by C. F. Harris
I’d managed to get my hand around another one of its eyestalks and I was getting ready to yank, the thing was still squealing in terror under me, when something wrapped around my arm and that was that. There was going to be no more playing with my captor and tormentor.
Damn. What a shame.
Unfortunately the guards in their power armor also didn't seem to be in a mood to kill me. That would almost be preferable to a lifetime of slow torture in captivity, but that wasn't in the cards. Instead the guards dragged me across the room and tossed me in my cell again.
I thought they might leave me there all alone, but a moment later they dragged Dalia in behind me and threw her against the floor. I winced. That couldn't feel good. Especially after the beating she'd taken from the researcher.
At least I'd given him as good as she got though.
I leaned down and put a hand on her shoulder, and for a surprise she didn't shy away. I tried to ignore how good that touch felt. Now wasn't the time to think about those mating rituals the Kliks were so intent on making us do.
Even if looking at her was enough to make me want to rip our clothes off and see if an interspecies connection could be made.
For a moment I worried they might’ve done some real damage, then her eyes fluttered open and she looked up at me and smiled. I melted under the power of that smile. Desire coursed through me. It wasn't fair that a creature that beautiful could be here in my cell looking up at me like that.
"Are you okay?" I asked.
"I think I'm a hell of a lot better than the Klik you attacked," she said. "That was impressive!"
I favored her with my best grin. "It was the least I could do for a lady in distress.”
15
Dalia
I leaned back against the wall and nursed the wound on my cheek. I wished I could grab one of the eyestalks out of that damn Klik’s body just as Kir had, but I’d have to be satisfied with the memory of him doing the job for me.
Still, it was frustrating being the damsel in distress rather than being the one kicking ass. I was used to kicking ass. Sure it was pushing buttons behind the controls of a ship, but still. Asses were kicked, even if it was asses being caught in explosions I’d caused by pushing buttons.
I looked over at Kir and he fixed me with that winning grin. That grin that said he knew something funny even given the crappy situation we found ourselves in. I found myself drawn to that grin. Wondered what it would feel like to kiss that grin off of his face. To see a look that was a little more intense than that.
I shook my head and pushed those thoughts away. I was a captive on a fucking alien spaceship. The last thing I needed to think about was fucking my cellmate. Especially when that was exactly what the Kliks wanted.
Screeching came from outside in that research area. The Klik researcher who’d made the mistake of coming into our cell was being carted away by what I assumed were Klik medical types, but it raised a claw at the last moment. Got off whatever antigravity pad they were using to carry it away and skittered across the room towards us. The thing looked like it had murder in its eyestalks.
As much as a hyper evolved sapient crab could look like it was pissed off, at least. It was difficult to read their emotions.
The thing stopped at the entrance to our cell. It focused all its attention on Kir. It wiggled its remaining two eyestalks, and I figured that was either a sign it was pissed off or in pain. Probably both considering it’d just had one of those eyestalks forcibly ripped off.
I would've given good money to see Kir do that to the rest of the things eyestalks, but it looked like it wasn't in the cards since the room was filled with multiple Klik guards wearing power armor pointing their weapons at us.
It was a damn shame.
"Both of you will pay for this!" it screeched. Its entire body quivered and its pincers opened and closed in a gesture that I didn’t have to be a xenolinguist to know was threatening.
For a moment I worried that the thing might try to come into the room and kill us with its bare claws. That would be just my luck. Killed in a jail cell on an alien ship in the middle of a research project where they expected me to mate with other aliens, unable to fight back because the moment I did I’d get blasted by one of those guards.
Though getting blasted by the guards might be preferable to getting torn limb from limb. I also might be able to take another eyestalk with me.
Instead another Klik came and grabbed the injured one. Pulled it away and applied something to the spot where its eyestalk had been ripped out.
If there was any justice in the galaxy they wouldn't have the ability to regrow limbs.
I got one last glimpse of freedom and then it was gone. The blast door, or whatever the hell that solid metal thing was, slammed down and I could see the outside world no more.
For a moment there I'd actually dared to hope we might get out of here. I should've known it was too much to hope for.
I leaned back against the wall and turned and looked at Kir.
"That was pretty damn impressive," I said.
"I aim to please the lady," he replied.
"No seriously," I said. "That's probably the most someone who's been taken prisoner on this hunk of rust has been able to do against the damn Kliks."
"Maybe so," he said. "But I can't shake the feeling that we’re going to be punished for that. I don’t think the Kliks are going to be nearly as impressed with my display as you are."
He winced, and I realized something must be wrong. Fighting off those asshole guards must’ve taken something out of him.
“What’s wrong?" I asked.
“Nothing,” he said, wincing again.
"Don't try to pull that macho bullshit with me," I said. "I saw enough of that in the Academy, and I don't need it now. Not when I need you to help me fight back against these assholes."
He laughed. Though it held no humor. "You really think that's going to happen now?" he asked.
I looked down. Went quiet. I didn't like the thoughts running through my head, but I knew I was going to give voice to them anyway.
"I don't think it matters now," I said. "Not after what you did. Not after what I did. They’re never taking their eyes off of us now.”
“Yeah, what you did was pretty impressive," he said. "Going for the other researcher. You almost made it too.”
I let out a mirthless laugh of my own. "I don't know what the hell you're talking about. I barely made it halfway across the room before the Klik called the guards.”
“That was still some fast thinking on your part," he said. Then he winced again as he shifted.
I didn't think. I was up and across the room in a flash. I settled down next to him and put a hand on his shoulder. He winced at the touch, but he also moved closer. Which I didn’t mind.
"Are you sure you're okay?" I asked. "You didn't break anything?"
He tried to wave me away, but I kept my hand firmly on his shoulder. Partly because I truly was worried that he might be injured, but mostly because it felt good running my hand along that shoulder.
I felt the contours. Enjoyed the feeling of his muscle under my hand. He was strong. Powerful. I found myself thinking of what those shoulders would look like bunched together as he thrust into me while…
I shook my head. No. Not the time, damn it!
Still, this was something I could really get used to! Assuming we were ever in a circumstance where we weren’t trapped together at the mercy of a bunch of alien crab creatures.
He tried to pull away, but I reached out with my other hand and held him firmly in place.
"None of that," I said. "You're so tense. I hope that's not because of me."
“No. That's from being held captive by the Kliks," he said.
"I can understand that," I said.
I continued massaging. Moved lower. So much for keeping this under control.
"Lean forward," I said.
He obliged me, leaning forward and allowing me better acc
ess. My hands moved down lower to the small of his back.
It was amazing how similar his anatomy was to a human. I wondered if maybe those common ancestor idiots who were always going on about humanity's origins might not have been right about that after all. If maybe we were part of different branches of the same species that’d been separated eons ago.
Our similarities, contrasted to how utterly alien the Kliks were, would seem to be a point in favor of that theory.
He grunted.
"What's wrong?” I asked.
“Nothing’s wrong. Feels good," he said.
"And it's about to feel a lot better," I said, my voice taking on a deeper husky quality that surprised even me.
I'm not sure why I said it. I just knew that I needed to feel more. I was impossibly hot. I was going to burn up, and I knew there was only one cure.
My hand moved lower and around to his front. Brushed against something hard. I smiled. There was another bit of alien anatomy that was very similar to what humanity sported.
I let out a noise. I wasn't sure if it was a gasp, a moan, or something in between. All I did know was it felt good having him in my hand. I moved my hand down and wrapped it around his cock. Explored its contours through his clothing.
It was so similar to a human cock, and yet different. Slightly larger. A girl could have a hell of a good time with this thing! Feeling him was oh so naughty. Oh so nice.
He let out a groan of his own and I smiled. It was nice to know I was having as much of an effect on him as he was having on me.
"Do you like that?" I asked.
"It's been so long," he whispered.
There was a deep longing in his voice. Pure desire. It was strange. I didn't have time for romantic entanglements. I was usually so busy with work on the rare occasion I was on a planet that I couldn't think of getting with a man. I was always so singularly focused on the mission when I was out in deep space that I barely spared a thought for this sort of thing, even back before I’d been in my single person scout ship.
And yet…
It was different with him. He was temptation made flesh. It was as though all the pent up desire I'd been suppressing for so long because of my job, because of my responsibilities, because of the duty to my species, was crumbling away. Threatening to explode and overwhelm both of us.
I was in very real danger of getting burned, and I didn't care. I needed him. You had to risk getting burned if you wanted to be close to the fire, and I wanted the fire.
I didn't even care that there was likely some sort of monitoring device in here keeping an eye on us, or that I was giving the Kliks exactly what they wanted. A voyeuristic view into what happened when two species came together. No, I knew I was playing right into their pincers, and I didn't give a fuck.
That was the thing about suddenly being confronted with an overwhelming desire. I didn't care about anything else. All I cared about was satisfying the fire burning deep inside me.
"We shouldn't…" he said, glancing around to recording devices we couldn't see.
"We shouldn't, but that's not going to stop me," I said.
It was a cliché, but something about watching him taking on that Klik had awakened something deep inside me. Something primal. It was the feeling of watching a perfect man fighting a monster to defend me. Sure he was fighting the monster for himself as much as for me, but still.
And for all that he told me we shouldn't do something like this, he seemed more than happy to play along as my hand traced the contours of his cock. As I started moving in an up-and-down motion that I assumed was the same for his species as it was for humans.
I was just about to pull out his thick rod when the door to our cell hissed open.
I cried out again, and it wasn't a cry of pleasure. No, it was a cry of frustration. It was a cry that encompassed all the pent up energy that had been building inside me, threatening to finally break free, and now the fucking Kliks decided they were going to interrupt my fun.
It would seem there was no limit to the tortures the Kliks were willing to inflict upon me. Psychological or otherwise.
I turned and growled. I was ready to take them on. I didn't care who stood there.
Though it's amazing what having the glowing tip of a plasma rifle pointed right at you will do for your desire to fight things out. All the fight drained out of me in an instant. I held my hands up. I tried my best to smile at the Kliks threatening us, though I'm not sure if it did anything considering I wasn't even sure they knew what a smile was.
Chances were the Klik researcher knew what a smile meant, but he wasn't here. No, he was probably off in whatever passed for a medical bay on this ship, and he wouldn't be bothering us anytime soon after his most recent experience.
"Damn you," Kir said, though it was more of a growl. He looked like he was poised to try and fight them again, but I moved a hand up to his shoulder.
"Don't get yourself killed," I said. "I'd hate for you to die just when things were getting interesting."
That seemed to take the fight out of him. At least for the moment. He looked at me and smiled, and with that smile I knew something had changed. Something had passed between us. We were no longer two captives thrown together and forced to interact because the aliens wanted us to.
No, we were two… I'm not sure what we were. I just knew we weren't captives forced together. We were partners. It was nice to find a companion, even out here in deep space held captive by aliens where I would've least expected to find that sort of companionship.
"Better to live to fight another day," I said.
"You're right," he said. He reached up and patted my hand. Smiled. "We will fight another day."
He stood, and his defiant pose was only slightly ruined by the way his alien cock jutted out. I giggled as I looked down, and he looked down and turned a deeper shade of green when he realized what had made me giggle.
Though he didn't make any effort to cover himself. No, he simply stood there, defiant and proud, staring down the Kliks.
There was a lot I could learn from this handsome alien stranger. Humanity could do with more backbone like this. Especially if it did turn out that the Kliks were afraid of us.
"What do you want?" he growled.
"Satisfaction is demanded," one of the Kliks said in a strange robotic voice that made me think he was using a translator of some sort rather than speaking to us directly.
I frowned. Satisfaction? What in the galaxy was he talking about?
Though from of the way the Klik guards gestured with their plasma weapons it seemed I was about to find out. One way or another something was about to happen, and I couldn't shake the feeling that it was nothing good for us.
16
Kir
I held my tongue as the Klik guards, dressed as always in those enhanced power suits that gave them an unfair advantage in hand-to-hand combat, surrounded us. They yanked us out of the cell and I actually looked back at it with fondness.
I never thought I’d look back on my holding cell with fondness, but that was before I thought the Kliks were about to drag me to a fate that was probably worse than the tortures they'd inflicted on me so far.
"Where are you taking us?" I asked the guard.
"The alien captives are being taken to render satisfaction," the alien said. “Resistance is useless.”
Damn. Again with the robotic tone. I got the feeling they were using a canned answer. I'd seen that happen a couple of times before. Usually with Klik guards who had no idea how to speak an alien language.
"You don't have to keep on with the canned answers," I said in Klik. "I can speak your language just fine."
A dispassionate eyestalk turned to face me. At least it felt pretty fucking dispassionate looking at me from behind that armor. The guard didn't look happy to be staring at me, that was for sure.
Though of course it could be difficult to figure out what emotion they were feeling on the other side of their carapaces. Damn crustaceans.
"Then you know that you need to shut the fuck up," the guard said in its own language.
That was an approximation of the curse word it used. Not exactly a one to one, but it had to do with copulation and it got the point across.
Klik swearing could be funny. It all had to do with defecation and mating, which was par for the course throughout the galaxy, but they had an added lair of swearing I couldn't begin to understand about cracked shells that was worse. That wasn't par for the course in a galaxy where most reasonable intelligent species had evolved from mammalian type creatures.
"I'll crack your shell open and enjoy it with some nice butter," I muttered.
Though again it wasn't a one to one. I'm not sure if the Kliks even had a concept of butter before they were introduced to our species, though I was given to understand they thought my people’s enjoyment of a nice boiled shellfish dinner was barbaric. I wondered if they had anything like that on Dalia’s world.
The Klik slammed its pincer against my head. I slammed against a bulkhead. That hurt, but it wasn’t much of a surprise given the treatment I’d been getting since I got here.
"You assholes!"
Something flashed at my side. I opened my eyes and stars danced in front of my vision. Damn. That’d been one hell of a backhand. It helped that it was a backhand backed by power armor.
And it looked like Dalia was doing her best to hit the Klik guard with one hell of a backhand of her own. She clawed at the Klik guard’s exoskeleton and kicked at him, though I knew from hard-won experience that the only thing she’d get out of that was a sore foot. Or maybe a broken toe.
I put a hand on her shoulder. Pulled her away before she got the same treatment I was enjoying.
Of course that meant getting stuck on the business end of the attack that was supposed to be leveled at the Klik guard. I barely managed to duck out of the way as she tried to elbow me and then came at me with one hell of a punch.
"Whoa!” I screamed as I ducked. "Try to keep it under control there!"