Chapter 2

Tina's voice is what stirred Martin from his fog of blackness. He was jammed up against the navigation computer and he felt a weight on his chest as his eyes regained their focus. He saw the mass of red hair stirring on his chest and ignored the throbbing from the back of his head as the picture of the massive asteroid popped back into his memory. Anja was stirring on his chest, her body haphazardly sprawled across his, her navy regulation skirt hiked quite far up her tanned thigh. He had absorbed the brunt of the impact, cushioning Anja's fall, and if not for his genetically engineered triple dense bone structure, his skull would have cracked open upon impacting with the navicomputer. Martin grasped Anja's arms.

"Are you hurt?" He asked.

Anja lifted her head slowly. "Yes damn it! My head hit your jaw!" She snapped back, with no regard that his jaw had probably saved her from snapping her neck.

Martin grunted in contempt and unceremoniously dumped her off his body and got to his feet. Anja's butt hit the deck with a thud and she let out a gasp.

"All you had to do was ask me to get up!" She nearly yelled, all the while holding her sore head.

Martin grasped the back of the two flight chairs to steady himself and could see nothing but stars out the cockpit window. Both Ben and Tina were engrossed in their consoles and did not notice that he was awake and moving again.

"Report," He spoke.

Ben's head snapped around and Martin saw the deep gash over his left eye, though it looked as if the bleeding had stopped. He saw Martin's look and waved his hand. "It looks worse than it is." He spoke. "You took the brunt of that slam into the navicomputer. How's your head?"

Martin nodded, running his hand over the back of his skull, "Sore ... even as hard as my head is." He replied. "What the hell happen?"

Ben pointed out the left window and Martin followed his motion. He could still see the huge asteroid as it moved away from their location. He also caught a glimpse of RAPTOR ONE maintaining station slightly behind them, "That happened." Ben replied pointing to the massive asteroid "Crept up on us out of no where. Our sensors didn't even pick it up. Don't know why yet."

"We didn't pick it up because it's composed of hardened gases. Our sensors registered the increase in gases, but since we've never seen anything like that before, they didn't equate it to a threat." Tina spoke from her console.

"Not a threat!" Martin exclaimed. "The damn thing is nearly as big as an aircraft carrier! How is that not a threat?"

"Our instruments are calibrated for solid objects." Tina explained looking at him. "Not gases that form huge rocks."

"Is the ship ok?" Martin asked.

"Aside from the large dent and blown board from your stone head, we're fine." Ben replied with a grin, even though he winced when he chuckled. He was going to have a massive head ache from knocking his skull on the overhead console. "You were only out for about three minutes. If you hadn't been chewing out the Lieutenant Commander and were in your seat, you would have been fine."

Anja struggled to her feet leaning against the damaged console, "Very funny." She said, her voice dripping with contempt.

Ben turned on her then, in no mood for games anymore. "No it's not funny Commander. Now take your tight ass back into the passenger area and next time you want to come into my cockpit, you'd better ask fucking permission! You copy that?!"

"Yes ... sir." Anja replied, wisely keeping her mouth closed and she slowly moved back through the open hatch into the passenger area.

Martin chuckled and looked at Ben, "Nicely done." He said with a smile and patting Ben on the shoulder, "Any injuries in the back?"

"The Master Chief is checking." Tina replied as Martin moved back to his chair.

"Do we have Coms with RAPTOR ONE?"

"Just an initial inquiry as to our condition," Tina replied. "They were higher and to our front so they missed the thing altogether." Tina spoke.

The bald head of the Master Chief came through the hatch just then and his eyes found Martin. "Skipper we got a couple of broken arms and some minor scratches, nothing serious. The onboard medics are handling it. I did a quick once over of the hull too, and our integrity seems ok."

Ben nodded, tearing his eyes from one of the screens. "That's what I'm reading too Master Chief. I'm having trouble raising EDEN though."

"Chief ... check the transmitter." Martin ordered, switching on his two screens and seeing the medics moving among the badly shaken passengers.

The Master Chief nodded, "Aye Skipper." He spoke before ducking back out of the hatch.

"Admiral Wallace is hailing Marty." Tina spoke up.

Martin reached over and flipped several switches on his panel, and the face of Wallace appeared on the small screen. "RAPTOR TWO SIX actual." He spoke.

"Martin?" Admiral Wallace's voice came through the com system, his face on the screen. "Everyone ok over there? You guys took a nasty tumble."

"We're secure sir. My head put a rather large dent in the navicomputer, and we may have lost our long range transmitter, but we are in one piece thanks to Ben and Tina." Martin answered.

"Any injuries to report," Wallace asked.

"Nothing serious Admiral, a few broken bones and some scratches," Martin answered. "Only those people who were not secured in their seats were injured. We never even saw it coming sir. Our instruments didn't pick it up." Martin said.

"Neither did ours. I've spoken with Colonel Wilson on EDEN. They tried to contact us, but apparently the gases interfere with long range communications. They are apparently tracking your asteroids' momma with photo drones now. It's going to pass between the earth and the moon in roughly eighty hours." Admiral Wallace told him, "Nothing to be concerned about though according to our people."

"I'll make sure we don't have any ships up at that time sir." Martin told him, looking at the screen.

Wallace nodded, "Very well. Major O'Connell, please return to formation for the flight to EDEN."

Ben nodded. "Yes sir."

"RAPTOR ONE out."

Martin turned as the screen went black. "I really hate fucking flying." He said.

MOON BASE EDEN

MARE ORIENTALE BASIN

WESTERN FRINGE OF THE LIGHT SIDE ON THE MOON

Formed in the moon's infancy, the Mare Orientale was formed by the impact of a massive meteor. In satellite images and from the surface of earth it looked like a giant bullseye with three distinct rings. Built in the upper center of the inner ring was EDEN.

Fully six square miles, the sprawling base was home to nearly eight thousand men, women and children; Scientists, teachers, researchers ... all of them occupied positions on EDEN, which they now called home. Martin was always in awe on the approach to EDEN. He'd seen it several dozens times before, but it never ceased to inspire him to look upon what man could accomplish. He could see the transport tunnels with the tram trains as they raced at over two hundred miles an hour between the huge sections of the base.

EDEN was split into half a dozen clusters of domes and buildings, built in a pseudo circular pattern. Almost everyone worked in the huge center clusters which housed almost all of the research companies and their labs as well as the assorted foreign government embassies and compounds. The living clusters were nearly as large, and the furthest from the center as to provide some semblance of normalcy. The other four clusters housed the other needs of the city sized base to include schools, stores, restaurants and all the necessities of normal life.

Martin was in command of not only his sixty-four member SEAL Team, but also EDEN's internal security force of ninety three men and women. Martin watched as Ben brought RAPTOR TWO in low over the docking cluster. He could make out three of EDEN's remaining fourteen RAPTORs on their respective landing pads. Further out on the docking ring were the two of the massive Mark Nine personnel transports. Each was capable of moving nearly 2000 men and women at a time off EDEN in case of emergency. Another four similar craft were on 24 hour standby at the base in Utah.

Ben brought his ship in and spilled power just as he was touching down. Everyone on board felt the landing gear set onto the docking pad and the engines begin powering down. Ben turned to his panel and hit a switch.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I'd like to welcome you to EDEN. Please allow the medical personnel to move the injured off before you begin to disembark. Everyone will need to file through Decontamination, so there is really no reason to rush. I do apologize for the rough few minutes we had, but thank you for flying RAPTOR air. As I stated when we departed earth, any and all complaints should be directed to Commander Martin Hunter. And thank you again for flying RAPTOR Air."

Martin shook his head as he got to his feet and looked at Ben. "I can always count on you Ben." He said.

Ben and Tina chuckled as they continued their post flight shutdown of all systems. Martin grabbed his shoulder bag and made his way aft of the cockpit. He could see the men and women filing orderly out of the two entrances and into separate decontamination centers. There was one for civilians and one for military personnel. Martin didn't hurry as he filed off the jumpship and soon he entered the brightly lit and large decon room. The military personnel had begun to line up in rows as Martin entered. Anja waited by the door and came up to him immediately.

"Was it necessary to separate me from Kevin?" She asked. Her tone was more respectful, but Martin could detect the anger in her words.

"I don't make the regulations Commander. All military personnel are to go through a separate decon unit." Martin explained.

"May I ask why?"

Martin looked at her. Her green eyes were bright and ever so beautiful. "You'll find out soon enough."

Martin brushed past her and moved to the front of the room where he set his bag on a conveyor belt. He turned to the gathered men and women, "If I could have your attention please." He waited until the voices quieted and all eyes turned to him. "The decon room holds twenty at a time. You will go through from lowest rank to highest since most of you are techs and you need to report to your stations immediately. Once inside the room, please remove all your clothing and pass them through the individual containment cylinders. Your clothes will be decontaminated and you can retrieve them upon exiting the chamber. What this chamber does is remove any bacteria that any of us might have brought from earth. The process is quick, and quite painless, but you will get a quick shower and blow dry. All those above the rank of Lieutenant will go though the chamber last with me. Please place all your bags and other equipment onto the belt here and you can pick them up on the other side. The first twenty may proceed into the chamber."

Martin turned and went to the wall panel as the first twenty personnel made their way into the room. "Raptor Three, you copy?"

"Affirmative Two Actual," The voice answered immediately.

"The chief sent ahead some tag requests. Has that been accomplished?"

"Tags are in place and singing Skipper. Welcome back." The voice replied.

"I want someone monitoring our birds 24/7 Three."

"Already dialed in Skipper," The answer came.

Martin saw Anja come up next to him out of the corner of his eye. He didn't look at her and continued to talk. "Very well; keep me apprised of the situation and advised if needed, Two Actual out." He turned to Anja. "What is it now Commander?"

"I wasn't aware of the decontamination procedures." She spoke.

"Standard procedure for all flights arriving from earth Anja," He told her. "That is in the packets passed out to all personnel. Perhaps you should read more than the first page." Martin answered.

"The females are not separated from the men?" She asked.

Martin shook his head. "That would require too much time and effort on my part. Besides, we've been an integrated military for near a hundred years now. No one is going to care what you or I look like. They are too tired."

"That still does not address the need to have separated decon units for men and women. You need..."

Martin held out the electronic pad to her. "Here."

Anja took the pad. "What's this for?"

"File your recommendations and I'll run them past the Admiral. Other than that ... you are shit out of luck. This procedure is approved, and of the thousands of women that have passed through this chamber ... you are the first to have made an issue of it." Martin shook his head and brushed past her. He stopped a few feet away and turned back. "And Commander... ?"

Anja turned to look at him, her eyes flashing with anger, "Yes, sir!" She snapped, contempt dripping from her words.

"Make sure the recommendation is in the proper format." Martin turned away and moved up next to where the Master Chief stood a very large grin on his face.

"Asshole," Anja muttered under her breath.

"That he is." The female voice behind her said softly. Anja turned quickly to face the young blond woman. Her hair was short and she wore the uniform of one of Martin's SEALs with the rank of Lieutenant Commander. "But he's the asshole that you want backing you up when your sorry ass is hanging out in the fire. Remember that. You might need it someday. And while you may think you are all that honey, I've seen and had better than you."

Anja blushed red as the young woman pushed past her and headed for the decon room already pulling her fatigue shirt off.

Anja Peterson was used to being among people who considered her to be a cut above the rest because of her beauty and position. When they looked at her, they saw a confident woman with the looks to make men melt, and the intelligence to get things done. She did not get that sense from the men and women present in the decon room, standing among them completely naked, her body exposed for nine pairs of eyes to see, not one of them looked in her direction even briefly. They chatted amongst themselves as if she didn't even exist. Anja knew she was beautiful, and she kept her figure in excellent shape with martial arts and regular workouts. Her breasts were high and firm and easily a 36C cup, topped by quarter sized nipples that were upturned and looking for attention. Her abdomen was flat and lean, with some muscle definition showing. Her hips were slim and accented what many called her best feature, which was her tight firm ass. Her abdomen sloped down to the small landing strip of soft red hair she had above the entrance to her center. Her thighs were muscular to a degree and fit perfectly on her long legs. Some had referred to her as a Greek Goddess when it came to her looks and body, and she had used that to her advantage over the years. Among these five men and three women, she actually felt inferior.

The young blond woman that had commented to her had a body hardened by battle and constant action. Her breasts were also quite firm, though not as large, with strong thighs and legs. Though she was obviously a natural blond, there was no hair between her thighs, and none anywhere else on her body except for her head. Looking at the others in the room, all genomes, they shared the same trait as her. She had been surprised at first that Martin had no pubic hair, but quickly grew accustom to it, and now she realized it must have been the same for all the genomes. The other two women, a short brunette and very tall black woman, it was the same, muscular firm bodies, but the only hair was on their heads. The men, to include Martin and the enormous Master Chief that was always at his side it seemed, were all heavily muscled, but not in any overdone way. They all looked in the epitome of physical condition. She noticed scars on all of the men and women present, and even a very large scar along Martin's lower back that had not been there during their night together.

There was no sexual innuendos made among the men and women, and not one of them even glanced at her. These men and women were hard professionals, and they held too much respect for each other to behave in that manner. Were there relationships among the genomes? She was certain of that. Men and women, even genetically enhanced men and women still had the same urges. Yet these men and women would not openly show it to anyone they considered an outsider.

And Anja was very much an outsider, even though she wore the same Navy SEAL trident on her breast. Anja had killed before, but it had always been deliberate and planned out. She had never seen combat in the same way as the men and women in this room, and for that she was not considered an equal to them.

For the first time in the four months since she discovered she had this mission, she began to doubt her ability to pull off what the senator wanted from her.

Anja sat in the chair next to her bed that evening staring at the sleeping form of Kevin. The initial orientation had gone quickly and everyone had been assigned and escorted to their new quarters. They were sparse quarters, just a bedroom, a small living room and kitchen and the bathroom. She had immediately made plans to visit the many shops in the Entertainment Cluster to try and make it more to her liking. Kevin had shown up shortly after she had unpacked and they had gone to dinner, and then returned. She had not wanted to have sex, but Kevin insisted and Anja endured another hour of his slobbering body against hers. Now, she sat in the chair wearing only a button done shirt, staring at Kevin and thinking how she had ever let the Senator talk her into this mission.

Seeing Martin again after all these years had immediately sent a warm tingle through her loins. He hadn't changed in the least and she still considered him the most ruggedly handsome man she had ever met. She had found herself reliving that night on several occasions during the trip here, and it troubled her to a great extent, because it was almost as if she could still feel his hands and lips on her body, making her scream in one raging climax after another.

Anja got up from the chair and walked softly into the small kitchen. She pulled a mug from the cupboard and dropped a small brown cube into the bottom. She placed it into the toaster oven sized box and touched several buttons. There was a flash of light inside the metal container and then a gentle beep. Anja opened it and took out the steaming mug of coffee. She added a small amount of sugar and walked into the living room where there was a computer terminal. She settled into the high backed chair and looked at the screen.

"Peterson, Anja. Lieutenant Commander, access 9185.4."

GOOD MORNING COMMANDER PETERSON

HOW MAY I ASSIST YOU

The voice of the computer was male, but leaning quite heavily to the feminine side. The computer's reply also appeared on the screen in bold blue type.

"Is it possible to access EDEN's database?" She asked.

THAT IS POSSIBLE COMMANDER. YOUR SECURITY CLEARANCE HAS BEEN UPDATED IN MY DATABANKS

"What is my clearance Level?" She asked.

YOU HAVE A LEVEL 5 SECURITY ACCESS COMMANDER

Anja shook her head frustrated. Even after their confrontation she thought Martin would cave into her threat to involved the Senator and grant her a Level Six clearance. It appeared that was not the case. "I was supposed to receive a level Six Clearance."

I'M SORRY COMMANDER. LEVEL SIX AUTHORIZATION IS LIMITED TO SIX INDIVIDUALS

"Which six would that be?" Anja asked as she sipped her coffee.

ADMIRAL WALLACE, COMMANDER HUNTER, MASTER CHIEF BROWN, CHIEF PETTY OFFICER COLLINS, LIEUTENANT COMMANDER ANDERSON, AND

"Two enlisted men have a higher clearance than EDEN's Assistant Medical Director?" Anja said.

CHIEF PETTY OFFICER COLLINS IS A FEMALE COMMANDER

"What does Level Five Access give me?" Anja asked in a bored tone. "I would imagine just about everyone else has level Five Clearance right?"

YOUR CLEARANCE ALLOWS YOU TO ACCESS ALL INFORMATION IN EDEN'S DATABASE AS WELL AS MILITARY FILES RELATED TO ANY PERSONNEL ASSIGNED TO EDEN

YOUR CLEARANCE ALSO HAS A SPECFIC CLUSTER WHICH GIVES YOU ACCESS TO MEDICAL FILES OF ALL RELATED GENETIC PERSONNEL ASSIGNED TO EDEN AS PER YOUR REQUEST

ACTUALLY COMMANDER, ONLY NINETEEN INDIVIDUALS HAVE LEVEL FIVE CLEARANCE ON EDEN

"Senator Graham specifically requested I be granted a Level Six Clearance." Anja spoke softly. "Why was that not acted upon?"

IT WAS ACTED UPON COMMANDER. AND THE REQUEST WAS DENIED.

"Denied? Denied by whom?"

EDEN'S CHIEF OF SECURITY. COMMANDER HUNTER

Anja sipped her coffee slowly, her mind working. "Please display Commander Hunter's military records."

WHAT SECTION WOULD YOU LIKE TO REVIEW COMMANDER PETERSON?

"His entire file," Anja replied, somewhat exasperated that the question was asked.

I'M SORRY COMMANDER, THERE ARE SEVERAL SECTIONS OF COMMANDER HUNTER'S FILE WHICH YOU ARE NOT AUTHORIZED TO VIEW

"I thought I had access to all military records for everyone assigned to EDEN?" She asked.

THAT IS CORRECT COMMANDER, HOWEVER THE SECTIONS TO WHICH I AM REFERING ARE CODED AT LEVEL SEVEN CLEARANCE. AND HAVE BEEN SEALED BY ORDER OF USSOC

"Sealed?" Anja commented to herself. "Now that is interesting. The military doesn't seal very many records. Very well, display all records that I am authorized to view."

SEARCHING

RECORDS FOUND. DISPLAYING

Anja sipped her coffee as Martin's military records began to appear on the small screen. There was an incredible amount of information and she skipped through much of it because it was standard military paperwork and therefore unnecessary to what she wanted to see. Her eyes grew more attentive when his records began displaying his decorations and awards, as well as quite a bit of information in regards to operations he had been involved with. She leaned forward and set her coffee down.

"Wait! Stop! What is this?" She asked, her finger touching the screen, "Operation Lily Dragon? I've never heard of that."

SEARCHING

OPERATION LILY DRAGON WAS CONDUCTED DURING THE LAST WEEK IN JUNE 2093. MOST OF THE RECORDS OF THE MISSION, TO INCLUDE OBJECTIVE AND RESULTS, ARE COMPARTMENTALIZED AT LEVEL NINE

THE RECORDS WERE SEALED BY VICE ADMIRAL WILLIAM WALLACE III, ACTING CHAIRMAN OF THE PAC/FORCES AT THE TIME

"Are there any records of this operation? If PAC/FORCES were involved, it had to have taken place in the Western Pacific Theater. And that would have been at the height of the conflict with Japan." Anja spoke.

NO RECORDS ARE AVAILABLE FOR YOUR LEVEL OF CLEARANCE COMMANDER, I'M SORRY

"Now that is interesting." Anja said to herself. She sat back in her chair, her mind racing through quite a few scenarios, and how she could complete what the Senator had asked of her.

As Anja sat in her quarters and tried to devise different means to her end, one of the objectives of Operation Lily Dragon was currently in the midst of a mind blowing orgasm induced by the man currently nestled between her thighs.

Yuri Tanaka was twenty-seven years old, of Japanese descent, and currently the center of attention of the lover she hadn't seen in nearly a week. Her waist length black hair was splayed across the sheets of their bed, her skin slick with sweat. Her hands grasped the sheets tightly, nearly pulling them from the mattress. There were drops of sweat pooling between her firm 34C breasts, her brownish nipples erect and hard as pencil erasers. Her breathing came in short gasps as she came down from the intense orgasm her lover had just produced from her, his tongue now slowly tracing the sensitive lips of her drenched center. It was the third such orgasm he had given her in less than an hour, and the sheets were becoming soaked in her juices. She took deep breaths, trying to get her racing heart under control before her lover did what she desired him to do more than anything.

Yuri felt his weight shift on the bed and she lifted her firm tight ass off the mattress as much as she could to allow him the prize he sought. She felt his powerful hands grasp her hips and then the heated touch of his massive organ against the entrance to her womanhood. She opened her eyes and looked at his handsome face, her juices still clinging to his lips.

"Do it!" She gasped.

Yuri threw her head back and cried out in ecstasy as her lovers' pulsing manhood slid into her already burning center of desire. Her hands left the sheets to grab tightly to his massive shoulders as he plunged into her depths until she felt him strike home, burying himself with a groan completely inside her. She wrapped her long tanned legs around the small of his back, locking her ankles behind him, and threw her arms around his neck, pulling him down for a passionate kiss that caused her toes to curl in. He had been away for six days, and the warmth and tightness of her womanhood clutched him tighter than he had expected. Yuri felt his muscles tense under her hands and she broke their kiss quickly, grabbing his face in her hands.

"Yes!" She gasped. "Yes!"

Her lover did not disappoint her and he groaned loudly in release. Yuri's eyes rolled into the back of her head as she felt him grow impossible large inside her. She could feel his passion seethe the length of manhood and erupt in her depths. He groaned once ... twice ... three times ... each blast of his passion causing another staggering orgasm to trigger inside her. It was unlike anything she had ever felt before in her young life the first time they had made love. Her lover buried his face in the shallow of her throat, his tongue dancing across her skin as he continued to fill her with his passion.

Yuri held him tightly, their passion mingling together coating their lower bodies, as her dark eyes stared off at the ceiling. His weight above her made her feel incredibly safe and wanted. She felt his hands slid underneath her ass and clutch her to him tightly as he tensed one last time. Her own tongue traced the side of his face and her fingers clutched his powerful back.

"You ... you missed me ... I take it?" She finally was able to stutter as she caresses his head.

Martin lifted his face from her delicious skin and met her bright brown eyes, a smile splitting his face. "What gave you that idea?" He asked.

Yuri kissed him deeply, tasting her juices on his lips and tongue and not caring for an instant. He returned her kiss with equal passion and hunger. He rolled over on the bed, pulling her with him, his manhood still buried deeply within her body. Yuri groaned softly into his mouth as his hands cupped her firm ass and held her in place on him. She lifted her face from his and tossed her sweat soaked hair to one side as she traced his face with a finger tip. She could still feel his still rock hard manhood in her and she had a twinkle in her eye as she looked at him.

"We are not done are we?" She asked in a teasing voice.

Martin took her face in his large hands and kissed her deeply. "Not by a long shot." He replied. "I missed you quite a bit."

"Then..." Yuri groaned, feeling him flex his manhood inside her. She would be pleasantly sore in the morning, but she would trade that feeling for nothing in the world. "Then what are you waiting for?"

Yuri sat on the side of the bed nibbling a piece of fruit as she watched Martin dress. She wore one of his uniform shirts that fell nearly to her knees, the sleeves rolled up to her elbows. She had pulled her long hair into a tight pony tail and it fell across one shoulder. Yuri watched in silence, content to gaze upon the man who had saved her life. Martin had provided them a sanctuary at huge risk to himself, in a time when they would have been killed on sight. This man, who over the course of the last two years, she had fallen completely and totally in love with.

Yuri Tanaka was the product of the Japanese government's attempt to create their own genome program. She stood only five foot four and a hundred and ten pounds dripping wet, but with the exception of Martin and one or two others on SEAL Team Twelve, she was perhaps the most lethal individual on EDEN. She had been trained from age five in the martial arts and some of the more arcane Japanese magical arts dating back four hundred years. Her skill ranked her on the same level as some of the most famous Japanese Ninjutsu Masters in history. She had completed dozens of very sensitive and dangerous missions for her government before they chose her to be the first to attempt to pass on the genome abilities during normal child bearing. She had been artificially inseminated with an embryo and began to carry the child. As any mother to be knows, she became very protective of her unborn child, and when the Japanese government decided to terminate her and the child after several violent genome outbreaks, she did what any mother would do.