“Speak, Matara Cassidy Hamilton of Earth and Kalquor,” the head judge invited.
The court page’s caling her to the stand had resulted in a heaving undercurrent of whispered conversation from the galery. It ebbed, and breathless anticipation hung over the room.
She bowed her head in respect to the panel before continuing. “I petition the court to not pass a sentence of mind wipe, both as a concerned Galactic citizen and the last blood relative of General Patrick Hamilton. I find the option an abomination, a punishment of barbaric proportions.”
The Alneusian judge signaled for her silence. She waited with hard-won patience as the judges muttered amongst themselves. Onlookers buzzed until the Alneusian spoke.
“Do we understand you correctly, Matara? You prefer your grandfather face the possibility of execution rather than a new life?”
“It would not be a new life for him, Your Honor. It would be his body, yes, but it would not be him. The mind wipe would make him an empty shel, to be filed with someone else’s idea of what he should be.”
“And he wil escape true justice!” someone in the galery yeled furiously. “Execute the bastard!”
The outburst prompted more cries for blood, and guards escorted several people out of the galery. Cassidy waited for silence to descend upon the courtroom once more before continuing.
“I do not ask for leniency, Your Honors. I have no love for this man, though I share his blood. But I have been the victim of losing part of my identity myself and subjected to false memories. I tel you from harsh experience that the sentence of mind wipe is more inhumane than any other fate I can imagine. If you’ve never suffered such a loss of self, you cannot know the pain and horror it inflicts. I would endure five lifetimes of torture than face such a sentence. And I would never wish it upon anyone, not even Earth’s executioner.” Cassidy’s voice remained steady, even though tears coursed down her cheeks. The courtroom held its breath in complete silence.
At last the Head Judge nodded. “We have heard you, Matara, and we wil take your plea under consideration. Thank you for sharing your concerns with us. There are no more arguments for sentencing, so this court wil adjourn. Our decision wil be announced when it is made.”
With that, the judges rose and left. The comforting bulk of one of Cassidy’s mates was at her back, and she sagged against it as Hamilton was escorted from the room. He was as stone-faced as ever, but he mouthed ‘thank you’ just before he disappeared. Lidon, escorting him, gave her a solemn wink before he too left the room.
“Wel put, my sweet,” Degorsk whispered in her ear.
Tranis’ hand covered hers. “I would certainly discard the mind wipe option after hearing that was I on the panel.” Cassidy smiled at the two men, wiping the wetness from her face. “For what it’s worth,” she said.
“Excuse me, Degorsk? With your Dramok’s permission, may I have a word with your clan?”
Cassidy felt her Imdiko stiffen. They al turned to face the speaker.
Kivokan stood a few feet away, his smile as charming as ever, his attitude one of supreme reasonableness. Despite there being no threat whatsoever in his demeanor, Cassidy felt a twinge of anxiety.
They can call mind wiping humane all they want, but it’s not. This man erases people.
Tranis stepped forward, putting himself between Kivokan and his two clanmates. It was the natural reaction of a Dramok to an unfamiliar Kalquorian male; as clan leader he assumed a position of superiority. As a Dramok with a Matara, he staked his claim with any strange man. There was nothing in his behavior for Kivokan to take offense to.
Underscoring the normalcy of his actions, Tranis’ voice was perfectly even. “You may speak, Dramok.”
Kivokan sketched a bow. “First and foremost, may I extend my appreciation for your brave actions in bringing an end to the war, Admiral Tranis. I have often told Degorsk how your work may have very wel saved al of Kalquor.”
“That remains to be seen. However, thank you for the accolades.”
Kivokan looked at him with some surprise. “Then you haven’t heard the news from Kalquor today? With so many Earther Mataras giving birth these last few years, as wel as the impeding pregnancies, the clock to our culture’s extinction has been turned back two more centuries. We have real hope our way of life wil survive in the form of Kalquorian-Earther hybrids.” Tranis exchanged a cautious smile with Degorsk. “That is very good news.”
Kivokan bobbed his head in agreement. “In fact, we may see the threat of extinction erased within our lifetimes.” He bowed to Cassidy. “Your race’s fertility and its ability to overwrite our damaged DNA has been our salvation. Thank you for taking a clan, Matara.”
Cassidy considered teling him she’d been clanned against her wil and then thought better of it. She was now happy to be with her three men, no matter how their bond had come to pass. Reminding Tranis and Degorsk of how they’d forced her acquiescence would only grieve the two men. Tranis already carried more than his share of guilt.
To Kivokan she said, “I am happy to know the Empire wil survive. The Kalquorian bloodline is one that should not disappear.” She smiled up at her mates.
“I am glad to hear it, Matara. Just as I am grieved to hear your concerns for your grandfather should he undergo the mind cleansing.” Cassidy’s smile faltered, fel away. “It is wrong to steal people’s identities, Dramok. I know that better than most.” Kivokan gave her a conciliatory smile that was more than just a touch condescending. “But General Hamilton has never been happy forced to live at odds with his natural inclinations and brainwashed by a fanatical government. Is what I propose so different from what he’s already gone through?”
Cassidy had to admit, at least to herself, that he had a point. Hamilton had been denied the chance to be the man nature intended. Stil, it felt fundamentaly wrong what Kivokan would do to him.
“Two wrongs don’t make a right, Doctor. What might have been for the general is a moot point. He is the man he is, and to make him someone else wil not change anything, especialy at this late date.” Cassidy sighed. “You can’t rewrite history or restore the opportunities forever lost. Patrick Hamilton should die with his mind intact.” Kivokan raised his gaze to Degorsk. “She is a little philosopher, isn’t she? Your devout Nobek’s influence perhaps?” Cassidy saw how her Imdiko’s brows drew together. She knew he took offense to Kivokan’s treatment of her, as if she was someone to be talked over, not to.
With a muscle jumping in his jaw, Degorsk evenly replied, “You would be wel advised not to argue with her. My Matara’s thoughts are her own, and the mind they come from is quite formidable.” Kivokan chuckled. “Is that so? Then I suppose we must agree to disagree, Matara Cassidy. Thank you for such an engaging discussion.” He left them with a courtly bow and strode jauntily out of the nearly emptied courtroom. Degorsk released a chestful of air. “I realy dislike that man. He treats everyone like they don’t have the sense to scratch an itch.”
Tranis snorted. “Be glad you’re not Govi, having to keep your thumb on that.”
Lidon was suddenly at their side. “Was that Kivokan speaking to you? What did I miss?”
Cassidy smiled up at him, glad to have her clan close to her. “He accused me of being influenced by you.”
“We should be so lucky.”
* * * *
With Lidon hovering nearby, Degorsk took the feeding tube from the port surgicaly inserted in General Hamilton’s stomach. The Earther, lying on his back on a table in the brig’s medical section, stared up at the ceiling. Stasis bands kept his body immobile.
On their way here, Lidon had told Degorsk what was in store. With the man’s sentence set to be passed the next day, Degorsk knew this would be the last time he’d see him. Tomorrow the judges would hand down their decision, and the former general would be taken away to his fate, whatever that may be. Only after his departure would the public learn the Galactic Council Court’s decision. That would keep would-be assassins from dealing thei
r own judgment, fair as it may be.
Their discussion on the way to the brig had been in low-voiced whispers. As always, the men’s chief concern was for Cassidy. They were very afraid of the effect a sentence of mind wipe would have on her.
As Degorsk put away the instruments that had fed Hamilton his evening meal, the general spoke, startling the Imdiko. Hamilton hadn’t said a word to him since Armageddon, his silence unshakeable. So to hear the strong tenor directed at him and for it not to be shouting religious nonsense was a shock.
Stil staring at the ceiling, Hamilton said, “You wil take care of her?”
After a moment during which Degorsk wrestled with whether or not he should reply, he finaly decided to do so. “Of course. Cassidy is the center of our lives.” Hamilton sighed. His gaze flicked to meet the Imdiko’s. “Thank you.”
“I don’t do it for you.”
“I know. Thank you anyway.”
Earther and Kalquorian looked at each other. Degorsk took Hamilton’s hand in his, palm to palm, and squeezed it tight. The general blinked in surprise, then squeezed back.
Finished with this last duty to Cassidy’s grandfather, Degorsk rose from his side. “Good journey, General, wherever it may take you.”
* * * *
Lidon was caled away first thing the next morning. Cassidy knew what that meant: the sentence had been decided, and now her grandfather would be transported off the space station before it was announced.
“They’l contact you in about an hour to give you the news since you’re his blood relative,” he said, puling body armor on over his formsuit. “An hour later, they’l make the public announcement, by which time he’l be wel on his way to whatever his destination is.”
Cassidy hugged herself, nervous for what the outcome would be. The sight of Lidon wearing protective gear and holstering a percussion blaster didn’t help her anxiety one bit. That his task of escorting the general to his transport was so dangerous put her on a razor’s edge. “Be careful, okay?” she said.
He winked at her. “Try not to worry, my pet.” A quick kiss and Lidon was gone.
Tranis half-rose from his computer vid where he was booking their transportation back to Kalquor. Degorsk stopped him with a muttered aside in his ear. Tranis nodded and sat back down. He resumed teling the computer what he wanted in Kalquorian as Degorsk came to Cassidy.
“May I offer you a distraction?” the Imdiko offered, putting his arms around her and puling her close.
She hesitated. “I’d say yes, but I feel a little weird about having fun when a man is about to find out he’s facing execution, life imprisonment, or having his identity erased.”
“Perhaps a massage then to take your mind off everything.”
“I’d like that.” Cassidy smiled up at Degorsk. He was so good to her.
They went to the bedroom, and Degorsk undressed her with hands as gentle as if he disrobed a baby. Under his direction, she laid on her stomach.
He rubbed warm lotion over her back, and she sighed. The man had incredible hands, probably a result of being chief medical officer and surgeon on spaceships for so many years. He found tension she didn’t know she was holding, smoothing knots in her neck, shoulders, and back with expertise. Cassidy floated in contentment, her worries retreating to the back of her mind. As he moved lower down her body, his big, capable hands kneading her buttocks, she started to become aroused. She tried to feel guilty about that. Her grandfather faced a harsh future, whatever it may turn out to be. Shouldn’t she be mindful of that, she wondered?
But those clever hands that knew her body so wel were impossible to defy. Her body was heating in response to having them so close to her favorite parts. She slid her thighs a little apart in silent invitation.
Degorsk’s deep chuckle, filed with carnal knowledge, tightened her insides. “Have you changed your mind, my love?” he asked.
“When have I ever been able to resist you?” she sighed.
Degorsk kept rubbing her rear, but his thumbs grazed the puckered rosette of her tighter passage. “This is begging to be wel filed.” Laxan, as the Kalquorians caled it, always made Cassidy nervous. It was the most taboo act according to Earth’s former regime, and she’d never quite gotten over al her inhibitions where it was concerned. But its very forbidden nature seemed to make her arousal more rather than less.
The Kalquorians’ second sex organs meant almost every instance of intercourse included anal penetration. But being taken from behind, with the larger cock piercing that tight sleeve, seemed more corrupt.
Her clan made laxan a physical pleasure of gargantuan proportions, but Cassidy just couldn’t shake the sense of doing something sinful when she engaged in it.
Despite her discomfort, she offered no refusal when Degorsk slid her thighs farther apart and separated her ass cheeks with one hand to expose her most secret flesh. He slid his fingers against her slit, wetting them in her flowing juices. He rubbed the moisture al over her anus before dipping one long finger inside. He moved it in and out, gently stretching the tight sleeve before adding a second finger.
Taboo or not, Cassidy couldn’t help but enjoy the feeling of him preparing her for decadence. Heady delight, combined with doing something she thought of as truly naughty, made her insides tumble with growing rapture. A light moan drifted from her lips. She wondered how it looked to Degorsk, to see his fingers work in and out of her, knowing she offered her greatest surrender to him.
Another thick finger pressed in, increasing the pressure. Cassidy closed her eyes, giving herself over to the pleasurable ache. There was no sense denying how much she loved submitting to her mates in every way. She would attempt any form of pleasing them, simply because they wished it. Once upon a time she had been their prisoner, and they had forced their mastery over her. When she had finaly accepted her place as their Matara, they had given her equal say in their clan. In sex, she preferred their dominance. They accepted this control over her because she gave it.
The greatest gift love had bequeathed her was trust in her clan. They made her feel safe, even when their bedroom play took on disciplinary overtones.
Had Cassidy refused Degorsk laxan, he may have overruled her. He might have gone as far as tying her up and forcing her to accept his desires. In the past she had struggled against him and the other two, flailing wildly in an attempt to deny them the warmth of her body. She never won these battles, and the men took great delight in using her roughly on those occasions and punishing her for her disobedience.
Cassidy usualy fought them when they’d done something particularly nice for her. Being alowed to answer the cal of their alpha natures was a reward for Kalquorian men, and the ilusion that they were forcibly claiming their mate spoke to their more primitive needs. Had Cassidy truly wanted to keep them from taking what they wanted, she only had to say the word sholt, Kalquorian for stop.
Being controled was a fantasy. It was Cassidy who ultimately commanded, who told the men what joys they could take from her. That she, a tiny little Earther, was in charge of the three muscled behemoths gave her the greatest thril of al. She liked that she owned ultimate power over their pleasure. But she liked it the way a miser likes having piles of money while never buying anything extravagant.
She had never spoken the word sholt. It was enough to know she could.
Degorsk’s fingers slipped from her rear entrance, and he rose from the bed to strip his formsuit off. Cassidy peeked between the strands of her platinum blond hair that had falen over her face, enjoying the sight of her Imdiko’s body being revealed.
His frame was long with lithe muscles, the chest, biceps, abdomen, and thighs carved like a sculpture. His cocks were exclamation points, jutting straight out from his groin, and Cassidy shivered with nervous anticipation. The larger of the two, slightly browner than the rest of his skin, looked impossibly large. No matter that she had entertained Degorsk’s darker desires before; she lay in aroused dread of what he would do to her with that thick appe
ndage.
He loosened the waist-long plait of hair, letting it fal in thick waves to frame his chiseled torso. He knew how Cassidy loved his hair free and faling around her body when he made love to her.
Degorsk climbed back onto the bed, kneeling between her splayed thighs. Cassidy trembled as he slowly laid his body over hers, feeling his chest against her upper back, his bely pressing to the concave bow of her lower back, and his turgid, damp heat like a brand between her buttocks. His lips tickled the back of her neck, and his hair spiled over hers, melding black and her platinum strands on the deep blue bed cover.
He lifted a little, his hand moving between them to position his cocks at her openings. Cassidy shivered as the bulet tip of the larger organ probed ever so slightly at her rear entrance and pressed in a little more than an inch until the other cock’s shorter length found her pussy.
Degorsk never said a word as he readied to claim what was his. His hands covered hers, clasping them and puling them over her head to pin them to the bed. Now Cassidy was utterly helpless, completely vulnerable to his passions. She was unable to stop the whimper that trembled from her lips.
He growled in response, asserting his dominance over her. His cocks slid further in, widening the channels as the tapered appendages grew thicker at their bases. Steadily he made her sheath him, and her back orifice ached as it reluctantly accepted his girth.
Cassidy’s breath sobbed in and out as she made herself relax to accept the invasion. She was Degorsk’s woman, his chosen mate, and he ruled her at this moment. His careful preparation kept the throbbing of her tightest orifice from erupting into real pain.
Dirty. Sinful. Bestial. The words her mind whispered only made her acquiescence sweeter. Feeling helpless to deny her Imdiko such a depraved act, feeling that she had no choice but to bear the discomfort turned her sense of guilt into something else: ardor.
A switch clicked in her head as it always did, and the ache of accepting Degorsk’s flesh in such a profane manner bloomed into eye-roling pleasure. Her quiet sobs morphed into moans of delight as he found his end, seating his entire lengths inside her. He held stil for a few moments, letting her feel how ful he made her, the pressure readying her to burst.
Alien Interludes Page 16