PLANET LYTHARA

The Vault Lab at Minkus International smelled like ozone and expensive champagne, two scents that had no business mixing but somehow worked in the cavernous space. Farkle Minkus stood beside a contraption that looked like someone had shoved a disco ball through a particle accelerator and dared physics to complain. Chrome panels curved in directions that hurt to look at, and a soft violet glow pulsed from somewhere deep inside the machine's power generators.

"Is that thing safe?" Maya asked from across the room, arms crossed, one eyebrow raised. She was short, blond, and had the kind of resting expression that said she'd already spotted seventeen things wrong with whatever Farkle was doing. "Define safe," Farkle said, adjusting a dial on the console without looking up.

"Maya," Riley said, tugging on her wife's sleeve. "Let him finish." "I'm just saying, the last time Farkle said 'define safe,' we ended up in a dream experiment where I couldn't tell my subconscious from a cheese plate for three days." Riley smiled in that way she always did when Maya was being difficult, which was to say she smiled constantly. Her brown eyes tracked across the machine's surface with genuine curiosity. She'd always been the one who wanted to believe. Maya was the one who wanted to verify.

Isadora Minkus emerged from behind a bank of monitors, tablet in hand, brunette hair pulled into a loose knot. She wore a lab coat over a black top, the coat unbuttoned and hanging open like she'd forgotten it was there. "The calibration is complete," she announced. "We're ready when you are."
"Ready for what, exactly?" Maya said. "Nobody's told us anything. We got a text that said 'come to the Vault Lab, bring nothing, tell no one.' That's either a science invitation or a kidnapping."

"It's science," Farkle said. "That's what a kidnapper would say." Isadora set the tablet down and leaned against the console next to her husband. She and Farkle exchanged one of those quick glances that married scientists use to communicate entire paragraphs. Riley had always found it fascinating. Maya found it suspicious.

"What we're about to show you," Isadora began, "is the Transportation Division's most classified project. Farkle and I have been working on this for fourteen months." "You reviewed the Transportation Division's quarterly reports," Farkle added. "You saw the line item marked 'Chronos Initiative.' This is that." Maya's eyes widened just slightly. "The budget entry with eleven zeros?"
"Twelve, actually," Farkle said. "We rounded down to avoid attention."

Riley stepped closer to the machine. The violet glow intensified as she approached, and the air around it felt different, thicker, like standing near a waterfall without the water. "What does it do?"
Farkle straightened up, and for the first time that evening, he looked genuinely excited. Not lab-coat-and-clipboard excited. Kid-on-Christmas-morning excited. "It's a temporal displacement engine. A time machine, if you want the crude version." Maya snorted. "A time machine."

"A time machine," Farkle repeated, unbothered. "But not just any time machine. This one is calibrated for a specific coordinate, far into the future, to a planet we've been receiving signals from for the past three years." "The signals are mathematical," Isadora cut in, "but they also contain cultural data. Language. Social structures. Art. And the planet is, well..." She paused and looked at Farkle.

"The planet is exclusively populated by women," Farkle said. "A society of women. They call it Lythara, but Maya, you'd love this, the signal translation came back as 'Lesbo' in about forty percent of linguistic interpretations because of how the root language maps to Greek."

Maya stared at him. "You're telling me you built a time machine to a planet called Lesbo." "I'm telling you we built a time machine, and the destination happens to be a planet that some translations render as Lesbo."

Riley was already grinning. She grabbed Maya's hand. "We have to go." "Absolutely not." "Maya."
"We are not getting into a disco ball time machine and going to a planet called Lesbo. That's not a plan. That's a bad Lifetime movie with a science budget."

Isadora moved toward them, her lab coat swaying. "The leaders of Lythara sent an invitation through the Time Signal. They want to meet with us. Specifically, they want to meet with women from our era. Farkle and I can operate the machine, but the diplomatic component requires female representatives."

"And you thought of us," Maya said flatly. "You and Riley have been part of Minkus International's most sensitive projects," Isadora said. "The dream experiment, the serum security protocols, the ship events. You're trusted. You're also..." She tilted her head. "Compatible with the cultural norms of Lythara."

Riley's grin got bigger. "She's saying we're gay, Maya." "I know what she's saying." Farkle clapped his hands together once. "So. Are we doing this?" Maya looked at the machine. She looked at Riley's face, which was doing that thing where excitement and puppy eyes combined into an expression Maya had never once in her life been able to say no to. She looked at Isadora, who was watching her with an expression that Maya remembered from a certain boardroom encounter, one that made the back of her neck warm.

"Fine," Maya said. "But if I die in a disco ball, I'm haunting both of you forever." "Acceptable," Farkle said, and pulled the lever. The violet light exploded outward. When it receded, they were somewhere else. The lab was gone. In its place was a vast open chamber with walls that looked like liquid silver, rippling gently as if breathing. The floor was warm beneath their feet, and the air smelled like jasmine and rain. Within a minute, four women stood waiting for them, arranged in a loose semicircle, each wearing something that could generously be called clothing and more accurately be called strategic fabric.

The tallest of the four stepped forward. Her skin was a deep bronze, her hair a cascade of dark curls that fell past her waist, and she wore a single band of white cloth across her chest and nothing else. Her eyes were gold, literally gold, and they moved across the group with calm authority.

"Welcome to Lythara," she said. Her voice had a texture to it, like honey poured over velvet. "I am Verath, First Speaker of the Council." Isadora was surprised she heard English Riley opened her mouth, closed it, opened it again. "Hi. I'm Riley. This is my wife, Maya. And this is Farkle and Isadora."

"We are aware of the Minkus pair," Verath said. "Your temporal signature preceded you. The males of your species are welcome as observers." Her golden eyes settled on Maya and Riley. "You two, however, are the reason we extended the invitation."

Maya felt Riley's hand tighten around hers. She also felt something else, a low hum in her body that seemed to emanate from the room itself, or maybe from the women standing in front of them. It wasn't unpleasant. It was warm, spreading through her chest and downward, and she had to consciously keep her breathing steady.

"The atmosphere of Lythara contains a compound that enhances receptivity," Verath said, as if reading her thoughts. "It is not a drug. It is a natural emission from our biosphere. It simply removes barriers. Inhibition. Fear. The walls your species builds between desire and expression."
"Sounds efficient," Maya managed.

"It is." Verath smiled, and the smile was slow and deliberate. "You have been observed across time, Riley and Maya. Your connection. Your intimacy. Your... creativity." Riley felt heat bloom across her cheeks. "Observed how?" "Your dream experiment," said the second woman, stepping forward. She was shorter, with copper skin and hair cropped close to her skull. A tattoo of interlocking circles ran from her temple down her neck and disappeared beneath the white cloth wrapped around her hips. "The mind-melding device your Farkle created left a temporal echo. We captured it. We saw what you saw. What you felt."

Maya's jaw tightened. "You watched our dreams?" "We experienced them," the copper-skinned woman corrected. "Every sensation. Every touch. The things you did to each other in that shared space were... remarkable by any standard, including ours." Farkle, standing slightly behind the group, whispered to Isadora. "This is going better than the simulation predicted." Isadora elbowed him.

Verath moved closer to Riley and Maya. The warmth in the air intensified, and Maya could feel it now clearly, a buzzing along her skin, a pressure building between her thighs. She shifted her stance and tried to focus on something neutral, but the four Lytharan women were making that difficult. Their bodies were lean and athletic, visible in ways that left little to interpretation, and the strategic fabric shifted when they moved.

"We invited you here because we want to establish a connection," Verath said. "A cultural exchange. But our way of establishing trust is different from yours." "Different how?" Riley asked, though her voice came out breathier than she intended. "We share," Verath said simply. "Bodies. Sensation. Pleasure. It is how Lytharan diplomacy has functioned for ten thousand years. When we invite strangers to our world, we welcome them with intimacy."

Maya looked at Riley. Riley looked at Maya. They'd been in plenty of adventurous situations before, their BDSM Suite, the Halloween game with friends, the night with Aubrey, the boardroom where Isadora had crossed a line with Maya that neither of them had ever bothered uncrossing. But this was different. This was alien planet different. Time-travel-future different.

"Isadora," Maya said without turning around. "Did you know about this part?" Isadora's voice came from behind her, closer than expected. "The cultural data referenced something called 'the welcoming.' I didn't know the specifics." "The specifics," Verath said, "are simple. We will show you how Lytharan women love. If you wish to participate, you will leave here bonded to us across time. If you wish only to observe, that is accepted as well. But the compound in the air will continue its work regardless."

Maya felt Riley's hand pull free from hers, and then Riley's fingers were on her hip, sliding along the strip of bare skin between her shirt and waistband. Riley's mouth was close to her ear. "I want to stay," Riley whispered. Maya turned her head. Riley's brown eyes were wide, pupils blown, lips slightly parted. She looked the way she looked in their private moments right before she asked Maya to do something that would make them both forget their names. "Okay," Maya said.

Verath extended her hand, and when Riley took it, the First Speaker pulled her forward gently. The copper-skinned woman moved to Maya, and two others, twins with silver hair and matching blue-violet eyes, flanked Farkle and Isadora. "Observers are welcomed differently," one of the twins said to Farkle, her fingers already working the buttons of his lab coat. "You will see everything. You will feel everything. But you will not intervene unless invited."

Farkle swallowed hard. He looked at Isadora, who was being guided to a low platform by the other twin. Isadora's lab coat was already on the floor. "Isadora," he said. She met his eyes. Her brown eyes were glassy, her lips parted, her breathing shallow. "Watch me," she said. "I want you to watch." The silver-haired twin behind Isadora slid her hands under Isadora's black top and lifted it over her head. Isadora's breasts were full and heavy in a dark bra, and the twin unhooked it with one hand, letting it fall. Isadora's nipples hardened immediately in the warm air, and the twin cupped her from behind, thumbs tracing slow circles over the stiffened peaks.

Farkle's cock pressed against his pants, and the twin attending to him noticed. She smiled, her blue-violet eyes bright, and her hand grazed the front of his slacks, just once, just enough to make him exhale sharply. Meanwhile, Verath had guided Riley to the center of the chamber. The silver walls reflected everything, every angle, every movement, so the space felt like being inside a mirror. Verath's hands found the hem of Riley's shirt and drew it upward. Riley raised her arms, and the shirt came off. Her bra was pale blue, simple, and Verath traced the upper edge of one cup with a single finger.

"You are beautiful," Verath said. "Both of you. The echo of your dream showed us beauty, but seeing you here, now, in the flesh, is something else entirely." Riley reached back and unclasped her own bra. She let it drop. Her breasts were full, 34C, and her nipples were already tight, pink and peaked. Verath's golden eyes tracked downward, and then the First Speaker leaned in and took one nipple into her mouth.

Riley gasped. Her hands flew to Verath's hair, fingers tangling in the dark curls. Verath's tongue was wet and precise, circling the nipple, then sucking gently, then biting down just enough to make Riley's knees buckle. Across the chamber, Maya was being undressed by the copper-skinned woman, whose name she still didn't know. The woman's tattooed hands worked Maya's jeans down over her hips, taking her underwear with them. Maya stepped out of the pooled fabric and stood naked from the waist down, her blond hair mussed, her blue eyes challenging.

"Your body is smaller than I expected," the copper woman said, running a palm over Maya's hip. "Compact. Efficient." "Thanks for the review," Maya said, but her voice cracked when the woman's thumb brushed the outer edge of her pussy. She was already wet. The compound in the air was doing its work, and the sight of Riley getting her nipple sucked twenty feet away wasn't helping her maintain composure.

The copper woman knelt. Her tattooed face was level with Maya's hips, and she pressed her mouth to the crease where Maya's thigh met her pelvis. Her tongue traced a line inward, slow, deliberate, and Maya's hand came down on her shoulder for balance. "Fuck," Maya whispered.

The woman's tongue found Maya's clit. She licked in long, flat strokes, unhurried, as if she had all the time in the universe, which, given they were on a future planet, she essentially did. Maya's hips jerked forward, and the woman gripped her ass with both hands, holding her steady, pulling her closer.

On the platform, Isadora was lying back while the silver-haired twin straddled her face. The twin's white cloth was gone, and her pussy was bare, smooth, and pressed directly against Isadora's mouth. Isadora's tongue moved inside her, and the twin rocked her hips in a slow rhythm, one hand braced on Isadora's chest, fingers pinching a nipple.

Farkle watched from six feet away, his cock straining against his pants, his breathing ragged. The twin attending to him had his belt undone and his zipper down. She'd pulled his seven inches free and was stroking him with one hand, her grip firm, her pace maddeningly slow. "You said I couldn't intervene," Farkle managed.

"I said unless invited," the twin said, her thumb sweeping over the head of his cock, spreading the precum that had gathered there. "I'm inviting you." She lowered her head and took him into her mouth. Farkle groaned, his hips bucking, and the wet heat of her throat engulfed him. She swallowed around his length, her tongue working the underside, and Farkle's hands went to her silver hair, not pushing, just holding on.

At the center of the chamber, Verath had Riley on her back on a raised platform that seemed to grow out of the floor. Riley's jeans were gone, her legs spread, and Verath was between them, her golden eyes looking up Riley's body while her tongue worked methodically. Riley's back was arched, her fingers gripping the edges of the platform, her breasts pushed upward, nipples stiff and flushed.
"Right there," Riley panted. "Don't stop, don't stop."

Verath didn't stop. She slid two fingers inside Riley, curling them upward, and Riley made a sound that was half moan, half sob. The silver walls reflected it all, so Riley could see herself from every angle, see Verath's dark head between her thighs, see her own breasts shaking with each thrust of those long fingers.

Maya was close. The copper woman's mouth was relentless, her tongue flicking Maya's clit in a rapid pattern that had Maya's thighs trembling. Two fingers were inside her, pumping in a steady rhythm, and the woman's other hand was spreading Maya's ass, her thumb pressing against the tight ring of muscle there. "Can I?" the woman asked against Maya's pussy, the vibration of her words sending a jolt through Maya's core. "Yes," Maya hissed. "Fuck, yes."

The thumb pushed in. Maya's orgasm hit her like a wave, sudden and total. She clamped down on the woman's fingers, her whole body seizing, and a rush of wetness flooded the woman's mouth. The copper woman licked through it, swallowing, her fingers still pumping, drawing every last tremor out of Maya's body. When Maya opened her eyes, she saw Riley coming undone.

Riley's orgasm was building, her moans escalating in pitch, her hips grinding against Verath's face. Verath added a third finger, and Riley screamed, her pussy clenching hard, fluid squirting across Verath's chin and the platform beneath her. Verath licked her lips and smiled.

Isadora was on all fours now, the silver-haired twin behind her, her face buried between Isadora's ass cheeks, her tongue working Isadora's asshole while her fingers fucked her pussy. Isadora's face was pressed against the platform, her breasts flattened, her moans muffled but unmistakable. She came with a shudder, her pussy clenching around the twin's fingers, and the twin licked her through it, slow and thorough.

Farkle was getting close. The twin sucking his cock had taken him deep, her throat relaxing around his shaft, and he could feel the pressure building at the base of his spine. She pulled back, gasping, and stroked him with both hands. "Not yet," she said. "You finish with your mate. "She guided him toward Isadora, who was still on all fours, still trembling. Farkle knelt behind his wife, his cock slick with the twin's saliva, and he pushed into Isadora's pussy in one long stroke.

Isadora cried out. She was swollen, sensitive from her orgasm, and Farkle's seven inches filled her completely. He gripped her hips and started moving, slow at first, then faster, the sound of their bodies meeting sharp and wet in the silver chamber.

The twin who'd been sucking Farkle moved to Maya, who was recovering against a wall. She knelt beside the copper woman, and together they spread Maya's legs again, both of them licking her pussy, their tongues overlapping, sharing her. Maya's second orgasm came harder than the first, and she grabbed fistfuls of silver and copper hair, grinding against their mouths.

Verath had Riley on her hands and knees now, and the First Speaker was wearing something, a smooth appendage that had grown from her body somehow, bioluminescent and firm. She pressed it against Riley's entrance and pushed inside.

Riley's eyes went wide. It was warm, warmer than any toy, and it curved inside her, finding her G-spot with a precision that made her vision blur. Verath fucked her slowly, one hand on Riley's hip, the other reaching around to cup her breast, and Riley pushed back into each thrust, her ass meeting Verath's hips. "Harder," Riley begged.

Verath obliged. The sound of their fucking filled the chamber, wet and rhythmic, and the silver walls threw it back from every direction. Riley's breasts swayed with each impact, and she dropped to her elbows, changing the angle, and the cry that came from her was raw and desperate.

Maya crawled toward Riley. She was shaky, legs like jelly, but she needed to be near her wife. She positioned herself in front of Riley, legs spread, and Riley understood without words. She buried her face between Maya's thighs, her tongue finding Maya's clit while Verath fucked her from behind.

Maya held Riley's head, fingers in brunette hair, and watched over Riley's back as Verath's hips rolled and thrust. The sight was overwhelming, her wife being fucked by an alien woman from the future while Riley ate her out, and Maya felt another orgasm building, impossible but real.

Farkle was pounding into Isadora now, his balls tight, his breath coming in grunts. Isadora was pushing back against him, her pussy gripping his cock, and the twin was beneath Isadora, licking her clit while Farkle fucked her. The dual sensation had Isadora keening, her third orgasm rolling through her in waves. "I'm coming," Farkle growled. "Do it," Isadora gasped. "Inside me, Farkle, fill me up." He drove deep and held, his cock pulsing, and he came hard, spurting into Isadora's pussy, hot and thick. Isadora clenched around him, milking every drop, and the twin beneath them licked the overflow where it leaked from the junction of their bodies.

Riley came again, her scream muffled by Maya's pussy, and the vibration of it pushed Maya over the edge for a third time. They collapsed together, Riley on top of Maya, Verath withdrawing gently, the bioluminescent appendage retracting into her body as if it had never been.

The chamber went quiet except for breathing. Verath stood and offered her hand to Maya, who took it after a long pause. "The bond is established," Verath said. "You are welcome on Lythara whenever you wish to return. The machine will bring you home." "Great," Maya said, legs still shaking. "Just give me a minute to remember what a planet is."

Farkle helped Isadora to her feet. She was unsteady, cum trailing down her inner thigh, her hair a disaster, her expression dazed and satisfied. He kissed her forehead. "How was that for a Transportation Division success?" he asked. Isadora looked at him with heavy-lidded brown eyes. "If you ever build anything else without telling me what it does, I will end you." "Fair."

Riley found her clothes and pulled them on slowly, wincing at the sensitivity between her legs. Maya did the same, and they stood together, hands intertwined, looking at the silver chamber that had just hosted the most extraordinary experience of their lives. "Same time next year?" Riley asked Verath. Verath's golden eyes glittered. "The machine remembers the coordinates. You need only ask."

Farkle reactivated the device. The violet light surged, and when it faded, they were back in the Vault Lab, the ozone and champagne smell greeting them like an old friend. Maya sat down on the floor, not gracefully, just down. She looked up at Farkle. "Twelve zeros on the budget line," she said. "Worth every penny." Farkle smiled. "I'll put that in the quarterly report."

"You absolutely will not," Isadora said. Riley sat beside Maya and rested her head on her wife's shoulder. "So. Lesbo Planet." "Lesbo Planet," Maya confirmed. "We're going back." "Oh, we're absolutely going back."

Farkle quietly turned off the machine, filed the experience under Chronos Initiative, and made a mental note to increase the budget to thirteen zeros. Some discoveries, he decided, were worth the investment.