by Tristan Vick
The girl ignored Jegra and wrapped her face up in a shawl and then put on some reflective sunglasses with a ruby tint.
“Where you guys going?”
“We have to retrieve the package. Oh, and I’m going to try and find some power converters for the Skywend’s transporter unit.”
“It’s out of commission again?” Jegra asked.
“Can’t seem to get the darn thing running smoothly,” he said, waving his webbed hand as if to brush the pesky business aside. “At any rate, I hope to see you again soon.”
“Likewise,” Jegra said, bowing her head and letting him and Gyllek head off to do their errands.
Raven got up to join them and, pausing in the doorway, looked back at Jegra. “I have three rules. Nothing and no one boards this ship without my express permission. Second, we consider each other family, so if you aren’t willing to die for any member of this crew, you aren’t going to fit in here. Third, if you betray me or anyone of my crew, I will personally hunt you down and kill you myself. Am I being clear?”
“Crystal clear,” Jegra replied.
Raven smiled at her and then turned and disappeared out the door.
A moment later, Danica showed up. She was wearing the exact same outfit as Jegra.
“Oh, bother,” she said. Grabbing the wrist, she pressed the blue LED on the cuff and said, “Electric purple with hot pink stripe.”
Her suit promptly changed into a bright neon outfit meeting her exact specifications.
Jegra couldn’t help but stare. It was spectacular.
“What?” Danica asked, feeling self-conscious.
“I’m just burning your perfect image into my memory.”
“I thought you did that last night.”
“Last night?” Jegra laughed. “Last night I had my face buried so deeply between your thighs I couldn’t see for shit.”
“All right, all right,” Danica laughed. “I get the point.”
“The point is,” Jegra said, sauntering up to Danica. “I think you’re amazing.”
“You’re pretty amazing yourself,” Dani replied.
Jegra smiled and turned to head out when Dani’s hand abruptly caught her by the arm and reeled her back. “What? No kiss?”
“Oh, greedy, are we?”
“In case you haven’t heard,” Danica whispered, leaning in, “I’m a fugitive now. I have no more rules and regulations to abide by. And right now, all I want is a taste of these cotton-candy pink lips of yours.”
Danica and Jegra shared a sultry kiss and then, holding hands, headed off to find a modification joint. The kind that does off-the-books mods.
Leaving Sanakar and Estriel behind with Kregor, they exited the ship and then strolled up and down the busy promenade taking in the sounds and sights of a bustling marketplace. All manner of aliens tried to sell them things they didn’t need. Finally, they came upon a mod parlor that looked promising.
“I’m keeping my eyes,” Danica whispered out of the corner of her mouth.
“Good,” Jegra said. “That’s your best feature.” She turned to Danica and squeezed her hand. “I’ll be here, right beside you the whole way.”
They entered the mod parlor together and walked up to the counter. It felt like a spa but much dingier. The girl at the counter was a Bre’lal woman with eau de nil skin and bright cobalt blue hair and was busy burning different colors of ink onto her nails with a nail-polish-gun. Smacking on some gum, she asked, “What can I do you for?”
“Do you do skin pigment augmentation?” Jegra asked.
The girl looked up and scanned Jegra. “We sure do. What color do you fancy yourself?”
“Oh, it’s not for me. It’s for my friend here.” She gave Danica’s hand a firm tug and she staggered up to the desk alongside Jegra.
Nervous, she fidgeted about. “I was thinking a light purple hue added to my skin color. Nothing too wild. And I want blue, turquoise, and purple ombre for my hair.”
“And larger tits,” Jegra added.
The girl looked Danica up and down and then smiled. “We can do all that. Anything else you’d like? Eye color change or maybe and neurotransmitter fitted behind your ear so you both can telepathically communicate with each other.”
“You can do that?” Jegra asked excitedly.
“Uh-huh,” the girl replied, smacking on her gum and going back to paying more attention to her nails than her customers.
“Sweet!” Jegra turned to Danica and squeezed her hand. “We could be inside each other’s heads! How intimate is that?!”
“I dunno, J,” Danica hesitantly replied. “Some of my thoughts can get pretty dark. My people aren’t built to be compassionate.”
“We’ll keep them off most of the time. But how amazing would it be to share each other’s thought?”
Jegra turned toward the girl. “All right, we’ll do everything we discussed, except the eyes. How much will this run us?”
“Eight million credits,” the girl answered.
“Eight million credits?” Danica barked. Growing angry, she slammed her hand down on the counter, her eyes flashing bright yellow as her energy flared up. Small bubbles of electromagnetic energy began to form around her as her power began to manifest.
The Bre’lal girl simply looked up and smacked her gum. “Fine,” she sighed. “Three million credits. Not a penny less.”
“One point five million,” Jegra said. “Not a penny more.”
“No, dice, lady,” the Bre’lal woman replied.
“Fine,” Danica snarled. “We’ll just find someplace else.”
Jegra and Danica turned to leave. Just before they exited the parlor, the girl called out to them. “Wait!”
They turned back around and faced her and waited patiently for her to admit defeat.
“Fine, two million and a half. But that’s my final offer.”
“Deal,” Jegra said. She excitedly nudged Danica’s arm with her elbow and the two of them headed toward the waiting room to get ready.
The Bre’lal girl cleared her throat. “Forgetting something?” She pointed at the scanner on the table.
“Oh, right,” Jegra said, reaching out to have her wrist implant scanned so she could pay.
Danica quickly stopped her, however. “Wait, he might be able to track your purchases.”
The girl behind the counter raised her eyes, her curiosity piqued from listening in on the conversation, and looked at them both. “Mean ex?” she asked, her eyes probing their faces as she fished for the juicy details.
“The worst,” Jegra said.
The girl flipped a switch and the red laser turned blue. “This will charge all funds into a dummy account which will then be dumped back into our establishment under a randomly generated name.”
Jegra sighed and looked at Danica who signaled with a nod that it was okay to proceed.
“Thanks,” Jegra said. “You saved this girl’s ass.”
“Whatever,” the Bre’lal girl said going back to her nails.
“Come on!” Jegra said cheerfully, looping her arm under Danica’s and linking elbows.
“What’s gotten into you?” Danica asked. “You’re acting so spry. It’s a little off putting.”
“Oh, don’t be such a worry-wart,” Jegra said as they entered the waiting area. “We’re a million miles from nowhere and surrounded by nothing but crooks and scumbags. Nobody would ever think to look for us here. So, just relax and get modded already.”
“Yes, your grace,” Danica said, curtseying.
“Oh, you stop that,” Jegra said, tugging on Danica’s elbow and bringing her back up.
Jegra stopped in the middle of the room and stared off into the distance. “Oh, shiiit,” she said after a while.
“What is it?” Danica asked in a startled tone.
“Oh, it’s nothing. I’m just realizing, now, that if we’re sharing each other’s thoughts during … you know what … then having an orgasm is going to be like a fucking neutron bomb goin
g off right inside my c—”
“Ladies!” a voice interrupted. It had a subtle gentlemanly southern twang to it which caught Jegra’s ear.
They both turned to find a human man in his late forties to early fifties with a thick auburn goatee and an all-white Colonel Sanders-type suit. He wore a raggedy ole straw cowboy hat and had on purple shades, reminiscent of John Lennon’s.
“The name’s Homer. Homer Edgington.”
“Oh my God!” Jegra practically screamed when she saw another human. “You’re human!”
“So are you, my dear.” Scoping Jegra out, he raised an eyebrow and tipped his hat back to allow himself a better look.
“I am totally human,” Jegra said grabbing Homer’s hand and squeezing it so hard his joints cracked. Shaking vigorously, she repeated, “I am.”
“Good to know,” he said, patting her hand and then prying his away. “Never hurts to be among your kind.”
“How long have you been at The Cove?” Danica asked.
“Oh,” Homer said, taking his mangled hand back and scratching his beard. “About seven years now, give or take.”
“Abducted by alien poachers?” Jegra asked.
“I was sold to a wealthy merchant where I worked until I gained my freedom. After that, I found myself here, eking out a meager living. The Cove offers the best free-market in the entire galaxy! Anything you’d ever want or ever hoped to find can be found here.” He raised his arms and fanned the entire room as he alluded to the goings on in The Cove.
“All right,” he said, rubbing his hands together. “What can I do for you fine ladies?”
“I need a makeover,” Danica informed him in her matter-of-fact tone. Obviously, it was hard for Danica to shake years of military training. The regimental soldier in her was still stiff and mechanical.
“Yeah,” Jegra said, nudging Danica with her shoulder. “I want my girlfriend looking hot!” Jegra squeezed Danica’s ass for show and forced a nervous laugh out of her.
She leaned into Jegra. “What are you doing, sweetie?”
“Putting on a good show for the nice man, here,” Jegra replied through the corner of her mouth. When they caught Homer smiling at them they both laughed and batted their eyes at him and tossed their hair, acting like a couple of silly girls spending a night out on the town. Or, in this case, a secret cove inside an uncharted asteroid belt. Ah, Jegra thought to herself. The Cove. I get it now.
“Excellent,” he said, ignoring their awkwardness. “Don’t you ladies worry your pretty little heads. Most people get the jitters the first time around. But it’s perfectly safe.”
“‘The jitters’ is an understatement,” Danica griped. Jegra shook her head as if to say, not here. Not now.
Guiding Danica over to a large, pod-like canister, Homer pulled it open and a hiss of steam shot out. Continuing on with his pitch, he motioned for her to take a look inside. “This is a Makeover Pod; 7,000 series. State of the art, top of the line. You just program in the specifications of what you want to have done, using this touch-panel here and abracadabra, walla-walla, presto! you’re modified, beautified, and most of all, 100% guaranteed satisfied!”
“Awesome!” Jegra gave Danica a gentle nudge toward the machine. But she could only look at it with intense dread.
Homer clapped his hands and wriggled his fingers enthusiastically. “Well, ladies, I’ll leave you to it.”
He took a deep bow, tipped his hat to them, and disappeared out of the room.
“He seemed nice enough,” Jegra said, looking over her shoulder to be certain he had given them their privacy.
“I suppose so,” Danica replied. She wasn’t familiar with human interactions so didn’t really think her opinion would be of any help. Getting ready, she stripped her clothes off and handed them to Jegra. “Well, here goes nothing.”
Typing her specifications into the panel, she set up all the modifications they’d discussed earlier. Finishing on an anatomically accurate 3D rendering of a blue skinned Dagon female, she tapped on the picture’s chest. Each time she tapped the image of the woman its breasts grew slightly bigger. Satisfied with a slightly larger bust size she let out yet another pent-up sigh.
Jegra rubbed Danica’s neck and said, “It will be perfectly fine. And when you come out of there, no matter what you look like, I’ll still love you.”
She grinned at Dani and reached down and gave the display an extra couple of taps, inflating the 3D representation of a female Dagon’s chest to ludicrous proportions.
“Um … no,” Danica replied, glaring at Jegra and pressing her two fingers on the 3D model’s chest and holding them down as the breast slowly deflated back to an acceptable size.
Shooting Jegra a stern look, as if to say leave it alone, she climbed into the pod and shut the chamber door. From inside cylinder, she called out, “Wish me luck.”
“Best of luck, babe,” Jegra said. She reached down and tapped the picture of the Dagon woman’s chest three times, inflating the 3D images chest to a comfortable 36C. Not too big, not too small. Just right.
Dani might be mad that she had played such a juvenile prank on her, but at the same time these were her orders, as empress, and Dani had no choice to submit to her will. It may not be right, but this abuse of power came from a good place. She wanted Dani to be unrecognizable. That way she could remain off Dakroth’s radar. It was the only way Jegra could ensure Dani would stay safe.
The timer counted down from fifteen minutes. Jegra took in a deep breath and put her hands on the back of her hips and leaned back and stretched. No sooner had she finished stretching than Homer reappeared with a small handheld injector gun. It reminded Jegra of a glue gun.
“What’s that?” she asked, nodding at the device.
“It’s the nano-tech you ordered,” he replied, looking at her from across the rims of his lavender sunglasses. “Just place it behind your ear like this,” he said, demonstrating how it worked, “and pull the trigger.” He handed it off to Jegra who gladly accepted it. “You’ll likely feel a pinch followed by a bit of pressure. Don’t worry, put some ice on it and the swelling will go down in an hour.”
“Thank you so much,” Jegra gushed, examining the device in her hands.
“You know,” Homer added, before leaving. “You look awfully familiar. Have we met?”
“No,” Jegra answered. “I would have remembered. You’re the first human I’ve come across in nearly two years.”
“I see,” Homer said, lifting up his hat and brushing his long wispy hair back on his head. “Well, there are a few of us bopping around out here at the ass-end of the galaxy. But be careful, most humans are just trying their best to survive the harsh conditions of the galactic Commonwealth and keep a low profile what with the war between the Nyctans and Dagons dragging on. But they’d sooner stab you in the back than lend you a helping hand. Consider yourself warned.”
“Right,” Jegra answered. She didn’t like the ominousness that lingered in his words. It almost seemed like a veiled threat. “I’ll definitely make sure to be extra careful.”
He smiled at her with his unnervingly wide, artificially white, manic smile. She returned his smile in kind with one of her own, but felt unnerved by how long she was forced to hold it. If that wasn’t bad enough, she had the distinct feeling that Homer wasn’t everything that he pretended to be.
He was being overly friendly, even though he had no need to be. His ominous warning about other humans seemed to come from the place of a guilty conscience, which meant he was probably trying to warn her. Atone for some grievous sin of his past. Something was most definitely amiss, she felt.
Homer made up some pretext about attending to some other customers, even though there hadn’t been any when they’d come into the mod parlor, and excused himself from the room.
Jegra looked at the clock. Eight more minutes to go. Tapping her foot anxiously, she whispered, “Come on, come on, come on.”
The eight minutes crawled by, but finally t
he pod chimed and then, with a hiss of steam, it opened.
Danica stepped out and examined her arms. She was a deep shade of indigo, somewhere between her former dark blue self and her new, pinker self.
Her hair was a majestic blue and purple ombre which was feathered down to her shoulders and her chest was now downright corpulent, which made her perfectly side-set breasts look truly stunning. Looking down at herself, she grabbed her boobs and squeezed. “You didn’t?!”
“I did,” Jegra said, grabbing her arm. “But there’s no time to discuss it, we’ve gotta go.”
“What are you talking about?” Danica said, easing back.
“I think Homer has sold us down the creek without a paddle.”
“Down the what without a what?” Danica asked, looking completely baffled.
“I think he recognized me and has probably informed the authorities. Bounty hunters. Maybe even Dakroth himself.”
“Shit,” Danica said, grabbing her things.
“Get dressed, we’ve got to get back to the Skywend and warn everybody.”
Danica raced to get her clothes on. Just as they were about to leave, Homer came in with a tray full of champagne in lovely tall crystalline glasses.
“Won’t you ladies stay awhile and have a nice relaxing drink. It’s not every day I see a fellow Earthling. Maybe you can catch me up on what’s been going on back on the homeworld. Tell me how the Red Sox are doing.” He smiled and then handed Jegra a glass of champagne.
Confused as what to do and, presuming the drink was most likely drugged, Jegra laughed and tossed her hair. Then, without a second’s hesitation, she cold-cocked Homer without so much as spilling a drop of champagne.
Out cold, the man crumpled to the ground with a resounding thud and his lavender glasses went skidding across the floor.
Both women looked down at Homer and then each other. Not waiting for him to regain consciousness, Jegra grabbed Danica’s arm and hastily towed her out of the room. She still held the glass of champagne in her other hand.
“What about the neuro-transmitter link?” Danica asked, looking back over her shoulder.
“Leave it. It’s probably bugged anyway,” Jegra said as she and Danica rushed into the lobby and passed the girl at the front desk.
