by Renee Bond
He wanted to go faster?
“This is 40% acceleration,” said Dax. “Any more will overwhelm the grav-simulators. Everything and everyone not strapped down will go flying backward.”
Travan grunted. Disappointed. I have to admit, I wanted to see the full extent of our new ship’s capabilities too.
Then Dax got that wide, toothy grin that meant he was going to do something stupid.
“You know,” he said, “all those dropships we’ve been in never did have any windows.”
Where was he going with this?
Dax’s grin spread itself over onto Travan’s face.
Not a good sign.
“It’s going to piss off a lot of flight controllers,” he said.
“Fuck them,” said Jensi emphatically. “We’re supposed to be on vacation.”
“You’re not going to-” I began.
“Do it,” said Travan. His voice had never been filled with more commanderly gravitas.
I thought about pointing out how we would be risking our careers.
But I could see when I was outvoted.
Dax brought the ship around.
There wasn’t much to see in deep space. Just a lot of tiny white lights pin-pricking through the depthless black.
Except for one thing: the Bane.
The Bane was a Conqueror-class warship, fit for overpowering, occupying and colonizing whole planets by herself. It was among the very most powerful ships in the Triumphant fleet. And we’d only ever seen her in holo-projections.
But now that we had our own ship, it was finally time to change that.
Dax finished correcting our course - taking us back the way we came.
At first, it looked like there was nothing in front of us but a small moon off in the distance.
Then that “moon” started to grow.
And grow. And grow.
The Bane is actually bigger than an average moon, a truly impressive structure. That is, it’s impressive when you view it on a holo-display. When you buzz the thing in a screaming-fast space fighter, it’s an experience that defies imagination. The whole thing is vaguely shaped like an oval, but that’s where any similarity to anything as ordinary as geometry ends. Its main body is comprised of eight symmetrical branches, each tapering to a common point at the ship’s bow and stern. There is actually a lot of empty space between the great arches of metal, lights, launch bays, cargo pods, guns of nearly every shape and size, and countless dozens of other features that an aerospace engineer could describe to you, but I sure as Hell can’t.
Dax let out a long, low whistle.
Travan grunted, managing to convey awe.
I was silent, awestruck.
Jensi let out a high-pitched, girlish gasp of wonder.
I blinked.
That didn’t sound like Jensi.
Dax, Travan, Jensi and myself all turned towards the back of the small flight deck. Thankfully, Dax remembered he was flying and whipped his head back forward after just a split second.
Our woman had joined us. She was staring, wide-eyed, slack-jawed, out the forward viewport.
The Bane disappeared from view as we passed underneath it.
I wondered what was going to happen.
We’d told our woman to stay in the sleeping quarters. She’d disobeyed.
To be honest, as an infraction, it rated somewhere between inconsequential and unnoticeable.
Dax turned back around. I turned to Travan. We were new at owning a mate-prize. How we reacted to this infraction may set the tone for the next… shit, the rest of our lives together.
Jensi hadn’t taken his eyes of the woman.
I glanced over at her. She was still staring out the viewport.
Then she noticed that we were all staring at her. Somehow, her eyes went even wider, as she seemed to realize that she might be in trouble.
Chapter 22
Rachel
Intellectually, I knew I was in space. Aboard a spaceship. But I’d not really had time to think about that. To process it emotionally.
When I walked through a random door and came face to face with a curving window that gave me a wide-angled view of a massive alien warship, my brain decided that it was time to think about it.
I was in space. The endless nothing. Airless. Lifeless. Not only that, I had no idea where Earth was. And was surrounded by technology that was far beyond anything the most brilliant minds of Earth could conceive of.
A feeling of depthless surrealism washed over me.
I’d gone to the Grand Canyon once. Standing on a ledge, gazing out over countless miles of red and brown rock, seeing thousands of feet down and tens of thousands across, is a humbling, powerful experience that you can’t really convey in words.
Seeing the Bane was like that, multiplied by infinity.
I had no idea that anything could be so big. So full of metal and complexity and lights and machines and moving parts. It was as if we were flying over a vast landscape, only instead of dirt and plants, the ground was robotics, technology, energy… and deadly killing power.
No wonder these aliens had never bothered to formally conquer Earth. Our little tanks and bombs probably seemed like toys to them.
Not only that, but… um.
None of the men were staring out the window anymore.
They were all starting… at me.
“I seem to remember giving you an order.”
Travan sounded pissed.
Shit.
Maybe leaving the living quarters hadn’t been such a bright idea.
I judged that it was probably best not to say anything.
“That was a question, woman,” said Jensi. His voice was ice.
“Um… yes?”
I didn’t know what to say.
“Why is it, then,” said Travan, “that you’ve decided to disobey my direct order to stay in the sleeping quarters?”
Fear. Annoyance. Intimidation. Anger.
"You never said how long,” I retorted.
Almost immediately, I wished I could take it back.
“When you are given an order,” he said, swiveling in his chair, “you will obey it until you receive a new order.”
I didn’t very much like the sound of that.
“Yes, sir,” I said, trying my best to sound demure, to keep my gaze on the metal floor panels below me.
I almost pulled it off.
“I just wanted a look around,” I said, speaking softly, but with a rising volume. It really was quite unfair to keep me in a tiny room when science fiction was happening literally all around me. “I’ve never been in space before yesterday! What’s the big deal?”
Ellon sighed and shook his head. Dax gave me a look like he couldn’t believe I’d just said that. Jensi kept glaring daggers.
Travan stood up. Walked slowly over to me.
Loomed.
“The big deal,” he said, “is that you do not get to choose when to obey and when not to,” he said.
He turned to Jensi.
“Discipline her.”
Jensi’s huge hands seized my shoulders. Effortlessly turned me around, towards the metal door.
“Hands on the wall,” he said.
I obeyed. I thought I knew what was coming. The anticipation was rising.
Jensi’s hand jerked the hem of my ridiculously short dress up over my waist, exposing my naked ass.
Now I was sure what was coming.
I was scared.
But my hips were already squirming.
Smack!
Jensi spanked me much, much harder than anything I’d felt the previous night. I cried out, tears coming immediately to my eyes. My entire ass was almost numb!
Smack!
This spank landed on my other cheek, which jiggled violently from the force of the blow. I cried out again, and this time I kept crying.
Smack!
The third spank landed on both cheeks, the hardest one yet, sending my body into the metal door. I pressed m
y face to the cool metal as I sobbed softly, squeezing my eyes shut, sure that the next spank would make me black out.
But it never came.
Jensi’s hands were gentle as they smoothed my dress back down over my burning ass. Then they smoothed out the fabric, slowly, deliberately, caressing my bottom even though we both knew damn well that my dress was already smooth.
After a moment, I managed to stop crying. I was ok. The pain was, oh so slowly, receding. My breathing was hard and ragged.
And that’s when my pussy sprang to life.
A half-stifled moan escaped my lips, surprising me from deep within my throat. My whole body trembled with desire, with pleasure, as my brain processed the spanking I’d just received. Once again, I couldn’t understand why it would turn me on so much.
Once again, I didn’t really care.
Talk about a silver lining! I very nearly asked Jensi to spank me again before I chickened out and thought better of it.
Strong hands spun be back around. I sagged back against the door, putting as much of my weight on it as I could, my whole body buzzing.
Travan wore a look of satisfaction.
“Was it worth it?” he asked, his tone mocking.
Honestly? Yes. Yes it very much had been. Even if the pain of the spanking hadn’t morphed into that mysterious, twisted pleasure, seeing that gigantic spacecraft had been the experience of a lifetime.
I wiped the wetness from my eyes.
Put a finger thoughtfully to my lips.
“It was worth… maybe two,” I said. “But three was too many.”
Ellon covered his mouth with a hand so nobody would see him stifle a laugh. I think I was the only one who caught it. Travan’s eyebrows lifted in amusement. Daxen gave me a quizzical look. Even Jensi’s mouth twisted into the hint of a snicker.
“It was quite a sight,” said Ellon.
That got a half-smile from Travan.
“Go back to the sleeping quarters,” he said. “Stay there until you’re told otherwise.”
“How long do I have to stay in there?” I asked. “It’s not like I could really even go very far. It’s a small ship.”
Dammit, mouth!
“Until you learn a little discipline,” Travan said coldly as he swiveled his chair back to the front.
Jensi opened the door behind me. Raised his eyebrows at me, his face otherwise expressionless.
I took the hint.
Chapter 23
Daxen
“Did you have to hit her so hard?” Ellon sounded a little pissed.
A few minutes of silence had passed since the woman left the cockpit. Everybody waiting for someone else to speak first.
“I would have spanked her at least five dozen more times if I’d been alone with her,” said Jensi. “The fact that I knew you would disagree with it is the only reason I held back.”
“Damn right I disagree with it,” Ellon growled.
Whoa. I’d heard Ellon take that tone maybe a dozen times in our entire lives. That was his warning tone. Even people who didn’t know Ellon know to back off when they heard that deep, threatening rumble.
“I approve of her punishment,” said Travan. “She needs to learn that there are consequences for disobedience. Even if she claims ignorance.”
“And she won't lean,” said Jensi, “if we’re soft on her. She’ll learn that she can misbehave and get away with it. That what you want, Ellon?”
Ellon looked away.
“No,” he said, a hair too forcefully. “I just would have started out softer, that’s all. Just be careful not to injure her.” Ellon looked back and Jensi, eyeballing him.
Making sure Jensi knew that it wasn’t a request.
“I was careful!” Jensi snarled, stalking over the Ellon to stare back at him from inches away.
“Enough!” shouted Travan. “I won’t have us bickering over her! I said I approved of the punishment, and that will be the end of our discussion on the matter!”
Jensi backed off. Ellon looked back out the viewport.
“You’re not letting her get to you already, are you Ellon?” asked Travan. “Is she going to be a problem?”
“No!” protested Ellon. “No, it’s not like that!”
But I knew Ellon well enough to know when he was lying. We all did.
“Good to hear,” said Travan. “I will not tolerate this woman coming between us. Is that clear?”
“Yes sir,” the three of us responded in unison.
Chapter 24
Rachel
I wasn’t allowed out of the sleeping quarters for the duration of our flight through space.
Thankfully, the duration of our flight was all of nine hours.
I had no idea how far we actually traveled. We could have gone to the nearest star from where the Bane was, or we might be in another galaxy. But the pain in my ass hadn’t even faded completelybefore the door to the sleeping quarters hissed open and Jensi walked in.
“If you behave yourself,” he said, “we will allow you on the flight deck as we approach our destination. We’re expecting it to be quite a sight.”
A big part of me really wanted to glare at him. Yet for some reason, I found it hard to look him in the eye.
I ended up glaring at the floor.
“How gracious,” I said, half-excited, half-indignant. I was really having a hard time with the rules. The discipline. The obedience. The restrictions. What the Hell was it all for? What was the point of keeping me in one room for nine hours? I’d gotten used to the idea that I didn’t have a choice. And I didn’t particularly want to be punished again.
But I couldn’t just change into a different person.
Before I knew it, Jensi was standing uncomfortably close.
“That’s right,” he said. “It is.”
I looked up at him. Realized that I was still glaring. Decided not to care.
“If it were up to me, little slut,” Jensi said, “you’d be trussed up, ankles tied to wrists, unable to move an inch, and you’d stay that way until you begged to be as obedient and compliant as a good little mate-prize should be.”
“Than I’m glad it’s not up to you,” I whispered.
I couldn’t take it. There had to be some way to get back at him. There had to be some way to resist, that wouldn’t see me screaming in agony.
“So why’s Travan in charge?” I asked. “Is he just that much more of a man than you?”
I hadn’t expected to get a reaction. But holy shit did I get one! Jensi’s eyes shot wide. But there was more than surprise in them.
He… was actually hurt.
I couldn’t believe it.
Here I’d thought of him as an icy, sadistic bastard. Turned out he was an icy, sadistic bastard with feelings!
“I’m sorry,” I said right away. Before he could react any further. Before he could punish me. “That was rude. Please forgive me.” I stared down at his feet for good measure.
To tell you the truth, seeing his eyes go wide like that kinda snapped me back to reality. I was just hoping to mitigate the punishment I was sure I’d just earned as much as I could. Jensi was a man that liked hurting me for fun. The thought of him actually being really angry with me was enough to chill my anger.
And my bones.
Jensi didn’t respond.
I waited.
Finally, he drew a long breath.
“Go,” he said, his voice low and horse.
I didn’t argue. Or wait. I got the fuck out of the sleeping quarters as quickly as I could.
Halfway to the flight deck, I paused.
What had just happened? Why had Jensi reacted that way? This was a guy who’d killed in the heat of battle, probably countless times. Surely, a petty insult from little old me couldn’t have gotten to him that much. Not enough to make him freeze up like that.
Could it?
Chapter 25
Jensi
Thankfully, the woman left right away. I don’t know what I would h
ave done if she hadn’t left the sleeping quarters exactly when she did.
Seriously. No damn idea.
I sat down on a bunk. My reeling mind replaying that moment over and over.
Is he just that much more of a man than you?
Honestly… yes. He was. That was the whole fucking point. Travan had tested higher in leadership competencies throughout his life. I was faster, but he was stronger, and a better shot with a rifle. Not enough to really matter… but that's beside the point. The point was, I recognized freely that Travan was the better soldier. Always had. That’s how clan Triumphant has always been organized. The best lead. The rest follow. No confusion. No dissension. No second guessing.
Is he just that much more of a man than you?
I knew it. Travan knew it. Dax and Ellon knew it. And it hurt none of us.
So why the fuck had it stung so very deeply when that tiny, helpless, fragile, disobedient little woman had pointed it out?
She hadn’t even said as much. She’d only posed the question.
Why the bloody Hell would I care what our fucking mate-prize thought of me?
Is he just that much more of a man than you?
Shit.
No.
Was I… was I actually feeling something for her?
I hadn’t expected to. The thought hadn’t even crossed my mind.
Sitting there, staring numbly at the floor, I decided that I would not feel anything for her. That it wasn’t necessary. That it was beneath me. That she was beneath me.
But I didn’t seem to care what I thought.
The feeling of shock refused to go away. As did the feeling of shame. Of being small. Insignificant. Worthless.
Of not measuring up in her eyes.
Chapter 26
Rachel
I stepped onto the flight deck.
Travan, without taking his eyes off the view out the front of the ship, held out his hand.
“Come.”
I didn’t need to ask if he was talking to me or not. Or if I had a choice.
Daxen still sat in his chair. Ellon still leaned against the back wall. Both were still staring out the front of the ship.
But… there was nothing out there.
I stifled a sigh - but I obeyed Travan. No choice. Do what he says, or get spanked. Or worse. It sucked, though. It made me feel small. Insignificant. Worthless.
