Seeing Stars

by Lisabet Sarai, Justine Elyot, KS Augustin, Buffi BeCraft, Lizzie Lynn Lee, Sophie Angmering

  At that point her commlink crackled into life.

  “Captain Thorn, code red.” It was Lomax, sounding frustrated and angry.

  Kate looked again at the time. Dom’s strange spell was broken as reality came crashing in. She’d done it—the server data was hers.

  “Sorry, gentlemen, but it is time to go,” Kate said brightly, her tone belied by her flushed face. “Get dressed. The guards are on their way to escort you off the Star. You’ll be pleased to know your own recovery ships are only minutes away.”

  Kate needed to get the ISS Star out of there before they arrived. She was not about to be a scalp on anyone’s belt.

  “Running away, Kate?” Dom moved towards her, but Kate simply pulled the restraint control from her pocket and held it before her. Dom stopped in his tracks, a cool smile on his face. It was a smile that implied things were far from over.

  Kate spun on her heel and left. He would not be smiling if Lomax caught him naked in his current mood.

  It was almost three hours later that Kate was called from her evening duties by an urgent communication from her commanding officer, Admiral Bow. He had just received two disturbing pieces of information. The first was from a delegation of ambassadors from the Danyeo Rim system, protesting volubly and most publicly at GEF Headquarters about an illegal attack on a Danyeo Company Barge in the immediate area of the ISS Star. And the second piece of information was that her third in command, Clarke, had contacted Bow to register his concerns about her actions towards a privateer ship he had later discovered to be registered to the wealthy, and powerful, Danyeo family. That sonofabitch Clarke had blown the whistle on her. No surprise given Clarke’s proclivities. If the arrogant bastard called Dom had flashed that smile and some pathetic sob story to Clarke, Kate was not surprised at the outcome.

  Kate was fuming. The GEF was her life, but still, every day, she was in the position of having to prove herself as the toughest and the most resilient of command staff to both her inferior and superior officers. In the Thorn family, personal success was measured solely in terms of rank and recognition within the GEF. Friendships and relationships were seen as an unnecessary distraction and Kate knew she had been raised self-sufficient and focused to the point of blinkered where her career was concerned. Her family were an unfriendly but powerful group of people who just happened to be related by blood.

  It could be bleak and lonely at times.

  Times like this.

  Kate buzzed the commlink to Lomax and hid her anger at Clarke’s uncharacteristically assertive action. “Did you get anything?”

  “I managed to get one code out of one of them but I don’t know if it’s valid or not.”

  It didn’t matter. Not really.

  Kate had agreed to let them go because she already had what she wanted from the Rim Class ship’s systems. She’d make herself feel better by finding something useful from the stolen data.

  All she needed now was time.

  Chapter Two

  “Kate?” a voice said softly in her ear. She surfaced from her sleep instantly. None of her crew would ever use her given name, or certainly approach her, in person, in her quarters. They would hail her on the ship’s intercom. “Captain Kate, wake up.”

  At the use of her title Kate struggled awake to find the world was still in darkness. She put a hand out to activate the light by her bedside only to have it deftly caught and twisted behind her back. Her other wrist was quickly captured and held.

  “She’s certainly awake now,” another voice sounded just to the right of her, as soft as the first.

  “Are you awake, Kate?” someone whispered across her face.

  A hand-held light came on suddenly in her face, blinding her temporarily.

  “Yes, yes, I’m awake,” she snapped, turning her face away from the brightness. “Cut the light?”

  They didn’t, so Kate kept her head turned away.

  “You’ve been a bad girl, Kate.”

  Kate’s abdomen went into spasm as she recognised the voice.

  A restraint clicked into place on her wrists, trapping her in her waking position, face down on the bed. All trace of sleepiness fled as Kate instantly became battle-alert, adrenaline coursing through her in a dread rush. She swung her legs round in an effort to kick out and maybe escape her prone position face down. Instead, her ankles were trapped and used to drag her along the length of her bed until she was pulled over the padded end, belly down, with her naked bottom cheeks angled into the air and her toes just about able to touch the floor. She was totally helpless.

  “You won’t find anything. All key codes and important documents are not stored in here,” she told them. Her cheek squashed against the soft bed covering was making her voice sound odd.

  “We don’t need key codes, Kate, just an easy point of access,” was the reply. Her personal system access screen flickered to life, revealing the familiar face of Ren from the privateer ship.

  “What are you doing here?” She renewed her struggles. “We released your vessel. You were supposed to leave the sector.”

  “You dumped information from our wrecked ship’s systems. How you did it is something of a mystery as we had cleared the servers. But still you managed to recover enough to trigger the howler software that alerts us when data is stolen. You are not only reckless, Kate, but far too clever for your own good.”

  Kate scowled and turned her face. So that was what they wanted. To destroy the potentially valuable information that had turned up in their ship’s files. It was understandable, if immensely annoying that they had worked out what she had done before they had been back on the far side of the universe in some obscure space port.

  “Apparently you are an ambitious risk taker,” Dom spoke as if he was quoting from a personnel reference. “Did you know you have an icy reputation and a talent for achieving your goals without fucking your commanding officers? Do you think you sound like a bit of a loner, Kate? “

  “What are you accessing?” Kate demanded. “That is a GEF secured system.”

  “It’s all here in Lomax’s log. He has an awful lot to say about you, his commanding officer. I must say that wasn’t nice, Kate, leaving Dom and myself with your second in command. Commander Lomax certainly enjoys his work, but not maybe as much as you do.”

  “He has a job to do,” she replied bluntly but her heart sank. What had Lomax done in the few moments he had been alone with the two of them? He could be unpredictable, particularly when frustrated.

  “Carrying out your orders, Captain? To use whatever means at your disposal to get the information you require?” Dom’s voice dropped to a low, chastising whisper. “To save it onto your private systems.”

  Kate turned her face away from her interrogators, biting her lip in an effort to quell the urge to squirm. The truth was she neither liked nor trusted her subordinate officers, but she was not about to tell a couple of space pirates that. She knew she should never have left the prisoners under Lomax’s control. She thought Lomax had got the one code from the crew, but Lomax obviously thought he could succeed with Ren and Dom where she had failed. No wonder they were so pissed.

  “The general consensus across the whole of the crew seems that their commanding officer could do with a damn good spanking, she’s so tight in the arse.”

  “I suggest you get back to your ship and get away from here as fast as you can, because as soon as I am able, I am going to kick your backsides to the far side of the Rim,” she snarled at them, the loss of her prized data, the personal comments recorded by her crew and her anger at them for invading her personal space finally pushing her temper beyond breaking point.

  “Are you?” Dom turned away from the systems access point to face her fully for the first time. “You should watch your mouth, Captain, or we might just follow your crew’s advice.”

  “Don’t be ridiculous.” But something in his gaze made her breath catch.

  Her tormentor simply smiled and looked past her.

&nbs
p; Kate heard a laugh, but she had no idea they had in mind until seconds later the sting of a broad hand with outstretched fingers burst across her right buttock. Kate spluttered with shock and rage, furious. She could feel a tide of red flooding her face as she finally managed to grit her teeth, determined to show them just how tough she was.

  Thwack! The slap of a hand sounded again, the sound of it striking flesh followed by the humiliating searing burn across her backside on the left buttock this time. After the fourth stroke she panted for breath. After the fifth and sixth, her teeth were not clenched anymore and she was cursing hard, her backside no doubt as red as her face. After the seventh strike she felt cool hands smooth over the burning cheeks as she started to moan.

  “Get up, Kate,” Dom whispered in her ear, sliding her back so her feet were once more in contact with the floor.

  “Make me,” she spat, using the purchase of the floor to kick out at him. He captured her with an arm about the waist and pulled her firmly down onto his lap. At first Kate didn’t understand why he was positioning her in that way, but when he turned her so she was hanging over his muscular thighs, head down, she suddenly knew what it was about. Unmistakable desire started to unfold in her gut as she continued to struggle away.

  “Ah, Kate,” was all her captor said, “I think you prefer it this way. Do you want it, Kate?”

  “Bastard!” She wriggled as his hand glided over her naked back to the line of her bottom. Then, without warning, his palm smacked down, sending a wave of tingling fire right the way to her toes. Kate twisted against him, spitting with anger but also now trying to resist succumbing to the erotic charge of her situation. She moaned, and writhed in his lap. Kate became all too aware of the burning need inside her as she started to respond to the attention. She moaned again as the open hand fell once more across her painfully hot skin.

  “Do you want it, Kate?” Dom asked again, his voice demanding.

  “Oh…” She swallowed desperately. Then the thought of being left on the edge again, still burning as she had been from their previous encounter hours before, proved too much. “Yes! I do…I want to come.” Her plea ended on a gasp. “But I can’t.”

  What she got was the cooling swipe of a tongue across her buttocks, its progress electrifying the burning skin in its path. It swirled a figure eight over the hot cheeks of her bottom before plunging into the gap between them to lick the rosette there. Moisture flooded down to bathe the plump lips between her legs as she continued to writhe under the attentions of Dom and, now, Ren. Her wrists were released from the restraints to allow Dom to catch her arms at the wrist, bearing both back towards the floor.

  “Beautiful,” Dom whispered softly in her ear as Ren continued to lick and kiss her, and then roll his tongue round the lips of her labia and the sensitive bunch of nerves within. Dom’s hand ran over her breasts, palming and twisting her nipples, pushing her down more firmly onto Ren’s mouth and his amazing tongue. Her body appeared to have acquired a life of its own and was no longer hers to command.

  “Come for me, Kate,” Dom whispered.

  “I can’t.” Did the man never listen? She tried to sit up but was ruthlessly held in position across Dom’s legs.

  “Yes you can.” And with that a finger slipped into her backside.

  Stars danced before her eyes and Kate came with a shriek of shocked surprise. It was a dizzying, all-encompassing climax that engulfed her from head to toe in the most glorious sensations. Her continuing shuddering groans temporarily drowned out the sounds of the ISS Star’s alarms as the ship’s sensors finally identified there were intruders aboard. Kate slumped across her bed momentarily stunned as the two men with her prepared to flee. Ren seized her chin to dispense a swirling kiss into her slack mouth, his mouth salty from her own juices.

  “Time to go,” Dom told him before turning back. “Try not to miss us too much, Captain,” he whispered to Kate as they finally slipped through the door to her cabin, and into the dark corridor beyond.

  “No chance of that,” mumbled Kate as she finally managed to hit the alarm next to her bed. “Intruder alert—two pirates. Two extra cycles of shore leave to whoever can get them first.”

  Chapter Three

  The crew never managed to catch the two space pirates to claim the shore leave and Kate found herself still dealing with the aftermath of the visitors to her quarters for what felt like weeks after the incident.

  It had been the heat sensors on the ISS Star that had identified intruders were aboard during a routine sweep. Then Kate had had to explain what the heat signatures had been doing in her cabin for forty-five standard minutes and two seconds.

  “The intruders had gained access to the ship’s systems and were deleting data,” she had told an initial enquiry headed by Admiral Bow over space-conn, and chaired, at the Admiral’s request, by Lomax.

  “I take it this was data that you had removed from their vessel after the earlier engagement?” Lomax asked.

  Kate thought it prudent to say nothing specific in response to Lomax’s question, and simply answered, “They seemed anxious to ensure any information regarding their vessel was removed from the system.”

  Admiral Bow simply grunted. Lomax shuffled his notes.

  “It would not take that long to delete data,” Lomax said. “What else were they doing?”

  Kate looked straight at Lomax as she said, “They were trawling though the GEF online systems for information.”

  “Did they find anything?”

  “They found your personal log.” Lomax flushed bright red. “They looked though all the crew’s logs. They seemed to find them very interesting,” she added. Clarke looked like a stick had been shoved up his arse and wiggled about.

  “Those systems are supposed to be third-level secured,” Clarke said.

  What had he recorded there that had left him so shocked at the possibility they had been seen by unauthorised personnel?

  “Well, it would appear they are not so secure that a Rim pirate cannot compromise their integrity in seconds.” Kate could feel a muscle working in her jaw as she fought to control her temper.

  It was not only the stupidity of her subordinates that had been driving her mad recently, but her libido. For years it had conveniently remained an obedient and docile beast, but now seemed to have suddenly roared into life with the help of two complete and utter space wasters. It was the orgasm, of course. She’d never come with anyone actually in the room with her before and now it was as if everywhere Kate looked she was searching for that particular set of broad shoulders, or shock of mocha hair. Even thinking about them started a slow burn of desire from deep inside her pelvis that lingered like an annoying itch she could not scratch.

  “Captain Thorn—a word now that we are in private.”

  The meeting had finished and Kate was pulled back from her musings by Admiral Bow’s imperious tone. “

  “Captain Thorn, your subordinates have expressed some concern over your current disposition. Lomax in particular says you seem very distracted.”

  “Lieutenant Lomax does not always appreciate the difficulties of command, Sir.”

  And Lomax was also always looking for opportunities to undermine her. He was as ambitious as Clarke, socially intelligent yet with a low animal cunning that could make him far more dangerous.

  “Clarke also has concerns.” Kate shut her eyes briefly. She knew what was coming next. “I think it wise to take the precaution of relieving you from duty for a set period long enough for you to be assessed for your fitness for command.”

  “Why?”

  “Lomax says your decisions are becoming increasingly erratic.”

  “Lomax is an unscrupulous opportunist.”

  “Clarke agrees you made a faulty judgement with regard to the capture of the Private Trade vessel. He says he constantly has to question your interpretation of GEF directives.”

  Kate’s gut lurched. Okay, that could prove risky, if Bow started looking at what actually went
on when she captured ships.

  “Clarke is not a particularly flexible individual with regard to process, Admiral. Border space needs more creative solutions than either Clarke or Lomax are capable of.” The Admiral was not listening. Kate could tell by the way he dropped his gaze to shuffle his papers.

  “The GEF psychs say you need to return for assessment.”

  Right, of course they did. People did that and never returned to space again. It was a conspiracy. Kate could sense it and she knew however much she argued she was not going to win this. Psych assessment was the only way to displace someone who carried the Thorn family name from a position of responsibility. Lomax and Clarke must have joined an unprecedented alliance to make a strong case.

  “Also, the Danyeo diplomatic group are demanding a full enquiry into the entire incident involving the interrogation of the prisoners and your role in it. They are calling for your arrest.”

  Kate sat back in her chair, surprised at the news that one of the most prominent controlling bodies of the Rim seemed to be determined on collecting her head.

  “Since when did the Danyeo Collective instruct the GEF on disciplining their officers?” she asked.

  “They do not.”

  Kate begged to differ but thought it more prudent to simply purse her lips and keep quiet on that point, so turned her attention back to her own predicament.

  “This is not a matter of me returning for a command assessment at all, is it? I am being asked to return for the sake of diplomatic relations with the Rim territories. These are the same territories that hide pirates and encourage incursions into the space that we are supposed to protect. These territories back political insurgents with major firepower in areas of space too vast for the Fleet to cover adequately. It’s a calculated campaign to erode the colonised galaxies that you’re pledged to protect, Admiral. Make no mistake—I will contest this decision all the way.”

  Admiral Bow simply ignored her comments and said, “Lomax will take command of the ISS Star with Clarke as his second. My decision on this is final, and I would appreciate it if you completed your handover as quickly and as smoothly as possible.”