Broken Stars

by L Bowers

“My second take away from that little misadventure was this. I am going to try and do the right thing no matter where I am. In this case, I will treat you with dignity and respect. I hope you may do the same with me. Just because we are on opposite sides doesn’t mean we have to hate one another,” I said.

  “I see. I will think over your words, Tom,” She said. She looked right at me and if I had the time I would have let myself get lost in those dark eyes.

  “You said you had something to show me, Bridget?” I asked as I rose from the bed.

  Chapter 9

  Bridget practically bounced with excitement as she lead me deeper into the ship. “Wait till you see it, Tom. It’s the whole reason I had to find you and probably the only thing capable of saving everything,” she said.

  “I can’t wait. Any chance you might drop a hint?” I asked.

  “Not a chance in hell.” We stopped at an elevator and Bridget pressed the call button. “I can tell you that the equipment we used to replace your lost limbs is the key. It’s also why we needed a warrior of your caliber that has lost as much as you have.” she pressed herself against my side and placed her head on my shoulder. “I’m sorry, Tom. Sorry that you went through what you have.”

  “It’s not your fault,” I said as I wrapped an arm around her waist. “I wish I could be the badass who would say that he has already come to terms with it and he was good. But I am not. I can say that you have given me a new life in more ways than one.” I tilted Bridget’s head up and planted a soft kiss on her lips. “Thank you for that.”

  As Bridget stared up at me she reached out and pressed a red button on the elevators panel. We were jostled a little as the car came to a stop. She pushed my against the wall and kissed me with passion and hunger. I returned her kissed with equal measure.

  Bridget broke our kiss and turned to face the wall she hiked up her dress letting me see her perfect round ass and lack of underwear. “You going to stare all day or are you going to give me what I want?”

  “Right,” I snapped out of my stupor. My fingers hit the button to deactivate my armor and I dropped my shorts freeing my erect member.

  Once I was spent, I stood there not moving. Our deep breaths mingled as we rested with our faces touching. Bridget was the first of us to move by running a hand over my bare ass.

  “That was good,” she purred. “When we get a chance, I’m going to ride you until your man-parts fall off.”

  I felt my softening member begin to harden at that thought. “Oh,” Bridget gasped. “You like the sound of that huh?”

  “Yes I do,” I whispered in her ear.

  “We really need to get going, I’m afraid.”

  “I figured as much,” I sighed. Before letting the blue skinned beauty free I kissed her on the cheek. Bridget lowered her dress as I pulled my shorts back on. She faced me with a wide grin, then pressed the button to get the elevator going. My fingers found the button to activate my armor …

  “Wait,” Bridget said stopping me. “You should leave it off for now. It will only get in the way once we get there.”

  “Okay, you’re the boss. Anything else you can tell me? Like why we have to hurry?” I asked.

  “Yeah, about that, Tom.” Her grin turned into an apologetic smile which made me more than a little nervous. “Remember the invading troops and their assault ship?”

  “Like I could forget,” I chuckled.

  “Well they didn’t get here on their own. Those ships have no means of traveling between solar systems, at least not in a timely manner. And by timely I mean not having whole generations of people live and die on ship before reaching a destination.”

  “You’re telling me there is a bigger ship out there. One that poses a threat to us and the Liberator?” I asked.

  “That about sums it up,” Bridget said as she shrugged.

  “You don’t seem too worried.”

  She slid up against me resting her hand on my exposed stomach. Her warm hand felt nice on my skin. “Because we have you, Tom. And what I am about to show you. Together you will be invincible.” There was a hint of mania in her tone that scared me a little.

  The elevator stopped before I could respond. “We’re here,” Bridget said. “Epsilon twelve tango six.”

  A panel slid back into the wall and lowered out of sight leaving behind a black mat screen. Bridget placed her hand on the screen and it lit up with blue light. Then the elevator door opened and my jaw hit the ground.

  On the other side of the threshold was a glass wall that let me get a good looked at a metal head that had to be fifty stories tall. It looked like a cross between a Gundam and an eighties giant robot head. “Ho. Ly. Shit.”

  “That is just a small part of it,” Bridget said. “You still have to see the rest of it.”

  “What is it?” I felt stupid as soon as the words left my mouth. It was a giant robot, but why?

  “It’s the ultimate weapon,” Bridget said. “It was created to dominate the galaxy by the very same heroes we entrusted to save our galaxy. We stole it, and this ship, to try and turn this weapon against them. That was easier than we thought it would be. The real problem came when we tried to pilot the thing. Three talented pilots volunteered and died.”

  A wheeled vehicle the size of a golf cart rolled out soundlessly and stopped in front of us. It had no driver or steering wheel to control it with. Bridget stepped into the hall and onto the cart. I followed taking the seat closest to the elevator after she slide across to the far side. The cart was small so our shoulders touched in the middle and my right arm hung out of the cart.

  The vehicle sped off causing me to grab the oh shit bar in front of me out of reflex. That made Bridget laugh. “I’m glad you’re enjoying yourself,” I said.

  “The first time someone pops their cart cherry is always good for a laugh,” Bridget said.

  My eye drifted up from her face to the massive body of the man shaped machine. It was all blacks and dark greys. The shape was very much that of an old anime cartoon like Mazinger Z or Grendizer, but the finer details took on a Gundam feel. In that there were far more details than the plain shapes of the old school toons. The combination was enough to create a unique machine that would get it’s own fame as long as the story behind it shone bright enough.

  The cart stopped right about the beltline of the robot. A passage opened up on my side of the cart leading bac into the ship, not that the robot wasn’t in the ship. Seeing the hallway and the glass wall brought out a new set of questions.

  “Is the robot in the ship?” I hadn’t gotten close enough to the transparent wall to see if it sat in a fully enclosed space.

  “Good question. It is, however, the space it sits in is not pressurized. In a moments notice we can drop it out of the belly and have it zooming off to battle,” She replied. “Go ahead and hop out. We have a few people to meet.”

  The passage lead to a series of labs and shops. Bridget lead me past them all allowing for a view of their activities in each through a large window next their respective doors. At the end of the hall was a door not accompanied by a window. Bridget knocked after we reached and we waited.

  The door slipped into the wall and a short portly man in a suit stood in the open hatch smiling. The most prominent features were his three nostril nose which was twice as wide as an average human nose, and his skin had a maroon hue. “Senator Lorn, so good to see you again. This must be our hero,” He gestured to me.

  “He is indeed, director. This,” She stepped aside to give the guy plenty of room to get to me, “is Tom Penchant. As you can see he has been augmented with the Masters Gear and should be capable of activating the Titan. Tom, this is Director Grahphan Chulocke. He runs the research and repair facilities for the Titan robot.”

  “Director,” I said as I nodded at the man.

  “Ha,” Director Chulocke chuckled as he stepped forward and grabbed my shoulder with a surprisingly strong grip. “I should not be surprised to see the stoic greeting of a tough g
uy. Well young man, it is a pleasure to meet you. I look forward to working with you and getting to know you. But for now, due to the severity of the situation I am afraid we have to get going.”

  “I understand,” I said. “How do I get into the machine?” I asked.

  “Ah yes, you need to follow me to the lab where we will get you set up and inside of the Titan. I hope you are as excited as I am. This is an exciting day, my friend. Very exciting indeed. This is …” as the man took the lead he continued to mumble under his breath.

  Director Chulocke lead us to the last room before the viewing room, as it were. Inside I saw the first truly exotic looking alien. Short blue hair covered her where her black and grey coveralls didn’t. Her large ears stuck straight up a foot in length and she had mostly human features with the exception of a small nose that looked more feline than human.

  “Ariella, I would like you to meet Tom. He is the recipient of the Masters Gear,” Director Chulocke said.

  Before she spoke the woman’s nose twitched like she had caught a scent. She shifted her gaze to Bridget and sniffed again then smiled a sly little smile.

  “It's a pleasure to meet you, Tom. I am really looking forward to working with you.” She looked at Bridget then. “But maybe not as close as some of our associates.”

  “Bitch,” Bridget whispered.

  “Oh, real mature,” Ariella said.

  “Bite me.”

  “So what do we do now?” I asked. Last thing I wanted was to get in the middle of whatever these two had going.

  “Oh, right,” Ariella said. “Unfortunately, time is short so we kind of have to skip all the prep and testing and go straight for the gusto.” She smiled at me showing off her long incisors.

  “What exactly were you going to test?” I asked with a hearty dose of skepticism.

  Chapter 10

  “Look, I won’t bullshit you,” Ariella said as she grabbed my arm and lead me away from Director Chulocke and Bridget. “We have not had a chance to test the Titan. We don’t even know how all the systems work, but all the information we have says it was tested and functioned to spec.”

  “Where did that info come from?” I asked.

  “It was in the data we acquired when we stole the Titan. Don’t worry. I saw the data personally and the success rate of their testing was pretty high.”

  “Oh, okay,” I said even though my doubts still remained.

  We stopped in front of a table that had a chest piece similar to the one I wore but a lot more streamlined. It was the same black and grey as the Titan.

  Ariella tapped the chest piece I wore. “You need to remove this and wear the Titan armor.”

  I lifted my arms and looking down moved my head from side to side. Not once had I considered taking off my armor so I didn't think to ask how. A sharp snap sounded from behind me and the left side of my armor came loose. Looking back I saw Bridget smile at me as she move to the next fastener.

  “Thanks,” I said returning a smile.

  “This is all moving too fast, and I’m sorry about that. Maybe once you deal with that ship you can get some proper training on all this stuff,” Bridget said.

  “That would be good. I need a crash course on all things space stuff,” I replied.

  Ariella pushed the new armor into my abdomen with enough force to push me back a step. “Put this on, quickly.”

  “Yeah sure, just as soon as I can breath again,” I snapped while fastening the armor in place. It had a new care smell I found comforting

  “Nobody likes a smartass,” Ariella said.

  “Same goes for pushy people,” I shot back while twisting torso to get a feel for my new gear.

  “Lucky for you, you lack the brain matter to be considered smart,” she retorted.

  “Lucky for you, you push like a one armed toddler.”

  Ariella stepped right up to me so our noses touched. Her whiskers, and it was crazy that she had them, tickled my face. “You want to go, little man?”

  My momma taught me about the follies of hitting a woman. If Ariella had been a man she would already be on her ass nursing a broken jaw. Thing is, I didn’t know the rules pertaining to this sort of thing in space. “Any time you want to dance my card is free,” I said.

  “I have no idea what that means, but I’m guessing it means yes,” Ariella said. Then she kissed me. I’m not talking quick peck on the cheek like some inept high schooler on his first date, too scared to go for it. No, her tongue invaded my mouth like it was Normandy and she was storming the beach. Once again I was unsure of the custom so I rolled with it sliding me tongue between her long teeth and giving her a thorough oral exam.

  “I don’t think we have time for this,” Bridget said.

  I pulled back and looked at the woman I had just fucked with wide eyes. The kiss took me by surprise and made me forget where I was, and more importantly who I was with.

  “It’s okay, Tom. We space people, as you would say, are not the monogamous prudes you Earthers seem to like being. As long as you give me a piece once in a while I don’t care of you fuck every Tom, Dick, or Henrietta on this tub.”

  My eyes opened wider and my jaw hit the floor. Space had been awesome so far, but with that one sentence it became so much better.

  “Your species is one of those, huh?” Ariella asked.

  “Yeah I guess so,” I replied Thoughts of what life could be in space distracted me from lifting my jaw off the floor.

  “You ever been off world and done it with someone that didn’t look like you?” Her eyes flicked to Bridget and back. “I mean more than just a different skin color.”

  “No, just Bridget.” There was no point in hiding my affair with Bridget since Ariel didn’t care.

  “After you kick ass, come and see me. I think it’s passed time to broaden your worldview a little.”

  “I couldn’t agree more,” I said.

  The alien before me ran her longue tongue up my cheek before stepping back and gave my armor a once over. One hand she placed against my chest while the other tapped at the screen attached to her arm. The armor did the same liquid metal thing the last set had done. This suit was black and grey like Titan but unlike the last armor, was streamlined.

  “High speed, low drag,” I said looking down at myself.

  “I suppose that is apt,” Ariella said.

  “I’m going back to the bridge, Tom,” Bridget said. “I’ll be guiding you from there once you get Titan out into space.”

  “Sounds good, Bridget. I’m going to be counting on you to get me through this,” I replied keenly aware that my credentials were lacking big time when it came to piloting a giant robot in space.

  “And we are all counting on you,” she replied before walking away.

  As Bridget left, I noted that Director Chulocke was gone and I was all alone with Ariella. My mind went to places it shouldn’t while I still had a job to do. With an effort of will I shut down those thoughts and got back to my new sexy alien friend.

  “What now, Ariella?” I asked.

  “Now we get you into the cockpit. As you are doing that I am going to sync the armor and your Masters Gear to Titan. It’ll be a little uncomfortable, but it just has to be done once.”

  “Okay, how do I get over there?” I pointed to the exit and the shape beyond the glass wall.

  An iris hatch opened above us and a cable with a handle dropped from the ceiling. Ariella pantomimed grabbing a bar and I got the hint. No sooner had my fingers wrapped around the bar I was yanked straight up from the room to a tube which went by in a blur as my speed increased. The tube became a tunnel and I was pulled forward a few hundred yards and came to a dead end.

  “You need to let go,” I heard Ariella in my ear.

  “Say what now?” I asked as I looked at the forty foot drop below me.

  “I know we just met, but you are going to have to trust me, Tom.”

  “I can do that, I guess. Here goes nothing.”

  My hands released
and the floor rushed up to meet me. Just before impact, and yes I was looking down the whole time, another iris opened. The hole I was free falling down angled up and became a slide which my ass hit hard and bounced off of a couple times. The further I went the more the slide leveled off until it was almost a flat surface.

  My speed dropped to nothing, then the floor dropped out from under me. There was a moment when my balls floated up into to my stomach and I had to fight the urge to laugh, and cry. Something soft caught me and an Iris above me closed. Pinpricks of light came to life and a gentle hum surrounded me.

  “Stay calm for this part,” Ariella said to me. “The machine is going to grab you and harness you up. It will just take a few seconds.”

  The person that designed the slide from hell should have taken notes from the designer of Titan. Mechanical arms swept down all around me and scooped my up like I was a baby. Hoses and cables were attached to my arms, legs, torso, and neck at various intervals. Not once did the thing jostle me or make me feel uncomfortable. The last thing to happen was my armor’s helmet liquefying covering my head and causing everything to go black.

  A burst of light blinded me and I had to blink several times to see what happened. My view changed from the black nothing to metal plates ribbed with I-beams. There was a sense of laying down which grew more certain by the second.

  “You doing alright in there, Tom?” Bridget’s voice came through my communicator.

  “I’m fine so far,” I replied.

  “I read your vitals as steady and Titan is accepting the handshake,” Ariella said.

  “Handshake?” I asked.

  “The initial connection between your Masters Gear and Titan. Think of it as your Masters Gear logging in. The first time takes the longest then … oh,” said a surprised Ariella.

  “Oh? What oh?” I asked.

  “Talk to us, Ariella,” Bridget said.

  “Something unexpected going on,” Ariella said. “I’m reading another set of brain waves. It's like …” Her words were replaced by the click clack of furious typing.

  “I have awoken,” boomed a deep voice. “Hello, Pilot. I am Titan, what do I call you?”