Chapter 1: Praemonitus

Andrew Ian Mitra had always been a little bit fearless. When his classmate and best friend at the Institute, Tucker “Tuck” Pendleton, proposed orbital jumping on lazy spring break, Andrew didn’t need much coaxing. Both had been quickly, but thoroughly trained for this rather risky extreme sport. Both had gone up on the shuttle. Both had their heat-shield suits, EVA skimmer which would be a shield from the reentry burn and lander-packs. But only one of them jumped out of orbit and burned through the atmosphere toward Earth. Tuck’s excuse was hyper extending one of his joints. However, with no second thoughts, Andrew jumped into the atmospheric abyss, let go, and made the one-man reentry burn alone. Andrew was fearless.

He was even fearless in dating. Andrew and Tuck were considered a pair of lotharios, always on the prowl on the Terran Institute campus. Both young men were considered handsome, charismatic, popular, and the life of any party they were attending. And the young cadets never seemed to disappoint all the young women they romanced. Every week, without fail, Tuck had a new girl on his arm and took her on a whirlwind fling. Andrew however was more of a romantic. Either he actively courted or shamelessly flirted with a woman he found attractive or interesting, or was already going steady with a girl. With Tuck constantly juggling two or three women at once, his relationships would end with at least a slap to his face. Andrew however remained friends with many of his breakups. Their reputations for sweeping young women off their feet became the stuff of campus legend.

However, there was one who’d captured Andrew’s fancy from the beginning of his EarthCorps days. She was not only the most beautiful cadet in the Institute, she was also his scholarly rival. Scarlet Jackson was not only a beauty, but she had brains. Her IQ tested in the high 160’s. Andrew already knew her by reputation when he’d first arrived at the Institute, and had expected her to be some bookish looking, wallflower girl. However, he was literally speechless when he finally saw her. The young cadet was a knockout, with long, lustrous wavy red hair, apropos to her name. She had pinkish, almost milky white skin that was unblemished. And instead of the scrawny bookworm he’d envisioned, Scarlet was voluptuous. But, as he would later find out, she was athletic as well. It went without saying that his attraction to her was instantaneous the moment he first saw her. When he’d actually met the young woman face to face, however, it was a different story altogether.

As they were introduced during their inaugural year, she made an offhand comment about being valedictorian of her high school (of which she also happened to mention was one of the top academic schools in the country). When Andrew said he was also valedictorian and was in the advanced program at MIT, Scarlet just scoffed at the comment. This made him seethe a bit. It was then that Andrew found out about her competitive spirit. Not so much to pester him about who had higher grades or whatnot, but it always felt like she silently acted superior that way. He found out she did this in all things, not just academics. She kept up with the boys in sports; in inter-gender play she was a feared soccer player, as well as a goon on the ice playing hockey. At first, he resented being part of this rivalry, but that didn’t deter his strong attraction to the red-haired cadet.

Finally, one day into their second year, Andrew had reached his limit with her competitive nature. The two were constantly butting heads, debating or arguing in classes, or trying to outdo each other in sports (even when they were on the same team). As a matter of fact, Tuck and Andrew had a friendly standing bet of who would be the first to score a kiss from her. It was made mainly in jest, but Andrew took it somewhat seriously. With his bravado and charisma, Tuck was the more aggressive of the two, but was continually shot down in flames when made his moves on the crimson beauty.

Andrew was subtler with his actions. As study partners, Andrew and Scarlet spent hours together one semester as “study buddies” (or more accurately ‘study rivals’). In the end, it paid off. Late one night, the two were alone in the dorm common room talking (or more like fighting) about the facets of who was superior in the Space Race of the 1960’s between the US and the USSR one minute. Then the next, with the heat of the debate between them building to a heated fervor, both cadets pounced on each other, ending up in a hot and heavy make out session for a good ten minutes. When they finally broke apart, looking at each other breathlessly, Andrew was thinking about to go gloat about his victorious grope of the ‘young chased Miss Scarlet’.

“That was...” He started, breathing hard, “ ... wow...”

“Hey,” she replied with an impish grin, “who said we were finished?”

Her face was devilish as she got up and pulled him up by the hand to his feet. Their interactive notepads, text-pads and other study items left behind on the table, the two briskly walked hand in hand down the hall toward her dorm room. Baffled as he was, his mind was a blank as Scarlet kissed him again. Just as she has taken his breath away with that first kiss, this one was full of passion and fire that matched the color of her hair. As she blindly reached for and turned the knob for her room, he took the initiative and practically pushed her into the room as soon as the door gave way, not breaking the volcanic kiss.

A few stifling kisses and quick fumbling to get their clothes off later, they were having sex. Not just casual sex, which had become the norm in modern society, but raw, uninhibited, passionate sex - something Andrew had never experienced before with any other lover. There was an intimate unique connection: as they tumbled together in the bed, kissing her as he moved on top of her, when they changed positions in every way imaginable, as he ate her out to multiple orgasms until she begged to go down on him, and when he came, she brought him back to life again and again. The new lovers moved all over the dorm room; from against the wall, to the floor, to when Scarlet wiped her desk clear and he bent her over the top, they did it multiple ways, all over the room for hours. It was a connection he had never had with any other women or girlfriend. There was something in their coupling that he’d never known, but there was one thing about it: he definitely liked it.

In the afterglow, the two laid naked, spooning each other back on the bed. The mattress was bare, the blankets and top sheets tossed to the floor, the desk chair knocked over, the things on her desktop strewn all over the floor, the room was in complete disarray. Andrew was behind her, draping his arm across her flat stomach, breathing in the sweet scent in her hair. Scarlet purred as he nuzzled the back of her neck and shoulders with occasional kisses. His cock was worn out, and he had stopped counting how many time he had cum, or how many times Scarlet had as well. Andrew just pressed her butt against him, and she wiggled it to let him know she liked the sensation of it there. He was not only basking in the fact that the most attractive cadet in the Institute was in his arms, but he sure had something to rub in Tuck’s face, succeeding where he had failed miserably. But he was amazed at the tryst that had just happened, and the connection that was forming between them.

Sighing a satisfactory breath, Scarlet then turned to her newfound lover and smiled.

“So,” she began with a hint of haughtiness in her voice, “what do you win from this bet?”

In a panic, Andrew’s first thought was that of denial, but the best that came out of his mouth was, “Huh?”

“Don’t worry,” she reassured him with a kissing peck on his nose, “I didn’t want a kiss from him, but I definitely wanted one from you.”

Andrew’s heightened pulse quickly lowered as he felt that he was safe from her incurring wrath. And again, his mind raced with this beautiful creature that could’ve had any man she wanted, wanted him.

“You are ... amazing, Red,” he said, calling her by a pet name that he would call her for many years to come.

“But ... there is one other thing,” she said with a look of concern on her face. Biting her bottom lip slightly, she, with all seriousness in her voice said, “Something I want us to do.”

Wanting to reassure her, Andrew simply answered, “What is it? I’ll do anything for you.”

Scarlet reached over, laying all the weight of her torso and her perfectly rounded breasts on Andrew’s chest (something he didn’t mind), and opened her nightstand beside the bed. Looking for a few moments, she pulled out a rather long, black silk scarf. It didn’t look too intimidating to him. In fact, he liked the feeling of the silk as it smoothly went across his bare skin. With the scarf in her hand, she took a few seconds, lightly moving it all over his body from his torso to his face, letting the silky fabric tickle him slightly. Andrew was slightly amused as she did this, but couldn’t help but wonder what she wanted.

She then took the scarf and placed it in his hand and closed it for him. Coming face to face, they kissed deeply again.

“Go on...” she said cryptically, “I want you to do it.”

“Do what?” he asked, more than a little confused, but with a half-smile on his face.

Scarlet then turned with her back on the mattress, and purred as she smiled the brightest smile Andrew had ever seen her make. Giggling a bit, she outstretched her beautifully sculpted legs, until her feet were practically off the end of bed. She then reached her arms up and held on to the wooden planks on the headboard. Andrew watched slightly amused at this display. He waited for her to say something, but it wasn’t until he saw that she kept her arms up, holding on to the headboard, that he realized what she wanted him to do.

“Wait,” he said, a little hesitant with surprise in his voice, “you want me to- t-to-?”

“It’s okay,” she eased him in a soft voice, “I like it.”

Stunned, Andrew brought the silk scarf up between them. Ambivalent feelings washed over him, at first he was confused at what she was telling him what she wanted him to do, but at the same time he was intrigued at the prospect as well.

“Please,” she pleaded again with an uncharacteristic tone of longing and wantonness, “please, do it.”

For as long as they had known each other, he had never seen her act this way; so demure and passive. Still feeling hesitant to do so, Andrew gingerly moved up to his new lover’s raised arms. It was a long time since he’d tied knots in scouts, but from what he could remember, he carefully started to bind Scarlet’s wrists. She closed her eyes, taking in what he was doing, as he gently wrapped the scarf up over and around in a simple pattern around her wrists and through the headboard. She panted in quick rhythmic breaths of anticipation; in through her nose, and out of her mouth. The young man made sure it was taut, but not tight. Once he felt he was done, leaving enough slack for a proper knot, he moved down face-to-face with his lover.

“Are you sure?” he asked after stealing a quick kiss.

Scarlet opened her bright eyes to Andrew. Trying to convey to him that she was indeed sure, that she trusted him, that she gave him power over her body, the redhead said the words, “Oh, God, yes ... Yes, Andrew, I am sure. I am yours.”

With that, after another stolen kiss, Andrew finished tying off his handiwork. Scarlet closed her eyes again; enraptured in the sensation she’d been longing to feel with him. Staring at her for a moment, he clearly saw the intensity in her body language; in the way she undulated and writhed slightly in her silken bonds. What was even more amazing to him was what he was feeling. While he was not the typical male with a raging libido like most men his age, he was no prude either. But this new sensation was something very new to him. And the most amazing thing was, he liked it.

Looking over at the nightstand, he saw a few more silk scarves. Taking the initiative, he took a red one this time, and as she had done to his body a moment ago, he lightly caressed the silk over the bare parts of her body, slightly tickling her from the way she moved. Her eyes still closed, Scarlet smiled and moaned slightly in delight. After a few moments of this, Andrew draped the scarf over her eyes, not tying it, but let it lightly folded to completely block her vision. He was new at this and was unsure what to do next. The only thing he did know for sure was he was hard again and wanted Scarlet badly.

Kissing her first passionately at her mouth, Andrew slowly made his way down her body. Kissing her all the way down, spending slightly more time at her breasts and belly, he eventually arrived at his destination. Wanting to thank her for showing him a new side of his sexuality, Andrew silently planned to take her to the brink in ultimate ecstasy.

The next morning, Scarlet was the first to wake to find herself unbound by the scarves, but tightly embraced by her new lover. She had only recently found out about her penchant for submissiveness. For her there was something alluring for her to give absolute power to a lover she trusted. And there had only been two: the young sleeping cadet who cradled her in his arms, and the other, the one who brought it out of her, who was gone forever. She didn’t care how long it would last. For the first time, in a long time, Scarlet was happy. And she wanted to stay that way for as long as it would last.

21 Years after the Mayflower launch...

-Mission Launch time: 2 Yrs, 9 Mo, 3 Ds, 12 Hrs.-

-EarthCorps: Space Main Headquarters -

- Florida - 1500 hours - EarthCorps Standard -

Andrew Ian Mitra had always been a little fearless. It was his fearlessness that got him into the Institute. It was his fearlessness that got him to be salutatorian of the first graduating class of the Institute’s first EC: Space cadets. It was his fearlessness that made him a hero on the S.S. Miramar, the Svenia Conflict and at Oceania Nuevo on Mars. However, there was a fine line between fearlessness and stupidity and he knew that. He walked a fine edge between his fearlessness and common sense. He’d made mistakes in his life, but was always cautious and looked before he leapt. Fearless by nature, but with a sensible mind, Commander Andrew Ian Mitra was an adventurer at heart.

Although EarthCorps was nothing like the old United States Armed Forces, with the “old boys club” mentality and the hazing, potential cadets still had to have an iron will and balls of steel to get through the Space program at the Institute. But when others quit or washed out, Andrew persevered. With his best friend, Tucker “Tuck” Pendleton, the both of them looked out for each other in the rugged and brain-draining space program. One looked out for the other when trouble came their way. Andrew helped with Tuck’s study habits and Tuck reciprocated helping Andrew get athletically fitter.

Andrew never let anything get to him when he wanted something. Andrew was strong and disciplined with his fearlessness. It was fearlessness that made him pass his classes with high marks. Andrew was the kind of student that never worried about his grades; although he never studied like a madman, he was an above average genius smart, and he never let it get to him if he got an A- on a test instead of an A+.

However, for the first time in recent memory, Commander Andrew Ian Mitra felt a little afraid. He’d met with the Solidarity Council for Space Affairs and the EarthCorps: Space Admiralty earlier in the week as a prospective candidate for the position of the commanding officer of the Omega, one of the two ships that were going on the mission to planet ‘Freedom’ in the far away solar system. It was a coveted position that commanding officers in EarthCorps: Space wanted. And the one thing Commander Mitra had worked his whole life to achieve.

The requirements alone for the ‘Stellar Passage’ mission were statements of the commitment and sacrifice the prospects were willing to make. First, even though hyperspace technology had progressively advanced in the last twenty years (especially with his personal contribution of ‘hyper-bubble’ theory), it would still be about a ten-year trip. That was the reason why many of the already chosen colonists and EarthCorps members were young men and women (and some children of married passengers as well), in order to survive the rigors of the sleeper-ship and be healthy enough to survive on a wild, untamed planet.

Secondly, as it was with the Mayflower, it was a one-way trip. However, unlike that ship, which was archaic by EarthCorps standards, there would be two ships going to the Elvira System. The Alpha, the command ship, would stay in orbit upon reaching Freedom, in its role as a science and support ship. However, unlike the Mayflower, the Alpha would be able to travel back to Earth if the mission called for it. The Omega, which was modeled after the Oceania, Mars, Titan and other planet habitats, would land on Freedom and become a permanent self-contained colony. The first interstellar human city was a grand prospect for any EarthCorps officer to be a part of. And Andrew Mitra wanted it more than anything.

From the moment his career started at the Terran Institute with EarthCorps, Andrew did whatever was expected of him, with every ‘i’ dotted and every ‘t’ crossed. All he ever wanted to be was an astronaut, a real astronaut, like in the days of the old NASA or ISA missions. Ever since he was a child and watched the Mayflower leave the solar system on its mission to the then unnamed planet in the Elvira system, he wanted to be that astronaut to travel to a new star and a new planet. He wasn’t a soldier in EarthCorps; he was an explorer.

The interview with the Solidarity Council and the EarthCorps Admiralty went as expected. There were questions about his expectations, his motives, and willingness to risk a decade-long trip. There were also questions about his career: about the incident at Svenia sector of the asteroid field as the field promoted commander of ground task force; the averted tragedy of the S.S. Miramar when he saved the crew with his quick thinking, and at the same time creating a new form of technology with ‘hyper-bubbles’; his near fatal heroics at the Oceania Nuevo mines on Mars where he risked his life to save thirty miners, thirty strangers he didn’t even know, at the near cost of his very own life. As an afterthought, there were even questions about him taking orders from the newly appointed captain of the Alpha, who would be the commanding officer of the entire mission, his old friend and classmate from the Terran Institute, Captain Tuck Pendleton.

Andrew answered every question eloquently and with as much enthusiasm as he could muster. Indeed, he was a prodigy of EarthCorps, rising through the ranks at breakneck speed. However, there was doubt in his mind about being appointed to the Omega. He knew there were other more qualified more seasoned commanders in EarthCorps: Space. But in his mind, there was no one else who wanted it more.

Now he was called back to EC: Space headquarters for yet another interview. He’d talked to a few other friends and colleagues, who were also vying for Omega to ask if they’d had callbacks for interviews, but none of them had heard for a second interview.

Commander Jaffe of the S.S. Constantinople, a good friend of his, jokingly said in mock anger, “You got the appointment, you lucky prick!”

But experience had honed Andrew to never to assume anything from expectations, because things never go exactly the way planned. Still, here he was at EC: S Headquarters, apparently for a second interview to be appointed to be captain of the Omega. However, as confident as he was in his ability and career track, he couldn’t help but be a little afraid.

Commander Mitra entered into a busy lobby. EarthCorps: Space had been working non-stop for several years ever since the Earth Solidarity approved The ‘Stellar Passage’ Mission, a second mission to planet ‘Freedom’, to follow up on the Mayflower colony, and then create a new colony. With the countdown already set to just under three years away, EarthCorps as a whole, as well as the Solidarity Science Council, were working overtime to make sure this mission was a success.

The previous mission was deemed a failure in many eyes since no one had heard from the colony for several years. EarthCorps: Space and the Solidarity Council for Space Affairs made several inquiries, but each one was left with no answers. Andrew followed the inquiries with great interest, as he was absolutely captivated with the Mayflower mission. However, after two years, the inquiries abruptly stopped. No explanation was given, though a new mission to Freedom was announced.

Andrew met with the front agent, who was just as busy as everyone else in the lobby, with interconnecting calls and processing data on the interface on her desk. At times like these, Andrew was severely polite and he almost didn’t want to bother the haggard receptionist. He felt sorry for her, because after joining EarthCorps and all the hard work in graduating from the Terran Institute to be assigned answering vid-phones and voice-dictating memos. He then remembered his first assignment as a lowly assistant science officer on the S.S. Miramar. It wasn’t the most glamorous of assignments, but he knew it had to be done. But after his heroics in saving the ship, he was not only promoted but was treated with a lot more respect from his crewmates.

Well, he thought to himself, everyone has to start somewhere.

“Excuse me,” he said, feeling a little guilty in interrupting the fretted ensign’s work.

Looking up, the ensign’s irritated face quickly faded as soon as she saw Andrew’s commander bars. Like a green cadet from the Institute, the ensign immediately stopped what she was doing and stood up at a stern, straight as a board attention stance.

“Sir, yes, sir,” she chirped in a rather squeaky voice (rather unbecoming of an EarthCorps officer).

A little amused at the ensign’s decorum, he said in an attempt at levity, “At ease, Ensign, before you break something.”

Her stance relaxed a bit, but she still stood rigid.

“Commander Andrew Ian Mitra of the S.S. Orlando; I believe I have an appointment.”

Her eyes looking stalwartly forward, she answered like a preprogrammed hologram receptionist would, “Yes sir, you are expected.”

Picking up a digi-pad from the link-up to the interface, she handed it to Andrew, “Sir, report to room G on level 25.”

Taking the pad from the young officer, he looked over the rather cryptic orders. All that was written on the pad was the same information that was just told to him: Room G, level 25. Looking back up to the ensign, who was letting the video calls back up and her interface untouched, Andrew quickly saluted her, merely as a formality, however, she saluted back with again a ridged formality could’ve only come from fresh graduate cadet from the Institute.

“Carry on, ensign.”

Andrew moved pass the hustle and bustle of the lobby to the row of lifts behind the reception area. Entering an open lift, he found himself alone as the doors closed. He pressed for Level 25 and the quick velocity motion pressed down on him as the quick elevation took him to the higher spiral of the building.

The doors opened to a drastic change to the near chaotic crowds that were at the lobby. Level 25 was surprisingly calm. Andrew found that a little bit unusual since, as his recent visits to almost every level of the headquarters were always hurried with activity. However, he set those thoughts aside as he got off the lift and walked down the corridor toward his destination. A few doors down he found himself standing at the entrance to room G. His rapt anxiety increased slightly as a knot formed in his stomach.

Slowly taking in a breath, then letting it out, he sharply rapped at the door. The three knocks echoed slightly in the empty hall. Andrew felt as if he waited an eternity for an answer. However, it came with a rather curt, simple word of “Enter.”

Waving his hand to the sensor, the door opened. Upon entering, Andrew was surprised not to find an inquiry board waiting for him, but a rather simple room, no bigger than a large storage closet really, with only a table and two chairs across from each other set within. On the other side was a slightly ajar door with the appearance of someone moving inside.

“Have a seat, Commander,” the voice from the other room suggested, not ordered, him to do. “I’ll be out in a sec.”

He was rather surprised with the informality of this second interview. His first with the Solidarity and EarthCorps was quite rigid and felt more like an inquisition than an interview. However, he was unwavering; full of confidence and self-assurance, as was expected of him.

Andrew took a quick look around again, noting the bareness of the room and carefully moved to the chair nearest to him and sat down. There was a moment of familiarity with this situation. He felt like he was back at the Institute at the dean’s office after he, Tuck and Scarlet, in a fit of minor spirited hi-jinx, stole a rival dorm’s mascot during the intramural sports tournament. A harmless prank, but it nonetheless scared him straight from doing any other mischief with his partners in crime.

His musing about the good old days back at the Institute was interrupted when the ajar door at the other side of the room opened completely.

The thing that Andrew first noticed about the middle-aged man was that he was not in an EarthCorps: Space uniform. Although EarthCorps uniforms were standardized, the man did not bear a Space division emblem. What was even more unusual was that the man also had no rank bars anywhere on his uniform to indicate his position. The man did wear an EarthCorps uniform though, and carried himself like he was an officer as he came to the table, with a digi-pad in hand, and sat down across from him.

The man smiled at him slightly, in a way that made Andrew felt like he was sitting with an old friend. Looking at the pad for a quick second, the man placed it face down on the table, then interlocked his fingers and placed his hands down on the table.

“You’re probably wondering what this is all about.”

“Yes, sir, the thought did cross my mind,” Andrew said with a slight hesitation with the last word. He wasn’t even sure he was a ‘sir’.

“Oh, I think we can probably skip the formalities,” the man said. He then extended his hand, “Andrew, right?”

Confused at first, Andrew slowly grasped the outstretched hand and shook it, “Yes, sir, it is.”

“Do you prefer ‘Andrew’ or ‘Andy’?”

“Um ... Andrew, sir.”

Smiling again, the man began again, trying to put the young commander at ease, “Alright, Andrew. My name’s Johnas Li.”

Feeling a little insulted by the way he was being treated like a child, Andrew vented with a hint of frustration in his voice, “If you don’t mind, Mr. Li, I’d like to get down to business.”

“This is really just a formality,” Li began in a different beat. “I know you’re anxious to hear whether or not you’ve gotten the appointment to the Omega.”

“Yes, sir,” Andrew answered, “I am.”

“From what I gather, this has been a lifelong dream of yours,” he continued. “Why don’t you tell me what this means to you.”

Andrew tried to keep his composure, but didn’t like the roundabout way the meeting was going in. He didn’t like how ambiguous this person was or if he was a member of EarthCorps or not.

“Quite frankly, sir,” he began, “this is my life. Being an astronaut, an EarthCorps officer has been my life’s ambition and I’ve achieved that with hard work. I know commanding the Omega and going to Freedom is a historic event, but I really don’t care about making the history digi-pads.

“I want this command more than I’ve wanted anything else in my life. Just as much as being a real astronaut, just as much as one assignment to the next and getting promoted from rank to a superior, going to Freedom would mean more to me than anything else I could do here in the Sol system. And, as cliché as it sounds, I want to explore a strange new world.”

“Well, as poetic as it sounds, I wish I could be as eloquent, but all I can say is congratulations ... Captain,” Li said with a grin, “You’ve got the command.”

Andrew’s slight anger melted away as soon as he heard Li’s last words. He began to well up with the stirrings of joy, “Is-- Is this official?”

“Direct from Star Admiral Branson herself.”

Excitedly, Andrew started to say, “Thank you, sir, you don’t know...”

“Wait a minute,” Li said, interrupting Andrew’s elation, “there’s a bit of a ‘but’ to this situation.”

“And what ‘but’ would that be, sir?” Andrew asked, disappointed with the ruined moment and with a bit of an impatient tone coming back to him.

Li gave an amused, “Hmmph,” then began again, “I’m sorry for all the cloak and dagger bit. But that’s the way it is in my line of work.”

Motioning to one of his shoulders, where the rank bars of an officer were supposed to be, he continued, “You’ve no doubt noticed that I don’t have any indication of rank, or what division of EarthCorps I’m part of.”