Ecstasy of Gold - Ch. 5

Hunter threw an attacker through the air, sending him sailing into the ground. Hunter huffed, standing over him. He looked at Ariis, who was leaning against the wall. She had her arms folded across her chest, pushing up her breasts slightly. She was doing her best to flirt with Hunter without giving it away to the room. She was wearing pretty much the same thing she always did, except with a little more coverage so she wouldn’t have any embarrassing incidents.

“You call this a work out?” He took out a small pack of cigarettes, getting one and lighting it. “If they’re no challenge to me, what possible challenge can they be to you?”

“You’re just not using them right.” She put her fingers in her mouth and whistled. “Boys! Show Hunter how to get a good workout!” Hunter looked around. All of the soldiers were getting weapons like wooden sticks and swords.

“Alright…alright…” He held up his hands briefly. Everyone thought he was backing down, but they didn’t know him. He was just waiting until he finished smoking, flicking away his cigarette butt. “Bring it.”

Hunter closed his eyes and took a deep breath of the cooled air in the gym. He didn’t see any reason to panic, though he never saw any reason to panic about anything. He felt what was coming, ducking slightly as one of the crewmen swung at his head with a wooden sword. He kicked backwards with the style of a donkey, nailing the attacker in the stomach.

“I’ll get you!” A man rushed him from the front, holding a wooden staff over his head. Hunter took an easy punch, hitting the man in the jaw with a thunderous crack and knocking him out. His staff slipped out of his hands, skipping across the floor until it came to a stop at Ariis’ feet.

Hunter swung his elbow back, hitting a female soldier in the nose and stopping her dead in her tracks. Seconds had passed since he had challenged the soldiers to a fight. He dodged a lunge from another person with a sword, hitting him in the stomach with his knee. One woman jumped on his back, putting him in a headlock. He grabbed her and flipped her onto another attacker.

The fight moved faster and faster until it was just a blur of motion and a cacophony of sound. It built up higher and faster until finally, in a blink, it ended. Hunter stood over a dozen unconscious soldiers. He took another deep, cool breath, wiping sweat off his brow. No one could believe he had taken them all himself. Ariis thought he was being smug or had just lucky. She kicked up the staff, throwing it at him like a spear. He ducked down, grabbing it out of the air and turned, holding it against her neck. He was completely out of breath, but held it tight against her neck.

“Hmmm…” She sighed and moaned slightly. “Maybe you ARE good enough to fuck me…” She spoke quietly. “You thinking what I’m thinking?”

“I am.” Hunter dropped the staff, letting it clack against the ground. He followed Ariis out of the gym, watching her hips as she swaggered. Most people couldn’t understand how she could swing her hips so far without hurting herself. All Hunter was thinking about was having sex with a woman as hot as Ariis again. He thought about everything he wanted to do to her, wondering just where the line was for her. He didn’t worry about going too far with her, knowing he’d be off the ship soon and it wouldn’t be his problem.


Constance was carrying the rifle between her arms. It was in a box so no one could see what it was. Constance worried pointlessly about what people would think with her walking around, carrying a rifle. Tasha did her best to convince her that it was no big deal, but she still worried.

Constance was beaming with pride over the choice of the rifle. She knew that Hunter had to like everything she got him, or at least she hoped he did. She wanted him to thank her by kissing her. She hoped against hope that he’d kiss her deeply and passionately. Last time he kissed her, it was just a kiss. She wanted it to be more. Maybe he’d kiss her lip, maybe he’d French kiss her, of course, she’d be happy with just a peck, too.

Tasha walked her as she walked, looking down at her legs. Constance had the garter-holster on, and it was changing the way she walked. She had to have her legs slightly farther apart, so instead of small, dainty steps, she was taking slightly wider, far more clumsy steps.

“Are you sure Hunter’s worth all this?” Tasha asked, still carrying the other boxes she got for him. Constance turned around, nodding her head quickly, bobbing it up and down so her hair bounced.

“OH, yes!” Constance smiled, spinning around. “He protected me from my pimp when he didn’t have to. He kept him from raping me, putting his…evil inside of me again…”

“Evil?” It took Tasha a blink to realize what she meant. “Oh, you mean…” Constance nodded. “What is that like?”

“A man…releasing inside you?” Tasha hung her head, ashamed that she was asking such a personal question. Constance hung her head, thinking of it for a second. “It burns…and oozes like acid…I hate the feeling, because it…it can stay inside…collects in places…That’s the worse thing. I did my best to get it out however I can…” Constance started to cry, starting to think of everything, every little reason why Hunter wouldn’t like her. Her past haunted her, feeling like she had a demon on her back from everything. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t cry around you…I know how it makes you feel…”

“What’s wrong, dear?”

“I…I’ve been fucked by hundreds of men, Tasha…I’ve been violated and fouled in every way possible…” She turned her head, trying to keep her tears from falling on the rifle’s box. “Every inch of me is covered in filth…How could anyone love that?”

“I…I…” Tasha wanted to say something, anything to comfort her, but was having a hard time forming the words.

“I’m not sure I could ever have sex with a man again anyway…” Constance cried. “The horrible intrusion…the stabbing feeling…the pop of agony the first time each day…Why would Hunter want to be with someone afraid to have sex with him…”

“…pop of agony?” Tasha scratched her head, not understanding what she was talking about again. “…you’re GREAT, Constance, no matter what happened in your past. You. Are. Great. Easily the best person I know. And don’t you forget it.”

“You…you really believe that, don’t you?” Tasha nodded, letting Constance into her mind.

“I don’t think Hunter’s anywhere NEAR worthy of you, seeing as he’s fucking Ariis and has to know you feel SOMETHING for him.” Constance smiled and hugged Tasha, going up on her toes so she could put her head on her shoulder. Tasha didn’t want to drop the boxes, holding them as she hugged Constance back.

“…I love you, Tasha…”

“I love you…too…” Tasha realized what she was saying as the words flopped out of her mouth. She was nervous, saying it to a girl. “Now I get to ask you a question…”

“Okay…” They stopped in front of the tattoo parlor. It was one of the few places on the ships that had interior windows so it could show ‘works in progress to the outside world. It had large catalogue books and pictures of tattoos on the wall. It was nice and clean, essentially just a decorated secondary med bay. Tasha trembled slightly.

“Do you think I should really do this?”

“If you want to. I think it’s sweet you’re getting it for a lover you don’t have yet…” Constance took her boxes from Tasha. Tasha put her hand on the back of her neck, rubbing it nervously before she spoke.

“You see, that’s the problem, I’ve never been on a real date, and outside of Ariis…MOLESTING me, for lack of a better word…I’ve never really been kissed…So I…” Constance decided to take advantage of the situation, kissing Tasha deeply. She rubbed their lips together like Ariis did hers. She backed away slightly, kissing Tasha’s upper lip, sucking it slightly. “What was that?”

“Now you have nothing to be nervous about, because you’ve been kissed outside of Ariis…molesting you…” Constance realized that wasn’t the right thing to do, biting her thumb. “Oh dear…I just…I’m so sorry…” Constance wiped Tasha’s lipstick off her mouth. “I thought it would be cute…impulsive…”

“It’s…okay…since no one saw…hopefully.” Tasha cleared her throat. “At least Ariis wasn’t the last person to kiss me now…and I’m counting that as my first kiss.”

“Really?” Tasha nodded.

“Oh yeah. At least that kiss wasn’t a prelude to possible rape…”

“Don’t worry, I’ll talk to Master Ariis about that. I’ll make sure she never touches you like that again.” Constance cleared her throat and composed herself. “If you want, while you get your tattoo, I’ll go change into the clothes we bought earlier and get my hair done, give you a sneak peak…”

“That would be cool.” She walked over to the door. “I hope they have blinds they can pull in here…”

“I’m sure they do.” Tasha smiled and went into the room. Only the tattooist was there, maintaining his tools, making sure they were clean and in perfect working order. He smiled, surprised to see Tasha in his tattoo parlor. He was slightly heavy set with long brown hair pulled back into a pony tail. He was dressed in jeans, a t-shirt, and a vest.

“Hey, Joseph…” Tasha looked down, trying to hide the fact that she was blushing. She was embarrassed about the tattoo. “I want a tattoo…”

“Finally decided to join us, eh Tasha?”

“Yeah, but…I need you to keep it a secret…” He nodded, putting his hand over his heart.

“I swear I’ll take it to my grave. You wouldn’t believe how many secret tattoos I’ve done where.” He scratched his beard, thinking for a second. “Where do you want it?”

“Heh…uh…This is where that secret thing comes in…”


Zech kept his eyes on his heads-up display on his visor. The ship’s internal sensors couldn’t track the creatures, just like the sensors couldn’t breach the pod. There was only one thing that he could track, their path of destruction. As the demons cut deeper into the ship, crewmembers would set off alerts to warn other crewmembers, and that’s all he needed. He ran as fast as he could, seeing them getting closer and closer to the ship’s main reactor. He knew he couldn’t let them get to it or they’d destroy the ship or worse, take full control of the ship. He couldn’t let them spread, ignoring the horrible scenes of carnage he was running through.

Suddenly, the ship rocked violently, almost knocking him off his feet. He caught himself against the wall, forcing himself back to his feet. He knew that couldn’t be good, going through everything it could have been in his mind. Suddenly, the heads-up display flashed. It highlighted the reactor in bright red, warning that it was under direct attack. Zech ran as fast as he could, trying to get to the reactor before it was too late. It was a futile race against time.

He ran into engineering, firing at the black blur around the reactors. The demons jumped on the reactor, swirling around it with a blinding speed to keep him from shooting at them. They clawed at it, ripping out wires and breaking cooling lines. Zech did his best to shoot at them, the shots hitting the creatures but barely slowing them down. The light from the reactor shone brighter and brighter, until finally, he could barely see in the room. He backed out, still firing at the horrible, slobbering demons until he was outside. He pulled the emergency close on the door as a large explosion screamed towards him. It launched him backwards, but he quickly caught himself and got back to his feet. The blast scorched his nigh-invincible armor, and he knew what it meant. The ship’s computer confirmed it.

“Warning!” A pre-recorded message came blaring over the radio in his helmet and from the speakers in the hallway. It was a precaution to make sure everyone, absolutely EVERYONE on the ship heard it. “Ship’s fusion reactor has been breached! Explosion imminent! Evacuate at once! Evacuate at once!”

“Great…” Zech started to run to an escape pod, meeting up with a group of the crew to protect them. They were almost to the pod when he stopped. He realized he couldn’t go, not without Sala.


Captain Jessie was watching security footage of Hunter, still not trusting him as far as he could throw him. He was about to fall asleep when he finally reached the footage from the gym. He couldn’t believe the fight, the fact that Hunter managed to take down twelve soldiers without breaking a sweat. His opinion of Hunter changed in a blink, going from wanting him thrown off the ship to instantly wanting to put him on the payroll.

He got up and left to find Hunter. He knew he had to find him quickly, seeing him leaving the gym with Ariis. He ran as fast as he could, running through the length of the ship and dropping down the ladders from one floor to another. He ran, ignoring the pains it caused him since he was out of shape. He gasped for breath, finally catching up with Ariis and Hunter as they took the scenic root back to her quarters.

“Hunter! Wait up!” He gasped, supporting himself on a doorframe. Hunter stopped in his tracks, turning around to face Jessie.

“…Captain.” He took his hand off Ariis’ hip, remembering she didn’t want him giving away the fact that they were having sex to anyone. “What can I do for you?”

“I…” Jessie gasped for breath, realizing he needed to go to the gym more often. “I need to talk to you…alone if Ariis doesn’t mind.”

“Of course not, Captain.” Ariis said with a surprising honesty in her voice. Jessie knew that Ariis hated to be interrupted from having sex. She had gotten furious at others before, threatening to throw them through walls, trying at least once. Since she was the only Akyllisian on the ship, it was understandable. There was a stigma around having sex with an Akyllisian princess that Akyllisian men would view it as an insult and hunt them down. That, combined with the increased size of Ariis and her massive strength was enough to frighten most anyone on the ship. Still, Akyllisians respected military men, which is why she didn’t mind. “Hunter…”

“Ariis…” Both Hunter and Jessie watched Ariis as she swaggered away. She put her hand on her hip, smiling when she noticed they were both staring. “What can I do for you, Captain?”

“You’re hitting that, right?”

“Gentlemen don’t tell tales.” He cleared his throat. “What. Can I do for you. Captain?” Hunter spoke slowly to make it clear that that was the end of it.

“I want you to stay on this ship, Hunter.” Jessie finally caught his breath, breathing deeply. “I’ll pay you very well for your services…”

“I’m not staying.”

“WHAT? Why not?” Jessie pled with him slightly. “The sex with Ariis too good? Afraid of a steady paycheck?” Hunter didn’t respond in the slightest way. Jessie thought of something that would get a rise out of Hunter. “Or is it that Constance loves you, and you just can’t have that, can you?”

“That girl deserves better than me.” Hunter said calmly. He was out of cigarettes, otherwise he’d light one.

“No argument here. But there’s worse things in life than having a girl as cute as her ADORING you.”

“You have no idea why I can’t stay.” Jessie was surprised that Hunter lost his composure briefly, anger ringing in his voice as he spoke. “A lot of powerful people want me dead.”

“A lot of powerful people want US dead.” He blocked Hunter’s path, hoping to force him to make a decision right away. “What’s the difference?”

“If you don’t mind…” Hunter forced his way past Jessie, almost knocking him over when he passed. “…there’s a beautiful and willing goddess waiting for me.”

“How much do you make on your own?” Jessie shouted at him as he walked down the hallway. “I’ll double it!”

Hunter didn’t respond, just taking his time to catch up with Ariis. There was no rush to catch up with her. He knew she’d be waiting for him when he got to her. Hunter knew her type, and waiting would just make her more anxious and ready.


Constance got her hair done and changed her clothes. She wore one of the nice, formal dresses Tasha had helped her pick out. She also wore a lot of the things Ariis wanted her to wear. Stockings, garter belts, the plain white panties, the jewelry, and the leather corset. She even had just the perfect amount of makeup on. She felt beautiful for the first time in her life, and she couldn’t wait to show off to Tasha.

Tasha was coming down the hallway the other direction. She had gone with the tattoo. She knew Joseph had done Kelli’s tattoo, liking the detail in it. She had gone with a nice Valentine’s Day style heart about the size of a half-dollar coin exactly where she told Constance he was going to put it. She didn’t expect it to hurt so much, feeling like a bee sting every time she took a step. She was embarrassed for getting it, having to take her jeans off and panties while she was getting the tattoo, having to cover herself with a clean towel so he didn’t see anything. She was really glad at that point that the shop had blinders for the windows and no one else was there to see her.

Constance heard Tasha’s thoughts long before she saw Tasha. She was doing her best not to read other people’s mind on accident, so she just heard a murmur, but she was sure it was her. She rushed down the hallway, going as fast as she could. She turned the corner and saw Tasha limping down the hallway. She panicked, rushing over to her side.

“Tasha! Are you hurt?” Tasha shook her head and tried to respond, but Constance was still too worried. “It’s your cybernetic leg, isn’t it? Oh god, it broke…”

“It’s just the tattoo, Connie.” Tasha smiled at her concern. “I’m fine.”

“You got the tattoo?” Tasha nodded. “Can I see it?”

“Is no one coming?”

“Yes.” Constance smiled. “They actually didn’t notice me being gone from the party, so most everyone is still there.” Tasha looked around nervously, biting her lip slightly. She unzipped her jeans and lowered the side enough so that Constance could see it. Constance smiled and touched it, giggling slightly as Tasha twitched. “It’s really cute, Tasha.”

“Your hands are cold, Connie…” Tasha said, zipping her jeans back up. “But I’m glad you like it.”

“Your lover’s going to love it someday.”

“Yeah…” Tasha looked over Constance. “Whoa…look at you.”

“Oh…” Constance smiled, pulling out the long sides of her dresses and letting them fall back in place. “What do you think?”

“I think you look great. Like…almost like an ancient princess or something.” Tasha coughed nervously. “Don’t take this the wrong way, but it maybe even makes you look a little older.” Constance nodded

“I think it’s because it hikes everything up a little and pushes it together…” Constance smiled, leaning in close to her. “It’s the first time in my life I’ve had cleavage…” She whispered. “Though it makes my birthmark show a little…”

“Well, I think it looks good on you.” Tasha glanced down at Constance’s chest. Barely visible between her breasts was Constance’s birthmark. It was brown, small and curved, with thin lines arching off it. Tasha looked down at her own chest. “I wish I would show off my girls…”

“Maybe I can help you with that…like…give you tips.” Tasha grumbled slightly. She was tired of getting advice on how to look hotter. She would actually listen to Constance’s though, actually caring about what she thought.


Conduits through-out Sword of Wisdom were overloading and exploding, but Zech ran through the rain of shrapnel and bolts of wild electricity. He had to make it to the sickbay, and he wasn’t going to fail again. As he ran, a girder fell out of the ceiling, hitting him in the shoulder, but he shrugged off the massive blow. He tackled through the doors of the sickbay.

The med bay was oddly serene. Shielded from power surges and all of the chaos outside, there were few things actually wrong with it. He ran over to the cryo-pods, quickly finding the one with Sala in it. He didn’t have time to think about it, quickly putting in the codes to make the pod launch. In the tradition of women, children, the elderly and the sick first, all of the cryo-pods had their own launch tubes for emergency evacuations. They could be launched into space, though they’d be left to fend for themselves. Unfortunately, the computer core in situations like this was one of the first things to go, and the pods had to be launched manually. Zech got through the code as fast as he could, watching the pod launch as conduits in the sickbay started to overload.

“One option left…” He ran over to an empty pod, and started putting in the codes to make it launch. Explosions started ripping through the other pods in the sickbay. He grit his teeth, hating that he could only save himself. He jumped in the pod, tapping his fingers as it slowly closed around him. Finally, it froze him, launching into space shortly after.

Massive blasts ripped through the ship as the pods streaked away from it. The ship wretched with the blasts, windows blowing out by the fire that was instantly extinguished by the blasts. The ship was finally blown into two halves by the reactor finally exploding.


Ariis had slowed down considerably, waiting for Hunter to catch up at his slow saunter. She hadn’t walked so slow or taken such small steps since she was first learning to walk. She hated going so slow, wanting to run to where she would be. Finally, Hunter caught up.

“About damn time you caught up…” She growled. While she didn’t blame the captain for delaying her sex, she could be mad at Hunter for not coming sooner.

“It’s not like you don’t have other options…” Hunter spoke calmly and clearly. “You OWN Miss Constance…”

“You have to understand that being fucked by a man and fucking a girl are two different things entirely…” She growled again. Hunter smirked. “What?”

“I happen to know you have a couple devices hidden away in your room that would blur that distinction.” Hunter was doing his best to keep calm. He really needed a smoke or a drink right now. He’d settle for sex with Ariis, knowing that would take care of his need for both.

“How did you find…” Ariis snarled. She realized that she had been asleep around him for a while, giving him plenty of time to look through everything. She couldn’t believe she had trusted him to while she was unconscious. “How DARE you go through my personal effects!”

“Don’t hide your toys in such an ornate box and we won’t have a problem.” He double checked his pockets, making sure he didn’t have any loose cigarettes floating around them. He couldn’t find any, but found his lighter. “Putting something that personal in a box that looks like a jewelry chest…It’s just asking for trouble on a ship of thieves…”

“Well, maybe now that you’re around, I won’t need them, boy.” For Ariis, calling Hunter ‘big boy’ would have been too much of a lie. Fact of the matter was, given the drastic differences between Akyllisian men and human men, Hunter was barely adequate. Still, Ariis wasn’t complaining. “Though, I swear to Gun’Serg, if you take anything out of my quarters, I will snap your goddamn neck…and put your head on a pike…”

“Got it. Though, as a code of honor, I don’t steal things from girls I’m fucking.” Hunter was use to threats being out in a flirtatious and sensual tone. He found it kind of odd that it actually made the woman threatening him even hotter in most situations. It was a problem he had always thought about seeing someone about. He didn’t think about it long, getting distracted by Ariis’ when she bent over to put her code in the key pad next to her door. “Wouldn’t it be easier to have that at the right height for you?”

“And miss showing off my perfect ass?” She put her hand on her butt, rubbing it slightly. “It’s okay if you stare.”

The heavy metal door opened, revealing Constance kneeling just inside. She had her boxes just behind her, looking up at Ariis and Hunter. She knew Hunter was going to be with her, racing to meet them before they got back at her quarters. Ariis actually blushed, almost ashamed to be caught with Hunter in front of Constance.

“…Lal’shallei…Why are you here? Shouldn’t you be at the party?” Constance stood up, trembling slightly. She didn’t really want to reveal her feelings for Hunter in front of Ariis. Still, she thought quickly.

“It was hurting my telepathy, Master Ariis. I wanted to be sure I was in top condition for you tonight.” She bowed to Ariis slightly. “And I bought some gifts for Mister Hunter, to thank him for saving me from Jeremiah and bringing me to you.”

“Miss Constance, that was unnecessary, I told you…” Constance nodded.

“If you will wait for Mister Hunter, Master…After I give him my gifts, I will send him in to you.” Ariis reluctantly nodded. She fell for Constance’s ruse, though Constance used her powers to help push her in the right direction somewhat. She walked over to Constance, picking her up slightly.

“You look absolutely gorgeous, lal’shallei…” She kissed her deeply, putting her down. As she walked into her bedroom, unhooking her bra as she went. Constance hung her head slightly, turning to Hunter.

“Miss Constance, I wanted you to buy something that would make you happy.”

“And I told you, Ariis will buy me things I want…” Constance looked down at the boxes. “And…and making you happy will make me happy…”

“Alright…What did you get?” She held up a long, thin box. He took it, sliding off the top of it. He recognized the smell as soon as it was opened. “Cigars?”

“Small cigars…It was the closest they had to cigarettes on the ship…Do you like them?” Hunter smelled the cigars. They were short, about cigarette length, but about usual cigar width and made with the same brown paper.

“Yeah…” Constance held up another box, opening it for him. It was a black leather duster coat, but instead of sleeves, it had fabric draped over where the arms would be. He looked at it. It had a good collar and would hang down to just above his ankles.

“To replace your poncho…” Constance still couldn’t look him in the eyes, afraid to see rejection looking back at her. “…I couldn’t fix it, I’m sorry…”

“This is better.” He folded it over his arm. “I can hide my guns and grenades under this.”

“You like it?” Hunter nodded. It gave Constance the confidence to finish, picking up the gun box. “Then you’ll really like this.” She gave the box to Hunter. He knew it was a gun as soon as it was in his hands, recognizing the size and the weight. He opened it and was surprised by the rifle. It was sleek and silver, with an elegant, flowing and curving design. “I couldn’t remember everything about it, but Kev gave me this card with all the information on it.” Hunter took the card and started reading it.

“Whoa…”

“I thought you’d like it…” Constance smiled. She thought the kiss was coming, but Hunter just put his rifle over his shoulder. He looked down at Constance.

“You really don’t want me to be with Ariis, do you?” He whispered. She nodded, folding her hands over her stomach.

“Yes…I…” Her voice went quite, almost inaudible. “I…love you…”

“Stay with Ariis, it’s better for you.” He picked up his cigars, putting them under his coat. “She actually cares for you.”

“You…you don’t?” He kissed her lightly on her lips.

“You know the answer to that. I just can’t support you like she can. It’s the best for you.” Constance nodded, blushing brightly. Hunter turned and left the room, carrying his gifts with him. “Thank you for the gifts, Miss Constance.”

“You…you’re welcome.” Constance smiled, knowing that Hunter actually did like them and wasn’t lying. She went in to see Ariis and let her know Hunter wasn’t coming. She found her waiting on her bed, completely naked. She had her legs spread wide open. She was smiling until she saw it was Constance, closing her legs. “I regret to inform you that Mister Hunter will not be coming, Master Ariis.”

“What?” She sat up. She had no reason to care about being naked in front of Constance, so she didn’t bother trying to hide it or cover herself. “That’s a shame…”

“I’m sorry, Master Ariis…”

“There’s nothing to be sorry about, lal’shallei, not on your part.” Constance nodded, even though she knew it was her fault. She was worried that both Ariis and Hunter were frustrated with her stopping them from having sex, but she was still happy they weren’t having sex. “Well, since Hunter left…I guess it’s just you and me, lal’shalla.” Ariis pulled Constance over on top of her, kissing her deeply.

“I couldn’t be happier, Master Ariis.” Constance smiled and kissed Ariis back. She helped Ariis undo her leather corset as Ariis kissed the side of her neck. Constance sighed as Ariis rolled her onto her back. She closed her eyes, letting Ariis slowly slide her dress down her body.

“Do you want to try something new today?” Ariis asked her, punctuating it with a kiss. Constance scanned Ariis to know what she wanted to try. She bit her thumb, trying to think of a way to phrase what she was thinking without insulting Ariis.

“I’d prefer…just feeling you, Master Ariis, but if you’d like…I will not complain…”

“Alright…I’ll be right back.” Ariis got up and left to go get her ‘toys’. Constance took a deep breath, readying herself for what she knew was coming. She didn’t mind Ariis occasionally forcing her to do something she didn’t want to do.


Kelli was in her quarters, looking out the window. The ship was finally clear of the planets, and ready to make its jump to hyperspace. She never missed the jump to hyperspace. It was always beautiful, a storm of light that surrounded the ship. The Ecstasy of Gold opened a hyperspace portal in front of it. It was a swirling hurricane of bright blue energy. In the eye of the hurricane was a perfectly calm black circle. The Ecstasy of Gold plunged into it, shaking slightly as it made the jump to hyperspace.

Hyperspace was a brilliant place of swirling, chaotic energy that increased the speed of space travel greatly. While it wasn’t anywhere near as fast the jump bridge, it was quick enough, cutting trips of months or years down to days. It was almost an entirely different dimension separate from ours made of energy clouds swirling from gravity storms that filled it. The biggest gravitational storms were caused by planets and stars, making jumps in star systems somewhat dangerous.

Kelli was brushing her long, beautiful hair, getting ready to go to bed. She always took good care of her hair and body, which was the reason she looked and smelled so different from the other engineers. As she was about to start work on her fingernails, there was a ring from her doorbell. She got up and walked over to the door. She picked up a robe and put it around her naked body. She walked over and opened the door. She was instantly face to face with Hunter. He was wearing his usual clothes and had a bottle of wine.

“Mister Hunter…What’s up?”

“I wanted to apologize to you, Kelli.” He looked in her eyes, ignoring that her robe was hanging open. “I was short with you earlier today, ignoring you, and that wasn’t right…”

“Oh, that’s fine. I’m use to being ignored…In fact, I…” Kelli interrupted him, frustrating him slightly.

“Well, you shouldn’t be.” Hunter interrupted her, picking up where he left off in her thoughts. “Anyways, I thought we could make up over this bottle of wine.”

“Really?” Kelli smiled. “That’d be super! Come on in…”


Jessie was asleep in his quarters. Before he went to sleep, he had gotten a message from Hunter that he was going to stay, at least for a little while. Combined with the party, the good news and the small celebration he threw when he found out Hunter was staying, he was exhausted. He was sleeping peacefully until he heard a loud crash outside. He got up and rushed over to the main room.

He found Tasha quickly picking things up she had knocked over. She was terrible at sneaking around, always knocking things over. He rushed over to her, helping clean things up for her.

“Dad, I’m sorry, I was just trying to…”

“It’s okay, Tasha. Remember, your mom’s the one that made you have the curfew.” He set a table she had knocked over back up. “Nothing’s broken, so no harm done. Besides, I wanted to talk to you again.”

“About what, Dad?”

“I’m sorry about the argument we had last night. I really am.” He quickly got everything rearranged everything on the table, getting everything in its right spot. “Though…honestly, I don’t know why you got so mad…”

“You don’t need to apologize again for it. And, well, I…” Tasha groaned as she stood back up. Her tattoo hurt still. “I…had a lot of stuff on my mind…I think it was the taser…”

“Well, whatever it was, I’m sorry…”

“I’m sorry, too.” Tasha cleared her throat. “And maybe, someday, I’ll be able to tell you what I…need to tell you.”

“Alright…” Jessie had no idea what Tasha would need courage or time to tell him about, still seeing her as the perfect little girl he had adopted years before. He wasn’t about to argue with her, figuring he’d find out in time.


Hunter was staring at the ceiling. Kelli was laying next to him in bed, nuzzled up close to him and smiling in her sleep. He realized he was in deep trouble, trying to figure ways out of it. He wasn’t prepared for the kind of trouble he was in, quickly figuring ways he could get out of it.