Chapter 53: Going Home to Seeker

Stan put on the head set and spoke into the mike, "Hello Remi. It's nice to hear your voice. I was going to give you a report when we reached the next locator. How are you?"

"Hello Stan. I just needed to talk to you. I miss you, I miss all of you. The Seeker is now fully functional again. We have taken up stationary orbit above the ring entrance. I think you should come home for a while Stan. You and the others in your crew need a rest from exploring. Besides Stan I miss you in other ways too," Remi finished.

"I miss you too Remi. It has been a long time since I felt your warm embrace. We will reach the next locator in a few days and I will talk to you more then. Goodbye for now," Stan signed off removed the headset and handed it back to Xenos. He returned to his seat in the rear of the aircar next to Kate. He was lost in thoughts of home and of Sle'tu. Stan said nothing to Kate as he sat down beside her again.

Kate was lost in her own thoughts. Many of her thoughts were about Sle'tu also for she had very much enjoyed having sex with her. She was not in love with Sle'tu like Stan but she would miss her just the same. She also was the only other one who knew that Sle'tu was pregnant with Stan's children.

The hours passed uneventfully. They took turns at flying and slept in their seats. Their explorations had been suspended for many weeks while they stayed with the Ban'lu so rather than stop for a rest period they pressed on.

"Stan I think you should look at this," Xenos said shaking him and bringing him to wakefulness. Stan saw that Becka was flying and then he followed Xenos's pointing finger overboard and down.

Below them was a huge expanse of trees that stretched from rim wall to rim wall and into the haze in front of them. What was noteworthy though was that almost all of them were lying on their sides facing away from the direction they were headed in. Kyle had noted the scene below and called on the radio.

"You have no doubt seen all the fallen trees below but look in the far distance. There is a mountain there, a tall one. In our explorations thus far we have only encountered rolling hills never mountains." Kyle said.

"I see it too Kyle. I find it very curious that the mountain is just there by itself and not part of a mountain chain. I guess we'll learn more answers as we get closer. Keep me informed if you see anything else. Stan out."

As they got closer, they saw that the mountain was very tall indeed and bare of any vegetation from about halfway up. At first, they thought it was covered with snow but that was not the case, still the covering was strangely familiar. Then it hit Stan where he had seen the same color before.

"Ring material. It's the same color as the outside of the ring," he said thinking aloud.

They arrived at the mountain and circled around it. It was far higher than the aircars could climb. Kyle estimated it was at lest a thousand feet high. Vegetation grew only at the very base. Even then, the vegetation consisted of only short grasses. Stan contacted the Seeker and advised Remi of what they had found. As if the two of them were thinking on the same wavelength, she volunteered to move the Seeker to the coordinates he provided.

The aircars circled around the mountain and the crews looked down at the devastation below them. In addition to downed trees, the ground was littered with broken robotic machines. Using vision glasses Stan looked upwards. He saw then what he was looking for. It was the outline of a very large patch. Shortly after his discovery, Remi called and confirmed his suspicions. There was a huge dimple in the outer ring material.

It was apparent the plasma cannons of the sun were not one-hundred percent effective. Sometime in the past, they had missed and an asteroid had collided with the ring. It had caused the ring material to buckle inward and created this large mountain. A small part of the asteroid must have broken through the ring material. This had caused a huge loss of atmosphere but first the concussion had caused trees the tumble for miles. The robotic equipment had rushed into action creating a large patch made of ring material. Many of the machines had been destroyed in the scramble to plug the hole.

Though this had occurred long ago as evidenced by the smaller trees that had started to grow and the vegetation that was growing along the base of the mountain, machines could still be seen in action above. They were placing layer after layer of material over the original patch. Because of this large mountain, the ecology of the surrounding area was a shambles. The drainage aqueduct had been destroyed. Large-scale erosion had taken place. Lakes and ponds had formed along with marshes in some areas and arid areas completely devoid of vegetation in others.

The red dot still flashed on the locator map set in the dash. After telling Remi, what they had found the crews continued their journey. The Seeker returned to its former position in orbit above the ring access hanger. By late in the day they came to the beacon location. It was again on an island much like the one where they had found the aircars. The island was much larger than the one where they had discovered the air cars though. The main reason for this was that the water level was so low. The ocean was only a few feet deep. This was a direct result of the drainage being disrupted due to the asteroid strike.

They continued to fly counter spinward until they reached a vast line of cliffs. The cliffs only seemed higher because of the low water level. Rising above them they saw that the terrain beyond was similar to what they had grown accustomed to seeing. They returned to the beacon base and landed. Almost all the robotic equipment from the base was gone. No doubt, they were busy working on the asteroid strike area. As they got ready for a sleep period Stan called Remi to report. After much discussion, Stan finally reached agreement with Remi. They would come home to the Seeker. As usual, Remi had been her convincing self.

That night Kate and Stan shared a bedroll. There was no sex only talk. The subject of the conversation was Sle'tu. Kate had to bite her tongue many times to keep from telling him that he had fathered children with her. At last, they embraced and fell to sleep.

Shakti crawled into bed with Caprice. As they caressed each other lovingly, they talked.

It will be so nice to be with the rest of our family. I miss each of them," Caprice said as she felt Shakti's tentacles worm their way into her vagina.

"Yes I miss them too," Shakti said and then chuckled. "Soon Greg will have two more women besides Jaz and Zeena to pleasure. I miss having Zeena and Jaz's tentacles pleasure me too."

"I'm sorry I don't have any Shakti because yours feel wonderful in me." She interrupted the conversation with an 'Ung' and a moan of pleasure as Shakti's tentacles found her g-spot and started to stroke it gently. "And they have found the right spot," she added with a smile.

"Maybe I should attempt to form some," Caprice said.

"Don't bother you know you have many other ways to please me," Shakti chuckled.

They leaned into each other and began sharing a long kiss. The talking came to a halt as their efforts turned to pleasuring each other.

A similar conversation was taking place between Xenos and Isha. As they embraced each other and caressed each other to mutual arousal, they talked about the other three members of their family, Ziva, Beya and Damia.

"I bet Damia and Beya are keeping Ziva's tentacles busy," Isha chuckled. "I can't lie I miss them too. Not that I haven't had others used on me since we have been here," Isha chuckled again.

"Well tonight I'm afraid you will just have to be satisfied with a tongue and dick," Xenos smiled. "Unless you want to invite one of the others to join us," he added.

"I think I'll just settle for what you have tonight," Isha giggled and then squeaked as Xenos smacked her on the butt.

"You'll settle for?" Xenos said in mock anger.

"What you have works for me. I hope what I have works for you," Isha replied.

Xenos did not answer, he was too busy. He kissed his way down her neck and then caused her to jump slightly as he gently nipped on of her nipples. There was no more talking just heavy breathing as they pleasured each other.

The next day they boarded the aircars and set off to return to the access hanger. They took turns flying and flew nonstop. Many hours later, they landed at the equipment base. After storing the aircars in the storage warehouse, they went to the elevator.

All were dressed in their skinsuits. Ava and Emma of course did not have one. Kate and Caprice would remain with them and one of the robots would return with spare suits from the shuttles. When the robot returned with the suits Kate and Caprice explained how to use them. Ava and Emma were soon outfitted and ready to go. There had been so many things that amazed them since they had joined the Zaflan Ava and Emma wondered what would be next.

"Since my sister and I have joined you Zaflan you have showed us new things constantly. Now you tell us that when we ride up in this elevator thing we are going to be on the outside of Kartuma?" Ava asked of Caprice. The races the Zaflan had encountered, had no idea about the world they lived on, only the small area they lived in. The Zaflan had named the Ring world, Kartuma.

Caprice smiled at her and using slang, said, "Honey you ain't seen nuttin' yet."

They boarded the elevator and rode upward. When the door opened, Caprice took Ava by the hand and Kate took Emma's. Ava and Emma looked around themselves in wonder and then they were led into one of the shuttles. Their shuttle took off and for the first time Ava and Emma looked through a window at the vastness of space. As it dwindled in size behind them, they saw Kartuma where they had lived all their lives from the underside. Caprice called their attention to the rapidly approaching Seeker.

"That is our destination. That is my home," She said.

Eva gazed at it in wide-eyed wonder. She couldn't believe its vast size. "Your people built that?" She asked in near disbelief.

Caprice thought about Ava's question for a second. "Well not technically my people. The Zaflan found my people on Verona. My people are called the Serome. Stan and his sister Redimi are the captains of the Seeker. They and the other Zaflan discovered us and I joined the crew of the Seeker before they left my planet. Now I consider this crew my people. I consider myself a Zaflan. I can hardly wait to see the rest of my family. Shakti is one, you know her, and the others are Jazlyn, Greg and Zeena. It is hard to explain but the five of us are a smaller family within the larger family. Since you and Emma have chosen to join us, the two of you are now Zaflan also. This crew and the ones onboard the Seeker are your new family."