The Fifth Reich: Beyond The Stars

by J Palliser

  "It takes you over?" Sonya asked in horror. "No! No, not like that. I did not steal Casana Olan's body from her. Casana Olan did not die, she became me, Casana Shen. I am her, all of her. And I am the sentient, and all of its previous hosts, together in one consciousness." "How many?"

  "There were three before Casana. Please, try to understand, I am still the person you knew. Casana is a strong personality, and her personality contributes more to the joined person than any of the previous hosts. She has not been removed or reduced, she has been added to."

  "Why is this secret?" Sonya asked. "The sentients are very few, and totally defenseless by themselves. But joined Arcadian's are very wise, and very valuable to us. Only a very select few can earn the right to be joined with a sentient. For us, it is the ultimate honor. Hosts are chosen by the Sentient Commission, and they are very protective of the sentients."

  Sonya thought silently for a long time as Casana stared at her. It was a lot for her to take in, but she was glad Casana had told her.

  "Thanks, Cass."

  ***

  2 Weeks Later, 0400 Sonya bit down gently on the soft flesh, drawing a moan from the woman in her arms. Sonya kissed the red mark she had left, flicking her tongue over it as she did. A shiver went through the woman, and she bit her lip. "Ohh, that's nice," she moaned. Sonya stopped at looked up into her eyes.

  "'That's nice'?" she said, feigning offense. "What? It was. And I want more," the woman said. Sonya grinned and leaned forward, taking one of the hard, pink nipples into her mouth and flicking it. The woman straddling her legs grabbed Sonya's head and pulled her closer, begging her not to stop as Sonya's hands roamed over her back. Sonya tried to lift them, rolling the woman onto her back, but she stuck a leg out and stopped her. "I'm on top," she giggled down at Sonya.

  Sonya looked up and smiled, not releasing the breast from her mouth. Sonya mumbled something into the flesh, sending vibrating pleasure through the woman. "Sorry, I didn't catch that." Sonya took one more lick at the nipple and released her breast.

  "I said," she repeated, kissing her way across to the other mound, "'Whatever... you... say." Sonya ended by taking the woman's other nipple in her teeth and gently moving her head from side to side.

  "Oh, wow!" the woman gasped. Sonya again mumbled into her chest. "What is it now?"

  "I said 'That's more like it'."

  "Just stop teasing me and hurry up," she begged playfully. Sonya just smiled and lay back onto the blanket. The woman moved her torso between Sonya's legs and slowly drug her body up Sonya's, letting her breasts rub against the taller woman. She came to a stop when she reached Sonya's mouth and kissed her lightly on the nose.

  "You're weird," Sonya said, grabbing the woman's ass with both hands and squeezing softly. "You're hot," she responded, and began to slowly rock her hips back and forth, grinding her hairless mound and damp pussy against Sonya's small patch of hair and soaking wet folds. "Evidently, very hot," she giggled.

  "That laugh is adorable," Sonya smiled. "Why, thank you. You've been so good to me, and I want to repay you. So, just lie back, and enjoy." Sonya closed her eyes, letting the sensations wash over her. The smell of fresh rain mixed with the scent of their passion to create a beautiful, intoxicating scent. It was light and fresh, but also musty. It filled her nostrils, sending her head spinning.

  The woman kissed her, briefly poking her tongue into Sonya's mouth before breaking away. Sonya licked her lips, trying to capture as much of the taste as she could. It was sweet and tangy, but very light with a bit of saltiness, and left her with a powerful desire for more.

  Sounds of wet flesh filled the predawn air, seemingly melding with the sounds of nature. Sonya could hear heavy breathing, both the woman's and her own, almost perfectly synchronized with each other and the movement of their hips against one another. It provided a single, beautiful rhythm of passion.

  Her hands gripped the blanket, turning the knuckles white. The cold wind gave Sonya goose bumps, but her skin felt as though it was on fire. She tingled from head to toe, desperate for contact with her lover. Occasionally, the woman's hair would fall low enough to make contact with her, sending jolts of pleasure through Sonya as it tickled her. Pressure was building slowly inside her, demanding release. With each stroke, the friction of her pussy against her lover's sent her higher and higher, causing their pace to quicken.

  Sonya's heartbeat pounded in her ears, and her body started to shudder. She reached out, pulling the woman close, whispering in her ear. "I'm close."

  "Come for me, baby," she whispered back. "Come for me. I want to feel your body twitch and heart race. I want you gasp for breath and hold me tight as you quake with ecstasy." The words excited her, pushing her ever so close to the edge.

  "Oh, god," Sonya gasped, trying to hold out as long as possible. "I'm going to come with you," the woman whispered, sending Sonya over. Her arms left the blanket and wrapped around the woman on top of her, pulling with all their strength, her hands balled into fists. Sonya opened her mouth to cry out, but her voice failed her. She wrapped her legs around the woman, arching her back and pressing their hips together.

  "Oh, god yes," she squealed softly, her body totally rigid as the orgasm washed over her. When Sonya thought she could take no more, she felt the woman in her arms tense and gasp, setting Sonya off again.

  "Oh, yes baby. God yes, come with me baby," the woman cried, her whole body twitching. They quietly rode out the storm of pleasure together, holding each other tight, unable to speak or think or feel anything but each other.

  ***

  0620 hours equivalent local Sonya sat peacefully on the hillside, arms wrapped around her legs, drawing them to her chest, watching the suns rise over the plains in front of her. It's like a dream come true, she thought. An alien sunrise. She smiled broadly, drinking in the beauty, ignoring the wind biting at her exposed skin and tossing her hair aside. She thought about the last few weeks, about the crash, about Dejah, Zira, and Casana.

  Casana The name rang in her head, and her smile grew. The old Casana had returned in the last two weeks, full of life and energy. The friend she had missed so much was back, stronger than ever. Sonya pictured the braided hair, the bright grey eyes, her gleaming smile, and even her excited, bouncing walk. All of it was comforting to Sonya.

  Sonya felt warm flesh against her back as thin arms reached around her, covering her own. She felt soft, smooth legs around her hips and a soft, hot body press against her own. A gentle kiss caressed her shoulder, and Sonya leaned back. The woman set her chin on Sonya's shoulder, and she felt a blanket wrap around them, trapping the heat. They sat together, cheek to cheek, watching the suns rise.

  "Happy new year," she said, squeezing Sonya.

  "Huh?"

  "It's 2300 now. A new century."

  "It's 1620. It's not a new century for another 8 hours," Sonya laughed.

  "It's sunrise, a new day." "So, it's a new year in spirit?" The woman nodded, rubbing her cheek against Sonya's. For the next hour, they sat silently in each other's arms.

  "It's beautiful, love," the woman said. "So are you, Kara."

  19

  Eighteen

  A Seat at the Table...

  2230, Deck 19, Battle Bridge, 1721 hours "This is never going to work," Sonya cried. From her post at the Tactical Station, she watched the battle unfold on the view-screen and console in front of her. Kara, now a Lieutenant, sat to her right at the Helm.

  "Quiet, Lieutenant," ordered Commander Saul from the captain's chair behind them.

  "Aye, sir," Sonya sighed. She was pushed nearly off her seat as the Bismarck turned sharply to the left, banking hard into the turn. There was a buzz, and the dorsal plasma phaser arrays fired. Sonya watched them strike the aft shield of their enemy. "No effect, sir. Their shields are too strong."

  "We're just peppering them," Saul replied. The Bismarck came out of the turn, and their opponent filled the main view-screen. It was large and bulky, not at all sleek like Kriegsmarine
ships. The color was mixed brown and dark green. The main hull was a tapered, rectangular-shaped mass, thin in the front, with two large pylons jutting forward from the aft portion of the ship. It looked to Sonya like a strange, geometric horned snake head.

  "We're closing in," Kara called out as the Bismarck accelerated out of the turn, the sound of her engines straining to push the ship faster filling the room.

  "Firing torpedoes," said Sonya. Loud, thrumming pulses came from above and below them, and shimmering red gems streaked forward towards the hostile ship. They struck the aft shield, the glittering sparks and explosions flashing brightly in dimly lit room.

  "Effect?" Saul yelled out to Sonya over the engines.

  "Direct hits, aft shield... holding at 27%!"

  "Dammit!" he yelled. The Bismarckpassed over the enemy ship, and was now fully exposed. "Incoming!" shouted Sonya as she saw the sensor readings spike on her console. Before any of them could react, the ship shook violently and the lights flickered. Above her, a power conduit overloaded, showering her with sparks. "Sir...!" she started to yell, but was cut off as another blast rocked the ship. This one was much stronger than the first, and knocked Sonya from her seat onto the deck. Alarms sounded, and there was an explosion behind her.

  "Damage report!" screamed Saul as Sonya returned to her station. She scanned her console before looking back over her shoulder. Behind Saul, a vent had ruptured, spewing steam into the room and obscuring her vision. Sonya could make out Dejah at the Engineering Station, working quickly to assess the damage.

  "Aft shield is down. Direct plasma phaser hits to Engineering Section, decks 15, 19, 20, 21, and 16. Damage to the warp nacelles. Aft Ion Torpedo Launcher is offline. Lateral Phaser Array is offline. Hull breaches on deck 19. We are venting warp plasma," Dejah said calmly, reading off her console.

  Amber lights pulsed on the ship layout on Sonya's console, blinking for a few seconds before turning red. "Intruder alert!" she yelled.

  "Seal the room!" Saul called back, but it was too late. Pillars of shimmering green light appeared around the room, accompanied by a crackling hum. As she heard them, Sonya stood and drew her pistol, leveling at the nearest one. In moments, the lights faded and coalesced into a figure.

  The intruder was tall, nearly 2 meters, with scaly, dark green skin. Its head was reptilian, with no ears, a short snout, and rows of teeth. The eyes shined silver, and it held a large rifle in its larger, clawed hands. It wore a shining gold tunic and trousers, leaving its clawed feet bare.

  "Stand down!" Saul ordered, but Sonya had already squeezed the trigger. The orange blast pf the plasma tracer streaked from her pistol, striking the intruder square in the chest. The creature hardly moved, snorting in response. All of the consoles returned to normal, the lights came up, and the ship stood down from Red Alert.

  "Fuck!" screamed Sonya, ripping her helmet off and throwing it to the floor.

  "That'sss three ssstraight for usss," hissed the creature.

  "Yeah, yeah. Victory for the Saurian Defense League!" she said sarcastically, waiving her hands in mock celebration.

  "Lieutenant, take it easy," Saul ordered her. "Next exercise is in 36 hours. Dismissed." "Aye, sir. I just hate losing. Come on, Ren, I'm buying. Again," Sonya sighed as she trudged off towards the exit. "You wanna come?" Sonya asked Kara.

  "I'll meet up with you later. I still have some work to do."

  "You don't have to pay," Ren pointed out, following behind Sonya.

  "I know that! It's a figure of speech," she sighed. "Gecko," she muttered.

  "Monkey," laughed the hulking Saurian.

  ***

  Deck 10, Crew Lounger, 1800 hours

  "That was fucking stupid," Sonya cursed into her lemon sharbat.

  "Yesss, it wasss," Ren smiled, or as close to smiled as a Saurian is capable.

  "Closing to point blank with a Saurian dreadnought. What do you think is going to happen?" she growled to herself.

  "We will crusssh you!" the Saurian bellowed loudly as he lifted his large drink, drawing glances from other tables.

  "You guys aren't very subtle, are you?" Sonya laughed. "Why ssshould we be? You warm-bloodsss can't ssstand againssst usss, and we can't sssneak around like you can." Sonya just grunted, taking a sip of her drink and staring out the window. "Ssspeaking of not being sssubtle, where isss your mate?"

  "What?" Sonya choked on her drink. "What are you talking about?"

  "Your mate. The female who isss going to meet usss."

  "What, Kara? She's not... we aren't... how is it that you know everything?"

  "Saurian body language isss very precissse. Your'sss isss not."

  "What else have you noticed?" Sonya asked curiously.

  "I have not been aboard you ssship much. I have ssseen little," he "smiled" again.

  "Don't play dumb with me," Sonya warned him, leaning forward.

  "I sssee that your crew fearsss usss."

  "Like hell!" Sonya scoffed. "Not terror, apprehensssion," he explained. "They are afraid to act, unsssure of how to deal with usss, ssso they don't. They flee or hide until they can't anymore. When that time comesss, they don't know what to do, so they do whatever they would do with each other."

  "We don't know what to do about you, so we just do what we always do?"

  "Yesss! And it ssssuitsss usss!" "God, cover your mouth if you're going to hiss that much," Sonya teased, pretending to wipe her face off. "Then don't ssshed all that fur on me!" he laughed, deep and loud, the sound echoing through the room. Sonya was about to respond when she spotted Kara and Casana enter the room. She raised a hand, waiving to them.

  "Hey, over here!" she called, but they were already on their way over. Casana bounded over ahead of Kara, taking a seat at the round table between Sonya and Ren.

  "Hey, Harry, how ya doin'?" she asked gleefully as Kara grabbed a chair and sat down next to Sonya. "Don't call me ' Harry'," she growled, pushing Casana gently. Their relationship had recovered since the crash, and they were again friends. Casana had also taken to Kara quite quickly, likely due to the human's sense of humor. "And I'm pissed."

  "Ahh, what's wrong?" Casana asked sweetly.

  "We got our bloody asses handed to us," Kara chimed in.

  "Yesss, we defeated you sssoundly!" Ren said proudly.

  "Aww, I'm sorry, Harry," Casana mewed, leaning briefly on Sonya. "Don't call me ' Harry'!" Sonya hissed. "What has you in such a good mood, anyway? It's really annoying," she teased Casana.

  "Oh, you wouldn't believe it!" Casana squealed. "Dr. Rollins brought some of the Saurian's more exotic specimens and we had a chance to examine them! It was awesome! They had this venomous bird, and it produced this alkaloid neuro-toxin. It's stronger than cobra venom. And there was this mammalian exo-parasite that..."

  "Okay, you can stop right there. I really don't want to hear about your vampire mouse," Sonya said.

  "It's really more like a rabbit," Casana corrected her.

  "Oh, that's much better," Kara laughed. "Yeah, I can just imagine: Vampire rabbits. Thank you very much for those nightmares," Sonya snickered, poking Kara gently in the side. Suddenly, she had an idea. "Come on, Kara, we have to go!" she said, grabbing the smaller woman's hand and practically dragging her out of the room.

  "Gahh, I don't want to think about sssuch a thing!" Ren roared.

  "What, a swarm of bunnies?" giggled Casana.

  "No, thossse two mating!" he howled, laughing deeply.

  Casana couldn't breathe, and fell out of her chair. ***

  Deck 10, 1830 hours "You aren't usually this impulsive, love," Kara laughed as Sonya pulled her down the corridor. They turned a corner sharply, heading for the turbo-lift. "We going somewhere... private? I'd love to lay you down and spend hours teasing your...."

  "Armory," Sonya said as they entered the turbo-lift.

  "Not the word I would have used."

  "What? Oh, no, that's not what this is about," Sonya told her.

  "That's unfortunate," sig
hed Kara. Sonya turned to her, smiling slyly.

  "That comes later," she said, giving Kara a peck on the cheek. "Right now, I need your opinion on something."

  "Oh, good. I've got plenty of those," Kara laughed.

  "Yeah, I noticed." Sonya pressed a button on the comm panel. "Mueller to Dejah, can you meet me in the Armory?"

  "Of course, Lieutenant." "What are you up to?" Kara asked suspiciously. "I have an idea," Sonya replied as the turbo-lift doors opened. They exited and traveled the short distance to the Armory. "Hey, Zira, I need your help with something," she said as the Armory door opened.

  "Sure, what is it?" Zira asked from behind the Quartermaster's desk. The new rank insignia gleamed on her jacket, and she smiled broadly, leaning back in her chair.

  "Enjoying your new position, Master Chief?" Kara asked as they approached.

  "Why, yes I am. More than 30 years in the Kriegsmarine, and now the highest ranking noncom on board."

  "You definitely earned it. Sad to see Valdor retire, though," Sonya sighed. "Loved that grumpy bastard." "Yeah, I'll miss him, too," Zira said sadly, looking down at her desk briefly. "I hear they put you on the rotation for Tactical."

  "And I'm getting the Helm!" Kara chirped.

  "Must be nice, being at the heart of the action," Zira smiled. "Oh, yeah, it's great. Why, today, I got to sit in the Battle Bridge and watch!" Sonya said sarcastically. "They put me on the reserve crew."

  "At least you ain't guarding a fucking door," Zira pointed out.

  "Yeah, whatever."

  "So, what do you have for me?"

  "You have access to the sensor records from the exercises, right?"

  "You never did take losing well," Zira said, shaking her head. "Yeah, why? You got a plan brewing?"

  "It's still cooking, but I'd like us to go over it a few times when Dejah gets here."