The alarm chimed, waking Riley, who rolled to Zed and took him in her mouth. She stroked and sucked him, leaving the starship captain, she once was, behind to be his willing servant. At this moment, there was nothing else in the universe but for her to serve him. In her Zen state she felt him rouse, pet her, and enjoy her services. When he came in her mouth, she eagerly sucked him down, trying not to spill a drop. Not just to be of service properly, but because of the way his hot seed seemed to sizzle on her tongue. She really had to ask him what alterations he’d done to his cum to make it narcotically addictive.

They showered, and she spent ample time rubbing him with soapy breasts. He took her again, fucking her against a wall as she whimpered under his assault. Finished she dreamily leaned in one corner, so senseless her duties of scrubbing were momentarily forgotten. After drying, she dressed him, relishing the feeling of giving herself so completely to another. At the hatch, he beckoned her to follow.

The usual suspects occupied the bridge. Vgg-r stood off to one side, while Serhho and Sarina occupied the Navigation and Weapons consoles. Glances were exchanged but no words. Zed took his command chair and Riley went to her knees on the deck beside him.

The speakers pinged. The universe lurched. Stars filled the fore viewport.

“We’re here,” Serhho announced. “Making way to orbit five, gas giant with ice ring.”

“Find us a nice hidey spot.” Zed said.

“Aye, Captain.”

Zed looked down at Riley, “We’ve got fifty hours before they are supposed to show. Anything else we can do to increase our odds of hiding?”

It was a strange position to be in, on her knees naked while giving tactical aid. “Shut down all systems you can spare. Electromagnetic signatures of any kind may be picked up through passive detection. If they come in hot, pinging away with any type of active detection, masar, ladar, whatever, they’ll have a better chance of spotting the Unnamed.”

Zed nodded, “Right, but active detection will fill the sky with signals, a ship the next system over will spot them. We could put a missile right up their tailpipe without a sweat.”

Riley knew Zed was exaggerating for dramatic effect, but he was right, if someone looking for them went loud, everyone in the system would spot them. The possibility that there might already be others here hiding occurred to her.

“True enough. Have you considered that the inspectors may already be here hiding?” Riley asked.

Serhho turned and shot an ugly look. Zed ignored it and replied, “We’ll find out soon enough. Get us in those rocks.”

Tense minutes went by as the command crew watched the viewport. No one said a word. They simply watched as the gas giant loomed ever closer, its rings expanding in size. As they grew ever larger, the ice rings began to get fuzzier, harder to tell where the edge was. Soon, it broke up into an uncountable number of chunks of ice and rock.

“Entering rings now.” Serhho announced. A pitter-patter sound, like rain on a metal roof, started echoing through the ship as it was bombarded with thousands of frozen water droplets.

“Weapons, you detecting anything?” Zed asked.

“Nothing. No movement anywhere that I can see.”

Zed let out a long sigh. “Ok, if there’s an ambush it looks like we got here earlier than they did. Nothing to do but sit back and wait out the last two days. Have we parked yet?”

“Finding a spot.” Serhho reported, “Got one, touch down in two minutes.”

A few minutes later, there was a creaking groan, and the ship shuddered.

“Will we stick?” Zed asked. Riley’s first instinct was to answer, but she kept quiet to not one-up Zed.

Serhho said, “Yeah, I picked a ferrous rock. We’re magnetically clamped to it. We’re not going anywhere.”

Riley moved to the weapons console. She double-checked the displays, making sure nothing lurked in the system. If only Zed had a military-grade scanner, she thought. She turned back to him and nodded.

Thumbing a switch on his command chair Zed addressed the whole crew. “Attention, attention, listen up you glorious bastards. We are now in system waiting for inspection and sale. For the next fifty hours, that's two days for those of you with a university degree, we need to be on our toes. Double shifts and stay alert. You see or hear anything, report it up to me. Play it frosty, and we all walk away with the fattest bonuses you’ll ever see… Out.”

The weapons officer was the only one who really needed to be on the bridge, but the entire command staff was reluctant to leave. Riley, Zed, and Vgg-r hovered behind Sarina, watching the scanners for any hint of company.

Several hours ticked by. Riley finally announced, “I’m pretty sure there’s no one here with us.”

No one said a word for several minutes, then Zed broke the silence, “Looks like.”

“My people have FOD to collect, I’m going to help out.” Nobody said anything as Riley exited.

In the utility room, she found K’rra checking cabinets to make sure they were secured. Riley sent her out through the ship to collect her crew. While K’rra was gone, Riley found the bag with her handgun still stashed in the cabinet. She slung the strap over her shoulder and waited. When they all returned, each wearing a bag of some sort to collect stray bits and pieces of the ship, she gathered them into a huddle. She looked suspiciously at Geller, then gave them a briefing.

“You all heard the announcement, I’m sure; we’ve less than forty-seven hours at this point until the inspection ship is supposed to make rendezvous. The commander of this ship decided to come in early and hide just in case the inspectors try to set up an ambush. The raiders are going to begin powering down non-essential systems to mask out the signature.”

“We are going to continue collecting FOD and locking down any loose gear until told otherwise. Everyone should have a FOD bag with them to collect debris. If you find anything that can’t be secured, let K’rra know, and we’ll see what can be done.”

“This is the important part. If things get bad. If it turns out it is an ambush, if there are high-g maneuvers, I need everyone to make their way to the ship’s boat. That vessel will be our safe room for the duration of any conflict these raiders get into.”

“We won’t be able to leave on it,” Riley lied. “But it will give us some extra protection if the ship loses its atmosphere or is breached.”

“That’s it. If we’re lucky, these are our last two days aboard this ship.”

“And a last word to all of you. You’ve performed above and beyond. Each one of you has made me so proud.” She looked past Geller, “And you’ve all done your duty with great sacrifice. We’re going to all get out of this together. Keep your spirits high, we will endure.”

As the crew broke up Riley pulled Terellia aside. “I need you to keep this bag with you. Remember, if things get bad, go to the sick bay and destroy the big tube hanging from the ceiling.”

“Aye, captain… its just…”

“Yes?”

“I never went through weapons training. I don’t even know how to use this thing.”

“You’ve seen action vids?”

“Well, sure, but…”

Riley cut her off, “It's no different. Just point and pull the trigger.”

Crestfallen, this duty had fallen on her, Terellia replied, “Yes, Ma’am.”

“This is important Terellia. You are literally the only one that can do it.” Riley lied. Geller also didn’t have a full set of implants, but Riley would sooner cut her own wrists open than give the scheming bitch a handgun.

Still looking deeply worried, Terellia gave a half-hearted, “I understand.”

“One more thing,” Riley whispered, “Don’t tell anyone else. We are all counting on you to do this.”

Riley spent the day helping collect FOD and trying to show her team that she had not yet been broken. As the day wore on unneeded systems began to be shut down. In the last few hours of the work shifts, she noticed only every third light was on, casting the ship into a miserable gloom.

When the shift ended, she went to Zed’s stateroom. He wasn’t there, of course, so she tidied up and went to her position. A few hours later he arrived to find Riley half dozing against the bed. He woke her and then went to the head.

When he returned, she asked, “So?”

He glanced at her as he went to the bed and sat heavily. “So what?”

“Are you still planning on keeping me, Sir?”

“Let’s see what the inspector says.”

At that moment she knew. Ten million credits was too much temptation. She closed her eyes not wanting to look at him. In her private darkness, she felt no comfort knowing these might be her last days with him. Maybe, she thought, just maybe, her crew could pull an escape off. Otherwise, she hoped the implants did just as good a job of making her fall for the next owner.

“Can I make a suggestion, Sir?” She asked, wanting to be alone, wanting him to go away.

“Sure.”

“If it were my ship in similar circumstance… I’d tour the ship stopping to talk with everyone. Let them know things are tense, but you got their backs.”

Zed laughed, “Does that actually work with you Feds?”

“No,” Riley said. It works with people. As a commander, you need to show vision and communicate confidence. If your crew sees you strutting around without a care in the world, it will go a long way to putting them at ease.”

“I really need rest,” Zed said. Then he stood, “But what the void? Your suggestion may have a nugget of truth in there.”

When Zed left, Riley went to the head and showered, using water at a temperature she hated, scalding hot. She’d endured it so many times for him. Why not one last time? There may have been tears on her face, but the stinging heat might also just be jets of hot water.

Zed returned an hour later to find Riley kneeling at the foot of the bed. He stripped and took one of her hands dragging her into his bed. He fucked her more gently than he ever had. Neither said a word. Riley knew that he would betray her the next day. And she was going to do the same to him.

First Part:

Degenerate Star Part 1