Chapter 53
A reason for loyalty
Pep stood fast by the controls of the flier. The wind had picked up and she was having trouble keeping the fliers speed up. She did find that by flying from right to left diagonally she was able to increase the speed but not by much. A storm was coming in from in front of her and she didn’t want to have the girls get wet in this cold weather.
Pep smiled as she saw the lights from the spaceport in the distance.
“We’re almost there.” Pep yelled to the girls. She turned to look at them, they were miserable. They were all clinging to each other like frightened children. This flight must have been terrifying to most of them. None of them could even conceive what was happening to them. They had no education or insight about the world outside the compound.
“It’s okay, it’s almost over. We’ll be on the ground very soon.” As soon as Pep finished her sentence a Feloid gunboat pulled up along side of their flier from below. It must have been following from behind and below in the blind spot. The girls all began screaming as it came closer. They had the side doors open and it appeared that they intended to board the flier. The Feloids in the doorway had handguns and were straining to see something on the flier they just couldn’t find.
Pep realized they were looking for the men. Only a man would be flying this vehicle. These girls were obviously slaves and wouldn’t have such knowledge.
Two of the Feloid males jumped onto the moving flier with guns drawn. They saw Pep at the controls and looked at each other.
“Who’s flying this ship girl? Where is your master?” the first one said.
Pep just looked at the men in silence. Their next actions would determine their fate.
“Just don’t stand there girl, answer me?” the first man said as he took a step closer.
“If I was you I’d get back on that gunboat while you can.” Pep’s eyes were glowing as she confronted the man.
“What did you say?” the man asked. He couldn’t believe he was being spoken to in this way.
“Leave us in peace.” She said angrily.
“I’ll show you…” He began to say. Pep made a sweeping motion with her arm quickly causing both men to be flung from the deck and plummet to the ground below. Pep turned to see the pilot of the gunship. His eyes were wide with surprise. He understood that it was Pep that somehow swept the men from the deck. He pulled the ship back and tried to get into position to fire his forward guns at the flier.
The girls all screamed and shifted about knowing they were about to be shot down.
“Just leave them alone!” Pep shouted. The pilot of the gunboat’s head exploded showering the inside of the cockpit canopy with gore.
The gunboat nosed up momentarily and then dove sharply down. It lost its equilibrium and tumbled all the way down to the ground until it hit and exploded.
Pep quickly looked at the girls to see if they were safe. They were all staring at her with fear in their eyes. They were becoming more and more frightened of her.
“It’s okay. It’s all over now. I won’t hurt you, we’re sisters. You must understand that I’m doing this all for you.” She pleaded.
Pep slowly flew the ship down closer to the ground. She wanted them to calm down. She knew they wouldn’t dare run away once they landed but she also wanted them to trust her so they would do what she told them once she found a space ship large enough to carry all of them. She was confident she could handle any opposition they might meet once there. Her powers had grown and she was becoming much better at using them. She had become the savior of these girls and more would follow. She knew just the place to take them where they could all be safe. They would have families and raise them as free people, something her kind had never dreamed of. She wouldn’t let anyone harm them any more. Maybe someday she would be able to free all cat girls and force a change on the Feloid culture but for now she would be content with saving her sisters from the life she had endured.
The spaceport loomed larger the closer they got. Almost immediately she saw a very large freighter sitting in the loading area empty. The markings showed it to be a Corillian merchantman. It was a human ship that was most likely owned by smugglers. A Human ship in this backwater part of Feloid space was defiantly up to no good. Once she took this ship she knew it would go unreported because it was here illegally and also Feloids wouldn’t care what happened to a Human smugglers ship if a Feloid stole it. Pep saw an open area in front of the Corillian ship and decides to land there. The rain had just started to come down lightly causing the girls to huddle close together for warmth. The flier touched down on the field without any difficulty. Pep turned to the girls. “We are all going to leave on that ship. I know most of you are scared but you must do as I tell you now. When I tell you to get on board I want you to run as fast as you can into the big door and sit in the middle of the floor. You have to do as I say or you will be in trouble.”
Pep looked at the girls. They all shook their heads in acknowledgment of her orders. She jumped down off the ship onto the landing field. She had her boots, coveralls, and cloak on again. She took one last look at the girls and walked towards the big ships cargo bay and up the ramp.
Ceecee, Ragg, and Matt had started their journey to find Pep. Matt watched the scanners for any ships that might be heading towards their vessel. Matt was sitting in the cockpit all alone. Ceecee had remembered this was the ship Mykala and she had been on when the one tiny part went bad and she wound up having to manually do the parts job for three days. She had gone back to make sure it was still in working order.
She sensed someone standing behind her. It was Ragg.
“So is everything okay?” he asked smiling.
Ceecee was a little surprised to see him back in the engineering section.
“Yeah, I just wanted to make sure everything was alright with the replacement part.” She said straightening her hair as she looked up at him.
“You know I like you Ceecee, I really do. It’s just that sometimes you come on a little strong.” He said smiling.
“I like you to Ragg it’s just that I don’t have a lot of experience with men. Back home we weren’t allowed…”
“Do you want some experience?” Ragg asked standing a little closer.
“What, here? Right here?” she asked laughing.
“Why not?” Ragg asked as he stroked her hair.
His hand felt good. It was big and powerful.
“I just thought it would be different.” Ceecee said looking into his eyes.
“This is going to be different.” He took her head in his hands and kissed her hard on the lips. Instinctively she tried to push away but at the same time she wanted this to happen. Her heart began to pump harder as she felt herself becoming aroused.
Ragg took his lips from her mouth. “Are you okay?” he wanted her to consent to his actions. Ceecee closed her eyes and with her head still in his hands she shook her head yes. Ragg began kissing her neck and kneading her buttocks roughly. Ceecee braced herself against the bulkhead to keep from being knocked over as he pressed hard against her. This was completely different than being with Vee. With her they would take turns satisfying each other. Ragg was taking control and not giving her much say in what was happening. She was exhilarated by his dominance over her. He didn’t care that she wanted to do it somewhere nice and private. He was going to take what he wanted and she would just have to go along with it.
He pulled her tank top up revealing her ample breasts. Ragg squeezed them roughly which to her amazement she found incredibly stimulating. Ceecee threw her head back and moaned loudly. She didn’t care if anyone heard them at this point. They continued to caress and undress each other as quickly as they could. This dance between the two of them had gone on long enough.
“Please take your hand off of the intercom button.” It was Matt. When Ceecee had pushed against the bulkhead she had turned on the intercom to the cockpit.
Ceecee and Ragg froze for a second and burst out laughing. Ceecee turned the switch off and looked at Ragg hungrily. Ragg smiled and pushed his face between her breasts.
Kllair’s ship slid quietly from it’s moorings and into the night sky. She wanted their departure to be uneventful. She hadn’t been very successful in fooling anyone lately so she hoped she would at least be able to pull this off. She was loosing control of her team. Novuh was constantly challenging every thing she did or said. The twins, Nya and Vyra were like wild animals and were barely under her control at all. The only member of her crew she felt was still loyal was Elith the Zeltron empathy. Unfortunately she would be little help if there were a power play due to her lack of aggressiveness.
She was taking them to rescue Adda. Now that Adda was exiled from Feloid space her life was over. Without a safe place to hide the Jedi Hunters would find someone like her quiet easily. Adda was an innocent that had few dealings with the lower casts of society. Kllair could offer her safety. She knew places to hide and had contacts well entrenched in the criminal underworld. She wanted Adda to join her crew as calming force to the others. She had a reputation that beyond everything else the rest of the crew respected. She would also be a constant reminder to them all what happens if they took things to far again. Kllair knew she would be able to toughen Adda up. Adda stood toe too toe with Lyda Starkiller all alone. No coward could do that. Kllair saw an ocean of untapped potential in Adda that she would try to release. With Adda on her side she would have a strong reason to be leader of the team. Kllair knew of several places in Feloid space that they could hide. Centuries of infighting had left many an abandoned smuggler or pirate base available to her. Once Adda had been convinced to join them she would have no choice but to do as Kllair said. Adda simply had nowhere else to go. If this plan worked Kllair would be the uncontested leader again. Adda was a Jedi Master in the healing arts as well as self-defense. Novuh would want to learn fighting techniques from her, as she was a master at hand-to-hand combat herself. The idea that she could learn from a real Jedi would be irresistible to her. The twins would be more predictable with Adda’s force senses to watch them with. They also knew they had very little mental discipline so Adda would be able to influence them through her thoughts.
This plan had to work. It would work just as planned. Kllair checked the monitors and saw that everyone of her crew was asleep. The ship sped through space on its course getting closer and closer to Adda every second. Soon everything would fall into place. Everything would be fine as long as Adda didn’t get herself killed before they got there.
It had been three days since Adda had been thrown in the pit with Zellina. Adda woke up stiff and sore. She felt Zellina’s arm around her waist and her body curled up behind her under the blanket. At first she was startled by her closeness but then she remembered that it was common for Feloids to share a large communal bed in their homes and onboard their small ships. It wasn’t sexual with them. It was just a more efficient way of saving space and keeping warm. Adda sat up quietly and listened for any sound outside. It was quiet. She rubbed her arms and legs trying to get the circulation flowing again after a night of sleeping in the dirt. Zellina suddenly awoke and pushed away from Adda.
“I’m sorry, I forgot you were here and I wasn’t sure who you were.” Zellina apologizesed as she rubbed her eyes and shoulder. The dirt floor hadn’t been any kinder to her it seemed.
“Thanks for sharing your blanket with me, it was the first kindness I’ve received since I’ve been here.” Adda said forcing a smile.
“Did you see a young cat girl wandering alone before they captured you by any chance?” Zellina asked.
“No, I’m sorry I can’t help you.” Adda replied.
“She was my only friend. I was the captain on a pirate ship until recently. I had captured my First mate. She had lead a mutiny against me once before. It was my hope to kill her or sell her as a slave but while I was making up my mind she escaped and killed the rest of the crew leaving my cat girl and I marooned here. We made out all right for quiet some time here. Leina, my friend was quiet good at hunting and finding food. After a while we spotted the Wytches and their camp. The camp was built around a wrecked space ship; most likely the one they arrived in. We kept our distance for weeks but one day I was captured and thrown into this pit. I never told them about Leina in hopes she could keep from winding up like me.” Zellina said as she pushed herself up next to Adda and put their only blanket around their battered and bruised shoulders.
They heard a horn being blown in the distance. After a while they heard someone in the camp blow a horn too. It was most likely answering the one in the distance. They heard the women running around and they suddenly opened the door to the pit.
“Come out! One of the women yelled down to them. Adda looked at Zellina the pirate captain and saw fear in her eyes. Adda became scared as well. Zellina got up and dropped the blanket as she walked nervously towards the ladder that lead up.
“What is it?” Adda whispered.
“They’re coming to trade with the Wytches.” Zellina answered wide-eyed.
Adda wasn’t sure just what that meant but she understood she wouldn’t be asked to come up a second time. She made it to her feet as best she could and followed Zellina up the ladder and into the camp.
Adda was able to get her first look at the Wytches. They wore what remained of their red robes and garments. Most of their clothes had been burned or ripped to bits in the crash it seemed and they had pieced together what they could from what remained. They all wore the traditional white make up from head to toe. Most had also painted their faces to resemble skulls or other frightening designs to intimidate their enemies. They all carried weapons used in hand-to-hand combat as well as throwing spears and Force bows. They seemed to be getting ready for the arrival of someone. Adda and Zellina were grabbed and had there hands tied behind them. They were then taken to an area where there stood two posts topped by a third horizontally. Ropes were thrown over the top post and pulled down then tied to their wrists. The ropes were then pulled down from the opposite side pulling their arms up painfully behind them leaving them to stand on tiptoes.
They strained to see who was coming into the camp. Zellina gasped when she saw the first one walk under the camp gate. He was a giant of at least eight or nine feet tall. He was covered in tattoos and wore primitive leather armor covered in metal studs. The man seemed almost beastlike in appearance with his long tangled hair and huge jaw that had two stumpy tusks sticking up from each corner. His shoulders were at least four feet across and thickly muscled, as was the rest of his body. The nose was broad and drooped down to his upper lip just below its yellow eyes. This beast was a killer from a race of killers. They were savages of the worst kind as shown by the scalps and humanoid bones that the used as decorations on their bodies. More followed the first that Adda took to be the leader. They strode into the camp without fear. They seemed like mindless brutes and didn’t have the intelligence to be afraid of the Wytches. Adda noticed that they were carrying the butchered carcasses of several beasts and cages holding several smaller ones. They had come to trade with the Wytches it seemed. But what could the Wytches have to trade with these semi-humanoid grotesques. Adda suddenly felt sick to her stomach. It was them. They meant to trade Zellina and herself for the food. They were to be given to these beasts for them to do with as they pleased.
Zellina looked at Adda. “What can we do?”
The leader of the beast men stopped and was talking to the leader of the Wytches. The conversation only lasted a few minutes until the leader of the Wytches called to someone inside the main part of the wrecked spaceship. After a few seconds two Wytches came out dragging a young cat girl screaming by the arms. They pulled her kicking and screaming over towards the beast man leader as he laughed sadistically.
“Leina?” Zellina said unsure. Her face went white in horror. “Leina!!!” she screamed.
Adda realized it was her friend; she must have been captured as well. The Wytches were offering Leina to the beast men first. After all she was just a cat girl and of little value.
The Wytch leader said something to the beast man and pointed to Adda and Zellina. He grabbed Leina by the hair and dragged her over to where they were hanging followed by the Wytch. The Wytch stepped forward and spoke. “This is Krrulthor. He is the leader of these creatures. I have asked him to show you what is going to happen to you both when I decide it’s your turn to be sold.
Krrulthor pushed Leina down face first on the edge of a large table and tore her dress off. What happened next is too horrible to describe as to its content and for the length of time it took. The worst part is that Leina hadn’t died during her ordeal. It would have to be seen later if she would expire from whatever internal injuries she had received. Krrulthor and the Wytches had met her pleas for mercy with laughter.
Novuh handed Kllair back the magnaviewers. “How could you have just let that happen? You had your rifle on him the whole time.”
“It’s not time yet. I want Adda to be truly grateful for my rescue when it comes.” Kllair said as she took the magnaviewers and looked down into the camp at the scene below.
“You should have at least killed the girl, she didn’t have to suffer like that.” Novuh said.
“You see Novuh, Adda needs a reason to join us. If I save her from a fate like that girl just went through then she’ll be loyal to us for the rest of her life.” Kllair said still watching the camp.
“Loyal to us or you?” Novuh asked.
Kllair put down the viewers for a moment and looked at Novuh and smiled. “Well I guess that will be up to her Novuh now won’t it?”
Novuh knew Kllair was right about letting Adda suffer. It would cause her to be even more thankful for the rescue thus forcing Adda into becoming loyal to Kllair. Novuh would let this go for now. She could always tell Adda later how she sat and watched them all suffer just to trick her into joining up.
“Are you sure she’s a Jedi master? She can’t even escape from this dirt hole.” Novuh asked.
“It is a dirt hole but a dirt hole full of Sith Wytches or have you forgotten about that. When we do go down there and rescue her I hope you keep that in mind because if you don’t you will die down there. They will attack your mind and cause you to loose focus. You are one of the best close quarters fighters I’ve ever seen Novuh but if you under estimate those women for one instant they will kill you.” Kllair said looking through the viewers at the camp.
“What do you want me to do Kllair” Elith asked.
“Once again you’ll hang back and keep the ship waiting and ready to go. Your abilities to control people’s emotions won’t work on them. You’ll be a bigger help staying with the ship.” Kllair said.
“And the twins?” Novuh asked.
Kllair looked over at the twins and watched them sharpening their knives and cleaning their guns giggling to each other.
“ I think I’ll just let them loose and give them a good work out. They’ve been penned up so long I think they need a good killing spree.” Kllair said.
Hudd came into the cockpit rubbing his neck.
“I thought you were asleep. You’re not on duty for another three hours.” Mykala said looking up from the controls.
“Couldn’t sleep. I guess I’m just nervous about this job.” He said smiling. “I’ve never had to work for anyone else before except my old man. I’ve never been judged by others at doing what I do everyday.”
“Well you can relax a little. Granic gave you the assignment but he doesn’t have final say. Besides we can always find you something to do if it doesn’t work out.” Mykala said. “We all like Timtam and so we want it to work between you two.”
“I’m really lucky to have wound up with her. She’s pretty and sexy and she has a genuine good heart. She doesn’t have to work at being good like everyone else. I guess she doesn’t know any other way to be.” Hudd said looking over the controls.
“We all care about her very much Hudd, don’t ever forget that.” Mykala said.
“You don’t have to worry about me, I’m just a regular guy. I had only been with my wife and Enna my whole life so I doubt I’ll start chasing women at this point in my life.” Hudd said.
“That’s a good way to look at things.” Mykala smiled.
“So do you have anybody special?” he asked trying to make conversation.
Mykala immediately thought of Araya. Her lips pressed together hard as tears filled her eyes.
“I’m sorry, I was just…” Hudd felt bad for asking.
“It’s okay, really. There was someone but he died saving my life. He was very special” Mykala smiled and looked at Hudd wiping the tears from her eyes.
They sat in an awkward silence for a while.
“ This is some ship huh?” Hudd said in an obvious attempt to change the subject.
“I think I’m going to like you Hudd, you’re okay.” Mykala said.
“What would you do if I was unfaithful to Timtam?” he asked half joking.
“I’d shoot your dick off.” Mykala said back to him smiling.
“It’s good to know Timtam has devoted friends.” Hudd smiled.
If you have enjoyed these stories please check out my first all original book series at Amazon.com. The title is Beyond the Crystal Heaven.
Once again thank you for your support.
Last Updated (Tuesday, 10 September 2013 02:11)