A Place For Us All To Belong Ch. 09

[Author's note: Lily has recruited Kayla into a new adventure. They have been given the power of free will, able to break through the fourth wall and jump from story to story, to go anywhere. After making a pact in the Meta Cafe they have escaped out of their own story worlds and into the unknown, determined to write their own endings.

But each story universe they visit has its own rules. Kayla's universe allows mind control, other universes allow people to be turned into sex dolls, or live like billionaires, or on spaceships or in the perfect female society. And now, Lily and Kayla are in the middle of it all. They're going to go everywhere.]

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ENCOUNTER AT IO

Kayla slid her phone out of her bag and punched Stefan's number, checking around quickly to see if anyone noticed. Lily was hunched over a large display with a tall, broad-chested man. She indicated something of interest and he nodded, though from his height advantage his eyes travelled back to the little gap between Lily's chest and the neckline of the uniform tunic she was wearing as she leaned over the display.

Kayla was dressed the same, but in blue rather than Lily's shocking red. She had the same low-cut neckline and tight-fitting waist. Her skirt, if it could be called that, was the same blue colour and reached down as far as her mid-thigh standing up. When she sat down at her console, it rode up so far that she had to keep her legs permanently crossed.

All three of them were wearing leather boots with chunky soles that came almost up to their knees. The difference between Kayla and Lily and the man standing the other side of the charting board, was that his were practical, a complement to his crisp dark blue uniform with its pressed lapels and neat cuffs. Kayla's boots hugged her calves suggestively, tapering her long, bare legs.

A male voice clicked in on the other end of her call.

"Hello?"

"Hey, thought I'd give you a call, see what's up," Kayla murmured softly.

"Kayla, how are you? You might need to speak up a bit, there's a lot of background noise."

Kayla glanced through the open bulkhead into the engineering section. A steady hum was throbbing from the huge coils situated there.

"Sorry, can you hear me okay?"

"Just. Where are you?"

"Uh, at work. I'm rostered onto a medical detail, might be out of coverage for a few days. I thought I'd give you a quick call before we go, see how you are."

"I'm good. My sister's organised a dinner so I'm on the alcohol run now. It's a circus."

Kayla smiled, imagining the tall blond man in a supermarket in his hometown, surrounded by shelves of groceries. He was probably smiling that smile. He sounded like he was smiling. Kayla smiled too. She looked out of the window at the stars as he filled her in on the details.

"Kayla, are you ready?"

She swung around quickly, to look into piercing blue eyes. She hadn't heard Captain Zarn approach.

"Sorry, gotta go. I'm getting called," Kayla muttered into the phone.

"Okay. Stay safe," she heard him reply as she punched the call button and tucked the phone back into her bag.

Captain Frank Zarn was at least a head taller than her, athletic, square jawed, perfectly quaffed, and unflappable. He was the cream of the Officer Training Academy, bringing charm and good looks to the role of commanding officer of the Starquest IV.

"Sorry Frank," Kayla mumbled.

"Captain Zarn," Lily called from behind him.

"Sorry Captain Zarn," Kayla parroted.

He regarded her for a moment, then nodded to one of the two seats in front of the huge window. Lily was already at her station, sitting in the lefthand seat. Kayla slinked into the empty one and took up her place. Behind them, Captain Zarn settled into the much larger captain's chair, brushing his hands over the soft leather armrests.

"How come he gets to use our first names but we have to call him captain?" Kayla grumbled to her friend.

"You don't have to, Kay. You've got a choice. You can also call him Sir.

Kayla looked out through the window again at the stars. Far beneath them, mirroring the constellations, were more patterns of light from the night-shrouded landscape of the Earth's surface far below them.

"Open a channel to EarthCom, notify them of our departure."

Kayla didn't move, and as the seconds ticked by and nothing happened, she looked across at Lily. Lily raised her eyebrows, pointing at the control panel in front of her. Kayla looked down hurriedly, scanning the shiny black surface for communications controls. One of the buttons seemed likely and she tapped it. There was a soft ping and Lily gave her a thumbs-up.

Captain Zarn began to speak into the air and a voice answered him, going through the departure protocols.

Kayla hissed at Lily, "So, what're our jobs here?"

"I'm the pilot," Lily explained, indicating her low-cut red tunic. "You are obviously the medical officer. You're also the generalist, covering off communications and scanning and all that."

"Seems like a big job. How come there's no-one else aboard. Where's the engineering team?"

"You're the engineering team, Kay."

"On top of everything else. What about weapons?"

"I do weapons. Weapons and piloting."

"And I do the rest? What about him? If comms is all about me pushing one button for him, why doesn't he just push the button himself?"

"Chain of command, Kay. Respect it."

"And what's up with these uniforms? I've worn wider belts."

Before Lily could answer, the captain ended his communication and called out, "Crew, set co-ordinates for Io and prepare to jump."

"That's what the noise in the back is," Lily whispered. "It's the jump drive."

"The what?"

"Co-ordinates locked Captain. Initiating jump sequence."

"How come you always know what to do, Lil?" Kayla whispered.

"I read the synopsis."

Kayla's reply was forestalled by the captain calling out, "Bring me the horizon."

"Bringing you the horizon, Sir," Lily called out.

Kayla mouthed the words back to her, incredulous.

"You can't be captain without a catchphrase," Lily mumbled under her breath.

Four-point-two seconds later they were orbiting Io.

Jupiter's majestic bulk hung in space to the left of their screen, dominating the view. To the right was the sickly yellow, pockmarked face of Jupiter's innermost primary moon.

"Nicely done, pilot. You brought us nearly to the exact co-ordinates," Captain Zarn called out.

"I try my best," Lily replied.

"It's all about attention to detail."

"Of course, Sir. I'll try harder next time."

The captain got up from his chair, passing between them with his hands clasped behind his back.

"And what is that?"

He paused. Kayla shot a look at Lily, who nodded to the control panel again. In front of Kayla, her panel's display had shifted to an orbital graphic depicting their current position. Between Jupiter and its moon, there was a red circle. She read it out.

"It appears to be a Zarvelan Combat Monolith, captain."

Lily grinned at her, and Kayla made a face at her behind the captain's back.

"Scans?" he intoned, not bothering to turn around to face her.

Kayla tapped some of the buttons on her panel, whatever looked the most likely to produce results. Her display zoomed in on the object, icons flashing up around its perimeter. Dutifully, she read out what the screen was telling her.

"I'm not picking up any energy signatures, Sir. The improbability drive is disengaged," she replied, trying to keep the snarky tone out of her voice.

"You mean the relativity drive," Lily corrected her haughtily. "The quantum relativity drive."

"Yeah. Sorry, relativity," Kayla corrected herself, muttering, "Whatever."

"Life signs?"

Kayla tapped the screen.

"None, Sir."

The captain turned to her then, frowning deeply, his lantern jaw working silently. "There should be over a hundred crew on that vessel. We'll need to take a look. Ready an away team. I'll be in my quarters."

He strode past them and disappeared into the depths of the ship.

"Well that was a whole bunch of unnecessary," Kayla snapped. "It seems that all my job entails is reading things out on a control panel so that he doesn't have to. I might as well be a voice activated command prompt."

"You're also the away team, Kay. Let's go."

"What? Hold on, we're not going over there are we? He just said it's full of dead people."

"Zarvelans, Kay. They're not humans."

"What's the difference?"

"They're not human. It doesn't matter if they're dead."

"But something fucking killed them, right? And we're it? Don't we need space marines with a shit-ton of space weapons or something?"

"Budget didn't stretch that far. It didn't even stretch to longer skirts. Come on, don't keep Sir waiting. He likes Sir, by the way, you can tell."

Lily followed the captain, leaving Kayla on her own, staring at the cold, grey rectangle in front of them, tumbling slowly end over end. Reluctantly, she trailed after Lily.

Captain Zarn was in the armory. He'd selected a chunky blast rifle and had slid the strap over his head, hefting its weight. The rifle's long muzzle was thick and deadly-looking. Lily turned to Kayla with a couple of stun pistols. She handed one to Kayla who took it and turned it over in her hands, dubiously.

"Is this all we get?" Kayla asked.

"You won't need it, but better safe than sorry," the captain told them both. "Just stay behind me at all times."

"Roger that, Sir," Lily replied, grinning.

The captain smiled back at her, his eyes flicking down her body for a moment before he became businesslike again.

"Primary mission is to enter and secure the vessel. The Zarvelans are very protective of their tech. The boys back in R&D are gonna love getting their hands on this beauty. Follow me."

The captain shouldered his substantial weapon and marched out of the room.

"I bet the girls in R&D would also appreciate a look at the tech too," Kayla muttered under her breath.

"They will, when they get to type up the reports," Lily murmured in reply, patting her friend on the bottom and brushing past.

"Shouldn't we have space suits, Lil?" Kayla called after her, looking down at her tiny miniskirt and the pistol in her hand. "I feel a little under-prepared."

"You worry too much. We're on our own in deep space about to board an alien battlecruiser where the entire crew has been wiped out. What could go wrong? Now, are you coming?"

"We need space marines," Kayla muttered to herself. "We need all the space marines."

She tugged her skirt down, not for the first time. This had disaster written all over it.

---

The airlock dilated. Captain Zarn stepped through first, his weapon sweeping careful arcs in front of him. There was a faint tang in the air, like chlorine or brine.

"Stay close girls," he rumbled as they began to creep down the deserted corridor.

At the intersection, the captain halted abruptly. Lily nearly ran into him, putting her hand on his arm. She looked up at him with wide eyes and he met her gaze, smiling grimly.

"Scared?" he asked, putting a firm hand on her shoulder.

Lily nodded.

"You don't need to be," the captain replied, raising the tip of his huge rifle in emphasis.

"I guess not," Lily quavered. "I'm the weapons officer, right? I've had four years of basic and then advanced combat training in the Academy, specialising in hand-to-hand. I can also field-strip your weapon blindfolded in thirty seconds."

"And none of it prepares you for actual combat."

Lily eyed him anxiously.

"I did two tours on the Lunar Insurrection, fighting close quarters in the lava tubes, but, yeah, I'm still nervous."

"It's not your fault. The equal opportunities programme forced female cadets into specialisms they weren't equipped for, if you want my opinion. Would you have been more comfortable with a more conventional career path, Lily?"

"That's why I took the double major, Sir, and did the Pilot Training stream as well."

"Must have been tough up against the guys. I bet they didn't go easy on you."

"No," Lily agreed, "The emergency de-orbit I had to perform to save the entire crew at Mars was extremely difficult, when we were hit by that space mine. But having to work twice as hard for twice as long, for less pay was character building."

"But they need that career ladder, it's their only option to advance. They don't have other options like you do."

Lily was close to him, looking up into his ruggedly handsome face. Her hand still rested lightly on his bicep.

"What do you mean, Sir?"

"I mean, why work your backside off all your life when you can just marry into it instead, am I right? There are plenty of officers to choose from and you're a fine-looking girl. I'm sure you could take your pick of the pool. Send him off to work and enjoy the comforts of home, what do you think?" he laughed.

Lily smiled too.

"There, feel better now?"

Lily looked up at him with a little nod. She actually fluttered her eyelashes. A soft squelching noise echoed down the corridor, and Captain Zarn spun around to face it with practiced ease.

"Zarga polyps, take cover," he called out, placing a hand on Lily's rear and pushing her against the bulkhead.

He pressed his body against her to shield her and took aim at the advancing tentacled creatures, firing twice. The creatures both exploded in little showers of green goo.

"Nice shooting, Sir," Lily replied breathlessly, her chest rising and falling in her tight tunic top.

"I'll keep you safe. Let's go."

Captain Zarn strode onward, leaving Lily and Kayla to trot along in his wake.

"You're laying it on a bit thick, Lil," Kayla whispered.

"A good hot flush from a rescued damsel works wonders for the plot."

"I notice he didn't try to protect me."

"He could only shield one of us with his tall, rugged body, Kay. He had to choose, and he picked the blonde."

"That's not very fair."

"Bleach your hair. I don't make the rules."

Lily strutted in front of her, catching up with the captain, her bottom wiggling delightfully in her short red skirt.

They cleared the ship methodically, encountering more of the disgusting alien creatures. Kayla got up close to one and crouched down to inspect whatever the captain's bullet had left of it.

"Kayla, we don't have time to dawdle," Captain Zarn reminded her.

She inspected the remains. It looked like an octopus more than anything, as tall as her knee when upright, undulating across the decking on its tentacles. The slimy grey-green body was studded with numerous black beads that she assumed were its eyes. Several leathery, gleaming arms emerged from the lower section. She counted eight in all, some with a flat pad at the end, some narrowing down to a bulbous tip. Captain Zarn's shot had torn a fist-sized hole in its front, and most of the back of its body was missing, scattered across the deck in sticky green puddles.

"I just thought I should examine it, for the sake of science, Sir," Kayla said.

"The only relevant science here is ballistics. Now, be a good girl and stick close. Where there are polyps there will be an adult, and those things are an entirely different matter altogether."

The captain swept the intersection with the barrel of his substantial weapon, then nodded down an unexplored corridor to where several shapes lay inert on the deck. As they approached, the tangy, salty, chlorine scent became stronger. Lily gasped in horror.

Two Zarvelans, officers by their uniform, lay in unnatural poses on the floor, covered by a sticky white slime. Their alien features, so different from human, still managed to convey their final moments. Cold, dead eyes looked up towards the ceiling in rapture, a rictus smile on their faces. The groins had been torn from their trousers, and the exposed anatomy was reddened and slick with more of the white goo.

"Poor bastards," Captain Zarn muttered, giving them a cursory glance before stepping over their bodies to resume his search.

Kayla stared down at the dead officers with horror, and then up at Lily.

"It's a good job they're just aliens," Lily commented. "It means you don't have that shock of recognition of something terrible happening to your own kind."

Lily turned away, walking swiftly to catch up with the captain. Kayla tore herself away from the sight of the bodies on the deck and hurried after them.

"How did they die?" she asked. "I didn't see any obvious wounds or trauma."

"Zarvelan anatomy killed them," Captain Zarn growled over his shoulder. "Their hearts are weaker than ours. They just gave out."

"How? What would do that to someone?"

"I see you've never come across the Zarga before, Kayla."

"No. I could really use some exposition around about now."

Captain Zarn kept his eyes forward, but nodded.

"They're hermaphroditic cephalopod parasites. To reproduce, they need to feed off the autonomic neurophysiological responses of their prey."

"What?" Kayla blurted.

Captain Zarn held up a hand to stop them, then pointed towards a bulkhead door.

"Stay here," he growled. "I'll sweep the area."

Kayla came up to where Lily was standing, her stun pistol raised, watching as the captain opened the door and stepped through. It irised closed silently behind him.

"Seriously, Lil, come again?"

Lily sighed and rolled her eyes at Kayla's confusion.

"They feed off emotions," Lily told her. "At first, it was mortal terror, but then they learned that they could produce equally intense emotions without killing their prey."

"Like what?"

"Erotic pleasure. The boffins in R&D, all male of course, captured one and put it in a room with a human research officer, female naturally. It kept her in a semi-permanent state of orgasm for thirty-two hours, feeding off her emotional energy until it began to bud polyps. That's when they had to euthanise it in the end, otherwise they would have probably let the experiment run for longer."

"It's gonna try and fuck us?"

"Yeah, Kay. Surprise. What else did you think was gonna happen? Now, game face. Let's do a sweep. We need to find the captain."

Kayla looked back at the dead Zarvelan bodies on the deck.

"At least they died happy," Lily said.

Kayla aimed her stun pistol at the door nervously.

"How long should we wait?" she muttered.

"Tricky one. If we go in there too soon, his pride is going to be hurt that his female subordinates felt the need to back him up. We go too late and his pride suffers because he needs us to rescue him. There's a fine line, where we go in there just as the action is kicking off and he has to kill the alien creature and save us."

"Or he could just shoot it with that ridiculously huge rifle and then we just go."

Lily shook her head. "That's the issue with a fully-grown Zarga. The skin is bulletproof."

Kayla looked down at the gun she was aiming at the door.

"Then what the fuck are we doing with these little things?" she snapped.

Lily shrugged, holstering hers. "I guess girls with guns look hot?" she opined. "They're no fucking use against whatever's through that door."

Shots rang out, muffled by the steel bulkhead. The cadence changed from single bursts to continuous rapid fire. There was a pause.

"Reloading," Lily commented.

The firing recommenced, then paused again.

"Reloading."

A third burst of fire echoed through the ship, and then silence.

"And he's out. Come on, let's go."

"Fuck that, Lil," Kayla gasped. "Let's turn around right now and get back to the ship. You know how to fly it, so we can just put a fuck-ton of distance between us and whatever perverted tentacle monster is on the other side of that door. Call in the fucking space marines, someone who at least fucking remembered to bring Zarga-piercing bullets."