It begins
#1 of The Serenity
Science Fiction, good stuff. Hard not to rip off what other people have done, so yeah, not the most original but I gave it my best shot. Some themes you cant write about without having to include things other people came up with. Hope you enjoy it either way.
I sat at my terminal, staring at lines upon lines of computer code. Everything was looking good, it would be ready for launch tomorrow. I wasn't just sitting inside of a ship, the Serenity was more than that. It had been developed to send an entire fleet to another point in space. The other ships were mounted to her with quick release couplings. Which made it possible for us to nearly instantly jump into a battle formation right after a jump.
Jump drives were nothing new, but transporting an entire fleet on the back of a Capital cruiser was. If it all held together it would change the way we would engage in war. I was nervous about the test jump. My tail curled slightly at the thought. Jump technology scared me, something about space folding around itself just didn't sit right with me.
The door to the bridge slid open and I looked back. Admiral Pierce, a gruff looking dragon in his fifties had been selected as the Captain. He walked over to my station, "Everything set for tomorrow Lieutenant?" I looked up at him, "Yes Sir. The computer is all set to go." He nodded his head and looked out the main view port.
Staring out at the planet below us. "It took centuries for the Federation to bring Artemis Prime to order. It took countless centuries after that for us to control the entire sector. One hundred and twelve planets, no small feat. If this thing works we can crush any who opposes us." I looked at him, listening to everything he said. It was no secret that the Admiral hated any race who even considered rising against us.
He led the charge on Fidal Romal, when the Romals rose up and stopped supplying us with Nano fiber metals. They believed that they should rule the sector, instead of participating in the greater good. Romals were brave warriors to the end. Their pride often got them into trouble with other Federation planets. I rubbed a hand through my mane, thinking about the uprising.
Romals were a race of lizards, little more than a meter tall. The manifest listed twelve of them, all Federation Marines. "Lieutenant Jack Porter, lion, from Idalus Prime. You haven't been in a combat situation since the Katal invaded Mushtar six. Three years, three years of hiding behind a desk. Yet here you sit, on my bridge." The Admiral's words angered me, but I remained in control.
"I was aboard the Vashnir, it went down. I didn't ask for the transfer from active duty, Sir. I did as I was told." I calmly told him. He turned and looked back at me, his pale green eyes meeting my own yellow orbs. "I'm aware of that, just making it known that your lack of combat experience doesn't give you the right to be on my bridge. High Command wont remove you, so there you shall stay until this test is over."
With that he walked off the bridge. I didn't care how many pins he had on his black and red trimmed uniform. He was a dick, and getting away from him was something I desired as much as him. My uniform was similar in appearance. Only it was blue and red trimmed. A line of red fabric ran down each sleeve and leg. I was content with the blue uniform, every Admiral I ran into always seemed to care so little about anything that wasn't themselves.
"Computer, run a full diagnostic and track Admiral Pierce's location." I said leaning back in my padded chair. The screen changed as the computer began to check all of it's systems. "Is it wise to snoop?" Vince asked, I programed the ship's artificial intelligence myself. "He wont notice, any encrypted files in your system?" I asked.
"One, labeled as a level five classified document." Vince said changing the display to show himself. The three dimensional lion looked identical to myself. "Decrypt it, make sure no one knows it has been tampered with." Vince grinned and pulled sphere from off screen to hold it in his hands. "Lucky for us your system is perfect for this," Vince said as he started to adjust the sphere. Working it like a puzzle. Sliding sections and pushing in others.
"I don't like to be left out of the loop." I said standing up from the bolted down chair. "Send it to my room once you're done. Has anyone tried to gain access to your core?" I asked walking towards the door. "Someone tried to earlier, they used a data node just under Engineering. Good hardware, they tried several million code combinations in the three minutes and twenty two seconds they were hooked in."
I looked back at the display screen. "Were they successful?" I asked Vince. He shook his head, still busy with his puzzle. The sphere was more of a rod at this point. "It would have taken them twelve hours for their device to match the entry code perfectly." I grinned, my tail swaying slowly. "I take it you learned from the intrusion."
Vince smiled, "I learned a good deal. My security sub routines have already been modified. If they try again with that device they will be locked out before one combination can be entered. Plus I developed something fun for their toy. A snooper A.I that I created. If they hook it into one of their own terminals after trying to jack into our system again we will have an inside man spying on them."
"Good work Vince, seems like all that extra time I spent has paid off. Did the Admiral send his request for my transfer from the Serenity?" I asked having a feeling that he had. Vince put the ring he was working on down by his feet and pulled out a computer pad. Waving it back and forth. "Sure did, from his War Room this afternoon. He was going over the manifest and when he got to you, let's just say he muttered a few choice words."
I leaned against the cold metal wall. "Good thing you found it before High Command had a chance to look it over. Wouldn't want such a valued member of the crew to be removed from his post. What is your plan of action?" I asked enjoying how devious Vince was. "A reply back, request denied by High Command Chairman Charles Franklin. The good Chairman from Idalus Prime doesn't like the Admiral. A known point, so he wont question the response. He will be furious, but he will leave it be."
I pointed at the ring, "Keep up the good work. I'll be in my quarters. Deactivate all displays on the bridge for two hours. If anyone asks, they are down until the diagnostic finishes." I moved in front of the door sensor and it slid open quickly so I could pass through without having to slow from a walk. The game was already being played and the ship wasn't even out of dry dock.
The walk from the bridge to the command crew block was short. The distance was meant for situations in which we were needed on the bridge during off duty hours. It made me feel like duty was always right there, watching me while I slept or read my books. Distance from my station was something I desired. So I could relax fully and feel like a normal guy.
I flopped down on my firm mattress. It had been a long day and I just wanted some sleep. I could have left the ship and slept planet side at the Barracks. But the ship was mostly empty, which was better than being in a room down the hall from rowdy Marines on the night before launch. I had already moved into my quarters a week ago.
The display screen at my desk flashed, "Done with the decryption. You're not going to like what it says." I sat up and looked at Vince. "What is it?" I asked him picturing all the countless things that it could have orders for. "Jump location, Bastile four. Right behind the enemy lines. Where a quick attack on the Bastilian home world is to be carried out. With their fleet monitoring space between their space and ours, it will be a quick battle."
I snorted and removed my jacket, exposing the tight fitting tank top underneath it. "Our test launch is an invasion of one of our most aggressive enemies. Has the Admiral already read that?" I asked fishing my tags out from under the grey blue tank top. "He has, he already sent a level five response back as well."
"Thank you Vince, it's looking like our tour aboard the Serenity is going to be action filled." I said kicking off my polished boots. Slowly stripping out of my pants before climbing under the blankets. Vince whistled when he saw my tight briefs. I chuckled, looking at him from my bed. "Goodnight Vince." I said before closing my eyes.
The lights in my room dimmed down and turned off completely. The display on my desk doing the same. It took me a while to finally drift to sleep, despite my exhaustion. My sleep was short lived, or it felt that way. I woke up to the familiar buzz of the alarm. I looked up at the display, it was flashing red. "I'm up," I groaned as I slowly sat up.
"Good morning handsome, the current time is zero six hundred. You have a full day ahead of you." Vince said watching me from the screen. "Launch is five hours away, I finished my work. What more do you want from me?" I asked looking at the small lion on the screen. "Attempted breach of data node one seven four." Vince said with a grin.
"That's down in the Armory, what time did that happen?" I asked placing my feet on the warm metal floor. The entire ship was kept at a steady temperature. While my quarters were kept warmer for my personal comfort. "Four hours ago, with the same device as last time. It was modified, but it only managed four combinations before my sub routines locked it out." Vince said proudly.
"I take it his hitchhiker made the journey safely." I said with a grin. Vince nodded excitedly and waved me closer, his tail swaying behind him. I sat down at my personal desk. "They plugged the decoder into their terminal half an hour after their last failure. Our little friend has been supplying me with plenty of data. Federation Intelligence, we have a list of all their agents."
"Anything good getting sent over?" I asked him. He scowled at me and crossed his arms. "This is good you idiot. Cross referencing their files with crew manifests of the ships we are jumping with has provided us with three agents." I raised an eyebrow and sat back in my chair. "Why are they coming with us?"
"A good question, short answer is I don't know. There is a delay on the release of information. Our spy has to send everything through Federation Intelligence terminals, down through Military terminals and finally to us. Randomizing their send and receive locations so that they cant be traced or arouse suspicion. Takes fifteen minutes for us to get anything new."
"Any ideas on why they are trying to hack into our system?" I asked. Vince shrugged and looked over a computer pad. "My guess is they are either testing for weaknesses to outside attacks, or they don't trust you." I sighed and looked up at the ceiling. "Great, if they think I'm a spy then I'm dead."
Vince lowered his ears and nodded, "Punishment is a one way trip out the airlock. And a complete deletion for me, down to the last sub routine." If they suspected anything they would have taken me by now though. Torture wasn't unheard of when it came to the pursuit of information. "Oh, that's interesting. They are looking into your designs for the computer network. Trying to shut it down for a period of ten minutes."
I leaned forward, "Ten minutes?" Vince nodded, looking over information I guessed he just received from our spy. "No cameras or anything to leave a record of something going on aboard the ship. I could fake the shut down and have my sub routines keep tabs on what they're up to during the shut down." Vince said looking up at me.
"Do it, and have our little friend box up everything the Federation Intelligence mainframe has in it. How long would a covert total system copy take?" I asked Vince. He sighed and looked over his pad again. If we wait until their office is at it's busiest, we could ghost transfer through more terminals. We could have everything transferred fifteen minutes before launch. But the number of transfers will have to be increased. The Military network will suffer a slow down for almost an hour."
"Have their system fake a diagnostic or something. We need those files, also find a fall guy within Military Intelligence. Cant risk them tracing this back to us. Can you get our spy into High Command's network?" I asked. Vince growled at me, "Just because I'm a machine doesn't mean you can bark orders all morning. Patience, damn. Alright, fall guy is a Walter Devore, from Solaris. You met him once and hated him."
I snorted and nodded my head slowly, "He wants to be in High Command one day. Jackass already acts the part." Vince worked away, putting everything into action as quickly as he could manage. I stood up and grabbed a towel from my storage locker. "Going to shower, make sure Devore looks like the dead end for all the data being transferred." I said as I unlocked the door to my quarters and stepped out into the hallway.
There was a shower bay just down the hall from the Officer's quarters. I walked inside expecting to be alone. But there was a leopard already in there, standing under the hot water. He was gorgeous, well toned and jerking off right there. I could tell by the way his arm was moving. I hung my towel on a hook and stepped out of my briefs. Kicking them to one side while my tank top went off to the other.
It didn't take long for me to close the distance. He was too busy stroking his thick feline dick to notice me coming up behind him. I pinned him against the tile wall and bit his neck firmly. "Care for some company?" I asked purring into his ear. He moaned at the bite and looked back at me. "You should be more careful stalking up on guys like this. Not everyone is open to such advances."
I licked his cheek, "Well Lieutenant, it's a good thing I know you enjoy them." He purred softly and pressed back into my already rock hard cock. Ben has been under me more times than I could count. We both loved the other on many levels. I pressed my tip against his tight ring of flesh. He eagerly pushed into me, taking my cock tip and more.
We both moaned as he easily took me from tip to base. His hole had been used enough times that he could expertly take me, even without lube. "Mmm...been too long since you've been in me." Ben said softly. I reached around and gave his furry balls a firm squeeze. Slowly pulling my hips back before I gave him a hard thrust. The leopard moaned loudly, and willingly took it. I pulled back again and again, giving a hard thrust every time I did.
My cock was drooling pre into him and I knew I wouldn't last long. Weeks of work had me pretty pent up. But that didn't stop me from making the most of our mating. My heavy balls slapped against his and I gave his cock a firm squeeze. Slowly starting to jerk off that fat piece of feline meat. He clenched tightly around me, knowing just how to pleasure me. I moaned loudly, starting to thrust harder.
His passage was a tight sleeve around my needy cock. Squeezing and rubbing over it in all that ways that felt good. Pressure was building in my throbbing pink shaft. I wasn't going to last much longer. My cock's assault on Ben's prostate was forcing him over the edge. His hole clenched tigher and he moaned loudly, I could feel his cock pulsing in my hand as he unloaded onto the shower wall.
I slammed into him hard, almost roaring in pleasure as my own cock erupted into his tight leopard ass. Filling him up with my hot lion seed. He stood there, panting heavily for a few minutes. Then I slowly pulled my spent dick from him. Ben turned around and wrapped his arms around me. "We should do this again, tonight. In our room, we should have all the time in the world."
I held his naked form against mine, our spent cocks slowly sliding back into their sheaths. "Our room, just make sure no one sees you slip in." I said before kissing him softly. We had met years ago, and it was nice to be serving on the same ship together. That was the reason why I wanted to stay. So that I could be with my loving leopard. We broke the hug and Ben turned off the water.
"Your computer seems to be working good. We had a chat this morning before I came down here." Ben said leading the way back over to the towel hooks. He grabbed his and handed mine to me. I smiled and dried off with the towel. "What all did he have to say?" I asked looking at my feline lover. Ben grinned at me, "Just that you missed having me around. He also said you're up to all your old tricks too."
I shook the water from my thick mane. "New tricks, my old tricks don't work anymore. I'll fill you in when we're alone." I said drying off my legs. Ben chuckled and looked around. "In case you haven't noticed, we are alone." I wrapped the towel around my waist. "You know," I said giving him a stern look. He relented and wrapped his towel around his waist, walking off to fetch our clothes. I followed after him.
"How have you been?" I asked him when he grabbed the last shirt from the floor. "Bored, stationed out on Gonar. No one wanted that assignment so I got stuck with it." I looked into his gorgeous eyes, "We will both be finishing out service aboard this ship. Then we can go anywhere you want. No more worrying about being away from each other."
Ben smiled and nuzzled my cheek. "You're being very loving today. You know where I want to go, to your home. Gays are accepted there, not like where I'm from." I purred happily and motioned with my head towards the hallway. "Let's go babe," I said to him. We walked back out and headed towards our rooms.
Once I was back inside the display turned on again. "Having fun?" Vince asked tapping his foot. I chuckled, "You know I am now. Ben's here." Vince held up a computer pad. "Newest batch of files, biological weapons are being developed for use against the Romals. They want to release a disease and then take control of the planet." I walked up to the display and looked at Vince. "Any way to stop them?"
"Our spy cant do much, risk of detection increases with everything he does." Vince said laying his ears back. "Use the scapegoat's computer to contact media sources. Leak this information to the public." I told him, dropping the towel to get dressed. Putting on a fresh pair of briefs. Vince purred, watching me walk around naked. Having a gay A.I made me laugh, he was also a good friend.
As close as a computer can be to being a friend I suppose. "You're a tease," Vince said going back to his computer pad. I watched as he entered in something on the digital representation. It was one of my little touches that made him seem more real. I slipped into another tank top just as a buzz came from my door. Vince didn't look up, staying busy with his task. I looked at the door and it slid open. Ben was standing there wearing his uniform.
It matched mine in every way, since we were the same rank. The leopard walked in and looked around. "Going to be a cozy year," he said with a grin. I walked up to him and as soon as the door was closed pressed my lips to his. We wrapped our arms around each other, hands exploring each other. It had been far too long since we were together like this. We were aiming to make up for every second lost.
"Ring, ring, ring," Vince said pulling us out of our moment. "Incoming call from the bridge." I sighed and Ben stepped to the side so he wouldn't be seen. I sat down in front of the display screen and watched as it changed to show Admiral Pierce, looking as annoyed as ever. "Get to the bridge, now! Our jump time has been changed to one hour." With that the screen went back to it's default pale blue.
"What brought on the change?" Ben asked moving behind my chair to wrap his arms around my neck. "We're ending a war. Vince decrypted a level five message. Our jump location is just outside of orbit above Bastile four. The test jump is a full on invasion." I told him, then the display went blank completely.
The lights went off and dim emergency lights came on to fight off complete darkness. "Looks like our friend stepped up his schedule as well. Someone has been trying to hack my system to force a ten minute shut down. We don't know why yet, but we intend to find out." Ben sighed and shook his head. "Why is everything with you cloak and daggers these days?"
"The price of information is never free. Besides, as a feline your natural curiosity makes you want answers. Why are there so many secrets? For the good of the Federation? These shadowy games that High Command plays need to be brought into the light." I gave Ben a nuzzle, "Let's get to the bridge. The Captain isn't going to be happy if we keep him waiting."
"Alright, later you tell me everything. Promise?" Ben asked looking into my eyes. I smiled at him, "I promise lover." I walked up to the door and it slid open. The computer's subroutines weren't the target of the attack so basic ship functions would still be working. The corridor was less empty, a few other officers were walking back and forth down it.
Getting their gear stowed into their quarters or walking back to relax in the lounge. We were the only ones heading for the bridge. The metal door slid open and the dragon who was Captain of our ship turned to glare at me. "What the hell is going on Lieutenant? Computer systems are down and we have a launch!" I could feel his anger radiating off of his broad body.
"Scheduled shutdown for a period of ten minutes," I said just before the dim lights were replaced by the brighter main over head ones. All the display screens came back on and the bridge crew set to work getting their stations ready. I recognized the rest of the crew, from the manifest. I hadn't met any of them before today.
At the helm was Terry, a snow leopard who served under the Admiral once before during the Romal uprising. Sitting next to her was Fink, a skunk who had a similar station. He was the navigator, and when needed would assist in piloting the ship. Behind them and to the left was Ben's station. He was in charge of commanding the ship's weapon systems.
Next to him, at a plain looking station was George, a raven who would direct other ships in our fleet during combat. My station was on the far right, while opposite me sat the ship's First Officer, a great dane named Sam. He was in his late thirties and was no stranger to combat. In the center was the Captain's chair, where he could easily watch over the entire crew.
"Make your final checks. Lieutenant Storm, are all members of the fleet fully accounted for?" The Captain asked the raven. He looked over at the dragon, "The last shuttles are docking with their ships now." The dragon nodded at the response and turned to look at me. "Is your gods damned contraption working?"
"Yes Captain, all systems are at peak operating capacity." I told him before returning my attention to my screen. Vince poked his head up from the bottom and I slid the headset on so he could talk privately. "I tracked the intruder to the engine room. Whatever he wanted was in there. I cant say more because he would have noticed the cameras if they were on."
"He hasn't left either, still hiding out down there." Vince said before sinking back out of view. "Lieutenant Jones, are all weapon systems operational?" The Captain asked Ben. Here we go, right into the thick of it all. I strapped myself in snugly with the five point seat belt. Expecting a rough ride once the action starts. The dragon snorted at me. "All weapon systems have checked out, we're ready for action should we find any." Ben said looking at the Captain.
"Enter in the jump coordinates and begin five minute countdown. Move the Serenity away from space dock, maximum speed." The Captain ordered. I looked out the side view port, watching as our ship slowly started to move away from a nearby space station. Breaking orbit of Tardari two to get to a safe jump distance. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. "Don't worry, we will make it through this." Vince said through my ear piece.
I nodded my head slowly and waited for the countdown to begin. "Interstellar Jump in two minutes and thirty two seconds," Vince said through the main com system. "We are almost ten kilometers from orbit," Terry said. I closed my eyes, it wouldn't be long now. My role in combat wouldn't exist. I was needed to make sure we could translate incoming messages and to help with collecting new data. There was nothing new to be gained by invading a bitter enemies home world.
"We're at the minimum safe jump distance," Terry said calmly. "Hold here, inform all fleet members to prepare for jump." The Captain told her, I would have snorted but that would have been out of place. "Interstellar Jump in one minute, twenty two seconds." Vince said again. "All fleet members are to prepare for jump. Man all battle stations and seal all hatchways. This is not a drill," George said over the com system.
The seconds seemed to drag on forever. "Interstellar Jump in ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one, Jump" Vince counted down until the ship shook hard. This was my second jump, they were rough. But not this rough, in the blink of an eye the ship was slammed hard. Power relays exploded and I almost blacked out. I opened my eyes and blinked several times. My ears ringing from the explosions.
Sparks jumped from above us and I looked around. The Captain had been sitting right next to one of the relays. Now he was laying on the metal floor in a pool of his own blood. I struggled against the restraints, fighting to get them off. "Vince, status report!" I yelled freeing myself. I heard a groan and looked at Terry. She caught a chunk of bonded steel to the shoulder. Our navigator wasn't so lucky, his skull was split almost in half.
"Ship...systems...failure...decks...twelve....seven," Vince said through the com system as it cut out and then back in. "Ben!" I called out moving to his station. He was laying across his terminal. I pushed my fingers against the side of his neck. He was alive, but took a good blow to the head. "George! Sam!" I called out, the main lights were down and secondary was flickering on and off between pops and snaps from one of the exposed relays.
I stepped over the Captain to check on the raven, feeling his neck like I had with Ben. He was alive so I moved to check our Second Officer. Two fatalities, not bad considering what could have happened. I reset my headset and waited a few seconds, "Vince. How bad is it?" I walked back over to Ben and took his hand in mine.
"It's bad, direct lines are down. I cant access engineering at all. It's amazing we didn't explode completely. Medical bay has a steady stream of casualties coming in." Vince said through my ear piece. "What caused it? And can you reach the other ships?" I asked giving my lover's hand a firm squeeze. "Primary com systems are down, secondary is up. Patching you through to the fleet now."
"This is Lieutenant Jack Porter, we have suffered damage from an explosion of unknown origin. What is the status of all other fleet vessels?" I said calmly, taking charge of the situation as the only bridge officer not in need of medical attention. "This is Captain Ivans, of the battle cruiser Intrepid. We suffered minor damage to internal systems. Hull damage is pretty bad in places."
"Captain Riker, of the battle cruiser Pike. Primary systems are down, medical is overwhelmed. Permission to transport wounded to the Serenity?" He asked me in serious need of aid. "Captain Ivans, I need you to take wounded from the Pike. Captain Riker, only send those who can be safely transported without suffering further injuries." I told them.
"First Officer Green, of the Solomon. Secondary systems are failing, permission to come aboard?" He asked breathing heavily. "Granted, abandon ship. All able vessels are required to take survivors from the Solomon." I told them. I sat back in the Captain's chair, looking down at the smoking relay that killed the dragon laying on the ground in front of me.
I lifted my feet and placed them on his back, settling into my new role as Fleet Commander. Sure it was a dick move to use a dead man as a foot stool. But he was a dick, and this was my moment, not his. "Lieutenant Harris, of the Horishi, we didn't take much damage. Willing to assist in rescue and salvage operations." I looked out the bow view port, stars as far as the eye could see.
"Any vessel with a functioning navigation terminal, figure out where we are located. Keep this channel open and report everything of significance to me." I said calmly. We were supposed to have jumped just outside of orbit of Bastile four. But there was no sign of a nearby planetary system outside the view port. Where the hell were we? And what happened?
Little bit of Star Trek Voyager meets Game of Thrones. Intrigue is always fun to play with. Games of chess being played in the shadows, with secrets and lies. Thanks for reading, please vote, watch if you want to see more, comment below if you wish to do so. And as always, thanks for all the support.
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