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Chapter III: New Friends

Mark and Sulath walked down the main hallway, approximately three hours later. The latter of the two's tail was twitching, her body still shaking slightly from the second round she had with Mark. The harmful radiation had by now vanished completely from Mark's body, though he still wondered slightly about the physics of that whole issue. The hard floors, not made of concrete, but some other substance, were surprisingly soft under the pads of Mark's hind paws, yet still hard enough to make it easy to clean and walk on; evidence that humans were not the ones who designed this place, but others closer to his species. From the airlock, they traveled approximately fifty feet to a tee in the hallway. Other doors led off of the one they had been in, but the one at the end was the only Rad. Room, built much like the Lab at MIT, except with more futuristic technology.

"Speaking of all these things," Mark said, idly swinging his tail back and forth, "where does all this technology come from? Who funds it?" Sulath laughed.

"We have the second largest organization in the universe, and all of our technology is state of the art. We get it from places that we visit, or we have people we already know that we buy from. Businesses everywhere relish the idea of supporting a non-profit organization as large as ours, because it makes them look good, and it gives them potential new customer bases, so funding is never a problem," Sulath replied.

"Mission Statement?" Mark asked, holding out a paw as if to accept a paper from her. Sulath laughed.

"The mission of the O.R.E.O will be, at all times, to uphold the founding values of the organization: the gaining of knowledge, avoidance of corruption because of that knowledge, and exploration of unknown locations throughout the universe; This shall be done to further the ultimate goal of understanding, and peace between all," Sulath recited from memory.

"Nice," Mark said, "is there a slogan and everything?"

"Yep," the rabbit said, twitching her nose unconsciously. "We will go, ever boldly, where no one has dared or been able to go before us." Mark stopped shortly, as a fit of laughing overtook him.

"Is that seriously your motto?" he asked Sulath.

"Of course," Sulath replied, confused, "why, does that bother you somehow?" Mark laughed at her lack of understanding from his perspective.

"No, it's just that, on Earth, that's the slogan of a fictional TV Show organization, and it's really funn- Oh my god, I just realized what the acronym of your organization spells. Wow, that's funny, also." Sulath was at a loss, not seeing the irony from an Earthling's perspective, because she wasn't one.

"Right," she said, grabbing Mark by the sleeve. "Let's go; I want you to meet the crew of Outpost 32. There are ten of us on hand continuously, to keep this place running. Explorers with the Outfit show up on a regular basis, since this is along a major hoproute."

"Hop...Route?" Mark asked, confused.

"Yeah, hoproute," Sulath said, "They're called different things depending on where you are, but the science is all the same. Those delta rays that you were exposed to are the linchpin of the whole setup. Fortunately, if the setup is right, they can be used incredibly safely, with no risk of injury to the user. Unfortunately, what you had set up is not the right setup. Delta rays move about 7000 times the speed of light, which is how you ended up here so fast, but if it had not been for the fox that was coming in at the same time, you wouldn't be here right now. His hoproute caught your free flowing delta rays, and dragged you along with them, which is why you ended up here, and not in open space, or worse, drifting endlessly. Either way, let's go meet the crew."

Sulath led the way through the halls, until they came to a large rectangular room, with about twenty rectangular tables, a dozen sofas or loveseats, a podium, and a retractable projector and screen. "The Cafeteria," Sulath said, "Also the briefing room, and the common area. Male dormitories on the right, and Female on the left. Medical and storerooms are where we just came from, and on the other end, through those doors, are the offices, and deployment areas. No one uses the deployment areas, because we can teleport from anywhere, anytime, unless the system is down, which it occasionally is. We operate on Central Standard Time, because it's the only reference time we can go by, having so many different species working for us, and in thirty years, even that might technically change, if we discover a whole other section of the universe throwing off the center slightly. Ah, here comes someone now. Oh, it's Joel."

Sulath led Mark up to a five foot nine red wolf, the first wolf Mark had seen in years. Ironically, Mark was the first wolf Joel had seen in years, also.

"Hey, Sulath, is this the accidental teleporter?" Joel asked.

"Yes, it is. This is Mark. Mark, meet Joel, Base Commander, and the one who wears the pants around here," Sulath replied.

"Well, I have my pants on sometimes," Joel replied, winking at both. Mark pulled Sulath aside for a moment, and whispered into her ear, "Is everyone this open about sex?" Sulath nodded, and spoke.

"Out here, there isn't a whole lot to do, and everyone's pretty open," she told Mark. "Steady Relationships occasionally form, but the problem is that everyone is usually reassigned to different places at different times, so there never is time to be together. Why, you want to have it off with the base commander? Good luck with that, seeing as he won't fuck anyone here; something about being a conflict of interest. Personally, I think he's just waiting for someone of his own species, so watch your back. You're the first wolf to show up in about six years, so if you find him humping your leg, just enjoy it. I've seen his cock, and it's a very nice piece of equipment."

"How, if he won't have sex with anyone, have you seen- Oh, doctor, I forgot about that," Mark said, answering his own question

"Yeah, there are very few people who come through here whose privates I haven't seen." She checked herself, and then added, "Don't take that the wrong way, most of those that I've seen have either been an accident, or as a result of my job. I've only ever had it off with two people in this whole organization, and you're one of them."

"Who was the other one?" Mark asked, and regretted that he had.

"That's... That's a story for another time, when we know each other better. He was a wolf, too. But..." Sulath couldn't continue, and she bowed her head.

"Sulath, you don't have to continue if it hurts so," Mark said, laying a paw softly on her right shoulder. He turned back to Joel, and greeted him.

"So, will you be staying with us long, Mark? Or did you just drop in, literally, for a minute to say hi?" Joel asked, absently, whilst reading from his clipboard and swinging his tail back and forth.

"Well, it was an accident, and I've got responsibilities back on my home planet, so I have to go back, I think," Mark replied.

"Uh-oh," Joel replied. "Unfortunately, I hope your responsibilities aren't too pressing. Teleporters are DNA coded, and take about a month to requisition normally. I can possibly have one in two weeks, but that'll be asking a lot from TechMain."

"Oh, mega bummer," Mark said, his ears drooping slightly at this news. He would miss all his classes. Most assuredly he was going to fail at life. "You know, how is it that you all speak English?" Joel laughed. He turned his head, and M saw a small device that looked similar to a bluetooth headset, hooked over his long right ear. As he spoke, a little light lit up, and what he said came out in english.

"Yeah, again, DNA coded technology, so it will only stop working if I'm talking to someone and this is too far away for them to physically hear it, or if the battery is dead, which is unlikely. These batteries last for about four hundred years," Joel explained.

"Sweet," Mark replied, turning the device over in his hands, before handing it back to Joel.

"What do you do for a living, Mark?" Joel asked, once he had hooked the device back over his ear.

"I'm a student right now, but I'm not sure what I want to do when I'm out of school," Mark admitted, sheepishly.

"What are you studying?" Joel asked.

"Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Physics, and Toxicology and Environmental Health," Mark replied, listing off his majors and minors.

"Goodness," Joel replied, "that is a lot. I'm sure, should you choose to, you could find a job with our outfit. All of our employees are paid, with the higher paid ones being the explorers, due to the obvious risk. Because we're a non-profit, however, the company itself doesn't make any money. It's weird, and there really isn't anyone to enforce it, so it's more of a moral non-profit status then a legal one."

"What do you do?" Mark asked, crossing his arms, and inspecting his claws unconsciously.

"Me, or the outfit?" Joel asked. "I keep this place running. The outfit explores parts of the universe that are unknown. We set a goal for a specific distance from Central, and that goal should be met within a certain amount of time, usually a year. After we get a certain distance, that our esteemed scientists calculate, from Central, we construct an Outpost, which functions as somewhat of a guidance beacon for paths to Central. Teleporters are extremely accurate by their lonesome, however, having an outpost near you allows you to land on a specific nanometer, compared to landing on a specific micrometer; that's no exaggeration, either, they're that accurate. Other then that, we render assistance to anyone who asks for our help, provided that it does not violate our policies. We won't officially take sides in any local war, however, if a specific side attacks our explorers, we'll react with necessary force."

"Wow," Mark replied, brushing back the fur that grew out slightly longer on his head. "That's a big mission."

"Yeah," Joel replied. "We also have a great deal of desk jobs, and laboratory positions available, to those who don't want, or can't handle the explorer position. If you come work for us, and don't take an explorer position, you'll probably end up in that thinktank. If you want, I've got some entry-level positions that I can send you down on one while you're waiting for your teleporter to get here."

"Um, explore planets that no one has ever been to...? YEAH!" Mark said, enthusiastically.

"Most people say that on their first time," Joel said, chuckling. "The one I'd send you to first has already been visited and charted, it's just time for it's checkup, and we don't need to send vets to do that. We have short range, up to 1 million light years, (compared to 15 milliion light years that's short), which aren't DNA coded, but the drawback is they're slow, and they have a five minute cooldown time, so they're impractical to take into anything other then a safezone."

"Sign me up," Mark replied, laughing slightly. Joel smiled.

"I'll warn you, most people, after they've done it once, are hooked, and end up spending their lives with our outfit," Joel said, "so make sure you're not going to have second thoughts once you get to earth, because the chances of finding out outfit without a map are slim, and we can't send you to Earth with a map, as it would be too easy for it to fall into the wrong hands. But I'll get you the necessary paperwork, and in the meantime, Sulath can take you around to meet the rest of the guys."

Mark was psyched to have this once in a lifetime opportunity to see a planet far beyond their solar system, and so he paid less attention to the pleasantries with the various employees. He still memorize all their names and faces, however. From the full-time staff, there was Scott, the second oldest, a brown good-natured cat, and Earl, the oldest, (and continuously repeated second oldest), who was a jet black panther; the twins, Arath and Nath, both dragons, standing at about six foot seven, Lina and Mira, two of the cooks, both were grey geese, though completely unrelated; (the concept of geese cooking baffled Mark until he tried their food). Finally, the supply manager, Barbara, a coal-black mare, and the maintenance technician, Daneth, a black lab.

Sulath then introduced him to the explorer staff who happened to be in the compound, though there were only presently three. Kirk, Orson, and James were the three, all various breeds of dog.

Introductions over, Sulath showed Mark where all the restrooms were, as well as the dorms, and where he'd be sleeping until he left for wherever he was going. Mark had been brought here at three fifteen his time, and he had no idea what that translated to in Central Time, but he knew he was tired, and he knew that he couldn't do anything till he slept, so he lay down on his bunk, in the slightly less foreign compound known as Outpost 32. Tomorrow he'd figure out what he was going to do until he could find a way back to Earth. That is if he wanted to go back...

Please, feel free to read/review. I know this wasn't really too much Adult content, but I figured it did mention sex a lot, so just to be safe, I upped it. More juicy stuff to come soon enough.