Chapter 13

The grey-eyed morn smiles on the frowning night,
Chequering the eastern clouds with streaks of light,
And flecked darkness like a drunkard reels
From forth day's path and Titan's fiery wheels:
Now, ere the sun advance his burning eye,
The day to cheer and night's dank dew to dry,
I must up-fill this osier cage of ours
With baleful weeds and precious-juiced flowers.
- William Shakespeare – Romeo and Juliet -

Angie looked at the image of Commander Leonenko's face on the main screen of the X-4001 and wished that she were he. He was taking the X-3002 home with the rescued humans. He was going back to sweet mother Earth and she was stuck out here in the ass end of the galaxy with only two star ships and three fighters. The idea of being Admiral was rapidly losing its luster.

"Safe trip Commander."

If Andriy was happy, it didn't show on his rugged face. "Thank you, Admiral."

"Don't forget us out here," Angie said.

He saluted. "I will be back, Admiral."

Angie returned his salute.

When his image was replaced with a view of the X-3002 leaving orbit, Angie sighed. "Shit."

Marty rubbed her neck. "We'll be okay."

She looked at him. "We're running out of food and supplies. If we don't get resupplied soon . . ."

"We can get food from Masai's people. I've already arranged for that. I also have the refugees busy producing clothing, shoes and other stuff. If you approve it, we can have Masai's people start making ships. They have a very sophisticated industrial capability."

"You're such a dear. Here I am moping around and you're working like crazy to fix things."

"It's my job. You make the big decisions and I make them happen."

"You're certainly on top of things better than I am," Angie said, sighing again. "What's happening?"

"Ninja, Moto and Kata are doing a great job of training the new Drak females. They'll make an effective army when we attack Dragon camps. Masai is returning with two new recruits from her people."

Just then, Masai exited an elevator with a male and a female. She ushered them over to Angie.
"This is Mosai, Admiral," she said, gesturing to the female. "And, this is Noasa."

"Welcome," Angie said, bowing slightly as is their custom.

They returned her greeting.

"This is Commander Martin," Masai told her two new recruits.

"What are their functions?" Marty asked.

"Mosai studies plants. Noasa works with biological molecules."

"A botanist and a biochemist," Marty said, smiling.

"Yes." Masai said. "May I speak to you privately, Martin?"

"Yes."

Marty and Masai moved near the back of the command deck while the two new recruits looked around wide-eyed at all of the fascinating equipment.

"Will you relieve Mosai's and my milk glands, please?"

"Of course, but what about Noasa?"

"That is forbidden."

"But, not for me?"

"You are not of our species."

Marty smiled. "I understand."

Masai smiled. "Mosai and I appreciate you, Martin."

Angie approached. "Why don't you take Mosai and Noasa to Onuki. I want to discuss a few things with Masai."

Marty saluted. "Yes, Admiral."

After she watched Marty and the two new recruits depart, Angie turned to Masai. "This is none of my business, but what did you do while you were away?"

"I punished men and trained my replacement. There was a backlog of men who needed punished."

"Do you get pleasure from tormenting men?"

"I do not understand what pleasure is. I will say that it is an interesting task, but the men protest that I am hurting them and make sounds that hurt my ears. As you are aware of, my people are forbidden to expose their skin other than that on their face and hands. I am afforded the opportunity to see all of the man's skin."

"Doesn't a woman see a man's skin when they . . . you know, procreate."

"No. We do not physically procreate. Our issue is artificially germinated."

Angie shook her head. "Oh, I'm sorry. I wasn't aware of that."

"I understand. I have a request."

Angie tilted her head. "What is it?"

"May I punish Noasa if he violates our codes of conduct?"

"Normally, he would be subject to our rules, not yours, but I will make an exception in your case on one stipulation: that I be permitted to watch."

"That will be permitted."

Angie smiled. "Good."

Marty escorted the two pseudo human recruits to Onuki for physical exams.

When they arrived, Onuki smiled at them.
"Remove all of your clothing, please."

"It not permitted for us to expose our skin to the opposite gender," Mosai said.

Onuki bowed. "I am most sorry. I am ignorant of your customs."

"I'll take Noasa for a walk," Marty said. "Give me a call when you're ready for him."

"Yes," Onuki said, smiling.

Marty took Noasa to the recreation area on Deck three to show him the exercise equipment, the swimming pool and the tennis and handball courts.

"Masai said it is not permitted to expose your skin. What happens if you do?"

"I will be punished. She will not."

Marty frowned. "That's unfair. What else is not permitted?"

"Speaking a forbidden word to a woman; speaking out of turn to a woman; not obeying a woman; criticizing a woman; touching a woman; not allowing a woman to go first; looking at a woman too long; telling a lie to a woman; refusing to answer a woman; being late when summoned by a woman; not greeting a woman with a bow . . ."

"Hold up there. You get punished for offending a woman, but a woman is not for doing the same to you?"

"Yes."

"Man, that sounds like a serious case of hen pecking."

"I do not understand."

"That's okay, I don't understand either. How did your society come to have this disparity in the treatment of the genders?"

"Men gave up power to women a long time ago. They structured the codes so that women are afforded complete freedom from punishment for any infractions. I must first say that women do not commit many infractions. Men by nature have a tendency to commit infractions."

"It's no wonder. They're biased toward actions against women."

"That is true."

"Commander Sinclair, please bring Noasa to the Medical Station."

"They're ready for you," he told Noasa.

He took the alien there, but showed him where the entrance was and then went back to the command deck.

"I'm surprised how easily these aliens learn English," Angie said to him.

"Lia's crash course is excellent, and these aliens are very intelligent. They learn fast. We're lucky that they seem to like us."

Angie smiled. "I think that they like you. You're so kind to them. They fear me."

"That's not true. Masai's people are matriarchal. They love the fact that a woman is in charge."

"Commander Sinclair, please come to Medical Station."

"Now what?"

Angie grinned. "That was Onuki. You had better get the move on."

He frowned.

When Marty arrived at Medical Station, he was greeted by a smile on Onuki's face and a smug look on Ferris'.

"Ah, Martin," Onuki said. "You are scheduled for a physical."

"Are you sure? I thought I just had one."

"We are required to examine you and Angelina on a regular basis," Ferris said. "Your health, both physical and mental, is of importance to the success of this mission."

"Okay, Okay. I suppose you want me to get undressed?"

"No, no," Onuki said, smiling. "We will undress you. It is part of the service."

Shit!

###

Marty came on the command deck and plopped into his navigational station chair. "What's happening?"

"We're ready to go to our next destination," Angie said.

"Where are we going?"

Angie turned to Karl, and he looked at his screen. "There are two candidate stars recommended by Masai and Gem-Ado. One is a G0 V class star that has a 1.08 mass, a 1.2 radius, and 1.2 luminosity. Its temperature is 5860 K. The other star is a G2 V class star with a 1.2 mass and a 0.9 radius and 1.4 luminosity. Both have an abundance of iron."

"I think that we'll go to the first star," Angie said. "It's only 27.2 light years away. The second star is over 43 light years away. We can go to it after we go to the first star. It's only 17.6 light years away from the first star."

"When are we going?" Marty asked.

"Delphi, take us out of orbit and go to jump speed. Set course for the first star."

"Yes, Angie."

"That answers my question."

"Did you have fun down in Med Station?" Angie teased him.

"Yeah, right. I just love having my body probed and prodded by two women."

"You love it. I know you do."

He gave her a sour look. "Yeah, right."

She laughed.

"Jump will commence in ten minutes, Angie."

"Execute on count, Delphi."

"Yes, Angie."

After the jump, everybody took his or her stations. The rest tried to relax after being sucked through a singularity.

"I see five gas giants and four inner planets," George said. "The third planet has the right conditions for life."

"Take us to the third planet, Delphi."

"Yes, Angie."

"I am not detecting any enemy vessels in this system," Ninja said.

"The third planet has a good water peak," Anna said. "There is also oxygen present."

"Sounds promising," Marty said.

"Keep alert, people," Angie said. "We never know what's lurking around in these systems."

"It will be bad aliens," Uma said. "They are more plentiful than cockroaches."

"Maybe we'll get lucky," Marty said.

"A single Dragon ship has dropped out of jump," Ninja said. "It is on course for the third planet."

"Put us in full stealth mode, Delphi."

"Yes, Angie."

"My guess is that they're not expecting us," Marty said. "I'll bet that the third planet is a farm and that ship is taking more captives to it."

"That's a reasonable assumption," Angie said. "We'll have to be careful about approaching the planet. We may want to wait until it delivers its cargo and departs before we attack the camp."

"Good idea."

###

"We are in stable orbit, Angie."

"Maintain stealth, Delphi."

"Yes, Angie."

"There are no enemy vessels near the camp," Ninja said. "I believe that this is an automated farm."

"You may be right, Ninja," Marty said. "We'll wait around for awhile before we go down."

"I see people in the camp," George said. "But, I don't see any Dragons."

"We'll take a fighter and drop in," Marty said. "I'll need you Lia and Uma. The rest of the crew will consist of Ninja and ten Drak females."

When Marty got up, Ninja, Lia and Uma did also. They followed him to the equipment deck where Moto had ten Drak females suited and armed.

"We'll drop a click away from the south end of the camp," Marty said, pointing on a map of the camp being displayed on a screen. "I doubt that we'll meet any enemy, but there is no harm in being prepared."

"You are cleared to go," Angie said. "Good hunting."

"Thanks, Admiral."

Marty got his landing party boarded on the X-402 and made preparations to depart. When the hangar was evacuated, he moved the ship out and fired breaking engines to drop into the planet's atmosphere. This planet was 85% the size of Earth and had a smaller atmosphere with only 18% oxygen, but it had reasonable temperatures and pressure. The vegetation was bluer in shade, and the ground had a pink cast, but this was expected of an alien world.
After Marty got the X-402 on the ground, his army disembarked quickly and took up defensive positions. Luckily, there were no Dragons. The camp was automated as Ninja had predicted. Unfortunately, there were lots of captives. Most were Masai's people, both male and female. The second largest contingent was made up of females from Gem-Ado's planet, some of which were pregnant. A group of human females were also pregnant. There were many pseudo human and human babies and children.

"There's no Dragons here, Angie, but we have a large problem."

"Shit!"

"Send down Landers, and we'll get them organized for transport."

"Copy that."

Marty assembled the captive human contingent. He counted twenty-five females with ten pregnant, seven men, thirteen babies and children. They were scantily clad, but since the temperature was warm, that wasn't so bad.
"Where are you people from?" he asked them.

"I'm from Cleveland," one man said. "Where the hell are we?"

"You are on a planet around a star that is on the other side of the galaxy."

"How'd we get here?"

"That's what I would like to know," Marty said. "We're here to rescue you."

"From what?"

"You were taken captive by an alien species that likes your meat."

"You're kidding, right?"

"I wish that I were."

"Are you telling us that we are food for some alien species?" a woman asked.

"Yes, but you have been delivered from a fate worse than death."

That elicited a wave of relief and revulsion at the same time.

###

"Onuki has all of the captives sedated," Marty said to Angie.

"Good, because we're only five minutes away from jump."

The jump began quietly with the usual spinning. Someone cried out, but the process was over before they got out of control.

"We have entered normal space, Angie."

"Take us down to 3000 kps, Delphi."

"Yes, Angie."

"It's the fourth planet," George said.

"He is correct," Lucia added.

"Take us to the fourth planet, Delphi."

"Yes, Angie."

"This is getting much too routine," Marty said.

"There are four enemy vessels moving away from the fourth planet," Ninja said.

"Are they on intercept?" Angie asked.

"No. They are accelerating on a 78 degree vector to our course."

"I'll bet that this is a butcher camp," Marty said. "And, those ships are hauling meat away."

"Now, here is where we could use a second ship," Angie said. "If this is a butchering operation, we must save the poor souls that are still alive there, but we really should be following those ships."

"How about we send a fighter after them?" Marty proposed.

"We can't take that chance. We only have two, and the defense of this ship takes precedence."

"Yeah, you're right."

"Maintain stealth mode, Delphi."

"Yes, Angie."

"There are two enemy vessels in orbit around the planet," Ninja said.

"I'll bet that they're the defense," Marty said. "We'll have to take them out before we go in, but if we do, we'll tip off the Dragons on the planet."

"You take one of the fighters and sneak in while I take out the two ships," Angie said.

"That sounds like a plan."

Angie nodded.

###

"We are within range of the enemy craft, Angie."

"Please activate weapons, Delphi. Transfer particle canons to Honey. Fire energy beams at full power."

"You're cleared for launch," she told Marty.

"Copy that."

Marty moved the X-402 out of the hangar and fired breaking engines. Since he was on the opposite side of the planet, the two enemy cruisers didn't see him. As he entered the atmosphere, Angie flew the X-4001 into the two enemy defenders, blasting them with everything she could throw at them. With Honey's brilliant shooting and Delphi's relentless fire, the two enemy vessels were destroyed.

The landing site was a thousand meters away from the camp perimeter. Marty had twenty Drak females, split into two squads. One was led by Ninja and the other by Moto. Marty had Lia and Uma in his group. He had decided that a two pronged attack was appropriate. By hitting the Dragon defenders from two directions, he could split them. He and his two soldiers would then breech the fence.

When the two squads approached the perimeter, they came under heavy fire. Ninja and Moto dropped mortars into the main concentrations of enemy while Marty took out the towers with plasma grenades. Uma and Lia picked off defenders in a parapet near the center of the camp while Marty fired more plasma grenades directly into the main enemy group.

Energy beams and bullets flew chaotically between the attackers and defenders. Two Drak soldiers took hits and fell. Ninja took a hit in his arm, but he continued to fire back and direct his troops. Marty risked enemy fire to get to the two fallen Drak females, one of which had taken a direct hit to the face and was dead. The other was wounded in the shoulder. He patched her up and re-joined his two soldiers to make a direct attack on the fence. A plasma grenade made a good-sized hole, but any attempt to go through it was met with withering enemy fire.

The second Drak squad under Moto attacked and took out all opposition. Unfortunately, they took casualties. One dead and three wounded. Marty patched up the wounded and joined in on the final assault. A well placed barrage of plasma grenades ended the battle.

"Jesus, I'm sorry about the Drak females that were killed in action," Marty said to Ninja. "I did not want that to happen."

"They died in combat. That is the wish of all warriors. These Drak females gladly give their lives to kill Dragons."

Marty saluted him.

"Hey, Angie, we have casualties. We lost two Drak females and we have at least six wounded."

"I'll send Landers. Onuki will be ready for them."

"Great. I'll get back to you."

"Copy that."

When they entered the compound, people began to come out of hiding. They were a mixed group of adults: twenty-five humans, thirty-two pseudo humans from Masai's planet and forty-three females from Gem-Ado's planet. There were also ten Drak females.

"Get these people ready for transport," Marty ordered Lia and Uma. "Ninja and I will go search the place for the butchering building."

Marty and Ninja moved deeper into the compound and soon located a large stone building. When they entered it, they found fifteen drugged humans hanging from their feet but not yet skinned. Four more humans had already been skinned. Three were in stages of being cut up. He looked at the grisly scene and wanted to throw up, but he had work to do.

"We'll cut the live people down first," he said to Ninja. "Then we'll set incendiary bombs to blow this place.

"Yes, Martin."

With much effort, they got the humans down and injected them with an antidote for the nerve toxin that had been injected into them by the Dragon butcher. When the humans were able to walk, Marty escorted them out of the building while Ninja rigged bombs. Ten women and five men staggered out of hell, and even though they were naked, they were not ashamed.

"Whoever you are," one man said. "We thank you."

"I'm Martin Sinclair from Iowa," Marty said, taking his helmet off. "You are very lucky that we came along."

"God bless you," a woman said.

"Where are you people from?" Marty said, noting that they were becoming aware of their nakedness and were attempting to protect their modesty.

"I'm from Berlin," a woman said in a thick accent.

"We're from Sacramento," another woman said. "We were on a vacation tour to New Orleans."

"Where are we?" a man asked.

"You are on the opposite side of the galaxy."

"How is that possible?" a man asked.

"Why were they going to butcher us?" a woman asked.

"They like human meat," Marty said.

"That's disgusting."

"I agree," Marty said. "We're out here to rescue as many of you that we can and destroy the aliens that do this."

When the butcher building blew in a huge ball of fire, that ended any more questions.
After everybody had been transported back to the ship, Marty rejoined Angie on the command deck as the X-4001 was prepared to leave orbit.

"Is everybody squared away?"

"Yes," Marty said. "Although, Onuki and Ferris are busy as bees tending to the wounded and the rescued people."

"Good. Please arm forward torpedo one, Delphi. Target it for the camp."

"Yes, Angie."

Marty looked at her with concerned eyes. "That'll destroy the planet, Angie."

"Pretty much. Please fire torpedo one, Delphi."

"Yes, Angie."

The torpedo flew out of a shaft in the forward array and detonated at five hundred meters above the Dragon camp. A blinding white flash heralded the formation of a huge fireball that rapidly expanded, resulting in a conflagration that covered a three hundred kilometer circle of total destruction.

###

The X-4001 was approaching jump velocity when Marty took his place on the command deck, and he was surprised to find Angie absent.

"Where's the Admiral?" He asked George.

"I don't know. I think she's taking a rest in her quarters."

"I don't think that I'll disturb her. She's had a rough few weeks."

"Haven't we all."

"Amen to that."

Actually, Angie was in the brig with Masai and Noasa. The naked pseudo human man was hanging by his feet like a side of beef with his fingertips only a few inches from the floor. Angie saw that he had a basic human anatomy with skin that was much the same as a Caucasian male. He possessed a large male organ that Angie estimated to be at least fifteen inches long. She couldn't imagine why he needed such a prodigious sexual instrument when his species didn't procreate in the usual way.

Her curiosity got the better of her. "Why do your men have a large organ when your species doesn't procreate physically?"

Masai folded her hand around Noasa's penis and squeezed it, causing him to yelp. "I believe that this organ is to accommodate the issue of sperm."

Angie wanted to laugh, but thought better of it. These idiots don't realize what's going on. Actually, she'd like to get her hand around that thing, but . . .

"You can see that he has two sacks that contain large quantities of sperm." She handled his scrotum causing him to squirm. "He is required to issue sperm into our genetic banks on a regular basis. When I punish him you will see this."

Angie had to force herself to stop staring at his genitals. "Can I examine your pain stimulating device?"

"Yes," Masai handed a tube about 24 inches long and one and half inches in diameter to her. "The control adjusts the level of pain." She turned a knob at one end. "When you touch the tip against his skin, it stimulates the nerves that detect heat."

Angie touched the business end to her arm. "Ow! That hurts." She examined her flesh but it was not damaged.

"That is its purpose," Masai said.

"May I apply it to his skin?" Angie asked.

"Yes. I usually start by touching his back."

Angie touched the tip of the device to Noasa's bare behind. He yelped and his gluteal muscle jerked, imparting a swing to his body

She smiled. "I could have fun with this." She applied it to his back and he screamed and arched his back to escape the burning of a virtual fire.

Marty was visiting the Medical Station where the five Drak females were recovering from their wounds. He presented all five of them with purple hearts.

"We give these medals to those who are wounded in battle. It is the mark of a true warrior."

When he presented one to Ninja, the Mehen puffed his chest in pride. Part of this pride was for his soldiers; he felt responsible for their performance.

"By the way," Marty said to Ninja. "We're going to keep the Drak females that we rescued. We now have an additional twenty. You and Moto can train them."

"I will, Martin."

"Good."

When Marty got back up to the command deck he found Angie at her station.

"Did you have a good nap?"

"I wasn't napping. I was watching Masai punish Naosa."

"I feel sorry for that poor guy. Only men are punished on his world, and all he has to do is offend a woman, even slightly."

Angie grinned at him. "I could get used to that."

"I would say something but I don't want to get into trouble."

"I'm not going to punish you, Marty. I was just teasing you, that's all."

"How do I know that you won't punish me like Masai did to Noasa?"

"I wouldn't do that," Angie said. "Even though I would like to."

"Why don't you then?"

"Come on, Marty. Don't say things like that."

"Jump will commerce in five minutes, Angie."

"Execute on count, Delphi."

"Yes, Angie dear."

Angie and Marty exchanged surprised looks.