Chapter 9

Accidental Crossroads: 9.

After the pig out, John burped.

"Thank you," said the ceiling.

"That burger was great ... the taste was something I'd had before," said John.

"There's this cheese," a piece landed on the desk. It was shot through with green mold. The ceiling said, "Have a sniff. Awful ain't it."

"Good god," John said, "I ate that?"

"Sort of ... It goes between two patties ... the burger isn't ground like it is on Earth. We shred it ... form it, put the cheese between two patties and subject it to a couple three / four hundred pounds of instant pressure. The temperature rises with the pressure and cooks the beef and cheese instantly. The rapid cooking does something to the cheese. The guys studying your watch say all that's left is taste ... and ... What?" the ceiling asked Cassie.

"I din't say nufink," said a six year old voice coming out of Cassie's mouth. "But, now that I have your attention, John ... we have work."

"Good." Said John, "I have questions. About fighting ... I'm supposed to kill the guy?"

"A little story for you, a Damsel was held by a dentist ... an oral surgeon. A Hero was caught rescuing her ... the dentist was knocked out and the Hero took the Damsel to the bank, the bank sent them here. The Damsel got her reward, the Hero went back to Earth.

"Three weeks later the Hero went out on another rescue. It happened to be in the same town, The Hero wasn't paying attention. The Dentist inflicted a tiny wound ... a scratch. It was poisoned. The Hero died ... so did the Damsel. The Damsel died horribly. Her body came back to Crossroads in pieces ... it took weeks for us to get all of her. You fight with somebody ... kill them. The Dentist is still out in Chaos."

"This reward?"

"You have to stay on Crossroads until she's pregnant."

"Who gets her pregnant?"

"You do."

"Oh." John thought about it, "Why doesn't she get pregnant on Chaos?"

"She's a cockburner," said Cassie. "Chaosian men lust after the damsel, but ... sex between the two races creates a malignant juice. The juice burns the male member ... inside."

"Like the clap?"

"What's the clap?" Cassie asked.

The ceiling said, "Gonorrhea, also known as gonnococcal infection, gonococcal urethritis, gonorrhoea and the clap, is a sexually transmitted infection that is caused by the bacterium Neisseria gonorrhoeae. Symptoms include a burning sensation in the male member and 'the Drip'. The Chaos/Cassandra kind is much worse ... magnitudes worse. It is not a sexually transmitted disease. It also burns the female ... not as badly ... but still."

"The cockburner is generally treated very poorly afterwards ... hence ... in distress," said Cassie.

"Why?"

"I mentioned Chaos males lust after Cassandrian women. They feel it is their right ... nay ... DUTY ... to impregnate every woman they see. Spread the seed. More kids mean better survival ... His swimmers are the champs. They don't know about swimmers ... and sometimes it's a real chore trying to get the fittest to understand that the 'feel good' is what causes babies ... they just want to fuck. Love doesn't enter into the equation. Here they have this amazingly beautiful woman ... the pinnacle of the pile, so to speak ... and every male feels like he is the best of the best and it's just not right that she can't have his kids."