The Lucky Bird travelled away from Travos VII, passing through the endless blackness of the void, the precise balancing of power and output coming from its drives barely noticeable, despite the mind bending speed at which the ship travelled.
The combat drone holding Kalin deposited her unceremoniously on a pad in the medical room of the Lucky Bird. A yellow medical drone appeared and began to examine Kalin, as it prepared Corti Nanites and hydrating fluid for her.
Kalin was utterly exhausted, barely moving, as several medical drones began to examine her. Her vision was blurry, but she was still able to think to herself: “I may “Love” you bastard as long as I live, but I’m going to see to it that I outlive you. I think, I will be able to cherish the memory of you much more than the reality.” The thought caused a little bitter smile to form on her lips, and grow. She realized, she may have lost the battle, but Kasuri kind could still win the glorious bloody war. All she needed were the coordinates to his home planet, and if that required her to “warm” up to the monster she would. The best way to regain her honor for herself and all of Kasurikind would be to finally fulfil the mission that she been ignoring and playing at for years, find the worthy prey, and devour it.
She was startled out of her reverie by the poking of one of the medical drones. She turned her head and saw the captain enter and sit on one of the benches, as another drone assisted in removing his boot. With a pop, the drone pulled the boot off as some of the captain’s blood dripped on the floor.
Then she smelled him fully again, over the ambient odor of the medicines being pumped into her. She tasted the delicious aroma that was dripping off his leg in red beads, and yet she could also still sense his frustrated desires.
He and the blood smelled divine, but she had no strength and had trouble keeping her eyes open. Though thru the haze she saw the captain stare at her blankly, not with the fire, bravado, or desire that he had displayed previously, but with that of sincere concern and some sadness.
Ivo smiled at her sincerely, and he nervously said over the din of the medical drones: “Hey, I just wanted to say…. I’m sorry, I think that we got off on the wrong foot, and I’d like us to be friends if that’s possible.”
She looked at him blankly and then turned her head, and gutterly muttered.
“Friends sure, we can be friends, we can be “best” friends.”
Before she could continue the sarcastic diatribe he responded.
“Cool, well when you’re rested we’ll talk, we’ve got a week to get to know each other before the ship arrives at the next job, so no rush.” Ivo replied, then turned to the side, as a drone removed his shirt, and sprayed on some wound sealant. Then with an auto IV still attached to his arm he walked out. Ivo headed in the direction of his quarters intending to get a quick shower, a change and some rest. He figured he’d need his strength next cycle to deal with the new “shipmate”.
Kalin had turned her head again, just in time to see his blurry form exit the medbay, as her eyes closed and her vision went black. At that moment a drone had administered a mild sedative (at least by Kasuri standards), and Kalin went limp as she lost consciousness.
Under Helios’ excellent care the Kasuri mended fairly quickly though the sedative applied to the Kasuri woman was not, strictly speaking, necessary. It served to give Fred, himself and the captain a little extra time to go over the situation.
The captain was still in his quarters, toweling off after a quick shower, when he heard Helios’ voice from a comm unit grow in volume: “Captain you are wanted on the bridge, IMMEDIATELY.”
Ivo: “Ok… I’ll be right there, give me a few moments.” The captain quickly put on a comfortable two piece exercise suit, and pulled his standard black boots back on.” He walked straight out of the room, but paused, thinking that he might check the condition of their “guest” before he hit the bridge. As he turned to the side he saw two of Helios’ drones, one in front of each corridor.
Ivo looked questioningly at the drones, and before he could speak, they in turn spoke in unison : “Captain, do not worry about the female, I will handle her care and treatment. Your presence is URGENTLY requested on the bridge.”
Ivo seeing no legitimate reason to argue the point, slowly turned and walked the other way down the corridor. While he was walking to the bridge, the drones finished dressing the unconscious Kasuri in a clean but plain set of synthetic clothing, taking her suit to be repaired and laundered while they deposited her in the bed of one of the ships unused officers quarters.
Arriving on the bridge, Fred looked up from the latest bomb he had been working on, and said: “Good …to see you were unharmed….mostly.”
Ivo nodded, walked past him, took the pilot’s seat, slouched down lazily, and sighed….”So we need to talk about the Kasuri woman, I suppose?”
“Captain your odd habit of stating what you already know seems quite inefficient.” Helios interjected through the overhead comm.
Fred turned to ivo, and ivo half rotated the chair and stared sideways at Fred.
“Captain, Helios’ might be ambivalent to the “creature” we have on board, but I am not, she is a very real danger to you and I, and I want to know what you intend to do with it.”
“Ah….shit…I hadn’t actually thought that far ahead.”
Helios chimed in, “Captain from the statements you made earlier this cycle, you indicated quite publicly that you wished to “share” certain “affections” with that being, and with the conditions imposed by that duel, you have certain legal rights to follow through with said “affections” whether the other party desires them or not.”
Ivo visibly twitched at that, and said…”Ah…”
The machine, in a somewhat more chipper tune, said: “I want to make it clear to you that I have no “moral” objections as you would call them to any actions you might take, I just a desire to see the standards by which you have judged your own actions up until this point continue to remain consistent.”
Ivo sighed and reluctantly responded, “Contract or no contract, voluntary slavery is still slavery.”
Waving his hand a little, Ivo said: “ I will not be taking advantage of any of my “legal” rights I “won”, I will simply drop the Kasuri woman off when we get to our waiting client.”
Fred, seemed to relax a slight hair, though he still had questions. “Captain, we have not known each other that long, but in the time we have had together I feel that I have been able to trust you, that being said, I must understand why you did all of this.”
“Honestly……I’m lonely.”
“Then…why don’t you go home, I don’t hold you to that oath you made to me, to help me in taking revenge on the people who sent those Corti —-bastards—- who killed my friends, and my….mate.”
Fred paused and turned away a moment, as the turtle’s eyes grew distant.
Ivo said with some regret in his voice, “I cannot go home, not now. If I go, you and Helios can’t come, my people are not ready for this, (Ivo gestures at the surrounding ship) at the very least they would try and take the ship and you. And this ship and you guys are all I’ve got.”
Fred turned back with an unusual look of indignation on his face and bitterly said: “At least you have the luxury of returning, my world is nothing but a burnt rocky hellscape. Those Corti —Bastards— tortured and killed the last surviving members of my kind for their filthy “experiments”. My world was crushed by the the falling rocks, and yet those —bastards— took the last of us few survivors because we were “unique”.”
“I know, I know….it doesn’t compare in any way to what you’ve gone through, it’s just,…I’m just a.….I’m just a …nobody…back home. How can I return with what I know now, and live the rest of my days looking at the stars when I could be flying through them.”
Fred shot back angrily: “I would kill many beings if it meant I could be a “nobody” again among my own kind. If you’re that desperate for a mate, You could have swung by your world and tried picking up a female of your own kind instead of chasing the tail of some —slutty— —psychopathic—, —murderous—, —-xeno—- devouring, —demoness—!
Fredrick’s two upper appendages were shaking, he was unaccustomed to giving in to his emotions,….at least since…. however the captain had hit a nerve, and Fred had to vent.
With as much sincerity as he was capable of Ivo responded: “I’m sorry, I am very, very sorry, I acted selfishly, more than usual, and put my own….burning… desires….ahead of that of the welfare of you and the ship.”
“….that having been said… I’ll talk to the “demon”, and we’ll let her off as soon as we can. In the meantime, I will not commit any untoward actions or advances in regards to her.”
Fred softened a bit: “You mean what you say, captain?”
“Absolutely.” Spoken with sincere conviction.
The two stared at each other for a while, and then Ivo said: “Are we good?”.
He extended his hand towards Fred, and fred extended his digits and clasped, and said quietly. “We’re good, captain, just….don’t make it a habit of hitting on any more strange aliens.”
Fred had calmed, but still spoke with seriousness: “Captain, she is still dangerous,” Fred looking up at the ceiling, spoke again. “While Helios can probably handle her,” Fred stared back at the captain again, “I will be taking precautions, and if she tries to “eat” me, she’s going to get a mouthful of turtle with a side of boooom.” The turtle holding up a thermal charge clasped in one hand.
Ivo smirked a little, “Well you can never be too cautious these days.”
Ivo walked over to Fred and patted him on the back of the shell, and said. “Well looking at the bright side, considering all the thousands of “weird” beings we’ve run into already, I doubt there’s any other species in this galaxy I’d find remotely attractive, ain’t that right Helios?”
The captain looking up at the ceiling now was surprised by the delay in the machine’s response, but then it spoke. “I can say that even with a technically infinite universe, there is only going to be a infinitesimally small of number of —xeno’s— in this galaxy who would even remotely be appealing to humankind, even accounting for some hu-mans atypical sexual proclivities.”
Ivo paused…and squinted at one of Helios’ many camera eyes, before speaking. “You could have just said yes you know.”
“Captain, there is the easy answer and there is the accurate answer, I’m afraid I can only give the most accurate answer if queried.”
Fred almost smiled, the machine had gained many eccentricities since their little trio had formed, including a (somewhat dry) sense of humor.
Ivo simply responded: “Well whatever floats your processor, just alert me when she wakes up.”
Helios watched the captain go to his quarters, thankful he had not asked for further clarification. It was the closest thing to lying that Helios had done in awhile. Going over several of his stolen alien databases, Helios began purging any entries of the more than two dozen alien species that were known to reside in Draco Dwarf who could be considered marginally “attractive”. Based on the captain’s own previous actions and an understanding of the plethora of human fetishms that had been previously categorized, Helios thought it wise to remove any such entries that could lead the captain astray in the future.
Several Hours Later
Kalin began to stir, and then her eyes snapped open. She froze, letting her eyes adjust to the low light of the room. Her hair was still matted from the fight, but she seemed to have dried off. Moving around the bed slowly, she pulled herself up and forward cautiously. Her eyes could see the room much better now, in fact it seemed like it was slowly getting brighter. She still had the blanket around her, when she pulled it forward, then suddenly she twitched, looking down she saw that her clothes had been removed, and that she was wearing some unflattering generic synthetic two piece.
She threw the bedcovers off in a fury, and took up a defensive stance, the lights indeed had been getting brighter though still low, she could make out everything in the room. It was a completely circular room, containing a bed, various alcoves and desk built into the walls, and two doors, one obviously for the refresher, and an external door which seemed unnecessarily heavily built, which appeared to include a manual air pressure lock.
Still half crouching, all while her ears twitched and tail nervously slid side to side on the floor, she approached the door. Almost there, a panel on the wall lit up softly, with words that said in her language —personal items— . She stopped, quietly opened the panel as the words disappeared and found her duffle bag on one shelf and her boots (polished) on another beside the mended flight suit, though now it smelled strangely of citrusy fruit.
She looked again at the door, but decided to delay to change into her own suit and out of the generic undergarments.
Quickly she dressed, snapped her boots on, and pulled several of the tabs on the suit. This caused it to conform to her body, and not hang loosely. Kalin was not fond of the fruit smell, but ignored the minor annoyance. Reaching back into her duffel bag, she pulled out the gloves, soft helmet, tail sleeve and a flat oxygen canister. She attached the canister to the waist holster, putting on the gloves, and attaching the soft helmet to the back of the suit collar. The helmet looked just like a hoodie cover, but with a few quick hand motions, it could be pulled over the head and sealed in an instant. Reaching back into the duffle bag, she pulled out a heavy pulse pistol. Kasuri hardly ever used such weapons but her role as a “spy” meant that she should be prepared for anything.
However, considering Pulse pistols relative uselessness against Kasuri, she doubted it would have much affect on that hu-man, but worst come to worst she could always use it to bludgeon him in the head.
She proceeded to the door, and tried opening it, but it was locked, and wouldn’t budge. Had it been made of plasticine, like most everything is, she would have just ripped it from the hinges, but it was made of a very strong metal she didn’t recognise. Still she tried the doors manual control and found that it did not budge. Frustrated, she stepped back, trying to think her way out this time. But before she could contemplate long, the lights in the room turned up significantly as a mechanical voice came out of the ceiling.
“Good waking ma’am, Welcome aboard the Lucky Bird, I am Helios, I will be your guide today.”
Kalin stood back, and said: “Who are you?”
“I am the onboard operation management program, and while I’m sure an appropriate acronym could be found in your language, please simply refer to me as Helios.
“You are a machine?”
“Technically no, but close enough.”
“And you serve the monstrous one?” she said with some bitterness as her solid-blue eyes darted around the ceiling, trying to find the source of the sound.
“If you are referring to Captain Boris Ivo, I do indeed.”
“When is it going to come for me?”
Helios ignored the possible implication and responded:
“He has elected to not disturb you, unless you so desire, though he requests that you come to the bridge so that you two can talk.”
“Why is the door locked” Kalin asked,” (though she realized obviously, that it would probably be foolish for any —xeno— to abscond with a Kasuri and not lock all of the doors afterward.)
“I simply wished to make my introductions and lay some GROUND RULES before you accidentally broke something or ate the crew.”
She wished she could see this thing, it kinda wasted the hateful stare she was working up.
“You’re free to move about the ship, with the exception of the few secure and maintenance rooms. Please do not try to break or injure any of the crew, if you do I will be forced to “intervene” .”
She did not like the drone’s tone, but she supposed it was what it’s master had wanted.
“Please proceed to the bridge, the captain would like to discuss…..well…..”.the robot seeming not sure of the words but finally continued, …..”Would like to discuss the nature and duration of your stay here”
“Fine show me to your filthy C-ap-i-tan”
“Very well ma’am, please follow the attendant drone, he will lead you to the bridge.”
With that, an audible clicking noise was heard and the door opened on its own.
Standing outside was another one of those cyclopean robots, this one a rust colored red, while its eye was a weird glowy yellow.
The drone spoke with the same voice as before said. “You may retain the weapon, but please do not attempt to use it or try and intimidate the crew with it, I am everywhere and I see everything. If any hostile actions are committed, repercussions will be swift”
The drone stepped backwards, and she cautiously stepped out into the hallway, putting the gun into a pouch on the suit. The drone beside her and held out a mechanical hand indicating the direction to go, while two drones appeared down the opposite hallway. She noticed that there were the same drone eyes at weird intervals along the corridors and they all seemed to be pivoting in her direction.
Breathing a frustrated sigh, she refused to be intimidated, and walked forward with all the confidence she could muster. As she walked, her tail swung impatiently back and forth, but the intervals of the motion were interrupted by the tail sleeve which was not quite the right length, and was causing her tail to periodically twitch in a weird direction when it hit the end of each swing.
She ignored this and continued to observe the ship. The ship was utilitarian, without the ornamentation found on many xeno ships, but it was not claustrophobic, looking like it was made with her or a even slightly larger species in mind. As she walked she started to pick up the smell of both that hu-mon and….a turtle?
She had not gone but 20 meters, having passed through only 1 or 2 doors, when she found herself in front of a medium sized blast door whose labeling indicated the bridge.
She touched the door panel, and it opened automatically. The room was large enough to contain a few desks in addition to the control consoles at the bow. Upon hearing the swoosh of the doors, the captain looked up from his datapad, and set down the cup of steaming black —organic material—- that he had been sipping.
She looked down on him in cold disgust, for he may have proved himself a worthy prey, but she refused to consider him worthy in any other regard. If she had been a beaten by a Kasuri male, she would have willingly accepted the consequences, for she would not have challenged a another Kasuri in the first place that she didn’t like. She smelled him again, he still had that ever present confidence and fearlessness, but the desire she had sensed before seemed….diminished. His pheromone output was unnaturally even at the moment for some strange reason.
He saw her, paused, then spoke with a level but cheery tone, that this creature never seemed to lose. “Good to see you up and mended, let’s have a friendly talk, please, take a seat.” As he indicated to a chair that was in front of his desk that look like it was made with her kind in mind.
She was surprised but not impressed, it seemed that all of the chairs on the bridge had a large sideways U slot, obviously to accommodate beings with tails. At least she wouldn’t have to sit on her tail while she listened to whatever swill the —bastard— had to say.
She steeled herself, marched forward with confidence, took her seat, leaned back, looked straight at Ivo, as her ears folded back to match her mood. Then purposely she, crossed her legs and rested her boots upon his desk as her tail wiggled slowly back in forth on the floor in a show of impatience. This caused the desk to shake, disturbing the —coffee— and leaving Ivo a bit lost for a moment.
She stared at him like a viper, with inhuman solid blue eyes. Those eyes reminded Ivo of still reflecting pools from back home. Then with multiple strange silky tones, her tongues fluttered in and out like a snakes as she spoke softly:
“Well —monster—, you have gained my undivided attention, what exactly do you want to say?”