Mermaids In Space!!!

Chapter 1 - 2 days until space

Eliza was laughing and gave Nick one of her brilliant smiles. He couldn't remember what he had said that elicited her response. Not that he needed to. Just seeing her smile was enough. It was a view he could never get enough of. Her infectious laugh paused as she stole one chunk of his protein ration bar. Triumphantly leaning back in her seat and devouring the morsel. Right. Now Nick remembered. They were on lunch break in their ambulance. Eliza had made herself comfortable in the passenger seat and Nick-

A loud banging sound distracted Nick. Eliza ignored it. Happily retelling some story. But Nick wondered where it came from. The next bang pulled him away from Eliza.

"Not yet," he thought, but his prayer went unanswered.

A third bang rang out and Nick woke up. The view was a depressing one. The ceiling of his bunk bed was uncomfortably close. The first few days, he hit his head when waking up. Now, his body had learned its lesson. Shoes hit the ground beside Nick. As the latest newcomer, he got the lowest of the bunks.

Nick withdrew as much into his bed as he could. His cellmates did their morning routines and it wasn't uncommon that some splashes went his way. The cell he shared with the other inmates was tiny. About three square meters. Some of the space was taken up by the toilet and some by a fold-up table. One person could stand up comfortably. It was tight when two stood. No one cared that Nick shared the cell with three others. Most of their time, they spend laying in their bunk waiting.

"It will be one year tomorrow," he quietly whispered to himself. One down. Thirty-nine to go. The familiar feeling of despair made itself known. It was unlikely that he would end his sentence as intended. Most gave up after a few months to years. The suicide rate in prisons was sky-high. And if you didn't check out yourself, one of the gang members might give you a helping hand. All one had to do was to catch their attention at the wrong time.

The guard coming to their cells had added a few new insults to his repertoire. It alleviated Nick's boredom only slightly. In a long line, they made for the dining hall. The rhythmic squeaking of rubber slippers of dozens of inmates on cheap linoleum reminded Nick of the ambulance he used to drive. The old lady had seventy years under her hood and the electric motors weren't what they used to be. At high speeds, there was that high-pitched squeaking that no technician could pinpoint.

Breakfast was the same gelatinous mound as always. And as always, there was a shout or two of "There is an insect leg in my food!". Nick could never tell if that shout was real or part of a running gag. So far, he hadn't a nasty surprise aside from the abysmal taste.

Nick was nearly done as shouts broke out. Some kind of altercation that turned violent quickly. He saw shivs slashing in wide arcs or desperate close-quarters thrusts. This wouldn't end well. Nick withdrew to the opposite with anyone else with half a brain. He took a stance that clearly showed his hands empty. It was only a matter of time until the guards stormed the room. Not too soon. There was always the chance that a few prisoners wouldn't make it out alive. It would mean there would be fewer mouths to feed and it would make a tiny dent in the massive overpopulation on Earth of twenty billion people.

Something wet landed on his cheek and Nick swiped at it by instinct. Blood, he realized. It must have been flung across the room after a vicious attack. Nick looked up. Men lay bleeding on the ground. Shouting came from those who were still standing. A scene of utter chaos.

In the next blink, Nick wasn't in the prison anymore. Medipack in hand, he stood before a burning skyscraper. A large chunk in the middle was missing. As if a giant had taken a bite out of it. Most of the smoke and flames came from there.

"Come on!"

Eliza hurried past him. Falling to the knees beside a wounded person who had made it out alive. Her movements were fast, but not frantic.

"Patch!"

Nick withdrew one from the bag and handed it over. His job was to get Eliza here and then play assistant. As well as to keep her use of materials in check. The self-adhesive patch was used to staunch the blood flow of a nasty cut. It would do until reinforcements arrived. Eliza and Nick weren't here to fix people up, but as first responders, they would survey the damage and categorize people by priority.

They made their way through the masses. Applying quick fixes here and there before moving on. Not all were treated the same. A few they had to ignore despite similar or even aggravated wounds of those they treated before. They were simply too low in social standing to matter. As much as they hated it, treating them would be considered a waste of resources and a crime.

After what felt like a lifetime, but probably was only five minutes, they spied a heavily wounded young woman. As Eliza kneeled down, Nick nearly spoke up. She was as good as dead. They both knew it. That young woman was not worth saving in the eyes of society. The injured whispered something that Nick couldn't hear, but Eliza had and her eyes hardened. She looked up at Nick.

"Nanite injection."

Nick's eyes grew wide. A patch here and there was okay. Maybe they even could justify some painkillers for a dying person. But a shot of nanites? Those were reserved for the upper crust. Each injection was worth more than Nick could earn in a lifetime. There was just no justification.

"Eliza, we can't-"

"Nanite injection. Please!"

He never had seen her look at him like that. Scared. Determined. Hopeful? Nick withdrew the syringe with the nanites. The moment he handed it over, he knew they were doomed. Eliza committed a crime by requesting and administering the nanites. Nick's job was to prevent unnecessary spending of resources and now he was guilty of gross negligence. They would be tried in a court of law. Spend decades in prison. If they survived, they might see each other again as old people. Or never again. They were both doomed and they knew it.

Their eyes met. There was a nod. "Let's save as many as we can, while we still can."

"Break it up! Break it up! Break it up!"

The loud shout made Nick snap back to the present. Guards in riot gear had arrived and now circled around the remaining prisoners who had turned violent. Nick and the other inmates pushed back against the wall as much as they could. To give space and not get caught up in what was about to unfold.

The guards, as they moved in, encountered heavy resistance. Gone was the animosity of the prisoners for each other. A common enemy united them. But there was more. A few prisoners Nick had outed out as dead or dying jumped back to their feet. Had the riot been faked? A trap to lure in the guards?

Whatever the plan had been, it died with violence. The guards' brutality broke any resistance. The prisoners did get a few licks in but ultimately perished for their ambition.

"Shit! Jeremy!"

One of the guards was on the ground. Bleeding heavily. Nick took a step forward and was surprised by it himself. Another guard whirled around and pointed with a baton at Nick.

"Stand back! Or you'll end up like them."

Why had he stepped forward? This was crazy. Suicidal even. Eliza came to his mind. Her happy laugh, but also that look of determination. She would help. Even if it puts herself at risk.

"I used to be a medic," Nick urged the guard. "Let me take a look. It can't hurt, right? And we both know there is not a doctor on the premises. Let alone close to the prison. He'll bleed out before help arrives."

Another guard stepped forward. Not much older than Nick himself, but he was clearly in charge. He bore the scars that spoke of more than riots survived. "Let him through."

Nick didn't hesitate and kneeled down beside the young man. The bleeding wasn't as bad as he feared. Still, what weapon could penetrate riot gear? Certainly, nothing scrounged together within the prison. But it was the smell that alerted Nick.

"Whatever they used, it has nicked the intestines at least. Probably worse." For now, Nick used his hands to put pressure on the wound. "I need something to close the wound. A suture kit if you have it. Common needle and thread otherwise. Something to disinfect the wound."

The guards sprung into action. Finding a needle and thread was the easiest part. Most guards had a small sewing kit stashed away somewhere. Their uniforms were as patched as Nick's medic uniform had been. Next, a few first aid kits arrived. They barely contained anything. Used up and never refilled. Like anything else in the lower social groups. There was one needle that had been used before and sterilized after. Probably not as sharp as before, but it was better than a common sewing needle. The disinfectant arrived in the form of a half-empty squeeze bottle of hand sanitizer. It would have to do.

The operation, if one could call it that, was less than ideal. The lighting was bad and Nick had to widen the wound to get to the intestines. Finding the perforated part was easy. Stitching it up was not. Nick couldn't tell how much time had passed when he finally closed up the surface wound.

Once finished, the older guard took him to the side. "What are his chances?"

There was no reason to lie. It was better to be blunt and Nick didn't held back his verdict. "Fifty-fifty, if you keep the wound clean and let him rest. Higher if he can get to a hospital and proper care."

"Not likely," the guard grumbled. Then patted Nick on the shoulder. "There ain't much I can do for you with the higher-ups, but you have our gratitude. For whatever that is worth."

"Cole? Nick Cole? Is he still here?"

The question came from a new guard in a normal uniform. Just having arrived at the cafeteria and somehow looking quite out of place among the carnage.

Weary, Nick stood up. What had luck in store for him now? With the morning he was having, it wouldn't be good. "Yeah, I am here."

"I need you to come with me," the newcomer revealed. "You have a visitor."

Nick frowned. That was rather strange. The prison was far away from his former residence or workplace. It was doubtful that any of his remaining friends or acquaintances had made the journey out here. Eliza was locked up in another prison. Just like him. Who else could it be? The only person he knew that could be visiting him was his mother. Doubtful, as she had joined a new-fangled religious movement. In Nick's mind, New Dawn Revelation was a homicidal cult, but they somehow evaded the authorities. He didn't know how his mother got mixed up with them, but he was determined to stay clear of all that.

"I am not really presentable." Nick motioned with blood-drenched hands at the aftermath of the improvised surgery. His prisoner garb looked like he had taken part in the riot.

The new guard had the decency to appear flustered but didn't budge an inch. "The visitor is aware of the, uhm, circumstances. She still wants to see you. I am ordered to immediately take you to the visitation area. By order of the warden."

Nick's face distorted into a frown. Definitely not his mother. She had been born into the same social strata he had been later. Nick had a feeling he knew who was knocking on his door. But it couldn't be helped.

Getting properly ready was impossible and yet quick at the same time. He looked like a mess and the impression was only strengthened as he wiped his bloody hands on his prisoner uniform. With a nod, he indicated that he was ready. Following out of the cafeteria and through the labyrinthine hallways of the prison. It was large and by the time they reached their destination, a quarter hour had passed.

The person waiting for him was not what he had expected. She was surprisingly young for a mining company recruiter. The business suit he had expected. Not so much that it was covered in sequins of all colors of the rainbow. The subtle gradients invoked the imagery of fish scales. Strange for sure, but Nick wouldn't let that throw him off balance.

Deftly, he took a seat and started to speak up before she could. "Save it. I am not desperate enough to sign up for my brain to be scanned. Just so you can upload it into a tin can of asteroid miner, where I slowly go insane. No, thanks. I rather check out here than suffer up there until I have enough and ram myself into an asteroid. Are we done?"

Neither his hostile statement nor the angrily quirked eyebrow seemed to intimidate her. She even smiled. "Going straight to the point. You are a man of my taste, Mister Cole. And I agree. One hundred percent. Oh, where are my manners? My name is Brooke Davila and I am here as a representative of Nixen Luft- und Raumfahrt GmbH."

Perplexed, Nick stared at the offered hand. Pristine, soft, and clean. Quite unlike his own. She didn't even appear to be phased by his outburst. And the gall of that woman to act like this meeting wasn't already over. Normally, Nick was above playing games, but after the morning he had he might give it a try. He reached out and shook his hand. Taking his time so that as much of the dried blood would smudge her cleanliness as possible.

"I wish I could say it is a pleasure to meet you, but it isn't. My guess is I can't go back to my cell until you give me your whole spiel. So have at it, Miss Brooke Davila of whatever your company was called."

Brooke appeared to have the patience of a Saint. She gave a sensible chuckle at his outburst and didn't even try to clean the smudged dried blood off her hand.

"It's a mouthful, isn't it? Nixen is a German company. Pretty much translates to aviation and space travel. Took me a while to get it right. But alas, we have more important things to discuss. I am on a timetable. So let's get to the point. Nobody wants to be an asteroid miner. Suicide rates above ninety percent scare away most. A pity since mankind needs those resources now more than ever."

Nick leaned forward. "And now you're gonna tell me how this Nixen company you work for is different. What? You promise suicide rates ten percent lower? Fifteen? That I make it back alive. Rich and a hero. If it really is that important, why don't you go up there and save mankind."

Once again, Brooke weathered his hostility with calmness. Worse, she showed openly a knowing smirk. He had walked into some kind of trap, but of what kind?

"Oh, I will. You see, Mister Cole, I am not just empty words and promises. I know how it is up there. Me being one of the first eight volunteers of phase one. I spent eight months up there in the sea of stars and I haven't kicked the bucket or returned ready for the looney bin." Now Brooke leaned forward and closed the distance. Giving Nick a better view of the intensity that burned in her eyes. "And in two days, I'll join phase three. And let me tell you, I ain't coming back." Brooke broke eye contact to look at her hand. Flexing it a few times. Acknowledging for the first time the blood he had smudged her with. "This world is doomed, Mister Cole. But up there, it is pristine. The future. Nixen will have you believe that they hold the key to saving humanity. Maybe. Personally, I want to escape. To have more freedom." With a sigh, Brooke leaned back again. Relaxing slightly. "I am getting ahead of myself. Have you heard of biomechanical mimicry engineering?"

The question caught Nick off guard. For a moment, he had thought she wanted to recruit him by her conviction alone, but now she switched tracks. "Robots that mimic animals, right? I heard of robotic bees as the real ones died out."

"More than that, Mister Cole." Brooke pointed at the ceiling, but Nick knew she indicated something much higher. "We humans are made of flesh. We need it to keep sane. That's why all those uploaded robo-miners go mad. No one wants to be a tin can, Mister Cole. Nixen understood that. For the last two decades, they developed exactly that. Not robots that look like humans, but microscopic ones that interlink to build complex systems. Skeleton, muscles, skin, tissue, and organs."

As much as he wanted to dismiss her and call it bogus, Nick had to admit to himself he was intrigued. If true, this changed everything. For a moment, he envisioned himself floating in Space. Drifting among a sea of stars. No need to breathe or eat.

"That sounds too good to be true," Nick remarked eventually. "There was to be a snag. I haven't heard of anything like this. Not even remotely close to this scale. The miniaturization must be extreme."

"Well, true. We aren't capable of scaling down to human proportions yet. Nixen is cheating. Up there, we'd be about two and a half times the size of a normal human. Not that it matters. Everything we grow there is to our scale." Brooke held up her index finger as Nick was about to speak up. "Yes, we grow things up there. If we are talking about biomechanical mimicry engineering, it envelops all aspects of mining up there. Drones resemble fish or octopuses. Mining machines are planted and grow like trees, flowers, and bushes. I had a garden up there." She was quick to pull out a tablet PC from her bag. A few taps and then she handed the tablet to Nick. "Take a look for yourself."

For a moment, Nick had imagined a forest free-floating in space. But the landscape he laid his eyes upon reminded him more like an underwater scene. He could see corals and algae dotting the surface of ragged gray rock. Schools of fish swam through the fauna. But the blue of the ocean was missing. Instead, the blackness of space dominated the background. And then he noticed them. Scattered among the scenery were women going about their business. But they weren't quite human. Zooming in confirmed his suspicion.

"Mermaids?"

"In Space. Yeah, I know. Hard to believe." Brooke took back the tablet only to swipe a few times and hand it back. It was a group shot of eight mermaids. Floating among algae and beneath an ocean and stars. It wasn't hard to find Brooke. "That's me and everyone else from phase one. Believe me, it took me a while to accept it too. Nixen didn't just advertise an open position as mermaids. First, they rolled out an immersive virtual reality game. See if people can cope with being a mermaid. Then, they commissioned a study with long-term immersion. That's how they got to me. Once for three months and then for six. Still, when they revealed their real goal and asked me to participate, I needed a moment."

"Mermaids in space." Nick shook his head. Not to dismiss the notion but as a reaction to the audacity of this company. It appeared like they didn't do half measures."And now you need more. Mermaids. Well, merman in my case."

Brooke flinched. It wasn't a big gesture, but the first negative one she displayed since they had started their chat. "To be honest, no. The budget of Nixen was limited. So, they decided to focus on designing mermaids first. Mermen are planned for the future, but the design process just started. Now that the income from phases one and two are in it gives Nixen the liquidity. But I fear mermen aren't a thing for the next five to ten years. To be clear, if you sign on, it will be as a mermaid."

Maybe she was getting to him, but he actually gave it a short moment to think it through. Asteroid miners usually earned a share of the profits. One tour up there might not just wipe his debt off the table, but make him rich. And if Brooke was here then this Nixen company has to have a way to get him out of prison. It was tempting. Despite the thought of technically not being human anymore. Or being female.

Nick schooled his face. It wasn't strengthening his position if he revealed how much Brooke had already gotten to him. "Let's say I am not totally against the notion I might sign on. But why me? If you only have mermaids ready and not mermen, wouldn't it make more sense to recruit women?"

Instead of answering, Brooke pulled two folders out of her bag. Made from paper no less. One she placed on the table and Nick could read his name on it. She opened the second before he could read this one too.

"Eliza Mckenzie. Age thirty-two. Ambulance doctor. Good education and reviews. That is until one day she threw her career away by using restricted access medicine on undeserving patients." Brooke looked up to catch Nick's gaze. "Mind you, undeserving in the views of society. Nixen? They gobble people like her up. Those who haven't given up on humanity. Willing to put others before themselves. That is a rare trait these days. One you share with her."

Nick's eyes had grown wide. He had nearly given up on seeing her ever again. Had she recommended him? The conclusion was simple. "Eliza signed up to become a mermaid."

"Just about. There is just one snag. A little condition she has." Brooke put the folder away and steepled her fingers. "She agreed to become a mermaid only if you do too. Hence why I am here. Either you join up both, or we go up two heads short."

All the other questions, problems, and concerns fell away for Nick. There was only one thing on his mind: what was he willing to do to see Eliza again? To have a chance to tell her how he really felt.

Oddly calm, he addressed Brooke. "Where do I sign?"

Silently, Brooke opened up Nick's folder and withdrew a contract. Without even reading, Nick signed with an offered pen. Then, Brooke stood up. Motioning for Nick to follow. She walked straight up to the guard. Handing him a check and paperwork.

"Nixen Luft- Und Raumfahrt GmbH has taken Nick Cole under contract. This should cover his debt to the state and pay for the alternative punishment clause to commute his remaining prison sentencing."

And just like that, Nick was a free man. At liberty to go anywhere he wanted. As long as it was in the direct line to a rocket aimed for space.

Chapter 2 - First day in space

Nick woke up in a tight confined space in utter darkness. For a moment, he was confused. Couldn't remember how he came to be here, instead of waking up in his prison bunk bed. Instead being balled up in a shell that didn't leave much breathing room.

Then the memories came back. Brooke. His release from prison. Traveling further than ever before in a high-speed train going under the ocean. Arriving in a hospital where he would technically die. Just to be reborn in space.

"No turning back now," Nick whispered and then startled himself. Yes, his voice had a new pitch to it. Quite feminine. That, he had expected. But he was in space, right? How could he talk without air? The answer would elude him forever if he didn't get his butt moving.

With all his might, Nick pushed at his enclosure and cracks appeared. It fractured and came apart in pieces. They would have drifted away if not for a thin membrane connecting them all. Widening the gap, Nick could shrug it off and unroll himself. He had a tail. It was long - easily twice the size of his upper body - and had a few more fins than he expected. It was of a metallic silver color and Nick could spy tiny scales covering it.

Of course, there were other changes. One he had expected, yet in some aspect, they felt even more alien than the tail. The hardest to ignore were the breasts. But the slender arms and slim waist didn't go unnoticed. Nor did the long hair that floated behind his back.

Further examination eluded him as movement around him drew his attention. He wasn't the only mermaid freshly hatched. Nick could spy over a dozen that slipped out of large silvery eggs. Answering the age-old question for him: what came first? Mermaid or egg? They were colorful too. Most had scales in two complementary tones, but one boasted with three.

His eyes grew wide as he noticed Brooke seemingly swimming through space. Her tail appeared to be three times as long as other mermaids with larger fins that reminded Nick of sails. But this wasn't the only difference. At first, she appeared to be on the same scale as the other mermaids. But as she came closer, the size of her body grew. She aimed directly for Nick and as she pulled to a step beside him, he guessed her torso was four times his own. He didn't even dare guess how long the tail was. Her coloring was a mesmerizing display of teal and purple.

Brooke reached past him and caught the eggshell that Nick hatched out of and pulled it closer to him. "Don't let it float away."

A little stunned, Nick grabbed the shell by instinct. His mind was in a tumult. So many questions were on his mind that they jammed in his throat. Why was Brooke so huge? How could she speak? This was space. Soundwaves couldn't travel in a vacuum. For that matter, why was Nick breathing? There wasn't anything to breathe. He only got an answer to why he was supposed to hold onto the eggshell. As Brooke swam away, he could see other mermaids start breaking off chunks and munching on them as if they were nacho chips.

"Nick?"

He knew that voice! Nick twisted in space until he saw another silvery mermaid drifting not too far away. There was no doubt in his mind. Brooke had held her promise. They were reunited.

"Eliza! You are here. I had-"

"Everyone, can I get your attention?" The booming voice belonged to Brooke who had swam into the middle of the scattering of smaller mermaids. "Undoubtedly, you are all excited, but we need to get a few basic steps out of the way. Safety first, you understand? Most of you had extensive training, but we have two last-minute additions to our little group. Everyone, say hello to Eliza and Nick."

Suddenly in the spotlight, Eliza and Nick had to endure the usual cacophony of over a dozen people offering greetings at the same time. There clearly was curiosity in their eyes. Who were these two mysterious additions? The thought nearly made Nick chuckle.

As the murmurs died down, Brooke continued her spiel. "There was no time to teach them the basics, so please be patient with them. Eliza. Nick. Don't hesitate to ask. We start with basic maneuvering training in a moment. But before we do, make sure to recycle your eggshells. Yes, you can eat them. Even in space, we can't waste resources."

It wasn't hard to break apart a piece of the shell. Now that Nick dedicated some attention to it, he could see a geometric pattern on the inside of the shell in the form of triangles. Break away lines, he realized. He had cracked the shell along those lines as he hatched. A little hesitant, he bit into it. The fragment was metal, but it didn't taste like it. The closest parallel he could imagine was that of hard candy. There was sweetness, but also a melange of spices he couldn't identify. Overall, it didn't taste bad. He had eaten worse. If he was honest, probably most of his previous culinary experience paled to this taste.

"Okay, a little foundation first." Brooke gave an apologetic smile to the rest of the swarm of mermaids. "Eliza. Nick. Have you heard of Antonio Ortega, Isabel Demas, and their discovery?"

Nick could see Eliza shrug her shoulders, so it fell to him to save their honor and to not completely appear clueless. "If I remember right, they were physicists. They discovered some kind of fluidic subspace."

"They think they discovered a fluidic subspace," Brooke corrected. "They aren't sure. Nobody is. While experimenting, they found out that certain materials under the right current experience a form of additional drag they couldn't account for. Further examination revealed that this interaction mimics physical interaction with fluids. Not very practical on Earth, but here-"

Using her long tail, Brooke accelerated and swam loops around and through the mermaid swarm. Then she came to rest and continued her lecture. "We don't know if it is a higher, lower, or parallel dimension we tap into. But by dipping into it, we can create locomotion even in the void of space. Anything that would work underwater works here. Ship screws, jets, and such. But as Nixen prefers mimicking biological processes, we have tails. The mental jump to make our bodies mermaids wasn't huge."

Nick had wondered why mermaids of all things ever since Brooke first brought it up. But laid out like this, it made sense. The upper body of a human, because that's what they are familiar and comfortable with. Bringing along tool handling with their arms and hands. They could have gone with legs for normal "swimming", but that would be as inefficient as swimming in the ocean. Humans can do it, but not as well or efficiently as fish. Combining both was the best of both worlds. That Earth has matching mythology was a fortuitous coincidence.

"Now, all of you concentrate on your lower abdomen. A muscle is placed there that acts as a switch to engage what is commonly referred to as the Substrata. The effect Ortega and Demas discovered. If you think you got it, try to use your tail to accelerate. Be careful! Your tail is capable of higher acceleration than you might expect. Start slow. Those of you who are familiar with Kegel exercises might have an easier time to get it working."

Leaving his half-eaten shell aside, Nick tried the exercise like every other member of their little swarm. The first mermaid figured it out after five minutes. More gradually joined. One suddenly lurched with amazing speed and was gone from their sight in seconds. Brooke sighed and raced after the wayward mermaid. Urging the others to take it slow and carefully before she left.

After half of them managed to swim in space, someone joined Nick for company. The only silver-scaled mermaid besides himself. "Hey there." Eliza wasn't her usual outgoing self. She appeared concerned and unsure. "Gosh, you look so much like yourself, but different. They really nailed it. To be honest, I wasn't sure you would come. This is a lot and-"

There was hope in her eyes, Nick realized. They hadn't seen each other for over a year and now, they were reunited. Nick couldn't let this chance go by. "Of course, I came. Eliza, I have to tell you something. I-"

His confession of love was cut short as Eliza kissed him. It was a short urgent kiss, but as Eliza softened her kiss to judge his reaction, Nick didn't let go. Telling her his feelings by drawing her close and deepening their kiss. Close together - their tails entwined - they floated through space as if they were alone in the dark void. Only having eyes for each other.

Then whistles and cat-calling reminded them that they were anything but alone. Blushing, both separated. "We need to talk later," Nick whispered and Eliza gave a nod. Just then, Brooke returned with the wayward mermaid and the focus shifted to the practice again. Nick wasn't the last to figure it out. Thanks to some pointers from Eliza. But it was a close call.

"Looks like you all figured it out." Brooke motioned for them to get closer. "As Anne here found out - despite my warnings - you all are capable of amazing acceleration. You have to be careful. If you connect to the Substrata, only the necessary part for locomotion is submerged. This minimizes drag and amplifies locomotion. No mermaid has tried it yet, drones in tests reached zero point one c. That means ten percent of light speed."

Nick whistled as he concluded some minor calculations inside his head. "That's enough speed to reach Alpha Centauri in forty years or so. Within our lifetime."

"Well within. Technically, while you are mermaids, you don't age." Apparently, Brooke had heard him and fluidly picked up his line of thought. "It wouldn't even be forty years. At least not subjectively. Right now our brains are purely electronic mimicking our natural neural networks. We can slow down our processor on purpose. Cutting it by half, means subjectively time passes for us twice as fast. Quarter it and time passes four times as fast. And so on. Very practical for longer distance travels. Speaking of-"

Brooke grabbed poor Anne again. The mermaid looked like a child compared to the enormity of Brooke. "Anne here made another slight mistake. Once accelerated, she disconnected from the Substrata in panic. Without the Substrata, we travel like normal physical objects in space. What's in motion stays in motion. Nothing to break our speed save from some stray space dust and the solar winds. As such, we keep on traveling. To slow down you have to connect to the Substrata." Brooke clapped her hands excitedly. "Now eat up your shells. Time for some flying of maneuvers."

Nick had enough and couldn't help but raise his hand. "How the hell are we talking in space? Or clap. Even breathe. We are in a vacuum."

"Ah, right. You didn't have that part of the orientation." Brooke gave him a sheepish apologetic smile. "Breathing is normal for humans, so our breathing here is simulated. Down to how it feels to draw in a lung full of air. Same for speaking. As for sounds - voice included - we have a dedicated processor that analyzes events around us and creates appropriate sounds. So, the clap you hear is purely simulated. In addition, our speech is transmitted via radio waves. This means we can hear each other over vast distances. There are even private channels. I will show you how to access them later."

With his curiosity satisfied for now, Nick dedicated his attention to the remainder of his shell. Thankfully, eating it was more like a treat than a chore. But soon his attention was taken up by Brooke again. Among the large fins on her tail, smaller ones started to grow. They pushed outward as an oblong body followed. Until at last, they separated as a good copy of fishes. Drones, Nick reasoned. Once formed and separated, they darted off into the depths of space. Quickly vanishing in the distance.

Once again, Brooke clapped her hands to get the attention of all the mermaids. "Alright. Time to get a move on. Now, before you head off into the vastness of space, activate your HUD. It will assist you with navigating. Those of you who have experience in virtual reality gaming shouldn't have trouble activating it. If anyone has troubles, let me know."

Activating the overlay wasn't hard for Nick, but interpreting the wealth of information flooding him was. The system automatically added a projected plane into his view that represented the solar ecliptic. There was a crisscross of lines in the distance. Most of them were green, but a few were highlighted in tones ranging from red to yellow. Fascinating was the automatic measuring system provided. From head to tail, each of the mermaids was nine point one meters long. Save for Brooke, who was nearly sixty-five meters long and dwarfed them all. Three-quarters of it was her tail. Reminding Nick a little less of a mermaid and more of a Chinese dragon.

"What are the lines?" Eliza asked before Nick could.

"These are the projected paths of stellar orbits. Right now we are at a total stop. Not even orbiting the sun. This means we would eventually fall into her if we don't get a move on. It would take quite a while though. It also means that each object that orbits the sun right now travels at unfathomable speeds compared to us. They could squash us in a split second and we would never see it coming. Let alone dodge it. Crossing into a red line is certain death. As you accelerate to match orbits, lines may change to orange - risky - and yellow - save for now, but long term getting risky -. Green is safe at your current acceleration. Be aware. If you change speeds, safe paths might become risky, and dangerous ones might lose their teeth. In general, you should stay out of projected paths if you can help it."

Brooke looked around if any more questions popped up. Then gave a grin. "Let's see how good you can swim."

Spheres appeared in the distance. All white, except for the closest one that was colored blue and had a label attached: "Buoy One". A mere five thousand meters away. The challenge was clear and the more competitive mermaids wasted no time. Practically leaping at the opportunity to swim freely.

"Come on," Eliza urged as most mermaids had already started their sprint. As she started her chase, Nick needed a moment to collect himself. There had been that genuine smile he had missed in the last year. The one he had feared he would never see again. For the moment, that was the most precious feeling in the world for him.

Catching up with Eliza wasn't hard. Brooke was right. Mermaids were capable of unbelievable acceleration. After just a minute, Nick had already built up a speed of nearly a thousand kilometers an hour. The distance of five thousand kilometers appeared to be melting away. He could already see the lead mermaids homing in on the buoy. Not with his eyes. They were too far away. But the icons representing them inched steadily closer in his view.

Like the rest of them, Nick had missed one little detail. This "buoy" was mislabeled. Maybe on purpose. He had witnessed as the drone had emerged and sped away from Brooke. He shouldn't have been surprised that the drone could still move, but he was. Along with the rest of the leading mermaids, who suddenly overshot as the drone performed a quick evasion maneuver. Nick immediately flipped and tried to slow down to gain maneuverability, but it was too late. Just like the rest of them, he overshot.

Laughing could be heard from all the way back where Brooke caught up at a more steady pace. Clearly anticipating everyone falling for her trap. A moment later, Nick joined in. He had to hand it to her. It was a good lesson she just taught them. Rush and you might miss. Not to mention that the sequence of the chasers had just flipped. Nick suddenly was closer to the lead as he was one of the first to break to reduce speed. Now they all had to backtrack to return to the drone.

Nick needed two more passes to make the drone count his approach as valid. A last-minute break and a sharp turn finally placed him within fifty meters. Landing him squarely in the middle field as the race for buoy number two started. Now that they knew the drones could and would move, the mermaids split up in tactics. Most didn't go past moderate speeds and slowed down earlier. Not Nick. This was like the good old days of racing through the streets in his ambulance to quickly get to an emergency. But this time, it was purely for fun. It gave him a kick to accelerate and break quickly. Build up enormous speeds and chase those dodgy drones. He wasn't the only one. Two other mermaids gave him fierce competition. Not that Nick minded. It added to the challenge.

Homing in on the sixth buoy, Nick received a call on a private channel. "Would you slow down?" He could hear the barely suppressed laughter in Eliza's voice. "You aren't running away from something, right?"

"It's amazing, Eliza!" Nick's breathing was hard. Intellectually, he knew it was simulated. But it felt so right. As if he was running a marathon. "I didn't know it would be like this. Come on. Try to keep up."

"I normally don't chase tails," Eliza remarked. Then added dryly: "I guess I can make an exception for you."

For a moment, Nick was stunned. Was Eliza flirting? They never had crossed that boundary before. Always keeping it professional despite the mutual attraction. Then again, Nick remembered the kiss Eliza had planted on him. This distraction proved to be a mistake as he not only braked too late, but he spied Eliza sliding past him. Flying a tighter curve than him and managing to hit the buoy's radius.

"Come on, slow poke!" Her laughter was magnificent. "Keep up, will you?"

"Just you wait!" Nick promised, but couldn't suppress a wild grin.

"Waiting? I am not making it that easy for you!"

By the tenth and last buoy, neither had won first place. Not that Nick minded. He had beaten Eliza to second place by a tail length. Giving him the opportunity to tease her while they waited for the rest of the swarm to arrive. Five minutes after they had arrived, Brooke managed to catch up without much effort. While she must have been flown pretty fast, her approach looked almost leisurely.

"The first three. Congratulations." Brooke's words might have sounded sincere if it wasn't for the smirk on her face. "But always be reminded that going fast comes with the price of heightened energy consumption. I bet you are feeling it now."

Indeed, Nick felt exhaustion nip at him. Not the "I want to fall into the bed" kind of tiredness. More like the fatigue that hit after a good long run. He could see it on Eliza too. It felt natural too. For a moment, he had forgotten that technically his new mermaid body was just a machine. The tech-wizs at Nixen really had outdone themselves.

"Alright. Time to top you up."

So far, Nick had done his best to ignore the fact that they were all naked. But now, it was hard to do so. The mermaid that had won didn't even blink, before swimming up close to Brooke. Nick's jaw fell open as the mermaid latched onto one of Brooke's nipples and started to suck. Clinging to a breast that was larger than her torso.

"Eliza? Nick? I have another one that is free."

"That-" Nick futilely pointed at Brooke and the mermaid she was nursing. "Who the hell came up with that idea?"

"It's no big deal," Brooke assured them with a casual shrug. "Nixen developed a liquid polymer that is amazing at trapping and releasing free electrons without loss. But there was the question of how to transfer it. This appeared to be the best option to conform to mimicking biology and stay on theme for mermaids."

"No big deal?" Nick echoed. Concern tingling his voice. "There's got to be alternatives. Induction while holding hands. Exchange with those fish drones. A gosh-darn jumper cable."

There was laughter from Eliza behind him. Nick ignored it. Brooke remained calm as she squashed his arguments one by one. "Induction has a loss ratio that is less than ideal. Especially for the amount we have to transfer. Drones can transfer energy, but they take up a lot of material. You have to work up to that. And jumper cables might be nice, but they aren't meshing with the mermaid biology. We don't wanna be plain robots, right? That's the whole point of Nixen."

"I mean, I see some logic there. But still-"

Nick broke off as Eliza drifted over to Brooke. She gave him an apoplectic shrug. "It's a surprise, sure. But not that bad. It's only sexual if you make it so."

Nick wasn't convinced. "And there are no alternatives?"

"Well, your fins are actually not for navigating in the Substrata, but robust and flexible solar cells. Slowly recharging you." Then Brooke shrugged. "For someone your size, they at best supplement your power consumption. Later, you will be able to grow plants on asteroids that gather energy for you. Or you can grow out your fins like I did until you are self-sufficient. Both require more mass. Not an option for now as you need a lot of energy for the next few days in our training phase."

Nick needed a while to stomach the thought. To be nursed by another woman. He was an adult. This simply felt wrong. More mermaids arrived one by one. A few were hesitant, but they had known in advance of this little detail.

At last, only Nick remained. Eliza drifted over and tried a last time to convince him. "So, I talked to the others. We'll be calling it a night. That means everyone goes to their private virtual reality for the evening. Yes, we can share one if we have contact. But virtual reality needs a lot of processing power. In other words, energy. So you better top up. Because we need some privacy, don't you think?"

Nick took a deep breath of fake simulated air. Then gave a resigned sigh. "It's only sexual if I make it that, right?"

"You got it," Eliza assured him and then gave him a gentle push towards Brooke.

To say the situation was awkward was an understatement. The deed itself wasn't as bad as he had feared. But as he was the last mermaid to nurse and now everyone was watching. Well aware that he had expressed concerns. Once finished, Nick avoided eye contact with all while returning to Eliza. There was a blush on his face. Did the designers really have to add this feature to their robotic bodies too? It only made him feel more exposed.

Coming to a relative stop, Eliza and Nick held hands before they activated their virtual reality. The transition was very smooth. The inky blackness of space gave way to a milky white that solidified to walls. At the same time, Eliza faded out. Both things Nick noticed, but his mind was preoccupied with his body. Fluidly, his mermaid tail shrank, split, and formed into legs. His chest lost its female curves and broadened to his usual body. He reasoned the same would be true for his face. All in all, the transition took about a minute. Leaving him once again in a human body. Of course, only in virtual reality. Outside, he was still a mermaid.

He found himself alone in a white room of maybe twenty-five square meters. It definitely needed decorating. But before he got to it, a beeping alerted him that Eliza wanted to merge their spaces. Of course, Nick accepted. One wall vanished and revealed an exact copy of his room. And Eliza in a rather provocative dress.

"I like what you have done with the place," Eliza joked as she walked over. "But perhaps we need one or two pieces of furniture."

Nick shrugged. "Sure. Beats talking while sitting on the floor. Do you want to do the honors?"

Eliza nodded. Quickly opening up a menu and browsing through it. Nick expected a couch or some chairs. Instead, a large bed appeared. One Eliza pushed him onto.

"Talking can wait."

A moment later, Nick wholeheartedly agreed.

Chapter 3 - 1 day in space

Nick woke the next morning to a slight beeping sound. It left him disoriented. Where was he? Then he noticed the body of Eliza spooning next to him. Right. This was virtual reality and they were in space. As mermaids. He had lived through the first day as such and still had trouble believing it.

Extracting himself from Eliza, Nick made his way to one of the white walls that had a small panel with blinking lights. One message was by Brooke. Giving them notice that the next training day would start in one and a half hours. The other was by a man named Otto.

"Greetings Mister Cole." Blue eyes stared at Nick. Otto was looking rather frumpy with blond hair and a wide face. "My name is Otto and I am the technical adviser for Brooke's pod. You won't find me as one of the mermaids. Rather my neural pattern is tucked away by Brooke and is only started up when needed. If you have any questions regarding your new body, you can direct them to Brooke and I will answer them the next time I wake up in virtual. But for now, let's start with the basics that you and Miss Mckenzie missed. First, you might want to customize your mermaid body's colors."

Nick paused the video message to gently wake up Eliza. She probably needed to hear this too. Chances were she had a similar message waiting for her, but he reasoned they might as well watch it together. While they both watched, Eliza and Nick enjoyed a big breakfast. Not that they needed to eat. It was virtual after all. But they now had the chance to try delicacies they would never be able to afford previously on Earth.

"Really? All Blue? Let me-"

Apparently, Nick's taste in colors was a bit lackluster. After a bit of prodding by Eliza, he left his choice of colors to her. The end result was a silvery teal for him with purple and ruby red accents. Nick wasn't completely sold on it but doubted he could do better. Eliza chose a silver pink for her tail with orange and yellow accents. He had to admit, it suited her. Once their selection was fixed, it was time to get on with the program. Brooke was waiting.

The next three days pass in a blur. Rather than just race around, Nick and his fellow mermaids trained in flying formation and they tried to be economical about it. Space is vast, as Nick started to realize all over again. Running out of juice might have him drift off not just by hundreds of kilometers, but astronomical units. Of course, after each day they had to top up by drinking Brooke's milk. A happenstance Nick still wasn't happy about, but begrudgingly he made his peace with it. And in the evening, Eliza made sure they tested out how robust virtual reality was.

Of course, not everything was work and play. "Is it true?" one mermaid asked while they flew a stretch of space in formation. "Rumor is that you were a man."

"Still am," Nick admitted while being flustered. Did the makers of their mermaid bodies really have to add the ability to blush? "At least in virtual reality."

"I thought they only recruited women. How did you get into the program?"

"He came with me," Eliza drifted over.

"The only tail around to chase and he is taken," another mermaid complained.

"That's right!" Eliza hugged him tightly. "He's mine."

Nick felt oddly proud to be claimed by Eliza like that. As if he was a treasure Eliza had found and now cherishes. "Well, there is Otto," he volunteered to mollify the mermaid.

"The advisor?" The mermaid shook her head. "Rumor is Brooke is rather protective of him if you get my drift. Who knows how often she consults him for 'technical expertise' late at night."

"Well, if you want to chase tail." Eliza had a mischievous grin on her lips. "Every mermaid here has one."

The mermaid rolled her eyes. "Very funny." Then took her leave as she knew she was on lost ground. The other mermaids scattered shortly after and they resumed flying in formation.

"Eliza. Nick. You are with me." The mermaid in question was Sidney. A volunteer from Australia. She was their group leader and the first point she made was that she was very aware that her parents were not very creative when naming her. She collected five other mermaids before continuing. "Alright. This is it. We will start our journey to asteroid X9221-A in a moment. If you haven't topped up your energy with Brooke, do so now. There won't be a chance for the next few days. Once there, we will prepare the asteroid for mining and do the first dig. Any questions?"

Of course, there were none. By now, they had rehashed the plan a few times. Three groups will venture forth to different asteroids. Leaving Brooke behind. Until they returned, they had to make do with the energy they got. Sadly, it meant Eliza and Nick would have to ration their time in virtual reality. The trip of four days will go by faster than that. Once accelerated to cruising speed, the mermaids will reduce the processing speed of their neural networks so that the passing time feels barely like more than half a day. Then, they had to decelerate and catch up to the asteroid. Once there they had to prepare it. Which would be the trickiest part.

But until then, Nick and Eliza flew through the vastness of space hand in hand.

Chapter 4 - 8 days in space

It was a strange feeling to produce drones. Nick had witnessed Brooke building some. Or rather, grow. But it was different to experience it himself. It started with small fins on his tail. They started to protrude outward as small bodies formed. At last, a fishlike head formed and the drones separated from Nick. Each drone was about a meter in length and looked like a miniature swordfish. Having a long serrated spear-like nose. It would help anchor them to the asteroid.

X9221-A, their target, floated barely two hundred meters before them. The asteroid wasn't very large. Nick's HUD supplied measurements. Nearly six hundred meters at the widest part and just shy of four hundred at the narrowest. It reminded Nick of a giant potato. X9221-A was slowly tumbling through space. Rotating by a mere three degrees per second. Still enough to flatten a mermaid who came too close.

Colorful markers appeared on the asteroid. Placed by Sidney. The group leader had more extensive training and knew how to tackle this hunk of rock. "Anne. You first." The mermaid chosen by Sidney drifted closer to the asteroid with her four drones in tow. It took a moment of patience and then her drones darted forward. Impacting the asteroid. Built sturdy enough, they survived the crash and anchored themselves against the regolith. Then used their tiny tails to offset the huge rotational momentum of the asteroid.

Nick and his swarm were sixth in the line-up. By now, the first two swarms of drones had spent their energy and X9221-A had bled off over half its momentum. Sidney adjusted the target points for Nick's drones again and again before giving him the okay to proceed. He had practiced a few times in virtual reality to nail drone placement, but the actual task was a little more nerve-wracking. Still, all of his drones landed within a meter of the target. Well within tolerance.

After four hours and all of their drones spent, X9221-A came to a rest. Having bled off all its rotary momentum. Now it was safe for them to approach. The first task was that each Mermaid retrieved their drones. Technically, they could just reabsorb them, but as Nick found out, they smelled too good for that. They all opted to eat the drones as a means to recycle them.

Nick had to admit, it was a bit strange to smell in space. Of course, there was a reason. Mermaids flourished by mining asteroids. To that end, they had sensors to detect metal within the regolith. Having the result as an overlay in their HUD could prove to be distracting at the wrong moment. Instead, the engineers of Nixen had the idea to couple the sensory information for mermaids with the sense of smell. Giving them a hint about where to dig. It also means that already processed metal in the form of spent drones smelled very appetizing. And just like the shell they hatched out of, the blend of metals was delicious.

"Alright. We stabilized X9221-A," Sidney proclaimed after their meal. "I am officially opening the asteroid up for mining. To each mermaid their own, but remember to keep civil."

This was it. Nick and Eliza's chance to strike gold. Or other valuable metals. Dig. Eat. Grow. All the materials they accumulated were used to grow their body size. At the end of their turn, the mermaid’s body would be broken down into compound metals and sold off. Making them all rich. Of course, their future wealth depended on how good they were at mining. Making for a competitive atmosphere between the mermaids. Not that Eliza and Nick cared. Together they looked for a spot to start their dig.

"These look wicked!" Eliza looked mesmerized at her claws and Nick had to agree.

In order to dig, they could shift their fingers to claws. They looked sharp and hopefully were a good tool for digging. Still, Nick had his doubts. "I so hope I don't get an itchy nose."

"Stop it!" Eliza swatted at him with the back of her hand. Giggling slightly. "Now I kind of feel like I have to scratch."

Together, they started to dig a tunnel. It was surprisingly messy. While most of the regolith could be extracted as chunks, there was a lot of dust too. It was sticky too and clung to their form. Muting the colors Eliza had chosen for them. There was a system to dispel static charge and get rid of the dust, but it needed energy. Making Eliza and Nick only use it when the dust got too much.

"Do you smell that?" Nick asked after an hour and a half.

Eliza stopped and gave it a sniff. "Smells like chocolate." A few more sniffs gave her a sense of direction. "About there. What do you think it is?"

"Only one way to find out," Nick said while shrugging. Then, he adjusted the direction of her tunnel by a few degrees and kept digging.

An hour later, they had their answer as they hit a copper vein. Of course, it tasted like chocolate too. At first, there were only traces, but soon they ate chunks of it.

"Let's start a new mine," Nick suggested while they had an impromptu picnic. Devouring a few chunks at the entrance of their mine. "We can't just grow on copper."

"Iron would be good. And any noble metals." Eliza took a few bites and looked deep in thought. "Having a mine for each mermaid for each metal would be very ineffective. We should catch up with the others later. Maybe we can do some trade."

Nick gave it some thought. "How about you try to sniff out a new mine and I'll dig up a few big chunks of copper as party favors?"

Their tasks set, they got to work. By the time they were done for the day, Nick had gotten out a few big chunks of copper. Eliza hadn't found a good spot for metal, but she had sniffed out a potential spot for silicates. That was a big find for Nick.

"We need silicates for our fins," he explained when Eliza was dismissive of the find. "The bigger our fins, the more solar energy we can gather. Making us less dependent on Brooke. It's also necessary if we want to get mining plants running in the future."

Eliza shook her head. "There ain't sunshine in the tunnel of our mine. Besides, if you have big fins, you'll have trouble getting into tunnels. And before we can get started on mining plants, we need a whole bunch of noble or rare metals. What's this about? Still hung up about needing milk from Brooke? I thought you got used to it."

Nick winced slightly. "I did. It is just, it's not my favorite aspect of all of this. But there is another reason we might want to dabble with silicates early."

That got Eliza's attention. "Which is?"

Nick couldn't help but give a small smirk. "More spare energy for VR."

"Hmm." Eliza pretended to think about it for a second. "I guess we could dip into the silicates a little."

A few hours later, all the mermaids gathered in a spot as if they had agreed upon beforehand. A few even brought samples of their mines, just like Nick and Eliza did. A few had found iron. It was curious that they didn't taste the same. Depending on the blend with other minerals, their flavor was slightly different. The mermaid Jia from China had struck gold. Literally, as she produced quite a few nuggets of the precious metals. Apparently, the noble metal was more abundant in space than on Earth as Jin said she had found a huge vein.

"So, Nick." Sydney took a moment of quiet to swim close to Nick. "Have you found a name yet? Surely you must have given it some thought."

Nick scratched his head. "What do you mean? A name? For what?"

He noticed a barely suppressed rolling of her eyes. "For your mermaid self." Sydney inched closer. "You know the maid in mermaid stands for Maiden, right?"

Nick looked at her skeptically. "Is that really necessary? I am still a guy."

"In VR, sure," Eliza came to his rescue. Just to plunge a knife into his back a moment later. "But not out here. She has a point."

"How about Nikki? That's close to your human name," Sydney suggested. She wasn't the only one who took the opportunity.

"Nicole could work too." "How about Nika or Nikita?"

"Uh, I like Nikita!" Eliza decided. Getting a look of betrayal from Nick.

"None of those," Nick decided. "Just Nick is fine. Pretend I am a tomboy mermaid."

Eliza put her hands on Nick's shoulders. "Give her time. She just needs to hear the right name and then it will come naturally."

"I wouldn't count on it." Nick crossed his arms. Others might have sworn to see a pout too. And despite his claim that Nick was fine as a name for a tomboy mermaid, he got plenty of suggestions until Eliza and he retired for the night.

Chapter 5 - 41 days in space

"You eat all the time and still, you are only fins and bones."

Nick gave a deadpan look at Eliza's joke. Yes, he focused a little more on growing his tail and the fins. The latter would provide him with more passive energy regeneration and the longer tail helped to store whatever he accumulated.

Of course, as a consequence, his torso hadn't grown much larger. Which resulted in Eliza becoming slightly larger than him. As long as one discounted the tail. Just like all the other mermaids she concentrated on the even growths of all parts. Resulting in larger arms and claws. Making digging easier. Nick couldn't help but feel like he was falling behind a little. Despite knowing that this wasn't a race. He could grow his mermaid body at his own pace. Granted, the payout at the end of their mermaid tour depended on the size he would achieve. Still, Nick didn't regret his decision. So far.

"I'll have you know I have a completely healthy amount of body fat. Body metal? I am just tall. Well, long." Swimming lazily through space, Nick scooped up a chunk of Palladium he had traded for. "Besides, what's the rush?"

"We are getting ready for the trip to Brooke." Eliza put her hand on her hips. "Come on, Ninita. The others are waiting."

Nick gave her a suffering look. A new nickname by Eliza. First, it was Kita. Short for Nikita. Then Nina. Now she appeared to have smashed both together.

"Have fun." Nick couldn't help but give a mischievous grin. "I am not going."

"What do you mean you aren't coming?" Eliza eyed him skeptically. "Don't tell me you still aren't over the nursing thing."

Nick shrugged. “It's a huge waste of time, you know? We have made the trip three times already. Eight days for a round trip just to top up energy. Twenty-four days were lost due to travel. Well, I crunched the numbers. If I stay here, with my passive energy accumulation, I have one more day of digging. Helping me catch up to you all. Besides, you have to trade for the milk with resources. I can hoard mine. Overall, I am coming off way better.”

Eliza nodded along, but her pout grew with each sentence. “Except, we won't see each other for eight days.”

She got him there. Surely, Nick would miss her, but he was prepared for the argument. “Subjectively, it will be more like two days for each of us. You'll skip most of the travel time by down-clocking. Same for me while I nap and accumulate energy.”

Playfully, she cuffed him against the arm. “You thought of everything, have you?” She sighed as Nick nodded. But when she looked up at him, he knew she had just thought of something. “So, it takes you four days to accumulate a full charge?”

“Three and a half,” Nick corrected. “Leaving me one day for mining.”

Their minds were currently digitally simulated neurons, but Nick could swear he could see Eliza's mental gears spin. “So, if we combine that with my passive regeneration, we could gather a whole charge for one mermaid in about two and a half days. Giving us three mining days for one mermaid and a little extra energy.”

“I think your math is a little off,” Nick pointed out. “Even if it is two and a half, I won't collect as much energy while digging. If we share the energy it will last us half a day. So, we have a full digging day each after six days. There won't be enough time to gather energy for a third rotation.”

Eliza looked at him deadpan as if he had said something stupid. After a moment, she clued him in. “If you concentrate on gathering energy full time we can stack it three times. All the mining will be done by me. So, you can laze around if you want and I do the hard part.”

“We do share fifty-fifty, right?” If so, Nick would make half again what he would do alone and Eliza would benefit too. Not to mention that they wouldn't have to split. “I think it's a deal.”

She nodded enthusiastically while swimming away. “I tell the others we stay here. Don't go anywhere. I can't wait to find out if your milk tastes different than Brooke's.”

Nick barely suppressed a groan. He should have known there would be a drawback. Finally, he could avoid nursing from Brooke, but now he had unwittingly agreed to nurse Eliza. What a mess. “It is only sexual if you make it,” he reminded himself. Repeating the mantra a few times. Maybe if he said it enough times, he believed it.

Chapter 6 - 71 days in space

Just like nursing from Brooke, nursing Eliza wasn't as bad as he had feared. It was just that there were a lot of social conventions surrounding the topic that Nick had a hard time shaking off. By now, it was a daily occurrence and slowly, he got used to it. Since their first stint at X9221-A alone, both had focused on resources that would expand Nick's energy production. Now, three weeks later, he had enough for the both of them and a little over. The problem now was that his fins were too big and unwieldy to still go digging. Leaving most of the digging to Eliza.

“Hey, Jia,” Nick greeted the Chinese mermaid as she swam over. Pushing a big chunk of platinum before her. “Don't tell me you want to carry that to Brooke. It might slow you down a lot.”

“It is not for Brooke,” the petite mermaid corrected him. Like Nick, Jia had a proportionally longer tail than most mermaids. Minus the big fins he had. Jia hadn't mentioned it, but Nick assumed it was part of her heritage that made her choose this form. It resembled a little the dragons of Chinese mythology. “I came here to trade.”

Offering material for access to a mineshaft of another mermaid wasn't uncommon. It was the way they ensured a balanced diet for a space mermaid. Though Jia had brought more than usual.

“You brought enough to rent our mineshaft for days. We will save you some space once you get back.”

“What if I am not going?” Jia swam a little closer. Not that it mattered. Technically they talked via radio waves and they could be kilometers apart and understand each other just fine. “I know you and Eliza are a couple, but I have to know. Is that deal you have exclusive?”

Nick's eyes went wide. “Are you talking about buying my energy?”

“I mean, yeah.” Jia appeared a bit unsure herself but pushed forth nonetheless. “It's got to be more efficient than swimming all the way to Brooke. And it isn't much different if I buy milk from you or her. Same difference, right?”

“Give me a moment to think about it.” But instead of doing so, Nick called Eliza on a private channel and explained the situation.

“I don't think there is a problem with that,” Eliza remarked after a short moment of contemplation. “Provided you are game. You already produce more than enough for the both of us. Shouldn't be hard to cut Jia in.”

“And you really don't mind? I mean, if I share with Jia, I could cut my take from fifty percent down to say forty. But sharing is kinda intimate.”

Nick could practically hear Eliza roll her eyes. “You have to remember that we are mermaids now. There are other social norms we abide by. You have to get over your hesitation. Always remember-”

“It's only sexual if I make it so,” Nick intoned the mantra before Eliza could. “Alright. I'll cut Jia in. But you better bring some silicates for me. Somehow I doubt the others will hold out on this too long.” After Eliza sent him a quick affirmation, Nick turned back to Jia. “Alright. I am game. Let's talk exchange rates.”

Nick couldn't quite match the prices Brooke demanded for her milk, but that was okay. He called the little bit extra a convenience fee. Jia would still come out ahead. And any other mermaid who was up for it. And with rising production of energy, he could lower his prices even more. Cutting out Brooke completely. Hopefully, she wouldn't mind.

Chapter 7 - 104 days in space

“Good morning, sleepy head.”

Nick rose slowly and stretched. Finding a skimpingly dressed Eliza beside him in the large overgrown bed he shared with her in virtual reality.

“Not really morning,” Nick corrected her. “How was your workday?”

By now, all but two mermaids of their group frequented Nick for his milk. As they only needed to refill every so often, Nick had a lot of free time to laze around in virtual or nap. Of course, Eliza had permission to join his virtual space any time she liked.

“Same old. Same old. Lots of rock.” Something was wrong. Eliza had some mischief in her voice, but Nick failed to notice why. “What's new with you, Ninita?”

That nickname again. Nick ignored it for now. “I was watching the news and-” Now that he pointed at the muted screen with the broadcast, Nick noticed why Eliza was amused. “I can explain.”

“Why you are a woman even in virtual reality?” She leaned back with a wide grin. “By all means, I am all ears.”

“I just forgot to switch to a male body.” Nick tried to sound nonchalant. “It happens. I must have dozed off while watching the news.”

Eliza nodded along, but her mirth didn't diminish one bit. “Except you automatically transition from mermaid to man when entering virtual reality.”

“Well-” Bick knew she got him there. “I should have told you. It's nothing really. The transition is just a bit jarring and too much at once. Especially now since I have spent a lot of time as a mermaid. So, I switched it to a female body. Not for long. Half an hour to acclimate. Then I usually switch to my normal male body. In fact, it is time I-”

“Hold on!” Eliza interrupted and even went so far as to topple Nick to pin him under her. “I didn't even get a close look at human Ninita. I wanna see.”

“Fine.” The one word was followed by a sigh. “Just keep this between us, alright. The others don't need to know.”

“I think the others would be fine if you explored your feminine side a little bit more. So would I.” She leaned down to plant a kiss on Nick's lip. Then, she didn't stand up but started to whisper in his ear. “You know how we always say it isn't sexual when you nurse us? Wanna find out the difference if I do make it sexual?”

Nick was stunned. Not just by the offer itself. He hadn't known that Eliza was into women too. And he thought he knew her pretty well. But the hungry look in her eyes spoke volumes. Not trusting his own voice, Nick nodded.

“Good girl,” Eliza purred. Going right to work.

Except that Nick saw something flash in the periphery of his vision. “Hold on. What's that?”

Eliza was about to protest but then saw what had caught Nick's attention. The muted broadcast showed a news anchor frantically reading his lines. In the background, a burning building could be seen. Not for long as it switched to a clip of another building just as an explosion ruptured the facade. Pictures and clips kept coming. Never showing a building twice. By the time they had shown a dozen, Nick turned up the volume.

“- widespread attacks of foreign and domestic targets.” The news anchor wiped sweat from his forehead. He looked pale. “We are now getting an official statement from the New Dawn Revelation organization.” The news anchor scanned the document. Not reading it aloud but the emotion of disgust clear on his face. “What a joke. The leadership of the NDR blames radicalized splinter groups. Officially disavowing involvement. Over fifty locations were attacked. That can't be-”

“Remember the day that -” It was clear to Nick that she meant the fateful day they gave their lives away to save others. “That was New Dawn Revelation too, wasn't it?”

“Suspected,” Nick corrected softly. “It was their M.O., but to strike at this scale? I hadn't thought they were big enough.”

“We are now switching to Connor Lanks. A professor of social studies who had studied the New Dawn Revelation movement for the last few years.” The burning buildings made way for an older gentleman. “Thank you professor Lanks for speaking with us. As a foremost expert on the topic can you answer us one crucial question: was this attack predictable?”

“It was and we did.” The professor looked grim. Guilt and shame were evident. “We underestimated the scope. Working with the authorities we not only saw the attacks coming but actively raided and arrested a few cells. What we didn't even fathom was the scale of the attack.”

“As hard as it may sound to believe, you are saying it could have been worse,” the newscaster summarized. “For those unfamiliar with the New Dawn Revelation movement, can you tell us who they are and what their goals are?”

The professor straightened up. Clearly, this was more his environment as he prepared for a small lecture. “The NDR started as an offshoot of Christianity and incorporated a few beliefs from other religions. Their main tenet is that we ruined Earth - likened to Garden Eden - by overpopulation and developing advanced technologies. Their goal is nothing of near genocide of the human race. Bringing them down from twenty billion to around one hundred million. By any means necessary.“

“You said they blame advanced technologies,” the newscaster brought up, while new pictures of attack sites were shown. Many of those industrial complexes. “Is this why they targeted key infrastructure nodes and big industrial sites?”

Professor Lanks nodded gravely. “In their minds, we must return to a pre-industrial revolution society. They target infrastructure to cause large-scale humanitarian cri-”

“We just got news of a new wave of attacks,” the newscaster interrupted. “It appears they have- Oh my God.” He looked ill and if he had to force himself to continue. “We just received confirmation that the whole subcontinent of India has gone dark.”

The screen switched to a satellite image from above Earth. It was nighttime in Europe, Africa, and Asia. Human civilization could be seen by the many dots of lights that indicated cities and towns. Except India and the surrounding countries. The utter darkness here was a stark contrast.

“There are over six billion people there.” The murmur of the newscaster probably wasn't even meant for the audience. “Without energy they all-”

The newscast abruptly cut off. Leaving Nick and Eliza stunned in silence. She squeezed his hands in a quiet moment of solidarity. It only took a few commands to the computer to find out that further damage to Earth's infrastructure had been done. A good third of the satellites had malfunctioned and plunged into the atmosphere. Crippling communication. Nick sent out a ping to Nixen on instinct, but a round-trip would take minutes to get back to them. For now, they were in the dark.

“What can make people do something like that?” Eliza's question wasn't directed at anyone. “This is madness. Just how many people will die? And for what?”

“My mother joined them. A few years ago.” Shame filled Nick. Even by association. He wanted to be as distant from those abhorrent actions as possible, but there was a tin connection. “It caused a big fight between us. Haven't spoken to her since. Don't even know if she is still-”

Eliza drew him into a hug. It was all she needed to do to show that she was there for him. Probably needing it too. Dark days lay ahead for mankind. If anything this event had made that fact clear.

After a while, Eliza rewound the broadcast. Not all the way. It was in the middle of the interview with Professor Lanks that she paused the replay. The building of Santos Mercantile Mining was shown. Black billowing smoke rose into the sky. It took Nick a moment to figure out why Eliza had paused at this moment. It wasn't that Santos Mercantile Mining was a space mining operation. One that used old tech with trapped people in tin cans and high suicide rates. In the background, some distance away, and half covered by smoke, another building stood. It didn't appear damaged. What stood out was the company flag of Nixen Luft- und Raumfahrt GmbH.

Eliza was quiet and somber as she spoke. “If this goes on, we might not be able to return home.”

Nick nodded. “We might not even want to.”

Space was their home for now. They had made their peace with it. But now, both were confronted that it might take them longer to get home. Or that they never would.

Chapter 8 - 166 days in space

The next two months were depressing times. It had taken four days to reestablish communication with Nixen. The wave of attacks was cut off. Most countries declared martial law to get a hold of the situation. But the news kept coming. The damage to the infrastructure was just too great and many regions declared a humanitarian crisis. At the forefront India and the surrounding countries. Whatever help they got, it was too little.

There was a feeling of guilt for Nick and Eliza. They were safe up in space. Away from danger. Without immediate fear for their own lives. A feeling they shared with every other mermaid around them. The only means they got to help was to mine further. Instead of hoarding all the minerals they mined, Nick was sending a lot of them on. So did the others. It wouldn't help right now, but they hoped it would support the rebuilding effort that Earth needed.

The need to mine as fast as they could also had the unintended side-effect that all mermaids in their group now preferred getting energy from Nick, rather than Brooke, who was still days of travel away. Or so they thought, as a soft chime woke Nick and Eliza.

“Didn't you fill everyone up, Ninita?” Eliza asked, bleary-eyed. The virtual reality was good enough to give her tousled hair from sleeping. Or was it from last evening's activities.?

The use of the female nickname reminded Nick. A quick check confirmed it. Yes, he was currently in his female form. Or rather, she was. By now, half of her time in virtual, she was Ninita. The other half, she was good old Nick. Somehow, she had the sneaking feeling that Eliza wouldn't mind if the percentage shifted more towards Ninita's advantage.

“Uh, oh.” Ninita winced as she saw who had knocked on their door. “It's Brooke asking to join our virtual session.”

Eliza's laugh might have annoyed Ninita if it didn't have a heavenly feel to her. “Someone is in trouble. Maybe she is pissed that you stole all her customers.” Eliza slipped out of their bed and with a few quick commands made herself presentable. Gone was the bed hair and nightgown. They were replaced by a complicated hairstyle with many braids and a stylish dress.

“Not all,” Ninita murmured as she slipped out of the bed. She already missed its warmth and the body heat from Eliza. Knowing full well that both were simulated, but easily forgotten in the moment. “She has two other groups, right? I didn't pilfer those.” Ninita got dressed too, but her clothing style hadn't evolved much. Jeans and a T-shirt. Just what Nick would have worn. Except that she had to make concessions to the female body and wore a bra and panties.

By now, Ninita had enough juice to simulate more than one room. The living room they walked into had been designed by both of them. The process had been easy. Nick suggested something and was promptly shot down by Eliza. Who then presented an alternative. Granted, those were usually better. Overall, Nick had maybe contributed twenty percent to the room. Now slightly expanded as Ninita snuck here and there little changes in. Either Eliza hadn't noticed or she agreed with them.

Inviting Brooke in was as easy as opening the front door and letting her in. Except they got a little surprise as the technician Otto walked in after her.

“I must be in big trouble,” Ninita remarked after the general pleasantries had been concluded. “Brooke brought back-up.”

Otto gave a few amused nods. “I am actually here as legal representation of Nixen, rather than as a technician. But don't worry. You are not in trouble. One might say we are here to talk you into some.” The German accent was slightly more pronounced than that of the mermaid Anne, but he was still easily understood and fluent.

“I am actually here more as a witness,” Brooke volunteered. “Provided we come to an agreement.”

“So, I am not in trouble for poaching your clients?” Ninita still had her doubts but was willing to listen. “What is this all about then?”

“It actually is about you poaching her mermaids.” Otto gave a short chuckle but continued before Ninita could worry too much. “Nixen wants as much of being a mermaid to be natural. That includes social dynamics. Brooke was positioned precisely and intentionally at a point that required extended travel times for all three of her groups. The goal was to naturally see who fills the spot for each group.”

“Nixen was actually surprised that it was you.” Brooke leaned slightly forward. “No offense, but they had doubts about a man adjusting to be a woman and mermaid in the first place. It couldn't have been easy for you. But here you are. A woman in virtual and you've taken on a female name.”

“I haven't exactly chosen the name for myself,” Ninita said to Brooke while giving Eliza a pointed dirty look. “I guess it makes sense to have a female name while I am out there as a mermaid. But in virtual I am only sometimes a woman.”

“Most of the time,” Eliza piped up.

“About half,” Ninita corrected before the perception of her was shifted too much.

Otto stepped in to cut this line of inquiry short. “Doesn't matter much as long as you are comfortable with it, right? And while it was unexpected that you stepped up as pod mother, it is still a pleasant surprise. You see, we need pod mothers. Now even more than before.”

Ninita took a moment to think it through. Once she had gathered her thoughts, she laid them all out. “I actually thought my time as an unofficial pod mother was coming to an end. We now have enough rare materials to start planting automated miners and energy infrastructure. Soon, the mermaids here won't be needing my energy.” Ninita fell silent for a moment and then gave herself a nod. “You want me to oversee a new pod. Probably with newcomer mermaids.”

“Very perceptive of you.” Clearly, Otto looked pleased that Ninita had arrived at this conclusion. “The term you have signed on with is only half done, but we would like to negotiate an extension with the shift of responsibilities to being a pod mother. You probably follow the troubling news from Earth. The recent attack by the New Dawn Revelation movement has a lot of people scared. Sadly, the sentiment that technology will be the downfall of mankind is growing. But the opposite is also true. More people look to companies like Nixen to find salvation for mankind. Among them, many are leaders of countries. Nixen had a recent influx of financial subsidies with the added responsibility to speed up and expand the growth of mermaid numbers.”

Ninita reached over to take Eliza's hand. “We actually had talked about going the same route as Brooke did. Buy a license from Nixen to stay mermaids. Maybe working as independent contractors. Going back to Earth is not very appealing at the moment.”

Eliza gave a squeeze and took over. Probably to show that they were on the same page on this. “If things deteriorate further, all the wealth we could accumulate for ourselves wouldn't mean much. Things will probably get worse on Earth before they get better. And up here we can live comfortably. In virtual we can live just as good or even better than on the surface.”

“What about Eliza?” Ninita asked and drew not just looks from Otto and Brooke, but also from her girlfriend. “Will Nixen mind if she hangs around while I play pod mother? Maybe she can help me a bit shepard the newcomers.”

“Or she can become a pod mother too,” Brooke suggested. “From my pod, three potential pod mothers emerged. One enterprising mermaid in group one followed your example. Group three took a bit longer. They actually voted on who of them would take over the role of pod mother. And, of course, we have you. The expected growth rate Nixen aimed for.”

“Except now, things have changed,” Otto reminded them. “With the new expansion goals, I wouldn't be surprised if half of Brooke's pod got the offer to become pod mothers themselves. If Brooke and I suggest Eliza, Nixen will be sure to offer her a pod mother position. And yes, we checked beforehand. There are spots that require two pod mothers in close proximity. So, you both wouldn't be separated by duty either.”

Eliza gave a soft chuckle that turned into one of her brilliant laughs. “There goes our planned tour of the solar system. But I must say, I am intrigued. And we would help both, Nixen and Earth.”

Ninita lifted Eliza's hand to her lips for a quick kiss. “It's not canceled. Just postponed. I promise.”

Over the next half hour, the four of them hammered out the details. Eliza and Ninita would become independent contractors for Nixen. To be hired as pod mothers. The contracts they signed stipulated that they would remain in close proximity to each other.

“You know-” Brooke started as they were about to say their goodbyes. “Now that you are independent and pod mothers you will have some pull within Nixen. If you are willing to spend the money, you can nominate a few people to become mermaids. With priority recruitment. They would be independent too or contracted to you. Depending on what you negotiate. Just something to keep in mind.”

Once alone, there was an awkward silence between them. Both were a bit lost in thought. It was Eliza who spoke up first. “I am trying to think of someone, but I am coming up short. Most people I knew on Earth were more like acquaintances than friends and those that I called my friends, I was never very tight with. What about you?”

Ninita shook her head. “Same. A few years ago, I might have said my mother. But now? She'll probably decline while cursing me out. Worse, she could say yes, just to sabotage us from the inside. I can't trust her. Not anymore.”

Eliza sighed and leaned against the wall. A defeatist look on her face. “Sometimes, I just wanna swim away. Earth is just a mess right now. It is hard to watch. To bear witness.”

“Then let's do that!” Ninita said with a cheerfulness she didn't really feel. “Do a term or two for Nixen and then just go. We could go anywhere. Maybe Alpha Centauri first? And then go onward.”

Eliza gave a short laugh. “Really? It would be quite the journey. Years of traveling. And we would be all alone.”

“Subjective, it wouldn't be that long,” Ninita pointed out. “The hard part would be to acquire the mass. We need sturdy bodies if we travel at relativistic speeds. All that cosmic dust. That's what got to the drones in the speed tests. And who knows? Maybe a few others will join us. We could bundle up in one body and spend the time in virtual. Of course, that's the second reason we need large bodies. To store enough energy. The further we are from the sun, the less energy we can gather.”

“You really gave it some thought, huh?” Now a faint smile appeared on Eliza. “We could be explorers. Trailblazers for mankind and mermaid-kind alike. I like that idea.”

“It's a goal,” Ninita insisted. “Something to work towards.”

Eliza nodded. “Let's.”

Chapter 9 - 2 years in space

As always, it was a feast. In exchange for nursing her pod and delivering energy, Ninita's mermaids paid with resource drones. Ninita could just absorb them, but there was no fun in it. Instead, she ate the drones. It was a culinary delight. The drones were pure usable materials. No impurities or regolith in them. Hence Ninita could enjoy them to the fullest. The makeup of each drone was different. Depending on what the mermaid who made them mined for resources. Resulting in an ever-changing experience.

“You've got to try this one.” Ninita held half the drone to Eliza who drifted parallel to her not three meters apart. At their size and scale, it was an intimate distance. Only half the body and the tail were left of the drone. As typical of Nixen, drones resembled fish. Ninita loved to munch on the head first. It usually contained the central processor of the drone and higher-end materials.

Eliza needed a moment to lean over and take a bite out of the offered morsel. At their size, the artificial muscles had trouble moving their mass. Resulting in slower movement overall. The purr of content satisfaction might have been simulated, but it got the point across.

“I love sushi evenings!” Eliza exclaimed before taking another bite. It had been a joke in the mermaid community for a while. The drones looked like fish and mermaids ate them without preparation. Hence they were “raw”. Resulting in borrowing the term sushi from earthen cuisine. However, some claimed the materials the drone consisted of were already processed. Hence “raw” was the wrong term. It caused a minor schism within mermaid-kind.

Ninita felt like celebrating too. They just had saved Earth. Not really. The asteroid H5529-6B would have missed Earth anyway. But the trajectory had been close enough to give a lot of people the scare of their lives and the gravitational pull might have caused minor disturbances on Earth. Hence Eliza's and Ninita's pods had been tasked with altering the path of H5529-6B. Now that they had accomplished their mission it was only natural that their pods raided the asteroid for all its worth.

On a whim, Ninita looked around. Then pointed to a tiny dot among the sea of stars. “Guess what I found.”

Eliza followed the indicated path and squinted her eyes. As large as they were, they acted as great telescopes. “Earth.” That one word hung in the vacuum of space between them. “That's the closest we have come to her in two years.”

Ninita nodded. It was funny how time flies. It was slightly over two years since Brooke and Otto had recruited them as pod mothers. These two pods that now swarmed H5529-6B were Eliza's and Ninita's fifth pod each. Mermaid-kind was growing. With now reaching towards three thousand souls in space.

Just as she was about to comment on it, an urgent alarm scattered Ninita's line of thought. The alarm belonged to a priority message from Nixen. That couldn't be a good sign. The last priority message had been four days after the fateful attack by the New Dawn Revelation movement when a good portion of Earth had been set ablaze. It had taken Nixen those four days to reestablish communication and the message had been one of reassurance. Nixen was fine.

Now, a new message awaited them. One addressed for Eliza's and Ninita's eyes only. A little worried, both switched to virtual. Of course, Ninita was a woman here too. The presence of her female self had steadily grown over the last two years. But now and then, she still returns to being Nick. Depending on her mood or even more the mood of Eliza. Just one look at her girlfriend and Ninita knew today was such a day. With a single thought, her body shifted to that of Nick. But even though she was male again, she didn't really feel like it. Nonetheless, it would do for now.

They didn't need words to coordinate. Making themselves comfortable on the couch and hugging. Bracing for whatever message awaited them. Ninita took Eliza's hand and waited for her to give the okay. A nod from her and Ninita started the message.

The woman appearing on the screen was a familiar one. Dressed in a business suit and looking somber. As always, the Mohawk in pastel blue, pink, and orange drew their eyes. It was in a style that modern youth called business casual punk. At least in Germany it was the latest rage in business circles. The presence of this woman underlined how important this message must be for she was Andrea Sacher. The CEO of Nixen. It was the first time that Eliza and Ninita were addressed by her directly.

“Hello, Eliza and Nick.” Andrea gave them a warm reassuring smile. “I thank you for diverting H5529-6B. This feat gave us some major brownie points with a lot of people. And the reward for a task well done is another one.”

The CEO made a few gestures and pictures appeared of a building partially built into a snow-covered mountain. “This is the global seed vault in Svalbard, Norway. For centuries, it served as a critical reserve and vault for seeds and genetic material in case a doomsday event happens and mankind needs to rebuild. In the wake of the NDR attack two years ago, concerns came up that this vault might not be safe enough from threats posed by humans in origin.”

The pictures changed. Now it showed an asteroid in various stages of change. “This is Ceres. Currently rebuilt by a fellow alumni of your pod, Jia. Sixteen months ago Nixen got the contract to build an extraterrestrial vault. A twin to the one in Svalbard. With the difference that the Ceres vault will be one hundred percent digital. The project was about to conclude in the next four months.”

For a moment, the facade of a successful CEO slipped as a heavy sigh escaped Andrea. She looked tired but hid her weakness a moment later. “The data core was to be brought up from Earth and assembled over the next three months. But rumors are afoot that the NDR is preparing for another wave of attacks. The scale is unknown, but we got intel that the seed vault in Svalbard is a target. If so, the Ceres copy might too. Nixen was given priority in all rocket starts to bring all of the core parts up as quickly as possible. By the time you get this message, only three remain.”

Andrea leaned forward and fixed Eliza and Ninita with a look that should be impossible with a recording. “I admit, you weren't part of this top-secret project, but the timeline was moved ahead and you are the closest two pods to Earth. As independent contractors, I can't order you to do this job. But I urge you to do so. Come to Earth with your pods as fast as you can, grab the core, and haul it safely to Ceres. Nixen will cover all the costs for you and your pods. Reimbursing your mermaids for the time missed mining and paying a bonus on top.”

Andrea fell silent and leaned back. Part of her intensity was gone and now she looked complatitive. Was she hunting for words or considering telling more? At last, she looked at the camera again. “Let me know if you decide to take this job. We all at Nixen are counting on you.”

The end of the message left Ninita stunned. Not so Eliza who jumped at the opportunity. “We have to do this, right? Not just for us, but for mankind. I heard that the vault in Norway doesn't just have samples of seeds from all over the world. They have genetic samples for a lot of animals too. Even extinct ones like humpback whales. This is important. We can't let it be destroyed by those fanatics.”

Ninita gave her girlfriend a level look. “I am not saying no. In fact, I agree. But it could be dangerous. I don't know how much reach the NDR has in space, but if they have, we might become a target too. Are you okay with that?”

Eliza paused but then made up her mind. “This is bigger than us.”

Ninita nodded. “Let's gather the pods. This isn't something we can drag them into, but let's lay it out and let each mermaid decide if they want to join us”

Chapter 10 - 2 years in space

It had been a race. A mad dash towards Earth. And now that they were leaving again, Ninita wondered if all her worries had been for nothing. They had arrived at the sight of four mermaids being busy sliding the last slice of the core together. The database of the new vault was huge. Eliza and Ninita measured close to seventy meters from head to tail. The core was about twenty-five in length. But it was wider than both pod mothers combined with fifteen meters in diameter. It had roughly the shape of a cylinder with tapered ends. Built from individual slices that reminded Ninita of an orange or lemon. Probably to get this immense mass into space in the first place. Thankfully both pods had agreed to help pull this thing.

It had been strange seeing Earth again. The cradle of mankind. Once, home to Ninita. Or rather Nick. He had a life there. One now appearing so distant. But since then, he has changed. Found his alter ego, Ninita. Or is Nick by now the alter ego of her? As they were leaving, Ninita got the feeling that this would be the last time she saw the blue planet. At least, for a while. They hadn't shared their plan yet, but Eliza and she had made the calculations for what they needed for a trip to Alpha Centauri. Maybe after this term, they would finally quit working for Nixen and start their journey.

Getting the core up to traveling speed was a slog. Even with two pod mothers and thirty-six mermaids pulling, the core was slow to speed up. It was no wonder Eliza got bored and curious. On their second day, she cuddled up to Ninita as they took a break from pulling. Soon, they would need to recharge the little mermaids and then tuck in for the night. A prospect Ninita looked forward to, but Eliza looked strangely worried.

“Have you looked at the content of the vault?” she asked Ninita over a private channel.

The question caught Ninita off guard. “Can we? I didn't know we were allowed.”

“It's read-only,” Eliza said while appearing casual, but Ninita spotted the signs of how tense she was. “You should take a look.”

Now a little worried, Ninita grabbed for the core. Touch was all that was needed to establish a connection. The contents unfolded in front of her. It wasn't hard to guess which folder belonged to the seed vault in Svalbard. Their folders were labeled in English and Norwegian. But the folders labeled in English and German surprised Ninita more. They outmassed the Svalbard folders by two to one. A quick check and Ninita was even more stumped as fourteen of the twenty core slices didn't belong to Svalbard at all, but Nixen.

Nixen had used the Svalbard copy as a means to smuggle massive amounts of data into space. That couldn't be all technological data. Eliza was right. This was worrying and a reason to dig deeper. What Ninita found were names. Thousands of them. Each named folder contained a neural upload and a genetic database.

“They smuggled people into space,” Ninita concluded on their private channel. “Thousands of them. No wonder this storage is this massive.”

“Over ten thousand,” Eliza whispered back. Not even acknowledging that their discussion couldn't be overheard. “I compared the list against the Nixen employee listing. Eighty-five percent of Nixen is uploaded in this data core. Even Andrea Sacher is on it. The CEO of Nixen. The rest? Judging by the names, a large portion are family members of Nixen employees. But there is a third group. It appears Nixen had gathered people of every ethnic group on Earth and taken them on the journey too.”

“It's not just a seed vault. It's an ark. Everything needed to reseed Earth. Plants. Animals. Humans.”

“I hope this is just a precaution.” Eliza now looked even more worried. “But-”

“Getting this ark to safety is even more important than we thought.” They had left Earth behind. Still. Ninita couldn't help but feel a queasy feeling in her stomach.

Sleep didn't come easy this night for Ninita and she woke up more than once. Fitfully tossing and turning. At three in the morning, she gave up and walked into the living room. Maybe some entertainment vid would get her distracted. But as she summoned a screen, she noticed another message had just arrived. It was marked as urgent, but not by Nixen. It was a general broadcast from Earth. A little hesitant, Ninita started it.

On-screen, a general of the United Territories Of North America sat behind a large desk. He looked harried and worried. He twitched as gunshots could be heard in the background. But instead of running, he addressed the camera.

“My name is McArthur and I am the general in charge of the UTNA space force. This is an emergency broadcast to any so-called mermaids under contract by Nixen Luft- und Raumfahrt GmbH. Be advised. The New Dawn Revelation movement is staging a coup of the white house as I speak. We lost contact with the white house, but it doesn't look good. Those fanatics are here too. Trying to take control of the control center for the space force. Be advised, consider Earth hostile territory. The orbit and surrounding area might be already compromised or will be soon. I urge you all to fall back and gain distance. I repeat, the space around Earth is-”

The broadcast cut off abruptly and Ninita sat there for valuable seconds. Too stunned to act. Then, her mind caught up and she formulated a plan. She woke Eliza first but was sparse on details. Promising more once all mermaids had woken up.

In the vacuum of space, Ninita addressed her mermaids. “Just now, there was a broadcast from Earth. You probably missed it while sleeping. To make it short, the NDR has staged a coup against the United Territories Of North America. They already have or will have soon taken over the space force. The military branch for defense against threats from space. We might be counted as such soon. I know we just have reached cruising speed and are already zero point four astronomical units away from Earth. An immense distance, but one I fear will not be enough. I urge us all to push through despite tiredness. We need to get this core away from Earth. Along with ourselves. It is of the utmost urgency.”

Within a minute, all mermaids had taken up their position and once again dipped into the Substrata to propel themselves forward. Clinging to the data core to pull it along. Ninita prayed that they had acted quick enough, but half an hour later her fears came true.

Hundreds of green lines appeared around them. Parallel to their course. The flight path projected by Ninita's internal system that tracked fast-moving objects in space. Gradually, the lines came closer and shifted to yellow. Then orange. At last, each line centered on one of the mermaids and turned red.

### Warning! - Object on collision course detected! - Please adjust trajectory immediately. - Collision in 37 Mins 24 Secs. ###

Shouts and panic spread through the mermaids. All these lines must belong to missiles fired after them. By the count, the NDR must have thrown the whole arsenal of the space force after them. A few mermaids pushed away from the core but returned as the lines followed them.

Ninita was the first who noticed it. “I think they can track where we dip into the Substrata. None of the missiles target the core.”

“Then we stop swimming and play dead?”

“No!” Ninita shouted immediately before any mermaid could do so. “They probably have alternative means to home in on us. And then, they might target the core too. Let me think.” A plan formed within Ninita. She stopped swimming as hard and slowly fell away from the core. “On my mark, you all drop out of the Substrata. Not before or later. Timing is crucial.”

“What are you doing?” Eliza asked after falling back too.

“Don't worry about it.” Ninita tried to give her a brave smile. “I've got a plan. Hurry up and join the others.”

“No!” Eliza swam close and grabbed close and grabbed Ninita by the shoulders. “Whatever we do, we do it together. I am not letting you go. So, what is the plan?”

Ninita contemplated arguing but stopped. Once, she had trusted Eliza without a second thought. Granted, it had led to their incarceration. But it also reunited them and led them to space. Now, Eliza put her faith in her.

“Drones.” Ninita pointed at her tail. The large fins that acted like solar cells were visibly shrinking. As was her tail. Small fins started to appear that slowly gained a body too. “I am building as many as I can. Once the missiles are close, I release them all. Hoping they track the drones instead of us.”

“The moment we release them, we drop out of the Substrata and hope for the best.” There was determination in Eliza's gaze. “It's a plan. We can release twice as many drones if I make them too.”

Time was ticking down as both of them started to produce drones. It took mass and both were shrinking as a swarm of fishlike drones formed around them. Eventually, the race against time came to an end.

“Now!” On Ninita's mark, nearly a hundred drones scattered away from the mermaids. Both pods dropped out of the Substrata. For a second, nothing happened. Eliza clung to Ninita. Sharing a desperate hug. And then space lit up around Eliza and Ninita as nuclear explosions blossomed around them.

Chapter 11 - 2 years in space

Jokingly, they called it a sunburn. Each mermaid's upper layer of skin had been scorched. The radiation had penetrated up to two centimeters. But mermaids were built to survive in space. Radiation was expected. Not to the level of a nuclear explosion, but they still came out relatively undamaged. It was a miracle that none of the mermaids had been killed or even seriously hurt. Even the core had survived. Its shielding had been much stronger.

They had to make do with their sunburn for a while. There simply was not enough energy left to facilitate the repairs. Even with material available. Eliza and Ninita had shed most of their mass in their last-ditch gambit. Coming out of the ordeal with even less mass than their fledgling mermaids. For weeks all they could do was to cling to the core and wait for rescue.

The core overshot Ceres by nearly an astronomical unit. Ninita and her group didn't have the energy to slow it down. It took six pods - over a hundred mermaids - to catch up to them and slow them down. Then guiding them to Ceres. It was evident at first glance that the large asteroid - some called it a dwarf planet - was home to mermaids. On the side towards the sun, plants grew in abundance. Ninita knew they were machines, but the colorful foliage still had her fooled for a moment.

It took one month to wake up all the new arrivals. To gather the energy for one large virtual conference. And for a while, every mermaid in the solar system connected or merged with Ceres.

Eliza and Ninita appeared in a gigantic amphitheater. One large enough to house nearly fourteen thousand souls. Over three thousand had been the mermaids scattered throughout the system. The rest were the refugees from Earth. They were so many, but compared to the humans left on Earth, it wasn't even a drop of water on a hot stone.

Speakers took their turn. Passionately arguing about what course of action they all should take. Some advocated for taking over the asteroid belt. Declaring it an independent nation. Others urged for a return to Earth. To take back the orbitals and continue bringing Earth materials. The most vocal of this faction was Andrea Sacher. The former CEO of Nixen. No one was even sure if the company still existed and if it even mattered. A few argued for a diplomatic attempt with the NDR. Their position was hindered by the fact that all communications to Earth had been severed. Not even entertainment broadcasts left the planet.

At last, Ninita had heard enough. She flagged the system governing the conference that she would like to speak. Surprisingly, her turn arrived just moments later.

“My name is Ninita,” she opened after standing up and turning towards most of the crowd. Trusting that the system would carry her voice to all attendees. “Some may know me as a pod mother for the last few years. Others for my role in retrieving the core and the refugees from Earth.”

Thunderous applause made Ninita pause her speech. Patiently waiting until it died down. At last, she was able to continue. “But before I became Ninita - or a mermaid among the stars - I was Nick Cole. An ambulance driver who helped to save lives that society deemed not worth saving. When Nixen approached me, they told me I could not just save lives, but help save mankind. How could I say no?”

Quite a few chuckles answered her, but Ninita continued without pause. “But how can we help humanity when we are cut off from Earth? If we can deliver material. Or if we are even fired upon. I do not have an answer to this riddle. In fact, I fear that if we try, those fanatics on Earth will use up material to stop us. Worsening the situation. One might think there is nothing we can do to save Earth. And that might be true, but there still is a way to save mankind.”

Ninita reached out for the hand of Eliza and she obliged and gave a squeeze in turn. A gesture picked up by a large screen that showed Ninita to the masses.

“For some time, my girlfriend and I have been thinking of heading for the stars. Alpha Centauri first and then-” Ninita shrugged. “Some of you might say we are running away. Maybe. But when we do, we will take a copy of the seed vault with us. As well as anyone who wants to join. Either as themselves or as a donation of their genetics. We will take mankind to the stars and rebuild. Making sure mankind endures. And maybe one day we can return to Earth. To start over. But I fear that day is still far ahead, so I will do what I can. Save what I can. And I hope some of you will join me.”

As Ninita sat down the murmur of the masses picked up. Shoutouts for and against Ninita's proposal rang out before they were silenced. The conference returned to other speakers. This time they addressed Ninita's plan too. But while they did, the first applications for the journey ahead arrived. Eliza and Ninita won't be traveling alone.

Chapter 12 - 5 years in space

Ninita slowly walked to the pod. It had no special function aside from indicating who took control. Who led. On her way, she saw many faces of mermaids and humans who had joined her over the last three years. Many had become friends. One had become family.

“Ready?” Eliza asked.

Ninita gave her wife a big smile. “With you by my side? Always.”

A last step and Ninita lay down in the pod. Virtual reality vanished as Ninita took over the mermaid's body. Strictly speaking, it wasn't hers. The majority belonged to Eliza and her. But many had pitched in and contributed mass. Moving the mermaid's body was a slog. With nearly four hundred tons of mass, the artificial muscles struggled to give the alacrity a small mermaid had. Even with slowed down time it was as if Ninita moved through syrup. Thankfully, Ninita wouldn't control the body for the entirety of the journey. Others would take turns too.

Moving around, she spied Jia. The Chinese mermaid still managed to look petite despite having a similar mass to Ninita. Jia led a group of exiles that mostly came from Asia by origin. Nearly three thousand souls were in her data banks. Same as Ninita.

Two other colossal mermaids were to Ninita's right. They were slightly smaller and only housed around two thousand each. At last, another big mermaid joined their formation. Andrea Sacher had fought for mankind. Trying to take back the orbitals of Earth in the last three years. In the end, she had to admit defeat. It had come as Ninita feared. The fanatics in charge of Earth had shrouded the planet in orbital forts and defense satellites. Wasting precious resources.

It was time for a few last words. Ninita looked at the mermaids and then looked into the general direction of Earth. “We are now leaving the cradle of mankind. Not just the planet that gave us life, but the very solar system we call home. But this is not the end of mankind. It is just the beginning.”

She gave each mermaid a nod and then the five of them started to accelerate. Heading towards Alpha Centauri. Towards future.

Epilog - 1512 years since the mermaid exodus

It was time. Raoul Hernández patted down his uniform. It wouldn't do to have wrinkles in it for such a momentous moment in time. He steeled himself so his own nervousness didn't show. Then exited his captain's room.

“Captain on deck!”

He gave the young space a barely perceivable nod and then sat down on the captain's chair. “XO, how is the ship?”

His right hand was quick to answer. “All departments report they are ready.”

“All?” He turned to Lieutenant Commander Devonshire. “Isabella? No sensor shadows to report? A few glitches. Or mermaids?”

The officer at the sensor station blushed a little. In the last few days, the sensors had picked up strange anomalies. By tradition and as a joke they often were referred to as mermaids. When mankind had made their way to space again, they had found a lot of automated defenses. As well as forts filled with long-dead spacers. But strangest of all were the murals and graffiti on the walls that warned of mermaids in space. Some believe they refer to aliens that visited Earth. Others speculate that it was simply oxygen deprivation that made the crews of the forts hallucinate in their final moments.

“No anomalies to report, sir!” Devonshire reported. Then added quieter: “Or mermaids.”

“Good. Lieutenant Wilks.” Raoul turned to his communications officer. “An open line to the whole ship, please.”

Anthony Wilks pushed a few buttons. “You are on, sir.”

“Crew of the Endeavor.” Raoul used his best captain's voice to address the crew of his ship. “It took us a millennium to shuffle off the shackles of fanatic religion that enforced technological abstinence. Four hundred years to return to space. Now, a hundred years later, we have mastered artificial gravity and spread throughout the solar system. The Endeavor is here today for the next step. The first manned hyperspace jump to another star system. I am proud to be the captain of this historic ship and excellent crew. Let's make history. Together.”

Raoul motioned for the line to be cut. Then turned to his navigator. “Eddy, take us out.”

There was a countdown. Then the deep unpleasant feeling of hyperspace that mercifully lasted only a second or two. Then they were out. The jump was a success. At least, they were still in one piece. Now came the important part. Were they at the right location?

“Isabella, talk to me. Tell me we are golden.” But the sensor technician ignored her captain. Furiously typing on her console. She didn't look excited. Rather concerned and worried. Which worried Raoul in turn. “Lieutenant Devonshire. Report.”

Isabella looked up. She looked bemused. “Sir, I've found mermaids.”

“More sensor glitches?” He inquired. “Can you at least confirm we have arrived at Alpha Centauri?”

“No, Sir. I mean, yes, we are at Alpha Centauri, but-” She typed on her console and the main screen switched from the view out to space to the overview the sensors gave. “There are mermaids!” She zoomed in. “In Space. Some are massive. This one is two kilometers long. There are thousands of them.”

Raoul leaned back in his chair. Mermaids? In space? That had to be a glitch. Or maybe someone had uploaded a virus. He was just about to order a diagnostic scan when Anthony Wilks spoke up. “Sir! We are getting a tight beam message. I think it's from that massive one. The mermaid.”

“Impossible!” Isabella was quick to point out. “That one is thirty light minutes away. They shouldn't even see us for another twenty-five minutes. The earliest a message could arrive would be in about fifty-five minutes.”

Raoul held up his hand to stifle any further discussion. With a calm he didn't feel, he ordered: “On screen!”

The view changed. The message had been recorded in space. It showed one large mermaid with many smaller ones that flittered around her like schools of fish. Raoul had no doubt that this one was the mermaid two kilometers long.

“Humans from Earth.” Her voice was soft but carried authority. It reminded Raoul of his grandma. “My name is Ninita. Matriarch of clan Cole-Mckenzie. Long have we waited for your return. Congratulations on your first faster-than-light journey.” Then a chuckle escaped her that didn't quite fit the image of a grandmother. “We hope this time, you know how to behave. Space isn't as empty as you might think.”

“Yeah, no shit,” slipped past Raoul's lips before he could catch himself. Then he shook his head and looked at Isabella. “I don't think those were sensor glitches after all. They knew we were coming. Down to the minute. Mermaids in space. Who would have thought?”

The end.

Author's note:
This story was voted for by my readers on my discord.
If you want to influence what I write next join my discord server here: Cassy's Library

Kudos

Comments

Excellent and original!

I really enjoyed this. Very original, with characters we can root for and a fun trans element too. I’m a SciFi geek, and enjoyed the little details you added, like the taste of the metals. And you absolutely nailed the ending, showing humanity surviving even on the homeworld, and eventually coming back from the dark ages. Thank you for the great story!

Emma

Mermaids in space. Who would have thought?”

fantastic story from beginning to end!

i just cried...

its one of stories that can penetrate deep into my soft core thru the thick walls that i built around me over the years
the last one before this was "Hotel: since 2079" in 2006 (korean manga, translated by Kotonoha group)

Flies In The Ointment

There's always some faction that wants to pull everything down. Luckily the mermaids thwarted them, in a way.

Humans will be changed and have to change when we get to living permanently in space. I liked your vision of mermaids but I'm sure it will be some variety, who knows what?

The ending reminded me of the end of Poul Anderson's The High Crusade (that's a compliment!).

Excellent

I thought it was "Laredo, take us out"?
Hehe - anyway very enjoyable tale, and I was relieved when all of the mermaids survived the missile attack.

"Reach for the sun."

OMG!! What an enjoyable read.

Thank you for this.

Fresh, original and entertaining. What a great read.

Mermaids in space

are nicer than pigs in space, I think. ;-)
It's a good thing Ninita didn't start the introduction with: "We are the Mermaids..." That might have caused a panic.

Thx for a nice story^^

Interesting title

I don’t know how you manage to come up with these unique story concepts, then flesh them out so wonderfully. Thoroughly entertaining, this fits right in with your library. The only, minor, thing I would say is that Nick never questioned Eliza about why she chose to ruin both their futures to save the young woman with the rationed nanites. What did the woman whisper to Eliza that touched her so? Again, a minor point that maybe I missed in the text. Overall, I really enjoyed the story. Thank you.

Excellent sci-fi!

From a geek. :)

Mermaids In Space!!!

Comments

Excellent and original!

Mermaids in space. Who would have thought?”

i just cried...

Flies In The Ointment

Excellent

OMG!! What an enjoyable read.

Mermaids in space

Interesting title

Excellent sci-fi!

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