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Jake woke with a start to see Xelzix's face. He wasn't smiling this time.

He immediately felt a powerful sense of vertigo as his brain tried to adjust to the unexpected shift in reality. His mind began to force the more recent events into the background, quickly fading them to the status of vivid dream so that it could make more sense out of the fact that it was suddenly somewhere else entirely. This gave it the ability to more easily come to terms with the fact that, whatever had been happening before, Jake was now back aboard Srythryn's ship.

"Welcome back, Jake," the small alien said.

"Thanks, but what am I doing here? I don't remember dying. A second ago I was walking through a forest. I remember crashing with Komakwa somewhere. It had to be far from his house I think because I was unconscious on his ship for a while. It was getting dark when we left but the sun was up when I came to, so I must have been out all night. I remember seeing an active volcano and a mountain range. We had to eject. My seat came down pretty far from his. I remember getting out of it and he shot a flare. I started to walk towards him but after an hour or so, there's nothing. I don't remember anything else. How did I die? Did Komakwa get back home OK? Did he get through the trial? Are we orbiting his planet? Can I go back down to see him now? We left things in a really bad state. I need to explain it to him properly so he'll understand!" Jake exclaimed as he started to rise from the chair.

Xelzix raised a hand to stop Jake and said, "Please, you are a bit disoriented. It happens sometimes when your death occurs without any warning and you find yourself suddenly waking in this chair. We did not receive a signal of your death from the nanos in your brain. They simply stopped transmitting. This can only happen if all of the nanos in your body were vaporized at once and none remained to send the signal that your life signs had ceased. You must have been killed with an energy weapon from behind."

"Maybe the signal got blocked or lost somehow?" Jake asked.

"No, that is not possible. The nanos use the QECH system so their communication is instantaneous and it cannot be blocked or intercepted, and ignores distance."

"What's the QECH system?" Jake asked.

"It's not necessary for you to know the details of it. Suffice it to say it is a highly secure communication system that cannot be interfered with. The system uses a wormhole to send its information, and as such you could be encased in lead, then bathed with radio interference, and surrounded by an active shield while hiding in a concrete vault buried thousands of miles below the ground, yet the communication would still pop into the wormhole, and out the other side to reach us. It is physically impossible for the nanos to all lose communication except when they are all destroyed at once, which certainly does happen during some types of death, especially to those who are fighting in the war. Somehow when you died the nanos were all annihilated and could not communicate the fact that you died. When that happens, we simply bring you back because we know you're gone. In any case, the odd circumstances of your death would not be a concern to me, except that another similar death recently occurred to another of the matches in my charge. There is also the odd fact that we have been asked not to question you about it in order to protect the client. We were told to tell you that it is in the best interests of Komakwa that you not say a word about the circumstances, not even the few things you remember. I have been kept in the dark myself and again, that would not concern me except that it is strangely coincidental."

"What do you mean?" Jake asked.

"One of the matches I am responsible for was killed not long after you were. He completed his resurrection just days ago. We are already making our way back to his match's system so that we could drop him off and we will be there in just over two months. What is disturbing is that he talked of a sighting of zeths. They have never encroached on that system before and we do not know what they are doing there. The other odd thing is that his memory suggests a death similar to yours. His nanos simply stopped transmitting the synaptic changes of his brain. He does not remember the circumstances of it. His match is a member of the security forces on the planet and the two of them were together and they were investigating an unidentified craft landing in a forest.

"They came upon an encampment and spied on it from a distance. He remembers seeing a pole being raised by two creatures that perfectly match the description of zeths. From a moment shortly after they raised the pole his memory is blank. Someone must have caught them spying and came upon them from behind and vaporized them. We have had no reports of anything unusual in that star system and once he gave us this news I inquired and discovered that his match was killed as well and is in the process of being resurrected on another ship. It is a mystery. We are required to investigate any mention of zeth activity so we will go to the planet and Srythryn will take the match down to the location he remembers from the sighting to look it over. Tell me, do you recall seeing anything unusual before your death that might indicate you stumbled upon something you should not have? Did you see any unusual creatures or structures?"

"No, I was alone in the thick woods, and then I was here. I have no idea where we were when we crashed but I saw nothing that looked like an encampment or any other people around."

Xelzix shrugged and said, "Perhaps I am reading too much into it. You did mention an active volcano, is it possible that you fell into the lava pool or were hit by a large volume of molten ejecta?"

"I don't think so. I distinctly remember coming down in my seat and bouncing along the ground, then walking through a forest. It does all feel a bit like a dream now, but I think that's how it happened. I suppose if it were ejecta, I might not have seen it coming from above."

Xelzix said, "In any case, it is a strange a coincidence that it occurred around the same time as the other match's death. As I said before, death by vaporization is not unheard of, but it is unusual, especially when it occurs twice in rapid succession to two people who were not in any sort of combat situation."

"So, if we're headed back to the planet of this other person's match, how long will it be before I can be brought back to Komakwa? Have you tried to contact Mogwo? Is Komakwa alright?" Jake asked.

Xelzix shook his head and said, "Komakwa is fine, but you will not be returned to him. I am sorry but I have to inform you that your contract has been canceled. You are no longer covered by the insurance of return and you will not be seeing Komakwa again. You had died first so we intended to stay in Komakwa's system until your resurrection was complete but we received word not long after your death that the contract was no longer valid, so we began the journey to the other match's destination instead. I will give you the two month's it will take us to get there to decide where you would like to be taken afterward. I think Srythryn would be happy to let you stay aboard his ship if that is what you prefer, but under our agreement I am bound to take you to any planet of your choice in any galaxy in the known universe."

Jake could not believe his ears, "The contract is canceled? Komakwa and I hit it off immediately! If it weren't for the interference of their butler..."

Xelzix raised his hand again and said, "I know this is all very abrupt for you and I apologize for it, Jake, but I have pressing matters I must attend to and I must leave you shortly. There is nothing you can say that will change the situation so you must try to come to grips with it as quickly as possible. I'm sorry, but that is how it is. All contracts must end some time. Yours happened to end almost as soon as it began. I have received an encrypted holographic message for you from Mogwo and he requested I play it for you immediately. I have it ready. I will initiate the message and leave the room so that you may view it in private. Pay close attention as the type of quantum encryption used allows it to be viewed only once and the act of reading the data automatically destroys it. Once it finishes you may go out into the hall where Srythryn is waiting for you. He is most anxious to see you."

The diminutive alien then spoke a command that wasn't translated into a console against the wall and then he walked out the back door of the room as a static-filled image formed in front of Jake and then resolved into a clear hologram of Mogwo.

The bull looked unhappy, but not angry.

"Hello, Jake. Your Matchmaker has likely already informed you but I wanted to also tell you myself, I have canceled your contract. I'm truly sorry things came to this. My son has explained to me everything that happened to you up to your crash and how you came to find yourself in the resurrection chair again. I know that you will not have any memory of it since it happened so suddenly and you were completely vaporized by the lava. I would ask you not to speak of any of it to anyone as Komakwa should not have been where he was when you crashed, and we have kept those events a secret to protect him. Komakwa told me what a wonderful time the two of you had in the creek bed after your mishap on the kwarren. I am grateful to you for giving him that experience. It has changed him for the better and in that sense I feel the matchmaking was a success.

"As a result of your positive influence on him even for such a short time, my son has been speaking to me a great deal and we now share everything. I feel our relationship is back on track. I have my son back, and I have you to thank for it. However, Komakwa himself has asked me to cancel the contract. He does not wish to be reunited with you. He has explained in detail his reasons and I have come to agree with them. He left a private message for you that I will tack on to the end of this one. I apologize for the abruptness of all of this, Jake. I know that it will be difficult for you but I ask that you not try to contact us in any way. I hope that you have a good life and I thank you for your efforts toward helping my son and I want you to know that I could not be happier with the results. You are clearly a good man and I hope that the effects of your influence will guide Komakwa through the rest of his life. Goodbye."

The image wavered, became static, and then resolved again but this time it was Mak who stood before Jake and his heart nearly broke as he saw the look on the young bull's face. Jake knew before he heard a word that he would likely never see the bull again.

"Hi, Jake. I know your memory only goes as far as a short time after the crash and the last thing you probably remember about us is me yelling at you on the ship. You died quite suddenly and before we could meet up, so we didn't get a chance to settle things. I want you to know that I've been giving a lot of thought to what Troska said to me and the things you and I did in the creek bed that night. I am not angry with you anymore, not at all. I know that Troska twisted things around and made it seem worse than it was. I know that you really loved me and I want you to know that I really loved you back. I don't want you to think there's anything unresolved between us. I know you're a terrific guy with a great heart and that everything that happened between us was natural and wonderful.

"All of that is going to make the rest of what I have to say a bit hard to understand, but it's the truth and you'll have to accept it. I don't want to ever see you again. I know that may sound harsh but it's really not. We only just met and spent only a few hours together so you should get over me pretty easily. I am happy that we had the time together that we did and it taught me some important things about myself. My life is going to be completely different than I ever imagined it might be and it's all because of you. You gave me the confidence I need to do what I'm going to have to do.

"I know you must be wondering what happened to me after the crash but there's no point going into any detail about it. Just know that I got back home safely. I went through my ascendance and it all went well. I've spent the rest of the time since then with the leader of the movement and have come to understand that what they are trying to achieve is important for everyone even though it will require some hard sacrifices. The leader has explained everything to me in such a way that I see no other option but to stay with them and help them with their cause. He's a great man and I admire him. I've come to love him more than I thought was possible in fact."

The young bull paused and his eyes looked over to the side uncertainly for a moment and then he caught himself and looked straight ahead again and continued.

"I can't tell you any details about our cause or its leader but it's important that you understand; I completely believe in what he is doing and I am jumping in with both eyes open. In order to do my part I will be going underground. You won't be able to find me so don't bother to try. I have warned my father not to even accept any communication from you. Do not try to reach any of us and don't think you need to save me. I am exactly where I want to be and it's the only place I want to be.

"My father and I are really close again and it's because of you. We talk together about everything now. He's come to understand why I've joined the movement and he's planning on joining it as well and will be using his influence to help bring our entire race around to our side. There's simply nothing you can do to change any of it so don't bother trying.

"I know it has to be a shock to be told that you would be immortal and then suddenly have it taken away but I want to give you an idea that may help you by giving your life a new direction. I've learned that the captain of the ship you will be resurrected on is called Srythryn and that he cares for you very much. He loves you in fact. He is the one you should focus on now. I want to give you an option that might not have occurred to you yet. If you train to become a certified pilot of one of their fighter craft you will be able to join his crew and get a resurrection contract. I think it's the best way for you to go. You can't go wrong being the most important person in the life of the captain of the most powerful ark ship in the universe. The two of you should be immortal together. I think that would make you happy and in the end that's what I want for you.

"I want to thank you for the great time we had that evening with the kwarrens. Even though I'm now twenty four years old I sort of feel like my life really only just began there, with you. That was the time you first showed me who I really am and how happy I can be. It's something I will never forget until the day I die. I suppose our paths might cross some day but I wouldn't count on it as it may create some serious complications."

The bull's eyes flicked to the side briefly again and then he looked straight ahead once more and said, "Be happy where you are and look there for your future. Don't dwell on what might have happened between us. I could not be happier than to be where I am now so don't worry about me. Goodbye, Jake."

The image dissolved into static and then disappeared.

Jake's heart was heavy.

He truly loved Mak, but his main concern had been making sure Mak was alright, and that he knew that the things Troska said were twisted lies. It appears Komakwa came to that realization himself. He knows Jake loved him and he recognizes the fact that he truly loved Jake back. Hopefully now that the bull has passed his trial and was a man he would make sure that Troska was out of his life for ever and no longer any sort of influence.

He really wanted to be with Mak but he ultimately wanted him to be happy. The young bull said he couldn't be happier than to be where he was so who was Jake to want anything different for him?

He wished he could spend at least a bit more time with the bull. Their experience in the dry creek bed after his botched kwarren ride was the best Jake had ever had. He wondered what other great experiences they could have had together and it hurt that Mak didn't care enough to want to find out for himself.

Jake had known when he saw Mak's face that he was indeed happy and settled. He clearly believed everything he said in the message and it came from his heart. Komakwa really did feel the movement was the best place for him and he was happy there.

He wondered what type of person the leader of this movement must be to win the boy over so easily. He must be very charismatic. It was clear his influence over the boy was strong, yet it also seemed that it was positive. Whatever the views of this movement were, Mak had good instincts and was a good person so they must be a worthy group and a good fit for the young bull.

In any case, there was no future there for Jake and he would just have to accept that fact.

Mak was right. Jake should focus on Srythryn. He loved the croc and couldn't wait to spend more time with him. Mak's idea of getting certified on the fighter craft was absolutely brilliant and Jake wasn't sure why he hadn't thought of it after the shuttle pilot had first told him about it. He could become a member of the crew and would get a contract! He couldn't wait to broach the subject with Srythryn.

Jake went out the door and Srythryn was there. He wasn't leaning against the wall with a sullen look this time, he was pacing anxiously. When he saw Jake his face lit up like a child's face on Christmas morning.

Jake ran to the croc and Srythryn ran to Jake and the two collided and latched on to each other like their lives depended on it.

They squeezed and held each other in silence for quite a while and then Srythryn pulled back and put his hands on either side of Jake's head and began to kiss him. There were tears in the croc's eyes as he tenderly kissed Jake's forehead and then his eyes and his nose and finally kissed his lips and then rubbed the side of his face against Jake's cheek like he couldn't get enough contact.

"I have missed you so much, my love. I have not been myself. I have been driven to distraction waiting for you to come back to me. The crew have been losing patience with me. I curse the First Ones for not coming up with a better method to bring you back more quickly. Xelzix has been running in fear from me lately because he knows I hold it against him. Three months is too long! I love you, Jake. I am so happy to have you back in my arms," the croc said and squeezed Jake again.

"I love you too. I've missed you, though luckily for me I saw you only yesterday and you and I made love for the first time not much more than a day ago. This must be so difficult for you," Jake said.

"It is indeed, harder than I'd imagined it would be. For me, it has been six long months since we were intimate. I feel you may need to wear a crash helmet the next time we make love as you are no longer immortal and I will likely not be gentle with you," Srythryn said and he reached down and gave Jake's crotch a light squeeze.

Jake chuckled and said, "Please, don't talk about crashing. Do you know the details of what happened to me with the match?"

"No, Xelzix gave me the news of your contract being canceled and that is all. As much as I hate the three month wait for your resurrection, I would most definitely prefer it over losing you forever. We will have to attend to getting you the insurance of return as soon as possible. If you don't mind, I would prefer if you stay away from the water park in the mean time."

Jake laughed and said, "That would probably be wise."

Srythryn seemed to tense up for a moment and said, "I know that Xelzix will have made you the standard offer of taking you to any planet you choose as the terms of the contract required he do at termination. May I assume that you will be staying right here on the Slirkstrith with me?"

Jake smiled and said, "Yes, of course I will be staying with you. There is no place in the universe I would rather be. It was so hard to leave you."

Srythryn immediately relaxed again and kissed Jake and hugged him tightly and said, "I was honestly nervous to even ask it. It meant so much to me. I am thrilled to hear you say that you will stay here with me, my love. I feared that you might intend to go back to the planet where your match resides to be with him despite the loss of the contract."

"No, I could never leave you forever. He made it clear that he wouldn't want that anyhow. He sent a message that I just watched a moment ago. He encouraged me to stay with you. He even mentioned you by name. I can't imagine how he learned it. He even knew that you loved me and he obviously at least suspected that I must love you back because he knew that staying here would make me happy. I told him nothing about this ship so it's a bit of a mystery. Oh, that reminds me! He had a brilliant suggestion. I don't know how he knows this or how he got the idea but he suggested that I ask you about training to be certified to fly one of your fighter craft and becoming a member of your crew," Jake said.

Srythryn's eyes went wide and a grin spread across his face and he said, "By the Granth's twice-curled toenails! Why did I not think of that myself? I'm fairly certain I would normally be clever enough to see such an obvious solution. I told you I have not been myself lately. All of my fortune is in this ship and I have been wracking my brain trying to think of how we could come up with the massive sum necessary to buy a contract for you. It never occurred to me that we could do it so easily! If we work at it we could get you certified inside of a month! Actually, come to think of it we might need just a bit more time than that. Part of the test involves maneuvering in zero gravity in the event that you find yourself stranded in your suit in empty space and we both know how you do at that sort of thing."

Jake laughed and said, "Hey! Are we practicing for the ribbing again? Is that what this is?"

The big croc chuckled and said, "No. That would not even be a glancing blow at the ribbing. You must be hungry my love. Shall we go and eat?"

"Yes, please. I assume they never feed my body solid food when I'm in the tank because I always wake up feeling famished."

Srythryn smiled and said, "You are correct. I have awakened in that chair countless times myself and my first priority has always been to stuff my face."

"Well, that sounds good to me. Lead the way," Jake said.

Srythryn said, "That reminds me, you need to be able to find your own way around the ship now that you are a permanent resident. For security reasons our ship's computer will respond only to the language of the First Ones or a siskreth and only to voices that are on record."

"What's a siskreth?" Jake asked.

"That's what my people are called. Anyhow, I have added your voice signature to the records and enabled it to accept commands in your language. Since you will be a resident here you need to be able to get around without always having to have an escort with you. You may use your own natural language to tell the ship what you need and it will attempt to interpret your command and give you whatever assistance it can."

"Interpret? I thought you said that artificial intelligence was not allowed," Jake said.

"There is no intelligence involved. It is nothing more than sophisticated pattern matching, similar to what the translator does. In any case, it should be able to determine where you need to go. There are a great many sections of the ship to which you will not have access unless you become a member of the crew but most of the living area will be available to you as well as the mess hall. Go ahead and try it out. You need only utter the word 'computer' with a brief pause and then speak the command."

Jake said, "Did you guys have Bill Shatner resurrected here while I was gone by any chance? Do you have tractor beams and transporters too now?"

Srythryn gave Jake a puzzled look and said, "I'm sorry, my love, but I don't know what you're talking about. We did have another resurrection here just a few days ago but his name is Chetichwal. He seems like a nice fellow but he isn't very talkative and has been keeping to himself. He hasn't shared any sort of new technology with us that I'm aware of, if that's what you're asking."

Jake chuckled and said, "Never mind. It's an inside joke. That is to say, inside my head it seemed funny, but not so much on the outside. It just seemed odd that you would use that command system because it mirrors some popular fiction from my world. The universe can be a really odd place sometimes. Next you're gonna invite me into the holodeck for a game of Velocity."

Srythryn continued to look at Jake as though the translator had broken and he was speaking a language the croc couldn't grasp.

Jake shook his head and chuckled and said, "Computer...show me how to get to the mess hall."

There was a soft 'bong' sound and a green line lit up on the floor of the hallway starting at their feet and leading down it a ways and then jogging to the right and stopping at an elevator door which now slowly pulsed with a green hue.

Jake smiled and looked at Srythryn.

"Actually," Srythryn said, "If you don't mind, I would prefer not to share you with anyone else just now. I have taken the liberty of preparing us a meal at our home. It will be ready shortly."

Jake said, "Computer...show me the way home instead."

Once again there was a soft 'bong' but the green line remained where it was. Jake assumed that the command was accepted and he still needed to go to the same elevator to get there.

He looked at Srythryn and smiled again. The croc must have even taught the computer which place was Jake's home. He hugged the captain and they turned to follow the green line down the hallway. Jake noticed that as they walked the line faded away under their feet, yet stayed solid ahead so there was no doubt about which direction they needed to go.

"This is really cool. Is there display technology everywhere on the ship?"

"Yes, every artificial surface of the ship is coated with our transparent display technology so you may see information presented to you on the floors, walls or ceilings. Door frames may appear highlighted or door handles might glow to get your attention. The computer will use whatever makes the most sense to present you with the information you need."

The elevator door opened and they walked in. The doors closed and the elevator immediately dropped down into the floor and began to whisk them to their destination.

"I've never heard you talk to the elevator that I can recall. I've only ever seen you tap at the buttons. They all look like odd symbols to me," Jake said.

"Each location on the ship has a unique number code assigned to it. The symbols you see on the pad are the numbers in our language. When you've lived aboard the ship for hundreds of years you'll find that you know every single code off by heart. Many of us feel a bit odd speaking out loud to a machine so we simply tap the code. You'll see the code flashed up above the door as we arrive. In any case you can speak your destination and you'll be fine."

The elevator carried them all the way to the living area and then it rose up again and opened and Jake was blasted by the incredible humidity and heat of late evening in the jungle. Right away a green line ran out before them down the paved walkway through the jungle towards the beach house.

Jake said, "Computer...I know the way from here."

There was a 'bong' and the green line faded away.

Jake smiled and said, "I really like this new ability, thanks."

"You have full run of the civilian part of the ship so remember, the jungle is a dangerous place as is the ocean. I would prefer you not take any chances with your life until we get your insurance squared away by getting you certified as a pilot. In fact, I would appreciate if you would contact me and ask before you decide to try anything new without me."

"Yes, dear, whatever you say, dear," Jake said, once again irritated by Srythryn's mother hen act.

Srythryn got a hurt look on his face and said, "Please, I am only concerned for your safety. I am not trying to be possessive or domineering. I love you so much, Jake. If I were to lose you forever I would likely cancel my own contract and follow you to the other side. I do not want you to take unnecessary chances, that's all."

Jake immediately felt like a heel and said, "I'm sorry. I guess you're right. I need to be careful for the next while. It was pretty easy to get myself killed at the water park and I'm sure it would even be easier in some of the other parts of the ship. I promise I'll try to stay on my toes and I won't do anything without checking with you to see if it's safe."

"Thank you, my love."

They walked on in silence for a while. Jake looked around at the jungle and listened to the sounds of the ocean as it got closer and he was once again in awe of the size of the ship. He really wanted to learn more about it.

"Srythryn, is there some way I could learn more about your ship? It's my home now and I'm in total awe of it and I would love to learn more details."

"The computer will be your source of any information you might want. Simply ask it and it will display what you need on the nearest convenient surface. Again, since you are only on record as a civilian there may be information that is withheld from you. That will all change if you get certified and become a member of the crew and as you rise in rank more sensitive information will be available to you, as will access to more restricted locations.."

"Thanks."

Srythryn nodded.

"My match referred to this as 'the most powerful ark ship in the universe' in his holo-message to me, what did he mean by that? I remember you saying that this was one of the largest ships of this type but that there were a few that are even bigger."

"We refer to these large ships with self sustaining populations as 'ark' ships. The original intent of them is a failsafe in the event of cataclysm, such as the one that struck your own world. If the humans had an ark ship with a full population aboard, the race would continue despite the destruction of the world. Most races have more than one ark ship moving about in the universe. There are some that are larger than this one, though not by much. Most of them have a solid defensive capability, but only sufficient to eliminate the threat of piracy. What he may have been referring to is the fact that this is the only ark class ship in the universe that is fully armed and hardened for battle, including the capability to go on the offensive against some of the largest capital class warships. We built it at a time when the zeths were a serious threat and we wanted to further enhance our chances of surviving obliteration as a race by arming this ship against the most powerful of their capital ships.

"This ship has the power to successfully take on any capital ship known one-on-one, and could hold its own defensively against a fairly large contingent of them. No shield known could withstand its main focused beam cannon if we were to dump our entire antimatter buffer to boost its power to maximum. We have the most massive storage buffer for antimatter that has ever been built by a wide margin. When it is full to capacity, there is sufficient antimatter stored in it that if it were released into a star all at once it would annihilate with all of the matter in it to destroy the entire mass of it creating an explosion of energy matching that of a small solar nova.

"Suffice it to say we could maintain our shields along with thrust and weapons against a very large force for a great length of time. We have close to a thousand fighter craft and there are over one hundred thousand plasma turrets along the length of the ship. There are also missile ports under the skin along the length that can launch swarming missiles at close range fighters or heavy warheads at larger corvette class ships to keep them at bay until we can bring her main cannon to bear and vaporize them. The Slirkstrith could take on an extremely large force on her own. She is truly formidable."

"Impressive! I can't wait to study her specifications in detail," Jake said.

"As I said, there will be many holes in the information made available to you right now, especially where it concerns the parts of the ship that are utilized by the First Ones, but I suspect that you will move quickly up the ranks since you have a sort of 'in' with the ship's captain, and before long you will see it all."

They walked in silence again and finally came upon Srythryn's beach. Jake immediately got a wonderful warm feeling inside like he was back home. They walked across the sand and up the stairs into the house.

The moment they entered the house Jake saw something that made his heart immediately swell with more love for the big croc than he'd felt yet.

Here and there about the house were images of Jake. There must be cameras all over the water park because all of the images came from there. There was a photo of Jake emerging wet from the ocean onto the beach with a huge grin on his face just after he came down the water slide. There was a moving hologram of him launching himself ineptly from the elevator and spinning out of control and flailing like an idiot trying to right himself before he splashed into the sphere of water. There was a large image of him as he was launched out the end of the water slide with his arms and legs splayed out and his mouth wide open in laughter. There was an image of him, Srythryn, Thriststris, Striss, and Trysslyn all on the beach with big smiles on their faces and clearly growing erections in their shorts as they waited for the elevator to take them up for their zero-g sex romp. There was a moving hologram of Jake spinning out of control with a goofy grin on his face the first time he dove out of the sphere into the ring pool below. The hologram showed the entire slow-mo dive until he hit the water and then looped again over and over. There were various other small photos displayed about the house of Jake smiling or laughing or just acting the clown.

The biggest picture that was blown up to fill a large section of one wall was him jumping into Srythryn's arms at the beach right at the end of his trip down the water slide, the two of them holding each other tightly with smiles that showed the love they shared.

Jake was deeply moved. Here was a man who had lived hundreds of thousands of years and had never felt the need to collect any mementos or photos of anyone. Yet suddenly his house was littered with pictures of Jake. This one small thing made it become very clear to Jake just how much the big croc loved him and he was bursting with love for Srythryn in return.

He turned to him, eyes welling with tears, and slipped into his arms and hugged him fiercely.

"I love you so much you wonderful siskreth."

Srythryn hugged him back hard and asked, "Whatever brought this on?"

"It's the photos. You never collect mementos. You told me you want me in your house, not pictures of me."

Srythryn chuckled and said, "Yes, well. I have never loved anyone quite as much as I love you. I was never faced with having someone I loved so deeply kept away from me for an indeterminate amount of time. It quickly dawned on me why people keep photos of their loved ones around them. I couldn't have you with me no matter how much I might want it, so this seemed like the next best thing. It eased my heart to see your smiling face each time I came home at the end of the day. The photos have been here since shortly after your final performance at the water park."

Jake smiled at him and kissed him and gave him another tight hug.

He noticed an aroma that suddenly made his stomach roar for attention and he said, "Something smells incredible in here. What's cooking?"

"I made us a slow cooking pot of krondar stew. I hunted it in the jungle myself. It's one of my favorite things to eat and I think you will love it. I made quite a large amount as I felt we would need a great deal of energy for tonight."

Jake smiled again and said, "You were right about that. We might both need crash helmets tonight. Let's eat so we can move on to more important things."

They proceeded into the kitchen where Srythryn had already set places for them at the table. Srythryn got the stew pot from the stove and poured it into a large tureen that he set down on the table, where there was already some bread and a pitcher of cold water, and they proceeded to eat. It was incredibly delicious and hearty. It tasted to Jake like the best chicken stew he'd ever had in his life.

Once they'd eaten a fair bit and their immediate hunger was taken care of they began to chat.

"How did it go with your match, my love? May I ask why it ended so quickly?" Srythryn asked.

"It went extremely well at first. It was just as you said. The Matchmakers know their stuff. We were drawn to each other quite powerfully from the beginning and we fell in love immediately. There were complications just hours in to it that sort of caused everything to go off the rails. They asked me not to discuss it in order to protect the one I was matched to, which seems a bit odd to me to be honest."

"Perhaps we should find another subject to discuss then," suggested Srythryn.

"No, I love you and they can't possibly expect me to keep any secrets from you. They had a butler who was very xenophobic and homophobic, so of course it drove him mad that an alien male was getting so close to the young charge he'd taken care of for so long. He interfered and showed Komakwa, the one I was matched to, evidence that I was just hired by his father to seduce him. It set the boy off and he decided to run away from home. I caught up to him just as he was taking off in one of their scout ships and I managed to get on board. He didn't know I was there and he punched the throttle and sent me flying to the back of the ship where I hit my head and was unconscious. When I came to, we got in an argument and the ship crashed while I had him distracted."

"So, you died in the crash?"

"No, we both survived. We were ejected and came down separately. He shot up a flare to show me where he was and I was on my way to find him when I died. I don't even remember how it happened exactly. Xelzix said the favors in my head simply stopped transmitting the changes to my brain. They never sent a signal that I died."

"That is odd," said Srythryn, "I have certainly died myself that way on occasion, but only while I was fighting the zeths. Energy weapons can result in vaporization. I once crashed into a sun at high speed as well and that resulted in a loss of transmission. If the favors stop transmitting there is no other possible explanation than that your death was quite thoroughly destructive down to the molecular level."

"Well, I can't imagine what would result in me being blasted into molecules while I was simply walking alone in a forest, though Xelzix suggested it might be molten ejecta from a nearby volcano I remember seeing. I have trouble buying that because the volcano was only smoking. There was no explosion or rumbling, no sign of a heavy eruption at all. It just seemed to me like I was walking along in a nice, peaceful forest, and then there's nothing. I woke in the chair."

"So you saw nothing that might explain why someone would want to attack you with an energy weapon?"

"No, I saw nothing strange at all," Jake paused a moment and then said, "Actually, come to think of it there were some things that were odd, in hindsight. The active volcano for one, and there was a massive mountain range as well. When I was first taken down to the planet in the shuttle for the match I was struck by how flat and featureless it was. It looked like nearly endless plains, forests, and oceans but there were no major geological features like mountains or canyons. It was like the planet was old and settled. Mogwo, the one who arranged the match for his son, told me that their original home world had been ravaged by a collision with its own moon and that it is now active geologically and almost like a young planet again. I wonder if maybe when Komakwa ran away he'd flown across to their original home world. That must be it! That's why they wanted me to keep quiet. It's a sacred place and off limits to anyone except someone on their rite of manhood trial that they call an ascendance. He would be in deep trouble with their people if he went there and they found out."

"If the planet was off limits then maybe you were killed by someone who caught you there and dealt with you summarily, or maybe they didn't want you to know _they_were there. They may have followed you from the crash and shot you from behind. The odd thing about that would be that most of the weapons we use are plasma based and result in a messy end, but not vaporization. The zeths are the only ones I know of who use weapons that tear you apart at the molecular level that would disrupt the communication of all of your favors at once."

"The possibility that someone wanted us dead for being there makes sense I suppose. I don't think they caught up with Komakwa though. He said in his message that he'd finished the trial, which takes forty days. If he'd been killed like me it would have taken months to resurrect him and he wouldn't have had the chance to have finished the trial yet. He must have somehow got back home."

"It is a good thing indeed that they did not catch up to him. If I recall correctly from what I know of the miquanowans, his people, they cannot get a contract for resurrection until they are adults and have completed the trial. He would have died quite permanently," Srythryn said.

"Wow! I had no idea! I wasn't terribly worried even while we were falling out of the sky because I thought we would both be resurrected and could come back together again. I'm glad he made it through the ordeal. He must have somehow managed to get help from back home."

"Yes, and if he was rescued, then his illegal presence on the planet was known by at least someone. Perhaps that's why your contract was canceled. To keep everything covered up so he would not get in trouble with his own people."

"His father did ask me to keep quiet about the incident, but I don't think that's why the contract was canceled. Komakwa wouldn't be worried about me saying anything about the crash. He would know I would keep it secret if he simply asked me to. Yet it was he himself who insisted that the contract be canceled and his father seemed a bit sad about it frankly, like he would have preferred keeping it in place. He seemed to feel I'd been a good influence on Komakwa for the short time we were together."

"Is it possible that both of them are being coerced? Do you think that maybe whoever is responsible for your death might be influencing them into these actions?" Srythryn asked.

"I never thought of that. It certainly didn't look like it in their holograms but I can't say for sure. Now that I think of it there were a couple of times during his message when Komakwa glanced to the side, like he was getting instruction from someone else behind the camera, and then suddenly changed his tack. He didn't seem distressed though. I should tell Xelzix about your theory since it would suggest something nefarious is going on there. He wondered if what happened to me might in some way be related to something that happened to that Chetichwal guy you mentioned earlier. The last thing he saw before his favors stopped transmitting was a couple of zeths putting up a pole. What if something is going on on the sacred planet and there are zeths behind it?"

"Yes, Xelzix informed me about what he knew of Chetichwal's story. He wanted me to be aware that I may be bringing the Slirkstrith into a dangerous situation when we go to drop Chetichwal off and investigate the site of his death."

"You're going ahead and delivering him back, even though there might be zeths waiting at the destination?"

"We have dealt with the zeths before and came away unscathed. I have never encountered a zeth force large enough to be a serious threat to us, even if there were capital ships involved. I think it may be a bit of a stretch to assume there are zeths involved in your situation as well, though clearly it is suspicious. I've been watching the development of the war and it seems that the zeths have been mostly contained to a large force that is in one corner of a galaxy near a hub gate. The zeths managed to destroy the worm gate in the hub that leads to their own galaxy to prevent any more of our forces to go across, so they can no longer rely on reinforcements to bolster their forces here either. The last of them that are in our galaxies will eventually be eliminated and are no longer a real threat. The war will likely be over in no more than a few years."

"Well, that's good to hear. Xelzix said that Chetichwal described the zeths in detail though. If it's not them then what could it be?"

"It may well be zeths in his case, but likely not in any great numbers. They may have been scouting or spying for some odd reason but it can't be much more than that. They have no major force in that area that I'm aware of and I can think of no strategic reason why it would interest them. It is a planet belonging to a race of creatures that are stolid and stoic and who keep mostly to themselves. Chetichwal is of the same mind set and that is likely why he was matched to someone there. He is a very difficult client I must say. He seems always on edge, tense, irritable and even sullen. I have tried everything I can think of to bring him out of his shell and make him more comfortable but he resists every effort. It makes me unhappy to see him so and I wish I could determine exactly what it is he needs and provide it for him, but he simply won't divulge what his problem is. In any case, we will arrive at our destination in a bit over two months to return him to his match and to investigate the unusual circumstance of his death. By then you might be a member of my crew and I would be happy to bring you along on our away team as we look into it."

"That sounds almost like an adventure! I would love it! Just don't ask me to wear a red shirt."

"You may choose whatever color shirt you prefer of course, though I'm not sure why it matters. It will likely be quite an uneventful investigation. As soon as Chetichwal woke in the chair and told Xelzix his story we contacted the security forces on the planet to investigate. We have already heard back from them and they did find evidence that someone had been there but they had already left. Whoever it was had several months to complete whatever business they had there. Since there will likely not be much for us to do, we should be there only a short time and then we'll be free to do as we wish.

"Now that I think of it, once we have delivered Chetichwal to his destination in two months and completed our investigation there, we could return to your match's sacred planet and perform a clandestine investigation there as well to see if anything nefarious is behind your death. A massive mountain range with an active volcano nearby will be enough for us to go on to locate your crash site from orbit and we could try to determine what happened to you. We could also quietly look into the whereabouts and activities of Komakwa and his father to try to determine if they are acting of their own free wills or are being held or controlled in some way. We have the means to do it without anyone's knowledge. You need only say the word, my love, and I will put this entire ship at your disposal."

"You would redirect your massive ship with nearly forty thousand people on board away from its business just to try to find out what happened to me and to ensure that Komakwa is safe?"

"Yes, of course. You mean everything to me. If there is any chance that your death is related in some way to the zeths, then there is something going on there that may be a threat to the entire collective. The circumstances of your death are highly suspicious, as is the fact that the one who loves you so deeply would insist that you not return to him. Do you not think it possible that he is attempting to keep you safe from some threat? Perhaps he loves you so much that he is willing to give you up to protect you. If so, then he would be very careful to make it appear that he is very happy where he is and that he truly doesn't want you there, to be sure that you would not make any attempt to return to whatever danger might be there. It seems to me that there is at least a small chance that he is under duress and in trouble. If there is any chance that your other love and his father are in some sort of jeopardy, then why would we not act to try to help them?"

"It's possible. I never thought of it that way. I'll have to think about it, but I might take you up on that offer if you're serious," Jake said.

"Of course I am serious. Just tell me what you wish when you've made your decision. If it helps you to decide, I would recommend you follow through and do not give up so easily on something so important to you."

Jake smiled at the croc and said, "You are an amazing man. You said you might have trouble not being the jealous type with me, yet here you are pushing me to go back to my other love even though you could have simply said nothing and I would never even think to do it."

"All I want from now on is that you be the happiest that you can possibly be. I think if you do not do this you will forever wonder what really happened and it will haunt you. You need to at least check and make sure he is alright. We can do it without anyone knowing, I assure you."

"Alright then, you've talked me into it. We'll do it. Now, are you done eating?"

"Yes, I am," Srythryn asked.

Jake said, "Computer...I would like to fuck the captain in our bed."

There was a 'bong' and a green line appeared on the floor of the kitchen starting at Jake's feet and leading down the hallway and turning toward a glowing door frame near the end.

Srythryn burst out laughing and said, "I didn't even know it could do that! At least, I never would have thought to try. Your request was fairly straightforward so I suppose it makes sense that the ship would show you the way."

Jake smiled and got up and followed the line, which faded under his feet as he went. He came to the door and opened it and the line extended right to the foot of a large comfortable looking bed.

He walked into the room and turned and Srythryn walked in with a big smile on his face and slipped into Jake's open arms.

The two hugged again and then Jake kissed the croc on the lips and extended his tongue. They began to neck with passion and their lust started to build rapidly.

Jake knew that Srythryn was going to need release quickly so he did not waste time. He broke their kiss and quickly slipped his shorts down his legs and kicked them aside. Then he dropped to his knees and reached around behind the croc to find the spot where his shorts held together above his big fat tail. He found it and ripped it apart and worked the shorts down Srythryn's thick, muscular legs and the croc stepped out of them with his already hardening, thick cock poking at Jake's head in the process.

Jake smiled at the familiar and heady scent of the croc's musk and the sight of the big balls and the thick, blunt organ bobbing in front of his face.

He immediately stuck out his tongue and licked at the oozing tip of Srythryn's cock and the croc moaned and thrust his hips forward to push his cock at Jake's mouth.

Jake slurped it in to the point where the wide blunt end pushed up against his throat and he relaxed his jaw and throat muscles and waited for the croc to do the rest.

Srythryn put his hands on Jake's head and thrust his hips hard to push his cock right down Jake's throat while he groaned his pleasure. He pulled his hips back and thrust forward again and his pendulous balls slapped against Jake's chin and his pubic bone mashed up against Jake's nose.

He knew now that Jake had been modified to be able to breathe though his nose even while swallowing a thick cock so Srythryn allowed himself to go a little crazy. He pushed Jake's head a bit lower down to get a better angle into his throat and bent his knees a bit and started to increase his rhythm, pulling his muscular ass back and then thrusting hard to push his cock all the way down Jake's throat once more.

Jake was breathing through his nose and all he could smell was the heady masculine scent of his lover's crotch. Srythryn's musk glands were going full steam and the croc was sweating as he grunted and thrust against Jake's face.

Srythryn had been waiting so long to bury himself inside his lover and had needed this release so badly that he quickly began to build up to his orgasm. He bucked and moaned faster and faster as he kept his hands pushing on Jake's head and he slammed his hips at Jake's face fucking him hard. His balls began to bunch up and his knees began to weaken as a powerful orgasm began to take him over.

Just as he was about to shoot he pulled out of Jake and took his thick cock in one hand while holding Jake's head with the other and jacked his tool hard as he moaned and grunted and shot a massive jet of cum onto Jake's face spattering his forehead and nose. He grunted again and his hips bucked as another long thick spurt of semen shot out and hit Jake on the lips. Jake's tongue immediately came out to lick up as much of the treat as he could.

Srythryn continued to work his cock and squirt onto Jake's face and then pushed his fat blunt cock head against Jake's cheek and began to run it all over Jake's face painting him with his still flowing seed as if to mark him as his own.

The cum finally slowed from spurting to oozing and Srythryn pushed his slimy, semen coated cock against Jake's lips again and Jake slurped it in to suck his lover's seed off of it. Srythryn pulled it out and ran it all over Jake's face again to coat it with semen and then stuck it back in his mouth once more to be cleaned off.

Srythryn then dropped to his knees and began to lick the last of his own semen off of Jake's face and then inserted his tongue into Jake's mouth to let him suck the cum off of it. The two of them necked passionately and then without a word Srythryn stood again and walked to the bed and bent over it and raised his thick muscular tail straight up in the air to expose his sweaty, musk covered anus and looked back invitingly at Jake.

Jake smiled and got up and walked over to the big croc and got back down on his knees behind him. He moved his face in and kissed Srythryn's big hanging balls and began to lick the sweat off the smooth scrotum. He could not get enough of the scent and the taste of his lover. His toes curled and the familiar electricity shot through his body as he moved up and kissed the croc's big anus and began to lick at the ridges and probed his tongue hard to gain entry.

Srythryn moaned and relaxed his anus and pushed a little to open it up. Jake put his hands around to the front of the croc's muscular thighs, and pulled him back while pushing his tongue hard to slide it up as far it would go into his lover's rectum. Jake's forehead bumped up against the light colored underside of the croc's fat tail and his lips locked around the big anus as he tongued it with fervor.

Srythryn moaned his delight at the wonderful sensation of being rimmed so hard and he alternately clenched his anus to squeeze out Jake's tongue and then relaxed it to let him back in again.

Jake loved this particular activity. It was the most personal and private part of the croc's body and Srythryn was letting Jake enjoy it in the most personal way possible. The taste of his lover was tangy and slightly salty and dark and rich and it drove his lust higher and higher as he drooled and slurped and cleaned Srythryn's pucker.

Srythryn was beginning to get aroused again already. It had been far too long since he was last able to enjoy his lover.

"Please, I've been waiting so long, my love. I would have you inside me again. Give me your seed, my wonderful man," Srythryn moaned.

Jake pulled his face back and spat on his fingers to quickly lubricate the shaft of his cock. His cock head was oozing precum and Srythryn's anus was slick from his own oily musk and Jake moved forward and pushed his cock head against the croc's tight pucker and began to push.

Srythryn moaned and relaxed his anus once more and the head of Jake's cock quickly stretched him open and forced its way in and Jake smoothly pushed to insert more of himself into his lover. He pulled back a bit and pushed some more and went deeper. He pulled and pushed again thrusting even harder and finally slid far enough in that he felt the obstruction of the croc's big prostate and Srythryn moaned his pleasure loudly.

The croc had both feet on the floor and was resting his muscular upper body on the bed with his head turned sideways. His knees were slightly bent and his tail was straight up in the air.

Jake wrapped his arms around the long fat tail that stretched right up over his head. He kissed the underside of it and then he pulled his hips back and then pulled on the tail to use it as leverage as he thrust his hips forward and pushed himself into his lover again.

Srythryn grunted and then moaned and said, "Harder, my love. I love the sensation of your manhood filling me so completely."

Jake pulled back and pulled the fat tail again as he bucked his hips forward and slammed himself into the croc and Srythryn moaned again. The big croc's long, hanging cock was beginning to thicken and stiffen up again already. Srythryn was enjoying this immensely.

Jake began to lose control as he thrust again and again, grunting and moaning as his balls swung back and slammed forward to slap against Srythryn, and his belly came up against the fat base of the croc's wide, thick tail. He began to buck and thrust faster as he started to feel the wonderful familiar electricity begin to build at the base of his big balls and spread out to suddenly start shooting through his body as his orgasm slammed into him hard and he shot his cum deep into his lover's bowels with a grunt.

His knees began to give way as they were weakened by the force of the powerful orgasm and Jake clung to the thick tail as he pulled out and grunted and slammed himself deep into Srythryn once more and shot another long spurt of his seed into him. Again and again he thrust until his knees felt too weak to hold him up any longer and he leaned forward, supporting himself by hanging on to Srythryn's fat tail and held the position until finally his pelvic muscle began to settle and he'd finished pumping his semen into his lover's rectum.

Srythryn had gotten so worked up by the assault on his big prostate and the sensation of Jake's thick cock rubbing back and forth along the nerve endings of his sensitive anus that he was ready to go again. He reached behind him and pushed Jake's hips away forcing his cock to pull out and Srythryn turned around. He grabbed Jake and with all his might he swung him around and threw him onto his back on the bed.

The big croc growled as he crawled up onto the bed and lifted Jake's legs up, forcing his knees toward his chest.

Srythryn stopped with his face at Jake's ass and he opened his jaws wide and moved them into position to cover Jake's crotch and he extended his long reptilian tongue out into Jake's anus. He savored the wonderful taste of his lover as he pushed several inches of his drooling tongue in and wiggled it around, rubbing it against the silky smooth walls of Jake's rectum. His level of lust rose quickly as he continued to tongue his lover's most private area and he knew he was not going to last much longer.

He pulled his face back and spat at Jake's hole and then push the spit in with his tongue. He did this a few more times and then brought his knees forward while lifting Jake's calves and hooking them on his shoulders and he moved his thick cock head into position. Jake relaxed and pushed lightly as Srythryn pushed hard and forced his cock into Jake. Jake's anus spread wide and tightly gripped the tool as it began to slide smoothly into him.

Srythryn growled his lust again and then roared as he thrust forward and the entire length of his throbbing cock plunged into Jake's rectum bumping past multiple rings of muscles in his rectum sending waves of pleasurable electricity through his body.

Srythryn moaned and held the position for a moment and then pushed Jake's legs up farther, folding him almost in half as the croc's knees came up off the bed. The croc braced his hands on either side of Jake's head and he worked his feet a bit further up and then he lifted his hips and slammed them back down into Jake with a grunt. He pulled back and grunted again and then began to build up speed and power as he bucked harder and faster.

The muscles in Jake's rectum were sending wave after wave of electricity through him as they pulsed and gripped at the croc's thick cock. One after another they rapidly popped of the end of the thick tool as Srythryn pulled his cock out, and then one after another they were bumped and then spread wide again by it as the croc thrust it back in.

Srythryn could not take the powerful sensation of his cock being squeezed and worked so hard by all of the muscles and his big scrotum once again began to tighten up and lift his big balls and squeeze the sperm out of them and another thick volley of his cum rushed up his long shaft and erupted deep into Jake's rectum.

The powerful croc moaned and grunted and bucked once more into Jake and sent another spurt of his semen into his lover. He continued to buck and grunt and reveled in the endless explosion of sensation as his thick cock was worked over by the strong muscles in Jake's rectum and thoroughly milked of all of the croc's seed.

At last the big croc's orgasm began to fade and he moved back slightly and settled onto his knees as he pushed his cock hard into Jake and held himself inside trying to be sure to ooze out every last drop of his cum into him.

At last he pulled out and let Jake's legs drop onto the bed to either side, and Srythryn then lowered himself down on top of Jake and kissed him lovingly.

Jake wrapped his arms around the big croc and held him tightly and said, "I love you so much, you wonderful siskreth. I can't tell you how happy I am to be back with you."

The croc moaned and said, "You are everything to me now, Jake. I will do everything in my power to make you happy. You are all that matters to me in this universe. I am yours and my ship is yours. Everything I have or ever will have is yours. I love you so much that I am only complete when I am holding you in my arms. Please don't ever leave me again."

"I have no reason to ever leave. Everything I could ever need or want is right here. You are everything to me too."

They held each other for a while and then began to kiss again, and the kissing led to caressing and fondling, and before long they were at it again.

They made love fiercely and then tenderly and then desperately and then slow and lovingly and repeated it all again long into the night until finally they were completely spent and they collapsed for the last time into each other's arms and fell into a deep and satisfied sleep.