Strange New World - Alpha & Omega
Chapter 1: Praemonitus

Copyright© 2016 by Kabel Dayspring

BDSM Sex Story: Chapter 1: Praemonitus - This is a side-quel of the story Her New World by Leviticus. Over 20 years after the original launch of the sleeper ship, Mayflower, a new mission is set to launch to planet Freedom. The newly appointed captain has a unique set of 'special skills' that will aid upon their landing on the far away world. However, preparing for the mission will be a dangerous adventure as well. The cover letter does not contain spoilers; but explains my writing this story.

Caution: This BDSM Sex Story contains strong sexual content, including Ma/Fa   Consensual   Romantic   Heterosexual   Fiction   Science Fiction   Space   BDSM   DomSub   MaleDom   Spanking   Rough   Light Bond   Oral Sex   Sex Toys   Slow   Military  

Andrew Ian Mitra had always been a little bit fearless. When his classmate and best friend at the Institute, Tucker “Tuck” Pendleton, proposed orbital jumping on lazy spring break, Andrew didn’t need much coaxing. Both had been quickly, but thoroughly trained for this rather risky extreme sport. Both had gone up on the shuttle. Both had their heat-shield suits, EVA skimmer which would be a shield from the reentry burn and lander-packs. But only one of them jumped out of orbit and burned through the atmosphere toward Earth. Tuck’s excuse was hyper extending one of his joints. However, with no second thoughts, Andrew jumped into the atmospheric abyss, let go, and made the one-man reentry burn alone. Andrew was fearless.

He was even fearless in dating. Andrew and Tuck were considered a pair of lotharios, always on the prowl on the Terran Institute campus. Both young men were considered handsome, charismatic, popular, and the life of any party they were attending. And the young cadets never seemed to disappoint all the young women they romanced. Every week, without fail, Tuck had a new girl on his arm and took her on a whirlwind fling. Andrew however was more of a romantic. Either he actively courted or shamelessly flirted with a woman he found attractive or interesting, or was already going steady with a girl. With Tuck constantly juggling two or three women at once, his relationships would end with at least a slap to his face. Andrew however remained friends with many of his breakups. Their reputations for sweeping young women off their feet became the stuff of campus legend.

However, there was one who’d captured Andrew’s fancy from the beginning of his EarthCorps days. She was not only the most beautiful cadet in the Institute, she was also his scholarly rival. Scarlet Jackson was not only a beauty, but she had brains. Her IQ tested in the high 160’s. Andrew already knew her by reputation when he’d first arrived at the Institute, and had expected her to be some bookish looking, wallflower girl. However, he was literally speechless when he finally saw her. The young cadet was a knockout, with long, lustrous wavy red hair, apropos to her name. She had pinkish, almost milky white skin that was unblemished. And instead of the scrawny bookworm he’d envisioned, Scarlet was voluptuous. But, as he would later find out, she was athletic as well. It went without saying that his attraction to her was instantaneous the moment he first saw her. When he’d actually met the young woman face to face, however, it was a different story altogether.

As they were introduced during their inaugural year, she made an offhand comment about being valedictorian of her high school (of which she also happened to mention was one of the top academic schools in the country). When Andrew said he was also valedictorian and was in the advanced program at MIT, Scarlet just scoffed at the comment. This made him seethe a bit. It was then that Andrew found out about her competitive spirit. Not so much to pester him about who had higher grades or whatnot, but it always felt like she silently acted superior that way. He found out she did this in all things, not just academics. She kept up with the boys in sports; in inter-gender play she was a feared soccer player, as well as a goon on the ice playing hockey. At first, he resented being part of this rivalry, but that didn’t deter his strong attraction to the red-haired cadet.

Finally, one day into their second year, Andrew had reached his limit with her competitive nature. The two were constantly butting heads, debating or arguing in classes, or trying to outdo each other in sports (even when they were on the same team). As a matter of fact, Tuck and Andrew had a friendly standing bet of who would be the first to score a kiss from her. It was made mainly in jest, but Andrew took it somewhat seriously. With his bravado and charisma, Tuck was the more aggressive of the two, but was continually shot down in flames when made his moves on the crimson beauty.

Andrew was subtler with his actions. As study partners, Andrew and Scarlet spent hours together one semester as “study buddies” (or more accurately ‘study rivals’). In the end, it paid off. Late one night, the two were alone in the dorm common room talking (or more like fighting) about the facets of who was superior in the Space Race of the 1960’s between the US and the USSR one minute. Then the next, with the heat of the debate between them building to a heated fervor, both cadets pounced on each other, ending up in a hot and heavy make out session for a good ten minutes. When they finally broke apart, looking at each other breathlessly, Andrew was thinking about to go gloat about his victorious grope of the ‘young chased Miss Scarlet’.

“That was...” He started, breathing hard, “ ... wow...”

“Hey,” she replied with an impish grin, “who said we were finished?”

Her face was devilish as she got up and pulled him up by the hand to his feet. Their interactive notepads, text-pads and other study items left behind on the table, the two briskly walked hand in hand down the hall toward her dorm room. Baffled as he was, his mind was a blank as Scarlet kissed him again. Just as she has taken his breath away with that first kiss, this one was full of passion and fire that matched the color of her hair. As she blindly reached for and turned the knob for her room, he took the initiative and practically pushed her into the room as soon as the door gave way, not breaking the volcanic kiss.

A few stifling kisses and quick fumbling to get their clothes off later, they were having sex. Not just casual sex, which had become the norm in modern society, but raw, uninhibited, passionate sex - something Andrew had never experienced before with any other lover. There was an intimate unique connection: as they tumbled together in the bed, kissing her as he moved on top of her, when they changed positions in every way imaginable, as he ate her out to multiple orgasms until she begged to go down on him, and when he came, she brought him back to life again and again. The new lovers moved all over the dorm room; from against the wall, to the floor, to when Scarlet wiped her desk clear and he bent her over the top, they did it multiple ways, all over the room for hours. It was a connection he had never had with any other women or girlfriend. There was something in their coupling that he’d never known, but there was one thing about it: he definitely liked it.

In the afterglow, the two laid naked, spooning each other back on the bed. The mattress was bare, the blankets and top sheets tossed to the floor, the desk chair knocked over, the things on her desktop strewn all over the floor, the room was in complete disarray. Andrew was behind her, draping his arm across her flat stomach, breathing in the sweet scent in her hair. Scarlet purred as he nuzzled the back of her neck and shoulders with occasional kisses. His cock was worn out, and he had stopped counting how many time he had cum, or how many times Scarlet had as well. Andrew just pressed her butt against him, and she wiggled it to let him know she liked the sensation of it there. He was not only basking in the fact that the most attractive cadet in the Institute was in his arms, but he sure had something to rub in Tuck’s face, succeeding where he had failed miserably. But he was amazed at the tryst that had just happened, and the connection that was forming between them.

Sighing a satisfactory breath, Scarlet then turned to her newfound lover and smiled.

“So,” she began with a hint of haughtiness in her voice, “what do you win from this bet?”

In a panic, Andrew’s first thought was that of denial, but the best that came out of his mouth was, “Huh?”

“Don’t worry,” she reassured him with a kissing peck on his nose, “I didn’t want a kiss from him, but I definitely wanted one from you.”

Andrew’s heightened pulse quickly lowered as he felt that he was safe from her incurring wrath. And again, his mind raced with this beautiful creature that could’ve had any man she wanted, wanted him.

“You are ... amazing, Red,” he said, calling her by a pet name that he would call her for many years to come.

“But ... there is one other thing,” she said with a look of concern on her face. Biting her bottom lip slightly, she, with all seriousness in her voice said, “Something I want us to do.”

Wanting to reassure her, Andrew simply answered, “What is it? I’ll do anything for you.”

Scarlet reached over, laying all the weight of her torso and her perfectly rounded breasts on Andrew’s chest (something he didn’t mind), and opened her nightstand beside the bed. Looking for a few moments, she pulled out a rather long, black silk scarf. It didn’t look too intimidating to him. In fact, he liked the feeling of the silk as it smoothly went across his bare skin. With the scarf in her hand, she took a few seconds, lightly moving it all over his body from his torso to his face, letting the silky fabric tickle him slightly. Andrew was slightly amused as she did this, but couldn’t help but wonder what she wanted.

She then took the scarf and placed it in his hand and closed it for him. Coming face to face, they kissed deeply again.

“Go on...” she said cryptically, “I want you to do it.”

“Do what?” he asked, more than a little confused, but with a half-smile on his face.

Scarlet then turned with her back on the mattress, and purred as she smiled the brightest smile Andrew had ever seen her make. Giggling a bit, she outstretched her beautifully sculpted legs, until her feet were practically off the end of bed. She then reached her arms up and held on to the wooden planks on the headboard. Andrew watched slightly amused at this display. He waited for her to say something, but it wasn’t until he saw that she kept her arms up, holding on to the headboard, that he realized what she wanted him to do.

“Wait,” he said, a little hesitant with surprise in his voice, “you want me to- t-to-?”

“It’s okay,” she eased him in a soft voice, “I like it.”

Stunned, Andrew brought the silk scarf up between them. Ambivalent feelings washed over him, at first he was confused at what she was telling him what she wanted him to do, but at the same time he was intrigued at the prospect as well.

“Please,” she pleaded again with an uncharacteristic tone of longing and wantonness, “please, do it.”

For as long as they had known each other, he had never seen her act this way; so demure and passive. Still feeling hesitant to do so, Andrew gingerly moved up to his new lover’s raised arms. It was a long time since he’d tied knots in scouts, but from what he could remember, he carefully started to bind Scarlet’s wrists. She closed her eyes, taking in what he was doing, as he gently wrapped the scarf up over and around in a simple pattern around her wrists and through the headboard. She panted in quick rhythmic breaths of anticipation; in through her nose, and out of her mouth. The young man made sure it was taut, but not tight. Once he felt he was done, leaving enough slack for a proper knot, he moved down face-to-face with his lover.

“Are you sure?” he asked after stealing a quick kiss.

Scarlet opened her bright eyes to Andrew. Trying to convey to him that she was indeed sure, that she trusted him, that she gave him power over her body, the redhead said the words, “Oh, God, yes ... Yes, Andrew, I am sure. I am yours.”

With that, after another stolen kiss, Andrew finished tying off his handiwork. Scarlet closed her eyes again; enraptured in the sensation she’d been longing to feel with him. Staring at her for a moment, he clearly saw the intensity in her body language; in the way she undulated and writhed slightly in her silken bonds. What was even more amazing to him was what he was feeling. While he was not the typical male with a raging libido like most men his age, he was no prude either. But this new sensation was something very new to him. And the most amazing thing was, he liked it.

Looking over at the nightstand, he saw a few more silk scarves. Taking the initiative, he took a red one this time, and as she had done to his body a moment ago, he lightly caressed the silk over the bare parts of her body, slightly tickling her from the way she moved. Her eyes still closed, Scarlet smiled and moaned slightly in delight. After a few moments of this, Andrew draped the scarf over her eyes, not tying it, but let it lightly folded to completely block her vision. He was new at this and was unsure what to do next. The only thing he did know for sure was he was hard again and wanted Scarlet badly.

Kissing her first passionately at her mouth, Andrew slowly made his way down her body. Kissing her all the way down, spending slightly more time at her breasts and belly, he eventually arrived at his destination. Wanting to thank her for showing him a new side of his sexuality, Andrew silently planned to take her to the brink in ultimate ecstasy.


The next morning, Scarlet was the first to wake to find herself unbound by the scarves, but tightly embraced by her new lover. She had only recently found out about her penchant for submissiveness. For her there was something alluring for her to give absolute power to a lover she trusted. And there had only been two: the young sleeping cadet who cradled her in his arms, and the other, the one who brought it out of her, who was gone forever. She didn’t care how long it would last. For the first time, in a long time, Scarlet was happy. And she wanted to stay that way for as long as it would last.


21 Years after the Mayflower launch...

-Mission Launch time: 2 Yrs, 9 Mo, 3 Ds, 12 Hrs.-

-EarthCorps: Space Main Headquarters -

- Florida - 1500 hours - EarthCorps Standard -

Andrew Ian Mitra had always been a little fearless. It was his fearlessness that got him into the Institute. It was his fearlessness that got him to be salutatorian of the first graduating class of the Institute’s first EC: Space cadets. It was his fearlessness that made him a hero on the S.S. Miramar, the Svenia Conflict and at Oceania Nuevo on Mars. However, there was a fine line between fearlessness and stupidity and he knew that. He walked a fine edge between his fearlessness and common sense. He’d made mistakes in his life, but was always cautious and looked before he leapt. Fearless by nature, but with a sensible mind, Commander Andrew Ian Mitra was an adventurer at heart.

Although EarthCorps was nothing like the old United States Armed Forces, with the “old boys club” mentality and the hazing, potential cadets still had to have an iron will and balls of steel to get through the Space program at the Institute. But when others quit or washed out, Andrew persevered. With his best friend, Tucker “Tuck” Pendleton, the both of them looked out for each other in the rugged and brain-draining space program. One looked out for the other when trouble came their way. Andrew helped with Tuck’s study habits and Tuck reciprocated helping Andrew get athletically fitter.

Andrew never let anything get to him when he wanted something. Andrew was strong and disciplined with his fearlessness. It was fearlessness that made him pass his classes with high marks. Andrew was the kind of student that never worried about his grades; although he never studied like a madman, he was an above average genius smart, and he never let it get to him if he got an A- on a test instead of an A+.

However, for the first time in recent memory, Commander Andrew Ian Mitra felt a little afraid. He’d met with the Solidarity Council for Space Affairs and the EarthCorps: Space Admiralty earlier in the week as a prospective candidate for the position of the commanding officer of the Omega, one of the two ships that were going on the mission to planet ‘Freedom’ in the far away solar system. It was a coveted position that commanding officers in EarthCorps: Space wanted. And the one thing Commander Mitra had worked his whole life to achieve.

The requirements alone for the ‘Stellar Passage’ mission were statements of the commitment and sacrifice the prospects were willing to make. First, even though hyperspace technology had progressively advanced in the last twenty years (especially with his personal contribution of ‘hyper-bubble’ theory), it would still be about a ten-year trip. That was the reason why many of the already chosen colonists and EarthCorps members were young men and women (and some children of married passengers as well), in order to survive the rigors of the sleeper-ship and be healthy enough to survive on a wild, untamed planet.

Secondly, as it was with the Mayflower, it was a one-way trip. However, unlike that ship, which was archaic by EarthCorps standards, there would be two ships going to the Elvira System. The Alpha, the command ship, would stay in orbit upon reaching Freedom, in its role as a science and support ship. However, unlike the Mayflower, the Alpha would be able to travel back to Earth if the mission called for it. The Omega, which was modeled after the Oceania, Mars, Titan and other planet habitats, would land on Freedom and become a permanent self-contained colony. The first interstellar human city was a grand prospect for any EarthCorps officer to be a part of. And Andrew Mitra wanted it more than anything.

From the moment his career started at the Terran Institute with EarthCorps, Andrew did whatever was expected of him, with every ‘i’ dotted and every ‘t’ crossed. All he ever wanted to be was an astronaut, a real astronaut, like in the days of the old NASA or ISA missions. Ever since he was a child and watched the Mayflower leave the solar system on its mission to the then unnamed planet in the Elvira system, he wanted to be that astronaut to travel to a new star and a new planet. He wasn’t a soldier in EarthCorps; he was an explorer.

The interview with the Solidarity Council and the EarthCorps Admiralty went as expected. There were questions about his expectations, his motives, and willingness to risk a decade-long trip. There were also questions about his career: about the incident at Svenia sector of the asteroid field as the field promoted commander of ground task force; the averted tragedy of the S.S. Miramar when he saved the crew with his quick thinking, and at the same time creating a new form of technology with ‘hyper-bubbles’; his near fatal heroics at the Oceania Nuevo mines on Mars where he risked his life to save thirty miners, thirty strangers he didn’t even know, at the near cost of his very own life. As an afterthought, there were even questions about him taking orders from the newly appointed captain of the Alpha, who would be the commanding officer of the entire mission, his old friend and classmate from the Terran Institute, Captain Tuck Pendleton.

Andrew answered every question eloquently and with as much enthusiasm as he could muster. Indeed, he was a prodigy of EarthCorps, rising through the ranks at breakneck speed. However, there was doubt in his mind about being appointed to the Omega. He knew there were other more qualified more seasoned commanders in EarthCorps: Space. But in his mind, there was no one else who wanted it more.

Now he was called back to EC: Space headquarters for yet another interview. He’d talked to a few other friends and colleagues, who were also vying for Omega to ask if they’d had callbacks for interviews, but none of them had heard for a second interview.

Commander Jaffe of the S.S. Constantinople, a good friend of his, jokingly said in mock anger, “You got the appointment, you lucky prick!”

But experience had honed Andrew to never to assume anything from expectations, because things never go exactly the way planned. Still, here he was at EC: S Headquarters, apparently for a second interview to be appointed to be captain of the Omega. However, as confident as he was in his ability and career track, he couldn’t help but be a little afraid.

Commander Mitra entered into a busy lobby. EarthCorps: Space had been working non-stop for several years ever since the Earth Solidarity approved The ‘Stellar Passage’ Mission, a second mission to planet ‘Freedom’, to follow up on the Mayflower colony, and then create a new colony. With the countdown already set to just under three years away, EarthCorps as a whole, as well as the Solidarity Science Council, were working overtime to make sure this mission was a success.

The previous mission was deemed a failure in many eyes since no one had heard from the colony for several years. EarthCorps: Space and the Solidarity Council for Space Affairs made several inquiries, but each one was left with no answers. Andrew followed the inquiries with great interest, as he was absolutely captivated with the Mayflower mission. However, after two years, the inquiries abruptly stopped. No explanation was given, though a new mission to Freedom was announced.

Andrew met with the front agent, who was just as busy as everyone else in the lobby, with interconnecting calls and processing data on the interface on her desk. At times like these, Andrew was severely polite and he almost didn’t want to bother the haggard receptionist. He felt sorry for her, because after joining EarthCorps and all the hard work in graduating from the Terran Institute to be assigned answering vid-phones and voice-dictating memos. He then remembered his first assignment as a lowly assistant science officer on the S.S. Miramar. It wasn’t the most glamorous of assignments, but he knew it had to be done. But after his heroics in saving the ship, he was not only promoted but was treated with a lot more respect from his crewmates.

Well, he thought to himself, everyone has to start somewhere.

“Excuse me,” he said, feeling a little guilty in interrupting the fretted ensign’s work.

Looking up, the ensign’s irritated face quickly faded as soon as she saw Andrew’s commander bars. Like a green cadet from the Institute, the ensign immediately stopped what she was doing and stood up at a stern, straight as a board attention stance.

“Sir, yes, sir,” she chirped in a rather squeaky voice (rather unbecoming of an EarthCorps officer).

A little amused at the ensign’s decorum, he said in an attempt at levity, “At ease, Ensign, before you break something.”

Her stance relaxed a bit, but she still stood rigid.

“Commander Andrew Ian Mitra of the S.S. Orlando; I believe I have an appointment.”

Her eyes looking stalwartly forward, she answered like a preprogrammed hologram receptionist would, “Yes sir, you are expected.”

Picking up a digi-pad from the link-up to the interface, she handed it to Andrew, “Sir, report to room G on level 25.”

Taking the pad from the young officer, he looked over the rather cryptic orders. All that was written on the pad was the same information that was just told to him: Room G, level 25. Looking back up to the ensign, who was letting the video calls back up and her interface untouched, Andrew quickly saluted her, merely as a formality, however, she saluted back with again a ridged formality could’ve only come from fresh graduate cadet from the Institute.

“Carry on, ensign.”

Andrew moved pass the hustle and bustle of the lobby to the row of lifts behind the reception area. Entering an open lift, he found himself alone as the doors closed. He pressed for Level 25 and the quick velocity motion pressed down on him as the quick elevation took him to the higher spiral of the building.

The doors opened to a drastic change to the near chaotic crowds that were at the lobby. Level 25 was surprisingly calm. Andrew found that a little bit unusual since, as his recent visits to almost every level of the headquarters were always hurried with activity. However, he set those thoughts aside as he got off the lift and walked down the corridor toward his destination. A few doors down he found himself standing at the entrance to room G. His rapt anxiety increased slightly as a knot formed in his stomach.

Slowly taking in a breath, then letting it out, he sharply rapped at the door. The three knocks echoed slightly in the empty hall. Andrew felt as if he waited an eternity for an answer. However, it came with a rather curt, simple word of “Enter.”

Waving his hand to the sensor, the door opened. Upon entering, Andrew was surprised not to find an inquiry board waiting for him, but a rather simple room, no bigger than a large storage closet really, with only a table and two chairs across from each other set within. On the other side was a slightly ajar door with the appearance of someone moving inside.

“Have a seat, Commander,” the voice from the other room suggested, not ordered, him to do. “I’ll be out in a sec.”

He was rather surprised with the informality of this second interview. His first with the Solidarity and EarthCorps was quite rigid and felt more like an inquisition than an interview. However, he was unwavering; full of confidence and self-assurance, as was expected of him.

Andrew took a quick look around again, noting the bareness of the room and carefully moved to the chair nearest to him and sat down. There was a moment of familiarity with this situation. He felt like he was back at the Institute at the dean’s office after he, Tuck and Scarlet, in a fit of minor spirited hi-jinx, stole a rival dorm’s mascot during the intramural sports tournament. A harmless prank, but it nonetheless scared him straight from doing any other mischief with his partners in crime.

His musing about the good old days back at the Institute was interrupted when the ajar door at the other side of the room opened completely.

The thing that Andrew first noticed about the middle-aged man was that he was not in an EarthCorps: Space uniform. Although EarthCorps uniforms were standardized, the man did not bear a Space division emblem. What was even more unusual was that the man also had no rank bars anywhere on his uniform to indicate his position. The man did wear an EarthCorps uniform though, and carried himself like he was an officer as he came to the table, with a digi-pad in hand, and sat down across from him.

The man smiled at him slightly, in a way that made Andrew felt like he was sitting with an old friend. Looking at the pad for a quick second, the man placed it face down on the table, then interlocked his fingers and placed his hands down on the table.

“You’re probably wondering what this is all about.”

“Yes, sir, the thought did cross my mind,” Andrew said with a slight hesitation with the last word. He wasn’t even sure he was a ‘sir’.

“Oh, I think we can probably skip the formalities,” the man said. He then extended his hand, “Andrew, right?”

Confused at first, Andrew slowly grasped the outstretched hand and shook it, “Yes, sir, it is.”

“Do you prefer ‘Andrew’ or ‘Andy’?”

“Um ... Andrew, sir.”

Smiling again, the man began again, trying to put the young commander at ease, “Alright, Andrew. My name’s Johnas Li.”

Feeling a little insulted by the way he was being treated like a child, Andrew vented with a hint of frustration in his voice, “If you don’t mind, Mr. Li, I’d like to get down to business.”

“This is really just a formality,” Li began in a different beat. “I know you’re anxious to hear whether or not you’ve gotten the appointment to the Omega.”

“Yes, sir,” Andrew answered, “I am.”

“From what I gather, this has been a lifelong dream of yours,” he continued. “Why don’t you tell me what this means to you.”

Andrew tried to keep his composure, but didn’t like the roundabout way the meeting was going in. He didn’t like how ambiguous this person was or if he was a member of EarthCorps or not.

“Quite frankly, sir,” he began, “this is my life. Being an astronaut, an EarthCorps officer has been my life’s ambition and I’ve achieved that with hard work. I know commanding the Omega and going to Freedom is a historic event, but I really don’t care about making the history digi-pads.

“I want this command more than I’ve wanted anything else in my life. Just as much as being a real astronaut, just as much as one assignment to the next and getting promoted from rank to a superior, going to Freedom would mean more to me than anything else I could do here in the Sol system. And, as cliché as it sounds, I want to explore a strange new world.”

“Well, as poetic as it sounds, I wish I could be as eloquent, but all I can say is congratulations ... Captain,” Li said with a grin, “You’ve got the command.”

Andrew’s slight anger melted away as soon as he heard Li’s last words. He began to well up with the stirrings of joy, “Is-- Is this official?”

“Direct from Star Admiral Branson herself.”

Excitedly, Andrew started to say, “Thank you, sir, you don’t know...”

“Wait a minute,” Li said, interrupting Andrew’s elation, “there’s a bit of a ‘but’ to this situation.”

“And what ‘but’ would that be, sir?” Andrew asked, disappointed with the ruined moment and with a bit of an impatient tone coming back to him.

Li gave an amused, “Hmmph,” then began again, “I’m sorry for all the cloak and dagger bit. But that’s the way it is in my line of work.”

Motioning to one of his shoulders, where the rank bars of an officer were supposed to be, he continued, “You’ve no doubt noticed that I don’t have any indication of rank, or what division of EarthCorps I’m part of.”

“The thought did cross my mind, yes, sir.”

“Who do you think I am?” he asked.

Andrew normally liked guessing games. However, in his mind, this was not the time for amusement or games. He was very serious about his career. And moreover, he was extremely serious about this appointment.

“If I had to guess, you don’t work for the Solidarity,” he logically thought out loud. “No part of the Solidarity would wear an EarthCorps uniform, even in an honorary title. But you are in some part of EarthCorps. Maybe not Space, but somewhere in EC.”

“You were always a smart kid,” Li smiled. “You’re right, I am part of EarthCorps. One that’s less seen than the admiralty, but no doubt you’ve heard of through rumor and innuendo with your fellow crewmates.”

That final comment cemented Andrew’s suspicions. He’d heard about an undercover division of EarthCorps which took over for the FBI and the CIA when the False Docket scandal discredited them. But no one ever had evidence that it really was a real division of EarthCorps. It was always through whispered conversations and idle gossip that that officers even speculated that it truly existed. But here he was larger than life, proof positive that this private division existed.

“You’re with EarthCorps: Intelligence aren’t you?”

“Correct,” Li answered simply. “We at Intel have no formal chain of command, so we don’t really have the need for uniforms because we have no rank. But under the circumstances, I wanted to give you the good news in an official capacity.”

“Begging your pardon, sir,” Andrew said, “but isn’t that the way the old armed forced worked, the few governing the legions?”

“Oh, Intel doesn’t govern, Andrew,” he reassured him. “Intel doesn’t command. We don’t have ships or soldiers; we’re not even allowed to carry weapons. We’re a think tank. Intel gathers information, formulates scenarios, process data, crunch numbers and makes recommendations to the Solidarity and EarthCorps. However, they always have the final say, no matter what we recommend.”

“So, what does this have to do with me, sir?” Andrew asked, very perplexed. “Captain Pendleton is a close friend of mine. And he never mentioned anything about a second interview before he was given the Alpha.”

“No, he wouldn’t have mentioned it, because he never had a second interview,” Li answered. “And I’m sure you’ve called on some of your colleagues that were all trying to get this assignment, and asked if they had any callbacks.”

“Yes,” Andrew said in disbelief. “Either you can really read me like a telepath, or you’ve as good as the rumors say you are.”

“Well ... above average,” Li said.

Realizing what Li meant, he then said in a surprisingly calm demeanor, “You’ve been spying on me.”

“Oh, don’t get upset, Andrew. We’re not like the old regime; Intel isn’t ‘big brother’.”

“Then why spy on me?”

“Frankly, Andrew,” Li began with more of a serious tone, “EarthCorps has had their eye on you to be on this mission from the start. And we wanted to be sure that you were the right man for the command.”

A little taken back, Andrew couldn’t help but look on with wide-eyed surprise.

“Really?”

“Really, really.” Li picked up the face down pad, and pressed on the screen. A flash later, the wall next to them displayed Andrew’s service record as well as stock footage from various missions he had been a part of. “You’re a regular dynamo, kid. In the few years you’ve been in EarthCorps, you’ve exceeded all the Admiralty’s expectations of you. In fact, if it weren’t for Captain Pendleton’s previous command experience of a starship, you would’ve been our first choice to command Alpha.”

The screen behind Li finished its presentation going back to displaying Andrew’s service record.

“I- I don’t know what to say.”

Li took in a big breath and sighed. Andrew noticed that particular mannerism. He’d heard that long sigh before in his lifetime, and it was never good news. As upfront as Li had been to him, he wanted to be painfully candid to him right back.

“What is it, sir?”

“There is a particular reason Intel wanted you here.”

“And what would that reason be, sir?”

Li pressed at the digi-pad again. The screen changed displays from Andrew’s service record to the rarely seen EarthCorps: Intel emblem, with the word, “Classified” written in bold, red letters under it.

“Alright,” Li began, “I’ll be straight with you.”

Pressing a code on the pad’s encryption key, the display changed to a more familiar picture to Andrew.

“You recognize this, I’m sure.”

Looking at the picture of the long cylindrical object, there was no doubt in his mind. As a child, he kept a poster of this on his wall. A poster he cherished until the day he left for the Institute.

“It’s the Mayflower,” Andrew said with a hint of awe in his voice.

“Correct,” Li affirmed. He then pressed on the pad again and the display changed to an old ultra-band transmission cover screen. According to the timestamp date, it was a transmission from several years ago. And from the ID caption, it came from the Mayflower’s communications system.

“Several years ago, during the formal Solidarity inquiry about the Mayflower mission, EarthCorps: Space picked this up from the hyperspace channels.”

“Why wasn’t this presented at the inquiries? It would’ve answered a lot of questions.”

“Because Intel labeled it classified,” Li simply explained. “You’ll see why in a minute. Anyway, you know how hyperspace communications channels work, right?”

“Of course,” Andrew answered; every cadet had to take hyperspace theory during their first year. “Simply put, hyperspace exists on a phased level with regular space; like a jet-stream in the ocean. The deeper you go, the faster you go. And because of that, when a communications link is broadcasted, even without a hyperspace stimulator and from a light year distance it can be received by a phase de-scrambler going through hyperspace; like a message in a bottle traveling on an ocean current.”

“Textbook answer, my boy,” Li confirmed, pleased that the young commander was very learned. “Several years ago we received this last transmission from Freedom, right before we lost communications with them. The broadcast came from Major Staci Mann from the old United States Air Force, the Mayflower’s co-pilot and flight engineer.”

Andrew’s eyes widened as he heard the name. Major Staci Mann had been a personal hero of his since he was a child. It was because of her that inspired him to become part of EarthCorps: Space.

“In the transmission, Major Mann gave a rather ... strange report on the goings on happening on the planet. And with her report came an explanation about why no other communications would come from Freedom.”

More confused than ever, Andrew wondered what this lengthy explanation had to do with him, “Pardon my ignorance, sir, but what does this have to do with the mission. It is still a go, correct?”

“Yes,” Li confirmed. “However, we need someone with your ... let’s say, ‘unique’ knowledge onboard.”

Andrew didn’t think he could get any more confused, but this was another level for him.

“How do you mean, ‘unique’, sir? There are more qualified scientists already-”

“I’m not talking about science, Andrew,” Li interrupted. Pausing for a strong second, he began again, “I’m talking about your ... particular... ‘lifestyle’.”

In a sheer moment of panic, Andrew realized what the old man was talking about. His thoughts raced and rationalized that he couldn’t have meant what he thought he’d meant. They couldn’t have kept tabs on him that closely, he thought to himself.

“Sir?” was all he could manage out of his ambivalent thoughts.

“Don’t worry, Andrew,” the old man reassured him. “I’m the only one who knows. No one else in EarthCorps or even in Intel knows.”

Feeling the anger start to seethe in him, Andrew immediately bolted up from his chair, his calm demeanor and coolness gone. No longer was he thinking about the mission or his career, the way Andrew was feeling, he was all ready to punch out the middle-age man in front of him.

“Now calm down.”

“I CAN’T BELIEVE YOU WOULD INVADE MY PRIVACY!”

“Andrew, I’m not here to...”

“WHY IN THE HELL WOULD-?”

Li tried to maintain his composure in front of the angry young officer, “If you’d just sit down and listen to...”

“FORGET IT!” Andrew screamed as he turned and angrily marched to the door.

Just as he was about to open it, Li stood up and bellowed, “COMMANDER MITRA! YOU ARE STILL AN EARTHCORPS OFFICER AND I EXPECT YOU TO OBEY AN ORDER WHEN YOU HEAR IT! Move away from that door and sit back down!”

In the short time he’d known the Intel officer, Andrew gathered he wasn’t the type to bark orders. Andrew didn’t turn right away; he was too mad. Intel had no right to pry into his private life. His personal life was his business and no one else’s. Reluctantly however, he knew there was a duty to EarthCorps. And Intel did have a standing general rank that was somewhere on the level of Commodore. And if there was a rational explanation (although he can’t fathom one at the moment) Intel was scrutinizing his private life, he wanted to hear it.

Without a word, Andrew returned to the table, picked up the chair that had been inadvertently tossed aside when he shot up, and sat down. Yet he still kept the scowl that had formed on his face. Li also returned to his seat, his jovial face now somewhat wrinkled with seriousness that had increased tenfold in the commotion. Otherwise, the tension in the room had grown exponentially.

“I’m sorry,” Li said in a much calmer voice, “Intel usually doesn’t get too involved in researching people. However, we had to be sure you were the right person for this mission. Believe me, we don’t pry, strong-arm, blackmail, or make a habit on watching what goes on in people’s bedrooms. That was the old way of doing things. We don’t do that anymore.”

“Then why did you in my case?” Andrew asked with a scathing tone that was apparent with the older officer.

“The decision was made and it was difficult to come to. Intel had an inkling of your ... let’s say ‘tastes’. And Intel tried to be as discrete and as private as possible,” Li continued.

“Every agent who gathered data was a trusted one; they immediately reported to me and then were subjugated to a short-term mind wipe. Everything done in researching you and your personal life was compartmentalized to just me.”

“Mind wipe?” Andrew repeated in disbelief. “Sir, that’s extremely dangerous. If mind manipulation isn’t done right, a person could lose more than their short-term memories, they could become lobotomized.”

“It was that serious, Andrew,” the older man explained. “I’m the only one who knows about you. There’s no digitally recorded or hardcopy data of you.

Li then pointed to his head, “Just like you, eidetic memory. It’s all up here.”

Andrew’s anger started to slowly dissipate, but he still wanted answers to why Intel would go to such great and dangerous lengths to disclose that he had certain fetishes in the bedroom.

“Why?” the young officer simply asked. “Why is this pertinent to the mission?”

Li held up the digi-pad in his hand, he pressed in a particular code and the transmission on the wall started to countdown to a video message to play.

“This will explain everything.”

The message started with a scene of a large field of grassy wilderness. If he hadn’t known it had come from the Mayflower, Andrew would’ve guessed it was recorded somewhere in the English moors he had visited when he was younger. But then a young woman appeared in the shot, close to his age and was obviously with child as a bulge in her midsection indicated. It took him a good long second, but the slight familiarity with the person suddenly slammed down like a mousetrap in Andrew’s mind when he finally recognized her as Major Staci Mann. Her strange appearance and pregnancy was a far cry from the I.S.A. portrait of her in her flight suit.

The transmission itself was choppy at points, with static creeping and digital bars and pixel freezing and interrupting at first, which meant that this was sent through the old ultra-band communications and not with a hyperspace stimulator. However, the video itself was in fairly good quality overall, considering it came from a distant world almost eight light years away.

“Is it working? Is it on, Tommy?” Staci asked to someone off camera.

“As far as I can tell,” a deep baritone male voice answered.

“Okay ... here goes...” Staci said, as she straightened up as best as she could to look official and dignified, though she looked like a cavewoman wearing practically next to nothing other than a ripped up, dirty sarong. “This is Major Staci Mann, formally of the United States Air Force, transmitting from planet Freedom. I’m hoping this message reaches the right people in time, but I’ve been hoping for so many things in the last year in vain, but I’m still praying. I don’t have much time, so here goes...

“First and foremost, to the next colony ships coming to Freedom, be forewarned; Alan Kent has gone insane as have many of the men in the colony. In financing the mission to Elvira, Kent wanted to create his own version of the world where he as well as the other passengers and volunteers on the Mayflower would be free to practice their ‘lifestyle’, namely ... domination and ... bondage.”

This caught Andrew’s attention as he now sat upright. He looked over at Li, but then turned back his attention back to the screen and listened with greater interest in absorbing Major Mann’s transmission.

“I, myself, was kidnapped; having no idea what they were planning or what they were up to. I was forced into servitude, stripped of my dignity and free will to become the slave of fellow crewman of the Mayflower, Bob McKinly. He treated me well enough ... and after a while ... it was- ... I got used to it.

“However, an accident left me with the native people of this planet for almost a year, a race called the Yahshi, who healed me from poisonous indigenous bushes that would’ve otherwise killed me. I ended up traveling with them for almost an entire year as they migrated to what they considered a “Holy Place” and through some sort of mystical telepathy taught me about their history and also showed me future events of what would happen in the colony if Alan Kent and the colony sheriff, Dick Janis were allowed to continue with their oppression. I know how ridiculous this sounds, but ... if you only saw the horrors and autocracies I had seen in this future, you’d understand.

“I returned to the colony, but was met with strong opposition and skepticism from my stories and experiences with the Yahshi. Once I returned, Dick Janis, who had become an unofficial ringleader of the mob mentality that most of the men were experiencing, placed me under arrest. Bob McKinly did his best to protect me, but Janis ... he ... he...”

Staci paused for a brief second in her report and looked down. She didn’t have to finish as Andrew came to the conclusion that something terrible happened to her Master. And it was apparent that Bob McKinly had meant a great deal to her, even if she was treated like a forced slave under duress.

“Staci,” a female softly spoke off camera, “Staci, are you okay?”

A sniffle and a wipe of her eyes later, Staci nodded.

“I’m alright,” she unconvincingly said. But nonetheless took in a breath and continued her report. “I’m alright.”

“Bob died a hero. Bob McKinly died defending me. He was killed by Dick Janis. However, in the ensuing melee, I killed Janis. Later on, I heard that Doctor Don Kelly was also killed in the confusion. In the months that followed, I was severely punished for my actions in killing Dick Janis and for apparently running away from the colony. However, from what I was able to gather from rumors and innuendo, what was going on in the colony is as follows:

“I don’t know how or why, but Doctor Kelly was being blackmailed by Dick Janis to genetically alter the men and women of the colony to make them more susceptible to their “roles” in their society: To make the men more aggressive and cavemen-like, and the women more docile and submissive, and overall make everyone, the men and the women, less intelligent so Janis would be the dominate male. Dick Janis planned to overthrow Alan Kent and take over the colony as leader. Kent was genetically altered more severely than the other men and, from what I understand, was destined to become senile within a short time. Because of this, I believe he had a psychological breakdown and began to lead the men of the colony in harsher treatment of the women.

“However, with the help of my friends ‘Fred’ and ‘Betsy’ of the Yahshi, I was able to escape with Tommy Windwalker, a good friend of Bob’s, and one of Doctor Kelly’s nurses, Anna. We plan to travel to a splinter colony that broke away from Alan Kent’s a few months ago, and hopefully find a better life there, for ourselves, and for...” she drifted off as she held her pregnant belly.

“I am transmitting a document that greater details of what has been going on at the Colony, the status of the Mayflower, and the coordinates of both Alan Kent’s colony and the new colony we will be traveling to. However, this will be the last transmission you will ever be receiving from Freedom. After I send this message, I’m programming the shuttle we used to escape to fly over Alan Kent’s colony and detonate in an electromagnetic explosion. The EM pulse generated will destroy all electronics in the colony, including the computerized training collars the men were using to control the women, as well as their weapons, trucks, food dispensers, communications as well as any other electronic equipment not sheltered. I know the severity of what I’m about to do, but trust me, if you have lived through what I’ve lived through, and seen what I’ve seen, it’s justifiable.

“I guess that’s it. Hopefully, you’ll receive this before you send the next colony ships. But I’m done hoping and wishing now. If hopes or wishes ever came true, I’d wish my way off this damn rock ... or moreover, I’d wish that Bob was still alive,” she said with a hint of sadness in her voice. “But I pray this gets to you in time to warn you. If I’m too late...”

Staci lowered her head, taking a breath and exhaling with every ounce of faith she had.

“If I’m too late ... then God help us all...” she composed herself one more time and sat with her back straight, once again trying to look official and dignified. “This is Major Staci Mann from planet Freedom, signing off.”

The screen cut from her to a blaze of static and white noise, then changing to the emblem of EarthCorps: Intel, marking it classified with bold letters again. Li pressed on the screen of his pad, turning off the view screen, then placed the digi-pad down on the table in between himself and the astounded Andrew Mitra.

After a long uncomfortable silence between them, mostly for Andrew to absorb what he had viewed, Li started the conversation to break the ice, “Now, you know.”

“I ... I don’t...” Andrew managed to stammer. The person that he’d just watched, his hero, the very reason he wanted to become an astronaut, was not the person he grew up admiring. The person that had been on the view screen looked nothing like the picture of her in the EC: Space museum. Major Staci Mann was nothing like the person he’d been emulating. She was a prisoner on Freedom (and the irony of the wordplay didn’t escape him).

“Now, you know why we kept it under wraps, Andrew,” Li said.

Andrew looked at him. The old officer’s stern game grimace was on his old weathered face and the young officer could see why it was kept from the public for its own good. If the world in general knew what had happened on Freedom, not only ‘Stellar Passage’ would be a wash, but EarthCorps: Space would’ve gone the way of N.A.S.A. or the I.S.A., as extinct as the dinosaurs.

Still, Andrew wanted answers and was determined to get them. “What do you want from me? Why is my lifestyle so important to this mission?”

“Quite frankly, Commander, you are the perfect candidate for the mission to Freedom. Not only because of your stellar career, but because of your unique knowledge in the bondage and discipline lifestyle, you would know the goings on and the mindset of the colonists,” Li explained.

“What?” he asked still confused. “What am I supposed to do?”

Li looked at him sternly, “We want you to be the negotiator, a go-between for these people and the city that’s going to be created there. Though there is going to be a formal civilian government, your position will have a place in that council. And with that, with the Mayflower colony and this splinter colony, you will be the liaison for them as you know that life.

“It’s not going to be easy. A lot has probably happened in the years since this message was sent. And a lot more can happen in the long journey on the way there. But I have no doubt that you are the man for this mission.

“I’ve been researching all the candidates and none of them come even close to your accolades or knowledge, as an officer and as a quote-unquote Master. I’ve had the honor of studying you for the last year and a half; you are the only person for this job.”

Looking away, Andrew mulled over what the older officer was telling him. His childhood dreams were more or less shattered by the hazy transmission he’d just watched. His childhood idol, Staci Mann, was a captive and had to survive in her new world by giving up what she held precious, her dignity and free will. And while Andrew and some of his past companions and present sub played “games” and “scenes”, they were always consensual and safe. From what was described on the transmission from Freedom, it was a hell for women, and men had degenerated to cavemen.

“The mission will go on with or without you,” Li continued. “But I think I know you, after studying you for over a year, Andrew. You’ve been training and dreaming of an opportunity like this all of your life. You’ve dreamed of living out there.”

Andrew couldn’t help but confirm what Li had just stated. All his life, ever since he saw the Mayflower leave the solar system, ever since he was a child and camped out, looking up at the starry nights and memorizing the constellations and star names, he’d wanted this more than anything he’d ever wanted. And his life was truly dedicated to that want and need. Andrew sacrificed just about everything else to get to this point. And now, everything came down to this one decision. Mulling it over for a dizzying second, he made his choice, but there was something he wanted to seal the deal.

“Before I agree to do this,” he began, “I have a request.”

“Understandable,” Li said as he sat back in his chair, looking a bit relieved. “Name it.”

Drawing in a breath, Andrew held it for a long second. It didn’t seem like an unreasonable request, but because he had some clout being “the perfect candidate,” he wanted someone to be with him on the Omega; someone else of the lifestyle he knew he could absolutely trust.

“Dr. Scarlet Jackson was washed out of the program a few weeks ago for a very trivial reason. I’d like her to be reinstated as the chief medical officer on the Omega,” he finally asked in one breath; the same breath he took in and paused with.

Smiling for the first time in the last few minutes, Li was jovial as he chuckled a little, “Dr. Jackson was washed out for a very good reason.”

“She was improperly propositioned by a superior officer who was part of the selection committee; who wouldn’t take ‘no’ for an answer, so she ... made her point clear.”

“By breaking the jaw of said superior officer?” he wryly asked.

“Scarlet says he groped when he inappropriately propositioned her again,” Andrew corrected him. “The officer also said she wouldn’t be part of the program unless she ahem, his words, ‘show him how to properly ‘spit-shine’ his officer’s bars’.”

After a brief pause where he mused what the young man had said, Li then asked, “This request wouldn’t stem from the... ‘special’ relationship you two have, would it?”

“You know about that?”

Li only nodded in confirmation.

“We’re not a real couple anymore, sir, so there’s no conflict of interest,” the young officer acknowledged, “but I also need someone on the mission I can completely trust.”

“I thought Captain Pendleton was your best friend,” Li queried.

“I need her. I know her. I trust her completely,” he corrected Li. “I could absolutely trust Scarlet with anything. Especially with something like this, I’m going to need my own confidant to help me if I’m going to be able to do this.”

“Because you are her Master?” he asked.

“Because I am her friend and she’s just as knowledgeable in our lifestyle as I am,” he corrected Li. “She’s just as qualified as any other potential you have in mind. And she’s the best damn doctor in EarthCorps.”

Looking stern once again, Li saw the seriousness in the officer’s eyes. There was data that he and the young lady doctor had been lovers and, to date, were continuing to practice dominance and submission scenes and play. He felt a little uneasy to have a pair as intimate as they were together as crewmembers. In his mind, it compromised professionalism. However, there had already been a lot of compromises already in the crew selection. So, he figured, one more couldn’t hurt.

“Consider it done, Andrew.”

Trying to hide his smugness that he’d finally won one, Andrew extended his hand to the man across the table. Li took it and they shook hands profusely. It was a deal made in the most secret of circumstances. Andrew had wanted this assignment more than anything, but had no idea what it truly involved. It meant that a secret life, of which he had taken great pains to keep secret, was now a crucial part of his mission.

However, as it was shown in Staci Mann’s final transmission, it was his knowledge in being a Master that would probably make him able to survive on Freedom.


Andrew left EC: Space HQ a little shaken, but elated nonetheless that he was being given the assignment of a lifetime; practically the duty of his dreams. He was going to be the commanding officer of the most advanced and awe-inspiring ship in the EarthCorps: Space fleet. The announcement of this would be made in some big pompous ceremony tomorrow, in which Andrew really wanted no part, but nonetheless conceded it was necessary for the public. Still, he would’ve gone to every parade they stuck him in, shaken all the hands of the Admiralty, given all the autographs until his hand cramped up for this mission that he had been dreaming of his entire life; a chance to live on another world; going to another star.

Furthermore, Scarlet was going along as well. He’d asked Li to be the first to give her the good news in person. Jovially, Li agreed. And after some formalities in telling Andrew where to be and when to be there, and giving him an un-networked digi-pad that had all the pertinent information EC: Intel had on planet Freedom and Staci Mann’s report, Andrew left in a bit of a rush to tell his friend the good news. Not he was going to have trouble finding her. He knew right where to find her, right where he’d left her; in his apartment, all tied up and loving every minute of it.

During the sky-cab ride home, thoughts of the mission and the revelations within boggled his mind. Li had told him that the information was classified and was not allowed to be shared with anyone save Scarlet, because of the fact that she would never betray the information due to her binding to her Master. Scarlet would be his only confidant on this trip, and that really meant so much. His dreams were now marred with what he had been told about Freedom, the Mayflower, Alan Kent, and especially Major Staci Mann.

The greatest irony in Andrew’s mind was their destined planet’s name, Freedom. Alan Kent had named it that with the intention that the people of their particular lifestyle now had the true freedom they never had on Earth. Like the Mayflower of old, the wooden ship that traversed the Atlantic centuries ago, the Pilgrims risked everything to escape religious persecution and to find a new land of freedom. Upon which, Alan Kent had also tried and apparently succeeded doing the same thing for his people. He knew that even today, in what he considered modern and a progressive and open-minded civilization, moralizing finger pointers still persecuted Dominant Masters and willing submissives as ‘deviant’. These ‘pilgrims’ risked their lives into an oblivious, perilous plan, to travel to a distant world, not knowing whether or not it was habitable or not, to find freedom from moral persecution. Only this time, it wasn’t done for religious rights or with forthcoming truths, Alan Kent had lied, kidnapped and apparently murdered to keep his way of life going on Freedom; another form of control and domination, again without consent.

What was more troubling was that in a society and a lifestyle that was supposedly built on a foundation of total trust there was so much deception imbruing the colony’s ideals. It was true that on Earth at the time they left it was an era of great societal confusion and paradoxical views of sexual norms and what was considered deviancy. If Alan Kent wanted to create the societal vision on Earth, it would’ve been met with great opposition from the governments at the time, not to mention fanatical religious groups and those who opposed slavery in all its forms. And though the atmosphere had lightened up considerably since then, many couples still stayed hidden from the general public’s eye. Most didn’t want hushed whispers or cockeyed looks directed at them.

His thoughts then turned to Major Stacy Mann. She indeed was his hero all throughout his childhood. In all respects, Major Mann was one of the last true astronauts, before the ISA began labeling everyone who went into orbit or the lunar surface an astronaut. He’d gotten some flack as a child for having a woman as a role model, but he didn’t care. Andrew admired Staci Mann for living his dream, traveling to the stars, going to a new world, with new challenges and new frontiers.

Now, he was told that she was a victim. A casualty blindsided into a life she’d never known about or wanted. Major Staci Mann was unabashedly forced into her life on Freedom. From the information Li had given him, she was tapped to be part of the Mayflower crew as a last minute replacement to the original and backup who had died just before the Mayflower was destined to leave. And that she was pressured in such a way that she was not really given an option. Major Mann was an astronaut of the ‘old guard’. Trained in the militaristic ways of doing things where the brazen dogma of the previous establishment had been brainwashed into her. The words ‘duty’, ‘obligation’ and ‘honor’ were inbred into her to the point to where she had practically no choice, whereas in EarthCorps, there was always a choice.

Andrew then thought of his role as a Master and how unexpected that his knowledge as one would be part of his mission. The games he and Scarlet played were always consensual and never went so far as to blatantly physically or mentally hurt or scar for life. On so many levels, Andrew loved Scarlet with all his heart even though they weren’t officially a romantic couple anymore. He knew she truly trusted him to know her limits, and he respected their boundaries. They didn’t have a safe-word in the conventional sense as some couples do. ‘Owww’ or ‘oh that hurts!’ was enough to tell him to stop.

The truth about the previous mission made him angry. Very angry. He’d never met Alan Kent, but was starting to vehemently despise the man for what he had done and for what he stood for; a man who had no qualms in getting absolute control and power at the cost of other people. Andrew knew he wasn’t an expert Master; from others he’d had the occasion to meet, he was somewhere on the high intermediate level. However, he knew the one thing that all Masters should know; an axiom that has existed for centuries and applied not only to bondage but to everything else: that power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Along with that, there was something else he knew: that with wielding that power costs, and abuse of it costs one’s soul. Andrew knew he had great power over Scarlet. And he also knew he had to keep that power within check, otherwise it would become corrupted, and the beautiful thing he had with her would be dead.

The sky-cab touched down at the beach area where Andrew made his seasonal home whenever he came off duty from an assignment. Although he felt more at home in space, the beach was where he was born and at this particular beach was where he was raised. He sometimes felt that his love for space came from growing up near the ocean. In many ways, it was like space as they were both mysterious and vast. Both had the possibility to spend lifetimes discovering new things and getting lost in the sheer immensity of it all. There was great temptation for Andrew to join EarthCorps: Ocean, just as his family had for previous generations in the United States Navy, but he didn’t want to explore inner space; he wanted to explore outer space.

His small townhouse wasn’t much. He wasn’t planetside much and all he needed was someplace with a roof over his head until he got underway with a new assignment. It was a small, two-bedroom brick house that practically suited his meager needs. The best thing about it, what really sold him into getting the place, was that it was a little bit out of the way (his nearest neighbor was a couple of miles down the shore), and the fact that the place was soundproofed throughout.

Upon entering, Andrew was tempted to announce, “Honey, I’m home!” but those thoughts were quickly squashed after remembering that Scarlet wouldn’t have been able to hear him anyway; not after the way he’d left her this morning. He checked the main interface to see if he had any vid-messages. There were only a few: one from Tuck, who wanted to know if he had gotten the Omega assignment or not, another from his parents, and one last one from the S.S. Orlando, which was actually for Scarlet, which reminded her to report back for duty tomorrow morning for her last shift there before she was transferred. Saving the last message, he made mental notes to himself to remember to call Tuck and his parents and tell them the good news.

Leisurely, he walked around the first floor of the house, doing little miscellaneous chores before he went up to Scarlet and tell her the good news. He prepared their dinner, a couple of real steak cuts. It was a family recipe that took time to make with a special marinade as it indeed was a very special occasion. He then cleaned up the kitchen, which he had left a mess after breakfast and before he’d left the apartment. He knew Scarlet didn’t like it whenever he did that, so he made sure to clean before he let her go.

Even though most of his day was just the meeting with Li and making the rounds at EC: Space, Andrew felt exhausted. He thought it was because of the excitement of receiving the command of the Omega, in addition to learning about Freedom and Major Staci Mann. Whatever the case, he plopped down in his favorite armchair and took in breath as he took a moment to relax.

Closing his eyes and just breathing, he felt a profound moment of calm wash over him. He’d felt this way this morning as he woke and found a naked, warm woman’s body beside him. And that same woman was upstairs waiting for him. Andrew was bursting to tell her not only his good news but also some surprising fantastic news for her. As sure as he knew her well, the news that the both of them would be on the Omega would absolutely thrill her. However, seeing that it was still early yet, he decided to wait it out and tell her later.

‘Besides, ‘ he amusedly thought, ‘she’s not going anywhere soon.’

Opening his eyes, he noticed the digi-pad Li had given him before he left headquarters. It was the digi-pad that contained all the data on Freedom, the Mayflower, and most importantly Major Staci Mann’s report and her last transmission. He resigned himself to know more about what had happened on planet Freedom. Pressing to playback Major Mann’s last transmission, Andrew got comfortable as his childhood idol’s transmission began to playback on the digi-pad’s small display screen.

After watching the message twice and quickly skimming through the extensive data Intel had collected on Alan Kent, Dick Janis, Bob McKinley, as well as Major Mann’s reports, a couple of hours had passed. Looking out the window, Andrew saw that the sun had already started to go down and orange and red color of dusk had settled in, which was quickly turning into the darkness of night. Putting the digi-pad in a safe place at his antique desk, the newly appointed young captain of the Omega walked up the stairs to the second floor of his apartment. Andrew was still a little tired, having quite an exhausting day, but there was one little thing he had to take care of.

Opening the door to the bedroom, Andrew took a moment to admire his handiwork as he leaned at the doorway.

“Scarlet,” he said, although he knew she couldn’t hear him, “boy, have I got some news for you.”

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