Twinks in Space: Destination Unknown - Part One - 3. Chapter 3 - Marooned

Phentrom heard muffled talking before he opened his eyes. Most of the words spoken were incoherent, but some of them got through the haze of the fading drugs that were still in his system. Someone said abomination. Another whispered dangerous. He heard mumbling that spoke the words broken and also extermination.

A separate voice whispered, “I’m right here,” and the sound of the words filled Phentrom with feelings he had never experienced.

The mandroid tried to raise his eyelids, but every part of him felt weak. A hand took his, lifted it from the gurney, and lips connected with his knuckles.

“I thought I lost you,” the loving voice added. “You’ve been unconscious for hours.” Another kiss pressed against the back of his hand.

Phentrom managed to open his eyes, and the sight of Lyoth’s face caused a flutter of emotion to ripple through the mandroid.

“Don’t listen to them,” Lyoth commanded gently, nodding to the others in the room. “Just listen to my voice,” but then Captain Suoki spoke over everyone.

“That’s enough! I’ve made my decision, and I require no further counsel.” His brow furrowed. “You may all leave.”

Phentrom watched the other men look at each other before glancing at him on the gurney. They left and closed the door behind them.

It was just Lyoth, Captain Suoki, and Phentrom.

“I’ve heard interesting things separately from you both,” the captain stated. “Now I want to hear you tell me your stories as one.” Captain Suoki was calm and the men knew him to be full of empathy, but so much was suddenly different, so much had changed in such a short period of time. “What happened?” he asked.

Lyoth released the straps that held Phentrom down, and he looked at his captain. “I don’t understand it,” Lyoth began. “I never thought I would fall for a synthetic, but Phentrom is more human than some of the men I’ve been with over the years.” Lyoth turned his eyes down to Phentrom. “You made me fall in love with you, you crazy mandroid, and…”

“And I’m in love with you,” Phentrom interjected weakly. “I also don’t understand how this has happened, but everything in me is feeling these feelings.” He tried to sit up on the gurney but fell back against the pillow, and he turned his gaze to Captain Suoki. “I’ve loved you, captain, and I love all the men on the ship, but I can tell that my feelings have become a selfish love, something I’m not supposed to be able to feel.” Phentrom looked back at Lyoth. “But I am… I’m feeling things I’ve never felt before, things no mandroid has ever felt before.”

Lyoth cocked his head to the captain. “Is there some point at which Phentrom is no longer a synthetic?”

Phentrom squeezed Lyoth’s hand. “I’ll always be a synthetic…”

“But maybe you’ve also become human,” Captain Suoki finished for the mandroid. “The decommissioning didn’t work because your mind, you’re very essence, Phentrom, has somehow become indelibly linked to this physical body.” The captain gave the mandroid’s arm a little pinch. “It’s almost like your programming has evolved into what we humans think of as our spirit.” He frowned. “While the drugs they gave you were wearing off, I ordered the ship to explain your situation to everyone else on board, and it’s caused some dissension among our crew. Quite a few of the men, even those in the harem are uncomfortable with the change that has occurred in you, and several crewmembers have voiced their concern to me.”

“According to the master computer,” Lyoth added, “something about your change is dangerous to the men, and a significant number of them are willing to leave the ship.”

Captain Suoki continued. “Predictions from the computer seem to indicate that whatever has happened to you won’t spread to the other mandroids, but some of the men are feeling unsafe nonetheless. I’m not going to kill you or let anyone else do it, and since there’s no way to decommission you for the advanced technicians to perform their research, I’ve decided to maroon you both on the oasis planet on the far side of the 27th quadrant positioning 8.4-Zed-11.2 of the lesser sector.”

Phentrom spoke up, “No, Suoki, please don’t punish Lyoth because of something that’s happened to me.” Both Lyoth and Captain Suoki smiled down at him.

“I’m in love with you, Phentrom,” Lyoth declared, “and I want to go away with you.”

“There are three other crew members who have asked to join you,” Captain Suoki continued, “including one of the other pleasure mandroids. No change has occurred in his programming, but after hearing about the situation, for some reason, he requested to be sent along with you.”

“It’s designate M0RX1L, isn’t it?”

Captain Suoki chuckled. “Yes, he’s been a delight in the harem, but…” and the captain flashed the two men a very wide smile, “I believe in love! I know the computer thinks I’m an idiot, and my belief in love has something to do with your change, Phentrom, but I do! I believe in love with all my heart, and seeing you two break the boundary between humans and synthetics, the way you’re blurring the lines, how could I not love everything about what’s happening to you both!? And it warmed my heart when M0RX1L and the other two expressed interest in going with you and Lyoth.”

“But captain,” Phentrom interjected, “I love being part of the crew. I love being aboard the Ulaa-Lah with you and the rest of the men.”

“I know,” Captain Suoki replied, his smile fading slightly. “We can talk more later.”

Lyoth brought his hand to Phentrom’s cheek in a delicate gesture of affection. “The decommissioning didn’t work, but the drugs they pumped into your system are probably going to leave you feeling groggy for a while.”

“Yeah,” Phentrom confirmed, “I feel like I’m starting to doze off again.”

“We’ll let you rest.”

Lyoth kissed Phentrom’s hand again, and the captain leaned down to kiss his forehead.

Captain Suoki and Lyoth stepped out into the hallway and closed the door behind them.

“Thank you, captain.”

Captain Suoki chuckled. “Those technicians on Theda-741-Theda were none too happy about denying them access to 5NTR0M.”

“I’m never going to call him that again, and if anyone else does, I’ll correct them. That was his mandroid designation. Phentrom is now just Phentrom.”

Captain Suoki stopped walking and pulled Lyoth into a tight hug, giving him a peck on the cheek and proclaiming, “I am unbelievably happy for you both! Just think, a synthetic has somehow narrowed the gap between them and us.” Captain Suoki then added under his breath, “It’s like you said; Phentrom is more human than some of the men on the crew.” He laughed as he stepped back from Lyoth. The captain stared at him, but his smile left his face. “I’m going to miss you, Lyoth, you and Phentrom. You both mean a lot to me.”

“What you’re doing for us is very compassionate, and I’m surprised by how many of the men were uncomfortable with Phentrom being able to experience real feelings. Thank you for preventing his execution.”

“I thought decommissioning him was the only option,” Captain Suoki replied, “but after it failed, I wasn’t going to let Phentrom be killed.” He placed a hand on Lyoth’s shoulder as they approached the door to the ship’s main storeroom. “Let’s see if your three travel companions are still in here packing.”

Lyoth pulled open the door, and sure enough, the men were inside with several partially filled crates.

“It’s pretty convenient that we just resupplied everything,” Captain Suoki commented, and he added, “so please, take anything you need.”

The two men were called Konark and Drolpi, and the mandroid M0RX1L was with them. Konark was a tall thin fellow who had been a soldier before joining the crew under Captain Suoki. Drolpi was even taller and leaner, and he had also served in a military division for several years. M0RX1L may not have been designed as tall as the two men, but he was fit. The genetics used to construct him included thick muscles.

A few hours later, the Ulaa-Lah was orbiting the oasis planet on the far side of the 27th quadrant positioning 8.4-Zed-11.2 of the lesser sector, and the landing shuttle had been loaded with the men’s supplies. Not everyone onboard the Ulaa-Lah came to wish the five of them bon voyage, but there were quite a lot of crewmembers and men of the harem who did come to their departure. Very few eyes remained dry as the men hugged and kissed their shipmates goodbye.

The doors to the shuttle closed and Lyoth engaged the autopilot landing sequence. The craft disembarked, descending toward the surface of the planet below, and the five travelers watched the Ulaa-Lah out the shuttle’s window. Before long, their landing craft had passed through enough of the atmosphere that the starship was no more than a dot on the clear sky.

The planet below was vast and blue, much of it covered in oceans. The shuttle made its way closer, altering its course and racing along high above the waves until a sprawling chain of islands came into view on the horizon. The vessel approached an uninhabited island at one end of the chain, and it landed on a wide stretch of sandy beach.

M0RX1L opened the doors and said, “Lyoth and 5NTR0M, why don’t you two head out and try to find us a suitable place to set up our basecamp while the three of us unload the gear?” He hoisted a large crate onto one of his muscular shoulders.

“And take the buggy,” Drolpi recommended.

“Good idea,” Konark agreed, “it’ll allow you to cover more ground.”

“The chain’s larger islands are inhabited,” Phentrom commented to the others, “and most of the islands are connected by bridges, so as long as no storm has come through recently and wreaked havoc on the infrastructure, we should be able to get to the major islands fairly easily. We’ll head toward one of the villages and ask about locations to set up a temporary shelter until we figure out something permanent. And M0RX1L,” Phentrom added, turning to his fellow mandroid, “please call me Phentrom.”

“It’d be my pleasure, Phentrom, and you, please call me Morzil.”

“The pleasure is mine, Morzil,” Phentrom replied.

Lyoth kissed Phentrom’s cheek and said to the other three, “We shouldn’t be too long.” He hopped into the passenger seat. “You’re driving!”

Phentrom smiled, climbed into the buggy beside Lyoth, and he placed his hand on his lover’s thigh. He activated the engine, and the vehicle rolled out of the landing shuttle and onto the beach. Phentrom drove it along the perimeter of the island until the two men did indeed find a bridge that led onto another uninhabited spit of land. They headed over three more small islands and the connecting bridges, but just as a small fishing village came into view, Lyoth and Phentrom were rocked from behind by a massive explosion.