Orion Company
By Mr. J.
SYNOPSIS: In the 26th Century, privateering is a lucrative trade—especially for the crew of the freighter Orion. But when they stumble on an abandoned ship in the middle of deep space, they find themselves pulled into a tangle of mind-control and intrigue. With the threat of galactic conflict hanging in the air, will Captain Lianna Lee and her female crew solve the mystery before time runs out—or will their insatiable lust consume them?
DISCLAIMER:
I have to admit, I’m not so good at these things, so here goes. If you’re underage, live in Utah (or a Marriott hotel), or have strange reservations against sex with aliens, please leave now. For those adults in the room, sit back, fix an adult beverage of your choice, and prepare to have your mind officially blown.
P.S. I promise the alien sex is HOT!
BIO: Born in the foothills of the Carolinas in the 1980s, the randy individual known as Mr. J has been composing stories both erotic and otherwise since he was a zygote. In real life, the aimless twentysomething-cum-college grad is a wandering tramp, surviving only by bare wits (and other assets as well). When he isn’t composing tales of mind controlled sex slaves, he can be found enjoying that most mundane of tech, TV.
CAST OF CHARACTERS
- Captain Lianna Lee — A veteran of the Confederate Space Force, Captain Lee has seen her fair share of goings on as a former military officer and co-owner of the Orion, the repurposed freighter she shares with the rest of her all-female crew. Underneath the tough exterior, though, the battle-scarred captain is loyal to her friends—almost to a fault.
- Nikki Henderson — Fifteen years Lianna’s junior, Nikki is the weapons officer and go-to girl when it comes to guns, bombs, and explosions. By day her job is to monitor the shields and cannons, but by night she sheds her job—and her clothes—inside Lianna’s bedchambers. A former cadet, Nikki would jump in front of a laser pistol for anybody, but her devotion to duty may ultimately cost her.
- Caitlin Wray — a mystery wrapped in an enigma, very little is known about her past. Her sarcastic wit and suffer-no-fools attitude makes it difficult for even her trusted colleagues to stand her sometimes, but when a mainframe needs debugging or the engine room needs repairs, she’s your girl. Has a unspoken rivalry with Anna.
- Anna Polly — At 22, Anna is the youngest member (and sole civilian) of the Orion crew. Precocious and incredibly gifted in alien languages, her linguist skills and knowledge of foreign customs are an invaluable asset, especially in the fractious, murky Delta Quadrant. But Anna has a secret as well—one that could prove fateful for all parties involved.
- “Vanessa Graysmith” — her real name is unknown, but the young, pseudonymous Graysmith may hold the key to unlocking the mystery behind a string of kidnappings across the quadrant. Abandoned and left to die on a research vessel, Graysmith is rescued by Anna and her team. But their generosity could prove to be their undoing.
- Kolkata Amrita — a descendant of colonists from Sindh, Pakistan, Kolkata is one of the premier experts on xenobiology and culture. But despite her many accolades, she also has a dark side, too.
- Dana Polly — Anna’s long-lost sister. A victim of circumstance when Anna was just eighteen years old, since then she’s been haunting her dreams. When Anna isn’t working, her waking moments are spent trying to figure out what exactly happened to her sister. But the truth can hurt—and Anna may not be able to handle it.
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Chapter I: Ghost Ship
Distant stars twinkle with a whitish glow as the pale Class I ship sails through empty space, nothing but pitch blackness in front of her save for the lone asteroid or two. White noise hums through her interior as a skeleton crew mans the deck. Technicians and engineers flit in and out as they observe the ship for signs of trouble, walking erect with purpose. Their weathered faces speak of years roughing it in the outskirts of space, facing dangers both extraterrestrial and otherwise in the pursuit of intergalactic commerce; yet one would not know it by the glow in their eyes.
Captain Lianna Lee smiles from her perch in the spartan captain’s chair. Her butt feels numb from the non-stop sitting. She shifts around and stretches her legs out, enjoying the panoramic view in front of her. Every so often she wonders about the weapons officer supervising the small cannon mounted on the craft from her station downstairs. But such thoughts are fleeting in the face of breathtaking red gianta or gaseous planets. The swarms of colors are almost worth risking one’s life for.
She touches the scar running down her right cheek, mindful of the spot where an insurgent made his mark at a checkpoint during a run at Terra VII many years ago.
“Ms. Wray.” Captain Lee depresses the red button on the arm of her chair. “How goes it?”
“Twenty more minutes, Cap’n.” A voice crackles through the static. “I just have to saute the F’eng F’eng and then it’s done.”
“Mmm.” The captain murmurs, thinking of the onion-like vegetable. “Assemble everyone in the mess at 1800 hours. Keep up the good work.”
“Thanks, boss.”
The activity on board slows to a crawl upon news of the announcement. Lianna smirks as the all-female crew grow anxious with anticipation of the evening’s dinner. Though there are only four souls (including herself) on the repurposed freighter, what they lack in numbers they make up in sheer fortitude. Anna, the science officer, is the youngest and most recent. Captain Lee watches as the young woman scrolls through the stream of data on her vidscreen. Even as the others rush to get their work done, she remains at her workstation, peering out through oval glasses.
“Enjoying the status reports, Ms. Polly?” The captain’s voice booms over the din of whispers.
“Uh, no.” The petite blonde quickly exits the program on her vidscreen.
“It’s done.” Ms. Wray announces over the intercom.
“Thank you.” Captain Lee responds. “Ms. Polly, would you care to join me and Ms. Henderson for a bite and something to drink?”
“What about the reports you wanted me to finish?”
“Those can wait, Ms. Polly.”
“But you specifically said you wanted them on your desk at 1800 hours...”
“I can synch them to my tablet later.” The captain waves her hand dismissively. “Are you sure you’re not hungry? There’ll be lobsters too. Girls can’t live on salad alone.”
“I’m fine.” Anna murmurs softly. “And for the record, I’m twenty two years old.”
“Duly noted.” Lianna smiles. “But I need to know what your plans are. I can’t have our chef waiting...”
“If she wants to stay behind let her stay, Li.” A redhead wanders onto the comm. “Not like anything’s going to happen on her watch.”
“I can’t see what’s more important than eating, Nikki.”
The weapons officer shoots a look.
“It’s okay.” Anna interrupts the two. “I wan’t hungry anyway. You two can go without me.”
“No it’s not.”
“Leave her alone, Lianna. If she wants to starve...”
“Nikki, take the comm while me and Anna have a chat.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
Anna trails behind the much older woman, struggling to keep up with her like a cadet in their first year at the academy. Four years on after being recruited to serve onboard an aging freighter that had been recoverted into a part-cargo, quasi-military vessel, in many ways she was still the shy eighteen year old girl discovered by chance in a colony bar. Whether it was the captain’s maternal face or the rounds of draft beer that left her hungover the next day, Anna had yet to figure out why she allowed herself to be talked onboard the Orion in the first place.
“What’s wrong with you?” Lianna’s voice breaks her out of her reverie.
“Nothing, ma’am.”
“Speak louder.” The captain booms. “Suck in that diaphragm. Makes you appear more...authoritative.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“For Jove’s sake, how many times have I told you not to call me that?”
“I know.” Anna casts her eyes forlornly at the floor. “An old habit I picked up from Papa.”
“Your father military?”
“Was. He was a conscript in the reserves. He saw action, but he didn’t like to talk about it. He died when I was a teenager.”
“I’m sorry to hear that.” Lianna offers her condolences. “But we’re a sisterhood. The quicker you’ll assimilate, the better off you’ll be in the long run.”
As the captain, Anna and Ms. Wray bond over wine, F’eng F’eng and crustaceans, Anna’s thoughts drift frequently back to her father. The image of his salt and pepper hair, his gnarly hands as he tended the farm where her family lived linger in her mind’s eye. Five years to the day after her family’s disappearance, she could still smell the sweat as he walked through the fields. She wonder what he’d make of her decision to join a band of privateers and rougues.
“So Anna, found any little green men today?” Ms. Wray teases her.
“Not many.” Anna glances at the honey-haired engineer. “Just catching up with work.”
“I bet you were.” Caitlin Wray snickers.
“Is there a problem, Ms. Wray?”
“Only Anna’s lust for trashy novels, ma’am.” Caitlin glances at the captain. She’s got a ton of them backed up on her workstation. Which one were you reading today?”
“The Dark Eternal Night“ Anna sighs.
“Is this true?”
“Yes.”
Klaxons break up the interlude.
“Guys!” Nikki calls out. “We have company!”
“We’ll discuss this later.” Captain Lee wastes no time rushing towards the comm. “All hands on deck!”
The women abandon their food, rushing to their battle stations as warning lights flash around them. They stare at the gray vessel drifting listlessly in their path, seemingly lost in the depths of space. Nikki hovers over the console warily, glancing at Lianna nervously. She’s positive it’s not a pirate vessel, but beyond that, who knows?
“What the hell?”
“It’s definitely a Confed, Captain.” Nikki adopts a military bearing. “How it drifted over here is beyond me.”
“Survivors?”
“None. Not that I can tell. I don’t know what to say. It’s almost as if...as if...”
“They’re dead.”
A pregnant pause hangs in the air.
“Ms. Polly,” Captain Lee remains stoic. “have you detected other lifeforms on board?”
Anna shakes her head.
“Everybody suit up, we’re going in. Caitlin, you have the comm. How’s the shield holding up, Nikki?”
“100 positive.”
Thirty minutes later the trio of Anna, Nikki and the captain suit up and prepare to board the craft. Caitlin looks on helplessly from her perch in the comm, half-afraid, half-fascinated by the ghost ship. She glances at the glaring button staring back at her. The thought of torpoedoing the vessel with her friends inside gives her chills. She wonders what force could be responsible for killing off an entire ship’s crew, and if it has any designs on the Orion as well.
“What’s your twenty?” Her voice wavers.
“We’re docking right now.” Lianna’s muffled voice echoes through the microphone in her helmet.
“Are your laser rifles loaded?”
“Aye.”
“Be careful.”
The boarding party walks into an stripped down bridge, weapons at the ready. Lianna’s skin chafes inside the skin tight suit. She ignores the beads of sweat rolling down her face as she explores the area, darting her eyes in case a pirate or crazed officer lunges at her or her team. She follows the trail of blood leading out of the room, her gut clenching with fear. Anna recoils at the sight of piles of corpses littering the ship, eviscerated in every conceivable fashion known to man.
“My God.” She struggles to force her nausea down.
“First time seeing a dead body?” Nikki’s voice rings through her earpiece.
“First time seeing them like this.”
“Nothing we haven’t seen before. You’ll live.”
“How many?” Lianna asks.
“Thirty, forty.” The youngest member of the crew recovers. “Mostly males. Judging by the staging of the bodies, I’d say a melee broke out. They must’ve snapped and turned against each other at some point along the way.”
“Cabin fever.” Captain Lee nods gravely. “Could’ve happened to anyone.”
Anna tries not to throw up.
“Cross-reference this with any known outbreaks in the quadrant. And alert the authorities. We could have a pandemic on our hands.”
“You think it’s a virus?” Nikki chimes in.
“All the more reason why we should be careful.”
“I’ll check the Confed archives when we get back.” Anna manages to mumble without incident.
A multicolored mass lingers in the corner of her eye. She struggles to make sense of it, yet as she edges closer to the technicolar object, it dawns on her that it is nothing but a pile of...suits. Women’s suits, and not just suits. Blouses, pants, bras. Even a panty or two.
“Captain, look!”
The story repeats itself in the sick bay, engineer’s deck, even the officers’ quarters. It’s obvious what happened to the males, but the sight of women’s clothing strewn about the ship... The boarding party examines the articles of apparel, strewn aroung like so many coeds’ garments.
“What is this, a bachelorette party?” Captain Lee can’t resist joking. “I’ve never seen so many clothes in my life.”
“Beats me.” Anna shrugs. “If their body’s core temperature were disrupted, they could’ve been trying to cool off.”
“Check the bathrooms and see if you find anything.”
Nikki and Anna inspect the officer’s quarters one-by-one, only to come up empty handed. If there was any chance of finding the women, they’re not in luck. Shivers roll down their spines as they march back.
“No bodies.” Nikki radioes back. “It’s like they vanished into thin air.”
Anna trembles.
“I don’t like the sound of this.” Her breath is shallow. “I say we get out while the getting’s good.”
As the pair heads back towards the makeshift pod waiting to ferry the team back to the Orion, Ms. Polly spies a figure hiding behind a suite of boxes in a corner. She grips her laser pistol nervously as the figure pokes it head out intermittently, revealing a head of brunnette hair done up in a bun. Anna’s hand trembles, rendering her unable to steady her aim. She watches the figure passively, not quite sure what to make of it.
“What the hell is going on?” Nikki whispers.
“I don’t know.” Anna watches the figure closely. “I spotted her out of the corner of my eye a second ago.”
“We got a live one!” Nikki shouts.
Nikki and Captain Lee charge their weapons. Yet Anna continues to stare, eyes fixed on the brunnette in the corner. She feels herself drawn towards the woman somehow, though she can’t explain why. Anna slowly walks toward her, palms up in a display of nonaggression. Her colleagues exchange worried looks.
“What the fuck’s wrong with you Anna!” Nikki barks. “Get back here before your ass is grass!”
“We come in peace!” Anna shouts. “We mean you no harm.”
Her colleagues cover her, nervously watching as she continues to walk. From this point forward, anything can happen. Without a clean shot they have no chance of taking the woman down. Not without hurting their Anna. The best they could do is ride it out and hope there is a method to this madness. Or else somebody is going to be out of a job, if they’re not dead already.
A naked female emerges from the nook with her arms up. She stares at Anna through wild, glassy eyes, oblivious to her presence. She couldn’t be no more than eighteen or nineteen. Anna glances at the woman’s ribs, just visible in her torso. She must not have eaten for days.
“My name is Anna Polly. I’m with the Orion. We’re here to help.”
The female continues to stare.
“It’s okay. We’re the good gu—”
The woman latches herself onto Anna, holding onto her tightly. Anna’s eyes widen with terror. She struggles to wrestle away, her curiousity replaced by a sense of fear. The stranger moans softly and never lets go.
“Take me, take me pleeeassee.” She whimpers.“Make me your slave.”
Anna freezes.
“Get away from her.” Nikki demands. “She could be infected.”
“She’s delusional.” Anna glances at her instruments. “It could be a psychotic break or trauma. Her body temperature appears normal, though. With the right medication we could have—”
“Not our problem.” Nikki raises her laser pistol.
“Wait!” Anna protests.
Nikki glares.
“What is it now?”
“We can’t kill her. She’s the only survivor.” Anna’s voice is forceful. “Without her, we have nothing.”
“She’s dangerous.”
“We don’t even know her name!”
“Tranq her, Nikki.” The captain motions toward the girl. “For your own sake, I hope you’re right, Anna.”
The girl goes limp as she falls into Nikki’s arm, mumbling softly even as she drifts into sleep. The weapons officer throws the girl over her shoulder, glaring at Anna as the crew strides toward the pod docked in the hangar. As the craft pulls away, Anna cradles the unconsious woman’s head, praying that she hasn’t signed everyone’s death sentence.