At some point not too long after, Oses held me in his arms, tipping a bottle of protein drink in my mouth, and crooning like a mother feeding her baby. He kept me warm and watched over me as I gathered my senses.
“Better?” he asked me as I finished slurping.
I was worn out and prepared to sleep for a few dozen years. Gutted. But I could think straight once more.
“I might get up when we reach Kalquor,” I told him.
Oses laughed. “What about the Xniktix Space Station?”
I blinked, confused by the garbled, buzzing word he’d spoken. “Where?”
“Xniktix. It’s in Adraf space, which we’ll be entering tomorrow. We’ll be at the station in three days, and we’re taking shore leave for a few more. Everyone is due a break, especially after that run-in we had with the Tragooms.”
I knew a little about the planet Adraf. It remained neutral during the war, selling goods to both Earth and Kalquor as we pounded the hell out of each other. Its people look funny, at least by Earth standards. They have big, googly eyes that are placed on the sides of their tiny heads, slitted snouts through which they speak, and giraffe necks. Their arms are tapered and they have more pincers than actual hands. Their bodies are small, especially given the lengths of their necks...half the size. They have three short, stubby legs, on which they spin instead of run when they’re in a hurry. Their fur is pretty though. It’s thick, soft, and golden brown, with darker bits that are spotted, striped, or swirled. Adrafs shave their necks and sell their fur for designer wear. I’d always wanted Adraf fur gloves, but they were way out of my price range.
Adrafs are similar to the inhabitants of Dantovon, in that the almighty dollar rules. They never met a customer they didn’t adore. There’s a story that an Adraf supplier was asked to get Earth a shipment of metal ore to make weapons. The supplier contacted his acquisitions team, who went and stole a barge full of metal ore bought and paid for by Earth, which the supplier turned around and sold to Earth again. Hilarious.
“We’re welcome to stop off and spend money then,” I surmised.
Oses grinned. “If they don’t swipe it from you first. If I can get time off, I’ll be glad to escort you around for shopping and entertainment. I’ll help you keep from getting cheated or swindled.”
“What about hostile aliens on the station?” I asked.
“I’m glad you’re thinking ahead. Captain Wotref checked, and there are no Tragooms visiting Xniktix. It’s one less worry for us to deal with.”
“Sounds like a hoot.” I wasn’t being sarcastic. I was ready for a change of scenery. So what if I’d have to watch myself on this space station? With Oses, I’d be safe. Only an idiot would screw with that Nobek.
February 5
We’re all excited about the upcoming shore leave. Betra called a meeting with our group after breakfast to give us the lowdown.
“For those of you who don’t know, we’ll be visiting the Xniktix Space Station in a couple of days. It’s a fun diversion for those who are stuck in space for extended periods,” he said.
“No Tragooms, I hope?” somebody called.
Betra shook his head. I tried not to melt when he smiled with that gentle patience. Darn cute Imdiko.
He reassured us, “We have a couple other ships in the area, mostly ore transports, that we’ve been in communication with. All our security sweeps have detected no sign of Tragooms in the area, though Adraf does allow them to visit their space.”
Katrina snorted. “Adrafs aren’t that intelligent, are they?”
Betra’s purple eyes sparkled with amusement. “If Tragooms make a nuisance of themselves, Adrafs sell them into slavery to the Bi’is and confiscate their possessions. The fact that few live long as a Bi’is slaves is an excellent deterrent for misbehavior, even among the Tragooms.”
We nodded our understanding. Despite our liaison’s comforting words, there was a sense among us that if we saw any sign of Tragooms, we would hide on the transport until they, or we, were out of the area.
Betra continued. “Tragooms aside, I need to share a few words of caution with you about this space station. This is a major trading post. That means people of most of the known worlds come here. You will come across Dantovonians, who’ll no doubt try to lure you into staffing their brothels. Dantovonians are not above lying about what they’ll give you in exchange for you signing a contract. I highly discourage you from talking to them for any reason.”
Next to me, Candy shuddered. “Eek. My lips are sealed.”
Katrina and I exchanged a glance and giggled. We were jabbed rather harshly for it. For such a perky, cheerleader-y gal, Candy has some brutal elbow moves.
Betra suppressed a smile at our antics. “I also caution you to stay away from the Bi’isils. Avoid them if at all possible.”
I pointed out, “I thought the Galactic Council prohibited them from taking Earther slaves following Armageddon.”
Betra nodded. “No Earther can be taken to Bi’is against their will. However, that may not stop them from attempting to coerce you. There is also the matter of Bi’isil codes of conduct. They are a highly ritualistic society, with specific ways of interaction. To them, not keeping to the correct steps of approaching, speaking, or acknowledging them, is cause for insult. Kalquor has ended up in wars with Bi’is over what anyone else would deem insignificant slights.”
“Touchy, touchy,” Katrina joked. She smoothed back a silver lock of her growing-out hair.
“Indeed. If you remember anything from this meeting, make it my advice to head in the opposite direction of any Bi’isil you spot.”
We nodded. Betra was his usual warm self, but the warning in his expression and the tension in his voice told us this was serious stuff.
“We got it, boss.” Candy offered a snappy salute. “What other dangers should we watch for?”
“If you buy from anyone, particularly the Adrafs, bargain hard. They expect it. If you don’t, they’ll yank every credit in your possession. The traders will be hoping to separate as much of your money from you as possible.”
“Sounds the same as all the businesses and banks I knew on Earth,” Katrina sighed.
Betra chuckled. “If you feel you were cheated on any transaction, let me know. We’ll do what we can in your defense, but it might not be a lot. Once an Adraf has your funds, he or she won’t give them up easily.”
“This shore leave is supposed to be fun?” I asked.
“You’ll find plenty of entertainment, dining options, and shopping. You just have to be smart,” Betra said. “There will be Kalquorians around from this transport and our destroyer escorts, so if you run into trouble of any sort, yell. We’ll come running to take care of our Mataras.”
It’s true that these Kalquorian men are protective of us to a fault. Maybe it gets to be a bit extreme sometimes, but when the chips are down, we love it.
The meeting broke up. Candy, Katrina, and I retired to my quarters to do some research on the computer about Xniktix Space Station. We wanted to figure out in advance what to do during our visit.
First, we had a gander at the station itself. It’s similar to a giant metal bicycle wheel. There’s a large circular center bit that is the hub of the trading and entertainment. Then there are what look like the wheel spokes: long slender tubes that make up the corridors that lead from the trading center to the outer rim of spaceship docks and cargo load/offload. It’s a straightforward design.
“Whatever.” Katrina waved her hand at the floating vid explaining all this. “Get to the good stuff. Who trades there? What kind of adventures can we have?”
“You mean from a vertical position?” Candy teased.
“I can do with a change once in a while,” Katrina grinned, unrepentant about her activities.
We were thrilled at all the wares available on Xniktix. Most worlds and kingdoms were represented in its marketplace. Plasian, Joshadan, Adraf, Kalquorian...even an Earther shop showed up.
“Fire
sale,” I quipped with black humor. “Discounted charred and smoke-damaged items.”
“Isn’t that how you left Earth?” Candy snickered.
“I’m also a two-for-one deal. Think I’ll get any takers?”
That earned me some laughs. “I wonder how religious the vendor is,” Candy said. “If it’s a man, won’t he be irritated to see us women bound for Kalquor!”
We agreed we’d avoid the Earther shop as much as the Bi’isils. Tempting fate feels wrong.
“What about the entertainment options?” Katrina persisted. Our party gal was determined to have a wild time.
We checked and found choices galore. Theaters. Concerts with every kind of music imaginable. Writers of all worlds reading from their works. Comic clubs. Shuttle races. Sports venues including exhibition games from various worlds. Pleasure clubs, supposedly similar to the Kalquorian version, but open to all. I’m not ready to check that out, and Candy remains leery. Katrina blew a raspberry at us and kept looking.
“Who wants to dance?” she asked.
Candy frowned. “I took ballet when I was little, but I’m hardly talented enough to do that in public.”
“This isn’t ballet,” Katrina said. “It’s a club where you dance with your friends. Let’s turn on the vid.”
She brought up the live feed that was transmitting from the club in question. Suddenly, my quarters appeared to be filled with aliens of every ilk, most of whom were gyrating wildly...even in a sexual manner. Our mouths dropped open at the display. It was like no dancing I’d ever seen.
“Turn the sound up.” I wanted to know what kind of music encouraged such exuberance.
I half-expected thundering lemanthev music. What came out of the transmission was kind of tribal, I suppose, but it wasn’t lemanthev.
A pulsing rhythm filled the room, with a steady beat that the dancers in the vid responded to. There were no rules to the kind of dancing they were doing, save to move their bodies to that constant thud-thud-thud under all the other instruments. It sounded hectic and electric and crazy. And fun. My foot tapped without my realizing it at first.
“Wow,” Candy breathed, her eyes wide, her head nodding to the beat. “Wow, that’s really, really...wow.”
“Heaven help us.” A grin spread across Katrina’s face. “It’s neat but kind of nasty too.”
Candy moved closer to the vid, watching the aliens grind and gyrate. She started copying the moves of a Plasian woman, who managed to be both seductive and energetic at once. Candy didn’t do half bad. She would have been slammed in an Earther prison in an instant for some of those moves. Talk about suggestive.
“It’s a hoot!” she declared, pealing delighted laughter. “Try it!”
We did. I felt self-conscious at first and awkward with hesitation. I mean, imagine moving that way in front of all those people! Yet they were doing this crazy, hip-shaking, body shimmying version of dancing with no fear. No shame. It’s no wonder all the other species of the known universe laugh at us Earthers and call us uptight. If this was normal for them, then we are uptight.
Little by little, I loosened up. I think my dancing improved. Katrina, Candy, and I laughed and copied the most interesting dancers. We tried a few moves of our own. We encouraged each other to be bolder and more daring. It was a blast.
We are definitely going to that dance club when we get to Xniktix Space Station. We’ve promised to practice so we can be as uninhibited as the others there. We’ve made a pact that these repressed Earthers are shaking the place down, or we’ll die trying.
February 6
I’m a bit lazy today. I’m still in bed, in fact. Spoiled, indulgent Shalia. Ah, life is pretty damned awesome.
Betra just left to go to work. He spent the night with me. We had a quiet dinner together. I ate a slice of decadent chocolate cake with chocolate fudge melted over it for dessert. Betra had me for dessert.
We fell asleep. This morning Betra was roused by Mr. Woody times two, because he woke me with warm, wet kisses from head to toe. I lay there, luxuriating in the attention as my slowpoke brain immersed itself in the lovely heat of arousal.
“Nice,” I mumbled as Betra journeyed back up my body, his lips and tongue leading the way. “Best alarm clock ever.”
He chuckled. “Good morning, lovely girl. I couldn’t resist when I woke with you next to me.”
I stroked his midnight hair as he moved up my thigh. “I didn’t realize how much I missed sleeping with a man. You should spend the night more often.”
“I’m worried I’ll get too attached. It’ll be bad enough letting you go once we reach Kalquor.”
That statement tried to put a damper on the mood. Betra was right. I have no business latching onto anybody on this ship as more than friend and fuck buddy. Still, it hurt to hear him say it.
Damn it all. I do adore Betra. I also like Oses. I cannot let it become more than that. When I next fall in love with Kalquorians, it’s for life. No more of this losing my heart to men I know I can’t keep.
Before my worrisome mind could transport me somewhere it didn’t need to be, Betra’s mouth found my pussy. It was as if he knew I was thinking too intently about the situation, because he went to work on me with a will. Those lips and tongue...by the prophets, that’s a talented boy. Within seconds, I was jerking and yelling under his sweet assault.
He laughed at me, turning cruel as he often does. Holding my hips down, Betra sucked on my clit so that his cheeks dimpled. His tongue lashed that poor nubbin as he did so, making me scream. I was on the verge of climax when he let go, denying me.
As soon as I recovered enough breath to speak, I unleashed a torrent of curse words that left Betra’s mouth hanging open. “Shalia!” he yelled. He turned me over.
I knew what was coming as he pinned my wrists to the small of my back. I relaxed just as he spanked my defenseless bottom. The heat of his palm cracking against that padded flesh went straight to my aching clit. I writhed with eagerness even as I moaned from his discipline.
The spanking was deliciously thorough, leaving my entire ass roasting. I dove into the wondrous torment, feeling how helpless I was against the big Kalquorian. I had been a naughty girl. Thank heavens Betra doesn’t mind taking the responsibility to correct my misdeeds.
When he finished, my ass stung brutally and the sheets beneath me were damp. I peered at my liaison through tear-blurred eyes and clumps of disheveled hair. He knelt next to me, panting as he stared at my ass. His breath wasn’t the only thing hard about Betra.
“Are you ready to apologize for the disrespectful language, girl?” he gasped.
“Yes sir,” I said, as meek as a punished child. “I’m very sorry for all the profanity.”
“I accept your apology.”
With that, he flipped me over again, ignoring my hiss of pain when my sore ass came in contact with the bed. He climbed on me, shoving my legs up onto his shoulders. I was grateful for the position; it took the pressure off my butt.
Excited by the spanking, Betra took me fast. Our groins sounded like gunfire, they met with such force on each thrust. That Imdiko rode me fit to shame a rodeo cowboy on a bull. I had no defense, though I clawed his muscled shoulders and chest pretty good with my fingernails. Betra’s got some masochist as well as sadist in him; he loves it when I mark him. It excited him more, and he gasped with every scratch I dealt. Then he pounded harder against me to make me do it again.
Despite the vigorous and somewhat violent lovemaking, he held off on losing control for as long as he could, his face squished in a fierce grimace as he made me come four times. Those Kalquorians are not happy with sex unless their partner is utterly devastated with release. He had me shouting to all the prophets and the Kalquorian ancestors before he unleashed a room-shaking howl. He shot a flood into me when he let go.
I watched Betra’s face as he climaxed. His beautiful face was more beautiful still, caught up in those glorious moments of realization. The euphoria transformed him into an
angel hovering over me; a sweet, vulnerable angel.
For a moment, my heart opened in invitation. Betra was too wondrous not to love. Then terror washed over me, and I closed down the urge as he came out of his ecstatic trance. No, no, no. I would not fall in love with Betra. Not that way. We are friends and nothing more.
I am determined I won’t give in. I have put myself in the position to be heartbroken too many times to be that stupid again. Betra can be dear to me, an adored companion, a best buddy, like Candy. That’s all. I will not fuck myself up over him.
When he’d pulled his senses back together, I’d recovered from my moment of insanity. I smiled up at him and stroked his hair from his forehead. “Now that’s a decent start to the morning,” I teased.
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