Chapter 2

"Ishtar's Repose"

For more than two hours, Kuro Neko's pirates raped the Ishtar crew. Finally, Kuro Neko herself called an end to the fun. She got on Ishtar's ship wide address system and made the announcement. "All Ishtar crew members are to be brought immediately to the command deck."

Five minutes later, Eva was standing on the command deck looking over what remained of Ishtar's crew.

Security chief, Ayla Ben-David was unconscious. Her face had been injured in the fight when the pirates boarded but showed even more bruising now. Both of Ayla's eyes were now swollen shut, Eva thought Ayla's nose might be broken and she was sure Ayla was missing a few teeth.

Dora Moore, who had spent nearly an hour chained up to the engineering console while man after man violated her from behind, then spent the next hour on her back, was now on her hands and knees, moving from one crew mate to the next, giving them what little medical attention she was able, as was her job as the ships medic. Doyle had refused to pay for an actual doctor since Dora was a qualified medic and the ship did have a sick bay.

Christen Vera, who, Kuro Neko had, for some unknown reason, taken an interest in and made sure to humiliate and torture at every possible turn during the orgy-rape was seated, cross-legged on the floor, head down, conscious, but catatonic. She had not spoken to anyone since being reunited with the crew of Ishtar.

Melissa Twelve stood behind the exhausted women looking rested, relaxed and as though she had just stepped out of the shower, which, she had. Since she'd had a few minutes free between pirates, and they didn't mind, she had jumped into the shower in the captain's cabin just prior to Captain Neko calling for the crew of Ishtar to be brought to the command deck. Melissa had spent the previous two hours, allowing one male pirate after another to use her body for sex. For the first time since they met, Eva wanted to smack the android.

Gemma Shukla was also unconscious. She had walked from her place near the operations console to where she now lay, almost as soon as she got there, she had laid herself down, closed her eyes and passed out. Dora had checked her over and left her alone so Eva was guessing Gemma was alive and well, just exhausted.

Eddy Kimura, the youngest and most innocent of the group when they started, was conscious and alert and in a great deal of pain, but Dora had checked her over and said she was sore from the rape and from some strained muscles, nothing unexpected. After her experience with Christos, Eddy, like her crew mates, had been passed around to numerous other pirates to enjoy.

None of Ishtar's crew were still bound, they had all been freed at different times during the rape. Eva, had been freed pretty quickly after the rape-orgy began. It was necessary when the pirates decided that they wanted to go for triple penetration. Gemma had been untied for the same reason a little bit later. When Dora was released from her suspension over the engineering console, she had been so tired that the pirates had just laid her on the floor without bothering to tie her hands. It's not like she'd had a chance to escape with one pirate after another climbing on for a quick fuck. Melissa had been freed by the pirate who had let her take a shower.

Eva realized, her entire crew was here, alive and free of bonds but too exhausted to work towards freeing themselves from Kuro Neko's tortures.

Kuro Neko had removed the white blouse and red boots during the rape-orgy, even though, as far as Eva knew, she had taken no real hand in the rape-orgy other than as choreographer, composer and director. She was down to the black leather cat suit and that didn't seem quite as tight as it had earlier. She was still in the captain's seat, watching them and smiling.

Eva turned to the pirate captain. "What now? Are you going to kill us now?"

"Of course not, Lieutenant. If all goes well, I plan to leave you and most of your crew, here, aboard this ship, alive and well."

"Most?" Eva asked.

"Yes. Most," Kuro said with a nod. "I must have a prize. One of you, I'm not sure whom yet, will be joining the on-going party over on Tiamat. She will be alive, at least for a while, but she won't be here."

"If you're going to take someone, it should be me. I'm the senior..."

"I don't care what rank you are," Kuro said derisively. "You can take your rank and shove it into your pretty little ketsunoana. I will take the one that I think I will most enjoy. That might be you, lieutenant and it might not. Now sit down!"

Eva lowered her bare ass to the cold, hard floor. Kuro waved her hands and the male pirates all retreated from the center of the command deck. Kuro remained in the command chair with Christos behind and beside her and the crew of Ishtar, seated on the floor before her, like peasants begging for their lord's mercy.

Kuro sat and stared down at them, inspecting each of them for obvious damage, but didn't speak. Finally, she took a breath and exhaled loudly. "I guess I will have to allow you to rest and recover or you will simply expire on me. Christos, see that they get food and a few hours of sleep."

"Yes Mistress," Christos said with a bow.

"I will be on Tiamat. I will return to play some more in five hours. Have them ready."

Kuro rose from the chair and swept out of the room with most of the pirates following her, only Christos and a half dozen pirates remained. Christos stepped around the command chair, put his hands on his hips and smiled down at the women.

"Do not try anything stupid! The Mistress will be very unhappy if I am forced to kill one, or all, of you. You may talk with each other but do not attempt to leave this room, or activate any of the consoles. Do so, and my men will shoot you. Attempt to speak to one of my men, for any purpose, I will assume you have swayed him with your feminine wiles and I will kill first him, then you. Killing my own men will greatly irritate me so you can expect to suffer a good long time before your death. You will be begging me to kill you by the time I have worked out my frustrations at having had to kill one of my men, possibly for no good reason. Food will brought here. I, personally, will escort each of you to a shower. You will go one at a time. Who will be first?"

Eva looked around. Ayla was still unconscious, Christen was still catatonic, Melissa didn't need another shower, Dora seemed to be comforting Eddy and the voices had woken Gemma. Eva and Gemma locked eyes. Gemma gave a small nod, then rose.

"I will go first."

"Excellent. Follow me." Christos turned and led Gemma off the command deck.

Eva got on her hands and knees, afraid of being shot if she stood up, and crawled over to Christen. "Christen? Are you okay?" She asked, kneeling beside the young woman.

Christen didn't answer. She just continued her small rocking motions, back and forth, continued to stare, almost unblinking, at a spot on the floor and continued to hum a tune Eva didn't recognize.

Eva swallowed hard, got up on her knees and put as much authority in her voice as she felt was safe. "Corporal Vera, this is senior Lieutenant Eva Wagner, senior ranking officer aboard Ishtar. You will come to attention and you will answer my questions."

Christen just kept rocking, staring and humming. Eva looked around. The others were all glaring at her apparent lack of concern. She waved them off, sat her butt down beside Christen and put an arm around the younger woman. "Chrissy," she said, using a term of endearment she had heard Christen's mother use just before they boarded Ishtar for departure. "You have got to pull yourself together. I'm very sorry for what you've gone through but if any of us are to survive this, we're going to need the entire crew working together. I'm going to need you on tactical. Can I count on you?"

While she was speaking, Christen's humming quieted and her rocking slowed but didn't stop.

"Chrissy, can you hear me? We're all very concerned about you. We want to help but..."

"I'm here, lieutenant," Christen said softly.

Christen raised her head and looked Eva in the eye. Eva couldn't help herself, for the first time in her twelve years as a merchantman officer, she hugged a crew member, a huge smile on her face. A moment later, Dora was there, quizzing Christen on her aches and pains, injuries and illnesses. Eva stayed with her, holding Christen, for as long as she could but there were others in her crew she needed to care for.

"Dora, stay with her?" Eva said.

Dora nodded and Eva got up, turning Christen's care over to Dora.

Once again on her hands and knees, Eva crawled over to where Eddy and Melissa were sitting. Dora was apparently worried about Eddy enough to ignore Melissa's apparent betrayal of the crew and, when she had to go check on Christen, had left Eddy in Melissa's tender loving care.

"Melissa, you and I need to talk later."

"Yes Lieutenant," the android said with a nod.

"Ed, how you doing?"

"I'm sore but okay L.T.," Eddy said. Noticing Eva's suspicious look, Eddy smiled. "Eva, honest, I'm okay. It hurt like hell but I'm okay. I swear."

"You better be. If you die on me, I'm going to come after you."

Eddy smiled at the sentiment and threw herself at Eva. The two women hugged. It was a little uncomfortable for Eva, not only was Eddy a junior member of the crew, making this kind personal relationship against regulations but they were also both naked, sweaty and covered in various male bodily fluids that Eva really didn't like thinking about too much.

Now comfortable that Eddy and Christen would recover, Eva made her way over to where Ayla still lay unconscious. She sat down, lifted Ayla's head and placed it in her lap. She smiled down at her best friend.

"You look terrible, Ay," Eva said with a smile. "You're on the command deck, your hair is down and, while you have a good excuse, your face looks like shit."

As she spoke Eva slowly, carefully moved Ayla's light brown hair from her face. It was a rare thing to see Ayla Ben-David with her hair down. She normally kept it tightly wrapped up in a bun high on the back of her head. Eva was sure Ayla would be horribly embarrassed if she saw herself, on the command deck, looking as she did right then. Eva was still there, Ayla's head in her lap, a half an hour later, when Gemma returned.

<<=============>>

Gemma had followed the man-giant named Christos off the command deck, through the crew area and down the corridor that led to the captain's quarters. Gemma wondered why he didn't allow her to go to her cabin to shower and dress but she wasn't about to argue it with him. Any shower with running water, it didn't even need to be hot would do. As long as there was soap and water, she would be a happy woman once more.

Christos stopped at the doorway to the captain's cabin and waved her in.

Gemma wondered about the large man's actions but again, wasn't going to question them. She went into the captain's cabin. The door led immediately into the captain's office. Gemma noted that the office had been completely ransacked and noticed that a lot seemed to be missing, including the captain's desk. Behind where the desk had been, Gemma passed through another door and into the living area of the captain's cabin and stopped short.

Like the office she had just come through, the captain's cabin had been ransacked as well and was now largely empty. The sectional couch was about the only thing that remained in the living area.

What had made Gemma stop short was the person on that sectional sofa.

Kuro Neko smiled at Gemma, from her spot on the luxurious couch. "Your captain seemed to be enough of an asshole to have never allowed his crew into his cabin. Did you know he lived in this kind of comfort?"

"It wasn't really any of my business how the captain lived," Gemma said. "I never worried too much about it."

Kuro stood up. Gemma forced her eyes to stay on the pirate captain's face even though she really wanted to look down. The pirate captain was now naked except for the black fur that covered her skin. Kuro's left hand ran up and down the shiny black fur on her abdomen. "I think that's when I decided that I would become a scoundrel. When I saw the comfort the captain lived in; the luxurious bed, the comfortable chairs, the big cabin and I compared it to the tiny little rooms that the crew were given." Kuro shook her head. "Just didn't measure up."

"Do all pirates receive their own large cabin?" Gemma asked

Kuro giggled. "Oh no. Honestly, I have four men sharing what is supposed to be two man cabins because we are so over manned. Pirate captains, however, live much more comfortably than a merchant captain does. I guarantee you, my cabin on Tiamat is one of the most luxurious, most comfortable, most ornate rooms in the entire Alliance. And I've stayed in all the best hotels. Maybe someday, I'll show it to you."

"Not if I'm lucky," Gemma said, nearly whispering. "Captain, I was sent in here to shower."

"Yes, I know. Don't worry, Christos won't come for you. He knows I'm in here."

"May I ask then, why are you here?"

Kuro smiled and approached Gemma, her hands now running up and down her shiny, fur covered torso and hips. "I just wanted to talk, woman to woman." Kuro Neko circled around Gemma, brushing her fur covered body against Gemma's over and over, her tail smacking Gemma's leg, but then Kuro walked away, sneezing. "I'm sorry," She said once she had recovered. "but you stink."

"What did you expect, captain? After what your men did to me, to the crew, you expect us to smell like roses?"

It was obvious to Gemma that Captain Neko did not appreciate the comment. Gemma realized it made Captain Neko sound silly, stupid even, but she couldn't take it back now and she certainly wasn't going to apologize for it. Gemma could see the pirate fighting to hold back her temper. Gemma wondered if that one little comment would cost her her life.

"Go!" Kuro shouted, her back to Gemma. "Take your shower. Then we will speak again."

Gemma nodded and headed through the far door and into the captain's bedroom proper. Through one more door and she was in the captain's restroom. She looked at herself in what remained of the mirror, then sat on the toilet and relieved her bladder. There was no paper to wipe with, so she simply jumped in the shower and turned on the water. Gemma felt lucky that there was hot water and a bar of soap with which to wash herself.

Fifteen minutes later, Gemma Shukla, now smelling, looking and feeling significantly better, returned to the living area of the captain's quarters. She was still dripping wet and her long black hair was a mess since there wasn't a towel, comb or brush in sight.

Captain Kuro Neko was once again on the white sectional sofa, still naked. For just a second, Gemma heard what sounded like the pirate captain, purring.

Kuro looked the woman over, smiled and giggled again. "They didn't leave towels?"

"Not that I could find, Captain."

Kuro closed her eyes, shook her head and laughed. "I ordered them to leave soap. They did do that?"

"Yes," Gemma said with a nod of the head.

"Sit, don't worry, the captain won't mind."

Gemma made her way over and sat down on the couch where Kuro Neko had indicated. With Gemma sitting against one arm of the sofa, and Kuro, leaning back against the opposite arm, her legs up, her feet only inches from Gemma' thigh and both women naked, the two got comfortable.

"Tell me about yourself," Kuro said.

"What would you like to know?"

"Start with the basics, name, age, marital status, children, so forth and so on."

"My name is Gemma Shukla. I am thirty-two years old, married for almost eight years and I have two sons, they are seven and four."

"What are their names?"

"Constantine is seven, Ram is four."

"Are you happy in your marriage?"

"Yes," Gemma said.

"Then why are you out here? And he isn't?"

"Fahd does not like space travel. He becomes easily sickened by it."

"So why don't you stay home? Take care of your family?"

"Because I am a gypsy. If I was forced to stay home, I would commit suicide. Fahd knew I had wanderlust when he married me."

"And this, moving cargo from one place to another, this fills your wanderlust?"

"Yes, it does. I get to see far off places, places most would never have the opportunity to see. I get to meet new and interesting people. The job generally has a reasonably low stress level and I'm surrounded by people whom I generally get along with and like."

"Do you like being on Ishtar?"

"I won't lie. Captain Graham made our time here much more stressful than it needed to be. Why he was put here, is a question we may never get answered. I like the women in the crew. I feel Lieutenant Wagner is a good officer, would be a good commander, she knows her job, she cares about her crew."

"Oh yes, I very much agree. I think Lieutenant Wagner will make an excellent captain for this ship."

"I don't understand what... ?"

Kuro Neko smiled. "You don't believe me, do you? I doubt any of you do. I was sincere when I said I intend to release you. Yes, I will probably take one of you for my own amusement but ... I will release the rest of you. Alive. It will be up to Lieutenant Wagner to get you home."

"Speaking for the entire crew, thank you for our lives. I know mercy is not something you are known for."

Kuro laughed, a huge guffaw this time. "Mercy? This isn't mercy! This is fun. This is shoving lemon meringue pie into the face of Lunn Doyle." The confusion was obvious on Gemma's face. Kuro explained. "I know all about Lunn Doyle. He's an arrogant ass if you ask me. He put you here, put you all here, on this ship, on this run through the Barbary, knowing you stood a good chance of being attacked by pirates." She smiled. "By me. Like you, he knows me only by reputation. He knows I don't do mercy." She smiled again.

"But, I am a feminist, deep down, way underneath all this fur. I want to see Lieutenant Wagner get you all safely home. I want to see Lunn Doyle's face when he realizes he isn't going to be able to collect the insurance pay-out for the loss of this ship. The cargo, yes. The ship though." She shook her head. "And better yet, not only will he not make money, he will lose money when has to repair Ishtar. Because I guarantee, it won't be space worthy by the time you arrive back on Andromeda. It's barely space worthy now."

"So you're going to release us, to upset Mr. Doyle?"

"Yes," Kuro said. "Rather fickle of me, isn't it?"

Gemma couldn't help herself, she smiled and agreed.

"Have you ever been with another woman?" Kuro asked, suddenly, out of the blue.

Gemma sat there considering her answer for a moment before responding. "Yes. But not in many years."

Kuro smiled. "Excellent. You may go. Thank you for this chat."

Gemma couldn't help but wonder what the point of Kuro's questioning was but didn't stay around long enough to sate her curiosity. She wanted to get away from the freak, from the sadistic pirate captain as quickly as possible. She rose, gave Kuro a small nod, then quickly fled through the door into the office and out into the hallway where she found Christos still waiting.

<<=============>>

Christos led Gemma back to the command deck where the rest of the crew was, along with a half dozen armed pirates standing guard over them.

"Who's next?" Christos asked her.

"May I talk to my Lieutenant?"

Christos nodded and stood where he was as Gemma went over to Eva, who, along with Dora, was kneeling beside the still unconscious Ayla Ben-David. "How's she doing?" Gemma asked as she knelt down beside Dora.

"I think she's just sleeping," Dora said. "Which is a good sign."

"What's big guy waiting for?" Eva asked Gemma.

"He's waiting for the next person to go to the shower."

"Anything happen?"

"I spoke to our hostess." Eva raised her eyebrows at this, waiting for more of an explanation. "She was waiting in the captain's cabin for me. Most of the time I was gone, was spent talking to her."

"She didn't do anything?"

Gemma shook her head. "He's waiting. Someone has to go."

Eva quickly considered the options. Gemma and Melissa were out. They had already showered. Ayla was still unconscious knocking her out of the running. That left Dora, Christen, Eddy and herself. Eva didn't want to go. In her opinion, a commanding officers first job is to look out for her crew. That meant when it came to luxuries, like showers, the crew went first and the commanding officer last. She considered the remaining three young women. She really didn't want to send Eddy off with Christos alone after what they had done to her, even if she did seem mostly recovered from the incident. She really didn't want to send Dora until she was positive Ayla was in no danger but sending Christen, with her going catatonic at the end of the orgy-rape, didn't bode well either. Eva wasn't sure which of her crew she wanted to send out alone, first, with the man-giant and then with the cat bitch.

"There is no good option. None of them should be left alone with the captain or Christos."

"Why don't you go then?" Gemma asked.

"No," Eva said, shaking her head. "That wouldn't be right either. I'm the senior officer. I should go last."

"You're wrong there, Eva," Dora said. "If we were going into a room, possibly booby trapped, or maybe someone was in there with a weapon, wouldn't you insist on going in first?"

"That's a different..."

"No, it isn't," Gemma said before she could finish. "You don't want to, knowingly, put your crew in danger by sending them into the line of fire. What's the difference between that and this?"

Eva sat there and considered that for a moment. Then nodded. "Thank you. Both of you. Dora, you're an ensign, that makes you technically in command while I'm gone."

"Don't worry, Eva. I won't do anything stupid."

Eva smiled at the young woman, nodded and then marched across the command deck and came to a stop in front of the man-giant. "I'm next."

"Follow me."