Captives, Slaves, Killers Pt. 01

"I wish I knew your name," she said and rolled around so that she could press her face to his chest and sleep. His heart beat a steady rhythm in her ear and she smiled a genuine smile for the first time since the battle. Sleep gently overtook her.

*****

Pale, wholesome light penetrated the realm of dreams and Aste`Rey Mherr was confused. It felt real. It was comforting, actually, very different from the sickly yellow she had grown accustomed to since being imprisoned. Under her there was what felt like a soft mattress and close behind her, breathing softly in her ear, was someone warm. She looked and saw that it was the Human, though he remained asleep. His new ear looked more normal than it had earlier. Oh, how wonderful did his scars look! If her mouth had not been full Aste`Rey Mherr would have given him a nip just to wake him. She did not mind his presence and that surprised her for the span of a heartbeat. Everything was just too comfortable to care. Everything but whatever this was in her mouth. She tried to spit it out. She tried again, pressing hard with her tongue. It would not move. What in the Armored God's name was this thing?

With her lips and mouth Aste`Rey Mherr explored the object. It was some sort of ball. Dreams were so odd sometimes! Why would she have a ball in her mouth and why could she not...

Straps?

Straps held it in place! Panic fluttered at the edge of her awareness. She tried again to dislodge the ball and again failed. Her tongue worked around the sphere, feeling the straps, seeking some weakness or a catch. Nothing presented itself. There were holes through the ball, at least. She would not suffocate. Her panic subsided.

Oh well. She could breathe and that was fine. She would remove the ball later. Right now she just really, really wished she could attend to herself. With her wrists bound behind her back she could not reach her diamond and she very much wanted to relieve some of the urgently burning tension. Squirming in an attempt to get her fingers somewhere they might do some good she felt something prod her rump. That was fine. Whatever. She needed to do something about this urge before it drove her mad. Her tail lashed, thumping the soft mattress. This was too much! She fussed and jerked, trying to free her hands. It took her a while to realize the cuffs on her wrists were no longer connected to the cuffs around her ankles. Good! She wriggled more and discovered the cuffs were now connected to a wide collar about her throat. Shit!

She fussed and fiddled and stretched her legs and sat and twisted, trying to get her fingers to her sex and failing. And then it dawned on her. She could sit up! She had not been able to sit properly for days! Even with her hands fastened behind her back it felt good to straighten up and she reveled in it for a moment. The warmth between her thighs persisted and her delight at being able to sit dwindled. Sitting wouldn't alleviate the need, the imperative, overriding and urgent need, between her thighs.

Digging her heels into the soft mattress Aste`Rey Mherr scooted back and forth, trying to get some useful contact between her sex and the soft material beneath her. She felt some friction but it was hardly an improvement. Damn it! She squirmed harder. Leaning into the effort, her diamond barely touched the mattress. Something prodded her rump again. She ignored it. Important, urgent need to take care of! She would look later. Sliding back once more it prodded her once more and again and again as she continued to have no luck stimulating herself.

Snarling in frustration she finally looked over her shoulder. She blinked, stunned. Sliding back slowly she felt her right buttock prodded again. His penis... His very thick penis... His very warm and thick and utterly rigid penis was what had been prodding her.

"Makers!" she cried. It sounded more like "Pfmoa-ffos!" with the ball in her mouth.

Her fingers groped and closed on the Human's erection. It really was quite warm and it pulsed with the beating of his heart. That was nice. Unable to see properly she worked by feel, running her fingers down his length to the base and the soft pouch there. The shaft was ridged and veiny, but there were no points at the tip. How did Human males stimulate the females to make children? She wrapped her fingers firmly around him and was amazed by his girth and not inconsiderable length. jZav`Etch males might have been slightly longer, but this Human was no less than three times their thickness. She felt a thrum run through her and her sex twitched, almost spasming. Her hand gripped him and she gasped. Perhaps he was four times as thick. Maybe five! Her diamond throbbed, dripping with moisture. She did not know how large he was and at the moment did not care. She needed relief and he was obviously in a condition to provide it.

"Alooph ffah vayk?" she asked, pulling on his member in hopes of rousing him. Mentally she swore at the incomprehensible garble of her words. She wanted to scream in frustration, but more than anything, she needed this Human's hardness. Had to have it! NOW!

Without letting go Aste`Rey Mherr dropped to her side and flicked her tail out of the way. Pushing with her legs and wiggling her rump, spreading her thighs a bit she backed to him guiding his member where she needed it. Almost there. Almost. And a little more to the left. A bit further back. There!

The thick mast of flesh slid past her opening and glided along her diamond, warm and slick and so smooth! So very smooth! Forger and Builder that felt wonderful! She clamped her thighs tight about him and held herself there, enjoying the feel of his heated flesh against her own. After a moment of satisfaction she sighed and ground herself on him. Thick and hard, the head of his shaft rubbed her inflamed diamond, sending shivers through her shapely form. Her breathing became more rapid and she moved faster, bumping his pelvis with her round bottom. His phallus quickly became slick with her juices and she bore down harder, increasing the pressure of her thighs as she rammed herself back. Bliss! Inarticulate growls escaped around the gag. Her bound hands sought his hip for purchase. Damn him! Why would he not wake up? She needed him!

Sudden pain slammed her to a stop. Wincing, biting down on the ball, squeezing her eyes shut she held herself in place. The pain ebbed. Her desire, unsated, remained but what had caused the pain?

Reluctantly she opened her thighs and curled forward until the collar choked her. The Human's turgid member was spreading her open. It had not actually penetrated. Only the rounded head pressed hard against her opening, spreading the folds of her nether lips and grinding against her inflamed diamond.

She swore a muffled curse around her gag. The heat in her loins was not going away. She needed this and she did not wish to be careful. The pain was already being replaced by a satisfying pressure, though. Carefully Aste`Rey Mherr pushed back her hips until her butt rested against the Human's flat belly. The head of his penis slid from between her lips and shoved her diamond aside. Oh Great Makers! She did it again, the feel of him pushing against her most sensitive flesh was incredible! If only she were free!

Again and again she pushed herself back on his shaft. Again and again her diamond was shoved aside. She clamped her thighs around him and continued with ever increasing vigor. The discomfort of him spreading her before sliding past her opening became a delight. She had to have more! More! She slammed back harder and... Wait! Where had he gone?

Desperately she groped for her unconscious lover. She felt his thigh and hip. She strained and looked over her shoulder. Carried away by lust and her indomitable desire she had knocked him onto his back. His still rigid penis stood straight up from his crotch like the mast of an ancient ship.

Grunting and whining in frustration, cursing her restraints and damning those who had put them on her, Aste`Rey Mherr forced herself up onto her knees. Though her ankles were bound she could straddle the Human. She would straddle him! She had to!

It was difficult but she got her left leg across his body and held herself above him. Her juices flowed down her thighs. Need sang in her veins. Desire pounded in her heart. Straining backward with her hands, half choking herself, she found the head of his member and carefully worked to get him lined up with her opening. Even pushed this far beyond reason she knew it would hurt. She just did not care.

Bearing down on the ball between her teeth Aste`Rey Mherr lowered herself. His large bellend spread her lips, her juices flowed, making him slick. Further she settled and felt herself opening. The head entered and she growled, eating the discomfort. She wanted this! She needed it! Down and down she went. The discomfort increased until it was actual pain. Howling, unable to continue she stopped, gasping around the gag, spittle flying in huffs.

Moments passed. The pain diminished. She bent at the waist and looked. At least a third of his length was buried in her. Loose fang! She had never felt this full and she was not nearly done. Sinking her teeth further into the ball she forced herself down. It was easier now. She had relaxed and her desire made her slick. A small, detached portion of Aste`Rey Mherr's mind watched in wonder as the Human's shaft disappeared inside her by increments. She felt herself purring in satisfaction and when she finally took the last fraction she growled and wriggled, loving the feel of the massive member spreading her open, stretching her. She breathed in, forcing herself to relax. And then she began to ride him in earnest.

Tail lashing she rose and let herself down, over and over, slowly at first, gradually building to a hard pace. She slammed into her lover, driving from him grunts and groans. She rose to the very tip of his cock and slid back down, hissing with the sheer joy of being impaled. Her diamond impacted the dense patch of hair about the base of his member sending up a spray of her juices. She mewled her frustration and ground down harder, moving her hips sideways, back and forth and then rising again. Her breasts jolted, bounced, jounced and swayed, the nipples distended and aching. Up and down, pace increasing with her need, pelvis bashing him. Throbbing within her she could almost feel him swell. And then it happened. She felt him spasm! Hot liquid gushed inside of her, spilling out when she rose, white and thick. She could smell him. So strong!

Down she slammed, hard enough to hurt, and brutally ground herself around the base of his thick organ. Growling and moaning she drove herself onto him. More and more, she battered her lover, their flesh smacking wetly. He sprayed inside of her and she felt herself shudder. Lost in desire she was overtaken by her climax. It pounced upon her like a ravening beast. Defenseless against its onslaught, it gripped her and shook her and threw her down. She felt her need explode from her sex, pouring out with every beat of her pounding heart. Her vision became foggy, shapes about her indistinct. The gag fell away, a strap bitten through. She did not care. She had only strength to smile and to nip her lover lightly on his new ear.

Panting, breasts heaving, she lay her head upon his chest, his wild heart thudding against her cheek. Grinning a slack grin, she whispered, "So good."

*****

The yellow lamps came on. Aste`Rey Mherr squinted at them, silently snarling, displeased to wake, exhausted from her dream. Only then did she feel how sore she was. Sore like she had never been. Her lower back cramped and her thighs throbbed. Her sex ached more than her limbs and she scowled. It had only been a dream. She had not had sex with the Human. She could not have been so depraved! Could she? No! No! Of course not! Her wrists were still secured to her ankles. There was no gag. There was no collar. There was only a tightness at her throat, probably from sleeping in an odd position.

The warm body cuddled so close against her back suddenly jerked away, a cry of surprise filling the cramped cell. Startled, she rolled to face him, wincing at the pain between her legs. The Human was finally awake and staring at her with wide, disbelieving eyes. It amazed her to see his expression and how easy it was to read. She reminded herself that Humans, lacking a tail and proper ears, did all their communication with their face.

"You are finally awake," she rasped, discovering her jaws ached fiercely. Suspicion insinuated itself into her mind and she shot a look at the fan of discolored paint where the ceiling met the bulkhead. Apprehension growing, she sniffed and realized her fur smelled cleaner, like when the creatures in black had washed her. Her heart sank. Oh Forger and Builder, what had they done to her?

"Who are you?" the Human asked in a surprisingly deep voice. He spoke in clear Meith `pth qHrr with almost no accent.

"Aste`Rey Mherr," she said, grimacing as more and more flashes from what she had thought were dreams came back to her. Her mouth went dry with fear. Trying to shake it off she said, "I was weapons specialist for turret seven aboard the Hav`Nah Coah's Blade. You and I are captives. I believe they are slavers. How do you feel?"

"Sick to my stomach and sore as a raw bone," he said, using an expression so common among her people Aste`Rey Mherr did not remark upon it at first. He grunted and eased his shoulders down onto the deck, gasping in relief. "Feels like someone has been kicking me in the guts all night. Were they torturing me?"

Aste`Rey Mherr's ears lay out to the sides of her head and she averted her eyes. It had been no dream. A cold lump formed in her belly. What the creatures had done was despicable. How they had done it, she did not know. Nor did she know why they had done it. Gritting her teeth, her tail shivering, she reaffirmed her oath of vengeance.

"You speak my language well," she said, rather than explain why her cellmate was hurting. "What should I call you?"

"Driscoll, Ivan, Corporal of Marines," he said, looking at her from the corner of his eye.

"What does corp`ruhl mean?"

"It is a military rank," he said. "What we call a noncommissioned officer. jZav`Etch would think of us as something between specialists and sub-officers. You can call me Van."

"Van?" she asked, still distracted by humiliating thoughts. "Is that proper? I am not your captor."

"Call me Van," he said. "We don't have the same sort of customs as your people do where names are concerned. Hearing my full name all the time would get irritating quickly. How long have we been captives?"

She told him all she knew, including everything she knew about the machine called Marilyn. The only things she held back were her "dreams".

"Don't trust her," he said, his tone firm.

"The machine? I do not," she said. "But why do you call it her?"

"If you go around calling those things machines or robots, pretty soon you start thinking they are just machines. They aren't. They are dangerous. They are self-aware. They have agency and internal motivations. She could be running this whole show."

"Show?"

"The entire operation." He shook his head as if trying to dismiss something. "Sorry. I'm used to speaking your language with other Humans. We use your words but a lot of our own expressions. My point is that Marilyn could be the captain of this ship. She has absolutely been manipulating you."

"You are sure?" Aste`Rey Mherr wormed across the deck to the bulkhead and pushed herself up into something like a sitting position. The pain between her thighs was easing and if she sat she could see Van's face.

"She's a synthetic, an android, and if she really is as old as you say, she survived both the rebellion and the purge afterward." He nodded. "She knows how to manipulate people. Assume she has manipulated you."

"Where does that leave us?"

"The others," he said. "The creatures in black. What can you tell me about them? I mean, other than they captured you. Give me particulars. What have you seen them do? What do they look like? You said they were humanoid. What else?"

"I do not know," she said, confused. "They are roughly my size, I think. They never show their faces. They all dress in black. One has a white metal collar or badge. Do you know what a gorget is?"

"That's something shaped like a half moon and hanging around the throat, right?"

"Yes. This one has some sort of sigil engraved on it. The one that wears it seems to have some authority."

The Human was silent, eyes narrowed upon the ceiling. "How do they communicate? Do they ever say anything where you can hear it?"

"I think they speak in whistles and hoots. Sometimes I think they laugh." Aste`Rey Mherr looked away, not sure she wanted to tell him more. She felt his eyes on her and she glanced his way.

"What else?" he asked, his tone suspicious. "I can tell there's something else."

Damn it. With her lips pressed into a line and her tail flicking violently, she braced for the shame. She told Van about the discolored paint on the ceiling and the effect the chemical had on her when she smelled it. More she would not tell him. It was too much to bear. She swallowed hard and hung her head, refusing to meet his eyes.

After a prolonged silence he grumbled in High Dez`Pritech*, "That's fucked up."

Aste`Rey Mherr stared at him, wide eyed, amazed. This Human spoke two jZav`Etch dialects?

Glancing at her from the corner of his eye he smirked and said, "Well, it is."

She burst into laughter, giggling and snickering almost hysterically. Tears filled her eyes and her laughter turned to loud choking sobs. She fell on her face, all but screaming into the metal deck.

"They raped me!" Her voice rang off the walls, near ear splitting. "They raped me! And they made me rape you! I raped you!"

Wailing, she heaved, vomiting on the deck. She gasped and screamed, her entire body shaking, heaving sighs of anguish. Weeping hot tears of rage. She fought her bonds and screamed, wanting to tear the hearts out of all of them.

"Come on," Van whispered in her ear. He was very close and she tried to pull away but her restraints made her clumsy and he pressed himself closer, not sexually but in a fumbling attempt to console her. Weeping, anguish piercing her like a spike, Aste`Rey Mherr lunged and pressed her face to his broad chest.

"They raped me," she choked, voice cracking. "They raped me."

Van made comforting sounds that might have been words in his own tongue. They made no sense to her. She did not care. He was there and warm, and she was not alone. She pressed her face to him harder, attempting to drive away the memories. He touched his lips to the top of her head and let her cry.

Much time passed before she could bring herself to withdraw. Van allowed her to scoot back. He gave her more time to collect herself and rolling to the far bulkhead, he gave her as much space as there was.

"Thank you," she said in a small voice.

"You are welcome," he said, his voice rumbling like rock on stone, almost sounding fatherly. Almost sounding dTel`Qohar.

She looked at him, ears flicking uncertainly. She tried a smile. It was wan and flickering, but it felt better than the wails of sorrow she had voiced.

"When you feel up to it, we need to continue," he said.

"Yes." Aste`Rey Mherr swallowed hard and wished there was water. "What else do you want to know?"

"Do these creatures keep any sort of schedule?"

They continued to speak about the monsters that imprisoned them and Aste`Rey Mherr slowly felt better. After being starved of conversation, starved of association and company, speaking to Van was like water on a wilting flower. Her spirits did not rise to heady airs, but she was buoyed and there was something solid in which to take comfort. She was not alone anymore.