Love is Always Write Anthology Volume 2

most of the species on the approved list, but the personal comfort settings for his co-star didn't match any of the beings he'd been with before, not even the tentacled Gurcarrs from Deneb Eta. Thinking about that shoot made him shudder. He had ripped into his agent as soon as they finished filming. He wasn't opposed to a well-placed device or appendage in his private life, but he'd never done that on camera. He'd kept the streak alive for his entire career. That scene, though, nearly got out of hand. Or tentacles, as it were. Never again, Vin promised himself.
    Judging by the height the aqua-chamber was set to, his costar had to be over seven feet tall. Hell, probably closer to eight feet tall, Vin amended as he tried to reach up to adjust the nozzle. Holy fuck, what have I done?
    He walked back to his side of the chamber to find everything exactly as specified in his contract. He felt like Goldilocks when he lay back on the bed: everything was just right. He pulled up the commvid and punched in a code. A second later, Obs appeared on the screen, looking frazzled and disheveled, as always.
    "Hey, Vin. How was your trip?" Obs asked.
    "You know how it is. All stasis chambers look the same once you're under."
    "Fuck that," Obs said, shaking his head. "Never again."
    "It's not so bad. Besides, the best pay comes from outside the Zone."
    "Don't care. Not going."
    "Come on, Obs. I think you'd like it out here."
    "If I can't take a shuttle, then fuck that. I am not getting into one of those coffins again."
    "It's been five years, Obs. Don't you think you should let it go by now?"
    "Fuck you. It was five hundred years before that. Remember that? I was a brunet when we went in," Obs said as he shoved a hand through his white hair. It curled around his fingers and stayed combed back for a second before it flopped back down onto his forehead. His eyebrows were still the golden brown his hair used to be, but his eyes seemed haunted, even over the vidscreen.
    "Yeah, Obs. I remember." How could he forget? They had signed up for a weeklong experiment. Testing new sleep medications or something for the military. All Vin knew at the time was that his credit card bills were about to drown him and his student loans were due. A five-figure payout for five days seemed like just the thing to get out of debt and start over. Obs had just finished culinary school and Vin convinced Obs he could open a restaurant of his own with his payout. And Vin planned to invest in it as soon as he was on his feet again.
    Of course, with secret government experiments, something always goes wrong. A change in administration, a hostile takeover, and the Corporation seized all the data, fired the scientists, and warehoused the human popsicles. Until someone dug up the paperwork and brought them out of the deep-freeze. When they were released from the observation tanks, it was five hundred years later. Vin and Obs spent the next six months isolated with the other test subjects– Anch, Pre, and Da Ted– getting indoctrinated to their new reality. Physically, nothing about them had changed, with the exception of Obs's hair. But catching up to the changes in the universe was overwhelming in the best of times.
    "How's your costar?" Obs asked.
    "Besides eight feet tall? No idea," Vin said, gratefully accepting the change of subject.
    " Eight feet? " Obs asked. "What is he? Or is it a she this time? I never can keep up with where your dick is going next."
    "Hey, that's not fair."
    "You're the one that chose getting close encounters with the Pornocopia. You could have found another career besides making it with ET like you're some kind of horn-dogged-up version of Captain Kirk."
    "Yeah, but fucking is all I was ever good at," Vin said. Obs bit his lips together, and his face turned red on the vidscreen. "What?"
    "Heh. You said butt fucking," Obs said before bursting out in laughter.
    "What are you, twelve?" Vin asked, shaking his head. Onscreen, Obs regained his composure.
    "When are you due back?"
    "One day in quarantine, half day shooting."
    "I'm sure shooting will be involved with that," Obs said, making air quotes around shooting. Vin rolled his eyes as he waited for Obs's giggles to die out.
    "Half day filming, all right? And another two-week stasis trip back. Figure no more than three weeks if we sightsee. I'm craving your cheeseburgers already."
    "Another downside of stasis travel, my brother. And poor career choices," Obs smiled.
    "Yeah, well, you got me