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Eos #3

Desperation

By Fist_of_Fenris

The Storm Gale sailed through a silent, dead space in approach to a planet just a week from Hector. The crew lazily hung around various parts of the ship in their boredom.

Theron was on the bridge in order to be near Jaavi, whom he considered to be a sort of protector from the dangerous crew. He sat in a chair just behind Jaavi and stared at his fingernails. Beneath them, some blackened dirt from his home world still clung to the tips of his fingers. Insignificant as they were, they carried a great emotional weight to Theron, as they were all that remained of his home world.

Jaavi reached over and made a course correction on the console and just happened to turn his head enough to notice Theron inspecting his hands. He smiled.

"Thinking about cutting those yet?" he asked.

Theron looked up; his face appeared almost guilty. "I... well if... should..." he stammered, prompting a bellowing laugh from Jaavi.

"I understand," he said. "It's an emotional thing."

"How did you..." Theron blurted.

"Because I did the same thing," Jaavi explained. He turned back for a second and pushed down on a lever. The engines roared for a second and Jaavi nudged the lever back up until they were barely audible again.

"You did the same thing," Theron said once he thought he could hear himself again, "When you left your home world?"

"Yeah," Jaavi said. "But only until I found it difficult to go about doing my job."

"Was it hard for you to leave your home world?"

"Not at first, but after a while I got home sick."

Jaavi turned and looked Theron in the eyes again. He showed a considerable amount of concern behind his greenish eyes.

"What about you?" he asked. "How are you holding up?"

"It's been three months since I've seen my home," he said.

"You know, you could just keep the clippings."

"What?"

"When you cut them; you could save your fingernail clippings."

"Oh. I hadn't thought of that."

"It's ok. The captain's the one who suggested it to me back when I first went through that homesick phase."

Theron looked away at the mentioning of the captain. His face was full of some new worry that concerned something far more pressing than dirt and bone. Jaavi, in his slightly-above-average intuition, deduced something was wrong.

"What's it now?" he asked as he flipped another switch on the control panel.

"It's something the captain said," said Theron. "He said... well, he said he was a pirate."

"Uh, oh," Jaavi said. "I guess that's one way you might put it."

"What do you mean?"

"We are technically pirates, but at the same time, we aren't. We're privateers. You know, soldiers of fortune, space-bourn mercs, hired hit men, and that sort of thing."

"What's the difference?"

"I've heard that so many times it haunts my nightmares."

"So what is it?"

"Well, first off, we get our money from governments paying us to do jobs whereas pirates take their money from those unfortunate enough to cross them. Secondly, we're not a bunch of thugs going around jacking people's ships. Thirdly, we are in delicate relations with the leadership and governments around the universe. In short, we're different from pirates in everyway."

"So then why did the captain call us pirates?"

Jaavi looked like he wanted to answer, but couldn't. He would have loved to talk on and on about the captain's destroyed ego and his subtle inferiority complex, but he knew not to bad mouth the owner of the ship you were on. That went double in the dead space they were in.

Fortunately, he was saved at the last moment by the sounds of the door to the bridge opening and heavy footsteps approaching. He and Theron turned to find the Jungthor Skyra had risen from her bed after six days spent in her room. She smiled enticingly at Theron and sat down on a chair near enough to him that she got his attention and yet far enough that she was able to entice him to try and come closer.

Theron stared at her belly. Of the man they'd kidnapped on Hector, all that remained was a small bump that barely even managed to alter the appearance of her figure. Her belly looked soft, as though Theron might sink in if he just poked it; it was suddenly attractive to him. Her eyes were just as doughy as her stomach and flashing radiant with beauty in the twinkling light of the bridge. Theron hardly noticed the effort it took to lift himself out of his chair.

"Theron," Skyra spoke, her voice was innately seductive, playing with Theron's emotions like a temptress dancing and swirling in a small satin dress. "That's your name isn't it?"

Theron could only barely find the strength to nod. He smiled warmly back at her; his trouble were at least for the moment forgotten.

Jaavi glanced back and saw what was happening just in time to grab Theron before he ran over to Skyra and dove in. He caught Theron by his shirt and pushed him back into his chair.

"What's wrong with you?" Theron shouted.

"She's playing with your mind kid," Jaavi said. "She's using pheromones." He glanced at Skyra. "Would you grow up?" he added.

"I'm hungry," she said, her voice sounded like whining. "That last one is almost finished."

"Yeah, well we've got some food in the hold. Maybe you could start there?"

"Prepared food isn't the same," she said, moving close to Theron. She pressed her soft body against him and began to actually rub her side against him seductively. "Not like a live meal, squirming and writhing away as it melts into me. That old, moldy excuse for food's not like prey at all. It can't talk on its way down and tell me how beautiful I am on the inside or see its demise coming. It can't thrash in me and... Oh! Just thinking about it makes me want to..."

Theron, at this point, looked petrified with excitement. He smiled stupidly and looked into Skyra's eyes.

"I'd love to be your prey," he said.

Jaavi scowled. Skyra began to move her mouth towards Theron. She opened her gaping maw and gave him a good look at the deep, dark, pink cavern that lay beneath her tonsils. Theron looked as though he was going jump into her and disappear.

"Ok enough," Jaavi said.

He broke them up and pushed Skyra to the floor. Theron's mouth was agape as he glared angrily at Jaavi.

"What did you do that for?" he asked.

"Jaavi!" Skyra begged with him. "Just this once, could you not be such a party pooper?"

"There's food in the hold," Jaavi said firmly.

"But-..."

"In the hold."

Skyra shut her mouth and glared at Jaavi with a fiercely accusing stare. Then she turned and retreated from the bridge with her stomach grumbling audibly.

Only when the door closed did Theron regain control of his reason and realize what had happened. He sat back and struck himself on the knee, upset that he could have let himself be so manipulated. He rolled his head back and stared at the ceiling, feeling quite defeated.

"It's alright kid," Jaavi said. "She's done it to everybody at least once."

"Thanks for saving me there," Theron said without moving his head.

"Don't mention it. I did the same thing I did for you for captain Marthus back when she first joined the crew. Of course, he was about halfway down her throat before I pulled him back from the abyss."

The ship shuddered violently for a couple of seconds and then leveled out and returned to normal. Jaavi hurriedly rushed over the controls trying to figure out what had just transpired.

"What happened?" Theron asked as the shaking stopped.

"I don't know," Jaavi said. "I think we might have struck something."

He got up and walked a ways down the bridge before suddenly remembering Theron. He turned back.

"We need to go see if anything is damaged," he said urgently. "We could be in serious trouble here."

***

Marthus felt the jolt from atop a glider-like aircraft meant for landing on where the Storm Gale couldn't. The ship had long wings jutting out from its polygonal fuselage, just behind the slit windows of the cockpit. The craft's main body was triangular in nature, coming to a point in front of the cockpit, not unlike the shape of the Storm Gale herself. The frame came to a blunt end at the rear just a little back from the wings where passengers were supposed to enter.

The plane shook a little, but was restrained enough that any shuddering was minimal enough that nothing inside would be damaged. Still, Koli poked his head up from a hole in the side of the ship.

"What the hell was that?" he shouted at Marthus, who'd only just regained balance.

"It wasn't me if that's what you're thinking," Marthus countered. "Did you get it?"

"What if I did, pinkling?"

"I don't have time for this Koli."

Koli lifted a melt bar out of the hole and put it down on the top of the craft.

"Where was it?" Marthus asked.

"Beneath the flux drive, just behind the capacitors."

"Just where I thought it was."

"Of course you did."

Koli scowled.

"This positive energy is making me want to hurl," he said.

"Good," Marthus said as he lifted the Nemek out of the hole. "Just don't do it on my ship."

Koli shot off of the plane running so fast his feet barely touched the ladder pushed up against it. He approached the door to the hold, still running, but he didn't quite reach it before Skyra came through and collided with him. Both the Jungthor and the Nemek were thrown to the floor, collapsing into a tangled mess on top of each other.

"Koli," Skyra said.

"Yes," Koli said with a bit of subtle sarcasm. "It's me."

"I need your help."

"Everyone does. It's like no one can do anything for themselves around here."

Koli got up and dusted himself off. He turned with his arms pinned to his side.

"What is it?" he said reluctantly.

"I need you to help me get Theron."

Koli suddenly seemed more interested. He leapt and grabbed one of Skyra's arms in order to hoist himself up to her shoulder. She craned her neck to look at him.

"What do you mean "get" Theron?" he asked, wearing a wicked smile larger than his face. "Do you mean to take revenge, steal from, perform a prank on, or is it something else you'd like to the boy?"

"Something else," she said, rubbing the miniscule bulge on her belly. "I want to eat him."

"Oh," Koli suddenly seemed less interested. "Well... that's... Your pheromones...?"

"They don't work on Jaavi," she said, a tone of frustration unmistakable in her voice. "He's always getting in the way."

"Really?" Koli smiled again. "So you want me to get you alone with Theron and distract Jaavi long enough to get to Theron?"

"Exactly."

"I could do that."

Marthus watched the conversation as he was placing a cover back on the hole which Koli had just come out of. He shook his head, knowing neither of them could be up to any good just by the way they were talking and moving their arms, and then he knew something was up when Skyra rubbed her stomach. He shrugged it off though; he had work to do and time was short until they reached Ronin.

By the time they finally left, he decided that their affairs no longer concerned him and that his work was far more important than babysitting. He smirked; he had Jaavi for that.

He took a torch and began to seal the hole. When he was a quarter of the way from being finished with the task, the torch flickered and went out. He tried in vein several times to light it before setting it aside and sitting back on his knees in frustration.

He grabbed a towel to his right and wiped the sweat from his face. Dropping the towel, he worked his way down to the ladder and started down it. When his feet hit the last rung, the lights in the hold died without as much as a flickering.

Marthus looked around as though he suspected a culprit and a crime. He was sure the lights wouldn't just shut off like they had. He groped around in the darkness and found an hourglass lamp. He flipped a switch but the lamp refused to turn on. He shook it in frustration and heard the rattling of its contents.

Spinning about, he called out: "Ok guys, you've had your laugh. Turn back on the lights." He took a step forward. "I'm serious guys; turn the damn lights back on."

"Hello Marthus," a deep voice came from a cloaked specter just a couple of steps behind Marthus. The owner of the voice sounded like a large man definitely up in his years.

"Who's there?" Marthus called to the shimmering silhouette.

"One who would warn you," the voice came again from beneath the cloak and behind a veil of shadow. "You will not find what you seek on Ronin."

"Thanks for the warning," Marthus said sarcastically. "I'll go right now and tell my pilot then."

"No," the cloaked figure said. "That would be folly. I said you would not find what you seek, not that it isn't there."

"Wait, what?"

"The crystal of Byron stolen from the mines of Agathor is on Ronin, but you will not retrieve it there. Instead, you must know of a new threat. One that is closer and still more urgent."

The vague outline of a hand rose in the darkness and a blinding light came from it. Marthus squinted as he stared into his worst nightmare. Inside the light, the image of the Azrulian leotaur Ginasa chained to the wall filled Marthus's heart with anger and rage.

He ground his teeth and glared at the figure of Ginasa, hung limp from days without eating. She looked as though she had been beaten, as there were bruises about her battered body.

"How?"

"She was taken from a starship four days ago while on her way to negotiate a new peace between the Yetin clan and the hordes of the Lansorian system."

The figure withdrew his hand and the image dissipated like steam in a large room.

"You do realize what would happen if an Azrulian was killed?"

"Why would the raiders do that? A war with Azrulians would be suicide for them."

"They plan to provoke the Azrulians into open war. Then they will use a hidden leviathan that has existed for hundreds of years. The Azrulians will not stand a chance against its hidden power."

"If they have this great monster thing, why do they still need a crystal of Byron?"

"In good time, you will understand."

"Who are you?"

"One who would warn you; open war will mean chaos for all. You must not let the one they call Cholstoy to succeed in his plans. He must not escape your grasp again, Marthus."

The figure disappeared in a blink of an eye, leaving Marthus alone in the dark. The lights flickered and shone again as though there had been nothing that had happened. Marthus glanced around, wondering if what had just transpired was little more than a hallucination.

In the end, it was a risk he refused to spare.

***

Jaavi and Theron clambered through the dark, misty tunnels inside the underbelly of the Storm Gale. There were wires and pipes hanging haphazardly from the walls and ceiling and there were liquids running beneath a catwalk Theron was afraid to step off of.

Jaavi lead Theron to a closed part of the ship and looked it over. He turned to Theron.

"Ok, the warp drives are still fully operational," he said. "What else?"

"I think that's just about it," Theron said, almost insisting.

There was an extremely warm and uncomfortable air about the tunnels that made Theron feel as though he were being baked alive. He was eager to leave and retreat back to the climate-controlled bridge.

"You're sure?" said Jaavi.

A bead of sweat rolled down from Theron's forehead and lodged itself in his eye, the salt burned horribly in association with the heat.

"I'm sure."

Jaavi shrugged his shoulders, oblivious to the heat. He pushed past and lead Theron back to a vertical row of mounted pegs that served as a ladder to and from the under belly of the ship. He climbed up and back to the surface before turning to help Theron off the ladder. When Theron was clear, he closed the trapdoor over the ladder.

Theron walked down the hall and through another pressured door. The crisp, cool air of the bridge was a welcome change to the rank and dismal tunnels. He closed his eyes and drew in a deep breath through his nose, enjoying a smell he now realized he'd forsaken.

Unknown to him, he took in more than a little cool air. His head spun and became light enough to cause him to sit down in the first chair he came across. His gaze landed somewhere across the room where Skyra was sprawled out lengthways across a chair. Her legs were crossed and her eyes were set on Theron. On her face she wore an alluring expression that made Theron's skin crawl. She opened her mouth in a yawn and he just about lost himself.

"Don't worry about Jaavi stopping us this time," she said. "I took care of him."

She got up off the chair and swung her hips about erotically as she walked over to where Theron was sitting. She ran a hand down the back of his head and he shuddered.

"You still want to be my prey, right?" she said, opening her mouth wide enough that Theron could see the back of her throat. Theron could only nod.

Back in the other room, Jaavi was still in the hallway, going over the ships vitals in his mind. He was so wrapped up in it that he failed to notice when Theron had left until he finally decided everything was fine. With a quick glance around, he deduced that something was wrong and became anxious when he realized the eighteen year old wasn't with him.

He glanced at both of the directions the hallway ran and guessed the bridge was the more likely spot. He began to walk but a scampering of feet behind him brought him to a halt. He looked around back the other way and found Koli wearing a necklace with a bit of jewelry on the end that was shaped like a golden, Chinese dragon curled around a beautiful pearl; a symbol from his home world of Drakkhon.

"That's mine," he said, sounding very much like a child who'd had something stolen from him.

"I've been meaning to ask you about something," Koli said, twisting the jewelry around in a circle with his fingers. "What is this?"

"None of your business," Jaavi insisted.

Koli ignored this, choosing instead to stare at his own reflection on the pearl. Jaavi saw how transfixed he was and lunged. Koli leapt into the air and landed on the back of his head. He rolled off as Jaavi stood up.

"Was it a wedding proposal?" Koli continued. "Did some male of your species ask you to marry them?"

Jaavi groaned angrily and dove at the Nemek menace again. The results were about the same; Koli leapt into the air, landed on Jaavi's head, and walked down the spine.

"It seem important to you," Koli started again. "Perhaps it was an heirloom?"

Jaavi struck out in frustration, but his hand hit the walls of the ship with a loud bang as Koli sailed away just clear of the blow. He ran forward and leapt up Jaavi's arm as the Draco was clutching his other hand in pain. Koli moved up to the shoulder and climbed on top of Jaavi's head. Jaavi had to strain his eyes to see him.

"You know," Koli said, continuing to torment Jaavi, "Some sort of mother-to-daughter thing?"

Jaavi pulled his head free of Koli's feet causing the Nemek to fall right into his arms.

"Gotcha!" he said.

He grabbed the necklace from Koli and put it back around his own neck before dropping the Nemek to the ground. He smiled smugly in victory as Koli sulked on the floor, or at least seemed to. Unable to contain himself anymore, Koli turned around and looked at Jaavi with a wicked grin that caused Jaavi's to melt away as quickly as it had come.

"Isn't it time you went back to flying this deathtrap?" he asked quizzically.

Jaavi gave him a curious look before he finally realized he'd been deceived. He rushed through the pressurized door to the bridge just in time to see the final bulges of Theron disappearing from Skyra's neck down into her massively swollen belly.

His eyes widened with fear and went quickly over to her.

"What have you done?" he asked.

"This isn't what it looks like," she said.

"Well then what the hell is it?" Jaavi practically shouted.

"We made a deal."

"Yeah, while he was doped out of his mind no less."

"It's not like that, I made him a promise. I'm going to let him out in ten minutes."

"How about right now?"

There was a muffling sound and a shuffling from inside Skyra's engorged stomach. Jaavi hesitated, and then put his ear to her middle. It took him a while to distinguish Theron's voice from the sounds of Skyra's inner track.

"It's true," Jaavi heard Theron say. "We made a deal. Just, do me one favor please."

"Anything," Jaavi said.

"Make sure she holds up her end of the bargain."

Skyra smiled as she heard him say that. She sat back into a chair and reclined it all the way. Jaavi stared at her bloated gut and debated whether or not to take action. Eventually, inaction seemed to be the only action worth actually taking. He sat down on a chair himself and watched Theron struggles through the bulges on Skyra's belly.

"You know," he said. "I'm going to hold you to that promise."

"I know," she said softly.

"And if he comes out looking any different than when he went in..."

"I understand."

Jaavi sat back in his chair and glanced at the door. His hand unconsciously went to the necklace still hanging from a spike on his spine. He scanned the empty bridge and put his hands behind his head. He let his eyelids creep down until finally, they came to rest firmly over his vision.

The door hissed and he nearly jumped. Marthus entered with Koli sitting on one shoulder, no longer looking so wicked. He wore a frown instead of a smile and his eyes lacked their contempt for sentient kind. Jaavi didn't need a sixth sense to know something was up.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"We need to go faster."