The Lost Pleasuredrome of Perodys Prime

Roger grunted with exertion and groaned with pleasure as he fucked Hato doggy-style, drawing forth her own ecstatic moans with every thrust, sounding just like a human woman. Her pussy also felt just like that of a human woman. In fact, so long as he kept his eyes on the shapely curve of her lower back and the delightful quivering of her well-rounded ass, he could almost imagine that she WAS a human woman. But then she would throw back her head, raise her trunks and trumpet her orgasm, shattering the illusion. For a moment, his libido wavered, but her inner muscles wouldn't have it, coaxing him into his own climax.

He couldn't deny that Hato was a great gal, and the sex was amazing. But as she wrapped her six arms around him and rested her elephantine head against his shoulder in a post-coital cuddle, he couldn't help feeling a longing for the women of Earth. It had been three weeks since Hato had awoken him, and he'd learned of the long-ago of his homeworld, and it still hadn't really sunk in. Those three weeks had been busy; even though Galactic technology allowed him to complete years worth of study in a matter of days, there was a LOT to learn. And when he wasn't studying, he was servicing Hato and her crew-mates. In fact, these brief moments of cuddling where the only chances he had for self-reflection. He suspected that his new shipmates were keeping him busy on purpose, sparing him the burden of thinking about his status as the last of his kind.

Suddenly, there was a chime, and Inta's soft voice issued from the intercom. "Hato? You have a holocall from Egrithay."

Roger looked down at Hato and quirked a curious eyebrow. She sighed.

"One of my contacts," she explained. "He runs a crew out of Utofgar Station that salvages derelict spaceships. Some of his business is legitimate, but most of his clientele are pirates and other criminals who need to get rid of wreckage quickly and without the authorities knowing. Egrithay salves his conscience by tipping me off when he comes across something of possible historical importance. His tips are usually good, for all that he's a shady character."

She raised her voice. "Patch him through, Inta."

A full-size hologram appeared at the foot of the bed. It showed an entity with a blood-red exoskeleton studded with cruelly-barbed spikes, fingers tipped with razor-sharp claws like sickle blades, a long muzzle filled with needle-pointed fangs, and eyes that glowed with an eerie green light. These fearsome attributes were countered by the fact that they adorned a being who was short, chubby and dressed in a garment that resembled the unholy offspring of a clown suit and a prom dress. The whole was thus more hilarious than frightening.

Egrithay openly leered at Hato's nude body, but seemed oblivious to Roger (who honestly couldn't blame him). If she was at all bothered by this, she didn't show it.

"What've you got for me, today Egrithay?" she said, all business.

"Found what was left of a genuine Perodyte ship," he said, in a surprisingly pleasant baritone. "Pretty beat-up, but the Nav-comp's intact. You could probably pull some data from it."

Hato blinked. "What kind of Perodyte ship? A random cargo-hauler won't tell me anything that isn't already known."

Egrithay made a gesture that put Roger in mind of a sheepish shrug. "Dunno. Never seen one like it before, and my archive's kinda lean when it comes to Perodyte stuff."

Hato frowned. "Then how do you know it's Perodyte?"

"Cuz it's got Perodyte writing all over it. Here, look."

Egrithay's image disappeared and was replaced with an image of a space-ship hull engraved with bright green markings. For a moment, Roger felt Hato stiffen in shock, but by the time Egrithay re-appeared she'd regained her composure.

"OK," she said. "Not sure if it's worth anything, but I'm going to be in the area anyways, so I'll come by and take a look."

She waved a hand, and the image disappeared. Another gesture activated the intercom.

"Inta, be a dear and tell JX84 to set a course for Utofgar Station."

"Yes, ma'am. Out."

Roger looked down at Hato and frowned. "What was that about?"

Instead of answering his question, Hato responded with one of her own. "Have you learned anything about the Perodytes?"

He thought for a moment, mentally paging through the reams of information he'd acquired in the last three weeks.

"Uhh, Eltaboan dynasty that ruled the...Sharada? Yeah, the Sharada Cluster, for a few centuries. 'Bout 700 years ago their capital, Perodys Prime, got glassed during a civil war and their empire subsequently fragmented."

Hato smiled, and nuzzled his ears with her trunk, a surprisingly pleasurable gesture equivalent to a kiss on the cheek.

"Correct, darling," she said. "What you do not know, is that the reason for the civil war was that the Emperor and a good chunk of his court disappeared when a ship docked with his orbital pleasuredrome malfunctioned and jumped them both to hyperspace. Judging by what Egrithay showed us, it was, in fact, the very same ship that he's just found. Which means that it's Nav-Computer may enable to locate the remains of the last Perodyte Emperor."

Roger whistled. "That sounds like a pretty big deal. But what about the pleasuredrome itself?"

Hato snorted. "The Perodytes mass-produced those things; every one was identical to every other, and they've been studied extensively. There will probably be a large number of artifacts but, again, the Perodytes left a lot of stuff behind, so there won't be anything new. On the other hand, from a non-academic standpoint, many of those artifacts will be pretty valuable. Which is why we can't let Egrithay realize what he's got."