The Men of Collosia - 5. Escape From The Planet

Part 2

Dr. Vasco Sr., President of The Science Council, became aware of the phenomenon before any of his colleagues. The all-male planet of Collosia orbited around its star in a perfect circle and never tipped, so there were no seasons. The temperature was always ideal. It rained only at night, and there was little humidity during the day. The temperate climate only added to the Edenic condition of the planet.

Dr. Vasco’s logs began to alarm him. Records showed that for the past five years the average temperature on Collossia had risen half a degree each year. Should this trend continue, the planet would be uninhabitable in approximately one thousand Collosian years. That happened to be the average life span of a Collosian.

Further research revealed that the molten core of the planet was intensifying in heat and expanding. Not only would the planet be too hot to live on, it could well blow up.

He checked his findings again and again, and when he was certain of his conclusions, he consulted with his housemate, Chris.

“I need for us to have sex badly,” he told Chris, “and then I need to discuss something very serious with you.”

The men of Collosia never used the term, “make love.” These two men were hopelessly in love, but they could not admit it on a planet where love was considered too stressful, and often led to bickering and strife. The male Collosians had learned to clone themselves, and the woman had become extinct millennia ago.

Chris fell to his knees and devoured Vasco’s cock. After a few educated strokes of his tongue, Vasco gushed into Chris’s gullet.

“I needed that badly,” Vasco said. “Thanks.”

“No thanks are necessary, and you don’t have to reciprocate. Just tell me what’s on your mind.”

Vasco filled Chris in on his deadly findings, and asked, “What should I do?”

‘There’s only one thing to do,” Chris said emphatically. “You must advise The Science Council as soon as possible. We have precious little time to escape Collosia and populate another planet.”

******

When Dr. Vasco reported his findings to the Science Council, they reacted quickly. Collosia’s solar system consisted of two other planets the exact same size as Collosia. They had the same orbit around their star as Collosia’s, and the three planets were equidistant from each other.

Their first order of business was to reactivate a defunct space program. Then they planned to build a two-man space ship to explore the other two planets to determine if either or both were viable to sustain Collosian life. They needed to determine the condition of the planets’ molten cores. If the same thing was happening on those planets as on Collosia, they would have to explore beyond their solar system, perhaps beyond their galaxy. They determined to do whatever was necessary to preserve their species.

Since they were trained astronauts, the two Saturnians, Brad and Alden, were asked to volunteer to man the space craft which would explore the two nearby planets.

The elder Chris, who lived with Dr. Vasco, was asked to volunteer as back up pilot to Brad and Alden. While discussing the situation they found themselves in, the three men, native to Saturnia, had an epiphany. Each realized that he was willing to give up his life for his fellow Collosians. There was no question that they would accept the familiar role of space explorers.

While their ship was being built, Brad, Alden, and Chris created a rigorous training program for themselves. It resembled the training they had received at the Space Academy on Saturnia. In addition, they made up a list of things to take with them to test the air quality on the other two planets. The trainees referred to Collossia as C1, and they named the brother planets C2 and C3.

During this time of crisis, the three men had little time for outside activity. Not only that, they had to alter their thought processes. No longer did they have the luxury of stopping their labors to have sex as the mood struck them. They had to ration their sexual encounters. They agreed that they would devote a single interval for having sex and that would be the interval before going to sleep. That decision suited all three of them just fine. While they were preparing for their space voyage, Brad and Alden moved in with Dr. Vasco and the elder Chris, so the three astronauts could better work together.

For the first time since leaving Saturnia, Brad, Alden, and Chris were full of stress. They had sex as a threesome every period of the interval they had set aside for sex. This habit greatly helped reduce their stress level. Often Dr. Vasco joined them for a foursome.

On Saturnia, Alden had earned a degree in landscape design. He chose plants with different degrees of hardiness and adaptability to take with him. Some of them were green, flowering plants, but many others were seedling fruit trees. He chose enough samples to plant on both planets. His intention was to use the plants to determine the health of the soil and the adaptability of C1 flora on the alien planets.

“That gives me an idea,” Brad said. “I think we should take various examples of our lower animal life forms, and see how they thrive on C2 and C3.” The others agreed and they made a list of the varieties of life forms they would take on the ship. They made sure that there would be enough for both planets.

Chris was the only one of them who had a degree in engineering. While Brad and Alden worked on flora and fauna, Chris made a list of the equipment that would be needed to test the heat of the planets’ cores. In this case, they only needed one set of equipment. Brad and Alden could take it from one planet to the other.