by Maia Starr
This was when I took matters into my own hands and set about figuring out how to sponsor my own mission. Even if I had to quit and do it on my own with my own research vessel, I would. I had worked my whole life for this, and it was now or never.
After waiting for a month and being incredibly annoying to the Vice President, I was finally called into his office.
“Vice President Thompson will see you now, Ambassador Jones,” his secretary said to me as I sat tapping my foot nervously in his waiting room.
“Thank you.” I stood up and walked into his massive office.
“Ambassador Jones, good to see you again. On the matter of your data collection mission that you have been persistent about, I am happy to report that it has been granted permission with regulations.”
“What regulations?” I asked, knowing there was always catch.
“First, it will be privately funded as you had stated with your funds and Miss Teren’s. We will decide which ship you will be using and which task force will accompany you. You will have long-range, automatic communications that will send us your coordinates every five minutes. This is just in case your ship is captured or suffers some other emergency, we will have an idea of your last position,” he stated.
“I understand. And when can I launch?” I asked, expecting it to be a year or two later.
“In five months.”
“Five months! That’s practically tomorrow.”
“Yes, you have five months to do deep space training and learn the ins and outs of the ship, and to get your funds in order.”
“Can I not petition to extend it to a year from now? Five months is so fast!” I shouted unable to grasp that they would give so little time for preparation.
“No, the date of launch is firm and is the only open window. If you do not take that launch date, then the next available one will be in three years.”
“Crap!” I paced the room, biting my nails. I had a big decision to make, but I already knew what it was. Still, it would be so damn stressful.
“Do you need time to think about it? Though time is ticking away, and if you take a week or a month to think on it, then that is valuable time wasted,” VP Thompson said.
“I’ll take the launch date. Let’s get started,” I said firmly and anxiously.
Two weeks later I was deep in training when I was introduced to the task force captain and the ship I would be taking. It was all very suspicious and I knew that something was going on.
“Ambassador Jones! Come take a minute,” Vice President Thompson said as he waved at me from across the gymnasium. I was in a fitted, black space suit doing ladder climbs in preparation for climbing on the narrow ladders of a ship.
I jumped off and joined him and noticed the tall, handsome brute standing next to him at attention.
“Vice President Thompson, good afternoon,” I said, wiping sweat with a towel.
“Good afternoon, Ambassador. This is Captain Holt. He is the captain of the black ops deep space task force that is assigned to your mission.”
“Ma’am,” Captain Holt nodded in greeting.
“Nice to meet you, Captain Holt,” I said, looking over his short, blond hair, brown eyes, and strong physique. He was all soldier, a career soldier, and looking at him, I could tell that he knew how to keep a ship safe.
“How many deep space missions have you commanded, Captain?” I asked.
“Twenty, including five to the M83 galaxy.”
“Five? I was not aware that so many as five missions went to the M83 galaxy and returned safely,” I said in confusion as I looked at Vice President Thompson, who cleared his throat loudly and said,
“But there is more to show you, Ambassador. We also have chosen your ship. Ready to take a look? You can start training on board as soon as tomorrow.”
“Yes!” I said excitedly, but I was not letting that question about those five missions slip from my mind. I would look into it later.
“Lead the way, Captain,” I said as he turned and walked in front of me. I was not at all ashamed that I took this liberty to stare at his firm ass in his army pants. I was objectified constantly in my job and I was not going to pass up the opportunity to also enjoy myself a little. I had the right to. He walked straight, like the edge of a razor, and held himself up proudly. I restrained a smile as I followed him outside to the hangars.
We entered a large hangar the size of a city block. Inside were several ships, but there was one, very large cargo ship that we seemed to be heading toward.
“This is your ship, Ambassador Jones. She is named Harvest 80,” the vice president said.
“A cargo ship?”
“A brand-new cargo ship, with the latest modifications. You are very fortunate to have such a ship and this stellar, decorated captain for your mission.”
“But a cargo ship? Isn’t that a lot of room for a data collections mission? What will we do with all that empty space? This is not the best option for this mission, Vice President Thompson. Surely you agree with me, Captain,” I said.
“Ambassador, this is the only ship available in that time frame. The captain is fine with it, and it is your only option.”
I sincerely doubted it and I knew that something else was going on. I was going to find out. I looked at the captain and he held his gaze in stone. He was going to keep silent and follow orders. Why were they forcing me to take this massive ship? I knew that there were other ships available.
“Vice President Thompson, you know that I am an observant person. If you are not going to tell me the real reason why I am being forced to take a cargo ship when I know damn well that there are other ships available, then you are forcing me to seek out my own answers.”
He grew silent. He looked over at Captain Holt and the captain looked at him. They were hiding something.
“What, damn it? Speak up!” I shouted.
“Fine. As you wish, but this does not leave this conversation,” the Vice President whispered quietly.
“I’m listening.”
“This brand-new ship is the only ship as of yet equipped with our new shield. It is the latest technology and we think it is the only way that you will return if you are indeed thrown into the path of the Kalazaron. We specifically made it with them in mind. This cargo ship is meant to bring back silver from Merton Loy on a regular basis and that is why we outfitted a cargo ship first with the latest shield technology. Those silver loads are worth a lot to us, so the cargo ships get the best technology first, not the military ships.”
My eyes grew wide at this knowledge. The fact that they would put silver first and protect it with the best of the best technology over their military ships that were full of human life or the bride ships was an atrocity, but so were the way of politics.
“I see,” I said as I looked up at the massive ship. It was large enough to carry a smaller ship in its cargo bay, or loads of silver.
“The United Planets Association has taken a great interest in your project, which is why they want you to use this ship. They want you to succeed in your mission and they thought you should have the best protection, but it is an embarrassment that only one ship in our fleet has this new shield technology. The others are slowly getting it. But for now, this is your ship.”
“All right. That is all I wanted. The truth. Show me inside, Captain,” I said to Captain Holt. He saluted the vice president and then led me inside the giant ship. It was practically big enough to have a small town on board.
“This is the living quarters, bunks, and other necessities of living months at a time in space. Your quarters will be down the hall from mine so I can keep you safe,” Captain Holt said with a grin. He was attractive, and just hearing his words made me feel safe. I flirted and had fun as he showed me the command deck, and the rest of the ship. Harvest 80 was a massive ship.
“Thank you for showing me around, Captain Holt,” I said as I leaned against the door of the massive ship.
“Any time, Ambassador. If there�
��s anything I can do for you, or show you, just let me know,” he said with his grin.
“I will keep that in mind,” I said in return.
Then he leaned in close and said, “I can already think of one thing that I would like to show you.”
Then he moved past me and off the ship. I felt flustered as I watched him walk down the bridge of the ship to the hangar floor. I was so turned on. This was not good. This was going to be a distraction. If I was a smart woman, I would have changed captains, but he was the best of the best and that is the type of team that I wanted. But I’d had no love life whatsoever in the last two years. I had dedicated my every waking moment to this project so I had not had sex in twenty-four months and counting. I was a bomb ready to explode.
Therefore, I was going to go on this long mission with a huge, attractive distraction. Could I resist him and put my mission first, or would I cave to my natural urges? I knew that it would be hard, but I had no idea that the captain had his own secrets, and that the Kalazaron known as Ankon would make this a more complicated mission than I ever thought possible.
Chapter 2
CAPTAIN JAMIE HOLT
I had been training for this mission my entire life. Ever since my sister had vanished when I was ten, I had wanted my revenge. This was my chance.
My sister, Kira, was always an adventurous girl. She was rebellious against my parents and I remember that they would fight over breakfast before school and she would leave hot headed. I didn’t understand then that she thought the military ways of my father too strict. I was just a child.
When she turned eighteen, she left home one night and never returned. We were later informed that she had boarded a bride ship bound for Merton Loy in search of a new life, but that the ship she was on never made it. Since that day, I had dedicated everything that I could to find out more about her disappearance.
It was only years later, after I joined the military, that I learned the inside information from hacking into the classified data. There was a known reason for the disappearing ships and it was held from public of Earth: it was the alien race known as the Kalazaron. They were taking bride ships, military ships, and who knew what else. So, that is why I joined the military as soon as I turned of age and made it a point to be on a deep space task force team. Now I was a captain of my own force after proving myself on countless missions, but none of them ever came in contact with the Kalazaron. So, when I heard that there was a mission whose sole purpose was to seek out the Kalazaron, I knew that I had to be on that mission.
“You requested a meeting with me, Captain Holt? I must admit I don’t meet with many captains, but you said you had information for me that I would not want to pass up,” Vice President Thompson said to me in his office.
“Sir, yes sir,” I said as I stood at attention in my Captain’s uniform of blue and white. I was polished, and I meant business.
“At ease, soldier; please sit,” he gestured and I took a seat.
“I want to be on the Harvest 80 when it goes out. I want my team to be the deep space task force that protects your ambassador, and that brings back the payload,” I said quietly and with all the confidence of a man that had leverage.
His jaw dropped. He stood up and walked to his door and closed it, then locked it. “Where did you get this information, Captain Holt? This information is classified.
“It does not matter where I got it. I know it. I have proof of it, and if you don’t want the public and Ambassador Jones knowing the real reason for this mission, then I suggest you grant my wish.”
“Why? Why you?” he asked.
“I have more experience under my belt than any other captain that is on Earth right now. I have the best experience at securing a ‘payload,’ as you are calling it, and my entire task force is assembled and ready to go. You have a short time frame to get a task force together. Mine is in training and war games as we speak.”
“That’s not the real reason, Captain Holt. Tell me, what’s in this for you, really?” Vice President Thompson said, crossing his arms over his chest.
I was quiet. I wasn’t used to telling anyone this. It was uncomfortable for a man of my station to show a vulnerable side. “Revenge. Justice. My sister was on a bride ship fifteen years ago and she never made it to Merton Loy. I want to know why. I want to know what became of her. If those questions can’t be answered, then I at least want to do a mission that’s going to help in stopping this madness.”
Vice President Thompson sighed. Then he said, “I will see what I can do. It takes more than just my approval for you to be the captain of this mission, but I will put in your name and I will support it. I think you have a good chance, Captain Holt.”
“Thank you, sir,” I said as I stood up. I saluted him and then I left. As I made my way down the halls of the United Planets building, I caught sight of something. Through the glass walls of an office was a petite brunette. She was feverishly writing on a glass wipe board. I peered in. She was writing notes about the Kalazaron. I looked at the plaque on her door that read, “Ambassador Jones.”
I was stunned. This beauty, whose ass was jiggling as she wrote, was the ambassador? I had no idea. This was the ambassador that was heading this mission that I had just volunteered for? I thought Ambassador Jones was a male. I was not expecting a little woman with a plump ass like that to be the one to sponsor and to head a mission into deep space to seek out the Kalazaron. The Kalazaron were fierce warriors, not something for a small woman like her to trifle with.
I stood there watching as she put a pen in her mouth and her cute brows furrowed as she was in deep thought. She was intense, and she was sexy. I felt my cock growing hard as I watched. I had to walk away. If I stayed any longer, I would have walked in and taken her in my arms and kissed her red lips. Then she would not want me on her mission.
I walked away and moved to my barracks on the training grounds located outside the United Planets complex and took a hot shower. I wrapped my hand around my cock and put my other hand against the wall as the hot water beat down my back. I moved my hand back and forth, harder and faster, thinking of Ambassador Jones until I felt sweet relief.
A month later, I was officially assigned the mission. My first task was to meet with the engineer of the ship that we would be taking, the Harvest 80. It was an impressive ship and it had the latest shield technology that was going to allow us to secure the payload. I made sure that I knew the ins and outs of the ship and I was taking two engineers with us as part of the task force. They needed to be able to fix anything if it went wrong, especially that shield. Then it was time to formally meet the woman that had been the star of my dirty fantasies ever since I saw her in her office that day: Ambassador Jones.
“As I said to you before, Captain Holt, Ambassador Jones does not know about the payload and we’d like to keep it that way. Do not offer more information than is needed when you meet her. You two will be working closely together and it is time that she begins her training with you,” the VP said as he led me out of his office and over to the training complex.
“With pleasure, Vice President Thompson,” I said, trying to restrain a smile. When we walked up to the ropes and ladders course, I spotted her immediately. She was in a tight, black space suit and her ass and tits jiggled with each movement she made. I restrained a smile as I watched her. This was going to be damn fun.
Then Thompson called her over and I made my best show to keep a formal soldier’s interaction with her. But then she surprised me. After Thompson left us, I showed her around the ship that I had become so familiar with. She let go of her official presence as an ambassador and became a flirty, and dare I say, naughty woman. I liked it. Fuck, it was going to be hard to wait until we were in space to fuck her, but I was going to fuck her. She wanted it. It was obvious.
Chapter 3
CAPTAIN ANKON
“Captain, we’re tracking. Report: possible Earth cargo ship passing through,” Lieutenant Mexun said as he stood in the doorway
of my living quarters on my ship.
“Keep with it. Prepare to commandeer the Earth ship. Battle stations,” I ordered.
“Battle stations? Captain, none of these ships have ever fought back. Is it really necessary?” he replied.
I turned to him and gave him a hard look. “Battle stations, and Lieutenant, do not question my orders again,” I growled out the words to him.
“Yes, Captain,” he saluted me before moving out of the doorway.