World: Sinmore

Star System: Delria 

Type: Terrestrial

Terrain: Forest

Temperature: Temperate

Gravity: 1.26 x earth

Atmosphere: Dense (reduced)

Atm. Composition: 66.7% sulfur dioxide, 17.3% methane, 14.8% carbon dioxide,   0.7% Argon, 0.5% nitrogen, trace other gases.

      Rise Righte wasn’t sure what all the fuss was about with Sinmore. It wasn’t a garden world, nor was it a paradise colony. Judging by the data in the palm of his hand, Sinmore was a moderate sized temperate world with a rather thick atmosphere. It had slightly heavier gravity than he was comfortable with, not to mention the sulfur dioxide. The fact that the air was breathable seemed its one, and only, virtue. 

      Why anyone would wage a war over this world was a mystery to him. Rise couldn’t complain though, this would be his third trip to the distant colony. He had made a decent living serving aboard supply transports, mercenary cargo haulers, and grain convoys during his years prior to this. Shipping colonists didn’t seem that much different. 

      Rise glanced over the datapad as he marched down the hall towards the bridge. As a bridge crewman, he was responsible for doing all the grunt work. He had just cleared their manifest with Galli control, and logged their intended void trajectory with the sector Administratum. Of course the official trajectory was a ruse, their actual voyage route was planned secretly among the captain and his navigation staff.

      The Star of Argon was currently untethering itself from the station, and would soon ignite its engines. Rise checked his watch, in twelve minutes the ship would leave the dockyard and enter the cold void. 

      He couldn’t wait.

      The bridge was less than forty steps away when someone ambushed him from behind. He could feel the brush of air against the back of his neck as someone tapped him on the shoulder. Rise didn’t need to turn around, he knew exactly who it was. 

      “I wandered where you were?” Dithy Perra, the Star of Argon’s chief engineer, followed him closely. “You were supposed to be at your station ten minutes ago.”

      “Had to take care of something,” Rise tried to ignore her.

      Dithy gripped his shoulder, stopping him in the hallway, “What’s wrong?”

      Rise let out a sigh, and then switched the front page of his datapad to show the profile of the ships newest crew member.

      Dithy took the datapad from his hand, and motioned for him to follow her down the hall. It was likely going to see more foot traffic in the coming minutes, the last thing they needed was to get in anybody’s way. 

      “A Comfort Liason? Really?” To Rise’s surprise, Dithy didn’t seem particularly upset as she glanced at the tablet.

      Rise waited to chime in until the pair had found an empty break room three decks below. The break room was one of several on the ship, and contained several lounge chairs and vending machines. A single window was installed into the wall, embedded with thick armor glass. Outside, Rise could already see the backdrop of the station beginning to shrink. 

      Now that they were alone, Rise felt it safe to talk about accepting the Comfort Liaison. “I was given a direct order by the old man himself, I didn’t have a choice.”

      “Didn’t have a choice huh?” Dithy looked back at the tablet. After looking it up and down, she  brushed her hair back, and decided to get more comfortable. Rise watched as Dithy unzipped her red jumpsuit, exposing her muscled chest and grey tube-top. She then tied the sleeves of the jumpsuit around her waist, and leaned back against the wall. “For someone without a choice, you sure know how to pick them. She’s cute.”

      “It’s not like that.” Rise did his best not to stare at her chest. He was failing, and his pants were already feeling cramped.

      “Whatever,” Dithy shrugged, “so are you planning on having her…you know?” She crossed her arms over her thick chest, “Interrupt us?”

      “I think I’ll just have her clean my personal quarters, or deliver me drinks, or something.” He had been weighing the options for the better part of an hour. 

      “Holy Sh—t,” Dithy's chipped accent was surprisingly cute under duress. She had her attention focused on the tablet, and nearly dropped it as she continued reading. “She check marked, literally everything, on the consent menu!”

      Rise gagged. When he made his selection in Comfort Liaison’s, he hadn’t even bothered to review the application itself. The girl had a nice face, and seemed healthy, and he chose her among a list of station residents who clearly hadn’t seen enough sun.

      “Let me see that,” Rise took back the tablet. 

      Dithy was right. When filling out the application form, Journey had to sign off on what kind of comforts she would be willing to provide. There was a fairly long list of legally approved items. Journey Chase had indeed checked them all! Everything from oral pleasure to bdsm was marked for consent. 

      “What kind of freak is this?” Rise gasped as he went over the list of thirty two separate sexual tags on the form. “She even consented to genetic manipulation!”

      “She probably just listed everything without looking,” Dithy’s hands were shaking. “Or maybe she just selected the ‘all’ option without thinking?”

      “I can only hope….” Rise sat the tablet down. 

      For several minutes the two of them stood awkwardly in the room. Neither of them seemed to know what to say next. The sound of the outer hull groaning under pressure could be heard around them as they waiting in silence. The Star of Argon’s bones were adjusting to the sudden change of gravitational exertions. Meanwhile, the ships artificial gravity was shifting to a higher setting. Eventually, it was Dithy who spoke first, but not before grabbing an energy drink from the nearby vending machine. 

      “You know…?” Dithy spoke with a soft voice.

      Rise wasn’t sure he was going to like whatever was going on in her head. “What?” He asked.

      “I’m just thinking,” She paused to take another long sip of her beverage. “I mean…it’s tempting, you know?”

      “What are you talking about?” Rise felt a pit in his stomach.

      “She consented to genetic manipulation.” Dithy said it so casually that it disturbed him a little. “If you don’t want to use her for fun, I wouldn’t mind having her comfort me.”

      Rise swallowed, “I think I’m going to be sick.”

      “C’mon, it’s temporary anyway right? During the six month freeze, I could have the pod set to alter some of her physical attributes. Heighten her libido, and bolster her sensitivity. Maybe even add a couple erogenous zones? Then we can reset them back when we get to Sinmore.”

      Rise collapsed into a seat next to the only table in the room, “You’re evil. You know that?”

      “I’m not suggesting anything she didn’t consent too.” She was right, and he knew it. If only his Comfort Liaison knew it as well. 

      Rise just rolled his eyes. “No,” He spoke as seriously as he could.

      Dithy smirked. She planted a hand on her hip, and looked out into the great beyond, it was clear that she wasn’t going to let a chance like this slip away. And there was nothing Rise could do to stop her.