by A. C. Ellas
“He’s the strongest Gator in the fleet,” Nick told her calmly. “He’s certainly the strongest Gator alive and possibly the strongest Gator ever. His telepathic range is over a hundred kilometers. It’s amazing he didn’t go insane before the Guild claimed him. It’s in admiralty’s best interests to keep him happy.”
“And they put him on a small frigate?” Evie shook her head. “They should have him on one of the big ships if he’s as powerful as you say.”
“This is a temporary assignment for him. He’s slated for the second of the new heavies still under construction—the Star Wolf class, they’re calling it. It’s cheaper to rewire a frigate than a battle cruiser, so they gave him Laughing Owl to play with while he waits for his permanent ship.”
“Oh.” Evie swallowed. “When he goes to his new ship, what happens to you?”
“I hope that by then, admiralty will consider me experienced enough to take the helm of the heavy. Otherwise, I’ll resign my commission so I can stay with him.” Nick smiled wryly. “He was ready to give up being an Astrogator to keep me, you know. He stood up to the Guildmaster himself over our marriage. As much as I love the Corps, as much as I love being captain, I love him more.”
Chapter Seven: Departure
Over the course of a half-dozen jumps, Nick had watched as the fleet split up into four teams of three ships. They all had the same target destination—the Rel home system, or at least the system assumed to be the Rel home since it was so saturated with Rels—every planet and most moons had at least a colony according to the data. It was one of the systems Laughing Owl had done a flyby of; they’d stayed only long enough for the one quick set of readings, then Cai had ducked them back into subspace to avoid the heavy fire aimed at him.
Physicists had taken their data and jump logs and had carefully analyzed everything. It had taken them years to chart it all, to work out where the hardpoints should be, to find alternate routings to that system to avoid the massive black hole skewing the jump from Luyten’s Star that had nearly cost them the Laughing Owl and everyone aboard. If Cai had been any less powerful, any less capable, the ship would almost certainly have been destroyed.
As Nick well knew, Cai wasn’t happy that their targets were theoretical hardpoints, and worse, the flotilla couldn’t travel in convoy all the way there. In order to have the teams emerge at different points around the periphery of the system, they’d have to jump there from different starting systems. Nick and Nbuntu got to stress over the time dilation effects, which could well skew their timetable. They thought—hoped—prayed—that the physicists’ analysis of the time factors were also correct. Cai only had to jump his ship safely and keep to the strict timetable laid out for him in the plan, but his husband was a perfectionist, and the unknowns of this mission really bothered him.
Nick was strapped down over the special pillow Cai had made for him with his ass in the air at the perfect height for Cai. He was naked again, wearing only his collar and his ball cuff, and his erection was pressed into the foam of the pillow—Cai had recently carved a pocket out just for that, but strangely, it make Nick feel even more restrained to have his penis shoved into the hole. He immediately thought about having Cai add an actual restraint to the bottom of the hole to hold him in place. The idea shivered his skin as he imagined his cock being stretched and pinned deep inside the pillow.
“I will be astonished if any of the other teams arrive at the target when they’re supposed to,” Cai said as he slid two fingers into Nick’s ass.
Nick grunted in pleasure as the digits entered him, trying to relax himself as he pushed back into them, working them in deeper. “Why wouldn’t they? They have the same time tables you have; they know when and where to jump.”
“But the jump is a relativistic event—time is dilated, twisted all out of proportion.” Cai added another finger and pumped them, stretching and working Nick’s ass in a delightful way. “But here’s the thing, time doesn’t dilate equally for every jump, not even for every jump between the same two hardpoints.”
“More,” Nick moaned and ground himself onto Cai’s hand. He really didn’t care about time dilation right then, unless Cai was planning to slow time so he could use Nick that much longer.
Cai pumped a little more vigorously, and Nick groaned in appreciation for his husband’s consideration. After adding a fourth finger to the play, Cai continued, “So, the time table is just a best guess. These hardpoints we’re going to be using are theoreticals. We don’t know, absolutely, that they’re there, and there’s no way to even guess what the subspace conditions will be like. Time dilation effects are certain to be a problem.”
“That may be,” Nick gasped out, humping himself on Cai hard and fast, enjoying the sensation of half of Cai’s hand sliding into him, he could feel not only the knuckles of Cai’s hand, but also the thumb pressing into his flesh outside his rectum. “But there’s nothing we can do about it but carry on and hope for the best.”
“We had better also prepare for the worst,” Cai said firmly and pressed his whole hand in.
Shuddering with pleasure, Nick rolled his hips, pushed himself more firmly onto Cai’s arm, groaned as his husband’s wrist entered him. “Love this,” he panted in time to Cai’s thrusts. “Love you.”
“Stop trying to change the subject,” Cai said lightly, but he didn’t stop pumping his arm in and out of Nick’s body, so as far as Nick was concerned, the subject had already been changed.
“We always prepare for the worst,” Nick said anyhow, because Cai deserved a response other than his moans of pleasure. “How about we just pretend, for the rest of tonight, that nothing can possibly go wrong with the plan?” Nick was well aware that the plan had holes big enough for a heavy cruiser to fly through; he just didn’t want to think about what he couldn’t change, especially not at the moment.
Cai laughed. “Okay, dear, point taken.” He slowly, gently pulled his hand out of Nick.
“Nooo,” Nick protested when he realized what was going on. Cai was leaving him unfulfilled and achingly empty.
“Shhh.” Cai stroked Nick’s upturned cheeks with both hands.
Nick could feel the crystal embedded in Cai’s right palm as the hard edges of the dodecahedron slid across his sensitive skin. A moment later, he felt something even better—Cai’s delectable cock pressing into him, hot and hard and greased, sliding into his well-stretched hole without impedance. “Oh, yeah,” Nick said. “Just like that.”
Cai’s answer was to pump harder, thrusting into Nick vigorously. It felt glorious. Cai’s cock was like him, slender but long. Very long. Nick could feel it plowing deeply into his core with every inward thrust, and he loved every motion of that curved tool within him. The tension and the pleasure built and built until Nick was squirming with the need for release and humping the pillow under him in counterpoint to Cai’s action.
The more they moved together, the more in synch they became, linked together by Cai’s immense telepathic power. It didn’t always happen, because Nick had a natural, dense mental shield that was apparently as variable as it was unconscious. Sometimes, Cai could touch him mind to mind, and sometimes, he couldn’t. Right now, their minds were linked in perfect, glorious harmony that made Nick want to sing. He refrained since he was well aware that he couldn’t carry a tune to save his life, and he didn’t want to offend Cai’s ears.
“You can always sing for me,” Cai murmured at the moment of climax.
Ecstasy swept through Nick as they came together, bound together by psi; and he did sing, in a manner of speaking, as he cried out from the intensity of the sensations coursing through his body. He felt the restraints releasing, the buckles being worked by Cai’s telekinetic power, and he, once again, marveled at his husband’s abilities. It was incredible to him, when he allowed himself to think about it, that someone as mentally talented as Cai could even exist. Back before the great collapse and the second dark age, real psychic ability was nonexistent and people who cla
imed to be psychic were only trying to bilk the gullible.
Cai just about peeled him off the pillow and pulled him close. Nick turned and wrapped Cai in his arms, enjoying the cuddle and the post-climatic haze.
Cai whispered in his ear, “I want you in me tonight.”
Nick stroked Cai’s back, enjoying the feel of his husband’s body.
A low chime sounded, and Nick blinked. “Who the hell has the balls to ring the door of your chambers? I’ll chew them a new one and hang them by their balls in the cargo bay.”
“I wouldn’t recommend that,” Cai replied calmly, though Nick knew full well that his husband was as irate as he was. “It’s the admiral.”
Nick sat up and rolled off the bed. “I’ll get it.” He threw his uniform on as he headed for the front room. At the last moment, he remembered that he was wearing his collar. “Cai, the collar?” he asked, hoping Cai was still linked with him enough to hear; he was. The collar vanished from around his neck as a finger of power crackled across his balls, Cai’s version of getting the last word in. Nick struggled to compose himself as he reached the door and palmed it open. “Admiral, please come in.”
Admiral Nbuntu walked in and looked at him. He had an unmistakable twinkle in his eye. “Am I interrupting something?”
Yes, of course you are, Nick thought, but he said, “No, sir.”
“Very well, please let Astrogator Cai know that I’m here to pay my respects as is usual and customary.”
“Yes, sir.” Nick saluted, spun on a heel and marched back into the bedroom. “He’s here to pay his respects. I should have expected that.”
“Me, too,” Cai replied. The Gator was already dressed in his full uniform. He glanced at Nick and cracked a smile. “Your shirt is misbuttoned, my dear.”
Nick smiled sheepishly and hastily repaired the problem. Cai didn’t move. Nick looked up. “Aren’t you going out there?”
“I’m waiting for you,” Cai replied firmly. “The admiral will wait for me; he’s here at my pleasure.”
And realistically, there was absolutely nothing Nbuntu could do to Cai; Astrogators were, for the most part, untouchable. “And if he retaliates by making things difficult for me?” Nick asked reasonably.
“If the admiral makes your life difficult over a couple minutes cooling his heels in my parlor, he will regret ever stepping aboard Laughing Owl,” Cai assured him.
Nick finished adjusting his uniform and stepped up beside Cai, who led the way out to the front room.
Nbuntu was surveying the parlor and didn’t seem at all concerned to be kept waiting. As soon as he saw them, he turned to face them. “Astrogator Cai,” he said, “I am pleased to meet you in person at last.”
“Admiral Nbuntu, welcome aboard. I hope your quarters met with your satisfaction?”
“Indeed, it was kind of Captain Steele to give up his space to me.”
“At the same time, you did me a favor,” Cai replied. “I’ve been trying to convince him to just move in with me, but until now, he’s insisted that the captain of the ship has to maintain a presence in the captain’s cabin.”
“He has a valid point,” Nbuntu commented, “the captain’s presence in officer’s row does much to keep the younger officers in line during their off-duty hours. But a married couple ought to sleep in the same bed, eh?”
“My view exactly,” Cai said. “Refreshments?”
“No, no,” Nbuntu said, raising his hands. “I only stopped by to pay my respects, and I ah... apologize for the interruption.” The look he bestowed on them said plainly that he knew what they’d been doing.
“Admiral, your apology is accepted,” Cai said with a perfectly straight face and an angelic expression. “If we’re done here, I’d really like to get back to having my way with my husband.”
Nick managed not to choke, somehow. He couldn’t believe Cai had just said that. When Nbuntu looked at him in clear surprise, and no little amusement, Nick managed to smile with apparent unconcern. “Admiral, I wish you a pleasant evening.”
Nbuntu barked a laugh. “Not as pleasant as yours will be,” he retorted. “Good night, gentlemen.” He strode out, chuckling.
Nick collapsed on the nearest couch and said, “I can’t believe you said that.”
“What?” Cai smiled. “You think Nbuntu’s going to care what a married couple does in bed?”
“That doesn’t mean it’s okay to dismiss an admiral with the excuse that you want to get back to having sex.” Nick leaned back and looked at Cai upside down.
“Oh, Nicky... I don’t think it matters. He has to keep me happy, and that means he has to treat you well.” Cai moved to sit in the recliner beside the couch. “I love you. I don’t love him.”
“I know,” Nick said, relaxing as he thought about it. Cai was right—Nbuntu would be an idiot to take it out on him, and Nbuntu wasn’t an idiot. The door chimed again. “You’ve got to be fucking kidding! Now who?”
“It’s Evie,” Cai said over the top of Nick’s exclamation. He didn’t even glance at the door as it opened.
Nick sat up and beckoned to his sister. “Evie, get over here and give me a hug.”
Evie just about bounced over to the sitting area to comply. Nick stood up for a very satisfactory hug. To his surprise, Cai stood also and joined in. Cai was not at all fond of physical contact with anyone other than Nick.
Evie must have realized, because she smiled warmly. “Cai, I’m doubly honored, both to be here and to be hugged by you.”
Cai laughed. “Sit down, Evie.”
They all sat; Cai’s six adjuncts brought in refreshments, and they had a nice conversation that lasted for over an hour. Eventually, Evie left, and they were able to return to the naked cuddling they both enjoyed.
Chapter Eight: The Jump
Cai had never jumped with his emissions dampeners running, but doing so was an essential part of the plan. Ibi’s Screech Owl and Ryh’s Barn Owl flew in formation with him, maintaining a comfortable hundred-kilometer distance. Cai appreciated Nbuntu’s political skills—for their team, the admiral had selected the two ships which were junior to Steele in terms of seniority. The most senior captains of the Owl-class frigates were leading the other three teams. It was adroitly done, designed to reduce friction among the many personalities of the fleet.
They were already running silent, which meant that anyone taking sensor readings of them would see three uninteresting, nonmetallic rocks. Their trajectories weren’t outside the acceptable parameters for a space rock’s elliptical orbit. Using psi backed by the power of his singularity, Cai contacted the others on a channel no technology could overhear. We’re approaching ten thousand kays from the hardpoint. We need to increase separation to a thousand kays to avoid conflicting jumps. Bring the jump dampeners up at five thousand kays and start your countdowns at ten minutes out as usual.
Cai wasn’t all that happy about the plan, but he’d managed to confirm that the previously theoretical hardpoint existed. Of course, that was no guarantee it would link to the system they actually wanted. The sheer number of things that could go wrong was enough to give him a headache. Nick kept telling him not to worry about it, to let Nbuntu and himself worry about it since that was their job. But it was Cai who’d be jumping blind into an unknown system with two other ships close behind him. How could he not worry?
Orders received and understood, Ibi replied.
Acknowledged, sent Ryh. Cai, do you think maybe a piggyback would make more sense? That way we’d all arrive together.
And if the local conditions are hostile, or there’s something unexpected in subspace, all three of us could die. No, we’re jumping blind, so we’ll do this as safely as possible.
Are you going to hold the hardpoint? Ibi asked.
That was a reasonable question. Cai thought about it. If he held the hardpoint, he’d deny it to the other two ships, but he’d be able to duck back out of the system if it proved inhospitable. Ye
s. I will hold the hardpoint. The other Astrogators would be able to tell when he released it, and it shouldn’t slow them appreciably. Nbuntu would just have to deal with the slight change in plans. The admiral had too much faith in his scientists to suit Cai. Scientists who’d never had to jump a ship or take responsibility for hundreds of lives.
Ibi and Ryh sent their acknowledgments. Cai checked positions—they now had a thousand-kay separation from one another and Laughing Owl was nearing five thousand kays from the hardpoint. He turned his attention to the jump maskers and brought them online. They’d tested them on their previous jumps, just to make sure they actually worked. They did, much to Cai’s surprise. When the maskers were active, the only being who could hear the song of Laughing Owl’s singularity was Cai himself, and none of the energies that accompanied the opening and closing of the wormhole escaped, but the power requirements were twice what jumping plain were.
This was another thing that made Cai nervous—he was vulnerable in the moments after a jump, with the maskers active, that vulnerability extended to several minutes before he had enough power to bring up more than the most basic of shields. If the Rels were onto them and looking for rocks to appear, they could all die. But he had to admit that it would be very unlikely for Rels to be there waiting for him or even notice the rock he was pretending to be. The Rels didn’t appear to be that perceptive when it came to Fourth Fleet stealth technology.
He was rapidly approaching the hardpoint. “Ten minutes until FTL transit,” he announced.
The XO, Juan Cortez, immediately followed this with, “All hands, prepare for jump. You must be in your acceleration couch in seven minutes from mark. Three, two, mark.”
Cai brought up the jump protocols and finally stopped worrying as he entered the number storm of the faster-than-light equations. Pure mathematics didn’t leave room for emotion. He was already slowing his subjective time.
On the bridge, Nick and the crew were working through their own jump checklists, the admiral sitting in the observation seat and staying out of the way. The bridge ran smoothly these days, a far cry from their early jumps. The screens were split as Nick usually preferred, showing the jump protocols and bridge checklist on one side, and Cai’s protocols and activity on the other side. The holotank showed their position in space; that’s what it was for, so Nick never messed with it.
