Katena Dance Company

Numenes

Below on this page is part 15 of "The Alastor Network", a science fiction story about the life and times of Yurahs Ursht and the rest of the royal family of Alastor Cluster. In part 12, Acyreff, the mother of Yurahs, having successfully rescued Twycky Jeghtop from her space pirate captors, was making plans to return to Numenes where she would be able to visit her daughter. 

Yurahs is attending the summer training and tryouts program of the Katena Dance Company of Numenes. She has significant telepathic abilities which include the ability to project her sexual pleasures and experiences into the minds of others, particularly her lover, Heshlo. Yurahs came to the attention of the director of the Katena Dance Company because of the ability of Yurahs to help the telepathic dancers sexually titillate audiences of tourists who are visiting Numenes.

the Lavany embryo

Visiting Numenes for the first time, Captain Sally Lanting of the spaceship Nykark is given the opportunity to attend one of the dance performances along with Acyreff. During the dance, Yurahs and Sally experience telepathic links to the Muu're natives of Numenes who exist in the Hierion Domain. Sally learns that mind clones of Acyreff's still embryonic grandchild, Lavany, are being created on Yerophet.

 

 ⎯ The Alastor Network ؄

 

Part 15. Lavany Clones. (read part 1) (part 2) (part 3) (part 4) (part 5) (part 6) (part 7) (part 8) (part 9) (part 10) (part 11) (part 12) (part 13) (part 14)

 

Blazon spaceport

After the Whelm police action on Yrinna, the spaceship Nykark was in need of hull repairs. As a convenient excuse, the Connatic told Captain Lanting that she should take the Nykark to Numenes for repairs. That was only cover for the fact that Oman Ursht wanted a technical team to carefully study the hierion field generators that had been installed inside Nykark. Arriving at the Blazon spaceport near Numenes, Lanting was almost immediately served with a written demand that she appear for a Whelm disciplinary tribunal.

Lanting had been planning to visit some popular tourist sites on Numenes, but now she was expected to kowtow before Legal Specialist Forshytte in less than an hour. Feeling the need for some supporters, Lanting decided to bring her two companion robots, Vez and Coz, to the hearing. Still not feeling comfortable in her Whelm uniform, Sally departed from Nykark. Stepping out through the gates the Blazon spaceship repair facility, Captain Lanting was greeted by a young woman who called out, "Sally! Captain Lanting, I need to speak to you."

Sally only slowed her purposeful strides through the spaceport when the woman Grabbed her arm with a powerful grip. Sally demanded, "What do you want? Let go of me!"

The woman explained, "I'm a messenger, from Commander Shermatz."

Sally tried to continue walking, "I'm busy."

The woman stood her ground and Sally was unable to walk away. "Please, Commander Shermatz wants to meet with you before the hearing."

 

After a glance from Sally, Vez and Coz both grabbed hold of the woman, gripping her two arms with their powerful robot hands. With a sudden, violent motion of her free hand, the woman knocked away the hands of Vez and Coz. Now, Sally noticed that they were starting to attract attention and concerned looks from passing people.

Conference at Blazon spaceport.

Vez and Coz moved so as to again try to grab the woman, but Sally waved them off. She asked, "Hearing? What hearing? Who are you?"

"Oh! I assumed you knew." The woman finally lessened her grip on Sally's arm, but did not release her. "Legal Specialist Forshytte wants to punish you for having abducted Dr. Jeghtop."

Sally sighed. "I'm on my way to that little circus performance right now."

"Good! Come with me. I'll take you to Commander Shermatz... she's waiting at the Admincenter." The woman took hold of one of Sally's hands, now using a gentle grip. "I'm Lo, a robot from Triskelion."

 

The two women now walked side by side and hand in hand through the busy spaceport. Sally wanted to rub her arm, expecting a bruise where she had been grabbed by Lo. "I should have guessed. No human has a grip like yours."

"I hope I did not hurt you, Sally."

"I'm fine, but it is idiotic things like this that create anti-robot sentiment."

"Please understand, I'm under strong orders from Commander Shermatz."

 

"Why didn't she just call me?"

 

Lo explained, "Well, in all honesty, Commander Shermatz does not want it on the official record that she coached you before the hearing in your defense against Forshytte's charges."

____________________________

 

The Isirjin Ziaspraide was returning to Numenes for repairs. Acyreff had collapsed into her first sound sleep since having departed from Numenes and becoming obsessed with the desire to rescue Twycky Jeghtop from Yrinna. 

 

Rupert Gensifer was trying to find Sol the robot. After their sex play session, Rupert had fallen asleep and he awoke alone. He searched through the luxury suit and found nobody, however, the door to the suite was no longer locked. He wandered out into the corridor, completely lost and unfamiliar with the layout of the Isirjin Ziaspraide. He asked the first passing crewman he saw, "Can you help me?"

 

The soldier had been assigned to the annoying task of caring for the residents of Yrinna who were on board. He glanced at the list of Yrinnans and replied, "You are Rupert? Rupert Gensifer?"

 

"Yes, that's me. I'm looking for my grandparents."

 

"The were shuttled off of Isirjin Ziaspraide. They are no longer on board."

 

Rupert asked, "Where did they go?"

 

The soldier checked, but since the Netal did not officially exist, he found no information about the current location of Lord and Lady Gensifer. "Sorry, but I don't have that information, Sir."

 

"What about Sol?"

 

The soldier replied, "That robot? I saw it down in the theater, where most of the Yrinnans are."

 

"Where is that?" The soldier took Rupert to the theater and then returned to his task of trying to find two of the Yrinnans who could not be accounted for. Had they returned to their assigned rooms?

 

Rupert discovered that there was something like a town hall meeting in progress. All of the Yrinna security personnel were being held in the brig, but most of the medical first responders and a half dozen spaceship engineers where there in the theater, discussing their fate as captives of the Whelm. About a dozen soldiers were stationed around the large theater, one at each of the exits. One of the captives noticed the arrival of Rupert and called out, "Rupert! Rupert Gensifer. He must know what's going on."

 

Rupert approached the group and was asked, "Is this for real? We can all select the world we want to be taken to?"

 

Rupert saw Sol standing off to the side. He asked the robot, "What have you been told?"

 

Sol replied, "We've all been told the same thing. The Yrinna security personnel are being returned home to Yrinna. Everyone else will be taken either to Yrinna or any other planet of the Cluster that they choose." The robot rather comically raised its hand, a finger pointed to the high ceiling of the theater and proclaimed, "I'm returning to my home, on dear Triskelion!"

 

A medical doctor said, "Yes, we know. You keep telling us how wonderful Triskelion is. But you were built on Triskelion, so I'm not surprised that you want to return there." She turned back towards Rupert and said, "We heard a rumor that Lord Gensifer is on board this spaceship."

 

"Yes, both Lord and Lady Gensifer were here for a short time, but now they have been taken away." Rupert felt a strangely erotic telepathic sensation that he imagined was coming from Sol. "I'm trying to find out where they are."

"What are your plans, Rupert? Will you return to Yrinna?"

Rupert shook his head. "No. I've long dreamed of getting off Yrinna and seeing other world of the Cluster."

"This robot has been telling us that we should go to Triskelion."

Rupert walked over to Sol and asked in a quiet voice, "What are you up to?"

Sol ignored Rupert and spoke to the others, "Triskelion has a terrible labor shortage! If you go to Triskelion, you will be welcomed and appreciated. They need trained medical specialists on Triskelion."

The doctor asked Sol, "Is it true that there are more robots than people on Triskelion?"

"Yes, far more robots. The robots do the work that humans find irksome and boring." Earlier, Sol had sent a cloud of infites into all of the Yrinnans. Those infites had originated from Grean and they were particularly filling the thoughts of the Yrinnans with titillating images of Triskelion sexbots.

 

Rupert suspected that Sol was up to some devious scheme, but he wanted to know where his grandparents were. Rupert turned away from Sol and went back to the theater entrance where he was stopped by a guard. Rupert explained, "I need to talk to a command officer."

 

The guard patiently said, "When we get Numenes, you'll be interviewed by an officer and then transported to Yrinna or any other place you select."

 

image credits

Rupert decided to name drop. "I need to see Commander Shermatz, right now."

 

"Why?"

 

"My grandparents were taken away. I demand to know what has happened to them."

 

The guard checked the list of passengers. "I don't have that information."

 

With a dejected sigh, Rupert said, "Let me go back to my room."

 

The guard also sighed and shook her head. She again checked the list of passengers. "Rupert? Hm, you are stayng in the Connatic's suite." The soldier put away her datacom and said, "I saw you talking to that robot." She pointed towards Sol. That's a Triskelion sexbot?"

Rupert could still feel what he assumed was Sol telepathically filling his mind with sexual desires. Rupert now suspected that the thoughts of the guards were also being influenced by Sol. "Yes."

"What is it doing here among the Yrinnans?"

Rupert asked, "Are you going to take me back to my room or not?"

"No, I'm not. I have to stay here. I sent for a steward." The guard looked suspiciously at Rupert. "That sexbot was working on Yrinna?"

Rupert explained, "Sol was taken to Yrinna along with Twycky Jeghtop."

The soldier asked, "Who is Twycky Jeghtop?"

Rupert sighed deeply and waited. He didn't want to try to explain to the uninformed soldier the true nature of the secret police action that had taken place on Yrinna. Sol was continuing to talk to the first responders about the wonderful life that awaited them on Triskelion. Rupert was struggling to not think about sexual topics, but with each passing minute his penis was becoming increasingly engorged with blood. Finally, a steward arrived and escorted Rupert away from the theater. 

 

Rupert begged and cajoled, but could not convinse the stward to take him to a command officer. Now back in the comfortable suite, Rupert discovered that he was very tired. He sat down in one of the big chairs in the lounge and was soon asleep. 

 

Many hours later, Commader Shermatz awoke and met with Rupert. She told him that the Connatic wanted the help of Lord Gensifer and that Rupert's parents were off on a mission to Brevik.

__________________________

Original cover art by Howard Brown,
Stephen Fabian, Ed Emshwille and Leo Morey

Now inside the Admincenter at Blazon spaceport, Lo led Sally to a small lounge where Commander Shermatz sat talking to a young man. Sally exclaimed, "Rupert!"

Rupert leaned back from Acyreff and opened his eyes. He had been working with Acyreff on his technique for telepathically linking to the Muu're, the telepathic natives of Numenes. Gensifer gave a casual wave. "Hello, Sally."

Acyreff gestured to a chair and told Sally, "Be seated." Acyreff briefly glared at Coz and Vez and then tried to ignore the robots. "We don't have much time to coordinate your defense." She handed a thin docufolder to Lanting.

Sally quickly glanced through the folder's electronically generated pages of text. This was an affidavit from Twycky Jeghtop asserting three points. First, that it was Captain Lanting who made possible Twycky's rescue from her captors on Yrinna. Second, upon waking to her second day on Yrinna, Twycky found herself unable to resist her captors. Twycky claimed that there were techniques in use on Yrinna that could make people (such as herself) do things against their will and their own best interests. Thus, having grown up on Yrinna, Captain Lanting could not be held responsible for her actions. The third point made by Twycky was that she opposed any type of legal action against Sally in her abduction case.

Sally handed the docufolder back to Acyreff and asked. "Will this be admissible to the tribunal in my case? Twycky is not part of the Whelm."

Acyreff shrugged, "That will be up to the tribunal to decide." She checked the time. "We should go to the hearing, but there is one other matter. Please leave your two robots here with Lo."

"I'd feel more comfortable with them at my side."

Original cover art by Robert Jones
and Ed Valigursky.

"Take my word for it, Sally, it would be a mistake to bring them before the tribunal. You'll only provoke anti-robot sentiments that would not reflect favorably on you."

Sally stood up and told her two robots, "Stay here. Hopefully this will not take very long."

Acyreff guided Sally to the hearing chamber with Rupert tagging along behind. Acyreff told Sally, "The Chief Adjudication Officer is Captain Niarga. She lost her family to starmenters, so she is not going to have much sympathy for any claims from you that you were just doing your duty."

Sally nodded. "Thanks for the warning."

Soon the hearing was underway. Chief Adjudication Officer Niarga looked at Rupert and asked, "Who are you?"

 

He smiled and replied, "A witness for the defense."

 

Gazing into Rupert's eyes, Niarga felt a hot flush creep up her chest and spread across her face. She drank some ice water from a dispenser in the table, wiped some sweat from her brow and said to Rupert, "Very well. Give your ID to the bailiff." Momentarily flustered by the sexual thoughts that were popping into her mind as she gazed upon Rupert's sexy body, she turned away and said, "Let's get started. Briefly state your case, Forshytte."

Legal Specialist Forshytte stood up and said, "I ask the Tribunal to rule that Captain Sally Lanting not be allowed to command a spaceship of the Whelm. I recommend that Lanting not be allowed any command authority." She brought to the evidence display screen the Whelm warrant authorizing Captain Lanting's apprehension and prosecution for the criminal abduction of Twycky Jeghtop.

Original cover art by
Hubert Rogers, Frank Freas,
Chesley Bonestell and Gabe Keith.

Acyreff immediately said, "I object. That warrant has been canceled and made void by the Connatic."

Niarga ruled, "The warrant is relevant, Commander Shermatz. Or do you dispute the fact that Captain Lanting abducted Twycky?"

"I dispute the relevance of the warrant. It proves nothing accept that Forshytte is trying to bias the Tribunal."

Niarga chuckled, "That is Forshytte's role here today, no different than yours. Proceed, Forshytte."

 

"Thank you, Chief Adjudicant."

Forshytte displayed a new image of another document. "Exhibit two; this is from the ship's log of Appenine. This log entry describes how Captain Lanting forcibly entered Appenine in an attempt to abduct Kasya Jeghtop."

Acyreff objected again, "The log does not mention Kasya Jeghtop. Forshytte is again trying to smear Captain Lanting with irrelevant information."

 

Niarga spoke to Sally, "Are you comfortable with Commander Shermatz making these objections? Frankly, they are only serving to irritate me."

 

Sally replied, "I think this hearing a farce. It seems absurd to me that I can be disciplined by the Whelm for anything that happened in my life before the Connatic invited me to join the Whelm."

Niarga laughed. "I see. Very well, Captain, I believe I understand your position." Niarga pointed at Acyreff and said, "First, let me advise Commander Shermatz to control her tongue and limit her objections." She turned her attention back to Sally, "Second, since you have been a member of the Whelm for only a few days, allow me to explain something. In the future, subsequent to this hearing, myself and the other members of this board of examiners would be held responsible for any mistakes that you might make, should we leave you in a position with command authority. We are thus strongly motivated to err on the side of caution and remove you from command of Nykark."

Acyreff said, "Point of information! The Nykark is not a ship of the Whelm. It is a private spaceship."

There was a period of whispered consultation among the members of the tribunal and their support staff. Finally, Niarga said, "I concede the point,Commander Shermatz." Niarga asked Forshytte, "What is your legal theory to support the idea that this Tribunal can make a ruling about who is in command of Nykark?"

 

Forshytte was gazing at Rupert and having a sexual fantasy about undressing him and then playing with his penis. Niarga followed Forshytte's gaze to Rupert's tight-fitting pants and she felt another exciting rush of lust. She thought: he really does look delicious. Niarga licked her lips and then said, "Forshytte, are you still with us?"

Forshytte could feel that her panties were saturated with her warm vaginal secretions. Pulling her eyes off of Rupert, she managed to refocus her attention on the case and explained, "Um, I mentioned command of Nykark as one of many possible examples. Ah, the unaltered core pen... principle is that Lanting's past actions demonstrate that she can't be trusted with command authority."

 

Niarga nodded. "Very well, I understand your case, Legal Specialist Forshytte." Niarga turned to Captain Lanting. "And you have stated your position, Sally. Do you have anything else to say?"

 

Sally gestured towards Acyreff, "I don't mind allowing Commander Shermatz to represent my interests. I'm not familiar with the bureaucratic principles at play here that allow Forshytte to question the Connatic's decisions."

 

Niarga patiently told Sally, "Even the Connatic is not above the law." Again Niarga pointed at Acyreff and asked, "Commander Shermatz, do you have anything useful to add?"

 

by Stephen Fabian (2), Frank Freas and

Acyreff introduced Twycky's affidavit as a defense exhibit. "I believe that the Pheni natives of Yrinna have powerful telepathic abilities. As a young child, Sally was taken captive by starmenters and taken to live on Yrinna. As a ward of the Gensifer Clan, she was shaped and molded by the Pheni so as to become an integral component of the Clan. Now that Captain Lanting has been extracted from that environment, her mind is free of Pheni influence. Knowing this, the Connatic felt comfortable giving Sally a commission in the Whelm. The only real question remaining is how we can best make use of the Captain's special skills in the future."

 

Niarga turned to her recording secretary and asked, "Mankoi, can you confirm that Captain Lanting is not a native of Yrinna?"

Mankoi showed Niarga the results of a Whelm database search and whispered, "These are recent DNA results confirming that Sally is the sister of Private Puthonh, a member of the Whelm secret service division. Their parents were apparently killed or captured during a starmenter raid several decades ago."

Niarga gazed thoughtfully at Sally then looked at Acyreff and said, "Too bad we don't have any way of confirming your beliefs about the Pheni of Yrinna and their ability to control human behavior."

Acyreff said, "That's not true. I'm prepared to provide you with a demonstration." She pointed to Rupert. "This is Rupert Gensifer, grandson of Lord Gensifer. Rupert was recently liberated from Yrinna along with Twycky. Rupert grew up on Yrinna and as a young child his mind was tuned to the telepathic communications channels used by the Pheni."

Niarga asked skeptically, "Telepathy? Really?" Niarga had found it impossible to keep her eyes from repeatedly wandering towards Rupert during the entire hearing. Her nipples and her clitoris were erect and she was wondering why she was so sexually attracted to Rupert. She'd once felt this way while attending a hussade game with her father. She'd been so alarmed by the experience that she had never again entered a hussade stadium.

Acyreff replied. "Yes, I'm serious. I ask you to allow Rupert to telepathically connect you to the Pheni."

Feeling that the hearing was completely slipping beyond her control, Forshytte jumped to her feet and objected, "This can't be part of a disciplinary hearing. This isn't some venue for stage magician ak... acts!" Even as she spoke, Forshytte's knees were shaking and she could no longer control her voice. She felt a trickle of her vaginal fluid dribble down her leg. She sat down and put her knees together under the table.

Niarga felt the pressure of Rupert's big beautiful eyes on her. She gestured towards Rupert and said, "Hurry up. Make the demonstration."

Original cover art by Ed Valigursky, Martinez
and Hubert Rogers.

Rupert walked around the end of the table where the tribunal members sat and he stood behind Niarga. He put his hands on her shoulders and closed his eyes. Rupert had been telepathically in contact with the Muu're natives of Numenes ever since his arrival in this star system. He'd spent hours working to better tune his telepathic abilities to the Muu're. Now he asked the Muu're for assistance in connecting across interstellar distances to the Pheni of Yrinna. 

 

Niarga lifted her right hand and placed it on top of Rupert's hand that was on her left shoulder. She felt as if the erect nipple of her right breast, which was now pointing right at Captain Lanting's face, was in danger of piercing the fabric of her uniform. Some of Grean the Kac'hin's memory-altering infites moved from Rupert's body into Niarga's brain and began altering her thought processes. In a husky voice of sexual anticipation she spoke quietly to Rupert, "Well, how do I recognize these Pheni? Will they speak-" She fell into an internal fantasy of making love to Rupert.

Rupert felt the arrival of a telepathic signal from the Pheni and he focused all of his sexual thoughts only on Niarga, just as he had long ago been taught to do by his grandmother. The term sashei was seldom applied to men, but he was subjecting Niarga to his full powers of his sashei as amplified by both the Pheni of Yrinna and the Muu're of Numenes. He leaned close to Niarga and let his erect penis press against her neck.

Niarga tried to resist the flood of sexual sensations she was experiencing, but she reached climax and experienced a very pleasing orgasm. For a moment, at the peak of her sexual pleasure, she could sense Rupert's thoughts and felt an alien force inside her mind which she took to be the Pheni. She imagined that Rupert's penis was in her vagina, not prodding the back of her neck. She sighed, began to recover from the intense orgasm and took a drink of cold water. Looking around the room, she suspected that although she had been the main target of Rupert's telepathy demonstration, everyone else in the room had probably experienced a lesser degree of sexual excitement.

Rupert whispered in Niarga's ear, "You have felt the power of the Pheni." He pulled back, adjusted his pants and turned away from Niarga. Walking rather gingerly with his erection nearly popping out of his pants, Rupert returned to his seat.

 

Now convinced by Rupert's demonstration that the Pheni could influence human minds, Niarga tried to get her breathing under control and she said, "Let's wrap this up. Forshytte seems to be suggesting that we give Lanting some menial job such as sweeping floors." She pointed at Acyreff and asked, "What is your suggestion, Commander Shermatz?"

 

Acyreff replied, "The planet Ottengla has long been plagued by starmenters. Since that is a low population world, there is no Whelm garrison there and the space pirates always seem to do their dirty work and raid the local population when Whelm ships are not present. Captain Lanting and the Nykark might be the perfect solution to Ottengla's problems." She handed a sealed docufolder to Niarga.

 

Original cover art by James Settles

Niarga could see that this docufolder was hand-sealed by the Connatic himself. She broke the seal and read the contents which were concise orders from the Connatic assigning Captain Lanting and the Nykark to patrol duty of Ottengla and surrounding regions of space, the orders to take effect as soon the Nykark's hull was repaired. It was the Connatic's wish that this assignment not be revealed to Captain Lanting until she had a chance to enjoy shore leave on Numenes and receive the Royal Cross at a ceremony to be held at the palace of Lutz in three days. Niarga resealed the docufolder, signing to indicate that she had read the contents and then handed the folder back to Acyreff. She announced, "This tribunal is concluded. Forshytte, come with me to my office."

 

Acyreff and Sally stood up and smiled at each other. They shook hands. The palms of their hands were sweaty and Sally told Rupert, "You're a real devil."

Rupert was still trying to will his erection into submission. "The Pheni really came through. Once again they seem to be on your side, Sally."

Acyreff led Sally and Rupert back to the room where they had left the three robots. Sally was trying not to think about the way her erect nipples rubbed against her tight uniform as her breasts bounced with each step. She asked Acyreff, "What was that secret message that you showed to Niarga?"

Acyreff laughed and was wondering if the wetness from her vaginal secretions might be showing through the fabric of her tight-fitting uniform. She glanced again at Rupert's prominent covered by his clothing. I'll share that secret with you in a few days. Actually, I hope the Connatic will be back to Numenes in time to tell you personally." She put an arm around Sally's waist and asked, "On the whole, the hearing went well, don't you think?"

Original cover art by
James Settles and Stephen Fabian.

"I seem to have escaped punishment for now." Sally saw that Acyreff's nipples were also stiff and pushing out against the fabric of her uniform. "While I have you in a... good mood, I do have a request."

"What is that?"

"Some of my original Nykark crew members have requested to return to the ship. Can you make that happen?"

"No problem, but I ask you to relax and play the tourist for a few days or even a week here on Numenes. You've earned a vacation. I'd like you and Rupert to join me this evening for a dance performance on Numenes. My daughter, Synthe, will be one of the performers." They had reached the room where Coz, Vez and Lo were waiting.

Rupert asked, "What type of dance?"

Acyreff replied, "It is right up your alley. Rather similar to a hussade game on Yrinna."

"Are you serious?"

"Wait and see. I think you will be entertained. But first, I'm hungry. Let me take you both to dinner."

Sally was looking at Rupert's stiff penis. "I'm hungry, too. For some reason, during the hearing I kept fantasizing about Rupert's penis." She moved close to Rupert and placed a hand over the bulge in his pants. "I could just eat you up!"

Original cover art by
William Timmins, Stephen Fabian,
H. R. Van Dongen and Frank Freas

Acyreff laughed. "Try to control yourself, Sally. Save your sexual appetite for the dance performance. If you are lucky you'll end up just like Niarga... having a mind-blasting orgasm... in public."

Sally reluctantly pulled her hand away from Rupert. "I had no idea that the people of Numenes go in for performances like that."

 

"The sexually explicit performances are provided for tourists visiting Numenes from other worlds. You are right, the natives of Numenes are fairly conservative, preferring to keep their love lives and sex play private."

Vez now stepped close to Rupert and said, "Allow me to take care of that erection."

Rupert said, "I seem to still be telepathically connected to the Muu're. I think they are enjoying my erection."

Sally asked, "Muu're?"

 

Using her comring, Acyreff was confirming shuttle tickets for six. Completing that task, she looked up and explained, "You grew up with the Pheni in your mind on Yrinna. Here, the native species of Numenes is called the Muu're. But we can talk about such things over dinner. Let's go!" 

 

They ate at one of the Blazon restaurants and Rupert's erection finally faded. He told several stories that he had heard from his grandmother about her adventures as a shierl. After the meal, they then took their shuttle down to the surface of Numenes. For a time, Sally and Rupert gawked at the soaring Connatic's library. Remembering something she and in her orgasm trance, Sally finally looked away from the mega-structure, glanced at Acyreff and said, "The Connatic sure has a big... library."

Acyreff laughed and knew that Lanting had seen far enough into her mind to know her identity as the Connatic's wife and even some details of the Connatic's anatomy. "Sally, I can tell that you are in the perfect mood for the dance performance. And it is time that we should be making our way to the theater."

Original cover art by Alex Schomburg,
Richard McKenna, Harrel Gray
and Walter Popp.

Arriving among a throng of tourists, they slowly made their way to their reserved seats through the already dim theater. They were finally seated in a row with Rupert at one end, then Coz, Vez, Sally, Acyref and Lo at the other end of the group. Glancing to her right, Sally saw that Coz immediately had her hand in Rupert's lap, stroking his penis. An opening act of dancers were on the stage, pretending to be native Muu're dancers while a strange alien music played. Sally said to Acyreff, "So that's what the Muu're looked like."

"Who knows? I'm not really sensitive to them, but some who are have claimed to see the Muu're in telepathic visions. I'm skeptical." Acyreff imagined that the Muu're lived in the Hierion Domain, inside some sort of virtual reality simulator and no longer had physical bodies. The dancing Muu're pulled off their costumes, revealing strange alien body parts and suddenly the warm-up act was over.

The main performance began with a single, tall ballerina crossing the stage then additional dancers appeared one by one. Classically beautiful music complemented their movements and soon the entire stage was full of moving bodies. Acyreff struggled to identify Yurahs. The dancers all wore heavy makeup on their faces and almost no clothing. In the dim light, Acyreff noticed that Sally moved over one seat and sat in the lap of Vex. She imagined that she could see the robot's penis between Sally's legs. Looking around, she could see that many people in the audience were beginning to engage in sex play. The deep seats hid most everything of interest except for a few stray breasts of some taller women who had already pulled off their shirts. The arm rest to her left retracted and Acyreff leaned against Lo. She reached out and stroked one of the robot's cute breasts. Lo pulled open Acyreff's uniform and slipped a finger into her wet vagina.

Acyreff decided that one particular dancer with long legs and small breasts must be Yurahs. Her face was painted to look like a mythical forest nymph. The dancers were pairing off and starting to engage in exaggerated and athletic acts of simulated sexual foreplay. A choir began to sing a type of haunting hymn, almost like a chant.

 

Lo now had his hand positioned and shaped so that he could efficiently stimulate almost the entirety of Acyreff's genitals. Some people in the audience began letting out little shouts and gasps of pleasure as they achieved orgasms. Suddenly Acyreff was in a shared mind space with Sally and Acyreff imagined that it was Sally who had her fist inside her vagina. Then the fantasy scene shifted and it was her husband, Ryl there with her, making love in his preferred position, sliding his erection in and out of her vagina until he ejaculated great spurts of semen that felt hot and slippery inside the confines of her taut vagina.

 

Slowly Acyreff emerged from her orgasm trance, disappointed at how briefly it had lasted. Sally was now vigorously riding the penis of Vez towards some pleasing erotic destination. Acyreff looked past Sally's bouncing bottom and could see Coz bent over Rupert's penis, apparently giving him oral sex. Acyreff watched the rest of the dance warmly snuggled up close to Lo and playing with the robot's pretty breasts which seemed to have grown larger there in the dark.

The Kerub of Yerophet

The house lights began to gradually brighten. The performers were all introduced and received applause while audience members reassembled their clothing. Rupert was having trouble getting his erect penis back into his pants. Acyreff had a backstage pass and after the show they met Yurahs in her dressing room. Yurahs was introduced as Synthe, the identity she used when outside of the royal palace.

 

After Acyreff performed introductions, Yurahs plucked at Rupert's shirt and revealed the swollen end of his penis where it extended up and out of his pants. She said, "That's what we like to see! This is how we know our performance was a suck..." She looked at Coz and added, "a success." She asked Coz, "You are a robot, aren't you?"

Sally said, "Coz and Vez are my two companion robots. If you are looking for other signs of success, I was able to telepathically link to you during your performance."

Yurahs was still in costume and wearing only a skimpy thong. Her two little nipples were pink and erect. She put her long arms around Sally and said, "Yes, I felt you in my mind along with the Muu're. The Muu're always turn out in large number for these dance performances, but they were really thickly gathered around you and Rupert." Yurahs glanced over Sally's shoulder at Lo and asked the robot, "Where have you been all day?"

 

the shierls of Yrinna

Speaking over her daughter, Acyreff asked Sally, "You are sure it was Muu're, not the Pheni?" Acyreff then told Yurahs, "I had need of Lo's services today. Since you were busy, I borrowed him."

"I can sense the difference... the Muu're thought pattern is unique." Sally reached down and put a hand on Yurahs' abdomen. She told Acyreff, "The Muu're are very interested in your granddaughter, Lavany."

 

Acyreff felt certain that Sally had learned both her own real identity as the Connatic's wife and also the real identity of Yurahs, but Captain Lanting was playing along and accepting the fact that the royal family needed to use disguises when they went out among the people of the Cluster. Would Rupert also play along?

Rupert said, "Yu... you know that Synthe has a special sashei... on Yarinna she would have been recruited to be a shierl. But it was not just the Muu're there with us in that shared mind space... there was something else."

Original cover art by Leo Morey,
William Juhre and Ed Valigursky.

Acyreff asked, "What?"

"I don't know. Something alien... I think they call themselves 'Phet'."

Acyreff nodded. "The Phet are native creatures of Yerophet."

Sally let her finger tips stroke the little breast of Yurahs. "Now I understand what the Phet were so excited about!" She hugged Yurahs close and spoke over the girl's shoulder to Acyreff, "There are clones of Lavany on Yerophet!"

 

Acyreff had already been informed about the mind clones. She told Sally, "They are called mind clones, but I don't know what that means. For some reason, Grean the Kac'hin is building a mind clone network."

Next: part 16 of "The Alastor Network"

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