Ecstasy of Gold - Ch. 17

Tasha didn’t get a moment’s peace on the way up to the Ecstasy of Gold. Jessie had to take endless calls on the way up, arrange crew returns, bounty pick-up, and what they were going to do with Hunter. Jessie’s first instinct was leave him, but he was too loyal to his crew to do that. Especially since he was so badly injured because he was saving Tasha. He ordered Hunter on the next shuttle up.

Tasha stared out the window, completely zoned out. She hadn’t ever been controlled like that before, and it was horrifying. She didn’t know what to make of the dreams the Demon forced her into, only being able to understand it as telepathic rape. She didn’t know what to do about it. She knew her injuries would slowly heal and she might be able to ignore them, but how do you ignore something that was entirely in your mind? Could she tell herself it was just fake? She just wasn’t sure.

“Tasha…” Jessie said gently, “…do you want to talk to Zen? She’s really worried about you.”

“No…” Tasha said in a hush. “…tell her I’ll call her back, though.”

Tasha didn’t want to talk to anyone right now. She really just wanted to crawl in a hole and die. She hated herself for wanting to die, which made her even more depressed. She didn’t know how she could show her face to anyone ever again. Word of what happened was sure to rip through the ship.

She slowly walked down the stairs of the shuttle. She was finding it hard to move any more. Her entire body was starting to hurt. Just when she was about to break down into a weeping pile, a voice grabbed her attention.

“TASHA!” Constance ran over to her, almost knocking her over when she threw her arms around her. Constance was crying, tears pouring down her cheeks. She kissed Tasha on the cheek, having to get on her toes to do it. She lowered herself down, burying her face in Tasha’s chest. “Thank god you’re okay…I…I thought…”

“Connie…” Tasha whispered, putting her arms around her. She rubbed her back, trying to calm her down.

“I saw that…monster in your dreams…” Connie confessed. She wasn’t sure if she should or not, but she didn’t want to hide anything from Tasha. “I think…I’m the reason it got into your mind…I’m so sorry…”

Tasha gasped, looking off into the distance. Her eyes were wide with disbelief. She didn’t know what to say. Could she tell her what Paul did to her because the Demon got into her mind? The horrible things Paul made her do were all because of it. Constance looked up at her. Tasha looked down at Constance, looking into her sad silver eyes. She ran her fingers through Constance’s hair, putting it behind her ears.

“You’re being too hard on yourself…” Tasha reassured her. “It’s not your fault…You couldn’t have known…And I could never stay mad at you anyway.” Constance smiled.

“I love you, Tasha…” She whispered. Tasha smiled and whispered the same back to her. “I can spend some time with you…if you want…”

“I appreciate the offer, but I need to be alone for a while…” Tasha couldn’t face her when she said it.

“What happened? You can tell me…” Constance pled with her, grabbing her hand. Tasha looked back at her, hanging her head.

“I’m really sorry, but…” Tasha took a deep breath. “I really just need to be alone for a little bit…”

“Alright…” Constance let go of her hand. “I’ll be in the hospital when you need me…”

“Okay, I’ll meet you there…” Tasha hated having to send Constance away. Truth be told, she couldn’t decide between being alone or having Constance by her side. Still, she wanted to be alone to take care of herself briefly. She’d rush to Constance’s side after.


Sala couldn’t believe how Kik’tik looked under her armor. She had clearly human parts, like her head and torso, explaining why she had breasts when other Laumur women didn’t. Still, she had the big, almost ostrich like legs of a Laumur, and the arms and talons to match. All of the Laumur parts were covered with shinning gold feathers. Kik’tik had attachment-scars around her Laumur parts, telling her she was without a doubt human and that all of her Laumur parts were cybernetic. On top of everything else, Kik’tik had freckles across her face and chest. All together, even despite the shaking from the battle, Sala couldn’t help but stare at Kik’tik. Kik’tik was laying on a medical bed on her stomach so she wouldn’t be laying on her tail.

“Hey!” Kik’tik leaned up, keeping the sheet around her as she did. “Quit staring or I’m going to start charging you for the show!” The bed Kik’tik was on had what looked like big, glowing banks of light that surrounded Kik’tik. She told Sala that it repaired all of her cybernetics at once. Sala didn’t understand how, but she didn’t understand most Laumur tech.

“Sorry, sorry…” Sala turned away. “I’ve just never seen someone like you…How did you end up like that?”

“You don’t want to hear about that…” Suddenly, the ride got a lot smoother. They were clearly out of the battle. “Tell your boyfriend that…” she winced in pain slightly, “…that once this thing’s done fixing me and we’re for sure clear of the battle, I’ll see about fixing that shoulder of his…”

“I’ll tell Zech that shortly.” Sala nodded. “But, I mean…really…how did you end up like this?”

“I can’t believe I’m telling you this, but…” Kik’tik took a deep breath. “I was found by the Laumur when I was five…I don’t remember where, but they were kind enough to take me in. They did a genetic search for my parents, but the tests couldn’t find any relatives at all. I couldn’t go home either, so I decided to stay with them.

“They were great parents…They didn’t care that I was a human, just raising me the best they could. It wasn’t easy for them or me. I mean, they had to research what menstruation was when I turned fourteen. It wasn’t an easy life, but I got by. The worst part was there weren’t any other humans around to talk to.

“That was the worst part of all of it…No other humans. No Laumur would even look at me. So, one day, I heard about this program where they replace all your parts with cybernetics…our Enhance Marine program. I thought it was finally a chance to look like a Laumur. They even told me that I would be indistinguishable from a real Laumur, but, when I came out of it, I looked like this…I was crushed. Worst of all, there’s no going back. All the stress from the surgery would kill me.

“So, I’m stuck like this…I can’t pass as either human or Laumur, so I just travel…alone.” Sala sniffed to hide her tears. She felt indescribable sympathy and sadness for Kik’tik. Kik’tik lowered her head back to her pillow. “Now, aren’t you glad you asked?”

“I’m sorry, it’s just…with everything that’s been happening, I can’t stop myself from crying…” Sala rubbed her eyes. “I’ve been so weak since I lost my children…”

“It’s alright. Nobody here but us girls…”

“I still think you’re still very pretty, Kik’tik.”

“That’d mean a lot to me if you were a guy.” She pointed at her face. “You see this? The Laumur’s home-world has a higher UV level because of their sun, so I’ve got these horrible freckles. Even if I stayed all human, I’d still have them all over my arms, legs, and back. It’s like being covered with burn-scars.”

“Have you tried covering them with makeup?” Kik’tik stared at Sala for a minute. “Stupid question, alright…” Sala smiled slightly. “At least I know why you like human women’s clothing.”

“Speaking of which, I saw some of the stuff you bought…”


Yu’lena was finishing work on the temple in her quarters. Her injuries were still sapping her strength, but there was very little left to do. She forced herself to keep going, thinking it would only make her stronger. Still, since it was so close to being done, she decided it would not hurt her to take a break.

She walked over to a large crystal chandelier and passed her hand under the main crystal at its center. Around it, there were other, far smaller crystals hanging around it. They lit up and sang with a gentle ring to it that filled the entire room. It soothed her soul and let her relax. She sat near it, folding her legs so she could meditate. As she started to feel the stress leaving her body, she heard the door open.

“Wow…I didn’t think the sign was actually true…” A short woman stood in the door. She had brown hair that hung down to her shoulders and dark brown eyes. She wore simple, ‘proper’ clothes, a black pleated-skirt that went down past her knees with a nice white blouse. She even wore a black tie with it. “So, you’re really starting this temple to have it open for everyone?”

“Yes,” Yu’lena nodded. “Anyone who is willing to open their minds to the teachings of my temple is welcome here.”

“…Aren’t you worried someone’s going to clean you out?” The woman said, staring at the large crystal chandelier. She was about to touch it, but decided not to. “I hope you have some kind of security system…”

“I will have to trust people, Miss…”

“Sally.” Sally put her hand out for a handshake. Yu’lena shook her hand, using the opportunity to look her over. Instead of boots like the soldiers and engineers or fine leather dress shoes like the rest of the clue, she just wore sneakers. On top of it, unlike the other women that wore stockings or pantyhose, Sally wore tall socks that went well up past her knees.

“Sally…I do believe I have not seen you before…”

“Well,” Sally shrugged, “I’m kind of a Gopher. Whatever they need me to do, I do. Just sort of…filling in, where needed. I don’t stand out a lot, don’t get a lot of attention, but I like to think I’m necessary…I mostly get unnoticed on the ship, because I’m not going to pull in a big haul or catch a bounty single-handedly…”

“Do you mind me asking…” Yu’lena held her hands between hers. She could already tell there was something special about Sally. She did look strangely like Constance to Yu’lena, though it was only vaguely. Sally had a few freckles across her face, which confused Yu’lena more. “…are you just stopping by or are you interested in joining?”

“Joining?” Sally’s grit teeth showed as she drew a hissing breath. “I’m not sure…I’ve heard good things about your religion, Priestess, but I just don’t…”

“There is no rush to decide today, my child.” Yu’lena reassured her. “If you have some time, I can tell you about my religion, and hopefully, you will like it enough that you will stay.”

“Alright…” Sally looked down at a large pillow that was across the ground, “I’m actually interested to see how it goes with my own beliefs.”

“Well, you see…” Before Yu’lena could say anything, Helena came rushing through the door. “Miss Helena, can I help you?”

“You can get a communicator…” Helena huffed slightly, catching her breath. “We’ve been trying to get you for a couple hours now.”

“For what?”

“Hunter’s been severely injured and put in a coma…” Helena realized she said it a little bluntly, biting her lip for a split second before she continued. “He had you down as an emergency contact.”

“Emergency contact…” Yu’lena repeated, not sure what it meant. Helena sighed slightly. Yu’lena could tell she was frustrated and knew why. An ‘emergency contact’ should have been common knowledge for everyone.

“Well, it means he thought you…out of everyone on the ship, should decide how he’s treated and…and if he can’t wake up…” Helena cleared her throat. This was he awkward part. “…if he will never wake up, you’re suppose to decide if he lives in his coma forever or…or not.”

“Oh dear…” Yu’lena stood up, smoothing out the wrinkles from when she sat down. She looked down for a brief second. She didn’t know anything about how they were going to treat him or how he would want his injuries treated. What if she decided to have something done that was against his religion? She knew Hunter somewhat, though, so she knew the likelihood of that was low. “Miss Sally, I hope you will forgive me if I leave…Feel free to stay or leave at your own digression. I have started translating what you would call my ‘bible’ to English if you care to read that.”

“Alright…I’ll probably give it a look.” Yu’lena bowed to Sally before quickly leaving for the hospital. Helena walked in, looking around at everything.

“What’s she set up here?” She ran her fingers over the cloth hanging on the wall. It was smooth, the smoothest, softest, finest fabric she had ever felt. She tugged on it. It was incredibly strong despite all of its wonderful properties. It wouldn’t stretch, tear or rip. “How the hell do they make this stuff without any technologies…”

“Don’t finger the drapes…” Sally groaned. “And it’s a…church.”

“And she’s claiming she’s NEVER locking the door like that sign outside says?”

“She really isn’t.”

“God,” Helena sighed, “she’s so naïve…”

“Don’t worry, I’m staying until she gets back…” Sally picked up the bible, sitting back down on the pillow. “It’s not like I have anything better to do…” Helena stared at Sally briefly. Sally was a little shorter than her, and even less intimidating, looking like she was a teenager.

“You’ve got…an interesting look going there…” Helena tried to make small talk, but Sally was distracted with the bible. She put the English one down and got the other one, laying on the ground side-by-side, taking out a pen. “Kind of a grunge look…right?”

“Yeah…we all don’t look good strutting around in skin-tight flight suits…” Sally said, barely paying attention to what she was saying. Slowly, she started adding words to the English book.

“I don’t think she’d appreciate you…”

“I’m translating it for her. Got to have something to do…” Helena didn’t believe her, and Sally knew it. She looked up from the book at her. “I have a masters in language. I can translate almost anything that’s an actual language.”

“Cool…” Helena realized what she could do or say for Sally. “If you’re going to guard here…Give me a call when you need a break, and I’ll…guard it while you sleep or eat or whatever. I’d hate to see this place looted…”

“Okay, but I don’t think I’m leaving any time soon.” Helena shrugged and left. She knew Sally could contact her if she needed anything. It’d be easy on the ship. For now, she figured she’d go back and take a nice long bath.


Tasha showered for almost an hour, with the hottest water the faucet could provide. She scrubbed and scrubbed until she felt like she was going to rip her skin off. Then she brushed her teeth for half an hour, feeling bad for taking so long. Still, she had to feel clean again. She threw all the clothes she was wearing into the trash. She never wanted to wear any of it again. She got dressed and put her hair up, not bothering with make-up. She knew Constance wouldn’t care.

She ran down to the hospital section as fast as she could without making a scene. She had to be with Constance. Out of everyone she knew, Constance was the only one she wanted to be with. Having Constance around seemed to make her calmer, and on top of it, she knew Constance would understand what she went through. She ran into the hospital section, but didn’t see anyone.

“Patch!” She shouted slightly, just trying to find him. “Patch!”

“Pardon me…” One of Patch’s small’ assistants that would hover around him and provide him aid with surgical procedures floated over to her. She knew it wasn’t really talking to her, just relaying what Patch was saying. “I’m currently in surgery with Mister Hunter, can I help you with anything, Miss Tasha?”

“I was just wondering where Constance was?”

“Ariis came and took Miss Constance back about a half-hour ago.” Tasha grit her teeth. The assistant was even more emotionless than Patch was. “She checked out healthy, and with all of the recent emergencies, we could no longer keep her from her owner.”

“Don’t. Call her that.” Tasha spoke slowly and strongly, making sure Patch understood. Constance didn’t deserve to be a slave, not that anyone did. She pointed straight into the drone’s small eye. “People shouldn’t be property, understand?”

“AS property, no…but I do understand that freedom is the right of all sentient beings.” Tasha noticed it saying that a lot, wondering if she should check its programming for bugs. “I gave her medicine for her condition and treated her for an allergic reaction she had to marijuana, and she’s well past her exhaustion.”

“Weed?” Tasha shook her head. “No, Constance would NEVER smoke weed. She hates drugs and how they make her feel.”

“Well then, someone else must have forced it down her throat.” Tasha gasped. She immediately knew who did it to Constance. She turned sharply on her heals and got ready to run out the door when the drone blocked her path. “Your father told me about what happened to you and asked that I do a full battery of scans to make sure you’re okay.”

“I’m fine…” Tasha shoved aside the drone, sending it crashing into the wall. She quickly ran out of the door before it got back up, almost running into Yu’lena as she came in. “Sorry, Priestess!” She shouted to her as she ran down the hallway.

“Do not concern yourself with that, dear.” Yu’lena tried shouting to her, but shouting was out of her nature. She walked in, looking around for Patch when the drone hovered up to her.

“Ah, Priestess Yu’lena, I’m glad you could make it, but it turns out Hunter’s injuries were not life threatening.” Yu’lena breathed a sigh of relief, though the drone still made her frightened. “He’s still in a coma, but it doesn’t appear to be permanent…”

“That is the best news I have heard all day…” Yu’lena smiled slightly. “Do you mind if I rest in his room…keep him company until he wakes up?”

“Not at all, Priestess. It may actually do him some good…” The drone hovered around her. “And it will give me time to scan you and see how you’re healing.”

“…Good, then we both win, as they say.”


Frank had one of his few nice business suits on. He hated dressing up, but this time, he had a good reason. He had a small bouquet of flowers, one’s he hoped she’d like. He wasn’t nervous about her not liking them, just taking his chances. He headed down to the engineering section, running into the Chief Engineer, a man by the name of Bill Nelson.

“Frank…” Nelson was already instantly annoyed by Frank being in Engineering. He was tall and muscular, being a ship’s engineer for most of his life seeing to that. He wore a dark red jumpsuit, separating him from the rest of the crew that wore a shade of blue in engineering. He was the officially-declared chief engineer on the ship. “What are you doing here, Frank?”

“Is Kelli here?” He looked around, trying to get spot Kelli. He knew the first patch of flesh he saw was her. Nelson just growled at him. “I know, I’m getting in your way just by existing in your Engineering…”

“Frank…” Kelli asked, coming down a ladder to see him. “What are you doing here?”

“Well, you know what I’m apologizing for…” He held out his bouquet of flowers. Kelli took it and started to sniff slightly. Frank tried to hide his smile. “I feel like a complete ass over the whole thing…and I was hoping I could…” Kelli sneezed quietly. “I hope I could make it up to you with…” Kelli sneezed again. “…with…”

“These are Zieke Lilacs, aren’t they?” Kelli held her nose, giving the flowers back to Frank. The flowers themselves looked like lilacs, but the petals were red like roses, but with deep purple. Their stems had rose thorns along them. “I’m allergic to them…” Frank looked at the flowers, then back at Kelli. “I’m sorry, but you’ve got to get those away from me before they make me sick!”

“But…” Frank stuttered. “I thought we could go out to dinner…”

“Don’t take this the wrong way, but no…” Kelli shook her head, holding her nose to try to avoid the pollen from the flowers. “You’re just not my type, Frank…Now please get the flowers away from me.”

“You heard her!” Nelson shouted slightly, protecting his engineers. “Go!” He tried to stay calm, but his politeness didn’t matter at all when it came to his engineers. He’d do anything to protect them, even donate his blood if he had to. In this case, he was worried Kelli had a new stalker like she had in the past. Still, before he had time to worry about that, Frank nodded and started to leave.

“I’m still getting you flowers, though…Maybe I can find some flowers that won’t make you break out in hives or kill you.” Frank stopped at the door, thinking he heard a whisper. “What?”

“Daffodils, Frank.” Nelson relayed the message for her. “Her favorite flowers are daffodils.”

“You got it, Babe.” Frank left the engineering section, walking to the closest airlock and throwing the flowers in. He honestly didn’t expect to get a date with Kelli, so he wasn’t disappointed. In this case, he simply let the flowers go into space to be sure there wasn’t a chance of them bothering Kelli again.


Hal was looking down at the pendent of O’ne Yu’lena gave him, contemplating if it was actually doing him any good. He felt weird not knowing anything about something he was wearing, especially since it was of such significance. It was a pendent of a goddess, after all. Would his religion allow him wearing the symbol of another god? Then again, he worshipped a servant of God as a sort of ‘channel’ to God, since he believed God was unknowable. Maybe O’ne was a servant of God as well.

“Hmmnn…” Karen groaned in her sleep, startling him slightly. She was sleeping again, but that wasn’t anything new. Even when she was ‘healthy’ she slept a lot. Hal thought it was because she had nothing to be awake for. Now, she was worrying him so much that he was afraid to leave her side. He knew she was more of a constant pain than a sister, but he had to be sure she was okay. Or did he?

He bit his lip. It was costing him pay just to sit there, watching her sleep and slowly heal. She was stable, there was no chance of loosing her now. On top of everything, he did have a knack for getting on her nerves. Stressing her out while she was healing was a recipe for disaster. Finally, he just had to ask himself one question.

“What would the Spectre say?” He said quietly to himself. He wasn’t sure, the Spectre being too noble to ignore family. Finally, he came to a realization. He stood up, slowly walking out the door to not make any noise. He didn’t want to wake her up, after all. He’d let her recover in peace and visit her whenever he could.


Tasha went to Ariis’ quarters as fast as she could. Constance wasn’t answering her communicator, but with Ariis taking her back, she knew that’s where she had to be. She had to know if it was Suzuna that did that to her and why. She calmed herself down and rang the doorbell, hearing Ariis and Constance muffled voices inside.

“Who is it!?” Ariis snapped viciously. Tasha took a deep breath, summoning the courage to speak.

“It’s me, Tasha…” Tasha expected the door to pop open immediately as soon as Ariis heard it was her, but it didn’t. “I need to talk to Constance real quick…”

“Very well, come in.” Tasha opened the door and walked in. She stopped dead in her tracks when she saw Ariis and Constance. Both of them were completely naked. Ariis was on her back on the couch, with Constance straddling her across her waist. Constance’s back was to Tasha, so she couldn’t see her. Tasha could see Constance had a heavy metal collar on with a heavy metal chair that ran down to shacks that had her arms behind her back. The chain went down to Ariis’ hands.

“It still hurts, Master Ariis…” Constance cried slightly. “Can we…can we just…”

“You’re on the drug Patch gave you, it shouldn’t hurt at all…It should feel good if anything.” Before Constance could complain again, Ariis snapped at her again. “Deal with it! You’re suppose to serve me!” Ariis looked over at Tasha, who was paralyzed in her tracks. “Well, hurry up!”

Tasha stuttered and couldn’t get her sentence out. Constance turned her head to see Tasha staring at them. Tasha could see Constance’s eyes were glossed over. She knew Ariis has dosed her with something. Constance screamed, trying to turn so Tasha couldn’t see her.

“Not in front of Tasha!” She pled with Ariis. “Do whatever you want to me, just not in front of Tasha…”

“If she’d ask her question quicker…” Ariis growled at her.

“Forget it.” Tasha snapped, rushing out the door and locking it behind her. She didn’t want anyone to see Constance like that. She didn’t know how to explain it, but she could feel what she knew was Constance’s embarrassment. Tasha felt she had to apologize to Constance later, but right now, she was going to confront Suzuna. Whatever she did to Constance for whatever the reason was completely unacceptable.