by M. D. Cooper
“Uhhh, yeah, well, we’re really glad we were able to help,” Ramsey replied, giving Vampy a helpless look.
She gave an uncertain smile and pressed her palms together as well. “We too are blessed to have been able to contribute in such a great enterprise. Not only have we recovered your energy module—” she gestured at the hoverpad at the top of the ramp with the CMD module strapped to it, “—but we were also able to repair Allaran’s energy source to end their theft of yours.”
“Yes! Yes!” Goiana nodded rapidly. “Our sisters and brothers on Allaran often find their existence troubled by concerns that cause them to act…inappropriately. Alas, we requested your aid, as Crossbar is a world sworn to eschew violence.”
“Really?” Ramsey blurted out.
“What the colonel means, oh esteemed Goi—”
“Effulgent,” the world’s leader corrected with a gracious smile.
Vampy nodded and inclined her head. “Of course, my apologies, Effulgent One. We’re just…surprised. When we learned that you were vampires, we expected…something different.”
The group of sparkly people shared concerned looks, and Goiana sighed before turning back to Vampy and Ramsey, a sorrowful expression on her face.
“Sadly, we are often seen as a force of darkness, something not helped by how we live without sunlight—but that is so that our inner radiance can show.”
“What about…” Ramsey paused, searching for the right words. “You know…drinking blood.”
“The Ebullient Lifeshare.” Goiana nodded solemnly. “Our most sacred rite.” She gave a soft laugh. “And our most frequent.”
Vampy took a step forward. “How do you control it? The lust for blood?”
The Effulgent One cocked her head to the side, reexamining Vampy. “Well…I would not have expected it. You are a True One, like us.”
“A…True One?”
Goiana smiled, hands spread wide. “Yes! One who requires the Verdant Lifeshare to continue existence! Many who follow such paths do so artificially, but it is plain to see that you are one of us.”
“But, Effulgent One,” one of the three others spoke up. “Her skin is dark. There is no life in it.”
“Galas, that is no way to speak to one who has returned our treasured property to us.” She spoke without turning, her eyes locked on Vampy’s. “You were turned recently, weren’t you? No one has taught you the true way to participate in the rite, have they?”
“Uhh…yes, and no. I’ve just been drinking blood. That’s what they do on—”
“Oh!” Goiana held up a hand, disgust marring her features. “No, the proper way is to bathe in it. Then your body will absorb the precious life evenly, and you will…” she turned to gesture at the others, “appear as you are meant to.”
Vampy couldn’t help a little bounce of glee. “You mean…I get to bathe in blood…and then I’ll sparkle?!”
“Of course!” Goiana said as the others all nodded enthusiastically. “This is the way.”
“This is the way,” the others intoned.
They turned to walk out of the docking bay, the Effulgent One gesturing for them to follow.
“Should we?” Vampy asked.
“Sparkly vampires bathing in pools of blood? I wouldn’t miss this for anything,” the colonel winked.
She grinned and nodded. “Oh thank stars, I was worried you’d think it was weird.”
“Vampy, it’s weird as fuck, which is why I want to see it so bad.”
“OK, now I feel a bit dirty.”
He shrugged as he followed the others out of the bay. “Your dirty mind is something you’re just going to have to come to grips with. C’mon.”
“Colonel!” She had to jog to catch up. “That’s not—”
He glanced at her, golden carrot bobbing up and down as he gnawed on it. “Easy, Lieutenant. I was just kidding. I’m coming along to be there for you.”
A sense of relief flooded Vampy. “Whew! I thought you were perving on me or something.”
“Nope! Saving all of that for Cindy.”
“Colonel!”
THE STEW THICKENS
STELLAR DATE: 04.09.8949 (Adjusted Years)
LOCATION: Aboard the Van
REGION: Crossbar, Crossbar System, Alkaid Void
The CatWoman™ reclined on the new sofa that the people of Allaran had supplied as a part of their compensation for overturning the ship looking for…whatever it was they’d been looking for.
Vampy and Ramsey were out delivering the CMD, or DPM, or whatever it was called, to the people of Crossbar. Who, despite being a rather dour bunch of vampires, were quite overjoyed to have their power source back.
Kitty could hear Porty trying to clean the galley, the sounds echoing down the passageway to her right—something about ‘never getting the damn stew out of the pot’.
“Pity, too,” she said quietly. “Smelled like it was going to be amazing.”
“What was that?” Cindy asked as she walked into the rec room.
“Oh, nothing,” The CatWoman™ replied. “Just lamenting the stew.”
Cindy nodded silently and sat down in the recliner beside the sofa, her skirts puffing out so much that The CatWoman™ couldn’t even see her face anymore.
“Stars and stalagmites!” Cindy cried out, her voice squeaking in outrage. “I sure wishy-wish that the pretty white catsuit is what I normally wore! Starships aren’t made for poofy dresses.”
Suddenly, Cindy’s dress shrank away, leaving her in the white, glistening skinsuit, a look of surprise settling on the woman’s dainty features.
“Well I’ll be a toad’s lilypad, is that all it takes?”
“I sure wish I could do that,” The CatWoman™ replied, shaking her head. “All I can do is get my corset to tighte—”
She choked on her words as the corset drew in by nearly ten centimeters.
“Hokey smokey,” Cindy said, a hand against her lips. “Are you OK?
“Yeah,” The CatWoman™ gasped. “I think my costume hates me a bit.”
Cindy giggled. “Well, you are a villain, after all.”
“I am not,” The CatWoman™ protested while tugging at her corset, trying to get it to loosen. “Ease up, loosen, relax!”
Unlike the last time, her corset refused to release its grip—in fact, it seemed to be getting tighter.
“Sure you are,” Cindy countered, ignoring The CatWoman™’s struggles. “I know you married the ManBat™ in the stories, but inside, you were still a villain; you’d just repressed it for him. Maybe you need to own your baddyness.”
“How do I do that?” The CatWoman™ gasped.
Cindy shrugged. “I don’t know…I just know that I had to get my ducks in a row and figure out how to still be me while letting the magic do what it wants. We’ve found a not-too-tippity balance.”
“I don’t think half the words you say were ever real,” The CatWoman™ replied, sucking in a deep breath as her corset finally loosened—though she was certain her waist was notably smaller than before.
“You know,” Cindy leaned over and winked at her. “Your boobies looked super-duper huge with your corset that tight…”
“Yeah, they looked great…but felt like they were choking me. Besides, how am I supposed to slink about if I can’t bend at all—or breathe?”
Cindy opened her mouth to reply, but the colonel and Vampy walked into the rec room, both smiling broadly. She cocked her head, smiling up at them. “What’s up? You two look as happy as monkeys playing with rubber duckies…and, Vampy…is your skin sparkling a bitty bit?”
Ramsey took an extra-large bite of his golden carrot and glanced at her, grinning around the root vegetable that lived in his mouth.
“Well?” Cindy insisted. “What’s got you both so gleeful?”
Vampy bounced on the balls of her feet. “Well, for starters, they paid us double. I guess not having to worry about the Allarans trying to steal their power module again—along with learning about the service
contract with the Disknee World—meant a lot to them.”
“Plus…” Ramsey prodded.
“ ‘Plus’?” Cindy asked.
Vampy began to bounce even more—definitely sparkling now. “They gave me so much blood! It’s arriving on trucks right now—and I got to soak in pools of it! That’s actually how we’re supposed to feed. These people are amazing. This is my new vacation spot.”
“That sounds horrible,” Cindy said with a shiver.
“Turns out, that’s how they sparkle,” Ramsey said, directing a warm smile in Vampy’s direction. “Looks like the Fairly Goodmothers knew what they were doing. You get to be sparkly Jujubilee™ after all.”
Vampy smiled so wide, her fangs protracted several centimeters. “Oh wow! I dithn’t thinkth ofth that!”
“New persona?” The CatWoman™ asked. “What are you talking about?”
“Beats me,” Cindy said as she snapped her fingers, making a white corset appear around her waist. “I’ve always been like this—well, since I got the slippers. Before that, I scrubbed a lot of floors.”
“Yeah, Laylani, you seem confused.” Vampy looked up at the nearest optic. “You didn’t get knocked around too much when the Allarans were searching the ship, did you?”
Ramsey wrapped an arm around Vampy’s shoulders and gesticulated with his carrot. “I love it when the magic comes together.”
THE END
* * * * *
I have some ideas for future Delta Team adventures, such as a run-in with Sabrina and her crew. Let me know you’d love more stories following this odd bunch, and I’ll add them to my plans!
THANK YOU
If you’ve enjoyed reading Rogue Planets, a review on amazon.com and/or goodreads.com would be greatly appreciated.
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M. D. Cooper
THE BOOKS OF AEON 14
Keep up to date with what is releasing in Aeon 14 with the free Aeon 14 Reading Guide.
Outlaws of Aquilia
- Book 1: The Daedalus Job
- Book 2: Maelstrom Reach
- Book 3: Marauder’s Compass
The Sentience Wars: Origins (Age of the Sentience Wars – w/James S. Aaron)
- Books 1-3 Omnibus: Lyssa’s Rise
- Books 4-5 Omnibus (incl. Vesta Burning): Lyssa’s Fire
- Book 0 Prequel: The Proteus Bridge (Full length novel)
- Book 1: Lyssa’s Dream
- Book 2: Lyssa’s Run
- Book 3: Lyssa’s Flight
- Book 4: Lyssa’s Call
- Book 5: Lyssa’s Flame
The Sentience Wars: Solar War 1 (Age of the Sentience Wars – w/James S. Aaron)
- Book 0 Prequel: Vesta Burning (Full length novel)
- Book 1: Eve of Destruction
- Book 2: The Spreading Fire
- Book 3: A Fire Upon the Worlds (2020)
Enfield Genesis (Age of the Sentience Wars – w/Lisa Richman)
- Book 1: Alpha Centauri
- Book 2: Proxima Centauri
- Book 3: Tau Ceti
- Book 4: Epsilon Eridani
- Book 5: Sirius
Origins of Destiny (The Age of Terra)
- Prequel: Storming the Norse Wind
- Prequel: Angel’s Rise: The Huntress (available on Patreon)
- Book 1: Tanis Richards: Shore Leave
- Book 2: Tanis Richards: Masquerade
- Book 3: Tanis Richards: Blackest Night
- Book 4: Tanis Richards: Kill Shot
The Intrepid Saga (The Age of Terra)
- Book 1: Outsystem
- Book 2: A Path in the Darkness
- Book 3: Building Victoria
- The Intrepid Saga Omnibus – Also contains Destiny Lost, book 1 of the Orion War series
- Destiny Rising – Special Author’s Extended Edition comprised of both Outsystem and A Path in the Darkness with over 100 pages of new content.
The Sol Dissolution (The Age of Terra)
- Book 1: Venusian Uprising
- Book 2: Assault on Sedna
- Book 3: Hyperion War (2020)
- Book 4: Fall of Terra (2020)
The Warlord (Before the Age of the Orion War)
- Books 1-3 Omnibus: The Warlord of Midditerra
- Book 1: The Woman Without a World
- Book 2: The Woman Who Seized an Empire
- Book 3: The Woman Who Lost Everything
Legacy of the Lost (The FTL Wars Era w/Chris J. Pike)
- Book 1: Fire in the Night Sky
- Book 2: A Blight Upon the Stars
The Orion War
- Book 1-3 Omnibus: Battle for New Canaan (includes Set the Galaxy on Fire anthology)
- Book 4-6 Omnibus: The Greatest War (includes Ignite the Stars anthology)
- Book 7-9 Omnibus: Assault on Orion
- Book 10-12 Omnibus: Hegemony of Humanity (includes Return to Kapteyn’s Star) (2020)
- Book 0 Prequel: To Fly Sabrina
- Book 1: Destiny Lost
- Book 2: New Canaan
- Book 3: Orion Rising
- Book 4: The Scipio Alliance
- Book 5: Attack on Thebes
- Book 6: War on a Thousand Fronts
- Book 7: Precipice of Darkness
- Book 8: Airtha Ascendancy
- Book 9: The Orion Front
- Book 10: Starfire
- Book 10.5: Return to Kapteyn’s Star
- Book 11: Race Across Spacetime
- Book 12: Return to Sol: Attack at Dawn
- Book 13: Return to Sol: Star Rise (2020)
Non-Aeon 14 volumes containing Tanis stories
- Bob’s Bar Volume 1
- Quantum Legends 3: Aberrant Ascension
Building New Canaan (Age of the Orion War – w/J.J. Green)
- Book 1: Carthage
- Book 2: Tyre
- Book 3: Troy
- Book 4: Athens
Tales of the Orion War
- Book 1: Set the Galaxy on Fire
- Book 2: Ignite the Stars
Multi-Author Collections
- Volume 1: Repercussions
Perilous Alliance (Age of the Orion War – w/Chris J. Pike)
- Book 1-3 Omnibus: Crisis in Silstrand
- Book 3.5-6 Omnibus: War in the Fringe
- Book 0 Prequel: Escape Velocity
- Book 1: Close Proximity
- Book 2: Strike Vector
- Book 3: Collision Course
- Book 3.5: Decisive Action
- Book 4: Impact Imminent
- Book 5: Critical Inertia
- Book 6: Impulse Shock
- Book 7: Terminal Velocity
The Delta Team (Age of the Orion War)
- Book 1: The Eden Job
- Book 2: The Disknee World
- Book 3: Rogue Planets (2020)
Serenity (Age of the Orion War – w/A. K. DuBoff)
- Book 1: Return to the Ordus
- Book 2: War of the Rosette
Rika’s Marauders (Age of the Orion War)
- Book 1-3 Omnibus: Rika Activated
- Book 1-7 Full series omnibus: Rika’s Marauders
- Prequel: Rika Mechanized
- Book 1: Rika Outcast
- Book 2: Rika Redeemed
- Book 3: Rika Triumphant
- Book 4: Rika Commander
- Book 5: Rika Infiltrator
- Book 6: Rika Unleashed
- Book 7: Rika Conqueror
Non-Aeon 14 Anthologies containing Rika stories
- Bob’s Bar Volume 2
The Genevian Queen (Age of the Orion War)
> - Book 1: Rika Rising
- Book 2: Rika Coronated
- Book 3: Rika Destroyer (2020)
Perseus Gate (Age of the Orion War)
Season 1: Orion Space
- Episode 1: The Gate at the Grey Wolf Star
- Episode 2: The World at the Edge of Space
- Episode 3: The Dance on the Moons of Serenity
- Episode 4: The Last Bastion of Star City
- Episode 5: The Toll Road Between the Stars
- Episode 6: The Final Stroll on Perseus’s Arm
- Eps 1-3 Omnibus: The Trail Through the Stars
- Eps 4-6 Omnibus: The Path Amongst the Clouds
Season 2: Inner Stars
- Episode 1: A Meeting of Bodies and Minds
- Episode 2: A Deception and a Promise Kept
- Episode 3: A Surreptitious Rescue of Friends and Foes
- Episode 3.5: Anomaly on Cerka (w/Andrew Dobell)
- Episode 4: A Victory and a Crushing Defeat
- Episode 5: A Trial and the Tribulations (2020)
- Episode 6: A Deal and a True Story Told (2020)
- Episode 7: A New Empire and An Old Ally (2020)
- Eps 1-3 Omnibus: A Siege and a Salvation from Enemies
Hand’s Assassin (Age of the Orion War – w/T.G. Ayer)
- Book 1: Death Dealer
- Book 2: Death Mark (2020)
Machete System Bounty Hunter (Age of the Orion War – w/Zen DiPietro)
- Book 1: Hired Gun
- Book 2: Gunning for Trouble
- Book 3: With Guns Blazing
Fennington Station Murder Mysteries (Age of the Orion War)
- Book 1: Whole Latte Death (w/Chris J. Pike)
- Book 2: Cocoa Crush (w/Chris J. Pike)
The Empire (Age of the Orion War)
- Book 1: The Empress and the Ambassador
- Book 2: Consort of the Scorpion Empress (2020)
- Book 3: By the Empress’s Command (2020)