2 comments/ 3952 views/ 1 favorites Voyages Ch. 01 By: HarryHill Harry's notes: I didn't mean to write this but IR2R pmed me in the middle of collecting Thorium for my BFG and I foolishly promised to get a chapter out for the next book of the Chosen Mate series titled 'Johnny Fay' before xmas. Well, as it turned out, I found something else salvaged from a thread started years ago and put a tweek here and there and a hellova lot of thought into what follows, and technically it is a part of the story but set long after those events. This one's for you butters. :kiss: ***** Preflight: This is not the story of four sentient races embroiled in millennia long conflict, nor good versus evil, right or wrong; it is the tale of long after that when commerce turned away from advertising to creating a superior product, when a lost race was found and another destroyed, and the last of them looked to the stars where this all started so very long ago and said, I want to go there too; and they did. The dreamers followed. Voyages: A white nimbus forms against the black star scattered depths of space; the large round craft gliding into view from the eerie mist of the disturbance has four muzzles protruding from misshaped bumps placed equidistant around the circumference of the vessel, unmarked by flag or registry, showing hard service since it's manufacture. Some transparent material covers a large portion of the leading side that reflects light briefly from a yellow sun and becomes transparent; within, lights flicker on, monitors scroll with information. The sound of a woman humming a mindless tune is heard as the ship powers up on entering the now of real time. Welcome to the starship 'Hoochie Mama' A small band of misfits has pooled all their resources to purchase and outfit a 4th hand D class Ford Space Explorer to search, rather haphazardly, for the fabled civilization of Littopia. Armed only with a glitchy outdated galactic atlas, 4 light minute cannon, a sweetly subservient AI, and dwindling supply of beer, dried toads and frozen pizza, they drop out of wiper drive near an Earth like planet. Sexy computer voice: "Captain to the bridge, come. Lit date 1221. "Wake up sleepy head. (kiss sound) Orbiting a planet of angry women, initiating survey. Survey completion in 23:59:59, 23:59:58, 23:59:57, 23:59:56..." Harry opened his eyes to the soft voice and immediately reached for the coffee and the capsule that deployed from the seamless wainscoted wall with mechanical whines and clicks that were not produced by the smooth operation of the device but by SALLY, the Self Autonomous Long Loving Yetzberg(tm), that ran the ship ever since the core memory had been removed from the sexbot and been hard wired into the damaged computer systems as an emergency repair after a nasty bit of business, too many jumps ago to count. He sat up with a wince, placing bare feet on the VacFiber(tm) floor and downing the capsule that counteracted the worst of wiper drive effects, except for a headache that would continue intermittently for the next 24 hours. The countdown continued, each seeming to match the aching pulse within his head, no matter how pleasant the synthetic voice. "Mute countdown, scan, give me something to wear." Again the faux sounds accompanied operations that placed a faded pink frock, urgently jijjled by the appendage that held it, a blue #1 naval officer's uniform with heavy gold braiding and pips, and a worn pair of flannel PJ's. Harry frowned at the frock, shook his head no, then pressed a palm to his temple, frowning deeper. The frock retreated into the wall and the uniform twitched next as SALLY began reporting the result of the scan. "No military or commercial traffic detected within sensor range, no hails from the planet, we are undetected." SALLY went on to describe the planetary system of the sun and the geological properties of all the orbiting objects within 100 AU. Harry put on the PJ's. Crocks appeared beside his feet from more storage under the floor along with the physical housing, where SALLY's artificial intelligence had once resided, now controlled remotely by the ship. The simulacrum knelt beside him, placed the shoes on his feet, then stood, looking at him from the human appearing face. Harry noticed a glisten of fluid on the cunt and upper thighs of the sexbot and reached to check. His hand was soon covered with the slick substance as his fingers probed into the clasping orifice that tried to suck them into the warm depths of the machine. "SALLY, send your bot to the AutoMech(tm) for an oil change and an o ring replacement, but first," he pressed it down into a kneeling position, eager hands freed him from his PJ's and a soft voice whispered. "Yes Captain, long storage always makes me leak." then began to perform one of the primary functions that the genius Yetzberg had originally designed the AI for. Harry was amused that SALLY had added gagging to her program. He took a fist full of hair and pushed its mouth deep onto his cock. He spent the rest of the ships day and most of the night on the bridge, snoozing, drinking coffee, and trying to ignore the green digits placed prominently on the upper right of the view screen, inexorably crawling toward zero. Waking in his recliner command chair as SALLY'S voice began to call out the last few seconds of the survey countdown, he returned the chair to upright and went to the small head at the side of the bridge with the voice following there and back. A mug of steaming coffee rose from the wide arms of the chair. Harry sipped and looked sleepily out the viewport at the planet above. "00:00:05,00:00:04,00:00:03,00:00:02,00:00:01. ...Analysis complete. Population 55% female, 45% male. ...classifying relationships, computing... category female, 98.00% angry/dissatisfied, 1.50% content, .50% unable to classify category male, 99.45% content, .50% angry/dissatisfied, .05% fishing. No analysis possible at this time, recommendation, proceed to next destination." The nearest systems coordinates and a staticy recording of the only habitable planet showed on a screen along with more germane information that deepened the frown on the bearded ship masters face. "Well crap, call the gang SALLY. The smoking light is lit; vape 'em if you've got 'em. The bar is open. I'll meet them there." he began walking down the curved PlasSteel(tm) corridor covered in graffiti from when the ship sat so long in storage; the neon green Lightpaint(tm) one in six foot letters spelling out fuck you signaled the beginning of the common areas where most of all shipboard life centered. Blynd was sitting in a soft wide chair that slowly changed colors in somber tones. An old movie on the four meter screen before him displayed the image of Lauren Bacall playing in a scene that looped continuously as he blubbered and sobbed with a half eaten dried toad in one hand and an empty container of beer in the other. Harry raised a chin in greeting to Maestro leaving the galley area and walked toward the long limbed, distraught shipmate, crying as if his best friend had died. Harry stopped beside him, watching as he took a shuddering breath and drew a sleeve across the white eyes that dripped so copiously. "What's wrong Blynd?", he asked, settling into something that resembled a barbers chair on steroids. Coffee came up from the arm; he shook his head no and it was replaced with a frosted mug of beer. "Sallybot to the crews lounge, bring a hanky," Harry said in a low voice while Blynd gestured at the screen with the dried toad. "Oh Toi Harry," a sob, "it's that, I just, um, you know," a gasp of in taken breath, "I miss her so much." Harry blinked; the Sallybot walked up with the handkerchief, wearing the pink frock offered on the previous day. He issued a few more sub-vocal instructions and it moved away to settle in the chair with the wildly emotional crewmember, feeding him a capsule that rose from the chair and handing him a fresh mug of beer in exchange for the empty that had been dropped on the floor at the sight of fresh libation. The VacFiber(tm) carpet sucked it out of sight as well as the spillage from his wildly gesturing arm as they sobbed in each others embrace. "What's up with him," Maestro asked, taking a seat next to Harry and beginning to eat from a bowl of chili with a large table spoon, dripping brown gravy onto the soiled grey coveralls with 'ENGINEER' embroidered over the pocket in red. "Mmmh!," he uttered with a slight jerk of the head toward the left. Harry's eyes rolled, searching, and saw the tell tale glimpse of stealthy pink Mossy Oak(tm) camo that Nonny wore as her uniform. "Ah, he's still wiped out, or he could be channeling Bogie for all I know." Harry replied, smiling as SALLY dabbed at both their eyes while the cry fest continued; she offered him a vape stick and soon the sunset bright haze of Cinbomb(tm) wafted about them and tears became giggles. "How are you feeling Toi Maestro, and why is it so quiet?" Maestro chewed and swallowed, spoke quietly for moment issuing a play list to SALLY. He made a movement with head and shoulders like he was reluctant or unsure of how to answer the question as soft music began in the background. Harry examined the diminutive Fay member of the crew, the jovial face that could turn hard and mean in one second and lackadaisical in the next. He claimed he was a son of Silias the Drunken that played such a prominent role in The Liberation and also a distant relation to the garden gnomes he had mimicked during the infiltration of the last enclaves of the race that had once ruled Earth, and further back, a direct descendant of Cheech Wizard. Privately Harry thought that was all bullshit, but you never know. The opening notes of Jaws played and a snarky grin spread over Maestro's face. "She's behind me isn't she?" His eyes flickered to a point over Harry's right shoulder and Nonny's battle cry sounded as she pounced. "Hai Yaa!" An arm went around his neck and another with a gleaming eight inch VibeKnife(tm) waved in front of his eyes, Harry grasped the arm holding the knife, twisted and bent forward, propelling her through the air to crash atop the sleeping Chyna sprawled on a couch. He came up with a SmithBlaster(tm) in each hand, dumping Nonny on the floor at his feet as he sprung up. The knife jittered across the carpet and vanished with a hiss of VacFiber(tm). Chyna searched for something to shoot, gasping for the breath knocked from him. Nonny frowned at the spot where her knife had left the room, anticipating a long search in cramped dust bins located the bowels of the vessel. Maestro rocked with laughter and the rustle of taffeta ceased where Blynd and Sallybot grappled. "Doy, hee, he, he, he. Missed again there Nonny girl." She glared. "Fuck You Blynd." Each word was emitted in stilted enunciation that brought more howls of laughter and the start of a long story about a girl on Rigon Five who had done exactly that to him. The altercation drew the rest of extended crew to the large sunken recreation area. They were designated Intern's for no other reason except for it was what Blynd began calling them as the revolving roster of hang on's and hitchhiker's accumulated and diminished from planet fall to planet fall. Only one had been spaced so far, and was not mourned or missed by any. "Ship wide com SALLY," Harry said, rising to lend a hand to Nonny and pulling her to a standing position, a pat on the shoulder for the beefy six foot six Chyna, that was still trying to focus on any threat near. A bosons whistle sounded. "All hands, the Captain will address the crew." Harry waited while the murmur of voices died down and the brief scuffle as Chyna punched Nonny on the shoulder and a flurry of retaliatory fists ended. "Good morning shipmates." There were calls of greeting that quieted as he continued. "Once again our search has failed; we stand off from a planet that has not mastered the finer methods of alcohol production and is primitive in all other endeavors. We will move on at ships midnight to this wretched corner of the universe. SALLY, begin." "Yes Captain." Lauren Bacall dissolved to the flickering image of a planet rotating at an increased speed to allow for detailed inspection. Her dulcet words began to brief the crew on the vile planet displayed in a wavering, line jumping recording. "This is the planet of Assholes in the Rectum nebula. You will notice only two continents, Assholea in the northern hemisphere and Crapola in the southern. The vast brown clouds seen moving over the planet are shit storms, and although there are many theories about this phenomena, in my opinion, Assholes create shit storms. The reason the water is brown is because they treat the ocean like a gigantic sewer." Harry looked at the somber faces watching, intent on the warnings and precautions involved on landing that precluded even bare skin exposure to the toxic atmosphere. The briefing ended and loud voices began. Once more he spoke. "There will be an eighteen hour liberty before we jump at ships midnight for all hands with the exception of the replenishment crew who will split the liberty, nine and nine. See Toi Blynd for your duty assignments. Enjoy the few entertainments of this planet as you will. Last shuttle will return no later than 2330 hours, dismissed." The ship moved closer to the planet; shuttles began descending from the craft that now had 'Bright Star Cruise lines' displayed prominently on the sides as it settled into orbit. Soon a chain of orbit reaching planetary craft began returning with seafood, sour wine, and weak beer from the planet of widely scattered archipelago's, all acquired for a pittance on their Galactic(tm) credit card and a crate of Manhattan Trading Company Inc. geegaws kept for some of the more primitive planets found. Maestro began distilling the inferior wine into a more palatable brand of pop skull, leaving the piss water beer to the deprivations of the onboard interns. Harry watched movies on the lounge screen while Sallybot circulated the room performing the primary function installed in her remaining software and soon a mass of bodies undulated over the lounge floor, increasing as each shuttle load of sunburned interns returned. None of the replenishment crew went planet side when the duty watch changed. Harry turned off the movie long, long hours before midnight and the underway announcement. "Aligning for drive. All hands, prepare for wiper drive in 00:9:59, 00:9:58... Heavy Metal gassing expected at reentry to real space. Initialize anti-caustic vapor shields." The impromptu orgy broke up. Interns hurried away to get ready for the transition from real space as the ship moved outside the solar system's shell of planets. A hum increased in volume as the toroid's in the wiper generator began to spin ever faster; it's vibrations hurried them to their beds as it crept into every molecule of their bodies. "00:00:13, 00:00:12..." The opening strains of Steppenwolf's, 'Magic Carpet Ride' started to play. The remaining command members, lingering over drinks, began to fade, loosing color and substance as the wiper effect turned flesh into nebulous grey matter, slowly becoming semi-transparent as the chalkboard screech of wiper acceleration built to a crescendo of tooth shattering sound that suddenly ceased into the dead silence of wiper space where no sound waves existed. Five grey ghosts fled down corridors toward their staterooms. On the bridge words scrolled across the screen where the ships log was displayed. Lit date 1223, ships time 00:00:15. Underway, arrival in 71:59:46,71:59:45, 71:59:44... In the lounge, hoses deployed from the wall spraying a mild detergent mixed with an anti-bacterial foam over the site of the fuck fest that was siphoned away to the bilge. Sallybot picked up the few pieces of lost clothing left in the rush before the jump and put them in the dunnage locker until they were reclaimed. She slipped on a particularly nice pair of pink panties and returned to her normal underway station in the storage under Harry's bed. A pale white nimbus... yada, yada, yada. Hoochie Mama entered real space with the thunder/concussion of near misses rattling the ship. SALLY shunted power back to the wiper toroid's, waiting for the short period between winding down once again became the push against wiper thresholds then Nano jumped spin wise toward the planets shadow until normal real space propulsion and armament came online. WARNING! LANDING FORBIDDEN! scrolled across screens a moment later. YEAH, YOU SHOULD HAVE SAID THAT BEFORE YOU STARTED SHOOTING ASSHOLE, SALLY typed back, sending a LogicBomb(tm) back down the channel and jumped again in a series of short hops with the last of the toroid's inertia. SALLY watched the power levels crawl toward toward minimal, tracked the pursuing vessels bearing the flag of Crapola and Assholea, communicated with each member of the command crew and directed 107 (+3/-1 from last ship fall) supernumeraries to their individual battle stations. "General Quarters, General Quarters, Captain to the bridge. Initiating survey, survey completion in 23:59:59, 23:59:58, 23:59:57..." The klaxon sounded, lights flashed along with the red gleam of battle lanterns coming on and off as power flowed or was disrupted. Blynd bounced off his bedroom bulkhead. "SALLY?" He blundered out the door, falling across the threshold, scrambled to his feet and ran for the starboard side gunners station, screaming to keep the flow of adrenaline going that was the only thing keeping his wiped out body moving. Maestro managed to miss the mahogany mantle only by a miracle and the catlike reflexes of the Fay. He took a blue capsule out of his pocket and dry swallowed while racing toward engineering access, down deck, just aft of the lounge. "SALLY?" They exchanged some rapid conversation, information inbound, instructions outbound, and 'Ride of the Valkyries' began overplaying klaxon's blare and survey countdown. Chyna woke in a tangle of limbs supplied by two of the interns that were found asleep there when his wiper wasted body returned just before the last few seconds of real space came to an end. He started to wiggle himself clear and the first concussion hit; all were thrown about the room; it was his turn for a soft landing. He vowed to apologize to the vomiting pair sometime when they could hear; it was a truly sad initiation into the pleasantries of wiper travel. He sprinted into the aural and visual hell of the corridors toward the landing bay and armory, just forward of engineering. Nonny returned to real space, face pressed to the VacFiber(tm) carpet just inside her door and sat up, Her face proved that no matter how soft and absorbent it's manufacturers claimed, it still left a hellova mark when you fell asleep on it. "SALLY?" She checked the weapons in the pockets and holsters of the pink Mossy Oak(tm) camo, reached in the room to get her compound bow and quiver of BoomPac(tm) arrows then rushed toward her combat station, being shoved aside as first Maestro and then Chyna shouldered past her. "Fuckers," she screamed at their backs, rebounding off the wall and charging after. Harry awoke with Sallybot holding him securely against the bed as stuttering concussions shook his stateroom. She took a capsule from the wall, pressing it in his mouth then extended a tube from her mouth that enabled him to sip water from reservoirs within that noticeably decreased her cup size. "What's going on?" he shouted into the increasing din as Sallybot took 3 more capsules in her hand, picked Harry up, and began running toward the bridge to the strains of Wagner. He greyed out missing the first part of her reply, before returning to real space and the wild noise. "... across our bow before even issuing a warni..." the rest was lost in the statico chatter of short wiper jumps producing aural and visually disorientating flashes of real space; faces went from grey to flesh to red demon glow, sound wah wahed as the bodies of those crossing the space that provided the most convenient access between all portions of the ship was suddenly filled by rushing ship members that seemed to skip from spot to spot as Sallybot carried him toward the control room. Somewhere in all that was a scream that sounded like someone playing with a balance meter as it hopped across his hearing. The lights suddenly returned to normal and a warning came. Voyages Ch. 01 "All hands, brace for maneuvering." Sallybot danced through the windrows of bodies thrown about with emergency steerage, past the green LightPaint(tm) fuck you and onto the bridge where she placed him in the Captains chair and rushed away to deliver wiper meds to Blynd, China, and Nonny. "I have the con." He buckled in. "Klaxon off, decrease playlist volume by 50%." He strapped into the chair and reached for the coffee that came up, sipping with a sigh and focusing his attention on their situation as the ship surged first one direction and then another in heavy acceleration. WARNING LANDING FORBIDDEN flashed bright red. "23:48:15, 23:48:14, 23:48:13..." "Mute that one too." Again the survey countdown returned to the view port corner where it was seen last, just under the Assholes transmission. "Tactical." A 3D representation Of their position was shown along with a maze of vector lines that shifted as SALLY turned or feinted out of the range of the planetary cruisers. "Battle stations report." "Engineering manned and ready. I managed to save most of the stuff that was distilling so if there's any need of medicinal alcohol we have plenty." 'Wonderful,' Harry muttered, signaling for SALLY to switch coms. "Starboard weaps manned Harry old boy." Blynd intoned. "Can I get an Intern down here with coffee or a beer?" SALLY dispatched an Intern from his galley battle station to starboard gunners with a FreeFall(tm) bulb of coffee while Harry gestured for the next connections. "Port weapons womaned and ready. I'm all green here Toi. I need a target. Cocked and locked Captain. If you just get me a little closer to those.." Harry texted a thumbs up sign back to Nonny and waved for SALLY to allow the last report to be transmitted. "Hanger Bay," Chyna yelled, downing his capsule and sipping the last of the water from Sallybot's reservoirs that left her flat chested. The rumble and call of many voices could be heard as crewmembers suited up in the MKVII Banger(tm) combat suits liberated from a Royal Navy depot on the far side of Antares. "Estimated time of readiness..." He looked at the jumble of shuttles thrown about during the confrontation, then at the two metric ton rated Sallybot and smiled. "...15 minutes." Harry listened to the excited chatter of voices and the screech of metal on metal emanating from the live com channel, shook his head, and closed the voice circuit between the bridge and hanger bay. "Ship wide com SALLY." he looked at the ships chronometer showing 00:44:15, just short of one AM. The bosons whistle sounded. "Good morning shipmates. We're out of any immediate danger. I'm relaxing General Quarters to a heightened state of awareness. Midrats will be served in the galley shortly, If you have not taken your wiper meds do so now before we engage the enemy. Second watch report for duty as soon as possible. Any injured in our rough welcome, however slightly please report immediately to the AutoDoc(tm) or face a half beer ration fine. Commanders to the galley as you are relieved. Hoist the Jolly Roger. Aaaaarrrrrrr!" Outside the ship, the scuffed metal along the sides shimmered, changing PlasSteel(tm) grey to matte black; the Hoochie Mama glared down at the planet from the edge of its westward falling shadow, sun rebounding off the re-tasked Impervious(tm) viewport. To the Assholes below it was if a new star had suddenly formed in their night falling sky. Four faint skull and crossbones grew in intensity, long bones forming a lattice, interspersing black and white in equal portions of locked graphics; the cannon muzzles lay hidden in the nose holes. The image wavered in gentle fish fin'd motions like some poisonous predator in some space like sea. 15:58:15, 15:58:14, 15:58:13... SALLY watched the planet slowly roll, noting every feature, marking every planetary defense and supermarket. "Time for me to get dressed I think, and eat." The confrontation had become something of a stand off as the Asshole vessels were not able to out maneuver the Hoochie Mama and dared not test the limits of its armaments. "Go, Captain sweetie. (kiss sound) I've got things here, orders?" "Inform me if any unusual circumstances occur; step softly SALLY until we get the crew squared away. You have the con." The galley was filled with Interns, some dressed the same as him, in skin and nothing else. Harry got in line and shuffled forward with the crew. Someone patted his fanny but he never bothered to look, just collected his tray, turned and found the nearest table with an empty seat. They shoved aside to allow a little more room, greeting and plying Toi Harry with questions. All were excited, but one, looking frightened and apprehensive, caught his eye; he searched his mind for a name. Brigjid? He expected she'd be gone after next liberty, vanishing into a safer circumstance, somewhere employment was plentiful and danger unheard of. Too bad, she was conscientious and a hard worker. He gave her an extra smile, turned again to animated conversation at the table with an unconcerned face, joking at the absurdity of Assholes ever damaging the Hoochie Mama. "Sup Toi boy?" Blynd wiggled in to the table opposite Harry as the rapt diners shifted again, some looking at their empty trays and the time, holding on for those last moments of calm command presence. "So, how'd ju like the wake up call ther bro?" He shoveled a bite of AlwaysFresh(tm) eggs and began telling the story of his screaming trip across ship to his battle station. "That was you?" Harry laughed, looking up as combat armored crewmembers exited from the hanger bay lift and began clomping toward the serving line. Chyna skipped to the head of the line followed closely by Nonny, talking fast and gesturing at his back. Brigjid blanched and rushed away; a few others mistaking her action as duty, rose and reported for their watch. Chyna sat beside Blynd, Nonny beside Harry, still bitching about the rough treatment in the corridors as they raced to their GQ stations. Maestro took a seat and waited while an intern set his pre ordered meal in front of him, then carried Harry's empty tray away to be cleaned. "And you," She began in a gathering diatribe, releasing abuse and contempt for the less than chivalrous way he had pushed past without an excuse me or make way call. Chyna laughed and the sound of her RoughShod(tm) boot was heard striking the leg of his combat suit. "Hee, he, he, careful you don hurt your foot there Nonny girl." "Sucks to be you sis." Maestro said, then stuffed an entire jelly biscuit into his mouth and chewed while watching her rage mottled face. "Guy's," Harry interrupted, leaning forward, gathering their eyes with his twinkling, amused ones, I've got a plan." He looked aside at Nonny adding, "and something to do with your misplaced anger." He left them laughing as they walked to the hanger bay to make preparations, speculating on the Assholes anger and making boasts as to which one would make them pay the worst. Sallybot fell in to step beside him as he made his way to the Captains stateroom. "Shall I carry you back to bed Captain sweetie?" SALLY asked matching his stride and taking an arm gently, lightly bouncing a hip off his. "Ah hahaha, what a mad morning SALLY. Thank you, but all I want to do is walk the last 10 meters to my room, shower, and..." He stopped talking and walking, thinking about what the oncoming hours would bring. "Charge the generators up to stand by, pass the word that wiper messages will be accepted for transmission in one hour. "All hands, outbound posts in one hour, 00:59:59, 00:59:58..." Harry put a hand on his door meaning to enter, Sallybot put hers out and said, "allow me," pushing in, turning to watch his face at the view of a tear stained, nude Brigjid kneeling in the middle of his bed. "Surprise." Sallybot said as the Intern began a sobbing proposition to the abashed face of the Captain of the Hoochie Mama. He let her wind down to silence and spoke. "Oh Bridjid, I can't do what you are asking. There's a woman waiting for me to return from my voyages. I'm her's alone." "But you and her," she said, indicating Sallybot, shaking her head in confusion. "Sallybot's just a machine that allows me to protect my sanity so far away from Earth fall. I could never love it." Somewhere in the mass of circuits and chips and memory storage, an electronic sigh escaped from SALLY. Brigjid began to sob again, calling herself a fool and trying to gather strewn clothing. "But I can do this, SALLY." The Sallybot went to her, holding her protesting body in inescapable arms and eventually produced gasps of pleasure as lips and fingers performed in ways that no human could equal. Harry went to his desk with a smile and began typing out a letter for transmission. My darling Jannie Here I am once again sending my love just before I step into danger in another distant corner of the universe, missing you and wishing that we were together to share this moment of quiet before things unfold on the morrow... Brigjid screamed in the throes of orgasm behind him and he paused gathering his thoughts once more. I hope this letter finds you, as well and content as you possibly can be without me by your side, with bright days, sunshine and smiles, the promise of tomorrow, sweet water if you thirst and my love to keep you warm in the night until I return in failure or success. He leaned back, trying to recall the time of year on Earth as Brigjid worked her way into another vocal release. In the end he came up blank, not knowing what season ruled or slipped away. If I should die, he began and backspaced, starting over. Tell the boys I said hello, give Ma'am a kiss for me. I'll catch up on our correspondence next time we reach a more civilized portion of this arm of the galaxy. I love you Ku XXX Your Mister He pressed send; his letter was sent to the Royal Mail at New Lands End, prior to being routed further, then he turned again to the bed where a sweat sheened Brigjid lay limp atop the covers as Sallybot traced fingers lightly over her skin. "Again," Harry said, watching as lips descended to a nipple and fingers slid down the neatly trimmed bush, eliciting weak sounds of protest that changed to exhausted sighs of pleasure. He went to the shower and used all his hot water ration for the following day. When he returned they were gone, the coverlet was turned down and the lights dimmed; he crawled under and dreamed of June in London. *** In control room A, emplacement 412 of the Pluger(tm) B rated planetary defense cannon, a technician watched a screen bearing the malevolent image of the intruder that had failed to run away or be destroyed in the first few moments of reentry as so many others had; now it lay just out of firing solution. He watched the racing numbers of the range meter and willed it to drop, just 100 meters, as his station moved toward closest approach. Chyna walked down the lines of 64 MKVII Banger(tm) suited Intern's and three Toi's inspecting the fittings of the sealed combat gear. He stopped in front of Nonny, covered with extra weapons and picked her up and shook her. "You rattle; fix that." He switched off her com link to forestall any objection and stepped in front of Blynd, punched him in the breastplate, then smiled as he stood, stock still, looking down where the gauntlet had struck. "Hey, don do that you goof." Chyna looked at Maestro, staring back at him with don't fuck with me eyes, turned and took his place beside them and began addressing the drop team. "You all know what to do from the simulations; any additional information will appear on your heads up display as needed or warranted." His eyes glanced up Where SALLY's survey countdown changed in one second increments as it neared zero. "Board your craft. Drops begin in less than 30 minuets. Good luck and have fun." 68 combat suits clambered aboard 16 Standard(tm) shuttles parked Four deep and four wide. The hanger bay descended into darkness and doors opened to space. Harry sat in his Captains chair eating a bacon sandwich with Coleman's(tm), ignoring the spot of mustard on the resplendent uniform that he wore because there were no other selections offered that morning. He had eschewed the traditional officers cover and instead knotted a frayed bandana around his head. "Drop team standing by Toi Harry." "Very well, Chyna, coming up on first mark in fifteen." The tech leaned closer as his screen degraded with the x rays, gamma rays, charged particles and even neutrinos reflecting from the Impervious(tm) view port of the ship above obscuring it from the planet side visual instruments in a haze of reflected plasma. The range meter dipped to 99, then, 98; his finger hovered over the fire button. "Survey completion in 00:00:03, 00:00:02, 00:00:01. Survey complete." "Bring cannon on line, prepare for salvos. Inform the crew SALLY; fire as you bear." "All hands, prepare for continuous fire." Outside the ship four out facing muzzles rotated planet ward and began stitching every gun emplacement, radar facility, power station and military compound that came in range as the planet rolled under precise fire, leaving a trail of glowing craters, starting with gun 412, traveling slowly eastward over the lightless night side of the planet. "First Megamart in 00:00:10, 00:00:09, 00:00:08... Team Maestro prepare to drop." "Why does he get to drop first Harry? I'm green, cocked and locked, ready to..." He switched circuits, isolating her com line. "You can be first next time Nonny, now clam up. I'm busy here." In the hanger bay, four Standard(tm) shuttles released MagLocks(tm) and eased into space. "Drop, Team Nonny, prepare for deployment." All were released in irregular intervals toward very specific targets. Three teams dropped with empty or near empty cargo bays and the forth carried a very special delivery. Chyna's team dropped last and the Hoochie Mama moved eastward at an increased rate of speed, destroying any of the Asshole's ships that dared rise toward the marauder's in the process of reducing the planet to pre industrial status. WARNING! LANDING FORBIDDEN! flickered on the view port and vanished as the transmitting station went up in a flash of incandescence. Maestro's team set down in a precise square around the Megamart, forced the grocery side docks with the gentle persuasion of combat rated weapons and searched the darkened reefers of the store. "Eu 'fucking' reka, in here boys." They cleaned it out and started on the meat locker, filling the four shuttles until there was barely room for all to enter again, leaving within an hour of landing. "Maestro is 'outie'." he transmitted, as the shuttles moved up to meet the Hoochie Mama as it completed the first pass and began taking out secondary objectives. Nonny's target was a giant warehouse filled with canned and bottled, and kegged beverages. Three of the shuttles were filled with premium beer and the forth half full of Pepsi(tm) when Blynd called. "I just landed, foolishly removing tha landing skids on impact. Hmm, fuel resivor damaged, solar aray malfuctn, Comunication console smashed wen my helmt bounce off it, Gdrives are shot, hover engines online but unable to produce thrust. Ok so I can just hover and get no where, as always the story of my life, hovering nowhere." "Doo! Thr seems ta be some sort of police station..." The rest of the transmission was lost in the thunder of battle noise. "Shit!" Blynd's team was the one tasked with changing out the ROM boards at the planets central computer systems while power was disrupted. "SALLY find out where team Blynd is." The view port changed into a representation of the planet; multi-colored icons covered its surface. Harry studied the screen. "The blinking green one is Blynd's position; the three to the north the rest of the team at the objective." "Connect me to his team. Hoochie Mama calling team Blynd, reply." "This is Henry, Toi Harry. We're not sure where Blynd is, suddenly he was just gone; we heard his last transmission, but without instructions to the contrary we went ahead following the mission parameters." Cool head, Harry thought, continuing the interrogation. "How many crew members with you, and can you give me a time of completion?" "Oh all of them are here; no one wanted to ride with Blynd after ..." He went on to describe events at last planet fall and a piece of dodgy piloting between the islands there. Harry listened with half an ear, then closing the com. "Give me a closer view of Blynds position." The screen changed in magnification. What's that," he said pointing to a dark patch next to a meandering brown line. "That's Emptied Bowel Swamp, next to the Shit River, Captain." "And this dark line leading up towards Blynds's location?" Harry asked suspiciously. "Shit Creek, Captain sweetie, (kiss sound) what do you have in mind?" "It all depends on getting a message through to Blynd. Give me the tightest view of his position you can." The screen changed instantly to a giant PlasSteel(tm) rivet. Harry sighed. "Back out in ten meter increments with a one second pause between each until I tell you to stop." The screen clicked outward. "Stop, go back one." Blynd's Standard(tm) shuttle hovered at the edge of a paved area taking heavy fire. "Mark Assholes in red, out five screens." A line of red showed above the green dot of Blynd's position up Shit Creek. A plan began in Harry's mind. "Send this to Blynd, rotate exit away from Assholes and cut your power, then stand by for Go then run as fast as you can down creek. Continue until you get conformation." "Chyna and Nonny are hailing the ship. I gave them a stand by message. Both are inbound to Blynd and their teams have already 'outied' they are operating independently at this time Captain." An orange glow briefly touched one corner of the screen and faded out. "Team Blynd reports mission accomplished, standing by. "What was that glow? Send them back to Nonny's target, nothing but kegs. Bug out as soon as loaded." "That was Chyna's target, the bunker system where the warning was sent to the transmitter. Blynds Standard(tm) shuttle has settled. Team Blynd sends Aye." "Slave this screen to Chyna and Nonny's. Stylus/Yellow," he said extending a finger, "Open com." He began drawing and talking. "Listen guys; Nonny I want you to come to this point unseen and wait for Blynd. Chyna move here near the building and begin firing as soon as we're ready, confirm." "I'm five minutes out, diverting over the Shit River, coming in real stealthy. The fog is really bad down here, think its etching my view port. Aye Cap." "Aye, I'm eight minutes out, Toi Harry, accelerating." "Both of you go green when on station. Nonny, how's my Pepsi's?" "Never got a chance to finish, last couple cases got thrown in, mite be a little breakage. I'm green Toi. I can see the fire fight from here. I'm going to meet him half way." "No Nonny!" "Green," Chyna announced. "Fire," Harry shouted. "Now Blynd, Now! Go, go, go." The Assholes were surprised by the attack from the rear as Chyna began firing a SmithBlaster(tm) long rifle and firing shoulder mounted Griffin(tm) grenade launchers. He was out of range but it was enough to cause them to turn and duck. The shuttles exit ramp dropped and Blynd staggered out, falling and then struggling deeper into the morass of Emptied Bowel swamp. "I see him," Nonny yelled. "He's pretty shot up." She slogged toward the falling, staggering shipmate making his way as far and as fast as possible. She got to him, put a shoulder under his arm and began helping him back to her shuttle. They got there, covered in gooey sludge except for the Impervious(tm) view ports of the MKVII Banger(tm) combat suits; the Assholes spotted them and began firing from beside Blynd's damaged shuttle. Voyages Ch. 01 He scrabbled at his armor, motioned her closer and she put her faceplate up against his. "hi Nonny girl." "Hello yourself, I should leave you with these Assholes for making me wade through shit." "Get him the fuck out of here." Chyna yelled, advancing and firing. The Assholes shifted sides to put the shuttle between themselves and Chyna. "We've got to go Blynd." "No, wait, do me jus one favr 'fore I pass out." "Anything, just hurry." "Doy, pull my finger." She grabbed the digit pointing at her and gave it a tug to shut him up. Blynd thumbed the red button concealed in his fist and the firefight ended in an earth shaking explosion as Blynd's shuttle blew up. He slumped over. *** Harry closed his personal journal, returning it to the cubby in the desk and poured the last of his Bas Armagnac Napoleon into a glass, sighing and set the empty on the floor. VacFiber(tm) hissed. Time to find civilization again, replenish, rest, rearm, catch up on the mail. A small device was ejected far away from the planet of Assholes as the Hoochie Mama pulled away at best real space acceleration, leaving the latest chapter of its search for Littopia still smoldering in their wake. "It's time Captain sweetie, (kiss sound)" Harry sipped letting the liquor roll in his mouth; his eyes took a far away cast. "Shall I send Sallybot to you?" Harry picked up the glass again, said nothing for the longest moments then replied. "No, I think I want be alone tonight, let me finish my drink, go to bed, hold my dreams close." Again he sipped, eyes vacant, focused on something unseen. SALLY let him be, waiting until he slipped into bed and the regular breathing of sleep took him before applying the last bit of energy to the toroid's in the wiper drive.