Project - Prometheus Ch. 31

"You'll get used to it. If you think is nice, wait until you see the homes they have for security on the planet below! Many of the family homes are really something!" D'zalah told him as she stepped under the hot needle spray.

"Speaking of family..." Rasner started.

"I have an implant, Ron. One of the newer models, which is specifically designed for Naucturi women," she stated with a smile.

"Ah! All right then. So, family happens only when you say it does," Ron commented.

"Yup! Family is in the gameplan for me, but not yet. Have to find the right guy first," D'zalah told him.

"I see. How's that coming along?" Ron asked with a knowing smirk.

"Don't know. Just met a handsome human who knocks my socks off, but I'd like to get to know him a bit better. Sensible stance, wouldn't you say?" D'zalah teased.

"It is. To be honest, this Naucturi girl who just fucked me stupid makes me think that having a family wouldn't be so bad," Ron shot back at her. D'zalah grinned and drew Ron to her, kissing him again. They only parted when she squeaked as she felt his cock swell again, surprising her.

"You're hard? Again?" D'zalah peeped.

"Seeing you wet like this, in the shower... it's given me some ideas!" Ron chuckled.

"Mmmmm! I think I'm going to like these ideas!" D'zalah purred as she went in to kiss Rasner again. Just as their lips met, a ringing sound went off, indicating that someone was at the front door.

"Didn't housekeeping see the 'Do Not Disturb' sign?" Rasner growled. D'zalah, however, brought up the camera feed that showed who was waiting at the door and she gasped.

"What is it?" Ron questioned.

"That's not housekeeping! That's Rear Admiral Kantori, commander of the First Veldhern Defense Fleet!" D'zalah informed him.

"Rear Admiral Kantori? Wait, that's..."

"My dad!" the woman finished, groaning. "Why did he have to pick now to come and see me??"

"What do we do?" Rasner questioned, mortified that he'd be meeting his lover's father like this.

"You will stay right here. I'll try to get rid of him, but I need you to stay absolutely quiet!" D'zalah whispered to him.

Ron mimed zipping his lips and leaned against the shower wall as D'zalah shut it off and stepped out. The ringing sounded again, and she huffed in frustration as she dried herself off and threw on a bathrobe. She walked out, closing the door behind her, all flustered at her time being interrupted like this. Knowing there was nothing for it, she opened the door to see her father.

"Really, dad?" she asked as she looked at the man, still in his military uniform. "There are times where you can ditch the uniform, you know."

"A ranking officer on duty never shucks his uniform, D'zalah. You know that," the admiral stated as he took in his daughter's attire. "Just get out of the tub?"

"Was in the middle of a soak when you rang," she huffed.

"I promise, this won't take long, dear daughter. Just came to see how things are getting on with your position here," Lamkhar stated with a smirk. He wouldn't stay too long, or the water she drew for her bath would get cold. The man knew his daughter took after his wife that way, liking to get things done without being interrupted or starting them up again.

"All right. Come on in," she said, stepping aside to invite him in.

"Thank you. Well, this is certainly one of the nicer suites here. The station upgraded the interview room?" the man questioned.

"Yeah. The brass agreed that making the room more inviting would likely appeal more to potential hires for the station and the planetary security force. A way of showing these guys just how much time and effort is being put into this place. Make them more eager to defend it," D'zalah stated.

"Making use of the room a little?" the admiral questioned, noting the bed sheets cast aside, along with a few personal implements of D'zalah's.

"A nap and a soak, dad. Just like when I was little," D'zalah told him, covering for her more... carnal activities from earlier.

"Good!" he replied approvingly. "I'm happy to see you living it up a little here. As befits someone of your talents and lineage."

"Yeah, I know!" she replied exasperatedly as she rolled her eyes. The Naucturi man didn't see it, as he was looking at the computer tablet that was lying on the bed.

"May I?" he questioned.

"You have the clearance to look at it. Be my guest," she said, happy to keep him distracted. The admiral smiled, and he went through the files of the new hires for the Veldhern security force. Many of the new hires had been mercs, cherry picked out of the pirate crews. Though Kantori despised mercenaries, he knew they had their uses. He kept scrolling through the list, his mouth set in a grimace of distaste.

"Was this the best you could do?" he wondered, giving her a look.

"On short notice, yeah. It's not like we had much choice at the moment," D'zalah told him.

"OK, I'll give you that. This man here though..." Lamkhar Kantori questioned as he brought up Rasner's file. He looked over the man's service record and his disgusted grimace turned to one of contemplation. After a brief look through it, he brought up the recent armor cam footage of Rasner in action.

"This one isn't bad. Good instincts. A bit of a showboat, though," Kantori concluded. "I assume they've all been vetted and checked? Via a Wych?"

"What do you think, dad? That I'd just throw out procedure on a whim?" she answered. The admiral then cocked an eyebrow, knowing all too well how his daughter would, on occasion, 'bend' the rules. "Trivialities, maybe, but something this serious, of course we had a Wych check them."

"Glad to hear it. I know the situation merited selecting some men and women who served with the attacking fleet. I don't like it, but I'm glad to see that protocol is being followed. What of them following orders? Are you certain they'll obey?" he pressed.

"If I had the choice of either serving in paradise or being sent to Tartarus, I think it would be obvious with what I'd pick," his daughter told him. Hearing this made Lamkhar Kantori wince, as he'd personally been to Tartarus and was well aware of the hellish conditions on the planet. It was not a place he'd wish to visit again, even as an observer.

"So, why else did you stop by? I know it wasn't to talk about my work, so... what's up?" D'zalah questioned.

"Well, it's been a while since I had any proper shore leave and I was wondering if we could catch up. Over dinner?" he asked. D'zalah hesitated for a moment, but she could tell that her father was being honest with his intent. He wasn't asking as an admiral, but as her father, who wanted to stay in touch with his daughter.

"I've still got some paperwork to finish processing, but I have some time after that. Meet me at Toren'dalthi in, say... three hours?" she put forward.

"Splendid! I'll put for a reservation there now! I'll let you get back to your soak and your paperwork," the admiral smiled.

"Thank you!" she replied, before she showed him out.

The admiral walked along, happy to be spending some one on one time with his daughter. He called the restaurant immediately, and he was granted a reservation right away, without fuss. Lamkhar was mildly suspicious of why his daughter appeared so flustered, but he remembered she was always like that when her alone time was interrupted. He shrugged and sighed happily, a smile on his face.

*****

D'zalah breathed a sigh of relief, as she was glad that her dad hadn't decided to use the washroom and discover Rasner there. She smiled at the thought of the hot, naked human in the bathroom and giggled as she pranced back in there. The Naucturi woman was wondering why Rasner had this sour look on his face as she approached him.

"You had a Wych check me?" Ron groused as he stared at her.

"Primarily, the people you said could be trusted, as it was believed none of them were as noble as you were," D'zalah told him.

Wyches were a sect among the Naucturi people that was only spoken of in hushed tones. They were psychics who could delve into the minds of other people and determine their intent. Whether they were good, evil, telling the truth or not, and if they were hiding anything. It was said that they had an array of other powers, but no one really knew what, as they were a highly secretive group.

Even among the Naucturi, Wyches were not known, as it was essential for them to keep their identities secret. Mainly so they could work undetected among their own people, and for the safety of their families. Of course, individuals with such power would always have rumors about them. The rumors about the Wyches were just as outlandish as you'd think, but for the most part, they were just that, rumors.

"You really expect me to believe that?" Ron growled. "That I was left alone? That everything that's in my head is no longer just in my head? That someone knows shit about me that I wouldn't tell anyone?"

"The Wych in question only did a light probe on you. Just your surface thoughts, to see if your intent was as you said," D'zalah told him, trying to get him to see reason.

"How do you know that? Are you good friends with the Wych? Because seriously, if you got a kick out of knowing what's in my head..." he started.

"... then I wouldn't have known you found me attractive and I wouldn't have invited you up here last," D'zalah finished.

"The Wych tell you that?" Ron scoffed.

"I know what you thought because I am the Wych!" she shouted.

"Wha... wha..." Ron stuttered, caught off guard. Though he didn't know much about Naucturi society, he did know that Wyches were shadow operatives. That they never revealed who they were, not to anyone, no matter the circumstance.

"This is what I was afraid of! You losing your shit and what we had, ending before it even started, all because you couldn't--" D'zalah started, before Rasner scooped her up in his arms and kissed her soundly.

She was stunned for a moment before melting into the kiss, her ire dissipating as fast as it came. Ron then held her close, pulling her into his chest as she caught her breath. Rasner knew the immense risk she had put herself in, telling him, a virtual nobody, what she was. Being a former spec ops soldier, he knew what she had done was stupid, but it was heartening to see that she trusted him that much.

"Who else?"

"Hmm?" D'zalah murmured.

"Who else knows?" he clarified.

"Just my trainer and Karl Fitch, my CO. Not even my parents know," D'zalah told him.

"Why don't they know?" he questioned, wondering why.

"Two reasons. The first being security about my position and what I could potentially do. I don't want my parents with that knowledge in their hands, and the damage it could cause if they slipped up with it. The second is because of the... stigma that is attached to being a Wych," D'zalah told Ron.

"Stigma? What kind of stigma?" Rasner queried.

"It's old bullshit, yet it still permeates Naucturi society today. Stories about how Wyches are ugly hags or power hungry cunts, who seek to control others. How they will never seek a home, a family or anything that would be considered normal," D'zalah huffed.

"That's some fucked up bullshit! Anyone who believes that needs their head examined to see if there's still a functioning brain inside of it," Ron told her. D'zalah snorted a laugh, and he shared in her mirth, the two of them having a laugh together. Ron then reached over and turned on the shower, engulfing the room in steam once again.

"So, how does it work? Your abilities, I mean. Can you read anyone's mind?" he asked.

"Not everyone's mind, no. Not at first, at least. A lot of people are guarded about what they think about, and certain types are more difficult to read than others," she told him.

"Like who?" he wondered.

"You, for example. It wasn't easy to even skim your mind, as many spec ops soldiers often receive training against mental attacks and intrusions. The only way to even manage a skim on such people requires more concentration and effort than usual," D'zalah replied.

"And if someone's mind is open?" he wondered.

"Well, that makes things easy! I can just do a quick look in and then..." she started, before she could sense Rasner letting his mental guard down. She blinked for a moment, wondering what was going on and on reflex, she had a quick peek at his thoughts.

"Holy... oh my... fuck!!!!" she breathed, blushing so hard that her face went to a forest green. D'zalah glanced down and noted how Rasner's dick had gotten hard again and it throbbed, in need of feminine attention.

"I sure... hope you plan on... acting out... some of those..." D'zalah whimpered, getting insanely turned on by the thoughts Ron had let her see.

"That's just a couple that came off the top of my head. I have... naughtier ones that I can bring up," Rasner teased.

"Maybe later! Right now, I really need you to fuck me and fuck me like you mean it!" she begged as she turned around, presenting her ass to her lover.

"Here, I always was afraid that a Wych would have me under her spell. Now it seems that I have her under mine," Rasner growled ferally as he took D'zalah from behind, filling her quim with his dick.

"Yes, you do!" D'zalah giggled as she ground her ass into Rasner.

*****

The doors in the meeting room on the station opened to admit Lt. Commander Williams, Natalya, Jaesa and Taal'ani. The rest of the Darkstrider was present, along with the entire fleet and station command. Every being in the room turned their attention to the quartet, wondering what they had to say.

"Well? Were you four successful in your endeavor?" Rear Admiral Kantori questioned, his voice giving away his anxiety.

"After a fashion, we were. Here are the schematics for the new shield generators that can be mounted on our ships!" Graham stated proudly.

He pulled up the schematics for it and went into a basic explanation of how the new shield generator would work. Everyone, including the admiral, was a captive audience as Graham broke things down for them. He even detailed the new capacitors, which would see less power required to fire their lasers and cannons.

"Hold on. How much extra shielding did you say each ship would have?" Kantori questioned.

"Anywhere between twenty-nine to forty-one percent, depending on what materials are used to assemble this new item," Natalya replied.

"And the capacitors?" Ana queried.

"They will reduce power drain on any ship's reactor by at least twenty-four percent," Jaesa responded. "There is one drawback though."

"Which is what?" Administrator Dohbalan asked.

"With what we've designed, the smallest ship which this shield tech can be mounted is a destroyer," Taal'ani told them with a note of bitterness to her voice.

"While it's not ideal, I'm honestly not too perturbed by this. This new development will aid our fleets substantially! I assume the capacitors can be fitted on any ship, though?" the admiral queried.

"The capacitors were much easier to work with. It's the shield tech that was much more complex to scale down," Natalya groused.

"Still, this is a tremendous boon! Besides, I'm sure that with some extra research time and a full team of engineers can help solve this problem, Lt. Commander?" Ana asked her husband.

"I believe it can! We are on the right track in scaling the generator down and there were several designs that look promising for ships as small as a frigate!" Graham smiled.

"In that case, I would call this a success! How long would you need to build a prototype to be mounted on any of the active ships?" Kantori asked the man.

"Have one building right now, with the fabricators in the maintenance bay. A team of my best engineers is overseeing the project and will alert us the moment it is ready for testing," Graham told the admiral.

"Excellent!" Lamkhar Kantori replied, smiling. Several officers there noted this and almost gawped at the man, as they had never seen him smile! They rapidly corrected themselves and turned to regard the crew of the Darkstrider, who had helped make this miracle happen.

"Crew of the Darkstrider, you have our most profuse thanks! This will not only give us the edge we need over the Collective, but against anyone else who would dare to attack us here!" Ana replied gratefully.

"Yes! Your aid in the subsequent battles and in holding the station is greatly appreciated and on the behalf of the UCW, we thank you!" Admiral Kantori told them.

"You are most welcome! If there is nothing else, we will be going then. We have pressing business elsewhere," Alex informed them, before saluting. The military personnel saluted back, happy to have this crew as their allies.

"There is one last thing," Kantori stated as he approached Alex. He then extended his hand, a gesture of camaraderie to the Commodore. Alex smirked for a moment, before he extended his own, clasping the Naucturi man's hand.

"Oh, and I just remembered!" Alex responded, breaking the arm clasp before reaching into his jacket. He pulled out a circular bottle filled with a transparent, cream-colored liquid and walked towards Ana. He placed the bottle on the table in front of her and her eyes widened at what it was. It was a bottle of Sljivovice, brewed in Zagreb, Croatia, a relic of Earth's distant past.

"Don't drink it all at once!" he laughed. Seconds later, the crew of the Darkstrider exited the room, escorted by Lt. Commander Hardick, as they made their way back to their ship.

"Is that... is it..." Graham breathed, recognizing the bottle of spirits.

"I think it is!" Dohbalan gasped in awe, as such an item was a rare sight!

"It definitely is! I know what I'm doing with this!" Ana replied, grinning.

"You going to sell it?" Graham asked.

"No! I'm going to drink it, of course!"

*****

The crew reached the docks with little issue, as the military escort guided them there quickly. Once they reached the ship, they checked with the loading crews to ensure that everything they had purchased was loaded. After confirming they had everything, they started boarding, with Alex bidding the Lt. Commander goodbye.

"It's a pity that you can't stay. We could really use you and your crew here," Hardick lamented.

"We all have our own paths to follow, Commander. Besides, it's likely we'll be back. I can't say when, though," Alex told the man.

"When you do come back, you'll be welcomed here with open arms!" Hardick replied as he saluted.

Alex saluted back and, seeing how everyone was already aboard, he got on the ship. The door closed behind him and the docking clamps came away from the Darkstrider, letting it coast away from the docks. The ship then hit trawling speed to clear the station, before it could resume a proper coasting speed.

"We have a clear flightpath out of here?" Alex queried as he ambled onto the bridge.

"Yes, sir! Veldhern control cleared us not even thirty seconds ago. We're clear to jump on your mark," Inari called out over the comms.

"Let's roll!"

*****

At the Toren'dalthi restaurant, Dr. Lilliana Vesper watched as the Darkstrider entered hyperspace, heading off for parts unknown. The human woman stared at the ships that were coming and going as she waited for her date. Though she had been adamant about Tayla meeting her for dinner, she was all nerves. She only hoped that the sexy red dress she was wearing would be enough to draw the woman in.

"Excuse me, Dr. Vesper? Your guest has arrived," her waiter informed her. Lilliana's heart fluttered as she turned her head and caught sight of Tayla Markosi. Outside, she was smiling happily and waving Tayla over, but inside, she was panting with lust and desire.

Tayla was wearing a pearlescent white dress, which made her dark skin pop all the more. The center of it was cut out, reaching down to her sternum, making her breasts pop while hugging her curvy form. The dress ended just below her knees, coming down at an angle. Not only was the front revealing, but the dress she wore was also backless, stoking Lilliana's fires even more.