Ilox Saga 1: Eris Monroe: More Than Human

by Bruce Adams

  “Gentlemen, how’s the progress coming on the stealth generator?” She asked in a firm voice. The K’Tosk Sev Tariv sighed and looked down to study the electronic parts arrayed before him, saying nothing. Hasephrey Saephan turned around with a glum expression. Her eyes found his, and she sensed how difficult and frustrating the last few hours had been.

  “Not good…” replied Saephan as Eris watched the tattoo pattern on his bald head change to ringed circles. The tattoos were slowly pulsing in bright blues and pastel greens and continuing to shift. “It will take at least another day to configure settings just right. My absence from project has made mess of things, yes?” The big Orvod stated rhetorically. He then looked down at Eris with a tight smile. “Not give up. It is my theories come to life…and all parts needed are here.” He gestured at the open compartment and the complex machinery packed tightly within – then motioned at the scattered parts adorning the tray. “Is matter of finding proper configuration. Need more time. Come back later.” He then turned and muttered while scooping up components and using a calibration tool to begin scanning each one.

  “Eli, you know a lot about machines. Use your talents to help Chief Engineer and Lieutenant Commander Tariv make this thing work,” she said while tapping her temple with her forefinger. Eli understood what she meant implicitly.

  “Of course, Eris - I’d be happy to help.” Eli began to work with the engineers happily.

  “Very well, I’ll leave all of you to your work. Inform me as soon as the stealth field generator is ready to be tested.” She spun around and turned to leave. As she did so, Kyle Arneson came into the room. They locked eyes.

  “You wanted to see me, Captain?” he asked. Eris nodded. “Walk with me,” she said. As the pair of them strolled through the twisty hallways of the densest partition of the engineering deck, no technicians were visible - they were all alone save for the omnipresent whir and hum of massive machinery. The massive machines to the sides and above the walkway were the lifeblood of Sparta…giving her power, heat, and air. Pausing in a dark corner, Eris slid her finger along the irregular shape of conduits built adjacent to the wall. She then turned to face Kyle, taking his hands in hers. Eris leaned into his body, kissing him sweetly on the mouth. His right hand immediately went to the small of her back and pulled her closer. They kissed again. She tastes like strawberry, he thought, pulling apart from and her brushing her cheek with his left hand.

  “What’s wrong?” Eris whispered in his ear. “You don’t like what I’m doing?” She reached down between his legs.

  “Uh, no, I absolutely love what you’re doing,” he said as his breathing increased and his pulse raced. “It’s the wrong place…the wrong time.” Kyle said as pleasure washed over him and goose-bumps rose on the back of his neck. He continued to let her fondle him. “If you keep this up, I’m going to rip your clothes off and fuck you right on the cold hard floor.” He shuddered as Eris stopped rubbing his cock through the fabric of his trousers and proceeded to stroke his face. She looked at Kyle with a twinkle in her blue eyes. “Why, Lieutenant, you’re not really concerned about that are you?” She kissed him again fiercely, and pushed him against the compartment wall, pressing her body into his. He could feel her breasts flattening against his chest with the force she used against him. He was always surprised at how strong she was. He probably couldn’t have escaped her if he had wanted. He didn’t want to - he returned her affections in kind, kissing her back with urgency. After what seemed an eternity, she eased up pulling her body back from his and said lightly, “We can continue this another time.” The wet sounds of their kisses had been swallowed by the noises of the immense machinery that surrounded them.

  He looked at her and leered. “You know I want you Eris, but all this sneaking around…just doesn’t seem right.” He held her hand and noticed that she had removed many of the calluses – her hands were softer…though her nails remained without decoration of any kind as usual. She pulled her hand away. She didn’t acknowledge what he said as she turned away from him and walked off.

  “Let’s get back to duty,” she said softly. They both headed back to the main elevator and left the engineering deck behind.

  CHAPTER 17

  T’sell T’savri had been delving into the minds of the crew for the last ten hours and had learned several interesting facts. Her mental ability to read sentient’s minds was highly developed, much more so than a typical Zari female - she could do so without the target being aware she was rummaging through their memories inside their hippocampus. Such a talent was rare, but not unheard of among the females of the Zari Protectorate. T’sell had been secretly ordered to perform two primary missions as part of the crew under Eris Monroe. First, and foremost, she was to aid the officers and crew in completing the primary objective of Dominic Gray – to stop the Alliance from gaining Valdren weapons. As part of her secondary mission she was to scan everyone mentally on board to determine whether the Sparta carried spies or saboteurs. With sixty personnel comprising the crew, her task would take some time to finish. The act of telepathically scanning drained her body. Delving deep into the subconscious made her weak after just a few minutes. It would take time to scan all of the crew thoroughly. The events unfolding in Republic space concerning a possible coup d’état had spiked Mr. Grey’s caution – thus he had instructed her to read every single crewmember. T’sell had begun her mental sleuthing with the officers. She had learned that Lieutenant Kyle Arneson was madly in love with Captain Monroe, and that the pair had engaged in carnal relations just before the Sparta left the Hyperion facility. T’sell wondered how long the relationship would persist – as humans seemed to engage in sexual activities on a daily basis, but seldom mated for life with a single partner. Zari were far different in biology from humans just as every other sapient species throughout the galaxy were different from each other in myriad ways.

  Sifting through the memories of the human male Arneson, T’sell did not exactly feel like a voyeur – the erotic data was merely informative and was in no manner titillating to her Zari senses. She had not been repulsed by his behavior but was curious that Captain Monroe had agreed to such a union. Monroe was stronger, faster, more agile, and more intelligent…in every way a superior being to the man Arneson – yet she treated him as an equal. It baffles the mind, T’sell thought. Clearly Arneson was not on the same genetic level as Eris, and she should have rejected him, at least by Zari standards. Humans are so different from us culturally, she thought, such a thing would never happen in the Zari Protectorate. Zari considered casual sex barbaric and animalistic – they only mated for procreation…to create offspring. T’sell would not mate for many decades to come and had no interest in doing so at this point in her life. Zari only felt the urge to procreate after entering the mid-point of their lives, occurring around the age of one hundred and twenty. When this biological need manifested, Zari females, no matter which part of the galaxy they resided in, made their way back to the homeworld of Dena to mate – the hormones that drove Zari to mate was known as the Time. Genetic testing would provide the best possible match between a Zari female and her male mate to insure superior offspring. Of course, Zari females were larger, stronger and more aggressive than the males of the species, who were kept isolated and separate on the homeworld. That was why most aliens assumed that the Zari were a female only race – a view which the Matriarchy neither challenged nor corrected. The males of her species were too fragile and needed to be protected. T’sell had spent decades living amongst aliens; Humans, K’Tosk, Orvod, Arras and even Evene. All of them had strange cultures and even stranger sexual behaviors and customs…to which she had not fully become accustomed.

  Deeming the ship’s propulsion and power systems the most critical part of the ship, and most likely to be sabotaged by an agent, T’sell had begun investigating all the technicians and crew of the engineering staff. She had to be sure of their loyalties. Hasephrey Saephan was typical of most Orvod; loud, proud and full of a conceit
ed concept of honor. Fairness and integrity did not factor into an Orvod’s sense of honor, but public esteem and glory did. Saephan, she had discovered, believed that Dominic Gray had intended to study the Valdren technology. The Orvod had suspected a shipment of Valdren engineering data modules originally assigned to his task group had been diverted to another research facility, and saw it as a mark against his honor. She would not find it difficult to pick apart the memories of the Orvod. She had come to inspect the thoughts of the chief engineer, but found the K’Tosk Sev Tariv first.

  As an operations specialist and bosun her purpose was clear, to inspect all decks for hull integrity on a regular basis. This allowed her access to all levels of the ship and a valid rationale to speak with the crew concerning any number of topics. It was a very good cover. She had previously broadcast via implant her intention to inspect deck four and the engineering bay over an hour ago. The K’Tosk Second Engineer Sev Tariv was standing at a work station engaged in performing complex computations with the engineering computer. Holographic data fields floated in view that she assumed were related to his work.

  As she walked up to stand beside him, he casually turned off all of the visual data feeds and turned to face her. She saluted him while mentally sizing him up - he was roughly one hundred and seventy five centimeters tall and displayed all of the characteristics of his race. Wearing dark brown overalls of a power systems tech, Sev Tariv appeared to be a prototypical engineer…complete with numerous oversized pockets filled with tools and gadgets. Most sentients could not read K’Tosk body language or facial expressions due to the rigid nature of their chitonous skin…but as a telepath she could do far more. She began to probe his mind subtly.

  “Sir, I need to see…” she was cut off before finishing. The K’Tosk had turned to face her and was wildly gesticulating with his hands. T’sell noted that he had three fingers and two thumbs on each hand which had a different color for each digit. From her experience with the K’Tosk, finger coloration indicated different social statuses. She assumed his meant that he was part of the technical class of his society.

  “I know who you are and why you are here. It is a waste of my time and you should leave. There are certainly more important duties to be performed than checking the hull. MEKS are perfectly suited to that task…” T’sell didn’t need to be a telepath to know that he was angry at being interrupted. She took a quick look inside his brain – catching a few surface thoughts. Annoying…female…disrupting work. Captain Monroe shall hear of this…His surface thoughts were obvious - she pushed deeper to discover any volatile memories before the Sparta had left the Hyperion system.

  “Sir, if I may…I won’t bother you or get in your way - this is just a standard inspection…it will take only a few minutes.” She found an incongruity inside his memories. It was as if she were watching an old holo movie that was missing scenes – something didn’t seem right. T’sell continued probing, but would need more time to ascertain exactly what was wrong. She had seen such spots in the memories of sentients before. Causes of such a condition was one of either two possibilities – either he had suffered a physical blow to the head sometime in the recent past…or there was a neural firewall implanted that prevented anyone, including Sev Tariv, from accessing his true memories. She made a note to speak with Doctor Xinhao concerning any past injuries suffered by Second Engineer Tariv. Neural firewalls were not installed on a whim…they were dangerous and usually only implanted in those performing undercover work. Her suspicions were aroused and she would have to learn more.

  “I must insist on being allowed to perform my duties.” As she spoke, Chief Engineer Saephan entered the main engineering deck leaving from the stealth field compartment, which was barred to all crew by a coded and locked airtight iris door – doors which were composed of twenty-five millimeter thick durasteel plates. Except for the officers, no one was permitted entry to the null field generator compartment.

  “Ah, specialist Talani. Good to have you here. Please continue with hull inspection.” The huge Orvod seemed oblivious to what had just happened between her and Sev Tariv as he mumbled equations under his breath – he was holding a conversation with the ships engineering computer and seemed agitated.

  “Yes, of course, Chief Engineer.” She side-stepped away from Sev and used her portable device to take readings throughout the compartment, waving the wand-like instrument over bulkhead seams. While performing her scans, she wandered near First Class technician’s Alix Rhose and Jacob Fields at their work stations. Both techs gave her quick glances as she approached and then turned back to work, saying nothing. She quietly telepathically scanned their thoughts and found nothing out of the ordinary. T’sell finished her duties in engineering and then headed to a different deck of the ship. She would need to come up with a plan to deal with Sev Tariv soon. Heading back up to deck three, she stopped in to speak with Doctor Xinhao. She silently instructed her comm implant to inform the doctor she was near. Finding the small human woman working in her laboratory with her back to the door, T’sell cleared her throat to announce her presence.

  “Yes? What is it?” inquired Lia in a pleasant voice. T’sell noticed that the doctor was now wearing a gun-belt with a small laser pistol holstered on her hip. More amazingly, she sported a tiny creature on her shoulder. The animal was completely covered in black fur and was small, about ten centimeters in length with two eyes, a mouth, and four legs. The creature had very long ears and a short tail – it turned to look at T’sell with big bright green eyes. Astonishingly it began to produce a sort of vibration within its chest; it sang a soothing song that was both audible and psionic at the same time. T’sell could hear it within her mind – the animal was telepathically projecting!

  “What a beautiful creature, I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything like it before,” said T’sell sincerely. “What is it called?”

  Lia Xinhao had turned to face T’sell the moment she entered the lab. She produced a small tidbit of food between her thumb and forefinger and held it out for the creature which proceeded to grab it away and eat with gusto while still perched on the doctor’s shoulder. Lia stroked the creatures back with the back of her hand. The song the animal produced became even louder.

  “It’s a Trill…her name is Star. I’ve just now let her out of her cage…poor thing was cramped in there for far too long.” She laughed as she nuzzled the creature’s whiskers.

  “Fascinating…where did you find it?” T’sell generally didn’t like animals – they were messy and required far too much attention as was clearly shown by the doctors nauseating cooing to the creature.

  “I found her on a world named Eridu two years ago. She’s been with me ever since.” She gave the animal another treat that it began to munch happily, holding the morsel in two tiny hands that easily held the food.

  “Doctor, I’ve been checking the hull…performing my duties. I need to run integrity diagnostics in your medical section. It will only take a few minutes.” T’sell had become an expert at the scanning equipment she used to detect any leak or hull breach. As a cover it was exceptionally useful as no one usually objected to searching for something that could easily lead to a catastrophe... As she pulled out the hand-held scanner from her tool’s harness, she attempted to read the Xinhao human woman. She immediately found that the Trill had a mind link directly with the doctor and an interference pattern was obscuring the doctor’s thoughts. T’sell was shaken by the revelation. The creature is psionic! Shaking her head, she paused and lowered her scanning device. Doctor Xinhao detected something was wrong.

  “Trafelle, are you okay? You look pale,” Lia said with a concerned look on her face.

  “Yes…I’m alright.” T’sell shook her head and shuddered. The creature had seen her with its mind eye. The power of the creature was abnormally strong. What it knew she couldn’t guess, but the exposure had shaken her to her very core. She had to get away from it.

  Doctor Xinhao took a small device from her pocket a
nd waved it in front of T’sell T’savri.

  “Hrm…these readings aren’t normal. Perhaps you should lie down. I’ll run some more thorough tests…” Lia had eagerly turned and walked briskly to a nearby bed covered with scattered boxes. It had been used as makeshift storage as Lia set up the medical section to her liking. She began removing the boxes full of medical equipment to make the bed ready.

  “No, doctor, I’m quite alright,” said T’sell haughtily. “I’m finished with my scans. Everything seems to check out. I’ll talk to you later.” T’sell hastily left the medical bay as Doctor Xinhao called out for her to return. She ignored the human female and returned to her quarters. She would have to find another way to learn more about Sev Tariv. T’sell activated her comm implant and pinged the Captain. An answer came within a few seconds.

  “Yes?” Eris Monroe’s voice came over T’sell’s internal link, but with no visuals.

  “Captain, I need you to order Doctor Xinhao to perform medical scans for all of the crew,” T’sell needed to know whether Tariv had any kind of unusual neural implants.

  “Why? They have already been fully checked out by the medical teams before the Sparta even left for Alphard…” The Captain’s voice contained a hint of anger.

  “Captain Monroe, my duties include security for the ship and the missions she undertakes. I need to have this done to eliminate certain possibilities for an investigation I am undertaking. Moreover, it can be done relatively quickly and painlessly, and in shifts. The crew shouldn’t mind at all and it won’t put much of a damper on efficiency since the stealth drive is not working yet…” T’sell could imagine the quick mind of Monroe working at light speed. She was not disappointed.