Express Delivery

Fuck, almost forgot!

"Gaia? Can we turn our particle beams into EMPs?"

"This modification would only require a few lines of code and a quick adjustment of the focus crystal alignment."

"Do it."

"Now?"

"No, next fucking week."

"We are in the midst of a space battle! Reducing our firepower by fifty percent in the face of thirty incoming fighter craft-"

"Do it! Think about your fucking voice box!"

"Yes, captain. Modifying aft turrets."

"Yenna, the moment Gaia tells you to, open fire."

"Gotcha." The familiar, oddly soothing quad-'thump' of the aft turrets was music to my ears. Around us, swarms of steampunk spacecraft shot at each other.

"Can someone please make sure we don't hit our allies? How 'bout some damn IFF discipline?" I snarled, weaving through a veritable wall of laser fire. Rivulets of Armorgrade were stripped off Gaia's hull but, compared to the pounding we had to endure at Xanuth, this was a mild shower.

"Gaia, tag all ships sending this" - hasty clicking of keys - "code as friendlies," Jenala said over comms, her voice oddly calm despite the chaos around us. One fighter drifted past and shattered against the hull of Mother's ship, exploding in a sad little puff of confetti.

"Sal, new heading." A nav point appeared in my peripheral vision. "All friendlies, haul ass our way. We're leaving. Colony seven has launched the Star Eaters and we don't want to be around when they unload."

There was a chorus of breathless 'aye's and on my sensor screen, a cocoon of about twenty fighters and a handful of scouts formed up around us. I saw where we were going. One of the crankshaft ships had broken formation and was already quite some distance away from the others. I opened a channel to the ship.

"Colony Ship Ten, this is Gaia. We're en route. Do you need assistance?"

The screen flickered and a moment later, I was face to face with Captain Rajani. Long, inky black hair framed a gorgeous, heart-shaped face with amazing doe eyes and sensual lips. Her skin was a dark café au lait tone and Jenala had been right. She reminded me of a Zuthrian, if their complexion would allow for other colors than jet black. She looked more like an actress, a model or - why not? - a porn star, not a military type.

"We've just been notified that a wing of Star Eaters is heading our way. Kindly intercept them please. Antimatter warheads leave such nasty craters. And nothing else. A pleasure, Captain Rios."

"The pleasure's all mine." I laid out a course towards the wormhole for her. "Follow these coordinates and come to a stop about... here. Further away if you think your engines can't cut it."

Around us, the fighting had slowed down more or less. The only thing worrying were those Star Eaters. They hadn't popped up on my sensors yet.

"Good to have some margin of error. This ship is old, Captain Rios."

"I know. Twenty-five thousand years. You think it can take the strain?"

"No idea. I've never jumped through a wormhole. Only one way to find-"

A giant hit rocked the ship. Alarm bells rang and my head bounced off the side of my headrest.

"They're here already!" Yenna shrieked.

"What happened?" I yelled.

"Captain, our port engine bay is gone," the AI calmly informed me.

"What do you mean -- gone?"

I checked the status readout. The engine, along with most of the armor on the port side, had simply vanished. The remaining armor and hull plates reported slowly lowering, near vulcanic temperatures.

"Jenala. Star Eaters?"

"Bombers."

"Cloaked?"

"Of course."

"You should have told me sooner." I pulled the nose up and slammed the throttle forward. A moment later, most of the aft armor was gone. This time I saw what had happened. Or rather I noticed the sensors returning to normal after being triggered past their peak by a massive eruption of energy.

"Antimatter?" I snapped. "Did I hear that right? Rajani? Jenala?"

"Yes. Why?" the dark-skinned captain asked.

"Because I almost lost two thirds of my ship just now. How the fuck am I to detect those damn cloaked ships?"

I heard some commotion from behind then suddenly Ajura's voice was on my headset. "Captain. Please undo the modification on the top gun turret. You don't have much time."

"Gaia, you heard the lady."

"Certainly."

"You might want to evade, Salvador."

"Very funny." I fired every port maneuvering jet I had left and pushed Gaia into a nosedive. Not a second too soon. This time, there was only a mild shock as the antimatter warhead detonated safely away. The top gun turret opened fire. Behind and above Gaia, a new star appeared for a moment as the Star Eater went critical.

"How did you do that?"

"The ship may be cloaked but the pilot's thoughts were not. You need to rotate the ship so I can get the second one in focus."

"Rotate? Or barrel roll?"

"Belly up, now!"

"Yes, captain," I muttered, putting maximum thrust into the starboard maneuvering jets. The moment the ship had reached the halfway point of the rotation, the gun turret roared again. Another brilliant explosion lit up space around us.

"Captain, the other two want to surrender. Shall I let them leave?"

"They are your sisters, Ajura. No need to ask me."

To my utter surprise, the gun turret roared again. Two more dying starships lit up the darkness of space.

"Do I want to know why?" I asked.

"Yes. They planned to use the moment of cease-fire to annihilate Colony Ship Ten."

"You read their minds?"

The silence was long. Eventually, she said softly. "No. That's what I would have done."

* * * *

What could be worse than limping through the void in a badly damaged box of metal?

Being on the bridge of a twenty-five thousand year old starship, having to listen to every creaking valve, gear, hydraulic cylinder and whatever archaic automata slaved away to keep the tub mobile. Staring through a flickering CRT screen at the blinding wormhole. Feeling the tension the gravitational forces exerted.

"This thing doesn't have a structural integrity field, does it?" I asked Captain Rajani. She stood next to me behind her pulpit-like control module.

"I don't even have any idea what's that supposed to be," she replied. Her smile sent shivers down my spine. A small part, the part not occupied with being shaken up after the thrashing the cloaked bombers had given us, wanted me to fall to my knees and bury my face between her thighs. Or her ample breasts. I shoved the idea into a dark corner of my mind and tried to focus at the task at hand. Threading three million tons of archaic space ship through the maelstrom. Without a force field to keep everything from falling apart. Even on the relatively short walk from the hangar -- I still tried in vain to purge the image of Gaia's chewed-up port side from my mind -- I had seen more repair crews, fire extinguishers and welding arcs than was healthy for my sanity. Not to mention the endless rows of stasis pods, each one filled with a dormant Seeker.

Talk about the weight of responsibility. Atlas had it easy. He only needed to balance a round piece of rock on his shoulders.

"How many sleepers do you have back there?" I asked Rajani.

"Around forty to fifty thousand. Depends on how many pods make this trip."

I checked the sensor systems. They were surprisingly advanced, reaching almost back to the fleet. "Seems like no one is following us. We can take the long way around. It's only two months to a friendly repair place."

"Just because no one is following us now doesn't mean Mother won't send more trouble our way. I've known Mother only for about five hundred years, but holy shit, she can keep a grudge," Rajani said, clasping my hand. "The ship will make the jump. You have shown me how to navigate. My crew will get it done. Have a little faith."

"Well, if things go sideways, we won't have to suffer long," I muttered.

"Helm, set a course for the center of the wormhole. Mind the ebb and flow of the gravitational waves. Engineering, give me every ounce of thrust you can coax from the engines. Every little maneuvering jet which isn't used for course correction too. All hands, battle stations. All guests, please strap yourselves in and stop molesting any adjoining neighbors. Especially you, Jenala." A fond smile tugged at Rajani's lips.

"Let's meet this San'yas friend of yours. Full forward thrust, all engines go!"

* * * *

"Gaia, please hold position."

I sighed. The more things changed, the more they stayed the same. Last time I was in orbit above Unity's Landing, they had to deal with a terrorist attack. Today was just business as usual -- which meant I had to wait until a Nor trader, two UNSF dropships, a Gravon miner very much like Ezra's, and three Zuthrian escort frigates had received their clearance. I drummed a rhythm on the armrest of the pilot's seat.

How quick six months had blazed past. After our headlong flight from the Seeker fleet, we stopped by at San'yas's repair place. The shapeshifter was more than happy to see us, even though she nearly took my head off for almost losing Gaia so quickly after her rebirth. Together with a team of Seeker engineers, we got the repairs done in record time while Rajani and her crew stocked up on prefab parts to get a new settlement going somewhere.

The parts cost a small fortune, more than even Neira's generous payout would cover. So Jenala and I, along with Broga and Yenna, offered our services again to the lusty Faceless. It was, to say the least, messy.

"Do you know where you want to settle down eventually?" San'yas asked, her cum-streaked face resting on my chest. Jenala, armed with a double-ender, slowly fucked her. There were tentacles wrapped around my cock, slowly undulating in time to Jenala's thrusts while next to us, Broga and Yenna had their own taste of San'yas multi-pronged pleasure techniques.

"I'm amazed you can even think straight with so many holes you've plugged," I muttered, clenching my butt. Something wriggled inside.

"There are parts of my brain not overwhelmed with pleasure. And my concern keeps me from fully engaging. That's why -- hmmmmm! - I'm a bit less energetic than usual."

"Less energetic?" Broga snorted around one of San'yas' tentacles.

"A place where Mother won't look for us. Somewhere warm would be nice," Jenala said, shivering on top of San'yas.

"I might know the perfect place. There's only one catch -- it's bit off the beaten path."

"Like your star system?"

"Tell you what... we'll pick this up once you're done drilling me, okay? I think I'm about to cum."

"Again?!"

The next day, San'yas spent hours on comms while we kept working on repairing both Gaia and Colony Ship Ten which had suffered minor damage from the desperate Wormhole jump. Somehow, the power grid had survived the strain and pod losses were minimal. Wherever Jenala would choose to settle down, she would have nearly fifty thousand sisters to back her up.

It was almost a kind of déjà vu. I sat at the controls of the Makuro crane while Jenala, riding a Herc, helped guide a blockade runner engine bay into position. Both our communicators beeped. Jenala slammed the bay home before answering. I hooked into the conversation.

"Come to the mess hall," San'yas said. "And be quick, please." An unusual air of seriousness surrounded her. We powered down our mechs and hurried to her side. She waited near the elevator and guided us into an office space. "She should call any moment now."

"Who?" Jenala asked. "Call why?"

At that moment, the large, wall-mounted screen lit up, displaying a skeletal dragon head on hexagonal scales. My jaw hit the floor as the image stabilized. The signal was a bit shaky, but given that we were talking to someone halfway across the galaxy, the connection was surprisingly good.

The chieftain of the White Dragon tribe took off her skull headdress. She had her icy-white mane braided into a thicket of waist-long dreadlocks, adorned with rings, beads and bone chips. White tattoos adorned her cheeks, giving her slender face the appearance of having vicious mandibles. Her eyes went from San'yas to Jenala to me.

"It's highly unusual to be called by one of the dervishes," she said. Her voice was gentle, yet still bursting with confidence. "And it's even more unusual to be involved in favor-bartering. Well, here I am. My name is Thyria, Chieftain of the White Dragon tribe. But you probably knew it already. Who am I speaking to and how can I help?"

Jenala took a step forward and offered a deep bow. "I am honored you grace us with your presence, Chieftain. My name is Jenala. I represent..." she faltered, her eyes flickering my way.

I shot her an encouraging smile and mouthed "Seekers?"

Jenala shrugged. "Sure, why not. I represent an alliance called the Seekers. My allies and I are searching for a planet to settle."

"Why are you asking me? If it is land you seek, you should talk directly to the Dynast. I think he could help you better than I ever could."

San'yas offered a bow. "Forgive me, Chieftain. I set her onto this path. You see, the Seekers have only recently returned to this part of the galaxy and are... a bit rusty in the ways of planet-bound civilizations. They seek allies and trading partners both, offering workers in the process. My friend, Padari, told me your tribe is the largest and most honorable in all of the Zuthrian Dynasty. Maybe you know of a thinly settled world where your kin call the shots?"

Thyria closed her eyes, a thoughtful expression on her face. "In fact, I think we might help each other out," she said slowly. "Twenty-five years ago, several of the White Dragon clans decided it was time to find newer, richer hunting grounds. They bought a small ship and moved to the stars. I heard they found what they were looking for in the Varranos system." She reached for something underneath the visible image and a star map appeared in the top-right corner of the screen. "The system sits right on the border of the Dynasty with Pirate Haven and I would feel better if my kinsmen had some allies should a raiding party decide to hit the planet. I think a mutual protection pact would open many doors when it comes to establish a settlement. So far, the spaceport is the only notable structure on Varranos-III."

"Mutual protection," Jenala said, a smile tugging at her lips. "I like the sound of that."

"Then I will be happy to inform my kinsmen some allies are headed their way. How long will you be traveling?"

"A few weeks at most," Jenala said. "We are still repairing our ships after an unfortunate encounter, but should be on our way within the week."

Thyria stood up and offered a bow of her own. "May your hunts be swift and bountiful."

The screen faded to black. As we turned to leave, San'yas intercepted us, her tentacles wrapping around our waists.

"Now is not the time," Jenala said. "As much as I'd like to, but we need to get back to work. Sal needs to wrench Gaia back together and Rajani said something about a vote for leadership being cast. Gotta make sure it's not me."

"It won't take long. Please, hear me out." San'yas voice was barely a whisper. I placed my hand around her tentacle. She was shaking.

"What is it?" I asked, pulling the shapeshifter into a hug.

"I... I want to come with you," she muttered. The shaking intensified to the point her tentacles slipped and slumped to the floor. It took her two tries to reel them back in.

"That's ...unexpected," Jenala said. "Sure! We could use a tech wizard like you. Pack your things and see if you can find a spot on the Colony Ship Ten."

"I... I was more thinking about taking my shop with me."

"This whole thing? Is it even possible?"

"I might require some help from your sisters to get it going in time. Do you think you could arrange that for me?"

"Absolutely!" Jenala joined our hug and kissed San'yas cheek. "Why are you shaking?"

"Because... The thought of leaving all my scrap behind hurts. What happens if someone rolls in and takes everything while I'm gone?"

"Never mind that," Jenala whispered. "Sometimes it can be very liberating to leave everything behind and find something new entirely. Right, Sal?"

"You're the expert on that, I guess." Turning my attention back to San'yas, I said: "We'll help you take care of any dangerous remnants, then you're free to come with us. I'm pretty sure even if a hundred Gravon ships turn up tomorrow, there will still be scrap left if you'll ever return."

San'yas hung between us, eyes closed, face scrunched up somewhere between panic and pain. Eventually, her eyes opened and a slow grin spread across her face. "Yes. There will be a new San'yas franchise near your new home."

Three hours later, Jenala came into my cabin. She seemed utterly exhausted.

"How did the vote go?" I asked, sitting on my bed wearing just my briefs. After spending most of the afternoon buried to the head in cramped maintenance ducts, feeling nothing but air on my skin was a godsend.

"They made me their leader. At least I could stop them from calling me Mother." She threw her hands in the air. "As if I could lead anyone. I'm a fucking Scout, damn it."

"What happened to Rajani?"

"It turned out to be a tie between her and me. And what did that backstabbing... adorable, big-breasted piece of work do?" Jenala stopped and fixed me with a piercing stare.

"Demand a recount?"

"'I hereby transfer the votes given to me to my beloved Jenala. May her leadership be long and fruitful.' Said she had enough of responsibility and wanted to spend the next few decades as a simple groundpounder."

"And your sisters were okay with that?"

"Ugh. Now I need to figure out a title and a government and..." Jenala shrugged out of her robe and picked something off the floor. "Let's change the subject, okay? I thought you might want this back," she said, holding out Zeeris' leather bag.

"Thank you. Does this mean you won't stay on my ship?"

"I didn't say that." She slapped a bulging backpack. "But I can't, in good conscience, keep this memento of your lover. It will be some time before you'll be able to see her. We should keep quiet until we're at least out of the Republic. Mother has a long reach."

"Who says Zeeris is my lover?"

Jenala slid the backpack off her shoulders and began to sort clothing and other articles into one half of my cabinet. Grinning, she threatened me with the same double-ender dildo she had used on San'yas the night before.

"Sal, even a blind and deaf Gray could see how much Zeeris was into you. I've known her only for a few hours, but I've seen her eyes light up when you were mentioned. Not to forget the rather sexy bulge in her pants."

I sat down on the bed. "You know how weird this all is? I mean, you and me-"

"Yes?" She shot me a radiant smile. "Oh, my feelings are not in jeopardy. To be perfectly honest, I'm almost glad there is someone who could keep you company. The next few months will be hell, Sal. I can't even begin to list the things which need to be done. I'll probably be way too busy to even think about spending time with you." Jenala sashayed my way and climbed into bed, snuggling up to me. "And it's pretty obvious by your vehement reactions every time I bring her up there have to be some feelings." Her fingers tapped my chest in time to her next words. "Am I right or what?"

"I... I'm not sure."

"What's the problem? Is it the fact she's Marked? I thought you're way past this particular hangup already." Her hand cupped my butt while the other brushed the sudden bulge in my briefs. "No, that can't be it."

Her eyes met mine. "Considering the fact you have no qualms about doing both me and San'yas, it's not the 'not fucking your associates' rule either. So, what's the issue? Neira? With your bomb gone and the debt erased, what can she do to you?"