by Jay Toney
"I will be good. I will do anything you want, just make love to me."
"We don't like it when your good. We want you to be very bad."
"Anything, just untie me."
"That wouldn't be any fun."
Jewel climbed on top of me, mounting me. She leaned forward and started kissing me. I climaxed in seconds.
"Nathaniel, you bad boy. That wasn't any fun."
She didn't get off, instead she started thrusting against me. I thrust back meeting her every move. Both of started moaning with pleasure as we continued making love. We climaxed together, and she collapsed on top of me. She whispered, "That was much better."
Jewel got off of me and together she and Amber kissed me. Their gentle caresses still burned, and I wanted more. After a few minutes, Amber climbed on top of me and furiously made love to me. After climaxing she collapsed on top of me. Jewel untied me and removed my blindfold and joined us on the bed. Amber hugged me and whispered, "Don't ever change." She continued to cradle me as she relaxed, falling asleep on top of me. I held her and Jewel snuggled up and held us both. I wondered what I was going to do with another woman in my life, joining them in slumber.
We woke from our nap, freshened up and dressed. Before returning to the bridge I wanted to visit with Tanya and Natty to make sure they weren't feeling neglected, with Jewel taking their place in and out of bed. I lightly knocked on here cabin door, and we entered.
Natty was sitting on the floor playing with a couple of dolls, while watching cartoons. Tanya was on her bed, naked, and looking worn out.
"Amber, what did the two of you do to Nathaniel?"
"We caught him staring and fantasizing about us, and decided to have a little fun with him. We even got him to beg us for sex."
"A little fun? Look at me, I'm completely wore out from your little fun. I didn't think the three of you would ever stop, and when you did, I couldn't."
"You should have put Natty down for a nap and joined us. It would have been fun having you with us."
Natty noticed us and put her dolls down. She waddled over to us.
"Daddy, you made me feel good and happy." She hugged me and kissed me. "Aunty Amber you made me happy to." She also gave Amber a hug and kiss. "Is Jewel my Aunty too?"
"Of course she is."
She hugged and kissed Jewel too, before returning to her dolls and cartoons.
"How are the repairs coming along?"
"We came over to visit, before heading back to he bridge. Hopefully Jane has some good news."
"I hate to say it, but please leave. I am exhausted and need a nap. Maybe I'll get a chance to visit for a while after I put Natty to bed."
The bridge was still deserted. Amber and Jewel sat together on the couch talking quietly. I opened a com channel to Jane.
"Jane, how are repairs coming along?"
"Doc is fabricating the parts we need to rebuild the fuel pump. We cleaned and purged the injectors and fuel lines. The injectors were just clogged with debris from the fuel pump. The filters were clogged too, and have been replaced. If we had caught the failure sooner, maybe the filter bypass wouldn't have opened, saving us a lot of work. We should have everything back together and ready in a couple of hours."
Jane and Doc were back on the bridge. We were ready to resume our shakedown cruise. The engines had already been restarted to check for leaks and perform diagnostics. All diagnostic checks showed the engines running in peak performance.
"Natty, take us to full power."
I imagined Persephone leaping forward as we started accelerating again. This time I didn't feel anything amiss with the ship.
"Natasha, go to Max burn."
This time the ship really did leap forward. I could almost feel the artificial gravity struggle, fighting the acceleration.
"Jane, I don't feel like purring like a kitten anymore, now I'm growling like a tiger." The image and of a growling tiger flashed one main screen. Its roar was nearly defining as Natasha turned the volume up to maximum.
"Natasha, there must be something wrong with you. I can get Kim to do a complete diagnostic check."
"That won't be necessary, my diagnostic checks show me in peak performance." She replayed he video again.
"Are you sue you don't have a screw loose somewhere in your core memory?"
"Jane you know I'm as fit as a fiddle."
"Don't show it!"
Jane was to late, Natasha displayed a female playing the fiddle at a blues festival.
"Ladies if your through playing, lets jump to Nueva Zelanda."
Natasha engaged the hyperdrive and we entered hyperspace.
Chapter 6
We exited hyperspace in the in the Nueva Zelanda system, and set course for the third planet, Thanatos.
"Amber check long range scans. Natasha slow to 200 KPS."
"Long range scans are clear."
"Continue monitoring sensors."
"Cappy, we are at dead slow. I am shutting down engines 1 & 3 to conserve fuel. The number 2 engine is throttled down and on standby."
"Why are we going so slow?" Amber asked.
"As well as being on a shakedown cruise, we are patrolling for any evidence of Alliance or Crimson Tide activity."
"Do you think they are still here after losing their base in the Faraka System?"
"The Alliance has been quiet, to quiet. It's not like them, to not retaliate after a skirmish. I'm sure they are up to something big."
"Captain, I'm picking up a strange signal. I believe it is encrypted and originating from one of the moons. It is very weak and garbled."
"Natasha can you decode any of the signal?"
"I'm afraid not. There isn't enough of it getting through. I believe it may be some bleed off, from an intercommunication source."
"There shouldn't be any communications from the moons."
"The signal source is unknown and maybe a reflection from another source. It is too weak to tell."
"Continue monitoring and advise me of any changes."
As we neared Thanatos, its topographical features became visible. It was a very dry world. Most of the planet was either baron rock or desert sand. The only vegetation was near its polar regions. The colonies were supported by small farms, while large plantations grew potatoes, onions, carrots and corn for export. Several mines could be seen dotting the planets surface, in either the rocky terrain, or near extinct volcanoes.
The miners tunneled below the surface in search of precious gems and metals. There were no small mining outfits or individual prospectors. The areas in which they mined were home to most of the planets indigenous creatures. The most common was a large arachnid, very much like a scorpion.
The scorpion like creatures were extremely venomous. Their sting was often fatal, but that was not the major concern. They hunted in packs of hundreds. The lone scorpion or small groups of scorpions were often the scouts of a larger hunting party. They were also diggers, tunneling through either dirt or rock.
The mining operations were surrounded by steel walls, protecting the encampments. Security forces constantly patrolled the perimeter, from catwalks erected near the top of the walls, using flame throwers to keep the scorpions away.
Craters and large mountain ranges could now be seen on the planets two moons. They were baron, devoid of atmosphere, and life. According to our files, there were no outposts of any type on either of the moons.
"Captain, the signal is definitely coming from the second moon. It is still to weak and garbled to decrypt. I think Natasha is right about it being leakage from som
e sort of communications network."
"Natasha, alter course for the smaller moon, enter orbit when we arrive. Amber, start scanning the moon. Lets see what we can find."
"Yes Cappy, I love you."
"I love you to Natasha. Will you please reconsider how you are treating your avatar?"
"Cappy, I've spent 5000 milliseconds reconsidering her behavior. I see no signs of her maturing. In fact she is enjoying being a two year old baby and she still refuses to apologize."
"Perhaps if you let her grow up a little, she will be more understanding."
"She is aging at the normal rate of a human child. Just to show you how much I love you I will advance her to 3 years old."
"I don't see how that will be much help."
"She will have far fewer accidents, making it easier for Tanya. Be glad I don't revert her to infancy like she deserves."
"Thank you sweetie."
"You are welcome Cappy."
We entered orbit, 60 kilometers above the moons surface, and started sweeping the moon with our array of sensors. The Communications signal stopped. It would still be hard to hide an outpost of any size from us. We swept the surface with thermal, optical, and other sensors to detect energy of any type.
After a few hours and several orbits, we located the small base. It had one elevator. It was large enough to be that used for a scout ship or freighter, bringing the ship below the surface into an underground hanger. Its main facility was largely below the surface, with only small portions of it above the moons surface. The exterior lights were out, while they were quietly hiding in the dark.
"Natasha, assume stationary orbit above the base."
"Amber monitor energy levels. Let me know if they are powering weapons."
"Jewel, open a communications channel with the base."
"They are not responding, but they are receiving on an open channel."
"This is the Dread Pirate Roberts. You are ordered to surrender at once."
"That Pirate died in Faraka."
"My ship was destroyed with your base, but I am still alive. If you don't surrender, I will open your base with my missiles."
"... We will surrender on two conditions."
"What are your conditions?"
"The first is that you will spare our lives. The second is that you will not sell us into slavery."
"I will agree to your conditions, if your surrender and your cooperation is earnest."
The station lights came on, and the hanger doors opened. The elevator began to rise, with a freighter on its landing pad. There was room enough for a shuttle to land alongside the freighter.
"Doc form a team, and take one of our assault shuttles to the base. If there is anything of value load it on the freighter. If we can secure the base, lock it down and tie one of our beacons into their transponder. If not, we will destroy it from orbit."
Doc assembled his team taking Jane with him. They boarded one of our two assault shuttles and launched, descending to the moons surface.
****
"Everyone make sure your strapped in," Doc announced, "the transition from artificial gravity to the moons gravity can be a little rough."
The shuttle settled onto the landing pad with a slight jolt. As soon as the engines shut down the elevator lowered us to the hangars floor. High above us, the hangar doors began closing. Lights came on illuminating the cavernous room. Empty cargo canisters lined one wall, while tools and test equipment lined another. The lights were on in the command center, showing through the observation windows.
As soon as the doors finished closing and sealing the hangar bay, air flooded into the room. No workmen came forward to service the shuttle or even acknowledge our presence. With the exception of Doc's team, there was no activity in the hangar bay.
"I don't like this, it may be a trap. Ready your weapons, set your blasters to kill."
We exited the shuttle with Jane at Doc's side. The airlock leading into the interior of the base opened at the press of a button. Our party made its way down a long empty corridor with several small branching passageways, finally arriving at a series of elevators. We split into small groups each entering different elevators. The elevators small size prevented us from riding together, as a group. We selected the top level, riding the elevators up to what should be the level for the operations center.
The party reformed, in the lobby, and we continued our way to the command and operations center. Smoke and the smell of burning insulation filled the corridor, growing thicker as we neared. We used caution moving slowly. Voices and the whining sound of blaster fire could be heard growing louder, as we neared.
Our group came upon two groups of Alliance people, exchanging blaster fire. One group was inside the command center. Its door had been blown open by some sort of explosive. The loss of the blast shielded door prevented the people inside from hiding safely inside the operations center. They were using the cover of its entrance to exchange fire with a group of about a dozen men, Alliance soldiers. The soldiers were firing at the people inside the command center, from behind a makeshift barricade.
The soldiers noticed us and turned their attention to us. These were hard core Alliance military members ready to fight to the death. They were now in the center of crossfire and didn't care.
It was easy to identify which group was the mutinous party. The mutineers turned their fire towards us. We took cover from an adjoining hallway returning fire. The soldiers were caught in the open, being shot at from two different directions. It didn't matter to them. They had already decided their fate and would die trying to retake the base.
Their numbers dwindled. They were in the open with no shelter from our return fire. Their blaster fire darkened the walls where their fire impacted harmlessly. When they were down to three attackers they dropped their weapons surrendering.
"Captain Roberts said he wouldn't kill or enslave us," their spokesman said, after surrendering.
"That may be so, but I didn't." Doc shot each survivor in the chest killing them.
Someone waved a white cloth from the command center, signaling their surrender. Doc and his team entered the room. All weapons had been piled on the floor, as a show of peace. These people were not Alliance military. They were people the Alliance government had conscripted into their service to do the grunt work.
The people in the command center were comprised of the freighters crew and officers. These were the people that Nathaniel promised, not to enslave or kill. They cooperated without complaint, demonstrating their desire to throw off the cruelty of the Alliance regime. While Doc searched the nearly empty base they gathered the dead mutineers taking them outside the base, and unceremoniously dumping the bodies away from the base.
The base did not contain anything worth salvaging, but it might have a military advantage that Red could use. Jane programed the base to go into lock down after our departure. Doc split his group into two smaller groups. The larger group boarded the freighter with its crew to insure continued cooperation. The rest boarded the shuttle.
At Jane's signal, the air was pumped out of the hangar bay. The doors opened and the elevator lifted the landing pad to the surface. We launched. As soon as we were clear, Jane signaled the base again. The elevator lowered the landing pad. Its huge doors closed, and the station powered down.
****
"Nathaniel, this is Captain Jenkins of the freighter Valley Forge."
"A pleasure to meet you in person," I said, extending my hand."
"Doc, what is the status of the base?"
"The base was pretty well cleaned out before our arrival. It is a huge storage facility, extending well below
the moons surface. Jane has it on lock down requiring the proper decryption key to enter it. We had a bit of a problem with the welcoming committee, but we managed to take care of them."
"Are they locked up in the brig?"
"No, I didn't see any need to trouble ourselves with the dissenters."
"Your very handsome, are you married?" Jewel asked.
"I lost my family when the Alliance conscripted me."
"Perhaps I can help you forget such an awful memory. My name is Jewel."
"My friends call me David."
"Nathaniel, I believe David may have some information for you if he can get his mind off of Jewel, for a minute."
"If Jewel would be so kind as to have dinner with me, I would be glad to give you information, that you may find useful."
"You needn't worry about me Nathaniel. I would be glad to have dinner with such a handsome man, and perhaps afterwards a little something more."
"Its not you that I am worried about."
"Don't worry, I will be gentle, at first. I don't bite, at least not to hard. I'll make sure David survives the night."
Captain Jenkins looked a little shaken, but felt committed to showing Jewel a good time. He was fascinated by her and desired her company, at least for the night.
"Captain Roberts, the Alliance is planning a major shipment of gold, and precious gems, from Coria System back to Alliance territory. They have been stockpiling this shipment, stolen from mines on the third planet."
"What opposition can we expect?"
"Not much, it is regularly visited by a cruiser, or a couple of destroyers to maintain obedience from the colonists. They will need the addition of a freighter, my freighter. I am scheduled to pickup and transport the cargo."
"When?"
"In two weeks."
"We will have to hurry, if we are to beat the Alliance to the treasure."
"Natasha, assume control of the freighters command functions, set its course for Thanatos, standard orbit."
"Aye, aye Cappy."
"Jane, how are we on paint, we will need lots of red, yellow, and black paint."
