Castaway Cuckold
- 2 years ago
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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 rear, covering the ladder with my carbine as I walked backwards.
We made it down the length of the corridor and almost through a bulkhead door before I saw figures following us. Our little run in at the ladder had attracted the attentions of raiders that had been attacking Life Support. At least five men were swinging guns side-to-side in anticipation of an ambush. They saw us and dropped to their knees to fire; however, we quickened our step and shuffled around the corner of an intersection. A few more minutes and we would have made it to an elevator that opened up in front of Medical. Now, we had to stay out of their line of sight, taking side corridors that moved us away from our destination. The side corridors were narrower and shorter than the main corridors, so it was likely we could keep walls between us and those pursuing us.
“Go, Go, Go,” I ordered, pointing at the next intersection. “Hustle around the next corner before they get the courage to race after us.”
Blinking my eyes closed and walking backwards with my carbine leveled was a new feat for me. For a few moments, I focused my attention on implant information. Miley updated the raiders’ movements on a map behind my eyes. Engineering was still under assault, but all the other raiders were moving towards the bow. A group of eight was tailing us and another group was on the same level as Medical. I felt concerned about how effective a group of unarmed crewmen would hold up against the armed intruders. A few of the women I sent to defend Medical only had pistols. Having Nehring there helped me keep my composure, but he was unarmored too, having had his chest vest damaged.
Hearing combat boots slowly trampling up towards the corner we just darted away from, I shouted, “Here they come.”
Our female scout sensing the new urgency to find cover grabbed our wounded teammate’s feet and added her muscle to moving the dead weight. With three people carrying the woman we made it into a maintenance tunnel before they saw us. I stopped them and cut off the bloody bandage for my purposes.
“This tunnel comes out on the port side of the ship. Take her around the bend and put a fresh bandage on her before you go looking for an elevator to Medical,” I instructed.
One of the men flipped his visor up. “It sounds like you’re not coming with us.”
“No,” I answered. “If the pirates just focused on me, then they wouldn’t think to put an ear at the maintenance tunnel. Make your escape, I have to go.”
Not having any time for arguments or a debate on my sanity, I rush out of the tunnel and down the corridor, away from the hostiles. Leaving the relative safety of the tunnel behind didn’t bother me, I planned on running like a rabbit. “Hopefully, a few bloody clues will add to their excitement,” I thought.
Dashing across the corridor, I painted a bloody palm print on the next bulkhead door frame. The narrow corridor was shorter than I remembered, it ended in a “Y” intersection. The left passage offered only my death, a choice to make a stand at the small damage control station or hide in a large locker with emergency suits and gear. The right passage provided two choices too, either a ladder that only went up three floors or a squeezing, struggling path through an energy collector array that was not quite the width of my shoulders. The machinery and batteries consumed what would have been a narrow but clear corridor; it wasn’t intended to be a passageway anymore. If they pressed forward and I choose the ladder and was caught half-way up, I’d be a dead man. There would be no reason for them not to shoot me.
Two bolts of energy hit the wall, certainly rushed shots. I ducked right, stopped and knelt. It seemed my bloody wrap was not really needed, they had followed me so I dropped it. After a quick counting to ten, I shoved my shoulder and carbine around the corner, snapping off a shot on their rushing scout. The energy charge hit, destroying the man’s weakly armored knee. He lost his carbine, which was cast forward; and, it slid into the junction, only a few feet from me. “No way can I get the gun and live,” I thought.
The moment I ducked back into cover another two shots grazed my wall. I had counted on them believing I was our group’s rear guard, luring them into an ambush. If they truly thought I was alone and they were bravely determined, they might rush me. With no need to wait for my carbine to recharge, I ran. No doubt my shot would lure them closer for revenge, once they mustered the courage. With the weapon in my hand, I worked myself into the tight gap between the equipment, and then started to wiggle between monitors, test devices and auxiliary panels of the energy array.
Every foot I squeezed further through the energy collector array, I wondered if I’d over thought my escape. Price was a clever foe. He would have given his raiders the internal map of the Entous, which I had counted on. Only because Rayz and I had checked every suit locker on the ship did I know the map the Entous crew used was wrong. The internal map showed the “Y” corridor as a dead end. The ship designers didn’t want people squeezing through tight passages with dangerous capacitors, batteries and high-powered conduits. Theoretically, under the right conditions, an untrained person with a power source could trigger a shockingly powerful explosion by accident. Even worse, energy discharges from weapons could create a polarizing harmonic disruption that would collapse the containment fields on this equipment. Any able body crewman knew the basics about the dangers of energy discharges around capacitors. It was planet dwelling visitors or passengers that spacers feared would do something stupid to damage their ship, thus a reason for restricted areas and weapon lockups for such guests. “Potentially, I am risking my life on the pirates’ shipboard safety training,” I thought.
My life was in the balance, depending on my enemy’s cognitive connection to common sense around dangerous equipment and how I should be feeling. Knowing you had a foe cornered created a dangerous encounter. The cornered rat was more likely to make you pay a nasty price than whimper in a corner, waiting for capture. I hoped my conviction in human nature worked out. Hopefully, the pirates would be very tentative in their approach of my corner. “Who wants to waste their life to a gun toting crewman, who certainly would get the first shot off when they rushed around the corner of the dead end?” I thought, trying to boost my confidence in my actions. “Just a few more feet to go.”
The minutes ticked off as I wiggled and squirmed. The oppressive walls of liquidarmor screeched as my armored vest rubbed up against it, time after time.
Finally, they came.
“Stop,” a raider shouted in a synthetic voice, projected by the helmet’s speaker. “We promise you’ll live if you surrender.”
Another raider aimed his carbine at me.
I struggled another foot closer to my exit, keeping my eyes and carbine on them. It was equal folly for me to fire and they knew it. “Desperate or revengeful men take wicked chances,” I thought. “A lucky shot might kill me and not set off an explosion. A wounded man may fire in return, perhaps with not so true of aim.”
The person speaking lifted her visor and set a hand on her partner’s weapon, pushing it down. A complicated mix of frustration and calculation played over the woman’s face as I lowered my carbine. I had shut them off from their vengeance for the harm I’d committed on their friends. With the high emotions involved I hadn’t been so sure the fullness of their malevolent purpose could be contained; yet, the urgency of their chase melted away. Thankfully, she seemed in charge and she was no fool to discharge an energy weapon down the length of an energy collection array.
The other raider flipped up his visor too. He was focused and carried his carbine confidently. I could see his excitement bubbling, nervous energy hidden from inexperienced eyes. A thumb tapping his weapon, the regular wiggle of a boot gave him away.
Never having stopped my squirming, I exited on the other side of the gathering and containment equipment. My eyes never once left their leader’s face.
With no shame for running nor gratitude for their good sense, I said, “We will meet again and we will resolve our differences then.”
I didn’t know what reaction I would receive for my parting words, but to my surprise the woman saluted me. “Oh, you will make a worthy prisoner. I’ll be claiming you when this is over. You’ll look good on my leash at home.”
I ducked around the corner to catch my breath from my sweaty exertions. The pirates laughed at the woman’s words. She was a clever leader to save face and bring humor to their situation. “They see me as a rabbit running away with no real teeth, but I am a wolf with no fear of them,” I thought. The terrible tension in my neck and shoulders eased. I sighed, trying to relax in the moment with a brief breathing exercise. Leaning back against the wall, I let air circulate around my head from an environmental control handler, which began to blow.
After a minute of arguing, the raiders melted out of my hearing range. I ran to the nearest ladder that would drop me to the level below. It was easier for me to think after I put some distance between me and those that had hunted me. My PDA beeped with another of Miley’s updates, so I clipped my carbine to my chest hook. I closed my eyes and Miley’s updated map appeared, the raiders that had hunted me had switched strategies and were now climbing ladders that took them to the officers residential level, close to the Bridge. Other raiders were still assaulting Engineering unsuccessfully. The foes around our Main Medical were the threat I feared. My neck muscles tensed again because I had a hard time controlling my imagination about the fighting there.
I climbed down the ladder to the next level of the ship and ran the length of the empty corridor to the next ladder tube, which would allow me access to Medical. I saw some motion in an open doorway and sidestepped, drawing my boarding sword. An intruder stepped out and swung at me with his curved sword. A quick clash of blades followed. The blades held fast as I pushed forward into the body of the man. He was unbalanced and unprepared for my counter move, and then with all my strength I shoved him back into the wall. His helmet bounced on the wall, stunning him long enough for me to cut his left arm.
With his unhurt sword arm the broad shouldered but short man thrust at me. I parried with no difficulty and nicked his wounded arm again. The raider fought bravely, slashing and parrying, but his defense couldn’t last. Taking no risks of a lucky hit, I methodically maneuvered him around the corridor into a corner. He had a number of burn marks on his armor and I realized he had no carbine or pistol. Trapping the man, I worked him over with powerful thrusts and slashes of my blade until he mistakenly gave me an opening. I killed him and left the scene without another thought.
Six steps from my conflict I arrived at the ladder tube. The tussles I had on Haven had taught me the consequences of losing my head. Focus and awareness were the keys to survival when your life is threatened and sometimes boldness is required too. Luck seemed to be the other factor in my success. Throughout my fights on the ship, I had a growing awareness that my sixth sense was sharper than it had ever been. It was as if my subconscious had known a man was in that doorway before my logical mind. Again, I sensed danger, but I had to sheathe my sword to slide down the ladder. My gloved hands and armored knee pads absorbed the friction as my body fell in a controlled fashion.
Appalling noise grated my ears as I slid to the bottom of the ladder tube. Only as I hit the ground did I realize the noise had turned into the the voice of a woman in her death throes. I immediately drew my sword and nanoblade. I peeked around the corridor’s wall and saw a raider twisting a knife into an unarmed woman. Another muted scream from a man, out of my sight, confirmed my arrival at a scene of violence. Inexplicably, my muscles froze as I observed the raider killing the woman. He had lifted the young woman off her feet with a hand around her neck and a knife in her belly. Her arm was limp from a horrific laser wound. At her feet was her carbine with the familiar recharging hum. The man’s visor was up and he was whispering to his victim. Totally intent on enjoying her passing, he did not see me. In the surreal moment, I understood what she had done, since I had done it earlier. Her carbine’s capacitor chamber was open.
Her selfless act exploded at their feet, blowing me back into the ladder tube. The conflagration rolled like thunder that slowly faded. Acrid smoke made my eyes water, as I struggled to my feet and came upon the gruesome bodies. The smell of burnt human flesh wafted about me. I touched a spot of blood on my cheek with the back of my hand, but the cut didn’t hurt. “Peace to you. What a brave soul,” I thought.
Another laser bolt flashed around the corner of the corridor and I ran towards it with sadness and rage. Here and there black burns marked the walls towards Medical. In the corridor was a litter of bodies, both armored and unarmored. I recognized a number of the dead crew; they were the three women from the food service area that I had sent to defend Medical. Beyond the bulkhead door, which was blasted open, a raider was exchanging fire with an unseen crewman. This side of the bulkhead and just in front of me, two raiders were sword fighting someone in a doorway. One of the intruders saw me out of the corner of his eye. He turned my blade enough to deflect its blow off his shoulder armor rather than take the hit on his clavicle, which would have crippled him.
The raider swore a foul oath and pummeled me with gloved hands. I realized he had dropped his sword, so I stabbed my nanoblade under his vest to gut him. My rage lifted him off the ground for a moment as the blade traveled to his heart. The anger in his eyes crested and a wave of surprise followed. The raider faltered and fell against my body, still not believing his end had come. I pushed him away, stepped aside and gave him another killing stroke before his body hit the floor. I looked to Nehring, who stood over the limp form of his opponent. Somehow I wasn’t surprised it was my self-appointed bodyguard. He had a number of cuts that looked painful, and his skinsuit’s left arm was scorched from a near miss from an energy weapon.
I stepped alongside him, into the compartment he was defending, the door at the back of the room was open, which led to another corridor. The compartment was a lab full of expensive equipment.
“Good timing, Lord Wolf,” Nehring breathed, hardly able to contain himself.
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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...