Jake could feel his heart pounding beneath his insulated wetsuit, the sweat congealing in the small of his back just below his oxygen bottle. Surfing on Titan was not for poseurs!
He stood on his longboard as the 30-meter high wave of methane and ethane crashed against the benzene sand shores of Titan's equatorial continent. There was only enough air in his tanks for a few such rides, but it was worth it. Titan had always been one of his favorites, and one of the most dangerous places for a surfer to catch a wave. Despite the low gravity, which was only 20% of Earth's, countless surfers had died with cracked helmets and torn wetsuits on Titan's Kronus Beach. The waves induced by Saturn's gravitational pull were nothing to be trifled with.
The low gravity, however, made it possible for Jake to cut and thrash his way down the pipe even on a longboard to a height where he could beach safely. The wave came down neatly behind him, only burying him in four meters of liquid hydrocarbons before receding back out into Titan's global sea.
The Titan surfing scene was more like skiing or scuba diving than surfing on Earth. A chalet awaited Jake far up on the cliffs.The low gravity made the climb easy, and Jake was there in a matter ofminutes, towing his longboard on his leash behind him.
The airlock cycled, and Jake doffed the wetsuit and entered the chalet wearing a speedo. Inside was a more traditional beach scene generated partly by climate control and partly by hologram technology. Talia awaited him on a blanket near the high tide mark. A group of people farther down the beach--Jake couldn't tell if they were real or holograms, engaged in a volleyball game.
"Have fun?" she smirked as she saw him and appraised his body. He didn't look too worse for the wear, she thought.
"Oh, yeah! What a rush!" Jake said as he retrieved a beer from the cooler next to Talia. "You should try it sometime!"
She smiled. "You never know, I just might!" she replied, as she sat up and took a sip from the beer she already had in her hand that was more than half gone.
"I don't know," Ryan said. "Titan might be a bit rough for you. We'll have to start you off easy...maybe the North Shore of Hawai'i, or Paradise Beach in Australia."
"Well, it's not like I'm a total novice, Jakey!" she laughed as she took another drink. "Pick one one of these times and we'll give it a try.You know me, I'm always up for a challenge!" Her brilliant smile flashed in the artificial, yet real-feeling sunlight.
"Okay, but don't say I didn't warn you! This ain't exactly Newport Beach we're talking about, y'know!" he said with a wink and a smile.
"From you, I would not expect Newport beach!" she laughed, knowing what a daredevil he was. It was one of the things she loved about him.
"Well, one of these days you'll have to meet the family," he said with a grimace. "Who knows what Mother and Father would think of an alien in the family!" he said with mock horror.
Talia grew a little tense, but laughed. "Don't even go there!" Playfully she socked his arm. Before he could respond, she was on her feet laughing. "Catch me if you think you can!" She ran to the water and into it. As she submerged enough she dove under the cool waves.
Without even batting an eye, Jake ran out to the water. Though he could easily outrun Talia in human form, he deliberately held back longenough for her to get in the water, then dove in after her. Whoever designed this simulation did a great job! he thought as he observed the marine life on the ocean floor and swam toward Talia. He was a much better swimmer than Talia's human form!
Suddenly, just as she was almost close enough to touch her, she shifted into a dophin and squeaked at him as she met his glance. She then swam off, but not too far away. She wanted to keep him in her sights and I'm sure he wanted to keep her in his, she thought.
Damn! I hate it when she does that! Jake thought has he found himself forced to surface for air.
Just then, Talia burst from the water, still in dophin-form, in a fantasic twist straight into the air. As she came back to the water, she lookedat him and squeaked again.
Jake had heard some very bizarre stories about swimmers interacting with dolphins and for about two seconds considered the notion, but shrugged it off as he swam to Talia, who let him catch up to her this time.
She looked at him as she felt him touch her back around her dorsal fin in gentle strokes.
Jake swam under her belly, then up to her nose and surfaced, placing his hands gently upon her melon. "You might want to consider switching back," he said. "People on the beach are beginning to look!" Indeed, they were: the volleyball game had stopped completely as the participants watched the strange human/dolphin dance. I guess they were real after all, Jake thought. The simulation of Kronus Beach was not a private program; in fact, it was one of the most popular at Holo Pursuits and several people used it at once.
Talia did shift her form, but not to what Jake expected. "Perhaps you'll like this better?" she laughed. With that, she kissed his cheek and dove under the water, allowing the lower half of herself to appear to him. It was a bit surprising. Half of her was Talia, but the other half was fish . . . She had turned herself into a mermaid! Just like in the fairytales . . .
"Okay, that's better!" Jake said as he grabbed her tail. The crowd, seeing that Talia was a shapeshifter and Jake was not a pervert, went back to their game.
She pulled him under the water with her and since she was a mermaid could actually breath well. But she knew Jake couldn't . . . However, she suddenly got the idea to transfer oxygen to him through herself. She didn't know where the idea came from, or if it would work, but some reason, she knew it would. As he began running out of air, she reached for him, pulled him to her and brought his lips to hers. Pushing them open, without letting water in, she forced oxygen into his lungs.
Jake was surprised by the maneuver but returned the kiss gratefully--both for the air and the gesture.
Giving them a little more swim time, she pulled him along into a forest of kelp, but soon, his air was running low again. This ritual was repeated several times before they both finally surfaced. She looked at him, unsure of what to say. "Now you can breath on your own again," she said with a soft smile.
"I'm not sure I want to now!" he said, returning her smile as he put his arms around her shoulders while they floated together.
"Jakey . . . I didn't mean to start anything . . ." she said, yet she couldn't help caressing his face. So many old emotions were hitting herfast and strong.
Jake later would recall just where he made his mistake. Without even listening to the words she spoke, he went with the feeling of themoment and kissed her.
Talia had returned the kiss. It had been so pleasant . . . so reminiscent of the days they had shared together when they had been so happy . . . But suddenly, she pulled away. "I can't do this. I can't . . . Jakey, we're suppose to be friends. That's it."
"But...but why? Don't tell me you didn't enjoy this too!" Jake said angrily. "You do this every time! It was true back with the 228th and it's true now!"
"Because you want a commitment!" she replied. "I can feel it! I know you! You wanted it then and you still want it now! It's something I can't give you! I've told you that! God, why won't men listen!"
"And why shouldn't I want a commitment?" Jake asked. Oh, God, this is starting all over again! He suddenly felt the urge to goback out into the simulated Titan environment without the wetsuit and just let the next wave pound his quick-frozen body against the rocks.
"Don't do this!" she said, tears suddenly in her aqua colored eyes as she sensed his thoughts. "I can't commit to anyone. No one . . . " Before he could stop her, she had shifted shape again, back to the dophin and swam off at top speed toward the beach. There, she changed back into herself and ran toward the holodeck door, not even bothering to grab her towel.
Jake didn't bother to follow. All that would bring was trouble, and he'd already had enough trouble over her. The fact that his COdidn't exactly seem to approve of him didn't help matters either. Why did I ever come here? he asked as he headed to the men's exit tochange and find some other diversion. Anything to keep himself from running back to her--which is what he suspected she really wanted at this moment.
Talia finally made it back to her own quarters. She locked the door and slid to the floor as the tears came. Oh how she hurt. Old wounds never did heal, she thought . . . But Jakey understood just about as much as Morgan understood, which was nothing . . . That she wasn't good enough. That she would never be good enough . . . She didn't deserve them, so why would she accept something she didn't deserve. She couldn't . . . She just couldn't . . It was better for all parties that she remained alone. Tears kept falling and wouldn't stop. She decided it was useless to try.
Jake found himself wandering the Commerce Section aimlessly. He'd not been on the station long enough to have formed any real attachments to anyone. Ryan would be busy with his family, and Morgan was out of the question: socializing with the boss was a good way to get into trouble. He'd thought about looking up Vansen but decided against it, thinking it would be good to have at least one female who wasn't utterly disgusted with him.
I just don't understand, he thought. Why won't she accept me? It's like I'm good, but not quite good enough! What did I do wrong? he kept asking himself, until he found himself at the door of Soma. What the hell? I could stand to get drunk, he thought, recalling that he didn't have flight duty until the next afternoon. And sober pills were the greatest thing humanity had ever invented after fire and beer.