“You’re in bed early,” he said.
“I know, honey. I had a long day at work. Tomorrow we simulate a launch, and in only a little over a month, it will be the real deal,” said Kriss. “And I have to know it all because I’m the captain.”
“My dear, sweet, Christmas, you worry too much. You will be perfect, I’m sure,” said Kip.
He always called her by her full name when talking about something serious, and his wife leaving for an uninhabited planet as a guinea pig on an untested ship was a monumental endeavor.
Kip was a computer nerd, and there was no program he couldn’t write or any computer he couldn’t build. He was highly intelligent and self-taught, and because of this, he got into trouble early on in life. When he was just thirteen, he had hacked into the World Central Bank and caused international havoc by transferring money from all accounts that had over ten trillion Bitcoins in them into every bank account with less than ten Bitcoins. In one twenty-four-hour period, his virus had completely redistributed the wealth from the rich to the poor. When the authorities finally tracked him down, he became a household name. He was loved by many and hated by the few who had lost their fortunes. Fortunately, he was given a new identity by the government’s witness protection program. In return he had to promise to never break the law again, and to only work on government secret projects.
He had been a senior engineering commander at the Military Academy when he’d first met his wife. Her reputation as a fearless pilot had already been on his radar, so when he finally did meet her, it was no surprise that she had a fiery personality.
Walking briskly down the hall of the academy, he had rounded a ninety-degree turn and ran right into her, spilling the hot cup of coffee she had in her hand. The black liquid drenched the front of her cadet uniform, and she spit out a mouthful of spicy words that would have made a bowl of Mexican chili jealous. Kip didn’t say a word until Kriss finally calmed down, and then he told her that he was terribly sorry and that she was the most beautiful woman he had ever spilled coffee on. Without waiting for a reply, he had walked off, and she’d stood there in shock as the coffee formed a puddle around her feet.
They were married a month later.
Whenever Kriss introduced her new husband to anyone who knew her, they were amazed. Expecting some macho he-man to have won her heart, instead they saw a quiet, skinny, unassuming man. But, they actually were a perfect match. Kriss was intense and competitive and detail-oriented. Kip was laid-back, noncompetitive, and almost absentminded with the details.
“Christmas, I thought you wanted a kiss good night,” Kip said in a serious tone.
“Oh, I do, Kipper, but that’s after you make love to me,” replied Kriss. “Now come over here and get in bed.”
When they had sex it was never rough, and tonight was no exception. Timidly Kip got into bed and pulled the bedding down so he could see the petite form of his wife in the candlelight. The flickering glow illuminated her breasts pushed up by the wire in the lingerie top, and the matching bottoms were cut high onto her hips. Like a first-time lover, he reached out and touched her body shyly. Sliding his hand up the soft skin of her leg, he came to where the lacy fabric covered her and gently pulled it to the side and exposed her perfectly formed lips. Leaning down, he lightly pressed his mouth to them and slowly slid the tip of his warm tongue inside. Kriss moaned softly and placed her hand on the back of his head and pulled his hair.
Like a cat licking a bowl filled with milk, Kip didn’t stop until it was all gone, and when Kriss orgasmed, it was a tender moment. If Kip hadn’t been tuned in to his wife’s quiet noises and breathing, he would have missed it. To Kriss, an orgasm was an emotional release, not a physical one. Even now she was guarded and professional. Kip understood this and let her be who she was.
“Thank you, lover. That was wonderful,” Kriss whispered. “Now it’s your turn.”
Opening his robe, she pulled his pj bottoms away from his stomach and grasped his half-hard cock. Sliding her hand up and down the shaft, she started to milk him, and it wasn’t long before she felt what she called his wet, happy juice coat her hand. Pulling his pjs down to his knees, she continued to stroke his penis until the ejaculate hole was filled with precum. As she pulled her hand away, a long, gleaming strand followed her like a thick spider’s web. Bringing her fingers to her mouth, she placed the end of the strand onto her lips. Kriss moaned as she looked into Kip’s eyes.
Without losing eye contact, she opened her mouth and slid her tongue out and up until its tip contacted the string of cum. Teasing it, she pulled it back into her mouth. With a laugh, she flicked her tongue and made the cum strand jig on his penis like a wet fishing line. Kriss made a sucking noise, inhaling the strand into her mouth. At the same time, she moved closer to his penis until it was in her mouth.
Every time it hit the back of her throat, she would stick her tongue out of her mouth around the shaft and let him see it. This act of submission completely opened her throat to Kip’s cock. Kriss could tell that her husband was close to orgasming because her mouth was suddenly filled with his precum. Increasing the tempo and the pressure with her mouth, Kriss moaned passionately. This final oral vibration was the trigger, and Kip came. Unlike his wife, he was loud, and his whole body shook as he emptied his reserve into her mouth.
Patiently, Kriss stroked the shaft, pumping the last remaining discharge into her mouth. It was sweet, thick, and warm, and Kriss loved it. Opening her mouth, she showed him his cum and moved her tongue around in it provocatively, then smiled and closed her mouth. Swallowing, she showed him that it was all gone.
Kriss pulled herself closer and brought her mouth to his. “I want that kiss now.”
Pressing her lips to Kip’s, she gave him a long, tender kiss. Laying her head down on his chest, she cuddled with him until his breathing grew slow and regular, and then she quietly said, “I love you.”
With a start, Kriss woke up. Her eyes didn’t seem to want to focus, and she was confused by her surroundings. This room wasn’t her room at home.
Feeling around on the wall for a light, she found a switch and flipped it on. The soft glow of a nightlight appeared, and suddenly she knew where she was. She was in her quarters on Alpha-64, but no, this wasn’t her room there, either.
Looking over in the bed, she saw a sleeping shape.
Smitty.
Oh my god, what have we done?
But when she remembered her dream about Kip, the tears began to flow. The feeling was so powerful that it consumed her. She had made love to her man one more time.
Reaching out, she put her hand on Smitty’s cheek. “Thank you. I love you, and I will never betray your trust.”
Kriss slid out of bed and left Smitty’s quarters, hurrying unobserved back to her own. As the stainless steel doors closed, Smitty opened her eyes, reaching over to where the warm outline of Kriss’s body had just been.
“I love you too.”
Chapter Eighty-Seven
Somehow Leea, Brooke, and Jade had managed to stay below Captain Kriss’s radar. After carrying Libby to Med Bay and witnessing the unexpected birth of Hope, they had kept a low profile. Kriss hadn’t forgotten, nor had she taken the desperate plea from Libby seriously. Instead, she had been distracted with the grief of losing Connie and the desperation of the first mate.
But today was a new day, and Kriss had her mind made up—she was on a mission to track the group down and confront them with her decision.
It wasn’t long before she found Brooke in the gym. Brooke still looked emaciated from her exile from the colony, but had already gained back a lot of her shape in the short time since returning home.
Clearing her throat, Smitty barked, “Captain on deck.”
Dropping down from a pull-up bar mounted on the ceiling, Brooke snapped to attention.
Walking up to her, Kriss looked Brooke straight
in the eyes. “We’ve had enough death in our colony. What you did, aiding an attempted murderer in her escape, is deserving of a court-martial. But, under the circumstances of you bringing Libby in when she desperately needed help, I’m going to let it slide. You can rejoin the colony, but you will be under a strict six-month probation. You fuck up even once during this period, and the deal is off. Do you understand?”
“Yes, sir. Thank you, sir,” stammered Brooke.
“Very good, carry on,” Kriss said curtly. “You are dismissed.”
“One down and two to go,” Smitty remarked as she and the captain departed the gym.
Outside, the rock crusher had broken down, and with it, the reservoir buried underground that stored the colony’s water supply. It seemed something had jammed the supply line to the holding tank, and Engineering was having a difficult time tracing the source of the obstruction. In desperation, Merc and her crew had unearthed the tank’s access cover with shovels, and had just finished unbolting it when Smitty and Kriss walked up.
“We’re looking for Jade,” said the captain. “Have you seen any sign of her?”
“Yes, sir, she just dove into this tank with a breathing mask to see if she can figure out what’s wrong with our water supply.”
Leaning over, Kriss stuck her head into the round opening of the tank and looked inside. At first she couldn’t see anything, but soon her eyes adjusted to the dark and she could see an illuminated glow below the surface. But the movement of the water acted as a moving mirror, reflecting the sky above and the light of the suns overhead. Irritated, Kriss drew in a deep lungful of air and plunged her head below the surface.
Opening her eyes in the purified water, she could see a woman wearing a breathing mask about twenty feet below, with a trail of lazy, oxygenated bubbles rising to the top of the tank. Jade had a powerful, illuminated torch in one hand, and appeared to be struggling with something in the other.
Pulling her head out, Kriss snapped, “How long has she been down there?”
“About ten minutes, sir,” replied Merc.
“How much oxygen does a breathing mask hold?”
“About fifteen minutes’ worth,” responded Merc.
“At rest, or under maximum use?”
“That’s at normal use, sir.”
Kriss gasped in the largest breath that her lungs could hold and dove in headfirst. Both Smitty and Merc had startled looks on their faces as the captain’s feet disappeared into the dark hole below the ground.
Kicking fiercely, Kriss reached the bottom of the tank and grabbed the torch that was now lying on the bottom. She aimed its reflective beam on the struggling form of Jade, who was frantically trying to free herself from a pipe. One arm was lodged in the pipe, the other was struggling to free it, and there were no more bubbles rising from the breathing mask—it was out of oxygen.
Swimming over to Jade, Kriss grabbed onto the six-inch PVC pipe and tried pulling on Jade’s arm, but it was stuck. She could see the desperation in the trapped woman’s eyes. Shining the light onto the pipe’s silhouette, she noticed that the pipe appeared to have collapsed near the woman’s forearm. With a renewed determination, Kriss flexed the pipe lengthwise back and forth, trying to break it free.
Seeing this attempt inspired Jade to use her strength in one last attempt at freedom. Kriss herself was fighting the urge not to resurface, as her lungs were now screaming for air.
Suddenly the pipe twisted free as the plastic’s molecules gave way. Pushing off with her legs, Kriss dragged the limp form of Jade to the surface. As her head broke through the water, she gasped in a mouthful of air and screamed out.
“Grab her, grab her, pull her out!”
Two hands reached down and pulled the woman out of the tank. Dragging her to the side, they began administering CPR and attempted to resuscitate Jade. Kriss hung onto the sides of the tank and took in long, slow breaths of air. Almost immediately, Jade coughed up a large mouthful of water and tried to clear her own airway, coughing and wheezing violently.
“Calm down, honey. You will be all right. You’re safe now,” said Pickle. She was running a bio scan. “Your saturated blood oxygen is only about 80 percent, but is rising as you breathe. Keep breathing in slow, deep breaths and exhale gently.”
As Jade responded to Pickle’s commands, the scanner’s built-in pulse oximeter registered 98 percent saturated blood oxygen.
“Okay, honey, you are back to normal,” said Pickle.
“Thank you,” Jade replied weakly. “I thought I was going to die.”
Just then, Smitty pulled the wet form of Kriss up out of the tank.
“What happened?” asked Merc in an exasperated tone.
Pointing to Jade, Kriss said, “You better ask her.”
“The inlet pipe to the holding tank looked like it had a rock in it. As soon as I put my hand around it and pulled, the pipe collapsed and pinned my arm. I couldn’t release the rock and free myself. Then my oxygen mask ran out, and I would have died if the captain hadn’t saved me,” said Jade.
The severed pipe was still encapsulating the woman’s arm like a PVC cast.
“Get her to Med Bay and get that damn thing cut off of her,” barked Kriss. “Pickle, make sure her hand is okay. One last thing. No more bullshit out of you, Jade. From now on, if you want to be a member of the colony, you follow orders. Do you understand?” asked Kriss.
“Yes, sir, I do,” Jade replied meekly.
*
Leea was crouched down, motionless. Even her breathing was controlled. But the adrenaline pumping through her veins was making it almost impossible to remain still. The beat of her heart seemed deafening as it pounded in her rib cage, and her eyes were dilated like the pupils of a predator. She had fantasized about this moment ever since the ship had left Earth, but every attempt had either been foiled or had failed.
This time was different. This time she had come up with a plan. She had a cruel look on her face as she pulled the hidden string, freeing the cleverly made mechanism that released the pivoting, camouflaged platform.
From behind her, the release of the bolt was silent but deadly; it only took one shot. It was perfectly placed, entering just behind the ear, leaving no evidence of its flight as the quickly parted hair sprung back as before. As the bolt exited, however, it ripped out the opposing eye and left an empty, dark socket that oozed thick, red blood. It wasn’t dramatic like some ancient, high-caliber hunting weapon. Instead, this was a quiet death. But the noise of the body hitting the ground made a sickening, heavy sound similar to a large sack of potatoes falling off a slow-moving truck.
Immediately, a scream filled the air that only a wild animal can make when in extreme distress. Rushing towards the sound, Kriss and Smitty hurled themselves forward, almost tripping over the body in front of them, a pool of blood forming around her head. Neither woman cared; instead, they ran on toward the screaming noise of the animal.
As they reached the dug-out pit, they looked down and saw Dozer. He was impaled on sharpened sticks stuck into the pit’s floor. Without any thought of her own safety, Smitty jumped into the pit. Fortunately, her legs were long enough that none of the bayonets reached her groin, but they did graze her legs and tear her skin. Ripping off her shirt, she wrapped Dozer and said, “Hang in there, boy. This is going to hurt.”
Delicately, she pulled him up off the spears. The orange, struggling cat shrieked and then stopped moving. Smitty tightly wrapped him in her shirt and lifted him up to Kriss, who grabbed him and ran towards Med Bay. As the captain ran, she yelled for Pickle and Libby. By the time she reached Med Bay, Smitty’s shirt was crimson with Dozer’s blood.
Kicking the doors open, Kriss swiftly found Pickle. “The cat’s dying!”
Grabbing his limp form, Pickle gently unwrapped Dozer and began a bio scan. Blood was oozing out of his puncture wounds, and his eyes were open
but not focused.
Suddenly, Libby came rushing into Med Bay. The captain tried to block her view, but it was too late: Libby saw Dozer’s bloodied, orange fur.
Screaming, she pushed Kriss out of the way and flung herself to Dozer’s side. Cradling his head, she stared into his unblinking eyes. “Please don’t leave me. I need you. I love you more than life itself.”
“We just lost his heartbeat,” Pickle said softly.
“Get an AED now!” screamed Libby.
Chapter Eighty-Eight
Hope was bubbling away with enthusiasm. “Please, Merc, please,” she gushed. “Let me be the first one to test it.”
Merc had both hands on her hips and a serious expression on her face. “I don’t think it is wise that we run it before we test it in Engineering. The computer that controls the four electric motors needs some more programming to fine-tune it, and it’s my ass on the line if you get hurt.”
“Merc, I promise to let you teach me so one day I can run Engineering, but please let me test it now,” pleaded Hope.
The young woman’s excitement was hard to smother. All Merc had to do was look into Hope’s eyes. Without even realizing it, Merc was nodding her head, and before she realized her mistake, Hope squealed in delight. “Oh thank you, thank you!”
“You better be careful, kid.”
Walking over to the tarp-covered object, Merc leaned down and grabbed one corner and gave it a hard jerk. As the tarp flew off, it revealed a welded, tubular exoskeleton, four independently suspended balloon tires mounted on red rims, a seat positioned low in the frame, and a steering wheel. It was all painted black except for the rims.
Mutationem Page 30
