The Rembrandt Legacy

"You insolent whelp!" she hissed, writhing under me. Her mouth widened, long, glistening teeth forming. Sharp claws tore into my back. But unlike the other Faceless, she didn't melt or flow apart to elude me.

She can't! Or she would lose the implants!

Grinning despite her hands tearing chunks out of my back, I grabbed onto her, pressing her whole body against me, running my hands over the icy cold veins of metal winding down her spine. I felt no pain, thanks to the combat drug still tearing through my blood. It took but one deep breath. My Legacy awoke.

Nanofiber mesh containing huge amounts of psycho-active crystalids. The implants were made to boost her already immense mental strength even further, at the cost of most of her shapechanging ability. The nanomachines were inert, waiting for the proper commands to move and reshape.

Breathing suddenly became difficult. Still no pain, but a very weird feeling in my chest, like a stake where one shouldn't belong. Going for broke, I willed every ounce of remaining energy into my Legacy.

Work with me! Grow. Reshape. Paralyze!

The Queen screamed as the nanomachines woke, pounded into action by the force of my Legacy. Under my fingers, the cybernetic tendrils moved, sprouting sharp thorns, new tendrils, ensnaring her limbs, binding, distracting. And I heard the soft tinkling of breaking crystal.

A hand on my shoulder moved me, rolled my body off the thrashing Queen. Praecor's bloodstained form bent low, his gem a miniature sun between his eyes. This time, there were fancy special effects as a lavender spark arced from his gem to the Queen's forehead. She jerked one final time, then lay still. Praecor's gem, suddenly dull and lifeless, cracked.

I opened my mouth, to ask if we won, but only a sticky gob of blood poured out. I rolled onto my side, trying to cough it all out, but it wouldn't stop. And I couldn't breathe!

A moment later, there was the feeling of a long needle sliding into my neck, then blissful darkness.

* * * *

I tried to gasp air into my lungs. To my surprise, it worked, albeit with weird noises accompanying every breath. It was cool and wet around me, every movement sluggish and ungainly. Eyes. I needed my eyes, so I remembered to open them. My whole world was colored teal. No, wait. I was... in a tank? My hands came up, slowly, fighting every inch of the way. The liquid I was in was thick and viscous. And I was naked. Again. My fingertips found the remnants of stitches on my chest. A long, flexible tube ran up my stomach, held in place by a wide strip of medicinal tape. It terminated in the rebreather mask I wore. Finally, I understood. I was in a healing tank, and facing its rear wall. Fighting the thick mix of healing fluid and nutrient solution, I turned, eventually able to look out of the tank. Going by the angular, glowing seams between wall panels, we were still on the seed ship. Praecor, his back to me, was busy at a table, one hand occasionally going for tools. I couldn't see what he was doing with them. What I could see was that I wasn't the only one in a tank. Opposite me, I could make out a female swimming in another tank, but the added layer of liquid made it hard to recognize who it was.

Eventually, Praecor turned around, flexing his right hand. The one the Brain Queen had sliced off. He wore a thin glove. He waved, then came towards the tank. This close, I could see the empty socket where his gem once has been. He tapped a control panel off to the side.

"Good morning, Rem. How do we feel today?" The rebreather mask directly stimulated the small bones behind my ears, creating surprisingly good audio.

I worked my mouth until I could move my tongue easily. "No idea about you, doc," he scowled, "but I feel like some very ugly piece of corned beef. What happened?"

"The Queen left you a nasty parting gift when you caused her cybernetics to go haywire, a three-foot long stake through your chest. Missed your heart by a few inches, but took a good chunk of your lung. Not to mention the gouges in your back and behind.

"And now what?"

He touched the glass of the tank and a life-sized holographic model of a male body appeared. "You're as good as new, thanks to the Faceless medical facility aboard the seed ship. Wanna get out of there?"

"Can I? And we won?"

"Yes and yes. We won. Took a monstrous beating, but we won. The Brain Queen is subdued." He pointed towards the tank opposite mine. "The Faceless have gone dormant. Cosina and Vaelia are waiting for you to get back to work so we can move this giant hunk of a ship."

"Ugh. No rest for the wicked, eh?"

"You've spent a whole week in there. My professional opinion? You're well and truly rested. Hold still for a moment." He tapped more controls. I heard a weird, sucking sound, then there was a distinct, flowing sensation around my feet.

It took the tank about three minutes to suck out the liquid. My legs buckled, not used to carrying my full weight after a week of suspension in the tank. The glass hissed upwards and I nearly spilled face-first onto the floor. Praecor caught me and helped me up.

"You don't look quite like your old self," I observed, nodding at his face.

"The gem can be replaced. It won't be cheap, since the Mentalist Corps has a stranglehold on them, but I'm sure I can convince Lily to shell out for one."

"What about your hand? I saw..."

"Yeah." He raised his right hand. Under the glove, I heard the whirring of tiny motors. "She got me good. But it was worth it. You got my message, which raises some very interesting questions in regards to your Legacy. And I didn't have to wait long to heal." He moved his hand in a complicated gesture.

"A cybernetic replacement?" I asked him.

Praecor nodded, then pointed at the empty socket between his eyes. "Without my amplifying gem, I'm only a slightly more powerful Nor mentalist. Spontaneous tissue regrowth is suddenly very difficult, so I had to make do with what was available here."

"I'm sorry to hear that."

"Don't worry. It's more of an upgrade than a simple prosthetic. I have retained my sense of touch, heightened it even. And there are some nice extras built in, like a direct neural interface. Now Cosina isn't the only one able to use skill chips."

"A data jack? In your hand?"

Praecor pulled the glove away from his wrist. The seam where the skin met the artificial hand was smooth and had healed much better than I would have expected, given the short time since he had lost it. Smiling, the Mentalist grabbed his cyber-hand and tilted it back at the wrist. Two catches clicked open and I could see the major actuator bundles going into his palm, alongside a recessed data jack. A chip had already been plugged in. Deeming my inspection sufficient, he snapped the hand back into place and adjusted the glove. "I can also switch out individual digits for medical instruments."

"You sound pretty happy."

"Why shouldn't I be content? We pulled off a once... or rather twice-in-a-lifetime stunt. We took down a Brain Queen together."

He clapped my shoulder, causing a disgusting, squelching sound. "Thanks for your help. And now I think you need a shower," he said, shaking a gob of healing liquid off his glove. "Need help?"

"What, got some sexy nurses hidden around here?" I asked him.

"I could call Padari. She's been here every day to check up on you."

"On second thought, I think I'm not quite fit enough to handle a Marked Zuthrian just yet. Point me in the right direction."

"If you fall and break your neck, I'll not be held responsible. Just so you know." He pointed. "This way. The controls..."

"I think I'll manage. And Praecor?"

"Yes?" A hint of a smile.

"Thanks for not letting me die. That's how often now?"

"Don't mention it. That's what I'm here for."

* * * *

The seed ship's bridge bustled with activity. It took the seven of us to get this huge ship flying, despite the impressive amount of computerization. Most capital ships built by Precursor species had an artificial intelligence system built in, to help run things smoothly. As a hive mind, the Faceless didn't need that. They understood each other on an instinctual level, operating as one seamless organism performing even the most complex tasks. For us it meant lots of yelling to properly synchronize engine outputs, energy distribution, sensor operation and navigation. To make matters much more interesting (read: difficult), we couldn't be seen by other ships. At all. Because that would have brought the full fury of the Nor Navy down upon us. So we spent the next two weeks flying through uninhabited systems, praying that no automated sensor station, scout ship or cartography bot caught wind of our gigantic vessel. We ate and slept on the bridge, the constant pressure and tension way too much to even think about any kind of meaningful off-duty activity.

Eventually, we reached the Hellion-V system. Even the Faceless classified it as "hostile", with a sun on the verge of going nova like a giant, pulsating eye. On the edge of the system, surrounded by asteroids, parked a ship nearly as big as the one we were piloting, a city in space. Only with much more firepower. Swarms of fighter craft surrounded it like angry swarms of wasps.

"Is that a Fortress-Class super-destroyer?" I asked Lily, peering at the holographic display in front of us. She stood next to me at the engineering station, wearing the skin-tight, red wet-suit she had bought back on Waystation 83. It felt like two lifetimes ago.

"Yup. Looks like our employer isn't taking any chances."

"Speaking of which... who exactly are we working for? I know it's a bit late to ask, but I don't exactly feel right handing over a whole seed ship full of Faceless to some clandestine organization. And I don't need to be paranoid to recognize this a hella clandestine." I made a sweeping gesture, including the star system on the verge of collapse, the hidden city-ship and us.

Lily chewed on her lower lip, a thoughtful expression on her delicate face. Then she nodded to herself, obviously coming to a conclusion. "I guess you more than earned the right to know."

"He did," Praecor said, from behind the sensor station. "Several times over. It's not like we didn't have the same discussion when they offered this job."

"Okay then." Lily took a deep breath. "You probably know by now that I once belonged to the Nor Intelligence Service."

I nodded.

"Well, let's just say they don't let people just up and walk away, especially not after they invested a small fortune into their augments and education."

"So... we are working for the NIS?"

"No. I've burned all the bridges in that regard when I left. These guys...," she exhaled slowly, "have enough pull to get the NIS off my shapely ass."

"We don't know which organization they belong to," Praecor said. "But going by their equipment and the amounts of credits they throw around, I suspect they are some kind of black-ops government agency. It's no secret the Nor Republic has grown to the point where several departments have taken on a life of their own."

I scratched my chin. "Okay then... what does a secret Nor agency want with a whole ship of Faceless? Aren't they hereditary enemies?"

Praecor smiled. It sent a chill down my spine. "Certainly. But the implications are fascinating, to say the least. The Nor Republic consists of about three thousand populated star systems, each of which sends a representative to the Galactic Council. Even with faster-than-light communications, governing such a vast realm is slow as molasses. Just think what mind-linked government officials could do."

I shivered. "That's awfully specific."

He shrugged. "There have been interesting research projects during my time in the Mentalist Corps. I bet some of the papers have ended up on their desks." He pointed towards the holographic ship.

"Whatever they intend to do with the Faceless, once we're off this ship, it's not our concern any more," Lily said. "We get our payday and hopefully be on our merry way without further complications." She looked around. "Any more questions? No? Great. Cosina, hail'em."

A moment later, the screen changed. Gone was the impressive display of the multi-towered city in space, replaced by the dimly-lit face of a Nor. The bangs of his silver hair obscured most details, except for the lifeless glint of chromed cyber-optics.

"You never fail to impress, Lilith," he said without preamble. "I was about ready to write off the advance I've given you. But here you are. Do you have her?"

"Mister Veerakh. What a pleasure to see you," Lily said, her face a carefully constructed mask. Much like she was when we first met. Her business face. "The Queen is alive and well, if a bit hung over on sedatives." She took a deep breath. "You'll get your Brain Queen and her children, like we agreed upon. But I have something else if you want. Care to negotiate?"

"You can count yourself lucky I don't dock pay for the late delivery," Veerakh hissed. "You're almost two weeks overdue."

"Fuck your timetable," Lily snarled back. "We made it here in one piece, without the Nor Navy crashing this little party. If anything, we should get a bonus for not raising suspicion. Besides, I can just leave and take the schematics and control diagrams with me."

I threw her a sidelong glance. Not breaking eye contact with the oversized Nor hologram, her hand, hidden by the console, grabbed my crotch and squeezed, her fingernails a poignant "shut up".

"You have my attention."

Her smile widened. "I just so happen to have a fully working control diagram for the bridge of the seed ship. I'm sure my technology expert can craft a quick tutorial so you can get your people to fly this thing. It would save you a small fortune in reverse-engineering the systems and a lot of time trying to get the Faceless to cooperate."

"An intriguing offering. How did you manage to get it to work so quickly?"

"Well, our initial plan was to force the Brain Queen to work for us, but lucky circumstances allowed for a solution not involving a possibly volatile and treacherous alien." Her hand had gone from a dangerous claw to gently stroking. I had to focus on astronomical equations to keep calm. It almost worked. "Let's just say I've got a good crew with the right skills. So, we got a deal?"

"Not before you've told me what you want for that information." Veerakh steepled his fingers under his chin. Yeah. Total supervillain.

"We have agreed, besides you getting the NIS off my trail, on one hundred megacredits for the job, right?"

"More money? That can be arranged."

"No, I think for the control schematics and the tutorial, I want more than just a bit of money," Lily purred. Her stroking had become much more insistent. I intercepted her hand, trying to get her off me before I blew my load. Her fingers intertwined with mine and held me in a death grip. I squeezed back, hopefully calming her nerves. She sighed softly, then said: "I want a new power core and some time in your refit facility. My Lumia badly needs an upgrade. I think a seven-fifty-rated zero-point energy cell should do the trick."

"You drive a hard bargain. Lucky for you, we can spare such a device."

"See? That wasn't so hard. Once the repairs and upgrades are complete, we'll transmit the information. I'll be expecting your people in the seed ship's hangar when?"

"Twenty minutes." His lifeless eyes glinted. "Pleasure doing business. We will talk again, I'm sure." He cut the connection.

Next to me, Lily exhaled audibly, her death-grip finally relenting.

"Charming friends you have," I said, rubbing my hand.

"If all goes well, we won't hear from him anytime soon," Lily said. "Not when I can help it. The next few jobs will be private contracts, no more big corporations or government agencies. Something nice and easy, how's that?"

"A vacation would be nice," Padari said from the security station. "Beaches. Oceans. Fizzy drinks with fruit and umbrellas in them. And naked guys or girls falling over themselves to sunscreen us up." She licked her lips. "And what else might come afterwards."

"But before we can plan, we have to hand over this ship," Lily said, clapping her hands for quiet. "Padari, Crush and Praecor, see to it our guests will meet the Queen and nobody dies during the hand-off. Rem, Vael and Cosina, get the Lumia over to their ship and begin with the refit ASAP."

* * * *

"I barely recognize this place," Cosina said, smiling. She tossed me a semi-dry towel. I used it to wipe my face dry. Eight days of intense work, and the Lumia's machine room was indeed barely recognizable. The whole southern wall was taken up by the new power core, a Grey-built zero-point energy cell, a self-contained, perpetual energy source producing more juice than we'd ever need. With help from our mysterious benefactor's engineers, we had torn out the Frankensteinian mess of cobbled-together technology, only keeping the Zuthrian jump drive. The professionals, former military techs by their demeanor, had little trouble mating the disparate technologies in a fraction of a time it would have taken Cosina and me. They assured me the risk of failure was negligible. The west wall was hidden behind a massive shield capacitor supplying the new phase shields Lily so desperately wanted and which Cosina and I had just connected to the new power grid.

"Now what?" Cosina asked, throwing me an teasing smile.

"Well, I was thinking 'quick shower, a bite to eat and see what comes naturally'. It's so good to be back on the Lumia."

"I like the way you think, Rem," Cosina said, caressing her shoulder and the spot which hid the quick-release for her body plating.

"Me too," Lily said. "But before you disappear into Rem's bed, Vael needs him in the cockpit. I'm frankly sick and tired of this place."

"Oh, she does? Why didn't she tell me?"

"Because I haven't told her yet. You two were the first on my route. My, this looks nice. Will it hold?"

"Well, considering how much blood and guts we put into the last job, it better," I snarled, rubbing my chest. There were the occasional jabs of pain when I moved wrong. Not bad. With Terran medicine, I would still be in an ICU, not prancing up and about. But the memory of the battle form tearing open my armor or the Queen impaling me would probably stick with me for quite some time.

"Good. Now, under the shower and into the cockpit with you. Plot a course to Waystation 41, it's the closest from here."

"Do we jump?"

"Of course. Let's test-run her properly."

Cosina pouted adorably. Lily hugged her close and planted a kiss onto the Silician's lips. "When we're at the Waystation, I'll get you two big Felinoid boys, just for you to cuddle with. How's that?"

Cosina's eyes flicked my way, then a wanton smile tugged at her lips. "Two kitty boys, just for me?" she squealed. Her eyes sought mine. "Sorry Rem."

"What, an unfulfilled fantasy of yours?" I asked her. She nodded eagerly.

"You temptress you." I slapped Lily's butt as I squeezed past her and Cosina.

She caught me with one arm and pulled me close. "You want to punish me?"

I was pretty certain her whisper was laden with pheromones, but they didn't even tickle me, thanks to the implant. I leaned in and kissed her, nibbling at her lower lip. "Not today, captain. I have orders," I purred back, cupping her butt with one hand, then slipped from her half-hug. "We'll jump in fifteen."

* * * *

When we finally arrived at Waystation 41, I excused myself, despite the crew's vehement protest and insistence on an after-job blowout. After all the excitement of the past weeks I had been deathly tired and wanted nothing more than sleep, lots and lots of it. Grudgingly, Lily had relented eventually and declared me the ship's guardian for this stay. I had slept like a corpse for twelve hours, but my body decided it had had enough eventually. My stomach growled. Not in the mood for something synthesized, I padded into the lounge. It was quiet and empty, something normally only reserved for the few times everyone either was asleep or in their own cabins. I remembered the last time when it had been this quiet, after Waystation 83 and Lily's ambush. A smile tugged at my lips. After all that happened, a little cum on my face was hardly something to get upset about.