Towards Armageddon

This is my story and is also posted in other places.

*****

Chapter 1

The signal barged into my mind like a spike driven through my cranium. It pulsed and seethed between my ears, drumming against the walls of my skull like a migraine. I called out in pain as I shoved the headset from my ears into the screen of my console.

I could still hear the burst of static undulating and wavering from its speakers as I leaned back, massaging my eyes and scalp. Though my eyes were clamped shut, white light specked with dancing black motes filled my vision.

"Warrant Officer Second Grade! State the reason for your outburst immediately!" the sternness I was trained to expect from that voice was marred by genuine concern.

The real world filtered in slowly. That voice belonged to Sub-Lieutenant Dene bat-Sora bat-Minn. She was Officer of the Watch for third team, my immediate superior. I was at my station on the flag bridge. I was a junior signal intelligence officer on the Diadem, an electronic warfare cruiser in the First Strike Fleet of the High Kingdom of Torahn.

The Sub-Lieutenant was staring down at me, her eyes concerned, angry, and mostly confused. She was spaceborn -- tall and lean. The charcoal uniform she wore was miniscule, but it still hung off of her.

"Sorry, Sub-Lieutenant. I... I got a really weird signal," I replied haltingly.

"What does that mean, Sen?"

I peered at my screen, trying to make sense of the data I was receiving. "It was psionic, mostly, but there's also what looks like a gravitic component and... neutrinos and broadband radio? That's not right. That's too fast..."

"Why did you throw your headset?" she persisted. She sounded more concerned, not less.

"I had the gain and volume too high..." that wasn't convincing me either. We shared a quick glance, a small smile creasing her mouth as our eyes met. She and I had been working together long enough for her to know that I was bullshitting.

She remained quiet as we both scanned the readouts. I knew we came to the same conclusion at the same time when the air between us froze.

"Oh no," was all she had to say.

I knew that signal. She knew that signal. Anyone who learned sig int at any naval academy across the galaxy knew that signal.

"I need to alert the Lieutenant," the twinge of panic in her voice stuck a stone in my throat that plummeted into my stomach, taking my heart with it. "Shit! Sen, you're bleeding. Warrant Officer Fifth Grade! Call a surgeon!"

I pressed a finger pad to the end of my snout where I felt something hot and wet. I withdrew it to find the pink stained with crimson. I noticed my lightheadedness, and it was suddenly all I could think about. I balled my fists, and I pulled up archival data, the three sets I knew I needed, the only three sets in the category. I overlaid them with an adjusted and tidied version of this new signal, and all the hallmarks were there.

There was a sudden bustle behind me. But my eyes were fixed on the screen. Gloved hands tore me away to look into the eyes of a surgeon, the green wreath on the shoulders of his uniform giving him away. He shined a light in my eyes that made me blink and recoil and stuffed something rough up both nostrils. Then, he waved something in front of me and spoke.

"He's not dying, Sub-Lieutenant, but I want him down in medbay," he said, matter-of-factly.

"If he can stay at his station, we need him -- just a little longer," she was insistent, almost frantic.

The surgeon's ears twitched and stayed back, but he nodded and collected his kit.

Another period of bustle, and he was gone and replaced by the Lieutenant in her jet black uniform, gold trimming shining in the simulated sunlight. Her pale blue eyes examined me from atop a whitening muzzle.

I shot to my feet and stumbled, having to be caught in what turned out to be the arms of the Sub-Lieutenant. After regaining my balance, I curtsied to the Lieutenant. She made a suggestion of a bow -- one hand at the waist, an almost-imperceptible bend of the spine -- and spoke in her uncharacteristically high voice, "Sit, son. Don't die on the Commodore's bridge."

"Yes, Lieutenant," I answered. The haze in my head wouldn't clear enough for me to be embarrassed.

"Dene, what did the boy find?"

"It's a Breach Signal, ma'am."

"Ancestors..." breathed the Lieutenant.

"Show the Lieutenant, Sen," the Sub-Lieutenant's prod was gentle.

"Yes, ma'am. My Commander, if... you would please view the data on screen," speech hurt, and the words were halting, "The readout is very noisy, there are a few discontinuities, but I can say with confidence that what I received is a Breach Signal." I gestured with a shaking fingertip while I shifted between bands with the other hand, "See the periodicities? They match prior observations exactly. I could excuse it as natural, but the coincidence with the gravitic event and neutrino bursts -- which are steadily increasing in frequency -- and the... psionic effects. I have no doubt."

I looked at the Lieutenant. She looked even more ashen, if that was somehow possible with her almost white fur.

"Comms officer," she said in a flat tone, gesturing out of sight, "Summon the Commodore."

She turned to me, "Listen to me, son, you have to keep it together. Can you find me the source?"

My eyes were mostly focused now, and I answered with a dreamy nod, "Yes, My Commander."

"Good on you," she patted my shoulder forcefully and walked off, guiding the Sub-Lieutenant by way of a hand between her shoulders to a corner of the flag bridge where they huddled together to whisper.

I was aware enough now to be able to tell that every pair of eyes on the bridge was staring at me. The members of the sig int division to my left looked like they would either pass out or throw up. The comms, nav, and e-war divisions just looked scared and confused.

Their fear made me want to vomit up that stone that had been settled for some time, but I pushed it away with the dizziness so I could focus on my data.

The gravitic sensors were FTL which negated any ability to measure speeds. But that gravitic emission was still subject to the inverse-square law. Archival data showed that there was a fixed initial energy release at each breach -- something about energy throughput, but we didn't really know. Assuming this was a Breach Signal, and that awful burst was the beginning, then the difference between the known original emission strength and that which I detected would give me a distance travelled. That set a hollow sphere of possible sources of emissions centered on my location, those in extragalactic space obviously discounted.

The gravitational waves were a good place to start fixing bearing too, they passed by us out from the center of the galaxy, so it was coreward. That made sense for a Breach Signal.

The neutrinos were next. They went in straight lines and they passed through almost everything. The neutrino detectors put the source squarely in the galactic plane and confirmed it was somewhere coreward within a broad arc, but those straight line paths had been straight for such a distance that precision couldn't come through.

Now I needed the radio data. We had antennae all over the ship. It was an e-war vessel. I had no real telescope, nothing that could be pointed and aimed. But I had an incredibly sensitive instrument, and the area indicated by the neutrinos narrowed down my options enough that it would be feasible to use the ship like one. I checked signal arrival times and intensities on each antenna against the orientation of the ship. The thinking machine in my station, a rare privilege of my rank and profession, adjusted for errors in the detectors and gave me a precision beyond my ability. The readout gave me a likely bearing and a confidence interval. That gave me a direction. I had a direction and a distance. Now I needed someone who knew astrogation.

I shifted my calculations to a datacard and launched myself from my station. I pressed through the lightheadedness and imbalance to cross the short distance to the station occupied by the senior navigator on duty. Her eyes were wide. In retrospect, I couldn't tell if she was scared I would hurt her or fall over.

"Warrant Officer Fourth Grade, if you would please download this data and search within the indicated area for any large black holes that surpass the Breach Limit."

She took the data card, inserted it into their station, and began to query the astrogation database, grumbling as she did so, "Breach Limit... you'd better be wrong."

She stopped typing and stared at her screen, "Ancestors protect me... there is one. Why there? That's too far from the core. That's not supposed to be possible."

"Lieutenant!" I called.

The Lieutenant and Sub-Lieutenant both hurried over, the three of us bending over the navigator's shoulders to peer at the results.

The Lieutenant spoke up, "Sen, what's the frequency now? How..."

She was interrupted by the opening of the bridge door and the loud call of a marine, "Wing Flag on deck!"

Everyone shot erect and turned to the door, the women bowing and the one other man and I curtsying. The Commodore waved a hand, and everyone returned to as much ease as was possible under the circumstances. She strode up to the navigator's station, the other warrant officer and I shrinking somewhat at our proximity to all that gold.

The Commodore was rarely on duty with our team. Nobody knew what to expect of her yet -- she had only been with us a few months. First team, who usually were on watch with her, had nothing bad to say but nothing good either. Her fur was so dark that it was nearly black. Against her uniform, she looked like a pair of bright blue eyes staring from within a shadow wreathed in gold cords, trimming, and stitching. It deepened the illusion of her being some spectre that haunted the ship.

"Lieutenant, I hope that we have determined this to be a false alarm. Are the Interlopers really breaching?"

The Lieutenant sighed heavily, "Yes, they are, My Commander."

"Show me," she ordered, her passage toward the screen displacing all of her subordinates save the now cowering navigator, the poor woman's tail reflexively batting against her chair.

The Sub-Lieutenant spoke up, a strange pride in her voice, "The Warrant Officer Second Grade has traced the signal and the Warrant Officer Fourth Grade has identified a source system."

The Commodore looked taken aback. She even deigned to cast a look of approval on the two of us, "Already? Well done. I'll see that the Admirals and the Margravine hear of this."

She bent down and scanned the screen, "Very well. Lieutenant, have this data sent to my conference room. I have many calls to make. I am certain we are not the only ship to have detected the signal."

With that, the Commodore turned and left the bridge. The two marines of her honor guard turned with the clicking of claws and followed her out with their thunderous tread.

When the door had closed behind her, I felt my legs start to give. I wobbled before the Lieutenant secured me by the shoulders. "Dene," she said, "Go grab one of the marines at the door. Have her escort the poor boy to medbay," she turned to me and spoke in a strange voice, somewhat uncomfortable and awkward, "Fine work. You should be proud. Now you just need to rest."

I nodded groggily, my vision becoming hazy again.

Through some muffled sounds and blurry vision, I felt an arm slip under my right shoulder, the hand gripping me by my left armpit. Some phantom hand draped my right arm across the marine's shoulder.

"You ready?"

The voice that sounded in my ear was soft, low, gentle. I turned to see its source. The marine was calico, that meant she was from one of those industrial planets somewhere in the Core Worlds. The normally discordant fur pattern suited her. Big gray spots made her huge, sympathetic emerald eyes glow. The rest of her face and ears were blinding white. A slender neck and sharp collar were rendered in soft orange. Her snout was long and graceful with a bright pink nose and a pleasant if unsure smile. She was really, distractingly, engrossingly pretty. She made my head swim even more. I just stared.

"Come on sailor," she prompted with a forced grin, "Lieutenant's orders! Up and at 'em!"

I tried to laugh but only exhaled. Not wanting to disappoint her, I nodded and made an attempt at a halfhearted smile. I leaned into her, and with as much strength as I could muster, I moved myself, shuffling step by shuffling step. Almost all my energy went into focusing on my feet and making sure I didn't lose my footing or trip over myself. Still I noticed how strong she was. The arm that supported me was wiry and seemingly thin, but she had no trouble taking my weight. Her shoulder and back were hard under the strain, but her breath and pace were as steady as a metronome.

Somehow we left the bridge and got into an elevator. Then by some device I was in the antiseptic-reeking medbay. The astringent odor perked me up enough to stand under mostly my own power and listen in.

"I have one of the Commodore's staff. He's had some psionic injury," said the marine. She didn't sound particularly worried, but the professional veneer cracked in a couple places.

One of the staff barked out orders, and a pair of orderlies grabbed me by the shoulders. All of them looked more scared than a fainting spell deserved. That would've rattled me if my faculties were all there.

Before I surrendered to their clutches, I made my eyes focus on the marine and wagged my limp hand in an attempt at a wave, "Thanks."

She smiled another weak little smile, "No problem."

Finally, I let myself pass out.

...

I was later told that I had been unconscious for no more than five minutes, though I remained somewhat lightheaded until I got a full night's rest. The final tally of my injuries was a splitting headache and some burst capillaries in my eyes and nose that succeeded in doing no greater harm than matting and staining the fur down my snout and neck. Accordingly, I spent the day in which I was kept under observation very, very bored and stir-crazy. I had too much time to think which invariably brought me back to two things, both of which caused me fear.

The first was the Interlopers. They had invaded from their parallel dimension three times before, each time they had been beaten. The first was a long, hard fight, and it was my species whose decisive action and politicking had struck the final blow. But that wasn't until almost a dozen worlds had burned to ash, destabilizing half the galaxy with a deadly power vacuum and throwing the rest into a demographic crisis that nearly extincted a couple sapient species. The second time, the High Kingdom of Torahn had been ready, the galaxy was united under our banner. We disposed of the two simultaneous but weaker Breaches handily. By the time the third happened two centuries ago, nobody feared them because we had won so swiftly the last time. They appeared in space that was under the High Kingdom's aegis, and we were alone. The Fleet had been a bulwark against civilian casualties, but we paid dearly for it. Each time, the Breaches were closer to the Homeworld. Now, they weren't just moving angularly, but also radially. They were creeping away from the core, into the Lozavatan Satrapy, our clients. Every major and minor power outside our sphere blamed the Queen. They said she made the veil between our world and theirs thinner. They said it was our problem. We would be alone again. And I was in the Fleet, in the closest Strike Fleet to the Breach, to be precise. Thinking too hard about it made my stomach turn and my vision haze with panic.

The second thought that held my attention was that pretty calico marine. Somehow, thinking of her made me even sicker. I was at least self-aware enough to know why. She was cute and she was sweet to me and I didn't want to die and it was nicer to think about her than death. I'd never seen her before, and I was fairly confident she wasn't normally on watch at the wing flag bridge. I wanted to at least thank her for carrying my dead weight to medbay, and hopefully get to know her much better.

My determination to talk to her again kept the panic at bay as I langoured in the medbay. I resolved to ask after her with the Sub-Lieutenant as soon as I was able.

Chapter 2

My first watch back consisted of me getting grilled by the Sub-Lieutenant, the Lieutenant, and the Commodore in a couple waves. In between I was told to analyze random pirate and smuggler chatter, no small portion of which amounted to "Did anyone else read that weird signal?" While utter tedium interspersed with extreme stress was the norm for my profession, my nerves were still shot when the closing hour of my watch came around. Most of my energy was going to keeping myself bottled up when the Sub-Lieutenant leaned against my station, her lanky form always seeming to contort just beyond what looked comfortable. I braced for another onslaught as she breathed a sigh.

The words she uttered came out tired and apologetic, "Hey, Sen. How are you holding up?"

I swivelled in my chair to look up at her. She looked about as bad as I felt. I answered with a huff, "I'm tired, boss."

We shared a half-smile and a long exhale, "I'm sorry to say, but we'll probably stay that way, Warrant Officer."

I nodded in an attempt at sageness in the beat before she continued, "I'm sorry about all the questions. We knew you were right. I don't even know why we bothered. Every single ship in the fleet picked up that transmission, and everyone with the knowledge and skill to do so came to the same conclusion you and Warrant Officer Minn did. You two were just the first, so... I guess that was your reward," she laughed a bitter laugh.

"It's not personal. Politics doesn't ever worry about little guys like me. Plus, I'm just too good to care," I halfheartedly smiled at her.

She scoffed and stood, "Keep doing your job that well and they make you bad enough to care."

"I hope one of those disentigrator things gets me first, ma'am."

We both laughed sedately, but the trite joke belied the heaviness that hung between us.

"Keep it up, Warrant Officer Sen," the Sub-Lieutenant moved to go back to the watch station.

"Ma'am, if you have a second?" I floated the question with a nondescript and polite tone.

She arrested her departure and turned to me with an affirmative noise.

"That marine who brought me to medbay, I wanted to thank them. Do you know who they are?"

She looked at the bulkhead behind me for a moment, "Not sure. Never saw her more than passing. I'll check the watch bill."

She made her way back to her station, and I fiddled at mine for a moment before she returned with a scrap of paper with a name scratched onto it. Her almost illegible hand read "Sergeant-at-Arms Sixth Grade Karr bat-Sene bat-Manat." Seeing that piece of paper made my heart do a somersault. She was out of my chain of command, and we had equivalent rank -- the fineties of grade excepted. That one, insurmountable obstacle was not in place.

"Looks like she normally pulls security at the reactor for third team, a leatherneck who normally guards wing flag broke a claw that day... somehow," shrugged the Sub-Lieutenant.

That was doubly good. If I managed to embarrass myself, I wouldn't have to see her every day. I attempted to answer as nonchalantly as I could, "Thanks, SL."

The sidelong glance and almost-imperceptible smirk she gave me probably meant my performance was lackluster. My ears heated, so I buried my embarrassment in busywork until the bell sounded and declared watch over.

I waited, somewhat impatiently, with my hands on the back of my seat. I'd need to report to the mess and eat before anything else. Hunger nagged at me as I ruminated on how long the maintenance shift would feel until, with a shot of excitement, I saw the bookish Warrant Officer Third Grade on first team pass through the doors to relieve me. We exchanged some polite mumblings as she took the station, and I bustled out of the bridge as quickly as I could without looking strange. The meal today consisted, as it did most days, of stir-fried "insect" protein and rehydrated vegetables. It tasted perfectly bland which made the eating quicker, though upon reflection, that wasn't advisable. I couldn't go try and speak to the marine -- Karr, the name sounded sweet and good in my mind -- until the maintenance shift was officially over, since I wouldn't know how quickly she finished her work.

Accordingly, I was left with plenty of time to sit and dwell on the subject. I was particularly smitten with this woman, moreso than the cute, awkward Warrant Officer Third Grade who I'd always had illicit and unattainable fantasies about while lying awake in my bunk. Moreso than anyone, come to think of it, save the girl I shared my first time with.

I tried to parse out Karr's allure as I scrubbed the head and tidied the male junior noncommissioned officers' bunk. She was very pretty, but there were plenty of very pretty women in the galaxy. She was nice. That was less common but hardly rare. She had a pleasant and approachable demeanor with something else that sucked me in. Some... sadness or hurt that peeked through the veil. I wanted to hold her till it went away. And her eyes -- they were special. There was some quality to them that just made me want to stare into them. I concluded it was probably a magnetism that I couldn't rightly explain.

This conclusion stirred up my insides and made me feel somewhat ill as I walked down a deck and aft towards the marine noncommissioned officers' bunk. As the door to the bunk approached me, I quieted the panic by assuring myself that it was probably just that I wanted a good lay before I died, and I might as well shoot my shot with a beautiful woman. The fact that that was less than half true compromised its calming effect as I hit the page button on the door panel.

I waited, wringing my hands, for a few slow, excruciating heartbeats that made me feel like an adolescent again until the door opened with a shunk.

The bright red woman who answered was two heads taller than me with all the length of a spaceborn but shocking muscle density that had to have come from steroid use. Over those wiry cords of muscles was a startlingly silky coat, most of which was visible. She was wearing loose and short exercise shorts and a very baggy tank top that left little of her magnificent thighs and considerable bust to the imagination. I couldn't help but wonder how a spaceborn's frame could even handle those breasts, although they weren't particularly large by soilborn standards. I could easily lose my fingers in the top pair, and the third pair above her navel were still enough to fill a palm. Her face was somewhat blunt and harsh, but bright blue eyes, a good jawline, and immaculate ear tufts made her uniquely fetching.

That face was hard and mildly surprised for a moment as she scanned the insignia on my breast and shoulders. After a moment, she seemed satisfied and relaxed back onto her back foot, a cocky grin stretching across her features, "Hey, cutie. What do you need?"

That threw me for a loop. That plus the tingle between my legs and brief flash of arousal that sent all of my thoughts to a screeching halt. After a stunned moment, I tried my best to affect an air of aloofness that I doubted would penetrate her knowing look, "Is that how you always address people? What if I were here on official business?"

She looked me up and down, the grin curling into something that made her look like some stalking predator. Needle teeth shone as she retorted, "You'd be wearing your cap if you were on duty. Plus, I outrank you, Warrant Officer Second Grade." She snarled the last words.

Ordinarily, that would have made me panic, but it was pretty clear professionalism wasn't on her mind. I put my hands on my hips and stared at her, "How was I supposed to know that? You're not in uniform."

Her eyes glinted, "Do you always forget to ask people's names? Not very polite, you know."

I hated this woman. And I wanted to stuff my face into her breasts.

"Who are you?" I asked, trying to put as much exasperation into my tone as I could.

"Master Sergeant First Grade Lam bat-Yve bat-Yora," she sneered, "And I still don't know who you are or what you're doing bothering me in my bunk."

While Lam spoke, I saw the top half of a figure appear in the gap between her body and the doorframe. The head bobbed up and down until it fixed me in its gaze. I would've recognized those gray eyespots anywhere. It was Karr. My heart skipped a beat.

"Lam," she called in her soft voice, this time twinged with annoyance, "who are you antagonizing now?"

Lam turned to her, presumably as a preamble to some snide remark which left Karr's field of view much more open. I saw recognition spark in her eyes. She closed the distance and spoke over Lam before she could get out her comeback, "Oh it's you!"

"You know this boy?" asked Lam with an exaggeratedly conspiratorial smile.

Karr lightly pushed the other woman's shoulder, "Be nice, he probably just got out of medbay."

"Ohh..." intoned Lam. She continued with a saccharine baby voice, "So he's your little baby boy now, huh? Gotta protect him?"

Both of us flushed, Karr probably with anger. My ears reddened because that was exactly what I wanted.

"Fuck off..." mumbled Karr. She shoved Lam hard enough to displace her from the door and stepped out, keying it closed behind her. With a huff, she gathered herself, "Sorry..."

I could see her fully now. She was short for a woman, only a tad taller than me. Most of her delightfully fluffy fur was that gleaming white, but her hands were different colors. The left was red, the right was gray. Not much of her was visible past a baggy tunic that went to her mid thighs, but it hinted at a slight frame and an almost completely flat chest. Her legs were exposed, though, and they were slender and corded with muscle. She had shorter than typical ear tufts, no more than a finger in length. Nonetheless, they were very well groomed and suited her stature quite well.

It took a fair bit of willpower to get out of my fear and rapture at her beauty so I could respond before things got awkward. "It's fine, she was just joking," I answered. In truth I was somehow more scared now that she and I were talking than I was under the other woman's unique brand of scrutiny.

"Yeah..." answered Karr. She scratched her ear as a sickening pause drew out between us. A small, forced smile crossed her face, a bit of artificial sunniness entering her voice, "What brings you here? Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. That's what I came about, actually. I wanted to say thanks!"

Her eyes searched the corridor for a split second before she answered with a brief stammer, "R... really? Oh, well, you're welcome! It's just my job, you know."

"Still, thanks."

She smiled a bashful little smile that made my heart flutter. Then her face perked, "I'm sorry but I never got your name. I asked a few times to see if it would help you stay conscious, but you didn't answer."

"I'm Warrant Officer Second Grade Sen ben-Maran bat-Yam, nice to... meet you I guess," I laughed nervously.

"I'm Sergeant-at-Arms Sixth Grade Karr bat-Sene bat-Manat, by the way. How'd you figure out where I was?"

She didn't sound accusatory, just curious. Still, a pang of guilt shot through me. I hoped she wouldn't find my methods offputting. I tried to be casual when I answered, "I asked my SL to look you up on the duty roster."

"Oh, okay," she answered. I felt terror grip me at the thought that I may have weirded her out, but she seemed to perk up, "Are you sure you're okay? You looked really really bad."

"Really?"

She snorted a laugh that I shared, "Yeah! You had all this dried blood down your snout and on your neck and uniform, and your left eye was totally red. It's still kinda red. And you were almost unresponsive."

"Seriously?" I asked, playing up my genuine shock for the joke but also reflexively bringing my hand to my eye, "I didn't feel that bad."

She laughed a little harder, "You looked like it! Your head was lolling from side to side, you couldn't focus... I had to lug you around like a sack of flour!"

We both laughed, mostly at each other laughing.

"You know how heavy you are?" she asked.

I feigned exaggerated offense, "Hey!"

She gave me an apologetic smile, "No, not really."

The laughter petered out, a shorter silence hanging between us.

"I tried to check up on you, but the surgeons wouldn't tell me anything. What happened?" she asked, the levity replaced by genuine concern.

Now it was my turn to blush and smile bashfully, "Oh, thank you! It was that signal."

Her eyes widened, "The Breach Signal? Did you detect it? How did it hurt you?"

"Yeah, the Breach Signal. Apparently the whole fleet got it. But the Diadem was the first ship to trace it! I stayed at my station to do it. That was why I was covered in blood..." I trailed off and laughed as she smiled at me. Much to my chagrin, she looked genuinely impressed.

"I haven't heard about others, but I think it hurt me because I'm more psychically sensitive than most. Not enough for fieldwork, but they railroaded me into sig int because I'm very perceptive with the amplifiers."

"Oh," she intoned, a bit of shock on her face, "you're a psychic?"

My heart dropped. This tended to happen. Most people thought I could read minds when I mentioned it, but really it just meant it would be easier for someone else to read mine. I braced to explain that and never talk to her again, "We're all psychic, technically. Most people are just psychic enough to feel the effects of strong psionics, but not enough to do anything with them. I'm just like you or most Yvenn, but I'm a little more sensitive. I can't do anything with it, or else I'd be doing wetwork or espionage or something right now."

"That makes sense. Don't worry, it doesn't bother me!" she added, waving her hands, "I think it's pretty cool!"

I was overjoyed that she wasn't irrationally suspicious of me now, but the flow of the conversation truly went off a cliff with that. I decided I needed to make my exit

"Anyway," I said, "Thanks again, I appreciate it."

"Any time, sailor," she answered with a warm smile.

I responded in kind, "Don't be a stranger."

"Definitely not," she smiled a little broader as she turned towards the door.

The door slid open to reveal Lam standing very pointedly like she had been listening in, Karr looked back at me apologetically, and pushed past the taller woman.

"Don't be a stranger, little sailor," mocked Lam in a voice dripping with sarcasm. Karr winced, and I flushed. Lam winked at me as she keyed the door shut.

I made my way to my quarters very happy, very confused, and very horny.

I needed a shower, and I needed to do something about the partial eversion I was sporting. There was no way I was getting to sleep in this state.

Two of my three bunkmates were in our quarters. They looked up from their game of cards to mumble a greeting. I grabbed my combs, toothpicks, and my sleepwear from my locker and mumbled something or other about being tired to the two other men. They didn't say anything.

I went back out into the hall and two doors down to the men's facilities. It was thankfully empty. I put my belongings into a cubby and irrationally scanned the room for anyone else before disrobing. Bustling into one of the toilet stalls, I was intensely conscious of the pink nub that presented itself between my legs.

The metal of the toilet was just as cold as always, but the air was blissfully dry. Ship air was always too wet from too many Yvenn in one place and no wind or new air. The only place a soilborn could feel dry enough was the showers, and that was only because taking a shower when it was humid was a terrible idea so the navy actually bothered to keep them dry. I enjoyed the air with my eyes closed for a moment before I started trying to do something about the pressure between my legs.

I had to be mechanical and relatively quick. Just thinking about Lam's breasts was sufficient to have me fully everted. The two days in medbay were very helpful here. I clamped my thumb and bottom finger about the stem of my penis and rubbed the length with my top finger. I pulled as I fantasized about those breasts, the musk of her fur, the hotness of her breath, her snide comments, the derision in her voice, her thighs, between her thighs. With practiced efficiency, I was getting close and my breath was quickening.

It felt wrong, somehow, to cum to Lam. I didn't want her to be what I thought about when it happened. It would be too much like she was giving it to me. I wanted to think about Karr. As I recalled her smile and her sweet voice, I loosed a low grunt and pointed my penis into the toilet. It wasn't a great orgasm: just sufficient in temporarily sating my desire. The first flush landed on the metal of the bowl with a spatter, and with each tug, metallic sounds announced a few drips of semen. The relaxation was welcome. It banished some of the tension that was haunting me. My breathing slowed and became deep as I drew out the warmth of the orgasm and emptied myself into the toilet. The cold, dry air was no longer welcome. My penis wanted heat and wetness. It desperately wanted Karr wrapped around it.

But the tension didn't go away completely. This was the most dangerous part of the process. It always took me a couple minutes to empty myself out, even though some of the guys on board could get it within a minute. In that time anyone could come in, and they'd know in an instant I was cumming. Everyone knew that sound by now. Nobody would say anything, but it always ruined the orgasm.

The drip slowed to nothing, and I leaned back with a sigh. I enjoyed the unsatisfying satisfaction of what passed for an afterglow in a toilet stall as my penis began to slide back into me.

My fingers were a little sticky from stray dribs of cum, and I idly stuck and unstuck them from each other as I gazed past the disappearing pink of my penis into the toilet. The smattering of white on the steel sheen was always a pleasant sight in some primal way. I felt virile and young for a brief moment before I stood and flushed the toilet. Now that my eversion was gone, I left the stall and made my way to the sink. I depressed the tab on the soap dispenser to get a weak dusting of powder onto my hand. The room echoed with blowing air as I drew my fingers through the tines of the comb attached to the little nozzle a couple times.

I wandered over to collect my combs and take them with me to a shower stall. As the sanitary dust blew onto me in a great puff and I worked over my body with my combs, I wondered when I would get to see Karr again. I hoped it would be very soon. Time wasn't exactly in great supply.

________________

Chapter 3

Exercises were the order of the day. Exercises. The first two days were helpful. My hands moved and I did my job and it helped me not to think too much. Day three was grating. Day four was nearly intolerable.

My whole schedule was disrupted as they pulled signal intelligence officers from their regular shifts to take some class. I was stuffed into a teleconference room with a few of my coworkers, most of whom I didn't know. The only saving grace was that the bookish Warrant Officer Third Grade from first shift was there and I could steal looks at her generous hips and messy, poofy ear tufts when I needed some kind of stimulation. She looked like she might be asleep.

It made sense, given the droning monotone coming from the holographic projection of some older man drawn from the Margravine's intelligence staff. He was telling us about theories of how the Interlopers communicated that were dredged up out of classified archives. Given his halting delivery, nobody had bothered to look at them in two hundred years. Apparently they used frenetic bursts of neutrinos and gravitational waves plus psychic emanations of some kind. Back before we lost most of our psionic sensitivity, he said, we could get more out of that psychic component -- enough for the queen to talk to them, even. Now, I could just expect constant migraines. Just the recordings were enough to sour my mood with a dull pain between my ears.

Sleep seemed preferable to my current state. I was just angry. I was angry that we weren't doing anything. I was angry that I had to be born in time to see them come back. I was angry that I ever even signed up with the Fleet. I was angry that we were sitting here while the Lozavatans were probably dying en masse. I was angry that they were making me wait for the inevitable. And when I thought about it too hard, I stopped being angry and started being furious.

The Warrant Officer's hips mollified me somewhat, and the flame burned out as fast as it burst into life. I tuned back in to the hologram of the old man. There were a limited quantity of known signal formats that the Interlopers used, and they didn't change between Breaches, probably because we killed them before they could report back. Distress calls, attack orders, retreat orders. Then there were all of the unknowns, and the shades of meaning within what we did know. We would be expected to look for patterns and expand our knowledge of the "The Enemy." He assured us that he had every confidence in the exceptionality of this fleet, and that we would be sure to uncover their secrets this time.

If I had had any inclination to have the back of my skull melted out by an officer's sidearm, I would have told him to take his confidence and sodomize himself with it.

We finally dismissed, right in the middle of when I would normally be eating. So we would only get scraps. That was just a little salt rubbed into the wound. I tarried just long enough to leave behind the Warrant Officer Third Grade so I could look at what little of her ample ass was visible underneath her uniform. It was still a welcome distraction.

Still in my bitchy mood, I trudged down the corridor towards the mess.

Today we got ship fungus and "insect" protein in a "brown sauce" to cover up the metallic taste of the fungus. Spaceborn loved the stuff. I couldn't forget that we first discovered it growing on the reactor cooling lines of a survey ship that landed on some hellish, humid jungle world. And since we were some of the last to eat, we got mostly fungus. Turning away from the serving line, I seriously contemplated bashing my head in with my tray. The consideration vanished in an instant when I saw Her sitting alone at a table in the far corner.

I immediately wanted to run away screaming.

Countering that thought, I gathered what resolve I had, and together with rage and desperation fueled horniness, I was able to approach her table.

I was two thirds of the way to her before she noticed me, and the meeting of our eyes hit me like a speeding vehicle. I had to push through the wave of nausea to avoid stopping in my tracks. And she smiled at me. A small, sweet little smile.

"Hey, Sen," she said, "You wanna sit?"

"I want to," I smirked at her, "question is: can I?" It wasn't exactly clear to me where in the hell that came from.

She let out a scoff, "Sure." she was amused, not annoyed. That was good.

I joined her snickering as I sat down, "How are you?"

"Eh," she shrugged, "You?"

"Eh," I imitated.

"One of those days?"

"Yeah. You too? That why you're... here?"

Karr nodded slowly. She gazed off into the middle distance for a split second, "We've been running boarding defense drills for three days. The Interlopers don't board anyone. I don't even think they have... bodies."

"Fucking stupid." a flash of anger boiled in me, "They've been telling us we need to figure out how they talk to each other, and we've been running e-war exercises. They don't seem to have networks, and they certainly don't throw viruses at us."

"To be fair, I think that the point of figuring out how they talk is so we could open up avenues for counterintelligence and e-war."

I stared at her for a moment, my anger totally disintegrated. She was one smart marine. And I was one hell of an ass. "Yeah... you're right," I sighed, "You do e-war, don't you?"

She smiled at me knowingly, "I sure do, hotshot," I flushed. I really was an ass, "Small scale stuff like: try and make the bad guys' suits depressurize or their HUDs display us as friendly. Not nearly so glamorous as you sailors with your fancy thinking machines." She punctuated her smirk with a pointed bite of food.

I chewed for a moment, "Yeah... sorry. I didn't know."

She laughed at me, "No worries. Sergeants-at-Arms do a lot of different things, how would you know? Besides, you missed my point."

"Oh?" I asked through a mouthful.

Her levity disappeared, "They're making us practice boarding actions and intra-ship fighting. Today they told us we needed to carry our sidearms everywhere." She patted her hip with a hollow thwack. It turned me on more than a little bit that she had a laser on her. A shameful impulsive thought of her sticking the barrel in my mouth exacerbated the warmth between my legs.

"Shit, really?"

She nodded again, "And they reminded us of the chain of command. That the only Navy staff we report to are our Lieutenants and their superiors. And that every commissioned officer has the right to authorize summary executions..." she trailed off, pointing at me with her chopsticks. She fixed me with a tired, sad look.

My face dropped as a flush of cold fear froze me.

Karr smiled a mirthless smile, "Get it now?"

"Ancestors..."

She shook her head and took a bite.

"Would you... y'know?"

"I dunno," she shrugged, "You never know til you know."

"Fuck..." I wanted to give her a hug. She looked beat to hell, and she clearly hadn't been sleeping. Her face was slack. Now I noticed the redness in her eyes and the puffiness of her eyelids. "I'm sorry, Karr. That's awful."

I watched as she chewed evenly and slowly, the mouthful of food shifting from cheek to cheek while those beautiful, sorrowful green eyes scanned the table.

"Thanks Sen," her smile was weak but genuine.

A silence drew out between us, but it wasn't awkward. I could tell there was more coming. I just ate my mostly tasteless slop and waited.

"I didn't sign up for this. I... I mean I did, but I didn't."

A bitter, harsh laugh issued from my mouth, "You and me both. That's how they get you."

Our eyes met, and she smiled that little sorrowful smile of hers, "Sucks to be a poor kid. I just wanted to do my decade to get training and go back home. Then I wouldn't have to live next to the foundries. I could raise kids in a place with clean air, and I could actually retire on my pension."

"Where are you from?" I asked.

"New Den, you know it?"

"Not really."

"Makes sense. New Yve is the nicer planet in Detheris, unless you're in the cities. We're the last stop on the trade line out to Midway Sector before you actually get to Midway. It's way drier than Yve, which you'd think would be nice, but it isn't. We make most of the esoteric alloys and supermaterials for the High Kingdom," she paused for a moment, "I'm sure you noticed my fur. Lots of mutants like me in the Industrial Corridor." She sounded wistful and resentful as she spoke.

"I did, but it's very nice! I think it suits you!" I said, waving my hands as if it would somehow dispel the colorism.

She graced me with a bashful smile, "Thanks but you don't need to flatter me. I'm not mad about it."

"It's not flattery, I mean it," I assured, trying to project more confidence than I felt with my smile.

Her eyes creased as she hid her face by gazing down into her almost empty tray, "Thanks, Sen. I used to wish I was blonde like you. It's the nicest color, I think. Plus us calicos don't get it, and you always want what you can't have."

I blushed and muttered a "Thanks."

"Where are you from? What roped you into the Fleet?"

"Oh, I'm from An Immuthis."

Her face lit up, "Oh, cool! You must get what I mean about the dry thing, right?"

"Yeah, totally. But I grew up in a river valley. It was pretty nice there. Visiting relatives in the bush was kinda rough, though. My fur always got so brittle."

Karr laughed, "Yeah, that's the worst!"

"As for why I'm here... I liked astronomy. There's not much to do back home. My folks weren't poor, but I had three siblings, so we were comfortable, but I wasn't ever going to university off their money. And on top of that, the local Civil Service wants you to do logistics. They need endless pencil pushers for the anchorage and all the supporting industries. Plus, I fucked off until I was four years into secondary school which meant there was no way I'd win a slot in any science program with my scores. So..."

"I know we're bitching a lot," started Karr, "but you did a good thing, I think it's good you were here. You found the source of that signal fast, and we're the closest Strike Fleet. You were probably the first person in the High Kingdom to do that."

"Thanks..." I trailed off, rage building in my stomach again, "Whole shitload of good that did, then. You know the Breach would have opened three days ago, right?. And what have we done? Fuck and all."

A sympathetic look passed over Karr's features, "I get it. But we don't make the choices, and we don't get to know most stuff. We just go die when the decision is made. I can't imagine they'll drag their feet too long. Everyone can agree this is important."

"I hope you're right," I pouted as I shoveled the last of my food into my mouth.

"Hey!" her voice was upbeat, and despite the fact that it was clearly forced, I appreciated the effort, "You oughta distract yourself. Come play Mus at my bunk tomorrow night! We do it at the end of every sixday so there's some semblance of time passing." She seemed to laugh at herself when she finished, a little flush in her ears.

"Uhh..." I started, a little sick and not exactly capable of coherent thought, "Yeah! I'd love to!"

Karr stood, "Great! See you then, sailor." After grabbing her tray, she walked off. My eyes followed her until she stopped and half-turned towards me. And she waved. My heart felt like it would burst.

________________

Chapter 4

I slept well that night, eager to make time pass so I could spend an extended amount of it with Karr. The decent mood was quickly spoiled when I awoke for breakfast and learned that the Queen herself was set to make an address to the armed forces in two hours, and that since I would be on duty, I would be expected to be in full dress for the duration of my watch. And to make things worse, the Commodore would be there.

I was fidgeting uncomfortably at my station on the bridge, the somehow too tight and too loose white jodhpurs bunching at my crotch, the stiflingly tight, high-collared black overcoat choking me, the stiff, black leather greaves digging into the spaces between my toes, and the tight cap giving me a headache. My attention was torn from my discomfort and vague anticipation by the chime of the announcement system. I turned when I heard the Commodore start speaking in Old Ecclesiastical, her voice presumably being piped through the whole ship. I couldn't understand it, nor could most sailors, but it did strike me as somehow numinous. Whatever rite she completed ended with a flourish, and she shifted into Bureaucratic, "Yvenn of the Diadem, stand at attention! The High Queen and Saint of our people is addressing the fleets personally. Consider yourself honored to look upon her face! Few have this privilege, and I expect you to be respectful."

In unison with the rest of the flag bridge crew, I stood, curtsied, and snapped upright. We were all facing the commodore, watching silently as she fiddled with her console briefly and stood at attention herself. The 360 degree display above and in front of her station shifted from various status readouts to wavering black screens. A few beats later, it switched feeds.

We all gasped in unison when we saw her, all of us executing hurried bows and curtsies. Whatever recording device was being used was some distance away from her and angled upward, leaving her figure to take up only the bottom middle sixth of the frame. She was enthroned, wearing a black, hooded gown woven with silver thread that gleamed like the stars and flowed from her body down what looked like endless steps. Her crown, silver forged into the seven-pointed star that represented her office, seemed to blend into the massive marble beams that mimicked the shape behind her. Between those supports, a kaleidoscope of green and yellow stained glass shone in the dawn light of the Homeworld. Her face was nothing more than a suggestion, but her eyes and mouth and ears were still readable. The part of me that wasn't awestruck thought that the camera operator had created an exquisite shot. I had seen her serene portrait more times than I cared to remember; it was just part of the scenery now. But this -- this image looked like something more than an Yvenn. She looked like the semi-divine being she was supposed to be.

She began to speak in Bureaucratic, which took me by surprise. I figured she'd speak some long-forgotten tongue from the Homeworld. Her tone was unnervingly, strangely neutral, "Yvenn of the Armed Forces of the High Kingdom of Torahn -- hear me. The old enemy has returned. The Interlopers are not a threat to the Yvenn alone, as the galaxy would like to believe. They are a threat to life itself." Her deliberate monotone sucked me in, deep into the shadowy face beneath that shining crown. I was hanging on her every word with bated breath.

Like a switch had been flipped, the Queen's face contorted with rage, the skin atop her snout wrinkling, the corners of her mouth curling to reveal rows of gleaming teeth, the pits of her eyes burning with fire. I never put much faith in our queen, but in that moment, she looked every bit the vengeful protector she was said to be. It seemed like she could've defeated the Interlopers singlehandedly. The Queen rose slightly out of her throne like she would pounce at the camera, a furious voice tearing from her throat, "They scorn all that which lives! They wish to destroy the memory of our ancestors and pillage our sacred worlds! They are anathema to us! They are abomination! Strike them down!" An enraged cheer ripped its way out of my throat, out of every throat on the flag bridge, even the Commodore. It wasn't conscious, I had never yelled like that before. But it felt right. It enkindled something primal in me.

And again, just as suddenly, she deflated, falling back into her seat. After a beat, almost as though she knew we would be cheering, she continued, her voice soft, calm, almost loving, "Exterminate them. Remember of what you are capable. Remember those whom you love. Remember what your ancestors expect of you. Remember the worlds that raised you. Remember that I remember you." That base feeling forged itself into a resolve, one tempered by the strong impression that she did remember us, all of us. That she thought of us. That she loved us.

The feed cut and switched to official War Department letterhead followed by a series of order codes and dispatches atop the seals of the Admiralty Board. That should've been ironic. That should've made a jaded, cynical bastard like me laugh out loud. But it didn't.

The realization came... slowly, like dripping syrup. Her psionics had gotten into our brains without us knowing it. Somehow, it didn't have the impact it should have had. But even with my rational mind, her visage and influence gone, that really didn't matter. All that mattered was that I believed it.

Despite my introspection, my fur was entirely on end. I was trembling. My ears were flat. My tail was batting anxiously. The Queen was terrifying, not really because of her rage, but because of those strange shifts of delivery. Somehow, that fear was... comforting. It was the same flavor as my fear of my mother. I was scared of her ire, scared to disappoint her, but exactly what I feared in her was what I had always depended on when I needed someone strong and capable. But I was only partially scared. Mostly, I wanted to kill. That part of me was ready, angry, bloodthirsty.

That anger propelled me through my watch as I ran through coordinated operational security preparations with the whole fleet -- hundreds of ships -- as we made the short burn to the hyperlane breach point across the border into Vag Oroan space. And then the reports started flooding in. The Margravine's intelligence office divvied up data, some of it four days old. I was tasked with coordinating with several other ships in pouring over emissions data from Interloper ships sent by various Lozavatan intelligence services.

The frantic and scattered nature of those reports was no match for the determination that burned in my stomach, and I had managed to get started on a decent classificatory system alongside my counterparts across the fleet. I ate quickly and changed quickly, cleaning the corridor to the men's noncommissioned officers' bunks with excess vigor as I stewed, thinking about how many Lozavatans must be dying that instant. But slowly, as my mind drifted and the sheer volume of reported data began to make its impression on me, I felt cold dread quench my energy.

...

I was utterly exhausted by the time the maintenance shift was over and it was time to go play Mus with Karr. I had exchanged my dress uniform for the tough, gray trousers and shirt of our service uniform. I fiddled with the untucked hem as I waited for someone to answer the page from the door panel.

The door opened to reveal Karr in the same long tunic I'd seen her in before and the pointlessly camouflaged and pocket covered trousers the marines had to wear. She had an aluminum can in one hand and a big smile on her face, "Sen! You're here!" She was tipsy. And so was everyone else, based upon the commotion that started up when she greeted me.

"Hey! Is that liquor?" I asked, following her move into the room.

Karr opened her mouth to start speaking and was immediately drowned out by a flurry of greetings. Two other women, both of pretty normal height and gray, were waving from their seats at the circular table in the center of the small room. They both had the wiry build of marines. One was almost totally covered in charcoal with beautiful ear tufts and nice fur. The other was half cream colored and half smokey gray. She was older and going a bit white with wild fur and short ear tufts, and her smile was pleasant and welcoming.

Karr laughed and gestured for them to be quiet, "Girls, wait! Don't scare him off!"

I laughed along, trying to convince myself as much as her that I wasn't wanting to run out the now closed door, "Nah, it's fine, really."

"This is Warrant Officer Sen, the sailor I had to scrape off the floor and drag to the surgeons," I laughed and blushed a bit as Karr indicated me with both hands, her eyes and slight smile lingering on me as she introduced the two marines, "That's Sergeant Mam, and that's Sergeant Kamak."

Mam was the older one, and Kamak the charcoal one. I sort of outranked them, but I'd never try and press that point with a marine, especially Mam who was probably a career sergeant.

"Nice to meet you, Sen," said Mam, raising her can to me.

"Hey there," nodded Kamak with a pleasantly raspy voice, "We need a fourth. You're just in time."

Karr's voice was eager as she sat and indicated the empty seat across from her, "Come on, sit down! We haven't dealt yet."

"Is Lam not here?" I asked, mostly hoping she wouldn't be there, but also wanting her to show up just a little bit.

Karr seemed flustered for a moment, long enough for Mam to answer, "She's off doing something or other, so we have an empty seat. That's why Karr said she invited you."

The significance of the pointedness of her comment and Karr's lack of response wasn't lost on me. My mind started raging a bitter civil war to determine if she was interested in me or not. Those thoughts had to quiet down when Kamak addressed me, "What do you do, spacer?"

"I'm in sig int, on the flag bridge."

Mam whistled, "Smart man, then. Quick, Kamak, give him some hooch so he can tolerate us."

Kamak's laugh was low and deep. She shook her head and stood, walking over to a locker behind me. It opened with a clank as I looked over my shoulder at her, "I thought I'd have to beg." A faint odor of alcohol wafted past me.

She snorted a laugh and narrowed her eyes at me, "It's free to guests, at least Karr's guests. You're probably good people."

She set a mostly full can of clear, alcohol-reeking liquid in front of me. My nose wrinkled and I recoiled, "What is this shit?"

Mam chuffed, "Kamak's specialty. She makes it in her locker, keeps all her clothes in mine."

"It's basically cleaning solution," Kamak looked almost disgusted, "Since it's in my locker and I'm lazy, I have a whopping one distillation," she shrugged, "thirty-ish percent, that's all I got."

I had the can almost to my lips by the time she finished speaking. I jerked away from it like it was poison, "This is thirty percent?"

Everyone at the table laughed. When Kamak had finished her rather sedate enjoyment of my display, she answered, "No luck, spacer. The end product is thirty-something percent. You gotta pay for that. What you're drinking's watered down."

"Thank Yve..." my relief was genuine, if exaggerated. That much of thirty percent liquor would've had me in the brig. I took a sip as they laughed again. It tasted awful, but I tried not to wince. I figured beggars couldn't be choosers.

"What do you two do?" I asked when I had set the can back down.

"We tell people what to do," answered Kamak.

Mam shook her head, "Kamak's squad guards the flag bridge, so she keeps you safe. Mine guards navigation and the captain."

"Oh, cool," I intoned, "You have a command, too, right, Karr?"

She looked surprised for a brief moment, caught in mid-sip, "I do, yes. I run the specialist squad, a couple more e-war gals and combat engineers and some heavy weapons jocks. We live in the reactor." I did know that already, both because of Dene and just by process of elimination, but I felt I needed to ask to be polite.

There was a reasonable chuckle from everyone at that before Kamak clapped her hands, "Are we done with introductions now?"

Karr fixed me with her gaze, "You know how to play Mus, Sen?"

I shrugged, "Pretty much. I suck though." I fully expected to lose, badly.

"That's fine! This is just for fun!" Karr's voice had a lovely little pep to it. She was so damned cute, "Just ask if you need anything. I'll deal, you be my partner, okay, Sen?"

My heart stuttered a little.

...

We had been playing for some time, drinking the whole while. Two matches had gone by, and Karr and I had lost both. Despite getting our asses handed to us, we had been laughing all night, and as we got more drunk, our eyes would catch and we'd give each other goofy smiles. The second game had just ended, and Mam was telling us another of her myriad stories she had accumulated throughout her career, this time about a Lozavatan Officer who was running exercises with one of her old teams.

"So this cabbage-head shows up in his fancy armor, right? He's a head taller than most of the spaceborn, even. And he's talking all this shit about how he's 'a satrap's nephew'," she made her voice deeper and affected vocal fry to imitate a Lozavatan speaking an Yvenn language, which got some chuckles out of us, "And all we could think was how all those stupid little baubles and the paint on his armor were gonna make him stick out like a sore thumb. So at the end of the sixday, we were gonna be doing a bunch of wargames, him and his 2ic and some indigenous senior enlisted running things against me, the Captain, and the Sub-Lieutenant, company split in half. He keeps getting rowdy with his buddies at night, saying how they're 'gonna show us how men do it' cause apparently over there they lost their minds and they let men run everything -- no offense, Sen. " she gave me a smarmy smile and held out a placating hand.

I let my laugh join with everyone else's to serve as my answer.

Once Mam had finished laughing herself and finishing off her can, she continued, "So not three days in, we're doing live fire drills out in vacuum. Just on the surface of some depleted mining rock. And we're shooting grenade launchers, right. So, Sen, you might not get it, but this is the easiest shit in the world in vacuum. Point and shoot. This guy gets up to the firing line first since he's supposed to be the," she makes air quotes with her middle fingers, "guest of honor..."

The table trailed off into laughter.

"So... so... he's been gushing over our brand new GLs, and he gets up to the firing line all excited, right, and he can't hold it right because they have... five fingers, I think. He lets off the first shot, and then the whole local net is just him hollering and screaming. All this green blood or sap or something sprays out, he goes flying back, the grenade launcher is swinging around by its tether."

We gasped collectively and broke into prolonged hysterics, but Mam pressed through, a laugh sometimes bubbling up to distort her speech.

"This ball of his blood is floating around, he's doing spirals through the air screaming, and we're all just laughing our asses off. Even the corpsman and the range master are just standing there, doubled over. And this Lozavatan prick is getting pissed, but he's still just spinning around, grabbing onto his hand, probably cussing at all of us in his language. And the two others are freaking out saying 'Help him! Help him!'. The dumbass isn't even using his thrusters, so the Sub-Lieutenant is trying to tell him just to stop the spin and come down, right? But he's yelling at her the whole time and the two others won't shut up. So eventually, it's a problem that he's still floating around and it's not funny anymore, and the SL has to do something, so she and the Captain fly up and grab him and drag him back down. The Lozavatans are so pissed off they aren't even talking anymore, right? So what does the corpsman do when she gets to him? She says, 'I see what the problem is, you still have one too many fingers!'"

Mam slapped her knee at the punchline, and we all lost ourselves in boisterous laughter.

As she struggled to contain her chuckling and the rest of us petered out, Mam concluded the tale, "Oh you wouldn't believe the hell she caught for that stunt, but that was after the SL had finished laughing."

Kamak stood and extended her hand to me, her voice still bright with the aftershocks of mirth, "Gimme the can, sailor boy, we're cut off."

I pulled the empty vessel close to my chest, a grin spreading across my snout, "From my cold, dead hands, leatherneck."

Kamak shook her head and laughed, reaching between my arms to snatch away the can. I tried to put up resistance, but there was really no chance I could've stopped her. The sense of separation was earnest, though.

"Aww," I pouted while Kamak collected the cans from the other two.

Karr reached across the table to pat my hand, exaggerated sympathy on her face, "Don't be sad that it's over, be glad that it happened."

I froze up when she touched me, and the inebriation had me staring saucers into her eyes. Her fingertips lingered for the shortest moment atop my hand, "Besides, I'm sure we'll share with you again." Her smile was knowing this time. My ears flushed and I answered her with a crooked grin.

The little reverie I was afforded was shattered when the door opened. We all cringed and pivoted, expecting an officer and a marine to take us to the brig.

Instead, the doorframe contained Lam. I was both scared and vaguely excited, but mostly scared.

"You played Mus without me!" came her false indignancy as the door closed. Her hands landed on her hips. Her eyes fixed me, "I see you're back, little sailor." I blushed again. I hated her so much. And I hated how much she turned me on. Lam stalked up to the table, leaning onto the back of Karr's chair, making the smaller woman cringe as she peered at everyone, "I hope we're not done."

Mam laughed and shook her head, "I am, Lam. Take my spot. Kamak's your partner."

Lam unfolded to walk around the table, the corners of her snout curling devilishly, "Aww, Karr's playing with her pet sailor. How cute."

Karr groaned, "Will you please just shut the fuck up?" She hung her head in her hands. I felt like my ears were going to melt away from my head. I wanted to be anywhere else -- even hard vacuum -- if it meant I wouldn't have to listen to this anymore.

"Am I embarrassing you?" persisted Lam.

"You're embarrassing yourself, kid," added Mam from her bunk across the room.

She and Kamak snickered. I watched a little smile touch Karr's lips between her hands. She was so cute.

"You coming, Kamak?" prodded Lam.

"I wish," was Kamak's laconic reply.

Lam smirked, throwing an arm over the back of her chair and tracking the other woman's hips with her eyes. There was hunger in them as she fired back, "That can be arranged."

Kamak rolled her eyes and sat, gathering the cards and shuffling them fluidly. She dealt them and we set about playing.

Lam wasn't particularly great. She had a tendency to be too obvious with her signs, and she always took a bid. And Karr and I were determined to beat her. We won the first match two games to one in no small part because I could read Lam's signs so well.

Karr and I were overjoyed when we won the first game of the next match, but Lam was fuming. Her ears were almost as red as her fur, and she stopped taunting us. She and Kamak narrowly beat us the next game, which meant that the last game of the match was the tiebreaker.

Karr looked like she would jump out of her seat with nervous energy, "C'mon, Sen! We got this!"

Kamak shook her head as she dealt the cards, laughing to herself.

Lam leaned back onto the back legs of her chair, "Only reason you can win is because that pet of yours won't quit looking at my mouth." She threw me a viscous sidelong glare. I pointedly rolled my eyes, but her scrutiny did turn me on a little more than I wanted. That and being called a pet.

"Oh what?" taunted Karr, "You gonna bitch about playing by the rules?"

"It's late, I'm taking a shower," interrupted Mam.

"Have fun," called Lam. She crossed her arms, and Kamak dealt.

Karr blinked at me, we both had shit hands. We agreed on a discard round, and I could tell Kamak was signalling something to Lam, but she was almost always unreadable. Karr blinked again, and I was in no better position than before.

"Musa," said Karr, nose buried in her cards. Everyone agreed on another discard, and I was watching Lam like a hawk. And she leaned back in her chair. And her hands grabbed the hem of her tank top. And she yanked it up.

I felt my eyes bulge and my mouth gape. Her tits were fantastic -- everything I had imagined. They were perky and perfectly shaped, bouncing with the sudden movement and being caught by her top. All six of her nipples were hard in the cold air of the ship, the pink skin standing out against the cream colored fur on the front of her torso. A plushy fluff spilled from the center of her chest beneath a defined collar. Her abs were spectacular, flexing under her fur like waves. I wanted to lick across them into her belly button and bury my face in her chest and drink in her smell and lash her nipples with my tongue. I was immediately soaked and started everting.

And then I came back to reality.

"What the fuck!" shouted Karr. Her ears were scarlet and back on her head.

Kamak relaxed back into her chair and catcalled, "Very nice, can I touch?"

Lam just leered at me, a shit-eating grin on her face.

I was struggling to form a thought. My brain was awash with fear and arousal and confusion.

"What the fuck is wrong with you?" insisted Karr.

Lam lowered her tank top, leaving me completely everted and filled with a shameful longing. She turned that grin on Karr, "I just had to give him something other than my mouth to look at."

Karr gritted her teeth and buried her nose in her cards, occasionally stealing quick looks at me. She wouldn't meet my eyes, though. That sent a jolt of fear through me each time I noticed it. I hoped I hadn't upset her with my reaction. The game no longer mattered, I just wanted to make sure she was okay -- to make sure that we were okay. Whatever we were or could be. It was a monumental struggle to keep my tail from thwapping against the chair.

We declined to discard the next round. Karr made a slight nod -- she had a good hand. Mine was... okay. A knight, a priest, and two sevens.

"Gonbidatu," said Karr. We were in.

Next was Lam, "Hor dago." They were all in. If we accepted, whoever won this round won the game and the match. I made eye contact with Karr. She nodded. Lam had that stupid grin she always had. No doubt she thought she had us beat with her stunt. But Karr had been very conservative up to this point. She wouldn't have said she had a good hand unless she had a good hand. "Hor dago," I replied.

We showed our hands.

Karr had two queens, a priest, and a seven.

Kamak had three sixes and a five.

And Lam had two queens and two knights. They had won. I was in shock. I never would've expected Lam to try a gambit like that and have it actually pay off. Thankfully, my eversion was quickly receding with anger and embarrassment.

Kamak burst into laughter, and Lam just reclined in her chair, gaze flitting between her opponents.

"Dammit!" shouted Karr, throwing her cards across the table and her chair backwards with a screech, "I had a great hand!"

I looked at her sympathetically, "It was a great hand."

"Not great enough, lovebirds," sneered Lam, "How about it, little sailor? Not so good when you're staring at my tits, huh?"

"That was bullshit," complained Karr.

"I haven't seen anything against it in the rules," retorted Lam.

I stood up as Karr fired back, "What? Is there a book? You shouldn't have to be told not..."

While they were yelling, I made my way around the table. I interrupted Karr's retort with an impossibly light fingertip on the back of her chair, "It's been a long night, I think I'll head back to my bunk." I was a little sick with worry about Karr, and I was tired of Lam. I wanted to shower and sleep.

She deflated and nodded up at me, "Let me walk you out."

"Aww," mocked Lam. Karr flinched and scowled at the door.

I turned back to Kamak after opening the door. "Thanks for having me," I said, "and thanks for the booze. Tell Mam thanks too."

"Mhm," she waved back at me, "Nice to meet you, Sen. Sleep well."

Karr and I stood facing each other in the empty corridor. She was leaning against the doorframe and massaging the bridge of her snout with her right hand, "Ancestors, that woman drives me mad."

I snorted a laugh, "Yeah... she seems uniquely good at it."

Karr shook her head and looked at the floor, ears drooping. Her voice was defeated and sad, "Sorry about all that, I... I had hoped she'd stay away so you could have a nice evening with us."

It broke my heart to see her like that. I wanted to hug her, but it didn't feel right. At least she had dispelled my worry. She clearly wasn't angry with me. I held up my hands and shook them to refute her statement, "No, no! I had a lot of fun! Don't worry. Thanks for inviting me."

She smiled weakly, "You're welcome, Sen. I had a good time too, except for some of Lam's... outbursts. You want me to walk you back? We had a lot to drink."

"Nah, I'm good. I'm mostly sober now."

"You sure?"

"Yeah, but thanks. Goodnight, Karr."

I could've sworn she looked almost disappointed, "Goodnight Sen. I'll see you in the mess?" Her voice was cautiously hopeful.

"You know it," I answered definitively, and I set off towards my bunk wearing a goofy smile. I was at my door when I realized she just wanted to talk to me alone for a little bit longer. I wanted to punch myself.

________________

Chapter 5

We were well and truly underway the next day, blowing through the hyperlane into Vag Oroan Space. The First Strike Fleet was met by a massed armada of Legation ships. And they all looked like ours. They linked right into our systems with codes passed down straight from the Admiralty, doubling our strength. I felt less like I might die seeing those harsh, angular, black shapes cut through the void alongside us, their running lights flashing in greeting.

But it wasn't just the Legation Fleet that we met on the other side of the hyperlane, there was a detachment of indigenous Vag Oroan ships shadowing us which consisted of a collection of cruisers and picket ships around an aging battleship. They were cordial and respectful -- identifying themselves as the 3rd Flotilla of the Vag Oroan Home Guard -- but they stayed some distance behind us, shadowing every movement of our massive, hulking fleet. Their presence meant I had two jobs, both of which needed to be done at the same time. Listening in on their communications was more stimulating than trying to compare waveforms and esoteric psionic signals emitted by the Interlopers, so I mostly did that.

Dinner in the mess consisted of deep fried insect protein and tubers, something so easy you'd figure it couldn't be ruined. But it was soggy and awful. I stared down at my tray distastefully as I mulled over the transmissions I had been listening in on the whole day. Looking up from my ruminations, I scanned the room for Karr, finding her in the same corner I had seen her in last time. I weaved past a few of my crewmates towards her, my heart speeding up and my face smiling reflexively when she noticed me and perked up.

"Hey, Sen!" she said, "Good to see you!"

I was getting less anxious around her, but that anxiety had been replaced by giddy butterflies, "Hi! Good to see you too."

"What's up?" she asked as I sat down in front of her. Her voice was bright but concerned.

"Oh? I uh..." I stuttered and then deflated, "Yeah. How'd you know?"

She smiled her sad smile at me, chin on her folded hands, "You had this consternated look on your face."

I chuffed a laugh, "I hate to always show up here and be depressive. I don't wanna make it a habit."

Her eyes darkened and the corners of her mouth wavered, "It's okay, Sen. Really. Things aren't easy right now, I don't think pretending to be normal is gonna help anyone."

"Yeah," I said through a mouthful of food, "You okay, though, before I start?"

"Thanks," her eyes softened and lingered on me before they pondered her food, "I'm alright. Last night was fun, but you know how things are after fun. It throws the shadows into relief. Nothing abjectly horrible in the marine world right now."

I loved to hear her talk, there was this etherealness about her -- a softness and a pensiveness and always that core of sadness beneath it all, it made me want to hold her in my arms and never let go. That forlorn desire colored the tone of my response, "I'm glad to hear you're okay. And yeah, I get you. I had fun too, I hope we do it again."

"I'm sure we will."

"You don't mind if I start?" She gestured to continue with her chopsticks, "I've been up on the flag bridge watching fleet movements all day and listening to chatter. We linked up with the Legation Fleet, right?"

She nodded curtly.

"A bunch of stuff has been... bugging me, y'know?" I huffed and searched the tabletop for the words to continue, "All the Legation ships are the same as ours. Same classes, same specs, same comms codes, same command structures, everything. Their commander is even an Yvenn. But... then there were some ships that said they were from the 'Home Guard,' whatever that is, and they were different. All indigenous ship designs, and old-looking, too. And their comms are totally different, and they're completely Vag-Oroan."

"Hmm," she intoned, chewing deliberately.

"I had to listen to the Home Guard comms all day. They were respectful and polite to us, but their internal comms -- they used this word for us, it means... 'conquerors'. And seeing that the Legation Fleet isn't their own, they don't even command it... I..." I trailed off, struggling to find words.

Karr looked truly sad when she answered me, "I get you. You're thinking about what they used to be, and what they could've been without us."

I nodded, a flash of anger filling my words with bile, "Not just that, but also I'm not sure why I'm here. Even more than before. I might die here. My parents would mourn their oldest their whole lives. And my siblings... Ancestors, what would they do? I'd die a young man with no kids, no wife. And on top of it all, if I died in service to... that? I just..."

Karr reached out and put her right hand face up on the table. The dull gray one. She locked eyes with me. My heart shuddered as I realized I was supposed to put my hand in hers. I let my hand rest in her palm, her rough pads and soft fur touching my pads for the first time. It felt so perfectly bittersweet that I could think of nothing but the feeling of her touch and fighting off tears. She moved our hands so hers was on top and gave me a strong squeeze. As she withdrew her hand to her chopsticks, she started to respond. "I understand," her words were low and measured and heavy, but there was a kindness under it all, "What we are to the galaxy is a complex thing. What the navy is to us even moreso, and what the navy is to you... only you can say that. I grew up in the poorest part of the High Kingdom, and I wasn't even close to the poorest there. I never thought that we were all that good. But as I grew up, I understood that we weren't all that bad either. We just... are. I'm here because it got me out of there, and now I have a future that I want. That's why you're here too. Don't forget the price -- ever -- but don't accept responsibility for what you didn't do. And there's no going back."

She looked away from my eyes with a bitter laugh, "Plus if anything is worth fighting for, this is. You know what the Interlopers do to planets. I don't wanna see that happen to New Den. I know you don't wanna see An Immuthis like that."

I had listened along pretty impartially to that point, mostly just engrossed in her eyes and absorbing her soft speech, but her last comment brought to bear the other part of it all that was bothering me. It burst out in a rage, "But that's just it! They... they..."

I grunted in frustration, "I get it! I know why they feel that way! But they're shadowing us? We're going through one system of their space to get to our gateway that we built -- that's it -- to go protect all of us... and they shadow us? I heard what they're saying, they won't trust us! Nobody trusts us even though we're saving the whole galaxy! And I'm supposed to... what, go die for them when they're that ungrateful?" I had gotten embarrassingly close to shouting, so I made a couple swift scans of the mess to see if anyone was looking. Thankfully, nobody was.

Karr's face and voice were a little harder, but still caring, "That's natural, Sen. They're scared, so they focus on what they know, on what makes sense to them. We've done this before, we are confident, and we have a leader who lived through every Breach. We know better, so it's our duty to do what we need to do."

I gritted my teeth, "I know, and they should know it too! They shouldn't treat us like invaders or enemies while we do what they can't because they're too scared!"

"Sen," she said calmly, "if you know, then why are you angry? Maybe you're scared too, and it's easier to get mad than confront what you need to confront?"

"I..." I had been ready to fire back some vitriolic retort when my words caught and my mouth hung agape.

When my brain got out of its holding pattern, I snapped my mouth shut. And Karr was smirking at me, "Got you, didn't I?"

"Oh, you smartass!" I laughed, "Fuck you for being right."

She laughed in response, her narrowed eyes filled with mirth as they looked into mine.

I stopped laughing while aftershocks kept bubbling up from her stomach. I studied her as she took a couple bites until she noticed me and cocked an inquisitive eyebrow.

"So if I'm supposed to confront my own mortality or whatever and you're so zen about it, then what's your secret? How do you confront it?"

Karr looked me squarely in the eyes. Hers were glassy and flat like her voice and slight smile, "That's the trick. If I tell you to, I don't have to."

We both laughed it off and talked: about home and school and food and stories from our youths. She told me she was excited about the extravehicular maneuvers the marines would be doing throughout the sixday, and we joked about how insane she must be to enjoy EVA. But despite it all, those words echoed around my head. They kept percolating through my mind long into the night and the following days.

...

I was still thinking about it two days later in the shower. I had just blasted myself with my allotment of sterile dust for the day and I was working through the knots I had collected during the shift when I heard the door slide open. I paid it no heed, presuming it to be one of the guys who typically shared the showers and head with me. At this point, I was long past the point of caring about privacy.

I froze when I heard her voice.

"Hello there, little sailor," cooed Lam. Her tone was lascivious and dripping with condescension.

I clapped my hands over my crotch and whipped to face her, pressing my back into the stall. My whole face burned, and I knew my ears must be scarlet, "Lam! W... what are you doing here?"

She was in her uniform, cap perched between her ears. A toothy grin stretched across her snout, making her look like she was some beast stalking her prey. She took a couple steps towards me in the cramped room and said with a heavy and dark voice, "I think you know."

I searched around the room, looking for other people and a way to leave, panic narrowing my vision and quickening my breaths. And there was that damned arousal under it all, soaking my slit while my rational mind wanted to run away, "I... I don't know what you mean."

"I couldn't stop thinking about that stupid little sailor boy Karr brought by. Something about him..." she trailed off, stalking closer, her eyes narrowing and darkening.

"This is the men's showers, you can't be here," the quaver in my voice was humiliating in the best way.

"I can be wherever I want, and I want to be here," she purred, now standing at the opening to the shower stall. She dwarfed me, her arms gripping tops of the stall partitions as she hung over me with her long, lanky body. My tail was beating against the wall like it was a drum, its incessant movement broadcasting my embarrassment and fear.

Seeing her like that had me everting. I felt my penis pressing against my palms, and I was even more ashamed knowing it was obvious. I glanced down at it, and I immediately knew that that was the wrong move.

Lam laughed a dark, sensuous laugh, "Oh, what do we have here?"

She threw her cap to the ground behind her and started unbuttoning her blouse. When that was shrugged to the ground, she pulled off her tank top, revealing those perfect breasts of hers. They looked even better from below. I was totally everted and well beyond hiding it, and that fact made me drunk on arousal and embarrassment. Still, the fear of discovery cut through it all.

"Wait!" I shouted, "What about someone coming in? Somebody will definitely come by soon!"

Lam traced her breasts slowly with her hands, groping and displaying them for me while she slid her hands down to her belt and pants. My mouth was watering and my gaze was tracking her and my mind was fizzing with anticipation, all without the consent of my reason. She undid the belt and the buttons at her fly torturously slowly.

Thumbs curled in her waistband, she shushed me, and it made me melt, "Aww, you cute little thing. Embarrassed? Worried your friends might find out?"

My tail was still thwacking against the stall in a frantic rhythm. That and my short breaths were the only sounds as she waited for my response. I nodded wordlessly, my penis throbbing.

"Worried your favorite Sergeant-at-Arms will find out, maybe?"

That pissed me off enough to barely cut through the arousal, "Hey! Don't you bring her into this! This isn't..."

She shushed me again, and I was utterly subdued. "Don't worry," she cooed, "I spoofed the door; it displays a maintenance lock. We have this room all to ourselves."

"I... I..." that was the last excuse I had. Now I had to deal with the truth. I wanted Lam, but I knew it would be a betrayal of Karr. But we weren't anything. We were friends at best, we hadn't nuzzled or even hugged. We'd never even talked about romance or sex. We weren't exclusive. There was nothing that explicitly prohibited having sex with Lam. And there was a lot implicitly prohibiting it, at least if I cared about Karr as much as I did and if I wanted her in the way that I did. But I might die soon, and I had no way of knowing if things would pan out with Karr. And I was so hard and Lam was so hot and it had been over three years and I wanted it so bad.

Lam pushed her pants down to the floor and kicked them off to the side. She looked fantastic. Her legs were so strong and lean. Her thighs were full and corded with muscle. Her abs were gorgeous. And she had cropped her pubic fluff! It was just as long as the rest of her fur. I could even see her slit. And it was red and soaked; the fur around it was matted with her arousal.

"What do you say, Sen?" her smile said she knew my answer.

I could barely speak. My aching tail fell limp as my ears drooped. All I could manage was barely above a whisper, "Please."

"That's right. Good slut," she said with the tone of an insult. It was. She pointed at her claws, "On your knees."

I didn't have to think, I just dropped to my knees, the broad-toothed comb I still clutched in my right hand clattering to the floor.

"Pathetic," she sneered. I stared up at her expectantly, my head totally empty of thoughts except how I could please her. She scanned me almost disinterestedly, "You know what to do," she waited a beat while I kneeled, arrested by fear and arousal, "Have you ever even touched a woman? Do I need to explain it to you? Or is it that you're so much of a coward I have to force you to do it?" She spread her legs and thrust her crotch forward. I flushed with anger and humiliation and burning desire.

I shook my head vigorously and strove for her pussy with my muzzle, my mouth watering. A pang of fear and guilt arrested my snout just before I dove in. I could smell her sweat and musk and the overpowering smell of her arousal that drained me of the will to do anything but cum and make her cum. A rough hand grabbed me between my ears and shoved me into her. My world was her fiery fur and her rich smell and taste. I licked up and down her slit, trying to listen for any sounds she was making and look past her mound to see her face, but she was utterly impassive and she forced me between her legs where I couldn't see and breath was too short to concentrate.

As I slipped my tongue into her, she grabbed both of my ears and yanked me closer to her. I yelped into her vagina from the sharp pain, but I kept searching for her clit. She gave me no reaction but a sardonic laugh.

I finally found the hard little nub on the front wall of her vagina, and I hoped against hope that she would moan so I would know I was doing a good job. I felt so bitterly self-conscious. I wanted to make her feel good -- I wanted to be good -- but I couldn't discern anything. All I got was a tensing of the muscles in her legs, a low grunt, and her hands crushing my ears painfully. It made my stomach churn with anxiety and my mind flood with doubt. The doubt just made me want to be better for her.

I whimpered from the pain, and she laughed at me again. I just wanted to be good so badly -- I knew I couldn't stop. I kept lapping at her.

"Nothing stops you, huh? You know your place."

My heart swelled at that almost-praise. I nodded into her and grasped for her ass with my hands. I found her firm, perfect rump and squeezed. Her hands left my ears, and in a flash, they were at my wrists. And they crushed me. Her grip was so tight, and it only got tighter. Just from the surprise, I grabbed her harder.

"Let go, or I'll have to hurt you."

I gasped as my bones creaked, and I had to withdraw my face just to breathe, my vision a little hazy from the lack of proper breath and the pain. Still, I made my arms go limp while an ache shot up them. She released them.

"Bad choice. Did you think I was doing this for you?" she looked down at me, a slightly offended and disbelieving expression on her face.

Her right hand swatted me across the ears, first from the left and then from the right. The impacts left the still sore organs throbbing with blood rushing through them so quickly I could hardly hear. Before I could catch my breath, she shoved me into her pussy again, and I resumed licking.

I was in pain and I could hardly breathe and I was humiliated and cowardly. I loved it. I was so, so turned on. My penis was aching so badly it overshadowed the dull pain in my ears and wrists.

Without warning, she tensed up. Her opening cinched tight around my tongue. Pride blossomed in my chest. I had made her cum! I tried to worm my tongue out of her as a steady flow of hot liquid drenched my nostrils and muzzle. Evidently, I hadn't just made her cum; I'd made her squirt! I could hardly believe it, and I felt so warm inside as I freed my tongue and tried to come up for air.

"Oh no you don't," she tutted. She shoved me back into the flow escaping her. "Lick."

I sputtered as I ran my tongue through her slit. She tasted acrid now, and between the taste and trying not to inhale her cum, my pride was drowned in discomfort and shameful arousal.

She just laughed as the flow finally ebbed and she released the back of my head.

I collapsed into the wall of the stall and gasped for air. She stared down at me with a smirk while I just panted and looked off into the middle distance.

"Good boy," cooed Lam, "I'm surprised a loser like you even knows how to make a girl cum."

I didn't have the energy to respond to the provocation beyond a twitch from my penis. Nonetheless, it was as eloquent an expression of my deep satisfaction as anything else.

"Oh wow, you're such a whore!" she sounded genuinely surprised, almost giddy, "You're leaking!"

I looked down, and I was. My cock twitched from our attention on it, a little bead of precum dripping off the tip to join a few other drops matting the fur on my leg beneath it.

"That's so adorable!" Lam sounded like she had just found a cute animal. She clasped her hands before herself, "C'mon, stand up, you dumb boy."

I stood a little shakily, and she took my chin and pulled it up so I was forced to look into her predator's grin, "You really liked that. What a freak! You're so gross! What's wrong with you? That's not normal, you know that, right?"

I nodded frantically into her palm while she spoke. I was focused on her words and her breasts and my penis. Nothing else mattered. I felt icky, small, weak, and deviant. All of that together turned me on so much I couldn't think.

"I bet..." she started, a hand clamping onto my penis just above the knot, "that you'll cum so fast for me."

I moaned so wantonly when she finally touched it. That first contact felt like lightning up my spine. I nearly doubled over.

Lam pushed her iron grip towards my torso, past the knot to the thin stem just within my slit. Every little twitch of her calloused finger pads burned my nerves. It was so tantalizingly close to what I needed. Just a little pulling, a little pressure under my knot, and I'd finally have relief.

"Ancestors! How are you this wet?" she marveled.

I just whimpered and babbled and begged incoherently.

"What?" she prodded, "Is there something you want?"

"Yes..." I whined in all sibilants.

"This is all you're getting from me," she scoffed, "You still think this is about you?"

I started humping desperately, without rhythm. I whimpered and begged as I fumbled for what I wanted. I reached out with my arms to find any purchase like I was drowning in my fugue of lust. They landed on the taut muscles of her midriff, and she let them stay as I bucked and thrusted.

"Idiot. You won't get there like that," she snorted a laugh, " Fine, here."

She pulled against my motion, and I felt the orgasm building. I leaned into her chest fluff, her breasts cushioning my head. Her sweaty, feminine musk filled my nose. Those perky breasts covered in plush fur felt perfect against my hot face. I could feel a hard nipple at the corner of my mouth, and I licked and mouthed on it without even thinking. And she let me. She let me! All I could think about was how lucky I was and that I must have been such a good boy if she let me have something so nice. Now she was breathing fast too, her inhales quickening with mine. I felt her screwing up with anticipation as my outbursts of pleasure grew more pained.

She dragged her tongue along the naked inner edge of my ear. It felt so good that it hurt, and I whined for her. Then, she whispered to me, her words tingling my ear fluff. Her voice was impossibly horny, almost reverent, "Go on, cum for me."

I came for her.

The orgasm hit me like a punch, and I groaned as the first splash splattered on the floor of the shower. I buried my face completely between her three pairs of boobs as I whimpered with the overwhelming release of it all. The euphoria slackened my muscles, and my arms clung to her for dear life to keep my wobbly legs from giving out. Her right hand was still clamped on the stem of my penis, but her left petted my ears and rubbed my back. Her chin rested on the top of my head while she let out soft, placating shushes.

My breathing steadied and the flow of semen stopped after a lovely, hazy period of bliss between her breasts. Lam took me by the shoulders and pushed me away gently. She scanned me with some enigmatic look on her face. I was able to stand now.

I felt exhausted and satisfied and so very disgusting.

"Thanks..." I mumbled.

Lam's face snapped to its normal arrogant configuration. She tutted and shook her head, "You just don't listen, do you?"

She bent over and put her clothes back on with a practiced speed. As she was leaving, just before she made it to the door, she turned and waved to me, "Have fun cleaning up, you dirty slut."

The door opened and closed, and I was left to look at the mess we had made. I felt every bit the dirty slut she said I was. Both of our cum had mixed into a gross, semi-viscous goo that lingered in dregs on the floor of the shower and matted the fur on my hands and legs and snout. I stumbled over to grab some of the cheap, reusable towels from the dispenser. With them, I sopped up what I couldn't push down the drain for the sand, hoping that the equipment could handle that much moisture. Then, I stuffed the dirty evidence of what I had done into the cleaning chute on the self-contained dispenser.

I had already used my sand for the day, so I had to comb and comb and comb. I pulled out a lot of fur and practically dried out my oil glands. On top of that, I had to use soap powder from the sinks to cover up the smell of sex on me. Thankfully nobody came in to see my production.

The whole process left me with a lot of time to replay every sordid detail. It was all inconceivably erotic. But now my ears were hot with shame and my stomach was heavy with guilt. I almost tried to blame Lam; it was probably deserved, and I already hated her. But I had wanted it, and I had asked for it, and I had thought about it, and I had wished for it more than I cared to admit. And I had loved it.

I felt sick -- close to retching. I needed to figure out how to tell Karr.

________________

Chapter 6

As fate would have it, I got no chances at all to tell Karr what had happened. I didn't see her in the mess or hear from her for the rest of the sixday. Accordingly, I came up with multiple scripts to tell her I had had sex -- or something close to it -- with Lam. None of them sounded good, mostly because "I really really like you but I fucked this person you hate because she came onto me and I wanted to" doesn't really engender sympathy or understanding, and I wasn't going to claim Lam had done something wrong when I had wanted it and loved every second of it. I had increasingly vitriolic conversations with Karr in my head as I imagined all the ways this was going to go wrong.

As a result, I went a little crazy. I was somehow eager to see her and terrified of the prospect at the same time, so every flash of white fur I saw in the hallway had me cringing, and every moment in the mess was tense, and every second I spent in the head made me feel guilty.

The bridge was no respite, though, since I was well and truly doing my job now and everything I came across was grim. The Lozavatan Satrapies had put up a valiant defense so far. They were allowed to have lots of fleets thanks to the fact that they were disunited and ethnic tensions kept them in line, but without help they weren't going to win, only lose slower.

This was a huge breach. Reports, scattered though they might be, said it was about as big as the First and Second Breaches combined. So hypotheses that the breaches would continue getting bigger seemed to be true. Worse still, reports of orange and green ships -- the colors we had associated with the two disunited and mutually antagonistic factions in the Second Breach -- alongside the blue ships observed in the First and Third meant something had changed within whatever passed for a political structure for these creatures.

They were united and by all accounts even more fierce and unrelenting than before. The coreward two satrapies that flanked the black hole where the Interlopers had made their entrance into our universe were in dire straits. Communications from indigenous Vag Oroan intelligence indicated that the more coreward satrapy was holding with bitter fighting in the inner stellar system of its capital, but no bombardment had occurred. No word had come from the rimward satrapy since the initial distress calls, and everyone assumed the worst.

Apparently, the Interlopers hadn't taken to destroying the Yvenn-administered hyper relay network as they had before, and they were using it this time. Nobody knew how they had done it, since it was only on rare occasions that cyber attacks had allowed an enemy force to use a foe's hyper network. With it, they had leapfrogged fleets within days, and they were already menacing the Lozavatan Home Systems which were home to billions and billions of Lozavata, Vag Oross, Yvenn, and other species from across the galaxy.

Lozavatan saboteurs detonated the stretch of hyper relays from the final Lozavata bastion protecting the Home Systems all the way to the extent of the Interlopers' advance. Apparently the attack that slowed the enemy's advance ended in a spectacular ramming of a hyper relay with a battleship while Interloper vessels were still pouring from it. People had loved hearing that one. I just imagined being on that ship with no way to control it or save myself, and I thought of all the families that must've lost someone just from that one act of heroism. And I even thought of the Interlopers who had been transiting to the relay. Nobody knew what happened if you were in hyperspace en route to a relay that stopped existing. I didn't want to think about it.

We built those things to make life better for everyone, and the faster and faster transit speeds were celebrated as a boon to all sapient life. But now, when we were on course for the gateway from Vag Oroan space to the Lozavatan home system, about to be linked into the relay network and shooting across the galaxy towards an existential confrontation while thousands of those monsters were flying along it to meet us, they seemed evil.

So while I was on the bridge listening to panicked distress calls describing the dead and dying and reading casualty reports and eavesdropping on the arcane signals put out by our would-be destroyers, I stewed in the destruction. And when I was off duty, I worried about Karr. And what I needed to say to her was still scarier and more sickening than watching a civilization be destroyed in real time.

That just made me feel more guilty. Sleep was not easy, and neither was eating.

...

I was trudging back to my bunk after mess on Sixday when I noticed a scrap of paper affixed with electrical tape to the door of my bunk. It read "Sen" in an angular and meticulous hand. Seeing that made my heart leap.

I pulled it off the door and unfolded it.

Sorry I couldn't talk. Exercises. Mam hurt herself, can't play. We need a fourth.

-Karr :)

The smiley face cut through all of my guilt and anxiety and angst. My chest exploded with warmth and I couldn't help but grin from ear to ear. I reread it a couple times, each time fixating on that little smiley face. She was so cute I could hardly stand it. I turned on a dime and started walking towards the nearest lift.

Then the guilt came back and I hated myself even more for fucking Lam because Karr was so cute and sweet and how could I have done that to her? And then I worried about Mam and kept worrying until I was somehow at the door to Karr's bunk.

I swallowed my fear and depressed the page button.

The door opened to Karr. Her face lit up when she saw me, "Sen! You came!"

She was wearing this goofy smile that melted my heart. And she was wearing a pretty tight tank top and her marine fatigue pants that made her look amazing. Without something baggy covering her up, I could see how tight her little ass and slim thighs were. And her stupidly sexy shoulders and arms and neck. And the imprints of her breasts. Her top pair was enough to get a little squeeze in, her middle were no bigger than the cup of my palm, and her lowest were practically flush with her stomach. She wasn't ripped like Lam, but she was all lean muscle. And her tail was red. That was a fun little surprise. It was stubby, even relative to the little vestigial thing that passed for an Yvenn tail. It was trying to wag a little too. She was so cute it made me feel even more guilty.

"Hey, Karr..." I trailed as she spun.

My heart sank as I saw Lam reclined in a chair with her customary smirk. This time she was wearing the same fatigue bottoms and the world's skimpiest tank top with spaghetti straps. She did nothing but leer at me, that stupid, arrogant smile on her face.

Kamak nodded at me, "Hey there, spacer, good to see we didn't scare you off permanently."

I laughed half heartedly as I followed Karr in. This was not a situation I had ever envisioned myself in. Resultantly, I felt so uncomfortable that I wanted to scream or cry, or possibly both.

"See, I told you he would see the note!" said Karr to the two of them.

"I sit corrected," answered Kamak with a shrug.

Karr turned to look at me, and her face shifted into concern. "What's wrong?" was her soft inquiry. It made it all worse that she was so damn good to me.

"Uhm..." I wanted to spill the beans there and then, and also humiliate myself by crying and prostrating myself before this amazing woman while I begged her to forgive me. Instead, I said, "A lot."

Karr's face flashed with sympathy briefly. She reached down to the table and grabbed a can, "Here, drink this whole thing. We're getting drunk. You should too."

That cute, weak smile of hers hung beneath those deep, sad eyes, and I couldn't say no. Wordlessly, I took the can and chugged it. I finished it in a couple glugs and wiped the dregs from my muzzle. While I took a deep breath to work through the burn, Kamak catcalled, "The man can actually drink. How about that."

I laughed unenthusiastically and teetered for a second as dizziness hit me. Karr watched me intently as I steadied myself.

"How's that?" she asked.

"Better," I responded, "How's Mam?"

Karr shook her head, "Old and fine. Don't worry about her, she was just sloppy. No more work, let's have fun!"

Karr plopped into her chair with a sigh. I took a deep breath and sat down opposite her, between Lam and Kamak. I dared a glance at Lam. Her eyes were even darker and more mischievous now. She hadn't said anything, and that was somehow worse than her constant bullshit. I hated her with a burning passion. But I couldn't stop myself from stealing a quick glance at her cleavage and very obvious nipples in her tank top and remembering how soft her breasts were and how beautiful they had looked when I was on my knees. The knowing smirk she gave me when I looked away in embarrassment bored into the side of my head. She knew, and she knew I knew she knew.

And in that instant, I was certain she was just biding her time to make as much of a scene as possible. Cold dread nested in the pit of my stomach. I knew this night could go a lot of ways, but very, very few of them were good.

...

Karr and I had lost two games in a row. It was to her credit that she didn't get very mad, since Lam had forgone her mocking for this unbearable quiet smugness, and all of us were very drunk. Karr was a bubbly, adorable, insatiably happy drunk, Kamak was sloppy, and Lam seemed like the alcohol had no effect on her. I knew she was biding her time. Between feeling like I'd be pounced upon at any moment and sickening guilt, I had slipped into a deep, drink-induced melancholia.

"C'mon Sen!" cried Karr, "Don't get down, man! We got this!"

She had this sympathetic look on her face, some mix of encouraging and worried and pleading. It made my heart weak and my voice stick in my throat. Consequently, I could barely meet her eyes, and all I could mutter out was something like "yeah".

Lam leaned forward, resting her muzzle on her steepled fingers such that she still had her nose turned up to us despite being seated. My heart sank. She was about to strike, and I could only watch.

"What's the matter, Sen?" she goaded, "Something got you off your game?"

"Hey!" protested Karr, as she turned a caustic glare on Lam, "Lay off him!"

Lam's face contorted into her carnivore's smile as she bored into me with her gaze, "You're not reading me like last time, little sailor. Wonder if something's stopping you..."

"Lay off!" Karr sounded sober. She looked sober. She was pissed now. The fact that she would so readily stand up for me would've been flattering, if it weren't for me knowing what was about to happen.

"I wonder..." said Lam with exaggerated perplexity, "is it that you can't look at me without remembering how nice my tits feel?"

"Hey!" Karr shook the table as she rose to a half-stand. I shrunk inward. My ears burned, pressed flat against my head. My tail was whipping around, well beyond the powers of my will which had been holding it in check all night. I felt sick. My eyes flicked between the two women. I wanted to cry and beg for forgiveness. But fear kept me frozen.

"Or maybe," continued Lam as she leaned back in her chair and turned to stare at Karr with that insufferable smirk of hers, "you're remembering how my pussy tastes?"

Karr lurched forward like she was about to attack the woman, but she stopped before she could even start the lunge. Her face was contorted with rage, but in an instant it dropped into confusion, and then solidified into understanding. Then disbelief.

She turned to look at me, eyes wide and mouth agape almost comically.

"Sen..." she said, her voice mostly surprised but teetering on the edge of rage, "what is she saying?"

"Yeah, Sen, what am I saying?" Lam was looking at me too. And so was Kamak. I wanted to die.

"Uhm..." I gulped, "Lam and I had sex..."

Kamak burst into uncontrolled drunken laughter, and Lam snorted a laugh as she rocked onto the back legs of her chair.

"You fucked her?" demanded Karr. She sounded more surprised and confused than angry.

The dam had broken, and I was unable to format my hurried and desperate reply cogently, "I'm so sorry, Karr! I wanted to tell you earlier, but I didn't have the time till now and... I'm so sorry! I shouldn't have done it, I know!"

"She's a fucking slut! Why?" despite her vigorous gesticulations, Karr mostly sounded bewildered.

Now Lam joined Kamak's laughter.

"That's why he did it!" gasped Kamak before she returned to her hysterics.

"I... she came onto me," was my small reply.

"She comes onto everyone!" shouted Karr, her fists hitting the table, "But you fuck her?" Her finger floated in the air before it limply returned to the table top.

"I... it's been a while," I responded in a pleading and vaguely whiney voice I was embarrassed to have produced, "And I dunno, with what's going on... I figured... and she's really hot!"

Kamak and Lam laughed so loudly that neither of us could continue the exchange for a moment.

"You're better than that!" cried Karr, "How..."

"Hey, Karr," interrupted Lam.

"What?" responded Karr in an exasperated voice teetering on furious, "What, Lam?" she shook her head, "What more could you possibly have to say?"

Lam's shit-eating grin stretched from ear to ear, "Why do you care who Sen fucks?"

At this point I was feeling like an observer in my own body. The interaction between the two women seemed like some strange stageplay viewed through numbed and distant senses. Despite all that, what Lam said started worming its way in.

"Because..." started Karr before she trailed off and started with renewed vitriol, "Because he's... because you're..."

Her face flashed with fear and then she scowled and flushed bright red. Most Yvenn didn't have much white fur on their heads like she did, so I was surprised to see her cheeks and the furred parts of her ears redden with the blush. It was so adorable that it worked through the abject horror of the situation to make me desperately want to nuzzle her. Then I got really confused. With a grunt of frustration she averted her eyes and sat back in her chair with crossed arms. Kamak and Lam launched into a fit of laughter.

"Why don't you two just bang already?" cackled Kamak.

Karr babbled some incoherent swearing while looking at the floor.

My brain was mostly static and drunken haze.

"Hey," said Lam in a facetiously gentle voice, "Why don't I help you out."

She stood slowly from her seat and reached for her belt buckle. She was staring me down now, that same glint in her eyes she had worn when she cornered me in the shower. She undid that buckle so slowly and deliberately. And now a different type of sickness was settling in my stomach.

"Hey!" Karr's face and shoulders hardened as Lam slid off the belt, "If you hurt him, I'll make sure you get lashes and that I'm the one who gives them to you." She punctuated the threat with a jab of a finger

She sounded so sexy pissed off. With that thought, I realized that this interaction had taken a very strange turn -- and that my brain was lagging behind my libido.

"Oh don't worry," Lam's words oozed as she approached me, swaying her hips and brandishing the taut belt, "He loves this."

"Sen?" asked Karr, her gaze fixing me.

I nodded and answered weakly and shakily, "Yeah."

Thought was swiftly eluding me, banished by the combined attention of these two beautiful women. My slit was already slick, and I could hardly breathe.

Lam circled behind my chair. In a flash, she reached down and seized my arms. She yanked them through the holes in the backrest flanking the central support. Sharp pain shot through my shoulders as she clamped them in one hand and began to wrap them with the belt.

I tried to look back at what she was doing, but I only got a view of her breasts straining against her tank top and her strangely intent expression. My wrists jostled as she fed the belt around the middle support and tied it off. When she straightened and appraised me with a satisfied look, I tested what she had done. I was pretty reasonably well bound to the chair. If I wanted to really fight it, this wouldn't hold long. But that was the last thing I wanted to do. I was completely everted and dumbstruck with arousal.

I stole a glance at Karr. She seemed equally dumbstruck. Her ears and cheeks were bright red and a little back, but she was staring at me with some complex expression.

"Look," said Lam with a flourish, "He's all yours."

"I... I..." stammered Karr, "I don't know..."

"This is fun!" said Kamak, her snout resting on her palms while her half-closed eyes lazily scanned the three of us.

Lam leaned me back, and I yelped. She dragged the chair back a bit from the table. I couldn't believe how helpless I was -- how completely I was at the mercy of everyone else in the room. It felt like a dream come true.

"Karr," she cooed as she peered at the other woman, "See? Plenty of room."

"I..." Karr was scanning the room frantically, her whole face scarlet, "Sen..."

I wanted her so badly, so I took a shaky breath to gather myself enough to reassure her, "I'm good."

Lam leaned over my shoulder and started to awkwardly undo my belt. My heart was drumming and my blood was rushing through my ears. I looked at Karr, my eyes pleading and desperate for her. Her chest started moving faster as Lam opened my belt and started on the buttons at my crotch. I watched as she leaned forward and her eyes widened like she was in a trance. Lam undid the last button and yanked my trousers down to my knees such that the waistband further constricted my movement. I flinched when my everted penis was exposed to the perpetually somewhat cold air of the ship, more out of embarrassment than the cold itself. This was ludicrous and humiliating and probably the hottest thing that had ever happened to me including the whole thing in the showers.

I watched as Karr's breath caught.

"There it is!" laughed Kamak, clapping.

"Karr," sang Lam as she started undoing the buttons on my blouse, "Doesn't he look good?"

"He..." rasped Karr, "Yeah."

That one word could've killed me. It was the first time she had complimented my appearance, and it was so simple and eloquent. A thousand words couldn't have expressed what that short utterance had.

Lam finished unbuttoning my uniform top and spread it open to reveal the striped black and white tank top unique to sailors.

"Look at him," prodded Lam as she patted my eversion making me groan and wince, "he's not gonna get any more ready."

"I guess not..." mumbled Karr almost absentmindedly. She was taking shallow breaths, her eyes fixated on me. I could hardly stand her gaze any longer. I needed her.

"Please, Karr," I whined.

"Aww," said Kamak somewhat dreamily, "He is a cute one."

Lam leaned over, sticking her grinning snout in my face, her eyes darting between me and Karr, "Listen to how nice he's asking. How could you say no to that?"

Karr stood unsurely, and my heart skipped a beat. She was going to do it! Between my quick, shallow breaths and thrumming heart, I thought I might pass out.

Kamak beamed at her, "Go on, girl! Get him!"

She slapped Karr's ass as she made her way around the table, causing Karr to cower a bit and draw inward. Time seemed to flow like syrup as she closed the distance. She stopped short of the chair and looked around, seeming somewhat panicked. Lam put a hand on her shoulder, and she flinched in response. The impression of being the audience of a play returned. I couldn't believe what was happening or that it involved me.

"Let me help you out," insisted Lam.

She pushed down on Karr's shoulder, the woman compressing in response until she was forced to come down on one knee and then the other. She steadied herself against the chair, one hand landing on my thigh. In an instant, the strange detachment I was feeling was banished by the sensation of lightning shooting across my skin from where her hand had touched me. I shivered.

Karr was staring at my penis now.

"You want it, huh?" persisted Lam, "Guess I need to do everything."

She put her hand between Karr's ears and pushed her snout towards my throbbing eversion.

Karr's eyelids drooped and she sighed. She was so close that her exhale tingled across the slick skin on my penis.

"Oh, ancestors..." she said, voice wavering. A glacially slow hand reached out. She grabbed my dick so gingerly, so gently. I loosed a low moan. She was so good that I couldn't believe she was doing this to me. I needed more. My penis flexed in her grasp, searching desperately for something warm and wet and tight.

"Woo!" cheered Kamak, "Karr!"

I heard a low, sensuous chuckle emanate from Lam to my right. But I had no interest in looking at either of them. They had become incidental as my world had narrowed to include just Karr and me.

Karr squeezed a little harder and moved her muzzle closer to my cock. I let out a halting breath as she rubbed it gently against her cheeks and cold, wet nose. I whined and squirmed.

"Ancestors..." repeated Karr, "It's so pretty..."

There was... awe in her voice. It felt like my heart burst and time stopped. I knew I would remember those words for the rest of my life.

"You're really pretty too," I muttered weakly.

She looked up from beside my penis which was cradled against her cheek in her hand. I was graced with a shaky, perfect smile that filled her eyes with an uncommon light. She giggled lightly, "Thanks."

I wanted to say something else to her, to shower her with compliments and tell her how wonderful of a person she was, but every single one of my mental faculties was arrested when she wrapped her tongue around my dick. I moaned wantonly and threw my head back.

"Wow. They're so cute," marvelled Kamak, "Fuck me, am I wet..."

Lam's laugh sounded more like a growl, "Get in my bunk."

"Oh goodie!" chirped Kamak as she shot up with a wobble.

That exchange should've been incredibly interesting to me, but Karr was too amazing for me to care. And her tongue coiling around the stem of my penis eradicated any other considerations. She had been leaning over the side of my lap somewhat awkwardly, and somehow she managed to scoot herself in front of me without stopping her swirling tongue. Now she was looking up at me, my cock covered in her saliva and her hands on my thighs. Her eyes were transformed from her typical swirling pits into the most precious doe eyes. I wanted so badly to touch her. She looked wonderful. Because the bindings stymied that impulse, I just let out a deep sigh and sank into the chair. It had been a long time since I had had the luxury of being this relaxed.

Karr opened her jaws wide, revealing rows of needle-teeth. Carefully and slowly, she guided my penis in, a pang of fear keeping it from throbbing or flexing. Her hot, wet breath enveloped it as her tongue bunched up around and beneath my knot.

When the tapered tip pressed against the ridges at the top of her mouth, I groaned. Cautiously, I let it move a little. Those soft structures glided across the top and bottom of my tip with this maddening outpouring of sensation. My ex had not known how to do this. As a result, I may not have been prepared to control myself to the degree that I should have, and after a few moments of extreme pleasure together with the stimulation on my knot, I was about to cum. Then I wiggled too much and her front teeth pricked my penis.

"Ow, shit!" I exclaimed, squirming.

It hadn't really hurt inasmuch as it had been startling and had killed the orgasm. Still, Karr's eyes bulged, and she pulled back to appraise the damage. Her concerned expression and furrowed brow contrasted with her tongue which she had let loll off to the side of her mouth. I couldn't suppress a chuckle. When she saw me laugh, she sucked in her tongue and her expression lightened.

"I used to be able to do that better, sorry," she giggled meekly, "I'm out of practice."

"No, it's fine!" I insisted, "I got a little carried away."

"Oh, Yve..." she laughed bashfully and rose to a crouch, leaning over me with her hands on my shoulders, "Never thought I'd have my tongue on a boy's dick before I even hugged him."

She gave me a somewhat ungainly hug. Despite the weird position, it felt perfect to have those arms around my neck and her head against mine. She smelled good -- a little like sweat and neutral soap and her. And she felt good too: strong muscles that she let be gentle with me. She felt safe. We both sighed contentedly.

She nuzzled up my neck to my ear where she whispered, "I really need you inside me, is that okay?"

I nuzzled against her ear, "Please."

Karr withdrew enough to touch her nose to mine before she rose to standing. Hurriedly, she undid her belt and buttons, kicking the trousers from about her ankles. Her legs were slender and graceful as they tapered down from slim thighs. They were painted with interconnected splotches of orange and charcoal leaving a field of bright white between her thighs and up her torso where the color thinned. Her pubic fluff was very full -- part charcoal and part white -- and obviously wet between her legs. She was so wet, in fact, that as she swung a leg around me, the matted fur on the thigh and her crotch were stuck together by a strand of arousal.

"Fuck..." I muttered as she slid onto my lap, squeezing my penis between our stomachs. The space between her legs was burning and soaking the fur on my thigh. She pressed into me, our snouts colliding as we nuzzled each other furiously. Our noses traveled across each other's faces and necks and collars. Hers snaked from my collarbone to my ear where she dragged a tongue along its upper edge, the sensitive, bare skin tingling. I moaned embarrassingly, but I was beyond caring.

"You sailor boys always look so cute in those shirts," she breathed, "I always wanted to get one of you alone... see what you look like without those stiff tops."

"R... really?" Between the compliment and her affection, I had a hard time making words. Her answer came in the form of a lick along my collarbone and a hand on my penis. She guided it beneath her so it could slide between her lips. We grabbed each other tight and loosed our exclamations of pleasure into each other's shoulders. With a movement of her hips, she let the tip slip into her, and we groaned in unison.

I got about halfway into her, heat and wetness finally granted to my aching penis. Then there was a sudden resistance. Karr lifted with a shuddering breath until I was almost out of her again, a little panic gripping me as I thought she might deprive me of what I needed just when I had gotten a taste. But she sank back down with a long exhale, taking me just to the knot, and I could've sworn I had bottomed out in her.

When we had finished making noises and I could see again, I nuzzled her smiling face. She looked drunk -- probably because she was -- but more so on the sex and less so on the drink.

"How are you this tight?" I asked, bewildered.

"How are you this deep?" she answered huskily.

I laughed a bit as she started to rise up and sink back down on me. The penetration was getting less difficult with every rise and fall, but she was still ridiculously tight.

"Fucking hell," she muttered, "your cock is so fat."

I blushed like an idiot and stammered out my reply, "I... I really don't think so. It's pretty average. I think you're just really fit and small."

She took me to the hilt, my knot slipping in with a little resistance. Then her hips ground against my pelvis, her wet opening clenching on the stem of my dick as the rest of her pressed around my knot. I saw stars and gasped a silent moan. She was oddly impassive; her face wore this determined, focused expression, her eyes tightly shut.

"I like your dick. Just take the compliment," she said in a breathy rush.

"O... okay," was the best I could muster as I flexed my penis inside her, striving after her clit. With a flush of pride, I felt the hard nub of it brush against the top of my cock. She really was tight: it wasn't at my tip where it should have been, instead, it was a teeny bit down my length.

Karr went rigid and grunted when I hit her clit, and she pushed back with her hips to grind it into me.

"Why," she grunted as she slowly rolled her hips, "are you even arguing with me about this while we're having sex?"

My languid gaze settled on her face as some thought percolated through the drunkenness and arousal and horniness and confusion. It hit me while I was nuzzling up her neck, "It's normal, really. I'm not sad about it or anything."

Karr made some noise of disagreement that contrasted with the arching of her spine and the thrust of her neck into my snout, "I think you just don't have the self-confidence to accept that you're really fuckable and have a nice cock."

"Wait," I mumbled, licking her inner ear, "You're doing that thing where you talk about my problems to distract yourself."

She sighed and grabbed my shoulders for purchase so she could be a little more vigorous. But she still found time to shake her head.

"You're trying not to cum, huh?" I pulled back, forcing her to look into my eyes and shooting her a knowing smile.

Her eyes tried and failed not to meet mine, and she collapsed into me with a grunt.

"Ugh, you broke my concentration..." she let out a stifled moan, "I promise..." another little sound of pleasure, "I normally last longer..." a soft yelp announced the flood of wetness around my cock as her opening snapped shut around my knot, "I'm just so horny... and a little out of practice."

She was jelly now, and I was really wishing I had my arms around her. I felt so warm and content with her like this. My orgasm didn't matter; it was more than enough that she was feeling so good. And it was because of me! All that being said, I was getting close, and I could feel it slipping away.

"Sorry, Sen," panted Karr, her muzzle draped over my shoulder, " I'm spent. Can you finish yourself off?"

My vigorous and desperate thrusting sufficed as an affirmative answer, and in a blur of my heavy breath and Karr's hums of satisfaction, I came in her. This orgasm was particularly intense and debilitating, probably because I had managed to get so worked up. Most of the pleasure was just from the release of the pressure and the anxiety of the sixday.

As I thrashed my way through the initial throes, a whine from Karr penetrated my fugue, "I'm already so full! I can't get more full!"

I sagged into her, letting my head fall limp against her neck. The harsh sensation gave way to relaxing warmth as I emptied myself in her.

"It's so hot..." mused Karr, her arms tight about my chest and the chair. The only thought passing through my mind was how safe it felt to be in her arms. Then that thought was joined by another: she was right. She really couldn't get any more full. My cum was leaking out of her and onto my thighs.

We sat in that heap for a short time, and I relished how... hazy the borders of my body and hers felt. The real world did filter in, though. It came with the drips and drabs of my semen leaking out of her and the gradual loosening of her grip on my penis. And the sounds of Kamak and Lam fucking behind me.

With a groan like she had just woken up, Karr straightened and slowly stood. She exhaled deeply as she withdrew, a slew of cum falling across my thigh.

She took a moment, eyes closed, to collect herself. With another deep breath she looked down at me, "That felt just as good as going in."

Then her serious expression broke into a goofy smile and we shared a laugh.

Her smile dropped into a displeased grimace when she noticed the matting on my thighs, "Well then, we were messy. That's gonna be hard to clean. Sorry about that."

Her being suddenly all put-together and cogent was a little jarring, so I just said the first thing that came to mind, "Can you please untie me, I haven't been able to feel my hands for a while, and my shoulders hurt."

"Shit!" she exclaimed as she bustled to free my hands.

I pulled them through the holes in the back of the chair, massaging my wrists and rolling my shoulders. A moment's relief gave way to pins and needles so bad I had to grit my teeth.

After shaking out my hands, I suddenly felt very awkward and conspicuous.

"Uhm," I started, my eyes searching the deck, "I guess I should probably go, since they're... uhh."

It was then that I glanced over my shoulder and got my first glimpse of what Kamak and Lam were doing. Lam's tall frame was just about doubled over in the confines of the bunk bed, one hand pinning Kamak's hands above her head and the other one knuckle-deep in her. Kamak was just wriggling beneath her and taking it. Whereas Lam looked weirdly focused and concentrated, Kamak just looked completely dissociated, a low keening escaping her slack muzzle. The two of them were so fit, so perfect. Their corded muscles were moving in tandem, flowing like water, and their coats looked so nice together -- Lam's fiery red against Kamak's deep charcoal. After snatching a longer look than was polite -- whatever polite was in this situation -- I turned back to Karr who had this complex expression on her face, that deep, compelling sadness filling her eyes again and drawing me in.

"Please stay," she pleaded softly.

Then she looked panicked briefly and blushed. "I... I mean," she stammered, "I know you can't stay, but can you lie with me a bit? It would feel cheap if you just left."

All of my awkwardness dissolved, and I rose and hugged her. I touched my nose to hers, "I'd love that."

She graced me with one of her sad little smiles, "Thanks, my bunk is over there."

"Wait," I said, "our pants."

She giggled, "Oh, yeah."

We put our pants on and wiggled into her bunk. It was exactly the same as mine, not even personalized since we hot-bunked. I slid in with her closely following. The world became small and dim and warm. It felt like an intimate little pocket universe.

We held each other, not saying anything for a short time until a whisper caught me as I was about to fall asleep, "Sen?"

"Yeah?"

"So... about Lam..." she trailed off.

A little pang of nausea hit me, but, somehow, it passed, "Yeah, that was shitty. I know that nothing really was stopping me, but she's such an asshole to you that it was just a dick move. And I knew that at the time and did it anyway, which makes it... doubly dickish."

Karr chuckled softly, "Pretty much yeah. But she is... convincing."

She half turned towards where Lam and Kamak were still fucking, "And it's not like you did it to manipulate me, you just really wanted to fuck her. Plus the girls were right, if I wanted you all to myself, I should've done something about it. So I had no say in the matter."

"I dunno," I started, "You're letting me off pretty easy on this one. It was shitty."

"I mean, yeah," she shrugged, "Sure, it was shitty. But you're an impulsive, emotional goofball and that's why I like you, so I can't blame you for that. Plus, not to be self-aggrandizing, but I think it's clear it was just physical with her, and you actually have feelings for me."

I wasn't totally sure if I should be offended or not. In fact, I wasn't sure what to think about the sweeping proclamations in general. "Okay?" I intoned.

"Have you been in a relationship before?" she asked, her voice suddenly serious.

"Yeah, one," I answered. Being serious was a little hard, what with the alcohol intoxication, but she was worth the effort.

"How long? Why did it end?"

"Five years, and it ended because of the navy. She was a great woman. I wanted out of where I grew up, but she bought in. I couldn't put her through that. And right now, I'm so glad I left her. She'd be terrified," it had taken me some time to be this frank about the whole thing. I had thought about her a lot during my time at the fleet academy. Now she was just a good memory.

Karr paused for a long moment before nodding thoughtfully, "You're off the hook. You're just a fool, and all boys are fools. Plus you apologized. I think you made Lam feel guilty too, so I know it won't happen again. That whole... thing -- that was her way of apologizing, you know?"

I squinted at her, "What? What is wrong with her?"

Karr shrugged, then her face morphed into surprise, "Wait! How old are you?"

"I'm legal, if that's what you're asking," I laughed into her neck. She smelled so good.

She snickered and batted my shoulder, "No, for real."

"I'm 36."

"You're 36?" she exclaimed, drawing back to appraise my face like she was looking for gray hairs.

"What?" I asked defensively, "How old are you?"

"I'm 29," she answered matter-of-factly.

"Oh no," I groaned, "You're only 3 years older than my sister. You could still be in university..."

"I'm a poor kid, remember?" She chided, "I don't get to go to university. Plus, it's only 7 years, calm down."

"Point taken," I conceded, some of the awkwardness dispersing, "How old did you think I was?"

"I dunno," she shrugged, "Younger. You seemed less... mature."

"Thanks, I guess?" I took a moment to be offended before I continued, my voice a little defeated, "I thought you were older than me because you seemed more... mature."

"Uh huh," she smirked. Her eyes sparkled with mirth as she buried her face in my chest fluff, "You smell good."

"You too," I answered with a sigh, "You're a really good hugger."

"Can we spoon?" she asked sweetly, her doe eyes looking up at me.

I smiled down at her, "Sure."

She twisted and I shifted up so my head would sit above hers on the shitty little pillow. We both had a view of Kamak and Lam. Kamak was muzzle-deep in Lam's pussy now, her limbs sprawled across the bed. Lam, on the other hand, had a death grip on Kamak's ears, her thighs swallowing Kamak's snout while she smiled evilly.

"Yeah," Karr said absentmindedly, "She is really hot."

"Tell me about it," I laughed.

Karr scoffed.

"This is probably the weirdest pillowtalk I've ever had," mused Karr.

"Yeah," I nodded, "Weirdest sex I've ever had too. And that includes the whole... shower cunnilingus incident."

Karr chuffed a quick laugh, "Ancestors, they are just going at it."

"Yeah..." I said, "Are they like... a thing?"

Karr shook her head, "No? I don't think so. They have done this a few times, though -- I think."

"I didn't really take Lam for... bi."

"She's not, that's why. I don't think she's anything. She fucks anyone with a pulse. It's about... power or the hunt or something."

I made a sound of displeasure, "Is it gonna be a problem with Kamak now?"

Karr turned to give me a bemused look out of one eye, "You mean 'is she gonna want to fuck me now'?"

"No!" I answered, even though I did a tiny bit. I was riding a lot of confidence boosts, and maybe I was being a little cocky.

"She is one hundred percent gay, and she lives in her own strange little world of alcohol and guns and cards and boobies. I think to her, that was like... a zoo."

My nose wrinkled, "You make it sound so creepy."

She shrugged, "I loved it."

"Me too."

"Let's do it again some time."

"Absolutely."

________________

Chapter 7

We had a short transit time from the gateway to the hyper relay in the Lozavatan home system. It was my luxury to preside over the tail end of that transit. The last few hours until we made it to the relay were noise hell. It was a populous, old system. There were dying transponders from wrecks and derelicts, traffic beacons, customs agents and anti-piracy police, massive merchant fleets, and civilian transport: all hallmarks of old, unplanned stellar systems. Then there were the refugees, the Lozavatan fleets pouring in, the repair flotillas swarming damaged ships, distress calls from those damaged ships, the frantic encrypted military and diplomatic chatter. It was somewhere between a playground and a rave for my profession. I was gleaning diplomatic communiques and military movements off of secure Lozavata channels until the very moment we hit the relay.

It seemed there was talk on the Lozavata end about completely demoing the hyper relay network to slow an Interloper breakthrough, and given that that would inhibit the movement of reinforcements from the 2nd Strike Fleet and 2nd and 3rd Defense Fleets which were currently converging on this side of the Breach, and that the High Kingdom held partial ownership in that whole network, it was my duty as an organ of the State to protect its interests and report those communications directly to the Commodore and thence to the Margravine. In reality, I sent it to Dene, she rubber-stamped it as Officer of the Watch, and then she sent it to whoever held watch at the Rear Admiral's staff since the Commodore was adamant that her rest not be interrupted and the Margravine was far too important to receive a communique from a commodore.

We lurched through the hyper relay not too long after Dene finished sending that report. Reality stuttered for the briefest moment, and there was a small discontinuity in my stream of consciousness, nothing more than the time it took an impulse to cross a synapse; nonetheless, it was noticeable. My skin crawled a little at the base of my skull, but the feeling passed. Then the ship shuddered and the lights dimmed as the hyperdrive cores hotswapped. Reality broke for another tiny sliver of time, and then we were in another system. Now we would need five days to recharge the two, and we could make another two jumps. Two jumps that would put us right at the frontline, or at least where the frontline was supposed to be. We would be pulling a big u-turn at sublight to avoid getting bushwhacked by any Interloper breakthrough in the meantime.

This system was also populated, but it was pretty dark: not much civilian signal traffic, a couple pirates being very polite, and a whole lot of military chatter. Mostly it was about all the field shipyards they had set up on moons and large rocks to handle repairs of the hundreds of beat up ships moored everywhere.

I was just starting to take it all in when Dene wandered back from the watch station to perch on the console to my right. I sat back and laughed, looking up at her bemused expression.

"Man," she started in a low voice, "I remember my first jump..."

"When was that, in the reign of the last queen, right?" I interrupted with a snide look.

Dene shook her head and breathed a laugh, "I swear they almost discharged me on grounds of insanity. For some reason, that split second where it feels like you were under anesthesia made me go kinda nuts. I didn't sleep for a sixday."

I laughed politely and crossed my arms, "That is super weird, but what always gets me is that feeling where your skin doesn't fit right and and all your fur feels like it doesn't belong to you. My first time, I poofed up like someone electrocuted me."

Dene snorted, "I would've paid to see that."

"It wasn't that interesting," I waved a hand at her, "Y'know, they describe it and they do the psych profiles and all the preparations, but it just doesn't really prepare you."

"Yeah, absolutely," she said before staring off into the middle distance for a moment. She leaned sideways and spoke in a low voice out the corner of her mouth, "Speaking of being unprepared... look, Sen, this is completely unprofessional, so do as I say, not as I do. But is the Commodore pissing you off?"

I blushed and scanned the room. Satisfied that the Commodore wasn't lurking in a corner, I leaned in to answer, "Yeah, where does she get off saying not to be bothered while she's sleeping during a war?"

"So I did some digging," started Dene before I cut her off with a suspicious look, "Hey, don't give me the tools if you don't expect me to use 'em. Anyway, this is her first command -- period. She's right out of the academy back in Torahn. And she walks into a wing command fresh off graduation?"

Dread started to deepen in my stomach, "No shit..."

"Yes, shit. She's apparently some distant relation of the Queen. Old family, lots of money, and good breeding or whatever."

"That doesn't exactly instill confidence..."

"Yeah. That's why the poor Lieutenant has been the one we go to this whole time. I know this is your first time on a staff, Sen, but that just isn't normal."

"Oh, Ancestors, are we gonna die?" I blurted. I was scared now, it felt like I was watching a ship drift into dock with its engines out.

"Aw, hell, Sen. I shouldn't have brought it up," Dene shook her head and shot me a sympathetic look, "I saw her scores and evals in her files. She aced everything, and all of her instructors loved her. She's no slouch at least, maybe just some prissy, entitled rich girl. Who knows, maybe she's a tactical prodigy and she just wants to grab some sleep while she can and she knows she can use her position to get it."

"I guess..."

"Sen, don't worry. I was just engaging in some harmless scuttlebutt. I got you, the Lieutenant has you, the crew has you... and worst comes to worst, she's a wing commander, an artillery wing commander. We aren't gonna get into a slug fest, and she doesn't need to do anything but stick to whatever plan the rear admiral cooks up."

Typically I was inconsolable when I had decided to be resolutely scared about something; however, that did make a lot of sense. There was still a tickle of anxiety in my gut, but it was mostly abeyant. I took a deep breath and nodded at her, "Yeah, yeah you're right SL."

"Listen to your elders, Sen, sometimes we have something good to say," she smiled and laughed dryly. Dene uncoiled and made her way back to the watch station, and I turned back to my work of spying on our allies and distorting my moral compass little by little.

I finished off my shift, not even bothering to try and sneak a look at the Warrant Officer Third Grade's ass, and made my way to the mess. My heart felt lighter and lighter with every step, a little spring creeping into my gait. The closer I was to that tasteless food, the closer I was to Karr.

I got my portion: toast, insect protein in "brown sauce" and roasted root vegetables. It was so inoffensive it wrapped back around to being offensive. Turning from the line, Karr was right where she ought to be, and she had noticed me first, and she was smiling at me. I bustled over to her, a feeling like an arrhythmia in my chest.

"Hey!"

"Hey you," she said. A little suggestive edge to her voice sent a shiver up my spine.

She rested her chin on her hands, "How were the jumps for you?"

"Normal, I'm used to them. You?"

Karr shrugged, "Same. I always get a little headache, but it passes fast."

"Oh," I said, frowning, "Sorry."

"Don't be," she smiled her sad smile at me, softness in her eyes, "You seem more chipper today."

I replied with a broad smile, "Yeah. Maybe the system has beaten me enough that I started liking it."

"I'm sure it has nothing to do with last night," she muttered conspiratorially.

I laughed, memories of our encounter flooding my head and a warmth igniting between my legs, "Surely not."

Karr laughed tamely and took a bite.

"So..." I started in a sing-song voice, "you were cute."

She flushed completely, the red showing up all across her ears and cheeks. "Uh..." she stammered, "I was? What do you mean?"

"You were so gentle and sweet and clingy and... into it," I had to keep messing with her. This was my first time flustering her and it was simply too cute.

"Well," she mumbled, "You were the one tied to the chair and moaning."

"But did you expect any less from me?" I leaned in to smirk at her, "Seeing cool and collected Karr lose it over me -- that was a treat."

"Ugh, you're right," she laughed unenthusiastically, "But you gotta stop teasing me, I can't be this wet in public."

It was my turn to blush. She had turned it right around on me and successfully ended all thought processes in my brain. I took a couple of moments to collect myself while she peered at me with laughing eyes before I continued, "Still, it was really nice to see that side of you, sorta the same side I saw when you dragged me off the bridge."

"I couldn't help it," she shrugged, "You were all woozy. You stared at me with this goofy look on your face when you first saw me, and you were trying so hard to be strong even though you were completely out of it. It was adorable, even though you were covered in blood."

I blushed again and persisted softly, "You were like... a guardian spirit. Rushing to my aid... so kind and gentle and strong."

"Stop, Sen!" she said bashfully as she averted her fluttering eyelids.

"No, really, I mean it!"

"I know you do," she answered, a little quaver in her voice, "That's why you need to stop. I already said I'd have sex with you again, you don't need to try to get under my tail."

"I'm not trying to get under your tail, I just like you."

"Stop!" her voice was a little pained, so I decided to relent, or at least pivot.

"It makes me wonder, though, why you're a marine. You're not like most marines. I know you wanted out and got into the Navy because of it, but you could've joined the Army or the Navy proper or even the Merchant Marine."

She seemed more put together with the change in topic, "Yeah... I guess so. I tested well though, they wouldn't have liked it if I became a ground pounder or deckhand on a fleet tender. They wanted me to choose Navy -- sig int or e-war or maybe nav. But I couldn't stand the idea of sitting on a bridge all day and dealing with all that gold, no offense," she held out a placating hand and continued, "I wanted to do EVA, be a little more free. Turned out the Marines don't just need ropey idiots with a death wish, so I'm here."

I leaned over the table, looking into her eyes. Those beautiful emeralds peered back at me. They were just as turbulent as always, but there was a warmth to them now. I thought for a second and spoke, "Why do you like being out in vacuum so much? Don't get me wrong -- I love space -- I just like having a hull between me and it... and nice livable atmosphere."

"Yeah..." Karr stared up at the ceiling for a moment before she continued, "Hard vacuum is so... simple. When you have your thrusters and mag boots, you're in complete control. And when you get good, all you need is a flick of the wrist, a flex of the toes. It's just you out there, really. You might have a radio link, but if you screw up, you're fucked. EVA is life reduced to its basics: be good enough, and you survive. All that matters is momentum and control and focus."

She was so captivating, her soft monologue had drawn me in as I watched her jaw move. After a second of pondering, Karr continued, "I always like to think about the shadows out there. Clean edges. No blur. That's what life is like in EVA: black and white. Live or die. That simplicity... it just... clears my head. I feel free. I... I know the Corps owns my ass. I mean free in a way that matters. Free in my head."

I just stared at her. She was fascinating. So much was pent up within that head of hers, which explained why her eyes looked like that. She was gorgeous, amazing.

Karr met my eyes, her ears reddening. She looked away with an embarrassed laugh, "Sorry, I uh... I don't get to talk about this much. I hope I haven't been... blathering."

"No," I said, a little awe hushing my speech, "That was fascinating. Thank you."

"Sen!" she protested, flushing a little more.

"You're brilliant and captivating."

She withdrew inward, curling a little into herself, "Sen, you gotta stop, I can't take it anymore."

"Okay," I smiled, "I'm sorry." I wasn't.

"Were you just waiting to do this to me?" she groaned.

"You have no idea."

She groaned louder and started shoveling food into her mouth.

I put on a melodramatically sympathetic tone, "Want me to complain about something so you can tell me how to fix it."

She looked up with a grateful smile, "I'd love that."

...

Four days went by, and it was surreal for me. I knew that each passing moment brought us closer to our confrontation with the Interlopers. The dread was made worse by reports of ongoing skirmishing at the frontline and some massive Interloper push on the coreward front. Then we borrowed some communiques from the Lozavatans which seemed to indicate that they were massing their forces to join us and push to relieve some besieged worlds before the Interlopers exterminated their populations. We would be jumping right into a battle.

But the passing of time also meant my duty shifts would come to an end and I could be with Karr. We would talk all through mess period when we awoke and when we got off duty. Talking with her felt right, it felt like it had with my ex. She was stoic and enthralling one moment, joking the next, and flirting the following. And all of it felt natural. We even took to compromising our own sleep schedules to sit in the mess hall or outside our quarters and talk for hours. I knew that we were just trying to fit everything into the little time we might have left, but somehow that didn't seem to matter.

I had even taken to pestering Dene to pull some strings to have us working with each other during the maintenance shift. That had meant letting Dene in on our sordid little affair, but after some prodding, she let it be.

It was near the end of maintenance shift that fourth day, and we had found a quiet corner in a corridor off of one of the magazines for the kinetic batteries. My back was pressed against a junction box, the latch and a corner digging into my right shoulder. But I was too engrossed in sticking my nose into the orange fur at Karr's neck to care. Her heavy breathing filled my ear, a little nip at the soft flesh of the helix pulling a soft moan out of me and into her fur.

My hands drifted from her sculpted shoulders down the hourglass of her waist. Hers stroked my shoulders and upper arms while she nuzzled me frantically. I grabbed her rump and licked her collar, and she returned the favor. Both of her hands alighted on my ass, doting licks up my neck making my knees weak. I slid my fingertips under her tank top, both of our discarded uniform tops in a heap on the deck behind her. She sighed as my touch floated over her ribs.

"Sen..." came her heavy voice in my ear.

I stuck my snout into her chest fluff and drank in her smell. It felt like I was drunk on lust as I pushed my hands up, fingers grazing her lowest pair of nipples. I still hadn't seen them, and I was dying to get a solid look at her breasts. I applied a little upward pressure, hoping to push my luck, my anticipation building.

"Sen!" she sounded a little flustered, and there was an edge to her tone.

I froze, "Too far?"

"No, I'm just..." she let out a staggered breath, "Ancestors, do I need to fuck you! I can't keep doing this stupid adolescent shit!"

"I need you too, this sucks," I sighed. My hands dropped to my side, the blissful arousal slipping away.

We parted slightly to take some deep breaths. I sobered somewhat, but nowhere near enough for it not to be irksome.

"I'm gonna need to go to the head and finish myself off later," Karr mused.

"Me too," I answered. My testicles ached, the pressure in my lower abdomen almost too much to take. "Oh, come on! We could be quick; nobody comes down here!"

Karr looked pained as she thought about it. She shook her head, "I want to so bad, but you know that's an awful idea. We're fucked if they catch us screwing on maintenance shift. We'll make too much noise."

I growled my frustration, "This is torture, I can't take this."

"Good news, then," her eyes and smirk were lascivious, "I talked with a friend of mine in engineering. I know a place we can go. Tomorrow, after maintenance shift. Lets do separate assignments so we don't just make out the whole time. I'll remind you tomorrow after duty shift, but meet me outside the fab."

"Really?" my eyes were wide. I felt like a kid getting promised some toy for his birthday.

"I wouldn't joke about something so serious," she slowly stroked along my muzzle, laughing darkly. I shivered.

I let out this slutty little breath, the embarrassment from which only made me more overwhelmed, "Okay..."

"Move, hornball," she snickered, "We need to log that we checked that junction."

________________

Chapter 8

Concrete reports had filtered down to us. Skirmishes were breaking out all over the system we would be transiting to tomorrow, and only the hyperlane breach point and relay were secure. Our job was to smash through the Interlopers' picket fleets, force a confrontation with their battle line, and blow through to the next system while their efforts were concentrated coreward. I should have been scared. I should have been knotted up into a little ball of anxiety the whole shift. Instead, duty shift had flown by, and mess with Karr was heaven. The fate of the galaxy was the last thing on my mind after maintenance shift. I had much more important business to attend to.

I lingered outside the fabrication workshop for five or so minutes, garnering a couple weird looks from the engineers inside. I felt horribly conspicuous, my ears back and hot, as I tried to will people not to look at me or ask any questions. My body flushed with relief when I saw Karr turn the corner. She beamed at me, and my stomach lurched.

"Oh thank Yve you're finally here..." I breathed.

"Sorry," she whispered, a hand alighting against mine and giving me a clandestine squeeze, "I got held up by bureaucratic bullshit."

I squeezed back before she withdrew her hand and stepped back with a glance both ways down the corridor, "What now?" I asked.

"I know her, let me handle it."

I nodded as she disappeared through the door. While she did whatever it was she needed to do, I fidgeted and felt the warmth building in my crotch and the nausea bubbling in the pit of my stomach.

Karr reappeared a short while later looking very conspicuously inconspicuous. She wordlessly motioned for me to follow her down the hallway for a ways until we got to a small access door on the right. After rummaging through a pocket for a moment, she produced a cheap, definitely not military issue keycard which she waved against an also definitely not military mechanism affixed to the door panel.

She made an impressed face when the door slid open. "Wow, that actually worked," she shrugged before turning to face me with her body in the doorframe blocking my view of the room. A sly look crossed her face. Her beckoning expression combined with the soft orange light glowing behind her made my heart lurch. She extended a hand with this luxuriant flourish. I took it hesitantly.

With a jerk, I was in her arms, the door sliding shut behind me. We were both giggling as we nuzzled. Her arms wrapped me so tight, so safe. I closed my eyes with a sigh, burying my nose in her neck. Her cold, wet nose made its way up the inside of my ear, sending a shiver through me. I let out a shaky breath as she rubbed her cheek on mine, "Karr... slow down..."

"Sorry," she giggled, "I got a little ahead of myself there."

We separated, and I could finally get a look at this room we had somehow gotten use of. It was obviously some forgotten maintenance or storage room, all bare walls made of plating and covered in pipes and conduits. The floor was just steel grating, and the ceiling was high with an empty stowage net hanging limp. Thankfully, that was just the construction of the room; it was "furnished". There were a few tapestries hanging from the walls and strung up to the ceiling to give the impression of eaves, green and yellow classical nature scenes very obviously printed, not woven. The floor was covered in a mixture of cheap orange and yellow rugs and foam padding. Then there was the whole reason we were here, a stack of two thin futons somewhat askew. It would fit two, if you felt seriously nostalgic for university. The bedclothes were white, for pretty obvious reasons, and thin and threadbare. Two throw pillows of the type you'd expect to be in the seating pit of a lower middle class household stood in for actual pillows. They too had classical nature scenes printed across their fronts. A portable cage light the engineers would bring with them to work in crawlspaces and the like hung from the center of the ceiling, some scratch built shade making its light quite sedate. And the only really nice part of the room was the two rows of string lights flanking the bed. They were actually kinda romantic.

"Oh, man..." I started, hands on my hips, "This looks like an upscale bordello."

Karr looked at me askance, a laugh in her eyes, "Oh yeah? What do you know about bordellos?"

I winced and tried to change the subject: not wanting to remember that part of my life, much less recount it to her, "No, it's perfectly nice, actually... considering. What did you have to do for us to get to use it?"

Karr tilted her head around, inspecting the room as she spoke, "I have a buddy in the fab, she rents this place out to people. I gave her a couple jars of Kamak's hooch."

It had never struck me that she would be the type to know how to make these kinds of arrangements, but then again, it should have. "And Kamak just gave them to you?"

Karr laughed, "Fuck no! I owe her, big time. I'll deal with that later, c'mere..." She trailed off with a salacious note, beckoning to me with both hands.

"Wait," I said, drawing in a bit and going a little sick with unbidden nervousness. Karr's face dropped into concern, "So Kamak and this other person know about this?"

"Kamak has watched us fuck, Sen."

"Yeah..."

"And Pahn is a horny weirdo. She illegally rents out a room on a Navy ship so people can have sex in it. She doesn't care."

"Okay..." I trailed off, loosening up a bit.

Karr seemed lost in thought briefly, "Which come to think of it..."

She turned around absentmindedly and searched the walls and ceiling, settling on the light. Mumbling, she reached up to the low hanging shroud and rummaged around in it.

"Ah-hah!" she cried triumphantly, pulling a wire down from light. She gestured for me to come closer, "See this? A spycam, cheap consumer grade shit."

My skin crawled a bit, and I recoiled in revulsion, "Ugh, that's so creepy."

Karr chuckled darkly, "I know, right? What a little perv..."

She gripped the device about a length of electrical tape, pulling slightly, "That should do it..." It almost seemed like she was rubbing her thighs together while she fiddled.

"What?" I protested, my indignation somewhat dampened by the heat between my legs, "Break that thing! It might still be transmitting, and it's fucked up!"

"Have mercy on the poor girl! This place sucks, let her have fun! Plus, there's no way she's foolish enough to have an open transmitter on an e-war ship. She'd be found out in no time."

I humphed, "It's wrong to be filming people banging, what if she's like... disseminating it?"

"She's not that stupid. And if she is, it's only with other weirdos, so it won't get out." Karr started looking up the cord by which the light hung, tracing something with her eyes, "You do bring up a good point, though..."

Her eyes kept moving until she found a point on the right hand wall.

She tutted into an identical camera she loosed from a bundle of conduits, unplugging it the same way. She was definitely rubbing her thighs together. I wasn't just wet now, I was everting. I couldn't tell what was hotter: the prospect of having sex and never knowing I was being filmed, someone else getting off to me without me knowing, Karr being kinky enough to like it that much, or the embarrassment and taboo of it all.

I shivered a bit, "What a creeper..."

"Come on Sen," started Karr gently, "They're off. I saw the hole in the wall where they feed. There aren't any more. No need to worry."

Her hips swayed more than normal as she stalked over to me, hands coming to rest on my shoulders, eyelids drooping, a husky whisper leaving her lips "Doesn't it make you just a little turned on?"

"Uhm," I gulped. It made me more than a little turned on.

"She wanted to see you," purred Karr, "But she doesn't get to -- not tonight. Nobody else. I'm not sharing you again."

"Oh," I muttered absentmindedly as she enveloped me in her arms. She nipped the helix of my ear, and I melted into her with a moan. We proceeded to neck in our usual desperate, uncontrolled manner until Karr pulled back, drawing my snout with her as I sought out her precious fur. She ran a finger up my throat and along the underside of my muzzle, drawing out a shudder.

"You're so sexy," she murmured as she started unbuttoning her blouse. I followed suit, my eyes hungrily tracking the downward progress of her hands. When my vision flicked up to her face, I was shocked to see she was doing the same.

We shrugged our tops off at the same time.

"I finally get to peel one of those things off of you..." said Karr, a giddy little smile distorting her features.

She moseyed up to me, hands toying with the hem of my tank top. I let my hands rest on her hips. Her excitement was so adorable that I had to laugh, "What do you like about them so much?"

Karr shrugged as she pushed the garment upwards and I lifted my arms, "I dunno. They make your shoulders look good?"

A sharp intake of air accompanied the yank that removed it, "Yes..."

I flushed. Being shirtless had never made me feel this naked before. Her adoring scrutiny made me feel exposed and excited and... actually sexy. It had been a long time since I had been desired like this, and it was making me a little dizzy. The dizziness only got worse as Karr traced the barely defined channel of my abs, stopping to circle my navel.

"You keep in good shape for a sailor," she marveled as her hands played across my torso.

"Uh..." I winced as she pinched one of my lowest nipples, "I need to do better. I haven't worked out much since I met you."

"Remember what I said about you being really fuckable?" she teased, "You need to come to the gym with me -- I wanna watch you."

"Okay," I rasped as she moved her hands to the bottom of her tank top. They hesitated briefly, suspense building as my breath caught. In a fluid motion, it was gone and her breasts were bare. They were stunning. Perfect. I couldn't help but stare and let my mouth hang agape.

Her top pair wobbled a tad as her arms lowered. They weren't a classic teardrop; rather, they were this slightly upward turned, pointed mound topped with her tiny nipples that seemed to beg to be played with. The middle pair was just a bud of tissue topped with hard, pink nipples. And the bottom pair was truly flat: two nipples barely poking through her fur. Lean muscles carved a channel down her stomach and made a defined midriff up to her slender ribcage. She was atypically fluffy, producing her plushy chest fluff that I loved so much. I smiled when I realized that it was almost bigger than her tits. Her armpits and neck were so full with her lovely fur, and the gray part of her pubic fluff peeked above the low waistline of her pants, creeping up her stomach towards her navel. My mouth was watering as I scanned her, trying to memorize every curve.

I didn't notice in my fugue, but she was becoming increasingly withdrawn as I took her in. Her arms inefficiently tried to cover all six of her breasts, snapping me out of the trance I was in. With a grumble, she took a half step back, twisting away from me. Her eyes doggedly scanned the floor as she flushed, "What? Why are you looking at me like that?"

"You're gorgeous," I breathed.

Her eyes bulged as she made eye contact with me, her whole face bright red in that adorable way of hers. "You really like them?" she asked in this startlingly meek voice.

There wasn't a world in which I had expected to hear that from her. My brow furrowed, "Where's this coming from?"

"Well, you like Lam's so much, and they're so huge..."

I frowned, guilt settling like a stone in my stomach. I really was an asshole for doing that. Granted, Lam did have a large role to play in it. I went to her and wrapped her in my arms, giving her a gentle squeeze as she buried her face in my chest.

"I'm sorry, my darling," I whispered, internally wondering where the hell that had come from, "You're beautiful. They're beautiful. It was wrong of me to make you feel like this. Never again."

She stared up at me with those cute little doe eyes of hers. I squeezed tighter.

"Would it make you feel any better to know that I've been wanting to get my hands on those since I met you?"

"Really?" she smiled, a little more of her normal self seeping through.

"Ever since I saw you in that tunic I've been dying to know what you were smuggling under there. They're so much better than I could've expected," I replied with a conspiratorial smile.

"Thank you," was her small reply.

I pushed her back enough to worm my snout between us, and with a little bend, I lashed one of her top nipples with my tongue. She yelped and drew inwards.

"Sensitive?" I laughed.

"Yes!" she protested.

"Too much?" I asked, a little concerned.

"Yeah," she answered, her meek voice lighting this fire in the back of my head, "Use your fur. Finger pads and tongues kinda hurt."

"Aww, okay, you poor thing," I answered, fully intending not to do that once we got into it. She blushed and looked away. Her change in demeanor had made me... passionate. I wanted to take greedy, forceful handfuls of her, to indulge in her body, to take every ounce of pleasure I could get from her. But that buzzing drive was tempered by warmth and adoration, a desire to see her squirm and writhe with pleasure and hear all of her cute little sounds.

"Lay down, why don't you?" I cooed. Karr nodded and lowered herself to the futons. When she hit the bedding, she was already undoing her belt and pants. I did the same, letting my looser pants fall to the floor. She had to wiggle her way out of hers in her position, pushing up her hips and swaying them in an unintentionally attractive manner. I was fully everted, my penis bobbing in the cold air. Karr noticed my gaze, and gave me a little smirk. She drew her knees up, straightening her legs to pull off the lower half of her pants. The view was spectacular. Her ass was so tight, but it still had a bit of give: just barely smushing out where she put her weight on it. In a smooth curve, it transitioned to her slender thighs and calves and the graceful joint of her heels. I was never really a claw man, but even the three claws perched on each digitigrade foot looked graceful. And between her thighs was heaven. Between her flushed lips and the arousal that matted her fur, her vulva practically glowed. To top it all off, her cute, stubby tail wagged excitedly beneath her.

She propped herself up on her elbows, slowly lowering and crossing her ankles to obscure my view. She curled a finger at me, and I was on her. Now I was nipping at her ears and raking my tongue along them. Now she was loosing shuddering breaths, whimpers, and moans.

She was pawing at me, gripping my ass and waist. Her finger pads played across my chest and nipples. I started working my way down her body, pausing to huff her chest fluff like it was soaked in industrial solvents, and then dragging my tongue down between her abs and into her navel. She was squiggling beneath me, soft gasps and the cutest sounds in the world emanating from above me.

When I was finally between her legs, I let my muzzle rest across her almost flat mound. She was looking down at me between the contours of her breasts and abs, unrestrained lust in Her eyes. Her heat felt like it was burning my neck, making the whole thing almost as torturous for me as I wanted it to be for her. I reached up to knead her top breasts. They were so firm. It was intoxicating. Letting the fur at the end of a finger brush against a nipple, she bucked into me with a strained sound that trailed into a moan. Emboldened, I grazed the same nipple with a finger pad, and she bucked again.

Trailing my fingers along the curves of her breasts, I paused between her lower pairs. Her breath caught delightfully as I slowly rubbed one of the tiny nipples flush with her firm belly. We shivered together. She was so tight, so perfect.

She hadn't gotten mad at me yet, so I felt the need to push my luck. I inched up, my eyes fixed on hers as I snaked my tongue towards the already beleaguered nub of flesh. Just the tip of the long, thin organ made contact, and she hummed in pleasure. I gave it a quick little flurry of licks, and she turned to jelly, her humming deepening. Then I curled around it, feeling the bumpy skin against my tongue as I left a sheen of spit on her nipple. Karr closed her eyes and let her head fall back.

"O... okay," she stammered, "If you're that gentle, it's okay."

I answered by finally moving between her legs, nuzzling slowly up and down her thighs. Her pussy was calling to me like a siren song, but I figured she was probably equally sensitive there and she would get the most of it if I drew this out as much as I could stand.

"Your breath," she whimpered, "Ancestors!"

My eyelids drooped like I was in some dream as I drew closer to her vulva. If I had had my way, I would've done this long before now, but everything seemed perfect as it was. I nuzzled into her slit, and my suspicions were confirmed, a shudder passing through her. I gave her a tentative lick, and she let out a wanton moan.

"Sen!" she called in a strained voice.

I wormed my tongue under her lips and around her opening, a sound of effort building that released with a grunt when I entered her. Following the map my penis had made with my tongue was a little difficult, but some questing thrusts eventually found her clitoris. I wrapped around the nub, stroking it and harrying it with flurries.

"Sen!" repeated Karr, "Already? I... I..."

I nodded into her, letting out a muffled, "Mmhmm."

"Oh Yve! But you... you..."

Being articulate with my tongue deep inside her was a little hard, but what I was trying to say was "Just cum!"

She shook and babbled and squirmed some more, but in shockingly little time, she was grabbing handfuls of the bedding and trying to fuck my face. With a surprised noise, she shot up and gripped my head between the ears, forcing me deeper. It wasn't possessive or controlling, she was just so needy for more. A pained cry tore from her lips as her vagina clamped around my tongue and a flush of wetness dampened my muzzle. I savored the taste of it as I wormed out of her and rocked back on my heels to appreciate my handiwork.

Karr was lying on her back now, hands covering her eyes. A laugh bubbled up from her chest, getting increasingly sunny.

"Ancestors..." she said between giggles, "I've died to go be with you, haven't I?"

I moved in to lay atop her, my weight forcing out a breath. She wrapped her arms about me as I contentedly smothered myself in her chest. I let out a happy sigh, "You're really overselling me, you know that?"

She stroked my back, still giggling, "I really don't think so."

I nuzzled up her chest to her neck, nipping her just a little. She squealed and went limp again, her breast heaving.

"You cum fast, but do you loosen up fast?" I growled in her ear, whatever force was animating me was beyond me. I hadn't gotten this way in a long, long time.

Karr stared saucers at me, nodding ever so slightly. This pliance, her submission -- it was like how she had been when Lam was ordering her around. But now I got to play with her.

"I can't stand how cute you are," I spat, "You're driving me mad."

"Sen," gasped Karr, "What happened to you?"

My face dropped and I cupped her face, "Do I need to tone it down a little?"

She shook her head, a devious glint in her eyes, "I'm just surprised! You're making me crazy too..."

As if to illustrate her point, she wrapped her legs about my thigh, grinding into it. I leaned into her, our bodies trying to find union as we humped fruitlessly. Her fluids were painting my thigh, and her silky fur was gliding beneath my cock. The friction increased as I smeared a little bead of precum against her.

We were going at it like I was inside of her, huffing and panting against each other until she arrested me with two hands on my pecs. I knew she was way stronger than me, but she was barely putting any strength into it. I could've forced her aside like it was nothing. I was so turned on by that that I almost felt angry, but I stopped. She unclasped her legs and looked up at me with her small smile and those beautiful eyes of hers, "I think I'm ready."

"Flip over," I commanded.

She stared, "You want me that way?"

I nodded tersely.

"Okay," her voice had this stupidly arousing quaver to it.

We separated so she could lay on her stomach. She stretched out onto her elbows, propping her ass up and arching her spine tantalizingly. Her stubby orange tail was beating like a metronome as she shook her rump at me. Arousal was matting her lips, connecting to her inner thigh by a couple shining strands, and soaking her asshole. It was this neat little pink thing, clenching in time with her vagina as she waited for me.

I grabbed her hips greedily, prompting her to squeak and look back at me through one eye. It was filled with lust and something almost like fear.

"This is absurd," my voice was reverent without even trying to be.

"Really?"

"Yeah," I answered lamely as I lined up my penis with my hand. I was hilted with one thrust despite her tightness. Her wetness enveloped me, a groan of satisfaction escaping through gritted teeth. Karr yelped, collapsing into the pillow she had clutched between her arms, but quickly recovering to push back against me.

"Oh, Yve!" she moaned, "I'm so fucking full!"

I pulled out slowly as thanks for the compliment, watching her vagina grip my knot. Her opening stretched and then sucked back around my tapered shaft. It gripped me like a glove as I pushed back in. This was mesmerizing, she was mesmerizing, and I just leaned back to enjoy it in silence. Karr, too, was relatively quiet, her breath coming and going in time with our movements.

After some time, she let out a frustrated whine.

"What's wrong?" I asked, slowing.

"Harder!" she begged.

Now it was my turn to give her a dark laugh. I gripped her hips and steeled myself. Internally, I knew this was going to be really hard. She was lingeringly tight from the orgasm, and this slow pace had done a number on the nerves under my knot. As rare as it was for our kind, I was actually worried I might cum without her.

She sucked in an anticipatory breath, and I slammed my hips into hers. It was all I could do to maintain the rather punishing pace I had settled upon, and I was doubting both my athleticism and flexibility as I kept it up. Thankfully, the difficulty was staving off the orgasm and her needy moans made the difficulty worth it.

Her tail was still going nuts, so I grabbed it on a whim. She gasped, her vagina squeezing around me and her ass pushing back into my thrust.

"Pull my tail!" she cried "Please pull my tail! Please!"

I gave it an experimental tug, and she cinched tight around me, flopping into the pillow with a breathy cry.

"Harder!"

I pulled it harder, and she gripped me like she was cumming. I was so close it was a miracle to me that I didn't immediately blow my load. And between her begging and her position which had her ass even higher in the air and more prominently displayed than before, I was playing for time. Judging by her vacant stare as she slumped into the futon, I might have a shot.

As if I wanted to foil myself, I took to yanking her tail as I pulled out, the sudden tightness causing harsh pleasure to blossom across my dick.

"My ears! Please pull my ears, Sen!" her voice was muffled by the pillow, which she had started to bite, "Oh Yve! I'm so close!"

Not wanting to disappoint and so close myself that I wanted to wrap this up quickly, I leaned over her ass to grab an ear in each fist. Gently, I pulled, lifting her head up from the pillow and forcing her spine into a stunning arch. As the impromptu gag left her mouth, she let out a lurid moan.

Her voice jolted with my increased pace, "You're so fucking deep!"

At this angle, I was hitting her clit no matter what I did. I could feel the tension building in her body as my own screwed up in preparation. I was about to either masterfully execute this or ruin both of our orgasms.

"Fuck!" she exclaimed.

I took that as my cue and pulled out as quickly as I could. I barely made it, by the look of things. Her opening closed tight before my eyes, a flush of her arousal leaking from it and onto the futon beneath her. It was so hot I had to close my eyes until I saw static and grit my teeth until my jaw ached to fight off the climax that was only a hair's breadth away.

When I emerged from my trance, I was greeted by Karr squirming with her ass still in the air. She was desperately trying to get a finger into herself and fuck a nonexistant dick at the same time, all the while whining and whimpering.

"Sen..." her voice was dreamy and unfocused. "Why?" she whined.

I took in a deep breath, "I don't wanna be done yet."

Karr made a petulant noise, flopping on her side to pant.

"Was it bad?" I asked, worry creeping into my voice.

Her eyes focused on me, and she smiled weakly, "No... no. Not at all. It just would've been better around your cock." Her smile and voice had taken on a lascivious tone that made me gulp.

"What's that face for?" she prodded as she propped herself up on one elbow, "I thought you wanted to go again."

"You recover fast."

"What I lack in endurance, I make up for in enthusiasm."

She held a serious face for a moment until I broke into a smile and we both started laughing.

I lay down beside her, and we embraced. As I twirled an ear tuft around my finger, I spoke softly into her ear, "You sure you wanna go another round? That was pretty rough. I can finish myself off."

Karr's eyes softened and she stroked my muzzle affectionately, "You're sweet, but I'm not stopping till I'm full of your cum. There's no guarantee we'll get to do this again, and I want to be sore. The more so the better, then I can remember it longer."

"Holy shit..." I whispered, mostly to myself.

Karr was back to her normal self, snickering at my shock. Despite her brief rally, she closed her eyes and nuzzled into my chest.

"Your ears okay?" I asked.

"I'm a tough girl," she answered, "Marines are made of sterner stuff." Her delighted sigh told a different story. She was so fun to heap praise on and dote on. I was hoping against hope we'd make it out of this ordeal and see the other side together. I couldn't ever get used to her.

"Your tail too? It's so damn adorable, it'd be criminal to hurt it."

"Sen!" she protested, batting at my side from her cocoon in my arms. Despite it all: another dreamy sigh, "It's a little sore, but I really like it."

"I could tell!"

"Stop it!"

I closed my eyes and rested my snout atop her head. My eversion was still drawing my attention away from totally relaxing, but it was nice to just lay with her. This was a rare treat.

Almost as though my thought had manifested it, a fingertip grazed the tip of my penis. It traveled down the length and circled my knot.

A shiver distorted my words, "Already?"

"You bet, sailor."

Her nose was at my collar, her tongue lapping at the sensitive skin under my neck fur.

I laughed as I took a handful of her ass and pressed her close, "I hope you don't expect me to recover this fast. I need like... a minimum of 15 minutes and some water. And that's just the first time."

"Women are just better at some things, Sen," Karr affected an exasperated tone, "I won't hold it against you."

"Uh-huh," I replied, grinding my penis against her abs. It was a lovely sensation -- this thick layer of silken fur, a little bit of fat, and this hard, ropey muscle that undulated against me. I wasn't going to get off, but damn, if it wasn't spectacular.

With a shift of my weight, I rolled atop her, my nuzzle now buried in my favorite spot in her chest fluff.

"On top again?" she giggled.

"Yep," I answered, working my way over to a nipple. My tongue glanced against it, and she inhaled sharply.

"This again?" she complained, "No more foreplay. I want you inside me."

"Yes, My Commander," I answered with a smirk, leaning back to guide myself in.

"Sen!" her voice was a little indignant but mostly playful, "Cut that shit! It's weird."

"And creep cams aren't?" I retorted, dick in hand. I lined up and pushed the tip into her. She was really, really tight. I suspected she wasn't as ready as she had said she was, or she had wanted it this way.

Karr shuddered, "Touché. Do you... want that?"

"Fuck no," I answered, grunting as I tried to work my way a little deeper, "I'm just being an ass."

Her answer was distorted by a sound of mixed effort and pleasure as she took the widest part of the knot, "Oh, thank Yve."

I pulled out and thrusted one more time, my knot sliding in with a popping sensation. We collapsed into each other, groaning at the intense pleasure/pain of it all. The fact that I had been effectively edging myself the whole time didn't help. My testicles were aching deep in my torso.

"Can I take it slow? It's... a lot."

A gentle hand reached up, cupping my cheek. I leaned into it.

"Of course. You've given me two great ones. Just tell me what you need," her voice was so soft, so sweet. It was just like when I had met her, passing out on the bridge. My heart ached as warmth radiated from it outwards and into my extremities.

She cupped my other cheek while I stroked slowly and savored each time my knot left her and popped back in. Now I was the one making little plaintive sounds while she just looked at me. Her eyes were these wormholes, drawing me into their emerald depths.

"Do I feel good?" she asked softly.

"So good," I moaned.

"Need anything?"

"No. Thank you. This is so perfect."

I waited a beat, some nebulous desire tugging at the back of my head. The thought came to me, and I flushed. After hiding my face in her chest, I spoke barely above a whisper, "Wait, actually..."

"Tell me, Sen. Anything, and I'll do it for you."

"Can you... compliment me?" I asked, flushing even deeper and nuzzling harder into her fur, "And tell me I'm doing good."

Legs wrapped around my waist, ankle joints alighting upon my ass. A hand returned to my cheek, stroking up my ear and down the back of my head to my neck. It drew me out of hiding to look back into her eyes. Like a shock, my heart went light, my head was vacant. It felt like there were tethers between our eyes, and some powerful feeling was coursing along them. The other arm wrapped me tight under my shoulders. Those same firm muscles that had supported me when we first met were there again. It felt perfect.

"It's been a long time since someone has made me feel this way, Sen," her voice was somewhat husky and dripping with this overriding yet gentle lust.

She continued, "I missed this so much: a warm body in my arms, a lover inside me, someone to share an orgasm with. And it's so wonderful because it's you."

Her monologue felt like some thread I was following in the dark. My body moved of its own accord, striving after an orgasm it needed so desperately, but my mind was fixated solely on those words.

"You're so handsome."

Pride swelled in me along with some fuzziness that dulled my senses -- and the mounting pressure of my climax.

"Your cock..." Karr grunted and came again, her walls gripping me like a vise. I cried out before she continued, my vision going white.

"Your cock is so fucking hot," her voice was a little more strained, a little more uncontrolled. I started thrusting wildly, my knot tugging against her sealed opening, pleasure radiating from my knot to my tip and up the stem deep into my core.

"You're so fucking sexy."

It was about to crash over me -- this slow building of pleasure that felt like it would drown me despite the sedate pace at which it had arrived.

"You're so good to me, Sen."

I came.

Without even thinking, I was in her chest, gasping and panting as I emptied myself into her. It was a good orgasm: smooth but intense. And it dragged on and on as she petted my head and my back. I pawed around for purchase, and I found her hand. Our fingers intertwined as we rode it out together. The euphoria faded mercifully slowly, her even breaths taking me by the hand back to the real world.

We stayed joined until she had loosened completely and I was starting to invert. I pulled out with no effort, and sat back to take in the mess we had made. Her vulva was still red, her inner thighs, everything in between, and even a bit of her mound were soaked in a mixture of our fluids, a pearly strand of which had already leaked out of her onto the futons. To my shock, she was a little gaped. The feeling of pride and confidence in my chest burned like an inferno. I made a mental note to remember this image for the rest of my life. She was doubled over to get a look too, peering somewhat awkwardly. We looked up and met each other's eyes, cracking goofy smiles.

"How's it look from there?" she asked.

"Super fucking hot. How's it look from where you're... bending?"

Karr laughed, "Damn good. Feels better than it looks. You know how perfect it feels to have cum leaking out of you?"

"I'll take you word for it," I laughed, blushing.

Karr flopped to the futon, staring at the ceiling for a brief moment before scooting to the side and patting the open space.

I looked at the little pool of cum and her arousal with disgust, "Why do I get the wet spot?"

"Because your cum is already all over my thighs and inside me and trying to get me pregnant."

"Fair enough," I huffed, lying down beside her and cringing as the cold fluid soaked into the fur of my thigh, "Praise be to the Navy for free mandatory contraceptives."

"Amen," she chuckled.

I snuggled into her, just starting to relax when I heard her draw in a breath and felt her tense up. Our eyes met, more unknowable turbulence distorting the light behind hers.

"Sen," her tone made me brace, "I wanted to say this now even though I almost said it when we came, but I wanted you to know I meant it, and I know it's a lot, but... please just listen, okay."

I was seized by a sinking feeling, but I nodded.

"I love you."

A ringing started in my ears, the world seemed far off.

I could hardly make out her words, "I know we've known each other for like... three sixdays and that we're just doing this because we're scared to die and we're trying to cling to life. And I know that it's premature and childish and probably doomed, but I haven't said it in time before and I hate myself every day for it and I didn't want to die without saying it to you and I really do mean it and..."

"I love you too."

The words left my mouth without any conscious effort or decision, but they shattered that strange feeling that overcame me, and with it came this flood of emotion.

Karr's shocked face didn't register as I dove back into the safety of her chest, sobbing.

"Sen..." she choked.

"I love you," I gasped, repeating it over and over like a litany. Years. Eight years it had been since I was able to say that to someone other than my family and mean it. Eight long years, and I had forgotten how much that lack had eaten away at me.

Karr's torso shuddered as I held onto it for dear life. I peered up at her. Her eyes were tightly shut, her ears flat against her skull, her teeth gritted and lips pulled back in a silent snarl, her head drawn into her torso like she wanted to hide in it. But tears were brimming in her eyes, pooling in her fur.

Her voice was a nearly silent croak,"Dammit..."

I crawled upwards to gather her head in my hands. She clutched me like she was drowning, silent sobs wracking her like tremors.

We held each other like that for some indeterminate period of time that I would've been perfectly happy remaining trapped in for eternity. This shitty cum-soaked futon on the floor of a cramped room in a starship with a disabled spycam hanging from the light -- it might as well have been paradise.

Slowly, Karr burrowed her way up to look at me again.

"After this, what should we do?" her voice was weak and trembling, yet so full of joy.

"Like after we leave this room?"

"No, silly," she sniffed a laugh, "Like after the war, after the Navy. How much time is left in your decade?"

"Six years. You?"

"Seven. That's good. You can go get a house somewhere, find a job. It'll be all ready for me."

"Oh," I laughed softly, "I need to do all that? You're not gonna pull any weight?" Part of me knew how pointless this speculation was. There was no guarantee whatsoever that this relationship would survive the war even if we did. Trauma bonds were terrible foundations for a relationship, we both knew that. Not that I wasn't going to try my damnedest to make it work, anyway. Seven years wasn't that long, either. And I needed this. We needed this.

"Indulge a poor slumrat girl," she flashed her doe eyes, "I'll send you some of my wages."

"A small portion of shit is still shit, just smaller."

We both giggled at that one.

"Where would you wanna go?" she asked, "The Navy will resettle us anywhere."

"I wanna go home." The answer surprised me. It had come out of the blue, but I meant it.

"Oh, yeah?" she asked. She sounded surprised too.

"Yeah," I smiled past the cheap tapestries at the dim ceiling, indulging in the fantasy, "My sister and brother will both be well into university by then, but I'd be able to see my youngest brother graduate mandatory school. Maybe I could help them out with classes. My dad's getting old too. Don't want him to have to worry about the house all by himself."

"I'd love to meet them," Karr replied sweetly. She was looking up at me. There was pure, simple love in her gaze. The feeling in my soul was so sweet it hurt.

"You wouldn't want to go back to New Den? I thought you wanted to get a house there, raise kids."

"No," her eyes filled with roiling clouds, "Nothing there for me now. I thought that back then, back when there were still reasons to go home."

I squeezed her tight and petted her head.

She whispered into my chest, "I'm scared, Sen. I don't wanna die. Especially not now. I don't wanna lose you."

I weaseled a hand into hers and gave it a firm squeeze, "You're strong, you're smart, you're capable. You'll be brave. I know it. We'll both be brave."

"You promise you'll be brave? I need you to be brave so I can be brave."

"I swear it."

Karr looked up at me, her eyes wet with the beginnings of more tears, "And you really mean it? That you love me."

"Of course. I love you so much."

"Good, because I love you."