Attack ships, p.3
Attack Ships, page 3
part #2 of Starwing Elite Series
Imani pulled up Precious’s dress and let me see the stockings she wore. They were attached by garters to a fabric belt. She lifted one of the stockings so I could see the ring that was still strapped around her thigh.
“Hides it,” she explained.
I looked down at the silk thong Precious wore. “Is she shaving herself now?” I asked. We’d talked about the possibility. Imani had watched her for the two days I’d been down on the asteroid with the packmates before she and Precious joined us at the Goat Squad office.
“I’ve let her do it herself,” Imani explained. “I think we can trust her around a razor. She seems to know how to use one.”
If what I’d witnessed in her head was accurate, Precious was an expert with one. I’d make sure to get her a safety razor if she wanted to keep herself smooth.
Precious walked over to me and took my hand. She placed her head on my chest and looked up at me with her big eyes.
“Oh, look at that,” Imani spoke. “She missed you. Easy to forget that she's Roka, or somewhere in between Roka and pack these days. Let’s go see what Captain wants to talk about.”
Precious didn’t send me any mental images. But she did place one finger in her mouth. As I watched, she bit the tip and licked the blood from it. Only I could see what she’d done from this angle.
“She’s missed me a lot,” I told Imani.
I followed the others to the assembly, with Precious’ tiny hand in mine. I avoided any looks into her eyes.
“The drug is called Black Mirror,” Captain began her talk when we entered the assembly hall.
The five of us sat down in the back, with Precious still next to me. Right on cue, she placed her head on my shoulder and closed her eyes. Even homicidal maniacs had to sleep sometime. It did not help my concentration at all that as she relaxed, her guard fell a bit, and I could feel the power radiating off of her. Soaking in it I could tell I was drawing much of that in.
“The drug is run out of the Delios system,” Captain continued. “We are being reassigned to that system to stop the manufacture and distribution of it.”
I could hear a unified groan sweep through the hall. No one wanted to go back on duty inside the UDF. They thought of us as degenerate space barbarians and we thought of them as uptight totalitarians. It was hard to lose people fighting for the UDF, even if that was part of our job. We were told this trip to the Yon system was temporary. But plans changed all the time.
I noted that Precious received a lot of attention from my packmates. Whatever Imani had done with her on the asteroid, brought out her nascent beauty. She looked very attractive and I could see the dress and her new “look” had the right effect on the male half of the pack. My inner awareness flared up and I felt the heat generated from her intoxicate the men around me. Precious continued to give me blank thought patterns as she slept through the talk.
“Which is why we’re headed to this godforsaken place,” Captain concluded. “Ship is up to standard and we’ve got plenty of provisions. No, I still haven’t heard from the Orders Marshal about another FAS and crew, but I’ve put in several requests for this reason.”
Captain looked at her watch. “Evening shift is about to begin,” she spoke to us all. “Everyone saw the roster I posted an hour ago. There had to be some changes at the last minute again. You all know who you’re supposed to be with, so go have fun.” She walked away from the temporary podium in the assembly room.
I looked up to see Britani and my son Kyle. He was old enough to attend the assemblies. His mother had brought him along. Although Precious, awake now, was still next to me, Britani wanted to continue with the conversation of what to do about Kyle’s transfer. As I stood up from the chair, I saw Captain headed our way.
“I’m supposed to be with Tank,” Britani informed me, “this evening. But I needed to talk to you about the future of our son.”
“Where’s Tank?” I asked. Since they were assigned for the evening, he had an interest in whatever we were about to discuss.
“He went over to my quarters as soon as the briefing was over, he likes me a lot, but he doesn't like you seeing how much. Men are silly,” Britani explained. “He’ll wait for me. We need to have the conversation we started in the shuttle.”
“What do we need to discuss?” I told her as Captain slid next to her. “I don’t think that Horde ship is the best place for him, but it beats staying here and being in limbo. I’ll go along with whatever you want if Kyle knows what he’s getting into.”
“I know all about the Horde, dad,” Kyle spoke to me. “I’ve talked with Aunt Shaunice about them.”
It hit me all of the sudden that Shaunice came from the Horde. She was part of some exchange over twenty standard years ago. In her case, she wasn’t eighteen at the time and had to go in with the children until she was ready to trial and pledge. I recalled there was quite a problem with her until she turned eighteen. Although Shaunice wasn’t allowed to sleep with anyone in the pack until her pledge, she was still allowed to have her pick of anyone in her training group. I scratched my head and remembered that her first lover was a young man of her age. It was Aleister, the gunner on Shelly’s crew. He was placed with us as an orphan. The two of them had fought constantly as children, but all that changed when they came of age. It was rumored that they would go to the same elder colony next year when their active duty ended. Both were forty-two standard years.
“She told me how hard it was when she was growing up,” he told me. “How her mother was kept on the ship most of the time and confined to her dad’s quarters. I don’t think you have to worry about me. I’ll fit in the best I can over there.”
“You know they don’t take prisoners,” I told them. “And that they go for close quarters boarding actions as often as possible. Lots of swordplay if you ride with the Khan.”
He looked at the floor. “I know, dad,” Kyle responded, as he stood next to his mother. “I’ll have a year to trial. I’m sure I can make it.”
“I won’t stand in your way,” I told him. “Don’t you have educational duty this evening?”
“Yes,” he replied. “With Uncle Medoro. He’s on duty this evening and wants me to help him with the ammo loader in FAS #2.”
“Then go help him. We’ll talk later.”
Britani and I watched him vanish down the hall and turned to each other. “I dreaded this day,” she confessed to me.
“Me too,” I agreed. “But we knew it would come.”
We hugged for a few minutes. Captain watched us and smiled.
“You have to see to Tank,” I told her.
“Your assignment is already here,” she replied, kissed me and walked away.
“That was nice,” Captain told me as she walked back to her quarters with Precious and me. “I’m proud to run this place. People think it's all resource allocation and who sleeps with who. There’s a lot more to it.” Precious grabbed my hand and held onto it until we reached Captain’s quarters.
Soon, we were in front of her room. I waited a bit until Captain unlocked the door to ask the question that was on my mind. Precious still held my hand.
3
“So what did you get in exchange for Kyle?” I asked Captain as we went into her room.
She waited until the door was locked behind her until she said anything, pointedly ignoring my question. “Precious,” she told my responsibility. “Take the dress off and sit in that chair. Underwear too, don’t look stupid, I know you can understand me.”
“Yes, Captain.” She spoke in her broken accent and stripped her clothes off. I stood there and watched. To see a woman remove her clothes never gets old.
Captain turned to me. “Give me the remote to her ring,” she demanded.
I handed it to her, unsure where Captain was headed with all this. I could see the look of surprise on Precious’ face.
Captain switched off the remote and held it up so Precious could see it was no longer active.
“Now give me the ring,” she told Precious. “Better yet, give it to Corwin. I think that’s a better gesture. Hurry now, the ring is no longer active and won’t turn you into a mass of quivering flesh if you take it off. Besides, we all know it didn’t do much good on you anyway.”
Precious shot me a confused look as she peeled it off her smooth thigh. She handed the ring to me and I took it from her. I could tell her eyes wanted to send a message, but I refused to receive it. At least I’d learned to block some of her mind from mine.
Captain began to remove her uniform and looked to me. I took the hint and pulled mine off, hanging it on the back of the only other chair in her quarters. In a few minutes, all of us were naked.
“Food won’t be delivered by the auto-waiter for some time,” she explained as we stepped into her shower. Captain had one of the few self-contained showers in the ship. It was one of the perks of the ship captain job, I supposed. She turned on the water and let it spray over the two of us.
After her skin was wet and the water dripping down her hair, she leaned out of the shower. “Precious,” I heard her call. “I need you in here with us. And bring the extra soap. Also, make sure there are three towels on the rack; we’re going to need them.
I few seconds later, the confused form of Precious stepped into the shower and huddled in one corner. By now, I was soaked. Captain moved to one side of me and placed an arm around my waist.
“Are you sure about this, Captain,” I asked her. “I thought she was off limits to us.”
“Oh, she is off limits to everyone in the pack,” Captain explained. “Except to me. I get to decide what to do with her and I think it’s time she has an active role in what goes down at night.”
Captain talked as she soaped up my back.
“Precious,” Captain called to her, “bring a rag and some soap over her and work on Corwin’s chest.”
Precious did as told, but her eyes told me she suspected something. Crazy as she might be, Precious hadn’t survived in her living hell by letting threats pass. Stark naked, she could still find a way to kill someone. I’d watched, in her head, as she used a pillow to smother a man twice her size. She’d wanted his money and felt it might be fun to watch him twitch while he died.
“See,” Captain told her as she scrubbed me. “You’ve made Corwin very excited. I’ll bet he could pound a nail with that thing. No, keep your hands away from it, you aren’t allowed to touch that part of him.”
I did see a bit of disappointment in her eyes. Precious was inches from my balls with the soap. The vision of what she had in mind caused my erection to enlarge a bit more. I encircled Captain’s waist with my right arm.
Captain had Precious towel me off when we stepped out of the shower. Next, Captain made sure I watched as she had Precious towel the water from her. Finally, Captain led me to her bed and ordered Precious to finish by running a towel over her own body. Captain gave Precious instructions on what to do as we sat on the bed. I felt Captain’s hand slide between my legs. How was it that she knew so much about me that I didn’t?
“Have I told you why they want us to stop the Black Mirror production,” she asked me. Her hand tightened up a bit. She had a captive audience. I gritted my teeth and tried to concentrate on what she wanted to tell me. Not as easy thing to do, as Precious was drying her hair with the towel.
“That shit causes all manner of hallucinations,” she explained while her fingers squeezed me. I gasped. “It causes an epic body high. The problem is, every time you take it, you go through the looking glass.” She took one of my hands and placed it on her left breast.
“You don’t always come back the same person,” she continued between moans as I pinched her nipple. “The UDF determined last month that there is a connection between the destabilization of a planetary government and the signs of Roka activity. They’ve linked the government in Delios to some cartel that makes and profits from that drug. Something bad happens to people who take it. We’re not talking the enhancement, which I didn’t take this evening, because I need a clear head. This new drug is deadly.”
She turned to Precious. My little responsibility was finished drying herself. She returned the wet towel to the other ones on the rack and turned back toward us. I watched as she folder both of her tiny hands together and regarded us. I could see the jealousy in her eyes, even if Captain couldn’t.
“I could force you to sit in that chair and watch us make love,” Captain spoke to her. “It’s what you’ve had to do since coming aboard this ship. Every time Corwin beds down for the night with someone, poor little Precious has to sit there and watch. Maybe she pleasures herself, but that’s all she gets to do. Sometimes she brings them towels. But I’m the captain and I make the rules.”
Captain looked back at the bed behind her. “However, I think there’s enough room in this one for three,” she spoke, still stroking away with one hand. “What do you think, Corwin?”
“Whatever Captain wants,” I managed to gasp as she continued her motion.
She stopped. “I knew you’d agree,” Captain spoke. She moved to one side of the bed.
“The three wine glasses on my desk,” she pointed in the direction to Precious with her left hand. “Bring them here.”
Precious padded back to us with the tray. Captain took one, handed one to me, and the final one to Precious. “You can put the tray pack on the desk,” she told her.
Precious returned with her glass. “To the future,” Captain told her. “Everyone drink up.” Once finished, Precious gathered the glasses and returned to the bedside.
“Precious, I want you in this bed now,” she called to my responsibility who stared at her in disbelief.
“Did you not hear me, girl?” Captain snapped at her.
Precious came over and sat between us, her eyes focused between my legs.
“I want both of you in the center of the bed,” she ordered us. I slid to the other side and Precious followed. She stopped and rolled over to look at Captain for further instruction.
Captain, by way of explanation, stood up and went around to the other side of the bed. She slid on the side of me opposite Precious and laid back, down to our level. I turned from Precious’ burning eyes to that of Captain. I still couldn’t understand where this was all headed. The contrast between Captain’s mature, seasoned body and the one Precious possessed struck me as epic. I was between past and future, but wasn’t sure which woman represented what.
“I looked into what you told me,” Captain said as she stroked my hair. She turned and looked at Precious. “You have been a very bad little girl,” she spoke to her. “In most places, they’d have killed you the moment they found out what you did. I don’t know exactly what you’ve done or how many victims you’ve left in your wake. Don’t try to get out of this bed. I can kill you before you move the wrong way, girl.”
I was trapped between two deadly women, The only thing that kept my sanity was the knowledge we were all naked. I looked over at Precious and saw the look I feared.
Gone was the innocent and confused little girl. It was replaced by the cold eyes of a killer, someone who ran every scenario possible through her head, trying to find out the best way to kill the woman on the other side of me. Or both of us. I was certain her feral nature had overcome her insane love for me at this point. She’d thought I’d betrayed her, which warranted death.
I heard Precious growl. It wouldn’t be long. She’d make a move and the fight would be on between her and Captain, with me in the center. I didn’t think any of us had good odds of survival.
“Another nice thing about being captain,” she spoke. “You have all manner of access to controlled substances. The enhancement isn’t illegal, technically, but I’m sure our Grand Marshal wouldn’t be happy if he knew I’d used it. Now Black Mirror, that stuff is almost lethal in what it can do.”
She leaned back. “Which is why I had to make certain the dose I gave both of you was administered by Cherish. I wouldn’t trust anyone else to find the right amount to use.”
“Captain!” I hissed. “What have you done?”
“If we are going to fight this drug, we must know more about it, and I have suspicions I would like confirmed, about the drug and about the two of you,” she told me. “Kiss her. I order you to kiss her. Your life depends on what happens next.”
Furious that I’d been duped I grabbed Precious’s naked body and held her tight as she struggled. There was only one thing I wanted to do right now and that was to feel her lips on mine. She relaxed and looked into my face. I felt the insane rage melt away to sorrow and our lips touched. I thrust my tongue in her mouth. She met it with hers.
In seconds, I was on top of her. I didn’t care how many rules this violated, I wanted her. We’d been poisoned with stars only knew what kind of designer drug that swept the cosmos. Had the Captain decided this was some twisted sort of execution? Or was I already tight in the grip of the hallucination and my thoughts were no longer my own? I wanted to be inside her as my last act.
Precious placed one leg over my side and rolled herself over on top of me. She looked down at me as her small body balanced over my naked form. I watched her small breasts hover over me. I saw her short hair around her face. The eyes of hell looked down at me.
“I love you, Corwin!” came out of her mouth. It was the cry of a beast from the inner pit, the voice of a thing that had only known rape and brutality until we’d found her. She was broken inside, but there was enough humanity left there to tell me these words.
I let her mount me. My eyes rolled back in my head as the drug took charge of us. All I remembered was the demure form of Precious on top of me screaming.
We melted into each other and I became one with her life. I saw her beaten to pulp because she wouldn’t do as told by the bordello owner. She hadn’t even begun puberty. I felt he terror as the soldiers who raped and killed her mother tried to hunt her down. I screamed in pain with her every time she was taken against her will. I watched the horror of a young woman turned inside out, who suffered and knew pain no human should ever know.
