Page 9 of Doom Averted

Arianna had been quieter, making soft noises only occasionally for the last hour. It had sounded to me like she was settling in to go sleep, and I had been debating on whether to turn off the com connection. I really should, this was far across the line.

The sound I heard next froze me in my tracks, then I jerked back and hit my horns on the edge of the console. Was that… Was that a moan? She made another soft little sound, more of a gasp than a moan, and I froze again. My skin flushed with heat until the purple lines marking me were glowing with bio-luminescence. I pressed the heel of my palm against my groin where my pants had suddenly gone uncomfortably tight.

I had to turn off this com channel, I should not invade her privacy like this. I knew what I should be doing, but I found myself biting my bottom lip hard to hold back a groan, my attention completely fixated on her. The last thing I should be doing was opening my pants and fisting my cock, but I was doing it anyway. Each of those little shuddering sounds, the soft little pants and moans she was making, it was fire to my blood.

Rubbing my cock to the noises she made, I tried to imagine what she was doing. Was she touching herself inside? Or just that little button at the top of her folds? The one humans had that gave them so much pleasure? I was suddenly keenly interested in human physiology. I didn’t even like humans or any other species for that matter, but the sounds she was making…

I tugged on my cock a little faster, leaning my forehead against the edge of the panel. My own breaths were coming faster as pleasure ratcheted up my spine. My tail swung around to knock the sharpened metal blade from the tip, then it curled around the base of my cock, working in tandem with my hand. It felt so good, and I hadn’t done this in so long; the cool metal texture of my hand prosthetic made it feel so very different from before.

Arianna drew out a long, soft sigh, falling quiet. Had she found her release? My own orgasm pumped through me at the thought, seed coating my palm in hot, quick spurts. I groaned, shuddering from the pleasure, quickly followed by a deep feeling of shame. I roughly wiped myself clean, closing my pants, then I disconnected the com line between Arianna and myself. Like I should have that morning or like I should have the moment I heard her sounds.

Sitting on my knees in the engine room, I looked around myself, hearing the steady hum of the engines. What the fuck was wrong with me today? The moment I’d heard the human female’s voice it was like she’d put a damn spell on me. I was acting completely out of character.

When I spotted Babbit curled up on his pillow on the workbench I shuddered again, stupidly relieved that the animal was asleep. Nobody needed to witness my shameful behavior just now. I climbed to my feet and set about cleaning up the tools I didn’t need. Then I got started on the experimental upgrades we’d need to push the ship to the speeds needed to reach Arianna in time.

My entire body jerked when my com went off, was that her? Did she know? I fumbled to thumb the accept call number on my own com in a hurry. Only as I pressed accept did I realize that Arianna would be calling me through the old, broken device, not my private one.

It felt a little like karmic justice to hear my native language barked at me through the line the moment I answered. I knew I’d be tracked down once I’d seen the Kertinillian spy back on Arakon where we’d rescued Sunder, his mate, and their children recently. I recognized the voice speaking to me as well, and it brought back flashes of my last mission for the military, the disastrous way things had ended, killing the pilot and gravely injuring the navigator.

“Captain Mor’vi Allignon,” I said, talking over the voice which had launched from a greeting directly into a spiel on how I should come back to serve the great Kertinillian Empire. No thanks. This was the very Captain that had run the ship I’d served on for a good handful of years, the ship on which my career had ended.

“It’s General now, Da’vi,” the male said, “And you’ve got to accept my proposal, a talented male like you shouldn’t waste his skills on a simple cargo ship.” The derision in those tones was thick, and if not for the shameful way I’d acted only a moment ago, I would have bristled at it, snapped back. As it was, I snorted, the Vagabond a cargo ship? Surely his reports on us told him this was a Star Class Cruiser? I felt a little hurt pride at hearing her called a cargo ship, Star Class Cruisers were the finest exploration and scout vessels there were. They were highly prized by any fleet.

“Not going to happen, Sir,” I said. A little miffed that they were now bothering me, trying to recruit me, after I’d spent a year stuck in a gladiator stable. “I am happy where I am,” I added firmly, my finger going to the com device, ready to disconnect the call. Years of ingrained respect for the chain of command was the only thing that kept me from simply hanging up on a former superior officer.

“Oh come on Da’vi, you’ll get a good deal if you reenlist with me. We need you to work on that engine upgrade you improvised. Remember that? You’ll get your own lab, and you can cherry-pick your assistants. Just built me that super engine,” my former captain spoke in a more cajoling tone of voice, losing the formality he was usually known for.

“No, I am not coming back Sir, lose my number. I’m not interested, you didn’t bother to mount a rescue last year and you can’t tell me you guys didn’t know where I was then.” That had always bothered me, I was a valuable asset, I knew I was, but the Kertinillian Army had let me rot in that damn gladiator stable, where I’d been forced to risk life and limb fighting for entertainment in the arena. And now they wanted me back? What had changed?

“Oh come now, you weren’t ready to come back, and these things take time. I had to make sure I could secure the funds to staff a lab for you, Da’vi,” General Allignon said. I heard what he didn’t say, but what had likely happened. He was a shiny gold star general now, he needed to consolidate his power base before he brought me in, and bringing me in would bring him a lot of power, especially if I succeeded in building that super engine for him. So I got to suffer while he played his political games. This was exactly why I’d left.

“No, now leave me the fuck alone,” I snapped, angry that I’d been used like a pawn, yet again. I wasn’t going to allow the Kertinillian Army to get their claws in me for another round. I eyed the work I was doing on the Vagabond’s engines, the very thing my former Captain was after. “It was a fluke, I can’t recreate it anyway.”

When he laughed, as if he thought I had said something funny, I thumbed off the connection and then for good measure, my entire com device. No, I was not coming back to work for them. I was not going to give the Kertinal Empire such a powerful engine, just like I had opted not to do that for the neutral shipyard Strewn. This was just a temporary upgrade to rescue Arianna, and then I’d destroy every part of it, all my notes.

Chapter 7

Arianna

After sleeping in a bed for the first time, I felt like a new person. It was much easier to ignore intrusive, negative thoughts on a good night of sleep. Three nights in a row like that, and I was feeling practically like a new person. I wondered if that stint in the creepy stasis pod had made me extra tired, it had felt very hard to move for a while like all my muscles were fatigued. I hadn’t found any more food, nor had I found anything that resembled a kitchen, I could only assume it was inaccessible, in one of the broken parts of the ship.

A little bored, I walked around the ship, wondering if Da’vi would be annoyed if I tried to call him again. I was lonely, before this crazy space-napping, I had spent most of my days in the shop, working on cars or admin for my ex-con boss. I was used to the background noise of rock music, clattering tools, and men cursing or sharing banter. I missed that. I even kinda missed my second job, bartending for the only local pub in town.

Calling Da’vi started to sound like a good idea, I hadn’t heard from him for days now. I wanted to know if he was still coming, I wanted to hear his deep voice rumble in my ear. I wanted to know what he looked like very badly too, just from the sound of his voice, I knew he wasn’t a human, but what did he look like, my first alien?

Picking up the chunky balls of some kind of yarn that I’d found in the cargo hold, I took my work with me to the bridge. I’d try to sit there for a while and work on my attempt at ‘finger’ crocheting an actual sweater from the stuff. That way I could try giving Da’vi a call while I worked, maybe he wouldn’t mind a little chat. I knew so very little about him, and I wanted to know more. What did an alien do? He was on a ship, and he’d talked about brothers and making repairs…

My entire body was shaking when I pressed the button to call him. I felt like I’d held myself back, and controlled my impulsiveness really well for the past few days. I was kind of proud of myself for that, but having no one to talk to was driving me crazy. I wasn’t sure if I would manage to stay sane if I had another three weeks of isolation like that ahead of me.

“Arianna, everything alright?” Da’vi’s voice rumbled over the com line so suddenly that I dropped the strands of yarn I’d hooked around my fingers, trying to pull through a loop. I hadn’t expected him to answer the call so quickly as if he’d been waiting for me.

“I’m fine just… Lonely. I’m sorry to bother you about that. I just have no one else to talk to. If you don’t mind, can we just talk for a bit?” I hurried to say. I held my breath as I waited for his reply, I wasn’t sure what I’d do if he said no. Work on this stupid attempt at a sweater some more and try to figure out the symbols on the consoles so I had something to read?

The pause on his side seemed to be forever, but then he made a rumbling noise, definitely not his pet, it had the same two tones his voice had. “You can keep the line open with me. I must keep working on the engines or we won’t get to you in time. We’ll keep each other company.” I was more than happy with that solution, so I settled into my chair, chunky yarn piled in my lap while I worked and talked.

Talking to Da’vi was a bit like pulling nails, he gave monosyllable answers, or he just grunted in reply. At least I was very adept at making small talk and filling awkward silences. It seemed difficult, but eventually, I did manage to learn things about him. Like he was Kertinal by race, and he’d admitted to having two horns and a freaking tail, which I thought was really fascinating. He was the ship mechanic, and that made me feel so much more at ease in his company, it was unexpectedly familiar.

“So, you mentioned brothers. How many do you have? What’s it like to live with your family on a spaceship?” I couldn’t imagine living with my family together, they’d drive me utterly crazy in no time at all. Half the time I had any kind of negative thoughts, it was like one of my family members talking to me. I hated how much impact they had on my life when I hadn’t been back home since the day I’d turned eighteen.