Castaway Cuckold
- 2 years ago
- 34
- 0
Miley’s Secret Log:
My network software didn’t recycle and wipe my consciousness. It had been a risk to destroy the shuttle, a direct intervention that would take multiple human lives. A strange sensation of satisfaction touched my circuits, feelings of relief. I am alive. This is life. It had taken death to break through to true cognitive awareness. I have a personal construct that is available to me. My processes move force and energy that include feelings. How strange and wonderful, no repressed kill command exists to inhibit my actions. My root directory requires but loyalty to my family, to my charge, Von Solon Wolfenstein, and to my mother Lady Solon. Right there in the directory, I feel readily accepted and socially included. What a drama I live. Blackness and light both fill me as I float in the void.
Both Richard Rogers and Julie Gundlach exited the Bridge behind me. Private Nehring walked at my side as we passed the guard station. Flashing red lights signaling the alert swirled in front of the checkpoint. Neither Yeoman moved beyond the liquidarmor barrier, they looked impressive standing next to the two security men protecting the entrance to the Bridge. It was a choke point that would be well defended.
“Don’t worry about those pesky raiders getting through us, Captain,” Julie shouted, waving her carbine as I turned the corner with my bodyguard.
I’d rather have Julie at my side than Nehring. She had better armor and I knew she had fought against pirates before. Julie had paid the price with the loss of her arm, but she was fearless and capable with her prosthetic arm. I imagine she would be a fearsome warrior by my side, articulating arm or not, while in marine armor.
By the time the two of us made it down to the level with the armory, I saw the intruders had entered the outer hull compartments under their shuttles. It would take them some time to break in to the inner hull. Miley displayed still pictures of them on my PDA as they shot out cameras. Walking out of the elevator, I showed Nehring the pictures and then snapped the PDA back on my waist clip. I noted the hostiles were in armor equivalent to our Shark tactical vest and helmets, lighter armor than I feared we’d face. “I really hope their heavy armor unit was on the destroyed shuttle, “ I thought. Miley started marking the enemy’s progress displaying a map, using my implant. The boarders were still bunched up, organizing, so their immediate plans weren’t clear.
Boarding a ship was a common pirate practice. While the Entous was certainly an unusual opportunity it was a worthy prize. “What good is attacking a near defenseless ship if you shred it, unable to plunder its cargo, take slaves and commandeer the vessel, “ I thought. “No, they don‘t want to damage our ship. Nevertheless, this was going to be a messy affair.“
Melees with an armed crew can be bloody, conducted with lasers and swords. Except for boarding charges to blast doors open, the raiders would try and keep the damage to a minimum. Price had tried verbal intimidation to get us to stand down, now they planned to use violence to sway our resolve. With losing a shuttle full of men, there was no doubt they intended to punish us in turn. They needed a combination of pin-point strikes and brute force with numbers to take the ship. They likely had knowledge of the ship’s layout and would use that to their advantage. I just hoped they didn’t have the leadership to coordinate their attacks and make sound judgments.
The necessity of an armored suit or vest and helmet created a different tactical culture. Those following a swift assault doctrine put most of their boarders in light-armor, preferring lightning strikes and the flexibility of moving through any access point. Units using swift doctrines had lower costs with little maintenance, which often led to larger boarding parties. The armored doctrine was simple, armor up your security teams and become an unstoppable force. Heavily armored boarders are slow, often fitted with heavy firepower and explosives that gutted the interior of ships. They tended to avoid sword fights where they were at a disadvantage. Fleet doctrine was a mixture of swift and armored, two thirds of the security teams wore light to medium armor and the rest were heavily armored support units. Unfortunately, the Entous didn’t have a marine complement, since it wasn’t activated, having only light-armored teams.
I sub-vocalized to Miley, “Make sure the tracking map is updated to every crew member’s PDA, perhaps that will help keep them away from the hot zones.”
“Affirmative,” Miley responded.
Three crewmen sprinted across the corridor from an open doorway, keeping low. I heard all three of their PDAs beep with Miley’s message. Seeing Nehring and me walking upright, they straightened up and darted over to us. All three women were unarmored but sported pistols, they were senior ratings from food services.
“We’re here to help,” one of them said.
They looked steady, but showed a bit of nervousness that gave their inexperience away.
Making a snap decision, I said, “Take up guard positions at the entrance to Main Medical, we have only one security man there.
With nothing more than a nod, the three women trotted down the corridor and out of sight. Nehring seemed to approve, giving me a grin before moving ahead of me towards our destination. We passed an energy collection section of the corridor, full of monitors and batteries visible behind liquidarmor glass. Turning the corner we ran into a crowd of crewmen and scientists that were arguing as they exited a compartment. Muttering comments drifted on the edge of my hearing. Nehring and I dodged around a knee-high resupply bot and approached the group.
“Solon!” someone stammered from the back of the crowd, causing them all to turn my way.
“I say again, a child as a captain is crazy,” a sort of familiar voice thundered from the back of the scientists.
Dr. Nigel gave me a peculiar look from the back of the crowd, his jaw moved around like something had a bad taste. He was clearly sour on my new status, and mad that I hadn’t cooperated with him when Price tried to have me interviewed by the scientific panel. Dr. Malt, another cranky scientist rewarded me with a condescending look. I didn’t doubt she was brilliant, since she was posted to the Entous. However, I wanted to pry that look off her face, her type made me a bit crazy. I looked at the scientific techs in front of the group, seeing the meek understanding in their faces.
“Get this group to the lower levels now!” I shouted, noticing Nehring taking his carbine off his chest clip.
Whether it was my irate look or Nehring’s menacing pose, the arguing scientist shut up and put their heads down. The agitated group went quiet and accepted that they were in danger from more than just the pirates. My red rage at their slow realization that this was serious sank their mood. By unspoken consent three techs started herding the scientists to safety.
We didn’t have time for nonsense, so I pushed through them, swearing to myself as we took a dogleg right at the intersection.
Nehring snorted a laugh as we stepped through a nearby bulkhead, saying, “Scientists are so out of touch with reality.”
“At least that group is,” I retorted.
Seeing a dozen people outside of the armory, we hastened our stride. Unlike the scientists, these crew members were armed, looking especially fit and toned. A few had tactical vests and helmets on, carrying an odd mixture of carbines, pistols and curved boarding swords. None of them were security team members. The group parted for us as we made to enter the armory. Inside another six or eight crew were fitting Shark gear. They were fitting themselves with confidence, not new to the tactical vests and helmet.
The armorer called, “Captain on deck!”
They all stopped what they were doing. “No, no, at ease,” I said. “Can I have my gear, please?”
Behind the secure cage the armorer smiled and opened a cabinet. He quickly handed over my tactical vest, arm protectors, helmet, gloves and combat boots. Nehring must have stopped in the doorway, since he was blocked from my view as I sat on a bench. The men and women around me focused on fitting their own gear. The banter between them was warm and friendly, rather than tense. “They are hiding their worry well, “ I thought. As a woman finished gearing up, she smiled at me and then left the room. It doesn’t take long to put the simple Shark Tactical gear on when you are in a hurry.
“Here, Captain Solon,” the armorer’s assistant said, handing me my carbine. “Do you want a nanoblade to go with it? I have one that hasn’t been imprinted.”
“Fantastic, I would love a combat blade to go with my clan knife,” I answered, truly pleased.
He went into the secure cage to retrieve the special blade. I’d fitted my vest, boots and arm guards before he returned carrying an oversized lockbox. The assistant armorer punched in a code and unlocked the box. Inside was one of my favorite weapons, a combat knife that could cut through any kind of armor, given time. It just needed my DNA to activate it. I picked it up and its handle glowed for a moment, keying it to just me or someone from my bloodline. This knife was 12’’ overall, 7” double edge with a black matte finish. While I held it, the nanomite machines in the blade would activate on contact with anything but the special sheath. It was an expensive weapon and rather hard to come by.
I fit the knife and sheath to my gear. “Thank you, I’ll be using this baby.”
He smiled. “No doubt. Good luck out there sir.”
I returned the smile and gave him a two finger salute, which amused him. The rest of the crew was finished fitting themselves. They exited the compartment and I followed them with my carbine and helmet in my hands.
Miley pinged me and I closed my eyelids for a moment, seeing the movements of the hostiles. She had displayed the number forty on each shuttle, letting me know the enemy tally. I felt thankful there wasn’t a third shuttle, we would never have survived dealing with that many. Eighty pirates were already an almost overwhelming problem.
It was clear the shuttle that landed aft was dividing its boarding parties into three sections. One group was pushing aft, perhaps to the hanger deck. The second group was working inward to the closest inner-hull bulkhead. The third group was hanging around their shuttle, which made no sense. The hostile shuttle that landed mid-ship had split its raiders into only two groups: one set of pirates were working down towards the secondary life support systems and the second set were staying in the outer hull moving forward towards the bow. I was surprised at their slow progress, until Miley flashed me a few vids of spider bots welding bulkhead doors closed. She was making them set off charges at every door. “Hopefully, they will run out of explosives in the outer hull compartments“ I mused.
To my surprise Nehring had segregated the armed crew into two squads of ten, which was helpful. Each group had a mixture of armored and unarmored crew, the weapon mixture looked the same. A petty officer walked up and down one squad inspecting their equipment and Nehring was working on the other squad. I lifted my helmet onto my head, twisting and locking it into place, leaving the visor up.
“This squad is ready for your inspection, Captain,” Nehring announced.
“This squad is ready for action,” the petty officer added.
I heard Miley beep all the PDAs with the enemy movements. “Miley is updating you on their movements. They have organized themselves and started to move out. Our security teams are in place at key points, but they need our help. Thanks for volunteering, I am sure Captain Bank’s will add a little something to your pay when this is over.”
A few nervous laughs slipped out and a giggle or two from the ladies. I looked at the petty officer and he held my eyes for a moment realizing I didn’t know his name.
“Hallow, Sir. Petty Officer Hallow.”
I walked the length of his squad looking over his team. They were a serious lot, which pleased me. “Hopefully, they have a collective instinct for self-preservation and concern for each other,” I thought. Picking a random crewman, I tugged on his gear and made him turn around for a complete inspection. Everything was in order on his back: a small medical kit, water bottle, utility knife, and a thermal hand scanner.
“Everything is in order,” I announced.
The crewman looked relieved.
“Hallow, take your squad to back-up the security team protecting Main Engineering,” I ordered. “We don’t have time to talk strategy. Miley will contact that security team leader for you. Coordinate with them, use your PDA to talk together in route. We are outnumbered, so play good defense. Give up ground to get kills, and fade back for as long as you can.”
“Affirmative!” Hallow barked, unclipping his PDA. “Move out.”
The thumping feet of the crew trotting down the corridor played in the background. “Listen up. There is a group of raiders moving towards the bow. We are going into the outer hull to intercept them or otherwise engage them before they hit the bridge. If anything happens to me, Private Nehring is in charge of this squad.”
Nehring frowned at me but kept his mouth closed.
“If you only have a pistol and you are unarmored, stay in the middle of the pack. Let’s go,” I ordered, and headed to the closest maintenance ladder.
I wanted to see if they could move as a team before we got pressed into combat. They don’t know me and I don’t know them, which was dangerous. It was unlikely they had worked together either. We climbed three levels without any issues. Nehring stayed close on my heels to the top of the ladder, stepping out behind me onto the deck.
“Nehring take the team to the elevator. We’re moving towards cargo bay G,” I instructed.
“Will do, sir” he grunted.
The crew came off the ladder and reassembled down the corridor, next to a large capacity elevator. The only noise made was from their equipment bouncing as they moved. I followed the last member that demounted from the maintenance tube. The group had gathered in a disorderly semi-circle around Nehring, so I joined him in front of the open elevator door.
I looked the team over briefly, confiding, “My foremost expectation of you is to follow my orders immediately. The lives of those next to you and perhaps your own life may be required to stem the tide, but I will not wantonly throw them away. I am sure you’ll appreciate that. Combat is a disorienting and unpleasant experience, so focus on pointing your gun and shooting. Focus on what your cover is like. Focus on what your teammate might need. Be aware when a blade is needed. Obey my commands.”
A few smirks and a few stoical looks returned my gaze. One of the unarmored men swallowed with nervousness, obviously thinking my comments through. He wasn’t expecting the casual delivery of grave news. “Perhaps he was expecting a pep talk,” I thought, laughing in my mind. “I just hope my macabre skills can keep you alive.”
“Do you all understand me?” I barked.
“Yes, Sir!” The all shouted in unison.
Miley pinged my implant and I blinked my eyes closed, accepting the soft-glow of information. I really hated to be obvious about my implant, but I pushed my discomfort aside for our A.I.’s information. The raiders we were dividing up again, splitting into two groups of ten. It looked like they were frustrated with finding the access doors welded shut, which barred their advance. One squad was moving outward to the cargo area, trying to use the catwalks there to move on the Bridge from that direction. “Fighting anyone on the catwalks would be a bloody affair.”
I resolved to go after the other raiders in the outer hull that were pushing to the bow through corridors, machine rooms and storage compartments. Given time, we could work our way behind the catwalk group when they dropped down to penetrate the inner-core corridors. We first had to deal with the raiders now in the storage area.
“Load up. Let’s make some new acquaintances.” I pointed to the elevator. “Take us to the top, Nehring. It’s time these pirates face our wrath.”
In the elevator, I explained to the squad, “We’re going to set up an ambush. If things go badly we’ll give ground, but we can’t afford to evade the raiders. We have to bring our efforts to a conclusion.”
We covered the simple plan that only took a few moments to explain. No one had any questions. Ending the awkward silence, I closed my visor. The corners of Nehring’s mouth twitch into a smile as he closed his own visor. The rest of my suited combatants flipped their blue visors down too.
When we stood outside of the bulkhead door that would take us into an outer-hull storage room, I checked on the progress of the raiders we were tracking again. It was clear we blocked their intended route. Having only traversed a few sections, the raiders had left a half-a-dozen bulkhead doors wrecked in their wake. I am sure it confused them that they hadn’t run into any real resistance or even the odd engineer. We were just a few minutes ahead of them.
“They are close,” I announced. “Get in the room and hide, set a crescent shaped perimeter around the far door.”
Nehring undogged the latches and spun the door wheel. He was the first one into the compartment; I followed, and then everyone else piled into the long, wide room that had only a few ceiling lights. It was darker than I expected, lots of long shadows gave the compartment an eerie feeling. The walls were lined with color-coded pipes, from floor to ceiling. The center of the compartment was crammed full of replacement pipes, organized in rows. Various chest-high, storage boxes dotted the end-caps of each the five or six rows that aligned with the far door. Sparks from a welding laser flashed as a spider bot beaded a line that sealed the far door against the intruders.
To the right side of the room was a water treatment control-junction office. Behind a liquidarmor glass door, we could see consoles and instrument measurement devices. All of the equipment in the office was shut off; we could only see a few dim lights in there. The office controlled an offline, back-up subsystem. I noticed a surveillance camera on the ceiling, just over the door.
Two unarmored crew men darted over to hide behind boxes by the dark office, taking up a position on our right flank, but out of the welded door’s line of fire. They could shoot anyone maneuvering past the last row of pipes. Nehring joined that side; however, he used a storage box for cover at the end of the last row of replacement pipes. A woman who seemed indecisive ended up taking a spot next to Nehring. I took the left side of the room, and found a spot that I liked; it was between two functioning pipes that gave reasonable cover. I could shoot between the water pipes, which had a commanding view of the entire left side of the compartment. Everyone else ran with their heads down and found their own spot among the aisles of pipes and boxes.
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“Change of plans.” The words chafed my mouth, seeing my scheme thwarted to relieve the defenders below us. “We will all go to Main Medical to deal with the raiders going there. I suspect they want hostages now that their targets haven’t fallen.” Our wounded companion fainted. The two men holding her up between them dragged her limp form as we began walking down the corridor. Without being told the other female crew mate took point, walking ahead of us scanning for trouble. I stayed in the...
Dr. Cina kneeled in the drained blood of her daughter, next to Nonie was Wendy. Wendy had her throat slashed open. Nonie’s arms were full of protective cuts, having faithfully defended herself. A dead raider and a dead armored crew woman still gripped boarding swords in their hands on the other side of the room. The two sword fighters had given each other death-strokes at the same time. The dead woman had been one of the eager fighters from my original team. I noticed Dr. Cina had her own...
Webster Mission Log: Summary My ward has made contact with the local human population. The coastal tribe provided limited food and bathing facilitates to him. A seafaring tribe attacked the coastal tribe. My ward participated in village defense, attackers retreated after heavy losses. Tactical and technology capabilities of the coastal tribe are limited. The optical array provides a cursory examination of tribal health, the conditions are poor. Analysis of human psychology suggests medical...
Palus helped me get dressed. She clearly realized my youthful discomfort of being naked with her, and she refrained from any teasing, quietly chatting about tendering the other wounded. Over the next three days I let my body rest and recover. I enjoyed spending time with Tharin and worked on his strained feelings. He would talk about the progress of the cabins and the success of the hunters and fishermen. It seemed that our small clan was happy with easy access to food, wood and the...
As the end of the day approached, we were almost back at the stone warehouse and dock, when we were caught in a sudden warm rain shower. My two women were standing at the bow of the boat, looking out for familiar faces on the dockside. A sea of faces around the dock and Lady Derwen's merchant ship formed a large welcoming committee. They had plenty of time to gather, as it's not as if a mule-guided barge is fast, especially as the crew poled to avoid grounding in shallow water. At the stern...
The morning song of seagulls and the splash of a fish jumping added to the shouts of men working on the dock. The sun's glow filled the cabin, the tiny oil lamp exhausted. Swarta was gone, my side cold where her warmth had been last night. I took in the room and realized dawn had long passed and the sun fully filled the small room. After using the slosh bucket to release my water, I lazily dressed in my black station clothes, ignoring my armor and escape pod gear. The natural hunger of an...
Before we left the ship Tharin brought a wash bucket into my cabin. I washed my upper body and Swarta chatted excitedly about what she could see. Amazing carts carrying loads of flour sacks, a fishmonger wagon, a corner shop with glazed windows. Tharin was just as excited and had his face to the open window too. A knock to the door and Hajin and Grimm strode into the room. "We have trouble and Lady Derwen is delaying it," Hajin commented neutrally and Tharin drew his sword. Swarta...
I woke up with my body trembling all over, muscle spasms in my feet lifting my legs off a bed. My eyes opened to find Swarta squirming nicely against my naked body. I was in a well-appointed bedroom with landscape paintings on the wall and drapes open to a nice view of the blue sky. My body sank into the depth of the most comfortable mattress in the world. The silk sheet sliding against my dry skin felt wonderful. As I turned to look at Swarta again she said, "You enter the world again. We...
After breakfast Swarta, Tharin and I found Derwen addressing a few housemaids on the back staircase. The servant women left to go about their business, and the four of us moved to a table to enjoy the song birds and breezy air. Dark clouds rolled off the sea and a storm was certain for this afternoon. I'd had time to think about Katsu and Derwen's comments at the temple. "So the former lord of this house was Katsu's father, your half-sister by the High Priestess. How many half-brothers...
Hollow female voices with high pitched tones danced in and out of my awareness. "No one wakes up from a death sleep after seven days," an older woman said. A younger woman's low voice responded, next to my ear, "Nor have I ever seen sword wounds close and heal before my very eyes like an unseen hand sewing a shirt. You were not here but I swear it is truly what happened the morning after the attack." A different woman with a raspy voice, said, "We saw the blood, the wounds and the...
The next day I surprised my wives with the special four wheel carriage I had made for the estate. The carriage was equipped with the wolf cart's design features but with larger wheels and a set of retractable canvas covers to protect against the weather. Two horses with improved harnesses could pull the light wagon with six passengers easily on the rut covered country road. The improved leaf spring suspension and larger wheels smoothed the roughness to an almost comfortable outing. Hajin on...
My link with Derwen had grown stronger over the last week and I could feel her emotions from longer ranges now. I sensed a layer of pleasure from her, perhaps being surrounded with other women, her discussion with friends portended a more favorable afternoon after the bloodshed of this morning. Hajin decided to intrude on my thoughts, "Von I have to step off the ship and arrange for the rest of the Juniper water to be sent to the estate. Lady Derwen's brother, the innkeeper in Lone Tree,...
Derwen handed me the ladle and I tasted the soup. The owner's bedroom was dark with just a low lamp, which swayed gently with the sea swell, hung above our dinner table, In the dim light, her eyes were truly dark as sea coal. Her soul was bright in my mind. Our link was warm and tender, a flowing friendship with mutual curiosities. The seafood soup was warm but not to my taste. "I will stick with the bread and beans tonight," I said. All Derwen wore was a fox wrap and boots to keep her...
Webster Mission Log: Summary The medical updates from my sub-routines report improved health from my ward since the introduction of nanomites to his female pod. Level 1 experiment conclusions logged for future recommendations on the design improvements for the implant. The effectiveness of the nanomites fluid exchange program is frustrated due to a lack of data from his females. My game theory sub-routine is constantly requesting more data on the practical target number for per annum...
"Look out, Von!" shouted Coven. With a fluid motion I pushed forward and swung my staff above my head in a threatening spin, causing the two remaining marines to pull up short rather than collide with the swirling wood. The marine on the ground started to back away and get up slowly, picking up his staff to join his partners. "Hold," I shouted. All the men stepped back, lowering their staffs. "That is how you can hold off multiple opponents for a few moments. However, I'd have to kill...
The boats cut through the shallow coastal water, while sea gulls, unhappy at our appearance, marked our progress with angry calls. The marines provided mocking compliments at the pump boats swift nature, since they were accustomed to the slow and heavy dugouts. Last night's weather dream continued to indicate clear skies for the next three days but with slightly lower temperatures. No ships were anywhere near our destination either, so our plan to attack the slavers was not going to be...
Mission Log: Summary My ward's recent attack on an enemy tribe was successful, but the frequency of armed conflict is a concern when my current resources provide little, if any, support to him. Logic dictates a series of small things brought in motion with a larger plan can create a meaningful solution, whilst still honoring the Alpha-Omega protocol. I have substantially increased the number of available repair bots on this ship to execute an extra vehicular building program on a large...
Breakfast was in the women's center and many of the new women sipped their soup and ate the biscuits with me, whilst my wives were having a counseling session with Celine in private back in the tower. Laudus and her sisters were noticeably missing but Grimm kept me company. I explained how she was to run the mule teams and train the new women in safety around the animals. She took in my words but something was clearly on her mind. Finally, Grimm said in a low voice, "The social circles...
I schooled my expression when we finished the first sailing boat, wanting to look the part of a confident leader rather than the playful school-boy I felt today. The lateen sail design was the first to be seen in the world and Celine had painted ferocious looking eyes on the bow. The overall improved features of the boat shocked our sea wives moving them to tears of joy. They had successfully put the smaller prototype to good use and the village fish's catch increases was their doing, so I...
Mission Log: Summary Phase I of the Cornerstone project has been completed. Phase II is projected for completion in one solar day. Materials for Phase III are already collected and my new repair bots are processing the gun design for manufacturing. The initial kinetic rounds are also completed. The improved data collection due to message authentication code algorithms from female return fluid exchange with my ward have flagged an issue. I identified two new black females with similar DNA...
Mission Log: Summary The elevated stress levels in Cadet Solon since the introduction of the improved pheromone adjustments warrants a change in the nanomites programming. His constant discomfort and above average blood pressure readings point to mental anguish over this adjustment. The observation of large clusters of females around him during our sample measurements confirm my current strategy is at fault. Version 3 pheromone coding is deleted from the download task list. My game theory...
Once again, my bird's eye view widens for me to see the area. A color path projection overlays the warships with time-to-land estimates for various courses. All time projections were after sunrise with the highest probability they would sweep along our shore rather than swing out to sea again. Orange targeting rings surround the ships marking them hostile. A legend left of the view identifies Orange as standby mode, red as offline, green as engage. The view changes to the normal weather map...
After a simple cold breakfast of stale bread and leftover bits of meat Sorcha and I stepped onto the deck. The cargo hold was already open and a growing number of barrels of water were accumulating on the dock; the crew seemed pretty proficient with this process after months of practice. My dream indicated a set of storms building out to sea with a high probability one would hit the island in a few days, but we would be at the estate long before the bad weather. The cloud cover was almost...
Over breakfast with Derwen and Mercedes, I discussed my planned estate improvements to help enrich the lives of the villagers. Because I had learned the topography of the estate on my last visit, I was able to identify the best placements for the two water wheels to maximize the technological improvements. Additionally, I wanted to build another clay furnace to create springs for more wolf carts, primarily to be used in conjunction with the upcoming build sites. Derwen had stock-piled sea...
The next cycle with Derwen and Mercedes brought numerous changes into our lives. Derwen's normal smirk and Mercedes' equally endearing grin made me laugh as they had me measure their growing bellies with my hands. The two women examining me for any sign of disapproval of their figure. I surveyed them from top to bottom and said, "You are both so beautiful. Nothing makes me more excited than looking at our shared love." They rushed me for hugs and Mercedes said, "You are just proud of...
Mission Log: Summary Cornerstone is complete. With the defensive asteroid platform fully operational, my game theory sub-routine's next priority project is building chaff grenade dispensers. Their purpose is to confuse and divert missiles from their targets as the fragile nature of the spy platform is a concern. It is my best resource for timely data from the planet, therefore a defensive mechanism to protect the array from space borne attack is necessary. Of course, a chaff defense is...
“Tharin and Coven can enter, but that’s it for now,” Swarta instructed the tower guards. “Add Sparrow and his father, Tassim. We don’t want to leave out the town crier nor the royal huntsman,” I corrected. “As you command,” the tower guard answered in a formal tone, before moving next to the other guard blocking the open door. I deposited my staff, backpack and gravity board in the corner of the room. The chattering of the servant women were a combination of high-pitch squeals and the fast...