta, the female Gort. “It will surely be
interesting. And perhaps the cosmos will intervene.”

Chapter Seven: First Night

There was a long, reflective silence following Ghanjihi’s
presentation. Bruce was not the only one mulling over their impending deaths.

Jenna, however, was still more bothered about the likelihood
that she was going to be required to perform sexually with any number of the
beings here in the room with her. She still couldn’t credit that the Reven
would be able to force her to do anything that she didn’t want to do.
Privately, however, she conceded to herself that their new “friends” were
undeniably attractive in their own unique ways. And she was surprised to feel a
tingle of perverse excitement at the possibilities they represented. Ever since
the Reven had stimulated her mechanically, she had been much more aware of the
sexual side of her nature. Particularly when around Bruce she felt sexually
hypersensitive. She desired him desperately, and was frustrated that abstinence
was being forced upon them.

Slightly aroused now, she gazed surreptitiously around the
room, trying to imagine what it might be like to have sex with the others here.

She was both attracted to, and fearful of, the Vedi. Her
inadvertent breast-to-breast contact with Ranisha had stimulated her in unusual
ways—but the steely blueness and two pair of arms was unsettling.

The Gorts were something else altogether. Both Mort and
Zhorta were strangely beautiful, but they too were most unearthly, and
definitely, she thought, too large for her to handle. They reminded her of
something—she thought for a moment. That was it! The Gorts made her think of
some illustrations that she’d once seen done by the seventeenth-century poet
and artist William Blake. Blake was into drawing scantily clothed figures with
huge sculpted bodies. Jenna particularly remembered heavily muscled angels of
fearsome proportions and great beauty. Mort would have served well as the model
for one of those. Just look at him, all abs, pecs, biceps and gluts. Even
Zhorta made Arnold Schwarzenneger look anorexic.

But there was another question Jenna had about Mort. Where
was his cock? He had balls, they were pretty obvious, but where his shaft
should have been she could just make out what appeared to be a sort of vertical
slit.
I don’t think I’ll go there at the moment
, she decided.

As for the Trrivv, Jenna wasn’t confident that she and Mmerr
would ever transcend their rocky start. And those tails…they just seemed to
have minds of their own. And dirty minds at that! But there was something
dangerously sexual about both of them, she imagined that sex with a Trrivv was
probably akin to being caught in a tornado.

Abruptly Jenna’s reverie was interrupted by a metallic voice
echoing in her mind.

“Attention subjects. Illumination will cease in 30 minutes
and a period of rest will be enforced. Retire to sleeping quarters.”

Ghanjihi and Ranisha rose fluidly to their feet and faced
Bruce and Jenna.

“What the voice says is true,” confirmed Ghanjihi. “The
light will not last a lot longer, and then the controller chips will stimulate
the sleep centers of our brains and we will find it increasingly difficult to
remain awake. If you return to the room in which you regained consciousness,
you will discover that it is set up for you to rest in. Goodnight.”

He turned and walked though another door, into a cubicle
that appeared, from what Jenna could see of it, to be hung with beautifully
textured silk.

The others stirred themselves, said goodnight also, and
began filing through various doors.

The last to go was Ranisha.

“It has been an interesting day Bruce and Jenna. I am very
pleased to have met you and I believe we will get to know each other well.
There is something between us, a bond of sorts, that I do not understand—but I
think it will lead us into an interesting future.”

With that, she gently touched her forehead with the tips of
the fingers of one hand, then followed gracefully after Ghanjihi.

Bruce and Jenna stood in the empty room looking at each
other. He shrugged his shoulders.

“I guess we go back to where we came from.”

He took her hand and they headed for the small chamber they
had woken in. The room had changed dramatically. Two beds were made up for
sleeping in and there was a rather bland print on the wall.

“It looks like a mid-price hotel room,” muttered Jenna.

That impression was reinforced when they opened a door that
hadn’t been evident the last time they were in the room. Behind it was a small,
absolutely authentic, earth bathroom, complete with Bruce and Jenna’s
preferences in cosmetics and toiletries.

“Well you’ve got to hand it to the Reven,” remarked Bruce. “They’re
certainly thorough. You can use it first if you want.”

It was the first time Jenna had been alone since this
bizarre adventure had begun. To find a normal bathroom, complete with all her
preferred brands of soap, toothpaste and cosmetics, was about as unnerving as
anything she’d encountered.

They must have been observing me for weeks to know me so
well. And where did they get everything?
She giggled at the thought of the
little alien fucks lurching through Wal-Mart, Longs Drugs or J.C. Penny’s in search
of soap.

But wherever the soap came from, it was all good as far as
she was concerned. The shower was the real thing and she wasted no time turning
the water on. It gushed out at the perfect temperature, filling the little
space with clouds of steam. For long minutes Jenna stood under the hot jet,
luxuriating in the sensation, and shutting everything else from her mind. Then
she scrubbed herself vigorously in an effort to wash herself clean of some of
the degradation she had suffered. But she also felt surprisingly good.
I
wonder whether it is because of the controller chip? Or is it because I’ve got
Bruce close by?

Although she had been relishing being alone, it suddenly
occurred to her that there was probably no such thing as alone here—the Reven
were doubtless spying on everything she did. That was enough to stop her
lingering. As quickly as she could she got out of the shower, pampered herself
and rejoined Bruce, trailing a cloud of scent.

Bruce was crouched down by the beds, and when she entered he
looked up with an appreciative grin.

“Hey, you smell great, and look better. Look what I found. I
almost didn’t tell you because I’m quite partial to the way you’re currently
dressed, but I figure that if you put clothes on, at some stage you’ll have to
strip out of them again, and maybe I’ll get to watch.”

Beneath the beds two small closets stood open. Each was
filled with clothing. But the only garments were a number of identical sets of
uniforms like the sort they trained in for competition.

“They must think we live in the things we train in,” Bruce
observed. “If they’ve been watching us preparing for the ‘Worlds’ for the last
few days, that’s probably all they’ve seen us in.”

Jenna picked out a lycra halter-top and bikini briefs.

“It’s not a designer outfit, but after what I haven’t been
wearing for the last few hours, it will feel like I’m dressed for the opera.”

As she spoke, she slipped on the skimpy garments, settling
the elastic round her breasts and buttocks with a saucy snap.

“I’ve got to say it Jenna, nobody ever looked better than
you in lycra.”

“Why, Bruce, darlin, you say the nicest things,” she drawled
in mock-Southern-Belle mode. “Am I correctly attired, sir?”

She pirouetted on the spot, her arms raised like a dancer.

“More than correctly, madam. The word stunning springs to
mind. You look good enough to raise the dead—you’re certainly raisin’ me. I’d
better take a cold shower, before the Reven read my thoughts and zap my brain!”

He disappeared into the little bathroom with alacrity, his
half-developed erection swinging jauntily before him, and in a few moments
Jenna heard the sound of water running.

“Fuck the Reven,” she cursed under her breath. She desired
Bruce desperately and resented the fact that they were being forced to deny
themselves. Dreamily she ran her hands up and down her body, fantasizing that
she was in the shower with him, and he was soaping her sleek wet body. The idea
made the cleft at the top of her thighs warm and moist, and its inner folds
throbbed with unrequited desire. Still fantasizing, Jenna slipped her fingers
inside the thigh band of the bikini briefs and located the sensitive nub
nestling within the short blond curls that covered her mound. It wasn’t her
masturbating, it was Bruce’s hand that was massaging her clit, probing between
the swollen lips of her pussy, finding the hot moist depths within…

Suddenly Jenna heard the water stop running. Guiltily she
pulled her hand away, as if Bruce might walk in at any moment and discover what
she was doing.

Bruce, however, was too involved with his own thwarted
desires to imagine that Jenna might also be feeling frustrated. The shower
hadn’t cooled his passion, his cock was sensitive to the touch and his balls
felt tight enough to explode. This was probably the most exquisite torture ever
devised. The woman he had desired for years was through the door, they were
going to be sleeping in the same room together, he wanted her and she wanted
him, and there wasn’t a thing they could do about it without risking the mother
of all headaches courtesy of a Reven controller chip.

For a brief moment Bruce’s face took on a granite aspect,
his jaw jutted, and the mighty muscles in his arms and chests tensed, as he
imagined getting his hands on a Reven and methodically ripping it to pieces.

But such expense of energy was wasted. He might as well go
with the flow for now, but always on the lookout for some way to improve their
situation. He finished using the bathroom and rejoined Jenna.

She had chosen a bed and was lying comfortably under the covers,
waiting for him with a smile.

“Our first night together,” she said in greeting. “I don’t
suppose it is actually what you imagined it might be.”

“Not entirely. But at least we’re together, which is an
improvement on our relationship so far.”

“I am truly sorry about all that,” she said, looking
contrite.

“No need to be,” Bruce replied. “I think your focus and
determination was something of a turn-on. I’ve always loved a challenge, and
you were the ultimate.”

He bent down and gave her a chaste kiss on the lips. She
snuggled further into the bed, looking kittenish, and much younger than her
age.

Just then the lights began to dim, and Bruce hurried to find
his way into the other bed. By the time his head was on the pillow the room was
too dark to see much of anything.

“Night, Jenna,” he whispered.

“Sleep well, Bruce,” was the soft reply.

Determined not to dwell on what couldn’t be, Bruce began
composing himself for sleep. It was surprisingly easy, and he guessed that the
controller chip was doing its work on his brain’s sleep centers. But before he
had quite drifted off, a voice whispered in his ear.

“Bruce, do you think you could manage company?”

“There’s nothing I could manage better.”

He lifted the quilt, and Jenna’s soft, nude form joined him
in bed. She fitted herself against the length of his body, her head using his
chest for a pillow. He inhaled deeply of her scented aroma, and pulled her
closer.

In less than a minute both were deeply asleep.

* * * * *

On the bridge of the Reven ship, Alpha19 was taking
nourishment, which meant sipping a noxious cocktail of chemicals and fluids
designed to slow down the degeneration of the cloned Reven bodies.

“All subjects are sleeping,” reported Psi276.

“Good. And is the laboratory prepared for the first day of
experiments?”

“Yes. And the controller chip of the Terran woman is
programmed to ensure that she enters the experiment with heightened aggression
and a desire to sexually dominate her partner. There will be sufficient
equipment on hand for her to do most things that she is capable of imagining.
And, no matter how hard she makes things, the Gort will enjoy every second of
it.”

“Excellent. In that case we should both rest also. We will
commence shortly after the first nourishment of the day.”

“As you wish, Alpha19.”

The two stick figures lurched towards small pods lining one
wall of the bridge, and climbed awkwardly into them. The pod lids closed, and a
brown gas hissed into the space around the alien bodies. Both Reven convulsed
briefly, their stick-like limbs clattering against the pod walls, and then they
fell still, looking for all the world like desiccated skeletons.