To Walk the Constellations Pt. 03

"Precisely, Techne, where did you find this girl?" he asked, laughing.

"In a shithole," Techne said, looking at me curiously. Was she thinking that I'd never been this smart before? I stood myself back up and rolled my shoulder, wincing as I felt a tiny pop. Mal hit hard for a soft doctor. My brain immediately went to thinking about how hard other parts of him could be. Uh. Uhhhhhhh.

"Now," Rossk said, pushing some more buttons. "Speaking of crawling up the Chain, I have a tri-jump to calculate." His clawed fingers began to fly across his controls and buttons. "The insertion protocol has to be very precise with a jackdrive."

My brow furrowed. "Jackdrive?" I whispered to Mal.

"Modern drive systems are jerry rigs," Mal murmured back to me -- rumbled, really. He reached up to adjust his glasses. "In the old days, the Machines built drive systems and created their automation. You could travel along the Chain by simply flying into a sun and engaging a 'spin' drive -- spinning around in the heart of a star, jumping hundreds of times in a single go. We're only able to construct 'jack' drives -- ones that send you in, then spit you out one jump up or down the chain."

My brow furrowed a bit. "Jack as in..." I almost started to mime the gesture 'jacking' brought to my brain, but I stopped myself real real fast. Mal chuckled.

"Jackhammer," he said. "We get around the weakness by programming in automatic re-injection systems and jackhammering ourselves in and out and in out and in and out until our shields are depleted and we need to stop. It's how sundivers get past deadzones in the Chain."

My eyes widened. "T-That sounds awful."

Techne, walking up beside me, slipped her arm around my shoulder. Her grin was broad. "Don't worry, Venn," she said. "It's way worse."

MY TANK

"You are a damn lucky scrapper," Techne said as she walked me into the back of the bridge, where I saw that the wall I had thought was just very lumpy was actually a set of four doors. "This sundiver was made for a crew of four, and only two of the people on it have internal organs." She flashed me a pretty smile. Her finger darted out and she flicked up a small glass button protector, then thumbed down the button in question, and the door in the wall opened, revealing a glass cylinder with several braces for arms and legs and hips, with tubes and cables everywhere. There was a handle stuck into a slot in the wall, and Techne picked it up.

Turns out it was a blunt barreled, short stubby looking gun thing.

"So, this is going to hurt," Techne said and, before I could say, think, or do anything, she pressed the barrel right to my thigh, shoving my leggings down just enough to put gun to skin. The gun thing hit me like a hammer and my leg almost went out from under me. The pinching feeling that came from my thigh lasted long enough for me to start hissing before the boring feeling happened. It hurt. It was a deep, painful hurt that stabbed from skin to bone, where it radiated out through my whole body for about twenty seconds, time enough for tears to burn in my eyes. My hiss turned into a mild scream and Techne slid her arm under my shoulder, keeping me propped up.

The pain went and when I looked down, I saw that there was a gleaming, silver plug on my skin, the surrounding skin puffy and red. The puff and the red both started to fade with the pain. Like a bad memory.

"Techne," I growled. "What the fuck?"

But the voiceless voice breathed in an awareness of the plug. The interface it'd have with my blood and my circulatory system and how, even now, the proprietary, DRM riddled mana that the gun was loaded with was working into my system, laying down more pipes. It felt like a cold snake in my guts. I rubbed my belly, then glared at Techne. She smiled, apologetically.

"I did say it'd hurt," she said.

"Yeah..." I rubbed the plug. "What's it for?"

"Well. We're going to go smashing into a star at several hundred gravities," she said. "Then we're going to fly out and smash in again two more times. That's what this is for." She patted the doorway leading to the room. "It'll be pumped in with an intelligent non-Newtonian fluid programmed to react to different accelerations and pressures to support and give as much as required to keep your body intact. The plug..." Her finger caressed the small button she'd put on me. Chrome fingers running along my own bit of chrome. It was beginning to sink in that I had tech in me now. Literally. I could feel it, and as the pain was fading, the awe was coming in to replace it. Awe and wonder and a tingle of...uh...

Chrome finger touching chrome plug. Almost like teasing a...

Uhh.

My cheeks heated as Techne murmured. "The plug lets the ship fill your internal spaces with similar fluids, providing cushions for your organs, your veins. It seeps into the brain and protects you from stroking out." She grinned at me. "All the joy of a hangover with none of the fun parts."

I gulped as she stepped away from me and started to point out the parts of the tank, describing how I'd lock myself in, plug myself in, how I'd check to make sure everything was secure. "We have antigravity, but it's being channeled into the jump effect, which is why we're fucking around with tanks. Worldkillers and other military ships double up on agrav -- that's why the Victrix could fly in atmo."

I nodded, my finger rubbing my own bit of chrome.

"We got an ETA?" Techne called over her shoulder.

"Injection calculations are done," Rossk said. "How's our burn looking, Mal?"

"Good," Mal said. "We should tank up now, though. The longer we have to run up, the better the chances we don't die." He chuckled.

"All right, you heard the monkey," Techne said.

"Please," Mal said, his voice full of dignity and gravitas. "I am an uplifted gorilla. Not a monkey." He lifted his head as he started to walk by, his knuckles thumping on the deck. "Do I look like I have a preposterous tail?"

Rossk playfully snapped at him and the two men started to...

Uh.

Uhhhhhhhhh.

Rossk's shorts hit the floor first. I shouldn't look. It was unbelievably rude to look. And he had this kind of scaled sheath, like some of the more canid looking exigenics I'd seen. His balls, though, were mouth wateringly perfect. Round and full as my clenched fist and covered with a light patina of scaling that was the same green hue as the rest of him. They nestled between muscular thighs and looked so inviting that I nearly took a step forward. Then I looked over at Mal and saw him stripping off too and he definitely didn't have a sheath. His cock was also...g-god, how did women...he...

Big.

Real big. Lots. Uh.

"Not even species accurate," Techne muttered. She had seen my sight-lines. My cheeks burned and I yelped.

"I wasn't looking!" I squeaked, while Mal and Rossk both headed for their tanks. Rossk grinned at me, while Mal got into his tank with a kind of intense dignity. Like he wanted everyone to remember that he did, in fact, have a Doctor name and two last names. I gulped and Techne smiled at me and I realized I needed to get naked too. My cheeks heated and I waited, at least, for the doors leading into Rossk and Mal's tanks to shut.

Techne's voice was soft. "It's not as scary as you think. The acceleration medium is pumped with enough happy juice to tank out a great ape like Mal. You'll be walking on sunshine in there, Venn." She patted my shoulder.

I nodded, mutely, then started to slide off my shirt. It should have been easier to strip down with just Techne in the room. But then I was standing there: Me, flat chested and gangly and covered in dots, with my wild bush, next to this chrome and plastic goddess. Techne smiled at me, comforting and friendly, and I tried to not hate how pretty she was. It was easy to do that, considering...she...uh. She was very pretty.

"S-So, uh, what about you? A hundred gravities is a lot..." I said.

She chuckled. "I lay down and shut my higher brain functions off," she said, quietly. "Basically, I dream. My body can handle the G-force. The fragile components that couldn't survive were replaced years ago."

I nodded.

I whispered. "I'm scared."

Techne caught my chin and lifted my head. She looked into my eyes. "Jesus Christ and her saints will watch over you, Venn. I promise." She smiled and then added. "Besides. You're a badass Liminal Knight. You got this."

My lips skinned back in a grin.

I did. I did got this.

Techne kissed my cheek. I almost exploded into flames.

HAPPY JUICE

I socketed the tube that Techne had shown me into my thigh, then put the smart catheter up against my fuzz. The tube found its way into me and I tried to not think about it.

The thigh tube started to hiss. The feeling that followed felt like being...it felt like drinking water. But then you just keep drinking and drinking and drinking and drinking, and there was no sensation of drinking, no movement of the throat, nothing but the pressure building and building. But even while the pressure got worse and worse, the feeling of peace got stronger and stronger. My eyes went lidded and a stupid smile split my face as something slurpy and orange-white started to dribble into the acceleration tank. It moved faster and faster, sweeping past my ankles, past my knees, past my thighs.

Past my fuzz.

Past my head.

My eyes closed.

And when they opened, my thoughts were clear and concentrated. The muzzy happiness had snapped away and I was standing in a huge, black room. The walls were sloped inwards, making it into a trapezoidal shape. There were tall, broad black pillars that made me think temple. And more than that, I was dressed. I wore a white tunic and shorts, tied around my hip by a black leather belt. My threshold blade hung from it and I could feel the weight of it. It was so heavy.

"Venn?"

I spun.

"Thale!" I beamed and saw him standing at the far end of the room. He was dressed in the same white tunic as me. He had a threshold blade hanging from his hip -- and joy exploded in my breast to see him. He looked even better clothed. How was that fucking possible? I had thought that he was beautiful naked, but...but...but but...ugh...now that he was wearing clothes, I could imagine chewing them off him. I started to walk forward, beaming at him. "Thale, I...hi..." I breathed in, then out. "You're a Knight too?" I asked, excitedly.

He nodded. His throat worked in a quick gulp. "Yeah," he said. His voice sounded guarded. "Why are you here? How are you here? This...where is this?"

"Y-You don't know?" I asked, cocking my head, grinning at him. He looked so focused. His purple eyes were narrowed, but not at me. He was looking past me. His ears had flicked back against his black hair. I wanted to reach up and tease it. Instead, I bit my lip.

Thale shook his head. "This has never happened before," he said. "The...my dream...the garden? That's been my place. I've never heard of any other Knight seeing a place like that." He ducked his head forward. "I...thought it was just me. Then you were there. And now we're here..." He gulped, slightly. "Venn, I..." His voice caught. I stepped a bit closer. My hands reached out and I touched him, and I half thought my fingers would go through him. Instead, I felt the crisp, clean fabric of his uniform, the sleek muscle underneath.

His tail stopped its swaying. His ears perked up. He didn't look up, but I could see him blushing a bit.

"A-Are you one of the Hegemonic Knights?" I asked, quietly.

"I hate the Hegemony," he snarled, snapping his head up and looking into my eyes.

I almost sagged with relief. "Me too." I smiled.

His lips parted. Shut.

We were standing so close.

Thale jerked his chin at my blade. "You know how to use that?" he asked.

I shook my head. "No. I'm...new." I smiled at him. "Y-You?"

"I've had some practice," he said, shrugging one shoulder. His tongue darted along his lips. I saw a glint of desire in his eyes. I wondered what it'd be like to lick those lips. Instead, I nodded, my hand dropping to the hilt of my blade.

"Wanna show me the FAQ?" I grinned at him.

He grinned, then pulled out his blade. He twirled it, nodding. "Okay..." He moved loose and limp. Fluid. Catlike. Ugh. Of course. He started to pace around me, his eyes locked on mine as he flashed me a big grin. The hilt stopped twirling -- and he flicked it on. A glowing white blade burst from it. Though it looked more...solid than the blade I'd seen before. "A threshold blade is more than a weapon. It's a thousand weapons."

He tossed the hilt to his other hand.

I looked down at my hilt, my brow furrowing. Before, I'd just clenched my hand on it, and the blade had popped out. So, I just had to do that again, right? I gripped it in both hands and there was a roaring, hissing sound and my red blade burst from the handle, shimmering and humming.

Thale grinned a lopsided grin at me. "Red? How gauche."

"Hey!" I said, grinning at him. "What's wrong with red?"

"Oh, just ever since Wotan Hohmann vanished into legend, people have been patterning their blade after him," Thale said. He tossed his blade from hand to hand, hand to hand. "He was the last Knight of the Republique."

I nodded, slowly. "At least I got a famous color."

"And a lethal one," he said. "I've formatted my blade to a stun setting. It's a tube of conductive metal, designed to discharge that shock into contact. It'll sting. Burn. Maybe even shock you out. But it won't lop off a limb like that one." He jerked his chin at my blade.

I looked at my blade, my brow furrowing. "Huh?"

"That's the most common setting," Thale said -- like he really as my teacher. As he spoke, I took in the humming feeling of my hilt, throbbing through my palms. "You've extruded a monomolecular wire, suspended in an electrostatic field."

I saw it. An almost impossibly thin core of my blade, like a dark heart.

"The holo-field's just so we can see it," Thale said, that lopsided smile making him look even more kissable. I nodded, then shifted my grip. I closed my eyes and tried to ape his blade. I felt my hilt -- I felt the deep secrets throbbing inside of it. Thale's voice kept dripping down my ears. "The secret is already in your mind. Your djinn, your Machine, knows it. You don't need to understand it. You merely need to be the conduit for it. You merely need to believe that you can do it, Venn. And you can do it."

I breathed out. And the voiceless voice spoke -- it spoke math and it spoke numbers. When my eyes opened, I had the same white blade he did. I felt a shivery shock run through me. My knees quivered and my arms wanted to go slack. I looked up at Thale. He nodded a bit to me.

"I did it," I said.

Thale shifted his grip. "Ready?" he asked, his purple eyes focused on mine.

I grinned. "Bring it, cutie."

He arched an eyebrow. "Excuse me?" His voice held that regal disdain I expected from a cat. But now I wondered: Was he Prince Thale? Did he live in a cryonic palace on a diamond world? Did he have servants and flunkies and had I just insulted him? I flushed, hard, and babbled.

"I mean kitty! I mean Tha-"

Thale shot at me.

His sword thrust for my chest. I yelped and batted it aside, skidding left. He swept past me and crash. My left knee went into a burning frenzy of agony as the edge of his stun-sword glanced off bone and flesh. I fell, turned that fall into a roll, came to my feet. The ache throbbed, but I ignored it as I tried my own swing. Thale actually let himself drop backwards, keeping his feet under him with a dancer's grace as he kept his back from touching the matte black floor. He grinned up at me. Cocky. Confident.

"Sloppy," he said, then kipped upright. His hilt went flying at my face and I staggered back to avoid getting clocked in the jaw by the heavy chunk of metal. I was off balance and Thale slashed his sword across my belly. Or he would have, if I hadn't brought my own blade twisting around -- blade locking to blade. I grinned, then shoved back. Hard. He was pushed back on his ankles and I remembered all of what I'd learned while swinging my staff.

When you used a big honking staff, use your reach. Don't overextend. So, I mentally adjusted. My reach wasn't that long, but I had slightly longer arms than this lithe prince. I thrust at his chest and he pirouetted away, showing his back to me for a flash. It was a fast move, deadly fast, but I saw a weakness. I stepped backwards, and Thale started to advance. He thrust, thrust, thrust again. Each time he thrust, I had to shift my grip to block, block, block. Each contact filled the air with hissing, screeching noises.

But then I saw my chance.

Thale swung an overheaded chop. I ducked aside, slashing upwards. He pirouetted away and I tackled him. My shoulder slammed into his side and I didn't even bother keeping a hold of my blade. I let it drop and used my freed arm to wrap around his waist and my weight to bear him to the ground. The floor turned out to be one of those smart materials. The kind that could go all soft when it was needed. Thale hit the ground and his hand opened and his threshold blade went skittering away. I planted on knee on his belly and slammed my hands down on his wrists, pinning them over his head.

He panted.

I panted.

I looked down at him. Grinning. Fierce.

"Hey, Thale," I whispered.

His smirk didn't vanish. I saw it then -- a tiny loop of wire around his wrist, leading right to the hilt of his blade. The wire flexed and his hilt skittered back into his hand. The glowing stun-sword sprang back to life, his hand canted just so to keep the edge near my throat.

"Do you yield?" He murmured.

I laughed. "Fuck you." Playful.

Thale arched his back, using every bit of his belly muscle to rock me up. Then he flung himself to the side and, in a single moment, I was pinned under him. His hilt -- the blade having retracted with a hiss -- rested right next to my ear, warm and thrumming and heavy. His other hand was on my wrist, pinning my left arm above my head. I breathed heavy, breathed him in. His sweat smell wasn't the heavy musk of some men, but it still tingled on my tongue as it went down. His eyes didn't waver as he looked down at me. His eyes were the most remarkable violent shade.

"Do you yield?" He murmured.

My tongue darted along my lips. "How did you do that?"

He was leaning in closer. My whole body tingled, like I'd been dipped in lightning.

"That's not a yes..." He murmured. And I swore, he was purring. My eyes grew hooded and his lips tortured me with their nearness. I could almost feel them against my lips. His voice was a warm, wafting feeling against my face. "Do you?"

"I...wanna learn that...trick..." I whispered.

He had me pinned. I wasn't about to say I lost.

His lips forced the issue. They pressed to my mouth and I swore, my back arched and I nearly matched him, moan for moan. His tongue was warm and slick and soft and it plundered my mouth. I'd been kissed twice. Once, it had been by a drunken scrapper to celebrate the new years. He'd smelled bad and hadn't shaved. I hadn't wanted it and the kiss had left me feeling dirty and I'd gone and cried in my niche. I'd been fourteen orbits old at the time. The second kiss had been when I hit my eighteenth and screwed up my courage to kiss someone, anyone. Fiorial. He'd died in a cave in two weeks later, before I'd ever managed to ask him for a second kiss.