Star Lady
Chapter 1:
The Grantham Academy, Yorkshire, England, September 2118
"Class, class, let's come to attention please," the teacher called, waving his arms above his head. The buzz of conversation quieted and numerous sets of eyes turned in his direction, some more attentive than others.
"Well, then," he muttered. "I believe that we are starting today's history lesson with…Miss Mason, good of you to join us."
The holographic image of Gwen Mason blushed in embarrassment and averted her eyes briefly. "Sorry, Mr Molesley. I had chores this morning and lost track of time."
"That's quite all right," Molesley nodded patiently. "I'm glad that you're here. Will you be able to join us in person tomorrow?"
"Yes," Gwen smiled in relief and glanced around at her friends giving her teasing looks.
"Good. All right, class, I'm glad that all of you are here as today's history lesson will begin with a presentation by Mr Bates. Mr Bates, are you ready?" Molesley asked.
"Yes, Mr Molesley, I am," a stocky boy replied, stepping out from behind his workstation and nodding to the teacher.
"Very good. The floor is yours, sir," Molesley smiled in encouragement, sweeping his arm at his student in invitation and stepping down from the raised stage.
John Bates took a deep breath and strode forward, ignoring the smirks of his mates at the back of the classroom. When he walked up on to the platform, the floor below him lit up, changing from red to blue.
'Connected, Mr Bates,' the electronic voice chirped pleasantly.
Bates smiled nervously and touched his watch to load his presentation into the system. Immediately a loud orchestral symphony boomed through the speakers.
The class burst into surprised shouts and good-natured laughter.
"Sorry," Bates mumbled, tapping his watch to lower the volume.
"Steady, Mr Bates. Steady," Molesley called from just off to the side of the stage.
Bates nodded to the teacher and turned to face the class once again. The wall behind him morphed into a serene landscape of a vast green field stretching to rolling hills on the horizon beneath a clear blue sky. The background music floated in the air and the boy cleared his throat before beginning.
"The last 100 Years, by John Bates," he announced as the text of his speech scrolled across part of the screen.
"Woohoo! Go on, Johnny! Get in there!" his friends cheered and applauded from the back of the classroom.
"Quiet, quiet!" Molesley ordered, though he smiled all the same. "Go on, Mr Bates."
Bates smiled and looked at his notes on the small screen next to him before continuing. While he spoke, the words continued to crawl up one side of the wall behind him and across the screens of all the students. The landscape changed as he went, from an English countryside to the bright lights of London, from the waters of the Atlantic to the stars of outer space. His voice boomed as he gained confidence, the smiles of his classmates spurring him on.
"In 2018, the world was at what was believed to be a technological pinnacle. Even though people were still heavily dependent on the Earth's natural resources, particularly oil, water and clean air, great advancements were made in other areas, particularly the development of computers and artificial intelligence and the use of such in all parts of life. People were living longer, working more efficiently and productively, and making greater progress than at any other time in history."
Molesley made notes on his tablet as the presentation continued.
"There were major problems, however," Bates continued, the scenes behind him changing to a raging hurricane, a protest march and missiles firing into the grey sky. "Global terrorism, natural disasters and civil unrest occurred across the planet. The ability of technology to connect people as never before also enabled the spread of information instantaneously. Different interest groups were able to have a voice in politics; rebels and insurgents could organize and carry out coordinated attacks; and more than ever the people were aware of the divisions between them – wealth, status, gender and race. Earthquakes, tsunamis and hurricanes wiped out entire communities. Climate change was considered a pressing threat as the world tried to cope with the way that humans were devouring the planet."
The music suddenly changed and instead of Bates' presentation playing behind him, the highlights of the weekend football match between Manchester United and Chelsea filled the wall.
"What the?" Bates exclaimed in horror.
"Mr Grey!" Molesley snapped. The teacher swiped his finger across his tablet and the scene returned to Bates' presentation. "That will be ten points from your House for hacking, sir."
Larry Grey snickered for a moment before blinking at Bates' furious stare. "Sorry, John," he stammered.
Bates frowned and fiddled with his watch, changing the scene behind him to a large metal and glass telescope floating in space.
"It was at this time that scientists were able to see stars in far-off galaxies through space telescopes and detect radio waves and other signals from further away than ever. We know now what those signals were, but back then they confused everyone."
The class smiled and laughed at the folly of their ancestors.
The scene shifted to a sleek spacecraft filling the sky above the Pyramids in what was then known as Egypt.
"In July of 2018, the Tenshi arrived on Earth. They had been observing the progress of humankind for thousands of years and deemed that we had finally achieved sufficient development to be worthy of contact when we were able to detect their beacon signals and light from their star systems. Their spacecraft were massive, larger than even the biggest tanker ships built by humans at the time. There was great resistance to these aliens in the beginning, but when it became obvious that their technology was vastly superior and they were not hostile, the nations of the world entered into talks with them, and that changed the course of the world forever."
Molesley smiled as images of hospitals, bionic implants, spacecraft, crops and gleaming towers played all around the classroom.
"The Tenshi taught humankind technology that was rudimentary to their race, but which was beyond our wildest imaginations back then. Everything that we believed about medicine, the environment, virtual reality, space travel and even time itself changed. Diseases that were considered incurable were solved. Climate change stopped being detrimental and became controllable. The need to rely on the Earth's natural resources settled down. In return, the Tenshi harvested greenhouse gases from the Earth's atmosphere, which they used to sustain life on their own planet. The specific molecular composition of methane, nitrogen and carbon dioxide here was most compatible with the Tenshi biology and made Earth one of their many colony worlds. Their presence here was limited once interstellar communication was established and we continue to enjoy an alliance with them today."
The class stared indifferently at the images of the Tenshi. Some of the students shook their heads in disbelief that the aliens were ever considered scary or strange.
"Tenshi technology allowed humans to travel beyond our own solar system for the first time in 2035. Spaceships capable of ultra-lightspeed travel enabled us to send thousands of people at a time across the Milky Way," Bates noted. "Over the next 70 years, we discovered other worlds with other races. Some became friendly to us due to our association with the Tenshi. Others refused to treat with us, or even acknowledge us as we were considered inferior. We are very young compared to other races in the universe and many see us as being insignificant and primitive, like bugs who have no real intelligence."
The students scoffed and huffed at that.
"Uh, right, so…" Bates mumbled, losing his place in the presentation. "Yeah, umm, so today we have a place in the universe developed over the past 100 years. There are bases orbiting all the planets in the solar system and colonies on other hospitable worlds in other systems. There have been many failures, too. Thousands died during the early years when we sent pioneers to distant systems. We now have the Royal Star Navy protecting British interests in space working together with the United Nations. While Earth remains home and the base of humankind, we now count over 10 million people living beyond our planet."
"10 million, Mr Bates?" Molesley questioned. "Are you quite certain?"
Bates flushed at the question and checked his notes. "Sorry, sir. 10 million over the past year, bringing the total to over 100 million."
"That sounds better, yes," Molesley replied.
Bates finished off his presentation and went back to his workstation to polite applause from his classmates. Molesley took the stage again and the lights of the classroom came back on.
"Well done, Mr Bates," the teacher nodded. "It's important to remember our history, everyone. Even though we're talking about a time 100 years in the past, I can assure you that when the Tenshi first arrived, there was great wonder and awe, as well as fear. There was a time when sending a satellite into orbit was considered a tremendous achievement, and we had but one space station around the Earth which could house six people."
The class laughed incredulously.
Molesley waved for silence. "Yes, yes, it makes very little sense to you now, but that only shows just how far we have all come in the past century. Now, on to maths."
A collective groan rang out across the class as the students swiped their fingers across the monitors on their workstations and the wall behind Molesley displayed last night's homework.
HMS Andromeda, Mothership Class Spacecraft, Milky Way Galaxy, December 2118
William Mason swallowed nervously, watching the lights of the lift blink as he neared the command bridge. His pulse was racing, his palms sweaty. Normally he could send messages to the bridge without leaving his post, but this one was deemed classified and required personal delivery. He didn't mind that so much. Stretching his legs a bit was a welcome respite. The only problem was that he preferred a jaunt around his own deck or even a run at the gym over having to speak to the Captain.
He prayed she was in a good mood.
The lift doors chimed announcing his arrival and the frenetic din of the bridge greeted his ears when they opened. Uniformed officers were manning their posts, speaking to their staff and examining displays and devices. The viewscreen took up the entire far wall, now filled with a menacing looking spaceship. His breath caught, even though he knew the enemy was still quite far away.
"William, over here, please," a voice rang out. He turned and nodded to a petite woman with blonde hair tied back in a bun behind her head. Making his way over to her, he bowed and handed her the tablet he carried all the way here.
"Long distance scan readings, Anna," he announced.
Anna took one look at the display before nodding and turning away from him. She took the short steps up to the command centre and inserted the tablet into the computer console. The readings and data lit up the display on the table of the command centre. A tall woman with dark brown hair braided down her back and sharp piercing eyes stared at the information for several seconds. When she was finished, she turned her head and looked down at William, arching her eyebrow at him in question. He thought he might be vaporized on the spot by those eyes.
"Mr Mason, you seem to be missing the weapon scan," the Captain noted.
"Yes, ma'am," William answered shakily. "The energy levels are different from anything we've seen before. They don't match any configuration in the database, Captain."
Lady Mary Crawley, acting Captain of the ship, frowned at his answer. She leaned forward on and rested her hands on the table and nodded towards the spaceship on the viewscreen.
"Mr Mason, we are going to be facing whatever that ship is approximately fifteen minutes, which gives you five minutes to find out what weapon systems we are going to be up against. Do you understand?" Mary demanded.
William blinked. "Yes, ma'am."
"I want your best answer in four and a half minutes, Mr Mason," Mary ordered. "And remain here on the bridge in case I don't like what you have to say."
"Yes, ma'am," William replied, scrambling for his seat at the scanning station. He hated working on the bridge, truth be told, but if he only had four minutes to get the Captain her answer, he didn't want to waste precious seconds going back down to his department.
"Captain," Anna said softly, coming over to Mary's side as they both retook their seats.
"Yes?" Mary asked impatiently, looking over at her second-in-command.
Anna gave her a pointed look and leaned her head towards William's retreating form.
Mary rolled her eyes. "Mr Mason," she called.
William spun around and stared at her with wide eyes. "Yes, ma'am?"
"Good work," Mary nodded.
"Thank you, ma'am," William swallowed before heading for his chair.
"That wasn't so hard, was it?" Anna teased, smirking over at the Captain.
"No, it wasn't," Mary admitted. "Have Alex and his squadron at the ready."
"Yes, ma'am," Anna nodded and reached for the tablet on the side of her chair.
"Next shot wins, yeah?" Tom stated, tossing the basketball to his opponent.
"Why would I agree to that? You're down four," Alex smirked, palming the ball and holding it above his head.
"Let's just wrap it up. We're supposed to be on alert status. Next shot wins," Tom repeated.
"All right, what are we playing for?" Alex asked, dribbling the ball slowly.
"Lunch," Tom replied.
Alex frowned. "You already owe me three lunches."
"I owe you two lunches," Tom corrected him. "You're forgetting about the sushi two days ago."
Alex frowned again. "Didn't Sybil pay for that?"
"Yeah, so what?" Tom shrugged. "It counts."
"How does lunch paid for by your wife count as you giving me one of the lunches that you owe me?" Alex questioned.
"How does it not?" Tom whinged. "You ate, didn't you?"
"Not nearly as much as I would have if I had known it was counting towards your total," Alex retorted.
"Too late. You should have asked for a clarification at the time," Tom smirked.
Alex grunted and took a jab step towards the basket before backing up. "All right, you fucking cheater. You owe me two lunches, yeah?"
"Yeah," Tom nodded, lunging forward and swiping at the ball in Alex's hands.
Alex turned away and kept the ball out of Tom's reach. He dribbled once, twice, then lifted off the floor and floated for a moment before shooting the ball over Tom's outstretched hand.
"That's three lunches," Alex remarked as the ball dropped through the next twenty feet away and Tom's shoulders slumped. "And you're paying for all of them whether Sybil is there or not."
Tom sighed and shook his head before turning and slapping hands with Alex. "Nice shot."
"Thanks," Alex smiled. "You are getting better at this, really."
"Us Irish don't play basketball, you know," Tom grumbled as they walked over to the bench and grabbed their water bottles and towels.
"Canadians are supposed to be good at hockey and Chinese at maths. Basketball isn't in my genes, either," Alex replied easily. "Any more excuses?"
Tom laughed and took a swig of water. "I'm just glad you're on my team for the tournament next week. I'm expecting you to win MVP, you know. If I have to listen to those fuckers in Security brag about last year one more time, I'm going to lose it."
"They had an unfair advantage," Alex noted. "Matthew wasn't playing."
Tom nodded. "Well, he won't be around to help us this year, either."
"Mr Lewis, report please," Anna called, her face appearing on the display on the wall.
"Commander Smith," Alex replied, wiping his face with the towel.
"I need you and Mr Branson suited up with the rest of your squadron in two minutes, Lieutenant Commander," Anna instructed. "We're about to drop out of ultra-lightspeed and there's a potentially hostile ship encroaching on UN space."
"Yes, Commander," Alex nodded. Anna's image disappeared.
"Commander Smith is looking hot these days," Tom noted. "I wish Sybil would tie her hair back like that more often."
"I'll tell Sybil that you said that right when I tell her that you're passing off the lunch she paid for as going towards our bets," Alex joked, heading for the locker room.
"You wouldn't! Come on, Alex, don't be a fucking ass," Tom whinged, following after him.
"This is Her Majesty's Ship Andromeda of the Royal Star Navy," Mary said crisply, standing before the command centre and staring at the viewscreen. "You are in United Nations space and your Identity Transponder is not being detected. State your name and your business."
Mary's call was met by silence.
"Anything, William?" Anna asked, frowning at the screen.
"They have some sort of stealth cover on that ship," William replied, frowning at his display. "The energy levels and heat signatures are reading as if it's a cargo freighter, but it's way too big to be that, plus I can see what look like canon banks on the outer hull."
"Smugglers?" Anna suggested, looking at Mary.
"Why would they be in our space? This isn't a route to anywhere noteworthy," Mary questioned. "Have we sent the usual warnings?"
"All warnings sent in all known languages and frequencies, ma'am," the communications officer confirmed.
"If they aren't responding and it doesn't appear as if their ship is disabled, our orders are to escort them to unclaimed space," Anna advised.
Mary frowned. "I don't like this, not to mention it's going to put us off schedule for arrival at Jocasta."
"They aren't moving, thought their engines are on, Captain, as far as we can tell," William reported.
"Send out Alex's squadron," Mary ordered. "Tell them to be careful."
"Yes, Captain," Anna confirmed, keying in the order on her tablet.
Alex strapped in, the pilot seat immediately reclining and tilting so that he was comfortably on his back. The display screens moved into place all around him and he slipped his gloved hands into the control sleeves. The facemask of his helmet slid down and clicked shut, cool air filling his senses.
'Hangar door is open.'
"Launch fighters," Alex commanded.
The attack craft powered up their engines and lifted off the metal floor of the hangar bay. They leapt forward and flew out into the darkness of space in pairs, quickly accelerating to cruising velocity and coming around towards the foreign vessel.
"Falcon-1 is outbound. All fighters report in," Alex ordered.
"Falcon-2 is outbound."
"Falcon-3 is outbound."
"Falcon-4 is outbound."
All twenty fighters reported in and came into a wide formation of four lines of five. Alex narrowed his eyes and focused on the spaceship looming before them. He couldn't make out any windows or ports, though there were plenty of seams that could be hangar doors or shields for weapons.
"I'm not reading anything, but that's a resistor canon on the top left there," Tom noted. "See it?"
"I've got it. There's another bank on the bottom near the wing," Alex replied. "Let's take a closer look."
He commanded ten of his squadron to take up flanking positions around the ship and sent another six to the rear. Taking Tom and two other wingers, he moved his fighter around the outside and circled the ship.
"Command, this is Falcon-1. Are you seeing these images?" Alex asked.
"Acknowledged, Falcon-1," Anna answered from the bridge. "Still no reply on comms. Proceed with caution."
"Yes, ma'am," Alex nodded. "We'll get full diagnostics and get them moving out of here shortly."
Alex led Tom and the two other fighters over the top of the ship and around past the large engines on the back. The cameras and scanners onboard the fighters analyzed the craft, recording dimensions, energy readings and a view of the inside. The ship was occupied and there appeared to be cargo onboard, but as to what planet or race the ship was from, no one could tell.
"We'll drop underneath for our last pass and come out in front to see if we can't encourage the thing to move," Alex stated. "Falcon-10 through Falcon-15, prepare to engage once we're clear."
Alex brought his fighter beneath the ship. Peering up at the sleek underbelly, he noted several sinister looking gun pods pointed outwards.
"This doesn't look like a cargo freighter to me," Tom said warily.
As they came around to the front of the ship, a crack of light appeared as a large hangar door slid open.
"Command, we have contact," Alex advised.
"Acknowledged, Falcon-1. Are they friendly?" Anna asked.
A wave of ships dropped out of the hangar and Alex's displays lit up red as a volley of missiles flew out towards them.
"Negative, Command!" Alex snapped before punching his engines to full throttle and taking evasive manoeuvres.
The canons on the outside of the ship came to life and aimed at the British fighters on its flanks. Taken by surprise, three of the squadron were downed before they had a chance to react.
"Jesus," Mary muttered, her teeth clenching at the scene before her. "Take out those canons!"
"Missiles locked and ready, Captain!" Weapons Control announced.
Mary almost punched the display in front of her in her haste to fire. She watched holding her breath as the rockets flew through space towards their target. Just before they hit, a bank of guns on the enemy ship opened fire and took out them out in a hail of lasers.
"Partial hit on one, the rest didn't get through, Captain," Weapons Control reported.
"Contact Base and tell them we're engaged with an unknown hostile in this sector," Mary ordered. "Send the telemetry information on those weapons to our fighters and ready another squadron for launch."
The bridge crew confirmed her orders and went about their assignments. Mary stared at the enemy craft on her screen. It wasn't quite as big as her own ship, but she hadn't seen this type of vessel before. Whenever she encountered a new craft she was apprehensive. Earth technology was inferior to several other races in the galaxy and though she trusted in the skill of her pilots and her ship was the most advanced in the fleet, she never knew if an alien weapon was capable of cleaving them in two with a single shot or not.
"Base is sending reinforcements," Anna relayed. "Arrival in twenty minutes."
"Tell Alex we're sending more fighters and tell him to stay alive for another twenty minutes," Mary barked. "And keep at those canons! Surely, they can't intercept every missile we've got!"
Alex grunted and focused on the enemy fighter on his display. Its speed was a touch faster than what he could manage and it was ridiculously agile. He hadn't detected any shields on the other ones he's destroyed so far, but the waves seemed to keep coming from the ship, outnumbering his squadron nearly three-to-one, even with the additional reinforcements sent out by Mary.
"Come on, you little bitch, come on," he muttered, weaving his way through the skirmish all around him to stay on his target. He had to be mindful of his other displays to see if any enemy fighters were creeping up on him. At this speed, he had but seconds to react to any new threat and he had to trust that if it was hard enough for him to tail his quarry, it would be just as difficult for anyone else to zero in on him.
The targeting tracker zipped around the screen, unable to lock on fully. He followed the enemy ship diligently, trying to figure out the pilot's tendencies and hints, anything he could use to corner him. Battling in space was always a fierce challenge. Seldom did he encounter another fighter who had similar technology to his own. Sometimes if he was lucky, he was matched up with a less advanced craft. Most of the time it was like his current predicament, pushed to the edge just to keep up.
Everyone had habits, though, regardless of race. Alien and human pilots alike relied on information, be it stimuli from the environment or data gathered on an opponent. When put in a given situation, everyone reacted differently, but usually in a predictable way. It was only a matter of taking enough time to learn an opponent and figuring out what he would do. In battle, that meant seconds to process everything and come up with a strategy, knowing full well that any mistake might lead to being destroyed.
"Bring it right, bring it right, that's it," Alex spat, readying his missiles. "Got you."
He pulled the trigger and blasted a rocket to a point ahead in his enemy's trajectory. Before the other ship pitched back to evade, Alex activated his guns and brought his targeting tracker back left.
A fiery bolt of lasers erupted from his canons and the enemy fighter had no time to avoid it. The wing shredded in the blast and the craft spun downwards out of control. Alex peeled off. It didn't matter if the enemy was dead or just disabled. He had more hunting to do.
"Tom, where are you?" Alex asked, scanning his displays to pick up his friend's fighter.
"Engaged in region six!" Tom shouted over the communication network.
"On my way," Alex replied, turning his fighter around and zipping off.
He found Tom in a compromising position with an enemy fighter chasing behind him. Taking a different route, he got ahead of the pair and spun back, meeting Tom head-on.
"Bring him to me," Alex ordered.
"He's all yours," Tom confirmed.
Tom dove sharply just as Alex accelerated. The enemy craft tried to follow Tom downwards and was unable to avoid the flurry of Alex's guns that rained blew it apart.
"Thanks," Tom called.
Before Alex could answer, another fighter came across Tom's flank and opened fire. Alex turned his fighter around but it was too late. Tom's craft exploded.
"Tom!" Alex shouted, watching the remains of the fighter drift off into space.
He scowled and made quick work of the enemy fighter before heading towards the back of the ship.
"All remaining fighters, this is Falcon-1," he said tightly. "Whoever isn't engaged form up on me and cover. We're going to take out those engines and disable this thing."
The other pilots answered in unison and he led six fighters along the top of the ship to the thrusters at the back. Some of them broke formation to distract chasing enemies and Alex took evasive manoeuvres when the ship's canons trained on him to stop him from reaching his target. He lost two of his escort and nearly spun out of control, but he managed to dive down beneath the flurry and take out a canon along the way. Diving as close to the turbines as he dared, he launched his full missile payload before banking right and sailing away, his wings singed by the return fire.
"Their propulsion systems are down and whatever stealth cover they had is failing," William said quickly. "We've got their transponder!"
Mary stared at the screen as 'Leviathan 17' appeared, along with the registration information for the enemy ship.
"It's a Hoarding Ship," Anna stated, the fear evident in her voice. "That's why they couldn't flee. They couldn't risk their cargo at ultra-lightspeed."
"Captain! Reinforcements are here! It's the Intrepid and the Iron Duke."
Mary watched as two Destoyer class spaceships appeared and came forward to surround the enemy ship.
"Lady Mary," a familiar voice called. "Draw your fighters back. We'll take it from here. Boarding parties are ready."
Mary shared an exasperated glance with Anna before replying.
"Acknowledged, Captain Foyle," Mary said tightly. "Good to see you."
"And you, Mary," came the friendly reply.
"Falcon and Hawk squadrons disengage and return to ship," Anna ordered.
"Acknowledged, Command," Alex answered.
Anna took a deep breath and stared at the viewscreen as the remaining fighters left the enemy ship and the two Destroyers closed in. The firepower of both craft included guns that could target the individual enemy ships and accordingly it was soon enough that the ship was left defenceless and open for boarding.
Alex blinked several times as the chair returned to an upright position and the displays lifted up and away from him. He unbuckled the restraints and removed the gloves and sensor harness before standing up. Raising his foot behind him, he stretched his quads and hamstrings briefly, getting his blood circulating again.
"Nice job. You ranked first in kills again."
He turned around and frowned wryly as Tom came up to him and slapped hands in congratulations.
"Thanks. Maybe you would have been up there if you hadn't been stupid enough to get your ship shot down," Alex retorted.
"I know, I know," Tom admitted, throwing up his hands in surrender. "My interface was wonky."
"Right," Alex said sarcastically. "Blame it on the virtual reality simulator. Real big of you."
"Hey, it's a fact that there's a delay in reaction time since we're plugged in here and the drones are out there," Tom shrugged, waving towards the virtual reality seats behind them.
"Would you rather have been out there in the drones?" Alex questioned. "Just because your wife is the Chief Medical Officer doesn't mean that she wants to have to patch you up for real, you know."
"Can you make me look good?" Tom asked. "Just tell her that I was taking on five of them at a time and I almost got them all, something like that."
"She'll see right through that, you know she will," Alex replied, exiting the hangar and walking down the hall.
They wore bodysuits when they were in the simulators, almost every pore covered with sensors so they could control the drone fighters remotely. When they got out of their harnesses, they couldn't wait to get their suits off. Tom had already changed back into his uniform. Alex preferred to undo the top and leave it hanging around his waist with a light tank top covering his chest. It wasn't a proper uniform, but then as Lieutenant Commander, there were few onboard that outranked him, or would care about his attire after a mission.
"Yeah, you're right. She's smart, that one," Tom smiled.
"Not in everything, I'd say," Alex joked.
"Fuck off, yeah?" Tom snarled, punching him lightly on the shoulder. "She married better than her sisters did, that's for sure."
"That's a bit unfair, don't you think?" Alex frowned.
"I'm just saying," Tom nodded.
They reached Alex's quarters and they slapped hands again.
"Thanks for before, mate, honestly," Tom nodded.
"Anytime," Alex replied sincerely before heading into his suite.
He groaned as he peeled his suit off and headed into the bathroom. The hot shower was soothing for his tired muscles. Even though he wasn't technically in the fighter during battles, sitting in the simulator was draining nonetheless. He went over everything in his mind as the water cascaded down upon him, from the moment that the fighter left the hangar to the time they returned. He didn't like that they had lost so many drones this time, even if they were heavily outnumbered.
Exiting the shower, he didn't bother with the dryer jets and just wrapped a towel around his waist. While he didn't have anything against technology, he preferred to air dry if he had enough time. Going over to the bar in the living room, he poured himself a glass of wine and went over to stare at the window, or the viewscreens that acted as the windows for his suite. The guns of the Iron Duke filled the picture, the Destroyer appearing intimidating and dangerous, even at rest. There would be teams scouring the enemy ship at this very moment, trying to find out what it was doing here. Alex knew that Hoarding Ships generally traded in stolen organs from numerous species, traveling through the sectors at below ultra-lightspeed to avoid detection and ensure that their precious cargo was not affected by the jumps. He was mildly interested but not overly so. He was a fighter more than an officer.
He didn't move or turn his head when he heard the front door open and light steps approach behind him.
"I see that you led in kills again," Anna noted, rubbing her hands together nervously as she looked at his bare back. "And you're not dressed appropriately."
"Uniform regulations are not enforced in one's private quarters, Commander Smith," he replied, sipping his wine before turning around to face her.
"Unless you are in the presence of a superior ranking officer, which you are, Lieutenant Commander Lewis," she retorted, crossing her arms over her front.
"Apologies, Commander," he nodded before reaching down and undoing the towel. It fell to the floor easily, leaving him stark naked. "Better?"
She pursed her lips and glared at him. Her eyes wandered down his body to find him stiff and aroused and she finally allowed a smile to fill her face when she looked back up at his bright eyes.
"You cocky fucker," she smirked, stepping towards him.
He smiled and hugged her. "I'm sorry if you were worried, my love."
"I wasn't worried," she lied. "Maybe a little after Tom's fighter was shot down."
"Yeah, he fucked up," he sighed. "They were fast, though. Never seen that type of craft before."
"The first findings from the boarding parties are that the ship is full of animal organs, but there's no record of where they're going and the crew are all robots with just basic command structures. That's why they didn't answer our communications and attacked you. They weren't programmed to talk their way through a situation. The Intrepid will escort it to an impound facility," she told him.
"Please tell me that we're not having a dinner with the crew from the Iron Duke," he pleaded.
"Tomorrow night," she nodded.
"Fuck," he growled.
"If you're so annoyed by it, imagine how Mary must feel," she replied.
He sighed. "Yeah, that's true. Tony will be all over her, I'm sure."
"She can handle him, but that doesn't mean she wants to," she agreed. "Anyway, that's tomorrow."
"Are you off-shift finally?" he asked.
"Mary gave me a break. The reports from the boarding parties won't be in for about six hours or so," she answered.
He eased back slightly and grinned at her. "Well, that means I get to eat with my beautiful wife for once."
She laughed. "You'll have to put some clothes on if we're going out."
She squealed in surprise as he picked her off the floor. Her hand stroked his face as he pressed a warm kiss to her lips.
"We're not going out," he said intently, carrying her to the bedroom. "And you need to take some clothes off for the type of meal I have in mind, Commander Smith."
"I'm Commander Smith out there," she drawled, licking his lips and sliding her tongue against his. "I'm Mrs Lewis when my husband fucks me in our home."
"Well, then, Mrs Lewis," he replied, laying her down on the bed and tearing her top off to expose her lace-covered breasts. "Your husband is hungry."
Downton Abbey, Yorkshire, England, May 1925
Mary sipped her wine and glanced around the opulent dining room, the guests all chattering away with their companions while the servants in their tuxedos and tails floated about with seamless precision. She loved everything about this dinner, from the fine china and polished silverware to the slinky dress she was wearing and the matching headband in her hair. So much had changed since the War years ago that it seemed it was a different era, a bolder and more carefree time.
Her sister, Edith, was laughing and chatting with Bertie Pelham, Marquess of Hexham. They made a rather boring-looking couple but Edith seemed quite happy. Their parents, Robert and Cora, Earl and Countess of Grantham, presided over it all, keeping the conversation moving and the servants in line. Some neighbours made up the numbers, as well as another particular couple.
She was here alone, herself. Her husband was in London doing something or other that she didn't truly care about. Coming to her family home alone was preferable to spending any time with him anyway. The couple seated across from her were almost as boring as Edith and Bertie. He was a lawyer and a distant cousin of hers, though she couldn't be bothered to remember exactly how they were related. He did well enough for himself, as his perfectly combed blond hair and expensive suit indicated. His wife was a cute thing with ginger hair and a wide-eyed innocence that could be grating at times. They didn't seem particularly well-matched. He was too smart for her and she was too nice for him.
"Lavinia," Mama smiled, turning to the innocent ginger who was too nice for her husband. "Isobel tells me that you're going to be helping out at the hospital?"
"Yes," Lavinia nodded. "I have so much free time while Matthew is at work that it seems only right that I try and fill it somehow. Mother was kind enough to suggest I do some work, contribute."
Mary barely stopped herself from rolling her eyes. The thought of this one changing bedpans was one thing, but to actually think she could make a difference working at the Village Hospital was laughable.
"What about you, Mary?" Matthew asked, looking across the table intently at her. "How do you fill your days while your husband is away?"
She kept her face placid and neutral as she considered his question. "Oh, there's plenty, Cousin Matthew. Women like me have more than enough to occupy us during the day. I choose clothes, pay calls, work for charity and do the Season, in addition to running my husband's household. I'm quite busy."
Edith smirked at her sister's answer.
"That does sound like quite a lot," Matthew agreed. "However, I would think a woman of your intelligence and resources would want to do even more, to make a difference in the world."
Mary arched her eyebrow, keeping her stare locked on his blue eyes. "My husband runs the largest newspapers in the country. I think I'm making quite a difference, actually."
"Those are your husband's papers, however, not yours," he stated.
She narrowed her eyes at him. "As his wife, it's my role to ensure that everything at home is running smoothly to allow him to devote himself to his businesses. I think that I play quite an important role, or do you believe that women who stay home and support their husbands are not actually making any difference in the world, Cousin Matthew?"
"No, that's not what I meant to imply," he struggled, his face flushing at her rebuke.
"It seems to me that you think I can fit some higher purpose into my already busy schedule," she pressed. "Or, you're suggesting that what I do now isn't as worthy of praise as volunteering at the hospital, for example. Tell me, if I was with child, would that give me a sufficient purpose in your view? Is that how you judge a woman's worth, Cousin? Either we are to work at a job which meets your criteria or we're to have babies. Is that it?"
He coughed and shook his head. "No, I don't believe that's true."
"I'm glad to hear it," she smirked. "Otherwise I would fear for dear Lavinia having to endure such a ridiculous attitude from her husband."
"Dessert, my Lady," the butler announced.
"Yes, bring it out straight away," Mama ordered, trying desperately to break the tension and spare Matthew further embarrassment.
Mary looked at the bookshelf with a bored expression. She had escaped to the library after the ladies had gone through, not wanting to endure a scolding from Mama or any teasing from Edith. The sparring with Matthew during dinner had excited her at first, but when she saw his petulant frown after being beaten so thoroughly, as well as the displeased looks from her parents, she became annoyed. The fact was that Matthew was Papa's heir and would one day inherit everything that her family had to offer. Even more, Lavinia would be Countess of Grantham, taking Mama's position, a place that Mary had always coveted for herself.
Lavinia was harmless and a sweet girl in truth, but Mary still despised her. She hated how ordinary she was, how simple and utterly lacking in ambition. She was being given all that Mary had strived for simply because she was Matthew's wife. It would have assuaged her ire a small bit if Lavinia was at least capable and competent of filling the role, but she was neither. She gave off the impression that she wanted nothing to do with it, even, which Mary found utterly reprehensible.
Her emotions boiled when she thought of Matthew. How dare he suggest that she wasn't doing anything of importance, that she ought to devote her intelligence to something else? The position she found herself in now was entirely his doing. He was the one who married Lavinia and allowed her to usurp Mary, to take away all that she wanted. If Mary wished to sit around eating bon-bons for the rest of her life, he had no right to object or comment. The colossal nerve and arrogance of that man drove her to madness.
"Why are you hiding in here?"
She turned and scowled as Matthew came into the library and closed the door behind him.
"I'm not hiding. Isn't it obvious? I'm here looking for something to read," she snapped, not trying at all to be polite.
"That is what libraries are used for, but why now so late in the evening? I would have thought you would be out there entertaining the neighbours," he commented, coming over to her side.
She refused to give up ground nor turn to face him, forcing him to speak to her profile instead. "There are plenty of others to do that. Your wife has it well in hand, I expect. She can dazzle them with more tales of all the lives she's going to save as a volunteer at the hospital."
"That's not fair and you know it isn't," he chided her, tilting his head to draw her attention.
"I don't care," she snarled, her eyes fiery as she sneered at him. "I stopped caring about what was fair ages ago."
"So you spit venom arbitrarily, even against those who have never wronged you for no other reason than your ambivalence towards life, is that it?" he growled. "That seems rather ugly of you, doesn't it, Mary?"
"Life is ugly," she declared coldly. "I know that better than most."
His eyes flashed and he paused before answering, his lips pursed in a thin line. "Life is only ugly if you allow the ugliness to rule you; if you refuse to see the good that's out there."
She laughed mirthlessly. "That sounds like such sentimental nonsense. Tell me, then, Cousin. What is so good about life? What is this beauty out there that you speak of?"
He stepped closer to her and her eyes widened in surprise. "There's plenty of beauty that I see, both out there and in here."
She swallowed as he moved in so close that she could feel his breath on her skin. "Stop it."
"Stop what?" he questioned, raising his fingers to her chin and angling her face towards him.
"You know what," she hissed. "Honeyed words won't work on me. Not anymore. Not after what you did."
"What about what we did last week?" he growled, kissing her cheek lightly. "What about what we did the week before that? I seem to recall that my words were quite effective on both occasions."
She shivered at the memories. "That was a mistake. Both times."
He chuckled darkly, turning her to face him. Her body seemed to move against her wishes, or perhaps it was taking the lead and giving into the inevitable because her mind was too jumbled to act.
"And the time before that?" he rasped, kissing her shoulder, then her jaw, moving over to the other side of her face and down to her neck. "And the time before that? Were they all mistakes as well?"
"Yes," she moaned, her eyelids fluttering closed and her head falling back as he closed his large hands around her arms and kept her in place. "Those times, too."
"Say it, Mary," he ordered. "Say it was a mistake when you let me fuck you."
A jolt of arousal shook her core. "It was a mistake…"
"When I fucked you?" he repeated.
"Yes. It…it was a mistake…all those times…I should never have…I never…" she muttered.
"You should never have let me fuck you," he said again, kissing her lips and moving to her neck before she could respond. "You should never have let me make you scream for me."
"Yes. I should never have allowed any of it," she gasped.
"Because now that you have, you can't stop," he said thickly. "You can't resist me. You won't resist me."
"Matthew!" she groaned, feeling his hand slip between them and move down her stomach to press against her centre through her thin dress.
"Tell me, Mary," he commanded. "Tell me what I want to hear."
"You're married," she pleaded. "So am I. This is wrong."
"I am, and you are, and it is. So very, very wrong," he smiled against her skin, his free hand moving down to grasp her bottom. "Say it."
"Oh God, Matthew," she moaned, pressing herself against his hand.
"Say it," he snarled.
"Fuck me," she begged. "Fuck me, please!"
"Why?" he asked lightly, a triumphant grin on his face.
"Please don't, don't make me say it, just do what you want," she sobbed, her entire body seeming to shake desperately in his hold.
He turned her to face the bookshelf and took her small gloved hands in his. He placed each of them on the shelf in front of her and she stared straight ahead, her breathing fast and ragged.
"Say it, Mary," he demanded, his chest warm against her back. His hands slid down her sides and bunched her dress in his fingers, drawing it up her legs.
She arched her back and pushed back against him wantonly. "Please, Matthew."
The sound of him undoing his belt and unzipping his trousers flared her arousal further still.
"Say it," he snapped, his voice tight and heated. "Say it if you want me, if you want this."
She moaned as he pulled her knickers aside and rubbed himself against her bare skin.
"Matthew!" she called, her head falling back on to his shoulder. "Please!"
He held himself still, his length hot and heavy between her thighs, his breath warm on her cheek, his fingers holding her hips tight, stopping her from pushing back and getting the relief she needed.
"Damn you! Damn you!" she broke. "Fuck me! Fuck me! I want it! I want you! You fuck me so good! You fuck me so much better than my husband!"
He chuckled and kissed the nape of her neck, his deep voice almost making her release. "That's a good girl."
She clutched the bookshelf and cried out as he buried himself inside of her from behind. Several quick stabs and he was pushed to the hilt. He remained there, pulling her back to him, letting her feel the stretching, the moulding, the completeness of it. When she exhaled in pleasure he began to thrust, building his pace firmly and relentlessly until she was clenching her teeth to stop herself from screaming. A part of her wanted to let loose, to shout so that everyone would come running at the sound, so that her parents, Edith, and even Lavinia, especially Lavinia, would see her being taken like a whore by a man who wasn't her husband.
The dark thought brought her release on with stunning speed and she shut her eyes and moaned as she flew over the edge. He stuck his fingers in her open mouth and she closed her lips around them, tasting him with her tongue and letting him use her mouth with the same rhythm that he was ravishing her.
"You siren," he rasped as he kept at her through the aftershocks. "Tempting me with this dress, challenging me at dinner, driving me mad."
She laughed at his choked voice but it came out frazzled and panting.
"On your knees," he ordered, making her eyes open wide. "On your knees and finish me off."
He pulled out of her roughly and spun her around. Their eyes met and she saw the lust, the craving, the desperate need in him. As wrong as this was, she knew he never looked at his wife like that, just as she knew no other man saw the same look from her that she was giving him now.
"Yes, Matthew," she whispered before falling to her knees and taking him in her mouth.
HMS Andromeda, Mothership Class Spacecraft, Milky Way Galaxy, December 2118
They all disappeared. The library. The English country home. The early 20th century evening. Matthew. They all vanished.
Mary sat up and took off the virtual reality headband. Her pulse was racing and her breathing quick. A delicious heat was spreading from her centre and she stood up on shaking legs to make her way to the bathroom.
Splashing water on her face, she looked at her reflection in the mirror, a smile coming to her at the memory of the program she had just run, one of her absolute favourites. Wiping her mouth, she checked to make sure her hair and makeup were presentable before leaving. She had stopped blushing over such activities long ago.
Wandering down the hallway to the lift, she passed several crew members and nodded and smiled to them as she went. She had a reputation for being cold and careful and she liked it that way. There needed to be a distance between her and the crew. They had to respect her to carry out her orders and fear her so they wouldn't question them. Since her father was an Admiral back home and her crew included both of her sisters as officers, there would always be the suspicion of nepotism. It had followed her throughout her career. She didn't care about the gossip or the snide remarks behind her back. Being in command meant having full authority over this ship and everyone in it. She could do as she pleased and did not need to explain herself or apologize to anyone. Putting Edith, Sybil and Anna on the ship only made sense. She needed people she could trust and rely upon, and who better than family and her best friend? Tom had followed Sybil, of course, but was decent pilot. Alex was even better than that, one of the best in the galaxy in her opinion, and he made Anna happy, and a happy second-in-command was good for her and the crew.
"Infirmary," she stated plainly once she was in the lift. The computer voice confirmed her order and she reached the appropriate floor seconds later. Her hands started shaking the closer she got. They always did that.
"Sybil," Mary called when she entered the spacious medical facility of the ship. It was late and the area was mostly deserted. There were a few inflammations and pulled muscles amongst the pilots after today's battle, but nothing serious or requiring overnight observation.
"Hi," Sybil answered, looking up from her workstation as her sister came through. She traded cheek kisses with her and took in her tired eyes. "You look knackered."
"I'm a bit tired, but I'm all right," Mary nodded. "I'm heading to bed soon. The reports from the boarding teams are a few hours away and we've got a dinner with Tony and his crew tomorrow."
"I saw that," Sybil acknowledged. "Tom will be right bothered by that."
"You'll be there, though, won't you? The both of you?" Mary questioned.
"Of course," Sybil smiled. "I won't leave you alone with that man."
Mary smirked and touched her sister's arm. "How is he?"
Sybil sighed. "Still the same."
"Brain activity?" Mary asked quietly.
"Some," Sybil confirmed. "No more than we've already seen, but no less, either. Vitals are steady and stasis is still intact and strong."
Mary nodded. "Thank you, darling. Good night."
"Good night," Sybil replied, watching her sister trudge off.
Mary placed her hand on a security pad on the far wall and looked straight ahead for the retinal scan. The door slid open once her identity was confirmed and closed as soon as she was inside.
The chamber was a touch colder than usual and she rubbed her arms as she walked over to the capsule. Taking her usual seat, she smiled and placed her hand on the cold glass, looking down at his serene face.
"Hello, darling," she whispered. "I'm sorry that I'm late but we had a bit of an encounter today. It wasn't anything particularly difficult but we had to send two squadrons out. Alex led the count again and Tom lost another drone. He's not going to hear the end of that for at least a week, I expect."
She laughed quietly at her own joke, her hand still on the glass.
"Tony is here. I know you'll be angry about that but I must host him, I'm afraid. I think it'll just be a dinner and he'll be on his way. Don't worry. I haven't accepted his proposal, and if he offers again, I'll reject him again. You can count on me," she nodded.
Her stomach suddenly clenched and her throat became dry, tears gathering behind her eyes.
"I ran that virtual reality program again tonight, you know the one set at Downton," she grinned. "I know you hate it because you're entirely out-of-character in it, but I can't help myself, it seems. You know how much I love it when you're wild and primal with me."
She sniffled, unable to stop a gasp from leaving her lips.
"We'll be on our way as soon as Tony leaves, my darling. I have a lead on a source on Jocasta that may have some of the ingredients we need for your antidote. It's all rumours, but it's easily investigated. After that, I've lined up a visit to New Byzantium to see their holistic methods. There are no reported cases of their treatments being applied to someone with your…condition…but it could be something," she struggled.
She shut her eyes to stop her tears. When she calmed herself and opened them again she took in his blond hair, his handsome face and his bare chest that was still firm and toned.
"I love you, Matthew," she said with conviction. "I won't rest until I bring you back. We're going to be together, darling, just like we always talked about. You have my word."
She got up and checked over the instruments, making sure that all of the readings were within acceptable ranges. Satisfied, she pressed a kiss to the glass above his face and drew away, taking one last look at him before she left and headed back to her quarters.