Starlight Gleaming Ch. 04

Janetta walked over to a tool box and pulled out a thick roll of tape. She went to the captain and rolled him onto his back. Then she straddled his chest. Leaning forward, she slapped him hard on the face. When he didn't respond, she looked at me. "Tell me you didn't stun him."

"Sleep hold," I replied. "What are you planning on doing?"

"You did good in the office, Kandikan. Don't fuck it up by getting squeamish now. Do not interfere!" She leaned forward and slapped the captain three more times. Finally, he moaned and began to come to. As his eyes focused, he looked first at her bare, sodden sex and then up at Janetta's face.

"Captain Zoubat, you are such an arrogant fuck. Look at you now. Wasn't it enough that I had to let you fuck me twice a week? You tapir's prick! I am Eagle and I am Jaguar, and right now, you are my meat! I am a warrior officer! I shouldn't have to fuck anyone unless I want to! But I did what you demanded and that should have been the end of it. But no. You thought you had the right to pimp me out to your toadies."

Zoubat? Holy shit! He was XO for Base Ordnance! Wait. This was one of the men who forced Janetta to fuck?

Janetta leaned closer. "I should cut out your living heart and drink your blood while it still beats in my hand! But who do I dedicate your life to? Huitzilopochtli, Eagle of the North? Or Tezcatlipoca, Jaguar of the South? Every time I had to spread my legs for you was humiliation, you arrogant piece of filth, and you promised my crew would be safe. But today you deliberately came here to hurt those under my protection! That I can not tolerate."

Unrolling a line of tape, she covered his mouth. Zoubat bucked and struggled.

In a warrior society, it is a truth that human life doesn't mean that much. Codes and honor are much more important. Some things were changing, but it was still dangerous to step outside the rules. Janetta was an honorable officer who'd been betrayed by her superior.

"I give you to Xipe Totec." Death by suffocation, a method reserved for slaves and prisoners of war. Janetta unrolled another line of tape and covered his eyes.

Zoubat struggled wildly. The electric cord binding his legs threatened to come loose. The corporal, looking shattered, walked over from the prone sergeant and sat on his bucking legs. Zoubat's nose flared noisily like a winded horse.

I knew that once he died, his body would have to completely disappear. If the authorities ever found out, all five of us would end up on the sacrificial altar. If we were lucky. I had no illusions that my parents' rank or Janetta's mysterious Imperial connections would save us one whit. More than half of the world had abolished human sacrifice, but it was still strongly embedded within the Empire of Chimorro.

So Zoubat was one of the men that used his rank to force Janetta to fuck. If the others were as demanding, then Janetta was very likely forced to have sex every day. Yet still she sought me out.

Janetta placed the third strip over Zoubat's nose. Using her hands, she pressed each of the strips firmly over the captain's face, sealing the tape against his skin. Like a mask, it covered his features and dehumanized him as it deprived him of air.

I moved over and sat down on his belly, right behind Janetta. Very quickly, Zoubat began to choke, struggling harder. Then he seized and lay still.

Without turning around, Janetta said, "Thank you, Ranji."

"Kinchil Chac was another one, wasn't he?" The Assistant Commandant who had disappeared just before Janetta's graduation from the Air Service Academy at Mahongo.

She glanced at me over her shoulder, then nodded. "I owe you that. If Zoubat was arrogant and without honor, Kinchil Chac was a monster. He and his catamite priest Douba tried everything they could to get me to drop out. Tlacotli was Guild, not worthy to be Warrior. My family wasn't wealthy, and that was strike two. But for Chac, worst of all was that I didn't have a cock. That's the mantra, isn't it? A woman is not made to fight. She is made to fuck."

Janetta shivered. "Chac and Douba forced me at the same time. Chac, because he was bigger, delighted in fucking my ass. It took everything I had to work through the pain and keep my grades up until I graduated. They didn't force me too often, mind you, or it would be too obvious. Imperial Security was still keeping tabs on me then."

So she knew that Imperial Security was interested in her.

Janetta continued. "Chac and Douba made sure it hurt to shit all during my last year at the academy. But Chac showed me something that forced my compliance. He had my parents' wedding picture, still in its original frame! Chac or one of his cronies went into my mother's house and stole it. If I resisted, would they do to my mother what they did to me? A warrior's widow with no man to protect her? Chac and Douba are two bodies that will never be found. And my mother got her picture back."

Janetta and I stood up. "There's a lot of work to be done, Ranji. And the bodies are only part of it." She helped the Corporal to her feet and drew her into her arms, kissing the younger woman on her forehead.

The sergeant came out of the office, still a bit wobbly.

Janetta called to her. "You okay, Cholan?"

"Do--do you think I'm too fat to fuck?"

Janetta grinned. "Cholan, if I had a cock, I'd screw you until you squealed. Every week. A regular event, rain or shine."

The sergeant brightened. "Really, Lieutenant? You would ... do that for me?"

"Really."

Sergeant Cholan looked at me, then back to Janetta. "Why? When I look like this?" She waved at her body. Cholan's face was pudgy and she had a lot of extra weight, but I'd seen her smile, and she could look cute. Yes, she had almost no waist, but she had huge breasts for her shorter stature.

Even as she talked, Janetta continued to hold the young corporal, rubbing her back like a mother would to calm a child. "Because I know you and even though you aren't supposed to know it, I like you. I've seen you dance a little, and you can wiggle those hips just fine. For me, best of all is that you know your way on a circuit board like nobody's business. That, Cholan, makes you sexy."

"Why do you care what he said?" I asked Cholan. "He was making you do something you didn't want to do. What he said doesn't matter."

Cholan looked away. Janetta scowled at me. "Don't you get it, Kandikan? From the time we can understand the world around us, we are told our main purpose in life is fucking for men. Even if we don't like it, we are told to take it or get hurt. The higher our caste, the more protection we have. But even there, we depend on the good will of men around us. All of us here have taken oaths to defend our country from outside aggression, and if needed, to give our lives in that defense. But if someone higher in rank wants it, we have to spread our legs so some asshole can get his nuts off. We are trained warriors, but when it comes to sex, we might as well be Servant Class."

Suddenly I understood. "He effectively told her she was worthless."

"There's hope for you yet, Kandikan. Zinja knows engines and Cholan knows electronics, and they aren't just good at their jobs, Kandikan. They are amazing. I am allowed to have my own service crew. I will take all three with me when I post to my next station. I'm a fighter pilot and my craft needs to perform as expected in the air. My life is in their hands. And it's not that we object to sex. With the right lover, it feels good. I don't expect it to happen in our lifetime, but we are warriors and we should have the right to say no. And just maybe all free women should have that right, too."

That was a radical concept. But I'd heard rumors of such attitudes making the rounds not only here in Empire, but among the Aesir-Vedans, too. Even some upper class Atlanteans had been talking about it openly, and there had been some protest marches on the vids.

I noticed that she didn't mention what talents Corporal Ixma had, but let it pass.

Most men cared for the women in their lives. But a few men were exceptions. Such exceptions delighted in control, humiliation, and giving pain.

These women were trained to fight, and today, one had been pushed too far. I also noticed that her crew didn't question the turn of events, even though its discovery would cost them their lives.

The unconscious form of Second Sergeant Zinja stirred. Corporal Ixma broke from Janetta's arms, looking anxiously to the older woman, then back to Janetta.

Janetta nodded.

The young corporal rushed to help Zinja up, crying anew. I heard her say, "Mama." Suddenly Ixma's role in this team was clear.

There was nothing against mother and daughter both serving or even serving together. Ixma was the baby the other three women took care of. Yet I couldn't help thinking that the cub would have to grow a lot faster or she might not survive being a warrior.

"Cholan," Janetta said, walking toward me. "Get a forklift and a pallet with four big drums. All empty, marked for holding waste oil. Kandikan," she said, slipping her arms around me. "Will you help with some clean up?"

Avoiding the damaged side of her lips, I kissed her as thoroughly as I could. I also squeezed her bare butt cheeks in answer.

We laid out a tarp and brought Zoubat's body over. When people die, their bodies release their bladders and feces. There was already a puddle under Zoubat. When we retrieved the other two, it was the same. I mopped while Janetta straightened out the office. She also returned her knives to her boot sheaths. When Janetta was satisfied, she went to her locker and retrieved another class B coverall, bra, and panties. I followed her, staying close.

"Ranji," she said quietly.

"Yes?" From the first aid kit hanging on the wall, I pulled out a nu-skin patch for the cut on her breastbone and removed it from the wrapper.

"I want you to do something for me." Janetta slid on the fresh panties and quickly slid the bra into position.

Before she hooked the bra into place, I stopped her, and applied the patch to the valley between her beautiful globes. When she raised her eyebrows, I said, "It'll chaff under the elastic. Might even get infected."

"Next you'll want to kiss it to make it better." She hooked the bra and adjusted the fit. Then she shook out the coveralls and stepped into them.

"What do you need me to do, Janetta?"

She looked up at me as she zipped the legs closed and stuffed them into her boots. Then she zipped up the front. "When Cholan gets back, I want you to do her."

"What?"

"And would you please do that thing with your tongue on her, too? Make her feel good, Ranji. Not some quick fuck. Make her glad she's a woman." Pulling out a brush and holding her jaguar clasp in her mouth, she combed out her hair, quickly did a loose braid, tied off the end and re-seated her jaguar hair clasp behind her neck.

"Are you serious?"

Janetta turned to me. "As much as I want you, Ranji, you can't have me today. I hurt too much inside. I can fantasize about you filling me up, and all your strong, virile sperm killing all of that bastard's bad seed inside me. Well, you told me you want to come with me to my posting after Tikun. If you still want to be with me, I tell you right now that I agree to your request. You've shown yourself worthy. Today binds us now as deep as any marriage ceremony. And it binds all of us, my team included."

"Of course I want to be with you, Janetta. But I'd like to think I'd do what I did even if we weren't lovers."

"I think you would, too." She looked both happy and sad. "But I meant what I said. Spend some time with Cholan. She needs it."

I reached over and gently touched her swollen lip. She pulled away and I raised my eyebrows.

"Zoubat's work. They were here a while--" She acted as if she was ashamed.

"Shh, shh, shhh. There's no need. What matters is that you are all right now."

"No! I need to tell you. And that's what is so annoying! We don't talk about when you are coming to see me next, but I find myself anticipating your return and wanting it. I hardly know anything about you except that I want you inside me and that fact pisses me off. You make me feel vulnerable and I don't like it. Yet I don't think I can give up how you make my body feel. You are a shitload of complication in my life, Ranji. A solid shitload. But today I'm glad of it."

As a backhanded compliment, it was a doozy, but I smiled anyway.

"Zoubat made me bend over in front of them all, and he entered me hard. Cherno Tixil and Hensha Zlatl laughed and commented on what he did to me. When Zoubat finished, I thought that was the end of it. He used my own knife to cut my coveralls. I thought he was going to fuck me again. But when he said he was going to fuck Ixma next, Zinja picked up a wrench and yelled and the next moment she was on the ground from his stunner. Then he ordered me and Cholan into the office. Well, you know the rest." She looked away. "I--I don't know how I feel about you, Ranji. You're like a Markham Osprey, full of power and touchy as a wet cat."

The Osprey was a naval aviation VTOL import from the Seven Nations on the Northern Continent. I wondered how she'd managed to fly one, but didn't doubt that she had. But I had to wonder why she thought me touchy.

"We really don't know each other, but I want to find out more," she continued quietly. "You make me feel good, Ranji, and I get wet when I see you. We can't get married and I will always be at the mercy of those higher in rank, so there's no use even trying to be exclusive. But I want to know what it would be like sleeping next to you. Having you when I want you."

I smiled. "That's got to be worth something then." I shook my head. "I wished I'd skipped dinner and come here first."

"Don't. No second guesses. We'd probably be dead instead of them. Even if we took one or all of them with us. You did just fine, Ranji. You disabled two so I could finish them. We're a bit battered, but still fit. I'll take that kind of sortie any day." She took a small bottle from the top shelf of her locker and sprayed it on her neck and chest. Orange Mist, it read. That's why she always smelled of oranges!

"You really mean it about Cholan? You want me to be with another woman?"

"Not exclusive, remember? But yes, I'm asking." Janetta put back the perfume and closed her locker. "He hurt her feelings badly." She moved close, letting her hand rub against my crotch. My cock responded to her touch. I groaned.

She pursed her lips, mischief in her eyes. "I suppose I could let my hands give you a weapon's test, but I know your firepower. Large caliber. Armor piercing. Quality stuff, Ranji. Cholan is a kind woman who doubts herself and her worth. I need her skills, and she belongs to me. While she is mine, I will protect and take care of her. You don't mind if I lend you out in a good cause, do you?"

"As long as I get you, Janetta. As long as I get you." I pulled her back into my arms and kissed her face, all around her split lip. I looked into her big black eyes, and I saw affection in them. For a long time, we just held each other.

When Cholan returned with the forklift, we put the bodies into the empty drums and partially filled them with waste oil from the drum in the hangar. Zinja threw in some chemicals, and the drums were resealed.

As it was getting toward dark, Janetta had me ride with Cholan to dispose of the drums. While we rode to the storage depot, the others busied themselves with servicing the aircraft in the bay. Opening the doors eased the heat that had been building inside the hangar.

It was a short ride to the depot, and we rode together in silence. Cholan was probably thinking about all that had happened. My mind was on what was ahead. Once at the depot, we logged in the barrels and left. Then we dropped off the forklift and walked back to the hangar.

When we arrived, Janetta called Sergeant Cholan over. She spoke quietly to her. I joined them.

Cholan looked at Janetta, hope and hunger in her face. "You mean it, Lieutenant? You aren't just blowing chaff at me?"

"Sergeant, I wouldn't lie to you about something like this. My word on it. It may be the only time I let him do you, so make the most of it."

Sergeant Cholan riveted her eyes on me, then she suddenly blushed. Nervous, she wrung her hands as she lowered her head.

Janetta waited several moments and neither of us moved. She flashed me a look of irritation, but when she turned to her sergeant, her face gentled. "Cholan," she said quietly. "I know you're nervous. Kandikan came here to see me. He hasn't been with a woman since last week. I'm too sore to be with him today. So, you'd actually be doing me a real favor by taking care of him. Can I count on you?"

She nodded, slowly at first, then with more vigor. "Sure, Lieutenant. I--I'll do my best." With that, she did an about-face, and strode to the office.

Janetta glared at me. "Be nice to her, Kandikan. Take your time and make her feel good, and you get to come with me to my posting. That's the deal."

I scowled. "Listen, Janetta. You already made your offer. You don't need to beat me over the head with it. I'll do it because you want your friend to feel good about herself. I admire the fact that you care about your people. I will also do it because you asked me to. I want you and I want to be with you. I'll go show Sergeant Cholan a good time, but not because it is part of some deal between us. You are the most beautiful woman I've ever seen, Janetta. That's not flack. It's how I honestly feel. You have a hard time receiving compliments or just letting me be nice to you and I think that's because you haven't had a lot of either in your life. Cholan isn't the only woman here who doesn't think she's worthy. Understand that I am here because I want to be with you and we'll get along a lot better."

Janetta stared in surprise. I reached down and kissed her gently, mindful of her busted lip, and walked to the office.

Once inside, I closed the door.

Cholan looked at me, a riot of emotions on her face, nervous and breathing fast. If she wasn't careful, she'd hyper-ventilate and pass out.

I wasn't attracted to her, but she was important to Janetta. Then it occurred to me that if lust couldn't inspire me, then simple kindness could. To help with that, I needed to calm Cholan down, make her feel at ease, and get to know a little bit about her. Oddly, I remembered my personal servant, Calia, and how patient she was when teaching me.

"What-what do you want me to do?" she asked.

"Relax, Cholan." I smiled at her. "I know your Lieutenant asked you to take care of me, but you don't have to do this if you don't want to."

"Oh, it's okay, Lieutenant ... I--I don't mind if you don't. Should--should I take off my trousers?"

I shook my head. "Not just yet. Just hop on the desk and we'll talk a bit. See where things go. Hmm?"

She did, and promptly put her hands in front, wringing them together.

I reached over and gently brushed some of her stray brown locks from her face. "Where are you from, Cholan? What's your House and how did you get into the Air Service?"

"I'm from Dyn Choga. If I do the full twenty in the military, I'll have a pension, so that when I get out and get married, there'd be more money to live on." On familiar ground, she relaxed a bit.

I took one of her hands, turned it over slowly and kissed the underside of her wrist. "That's in the Inland Sea, isn't it? East of here, across the Devil's Bay?"

She gasped when my lips brushed her skin. "Ye--yes. The big island of Pangosta. My parents came here when I was a small child. They're techs, Guild class. My House is Yakalme. Both of my parents are civil engineers."

"Hunh. My father is a material's research scientist. His background is engineering. So we have something in common." I kissed her fingers.