Karen – The Expedition by MonsterP63
I
The six women were sitting around the round table in the briefing room of the ship. They were looking at the end of the transmission of a speech from the President of the Project Hope Mission. They were watching it with a one hour delay, as they were already far away from home, en route for the unknown, somewhere in the Galaxy.
They were bound for a five years trip to reach a hopeful world that had tried to make contact with them. Six women, and no men. For some still unknown reasons, no men ever survived the hibernation process needed for a trip of that length. So it was decided, after all there were no alternatives, that a group of six women would be trained for the mission.
Each was master in its own field, and successfully passed the rigorous tests that the P.H.M. had planned for them. There was Cindy, the leader of the group, affectionately called “Capt’n”, Jennifer the astrophysicist, Ashley the master of chemistry, Lynda the botanist, Isabelle the mechanical engineer, and the doctor, Karen. Apart from their impressive diplomas and skills, they all shared one thing in common: their head was shaved. The trip was five years, and according to tests, their body would age of about five months, their hairs growing accordingly, but surprisingly, not the nails. By shaving their heads, they would have perfect hair length at arrival.
“Very well, ladies, I think it’s time to get prep for the big freeze.” Said Cindy.
The big freeze was the nickname given to the hibernation process, where basically, the body is frozen. With some nervousness in the air, the six women parted for their quarters to get their hibernation suit on. It was a suit made of special fabric that would protect them during the hibernation process, monitoring their life signs, and controlling their bodily functions. Thousands of small microprocessors, from nanotechnology, were embedded in the fabric of the suit. It was about three millimeters thick (1/8”) and the exterior was of a dull black. The fit was somewhat relaxed, barely snug. After about fifteen minutes, five of the women were back in the briefing room. The only one missing was Karen who arrived a few minutes later.
“Okay. Who’s the wise guy?” she asked, posing in her suit, her hands on her highly compressed waist, totally different from the others: it was black with a hot pink triangle on the upper body, the narrow point at the crotch, widening toward the shoulders. The suit was tight, very tight, all over her body with a double thickness at the waist, acting like a corset, compressing her waist and expanding her breasts that were not immense but quite impressive.
The name crest was stating Sexy Karen instead of the formal name. The five women burst in laughter. The joke was obvious. Karen had a great body and she liked to show it, often, or rather always, wearing sexy, tight and revealing clothes. So sexy that she was warned many times by the management of the project that she would be thrown out for bad image.
But she was just too good in her field to let go, so they ignored her dressing habits, hoping that she would return for more normal clothing, but she stayed the same, wearing tight jeans and high heels, or some PVC outfit.
That high heels habit was reflecting in her hibernation suit too, as she wore black knee high lace up kid leather platform boots. She had made the allusion a couple of times that the bulky boots provided with the suit were not very fashionable, and that high heels should be the solution.
As for the exterior shell of the suit, instead of the dull material the others had on, hers was coated with what looked like high gloss shiny rubber. That too was easily explained: it was a reminder of the meeting she came to wearing tight black latex bermuda shorts and a hot pink latex halter top, explaining that she had completely forgot about that meeting and that she was at the beach when she was beeped and didn’t had time to go home and change.
“You look… sexy…” said Jennifer, still laughing, “but you didn’t have to put it on. It was just a joke.”
“Then, what should I put on?”
“Your regular suit, of course.” Answered Jennifer finding Karen’s question kind of stupid.
“And that regular suit would be…”
“It’s supposed to be in the drawer, just under where that suit was.” She said, starting to find it less funny.
“Han, han.” Said Karen, nodding no at the same time.
“What do you mean? I asked Phil to put it there. There was way enough for two suits.”
“For two suits, yes.” Said Karen, “but for two suits and a pair of platform boots, no.”
“Don’t worry, he probably put it in another drawer.”
“Han, han.” Was Karen’s answer. “Not in my room anyway. Did he leave you a note, or did you talk to him after he put the joke suit in place?”
“No I didn’t have time to see him before departure.”
Isabelle jumped, left the room for a moment and came back handling a piece of paper to Jennifer.
“I’m sorry. Phil gave me that asking to give it to you. I have forgotten about it.”
“No big deal.” Said Jennifer taking the note, smiling again, but her smile quickly faded.”
“What’s the bad news?” asked Karen.
“He said that the two suits would not fit into the drawer with the boots, so he removed the good suit and hid it in the brown box in my quarters.”
“So, let’s go see your brown box.” Said Karen, starting to walk.
“It’s just that I don’t have the brown box anymore. It was the stuff I was leaving on Earth.”
“So, how am I going to spend the next five years?”
“Calm down.” Said Cindy. “I was into that joke as much as Jennifer. The suit is made with leftovers from the normal suit, and apart from the double thickness at the waist and the overall tight fit, it should be as functional as ours. As for the glossy coating I believe it’s some sort of liquid latex or something similar that Phil found. Your suit should be fully functional.
“And what do I do with this? Do I have to wear that too?” Said Karen holding up a hood made out of the same fabric.
“We all know how fetishist you are. We wanted the suit to be complete. It’s up to you.” Said Cindy with a smile.
“Very well then.” She said with a wink, pulling the tight fitting hood over her shaved head.
The eyes were covered by dark lenses, and there was only a small opening at the mouth for the tubes that were going to be inserted later.
“I’m ready.” She said with a muffled voice.
Still laughing, and not believing that she would keep the hood and the heels on for the trip, they walked to their glass tubes where they laid down. One after the other, Karen made sure that everything was fine. She inserted tubes in their throats, one for feeding, the other for breathing, and plugged them to the control unit. She was assisted by Jennifer, which, when it was time for her to go to her glass tube, asked Karen:
“I swear. It was just a joke, and your real suit should have been there. I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be” said Karen “I much prefer that suit.” She whispered to her ear.
With that she pressed a green button, the glass cover closed and the tube was filled with white fog. All the controls turned green.
She took place inside the tube and plugged the bodily functions evacuation tubes to the catheters already in place, that were put there prior departure. She then removed the hood, fondled under the web of the tubes and produced a huge ball with a rubber strap.
“I had planned a little fetish spice, but I never thought it would be that good.” She said, forcing the ball in her mouth, gagging herself.
There was a hole in the center of it. She buckled it tightly, then carefully replaced the hood. She fed the feeding/breathing tubes in the gag and laid down on the mattress. She had kept everything, the heels and the hood, and even the added a gag. Nobody would know. She was the last one to go to sleep, and will be the first one to wake up. She pushed the green button and the automatic sequence started, closing the lid and filling the tube with freezing compound. Within a few seconds she had completely forgotten where she was and what she was wearing.
II
She was laying, spread eagle, between two sheets of heavy latex, vacuum glued together, and the sheets were getting stretched by the corners, lifting her in the air. She was squirming and yelling, but nothing showed. No movement was possible within the tight embrace of the rubber, and her heavily packed mouth, filled with rubber, was preventing any sound from coming out.
Then she started to feel pain, as if her joints were ready to break. There was no pleasure anymore. She was seeing someone pushing long nails through her knees and hips. This was no fun anymore. She tried to get away, to get free, but there was nothing she could do. Suddenly the men turned toward her. Phil!
She woke up panting through her gagged mouth. Every muscle, every joint, every parcel of skin was hurting. She was slowly coming out of hibernation. The lid of the glass tube opened, but she stayed there. She was too weak to get up. Was she dreaming or was this reality? Then she remembered the joke of the tight suit and high heels, the hood and the gag.
She relaxed, letting her body try to jump start. The suit had worked according to plan. So far anyway. She would have to wake up the others in 24 hours. They should be within six months of their destination.
Slowly, painfully, she managed to sit down. The corset-like double thickness of the suit was compressing her stomach. She liked it. She liked waking up with the tight embrace of the suit. Yes it was a joke and the outcome was not planned, but she would never complain about it. She unplugged the different tubes and tried to make a few steps. Waking up after five years and learning to walk again was difficult, but doing it on 6 inches platform boots, was another story. And there was news: the heel had disappeared! She had to stand on her toes to walk. On the bed, there was a black hardened pile of plastic, with a metal rod. It looks like the heel had melted, but why just the heel? But then again, she liked the sensation. She felt sad knowing that she would have to let go of that suit within 24 hours, and go back to the basic loose fitting flight suit. She didn’t tell anyone that she had hidden some PVC items and high heels on the ship…
She walked to the other tubes, but stopped dead. The tubes were supposed to be filled with white fog, but it was now brownish orange. She approached the first tube, Jennifer’s, and all indications showed that she was.. alive. She didn’t understand it. The system should have warned her of any malfunctions and woke her up. That brown fog wasn’t right.
She commanded the opening of the tube. The harsh smell of putrefaction filled her nose, and she almost threw up, which would have meant almost certain death by choking with the gag she was wearing.
Now, she wasn’t in the mood for fetish, or for jokes. She reached for the seam of the hood to pull it off, but didn’t find it, and she kept entangling her fingers in her hairs… Hairs? She shouldn’t have any hair, she had a hood! She rushed to the bathroom and looked in the mirror. Her hair had grown through the hood, and she now had months and years worth of hair on her head. She found the look somewhat sexy, but explanations were for later. She took a rubber band and tied them in a horse tail in the back, then searched again for the hood seam. Nothing, not even the bumps where the metal buckle for her gag should be. For the back zipper of the suit: nothing. She twisted in front of the mirror, and startled. The zipper had somewhat melted with the suit. She could see the outline of it, but it was covered with the liquid latex coating, as if it had been eaten by it. As for the hood, the yoke and the collar of the suit had somewhat melted together.
Okay. No time for jokes. She took a pair of scissors and tried to cut herself out of the suit, but the scissors didn’t even damage the latex coating. She appeared stuck in the suit! But one problem at a time. She returned to Jennifer’s tube, of which the fog had now dissipated. The scene was disastrous. Her body appeared to be burned by frost and she appeared dead.
But the suit was supposed to protect her from that. She opened the other tubes, and all five of them showed the same symptoms: they had died of frostbites all over their bodies, but their time of death was just a few weeks ago. The suit had kept them alive, even in this bad condition, but why them and not her? She started to look at the computer logs.
After hours of research and cross referencing data, she came to a simple logical conclusion: the very joke that was played on her is what saved her life.
The suit performed great on tests, with the longest one being one month, but it appears, according to her researches, that after one year, every part of the body not touched by the suit will slowly suffer from frostbites. For the system, it was a minor injury, and did not require Karen to be awakened. The survival system had compensated for it, gradually. Yes, the compensation was largely over the safety zone, but since each step was done within the safety zone, no alarm was triggered. Even their death, following the already bad condition they were in, was not enough to trigger an alarm. In short, their bodies had been frozen burned!… Notes to be sent to the programmers…
Since her suit was tight fitting all over her body, she didn’t suffer any frostbite. Having not worn the hood, she would be dead too.
She had to cancel the mission. She sent a message back to earth with her report, and stating that she was returning to hibernation and heading for earth. The message was transmitted, but when it was time to change trajectory, she could do nothing. There was no way to abort the mission. The destination was locked. She was heading for an alien world, to represent its people, with a ship full of dead crewmates and herself wearing a strange suite of which she couldn’t get out, and gagged so she could not speak.
III
She went to her quarters. She spent a few minutes in front of the mirror looking at her figure. It was astonishing. The suit was like a second skin, and the double thickness of the suit at the waist acted like a corset, giving her the perfect wasp waist she always dreamed about. The boots, which had somewhat melted with the suit, could no longer be removed. She could only see traces of the laces under the latex covering. She had a strange look, standing on her toes, her heel up in the air. She looked like a horse and remembered her ponygirl boots she almost bought one day. The two colors of the suit had gradually melted together, creating a progressive gradient that was looking great.
She tried again to cut the suit off, but all she managed was to rip the different tubes flush with the suit. They came off like jelly beans.
The computer beeped. It was receiving instruction from the alien world. Contact has been made. The ship entered the atmosphere and flew over the vast seas and landscapes of that strange planet.
Karen had never seen anything like that. Her own world was destroyed by wars and atmospheric pollution. This one was green with vegetation, the water appeared pure and limpid. The ship flew over a large city, at slow speed, quickly joined by aircrafts of design she had never seen before. She saw the lights indicating where she should land. That was supposed to be Cindy’s job, but they had all been trained in case something bad happened…
She piloted the ship manually to the designated area. A lot of people were standing there, and heavy vehicles she identified as war threatening. That she didn’t like. She was coming in peace. Why all the weapons? Was it to protect themselves, or to protect the visitors?
The ship landed softly in front of the large crowd. Weapons were ready, but not into any intimidating position. The door slowly opened, and everybody startled.
Down the walkway, came a shiny black form, female. She had dark and shiny black and pink skin. Her face was the same shiny pitch black with dark bulbous eyes. There was no nose, and her mouth appeared to have a rather large appendix with only a small hole. Long blond hairs were flowing on her shoulders, floating on the soft wind. Her waist was incredibly thin compared to her full breast, like she was corseted. She had what appeared like animal feet, as she was standing on her toes, a little like a horse. The creature raised her right hand, in a symbol of peace.
Out of the crowd approached a man, raising his right hand too. A man standing beside him with binoculars whispered something to him. The leading man spoke.
“Hello. My name is Victor, President of the United Nations. Welcome to Earth… Sixxee Khar-Henn”…
© Pete / monsterp63, April 2002