Her nickname is "Tanj", and she's certainly living up to it. For her, it seems, “There Ain’t No Justice.” As a young engineer on a tramp space freighter, this Cheetah-morph found herself the victim of a scam, sold into slavery, and trained as a sex-slave. Sold to pirates, she finds herself as a pawn in a much larger struggle. This story contains bondage, non-consensual sex, and hopefully some humor, adventure and intrigue. Adults only, PLEASE! This is a work-in-progress, and more will be added to it Later; please stay tuned and have patience! Tanj's Tales: Transitions Stardate 2401.9 By Kittiara On board the Freighter “Lost Cause” The vixen smiled. Standing in the shower, she softly rubbed her mons with one hand, squeezing her right breast with her other hand. Playing with herself in the shower was something she sometimes did, the feeling of the water running down over her fur adding to the sensual delights. But this time, she had other things in mind than pleasing herself…… Leaning back against the wall of the shower stall, she let the water play over her crotch, as she worked two fingers in and out of her pussy… It felt good, but she had to keep her mind about her; she was hunting an elusive quarry…… It showed just as she was savoring the aftershocks of her climax; it almost made it to her foot, emerging from the drain, a black viscous flow moving countercurrent to the water. The jury-rigged vacuum hose was ready and dancing back, the vixen bent, to suck the little darling into the holding tank. Wanda looked up from her medical journal as the vixen, still damp from her shower, sashayed into the Wardroom, a cylindrical, clear plastic container under one arm. Within it, something black and oily surged back and forth, its motions not quite matching that of the Vixen’s movements. “You’re looking happy today” the Wolverine lass commented. “Hinoki finally get around to giving you the antidote?” Zassa’s look sobered a little; “No… he still hasn’t quite found the time for that. And I’m starting to go a little numb too. Its getting harder and harder to bring myself off. The Wolverine lass smiled and held up a small hypodermic, with a cork on the end of the needle; “I thought that might be the case; I’ve rigged up a little ‘persuader’ from our research on the science vessel to cover just such an eventuality.” Zassa grinned; “is it….?” Wanda’s grin widened; “Yeah. I tried just a little on Kath, and the poor thing’s going crazy. She’s……” Both Wanda and Zassa’s heads turned as voices were heard down the corridor. “I’ll tell you about it later; do you want me to use it on him now?” Zassa chuckled “Yeah! Fits in well with another little surprise I’ve got planned; but won’t he notice you sticking him with that thing?” Wanda chuckled and hid the syringe in the folds of her magazine; "No, silly, you don’t inject it; its absorbed through the skin. Of course the more drops I can put on him, the worse it’ll be, the sooner it’ll take effect, and sadly, the longer it’ll last.” Zassa pouted; “you mean he won’t need an antidote?” Wanda sighed and shook her head no; “Just have to convince him quickly to give you YOUR antidote….” Glumly the Vixen just nodded. “Convince who?” Zassa turned from the sink and looked at Roland, her frown deepening a little. She still hadn’t forgotten their “run-in” on the Brethren’s near-deserted station. Hinoki was right behind him, the two of them moving into the Wardroom, headed for the coffee pot. Zassa looked at Hinoki, shaking a finger wet from washing out her coffee mug; “with spots, there. He knows what I’m talking about.” Hinoki twisted and ducked at the flying droplets, and smiled softly; “you know, if its becoming a problem, you could always come by for another treatment.” Before Zassa could frame a retort, a voice from the corner made heads turn; “I’m sorry, but I seem to be out of the loop here; could someone explain what the problem is?” Zassa tried not to do a double-take. Smith, the… Coyote? Was sitting quietly in the corner. He’d been so still, she hadn’t even noticed him there. Or had he somehow just materialized out of thin air? She wouldn’t really put that past him… How much had he heard? Would he give them away? Wanda chuckled; “on our last voyage, Hinoki played a small practical joke on our lusty Vixen here; he injected her with a tailored virus that would deaden her sexual responses. The temporary antidote seems to be his semen; if he doesn’t make love to her twice a day, she goes a little numb.” Smith’s face was deadpan as he looked at Hinoki; “Diabolical, but how do you know…. “ his gaze shifting back to the Vixen, “That its only HIS semen that will work?” Zassa’s mouth dropped open, and she looked at the Cheetah, only to look back at Smith, in wonder. Roland smiled and elbowed Hinoki; “Maybe he isn’t the only one that can affect a cure. He was the only male on your last trip, wasn’t he? MAYBE you need to investigate what someone else might be able to do for you…..” Zassa turned to look at the Badger as if seeing him for the first time; “you know, maybe you’re right.” As Roland broke into a smile, the Vixen turned back to the…. Wolf? “Mr. Smith, you have a very intriguing point. Would you care to help me prove your theorem?” For once, Smith seemed to be caught by surprise, but he recovered quickly and after a moment he smiled, and rose; offering his arm wordlessly to the Vixen with a small bow. Zassa took his arm, and as they left the Wardroom, she turned and stuck her tongue out at the Cheetah. “Damn!” Roland shook his head; “Thought for a moment there I’d have a shot at her.” Hinoki smiled; “If I know her, you will. I haven’t seen her let a functional male go by yet without trying him out. Just bide your time…. This trip won’t be over for a while yet. Wanda smiled softly as she watched the two males fill their coffee mugs, turning a page in her magazine she looked at the now-empty syringe, shielded from their view by the pages of the thick nursing journal and smiled. When Zassa had shook her finger at him, she’d managed to spritz a few droplets on his side and back, with no one even noticing. Later she’d see to it that it went into the recycler, and then she’d check the floor for errant drops. It wouldn’t do at all for someone like Tanj to step on a drop and suddenly go hyper-sensitive…. In the meantime no one would find it surprising if she just sat there, reading and sipping her coffee, until the wardroom was empty….. Roland got himself a cup of coffee and sat down in the seat vacated by Smith. Leaning forward, he poked at the plastic cylinder; within the black goo surged, not in response to the motion of the cylinder, but towards Roland’s finger. “What’s this?” Hinoki chuckled “One of Zassa’s pets; looks hungry, too, although I can’t imagine her not feeding it.” The Badger frowned; “a pet? It looks like a puddle of thin tar. You mean… its Alive?” Hinoki chuckled and poked about in the fridge, bent over. His voice was muffled, but clear; “Yeah, its an alien creature, highly illegal. It feeds off your sexual energy, but in return it’ll give you some of the best orgasms of your life. Feed ‘em too much and they reproduce by fission. And that’s Zassa’s problem; she keeps feeding ‘em too much” Straightening the Cheetah put a plate of leftover linguini on the table and took a seat. Across the table, Roland had drawn back against the far wall, his eyes locked on the container; “you mean it…. It…….” Wanda chuckled; “Yeah, it does. From what I’ve heard it handles both sexes equally well. In fact, I got one for Kath; she seems very fond of it…..” Hinoki took in the strained look on Roland’s face and grinned wickedly; “One of the Vixen’s biggest problems, though, is keeping them from escaping; seems they’ll fuck her into insensibility, and then crawl off to reproduce. Every once in a while, you’ll find one stalking you….. Roland kept himself from looking around, from checking the baseboards and under the table, and the ceiling overhead. Barely. “I think it’s…. disgusting. If one of those things comes anywhere near me, it’ll be the last thing it ever does!” Forgetting his coffee, the Badger rose and stormed out into the hallway. Wanda lowered her magazine and Hmmmmed; “Seems our friend is a bit unnerved by Zassa’s pets.” Hinoki forked another mouthful of noodles into his mouth and grunted; “Gotta be illegal in the Empire for SOME reason; maybe his reaction is typical and we’re the weirdos.” Wanda just laughed; “Maybe so!” Corey smiled as he read through the Science Vessel’s research material, quietly muttering to himself; “Ah, yes, Brunkowski’s theorem; I hadn’t thought of that… VERY good.” Scribbing on his own notepad, the Lynx paused, erased half of his scribblings and started over. He was so lost in his train of thought that he completely missed the gentle knock on the door, and a few minutes later, the opening of that door, under Tanj’s touch. The Cheetah stood there, in the doorway for a few minutes, watching the Lynx work, his head turning from the PADD with the science vessel’s stolen research, to his own hard-bound notebook, and back, his mumblings almost a constant litany…. “Duchovney? They’re citing HIS work? HA! If they think his multiphasic investigations bear any relationship to this phenomenon, well, THAT’ll lead ‘em on a wild goose-chase! Ah, but Zenkowitz….. Yes…. That might… Hmmmm…. Going to have to check that out…. Urrrrrr, but it’ll be expensive for the tachyon generator… still, can’t be helped….” Tanj shook her head and quietly closed the door. As she walked towards the wardroom, the Cheetah sighed; she’d wound up with quite a bit of cash from the demise of the Brethren, and for a while it looked as if money would be the last of her worries. But after listening to Corey mumble to herself, she wondered if the not-so-small fortune she’d recently acquired would be enough….. “Ah, well” she grinned to herself; “Once a pirate, always a Pirate. And I know where to find more money….” Vowing to get herself a cup of coffee and a snack, Tanj turned her attention to her network of agents outside the Elysium system. She’d have to get them back to work, identifying targets of opportunity for the Black Fleet……. The sounds coming out of Zassa’s cabin gave Tanj pause; her pace slowing significantly, the Cheetah peered through the not-quite-closed door. To her amazement, the Vixen was sprawled on her bed, legs widespread…. Well, allright, that wasn’t THAT amazing, or even uncommon; what made the Cheetah pause, however, was that Smith was kneeling at the side of the bed, apparently the source of the Vixen’s moans and shudders, as he used his tongue on her sex, with apparent skill and ingenuity, until she was clawing at the bedding. Shaking her head in amazement, Tanj started to ease the door closed… but then stopped, wondering if it had been left ajar for a reason? Shrugging, Tanj turned and resumed her trek to the wardroom, and coffee. “Morning, Capt’n.” Tanj looked up at the Badger and smiled; “Morning, Roland; something wrong?” The Badger nodded; “I was just told about the…. Creatures that the Vixen seems to be keeping….. Tanj smiled and nodded; “Would you like to borrow one?” The look of horror on the Badger’s face made her take a step back; “Good LORD, NO! What I wanted… was to ask you, are there REALLY any loose on the ship?” Tanj thought for a moment; “There might be one or two; she DOES keep pretty good track of ‘em, but sometimes its hard to tell if one’s reproduced while it was loose.” From the look on the Badger’s face, the Cheetah had to smile; “I wouldn’t worry about it, Roland; they’re not dangerous.” The Badger shook his head; “I’m sorry, Captain, but the thought of one of them touching me makes my skin crawl! If you don’t mind, I’ll take a few precautions…” Tanj smiled reassuringly and nodded; “whatever it takes to make you feel comfortable. Leaving the Badger, Tanj made her way to the Wardroom door. Roland realized that he’d left his coffee cup behind. Weighing the desire for a good hot cup, with the terror of being in the same room with that… THING, he decided that he could stand it, long enough to retrieve his mug. Turning, he followed the Cheetah. “Hey, Hinoki. ‘Lo, Wanda.” Tanj moved across the wardroom to the coffee pot. Not unexpectedly, it was almost empty. Her crew had a thing about NOT being the last one to empty the pot (and therefor earning the right to make the next pot) and frequently it was left with only a few dribbles in the bottom. With a sigh, Tanj dumped the contents of the pot into the sink, rinsed it out, and set it in place. Opening the cupboard she groaned, finding the box of filter-packs even more empty than the pot had been. As she fumbled through the cupboard, looking for a new box, she listened to Hinoki and Roland talk. “Yeah, she’s eminently spankable. Sometimes all you have to do is to suggest it and she’ll hop into your lap.” “That’s the approach I’d normally take” the Badger rumbled; “ ‘course, right now, she’s just a little ticked at me, and the usual straight-forward approach probably wouldn’t work for me.” Tanj smiled as she moved the big box of pancake mix, searching for more coffee; “Bet she’d do it for me, though; she and I haven’t had a good session in a LONG time…. Of course with her… “diminished sensation” problem, she’d probably find it more frustrating than exciting.” Turning to look at Hinoki, the Cheetah fem smirked; “So when ARE you going to give her the cure?” Hinoki shrugged; “probably not for a while yet. In fact, I think in the next couple of hours I’m going to go clean out the port induction vents…. It’d have to be when I get done with that, at the earliest. But I’m really in no hurry.” The Cheetah Male grinned; “I’m having much too much fun with this….” Tanj set the family size can of baked beans on the counter and turned to look at the male; “Clean the port…. The induction vents were cleaned less than a month ago; why would you…..” Exchanging a rapid look with Wanda, Tanj smiled; “Ah, I get it. Yeah, might not be a bad idea.” Roland looked from face to face; “What am I missing here?” Wanda chuckled and turned the page in her magazine, not even looking up; “Simple. Its not HINOKI’S sperm that’s the temporary antidote for Zassa’s problem; its ANY sperm. Our stud told a small fib there…. When Zassa finds out that making love to Smith is just as effective as humping our Cheetah friend here, she’s probably going to be on the warpath. And I do admit, the induction vents are a good place to hide. Messy in there. She’s not likely to search there first….” Tanj chuckled; “Unless they’ve just been cleaned, in which case it won’t be TOO bad…..” Tanj Sighed and started putting things back in the cupboard. No coffee. With a sigh she filled her mug with water and stuck it in the microwave. Tea would have to do, until she could get down into stores and find more coffee. It just figured. When the microwave beeped, she threw a teabag of Earl Gray into it, and turned back to the cupboard for some honey, fondly thinking of the starship captain that so favored that blend. The little squeezebottle was sticky… and essentially empty. With a sigh that went into the recycler. Picking up the tea, unsweetened, she waved bye to her crew and headed back to the flight deck. Work beckoned. Roland watched the Cheetah stroll from the wardroom, and then turned to grin at Hinoki; “wouldn’t mind paddling that behind either. Man, I Envy you!” As Wanda snickered, the two males left the wardroom, Hinoki heading down towards Engineering, the Badger heading towards the cargo bay, for a work-out, his now almost cold coffee cup clutched possessively in one paw. Zassa moaned softly, panting. Smith had cum in her once already, the enigmatic creature forming a “knot” like most canines, tying them together; it apparently had given his spunk time to work on her, as by the time the knot had receded, her level of sensation was significantly increased. Increased enough that she had clenched down using her “inner hand” to keep him from pulling out. It hadn’t taken long for him to get throbbingly hard again, and now she sat astride his hips, gazing down at him, as she sloooowly rode his cock, savoring every single little sensation. It was bliss. Smith watched the Vixen through slitted eyes, his hands reaching up to softly squeeze her breasts as she moved. With a wry smile, he thought “Ah, to be young again.” Then his smile froze a little; Hinoki obviously didn’t appreciate what he had here. And Roland…. Smiling, he was amazed as he realized that for the first time in years, possibly decades, he was in competition with others for the favors of a female! His grin spread; with age comes experience, and he was sure he could out-do those other two; he KNEW how to treat a lady right. It really shouldn’t be much of a contest at all….. Letting both hands shift to each side as he caressed those marvelous globes, he trapped her nipples between thumbs and forefingers, tugging slightly, rolling them back and forth softly as he pressed her breasts together. His reward was Zassa’s soft gasp, and an increase in her motions as she rose and fell on his shaft. Hinoki paused outside the door to Zassa’s cabin. It was still ajar, and he was certain it had been left that way just so he couldn’t help but notice what she was doing to the…. Wolf? And from the sound of it, his secret was out. Turning, he strode down the corridor. He needed a quiet place to think, to plan his next move. The “battle” may have been lost, but that didn’t mean the “war” was over. Oh, no, not yet! Roland tossed his towel over a convenient shipping container and started to strip down. He preferred to do his work-outs in the nude, and it certainly didn’t seem as if anyone on THIS ship would mind. Tossing his clothes on top of the towel he started stretching, and bending….. keeping one eye out for shadows that moved by themselves. Thinking of the oily black creatures he couldn’t help but shudder. Tanj smiled to herself; ever since Zassa’s little “disappearance” in the cargo bay, she’d kept one of the multifunction displays on the security camera there. She had a ton of e-mail to go through, and some serious thinking and planning to do, but it was difficult, with the image of the nude Badger there, moving like he was. Zassa smiled and kissed Smith goodbye. As the somewhat exhausted fellow left, the Vixen laid back on her rumpled bed, and stretched languorously. Smith had been right; she could feel her sexual response increasing. Purrring, she moved one paw down between her legs to stroke herself, smiling at the matted fur, slick with their commingled juices. Purrring deeply she let her finger slide up her still distended sex, until, with a little electric jolt, it glided over her once-again sensitive clitty….. Hinoki stripped out of his shorts and stuffed them in a small plastic bag. He had the brush and some cleaning supplies with him, but that was mostly for show. He also had a data PADD loaded with the latest video thriller, and a couple of best-selling novels in text. The bottle labeled “solvent” had been carefully cleaned and now contained spring water. He’d be good in there, until he had to come out to get something to eat, or to use the head. Pulling the access hatch off, he placed his “cleaning supplies” in the duct and crawled in after them. The Access hatch was leaned against the duct; it wasn’t quite closed but it wasn’t obviously open either. And even if the vixen found out where he was, if she secured the access hatch, he had at least three other ways out. And a lot of duct to play hide and seek in, should she come in after him. For a moment he indulged in the fantasy of turning the tables on her, pinning her to the dirty floor, and giving her another “dose of his medicine”…. THAT could be fun. Grinning, he moved off down the duct, bent almost double, headed for the little nook he planned to call home for a bit. Zassa stepped out of the shower and smiled; the hand-held shower head had a pulsation setting and it was always fun to direct it upwards between her legs. GOOOOOD clean fun. Moving over the teakwood grating, she hit the switch for the fur dryer and as the tornado of hot, dry air swirled around her, she started combing out her hair. Suddenly, life seemed good again……. Tanj glanced up from the latest message from the D’huatha cartel, her eye catching the badger’s miniature form as he worked out in the cargo bay; still nude, and now just a little sweaty, he was going through a martial arts regime. Watching his muscles ripple for a moment, the Cheetah wondered if perhaps she should take a break and go down there and ask him to spar with her. The D’huatha deserved a reply; the intelligence they provided was quite good, and she owed them more than a few tidbits…. But it could wait. Smiling, she rose from her station chair, glanced over the flight instruments, and with a wry grin on her face, left the flight deck. “You seem to be in a good mood.” Zassa chuckled and almost danced across the Wardroom, to open the ‘fridge, to look for a snack; “Yes, Wanda, I am. The….. Um, well, whatever Smith is, he’s GOOD! I had a very good, um, “Treatment” for my little problem, and its left me with a, well, call it an improved outlook on life. The Wolverine lass made a noncommittal noise, and the Vixen turned to look at her. Wanda was leaning back in her chair, head and shoulders against the wall behind her…. And there was a Mink tail sticking out from the other side of the table. Wanda’s eyes were closed, but there was a tense look on her face. As she watched, the Wolverine grunted out; “Yes, getting laid can do that to you….” The Vixen leaned back against the counter and smiled; “Wanda, I’m getting the feeling you know more about that than you’ve been letting on, of late.” The Wolverine lass opened her eyes just a little and smiled; “Yes, That’s true…. But I’ve got a LONG way to go before I catch up with the rest of you!” Zassa smiled and chuckled; “Well, if you’re so inclined, you ought to take Smith for a ride; he’s actually one of the better studs I’ve run across lately, and that’s saying some! Wanda’s body shuddered, and she gasped; one hand moved under the table, and Zassa wasn’t sure if she was caressing the Mink’s head, or just holding it to her crotch. “Ummmmm….. ah….. Better than Hinoki?” Zassa thought for a moment; “Hinoki can be VERY good, when he wants to be; lets just say there’s a small difference in attitude between the two, and sometimes that makes all the difference. Where is he anyways? I still need to get the permanent cure from him! Wanda groaned again, her body twitching under the Mink’s tongue; “Um….. Hinoki? Ah…. Think he said something about going into hiding…..” Zassa picked up the yogurt container and a spoon and nodded; “That’s OK, I’ll track him down; the ship’s only so big, and I already know most of the really good hiding places.” As she slipped through the door, the Vixen turned and smiled; “you two have fun, now, y’hear?” Given the look on Wanda’s face, and the way the Mink’s tail was twitching back and forth, there was a good chance neither one of them ever heard her…. Tanj slipped through the personnel door to the cargo bay, stepping sideways to just watch, leaning against the wall next to the door. The Badger was going through a complex kata, seemingly fighting against four opponents at the same time, his tail flying out behind him as he twisted and turned. Smiling to herself, she admired his “form”…… Hinoki frowned. He’d found the nook he’d been looking for, a wedge shaped portion off to one side of the duct; it looked as if the shipwrights had put it in, in anticipation of some engine upgrade or another, as there was nothing connected to it. With the insystem drive shut down, the normal flow of cooling air through the ducts was off, there was only a slight tang of ozone remaining, so it wasn’t as if he had to shelter from the hurricane-force winds. It was merely a convenient place somewhat out of sight, should someone go poking around in the duct. Settling down, he considered the paw he’d just wiped along the floor, and shook his head; yes, the ducts had been recently cleaned, but they shouldn’t be THIS clean. It was almost as if someone else had been here, had made this place a little cleaner for whatever their purposes might be. Shrugging it off, he settled himself. The “headlight” rested on his head like a sweatband, the bulb centered between his eyes and just a little up on his forehead. It gave him decent illumination for reading. Picking up his padd, he opened the first text file and started reading……. Roland stood, panting hard, his fists clenched; the kata ended he relaxed his concentration only to become aware of someone watching him. Turning he found the Ship’s captain, that Cheetah fem, leaning casually against the wall, watching him with a smile. Straightening, he made no move to cover his nudity; after all, he was proud of his body, wasn’t he? “Nice form” she rumbled, almost as if reading his mind. Grinning back, the Badger nodded; “Thanks, I try hard to keep in shape.” The Cheetah chuckled; “I meant your fighting style, but yes, that too. Care to spar a few rounds? I could use the exercise.” Roland smiled as he looked her up and down. Somehow he found her a tad too thin, as most Cheetahs were; “Well, I suppose, but somehow I doubt you’d be serious competition for me….” Tanj just laughed, and walked out into the “practice area” of the cargo bay with the easy grace all felines possess; “we’ll see. I’ve had some good instructors”. Roland held up a paw, a mock-serious look on his face; “Oh, no you don’t; if you’re going to spar with me you gotta strip down too!” Laughing, Tanj pulled down the zipper to her flight suit, shrugging it off her shoulders. Roland wasn’t really surprised to find she wasn’t wearing a bra, but the lack of panties did surprise him a little….. Hinoki’s head snapped up and he looked around wildly; somehow he’d managed to fall asleep, but something had awakened him. There’d been a noise… Looking around, glancing up the duct first one way and then the other, he frowned; it seemed MUCH noiser in here than he’d thought, when he’d entered the ductwork. In fact, he could hear the auxilliary power reactor’s cooling pumps. And that high pitched whine would have to be the ozone generator in the air recycling system….. and that low basso rumble would be the warp drive plasma modulator…. Frowning, he swiveled his ears around, just listening to the normal noises of the ship, amazed at how clearly he was suddenly hearing everything. Settling back down the Cheetah frowned again; he felt like he could feel every grain of dust, every irregularity in the ductwork below him….. Picking up his PADD, he tried to dismiss it, trying to get back into the novel he’d been reading….. Tanj dropped to the floor, swinging her legs hard, ending with a quick roll and a bounce back to her feet; she’d almost knocked Roland’s legs out from under him with that maneuver, but he’d jumped at the last second. Now, however he was out-of-position, and with a shout the Cheetah stepped forward and executed a side-kick, her foot glancing off the Badger’s arm as he moved to block her. Roland panted hard, eyes a little wide as he blocked again, and stepped in for his own snap-kick/punch combination, somehow, though, the Cheetah just didn’t quite seem to be where the kick and punch were directed. Dang, but she was fast. Still, she was panting harder than he was. Cheetahs had speed but not much endurance. Maybe he could wear her down.…… Zassa sat at the systems operations console on the flight deck and took another spoonful of yogurt. It wasn’t difficult to use the ship’s sensors to locate folks; not with their security system. That furr there had to be Corey, in his cabin (still)… and there was Tanj and Roland in the cargo bay. Wanda and Kath had retired to Wanda’s cabin. The Vixen smiled at that one; the sensors put them so close that their images merged. Smith seemed to be in his cabin, but the image there was a little vague and indistinct. Taking another spoonful of yogurt, Zassa wondered how he did that….. Finally there was an image down in Engineering, on the port side. Zeroing in on that one, the Vixen frowned; “Dang it, he’s found my favorite hiding place.” Grinning to herself, setting the spoon aside and using her tongue to remove the last traces of yogurt from the container, the Vixen decided that maybe she needed to do something to make it not quite such a favorite place….. Hinoki set the PADD down with what sounded like a crash. He’d found that the “headlight” seemed unusually bright; that if he turned it off, he could almost read the PADD in the dark. Something was thudding rythmically, and it took him a while to realize that it was his own heartbeat. Closing his eyes, he imagined he could hear the blood flowing through his veins. Something was wrong. Sure that the Vixen had somehow started her counterattack, he mentally reviewed the day, wondering what she was up to, and how she was doing this to him. Shifting again, he tried to find a comfortable position….. Maybe this little bout of hypersensitivity would pass in a little bit….. Tanj smiled and panted hard; the bout had probably gone to the Badger on points, but he hadn’t achieved a clean “kill”. Now they were resting, before resuming. “You look all wore-out, Captain; are you sure you want to go again?” Tanj looked at the Badger and forced a smile; “Sure, just give me a minute to cool down, and I’ll be ready to go again.” Roland smiled; “We seem to be pretty evenly matched; care to make a small wager on the outcome of this round?” Tanj chuckled; “What you got in mind?” Roland smiled; “What I’ve got in mind is YOU. Hinoki’s been telling me some stories about you, about what a fine sex slave you are. I’d like to see what he’s talking about.” Zassa purrred as she opened the access port. The container in her hand surged; the creatures imprisoned therein restless, eager to escape. She hadn’t fed them since their capture (or re-capture), and they were hungry. Carefully sliding the lid off the container, she dumped the lot of them into the duct, hastily sliding its cover back over the access port. By the time those little darlings found Hinoki, he should be well primed for them. Roland watched the Cheetah’s face; had he gone too far? He was, after all just a passenger here, and she WAS the ship’s captain….. He didn’t want to have to walk to their destination. After a moment the Cheetah chuckled; “I can just imagine some of the stories Hinoki has to tell. Yeah, sure, why not? I can spare an hour, or two, I guess.” Roland smiled to himself. Bingo. “I was thinking of something a little longer; say, the duration of the voyage.” Tanj laughed and flopped back on the mat, her chest still rising and falling as she panted; “No way. I’ve got MUCH too much to do between now and the time we dock at Jenka’s. Two hours, Max. Period. Oh, and if there are any shipboard emergencies in that time, all bets are off. And nothing is done that’ll cause permanent harm.” Roland sighed; “Not much time in which to find out what a sex slave is capable of; I guess I could survive with a night, dusk till dawn, but not a moment less.” Tanj tilted her head to one side and looked at the Badger, as if evaluating him. “Four hours; not a second longer. And I get a safeword. After all, I don’t know you that well…..” Roland mused for a moment; “There’s got to be a penalty attached for using the safeword; otherwise you might use it just to get out of an uncomfortable situation…..” Tanj settled back to stare at the ceiling; “I can’t imagine using a safeword short of something that’d cause permanent damage, and four hours isn’t THAT long a period. OK, if I have to use my safeword, the clock starts over, at the next mutually agreeable time. How’s that?” Roland grinned; “Done.” Rising to his feet he smiled; maybe he could push her to use her safeword in the last minutes of the time period, making her once again his, the next night. If he did this right, he could string it out for a LONG time. As he dropped into his fighting stance, he made a mental note to find Hinoki and ask him about the things she REALLY didn’t like….. Hinoki knelt in the middle of the duct. The pounding of his own heart was loud in his ears. He could hear the air rushing in and out of his lungs, the blood flowing through his veins. And the normal shipboard noises were a cacaphony, almost painfully loud. Worse, he felt like he could feel every hair on his body. The hypersensitivity had only grown, until he thought he was going to go insane. And now, he thought he heard something down the duct; something that seemed to be slithering in his direction. It HAD to be his imagination… didn’t it? Tanj ducked, swiveled, and brought her leg up, to land a light kick on the Badger’s chest; but before she could swing clear, she felt his fists, most of the power pulled from the punches, land one-two on her ribs. Twisting, she lashed out at him with her tail while she tried to maneuver for her next assault. She’d been holding back in the previous rounds, hesitant to show this ex-marine what she was capable of… but now it seemed as if he’d been holding back too. They sparred with all the viciousness of mortal enemies, all the efficiency of unarmed-combat masters. Ducking under a punch, Tanj caught his arm, trying for a judo throw….. But somehow he twisted clear, just in time. Hinoki felt something touch his foot. He didn’t want to turn on the light, it was way too bright for his eyes, but he had to look. Reaching up, feeling each muscle group distinctively, he switched on the light. The beam was dazzling, the sound of the switch as it made contact seemed like a cannon shot, but what really took his breath away were the half-dozen inky blobs closing in on him from all directions…… “I should be able to handle him” Tanj thought to herself. “I’ve been practicing with my Master, and surely a full- grown Lion’s more of a threat than a Badger”. For a moment, her thoughts shifted; how long HAD it been since she sparred with her Master? Where was he now? Would she EVER see him again? Interlude: Elsewhere The way was narrow, doubly so for someone of his bulk, but the Lion managed somehow to squeeze his way through the short corridor. Raider ships were built for a specific purpose and crew-comforts weren’t on the list. The life support system was sized to handle just two or three furrs, the bubble of life-giving warmth and pressure no larger than it had to be, amongst the more important functions of drive, sensors, shields and weapons. With a grunt, the Lion shoved his head through the flight deck hatch, his eyes roving first over the banks of instruments and controls, and then over the two occupants. After a moment he growled; “Listen; I don’t care what the Ops team said to you in the mission briefing. You are to come back, and in one piece. We just don’t have that many ships, especially warp-capable ones. You are NOT to risk the vessel. Go, look, and scram. No heroics, no side-trips, no adventures. Got it?” Clark grinned and looked at his partner; “I guess we don’t count, Lou; they’re more interested in getting the ship back than they are about us!” The Rabbit frowned back at his partner; “That’s Lewis, and its an entirely reasonable request, considering how few of us there are left here. Besides, a scouting mission is of no value to anyone if the scouts don’t report back.” Clark sighed and shook his head; “Lou, you’re no fun at all, you know that?” Turning to look at the Lion, the Fox chuckled; “Don’t worry about us, Boss; we’ll make it back for that big bonus you promised.” Before the Lion could speak, the Rabbit grumbled “Hey, no one said anything to ME about a bonus!” The Lion looked hard at the grinning fox and rumbled “That’s because no one ever said anything about a bonus; but I promise, you guys come back with the straight dope on what’s out there beyond the jump points, and I’ll personally see you get a week at the best resort on Elysium.” The Fox grinned and nudged his partner; “See, Lou, I told you it’d work!” The Rabbit looked confused; “tell….. no, you never told me!” The Lion just shook his head and patted the Rabbit on the shoulder; “Try not to kill him before you get back. Good luck.” With that he started inching his way back the way he’d come, no room to even turn around. Ben looked at the Lion as he emerged from the airlock, one eyebrow raised; “well?” The Lion shook his head; “are you SURE the psych boys said they’re the right ones for the job?” The Wolf just shrugged; “so they say.” The Lion turned and watched through the viewport as the Raider ship undocked from the Overlord, slowly moving off; “Well, I think we’ll be lucky they don’t kill each other; they may be the best pilot and the best Navigator we’ve got, but……” The Fox’s ears swiveled straight up, and his eyes widened as he straightened in his seat. Lewis turned and looked at him for a long moment, before the Fox uttered a soft “Oh, CRAP”. After a moment the Fox turned and looked at the Rabbit; “It just hit me; what’s the best Resort on Elysium?” The Rabbit shrugged; “I don’t know; I suppose it depends on what you’re after. Avalanche is the best ski resort. Tumareg Island is the best beach resort. The best diving is near Coz…..” “No, no, the BEST resort is the one with the Girls and Gambling!” The Rabbit smiled; “Ah, you mean “Lost Wages,” Of course I should have known… But isn’t that….?” The Fox sighed “Yeah…. Its in Reds territory.” Lewis just laughed at the stricken look on the Fox’s face. As the jump point approached, Lewis was delighted to find the Fox all business. Wise cracks, jokes and slander had slowed and fallen off, and now he was calling off a stream of numbers…. Running his eyes over the instruments, Lewis checked his systems. The fusion generators were both performing flawlessly, shields were good, in-system drive good, Jump Drive was up to power and all in the green. Plasma weapons on pre-heat, missiles all “spun up”….. They were as ready as he could make them. Watching the Fox, his paw hovered over the key….. Clark muttered “thirty-two oh five, twenty four ninety seven, nineteen eighty four, eleven oh four, seven sixty two, three eleven, and…. NOW!” Lewis leisurely pressed the key and with a whine the Jump Drive engaged. And then they were elsewhere. The Fox’s head shifted with all the precision of a turret lathe to the sensor display; “initial passive scan shows no targets, starting optical scan now. Active scan shows no targets to 300,000 kilometers…… No….. no nothing. We have a primary, and so far, no…. no, wait, got one planet, 9,000 kilometers in diameter…. We have an asteroid belt further out, but its very sparse….. got a frozen ball of ice WAY out, a mere 1500 kilometers in diameter…. And not a heck of a lot else. I show three comets, and a few odd rocks.” Lewis nodded; “I have nothing on the electromagnetic spectrum except background noise from the primary and the usual interstellar static. Nothing that resembles a signal.” The Fox’s head shifted again; “nothing resembling phased neutrino communications, pulsed tachyons, or anything resembling subspace.” The two looked up from their consoles at each other; the Rabbit shrugged and the Fox muttered; “looks like a dead system.” Lewis sighed, his head lifting from the ‘scope; “If there’s anything in this system aside from rock, I can’t find it. No signs of life support systems, no residual traces of drives, no non-natural magnetic fields, no pure metals. Zilch.” The Rabbit nodded distractedly; “I find no other jump points, and I’ve determined our position. We’re about forty-eight light years from where we started, and there are several systems that wouldn’t be hard to reach with the Warp Drive. But I don’t see any point in going to any of ‘em. Not yet anyways. The Fox nodded and shrugged; “well, back to the new Elysium system, I guess. Lets just hope that jump point takes us back to where we started….” The Lion’s image was a little grainy on the Raider’s comm console, but his voice came through strong and undistorted. “Well, its less than I’d hoped for, but at least there aren’t hordes of invaders poised there to complicate our problems. Go on and head for the other jump point, but BE CAREFUL!” As the image faded, Lewis looked at the fox, a slight frown on his face; “Invaders? Do you think he knows something he’s not telling us?” Clark just chuckled “Aw, come ON, Lou! You know the Brou device tossed us here when it interacted with that doomsday device the Elysium Government tried to use! There probably aren’t going to be any more life signs in the next system than there were in the one we just came from! We’ll be lucky if there’s another jump point to another system. Personally, I’m wagering we’re going to be at this for a while…..” The Rabbit’s frown deepened… “I dunno about that….” But seeing the look on the Fox’s face, he turned back to his controls, not willing to pursue it. As his gaze swept his board, it lingered for a moment on the shields and weapons he hoped he wouldn’t have to use….. Back on the Lost Cause: Roland saw the Cheetah hesitate. Something had robbed her of her concentration; it was all the opening he needed. Lunging forward he lashed out with one leg, following up with a series of jabs. Off-balance, the Cheetah fell backwards to the mat, the Badger leaping to pin her hard; even so, she almost rolled out of reach. After some squirming, seeking escape, she finally acknowledged defeat, her muscles going limp. Roland smiled and reached out to straighten a lock of hair; “you ARE mine, little one….” Tanj chuckled and shrugged; “Eighteen-hundred hours, tonight. Until then, I’ve got things to do.” Taking the cue, Roland eased back and then helped her to her feet. As she padded out of the cargo bay, the Badger muttered to himself with a grin “now THIS is going to be interesting….” Tanj heard his comment, and wondered if she’d been meant to hear it. Smiling she nodded to herself; “Yes, this WILL be interesting.” Hinoki leapt; the only way to avoid the creatures was to leap over them and then move faster than they were capable of moving, until he was clear. All thoughts of hiding from Zassa pushed aside, he gathered his legs under him, ready to leap. Moving with surprising speed, one of the inky blobs flowed over his left foot, seemingly gluing him to the floor of the duct; his leap turned into a high-energy fall, and arms flailing, he fell forward, to hit the floor with a crash! As sensitive as his body was, the sensations were just too much, and for a moment he blacked out……. Tanj settled into the pilot’s couch, and for a moment just sipped her coffee. She was sweaty, and needed a shower, but for the moment she just needed to think, and this was her favorite place for thinking. Eyes scanning the instruments automatically, she let her gaze drift to the stars. Somewhere, out there, was her Lion. Could she find him? Was she fooling herself? And had she thrown that fight on purpose? Doing the Badger’s bidding could be fun, for an evening. Did she really miss that life that much, that she’d purposefully loose a bet? With a sigh she took another sip of the coffee and wondered where her mind was truly at. Hinoki groaned. Consciousness slowly returned…. At least he thought he was conscious. For some reason he couldn’t open his eyes. Nor could he move. Thinking for a moment, he realized he WAS conscious again; his nose throbbed, and he could have sworn he could feel bruises forming at every point where his body had hit the deck. He felt as if he’d fallen a dozen feet or more….. Besides that, it didn’t seem too bad; the floor had somehow gotten a whole lot softer, and the sounds that had been bothering him so, were somewhat deadened…. And it felt as if someone, someone with a great deal of skill and experience was sucking on his cock…… Just the way he liked it. Purrring softly, he arched his back in response, in the process realizing that his hands and feet seemed to be solidly stuck to the floor. Grinning to himself he gave a mental shrug. If there was no way to escape, he might as well just settle back and enjoy it. It wasn’t as if the creatures were dangerous…… And then he remembered just how sensitive he seemed to have become in the last few hours….. The Vixen smiled, and slipped into the Badger’s cabin. Grinning, ,she looked around. Essentially identical to her own, she stepped to the miniscule closet and slid the door aside. Dumping the last of her little darlings into a partially open carryall bag, she slid the closet door closed quickly and then rapidly retreated back to the corridor. THAT would repay the Badger for the way he’d treated her on the Brethren’s station. Teach HIM to mind his manners! Looking both ways, she smiled; the coast was clear; no one had seen her. With a grin and a light step she sashayed down the corridor to the wardroom. Hinoki’s body shuddered as he orgasmed almost violently; his body was SO sensitive, it took hardly any stimulation at all to produce the desired results. The creatures seemed to sense this, and had been treating him gently, almost with a feather touch, for what seemed like hours. One of them had extruded a rather thick tendril into his ass, where it had been squirming and twisting, frequently stroking across his prostate, sending shivers through his spine. Another tendril had worked its way into his mouth, alternating between a wild tongue that danced with his, and a phallic shape, giving him something to suck on. And through it all he felt like each individual cell in his body was reporting the pleasures of the flesh to his overtaxed brain. Roland smiled as he stepped out of the head, his fur still damp. Somehow it’d seemed a shame to put his clothes back on, so just wrapped in a towel, he made his way back to the cabin they’d assigned him. Laying down on the bed, he stretched, thinking pleasant thoughts of the Cheetah-that- was-to-be-his. Figuring he should be well rested for their playtime later he closed his eyes; but sleep avoided him; something was wrong, he could feel it…... Lost in an orgasmic haze, the male cheetah writhed; he’d lost count of the orgasms he’d had, but somehow he thought that at least three of the creatures had been sated, and had oozed off somewhere. Somehow they’d managed to manipulate him over on his side, somehow working together; one of them now held his wrists together, his back arched, so that his wrists and ankles were connected in a classic hog-tie. Whether it was one, or two of the creatures holding him so, he couldn’t tell; one still worked at his poor, overtaxed asshole while another made delightful love to his now rather tender cock. And through it all, his body reported every sensation at an almost horribly enhanced level. He could feel the slight breeze through the ductwork moving individual hairs, he could feel his heart pounding in his chest… and he could feel EVERY motion the little creatures made, as they continued to torment him…. Roland was having a dream. A monster, a slithering puddle of goo was coming for him, to envelop him, to suffocate him, to cover him completely and digest him. With a shout he jerked himself awake, sitting up in the bed. “Only a dream” he muttered to himself, and then he remembered the creature in Zassa’s jar. Shivering in disgust he reached over and manually clicked on the cabin light. For a moment he thought it was a trick of the light…. And then with a howl he found his feet, rising to stand on the bed. There, just oozing out from under the closet door, was another of the monsters! Tanj looked at the Chrono and smiled; she should go take a shower, and get ready for her evening of servitude to the Badger. Already her mind was filled with tactics to try, for their NEXT bout…… Maybe next time she wouldn’t loose. But what would she do with a male slave? The usual answers filled her mind, but in a deep, dark corner a voice kept asking, ‘wouldn’t you have more fun if you lost again?’ Telling that portion of her person to pipe down, she growled “you still have to see what kind of a master he’s going to be…..” And off in that corner of her mind, she smirked at herself….. Roland shivered, looking left and right; what could he use to stop the creature, to capture it? His eyes flashed over his backpack, over a canteen, across the miniscule desk…. There, by the desk was a recycling slot; if he could just get the creature in there, it’d be broken back down to its constituent atoms…… But how? Flicking his gaze back, he realized it had crawled out of sight. Under the bed? Desperately he searched the cabin for it….. Blackness crept over the edge of the bed, just as the Badger conceived a desperate plan; his vacuum suit helmet was on the far side of the room. A magazine, borrowed from Hinoki lay near it, large enough to cover the opening. Panting heavily, waiting with mounting dread as the creature flowed closer and closer, the Badger gathered his legs under himself and prepared to leap. The Cabin really was too small for such a maneuver; waiting as long as he dared, Roland jumped; his head hit the ceiling and as stars filled his vision, he crashed into the far wall. Somehow he managed to scoop up the helmet and the magazine, pushing his back against the door. Watching the creature carefully, as it reversed direction, to flow across the rumpled bedclothes like a mutant shadow, he wondered if they could jump…… Panting hard, Roland watched the creature flow over the edge of the bed, falling to the floor with a soft plop. It seemed to gather itself and then come on towards him. He’d had an inspiration, putting down the magazine and picking up one of the vacuum suit gauntlets. As the creature flowed closer, he reached out, holding the gauntlet gingerly in one hand, lowering it. The creature seemed to pause, and then as the gauntlet came down, it extruded a pseudopod upwards, to grab the glove; it almost looked as if the creature were trying to shake hands…. Roland lifted the gauntlet with a grimace of distaste, surprised at how heavy the thing was; it hung from the gauntlet, like a glob of….. something obscene. Holding the vacuum helmet directly under it, should he have to let go, Roland moved quickly; as the creature tried to flow up over the gauntlet he swung his hand, slinging the gauntlet, creature and all, into the recycler slot. As the recycler flashed blue, a much larger display than was usual, Roland howled with triumph! Tanj was rubbing a towel through her hair as she exited the Head; for a moment she paused…. What was that sound? Turning, she headed away from her cabin, ears perked up to follow the sound….. Roland grinned and danced a little jig; one monster down! That’d teach ‘em to mess with HIM! Tanj listened for a moment at the Badger’s door; It almost seemed as if he were in pain, howling like that. Concerned, she knocked on his door….. Hinoki groaned, and slowly opened one eye. He was lying on his side, and he felt like he’d been beaten; his cock felt raw, and his asshole felt like it’d been stretched wide enough to take a city bus. Moving slowly, carefully, he made his way to his knees. His head hurt, his blood pounding in his temples, and he felt as sore as if he’d run a marathon… but the sensations were all of a more normal level; the hypersensitivity had faded….. Gathering his things, he walked VERY carefully to the access port. Roland heard the knock on his door, and turning, jerked it open, to see a rather surprised and wide-eyed Cheetah. “Um…. Are you all right? You…..” Roland growled; “I was just attacked by one of those infernal beasts that seem to infest your ship, Captain! But its OK, I managed to kill it!” Tanj blinked; “you killed it?…. But those little darlings aren’t dangerous! Why I’ve had one for years!….” Roland nodded savagely, fangs bared; “They’re Monsters, and yes, I killed it. Just as I’ll do any other that crosses my path!” Tanj nodded and swallowed, taking a step back. Without a word she turned and headed back to her cabin….. Roland panted hard as he watched the Cheetah go. As she turned the corner, the thought suddenly struck him that she’d merely been expressing concern for him, and that he’d probably come across a little harsh. Shaking his head, he turned to look back into his cabin, eyes searching the corners, examining the dark spots; “well, if she’d run a tighter ship, this whole thing wouldn’t have happened!” Wondering if he should find another place to sleep, the Badger turned, to head for the Cargo Bay. He needed to borrow another vacuum suit gauntlet; he’d be damned if he’d sleep in just his fur on THIS ship again! Zassa came around the corner of the corridor, an armful of veggies from the Hydroponics tanks in her arms, as Hinoki staggered towards the crew quarters. The Vixen slowed to a stop, eyes widening; “What happened to YOU?” Hinoki stopped, and drew himself up, mustering as much dignity as he could; “I was in the induction ducts, doing some preventative maintenance, when I was ambushed; I do believe we have a vermin problem……” The Vixen looked him up and down, and then smirked; “you don’t say!” Roland fumbled through the locker, searching, and shook his head; these people were crazy, if they could tolerate monsters like that infesting their ship! Then he grinned; if the Vixen bred them, well, then it was obviously HER fault that one of them got loose and “assaulted” him, wasn’t it? Grinning widely he wondered how he could turn this to his advantage….. The Badger sipped the cup of coffee as he listened to Hinoki’s tale. The Cheetah male was just a little dirty, and seemed to be having trouble moving, as if he were totally exhausted. “So you say there are more of these vermin on the ship?” Hinoki grinned weakly and nodded; “Yeah, at least six.” “Seven” Kath muttered, from the other end of the table. As the Badger turned to stare at her, she smiled and shrugged; “Mistress lets me keep one as a pet, for, ah “special rewards”….. Roland shook his head in amazement; “and Zassa breeds them?” Wanda glanced at Kath, who blushed and then turned back to the Badger; “I don’t think she’s got much choice in the matter. She makes use of ‘em, and when they’ve grown fat enough, they divide by fission. For her to stop raising them, she’d have to stop playing with ‘em, and I don’t think she’s about to do that….” Next to her, Kath shook her head in agreement. Roland nodded; “So the one that… assaulted me was most likely one of her pets?” Without waiting for an answer, the Badger continued; “I think I need to have a little talk with Zassa about this. Do you know where she is?” Wanda shrugged, but Kath smirked; “I think you’ll find her with Smith, getting another “treatment” for her little problem…..” Next to her, Hinoki just winced. The Badger paced, back and forth, in the corridor. When Zassa left Smith’s cabin, she would most likely come this way, and that’s when he’d have it out with her. As he paced, he ran through his mind over and over just what he’d say…. The problem was, it wasn’t convincing, even to himself. She wasn’t likely to surrender herself to him, just because one of her pets escaped and tried to attack him, no matter HOW irate he was about it. In fact, she was more likely to laugh. And he probably wouldn’t be able to get too much support from the ship’s Captain, not if she thought of them as “little darlings”…… but perhaps there was another way; it was risky, and might even be a little distasteful, but….. It wasn’t his usual direct approach to a problem, but in this case, a circuitous approach might yield better results. Nodding to himself, he turned, and in the best tradition of the Marines, prepared to invade a hostile environment…. Zassa’s quarters. Zassa purrrrred and squirmed in delight. Squirming was about all she could do; After riding Smith’s cock, sitting astride him, to several nice climaxes, she’d managed to get him to cum; now she was even more sensitive, a fact that he seemed to be taking advantage of. Acting like a furr many years younger, the… Wolf? had taken her ankles and lifted them, spreading them wide as he covered her body bent double, with his own. She was pinned to the bed in a most delightful manner, Smith’s technique still insuring that she was yowling through her third climax by the time he came again….. Roland peeked under the bed, and then scowled. He’d found a dozen empty plastic containers, exactly what he thought the Vixen might keep the creatures in… but they were all empty. For his plan to work, he needed at least three, possibly more of the creatures… Where could they be? Well, he knew where one of them was, anyways. Taking a look around, making sure Zassa’s cabin looked undisturbed (how could anyone possibly tell? Didn’t the Vixen EVER tidy up?) he slipped out and headed for the Cheetah’s cabin. Smith smiled and kissed the Vixen softly; “Of course, whenever you feel the need. But you know, I really shouldn’t monopolize you; certainly there are others who might have an interest in you?” Zassa smiled and tilted her head to one side; “such as Hinoki? Perhaps, but I’m still mad at him. And I don’t think that Corey’s quite my type. In fact, I’m not sure he knows I exist. YOU on the other hand, are a perfect Gentlefurr.” Smith smiled and shrugged; “well, you know, Roland’s kinda had his eye on you….” Zassa just shook her head; “Perhaps, some day, if he learns some manners. That one could take lessons from you, you know.” Smith smiled and shrugged noncommittally. As the Vixen turned and walked off down the corridor, Smith thought to himself; “I truly am blessed. Not only is she the sexiest thing I’ve run across in ages, but I don’t seem to have any serious competition at all!” Smiling, Smith stepped back to close the door to his cabin; she was an exhausting little thing, and he’d need his rest for later….. Roland looked at the door carefully, inch by inch. Finally he grinned and nodded; “I thought so; thought she’d have a security system on her cabin!” It proved fairly simple to defeat. Wondering what else the Cheetah might have stashed away, the Badger looked both ways and then quietly snuck into her cabin. Ignoring the jewelry, and the comm console, he looked for places to stash a container about the size of a shoebox, searching under the bed and in her closet, His face registered his triumph with a big smile as he brought out the clear plastic container holding her living dress. Slipping out, he reset the alarm system. On the flight deck, Tanj missed the flashing yellow light on the operations console, buried in her fuel consumption calculations. The ship’s computer, however, dutifully logged the event. The holographic display was almost transparent, but the sight of it still made Roland a little uneasy. He’d seen too many things like that in real life. Wanda was carefully working through a lab in her subspace radio college course, working on what appeared to be a rather nasty stomach wound in a young Weasel. As she moved, sensors in her gloves monitored the movement of her hands in relationship to the projected image, and the computer automatically graded her on her procedure. Waiting until she’d resectioned the bowel and closed the wound, Roland leaned against the doorjam and just watched. From what he could see, the Wolverine girl had the makings of a fine surgeon…… When she was done, Wanda turned, stripping off her gloves, the body on the ship’s small operating table vanishing in a flurry of static. Looking at Roland, she quirked an eyebrow upwards; “Can I help you?” The Badger shrugged; “I’ve just been wondering about those… creatures. I figured as the ship’s medical expert, you’d know more about them than anyone.” Wanda shrugged; “I’ve tried to take tissue samples, but its never worked; I can’t seem to split off a portion of any of them. A hypodermic needle goes straight through them without picking up anything; they just flow around it.” Roland nodded; “what are they afraid of? What hurts them?” Wanda shrugged again; “One was found in the freezer one time; it was hard as a rock; but when it thawed out, it came back to life, hungrier than ever. I can’t say as we’ve had any occasion to see how much heat they could stand, but I know for a fact they don’t like electricity, or magnetic fields, or something like that. One time Zassa was playing with one of hers, and she turned on a vibrator; whether it was stray currents or the magnetic field around the motor, or whatever, the creature wouldn’t go near it. But so far we haven’t found anything that would kill one, not that we’ve really been trying.” Roland nodded; “And what lures them? What makes them start hunting you? I mean, they’re not exactly following crewfurrs down the corridors, waiting to pounce.” Wanda shrugged and then smiled; “I believe a certain initial degree of arousal is required; I think Zassa would know more about that, though. Somehow she’s always able to catch the ones that get away from her….” Roland nodded and smiled; “Thanks, you’ve been a big help.” Hinoki grinned; “Yeah, I was down in Engineering when it happened; why?” Roland smiled; “well, you know, I won a small bet with your Captain; tonight she’ll be my slave for a few hours, and I was thinking that it might be an interesting way to finish up the evening, possibly using her to catch all the errant little monsters. I’d hate to get ambushed like that again, and I’m SURE I could get her warmed up enough to attract the little buggers.” Hinoki chuckled “Yeah, I bet you could, too. And there are plenty of things you can tie a person to, or across down there. Lets see, you’d need something near the port induction ductwork…..” Tanj finished combing out her hair, and stole a glance at the chronometer. Smiling, she tied her hair back at the nape of her neck with a simple leather thong; rising she paused to look at herself, turning to check her profile. Her tummy was still fairly flat, her breasts still high and firm. Thinking that she still looked fairly good, she turned and padded over to her dresser. Pulling open the top drawer, she removed her collar, and with a motion born of long practice, fastened it around her neck. After glancing in the mirror one last time she grinned, and padded from her cabin, nude, to go present herself to the Badger. A bet, after all, was a bet, but the collar said that while she might be his for the evening, she still belonged, in her heart, to the Lion. As she moved through her ship, her thoughts once again turned to him. How was he faring? Did he miss her? Elsewhere: Lewis found himself unaccountably nervous as they approached the second jump point. Inhabited systems were still more the exception than the rule, and the odds of them finding “neighbors” were still vanishingly small…. But they DID exist. After one dead system, the chances of them finding something in the next system were somewhat higher….. As Clark called off the distance, the Rabbit’s finger hovered over the Jump Drive button… He had a funny feeling about this…… The Jump effect faded and Clark turned to his sensors. The first hurried look made the fur on the back of his neck stand up, and forced him to look again, and then again. He could feel the Rabbit’s eyes on him, waiting…. Breaking his gaze, he lifted his chin to look at the Pilot; “we have two signals, obviously artificial. They’re on the system’s fringes and while I’ve never seen waveforms like that before, I’ll bet you a month’s pay that they’re bouys marking jump points……. The passive scan took time. The Raider was set up for it, but it STILL took a while for the ship’s automated telescopes to look at every portion of the space surrounding them. Clark fretted, tweaking instruments, drumming his fingers on the console, shifting in his seat, while Lewis forced his body to show at least an outward semblance of calm. The sensor console’s alarm caught them both by surprise. “Looks as if something’s coming through one of the jump points” Clark whispered, as if the approaching ship might hear him if he talked too loud. Lewis just nodded; “Interesting subspace distortion pattern. Are you logging all this?” Clark swallowed and nodded; “Got three separate recorders running. Yeah, we’re getting it.” Lewis shifted one of the Raider’s telescopes from the passive optical search and slewed it towards the suspected jump point. He could see the multifaceted object that was the source of the strange emanations…… and a few seconds later a bright greenish-white flower blossomed near it, the outline of something forming….. “No doubt about it; that’s a jump point, and there’s a ship coming through…..” “Yeah, but have you ever seen anything like that in your life?” Lewis stared at the image and shook his head; what he saw seemed to be a collection of tapered cylindrical objects, all pointing in the same directions, held together by what seemed to be flying buttresses…. Once clear of the Jump Field distortion, it seemed to gather itself and then leap forward at an amazing speed. Lewis checked the sensor display and then whistled; “well over 200 G’s acceleration; remarkable for something that big.” Clark nodded; “I’m not seeing any sign of a structural integrity field, nor any sort of exhaust…. But I am picking up extremely strong gravity waves. I think they’re using some sort of induced gravity drive.” Lewis nodded; “I can’t seem to pick up any sort of power curve; no idea what they’re using for a power supply, but whatever it is, its got to be fairly large to accelerate so large a ship like that.” Looking up and turning slightly, Lewis fixed Clark with a stare; “so now what do we do?” “No, I don’t think it’s a warship; I don’t see anything that looks like emitters, or launchers.” “You can’t figure out what makes it go, either; what makes you think you could recognize weapons?” The Fox sighed and shrugged; “OK, so maybe it wouldn’t be so good an idea to try and take it as a prize. But we can’t just go home with pictures from half a system away!” The Rabbit sighed; “I guess not, but whatever we do, we cannot let them know where we came from.” The Fox nodded; “so we warp out, wait for them to jump out, and then warp back and use our own jump point home.” Lewis shook his head no; “How will we know if they leave a reconnaissance package behind? A heavily stealthed package could evade our sensors and track our every movement. No, I’ll go along with you, we’ll get a closer look, but then we warp out and head back on Warp drive. Astrometrics say we’re only about 12 light-years from the New Elysium system; we’ve plenty of fuel for that. It’ll only be a couple of days.” The Fox sighed and waved a paw in grudging agreement. Lewis checked the course, checked the drives, checked the reactors and then checked the sensors. And then he checked everything again. When he kicked the Raider into gear, they’d make a high speed pass, on Impulse Power, scan the ship at their point of closest approach and then head for the fringes of the system, taking evasive maneuvers. They’d wait until the alien ship was almost to the system’s other jump point before making their approach so they wouldn’t have far to go to a safe place to engage the warp drive. And in the mean time the Rabbit had nothing to do but wait and check his systems…… <<>> <<>> <<>> <<< An Alien vessel? Or could this be a ploy by the Ghu?>>> <<>> <<>> <<>> “We’re being scanned…. I think.” Lewis ignored the Fox, concentrating on his flying. The Raider flashed within half a thousand kilometers, at an appreciable fraction of the speed of light. And then they were past, heading out into deep space, on a purely random course. Lewis concentrated on the gravimetric readout, forcing himself to count to ten slowly, after it flashed green, before engaging the Warp drive. As the ship settled down, Lewis started a long, slow curve, following a path generated by the computer, that should confuse any sensors capable of tracking them, reducing the odds of guessing their final course to almost nothing…. But then the chances of encountering anyone out here had been almost nothing, too….. <<>> <<