Chapter 5

The next morning, for the first time since arriving on the Pinwheel, I was awoken by my alarm, and not by Raz’s loud exercising. I sat up in bed and rubbed my eyes, as much as I had enjoyed a full night’s sleep, strangely I missed her disruptions.

I made my way to the mess hall for breakfast and encountered Raz on the way, she was returning from the gym and sported her distracting tube top and bike shorts combo, she looked wet, she must have been swimming. The previous night’s encounter had rattled me, there had always been a vague background radiation of attraction between the two of us, but I hadn’t realized she felt so strongly about me until she had made her feelings so abundantly clear. Now I felt awkward, almost ashamed, as if we had been caught doing something we shouldn’t. I was almost afraid of her now, no longer fearing her bullying or her abuse, but her romantic attention which might well be all the more intense.

“Morning Raz, thanks for not waking me up today.”

She nodded, and joined me as I walked to the mess, she selected her usual cut of meat and I got some cereal, then we made our way to the tables. I figured I owed Raz a favor for going to the gym to exercise, and I motioned to the taller Borealan table, which for now was empty. I climbed up on the exaggerated bench and felt like a toddler in a highchair, my feet dangled off the floor to Raz’s amusement. We ate in silence, but it was not an awkward one, we seemed to have reached a new equilibrium, a mutual understanding that could be left unspoken.

We ate for a few minutes, and then I saw Raz’s eyes turn to the door and dilate as the Borealan pack entered the room. Immediately they looked to the table and grouped together, moving over to us almost in formation. As they drew closer Raz’s orange hair began to frizz, almost like an angry house cat, her eyes remained firmly fixed on what I assumed must be the pack leader who had succeeded her, while not as physically imposing as Raz, she was bigger than any human could hope to be. She stopped near the table, and glanced back and forth between the two of us, perhaps unsure of who she should address. Unlike Raz who was getting the hang of alien social interaction, the other Borealans were still stuck firmly in their native pack mentality. Eventually the tall Borealan addressed me in the same vaguely Russian accent that Raz used.

“This is our table, human, please leave.”

I stopped chewing and put down my spoon.

“Excuse me?”

“This is our table, leave.”

Even when Raz had been the head of the pack, she had not been this confrontational or this dismissive of the social norms of the other species, it made me guess that perhaps this one was overcompensating, either because she was new to the whole pack leader job, or because she was still afraid of Raz.

“I’m sorry but we were here first, you’re welcome to eat with us though.”

The Borealan pack bristled, and the lower ranking members looked to their leader, uncertainty etched in their faces. The leader looked to Raz and hissed something in their native tongue, the look of displeasure on her face gave me the impression that she did not even deem Raz worth talking to.

“He said no, Xhe.” Reiterated Raz, in English.

The leader, or Xhe as Raz had referred to her, seemed to take this as an affront. Based on my ever expanding knowledge of Borealan customs Raz had challenged her by addressing a higher ranking pack member in such a flippant manner. She slammed her fists down on the table, making me jump in surprise, the milk from my cereal sloshed around in the bowl. Raz remained motionless, it could be a sign of either submission or defiance, I couldn’t know.

“You submit to humans now, Raz?” Spat Xhe, contempt in her eyes.

“I submit to nobody.” Replied Raz.

You could cut the tension in the air with a knife, the few trainees who were eating their breakfast had either quietly filed out of the room or were watching with concern, a couple of Krell were half way out of their seats and looked about ready to intervene.

Xhe didn’t seem to know how to respond, she looked to her pack for reassurance but they could not give it to her. She turned back to Raz.

“How can you function in a pack if you do not submit? Have you gone completely rogue?”

Raz stood up, a clear head taller than most of the pack, her orange mane flowing out behind her, the dramatic display sent a flutter through my chest and caused the Borealans to take a step back.

“I no longer require submission, I have made friends.”

“You’ve gone rogue!” Countered Xhe, her hackles raised. Whatever signal the Borealans had been waiting for, it had been given, and they began to encircle the table, claws raised into an aggressive posture. This was getting dangerous, I didn’t fancy being in the middle of a Borealan cat fight and I didn’t fancy the odds of Raz taking on the whole pack and winning, if it was that simple she would have done it in the first place. She could probably take two, or maybe three, but the pack was nine strong, with Raz making the tenth Borealan on the Pinwheel. Nobody knew why they had elected to send such a small contingent compared to the other species, perhaps it was the probationary nature of the Borealan allegiance to the Coalition.

Raz became a demon, her hair fluffed up almost into an afro, her eyes grew wide and dilated until they were black saucers in her head, she bared her fangs like a wolf and her tail whipped through the air with an almost audible crack. The pack was afraid of her, but Xhe barked orders in Borealan and they held their ground. I didn’t know what to do, if the claws started flying I would be torn to shreds, but I wasn’t about to let my hard won friend get dogpiled. If there was a serious fight, the M.Ps would show up and drag everyone off to lockup, but would they get here in time to prevent serious injury, and would a group of human M.Ps armed with batons even be able to take down nine pissed off Borealans?

Oh well, it was partly my fault Raz was in this situation to begin with. I guess we were doing this. I climbed up on the table to confused glares from the angry aliens.

“Alright you fuckers, who’s first?”

I kicked a half-full bowl of cereal at one Borealan who ducked out of the way, but was splashed with milk. Xhe snarled, and two of the aliens lunged at Raz, before I could so much as blink Raz slammed her open palm into the chest of one advancing Borealan and it dropped as if it had been hit by a bus, lying wheezing on the floor. She took out the second with a roundhouse kick to the side of the head that sent it careening sideways, dazed. Xhe spat another order and the rest of the pack piled in, I tried to kick one in the head but it brushed me off the table, it was a high fall and I hit hard, cracking a rib. Raz turned to help me, but in her distraction she took a swipe to the back and yowled, spinning back around to deliver a brutal uppercut to her assailant that lifted it clear off the ground. Red blood dripped from her wound, leaving round splotches on the white floor, I couldn’t tell how bad it was from my prone angle. One of the other Borealans advanced on me, claws raised and I winced in pain as I tried to scrabble backwards. From my right a Krell barreled into the Borealan, smashing it up against the edge of the bench, there was a sickening crunch and the alien howled in pain and confusion, behind them a second Krell charged into the fray, letting loose a bone chilling roar and swinging its thick, heavy tail into Xhe’s legs. They were swept out from under her and she crashed to the ground, she scrambled to get back on her feet but the Krell brought down a massive, scaly fist on her head and she went limp. A plucky human snuck up behind one Borealan that was distracted by the newly arrived Krell and broke a chair over it’s back. More humans and Krell filed into the mess hall, the word of a fight must have spread and the braver humans had come to defend their own.

The Borealans that were still on their feet looked conflicted, their leader was down, lying motionless on the tile, a trickle of dark blood leaking from her nose, and half of the pack was incapacitated. The one that had been steamrolled by the Krell was making a racket, hissing and spitting in either pain or anger, I couldn’t tell.

Now a dozen humans and half a dozen Krell marched toward the beleaguered Borealans, they were hopelessly outnumbered and began to back away in panic, their yellow eyes wild. Before the brawl could go any further, two dozen M.Ps in white helmets wielding batons streamed into the room and began hitting everything in sight. The humans were battered with strikes and forced to the walls of the room while the Krell, shrugging off the blows with little concern, plodded away peacefully to join them. Only the injured and the Borealans remained in the middle of the room, and the M.Ps rounded up those who could walk and called for stretchers for the more seriously injured. I was helped up by a medic and escorted to the infirmary, as I left the room I saw Xhe’s limp body being dragged onto a stretcher, and the two Krell who had participated in the fight were conscripted to carry her. After some brief attention from a human medic Raz was taken away with the other Borealans.

Later that afternoon I was discharged, my broken rib was bandaged and I had to make up a story about the scars on my chest to dissuade a curious nurse, the M.Ps took a statement about the fight, but did not take me to lockup. Vasiliev was waiting for me outside the infirmary, I attempted a salute, then grimaced in pain and thought better of it.

“Stanley, how is your injury?” He asked, returning my salute.

“I’ll be fine Sir, how is Raz?”

“Don’t worry about Raz, the medics told me she was pretty much 50% scar tissue to begin with. Two of the others sustained some pretty serious injuries though, even for Borealans, the Krell really worked them over. One broke a vertebrae and fractured an arm, and the other sustained a pretty serious concussion. Since they were the aggressors in this scenario no formal charges will be filed, but when those lizards throw their weight around people tend to get hurt.”

I nodded, and we began to walk back towards the barracks.

“Stanley, this station is technically an active service naval vessel, I hope you understand that participating in a fight, even as a defensive measure, and I don’t doubt that was the case, carries serious consequences. We can’t have marines running around getting into mass brawls in an enclosed space.”

“I’m sorry Sir, I understand. I assume the M.Ps gave you our statements?”

“Yes all of the accounts corroborate yours, but there will still be a disciplinary citation on your record, I take no pleasure in it, but we can’t make exceptions for anyone.”

I sighed, I had guessed as much, it wouldn’t kill my career by any means but it was a blight on my otherwise exemplary record. Vasiliev adjusted his cap as he talked.

“High Command has had enough of the Borealans, the conclusion has been reached that they cannot be socialized and that they represent a liability to our mixed units, we can’t integrate them, we’ll be sending them home with the next jump freighter.”

This news drove an icicle through my heart, and I stopped walking, Vasiliev turned, surprised.

“What about Raz? Will she be sent back to Borealis too?”

“Yes, I know you’ve taken a shine to her over the last few days, and she has seen dramatic improvements in her academic and XMR performance, but as I said, High Command has deemed that the Borealans cannot be socialized, Borealis is being dropped from the integration program and their personnel are being sent home.”

I balled my fists, frustration overcoming my usual professional demeanor.

“Sir, you don’t understand, she can’t be sent back to Borealis, they CAN be socialized, I figured it out, I understand how their minds work, Raz was making progress, she was starting to think like a human. If I had more time I could-”

“The decision has been made Stanley, it’s not up to me.”

Vasiliev took me by the arm and ushered me along, I stared at the floor, dejected. It couldn’t be, we couldn’t lose all the progress we had made simply because of a fight, Raz was now enamored with the idea of friendship as an alternative to submission, and if she took that message back to Borealis, alone and without the means to properly convey it, she would be eaten alive. There must be some way to fix this, some way to prove to High Command that I alone could bridge the cultural drift between Earth and Borealis.

I arrived back at dorm room 47 and Raz was waiting for me, sitting on the edge of her bed. It looked like she had been crying.

“Are you ok Raz?” I asked, sitting down next to her, she had a patch over the claw wound in her back, but otherwise seemed unhurt.

“I’m fine, you look worse off.”

“Eh, it’s nothing, just a broken rib, it’ll be healed in a few days.”

Raz stared at the carpet, her ears drooped and her tail was tucked away under her legs, she looked miserable.

“Stanley they said I have to go home, the next jump freighter leaves for Borealis tomorrow afternoon.”

“I know, Vasiliev met me outside the infirmary, he told me High Command has decided Borealans aren’t fit for the integration program.”

“I really thought...” She trailed off. I put a hand on her shoulder.

“I’ll find a way to fix this, you’ve made so much progress Raz, there has to be a way we can show them that you’re not like the other Borealans, if you can learn how to live with humans then others can too, and you’re the key to that. If the Coalition wants an alliance with Borealis then you’re the only one who can make that happen.”

“It’s too late, the order has been given. It’s worse, when I go back, I’ll lose my standing in the hierarchy, my father will blame the failure of the program on me, the other Borealans won’t understand the things I’ve learned here, living with you.”

“I’m going to see if I can talk to Vasiliev again before the jump freighter leaves tomorrow, try to make a case for you staying on the Pinwheel, even if it’s just in an advisory capacity. You should come with me, maybe if he sees the change in you for himself he can pass the word up to High Command.”

Raz didn’t reply, she just continued to examine the carpet, I felt terrible in the knowledge that in trying to improve her life on the Pinwheel I had likely ruined her future back home, who knew what adversity she would face now because of my meddling.

“Raz, is there anything I can do?”

She seemed to perk up a little, and one ear swiveled in my direction.

“Well, it’s our last night on the Pinwheel together, tomorrow I’m going home, there’s one thing you can do for me.”

Before I could react she took my face in her hands and leaned down, her soft lips pressed against mine and I felt her long, rough tongue slide up against my own. She held me there for a minute, locking me in a long, deep kiss that made my brain fizz and go blank. My cheeks burned into her hands, and my heart pounded in my chest, she released me with a wet pop, and I sat there steaming, I felt as if my brain might boil out of my skull. She placed a hand on the back of my head and brushed her smooth cheek against mine, I felt her warm breath on my ear.

“Let me have you, Stanley, I need this, I want you.”

I was dazed, the metallic taste of her kiss still lingered on my tongue and my body wouldn’t respond to instructions from my brain, she slid her hand down through my hair to my neck, her warm palm on my skin making me squirm, I gasped as I felt her teeth tug gently on my earlobe. She loomed over me, her thick mane of orange hair buried my face as she chewed my ear, she smelled musky, but pleasant, her scent filled my nose and all I could muster in reply was a low sigh.

“K-kiss me again, Raz.”

She pulled back and beamed at me, then drew me close, her hand still on the back of my neck, she brought her other arm around my waist and hugged me against her body as she delivered another debilitating kiss, her lips were so full and smooth, her slippery, agile tongue probed my mouth greedily, wantonly, as if the answer to some burning question could be found within. Her tight grip hurt my broken rib a little, but I didn’t care, her firm breasts squashed against my chest and my now aching erection pressed against her toned belly, her soft skin teasing me through my clothing. The kiss went on almost too long, I felt like I might pass out, and then she released me, breathless, and I slumped against her, burying my red face in the nape of her neck. She wrapped her arms around me and held me for a moment, the warmth of her body radiating into me.

“It won’t hurt, I’ll go slow...”

I was unable to even react, my body was on fire, my mind was a haze, I could hear my blood pumping in my ears. She lowered me to the bed and crawled on top of me, the head of my member pressed into her abs and she lowered her face to my neck, mouthing my throat with warm, wet kisses and gentle bites. Flashes of stimulation ran down my spine like an optical cable, each flick of her tongue or pinch of her teeth sending a pulse that arched my back and rolled my hips, I couldn’t control my movements. She slid her rough tongue down my neck and nibbled my shoulder as one of her large thighs came up and pressed into my groin. She anticipated my reaction and held me down with a firm hand as I bucked into her, my beleaguered body trying desperately to grind against hers.

She was enjoying the effect she had on me, she slipped a hand under my shirt and slowly, lightly dragged her sharp claws across my belly. I flinched and twitched under her touch, the contrasting sensations making me all the more excited.

“Monkey, you’re so sensitive.” She gazed down at me, her long hair tickling me, a mixture of affection and mischief on her face. I swam in a sea of arousal and embarrassment, I tried to cover my face with an arm but a firm grip on my wrist pulled it back down.

“Let me see your face, you’re so red.” Raz leered at me, a cruel grin on her lips.

“Raz ... do it gently...”

She pressed her hands to her face and crooned, unable to contain herself.

“Oh Stanley you just keep digging yourself deeper don’t you?”

She straddled me, her massive, firm thighs squeezed me like a vice and her groin pressed down on me, I could feel her warmth through the thin fabric of her bike shorts. Her breasts hung enticingly in her tube top and beads of sweat trailed down her belly, taut abdominal muscles flexing with every breath. She rolled her wide hips gently, the stimulation making me writhe under her oppressive weight.

“The other night, when I wanted to have you, you told me you could only do it with someone you loved, right? Is that some kind of cultural thing? Do humans pair for life or something?”

“Yes, well ... no, I mean, it’s just something I promised myself.” I stammered.

She perched on top of me, occasionally grinding against me, causing me to buck and wriggle.

“I don’t think you could say no to me Stanley, and after all, I could have you any way I wanted.” I gasped as she ground her crotch into me again, and she looked down at me with a satisfied smirk. “But I promised I’d be a good girl. What do you think, could you love me?”

I was taken aback, my face reddened even further and Raz chuckled to herself and pulled away my arms as I attempted to cover my face again. She pinned them to the bed and drew close to me, orange hair falling about my head, her intense amber eyes peered into mine and I felt all semblance of resistance fade away.

Of course I loved her, I had always loved her, even when she had pushed me down and hit me and done her best to make my life miserable, a seething, guilty attraction had bubbled under the surface, made all the more irresistible by its taboo. I had done my utmost to suppress it, I was afraid to admit my infatuation with her because of the power it would give her over me, the cruel and capricious girl that she had been. She would have toyed with me, and broken my heart, and I would have loved every second of it.

Was I safer now? I realized that I didn’t care, she had bewitched me and it was too late.

“Yes, I’ve been in love with you for a while.”

Now it was Raz’s turn to blush, she fluttered her long eyelashes and looked away, a wide smile spreading across her lips.

“Really monkey? Even though I was so horrible to you?”

I nodded.

“Oh you poor, hopeless creature.” She leaned down and kissed me again, this one was urgent, almost desperate in it’s intensity, as if she wished to express every roiling emotion with the coiling of her tongue, my head blanked again and I felt as if she was tugging at my very nervous system with invisible wires, like some torturous puppeteer. She broke away leaving me gasping, a long strand of saliva linking her plump lips to mine.

“So I’ve got one night to make all of your dreams come true, and maybe a few of your nightmares, too.”

She was too intense for me, I felt like I would melt into a puddle right there underneath her, but her mind was set, she wanted me and she was going to have me.

“You’ve never done this before right? I get all of Stanley’s firsts to myself.”

She released my hands and pulled her tube top over her head, her mass of orange hair flowing out behind her. Freed from the constraints of the top, her breasts, large by human standards, fell back down and bounced hypnotically. She reached behind my head and pulled my face into them, smothering me in their soft embrace. I breathed in her musk, and tasted salt on her velvet skin. How could such an imposing creature be so soft and inviting? I reached my hands up and delved into them, their soft fat giving way to firm tissue under my probing fingers. My senses were overloaded, awash with wonderful contradictions and unbearable sensations, my erection strained against the fabric of my pants. She stroked my hair, massaging my scalp mesmerically as she held me against her chest.

After a moment she released me, and I sank back into the bed. I felt her hands on my chest and we both struggled with the buttons on my shirt, eventually she freed me and pulled it up over my head. Much of my chest was covered by the bandage protecting my broken rib, but my collarbone and belly were exposed, and she brought her lips to my neck, I flinched into her and she brought a hand round to cradle my head as she bit and licked. She seemed to have an almost predatory fixation with my neck, it brought back memories of when she had ambushed me in a mock attack that night, and the vulnerability that I felt when her incisors pricked gently against my jugular sent shivers of pleasure through my body. She moved down, bypassing the bandage and tracing the line of one of my four scars down to my navel with her tongue, it hurt a little, but the sensation excited me.

“It tastes like it hurts.” She whispered, “I’ll make it up to you.”

She roamed further down and began to unbutton my pants, I assisted, and she pulled them off, my erection bounced free, almost hitting her in the face. She examined it for a moment as it pulsed with my heartbeat, her warm breath tickling me, then grasped it gently with a soft hand. She squeezed a little harder and I groaned, she looked up at me, a wry smile on her lips, and without warning slipped me into her mouth.

It was so hot and slippery, I bent over and gasped, the motion making my rib ache, as she pushed me all the way inside her mouth, her rough feline tongue curling around the head. The granular texture was unbearable, almost painful and I writhed my hips in an effort to find some kind of release, but she held me there, her arms wrapped around my lower body, I jerked as I felt my member touch the back of her throat.

“Raz ... slow down!”

She mumbled something unintelligible and the vibrations from her mouth made my knees go weak, I lay back and gripped the sheets, just trying to hang on as if I might fall away into space. She sucked a little too hard and coiled her abrasive, slippery tongue rhythmically as I brought my hands up to my face in a futile attempt to block out the stimulation. Below my waist felt like it was melting and above it felt like it was hooked up to a battery, current flowing through my body.

“Raz don’t, I’ll come!” I complained, my voice shaking.

“Nuh uh.” She mumbled, and gripped the base of my penis firmly between her thumb and index finger, I winced, she had cut off my mounting orgasm in it’s tracks. She slipped my penis out of her mouth wetly, lingering with her lips closed around the tip for a moment, delivering one last rough lick that made me see stars. She rubbed it up and down for a second, it was coated with a layer of warm, slippery saliva. She looked up and grinned at me.

“Did you like that?”

I mumbled an embarrassed yes, and she bit my hip playfully.

“Ok, now do me.”

“W-what?” I stared down at her as she lay back on the bed and presented herself to me.

“It’s my turn!”

I sat up, now feeling strangely naked, and crawled over to her, then hesitated.

“Don’t play coy, you know what I want.” She chided.

I complied, and mouthed her inner thigh just under her shorts, her skin was smooth and cool on my lips. She shivered and sighed.

“That’s right.”

I stroked her thigh, running my fingertips over it’s polished surface, it was huge compared to a human’s, and heavily muscled, her tiger-stripe patterns ran up to her hip. Raz was an athletic creature and a keen swimmer, her leg probably weighed as much as my torso. She had a layer of soft fat under her silky skin that cushioned the firm muscle underneath. I gazed at her torso, her pert breasts hung, gently swaying with each breath, and her honed abdominal muscles ran down to her belly, glistening in the low light. Underneath her tight, low-cut shorts her pubic mound peaked invitingly. Her musculature was perfectly analogous to that of a human, a result of convergent evolution perhaps, and I felt a new primal urge rising up in my chest as I gazed longingly at her tantalizing body.

I grunted my frustration, and crawled on top of her, pressing my erection against her mound through her shorts and sucking a nipple into my mouth, chewing it gently. Now it was her turn to buck and she squirmed under my assault, I leaned on her and kneaded her boob with my other hand as I pinched and sucked.

“So you do have some fight in you, monkey.” She gasped, shuddering, her eyelids drooped.

I moved down, kissing and biting as I went, her abs were prominent and rock hard due to her upright posture, I traced their lines with my tongue until I reached her shorts, then began to pull them down. She lifted her legs obligingly and I eased them off, I couldn’t imagine how she even got into them, it took some effort and the fabric creaked and stretched as it struggled over her muscular butt and thighs. A strand of viscous fluid pulled away with them as I discarded them on the floor, and Raz was left fully exposed. Juices leaked and stained her thighs, there was a small tuft of soft orange fur on her mound, but otherwise she looked wholly human, her pink opening twitching in anticipation.

“Well don’t just stare at it!” She complained, and gripped a handful of my hair in her fist, I winced and she forced my face down, closing her steely thighs around my head. I cooperated and probed with my tongue, she tasted of salt and copper, I was too turned on to care, she squirmed and tried unsuccessfully to suppress an unbecoming moan as I explored her innermost folds and creases. Her slick, fleshy walls milked me in hypnotic contractions, as if they were trying to pull my tongue out of my head. She writhed and held on to my hair, I was worried she might crush my head like a watermelon but doubted even she was that strong, regardless I would eventually need to breathe. I found a firm bud, and sucked it into my mouth, flicking my tongue over it’s surface. Raz hissed something in Borealan, probably a curse, and rolled over onto her side, taking me with her and almost pulling my head off with her powerful legs. I gripped her butt, it’s firm, rubbery surface yielding under my fingers, and sucked hard, licking in circles. Her other fist found a handful of my hair too and she curled up, shivering. I gently pressed the fleshy protrusion between a row of teeth and my tongue, and she let out a great shuddering gasp, then released me. She lay for a while, basking in the afterglow, rubbing her mound slowly.

“Mmmm, monkey your tongue is so smooth, I knew this would be fun.”

I sat back, wiping my mouth, pleased with the quivering wreck I had made of Raz, she seemed so capable and in control, but I had found a weakness, and that amused me to no end. She finally stopped her mechanical rubbing and rose to a sitting position, her breathing regular, renewed hunger in her amber eyes.

“What’s that expression monkey? You think you’ve won? I’m just getting started with you.”

In one fluid motion she sprang to her knees and grabbed my arm, twisting me around so that my back was facing her, she pulled me against her chest, squeezing my head between her breasts on her taller frame, her thighs anchored around my hips, holding me in place. I had never seen her use her tail for anything before, but now it coiled around my arms, wrapping them behind my back, a fluffy, sinewy rope tying my wrists together so I couldn’t move them.