Flung Out of Space (and Time)

"It's true, Fenster will not back a mutiny," the droid can read my thoughts in the neural net. "Meaning McMannus is out as well. You will have to wait for the right moment, prove to both of them that the Captain has betrayed us all and spring whatever plan you devise. You must remain vigilant and be at the ready. I fear that this is the most dangerous mission he's sent us on yet. He's found a way to hide our destination from me but it sure doesn't look like we're heading to the Colonies. I place a high probability on the Elagabalus making its course towards the Jolanai system. The reactors are priming, at 72% right now, and when they reach full power we will be making the jump to hyper speed. When we arrive my orders are to wake the Captain and Major Thomas first, this is my only chance to warn you."

"Thank you, Nero. I have much to think about."

"I do ask that you not let the Captain or the other crew members know we had this conversation." The droid asks.

"I can keep it a secret. Can I ask a favor of you?"

"Yes, you may."

"Turn off the Company recorders till we reach our destination?"

"Ma'am?" Nero asks, not understanding.

"Jenna and I would like a little privacy," I explain.

"Understood," he replies flatly. "It will be done."

With that he disappears and Jenna and I stand there, staring at each other. Everything he just told us is starting to sink in. Our crew, none of whom have military experience, is being thrust into a war. A war we did not start, did not sign up to fight in and have no stakes in the outcome. Either the Jolanai system will earn its independence and the Confederation will retreat to lick its wounds or it will be crushed and when its leadership is dead new leaders will be put in and they will join the Confederation. There is no middle ground here, either the rebels will lose and in the ashes of its warlike society a new one will rise or they win. The fight has always struck me as stupid as hell. The Jolanai system's nearest neighbor is the dead Milky Way system. The chance that their rebellion spreads is rare as the system on the other side of the Jolanai system is a staunch ally, the Kalachi system. Why the Confederation just doesn't let them be, let them operate out there on their owns beyond me. Jenna starts to open her mouth and say something but I reach out and press my fingers on her lips.

"We have some time here without the watchful eye of Mother. I vote that we continue where we were when the Captain so rudely interrupted us. We can discuss this further later."

Her eyes light up and then she nods her head up and down. Taking control of the neural net I change our settings, sending us right back to that dingy hotel room. We are out of the dresses we've been in and the clean mountain scents are replaced with sweat and sex. I am again strapped to the bed and gagged with my mistress between my legs. She's got the skin of my thigh in her mouth and I'm shouting: hello, behind the gag. My head shoots up, back arching, as I look down at her. I am so close, so close to giving her the nod that I fully submit.

She throws me her most sadistic grin and lets it go before turning to my other thigh. Taking that section into her mouth she repeats the action, causing another explosion to ripple through my body. My core aches, my lizard brain begging me to submit so that she can begin to truly punish me but I resolve myself to hang on a bit longer. If I let her win so early, the game is designed for me to "lose" but also win in the terms of orgasms, it will go straight to her head. A mistress needs a healthy but not too large ego so I fight against the urges, trying my best to hold on. With each bite, which she alternates with light kisses, I feel that resolve start to weaken. Looking down I see that there are red, circular marks up and down the insides of my thighs. Her tongue hovers frustrating close to my ready core. She gives it a light kiss and I purr in approval. My arms strain against the bonds as my mistress takes her time. When she senses me straining against the bonds she takes my clit into her mouth and sucks in. My body jumps as a jolt of erotic pleasure pulsates its way through my body. I cry out behind my gag but my mistress doesn't care. She even goes further, taking her teeth and giving it a slight nibble.

"Srbmt! Srbmt!" I shout. When my mistress looks up at me I shake my head up and down four times.

She gets up off of me and then out of the bed. I fall limp in the bed, content in the fact that I "lost" this round. Slowly, methodically, Jenna works at undoing all of my binds but I know better than to move until she tells me too. When done she leans over the bed, her arms on either side of my head, and bends down to whisper into my ear. She tells me to roll over and lie flat on my stomach. With a slight tremble in my stomach I do as she says and then feel as she again works to take away my movement. My nostrils fill with the smell of sweat, the most pungent being Arturian and human, as my face presses into the cheap pillow on the bed. When she has me fully bound I watch as she walks over to the dresser and digs into her bag. My mistress comes up with both a paddle and a giant strap on. She see's my eyes go wide when I see her in her getup and the corners of her lips get a slight upturn to them.

Jenna drags the edge of the paddle up the back of my legs, starting at the calves and moving upwards to the thighs. I close my eyes and wait, anticipation building up in me as I wait for her to start my punishment. The sound of the paddle cutting through the air reaches my ears just seconds before it lands flush against my body. At first theres a bloom of heat and pain but pleasure is right on its heels. Behind the gag I let out a scream full of both feelings: pleasure and pain. My body goes tense for a moment before relaxing again. When she senses me relax she hits me again. This time the pain and pleasure are intertwined and I scream out again. The gag muffles the sound, something I know turns my mistress on. The next four hits are rotated: the first on my left cheek and the next on my right, then left and then right again. My voice goes hoarse as I continue to shout.

I can feel as my breathing is getting labored, getting much closer to another orgasm. Behind me I feel as Jenna climbs up onto the bed and her thighs straddle mine. Before I can adjust to the fact that she's behind me the strap on gets inserted. My body first jolts at the unexpected sensation and then feels as the dildo fills me up. As she slowly starts to push into and out of me, because I'm so wet it slides right in, I feel a moan build up inside me. When she thrusts in a little harder, putting her hips into it I can hold the moan in no longer and I let it out. The pain of the hits, once a sharp sting had reduced itself to a heat. My hands grip the restraints as she builds up her pace. Once she's steady, with me moaning regularly and being on the precipice of orgasm, pumping in and out of me she lets her hand fly. Her open palm lands flush against my right cheek and the heat is instantly replaced with stinging pain. I cry out, gag muffling my yelp. As if I wasn't close enough the addition of her spanking me sends me over. Right after her third slap a thunderous, shuddering orgasm crashes over me. Even with my voice hoarse I scream out one final time, a long and loud one behind the gag.

My head drops onto the pillow, my own sweat soaking into it, adding my personal contribution to the already pungent mix of sweat and sex of all species. Jenna pulls out of me, slowly, and I hear the strap on drop to the ground with a muffled thud. Next she works on getting first the gag off and then she undos the restraints. Once free I turn over onto my back and let out a loud, satisfied, exhale. Reopening my eyes I see Jenna looking down at me with a contented grin.

"I can barely move, if you want return service you're gonna have to wait." My voice is throaty and it hurts to speak.

"Is that any way to speak to your mistress?" She cocks an eyebrow and asks.

"Don't like it, I'll just disconnect from the neural net," I reply.

"You bitch!" She playfully cries out and then climbs into bed with me. "I will remember this and punish you severely."

"I'm counting on it."

She lifts up her arm and I curl up into her, my head resting on her chest. Sweat beads lightly on her chest and I trace my fingertip in loose patterns, swirls and loops on her skin. Now that I've orgasmed this dingy place has no appeal for me. Lifting up my head I look at Jenna and see that she's nodded off slightly. After placing a light kiss on her chest she stirs and looks down at me.

"I'm done with this dingy place, lets go back to your place."

She nods her head and concentrates as she retakes control of the neural net. We're rushed back into the room we were before. Post orgasm the room, with its fresh scent of pine and mountain air smells all the more better. The beating of the sheets, lightly and with its own hypnotic rhythm, soon lulls us both to sleep. That sleep feels momentary, partly due to being in the neural net and partly because the countdown starts. It starts as a low bleating sound that grows in urgency as it continues. Jenna and I both sit up and I steal one final kiss from her, quick and furtive, before the room starts fading to black. This means that we've come out of hyper speed and will soon come out of stasis. The last moments of stasis are always black as your mind and body get acclimated to the jump back into regular time.

Chapter Four: Betrayals, Abundant

My body wrenches slightly and a little bit of vomitus explodes up my throat but I'm able to keep it down. The room is filled with the sound of moaning, retching and vomit hitting the plastic bins provided by Nero. Jenna sits there stoically and almost looks like she's meditating. Her eyes are closed and her legs are crossed up underneath her. Around us the soldiers, I mean miners, are struggling with the process of coming out of stasis. The men and women, all hard and tough warriors, work in their own ways to come out of it. I see a man already doing pushups next to his stasis pod. Another is slapping his face as hard as he can. Fenster is vomiting uncontrollably. No matter what he tries he always ends up getting violently ill, the stasis just wreaks havoc on his body. McMannus is rubbing his temples and lets out a loud groan.

"Sound off!" The Major shouts as he enters the room.

The other men and women jump to attention, miners my ass, and shout out their names. The Major walks down the line, inspecting his troops. The four of us remain where we are: Fenster retching and vomiting, McMannus rubbing his temples, Jenna meditating and I stand there, looking at her. I'm starting to feel the effects of stasis wear off. Spinning on his heels the Major stares at us and glowers.

"I said sound off!" He looks at me expectantly.

"We are a commercial crew, we don't do that. We are also not under your command, sir. Captain Markos is our commander. As you can see, we are all here and accounted for and are getting ourselves ready to report to our posts." I state flatly. The Major's face flushes in anger before turning on his heel again back to his troops. I have a feeling that I'll be hearing about this later.

He starts shouting out orders and the men and women under his command scurry away, getting to work. The worst of it finally passes for Fenster, as he gets to his feet he sways slightly like a drunk. McMannus also gets to his feet and shoots me an unreadable look. I nod at them and he helps his friend out of the room and down to the engines. The room has emptied out so I take a quick look over my shoulder and when I see that the coast is clear I rush over to Jenna and steal a quick kiss. It's a quick one and when we break we hustle onto the bridge. Walking in there I can instantly tell that we are not in the Colonies. This system is darker, the distant sun much weaker than the bright, double red sun system known as the Colonies. It has a single yellow sun but it is so far distant that this part of the system gets very little of its light and almost none of its heat. I see that we are about to lock into the orbit of a dwarf planet. From here it looks like a giant, grey rock that is closer to asteroid than planet. This planet clearly doesn't sustain life on its own and supplies must be brought in.

A flush of anger rips through me. How can Markos treat us this way? He must be pocketing all of the cash that we should be making for these illegal runs for the Confederation Fleet. Part of me wants to rip into the captain, to tell him that we know everything and that he won't get away with this. Jenna gives me a calming look, a look that says stay cool so I swallow the feeling and wait for instruction.

"Captain, your squad will remain in reserve. Get them outfitted with weapons just in case they are needed. The droid will pilot the drop ship with both Platoons aboard. Markos and I will stay on the drop ship while Operation Echo is underway."

"Sir, yes sir!" Markos calls out like the good soldier he's trying to be. He turns to the two of us. "Pick up Fenster and McMannus and get down to the hold."

In the hold two men are strapping body armor on us. It snaps together and covers our chests/shoulders/stomachs and backs, separate pieces to cover our shins and forearms as well as helmets. The drab, gray armor takes some time to get used to wearing and on Jenna it makes her look like a child. Her smallish frame made it hard for them to find anything close to fitting. The helmet sits askew on her head with small wisps of hair poking out and across her face. Then the man slaps long rifles into our hands. I stare down at the slightly heavy gun. If placed on the ground it would come up to about my hip and fires a special round that explodes on contact with body armor and flesh but can sense when it hits a hull or any other part of a ship will instantly disarm and become a dud. This prevents hull breaches in space or on a base on a planet/asteroid with no atmosphere. The four of us head back to the bridge and watch on the monitors.

"DROP SHIP DISENGAGEMENT IN: T-MINUS 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. DROP SHIP DISENGAGED." Mother's voice calls out loudly, ringing throughout the ship, and then we feel the ship rock as the drop ship is released into space.

"Mother, connect to the drop ship monitors and display them here." I order.

Our screens fill up with multiple images. We can see the view from the front of the ship as well as the cameras attached to the soldiers helmets. The ship speeds towards the surface and the lone building on it. The building is squat and low, with a landing strip in front of it. Much of the building looks to have been built under the surface as from the drop ship's camera it looks no larger than a hundred yards on any side. The drop ship, piloted by Markos, brazenly lands at the landing strip and the soldiers pour out. There has to be a breathable atmosphere on this planetoid as the soldiers don't need masks when they step out. They pour out of the open door on the drop ship in a roar of orders and shouting. Two groups form separate lines and run to the front entrance of the building. The other two squads hang back in reserve.

"I can't patch into the system!" A soldier calls out.

"Blow the door," the Major calmly calls out.

The young man pulls something black from a pack strapped to his leg and slaps it on the door. Both squads line up against the walls, slightly away from the door, and take cover as the door explodes outwards. A loud siren fills the air and the two squads pour into the building. Everything after that moment becomes a blur on the monitors. A firefight erupts inside and casualties mount on both sides.

"Second Platoon, move in!" The Major calls out.

They pour into the opening in the door and join the firefight. We watch in horror as heads and bodies explode. Monitors go black as soldiers die, some also become fixed on the ceilings, floors and walls, the final image of each deceased soldier. A path is cleared and the remaining squad members head deeper into the building. The Major pushes Captain Markos out of the drop ship and they both run into the building.

"Lieutenant Ortega, I am brining the drop ship back up. Orders are for the remaining crew to board and provide covering fire," Nero calls out over the comms.

The four of us rush to the back of the ship and in minutes the drop ship has returned and we pack into it. My heartbeat is racing in my chest and I can tell everyone else is nervous about the turn of events as well. As we drop from the ship and plummet towards the planetoid my stomach rushes up into my mouth and comes crashing down when Nero softly lands the drop ship on the landing strip. Stepping out I can smell how acrid the air is on the surface. There are four boxes to each side of the walkway and I point Fenster and McMannus towards the ones on the right while Jenna and I crouch behind the ones on the left. On one knee I rest the barrel of the gun on top of the steel box and first notice how fucking quiet it is here. Nothing stirs, there are no sounds other than Jenna's light, controlled breathing and my heavier and much more ragged breaths. The blood is pumping in my veins and I can hear it whoosh in my ears. I sneak a glance across the way and see that the two men are in position and look serious. Fenster is the one close to me and his narrow, rat like face has somehow become even narrower with concentration.

A loud boom and the sound of people crying out echoes out of the building in front of us. From here is looks so innocuous, just a drab research facility but on the inside I know that it is instead a hellscape. Soldiers are dead or dying in there, both Jolanai and Confederation. I expect the action to pick up after that explosion but it doesn't, instead it only goes deathly silent again. The wait is excruciating, every second feels like a day and every minute a year. Next to me I can feel the calm confidence of Jenna, my rock. Nothing fazes her, nothing. Of the four of us she is almost surely the best shot and Fenster the worst. McMannus and I fall somewhere in between.

"Be ready," Markos calls out through the comms. "I've got the device. All the others are dead, at least on our side. There's at least five Jolanai bastards hot on my tail though so you four light them the fuck up when I get outside."

I grip the handle of my gun tighter, a light sweat beading up on my brow. Next to me Jenna takes in a few deep breaths. Across the way I can hear Fenster muttering under his breath, it sounds like: oh fuck! He keeps repeating it over and over, getting more and more anxious as time goes on. Captain Markos, bleeding badly from a wound on his shoulder as well as a cut on his head, runs out of the black opening and up the walkway. In his right hand he has a case, it is square and black in color. Behind him there are five Jolanai soldiers, all of them firing wildly. They are in basically a straight line and Jenna calmly picks off one young, very young, man. The bullet pierces his left eye before the skull explodes in all directions. McMannus and I take out two others. The one I shoot at gets hit just above his left hip, I had been aiming for his chest, and the whole side of his body blows out in bloody pieces. McMannus hits his target in the chest. Three down, two to go. Unfortunately those two are partially hidden by Captain Markos. I have the briefest of thoughts to shoot him myself before events spiral wildly out of control, at least even more out of control than they were. The next few moments became pure chaos. From behind Markos is hit in the left shoulder, his arm cleaved off and blood flying everywhere. His eyes go wide and he stumbles forward. The look on his face is pure disbelief. Fenster lets out a scream and then fires a shot. I'll never know what he was aiming at but whatever it was he hit something he didn't intend to, our Captain. The bullet slams into his chest right where the heart is. The whole top half of his body is sent in all directions.