Fuchsia Fox: "The Return of Ereshkigal", by Centurion

[flirty_but_nice]

Fuchsia Fox: "The Return of Ereshkigal"


Prologue -- Orion Arm of the galaxy, sector 435


The small spaceship was shaped like a shiny silver surfboard, long and lean and elegant, with a slight bulge representing the cabin about midway along its length. The craft dropped out of hyperspace in orbit around an orange, K-class star and its white dwarf companion.

At the controls sat two beautiful young women side by side in reclining seats on either side of the central aisle which ran the length of the cabin. Both were dressed in identical uniforms -- clingy white tops which left the right arm and shoulder bare, paired with white hot pants and silver bracelets on their wrists. "Random jump complete," said the higher ranking of the two, as indicated by the triangular starburst pattern on her left breast. "System K435658y. Life-sign scans negative. Okay, Lutris. We're clear to make the dump."

"The dump?" the younger girl smirked, sliding her posh, rounded posterior out of her reclining seat. "Is that what they call it, Kana? The dump?" She stood up and strolled to the rear of the oblong cabin, her luscious hips swaying as she braced herself on the rail which ran overhead.

"Call it what you want," said her companion. "Just check it against the disposal order one last time before you launch it. I have no desire to get demoted because we accidentally dropped the wrong package." The Zumerian Empire recycled everything. It was incredibly rare that the order came to drop anything into a white dwarf star for disposal.

Lutris knelt on one flawless knee beside the cargo tube and touched the computer screen next to it. "It checks out," she said, reading off the screen. And then purely out of curiosity the girl opened the tube. "Hey! This is one of those old promethium memory storage modules! They don't dispose of those, do they?"

"They must be making an exception in this case," Kana said, her butt squirming comfortably in her seat. "The order is signed by the head of the Council himself. Now be a good girl and launch it."

"Okay! You don't have to bite my head off," the younger girl said, closing the tube again. In truth, she was already thinking about the shore leave on Tropica that the two of them had coming after completing this run. In her imagination, she was already stripping off her uniform and diving into the amni-pool...

Suddenly the ship lurched from an impact. Alarms began to sound. "We're under attack!" Kana said, struggling with the controls. "But that's impossible! Our sensors should have--"

WHAM!! Something slammed into the nose of the little starship, causing it to tremble all the way down its length. The control panel erupted in sparks as Kana was thrown out of her seat and tumbled uncontrollably the length of the cabin. Lutris reached out to grab her as the two girls fell together in a tangle of feminine arms and legs.

"Who would be attacking US?" the younger girl whimpered, as the fabric of the ship continued to tremble and quake all around them. "We're just a courier! We don't have anything valuable!"

Before Kana could answer, everything fell silent. In the ceiling overhead, a rip opened like a zipper coming undone, the metal peeling back on either side as two male Dagrian pirates leaped down into the cabin. They looked around, their orange, melon-shaped heads protruding from the tops of their black, faux leather suits. Dagrians had two eyes and a wide mouth, but no external ears or noses at all.

Kana scrambled to her feet, hoping to catch the pirates while they were disoriented long enough to reach her laser pistol, which right now was sitting uselessly inside its case beside her control seat. The Zumerian girl managed to grab the first one in a wrist lock and flip him, then bring her lissome bare knee up into the second one's abdomen. She was past them!

But just then a third pirate appeared in her path, this one a reptilian female, her snouted face topped with a mane of coarse black hair. Her sinuous, blue-skinned body was clad in a skimpy black vest, hooked together in front her flat chest by a short brass chain. Below her waist, she wore a sort of minimalist skirt, consisting of little more than a scrap of black cloth in front and another in back, held together by a slim belt around her hips.

"An Absidian?" Kana gasped, as the alien's clawed hand reached out and caught the Zumerian by her swanlike throat. "I thought you were extinct!"

"Not quite," the alien hissed.

The two Dagrians both grabbed Kana from behind, holding her helpless, their wide mouths grinning as they ripped the Zumerian officer's white tunic off, allowing them to fondle her pliant boobs.

The Absidian left them to their amusement, turning her attention to the cargo tube. Her clawed hand reached down and opened it, her eyes narrowing as she was looking at what was inside.

"You-you don't want to touch that," whimpered Lutris, cowering frightened in the corner. "That's a promethium memory module! It's dangerous! You'll be--"

"I know exactly what it is, child," the Absidian sneered, exposing sharp fangs. She reached down and picked up the ornate headdress, almost like a crown with a single black stone, which was resting inside the container. She held it in front of her as if steeling herself. "I live to serve, mistress," she said almost to herself as she closed her eyes and placed it on her own head.

The two Zumerian girls and their captors watched in silence as her facial features began to twitch. In a moment, her entire body was trembling as it began to transform. Her snakey black hair grew longer, took on a softer, more lustrous texture. Her body became smoother and rounder, changing from reptile to mammal. The male pirates grinned salaciously as two firm, succulent breasts ballooned out on her chest, her hips broadening into an hourglass figure. The transformation completed, a beautiful, dark-haired woman now stood before them, her smooth, silken skin still bearing a slight bluish tint under her black vest and skirt.

"That's much better," she said, opening her eyes. "I can't begin to describe how it feels to be trapped inside a memory module as no more than a thought pattern, without a body."

"You won't get away with this," Kana said, struggling helplessly in the hands of the pirates. "The Zumerian Empire will stop at nothing to retrieve that module."

The woman laughed. "The module is useless now," she said, removing the headdress and tossing it back into the container. "Negula's body has completely assimilated it. I live again!"

One of the Dagrian's cleared his throat. "Er... what do we do with these two?" he asked hopefully, still fondling Kana's boobs, while his companion was busy peeling off Lutris' top.

"No doubt they will have their uses," the dark-haired woman smirked. Her eyes took on a far-away look. "Next I must seek out the one who trapped me inside that module five hundred years ago -- my most hated enemy, Ishtar!"


***


Chapter 1 -- Earth... Arlington, Virginia


Jennifer Fletcher picked at her salad, glancing impatiently toward the door of the diner. The beautiful young brunette sat perched on a stool at the counter, one high heel hooked on the low rail. She had been forced to sit at the counter because all the booths were full when she came in, and she was dismayed now to see that the eatery was continuing to fill up.

A brawny construction-worker type took the stool next to hers, his eyes lingering on her smooth, lissome curves, clad in a sleeveless pastel summer dress with a sash waist. "How's it going, doll?" he said. "You come here often? Damn it's a hot day, ain't it? I'm sweating like a bull. Then I bump into a classy chick like you with legs about a mile long and it brightens up the whole day. I'm not bothering you, am I, babe?"

"Not yet," Jennifer said pleasantly, looking up at the clock on the wall. Martin was supposed to be meeting her for lunch, but he was running late. She slipped her phone out of her purse and sent him a text.

"Who're you texting, babe?" her companion said with a glance at the menu. "Your mother, to ask if it's okay to talk to strangers?"

"My husband," Jennifer said casually. "He works across the street." She nodded her head toward the wide picture windows of the diner, toward the imposing bulk of the Pentagon.

The construction worker decided to shift his attention toward the slightly older-looking girl seated on his other side. "Hey, babe! You come here often?"

Jennifer tried to tune him out as she ate her lunch. Almost immediately she got a reply text from Martin: "sorry angel but I’m going to be held up. Make it up to you tonight."

The brunette sighed. Apparently, a new general had taken over the division where Martin worked, and he was insisting upon reviewing all their old files. Martin had been so busy lately, they hardly had time to have a meal together. He had also been working late a lot this week along with Major Wright. This wouldn't bother Jenn as much if Barbara Wright were not blonde and beautiful and sexy, and if she had not confessed to Jennifer once (without meaning to) how attracted she was to Martin. It wasn't difficult at all to imagine the two of them, late at night, taking a break and finding a room somewhere inside the massive complex of the Pentagon where they could be alone.

Immediately Jennifer set her mind to thinking what she could do to spice up their love life. Maybe if, when he got home tonight, she was waiting for him in the Suit...

Meanwhile the construction worker was still trying to make time with the girl on his other side. "Come on, honey, it can't hurt to tell me your name," he was saying. "I bet it's a pretty name, to go with them pretty tits." He slipped his arm around her shoulders, despite the fact that she clearly didn't want him to. In fact, the expression in her eyes was starting to go from annoyed to frightened. A few of the men in the diner were obviously aware of her problem, but the construction worker was just too big to mess with.

Jennifer unhooked her shoe from the rail, reached over and tapped him on one beefy shoulder. "Hey dude," she said. "NOW you're bothering me. Leave the lady alone."

"What's it to you, doll?" the masher said, turning toward her, hopefully. "You change your mind? You wanna go in the alley out back and give me a sample?" He reached out one big hand toward her slim shoulder.

Jennifer caught his wrist and twisted it behind his back with blinding speed. She could feel the gold bracelets of Ishtar on her wrists, those alien artifacts supplying her slender body with all the strength she needed, and then some, to easily throw his 250 pounds face down across the counter.

"Yeow!" he shouted, making everyone in the diner look. "You're breaking my fucking wrist!"

"Let's watch our language, sweetums," Jennifer said pleasantly, holding him effortlessly with one hand. "There are ladies present."

"I'm gonna get you for this, bitch," the man said. "You have to let me up sooner or later. And when you do, I'm gonna fix you!"

"Hold that thought, sparky," Jennifer said, giving his arm another twist.

The girl on the other side caught Jennifer's eye with a grateful look. Jennifer winked back, then leaned closer to the hooligan. "Now, I'll let you up if you think you can act like a gentleman. If not, there are whole new levels of pain we can explore."

He took a moment to think about it. The whole diner was watching his humiliation -- this skinny chick holding him helpless. He nodded briskly. "Okay, okay!" he said. "I'll be good. I'm sorry I acted the way I did."

"That's much better," Jennifer said. "In the future, you might try to remember that this is the 21st century." She released him, paid her check and glided serenely outdoors while he rubbed his arm.

Her lunch break nearly over, Jenn strolled to the nearby Metro station and caught the subway back across town to the National Archives, where she worked. She stood holding onto the strap, watching the walls of the tunnel whiz past in a blur as her thoughts seemed to un-focus...

"Are you busy just now, Jennifer?" a woman's voice said inside her head. It seemed to the girl that she was no longer standing in the subway train, but on the apex of a high, flat topped pyramid. She knew that this was only an illusion, as was the beautiful brunette woman clad in a sapphire blue body suit who was smiling at her, looking so much like an older, forty-five-ish version of herself. Their conversation was taking place purely on the telepathic level.

"Mother," Jennifer sighed, "why can't you learn to leave a message on my voice mail? And don't tell me that you..."

"...Can never figure out that primitive technology," Ishtar said, as the Fox spoke along with her, word for word. The two women, mother and daughter, laughed.

"I'm currently in the neighborhood of the Veil Nebula," Ishtar continued. "But I'll be stopping over at Earth in approximately five of your days. I was wondering if we could have some time together, just the two of us, without your husband?"

Jennifer smiled. "I think that would be wonderful," she said. "How have you been?"

"Pretty much the same as always," Ishtar said. "It's you I worry about, stranded on that backwards planet."

The girl vaguely understood what was going on. Her mother was a native of the distant planet Zumeria, and Jennifer was the product of an illicit liaison with her father, Kenneth Traylor. Since Ishtar had never been around while she was growing up -- it wasn't until Jennifer was 22 that she even met her -- she sometimes felt these occasional stabs of guilt, when she could spare the time for them.

"I was born here, mother," Jennifer reminded her.

"So you were," Ishtar sighed, as the two of them hugged. "Well, I'll be seeing you. Look for me in five days." The scene vanished, leaving Jennifer once more in the subway train, rumbling along the tracks toward her stop.


***


Chapter 2 –


The next Friday evening after dinner, Jennifer poured herself a glass of wine and took it out on the balcony, leaving Martin on the sofa watching a basketball game. Dressed in lounge pants and a tee-shirt, she enjoyed the cool of the summer evening as she watched the full moon rise over Washington.

Suddenly she heard Martin's voice: "Jenn! Your ride's here!"

The brunette hurried back into the living room, stopping to pick up her gold bracelets of Ishtar from the dresser and put them on. When she arrived, Jenn was surprised to see that a glowing rectangular doorway had appeared in the middle of the room, in front of the television set.

"She's early," Jennifer said, downing the rest of her glass of wine. Suddenly she felt jittery with anticipation. She had cleared her calendar at work, even taken a week of vacation time, but she wasn't prepared for this.

"Have fun," said Martin, getting off the sofa to kiss her good-bye. "Don't worry about me. General Hughes wants a briefing on Monday on the Special Holding Facility, and Major Wright and I will probably be prepping for that all weekend."

"Oh..." Jennifer said slowly. "Major Wright? She's coming here to the apartment?"

"Yeah, it's okay isn't it?" her husband said. "It's just work."

"Of course it is," Jennifer said. "Well, I'd better not keep mother waiting." She concentrated. There was a subtle flash of light and instantly her lithe, lean body was dressed in her Fuchsia Fox costume -- a tight-fitting reddish-purple halter top with a fox-head chest emblem hugging her firm young breasts, and matching briefs below her toned bare midriff, not to mention ankle boots on her feet and elbow length gloves sheathing her slender arms. "Here goes."

The Fox stepped through the glowing portal and straight into a roughly oval command center of Ishtar's starship, in orbit. Ishtar was lounging back in her reclining command chair, wearing only a very short sapphire blue robe, the silky fabric of which draped loosely around her exquisite body.

"So, mother," Jennifer said as the portal behind her vanished, "to what do I own the pleasure of this visit?"

"What do you mean?" Ishtar said, her shapely bare legs sliding over the edge of her chair as she rose to her feet. "Can't a mother visit her only daughter just because she loves her and worries about her?"

"Of course you can." the girl said, hurrying over and giving her mother a hug.

"I've missed you so much." Ishtar said, squeezing her tightly. Pulling back at last, she brushed a stray lock of hair from her daughter's face. "As it happens," the Zumerian said, looking a trifle uncomfortable, "I did have a conversation recently which put me in mind of the Rod of Ishtar which is bonded to your bracelets." She gestured toward the very thin streak of blue on the front edge of both of Jennifer's gold bracelets. "Are you having any trouble with it?"

The Fox shrugged. "I never have completely mastered it," she confessed, rubbing her wrist gently. "I keep meaning to try getting in some practice, but between work and fighting bad guys, I haven't had the time. To tell you the truth, I use it only in desperate emergencies, because I know how disastrous it would be if the Rod went out of control."

"Well then, it's high time I taught you how to use it," Ishtar said.

"That would be great." Jennifer said.

"Then I thought we'd zip over to Peersol's Pleasure Planet in the Vega Cluster." the older woman said with a twinkle in her eye. "There are men there you would not believe!"

Jennifer blushed. "Mother, I'm happily married!"

"That doesn't mean you can't live a little." Ishtar laughed. "Sweetheart, you really do need to learn the difference between lovemaking and sex. Lovemaking is a form of social intercourse among advanced species, and sex..." -- she made a disapproving face -- "... ugh! Sex is just a means by which primitive species mate and bear young."

"On Earth, we tend to combine the two."

"How disgusting! That's probably why they're so backward."


***


From the outside, Ishtar's spaceship resembled a beautiful stainless-steel swan, with a gracefully curved neck and forward swept wings. The ship soared through hyperspace, with quantum filaments gliding past like streamers into the dark void.

Inside, its two occupants had moved down to the living quarters level. The Fox had shed every stitch of her clothing, lying outstretched on a reclining couch whose baby-soft surface conformed to the smooth contours of her nubile young body. The only thing she was wearing was a light headband around her brunette hair with two slender arms projecting in front. She lay there relaxed, eyes closed, a tiny wrinkle of concentration on her forehead.

"Don't force it," Ishtar whispered, standing over her, looking down admiringly at her daughter's sylph-like body, her firm little breasts jutting proudly upward. "Let it come naturally." The Zumerian was also nude, wearing a companion headband which linked their minds together in virtual reality. "That's it... don't push... just... mmm... let it cummmmm..."

Inside the virtual reality, Jennifer was in what appeared to be an arena, facing an array of robot opponents. She seemed to feel her bracelets on her wrists, although she knew that, in reality, she had removed them. What was more, she felt her mental interface with them more clearly than ever. Thanks to her mother's coaching, she knew exactly how to open the aperture, release just enough power to create a plasma concussion wave. As the robots mobbed her, reaching out with their mechanical claws, the girl struck back, watching the white beam of energy dart out from her virtual bracelet to smack one robot after the other, battering them off their feet without destroying them.

"It gets easier every time," the Fox said exultantly, sitting up on the couch as her mother took off her headband. Her cheeks were flushed, her naked body glistening with a slight sheen of perspiration from all the mental effort.

"You're a natural at it," Ishtar said, gently caressing her daughter's smooth bare shoulders. "But let's take a break. You don't want to overdo it."

"This is going to be so helpful, mother," Jennifer gushed as her hands wandered downward along her moist inner thighs. "With this concussion beam, I'll be able to stop bad guys at a distance, without worrying about killing them by accident."

"I also took the liberty of adjusting the flux threshold of your disintegration beam," Ishtar said. "You told me that once someone fired an electromagnetic pulse at you that threw off the quantum matrix alignment?"

"That's right," the Fox said. "It could have blown us all to kingdom come."

"Well, that won't happen now," her mother said. "Of course it also means that the disintegration beam won't be as powerful. And the bracelets will still go into standby mode if hit by a certain threshold power level. The only alternative is to remove the Rod of Ishtar entirely, and I don't think we want to do that..."

A mellow tone sounded, and a seductive masculine voice said, "Excuse me, Mistress."

Jennifer felt an involuntary surge of sexual arousal from that sexy male voice, clutching both hands over her glistening slit in embarrassment. She could never get used to the presence of her mother's semi-sentient computer.

"What is it, Tammuz?" Ishtar asked, not bothered in the slightest.

"I am receiving a message from system G441669z," the voice said. "The message is: How long must I languish in misery before the Morning Star shines upon me again? I await your coming. It is signed Etan."

Ishtar smiled. "That's a name I haven't heard in far too long. Do you mind a quick trip, Jennifer?"

"Is this that... Peterman's Planet you were talking about?"

"Peersol's," Ishtar corrected with a laugh, hugging her daughter's sweet, nude form. "Although I must say I like your name better. It's more descriptive. No, this is just a Virillian outpost. Sort of a lighthouse. They don't get female visitors very often. What do you say we brighten up their drab lives?"

"Whatever you want, mother. I'm just along for the ride."

"Then don't you think you'd better put some clothes on?"


{b}***{/B]


Chapter 3 –


The quantum transport doorway opened into a barren desert dominated by a yellow-orange sun. Two lithe female forms stepped through and the door closed again silently, leaving them standing on the top of a dune looking out over a vast sea of sand.

Jennifer was dressed once again in her Fuchsia Fox costume -- ankle boots, purplish-pink boy-cut briefs, clingy little halter top with her fox head chest emblem, elbow length gloves and bracelets. She felt the blistering heat bearing down on her exposed skin as she followed Ishtar into the parched landscape. Her mother's long, lean body was dressed in her usual sapphire blue body stocking which left her left arm and shoulder bare as well as her right leg. On her feet she had matching ankle boots, and jeweled choker around her slim, swanlike throat for communication with her ship in orbit. That was all.

"I know it doesn't look like much," her mother said, turning in the opposite direction from the one they were facing. A palace made of white stone with a gold dome stood on top of a rocky outcrop.

"Wait a minute," said Jennifer suddenly. "Shouldn't you be armed? Bracelets at least?"

"Sweetheart, fully mature Zumerians have natural powers that don't require augmentation. Surely you've caught on by now? All your powers come from within you. The bracelets merely amplify them to a usable level because you're so young. Once you're fully grown, in say forty or fifty years, you won't need them either."

"Really?" Jennifer blurted in astonishment. "But hang on. The last time we had an outing like this--"

"That's right. The last time, I needed bracelets because I was under censure. It was part of my punishment for having you. But that's over with."

Jennifer was aghast. "You were punished because of me? Mother, why didn't you tell me?"

"What purpose would it have served to make you feel guilty for something that wasn't even your fault?" With a graceful gesture, she flew down the dune to the entrance of the palace, with the Fox right behind her.

The doors were massive and didn't seem to have any sign of a knob or keypad or anything. Up close the building looked like a fortress. Jennifer expected some heavy-duty security screening procedure that they would have to pass through, but to her surprise the door simply slid upward into the wall, allowing them to walk right into a wide, brightly lit corridor.

"Welcome," said a melodic voice as a humanoid figure in a graceful robe appeared. "Welcome to Ishtar, Commander of Zumeria, who graces us with her shining presence. My master bids you make yourselves at home. For your convenience, my designation is B-Nine. If you would step this way?" He was an android obviously, his skin made of shiny gold metal, his face bland and expressionless. He led the two travelers along the corridor, making a right turn.

They passed a pair of guards -- big, beefy men with heads that looked more like melons than anything else. Their skin was orange and they had no noses, ears or hair. Each of them had two eyes and a wide mouth set in a perpetual grin as if he were enjoying a dirty joke. As Jennifer passed, a long, slimy tongue darted briefly out of one of the men's mouths, more like a tentacle than anything else. "Are these Virillians?" the girl whispered, her disgust showing in her tone of voice.

"No," Ishtar said curtly, frowning with disapproval, but didn't say anything more.

At last the android led them into a sumptuous hall, decorated with wall hangings and silken draperies. Two more of those orange-skinned guards stood by the door, but seated at a table were three men who looked much more normal. In fact, "normal" didn't cover it. They were dressed in calf-high white boots and short kilts, and nothing else. Their bodies were utterly perfect -- muscular legs, flawlessly defined six-packs, deliciously broad chests and arms that made the Fox's mouth water, not to mention ruggedly handsome faces with thick, meticulously groomed hair.

"These are Virillians," Ishtar said smugly.

The android major-domo announced them and then retired to a corner to switch himself off, but Jennifer hardly heard, her heart was thumping so hard. A surge of heat seemed to be rising through her nubile young body, making her skin flush.

The three men approached the two women, the most handsome of the lot walking boldly up to Ishtar. He took her hand and kissed it. "I have been too long without the sight of your stunning beauty, Morning Star," he said, dropping to one knee.

Ishtar looked down at him haughtily, accepting his flattery. "Etan, you scandalous rogue," she said. "What have you been up to?"

"Oh, this and that," the Virillian smirked, rising to his feet. His right arm snaked around the Zumerian's slender sylph-like waist and assertively pulled her body into his grasp as his scrumptious lips claimed hers.

The Fox felt her cheeks growing hot as she watched them kiss. Etan's right hand caressed her mother's lower back, just above the soft curve of her pert bottom. His other hand came over and clasped the side her ribcage, gliding gently over the clingy fabric of her leotard as it moved around to her back, groping for the fasteners of her costume. Jennifer watched the backs of Ishtar's alluring legs tense up, her right leg slightly leaving the floor as she closed her eyes, lost in the lingering passion, submissively surrendering to his dominating masculine presence. The younger girl had the sudden urge to look away, convinced that at any moment he was going to start undressing her mother right here in public.

And just about then, the Fox felt male hands on her own soft shoulders. The other two hunks had sidled around behind her and were touching her bare back. She felt dangerously impertinent fingers feeling for the fasteners of her halter top.

"Hey, watch it!" the heroine blurted, stepping away out of their reach.

"Relax, Jennifer," said Ishtar dreamily, coming out of the kiss but still enwrapped within Etan's brawny arms. "They just want to take you to the bath. It's customary for visitors."

"Indeed, honored lady," said one of the men. "What will it be, sonics or amnio?"

"Amnio?" Jennifer asked.

"Amnio fluid," Ishtar said. "It's like bathing in milk."

"Plain water, thanks," the girl said stiffly.

"Plain water," the hunk said, beaming a smile at her that made her heart flutter. "What a bold and unusual choice! If you would come this way, mistress," he added politely.

"Etan?" asked Ishtar. "When did you start using Dagrian guards?"

"Er... I'll explain later," he said, giving her another kiss on the hand.

Ishtar and the Fox went with the two handsome, strapping Virillians, whose names were Apar and Tesh, down the corridor and into a smaller room, no less sumptuously decorated than the hall, that held a single sunken bath tub and two low, incredibly plush couches. Soft music was playing. A musky, seductive scent lingered in the air. Jennifer hesitated, waiting for the men to leave them, but to her surprise, her mother merely sat on one of the couches and extended her long, gorgeous stems. Apar dropped to his knees and removed her ankle boots one by one, taking time to massage her delicate feet, one naked, the other still sheathed in the shimmering, silken fabric of her body stocking. Ishtar closed her eyes, lying back and enjoying it.

After a moment, she looked up at her daughter, still standing there and blushing. "Jennifer," she said with a touch of impatience, "you really must learn to indulge yourself."

The Fox perched on the edge of the couch as Tesh removed her boots, caressing her naked feet. It really was heavenly the way he seemed to know exactly how to touch her. Before long, Jennifer was surrendering to the pleasure. When her mother stood so that Apar could first remove her jeweled choker and then proceed to undress her, the younger girl followed suit without a qualm.

The Virillian dreamboat's hands were strong and capable. Beginning with her elbow length gloves and sliding them down her arms, he paused at her bracelets of Ishtar. "With your permission, mistress?" he asked, apparently recognizing psychometric technology when he saw it.

"Oh. Sure, okay." the Fox said, allowing him to unclasp her two precious objects of power and take them away from her. The girl felt a quiver of uncertainty at being so vulnerable, but these were after all friends of her mothers, weren't they?

Tesh found the fasteners of her halter top with no difficulty at all, as if he had undressed hundreds of women. Undoing the strap at her nape, he became dangerously brave, his hands sliding around her silken bare shoulders while his lips nibbled delicately at the side of her neck. He took her now undone halter top in his right hand and tossed it to the couch, his left hand stroking the bare flesh of her stomach and inching upward to take possession of her pliant young breast. Jennifer moaned softly as his fingers gently rubbed her hard, erect nipple. In spite of herself, the superheroine found herself helplessly melting with his touch.

Both hands now encirled her waist, pulling her briefs down over her hips. Completely naked, the Fox shyly stepped out of her garment and slipped into the sunken bath, joining her mother, who was already in there.


***


Chapter 4 –


"Isn't this nice?" Ishtar said, lying back in the warm, slightly soapy bath. The water was still clear enough that Apar and Tesh, standing over them, could still get a fairly good view of her naked body, especially her lovely boobs, which jutted half above the surface.

"It's... uh... not bad," the Fox said, blushing.

"After our baths, we'll get massages," her mother said, one hand slipping between her pink thighs and stroking her womanhood. "And after that, probably love. Are you happy with Tesh, or would you like to switch? It doesn't matter to me. I think Tesh is a little younger, which means he'll have more stamina, but in my considered judgment, Apar is probably bigger, so it depends upon--"

"Mother, I'm married!" the Fox interrupted indignantly. The two men were standing right there after all, showing no embarrassment but rather considerable pride at being talked about this way.

"Honestly, sweetheart, you're beginning to embarrass me," Ishtar said. "Monogamy was invented in order to facilitate childrearing. That's all well and good for hairless apes, but since we Zumerians only go into estrus once a year, it's hardly relevant."

"That's fine for you, mother, but-- Wait! WHAT did you say? We're only fertile once a year?"

"Jennifer darling," Ishtar said patiently. "We are a very long-lived and warm-hearted race. If we got pregnant that often, we'd be hip deep in offspring. I know that I wasn't around to explain the facts of life, but you must have realized when your little friends were telling you about their periods that you didn't seem to have one."

"Well yes! I mean... I just counted myself lucky that mine wasn't as uncomfortable as theirs seemed to be. Do you mean to tell me...?"

"You don't have periods as such, sweetheart," her mother said, making a face. "You have a regular monthly hormone cycle, when your libido rises to a peak and then falls off again, but it has little or nothing to do with your actual fertility. The thirteenth cycle in every year usually coincides with your estrus period, but since you've been living all your life on a planet whose year has only twelve months, I imagine your cycle is a mess."

Yeah, "a mess" pretty much covered it, Jennifer thought, remembering an occasion not long ago when she had been so horny, she had kept poor Martin up all-night long...

"Why worry about it?" Ishtar said, rising gracefully out of the bath and accepting the towel that Apar held out for her. "You're only 25, still a child by Zumerian standards. If you think your sex drive is something now, wait until you hit puberty..."

"What?" Jennifer blurted, sitting bolt upright in the bathtub, forgetting for a second that she was stark naked. "You mean I'm not even...?" She broke off with an even deeper blush, since Tesh was looking down at her with a wide grin on his face.

Ishtar spread her towel on one of the couches and laid herself face down on it, still dripping wet from her bath. "I think I'll have Andorian patchouli oil," she sighed, closing her eyes.

"At once, mistress," said Apar, as the smile suddenly left his face. Gathering up Ishtar's clothing, including her jeweled commlink, he nodded to Tesh, and the two men quietly left the room.

As soon as they did, three of those ugly, orange-skinned guards entered the room with guns drawn. The Fox let out a feminine squeak of outright shock at being burst in upon like this, cupping her hands over her naked slit, but the Dagrians ignored her, all three opening fire at Ishtar. The first energy beam merely grazed the beautiful nude Zumerian. She started to sit up as the second and third both struck her. She sagged back onto the couch, knocked out.

"Clamp that inhibitor collar on her!" snapped one of the aliens, smirking over his shoulder at the bewildered Fox. "No need to worry about the child. Without her bracelets, she's helpless."

Jennifer felt her cheeks burning with shame. That was exactly what she was without her bracelets, she thought -- a helpless child. She darted a quick glance at her clothes, lying on the other couch ten feet way, while the other two Dagrians swarmed over the unconscious Ishtar, taking the time to fondle her defenseless tits while they attached a metal collar around her slender neck, then handcuffed her wrists.

"Beam her to the hall," the leader commanded. The aliens stepped back as Ishtar vanished in a shimmer of light. "That takes care of her. Okay, now you can grab the child."

The words jolted the Fox to her senses. As the three aliens turned toward her, the lissome girl leaped out of the bathtub, desperate to reach her bracelets. A stun gun fired, barely missing her; Jenn caught the Dagrian's beefy wrist, spun around and brought her bare foot up squarely into his balls, if he had balls. Not waiting to see what happened, she leap-frogged over his head and did a somersault between the other two, who nearly shot one another in their haste to nail her.

"Get her, you skubnull!" the leader yelled, correcting his aim.

The Fox dove onto the couch, her weight toppling it over as she scooped up her bracelets and slipped them on. Stun-beams crisscrossed the air over her, but they ricocheted off her invisible force shield as the sexy superlady summoned her clothing and stood up to full height, once more secure in the feeling of her Fuchsia Fox costume adorning her nubile young body.

"You boys are in big trouble," the Fox said, launching herself into them like a beautiful whirlwind. Punch-kick-parry-thrust-kick... just that quickly, they were all three out cold on the floor.

What was going on here? Jennifer thought. Some kind of coup d'etat? She had no idea how many of these aliens there were, but however many, nothing was going to stop her from getting to the hall and rescuing her mother. The girl went to the door, looked both ways down the corridor, and cautiously set off, lightly skipping from one doorway to another.

"Come out, little girl," said a female voice suddenly. "No need to skulk and hide. Come out and face me."

Drat! Caught already! "I wasn't skulking," the Fox said defensively, stepping out into the middle of the corridor. "I was just... getting the lay of the land."

Standing at the end of the hallway was an excruciatingly beautiful woman, tall and straight, with long, luxurious hair so black and shiny, and a faint blue tint to her creamy smooth flesh. Her sensuous body was clad in a skimpy black vest, held taut across her two lovely bosoms by a short brass chain, and below her bare midriff, a black skirt that was hardly more than a handkerchief dangling modestly in front on her cleft from a hip-hugger belt and a second handkerchief hanging between her butt cheeks. On her wrists were ornate bracelets, but she wore no other decoration. The look struck the Fox as somehow familiar, and yet she didn't recognize the face.

"Got a name, babe?" the superheroine said. "I like to know who I'm fighting."

"But you know me already, little girl," the strange beauty laughed. "You are the daughter of my enemy, Ishtar. I am the Black Storm."

Ereshkigal? Jennifer thought, as an icy hand seemed to close over her heart. But that was impossible! Where was her crown? Mother had explained it to her; Ereshkigal's consciousness had been trapped inside a promethium memory module, centuries ago. If someone put it on, she could take over their body, but without contact with a body, she should lie dormant and impotent!

"You're daydreaming, little girl," her opponent smirked, waving her right hand and sending a searing blast of cold down the corridor. Goose bumps popped out on Jennifer's exposed flesh as she raised her force shield a fraction of a second too late. The woman smiled, marching forward, her lush hips swaying seductively.

The Fox counterattacked, cartwheeling toward her, her lithe young body building up momentum and at the last second smacking into the girl's gorgeous chest with both feet. The impact was like slamming into a figure made of solid steel! Both girls fell to the floor, momentarily stunned, but as Jennifer got to her feet, she could see that her adversary was still smiling, no worse for wear!

"Is that the best you can do?" Ereshkigal asked, slapping the sexy young superheroine with a backhand blow that sent her reeling. As the Fox got up again, the woman in black grabbed the front of her clingy halter top, the fabric stretching as she lift the girl off the floor and threw her.

Jennifer hit the floor and tumbled. This was getting her nowhere! Getting to her knees, she threw out her right arm and shot a concussion beam, not at Ereshkigal, but at the decorative column beside her, raining plaster shrapnel all around her. Under cover of the confusion, the Fox retreated around the corner. Taking a side passage, fortunately she ran right into Etan!

"Thank goodness!" she panted, struggling to catch her breath. "There's a chick named Ereshkigal--"

"You've met up with her?" the Virillian said.

"We can't fight her head-on," the Fox said. "We need to regroup and come up with a plan. You lead the way, I'll try to cover our-- Uhhhh!"

Etan's strong hands clamped around the girl's slim throat from behind, squeezing nerve pressure points on the sides of her lovely neck. The Fox felt paralyzed, her muscles seizing up as she dropped weakly into his arms. Darkness began to descend on her brain like a fog, making her feel sleepy as she struggled not to lose consciousness.

Ereshkigal came strolling up. Grinning, she grabbed Jennifer's left wrist, did something that she couldn't quite follow, and wrenched the slender brunette girl's bracelet of Ishtar right off!

"Nnooo," the Fox groaned, gasping with shock as Etan's nerve pinch kept up the pressure on her neck. "You can't..." This couldn't be happening! It wasn't supposed to be possible to remove her bracelets! Desperately she struggled to resist, but her strength as well as her awareness seemed to be draining away.

But the woman in black had already seized her right wrist. There was a little bit of a wrestling match this time, which the superheroine ultimately lost as her adversary also took her other bracelet from her. The Fox passed out in the brawny Virillian's arms.

"I didn't think it was possible," Etan said, "to remove psychometric bracelets without the owner's permission."

"It helps if you were the one who helped design them," Ereshkigal said haughtily. She strolled off down the corridor, smugly leaving him staring at her sassy little caboose.

"Sorry about this, daughter of Ishtar," Etan said, smiling as he caught the helpless Fox under the knees and hoisted her slight frame into his arms, looking down at her sweet little tits.


***


Chapter 5 –


The hall had been transformed, the tables and chairs pushed to the sides of the long room, so that its focal point was cleared for the biggest Dagrian anyone present had ever seen. His head was about three times the size of a human's, his hairless, yellowish-orange-skinned body so obscenely obese that he seemed to almost roll on his stubby legs when he walked. There were no chairs large enough to hold him, so he simply reclined like an Oriental monarch on a small mountain of cushions and pillows that had been built for him.

Four normal sized Dagrians stood guard, their stun guns covering the prisoner who lay sprawled across the cushions beside their leader. Ishtar's succulent body had been dressed in a skimpy dancing girl's costume -- a little gold bikini bottom, a pair of tinkling brass ankle bracelets, another pair on each upper arm, and nothing else at all. The Zumerian commander was bound with handcuffs, and in addition, had a metal collar fastened around her supple neck.

"Khumma, you bloated sack of protoplasm!" Ishtar grumbled sulkily, as she struggled to sit upright among the soft pillows. "Where did you get an Inhibitor Collar? They're illegal!"

"Hello to you as well, Commander," the Dagrian chuckled, his laugh deep and throaty. "Pirate I am. Goods come my way, not always documented and aboveboard. Whoops!" He chuckled again, pulling on the chain he held in his chubby fist. The other end was attached to the collar around Ishtar's neck, yanking the woman's helpless body closer to his reach. "Give me a kiss!" he drooled.

"Don't touch me, you pig!" Ishtar mewled, disgusted by the squishy, blubbery feel of his flesh. She struggled to push away from him, but her female sinews weren't nearly strong enough to resist him, especially with her restraints. The beautiful Zumerian shuddered with revulsion as his foul, slug-like tongue, at least three feet long, uncoiled from his mouth and slid glutinously across her bare neck and shoulders, leaving a slimy trail across her satiny skin.

"Be nice, Commander," the pirate laughed. "I have prisoners in brig -- Apar and Tesh, plus Kana and Lutris of the Zumerian courier vessel I appropriated. What happens to them might depend on how nice you are to me."

The door opened and two more guards came in, escorting Etan, who was carrying the Fuchsia Fox in his arms. He dropped to one knee and laid the unconscious girl on the floor at Khumma's feet.

"Etan?" Ishtar gasped, fending off the massive pirate's groping hands and tongue. "How could you betray me like this? What have you done to my daughter?"

"She hasn't been harmed, Ishtar," the man said. "As to why I did it... I didn't have much choice. I had debts. I was about to be arrested."

Khumma laughed. "You are going to be so surprised to find out who's really in charge."

"That would be me," said Ereshkigal, making her grand entrance. Everyone fell silent, watching her undulate the length of the room, her gorgeous hips swaying like a fashion model's.

Ishtar's brown eyes opened wide in total shock, so much so that she didn't even notice Khumma's tongue caressing her plush, naked C-cups and stroking her erect nipples even as her skin shivered from it. "Eresh?" she whispered. "How can this be possible?"

"Where there's a will, there's a way," the raven-haired goddess smirked. "Negula, the last Absidian, remained loyal to me after all these centuries. She sacrificed herself to assimilate my memory module. At long last, I am back!"

With a soft groan, the Fox woke up and tried to push herself painfully into an upright position. Her brown eyes flashed open. She was still wearing her costume; she concentrated upon summoning he bracelets back to her...

"That's not going to work, little girl," Ereshkigal smirked, "because your pretty little bracelets are in my laboratory behind a z-particle shield. Any other bright ideas?"

Jennifer sat up, curling her legs to one side. "I guess not," the girl said ruefully.

"I guess not," Ereshkigal mocked, her skimpy little skirt swishing between her long, shapely legs as she strolled over and dropped to one knee. "But you interest me, little girl. I could give your bracelets back to you, if you would use them in my service. Come! Swear eternal allegiance to me."

"I'm the daughter of Ishtar," the Fox said bitterly. "You must be insane to think I'd join you."

"Be careful of your tone with me, child," the dark-haired women said, angrily rising to her feet. "I have ways of persuading you."

Silence reigned in the hall for a few moments. "Well, I have a bright idea," said Etan, grabbing the Fox by her arm and hauling her to her feet. "This juicy little tart has been teasing my cock since I first saw her. I want to enjoy her, right here, right now. Any objections?"

The permanent grins of the six Dagrian guards grew even broader at the thought. Ereshkigal smiled. "Why that sounds like a perfectly splendid idea!" Grabbing one of the chairs, the dark beauty turned it around and sat down. "Go right ahead."

"No way!" Jennifer said, her cheeks burning. "If you think I'm going to let this traitor put his filthy hands on me--"

"You don't have a choice, my little darling," Ereshkigal smirked. "Unless you entertain me, I have no other reason to keep you alive. You OR your mother." Her right hand gestured; a dagger worn by one of the Dagrian guards slid from its sheath and flew telekinetically across the room, hanging in midair at Ishtar's throat.

"Jennifer..." Ishtar said, trying to pack years of motherly concern into that single word.

"It's all right, mother," the girl said, breathing heavily. "I'll do it."

Without further ado Etan grabbed her, pulling the Fox's slender frame up close to him and kissing her on the mouth. Jennifer tried to resist at first, but he seized a hank of her brunette hair and yanked her head painfully back. As her lips parted, his tongue invaded her mouth, while his free hand squeezed her pliant little coconuts through the front of her costume, his other hand still holding her prisoner by her hair. The girl felt an involuntary shiver of embarrassment ripple up and down her body as the Virillian Adonis tweaked her nipples, knowing that she had no choice but to give in and let him do as he wanted.

The Fox could hear Khumma's throaty, derisive laugh as Etan grabbed the lower edge of her halter top and simply peeled it off of her, without bothering to undo the fasteners. Jenn let out a gasp of arousal as the stretchy fabric slid upward over her chest, allowing her firm young B-cups to pop fully into view, and then continuing upward as she compliantly raised her gloved arms over her head. For a second she was blinded, her face covered by her costume as it got hung up by the strap at the nape of her neck, but he yanked the garment free and threw it aside.

The girl felt all the eyes on her nudity for a moment, but then Etan was kissing her neck, his hot lips leaving trails of fire as his hands grabbed her butt. Once again, the Fox tried to resist, but he backed her against a table.

With nowhere to go, her arms instinctively draped around his bare, muscular shoulders for balance, feeling his rippling muscles underneath his bronzed skin. In spite of herself, Jenn felt herself succumbing to his physical charms. He certainly knew how to kiss a woman. Her entire body felt on fire, tingling with arousal. Her thighs parted involuntarily, her right leg hooking around his sinewy thigh as his face moved down to her breasts, kissing them and nibbling at her hard, peaked nipples.

"You want this, don't you, little myrrkin?" he murmured in her ear. "You were brought up to be a nice girl, a champion of virtue on your planet I expect, but all the time you've wanted to be taken by a real man."

"You have an altogether inflated opinion of yourself," the Fox said steadily.

The Virillian hooked his thumbs into the waist of her pants and yanked them down below her knees in one smooth movement. The sudden exposure of her juicy snatch wrung a husky moan from the heroine's throat. Her knees felt like rubber, unable to support her weight. The next thing she knew, Etan was kneeling in between her legs, pulling the elastic garment down her stems, working it over her trim ankles and throwing it aside.

The Fox glanced over at her mother for encouragement as Etan stood up in front her, kissing her neck. She hugged herself to his chest, her legs wrapped around his waist. Grabbing her tight little ass with both hands, he hoisted her onto the table, spreading her legs wide as he slipped his fingers into the sweet folds of her moist pussy and stroking her swollen clit. By now her rising arousal could not be denied. She felt a warm surge of wetness inside her, releasing girl cum onto Etan's fingers.

"You seem about ready now," the Virillian commented. Before she could climax, he immediately withdrew his hand, grabbing her by the waist and turning her face down across the table, one leg dangling, the other splayed so that the others could get a good look at her.

"NO!" the Fox gasped. Not from behind!

She felt this thick male shaft prodding at her juicy opening, forcing apart the petals of her flower. In this position, Jennifer couldn't help but see their audience. Ereshkigal was watching with detached amusement. The bloated Khumma was really enjoying it, pulling the captive Ishtar close to him by her chain and fondling her beautiful naked C-cups while his slimy tongue rolled around his lipless mouth. The other six Dagrians were mesmerized. Even the golden android servant, B-Nine, who had been standing in his corner like a piece of art, opened his eyes and blinked.

For some strange reason, the Fox found herself thinking of that brawny construction worker she had run into at that diner a week ago. She could see herself, not here in this palace hall halfway across the galaxy, but there, bent over the counter while that sexist pig plowed her and the entire diner watched. For a moment, she felt like such a slut for giving in, with everyone watching. But then she told herself that she was only allowing this for her mother's sake. And her body's response was merely physical, just like the adrenalin rush she got from using her body in action, and as such it was nothing for her to feel ashamed of.

In Ishtar's brown eyes, so much like her own, she saw only sympathy and encouragement, mixed with pride. Have strength, daughter. that look seemed to say. We'll find a way out of this, together.

The hard thrusts of Etan's alien rod brought her back to reality. Its shape felt a little bit odd, and it seemed to be ringed with ridges which sent wave after wave of ecstasy rippling through the smooth skin of her labia as he first rammed home, then stiffly withdrew. "OHGODDDD," the girl moaned, shivering with lust as he boned her again... and again.

"That's it, little girl," the alien said. "Beg for it. Scream for it."

"Ummmmmmmmm!" the Fox moaned, biting her lip to avoid giving him that satisfaction as a tide of hot lava seemed to sweep her from head to toe. Etan smoothly yanked out his member as her shuddering orgasm began, holding it in his hand as he sprayed his warm gunk over her round, up-thrust booty.

Khumma roared with laughter. "That has given me an appetite! Where is that stupid droid? Bring me food!"

"As you wish, master," said B-Nine, scuttling off to obey.


***


Chapter 6 –


"I ask you again, child," said Ereshkigal to the Fuchsia Fox, who was curled up on the cushions next to Ishtar. "Join me. You commanded the Rod of Ishtar. You can command it again, if you will swear allegiance to me. I'll even give Etan to you as a gift. Think of the pleasures that will be yours, night after night."

"Why do you want the Rod so badly?" Ishtar asked suspiciously. Both mother and daughter were now dressed as dancing girls, in gold bikini bottoms and bangles and nothing else. Ishtar's handcuffs had been removed, and both women wore an inhibitor collar attached to a lengthy stretch of chain as they huddled together. The men were busy pigging out at the table several yards away.

The dark-haired beauty smiled. "What other reason could I want it for, dear sister? I'm going to resurrect Dagon. I know that he's been waiting patiently for my return all these years. He just needs power, and the matter-energy conversion of the Rod will give me power."

The brunette's eyes widened, her cheeks turning pale. "Eresh, no! Please! Didn't you learn your lesson five hundred years ago?"

Something malicious rose up in Ereshkigal's eyes. "This time I won't have an interfering sister to mess things up for me. As for you..." she added, turning back to Jennifer. "Think about what I said. My patience is not inexhaustible. I'll just leave you two and let the men play with you for a while." She spun on her heel and swept away.

As she passed the table, all the men briefly looked up from their meal, their eyes glued to her alluring buttocks, her skirt swishing tantalizingly in between them as she made her exit. Then their eyes wandered back to Ishtar and the Fox, sitting there in their skimpy outfits.

"Please tell me," the Fox panted, sidling closer to her mother, "that 'sister' is just a thing Zumerians call one another, like Amazons do."

"I'm afraid not, Jennifer," Ishtar said sadly, her chain rattling as she cuddled as close as she could to her daughter. "Ereshkigal is my sister. I... I didn't know how to tell you."

The younger girl felt stunned by the revelation. "Who's Dagon?" she asked, to buy herself time to assimilate it.

"Not who; what. Dagon is her ship -- a vile, evil thing. He had weapons that are so horrible, the Council later outlawed them. He was a brilliant piece of engineering, virtually indestructible. Eresh had linked her own brain to his artificial intelligence core by means of a promethium memory module..."

"Her crown?" Jennifer whispered.

"I led the attack," Ishtar said. "It took twenty ships to overwhelm his defenses and shut him down. There was a surge of feedback which completely vaporized Eresh's body. Her consciousness was digitized and absorbed into the memory module. That's how she ended up trapped inside that crown."

"Oh my God," Jennifer exclaimed, draping her soft arm around her mother's bare shoulders and hugging her. Mother and daughter huddled together, their soft breasts crushed together in a comforting embrace. "And now she's going to try to resurrect that monster?" the girl said. "Well, where is he? Is he a long way from here?"

Ishtar sighed. "That's just it, sweetheart. Do you remember when I said this outpost was sort of like a lighthouse...?"


***


In an upstairs tower was the outpost's science laboratory. In the days since Ereshkigal had taken over the outpost, she had filled the room with computers and machines, one of which was a massive magnetic bottle connected to the building's power converters by a maze of cables snaking overhead. The arrangement would have made sense only to a madman. In the midst of it all, trapped within an energy field, were the Fox's bracelets of Ishtar, the blue band on their facing edge glowing. At the moment there was only one person in the lab -- a humanoid scientist named Lagam, who wore a lab coat and a micro-optical sensor implanted over his left eye, which had been gouged out years earlier in laboratory accident.

Ereshkigal strode into the room. "Any success?" the dark-haired beauty snapped.

"I fear not," Lagam replied. "Psychometric bracelets will only respond to the person they recognize as their owner. I am attempting to separate the Rod of Ishtar from them, and not meeting with even an iota of success."

"You're useless," Ereshkigal sneered, pushing him aside. Reaching overhead, she disconnected a pair of cables and rerouted them in a different way.

"As you say," the scientist ceded, his electronic sensor eye ogling her pliant tits as they strained against the front of her skimpy black vest.

Satisfied with her modifications, Ereshkigal went to the computer console, typing commands in. Beads of light began to race along the cables. A deep rumbling sound came from the converter units as she turned to an adjacent console and entered more commands. The blue band on the front of the bracelets began to pulsate, spinning faster and faster.

"My lady, what are you doing?" Lagam said nervously. "Using a satanassolytic x-particle beam in this way is highly dangerous procedure. It could cause a five dimension subspace rupture--"

"You can't make a guleke without breaking a few nigs," Erechkigal said lightly, her face lit up by the blue glow of the machinery.


***


Downstairs in the hall, the men had for the most part finished eating and were moving away from the table, the guards at the door going back to their positions while Khumma remained, shoveling food into his face. "Can I get you something, mistresses?" asked B-Nine, passing by Ishtar and Jennifer as he supervised a crew of lesser robots in clearing the table.

"The key to this inhibitor collar would be a start," Ishtar said sullenly, her beautiful bare bosom jiggling unselfconsciously as she gave the chain a tug.

"I much regret, mistress," the android said, "that my instructions are clear in that regard."

"I thought they might be."

"Please!" Jennifer whispered urgently. "You have to help us!"

"Don't waste your breath, Jennifer," Ishtar said disdainfully. "Beta series droids have no emotions, and no regard for organic life-forms."

"Incorrect, mistress," the droid said smugly. "I was originally programmed as a functional service droid, fully capable of mentally and physically simulating humanoid intercourse." He pointed downward at the barely noticeable sliding hatch situated between his legs.

"Will wonders never cease?" Ishtar said, raising her right eyebrow.

"And yet," the droid continued, "I have not been permitted to perform that function in seventeen years, two hundred and two days, fifteen hours and three minutes."

"You poor thing," the Fox said, sidling closer, her cheeks blushing as her hands seductively stroked the smooth, golden surface of the droid's inner thighs. "What if I... um... serviced you? Blew on your diodes? Charged your capacitors? Do you think you could help us then?"

Just then Khumma let out an earth-shattering belch as he got up from the table. "That was a pretty fair meal, goldie," he rumbled, wobbling back toward his cushions.

"I endeavor to give satisfaction, master," the android said, backing away from the two women.

"Do so and you can continue to exist," the pirate said, sinking into the cushions with his beady eyes fixed on Ishtar and the Fox, ogling their bare boobs. "Right now, I'm in the mood for entertainment," he said, his pudgy hand gathering up the chain and shaking it. "Dance for me, Commander!"

"I don't dance," Ishtar said, folding her arms and holding her nose in the air loftily.

"You do if I say you do!" the Dagrian bellowed. "Otherwise I let my men have you and your slut of a daughter for a couple of hours. What would you think of that, Miss High and Mighty?" The six guards grinned expectantly.

"How can I refuse such a charming and gracious invitation?" Ishtar said sarcastically.
Jennifer's brown eyes were looking into hers, full of fear. The Zumerian gave her a reassuring nod, and together they got to their bare feet, steadying one another as they plodded over the squashy cushions to the solid flooring. There, near the end of her chain, Ishtar began to dance.


***


Chapter 7 –


Ishtar started off slowly. Sheathed in those skimpy gold bikinis, her hips swayed gently back and forth, her slender arms following the same sensuous, feminine movement upward over her head, so that her wonderful breasts were totally unprotected and in view. Her hips rocking with the rhythm, teasingly she let her right leg gracefully kick forward, then back. She did the same with her left leg in the other direction, and then, increasing the tempo just a little, she began to take short steps. Right leg, left leg, the bangles on her wrists and ankles jingling like little bells.

The Fox, dressed in the same skimpy costume, followed suit a little more awkwardly, avoiding their fat tyrant's eyes. At first she tried to keep her hands cupped protectively over her firm B-cups, but before long she loosened up. This was just like one of her many webcam performances, after all, she thought, reassuringly.

She risked a spin, almost getting tangled in the chain attached to her collar. Holding it out of her way, the girl continued to dance on tiptoe, darting sultry glances at the six bodyguards and Etan, who were watching in rapt silence. Etan reached out one playful hand to grab her, but she gracefully spun back the other way, wiggling her pert tail temptingly.

The exertion and the unwavering stares of the men were making them feel hot. A light layer of perspiration glistened like silk on their exposed skin as the two women undulated back and forth in that confined space. Ishtar spun around to face Etan, feeling his eyes locked onto her, following her every move, devouring her. Her heart pounded in between her breasts. Her hoo-hoo felt so moist, the flimsy synthetic panties she was wearing almost non-existent. On the next circuit, she danced very close to Etan, her fingertips almost touching his bare chest, skimming over his skin, and then whisking away again before he could catch her.

Jennifer suspected that her mother had some sort of plan. Maybe she was trying to get the men's attention, luring them into a false sense of security. In particular, the Fox kept her eyes on the two who had been assigned sentry duty. It was getting so hot though! She could feel perspiration collecting in the crevasse between her boobs and the cleft in between her legs, making her feel really moist. She turned toward those two guards, then spun around, glancing seductively over her bare shoulder.

It happened without warning. The Fox felt the chain on her collar tighten, and abruptly her willowy body was jerked off its feet, tumbling helplessly onto the cushions while Khumma laughed his deep, throaty laugh. "Ha-ha, little tart! You dance good. Let me taste you."

"No! Don't you touch me..." the girl protested, kicking and struggling as she felt his long tongue slither over her slim body, oozing over her slippery, sweaty skin and coiling gently around the soft mounds of her nubile young breasts. "Oh Yuck!"

"Heh-heh, don't be that way," the fat pirate chuckled good-naturedly. "You're going to love it before I'm done." Two of the men darted forward, holding the girl's arms apart so that she couldn't resist.

At the same time, Etan had pounced on Ishtar, grabbing the chain as it hung down in front of her and snatching it toward him so that the woman fell into his arms, her bangles tinkling.

"Come here, slut," he said with a grin. "Finally, I get to have you on MY terms. No more having to be gentle and respectful. In a way I'm almost sorry that you have this inhibitor collar on. I've often wondered whether my superior martial arts would be a match for your powers."

"Take it off me and let's find out," the Zumerian dared.

"I'm not that stupid," the Virillian Adonis smirked.

Ishtar struggled at first, but quickly realized that it was useless. With the inhibitor in place, he was much stronger than she was. For a moment the captive Zumerian felt a helpless dread ripple through her body as he threw her down on the cushions and reached for her bikinis, tugging the front of them open just enough to peek down at her vulnerable slit. She squirmed helplessly on her back as he leaned her over, his powerful hands sliding over the smooth, soft skin of her belly and continuing upward along her lean torso. She was breathing hard as he cupped the supple globe of her right breast, kneading her pliant flesh.

“How dare you take such a liberty!” she gasped, her pride demanding that she put up a show of resistance somehow.

“Ohhhh, I'm going to take a great deal more than that." Etan grunted, leaning back on his knees. Taking hold of both sides of her gold bikini panties, he yanked the garment downward, all the way down her long legs and tossed it aside.

Ishtar almost moaned out loud from an unwelcome quiver of arousal as her vagina was exposed, naked for all the men to see. As the Virillian positioned himself between her legs, she caught sight of his rock-hard erection and instantly her knees felt weak. Electric tingles of submissive longing seemed to spread upward along her abdomen and into her breasts, making her nipples stand up. Her face felt hot. Any other time she would be glad to accept such an offering.

"Such a tasty looking coosh," Etan said. "You know I've just had your daughter's. Let's see how the two of your compare..."

Ishtar couldn't suppress a throaty groan of dismay, not so much for herself but for Jennifer. She had gotten her daughter into this mess, after all. But from her supine position, she couldn't see the girl to know how she was faring. She felt her naked butt digging into the soft, satiny cushions as she tried to wriggle out of her captor's grasp. But thanks to the chain around her neck, there was nowhere she could go. Two of the other guards moved in closer, crouching down and one of them grabbing the chain so that she couldn't escape. There wasn't much more that she could do.

"Get your hands off me!" she cried suddenly, bringing up her knees to push Etan away. She feared that she was only delaying the inevitable, but delay it she would, for as long as possible.

"Hold still," the man demanded, with a chuckle, as he easily countered her feeble move. "Take what's coming to you, trollop!" He held her down, grabbing her silken knees and spreading her legs.

Meanwhile the Fox felt Khumma's dumpy hands grabbing hold of her hips, turning her around to face his obese body as his fingers tugged down her panties. Her stomach did a flip-flop as she realized he was probably planning to have his way with her now. She did not want to see what kind of penis this disgusting alien had! Just as this uncomfortable thought struck her, his slimy tongue did another circle around her breasts, sliding up the valley between her boobs. Its thick, muscular shaft rubbed repulsively against her hard, erect nipples while its bulbous tip nudged at her swanlike neck and jaw, making its way toward her mouth.

There was something odd about the tip of Khumma's tongue. It was smooth and sticky with some kind of musky-smelling slime, but the very tip didn't taper off like a human's tongue did. In fact, it was round and rather knob-like, and as it finally came into view out the corner of her eye...

"Oh GROSS!" The Fox couldn't help grimacing. The end of his tongue WAS his cock, and it had been touching her breasts the whole time, dribbling salty precum! Her stomach revolted.

"Thake it!" the pirate commanded.

"Oh no! Please!" Jennifer begged. "Please don't make me!"

"Thuck it!" her captor repeated. "Thuck it good!"

She had no choice. Hoping that her mother really did have a plan, the Fox's lips parted reluctantly as the tip of his organ slipped between them. Then the slippery thing was inside her mouth, rubbing against her lips and her own tongue, tasting horrible. The other two men held her arms as Khumma began pumping in and out of her mouth. At the same time, his hands were pushing aside the folds of her labia, one thick finger poking into her wet pussy, rubbing her love bud as it slid inside her coosh. Jennifer would have yelped in surprise if her mouth had not been full of the pirate's schlong. A wave of electricity tingled up and down her spine as her body responded involuntarily.

At the same time one of the guards holding her arms leaned over, his lipless mouth closing her vulnerable breast, sucking eagerly at her sensitive nipple. The girl let out a miserable moan, feeling peg-like teeth clench over her tender rosebud, while Khumma's male member continued to slither in between her lips, invading her throat, the motion driving her into a frenzy of unwanted arousal.

A few feet away, Ishtar was flat on her back among the cushions, trapped underneath Etan's strong, male body as he mounted her. The sudden thrust of his wonderful, ridged tool into her soft spot, at any other time, would have been most pleasurable. She could feel it now drilling deep inside her, impaling her on its shaft. She felt brawny arms on their side of her, supporting his weight as he fucked her brains out, his mouth reaching down to suck her naked tits with each stroke.

"Nnnnnngh," the Zumerian moaned, lying back and giving in to the ecstasy. Pride was one thing, but when you had no choice in the matter, you might as well go with the flow and make the best of it. In any case, her time for retribution would surely come soon enough. She tried to arch her hips upwards against the tension of his thrusts, meeting him and pushing back while her vagina clenched around his rod.

"Yeah, oh yeah," Etan grunted, pounding away like a machine. Ishtar's sleek, sexy body trembled helplessly underneath him, her pulse pounding in her ears as a surge of sexual energy seemed to shoot through her like an explosion. "Ohgods!" she gasped, as her climax came. A second later, she felt a gush of hot wetness as Etan pulled out and ejaculated, spewing a pool of thick semen onto her belly.

"Oh yeah," he groaned again, looking down at her, gasping for breath as he propped himself over her, on his muscular arms.

Ishtar, looking up into his eyes, caught her own breath. "Tammuz?" she snapped irritably. "Aren't you ready yet?"

The B-Nine droid snapped to attention. "Ready, mistress," he said, although the intonation of his voice sounded very different, much warmer and sexier. "I apologize that it took so long. There were four hundred and forty billion separate combinations, and--"

"Stop apologizing and do it!"

"Of course, mistress."

There was a short buzz, followed by a click, as Ishtar's inhibitor collar snapped open and fell off. Etan's eyes popped open, aghast.

"That feels so much better," the Zumerian beauty said, as she brought up her alluring legs, planted her feet on his chest, and kicked him off of her. Ishtar leaped up to full height, gracefully spreading her arms out to either side as her sapphire blue body suit and ankle boots reappeared around her lovely form. "You boys are in so much trouble," she announced to the room.


***


Chapter 8 –


"Oh Hell, oh fuck," Khumma muttered, reeling his tongue back in. "Guards! Nail her!"

The two guards which had been helping to hold Ishtar down for Etan to ravish immediately jumped the beautiful Zumerian, trying to wrap the chain around her. She twisted out of their grasp and spun like a whirlwind, dropping one with a lateral kick and flipping the other halfway across the room. By that time the two guarding the doorway had drawn weapons and opened fire. Laser beams zagged across the hall, deflecting off Ishtar's invisible force shield and ricocheting off the wall, sending everyone else in the room diving flat on the floor. The Zumerian charged at the guards, instead, taking a running leap and spinning through the air even as they desperately kept on shooting at her, right up until the moment her lissome, sapphire-clad body slammed into them like a beautiful missile, knocking them out.

Among the bewildered group huddling face-down among the cushions, the Fox was the first to recover. Although her head was still buzzing with sexual euphoria, she managed to scuttle like a crab over the fat, bloated body of Khumma before he could gather his wits enough to stop her. Trailing the chain that was still attached to her collar, the spunky girl looped it around his fat neck and dove behind him.

"Grab the girl, fools!" the pirate shouted. "Stop her before shurk--!" His shouts were cut off as Jennifer planted her bare foot in his elephantine back and drew the chain tight like a garrotte.

"Don't come any closer, boys!" the Fox said grimly, holding the chain taut as Khumma's pudgy arms flailed helplessly in her grasp. "I may not be strong enough to break his neck, but I think I can strangle him. Drop your guns and step back." The two guards paused hesitantly, and then they did as she asked. B-Nine picked up their guns and covered them.

That left only Etan, who was just now getting slowly to his feet with his eyes fixed on Ishtar. "I guess we get to find out if you can take me after all," he said, grinning with confidence as he circled her.

"I guess we do," the Zumerian said nonchalantly.

Etan lunged forward with a flurry of martial arts punches, which Ishtar was able to block with her forearms. The two opponents weaved back and forth, striking and parrying, until Ishtar lashed out with a kick. Etan caught her silken ankle and twisted her gorgeous gam as her lean body spun gracefully in the air, smacking him in the neck with her other foot and forcing him to let go of her. The Virillian recovered instantly, still grinning.

He really is good. the Fox thought with alarm, wiggling into her own clothes which B-Nine had handed her. What if he actually defeats her? The girl yanked her briefs into place and slipped into her halter top, grateful to be covered up again. But without her bracelets, she wouldn't be of much use. Tugging her gloves on, she snatched up one of the guards' laser pistols, wondering how fast she could figure out how to use it.

No sooner had she done so than Ishtar misjudged a punch, allowing Etan to grab her slender wrist and jerk her sleek, alluring body into his clutches, seizing her from behind in a choke hold. Jennifer gasped in dismay as the Virillian applied just enough pressure to the nerves in her neck to keep the beautiful Zumerian helpless, while groping her marvelous pliant breasts with his free hand. "I guess that's game and match," he hissed in her ear. "Tell your little girl to surrender and I won't hurt you."

"How... much..." Ishtar gasped, her body trembling a little as she felt his hard erection rubbing against her pert, round bottom, "is that promise... worth?"

"It becomes less so by the second," he answered, running his tongue up the side of her face.

Ishtar suddenly jerked her legs upward, her lithe, athletic body twisting out of his grasp as she reversed the hold on him and threw him across the table. "If it's all the same to you," she said smugly as he slid to the floor stunned, "I think we'll pass."

"Mother! Are you all right?" the Fox gasped, rushing into her arms.

"I'm fine, sweetheart," Ishtar said, giving her a hug.

"I knew you must have had some kind of plan," Jennifer said. "But what exactly did you do?"

"I didn't do anything," her mother explained. "It was my ship, Tammuz, who rescued us. When B-Nine made that remark about being programmed as a functional service droid, I realized that Tammuz had infiltrated his mainframe and was searching for the electronic key code to my collar. Then it was just a matter of stalling for time. Although," she added, giving the droid a cold look, "it seems to me that he took an unnecessarily long time about it."

"You looked as though you were enjoying yourself, mistress," the droid said, in Tammuz's sultry voice.


***


Upstairs in the laboratory, oblivious to all this, Ereshkigal and Lagam were still hard at work. The dark-haired woman ignored the intermittent sparks coming from the protesting electronics, forced into configurations they hadn't been designed for, while the humanoid scientist sweated, expecting the whole apparatus to explode at any second.

"Something is happening," Lagam said tentatively. "I think... mistress, I think you've--"

He was silenced by a pencil thin beam of pure blue light which shot out of the bracelets of Ishtar, drilling him straight through. His body instantly vanished in a wisp of vapor, his clothing dropping to the floor as Ereshkigal frantically worked at redirecting the disintegration beam toward the magnetic bottle. The power converters whined in protest at the overload.

"I think I've done it," she grinned, as the entire building seemed to tremble and vibrate to its very foundations.


***


The shaking of the building was also felt downstairs in the hall. Ishtar's cheeks turned a little pale as she rushed to a window which was screened by a polarizing filter. She hit the control so that she could see out.

The sand dunes outside were shifting and sliding as something long buried slowly thrust its way upward. First a long, black spine, and then a rounded back became visible, flanked by broad wings. A beak-like prow burst into view as the ship struggled to shake itself free, sand spilling off its flanks. It looked like a black steel dragon, seeing the light of day for the first time in hundreds of years.

"Is that Dagon?" the Fox whispered.

"Jennifer, Tammuz," Ishtar said urgently, "get to the brig and release the prisoners you'll find there. Evacuate them to the ship."

"I'm coming with you, mother," the Fox said, still holding the laser pistol. "They're my bracelets."

The two women raced down the corridor and up the winding ramp that led to the laboratory, while the floor quivered and danced underneath them as though in an earthquake. The walls and ceiling cracked, dumping debris all around them. They found the door to the lab closed and sealed, but that only delayed them a few moments while they smashed it open.

A lurid blue glow lit up the entire laboratory, caused by the disintegration beam streaming from the bracelets of Ishtar, thicker than Jennifer had ever seen it, into the swirling ball of energy that hung suspended inside the huge magnetic bottle. Ereshkigal smiled at them across the machinery. "You're too late, sister," she smirked. "Dagon rises!" Behind her the air shimmered as a glowing rectangular doorway opened in space itself.

"No, Eresh!" Ishtar cried. "Please don't do this!"

Immediately the rectangular doorway distorted into a whirling circle, twisting into an eye-crossing pattern. All the air in the room rushed toward the aperture as if it were an opening into a solid vacuum. The force of the suction whisked Ereshkigal off her feet, fluttering her clothes as she desperately grabbed hold of the console with both hands to keep herself from being swept away.

The Fox and Ishtar, further away, still had to anchor themselves firmly to keep from being drawn into the swirling vortex. The laser pistol Jennifer was holding got sucked into it and disappeared. "What's happening?" the girl shouted over the howling wind.

"She tried to open a quantum doorway to her ship," Ishtar shouted back, her long brunette tresses whipping around her face. "But this infernal machine is causing a five-fold subspace rupture. Eresh! Shut it off!"

The dark-haired beauty's face looked terrified, but stubbornly she shook her head. "No! I can't! I won't!" The very movement caused her to slip, sliding a few inches before she got another hold.

The machinery all around them was throbbing and groaning like a tortured dinosaur, while the entire building continued to tremble and shudder. "I'll try to shut off the Rod," Jennifer said, passing her way carefully hand over hand toward the section of the apparatus where the bracelets of Ishtar lay trapped inside the energy field. There was a tricky moment when the girl had to make a jump across a gap, clutching tightly to a stainless steel rail. Then she paused uncertainly. The bracelets were glowing like a pair of little blue stars.

Meanwhile, Ishtar was crawling straight over the console itself, bracing her long, lean body against the shrieking hurricane force wind blowing into the vortex. "Eresh! Give me your hand!" she shouted, hooking her alluring legs firmly around the console and reaching out with her right hand.

Ereshkigal grimaced at the brunette in dismay. As humiliating as it was to be rescued from her own folly by her sister, it seemed that she didn't have much choice. Cautiously she disengaged her right hand, one finger at a time, and made a desperate lunge in the face of the tempest. Ishtar caught her hand, wrist to wrist, holding steady...

At that moment, Ishtar's legs slipped! Her lithe, athletic form skittered sideways over the console and came to rest, hanging on frantically by her left hand, side by side with Ereshkigal. The two sisters clutched at one another's bodies, struggling to maintain their hold on the console and on one another.

The Fox took a deep breath and took the plunge, sliding her wrists through the energy field and into the bracelets, feeling them lock once more into place. Instantly she felt overwhelmed by the power flowing through the artifacts. The disintegration beam was open wide, violently ripping apart atoms and molecules, converting them into energy and feeding it into the machine. Jennifer had never felt such power before. She felt so tiny and insignificant compared to that, she had no idea how to even begin getting control over it. "Come on," she muttered to herself, her brown eyes narrowing in concentration. "You can do this..."

At the same time, something strange was happening to Ishtar and Ereshkigal. This close to the subspace rupture, they were feeling the effects of time displacement. Eresh first felt it, bumping against her sister's sensuous, curvy frame. She glanced over at Ishtar, bemusedly watching the brunette grow more youthful by the second. Forty... thirty... twenty... her hair grew shorter, her face softer and rounder, her hips narrower and her body smaller even while the silky fabric of her sapphire blue body stocking shrank around her skin to keep pace with it. She whizzed through her teens in seconds.

"What's happened to your boobs?" Eresh laughed, grinning at her sister's flat, prepubescent chest. She looked about ten years old and still growing younger.

"What's happened to yours?" Ishtar squeaked, watching Eresh's skimpy black skirt go flying into the void and her vest, now much too big for her, flap in the hurricane wind. Eresh looked down at herself appalled as her much weaker fingers slipped off the console.

"JENNIFER! HURRY!" Ishtar screamed, feeling her sister's hand slide through her grasp.

The Fox bent the entire effort of her mind toward shutting off the disintegration beam. The ray narrowed down to a pencil, then a needle, then a micron... WHAM!!!!! There was something like a soundless explosion, a feeling of concussion, and suddenly the vortex closed with a snap. The pressure of the wind was noticeable by its sudden absence.

The lab was still and silent except for the tick of machinery as it slowly cooled down. Jennifer found that she didn't have to hold onto the console any more. Hurriedly she ran around to Ishtar, now returned to her normal age, lying in a half-faint on the floor. Ereshkigal was gone.

Outside, the black ship Dagon, with no more power being beamed to it, lost its struggle with the sand and fell back into the dunes. The dragon sank into the sands, buried once more.


***


Epilogue –


Kana and Lutris, once more in their white shorts and one-shoulder tops, were trying to act busy, bustling around the command center of Ishtar's ship even though the ship was fully capable of seeing to itself without any supervision. "Message coming in from Commander Ninkhursag," Lutris said, even as the image of an aristocratic, dark-skinned woman appeared on the main screen, wearing a dark gold uniform and a collar seemingly studded with stars.

"Thank you," said Ishtar patiently. She rose from her contoured command chair and made a slight bow toward the woman on screen. "Hail and long life to you, Commander Ninkhursag."

"Hail and long life, Commander Ishtar," the woman on the screen replied, her face fixed in a solemn expression. "This is most disturbing news you have given us. Ereshkigal is back?"

"I'm afraid so," the brunette said. "We did manage to prevent her from resurrecting Dagon. He is safely buried in the sands once again, drained of power. But what disturbs me more is the Council's decision to destroy her memory module. Why was this decision made without consulting me?"

"Because we knew how much you loved your sister, in spite of everything she has done," the dark-skinned woman replied. Then her expression softened. "Is there no sign of her?"

"Not a trace," Ishtar said dully. "Drawn into the vortex as she was, she could have ended up anywhere in the galaxy, or even another dimension. If she is even alive."

"We grieve with you," Ninkhursag said. "We take it that you have prisoners to be delivered for judgment, do you not? Bring them home. You have earned a rest."

"It will be as you command," Ishtar said, with another slight bow. The screen went blank and returned to displaying the stars whizzing past. As Ishtar turned to be seated again, she caught sight of the Fox, standing at the rear of the cabin. "What are you doing up here, Jennifer?" she asked, smiling. "You're not getting tired of Apar and Tesh, are you?"

The girl let out a deep sigh, folding her arms across her lovely chest. "They are becoming a little tiresome, now that you mention it. They just now tried to get me into a game of Strip Twister, whatever that is."

Lutris and Kana exchanged bright looks. "Commander," Kana volunteered, "we would be glad to see to the men's needs." Ishtar nodded and the two girls scurried off, looking excited.

"Did you hear?" Ishtar said, snaking her arm warmly around her daughter's slender shoulders. "We're going home. You're going to love Zumeria! It's the most perfect place in the universe!"

"Mother..." Jennifer said hesitantly, "as wonderful as that sounds, and as much as I like being with you..."

"You're ready to go back to Earth?" Ishtar said shrewdly.

"It's my home, mother," the girl said. "I miss Martin, especially after all this."

"I can't say that I'm surprised. I understand, sweetheart." For a moment the two of the stood, just watching the stars slip past on the main view screen. "One of these days, maybe we'll be able to spend some time together without all these annoying distractions."

>>>THE END>>>

By Centurion

[DrDominator9]

Very nice chapter with lots of fight action, fun sex scenes and a clearly written, interesting plot. My only nitpick is the fact that Etan pulls out during climax. Really didn't seem logical in the circumstances. Other than that though, I enjoyed the story very much.

[flirty_but_nice]

Thanks for the feedback, Dr. D.

Yeah, I felt this particular story was kind of just an indulgent release from the routine of things on Earth. I do like how Centurion seems to be angling things to explain Jennifer's increasingly casual attitude about sex, especially sex outside of marriage. Of course, I am biased toward having the Fox become much more sexually indulgent. <blush>