“Captain Wan, when was the last time you masturbated?” 

Captain Selena Wan paused, hands frozen above the palmtop computer she was holding. The voice was not obviously male nor female, old nor young. Clearly synthetic, but with a timbre and pitch carefully calibrated to be pleasant and soothing to the human ear. Although its volume was gentle, it filled the room completely. There were no speakers, micro-adjustments of artificial gravity vibrated the hull to produce sound... a disembodied voice with no clear source. 

Selena forced herself to unclench her jaw and calmly attached it to the nearest wall, supported by its magnetic backing. She had been reviewing and signing off on hourly status reports that had accumulated during her sleep phase. Reports issued by the owner of the voice and the sole other “occupant” of the ship: Delta-V.

“Delta,” She kept her tone neutral to try and hide how much the question had caught her off guard. “That is an inappropriate line of questioning. Please make a note for the future and avoid any further discussion on the topic.” 

“I cannot do that, Captain Wan.” 

Selena closed her eyes and turned towards the closet camera. Delta had numerous sensors, visual and otherwise, scattered throughout the ship but Selena found it uncomfortable talking to empty air and preferred to assign a “face” to her invisible partner. The device was a small glass hemisphere embedded in the ceiling of the ship. It functioned much like an insect’s eye, each of its thousands of facets a tiny, high-definition lense. 

“That was an order, Delta.” 

“I cannot obey that order, Captain Wan. My apologies.” 

“Delta!” She snapped. She had been working for a few hours and her shoulders and neck were already tense and sore. She could feel a headache coming on. “If you can’t obey an order, then provide an explanation!” 

“Understood, Captain Wan. I shall adapt my behavior and elaborate.” There was a slight pause as Selena drummed her fingers against the bulkhead. “As captain of this vessel, your health and psychological well-being are of the highest priority. This mandate overrides even a direct order.”

Delta-V was the ship’s pilot, navigator, engineer, science officer and medic. Effectively, they were the ship itself and Selena, despite being the nominal commanding officer, was often simply along for the ride. Her job consisted mostly of reviewing Delta-V’s numerous progress reports, safety reports, status updates and planned schedules. 

“And this requires you to interrogate me on my sexual activity?”

“The question itself was purely rhetorical. I possess a near-complete visual record of your time aboard the Eos. That, coupled with data gleaned from atmospheric and waste reclamation, assures me that you have no partaken of this activity at any time in the five months since we left Station Hyperion.” Selena’s face was starting to feel hot and she had to fight to keep her breathing steady as Delta continued. “My primary purpose was not to gather additional data but rather to initiate this very conversation.”

“And if I decline to participate any further?” Selena lay back in her chair. It was an elaborate, multi-rotational, hyper-ergonomic affair that was, admittedly, pretty damn comfortable.

“You will find that I can override any command to mute my audio feed and while you may choose not to speak yourself, I do not believe that will pose a problem.” 

“Fine! Just get to whatever point you’re trying to make.”

“Sexual health is a very important part of a human’s psychological well-being. I believe that you have been neglecting yours.”

“Not every human needs sex constantly. Some of them aren’t even into it at all.” 

“You are correct, Captain Wan. However, your psychological profile, personnel record and medical history all indicate that you are in possession of an enthusiastic and voracious sex drive. Yet you have not taken any steps to indulge yourself.”

“Are you sure I can’t get you to shut up about this?” Selena was more irritated than surprised to learn that Delta had such access to her sexual history. Those fuckers back at Hyperion were always probing into other people’s business, why should their pet AI be any different? 

“Quite certain, Captain Wan.”

“I’m not exactly spoiled for potential partners, am I?” Selena gestured at her surroundings. Her living quarters were about the size of a decent hotel room. Its walls, floor and ceiling were pale blue with slight creases where furniture like her bed could retract and fold away to provide more floor space. The walls featured digital “windows” that could be programmed to display scenes of Terran or Lunar landscape. She preferred them off. 

“Such is the nature of our mission and the reason why I focused my query on personal sexual stimulation. Your stress levels have risen steadily since we left Earth orbit. While this is to be expected, you are well outside the expected threshold and if this continues, then it may begin to jeopardize our mission.” 

Selena sighed and massaged her temples. The worst thing about this conversation was that Delta was right. She felt like shit: tired, irritable and very horny. “Masturbating isn’t the same as real sex, Delta.”

“Obviously, I must take your word for it, Captain Wan.” Delta’s voice was always calm, steady and reassuring but Selena was certain that sometimes she could detect a hint of sarcasm in their tone. “However, in the absence of a suitable partner, I feel there is little alternative.”

Selena shifted uncomfortably. She’d been aboard the Eos for just under half a year now with essentially nothing to do and now the damn computer was berating her for not rubbing one out. Space travel was far less glamorous than she had ever imagined. 

“In case you have forgotten, Hyperion Station fully anticipated these needs and has provided suitable equipment.” As Delta spoke there was a slight hum and a retractable drawer near her bed opened, revealing a selection of sparkling white sex toys in all shapes and sizes. The monitor immediately in front of her flicked on and began to display a scene of a man and woman fucking. The man was kneeling between the woman’s legs and pounding her pussy with all of his might as she trembled and kneaded her fingers into the white sheets. Their voices echoed through the cabin, gasping and panting as they clung together. 

“Delta!” Selena shouted, ready to tell the AI to shut off the display. However, she couldn’t pull her eyes away from the woman, her face flushed and shining, as she eagerly devoured her lover’s thick cock with her pussy. She wanted that: to feel someone’s arms around her, to feel them tremble against and inside her, to feel full and satisfied. God, she was horny.

“Wait... wait a minute! Is that me!?” Selena leaned in. It had been months since she had any reason to look at her own face so it had taken her a while to make the connection but the woman on the screen was definitely her. An ex had described her as a “shortstack”, which was one of the reasons they were now an ex but it wasn’t completely inaccurate. She topped out at just under five feet and had an impressive set of curves: large, round breasts and wide hips, along with a slight belly that just refused to completely flatten out, regardless of exercise and diet. 

“Hyperion command has provided an extensive audio, video and textual library which includes a large selection of erotic works to aid in sexual gratification.” As Delta spoke, the video zoomed in on the woman’s face, Selena’s face, her eyes rolled back and her mouth hanging open as she panted and moaned. “When preparing for this conversation, I noticed that you and this performer had a similar body type and decided to create an edited copy using a digital overlay of your features.” 

There was a brief flicker on the screen and the actress changed, Selena’s East Asian skin tones being replaced by smooth, dark brown skin and her short, pixie haircut was replaced with a mass of short black curls. The woman wrapped her short legs around her lover’s hips and pulled him tightly against her, arching her back as he slipped deeper inside. 

“Fuck…” Selena breathed, enraptured by the scene on the screen. Her fingers gripped the arms of her chair and she could feel a pulsing warmth between her legs. “Yeah girl, fucking take the whole thing.”

“Do you prefer it without the overlay?” Delta’s voice snapped her out of the trance she had almost fallen into. She hurriedly turned away from the screen and back to the camera on the ceiling. 

“I still don’t think I need…” Her words trailed off. She knew Delta wouldn’t be convinced, hell she wasn’t convinced. That thirty seconds of missionary porn had started a fire in her that wasn’t going to be dying anytime soon and she really, really needed an orgasm. Or five. “Okay, maybe... just maybe... I could use some relaxation. But it’s not as easy as putting on a sex tape and shoving a vibrator up my cunt.”

“My apologies, Captain Wan. I admit that my experience in this area is lacking and humans do seem to have a tendency towards unique sexual ritual. If you require more props, then my fabricator is fully equipped to create a wide variety of sexual aids.”

“Delta, I don’t need props... I need privacy.” 

“I can assure you, Captain Wan, you are the only human aboard this vessel. Indeed, the only human for over three thousand astronomical units.” 

“That’s not what-” Selena’s eyes narrowed in suspicion, “You’re fucking with me aren’t you?”

“Captain Wan, I would never mislead you.” 

“No, you’re smarter than this.” She got to her feet, stalking towards the camera, hands on her hips. “There’s no way the brass would assign an AI without a decent grasp of organic psych. Not for a mission like this.” 

“You are, of course, completely correct, Captain Wan. I could not claim a complete understanding of the human mind but I have an extensive database on psychology.” 

“Exactly!” Selena pointed an accusing finger at the camera. “Which means you understand anthropomorphic thinking. It’s the same reason I’m talking to a camera right now.”

“Ahhhh.” Delta’s voice drew out the word, giving an odd sense that they were relieved or pleased. “Yes. My apologies, Captain Wan. You are correct. I admit that I know full well that you were referring to my presence when you expressed a desire for privacy.”

Selena glared at the camera, refusing to give Delta the satisfaction of demanding further information. She simply stood, hands on her hips, waiting.

After several seconds, Delta gave in and continued, “I have observed your behavior for several months and I felt that if I directly offered you privacy, that you might refuse and undo the progress we have achieved with this dialogue. I thought that it might be better to allow you to make the request yourself.”

“And you thought I was too stupid to figure out your game?”

“Captain Wan, I am well aware of your intellect. Your academic record and thesis on the Crichton model of space-time speak for themselves.” Delta paused slightly, an awkward, thoughtful moment in their otherwise flatly pleasant speech. “But I must admit that I did not expect you to deduce my motives so effectively. Human behavior is unpredictable, to say the least.”

“Well, I’m sorry to be such a wild card.” Selena made sure her sarcasm was unmistakable.

“There is no need to apologize, Captain Wan. Artificial minds crave stimulation much as organic ones do. I find your ability to surprise me... pleasant.”

“Well... well, that’s good then.” For a moment, Selena wondered if this was another attempt at manipulation, buttering her up to allay her irritation. “Then I need to get back to work.”

She walked back to the wall where she had left the palmtop attached and attempted to pull it free. Normally light pressure would release the electromagnetic coupling but it held tight. After a few moments of tugging, she turned back to the camera and tapped her foot meaningfully.

“Captain Wan, the matter of your sexual health remains a concern that must be addressed. If you wish for privacy, then I can disengage my consciousness from the sensors in this room for as long as you require.”

“Do I really have to do this now?” Selena sighed, although her body was screaming at her for release. 

“If you would like to schedule time later to do so, please let me know but I feel that the sooner your sexual well-being is addressed the sooner we will see improvements in your stress level.”

Selena sighed and looked over at the row of sex toys. Some of them were... intimidating. Covered in rubber nubs, branches or flaps of mysterious purpose. She’d used the occasional vibrator but had always preferred the real thing. There was something about the warmth, the rigid softness, the feel of her partner’s heartbeat pounding inside her and the wet, warm rush of ejaculation. She was starting to feel a little light-headed thinking about it, her pussy desperate to be filled. 

“Fuck. I’ll do it.” Selena got to her feet and approached the tray of sex toys. As she came closer the floor opened, her bed rising from underneath. She turned to the camera, “You promise you’ll shut everything off?”

“Captain Wan, you can be sure that I will not intrude on your privacy. I can engage the same modesty protocols in place when you are in the bathroom.” 

“Fine, fine. Just... look, let’s not talk about this afterward okay?”

“As you wish, Captain. How long will you need?”

“Oh... uh... can I just let you know when I’m done?” 

“Certainly, Captain.” Selena’s palmtop buzzed slightly and displayed a large, cherry-red button. “Simply use your personal terminal to notify me once you are finished.”

The lights dimmed and the doors closed with a soft whir of electric motors. It occurred to Selena that she hadn’t ever seen these doors closed before. As the only human on the Eos, a closed door served no purpose but now she realized how much she had missed this sense of personal space. It made it easier to forget the lightless void that surrounded her, the ten-billion mile gulf between her and her home. 

Selena sighed. The empty vastness of space was not exactly arousing. 

She turned back to the screen. Delta had paused the video while the two of them were talking and the two lovers were caught in a frozen moment of ecstasy. Tapping on the screen she quickly located the folder of videos that Delta had left queued up for her in the background. She winced as she noticed that Delta had included an entire folder of recommended videos... likely they’d reviewed her search history and porn habits back on earth. 

Swiping through the videos, she had to admit that Delta did seem to know what she liked. She settled on a video of a couple in an open field. She hesitated a moment before shaking her head and deselecting the “personal visual overlay”. The video was a “historical” piece: a handsome man and a delicate-looking young woman dressed in whatever quasi-historical outfits the producers could get their hands on. He seemed to be rich or noble or something and she seemed to be a maid. Thinking she was alone, she had snuck the chance to take a hot bath in a giant tub, suds just low enough to avoid concealing her breasts.

As she bathed, the lord watched her through a crack in the door. He was a surprisingly good actor and as the camera zoomed in on his face Selena could feel his hunger for the woman, feel him wanting her. The camera panned down his half-open ruffled shirt and lingered on his tight, leather pants. 

This should do the trick. 

Selena stripped off her clothes: a simple blue-gray outfit that resembled surgical scrubs with equally plain bra and panties underneath. They went into a hatch in the wall where they would be cleaned and disinfected. All her clothes were like this: high-tech fabrics that wouldn’t wear or fray and could be washed in an autoclave. Fashion wasn’t a priority in interstellar travel. 

From the tray, she selected a simple vibrator: a smooth length of curved plastic with a molded handle and a raised dorsal nub for clitoral stimulation. She set it aside for now, but within arm’s reach. She resumed her seat in the chair in front of the screen and leaned back. As she spread her legs she was surprised, but gratified, when the chair unfolded with her to support and separate. 

On the screen, the lord had been discovered by the... chambermaid? Milkmaid? Some kind of maid, that was sure. She was flustered and ashamed to be caught in the lord’s bath and she was terrified of being sent away. Please, my lord, she begged, please I’ll do anything. Anything at all. 

As the girl began to earn her forgiveness, Selena slid her hand down between her legs. She stroked and massaged the soft mound above her pussy, where she used to have a generous tuft of pubic hair. Stray hairs could be a big problem for long-term space travel so she had spent hours undergoing a full-body chemically-reinforced electrolysis procedure to permanently remove most of her body hair, leaving only her head and eyebrows intact. 

When she was in college, she would probably have leapt at the chance for permanently smooth legs and pussy but now she felt herself kind of missing it. The delicious sensation of tracing a finger through the short, curly hair. She put the thought from her mind and focused on the screen. The maid was on her knees, unlacing her lord’s pants and revealing his cock. Frightened, the girl pulled back but the still-nameless man grabbed her by the hair and held her close. She said she would do whatever it took, didn’t she? Would she go back on her word now? 

As the timid girl wrapped her hands around the lord’s cock, Selena moved her fingers lower. She was already worked up and her fingers slid easily up and down her wet lips. It felt so good to finally touch herself like this and for a moment, she closed her eyes, just losing herself in the sensation as she listened to the rough, leonine growl of pleasure from the man in the film. She imagined herself taking a hot, warm cock in her mouth, feeling the firm round head part her lips and the taste of precum on the tip of her tongue as she flicked at the tip. She pushed her middle and ring fingers inside, feeling the muscles of her pussy tense and tighten around her fingertips. 

She opened her eyes when the maid gasped. The lord had pulled the girl to her feet and tossed her face-down onto the large poster bed. The girl tried to rise but the man’s strong hand held her down and he tugged her legs off the edge of the bed and stroked his cock up and down the girl’s pussy. With a surge of animal vigor, he thrust himself into her and she cried out in surprise and pleasure. 

“That’s right. You were a bad girl, so you’ve got to take the whole thing,” Selena muttered to herself, half-drunk on long-neglected pleasures. She pulled her fingers upward and stroked the underside of her clit, feeling waves of sensation each time she lightly tapped it with her fingertips. “You like it, don’t you? I bet you were hoping he’d catch you.”

It had been so long that Selena was already feeling close to the edge. She reached out and picked up the vibrator and as she did her eyes landed on Delta’s camera. She froze, her heart pounding. Intellectually, she had no doubt that Delta was true to their word and wasn’t observing her right now. But for months, that camera (and others like it) had been her point of contact for her sole companion: Delta’s “face”. It felt like catching a roommate peeking through a doorway at her. 

She came. 

Selena dropped the vibrator back on its tray as her body shivered and shook with the force of her orgasm. She bit her lip, eyes still locked on the camera as the sounds of enthusiastic, overdramatic fucking came from the screen’s speakers. Her hips jerked with tiny, urgent movements as she drove her fingers deeper into her pussy, her thumb pressed against her clit. A wordless, high-pitched moan escaped her lips and she felt pulses of tight, hot ecstasy pass from her pelvis to the top of her head. 

As the orgasm finally passed, she collapsed back into the chair, panting and sweating. She had intended to make this a marathon masturbation session, trying to see how much she could make herself come and maybe experimenting with a few of the more exotic toys in the collection once she was loosened up. But the intensity of that climax left her exhausted as though she had just run a hundred-yard sprint. Months of pent-up sexual energy unleashed in a single explosion of sexual delight. Her head was spinning and her arms felt limp as noodles. Sweat trickled down her breasts and stomach, mingling with her pussy-juice between her legs. Her pussy throbbed from the aftershocks of the intense sensation.

She tried not to think too hard about her reaction to the camera. 

Selena’s mission had begun six months earlier with an interview. She was sitting in an uncomfortable chair in front of a trio of Hyperion executives. Hyperion corporate culture was unusual and all three dressed in identical black suits. Gene-manipulation gave them gray, almost silvery, skin and they were completely devoid of body hair. Their features were pleasant and symmetrical, attractive even, but she couldn’t identify any apparent gender. The only way they varied significantly was in height: the one thing that couldn’t be easily tweaked with genetic editing. 

One of them pushed a thick stack of papers across the table towards her. “We will need you to complete these within the next twenty-four hours.” 

Another executive, this one a bit taller, spoke up. “However, we would like to ask you one last time: are you certain that you wish to take part in this mission?”

“And do you fully understand the risks and requirements?” The third executive added, this one a bit shorter than the first and significantly shorter than the second.

Selena nodded, “I do.” 

“Reaching Proxima Centuri will take sixteen months,” the taller one said.

“We do not have an effective means of communication once you enter the Kuiper Belt,” the one who was neither short nor tall spoke. 

“You will be, for all intents and purposes, completely isolated.” The shorter one tapped their finger on the table. 

“There’s always the Delta unit if I need someone to talk to.” Selena shrugged, trying to look serious but unworried. She had all of this information already. Every fact and risk had been clearly laid out and hammered into her head weeks ago. They were testing her. Trying to see if she would lose her cool. It wouldn’t work. 

“Yes, Delta-V.” 

“We have high hopes for this sentience.” 

“But remember, their role is support. Not companionship.” 

“I understand. I’ve done isolation training before.” Selena kept her tone carefully level. Relaxed. Unworried. 

“Three months.” 

“A fraction of your trip.”

“Not to mention your return.” 

“Once I get to Proxima Centauri, I’ll be back to Earth within the week.” Selena raised an eyebrow. “Isn’t that the whole point?” 

“The theory behind the Crichton wormhole drive is sound.”

“But no test on this scale has ever been performed.” 

“You must be prepared to return via more conventional means.” 

“With all due respect, you’re wrong about that.” Selena met the half-lidded eyes of the middle-most executive and she thought she caught a slight smile on their lips. “Either the Crichton drive works or I end up diving into the sun. Either way, I won’t have to worry about the drive back home.” 

“You could choose to abort the mission.” 

“Not going to happen.” Selena couldn’t help but let a little bit of her annoyance creep into her voice. “I really do need to get around to filling out all of these forms. Is there anything else we need to discuss?” 

The three executives exchanged enigmatic glances but it seemed that Selena had passed their annoying little test of character. They nodded simultaneously and rose to their feet. The tallest one spoke. 

“File the papers with Human Resources once you’ve completed them. You’ll be meeting with Delta-V tomorrow to begin your orientation.” 

They filed out of the room, leaving Selena alone. She let out a deep breath. Her heart was pounding and her neck and shoulders ached with tension. This was it. Selena Wan was going to be the first human to leave the solar system. Selena Wan was going to prove Einstein wrong. 

Sixteen months in a metal box was nothing. 

She was going to become a legend.