2593, Chapter 25
#53 of Orr Chronicles
Welcome to the year 2593, the furry race has spread through the solar system. Corporations run Earth, the rest of the system is being supervised by a central government. Peace, of a sort, reigns.
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Eric takes his son and his crew on an outing, but things get a little harrier than he would have liked
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2593-25
Tucker and Trevor were pulling on Eric's arms as they walked. The tiger was holding them because they were the tallest and most rambunctious of his sons. They'd point at lights along the corridor, calling 'light', or 'bright', and tried to pull Eric toward them.
They weren't strong enough to be able to force their father to go where they wanted. Not yet anyway, Eric suspected it wouldn't be long until these two went whereever they wanted.
Next to him Robert was carrying Thomas, who had tried walking a few steps, but couldn't quite manage it yet. Brick was carrying Tyson, Brack had Tony, and Jeff had Terrence.
They were heading for the station's tourist's lift. This was the first Eric used it, since he never had any interest in seeing the sights. He wasn't doing this for himself, but for his children. It wasn't fair for them to see nature only once a year, not when Titan had a complete habitat.
Because it was the tourist's lift, it had someone next to the kiosk, a woman, A doe with dark brown fur with while spots.
"Welcome to Titan's exploration," She greeted them with a wide smile. "Where you can get a feel for being home, even if you're far from home."
"Really?" Marc exclaimed jovially, "So you have a lunar sector?"
That brought her up short. "Ahh, well, no. Titan's inner surface was designed to recreate Earth."
"Does that mean you're anti-SolGov?"
"No, Of course not." The question seemed to confuse her more than fluster her.
"Stop it, Monkey Butt," Brack said. "You don't even like SolGov."
"I'm allowed to dislike my own government, I have to live with it."
"Actually, Titan station is under SolGov jurisdiction."
That made Marc choke back his next words.
The doe beamed at him. "Titan Station never invested into recreating the lunar surface because those from Luna who visit here, have never indicating a desire to see those gray rocky landscape."
Mark's ears folded back. "You got me there. I always take the few days off my slave driver gives me on Earth."
"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Eric replied, rolling his eyes. "I'm horrible, that's why you renewed your contract when it came due two years ago."
"Actually, the bedside benefits are why I still work for you."
"Bedside?" Brick asked. "Oh, you mean the s-"
"Okay," Eric interrupted the mule. "Titan might be more liberal that most SolGov places, but that isn't something we should be talking about in public." He shook his head in bemusement. "You have to excuse my crew, that's why I rarely let them out."
"Did the captain make a joke?" Gerald asked, before the doe could get back to her speech.
"I think so," William replied.
"Yeah," Jeff agreed, "That sounded a lot like one."
The fennec fox sighed loudly. "And here I thought he'd been getting enough sleep these last two months. I'm going to have to tie him to his bed again."
"It'd be better if we just pile up on him," Brack offered.
"Nahh," Brick replied, "That'll just lead to-"
Eric cleared his throat. "Should I send you back to the ship?"
"If you do who's going to help you with the kids?" Robert asked.
Eric addressed the doe, "It might be best if we speed this along, the faster we're in the lift, the sooner you get to stop listening to the barbarians behind me."
"Of course." She gave him an understanding smile. "Since you have children with you, I expect you'll want to go to one of the playgrounds? Maybe an amusement park? We have one designed for boy their age."
"I'm vetoing that idea," Gerald said. "I've seen what some of them are capable of, anything designed for a one year old will not survive them."
"That's okay," Eric said, "Actually, I want a tropical forest."
"Really?" Her ears stood straight. "Is that wise? You have children."
"Aren't they safe?"
"Well, as safe as a forest can be, even if all the animals in it are programed not to attack people, all the plants are natural, so the terrain can be treacherous, none of the paths are manipulated."
"That's fine. I don't plan on doing a lot of walking, I just want to expose my sons to a different biome than what they've already seen on earth." Eric had thought about the reason he'd give days before they arrived. He'd wanted to be certain it sounded plausible.
"Ah, then I have the perfect location for you. The forest in sector E54 has nice hiking paths designated for novices, but it also has a lot of flat areas along them where you can stop and sit down. The Station's network can be reached from anywhere within the forest so you can order meals once you decided where you'll rest."
"Thank you, I think that will work perfectly." Eric sent her his information. Tourist's lifts weren't free.
"Oh," she said after a moment, probably once she'd noticed his name. "Please remember that this is SolGov property. We are a little freer here than closer to Earth. But nudity in public is strictly prohibited, as his any sort of sexual behavior."
"Hear that you two?" Jeff told the mules. "Nothing more than snuggling."
"That sucks," Brack said. "It's a forest, it isn't like anyone's going to see us."
"Don't worry, Miss," William said, "We'll make sure they behave."
"Maybe it'd be worth paying the fine?" Brick whispered.
"You don't get fined for exposing yourself," Marc said, "It's lockup time for that."
"Don't worry," Eric reassured the doe. "They'll behave."
The dubious expression she gave him made Eric turn, and his crew were giving them their most innocent smiles.
"I swear," he grumbled, "I can't take you anywhere." After he reassured her again, she let them on the lift. Once the doors closed he received a request for a connection from the station. He refused it.
William and Jeff winced and cursed.
"Forgot to turn off the auto accept?" Marc asked and they nodded.
"What does it want?"
"It's an audio time line of tropical forests on Earth."
"Earth History? Way out here?" Robert said. "Seems like I'd tell people about the station instead."
"Tourists love this kind of stuff," Jeff said. "I'm sure they also talk about the station."
Eric tuned out the other's conversation. He'd tapped the lift's readout and was watching the letters move down, they'd started in 'S' and they were now in 'O'. Once they reached 'E', they'd have to go down from 102 to 54. He'd picked tropical forests because of the canopy. It didn't matter he was inside a sphere, they had an artificial sun and sky. Just the idea he'd be seeing blue over his head made him nervous.
William moved next to him, and squeezed his arm. The contact calmed Eric's nerves. Tucker used the moment to pull out of his father's hand and run to the back to the room.
The lift was large enough that twenty people could easily fit. After almost running after his son, Eric let him go, he couldn't get out until they reach their destination, and Eric could keep the door closed until someone caught his errand son.
* * * * *
The light was bright, much brighter than Eric expected. He'd taken hold of Tucker's hand and opened the door, and the light flooded the lift. It was so bright that he tried to cover his eyes, only to have Trevor yelp in surprise as Eric pulled on his arm, then whimper, as Eric realized his mistake.
He handed Tucker to William and picked up Trevor. Nuzzling him and telling him everything would be okay. Then he exited the lift to the sound of bird close by, and roaring in the distance.
It took Eric a moment, but carefully he looked up, and as he'd hoped, the sky was hidden by the canopy, with only thin lines of sky visible here and there.
He placed Trevor down and let go of him. His son dropped on all four and dug his small hands in the ground. He pulled out clumps of dirt and dead leaves and threw them in the air. He then put a dirt covered hand in his mouth. By now Eric knew better than try to stop him. Trevor would either like it or he wouldn't, and until he'd made the decision, nothing would stop him.
Eric turned around. The lift doors were in a hill, and once closed, their coloring made them blend in. They didn't disappear, but if Eric just glanced past, he wouldn't notice them.
"Where to, Boss?" Jeff asked.
"I think we're far enough from the ship that we can drop the formality," Eric replied. "As for where? let's follow the path until we need a break. And everyone, remember to keep an eye on my kids, they have the power to vanish between blinks."
Within five minutes of walking, everyone was down to shorts, except for the mules, who had opted for something only covering their groin. Eric considered having them change for something less suggestive, but figured that nothing sexual was showing, so no one could complain.
He'd altered the fabric of his own shirt and pants to something that could would cool him, as soon as he left the lift, but even that hadn't been able to keep up, so he'd joined the others in wearing only shorts.
Tyson had stopped and stared at himself as the cloth he wore vanished until he was wearing a pair of green shorts. He poked at his belly, as if making sure it was still him, and with that done, he ambled along. He still wasn't entirely steady on his legs so Gerald was staying near him.
Thomas hadn't noticed anything as he zoomed ahead on all four. Robert hot on his trail. Tony and Terrence were walking next to the mules, each holding a hand, while Tucker had to be pulled down from the trees he kept climbing. Trevor picked up one thing after another and tasted it. If he didn't like it he threw it away, if he did, he brought it to Eric, he now had ha handful of leaves, pieces of bugs, bark and a piece of fabric.
"What do you think?" Marc asked, "A food specialist in the making?"
"I hope not, at the rate he's going, he's going to end up poisoning everyone."
"Come on, you can't tell me you never did that when you were a kid."
"I tried, but my dad was a tad over protective. I can't remember the number of lectures he gave me about not eating mud, or bugs, specially worms, I was always trying to eat those things when I was a kid."
Marc made a face. "Worms? Why would you want to eat those slimy things?"
"I have no idea, but who knows, it might have something to do with wanting cocks in my mouth."
"Everything's about sex with you, isn't it?"
"I'm an Orr, what can I say, if I'm healthy, it's really high in my list of priority. Trevor, not that!" Eric ran to his son, who'd looked up at his name, a sharp stone at his mouth. Eric took it out and replaced it with a smooth one. Trevor looked at it, sniffed it and sucked on it. He made a face and threw it down.
After half an hour of chasing the kids in the heat and humidity, they found an area that had benches and tables and sat down.
"Next time we do this, I have to bring a field generator so we can rest when we need to rest." Eric was panting, there was barely a breeze and it wasn't doing anything to cool him down.
"Next time is going to be when they're back on Earth," Robert said, lying down next to the bench. "You're going to be able to rope your family in watching them. After that they're going to be two when we're back here. I can't believe they'll be like this then."
"You're kidding, right?" Gerald said. "They're going to be worse. By that age they'll be able to start working together to lose us. One will do something; the others will scatter while we're distracted. And you won't be able to get a force wall high enough to keep them in. Tucker's is going to teach the others how to climb, you'll need a wall two meters tall, and I can't see the station letting us walk around carrying the number of those we'll need to get a zone large enough they won't scream their head off to get out to turn it off."
Eric looked at his sons, now in a circle, Trevor was passing along what he was finding for each of them to taste.
"I'm betting you're regretting becoming a father now," Robert said.
Eric shook his head. "Nope, had that crisis two months ago. I'm just trying to figure out the logistics of keeping them from taking over the station for their amusement."
"You don't have to worry about that for a while," Marc said. Until they get their implants there isn't anything they can do."
Gerald laughed. "You just wait until they start talking and learn to charm people. They'll have the lot of us wrapped around their little fingers."
Marc looked at the boys with concern. "That bad?"
"Having kids is a joy that leaves you marked for the rest of your life." The fox said.
"Well, I'll deal with that when it happens, until then, I'll do my best to teach them restraint."
"Says the sex maniac," Jeff said.
"I'm not a maniac, I just have a high sex drive."
"We all do at this point," Gerald said. "You know, I never believed the reports that said sex was like any other exercise, the more you did it, but more you were able to do it, but you guys prove that to be true."
"You complaining?" Marc said.
"Are you kidding? My wife threatened to tie me to the bed in her lab so she could use me there. We haven't had that much sex since before the kids were born. You're lucky I signed a contract, I might not have convinced her to let me get back to work otherwise. What's funny?" He asked at Eric's chuckled.
"Sorry, just having trouble envisioning myself having sex with only one person, I was trying to come up with ways of keeping it interesting. We were now on a spin wheel going at different speeds and trying to lick each other's cock when they spun by."
That got him a group look of astonishment.
"You're weird," Robert said.
"Tucker, No!" Eric bolted after his son who had disappeared between two trunks. He reached the space, only to see him vanish under a fallen tree. With a curse he ran and then climbed the trunk. When he reached the top, he saw him already two trees away.
"Tucker, stop!"
His son didn't stop. How was he so fast? A quick climb down and he was after him. Eric thought he was finally catching up, his son disappeared around another large trunk, and when Eric made it around it, his son was only a couple of meters ahead. He was giggling as he ran into a large clearing and into a much brighter circle of light.
Eric followed him into it, crossed the line of shade created by the canopy and glanced up in reflex at the increase in light.
He saw blue. His heart skipped a beat and he tripped on something, landing face first in the soil. His eyes were closed tight, his fingers digging into the ground.
"Please don't shift," He whispered, repeating it over and over. He had to look around for something to hold on. Oh fuck, how was he going to get to Tucker? His son might get lost among the trees, he had to go get him.
Footsteps came close rapidly. "I'll get him," Someone said, and the steps pasts him.
Eric forced his eyes open, and then to look along the ground. William was becoming smaller in the distance. He looked left and right. Nothing there to grab on to. Behind him, the canopy was behind him. He had to go back there. He tried to get himself to his knees. He managed to get a hand close to his chest, but the moment he tried to pull himself up, he felt like it was more than his arm doing the pulling and plastered himself to the ground.
This was ridiculous, He had nothing to be afraid of, even if the gravity shifted, he wouldn't end up in space, he'd just end up at the globe that generated the light and heat that made the inside of the station look and feel like this was outside. Yeah, another part of his mind offered, an extremely hot globe. He sighed. So, he wouldn't end up in space, but incinerated.
This wasn't helping.
The steps came back, and William took his hand. "I've got you."
It still took Eric a moment before he was able to pull himself up. Then it was only a few steps for them to be under the canopy. He leaned back against the closest tree and waited for his heart beat to become reasonable again.
William was holding Tucker, who had leaves, petals and dirt in his fur. Eric extended his arms and the wolf passed him his son.
Eric kissed Tucker's head. "Don't do this again," he whispered. "Please, don't scare me like this ever again." He looked at the clearing. "I couldn't..."
William was walking away, back toward where they had come from.
"Will."
The wolf turned.
"Why haven't you forced me to go through with your gravity training?"
William came back and leaned against the tree facing Eric. "Because I realized I can't force you to do that. Xav tried to force something on you, I don't want to be like him. Even if I wanted, you're my captain, I can't force you to do anything. You have to want to do it. Otherwise we'd both be wasting our time."
Eric nodded, and looked at the clearing, then the image of Tucker floating in zero G came to him.
"I don't think it's going to help me with that," he nodded to the clearing, "but inside my ship, I shouldn't have to be afraid that Tucker will end up floating." He rested his head against the rough trunk. "I need to get over that. Outside, I can accept it, for as crazy is it is, there's nothing but the sky and I'd fall forever. But in my ship, there are walls everywhere. I shouldn't be freaking out just because my feet leave the floor. That makes no sense."
William nodded. "Okay, we'll start on it once we're on our way back. We'll start slow, get you to stay in control. A lot of problems can be solved is you can keep your head on straight."
Eric chuckled. "I'm not making that joke." He brushed some leaves off his son. "Come on, let's rejoin the others before they contact the station and have them scan the area for us."
It took them longer to make it back, taking their time and having to walk around the fallen tree. When they got back to the others, they ordered food, which was delivered a few minutes later by drone.
Brack complained it was fabricated food, and not prepared and cooked, but even Brick told him to just enjoy it. An hour later the children had exhausted the adults enough they decided to head back to the ship, where the boy took their naps, and the adults enjoyed a long and sensual shower.