Stellar Ransom

[Vibro repairman]

The Cupid's Arrow slipped out of planetary orbit from Sigma 3, the diamond-tritanium alloy weave webbing of the solar sails unfurling with a majestic beauty in the cold silence of space as the vessel, a latest model Etherlight Industries top-of-the-range luxury yacht, began its intended course to Alpha Centurai. The onboard crew consisted of four advanced series bioroids - genetically engineered servitors, equivalent to biological robots. Biroids were created in a wide diversity of forms, depending on the tasks they were to fulfill, though typically had a human template, as this was determined to be the most versatile, like those aboard the yacht. Besides performing the necessary duties as crewmembers, they also served on the elegantly-designed vessel as concubine companions to its owner - and their owner - and sole passenger aboard, Larik Carter.

Larik was the eldest son of the president of ACEcorp - Alpha Centurai Enterprises Corporation - and already had gained a name for himself in the decadent upper echelons of the corporate world, where indulgence and luxury were the norm, as a debauchee of the first order. He was a favourite target for GalNet news columnists and society and fashion gossip-mongering trideo-zines, as besides being one of the most eligible bachelors in forty seven stellar systems with an inheritance of nearly incalcuable value of ACEcorp and its hundreds of subsidary companies, his often near-scandalous mannerisms - even by the standards of many of his peers - did little to discourage such media attention, which had labelled him 'a leading member of the corporate bratpack', or the attention of many female admirers, in which he so reveled and often indulged.

Reclining in the spacious main cabin of his private yacht, decorated in pearlescent white and gilded gold, he was currently enjoying the simpler pleasures of a massage from his currently most-favoured of the crew, a female bioroid he had named Jem, whilst listening to the soft lilting strains of a composition from an opera he had just patronized on Sigma 3, and sipping Sol Champagne from a crystal goblet.

Larik's starkly handsome features - long, well muscled limbs, flawless tanned skin, and nearly adonis-like build, were readily acknowledged, even if they were partly a by-product of the gene-manipulation prevalent in the upper echelons of the corporate elite families. His hair was currently worn long and loose, and raven black - its original colour, though, like the tone of his skin, subject to a moments change with but a thought, thanks to the pigment-altering cells introduced into his genetic makeup at his last bio-therapy session. After showing off the near chameleonic ability at a recent trideo-zine interview, it had rapidly become one of the latest fashion trends amongst the wealthy.

Larik smirked to himself, recalling to mind the last of the more private parties he had attended - the kaleidoscopic-like display of naked undulating bodies had been truly a delight to the visual sense, almost on par with the much more physical delights that he had partaken of.

The Cupid's Arrow gathered speed, solar sails billowing as they caught more of the energy from the bright yellow rays of Sigma, and was soon beyond the furthest planet's orbit and heading out into deep space. It was not, however, the only vessel on that trajectory - another vessel, a larger and of a much more ominous design, closed in on its quarry. The Siren's Song - the infamous ship of the interstellar pirate, Karia Darksong. Cloaked with technology that hid it from the sensors of some of the most advanced military instrumentation, the crew aboard Cupid's Arrow with its impressive but still civilian-class sensor array were completely oblivious to its approach.

* * *

Jem's slender and well-practiced fingers worked their way down my spine, and I could almost feel the tension ebbing away through her touch. I let out another appreciative sigh of her growing talent, and regarded Jem's reflection in the mirror nearby. Her shapely figure was, of course, like the other biroids I had aboard, not born of fate but science, but one you could certainly admire nonetheless. Her skin, a flawless near ivory-white, and lips of a bright red like the colour of some of the finest Deltanian rubies, and she was hairless bare the long dark lashes of her crystal-blue eyes and the thin eyebrows above them. A simple shift of gossamer-like lavender-coloured fabric hung about her shoulders and down past her slender waist to generous hips.

"The massauer engram programming you suggested I should provide you was certainly worth the cred I paid," I said back to her.

Bioroids, with no 'past life' of their own to speak of, were programmed through engram insertions - false memory implants. Of course, encephalic tampering was illegal in all but the most backward and archaic planetary systems except in bioroids in this day and age, though I well knew some of what was available on the black stellar market. Jem - like her crewmates - would probably be considered illegal too in many of the less 'liberally minded' systems, who claimed bioroids were nothing more than slaves. They had free will and a self awareness that rose them above the most advanced AI computer, though of course their loyalty to their owner was virtually guaranteable, being core engram coding.

Rogue bioroids were known to exist, certainly, but certain 'necessities' my bioroids required kept them on an invisible leash. I also paid my bioroids for there more daily activities a considerable wage, and encouraged them to be creative, as I found this to be quite rewarding in return, as Jem was currently once again proving.

 

[Vibro repairman]

Siren's Song

Vran paced impatiently back and forth in the one of the Siren's Songs readied boarding assault pods. "C'mon already," he muttered, patting the barrel of his plasma rifle.

"Remember, we're not to damage any of the merchandise," stated his compatriot in the two-person pod, Trentun. "The Cap'n wants the vessel, crew and primary target in good condition."

"I ain't forgotten," spat Vran, tapping the upper casing of his weapon, "she's at minimum discharge power, the pulse energy fields will pack a punch but there won't be any plasma injected to burn any holes. Shame all the same, ain't had a good gunbattle since that run-in with that intercept cruiser last month. Those marines put up a half decent fight. Now, we've just got a handful of bioroid lovedolls to contend with."

"Yeah, but I'm sure we'll be pretty entertained afterwards," smirked Trentun. "Heard bioroid pussy is pretty tight."

Vran chuckled. "Yer'll have your dick sucked right off, kid."

Trentun took an experimental swipe through the air with his stun baton, which crackled with electrical sparks as it hit the inside pod hull. "Heard the cap'n already got yours," he retorted, "pickled and shelved in her quaters, so you won't have to worry about them."

Vran frowned, then laughed. "Looks like yer may have some wit in that thick skull of yours after all. Think yer will fit into the Siren's Song pretty good, kid. Just remember to watch yer mouth, cos not all of us have a good sense of humour like me. An' that includes the cap'n. She hasn't got her rep for being the bitch of the spacelanes for nuffin. She maybe real easy on the eyes, but she'd pluck them from yer sockets without blinking."

 

[Destiny]

Karia "The Siren" Darksong

Standing at her window Karia went over all that she had heard about her present prey, wealthy and young. Two dangerous combinations to be when faced with cunning and stealth. Things were going well, as they always did after she had made the plans and worked them and paid for them.

Turning back to her Mapping Table, Karia paused over particular desolate part of the planetary system where they were currently located. She let a briefly worn smirk slide along her lips and she then pressed a button on her shoulder pin,"Vran, I don't want one hair on his body touched. When you get aboard have Farrin place him in the hold, naked or not. Then you and Trentun lay in a course for Callona. We will rendezvous there in two days time. Good luck old friend."

Of all the crew Vran her first mate she would trust with her life. The old Dog had some sense about him and she always gave him well above what was due to him. He paid her back with his loyalty. She wasn't too sure about the new guy he had with him though, but she was sure Vran would be able to handle him.

Walking away from the table she slid off her silk wrap and moved to the dressing room, there stood a bioroid from their last encounter a young male one that was instantly ready to assist his new mistress. She had had all of them reprogrammed by her techie and she liked the girls work. The droid moved forward and began to stroke her back and her waist his hands gentle yet firm and he pressed his body against her back and began to kiss along her neck. Karia enjoyed the caressing and kissing for a few more moments letting him work the tension she was feeling from her body before she ordered him back. "That is enough Cameron. " He left her body and she picked out a outfit to begin the day with.

She was a tall woman and her weight was perfectly matched to her physique. Dark red/black hair fell in waves along her shoulders and back and she kept it tied back in a ponytail at the base of her skull. her amber gold eyes were beautifully framed with dark lashes. Her cheekbones were high and her full red lips were slightly shiny having been enhanced with a genetically engineered cream. Her upper torso was all her own though full c cup breasts sat high and slightly parted with her ribs only slightly visible, the muscles along her body were gentle and not an ounce of fat in any wrong spot. Her smooth flat stomach accentuated her flared hips and rounded ass. Her thighs and calves were well muscles as well and the muscle rippled slightly as she moved. Now dressed in a red cambric blouse she tucked it into a pair of calamide pants, replicas of leather pants for long ago. Sitting at a table she tugged on a pair of boots with flared tops and then rose to grab up a red sash and tied it around her waist.

She was a striking woman and knew how to use her beauty to get what she wanted, and if that didn't work there was always the evil side to make up for her lack in anything else. As beautiful as she was, she was just as deadly. She captained a crew of 15 and all of them served her faithfully. as long as she lead them and fed them and kept them in gold they would remain so.

Walking back out to her table she waited for the all clear signal and then headed to the bridge grabbing her psionic whip as she left.

 

[Vibro repairman]

The Siren's Song closed to within striking distance, and strike it did. The three assault pods launched and gave the first warning to the bioroid at the helm of the Cupid's Arrow that the nearby space was not just the vacuum it had first seemed to be. With all the speed of the gene-fixed reflexes she had, the sails of the yacht began to shift their bearings and turn the small vessel with startling ease.

Yet the pods were already too close now to avoid, and impacted on the hull of the Cupid's Arrow, the breaching lascutters cutting out smooth holes in the ships outter hull.

Latched on in three places, the four hardened crew of the Siren's Song plus the newest member to join the pirate ship, Trentun, chosen to accompany him on the boarding action by Vran quickly secured the yacht. Solar sails folded back up along the exterior and maneouvering thrusters brought the luxury yacht to a dead standstill.

Three of the yacht's four crew accounted for and restrained, Vran paused outside the main cabin door of the Cupid's Arrow, shouldering his plasma rifle. Automatic security measures had been put into place, and he had neither the time nor the patience to run one of the bioroid crew through an encephalic recalibrator to get the codes to lower the lockdown. Placing five micromines from the satchel he carried at primary stress points on the door, he stepped back a safe distance and initiated their trigger signal.

Smoothly blown open, the door toppled inwards, and Vran once again unshouldered his plasma rifle and nodded Farrin to move in. Farrin had served aboard the Siren's Song almost as long as Vran himself had, and had the closest thing to trust from Vran that the suspicious-by-nature first mate could muster.

Moving into the main cabin behind Farrin, Vran grinned as he saw their quarry, who had obviously pulled on a pair of pants and boots, with a low-yield plasma pistol in hand, and the last of the bioroid crew clutched to his shoulder behind him.

"Wanna try that lil squirtgun against ol' Bess here be my guest," Vran said. "But it'd be the better for you if you drop it and surrender easy like."

Larik complied, albeit that his face set into a brief show of defiance, and threw the pistol onto the floor nearby.

"Thats a good lad. Now why don't you and your pretty lovedoll there come this way," Vran said, waving his barrel towards the doorway. "All the crew and the primary target accounted for, Cap'n" said the first mate, tapping the communication link in his right ear. "Our guest will be in the hold briefly."

 

[Destiny]

She watched the smooth action of the pods taking over the Yacht, even now after so many raids she still loved to watch them take a ship. She used to be in the boarding parties and had worked her way up through the ranks. The captain in her time had taken a fancy to her and had soon decided to take her as his lover. He taught her how to navigate the stars if the charts were unavailable. He had made love to her any number of ways and it had been easy for her to step into his shoes when he had died in a raid four years ago.

The crew then had consisted of a vastly different sort and some had mutinied and died for that mistake. Vran had been the first mate then with the man that had been captain, and he was now her first mate and friend. Farrin was of the old crew too and she enjoyed the talks her and Farrin would indulge in on occasion, but that was for another time.

"Plot a course for Alina as soon as the prisoner is in his cell." she nodded to the pilot and smiled as she moved to her seat,"Vran make sure he keeps his love doll with him, we wouldn't want him to get lonely." Leaning back in her chair, she was pleased with the way things had gone.

The ships began to part and she watched on the sensor array as the Cupid's arrow pulled off toward Callona. Maybe she could re outfit the Cupid's bow and move the crew to that ship. Perhaps....btu that was for another time to think about.

 

[Vibro repairman]

The Cupid's Arrows luckless crew and its previous owner were transferred to the holding cells of the Siren's Song.

"Maybe not up to yer usual standard of livin, lad, but yer'd best be acceptin' the Cap'ns hospitality, its quite generous I assure ya," Vran smirked, shoving Larik and Jem into one of the small, musty dark cells, and the other three bioroids into another, the thick armour-plated cell doors clanging shut.

"Aren't we going to celebrate?" Trentun asked pointedly, nodding towards the second cell and winking.

"We've still got work to do, Cap'ns orders, before we do any of that kid. You can cool off onboard the that little spaceboat in the meantime," Vran replied, staring down the youthful buccaneer's exuberance. "Yer can join me and Farrin in taking it to Callona."

"What? Vran, come on-" Trentun began, but Vran silenced him with another dark stare.

"You heard me, Trentun," Vran said. "We rendeavous with the Cap'n in a couple of days. I happened to see a pretty well stocked wine cooler onboard - should make the wait easier," he added with a grin. "I'm sure the Cap'n wouldn't begrudge us a drink or six."

Reboarding the Cupid's Arrow, the yacht was quickly underway under Vran's supervision for the Callona system.

Inside the new accomodations he suddenly found himself, Larik brushed himself off and got to his feet, his eyes quickly adjusting to the darkness, though colours were muted to shades of grey with his genetically-enhanced night vision. "So much for my itinerary being kept private," he said, more to himself than to Jem, scowling.

"Who are they?" Jem asked softly, rising to her own feet.

"I heard one mention the Siren's Song," Larik replied, "so that pretty much answers that question. Captain Karia Darksong. She's garnered quite a reputation for herself in the Galactic News Net."

Larik considered the stark cell furnishings, and sighed. "Guess we're going to have to wait for our 'host' to pay us a call. Any suggestions on how to pass the time, Jem?" he added with a rueful smile.

 

[Destiny]

Two men dressed in rag tag outfits and holding plasma rifles walked a bioroid to the holding cells. They pushed the buttons and slowly let the door open to admit the bioroid holding a tray of food. She could have been Jem's double for all her looks. She was dressed just barely in a torn t-shirt and a cloth slung along her hips.

Placing the food onto the table she nodded to the man and then her twin. She remarked to the man,"Here is your dinner." She opened the trays of food and there on the plate was fresh cod in a creme sauce and salad. There were dinner rolls and a bottle of wine. She walked out of the door and then came back in,"Oh and these are for you compliments of The Siren." She handed him some fresh clothing from his own room and some blankets. "The captain hopes you have a pleasant night." She smiled and then left, the two men escorting her closed and engaged the lock on the cell.

Karia moved about the bridge and nodded to the pilot as she watched him steer through the nebula,"Nicely done Jackson, any trail will soon be dispersed by the trails." She then moved to her cabin and began to pour over the charts of the area around Alina. It had been sometime and then she found the place she was looking it was a nice secluded spot and not too much travel as she tapped the map she chuckled and decided that would be the best place to stay low for the day and a half she was giving herself.

She moved to the vid screen near her bed and tapped in the code that would let her see the prisoner. Not too bad if you like that type. She pushed a button and ordered his food to be delivered to him and then gave orders for herself not to be disturbed for the rest of the evening, unless it was an emergency.

She stripped out of her clothing and then moved to he bed and laid back along its full length and purred softly as she called to Cameron,"Come Cameron I have need of you."

 

[Vibro repairman]

Larik regarded the tray of food before taking one of the rolls and breaking it in half, passing one piece to Jem before taking a bite himself.

"Better eat up, we don't want to offend her hospitality," he said, with a half smile. The bread was surprisingly fresh, and quite palatable. Soon he and his bioroid consort had finished off the meal and were sharing the wine in the small plastic beaker-like cups on the tray. "Sangolian 2234, maybe 35," he mused, his practised tastebuds and an eidetic memory helping him identify the wine. "She has good taste, it seems." He raised his glass towards the small security cam in one corner of the cell. "My compliments," he said aloud.

Meanwhile, a couple of decks above, Cameron moved forward at his Mistresses behest, sitting himself down upon the black satin sheets of the bed beside Her, his steel-gray eyes casting over the naked glory that was his Goddess with worshipful admiration.

"I trust everything went well Mistress?" he asked softly, leaning down to brush his lips against one of Her shoulders, as he slid a hand gently over Her smooth taut stomach in a gentle caress.

"Yes, Cameron. Everything went perfectly," she replied, Her voice music. He placed revering kisses along Her shoulderblade, working towards the base of Her neck.

 

[Destiny]

Karia purred as Cameron began the slowly sensual massage of her body her head dug back into the bed as she lifted her arms over her head and let the bioroid have his pleasure and gave her, her own. his lips slid along her neck and down along her breasts suckling each nipple in turn while his hands began their slowly sensual caressing along her waist and hips.

Her eyes slowly closed and she was no longer watching the prisoners as Cameron took her to those places she loved to go. His head dipped between her thighs and licked along her cunt and sucked her clit into his hot mouth. Her hips lifted off the bed as he began eating her out in earnest. God he was delicious. Making her cum three or four times in the space of 45 minutes, Cameron licked his lips and moved up and over his Mistress,"oh I have so much for you m'lady." He slid his cock up and into her waiting body and began to ride her hard, she loved rough sex and he was programmed to give her everything she loved.

She moved her hands up to his head and slid her fingers through his hair as his cock pounded into her hot wetness. "OH yes Cameron..harder make me scream!." Her voice was a throaty moan as she dug her head back into the bed and the bioroid smiled softly as he whispered,"anything..."

A couple of hours later Karia was awakened by Cameron stroking her body as she slept and she smiled and leaned in and kissed him slowly on the lips. "You are so wonderful." She knew it didn't much to a bioroid who was trained to love her, but she was missing something. She just didn't know it yet.

 

[Vibro repairman]

"We've got a problem," stated Farrin flatly, at the helm of the Cupid's Arrow. He pointed a finger at a nearby console, where a number of lights had come up.

Trentun glanced round, as Vran moved over to examine the console and cussed.

"Whats wrong?" he asked, tenatively.

"It seems that this damn ship had a backup security system, which kicked in just now, eight hours after we disabled the main one. Not a standard package, either." Vran started pressing some buttons on a keypad, then punched the console, his raising ire obvious. "Its sent out an all-beacon distress code containing the last hours worth of internal and external sensor readings from when we boarded her, as well as the ships current location and heading."

"Bad news?" Trentun asked, frowning.

"Bad? Its fuckin' bad alright. I can't isolate the distress broadcast frequency to shut it down."

Fennin growled. "We're still close to thirty hours from Callona. We'll have ACEcorp security hounds, not t'mention system police, on our tail before then, they'll be bound t'have picked up the signal."

Vran nodded gloomily. "Aye, I'll have to disable the whole com system to shut the damn thing down. I'll send a brief coded message to the Siren's Song to let the Cap'n know, but doubt she can do much 'bout it, an' she won't likely be too happy."

"We'll have to change heading after, since our current course and our destination will be likely already plotted by any pursuers, I'll check the navgrid for another suitable point for us to hide out," Fennin said, "our rendeavous point still a secret thankfully."

"Yeah, but the fact that the Carter lad isn't enjoying a nice pleasant relaxin' trip back to Alpha Centurai is gonna hit GalNet news a lot sooner than planned."

Trentun cursed under his breath. "Just my luck to sign on now, eh?"

"Don't fret kid, me an' the Cap'n have wriggled outta spots a lot tighter than this is likely to get," Vran grinned, "an' this means Bess might well get a good workout before long," he added, patting the strap of his beloved customized plasma rifle that was slung over his left shoulder.

Shortly, back aboard the Siren's Song, the coded message from Vran was soon recieved and passed on from the com station to the Captain's quaters, the general computer console letting out a shrill beep to alert her to its arrival.

 

[Destiny]

The flashing light on the intercom near her bed set her off. "Captain there was a beacon on the ship, Vran says they had to change the heading and they will rendevous in 3 days instead of four at the plantet ou will know about." Karia scrambled out of bed walking naked across tghe room and she stopped at her mapping table. Tapping it a few times she was merely listening to the message being sent to her. "Captain? Captain did ou get the message?"

Karia's head snapped up as she called out,"Yes Sebastian, now cut all radio chatter." Silence filled the room and Cameron walked up behind her and began to rub her shoulders,"M'Lady you are tense again, let me relax you."

"Not now Cameron, go dress and tell the boys to bring up our guest. Oh and Cameron, tell him to take his love doll and put her with the others for reprogramming." Cameron nodded and dressed and moved to obey her commands.

After he left Karia went to her closet and pulled out a robe of irridescent blue and fitted it about her body. It belted at the wasit and fit snuggly against the front of her body, the back was left long and flowing as she moved about her quarters. "Sebastian, keep our heading to Alina. I will tell you in a few hours what the new heading will be. Alosee if you can monitor the Galnet News and see what ou can pick up." Sebastian came across the com,"Aye aye Captain."

 

[Vibro repairman]

Larik blinked as light flooded once again into the cell as the door slid open, and rose to his feet.

"The Captain want's to see you," grinned one of the three thick-set men who stepped into view, Jorgun, a plasma pistol held at the ready.

"Ah," replied Larik, "and I was just getting used to the marvellous accomodation."

Jorgun glowered at Larik. "Watch your mouth, you're being treated well... at the moment."

Larik merely smiled back and stepped out.

"Take the lovedoll to the infirmary. Kerina is getting the other three ready for reprogramming at the moment," the man said to one of the others.

Larik's flippant smile disappeared, as Jem was grabbed from the cell, but he could do little about it as she looked at him pleadingly. Mouthing sorry to her, he returned the glare Jorgun had just given him.

"Aw, ain't dat heartwrenchin'" laughed one of the pirates, as Jem was marched off.

Swiftly escorted by two of the pirate vessels crew to the door of their Captain's quarters, Larik observed the surroundings with apparent outward disinterest.

* * *

...zzzt "- and in breaking news, the owner and president of ACEcorp, the Mr Edgar Carter, has refused to comment on the apparent kidnapping of his son, and heir to the largest multi-system corporation, by as yet an unidentified party or parties.

The security intelligence chief of ACEcorp, Commander Garrin Munro, however, has issued a general statement that 'the corporations security force and the liasoning system police forces are already in motion to locate the president's missing son.'"

 

[Destiny]

The Siren

She moved with a fluid grace about her quarters and rested a knife on the table within easy reach. Her attention on the map she barely heard the door announcement.

"Enter,"Karia's voice came across the com. She never looked up as Larik was brought in and a chair slowly assembled itself into a nice piece of restraints. She pointed to the chair and as the men placed him in the seat a button was pushed and his wrists were restrained but nothing else.

"Wait outside." Karia moved to the monitors and listened to the announcement about Larik with seemed interest as she tapped her chin slightly and listened she slowly turned and looked at Larik without talking for now letting him get used to his situation, or making him more nervous.

Finally she moved around to his chair and slid a nail along the back of his shoulders,'Gotta love what money will do for you, I bet you are genetically shorter and you have freckles and your breath is bad." As she spoke she moved back to the table. "Such a shame all that money wasted on you."

 

[Vibro repairman]

Larik tested the wrist restraints briefly, before settling down somewhat uncomfortably. He eyed his captors movements with some trepidation, but didn't turn his head as she walked around the chair behind him. He tensed faintly as he felt her run a sharp nail between his shoulders through the thin material of the white tunic he wore.

"Well, I have to enjoy it whilst I can," he retorted, keeping his voice smooth. "And as for my appearance, I was 'gene-fixed' on conception, though I do try and take care of myself."

Larik glanced over his captor, wondering how much she really knew about what it meant to be a 'Carter.' Artificially inseminated, and brought to term in the womb of a bioroid 'incubator' so that his mother would not have to suffer the 'idignities' of pregnancy or childbirth. Raised and educated by bioroid teachers with encyclopedia-like knowledge. He didn't even meet his father or mother properly until he was ten years old, and they were the first real humans he had seen in the flesh and blood, and that first meeting had only lasted a few minutes, just long enough for his father to 'appraise' his handiwork and give his son a short greeting.

"The Siren... the infamous Karia Darksong... can't say the trideo footage I've seen of you does you much justice," Larik commented, keeping his eyes fixed ahead, a wry smile crossing his lips. "I guess you're planning to hold me ransom? I dare say my father would pay a small fortune, well, a large fortune, for my safe return... if he was that kind of father."

 

[Destiny]

Karia

Karia laughed gently as she slid closer to her bed and slid onto the edge of it and leaned back a bit,"Guess he would, if he were that kind of father. But No I am not going to ransom you Larik, you see, you are not worth anything to me. However, your father's enemies..." SHe trailed off and then slid to her feet.

She moved to the table were the map was once more and the pressed a button,"Sebastian let me know when we get to Alina." Her voice was short and clipped and then when she released the button she lifted her face up and licked her lips a small cruel smile playing along her lips as her blue eyes flashed fire,"I am sure you know your father has enemies, very rich and powerful ones. So it is in my best interest to ransom you off to them. I then am out of the loop and they can deal with your father."

 

[Vibro repairman]

"Aye Captain," replied Sebastian through the intercom.

"Yes... I know my father doesn't make friends easily, and has any number of wealthy enemies," Larik replied. "But I don't think you'll be ever 'out of the loop,' as you put it. He's a vengeful old goat, and isn't likely to forget any slight no matter how trivial."

Larik paused, before continuing. "Which does somewhat limit the possible buyers on your 'auction' too, if they intend to make my purchase known to him in any fashion. ACEcorp has resources that cover a lot of space not listed in any governing system records."

He looked at Karia. This woman... was intriguing. He lost interest quite rapidly in many of the women he met, mostly vapid daughters of corporate executives, trideo actresses, singers, dancers... this 'Siren' was a woman of a completely different cadre. She was beautiful as she was intimidating, obviously determined, resourceful, self reliant, and, he found himself wishing otherwise, more than likely now doomed.

He frowned, a soft sigh escaped his lips. As doomed as he was himself... although she had, even if she did not know it, given him a reprieve from the fate he knew was to be his.

He had chanced upon the files when he was sixteen, prying into concealed documents he wished he had never uncovered in his fathers main office on Alpha Centurai prime. His inquisitive mind had discovered the truth about the Carter family.

How his 'father' had been at the helm of ACEcorp for generations.

The very reason for his own foppish and over-indulgent lifestyle... trying to live his life to the max, as it were, whilst it was still his to live.

 

[Destiny]

Karia was barely paying attention to Larik as she tapped her fingers lightly on the table finally she spoke. She seem to think I am holding you up for auction and that my dear man is simply not the truth. You see I don't just go out and maraud and catch people out of the blue. You are a special case, your already bought and half way paid for.

She laughed gently her voice musical as she looked up letting her blue eyes sparkle softly,"You see Larik, you are a commodity. Yes I know another could be made to take your place, and more then likely is waiting in the wings, or not. But you are the first son. You are the heir. You are being looked for. Now we are going to play a little game. Your ship's security beacon was found as it sent out the signal and my men are in danger. You give me what I want, and I don't take your left testicle. You give me what I want and I won't remove our right testicle. You do it in a pleasing manner and I might save your little love doll for you for a little while."

She walked over to the com,"Kerina? Place our guest's Little toy up on the table. " She turned on the monitor and let Larik see Jem laid out on the table naked and writhing." Jem I know you can hear me, and if your Master is a nice guy you won't be hurt. So beg really nice Jem darling." Kari purred softly as she spoke and licked her lips crossing her arms up under her breasts. "What are the codes tot he security system on the ship, Larik? I want the secondary security codes.

 

[Vibro repairman]

Larik turned his attention to the monitor, where Jem's predicament was displayed, and his face darkened in frustration and anger.

"She's innocent," he protested hotly, "and I've no idea what you're talking about. I had no idea there was a secondary security system aboard my yacht, or what any code for disabling it might be, but I can guess it was installed by ACEcorp security under instructions from my father."

He cussed, as Jem struggled against her own restraints in the Siren Song's infirmary.

"I can't give you the code you want if I don't know it," he said, glaring back at his captor, pulling at the bonds around his wrists.

"Dammit, it's the truth," he hissed, teeth clenched as he watched a woman, who he guessed was the Kerina mentioned, pulling some flexible robotic arms with an assortment of strange tools into position about the table.

* * *

Meanwhile, Farrin had taken the Cupid's Arrow into low orbit about a frost-covered planetoid on the outskirts of the unihabited Nabia system.

"I'll have the comm system disengaged in about 30 minutes," Vran said, "theres several other circuits I need to bypass to get to the main comm circuit." He pulled out another crystal ion circuit from the open panel on the side of the console he was working at, the glow of its relay pathways fading almost immediately.

"Hope you can pick up the pace some, as I've just picked up some faint sensor readings. I think there are a couple of vessels approaching this system, and they look like they are on an intercept course, probably riding that alert beacon right to us," Trentun said, eyeing the navigation holo-grid display nervously. "From their current speed, and size, I'd guess they were light frigates."

"How long till they reach us?" Farrin asked.

"I reckon about 45 minutes," Trentun said. "So the sooner we can cut off that signal the better a head start we can get in losing them. In 30 minutes we'll be pretty much within range of their full sensor array and be hard to shake."

"That'll certainly make things interesting," cursed Vran, carefully removing another circuit. "But I'll be damned if I'm going to go to all this trouble and not get a cut of the profits later. Farrin, get us moving towards that large gas giant further into this system."

"What you thinking, Vran?" Farrin asked, as his large hands moved with considerable nimbleness over the helm controls, the yacht's solar sails shifting position outside.

"I'm hoping we've got some luck coming our way," the first mate replied, with a half smile as he worked on the next crystal circuit.

 

[Destiny]

Shaking her head Karia tsked softly,"such a shame you have to lie, I suppose now I have to remove your balls one at a time. " She moved to the button and pushed it,"Kerina download the personality on a chip and make sure you can restore it, if our guest actually decides to be cooperative. But for now I think she would make a pleasant whore for the crew." She released the button and left the monitor on so Larik could watch the destruction begin of his love doll.

Jem's voice was pleading and the silicone oil tears were flowing as she was worked on. A few screams emitted from her throat as she looked up at the camera.

Karia slowly strolled toward Larik, "such a shame. But you will be able to recreate her when you are released. Course I have heard that even with the exact download it isn't always the same." Shaking her head she shrugged,"oh well. Cameron the laser knife if you will and please inform the men they are going to have a new toy." She moved to take the knife from Cameron and then walked back to Larik,"so which testicle are you partial to? I mean I want you to have the opportunity to keep the one you are most attached to."

Moving to the table she slowly picked up the normal dagger and then walked back to the chair and began to slowly cut away Larik's clothing.

 

[Vibro repairman]

"Do I have a preference to which of my balls you take first?" Larik replied sarcastically, as Karia sliced through his tunic first. "Let me think, I don't believe that genitalia mutilation is a subject that has turned up in any of my conversations before, I guess we must run in different... social... circles..."

His voice had shifted from one of acidic sarcasm to one of genuine shock as his eyes fixed again on the display from the infirmary camera. "What... the hell... are you doing to Jem?"

"Captain!" came Kerina's voice from the intercom speaker, in a tone which mirrored Larik's.

Jem's struggles had subsided, but now she was shaking in what first appeared to be some kind of epileptic fit. Her skin then rapidly darkened to near black, and her slight frame began to change shape.

Larik's mind raced despite his surprise. Some kind of biogenetic-metamorphasis? Jem would have to have had some serious gene-therapy for this, and she hadn't been far from his side since the time he had purchased her. Ah, except -

"Looks like ACEcorp security didn't just install new security systems on my yacht without my knowledge," he said, watching the swift change in Jem near completion. "My best guess is that Jem was altered when she went for the engramatic programming on Sigma 3 whilst I was attending the opera there."

Jem - or what was once Jem - tore free of the restraints with apparent ease. Covered now with thick carapace-like armour, which further increased the size of her already now muscular-looking frame. Bounding from the table, an electrical surge seemed to surround her for a moment before being expelled towards a target off-camera - and from the shriek Kerina's gave, that target could well be guessed at. Another electrical pulse was thrown towards the camera - and the monitor display changed to show just static.

"A bioroid assault trooper - one of ACEcorp's latest developments, I believe," Larik said, with a shudder. "I don't think even military forces have been given an opportunity to purchase any yet. Another of my father's precautions to protect me - the metamorphosis was probably triggered by the more direct physical threat you gave."

Well, of course my loving father would want to keep his future balls intact, wouldn't he? Larik darkly thought, without any humour. He slouched back in the chair.

"I wasn't lying," he said morosely. "I don't know the code, but I might be able to find out, if you can and will give me access to a computer connectable to the ultranet."

The ultranet was an interstellar communication network, using faster-than-light ultraspace transmission technology that was initially developed about a century ago.

Larik looked back to Karia, a determined look forming on his face. "You'll have to trust me. After all, you put my balls on the line."

 

[Destiny]

Karia didn’t like beng manipulated anymore then most people do and her teeth were locked into a gritted snarl as she looked at the machine. “You call down that machine, and I might even let you have your own quarters.”

She flicked her wrist and set him free,”now hit the allcom button and deactivate that machine.” She watched him rise and hid a slight grin as the clothing fell from his body. Moving along the room she leaned against the mapping table still holding the dagger in her hand and idly twirled it around as she watched and waited to see where he would go and what he would do. “oh and any adverse movement toward me and my crew won’t care. You see we have a policy amongst us, if you are stupid enough to get caught you are stupid enough to die.”

Just then Cameron walked in though holding a plasma gun,”captain, we have a slight situation in the infirmary.” Karia nodded and pointed to Larik naked and standing there.”I know he is going to assist us in getting this under control. Aren’t you Larik?”

 

[Vibro repairman]

"I didn't know Jem was going to turn into that... monstrosity," Larik answered, his voice lowering to add more to himself than to Karia, "think I'd have shared my bed with that if I'd have know?"

He nodded, saying "I'll try to stop... it," and pressed the allcom button on the console. He hoped that Jem was still under his control despite the transformation she had just undergone. If she wasn't... who knew what instructions his father would have placed in her - it - to follow?

"Jem... I order you to stop, I am in no danger," he said, letting his natural confidence flow into his voice which was broadcast over the Siren's Song. Releasing the button, he looked back at Karia.

"If that doesn't work... then I'm afraid it'll take more direct action to stop," Larik said. "Being your captive certainly seems more appealing than being rescued by that thing at the moment, believe me."

* * *

The Cupid's Arrow was at full sail, making insystem for a large gas giant, and Trentun was watching the light frigates on the nav display gaining at a worrying pace.

"Twenty minutes till they get within weapon range," he said, his voice quavering a little making his nervousness apparent.

"I'll have this finished within five minutes, and the com system will be down... they won't be able to get a lock simply by tracking onto this damn beacon," Vran said, "and I know we'll be in there sensor array, Tren," he added, as the young buccaneer was about to speak again, "but trust me, alright?"

"Aye, sir" Trentun replied, after a pause.

"We're entering the gravwell of that gas giant, Vran," Farrin spoke up, getting an inkling of what Vran was planning, "this going to work?"

"It'd better," Vran replied, "right, got the clutter out the way, working on the beacon circuits now. This little boat is no match for a light gunboat, let alone two light frigates."

"That makes me feel a lot better," Trentun remarked with a half-hearted smirk.

 

[Destiny]

Karia moved to the all com and announced,"kill it if it isn't listening to His highness Larik." She turned and looked at Cameron," watch him I need to get dressed."

She moved to the closet where her clothing was held and she grabbed up a pair of pants and a blouse and quickly stripped only to redress in the clothes she had picked out. Moving back out of the closet she headed to the table and grabbed a plasmatic rifle and checked the charge. Looking up she smiled casually. "let's go lover boy I have a ship to save and then your gonna make a little announcement."

She waved the gun toward the door and took a step back to let Larik lead the way. She and Cameron took steps in behind the man and made him head toward the infirmary first. "By the way if your thing and love doll doesn't listen. I will eject you and it out into space and not care one more wit about either of you."

She was not in a good mood and she was going to be taking it out on someone, and that someone was Larik. He had placed her in the bad mood he could deal with the bad mood.

 

[Vibro repairman]

Larik felt quite uncomfortable, as he took - or was forced to take - the lead, looking about the Siren's ship, naked, for a combat bioroid of unknown potential who was acting on unknown instructions. The threat of getting flushed into vac wasn't much of an improvement on the one of getting his testicles removed either. Dammit father, he thought with a scowl.

Weapons fire flashed past a T-junction corridor ahead. The plasma bolts flashed by so fast it was hard to tell whether they were coming from the left or the right at first.

"We're not even slowing it down!" came a shout amongst the firing from the left.

"What the hell is this goddam thing?"

"Keep firing! Aim for its head, see if - watch out!"

Then, a glowing sphere of electricity about 3 feet in diameter crackled wildly past from the right.

"Guess it didn't stop," Larik cussed.

The firing abruptly ceased, the pirates who had been blasting away with their weapons obviously now either dead, or unconcious. Moments later, the hulking carapace-armoured creature that had once been Jem stepped into view, and its head turned towards Larik, blue eyes glowing.

"Jem! I order you to stop!" he shouted, even as it began ominously towards him, Karia and Cameron, dark carapace beginning to spark with electricity again.

Jem had such lovely blue eyes, Larik thought bitterly.

 

[Destiny]

"Cameron press in close." Karia moved immediately behind Larik she slid her hand around his waist and then pressed her body hard against his back. Placing her gun to his head she looked toward the beast that had been his love doll. "I do so hope daddy put in the right encoding to make sure it doesn't damage the heir." Her voice was low and deadly and she waited to see what the beast would do now.

Her body was slightly sweaty as she moved behind Larik,"Cameron Take aim at its head and keep your body up close to me." She slid her hand along Larik's chest and locked his body closer to her own,"Oh and if you blot lover, if I die you will die. Because unlike my crew I have more compassion then they do, they will just flush the ship of you and your love pet. now talk her down or I will say to hell with you both." Her whole conversation had been whispered into Larik's ear as she kept her eyes trained on the beast before them.