The Fate of Terra Ch. 14

She'd determined Tanya was scary smart within the first few minutes of meeting her, but she didn't just ask intuitive questions, she seemed to absorb the information like a sponge and after the first hour Sun Mi had needed to think long and hard about her answers. Apparently the fiery girl with dark red hair that went everywhere with Michael was teaching her programming and Pandora was designing exercises for her. Tanya was actually able to tell her step by step where she'd made a mistake in the defenses on her terminal.

Somehow, the two had arrived back where the shuttles had first landed and Sun Mi was startled to see the area completely changed from how she remembered it. Long tables littered the beach surrounded by torches. Some tables had clear bubbles around them and she was shocked to realize that they contained completely separate environments.

Aliens would walk through a tube with various isolation chambers and by the time they reached their seat they had removed their mask, vacsuit, or whatever their race had required to function in Earth's atmosphere. Completely unhindered, they were laughing and chatting with each other, eating a variety of exotic dishes.

Tanya took her hand and effortlessly navigated the zoo of patrons to a small table in the exact center of the gathering. Michael and Kat sat the head with the rest of his girls on either side down the length of the table. Mara sat at the other end and Tanya bounced over to her, motioning towards the seat next to her for Sun Mi. Sitting down, she was surprised when her neighbor to the left threw her arms around her and snuggled her face into her hair.

Rin grabbed her sister by the shoulder and tugged her away. "Leave her be, Aki," she groused, muttering something that sounded like 'save it for later.'

The conversation at the other end of the table continued and she was startled to realize they were talking about improvements for the Intrepid. By the terms they were using, she could tell they knew what they were talking about. For some reason, she had this image of Michael and his 'brides' sitting on gilded thrones while the AI's and the scientists and engineers they hired were slaving away down in the dungeons/workshops of the Intrepid.

She sighed. It was easy to forget that Michael had built his empire from the ground up and the accomplishments of this little group humbled her. They might not have looked it, but the most powerful people on the planet were sitting at this table, if only by association. Sun Mi was disturbed to notice that all of the girls (save Mara and Tanya, who were chatting away about the younger's studies) were stealing glances in her direction and exchanging knowing looks. Even Dejah, who'd disappeared to go talk to her father, looked downright hungry when she had glanced at her after returning to the table.

Suddenly, a cry went up from the tables surrounding them that held the infantry as the food was revealed. Sun Mi's senses were overwhelmed as pits in the sand were uncovered and dinner was served luau-style. The serving staff began pushing around hover-sleds piled high with food and the din noticeably quieted as peoples' attentions were captured by the delicious morsels to be had.

All around her, the sounds of people digging into assorted meats, cheeses, fruits, and vegetables clashed with the laughing, joking clamor. Looking around, she frowned as she observed their cheerful, carefree nature. These didn't seem like people who were shipping off to war. She seemed to recall the same thing happening in the bars and restaurants onboard the ship the night before the big engagement with the B'Amuf.

Mara, who'd been observing her, gave her a patient smile and explained, "They're soldiers. Life is short for them and they choose to live it as fully as possible. Yesterday, they mourned the loss of the fallen. Tonight, they celebrate being alive. Many of them will not make the return trip, but all they're concerned with now is the present. They will party hard tonight and then tomorrow, with splitting headaches and a lack of sleep, they'll put on their uniforms and go man their stations. Not one member from the lowliest private to the admiral herself will miss morning practice because they don't feel up to it. This is simply what they do."

Sun Mi nodded slowly, remembering when she'd been a captain. They weren't allowed to show weakness in the army and to show a fear of dying for your country was considered one of the worst crimes you could commit. She could identify with cutting loose if it kept you from thinking about all the things that 'might happen' when you were in the field.

She froze, remembering an old grizzled commander that had led her unit through training. They had been practicing for months to get their final review they had before graduation the next day perfect. Expecting to train through the night, they had all been stunned when he'd walked up on stage and told them to take the night off and relax. To enjoy each others' company if that's what it took to take the nerves off, because if they hadn't gotten it by now, they never would.

She bowed her head as she remembered his words; how he had told them they should take this time to do something they had always wanted, but had never gotten around to doing. That when they were deployed, there wouldn't be any time to rest and they would always be monitored. He lamented that he could never make mistakes because he was always being watched. But them... they had this one chance to do whatever they wanted and no one would judge them for it.

Sun Mi ferociously willed herself to stave off the tears that wanted to spring from her eyes. She had never gotten the lesson. She had scoffed at his words, thinking them the silly ranting of a has-been. 'Something she'd always wanted to do?' Yeah, graduate with honors and not be seen as an embarrassment to her family.

She had gone to sleep early that night and hadn't thought about that moment for nearly a decade. Her heart clenched as she realized she had commanded men and women and had actually berated them and written poor performance reviews that had most likely killed their careers for things they'd done on nights before a maneuver. 'How could I have been so stupid?' she thought with a weary sigh.

She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, holding it in until her depression began to fade. Then her eyes flashed open. 'What's done is done,' she told herself reproachfully. 'If I get another chance, I'll do better. For now, my fate is considerably less certain than theirs. I'll just have to take what I've learned and use it.' She reflected that, following in her father's footsteps, she had always been in a hurry to get somewhere.

It seemed cliché looking back, but she had always wondered if he'd hoped for a boy instead. Sun Mi shook her head as she looked back on her life and realized that all of her actions were driven by the need to succeed, to not bring shame, to make her father proud; that if he was going to have a girl, then she would be the best girl he could ever wish for... Coming to the Intrepid had been an eye-opening experience and she was learning all manner of things she'd missed in her rush to get... where 'had' she wanted to go? She shuddered at the thought of being an admiral. No... She realized she didn't have a clue what she had been running towards.

After about ten minutes of waiting, Sun Mi frowned and looked around, trying to find the wait staff that was going to be fired for letting the most powerful man on the planet go hungry while seemingly everyone else ate. Aurora noticed the display and chuckled. "Our esteemed leader chose to implement a schedule," she stage-whispered to Sun Mi. "He apparently told them in no uncertain terms --and by that, I mean he physically threatened the people in charge- that medics would be served first, then the grunts, and finally the officers. I suppose as overall commanders that meant we should be served last."

Her tone was annoyed, but her smile and the pride that shown in her eyes told Sun Mi she agreed wholeheartedly with his decision. The food was brought out for them not long after and she was startled when Dejah's claws shot out involuntarily when she got a look at their meal. Four chefs came out and made a display of pulling a pig out of a cow and from the pig a lamb and inside that was a chicken. As Tanya held out her plate towards the rack of beef, she told Sun Mi not-quite jokingly, "I hope you're not a vegetarian --I don't think that's allowed."

She just shook her head in response, never having witnessed anything like it. After three more courses and a chocolate dessert she had somehow managed to stuff herself with, it was plain to her that Michael's girls were neither delicate nor ladylike. Kat told the story of her and Michael's first date where she had ordered a simple salad only for him to tell her to try again or he'd order for her and he wouldn't stop until he was satisfied she wasn't holding back on his account.

Food wasn't the only thing she was consuming in large amounts and she was beginning to feel a bit tipsy from all the beer she'd had. In her society, you never drank alone and it was customary that when someone else had another, so did you. Sun Mi had long ago stopped trying to keep up with them, yet she despaired that they looked completely unfazed.

Stacey, who was eyeing her from the other end of the table, asked Michael, "Now?"

Michael simply raised the glass of red wine he'd switched his beer for to his lips. Kat, who'd moved to his lap, answered for him. "Patience," she admonished. "She isn't quite softened up enough yet."

Then music began playing and the attention of all the diners shifted to an area that was being illuminated by the Intrepid overhead. The bright light revealed a wooden dance floor before it flickered off again and people began moving to shake their bodies and lose themselves in the living, swaying throng that had started to form. Michael reached down and lightly tapped Kat between her legs and murmured, "Do your thing, love."

Sun Mi, just starting to think about retiring for the night, let out a squeak of surprise when she looked up and saw Michael's demoness stalking towards her like a panther, hips swaying to the beat. She shivered and stood, backing away, only to have her back hit the twins that had somehow appeared behind her. Taking an arm in each of theirs, Rin smiled at her. It was not a nice smile. "We'll take care of you," she enthused, licking her lips.

In a daze, she was pulled through the mass of people until she reached an open spot. By open, that meant there was roughly half a foot between her and someone else. "I think-" she tried to say before she was assaulted on all sides as Michael's girls joined her and began grinding their bodies against her to the beat. She was bumped from behind and suddenly found her face engulfed in Dejah's salty bosom. On and on they teased her, never letting her rest or recover. She was in a haze of glowing lights, moving bodies, and a pulsating beat that seemed to rise from the floor and up through her.

At their table, Michael walked over to where Mara and Tanya were seated. Burying his face in her long blonde locks, he hugged his little girl and whispered, "Goodnight, honey."

Tanya smiled and hugged him back, whispering, "Love you... See you tomorrow, bright and early?"

"You bet," he replied with a grin. Tossing a similar, albeit more salacious, one to Mara, he stood and joined his girls.

Sun Mi was feeling decidedly dizzy. She was no longer supporting herself due to the pressure she was getting on all sides and she felt as if she could have fallen over and not have known it. Suddenly, the crowd in front of her parted and revealed Michael. Before his form really registered to her, he'd already reached out and cupped her behind her neck, pulling her in for a kiss that seemed to stop time itself. Lightheaded, her eyes locked onto his lips as he pulled back and she watched them form a teasing smile. "First one of the night," he congratulated himself.

Then she felt a prick in her neck and she was falling backwards on collapsing legs. Someone caught her and she looked up at the night sky that framed Kat's smiling face, her emerald eyes glimmering in the torchlight. "Oh, we're going to have such 'fun' tonight," she heard as the darkness closed in around her.

'The Christians had it wrong,' Sun Mi thought to herself absurdly as her thoughts began to muddle together. The devil is most certainly a 'she.'

* * * * *

James Merrick watched the holodisplay as he nursed a beer. It was set up like a window and he was able to look out from his room on the Intrepid and see the tiny dances of firelight which dotted the beach below. He'd left early from another party and turned down a number of offers to dance or... more forward requests. This had become the norm for him since he'd arrived here, much to the general ribbing of the other pilots --those pilots he now commanded he corrected himself with a grimace.

He'd debated calling Kimberly ever since he arrived here on the Intrepid, but seeing as they would be taking off for who knows how long again, and after all the preparation he had put into their last parting... it seemed like telling someone goodbye properly and then showing up a half hour later only to tell them that they were leaving again. He sighed remorsefully.

Just then, his hatch chimed. He curiously got up and pressed a button to cycle it open. A hand lashed out and caught him across his cheek, whipping his head back. He was utterly surprised to see a very pregnant, huffing and puffing Kimberly standing in his entranceway. "That," she explained with a stormy expression, "was for making me think you were dead."

Her hand reached out to caress his cheek. He flinched, but relaxed when he realized she wasn't going to hit him a second time... and then she slapped him again. "And that," she raged, eyes blazing, "is for not telling me about all this." James was staring at her openmouthed and she brushed passed him into the room. She turned around and glared at a sheepish-looking Merrick. When she saw his expression, her eyes softened and she mumbled, blushing a little, "Congratulations..."

His eyes lit up and she smiled at the sudden transformation. "Wh-What are you doing here?" he asked haltingly.

Her eyebrows rose. "You don't want me here?" she asked, a tinge of worry creeping into her voice.

"N-No!" he shouted flustered. "I mean- yes, of course I want you." His eyes widened, "here, I mean. I want you here." Kimberly let loose that melodious laugh that drove him crazy. "But, it's just that..."

Kimberly nodded. "Michael offered me a teaching position. I think both Sarah and I needed a change of scenery," she finished absently, the holodisplay capturing her attention. James was shocked to hear that she'd been contacted by Michael. Though, he should have known something was going on by the way he'd been smirking at his promotion ceremony.

Kimberly, back on track, gave him a fierce look. "Why did you leave everything to us?" she demanded. James chewed his bottom lip and tried to come up with a decent answer. "You tried to kill yourself, didn't you? I thought it was weird how Michael was so vague about-" at his guilty expression she exploded, "God damnit, Reaper! How could you?! You stupid son of a-" Then her eyes went wide. "Oh! Oh dear..."

James, instantly concerned, knelt by her side, "What? What's wrong?"

"Uhh, heh. I think my- yup... my water just broke," she explained, somewhat hysterical.

His eyes widened. "Wha- really? Like, now?" At the purely venomous look she shot him he bolted to his feet and tried to keep from panicking. "Ho-okay then... Uhh, med bay's up on Deck-1 mid-ship." Willing himself to do something, he quickly bent and scooped her up in his arms, ignoring her protests, and carried her out, striding to the lift.

* * * * *

A bleary-eyed Sun Mi woke as light filtered through her eyelids before leaving her in darkness again as she heard a door shut. "Oh good," she heard someone say, "you didn't start without me."

"She's awake," she heard Kat announce, still able to remember her face when she'd caught her.

Light was abruptly centered on her body that somehow left the rest of the room in utter darkness. Looking down at herself, she was dismayed to realize she was hanging by her arms, her toes barely able to reach the floor, bound taught with cords that pulled on her ankles. She was gagged and a trail of saliva reached the floor. She shivered, realizing that her torture would now begin. 'Entertainment,' Michael had called her.

Sun Mi wondered if this was going to be an interrogation. She could have told them that Tanya had milked her dry of information earlier in the day. She didn't know if they gave out medals here, but that little girl certainly deserved one. A nasty-looking serrated knife appeared from out of the darkness and she closed her eyes in fear.

'So they'll start with cuts first,' she thought in barely-constrained terror. She opened one of her eyes in confusion as she felt her dress being grabbed and pulled, the knife slashing through the light fabric with ease. 'Ah,' she corrected herself, 'they would need to see the area they're slicing...'

She felt a finger dig into her conservative white panties and she heard Kat order, "Open your eyes." She did so as the elastic band was let go, hitting against her skin with a soft 'thwack.' Kat smiled down at her and pulled back on her bra until her tits fell out. Well, she corrected despite herself, they certainly didn't 'fall' so much as give a little bounce. Her jealousy of Michael's girls for being so gifted was abruptly forgotten as the knife came forward again and snipped the straps around each shoulder.

Reaching behind her to unsnap the now unsupported material, Kat stole a kiss. Where Michael's had been chaste and tender, this one was rough and possessive. It somehow conveyed that she was 'owned' and nothing she could do would change that. Two more quick movements had the sides of her panties ripped apart and the body-less hand reached out and pulled the fabric upwards, threading the stretchy material through her folds and sparking electricity between her legs.

"Ha! Look at that bush," Aki's voice trickled in from the darkness. "Pay up." Rin groaned and Sun Mi closed her eyes, bowing her head in humiliation. She thought it was incredibly unfair for them to be so at ease when she felt so much dread.

Suddenly, a leather crop appeared out of the black and its tip was used to raise her chin. She could barely make out the hazy figure as Kat growled out, "I said eyes open. And keep your head up!" Then the crop caught her full in the cheek and her head snapped back. "I can still see the fear in your eyes," Kat taunted. "Were you this terrified when you got the assignment to infiltrate us? Did you face the unknown quaking in fright?"

Somehow, the words of her tormentor helped steady her. Sun Mi 'had' felt fear when she'd gotten her assignment, but she'd also felt eagerness. Yes, it was dangerous --hell, it was damn near suicidal-, but she'd thought it had been worth the risk if it meant she'd get a chance to prove herself. Drawing on how she'd felt when she first boarded the Intrepid; the first time her credentials had been checked by the world's best computer, she willed away the tears that tried to fall and stared defiantly out into the darkness --the same unknown she'd faced down back then.

"That's it..." Kat whispered in satisfaction. "That's the expression I want to see when I look at you." She stepped forward into the light and Sun Mi was startled by the intensity of her gaze. "Remember that feeling," the girl her entire world revolved around told her, "because if we manage to break you tonight, you 'will' die."