by Jamie Hawke
“We’ll find the contact,” Trunk said, taking his crew and his dad. “Better to keep a low profile, so you all make for the bar and pretend like you’re having a good time.”
I turned to Charm, grinning.
She laughed. “Looks like you’ll get your fun after all.”
“No,” Andromida cut in, walking past us. “Pretending only. No fun to be had.”
I frowned after her, but she paused, turned back and smiled. “I’m only fucking with you. Shit, you think I don’t need this right now? Hurry your asses before I drink this place out of business.”
“No way,” I muttered to myself, then linked Charm’s arm in my right, Gale’s in my left, and followed her. The other ladies came close behind, Aegriss staying with the ships for security reasons and so as to not raise suspicions with the station’s security bots. Sadly, we decided that the hybrids would have to stay with the ships too, to avoid raising alarms. Letha promised them we’d bring them back some snacks and drinks.
We found our way to the main bar while Trunk’s dad took him and told the rest of us to wait while he made contact with his guy.
“Plus,” Letha added, “if there’s trouble, he can definitely handle himself.”
I was pleased to find that, although the station bartender had no idea what drinks were per my understanding, they had alcohol that closely resembled what could be found on Earth. No mudslide, but I was able to get a close proximity to a Moscow Mule.
“I know you,” Ezra said to Gale as we took our seat.
She glanced over at him, frowned, and said, “Yeah, we go way back.”
He laughed. “No, but I mean I knew the guy who brought you in. Your case was interesting… I mean, with the Citadel—what caused you to crack?”
At Gale’s annoyed look, I interjected. “The point is that she’s on the right path now.”
She gave me a look of appreciation, but said, “Can the same be said for everyone here? My understanding is you were taking in criminals for the other side.”
He nodded. “My mistake, yes. I knew bounty hunters who took contracts for the Citadel, but I mostly did it for Orion Corp and the like, fully ignorant—”
“Yup—” Erupa interjected.
“Fully ignorant,” Ezra continued, “of the bullshit they were involved with.”
“Sour milk?” I asked Erupa.
She shrugged. “Ezra here’s the one who captured us. Me, Tink, and Cheri. If not for him, we’d all be off in our own worlds, doing our thing instead of doing him.”
“Hey now,” Ezra said. “I mean, it’s true, but…”
“So, what then? Stockholm Syndrome?”
Everyone looked at me with confusion, except Letha, who laughed. “They wouldn’t know what that is.” Turning to the others, she explained, “It’s basically where you fall for your captor.”
Cheri pursed her lips, running her thumb over the back of the head of her little, finger-sized teddy bear that was attached to her sword. “Hmm, yeah, that sounds about right. But we’re having fun, you know? I’d rather be here than anywhere else in the universe.”
“And the two of you?” Shimmer asked Erupa and Tink.
“Honestly, what we’re doing now is for the best,” Erupa said. “I was part of the good fight, but never on this level. I give him a hard time, but now that Ezra has his head out of his ass, he’s committed.”
“And not in the Abaddon Asylum way,” Cheri chimed in. “But the good way. Like committed to—”
“We get it,” Charm laughed, eyeing the crazy chick with affection. I’d never say Charm was crazy. Certainly not like this lady. But still, they seemed to share a connection on some level.
Tink still hadn’t replied, and everyone turned to her next.
“Me, huh?” Tink took a drink, considered her teammates, and then reached over to put a hand on Ezra’s. “We’ve been through a lot, and it pisses me off that the others had to stay on the ship. It pisses me off that people are looking at Erupa’s horns,” she glanced at Erupa, who offered her a forced smile, “and also that I have to hide my wings.” I hadn’t even noticed she was wearing the long overcoat to hide her wings until just then. She sighed, took another drink, and then continued. “So did I have a life back home? Yeah, but it was falling apart. Here, I’m part of something. With you all. I might want to go back and visit, see if we can recruit some old friends, but this is the life for me, now.”
“Yo ho,” I said into my glass, though nobody seemed to notice. Not that they would’ve understood, anyway.
Ezra had finished taking a drink, and was now eyeing Charm curiously.
“Careful, honey-dear,” Cheri said, noticing. “I might get jealous and have to cut you.”
He laughed, waving the comment off. Coming from her, I would’ve been more scared.
“Na, it’s not that,” he said. “It’s… Twitch, I’ve heard your story too. I’m familiar with the whole planet disappearing thing—”
“Which we’ve fixed,” Shimmer offered. At a curious glance she said, “I was on the planet at the time. It’s back now.”
“No shit?” Ezra looked at us, impressed. “Well, point being I’ve pretty much memorized everyone’s sheets, you know? I either saw the contracts or talked to someone who was involved. It was my business to know the business, and… with my powers, it’s easy to remember the details. So… Charm…”
“Yes…?” She frowned in an oh-so-cute way.
“Your story doesn’t add up.”
Charm grinned. “Because I haven’t told you my story. I was at Supralines, and—”
“I know the story.” He leaned forward, eyeing her in a suspicious way that made me shift in my seat. It was like a strange, tingling aura was coming off of him. “Thing is,” he continued, “my power is that of an Empath. And nothing about you says you’re lying, but at the same time, I’m getting mixed signals from you, internally. I believe that you truly believe the official stories, that you think what you’ve told your friends here is true… But I don’t buy it for a second.”
“What the fuck are you talking about?” Gale pushed her glass aside as if she might need access at any moment to leap across the table and beat this guy senseless. Letha was watching with interest, my team all either confused or looking hostile.
“Better back the fuck up,” Erupa growled, fingernails cutting into the table.
I had to step in here.
“Ezra’s trying to help, I think,” I said, looking his way for confirmation.
He nodded. “For sure. Charm, is there… any reason to think something else happened? Something your mind is blocking. Maybe a traumatic incident? Something so horrible, you just can’t allow yourself to accept it?”
Her smile was long gone, her glare looking like it could tear him apart. For the first time, I noticed her eyes weren’t green, but… almost brown, teetering on black. She took a deep breath, put her hand to her mouth, and breathed.
Faint lines of white escaped into the air, and she closed her eyes. When she opened them again, they were back to green, and she put on her smile.
“I appreciate you trying to help, but no. My life has been fairly cut-and-dried.”
Ezra leaned back, put his other hand on top of Tink’s where it still rested on his own, and said, “Hell, maybe my powers are wrong sometimes.”
“Must be,” Gale muttered, still tense but backing off.
“Holy fuck, you all are intense,” Letha said, downing her drink and laughing. “Should send you all to PK for a stint, see how much bullshit like a past matters after that.”
“Oh, we’ve been through our share of shit,” Shimmer said. “Remember, planet vanishing and all that.”
Letha laughed, not sure if it was a joke, but then saw it wasn’t. “Oh, yeah, I’m not discounting your experiences. Hell, going up against supervillains like the ones we’re chasing now? Makes me kinda worried I won’t live long enough to have my revenge.”
“And what exactly is that revenge?�
�� I asked, realizing we hadn’t gotten her story.
“Ah, yes.” She looked at the bar. “Quick version, before I need another drink… I was betrayed, sold out to PK, my family killed in the process. I’m going to kill the motherfuckers who sent ‘em there... rip out their fucking balls and shove them down their throats and tape their mouths shut, so they drown on their own fucking nuts and vomit.”
“Oooh, the good details,” Cheri said. “Keep ‘em coming.”
Letha laughed, a dark, disturbing sound. “I’ve done my fair share already, but found out more people were involved than I originally thought. I’m going to get to the bottom of this, and find every last one of them.”
“Sure. Revenge. The noblest of plots.”
“I think I’m going to like you,” Letha said to Cheri then started to stand, but Cheri leaned over, hand on her arm.
“I have to warn you,” Cheri deadpanned. “Some people think I’m a little off my rocker. Out there, you know? Batshit crazy, screw loose, lost my marbles.”
“You don’t say?”
Ezra laughed. “Cheri, it’s why we love you!”
Cheri blushed, then leaned back. “I just want to make sure everyone knows, so they aren’t caught off guard.”
If anyone could judge a book by their cover, in her case they wouldn’t be caught off guard in the slightest. The conversation moved to more healthy topics when Charm mentioned Trunk and how he’d been getting head during the joint comms session earlier. Cheri admitted she’d seen it and tried to go down on Ezra at the same time, but he’d been a party pooper. Letha started eyeing the bar again. As I scanned the table, I noticed Shimmer looking over at me playfully. She saw me watching and ran her tongue ever so subtly along her upper lip, then nodded away. I shrugged, downing the last of my drink.
“Ladies,” Shimmer interjected, hand held up in apology. “Mind if I borrow Breaker here, for a few minutes?”
Charm bit her lip, knowing exactly what Shimmer meant, apparently, and winked. “Get yours, girl. We’ll find you if there’s trouble.”
Letha laughed. “That’ll be my cue to check in with the others at the ship,” then headed for the bar to see what she could take back for them. Gale hopped up to offer her help, while Shimmer and I left the rest of them behind.
“It’s been too long,” Shimmer said. The other ladies were enjoying their conversation, and, knowing that we didn’t have a lot of time, seemed perfectly fine with letting Shimmer get some alone time. The two of us never seemed to get as much time together as I did with Charm or Twitch. I made a note to get some Gale time in soon, too. As much as nobody showed jealousy, I wanted to be a great lover, a man who could be there for each of them and show them some personal attention. Likewise, giving them their time with each other was important, and they seemed to be hitting it off with our new friends.
We moved past several sketchy-looking men and women, shoulder-bumping one guy who nearly spilled his drink and called out something to me. But I wasn’t about to be bothered with such things, not when Shimmer’s sexy ass was leading me toward heaven.
From my understanding of heaven, though, stepping into the cramped station’s bathroom was a stretch.
“There’s got to be a better spot,” I protested as she pulled me in.
“No time.” She locked the door, already starting to pull at my shirt and kiss my neck. “I’d love to get involved with the others at the same time, but…” She glanced around at our small space station bathroom. “No room.”
I laughed, then had an idea. Making an illusion, the room suddenly looked like it had spread out into a beach, a blanket on the sand at our feet. “Don’t worry, no sand in your… you know. It’s just a visual illusion.”
“Hmm, two can play at that game.” She grinned, then cocked her head and made the rest of our team appear around us, all caressing each other, watching us, waiting.
I laughed. “Really?”
“Hey, it’s gotten to the point where it’s like you’re all part of one lover for me.” She pulled me close, running her hands down my back, squeezing my ass. “Without them here, it’s all sort of… incomplete?”
“You’re saying I’m not enough for you, is that it?” I winked, kissing her. I didn’t need a response, because I knew exactly what she meant and felt the same way. When I pulled back, I had another thought. “If we’re going to have fun with this anyway…”
I altered her illusion, putting the images of the other ladies in various states of lingerie, even made it so Twitch started doing Charm with a strap-on, because why not, all the while pulling on her tail, caressing it, rubbing it on her face.
“You’re… weird,” Shimmer said, but laughed and started pulling my clothes off, eagerly kissing my body as I took turns doing the same to her. I knelt, pulling down her pants, and picked her up, lowering her to the fake sand. With my old strength, that never would’ve been possible. She smiled, impressed.
I spread her legs and kissed along one thigh, hands caressing down to her ass, then moved to the other thigh, licking and kissing until I was at her pussy. Then I went all in. Her back arched as my tongue found her clit, then fireworks went off in the distant sky as she started moaning. The women around us started moaning too, more of them appearing, all replicas of my team but with slight variations. There were at least twenty versions of Charm, each with different colored ears and tails, some with more of a cheetah or wolf look, one like a cat.
Making love to an illusionist could have its perks.
Shimmer finally couldn’t take it anymore and pulled my head back, breathing heavily as she pushed me back and took my cock in her hand, stroking it. “Never tell Charm about this,” she nodded to the cat version that had knelt next to us, massing her clit in circles, rubbing her breasts with her other hand, and licking her lips at the sight of Shimmer as she took my cock in her mouth.
“I promise.” I was very overwhelmed but loving the whole situation. I wasn’t sure what to think of it—a very exaggerated and three-dimensional porno that we were watching together, basically?
She kept stroking me, licking, and bobbing her head up and down. Then, just as she made the images of the other ladies all cum at once and I was at my prime erection potential, she rose to kiss my neck as she lowered herself onto me. She was so wet, I had to wonder if the illusions were more for her than me. When she had them press in around us, staring into her eyes, I knew the truth.
I stifled a laugh. She pouted. “Shut up. It’s your fault, you know. Before you, I never even considered another woman like this.”
“Let’s see if I can make you forget about them, just for a minute.” I rolled her over so that I was on top, and changed our surroundings so that it was like we were floating in space, the cosmos shifting and exploding all around us as I thrust. Then I slowed, staring into her eyes. I kissed her, eyes closed, focusing on the way we were connected, how we were one where my cock entered her. Slowly, in and out.
She moaned. I peeked to see her eyes were closed too as she passionately kissed me, sucking on my lip as she let out what I could only describe as a squeak, and then opened her mouth wide, holding that pose, back arched… and then collapsed.
Our surroundings changed to a fireplace, us on a thick rug, two glasses of sparkling wine nearby.
I glanced around, confused.
“Just… enjoy it.” She held my face and kissed me again. A moment from her past, perhaps? I found it better not to ask. Instead, I continued slowly rocking into her. But hunger showed her in eyes, and when I started thrusting harder and could tell she was into it, I pulled her legs together so that I had full coverage, my balls slapping against her pressed-together legs, and gripped her tight so I could focus on the pleasure of the moment.
She’d already cum once, so when it happened again a split second before my orgasm hit, it only fueled mine even more.
When I’d finished and rolled off of her, she leaned over, running her tongue along my balls for a moment before stopping and si
tting up. “Ew.”
“Ew?” I wasn’t sure if I should be offended.
“Not that.” Her hand was caressing my balls where her tongue had left off. “It’s just… I remembered where we are.”
The illusion faded, and we were two naked people on the floor of a space station bathroom.
“Yeah…” Now I felt the sense of being grossed out she’d indicated.
“Shower?” I helped her up. Using the towels and water from the sink, I washed her, then she me, and we kissed a few more minutes until a knock came.
It was only a matter of time, I figured, and we were lucky to get what we did. We grinned at each other, dressing, and then exited past an old man who frowned at us as we walked by him. Probably just mad he wasn’t getting any.
We found that the others had moved from the previous table and were now with Trunk and his father, huddled over something glowing between them.
“Didn’t want to interrupt you,” Charm whispered when she saw us approach, and Shimmer rolled her eyes. Charm nudged Gale, who grinned our way and gave us room to see what they were looking at.
“This is the guy,” Ezra said when he saw me stepping up. “The one they call… Breaker?”
“That’s right.” I nodded to the old, suave-looking man holding a device that shot out a three-dimensional holo-map of space in our midst.
“You’re mad, every one of you.” The guy had a thick accent I couldn’t quite place. Something between Scottish and Japanese, maybe? If that could even work.
“We’ll do what’s necessary,” I replied.
He held my gaze, one of his eyelids permanently pinched tight because of a scar. After a long beat, he nodded and turned back to his map. “That’s the one, here. I’ve plotted the course for ya, per Trunk’s instructions. Just know that this,” he indicated a series of silver blips, “is new. My guess, reinforcements of some type.”
“Breaker, can you…?” Twitch nodded from me to the display, and I got what she was saying. I shrugged, giving it a try—I applied my troubleshooter ability while connecting to the network I accessed on the Paradise Planet. It might not have worked if this wasn’t related, but as it was, the display switched from simple blips to images of spacecraft along with several names and additional information.