A Space Story 51

            Dr. Winchester Faction gave Zemwell Tickbird a clean bill of health.  If anything unusual happened he was to report back to the medical center immediately.  Zemwell Tickbird followed Therazan Sajan back to her quarters.

            Therazan’s quarters were much bigger than Zemwell’s.  As far as Zemwell could tell he had been screwed when it came to room assignments.  His quarters were not much bigger than a storage unit.  Everyone else seemed to have a much nicer room than him.  Hell even Zai got a whole jungle to himself.

            “So why did you want me to come to your quarters?” Zemwell asked.

            “You can be a real dumb ass sometimes,” was all she answered.

            Therazan had stepped behind a privacy screen.  When she stepped out from behind it she was not wearing any clothing.  Zemwell just stood there and looked at her.  It occurred to him that this was the first time he had ever actually seen Therazan naked.  This was the first time he had ever laid eyes on her breasts without anything covering them.  They were perfect.  Her whole body was perfect.

            “Are you just going to stand there staring or are you going to take your clothes off?”

            Zemwell immediately and quickly stripped naked.  Therazan walked up to him.  He tried to reach for her, to kiss her.  She pushed him back.  He fell and landed on the bed.  Therazan got on top of him.  Zemwell had never been with her like this.  Whenever they had met before she had always sat on a counter or he had held her up against a wall.  It had been quick and easy that way.  Now they were in an actual bed together.  Zemwell was on his back and Therazan was on top of him and he found that he liked it.

            Felina Golumbine was not in her room.  Dr. Winchester Faction could not find one of his patients.  He checked the patient monitor displays.  According to Felina’s she was flat lining and her respiration rate was zero.  Damn it had she disconnected the vital monitor on her wrist.  No wait, it was still transmitting body temperature and brain activity.  Winchester realized what that meant.  He began running all over the medical center.  He checked every corner of every room.  He found some medical supplies that had been dumped out of their storage bag.  He kept running up and down checking everywhere.  He even checked the ladies room.  He found Felina Golumbine in a stall with a storage bag over her head.

            “Shit,” he screamed as he took the bag off her head and worked to resuscitate her, “shit, shit, SHIT.  God damn it.  GOD DAMN IT NO.  NO, NO, NO.”

A Space Story 50

            Zemwell Tickbird woke up in the medical center.  Therazan Sajan was sitting by his bedside.

            “What happened?” said Zemwell, “have you been crying?”

            “Shut up,” said Therazan.

            “Congratulations,” said Dr. Faction, “you got blown up and survived.  That does not happen often.  One of your fellow pilots had to fly out and bring you back to the ship.  It’s a good thing the other guys out there were smarter than you or else they would have been thrown out into space too.”

            “Shit, I set the timer wrong on the charges,” said Zemwell.

            He checked and all of his limbs and extremities were still there.  Zemwell looked to Therazan and said, “You waited by my bedside for me to wake up.  You must have been really worried about me.”

            Therazan said nothing to him.

            He smiled and said, “It’s nice to know you really do care.”

            “You stupid asshole,” she said, “and don’t grin at me like that.”

            “Well I think everything should be okay,” said Dr. Faction, “I can probably leave you in Ms. Sajan’s care.”

            “Are you sure you don’t need to observe him anymore?” said Therazan.

            “I observed him enough last night,” said the doctor, “We were just waiting for him to wake up.  I’ll do a routine check up to make sure everything is fine then he can be on his way as long as I don’t find anything else wrong.  Now come on, we’ve been busy around here lately.”

            “Are people still recovering from the attack?”

            “A few of them are.  But most of our business has been crew members that are having trouble adjusting to their new diet the last few days.  They are all so used to eating that nutrient capsule crap their bodies don’t know how to handle the real food from that botanical bay.”

            Felina Golumbine snuck out of her room while Dr. Faction was examining Zemwell Tickbird.  Dr. Faction had told her not to remove the bandages but she had to see for herself how bad it was.  She went to the ladies room in the medical center.

            In front of the mirror she carefully started to peel away the bandage over her left eye and cheek.  She saw redness.  She stopped.  Felina Golumbine was afraid but she had to know.  She braced herself and pulled the bandage away.  For a moment she just stood there unmoving.

            With one hand she covered up the left side of her face pressing the bandages back down.  With her other hand she covered her own mouth to keep herself from screaming.  She began crying.  Tears came rolling out of her right eye.

            When Felina stopped crying, she knew there was only one thing for her to do.

A Space Story 49

            Zemwell Tickbird should have been paying attention to what he was doing.  The Spectral Horde boarding pods were still stuck to the Daedlus and he was out on a space walk with others planting charges to get them off.  Zemwell should not have been thinking about Therazan when he was setting the next round of timers.  He should have been paying attention and making sure he had the right settings for the timers.  Instead he set them wrong and there was an explosion and he was sent flying into space.

            Suchin Markjon knew things.  It was how she had excelled.  She did not get where she was because her gene mods gave her superior skills.  The truth was the only gene mods she had ever received before she was born were the ones that made her so pretty. Everyone around her assumed she had some sort of gene mod that made her a genius.  The truth was Suchin had never received any gene mods to enhance her mental ability.  Suchin was not a genius.  When she was around people she knew things.

            She did not always know things.  But when she thought about it and when she wanted to, she could know things.  Things came to her that she needed to know.  She was not sure why.  Now looking over the Spectral Horde signals again, she began to know things she had not known before.  She began to see what the signal was.

            Suchin began working as fast as she could for fear that it would not last.  That she might lose this feeling and the signal would no longer be understandable.  Somehow Suchin was beginning to understand the Spectral Horde.  She knew how they thought.  She knew how they worked.  She knew how to find them.   What she did not know was that this feeling, this knowing was going both ways.

A Space Story 48

            Zai, last of the Raath was on his way to attend the security presentation that Roweth Sinclair and Therazan Sajan had prepared.  Duron Ardiniero had invited any member of the crew who wished to attend.  They were trying to come up with a battle plan to make the best use of their now limited resources in the event of another boarding.  All members of the crew were invited to offer suggestions.  Vanz Kerrigan was waiting for Zai.

            “Eight people are dead because of you,” said Kerrigan.

            Zai stopped but did not look directly at Kerrigan.

            “Eight people are dead so that you could make a point.  Before this we were overstocked with supplies for this mission.  Now we have barely enough to get us home.”

            Zai could have defended himself.  Zai could have pointed out that Kerrigan played a part in it.  Zai could have said Kerrigan forced his hand when he tried to take control of the ship.  Zai said nothing.  He continued on his way and left Kerrigan standing there.

            Vanz Kerrigan was satisfied that he had won the encounter.  That he had hurt Zai.  That Zai knew Kerrigan was right.  He was ready to go on about his day with that feeling of satisfaction but someone took it from him.  Junitha Findragon pushed Kerrigan against a wall and held a crescent shaped blade to his throat.

            “How did you get that weapon aboard?” said Kerrigan, “No one is allowed to have private weaponry on this ship.”

            “Shut up you son of a bitch,” said Junitha, “Zai already blames himself for what happened.  And most of the crew blames him for it too.  But I know that you played a part in it Kerrigan.  I know we never would have been put in that position if you had just left things the hell alone.  So I am going to be watching you from now on.  If you pull something like that again, I am going to fuck you up.  Do you hear me?”

            And then she was gone.  Vanz Kerrigan was alone.  He had been planning to attend the security presentation.  He had been planning to use the opportunity to gain support for himself against Zai.  Kerrigan found he was not in the mood for manipulating public opinion any longer.

            Roweth Sinclair and Therazan Sajan spent a long time going over the various scenarios and battle plans Duron had come up with.  He had managed to devise multiple strategies for surviving another Spectral Horde boarding attack.  But he had also thought of twice as many where no amount of preparation would allow them to survive.  They opened it up to questions and suggestions.  Someone asked why they had been meeting in the common hall instead of the auditorium.  Therazan said it was because there was a large gaping whole in the auditorium stage from an explosion.  Zai stepped forward but did not say anything.  He was looking at the holographic display of the three Spectral Horde battle cruisers and the energy attack they used on the Daedlus that had caused explosions and power surges all over the ship.

            “Do you see something Zai?” said Duron.

            “This attack,” he said, “it reminds me of one I have seen before.  Somewhere else.  Long ago.”

            “Why don’t you tell us about it?” said Junitha Findragon.

            “What are you doing?” Janessa whispered to her.

            “I want to know what he knows.”

            Zai told them a story, “my people, the Raath were conquerors.  We were not unlike you.  Genetic alterations were common to make us better warriors.  When I was born my people had been carrying out campaigns against other sentient species for decades.  We believed we were unstoppable.  We thought we were the most powerful beings in the universe and that we had the right to take whatever we wanted.  Then we met the Veggs Morv’tika.  The Veggs Morv’tika were far more technologically advanced than we were and vastly more powerful than us not just physically but in all other ways.  The Veggs Morv’tika were also conquerors.  When we did not submit they began wiping us out.  They nearly drove us to extinction.  The Veggs Morv’tika favored attacking in groups of three.  They would often use battle formations just like the one the Spectral Horde used here.”

            “What does that mean for us?” asked someone.

            “I do not know yet,” said Zai.

A Space Story 47

            Janessa had decided she had put it off long enough.  She went to Duron’s quarters and pressed the door bell.  The son of a bitch had to answer the door wearing nothing but a towel.  He had just come back from a shower and his hair was still wet and there were little water droplets on his chest and he looked amazing.  Janessa reminded herself of what she had come to say.

            “You told me you still love me,” she said and she kept on talking refusing to give Duron a chance to respond until she was done, “Why did you do that?  Did you think if I knew you still loved me that I would… What?  That I would fall in love with you all over again and we would be together.”

            “That is… that sounds…” Duron wanted to defend himself but everything he could think to say sounded like a lie so he said, “I guess you are right.  Somewhere deep down I had this hope that if you knew how I felt, that you might come back to me.  It sounds so childish now.  So what do we do now?”

            “Why are you asking me?” said Janessa, “It’s not like we can ever go back to what we were before.  There’s been too much Duron.  We will never be that again.  And now… I don’t know.  I don’t even know what I feel for you.  I thought I hated you.  It would be easier if I hated you.  But I don’t.  That doesn’t mean that I’ll ever love you the way I did.  I don’t know if that’s even possible.”

            “It is nice to know you don’t hate me,” said Duron, “I hope that maybe it all means that at the very least we can be friends.  Is that possible?  Could we ever just be friends?  I still love you Janessa so I will take whatever you will give me.”

            “Did you just say you want us to be just friends?”

            “I think I did,” said Duron, “do you think that might be a first?  A guy asking a girl to be just friends.  I thought it was always the other way around.”

            Janessa smiled.  She smiled at Duron’s attempt to say something funny.  She remembered he used to make her smile all the time.  But it was just a smile.  It did not mean things were going to change or be better.  Janessa decided she would let Duron try to be her friend, because she was not sure she could let him be anything more to her.  Duron had to finish dressing for the security presentation.

            “Are you okay, Anya?”

            “I’m fine Evan.”

            “I was just worried; you said it was painful at first.”

            “It wasn’t painful the whole time Evan, it got better.”

            Anyantha Whitecross rested her head on Evan Evaide’s chest.  He gently caressed her back as they lay together.

            “I wish we could feel like this all the time,” said Evan, “That we could be like this all the time.”

            “What about what we were like and what we were feeling a few minutes ago?” said Anyantha, “I wouldn’t mind feeling that all the time.”

            “We could go back and forth between that and this, all the time.”

            “Are you saying you just want to spend all your time in bed making love to me Evan Evaide?”

            “Maybe I am.”

            She kissed him.  They went back to just lying with each other.

            “Are you sure we’re okay like this?  Are you sure you are not going to get a call from Mr. Kerrigan demanding to know where you have been and why you are not attending to his schedule?”

            “We are fine.  He basically gave me the day off.  I am worried about him.  Mr. Kerrigan is not used to losing.  I have seen him get angry before.  But it’s like there is something else.  It’s like he is not completely himself anymore.”

            Evan did not understand Anyantha’s devotion to Vanz Kerrigan.  He asked her about it.  She explained it to him.

            “I’m sorry,” he said.

            “For what?”

            “I don’t know.  I guess for not understanding.”

            “How could you understand if I did not explain it until just now?”

            Evan could not think of a good reason.  Anyantha kissed him.  Then she began to shift her position in his arms.

            “What are you… Do you want to… Again? Right now?”

            “Sure why not?”

            Evan could not think of a good reason for that either.  Evan moved with Anyantha.  They tried it in a different position this time.

A Space Story 46

            “Won’t you say something my love?” said Vandis Bane.

            “I can’t even look at you,” said Ryoko Jeagan.

            “Ryoko I did not mean…”

            “Don’t,” shouted Ryoko, “Don’t you dare… The fucking Purity group Vandis.  Are you serious?  Do you know what those people have done?”

            “I have been a member of the group for twenty years.  I know exactly what they have done.”

            Ryoko turned her head away so she did not have to look at Bane.

            “What will you do?”

            “Right now I am not going to do anything,” said Ryoko, “I am going to act like I did not hear any of what you just said and you are going to keep on doing your job.  But I promise you Vandis.  The second we set foot back on Earth.  I will turn you over to the authorities.”

            “Even if it means people will know about us?”

            Ryoko paused.  Vandis Bane did not want to use their relationship against Ryoko.  But she also did not want to go to jail or face the possibility of execution for her past crimes.

            “You would do that?” said Ryoko, “Go right ahead.  So my pride will take a hit in the public eye.  I can recover.  But I will not let you walk away from this.”

            Ryoko left Vandis Bane alone in her office.

A Space Story 45

            Evan Evaide had never been invited to a girl’s room before.  Anyantha invited him to sit next to her on the bed.  He did nervously and she took his hand.

            “So what did you want to talk about?” he asked awkwardly.

            “We could have died the other day Evan,” she said, “people did die.  I don’t want to feel like I am wasting an opportunity.  I do not want to miss out on a chance to be happy with someone I love.  What I am trying to say is that I want to be with you Evan.  I mean really be with you.”

            “Oh well you see the thing is, I don’t have a lot of experience with… that sort of thing.  As in I don’t have any… experience… with that… thing.  What I mean to say is… I’m kind of a virgin Anya.”

            “So am I.”

            “Oh… okay… So you really want to… Okay then but before we do anything I want to say this before just in case because I want you to know it now and not think later that I just said it because… or after…  I should have said this to you already but… I love you Anyantha Whitecross.”

            “I love you too Evan Evaide.”

            Anyantha stood up before him.  She took her arms out of her sleeves then slipped her dress off the rest of the way.  She was wearing a matching pink bra and panty underneath.  Evan stood up and unbuttoned his black uniform shirt then took off his pants.  He was wearing tight white briefs underneath.  Evan did not trust boxers.

            Evan was a skinny young man who lacked any sort of muscle definition.  Anyantha had not fallen for him because of his physique.  But to her he was perfect.

            Anyantha reached around her back and used the auto release on her bra and let it fall to the ground.  Anyantha was thin but her body was not greatly fit or toned.  Her breasts were not especially large.  As far as Evan was concerned she was perfect.  Her skin, her body, all of her, she was perfect.

            Anyantha lay down on the bed.  Evan leaned forward.  He pulled her panties off then lowered his own underwear.  Evan climbed into the bed with Anyantha.

            “Are you sure you want to do this?” said Evan.

            “I am naked in bed with you Evan,” she replied, “So yes I am sure I want to do this.”

            “Okay,” he smiled, “I just though I would check.”

            He kissed her and they began.

A Space Story 44

            It had been a few weeks since the last time Raddy Volcane had come to Dr. Vandis Bane’s office.  She was nervous about it.  This was the first time she had really had a session since Zai’s threat.  Raddy was not helping things.  There was something wrong with him.

            “It is all that damn aliens fault,” said Raddy, “We can’t let this stand.  We have to do something.”

            “You must not,” said Dr. Bane.

            “What you think I can’t do it?”

            “I know you can’t do it.  None of us can.  That monster is too powerful.”

            “You’re just scared of him.  You all are.  Except for the ones that are getting all friendly with him.  You see Janessa around that alien.  I think I should have a talk with her about loyalty to your own kind.”

            “Do not do that.  You should stay away from Janessa Kepshawn.  Put her out of your mind.”

            “What do you mean?  Last time you said I should confront her about the way she makes me feel.  What are you trying to do?”

            “What is important is that you listen to me now.”

            “I get it,” said Raddy, “You don’t believe in me anymore, if you ever really did.  So now you want to screw with me.  So that I fail.  Is that what you are trying to do?”

            “No it is not that.  Please just stay and listen to me.”

            “No way, I’m done with you.”

            Raddy stormed out of the office.  Vandis Bane did not know what to do.  What if she had already pushed Raddy too far?  What would happen?

            Ryoko Jeagan came in and said, “I hope you are ready to… Vandis?  What is wrong?”

            “I have something I need to tell you my love.”

A Space Story 43

            Zemwell Tickbird sat on a counter in a storage closet with his shirt off and watched Therazan Sajan put her skirt back on.  He took his shirt off when they were together in an attempt to make Therazan more comfortable so that maybe she too would be willing to take her shirt off, but she never did.

            “So how long are we going to keep doing this?” he asked.

            “We can keep doing this as long as you like,” she replied.

            “I don’t mean meeting like this.  I mean when are we going to do something more with this relationship.”

            “Oh god, Zem, please don’t do this again.”

            “Do what again?”

            “This is not a relationship Zem.  It never was.  We do not do relationship things together.  We meet in storage units and we fuck.  That is all we ever did.  And now we have even less places to do that since half of the ones on the other side of the ship got blown up.  I like you Zem.  You are a nice guy.  You are a great guy.  And I am sorry that you fell in love.  But I don’t know if I can… I don’t even know what you want from me.”

            “I just want you.”

            And he kissed her.  This was not their first kiss.  They kissed often just before or during or right after.  But they had never kissed like this.  It was long and passionate and it lingered.  When it was done they looked into each others eyes.

            “I have security presentation tonight,” she said, “I have to go over it with Roweth.”

            Therazan left Zemwell.  He still did not have his shirt on.