NASTRAGULL: Pirates (8 page)

Nina smiled at Myra, who flexed her back. She was about to explode in an orgasm—but just before she did, an explosion jolted through the ship. Nina stopped what she was doing and looked up, surprised, but Myra only forced her head back towards her achingly moist alien cave.

The entire ship shook as another explosion rumbled through the ship, and this time it couldn't be ignored; the two women tumbled to the floor as the lights flickered and went out, plunging them into blackness. An alarm sounded as yellow emergency lights flickered to life.

From an intercom a loud voice exhorted, "Battle stations! Repeat, battle stations! We are under attack!" The voice repeated itself several times in several languages.

Alec and his friends cheered when the ship rang like a bell and the battle stations alert went out. Sal shouted, "I told you guys they were coming for us, didn't I?"

"I hope you're right," Mat said doubtfully, "but don't get your hopes up until it's over."

Within minutes, every able-bodied crew member was manning his, her, or its battle station. In the weapons bays, gunners plugged themselves into the tracking systems of the laser cannon emplacements, chain guns, and missile turrets that broke the sleek lines of the hull. A half-dozen pirates manned each weapons bay, some providing tactical information while others offered fire support and kept the ammunition coming. When the last team member leaped into position, a protective electromagnetic shield flickered into place over each station, betrayed by a cool greenish haze, and armored bulkheads locked into place to protect the occupants. The overhead lights flickered over to red; and as the orders were given to fire, the rapid stutter of chain gun fire echoed through the entire ship. The
Bitch
shuddered occasionally as missiles vectored away toward their attackers.

Those attackers happened to be two small frigates, flying at maximum battle strike speed, heading straight at the
Bitch
in an attempt to intercept the larger pirate vessel. They fired their chain guns and lasers as well as launching missiles, but they were faced by a vessel five times their size, whose own weapons were now beginning to open up at
them
.

Zuzack sat in his throne on the command bridge, shouting out orders to his officers and crew. "Shields up!" he roared. "Helm, evasive maneuvers! Engage the enemy!"

The tactical officer shouted, "Sir! With the shields up, we'll lose a third of the power to the engines!"

"Too late!" Zuzack shouted back. "We have to take them head on!" He glanced at someone who stood in the shadows behind him, wearing a shade-cloak that effectively concealed his or her identity. The mystery person looked back at Zuzack, nodding in consent.

The firefight was short but fierce, and there were several explosive impacts on the destroyer's hull before the pearly light of the shields spread to cover the entire hull. The frigates, ignoring the captured
Bright Star,
redoubled their joint attack on the destroyer. The shields deflected or reflected the weapons fire, like water off a duck's back, as with a few bursts of maneuvering thrusters the helm brought the
Bitch
about and brought their main weapons to bear. As lasers and particle cannons belched their deadly light, turrets spat missiles into the fray, and a dozen unmanned drone fighters launched from the forward fighter bays.

The fighters bore down hard on the first frigate. Zuzack, who had over sixty years of experience fighting in space for both the Florencia and Nastasturus Federations, sounded very confident when he gave the order for all weapons to fire, and to concentrate at the nearest target. The frigate all but dissolved under a series of bright flashes, finally splitting in two before the pieces were vaporized by secondary explosions.

As Zuzack was ordering that all weapons fire was to be directed at the second frigate, it veered away, dropping into sprint mode and disappearing into high warp. After the tactical officer declared local space free of hostiles, Zuzack ordered him to lower the shields and proceed with all possible speed in the opposite direction of the frigate. "Damn, that was a close call," the Captain mused. "First Watch Officer, take us away from this system, and find a calm place where we can stop and make repairs before we end this campaign and head for the Rock."

Realizing they were on their way home for the first time in months, the bridge crew cheered their Captain; he leaned back into his comfortable command throne, enjoying every moment of it—or trying to. At that instant, someone put a hand on Zuzack's shoulder, and the huge pirate began to tremble. Sweat poured down his hairy dark face, and he turned around to look into a pair of burning eyes. The bridge crew fell silent, and stared at the Captain in horror.

A whispery voice, almost loving in its intensity, emerged from the shadow-cloak. "You did well, pirate, but now let's move on. More urgent matters await us all."

Alexa headed toward the VIP Prisoner section, smiling and nodding at everyone she met. She was in a good mood for once. Along the way, she ran into Nina, who immediately tried to turn and head in the opposite direction. Alexa was able to snag her arm before she could. 

Nina whipped around to face her, a sick expression on her face. "No, no, no! No way in hell! Never again! Never! Myra stinks, and is…" Nina paused, swallowed hard, and continued. "I don't want to have to think about it. It turned me off sexually for a galactic decade, at least."

Alexa escorted Nina down the hallway with a firm grip while addressing her in a motherly fashion. "Now dear, don't be like that, what are sisters for?"

"Technically we aren't
real
sisters, and besides, I'm no longer your servant but a third level crew member, so..."

"Details, my dear, details. So if I can get you a chance with that dude Zaxor
that you said you like,
then
would you do it next time I ask?"

Nina wrinkled her forehead and drummed her newly-repaired fingers on her lips. "Zaxor? How would you...?"

Alexa leaned closer and whispered, "Guess who has the watch down on the VIP deck...right now?"

Nina's eyes brightened, and the two girls hurried down to the cargo room, singing and laughing, forcing a few of the other crew members to jump aside, cursing, as they barreled through the corridors.
             

When Alec saw Alexa again, he couldn't help but feel relieved. He'd never admit it out loud—not to his friends, not to the raven-haired beauty before him, or even to himself—that he had missed her and been very concerned about whether or not she'd survived the attack days before.

Alexa noticed his expression and the dark circles under his eyes and she teased, "Awww, were you worried about me? Did you miss me?"

Alec was at loss for words. Dammit, he'd always had problems with his expressions betraying his emotions. He opened his mouth to deny it when a voice next to him whispered, "This is the part where you say yes."

He turned his head as far as he could and glared at Andrew, who was grinning.

"Would you like for me to gag him?" Alexa asked innocently.

"Would you, please?" Alec said, staring at Andrew, who had decided to look at the ceiling—hunting for an escape hatch, maybe.

Alexa looked over her shoulder towards the guard tower attached to the far wall. She smiled when she saw Nina on top of young Zaxor, riding him like no one had ever been ridden before.

Alexa bit her lower lip, looked around, then quickly picked up a sponge and dipped it in a bucket full of soap solution. Without a word, she started to swab away the grime and blood on Alec's face. After a long moment she stepped back, eyed the scar on his left eyebrow, and let out a small sound of relief.

Alec noticed that this Alexa took her duty very seriously, and she did everything she could to avoid embarrassing him. He was surprised when she began to whistle softly while cleaning him...and as she leaned closer, he could smell her faintly floral perfume. He felt ashamed by his filthy appearance and current situation, and begun to blush.

She noticed it, but kept cleaning him. When she transferred her attentions to his stomach, he tensed a bit; she glanced down, inhaled sharply, and moved quickly to where his hands and feet protruded from the stock bar. Now it was her turn to blush, which he found bemusing. A pirate, blushing?

Well, it was obvious
why
she was blushing. He cursed under his breath, and glanced down at his "little bastard." It was fully erect, straining hard as a rock and high as a mountain.

"Sorry about that," he whispered between his teeth, while trying to concentrate and make his "little bastard" shrink. It was like trying not to think of green elephants.

"Why?" Alexa replied, looking innocent. "At least it proves one thing for sure."

"What's that?"

"I turn you on."

Alec looked at her blankly. No use telling her that the wind would have turned him on right then. "What's your name?" he finally demanded, though he knew it well enough.

Alexa looked at him and answered, "Pirate, remember?"

Alec let out a short cry as she dragged one nail across the bottom of a foot. "Oh, dear. Ticklish?"

"No!" he exclaimed.

She gave him a quick tickle, and Alec bit down on his lip. Alexa stopped, looking a little disappointed. She walked over to his free side, leaned over, and suddenly gave him a small peck on his ear. Then she breathed into it, "I have traveled through endless parsecs of space and
oceans of universe just to find you. You are the most beautiful man I have ever met, and one day I will be your bride and queen, while you shall be my husband and shining knight. Nothing can ever come between us; and if anything or anyone attempts to interfere with our everlasting love, then together we shall conquer the universe, so that our many children may live in peace."

She stopped whispering, caressed his cheek, and stood up suddenly. She looked at him with a serious expression.  "Now, young man, get some rest—and don't you go anywhere, now." She gave him another quick kiss on his ear, and another on his cicatrized eyebrow. Then she looked Alec in his eyes, lifted up his tunic, and barked, "Down, boy, down!" With that, she covered him up and walked away whistling.

Flabbergasted and embarrassed, just stared straight at the nearest bulkhead for a long moment. Then he looked down at "the little bastard" and whispered, "Traitor."

Chapter 4

The
Bitch
and the
Bright Star
exited the jumpgate one after the other, set a new course, and plunged into another jumpgate in the same transit cluster. When they emerged this time, Zuzack ordered a new course set for a large asteroid conveniently located just a few million kilometers away. As they approached the asteroid less than an hour later, the ships were met by several drone fighters, which took an escort position around the
Bright Star
and led the way into a massive bay that opened into the interior of the hollowed-out asteroid. Meanwhile, the
Bitch
settled into orbit around the asteroid.

When the
Bright Star
reached its new berth inside the Rock, the prize crew slid it carefully into position between two other ships: a cargo freighter about twice its size, and a liquid materials freighter about four times larger. A shuttle with the skeleton crew from the
Bright Star
soon lifted from the cruise ship and joined up with a small frigate class ship. The two vessels left the asteroid and rendezvoused with the
Bitch
.

By then, most of the pirates had gathered in the main cargo hold, and they greeted and cheered the crews from the shuttle and the frigate while bragging about their success. After things had settled down a bit, the main hatch slid aside and in walked Zuzack with his senior staff. He had dressed for the occasion in a dark blue coat with gold piping on the collar and sleeves. Around his massive waist was a black leather belt with several blinking instruments attached to it. A large holstered gun and several knives balanced the weight on the opposite side. His long black hair had been tied back and braided into several tails, each decorated at the end with teeth from a different sentient species. Around his head he wore a dark blue scarf; his uniform was of a slightly darker blue, his knee-high boots black and polished. He dripped with jewelry.

His staff were all armed, and each one was dressed much like their leader. As they entered the chamber, the crew began to cheer their leader. Zuzack took it all in like a flower takes in sunlight; he loved the flattery of his crew.

There were some pirates, numbering about 200, who didn't share their fellow comrades' enthusiasm; indeed, most looked at Zuzack with disgust. Almost all were female, and all of them had gathered in a loose knot away from their Captain's biggest fans. From the looks of it, Myra was their leader. Among them were Alexa, Nina, Miska and Mohama. None of them wore any sparkles or jewelry; instead, most were dressed for combat.

Alexa herself favored a loose, white open blouse, tight black pants and black boots. She held a matching waist-tight black jacket over her shoulder. Around her hips was a thin black belt with a round silver buckle, and she was armed with two guns attached to holsters on either side, along with knives thrust into her boots and waistline. The injuries sustained in the last battle had been healed, and she smiled dryly, revealing all her brilliant white teeth.