When the hatch whisked open, Riley was sitting showered and cozy on Zed’s bed. He walked in and stopped, looking at her curiously.

“Pretty sure you know what I’m going to say,” Zed said.

‘Thank you for cleaning up this disaster of a cabin,’ Riley thought. She wasn’t sure which of the many ways the conversation could go, “No, Sir?”

He strode to the bed in a few long, powerful strides, grabbing a fistful of hair at the back of her head. She felt herself get week in the knees and moisten. He yanked her off the bed and shoved her down to the deck. He went down to one knee so he could force her face to the newly cleaned deck.

“Pets don’t sit on furniture.”

Parting her knees against her will and wanting nothing more than him to take her she whispered, “Yes, Sir.”

“Yes, sir, what?”

“Yes, Sir. Pets should not be on furniture,” she replied, ashamed as the words came out. She was a sentient being, not a pet. Then again, pets were cared for.

“Filthier. Why shouldn’t pets get on furniture?”

“Sorry, Sir. Drippy cunt pets should not get on the furniture unless told. They might make a mess.” She could feel her face burning. “And their opinion doesn’t matter.”

“Good girl.” Zed patted her head, and Riley could feel warmth shooting out from behind each ear. Petting felt so good she cooed.

Zed stood and looked down at her. She remained in place, on her knees, face touching the floor, arms spread out overhead, and ass up in the air. She wanted him to mount her, like an animal. The thought made her squirm, she could feel her ass wriggle on its own accord.

As humiliating as the position was, it all felt so good. If she just closed her eyes, she could imagine him slipping into her, riding her. It was all she wanted. She knew that beyond the haze in her head there were other things. Inconsequential things like escape, agency, pride, but she wished them all away in this moment, begging the universe to make him fuck her.

“You want it, don’t you,” Zed asked.

“Yes, Sir.” She begged, meaning every bit of it.

“Do pets speak?”

“No, Sir.”

“Well? Do you want me to fuck you?”

She wanted so desperately to scream yes. But she knew pets didn’t speak. The desire was so singular she was having trouble thinking of ways she could let him know. She scooted on the deck to his boot and began rubbing her face on it. It wasn’t enough, she needed his attention. Whining like a dog, she wiggled her ass and continued rubbing her face on him. Was it enough? Did she need to bark? Meow? She was his little fuck pet and she wanted him to pet and fuck her.

“Aww, Capsy. I’d love to ride you like the little cock puppet you are, but I’ve got work to do. Including paying our tech for all the work he did on the hyperdrive. You remember what I promised him? Right?”

No! She looked up, pouting, she needed him now. She whined louder.

“Void. I set it too high.” He slipped out his controller and thumbed the keys. “Okay, still in pet mode. Hmm. Settings are normal. I’ll be damned captain, this is something you are sympatico with. Never pictured you secretly wanting to be treated like an animal.

She recoiled in her head. Void-blast! There was no way any sane person wanted what she’d just experienced. Mind-muddled and playing like a pet in heat? That wasn’t something anyone would want. He had to be toying with her. Some sort of psyops to make her think she wanted to be reduced to a pet. The thought of it made her angry, but she couldn’t express herself in any other way but to make a high-pitched whining noise.

“Haven’t got time to sort it out right now. I’ll get Doc to take a look at your biometrics once we’re in hyperspace.” Zed slipped the wand away. “Follow me. No speaking.”

He led her back to the utility room, “Come on Redsy, time to pay our tech.”

When Terellia stepped out into the passageway Zed continued, “Now listen close. No words whatsoever. I’ll have my wand out, and if you even think of saying anything resembling a word, I’ll zap that clit of yours into the next millennia.”

Riley wondered why Zed was threatening Terellia. She remembered that the red-skinned girl didn’t have a controller, just pleasure/pain implants. He was threatening her because she could disobey. Riley immediately wondered if Terellia would be able to pick up a weapon. And another thought, if they used chemistry to make weapons, like knockdown gas, would Riley be able to handle it?

“Yes, sir.” Terellia nodded.

Zed reached out and gave Terellia’s hair a hard squeeze.

Terellia squealed, and her knees quivered. “I swear, I won’t say a word.”

Riley reached out and touched Terellia, to show her solidarity.

Zed eyed the two and nodded. “All right, let's go.”

At the engineering deck, the hyperdrive had its cowling back on, covering the internals. The tech was underneath the umbilical hanging from the overhead tracing wires and tubes into the impulse engines. When he saw Zed and the women enter, he turned to them.

“I heard the drive is ready. It's a little longer than we agreed, but two and a half hours isn’t bad,” Zed said.

The tech nodded, “It was a mess, I had to reharmonize the pulse coils, defrag the…”

“I’m sure it's all good,” Zed interrupted. Capsy, take a look at it.”

Riley moved past the tech to a work console. After a few moments of searching, she found the drive diagnosis apps and ran them. The important measurements all hit green, some barely. Many of the secondary tests were in the yellow, it would never pass inspection on a Federation ship.

She looked at Zed and, after a moment of consideration, gave him a thumbs up. Every instinct as a Federated captain told her to either thumbs down or wavering-hand gesture the work. She decided not to. The drive would serve well, and being a little dirty might leave larger echoes. Also, she didn’t want to risk Zed thinking she was poo-pooing work to delay their flight.

“Capsy says we’re good.” Zed took the tech by the shoulder and led him to a seat. “I believe we owe you payment.”

“Yeah, the total cost will be sixty-seven hundred credits, and um… the services we originally spoke of.”

“Sixty-seven? Void-shift! Why don’t you just rip out my implants while we’re at it?”

“As I discussed with Mr. Rohm, it’s two thousand an hour plus materials.”

“I could buy a new ground-car with that.”

“Well, yeah. But it’s not going to get you to the next system. You’ve got at least another six months before you’ll need to service this again.”

Riley touched Zed on the shoulder. When he looked down at her, she nodded. It was a fair price for the work done. It was a little pricey, but they were on the frontier. He placed a massive hand on top of hers, frowned, and nodded himself.

She was elated. Even without words, Zed had taken her advice. He valued her opinion. He might make her say words contrary to that, but he’d just proven that he had feelings. Naked and in front of strangers or not Riley wanted to skip.

“Okay, Capsy says the deal is good. I’ll wire the credits for dock release.” Zed explained.

This much drama over maintenance fees? Zed’s crew was not doing well. Maybe he was always like this when it came to payment, but Riley doubted it. This seemed to be a serious concern that nearly had him lash out at the defenseless tech. Another possibility to explore… Could members of the crew be bribed or bought off?

“There is the matter of reciprocal services as we discussed earlier.” The tech said.

“Right. Redsy needs more brine.”

“I was hoping the blonde could render those services this time.”

“Capsy? My favorite?”

Riley blushed as her heart raced. An actual compliment? She was so elated she’d go down on a hundred techs to hear those words again.

“Well…” Zed considered, “Maybe if you could discount the price a tad?”

Like that, the elation evaporated. Zed was whoring her out. Sure, she had thought earlier that sucking off a hundred techs was worth the words from Zed’s lips. But not to be sold as a discount. It made her feel cheap. Her services as a commander alone were priceless.

“Two percent?” The tech said. Riley was now furious. Not only had she been offered for sale, but the potential buyer thought she was worth less than a hundred and fifty credits. She wanted to bite his junk off.

“That’s my favorite, don’t insult me.” Zed said in a low slow voice. He held out a hand to Riley then dragged her in front of him. She stood there naked, being shown off.

“Right, right. How about five percent?”

“You really mean to cheese me off?” Zed said with a flex of his inhuman muscles. “I’d consider twenty.”

“Warp be damned, fifteen.”

Zed ran his hands up and down Riley’s sides. She writhed, she wanted him. She wanted him right here, in front of the tech. In front of Terellia. She could feel the heat building behind her navel. Zed suddenly slapped her ass making Riley jump forward at the tech.

“Done.” Zed beamed. “Wotins are fun. But there’s a huge difference between needing to perform and performing for the pure pleasure of it. And trust me, Capsy here, she loves it.”

The tech’s hands grabbed Riley’s hips as she’d been propelled into him. She looked into his leering eyes and knew she was nothing more than a cheap good time. Her disappointment in Zed was monumental. She’d been sold into oral service for just a thousand credits. It was beyond humiliating. Her only solace was that Terellia had been sold for nothing more than a mouthful of cum.

“Go on Capsy. Show him just how much you love it. Lick that love pump like it's my own.”

First Part:

Degenerate Star Part 1