Bedmate Wonder

After the first few hours of monitoring and being sure the proper alarms were in place, Irina turned and evaluated Yuri.

"So...there's not much to do, really."

"This is true," said Yuri, who was evaluating a small nugget of the Meissnerium.

"And without much to do... maybe we could do some things."

"I'm not sure if I comprehend the underlying meaning of your statement."

"Oh, my Yuri," she said, grinning. "You are so very wonderful at times. Come with me and make love, my marvelous creature."

"Oh," said Yuri, putting down the metallic rock. "When you say 'do' you want me to 'do you', as they say in some vids."

"Now you're catching on," whispered Irina into his ear.

The next weeks were ones of constant lovemaking. Irina was both excited and honored to have the duty of teaching Yuri how to truly make love. Though he was certainly a satisfying and inexhaustible sex partner - Irina realized he was not yet a lover. What better thing to do than to teach him. Since he already seemed to have adaptive mechanisms toward her, the teaching was not all that difficult.

***

"Right there," Irina urged. "Did you feel that? The little touch on your legs, the way I pulled you a bit?"

"Yes," said Yuri.

"That was my way of telling you to slow down and push in a little deeper."

"It was?" he said, surprised. "Why did you not just say so?"

"Because we were kissing. Besides, there are many times when I'm so involved in what we are doing, I don't wish to switch on the part of my brain that lets me talk. I just want to enjoy what's happening at just that moment."

Yuri had a curious expression on his face.

"Do you mean, when you are making love you are not thinking of other things?"

"I try not to."

"Why? The human brain is quite complex. You should be capable of thinking of many things at once."

"Yes, but..." Irina trailed off and giggled. "You really aren't understanding. How to explain, how to explain..."

She mused on the subject for a while.

"The station," she said finally. "This place has multiple processors that are very, very powerful. However, when we were running the models for extracting the thunder egg you tried to watch a video and it was too slow. That was because the station was putting all of its attention toward the computer modeling. That was the most important task, so all cycles went there."

"I see," said Yuri, "I'm wondering if that's why..."

He trailed off.

"What?" asked Irina.

"I'm not sure," said Yuri. "Let us continue."

They began making love again. If Irina had thought Yuri was an attentive lover before, it was nothing like the transformation he went through next. Every microgram of his being seemed to be focused on what they were doing. The responses she had been teaching him now seemed to come naturally and their bodies worked together in perfect unison.

Yuri increased the pace and Irina felt the telltale signs of climax approaching.

"Oh Yuri, don't stop," she begged him. "Keep going, just like that. Fuck me. Fuck me, Yuri!"

A seismic orgasm shook her body and Yuri kept sliding in and out of her.

"Oh Irina," he suddenly moaned. "Irina! Something is... Ahh!"

Yuri's body began to shudder and he pulled her to him tightly, moaning in an almost painful manner. He suddenly stiffened and proceeded to simply moan rhythmically for several moments.

"Yuri? Yuri my love, what's wrong? Talk to me?"

Finally, he was able to form words.

"So that's what it feels like," he said, still gasping. "I finally know what you feel during climax."

"Oh, my Yuri, did you finally have an orgasm? How wonderful!"

"It makes sense," said Yuri. "I know that my body has been attempting to learn how to be more human. It has been growing nerve pathways and pleasure centers. However, I have usually been processing many separate thought streams while making love to you. With your advice, I encouraged all of my being to think only of our sexual activity. That focus suddenly opened the ability for my pleasure centers to go further. In a way, it was like I was overloaded - it was like surplus voltage in a resistor unit."

"Well," mused Irina, "a bit scientific, but you are certainly on your way."

"I still did not ejaculate. I'll continue trying to discover how to produce the proper fluid."

***

Their sex only got better from that point forward. They became practically inseparable in every manner. Even when they were checking the process of the thunder egg, Irina was often seated in Yuri's lap and riding him as they both peered at the screen.

Irina, however, needed to sleep. While she did, Yuri occupied himself with the Meissnerium. He spun out the metal into ultra-fine wire and began winding it into various shapes and experimenting with different currents. He also made some side excursions to nearby rocks to collect other supplies. Irina didn't ask about what he was doing after he assured her it was safe. It kept him occupied during her sleep cycles, giving her much-needed rest from the concentration needed for the asteroid movements... and from the beast she had awakened in a very 'hungry' Yuri (not that she was complaining).

***

About four weeks into their wait, one of the thrusters began showing the signs of an imbalance. Diagnostics showed it needed a simple adjustment, but it was one best performed by hand.

"I'll do it," said Irina. "I've got a bit of station fever and it will be nice to get out. You stay here and mind things."

They were in close enough proximity that they could stay in contact via a short-range spectrum. Just after Irina had completed the repairs, Yuri's voice sounded in her ear."

"Irina, what is FM Radio?"

"FM Radio? What a funny question. It was a band utilized for broadcasting music on ancient earth and some of the earlier planets. Primarily one-way. It was abandoned for higher spectrums more suited to space."

"That's what the databanks said, too."

"Why do you ask, Yuri?"

"Some of our equipment is broadcasting in that spectrum. It isn't music though, but a repeating series of tones."

"Yuri," whispered Irina, the panic in her voice evident even over the radio.

"Yes, Irina?"

"Get out. Get out of the station and hide!"

"But Irina..."

It was too late, a huge exploding noise sounded through the comm, and then nothing.

"Yuri!" cried Irina. "Yuri!"

A beacon started flashing on her console. She was being hailed on another band.

"This is Irina Ivanov, please identify."

A raspy voice sounded over the comm.

"Irina Ivanov, happy to meet you. We are the new owners of your claim."

"And how do you figure that?" she asked.

"Because we have two cannons aimed directly at you and we have taken your base station. Please proceed back to your base. We can have a nice, friendly conversation, no?"

Irina flew back to the station without deviating from the most direct path. There were two sleds on her tail, undoubtedly with tracker missiles ready to fire at any moment. She viewed her station with chagrin. There was a temporary airlock sealed to the outside, meaning they'd blown the entrance and since repressurized the station. Her only thought was for Yuri. She couldn't help but wonder if he was floating helplessly in space.

She parked beside the airlock and tethered up, keeping her arms in the air all the while and submitting to scans.

Once inside she was met by a surprisingly clean-cut crew who remained in their suits, but had their helmets off. The leader, an obviously rejuved man with a handsome face marred by a small scar along the jaw, evaluated her with a leering eye.

"Irina Ivanov," he said in a strong accent. "Marat Novotny. Nice to meet someone with a common ancestry."

"I'm afraid I can't say the same," said Irina, coldly.

"Strip please," he said with a cold nod.

"I'm sorry?"

"Don't apologize, just strip. We can't take any chances. Come on now, all of it."

Irina had no choice, and she knew she would have done the same had she been in a similar situation. Scanners aside, it was easy to hide a detonator among the shielded fabric of a space suit. Rebels in the belt wars had been known to even weave charges into the very suits themselves.

Though she would have done the same, she would have provided her captor more dignity. Marat made her strip down, to absolutely nothing, in front of his entire leering crew - four men and two women... and the women seemed even more interested.

"Satisfied?" asked Irina.

"Oh, very," said Marat. "You can put on your regular clothing as it is obviously cold in here."

She rolled her eyes at the sophomoric comment and grabbed her clothes quickly.

"Now Irina," said Marat once she was dressed. "We have two questions for you. One, where is your partner - this Yuri. Two, where and what exactly is this treasure you are extracting from the belt?"

Irina's heart leapt. Yuri had clearly not been sucked out in the depressurization vacuum, they would have seen him if he was. Further they didn't know the location of the thunder egg or its contents. That was her one piece of insurance that was keeping her alive.

"I've found a rich source of Helium 3 and Tritium," said Irina. "As far as my partner, I'm assuming he's dead."

"That would be called double-bullshit," said Marat with a dangerous grin. "Your partner did not eject when we blew the hatch - so we can only assume you have a safe room somewhere on this rock you call a station. As for your claim, we don't know what you've got - but we do know that a very fast, very well-guarded ship from Interplanetary Provisioning is en route to the little smelter in our part of the universe. We also know that Nelondo pulled a very nice disappearing act the day after you paid a visit to that same smelting station. "

Irina's eyes couldn't help but give a telltale flash at the mention of Interplanetary Provisioning. IP was the company when it came to ships, circuitry, and military contracts. If IP was on the way, her find was likely worth even more than Nelondo had predicted. Nelondo's disappearance didn't mean he had been abducted. Irina assumed it just meant that he was being smart.

"I see you know of IP," said Marat. "So, don't give me a load of crap about fusion-ready material that I could harvest from every other moon if I needed to. If IP is coming here it is big. In terms of your partner, we detected no life forms and saw no bodies. I'll do one more search and then this Yuri will begin hearing your cries as we do... many unpleasant things to you. Let's just leave it at that."

"You, and you" ordered Marat to one of the women and one of the men. "Go and do your best - there must be a hollow somewhere in here and it must be very well shielded."

The two crewmembers began their search with tools and scanners. After several minutes, laughter was heard from the hall and they returned... with a plain cotton mannequin being dragged by the woman.

"We found Yuri!" she said, giggling. "And wait until you see him."

Yuri had returned to his base state, with a couple of exceptions. Between his legs was the ultravibe, attached with some sort of heavy-duty adhesive. He had the sketched-on face once more, and across his chest, in crude handwriting, were scrawled the letters "YURI".

"Oh, you clever vixen," chortled Marat. "You set up a decoy so we think you have a partner. Altering your voice first, you sent out a false conversation. And some lover! What a guy, huh?"

Everyone was laughing as Marat kicked the mannequin around the floor. The other female crewmate bent down to examine the Ultravibe.

"At least she's got good taste in toys," said the woman. "I think I'll keep this for myself."

With a rough tug, she pulled off the Ultravibe - tearing a small gash in Yuri's pelvic region.

What no one saw, except Irina (who had to suppress a shout of joy) was the way the tear rapidly repaired itself. Nor did they see the wink his charcoal eye gave her.

Marat turned to her with an ever more menacing glare.

"So, we know that Yuri is a fuck toy - you might want to consider upgrading. I have sex-droid at home called Julia. Julia could suck the ceramic off a triple insulator, let me tell you. Anyway, Irina..."

He smacked her across the face, knocking her to the floor.

Irina had taken stock of the weaponry at hand and knew that regardless of Yuri's composition, he could not withstand a blast from a full laser or implosion cannon. She saw Yuri jerk at Marat's blow, but gave a barely perceptible shake of her head for him to stay down.

"Irina," continued the Marat, "the time for games is over. Unless you want to be fucked and mistreated the way you've done with this doll, it is time you tell us what your great secret is."

Irina stayed on the ground and kept looking at Yuri, who no one paid any attention to. Suddenly, his sketched-on eyes shifted and began to display letters in a scroll-board fashion.

G-I-V-E T-H-E-M S-O-M-E-T-H-I-N-G . W-I-L-L F-I-X L-A-T-E-R.

"It's a superconductor," said Irina, doing her best to signal defeat. "A metal that works as a superconductor at up to four hundred degrees kelvin."

Though not all his crew understood the implications, it was clear that Marat was the leader for a reason - he comprehended the value immediately.

"Please don't lie to me, Irina," he said, grabbing her face roughly. "I don't like being lied to."

"I'm not lying," said Irina. "I had a hard time believing it myself."

"God damn!" cried Marat. "How much of it?"

"A lot."

"A lot. Now, you will tell me where it is. With your systems down, we need your help to find it."

"Not a chance," said Irina. "I give you the location, I'm as good as dead. How about if we form a partnership. I can cut you in."

"Problem is, we are already stretched thin with our shares," said Marat. "I am reasonable man. We will go check your sled's records. That will give you time to consider. If we find nothing, when we return - you will tell us or we will persuade you. Trust me, you don't want to be persuaded. Angie, Marcus - you stay and watch her."

The two crewmembers who had searched the station and found Yuri were left behind to keep guard over her. If nothing else, they were professional. They said nothing to her and simply stood by, one of them always keeping an eye on Irina, the other scanning the exits to the room.

What they didn't see, was the transformation in Yuri. In less than a second, he suddenly transformed back to his human form and silently stood between them.

"Hello," he said with a bark.

With trained reflexes indicative of their past military experience, the two mercenaries turned with guns drawn and firing.

Yuri's body seemed to dissolve at the point of the blasts. Not like the beam had found purchase, but like a hole appeared in his body directly where the weapons were aimed. The imploders fired directly through Yuri without ever touching him. Each of the mercenaries stared at each other in shock as the contents of their torsos (hearts, lungs, intestines, etc.) spontaneously collapsed. They were dead in less than a three second span.

"You're amazing," whispered Irina.

Footsteps were already approaching.

"Get down, act hurt," urged Yuri. Irina did as ordered and watched as Yuri transformed to look like he was wearing a space suit. As the door burst open, he flew past the first pirate, knocking her aside. He moved so quickly no one was able to even fire a shot as he dashed through the outer dock, grabbing a large case as he passed them and punched a hole through the wall into the outer lock. A quick hole formed, but it sealed up rapidly as temporary air locks were designed for.

"Who the fuck was that?" asked Marat of Irina, holding a gun to her temple.

"Yuri," she said.

"The dummy? I don't think so."

"Do you see him?" asked Irina, gesturing to the floor.

"Give me the comm," shouted Marat angrily.

"Listen Yuri. We have Irina and she is about to die. "

"You listen," said Yuri's voice from the other end. "If you kill her, you will never find our claim and you will all die. I am willing to negotiate. I will meet you near our asteroid and we can arrange a trade at that point. Harm one hair on her head and the deal is off."

Marat had no choice but to agree.

Irina was taken roughly into the pirate's battle shuttle and shackled to a seat in the back. They awaited word from Yuri who finally radioed two hours later.

"Marat," said Yuri's voice. "I am going to read out a path and coordinates to reach our source. Please proceed at a normal pace."

Marat clearly didn't like being the one receiving orders and grumbled the entire way as they sailed to the thunder egg. Upon arriving, Irina looked up with surprise. Attached to the outside of the thunder egg was a grappling hook and tether, ready to attach.

"There it is," said Marat. "Run scans!" Seek out life forms, explosive sources, anything you can find."

"It's a thunder egg," said the engineer following the scan. "It seems to have some sort of magnetic field, but I can tell you there are massive quantities of metal inside. No explosives or weaponry detected nearby. Some discarded equipment which looks to be a large generator or something. No apparent risk."

"Very good Yuri," said Marat into the comm. "Now we have your lovely little nest egg, how do you wish to handle this?"

"Leave her," said Yuri. "Leave her floating in a suit and I will retrieve her after you depart."

"As you wish," said Marat.

He switched off the comm and whispered to the engineer.

"Where is he?"

"No idea," said the engineer. "He's bouncing his signal all over the place. No real way of tracking him. As far as I know, he's sitting on our hull."

"Very well," said Marat into the comm. "We will do as you wish."

While they were preparing Irina, they also started placing thrusters on the rocks remaining in the path of the thunder egg. With the firepower at hand, they would simply push out the rocks in their way and tow out the egg - announcing their claim once clear of the belt parameters.

Irina was given a spare suit.

"Put in a remote detonator," whispered Marat.

"No trickery," said Yuri over the comm almost instantly. Please remove the detonator."

"How is he doing that?" asked Marat.

The engineer shrugged.

At the same moment the thrusters began to push the rocks out of the belt to clear their path, Irina was pushed out of the battle shuttle and left drifting in space.

"She's all yours," said Marat. "You're just lucky we detected no weaponry around or she would already be dead."

"Understood," said Yuri.

"Marat," said the engineer. "Three ships en route."

"Intercept time?" asked Marat.

"Not until we're well clear of the belt."

"Very good," said Marat.

"You know Marat, I have become fascinated by superconductors in the past months," said Yuri's voice over the comm.

Irina, who was also tuned into the channel, couldn't help but wonder at Yuri's logic.

"Do tell me about superconductors," encouraged Marat. "I'm excited to learn more about how I will be richest man in universe."

"They are most wonderful materials," said Yuri. "They are capable of creating phenomenal generators as well as isolation fields."

"Yes, yes," agreed Marat, humoring Yuri.

By now, the battle shuttle had attached to the thunder egg and begun pulling it, it was approaching ideal velocity.

"Do you want to know my favorite property of superconductors?" inquired Yuri.

"What is that, Mr. Yuri?"

"They are the perfect capacitor, capable of holding a charge indefinitely. Imagine, the ability to store a charge of huge proportions in for as long as you wish. All one needs is a complete loop of the superconductor.

"Nice, nice," murmured Yuri.

"Velocity reached," whispered the engineer.