Little Bird
- 1 year ago
- 19
- 0
John helped Irillith up, and she nodded to him gratefully, wiping the back of her hand across her bloodied mouth and wincing with the pain from her broken nose. Rachel rushed over to her side too, and she brushed the Maliri girl’s hair out of the way, so that she could help clean up the blood splattered all over her face.
The brunette unclipped a medi-kit from a pouch at her waist, and glanced John’s way, she asked, “I’ll stop the bleeding, but I assume you’ll heal her when we get back to the Invictus?”
John nodded in reply, then looking Irillith in her violet eyes, he asked, “Are you okay?”
Her face looked haunted by guilt, and she stared at her sobbing sister who was being comforted by Alyssa. “Tashana’s right...” Irillith replied, then paused as she swallowed. Her voice was quiet and full of remorse as she added, “Everything that happened to her was all my fault.”
“We’ll make everything right,” he said, patting her gently on the shoulder.
Hades was still screaming in pain, staring in horror at the bloodied stumps of his wrists. Sakura looked at John with an arched eyebrow, and when he nodded to her, she turned and unceremoniously shot the Pirate King through the head, putting him out of his misery.
“Let’s get out of here,” John said to the girls, walking over to crouch down beside Alyssa and Tashana.
He glanced at Tashana, and when he saw the horrible extent of her mutilated face, he shared a glance with his blonde matriarch. Fucking animals! he swore vehemently.
Edraele had been listening intently to his thoughts, and when she heard his reaction to the injuries Tashana had sustained, her voice throbbed with guilt and sorrow as she sobbed, My baby girl!
We’ve got her, she’s safe now, John said, trying to soothe the stricken Maliri matriarch.
Alyssa’s sounded furious as she thought to him, I want to kill every one of these bastards all over again!
He nodded, and said, Yeah, I know exactly what you mean. He let out a troubled sigh, and added, How anyone could do this to another person is beyond me.
Tashana was rocking back and forth, hugging her knees, and burying her disfigured face in her arms as she cried disconsolately.
Are you going to top her up when we get back to the ship? Fix everything? Alyssa asked, looking at the horrifically abused girl with heartfelt concern.
John stroked Tashana’s back, and said, I’ll speak to her, see what she wants to do. I can offer to heal her without setting up the bond if she doesn’t want to join us.
Alyssa grimaced, and said with some reluctance, If it was up to me, I’d just ask Jade to fill her up, but you remember what happened with Irillith. Your cum affected her very strongly, much more so than the other Maliri girls. I suspect it’s going to be all or nothing with Tashana.
Reaching down for the golden mask that Tashana held in her limp hand, John gently pulled it from her unresisting fingers, and stared at the twisted mouth turned up into a mocking smile. “You poor girl, you’ve suffered through so much,” he said, his voice throbbing with sympathy.
Tashana had fallen quiet now, staring ahead blankly in a dazed stupor. He glanced at Alyssa again, and then gently scooped up the catatonic Maliri girl in his arms, carrying her effortlessly with her head resting against the golden lion on his chest. Alyssa took the mask from his hand, and then after a glance at Irillith’s anguished expression, she carefully replaced the hood over Tashana’s head.
Alyssa looked at the girls, and after a brief telepathic conversation, they turned and moved out, stepping over the corpses of the Bloodnova pirates as they made their way back down to the lower level.
“I don’t recognise any of this tech,” Dana muttered as she took one last glance at the archaic brass-coloured consoles.
“Anything you want take a look at?” John asked, as he fell into step beside her.
She slowly shook her head, and replied, “I doubt a crusty old refinery has anything we’d be interested in. The Beam Lasers in the turrets outside were much stronger than standard Terran beams, but the enhanced Maliri ones we’ve got strapped to the Invictus are vastly more powerful.” Dana twisted her shoulders to show him the unfamiliar and vicious-looking rifle she had slung over one shoulder, and added, “I did find this on one of the pirates. It looks like some kind of sonic weapon, so I’ll check it out back on the ship.”
He nodded, and said, “Alright, sounds good. We’ll just clean up here and be done with the place.”
They reached the lower level of the complex and the girls fanned out, with Sakura and Irillith sweeping through to check they hadn’t missed any stragglers. The rest of the girls went to the cells, and freed the half-dozen abused young women which the Bloodnovas had kept as playthings. John heard the sobs of relief from the pirates’ slaves as his girls explained that they were rescuing them.
Glancing at Alyssa, he thought to her, Can you keep an eye on Rachel as she checks on these women, and then shepherd the freed prisoners down to the lower deck? The rest of the girls can come with me; we’ll check on all the other slaves we freed in the market and docking bay.
Yep, no problem, Alyssa agreed, already issuing orders to that effect.
John glanced down at Tashana as he stepped over smoking Bloodnova corpses on his way out of Hades’ base, but she still appeared to be unresponsive. Bearing in mind how Irillith had reacted the first time she’d seen him, he could only assume that the shock of seeing and recognising a Progenitor in the flesh, as well as the trauma of being abruptly reunited with her twin, had overcome the poor girl.
“Don’t worry, you’re safe now. No one’s going to hurt you again,” he murmured quietly to Tashana, as he walked across the huge metal disc lying on the ground near the entrance to the base.
As he headed through the shattered gateway, he could see the flare of Paragon Armour thrusters up ahead as Sakura and Irillith jumped off the gantries to descend to the level below. They were joined a few seconds later by Dana and Calara, who walked briskly around him and cleanly vaulted over the guardrail at the edge of the platform, before floating down to the few hundred people left alive in the Underworld.
Holding Tashana protectively in his arms, he activated flight mode and began gliding back towards Docking Bay Four. He spotted the Trankaran ore merchant below, who was still standing by his tracked carts loaded down with ore. The blocky alien was staring around wide-eyed at the mounds of corpses littering the area, and seemed to be trying to figure out a way to navigate past them with his carts.
It was difficult to land gracefully without being able to use the anti-grav generators built into the wrists of his paragon armour to steady himself, but he just about managed a reasonably elegant landing using the ones in his boots. The Trankaran heard the quiet burn of the retro-thruster on John’s back, and whirled around to stare at John in fear as his white-armoured boots touched down on the deck with a metallic clank.
“Don’t shoot!” the hulking creature pleaded in his deep rumbling voice, holding his arms in the air in a gesture of surrender.
John glanced down at the girl in his arms, and replied, “We just came here to rescue her, we’re not going to harm you.” Looking into the Trankaran’s amber eyes, he added, “My name’s John Blake. Who are you?”
“Yordalum,” the big alien replied, slowly lowering his hands, a wary expression on his slab-like face.
“Have you got a decent ship? Something that can hold its own against pirate attacks?” John asked him, as a group of Bract merchants scuttled by, mandibles clicking furiously as their multifaceted eyes darted around at the scores of corpses.
The Trankaran looked at him suspiciously, but after a moment’s pause, he nodded as he replied, “You have to have a tough ship to mine here safely, in the Unclaimed Wastes. My ship has been modified to carry Fusion Beams, which scares the pirates away.”
John nodded as he remembered just how strong those Trankaran weapons were, then quickly asked Alyssa, What’s the news from the girls?
She sounded troubled as she replied, The six women we rescued from Hades’ base have been badly abused. Rachel thinks we should bring them with us so she can tend to them. The female slaves being auctioned by the slavers seem in reasonable shape, and so are the male slaves used by the merchants as baggage handlers. Knowing what he had in mind, she added, The girls have checked, there’s plenty of people who know how to fly a ship.
Turning his attention back to the Trankaran merchant, John said, “I’d like to hire you and as many allies as you feel you need, to help guard some freed slaves on their way home. If you help them safely return to Terran Space, I’ll give you a million credits.”
The eight-foot-tall humanoid gaped at him, his dark-grey face reflecting his shock at the huge amount of money he’d just been offered. “By the great maker!” he blurted out in shock.
John looked at him with an arched eyebrow, and asked, “Does that mean you’re interested?”
Yordalum reacted quickly, and blinking in amazement, he replied in his gravelly voice, “I can do that. When do you want to depart?”
“Within the hour,” John replied. “Enough time for the slaves to take any weapons or gear they need from the dead, and pick out a decent couple of ships for the journey home.”
Normally poised and self-assured, the House Ghilwen Fleet Commander paced back and forth in the Command Suite aboard her flagship, ‘The Encaren Valar’. She threw a troubled glance at the holographic maps representing the territory of her Noble House and shook her head once again.
“What the hell is she thinking, Darana!” she blurted out in exasperation. Stopping her pacing, the vexed woman swept her hand across the holographic images showing Ghilwen fleet dispositions, and sounded incredulous as she continued, “Stripping all our fleets from the borders with House Loraleth would be bad enough, but to do the same with House Valaden? It’s madness!”
“I’ve no idea, Nymaleth,” the battleship’s Captain replied, sounding subdued. Walking over to the Sector Maps, she studied them closely, as if they weren’t already permanently etched into her mind. Glancing at her Commander, her voice was terse as she added, “It’s only a matter of time before Edraele exploits the situation, and cuts deep into our territory. Have you tried explaining this to-.”
Nymaleth shot her a dangerous look, and said, “Do you take me for a fool? There’s only so much I can push our new Matriarch ... she’s already threatened my position unless I cooperate.” Adopting the airy soprano of a much younger woman, she continued, “Take all my forces to the border with House Holaris, and await further orders.”
Stifling a smirk, Darana said, “We’ve been stuck here a week now, haven’t we?” Her smile died as she added, “It’s almost as if she’s inviting House Loraleth or Valaden to attack us.”
Nymaleth nodded, her face grim, and glancing over at the House Ghilwen territory map, her angular icy-blue eyes tracked the flightpath that intersected Ghilwen Space, all the way across to the Unclaimed Wastes. “Then there’s that ship...” she muttered under her breath, astounded by the implausible speeds recorded by the long-range sensor net. Turning to look at her second-in-command, she added indignantly, “Letting a Terran vessel sweep through our territory unopposed; Matriarch Aradrea Ghilwen must be turning in her grave!”
“True, but now we’re stuck dealing with her daughter,” Darana said, soberly. Turning to stare at her commander, she asked in a hushed voice, “Is it true that Leena is still on Valaden?”.
Nymaleth frowned, her brow etched with concern as she replied, “Yes, she’s been there for weeks.”
“Is she being held captive?” Darana asked, sounding deeply worried. “If so, we have to do something!”
Shaking her head, Nymaleth replied, “You know we don’t have the strength to oppose the Valaden fleets. What can we do?”
“I wasn’t thinking about a rescue mission,” Darana replied, glancing back at the door to the Command Suite to make sure it was sealed. She stepped closer to Nymaleth, and in a soft, conspiratorial whisper, she continued, “We could declare Leena a traitor, and make alternate succession plans. Matriarch Nymaleth Ghilwen does have a nice ring to it...”
Nymaleth shot her companion a look of alarm, giving the door a frantic glance. Even the hint of treason against your House Matriarch carried barbaric and excessively sadistic punishments even by Maliri standards. She was about to sternly rebuke Darana, but she paused with the harsh words on the tip of her tongue. Matriarch. In her most secret fantasies she had always dreamed of being able to wield that level of absolute power...
The chime of the intercom made both women jump out of their skins, and they flashed each other a guilty look. Darana coughed nervously, and said, “Excuse me, Fleet Commander, I’ll let you take the call in private.”
Gliding over to the desk, Nymaleth grimaced when she saw the identity of the caller. Taking a deep breath, she set her face into a calm and composed mask, then accepted the call.
Matriarch Leena Ghilwen smiled at her, and replied warmly, “Hello, Nymaleth, it’s nice to see you.”
“It’s so wonderful to see you too, my Matriarch,” Nymaleth said to the image of the young House Ghilwen ruler. “What do I owe the honour of this call?”
Leena glanced off to her left, then sat up straighter, and added imperiously, “I have new orders for you.”
“And what might they be?” Nymaleth replied through gritted teeth, doing her best to smile.
“You are to leave all our forces on the border with House Holaris, but I want you to take your ship to our border with the Unclaimed Wastes. You are to meet with an ally of our House, and then escort some honoured guests to Genkiri station,” the young House Ghilwen Matriarch requested.
Nymaleth gaped at her youthful leader, and forgetting herself for a fateful moment, she balked, “You want me to fly -alone- through House Loraleth Space?! Have you completely lost your mind?!”
Leena’s eyes narrowed, and her voice was deathly cold as she hissed, “One more outburst like that, and you’ll be begging me to end your suffering! Am I absolutely clear, Fleet Commander?”
Staring at the young woman in shock, Nymaleth felt a shiver of fear run down her spine. If she hadn’t known better, she would have sworn she was talking to Edraele Valaden herself. She’d only heard the legendary House Valaden tyrant once, in a heated exchange with Aradrea Ghilwen, but that had been enough to make her thank her lucky stars that she hadn’t been born into Valaden territory.
“Please accept my humblest apologies, Matriarch,” Nymaleth quickly replied, flustered now. “I will obey your orders to the letter.”
After a long moment spent fixing her with a withering gaze, Leena said in an ominous voice, “You’d better pray they arrive at their destination without so much as a hair out of place, Nymaleth. I’m holding you personally accountable for their safety, and you do NOT want to test me on this.”
“Of course, my Matriarch,” the cowed Fleet Commander replied, bowing deferentially.
Leena closed the call without saying another word, leaving Nymaleth staring at the winged chalice icon of House Ghilwen. She slumped in her chair, the conversation not having gone the way she expected at all. Her Matriarch seemed to have grown in confidence by leaps and bounds, and Nymaleth dreaded to think what kind of instruction she was receiving from Edraele.
With a resigned expression on her face, she leaned across her desk to the Comms interface, then swiped across Darana’s name. When her second-in-command answered the call, Nymaleth said curtly, “Plot a course for the border with the Unclaimed Wastes, we depart immediately.”
Before the shocked Captain could reply, Nymaleth ended the call, then stared mutely out of the clear-crystal window that ran the length of the room. A turquoise spiral nebula that twisted around a long extinct star was the dominant feature of this part of space, and she gazed at the exotic colours, lost in thought.
Matriarch Nymaleth Ghilwen; the idea had merit.
John returned to the Invictus with Tashana, Rachel, and the six women that had been captured by the Bloodnovas, leaving Alyssa in charge of coordinating the freed slaves. While John and Rachel led their guests up to Medical, Faye returned with the Raptor back to the Underworld. The white gunship hovered ominously above the merchant ships, while she waited for the rest of the crew to finish assisting the emancipated slaves in securing transportation off the facility.
It took just under an hour for the overwhelmingly grateful slaves to strip the dead merchants, pirates, and mercs of anything they needed. There were over two-hundred men and nearly ninety women that John and the girls had saved from the slavers, and they picked out four well-maintained merchant vessels to use for the journey back to Terran Space. Irillith was able to smash through the ship’s security protocols, and unlock all functionality of the vessels in a matter of minutes, handing over full control to the awed people they had rescued.
Yordalum was friends with another Trankaran miner who had docked at the station, and they were confident that between them both, they could help protect the convoy of merchant vessels on their journey home. John had reassured them that they’d be paid as soon as they contacted him upon safely reaching Terran Space, and that they simply had to contact the Maliri to route the call on to him in Valaden territory. The two Trankarans had been dutifully impressed that John was an ally of the Maliri, and when he described Chancellor Niskera, referring to her as a friend, they had readily agreed to his terms.
The blocky, ponderous Trankaran ships took off from Docking Bay Two, and fell into formation with the small fleet they were escorting. The merchant vessels themselves were modified freighters with extra armour and sprinkled with weapons - sensible precautions to take for anyone planning on operating in the Unclaimed Wastes.
Alyssa provided the group with a carefully plotted flightpath, which would save them several days’ travel time on their journey home. The Trankarans and freed Terrans balked when they saw that their route to Terran Space would take them through Maliri territory, but John explained that they would be met by a Maliri fleet, and would be granted safe passage through to Terran territory. Relief at not having to brave Drakkar territory by skirting around Maliri space managed to temper their fear of the Maliri, and they all eventually agreed. The group of six ships jumped out of the system twenty minutes later, as soon as they were well-clear of the system’s gravity wells.
Looking around the Bridge, John smiled with relief, and said, “Alright, let’s set a course for Valaden.”
“We’re all ready to go,” Jade said, turning in her Pilot’s Chair. “I plotted a course while you were in the Underworld.”
He winked at her, and she grinned at him in return, before quickly turning back to face her console and activating the Tachyon Drive. The cloud of tachyon particles began to form around the Invictus, and after a few seconds, the assault cruiser surged into hyper-warp, leaving the blue star of the Alamak system behind them.
“Three days two hours until we arrive at Valaden,” Alyssa said, reading the ETA tagged against the Nymph’s flight path. She smiled at the green-skinned girl, and added, “Not bad, Jade, not bad at all! I managed to shave off another thirty minutes, but giving that black hole a wider berth near the Gamme-Gruis system is probably sensible.”
Jade turned in her Pilot’s Chair and beamed a bright smile at her, thankful for the praise.
Rising from his chair, John said, “Alright time to get out of this gear, then I’m going to head down to Medical to check on Rachel and our guests. We’ll all get together in the Briefing Room for a group hug and an After-Action Review.” Looking around at the girls on the Bridge, he continued, “You should all be proud of yourselves today, you did an incredible job.”
“Are you sure we can’t have a group hug now and then another later with Rachel too?” Dana asked him with a grin.
John smiled at her, and said, “Sure, but it’ll mean we have to make an extra fuss over her to make up for it. Let’s get out of our gear first though, you’re far more huggable when you’re not covered head-to-foot in body armour!”
Most of the girls laughed at that, and they trooped into the Briefing Room to get out of their armour. The one exception was the subdued Maliri girl, who slowly stood up from her chair. Alyssa looked at Irillith with concern, and the blonde matriarch glanced at John with a worried expression.
Irillith’s taking what happened to Tashana to heart, she warned him. She blames herself for everything that poor girl’s been through.
John nodded, and replied, Yeah, she said as much earlier. The new Edraele can’t let go of everything the old version of herself did either. She blames herself for all of it, and is trying to make amends.
Alyssa frowned as she replied, It really wasn’t her fault, though. The old Irillith was a total bitch until you undid all the shit that Maliri society put her through. I don’t really think of them as being the same person.
Yeah, I agree completely, John replied, as he watched Irillith plod dejectedly down the ramp on leaden feet, and walk through the door into the Briefing Room.
Can’t you just wipe that bit of her memory? It’s horrible watching her suffer like this, Alyssa thought to him.
He considered it for a moment, then replied, I can’t see her agreeing to it. She’ll probably see it as her cross to bear for what happened to Tashana.
Alyssa nodded, and looked sad as she said, She was doing so well. It’s awful seeing her punishing herself for things that she’d never even consider doing now.
They stood together on the Bridge, lost in thought, until Faye fluttered over to John’s side, and said softly, “Sorry to disturb you, but the girls are all waiting in the Briefing Room.”
He shook himself from his reverie, and said, “Sorry Faye, tell them we’ll be right there.” He paused for a moment, looking into her huge luminous eyes, and added, “We really need to give you some kind of physical presence, then you can join in on these group hugs. I hate seeing you get left out when you’re just as much a part of the crew as the rest of us.”
Faye stared at him in wonder, her eyelids fluttering as her computational cycles were overwhelmed by routines from her custom programs. When she finally managed to control herself, she squeaked, “You could do that?!”
He smiled at her and admitted, “Well, in all likelihood, it’ll be Dana working on the project, but sure, why not? As long as you like the idea?”
She nodded exuberantly, clasping her hands to her chest, and barely about to control her excitement as she replied, “I’d love that so much, thank you!”
“You’re very welcome,” he replied, reaching out to brush his finger against her cheek affectionately. He followed the holographic contours of her lovely purple face as he added, “It’ll be amazing, being able to do this for real someday.”
The digital girl’s eyes were wide as saucers as she nodded slowly, translucent wings beating in a blur. John turned and followed Alyssa down the ramp to the Briefing Room, with Faye watching him with big dreamy eyes. Alyssa turned to look at her over her shoulder, and grinned when she saw the AI’s wistful expression.
Once John and Alyssa had stowed away their weapons and stepped out of the equipping frames, the girls gathered around them and leaned in for a big group hug. After all the carnage in the Underworld, it was quite a relief that they’d all come through it unscathed, and John couldn’t help but pray that all their future battles would be so easy. The realist in him knew that wasn’t likely to be the case, what with the Progenitor stirring up trouble everywhere, but it was a pleasant thought, nonetheless.
He made eye contact with Faye, who stood apart, watching the group with a look of longing, mingled with a bright-eyed hopeful expression. She smiled at him, and he marvelled at the sophistication of her software when the radiant smile seemed to light up her face.
Glancing at the eager Nymph and the troubled Maliri girl in turn, he said, “Jade, Irillith, I’ll need you with me. We’ll go and check on those women we rescued.”
Jade nodded with a knowing smile, and when the group hug broke up, she slipped her hand into his, and said, “More little kittens to look after.”
John put his arm around Irillith’s waist and said, “Come on, let’s go fix up your nose.”
She nodded distractedly, and let him guide her from the room, while the rest of the girls waved them goodbye. They entered the grav-tube in silence, with Jade giving Irillith a worried glance. She squeezed John’s hand, and when he looked at her as they floated down in the red glow, he could see the concern in her vertically-slitted emerald eyes.
They arrived at Deck Seven, then stepped out into the corridor, and after a short walk, John hit the button next to the Medical Bay door. He ushered in the girls, and then followed after them, looking around for the ship’s doctor. The tawny-haired girl was standing by the full-body scanner, with Tashana lying still on the scanning table. A blue light swept over the Maliri girl’s body, as the scanning device did its work, cataloguing a detailed list of Tashana’s various injuries and displaying them above her as a multi-layered holograph.
Rachel turned away from the holo-display when she heard them enter, then walked over to join them, studying Irillith as she passed by. The Maliri girl hurried to her sister’s side, looking down at her with her expression twisted by remorse. Rachel saw John’s look of alarm at seeing Irillith within punching range of her twin, so she leaned in and said in a hushed voice, “It’s okay, Tashana’s mildly sedated to help her get some rest.”
John nodded his understanding, then looked into the brunette’s unsettled grey eyes, and asked, “Have you had a chance to examine her yet?”
Rachel’s face clearly showed how shaken she was, and she drew him further away from Irillith, and composed herself before murmuring, “That poor girl’s suffered so much. It’s quite apparent that she’s been the victim of scores of brutal rapes, and her body’s taken some horrific abuse. Damage to her vocal chords, womb, and rectum are all indicative of forced penetration by non-Terran like lifeforms or objects. Her intestines and stomach are badly scarred as well, probably from being made to ingest something toxic.” Glancing back at the masked woman, she whispered, “She’s also covered in badly treated combat injuries, from deep skin lacerations, all the way through to dozens of broken bones. Then there’s her face...”
John stroked her arm, and said, “Can you draw up a full list of her injuries for me, please? I want to talk to Tashana about it first, but assuming she’ll let me heal her, I’ll need to know about all her wounds.”
“Of course,” Rachel replied with a sad sigh, then leaned into him for a reassuring hug. As he wrapped his arms around her, and Jade stroked her back, the brunette continued in a hushed voice, “Whoever did all that to her was inhuman. The amount of crippling agony she’s been through is beyond belief.”
“What about the tumour that Irillith had? Does she have one too?” John asked, as he held Rachel in his arms.
She nodded, then glance over her shoulder to look at Irillith and her sister, and replied, “Tashana’s is in a considerably more advanced state. The obvious conclusion would be that she’s somehow learned to harness her psychic abilities, although how they’ve manifested, I’ve no idea.” She hesitated for a moment, then continued, “Actually, that’s not strictly true. We found a charred torso near the prison cells where we found the pirates’ sex slaves, so it might be possible that she’s developed some form of pyrokinesis.”
John raised an eyebrow as he looked at the unconscious girl in her black clothes and red leather jacket. He could remember Edraele discussing her mother’s affinity to psychic flames.
My mother was a cruel and sadistic monster, Edraele confirmed for him in a quiet telepathic murmur. She used to delight in burning her enemies to death, and I was forced to watch on more than one occasion. All that psychic power usage caught up with her in the end, and she ended up killing herself to escape from the agonising migraines.
I’ll talk to Tashana, and all being well, she’ll agree to let me heal her, John replied, doing his best to comfort the Maliri girl’s anguished mother.
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Chapter One: Jaivon Johnson As I crossed the square from the Casimir Inn, on the south side of Pulaski Square, to the General’s Café on the north side, I shuddered as the big brute of a landscaper, Caleb, rose up from a flowerbed and glowered at me. He too? Would he too make me bend to his will as if by right?—not that I deserved better. But then I saw that he was looking beyond me, at Miz. Muriel standin’ at the service door of the hotel. Lookin’ at her like he’d like to eat her up. Still not...
BONEHEAD SQUARE Upon my arrival, there didn’t seem to be a lot of activity, so I stayed at the counter and conversed with the clerk. Few words had fallen before I heard footsteps, looked to my right to get a visual on a man walking toward me from the area where I should have gone right away. The look of longing on his familiar and handsome face as he walked toward and then past me with a nod of acknowledgment told me I’d arrived too late to attend to the needs of his thick and uncut seven inch...
In a small village deep in the hills lived a shepherd and his wife. Quite late in life the wife gave birth to a son, to their mutual joy. Although he was an only child and doted on by his parents, the boy grew into a handsome, carefree and obliging lad. In time he began to accompany his father into the hills to learn the art of shepherding for there was never any doubt that, one day, his father would retire and the lad would inherit his flock. The boy was diligent and hard-working. He applied...
The courts had ruled it unconstitutional, but the Negroes still sat at the back, which Nora didn’t find odd; it was so they could talk with one another. She always sat middle-right, herself, Bus 6 to her clarinet lesson, that side being better for seeing store windows. She hoped to get a pleated skirt for her birthday. Penney’s had the best. Preston and Rusty were already in high school, but she knew who everybody was. Well, not the Negroes. “Hi, babe.” The two plopped down, Rusty beside...
CHAMPIONS OF THE SQUARE DANCE By Annie James As he was about to pull their motorhome back onto the highway after gassing up at a truckstop John Heywood's concentration was interrupted by an exclamation from his wife. "Wait, John! We can't leave that poor hitchhiker just standing in the rain. He's only a boy." John halted the vehicle, leaned out his open window, and waved to the figure huddled under the shelter near the gas pumps. That person came running up to the side of the...
Dana bounded out of the Invictus, leaving Alyssa and Jade behind her, as she hurried to meet up with High Councillor Rathus and the dozens of Ashanath engineers who were staring at her expectantly. She was surprised at her surging confidence, having previously hated being the centre of attention, especially when there were more than a handful of people watching her. Instead of feeling the familiar crippling fear of public speaking, she was eager to get started and speaking to everyone at...
Chapter One ‘I should have brought a newspaper or a book or something.’ Nearly unpacked, having already survived her first class at the Savannah College of Art and Design in the old Barnard School building across the square, and feeling the itch to get back to her dolls, Ginny had eschewed the thought of fixing her own breakfast of burned toast and weak coffee this morning and ventured out onto the square to William’s Café at the corner at West Taylor. The serious and mournful-looking young...
We had a square dance weekend planned in Baker City March twelfth. We’d had it planned for a long time, to go with our square dance friends, Jim and Joan. We’d made hotel reservations at the Best Western a month earlier for Saturday night for a room with two queen beds as we enjoyed sharing a room with them. We’d been friends with them long before we started our sexual odyssey and our relationship with them was purely platonic, other than a little sexual teasing. They had no idea of how we’d...
Wife LoversThe Angel Of Times Square By Bluto I graduated from the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism in 1981 after nine months at the New York City campus. It was not my first visit to New York, but it was by far the longest time I've ever lived in Manhattan. A one school year master's program requires a lot of concentrated work and most of my time was spent in classes or choosing, researching and writing a thesis or practice reporting and more. However, in spite of all that I...
Alistair find himself faced with a stark choice when sent to prison and men start to look at him in a different way. He can fight them. He can go into protective custody.. Or ... he can find himself a 'friend'. That means becoming a boy in a bra. Before long, that bra starts to feel just a little too comfortable. Darren's diary: It was Lou Reed who said "plucked his eyebrows on the way, shaved his legs and he was a she". Well, I think it happens at a slightly different time....
Dana woke up first, feeling completely refreshed after a good night’s sleep. The Ashanath engineers had been tasked with completing the last of the work while she slept and she was so eager to check on their results, that she wanted to leap out of bed and go sprinting out the room. Instead, she stealthily climbed out from under the covers and tiptoed out softly, being careful not to awaken John, or the other three girls who were still fast asleep. She dressed in her own room, then walked down...
Stefanie knew that stripping down to her underwear was not the brightest thing to do in a secluded wood, in the dead of night, but, hey, she did what she needed to do for art. She stepped up to the rock where she had trained two lights and her tripod-held camera set on time-delay. In between each click, telling her that the camera had taken a picture, she struck and held a pose with a katana a friend who was into swords and knives had leant her. Her poses were those of a warrior. In one, she...
“What was that?” Alyssa gasped. “We’re picking up an emergency distress beacon” John replied over the din of the klaxon. He pushed a button reducing the volume to a much more subdued level. John looked at the monitor for more information. “It looks like it’s a freighter experiencing engine trouble. They need a tow or spare parts.” “Are we going to help them?” Alyssa asked, excited at this unexpected turn of events. “It could be a trap” John frowned. “They might be genuine though!” Alyssa...
Calara stepped out of the armour-equipping frame in the Dojo’s armoury and hurried into the corridor, breaking into a jog as she headed for the grav-tube. She’d heard a brief summary of the disastrous confrontation with John’s guide from Alyssa, but after discovering that her girlfriend had been injured, all she wanted to do was rush to her side. She leapt out of the blue anti-gravity field on Deck Two and caught up to Rachel, Sakura, and Alyssa in the corridor, the blonde being supported by...
John wondered what could be the problem. The After Action Report he had submitted to Federation Command last week, had made it pretty clear what had happened aboard the Corvette. He was unsure what kind of trouble the young Latina could be in, as there was certainly nothing in the AAR that implicated her being responsible in any way. “What kind of trouble?” he asked Alyssa. “Calara said she was being accused of ‘dereliction of duty’. She mentioned something about a possible court martial!”...
Dawn at their island on Oceanus was a spectacular affair. The golden sun slowly crept up above the horizon and sent out bright spears of light, illuminating the rapidly brightening sky. John and the girls felt the warm glow of the sun’s rays, and they woke up at the same time, stretching languidly in the extremely comfortable bed. Jade was on the western edge, and when she rolled on to her other side, so that she was facing the sun, she sat up abruptly with a startled gasp. “Oh, John, this...
“I don’t recall seeing Irillith around here before.” John mused, addressing Ceraden, who sat behind his desk, drumming his fingers on the glossy surface with irritation. “No, thank heavens. She’s a ‘guest’, and I only have to put up with her for another week, then it’ll be glorious peace and quiet once again,” Ceraden replied wistfully. Ceraden looked over the desk, and tsked with annoyance at the mess the shattered device had made on the floor. A few second later a pair of cleaning robots...
Copyright 1999, 2002, 2003 by Wanda Cunningham. There is no actual sex or transformation in this chapter, but I guess it should be rated R for context. So, nobody under 18 should read this, or whatever is the appropriate age in their community. This story deals with transgenderism in children and may be uncomfortable for some readers. Kelly Girl Chapter 15 "Triangle Square" By Wanda Cunningham "I need to go for a walk - or something," Kelly said. He stood near the edge of the glass...
Ularean’s image faded away, the Senior Councillor closing the call abruptly and leaving John and Calara exchanging frowns. “Any idea what Ularean was referring to with his ‘preparations’?” John asked, a pensive expression on his face. “He was doing that same slow blinking mannerism as Talari - I’d love to know what that means.” The Latina shook her head, turning to gaze at her listings of the Ashanath’s fleet assets. “I hope they’ve got something significant planned because they’re going to...
We are meeting in Federation square. You're wearing a dress that hugs your figure as you walk toward me. When you hug me I slide my hands down your body and squeeze your arse enough you make you jump a little and give me that little smile. I let you get ahead a little as we walk to a bar by the river and order drinks so I can admire your figure.We sit beside each other looking out over the river and talk about nothing, as you lean in closer I pick you up and put you in my lap. As we drink I run...
"Bastard!" I turned to see the plastic cup exploding on impact, spilling a vivid red stain on the wall's white. A clean shaven man in a Tuxedo gawped at the remains of the missile that had been intended for him. Finding the assailant did not take very long. She was out on the balcony muttering obscenities under her breath. The snow had driven the rest of the party back indoors but the crowds below were preparing to welcome the new year with barely diminished spirits. The balcony had never...
Quickie SexSquare Dance Panties By Margaret Jeanette Sara Long stepped out of the truck stop restaurant door and got into her car. She had stopped at the edge of town for breakfast -- she needed her coffee to get going for the day. She was very happy, on her way to surprise her best friend Sally Morgan. They had been best friends in college. Sally had been maid of honor at her wedding five years previously. But they didn't see each other real often, as they lived 110 miles apart. Sara...
“They were in Times Square, for New Year’s Eve.” “Never understood that, celebrating New Year’s with all those strangers, standing in the cold, in a place so fucking crowded.” “And how did it happen?” “I don’t know ... He just said his parents got pissed on by somebody.” “I assume it was a man.” “You never know.” “It was so clotted with people that the pisser probably couldn’t reach a bathroom, was stupid drunk, I’d guess.” “It was New Year’s Eve...” “I wonder how it went down. Did the...
You are naked except for a slinky thong and high heels. Very high heels. You can barely walk in them. I have made you wear the thong to keep it inside you. You don't know what it is, except it's something. Is it a dildo? It vibrates... continuously. But there's another feeling too. Some kind of irritant has obviously been applied before I inserted it. You didn't notice it at first but the itch is maddening. You'd like to scratch it, but your hands are tied behind your back. You totter to...
Finally Charlotte was taken from the hated cage and put into an abaya. Quite a lot of the other women were also taken and they were all loaded on to a lorry and driven through the town. On arrival in the main square, Charlotte realised with horror that she was to be auctioned in public with the rest of the captives. It was over an hour in the hot sun that she waited and watched as woman after woman was rapidly sold. Then she was dragged to the rostrum herself, and stripped of her...
The elevator swished open quietly and John, Alyssa, and Calara darted into their respective positions on the bridge. Sparks turned to face them as they arrived on the Command deck. “We’re getting an incoming distress call from a freighter. They’ve been disabled by pirates and are being boarded!” Sparks said with alarm. “Alyssa, plot a course to their location. Calara, shields up and weapons armed, we’re going to need to strike quickly,” John ordered decisively. The girls sprung into action...
I rarely finish work early, so it was a rare treat. I intended to make the most of it and enjoy an afternoon of busting a few out over my favourite porn. When I got home, the key was in the front door and my boyfriend’s car was in the drive (very strange, because he works 25 miles away). I let myself in the rear entrance instead, only to be greated by moans and racket coming from upstairs. I could see clothes strewn all the over staircase, alarm bells instantly rang because they were women’s...
Song of the Caged Bird As I walked through the sliding glass doors, the first thing I thought was that I wasn't adult enough to be in this store. I mean, I'm 26 years old, but for crying out loud, I still watched cartoons on Saturdays. I still liked Cocoa Puffs. I still played video games. So what was I doing at Flesh and Fantasies, the adult entertainment store? Well, except for feeling embarrassed just to be in the place? Oh, if you want to know the truth, I was here with...
Edited by Monbade, Hal, Ronbry Neena sat on the ledge watching to see where her pursuers went. The 'others' that had chased her, were part of a raiding party that had attacked her tribe during what was supposed to be the happiest day of her life, her mating day. And now her mate was gone as was her father. Sata, her mother and Deena, her sister had fled when the raiders first attacked along with her twin baby brothers, Broal and Proal and any other children they could grab. Neena had seen...
Alyssa smiled to herself as she listened to John and Dana chatting on their way out of the Legacy. He was trying his best to concentrate on the detailed technical benefits of the new Progenitor tech that they’d just acquired from the ancient ship, but he was more than a little distracted by thoughts of the Maliri twins. The blonde girl was currently floating in the air, her body shrouded in a soft white light as she set about systematically repairing the damage to the Invictus’ armour. She...
John took a deep breath to calm himself and glanced at the holographic image above Dana’s engineering station that showed they at least had their shields up now. “Ok Alyssa, you’re with me. We’re going to have to repel boarders.” he ordered brusquely. “Dana, try and get the damage to fire control repaired.” “Calara, send out a distress call. Don’t fire back unless they continue attacking, they might think they knocked out all our weapons. They know we can’t get away and they’ll probably...
BIRDIE Winnie Winkle is my hero, a single mother who became the premiere fashion designer of our time. I was drawn to her like a moth to a flame; I wanted to be her disciple. So, after high school, I took off for the big city. Some of my friends were sharing a loft there; they worked some gigs in the theatre district, helping out here and there, and one place let them use their loft as a sort of studio apartment. But their space was cramped, and I had no money for rent, and no...
Broken Little Thing: Chapter 3 "So, how is she?" My sister-in-law asked me from the other side of the line, from all the way south, in Florida. Ava was upstairs showering again, getting dressed so I could take her out to dinner. And I thought, how was she? Perfect. That's what I thought. The loveliest person and the best sex I ever had. A girl who had for only a couple of years stepped into her teenagehood, who still struggled with how her body developed, and that had graced me with the...
Dana slapped another magazine into her railgun, and hurriedly snapped off a three round burst at the Fulmanax warrior that was charging straight towards her. The high velocity rounds slammed into the right side of its head, blasting out huge chunks of white, fibrous material, until the third round punched through to the nerve ganglia. The eight foot tall Fungoid creature crashed over lifelessly, skidding across the ground, and coming to a rest at her armour plated feet. “I’m getting low on...
‘Bastard!’ I turned to see the plastic cup exploding on impact, spilling a vivid red stain on the wall’s white. A clean shaven man in a Tuxedo gawped at the remains of the missile that had been intended for him. Finding the assailant did not take very long. She was out on the balcony muttering obscenities under her breath. The snow had driven the rest of the party back indoors but the crowds below were preparing to welcome the new year with barely diminished spirits. The balcony had never...
They called themselves the Magnificent Seven, but only among themselves. They consisted of four guys and three gals, all in their late twenties. They had met in college, some as roommates, some as classmates, a couple as former sweethearts. Now they were a tightly knit group of friends. Some of them roomed together and others lived nearby, so they were constantly together in the roommates’ apartment or their favorite hang-out joint – a Starbucks.Over the years lovers have come and gone, but if...
BisexualProfessor Friedrich strolled into the cafeteria and nodded to another scientist in a white lab-coat, who was a shorter, considerably wider gentleman. “How are you this fine morning, Doctor De Vries?” “I wish I was still in bed,” the squat researcher grumbled, as he cast a dubious eye over the food on offer for breakfast. “Haskins ordered us up at the butt-crack of dawn to work on Virus Z460. Apparently, we’re running behind, but I keep telling him: you can’t rush art!” “You have my...
Alyssa looked down over her lovers and saw that she had their undivided attention. They listened to her eagerly, intrigued to learn more about the beautiful blonde girl they cared so much about. “As you know, I grew up on Karron. It’s a bleak inhospitable place, a massive asteroid that’s been gradually hollowed out as the mines have dug deeper. Slums have built up in the old abandoned tunnels and there’s thousands of people living there now.” Calara didn’t know much about Alyssa’s history...
John stretched and then sat up, leaving the girls curled around him in bed. “You ladies have a rest then come and join me in the officers’ lounge in 30 minutes” he said “I owe you girls that celebratory dinner!” He manoeuvred his way out of the bed, being careful not to accidentally lean his weight on Calara as he climbed over her. The girls snuggled up together, watching him get dressed before waving him goodbye with smiles on their beautiful young faces. John strolled down the corridor...
Ailanthia stretched like a cat on the soft black sheets, letting out a deeply contented sigh. She felt the wonderful heavy weight at her waist and one of her light-green hands slid down over her gloriously curved abdomen. She bit her flushed lower lip and let out a low moan, her skin feeling so sensitive where it had stretched taut to accommodate her cum-stuffed womb. She let out a quiet, disbelieving laugh, awed by memories of the heated coupling with her Master this morning. He’d been...
Jade stepped out of the grav-tube then jogged down the ramp into the Combat Bridge in a smooth loping run, greeting the girls with a warm grin. “Welcome back, stranger,” Irillith said to her with a smile. The Nymph trailed her green fingers down the Maliri girl’s arm as she breezed past and took her place at the Pilot’s Station. “Hi!” Faye said with a bright smile. “Do you want to take over as Pilot?” “Yes, please,” Jade replied, taking a firm grip on the Invictus’ flight controls. A...
Connie felt the little tug at the back of her mind that it might have been weeks, months, or even years since she’d thought about how or what Betty Stapleton from next door was doing. This surprising thought occurred when, as she was about to bid three no trump, her partner, Amy Gaines, pointed toward Betty’s back yard beyond Connie’s glass family room doors. There an unusually large flock of red birds, cardinals, Connie assumed, were furiously kicking up the first week of the new year snow...
The thralls are all leaving... Jade told Alyssa, craning her draconic head out of the shattered cockpit and sweeping her sharp-eyed gaze across the hangar. Alyssa swung out of the breached canopy and crouched on the Raptor’s roof. Quick, Dana ... the runes! Okay... the redhead agreed, her telepathic voice aching with grief. As much as Alyssa felt the same way, she couldn’t give in to despair now ... everything was at stake. Dana dismissed the Progenitor runes she’d inscribed on the...
John stood aside to let Jade enter the room first and she smiled at him in appreciation of his gentlemanly manners, as she sashayed into the room. John followed in her wake, enjoying the view of her spectacular dark green body as her hips swayed in front of him. He smiled to himself when he saw the hand print on the perfect round curve of her bottom, the evidence of their shared lust where she had encouraged him to spank her beautiful asscheek. He stopped leering after the Nymph to look up...
The Invictus slipped effortlessly out of hyper warp in Epsilon-Eridani, and the crew watched from their places on the bridge, as the holographic map displayed the bright yellow star at its centre. There were two wide asteroid belts that ringed the system, and one single huge planet that was labelled Jericho. “Nearly home Calara,” John said with a smile as he watched the brunette’s reaction. “It feels like so long ago when I last visited, but it’s only been a matter of months!” she replied,...
John sat with his back against the headboard and Alyssa, Sparks and Calara sat on the bed in a semicircle in front of him, watching as he began his tale. Jade lay curled up comfortably on her side, her beautiful dark green body rippling with the ethereal bands of light that were radiating out from her swollen belly. “Now gather around little girls and let me begin...” he said in a creaking voice, as though he was a wizened old storyteller. The three teenagers giggled and the room echoed...
“So, where do I begin?” John wondered, blowing out the breath he’d been holding. “Why don’t you let me start you off?” Alyssa asked, as she rose and glided down the room to pick up the remote for the holo-projector. She returned to her seat and then pressed a few buttons on the remote, displaying several images in the centre of the table. The girls are all okay with this? John asked Alyssa considerately. Of course, I asked them a few minutes ago, she replied reassuringly. “Thanks, I’ve...
“John...” the soft voice murmured, penetrating his subconscious. “Lilyana wants to speak with you...” He opened his eyes and found himself looking up at a dazzling view of the stars, the crystal dome in the Observatory so clear he could have been floating out there in the black. The next realisation was that he was buried under a pile of girls, with his ravished harem sprawled over him on the oval bed. They’d all been especially loving and affectionate after the orgy, wanting to be as close...
The Invictus dropped out of hyper-warp at the edge of the Alpha Centauri system, its huge engines blazing to life before the tachyon particles even had a chance to dissipate. Following a familiar path, the battlecruiser roared towards Gravitus, a volcanic planet that had been terraformed by the Federation into a spectacular jewel of the Core Worlds. However, the warship’s destination wasn’t the planet itself, but Olympus Shipyard, the vast six-armed space station in high orbit above. The...
John led the girls down the corridor to the room adjacent to the Firing Range. He pressed the button opening the door and ushered them into the Armoury. This vast room was originally used to store weapons and armour for the cruiser’s compliment of three hundred marines. With no need to store that much gear any more, row after row of empty weapon racks and armour lockers filled the room, looking forlorn and abandoned. Sparks looked around, wondering why he would bring her to such an enormous...
“I take it that’s bad then?” Sparks asked, startled by John and Calara’s shocked reaction to the mystery ship. “Who are the Kirrix exactly?” “They are kill on sight to all species in the Galactic League” John explained briefly. “They’re a parasitic insectoid species that use other life forms to incubate their young. When their larvae hatch, they eat their way out of their victims!” he said, his mouth twisting with disgust. “I can’t believe these pirates would capture slaves for them. That’s...
John stretched contentedly as he awoke, feeling full of energy and ready to go. He looked down to see his four girls curled up sound asleep on the bed with him, and he smiled and stretched again. Not wanting to disturb any of the young women, he lay back, closed his eyes and just revelled in the close physical contact. With his eyes closed, he suddenly remembered the odd dream he’d had while he’d been sleeping. He recalled being embraced by radiant figures, a glowing nimbus of light had...