Portal

by Sydney Morgann

  “Isn't cloning illegal?” Malcolm asked as he toyed with the congealed food on his plate.

  “Yeah, but who cares?” Kramer spat. “We don't give a flying fuck if the government wants to keep it to themselves, cloning their brainless soldiers, while the rest of us have to sweat to make a living. Before we found this place, we had to dig the damned ore ourselves and the atomics we used killed more men than not...”

  “Shut your hole, Kramer,” Scorpion drawled while refilling his goblet. “They don't give a rat's ass about how you hate to work for a living, and neither do I.”

  “Where did you find this?” Cea asked, inspecting the gold embossed crest at the top of the page. “I mean the book?”

  “Does it matter?” Kramer slurred after glaring at his boss.

  “No, I suppose it doesn't,” she replied as she struggled to control the tide of rage building inside. “But, just out of curiosity, tell me anyway.”

  Kramer shrugged and downed the rest of his drink, spilling some of it onto his empty plate in the process. “Crowe gave it to us. Who else? That guy is into everything.”

  “Crowe? You know him?” she asked, deliberately keeping all emotion out of her voice.

  “Sure. He's the big honcho who owns this ship and he used to own yours, too, or didn't you know?” Scorpion asked, his eyes beginning to shine with suspicion.

  Cea smiled, took a deep breath, which forced her breasts further out of the armor molded around them, and answered, “Of course. I met him over two years ago. We shared a lot more than just a long trip with each other.” She winked.

  Kramer pounded the table. “Dammit, I knew there was a good reason she flies a ship with his beacon in it. Only a special pussy would get that from Crowe,” he roared. “By damn! You must be good, girlie. Very good,” he added, while sizing her up with a newly acquired sense of respect and admiration.

  She purred, “More than very good, mate. Crowe was happy anyway.” She paused, lowered her eyelashes, and asked, “By any chance, do you know where he is now? I lost touch and, to be honest with you, I wouldn't mind another night with him.”

  “Shit, lady. No wonder you don't want me,” Scorpion laughed. “Crowe's got all the power and money. Now, I wouldn't touch you with a ten-foot pole. He'd kill me if he knew I even asked.”

  “You don't look afraid, Scorpion,” Malcolm observed.

  “He wouldn't take me out now, not when he needs me to bring him the ore he needs for that portal thing he's working on...” Scorpion dropped his goblet, clamped his mouth shut, and glared at Malcolm. “You didn't hear that, you hear me, fella?” The menace in his voice bordered on hysteria.

  “Don't worry about him ... or me, Scorpion. Where is he? I know he'll reward you for sending me back to him.” She leaned forward, pushing her breasts even further out of her top until they threatened to fall out altogether.

  This time, neither Scorpion nor Kramer were interested in what her breasts might or might not do. Kramer's face paled and he looked away. King looked, but the lust faded from his eyes. “I can't tell you without his permission, but I can give you this much ... for a nice, sisterly kiss,” he replied, forgetting Crowe's ire in his drunken state.

  “Sure, love. A kiss wouldn't hurt anybody,” Cea purred, now pushing her breasts against the edge of the table, exposing one pink nipple above the bodice.

  Scorpion fixated on it, licked dry lips, and said, “He's made a base inside a hollow asteroid.” He wet his lips again then suppressed a groan when she leaned back and the nipple slipped back inside its metal covering. “I can't tell you where, though. So don't ask,” he added in a rush of words. He stood, swaying against the table, and reached out for her. “Now, for that kiss. A promise is a promise.” He licked his lips again.

  Cea braced herself and stood up.

  The sound of a claxon ripped through the air. Cea jumped, grabbed her sword and backed up against a wall. Malcom moved with her, alert and searching the faces of the two men, who now displayed signs of becoming sober fast.

  “Boss! There's a big fuckin’ ship coming this way, and he don't see us! Looks like an Earth freighter. We hit the honeypot! That thing must be carrying at least two hundred tons of something worth money. We need you on the bridge!” a tinny voice screamed out of an invisible speaker.

  “To the bridge!” Scorpion ordered, running from the room. Kramer and the crew members quickly followed.

  “Well, that wasn't much of a dinner, I must say,” Malcolm complained, straightening his black jumpsuit.

  “Can it, Malcolm. We have to get back to the ship. Fast!” Cea shouted as she sprinted for the door.

  Chapter Three

  The Blackbird flung short bursts of laser fire at the big freighter in an attempt to cripple and keep her from leaving. The freighter responded by throwing up shields Cea knew wouldn't hold against the pirate's firepower.

  The pirate ship maneuvered around the back of the freighter, trying to get in position to disable her engines. Both ships moved as if they were wading through liquid molasses.

  Surprised at how slow Scorpion's ship maneuvered, Cea wondered how the pirate's criminal career had lasted as long as it had? The question was fleeting in the face of a situation that could very soon turn ugly.

  She quickly unstrapped the sword hilt on her back, fixed it back to its wall brace, then threw herself into the captain's chair while Malcolm slid into the copilot's. They began the routine to warm the engines back up to speed.

  “Come on, Mother. We don't have time for this. That maniac will shoot our asses, too, if we don't get out of the way,” Cea intoned, while splitting her attention between the big Earth ship turning away from the Blackbird as it tried to flee, but instead headed directly for her ship, and the computer's rapid activity on her readout screen.

  “Freighter Blackbird! Freighter Blackbird! Cease fire! We are traders. I repeat...” a voice boomed over the cabin's comlink.

  “It would seem the Earth ship is another pirate ship, but Scorpion doesn't acknowledge it,” Malcolm observed as he punched in a navigational solution for the quickest escape route.

  Before Cea could comment, a flash of white light momentarily overwhelmed the Europa's screens and blanked out all visuals. Something large and metallic collided with the hull so hard the Europa rang like a doorbell. The tiny ship fell away from the damaged Earth vessel. The freighter's hull began to break up, pieces of it tumbling away into space, some barely missing the Europa.

  Cea wrestled with the controls and managed to keep her ship upright and stationary. “Son of a bitch! What was that?” she swore and punched up the data screen for answers.

  “I'd say Scorpion miscalculated and blew up his quarry,” Malcolm replied in a monotone. The resulting fireworks continued to stream across the view screen. “Question is, did the Blackbird go up with her?”

  In answer, the pirate ship moved out of a swirl of vapor and debris and into sight, listing slightly to the right, but still moving with reasonable speed.

  “Figures,” Cea muttered. “Only assholes like him have that kind of luck.”

  Malcolm leaned forward and peered at the disabled freighter, with an intense interest. “There's another ship right in front of her,” he said, pointing at a small, streamlined shuttle moving fast to get out of the Blackbird's way.

  “Blackbird, this is the White Dwarf. We are not armed. We came to trade...” a female voice announced over the comlink.

  Cea turned to Malcolm. “I'm glad we aren't in the middle of this shit.” She snorted with disgust. “Damned asshole Scorpion blowing ships up without waiting to find out who they are. More assholes like him showing up to do even more stupid shit. Damned debris hammering my beautiful Europa. Damn!”

  A message from Mother appeared on her data screen. Her eyes widened. “Son of a bitch! Damn it to hell! Fuckin’ bastards!” Cea bellowed.

  The message read: Danger! Critical damage. Losing fuel core integrity. Security breach! Shields down. Hull compromised. Conf
irmed status.

  Malcolm didn't bother to respond to her anger. The same message displayed on his screen. He was busy punching in diagnostic repair codes to the affected parts of the ship. When finished, he stood. “I'll suit up and go out. I can repair part of this, enough to get us to a base for repairs, but not all of it.” Then he turned and sprinted down the passageway toward the storage bay and his space suit.

  Cea slammed her hand against the arm of her chair, leaned back and muttered, “Damned Scorpion will pay for this, one way or another.”

  Her attention flashed once more to the tiny shuttle as it zigzagged like a drunken hummingbird trying to evade a hawk. In spite of her anger, Cea admired the skill of the pilot and hoped he would escape. “Whoever that pilot is, he or she is worth ten of that jerk Scorpion,” she muttered, watching the pilot's skill with the small shuttle.

  At that moment, the small ship changed tactics and swung wildly back and forth, taking an unusual evasive action, as the Blackbird's laser cannons came to bear on her.

  “Fuckin’ slimy Feds! Take this!” the voice of Toad shouted over the comlink just before a laser bolt streamed toward the ship. “You forgot your fuckin’ energy core signature gives you away! Take that and that...”

  More laser fire shot out of The Blackbird's starboard ports, barely missing the ducking and weaving shuttle. And the Europa sat directly in the small ship's path. When single shots didn't reach their mark, several guns opened up at once, peppering the space around the shuttle.

  “Outside, Captain,” Malcolm reported. “Starting repairs.”

  Slowly, Cea maneuvered the Europa away from the path of the shuttle, well aware that Malcolm was tethered outside, performing repairs as fast as he could. “Hurry up Malcolm!” she shouted into the ship's internal comlink. “That shuttle seems determined to use us as a shield. The son of a bitch! I can't get us out of here until you get your ass back inside!”

  “I'm working as fast as I can, Captain. If I don't get this repaired, we won't be going anywhere,” his calm voice responded.

  The shuttle veered away from the Europa and executed a loop around and down under her, in a desperate attempt to evade the Blackbird. The pirate ship continued to fire.

  When the Europa bucked like a pissed-off rodeo horse, Cea knew the shuttle was hit and that it happened right under her ship. “Malcolm, are you okay?” she shouted.

  “I grabbed onto the handholds, but my tether is gone. The shield plate is repaired enough for us to protect ourselves, but just barely,” he responded. “I'm coming in,” he added before the comlink clicked off.

  Cea unbuckled and moved quickly down the passageway to the compartment that housed the outer hatch. She watched while Malcolm crawled inside. Once he was safely inside, she shut the outer door and hit the button to fill the chamber with oxygen. When the all-clear sounded, she hit the release and opened the inner door. “How bad is it out there?” she asked as Malcolm pulled off his helmet.

  “Bad. We're leaking core coolant. I plugged it as much as I could with plasteel, but it won't hold for long. The core will overheat if we don't get it fixed properly. The damaged shield plate is repaired, but it, too, needs an expert fix.” He stripped off his space suit and stood naked in front of her. “There are small punctures in the hull from the freighter's debris, but I think it won't pose too big of a problem as long as the shields hold.” He reached for his pants.

  Despite the danger all around them, Cea watched the muscles ripple in his thighs and calves as he lifted his legs one at a time to pull the pants on. Her gaze lingered on the long, thick penis and the lustrous black hair surrounding it. Heat began to rise in her thighs and breasts. Her vagina contracted, moistened and swelled.

  “Then, we better get out of here,” she replied, beating back the desire in her mind, reminding herself they were still in trouble. “Get dressed and come back to the bridge. I'll plot a new course, then we're getting the hell out of here as fast as we can.”

  She sprinted for the bridge and threw herself back into her chair. The damage warnings were gone from the status screen but the Blackbird still lumbered toward her ship.

  “What the hell?” She watched it approach. Its guns locked on her ship. “What the hell are they targeting me for?” she screeched in horror as the huge pirate ship bore down on them.

  Malcolm appeared and took his seat. He punched in the code requesting an update on the ship's status. His fingers froze over his console when the data appeared. “The shuttle is underneath us. It's disabled. Should we retrieve it?” he asked without taking his eyes away from the screen.

  “The son of a bitch is going to get us killed!” she roared while glaring at Malcolm. “Did you know it was down there?”

  He returned her glare with a cocked eyebrow. “Well? We don't have much time.”

  “Can we do it without losing too much time?” She pointed at the Blackbird. “I don't want that bastard to find out this ship is an easy catch now.”

  “I've locked onto the shuttle and extended our shields around it. We can leave now.”

  “Thanks for letting me decide before you did it,” she spat as she put on the control headband. “Mother, navigate plot plan 22BD. Engage,” she ordered. The ship immediately began to move.

  “She's sluggish, but I think we might be able to outrun that fat slug of a barge anyway,” Cea said. The Blackbird listed more to the right and appeared to slow even further. “Thank, Danu. She's stopping.”

  “Captain?” Malcolm turned toward her.

  “What?” She concentrated on the data screen and the information Mother gave her about the star system they slowly entered.

  “There are two humanoids on that shuttle and they appear to still be alive. I think I should go get them.” Malcolm unstrapped once more and rose.

  Cea waved her hand, her attention still on the screen. “Go ahead. There's a lot of information coming in here and I have to figure out where the hell we can find a repair base that won't ask too many questions.” She spared one brief glance at his retreating back. “If they are alive, tell them I want compensation for the damage to my ship.”

  Malcolm left the bridge.

  Cea frowned at the screen. “We're in the middle of bum fuck Egypt, towing a corpse ship, and I probably have two psycho criminals on my hands to boot.” She sighed. “Shit! Where the hell are we going to find a place to set down?”

  “No Bum Fuck Egypt planet in this system. Shall I try a deeper scan?” Mother's tinny voice asked without a trace of humor.

  Chapter Four

  “What took you so long, Malcolm? I can't find one damned planet, moon or asteroid in this whole sector that has a repair facility that isn't overrun with cops, feds and government security checks. Damn it to hell!” Cea roared, still scanning star charts on the screen.

  Alerted to Malcolm's presence by footsteps in the passageway, Cea became aware of even stranger sounds and smells behind her. She spun around, ready to leap up and fight, if necessary. She froze. In the doorway, Malcolm sported a large sack on his back and held up two unconscious passengers. Their spacesuits were torn and covered with black oil and blood.

  “Sick bay!” she shouted and pushed Malcolm back the way he'd come. “I'll be right there after I give Mother a course to follow.”

  Cea quickly replaced her command headset and instructed Mother to scan for any inhabited planet, head for it at top speed, and notify her with all details while she was away from the bridge. After Mother beeped confirmation of the order, Cea ran down the passageway toward the tiny sick bay.

  The woman lay on a bed, short, coppery hair framing a pale face. Malcolm had covered her with a blanket. What was left of her spacesuit was thrown into a corner, along with the sack Malcolm had carried back.

  Malcolm turned to glance at her when she entered the room. “She'll be okay. Just a nasty bump on her head and a minor flesh wound on her arm.”

  “What about him?” Cea nodded at the unconscious male figure lying on the examini
ng table, the right leg of his suit cut off.

  “He'll live but his injuries are slightly worse. He appears to have a laceration on his right thigh; that is the source of all the blood. I stopped the bleeding, so he's in no danger. Other than that, he's suffered smoke inhalation. I have him on oxygen. He should regain consciousness soon.”

  Cea stood beside the woman and studied her smooth face. “Did you find any I.D. on them?” She idly toed the sack lying on the floor then turned her attention back to the woman, who had regained some color in her cheeks. “This one looks too young to be a trader. She couldn't be over twenty-years-old.”

  The woman's eyes opened. “Twenty-six, to be exact, Captain.” She smiled up at Cea, a faint twinkle of humor shone in her green eyes before pain dulled them. “Where am I?” She reached up to gingerly feel the lump on her forehead then flinched.

  “You're on my ship, the Europa. And, thanks to you and your partner...” Cea nodded at the man on the table, who had regained consciousness and now watched her. “...my ship is damaged, maybe even finished.” Cea spat, “Who the hell are you two and why are you here? And before you get any cute ideas, my companion can kill you both on my word, so don't lie to me.”

  Malcolm easily held the man down on the table with one arm as he gently removed the oxygen mask. “Take it easy, sir. You have a bad wound in your leg, and you might break it open again if you don't stay still.”

  “Don't answer, Penny,” the man said, eyeing Malcolm with suspicion. “These people are probably with those cutthroats and will kill us anyway. So don't say a thing.”

  Cea turned and scowled at the man. “I'm no damned pirate or smuggler. I'm an honest captain, and you two just threw my ass into a ton of shit with your antics. If I wanted you dead, you'd be dead by now, not rescued and bandaged. Now, again, who are you and why are you here?”