USF Progenitor & Crew: Adventures in Cosmos 01

[#34] Babes to Babies

"I need to emancipate my black and-Samoan babies from the slavery of-a women's wombs," Ka'eo declared, sounding pent up with testosterone.
Peter chuckled and said, "Yeah. How are you going to be able to go anywhere, then? The last women you were with were climbing up your a$$, man. You won't be able to travel with us if that's what keeps happening."
Ka'eo sighed and jested, "Have we grown up yet, Peter?" He got no response from Peter, thinking he didn't quite understand his intention. Turning in his seat to face Peter, he explained in a fatherly manner, "The woman takes care of the baby at home, and I... we, I guess... go and get the bacon... or you know... place the meat on the table. It's like everything we've ever read on the net, and all the sh$t still being pumped out by these-authors and writers. Woman keeps baby safe, daddy keeps woman and baby safe. Easy."
"Yeah, sure, Ka'el, like that'll happen," Mana said cynically, reminding himself of the olden-day, Western sociopolitics. Mana felt like he had been dragged by the United States of America's Western policies and way of being in society. After his climb in the USF and dipping out to space, he felt once again justified in his anger against everyone and everything he left behind on Earth.
Stavros stuck to the topic, holding onto the straps of his backpack, staring out the shuttle window. Continuing on, he joked, "-and Ka'eo has all these babies on different planets and space stations. Having sex with all these women just to have to pay them more credits that he doesn't even have."
"Isn't that what we're all supposed to be doing?!" Ka'eo threw his arms up and shouted in amusement, half-assedly defending himself.
Mana yelled in higher pitch, "F$ck that! I'm not going to pay f$cking child support for a thousand different kids. You're crazy!" The crew chuckled at Mana's assessment as he inquired humorously, "Do you know how much they ask for now-?! Because of the whole space race Era thing?! The prices are skyrocketing!!"
Stavros and Peter laughed loudly.
Stavros admitted, "No, well-Mana. That's true. You would be paying thousands and thousands of credits, draining your accounts until you had to get a part-time job alongside being a United Space-," Stavros leaned forward laughing, continuing, "United Space Force operative. Mana would be f$cking dying."
Mana, Stavros, and Peter cackled.
Christopher added loudly, "Thousands! Tens of thousands of credits-easily-Kai'eo." The controls were left vacant as he hovered the ship in place and checked his own PCD, waiting for a signal allowing him to pass an embargo of mining vessels. Christopher stretched his arms and yawned, starting that as a trend amongst the group.
Ka'eo suddenly had a heavy thought weigh in on him after his heart moved in his dance. He began thinking, again, about his responsibilities for the people he loved. He didn't have to be responsible for so many people, but he was troubled with getting over the fact that people do eventually pass away if they aren't taking care of themselves the right way. Having so many kids, to him, would not only be a worry, but a large risk for his heart.
Ka'eo looked at Christopher, sitting comfortably in the cockpit with Stavros next to him sending text messages to his dad and his mom, then browsing the H&G Businesses Directory.
Peter was on his PCD doing the same thing Stavros was without knowing. He sat next to Mana who was holding onto the handle attached to the ceiling, looking out the side windows of the shuttle. Mana spotted an emergency light going off in one of the stores, and workers walking in and out with mining carts and laser mining gear. He also spotted a few technicians who appeared to walk in, shutting down the power and cracking glow flares, shining on their suits' reflector decals, raising an eyebrow.
Ka'eo's wolf side was coming back out unnecessarily, all from his own thinking. Wanting more for everyone with him and people he didn't know yet, he was feeling hungry-tired, though hungry. He thought about women, how many were in love with him, and how many he had romanced in his journeys, as well as the feelings he was forced to own up to once he left them to their lonesome. Ka'eo was well aware of the responsibilities of being a dad, and he did his best to father those in his vicinity if it was necessary. This was only natural for him, having outgrown his clownish past yet still clinging on to the clown suit to entertain everyone else.
A visualization of Shaya suddenly dawned on Ka'eo's mind. She was a young woman he once knew. Her face appeared in front of a sphere, reflective like a bubble made of chrome colors, and it lit up like a crystal ball. She gazed at him and rubbed the sphere delicately as though it were a womb with a baby in it. Then, in a twist, he visualized J9-another woman he knew-riding off on a mag-cycle looking like a sexy, hot biker chick. She stopped to the left of him and looked his way. Her irises glowed yellow and orange, her pupils dilating and reflecting the same chrome colors as the bubble. Her eyes locked onto his, as though to tell him, take care you son of a b$tch, and she rode off into the night between skyscraper buildings beneath the asteroid ceiling. He wanted to tell her, yeah, take care of my son, you b$tch. See you later. A white fabric flowed out in front of his face, then J9 appeared in front of him with a veil on, and her facial expression was one of great sexual temptation combined with her desire to lose innocence. He knew his own limits and morals, remembering she was married the last he heard from her. Ka'eo thought to himself, I wonder how that's going. And am I really remembering, or is this all simply a dream?
Ka'eo came back from his visualization and squeezed one of his eyes shut, avoiding the pain of the leftover temptation and the feelings that would flow in one way or the other, aware that there were no women around him to focus on. He tried again to stay concentrated on what would come to his mind, going back into his imagination. Feeling the slight vibrations from the shuttle ride and the warm human energy near him, it was easy to get back to his imagination.
The dark shroud from his eye lids became illuminated with visuals again. This time, fading into his mind was Shaya and J9 looking at each other, not angrily. If anything, there was some sorrow, and beneath their faces where there was once an orb, there appeared the Earth rotating on its axis more hastily than was accurate and normal. Ka'eo couldn't help but notice the intrusion of other thoughts cracking their way into his mind, where there were security officers and military individuals he didn't recognize with their guns at the ready. Shaya walked sexily in front of him, wearing a black, slick leather suit like Catwoman, incapacitating the armed personnel. It was like a movie in his mind, cinematic and slow-moving. He saw J9's face again as Shaya faded out of view, a few feet away from himself, and she nodded in some sort of undesirable agreement, angry at Ka'eo, yet revealing a true love that burned from her eyes as much as they sparkled. His heart was melting.
Peter broke into the moment, waking Ka'eo from the daydream coma, wondering about what was coming next. He cleared his throat and locked his PCD up, placing it in his pocket, then inquired slowly, "Do you guys think-that-we're going to get in trouble-with-Command?"
"Honestly, I think the USF doesn't really care what happens to us," Stavros answered flatly. "It feels like they think nothing is going to happen-just because we're USF members or something."
"I had the same idea," Ka'eo said, opening his eyes, escaping his wild imagination and engaging with a colder reality. "I think we need to create better situations for all of us, which means that-step-by-step-we build on the security and integrity that is sound in our system. For now, that's us. And after that, well-."
"Yeah, but what does that meeean?" Christopher begged for an answer, making sure Ka'eo had the actual knowledge to back up his seeming command.
Ka'eo leaned his head one way, thinking, then the other, looking down at the floor of the ship. He squinted his eyes and moved his mouth aside, wanting to critically think about it, but he shook his head acknowledging the fact that there would be invisible steps having to be discovered along the way. "I'm thinking we're going to have to-f$ck around and find out," Ka'eo said, chuckling in a low groan.
"Well," Peter said, pausing to think of the words. "We're going to have to-probably-just-yeah, like Ka'eo said."
Stavros humorously agreed, "Yeah! What Ka'eo said!" He chuckled and kept to himself on his PCD, as though enjoying a conversation with a female companion and paying little actual heed to Peter and Ka'eo.
Peter windingly explained, "Yeah, because the way that the USF works right now-? It's like they're-spread to thin-like, they're doing too much everywhere at the same time, and-then the little guys like us, we end up not having them when we need them, and it's more waiting and not knowing exactly what to do."
Ka'eo was nodding off away from Peter's explaining, then jolted awake again, trying to hide that he had fallen into a light sleep. His mind meandered to thinking about a woman ending the pain of his testosterone-filled anger.
"At least it keeps the journey open-ended though, right?" Christopher suggested.
"No, but like, we're supposed to be given orders and then we have to go and do what they give us. Ever since we got into exploration missions, it really does feel like they don't even give a f$ck about what we're doing. It's a dream come true for me, but honestly, I guess I thought there would be more to-United Space Force. Like, one of us could be killing a whole planet of aliens and they won't even know about it until so many years later," Peter bemoaned, glancing between Christopher and his PCD display.
Mana sighed and agreed dryly in a droning tone, "I know, it's like we could have just blown up an entire space station, deserted people, and started a war, but then they'll look at us like... uhhh, I don't know what the f$ck just happened. What they need to do is push more for system defenses in each-star system. I think they're spreading too thin, racing too much for time and discovery-sake-and that leaves us vulnerable."
"Hang on, dropping low here again," Christopher declared, warning the crew.
Ka'eo said, "Well, we're lucky that we have our ship. And, uhh, Christopher, how much time do we have before we get back to the Starport? Roughly."
"Won't take long. We've got a few more minutes to go," Christopher answered. "Then you guys are home free." Christopher pulled up on the control stick and engaged level-cruise again, keeping the ship hovering at the same height above the ground. He flipped a switch on up top, preparing the shuttle's landing gear early. Something was annoying Christopher, and he figured it was the culmination of the favors he did and the thankless job he had to return to. He was not feeling as eager about work as Ka'eo and his new friends, and hearing their complaints was rubbing salt into his wound.
Ka'eo was thinking again, feeling nothing exact. There was a mild discomfort about the future and the past. He had a feeling that Peter's complaining was going to be met soon with a big fix by the USF, thinking they could be listening. Possibly, they were going to have more missions to do, and Ka'eo was thinking first about the health of his comrades, knowing them to be strong and courageous given the circumstances, but he knew that everyone was still human and able to be damaged irreparably. All of the new scientific findings, discoveries, creations, and the health advancements couldn't change his mind about some naturally human things. That felt nostalgic to him. He remembered his sister that he grew up with, knowing her to be strong and resilient despite any setbacks, and concentrated when she needed to be. He remembered a time she bawled for her daughter-his niece-thinking she would lose her forever, and being there for his sister with their mom at his childhood home. Ka'eo remembered reassuring her, and becoming proactive for her with any feasible solution to keep her daughter in her safekeeping. He loved his sister and his niece, and was wondering where they could be in the galaxy since the options were basically endless with the right group and vessel. Ka'eo thought to himself, what the f$ck are we going to do now that we can basically live for years and years and years and maybe eventually many centuries, perhaps thousands of years doing exactly this, everywhere? I guess that answers Peter's complaints in a way, without the nose of some overhead cutting in, of course.
Ka'eo added a complaint as though he'd barely thought about it at all, saying loudly, "You know-? they really make the steps seem insurmountable."
Peter and Christopher both asked simultaneously, "What do you mean?"
Ka'eo sighed then rambled, "Okay, so... I mean, the way the systems always are, the way they like to 'tape' everything up to keep us away from making-unsafe decisions, eventually that forces us into making-unsafe decisions. They try to regulate everything, you know... within their acceptable limits, set by themselves... and then, literally, they are willing to skimp on regulating the human emotional factor... granted, all the medical improvements and patches available-they do truly help us. Humans have emotions, though, I can f$cking sense it, and always have. It's obvious. You know what I mean? Guys-?" He scratched his head nervously, like he was unplugging millions of cords attached to his brain, giving some valid points, then leaned back in his seat.
The shuttle suddenly hit something as a flew over a walkway, following another shuttle illegally.
Christopher straightened out the shuttle's path as the cockpit wobbled, glanced back at everyone with a smug smile, then looked up ahead again.
Mana glanced around the shuttle, confused and guessing in his mind. He said, "Uhhh," in response to whatever the shuttle had banged against.
Stavros was still staring down into his PCD, ignoring the ride and Mana's concern. He answered Ka'eo's rant, "Well, yeah, they do that so we don't all kill each other, anymore."
"Do what?" Ka'eo requested a reminder.
Peter sighed.
Stavros answered, "That—watching everyone and logging everything."
"Yeah, like, we're supposed to be past that! Hello?! Please, tell me—what the fu$$$ck?!" Ka'eo concurred zealously, adding more positive fire to the conversation.
Peter jumped in and said, "No, yeah, they make it seem impossible to change anything, and then it's because they don't change anything that everything just stays the same!" He glanced out the front of the cockpit view then at Ka'eo with an intense look in his eyes, resuming frustratedly, "The one thing that USF-that the USF-did right is they actually did something about the problems. What I'm saying is that they don't seem to care enough anymore because they send all these Explorer units out, like us, everywhere, as though there's nothing to fear at all, anymore. Then we end up asking where the warships are."
Mana tagged along in a low drone, nodding, "Warships."
Ka'eo offered as a positive, "Well, how f$cking rare... or how f$cking lucky were we to have discovered something that was actually f$cked up and could've killed us?"
Stavros chuckled and said, "True."
Christopher was confused and said, "Wait, what? When did that happen? You didn't tell me about that one! Did something happen at the bar? Or-?" He looked in the mirror above him at Peter and Ka'eo with a slight frown, expecting a story.
"No, man, it-," Peter scratched the back of his neck and began bouncing his knees where he sat.
Mana cut in demonstrating his storytelling, "No, okay... dude, so, it was like-this f$cking crazy-monster a$$ creature we found-when we were assigned, kind of, to explore at one of the space stations... and it was like, an official space station, too." A person could tell Mana had been thinking about that situation for a while. It disturbed him deeply, that a nightmare could exist in real life alongside the dream he was living, but he guarded his feelings about it as best as possible, avoiding sounding crazy and demoralized. Mana sighed in relief about what happened there, having always hated his childhood nightmares of being chased, something Ka'eo was also aware of being that old of a friend of his. He didn't want to discover that it had somehow latched onto their scents or was a sentient being that could listen in on their thoughts from far away, chasing after them to kill or eat them. The experience, laughable to outsiders, caused him concern for the safety of the crew. In his own imagination, he shut away the ferocity that the creature was, welding door after door until it was all sealed up. He denied trauma to skip out on a full psychological review, although soothed enough by the group.
The crew's style of disengaging from all the stresses of the professional side of work was helpful for his habits, as Mana was not opting for a quick fix in the med bay all the time. Mana was grateful to feel like he was on a comfortable outing. He knew he was there for business, taking in everything that was being said and done, watching everything around him and careful not to be too distracted, but aside from the fun, he was authorized to look particularly for anything the USF would reward him for, whether that be in merit or credits on payday. Mana initially felt critical about the USF, having always been a Command & Conquer NOD enthusiast, but he honestly didn't have much bad to say about the USF, because they gave him hope and livelihood where the Earth's dramas, lack of awareness, and awful attitudes towards humanitarian efforts dragged him down. Mana was grateful, because without the government equivalent of the GDI-NOD's counterpart-, in his mind, he wouldn't have been healthy and exploring the galaxy.
Christopher said, "Okay, guys, we aaare... here!" He chuckled brightly, wearing his warm smile, then set his head onto the control panel, pretending like he wanted to sleep. He dropped his arms on both sides and made a snoring sound, then leaned back and smiled at the crew with his sunglasses on.
"Oh yeah, the Starport's closed, now," Ka'eo joked, anticipating more problems for calculatedly no reason.
Peter burst out cackling and said, "Yeah! We get to the door and they just tell us, you may not pass!"
"What the hell," Ka'eo played along adding to the inside joke.
"You may not pass!" Peter added, keeping the ball in play.
He and Ka'eo laughed.
Mana said, "Yeah, and then Christopher-f$cking drives his ship-through the entrance of the Starport going ffffewwrr BRRSSCCH!! AAAAHHLL!! And you see people flying everywhere."
"Yeah!!" Peter cackled. "And you see Christopher walk out of the ship and go into the building and start killing everyone. Including that guy that said 'good hit!' That guy from earlier runs down and says it again," Peter added, conflating the imagination with more amusement.
"Now that we're back, you guys know where to go from here?" Christopher asked.
Ka'eo looked outside of the cockpit and noticed they had flown into another ship garage looking area, like a small hanger for smaller space ships. He asked, "Is this where you parked earlier and then you—took time to come back to pick us up?"
"Uhhh, so, you guys ready to go?" Christopher asked, smirking with a dry demeanor.
"No!" Mana jested raspily. "No, we're not going anywhere!" He let out a quick laugh with Stavros and Peter.
"Yeah! This is—our ship, now! Don't you have somewhere to be going?" Ka'eo supported, joking along with Mana. He prodded, "Christopher?"
Christopher looked around at his dashboard and pretended to feel helpless and disappointed in himself, giving them a funny frown.
Stavros giggled. He conceptualized, "Ka'eo and Mana start struggling with Christopher, trying to take over the cockpit."
Peter burst into a laugh, adding, "Yeah, and you just see—," He made fake struggling noises going aht-ao-ahd-geh-aht mixed with grunts and ahhht yells.
Christopher stayed smiling, looking out the front of the cockpit, snickering quietly to himself. He looked exhausted from the trip, the exhaustion getting worse and worse with each random encounter event and every possibility, like Ka'eo brought up. He sighed lightly, causing the crew to break into a fit of cackling.
Peter, Ka'eo, and Mana looked at Christopher knowing the feeling, their laughter aside. Everyone went through this with Ka'eo at one point or another, and that made Christopher's lightened annoyance that much sweeter, adding on to Ka'eo's long list of trolled "victims."
Peter was especially enjoying the fruits of their inner mischief. He conceptualized, "Yeah, and then Ka'eo pilots the ship out of the Starport and off the asteroid—then he goes, waaaah keeng!" He chuckled softly to himself, feeling the joking mood pass by.
Christopher really wanted to tell everyone, both serious and humorously, f$ck you guys, get the f$ck out of the ship already, God dammit. Christopher didn't quite realize that the crew was counting on his humorous reaction.

🎵 Flume - Say It [Illenium Remix]