This is a work-in-progress, and more will be added to it Later; please stay tuned and have patience!
 
 

Stardate 2402.2
 
 

2402.201

Zassa turned to grin at the male Cheetah as she all but danced towards the Lost Cause's airlock.  Her shorts were essentially skintight, and rode high on her asscheeks, and her halter top was equally scandalous.  As a concession to the fact that this was a pirate base, she had a jeweled dagger stuck in her belt, and a rather utilitarian disruptor in a shoulder holster, its butt pressing hard against the flank of her left breast.  The overall statement (she hoped) was "ask politely and you never know what might be possible, but try and take, and I'll hand you your head."  Hinoki, in a somewhat less tight pair of shorts and a tee shirt, grinned back.  He too was looking forward to getting off the ship, and to renewing old acquaintances with the Black Fleet.

As she pirouetted, her stride turning more into a dance as she passed through the open airlock, she caught a look on Hinoki's face; it seemed as if he'd frozen in his tracks, his eyes going wide.  Then momentum carried her around and she oofed as she bumped into someone......

Chris grinned, fangs glinting whitely as he caught the Vixen's wrists, holding her arms apart and up, holding them well away from her weapons.  After looking her up and down, drinking in her voluptous form, he purrred; "ah, my wayward slave returns to me at last!"

Hinoki saw the brown fox grab Zassa, and for a moment he tensed instinctively... but then he recognized Chris and relaxed a little.  Leaning casually against the outside of the airlock he watched as Chris deftly spun Zassa around, pulling the Vixen's paws back behind her, tying them, one crossed over the other, with a leather thong.  It was obvious he'd had a lot of practice.  He was done before the Vixen had even made up her mind whether or not she even wanted to resist.  The collar was produced as if by magic, locking around the Vixen's throat with an audible "snick".  It was, of course, a perfect fit.  The leash was snapped to the D ring in the front of the collar, and with a grin, Chris turned and led off his prize.  Just before they disappeared around the corner of a corridor, Zassa turned and shot Hinoki a look of commingled terror and delight... and quite possibly of naked lust.

"Did they just....."  Hinoki turned and grinned at the Wolverine lass.  Wanda was dressed in a loose fitting jumpsuit, but Kath, at the end of her leash, was wearing essentially nothing.  Sometimes scantily clad is more erotic than completely nude, and at the moment the Mink was ably demonstrating that point.  Both were staring up the corridor, eyes wide.  "Oh, its OK; that's Chris Foxx; he's, ah, an old acquaintance of Zassa, and one of Jenka's Lieutenants."  After a moment, Wanda nodded; "Ah, yes, I remember.  The last time we were here.  Zassa told me about how he'd kidnapped her.  It sounded.... Grim."

"Kidnapped who?"  Wanda, Kath and Hinoki turned to see Roland, dressed in worn, but still serviceable BDU's padd to the lock, a pack slung over one shoulder.  "Oh, its HORRIBLE" Wanda giggled; "Zassa was just Kidnapped!"  Roland blinked, looking from face to face.  Hinoki chuckled; "Yeah, these Black Fleet Pirates are a rough, crude lot.  Why, that Rascal didn't even ask her permission before he bound her and dragged her off!"  At Roland's deepening frown, Kath chuckled; "Oh, its all right; they're friends!  Its just a game they play.  He kidnapped her the last time we were here!"  Wanda mused; "Yeah, but if I remember, she had some serious complaints afterwards."  Roland looked at the Woverine and then growled "Well she better not have any complaints after THIS one, or I'll have words with her abductor!"  Turning, the Badger stalked off down a corridor.

The tap on his shoulder startled Hinoki, and he turned quickly, not having heard anyone approach.  The Stallion standing behind him was jet black, nude but for a kilt, well muscled and huge.  Grinning down at the Cheetah he wordlessly handed him a set of handcuffs, and a collar.  Hinoki blinked and then grinned; "Why I didn't know you cared!"  The stallion's response was entirely neutral; "I'm not sure I do, but Mistress Jenka has commanded it, and thus it shall be."  With an "oh...ah, okay", Hinoki shot a crooked grin at Wanda and Kath, and lifting the collar, fastened it around his neck, noting that it merely buckled, instead of locking.  Then taking the handcuffs, he moved his paws behind his back, snapping them around his own wrists with a level of expertise that would have been surprising, if you didn't know him.  The Stallion sighed and shook his head; "I would have thought you would have known better than that."  Hinoki looked perplexed for a moment, but then his face reflected his understanding as the Stallion stepped forward to pull his shorts down.  Getting the teeshirt over his head and off his bound arms was no more difficult, but did result in the garment being reduced to little more than a rag.  Stuffing the offending clothes into a nearby trash receptacle, the Stallion clipped a leash to the now-nude Cheetah.  Turning to Wanda he smiled; "Ma'am, if you'll follow me, I'll show you to your quarters.  Mistress Jenka has you billeted in the VIP ring."  Wanda chuckled and nodded, and with John leading Hinoki, Wanda leading Kath, the quartet padded off down the corridor.

Smith stepped from the shadow of the inner lock and looked left and right, as if expecting abductors to spring from the woodwork.  After assuring himself that no one was about to try and collar him, he turned and moved to follow, at a discrete distance.

No sooner had Smith disappeared around a corner, than Corey paused at the open lock to look around.  This portion of the docking ring was now all but deserted.  "Doesn't look like any spaceport I've ever seen" the Lynx mused to himself.  Shaking his head, he shifted his shoulder bag and bravely stepped forth into the unknown; "I wonder where the others got off to.  Oh, well.....  Surely there's an agent around here somewhere that can help me with passage.  I just have to find him... or her.  Or it."  Judging probabilities, the Lynx picked a direction, and strode off in search of the most efficient way to reach his ultimate destination and his awaiting University position.  There was SO much to do, and so little time!

Zassa smiled; the door actually squeaked as it opened inwards on antique hinges.  Somehow the roughhewn wooden door and the flanking torches in wrought iron brackets looked so out of place in the space station's corridor.  Still, once through the portal, the effect was startling.  It looked EXACTLY like what you would have expected from a mythical castle dungeon.  It was dark, and dank, with rusty chains hanging from the ceiling, and straw on the floor.  Chris smiled and led the Vixen into his playroom; "I hope you like the effect; I've spared no expense."  Zassa just chuckled.  "oh, you may laugh NOW, slave, but I'll soon change your tone!"  With a theatrical flourish, Chris turned and whipped a homespun cloth off of.... Something.  It looked like a giant metal A, with a circle at the top, and two smaller circles at the bottom.  There were also two circles along the sides at the ends of the crossbar.  "This device" the Fox chortled; "was designed to insure that penitent souls maintained the correct posture of humility in the presence of their betters.  I'll show you, just as soon as I relieve you of the tiresome burden of your clothes....."

The steel was cold around her neck, but not too tight.  Again, it felt as if it had been custom made for just her.  Zassa balanced carefully in the awkward position.  She stood, feet splayed wide apart, held by the bottom legs of the A, with her neck held by the circle of steel at its peak.  Her knees were bent, and therefor held apart by the shanks of the A and her wrists were held essentially at her sides, by circlets of steel at the A's crossbar.  She felt as if she were holding a rather deep bow, as if honoring her captor.  "This device" the Fox mused; "was developed by an ancient religious inquisition, to make sure that their prisoners showed the proper humility to the clergy, through their posture.  As he talked, Chris ran one paw over the Vixen's delicious ass.  "But I find it has other uses."  Reaching around he gently squeezed one of Zassa's hanging breasts.  "Would you like me to demonstrate?"

The Lynx looked at the sign above the door and nodded to himself.  "Dockmaster."  "That should be as good a place as any to start.  If they can't help me, surely they can tell me where I can find what I need."  Stepping inside, he looked around.

Jacques looked up from his computer terminal and blinked.  The Lynx looked lost, and then he nodded to himself, remembering the freighter from the Brethren that had docked earlier that day.  This must be one of their crew. Rising from his seat, thinking ANYTHING had to be more interesting than his lists of manifests, fuel requisitions and ordinance inventories, he padded over; "Hey, buddy, anything I can do for you?"

Corey looked the Squirrel up and down and then nodded; "I'd like to find the appropriate person to discuss booking passage.  I've been appointed to a research position at the University, and I need to arrange passage in the most expeditious manner possible."

Jacques blinked; "you...... ah..... I hate to say it, buddy, but I don't think I can help you.  We're not exactly a regular stop for most of the passenger vessels in this quadrant."  Corey frowned; "Then why would Tanj have brought me here?  She knew of my requirements.  I thought she was assisting me in reaching my destination!"  The Squirrel grinned; "Tanj.  The Cheetah?  Um, buddy you may have a problem there.  Last I saw of HER, Jenka, the boss here, was leading her off, nude and bound, at the end of her leash!"  Corey's expression turned from puzzlement to horror; "Jenka?  The PIRATE?  Oh, good LORD!"  Turning, a thousand questions running through his head, the Lynx stepped back through the door, and into the corridor.  Jacques was about to follow, thinking something here had to be cleared up, when his terminal started beeping insistently at him.  With a sigh, he made a mental note to follow up on the Lynx later, after he put out whatever fire was demanding his urgent attention......

Hinoki looked around curiously as the Stallion led him through the door.  It wasn't the luxuriously appointed bedroom he was hoping for, nor the dungeon he half expected.  Instead it looked more like a medical lab crossed with a machine shop.  However, the device in the center of the floor was a little more familiar.  The Stallion just unclipped the leash and gestured towards the stocks.  With a sigh Hinoki nodded, moving over towards them.  They were of an industrial plastic, soft and spongy, and yet utterly unbreakable; not by him, not even by so powerful a fur as the Stallion.  They had a curiously mass-produced look, which didn't bode well either.  Opening the lower portion of the stocks, Hinoki knelt, placing his ankles in the openings.  In order to do so, he had to spread his knees wide apart.  As he lowered the top portion, he heard a latch click with annoying solidity.  Leaning over backwards, arching his body back, the Cheetah fumbled to open the upper portion of the "stocks", and to place his wrists within the openings.  At this point the Stallion stepped forward, to swing the moveable half closed, trapping his wrists near his widespread ankles.  The Stallion chuckled and moved around the trapped Cheetah, to fondle his balls in a friendly manner; "you just hold that pose; I've got some work to do."

Hinoki tried to watch what the Stallion was doing, but it was difficult; the normal position for his head, with his body bent back like it was, gave him a good view of the ceiling.  Oh, he could let his head fall back, and get somewhat of an upside-down view of what was behind him, or he could lift his head until his chin rested on his chest, and get a partial view of what was before him, but the view wasn't good and he knew he couldn't hold his head like that for very long.  The Stallion seemed to be fumbling with some sort of medical scanner.  After a few minutes, John turned and brought the gizmo back to the bound Cheetah.  With a grin he pressed the device to the Cheetah's crotch.  It felt cold, and buzzed softly.  Hinoki dropped his head back, and closed his eyes and just enjoyed the sensations.  After a moment the Stallion grunted and the presence of the buzzing instrument vanished.  Lifting his head, the Cheetah spied the Stallion hooking the scanner to some sort of computer terminal.  He studied the screen for a while, touching it here and there, and finally he nodded.  Across the room some device started whirring, and the Stallion rose, to turn back to Hinoki.

"Its going to take a while for the CAM system to finish what its doing...."  The stallion grinned; "And as I know what Mistress Jenka has in mind for you, I thought maybe a small kindness would be in order....."  Clopping over to the bound Cheetah, his hoofs loud on the decking, the Stallion knelt, to run his broad tongue over the Cheetah's sheath.  As the Stallion worked on him, Hinoki let his head fall back again, and purrrred.  It felt wonderful, but some small part of his mind couldn't help but worry about what was to follow.

The Stallion had just finished sucking Hinoki to his second orgasm when a bell dinged.  John smiled, and giving Hinoki a last lick, rose and clopped over to the device on the far wall.  Hinoki watched him go, with a sigh.  "He called it a CAM system" the Cheetah thought to himself.  "CAM as in computer assisted manufacturing?  I wonder what he's building?"  Seeing the Stallion turn, with a silvery phallic shape in his hand, the Cheetah swallowed; "this is either going to be very good, or sheer hell.... Maybe both."

John looked down at the still-rampant Cheetah and chuckled; "Can't use this quite yet.  I'll just put it here, and come back in a bit when you've, ah, "calmed down"."  With a smile the Stallion put the device on Hinoki's chest, and then turned and left the room.  As the door swooshed closed behind him, Hinoki tried to focus, a little cross-eyed, on the shape resting on his chest.  It looked like a mold, somewhat phallic shaped, but hollow, with a small ring at the narrow end.  "Now what in the world are they going to do with that", he wondered.

Smith did his best to fade into the wall, while the Stallion and Hinoki were doing whatever they were doing.  His position was good, and he thought he wouldn't be immediately seen by anyone who emerged.  As he waited, he pondered the situation.  There seemed to be a significant contradiction; Wanda and Kath were courteously treated, while Tanj, and to lesser extents, Zassa and Hinoki had been... abducted?  Were they in trouble?  His intuition said no, but he'd been wrong before.  There was only one way to find out.....

The door slid open almost soundlessly, and the Stallion emerged from the room.  Past him, Smith had a quick glimpse of the bound Hinoki.  Smiling to himself, he thought "in this crowd, that doesn't necessarily mean he's in trouble...."  The Stallion stopped just outside the door, and without looking around, just smiled and muttered; "Mr. Smith, I'd like a word with you, if I might...."

Jenka smiled and crossed her legs, her chair pushed back from her desk.  Smith did his best to keep his face impassive, but it had just become quite apparent that under her leather minidress, the Jaguar wasn't wearing any undies.....  "What can I do to assure you, that this is merely a game we play, from time to time, and that I mean them no harm?"  Smith thought for a moment and then shrugged; "Its difficult to prove a negative.  In short, your deeds will speak louder than words.  And in the end, there might be little I could do to stop you, if you decided to do other than what you've indicated.  Might."  Leaning forward a bit, the..... Coyote smiled; "but, I'm sure you know, I've had a long and... profitable relationship with Ms. Kee, and she has promised me further business.  Lucrative business.  It would not be prudent, Ma'am, to interfere with my profits."  Jenka chuckled; "If I have my way, you might have more business than ever.  The head position in the Intelligence department has recently come open, and I'd like Tanj to take that position.  But as you say, only time will demonstrate that."  After regarding the.... Wolf?  for a moment, Jenka smiled; "I'll have John assign you quarters.  I'm certain that before too long, Tanj herself will relay to you that all is well, and we'll see about getting you off on your missions.  But until then, enjoy your, ah, "vacation."  Smith just nodded and rose; making a polite half-bow to the Jaguar, he turned and left soundlessly.

Smith took the slip of paper from the Stallion and headed towards the residential section.  As he walked, he tried to take in every little detail about his surroundings.  He'd told the Jaguar that if she decided to keep Tanj as a pet against her will there might be little he could do to prevent it.  After all, she was the commander of the Black Fleet, one of the largest, best equipped and most feared of the Pirate Clans.  And then again, there might be all sorts of things he could do.  And not having anything TO do, until he was able to depart on the missions he'd discussed with the Cheetah, he might as well look into what might be done.  Grinning, Smith made his way towards his assigned quarters, taking note of the furrs around him, of the way the doors closed, of the structural details of the station.... Yes, there might be MANY things a furr like him could do......

"But that's not what WE do!"  Roland looked askance at the Black Fleet Pirate and shook his head; "Oh, come on; there HAVE to be instances where you assault something heavily defended, where you need the firepower and mobility of powered armor!"  The Jackal sighed; "Look, I know the Brethren were all wrapped up in the liberation of Elysium.  Poor excuses for pirates if you ask me."  At the bristling look on the Badger's face, he continued quickly; "you have to understand that the main goal of being a pirate is to get money.  To steal money, or things of value, if you will.  If a target is too heavily defended, then its just not worth pursuing.  Not out of simple greed anyways.  We look for the lightly defended, or the poorly defended.  We look for the maximum return for the minimum effort, and the minimum risk.  Besides, powered armor is most useful dirtside, or maybe if you're fighting on a VERY large ship, and we almost never do either!"  Roland sighed; "I think I could teach you a thing or two about its uses, though.  You MIGHT be surprised."  The Jackal nodded; "I might, but.... tell me, do you HAVE a suit of powered armor?"  The Badger looked down; "Uh.... No.  My last suit was destroyed on Elysium."  The Jackal nodded sagely; "Difficult to show us how to use it in our sort of combat, if you don't have one."  At the stricken look on the Badger's face, the Jackal continued; "Look, I DO have openings for Marines, for boarding captured ships.  If you have experience as you claim, you'll know its fairly risky work, but the pay is commensurate with the risks.  If you sign on with us, well, maybe you can afford a suit sometime in the near future.  And yes, I know how much they cost."  Roland sighed; "OK, but before I sign on, I'd like to talk to whomever would be my CO, and some of the troops....."  The Jackal grinned; "lets go see if we can find Emma......"

Zassa smiled, and just let the sensations overwhelm her.  Chris had stripped, slowly, and within her vision, and had then moved around her, to take her from behind.  As the bucking of his hips increased in intensity, he'd put his paws on her hips, to hold her steady.  Her stance was just a little precarious......  It felt so delicious to be bound so tight, held so helplessly, and to be taken so hard, to be ruthlessly used for his pleasure.  Just as she thought she was going to slip over the edge, as her breathing increased, he pulled out.  Zassa panted hard, waiting.....  When he was sure she had her balance, Chris took his paws off her hips and moved around, to sit cross-legged in front of her.  With one paw idly stroking his cock, still slick with her juices, he grinned; "you see, my little slave, I can do anything I want with you, including take you to the edge, and leave you there."  Reaching through the steel that held her bent, he ran fingers back and forth through her dripping slit; "Mistress Jenka has taken your Captain, just like I've taken you.  There's no one to rescue you, no one to come to your aid.  You're mine, now, and forever."

Zassa lowered her eyes, finding her vision centering on the Fox's rampant cock.  "I can imagine Jenka kidnapping Tanj" she thought to herself; "but if I know those two, after a while, things will get back to normal....."  For a moment the Vixen wondered if Tanj would object to being reduced to what she'd once been, to what she did SO well, a simple sex slave.  And if she did, would that mean that Chris was telling the truth, that she was his until he tired of her?  Zassa lifted her head a little and gave the Fox a sly look; "Oh, PLEASE, kind Master, Please grant your humble slave her release.... I'm SOOOOOOO hot!"  "Maybe it wouldn't be such a bad thing" Zassa thought to herself; "decisions like that deserve to be well thought through, though; I'll think on it later, but in the meantime, I should enjoy the situation, while it lasts....."  Wiggling her bottom, Zassa moaned in what she hoped was an enticing manner.....

Chris chuckled and stroked the Vixen's pussy a little more firmly, capturing her clitty and rolling it between thumb and forefinger; the result was obvious, writ large on her face.  Again, just before she seemed to go over the edge, he ceased his motions, returning his paw to his own lap, to idly stroke his cock; "I'm sure you're hot, little one, but I know you can get hotter still.  In any event, we're going to find out.  I have all the time in the world."

Emma was a mouse and a rather petite one at that.  Roland looked down at her, and she met his gaze solidly, with the look of an old soldier.  An old, experienced, and rather capable soldier.  "OK, I'll give him a try.  Lord knows we're short handed enough."  Turning to Roland she growled; "What was your name again?  Oh, never mind.  Right now we've got enough open slots you can pick your quarters.  If you want one of the nicer rooms, you'll have to find someone who'll agree to share with you.  Otherwise, well, we've got plenty of singles available, but they ain't much.  I want you in the Gym at 0600, and in the simulator at 0800.  I'll be there to personally supervise.  If you're not up to snuff in either category, well, we'll cross that bridge when we come to it.  I'll assign you to a team when I see how you perform."  Roland just nodded, and growled back; "I'll take one of the single rooms.  Where do I find 'em?"

Zassa moaned softly, breathlessly.  Chris was as good as ever, seemingly tireless, playing her like a maestro plays a fine instrument.  He'd brought her to the edge of a climax and with amazing determination and skill, held her there, right at the edge, for what seemed like an eternity.  She was so tired, she could barely make a sound.  So tired he'd long-since put a big pillow on the floor, and gently tipped her forward until her forehead rested on it.  With her ass still high in the air, perfectly exposed to his ministrations, her wrists locked to the A, helpless to interfere, she watched upside-down as he continued to stroke her sodden pussy.

Chris watched her, watched the way her muscles trembled, listened to the ragged sound of her breathing, and after sneaking a quick look at his chrono, nodded to himself.  It was time.  Oh, he could probably keep her teetering on the knife's edge for a while longer, but, despite what he'd said, he DID have places to go, things to do.  Things that had to be done or Jenka would get upset with him.  Leaning forward he fastened his lips around the Vixen's throbbing clitty, and began to suck softly.

Zassa found her voice gone as she tried to scream out in anticipation, but instead she found she could barely breath.  As the Fox sucked on her pearl, she found herself carried higher and higher, until the world seemed to explode, until the universe seemed to contract and then expand outward, until, as untold pleasures raged through her poor, tormented body, she slowly slipped from conciousness.

Chris smiled and stroked the Vixen's ear softly; "Too much for you, eh?  Well, we'll have to work on that.  Now, let me see if I can get you ready to travel; you're too heavy to carry all the way home, but I do happen to have a conveyance, JUST for you!

Roland looked at the room and sighed.  He probably would have been better off if it'd been completely empty.  Instead there was a rather rusted, and broken bed frame, with a soiled and torn mattress.  The built-in desk looked as if someone had tried to set it on fire.  On closer examination, it turned out to have been the comm terminal that had caused the burn marks.  "I wonder how they managed THAT?" he thought to himself.  Usually the comm terminals were of a low voltage, too low to do that.  The light panel in the ceiling flickered most irritatingly, and the cold water tap in the sink in the miniscule bathroom didn't seem to work.  With a sigh, the Badger dropped his pack; as bad as it was, it was one of the better ones he'd seen.  These Black Fleet folks seemed to be a real bunch of animals!

The storage room was a quiet place to think.  Corey paced the floor, his mind a whirl with thoughts and questions.  "Jenka? I know the Brethren had dealings with her, and her organization, but what would we be doing HERE?" was the one that kept running through his mind the most.  Finally the Lynx forced himself to calm down, and to approach the problem from a rational point of view.  What did he know?  He knew he wasn't where he should be, he wasn't where Tanj had promised she'd take him.  This was no place from which he could obtain passage to his University.  And Tanj was a prisoner of the infamous Pirate Jenka.  Therefor something unexpected had happened.  The logical conclusion was that their ship had somehow been taken by pirates.  "It must have been a clever ruse," he mused to himself, "For even I would have noticed an armed boarding party.  No, deception must have been involved.  Even so, I should have been more alert to my surroundings.  Once again, it seems that I've gotten all too wrapped up in my studies and research."  Resuming his pacing, he frowned; "but if Tanj was led off in chains, why was I ignored?  And where are the others?"  Turning to the parts inventory terminal in the store room, the Lynx began the delicate process of hacking into the Black Fleet's database, seeking answers.

"Its amazing how hard it is to maneuver someone who's limp" Chris thought to himself, as he struggled to get the Vixen into the cage.  He'd had this one built especially for Zassa, to her measurements and as he secured her within its heavy framework he smiled.  "She's gonna love it."

The float pallet was made to carry much heavier cargo, and maneuvering it down the corridors was no trouble at all.  Chris smiled, nodding to acquaintances, accepting their envious looks with pride as he hauled his new prize home.  However, there was a small knot of furrs at the entrance to the residential sector.  "Door stuck again?" he growled to a rather large bear in overalls.  "No, it seems its tripped its breaker."  The Bear pointed; "indicator lights are out."  Chris sighed; "I know where the panel is.  Do me a favor and watch my friend while I go reset it?"  The Bear just grinned; "OHYEAH!"  With a sigh and a muttered curse at station maintenance, the Fox turned and strode purposefully down the corridor, back the way he'd come.

Zassa groaned as consciousness returned.  Or tried to.  Groan, that was.  Something very large and very spongy was filling her mouth.  She was on her knees, bent over, and as she tried to move, she realized she was bound tight.  Opening one eye, she looked around as best she could.  All she could see was bars, and beyond them, furr's legs.  She seemed to be in the middle of a crowd.... But not the center of their attention.  Somewhat surprised, and miffed, she took better stock of her surroundings.  The bars were from the cage she was in.  The cage was of extremely heavy duty construction, the bars were actually stainless steel square tubes, about three centimeters to a side, all welded construction.  There was a small gap in the framework, just above and beyond her nose, obviously placed there to facilitate oral sex.  Her collar seemed to be latched to a fitting in the floor, holding her head down.  Cuffs around her ankles seemed to be latched to fittings in the sides of the cage.  Her arms were in a monoglove, with some sort of pole stretched between the sides of the cage, over her body but under her arms at the elbows, further hunching her shoulders down.  The ring at the end of the monoglove, just beyond the end of her fingers, seemed to be tied to the back of the cage, although that was a little difficult to confirm.  In short, she was completely immobilized, packaged in such a manner that she could still be used, still be viewed.  "At least the floor is soft" she sighed to herself.

"Hey, Fred, glad I found you!"  The Bear turned and sighed, looking at the Ferret.  "What's up, George?"  "The boss sent me to get you; power relays in the "Plymouth Corporation's Revenge" have frozen up again, and he wants us to look at 'em.  Now."  The Bear sighed; "But I just got off a double shift.  Besides, I've got... this to look after."  Gesturing at the cage, he sighed; the Vixen had such a lovely ass, perfectly framed by that little opening in the back of the cage.  The Ferret did a quick doubletake, and then sighed; "Yeah, she's a purty one, but you know the boss.  He ain't gonna take that as an excuse.  Come on, we gotta go before they crash that tub into something valuable."  The Bear took a quick look around, searching for the Fox, but the Ferret pulled at his sleeve; "Come on, she'll be FINE!"

Zassa listened to the discourse and wondered what had happened to Chris.  Who did those voices belong to?  It was obvious to her that whatever the circumstances, she was being abandoned........

Roland turned the corner, moving his float pallet of the junk he'd cleaned out of his new quarters, and slowed to a stop.  "This kinda thing would never have happened on the Bretheren's station" he muttered to himself, as he saw the pressure doors closed.  Grumbling, he was just about to shove his way through the crowd, to see if anyone knew anything about the problem, when the pressure doors slid open with a whoosh.  The crowd on both sides of the doors started pushing their way past each other, and the Badger paused with his float pallet waiting for the traffic to clear.  When the crowd had thinned he started forward, leading the pallet only to find another pallet in his way, on the far side of the doors. A pallet holding a caged furr.  A caged furr with bright red fur......

"Dammit, who left this thi.......  Zassa is that YOU?"  Zassa suddenly found a face just outside the bars; the Badger.... Roland.  Considering her posture, she did the best she could to nod.  Roland straightened and looked around.  "Kidnapped you, eh?  Well, that should leave you vulnerable to someone rescuing you, right?"  With a grin, he took the controls of the float pallet and moved the caged vixen through the doors, back into the residential section, on the heels of the crowd.  His pallet of junk was left against the corridor wall, forgotten.

Chris turned the corner to find the corridor empty.  Well, almost empty.  A float pallet rested against one wall, full of what appeared to be scrap metal, and an old mattress.  The pressure doors were open, the indicator lights glowing as they should, showing normal status.  The crowd, the Bear, and the cage with Zassa were all gone.  For a moment he stood in shock, turning, looking this way and that, and then with a growl he turned, pacing fast up a different corridor.  That Bear was going to have some explaining to do, making off with HIS Vixen!

Roland pushed the float pallet through the door and into his quarters.  Without the remnants of the bed or the desk there was plenty of room.  Letting it settle to the floor as he shut down the repulsors, he walked around, to bend down in front of the Vixen.  "Looks like someone meant to keep you.  This thing's got more locks on it than a luxury aircar in the Har'lemn ghetto.  Hang on, though, I think I can pick 'em.  Just let me find my picks...."

Chris paused, and frowned; "No....... couldn't be...."  The Fox took a step forward, and then stopped again.  With a shudder he turned and dashed back the way he'd come.

The rumbling in his stomach could no longer be ignored.  With partial success achieved, Corey pushed back from the terminal.  He'd managed to get into the personnel database.  There were four other male Lynxes that were assigned to the station, and the obvious conclusion was that he'd simply been mistaken for one of the Pirates.  "That SHOULD let me move among them, as long as I adopt the correct attitude...."  Downloading the information on the Lynx that resembled him most closely, Corey prepared to do a little "identity theft."

The caffeteria was crowded and raucous.  Corey adopted a scowl, and shoved his meal card at the reader.  It bleeped in acceptance, and the Lynx started down the line.  To his surprise, the food appeared rather good, not at all the slop he expected pirates to have to put up with.  With his tray piled high, he found a table in the middle of the room, and sat down to eat.  Curious how the pirates all seemed to prefer the corners, spreading out from there along the walls, as if they were perhaps afraid of a knife in the back.  As he ate, he studied the crowd.  They did seem to be a surly lot.  When he'd finished, he tossed his tray in the recycler, and turned to shuffle off.  It was then that  a scent caught his attention.  Turning to look, his eyebrows rose, as Roland, the Badger fellow entered the mess hall.  "Obviously if he's loose, he's either hiding among them as I am..... or he's one of them!  Stifling an impulse to march up and challenge the Badger, Corey slipped back down the corridor.  There were ways to find out, safer ways than a direct confrontation.

It was all he could do to keep his head down and to maintain the same gait as he moved down the corridor.  There was the Black Jaguar, Jenka, and just as he'd been told, there was Tanj, at the end of her leash.  She wasn't actually naked, but what she was wearing wasn't exactly clothing either.  The body harness held her arms tight behind her back, straps crisscrossing her body, one particularly nasty looking strap descending between her legs, bisecting her sex in a most lewd way.  A visor-like blindfold covered her eyes, and a gag filled her mouth.  As they passed, Corey was certain that the Cheetah couldn't see him, and Jenka appeared not to recognize him.  As he turned the corner, the Corey stiffened.  Something was going to have to be done about this, and he was just the Lynx to do it!

Regaining the storage room was a welcome relief.  Looking around, Corey realized that it wouldn't be a long-term haven, however.  Sitting down at the terminal, he attempted to find a better place.  He was going to need access to power, to parts and supplies.  And that would take authorizations.  Easy access to a bathroom, and some sort of cover story would also be needed.  Hacking back into the personnel records he started setting up a completely new identity.  It was surprisingly easy.

Roland sighed and tried again.  The locks were more sophisticated than they looked.  "I guess there's no honor among thieves, at least not here" he quipped.  Zassa looked less than amused.  Bending over and trying again, he worked on the lock that held her head harness against the cage's built-in gag......

The float pallet of junk sat where it'd been left.  And about six feet down the corridor was an ubiquitous trash port.  This one was sized for household trash, but even so....  Stepping forward, the Fox levered open the port and stuck his head inside.  SURELY even a pirate wouldn't stuff the crate with the beautiful bound vixen into the recycling system... would they?

"Got it!"  Roland grinned and tossed the now-open lock across the room.  Zassa shook her head a little, and obviously straining against her remaining bonds, tried to pull back enough to get the rather large penis gag out of her mouth.  A good three inches of it appeared, slick with her saliva, but it was soon apparent that she just couldn't move back far enough to work it out of her mouth.  Roland sighed and shifted position.  The crossbar under her arms had a lock at either end.  Patiently he started to work on them.

"No, no,  shut down ALL the trash compactors on Level 14!  And LEAVE them down on MY authorization until I'm SURE!  No, I am NOT joking!"  Chris thumbed the intercom button off and turned to dash towards his quarters, hoping that the hand-held scanner normally used to search out hiding crew when boarding a prize vessel still had good batteries........

Zassa groaned softly, squirming.  With the crossbar gone, she could arch her body a little more, pressing her bound arms against the roof of the cage; it was just enough, and with a soft moan she pulled her head back enough to escape the gag.  Panting lightly she let her body sag forward, resting the tip of her chin on the small open square in the "front" of the cage.  "Thanks, I appreciate that.  What happened to Chris?  How did I wind up in this thing?"  Roland moved back around into her field of vision and shrugged eloquently; "Don't have a clue.  I found you abandoned in the corridor at the entrance to the residential section."  He grinned; "you kinda looked like you needed rescuing."  Zassa laughed; "Yeah, that I do, I have GOT to use the bathroom.  Any chance of getting the other locks open?"  Roland sighed; "Different type of lock; those are magnetically coded.  I just don't have the tools for that."  Zassa groaned "Great.  Um.... Any chance you might turn up a bedpan?  I don't think I'm going to be able to hold it too much longer......."

Fred looked at the Fox and wrinkled up his nose; "Where the hell have YOU been?"  Chris just growled enigmatically "Chasing sensor ghosts in the recycling system.  Now, where the HELL is that float pallet?"  The Bear just shrugged; "Had to leave her there.  Seems there was this emergency and Ops just wouldn't take no for an answer.  Why, wasn't she there when you came back?"

Roland looked at the Vixen just a little wide-eyed; "you know, I don't think I'd be able to do that.... Not like that."  The Vixen chuckled; "at the Academy, we got training in ALL sorts of kinks.  I take it you're not into "water sports"?  The Badger let out a strangled grunt that Zassa took for a "no".  The Vixen chuckled "well, neither am I, but in a place like the Academy, your preferences don't count for anything.  You learn it anyways, or else."  Roland nodded and reached down to remove the perilously full bedpan through the opening in the back of the cage; "hang on, I'll get some toilet paper and, ah, clean you up some."

The sound of the door opening startled Hinoki.  John strode in, and went straight to a cabinet on the far side of the room.  Hinoki watched as the Stallion started laying out medical instruments on a tray, forceps and what looked like a speculum.  Turning to the Cheetah, the Stallion grinned; "It's a good thing you've already got a piercing at the opening to your sheath; it saves me having to give you one.  Now, lets see if we can get this fitted before Mistress Jenka arrives.....

Hinoki groaned; the tray of medical instruments rested on his chest, blocking his view.  Forceps bit into the flesh at the entrance to his sheath, stretching the opening.  He felt the speculum being inserted, and adjusted, stretching the opening to his sheath, and to an extent, his sheath itself.  Then he felt something being shoved down, inside his sheath, over his quiescent cock..... and then the instruments were, one by one, being removed.

John smiled; "There, that wasn't so bad, was it?"  Placing a massive hand behind the Cheetah's head, he lifted it, holding a mirror in his other hand, so the Cheetah had a good look at his own crotch.  The silvery phallic shape had been inserted inside his sheath, over his cock; the opening of his sheath bulged slightly, just a bit of the head of the silvery thing showing.  The ring at its tip protruded from the opening, and the Stallion had used a small, heart-shaped lock to link that ring to the ring in the piercing of his sheath.  It was obvious that the insert wasn't coming out, unless someone gave him a key.  There was a small hole in the tip of the insert, and Hinoki shuddered; it was obviously there to let him pee, although that would probably prove to be an interesting exercise.  Its presence, however, meant that this was something that might be there for a long time.

John watched the Cheetah's eyes, and when they turned in his direction he just grinned and nodded; "Yeah, Mistress had one made for me too, for those "special" punishments.  Don't even think about trying to get hard.  Its as bad as the "Gates of Hell".  Hinoki just swallowed.  Hard.

Hinoki's head dropped back, as the door swooshed open again.  As he'd expected, there was Jenka, in a skintight leather catsuit, a smile on her face.  Padding around, she crouched to examine the Cheetah's very exposed crotch.  As one gloved hand stroked over his sheath, she purrred; "Hello, Hinoki.  I hope you like your new "friend".....  I've got a problem I need you to solve, and I thought this might just be the incentive you need to see the job done, done well, and done correctly."  Hinoki blinked; "Um..... huh?"  Jenka chuckled, her fingers moving to stroke his balls softly; "I've heard about your previous experience, both as an instructor and then as a student at the Academy.  I've recently acquired a slave, a female slave, that needs training; but its not training of the usual sort.  You see, she's posing a problem of a different sort, and I think you're just the furr to straighten it out.  Solve the problem for me, and I'll free you of your metallic friend here."  As she spoke, Jenka's fingers stroked back over the Cheetah's sheath, and Hinoki realized a curious sensation; he could feel her fingers on his sheath, but his cock felt nothing, underneath its metallic cover.  Nothing!  Swallowing hard again he nodded his head; "What do I have to do?"

Jenka smiled; "I'll show you, in a little while, but first, I think you need to experience just exactly what your situation is.  I'm going to leave you in John's care for a while.  He'll bring you to me when he's satisfied you correctly understand your situation........

John smiled and leaned over to look down into Hinoki's upturned face.  Grinning, the Stallion slowly undid his belt, letting his kilt fall to the floor.  Then, kneeling, he reached out to place his paws on either side of Hinoki's head, tilting his head back until the Cheetah was looking straight behind him.  Straight into the Stallion's crotch.  "Now, Cat, let's see if you know how to use that tongue of yours....."

Hinoki's eyes bulged, his jaws pried wide apart, as the Stallion slowly fucked his face, his huge shaft driving deep down his throat.  Grateful for the brief occasions when the Stallion would pull back far enough for him to gasp a much needed breath, it was all Hinoki could do to just hang on, as the Stallion took his pleasure.  And as he was used, the Cheetah found out just what they'd been talking about.  His own shaft had tried to swell, only to meet the resistance of the metal encasing it.  The pressure became tremendous, and then painful, to the point where his shaft would shrink in response.  Horny as hell from his situation, the Cheetah found there was no relief.  None!

Hinoki was still struggling with the mouthful of cum, as the Stallion released him.  He'd never known a horse could hold so much; it had flooded his gullet, filled his stomach, and his mouth, and still spilled out all over his face.....  "Come on, Cat, I'm not done with you yet" the Stallion growled, hefting the Cheetah to his feet.  In short order, Hinoki found himself standing, bent WAY over, his ankles through the holes where his wrists had been, and with his torso bent double, his wrists awkwardly through the horizontal holes where his ankles had been.  Bent over double like that, he knew what was coming......  And sure enough, within moments he felt the head of the stallion's cock, slick with lube, pressing against his asshole....

"You know," Jenka thought to herself, "Chris isn't normally intimidating, at least not among THIS crowd.... BUT right now he's got almost everyone he runs across backing away."  Leaning against the wall, the Jaguar watched as the Fox growled at one of the security furrs, literally backing him against the opposite bulkhead; "What do you mean, the internal sensors in that part of the station weren't being monitored?  Who the HELL ordered THAT one?"  The Puma blinked, and then shrugged; "well, ah, Sir, after the Athatabasco raid, well, we've all been just a little short-handed, and most of the security emphasis was shifted to critical areas, like weapons storage, the external airlocks, and, ah, the pantry."  As the Fox's eyes widened, and a growl formed in his throat, the Puma hastily went on; "you wouldn't believe how many of these pirates like to swipe things for midnight snacks...."  "OUT!" the Fox shouted; "GET OUT!  Don't you DARE show your face until you've FOUND her!  You and your entire department are on 24 hour shifts until she's located!  GO!"  Behind him, Jenka just chuckled.

Zassa purrrrred, her bottom moving just a little; Roland's ministrations had turned to something a little more intimate... although how you could get more intimate than wiping someone's bottom was hard to imagine for the Vixen.  Now, his fingers traced the cleft of her sex, as he sat behind the cage, toying with her.  And there wasn't a THING she could do to stop him, even if she'd wanted to.....  "You know," the Badger mused, "I DO think I should get a reward for rescuing you, don't you think?"  Zassa chuckled; "for helping me get that prod out of my mouth, and for helping me, ah, relieve myself, most certainly, but I AM still locked in this thing."  Roland let his paw slowly glide over the left curve of her ass; "true, and I've figured out how to get the magnetic locks open.  All of them and all at the same time."  His fingers paused for a moment to draw lazy circles around the rosebud of her anus, before traveling down between her legs a little.  Zassa panted lightly "and how are you going to do that?"  Roland chuckled "Well, we'll just have to put them in a magnetic field strong enough to burn out their encoding."  Zassa shivered as his fingertips grazed her clitty, and, sadly, kept moving.  "And how are you going to do that?"  Roland chuckled; "simple.  I know where there's a rail gun that's going to be test fired.  I overheard two of the armorers talking about it.  We just float your cage near the induction coils and when it fires, all the locks pop open!  Of course, this isn't scheduled until tomorrow morning, but I think we can find some way to pass the time until then.....  Zassa closed her eyes and groaned softly; the badger had punctuated "open" by sliding a finger into her pussy.  "Yeah.... That might... OH!  Might... Oooooooooo... that might.......  Ooohhhhhhhhhhhh!  Roland smiled and stroked her g spot every time she came close to finishing her sentence.  If he played his cards right, she'd soon forget all about getting out of the cage, at least for a while.

Roland grunted, moving carefully.  The square opening in the back of the cage was much too small for the Vixen to escape through, but it WAS big enough, and strategically located, for him to fuck her.  IF he didn't mind one of the lowest crouches he'd been in, in years.  With his knees out to either side, almost doing the splits he pumped her slowly, paws wrapped around the uprights of the cage.  If it hadn't been for the float pallet raising the cage up 20 centimeters it would have been impossible.  Zassa panted, squirming as far as she was able, which wasn't much, her pussy rhythmically contracting around his shaft, gripping him, stroking him, until he thought he'd go mad.....

2402.202

Tanj sighed and looked around her.  There wasn't a whole lot to look at.  Just four smooth walls, a floor, and a ceiling.  And the mouth of the tunnel that lead upwards to Jenka's bedroom.  She could also see a small portion of Jenka's bedroom through the grate in the ceiling.  It was dark, and quiet.  She had no idea what time it was.

After being pounced upon, as she left her ship, bound and gagged, Jenka had dragged her, at the end of her leash, Through the station, to her quarters; there, she'd been re-bound into a kind of a harness, and stuffed into the small entrance to the tunnel to the kennel.  With her wrists bound at her sides, it'd been difficult to inch-worm down the sloping tunnel to the chamber below.  And as the floor of the tunnel had been coated with some sort of anti-skid stuff, it'd been particularly hard on her nipples as she pushed herself along.  But she'd been there before and knew the drill.

For a while, she'd slept, on the spongy soft floor, only to be awakened by the onslaught of the two vibrators built into the harness, one in her ass, a larger one in her pussy.  For a while, things had been quite nice, until, teetering on the edge of a climax, they'd both stopped.  It was as if they knew how close she'd been.  The actions of the vibrators had reminded her that no one had told her she could sleep, and with a muffled groan, she'd shifted to her knees, to kneel in the correct position.  Off and on, the vibrators had tormented her, for what had seemed like hours.  However, as she wasn't significantly thirsty or hungry, it probably hadn't been all THAT long....  Good thing too; the kennel had a small water fountain, overflowing into a tub, overflowing into a drain that could be used as a toilet; however, gagged as she was, she couldn't make use of the water fountain, and plugged as she was, she couldn't relieve herself.....  As she knelt there, wondering if hidden cameras were watching her, wondering if she'd be punished for breaking discipline if she didn't maintain the proper slave's position, she thought about her situation.  It would be SO nice to just surrender to it, to let someone else worry about the world for a while, and just be Jenka's toy.  It was so tempting.  But no matter how she tried to convince herself, it just wasn't working.  There was just too much to do.  Finally, unable to take it any more, she rose, to pace her quarters.  Three steps forward, turn, three steps back, turn.....

Jenka watched the Cheetah pace, on the multi-function monitor built into her desk, and frowned.  In all the time she'd known her, she'd never seen Tanj pace before.  It was disconcerting.  With a sigh, she pushed a button on her console; not waiting for a response, she growled; "John, my new pet seems to have quite a bit of nervous energy; I think its time we moved on to Phase II.....

Tanj's head jerked upwards, as the lights in Jenka's room came on.  Hurriedly throwing herself down, kneeling, she tried to look up, to see who was there, without seeming to look up.  The deep chuckle above her brought her head up, and she found herself looking up at Jenka's Stallion, from a most interesting angle.  The Stallion was wearing only a kilt, and it was obvious that he wasn't wearing a thing underneath it.  The Stallion grinned back at her, crooking a finger in the classic "come hither" gesture.  With a sigh, Tanj moved on her knees to the small tunnel's mouth, to start inching her way upwards.

As she emerged from the tunnel, the Stallion gestured her closer; producing a key, he unlocked the crotch strap to her harness, letting it hang down between her legs, the two attached dildoes glistening with her juices.  Pointing towards the door to the bathroom he growled; "Two minutes, Slave.  You should be able to use the Bidet without the use of your hands.  Quickly now!"  Tanj scampered to obey.

Tanj wasn't sure if she'd exceeded the time limit or not when she trotted back to the Stallion, her crotch fur still damp.  She hadn't realized just how bad she'd needed to go until she'd entered the bathroom......  The Stallion ignored any lapses however, reinserting the dildoes, and relocking the crotch strap.  Snapping a leash to the ring in her collar, he turned and moved towards the door, Tanj having no choice but to follow.

As she padded, nude, through the corridors of the Black Fleet's station, Tanj found she garnered only the occasional glance.  It wasn't that unusual for furrs taken as prizes by the Fleet to be moved through the corridors, and, she supposed, one naked cheetah fem looked pretty much like another.  With a half smile, she wondered if she'd been properly dressed, if anyone would have recognized her?  She'd given many an intelligence briefing to the staff, but she didn't know that many of the rank and file....  Perhaps they did know who she was, or perhaps more properly, who she'd been, and just didn't care.....

Their destination became rapidly apparent.  In a large circular area where several corridors came together, and small shops lined the periphery, a dias in the center held a set of stocks.  An empty set of stocks.  Somehow, Tanj knew that's where they were headed.  The Stallion didn't disappoint her, leading her directly there.  Pulling her onto the dias he unlocked the stocks and lifted the top half.  Pushing Tanj down onto her knees, he bent her torso forward until he could put her neck in the semi-circle of the lower part, carefully moving her hair out of the way.  Not bothering with her hands, he lowered the upper half and locked it shut.  With the Cheetah so restrained, he then proceeded to unlock her harness, stripping it from her, leaving her completely nude.  Strong leather cuffs were then locked around her wrists, and both cuffs locked to a ring-bolt on the top of the stocks, above her neck.  This raised her arms further than they would have been, had her wrists been placed in the stocks, and Tanj could feel the tension in her breasts.  The Stallion then proceeded to put matching cuffs on her ankles, spreading her legs a bit, and locking the cuffs to ring bolts in the floor.  Finally, he tied the end of her tail to her wrist cuffs, with a thong, leaving her sex very exposed.

The stallion then rose, and moved off.  Tanj listened to the clip-clop of his hooves until they were lost in the background noise of the common area.  For a while, things were peaceful, but then the inevitable happened.  Tanj felt someone come up behind her, gentle footfalls on the carpet, the soft rustle of fabric as clothes were shed, the light touch of paws on the globes of her ass.  Not a word was spoken as fingertips traced the cleft of her sex, stroking softly.  Patiently, the unknown fur stroked her until she was breathing fast, the warmth of arousal spreading slowly through her body.

The actual penetration was a welcome relief to the slow, patient teasing.  The furr started off slowly, gradually building in speed and power until he was slamming into her so hard his balls were swinging forward to slap at her mons, his claws digging into her ass.  As the sensations built, Tanj gave voice to her emotions with a long, drawn-out yowl, as her climax blossomed within her.  A low, throaty chuckle was heard behind her, and then her unknown lover was howling too, his cock spurting deep within her pussy.

The next male must have been waiting anxiously, as the first had scarcely withdrawn before another cock, thinner and perhaps just a shade longer, was driving into her sodden sex.  The furr thrust two times, and then withdrew, to place the head of his cock, dripping with her juices, against her asshole.  His thrust was perhaps rougher than Tanj would have liked, and she gasped as he drove deep into her loins.  Soon, however, he settled down to a steady thrusting, his body arching over hers, his paws roughly grasping her hanging breasts.

Chris stood at the junction of corridors, just outside of the residential sector, looking.  Just looking.  He'd left her right there.  He'd been gone less than three minutes.  Who had taken her?  Where had she been taken?  WHAT was happening to her?  Who had left the float pallet of junk in her place?  Had it been some sort of calculated insult?  Was one of his adversaries leaving what they thought was a private joke in the wake of their theft?  "Occam's razor, Boy, look for the simplest answer."  Frowning, the Fox turned and headed for the housing office; maybe they'd know where trash of that sort might come from.....

"No, I'm NOT going to clean you up.  No time for that; first lets get you out of the cage and then we'll see about that, and Breakfast."  Roland grinned as he activated the float pallet.  "Now, no complaints, or I'll buckle you back into that gag."  Zassa shook her head, and smiled a crooked smile.  Being displayed like this should be nothing new to her, but still, it wasn't something she'd soon forget either.  Roland keyed open the door to his room, and whistling tunelessly he directed the float pallet through the door.

The squirrel nodded; "Yeah, we got a new roomie just yesterday.  Came in on that Cheetah's freighter.  He took old Joe Steele's quarters."  The Squirrel grinned; "and you know Joe; get hopped up on dreamweed every night.  He'd trash the place at least once a week."  Chris nodded; "Yeah.  And if he'd kept it to just his quarters he'd be alive today.  NOT a good idea to get stoned while piloting a raider.  Not when you see phantom monsters and start firing your sidearm at 'em."  The Squirrel smiled and leaned on the desk, chin cupped in her paws, "Yeah, but he had some pretty good weed.  Dunno where he got it from....  Anyways, I think the new guy was cleaning the place out."  Chris nodded; "I think I'll go ask him about that.  Thanks."  The Squirrel grinned; "Hey, if you find any of Joe's stash, lemme know!  I could get some friends together and we could party....."

Roland slid the float pallet up against the coil and let it settle to the deck.  "There we go."  Zassa groused; "you could at least have had me facing away from the wall.  All I can see is gray steel."  Roland chuckled and shrugged, knowing she couldn't see; "yeah, but this way the locks that we need opened are closer to the point of highest magnetic gradient.  Just be patient, the test is supposed to run in about two minutes."  Zassa sighed and nodded.

Chris put the keycard back in his wallet, watching the door open.  Most of the pirates would have boobytraps, just in case someone broke into their quarters, but this one looked clear.  Waiting a moment just in case, the Fox peered into the darkened room.  Finally, he took one last look around the edge of the doorway and stepped inside.  Flicking on the light he looked around.  Bedroll.  Carryall.  Some scattered clothes, some toiletries, and little else.  No bed.  No desk.  No Comm terminal.  The place looked as if it had been gutted.  And that would explain the pallet of junk.  Sniffing carefully, eyes closed, he detected the hint of female arousal.  He wasn't sure if that was Vixen he was smelling, or just another Canid, but the Badger that had taken up residence had definitely had someone in here.  And recently.  Nodding to himself he turned and exited the room.

Roland sighed and checked his Chrono again.  The test should have run a good twenty minutes ago.  With a sigh he shook his head; "At the risk of doing to you what Chris did, I'm going to have to leave you.  I'll go check on the Armorers and be right back to let you know what's going on."  As the footfalls faded from her hearing, Zassa grumbled; "you'd Better!"

"Yeah, I saw him go by.  Big guy, stripes on his face and down his back.  Pushing a float pallet with a nude Vixen in a cage."  The Marmoset grinned; "And a looker she was, too.  Went towards the Repulsive."  Chris nodded; "Thanks, 'preciate that!"

"EMMA!"  The mouse paused and turned, and then smiled; "Heya, Chris; what's up?"  Chris jogged up to the mouse and grinned; "Got a little problem, one I think you can help me with....."

"HEY YOU!"  Roland paused at the entrance to the fire control center.  Marching down the corridor was Emma, and she didn't look happy.  "I've been looking all over the F*CKING station for you; you're late for your little appointment in the simulator!"  Roland looked into the fire control center.  The techs had a panel apart and seemed to be arguing over whether to disconnect the red or the blue wire.  Looking back at Emma he gestured at the techs; "Um, I'm kinda in the middle of some....."  "NOT NOW, Mister, you'll come with me NOW, or I'll see you floating OUTSIDE the station, cleaning ports with that bushy tail of yours, bareassed!  NOW, Mister!"

Chris smiled.  When he'd heard where Roland had taken the caged vixen it all fell together.  She had to be somewhere near the railgun induction coils.  And there she was.  Stepping up silently he stroked a paw over her ass; "Naughty, Naughty vixen, running away like that!  Who gave you permission to be stolen anyways?  I think we're going to have to find an appropriate punishment for you!"  Inside the cage, Zassa tried to turn her head, left and then right, to confirm what her ears had told her.  Chris was back.  And where was Roland?  What was going ON?

John smiled as he returned; as expected, the pirates had wasted little time in taking the Cheetah.  A rather stocky Stoat was pumping his cock hard into her pussy, thrusting so hard, even locked into the stocks as she was, the Cheetah's body was still swaying.  Pausing for a moment to admire the Cheetah's luscious body, he waited until the Stoat was through before stepping up onto the dias, and moving towards her head.  Setting down his load, he smiled and pulled up the hem of his kilt, and then kneeling, presented his cock to the Cheetah's mouth.  "Suck me off nicely, Slave, and I'll feed you breakfast."

Tanj groaned; what she wanted was not the Stallion's cum, but something more substantial.  Her stomach was rumbling.  She'' heard of slaves that were trained to take nothing for nourishment but cum, making them almost frantic to suck someone off.  Unfortunately that diet didn't meet all the daily requirements of the average furr, and those that she knew of that had been forced into that role always appeared rather sickly.  However, in her current position she had little choice and obediently opened her mouth, licking around the head of his cock, even as another furr moved up behind her......

John grimaced, and tried hard to resist the urge to fuck the Cheetah's face; he knew her heart wasn't in it, at least not at the moment, but she was still a very talented furr, and one of the best at fellatio he'd ever encountered.  As she brought him inexorably towards his orgasm, the Stallion caressed her ears, eyes closed, concentrating on the wonderful sensations as she varied the rough and smooth sides of her tongue, working it over his shaft in the most delightful manner......

Tanj grunted as the Stallion suddenly pulled his cock from her mouth.  Opening her eyes, she watched him wrap one hand around his meat, pumping furiously, until, with a whinny, he started to cum, spraying his seed over her face and back.  From behind her, the furr plowing her chuckled, and shortly thereafter, he too pulled out, to pump his load over her ass.

John panted hard as he rearranged his kilt.  Sitting down on the dias, by the Cheetah's dripping head, he opened the picnic basket and lifted out a covered dish.  Removing the lid, he picked up a spoonful of scrambled eggs and presented it to the Cheetah's mouth.

Tanj blinked in surprise; "Oh, so THAT'S what he meant..."  Eagerly she opened her mouth, finding the scrambled eggs light and fluffy, with a hint of cheese and pepper, just the way she liked them.  The sausage however, was just a touch overdone....

John smiled and put the plates and utensils back into the picknick hamper.  Rising, he clopped off, without a word.  Tanj watched him go, until he was out of sight, wondering how long she'd have to stay in the stocks.....

Roland grunted, pressing the bar above his chest.  Slowly, centimeter by centimeter it rose, until his arms were  at full extension; then, slowly, he let the bar down, until it hovered a couple of centimeters above his chest.  With a grunt, he muttered "Ten"... and then as his muscles bulged, he slowly started to push the bar up again.  Emma frowned slightly.  She'd seen furs bench press more weight, but usually they were ursoids or equines from large draft stock.  The Badger showed impressive strength for his size.  As the Badger counted out an even dozen the mouse growled; "OK, enough of that, you've passed this portion of the test."  With a grin she chuckled; "now for something really difficult"......  The shout made the Mouse turn; "Emma, you're wanted on the command deck!"  With a growl the Mouse turned back to the Badger; "Meet me in the combat simulator in twenty minutes.  DO NOT be late!"  Rising she padded off, grumbling.

The paw on Tanj's ass sent shivers down her spine, before she realized just why..... The voice confirmed her suspicions.  "Hello, Captain" Roland all but purrrred; "Fancy finding you here like this.  As his paw caressed her ass, Tanj chuckled softly; "Hello, Roland; how are you finding things on Jenka's Station?  The Badger laughed; "Oh, I don't know.  Having some trouble talking my way into a position here.  Seems they just don't use powered armor like the Brethren did.  Their Marines are more used for boarding ships than for dirtside operations."  Tanj nodded, as best she was able; "True, but then the Brethren had an agenda.  So what are you going to do?"  The Badger chuckled; "Oh, I suspect I'll hang around here for a bit.  Seems I'm really too broke to journey on.  I'll play the game, their way, for a while, until I've got traveling money, and then I'll make a decision.  But aside from that, as to what I'm going to do, I do believe I'm going to pick up where we left off in the cargo bay.  I don't think you truly understand just how frightening some folks find those creatures you keep......"  Tanj groaned and bit her lip, as the Badger's fingers stroked over her sex......  Just as she was starting to enjoy his attentions, his paw vanished, only to crash down on her left asscheek with a loud SMACK!

Jenka frowned as she watched the Monitor.  The spanking the Badger was administering to Tanj was well executed, the blows alternating with the most intimate of touches, sensual caresses applied to pussy and breasts.  Emotions warred within her; in one respect, it was a most arousing spectacle.  In another respect she felt angered that anyone would dare to so mistreat her property, and another aspect argued that it was her place to administer such a punishment, not his.  Tearing her gaze away from the monitor, she pushed a button on her desk; "John, I think its time you changed her position.  I think she's been in the stocks just a little too long."

Tanj breathed a sigh of relief as the Badger stopped at 25.  As his fingers, plumbed her depths, she blushed, embarrassed for him to find how wet she'd become.... Surely she couldn't actually ENJOY something like this, could she?  As he teased her, the Badger leaned over, to whisper in her ear; "I do admit I'm more than a little concerned to find you here like this, though.  Is everything OK between you and Jenka?  That Stallion of hers told me that this is just a little game you two play...."    Tanj moaned softly, his fingers driving her mad; somehow she managed to whisper; "I think it'll be OK; haven't really had a chance to talk to her yet, though...."  The Badger nodded; "well, if there's a problem, let me know and I'll see to it that the situation is rectified.  Whatever it takes, and I mean WHATEVER it takes!"  With that, with the Cheetah teetering on the knife's edge of her release, the Badger withdrew his fingers and walked off.

John smiled as he heard the Cheetah's wail of frustration.  Setting down the things he'd brought with him, he started untying the Cheetah.  "Time for a break.  Now don't make me put you back in your restraints; behave and we'll leave it just at the leash and a pair of cuffs....."

Roland slipped into the combat simulator staging area, looking around; he was late, but it appeared so was the Mouse.  Leaning casually against the wall, he settled down to wait, an easy grin on his face.  Talk about the "pause that refreshes"......

 "I really don't know what his problem was" the Fox chuckled.  "The keys were right here, hanging from a tab just inside the upper left corner."  A moment later, Zassa heard a snick, and then another snick, and somehow she knew the rear wall of the cage was being hinged out.  "Now, lets get you out of there."  Even with  the keys, and the vixen's conscious assistance, it still took a good fifteen minutes to unlock the rest of the restraints and get her out of the cage.  Freedom didn't last long, as Chris produced a set of wrist cuffs, as if by magic, and bound the Vixen's paws behind her.  Then a leash was snapped to her collar.  But he didn't immediately lead her off.  Instead he produced a roll of plastic, and shaking it out, brought one small portion to his lips.  Zassa watched in amazement as the fox proceeded to inflate a latex blow-up doll, of the crudest sort sold in sex shops.  It barely even looked like a vixen; in fact, Zassa thought with a grin, that it almost looked more like a child's inflatable pool toy.  Chris proceeded to spend another dozen minutes crudely fastening the doll in place inside the cage, in a parody of the way Zassa had been restrained.  Finishing up, the Fox flourished the keys in front of the Vixen and then, reaching inside the cage, hung them on a tab, inside the left rear corner.  As he padded over to Zassa, to pick up the end of the leash, Zassa couldn't help wonder if the keys had been there all along, or if the Fox had just executed some slight-of-hand?

Roland crouched behind the dumpster, the riot gun in his paws.  The Black Fleet's close combat simulator was fairly sophisticated.  He'd already been through a  simple barfight, and had then moved on to demonstrating his marksmanship in a sniper scenario.  Now, he was trying to assault a building in a city, one storefront among many.  The problem was that the opposition had forces in different windows along the street, flanking the target.  And all he had was the riot gun.  "Now, in an Imperial Marines simulator" he muttered to himself, "I'd get points off for shooting innocent civilians.  But I bet that doesn't apply here."  Launching himself over the top of the dumpster, he dashed for a recessed entranceway, half a level below the street.  Shots rang out, and several beam weapons flickered, and he did his best to mark the windows they came from.  Unfortunately the opposition had positions on both sides of the street.  Ground floor and upper levels.  As he panted, trying to regain his breath, Roland turned to look at the door at the bottom of the half flight of stairs.  A florist's shop.  And then he grinned; "I wonder how detailed this simulator is?" he mused.  Grinning he turned and started to kick in the door; but then he paused.  Reaching out, he tried the knob.  The door was unlocked.  Stepping in, he looked around.  There.  Stairs upwards.  The door at the top was unlocked too.  Moving through the building he made his way to the roof.

With her paws fastened behind her back, Tanj followed the Stallion on the end of the leash.  It felt SO good to be able to move again, to relieve her cramped muscles.  To her dismay, however, she was merely allowed to use the bathroom, and to drink rather messily from a public water fountain, before the Stallion was again dragging her back to the dias.

Tanj groaned softly, and shook her head from side to side.  The Stallion had tied off her leash to a ring bolt, and then turned to disassembling and reassembling the stocks.  Now the base of the hinged foamed plastic boards were flush with the floor, holding her ankles wide apart as she knelt.  That wouldn't have been too uncomfortable, but the Stallion had added a second horizontal set of hinged boards to the top of the first,  and these now held her wrists, at a level just above, and in line with her ankles, leaving her bent WAY back.  When she let her head fall back, she could see behind her, admittedly with everything upside-down, however.  It was the perfect position, with her mouth lined up with her throat, for someone to make her deep-throat them, and when the stallion had left, it hadn't taken long for furrs to start taking advantage of her.  Once again, they were pulling out of her mouth, or for some of the more acrobatic ones (furrs that obviously practiced the Limbo), her pussy, to spray their cum over her body.  She felt as if she was slowly being covered, head to toe, in dried jism.  And her muscles were starting to get very sore, from the strained position....

"Hello, Luv!"  Tanj opened her eyes and craned her head; the upside-down view not withstanding, she had to grin; "Hello, Reggie!  I thought I'd find you here somewhere!  Slasher still around too?"  Paws cupping her breasts brought her head up and she grinned; Slasher was straddling her torso, his pants absent.  With a grin he pushed her breasts together to envelop his hard cock.  Tilting her head back down, she found Reggie slipping his pants off; "Heard you were down here, Luv, and just couldn't resist coming to say hello."  Moving closer, Reggie teased the Cheetah's mouth with the head of his cock.  Tanj chuckled and parted her lips, her tongue flicking out to tease in return; "Hello, boys, its good to see you again......."

Reggie sat by Tanj's head, his pants still off, as they talked.  Tanj found it just a little surreal, but was glad for the company; "So you actually SAW the event?"  Reggie nodded; "Yeah, we were out on the fringe, but Slasher got some good sensor logs."  Tanj nodded, a strange thing, upside-down; "Good, I'd like to get a copy of 'em later.  They may help in our research."  Slasher traced patterns in the goo on her stomach, and muttered "Heard about that".  Reggie sighed and nodded; "Not sure its healthy, Tanj.  You should be able to let go...."  Tanj shrugged as best she was able, a strange motion at best; "I don't believe they're dead, though.  I think they're just someplace else and can't get back.  Not without help, anyways.  Reggie sighed again; "Not sure I agree with you, but I can't prove you wrong..."  Looking up at Slasher he jerked his head to one side; "Slasher and me, we've got to get going.  Things to do and all that."  Bending down to kiss her, Reggie smiled; "We'll be seeing you around, Right, Luv?"  Tanj smiled back; "Count on it.  I'll be around."  As they walked off, Reggie hopping on one foot as he tried to pull his pants up, Slasher turned, and winked and gave her a thumbs up sign.

Footsteps made Tanj turn her head; the Gray Wolf fem coming her way was dressed in leather, the very short miniskirt, and leather bra so tight it made her breasts bulge upwards were accentuated by straps, cuffs and a collar all covered in studs and spikes.  Her hair was butch-short, and dyed a shocking pink, as was her tail.  Her ears sported multiple earrings, and she carried a riding crop in one hand.  Stopping, to grin down at the bent-backwards Cheetah, the riding crop's tip going under Tanj's chin as if to tilt her head further back, she purrred "Well what DO we have here?"

Tanj shuddered as the tip of the riding crop traced the crevice between her thighs, traveling up over her tummy, to trace the curves of her breasts; "And is the new slave any good at eating pussy?" the Wolf murmured.  Tanj swallowed and nodded as best she could.  The Wolf smiled, showing teeth; "We'll see about that; and if you fail to please me, Cat, I'll let you feel a taste of my crop!"  To emphasize her point, the tab at the end of the riding crop tap-tapped Tanj's crotch, thumping her clitty.  Tanj swallowed and as the fem hiked up her skirt, moving to straddle the Cheetah's face, she obligingly opened her mouth, her tongue reaching upwards to the Wolf's descending sex.

John crossed his arms and watched quietly from the corridor behind the Wolf, a sly smile spreading across his face.  He knew this one; she might bluster, but it was all an act.  Of course the Cheetah didn't know that.  To the best of his knowledge, the Wolf had never struck anything with that riding crop, carrying it just for show......  But just in case there was a first time, he continued to watch.

Tanj gasped for breath as the Wolf fem gyrated, pressing her sex down against her muzzle until Tanj was afraid her neck would snap.  With her tongue dancing inside the Wolf's pussy, stroking furiously, she tried to bring this one off as fast as possible......

The Wolf threw her head back and howled, the sound echoing off the corridor walls.  Tanj lapped furiously, her tongue alternating between assaulting her G spot and flicking across her clitty as she sought to keep the Wolf's climax rolling for as long as possible.  Forgotten for the moment, the riding crop lay across the upper curves of Tanj's breasts, the Wolf's paws squeezing Tanj's tits hard as her passions ran their course.  Finally the Wolf rose, straightening, standing, to grin down at the Cheetah; "That, my spotted little cunt, was marvelous."  Retrieving her riding crop she teased its end up over the Cheetah's bellyfur; "and as I've always said, one good turn deserves another...."

Tanj howled as she climaxed again, her body straining against her bonds; the Wolf bitch was crouched between her knees, tongue flicking madly across her clitty as she pistoned the handle of the riding crop in and out of her dripping pussy.  The leather was rough, and seemed to abrade her with each stroke, but coupled with the Wolf's tongue, it was never the less more than sufficient to power her to a series of awesome climaxes.  Finally the Wolf fem relented, giving the Cheetah's mons a last kiss before rising.  Moving back around into Tanj's field of view, she grinned down at the helpless Cheetah; "I can see why Jenka's so taken with you.  I do hope she'll let us play with you again, sometime soon!"  As she padded off, tugging her skirt back down over her hips, she chuckled; "You can keep the riding crop for now......"

Tanj sighed and wiggled her hips a little; the riding crop's handle was still buried deeply in her pussy; as it wobbled a little electric thrill ran through her from the movement within her.  With a sigh she looked around.  The corridor was deserted for the moment, and Tanj wondered what time it must be?

The compartment had originally been a biological warfare lab.  The records had suggested that it was more defensive in nature, looking for pathogens that returning ships might be bringing back as an attempt to wipe out the Pirates.  Obviously someone had more paranoia than sense, the Lynx thought.  It had been shut down years ago as a budget cutting move.  And since it had acquired a reputation among the superstitious pirates as a place to be avoided.  It was just what he needed; it even had a water closet!  Using his freshly minted identity, and authorizations he requisitioned it, and had the locks reprogrammed to take his combination, and palm print.  Shutting down the terminal, he retrieved his luggage and headed out to his new laboratory.

Corey had no idea who the Fox was, but the bound vixen was obviously Zassa.  Struggling to keep his face under control, to betray no hint of emotion, he strode past them, vowing to undo what had been done here.....

The refrigerator was still running, and that drew the Lynx's curiosity.  Opening the door he looked at the neat rows of little vials in surprise.  "Anthrocillin Tetroxicide.....  Botulism simplex pathogen.......  Festes Ceti....... Betelgeusean Herpes......"  The inventory of deadly and not so deadly diseases was shocking.  What was worse was that while there were immunizations for each one, the dates on the vials were from decades ago.  Closing the refrigerator softly, the Lynx suddenly understood why no one wanted this compartment.  Undoubtedly the pathogens were still quite virulent, but the antidotes had all long since expired.  Shaking it off, the Lynx growled to himself; "I'm a scientist; I need not fear such things, as long as I take the proper precautions......."  Still, he found himself moving to the far side of the lab, to set up shop......

Chris keyed the door, and then paused, eyes scanning the room.  After a moment he nodded, and led Zassa through the door.  "Home sweet home" he grinned.  Turning, he looked at the Vixen; "lets see, now.  What first?"  Letting his eyes rove over the Vixen's nude form, he mused; "we could have sex, or I could punish you for running off like that...... No, I think the first thing we need to do is to get you cleaned up."  Tugging on the leash, he led the vixen into the bathroom.  Pausing to shed his clothes, he stepped into a rather oversized shower/tub combination, and started the water.  Turning several valves he regulated the temperature and then directed the flow to three shower heads.  Grinning, he then tugged the leash, pulling the Vixen into the cascading water with him.  Putting a hand behind her head, he pulled her to him, to kiss her hotly.

Zassa purrred and all but melted into his arms, her tongue dancing with his, her eyes closed.  As he broke the kiss, she opened her eyes to slits.  Chris had stepped back, to pick up a large bottle of liquid soap.  Pouring it down the front of the Vixen, he grinned.  Setting the bottle down he purrred; "Slave, you know what to do; wash me!"  Zassa grinned, and with her paws still bound behind her back, she stepped forward to rub her slippery self against the Fox.

Roland ducked as the wood frame exploded into splinters.  A moment later, a beam weapon sliced through where he'd been moments before, setting the wood on fire.  Leaping back down the stairs he gazed upwards and grumbled; "OK, the street's out, and so's the roof."  For a moment he stared blankly at one of the walls of the building and then he grinned; "good thing they don't use brick or stone construction here."  Checking the number of rounds he had for his gun, he stepped backwards to the far wall, and taking a deep breath, he charged.

Chris purrred as he ran his paws over the vixen's breasts, ostensibly washing the soap out of her fur.  Zassa for her part, had her head tilted back under the water, eyes closed, a delighted grin on her face.  Her nipples were as hard as little pebbles under his paws.  Grinning, Chris moved his paws on down her body, not wanting her to get too excited... not yet anyways.

Roland shook his head and grunted.  "Drywall roulette.  Sometimes you loose."  Shaking it off, he looked back.  So far he had broken through four walls.  One more to go.  And at this point they were bound to know he was coming....  Well, there was only one way to bring the exercise to an end.  Picking up the easy chair, he held it in front of him like a shield, and charged the remaining wall.

Zassa smiled and just relaxed, letting the tornado of hot air dry her fur.  Of course Chris' paws working through her fur, coaxing the moisture out wasn't so bad either.  After a while, though, the dryer stopped, and Chris' paws left her.  With a sigh she turned to look at him, wondering what was next.  Chris just smiled; "Something to eat, I think.  I don't know about you, but Bathing always makes me hungry."  Zassa watched him as he took the leash, to lead her from the bathroom; "Yeah, I'm hungry all right" she thought to herself, "and something to eat would be nice, but that's not what I'm REALLY hungry for.  Not after all those caresses!"

John checked the time and decided it was close enough.  Second shift would be getting out soon, and the evening's entertainment would have to be ready.....  Padding out from the corridor, he set down the covered dish, and started unlocking the Cheetah.  He found she'd been in the strained position, bent over backwards, for so long, that he had to help her to the floor; it took her a while before she could restore circulation and sit up, a motion suddenly aborted as she realized the riding crop was still in place.  After a quick glance at the Stallion, Tanj removed the offending object, and forced herself to the kneeling position.  Wordlessly John pushed the covered dish at her.

Tanj ate ravenously, washing down the sandwich with a cool glass of milk; as she drank she couldn't help but think of all the OTHER white stuff she'd consumed in the course of the day.  The milk should help settle her stomach, though....  Again, the Stallion led her to the bathroom, allowing her to relieve herself without cleaning up.  And again she was led off at the end of his leash; this time, however, they didn't return to the dias in the commons area.  Instead she was led off down a different series of corridors....

The junction of corridors was similar, but the open area was a little larger.  Centerpiece in this area wasn't a raised dias, but a large clear sphere on a short cylindrical pedestal.  The sphere was about eight feet in diameter, and suspended in the middle was a well-formed female panther with chocolate brown fur and long dark brown hair.  Her arms and legs were outstretched, her body floating in the middle of the sphere.  The way her long hair floated, it was obvious that the interior of the sphere was at zero gee.  Cuffs on the Panther's wrists and ankles made it obvious that a magnetic field was being used to restrain her in her spread-eagled position.  Her head hung down, as if she were exhausted, asleep, or unconscious.  The stallion led her around the periphery of the sphere; on one side, at the base, was a hatch, and it became obvious that the base was what could only be described as a small airlock.  Unsnapping the leash, he placed cuffs similar to the ones the Pantheress was wearing around Tanj's wrists and ankles, and then wordlessly pointed to the open outer door.  Tanj took a look at the tiny opening, and then looked back at the stallion; finding his face resolute, she sighed and crouched, to push her way into the tiny chamber.

Crouched within the tiny airlock, Tanj tucked her tail out of the way as the Stallion closed the door.  She felt the pressure equalize, dropping slightly, indicating that the inside of the sphere was at a slightly lower pressure than its surroundings.  As the inner door opened above her, she felt herself float upwards and into the sphere......  The walls on the inside seemed to be mirrored; she couldn't see out.  Looking upwards as she floated she examined her new roommate; the Pantheress was larger than her by about the width of one hand, and voluptuously formed, with large breasts and pert, pierced nipples.  Tanj noted that she was breathing slowly; it was then that the scent hit her; the Pantheress smelled of cinnamon, and sex, with some other hard-to-define quality to her scent....... But there was something about it that made her head swim....  Idly Tanj wondered if they were pumping something into the sphere, some sort of aphrodisiac... that would explain the airlock in the base of the sphere.  As she regarded the Chocolate Panther, the fem's eyes slowly opened to slits, showing violet irises with slit pupils....

John smiled as the Pantheress opened her eyes to stare at Tanj.  Reaching down, he pressed a small switch in the base of the sphere, killing the magnetic field that held the Pantheress immobile.

Tanj eeped, as the Pantheress suddenly started to move; its difficult, in zero gee, to go anywhere when you're not in contact with a solid surface and yet the pantheress seemed to pull herself into a ball and then spring directly at her.  The sphere wasn't large, and there was no place to run to, no place to hide; the Pantheress  hit her softly, and the two of them hit the side of the sphere, rebounding.  In an instant the Pantheress' muzzle was between Tanj's legs, licking insistently, almost desperately at her sex.  As the thought "no rest for the wicked" passed through her mind, the Cheetah found herself responding in kind; as the Pantheress was bigger, it was a bit of a stretch, but somehow Tanj found a way to drag her own tongue over the larger fem's pussy.....

John smirked to himself as he watched.  The Pantheress had responded exactly as they'd thought, as had the Cheetah.  They'd kept her in the sphere for almost six days, not letting her touch herself, although it'd only been three days since she'd climaxed.  It seemed the slaves that went in to feed her, and to tend to her other bodily needs wound up having sex with her, despite instructions to the contrary.  Despite the "corrections" that they were threatened with, and that they subsequently received, none of them seemed to be able to help themselves.  Accordingly those tasks had been taken over by hastily reprogrammed maintenance robots.  Now, it seemed, the Pantheress was intent on sex as if her very life depended on it.  Turning, the Stallion strode off down the corridor, leaving the two females to each other.  He had another Cheetah he had to go take care of.  And there might be time for one more go, before Hinoki was due in Jenka's office....

Jenka smiled as the pair approached.  Hinoki had a strange look on his face, and was waddling a little.  Why he was waddling a little was obvious; the stallion's cum was coating the insides of both thighs.  John was rather large, and the Jaguar had NO doubt the Cheetah's asshole was more than a little distended.  Waving a paw, she gestured for Hinoki to kneel at her feet.  "So, did you discover what I was talking about?"  The Cheetah nodded, and winced; "Yes, Mistress.  It was.... Most frustrating.  And not a little painful."  Turning his head and grinning up at the Stallion, the Cheetah smirked; "or at least it was painful for my cock; the rest was.... Heaven."  John merely raised an eyebrow, his face impassive.  Jenka chuckled and grinned at the Stallion.  Turning to look at the Cheetah, Jenka smiled; "I'm glad you understand the situation.  Now, turn yourself around, and watch the show.  It will relate to your assignment."

Tanj smiled as she felt the Pantheress' body shudder, and twitch.  It hadn't taken long at all to drive her to a climax.  However, to Tanj's amazement, it didn't even slow her down; the rough feline tongue sliding in and out of her own sex never faltered, never even missed a beat.  Tired from the day's activities, Tanj never the less found herself stroking the Pantheress again, starting the cycle all over again.  She couldn't help herself.  "Got to be some GOOD aphrodisiac they're pumping into this thing, if its got me goin' like this" she thought to herself.

Jenka sat at the small table, sipping a cocktail, a chained Hinoki at her feet.  The show going on in the sphere had proven to be quite an attraction, and the common area had developed quite a crowd.  An enterprising member of her gang was moving through the crowd selling some rather potent alcoholic beverages to those watching the show.  According to John, the Pantheress and Tanj had been going at it for more than three hours, and showed no signs of stopping.  Making a mental note to tell John to extract the Cheetah in a few hours, Jenka let her eyes rove over the crowd, appraising their mood, watching for furrs that didn't quite seem..... right.  Furrs that might be responsible, either knowingly, or unknowingly, for some of the problems she'd been having lately.....

Tanj groaned into the Pantheress' muff.  She was so sore, so tired, and yet, she just couldn't stop.  There was something about the chocolate colored feline that kept her so aroused, so desperate for one more climax.  Shuddering in response to the Pantheress' touches, kisses, and licks she slowly rubbed the pad of one finger over her pierced clitty, toying with the hematite ring.......

Jenka smiled and finished her drink.  The duo in the sphere had been going at it essentially non-stop since she'd gotten there, well beyond the normal endurance of most furrs.  And from the look of Tanj well beyond even her endurance.  The Pantheress however was still going strong.  Remarkable!  Tugging on Hinoki's leash, she rose.  He'd probably seen enough.  It was time to get down to cases.

Jenka's office was a combination of luxury and functionality, and Hinoki looked around curiously as the Jaguar led him through the door.  Dropping his leash, Jenka moved around her desk, to take her chair.  Grinning she gestured to one of several phallic shapes protruding from the floor; "you know what to do."  Hinoki smiled as he knelt, thrusting his bottom back, driving the phallus deep into his rear.  Compared to the stallion it felt small.  He wondered how she kept it lubricated....  Looking up he found Jenka watching him with interest.  After a moment, she nodded and rose a little to hand him an old-fashioned file folder.  "We took the Pantheress on a rather common raid.  A cargo ship had strayed off course, and one of our raiders stumbled across it.  They surrendered almost without a shot being fired.  A prize crew was put on board, but the ship didn't return on schedule.  A patrol was sent out to find out what had happened.  Somehow the crew of the freighter had regained control, and they were trying to escape.  As that sort of thing is particularly bad for business, the Freighter was recaptured.  Unfortunately the crew had spaced my furrs, and we were therefor unable to find out from them what had happened.  The second boarding party got a little rambunctious and treated the freighter crew as the first boarding party had been treated, throwing them too out the airlock.  Once again, a prize crew was put on the ship, and once again, it didn't make it back here on schedule.  However, before we could send out a second rescue party, they did manage to straggle in, and the story they told was almost unbelievable."

Jenka paused and sat on the corner of her desk.  Looking down she smiled, enjoying the sight of the male kneeling before her, back straight, head bowed.... She could just  see the thick dong disappearing between his legs, its entry to his body hidden by his dangling balls.  Wondering if the situation was making his entrapped cock try to swell and harden, she cleared her throat and continued.  "I say "almost unbelievable" because of what we witnessed just this evening.  You'll find records in the file of how the second prize crew found the Pantheress in suspended animation.  Always up for a good fuck, they released her, only to find that something about her excited them WAY beyond what was normal.  Apparently there'd been an orgy of unprecedented proportions.  Finally one of the boarding party was able to crawl into his space armor.  Isolated from whatever it is she puts out, he regained control of himself, and proceeded to stun his teammates, and the Pantheress.  She was put back into suspended animation, and gradually the others recovered."  Jenka chuckled; "however, it seems there was a significant residue of whatever it is she puts out, as there was significantly above average sexual contact among the prize crew, to the point where they were late arriving here.  Very late."

Jenka sighed and regarded the slave at her feet; "it seems to me that if she could learn to control whatever it is she does, or if there's a way to control her, she would be an extremely valuable slave.  The potential for seduction and subversion is incredible.  But if she can't control herself, she's good only for a brothel, and brothel slaves are a dime a dozen.  Teach her to control herself, train her properly, and I'll give you the key to that little lock.  Fail, and you're going to be very uncomfortable for a very long time."  Bending over and reaching down, Jenka unsnapped the leash from Hinoki's collar.  "Any of the facilities of the station are at your disposal, but if you create a riot, by accident or otherwise, well, I'm sure we can find suitable punishments.  When you're ready, see John and he'll release her into your care."

Extracting himself from the phallus, the Cheetah struggled to his feet.  Flipping open the folder he found a cursory medical examination, and transcripts from the second prize crew members.  Nodding, he smiled and gave Jenka an off-hand salute, and turning, padded off, to start his assignment.

Jenka watched the door close behind the Cheetah and smiled; "and with luck, my fine friend, this will keep you MUCH too busy to wonder about what's happened to Tanj."  Grinning at the thought, the Jaguar rose and padded towards the door herself; "Appointments to keep, things to do, Cheetahs to tease and torment.... Ah, I DO love my work!"

John smiled, watching the crowd watch the two fems.  The Pantheress had moved down below the Cheetah, and was proceeding to work her fingers in and out of her snatch.  It was obvious that Tanj was completely exhausted, and would have appeared asleep, if it wasn't for her rapid breathing.  The stallion smiled; his own breathing wasn't as slow as it should have been either, and his kilt had a rather tell-tale bulge; the sight of the Pantheress working all four fingers into the Cheetah's distended pussy would give a dead furr a hard-on.  Watching, the Stallion waited to see if the Pantheress would actually wind up fisting the Cheetah, or if she'd go no further.....

Tanj HOWLED and shuddered, shaken by the most powerful climax yet, as the Pantheress' fist worked in and out of her pussy, stretching her unbelievably tight, filling her until she felt as if she would rip, thudding against her cervix, threatening to invade her womb.  Every little motion, every twist of her paw sent lightning bolts ricocheting around inside her skull, until in one final blaze of glory it all proved too much, and with a soft groan, the Cheetah fainted dead away.

John chuckled and pushed the button that would increase the airflow through the sphere.  Another button returned the Pantheress to her spread-eagled position in the middle of the sphere, and a third pulled the Cheetah's unconscious form down into the airlock.  Enough was enough.....

Roland felt something rip the chair from his paws, and dove for the floor.  There were three of them in the room, and they were all armed.  Bringing the riot gun up he nailed the first one without any trouble.  Two rounds into the couch seemed to have at least disabled the one who'd dived behind it.  And then his gun jammed.  With a howl he threw it at the third, and followed it up with his own charge, fangs bared and claws ready.  And suddenly the room dissolved.  It was all he could do to keep himself from running headlong into a bulkhead.  Panting he looked around.  Emma's disembodied voice rumbled; "Very good.  Glad to see you've got the... "persistance" to carry it through to the end, and the inventiveness to find a way.  Now, lets test your knowledge of ship boarding.....  Stand up straight please."  Roland sighed and straightened, doing his best to come to "attention".  Slowly things reformed around him.  He seemed to be wearing space armor, with a laser rifle in his paws.  He was on the outside of a ship, looking at another ship a couple hundred meters away.  With a sigh, he calculated his trajectory, and kicked off.

Zassa blinked and then grinned, as Chris indicated where she was to sit.  The chair looked fairly normal, except for the rather large phallic shape attached to the seat.  Maneuvering carefully, she squatted a little, and then as the head of the phallus spread her labia, she sat down a little harder than she intended, letting out an "ooooOOOO!" as the phallus drove home.  Chris had pulled her bound paws out a little as she descended, so that her arms were over the low back of the chair.  The wrist cuffs were clipped to a ring bolt on the back of the chair, and the Fox spent a moment adding ankle cuffs, and securing them to the legs of the chair.  "There you go; no unauthorized excursions!  Now, let me see what I can do about breakfast.... Turning, he padded, still nude, towards his quarters' small kitchen.

Zassa squirmed and wriggled; she wanted the dong in her pussy to MOVE, to DO something other than just fill her  Unfortunately the way she was bound she just couldn't quite get enough movement.  And that was extremely frustrating.

Chris watched from the kitchen for a moment; the Vixen was getting hotter and hotter, and that was fine.  But he didn't think she could get herself off; at least he hoped not.  He had other plans for her.  With a smile he turned back to the kitchen, looking for the eggs and butter.

Roland sighed.  It would be effective but brutal.  The charge had been placed not against the airlock, they'd need that later, but against the bulkhead adjacent to it.  With a final look around, he pulled the fuse and retreated behind some large piece of machinery.  The deck shook, but without air there was no concussion.  Small fragments of metal spun by, followed by a huge exhalation of gas.  The remaining compartments had been breached, and anyone inside not in a space suit would soon be dead.  Painfully dead.  Ducking through the hole torn in the metal, his weapon at the ready, he looked for still-living defenders.

Chris smiled and used the edge of the spoon to scrape some of the omlet from the Vixen's muzzle.  It was obvious she hadn't realized how hungry she was until she'd started eating.  Even her limited movements on the dong had diminished as she sought out every morsel the Fox had offered.

Roland closed his eyes and tried hard not to throw up in his helmet.  "Its just a simulation.  Just a simulation! You've seen worse!"  The mutilated bodies of the children had not been what he'd expected, just inside the breach.  Swallowing hard, he tried to forget the images and move on through the ship, searching for any defenders that might still be living.

Emma looked at the biomedical readouts and nodded;  They'd lost a lot of recruits at that point.  She wondered if the Badger would believe that particular segment had been purchased from a company that did simulators, and not something the Black Fleet had actually done.  Shrugging, she figured it really didn't make much difference.  They WERE pirates, after all.....

Chris smiled and wiped the Vixen's face; "and now, I think, bed."  Releasing her ankles, he padded around behind the chair, to unclip her wrists and help her to rise.  Zassa moaned softly as the dong slipped from within her, leaving her with an empty feeling.  Leading the Vixen into the bedroom, Chris smiled; "but I don't want you disturbing my rest, so I'm going to let you have the lower bunk."  Zassa blinked, turning to look at the bed; it seemed to be a rather normal bed.... She didn't see any "lower bunk"...  Chris dropped the end of the leash and walked to the left side of the bed; reaching under it, he tugged, and out rolled a large rectangular shape.  It seemed to be filled with foam padding, with a cut-out that resembled a spread-eagled figure.  "you go in there, nice and secure."  Unclipping the cuffs behind Zassa's back, he led her by the wrists to the form.  Zassa sighed and first knelt and then laid down, on her stomach, arms and legs in the spaces provided.  The area for her head was sculpted, almost as if it were molded for just her.... And of course there was a large phallic shape to occupy her mouth.  "Just to make sure you don't miss me TOO much" Chris purrred, "There's this little attachment.  Zassa moaned into her new gag as something moved up from the foam pad between her thighs, to occupy that empty feeling.  In fact, this phallus was larger than the one on the chair, stretching her a little wider, filling her a little deeper.  And then Chris was sliding the tray back under the bed.  Suddenly things got VERY dark.  Zassa squirmed a little, finding that while she wasn't directly bound, she had almost no movement.  Cool air washed over her face though; breathing wasn't a problem.  With a sigh, she settled down to wait, in almost perfect sensory deprivation.  And then the dongs started to vibrate.

The Stallion grunted, as he tried to extract the limp Cheetah's body from the tight confines of the airlock, without bending something the wrong way.  As he tugged at her, his nostrils flared at the scent of cinnamon, and sex..... and suddenly he found himself with a raging hard-on.  Without really thinking about it, he found himself stripping his kilt off, rolling the Cheetah over onto her stomach, and moving behind her, between her legs, grabbing her hips and pulling her back towards him......

Tanj groaned, as consciousness returned; it felt as if the Pantheress were still fisting her, the last thing she remembered... but there was the sphere in front of her, the Pantheress floating, limbs outstretched as if she were trying to touch its sides.....  Panting as something large thrust in and out of her, she recognized the Stallion's grunting, recognized his touch as he held her like a rag-doll as he slaked his lusts with her.  There was little else she could do except to hang on as he took her hard!  When he finally came, it felt as if he'd been saving up cum for the last month.  Tanj howled as he flooded her with his hot seed, continuing to pump into her until it trickled out from her pussy, flowing down to coat the insides of her thighs and his swaying balls.

John chuckled, and shook his head; he didn't know just exactly what was happening, but he hadn't had enough of the Cheetah yet.  Reaching down, he rolled her over, her pussy providing a very interesting friction around his cock as he turned her until she was facing him.  With a grin, he reached down to take her ankles; bringing them behind his back, he clipped one ankle cuff to the other.  Then, reaching out to collect her wrists, he clipped the wrist cuffs together, and then ducked his head through the circle formed by her arms.  Releasing her, he arched his back a little, pulling her lithe body tight to his.  Rising to his feet he grinned down at her; she was fastened to him, like a backpack worn on his front, his thick cock still buried in her tight snatch.  "We're overdue at Mistress Jenka's; I think we'd best jog there, lest she get mad at our tardiness."  Tanj groaned as the Stallion took off at a trot, his hooves clattering against the deck, her body bouncing up and down with each step, his thick tool driving deep into her pussy with each bounce....

By the time they'd arrived at the residential section that held Jenka's suite, Tanj had climaxed three more times, her head spinning so bad that she couldn't see straight.  The Stallion wasn't quite done with her yet, and leaning her up against the wall, aside Jenka's doorway, he thrust his hips upwards against her until with a whinny he came again.  With her back still against the wall, he reached behind himself, to unclip her ankle cuffs; then, taking her wrists he lifted her up, and off his still-hard cock.  With Tanj teetering, kept from collapsing to the deck only by the stallion's strong arm, John pressed the touchpad beside Jenka's door.

Jenka's eyes widened, and then she smiled as the nude and still rampant stallion half carried Tanj into her quarters.  The Cheetah's sex was still gaping, with the Stallion's cum dribbling down along her thighs.  Shaking her head, Jenka chuckled; "Ah, I should have foreseen that would happen.  Go put her under the shower and wash her down thoroughly; wash yourself down as well.  Quickly now!

Tanj found the warm water, and the sensation of the Stallion stroking her body, working the soap into her fur, to be very relaxing....  The shower was a blur, and somewhere around the time the Stallion was rubbing her down with a warm, fluffy towel, she succumbed to her exhaustion and fell into a deep sleep.

Tanj opened one eye drowsily.  She was in a warm, and comfortable bed, with soft linens.  A plug gag filled her mouth, but it wasn't so large as to be uncomfortable.  A collar encircled her neck, and somehow she knew a chain led from that, to the headboard.  Her arms were cuffed behind her, and it felt like her ankles were likewise secured.  Somehow she was too tired to try and move them to confirm her suspicion.  Next to her, Jenka slept soundly.  Closing her eye, the Cheetah smiled, and snuggled a little closer.

Roland rubbed the towel over his head, unconcerned about his nudity, and looked at the Mouse; "Understand, stud, you're not the best we've ever had pass through this test.  Not by a long shot.  But you have done fairly well.  Well enough I want you to go back in and take another set of trials. Now."  Roland raised an eyebrow; "if I did good enough, why do it again?"  Emma grinned; "To qualify as a team leader.  I know its late, but you and I both know that sometimes you have to run 'round the clock.  Show me what you can do, while running shy of sleep."  Roland sighed and nodded; tossing the towel at the Mouse he just grunted "Right."

Chris smiled and rolled over; he could just about feel the waves of sexual frustration flowing from the Vixen beneath him.  With a sigh, he reached up to the headboard, and pushed a concealed button.  The Vixen deserved her rest; she'd had a hard time, and he didn't want to push her too far.  If nothing else, there was Tanj's reaction to consider.  She'd want to look out for her friend and crewmate, and he really didn't want her mad at him.  The vibrations would slowly diminish, as a little something to help the Vixen sleep was added to the air flow.  The combination should give her pleasant dreams, though.  VERY pleasant dreams.

Taking a break from his investigations, Corey broke into the personnel records again.  Could they tell him where Zassa was?  Where Tanj was?  Perhaps that Smith fellow was listed there.  As he ran search after search, they all came up negative.  Until he tried that Roland fellow.  There he was, listed with the Black Fleet's Marines!  "I KNEW there had to be deception!" the Lynx muttered to himself.  "HE must have given us over to the Pirates!"  Growling, the Lynx turned back to his calculations, more determined than ever to find a way to free them all.

Corey sighed and shut down the terminal.  His original concept of using some sort of anesthetic to knock out the pirates just wouldn't work.  Too many work parties in vacuum suits working on ships.  Too many arriving ships.  Too many pockets in the space station where the anesthetic just wouldn't travel to fast enough.  There was no way to assure that he'd knock out everyone fast enough.  No, there'd have to be another way.  The goal was to incapacitate, but not kill, everyone on the station, with some sort of shield for himself.  He could then liberate Tanj, and her crew, get them aboard her ship, and make a break for freedom.  They'd need something that wouldn't interfere with the operation of Tanj's ship, and something that would give them enough time to get far enough away that pursuit would not be a concern.  Scratching his head, the Lynx tried to look at the situation from a different angle.

The Lynx smiled.  The leach missile had been standard equipment for a long time, interrupting the electrical systems on a ship, temporarily incapacitating it.  Likewise, stunners had been known for some time, interfering with nervous impulses from the brain, also an electrical process, at least in part.  Having a wild thought, the Lynx opened a spreadsheet.  Could there be a device, one device, that could affect both furrs and equipment?  Could he shut down all the power on the station, except for the backup life support, AND knock out all the furrs, all at the same time?  Could he overcome any  shielding, and affect them all?  And could he do it without killing anyone?  It was an intriguing problem....
 

2402.203

"Are you going to sleep all day?"  Tanj forced one eye open, to behold a smiling Jenka, still nude, but with her fur brushed and her hair combed.  Tanj mumbled "just another three hours" into her gag, but Jenka didn't seem to understand.  Tugging insistently on the chain attached to her collar, Tanj groaned again and inchwormed her way to the side of the bed.

Kneeling by the side of Jenka's breakfast table, Tanj watched as John served her.  At the smell of the food, her stomach rumbled most noisily.  "Is my pet hungry?"  Jenka smiled; it was a purely rhetorical question, and obviously no answer was required.  Still, Jenka bent over to reach behind Tanj to unlock her gag.  Tanj worked her jaw for a moment, moving sore muscles, as Jenka loaded a fork with blueberry pancakes....  However, as Jenka brought the fork towards her mouth, Tanj turned her head away.  The surprise on the Jaguar's face only deepend as Tanj sighed; "Safeword."

The fork clattered to the floor, as Jenka's eyebrows tried to crawl into her hairline, her eyes as wide as the saucer under her coffee cup; "WHAT?"  Tanj sighed again; "I'm sorry, I really am, but I can't.  I just Can't.  Not now.  There's just too much to DO!"

Jenka slid off of her chair, to kneel by the Cheetah; resting her paws on Tanj's thighs she looked the Cheetah square in the eye; "Love, there is NOTHING to do; they're gone.  HE'S gone!"  Tanj looked back, her eyes sorrowful; "They're gone, and I admit that, but I don't believe they're dead.  Talk to Professor Corey.  He'll tell you that there's a good chance that they're just..... elsewhere.  Talk to the Imperials.  They'll admit the possibility.  THEN ask them about their research into it.  DON'T believe me; check into it yourself.  I think you'll find that I'm not necessarily crazy, or even deluded....."

Jenka sat back on her haunches and just looked at the Cheetah for a long moment.  "It's the imprinting, isn't it?  That trick the Academy pulls with its graduates, to make them loyal to their new masters....."  Tanj sighed and shrugged, looking away; "I..... how would I know?  If that's it, well, I'd scarcely be an objective observer, would I?  But I don't think that's it.  At least not all of it.  I've simply been through too much with all of them.  Too much of my life, too much of ME was wrapped up in all of that.  I just can't.... "abandon" them.  Not while there's the slightest hope.  They may need help getting back from wherever they wound up, and I just couldn't live with myself if I didn't do what I could to help them "come home"...."  Jenka sighed and shook her head; "So what are you going to do, then?  What are your plans?"

Tanj closed her eyes, reviewing her mental checklist.  "The first step is to get Corey to his University, so he can start his new job there.  It'll be the perfect cover for the required research.  By the way, where IS he?"  Jenka just looked blank and shrugged.  Tanj sighed; "The next step will be to get him whatever resources he needs to conduct the research.  I've got some money, but I doubt it'll be enough."  Jenka nodded; "And for that you'll need to either make, or steal more."  Tanj grinned; "Yeah; happen to know where I might find a Pirate band that knows how to knock over a convoy?  I thought I'd continue on with the intelligence work I'd been doing for you."  Tanj thought to herself "That too will be a good cover for what I'm REALLY doing"....  "If I do my job well, we'll all prosper, and I'll have the resources to fund the research."  Jenka nodded slowly; "true....."  The Cheetah went on; "For that, I'll need to rebuild the network of informers and agents I had for the Brethren.  That should be do-able.  Of late, I've made some interesting new contacts....  And that leads to some other problems...."

Jenka looked at the Cheetah; "as if you didn't have enough....?"  Tanj chuckled; "The Imperials are watching me; they want to make sure that if I find a route to wherever they went, that they get the technology, and probably the hardware and the portal as well.  They seem to find the concept of making an entire planet vanish somewhat threatening."  Jenka blinked and muttered "I wonder why..."  Tanj went on as if she hadn't heard; "So I'm afraid they'll be making their presence known from time to time.  I don't think that'll be too hard to finesse, if we're... If I'M careful."  At this, Jenka just shot Tanj a funny look, one the Cheetah either didn't interpret correctly, missed completely, or chose to ignore.  "Finally there are the "long shots".  I want to go talk to the Brou, see if they know anything.  I want to contact anyone doing any exploration to see if something's been observed on the rim....."

Jenka sighed, reaching out to touch the Cheetah; "and what of us?  Is it to be a purely business relationship?"  Tell me you didn't enjoy the past couple of days."  Tanj smiled and leaned forward to kiss the Jaguar; "Of course its not going to be just business; you know you'll always be my Mistress.  And in a way, I did enjoy the... has it really been a couple of days?  It would have been so nice to have just let go, and just BE....  I wish I could stay that way, just live for the moment, for the simple pleasures, but my conscience wouldn't let me enjoy that.  I'm afraid that we're just going to have to play when we can, and work when we have to."

Jenka leaned back and sighed, looking at Tanj; "I can see I'm going to have to keep you from getting obsessive about your "work."  Tell you what, I'll see to it that you get four hours a day to pursue "outside interests."  The rest of the time you're MINE!"  Tanj's eyes widened and then her face hardened; "Four hours a day won't let me do the job you NEED me to do, to keep the Black Fleet running, well, "in the black", let alone allow me to do the things necessary to try and find the Lion.  And you know it!"  Slowly a sly grin spread over her face; "Four hours a day as your Pet is more like it!"  Jenka Humphed and climbed back onto her chair.  Stabbing hard at the now-cold pancakes she turned to glare at the Cheetah with mock-ferociousness; "I think my pet is in no position to tell Mistress what to do, or to dictate conditions!  Defy me and I'll make you fetch that feather you hate to be tickled with so much!"  As Tanj opened her mouth to respond, Jenka jabbed with the fork, almost spearing the Cheetah's tongue.  As Tanj sputtered around a mouthful of cold blueberry pancakes, Jenka stabbed again at the plate; "I'll tell you what will be done.  Each evening you will petition me for the time necessary for the tasks you consider essential.  IF I agree, you'll get the time to do them, but you'll have to convince me that its essential!  If there are any disputes, well, I MAY let you earn extra time, by completing certain "tasks" or "assignments" for me....."  Jenka grinned wickedly as she looked down at Tanj; the Cheetah sighed and licked at some of the syrup dribbling from the corner of her mouth.  Finally she shrugged, and then grinned impishly up at the Jaguar; "As Mistress commands...."

Tanj chewed while Jenka talked; "I STILL think you need more of a rest; you have to be awfully stressed out by the recent events.  And I strongly suspect you still don't have your head together from it all.....  BUT I suppose you have a point; there are things to do, and I can't devote ALL my time to playing with you, no matter how much I might want to.  SO, after the staff meeting, while I'm talking to the accounting folks, you'll have an hour or so to talk to the furrs you need to, and to prepare your request for tomorrow's time."  Grinning down at the Cheetah, Jenka tilted her head to one side; "Now, I want you to go select something for me to wear today; it should be appropriate for the meetings scheduled, but still sexy."  As the Cheetah rose to do Jenka's bidding, the Jaguar growled; "And don't you DARE get pancake syrup on any of my outfits!"  Tanj paused, turned, raised and eyebrow and behind her back, lifted her bound paws just a bit.  Jenka grinned; "No, they stay that way; be inventive!"  Tanj rolled her eyes and trotted off to the closet.

Roland waved to the second fireteam.  They'd walked into a crossfire, and there was only one way out of it.  Sometimes when ambushed you HAD to just charge the guns.  It was going to be rough on his troops, but the rest of the force was depending on them.  Seeing the fireteam falter, Roland growled and rose from behind his cover, his weapon spitting blue fire, as did what a leader was supposed to.  Lead.

Emma watched the monitors and nodded.  Sometimes you couldn't be too conservative with your own troops.  And those that held to life too dearly seldom made the best warriors.  This Badger had what it took, she thought.  As the remnants of Roland's team made it to their objective, she called  up the next scenario.

Chris yawned and stretched.  Rolling over to look at the chrono, he nodded.  Probably time to release the Vixen.  Sliding out of bed he tugged at the handle to the tray and smoothly slid it out from under the bed.

Zassa blinked at the sudden light.  She'd been having the most wonderful dream, the kind of dream that left her pussy dripping, the kind of dream that demanded satisfaction.  As Chris did whatever he did to withdraw the dong in her pussy, she arched herself, sliding the other dong from her muzzle.  Stiffly she pulled herself into a crouch.

Chris watched the Vixen, his nose registering the scent of her arousal; "is my slave horny.......?  Before he could even finish the sentence, Zassa had leapt, pouncing, driving him back, to the floor.  As her body pinned him to the floor, Chris chuckled; "I guess so......."

Roland sighed and slumped into the chair.  Emma looked up from the monitor; "Good enough, I guess.  You'll take over Rokko's maniple.  Two fireteams."  Roland nodded; "Any pay increase with that?"  Emma smiled; "a small one, and a slightly larger cut of the take."  Roland rose and nodded; "Great.  I'll meet the troops tomorrow.  Right now I've got a shower, and something else I've GOT to do."  Emma nodded; "Oh Eight Hundred tomorrow.  Right after PT."

The doll had lost some air, but was still obviously Vixen shaped.  Roland looked at the cage and sighed.  Now Zassa was going to be as mad at him as she was at Chris.  But it wasn't his fault!  With a sigh he turned and headed back to his quarters.  He'd have to see if he could find her after he'd gotten some sleep.  He was plumb wore out!

Tanj grinned wickedly as she tossed her head, the black leather jumpsuit flopping onto Jenka's bed in much more disarray than she'd hoped.  Leaning over, her paws still tied behind her back, her tail straight out for balance, she used lips and teeth to straighten them.  It would be interesting to see what Jenka thought of the outfit....  With a smile on her face, she turned to go back for the heavy black belt, with the big silver roller buckle....

Jenka sighed as she looked at the outfit the Cheetah had laid out for her.  It was... pushing the limits just a little. But it wasn't quite far enough for her to either reject it, or to punish Tanj for impudence.  Not quite.  Shaking her head, the Jaguar sighed; "I guess I'm going to have to free your hands, so you can help me into this, aren't I?"

The second Tanj's paws were free, she turned and pounced.  Jenka SHOULD have been ready for it, but if she was feigning surprise, then she was a magnificent actress!  As they went over onto the bed, Tanj moved quickly, her arms going around Jenka's thighs, her muzzle pressed hard against the Jaguar's sex, forcing Jenka's body down hard into the bedcovers.  "What do you think you're.... OH!... Doing you impudent, disobedient, un..... AH!  Ungratef....  OH!  YESSSS!   Ah......  Oh, hell, we're going to be late!"  Tanj just giggled, her voice muffled by the confines of the Jaguar's sweet sex, and the slurping noises of her tongue as she used all of her skill on her "Mistress"....

Tanj tugged hard at the leather, pulling the outfit up and over Jenka's shoulders.  It was a tight fit, skintight, with the Jaguar's nipples showing clearly.  From the tips of her feet to the tips of her fingers, Jenka was encased in tight black leather, with a myriad of straps and buckles accentuating her form.  The thick black belt with the heavy chromed buckle was loose about her hips, a glaring contrast to how tight everything else was.  Here and there, zippers traversed the outfit.  One pair ran from the tips of her toes up over her hips, widening when they passed just outside of her breasts, to terminate at the outfit's collar.  Two quick tugs and she'd be uncovered all down her front, suggesting a readiness for instant sex.  Other zippers encircled breasts and crotch, permitting just choice bits to be revealed.  Tanj thought Jenka looked powerful, and very erotic in it.....  Jenka smoothed some of the wrinkles from one arm, as she studied herself in the mirror, and then, turning, moved to clip a leash to Tanj's collar; at the last second she paused.  "No, this deserves something a little more.... Stringent."  Turning she padded to a dresser, to retrieve an additional chain.  Grinning at Tanj, she threaded one end of the chain through the D ring at the front of the Cheetah's collar, pulling it through until a big chrome ring at the far end of the chain came up fast against the collar's D ring.  "I want you to squat a little, hands behind head, knees apart."  Tanj sighed, complying, knowing what was coming.  Jenka clipped both of Tanj's wrist cuffs to the back of her collar, and then tugged the chain down between the Cheetah's breasts, down along her tummy, to clip its end to the small ring piercing her clitty.  The chain was tight enough that Tanj had to stay slightly stooped; if she straightened,  the chain would tug most harshly on her tenderest of bits.  Jenka nodded in satisfaction and then clipped the end of the leash not to the D ring on her collar, but to the big chromed ring hard up against it.  One light tug on the leash and Tanj had to choke back a gasp; the forces were transmitted directly to her clitty.  As Jenka moved off, Tanj followed as closely as she dared, seeking to keep the leash as slack as possible.

As they walked through the station's corridors, Jenka grinned over her shoulder at the Cheetah; "Do you remember Hargreaves?"  Tanj nodded, careful to maintain her slightly bent over posture.  The swaying of the leash, even though slack, was starting to have a predictable effect as the tensions and vibrations were relayed to her clitty; she was getting quite moist between her legs, and having more than a little difficulty concentrating....  "Yes, Mistress; he's the Elk who heads your Intelligence section."  Jenka nodded; "I'm afraid he no longer holds that position; it seems that some of the ship crews blamed him for a small fiasco we had a while back, and several of them challenged him to duels.  The idiot agreed."  Jenka smiled wryly over her shoulder; "He was better than I thought he'd be.  He won the first three duels."  Tanj smiled; "Good for him, but I take it that's not all there is to the story."  Jenka sighed and nodded; "True.  You see, he was challenged to a total of five duels.  He lost the fourth.  Accordingly, its my intention to name you as his successor."

Tanj was so surprised that she stopped; before she could utter a "WHAT?" the leash went tight and all that came out was a yelp.  As she hurried to catch up, crouched over even further, she panted; "Mistress, I'm NOT sure that's such a good idea.  I have considerable experience in the gathering of agent-related information, but I'm nowhere near "expert" in signals analysis, or in interpretation!  Besides, my, ah, "other" activities may drag me away.  For that position, you need someone who'd be here full time!"

Jenka sighed, and muttered to herself "well, I tried..."  Looking back over her shoulder, she fixed the Cheetah with a stare; "Hargreaves is dead, the Intelligence section is in disarray, and until another "expert" as you put it is found, you're it.  If you want to attend to things that might cause you to have you travel, you'll help me find a suitable replacement, and quickly.  Understand?"  Tanj sighed and nodded her head, bowing a little further;  "Yes Mistress."

Jenka watched the Cheetah bow, noting with interest that it seemed to be more to relieve the pressure on her poor tortured clitty than a sign of obeisance, but she decided she liked the look anyways.....  With a smile she turned her thoughts as to how she could keep such a look on the cheetah's face, her body in such a posture.....  At least around her.

The voices, most of them loud and contentious, quieted when Jenka entered the conference room, and dwindled to dead silence as Tanj entered on the end of her leash.  After a moment there were a few chuckles, and more than a few ribald comments suggesting that Jenka share her new toy.  Jenka just smirked and took her seat at the head of the table, a tug on the leash indicating that Tanj was to kneel by her left side.  The side away from the stunner concealed in the right thigh pocket of her catsuit.  For not the first time, Tanj wondered about the stability of Jenka's organization.... Or was it that the Brethren were, for a bunch of cutthroats and pirates, unusually.... Loyal?

For this group of Pirates, the meeting was rather restrained, but still, Tanj found herself comparing it to the staff meetings she was used to with the Brethren, which were even more... well, if not cordial, then at least Civil.  Logistics had a problem with the suppliers, Accounting had a problem with Raider ships trying to hold back loot, especially small valuable things.  The Master at Arms complained that he couldn't possibly search every ship that came back from a mission and suggested that they rotate crew rosters, in the hopes that someone would squeal if booty was held out.  Ops didn't like that suggestion at all, and said so, loudly.  Three times Jenka had to intervene, once rising to her feet and shouting herself, to prevent the matter from being settled by fisticuffs, or worse.  Each time a grumbling, muttering order was restored and the meeting moved on.  Finally, Ops complained to Jenka about the quality of the leads they'd been getting, pointed glances being shot at Tanj.  The current head of Ops was a rather large Tasmanian Devil, not the gruff old Bear Tanj had remembered as holding that position, and she wondered at the changes.....  Jenka ignored the tone of the Devil's voice, and his stares at Tanj and rose to her feet, tugging on Tanj's leash, urging her to stand also.  The Cheetah didn't take much urging, considering where her leash terminated.....

"As you know, the Brethren have been sharing intelligence with us for some time.  Most of you have heard briefings by Tanj, here.  Most of you know her capabilities in the area.  Now, with Hargreaves' ah, demise, you all know the intelligence section is embroiled in what only could be called a "war of succession."  Frankly none of the section heads impress me as being capable in their current jobs, let alone being able to lead the department."  To this there were varied mutterings and a few outright objections, as various furrs sought to defend friends, or allies.  Jenka waved a paw for silence, and then growled; "Right now, I know Tanj isn't allied with any faction, and I'm confident of her capabilities.  She'll fill in for Hargreaves, until someone better can be found, and at that point, she'll take over the field intelligence section."  As her gaze swept the room, the Jaguar growled; "Any objections?"  In one corner, Tanj noted Chris Foxx shift in his chair; "you realize of course that there are several furrs in that department that will most likely object in the manner held as traditional in our organization."  Tanj tilted her head to one side, as she listened, trying to understand what the Fox was saying.  Jenka just shrugged and growled "we'll deal with that when the time comes.  IF the time comes...."

Turning back to Tanj, Jenka growled; "I know you're not prepared, but give us whatever you can in the way of an intelligence briefing."  Tanj blinked; "Um....  Lets see.  The adjacent sector is rather busy with Imperial vessels investigating the disappearance of the Elysium system; there's at least one battlecruiser there, with a squadron of destroyers and a support ship.  There are by now also three research vessels there.  If they're there, that means they can't be elsewhere.  I would suspect that the Timbolef system, the Snarra system, and the C-3791 system, which normally host the destroyer squadron, would be rather unguarded."  Pausing for a moment, the Cheetah thought desperately; she'd been trying to keep up with her e-mail, all the messages from field agents, asking what to do given the rumors of Elysium's disappearance, expressing their fears and concerns (and not supplying the usual information)....  "Ah, the port authority on Nikkeldepain reports problems with their defensive system, and they're closing the port until it can be repaired.  That means that all the traffic's going into Telfair....."

Jenka smiled to herself.  Completely unprepared, the Cheetah was dredging up all sorts of useful goodies.  Ops was taking copious notes, as were several of the capital-ship captains.  Sitting back in her chair, crossing her legs, she watched as the still nude and bound Cheetah held the room's attentions, not by her looks, or by her scent, which still betrayed hints of her arousal, but by her words.  Grinning wickedly, Jenka started to idly swing the leash back and forth, teasing the poor creature.

As the Cheetah ran down, Ops looked up; "This situation on Nikkeldepain sounds most promising.  I propose we hit them, raid the port, while their defenses are down.  With all the normal traffic going elsewhere, it's the last thing they'd suspect.  And if the Imperials are all in the Elysium area, we shouldn't have to worry about anything but the local militia."  Jenka nodded and turned to Tanj; "Get in contact with your agents there; see if you can find out anything of use."  Tanj nodded, panting lightly.  The rhythmic tugging of the leash on her clitty as it swayed had made the last few minutes of her talk sheer hell, as she tried hard to concentrate.  Of course, as soon as she'd stopped talking, Jenka had stopped swinging the leash......

As the conversation turned to the logistics required for the raid, Jenka dropped the leash, and whispered to the Cheetah; "looks like some of the staff are having problems; quite a few of them have bulges in their pants.  Why don't you crawl under the conference table and see what you can do about relieving some of the pressure?"  Tanj nodded and moved forward on her knees; with her wrists bound to the back of her collar, "crawling" was going to be very difficult.  As she moved under the table, a leg was stuck straight out, blocking her movement; obviously its owner wanted her to satisfy him first.  With a small shrug, Tanj turned in that direction, shuffling up against his chair, nuzzling his crotch, seeking to unfasten his pants using just her teeth.

Jenka smiled as Communications got a very funny look on his face.  Maybe Tanj could help "quiet" some of the arguments in the staff meetings by relieving certain frustrations....  The Cheetah did have her uses!

Tanj groaned; she'd worked her way down the table as the meeting progressed, satisfying one after another of Jenka's lieutenants.  Now, ready to work her way back to the head of the table, she found someone's foot was on her trailing leash.  It looked for the moment as if she wasn't going any further.....  With a sigh she tried to figure out who it was, without getting too tangled up in her own leash; if she satisfied them, again, maybe they'd let her go....

Chris Foxx tried to keep the smile from his face, tried to pay at least half attention to what was being said, but it was deuced difficult....  Wondering if he could shift his chair so one leg passed through the loop at the end of the Cheetah's leash without anyone noticing he congradulated himself again on his sterling tactical move....  On the other hand, how long would it be, before Jenka noticed?

Tanj stood by the doorway, tongue flicking out to lick her muzzle; her last "customer" had slid his chair back at the last moment, his howl bringing discussion to a halt, and his seed had splattered her face.  Finally Jenka finished the conversation she'd been having with Ops and Logistics, and had padded over to her.  "My don't YOU look like you've been having fun!  OK, you've got until I finish with Accounting to conduct your errands."  Tanj's eyebrows went up; "Dr.... Ah, Mistress, dressed like THIS?"  Jenka just chuckled and nodded; "yes, nude, bound, and sprinkled liberally with cum."  At the look of disbelief on the Cheetah's face, Jenka chuckled; "AND with the leash dangling.  Should be a challenge even for you!  Lets see if you're determined enough to actually get anything done, given those handicaps."  With that, Jenka turned and swept out of the conference room, without a backwards glance.

Tanj watched her go, and shook her head; "I wonder how long her meeting will last?  Oh, well, what can she do if I'm late?"  Thinking that was a stupid question, the Cheetah turned and hurried down a corridor.

The terminal was state-of-the-art, and thus had voice recognition software.  Of course, like all voice recognition software, it didn't work very well, but as Tanj couldn't use her hands, she didn't have much of a choice.  "Computer, what is the current location of Hinoki?"  "Hinoki is currently with John in a compartment at Level 23, section 12.  The Do Not Disturb sign is lit."  Tanj grinned and just shook her head.  "Computer, where is Smith.  Uh, Clarification; the Smith that arrived on the Lost Cause."  "There is no such furr listed in the station directory."  Tanj sighed; "Figures."  Looking back up at the terminal she growled; "Computer, where is Zassa?"  "Zassa is currently in Chris Foxx's quarters.  The "Do Not Disturb" sign is lit."  Smiling again, the Cheetah growled; "Computer, where is Wanda?"  "Wanda is currently in surgery 4, in the emergency room, assisting Dr. Ramatha"  Tanj leaned against the wall and groaned.  "Computer, where is Professor Corey?"  "Professor Corey's whereabouts are currently unknown; he is not in his quarters on your ship, nor does he show up on any of the security scanners."  Tanj frowned; "Isn't that a little unusual?"  "There is a level 4 inhibit associated with the Professor; I am not allowed to act on any inconsistencies with respect to his actions."  Tanj's eyes went wide open; "computer, leave a message for Professor Corey asking him to contact me as soon as possible."  For a moment, the Cheetah thought of trying to find Roland, or Kath, but then decided that the former might not be the most diplomatic person to help her, and the latter might not be of much assistance, being a pet herself.  With a sigh, the Cheetah bumped her chin against the "cancel" button and turned to head down to Intelligence.  She'd have to face them sooner or later, and there was work to do.

The Tiger looked up from his console and smiled; "Ah, our new "boss", and such an attractive one, too!"  Rising, the Tiger strode across the office, to take the middle of Tanj's dangling leash in one massive paw.  "And so vulnerable, too....."  Tanj gave him her sweetest smile; "True; Mistress Jenka, in her wisdom, decided I should be left like this; and there isn't a THING I could do to prevent you from forcing your attentions on me...."  Pausing to look the Tiger up and down, she smiled, her gaze lingering on his groin.  Beneath her breath she muttered "and I might not even mind that much, if you did...."  Raising her gaze to his face she smiled wider; "But Ops is planning a raid on Nikkeldepain, and we have work to do.  You KNOW what happens to furrs who give these pirates bad information, don't you?"  The Tiger stared at her for a moment; "I haven't picked up anything about Nikkeldepain being vulnerable.  Why in the world would they choose THAT as a target?"  Tanj shrugged; "It might have something to do with me telling them their defense grid was off-line."  Cocking her head to one side, Tanj purrred; "Let me guess; signals intercept and analysis, right?"  The Tiger frowned; "No, remote detection.  My department runs the recon drones.  Signals analysis takes the feed from them, if they can't pick them up directly."  Tanj nodded; "Had a drone in that system recently?"  The Tiger's frown deepened; "Um.... About eight days, if I remember correctly."  Tanj nodded; "how long to get one back there?  That was about the time they were starting to have trouble, if I remember rightly; they were probably doing everything they could to keep folks from learning of their troubles.  Have your drone look for standard traffic to and from the jump points.  I'll bet they're just about zilch."  Tanj smiled sweetly once again; "Now, we need to get signals in on this; who's head of that department?

The Ferret looked Tanj up and down as if she couldn't quite believe this nude and bound cheetah was her new boss.  "Um.... Intercepts?  Ah, I'll have to check; we've got our ears out in an awful lot of systems."  Tanj nodded; "Well, please check, and quickly.  Ops wants to move on this by Thursday."  Turning to look at a rather dour Rabbit, Tanj smiled again; "you're Threats, Capabilities, and intentions?"  the Rabbit nodded solemnly.  Tanj nodded back; "we know there's an Imperial Battlecruiser in the .... In what's left of the Elysium system.  They're currently supported by a destroyer squadron.  What I need is an update on where other Imperial assets are in the sector, and what their status is.  How fast could they move on Nikkeldepain, if they so chose?"  the Rabbit nodded; "you'll have it on your... desk?  By tomorrow noon."  Tanj made a mental note and nodded.  The Rabbit let one ear droop, a curious gesture; tilting his head to one side, he queried; "but you don't want to know about the Nikkeldepain forces?"  Tanj smiled; "no, got a pretty good view on that."  Looking around conspiratorially she leaned closer and whispered; "Don't tell anyone but my source of information on the defense grid is with the Nikkeldepain Militia."  The Rabbit's eyes went wide as he sat back in his seat.  After a moment he muttered; "I'd appreciate it if you would help us update our database, then.  Your information might, ah, help to confirm ours."  Tanj just smiled.  Turning to a male skunk, Tanj smiled; "You're head of the cryptography section?"  The skunk nodded; "The Nikkeldepain codes are deeply encrypted.  We have never seriously attempted to crack them, and probably couldn't before the operation takes place."  Tanj nodded; "I'll see if I can't get my source to get us something on that.  Might have to go in without it, though, as information like that is generally VERY expensive, and they'll change the codes in a heartbeat if they think they've been compromised."  The skunk just nodded, his arms folded across his chest.

As it was impossible for her to read her e-mail with her hands locked to the back of her neck, and she didn't want to "insult" anyone by asking them to run a terminal for her, Tanj issued a few ancillary instructions and took her leave.

To her surprise, the door to Jenka's quarters slid open at her call; it had obviously been programmed to recognize her voice.  Slipping inside, Tanj found the place deserted.  It took her a while, but she managed to make the bed using just her teeth.  Finishing up, she looked around trying to see if anything else needed straightening.  Not finding anything to occupy herself, she stared at the comm terminal for a moment; dare she try and get into her ever-present e-mail?  However, just then the door slid open, and instinctively, the Cheetah knelt.

The "club" was a raucous place, and Roland moved through the sea of bodies trying to find a quiet place to sit and sip his beer.  There didn't seem to be an empty table, and he just didn't know enough furrs here yet to join some group.  Letting his eyes rove over the crowd he smiled.  There was Hinoki, talking to someone, a Zebra lady in a tight fitting vest.  Padding over, she concluded whatever conversation they were having and slipped out of the chair just in time for him to take a seat.  "Hey, Roland" the Cheetah grinned; "how's it going?"  Roland took a swig of his beer and sighed; "not too well.  This outfit doesn't make use of powered armor like the Brethren did, and they can't make use of my specialty.  That and I seem to be getting into a pissing contest with one of their brass."  Hinoki raised an eyebrow; "Really?  Tell me about it."

Roland chuckled; "which problem?  With respect to the powered armor, I think I could show these folks a trick or two, things that might change their mind, but unfortunately my suit's still on Elysium, and in rather a large number of pieces.  Until I can afford to buy a new one, I'm stuck playing just another grunt.  But at least I DO have a job."  Hinoki nodded; "Working for Emma, yeah, I heard.  Hey, she's not that bad once you get to know her."

Roland sighed; "well, I just wish I could show these jokers what a trained furr could do with powered armor."  Hinoki grinned slyly, "you know, I DO know where there's a suit. Oh, its not one of the monsters you prefer, but powered armor none the less, and a fairly good suit too.  I've even used it on occasion."  Roland's head snapped around; "really?  WHERE?"  The Cheetah just grinned; "on the Lost Cause."

Roland's eyes were just a little wide as Hinoki related the story of the events on Gibralter station.  When he finished, the Badger shook his head; "Imperial Armor, no less.  Well, its not what I prefer, but it might actually work to my advantage.  It IS considerably smaller."  Hinoki chuckled and nodded; "and its got all the bells and whistles too, including a full ECM/ECCM suite."  Roland smiled; "So can I borrow it?"

Hinoki sighed; "Well, strictly speaking its not mine to loan."  Roland frowned and then brightened; "You mean I have to ask Kath?  Or would that be Wanda?"  Hinoki shrugged; "might have to ask Tanj; I suppose Imperial Intelligence would consider her the, ah, "officer in charge."  Dunno.  Roland finished his beer and signaled the waitress for another; "Yeah, well, I guess I'll just have to find one of them and talk to them about it."

Roland paid the waitress, and after taking a sip of his beer, grunted.  "As for the other problem, well, I found Zassa, caged and unattended.  I figured that guy who "kidnapped" her wasn't treating her very well, so I tried to "liberate" her, but some of the locks on the cage were more sophisticated than I could pick.  I was trying to get them open when Emma grabbed me for my qualification trials, and that Fox fellow got her back.  Hinoki chuckled; "Yeah, I heard about that too."  Roland bristled; "Hey, she wasn't his to take in the first place.  Who said he could do that to her?"  Hinoki shrugged; "Dunno; I suspect Tanj would object, or at least talk to Chris about it, but she's had a similar fate befall her."  Roland nodded and sighed; "Yeah, I ran across her all tied up in one of the commons areas....  The Cheetah chuckled; "Jenka had always wanted Tanj as her pet, but knew the Lion would never allow it.  Now the Lion's in no position to object, and now Tanj is on the end of Jenka's leash."  Roland raised an eyebrow; "And you're not going to do anything about it, for either of them?"  Hinoki looked uncomfortable; "I've.... Got my own problems in that regard.  I guess the answer is "no."  At least not for the moment."  Roland frowned; "well, I for one think this is unacceptable.  I'm going to FIND Zassa, and talk to her about this, and if she has any problems with it, I'll see to it that no one kidnaps her again!"  Hinoki sipped his drink and smiled; "Ever the Hero, aren't you, Roland?"  The Badger just growled.

Jenka smiled at the kneeling figure, and padding over bent down to take the end of her leash; "You may not be too hungry, after your "snacks" but I am.  I've got to make a stop in Ops, and then talk to a furr in Maintenance, but after that, lets go down to the caffeteria and get something to eat."  The Jaguar chuckled; "If nothing else, it'll give me another opportunity to show off my new pet...."

The Tiger stepping into the corridor before them brought both Tanj and Jenka up short; It took a moment before Tanj recognized him as the Tiger from the Intelligence department.  Before Jenka could utter a word, the Tiger growled; "I think the intelligence you've brought us on this Nikkeldepain deal is pure bullshit!  I challenge you to defend your position, and yourself on the field of Honor!"  Tanj just blinked as the Tiger got a self-satisfied smirk on his face, wondering what in the HELL he was talking about.  Jenka's jaw however, dropped, and she growled "you can't do that!  She's....."  The Tiger raised an eyebrow; "your pet?  Or are you claiming her as a slave?  If she's merely your pet, she'll have to defend herself.  If she's a slave she has no business being the head of the department!"  Looking back at the Cheetah, he smiled; "tomorrow, at Noon, in the D7 commons area."  Tanj looked back and forth between the Tiger and Jenka; "Am I to understand that I've just been challenged to a duel?"  The Tiger nodded.  Tanj sighed; "I'll have my second get back to you on the choice of weapons."  The Tiger nodded and turned, striding off.  Tanj watched him go, on one hand thinking how large, powerful and self-confident he looked, and on the other hand thinking he was no larger than the Lion and she'd sparred with him frequently.

Jenka sighed; "I was afraid this was going to happen."  Looking at Tanj she shook her head; "the latest fad.  Unfortunately one that's costing me too many good people."  Tanj nodded; "I've got to go find Smith; he'll probably have some good advice for me...."  Jenka nodded; "as soon as I've talked to the furrs I need to see...."

Smith looked around the bar; the station had any number of watering holes, and seemed to be almost.... "territorial".  The Marines had their bar, as did Maintenance and Supply.  There was an "upscale" place near the command deck, and another near the docking bay.  And each could be a goldmine of information.  Settling into a stool at the bar, Smith glanced left and right, taking in the rough looking furrs around him.  This bar seemed to have no particular focus, merely being located near one of the residential sections, and therefor seemed to have a cross-section of furrs.  Trying to listen with both ears, the .... Wolf?  quietly sipped his drink.

Yeah, I don't think old Carstairs has a chance.  Umberton's gonna skewer him in a heartbeat."  The Serval shook her head; "I dunno; I don't think it'll come to that.  I don't think the Duel will ever happen!"  The Otter grinned; "you think he'll bolt?  Wouldn't be the first."  The Serval shrugged; "He might.  But how much you want to bet he gets someone else to challenge Umberton first, and take him out.  I hear there's a small thriving business down in the Marine barracks doing just that."  The Otter frowned; "no honor in that!"  The Serval leaned back, and grinned, her top slipping off one shoulder, revealing the upper curve of one breast; "Perhaps not, but not everyone here is honorable, AND there's money to be made...."  The Otter nodded; "Ah, that there is.  So, do you have any money down on the Duel?"

Smith watched the Otter weave off through the crowd, having had a few drinks more than might have been prudent.  He'd learned a lot by listening to him.  Turning to the Serval he smiled; "I take it, Dueling's big here."  She turned to look at him, a slightly confused look on her face, as if she couldn't quite figure out what he was.  After a moment she nodded; "You must be new here.  Yeah, its become popular of late.  Most of the ambitious types see it as a quick route to promotion; just take out your boss.  The Vindictive types see it as an acceptable way to get back at those what annoy them.  And most everyone else likes the spectacle, and the opportunity to make a few credits betting on the side."  Smith nodded; "Yeah, I am new here; just came in on the "Lost Cause.""  The Serval smiled; "you're with that Tanj person?  The one Jenka's "kidnapped?""  Smith chuckled and nodded slowly; "Um.... Well, yeah...."  "Is she as sexy as they say?  Some of the stories they've been telling have been almost unbelievable!"  Smith's laugh made heads turn all across the bar.  "Oh, yeah, I think that's safe to say.  In fact, there are quite a few stories I could tell about here; for some of them I was even there."  Grinning wider, he leaned forwards a little, giving her his best conspiratorial whisper; "For some of them, I even participated...."  The Serval's eyes went wide; "Oh, Do Tell!"  The .... Coyote?  Leaned back and waved a paw; "quid pro quo, my dear; tell you what, I'll exchange stories with you.  I don't want to run afoul of the local customs.  You tell me about how things work here, and I'll tell you about Tanj."  The Serval grinned; "Deal!  YOU go first!"

The Serval grinned and shook her head; "it does sound like she's something else.  Elysium Academy trained, you say?  Huh!  Heard about that place, but never met anyone who'd been there.  After taking a sip of her drink, the Serval cocked her head to one side, and muttered quietly; "Hey, I hear she's been challenged herself; who YOU going to bet on?  Think she's got a chance?"

The Jaguar sighed and shook her head; "No, I do not want to schedule a meeting to discuss it!  Dammit, Fife, we'll have it out right now!"  The Bull leaned back, his eyes narrowing; "All right, but let me call in Tomlinson; she's got more up to date information.  And Lightfoot might be of use too!"  Tanj listened to her stomach rumble and sighed; it looked as if it might be a while before she got something real to eat.....

The computer terminal was reasonably well hidden, the cubicle being one of three on a main hallway, with bends covering the immediate visual range.  Exits were close by.  The furr that occupied the cubicle had gone on break, and was rumored to take longer breaks than was proper.  And she'd left her computer logged into the personnel database.  Smith set his coffee cup down on the edge of the desk, and took careful note of the screen.  Then, smiling, he started his search.  Furrs in the Intelligence office first, followed by other key personalities in the Black Fleet.  As their records opened in front of him, Smith searched for those who had a history of Dueling, both as the challenged, and as the challenger.  It was a good place to start, and he was amazed at the information available; for instance, there was a link to the medical computer, that detailed injuries, and lo and behold, even their psychological profiles!  After downloading as much as he could to his data crystal, Smith erased his tracks, restoring the original page.  Rising, he picked up his now cold cup of coffee, and after carefully wiping away the ring it had left, padded off through the maze of cubicles.

Jenka gestured down a corridor; "Okay, that's done; lets go grab a bite to eat. I HAD planned a night of, well, you know, after your "challenge" somehow it doesn't seem appropriate right now.    Maybe things will look better on a full stomach...."  After a dozen steps or so, Tanj muttered; "Do you think that Tiger really doubts my information on Nikkeldepain?"  Jenka chuckled "No, I suspect its just a convenient excuse.  And its quite possible that you've just shown him up, and embarrassed him by knowing things HE was supposed to know.  But  I suspect he doesn't see you as a suitable leader, although I'm sure that's just because he doesn't know you yet."  Tanj sighed and nodded; "When I was thinking of all the things I had to do, this wasn't one of the ones I'd anticipated...."

The Ferret pushed through the crowd in the cafeteria, to glower at Tanj as she knelt by Jenka's side; the challenge came without preamble, the words rushing out as if she feared Tanj would challenge her in return before she could get the words out; "Duel!  I challenge you!  Tomorrow at Noon!"  Tanj paused, pulling her head back as Jenka brought a spoonful of soup to her mouth; "Can't; already got one booked then.  How about the following day?"  The Ferret straightened and grinned; "Ralph?  Figures he'd get to you first.  Oh, well, if you survive, I will take my satisfaction that evening.  1800 Hours!"  Turning, tail flying, she stalked off.  After a few moments the conversations resumed.

"No, I will NOT flee!"  Tanj looked at Jenka, feeling a little silly with her wrists still locked to the back of her collar, dinner forgotten.  "After all I've been through, I'm NOT going to run away!  The best chance I have of accomplishing my goals is to work from here!  Besides, you NEED me!"  Jenka sighed and shook her head; "I don't need you dead, Dear.  Now...."  Jenka frowned, looking just to Tanj's left.  Tanj followed her gaze, turning, to find Smith sitting next to her.  Wondering how long he'd been there, she smiled; "Why hello, Mr. Smith; just the furr I was looking for."

Smith smiled, and shrugged; "and why would that be?"  Tanj sighed; "I thought you might be able to give me some tips on how to handle my..... challengers."  Smith nodded; "I've always preferred a Sako, chambered in 17 caliber, discarding sabot, with an electro-optical sight, from at least a kilometer away....."  Tanj chuckled and shook her head; "not my style, and difficult on a space station; besides, to forestall any more challenges, I've got to deal with these, and publicly.  Definitively."  Smith nodded; "very well.  First of all, the Tiger has a glass jaw.  And he's partially deaf on his left side.  Beyond that, he's in good physical condition, with no known phobias.  On the other hand, he doesn't train more than once a week.  He probably figures he can take you on size alone.  Now the Ferret, she's another story; it seems she has a reputation for poisons......"

Jenka blinked in amazement; how long had this nondescript furr been on her station?  Something less than three days and already he knew things about her pirates that she didn't know?  And the Ferret had just challenged Tanj; how could he know so much about her already?

Tanj smiled a crooked little smile and turned to Jenka; "Tell me about the rules; I believe I have the choice of weapons?"  Jenka nodded, frowning a little; she knew that look.  Tanj nodded; "Are there any restrictions on WHAT the weapons are?"  Jenka's frown deepened to a scowl; "Not..... to my knowledge."  Tanj's smile widened; "is there anyone we can ask?  Is there any WRITTEN rules?"  Jenka slowly shook her head no; "I don't know of any, but let me check on that and get back to you...."  Smith looked from the Jaguar to the Cheetah and raised one eyebrow; "what do you have in mind?"  Tanj giggled and leaned over, tilting her head up to whisper in his hear.  As she whispered, his other eyebrow rose, a surprised look forming on his face.  After the Cheetah had settled back into her kneeling position, a self-satisfied look on her face, Smith turned to look at her, his poker face once again in place; "Good move; play to your strengths.  But you're going to have to find someone to build that, ah, "weapon" for you.....

Tanj took a sip of the coffee Jenka offered and nodded; "I'm sure Mistress Jenka can find someone, although finding someone that won't let the secret out may be difficult.  Now, I've got to know; do I have to fight to the death, or is there a way to win without killing anyone?"  Jenka smiled; "There's a way out, short of death, but few will accept it."  Tanj nodded; "Do go on...."  Jenka smiled and made a little off-handed gesture; "if one of the furrs surrenders, or is rendered unconscious, the other duelist can claim them as a slave, their freedom being forfeit, along with all their possessions.  Few take that option.  Those that don't have the stomach for it find ways to avoid the duels; those that are keen on the idea seem to be happy to fight to the death."  Tanj sighed and shook her head; turning, she looked at Smith.  "Now, for the Tiger, please tell him that my choice of weapons are bare hands.  If he's got a glass jaw, that should be what he fears most."  Smith nodded approvingly.

The kangaroo looked at the strange furr before her, and blinked; "you want WHAT?"  Corey looked up from his PADD; "It's all there on the requisition, Ma'am.  Everything should be in order."  The Kangaroo scratched her head and nodded; "Yes.... Yes its all in order... but what do you want with twelve kilometers of superconducting cable?  Twelve KILOMETERS?  And the solid state relays... they're big enough for a Cruiser's main drive!"  Corey nodded; "Big enough for a Battlecruiser's drive, which is what they were designed for.  And all of the items ARE in inventory.  As for what they're for....."  The Lynx looked left and then right, in his best conspiratorial mode; "it's a secret.  A secret project.  I wouldn't go telling anyone about this, if I were you...."  The Kangaroo nodded slowly, and then shrugged; "if you say so.  OK, I'll pull the stuff together; where do you want it delivered to?"

The trap was carefully laid.  Roland had been following the Fox, at a discrete distance, for long enough to know his usual patterns.  The door was easy to gimmick, but some of the other stuff he needed had been hard to find.  Pausing at the intersection, Roland waited.

Chris stepped up to the door, but instead of retracting fully, it opened about a foot and stopped.  Grunting "I have GOT to have a talk with station maintenance" the Fox grabbed the edge of the door with one hand and tugged.  It moved about a centimeter.  Putting the other hand on it, and bracing one foot against the doorjam, he shoved with all his strength.  The door slid back almost to the fully open position.  It was then that the Fox realized he was trapped.  Something held his paws, and his foot to the door and the wall where he'd put them.  Grunting, he squirmed trying to get loose, only succeeding in getting his body stuck to the wall by the door as well.  "What in the HECK is going on here?" he howled.

Roland heard the Fox's exclamation and grinned.  Turning, he strode rapidly back towards the residential section.  Reaching Chris' quarters, he gimmicked the lock and stepped inside.  The Fox had a fairly large set of quarters, but it still took only a few minutes to ascertain that it was empty.  "Dammit, I KNOW Zassa didn't leave here without him."  Scratching his head, the Badger started looking for places where the Fox might have stashed a bound vixen....

Zassa felt the tray start to move, and wondered what had happened.  Chris had promised her a good four hours of "isolation" for her "impudent behavior" in pouncing him like she had.  But even in a state of almost total sensory deprivation, it hadn't seemed like more than ten minutes or so.  As the tray slid out from under the bed, she shifted her eyes up to behold the smiling face of the Badger.

"No, this guy has got to be taught a lesson; he just can't TAKE furrs like that!  Its not right!"  Zassa sighed, and shook her head; "Listen...."  But that was as far as she got.  With a sigh Roland pushed the plug gag into the Vixen's mouth, and buckled it around her head; "I can't effect a successful rescue if you aren't quiet!"  It hadn't taken long to extract the Vixen from the form-fitting recess under the bed, but it had taken a little longer to get her into the rather tight ball-tie.  With her calves bound to her thighs, and her torso bound to her bent legs, the Vixen was as small a package as Roland could make her.  Moving carefully he lifted the bound vixen and set her in the canvas carryall.  Zipping it up, he lifted it, slinging the strap over his shoulder.  "Now stay still, and I'll get you out of here" he grunted as he made his way towards the door.

Zassa sighed as she felt herself move.  She couldn't see much, the canvas was translucent enough to let her see some light, but the weave was too tight to let her see anything useful.  "What do you do with the Knight, when the Princess doesn't really want to be rescued from the Dragon?" she thought.  "How can I explain it to him?"

Chris grunted and shook his head; "Ok, OK!  Its not working!  Stop PULLING!"  Looking around, he sighed; "There's got to be some sort of solvent that'll dissolve this glue.  Someone get down to Engineering and see if they know anything.  Oh, and someone else get down to medical; maybe they can help!"

The Zipper was loud in her ears, and Zassa blinked as the canvas fell away from her.  Looking about she recognized her own quarters on the Lost Cause.  The Badger's fingers were moving over her body, but he didn't seem to be releasing any of the straps.  Stroking his paw over her head, Roland took his time releasing the straps to her gag; as it fell from her mouth she heard him say; "now, will there be any reward for your rescuer?"  The Vixen just had to laugh.....

Wanda looked at the results of the portable spectrograph and handed it to the Mink; "it's an anerobic surgical glue.  Very fast setting once it makes contact with something and there's no air."  Chris nodded; "and...?"  Wanda shrugged; "Normally the body dissolves it slowly, the glue disappearing as part of the healing process.  There may be a solvent for it, but if so, its not listed in the medical database."  Chris turned to look at the furr from engineering; "you guys got any help?"  The Coyote shrugged; "we've got all sorts of solvents.  One of them would be bound to dissolve the glue.  The trick is going to be finding something that'll dissolve the glue without dissolving the bulkhead.... And you."  Chris sighed and shook his head; "skip that."  Turning back to Wanda he sighed again; "I guess you're going to have to cut me loose."  Wanda nodded and held out a hand; "Kath, a number four laser scalpel, to start."

Roland smiled, moving slowly, sliding his shaft in and out of the Vixen's tight pussy.  Why she wanted him to fuck her while still bound was beyond him, but he was more than glad to comply.  Truly this was a reward fit for a King!

Zassa moaned, and rippled her vaginal muscles around the Badger's cock, shuddering in delight.  Roland, at least, wasn't trying to restrict her climaxes, and his powerful pumping and thick cock had already taken her to two, with the promise of a third rapidly approaching.  Closing her eyes, letting her tongue loll from her mouth, she worked her vaginal muscles hard, seeking to make him fuck her harder, faster, more powerfully!

Roland howled at the top of his lungs, his cock throbbing, filling the Vixen with his seed.  And as his orgasm raged, he could feel her writhing through her own climax.  It seemed to go on forever, but when his vision finally cleared, when the pounding of his heart started to calm, he slowly pulled back, letting his cock slip from the warm grasp of her pussy.  Moving around, he started to undo the straps that held her bound so tight.  "So, I guess you're relieved to be away from that Fox fellow...."  Zassa smiled; "Oh, I don't know; we were having fun."  Roland paused, one eyebrow going up; "you were enjoying that?"  Zassa chuckled; "I'm not wild about sensory deprivation, but I knew what would be waiting at the end of it."  Roland chuckled; "Yeah, more bondage, and more sex."  Zassa laughed; "RIIIIIIIIIGHT!"  Roland smiled; "you like it like that?"  The Vixen grinned and nodded; "Love it.  You know that."  Roland shrugged; "Well, if that's what you like, I'll be glad to oblige."  Picking up the gag, he worked it back into her mouth, rebuckling the strap behind her head.  "I've got  to go attend to some things, but I'll be back in a bit, and when I come back, I'll give you all the wild sex you could ever want.  But in the meantime, here's a few little friends to keep you hot for me."

Zassa tried to get out "I didn't mean NOW" as the gag re-entered her mouth, but what came out was merely an unintelligible mumble.  The Vixen howled into the gag as the Badger pushed one of her toys into her pussy, and then another into her ass, her noises changing to moans as they started to vibrate.

Roland patted the Vixen's ass, and bent to whisper in her ear; "Maybe when I get back, you'll get a spanking, for your impertinence; princesses should be thankful for their rescue!  And lets hope I get back before the batteries run down!  Take care, Now!

Hinoki almost choked on his beer; the apparition before him was...... bizaare.  Chris scowled back; "Yeah, well, they tell me it'll grow back.  I was wondering if you'd seen that Badger, Roland."  Hinoki took another swig, and blinked; "First, what HAPPENED to you?"  Chris sighed; "Someone laid a trap for me; a door malfunctioned and when I tried to force it open manually, I ran afoul of some contact cement.  They had to cut me loose."  Hinoki winced.  It looked as if the Fox had run into a maniac with a razor.  Large patches of fur were missing, his skin pink where the fur was gone, and in some places that skin was red and irritated, or crusted with blood.  "It looks rough.  And you think Roland is responsible?"  Chris growled "He's on the short list.  He'd swiped Zassa from me, when I was distracted by a similar problem, and of course I had to retrieve her.  I suspect he may have been behind it, as Zassa's disappeared from my quarters, while I was, ah, "detained"."  Hinoki nodded; "could be.  Unfortunately I haven't seen him lately."  Chris nodded slowly; "well, if you happen to run across him, I'd appreciate it if you'd mention to him that I'd like a word with him...."

Tanj padded into the living area, completely nude, a serving tray in her bound hands.  On the tray was a cup of tea, steaming.  Soundlessly she glided over the carpet, to kneel at Jenka's side.  Jenka looked up from the computer terminal and nodded her approval; "I can't find anything in the database about restrictions on weapons.  You realize if you pull this off, everyone will think twice about challenging you to a duel."  Tanj nodded; "My goal exactly, Mistress. I see it as a massive waste of time and resources."  Jenka nodded; "Indeed.  Now, about your device, I've thought up a few modifications that you might want to consider......

Tanj purrrred softly and snuggled against the Jaguar; their lovemaking had had a certain desperate quality to it..... but now it was time to sleep.  She needed her rest for tomorrow, but somehow sleep kept eluding her.  Her mind kept turning to the Lion, and all the times they'd sparred, all the things he'd taught her.  She wondered how he was doing, and where he was.  Was he well?  Was he busy?  Was he happy, or lonely?  With a sigh she snuggled again, wondering......

Jenka feigned sleep, feeling the restless Cheetah press against her, wondering for the umpteenth time what was going through her mind.  Was she wrong to let her stay here?  It'd be so easy to tie her up and ship her out on a fast ship, to escape the duels, whether she wanted to go or not.  What would be best?  Uncertainty gnawed at her as she too sought the oblivion of sleep.....
 

2402.204

Roland grunted as he worked through the kata.  Moving across the gym floor in short advances, his movements punctuated by kicks and punches against imaginary enemies, he felt as if things were finally going his way.  On his return to Zassa, on the Lost Cause, he'd let her use the bathroom, fed her a sandwich, and then rebound her, using some of her own toys.  Laying her across his lap, had delivered one of his trademark spankings, the slap of his paws alternating with the most erotic of touches, teasing the Vixen until on the very last slap, she'd climaxed violently.  Grinning to himself he marveled at his ability to bring her off just as her punishment was at an end.

He knew something was wrong the moment before it happened, some sixth sense warning him.  The gym mat he'd stepped on felt... funny.  Less firm than he was used to.  And then there was a ripping sound, something gripped his ankle, and before he could escape, he was tugged upwards, until he found himself just above the floor, dangling.    The ripped gym mat was just beyond his fingertips, his ankle held in a noose of what appeared to have been a part of the mat.  It was padded, and not too tight, and yet, as he pulled himself up to grab it, too tight to work off his foot.  Grumbling, Roland grabbed the fabric and started to climb; perhaps he could do something where the fabric of the noose met the ceiling....

Chris palmed the doorpad and waited while the door to the Badger's room slid open.  Being one of Jenka's Lieutenants had its advantages, and the security system for the Badger's quarters was now programmed to open to his palm print, as well as Roland's.  It saved a lot of time.  But the Vixen wasn't there.  And the place just wasn't large enough to "hide" her as she'd been hidden in his own quarters.  Scowling, the Fox turned, looking the room over one last time before departing.  As the door closed behind him, Chris mused to himself; "Now if I was a Badger, where would I hide a Vixen?"

Roland sighed as he slowly swung from side to side.  Something was keeping the noose around his ankle from loosening, even when he managed to hold himself up, with both paws on the "rope", his teeth worrying the noose.  And the fabric had an underlying metal cable that he couldn't bite through.  And the hardware at the ceiling, cleverly concealed behind the sound-deadening ceiling tiles, was something he wouldn't be able to break without power tools.  He was stuck.  Swinging back and forth slowly like an  upside-down Peter Pan, he waited for someone to find him.  He wasn't going to get out of this without help, it seemed.

Chris looked around the Marines' team room and shrugged; "OK, Emma, I agree with you; he hasn't stashed her here.... But if NOT here, then WHERE?"  The Mouse shrugged; "I think he's basically a nice guy.  Probably too nice for an outfit like this.  Too..... "honorable".  Now, if you were a White Knight, where would YOU take a Princess?"  Chris grinned and turned to take Emma's face in both paws, giving her a big kiss; "Of course!  Thanks, Emma, I don't know why I didn't think of that!"  Before the startled mouse could respond, the Fox had left, moving fast.

Roland heard the door open, and he twisted around, trying to get a look at whoever had entered.  As he swung slowly, side to side, with an annoyingly slow rate of twist, he caught a glimpse of four females, dressed in exercise togs.  One of them, a rather muscular Lioness, grinned widely, showing fangs; "well, will you look at that!"  As they twisted back into view, Roland could see all four approaching, and for an instant he regretted his usual habit of exercising in the nude.  "Um, I don't suppose I could get you to find a way to get me down from here?"  Another of the females, a rather junoesque Bear, just chuckled; "I dunno.  Don't have a clue as to who left you hanging like that.  They might get upset if we let you down."  Another, a Jackal, chuckled; "Besides, I'm not even sure we COULD get you down, without having to go for bolt cutters, or a cutting torch...."  The Lioness purrrred, a deep rumbling sound; "Oh, come now, Girls, I'm SURE we can find a way to get him down.... After we've had our fun with him.  Don't you think?"  Roland looked at each in turn as he slowly twisted, and swallowed, thinking to himself; "Whatever they want from me, I'm tough enough to take....."

Tanj watched as the Tiger went through  a set of stretching exercises, and then ran through a kata or two.  He looked very strong, very powerful, and very confident.  Tanj had warmed up earlier, and sparred with a few of Jenka's experts, before showing up at the appointed time.  A rather seedy looking Kangaroo was officiating, obviously one of the Tiger's friends.  At the stroke of noon, the 'Roo, shouted "Begin!" and the Tiger charged.

Tanj heard the shout, and turned, expecting the 'Roo to at least have had some words with the duelists before the start of the duel.  She was able to duck under the Tiger's Roundhouse punch, block a kick with one leg, and after a quick jab, bounce back out of range.  The Tiger growled, circling, obviously disappointed his "surprise" attack hadn't carried him to victory.  Tanj bobbed and weaved a little, staying light on her feet, trying hard not to let her body betray which way she might dodge next.  The Tiger feinted a right jab, and then started into a spin-kick; Tanj saw her opening, ducked low, his leg whizzing over her head, and then exploded upwards; but now the Tiger was facing almost away from her, his missed kick continuing to twist his body.  Tanj linked her paws together and brought them down on the back of his neck; for a moment the Tiger staggered, but then he turned, bringing one large paw around in a massive claws-out swipe.

Tanj jumped back, panting, eyes wide, as if frightened by how close death had just come.  The Tiger grinned, showing fangs, and stepped forward.  Seeing an opening, Tanj moved as fast as she could, leaping at him, placing one foot against his stomach as her forward momentum transitioned to vertical movement; bringing her other foot up in a snap-kick, she felt her foot connect with his chin.  And then she was tumbling over backwards; her recovery was poor, her landing painful.  Scrambling to her feet, she realized she'd hurt one leg in her landing, her left ankle and knee screaming at her in pain.  Wobbling, she looked around for the Tiger, not seeing him.....  With the crowd deathly quiet she blinked and looked again; there he was, stretched out flat on the floor, his head at an odd angle.

Not waiting for the 'Roo's decision, Tanj limped over to Jenka.  The Jaguar silently handed over a handful of leather thongs, her face a neutral mask.  Tanj limped over to the Tiger, and grabbing both paws, crossed them over his chest and tied them together with one of the thongs.  After tying his feet together she turned to look at Jenka; with a shrug she sighed; "I don't have the heart to put him in a hog-tie; if his neck's broken it might kill him."  Jenka nodded; "if he's already dead it wouldn't matter anyways."  Turning to look at the 'Roo, the Cheetah growled; "I'll claim victory; if he lives he's MINE; if he's dead, well, then he's dead."  Slowly the 'Roo nodded; "Agreed."  Looking up at the crowd, he shouted; "Duel's over.  The Cheetah won, fair and square."  As the crowd started to disperse, Tanj saw credit chips changing hands.  Apparently there'd been quite a bit of betting on the duel.....

Bending down to listen to his chest, Tanj nodded; "I think he's still breathing."  Jenka nodded; "are you sure you want to save him?  I've no doubt he would have happily killed you."  Tanj sighed; "I can't kill him in cold blood.  And from what I've heard, he WAS good at what he did."  Jenka nodded, and motioned to John: "Call medical and have a team sent up here.  Have them see what they can do for him."

As Tanj trudged down the corridor, following Jenka, she went over the fight in her mind.  Somehow it just didn't add up.  There was something about the way the Tiger fought........

Smith moved smoothly up by the Cheetah's side, and waited for her to become aware of him.  To his surprise she smiled, and without looking, murmured; "Hello, Mr. Smith; you were absolutely correct about his glass jaw."  The ...Coyote?  Raised an eyebrow; "The way you kicked him, I don't think it would have mattered if he'd had a glass jaw or not.  Its obvious you've been taught to fight by experts."  Tanj just nodded; "Yes, I DO hope I didn't kill him, or permanently cripple him...."  Smith just shrugged.  A few steps later he muttered; "I had a talk with the Skunk who heads Cryptography.  He's full of brave talk, but as I see it, he's short on follow-through.  From what I've heard he's a little "socially challenged" and I think with a little finesse you can sway him to your side."  Tanj nodded; "and how is he thought of, professionally speaking?"  Smith smiled "rather highly thought of, actually.  I suspect it's the only reason they keep a geek like him around...  Tanj just grinned and nodded.

The personnel lock on the Lost Cause opened as he keyed in the combination.  A quick look at the displays just inside the ship showed that it had been recently used, and the Fox smiled.  Padding through the still corridors, he found the Vixen's cabin, and within, he found the Vixen, lying on her bunk.  "All wrapped and ready to go" Chris mused.  The Vixen was in a body harness, one obviously made just for her, with legs strapped tightly together at ankles, above and below her knees, and at her upper thigh.  Straps encircled her waist, and above and below her breasts.  A heavy leather hood encased her head, and an armbinder held her arms tightly behind her back.  Stepping out quietly, the Fox turned to look for something to move her with.  It'd be a shame to unwrap her until he was ready.......

Roland groaned as the rough feline tongue worked over his sheath, teasing his balls.  The Lioness had shed her leotard, and was holding his hips with her paws, just a hint of claws in her grip.  "you know what I want, stud; lets see how well you can use that tongue of yours".  Roland sighed; "and afterwards, you WILL let me down, right?"  Behind the Lioness, one of the other fems just chuckled; "When we've all been satisfied, I suppose".  The fourth, a svelt porcupine laughed; "But only if you've earned it."  Grumbling at the sheer helplessness of his situation, not enjoying it at all, the Badger lifted his head, his muzzle pushing upwards between the Lioness' thighs, to lick at her sex.....

Zassa felt paws roll her, lift her, and then as she balanced on her feet, standing almost vertically, but leaning back against something hard, she felt even more straps go around her body.  Suddenly, the new straps all tightened, as if a lever had been thrown.  And then she felt herself start to move, smoothly as if she were on wheels.

Chris pushed the hand truck through the freighter's corridors.  The simple device, made for moving large bulky objects, such as a refrigerator, was just a little "showy" for what he wanted to do,  he thought.  "But on the other hand, one should always strive to maintain one's image" he chuckled to himself.  The bound Vixen, her shoulders rolled back by the arm binder, her breasts thrust proudly forward, was strapped in a standing position to the hand cart, on VERY public display as he moved her from the ship onto the station.  As expected he drew quite a few stares and envious glances as he made his way through the station.  This time, however, he didn't head for his quarters.  No, the Badger knew where he lived, and a repeat performance of the last time wouldn't do.  Instead he headed for his "playroom", a place a little harder to find....  But every bit as well equipped.

Roland grunted as his head struck the mat, or what was left of it.  The Jackal had found the winch controls, and had let him down just enough so that he could lay on the mat.  Wisely, she'd left his bound ankle a good 15 centimeters off the floor; he could stand on one foot, but there was no way he could possibly fight.  Resistance WAS futile.  That thought vanished with an "OOF!" as the Bear landed on him, giggling, to straddle his hips, both paws on his cock.  With a "MINE!" she started stroking him against her snatch.  The Porcupine smiled and moving carefully, straddled his face, slowly lowering her sex to his muzzle, leaning forward to nuzzle one of the bear's breasts.  Roland groaned softly, as much from the sensations of his shaft sliding into the Bear's eager pussy, as from his situation.  He was beginning to understand how a sex slave felt... and he wasn't enjoying it in the least!

As the hood was pulled free, Zassa blinked; the light wasn't all that bright, but it was still more than her eyes were accustomed to.  Blinking again, she realized she was back in the "dungeon"... and that meant....  Turning her head, she focused on the grinning visage of the Fox.  "You know, I really AM going to have to punish you for your continued attempts at escape....."  Zassa just sighed.

Every joint in his body seemed to ache.  The Bear had been MOST enthusiastic, humping his shaft wildly, her body smashing down into his as she took her pleasure.  The Lioness' tongue had been rough on sensitive places, and the Porcupine had been insatiable, as if she couldn't find a lover the normal way, and just couldn't get enough.  They HAD finally had enough, though, although Roland was more convinced that it was due to someone else having booked the gym for their own activities than the fact that the quartet had actually been satisfied.....  And now he was shuffling down the corridor towards his quarter, carrying about twenty meters of cable over one shoulder, the noose still tight around his ankle.  And as a parting joke, the ladies had run off with his clothes.  His scowl kept any of the passers-by from asking questions, or poking fun at him, but it was still humiliating.  He was going to have to do something extra special to Chris for this one......  As he palmed the door to his quarters open he looked around, wondering what he could use to cut the noose from his ankle.

Zassa swallowed greedily as the Fox held the water bottle.  "Thanks, I needed that.  Now, I don't suppose you've got a bathroom in this dungeon?"  The Fox laughed; "I should make you go in a bucket....."  Seeing the look on the Vixen's face, he quickly went on; "But on the other hand, this dungeon IS fully functional, with all the amenities.  But you gotta promise me you won't try to escape again!"  Zassa just shook her head and laughed; "For a chance to pee and to get a shower, I'd promise you anything!"  Chris' face lit up; "Oh Goodie!"

Roland sighed; Zassa's cabin was empty.  The ship's security log showed that someone had entered not more than two hours ago.  Grumbling he left the ship, wondering where that danged Fox had her hidden this time.......

The Technician was an older Rabbit, his fur going gray around his muzzle.  He ran the maintenance shop for one of the wings of Raider ships, and if Jenka's position as head of the Black Fleet impressed him, he didn't show it in the least.  Here, in his area, he was King and he knew it.  "Yes, Missy, I've got what you asked for."  Laying two silvery torpedo shapes on the top of his cluttered desk, he grinned; "piezoelectric sensors around the periphery in three bands.  Moisture, and heat sensors along the length.  Capacitors strong enough to run the largest cattle prod. Oh, by the way, no charge for those little darlings.  I suspect we'll make all we need to cover our costs betting on you."  Tanj grinned; "What makes you so sure I'm going to win?"  The Rabbit just grinned back; "you would never have thought of a weapon like this, if you weren't sure you could take her."  Jenka just laughed and nodded; "too true."  The rabbit chuckled; "I've also picked up some wrist and arm binders and some spreader bars for you."  Tanj blinked; "why......?"  The Rabbit chuckled; "Well, the arm binders are to keep someone from chickening out and using their paws to hold in the device, or to push it back in, if they're loosing control.  The spreader bars are to make sure no one presses their legs together for the same purpose. At least that's what you'll tell the referee.  And spread like that it'll let us get a REAL good look at the "action".....   But the REAL reason is to keep the Ferret from cheating and trying to scratch you with poisoned claws.  Believe me, its just the kind of trick she'd pull in desperation."  Tanj made a soft "oh......" and nodded.

The Ferret looked at the silvery, tapered shape and blinked; "You WHAT?"  Tanj chuckled; "I get choice of weapons.  This is my choice.  The dildo is pressure sensitive.  If you squeeze it with your kegel and pelvic floor muscles, it'll send a signal to the OTHER dildo to shock your opponent.  The goal is to get the other person to loose control, letting the dildo slip out.  When that happens, you loose."  The referee grinned; "you loose big time.  We had a little talk with Clancy, and decided that what you wanted was a little too tame."  Tanj followed the Referee's eyes, and found herself looking at the Rabbit that had manufactured the devices.  The Rabbit grinned back and turned to address the crowd; "I modified her design a mite, adding a little surprise.  When the device has slipped a little more than half way out, the point I thought it would be, ah, "beyond recovery", at least according to the rules, as detected by heat, moisture, and inertial sensors, well, you'll see."  Tanj winced as the Rabbit turned his attention back to her and chuckled; "Yeah, Missy, its gonna be pretty bad for the looser.  Tanj looked at Jenka, who merely shrugged and then back at the Rabbit; "I don't really want to kill her; the shocks alone should incapacitate her enough for my purposes."  The Rabbit chuckled; "Yeah, I heard about Ralph.  Can't say as I feel TOO bad for him; winding up on the end of YOUR leash could be real interesting, but trust me, Missy, you don't want that Ferret in your stable.  She's pure poison, that one, no pun intended.  Best be done with her, cleanly.  Besides, it'll make for a MUCH more interesting show."  Behind him, the crowd roared their approval.  Tanj lifted the torpedo shape and sighed; "you may be right, and I suppose there's no time for you to modify them back, anyways....."  The Rabbit crossed his arms and shook his head no "not as if I would anyways.  As I say, me and the boys, we're looking forward to a REAL good show....    Oh, and you can't take yours out safely until your opponent has.... lost."  The Ferret winced, looking around at the sea of faces; "you have GOT to be kidding me!"  Turning to look at the "referee", this time a rather sour looking Coyote, she growled; "I am NOT going to accept this!  Let her choose different weapons!"  The Coyote shook his head slowly from side to side; "Nope.  You deal with her choice, or you loose.  Period."  Tanj tilted her head to one side; "I'll let you withdraw, on one condition.  You pack up and leave on the first ship out of here."  The Ferret looked around, at the sea of faces staring at them.  Most of them were grinning lewdly.  Turning back, she glared at the Cheetah; "I will NOT loose my position here; I'd rather die first!"  Tanj just shrugged and started pulling her top off; "have it your way.  Just remember, this duel was YOUR idea....."

The Referee grinned, tightening the gag one more notch.  The crowd had taken to the idea of arm binders and spreader bars with enthusiasm, and someone in the crowd had produced the two gags, suggesting that they didn't want to hear any pleas for mercy, or offers of surrender.  The gag in Tanj's mouth was a little too large for her, and tasted funny, but she could handle it.  The Ferret on the other hand had put up quite a struggle, first objecting to the arm binder, and then spewing forth a torrent of abuse when one of the furrs approached her with the spreader bar.  She'd even tried to kick him, but it was obvious her reputation had proceeded her, as the crowd was very leery of letting her scratch them.  Finally the two contestants stood in the middle of a circle of raucous, yelling furrs, nude and bound.

The coyote stood between them, a silvery dildo in each hand, looking left and then right, as if trying to decide who should go first.  Finally he just shrugged and turned to the Cheetah; "This was your idea, you can probably hold this a few seconds longer, while I get her fitted out."  Crouching, the Coyote presented the tapered head of the silvery shape to Tanj's snatch and pushed.  The device was cold, and she could detect a very slight buzzing, as if something electronic had come on within it.

Tanj watched as the Coyote turned, to repeat the function with the Ferret; she, however, seemed a little dry, and he struggled for a moment trying to get it in.  Obviously the prospects didn't excite her in the least, and Tanj wondered for a moment about how easily the device had slipped into her own pussy.... Could this be turning her on?  Finally, with a grin, the Coyote pulled the silvery dong down, and spat on the end.  As the Ferret made muffled protests and objections, the leering Coyote tried again, this time able to shove the dong home.  Rising, he picked up a small hand-held remote and thumbed a button; "They're armed.  The only way one of them goes to "safe" is when the other one's lost.  Even I can't turn 'em off."  After another moment, he thumbed another button; "and that should make it a little more interesting!"

Tanj moaned into her gag as the device started vibrating.  As if she needed another distraction.  Making a mental note to find a way to get even with that Rabbit, she concentrated, bearing down with her "inner hand", squeezing the shape in her snatch.  As she grunted, squeezing as hard as she could, she wondered what the Rabbit had set the trip point to.......

She found out as the Ferret let out a yelp that her gag barely stifled, wobbled and almost fell.  The amount of pressure required was pretty high, and Tanj wondered if the Ferret could even respond.  And then she wondered if the Rabbit had set things up so that the Ferret would loose?  There hadn't been any time to check the calibration of these devices and he'd said they'd be betting on her.....

Jenka watched with concern as the Cheetah struggled to maintain her balance, as she struggled to squeeze the device.  The Ferret was more capable than she'd expected, but was still getting shocked about twice as often as the Cheetah.  So far neither of them were showing signs of loosing the dildo......  But Tanj was getting that look, and the Jaguar wondered just how close she was to climaxing.

Tanj groaned as another shock rocked her.  She'd fallen into the pattern of when the Ferret succeeded in shocking her, letting the shock cause her vaginal muscles to contract in response, sending the signal that would shock the Ferret in return.  But this one was different, leaving her panting, and groaning into her gag.  "Must be spending too much time with Zassa" she thought to herself, as the jolt of electricity seemed to send her a notch closer to her climax.  Concentrating, she rippled her vaginal muscles, concentrating on pulling the dong a little further back into herself, groaning as the motion brought her that much closer to her climax.....

The Rabbit shook his head in amazement; it seemed as if the spotted cat was actually getting off on this.  Getting a nudge from one of his teammates, he dragged his eyes off of the tableau before him; "What?...."  The Mouse shook his head, gesturing to the Cheetah; "Boss, if she cums, she'll loose that thing."  Turning his head, the Mouse looked at the Ferret; "and she looks as dry as a bone; that dong in her snatch may never fall out."  A 'Roo behind him whispered; "I dunno; you seen how spots there can move it in and out; I ain't NEVER seen anything like that.  She's got some pretty good muscles down there...."  The Rabbit nodded; "yeah, but.... geez, I dunno.  How much do we have down on her?"  "Three thousand, but its at 2:3 odds."  The Rabbit nodded; "let it ride; I don't want to put any more down on her... yet.  Lets see how she does for a bit."

Tanj shuddered; she was soooooo close.  The Ferret was learning fast, too fast, and Tanj was suffering, in more ways than one......  Trying to concentrate, trying to remember all her training, she attempted to squeeze down, attempted to contract her muscles around the silvery invader, but just as she was reaching her point of maximum effort, another jolt tore through her.  It was the wrong thing at the wrong time, and with a wail only partially muffled by her gag, her climax overtook her.

Jenka watched as Tanj's body started quivering, almost convulsing as her climax took her; and then she smiled; it was quite obvious, painfully obvious that as she rode the waves of her climax, that her pussy was contracting violently around the dong.  The effects were plain to see on the Ferret, who's body was also jerking, as she danced about, seeking to keep her balance.  And while Tanj was, quite possibly, instinctively pulling the dong up into her spasming pussy, the Ferret was unquestionably loosing hers.  The crowd was hushed, all watching wide-eyed, as the Ferret slowly lost the dong.

Tanj Yelped as the dong in her pussy gave her one last shock, bringing her climax to a rude and abrupt end.  Waddling a little, she maneuvered herself around to look at the Ferret, just in time to see the silvery bullet shape slip a little further from within her.  Suddenly there was a flash, an arcing of electricity, and the tang of ozone; the Ferret's fur stood on end, and then as her muscles contracted, the dildo shot from her pussy, and she collapsed.

The Coyote stepped forward and bent as if to check for a pulse, but then stopped, his fingers inches away from the Ferret.  "Here, use this first" the Rabbit growled, pushing through the crowd, and tossing a grounding strap to the Coyote.  The Coyote draped the strap across the Ferret's body, and then, kneeling on one loose end, pressing it to the metal deck, he tentatively reached out, feeling for the artery in her neck.  After a moment he looked up and shook his head no.

The Rabbit rattled the credit chips in his hand and grinned; "I'd thought about putting a small explosive charge in there, to go off when it was lost, but then I decided, aw, what the heck, the capacitors I'd used were plenty powerful enough,  and just set it up to discharge the remaining potential through the, ah, "looser".  Looking down at the Cheetah's crotch he grinned; "you know, you can let go of that thing now; it went to safe when hers fired."  Tanj shook her head as Jenka unbuckled and withdrew the gag; "um, are you SURE it went to safe?"  The Rabbit chuckled and shrugged; "if I built it right, yeah, but there ain't no guarantees, Sister.  Oh, by the way, next time you do this, don't loose it at the first climax; make it look as if you're about to loose the dong and I'll get some more bets down.  THEN you can fry your opponent.  I'll split the winnings with ya."  Tanj just shuddered.

Smith sidled up behind the Rabbit from Threats, Capabilities and Intentions and purrred; "that's two for two."  The Rabbit's head jerked around and he stared at Smith, obviously wondering who this furr was.  "If I were you, friend, I wouldn't challenge her."  The Rabbit blinked; "Who said I was going to challenge her?"  The... coyote?  Just smiled; "Oh, I've heard rumors.  Things floating by on the breeze.  I've heard you've been telling some of your associates how you think you can take her.  I wouldn't be so sure..... It MIGHT be safer to just sit back and study the situation for a while."  Smith's gaze turned to the Ferret's body, most of her furr still standing on end, making her look much larger in death than she had in life.  "Ah.... Yeah, it might" the Rabbit muttered.  "Who would have thought of a duel like that?"  Smith smiled; "its obvious the Ferret didn't.  She should have left when she had the chance.  And who knows what else Tanj might think of, if challenged?"  The Rabbit just nodded, and when he turned to look, the.... Wolf?  Was gone.

Jenka watched as Tanj squatted, slowly letting the dildo slide free.  Tossing it aside as quickly as possible, Tanj shuddered; "I don't think I'll ever be able to look at a vibrator the same way ever again....."  Jenka just nodded, snuggling her close; "Its over now; its over, and you won.  I know you didn't want to kill her, but you're still alive and that has to count for something."  Tanj just sighed; "if I was smart enough, if I was good enough, I would have found a way to avoid the whole situation....."  Straightening, she turned to look at the Jaguar; "I WILL find a way to put an end to this dueling.  I HAVE to."  Turning, gathering her clothes, the Cheetah strode off, still nude.  The crowd parted for her like the sea before some ancient prophet.  Jenka watched her go, for a moment, before muttering "good luck."  Then, with a smile, she turned to follow.  She knew Tanj was headed somewhere where she could take a shower, and she knew how much fun the Cheetah could be as a bath toy......  "Time to take her mind off of this for a while...."

The design was complete.  The device was half-built when it struck Corey that it really needed to be tested first.  A breadboard rig, something small that could be directed at equipment, or furrs.  And of course a personal shield that would prevent it from working on HIM.  Leaving the large device, the Lynx returned to the workbench.  Lets see, he'd need a power regulator.... That battery should do...  Now, for a countervail..... that'd take some interesting field coils... perhaps they could be woven into a pair of overalls.....

Tanj's fur was still damp when she padded through the corridor.  Jenka had allowed her to get dressed, after their rather lengthily and very pleasurable shower, but the dress didn't cover much.  AND its pattern and coloration matched her fur almost exactly, making it look, from a distance, as if the fabric was either transparent, or non-existent.  Stepping through the door to the medical section, she looked around, seeking someone who could help her....

"TANJ!"  The shout was little warning, and the Cheetah was just barely starting to turn when something large and soft crashed into her.  "Uh, Hello, Wanda!"  Tanj smiled and squirmed around to give the Wolverine lass a kiss; "Good to see you again too!"  Wanda released Tanj to hold her at arms length; "Love the dress; wouldn't work for me of course, but its Dynamite on you!  Hey, we saw the duel!  We were all rooting for you!"  Tanj took a deep breath, making sure that none of her ribs protested too much; "um, yeah, well, I'm sorry about what happened to that Ferret.  I didn't really want to kill her, but she just wouldn't back off, and those crazy maintenance guys kinda exceeded my design specs for those devices somewhat...."  Wanda blinked; "Ferret?  There was another duel?"  Tanj nodded; "Um.. Oh, you must be talking about the Tiger..."  Wanda nodded; "Ralph.  Been in assisting Dr. Watambo for the last six hours, trying to put him back together.  You really did a number on him!"  Tanj blinked and then sighed; "I was afraid I'd broken his neck; it was a lucky kick; hit him JUST right...."  The Wolverine nodded; "lucky you didn't kill him; but we WERE able to put his neck back together, and he doesn't have too much nerve damage.  The regenerators and regrowth hormones should be able to handle that."  Tanj nodded; "So he's going to be OK?"  Wanda grinned and nodded; "Should be right as rain.  Light duty in a couple of weeks, fully back in about six.  Looking left and right, Wanda leaned in a bit closer; "and he's a hunk too;  WELL hung!  When he's back up to speed, would you mind if I borrowed him occasionally?"  Tanj laughed; "Sure, no problem; but I really need him back as soon as possible.  Ops is planning a mission and I need his expertise with the spy drones."  Wanda frowned; "Um.... I'll talk to the Doc, but....."  Tanj nodded; "Well, how about if I have some of his folks come consult with him here?"  Wanda winced; "Dunno how much good that'll do either; you broke his jaw and even with the regenerators we've had to wire it together for a while.  Poor dear is eating through a straw."  Tanj just groaned.

The Tiger was laying in the hospital bed, some large and softy humming gizmo around his neck like a posture collar designed by Dr. Frankenstein.  For a moment his eyes darted around wildly, as if seeking escape, when he saw Tanj standing in the doorway.  Before he could try and get up, Tanj padded over and put a paw in the middle of his chest, as if to hold him down.  "Be still, you're going to pull the IV's and the catheters out, and then Wanda would get mad; believe me, you do NOT want Wanda mad at you.  The Tiger looked at her for a moment, eyes just a little wide and then moved fractionally, a nod all but canceled out by the device.  Tanj sighed and shook her head; "You realize at this point, you, and everything you owned, belong to me."  Again the fractional, almost invisible nod.  Tanj nodded in return; "Good, just so long as we're straight on that.  Right now, I want you to concentrate on getting well.  I'm going to need your services, ah, your "professional" services, as soon as possible, for the upcoming raid.  Expect some of your people to come visit you for instructions.  Understood?"  Again the fractional nod.  Tanj nodded and turned to leave.  Pausing, she turned back to the Tiger, to give him a half smile; "You know, Wanda told me......"  Stepping a little closer she lifted the bedsheet, looked for a moment and then let the sheet fall.  Grinning she purrred; "professional services first, and when you're better...... we'll see about other things."

Kath nodded hello as Tanj exited the room, both paws occupied by the meds tray she was carrying.  "Heya, Tanj!"  "Hello, Kath; Wanda working you as hard as ever?"  The Mink just smiled; "No harder than she works herself.  Nice stud you acquired there!"  Tanj chuckled; "Yeah, pity I hurt him so bad in the acquiring."  The Mink shrugged; "Oh, I dunno.  I hear you're getting quite the reputation.  Might be a good thing in the long run.  I mean, if you can take HIM, everyone's gonna think twice about challenging you to a duel."  The Cheetah just nodded; "hope so!  Gotta run right now, Jenka's holding another staff meeting.  You take care now, y'hear?"

Kath put the tray down, picked up a portable display and checked the progress of the neural regenerator clamped around the Tiger's neck.  "Learned more about medicine in the last couple years than I EVER thought I'd know" she mumbled to herself.  Thumbing the appropriate spot on the multifunction display, she downloaded the device's current data on the Tiger's progress to the master medical computer.  Putting the display back down on the nightstand she picked up the squeeze bottle and turned to the Tiger; "Thirsty?"  His reply was muffled, as if he were talking through clenched teeth, but it was definitely an affirmative.  Putting the nozzle to his lips she squeezed gently.  "So what did you think of our Tanj?"  The Tiger swallowed and thought for a moment; again the reply was muffled, and barely understandable.  "More businesslike than I would have expected."  Kath sighed and nodded; "Yes, she's kinda gotten that way of late.  Responsibilities, especially self-assigned ones can weigh heavy."  Grinning, Kath looked up at the Tiger again; "But when she cuts loose, whoooohoo!"  The Tiger's lips twitched in a half smile; "So I've heard.  I researched her extensively before I challenged her."  Kath put the water bottle back on the nightstand and picked up her tray; "Oh?  If you've checked on her so carefully, you should have known her unarmed combat skills."  The Tiger grinned a little wider; "I did."  Kath's eyebrows went up a little higher; "If you knew, well, I'm surprised you lost."  The Tiger's grin widened a bit, and his eyes shifted to Kath's; "Who said I lost?  I think I may have gotten JUST what I wanted."

Wanda looked up from the display at the nurse's station as Kath's laughter echoed down the corridor.

Smith was surprised when the Rabbit from Intelligence sat down beside him in the bar.  "Been looking for you."  Smith took a sip of his drink and nodded noncommittally.  "I know how things work around here" the Rabbit muttered; "If you don't move up, people think you either don't have the guts, or you can't do your job.  Either way can get you killed.  I mean, look at what happened to poor Hargreaves.  On the other hand, the only modicum of safety you might find here comes with power."  The....  Wolf?  Nodded and calmly took another sip, savoring the expensive Scotch.  He wondered idly if the pirates had captured it, or merely bought it.  After a moment the Rabbit turned to look at him; "I can't stay here forever; can't take the strain of constantly watching my back, both professionally, and off-duty, but right now, I need the money.  Tell your friend the Cheetah that I'll forgo the power, and not challenge her, BUT I'll expect her protection.... And I want a raise."  Smith nodded and quietly murmured; "I'll talk to her about it."  After another sip of Scotch, he smiled; "but in the meantime, what can you tell me about the others in your office?  Who might not be so... "understanding" of the situation as you are?"
 

2402.205

John looked from the Pantheress floating in the sphere, to the nude Cheetah and back again; "are you SURE you know what you're doing?"  Hinoki shrugged; "no, not really.  I've got a program lined out, but I'm not sure if I've covered all the bases.  Remember the corollary to Murphy's Law; "If you think you understand the situation, you're obviously missing something."  Still, gotta start somewhere...."  The Stallion nodded and shrugged; "OK, it's your funeral."  Lifting the remote, he pressed a few buttons.  Slowly the outer door at the base of the sphere opened.  Hinoki looked at the tiny space and shrugged.  Shoving his gear in before him, he struggled to compress himself into the tiny space.

The Pantheress looked at him through slitted, sleepy eyes as Hinoki worked.  The suit was meant for other pursuits, but he figured its latex would probably be good enough for the short trip to the room he had prepared.  As he tried to get it over her limbs, running his thumbs along the seams, the hose to his face mask kept getting in the way.  Finally, strapping the heavy latex hood over her head, he was done, and turning in the limited space available, he nodded to the Stallion.  A moment later, the magnetic field, holding the Pantheress spread-eagled collapsed.  She was quick, but he was quicker, and in a moment her paws were clipped together behind her back.  That still didn't prevent her from trying to apply lips and tongue to the Cheetah's sheath.  Grunting out "that's not going to do you any good, I'm afraid.  Not with your gag, and not with my.... Problem.", Hinoki struggled to get her into as tight a ball-tie as he could, the numerous D rings built into the latex suit making his task much easier.  Finally he had her as tight as he could get her.  Now, the question was, would she fit through the airlock at the base of the sphere?  Turning, he nodded again to the Stallion.

John smiled and pushed a button on his remote.  The look of shock and surprise on the Cheetah's face was classic as the warm, soapy water started to fill the sphere.

For a moment, Hinoki was close to panic.  But then he realized that he still had his breathing mask on.  He was in no danger of drowning.  However, the Pantheress was another story.  Manevering her around so that her muzzle was pointed up, he held her as best he could while the sphere filled.  It seemed like only seconds after the liquid had touched the top of the sphere that it was all draining rapidly.  The Pantheress hadn't held her breath for more than a dozen seconds or so before she was able to take another breath.  As the last of the liquid drained away, the sphere split into four equal sectors, hinging back like an exotic blossom opening.  Hinoki stared down at the Stallion, wet and dripping, and growled; "you might have warned me....."

John sniffed the air cautiously, and then nodded; "it was for your own protection.  Think about it.  If her scent or whatever it is, had remained, and I'd been affected, when the sphere opened, well, with her wrapped up like that, the only other fur I would have been able to slake my lusts with would have been you."  Hinoki just laughed, and shook his head.

Between the two of them, they managed to get the bound Pantheress down and onto a float pallet.  Hinoki double-checked to make sure she was breathing OK, and then started pushing her away from the sphere and towards her new home.

The jury-rigged airlock was a tight fit, for Hinoki and his cargo.  For a while he'd considered just using the Lost Cause as a site for his experiments, but then he started considering the problems of ship-wide decontamination, and decided something smaller was in order.  He'd requisitioned a suite from Jenka, and had Station Engineering isolate it from the environmental systems.  An environmental package from a lifeboat now provided fresh air, and recycled water.  Sliding the bound Pantheress from the float pallet, he made sure his respirator was in place, and then, checking the telltales by the airlock door, started unstrapping the latex hood that covered her head.

As the hood came off, Hinoki's eyes met hers; a look of hunger passed between them, and Hinoki stared back, wide-eyed.  Never in all his years had he seen such a look.  Unstrapping the gag, he retreated a step and then sat down; "Hello, my name is Hinoki.  I'm to be your new trainer.  What's your name?"

Sashi squirmed in her restraints, so deliciously tight, and panted lightly; "Master, my name is whatever you wish it to be."  Watching him, she wondered why he wasn't responding; why wasn't he acting like just about everyone else?  Why wasn't he untying her, why wasn't he FUCKING her?   Groaning softly, she squirmed, the need within her so great......

Hinoki nodded, watching her squirm.... He could feel his cock starting to swell, to grow tight in the metal sheath....  Closing his eyes, he took a deep breath of bottled air and wondered if whatever the Pantheress exuded could be absorbed through the skin?  Opening his eyes again, Hinoki smiled; "Right now, I'm just your trainer, your temporary Master, and what I call you is of no matter to me.  What have you been called in the past?"

Sashi smiled; "Master, I've been called Sashi for as long as I can remember."  Hinoki nodded; "Verry well, Sashi, tell me about yourself.  Where do you come from?  How did you become a slave?"  The Pantheress frowned; "Master, I've always been a slave, ever since I awakened in the..... wherever I was."  Hinoki frowned; "you have no recollection of parents, of friends, of a different life?"  The Pantheress shook her head no, her dark dark brown hair swaying back and forth.   Hinoki hmmmed and made a mental note.  Either this one had been brainwiped, an illegal procedure in most of the Empire, or.....  Looking down at her, he sighed; "Tell me of what you DO remember.  It may be important.

Sashi squirmed as she talked, trying to get some portion of the latex suit to rub against her hungry pussy, against her breasts, to give her SOME stimulation.  "I remember waking up on a metal table.  I wasn't chained, but I couldn't move.  Strange creatures like nothing I've seen since were doing things to me.  Tests, I think.   Medical tests.  Eventually the small ones left, and the large one carried me to a cell.  I was there for many days.  They'd bring other slaves by, and I'd make love to them.  Others would come by, and tell me to do things.  To kneel a certain way, to walk a certain way, to talk a certain way...."  Sashi giggled; "But we always wound up having sex."  Looking up at the Cheetah she smiled; "I learned my lessons well, Master.  Will you fuck me now?  Please?"

Hinoki sighed; "Can't do that, little one."  Shifting to a kneeling position, he flicked the lock at the opening to his sheath with one finger; "My..... the one I work for has made it so that I can't get hard.  No sex for me until we both accomplish certain things."  Sashi tried to focus a little cross-eyed on the lock; "That's CRUEL, Master!"  As she said it, Hinoki got the distinct impression that she was speaking more about her own unslaked lusts than what had been done to the Cheetah.....

"What we have to do, Sashi, is to teach you how NOT to affect everyone around you, so that you always wind up having sex.  We have to figure out what you do, and how to, well, give you the ability to turn it on and off."  Sashi frowned; "Master, I'm not sure that's possible... I don't DO anything to get furrs to have sex with me.....  well, nothing special."  Hinoki nodded; "I think one of the first things we have to figure out is just how you do it.  If its telepathic, I suspect you can be taught control.  If its.... Hormonal, perhaps there are drugs that can control it.  Now, lets get back to your story.  How long were you in this place.  Can you give me an idea; was it hours, days, weeks, months or years?"

Sashi sighed; "Master, I'm not sure I WANT to be able to "turn it off..."   I LIKE having sex with furrs, I WANT to have sex!  Oh, I want it sooooo desperately!"  Hinoki nodded; "I understand; but sometimes, perhaps even most times, what a slave wants isn't important.  Its what your Master or Mistress wants that you should hold as most important!  But.....  Tell me what I want to know, and I'll see that you get some relief.  Promise."  Sashi swallowed and nodded; "well, I'm not sure I counted every time I slept, but I think..... I think I was there for about sixty days..... That's all my fingers about six times....."  The Pantheress shrugged, an interesting movement considering the way she was tied; "but the lights were always on, so it's a little hard to tell."  Hinoki shifted, and looked at her; "you mean, your entire memory, everything you can remember about your life is only roughly two months long?"  Sashi shrugged again and nodded.  Hinoki shook his head; "and how did you leave that place?"  Sashi just shrugged again; "one day the big hairy creature, the one with the massive shoulders and no head, just came and pulled me out of my cell.  He put me in this box that I barely fit into, and closed the lid.  The next thing I knew I was in a different place.  Furrs I'd never seen before had opened the box...."  Sashi grinned; "they LIKED to fuck, Master; they fucked me SOOOOOO  well!"  The Pantheress' face clouded over; "but others came, and took them away."  Hinoki nodded; "were the others wearing vacuum suits?"  Sashi shrugged; "I dunno; they were wearing loose fitting overalls, with gloves and boots attached, with fishbowls over their heads."  Hinoki sighed; "Yeah, that's a vacuum suit."  Sashi grinned; "The furrs in suits put me back in the box, but then some other furrs took me out again. They liked to fuck me too!"  Hinoki just nodded, and sighed.  "Sashi, I think something very strange is going on here.  But I promised you some relief, and that's just what I'm going to do.

The latex suit had a seam that ran between the Pantheress' legs, and moving around behind her, Hinoki unsealed it.  For a moment he was tempted to use his tongue on her, but then decided that would probably be a bad idea.  He might burst a blood vessel if the pressure got too great.  Instead he made sure the respirator was well in place, and then pulling on a rubber glove, he unsealed the seam.  As he expected, she was dripping wet....

Sashi moaned as she felt his fingers on her sex.  He teased her for a while, fingertips tracing the crack of her ass, teasing beneath her tail, rubbing softly at her mons......  She tried begging him, pleading with him to touch her, to make her cum, but he moved at his own pace.  Finally, only when her pleas had become inarticulate, did he touch her, a finger, then two, then three, sliding in and out of her pussy, spreading her labia.  Sashi's first climax was only seconds in the coming....

Hinoki worked his fingers in and out of the dripping pantheress, wondering how he'd clean up the drops of her juices that splattered on the floor.  It seemed as if every time he let his thumb graze her pierced clitty she'd climax again.  Shifting a little, he settled down to see just how long it would take for her to be satiated.....

Sashi groaned and squirmed as best she was able, another climax crashing through her.  Panting, she tried to hump herself back against the Cheetah's paw, but with calves tied to thighs, and thighs to her chest, she couldn't move very much.  If levitation had been possible, she would have flown back against him, against the paw doing such nice things to her....

Hinoki blipped his thumb back and forth over her clitty, feeling her pussy contract hard with each stroke, and shook his head in amazement.  The Pantheress had suffered through at least twenty climaxes in damn near as many minutes.  And, she showed no sign of being anywhere near satisfied.  With a sigh the Cheetah withdrew his hand, and zipped up the latex suit.  Then, pausing, he had a thought....

The cologne  had been expensive, but the bottle had been near empty anyways.  Pouring its contents down the sink, the Cheetah turned and made his way back to the Pantheress.  Unzipping her crotch, he collected as much of her juices as he could, slowly fucking her with the neck of the bottle.  When he thought he had enough, he stoppered the bottle, and then carefully washed, and rewashed the outside.  Pausing to slip a battery powered vibrator into the Pantheress' pussy, he resealed the suit.  "Sashi, I'm going to go fetch something for a small experiment.  I'll be back in a few minutes.  Now don't you go anywhere!"  Sashi, lost in the vibrations emanating from her pussy, was barely able to nod in response.

The ambush was carefully laid.  There weren't too many places where you could get above someone, unnoticed, in the space station, but there was the promenade, a multi-level area with an atrium in the middle.  And the corridor from Ops and its associated offices opened there.  It was a favorite place for the staff to get a bite to eat, or drink, and to relax on their breaks.  The nude, collared Cheetah only drew a few stares, as he leaned on the railing, waiting......  Yes, there was the Stallion; that meant that Jenka couldn't be far behind...  Unstoppering the bottle, the Cheetah held his breath and carefully released a single drop.  Below him, John paused, looking back the way he'd come; Jenka sidestepped him, also turning to look, as John spoke to someone out of sight.  "Better and better" Hinoki chuckled to himself, adding another drop to the Stallion, and spritzing a few drops in Jenka's direction.  Then restoppering the bottle, he turned and padded off; if his suspicions were correct, well, it was payback time!

John looked up as something wet seemed to land on his head.  Running one hand over his mane he scanned the railings above him, but saw nothing.  Shrugging, he turned, to find Jenka moving off towards the residential section.  Following, the Stallion forgot all about the mysterious sensation on his head.....

The full-scale device was complete.  It had passed all its self-checks and diagnostics.  And his hand-held device (he hated to think of it as a weapon) was ready as well.  Now all he had to do was to test it.  Pulling on the pair of overalls, he slung the battery pack over his shoulder, plugged in the cord to the suit, and the cord to the emitter, pulled on the helmet, and taking a deep breath, Corey stepped through the door.

Amazingly, everyone ignored him as he moved through the station.  The strange rig he was carrying, the strange suit he was wearing seemed to attract no more than an occasional curious glance.  "It IS true" Corey grinned to himself; "if you carry a clipboard and wear a lab coat, and ACT like you know what you're doing, everyone assumes you belong there, and you can get away with almost anything."  Except he wasn't wearing a lab coat, and he wasn't carrying the traditional clipboard, but the principle was the same.  Finding the motor control center he wanted, Corey flipped the safety off of his device, took aim, and pressed the button.  The device emitted a low whine, gradually rising in pitch, and then suddenly everything tripped.  Flipping on the helmet light, Corey stepped from the MCC and started counting his paces.  It took exactly one hundred and eleven paces, some 560 feet by his estimation, before he found equipment that was functioning correctly.

Tanj smiled; "That's a good idea, Mr. Smith; I'll offer the Rabbit an incentive plan.  IF he does good work, if his section is efficient, he'll get more money.  If he screws up, or doesn't do his job, he doesn't get any "protection"....  Smith chuckled and nodded; "it should work.  Now, there's a Squirrel in Accounting you should know about....."

The Medical department was a busy place, full of barely organized chaos.  As soon as the staff figured out that Hinoki wasn't hurt, or relaying news of someone who was, he was more or less forgotten.  This left him free to search for Wanda.  It wasn't that no one knew where she was, it was that everyone seemed to know, but they each also seemed to have a different idea of where she was.  He finally found her in a quiet corner, entering data into a terminal.  "Heya, Wanda!"  The Wolverine looked up and smiled; "Hello, Hinoki.  I see they've got you dressed in the latest fashion."  The Cheetah winced; "if you only knew... but that's not what I'm here about."  Carefully placing the ex-cologne bottle on the desk he proceeded to explain about Sashi and his new "assignment".  Wanda nodded thoughtfully; "So I take it you want the contents of the bottle analyzed?"  Hinoki nodded; "I figured it'd be a good place to start, and Jenka said I could have anything I needed."  Wanda nodded; "I'll get a couple of the techs on it.  We should be able to screen it for...."  Her thought was interrupted as a head poked around the corner; "Nurse, Dr. O'Connor wants you in the Emergency Room, STAT!"  Wanda rose, and gave the Cheetah a hug; "I'll let you know what we find out."  And with that, she was gone.

The door hissed closed softly, and the Stallion ran a hand over his mane.  Suddenly he felt rather hot.  Glancing at Jenka, he tried to concentrate on the things that had to be done....  There was that personnel problem in Environmental, and the negotiations with the Soffit cartel, not to mention the grief their "agent" (i.e. "fence") on Dursban III was giving them.  There was a lot of work to do, and yet, the Stallion found himself watching the way Jenka's ass moved under her tight leathers.....  And as he watched, he could feel his cock growing, making a tent of his kilt.....

Jenka put the folders on the desk, and turned to get herself a cup of tea.  Pausing she looked at the Stallion, standing just inside the door.... He looked rather strange...  And then she noticed the telltale, and growing bulge in what little he wore.  Crooking one eyebrow up, she smiled; "John, are you all right?"

Tanj paused in front of Jenka's door, removing today's outfit... or rather wiping it off.  Somehow, Jenka had made it look as if the Cheetah fem were wet, and dressed only in soap bubbles.  And while the soap bubbles had proven to be fairly durable, she was still wearing a good deal less of them now than when Jenka had shut off the sprayer gizmo this morning.  She still LOOKED as if she'd just stepped out of the shower to answer a comm call.  It had been annoyingly effective, almost everyone she had tried to talk to not hearing a word she said as they stared at her.  It had been a rather frustrating day.  Wondering what Jenka had in store for this evening, the Cheetah palmed the doorlock, and waited for it to open.

The sight that greeted her wasn't what she'd expected at all; Jenka was bent over her own bed, with John, the Stallion, plowing her hard from behind.  Very hard.  Tanj knew just how well that bed was constructed, but now it was shaking back and forth with the power of the stallion's thrusts.  Tanj grinned and shrugged, and knelt just inside the door, assuming the correct position.  As she watched she felt her own arousal build, and only her training kept her from joining in unbidden.  It wasn't easy.  After a few minutes, the Stallion whinnied, and tensed, as his cock pumped wadd after wadd into the Jaguar.  Jenka moaned and pulled herself away from him, across the bed.  Flopping down, she eyed Tanj; "Something's wrong."  Tanj glanced at the Stallion, who had fallen back to lay on the floor, his shaft still hard.  He looked exhausted, but still horny.  Unbelievably horny.  Glancing back at Jenka, Tanj raised an eyebrow.  "Yeah... we've been going at it for hours.  Hey, I like a good hard Rogering every now and then but this is getting ridiculous.  Can't stop!"  As she spoke, the Jaguar crawled to the edge of the bed, to look down at the Stallion, her gaze centered on his crotch.  As Tanj watched, she slithered down from the bed, to straddle the equine's hips.  Tanj watched a bit wide-eyed, as the Jaguar slowly lowered herself onto the Stallion's  shaft.  With a groan she started riding him, slowly.  Opening her eyes, the Jaguar grinned; "Come, Slave; his tongue is going unused."  Purrring, Tanj crawled across the room to join them.

Tanj moaned, and shook herself.  John had eaten her out, as she and Jenka had fondled and kissed each other.  Then they'd changed places, Tanj taking possession of the Stallion's shaft, while Jenka rode his tongue.  Then Jenka had laid flat on her back with Tanj's head between her thighs, while John fucked the Cheetah from behind.  And then they'd changed positions, with Tanj sucking the Stallion's cock, while Jenka licked her pussy, while John licked Jenka's pussy.....  Somewhere along the line, the Stallion had fallen asleep, not to be aroused...er, "awakened"....  Tanj and Jenka had amused themselves with each other, finally winding up in Jenka's shower.  It was there that they came to their senses, at least temporarily, as when they exited the bathroom, tired and wet, and intending to get something to eat, that they found themselves trying once again to awaken the Stallion, for more.

Jenka groaned, and lifted her head; with Tanj working on the Stallion's shaft, and her licking his balls, they still hadn't been able to awaken him.  It wasn't any use.  The Cheetah obviously had come to the same conclusion, as she was crawling over the Stallion's body, towards her, that hungry look on her face again.  Gathering her wits, she growled; "In the shower, Slave.  Show me again how you can use that body of yours to wash your mistress....."

Tanj sighed and leaned heavily against the wall; she'd held her paws behind her back, a layer of liquid soap poured down her front, as she'd rubbed herself and Jenka into a lather.  Many more bubbles than she'd worn all day long.  And as she'd done her best to clean and tease her mistress, her head had cleared again.  Their lovemaking had been almost cursory, Tanj too tired to give it her best, Jenka too tired to care.  "Same thing as with that Sashi girl" Jenka muttered sleepily.  "So how do we get out of here?  If we go back out there, we're going to be in trouble again."  Tanj blinked; "What's going on?  Why is he affecting us like this?"  Jenka chuckled; "Remember the pantheress in the sphere?  She exudes something that drives you wild.  I put Hinoki on it, telling him he had to figure it out.  I bet he did figure it out, and did a little "payback" against John."  Tanj raised an eyebrow; "Mistress, just WHAT are you talking about?  Why would Hinoki want to get back at John?"  Jenka laughed and slid down the wall of the shower until she was seated.  Launching into the tale of how Sashi had been acquired, the problems she'd caused, and her little trick on Hinoki, she watched the Cheetah's face.  Tanj winced when the metal sheath was described, and then laughed as Jenka outlined how John had given a lesson in frustration to the Cheetah.  "OK, so its probably due to something he did.  All we should have to do is to hold our breaths as we make a dash for the door."  It was Jenka's turn to raise an eyebrow; "Nude?"  Tanj laughed; "Do it all the time, Mistress, although it might be a new look for you.  Would you rather take a towel?"  Jenka chuckled; "No, Slave, I think YOU'LL make a dash, go find some sort of respirator, come back and give the Stallion a bath, kick the ventillation system to high, and then when its safe, bring me something appropriate to wear.  I, in the meantime, will be taking a nice, long, hot bath.  And while I relax, I will consider the proper response for our Cheetah friend.  I DO believe I have been remiss in not keeping a closer eye on him."  Tanj just sighed, and nodded, and headed for the door, taking several deep breaths, preparing for her dash.

Tanj paused just outside the door, catching her breath.  Looking down, she wondered if she might reapply a few of the remaining bubbles.  Deciding that there just wasn't enough left, she turned and trotted off.

"Hey Chris!  We've got a PROBLEM!"  the Fox looked up in annoyance.  He'd been pretending to study the operations log, while Zassa, out of sight under the desk, did delightful things to him with her tongue.  Flipping displays he groaned, a groan that had nothing to do with what Zassa was doing.....  Something had just taken down power to an appreciable portion of the station.  Looking over the displays, he frowned.  WHAT had taken it down?  There didn't seem to be any assignable cause.  Grumbling "Hell of a time to be duty officer" he tried to zip up his pants, to extract himself  from what had been a delightful situation.  Pulling Zassa out from under the desk, to the envious and appreciative stares of the Ops crew, Chris headed out from Ops to see if he could figure out what had happened.

Chris checked the coordinates stenciled on the bulkhead and nodded, stepping up to the powered door he hesitated for an instant, waiting for it to open.  It didn't.  Bringing himself up short he shook his head; "shoulda known..."  Stepping to one side, he started working the manual release.  As the door started to open , a familiar figure came into view......

Roland straightened as the door slid open with small jerks.  It'd been dark in there, the air growing increasingly stuffy, and while it was bright, almost too bright, as the door slowly opened, he could still see.  There was the Fox, that Chris fellow....  And there was Zassa at the end of his leash!  Grinning, he stepped through.  It was time to have it out with him, over the Vixen.....

Corey heard shouting, and his curiosity drew him in that direction.  There was that Roland fellow yelling at the brown Fox that had been pulling a bound Zassa through the corridors.  Smiling, thinking he couldn't have found two more perfect guinea pigs, he lifted his device and took careful aim.  Just as they seemed about to come to blows, he pressed the trigger.

Zassa's eyes went wide as the apparition stepped from a side corridor.  The device in his hands looked more like a complex camera than a weapon, but both Roland and Chris slumped to the ground.

Corey safed the device, pulled off the helmet and padded up to the slumped pair.  Chris was laying half across the Badger.  Bending over, he made sure that they were both still breathing.  Pulling a portable scanner from his belt, he checked involuntary muscle activity, as well as brainwave activity, and nodded in satisfaction.  "Just as I predicted."  Turning to Zassa he smiled; "Miss, I'm delighted to have been able to liberate you.  If you'll follow me, I'll take you to a place of safety, where we can plot the liberation of the others."  Turning, the Lynx trotted off.  Zassa looked at Chris, and Roland, and then at the departing Corey; "Liberation?  What in the Heck is going on here?"  Figuring she'd best find out, she turned and trotted after the Lynx.

John groaned and rolled over.  Rising to hands and knees, he looked around.  He was bone-weary, but his head still swam with the scent of that exotic Pantheress... and some other alluring female.  Feeling the blood pumping back into his cock, he struggled to his feet, staggering towards the bathroom.

Jenka opened  her eyes and gasped as the Stallion staggered into the bathroom.  As his eyes fastened on her, he grinned lewdly, and with a whoop, dove into the bathtub!

Tanj checked the air tank gauge, made sure the mask was seated correctly over her muzzle, and palmed the doorswitch.  As it whooshed open, she glanced around.  The Stallion was nowhere in sight.  Wondering if he'd wandered off, the Cheetah headed for the bathroom...  As she drew near, she noticed the carpet was squishing under her feet... and then she heard the rythmic sloshing sounds coming from the other side of the door......

Jenka looked half-drowned, as the massive Stallion thrust into her from behind.  There wasn't much water left in the tub, but what there was, was perilously close to the Jaguar's muzzle.  Stepping closer, Tanj turned on the hand-held sprayer, and started washing down the Stallion.

 The stallion was still wet as Jenka finished tightening the last of the straps.  It hadn't taken more than a half dozen minutes before Sashi's scent had been rinsed from his mane, and not more than a dozen minutes before the wild sex scene had come to an end.  Tanj smiled to herself, convinced that the Stallion had recovered his wits long before he stopped his motions, determined to eek one last little bit of pleasure from the situation before Jenka's wrath manifested itself.  Now the huge Stallion was laying on his stomach, bent back in a severe hog-tie, his ankles actually pulled back beyond his wrists.  His thumbs were tied together, with the leather thong terminating in a slip-knot around his balls, to inhibit him from squirming around too much.  The Cheetah had to cover her mouth to stifle a chuckle when Jenka applied that particular torment; there was a knot in the noose, big enough to prevent it from tightening too far, but probably too small to be felt amongst all the other discomforts.  A huge gag filled the Stallion's mouth, and a hood covered his head, cutting off sight and sound.  As Jenka finished, Tanj ran a paw over the Stallion's bulging muscles appreciatively; "you know it wasn't really his fault..."  Jenka chuckled and nodded; "of course, but he DID loose self control, and THAT's what he's being punished for.  Besides, he knew about Sashi, and should have managed to get us into the shower on his own, even if he was having his way with me...."  Tanj nodded; "It does sound like, ah, her juices are "powerful stuff" if they can produce something like that.  Ever consider bottling it?"  Jenka chuckled and shrugged; "if I can't find a better use for her, yeah, I've thought of it.  My problem is mainly with "how did this all come about?  Its just a little too..... "pat"."

After a moment Jenka sighed; "I may have gotten Hinoki in over his head."  Looking up at the Cheetah she sighed; "I think its time we found out what our friend has been up to."  Tanj chuckled; "True, but I'm not sure I'm ready to call him on the carpet for this quite yet.  Lets see what we can find out on the sly."  Jenka frowned; "you're up to something, aren't you?"  Tanj just grinned; "Yeah.... I've had a few thoughts.  As Hinoki got back at you, and at John, I'm thinking there are some folks I might want to treat similarly... folks that if they're too busy with their own problems, might leave me... and you alone."  Jenka frowned for a moment, but then nodded; "OK, I'll let you check up on what Hinoki's been doing and what he's found out.  But let me know what you've found out as soon as you can."

The orderly paused at the terminal, the stack of charts on their way to be filed.  Looking down at the desktop he grinned.  Juggling the charts he picked up the bottle of cologne and pulling the stopper, he splashed a goodly portion onto his paw.  He was rubbing it across one cheek when the scent hit him, causing him to drop both the bottle and the armful of charts.  Staggering, he headed back into the waiting area, suddenly flushed, his heart pounding... and his cock as hard as an iron bar!

Wanda slid the curtain back, in preparation for wheeling the gurney to the recovery ward.  The furr on the gurney had been caught in a welding arc, and had received some significant burns.  The tissue could be regenerated, but it was going to take a while.  The scene that met her eyes, however, as she pulled the gurney along, made her stop dead in her tracks.  The waiting area, and the nurse's station were a jumbled mass of writhing bodies, discarded clothing tossed everywhere.  "OHMYGOD!" she thought to herself; "Hinoki's Sample!"  Then the gurney hit her from behind, and under the impact, she staggered forward.... Just far enough for someone to grab her ankle; with a "c'mere!" she toppled headlong into the orgy.

Kath was in the correct kneeling position, when Wanda stepped through the door to their quarters.  The Mink knew she was supposed to keep her eyes respectfully down, but she couldn't help herself; doing a classic doubletake, she blurted out; "Mistress, what HAPPENED?"  Wanda chuckled and dropped the remnants of her nurse's outfit on the chair by the door, and shrugged; "it's a LONG story, but don't worry, little one, you're going to become intimately involved with the details.  Right now, I need a bath, and BAD.  Go draw the water for me.

Hinoki checked the door seals, and balancing the dinner tray with one hand, slipped the respirator over his muzzle.  Only when he thought all was secure, did he open the inner door.  The Pantheress was right where he'd left her, eyes closed.  As he watched, the vibrator brought her to yet another climax.  Chuckling, he set the tray down, and moved around behind her, to slide the vibrator out of her drenched pussy.  He could have sworn, slick as it was, that he felt her vaginal muscles clamping down, trying desperately to keep it where it was.  Turning to the sink, he carefully washed and dried the toy, and then scrubbed his hands hard, wondering once again if whatever it was could be absorbed through the skin.  Finally he moved around behind the Pantheress, a collection of padded cuffs, and locks in his paws.  She'd been tied like that too long; it was time to give her a little more freedom.

Sashi turned this way and that, looking at her new restraints.  Ankle and wrist cuffs were locked in place; the chain between her wrists passed through a large chrome ring, as did the chain between her ankles.  If she kept her wrists behind her, she had enough slack to walk.  If she squatted, she had enough slack to use her paws.  And a long chain locked to that central ring was bolted to the floor at the back wall.  She could reach the bed, and the bathroom, but not the comm terminal, or the door.  Hinoki waited for her to adjust to the new situation and then pushed the dinner tray across the floor to her.  Sashi smiled, and whispered "Thank you, Master", and then crouched to eat.

Zassa looked around the lab, her arms wrapped around her.  It seemed just a little cold, as if she were in a hospital.  Corey bustled about, taking readings off his hand-held device, and making minute changes in the big device in the middle of the floor.  And as he moved, he gave the Vixen a running commentary on what he'd been doing.  It seemed like she understood only one word in ten, but the overall impression was just a little scary.  "Um, professor, would you mind if I made a comm call; I want to see if I can get a hold of Tanj."  Corey shook his head no; "go ahead, if you think you can reach her."  From the way he never stopped moving, Zassa got the distinct impression he had only half-heard her, so lost in his work was he.  Moving over to the comm console, Zassa took a long look at it.  The Professor had been at work on it as well, and it scarecely looked like a normal console at all.  Pressing a few keys, she looked for the station's main directory......

2402.206

The knock at the door surprised Hinoki.  Rising he turned to enter the "air lock".  "Oh, Hi, Wanda, Kath... what's wrong?"  The Wolverine grinned lopsidedly; "I wish you'd gotten a more standard biosample container; someone in Medical decided to sample your "cologne"...."  Hinoki's eyes went wide; "you mean..."  Wanda nodded; "Full scale orgy.  Roughly 30 participants, although that number hasn't been confirmed.  I know; I was there."  Hinoki gulped; "Geez, Jenka's gonna kill me; she warned me what would happen if I let this get out of control...."  Wanda chuckled; "well, no one's seen Jenka for the last few hours; maybe it'll blow over before she resurfaces."  At the pained look on the Cheetah's face, Wanda sighed; "all the sample was lost.  I've come to collect some more.  Or rather, Kath has.  I brought a respirator, and a box of latex gloves."  Hinoki nodded and slipping the respirator back over his muzzle, gestured to the airlock.

As the airlock was cycling, Wanda looked at Kath; "Remember, Slave, you are to restrain yourself for as long as possible.  I want to see just how potent this is.  When the door opens, you're to move just inside the door, and kneel."  Kath smiled and nodded; "Yes, Mistress...."  Whatever Wanda was going to say was lost as the inner door opened.  Kath turned and took a step, staggering......  For a moment Wanda thought she was kneeling, but after a moment it was clear she was more collapsing to the floor.  After a moment, the Mink started crawling across the floor, her eyes locked on Sashi, who, at the end of her chain, waited in eager anticipation for the Mink to get within reach.

Wanda watched in amazement as the.... Well, it looked as if Sashi had tried to pounce Kath just as the Mink tried to pounce the Pantheress...  The two met in mid-air, fell to the floor with a muted "thump", and after rolling this way and that, wound up in the classic "69" position, each licking wildly at the other.  After watching for a moment, Wanda muttered; "well, THAT didn't take long."

Wanda leaned closer, using a swab to collect some of the Pantheress' juices.... Well, they were half the pantheress' juices, and half Kath's saliva.  She'd already collected quite a number of blood, saliva and respiratory gas samples, along with as many scans as her medical instruments could make.  Putting the swab carefully into the last of her sample jars she rose and stretched.  Turning to look at Hinoki she grinned; he'd told her about his little problem, and it was obvious that the tableau in front of him was causing him problems.  He sat on the floor, just beyond the reach of Sashi's chain, in a posture of meditation, eyes closed, breathing even through his respirator. Shaking her head, Wanda packed up all her samples, and her medical analyzer and headed for the airlock.  "I've got to get out of here before they get to me,  Hinoki.  When they're done, I'd appreciate it if you see that Kath gets home OK."  The Cheetah just nodded.  Taking one last look at the Mink and the Pantheress, still squirming against each other, still licking furiously, Wanda just rolled her eyes and grinned.  They were still going at it when the airlock inner door closed.

Wanda pulled the respirator off her muzzle and set it on the shelf inside the airlock.  It was then that the scent hit her.  "the room in there must be permeated with it" she mused.  Feeling suddenly VERY horny, she opened the outer door and took off for medical at a trot.  She wanted to get the samples into the analyzer.... And then maybe she'd see if that cute Dr. Kildaire was on duty......

Smith frowned at the palm-top.  He'd researched most of the movers and shakers in the Black fleet, and having passed that information on to Tanj, had found himself at rather loose ends.  It hadn't been difficult for him to bug some of the chambers of the more influential furrs on the station, and he'd even figured out how that rabbit down in Maintenance was cheating at the nightly Dabo games.  He'd found a couple dozen furrs he could blackmail if he had to.  He'd hacked into almost every computer on the station, and on most of the ships, leaving "back doors" that would let him in any time he'd wanted to.  Staring at the palm-top he shook his head.  What else was there to do?  Certainly there had to be something he could do, to keep his skills sharp, until things straightened themselves out and he was able to get back into the field.  Time, after all, was money, and he was loosing money every day he sat on the station, waiting.  Money.  Maybe he could look into the Black Fleet's finances.  There might be some interesting things there.  What operations were profitable, and which Captains routinely brought in the most booty.  Might help him invest in an up and coming Raider crew, and increase his own fortunes.  At least more than betting with the Rabbit from Maintenance had....

Jenka was gone, her side of the bed cold.  Rolling into a sitting position, Tanj looked around for a note, or something.  As expected, there was a sticky note stuck to the inside of the door; "Got an early morning staff meeting; I'll see you for lunch.  Relax and take the morning off."  Still bound, Tanj weighed the options; go back to bed, or try and use the comm system without hands.  Finally, the latter won.  "Work before play, right, Tanj Girl?  Or is that "no rest for the wicked?" "  Settling herself into the chair, she nuzzled the surface of the console until she was able to pick up a stylus with her teeth.  It seemed to take forever, pecking at the keyboard, but eventually she was into her e-mail.  She could read, but not reply, and yet she was able to get SOMETHING done.  If nothing else, she could tell Jenka how many important messages she had waiting for her attention....

Tanj was just wondering how she might get herself something to drink, when the comm console chimed for her attention.  Smiling, she saw it was a call from Zassa.  Tilting her head she hit the "answer" button on the third try.

The monitor coalesced into the image of the flame-hued vixen.  Tanj had to chuckle; Zassa was just as nude as she was, with someone's collar around her throat.  However, her paws were free.  "Hey, Tanj!  Looks like you're having fun with Jenka!"  Tanj laughed; "Yeah, I guess you could say that.  Seems she wants me to be the new head of Intelligence here."  The Vixen tilted her head to one side; "What happened to the OLD head of intelligence?"  Tanj winced; "you don't want to know!"  Zassa nodded; "let me guess; dueling.  It seems to be all the rage here, these days.  On the other hand, if it hadn't been for a duel, I'd still be tied up somewhere.  You wouldn't believe how I got free!"  Tanj chuckled and shook her head; "I'm surprised you WANTED to be free; what happened?  Whoever kidnapped you turn out not to be too good a master?"  Zassa smiled, looking down; "Chris?  No, he's Marvelous!  But, well, it seems our favorite Badger was jealous, or something, and kept "rescuing" me from him.  Back and forth, back and forth; it got tiring.  Too much being carted around and not enough sex!  But listen, that's not why I called you; I think Corey's gone off the deep end!  I think you're going to have to do something, and QUICK!

Tanj broke the connection and sighed, chewing on one end of the stylus.  There might have been a better way to handle the situation, but she couldn't think of it, and from what the Vixen had said, time was of the essence.  Leaning over, she stabbed the end of the stylus at a key, and then spat it out.  "Computer, what are the whereabouts of Mistress Jenka?"  "Jenka is on level three, section 17, in the Accounting conference room."  Tanj blinked; "Still?  Nevermind, I need to talk with her immediately!"  "The conference is flagged "Do Not Disturb"."  Tanj growled, "Override.  This is a security matter."  To the Cheetah's amazement, the computer complied, and a moment later she was looking into a cluttered conference room, stacks of papers on the table, large sheets hastily scribbled on tacked to the walls, and the bright light of an overhead projector in the background.  The face of the Jaguar was none too happy as she glared into the lens; "This had better be good....."  Tanj swallowed and nodded; "I've identified an immediate threat to station security.  I believe I can handle it, but..."  Wiggling her fingers, Tanj chuckled; "I need to be released to handle it.  Oh, I suppose something to wear might be in order too...."  Jenka looked at her for a moment and then muttered; "you're serious, aren't you?"  When Tanj nodded energetically, the Jaguar sighed; "Oh, very well, I'll have John come and release you; but I want to hear ALL about it, later!"

Hinoki opened one eye and looked at the clock.  He then opened his other eye and checked it again.  Turning he looked at the pair of females, each still lost in the pleasures of each other's body.  "Can't believe its been that long." He grumbled to himself.  Stepping forward he reached down, to grab Kath around her middle.  Sashi, however, seemed to instantly know what he was trying to do and with a moan that was half growl, she wrapped her arms and legs around the Mink, hugging her tight.  No matter how he tried, the Cheetah couldn't separate the two.  Finally letting them fall back to the floor with a thud, he stepped back, wondering what to do......  Then, inspiration struck.......  With a grin he stepped into the airlock, palming the switch to start its cycle.

The trip to the Lost Cause was a fast one.  Everywhere he went, Hinoki could feel eyes on him.... Or at least, all the eyes downwind were on him.  And while he might welcome the advances that any of the females, or males might make, he knew it'd only be frustrating, and painful.....  Upon gaining the ship, the first thing he did was to head for the shower, but then, with a grin, he paused.  Opening the door to Tanj's cabin, he proceeded to roll around on her bed, until he'd trasferred as much of the scent as he could.  Straightening the covers he sauntered to the shower, for a quick scrub.

Still damp, Hinoki padded back to the Cheetah's cabin.  The living dress creature was just where he thought it would be.  Collecting that, he moved to Zassa's cabin, to see if he could find her pets as well.

Lugging his packages through the airlock door, Hinoki grinned at the two fems.  Kath seemed to be quiescent, as if she'd fallen asleep.  "Passed out, is more like it" the Cheetah chuckled.  However, Sashi was still holding her possessively, still licking at Kath's sex.  Stepping in, Hinoki flipped the cover off of one of the boxes and upended it over the pantheress.  Three of the living dress creatures flopped out, immediately seeking out the Pantheress' tender places.  Sashi let out a yeep of surprise, her paws moving to try and intercept the creatures.  That was when Hinoki dragged Kath out of Sashi's reach.  Making sure the Mink was still breathing, Hinoki turned to regard the Pantheress.  "These are some friends of my Captain's.  They'll keep you good and satisfied.  BELIEVE me, they know how to make you cum!  In fact, it'll be interesting to see if you CAN be satisfied.  In any event, they'll keep you busy while I take Kath here home."

Hinoki grunted, as he pulled the limp Mink into a fireman's carry.  Trying not to bang her head against the wall, or get her tail stuck in the doorway, he carried her into the airlock.  It took three tries before he could palm the switch to start the cycle.  And then nothing happened.  Finally, in frustration, the Cheetah hit the override.  He could see the inner door was closed, and he knew the room within was under a slight negative pressure.  Even if the door wasn't sealed completely, none of the Pantheress' scent should escape.....  Finally the outer door opened.  Not bothering to close it, Hinoki started for Wanda's quarters, moving as fast as he could.  He knew that Sashi's scent, on his fur, on Kath's fur, would start attracting everyone who caught a whiff of it, and he was intent on NOT getting .... Ambushed?  Or would "seduced" be  a better word?

Unseen behind him, was the red telltale that warned of an improper inner door closure.  The airlock was merely built to contain the Pantheress' scent, and wasn't exactly built to shipboard standards; something had fallen in the track, leaving a hair-thin crack at the bottom of the door.

Tanj was still pacing Jenka's quarters when the stallion opened the door.  Wordlessly he unlocked her cuffs, and then her collar.  He then handed her a small valise.  Pulling it open, Tanj found some of her clothes from her ship.  Pulling on the old, tattered camo pants, and the buckskin vest, she stuffed her dagger in the waistband and turned to hurry from the room.  The stallion quietly followed, keeping a reasonable distance.

Tanj looked from the coordinates stenciled on the bulkhead at the intersection, to the unmarked door and back; it seemed an unlikely place, but...  Stepping forward she politely knocked on the door.  It slid back with surprising speed, and she found herself facing Corey, as he pointed... something looking very home-made, and somehow very sinister at her.  After a moment he lowered the device and nodded; "Good, you've escaped.  I've liberated Zassa; you can help me rescue the others and then we can be off."  Without looking back, the Lynx turned and padded back into the chamber.

As she stepped through the door, she caught a grin and a high sign from Zassa, who was sitting by a rather heavily modified comm terminal, still quite nude.  Corey moved around a rather bulky object in the middle of the room, something full of wires and crude welds, flashing lights, and soft whirring noises, to peer intently at something.  Tanj looked from the Vixen, who appeared quite bored, to the Scientist, who seemed engrossed in his creation, and back again, wondering WHAT in the world was going on.

Corey looked up, muttering "Be so kind as to close the..... LOOKOUTITSONEOFTHEM!  His gizmo came up, making a whining noise as he shouted.  Tanj felt all the furr on her body try and stand on end, and her right arm, the arm closest to Corey, go all tingly.  She turned to look at the door and gasped; there was the Stallion, standing rigidly, as if every muscle in his body had gone tight at the same time.  Corey released the button on his device and the Stallion fell as if he hadn't a bone in his body.  Tanj took a step back in amazement, and turned to look at Corey, who merely growled; "Help me pull him into the room.  My, I hope no one noticed that....."

Tanj pressed her ear to the massive Equine's chest; yes, his heart was still beating, and he was still breathing.  Looking up, eyes wide, she growled out "What did you DO to him?"  Corey waved a paw dismissively; "oh, just a temporary disruption of the nervous system that controls the voluntary muscles.  He'll be fine, in a bit, although I suppose we should tie him up before he regains motor control." Tanj blinked; "Ah... OK, now I know what... but WHY did you do that to him?"  It was Corey's turn to blink; "Why?  Because he's one of the Pirates!  He's one of the ones that Kidnapped you, and Zassa, and that Hinoki fellow!"  Tanj's mouth opened and closed a few times, but no sound came out.  Finally she started to chuckle, and then to laugh.  Corey just stared at her in amazement.  Finally when she'd run down she looked at the Vixen, who was merely leaning against the wall, a soft smile on her face.  "I tried to tell him."  Tanj just nodded; turning she grinned at the Scientist; "I'm afraid, Professor, that your hypothesis isn't quite correct."

Corey shook his head; "But I saw you at the end of that Jenka's leash!  Later I saw that Chris fellow leading Zassa on the end of a leash.  I've seen indications on the station's web that Hinoki is also a prisoner.  But Roland is listed as a member of the Black fleet!"  Tanj just smiled; "Appearances can be deceiving.  The leader of this.... organization and I, have, from time to time, played, ah, "bondage" games.  We are, among other things, lovers.  Her kidnapping of me was more in the lines of a practical joke, than an assault.  As for Zassa, I suspect it was much the same for her."  Against the wall, Zassa nodded eagerly; "I have a similar relationship with one of Jenka's Lieutenants."  "As for Hinoki, I have NO idea what's going on there, but I'm sure he's in NO danger, and is probably enjoying himself, wherever he may be.  I'll certainly check and find out, though.  Now, Professor, have you found Wanda and Kath?"  Corey looked a little troubled.  "Um, Wanda is working in the hospital here; she seems to be under no duress, but as you say, appearances can be deceiving.....  I haven't seen Kath."  Tanj nodded; "and how about Smith?"  Corey frowned as if trying to remember just who Smith was, or perhaps what he'd looked like; "Um, no, haven't seen him either."  Tanj nodded; "so not all of the crew or passengers were, ah, "acosted", just Zassa and Hinoki and I?"  Corey shrugged; "would that not be a significant statistical sampling?"  Zassa blinked; "a.... what?"  Tanj waved a paw and just grinned; "Possibly, I'm not sure.  What I AM sure of is that Jenka's organization was allied with the Brethren; that's why I brought us here.  To be among friends.

Shifting in her seat, Tanj looked at the Lynx; "So tell me, Professor, who have you talked to about your passage to your University position?  The Lynx's face clouded over; "I've talked to a number of furrs in the logistics and transportation departments.  And believe me, they weren't easy to identify or locate.  They LAUGHED at me, when I asked to book passage from this station!"  Tanj nodded slowly; "They don't normally run shuttle services from here, but I'm sure I can talk Jenka into speeding you on your way."  Glancing at the softly humming device in the middle of the room, Tanj raised one eyebrow; "but tell me, when they laughed at you, what did you do?"

Corey smiled and ran one hand over the device, almost lovingly; "Well, I came to the conclusion that we were in an "unfriendly" place.  Coupled with the way you, Zassa and Hinoki were taken off the ship, I came to the conclusion that somehow we had been captured by pirates.  I theorized that I must look like one of them, as no one bothered me; undoubtedly a case of mistaken identity.  I was able to move freely amongst them.  With that ability, I formulated a plan to rescue you, and the others.  The trick would be to incapacitate them, while I located you, and the others, transferred everyone to your ship, and we all made our escape."  Zassa straightened and looked at the Lynx; "how were you going to accomplish that?  Neutralizing one of the most powerful pirate organizations in the Empire could not be a small task!"  Corey nodded; "I thought for a while about biological agents, some sort of anesthetic that would put everyone to sleep, or possibly something to interfere with the decision-making process, but eventually I decided that was too..... chancy.  I couldn't be sure that it would affect everyone at the same time, or have the same duration.  Instead I decided on a variant of the stunner I used on the horse, there."  Tanj nodded towards the device in the middle of the room; "That?"  Corey nodded; "its designed following the principles of Heinemann and Ferndahl.  It'll send out a pulse that will scramble anything electronic.  It should knock out all communication systems, all sensors and weapons systems, and yet it shouldn't be powerful enough to knock main power off line, although it may interfere with certain aspects of power distribution."  With a sigh, the Lynx shrugged; "not that I wouldn't want to take down main power, but it turns out those systems are just too robust."  Tanj nodded slowly; "Kinda like a giant leach missile?"  The Lynx just grinned, for the first time in Tanj's remembrance, showing fangs; "Oh, more than that, MUCH more than that!"  After a moment he resumed; "The pulse should also affect neural impulses, rendering any being with a spinal cord unconscious for at least four hours or so."  Hefting the device, he grinned; "This was my test rig.  I was out searching for someone to test it on, when I came across that Badger fellow and a Fox, about to engage in a duel.  They SEEMED to be fighting over Zassa.  They seemed the perfect, ah, "target".  Tanj looked at the Vixen who shrugged; "Chris Foxx and Roland were about to settle the issue of who got possession of me, the hard way.  I'm afraid that if the Professor hadn't of come along, someone would have gotten hurt."  Tanj just nodded.

Looking back at the Professor, she tilted her head to one side and asked; "but if it would knock most electronic systems offline, how were we going to get my ship off the station?"  Corey smiled; "Oh, I built a countervail system for it.  Built one for myself as well; wouldn't do for ME to be rendered unconscious too, you know!"  Tanj nodded slowly; "I see.  Sounds VERY impressive, and I'm honored that you'd go to such lengths for us, but I'm afraid its completely unnecessary!"  Corey smiled softly, and harrumphed; "Oh, think nothing of it, Miss; ah, besides, I suppose you could say I was merely protecting the, ah, source of funding for my research......"  Tanj just laughed; "Oh, Professor, I think you have most certainly just assured funding for your research....."

"Wow, will you get a look at that!"  Hinoki's head snapped around to find a rather large bull blocking his path. "Where'd you find her?"  Behind the bull, a rather shabby looking Rat piped up; "and are ya gonna share her with us?"  A voice from behind Hinoki growled; "of course he is; in fact, he's gonna share himself too....."  Hinoki turned, almost smacking a rather large tiger in the stomach with Kath's feet, as Kath's hair whipped against the Bull's stomach.  The initial assessment wasn't good.  Too many of them for him to fight by himself, and at the moment Kath wasn't going to be much help.  "Um.... Look guys, this isn't what it looks like....."  The rat chuckled; "Oh?  And just what IS it then?"  Hinoki swallowed; "Um, medical experiment...."  The Tiger chuckled, causing Hinoki to turn again; "Yeah, how many furrs does it take to get the Mink pregnant."  Hinoki swallowed; "Uh, not quite... believe me... BELIEVE me, you wouldn't want to catch what she's got...."  For a moment Hinoki thought they were going to swallow that, and then the Bull chuckled; "he's lyin'!  He just wants her all for himself!"  Suddenly it seemed as if a dozen paws were reaching out for Kath... and for Hinoki himself!

Kath blinked and shook her head.  Someone was squeezing her breasts enthusiastically, fingers toying with her nipples as her breasts were sqeezed together.  Trying to focus she found herself looking at a gray Rat; a rat who was seated astride her chest, his hard cock pressed between her breasts.  "Oh good, she's awake!"  Kath opened her mouth to say something.... And then she got a good whiff of her own scent.  Smiling, remembering the Pantheress and her attentions most fondly, she wondered where she'd gotten off to, and who these guys were.  Taking another breath she decided it didn't matter, and leaning her head forward, she began to lick at the head of the Rat's cock, where it emerged from the valley of her breasts.....

Hinoki groaned in frustration and excitement; the Tiger was holding him off the floor, one wrist in each hand, spread-eagled, while his associates took turns examining his "fitting"....  "I tell you, Mistress Jenka did that....  And she's not going to be happy if you guys mess up the project!"  A gray wolf straightened, one paw moving to fondle the Cheetah's balls; "looks like she's already upset with you, or she never would have done that to you in the first place.  Besides, it seems to me as if YOU'RE the one that'll be in trouble, not us."  Hinoki squirmed as his cock tried to harden, tried to respond, only to meet the unyielding form encasing it.  His distress only seemed to amuse the Wolf.  Raising his gaze, the Wolf chuckled; "it's a shame he can't partake in any of the pleasure, but that doesn't mean we can't have any.  Bruno, you want him first?"  The Tiger just chuckled and nodded; lifting Hinoki by his wrists he rubbed the Cheetah's ass against his crotch.  Hinoki groaned as he felt the Tiger's cock start to stiffen.....  It would be just his luck that the Tiger was well hung......

Kath purrrred around the Stoat's cock.  A rather large bear was underneath her, slowly thrusting up into her pussy, stretching her further than she thought she'd ever been stretched before, while an energetic young fox plumbed the depths of her ass.  Three at once!  Grinning, she ran her tongue along the underside of the Stoat's shaft, feeling him tremble in response.  Despite her excesses with the Pantheress, despite her tenderness, it seemed as if she just couldn't get enough of any of them!

Hinoki squirmed, with no place to go; the Tiger had dropped to his knees, and lowered Hinoki to a kneeling position; it hadn't taken long for the feline to work his cock into the Cheetah's ass.  The Gray wolf had knelt before Hinoki, pressing his own cock to the Cheetah's lips.  And now, Hinoki rocked back and forth, alternately driving the Wolf's cock into his mouth, or the Tiger's thick shaft into his ass; back and forth, back and forth.  And with each motion he could feel his cock throbbing in its prison, desperately seeking freedom, seeking release.  It was the most frustrating sexual experience of his life!

Kath giggled as the Stoat came, her tongue flicking out at the head of his cock, trying to capture a taste of his jism; but the stoat pulled back, and laughing, sprayed his seed over her face and chest.  "There, now everyone will know how good a cocksucker you are!" he laughed.  Moments later, the Fox was pulling out of her ass, his fist stroking rapidly around his own cock, spraying her rump and back with his seed.  Kath laughed with them, and sitting up a bit, began moving a little faster on the Bear's cock.

Hinoki almost choked as the Wolf thrust his cock deep into his throat, and came with a howl.  As the Wolf stepped back, searching for his pants, a Moose took his place.  Running one hand over the Cheetah's head he chuckled; "Think you can open your jaws wide enough to take me?"  Hinoki's eyes went wide, but before he could utter a word, the Moose was thrusting his hips forward, his meat filling the Cheetah's mouth, stretching his lips, stifling any sound he might have made.

Kath smiled, and stretched; the Bear had been a gentlefurr, thanking her nicely, before sliding out from under her.  Now, a Zebra stallion was taking his place, kneeling behind her, as a lady ringtail presented her pussy to the Mink's muzzle.  Idly Kath wondered where those two had come from; they hadn't been here before......

"you know, I don't mind "sloppy seconds," but this is getting' rediculous!"  A chorus of voices echoed the sentiment, most of them laughing.  Hinoki panted, and swallowed hard; half twisting, he got his head up enough to get a look at what the furr was talking about.  Kath, with a smile on her face, seemed to have been covered in cum, small puddles forming around here where it dripped off her fur.  Thinking fast, the Cheetah cleared his throat and called out; "Yeah, you know, maybe we ought to move the party to a hot-tub somewhere...."  The furr that had made the initial comment chuckled; "No......" and Hinoki's heart fell.  "Got a better idea; they got a large whirlpool in the gym on Deck 17 that's big enough to take a whole splatball team!  As a chorus of assent broke out, Hinoki chuckled; the water should wash the scent from his and Kath's fur, and maybe, just maybe, bring the orgy to an end.

Kath giggled as she felt strong arms lift her; A muscular Wolverine picked her up, and holding her upside down against his front, pressed his muzzle between her legs, as he started walking down the corridor.  All around him, other furs were calling out lewd comments, and reaching out to stroke the cum-slick Mink's fur.  Laughing, Kath found the Wolverine's cock, and taking it in her mouth, proceeded to suck him as best she was able, bouncing up and down with each step.

The hot swirling water was a welcome relief to Hinoki, as the Moose dropped him into the Whirlpool.  However, as he surfaced, someone grabbed him, pushing his head under water, pressing it into their crotch.  It was obvious the Orgy wasn't over yet.....

Bruno yawned, and stretched, water dripping from his arms.  He'd had the Cheetah in the ass twice, and taken the Mink in her pussy once.  His balls ached, and he was having trouble keeping his eyes open.  Rising from the water, sending a small tidal wave across the whirlpool he waved bye to his friends; "Catch ya later, guys.  I'm gonna go hit the hay!"

Hinoki surfaced with a gasp.  He'd sucked off yet another furr, barely being allowed to surface enough to stay conscious.  Looking around, fearful that he'd be grabbed by yet another furr, he realized that the whirlpool was almost empty.  Wading through the water, he grabbed Kath, whispering "come on, we've got to get you back to your mistress!"  A squirrel started to rise out of the water in protest, but Hinoki's glare made him think twice.  Dragging Kath from the whirlpool, the two of them dripping water as they walked, Hinoki hurried the Mink away as fast as he could.

Kath yawned as she palmed the doorlock.  As the door slid aside, she slipped through.  Hinoki followed, palming the switch to close the door, and only as it sighed closed did he relax.  From the bedroom, a sleepy voice called out "Kath, is that you?"   Yawning again, Kath muttered; "Yes Mistress...."  Hinoki padded towards the door, intending to make his apologies to Wanda, but the sight that met his eyes made him forget what he was going to say.  The bed covers were in disarray, and it was obvious that Wanda wasn't alone in her bed.  As he sputtered, a rather large Kodiak Bear, opened one eye to regard him coldly.  Nestled against the Bear, Wanda chuckled; "Hinoki, have you met Dr. Kildaire?"  All the Cheetah could do was to shake his head and mutter; "Sorrytodisturbyou,I'vebroughtKathbackandI'lltellyouallaboutitlater! Bye!"  As he padded back towards his "room" and the Pantheress, Hinoki wondered if he shouldn't have asked the Bear to look at him; his bottom was amazingly sore, as was his jaw, and he had the most massive case of "blueballs" he'd ever experienced.... Deciding it really wasn't the right time, he did his best to ignore the discomforts.  Half afraid of what he'd find when he got back to Sashi, he tried to move as fast as his tired legs would carry him.

Jenka looked on as several of her technical experts looked over the machine, still softly humming.  "And you say this thing will not only knock most electronics off line, but will render everyone within range unconscious as well?  Tanj smiled and shrugged; "That's what Corey says.  His hand held test device seems to have worked as he predicted."  The latter was with a nod towards John's still somnolent form, hard up against the bulkhead.  Jenka shuddered, her arms wrapped around herself as if she were suddenly cold.  "I agree, it would be in our best interests to speed the Professor on his way.  AND I'll make sure that those that come into contact with him treat him with respect."  Tanj chuckled and nodded; "doesn't seem to be prudent to get him upset, does it."  Turning to the tech, the Cheetah purrrred; "Do you think you can figure out how it works?"  The Beaver scratched his head and then shook it; "no way.  I have NO idea what this thing is, or what its supposed to do.  On the other hand, it seems to have been made from things taken from our own stores, so I think I could probably duplicate it, if I had to."  Jenka muttered "Yeah, and I'd like to know how he got into our computer system to not only authorize himself this room, and his ration card, but to also authorize all this hardware as well!"  Tanj smiled; "We'll deal with that later; right now we need to stage a field test.  IF this thing works, I think our planning for the raid on Nikkeldepain just got a whole lot simpler.....

Jenka looked from face to face; "you understand?  You're not to stop for ANYTHING, you're not to bother the Professor, you're to treat him kindly but firmly, and you are NOT to let him build anything!  Get him to that damn university, make sure he's settled, help him set up his finances and his housekeeping, if you have to, help him hire an assistant.  DO NOT return until he's fully wrapped up in his new routine.  I don't want him following you back here.  GOT IT?"  The captain of the recon ship, the closest thing the Black Fleet had to a fast courier, nodded and swallowed; "Ma'am, is it true.... That thing...."  Jenka gave the Wallaby a quick nod; "Yeah, the field test worked.  They still can't figure out how it works, and no one can follow his explanation, but the test rig shut down everything but main power on the freighter we tried it on, and the boarding party found everyone out like a light.  It also took out the three closest raiders, one of which was a good two hundred thousand kilometers from the target."  The Wallaby swallowed hard; "Something like that could land us all on execution dock, if the Empire ever got hold of it...."  Jenka smiled; "Don't worry, the countervail worked on the ship we'd installed it on; behave and I'll sell you one for your ship too."  The Wallaby shot her a dirty look, but just nodded in agreement.

Tanj smiled and gave the Lynx a hug; "You have a good trip, now.  You've got my instructions for how to get messages to me?"  The Lynx just nodded; "seems awful round-about if you ask me, but if that's the way you wish it, that's how it shall be."  Tanj smiled "And you have the credit voucher?"  The Lynx patted a pocket, got a concerned look on his face, patted another and then stuffed a paw into a third.  Breaking into a grin, he produced a data crystal for Tanj's approval"  "Good, I'm glad; but don't loose it!"  The Lynx looked pained; "I understand full well how much credit is on this; your.... Ah, "associate" was most generous, especially for a device with so little practical purpose."  Tanj smiled; "Oh, I think she'll put your invention to good use.  Very good use indeed!."

After a moment's awkward silence, Corey turned to Tanj.  Looking at her as if she were a first year graduate student, Corey asked; "are you sure you have the list of instruments that I'm going to need?"  Tanj just nodded; "copy stored on three different computers and in my desk in hard copy."  Corey nodded, as if that might not be enough; "and the list of spatial anomolies I need readings on?  And the list of readings I need for each one?"  Tanj just nodded again; "I have all of that.  As soon as funds are available, I'll hire research vessels, and have them coordinate with you before they leave."  Corey nodded, and then proceeded to look up and down the corridor, making sure there was no one within earshot; "And you'll see about having someone try and get me copies of the current researches of Keyth, Lambrusco, Terrence, and Odeta?  Oh, and that Hauptmann fellow too...."  Tanj smiled and nodded; "I have just the furr for the job.  I'll put him on it right away."  Corey nodded; "Very well then, I believe we've covered everything.  I'll be on my way, then."  The Lynx turned and took three brisk steps towards the waiting airlock, slowed and then turned.  Dropping his bags he retraced his steps to give the Cheetah a tight hug; "Be careful; I've come to be fond of you, although I have no clue why.  I'm worried about you here amongst all these ruffians.  DO take care of yourself!"  Tanj smiled and kissed him on the nose; "I'll be fine; you take care of yourself too!"

Tanj watched as the recon ship left the station, rapidly dwindling to just a bright point of light, and then vanishing completely.  She couldn't help but think that there went her best, possibly her only chance to find the Lion and the others.  "Can't think like that, Tanj Girl" she thought to herself, turning away from the port; "There's always the Brou; THEY may have the information you need....."

Jenka was waiting for Tanj as she left the docking ring, arms crossed, an inscrutable look on her face.  Without a word, she turned and the two walked together towards the core of the station.  After a while, Jenka murmurred; "I suppose I should give you some time to check on what the other members of your crew have been up to.  It seems... "dangerous" to leave even the seemingly most harmless of them to their own devices."  Tanj grinned; "Yes, although I'm NOT sure I'd call Corey, Smith or Roland "crew".  Not yet."  The Cheetah's grin widened; "Speaking of Roland, I DO think I need to find him; did Zassa tell you what's been going on?"  Jenka smiled "no, but I have my sources.  I've sent her down to the kennels, for a "rest".  If Roland, or Chris want to play with her, they'll have to sign her out, and if there's any mischief between them, they'll have to deal with ME!"  Tanj frowned; "She's been tied up an awful lot lately; are you sure sending her to the slave kennels is wise?"  Jenka chuckled; "It was her idea.  She'd apparently been giving the situation quite a bit of thought."  Tanj just laughed.

2402.207
 

The squealing of the inner airlock door was forgotten, when Hinoki caught sight of the Pantheress.  It looked as if she were encased in a glossy black latex suit.  Not one square centimeter of her, not even her tail, was visible.  Worse, there were several globs of black that occupied spaces on the floor, walls and ceiling.  With a gasp, Hinoki made a dash for the insulated container that contained the chunks of dry ice.  Unnoticed, behind him, the inner airlock door squealed to an almost-closed position.

The Cheetah felt the first tentative touch at his left foot, and whirled, to press the chunk of dry ice against it.  The creatures were realizing there was another "victim" in the room, and were moving in on him.  So far, he'd iced four, throwing them in a bucket with some chips of dry ice.  But there were at least seven more moving towards him.  Wondering how they possibly could have multiplied so fast, he kept moving, touching this one and that with a handful of dry ice.  The insulated gloves were good, but  his hands were starting to feel cold, and the supply of dry ice wasn't infinite......  He could only hope he could keep ahead of the little monsters......

Hinoki groaned.  The creature covering Sashi's crotch slowly dropped free, and as it hit the floor, it subdivided into two smaller creatures, both of which tried to crawl back up onto the Pantheress.  However, another creature had already taken its place, driving a tendril deep into her pussy.  Sashi was moaning, writhing, her hips bucking against a phantom lover, as, lost in her lusts, she suffered climax after climax.  With no time to watch, however, Hinoki took a step to the side and a step back, leaning over to press the chunk of dry ice against yet another of the creatures......

Hinoki yelped, and the chunk of dry ice in his paw went flying as something dropped onto him from above.  The creature slithered down his back, moving rapidly under his tail, between his legs.  Frustrated for an instant at the metal covering his cock, the creature lost no time in driving a tendril into the poor Cheetah's ass.  Hinoki yowled and danced, managing to fetch one of the few remaining chunks of dry ice from the container, and exhibiting motions worthy of a contortionist, managed to get the chunk onto the creature before it could wrap a tendril around his balls.  Grunting, Hinoki tried to dislodge the frozen, and now rather stiff creature from his bottom.

Hinoki chuckled and shook his head, holding in his insulated glove, a chunk of dry ice about three centimeters by two, by three.  It was all that was left of his stock, but he'd captured every creature in the room.  He'd torn apart the bedding and checked under the sink, and everywhere he could think of.  He was sure he'd gotten them all.  Rising, stretching, he untied the exhausted Sashi, and making sure her ankle chain was secure, placed her on the bed.  Taking one last look around, he rechecked the seals on the containers holding the little monsters, and with a sigh, headed out through the airlock.  He needed a shower, and some sleep himself.  As the inner door scraped its way open he frowned; "Going to have to get someone to look at that" he mused.  But he'd gotten all the creatures, and the room was under a slight negative pressure; it should be all right......

He'd made it almost all the way back to the Lost Cause, when he heard a voice behind him; "Heya, Cutie, where YOU goin'?"  Looking over his shoulder at the trio of fems, he just groaned!

Hinoki's fur was still damp when he sauntered into Medical.  The place was fairly quiet, and after a few minutes, Wanda showed up, wearing lavender scrubs, and an ID badge.  "We've been running tests on the samples I took.  You'll be glad to know that it's not in her respiratory gasses, but rather pheromone based.  Its also present in significant quantities in all her bodily fluids, and they can be absorbed through the skin.  That's less effective than inhaling the pheromones, however.  I want to get her in here for a series of X-rays; what's got everyone confused is just HOW she manages to produce such complex and effective pheromones."  Hinoki nodded, and then scowled; "Getting her in here could be a neat trick...."  Wanda nodded; "that's true.  Perhaps some sort of an environment suit?"  Hinoki nodded; "But it would have to be something that didn't interfere with the scans.  That leaves space armor out; too much metal...."  Wanda nodded and then shrugged; "I'll leave it to you; you know more about those things than I do.  Oh, and lets do it on the graveyard shift when there aren't that many furrrs about."

Smith nodded and shrugged; "Most of the story I know already.  You know, I haven't really had much to do here while, ah, certain issues sort themselves out.  I've heard about the various inadvertent orgies that have been spawned from his "research", and I know that Wanda's been to visit him, to collect samples.  I DO trust Kath's OK after that one little incident...."  Tanj blinked; "Um.... Actually I haven't heard any of this.  Maybe you'd best tell me everything....  Smith nodded, closed his eyes, and started a detailed account of the Cheetah male's activities.

Tanj sat by Jenka's empty chair, a thin gold chain flowing from her collar to where the leash was tied off to the armrest.  Tonight she was in traditional harem garb, her outfit scanty, all but transparent, and alluring.  In fact, the Cheetah thought she was wearing more jewelry than clothing....  Jenka was in the commons area, wearing her trademark leather catsuit, black tonight, dark, and severe, and a little sinister.  She was putting the final touches on the Stallion's restraints.  John was standing on the tips of his hooves, stretched upwards, a rope attached to his wrist cuffs, tugging him towards the ceiling.  He was forced to stand with legs widespread, his feet barely touching the tops of two slender pillars.  If he should loose his footing, he'd be dangling by his wrists.  A thong held his tail up, and out of the way, fastened to the back of his collar.  Striding around the Stallion, Jenka looked him over and nodded, satisfied with his positioning.  Without preamble she selected one of a selection of riding crops, and padding around behind the Stallion, brought it down on his right asscheek with all her force.

As Tanj watched, she became aware of how symbolic the whole thing was.  The horse's hide was tough, and the riding crop comparatively small.  It probably stung, but not severely.  It was the public spectacle, the humiliation of the public punishment that had to hurt worse than anything.  Moving slowly, the Jaguar circled the splayed Stallion, raining blows on ass, and thighs, back and stomach.

When she was done, she was panting hard, and the Stallion was covered in sweat.  Tanj grinned; Jenka must have been swinging the riding crop harder than she'd thought; there were little marks visible through the Stallion's coat; little heart-shaped marks.  The Tab on the end of the riding crop apparently wasn't square......  It was a very interesting statement by the Jaguar.  John hadn't, as far as Tanj could tell, moved a muscle during his punishment.  Signaling with a wave of her hand, Jenka watched as the rope was slackened, until the Stallion could hop down off the pillars.  Reaching up to take his collar, Jenka dragged him over to a pair of stocks that could only have been built for someone of his size.  Moments later, the Stallion was bent over, head and wrists locked near floor level, ankles held apart, his rump high in the air.  With his tail tied back, he was an inviting target.  Jenka finished his humiliation by sticking a small sign to his left asscheek, labeled "Fuck me, Please."  Then, with a grin, she turned and headed back to her table.

"You know" the whisper came from behind Tanj's left ear, "if I wasn't saddled with this gizmo of Jenka's I'd be delighted to take advantage of that."  Tanj chuckled; "Hello Hinoki; I've heard of your predicament.  But right now, I think you should be thankful that you're not bound up there next to him."  Hinoki chuckled; "Oh?  Why's that?"  Tanj smiled and turned to kiss the male on the nose; "Oh, you know full well why.  He didn't just go berserk in Jenka's quarters; something was driving him; something like what you're currently working with."  Hinoki adopted his best "hurt" look; "why, I've got that situation completely under control... but..."  Looking left and right, Hinoki whispered conspiratorily; "maybe what Sashi's got is contagious!  John's worked with her longer than I have; maybe HE'S starting to do it too!"  Tanj just chuckled; "I think you've been reading too many science fiction novels...."  Looking up, Hinoki caught sight of the approaching Jaguar; "maybe, maybe not.... Still got a little more work to do before I can prove that one way or another, though...  And right now I'd better scoot."  Kissing the Cheetah on the mouth, Hinoki turned and slipped back into the crowd.

Smith went over the numbers again.  He'd had training in accounting practices, of course, albeit mainly in how to hide the fact that he was siphoning funds from someone else's accounts.... Or how to screw up someone else's books so bad they didn't know if they were making a profit or not, if they had any money left in their accounts, or not.  And that was just what seemed to be happening here.  The Black Fleet wasn't nearly as profitable as it should be.  The cover-up moves from Accounting were obvious, if you knew where to look.  As were the occasional changes in accounting procedures that were probably instituted to try and catch whoever was doing the stealing.  Frowning, the .... Coyote started going through the system again, wondering where he could find a GOOD accountant......  And wondering if this was some sort of back-door assault on Jenka's leadership, or just a simple... all right, a very sophisticated theft.... Or was someone trying to take out the whole of the Black Fleet without firing a shot?

Hinoki ran his fingers over the seals, and frowned.  The latex suit no longer seemed to be in the best of shape, but he hoped it would do for a little while longer.  Sashi looked as if she'd been stuffed into an extra-large surgeon's glove, the translucent material stretched across her body.  Her nipples were plainly visible, as was her crotch.  The Pantheress seemed to be permanently wet down there.  Hoping that it would do, he looped the cord around Sashi's neck, tied a bowline, and tugging on the end of the makeshift lead, pulled her into the airlock.

The Cheetah couldn't help but smile as Sashi made those typical latex sounds, little sqeaks and snaps, as she walked.  They drew the usual stares, but apparently the suit was holding up well enough that they didn't draw any greater attention....

Wanda had on a respirator when she met them at the door to medical; "Lets get her into the isolation ward.  We've got all the equipment we need there, and its got a separate atmosphere system."  Hinoki nodded, and tugged on the Pantheress' lead.  Sashi looked around curiously as they led her through yet another airlock.

Smith laid the data crystal on Jenka's desk without a flourish, placing it there instead, as if it were a bomb that might go off.  Jenka looked at the nondescript furr for a moment, and then picked up the crystal and popped it into the reader.  "As you can see," Smith muttered quietly, "the medical scans show considerable evidence of both nanobot reconstruction, and significant genetic modification.  The most obvious example is the presence of an extra organ behind her heart.  Whatever that organ is, can dump whatever it produces directly into her bloodstream.  There's an attached vid file that can explain the situation much better than I can."  Jenka noded and opened the file.  The image was a little grainy, and a little distorted, and looked down on Wanda, Kath, Hinoki and Sashi from above and behind, as if it had been stuck in the corner of the room.  Wanda was talking, addressing Hinoki:  "There's no doubt that whatever it is, its necessary for her continued existance.  The hormones it secretes not only seem to regulate all the other hormonal and endocrinal secretions, but at times of stress, seem to give her unusual strength and stamina."  The latter was with a look askance to Kath, who seemed to blush under her fur.  "That's how she can, um, "fuck everyone else under the table."  I'd suspect in a combat situation she'd be damn near unstoppable as well.  The problem is, this gland only seems to function when her heartbeat is elevated.  Such as when she's having sex.  Actually, specifically when she's having a climax.  Thus her great sexual drive is actually a survival mechanism.  She HAS to have sex to have that one special hormone produced, and she has to have that one special hormone produced to keep her body functioning correctly.  Of course, the pheromone production is also related to this, attracting sexual partners, so that she can climax.  I suspect the hormone acts like some sort of addictive drug, to boot."  Hinoki nodded; "So.... If we arrange for her to have the required number of climaxes per day... and possibly if she gets enough really strenuous exercise, AND we get her to shower immediately after, then she MIGHT be able to function without, ah, an environment suit?"  Wanda shrugged; "I suspect she might, but....  well, I guess we'll just have to try it and see."  Hinoki nodded; "What about... um, topical remedies that might counteract the pheromones?"  Wanda chuckled; "you mean, something like deodorant?  Spray it on, and the pheromones are less, um, pervasive?"  Hinoki nodded; "Yeah, something like that."  Wanda nodded slowly; "We...  might be able to come up with something.....  But in the meantime, I think I'd just recommend a good, and I mean a GOOD pair of TIGHT latex panties."

Kath sighed; "I'm worried though.  Oh, not about her leaking through her panties, or something like that, but about.... Well, about the Why of this."  Wanda raised an eyebrow and Hinoki made a "continue" gesture...   After a moment the Mink went on; "Think about it.  This is obviously a genetic modification.  Things like this don't happen in nature, at least not that we know of.  And this is a very sophisticated genetic modification.  I mean, Imperial Research Institute, or better.  Years of work."  Wanda nodded; "Yes, most impressive..."  Hinoki sighed; "so why go to all this trouble?  All this trouble for an irresistible sex slave?"  Kath shrugged; "no good if you can't control her.  Heck, she'll fuck you to death!  Believe me, I know!"  Kath grinned at Sashi who just shrugged sheepishly.  Wanda hmmmed; "a failed experiment perhaps?"  Kath shrugged; "Maybe... or maybe a weapon delivered exactly on target."  Hinoki's eyes went wide; "the battle that never was!  Good Lord, do you think someone's targeted the Black Fleet, hoping to catch them with their pants down?"  Kath shrugged again; "maybe... or maybe she's targeted on one specific person, whom she just hasn't met yet.  Remember, that extra organ can provide her with extra strength too.  Maybe as she has a climax with that one special fur, she'll snap his neck... or hers."  Wanda swallowed hard, and nodded; "so how do we look for hypnotic conditioning?"  Kath sighed; "we can't.  They can hide it much better than we could ever search for it.  We wouldn't know until whatever it was triggered her response.  IF that's even what's going on here!"

Hinoki swallowed; "in the "weapon" train of thought; what if there was a tailored virus designed to live in her body, with her as a host, and be transmitted through her pheromones?"  Wanda shrugged; "it would have to be very sophisticated; perhaps there's a trigger that causes the virus to mutate to a virulent form?  I'll scan her again, but I'm not sure we'd find something really cleverly designed...."

Jenka sighed as the conversation drifted off onto the topic of zen meditation, and other techniques for reducing stress, and lowering one's heartbeat.  Looking over at Tanj she shook her head; "obviously, I have enemies; those that would delight in my destruction.  I fear that I might just be the target of this attack."  Tanj shrugged; "if it even IS an attack.  It could be that Sashi's merely an experiment towards that end that didn't work out quite as they'd planned, and they were simply, ah, "disposing" of her.  Or maybe they were sending her somewhere else for training."  "or for equipping her with the tailored virus" the Jaguar mused.  "Either way, I'm not going to take the chance.  She'll have to go."  Tanj nodded slowly; "I hope you're not simply going to throw her out an airlock; I'm certain none of this is HER fault..."  Jenka regarded the Cheetah for a moment and then grumbled; "you got a better idea?"  Tanj smiled; "as a matter of fact, I do.  I think I know a place where she'd fit in perfectly.  The problem is, it might be a while before I can get her there."  Jenka shifted in her seat; "all right, but it'll be YOUR responsibility to see that she doesn't turn into a liability in the meantime, and that includes spreading viruses.  I'll have her moved to your ship directly."  Tanj grinned; "what, and let Hinoki off the hook so easily?  I think there's still some fun we can have with the situation, and keep everyone safe......"

2402.208

Hinoki looked curiously at the spray bottle.  The fluid was greenish, and sniffing carefully at it, the Cheetah winced; it was none too pleasant.  Looking over at the hooded Pantheress, who was seated in the full lotus position, eyes closed, he looked back at Wanda and sighed; "I guess there's only one way to find out.  You ready for this?  Wanda chuckled and raised an eyebrow as she unclipped Kath's leash.   The Mink had a rather strange look on her face, one of fear, mixed with naked lust.  After a moment, Kath nodded to her Mistress, signaling she was ready.

"OK, here's the test program.  Sashi had a fun time with a vibrator this morning.  I let her have a full four climaxes.  She's since been showered, and scrubbed, and has been practicing the meditation techniques I've taught her.  Her heartbeat is completely normal, and her brainwave pattern shows she's calm.  In theory she shouldn't be putting out any pheromones.  We'll remove Kath's respirator, and see if she responds.  If all goes well, we'll remove Sashi's hood.  If she's mastered the self-control techniques I've taught her, she shouldn't react sexually... IF she can control herself.  We'll then allow Kath to tease her, to see at what point she looses control.  When she looses control (I don't think there's an "if" about it, not yet) we'll try your spray, to see if that'll calm them down.  We'll all then decontaminate, ourselves and the room, before you leave."  Wanda nodded; "sounds like a plan.  I've got the sensors running; lets do it."

Kath slipped the respirator off her muzzle and took a tentative sniff.  The smell of disinfectant was strong.  The reason was obvious; Hinoki had rigged pipes along the ceiling, to spray down everything in the room with a powerful disinfectant solution.  It wouldn't counteract Sashi's pheromones, but like a good shower, it would wash it away.  A sump had been rigged in one corner to collect the run-off.  Sashi's bed had been replaced with a plastic inflatable mattress, and anything of value in the room was housed in NEMA-4 waterproof, airtight containers.  The place looked like a skindiver's locker room.  After waiting a few moments, Kath turned to look at her Mistress, and Hinoki, and shrug.  Hinoki nodded in satisfaction; "Thought so; the airborne organics monitor hadn't picked up anything from her.  OK, now on to phase two."

Sashi felt paws moving over her head and knew the buckles of the hood were being released.  She knew her part, knew what was expected of her, knew, and wanted the promised rewards, and still knew it wasn't going to be easy.  Letting the mantra run through her head, she prepared herself as best possible.

The sight of the nude and collared Mink brought a smile to the Pantheress' face.  "I remember you!" she purrred.  Kath laughed and nodded; "and I'll never forget you!"  Hinoki's voice was stern; "Don't loose it, Sashi.  Remember what I've told you; remember what you've practiced."  Sashi nodded.  Their scents were in her nose, teasing her; two females, one male, and all of them smelling soooooo delicious.  But she knew the Male couldn't help her, because of that devilish device, and she knew this was a test.  Calming herself, she thought of what it would take to please her trainer, and inwardly groaned.

Wanda looked at her chronograph, and then at the analyzer readout.  There were traces of her pheromones, but they were still below the "trigger" threshold.  So far, the Pantheress had been able to hold herself in control for ten minutes.....  So far so good.

Sashi watched Hinoki pace.  It was better to look at him, than either of the females.  She WANTED them.  Wanted them bad.  But she also didn't want to displease her trainer.  Listening to the blood pound in her ears, she tried again to calm herself, to slow her heartbeat....  It was becoming increasingly difficult.

Wanda looked up from the monitor, and caught Hinoki's eye.  Making a waving motion with her hand, she tried to signify that the Pantheress was wavering in her control.  Hinoki nodded, checked the elapsed time, and shrugged.  Turning he nodded to Kath.

Kath smiled; she'd been kneeling as her Mistress had instructed; now she shifted a bit, spreading her knees a mite wider.  With her eyes on the Pantheress, in what she hoped was her best smoldering gaze, Kath glanced at Wanda, and then at Hinoki, to make sure neither of them were looking directly at her.  Then she let her right paw slide off her thigh where it rested, into her crotch.  She was sure that only the Pantheress could see her secretly stroke herself......

Sashi groaned inwardly and bit down on her tongue.  Hard.  That Mink was teasing her, trying to get her to loose control.  Doing her best to focus past the mink, to not see what she was doing, the Pantheress struggled to control her body, and her mind.

Kath let her other paw slip towards her crotch as the middle finger of her other paw flicked slowly back and forth along her slit.  She knew the Pantheress was watching through slitted eyes; she could see the increase in respiration, she could almost feel her heat, and yet she didn't move.  And more importantly, there was nothing teasing her hindbrain, driving her to loose her own control.  Proceeding at a calculated pace, the Mink used two fingers to gently part the petals of her sex, while the finger from her other paw teased the pinkness within.

Wanda watched her pet from the corner of her eye, and shifted a little uncomfortably.  Lord, Kath could tease when she wanted to.  Forcing her eyes back to the monitor, the Wolverine lass watched the airborne organics hover around the "trigger" limit, the point at which your senses became aware of them.  The Pantheress was really doing much better than she'd expected.  At this rate, Kath would have to tease herself to a climax before Wanda got to try out her spray.....

Hinoki checked the complicated medical scanner; so far there was no sign of any virus in the Pantheress' body that hadn't been there before.  If she was a biological time bomb, it was only of the sexual sort.  Swallowing hard, the Cheetah tried hard to keep his eyes off the Mink, his cock feeling uncomfortably tight in its restraint.

Kath purrred softly to herself as the pad on her thumb rubbed against her clitty.  Wanda hadn't given her any restrictions against cumming, and that was rare...  stroking herself a little faster, she felt her own heartbeat rise, felt her own breathing become rapid......

Sashi watched the Mink work two fingers in and out of her pussy, while her thumb rubbed vigorously at her clitty......  It was almost more than she could stand; she felt SO jealous.... So... Deprived... and yet in the back of her mind was a curious calmness, as a small voice whispered to her; "you've seen things like that before; this is nothing new.  You can control yourself; you can earn the promised rewards!"  As her own emotions warred within her, Sashi found her gaze centered on the Mink's pink sex, her moving fingers, and her soft moans......  And slowly, bit by bit, she lost control.

Wanda nodded as the organics levels slipped above the trigger threshold, and stayed there.  The Pantheress hadn't moved.... Well, if you discounted her tailtip, which was flipping back and forth rapidly, but felines did that....  It was obvious that her pheromones were having an effect on Kath, who had slipped onto her back, legs splayed wide, as she gave a thorough demonstration of female masturbation techniques.....  Watching, trying to maintain her clinical detachment, Wanda waited for the point where either Sashi, or Kath could no longer stay away from the other.  Who would give in first?

Kath was arched backwards, her calves in contact with the floor, knees widespread, the back of her head on the deck, her body arched upwards.  One arm was beneath her, fingers teasing her anus, while her other paw worked over her sex.  Her eyes were closed, her mouth was hanging open tongue lolling....  As her third climax broke, her moans filling the air, Sashi finally lost it.  Her chain was just barely long enough to allow her to press her muzzle against the Mink's sex, her tongue driving in alongside Kath's frantic fingers.  Kath yelped in surprise, and then in pleasure, both arms snaking out to grab the Pantheress' head, to hold her muzzle hard to her crotch.

Hinoki grinned and shrugged; "well, we knew it was going to happen eventually."  Wanda nodded and squirmed a little; "Yeah, that show's got me all wound up, and tempted to join in, and my respirator's still functioning normally, its got to be just the sight of Kath enjoying herself....   Ah...  How long before you want me to spray 'em?"  Hinoki chuckled; "Lets do it now; Sashi hasn't had any opportunity to climax yet, and will be at her most difficult-to-control."  Wanda nodded, and picking up the spray bottle, stepped in to spray the Pantheress' dripping pussy.

Kath moaned, and shuddered, as the Pantheress licked her to a violent climax....  As her heartbeat slowed, she blinked.... Suddenly she wasn't so all-fired intent on inducing the Pantheress to make love to her....  And there was Wanda, gesturing her to move back, out of reach.....  With a sigh, Kath slithered back, leaving Sashi with a very confused and hurt look on her face.

Hinoki growled; "OK, Sashi, that's enough.  Show me that you can regain control of yourself!"  Sashi whimpered, looking around, seeing all three of the furrs out of reach.  For a moment she was tempted to throw herself at one of them, but she knew the chain was strong enough to stop even her.  Reluctantly she pulled herself back into the full lotus position, and closing her eyes, she started running through the mantras.  As she tried to calm herself, she couldn't help but wonder, "what IS that smell?"

Wanda rubbed the towel through her hair, as Kath worked on drying her legs.  The disinfectant probably wasn't too good for her fur, but it beat having an unintended sexual encounter on the way back to their quarters.  Maybe.  Grinning at Hinoki, the Wolverine lass chuckled; "So what's next?"  Hinoki shrugged; "I think I've taught her all I can.  I don't think her control is ever going to be perfect, or perhaps even acceptable, but she's bound to improve some with practice.  I think the next step is for me to go talk to Jenka.

Jenka sipped her drink casually as she listened to Hinoki.  The male Cheetah was still naked, and kneeling in front of her, he exuded a certain attraction.  Letting her mind wander for a moment, Jenka wondered if she should remove his "device" and then take him to her bed; he was certain to be energetic enough....    Forcing her mind back, she tried to concentrate on what he was saying; while she already knew most of what he'd discovered, she didn't want to let HIM know that.....  "...and the exercise program has proven to be an utter failure; we can elevate her heartbeat, but not to the levels, or the pattern seen when she has a climax.  Still, hard exercise will give her a lower heartbeat at rest, and thus take her a little further from the point where she starts to cause, ah, "problems".  In short, Mistress, I don't think I can accomplish anything more."  Jenka nodded slowly; "so the bottom line is that you have failed to teach her sufficient control, to make her a saleable commodity."  Hinoki just nodded; "Yes, Mistress; All I can do is to plead for your mercy, and do my best to make amends."  Jenka raised an eyebrow; "amends.  What kind of amends?"  Hinoki kept his eyes lowered, his posture correct; "Mistress, I have grown rather fond of Sashi, as we've worked together.  If you feel she's not a salable commodity, let me buy her from you, at the price you'd hoped to command.  I..... may have a thought on how I can make use of her."  Jenka chuckled; "oh, I just BET you do..."  Hinoki smiled; "yes, Mistress, but beyond that, I may have an idea for a commercial venture that could prove profitable."

Jenka leaned forward; "All right, but I'd been planning on asking 200,000 for her."  Hinoki blinked, his head coming up in surprise.  "That's ludicrous; why when I was sold, I only brought 50,000, and that was as a fully trained slave!  For her, I'd offer, um... 35,000, and not a credit more!"  "Bullshit!  She's biologically unique!  Why just bottling her..... "juices" could make you a small fortune on the aphrodesiac market!".....  Hinoki shook his head; "now that we know what the compounds are, we don't need her to synthesize them!.....

Tanj smiled to herself.  From her vantage point, kneeling to one side and slightly behind Jenka's chair, the exchange was something to watch.  She'd talked to Hinoki, heard what he had planned, talked to Jenka, knew what she'd agree to, and talked to Hinoki yet again, sounding him out about HER idea.  The way those two "danced" was fascinating to watch.

"All right, you... Pirate!  85,000, but you have to cut the lease on the shop in half, until I can take her off-station.  AND you have to pay for the virus monitoring system, since you're so concerned about it."  Jenka growled, and then nodded; "Very well, but I get half the profits."  Hinoki's eyes went wide; "the HELL you do, if you want a share of the profits, then the shop's rent free!  AND the utilities get split down the middle!"  Jenka leaned forward; "DONE!"  Hinoki was silent for a moment, going over the convoluted deal they'd struck.. after a moment he  nodded, parroting  a quieter "done".  Tilting his head to one side, a wry smile spreading over his face, the Cheetah raised an eyebrow; "and will mistress seal the deal by giving me the key to this most annoying little lock?"  Jenka chuckled and nodded; after fishing in a pocket for a moment, she tossed a glittering little object to him, as if it were nothing.  Hinoki grabbed it out of mid-air, and rising, gave the Jaguar a half-bow.  "A pleasure doing business with you, Mistress."  Turning, he padded quietly to the door and was gone.

"Do you think this will work out, Pet?"  Tanj smiled and kissed the Jaguar on the nose, snuggling tight to her under the covers; "Mistress, I suspect so.  If Hinoki can't keep her here, its natural that he send her to the club he has a half interest in, on Gibralter station.  Sashi will be instrumental there in not only making the business a success, but she'll also be able to gather so much information for us.  AND if there's a time-bomb effect to her, it'll go off in the Empire's sector headquarters.  I suspect Hinoki will get rich, and we will know what the Empire is going to do before they do.  AND I suspect Sashi will get all the sex she could EVER want."  Jenka nodded and kissed the Cheetah softly; "so how soon do you think you can take her there?"  Tanj sighed; "Its going to be a little while; we've got the operation on Nikkeldepain to run, and I promised Smith I'd take him to where he needs to go.  I'd say two months at the minimum."  Jenka just nodded; "well, lets hope he can control her in the meantime.  Now c'mere, you!"  Tanj just giggled, and slipped under the covers, seeking out the tender places, the sensitive places that would make her Mistress cry out in ecstasy.

The timer was set, the backup system thoroughly checked out, all was prepared.  Sashi watched curiously from the other side of the room, as Hinoki went through his preparations.  "Twelve hours.  I'm giving us both twelve hours as a "reward."  Turning he grinned at the Pantheress, twirling the key on his finger.  Standing just outside of her reach, he bent down, to unlock the little lock at the entrance to his sheath.  The lock snapped open most satisfactorily.  "Glad she didn't try and trick me; I would have hated to have had to go "talk" to her...."  Tossing the lock aside, Hinoki gently spread the opening of his sheath, exposing the end of the metal tube.  Being a bit tender, he took his time, slowly working it out, until it slipped free.  Tossing it after the lock, he groaned; somehow he felt pounds lighter... and he felt as if his sheath was awfully loose...  Stepping forward, he pulled off the respirator, and grinned; "now, Slave, lets see just what these pheromones of yours are like.  Lets see just how irrisitable you can be!"  Sashi chuckled and crawled forward, to lick at the Cheetah's poor sheath, eager to find out how well endowed he was.  She had a new Master to please, and 12 hours to do it in, 12 hours until the timer sprayed the room with that stuff that made furrs loose interest in her.  It wasn't much time, but she'd use it as wisely as she could.  And you never know, sometimes those complex gadgets didn't work right....

Smith nodded to Jenka, and then took a seat next to the Cheetah.  After giving her a long hard look, he nodded, as if satisfied with her condition.  Turning to look at Jenka, he grinned; "you've made a very big mistake."  Jenka's posture remained calm, but she raised one eyebrow; "and that is?"  Smith's smile broadened; "you've left me with much too much time on my paws, while you've taken your pleasure with Ms. Kee."  Jenka smiled in turn; "I've had my security folks look in on you from time to time; I don't think you've  done anything that threatens the Black Fleet."  The.... Coyote?  Smiled; "Yes, Kitchens, Connor, and Ousley.  They're probably decent enough street cops, but they're certainly not in my leauge."  Tanj just giggled, obviously trying to keep a straight face and failing.  Jenka scowled at the Cheetah and then turned back to the ... Fox?  "We know you've been digging into the dueling culture, and checking out whoever might be a threat to Tanj; that kind of activity I had no problem in allowing....."  Smith nodded; "and I've checked out a few other things, some of which I'll tell you about, others I'll keep to myself.  For instance, I've uncovered some accounting irregularities.  Someone is stealing big time from the Black Fleet."

Jenka's eyes went wide, and then narrowed; "you HAVE been busy....."  Tanj's head swiveled from the .... Wolf?  to Jenka and back; "is that true?"  Jenka was silent for a moment, and Smith volunteered; "too true, I'm afraid.  The Black Fleet is running in the red bigtime, and only Jenka injecting funds from her personal fortune has kept it from being detected so far.  Unfortunately, just who's doing it, or perhaps more importantly, why, has eluded me."  Jenka chuckled; "with this bunch of pirates, you have to ask why?  Someone's just remarkably greedy, is all."  Smith shook his head; "I'm not certain of that.  Coupled with the sudden rise in this "Dueling Culture" I wonder if its not a direct assault on you, or possibly the Black Fleet as an entity.  Those suffering most from the dueling are the middle managers, ship captains, and department heads.  As good furrs are lost, the efficiency of the organization declines, and the whole is threatened.  The same goes for the financial situation."

Tanj sighed; "and I needed you so desperately elsewhere too....  But if the Black Fleet folds, my quest will become that much more difficult.  Mr. Smith, I'm going to have to ask you to stay here, to work on this."  Smith shook his head; "I've already taken it as far as my skills will let me.  What you need is a really clever accountant.  AND someone good with computer systems, someone who can find the backdoors that let these people do whatever it is they're doing in the accounting and financial systems."  Jenka nodded; "Tanj, you're going to have to pick up the ball on this one."  The Cheetah sighed and nodded.

Smith nodded; "now, there are a number of other projects we've discussed, and I'm eager to be off and about them.  How soon can you arrange passage off the station for me?"  Tanj smiled; "soon; within a few days, I hope.  I thought we'd exfiltrate you during the Nikkeldepain operation.  If everything goes according to plan, there should be quite a bit of confusion on the ground there, and they're a major hub; you should have no trouble getting passage to your final destination."  Smith smiled; "and of course I might be of some small help as the operation kicks off, too, right?"  The Cheetah just laughed; "indeed."  Smith nodded and rose; "I'll go take a look at the operational plans, and let you know what I think."  Tanj just nodded.

When the door had closed, Jenka raised an eyebrow; "but you didn't tell him where to find the operational plans, or give him a password."  Tanj chuckled; "Mistress, if he doesn't already know where they are, or have a way to access them, he's not half the furr I think he is."  Jenka just shook her head and scowled.

The "trader" looked askance at the Cheetah; "Yeah, SUUUURRRREEEE it's the world's greatest aphrodesiac.  Pull the other one, buddy!"  Hinoki just grinned; "tell you what; I'll give you a free sample.  You can go try it on the partner of your choice, and see what happens.  If you think it might be marketable, well, come on back and we'll negotiate a sales price."  The Rhino looked at the small vial the Cheetah offered, and then back at the Cheetah; "there's only a few drops in that thing."  Hinoki chuckled; "Yeah, and that's all you need for a night you'll remember all your life."  The Rhino looked at the vial again, and shrugged; "yeah, I'll give it a go, as long as its free."  Palming the vial, the Rhino grinned, and sauntered off."

"Master, was that wise?"  Hinoki chuckled; "Don't worry, Sashi, I diluted it a good bit."  The Pantheress looked after the retreating Rhino and shook her head; "I dunno, he's awfully big.... And you KNOW how folks loose control around me....."  Hinoki glanced over his shoulder; "Yeah.... But he's the most influential of the smugglers that supply the Black Fleet; if we can get him as a representative, well, it should bring untold rewards."  Sashi giggled and nodded; "Then, Master I hope it works...."

Tanj looked up from the commconsole at the shout.  Rising, she padded to the front of the Intelligence section offices.  A wide-eyed Lemur was standing there, his chest heaving; "Tanj, Jenka says to come quick; there's a sex crazed Hippo in the dockside bar that's wrecking the place.  Seems she's got some poor guy pinned to the floor and won't let him up..."  Tanj sighed and nodded; "I'll go and look right away, but I doubt I could overpower a hippo...."  Turning her head she looked for a certain.... "Howard!  Is the dockside bar in compliance with the "building code?"  The Silkie nodded, swallowing; "Yeah, ah, that close to the docks, and the refueling station its got all the safeguards; why?"  Tanj grinned; "get into the main computer and override the interlocks.  I want the sprinklers in that compartment on full."  Howard, swallowed again; "but the water damage...."  Tanj waved her paw in a dismissive gesture; "don't worry about that; I know where to send the bill!"  Turning, the Cheetah pushed past the Lemur, and into the hallway.

The Rhino sat in detention, a funny look on his face.  He was nude, and wet, and had a thoroughly exhausted look about him.  And yet there was an air of satisfaction about him as well.  Tanj marched up to the edge of the forcefield and glowered at him until he turned his gaze her way.  "One question.  Did a male cheetah give you a small vial of something, something that caused all this?"  The Rhino blinked, his smile fading a bit; "Um..... and why should I tell you?"  Tanj chuckled; "because if you don't cooperate, I'll tie you to a structural column, pour a quart of the stuff over you and LEAVE YOU ALONE."  Grinning, the Cheetah cocked her head to one side; "as I understand it, you'll get so horny, that without any relief, your heart will explode."  The Rhino looked at her for a moment and then shrugged; "hey, it was just a sample.  He said it was the world's greatest aphrodisiac, and boy was he RIGHT!"  Tanj just nodded, and turned to leave, but after taking a few steps she paused, and then turned back; "but why a Hippo?  Hey, I know Beth's a sweet girl, but she's a little, um... big."  The Rhino sighed and shook his head; "Yeah.... I know.  BELIEVE ME, I know.  Damn near suffocated me when she sat on my face.  No, I was TRYING to get it on a cute Tigress, when she bumped into me....  And the rest, they say, is history."

"WHAT?"  "you heard me; all your profits from the sales of your "aphrodisiac" go towards repairing the damage.  The dockside bar is a total disaster area!  There are eight furrs in the hospital, and Beth's so embarrassed she refuses to come out of her quarters!"  Hinoki sighed and shrugged; "All right..... if you insist".  Tanj chuckled and nodded; "Its not that I insist, its Jenka that insists.  However, Jenka has struck a deal with the Rhino to get you the supplies you requested.  In fact, he's making a special run.  Should be back the day after tomorrow, if the patrols don't catch him.  Have your "product" ready when he gets here."  Hinoki frowned; "we never settled on a price...."  Tanj smiled; "That's OK, Jenka took it upon herself to act as your agent.... AND I think she got you a pretty good deal.  Remember, she's interested in getting her station put back together, AND she's looking forward to the profits from your little enterprise..."  Hinoki just groaned.

"Trouble, Master?"  The Cheetah smiled and kissed Sashi softly; "Nothing I can't handle.  Oh, I've got some small bills to settle from our first marketing effort, And Jenka's horning in, trying to get herself a cut, but that's OK, there should be plenty to go around."  The Cheetah's smile widened; "Besides, I haven't even gotten to the best deal yet."  Sashi smiled and melted against her Master's body; "the pheromone counter-agent?"  Hinoki grinned; "you ARE learning fast.  Yeah, if they pay a lot for the aphrodisiac, they'll pay even more for the stuff that neutralizes it, don't you think?  But never mind that now; we've got a store to set up.  Goods should be here day after tomorrow, and then we can get going.  Come on, lets go put in a couple hours of work setting up, and then I'll take you in back, and we'll gather some more of the "aphrodisiac."  Sashi just giggled and nodded eagerly.

2402.210

John paused, to look through the store winodow.  In the area of the station where "garage sales" were held, where almost anything was available, for a price, Hinoki had leased one of the few enclosed stalls.  A plexiglass box had been built against the stall's front window, and in the window, a very nude Sashi knelt, demonstrating a rather large vibrator to a number of fascinated lookers-on.  Tugging on the leash, the Stallion led the hooded slave through the door.  Inside was every sex toy he'd ever even imagined, and a few he'd never thought of.  Hinoki was busy describing a male chastity belt to a couple, and the Stallion took a moment to look over the glass cage.  The air handling system, scrubbers and filters were in plain view under the cage's floor.  A series of nozzles were installed in the cage's roof, and the Stallion knew what they were for as well.  Looking around, the Stallion spotted the medical sensors that were still keeping watch for any unusual viruses or other pathogens.  As the couple made their selection, and left, Hinoki sauntered over.  "And what can I do for you today, Stud?"  John smiled and lifted the end of the leash; "Jenka asked me to bring Tanj down for a demonstration; as I understand it, you've got quite a selection  of double-ended dildoes."  Grinning the Stallion jerked his head towards the cage.  Hinoki laughed and nodded; "Yes, we'll be glad to demonstrate any item in the store."  Moving behind the counter, Hinoki began setting out items, including one monster that must have been a meter long and six or seven centimeters in diameter.  As he loaded the toys into the airlock, Hinoki chuckled "are you going to take her hood off?"  The Stallion shrugged; "Oh, I don't know.  I think the experience would be more intense without sight or sound, don't you?"  Hinoki just laughed.

Jenka watched the display and smiled.  That Sashi was more than insatiable.  And she was imaginative too.  She and Tanj were on paws and knees, facing away from each other; one of the larger Pantheress' paws was stretched back over her back, carefully maneuvering the head of a second double-dong, the other end already embedded into the Cheetah's ass, into her own back passage.  With the two of them connected, pussy to pussy, ass to ass, the Pantheress slowly leaned backwards, driving both tools deep into her, and into the Cheetah.  Purrring with delight, Sashi watched the reflection in the end of the glass cage as she rocked back and forth, double-fucking the Cheetah.  Tanj, with the hood over her head, gave little indication of what she thought of the situation, if you discounted her own wild humpings back against the Pantheress.  Settling down with a drink, Jenka wondered just how long those two could keep the crowd packed in front of Hinoki's new establishment.... And whether the crowd would be so entranced in the show that they'd forget to buy something.  Chuckling to herself, Jenka took another sip of her drink, and decided that life was, indeed, good.

Meanwhile, On Elysium:

Kukendall

Kukendall adjusted his tie, and glanced around the reception area.  Switching his briefcase to his left paw, he stepped up to the security checkpoint.  "Good morning, Comrade."  The guard, a dour faced Afghan, just scowled; "and what is your business here today, Comrade?"  Kukendall smiled; "I have an appointment with an accountant in the ministry of finance."  The guard grunted; "tax problems, eh?  Well, you won't get any sympathy from me.  Sixth floor, and don't let us catch you going anywhere else!"  Kukendall just nodded nervously and stepped through the scanner.  As expected it didn't let out so much as a peep.  Turning, he headed for the lobby's men's room.  He had a few minutes to kill.

The corridor was crowded, and that made things both simpler and more difficult.  At least this was the low security portion of the building.  Transportation, Finance, Health, and Agriculture were seen as ministries that weren't quite as critical as Defense, or Security.....  The furr he was after was approaching from the other direction; angling her way, he prepared the spray hypodermic.  This really was a shitty thing do to a furr, even if it was in the best of causes.  But the Reds were doing all too well, pressing the Blues on every front.  If he was going to save the cause he believed in, well, this would help.  Of that he was sure.

The Tigress had a reputation as an amateur athlete, and her body reflected that.  And her pride in her accomplishments would be her undoing.  Grinning to himself, Kukendall angled a little closer, and as they passed, he jabbed the hypo at her left arm.  He felt it make contact, heard the soft hiss, and as she yelped, he was past her, and with almost perfect timing, stepping into the elevator seconds before the doors closed.

It was difficult to walk slowly across the lobby, and past the security station.  There was a chance, the Tigress, the Executive Assistant to the Minister of Transportation, would have called security, to have him stopped.  The single use hypodermic was already turning itself into something unidentifiable, a plastic-eating enzyme hard at work, and while that might prevent them from figuring out exactly what he'd done, there would still be suspicions.  And these days, amongst the Reds; suspicions generally brought hard questions.  Hard questions with a great deal of pain.....  As the door to the street closed behind him, he breathed a sigh of relief.  No immediate pursuit.  Now, to make sure they weren't tailing him....

The Squirrel ruffled the fur on the Tigress' arm and shook his head; "Trish, there's a red spot there, but that's all.  I don't know what happened to you, but I wouldn't be too worried."  The Tigress sighed and nodded; "Some uncouth idiot with no regard for women; he just barged into me!  It FELT as if he jabbed me with something..."  The Squirrel nodded understandingly; "the party SAID it was going to further fem's rights, but so far I haven't seen much happen; there are still too many out there that think it's a Male's world.  He probably just didn't like seeing a bright and personable fem like you achieve such a lofty position!"  The Tigress shook her head; 'well, if I ever run across that one again, he'll feel my claws!  Now, Mister Minister, the first appointment for the day is General Caruthers, who is looking for a rail link to the new base in Skodia......"

Kukendall sipped his soda as he read his folded newspaper.  The Bus stop was a good place to be not-seen just standing and waiting.  No one seemed to notice that he'd let three busses go by without boarding, but then there were many different routes that merged in this area, and he could explain that the bus for his route just hadn't happened by yet.  Across the street was a trendy sidewalk café, and there sat his quarry, the Tigress that was executive secretary to the minister of transportation.  She wore a lovely cream colored business suit that unfortunately now sported a rather large brown stain where she'd spilled her coffee.  And as he watched, she dropped her fork.  And then banged her head on the edge of the table as she bent to retrieve it.  The effects of the drug were starting to take effect after only three days.  It was time to contact her, to let her know just what she'd have to do, to earn the antidote.

The Tigress stumbled on an uneven bit of pavement and almost fell.  Grumbling she wobbled a bit as she tried to regain her balance.  The hand at her elbow, steadying her, only annoyed her further.  However, when she turned to scowl at the person who'd assumed that just because she was a fem, that she needed help, ready to give him a piece of her mind, her words froze in her throat.  It was the furr that had jabbed her in the hallway near her office a few days before.  Kukendall smiled as recognition bloomed in her eyes and nodded; "I know what's been happening to you.  Getting just a little clumsy?  A little forgetful?  I know.  I know because I did it to you.  Now, if you don't want to get worse, until you're a vegetable, you're going to do EXACTLY as I say...."

The Tigress paced her apartment, growling to herself.  She'd done a quick search on the web; only her security clearance as an assistant to a Minister had allowed her into the Medical Ministry database.  Even then what she'd been looking for was hard to find.  There were research notes about a drug, a drug developed by the Elysium government just before its fall.  Developed in a lab now deep behind Blues territory.  The drug they'd developed was a progressive poison, gradually interfering with the actions of neurons in the nervous system, ruining coordination, scrambling memory, gradually turning a person into an idiot.  A vegetable.  And while the Party knew of it; they didn't have the antidote.  So far there'd been three cases reported, although none of them so well placed as her.  The party had removed the infected furrs from their positions and they'd quietly disappeared.  And there'd been no mention of the capture of the agents who had wielded the drug either.  Perhaps their victims, in doing their best to defend the party, had let the poison progress too far and were no longer able to give sufficient information to the Security forces, to permit the culprits to be caught?  Perhaps if she acted right now, they could find this furr, and force him to give her the antidote.....

And then she thought of the Minister of Industry.  He'd made several passes at her, and he hadn't been pleased when they'd been rebuffed.  With a shudder she wondered if, when she could no longer do her job, if the party would give her to him as a reward.  She wouldn't be good for much else, if the poison progressed much further.  And even that might not be the worst thing that could happen; she knew the party ran 'comfort camps' for special rewards for certain military units.... And they were frequently staffed with good looking fems that weren't quite all there.....  Would they send her to one of them?  Some in the party could be just that cold-blooded...  As she paced she wondered what to do, what to do?

The Tigress looked at the pistol and sighed.  It might be best to end it now, while she still remembered how to use this thing, still remembered what it was for....  But then she put the pistol down again; after all, what had the Party done for her to justify such an extreme sacrifice?  Turning to put it back in her nightstand, the Tigress tripped, falling flat on her face.  Rising, she looked behind her; the floor was smooth... nothing to trip on.  With a groan, she shook her head; there really was only one choice.  If she was to save herself, she'd have to do whatever that bastard wanted......

Kukendall slipped into the seat opposite the Tigress.  The booth was, as he'd requested, at the back of the restaurant, and somewhat private.  Smiling, he pulled two small vials out of his coat pocket and put them on the table in front of the Tigress.  "The green one is the antidote; but it'll only be effective for about a week.  The red one is more of the poison.  I want you to put it in the coffee of the Executive Secretary to the Minister of Internal Security.  I believe you know her?"  The Tigress nodded; "Dana?  I know her; we're not exactly friends, but I know her."  Kukendall nodded; "As I thought.  I wouldn't ask you to do this to a close friend.  Believe me, I'm not.... It doen't bring me any pleasure to do this to furrs, but a cause is a cause.  If you can give her the poison, bring her here in a week.  If she's not with you, you'll never see me again."  The Tigress nodded, and picking up the green vial, pulled the top off and tilting her head back, swallowed it.  As she lowered her head, she looked at the vial curiously, and Kukendall could almost read her mind; "once its exposed to air, the antidote starts to break down; by the time you got it to a suitable lab, you wouldn't be able to figure out what it had been."  The Tigress just shook her head; "you really ARE a Bastard, aren't you?"  Kukendall just sighed and nodded.

The Tigress rolled over in bed; sleep wouldn't come.  She'd put off a decision for four days, and the effects of the poison were starting to reappear.  What should she do?  If she gave Dana the poison, she'd be just as bad as he is.  If she doesn't, she'll loose her mind, and who knows what will become of her?  Maybe she should try and kill the agent when she sees him next?  Or would she even see him, if she doesn't have Dana with her?  Groaning, she rolled over again, and tried to find a comfortable position.

Looking in herself in the bathroom mirror, the Tigress groaned; "I can't do it!"  Reaching for her toothbrush, her paw knocked the glass it rested in off the sink.  Bending to retrieve it, she brought her head up on the underside of the sink.  Yelping in pain she lost her balance and landed amongst the broken pieces of glass on the bathroom floor.  Sobbing in pain and humiliation she shook her head; "I can't stand this!  I can't take it any more!"  With a groan, she realized that she'd do anything to keep from descending any further..... she'd have to do it.

Kukendall watched from a corner as the Tigress walked into the restaurant, moving VERY carefully.  Behind her, clearly impatient, was a good looking Otteress with a sour look on her face.  They were almost to the booth, when the Otteress bumped into one of the restaurant's patrons, a little old Vixen, and stumbling, plowed into the Tigress from behind.  They both went down in a heap.  Stepping forwards, Kukendall helped them up, and to the booth.

The Otteress cursed at him quietly for a good two minutes, the words coming out somewhat dyslexic.  Kukendall just nodded, straightfaced, and reached into his pocket; the torrent of abuse ceased when he handed them each a little green vial.  After they'd both drunk greedily, he folded his paws on the table and smiled; "OK, Ladies, here's what we're going to do...."

The Otteress shook her head; "Hell, you didn't have to poison me for that!  I don't HAVE to seduce him; he's been humping me for years!  Expose him?  A Scandal?  With pleasure!  I hate the old Goat!"  The Tigress frowned a little; "but if you expose him..... Dana, how will you be in a position to keep earning your antidote?"  The Otteress gasped quietly and turned to look at Kukendall....  Kukendall shrugged; "well, we don't necessarily have to include Dana in the scandal; I'm sure we could set something up to create a scandal.  After all, seducing a beautiful young thing like Dana might actually get him some envy instead of censure.... But if , say, the scandal involved him seducing young boys, and then quietly having them shipped off to forced labor camps when he's done with them.... If Dana were to "expose" something like that, she'd be the hero, might be able to even rise higher in the party structure, and he'd still get what was coming to him!"  The Otteress blinked and shook her head; "you know about that too, huh?  Yeah, I'd like to see the old Goat get his comeuppance.... Let me see what I can do....."

Amelia Kennedy:

The trees came up much faster than she'd ever imagined.  With a yelp, she yanked on the controls, trying hard to miss the tree straight ahead; veering to the left she managed to wedge the hang-glider between the branches of two trees.  With a sigh she looked down, fearing the worst, and then grinned; there was a huge rock, between the trees.  Unbuckling her harness she lightly stepped down.  "Yeah... planned it that way.... Riiiiiiiiight."  Regaining her confidence, Amelia turned and started removing her gear from the remnants of the hang glider.  With a landing like that, how could anything else possibly go wrong?

 Adolf's eyes went wide, and he automatically took his foot off the gas.  Nudging the Hare next to him, the German Sheppard gestured with his chin; "Comrade, do you see that?"  The Hare peered into the night, trying to make out what the Sheppard saw; "Um....  Ah.....   OH!"  As the weapons carrier coasted forward, the headlights gradually illuminated the rather shapely female form walking along the side of the road.  She was clad in what appeared to be a skintight black catsuit, with a bag in each hand, and as she walked her ass was rolling most alluringly.  Resting one foot on the brake, Adolf slowed the weapons carrier as they pulled up along side.  Leaning out through the Driver's window, Adolf grinned; "Well hello, Miss!  And where are you going on this fine night?

Amelia turned to give the soldier her most winning grin; "Why, down the road, a piece, Comrade.  Care to give a girl a ride?"

The Hare gave Adolf a hard nudge in the ribs with his elbow; "What's a good looking girl like her doing out here all by herself?  Ask her what her business is, and why she's here!  We're supposed to be on patrol, for cryin' out loud!"  The Sheppard gave the Hare a dirty look and turned back, a smile on his face; "Um... yeah sure, but I suppose he's right, I ought to ask.....

Amelia had set down one of her bags, and had pulled her little perfume sprayer from a concealed pocket; as the Sheppard turned back towards her, she smiled sweetly and sprayed right in his face.  For a moment there was  a curious action; the Hare leaned forward to see what had happened just as the Sheppard slumped over the wheel; Amelia shifted left, and then right, as the Hare leaned back to look around his now-slumbering comrade.  His reward was a second spray, right in the face.  Moments later, he too, was snoozing.  Unfortunately, the Sheppard's foot had come off the brake, and the weapons carrier was starting to roll away from her.  Picking up her bag, Amelia let out a most unladylike curse and trotted after it, trying to juggle both bags over to one paw, while she fumbled with the driver's door.......

Amelia straightened her tie and smiled.  The Party Commisar's uniform had been tailored just for her, and it showed off every curve to best advantage.  It was most distracting, even if she did say so herself.  And it was just full of concealed pockets and nasty little gizmos.  The two soldiers had been laid out in the roadside ditch, stripped to the furr.  To keep them from sounding the alarm about their missing truck too soon, she'd taken the little tube of superglue, and had glued the Sheppard's paw around the Hare's balls, and vice versa.  Embarrasment should keep them from trotting back to the nearest checkpoint and sounding the alarm for a while, even after the sleep gas wore off......  Making sure her forged papers were in her breast pocket, Amelia stashed her bags in the back of the weapons carrier, and sliding into the Driver's seat, she put it in gear.  Yes, so far, her infiltration was going quite well.....

Amelia let the weapons carrier coast to a stop.  She'd made it through three check points without a hitch.  The guards, even the female ones, all seemed way too interested in the way her nipples strained at the fabric of her tunic, to examine her papers too clearly, or even the numbers on her "borrowed" vehicle.  Now she was at the signpost, and there was the forked tree.  Hopping lightly down, she turned to the Southwest and paced off 28 paces.  Scuffling around in the dirt, ruining the shine on her boots, she finally uncovered the large flat stone buried a fraction of a centimeter under the forest leaves and dirt.  Heaving the stone aside, she grinned.  There was her equipment drop.  Grabbing one of the canisters, she grunted, dragging it back towards her waiting vehicle.

"No, Lieutenant, I just want to check under the bridge for booby traps.  I know you've been guarding it for days, and I doubt those dastardly Blues have managed to sneak in and sabotage it under your nose, but orders are orders, and I've got to check anyways."  The Badger looked Amelia up and down and shook his head; "and you mean to tell me that a pretty little thing like you is an explosives expert?"  Amanda put her paws on her hips and gave him her best glare; "I've had the course, Lieutenant.  And if I find anything I'm not going to try and defuse it....."  Looking left and right she leaned forwards a little, letting him get a good look down her tunic; whispering conspiratorially, she chuckled "I'll let the real experts come do THAT".....  Straightening, rolling her shoulders back a little she smiled; "but I'm sure I won't find anything anyways....

The Badger shook his head as he watched Amelia get ready: "I don't know, Ma'am, the water's kinda high, and the current's rather fast.  Are you sure its safe?"  Amelia turned to look at the river; "Hmmmm.  Yes, I'm sure I can do it, but you're right, the river is kinda high.  It'd be a shame to get my uniform wet, don't you think?"  The Badger looked her up and down and then swallowed; "Um, yeah....."  Amelia nodded, trying to keep a straight face; "well, I guess the best thing to do would be to strip it off, and leave it here where it's safe and dry.  Oh, well, anything for the Party."  The Badger swallowed as Amelia began to strip down to her undies.....

Amelia took the little black box that was her "bomb detector" and with a jaunty wave at the bridge guard detail, turned to gingerly step down the embankment towards the rushing water.  As she disappeared under the bridge, one of the guards, a Ram, turned to the Badger; "Gee, Lieutenant, I don't think that's safe; how about I go down there and, ah, "help" her.  Wouldn't want her to fall in...."  The Badger turned to look at the Ram, and then grinned; "Might be right, Kozlov... tell you what, why don't you go get some rope, and we'll, ah, make a safety line for her....

Under the bridge, Amelia slipped open the case to her "bomb detector"....  Taking out the flat black package she used its self-adhesive backing to stick it to the middle of one of the I-beams traversing the bridge.  Little strain gauges were unclipped and trailing hair-thin wire, attached to the left and right of the explosive charge.  In an hour the bomb would activate itself.  When something really heavy, like a tank, or a heavily laden semi crossed the bridge, it'd blow.  But by then she'd be long gone.  Snapping the lid back on the "bomb detector" she crawled through the girders towards the far end.  She did, after all, have to make it look as if she were searching for bombs rather than planting them.....

"Um, Ma'am?  Ma'am, we've got a safety line for you....."  Amelia turned and looked behind her; one of the bridge guards was crawling after her, a rope tied around his middle, a coil of excess line in one hand....  And there, just scant meters in front of him, was the bomb....  "The Lieutenant was afraid that if you fell, you'd be swept away....."  Amelia smiled; "That's SO considerate of him....."  Fortunately the guard's eyes were locked on her, as he clambered through the girders.  Just as the young Squirrel was reaching for her, the coil of rope proffered, Amelia overbalanced, and with a yelp, fell forward.  She managed to catch onto the Squirrel, just before she lost her footing, and together they fell into the roiling waters.

"Achoo!"  "Here, Ma'am, have some more hot tea."  The bridge Guard detachment was clustered solicitously around Amelia as she sat by a roaring fire, each staring at her lovely form; her undies, still damp, were essentially transparent, a fact the young and rather beautiful political officer seemed to be completely ignorant of."  "Thank you, Dear...."  A rumbling made all heads turn.  A convoy was approaching the bridge.  In the lead was a staff car, and following it was a line of large trucks, each a tank transporter.  Amelia glanced at the stars, trying to estimate the time, and then smiled, thinking to herself "how perfect."  As the first of the large trucks hit center span, there was a bang, and then a loud crack.  Slowly, the bridge started to collapse, metal groaning.  The first truck actually almost made it to the far shore, but as the span sank into the river, it slid backwards.  Several other trucks on the other side of the break also slid down the steepening slope until they were a tangled mess in twisted girders."  Amelia looked up at the horrified Badger and sighed; "Oh Dear; if I hadn't fallen in, I bet I would have found that!"  The Badger just groaned.

"Yes, Comrade Colonel, I'm with the 356th Political Action Committee.  We're checking for sabotage and Blues Sympathizers in this sector.  And no, I doubt you've heard of us; publicity would NOT make our job any easier, don't you think?"  The Bear growled, tearing his eyes away from the scantily clad furr as she pulled her uniform tunic on over nearly transparent undies, and turned to look at the ruined bridge.  Most of his command was still on the other side.  And it was clear they weren't getting across the river anytime soon.  First the wreckage would have to be cleared, and then a portable bridge set up across the abutments.  At least the abutments were in good shape...  Turning back to Amelia he shook his head; "You think the guard detachment to be Blues Symphathizers?"  The meaning was clear; say the word, and I'll have them shot.  Amelia shook her head; "Those dears?  Oh, good heavens, no!  Why they were most helpful.  And very concerned for my safety.  Why, if they were sympathizers, well, they had a perfect opportunity to drown me and make it look like an accident.  No, I suspect Blues agents.  You know they have some VERY highly trained and dastardly agents working in this sector!"  The Bear turned and looked at the Badger, who wilted under his glare; "Perhaps... but if so, they DID fail in their mission!  I doubt the Party will let them go unpunished for that!"  Turning back to Amelia, the Bear let his eyes rove over her form one more time, a smile coming naturally to his face.  The ruined bridge wasn't really a pretty sight, but she certainly was; "Now, Comrade Political Officer, what can I do to speed you on your obviously critical mission?"

Amelia leaned out the window of the Weapons Carrier as she drove off, waving back to the Reds troops behind her.  Her mission was off to a very good start.  A very good start indeed!

Xyloff

Xyloff settled into the big chair at the end of the table.  Looking around at the faces he nodded; "OK, lets get on with it."  A thin Ferret to his right cleared his throat and in a high reedy voice replied; "Yes, Comrade Chairman."  Looking to his right, the Ferret sought out a particular furr and nodded; "Comrade Korf, of the first Security Directorate, you may make your presentation."

A Panda rose to his feet, and using a remote, clicked on the first slide.  "Comrades, we have had some success of late infiltrating sleeper agents into the Blues territory.  It must be understood that it will take some time for these efforts to bear fruit, but in the long run we seek nothing less than the complete destruction of their society!"  We have infiltrated agents into almost every one of their liberal education universities.  You all know how.... Malleble the young can be, how idealistic, and easy to sway.  To date, we have placed over three hundred and forty agents in institutions of higher learning, chiefly in language, literature, sociology and political science departments.  Most of these are well on their way towards achieving tenure.  Our ability to "re-educate" their brightest young minds, right under their noses will be unparalleled!  Turning, the Panda gestured to another fur; "Ikady has had great success in identifying the disgruntled, and the.... Mentally infirm within the Blues territories, using their own computer systems to help identify them.  He has a most daring plan to use splinter groups against splinter groups to churn up turmoil behind their lines.  For instance he's funding a feline racial purity organization, and the National Association for the Advancement of Mustelids, all at the same time.  Certain psychopathic individuals have been hired to stage "atrocities" on one group, that will be blamed on the other."  Grinning, the Panda shook his head; "If Comrade Ikady's efforts come to fruition, we might spark a widespread race war within the Blues territories.

The Panda shifted pages amongst the notes in his paws; "Comrade Ioseph has been performing a similar function in the Blues Southern Territories; he's been trying to do the same sort of thing along tribal lines, pitting one ancient enemy against another, arranging for arms shipments to competing factions.  However, he went on a raid with Hmung mercenaries, attempting to stage an incident that made it look as if the M'wara were committing an atrocity against the Chin."  The Panda put his notes flat on the table and looked up; "He hasn't been heard from since.  There is a chance that the Blues government was aware of his activities, and that government forces either killed, or captured him."

Xyloff shifted in his chair; "Have Boris, with the third directorate ascertain if Comrade Ioseph was captured; if he was, make sure he.... Cannot tell the Blues anything.  Oh, and assign someone to take his place."  The Panda nodded.  Looking down the table, the Panda grunted; "Comrate Arkady will now relate his..... activities."  Sitting down, all eyes turned to look at an academic looking Hyena, as he rose, fumbling with the notes in his paws.

"Comrades, we have initiated an effort to infiltrate the Blues entertainment industry.  This industry is ideally set up for our propaganda purposes, and the proper writing of scripts should go a long way to undermine the morality of the blues."  He paused for a moment to push his spectacles back up on his nose; "The concept was to fill their vids with excessive violence, crime, and sex.  Unfortunately, the Blues have set up watchdog groups, to monitor script content and we're having a hard time taking things in the direction we desire.  While we have not yet abandoned this effort, admittedly it may take a long time to pay out."

At the stern looks from about the table, the Hyena hurried on; "however, we have had markedly more success in infiltrating the News Services.  The goal there is to give the most common event the most liberal spin possible, encouraging minority groups, supporting their claims, no matter how outrageous.  This can't help but stir up trouble behind Blues lines."

Xyloff leaned forward across the table and nodded; "These projects are all well and good, but we cannot wait forever.  None of these projects guarantee success by and of themselves."  The Ferret smiled and looked down the table; "Comrade Snitt, of the Second Security Directorate, will you make your presentation now?"  A female Elk, in a rather severe gray business suit stood; "Of course, Comrade."  Turning to regard Xyloff with a cold eye, she began in a monotone; "we have had significant success, hiring computer science students in Blues territory, to assault their most basic systems.  Hacking into the web, we have encouraged these troublemakers to get into financial records, actually adding money to various accounts."  With a thin smile forming on her lips, the Elk continued; "As you can imagine, various persons would raise cain if their bank statements came in so much as a credit low, but in the corrupt Blues territories, who's going to report an error in their favor?  We believe we can drive the Blues Economy into an inflationary spiral by the third fiscal quarter!

As the buzz of conversation gradually died down, the Elk resumed; "And we have had significant success in another area; our own computer specialists continue to turn out computer virus after virus, infiltrating them into the Blues web without problem.  Why, the SirCain worm virus alone has caused massive disruptions, and spreading mistrust of computers!"  Xyloff rose and gave the Elk a half-bow; "Excellent work, Comrade!"  Looking around the table, he fixed each individual with a steely stare; "the rest of you should endeavor to be so successful!"  Resuming his seat, the Wolverine turned his gaze to the Ferret; "now, tell  me of the successes of the assassination squads...."

The Brethren:

The Lion shifted in his seat and sighed; the data padd in his paws told him what he already knew.  The Brethren, or at least what Brethren there were here in the "new" Elysium system, just didn't have that many warp capable ships.  Normally on a mission like this he'd send a Cruiser squadron, with a full compliment of auxiliaries.  Now, all they had that they could send was one very patched up former Elysium Defense Forces destroyer, courtesy of the Blues, and four Raider ships.  And of course, each of the Raiders was a different model.  Shaking his head, he wondered once again if they shouldn't send the Overlord, whether Cromwell, the leader of the Blues, agreed, or not.  Finally the Lion tossed the PADD to the tabletop and turned to face the Wolf.  "Ben, you KNOW I'd rather go myself..... but Cromwell won't hear of it."  The Wolf grinned, fangs glinting whitely; "Yeah, and there's no WAY I'm going to let you go either; if you went, then I'd have to stay, and I WANT to go; probably as badly as you do!"  The Lion chuckled and nodded; "how long until you're ready?"  Ben shrugged; "we COULD leave in a couple of hours, but there are some minor repairs they want to make to Haverty's ship, and they're still retrofitting that Elysium hunk of junk with the latest torpedo and missile launchers.  Oh, and Engineering is still trying to make the phase converters work properly."  The Destroyer had been a hangar queen in the Elysium Defense Forces, and had been in a maintenance facility when the Blues troops had swept through the area.  Its crew had tried to lift off, and had then TRIED to defend the ship, but power glitches had left them in a dead hulk.  Now, the best engineers in the Brethren were trying to solve problems that had eluded the Elysium government for years.  It was going to be an interesting flight......  The Lion chuckled; "Maybe I don't want to go so badly after all.  Tell you what, Ben; if that tin can craps out on you, send a message torpedo for us, and I'll bring the Overlord to tow you home."  The Wolf just rolled his eyes.

"OK, Lou, I think we're ready to go."  The Rabbit turned to glare at the Fox and shook his head; "its LEWIS, and we still have to wait for the Destroyer.  We're supposed to jump through together, just in case the Aliens have left a little welcoming committee for us."  The Fox grinned; "Aw come on, Lou, we're supposed to be the scouts for this outfit.  Your ship's the fastest, with the best sensors.  Shields aren't so bad either.  How can we "fulfill our mission" if we don't GO?"  The Rabbit just sighed; "how about by surviving?  By obeying orders?"  The Fox opened his mouth for a retort, but was cut short by the comm console chirping.  After a quick glance, the Fox just grinned, and gestured.  Lewis scanned the display and nodded, turning to the flight controls.  A moment later the five-ship flotilla vanished through the jump point.

"We're clear."  Clark looked at the Rabbit and sighed; "Lou, just because you don't see anything doesn't mean our arrival has gone unnoticed.  OR unreported for that matter.  We're dealing with ALIEN technologies here.  How can we possibly know what their capabilities are?"  Lewis sighed and shrugged; "Have to proceed on the best information available, I guess.  I can't FIND any evidence that our presence has been detected OR reported, and THEREFOR we'll proceed with the mission as planned."  Grinning he raised an eyebrow; "Besides, I thought YOU were the one wanting to GO!"  The Fox just frowned.  Turning his attention back to the flight controls, the Rabbit pointed the Raider at the far jump point, and kicked in the in-system drive.  The rest of the flotilla followed, at a more leisurely pace.

Clark shook his head; "I dunno, three jumps and we still haven't found anything but single-outlet deserted systems.  Lewis raised an eyebrow; "Each system has a beacon at each of the Jump Points, they're scarcely "deserted"...   The Fox sighed; "But we're not achieving our "mission objectives"; we're NOT making contact with the Aliens!  Besides, its about as boring as things can get!  Lewis studied his instruments for a moment and then shrugged; "OK, lets jump back and tell the flotilla what we found... or didn't find.  It'll be up to Ben whether we continue on, on this route, or retrace our steps and try the other direction."

Ben looked at the image in the monitor and nodded; "Yeah, those are our instructions; three jumps one way, and if nothing, then three jumps back.  We wouldn't have Antimatter enough for a warp run "home" if we went further than that."  In the monitor, Lewis nodded; "Roger that; we'll make best speed back to the base system, and then try the other jump point."  The Wolf nodded back; "We'll follow as fast as we can.  I know this is starting to become a bit of a long trip for the raider ships, but you should still have provisions to finish the mission."  Lewis shrugged; "Yeah, we're OK.  We'll make it.  Catch you later.  Lewis Out."

The Fox rubbed his paws together, almost in glee; "Lou, this is it; I've got a good feeling about this."  The Rabbit scowled; "Yeah, that's what you said last time, Clark.  And this system's as deserted as all the others."  Clark shrugged; "Hey, we're running out of systems to check.  They're only allowing us six, right?  Its gotta be this one... or the next one."  Lewis shrugged; "six linear, two-exit systems.  If a system's got three or more exits, that'll change things, but I admit, "hubs" like that are the exception, not the rule."  The Fox shrugged again; "don't matter; this is IT, I just know it.  Now come on, jump the ship and lets SEE!"

The Rabbit's eyes were wide, and he muttered "Aieeeeee, Carumba!" under his breath.  On the other side of the flight deck, Clark muttered; "I hate it when I'm right....  Lou, what's that flare at..... 234 mark 18?  Is that what I think it is?"  Lewis fiddled with his sensor controls for a moment and then nodded; "Yeah, Spectrograph shows pure helium.  That's a massive fusion drive, and right now it looks to be approaching 100% efficient.  I don't even SEE a spectral Hydrogen line....."  Clark looked around in amazement; everywhere it looked, it seemed, there were bright blue actinic sparks of light.  And each of those sparks was a ship.  There must be hundreds of 'em.  So far they had counted three other jump points, aside from the one they'd entered through.  There were two obviously inhabited worlds, at least a dozen space stations.  The thermal imager showed dozens of asteroids that seemed to be inhabited.  There was evidence of gas-mining at the two gas giants in the system.... The ether was alive with electromagnetic activity, suggesting massive communications.  The only thing they hadn't found was any evidence of an antimatter production facility.

"So what do we do now?"  Lewis looked at Clark; "you're asking ME?"  The Fox just nodded.  Lewis sighed and shrugged; "I dunno; let me set a course for the outermost of the inhabited planets.  I'll use a speed that mimics the other traffic, although I admit I don't have a CLUE how to contact their traffic control system...."  Lewis nodded; "let me get on that; I've got the computer monitoring their traffic, looking for common algorithms.  Maybe it can dope out how to translate all their chatter."  After a moment the Fox looked over at the Rabbit; "and see if you can fly in a non-threatening manner, will you?"  Lewis just looked at the Fox in wonder.

"......azimuth.......... Twenty......... uptime........... Out."  Clark sighed and shook his head; "well, the translating program is getting about one word in four now.  I think."  Lewis crossed his arms and leaned back in the pilot's seat; "and even then you don't know if the words its translating are correct."  "well.... Yeah...."  With a sigh, the Rabbit shook his head; "I guess you'd best keep after it; maybe when the others arrive, they'll have more luck."  The Fox bristled; "luck?  LUCK!  Luck ain't got Nuthin' to do with it, Lou!  I'll have a working translation program BEFORE the others catch up with us!"  The Rabbit just chuckled; "Yeah, sure you will....."

"Annoying us you must cease!  To the arbitrators report you we will!  UNETHICAL!  Lowered efficiencies you we not permit!  Tolerated practices business like this are not!  GONE BE!"  Clark looked at the comm panel, a frown on his face, and then he looked up at the Rabbit; "you make any sense out of that?"  Lewis shrugged; "I get the impression they think we're here to annoy them.  Business rivals pulling dirty tricks?"  Clark frowned; "I dunno......   Let me pass this through the buffers again, and maybe I can get a little better resolution.   I do think the computer's learning a little more with each effort though...."

"Believe you I do not!  Aliens this far from the frontier you cannot be!  A trick by the Orr cartel perhaps.  Or the Nuffins!  Spying out our secrets, are you trying to?  To disrupt our operations, to make shipments late, is your goal?  Neither will be permitted!  Forewarned against your actions are we!  Declare your business, or begone!"  Lewis sighed; "Listen you gap toothed, mangy......  I am NOT with any of your rival trade groups!  I represent the Brethren!  Now who the HELL is in charge there?  I want to talk to your SUPERVISOR!"  The Fox growled as the connection was broken from the other end.  Lewis just chuckled; "Yeah, that one's going to go down in the texts as the right way to make a first contact...."  Lewis shrugged; "Well, at least I've got the translation program working a little better.  You have to admit that...."

Ben stared at the comm console monitor and sighed; "Of all the events I planned for, when we made first contact, being ignored wasn't one of them."  After a moment the Wolf sighed; "OK, you two, good work.  Upload your comm logs and your translator program to the linquist.... Um, wait, that's on the Overlord.  Upload it to cryptography; we'll let those guys have a crack at it.  In the meantime, stay where you are, and wait for the rest of the flotilla to join up.  I want to keep us all together, just in case...."

Clark smiled and reclined his seat back, actually placing his feet on the control panel; "Looks like we get some downtime, Lou!"  The Rabbit scowled at the Fox's feet and growled; "I'm NOT letting down my guard, not HERE.  You can go catch a nap or something, but I'm going to keep a close watch on the sensors...  At least until the others arrive."

"Sir, I think we've got it working... kinda.  The video protocols are strange, and the data transfer rate is almost faster than our main computer can keep up with, but I think I can get us a picture."  Ben nodded to the comm tech; "Put it on the main viewer."  Swiveling his seat, the wolf leaned forward, chin on one paw, elbow on knee, as he watched.  The image that formed, he could have sworn, was a commercial.  Someone seemed to be trying to sell something in a translucent blue bottle.  However, the translator program kept making references to undergarments, so he wondered if it was working as well as Clark had insisted.  The creature doing the selling seemed to be a cross between a bird and a reptile.  The muzzle was broad, and saurian, the tail long and thick, with no apparent ears, or even sexual characteristics, but the creature seemed to be covered in feathers.  Whatever it was, it was something unlike anything he'd ever seen before.  As he watched, the creature was joined by a second, and they seemed to talk back and forth, with a third disembodied voice, with significantly poorer sound quality.  Neither of the creatures were dressed, but each wore significant amounts of what could only be called jewelry.  Ben sighed and turned back to the comm tech; "I want you to run through the translator program algorithms again.  If you're sure its working correctly, we'll see about another attempt at contact."

The main viewscreen flickered, and stabilized.  The creature in the video pickup turned as if angry, muttering; "Unauthorized calls will NOT be acce....."  His voice trailed off, and his eyes widened in a very universal expression.  Ben rose from his chair and growled; "Greetings, from the.... Elysium system, and the Brethren."  After a moment he grinned wryly; "We come in peace."

Sandra scowled; the Wolf had his paws behind his back, and she'd distinctly seen him cross two fingers when he'd paused.  As the creature on the main viewscreen let out  a strangled squeek, she turned her attention back to it.  "Impossible it is!  A trick it must be!  Competitors endeavoring to disrupt us!  To steal our efficiency!"  Slowly the creature seemed to get over its initial shock; it drew itself upwards, its wide-eyed gaze turning into a frown; "Distracted by this I will not be!"  Ben chuckled; "Oh, we're real, all right.  And we can prove that.  Tell me where your capital is, and I'll land a.... diplomatic team there."  The creature shook its head in a circular motion; "impossible!  Disruption of local traffic permitted cannot be!"  Benb shrugged; "then send someone up here to eyeball us directly and SEE.  I tell you, we're.... Just what we appear to be."  Moving with remarkable speed, the creature reached out and the link went dead.  Ben looked around the bridge of the destroyer and shrugged; "Well, that could have gone better... I guess.  Anyone have any ideas what to do now?"

The ship was small, and approached with alarming speed.  Throughout the small flotilla, alarms sounded, shields flickered into existance, and weapons systems came on line.  On the Bridge of the destroyer, scan techs confirmed no detectable life on board, but they also admitted they could detect no weapons.  "Gotta be a sensor probe" Ben growled; "Let it go."  With smooth efficiency, as if it were on rails, the small vessel wove between the ships of the flotilla, slipped through the shields as if they weren't there, and came to rest in the destroyer's small docking bay.

Randall looked up from the tech manual and blinked.  The vernier jets on the destroyer's only strike fighter were all screwed up, and the distributed control system was not cooperating.  As the mouse-gray torpedo shape slipped into the bay, he rose, knocking over his half-full coffee cup.  For a moment he just stared at the object.  Somehow he got the feeling it was staring back.  Then suddenly, as if someone had thrown it into reverse, it slipped backwards, following the exact track it had followed on its arrival, but at twice the speed.

Ben scratched his head and shrugged; "I dunno; wasn't here long enough to DO anything, was it?  Were there any active scans?"  The sensor techs all just shrugged and looked at each other, shaking their heads no.  Leaning over, Ben jabbed a button on the command chair's arm; "Docking Bay, from Bridge; anyone down there?"  "Yessir, Maintenance Tech Falworth, Sir."  "Did you just see......"  "Yessir; big thing, little larger than a mark XXIV torpedo, but not by much.  Bay monitoring system should have caught it.  It gave me the once-over and then skedaddled!"  Ben nodded; "Thanks, Falworth" and broke the connection.

"Sir, I'm picking up a disturbing trend....."  Ben looked over at the tactical officer, rising from his seat.  "The local traffic.... is all starting to "shy" away from us...."  Ben stared into the tactical holotank and nodded.  Commercial traffic had been passing within a couple hundred, in some cases a couple dozen kilometers from them.  Now, the nearest ship was a couple thousand.  It wasn't much, still within weapons range, but it was as if suddenly everyone was avoiding the now-unknown ships.

"Message coming in" one of the comm techs growled.  "Put it on the main viewer" the Wolf growled, and turned to face the video pickups.  The creature looked the same as the first he'd seen, but the background was different.  It stared at them for a moment as if having trouble believing what it was seeing.  Then it gave a quick, nervous half bow, and spoke; "Greetings.....  Please excuse delay.  Superiors must be consulted.  Patience please have.  Stay in current orbit, for safety.  Contact you when instructions I have I will."  The connection vanished suddenly.  Ben sighed and sat back down in the command chair.  Looking over at the tactical officer, he mused; "stay in current orbit for safety.  Ours, or theirs?"  The Tactical officer, a Mouse, shrugged; "Dunno; lotta traffic in this area.  Might be for theirs.  I don't think we're in their traffic control system.  Can't detect any weapons on the planet, at least nothing pointed at us.  But bottom line is, I don't know."  Ben nodded and turned to look across the Bridge; "Engineering, that probe got through our shields WAY too easy.  See what you can do about making sure that doesn't happen again!"

Ben eased into the chair at the head of the conference table and tried not to yawn.  He'd been awake for much longer than was prudent.  But there was so much to do......  Taking a sip of the scalding hot coffee he growled; "Lets get on with this thing.  Time's a'wasting."  The Fennec Fox in charge of sensors nodded and clicked the display; "as you can see, the aliens are extensively mining the two gas giants in the system.  While some of the operation seems to be directed at rare gasses, the bulk of their effort is to obtain deuterium, which appears to be shipped, compressed almost to the state of degenerate matter."  Ben looked at the flight characteristics of the tanker, which suggested an extremely heavy vessel and compared it with the vessel's size; "Yeah....  And those tanks don't seem to be using force fields to keep 'em together.  Wonder how they do that?"  The Fox just shrugged and continued; "We can find no evidence of antimatter production in the system, not even on the surface of the planet.  If they have a higher density power source than a fusion reactor we have yet to find it."  The Fox sighed and looked around; "And yet, if you examine the flight characteristics of their ships, it would seem as if they DO have something more powerful.  That, or their ships are operating at 100% efficiency."

Ben nodded and sipped his coffee; "OK, so they've got advanced, alien technology.  What can you tell me of weapons, and warships?"  The Fox shrugged again; "they.... Don't seem to have any.  We haven't detected weapons on any of the ships that have passed us, and we can't find any ship that doesn't seem to have a non-commercial use.  None.  Not even any yachts."  Ben Hmphed and shook his head; "What are the chances you're merely not recognizing something for what it is?"  The Fox shrugged yet again; "pretty high, but we're doing the best we can."

"OK, so what else you got for me?"  A thin Rat rose from her seat and smiled; "Stellar cartography has determined that the jumps we've made have led us around in what is almost a circle.  The Elysi... um, the NEW Elysium system is only 5.3 light years from here.  It would be easy to get home using the warp drive, with fuel to spare."  Ben grinned; "now that's the first good news I've had since entering the system!"

The chime drew everyone's attention.  Ben pushed a button on his display, which shifted to show the Bridge comm officer; "Sir, message coming through."  Ben nodded; "I'll take it here; rout it to everyone's display, but I want my vid pickup to be the only one active."  The comm officer nodded, and a moment later his image was replaced by another of the feathered reptiles.  It might have been the same one, or another, he couldn't tell.  "I am to arrange a meeting" the creature declared without preamble.  "We would prefer to meet on your ship, so as to further confirm that you are indeed what you say."  Ben thought for a minute and then nodded; "you know the way to the docking bay on this ship.  No more than six of your people.  You must also accept measures to insure no biological contamination is passed between your people and ours.  Don't want some stray bug that's merely an annoyance to us making you deathly sick, or vice versa.  Oh, and you can each bring a side-arm, if you want."  The creature scowled, shook its head a little and then looked back at the vid pickup; "we understand the concern with respect to alien diseases.  But that last portion did not translate correctly.  No matter.  We shall arrive in twelve quatar."  Once again, the link was broken without words of parting.  Ben looked at his coffee cup and sighed; no sleep anytime soon.  Looking up he growled; "OK, folks, I want medical isolation fields in the docking bay, with provisions for full decontamination... and sampling.  I want to know if they even carry any dangerous bugs.  I....."  His concentration broken by another chime, the Wolf growled and stabbed at a button; "NOW what?"  The Tactical officer blanched but held his position; "Sir, just thought  you'd like to know, a ship just left the surface of the inner planet and is heading in our direction.  Estimated time of arrival is, um, 23 minutes, 17 seconds."  Ben blinked; "But that planet's almost on the other side of their primary!"  The Tactical officer nodded; "Yessir, 16 light minutes away.  Their rate of acceleration is incredible!"  Ben sighed and shook his head; "OK, folks, lets get to work; we don't have much time!"

Ben wondered if his jumpsuit had any stains on it, as he watched the alien ship slip into the docking bay.  Whatever Engineering had done had caused the ship to pause at the perimeter of their shields... for about eight seconds.  Then it had moved forwards as if the shields weren't there.  Reflecting on the fact that the aliens couldn't possibly know whether any stains on his jumpsuit were intentional or not, he examined the ship curiously.  It was teardrop shapped, and perfectly symmetrical.  Its surface was mirror bright, unlike the probe.  All attempts to scan it had been turned back with near 100% efficiency.  It hovered, centimeters above the deck, as if it were regarding them, as if it were trying to decide if it was safe.  After a long moment, its bright sheen faded, leaving it a rather plain white.  An outline of a hatch formed in its side, and then the curved portion of the hull hinged down to provide a stairway.  There appeared to be no airlock.  Only four of the aliens emerged, but each seemed to be accompanied by at least one, and in one case, three small  ...... robots?  Some hopped.  Some flew.  Some walked, and in one case, it appeared to roll.  As the Aliens formed themselves into a diamond shaped phalanx, the robots seemed to take off in all different directions... straight through the medical quarrantine field.  At a questioning look from the security chief, Ben waved a paw; "Let 'em go... but keep a CLOSE watch on them!"

The lead alien took note of this exchange, and moved to face the Wolf.  Ben was struck by the fact that the aliens seemed somehow smaller than he'd expected.  While they were all about the same size, they each only came up to his chin.  The Alien looked at him for a moment, nictitating membranes moving over its unblinking eyes from the side.  After a moment it hissed something, and a device at its belt growled; "Are you the species with the ship that vanished from the <untranslateable> system eighteen <untranslateable> ago?  Ben smiled a little crookedly; "I'm not sure; Our ship flew very close by what appeared to be a commercial transport before it departed.  If that's the one, then yes."  The Aliens turned to look at each other, and for a moment Ben was reminded of computers that could talk to each other via an infrared, and otherwise invisible link.  As one they all turned back to look at him, and the one in the rear hissed for a moment.  His translater said "We would like to enter into negotiations to purchase a working copy of that drive."

"Yeah" Ben thought to himself; "Lets skip all the pleasantries and cultural exchange crap and get right down to business....  Cold bastard, aren't you?"  After a moment of apparent internal reflection, Ben nodded solemnly; "I will of course have to consult with my superiors, but I admit some sort of deal might be worked out.  There are things that we too require."  The rearmost alien nodded; "how long will it take you to obtain authorization from your superior?"  Ben shrugged and then realized the gesture was probably meaningless to the aliens.  They didn't seem to have any body language that he could decipher.  "I will have to go and present myself to him.  He will have many questions, and may have to consult in turn with others."  Again the Aliens turned to look at each other; after a moment, as one, they turned back; "This is.... Inefficient.  What can be done to speed the process?"

Ben raised an eyebrow and grinned; "Eager, are we?"  The Aliens looked at each other and then as one nodded their heads.  Ben almost took a step back; that motion certainly wasn't in THEIR culture.  They'd obviously been studying their new arrivals... and learning FAST.  Ben nodded back; "Okay.... I will push for a fast resolution.  Um, to accelerate the process, what might you have to trade?"

The alien on the left responded, almost as an echo; "Trade."  Ben frowned; "I don't understand."  "We will give you a percentage of the profits from the use of the new drive.  A very small percentage, of course.  Never the less, it should be a considerable amount of capital.  This will obviate the need for us to present potential trade items to you at this time.  You may invest, or purchase as you wish.  Later."  Ben suddenly remembered the "commercial" he'd seen when they'd been working on video transfer protocols and had the idea that these feathered reptiles were intent on bilking them for every credit they obtained from the sale of the drive.  Ben nodded; "I will, of course, have to relay  this to my superior, but in principle, that is acceptable."  "After all," Ben thought to himself with a grin; "who can out-swindle a pirate?"

The alien on the right said; "Then we will not delay you.  Please return here as soon as possible with the working copy of the drive."  As one they turned, and headed back towards their ship.  Ben chuckled and called after them; "And when we do, we'll start negotiations on its fair value.  It would be prudent to have someone here who can approve the final deal."  The rearmost alien paused, and turned to give the Wolf one of his unblinking stares, as if suddenly realizing these strange aliens might not be such pushovers after all.  Just before the door to the ship started to close, the little robots appeared as if from all directions, the last of them literally bouncing through the door just before it closed.  The ship wheeled and headed back the way it'd come.

Ben sighed; "OK, the first thing I want is an assurance that we don't have any biological contamination problems.  Next, I want to know what that horde of robots was doing.  Then I want to know what scans we were successful in making."  Around the edges of the small crowd, furrs turned and moved to comply with the Wolf's orders.  Lifting a comm link the Wolf growled; "Bridge.  Signal the flotilla we're heading for the edge of the system.  We'll warp back.  Lets put on a nice show for our potential customers."

"Sense these scans do not make.  A hoax I suspect!"  The room was plain, without furniture, but the air was full of holograms.  Some showed the inside of the alien vessel, others showed schematics of its internals.  "Too easy it was to scan; unprotected they were" a second alien hissed.  A third nodded; "power supplies in vast excess they had, with no defineable purpose.  Illogical."  The one in the middle moved his head in a circular motion; "connected to a vast array of devices, the power grid was.  While purpose unknown, important to them it seemed to be."  The other three aliens nodded solemnly.  After a moment, the first to speak resumed; "unable to deduce their drive we were.  Steal it we cannot."  The second sighed; "Alien it is.  Very Alien."  The third winced; "pay for tech support might we have to."  The one in the middle imitated the wolf's "shrug", moving his shoulders up and down in an exaggerated motion; "Cheap at almost any price would it be; our very survival, at stake is!  And, from their departure, works, it obviously does."  The others all did credible imitations of their strange visitors, nodding their heads in unison, and agreement.

The Lion turned from the holotank as the recording ended to look at the Wolf; "well, it DOES look like you had yourself an adventure.  You say they're cold blooded?  Ben sighed and nodded; "Yeah; the medical scans were about all that worked.  We couldn't get a good scan of their ship, and for some reason the recording devices we aimed through the open door showed nothing but static.  Their robots didn't scan well either, but we do have some interesting recordings of their emissions."  The Lion nodded; "And they concentrated mainly in the Weapons Systems areas?  Ben shrugged and nodded again; "I would have thought they'd have gone straight to Engineering, or maybe to the computer systems, but they seemed fascinated by the guns.  Not the torpedo launchers, or point defense systems, but the big ticket energy weapons.  Ion cannons.  Disruptors.  Plasma guns.  That kind of thing."  The Lion chuckled; "I bet they thought they were key components of the Warp Drive."  Ben just shrugged;  "I guess.  So what are we going to do?"

The Lion grinned, showing teeth; "We negotiate the best deal we can, for the most basic warp drive we can cobble together.  We see what else we can sell, and then we use the money to find out if they know how to send us home.  If that doesn't work, having a good trading relationship with our neighbors probably isn't that bad an idea."  Ben sighed and looked out the nearest port; "as long as they're peaceful.  There sure were a LOT of them in that system; if they got hostile, we could have problems......"  The Lion just nodded.

Cromwell shifted in his seat and shook his head; "Worse than I'd hoped for, better than I'd feared."  Turning to fix the Lion with a hard stare, he growled; "Look, this is still a sideshow for me.  We're having a real hard time holding on to what we've got on this one little planet.  I just don't have TIME to worry about the neighbors.  AND I'm not comfortable in selling them a warp drive.  What if they decide to invade?"  The Lion chuckled; "Ben found no sign of so much as a pop-gun in that system.  Not even high powered communications lasers.  Now I admit they might have weapons so advanced we can't even detect them, but I'm more inclined to believe that they've got so peaceful a society no one has 'em because no one needs 'em. And even if they did build warp drives and an invasion fleet, they probably wouldn't have the least clue as to tactics.  WE on the other hand, are a little more than proficient."  The Lion chuckled; "Besides, now that they know a warp drive is possible, how long will it be until they invent it themselves, and leave us with nothing to sell?  AND what might they have that could help YOU in your quest to liberate the planet?"  Cromwell sighed and nodded; "I know, I know, and you're right.  I'm just not comfortable with it, is all.  I feel like you're about to make a deal with  the devil....  Handle it, but keep it from mucking up the situation down here, OK?"  The Lion nodded and rose to leave.  Cromwell straightened a little in his chair; "Oh, by the way, I've got a small, and I mean SMALL team modifying a robot factory, that'll turn out modular linear accelerators.  With luck we'll get some small amount of antimatter production capability within about two months.  The Lion's grin widened, and he waved a casual salute as he passed through the door.

"Ben, we're going back.  Cromwell gave me the OK.  Reluctantly, but he agreed.  Now, who's the sharpest negotiator you know?  We're going to need some clever folks to get the best possible deal out of this......"
 

This story is a work of fiction, and any resemblance to any characters, living, dead or imaginary is purely a coincidence.  Tanj is copyright Kittiara's player.  Kittiara can be found on Furrymuck; telnet 24.164.231.38 8888.  Hinoki, and Zassa are copyright their players (Zassa can be found on FurryMuck, and Hinoki on Tapestries or on FurryMuck. Roland is copyright IronBadger.  Copyright 2001.  Comments, suggestions, or flames can be directed to ha_seng@hotmail.com.