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Alone, in silence,
You embraced the distant stars,
Wiped away your tears
And listened to their stories
With a brave and grateful heart.
– Haruna Murakami.
~~~~~
“Chief Engineer’s personal log, this 25th day of Gamelion. 1600 hours. Lieutenant Commander Selene Kheperkare of the ISS Bellerophon reporting.
We are now cruising at sub-light, two weeks away from planet-fall at Ereshkigal in the system of Zeta Ophiuchi, where I am looking forward to some much-needed shore leave. The same is true for the majority of the crew and for my Engineering Section in particular.
It has been an uneventful flight from Amintaiyas IV, although intermittent anomalous readings from the ship’s hyper-drive continue to cause me some concern. I have a team working on it and our new Captain, E.B. Kremmen, assures me that he has every confidence in us. I have been out of cryo-sleep for over two hours now and I still feel like shit…”
Selene touched the SAVE panel on her screen then looked out of her port-hole window at the bright blue star that now dominated the vista on the ship’s starboard side. She knew that the direct view wouldn’t last long. The Captain was due to make course corrections, but for now, she gazed at the brilliant sapphire light that was as familiar and as welcome to her as forests, oceans and mountains might be to people living on any habitable planet they called home. Zeta Ophiuchi and its nearby sister stars had long been her home and she was one of that growing breed of humans that had spent far more of their lives living and working in space than in any regular planet-bound job. She wouldn’t have wanted it any other way.
Selene was thirty-two years old, tall, broad-shouldered, raven-haired and athletic. She took particular pride in her combat training, engineering expertise, and her uniform. Lately, she had privately embraced the notion that being ‘one of the crew’ was far more important than being one of the four Lieutenant Commanders on board who shared the responsibility of being third in command after the Captain and First Officer.
Aboard ISS Bellerophon her area of expertise certainly kept her busy. Not so much in terms of maintenance, but in ensuring that all of the starship’s thousands of systems and sub-systems were operating as close to peak efficiency as possible. Bellerophon was a state-of-the-art Chimera Class light cruiser, one of only ten built. She was fitted as a non-military passenger, supply and exploration vessel although the Interplanetary Star Ship Corporation that owned and operated her maintained military-style discipline and a strict chain of command. Bellerophon was sleek, business-like, heavily armoured and armed but her armament was more defensive than offensive.
Glancing up, Selene asked, “Xoannon, how long before we rendezvous with the mail drone?”
The warm, mature, female voice that answered her was as well known to her as that of a close friend or relative. In one version or another, Xoannon was Ereshkigal’s central computer network and by extension, also the Bellerophon’s ship’s computer and there was no reasonable task that she could not perform.
“Three days, sixteen hours. At approximately 1600 hours on 28th Gamelion.”
“Good. Now play Crux Anasta by Nexus of Fear. Loud!”
~~~~~
“Oh, look, Evan, is that moon-fish?”
Her voice was soft, pure and gently inflected; indicating that English might not have been her native tongue. She pointed one long, slender finger at a platter of sushi that an ensign had just placed on the table in front of the Captain.
“Yes, I believe it is my dear. Ensign, please pass on my thanks to the galley staff for yet another exquisitely prepared meal.”
The young ensign bowed and exited as Selene discreetly watched the Captain’s companion deftly pick up a piece of moon-fish sushi with her chopsticks. Selene guessed that the woman was probably in her mid-twenties. She was certainly tall and athletic with straight honey-blonde hair and deep blue eyes. She was dressed simply in black, in an outfit that gave more than subtle prominence to her cleavage. She wore no jewelry and Selene could not help but admire her faultless skin and long, superbly manicured nails. Glancing at her own, Selene regretted that she had to keep them short; one of the many sacrifices she made to be a very ‘hands-on’ chief engineer.
Captain Evan B. Kremmen had taken command of ISS Bellerophon only six weeks earlier, replacing Suzannah Fournier who had been universally loved, admired and respected by the crew.
Introductions and briefings had been made but, inevitably, the voyage involved the officers and crew going into long periods of hyper-sleep especially when the ship was in inter-stellar space, travelling at several times the speed of light. Selene’s duty rotations had rarely coincided with the Captain’s, so he was still a largely unknown quantity to her. His companion had emerged from cryo-sleep only a week ago and had boarded at New Istria according to the ship’s level 3 security logs. At that evening’s dinner, Kremmen had introduced her simply as Danika without any further elaboration. He was in his early sixties, balding, fit, slim, immaculately uniformed and with a slightly affected air of old-fashioned dignity that Selene had decided that she found oddly amusing.
“And what are your duties on board ship Chief? May I call you Chief?”
The woman smiled coldly, showing rows of perfect white teeth and sounding like she was trying to make conversation without necessarily being interested in the answers to her questions.
“You certainly may. As Chief Engineer, I make sure all the numerous systems we’re surrounded by are working well enough to get us to where we’re going safely and on time. The Captain gives the orders and I ‘oil the gears’ so to speak.”
“Yes indeed, the Chief is one of the few ISSC officers who knows how to operate and maintain all the intricate workings of our new, state-of-the-art hyper-drive.” Kremmen blinked and helped himself to a double-blue shrimp sushi and a few slices of pickled ginger.
“Oh, I’d love to see the hyper-drive core sometime before we dock. Do you think that might be possible Evan?”
“…It’s fine with me, providing the Chief agrees of course…”
“Yes Sir, I think we can arrange that. I’ll let you know.”
~~~~~
Two hours later, Selene emerged from the travel-tube into a dimly lit corridor on Deck Sixteen. This part of the ship contained mainly crew quarters and, with less than two weeks before planet-fall, she was not surprised that there seemed to be no one about. She strode down the corridor purposefully and stopped in front of one particular cabin near the far end.
Although she had unrestricted access to every room on the ship, she scrupulously followed the rules of military protocol and etiquette when dealing with the crew. Tapping on the door’s coms panel she announced herself formally,
“Lieutenant Commander Kheperkare.”
The door slid open almost immediately. Behind it stood a tall, muscular young man with handsome dark features. He wore nothing except a pair of ISSC regulation-issue shorts and a pair of shiny dog tags on a long chain. Standing rigidly to attention, he stared blankly ahead into the corridor. Selene entered the cabin and looked at him sternly.
“Petty Officer Jesse Crane.”
“Sir!”
“Petty Officer Crane, at 0500 hours yesterday I observed you on security cam in forward Compartment Delta 12 on Deck 6, a Class IV restricted area.”
“Yes Sir. At that time I was re-calibrating the subsidiary hyper-drive plasma conduits in that compartment.”
“I know why you were there Crane, what I want to know is why you took a swig from a hip-flask once you had completed the re-calibration?”
“Permission to speak freely Sir.”
“Go.”
“The flask contained no alcohol, Sir, only the homemade hang-over cure…that you gave me.”
Selene paced to the door panel and locked it. She turned slowly and regarded Crane with hooded eyes then gripped him by the chain close to his throat and swung him hard against the wall. She smiled slyly then crushed his lips hungrily with her own. They kissed passionately until Selene drew back, gritted her teeth, and said,
“At ease Petty Officer Crane…”
“Good evening Selene.”
Selene giggled mischievously and immediately dropped to her knees. She pulled Crane’s shorts down with one sharp tug. Next, she ran her fingers through the hair just above his cock. It was shaved and cut into an inverted cross shape – her handiwork and the latest fashion in Ereshkigal’s high-end pleasure bars. Jesse was a true Earthling, from Des Moines, Iowa, a fact Selene often ribbed him about. She had encouraged him to apply for a berth on Bellerophon and this was the third year of their relationship. Although Jesse was thirty-three; a year older than Selene, she outranked him five times.
“Xoannon, play Intricately Flayed by Lust Configuration.”
“Softly this time?.”
“Alright, softly.”
As the music began, she purred deeply as she saw his cock twitch under her supple fingers. She gripped it firmly and started to tease the head from under his foreskin. Always delighted at how quickly she was able to get Jesse hard, she slowly slid her tongue across the lower surface of his shaft several times, then closed her lips over his head. She looked up at him to see him admiring her with a contented smile on his face.
“And another thing…slurp, suck, slurp, SUCK, slurp…Petty Officer…slurp, suck, SUCK, suck, Crane, slurp, suck, SLURP, ..If I ever catch you…suck, suck, LICK, slurp…with a hip flask in a Class IV…restricted area again…slurp, slurp, GASP, suck, slurp…I’ll…”
Now she proceeded to deep-throat him for a full minute and he leaned back against the wall, thrusting his hips deep into her mouth. Finally, she pulled back and gasped for air.
“You’ll what?”
She didn’t answer but licked his head teasingly instead, for a few seconds, looking up at him with mock sternness.
“I’ll bust your ass.”
He laughed and gripped her tightly by the shoulders. Lifting her with ease, he picked her up and held her with her ass on his shoulder. From there it was a quick turn and he deposited her onto his bed.
“Yes Sir!”
Selene unzipped her uniform tunic and made short work of her ISSC regulation issue officer’s bra. She swept her hair away from one eye, propped herself up on her elbows and gave him a low look. She knew how much he loved to see her topless, showing off her signature sunflower tattoo and only wearing her tailored uniform trousers. He stripped off his shorts then crossed his arms and tilted his head to the side. Looking down at her with that wide-eyed, boyish grin she knew so well, he said,
“Damn it girl, you look so fine.”
“I’m your commanding officer Crane, and I’m ordering you to get down here and fuck me.”
He felt a pleasant and familiar tingling in his balls as his cock twitched in anticipation. Selene wrapped her long, svelte legs around his hips and slid her fingers slowly down his shaft. As always, she made an ‘O’ with her thumb and index finger and pumped his head a few times before gripping his shaft at its base and feeding it into her pussy.
He was not surprised that she was already wet. Selene arched her back and gripped his shoulders. She kissed his face as he breathed in the luxurious perfume of her skin and hair. Early on in their relationship, he had often told her that she was beautiful, intoxicating and irresistible. Her enigmatic reply had always been,
“I was bred that way.”
But it wasn’t until the last year that he finally understood what this statement truly meant.
Tighter and tighter, she held him in her embrace; legs and arms entwined, her mouth drinking in the ambrosia of his fiery dark flesh. In turn, he fucked her with a passion that no other woman had ever kindled in him. Their growing abandon saw them rolling over and over on the bed as first one, then the other took charge. Rippling muscles, luscious heaving breasts and tensing butts; each of them knew what signs to read in the other – the signs of arousal and deep, satisfying pleasure.
Selene now settled on top. With her back arched and her head proudly thrown back, her hair bounced and danced across her back and caressed her shoulders. Looking up at her closed eyes and parted lips, Jesse imagined her as the avatar of some arcane goddess from Earth’s distant past. A deity to be worshipped and adored but never ignored. At times like this, he longed to tell her that he loved her but simply couldn’t break the spell.
She slid up and slammed down onto him with effortless ease, never letting his cock slip from the cozy embrace of her pussy yet working its entire length with muscles finely trained in the arts of pleasure. He relished abandoning himself to her at times like these, becoming her instrument, her grateful and yielding plaything. Her arms danced at her sides before settling upon his chest. Her fingers splayed and her nails gripped his flesh. She opened her eyes and looked at him wildly while his hands kneaded the firm and perfect flesh of her hips.
She rode him harder and harder, reaching back now and again to tickle and massage his balls. Thrusting up as she thrust down with equal force, they soon reached the point of no return. Selene could sense this of course and she pressed her pussy as firmly as she could against him. Rather than thrusting up and down, she now swayed back and forth, faster and faster, harder and harder until she felt his balls contract and his hips tense. She then raised her arms high, as though in transcendental reverence. She came in wave after breaking wave of indescribable pleasure, howling softly as she often did, when vulgar words would have seemed totally out of place.
As the spirals of pleasure finally began to subside, she turned her attention to her lover; enticing and teasing his diorite-hard cock with her full compliment of pussy muscles. She imagined herself as a sculptor who could create a masterpiece from the hardest rock. With knees firmly planted on the bed, she renewed her grip on his chest and used her eyes to add that final, crucial spice to the cocktail of his arousal. It always worked. Jesse bucked and groaned, in a crude echo of the lurid howl that she had earlier uttered. He fired rope after rope of come deep into her ravenous cunt. She treated its arrival as though it were an elixir; a potent potion that would renew her powers. She skillfully milked every drop out of him and then collapsed onto his taught, dark body, swiftly finding his mouth and plunging her tongue into it. There they lay, kissing and caressing long into the night watched only by the distant stars.
~~~~~
Shortly before 05:00 Selene awoke and wiggled closer to Jesse’s side. Pillowed comfortably and snugly with his hard, muscular arm around her, she allowed herself a moment of vulnerability. Listening to his gentle breathing, she guessed that he was still sleeping soundly. In a loud whisper, she asked,
“Xoannon, is the mail-drone’s E.T.A confirmed”?
“Yes, two days, twelve hours and thirty-five minutes precisely,” the computer whispered back.
Jesse stirred, “Are you expecting a delivery?”
“Mmmm, yes, from an old friend. It seems like I’ve been away from Ereshkigal for ages this trip.”
“Cryo-sleep does that to you. It fucks up your internal clock.”
She ran her hand delicately up his sculptured abdominals and felt his hand entwine her breasts.
“Oh, by the way, I met the Captain’s new girlfriend last night at dinner.”
“Oh, what’s she like?”
“Young, beautiful, perfect…too perfect.”
“Well, he’s an ISSC captain. That makes the Old Man quite a catch for just about any upwardly mobile young woman.”
“She asked to see the hyper-drive core. Now why would a woman like that be interested in my hyper-drive?”
“Your hyper-drive?”
“Damn right.”
“Maybe she wants to be Chief Engineer on a starship too one day.”
“Yeah, right! Well, in any case, I’m going to keep her away from you.”
Jesse laughed, “Don’t you trust me?”
Selene slid her palm over his cock. It was still wet with their combined juices. She massaged his shaft. Smiling through gritted teeth, she replied,
“Trust you? Armed with this thick, high-voltage cable? Fuck no.”
oo0oo
One hour later, at 06:00 hours, Petty Officer Jesse Crane emerged from the travel tube onto Deck 12, Section C. This was, by far, the largest room on the ship and spanned the height of three decks. It contained the ship’s heart, the hyperdrive core. The core itself reached the top of all three decks and was composed of two, darkly metallic octahedral prisms, placed tip to tip, one atop the other. The machine gave the general impression of a giant hourglass. Complex panels on each of the visible sides glowed and pulsed regularly, indicating that the core was active. Dozens of subsidiary control panels were dotted about the room, containing a profusion of dials, screens and indicator lights. The entire area was bathed in a warm, ambient glow and filled with a soft, multi-layered, electronic purr, indicating, to the qualified, that this vastly complex mechanism was functioning properly. As ISS Bellerophon was cruising at sub-light speed and because of the early hour, the room was virtually empty.
Jesse knew the sound and feel of the room well, having been trained by Selene and reassured that the ship’s fail-safes and safety systems were all state-of-the-art. Yet still, in the back of his mind, he held the giant machine in mildly fearful awe, showing it the utmost respect yet not trusting it fully. He pushed those thoughts out of his mind as he saw Ensign Swain, with his back turned, working at the security panel. Royston Swain was twenty-five, dependable, personable and, according to Selene, a highly promising young engineer. Swain turned,
“Petty Officer Crane, good morning.”
Swain’s clipped English tones and impeccable politeness always made Jesse smile. He fought off the temptation to imitate the younger man’s aristocratic manner.
“Good morning Ensign Swain. How’s it all going down here?”
“Everything is fine and very quiet. A calibration team has just left.”
Jesse glanced around and realized that they were alone in the vast room.
“Good.” He then glanced at a panel showing shift times and duty rotations. “You’ve been here twelve hours! I’ll have to have a word to The Chief, she’s working you far too hard.”
Swain smiled. Jesse’s relationship with Selene was common knowledge aboard ISS Bellerophon.
“She’s tough but fair. Besides, I’m filling in for Ensign Clemments. She called in with a headache.”
“Good man.”
Jesse typed in his security code as Swain signed off with his own.
“The Chief wants us to keep an eye on power fluctuations. Even down to several millionths of a degree, along with any anomalies no matter how small. The technical details are all over there on panel 12C-A.”
“Ah yes, The Chief is certainly a stickler for technical detail.”
Swain was about to reply when a slight sound from behind them made him pause and begin to turn his face. Jesse felt a cold hand grip the back of his head and smash it hard into the silver-grey metal of the security panel. Taken totally by surprise, he blinked hard then glanced at Swain only to see that a slender hand emerging from a loose, black sleeve, was grasping the collar of his uniform and repeatedly slamming his head against the security controls. Jesse turned sharply to face their assailant only to receive a heavy blow to his forehead which sent him crashing back onto the hard metal panel.
He felt his knees begin to buckle and struggled to remain standing. Blood was now rapidly dripping from his forehead and trickling into his eyes but he raised his head enough to see a figure whose eyes were hidden beneath a black hood. He sank back against the panel and fought to keep from sliding down. He caught sight of the figure’s chin, lips and nose and his rapidly fogging mind registered some vague note of recognition. But then the figure raised its leg and, with a lightning-fast stroke, brought it down square in the middle of his chest, whereupon blackness soon enveloped him.
When Jesse again opened his eyes, he first saw the smiling, pleasantly wrinkled face of Dr Ambrose Klein. Painfully he attempted to speak.
“Tell me the worst… doctor Klein.”
Before Klein could answer, Jesse also became aware that Selene too was gazing down at him with a wistful look in her dazzling eyes.
– “Selene…”
“Don’t try to speak, just listen,” she said softly. Klein then spoke to him.
“You’re going to be OK, Petty Officer Crane but you do have several internal injuries, a few broken ribs, mild concussion and a nasty cut on your forehead.”
“Thanks Doc… Selene…”
Selene’s face now came into focus, making him feel a little like a trapped insect under observation.
“Dr Klein says you’ll be fine but you’ll be right here and out of action until he says otherwise.”
“…Royston?”
Selene’s face clouded momentarily. With brows drawn she said,
“I’m afraid Royston Swain is dead Jesse. I’m so sorry.”
Klein reappeared and muttered something about him needing rest. He touched a control somewhere above Jesse’s head and Jesse immediately felt the inexorable and rapid onset of sleep.
~~~~~
Three Years Earlier…
Selene made herself as comfortable as she could on the oddly sculpted travel-tube seat. For the fifth time in as many years, she was dressed in a suit of armour.
She removed one of her gauntlets, bowed her head and ran her fingers through her long raven-black hair. She glanced down at her exposed breasts; elegantly framed by the vermilion, fine-spun titanium fabric of the suit. The suit gave prominence to her pussy too – as per the game show’s rules. She had made the suit herself and she was happy with it. As always, she had followed the precise and extensive instructions sent to her by that season’s production assistant who had arranged her contract.
She proceeded to adjust a few of the suit’s settings until her phone rang. On the screen was the Network 23 logo followed by the name of their production; Wolf, Fox and Cottontail – the network’s highest-rating game show. The text-only message that followed read; Prepare to greet your Wolf, Jesse, in five minutes. Exactly five minutes later the travel-tube slowed to a halt and she fixed her attention on the double doors. They slid open to reveal a tall figure with fine, rugged, dark features. He was clad in shiny black armour, tastefully designed and cut, as hers was, per the production rules. The suit left parts of Jesse’s muscular body aesthetically exposed – his abdominal and pectoral muscles drew her attention as did his hefty cock. They exchanged polite smiles momentarily until he spoke.
“Selene.”
“Hi. You must be Jesse.”
He grinned and nodded good-naturedly as the travel-tube picked up speed. The warm feminine voice of one of the assistant producers then chimed in above their heads,
“Selene and Jesse, we will be arriving at the hunting ground in twenty minutes. Relax and get to know each other.”
Selene glanced up, “Thank you.”
Jesse sat down opposite her.
“I haven’t seen you on the show before. Is this your first time?” he asked.
“No, fifth. You?”
“Third.”
Selene smiled, “I’ve never made the cut to streaming. I don’t recall ever seeing you either.”
“We’ll have to put on a better show for them this time. It depends on the Cottontail too.”
“Of course.”
“I love your armour.”
“Thanks. I was going to wear a mask but it was a little too luchadora.
“Ah. Mexican wrestling! Cool.
“Are you ISSC?”
“Yeah, you?”
“Absolutely. It seems they match us up very carefully. My last three Wolves were all ISSC. Where are you stationed?”
“Out on Thirlmir…asteroid ice mining.”
“…tough assignment,” she nodded with growing respect in her eyes.
“You?”
“ISS Bellerophon.”
“Wow, you’re on the Bellerophon!”
“Yeah, I’m Chief Engineer.”
He nodded with mock formality. “Sir!”
Selene rolled her eyes and smiled. “Enough of the protocol. I’m on shore leave.”
Their conversation was cut short by the voice of the assistant producer above them.
“Jesse and Selene, you’ll be arriving at the hunting ground in approximately one minute. Go hunt that Cottontail!”
Almost in unison, they said, “OK, thanks.”
Selene remembered the rest of that morning as one of the happiest days of her life. By late afternoon they were covered in dust, their armour was scratched, they were drenched in sweat, but they were still hyped and high on adrenaline. In the studio’s post-production facility, they had briefly met with the director who seemed to be happy with the way that day’s episode had gone. They were now free to shower and change. Jesse had just come out of the shower while Selene was drying her hair. Suddenly the doors slid open and in rushed an attractive, blonde girl of no more than eighteen. She was dressed in a suit of scratched, dusty white armour that left her pert, rose-bud-tipped breasts exposed. The suit also showed off her still moist pussy and glistening bare ass cheeks. Jesse and Selene turned and smiled at Lorelle, their Cottontail. Lorelle drew them together.
“Oh, my Gods guys! You were both fucking amazing!”
Jesse grinned at her. “So you enjoyed yourself.”
“Oh yes, fuck yes! I’ve been trying to get on this show for over a year now and I’ve auditioned three times but I fucking lucked out getting to be hunted down by you two.”
Selene laughed, “It was fun wasn’t it.”
“Oh fuck yes! The way you two chased me, trapped me and tied me! I’ve been watching this show for fucking forever but I’ve never seen anything like it. You worked so well as a team.”
“The Director seemed happy with all of us.”
“I bet he was! But Selene, you’re such a hot, bad-ass Fox and the way you fucked my ass, Jesse! I’ll be tingling down there for a month, I swear.”
Selene laughed and Jesse seemed quite touched by the girl’s effusive praise.
“My pleasure and…it was all in the script. Now, it’s up to the editors.”
“They better fucking include us in this season or I’m cancelling my subscription, I swear!”
Lorelle’s phone suddenly buzzed her a reminder and she whipped it out.
-“Oh, yes. I promised my husband I’d take some personals and a few holos of the three of us. Do you guys mind?”
Selene answered her. “Not at all. Is your husband a fan too?”
“Oh yeah, a huge fan. We live all the way out on Baudelaire Prime in the Maldoror system and we’re heading home next week.”
Lorelle took several photos and holo-film footage of the three of them together until the familiar voice of the assistant producer came in above them.
“Will Lorelle Hutschenreuther please report to Interview Suite 2 in twenty minutes?”
“Oh, that’s me! Thanks so much, guys, you’ve no idea how much fun I’ve had today.”
She hugged and kissed Jesse and as she gave Selene a warm, sisterly hug she whispered,
-“He’s so hot!”
With that, she departed leaving a slightly bemused Jesse and Selene staring at each other momentarily. Jesse picked up a towel to dry his head,
“Coffee?”
Later that evening, coffee led to dinner, dinner led to clubbing and finally to the best part of a bottle of Pelleas et Melisande. Slow dancing in Selene’s apartment, they soon found their lips locked in kisses of ever-increasing passion. The day had been full of so many thrills and highs, that it was only natural neither of them wanted it to end. Undressing each other in the middle of Selene’s lounge floor, their hands and lips worked frantically while their eyes mirrored each other’s escalating desire. Jesse was amazed at Selene’s skill when she dropped to her knees and took his cock in her hand. She pumped it several times and said,
“We have thick, high-voltage cables just like this on the ship.”
Before Jesse could laugh, she had enveloped his head with her lips and was well on the way to making him hard. She found his thick, dark cock delicious and couldn’t help recalling how beautifully it had stretched Lorelle’s perky young ass. Then, how his shaft had buried itself in her rosy pink flesh, to bang away at her with his loose, heavy balls slapping her dripping pussy, until he pumped his seed into her and she overflowed.
I want me some of that. She remembered thinking as her pussy too began to drip.
Now she had him all to herself and worked his thick, curving, cock with every skill that her lips, mouth and throat possessed. Seating him on the couch in the warm, muted light of her apartment, he was entranced by her perfect beauty. She strode up to him still on her knees, parted his legs and resumed working his cock, But now she also licked his balls and gently bit his inner thighs; just enough to send pulses of sensation up into his spine.
As the evening wore on, he found himself unable to take his eyes away from her, from her perfect breasts and her lithe limbs. She had looked awesome in armour but nude, she looked divine. Changing places on the couch, he lapped at the ambrosial nectar of her pussy, spreading its petals with his tongue and tasting the sweet nub of this most remarkable woman. Selene surrendered herself to her every desire that night and encouraged Jesse to do the same. He feasted on her delicate folds as she pushed his face deeper and harder into the core of her flesh. They fucked in every imaginable way; climaxing, resting, kissing, sucking, blowing and fucking again.
They eventually finished the bottle of Pelleas et Melisande, after which Selene strode into the bathroom. She was gone for a few minutes, and then Jesse heard her call his name. He got up and when he found the bathroom, the sight that greeted his eyes filled him more rapidly with pure, irresistible lust than anything else he had ever experienced. Selene stood leaning against the bench before a mirror that covered the entire wall. With her back arched and her legs apart, she presented him with the sculpted perfection of her ass. She met his eyes in the mirror and in a voice rendered languidly soft by their drinking, she said,
“Do to me what you did to that sweet little Cottontail.”
She licked an index finger and dragged it slowly across one of her ass cheeks. Reaching her cleft, she sensuously pulled her other cheek aside revealing the threshold of her sweet, pink hole. She stared at him in the mirror and there was now a distinctly challenging look in her eyes. Jesse did not disappoint. He gripped her hips roughly and pulled her up. Then he knelt and parted her cheeks with both his hands. She next felt his lips and tongue bathe her hole with warm saliva and he spat into it too several times; working the juice in with the tips of his fingers.
Selene sighed and trembled as sweet tingles started climbing up from her ass to her spine. She pushed back every time she felt his tongue crossing the threshold and he did so with ever-increasing strength. He tickled and teased her and she, in turn, relaxed her ring, allowing him to lubricate her deeper and deeper.
Finally, he stood up and she responded by spreading her cheeks. She was surprised, as she felt strong, supple fingers rake through the hair at the back of her head and grip it. He pulled her head back and simultaneously plunged his cock deep into her ass with one masterful stroke. His thick, hard meat cleaved through her tunnel until she felt his balls make contact with her skin. He then fucked her long and hard against the antique marble bench. Each powerful thrust into her inner core was met by an equally powerful thrust from her. She dropped her head forward; enjoying the subtle pain that his grip thus caused.
He let her hair go eventually and gripped her hips. Now she lay flat on the marble and arched her back, allowing him to penetrate her as deeply as possible. She had never felt her ass tingle so intensely, nor had it ever felt so full; stretched to its utmost limit by his curving, lustful shaft. Thoughts, sounds and sensations swiftly coalesced into the most intense orgasm she had ever had and long before it had subsided, she felt the growling, primal inundation of seed that was Jesse’s own…
“Selene…Selene…Lieutenant Commander Kheperkare, come in please…”
Selene opened her heavy eyes and swung her legs off her bed. She walked slowly over to her desk and touched the reply tab on the coms panel. Suddenly she realized that the voice had belonged to Florian Thorwald, the Bellerophon’s Chief of Security.
“I’m sorry Florian, I was taking a nap and dreaming of the past. Go ahead.”
” Well, now that I’ve brought you back to the present, you’ll be pleased to hear that Petty Officer Crane is awake. He’s asked to see you and me immediately.”
“Great news. I’ll be right there.”
Selene pulled on her uniform and in a matter of minutes, she stood in the Infirmary at Jesse’s bedside fighting the urge to kiss him. Thorwald discreetly ushered a pair of nursing staff out of the room and used his security authorization to lock the door. This caused Selene some concern but she took the opportunity to whisper gently in Jesse’s ear.
“Glad to see you.”
“I’m really glad to see you,” he sighed.
Once they were joined by Thorwald, Jesse looked at each of them in turn and got straight to the point.
“I saw who it was that attacked us. I was a little dazed and startled but still conscious…It was Lieutenant Oxana Voivodich.”
Predictably, Thorwald asked, “Are you absolutely sure Crane.”
“Yes Sir. She was hooded but her face was clearly visible. Then she kicked me and I lost consciousness.”
Selene now spoke. “You were lucky. Your…assailant was disturbed by a group of six junior techs coming out of the travel-tube. She must have fled before they found you as none of them saw anything and we didn’t find any other trace of her.”
“Is there anything else you can tell us,” asked Thorwald.
“Yes, she had a cold, blank expression on her face and her eyes were remote, as though she was under some sort of hypnosis.” He turned to Selene, “You know what she’s like off duty; fun and vivacious, the life of the party. I just can’t believe it.”
Thorwald replied. “Thank you, Petty Officer Crane.”
Then he looked up raised his face slightly,
“Xoannon, locate Lieutenant Oxana Voivodich.”
“Level A1 security clearance is required.”
“Authorization Thorwald F 696.”
“Lieutenant Oxana Voivodich is in Compartment J, Section C, on Deck 12.”
Thorwald glanced at Selene and saw deep concern in her eyes.
“That’s an empty store room just off Main Engineering.”
She looked grimly at Thorwald, “Get Dr Klein and let’s head down there right now – I suggest just the three of us at present. There’s no need to bother the Captain.”
Thorwald nodded silently and went to find Klein. Minutes later, the three emerged from the travel tube and, led by Selene, they stood before the locked door of Storeroom 12CJ. Thorwald drew his blaster as Selene typed her universal override code into the door’s control panel. The door slid open and the lighting switched on to reveal an empty room.
Thorwald and Klein looked perplexed until Selene pointed out a series of large maintenance panels in the walls. She produced a heavy-duty sonic stylus and proceeded to open each one. Behind the first three, they found conduits and power junctions, optical fibre cables and miscellaneous pipes. As soon as Selene opened the fourth panel, however, the pale blue, dead eyes of Oxana Voivodich stared pathetically back at them. Her once beautiful face was still framed by her much admired flaxen hair but it was lined and marked under the pallor of death.
Once the initial shock had passed, they noted that she was dressed in the fine black silk robe that they had noted on the security footage. Otherwise, she was totally nude.
They locked the storeroom door and brought the body gently out of the maintenance cavity. Klein quickly ascertained from the extensive bruising around her throat that she had been strangled. He conducted as thorough an examination as he could and Selene pointed out to him that Oxana’s hands showed no bruises or cuts; nothing to indicate that she had recently attacked anyone. Selene then asked Klein.
“Can you give us an estimated time of death?”
Klein knitted his brows and looked down at the body with intense concentration. Finally, he said, “She’s been dead for no more than six hours. That would put the time of death at about 03:00 hours.”
Selene turned to Thorwald and shook her head, “That doesn’t make any sense. The attack occurred at just after 06:00. She’d already been dead for three hours by that time.
“Well, whoever killed her and hid her body in here obviously didn’t want her found in a hurry. That seems strange to me. Her disappearance would have been noted and we are still days away from docking.”
All three were silent until Selene spoke.
“In that case, if we can all agree, I think it might be wise to keep this discovery a secret for now.”
Klein asked, “Are we going to inform the Captain?”
Thorwald looked at Selene, “Not for the present. As Security Chief, I’ll take full responsibility.”
The older man sighed, “Fine, I’ll quietly get a cryo-sleep capsule and a gurney. You two give me a hand.”
~~~~~
Later that night, Selene sat in her quarters, barefoot and topless in her huge, black leather chair with one of her legs draped over the armrest. A half-eaten bowl of ramen lay on her desk along with a large glass that had contained scotch on the rocks. She vaguely noted that the ice cubes in the glass were rapidly melting before replaying the security footage from main engineering for the tenth time.
Frustratingly, the footage only told her what she already knew; that a figure dressed in a black, hooded robe had appeared silently and as if from nowhere and attacked Jesse and Ensign Swain. The figure certainly resembled Oxana Voivodich but how could she account for the woman’s enormous strength and what were her motives? The luxurious black, silk robe was another mystery; she frowned as she tried to imagine where such a garment might have come from. It certainly wasn’t standard ISSC issue. Finally, the hands of both the woman in the footage and those of the corpse worried Selene. One had inflicted death and serious injuries. Yet the hands of the corpse, showed no signs of trauma; as Dr Klein had confirmed.
With growing impatience, she raised her voice.
“Xoannon, I want to see ship-wide security footage. Authorization Kheperkare S 119.”
“Time parameters?”
“Start from forty-eight hours ago.”
“Subject?”
“Hmmm, let’s see Petty Officer Jesse Crane.”
The screen now showed Jesse in his cabin brushing his teeth before his bathroom mirror. She paused to admire his abdominal and pectoral muscles before biting her lip in an effort to concentrate.
– “Focus on his eyes. Good, now…Xoannon, play In the Realm of Shades by Children of Phlegethon…loud, very loud.”
Just before the song started Selene’s coms-panel chimed. It was Dr Klein.”
– “Xoannon pause. Go ahead, Doctor.”
“I have the DNA analysis of the robe for you.”
“Have you informed Security Chief Thorwald?”
“Yes, he asked me to fill you in.”
“Yes.”
“After I eliminated our DNA and that of Chief Thorwald, the only other foreign traces that I found belonged to…the Captain.”
Selene was stunned. “I see.”
“Apart from that, Lieutenant Voivodich was definitely strangled by someone very powerful; her trachea was totally crushed, with several of her neck vertebrae displaced. There was no evidence of assault or any other injuries consistent with violence.”
“And you’ve confirmed the time of death?”
“Yes. There can be no doubt, she was already dead by the time of the attack in Engineering.”
“What about her hands?”
“Nothing, not even a broken fingernail.”
“…thank you, Doctor.
~~~~~
At 07:00 hours, after an exhaustive confidential teleconference with Klein and Thorwald, Selene called a meeting in the ship’s executive briefing room. Present were, Security Chief Thorwald, Chief Medical Officer Klein, Captain E.B. Kremmen, Danika, his partner and Jesse, along with four security guards who stood discreetly by the main doors. Once everyone was seated, Selene rose to speak,
“Thank you all for attending so promptly.” She now turned to look directly at Kremmen.
– “As you are already aware Captain, yesterday, at exactly 06:15, Ensign Royston Swain was murdered. Based on security footage, and the eye-witness account of Petty Officer Crane here, Security Chief Thorwald and I were led to believe that the murder was perpetrated by Lieutenant Oxana Voivodich. However, we have subsequently discovered that Lieutenant Voivodich herself has been murdered.”
“Wait a moment, I wasn’t informed and I’ve seen no security footage.”
At her most diplomatic, Selene replied, “In the interests of the investigation Captain, we thought it best not to inform anyone until we were certain of all the evidence.”
“I see. Go on.”
“Amongst other things, the evidence demonstrates that our mysterious murderer is possessed of super-human strength and agility. They were able to overpower two fit young men and hide the body of Lieutenant Voivodich without being noticed.”
After a brief pause, Thorwald spoke.
“Captain, when we discovered the Lieutenant’s body, Chief Kheperkare correctly surmised that since the murderer had gone to such great lengths to hide it, they must have good reasons to want it kept hidden for as long as possible.”
Kremmen sighed deeply. Without conviction, he said, “I understand.”
Thorwald now nodded to Klein who stood up and opened an air-tight rectangular case. From it, he drew the black robe.
“Do you recognize this robe Captain?” asked Thorwald coldly.
“Why, yes, it…it looks like one of mine.”
“According to the label, it was tailor-made by the firm of Innocenti Alta Moda on Korregidor. Is that where you acquired it, Captain?”
Kremmen’s voice trembled slightly as he replied. “Yes…no, my partner Danika here, gave it to me for my birthday when we were stationed on Korregidor.”
“And how long ago was that Captain?”
“We lived there for six months… didn’t we darling? It was over a year ago, just after we met.”
Quietly Danika added, “Yes, that’s true. I bought you that robe Evan.”
Thorwald ignored her and continued questioning the Captain.
“You lived together on Korregidor for six months? And while you were living together did you wear the robe frequently Captain?”
“Yes.”
Thorwald paused momentarily then said. “I must now inform you Captain that this robe was found on Lieutenant Voivodich’s corpse and it was worn by the person who attacked Petty Officer Crane and killed Ensign Swain.”
There was silence until Klein spoke, “Of course, we found your DNA on the robe Captain, and only your DNA.”
“I…I didn’t know it was missing. I can’t explain it.”
Selena now spoke. “Leaving that aside for a moment sir, we now come to some remarkable facts about our adversary. Firstly, they can alter their appearance holographically. That’s why Petty Officer Crane thought he had been attacked by Lieutenant Voivodich when we know that Lieutenant Voivodich had already been dead for several hours by the time of the attack.”
Selene now glanced momentarily at Danika, then at Jesse before returning her attention to Kremmen.
-“For the benefit of civilians and non-executive ISSC personnel, Xoannon is not permitted to scan or monitor human vital signs without the subject’s consent. It is strictly against regulations. But she is very observant. I had her observe several of the crew blinking; you Captain, Petty Officer Crane and any ISSC personnel who came aboard at Amintaiyas IV or New Istria. Finally, I tested those of the passengers that are newly out of cryo-sleep.”
Kremmen looked at her grimly. “And what did you find Lieutenant Commander?”
“Well, the average person blinks between fourteen to seventeen times per minute with the average interval between blinks being two to ten seconds. So imagine my surprise Captain when I found someone on board who blinks once every seven seconds, consistently and unfailingly.”
Kremmen now looked positively perplexed. “I don’t follow you Chief.”
“Captain, how much mental effort and self-control would it take for a normal person to blink at intervals of exactly seven seconds for an entire day, day after day?”
“Why, that would be impossible.”
“Exactly, and yet someone aboard this ship can do just that with an accuracy of better than one ten-thousandth of a second. I had Xoannon measure it. There can be no doubt.”
Kremmen looked around him rapidly then stammered, “Totally, totally… impossible.”
There was total silence in the room. Kremmen then exhaled loudly and slowly shook his head. Selene now looked at him sternly.
-“There is someone aboard Captain that has killed twice, someone or something with super-human strength who leaves no DNA traces because they have no DNA.”
Kremmen stared at her but remained silent.
Thorwald nodded to his security detail as Selene moved behind the Captain. She swung gracefully around, pulling a gleaming katana from the slender sheath upon her back. She placed the tip of the sword under Danika’s chin. The woman looked pleadingly at the Captain who was now flanked by security guards.
“Evan, what is she saying? What are they all saying!? They must be insane. Evan help me!”
Kremmen’s lower jaw trembled but he said nothing; looking at her instead with an air of awe and trepidation. Danika stood up and started to back away slowly but Selene advanced upon her, still holding the sword’s tip firmly under her chin. She took a few more paces back until she came to the edge of the conference table.
With a look of grim determination on her face Selene now slowly lowered the sword while maintaining close eye contact with Danika. She flicked her wrist suddenly, jabbing Danika ever so lightly just under her right collarbone. The woman didn’t cry out or even flinch. She simply looked down at the small wound to see a large drop of viscous, clear liquid ooze out of it. She looked up at Selene for an instant, then there was utter pandemonium in the room.
Danika ducked sideways and swiftly made for the door, knocking Thorwald’s security personnel out of the way as though they were made of cardboard. Several of the others in the room attempted to tackle her only to receive crushing blows from adamantine fists and bone-splitting kicks. She kicked chairs out of her way and sent a portable info screen crashing down upon her pursuers before Selene’s voice rose above the din.
“Thorwald, let her go and don’t shoot her!”
The Security Chief immediately ordered his men to stand down and everyone in the room watched as Danika attacked the door. She seemed totally indifferent to what might be going on behind her and somehow produced a charge of energy that knocked out the door’s locking mechanism. She then pushed each panel apart with seemingly little effort. Outside, she made short work of two more security guards as Thorwald yelled at them to stand down and let her pass.
The group then gathered just outside the briefing room door and watched her stride purposefully down the corridor towards the travel tube. Kremmen turned to Selene,
“Where…where do you think she’s headed?”
“I’d lay good money on it being the warp core. This thing has a mission to complete and I want to find out as much as possible about what that is.”
“We, we must stop her.”
“With all due respect Captain, this thing is perfectly prepared to kill. We don’t want any more casualties. Now, please order a ship-wide alert that she is to be avoided at all costs. And…leave the rest to me.”
Kremmen nodded rapidly and disappeared back into the briefing room. Selene now turned to Thorwald.
– “Follow behind me with a couple of your men but not too close, things could get messy.”
“Right Chief.”
With that, they set off towards the entrance to the travel tube where Danika had already summoned the tube car. They were in time to see her board the car but not before she glanced back at them with a blank, icy stare. Once she had departed, Selene called another tube car and she, Thorwald and two of the security guards stepped aboard.
“Xoannon, track the previous tube car and report its destination.”
“The previous tube car is headed to Deck 12, Section C.”
Selene looked at Thorwald. “There, you see, she’s headed for the hyper-drive core.”
“Do you think she means to destroy it?”
“Well, she might be sore at me. I never did get around to giving her a guided tour.”
Ten long, anxious minutes passed before they reached their destination. Just before the doors slid open Selene drew both her swords and turned to Thorwald,
“Ok, stay back but whatever happens to me, keep her away from the core.”
“Check.”
The travel-tube doors opened to reveal several engineers lying, seemingly unconscious, on the floor. In the centre of the vast room, Danika stood before the huge hourglass shape of the warp core with crackling energy radiating from her hands. She was using this to attack the core. Selene could immediately tell by the frenzied hum in the room that the ship was rapidly reaching the point of disaster. Her mind cleared and she ran towards the beautiful, refined woman who had been her dinner companion at the Captain’s table only days before.
She raised her katana and ran; summoning all her reserves of chi energy from the pit of her stomach. She jumped and brought a lightning blow down on Danika’s neck at a point parallel to her collarbone. But where she should have struck flesh, sinew and bone, her sword cut through a tough synthetic layer and then met metallic resistance. But, by that point, Selene had turned most of the analytical part of her brain off, relying instead on energy and instinct. Next, she thrust upward with her wakizashi, looking to impale her adversary between the shoulder blades. But the sword only penetrated Danika’s body to a depth of a few centimetres. It was enough.
Using the sword as a handle, she swung Danika around with all her strength brought the katana down onto one of her hands and swung the blade back, destroying the other. Both hands shattered and sparked, causing the thing to stare at them momentarily before it raised its blank face to Selene. It began to walk towards her. Selene felt relief that she had diverted its attention from the warp core. A few steps further Selene launched another attack on it; thrusting and slicing with both swords and concentrating on its head. The thing was quick to fight back; using its legs and aiming high kicks at Selene’s torso.
Whatever it was the thing used for flesh and skin now began to break apart under Selene’s repeated attacks, revealing a dark, metallic endoskeleton beneath. Selene caught a glimpse of Thorwald from the corner of her eye and shouted out to him.
“I was right, Thorwald, it’s a fucking android!”
The thing seemed to be distracted by this and it stood still. Selene used this opportunity to renew her attack on its head and managed to break off a good third of the covering from one of its eyes. A skull-like orbit was revealed. Then the thing surprised Selene by smiling. Its previously blank visage had been unsettling enough, but now Selene found its smile absolutely repulsive. But it smiled for only an instant before its face shifted and melted in a spindle of golden light, returning as an exact copy of Selene’s own.
Then, from somewhere deep in the thing’s chest Selene heard a deep, bass hum. She had no idea what this might signify but when the thing caused the face that it had stolen; her face, to grin, Selene plunged the katana’s blade as deep into its mouth as her considerable strength would allow. She howled and followed up with the wakizashi; sinking it into the thing’s eye. To her satisfaction, both blades penetrated deeply and soon the parody of her face faded from the thing’s head. It trembled bizarrely several times, then collapsed heavily onto the floor.
The deep humming was still audible so Selene wasted no time in attacking the thing’s chest with the razor-sharp point of the katana. A black, ovoid object was partially revealed and Selene recognized it immediately as a sophisticated holo-matrix. She smashed it several times until, finally, the unsettling humming died away. The android was still.
She paced around the inert corpse of ‘Danika’ several times until Thorwald and his men joined her.
With his eyes fixed on the android’s remains, Thorwald spoke,
“Is it dead?”
Still breathing hard, Selene turned to him and smiled.
“It was never alive.”
Just then they heard an intense hissing sound and looked down to see the formerly beautiful face and head of Danika melt and bubble, giving off a cloud of thick, green smoke. Moments later, what remained was a pile of corroded, grey, metallic dust.
~~~~~~
“Off the record Chief, thank you for saving my ship.”
“All in the line of duty Sir and don’t forget it’s been my ship for a lot longer.”
Kremmen nodded but said nothing, then he whispered,
“I still haven’t got over the shock… what a fool I’ve been.”
“That’s understandable. We live in dangerous times, Sir.”
“…and here I was thinking, an old space dog like me, had seen it all.”
“In conjunction with Security Chief Thorwald, I have made a full report to the Security Bureau. They will inform ISSC, they will also be investigating this of course but you can be assured of my full support, Sir.”
“Thank you, Chief. Now at ease.”
Kremmen sat down heavily while Selene remained standing.
“May I call you Se-lene?”
“Yes Sir, but it’s pronounced ‘se-LEE-nee’. It’s ancient Greek. Selene was the ancient Greek moon goddess.”
“And where does your surname come from?”
“Khe-per-ka-re is ancient Egyptian. It means, ‘manifestation of the soul of Re’. Re, the sun-god. So I am the goddess of the moon and the soul of the sun.”
Kremmen raised his eyes from his desktop screen and awkwardly glanced at the ceiling.
“It says in your personnel file that you were born on Teleia and that your parents are officially unknown. Born on Teleia, that is highly unusual, that would make you…”
“A Necrowhore?”
“Errr…”
“Don’t blush Captain, the I.G.O.C.A don’t mind the term.”
“What happened? Didn’t you complete your training?”
“Oh, I completed my training all right Sir and I graduated with flying colours. I just decided eventually that I loved fixing engines more than seducing people and killing them.”
“You are very clever, and… very beautiful.”
“I was bred that way.”
“So, you left The Guild?”
“Well, no one ever actually drops out of The Guild. Let’s just say that I’m on permanent sabbatical leave.”
“I see.”
“If you’ve read my security file, Sir, you’ll have seen that I have triple A1 Security Bureau clearance and I have full and comprehensive authorization from the Planetary Government.”
“Yes, I noticed that. Very impressive.” Now a sad smile crossed his face, “…but if they ordered you to kill me, especially after the…recent unpleasantness, you’d have to comply…right?”
“Er, no sir, it is still a serious breach of ISSC regulations for a Lieutenant Commander to kill her Captain…but.”
“But?”
“But, in theory, I’d be powerless to stand in the way of anyone that they might send, providing that person was a duly authorized member of the Guild.”
“I see.”
“There’s no need to worry Sir, the I.G.O.C.A. only go after dangerous, high-end criminals these days. The very worst of the worst.”
“That’s reassuring.”
Selene smiled good-naturedly.
“Oh, and by the way, I also run an ikebana and calligraphy class once a month here in the ship’s craft studio which you’re more than welcome to attend.
“Hmmm…”
He looked at her meekly, almost apologetically and she realized then that he was afraid of her.
“Look, Sir, Security Chief Thorwald and I are good friends, I would never presume to tread on his toes but rest assured Captain, If you ever need an extra sword again, I’ve got your back.”
~~~~~~
Kremmen happily gave Selene the next day off. She spent most of the time caring for Jesse and keeping him entertained. His injuries were far from healed although he was responding well to treatment. 16:00 hours saw them both in her cabin, lying on her bed in their underwear and sharing an espresso. Jesse’s chest and head were still bandaged and although he didn’t complain, it was obvious to Selene that he was experiencing occasional discomfort.
“So, do you think the Old Man will get reprimanded or face a court-martial?”
She took a sip of coffee. “Nah, he’s too well connected. Whoever sent that thing was trying to implicate him. He’ll get a dressing-down and be told to be careful who he fucks in future but I’m afraid we’re stuck with him for now.”
Jesse looked at her apologetically. “Speaking of fucking…”
“Hmmm, your cock is fine lover-boy but I don’t want to risk breaking your ribs. Doc Klein would throw me in the brig.”
He laughed just as the door chime sounded.
Selene quickly threw on a dressing gown and answered it. She returned to bed with a package and a wide grin on her perfect features. Jesse was intrigued as he watched her open the package carefully. Inside was a scroll. She unrolled it reverently and showed it to him. On it were lines of hand-drawn kanji characters.
“Japanese?”
She was silent for a moment, then, with deep emotion in her voice she read the scroll’s words aloud.
“Shut your tender eyes
As you smell my lotus blooms.
All is illusion
Except our bonds of kinship
And our deep, enduring love.”
-“It’s from my old sensei, my master Haruna.”
“It’s beautiful.”
“So is she and wise, and kind and brave; everything I aspire to be.”
~~~~~
Near the centre of Ereshkigal’s affluent 71st district was a street dedicated to restaurants, bars and cafes that sought to recapture something of Earth’s traditional ‘old world’ charm. One of these cafes was an elegant, small and intimate affair called Le Milieu de la Nuit. Its owners had spared no expense and ignored no detail to recreate a Parisian cafe such as one might have encountered in that faraway city circa AD 1900.
At 8 pm one evening, several weeks after ISS Bellerophon had docked, a beautiful woman entered Le Milieu de la Nuit and approached the Maitre’d. She was tall and athletic with straight honey-blonde hair and bright blue eyes and was dressed simply but elegantly in black. The man’s face brightened significantly upon seeing her.
“May I help you?”
“Yes, I have a reservation for 8:15.”
“Ah, may I have your name please?”
“Danika.”
