Gift from Outer Space Ch. 07

"Oh, my God, my ass is on the news." Kirsten breathed, horrified, as the newscaster began to speak.

***

Hours after Loki's agent began broadcasting the footage of Renee and her friends on a public channel, Lieutenant Diggers was still clueless.

With the press of a button on his desk, Detective Pate opened a secure voice channel to Diggers' exosuit.

"Where are ya?" Pate asked. "I expected you back with our little darlings by now."

"Sir?" Diggers replied, confused.

"Don't you ever watch TV on your visor?"

"No sir," Diggers answered firmly.

"Rookie mistake. Son, it looks like everyone is watching the girls you've been watching. They're all over the news!" Pate said with a laugh. "There's sex videos of them all over, every channel is putting them on in a ratings battle. Don't your men monitor this stuff? Nothing makes the afternoon broadcasts like sex, I tell you."

It was true. Although sidewalk view screens skipped the airing of the footage, the public at large got quite an eyeful at home, in their vehicles, and on their mobile devices.

No one knew where it came from, but once it hit the airwaves, it became a story everyone wanted to know more about.

The mysterious pirate broadcast was one aspect that made it an interesting news cycle item, but the mystery remained unsolved. The story gained legs though as a political controversy began to develop. The capital government of Behtor was accused of lying to the Alhani in order to steal property. The perpetrators of fraud were many, including the Matrix itself.

The news item evolved into a political issue between the two top political parties. The Heritage Party was the dominant force in government. There were a couple of weaker parties, foremost among them the Metaloids.

The Metaloids constantly accused the Heritage Party of corruption and deceit. However, the Heritagers claimed credit for the utopia on Serra-5, and warned that without their leadership, the life of plenty would come to an end.

This time the Metaloids felt they had a scandal that was so charged with free coverage that they had to take advantage of it. Even though the charges involving treaty violations were utterly boring to the public, the sex footage caused the story to come up again and again.

The Metaloids also charged Lady Vera with criminal behavior and vowed to get to the bottom of her activities at Pleasure Castle. The thought of unveiling some of the castle's mysteries kept curious viewers tuned in all over Behtorian space.

The Heritagers sought to marginalize the issue as sex sensationalism and overzealous application of the law. Perhaps they were right, but the sensationalism worked.

The girls were offered large sums of money for interviews from hundreds of news sources. This is where Kirsten made one crucial judgment call that saved the day: she insisted that they immediately hire Serran image consultants.

As the whole fiasco was gaining attention in the greater dynastic realm, the girls were flooded with requests for interviews and other lucrative work. They each hired a financial adviser to work alongside their image consultants in order to manage their interview schedules.

Then there was the matter of Lady Vera. Several hearings were called in which Metaloid representatives interrogated witnesses. Vera was the first witness they called to the stands. On this occasion, the girls were obliged to be present.

The questioning was conducted in a small conference room with about a dozen Metaloid leaders and office holders present. She was asked to explain her actions.

"Rehabilitating a rogue symbiont is not easy." She turned her gaze to address the clerks, media, and other witnesses waiting in the room. "She was addicted to the symbiont like a narcotic. A drug. The path to freedom from such an addiction is not lined with gumdrops and kittens. It hurts."

"What about this woman?" the man now pointed to Nina. "Did you torture her in your dungeon?"

"I gave her a room with a bath and other simple amenities. If you call that torture, then yes, I plead guilty."

"Are you also denying that you used your shock treatment powers in a coercive manner to separate Renee from her property?"

"Her property?"

"The symbiont."

"Oh. Oh yes. My intervention was necessary to make the symbiont change its mind. There was no other way."

"An intervention, can you justify that?" another representative interjected. Her name was Lady Selleb, and although a Metaloid she generally sided with the ruling Heritage power.

Vera made eye contact with Selleb, then addressed the entire room. "Symbionts require a careful balance between the personality of the owner and several finely-tuned personality factors. If the balance is off, it might bond with the individual and then threaten to superimpose its own ego over that of the host, permanently."

"I teach my students how to fight the symbiont ego. I do my best to teach them discipline and character. I have to be able to recognize when the student has been overwhelmed. In Renee's case, the symbiont had dominated her short-term impulses. The result was that she found herself powerless to resist the simplistic, carnal demands of the symbiont. The only way to cure her was to separate her from it."

"Lady Vera, you claim that this was something Renee needed for her own good?" Selleb continued.

"Absolutely," she replied, looking straight back at the representative.

"At which point did you obtain authorization to confiscate this symbiont?" Selleb asked.

"According to Behtorian Law," Lady Vera began, "Citizens and certain appointed high gorgonites are allowed to confiscate high technology from native-worlders if it is dangerous to them."

"Are you one?"

"I certainly am a high appointed gorgonite," Lady Vera said with a laugh. "I have always had the authority to remove a symbiont from any native-worlder. At such time, the symbiont becomes Behtorian property. My actions were entirely appropriate."

Selleb couldn't help but smile. Another representative jumped in as soon as the opportunity became available.

"The committee has another question to ask. Your school inventory archive shows that you certified that the symbiont belonged to you, on a date weeks before you extracted it from Renee."

Lady Vera did not immediately reply, so the representative continued. "Let's bring it up-" He made a hand gesture and the lights dimmed slightly. A holographic display appeared at the center of the table. It showed a roster of signed-for symbionts in the school archive, listed by serial number -- except all the serial numbers were blotted out except for 33TG7. The name for each and every one was listed simply as Lady Vera.

"Do you deny that you signed for it?"

"Of course not." Lady Vera replied. "What is the point?"

"Okay, I just want the record to show that you admit you signed for it before Renee ever left Earth."

"Well, of course!" Lady Vera fumed.

"Would you like to explain how this process began? What procedure or protocol was followed?"

Lady Vera snorted. "This was the first time I was ever called upon to remove a symbiont from a native-worlder."

"No procedure was in place. Is that what you are saying?"

Lady Vera said nothing.

"Yet a treaty exists with a clause that specifically prevents just these types of games from being played. Isn't that the real reason why no procedure existed?"

"Are you accusing me of corruption?" Vera shot back, her voice laced with contempt and anger.

A holographic display appeared over the table between Vera and the committee. It showed a sales log, showing the sales by Alhani brokers to entities with the resources to purchase Alhani symbionts. All the lines were blurred out except one.

"This is a portion of the Alhani buyer registry. Here," as he spoke, the words suddenly faded and appeared in English, "is the translation."

There were gasps. The unblurred line now read "Henry J. Nusenfree" and "33TG7".

"Do you have any evidence to refute the validity of this register?"

"No, although the owner could have changed." Vera said coolly. "What does the original owner have to do with me?"

"I hardly believe an exile like Nusenfree would have casually sold the symbiont to you or anyone else in Behtor," the representative said with a bored sigh.

"Lady Vera, stop the masquerade!" shouted one angry representative in the back.

"You were complicit in the fraud, admit it!" came another.

She was barraged by a new flurry of questions.

"At any time did you purchase any Alhani symbionts from any galactic concern other than the Alhani? And if so, did you purchase one from Mr. Nusenfree?"

"Are you aware that Henry Nusenfree is in exile for having created Loki?"

"Is there a conflict of interest in allowing you to extract lost symbionts?"

"How did you make it look official on record?"

Lady Vera did not respond, but her eyes glowed hot orange for a moment, and a small puff of smoke blew out of her scalp and neck.

They continued to badger her for another minute. A clerical assistant who had seen the smoke clearly darted over to her. She did not react. He touched her shoulder. No response. Gasps from the crowded room.

He gave her a push and she toppled over. She collapsed on the floor stiffly, like an oversized junk robot.

When Lady Vera self-terminated, it was pandemonium on the news for the rest of the day. It didn't stop there, though. Instead the committee decided to take a three minute break. When they returned, they showed Loki's video testimony.

"Even the Matrix is limited," he began, his voice surreal. "The heart of the government is a logic structure based on the foreseen, not the unforeseen."

Everywhere, the people of Behtor were listening to the outlaw legend testify. His introduction was riveting:

"I am Loki, Scourge of Sector 18. I apologize for the actions of my youth, and I assure you that I have changed my ways."

"I have been given a chance to speak on the matter at hand. It was I who gave the symbiont to a native-worlder in order to create a tiny, almost painless bit of chaos. Yes, even I had no idea what would happen. Why then, did I do it?"

"It is estimated that well over two trillion humans exist in the galaxy. The popular belief is that there are too many for them all to become Methuselah's. On the whole you choose to live humble lives, content to exist as glorified servants and errand boys."

"The Matrix was designed to promote contentment. The Matrix abhors chaos. The mankind we know seeks to eradicate it and create an ever greater sense of stability."

"A wise native-worlder once said those that prefer disgrace to danger deserve to be slaves. Chaos is dangerous, but mankind needs it. Chaos is the universal teacher, the agent of evolution, and the cure for stagnation."

"While others believe the individual should conform to an average or mean lifestyle, I have the opposite view. I say there are too many teeming multitudes of humans for so many to be content to live meaningless lives."

"You are falling behind. Advanced races like the Alhani humiliate and use you. In time, they or others will come to enslave and destroy you. It is the destiny of every stagnant human civilization."

Then he began his testimony. He described the curio shop, dingy but otherwise comparable to the shops on Serra. He described how he gave away the symbiont to the shopkeeper. He displayed short clips recorded from his optic sensors, of the shopkeeper's courage in trying to hide Nina's identity.

By the time it was Nina's turn to testify, there were crowds of people at the edges of the conference room and a large crowd of Metaloids at the table in front of her, jockeying for the chance to ask the next question.

Nina had become the latest sex icon. Her image consultant made sure she dressed the part, and the hearings were no different. She wore a low cut, lime colored dress with a texture like sharkskin. The fabric glistened with a metallic sheen. She also wore an updo wig adorned with gold lace and pearls, and a pair of gold shells as earrings.

She described exactly how she went to Chinatown and purchased the symbiont.

The Metaloids called Talon to testify briefly before the committee. No difficult questions were asked. They awarded her for bravery in her two separate encounters with Loki. She was also granted the privilege of going to exo-armor school to train with the elite forces.

Renee was next. She was presented in a conservative blue dress, with her blonde hair wound into a tight bun -- her image consultant did not want her to look like a princess while she described the way Lady Vera abused her. Nothing she said came as any surprise.

Next, Captain Chester, Macy and Leifa were each interviewed. The two Avashai talked about Renee's close bond with the symbiont and also her deep love and affection for Nina. They also provided video that turned out to be a bombshell in the investigation of Lady Vera. It showed Renee and Macy having a long and protracted conversation without having sex before or after.

This was solid evidence that Renee had over time gained control of the symbiont, contrary to what Lady Vera had claimed. The video all but invalidated the tall blue lady's testimony that she was providing necessary treatment to a native-worlder who had lost control of her short term impulses.

Captain Chester was criticized at first for his failure to follow orders and place his Avashai in stasis. However, public opinion swung heavily in his favor after his testimony, and his suspension became almost a month of paid leave. This worked out well because he still had Macy and Leifa at his disposal. What mattered to him most though was that he remained the Captain of theAmphitryon.

After a two week media circus, the Metaloids were beginning to lose the propaganda battle. It was beginning to seem like the hype over Renee's abuse was politically motivated. They had turned public opinion against Lady Vera. However, she had already been replaced by a similar model gorgonite.

However, the girls had been made celebrities. Money poured in from a sympathetic public from throughout the quadrant. They were wanted for interviews, product endorsements. Renee began to ask Nina jokingly if she could feel how many guys were sexually fantasizing about her at any given moment. "Benchline, rough estimate? Gotta be in the billions, right?" There was no end to the raunchy game shows that invited her to be their guest. Luckily, their image consultants steered all the girls to the right offers.

Most importantly, the girls sent messages to their parents to let them know that they were okay. There were restrictions on what they could say based on Behtorian law regarding native worlds. They each recorded a message that they were confident would help to ease their parent's troubled hearts. What was more, the parents could respond and thereby establish an email correspondence.

Kirsten had doubted that she would want to stay in space, away from her family and loved ones. However after the other girls decided to stay, she too agreed that it was too great an opportunity to miss out on. Or as Nina put it, "Even if they would let you go home, you don't wanna die of cancer someday, do you?"

***

For once he was spending a little less time at the helm, and a little more time with his borrowed Avashai. Yet Chester was not at ease.

Macy and Leifa were a tangle of limbs on his bed, fucking.

"You're in big trouble, mister," Leifa called out to him from the bed as she stroked Macy's big, thick shaft with both hands.

"I said I wanted to watch," he replied.

"You know, what she means," Macy panted, fondling her own breasts.

Chester paced in front of his bed. "I'm finally figuring out how to use your markings, that's all." He reached out and stroked the fiery teardrop that ran the length of Macy's thigh with his rough palms. "Can you at least give me credit for my past restraint in the matter?"

"Get under me, I need your cock inside me now!" Macy commanded Leifa. The pigtailed Avashai scrambled into position. Soon she was on her back, her cock fully extended and Macy straddling her cowgirl. She began riding Leifa with intensity and vigor.

"Hmm," Chester observed, walking over to his databook to make a quick note.

"You're noting all this down?" Leifa shrilled.

"All the better to serve you with. I can keep it a secret."

"If you didn't have that chastity belt on right now," Macy cut in, her voice ragged from bouncing, "we'd make sure you would never get away with this!"

Chester watched as Macy bounced faster and faster. Sensing their impending climax, he approached them once more. Leifa let out a cry and flooded Macy's cunt until it spilled out in big white gobs.

"Oh, you two aren't enjoying yourselves?" he chided as he rubbed the stripes along Macy's knee. Macy threw her leg over Leifa's stomach. She kissed and sucked the pigtailed Avashai's firm ripe breasts, and at the same time enfolded her cock inside her bent knee.

Leifa took hold of Macy's knee and began thrusting her hips up at it. "Oh fuck," she moaned as she came once more, sending ribbons of cum high into the air and showering her stomach and face.

As she came, Leifa looked into Chester's eyes. She saw the pent up lust, the arousal, the desire to join them. Why did he persist?

Chester kept trying different markings. He watched them, knowing they were enjoying themselves. They gazed at him seductively at every opportunity.

Finally he could not stand to wear the chastity belt any longer. He unlocked the device just as Leifa finished creaming all over Macy's pistoning cock.

"Master, are you finally ready to join us?" Macy asked, pointing her dripping cock at the Bearkin. There was an awkward moment as neither Avashai made a move.

"I want payback," Leifa said. She jumped at Chester and grappled with him, pulling him onto the bed. The two began wrestling in earnest, a flurry of claws and elbows. The bearkin was heavy, muscular, and quick, but Leifa was strong too. If he did not pin her quick, he would be undone by her superhuman endurance.

She tumbled and rolled, evading a lock hold until finally he began to tire. With a flurry of speed she flipped him on his back, grabbing his arm and trapping it between her steel thighs. She arched her back and pulled his arm against her chest, threatening to dislocate his shoulder.

Macy strutted over to Chester's datapad and carefully erased all of his notes. "These markings are not a game, Chess," she said. "If you want to use them, you had better be ready to fuck."

"Can't blame me for trying," he grunted, still in Leifa's leg lock.

"Now about our payback," Macy said. "Leifa, remember your manners. We are negotiating."

Leifa released Chester's arm. They both sat up on the bed.

"Well?" Macy asked.

Leifa turned to Chester and kissed him on the cheek. "Wrestling you was fun," she whispered, smiling.

"Ultimately," Macy went on, "If you don't invite Renee to come see us soon, you'll have to use our markings to get any sex from us."

"Hmm, I don't know," he said. He stroked his muzzle with his thumb and forefinger in a theatrical show of indecision.

"Oh, you pig," Leifa pouted. "We'll tell Jink you were horrible to us."

"Oh no. Oh, please, not that!" he shielded his face in mock fear, then laughed. He gestured to Macy, who brought him his databook. "Oh all right, how could I say no? It sounds like a fun time -- for you two. I can't buy your freedom, but that doesn't mean I can't give you some time off."

Leifa stood and held Macy's hand. They turned to each other and kissed, then all eyes were on Chester as he prepared the databook to record a message.

"Miss Renee," the Bearkin rumbled as he recorded, "Leifa and Macy are pressuring me relentlessly to have a little get together. We were thinking of a cruise to Gregoron-18 and the Glass Leaf Oronium--"