Riley took a hard look at Zed. His impossibly broad chest, so massive it was as if two bodybuilders had been Frankensteined together. Thoughts of her hands on it, of it looming over her naked in the dark, filled her with a yearning that was impossible to ignore. That caused a rush of other thoughts, giant hands, handling her body as if she were made to fit them perfectly. Lips that sucked the air from her lungs, making her weak with giddiness. He could ask anything of her, and she knew no matter what it was, she would do it willingly. Any of his desires were hers to fulfill.

Beyond her wants as a woman, though, there were her duties to community. The Federation had given more to humanity and the galaxy than any other political entity ever known. Peace, prosperity, and universal freedom were its hallmarks. Slavery was abhorred, along with bullying, dishonesty, and tyranny. The desires of one woman could never measure up to the duty she owed her community and her crew.

The command staff was busy managing the ship. Zed barked orders, Serhho worked his controls, and Vgg-r and Sarina argued as blood spilled down her face. No one was looking at Riley at all. On the view screen, another beam of deadly light streaked in, blasting through the thin veil of the remaining shields. The ship shook as sparks erupted from a nearby console.

The enemy ship might still be fighting, but it was dead. While the Unnamed still had power. The fight was effectively over or would be in a few minutes.

She stood, tears stinging in her eyes, as she turned and yanked the crash bench open. Her people deserved a life of freedom, even if all she wanted to do was give herself completely to Zed. The bucket was there, lid still tightly closed. She ripped the lid off as the dark amber fluid inside sloshed. There was only a moment of hesitation as she poured the fragments into the bucket.

Realizing that shutting the bench would bottle up the hallucinogens, Riley pulled the bucket from the helmet as it erupted foam in her hands. Another hit to the Unnamed caused the ship to shake, and Riley watched as the bucket tumbled out of her grasp, shooting foaming spray across the bridge deck.

Holding her breath and wincing eyes shut, Riley dashed for the hatch. Only when the hatch closed behind her did she dare open her eyes. She continued holding her breath all the way down to the crew deck. She had no idea how badly the crew on the bridge, in such tight quarters, would be affected. But she hoped as badly as she had been the previous day.

She decided at that moment that she would return. If needed, finish off the attackers and prevent the Unnamed from a decaying orbit into the gas giant. She was not going to let Zed die, even if it meant the loss of her freedom.

Determined now to return, the sting of tears vanished. She passed the sickbay and hoped Terellia had done her part. There was no way to tell if anything had changed. Stopping, she checked the sick bay hatch and it would not open. It was impossible to tell if Terellia or any of her crew were in there.

Turning before the galley, she entered the crew quarters. This was territory she’d only seen in schematics. She moved swiftly, checking each room, looking for any of her lost crew. Thankfully the cabins were empty with the raiders being away at their battle stations.

She found Kimura, in a small cabin for one person, an officer’s, obviously Vgg-r’s. Kimura knelt at the foot of the bed, just as Riley did a thousand times in Zed’s room. She knelt as a slave. Riley rushed to her.

“Kimura! We have to go.”

Kimura looked up, her eyes both sad and determined, “No, captain. I’m staying.”

Riley tugged on the smaller woman, forcing her to her feet. “I’m serious sailor! We need to go now.”

“I won’t go! This is where I belong.” Kimura screamed and yanked her arm away.

“Leave her alone, you bitch.” Riley turned to see K’rra standing at the open hatch. The usually stoic woman’s pale blue face was a mask of rage.

Riley strode to K’rra, “We’ve got to go.”

K’rra lashed out throwing a punch at Riley. The blow would have struck Riley in the face. Instead, K’rra doubled over in agony, screaming. Riley understood why in an instant, not only could slaves not hurt their owners, but they also couldn’t hurt other slaves either.

“K’rra, what the void?”

“At every opportunity captain,” K’rra glared up from the deck at Riley, “you stole my chance to express myself.”

“What are you going on about? We don’t have time for this.” Riley shouted.

K’rra stood but shook off Riley’s effort to help her up, “You know damn well what, captain. Every chance I had to climax, to orgasm without regret, you stole it away from me.”

“I was trying to spare you. I knew you were suffering.”

“I was not suffering, I was soaring! You have no idea how stifling Gyth society is, always straight-laced, always… dead inside. For once in my life, I could scream out in ecstasy and not be judged. I could indulge every sense, every emotion, feel every animal carnality in me. I was freer as a slave to be myself than I’ve ever been under the prude, watching eyes of those stoic fuckers forcing us to lock our animal instincts up. I’m tired of pretending to be something I’m not. I choose my desires.”

“K’rra, this is our only chance to escape. I can't make you come with, but you’ll be a slave for life if you stay.”

“I already told you, I’m more free here than I ever was at home. Not only am I not going anywhere, neither is Kimura. We’ve found happiness in our slavery. And if you really look at yourself captain, I think you did too.”

K’rra took a slave position next to Kimura, and the two rested heads on each other.

They were lost, and there was no saving them. The rest of her crew was in danger, though. If she moved fast, she could gather her people and still help them escape. She was too stunned to consider what had transpired with the two. She could only chalk it up to the implants. Except that she would be returning to join them. She needed to save the rest of the crew.

The ship shook, and Riley sprinted to the galley and then the utility room. Both were empty. Only one last deck to go. She tumbled down the stairs when the ship shook violently. Riley hoped someone on the bridge was conscience enough to keep fighting.

Hold on Zed, she thought, I’ll be there in a minute.

She burst into the cargo hold to find Terellia pacing in the center of it. She raced to the crimson-skinned woman to find Terellia sobbing frantically.

“Captain! I’m so sorry.”

“It's okay,” Riley gasped, taking Terellia and pulling her toward the hatch to the ship’s boat. “What happened?”

“I couldn’t do it.

“Couldn’t destroy the overseer?” Riley pushed her along, getting ever closer to the hatch.

“I couldn’t even use the gun, captain. Please don’t be mad.”

Riley noticed the FOD bag Terellia carried earlier was missing. “What happened to the sidearm?”

“I’m so sorry, captain. I told Maxwell.”

“Okay and where is he?”

“He’s on the shuttle waiting for us.”

“And the sidearm?”

“Maxwell gave it to Geller. He said something about her not having implants.”

Riley’s spine went icy.

Before Riley could say anything, she heard Zed’s voice call from across the cargo bay. Standing at the stairs she’d just come down, he called, “Riley! How could you?”

From frying pans to fires, Riley thought. She gave Terellia a shove to the shuttle hatch and whispered, “Get in the shuttle and take off. I disabled the lock. Tell Maxwell to fly fast and hard. I’ll slow them down.”

She turned to see Zed striding through the cargo bay, an irresistible force sweeping everything aside as he came toward her. The hatch behind her hissed open and closed. She just needed to hold Zed off for a minute or two, enough time for Maxwell to fire up the engines and escape.

“What have you fucking done?” Zed yelled, fury openly showing on his face.

“I did my duty!” she screamed back at him. She wanted to say more, but behind Zed on the stairwell he’d just descended she saw Geller, with a pistol in her hand.

Geller stopped and aimed right at Riley. Time seemed to slow. Fear gripped Riley locking her in place. Her mind raced unsure what to do with so many things being thrown at her at once.

Zed, seeing the look on Riley’s face, spun around, saw Geller, and dove sideways between teetering stacks of cargo.

The shot missed Zed, barely. Splintered fragments of plastic flew from the blast that hit the cargo he’d just barely dodged behind.

Riley screamed and rushed forward, “Zed!”

Geller advanced into the cargo bay with the pistol in front of her, like a priest whose faith in their holy relic could ward off evil spirits. She walked firing with every step. Firing every single one of them at Zed, who ducked and weaved, leaped, and sprinted, moving faster than any human Riley had ever seen. Bits and pieces of cargo vaporized in miniature explosions and hazy smoke filled the bay. Geller kept firing at him.

Riley screamed again, “Zed!”

The entire ship suddenly jerked sideways. Hard.

The explosion echoed through the ship's hull, sending bits of FOD debris flying like stray bullets in every direction. Riley was slammed into the floor as boxes and containers flew past her. Dazed, she knew what had just happened: a missile hit the Unnamed.

She wondered how bad the damage was while struggling back up to her feet. The landscape of the cargo bay was completely changed. Entire pallets had fallen, pathways were blocked, and stray crates lay everywhere. Thick smoke concealed the ceiling, most of the lights were flickering, and sparks rained down at the far end.

One leg wasn’t working properly, and she saw blood gushing around a sharp fragment of plastic buried in her thigh. It took her brain a moment to register that it was her leg not working and bleeding.

Riley pulled herself up with the help of a stack of fallen crates, just in time to see Geller stalking toward her with the pistol still in her hand.

“Wait! No!” Riley yelped throwing her hands up defensively.

Geller smashed the pistol into her face. Riley collapsed again feeling her numb leg scream painfully as she fell on it. Bleary-eyed and struggling to gain control of her limbs, Riley could do nothing as Gellar dragged her across the floor of the cargo bay.

“No…” Riley slurred.

Hands grabbed Riley dragging her faster across the floor. Maxwell loomed over her, yanking her through the shuttle hatch and dumping her on the deck of the shuttle. Geller fired a few more shots from inside the shuttle.

She heard Zed yell, calling her name, “Riley!”

The shuttle hatch slammed shut with a bang, then sealed itself.

Maxwell and Geller left her huddled on the deck as they rushed to the controls of the ship’s boat.

“Pushing off!” Maxwell yelled, and the ship lurched.

Riley crawled up the hatch to the viewport unable to get a final look at Zed. Instead, she watched through tears as the Unnamed spiraled away, burning and crippled. She banged on the hatch, wanting desperately to go back but knowing that was impossible now.

Eventually, Terellia put an arm around Riley and guided her to a crash bench. Riley sobbed as she was strapped in. And screamed when the fragment was pulled from her leg. A cooling spray eased that, along with a hypo of anesthetic. The last thing felt before sleep took her was the tiny ship’s lurch into hyperspace.

As the shifting bands of multicolored light splashed through the hatch viewport, Riley could only think, it wasn’t supposed to be like this, she wanted to go back…

First Part:

Degenerate Star Part 1