StarFlight: The Prism Baronies (Beyond the Outer Rim Book 2)

by Reiter

  “You mean the Cutter,” Hansel said with a bright smile. It was easy to see he was excited by his new surroundings.

  Jocasta held her tongue, but only for a moment. There was no need to bite the young man’s head off on his first day aboard ship. “Long story there, Hans. He’s Boss, the Second Mate. With any other captain, on any other ship, you’d be right.”

  “Boss, then,” Hansel nodded excitedly. “Got it.”

  Jocasta looked to Llaz, but he spoke before she could. “I’ll see to it that they meet the crew and get situated. I can give you my report after that.”

  “Good enough for me,” Jocasta said, resuming her trek to her room. “… but CeCe, get to the Bridge and let them know we need to get to the dark side of the moon pronto, go to maximum field strength, and then find another hidey-hole for my ship.”

  “You expecting someone to come looking, Captain?” Cilrus asked.

  “Someone is looking, big guy,” she replied. “When you hear my report, you’ll know the who and the what.” Cilrus gave a nod before turning to run to a lift pole. The pirate captain liked the way the large man responded to the word ‘pronto’.

  “The Baron’s got a few minutes before he touches down,” Jocasta said, looking at a wall console to see what time it was aboard her ship. “… and then he’ll have to make all sorts of explanations and what not. You should have plenty of time to do what you must. I should be changed, relaxed, and having a well-deserved drink in my Ready Room.” Jocasta turned and walked, deciding to take the long route. She needed to stretch her legs and get her bearings.

  “So… Hansel, Xaedra, tell me your life story,” Llaz said, ushering the two down the corridor.

  ** b *** t *** o *** r **

  The woman moaned in delight as Nulaki pressed his lips against the soft base of her neck. She took tighter handholds of his shirt which was not going to be on his back much longer. Giadrii Burntrue lifted her left leg and wrapped it around his right thigh, pulling him closer against her body. His right hand took hold of that leg, feeling the softness of her bare thigh, caressing her smooth skin until he found her waist and the ample flesh around her buttocks. She might have whelped aloud in surprise had Nulaki not timed the return of his mouth upon hers perfectly as he kissed the woman passionately.

  “This can’t be happening,” she thought as Nulaki lifted her from the floor and carried her from the corridor to the bed. “He walked right by Diavane… right by Katherine… he didn’t even look at M’Sarpoole… and he picked me! I just can’t believe this is–” her thoughts were interrupted as she noticed the blue-eyed wonder of a man was staring at her.

  “What is it, my dear?” he asked with a peculiar smile on his face.

  “I don’t want this to end… not before it’s supposed to… but… you–” Nulaki pressed his lips against hers and she received his kiss ambitiously. He moved from her mouth to her cheek and back to her neck. “Good Gods, don’t stop!”

  “Why would I?” Nulaki asked, taking the moment to look into the woman’s green eyes.

  “I don’t know.”

  “Now is not the time for duplicity, my sweet lady,” Nulaki whispered. “Many things are about to be revealed. Why not let them all be true?” He chuckled before resuming his kissing barrage. How soft the skin at her shoulders was. He delighted in the feel and taste of the woman. “Why would I stop?”

  “Because this isn’t real,” she finally admitted as tears came to her eyes. Nulaki pushed against the mattress to elevate his head over hers. With a very deft and quick maneuver, he was topless, tossing his shirt to the floor.

  “It is very real, Giadrii,” he argued, quickly rolling the woman over on to her chest. “… and about to become more real the moment what’s left of your gown no longer impedes my delight.

  “But let us respond to your instincts,” Nulaki purred, “… though I believe they’re fears generated by your continued existence within an oppressive environment.” He kissed the center of her back and the soft moan she gave told him she had been delighted by the contact. “You think my advancements to you are false,” he stated kissing up her spine, removing every clasp and button along the way. As each one released, it was becoming more and more an inarguable reality to Giadrii that she was about to be taken in a way she had only dared to dream. She felt the clasp holding her blonde hair fall from the back of her head. “… I assure you that you are wrong… on that point.” Nulaki rolled Giadrii over on her back, removing her dress. There was no tearing. She gasped at the speed and ease with which he moved.

  “You think I have other aims… now there, my lovely, there you are right!” Nulaki’s hands and lips assaulted her body and Giadrii closed her eyes, overwhelmed with passion and euphoria. “I am a thief, gorgeous flower. I have a passion for taking things others believe should never be touched.

  “Yes, I ignored the so-called ladies that were hovering about you this evening. I had no designs for snorkeling tonight, so I didn’t need to breathe through them.” Giadrii covered her mouth to suppress the laughter. Nulaki kept kissing her, kept feeling her body, taking a great deal of pleasure in what many considered to be a healthy frame. “But you, standing there, the brightest light in the room, even you thought you were not to be touched. Well, I am touching you, milady, and once you succumb to my… talents, I will avail myself of other things they don’t want to be touched.”

  “Like their virtue?” Giadrii asked.

  Nulaki smiled, combing his fingers through her long blonde hair. “Darling Giadrii, that’s the one thing they want above all to be touched! Don’t let their posturing fool you, and don’t let your ambitions to have friends blind you from the truth. They don’t like you. They only respect the size of your estate’s accounts. They will respect it even more after tonight!”

  “Because you plan on stealing from them,” Giadrii panted as she took Nulaki into a tight embrace. Before he knew it, Nulaki was on his back looking up at the creature he had unchained, the would-be cold stone he had heated. She now burned with a light all her own, and it was glorious!

  “I do indeed.”

  “And what will you steal from me, thief?”

  “Hopefully your shortsightedness,” he replied. “You’re a woman, Giadrii, worthy of a better hand than mine to touch you, hold you, and please you. I apologize for being lower than that standard.”

  “I will be the judge of your standard, if you please,” she said before kissing Nulaki’s chest. Her actions were slow and deliberate. Nulaki closed his eyes and fell into her efforts to please him. He smiled, feeling as if he had liberated the woman, if only for this evening, from the confines of perception as defined by her so-called peers. “But there is one hitch to your plan,” she whispered, kissing his neck and sucking at the flesh as her hand massaged his crotch.

  “Th-th-there is?” Nulaki stammered, getting a hold of the excitement burning through his body.

  “Mmmm-Hmmm,” she purred, licking the lobe of his ear.

  “Gods, not the ear!” he thought as he lost his hold. His hand grabbed at the back of her head and pulled her mouth away from him. Giadrii gasped at the way the Fazbred man seized control of her body. She had no idea it had been in self-defense. Nulaki turned his head and forced her lips onto his. Their lips parted to allow their tongues to dart and dance around each other’s mouths. They rolled over as they kissed, Giadrii’s massaging hand squeezed harder, finding there was more to squeeze. Her grip did not bring discomfort, but it made a clear point that Nulaki was still wearing too much clothing. Breaking from kissing, Nulaki removed his pants in the same fashion he had taken off Giadrii’s dress.

  “What is this hitch?” he asked, running his fingertips down the side of her body. The tickling sensation made her giggle and squirm before she reached out to touch his bare chest.

  “What if I don’t succumb?” Giadrii smiled up at him.

  “Challenge accepted!”

  Nulaki started kissing her chest and stomach, working his way d
own between her legs when Giadrii called his name before biting down on her finger. Her free hand was on top of his head, letting him know she wanted more of what he was doing, and Nulaki began the assault on her pleasure pinnacle. He was hardly done using his mouth when she started begging for mercy. Taking her into his arms, Nulaki gently entered into the woman and she cried, kissing him repeatedly about the face.

  “At last,” he thought, relieved that she was weak in his arms.

  Once again in control of the event, Nulaki tried, in earnest, to supply every delight he could to the woman. She called the name Sebatio over and over again, which was fine, given that was the name he was using. He knew Sebatio would always be the blue-eyed, dark-haired wonder of a glorious evening aboard the cruise-liner.

  Two hours later, Nulaki left the cabin. Giadrii was sound asleep after twice rolling over and delaying his departure. Nulaki smiled, assured he had time; the liner was not set to dock for another week at the earliest. He had every reason to believe pirates would be striking in a day or two. Too many of the ship’s crew seemed to be interested in the property of the passengers. One of the waiters had even picked his nose just before the breakfast buffet had opened. The pleasure cruiser would soon be leaving the common lanes of caravans. The liner would have to rely on their onboard pilots and their fighters for protection. Nulaki did not consider himself to be a professional pilot; his time with JoJo Starblazer had only given him more confirmation of a definite lack of skills. Still, he could remember giving many liner fighter pilots the slip on some of his rushed getaways.

  Shedding the wig and the colored contact lenses, Nulaki was now wearing the body suit that Z had put together for him. With his weapons and tools at the ready, he was ready to hit the main passenger vault. His wrist-com vibrated and he looked down to read an incoming message: Mother made her move, as you predicted… it was excessive, as you predicted… am thanking you, as you predicted… you are welcome at Black Gate, Scarab… Gov. Gundryss.

  “Oh, the places that man will go,” Nulaki whispered, sending an acknowledgement and a sincere ‘Thank You’ back to the Governor before donning his mask. He smiled as he started climbing up the wall to his first of three targets. Halfway up the wall, he activated his countdown clock. His Cobra-Nine would be warming up and self-launching in coordinated time with him reaching the second target so that it would rendezvous with him when he was done with his third.

  ** b *** t *** o *** r **

  (Time Slip between XII-4112.16 And XII-4202.26 )

  “Star Chaser!” a voice called out, but Dungias could not hear it. “Star Chaser!”

  “Who… who is that?” Alpha asked, barely capable of voice. Sparks flew as the drills and cutters worked against its body.

  “It is Eesa! Alpha, where is Dungias?!”

  “I… cannot see,” Alpha replied. “Twenty-seven percent… of reserves remain. I have… forgotten how to… absorb energy. Uungh!” Alpha shuddered as another laser drill was applied to its side. “Fifteen percent. Who… who is that?!”

  Eesa could feel Alpha beginning to slip away just as she was losing her grip on the portal she had wedged back through time. She was nearly at the power levels she could wield and still maintain the cloak preventing the Chorus’ awareness of her. Even though the Stars felt weak to her at the moment, it was not a wise gambit to assume such a condition would continue for long.

  “But I cannot abandon him,” Eesa thought as she began to pant from her exertion. “Dungias went on this quest at my behest. I didn’t see the trap and now he is dying!”

  The Chorus had been prevented from entering the Deku and K’Dalkian Systems… they had received a similar reception when they had tried to enter The Territories. Their frustration, combined with their rage and fear, inspired them to craft a trap of their own; a breach-trap that would only be triggered by an object entering Rims Space from the Astral Universe. The trap had been attuned a specific set of Chronotonic Particles, making the signature of Dungias time-space anchor an easy target. When the Kulri-Kraythe had come into Rims Space, the trap was sprung, and the scout ship found itself in the middle of a collapsing star. While the heat had burned into the Kulri-Kraythe, overpowering the heat shields in five seconds, it had been enough time for Alpha to be inserted into the generator of the scout ship and Dungias to initiate a Jump-Stride. There had been no time to fear failing proper execution of the process, it was either jump or die. Unbeknownst to the Star Chaser and the Chorus of the Rims, Eesa had aided in the jump, using the power of the trap to assist the Traveler.

  Though it had been some time, Eesa had observed the discipline of the Jump-Stride before, and the Traveler was performing it correctly. From all mortal perspectives, he had mastered the technique of locking Time and bridging Space, traipsing about the fringes of the definition of Space, effectively folding it. However, something in his mind had involuntarily sought to make the fold incorrectly, if only on the most minute detail. When Eesa moved to correct it, the lock on Time was lost and thusly both Time and Space were thrown into chaos. The backlash ripped through the Kulri-Kraythe, snatching each crewman out of the ship and dropping them along the timeline. Dungias was the first to be taken and he left the ship without even having the chance to call for Alpha. Reacting as fast as she could, Satithe had activated the fire suppression system, hoping the foam would physically link them together. After Dungias disappeared, another energy pulse snatched Rahneece who was attached by way of foam to Ulios. Teela was just centimeters from Jovasor when she faded. The unconscious physician was next. Ephaliun had just caught sight of Alpha when he too was taken. It was all Eesa could do to try and delay their departures so that they would appear in places where they could at least breathe. With the exception of Jovasor she had been successful.

  The Kulri-Kraythe had hurdled through space; still in the Rims, but on the other side of Primus in relation to Black Gate. That region was Ardrian Territory. The ship was collected and, being something well ahead of their technology, the order quickly claim to dismantle it. But Alpha was to be first and Eesa quickly concluded that the only part of the Star Chaser that she could see was no longer with him. She closed her eyes, relinquishing her ambition to remain hidden from her siblings.

  “No, it is not your time,” Cihpares said as she streaked into the tunnel.

  “It isn’t yours either!” Eesa cried.

  “You’re right. That moment has come and gone. It is time to settle accounts!” The tunnel closed after she flew through it, and Eesa dropped to her knees in the middle of the small rented room, wondering if she had allowed her fears to keep her from taking the proper action.

  “What have I done?”

  Cihpares flew directly into Alpha. “Hello, Alpha,” she cooed, passing through the Osamu, losing what ties she had left with the living world. “Goodbye, old friend!” Only a small portion of her essence was left inside Alpha, as she was unable to pass through it without some measure of exchange. Surging free of the Osamu, she passed through the walls of the facility where the Kulri-Kraythe had been taken.

  “I see you, nyaka!” she declared as the image of the Star Chaser formed in front of her. She smiled, acknowledging the truth of the matter. She had, after all, passed into the time tunnel easily enough. She knew when she departed from Eesa she would not be returning . “What is left of this form cannot reach you… but my love for you, my life-light… your love for me… our love will always surpass Time and Space. Hear me, Dungias. Feel me, nyaka… feel me, and AWAKEN!”

  ** b *** t *** o *** r **

  (Rims Time: XII-4201.15)

  Gold eyes opened and muscles under taut blue skin tightened. Dungias was brought to consciousness from a telepathically-induced coma. “Saru!” he screamed, hearing her voice call to him for the last time. He screamed again, feeling stabs of pain all over his body.

  In response to his outcry, he heard another scream and the clatter of a metal stool falling over on a metal floor. Looking at himself, he saw a number of pro
bes that had been inserted into his body. “I am… being dissected?” he whispered, reaching to remove the first probe. He grimaced as the device came away from his chest. He looked down at his legs and genitalia, lifting one eyebrow at seeing a probe there. “They are at least efficient… whoever they are.” As he removed the last of the probes, a slender woman dressed in a blue and silver military-styled uniform rushed into the room. Dungias quickly recognized the emblem of the Fuji-Karro Corporation on the belt of the uniform.

  “You don’t want to do that,” the woman said, and the Traveler was struck with a wave of ThoughtWill energy targeted at his consciousness. His eyes squinted as he looked at the woman. “You want to lie back down and sleep!”

  Dungias chuckled. “Hmmm, an argument that you might be Truebreed. I do not know which point of assumption to address first.” The woman gasped as she realized her attempt at telepathic domination had failed. “But it does not seem you suffer incurable denial.”

  The woman turned and started for the door. Dungias’ body responded to his every whim. Saru’s last words had not only awakened him – an unknown energy had been delivered along with it – and while his heart felt a sharp pain of sadness, it was a loss he had come to terms with a long time ago. His Star-Stride was much faster than the faired-haired woman’s running gait, and she ran into his chest as he stepped in her path to the door. She bounced off of him and he took hold of her face, snarling at her. Her blue eyes flared wide in fright and, as Dungias had hoped, that fear kept her from defending her mind. He was able to see into her thoughts. Grace Walters was a gifted telepath, though her training left much to be desired. As Dungias reviewed how he had come to be in the room, he used the woman’s telepathic ability to reach out for the minds of the crew that had been placed in his charge, as well as Alpha. Despite her range, Dungias could find nothing of them, but he did find the sentiment of Cihpares and her last efforts to aid him… made fifteen days from now!