Nathan was alone, wallowing in the depths of his own self-loathing as he glanced up at the ceiling. Sleep just wouldn’t come to him and the constant remembrance of his actions wouldn’t let up. Sitting up in his bed, the first one that hadn’t been a lousy spring mattress stuffed into the side of a ship, felt comfortable enough to make him want to sleep. Yet, he couldn’t allow himself to. Sitting there in the silence of the moment, he turned around and sat on the edge. Feet now hanging over it, he could feel the cold surface of the ship’s metallic interior. Running a his left hand down his right forearm, the male would gaze at a few posters clinging to the wall. Various scenes of holo-pad games and videos, most consisting of scantily clad women or overly muscular protagonists fleeing from explosions, filled the side making him sigh. “Was the captain a fourteen year old?” He asked before pausing and placing his hand against his chin. Covering his mouth, Nathan thought about what had happened; figuring that the sooner he came to terms with it, the faster he could get back to some semblance of normality.
So, I just happened to do one of the most disgusting things to a woman that doesn’t involve bodily fluids in some manner. No matter how I grasp at the straws though, I can’t seem to figure out why I did it. One second I was telling Tesla no and then the next second, the idea just seemed so appealing. Maybe…deep down I’m just a rapist and I only want whatever I can get out of life? Continuing to ponder, he got up from the bed and walked about the quarters. Dressed in only a pair of soft pajama bottoms, Nathan would walk about the room examining the posters and walls. His bare feet pressed into the cold floor, which the chill of was an annoying reminder of what the crew had just left behind.
If in my subconscious I am some sort of deluded, megalomaniac with a desire to conquer all in my path; how can I be so tame outside of it? Am I just some sort of wolf in sheep’s clothing? Asking himself this, Nathan stared at two posters right in front of him. On the left, it was a picture of a woman’s ass and lower back pushing out of an ocean on one of the resort moons of Belle. An aurora borealis twisted in the skyline while a quartet of shady looking eyes looked on in the distance. Chuckling, he could remember some of the Thespian’s crew had been excited about it. It was a horror/pornographic film, not that there was anything that wasn’t pornographic aside from the most basic children’s movies these days.
Looking down, he could see the name of the movie, Ipse Season. Which he recalled was the unofficial time of year when the males of a certain species when into a rut. During this time, they would do whatever they could to breed with anything and anyone; no matter what species, if it had a hole that could be filled, they’d take it. Most species who experienced these attacks couldn’t survive them, so it was well advised to stay as far away from them as possible. Am I like them? Unable to control my own desires and turning to whatever hole I can find to satisfy myself? Should I simply embrace this animal-like instinct and begin ravishing whatever I find? No….that wouldn’t be right. Something about all of this just doesn’t add up.
Continuing to think it over, the next picture illustrated two men dressed in formal business attire and aiming pistols at one another. Fire burned in their eyes while the entire world seemed to burn around them; amazingly, it wasn’t aliens versus humans, but humans versus humans. Blinking for a moment, he realized it was a remake of one of the old action flicks pre-space faring days. Seemed that classic cinematography was still getting paid its do’s even in the far future; however, the title caught his attention. Fight Club. Glancing at it, he pondered how in the hell they could get away with using box art like that for such a deeply psychological film. That’s when he moved back a few feet and really got to thinking about that as well.
Tyler Durden and Edward Norton were the same person; one a psychological desire of the other. What if my subconscious rewrote me for a moment? What if my actions in that place were what I desired to and they finally broke free? Does this mean I have a split-personality now? Does it mean that I could possibly be going insane.
“No kid, you’re not insane.” A laughing voice came up, it was the ‘new’ Tyler Durden now turning his head towards Nathan. A Cheshire grin etched onto his face like a caricature, it sickened the captain just to look at it. Watching the male turn completely around to him, outstretching his hands in a teasing manner, Nathan knew that the poster wasn’t designed to play holo-scenes, so why was it doing this? “Come on, ain’t it obvious?” The actor asked with a laugh as he pointed a finger up at him. “Your stressed out and over-thinking all of this. You had a moment of weakness and you broke. It doesn’t change who you are, just think about everything that’s happened; you snapped like a twig and regressed to an animal like state to protect your sanity. Just chill out.” Another laugh echoed into the room before Tyler turned back around and got into his pose.
Ok….now I’m sure I’m going crazy. Nathan thought to himself as he moved away from the poster and continued to think on what was going on. It was true, the poster’s words had made a lot of sense; however, just the fact that a poster had talked to him was stressful enough. Standing by the bed, his hand ran against the synthetic materials. Hardened plastic forming the base and backboard, which could be haltered to form a stasis pod if desire. Just breathing, Nathan’s eyes wandered the room again, he was lost in his own thoughts and what do about the problems. First, I have to get the crew to trust me again. Tesla….is probably the only person who will want anything to do with me for a while; Garrus will be the hardest of the original three to convince. Lily is probably heart broken, but we’ve known each other long enough that it shouldn’t be that difficult.
Nathan paused as he thought about that, then slapped him in the face. Clenching his face before whimpering softly and righting himself mentally, the Captain couldn’t believe what he just suggested to himself. What am I thinking? Lily is heart-broken right now, she thought I was some knight in shining armor and I turned around and showed her a monster? Right now, she must be terrified to say the least. Putting his hands down to his side, he realized that all of the monologue was starting to take its toll. Not to mention the exhausting trip that he had just made. Collapsing forward, he flopped over the beds baseboard and pulled himself to the pillows. In the next moment, Nathan was simply unconscious.
Tesla would enter some three minutes later walking around the room and examining all of the same things he had. Seeing her little chess piece so sound asleep, she couldn’t help but find it adorable; walking over to his bedside, she would sit down. Staring down, the red head would begin to weave her fingers through Nathan’s hair, stroking it and affectionately playing with it. It was as if he was a puppy and she a delighted owner giving it attention for a job well done. Gradually, she would see a smile emerge on Nathan’s face, causing the Yor’zvin native to lean over and kiss his temples gently. “Dream of conquest, my noble warrior, fight until the world bleeds beneath your feet. Find the distant lands that your heart desires and make it your own. This is the command I give you.”
Standing up, Tesla would walk away, running her fingers through the long locks of her hair and primping it up before pausing near the mirror by the room’s closest. “A wonder that he didn’t concede to me earlier. My form is something I know most males desire, his resistance was something else, but it shouldn’t be too difficult to manipulate him toward my needs now that it has given way. “ Saying this aloud, she pushed out of the door, finding Lily standing on the other side of it; her face bright red and her fists clenched.
“You…manipulative bi….” She couldn’t bring herself to say it as her face burned hotly. Nearby, she could see Ludma sitting at the bar of the kitchen; her fingers were laced around a cup of steaming coffee. The bitter scent of it rising with the white mist that wafted back and forth against the fans blowing hot air into the rooms. Ludma’s eyes were glazed over, merely staring towards the triple row of tables where a crew could gather to eat together; she appeared to be contemplating what happened to her, just as Nathan had earlier. Her complexion was more obvious, it was a weak tan that once she got back into the sun would darker up till a near milk-chocolate color. Slowly bringing up the cup shakily, she began to sip from the hot liquid; from the distance, Lily and Tesla could both see that she had scalded herself a bit. Yet, she didn’t pull back from it rather she welcomed the heat as if it was purifying her.
Lily paused, grabbing Tesla’s arm and dragging her away into one of the bedrooms. Once inside, she pushed her against the wall; the shorter blonde glaring at the larger and much better trained alien. “You…..what have you done to Nathan? He was a sweetheart and would have never dreamed of doing anything like this to anyone! Suddenly, you show up and he acts like a sex addict. What did you do to him!?” Almost shouting, Lily’s eyes were desperate, as if she was trying to blame all of the male’s behavior on someone else. Tesla’s quips about Nathan’s resistance had been all she needed to lash out and blame the red-head for all of their problems. Both of her hands clutched around Tesla’s collar, squeezing it as tears came streaming out from her green eyes.
There was silence for a few moments, the Yor’zvinian not familiar with these types of outbursts except on the battlefield or from lesser creatures. Having always seen humans as an evolutionary step to her own race, she had treated them as ancestors and honored them to a degree. Often times, she believed that the human race was just a side-branch of Yor’zvinians that grew or possibly changed to what they were now on the relatively easy life they led on Earth. Right now though, she saw weakness, an incredible weakness in Lily; it was something that would get members of her race spat on, raped and then discarded like trash. Her mind played out what would happen if Lily ever set foot onto Yor’zvin’s surface. She could see one of the lesser and more deprived members of her race trapping her, stringing her up like a set piece and defiling her body. When she was finally broken, she would be cast aside, left in the streets to rot or become a meal for the cultivated animals.
She wouldn’t last so much as an afternoon there. Yet, she is one of Nathan’s….so it is also my duty to make her stronger as well. I suppose that goes for Ludma as well; seeing as she received his seed, she has been marked by him. Ironic that I know that isn’t how it works; however, it is how I want it to work, so I’ll do what I must. Nathan showed me a kindness by getting me out of that wretched little box, the least I can do is show him the error of his ways and a good time. As her thought finished, she could hear Lily whimpering and sputtering out about her corrupting Nathan.
“Sweetie, the only thing I’m doing to Nathan is pleasing him.” Tesla lied as she gave a small smile, running her long fingers up and wiping away the tears welling up at the side of her eyes. Flicking the salty-beads away, her own completely black eyes would gaze into the cloudy green ones. “Honey, he’s a man, I don’t know his mind or what is going on in there. What I do know though, is how to make a person’s body sing with delight and how to probe them until they can hardly stand it. What I was marveling at was just how well Nathan could resist me. I tried so hard to make him want me, to make him sleep with me. Yet, he was fixated on you it seemed; he wouldn’t touch me until I got you involved.”
At her words, Lily’s face ignited into a blush of embarrassment, her tears fading away slowly. Gulping, she stood there looking up at the woman she had sworn seconds ago was her nemesis. Now she could feel her tender caresses riding up the side of her next. “Tesla…stop, I’m not like that.” Lily whispered back, biting her lip feeling her hands squeezing together; both fists clenching as her anger filled her again. “Stop it!” She suddenly spouted out as Tesla was going into a more intimate phase. Immediately being pushed away caused her own eyes to harden, the pair gazing at one another almost hatefully.
Rejection was one thing that Tesla hated, being told one wasn’t good enough was a heinous insult on her planet. One reserved for the lowest of the low, feeling Lily suddenly grasp at her collar again. She glanced down at the blonde’s hands. Raising her own up and squeezing against the wrists until Lily crumpled in pain and released her. “Don’t do that again.” The warrior-princess stated in her new frigid mood before pushing Lily away from her. “Yeah, Nathan wouldn’t touch me without you around. Now I hope to change that; the man raped that Ludma bitch of his own accord. So don’t blame me for the machinations of his mind. I didn’t hold a gun to his head and tell him to do it, I was just there as it happened.”
“YOU STILL LET IT HAPPEN!” Lily shouted back up at the red head glaring at her with all the hate she could muster; however, she didn’t dare to try attacking her again.
“So what? Why should I stop him from doing what he wants to do? My people did as they pleased for years, now we are one of the most powerful military nations; we have some of the most hauntingly wonderful artwork and political ideas. Our political structure a mix of monarchy and anarchy, so why, when I have been leading my people, would I ever try to attempt to halt something that wasn’t a murderous rampage?” Lily merely sniffled at the statement, she understood what Tesla was saying; however, she couldn’t agree with it, yet she also couldn’t reprimand Tesla. Seeing as she didn’t know that the woman actually knew the nature of humanity and the rest of the universe.
“That’s not how things work out here though. What happened was a serious crime.” As Lily continued to chew on her lip as a nervous response, Tesla shrugged slowly. Barely saying another word, Tesla neared the door and began to open it.
“Crime are only crimes if the perpetrator gets caught. Only you, me, Garrus, Ludma and Nathan knew what happened and we’re taking care of Ludma now. Why would she turn in the hand that is now feeding her?” Upon opening the door, she was shocked to see Ludma standing there, her fist cocked back and then the swing that collided heavily with her nose from the side. She would only give one thing to Ludma, she could hit and her tiny knuckles were like rocks when they smacked into her face. Twisting and feeling blood drip down from her nose after being hit; she turned her other cheek in a taunt. Yet, what she got for her action was another similar swing; which this time caught her completely off guard and sent her sprawling to the floor.
“Crime are only crimes if the perpetrator gets caught. Only you, me, Garrus, Ludma and Nathan knew what happened and we’re taking care of Ludma now. Why would she turn in the hand that is now feeding her?” Upon opening the door, she was shocked to see Ludma standing there, her fist cocked back and then the swing that collided heavily with her nose from the side. She would only give one thing to Ludma, she could hit and her tiny knuckles were like rocks when they smacked into her face. Twisting and feeling blood drip down from her nose after being hit; she turned her other cheek in a taunt. Yet, what she got for her action was another similar swing; which this time caught her completely off guard and sent her sprawling to the floor.
At this point, Ludma rubbed her fists. She started breathing out through her nose, looking at both of them, her eyes scanning over their bodies before speaking again. “Look, I don’t know what either of your games are. All I know, is that I’m stuck with you all now. I flew Nathan and the red-headed bitch over there right out of a now destroyed mine. Despite that place being top secret and there is no way in hell that any government is going to acknowledge its existence; I am safe enough from the police. It also means that I can’t report the rape or murders that I saw committed. So, that means what Miss. Slut over there said is true. You all are the hand that feeds me. I can’t run off or I’ll likely end up as some CEO’s mantelpiece fuck-toy. So, I’ll stay here, but I’ll make one thing clear. I’m not some charity case and I’m not so small that I can’t fight my own battles when it comes down to it.”
Tesla started to laugh as she wiped away the last of the blood from her nose. Flicking the droplets away and using her sleeve to halt the bleeding. In the next moment, Lily was busy looking at it grasping some tissues from her pocket and stuffing little pieces of them into her nostrils. “She really hit you good.”
“Those were love taps on my planet, but still impressive for an off-worlder.” Tesla quickly replied before looking up at Ludma and laughing. “You, I like.”
“I don’t like you though.” Ludma answered quickly walking away from the other two women and going to drink her coffee. Nathan had woken up in the commotion, stumbling out onto the bridge and could see Ludma walking past him. Pausing, the female turned toward Nathan and assessed his almost nude body before rising an eyebrow for a moment. “Not bad, Captain.” She stated bluntly before pulling her leg back and immediately kicking him right in his pride. Shocked and in agony from the blow; the Captain bent over, clutching his manhood as he glanced back up at her.
“Oh, you’re not off the hook that easy. I’ve got a few more of those before I can even start to let you try to make up for what you did.”
