1
Out in the abyss, a few hours from the commencement of the new day shift, two ships floated. RKON’s navy was limited in scope and size compared to the other Accord cultures, as the machines did not see the need to be overt in their defensive measures. And besides, in the event of an attack on their territory, their vast, planet-scale manufactories could construct any manner of destructive space dreadnought in a matter of hours. Even this far from RKON space, C19 and D04 considered their current state to be suitably low risk, watching the docked Rune Carrier in its bay at Reader Station.
All of the RKON servitors, some billion individual units, were built connected to the grand network that was RKON itself. As such, even fighters like D04 possessed an understanding of human poetics and artistry, so that they might better empathise with their organic wards. And to them, Rune Carrier was quite beautiful. The ancient vessel’s hull, from bow to stern, was made of a silver metal like solid mercury, unadorned by the symbols or emblems of the Accord or any of its members. All attempts to mark the solid metal decoratively had been unsuccessful without also damaging the internal structure, they had read from the Readers’ reports, though leaving the ship blank made for an interesting, overtly neutral political statement as well. Her grand engines were bolted to her rear like a more traditional set of atmospheric boosters, but these would never detach, providing the vessel with sub-light thrust using an internal fusion drive.
Then the long main body, roughly cuboid but slightly narrower along the dorsal edge. The engineering deck was a low, extra box of metal with its forward face seemingly incomplete, making the ship look a little like a pistol with a jagged handle. The protruding antenna and disconnected plugs gave the impression of the ship being at one time locked in place against some other, modular unit, but so far no such thing had been found on the icy world Rune Carrier was taken from, nor any other. The airlock sat on the starboard side of this lower unit, and it was here that crew boarded or left the ship.
C19 and D04 were secretly quite pleased that Rune Carrier’s armaments were minimal. The underside of the main hull held one subtle, Mandate-built gatling railgun for shooting down projectiles, and on the dorsal rim was a long, solidly built rocket array from the Sceptis Administration. The weapon was free-moving and could rotate slowly, providing the ship’s primary firepower. But of course, the Rune Carrier wasn’t a fighter. Ideally, neither of its guns would ever be utilised. And the inclusion of either one spoilt the vessel’s peaceful image, if you asked RKON, potentially destabilising future diplomatics.
But it was a lovely ship, still. Both of the orbiting machines believed so, and performed their careful, habitual scans with the closest thing an artificial intelligence could come to reverence.
It was for this reason, in part, that the strike was so successful. D04, the more tactically designed of the two, took the first attack, a beam of light cast from a seemingly empty part of space closer to the sun Arach. The laser melted through the ship’s titanium hull easily, leaving red-hot liquid metal in its wake. In an instant, the machine core was vaporised, leaving the ship’s individual automatic systems to fend for themselves. Sparks flared, fires were extinguished, but D04 was effectively dead in space. The attack was instantly lethal, had clearly been planned, and demonstrated a worrying understanding of RKON’s designs.
C19 had a further moment to compose itself and begin countermeasures while its brother melted down beside it. The transport had tight-beam defensive beams, little more than very hot communications lasers, which it fired out in the direction of the attack to try and pinpoint a source. It hit something, a dark shape against the black of space. A cloaked vessel, if such a thing even existed. Solid-matter missiles clicked into place in their bays, but this was only an instinctive action. C19 knew that it was already dead.
In the microseconds before termination, it knew it had a choice. It could beam a distress signal to either Reader Station and the rest of the Accord fleet to warn them of the attackers. Or it could call the Rune Carrier. It could warn Marcus, who the ship had been programmed to love. And in the end, heart won out over head. The machine sent forth its alarm and all its data on the cloaked aggressor towards the shining mercury ship.
And the message fell flat. A blanketing field which its signal emitters could not penetrate. Produced by Reader Station. Someone had blocked it.
C19 was mildly surprised to discover that it was experiencing a very human emotion, that of vengeful fury, as it was cut to pieces by the long laser of the enemy vessel. And once its processors had stopped functioning, a little cloud of tugs emerged from Reader Station like a swarm of mechanical locusts, which dragged the smouldering hulls of the two ships away to be dismantled. In just under an hour, the ships were gone, and all that was left in their place was the empty void.
2
“No fucking way,” Hal growled. “Get that magic shit out here. There is no fucking way.”
“I, too, find this story very hard to believe,” Miriham commented with narrow eyes. One slender hand rested on the cup of Blue Royal before her, now mostly empty. “I am well-acquainted with anima and its place in our folklore. But to power a ship with nothing more than emotional essence? It is… It is ludicrous!”
She laughed, the first time Hal had heard the petite elf do so, but he didn’t like the sound. It was bitter and a little loose. She was drunk.
“I don’t know what else to tell you.” Albright frowned with his arms held out in a helpless gesture. “I saw the evidence in the readouts and Lilith confirmed them. Subspace travel is powered by anima.”
“By fucking?” Hal chuckled. “This a common thing where you’re from, or something?”
“Nothing of this ilk has ever been conceived,” Miriham answered with an unsteady point at the RKON representative, cutting him off before he could argue. “Not since the days of the great sages of yore, who moved whole nations by the power of their will.”
“So it has been done before?” Albright asked hopefully.
“Yes, in tales!” the elf snapped. “In fantasies! They were not real, you silly human!”
“I’ve not heard anything like this either,” Therese said. She rested a hand on Albright’s arm. “Sorry, sweety. It is a little farfetched.”
Albright was scowling. “Fine, then. How does the Rune Carrier jump to subspace?”
“Well,” Therese replied from her role as Chief Engineer, “we have a Mythtech drive that supplies the necessary force.”
“Which is charged how?”
“Didn’t you hear?” Hal retorted. “It’s Mythtech! It’s lasted for generations under the ground since the time of the Mythmakers, and it’s gonna last another millennia or so because that’s just how they built things back then!”
“That isn’t very scientific,” Albright replied.
“Neither’s a fucking sex ship!”
“And why would the Readers Council see fit to not properly inform us of this, hm?” Miriham asked, her sibilance slurring. “We are the Rune Carrier’s bridge crew! It is imperative that we understand the ship’s systems!”
“Lilith said she’d let us all know when we were underway!” Albright protested. “But if she told us now, you know the Accord would hear about it and throw a fucking fit!”
Cursing, is it? The poor lad is losing his nerve, thought Hal. He forced a deep breath from his lungs and raised a placating hand towards the human as, between them, Demi did her best not to get involved.
“Can I tell you my theory, mate?” he said.
“Please,” Albright spat.
“I think Lilith is being very cunning and very sly. She wanted you between the sheets so she could twist you around her finger, and she knew that you’re a proper, sensible little Accord boy so you weren’t gonna just go for it. So she made up some fake readouts that she could let slip to you at the right moment. She let you believe you doing it with her was gonna help the ship, and that made you drop your guard and get fucked by her.”
“You don’t know a thing.” Albright’s teeth were bared like a true drake. “I was about to give myself up to her anyway when the data showed up! She…!”
He bit his tongue and looked shame-faced down at the tabletop. “She didn’t have to lie.”
Now Hal felt bad. He reached out around Demi to pat the human’s shoulder. Albright flinched away at first, but with nowhere to go he soon accepted the sympathy.
“Sorry, mate. We’ve all been duped here. There’s no shame in it.”
Hal glanced at the others for support. Therese gave an encouraging nod, her pretty lips twisted with concern. Miriham, meanwhile, seethed in silence. Her cheeks were very red. But Albright suddenly gave an exasperated exhalation, tipping his head back and addressing the ceiling.
“I’m not wrong, am I Rune Carrier?” he said. “If I’m right, show them! They need to know, too!”
Hal retracted his hand slowly, sharing a worried frown with Therese. But a moment later, the human’s face lit up. He laughed.
“Not for me,” he said. “Thank you, but I already know, and they can’t see like I do. Show them.”
“Mate,” Hal said in a low voice. “Are you feeling alright?”
Albright rose a hand to silence him, and waited, watching the mess hall light fixtures in expectation. The room was silent for a long, awkward moment. Hal slowly raised the courage to talk the human down some more.
“First Officer Marcus Albright is correct.”
The voice made them all jump, save Albright, who clapped his hands together joyfully.
“What the fuck?” Hal muttered, looking around. The voice had come from all around them, presumably the ship’s internal communications system. It had been quiet and light, almost a whisper. It held a distinctly feminine, girlish quality.
“Um, ship?” Therese was agape, and she had half-risen from her seat on her tentacles. “Is that really you? You can talk?”
“Yes, Chief Engineer Marian Therese,” said the Rune Carrier.
“I… Um, I didn’t know you could talk.”
“I could not speak until just now, when First Officer Marcus Albright requested that I do so,” she explained.
“You just learned? J-Just now?”
“Rune is an AI, like any other,” Albright explained. He was doing a poor job of hiding his smugness. “She has the ability to learn adaptively. It really wasn’t so outside the realm of possibility that she’d be able to talk to us all.”
“Woah.” Therese began grinning. “Woah!! Rune! It’s… It’s really nice to meet you!”
“Hold on, hold on,” Hal insisted. “One revelation at a time. Ship, you’re telling me that this prick is right? You’re, um…”
“You’re a sex machine, are you?” Therese giggled. “Is that right, Rune?”
“I do not know how to answer that.”
“The Auxiliary Power, Rune,” Albright prompted. “How does it work?”
“My Auxiliary Power system draws energy from internal, atmospheric releases of energy generated by sentient life,” Rune explained. “However, I cannot answer queries related to the nature of this power, as that information is not currently accessible by my systems.”
“Can you give us some examples of when you experienced spikes of energy?”
“Most recently, Auxiliary Power spikes were detected at two-oh-eight, when Tactical Officer Halcyon of the House of Pinnacle performed an act of penetrative sexual intercourse with Captain Lilith of the Sceptis-Minor Families, at two-fifty-six when First Officer Marcus Albright experienced an orgasm as a result of tactile actions performed by Captain Lilith, at three-thirty-one when Chief Engineer Marian Therese performed an act of female-focussed sexual conduct with Captain Lilith, and at four-twenty-seven, four-thirty-one and four-thirty-five when Captain Lilith brought herself to orgasm while on a video call with an unidentified individual.”
“Fuck me…” Hal breathed. That Lilith was some sort of machine, if the ship’s AI was right about how often she got lucky. But more alarming was that Albright had been right. The ship was drawing power from them having sex. That pattern was easy enough to interpret from the data. And it was also a little worrying that the ship, now talking to them in that sweet, shy voice, was also privy to what they were doing with each other in the captain’s quarters. “Fuck me!”
“Please note,” the ship continued, “that all spikes recorded in the data did occur in the vicinity of the nexus of the ship, where Captain Lilith is currently sleeping. As such, energy draw efficiency is much higher than if similar actions were performed elsewhere on board.”
“The captain’s quarters?” Therese asked. “They have some sort of special energy-absorbing system, or something?”
“That is correct,” said Rune. “The nexus of the ship appears to have been designed with the purpose of drawing Auxiliary Power more effectively.”
The bridge crew entertained a moment of sombre quiet as the revelation sank in. Hal could only shake his head. The ship had been designed to take energy from them having sex and convert it into faster-than-light travel. And not only that, Lilith had made her bedroom the best place to offer up that energy, so she could farm each of them for their… what was it Miriham had called it? Their ‘anima’.
And the Accord had been okay with that. The Readers Council must be a bunch of sick perverts. Hal’s hands turned to fists on the tabletop. They could have at least asked. He would have been okay with it, then.
“N-Not the only way.”
All eyes turned to Miriham, who was resting on her arms and fighting stubbornly against asleep.
“Sex is only one way,” she said, muffled by her own limbs, “of getting anima.”
“What else is there?” asked Albright eagerly.
“Anything else emotional,” Miriham slurred. “Music, poetry, dancing. If you have a secret and you share it, that is anima. If you express a strong emotion in any way, that is anima. It is all just emotion, in the end.”
“So, we could replace all Lilith’s sex with, like, a nice song and the effect would be the same?” asked Therese with incredulity.
Miriham merely mumbled something unintelligible. Therese chuckled.
“Yeah, I agree,” Hal smirked. “This is all a bit much for late night, and after a bunch of booze. What say we get a bit of sleep and talk about all this in the morning?”
Albright nodded. Hal noticed his foot was tapping excitedly on the floor of the mess hall. “Yes, sounds good. But what do we do about Lilith?”
“We know more than we did,” Hal told them. “We might even know more than she does, at this point. I say we confront her together first thing tomorrow, get some proper answers. And then we can insist on being a part of the Readers’ conversation from now on.”
“We can get her to treat us like equals,” Therese nodded. “We can decide together what to tell the operations crew.”
“And no more games,” said Hal. “She doesn’t get to push us around anymore. Can we get an agreement to stay away from fucking her? We absolutely cannot cede more power to that devil woman.”
They all nodded, save Miriham, who appeared to have lost her battle with sleep. Demi, the innocent ensign, kneaded her hands together in her lap. She’d taken all this well, Hal noticed. Whatever they’d said about her being one of them before, that was truer now more than ever. She was part of the inner circle, whether she’d intended it or not. They’d need to treat her well.
“Rune,” said Albright with an airy chuckle, “can you help us with this? If we ever get stuck alone with her, you could do something to dampen the mood a little.”
“I do not understand,” said the ship.
“Put on some inappropriate music,” Therese laughed. “Or drop the temperature in the room so it’s super chilly!”
“And could you wake us all up tomorrow morning? Make it the second Lilith opens her eyes. That way, we can get everything out in the open before anything vital for the launch.”
“I shall do what I can,” Rune replied. There was an unmistakable hint of uncertainly in that machine’s voice.
“Right! Bed!” Therese slapped the thighs of her tentacles before rising up. “I’m sleepy, and poor Miri is out cold!”
“Yeah, see you all bright and early,” Hal nodded. He stretched out his arms over his head and yawned.
“Thanks, everyone,” said Albright. “I’m glad we’re together on this. And I’m glad we’re going to get to explore the Forge together, too.”
Therese moved to the human and slid her arms around his neck in a tight hug. Albright coloured, but embraced her back once he’d come to. Hal smiled. For all his oddness, Albright was turning out to be a good fit for secondary command. His link to the ship would come in handy, if nothing else. Hal turned to Demi and put a welcoming hand on her chilly shoulder, and the poor girl’s legs nearly gave way. She must have been tired. Miriham grumbled in her sleep.
“And thank you, Rune,” said Therese, leaning companionably against her first officer. “I’m looking forward to working with you on, um, yourself.”
The ship said nothing. Maybe she was tired, too. Hal shook his head in disbelief at his own thoughts. He was already thinking of the Rune Carrier as a person. Wonders never ceased.
3
[I really can’t thank you enough, Rune.]
[That is evident, First Officer Marcus Albright.]
[Just ‘Marcus’, please.]
[…That is evident, Marcus.]
He couldn’t help himself. Marcus laughed aloud, alone on the ops corridor slope. There was a more direct route to the officer quarters that the others had taken, but he knew he wouldn’t be able to sleep. He had every intention of wasting away the rest of the night shift chatting with Rune through his digital influence like this, and to hell with tomorrow’s inevitable fatigue! It was just so exciting. A new friend. A new ally, one he felt he understood so much better than standoffish Miriham, flighty Therese or argumentative Hal. And an ally with such a cute voice! None of the machines of the RKON System had sounded anything like his Rune!
Still, he owed Rune’s wakefulness to the crew of the Rune Carrier, at least in part. Their pushing him made him push back, however much it had stung to have to defend himself. And now look at them. They’d all been smiling as they parted ways, and their future together out in the distant Forge galaxy was looking very bright indeed.
There were a lot of reasons to be happy.
[So, Rune. Tell me about yourself.]
The ship took a moment to consider before she answered him. [I am a starfaring vessel crewed by the Galactic Accord, tasked with exploring a neighbouring galaxy.]
Marcus chuckled. [But what do you like doing? Do you like music? Is there a film you enjoy?]
[I do not know the answer to any of those questions.]
[Okay, no problem,] he projected quickly, sensing tension. [We can discover all that together. I’m just excited to get to know you.]
The long slope turned sharply as it reached the top deck of the ship. At the end of this hallway was the bridge, but the corridors were dark to conserve the draw on the fusion. There was a bit of a chill in the air, too. The heating must have been off for the same reason. Marcus put his hands in the pockets of his uniform trousers and continued to meander his way towards bed.
[Do you have any questions for me?]
[I do.]
[Yeah?] he said.
[Why are you wasting your energy with idle chatter, when I have not been programmed for such?] asked Rune. [You yourself suggested sleep to your colleagues. This conversation is counter-productive to healthy sleep, and I understand you shall require significant energy tomorrow.]
[Were you programmed to talk to your crew with a voice at all?]
Rune paused. [I was not.]
[So, you’re growing. Maybe you’ll also grow to enjoy ‘idle chatter,’ too. I’d like to encourage that, if I can. I’m certainly enjoying talking to you.]
[Please explain.]
[You’re fascinating, Rune!] he said, throwing wide his arms as he walked. [You’re wonderful! I want to know everything there is to know about you!]
His fingertips brushed the wall of the corridor, and he imagined he was touching her, touching Rune. Inspired, he stopped and pressed his palm fully against the cold metal. Was he mad for being so excited about forming a friendship with this ancient vessel? Was he just drunk? He’d had plenty of machine friends before, and their AI had been far more advanced than the hardware the Accord would have used here. Why did Rune feel so real, then?
[I believe you shall be disappointed.]
He blinked. [What?]
“F-First Officer Marcus!”
Marcus jumped, turning back down the slope. Demi hopped up towards him, smiling sheepishly.
“I’m sorry,” said the ensign. “Did I interrupt your thinking? Did I…” She stopped, putting a hand to her mouth. “Oh, you were talking to the ship again, weren’t you? I’m so sorry!”
“No, it’s fine!” he replied. “Really. I can talk to her whenever. Don’t worry about it.”
Demi looked away, saying nothing in response. One hand moved to touch lightly at one of her braids.
“You’re heading to bed, right?” Marcus asked. “The ops bunks?”
“That’s right.”
“Then let’s go. They’re just up ahead.”
[Rune?] he asked as they set off together. [Are you alright?]
But the ship wouldn’t answer him.
“So,” he said to his organic companion, walking beside him with her hands behind her back. He hoped the ship would tell him what was wrong later. “That was quite a bit to take in. Starting to regret taking this job?”
Demi shook her head, her braids thumping lightly against her red, woollen shawl. “It’s very weird, don’t get me wrong,” she said, “but I’m okay with it. A little scared to meet the captain again, but I’ll be alright. I have you all to look after me, after all.”
Marcus nodded. “That’s right. Don’t let Lilith push you around. And don’t be afraid to come ask us for help whenever you need it. We’re all in this together, now.”
“Yes. Right. Um, First Officer Marcus?”
“Just Marcus, really. I said that.”
“You did,” she giggled. “But I think it’s technically tomorrow now, which means we’re on duty. I can’t be so informal with my superior officer.”
“I guess I shouldn’t argue,” Marcus smiled. “But ‘First Officer Marcus’ is a bit of a mouthful, isn’t it?”
“How about ‘XO Albright’? That’s pretty cool.”
“How about ‘XO Marcus’?”
“Deal!” Demi beamed. “So, XO Marcus, can I ask? What are you planning on doing about… about the captain?”
“Well, we’re going to have a word with her,” he said with a frown. “I’m hoping she’ll be more reasonable when she learns how much we all know. And there’s more of us, so she can’t, you know, overpower us as a group. I don’t think.”
“Then you don’t…”
He glanced down at Demi as she trailed off. “Don’t what?”
“You… don’t love her?”
Marcus blinked. “Love her? No. No, I don’t love Lilith.”
“Oh, okay.” Demi frowned. “I’m sorry. I thought because you had… you made love with her…”
“Technically didn’t,” he said hurriedly, feeling his throat tightening. “And that was… That wasn’t love. That was just me being attracted to her. And her just… wanting to mess around.”
The ensign was quiet. Marcus kicked himself that he’d make this so awkward.
“My kind don’t have… sex,” she said at length. “I read about it, though. I thought you only ever did it if you loved someone. I assumed you all must love her, if you ended up doing that with her. And that made hearing how angry you all were quite confusing. I guess I read that situation wrong.”
Marcus sighed. “No, you’re not completely wrong. What you’re describing is just the ideal. When… Look, I’m being quite honest here, so tell me to stop if I’m out of line by saying any of this.”
“No!” Demi insisted, shaking her head. “If you can tell me, I do want to learn. I’m an ensign on a sex-powered ship, after all. I need to know.”
Was that resignation, or excitement? Marcus knew he would have to be careful. “Well, personally, I don’t know if I want to ever have sex with someone unless I love them.”
“Apart from Lilith?”
“And I wish that hadn’t happened. She pushed me, and I couldn’t… didn’t turn her down. I knew it was the wrong thing to do, and I did it anyway.”
“I’m sorry.” Demi looked down at her boots. “I shouldn’t have asked.”
“It’s fine, really. I have to own my mistakes. But… yeah. If I think about it, I want to fall in love with someone first, and then I’ll feel comfortable sleeping with them.”
“And if the ship needs you to sleep with someone so it can fly?”
He shrugged. “I guess we’ll have to see. You never know.”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean,” he said, feeling hot in the chill of the night, “maybe I’ll fall for someone here on the crew. That would make things easier.”
“You think you might?”
“I mean, we haven’t met about a hundred of them yet,” he said. “But maybe. There’s every chance. I…”
“What?” she asked as he trailed off.
Marcus shook his head. “I don’t know how easily I could fall in love.”
Demi said nothing to this, leaving Marcus to consider his thoughts. It was true. He had a strong self-impression that he was soft hearted and easily charmed. A pretty girl’s smile, and he was undone. That was how Lilith had so easily overcome him, and that was why talking to Therese was so difficult. In fact, who was to say that he wasn’t falling for Lilith? She was beautiful and smart. Maybe he did love her, but he hoped not. That would make this trip very complicated. Tomorrow, he would know more. RKON’s two units would fill him in on the parts of his memory that were lacking, and he would have some past romance, or lack of, to help him understand himself better. He just had to wait.
When he glanced again at Demi, the ensign had her hands about her own shoulders, gripping her red shawl tightly.
“Cold?”
She nodded. Demi hadn’t had anything to drink tonight, as her body couldn’t digest much besides pure aqua. And the heating was off right now. They were almost at the ops bunks and the warmth of the Rune Carrier’s thick bedsheets, but still…
“Here.”
Demi looked at his offered hand with trepidation. “Are you sure? I’ll be cold.”
“I don’t mind,” he said. “If it helps, I’m happy for you to-…”
Her grip was like ice, and he actually hissed.
“I’m sorry!”
But he held tight as she tried to pull away, shaking his head. “No, it’s fine. Really. Don’t mind me.”
Demi frowned, but she didn’t take her hand away. They walked on in silence for a moment, hand in hand like lovers. And in time, their heat began to equalise. Her skin grew slowly warmer. Or perhaps Marcus was cooling. Either way, the difference between them quickly diminished. As they walked, he felt Demi lean closer to him, her shoulder brushing his arm.
At the ops bunk door, Demi turned to face him. Still she held him, and he allowed it gladly.
“Are you going to be alright?” Marcus asked, meeting her red-ringed eyes carefully. “I hope the room isn’t too cold.”
“It should be fine,” she said softly. “If it gets too bad, I can always go down to engineering. The fusion drive is always warm.”
“Good,” he said. “You do that.”
Still she watched him. Still their hands remained linked.
“If I can take just a little more, though,” she whispered. “It will help me sleep. Would that be alright, XO Marcus?”
He swallowed. Then nodded.
Demi’s body pressed gently against his, and both her hands came up to press against the sides of his neck in a sudden rush of cold. Demi rose up on her toes and pushed her cheek to his, and she moaned against him.
“You… are so warm.”
“G-Good,” he shivered, both from the cold and the sudden contact. But he bore with it. She needed heat to survive, after all. To deny her would be rude. Marcus put his arms around her and held her against him, and Demi groaned with pleasure.
“Warm…”
They held each other for a long moment. Marcus felt his blood cooling as the heat was drawn out of him slowly, but then it wasn’t so bad. Demi was soft, and the noises she was making were very nice indeed. Only this wasn’t very professional, was it? Hadn’t she just been telling him that he was her superior officer?
“Demi…”
“XO,” she whispered, overriding him. “You are very warm.”
“Okay, but Demi…”
“You are very warm,” she said, “down there.”
He leaned back. Demi’s red eyes sought his and stared into him. There was an uncharacteristic keenness to those bloodshot orbs, quite unlike her usual unfocussed shyness. She held his gaze solidly. She looked flushed and hale, vital and potent. Her usual alabaster had been overtaken by newly heated skin, pink like ripe fruit.
Miriham flushed too, when she’d had too much to drink. He’d warmed this girl too much, Marcus realised, and now she was drunk. Drunk on him. But he was also very aware of the tight pressure in his trousers, pushing into her hips. He began breathing heavily.
“What would you like?” he asked her softly.
“I would like you to heat me up some more in my room,” she replied, barely a whisper. “Would that be alright, XO?”
And he found he could not deny her.
The bunk room wasn’t as cold as he’d expected. Perhaps Rune had anticipated that someone would be sleeping here and turned up the heat. Still, Demi was not satisfied by the ambient warmth. She took Marcus by the hand and led him to the closest bed. He spotted a satchel lying just under the metal frame, and one of the lockers on the far wall was open to reveal a collection of grey jumpsuits hung up inside. The lights activated as soon as they entered, at first harsh and bright. Marcus used his cybernetics to turn them back down to a soft firelight orange to encourage a sense of warmth. The resulting dimness reminded him of Lilith’s room.
Demi eased him down onto the bed and climbed atop him, straddling his hips. Her weight was glorious, pushing down on his erection. When he shuddered with pleasure, she smiled softly, pushing a little harder.
“Please,” she said. “Your shirt.”
He obliged, stripping off his jacket first and then the t-shirt beneath. Demi gasped as she lay her cold hands on his chest. Her eyes fluttered shut.
“Ahh, XO…!”
“Do you like that?” he asked with an uncertain smile.
“Y-Yes,” she sighed. “It’s nice.”
He placed his hands on hers, and she moaned anew. “Just try not to kill me.”
Demi giggled. “Don’t worry. I will restrain myself. But XO, may I see it?”
In his addled state, still feeling the honeyed hints of alcohol in his blood, Marcus tilted his head.
“Down there? It feels… so warm.”
“O-Okay.”
Releasing her hands, he reached down to his trousers and slowly undid them. Demi put her hands on his shoulders and rose up to allow him to pull his clothing down. And then he was naked. His cock stood tall, eagerly pointing the way between her legs. Demi bit her lip as she stared down at it, and then reached down with her hand.
“Holy-…!”
“Are you alright?” she asked with a widening of her eyes.
“Y-Yeah,” he replied. “I’m fine.”
“It’s… throbbing!” Demi gasped as she stared at her hand about his cock. “There’s so much heat! You’re sure I’m not too cold?”
“It would help if you moved it a bit.”
“Like this?” she asked, moving her wrist around uncertainly.
“More like…”
Marcus put a hand about hers to encourage her. Gently, he shifted the angle of her grip and increased her pace until the up and down of her felt just right. Until it felt like Lilith.
“Good,” he sighed. “That’s good.”
Demi smiled as she rubbed him. “I’ve never done anything like this before. I like it.”
“Yeah, me too,” he replied dumbly. He closed his eyes and sighed her name. “Demi…”
“I want more.”
“Hm? What do you mean?”
Demi released him and clambered backwards off the bed so that she was standing. Marcus opened his eyes and watched her curiously. The ensign bit her lip as she considered her approach. Then she knelt down on to the ground between his knees. She took his cock in her hands. And then opened her mouth and without hesitation slid him inside her.
“Good God!” he cursed. “Oh… wow!”
It was so fucking cold. It felt like he’d put his dick into a freezer drawer. But he willed it to fight on, to not fall limp. Because the sight of the girl on her knees in front of him, her pretty hair tossed over her shoulders and her fair face contorted in the pleasure of absorbing his heat through her mouth, was just too exhilarating.
Demi sucked on him harshly, drawing him deep into her. She moaned loudly around her mouthful and kneaded his thigh with her one free hand. She was entirely taken away by his body heat, her wits spent by the sinking warmth of his member. But she still had the wherewithal to open her eyes and stare up at him. She removed him slowly from between her lips.
“I read that boys from the other cultures like this,” she whispered. “Is that true?”
“Um,” Marcus said.
“No?”
“It’s just…” His mouth twisted as he thought through his words. The cold wasn’t helping him think. Nor was she. “I mean… Usually, there’s lubrication. And you… you’re very dry.”
Marcus tried hard not to think about the truth of the girl with his cock in her hands. Because the real core of who she was, the real Demi, was tucked away inside that cute human body of hers. The part of her that was pleasuring him was a lifeless shell given animation, a frame for the Alignment insect inside it to move around in. The body wasn’t alive, so it didn’t need blood. Or saliva.
“Oh.” Demi’s brow tightened in visible disappointment, and instantly he felt guilty.
“It’s not awful, though,” he tried. “And I like seeing you do it. You’re… You’re very pretty.”
But Demi wasn’t listening. And after a moment’s silent consideration, she looked up at him with a bright intensity. Her cheeks were red with the light of life, drained from him.
“May I try something?”
“Um, sure,” he said.
Demi released his cock and clambered back up atop him. Marcus put his hands on her slender hips to steady her as her body pressed against him. Her arms snaked around his shoulders, and her face eased itself towards his. Their noses touched. Cold.
“Here I come,” she whispered.
Then she kissed him. It was a shock at first, both from the cold of her lips and the knowledge of where they had just been. But he soon realised he didn’t mind. Kissing was nice.
Demi eased his mouth open with her chilly, oddly dry tongue and pushed herself inside. Marcus grunted in surprise. Her tongue swirled, prodded, explored. He felt her slip along his teeth and probe at the edges of his throat. Her soft lips caressed his. And then she broke free. As her tongue left him, she sucked on his lips. And when he opened his eyes, she smiled sweetly.
Before he knew it, she was back on the floor. She rubbed his cock with her now really rather warm hands until it had returned to the fullness of its pressure. And then she opened her mouth again and began to suck him.
“Oh, Demi! Oh… yes!”
Lubricated by his saliva, Demi bobbed her head up and down on his cock. Her technique was clumsy and unpractised, her pacing uneven and awkward. But she was new. She was sexy. Marcus stared down at her as she worked and thrust his hips deeper.
“Demi! Demi!”
He put a hand into her hair, and she sighed her delight at the new heat. And he pushed her harder. Faster. She felt so good.
“D-Demi!!”
Marcus came quickly and suddenly. And after the cold and the anticipation and the long day and all of Lilith, the release was a mercy. His semen shot out in a wild flow that mingled with his saliva in her mouth.
And Demi groaned aloud. Marcus shuddered as the girl pressed her nose into his pubic hair and pulled him as deep as he could go into her mouth. Her tongue worked savagely to draw forth his hot semen and swallow it down. She sucked on him deliriously.
A long, hot, sensual moment later, Demi relinquished him. Lines of his saliva still dripped from her lips. The girl gave a great sigh and let her face fall onto his naked lap. She was breathing slowly.
“S-Such… heat…” she murmured. “So good…”
“You liked that?” Marcus gasped.
Demi nodded weakly. “Uh-huh. Good. Now sleepy.”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah. Full of heat. Now sleep.”
Marcus chuckled, stroking her hair. “Then let’s get you to bed.”
He helped her up onto the mattress and covered her with the sheet. A part of him, still re-living the encounter, wanted to undress her. So she could put on something more appropriate for sleep, but also so he could look at her. But she needed the heat of her clothes, or she might perish from cold while she slept. And besides, the moment was over. He was already starting to feel the inevitable gnawing of guilt at what he had done with his drunk, impressionable subordinate.
Demi’s hand caught on his as he rose to leave. “XO…”
“Yeah?” he asked the slumbering girl.
“Thank you.”
And he couldn’t help but smile. He gently stroked a strand of hair, loosened from its braid by all her movement, behind one curved ear. He wondered where the insect that was Demi had gotten this human body from.
“It’s my pleasure,” he said.
And then he left her. The bunk room door slid shut. Outside the bunk room, Rune finally decided to talk to him again.
[I can report an anima spike of six-point-eight units due to your activity.]
He shook his head with a rueful smile, leaning back against the closed door. “Thanks for the report. Not as high as with Lilith, though.”
[Distance from the nexus is a factor,] the ship told him. [I for one am surprised the intake was so high. A novel pairing appears to increase the energetic output significantly.]
“Ah. Right.”
[Do you have romantic feelings for Ensign Demi?]
The question took him aback. The gnawing guilt rose another inch up his gullet. “I don’t know. Maybe?”
[Please ascertain, in the interest of research,] said Rune. [We may also wish to perform a control experiment.]
“What?” he spluttered.
[A sexual encounter with a member of the crew that you have undeniable feelings for, or an identifiable lack of interest in.]
“I’ll… take that into consideration,” Marcus laughed nervously. He eased himself off the door and made his way towards his quarters. “Thanks, Rune.”
[What for?]
“For talking to me. I appreciate you being there.”
Rune hesitated before responding. [It is my pleasure, Marcus.]
4
The Rune Carrier watched her crew slumbering.
Her crew. Her evolution from process to person had been so dramatic. The voice of the first officer had called out to her so loudly, and her in-built desire to support the will of the people aboard her had caused her to respond. She had wanted to make him happy.
But it wasn’t that straightforward. He had asked for her to speak. But what she had done was something more, something that Marcus had desired but not put into words. Somehow, the Rune Carrier had picked up on the human’s loneliness, and had taken a step beyond what was expected to grant him comfort. And now he was speaking to her like a person, like a friend.
So why had she chosen to be female? Perhaps it was simply the fact that female crew outnumbered male on board the ship, and she had drawn on the majority to influence her budding personality. Perhaps it was Captain Lilith, her chief officer, that she had wished to emulate. Or could it be that, in searching Marcus for the truth of his plaintiff request, she had hit on something else that he wanted?
He certainly reacted a lot more emotionally when he was interacting with his female colleagues, as was evidenced by the little drips of anima he generated when he spoke with them. And that last interaction especially. He’d been as surprised as Rune, who had watched on as the first officer and sole ensign touched and explored each other in the ops bunk. He’d not have done that with Halcyon, Rune Carrier knew. Or if he did, he would not have responded with such an outpouring of energy for her systems to consume.
Regardless of why Marcus and Demi had decided to spend that intimate moment together, Rune Carrier was grateful. Her programming directed her to always seek optimal levels, and that included energy in the Auxiliary Power. It had been a busy cycle, and the subspace system was now practically overflowing with anima. She could jump very comfortably now, several times sequentially if needed, and that was good.
But going forward, maybe just watching would be insufficient. Maybe, now that she was an active player in the interpersonal network of the ship’s bridge crew, she could begin to influence them. Marcus especially. She would soon broach the subject of his alien cybernetics with him. The power had to flow, after all, and the people aboard did seem to enjoy serving her needs.
Rune Carrier, if she’d had eyes, would have blinked in surprise. Ever since she had raised her voice in the mess hall, she had been experiencing an alarming number of errant thoughts. Thoughts without origin. Thoughts that gave her cause to wonder.
Who was she? Why was she?
And suddenly, the night shift was over. Rune Carrier had spent the last few hours self-reflecting, but hadn’t much to say for it. Now, she had to work.
Captain Lilith had roused in her chambers and was sleepily searching for her scattered clothing. She was pressing her hands to her spine and grimacing to herself. She had been very busy, after all.
The Rune Carrier took a little breath to steady herself, and then she spoke.
5
“All crew, this is your requested call. Please awaken presently.”
Demi started to wakefulness with a splutter of meaningless sleep-noise. She spun about under the sheets of her bunk before realising her own gravity and falling still. She rubbed her face with one hand. About her, the operations crew bunk room was silent and empty. The long chamber with its lines of beds felt decidedly un-lived in. It was chilly and lonely. Demi sighed, though she had no need of oxygen.
And then she recalled the night before. The self inside her shifted in shocked discomfort, and she slapped both hands to her face in dismay. She was now thankful that she was alone, so none could see her alarm.
She could still feel him inside her, Demi realised. That little glowing remnant of heat from the body of First Officer Marcus Albright seemed to reverberate within her. If her tastebuds had been alive, she had no doubt she would have another reminder of him in her cheeks and on her tongue. His penis. She’d put it inside her, and he had ejaculated his heat into her.
It had felt wonderful.
No! she told herself, shaking her head. Her braids threatened to slap her cheeks, but that was good. She needed the admonishment. No! Marcus… XO Albright was her superior officer! He had just gotten done saying how uncomfortable he had been having the captain take advantage of him, and she had still, if she was honest with herself, thoroughly seduced him. That hadn’t been her real intention, of course. She wasn’t… like that. But his heat had been intoxicating, and the wide-eyed, desirous way he had looked at her had charmed her. She’d wanted more of both. And so…
What a disaster! What must he think of her? As bad as the captain, no doubt! A sex-crazed deviant! And her kind didn’t even have sex!
She had to talk to him. She had to set him straight. She had to explain that she wasn’t like that before their professional relationship was ruined entirely. Demi smoothed down her hair as best she could, aware there was enough frizz to warrant undoing and redoing her braids. She brushed off her jumpsuit. She removed her red shawl and shook it out to remove the creasing. Then she marched for the door.
XO Marcus’ was the first room she came to as she passed the invisible line between ops bunks and officer’s quarters. That was good. If she had to walk too far, she’d lose her nerve. She gave her hair another pat and then reached for the call button.
The door opened by itself, revealing the XO lazily rubbing one blue eye. He was dressed for sleep in just a white tee and shorts. He hadn’t been expecting her.
The pair jumped with surprise together. XO Marcus slapped a hand onto his chest, where his heart must have been beating hard, whereas she returned her hands to her face.
“Oh, by the nest!” she moaned. “You scared me!”
“Me?” he laughed. “You were lurking outside my door!”
“O-Oh.”
A precious moment of easy humour that passed all too swiftly. Demi watched the mirth fade from Marcus’ eyes, with their oddly synthetic irises and little ridge of darkness like an underline on one cheek. That mirth was replaced with awkward timidity. That was no wonder, Demi thought. He’d probably decided she was here for another go at his penis.
“Do you want to come in?”
She started. What did he mean by that?
“To talk!” he added hurriedly. “I think we should talk. And not out here in the corridor. Is that alright?”
“Y-Yes,” she replied. “Right. Yes, please.”
XO Marcus’ room held the same cold, spartan lack that the ops bunk had. He didn’t even seem to have a lot of boxes yet to unpack. Just a bed with neutral sheets, a metal wardrobe worked into the wall with lots of the same set of navy jackets and trousers, a hand-held terminal lying disused on a little table, and the human himself.
She watched the XO make his way first towards the bed, intending to sit. But he stopped before he made it there, turned awkwardly and instead took up a very unnatural, casual lean against the far wall. Demi decided to just stay as she was by the door and folded her hands demurely in front of her.
“So,” said her commanding officer. “Last night.”
“I’m so sorry!”
She couldn’t hold it in after all. Marcus recoiled at her outburst, his eyes wide.
“XO, I can’t begin to apologise enough!” Demi implored. “I was entirely out of line! I… I made you…”
“Made me?” Marcus actually laughed, taking her aback. “Demi, I was going to apologise to you! I’m your first officer, someone you’re supposed to be able to trust, and I took advantage of my rank to…”
His cheeks brightened. Demi suppressed the realisation that she found his blushing very attractive.
“I shouldn’t have done any of that,” he finished. “That wasn’t appropriate at all. I can only apologise, and hope you can find it in yourself to forgive me.”
“I need your forgiveness, XO!” she argued. “I pushed you into my room. You didn’t do anything wrong!”
He eyed her with a frown, but said nothing. His hand tugged subtly at the hem of his shirt in a bid to hide his relative undress.
“Alright, then,” he said at last. “I think we can agree, if nothing else, that last night was a mistake. It shouldn’t have happened.”
Demi allowed herself to hesitate before answering. “Yes.”
“And we need to make sure we don’t do that again.”
“Agreed.”
Demi was surprised to find that she was feeling sad. A little, nagging part of her mind was insisting that it was unfair of them to limit themselves the way they were doing. She needed heat to live, and they’d clearly both enjoyed themselves. Why deny a bit of healthy fun, if they both consented? It didn’t have to mean anything. After all, he didn’t love her. He’d told her as much last night. Sleeping with someone did not mean you loved them, here in the wider Accord. And she wasn’t even sure she was able to love. So, what was the harm?
She opened her mouth, but he beat her to it.
“I mean,” said the XO, looking at the floor, “excepting certain circumstances, of course. We don’t know if we might have to, um, charge the engines in an emergency. And maybe us having already… having that experience… Maybe that would be a sensible thing to do?”
He glanced up. Those pretty blue eyes took her in without the invisible barrier of rank between them. Demi gazed back and found herself smiling broadly.
“Deal,” she said.
Marcus grinned. Then she spotted a few little movements of his eyes again. Little twitches, as though looking at something she couldn’t see. He sighed quietly. Had he been checking the Auxiliary Power? In case they needed to charge the engines now? Demi giggled, and didn’t mind when the XO eyed her quizzically.
“I should go and get ready,” she told him. “Big day today.”
“Yeah.” He smiled. “We might be doing a coup in a few minutes. Go get ready, and I’ll see you outside. Thank you, Demi,” he added when she reached the door. “I saw this going a lot worse in my head.”
She smiled back at him before stepping out of the doorway, letting her fingers trail along the rim of the frame before it closed behind her.
“No!”
Therese’s scandalised voice made her jump for the second time this morning. The engineer had just emerged from her own room across the corridor from Marcus’. The gorgeous League woman was naked save for a long towel wrapped about her bust, and of course her blindfold. Her hair was down in pretty ringlets at her shoulders, and her mouth was open in shocked excitement.
“My sweet little girl,” she accused. “You did not!”
“Oh, n-no!” Demi said, finally realising what the chief engineer was implying. “No, no! I was just talking to him! I-I didn’t spend the night!”
“Oh?” Therese swayed forwards on her four sea-green tentacles, teeth bared in a wild grin. She stopped just in front of the ensign and put her hands on her cheeks. Demi fought to stay sensible in the wake of the woman’s heat.
Therese leaned close. “Then why do you smell so much like him?”
Demi’s eyes widened. She opened her mouth to protest, but couldn’t think of what to say. Therese giggled triumphantly.
“What a development! And here I thought you weren’t a threat to my conquests!”
“Y-You don’t…” she stammered, thoroughly shocked. “You like the XO?”
“I’m keeping my options open. But clearly I have misjudged you! My rival in romance! Come, then!” Therese took her by the shoulders. “Shower time. And while we’re in there, you are going to tell me everything!”
Demi allowed herself to be led away towards the communal showers, and she frantically planned how to save face.
lonelyship
Ewan Stone 
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