Chapter 24: Caitlin

Caitlin is the first of the four room-mates to begin to question the misleading benign conditions in which they are living. After four days aboard the space station, the women are fully accustomed to the way things work. They have discovered that there is no limitation on how creative they can get with both their diets and their choice of sex toys. If some alien monitor is recording them have sex, then none of the women mind in the least.

Caitlin and Lorna get adventurous in their sex games. The absence of aphrodisiac compounds in their food has done nothing to dampen their ardour. The numerous orgasms they trigger in each other would be embarrassing in other circumstances. Certainly Juanita and Adalhia are more circumspect.

What begins to strike Caitlin as wrong, is each woman’s abhorrence at the thought of having sex with someone other than her designated partner. They no longer wear control collars which were the means such chastity was enforced on Dog Star Six. Caitlin has no complaints about the sex she enjoys with Lorna, but she knows from past experience, even when she was in a relationship, that she wasn’t above playing the field. She finds Juanita and Adalhia attractive, and in her former life she would have at least flirted with either or both of them. But something inside Caitlin is making her reject the idea to the point that she feels repugnance at the thought.

When Caitlin tries to raise her concerns with Lorna, she discovers that her own mental thoughts are finding an excuse not to do so. Caitlin senses that this is all part of the control being exerted over her and the others. In reality there isn’t much any of them can do to resist. They are totally dependent on their hosts for survival, and they are as much slaves to the Valkyries whims as they were to the corporate overlords of their home planets. It’s a disappointing outcome to their exciting adventure, and a lesser soul would give up her independence at this point.

However, Caitlin is made of sterner stuff. Indeed, all of the dozen women taken captive are resilient enough to challenge the status quo. Open rebellion would likely be futile, so Caitlin devises a means of awakening Lorna and the others to the dangers they unwittingly endure.

“Do you recall what you said to me when the two of us were on board the raider’s ship after you were captured on Cerberus?” asks Caitlin of Lorna while they are in the middle of fucking each other.

It’s a trick question, as both of them were bound and gagged for the whole journey on the raider’s ship, so no conversation was possible. But Caitlin’s ruse serves its purpose. Inside Lorna’s highly aroused mind a desperate search begins for an answer to Caitlin’s question. The frantic search gives Lorna a mild headache. It’s then that Lorna realises that her thoughts are being manipulated by an external source. The Valkyries control over her thoughts weakens rapidly as Lorna quickly regains control over her own mind. Whether the Valkyries notice the change is something neither Lorna nor Caitlin can determine. Certainly Caitlin suffered no obvious ill effects when she wrested back control of her own mind.

Recovering Juanita and Adalhia from the same trap is slightly harder, but within the space of a couple of days, the four women feel more like their old selves. Perhaps what they experienced was some form of initiation test as there are no further attempts to influence the women. At least, nothing that the women regard as invasive. Caitlin once again feels that she has the ability to flirt with Juanita and Adalhia, and to a limited extent she does so. However, Lorna isn’t tolerant of Caitlin’s wandering eyes. She quickly exerts her authority over Caitlin and brings her back into line.