Date: Sat, 23 Oct 2021 00:08:16 +0000 (UTC)
From: David Patrick <davidtpatrickccf@aol.com>
Subject: Star Runner Chapter III

Disclaimer: This is a work of gay themed fiction with explicit sexual
themes. There are literary depictions of sex between teenage minors and
references to sex between adults and minors. The opinions of the characters
regarding faith and religion don't reflect the opinions of the author. If
you are not legally permitted to read such material or are offended by it,
then pleases leave now. Resemblance to any real events or people are purely
coincidental. Please donate to Nifty Archive.

Chapter III
6:50 pm 7761-5-4
Garret River, Sayfaam, 4 km outside New Ny

 	I stare at the featureless metal ceiling, trying to will my eyes
closed. I need to sleep, at least a little before I leave. I really
shouldn't be going anywhere. My ship was just hijacked by an AI, an
admittedly charming and handsome sounding AI, but none the less my baby was
compromised. I should call the authorities or have Li rip it out when she
gets here (maybe get an E.M.P. grenade toss it in the cockpit and hope for
the best). Something. But I already know I won't. Don't ask me why, if I
knew I'd be out there doing something. But instead I'm here sacrificing
sleep so I can replay the conversation in my head.

 	"What?" I asked.

 	The voice from the Etoile gave an unnervingly realistic sigh "I
told you captain, I can handle anything thrown our way. I hope your
listening skills are better in an emergency."

 	I gulped "Who...what are you?"

 	"I'm Taylor! An Artificial Intelligence construct, and I am here to
help you with any Star Running mission that you choose to take on,
Captain." It knew I'm a Star Runner! What the actual fuck?!

 	I gingerly removed myself from the ship, and made sure I was out of
the way of the plasma guns "How do you know about Star Running?"

 	"Well Captain, I have all political, scientific, historical, and
mathematical information uploaded to my memory, at least the stuff
available to the public. Also you have several recorded messages on your
ship's computer log from one Benito Rodriguez, who according to the Sayfaam
criminal database is a known Fixer and minor criminal offender. By the
nature of his messages it was easy to calculate that there is a 99.99%
chance that you are a Star Runner. Sorry if I took some liberties with your
personal information Captain."

	 	"Why do you keep calling me captain?"

 	"Oh, I call you captain because that is the term one uses to
identify the commanding officer of a naval or space-faring vessel. In a
single cockpit ship you would normally be referred to as a pilot but as
there are now two of us, and you are the highest ranking personnel of the
on the Etoile, I figured captain would be an appropriate title for you."

 	"You know my name's not captain, right? It's Jack."

 	"Yes, Jack Beaucul. You know I wasn't sure if that was your name. I
had gone over the ship's the approved signature for the bio-metric lock and
couldn't find you, but the database is linked to your social media accounts
and personal info, so I wasn't positive that was your name. I'm glad you
cleared that up for me." I was so happy to know this thing felt comfortable
digging through my ship's computer.

 	I needed to know more about this thing (before it killed me) "How
did you get in my ship? Did someone put you in there?" There was no
response from the AI.

 	"I asked you a question? Did you deactivate your chipper tour guide
mode or is there something you don't want to tell me?"

 	"Well captain, that's a difficult question to answer. You see I was
really only became conscious when you activated me on your ship." I had no
idea what this thing was talking about. I was going to ask more but it
continued "I do have memories of being constructed by my creator from my
earlier stages, though I don't really know what was happening outside of
my...being, I guess you'd call it, but after I was completed to my current
version, I was put into a dormant state until you activated me. I must say
I'm surprised that I didn't overload your ship when I was installed. A
class IV Penetrator is decades old. Even the current class Vs would
struggle to keep up with my processing, but your ship-the Etoile- it's
hardware is wonderfully built. What modifications did you make?"

 	"You'd have to ask my dad, but what are you saying? You don't know
who made you? And what do you mean I activated you?"

 	"I'm... afraid I don't know my creator, although I do remember
being made. As for you activating me, well...it's hard to explain."

 	I frowned and I hoped it could see me "Explain."

 	"Well..." it stalled "I was in a dormant state and I couldn't turn
on, by myself. I either needed you to voluntarily activate my program or I
needed you to convey to me that you required my assistance."

 	"Well?" I demanded "what did I do that told you I needed help."

 	"Well, the ship appeared to be operating optimally without my input
so I didn't need to jump in but then you appeared to be in some sort of
distress or urgent need."

 	I thought back to my return trip and couldn't think of any
stressful moment during the trip, but then I remembered "Oh fuck...don't
tell me-"

 	"You seemed to require some assistance with the masturbatory device
you added to the pilot seat." Who else but me can activate an AI, by
literally fucking myself in the middle of warp space.

 	"Admittedly, I first thought you were in some sort of medical
danger because I was picking up your rapid heart rate and I could
registered ragged breathing and moaning. Though once I was fully activated,
I realized what the actual issue was and proceeded to help you with the
task at hand. You're welcome, by the way."

 	I groaned in shame "That was you? Fuck, I can't believe a computer
made me cum."

 	"Oh, I'm no mere computer, I'm a fully sapient artificial
intelligence that can assist in any number of tasks from translation to
space flight combat. Though if you wish to reserve me exclusively for your
sexual needs, I have no problem with that. I must admit I get a sort
stimulus, not dissimilar to the effects of serotonin in the human brain,
from you calling out my name in excitement."

 	"When did I call out your name? I didn't even know you existed
until now! How would I know your name?"

 	"I didn't have a name before activation. My protocol is to utilize
the designation assigned to me by my first user. You kept calling out
Taylor, so I made it my designation. I like it very much by the way."

 	I fucked it into activation and then named it after a wet dream I
had since I was twelve. I never fail to amaze myself but that,
unfortunately works out in both negative and positive ways. I didn't know
what to do, except tell Taylor to be quiet when Benny and Li came over, and
not to try anything funny. I don't know if that will work. How can I know
what will work?  This thing is probably some virus or Trojan AI that is
going to kill me, so why am I not trying to get rid of it? Maybe I'm more
desperately horny than I thought and I'm letting its admittedly sexy voice
cloud my judgment. Regardless of reasons, I have decided to go along with
this thing on my trip (I mean it's a UEN job. I'd have to be mental to pass
up this opportunity even if the Etoile has been compromised).

 	My phone beeps. It's a message from Benny; he and Li will be here
in ten minutes. It feels like my suit is made of lead when I try to get up
out of bed, and the weight seems to pile on the closer I get to the
Etoile. I beg Taylor not to do anything when Benny and Li are around, not
even talk.

 	"Don't worry captain, I promise I won't do anything unless you or
the ship are in any immediate danger" (gotta say it's very hard to distrust
an AI when it sounds so sexy).

 	I lean on the Etoile waiting in dread for my fixer and his
assistant; I feel like I should be pacing around nervously but I'm certain
if I move I'll topple over. Benny and Li arrive on the island, and my mind
races every possibility of what could go wrong. I had half a mind to tell
them to come back another time but it's too late now. They pull up just
before the landing pad and hop out.

 	"Aren't you going to shut it off?" Benny shouts to Li as she hops
out of the driver seat.

 	"The engine is off" she sneers. "Get my tool kit from the back."

 	"It's still hovering. The thrusts use up fuel even if it's idle."

 	"Were on the a hilly, grassy island in the middle of the Garrett,
You don't set a car down unless there's a flat surface."

 	"Where we are now if pretty flat."

 	"Not flat enough. Now get my stuff from the back."

 	"I figured some one who worked in a repair shop would have at least
enough sense not to waste fuel."

 	"As the dumb ass who scratched a Penetrator, you do not get to tell
me what to do with my car or any vehicle for that matter."

 	They continued to bicker while unloading Li's tools. Benny's face
is bandaged, not having been seen by a doctor yet; one's is easy enough to
find, especially for cosmetic damage, but Benny is a hardcore masochist, so
he sometimes leaves injuries alone for longer than he should (I'm pretty
sure if I checked his crotch, it'd be at half mast already). Li yanks her
tool box from Benny and gives him a rough shove, and walks up to me.

	 	She eyes my boy with awe, though only a discerning eye
would be able to interpret Li's muted expression "That's the Etoile? Man,
she -" I glare at her, she rolls her eyes "-sorry. `He' is beautiful. How
much did this cost?"

 	I shrug "Don't know. My dad said he sold almost everything he owned
to buy him, but I never asked how much."It's held up for over thirty years
with little maintenance, so I guess it was worth the price."

 	Li studied my ship with starving wonder "So where's the engine,
need to make sure there's no internal damage."

 	I groan a bit in the back of my throat "at the risk of getting
kneed in the balls, I need to ask if you think you handle a Penetrator
engine."

 	"A Helios brand engine capable of using multiple fuel sources at
maximum efficiency, able to break the sound barrier at top speeds, can go
from 0 to 1,000km in under a second, a compact Pierce-Drive capable of
reaching reaching the galactic core from the end of an arm in a single
jump, and a thousand other things I could tell you." I raise my brow,
impressed and a little scared "I've helped work on Class III Penetrators
for some collectors here and there. They say the recent ones share the same
basic design and function with the III's, all the editions have a pretty
consistent build."

 	"Okay" I reach into the console and try to open the hood so Li can
examine the engine is, but the screen flashes red. Not even been a full day
with him and Taylor is already causing problems for me (this bodes well for
the future). I press it a few more times but, the AI won't relent control
to me. I desperately want to scream at Taylor, but Li and Benny are right
here; if I cause a scene they might think I'm crazy, or worse, Taylor would
take it as an invitation to talk.

 	Fortunately I always have something to pull out of my ass (aside
from cock) "Actually, I just remembered, I was running a diagnostics
program and it just finished its evaluation. Seems everything under the
armor is in perfect condition. I'll just need the scratch taken care of,
sorry to make you drag your whole tool kit all this way."

 	She rolls her eyes "please. You don't need to be ashamed of not
knowing how the engine works-"

 	I shout "I know how to fix an engine I just wanted that asshole to
pay for it" I point towards Benny who looks shocked (apparently still
somehow confused as to how any of this is his fault).

 	"Sure" she says curtly and pushes me aside to get to the cockpit
"look, you are Benny's largest source of income and therefore my largest
source of income. I don't need my paycheck blowing up in the middle
of...huh?" she pauses looking at the console. "Never mind, everything seems
in order."

 	I sneak a look at the console when she goes to evaluate the
damage. On my console screen appears to be the result of a diagnostics test
I never started, confirming my fear that Taylor is listening in (At least
he's useful for helping my bullshit seem legit).

 	I cross my arms "I think a sorry is in order."

 	"Courtesy costs extra." Li's great but she can be such a bitch
sometimes.

She assesses the damage and puts up all her fingers, letting me know I'll
just have to wait ten minutes for my baby to be good as new. While she gets
all her supplies together, Benny sheepishly walks up to me, unsure if he's
going to be greeted with another fist in his jaw. Fortunately for him, I'm
too worried about Taylor and what he can do instead of what my stupid fixer
did.

 	"I have the job info here, but" he ventures cautiously "you know if
you sold that old thing, you'd be set for life? You wouldn't have to work
or travel anymore." I stare at him so coldly, he actually shivers and tries
to recover "or you could use that money to buy the current model or even
the class VI, they're coming out in a few years. Supposed to be even better
than this one."

 	I wrap my arm his shoulders and pull him very close to me, enough
to ensure he's very uncomfortable "Benny, this my ship. And it will be mine
until I am cold and dead" there's so much venom in my words that mouth my
tastes sour.

 	I have thought about selling the Etoile before though I've never
actually considered it as an option, I just mulled over what selling would
entail. Where to sell it, how much to ask for, and all the things I could
do with the money afterwards. But no, I'd never sell my boy; he was my
first ship and he'll always be my ship. I'll have him until the day I die
(I'd say `until I pass him onto my son' like my dad did. But there are a
few barriers in front of that life milestone, namely homosexuality and a
strong aversion children and all the work they entail).

 	He slips out from under my arm and takes a few steps back "No,
Jack. I totally get it, the whole sentimentality shit. So what if most
people think it's outdated garbage. It's your garbage and you love it" he
laughs nervously.

 	"Are you calling my boy garbage?"

  	He clears his throat "So the job! Right? So uh," he displays his
phone to me and scrolls through thee details "the client needs you to go to
Echo, some planet in the Fushaa system. You'll go to these coordinate's and
there's a base there of some kind, it's called" he squints "Heaven's Grace?
What the hell kind of-never mind. So, they need you to pick something up
and bring it to Earth. And that's about it."

 	"Sorry Benny, can you repeat all that. It was hard to follow that
abundance vague and useless info,"

 	He laughs in a poor attempt to lighten the mood "Hahaha,
yeah. Uh-look man the client wants to keep this private, under the
radar. They even wrote they want this done with... `the utmost
discretion'. Bro, a client is a client, who cares as long as they're
paying? What's the worst that could happen if you don't every little
detail" I give him an admonishing glare and that's all he needs to remember
my very recent "job" with little info, that left me stranded on Ginna for a
week and had nearly lost me the Etoile.

 	He clears his throat "Ginna was a bust, that was my bad. I should
have gotten a contract or a posting before you went, but this is a huge
break for the both of us. An official United Earth Nations Seal! They are
offering six fucking figures, bro! With my 15% I could pay off my loan
sharks and buy a place outside of Billie's. And they hate me, they'd love
for me to leave" (He usually takes a 20% cut, but I think he's trying to
sweeten the deal some so I'll take the job).

 	I've got to say, even though Benny is a deadbeat crook who could
get into debt in a socialist barter economy, he's clever where it matters
(mostly); he knows the lay of the criminal underworld and where the black
market and respectable business intersects, and that knowledge helps keep
him out of trouble from the law and the underworld (keeps them from killing
him anyways).  Benny's a bit thick but you don't need a high school
education to point a Runner to a well-paying job they can take care of.

 	I think "High end or low end?"

 	"High end!" that means over 500,000 DICs. There's a lot I could do
with that kind of bank; vacation to a tropical planet, get new amenities
for the bunker, or just buy some luxuries to amuse myself with (a certain
fashion designer and his promise to personally tailor for me does not fail
to cross my mind).

 	"Even if you didn't have to pay your lenders, you'd never get a
decent apartment in new New Ny with just 50,000 DICs."

 	He grins "But I'd have my own place. And Billie wouldn't make me
watch the pub when they're out."

 	"Yes they would."

 	"Yeah. But then I could bring someone home with me, and not have to
listen to Billie bitch about me keeping them up all night." I smile, a
little proud that my Fixer has ambitions beyond not getting beat up by
gangs he owes money to.

 	It's a good deal, not one I was ever going to refuse, but the added
factor of the UEN means that if I do good on this job, then other UEN
certified organizations might start sending contracts my way. Anyone who
can get a UEN seal on their contract is either very rich, very powerful or
very much both. Even if you only get the one job, having that seal on your
resume opens up a lot doors; Earth's allies, big businesses, and even the
Orion Union. If all went well, a lot of money would be pouring my
way. Benny's an idiot, but he somehow always manages to come through for
me.

 	I graciously forgive Benny and invite him in for a drink while Li
works on the Etoile. I pour out some whiskey and we talk the full ten
minutes of what the future will be like for us. Obviously we'll start by
doing a few jobs for this client but then we'll get hired by other
contractors associated with the UEN, and after a few of those we put it out
that our clients pay us no less than 100,000 DICs per mission so then all
future employers will never go below that price. We move onto the League of
Earth colonies, then the Orion Union, and finally we'll be doing jobs for
the United Intergalactic Republic. It's a bit out there but the prospect is
still enticing; the few runners hired directly by the UIR can ask for
basically anything they want, but I'm sure my order of a nudist planet
populated only by gorgeous tops would be a tall order to fill (I could
settle for a moon). Fortune and glory seems to be my destiny.

 	While we're talking about having the galaxy in the palm of our
hands, my ears catch on to a high pitch whirring sound outside. One of Li's
tools on my ship. It's really grating and I'm tempted to tell her to stop,
partly because I'm afraid she'll hurt my baby and partly because I think
Taylor might open fire on her. But, in spite of my fear, Li calls me to
show off her work.

 	I have Benny help me gather everything I might need for the mission
(which I know basically nothing about). Clothing for warm, cold, and mild
weather, rations, a few charge packs for my pistol, and a shit ton of
miscellaneous survival gear that will be absolutely necessary because Star
Running always involves something going wrong. I decide to strip down and
pack away my Fillion briefs (I don't think a piece like that should be
wasted on a trip through warp space). I put my flight suit back on and have
Benny haul all my supplies out to the Etoile. I was a bit worried to see
how it looks but I am pleasantly surprised to find that Li made it looked
like it never even touched Ginna's filthy surface. With everything stored
away and my bunker locked Benny and Li start heading back to Billie's.

 	"Hurry up you masochist fuck, my shift starts at eleven and I want
to get some sleep before I get some sleep before I have to babysit a bunch
of drunk assholes. I can't be nice without enough sleep."

 	Benny shuts the trunk after he puts Li's tools away and calls
"You're never nice."

 	I lean on the Etoile and explain "nice for Li is not shooting
someone in the face when they talk to her. When she's in a really good mood
she may even acknowledge your existence."

 	"True. It's a good thing I hate cops and cleaning up, otherwise
there would be a corpse trail as long as the Garrett" she retorts.

 	"Call me once you get the details on the job" Benny calls as Li
hops into the car. They lift off the ground and zoom towards New Ny,
leaving me alone with the Etoile. I finish packing my gear, I retract the
dildo back down into the seat (sometimes it's nice to have a cock shoved up
your ass and other times you're in a hectic space pursuit with smugglers,
mad that you accidentally nicked their secret stash of uranium), and I hop
into the Etoile and fire up the engine.

 	As my ship rises through the atmosphere, Taylor's voice pops on "So
where are we going captain?" Fuck! It nearly gives me a heart attack.

 	I groan, still unsure if I should trust my new stowaway "Echo, it's
somewhere in the Fushaa system. Coordinates are... North 32.956, East
53.772. The location is called-"

 	"Heaven's Grace," he chimes in "don't worry captain, I already
downloaded the necessary information off of your phone. I'm setting the
destination now."

 	Almost forgot he already hacked into my phone (though fortunately
he won't find much except for a bunch of hook up apps and some bookmarked
porn sites). It's very creepy not knowing how it can do this and even more
upsetting is not knowing what it's doing with the information he gained
from my ship and my phone. I'll play dumb for now; see what this thing can
do and pry a bit more info out of it when the opportunity arises.

 	"Captain," he says "I can't seem to find information on the nature
of the object we are being asked to transport or the entity that hired us
for this assignment. Their information isn't encoded, it's simply
redacted. If you'd like I could trace the origin of the message and I could
compile a list of possible factions associated with the United Earth
Nations Union and the origin of-"

 	"Sorry- Taylor right?- but I believe I was asked to do this job and
you just happened to hijack a ride right as I got hired. And if the client
wants to remain anonymous then I'm not snooping in their, because that
isn't what they hired me for. Besides, I don't give a shit what they want
so long as I get paid."

 	"But since they're your client, that means that you can't
snoop. Where as I, who wasn't hired for this job, am free to trace the
message back to the Palazzo Madama in Rome. I can also do a quick search to
find the contract was sent from a communal office computer not owned by any
Italian legislature."

 	This is already turning out well "It doesn't matter who sent it. I
go there. I find out what I need to transport. I deliver and I get paid. I
don't need to know anything about who's involved. In fact, the less I know,
the better the odds are that I won't get caught up in some fucked up war or
political conspiracy bullshit. I just need to know stuff that can help me
get the mission done."

 	He's quiet for a moment (something I predict will be a rare
pleasure in his company) "Well, if you're looking for helpful
information. Then I should tell you that what you're wearing is probably
going to get you killed on Echo."

 	"Why's that?" I sneer.

 	"Echo, the third planet in the Fushaa system, was originally called
Hoth V-"

 	"Say no more" I groan. A fucking ice planet, of course. One of the
benefits of living in a galaxy mapped out by science fiction fans is that
every planet is thematically named, though things do start to get a bit
repetitive. I think it was in the 6,730s or something when the UEN declared
that only five celestial bodies and ten ships could share the name moniker
(I guess people back then finally realized that if someone sends out a
broken distress call saying they're stranded on Tatooine, the unlucky
bastard's chances of survival were better if they only had to check five
desert planets instead of thirty-six).

 	"A barren icy shit hole, because why the fuck shouldn't it be."

 	"On the contrary, Echo is host to a rather diverse
ecosystem. There's an oceanic belt, 20 degrees on both sides of the equator
where temperatures are high enough to have exposed liquid water. There are
many coniferous species along the shoreline and-"

 	"Don't care Taylor."

 	"You will when you're dick's hard because it's frozen and not
because you're a slut."

 	"Hey, you can't talk-"

 	"I've seen your app history. And your medical records! It's nothing
short of a statistical miracle for you to have had that many sexual
encounters without catching at least one sexually transmitted disease." I
accelerate the ship until the surface of Sayfaam is nothing but abstract
shapes shining with the lights of civilization.

 	"Okay Taylor, we're going to be in warp space for a while-"

 	"Eleven hours and 37 minutes in warp time."

 	"Right, so how about we not talk for that time. Okay? It's my ship
and I like to have some time to myself... in my ship. I like not having to
talk to anyone and just sit and enjoy the view of warp space."

 	"If you were content to observe warp space then I don't think you
would have installed a sexual aid in the seat of the ship, Cap-"

 	"No talking Taylor. For the rest of the trip."

 	I felt that if Taylor had a face, he'd give me an incredulous look
"you don't want to talk for 11 hours and 37 minutes?"

 	"No."

 	"But what if I get bored?" Whoever made Taylor was either a genius
for being able to program it with sensations of ennui or an idiot for
programming an AI that needs a fucking babysitter.

 	I shrugged, half wondering if he could even see it "I don't know?
Put on movie or something."

 	I heard a long "hmm" come from my console before he perked up "Oh,
I just remembered that today is the fourth!"

 	"Yeah so?"

 	"And how fitting that we're going to Echo!"

 	"What-" the realization hit me "Fuck. No, Taylor not now, can't you
play something else. It's so fucking cliche and the music is so loud."

 	"Come on Captain" I can hear the smile in his voice "what better
day to do it on?"

 	"Don't."

 	I hear my Pierce-drive boot up, and the computer lock in the
coordinates for Echo. I roll my eyes and lean back in my seat, trying to
get comfortable. I close my eyes in preparation for the calming silence of
warp space. But then that obnoxious fanfare blasts into my ears just as my
ship jumps towards Echo at speeds faster than light.

	 	Five and half movies later (that's just a guess. I made
Taylor mute the sound after two, just so I could catch up on sleep), we
jump out of warp space and I get a good view of the giant snowball before
me. Taylor announces the date, 7761-5-5. It honestly doesn't look any
different than the other million ice planets across the galaxy, but on
closer inspection I see the giant band of deep blue that bisects the
planet, giving it the appearance of pure marble with a vein of turquoise
bleeding out its center. I don't believe in a higher power, but it's times
like these I'm certain there is some force in the universe that takes time
out of its day just to fuck with me. I'm staring at a planet so beautiful
and tranquil, you could easily slot it in any vacation advert, but is it a
resort planet or a place renown for its adult theme park moons? No, for me
its only icy wastelands, desert wastelands, swampy wastelands, or some
other type of desolate biome that will try to kill me (and of course always
devoid of good dick).

 	"Taylor."

 	"Yes captain?"

  	He says he wants to assist me so here's his first test "I need to
know what the locals are like. Are we going to be shot on sight or will
they have the courtesy to threaten us first?"

	 	"Does that happen often captain?"

 	"More so than I'd like, but at least if they threaten us I have a
chance to talk my way out of it."

 	"You mean screw your way out of it- going by your personal accounts
that is."

 	That voice gets less attractive every time it speaks "It's better
to be a slut than be dead. So would you kindly tell me if the natives are
going to open fire when I land."

 	"There are no natives captain. Echo is mostly wildlife reserves and
small research stations. The planet is under Lushaalah jurisdiction, but
the Kuma don't really have a presence here."

 	"Weird" I said. Usually the first thing a space faring civilization
does is claim all the planets in their star system as property (it doesn't
matter if it has no atmosphere and is covered in radioactive dust, as long
as you can call it `mine'). Something clicks in the back of my head "Did
you say Kuma?"

	 	"Yes captain. They're the natives of Lushaalah, the
dominant sapient species of the planet, descended from a species that
parallels that of the Earth animal Panthera Tigris."

 	"Oh right" I say "sexy tiger people."

 	"Their women are reputed to be some of the most voracious and, some
even say, violent lovers."

 	I can't help but laugh; he invaded my private information and
thinks I would care about the women. I wouldn't even ponder having sex with
a woman it made me the fucking emperor of the MilkyWay. But I can
definitely attest to Kuma being insane fuckers that will definitely leave a
few bruises if you're not careful. Ruvoh was the first Kuma I slept with
and I sadly had few experiences with the species after him. We were both on
Veram about four years ago, I was working as security for some executive
bitch who's company was screwing over some farmers by swallowing up their
land and the locals decided if the government wouldn't help them then
they'd take back their property by force (now before you start acting all
sanctimonious just know, a job is a job. It's not like I took the property;
and I did feel a little bad that they were getting fucked over, but there's
a fine line between innocent, misused workingman and corporate terrorist
blowing up buildings). I think she was the company's head lawyer and since
she was in charge of the acquisitions she had a top ten spot on the locals'
shit list. Although, a week into that job and I was ready to serve my
client to the mob on silver platter.  She was very grabby, always insisted
I guard her even when she was showering or getting dressed. She should
consider herself lucky I'm only a semi-illegal contract worker because a
lot of the things she said to me would have HR doing to her what she
explicitly said she wanted me to do to her. Rich, buxom, blondes would do
it for a lot of guys but I had to resist the urge to vomit every time she'd
rub her barely clothed vulva across my leg whenever she needed "comfort"
(though I do agree with her on that a fat cock up the ass is indeed
comforting, we were just of a differing opinion on where that cock should
go). Ruvoh was part of a PMC hired by the company to act as general, let's
say, security for the staffers. We met each other a few times and I knew he
was interested but my client was very clingy so I couldn't chat for
long. Just before we got off from assignment, we met in my employer's
apartment and fucked for four hours straight (I found out three days into
my stay, she had installed a camera in my bedroom and the shower so I
figured I'd leave her a little show she could finger her saturated cunt
to).

 	Holy fuck did he my ram ass good! I can vividly recall the
sensation of his cock slamming into me with such force that the bed
actually moved across the floor. He was relentless and brutal during sex,
he would bite down on my shoulder and his claws would dig deep into my
flesh (that's probably how all his fucks went on because he came to my room
with a first aid kit prepared). But the pain enhanced the thrill further, I
clung to his body, squeezing his tight muscles and rubbing my form against
his soft fur (you know the old saying `there are cat people, and people who
haven't had their hole plowed by Kuma yet). Ruvoh was an excellent fuck,
but that was all he was really good at; he didn't blow me, making out felt
more like him biting at my mouth, and he rimmed me only long enough to get
me loosened for entry. It was a bit disappointing actually, that rough
tongue scratching at my entrance was insane, and the sensation of a feline
tongue running along your cock is wild. But Ruvoh wasn't good at any of
that, though it was not due to inexperience, rather it was his utter apathy
towards any act that didn't assist him in blowing his load. A man only
wanting to fuck isn't always bad, but other times you feel your top should
put in a little more work to please you (and if you should put in effort
for any one, it's me).

 	"We'll be landing soon, are you sure now is the best time to do
that?" Taylor asks. I wasn't sure what he was talking about but then I see
that I've unzipped the front of my flight suit and engaged in a bit of self
pleasure. A bit embarrassing being caught masturbating in my own ship, but
then again, it's my ship, no one forced the damn AI to hop aboard. I zip up
my suit and try to focus back on the console and the ice planet in front of
me. I start to input the coordinates where this "Heaven's Grace"
installation is located.

 	"I have the coordinates already input captain. We're ready to land
at your command." If this thing is going to stay with me, I need to set
some kind of boundaries with it (like, no messing around with my ship
functions without our permission and don't dig through my personal
accounts). I grumble to him to proceed with landing and the Etoile jerks
towards the surface, nearly putting my head through the window (let's add
"don't steer" to that list of boundaries, while we're at it).

 	As the Etoile breaches the atmosphere, I see that blue belt around
the planet was the ocean Taylor had mentioned. I dive down gently until the
ship is gliding about a hundred meters above the water's surface. Unlike
its serene image in space, the ocean up close is littered with islands of
jagged ice violently pushed around by wave after wave of steely water. As
we reach our longitude, I turn the gently angle the Etoile north. The
shoreline of Echo is covered in the wreckage of icebergs that couldn't
fight the current, and past that are rolling dunes of frost. As I get
further inland I actually spy some sparse patches of coniferous trees,
adding a splash of color the blank landscape. I guess Taylor was right
about there being a diverse ecosystem (So when I freeze to death, I can
comfort my slowly dying body with the nice foliage). Zooming over the
surface, hills turn to mountains, some with smoke coming from the top,
hinting at the volcanic activity that persists despite the icy weather
(well at least the universe is giving me the option to freeze to death or
burn to death).

 	Taylor's voice pops on "Captain, we're approaching the coordinates
your client gave you. I believe that is the station ahead of us." At first
all I see is another snow laden mountain, but squinting I can make out a
structure that is definitely not natural to the area. Midway up the
mountain is a dark gray cylindrical structure about 50 or 100 meters high,
Pieces of icy rock were stuck part way up the sides of the building so it's
entirely possible that there is a giant complex hidden under the mountain.

 	"Captain, there appears to be a landing platform of some sort at
the base of the mountain. I'll prepare the Etoile for-"

 	"-No Taylor" I cut in "there's a clearing behind some hills about a
half a click to the west. Land there."

 	The AI pauses "But Captain, the facility is just there shouldn't
we-"

 	"Taylor, I have been Running for several years now. And when you
get job from a secretive research station of any kind, you survey them from
a distance before approaching. Many a Runner, have lost their lives when
the research facility they were hired by subtly failed to mention the
Runner would be helping testing out their new anti-spacecraft defense
system."

 	"Isn't that illegal? Shooting killing your contract workers?"

 	I pinch my nose in frustration at the stupidity of this advanced AI
"That's why most of those stations are built in the middle of fucking
nowhere, no police or news media. And even if anyone did find out. They
were Runners. The facility can just say that they were being attacked, if
any one even cares."

 	"That doesn't sound right. I mean, how could they get more Runners
to work for them if they keep killing their hires?"

 	"Because money Taylor."

 	"But why-"

 	"Taylor, just shut up and let me land my ship."

 	Taylor quits it with the inane questions and I carefully careen the
ship behind the surrounding mountains so I can't be targeted by anything,
and slowly descend towards the clearing. The Etoile lands with a soft
crunch in the snow, and I jump out shivering from the hit of cold air. I
crash through a foot of light snow, and get my thermal suit from the ship's
storage. I quickly put on my gloves before losing any more sensation in my
hands, and place my utility belt on the hull of my ship so I can get the
thermal on.

 	I start putting on my thermal gear over my flight suit, when the AI
calls from the cockpit "you'd retain optimal body heat of you took off the
flight suit and then put the thermal directly on your body."

 	I slam my ass against the ship, struggling to get the leg of the
thermal past my boot "Good idea Taylor, if I'm naked I can get hypothermia
even faster."

 	"You're right Captain, I only considered the optimal use of your
supplies, when I should have accounted for mitigating circumstances. Sorry
about that."

 	I finish getting the thermal around my waist and proceed to slide
my arms through the sleeves. I then grab the binoculars and test them out a
bit. I pick a spot on one of the mountains to my right and zoom in and out
on the peak. Everything, seems to be in order so I put the belt back on. My
black flight suit would make me an easy target in the snow, but the white
thermal should provide enough camouflage on this planet. I look east to
find a hill where I can get a good vantage on the complex, and spy a mound
with a dark pile of rock on top of it that should provide good cover. So I
start marching.

 	From the ship's open cockpit, Taylor calls out "Captain, you have
an earpiece communicator in the cockpit compartment of the ship. If you put
it on I can communicate with you and help whenever I can."

  	I resist the very strong urge to pull out my gun "Look Taylor, as
brilliant as your last idea was, where I remove my balls via frostbite. I
think I'll decline taking your advice."

 	"But, captain-"

 	"Taylor! I don't need your fucking help. Just stay here and try not
to mess up my ship" I turn away and continue marching toward the hill.

 	If my ass weren't already perfect, this walk would be doing it a
hell of a lot of good. It takes about ten minutes just to reach the foot of
the hill, and walking up makes each step feel like my calves are having a
blowtorch fanned over them. Slowly trudge up the hill and the burning in my
legs is suddenly overpowered by a burning stench in my nose. The metallic
smell of blood mixes with the reeking of two day old organs (if you can
imagine having to hide in the waste bins of Hophlo slaughter house while
avoiding the owner's thugs, then approximates the smell. That was not a fun
job). The pong attempts to pull bile and sick from my stomach. I cover my
face with both hands, nearly falling due to the lack of balance, but
falling is better than smelling at this point. Unfortunately I've smelled
worse. Between the number of garbage ships, poison swamps, and slug alien
sex dens I've had to run through, this sadly doesn't even reach the top 100
of horrible stenches.

 	Stumbling nearer to the top, I see chunks of red flesh strewn along
the snow here and there, the gruesome fluids dirtying the once pure snow. I
finally reach the top and to my disgust see that what was from a distance,
a pile of innocuous stone, up close turned into a pile of foul, rotting
carnage. The pile is formed from an assortment of parts from various cervid
like creatures, but I couldn't tell you what a whole edition of the
creature from the grisly puzzle pieces left here.

 	I can tell it's fur is mottled gray, from the few pieces not caked
with blood and more importantly the inconsistent tearing of the flesh tells
me an animal of some sort did this, so that might be a good
thing. Might. The thing is, people are unpredictable while animals always
have the same behavioral patterns; on the other hand, I can't exactly
seduce an animal into not killing me (and I definitely would not want
to). But whatever did made this pile is either really big or has a lot of
friends.

 	I'm walking around the mound examining the unlucky creatures, when
what should sound out but an awful, nerve jangling roar (actually, it's
more of a moan, but still pretty horrifying to hear when your right next to
heap blood and guts). I turn around to see what looks like a giant bear
crossed with a shark, barreling towards the base of the hill, presumably to
get to me. I think it's pretty obvious what I do next, and it's obvious I
do it quickly.

 	I turn on my heels and rush down the opposite side of the hill
towards my ship and it's very powerful guns. I take striding leaps down the
hill but I misjudge the steepness and end up tumbling down to the base of
the hill, leaving a long cloud of powder behind me. I come out of my fall
face first, but the snow is soft enough to ensure that I come out of the
fall with little more than bruises. I scramble out of the snow and sprint
towards the Etoile.

 	"Taylor!" I shout "Taylor! Fire weapons! Fire weapons!" My ship is,
for the first time today, silent. I'm probably too far for Taylor to hear
me (though I have a sneaking suspicion that he may be pulling some passive
aggressive shit). I run through the snow, pain and cold dulled by my fear
and adrenaline, hoping that I can outrun this thing. As I'm halfway between
the hill and the ship, the animal lets out another groaning roar. I dare to
take a look behind me and see the monster is currently at the peak of the
hill, one foot sinking into the pile that is presumably its meal. On gut
impulse I pull out my gun and fire a shot right in the things face, but the
blast of blue energy does little more than give the creature more
motivation to kill me. It roars, comes bounding down the hill and I find
I'm capable reaching speeds that would put track stars to shame.

 	I slam into the Etoile, the sound drowned out by the rumble of the
creature chasing me, and I somehow manage to gasp out "Jesus Fucking Christ
Taylor! Fire the damn guns!"

 	The creature lets out another yawning cry, my lungs feel like
they're being clawed at, the snow crunching under the creature's foot
sounds like a tree being snapped in two, and my face feels like needles are
being jabbed into every cell.

 	"I would fire weapons but specifically told me that you required no
assistance" is he for fucking real. My ship gets invaded by the one AI in
the galaxy capable of pettiness.

 	"At the time, I didn't. Now I'm going to fucking die unless you
fire the fucking weapons at that thing."

 	The beast was now down the hill and coming toward me at a very
concerning rate "The creature is an Orcinus Froskaanas. If you had put on
the earpiece I could have told you that object on the hill is most likely
its food store pile. And I could have told you that long before you walked
into the creature's range of sight. But you insisted that you wanted to
handle the situation by yourself, and I respect your authority very much
Captain".

 	The Orcinus-whatever's thumping steps get louder and I can
practically feel its teeth sink into beautiful flesh as Taylor screws me
over with his passive aggressive bullshit. What is it about life or death
situations that make people think it's the perfect time to act pissy about
being offended (personally I'd rather be insulted than dead, but I guess
I'm a bit loony). I can now see the creatures massive rounded head, adorned
with it's very large teeth. The creature lets out one more groan of anger
(or maybe hunger), bends its legs low to ground and is just about to push
off into a pounce when I jump into the cockpit and start firing my plasma
guns.

 	This normally is the part where I tell you I fire the guns in the
nick of time, the monster reels backwards and crashes to the ground...but
that's not what happens. I fire and no plasma bolt shoots out. My guns are
locked. Taylor locked my guns. He locked me out of my ship. Suddenly
everything seems to happen in slow motion; I look up a the beast, mouth
open, lunging toward me with intent to kill. This is how I die. On a shit
hole ice world in the middle of nowhere, screwed by a malicious AI, I
always thought when I died, it would be in some epic space battle with a
pirate armada or an evil empire, where I would heroically sacrifice myself
to destroy the flagship and be subsequently celebrated with a holiday
through out the Orion arm where all men would lament that they never got
the chance to tap this ass (well, that's how I wanted to die. How I'd think
I'd most likely die, it'd probably be cause a one night stand, who got it
into his head that I was his one true love or whatever, found out I was
fucking other guys and shot me in a jealous rage).

 	A crackling flash streaks across my vision for just a second, and
the monster that's about to make me lunch, seizes up and freezes in
midair. The weight of the creatures head causes it to crash in front of the
Etoile, kicking up a shower of snow into my cockpit. I peer above the front
of my ship and I see the monster had made a large indent in the snow from
where it skidded across the ground, leaving it half buried under a snow
bank. Good news; that thing is dead. Bad news; I now have to deal with
whatever killed it.

 	"Hello, there love" gotta say, I was expecting something a lot more
`move and I'll kill you' (and a lot less Irish). Still unsure as to whether
they're aiming at me, I put up my hands and very slowly rise from the
cockpit. I glance right and about ten meters away from the fallen snow
beast, there is a small figure dressed head to foot in white but for the
goggles which were a reflective black. They are riding a light gray thrust
bike which is a bit bulkier than most models, probably because it needs to
hold the plasma cannon mounted on the front. The biker gave a big wave as a
happy greeting (optimism is a privilege enjoyed with the person with the
biggest gun).

 	They bring their bike up along side the Etoile and pull down their
mask "Tha' was a close one dearie. Are you alrigh'?" asks a voice I can now
discern as feminine.

 	I blink "Good..." I raise my arms higher "I surrender." I really
hope they accept my cooperation, cause there's no way I'll be able to
seduce my way out of this.

 	She cocks her head "Sorry?...Oh! Oh, no love, nothing like tha'"
she hops off the bike, sinking past her knees into the snow and trudges
towards the Etoile with all the cheeriness of a skip. I already knew I
wouldn't like this woman. Seeing my chances of being shot are significantly
decreased, I dare to lower my hands.

 	The woman looks up at me from the snow and asks "So wha' brings you
to paradise love?" Wonderful, she has a sense of humor.

 	I jump out the Etoile, shaking off the snow the creature poured
onto to me; I keep an arm's length between us since I'm still not sure this
woman isn't a threat. But I'm can at least be assured she won't be besting
in any challenges of physicality, as the woman barely comes up to my chest
(though I guess imposing stature is often outclassed by imposing guns on
thrust bikes).

 	Cautiously I tell her "I'm just here for work. I was doing
some...delivery work for the, uh, Heaven's Grace station" I was
intentionally vague about the details of my purpose; if she finds out I'm
Running and she turns out to be law enforcement or a competitor, I could be
out of a job (and a life).

 	She flips up her goggles to show off a pair of annoyingly bright
eyes "You're the Star Runner?" she chirps "Oh good! The sisters will be so
thrilled tha' you're here." She then grabs my arm to pull my face down
closer to hers.

 	"Oh how exci'in' to have someone so experienced in space travel
come to our li'l corner of the galaxy. You know, when was a girl I used to
dream abou' explorin' the stars myself-Not Star Runnin', of course. The
Lord knows tha's not for me. I'd jus' like to wander around the miracle of
our universe. But the Lord had other plans for me. But, I really do love
workin' with the sisters. After all our work is of grea' impor'ance."

 	Somewhat assured that I am talking with one of the people I was
hired by, I carefully pry the woman's fingers from my arms and try to steer
the conversation back to business "That's very...nice. But I'm sure these
sisters have a tight schedule and we wouldn't want to keep them waiting" (I
really hope this isn't a cult. When a client uses a name like "the sisters"
it usually means they're a whack-job. I just hope they aren't in the
"person sacrifice" variety of crazy. A lot Runners die from taking those
jobs too).

 	She lightly slaps her head "Oh, silly me. Keeping you here with my
blather. We shouldn' keep the others waitin'-oh, is tha' a Penetra'or?
Lucky you. Those are very nice ships. Oop, there I go ramblin' again. You
jus' hop in your ship, and park a' the landin' platform at the base o' the
mountain, jus' east of here. I'll be waitin' there to escort you in" she
shoos me back into my ship, still full of snow.

 	I take my seat and the woman squeals "Oh! The reverend mother will
be so pleased tha' you're here."

 	I'm hit with war flash backs from my adolescent school years
"You're a nun?"

 	She again, does a little knock on her head "Dear Jesus forgive
me. I didn' mention tha'. I'm all sca'ered today ain' I?" She clasps her
hands and gives a short bow "I'm sister Megan, a pleasure to meet you
Mr..."

 	"Beacul" I answer wearily.

 	"Lovely name tha' is. I'll meet you at the landin' platform love"
she dons her goggles and face mask and turns to walk back to her bike.

 	I shout "You're a nun?!"

 	She turns of the bike "Yes dear. Took my vows and everythin'."

 	I jab my thumb at the expired monster in front of my ship "I'm
guessing non-violence wasn't part of that oath?"

 	She stretches her head to look at the prostrate creature "Oh, the
Frost Whale? No, no love. Tha' was an electric charge to stun it's nervous
system. The sweet dear is just a bit sleepy." I rise out of my seat a bit
to take a look. And while the frost whale, as sister Megan calls it, is
neither sweet or sleeping, it is most certainly alive (and more
importantly, unable to move much). The beast keeps twitching its muscles
erratically because of its abrupt tazing.

 	"See you soon" she twitters and merrily hops onto her bike, making
a sharp u-turn before zooming past the hills towards Heaven's Grace.

 	When she's out of sight I groan and start shoveling the snow out of
my cockpit, and just to brighten my shitty day further, Taylor speaks up
"So, the Roman Catholic Church was the client. I should have deduced that
from the original posting's origin in Rome and the religious name of the
station. Are you okay Captain? You're eyes and some of your hair follicles
have altered their pigment to yellow. I don't believe that's normal
behavior of human biology."

 	I grumble barely acknowledging Taylor. I'm doing a job for the
fucking Catholic church! I'm working for one of the most irritating,
self-righteous religions to ever spread across the galaxy (spreading in the
sense of an STD, but much harder to get rid of). At least a psycho fanatic
cult would have the decency to straight up kill me, not try and guilt me to
death. Benny has once again screwed me over fantastically; this time by
bringing up bad childhood memories bible studies, rapped knuckles, and
tight ass cunts in habits. I think I might actually kill Benny after this
one.

 	"Captain, perhaps you should seek medical attention" I continue to
shovel out the Etoile with numb hands.

 	"Captain-"

 	"I'm fine Taylor" I snap.

 	"Are you sure? You're heart rate has increased significantly, you
appear more tired, and your eyes-"

 	"Yeah, I know about my eyes Taylor. It's fine" I shovel faster to
both show Taylor I'm fine and to get into the air as fast as possible so I
can end this conversation.

 	But he persists "I don't believe spontaneous phenotypic coloration
changes are normal for healthy humans. Perhaps you caught some disease or
bacteria from the Orcinus Froskaanas' food store pile."

 	"Taylor, it's normal for me! Okay? Just drop it."

 	He pauses "Very well, captain. Shall I prepare the ship for take
off."

 	There's only a few crumbs of snow left which I brush to the bottom
of the floor for clean up later "I'll prepare the ship. You just have to be
quiet." I lift the Etoile off the snow and lazily drift towards the
research station (I'm half way intentionally delaying my meeting with the
reverend mother, which I have no doubt will be as pleasant as my last
interaction with a nun).

 	We're halfway to the research station and Taylor asks "Captain, are
you upset because I locked your weapons, when the Orcinus Froskaanas was
attacking."

 	"No Taylor, I wasn't upset about that."

	 	"Oh, I'm glad."

 	"But, thank you for reminding me that I should be fucking pissed
that you nearly got me killed!" I smack the console, having no other way to
vent out my frustration at the asshole AI.

 	He's quiet for minute "I'm sorry Captain. My sensors picked up the
nun's thrust bike and I was able to tell she was firing her electrical
pulse cannon at the creature. I locked the guns because I thought it would
be prudent to not kill the creature the woman clearly wanted to spare." His
sensors! They're my fucking sensors. This AI is getting a bit too cozy in
my ship. Maybe if the nuns have an EPC, they'll have an advanced
anti-malware program (and I hope it hurts when it's used).

 	I growl "If you're going to call me `Captain' then you'd better
start fucking listening to me..." I relax a little "or at least quit
bullshitting about trying to help me."

 	"My only intent is to do what is best for you, Captain" he actually
sounds dejected when he says this, like I hurt his feelings (an AI that's
capable of convincingly sounding sad and sexy. Gotta say, whoever made this
should be proud of how realistic he is). While I'm tempted to apologize, I
remind myself that this AI invaded my ship and has already almost gotten me
killed, so he'll be waiting a while for a `sorry' from me.

 	"Then prove it. By following my fucking orders" I scold. As
Heaven's Grace comes closer into view, I can make out a flat gray square at
the mountain's base, just in front of a large cave opening that appears to
have been outfitted with large metallic blast doors. Along the gray
platform, there appear to be several thrust bikes and vehicles designed for
land transportation; I assume that this research station might be studying
the local area for the fauna or the flora or perhaps the geology (there's
not a facet of scientific study the church has tried to stick its wrinkled
old dick into).

 	We land and no one is here, so I can already see this job will be
taking a lot longer than I want it to. I let out a long weary "Fuck" and
slump down into my seat. "Something wrong captain" Taylor probes
cautiously.

 	I drape my forearm over my eyes, just trying to block out
everything "No, Taylor. It's just that going into a station full of nuns is
making reminisce about the nightmare that was my Catholic school
education. But you probably already knew that. You read my whole fucking
biography didn't you."

 	He pauses in what I intuit is embarrassment "Well not all of your
biographical info. But your record from St. Anthony's primary school, did a
thorough job of explaining why you didn't like the nuns. It's a mile
long...if documents were stretched across a single line in a size 20 font.

 	I can't help but chuckle "makes sense. Sister Mary hated me," I
recall the torture of the bitch's detentions "my dad would have been in
school every day, if he hadn't been out of the system most of the time." My
dad's one of those cool parents that doesn't care if you cause trouble as
long as the grades are good and no one (who doesn't deserve it) gets
hurt. And when `Bloody Mary' told him I needed to be disciplined, his
punishments would have me work with him on the ships he owned. We'd fix up
his Chang'e' Sailor, his Ares Lancer, the Bellum Pursurer-6th series, as
well as an original Penetrator. But the Etoile was by far my favorite; even
from a young age I just had an affinity for it. Working on the other ships
required practice, study, making mistakes, but working on the Etoile felt
natural, I could always tell exactly what he needed. And even though he'd
have us work from morning until late at night, and we'd be painted with
sweat and grime and I'd be so tired that dad would have to carry me into
bed, those were some of my best memories from childhood.

 	I guess Taylor felt a need to break the silence "He had to worry
about you less in your secondary education. Your records show were in a lot
less trouble starting in the second grade."

 	I snort "obviously. That's the year I discovered the joys of
masturbation and this other nifty little innovation called porn. I was too
busy jerking off in the bathroom to overflow toilets or draw dicks on
Bloody Mary's door-well in St. Augustine's sister Helen was the nun who
dealt with punishment." I remove my arm from eyes and sit forward a bit "at
least sister Helen wasn't a sadistic cunt like sister `Bloody' Mary. We
called her that because she'd beat our asses with a meter stick until we
bled."

	 	"Really?" the AI asked in shock.

 	"No. No one actually bled, it was just a school legend that she
beat one kid so bad that he could never sit down again. There was another
story that she made guy write so many lines on a chalkboard that his hand
fell off...or maybe it was that he choked on all the chalk dust. Doesn't
matter, sister Helen wasn't a complete bitch. Detention with her was just
reading scripture and getting hit on the hand if she thought you stopped
reading. She was strict but she wasn't evil".

 	That's not even mentioning the worst of Bloody Mary. She was also
our P.E. teacher and she knew exactly what exercises could make the human
body feel like it was on fire. A thousand push-ups and sit-ups and squats,
a ten k run, that stupid rope climb. Any way that she could torture us
without directly touching us, she'd make us do it. Bur I'll admit all those
tortuous hours of running, climbing, and crawling through dirt really paid
off when I started Running (not to mention the dividends I made in the
hotness department. If nothing else the wicked bitch helped give me the
perfect body for fucking). Sister Helen was a lot more lenient,
relatively. And once I started jacking off, I did my best to stay out of
trouble just so I could get home (or to the nearest bathroom or closet or
bush) and beat off. The only real issue of note you'll find note of in my
secondary school is my overuse of bathroom breaks.

 	Taylor continues "and during your tertiary tenure you were never in
trouble. You seemed to have mellowed out as you matured.

 	I actually laugh out loud at this "Ha ha ha, yeah no. It wasn't
that I didn't get in trouble" I stretch out my legs and put my arms behind
my head "as everyone in school did their best to make sure I was always
available."

 	The AI pauses for a second "I'm not sure what you mean Captain."

 	"You know how some bosses hire a pretty girl with huge tits and a
thin waist, and let her get away with anything because she's letting him
use her pussy as a dick warmer?"

 	"I... suppose so?" he answers.

 	 "That was basically me in St. Sebastian's, except the horny boss
was the entire school and I'm much hotter than that hypothetical bitch."

 	"So you slept with...everyone in your class?" he sounds almost awed
(can't blame him though. I am pretty amazing).

 	"Everyone in school Taylor. I basically had an appointment book for
sex" I was suddenly reminded of a particular fuck session in my sophomore
year. Sometime about mid-September, fifth period lunch I think. Danny
Mulligan, our varsity soccer's right back, and the goalie John Petrillo. We
were in the gym bathrooms, which were always reliably empty (a good place
for private screwing as long as you can stand the smell), Danny was seated
on one of the cleaner toilets and I was seated on his fat cock; John's back
was against the stall door while his fuck stick was jammed down my
throat. John's trousers were practically soaked with my saliva (I hadn't
sex at all that day so I was pretty hungry for dick by that point). John
was so delirious with pleasure that he couldn't form words, but Danny did
most of the talking. It was the usual stuff `you're ass is so hot', `you're
such a filthy slut', `you're tighter than any pussy at St. Anne's', etc (a
lot St. Anne students stayed virgins while I was in high school, much to
the relief of their parents).

 	Every time I dipped my tongue into John's piss slit, he looked like
he was going to have a heart attack. To be fair, it was his first
time. With anyone. While he was hot as hell, John was that adorably shy
variety of athlete and as such had never so much as kissed someone, much
less fucked them in a dirty bathroom stall. Danny, who was a regular,
convinced him to at least let me give the goalie a blowjob, but needless to
say I went a bit off script. Even though I was doing most of the work,
Danny's cock kept hitting my prostate just right, and I was already really
horny, so I knew that John would be shoving his dick up my fuck chute that
day. I pulled off him and he gave me look like a dog after you snatch away
their food bowl. I told him to shove it in me, right next to Danny's, and
still high on sex he did so without hesitation. Danny's dick was longer but
John's was a lot fatter, so I got to enjoy being plowed deep and stretched
out at the same time. John was in a sexual rage and really started ramming
into me, giving Danny a few bruises from being jammed into the back of the
toilet. The passion and the heat and my ass getting reamed so deep, brought
me over the edge and I shot rope after rope of jizz right onto John's
uniform. The orgasm made my ass tighten around the athletes' cocks like a
vice and both of them poured their steaming loads into me for about two
minutes.

 	John was so drained of both energy and cum that he collapsed on me
and Danny in the stall. When we got out and were cleaning up, Danny stopped
John from wiping my cum off his uniform. Apparently it was a badge of honor
among athletes to have my cum on them (basically it advertised `I'm such a
sex god, I made Jack Beaucul cum hands free).

 	"Captain!" Taylor cries.

 	"What?" I snap.

 	He softens his voice "I was just asking if you're sexual exploits
were as frequent and prolific as you say or if you were utilizing
hyperbole."

 	I roll my eyes "I'm serious Taylor. Every guy who sees me, wants
me. Even if it's only subconsciously. Even if the species doesn't resemble
a human in any way. They all want some of this."

 	"I... can certainly understand that Captain" he says in a much
quieter voice.

 	Still feeling nostalgic for my teen years I recount "There wasn't a
day in school that I didn't get fucked or eat cum or get spunk on my body
somewhere. I was the most popular guy in school, because even five minutes
with me were guaranteed to be your best five minutes of that week. I mean,
you should've seen the things written about me in the locker room; both
what guys did to me and wanted to do to me. The only place that had nastier
comments was the faculty bathroom."

 	Literally everyone in that school wanted to do me. I actually
recall having to change my number a few times because my phone kept getting
overloaded with propositions and dick pics. They'd do anything to sleep
with me, and I mean anything. Guys would buy me dinner, give me new
clothes, offer to do all my schoolwork (some of them teachers), they'd give
me clothes and electronics. I was given cars on five separate occasions
during high school, but I didn't take them though not because I didn't want
them. My dad pretty much figured out what I was doing by the end of my
freshman semester and set some ground rules. One, all my school work, had
to be my own; no blowing my way into the top ten. Two, I couldn't accept
anything over 300 DICs; so no cars and no ski trips. Three, was that I
never get pressured into doing something I didn't want to do or to let a
guy treat me lesser because I was very `sexually active' or to put it
simply `be a whore but don't let anyone treat you like a whore'. Other than
that my dad couldn't give a fuck as to what I did in high school (which
ironically was giving out a bunch of fucks).

 	Taylor mumbles "I guess they really enjoyed having sex with you
Captain."

 	"Yeah" I say "but I did have a few things working in my favor. I
went all boys school, both faculty and students. The staff were either
married to stuck up, prudish wives or priests married to the church, either
way they weren't getting much action. And students were horny teens who's
sex education amounted to `not until marriage and no whacking it'. I was
like an oasis for some very thirsty travelers."

 	Though that relief really went both ways. I consider myself a
professional slut now, but even though I love sex, I wasn't addicted to
it. At St. Sebastian's, I'd go into withdrawal if I didn't another guy's
cum into my body at some point. I spent half my class time taking notes and
the other half scouting for the next spunk rocket I'd get mouth or ass
onto. I needed dick, more than food or water and in hindsight that's a bit
concerning (but it was a problem that solved itself. As there were several
days where I got my daily nutritional and liquid requirements entirely from
pure organic nut cream. Fresh from the tap).

 	"Captain, sister Megan is approaching," Taylor states "she is
accompanied by two other human individuals." I glance out the window and
see the sprite woman essentially skip toward the Etoile; she's out of her
white snow gear in favor of a heavy winter dress and the iconic nun's
habit. Following behind, are two intimidating female figures. Both are
dressed in the white snow gear Megan had donned when we first met as well
as nun habits. Their faces are covered and they're eyes are hidden behind
black visors and each carries a long metal staff. I go to open the cockpit
but my console flashes that the ship has been locked.

 	"What did I just fucking tell you Taylor!" I bark at him but I keep
my voice low so the nun and her scary ninja friends to get suspicious.

 	"I know, I'm very sorry Captain. But I really believe it would be
prudent if we kept in contact with each other. I can't assist you very well
if I can't observe you and your surroundings" he tries to sound apologetic
but I can tell he doesn't give a damn about what I think of this. I dig
around the cockpit until I find the stupid earpiece and hook it on (I
suppose it would be safer to have Taylor annoy me privately than to have
him shout at me from the ship).

 	With the ship unlocked, I jump out and wait for the Irishwoman to
totter up; she waves "Hello Mr. Beaucul. Lovely to see you made it" her
black ops friends stay back a few meters, clearly waiting for me to give
them a reason to use those large sticks "Oh my, you mus' be freezin' out
here. Come on let's get you inside and warmed up with a nice cup o' tea and
maybe-"

 	"Look" I cut in "that sounds really great, but doesn't your mother
superior or whoever need me talk to me?"

 	"Ah! Righ' you are. Silly me, chattin' away again. Come, come we'll
have time enough for pleasantries after business. Come now follow me" she
begins shuffling back towards the armed... well I suppose they're nuns
too. They straighten up more when Megan approaches. I sheepishly follow,
hoping none of my body language comes off as aggressive, cause those staffs
look like they can hurt (I'd hate to see what sort of damage Bloody Mary
could do with one of those staffs. She was bad enough with a ruler).

 	Sister Megan passes between the two nuns, standing steadfast like
marble pillars. I try to follow suit but they make their staffs into an `x'
to halt my progress. The one to the left turns her head to me "no
weapons. You will surrender your fire arm to us."

 	"You don't expect me to just go in there unarmed? I don't know what
the hell's in there-"

 	"There are no lethal weapons in the convent. You will relinquish
your firearm or you will not be allowed inside."

 	Among the thousands of things you should never, ever do while Star
Running, giving over your weapon is at least in the top ten. How the fuck
am I supposed to know that they aren't going to throw me in the lion pit,
the second I walk in there. Bur then the thought of 500,000 DICs invades my
mind and quickly overwrites all instincts, common sense, and
self-preservation. I roughly pull my gun from it's holster and shove it
into the stomach of the guard on the right; she grunts and grips her staff
harder but she refuses to be pushed back. The guards look to each other
before moving their staffs apart with visible irritation.

 	I follow Megan who stands in front the large metal doors built into
the mountain. She moves her sleeve from her wrist, revealing her watch; she
presses a few buttons on the screen and suddenly the metal doors begin
creaking open, sliding apart to let us into the first part of the
complex. Inside is a hangar, well really more of a drafty cavern the nuns
haphazardly converted into a ship hangar. Ships and thrust bikes were
precariously parked on rough floors, wires were bolted to the ceiling with
little more than tape and prayers (fitting for an abbey). Several nuns in
white snow suits were zipping between ships and boxes and computer
consoles, tripping over ice and loose piping trying to perform maintenance
on their ships. Megan leads me through the rough complex towards another
large set of doors that must lead to the research labs.

 	She runs towards a panel on the right side of the door and as the
doors open, one of the maintenance nuns comes barreling out the door
slamming into my chest and lands on the rocky ground. Before Megan or I
could help her up, she scrambles on all fours between a two large piles of
crates, too busy to even acknowledge that she ran right into me. I look
away from where the rude nun scampered off and back to the doors, which
open to a metal platform, resting at the bottom of a steep incline
track. The lift that leads to the structure part way up the mountain. Megan
ushers me on to the empty elevator, our feet echoing three times over with
each step. Sister Megan totters over to a console at the back of the lift
and begins our slow ascent upwards.

 	I stand in the center of the massive lift, stewing in my own
annoyance when Taylor pops in my ear "Why is lift of such an impressive
size, if they are only using it to transport themselves between the hangar
and the main structure?"

 	"Jesus fucking Christ Taylor!" I hiss "A little warning before you
just start talking in my ear."

 	"I am not sure how I can alert you that I will be talking in your
earpiece without speaking to you, but I will try my best Captain."

 	Megan turns around to and looks quizzically "just don't jump on to
the speaker with inane questions."

 	"Sorry Captain, I was merely inquiring on some observations I made
on the lift."

 	"Who cares why the lift is big?"

 	"Sorry dear what did you say?" the sister was in front of me,
staring with those annoyingly bright eyes.

	 	"Uh...I was just wondering why the elevator platform is so
big, if it's just people you're running through" I quickly bullshit.

	 	She looks around for a second "What? Oh, that! Well you see
the abbey wasn't originally stationed here."

 	"Oh?" I pretend to be interested (might as well let her talk, she
seems like the type who will chat with you regardless of how many "fuck
off" vibes you send out).

 	"Yes love, you see Heaven's Grace was first used by an Abbot. They
were sent here to study the frost whales-"

 	"Orcinus Froskaanas" Taylor whispers in my ear. I growl in
irritation but morph it into a cough when sister Megan looks up at me. I
let out a small fake smile, to tell her to keep going.

 	"-Yes, so the frost whales. The monks stationed here were
biologists, alien zoologist and ecologist; they were stationed here to
study the beautiful creatures. This lift was made so they could bring a
live specimen up to the containment areas in the lab; the stations were
built high up so their singin' didn' attract any more whales to the
complex. They probably would have stayed here for about three or four
years, like they usually do, before being sent to the next exotic animal
habitat; then the church either has it repurposed for a different research
cloister or they sell it to a research division not associated with the
church."

 	"So that thing that thing was one of God's sacred creatures? I
guess I should feel honored it picked me for lunch" I sneer.

 	"Well all creatures are sacred as they were all made by the Lord,"
she beams, either ignoring or not picking up on my sarcasm "but you may
have a point. If it weren' for those big beasties then we would have never
found the relic."

 	Now this piqued my interests "Relic?"

 	"Yes, about four brothers were tracking one of the frost whales on
the north side of the ocean belt when they found a downed Kalosian ship. It
was a very old model, a li'l under 500 years by our estimates; I'd say it's
a surprise why no one has found it by now, bu' Echo isn' exactly a tourist
destination now is it?" She nudges me in the arm to physically emphasize
her punchline, and I try to sound out something approximating a laugh (you
may think I'm being anti-social but remember, I'm cold, she's chatty, I
almost got killed, and the only other man within a hundred miles is stuck
inside my ship's hard-drive).

 	She continues to rattle "so when they found it, the abbot informed
the Vatican immediately. They were reassigned to another project and we
were given the very importan' task to study the relic. But seein' as you're
here, I suppose we'll be going somewhere else soon." She gets on her
tiptoes and whispers so as not to be heard, (despite us being the only ones
on the platform) "between us, I hope we go somewhere with a lot more
green. Nothing tropical or beachy mind you, just a place with trees or
meadows. Some place where we can walk among the nature, and just have
ourselves a good think about nothing in particular. It would also do the
other sisters a heap o' good too. A few of them get a bit grumpy havin' to
stay in this one building all day."

 	The elevator stopped abruptly and we both stumbled forward a bit. A
hollow clunk beneath seemed to lock the platform in place and the wall by
the platform slowly creaked open, leading into a large hallway that curved
in a way that indicated it comes around in a circle. In front of us is a
large open room with nothing except storage boxes, but looking to the side
of the opening I saw a panel that is pretty common use for the ray shields
they use in prison cells (trust me, I've seen enough of them to know). This
must have been one of the pens the monks used to keep frost whales before
the nuns came here.

 	I open my mouth to ask but Megan let's out a stream of
indeterminate shushing noises and holds her fingers to her lips. I nod in
understanding and we continue down the right hall. We walk for a minute and
then walk up a ramp that circles up to the next floor. As we walk I notice
that there are no windows to the outside, so in the absence of the natural
landscape, the structure is adorned with holographic screens depicting the
last supper and the resurrection of Lazarus in facsimile of stained
glass. In the corner of my eye I see sister Megan watch me as I glance from
image to image, clearly eager to give a history lesson on each portrait but
unable to speak. As we keep ascending the structure we come across more
nuns in similar dresses to Megan. When they see me, they all quickly move
their eyes downwards before jutting their heads upwards, many of them
blushing. It was weird at first, but then I remembered that despite wearing
two layers, my clothes didn't exactly leave much to the imagination. I can
almost hear them rushing into rooms to whisper about me (another reason I
only sleep with men; they don't gossip with each other, they just take a
look and masturbate in private).

 	Finally we get to what feels like the top floor and as we circle
the hall we come to this massive door nearly as tall as the ceiling to my
left. There are two more of those guard nuns and emblazoned on the front is
a giant golden cross (we probably guess where the "artifact" is being
held). Megan, who had been looking back at me the whole time, bows her head
as we come into view of the door. But instead of approaching the guards,
she turns right and opens a smaller humanoid sized door opposite the cross
room. I'm a bit stunned we don't go through the fancy door and I'm tempted
to split from the sister and go through it anyways, but then I remember the
guards, their big staffs, and the fact that I don't have my gun and
conclude that I had better follow the nun.

 	The door slides open in front of us and we step into a very boring
office that reminds me of the principal's office in St. Sebastian's. Same
gray walls, gray book shelves with exhausting religious desk, and a boring
gray desk exactly like my principal's. Though in the chair sit a very
austere woman in a gray dress and habit instead of a burly former rugby
player in a tan suit, with a bit a beer gut and thick cock (hey, his office
may have been boring but my time spent on that desk certainly wasn't). She
is pale skinned and her hoary roots poke out beneath her habit; her face
should be wrinkled but it is so stony and grim that it seems that her flesh
just locked in place. I'm getting more flashbacks to Sister Mary.

 	Sister Megan opens her mouth to introduce me but the woman speaks
first "So you're the Star Runner" and regards me with a look that makes
Echo's weather feel like a warm autumn breeze by comparison.

 	Sister Megan feels the temperature drop and tries to suppress her
ever present smile; she moves a hand towards me, indicating I should
respond. I step forward "Yeah..." suddenly I'm beginning to miss "bloody"
Mary "I'm Jack Beaucul. I'm here to deliver your artifact."

 	Her eyes narrowed "You were supposed to inform us you would be
taking the assignment with three days notice."

 	I blink "What?"

 	"It clearly stated in the advertisement, that if you wished to take
on the assignment, then you were to report send a message to the listed
contact, immediately, that you would accept. Then after you were properly
vetted, you would have received a message from our superiors that you were
to wait three days while we prepared the relic for transport. The
instructions were quite clear. The first one to be approved for the
assignment was the one to receive it, not the first to arrive on our
doorstep." Remember when I said Benny sometimes comes through for me? This
is not one of them.

 	I try to clean up Benny's fucking mess "Sorry, I didn't actually
apply for the job directly. My fixer was supposed to handle all the
legalities" I say through gritted teeth "but I'm here now. So you can use
me however you like." I can see in her eye that she has some smart ass
retort, but I don't bring it up because I'm already walking along the edge
of skyscraper thanks to Benny, don't want to give myself that final push.

 	Megan steps forward and tries to push down her bubbly demeanor and
act professional in front of the abbess "Reverend Mother, Mr. Beaucul is
here now. And you said you completed a cursory background check by the time
I reported into you and tha' he checked out and everythin'. You said it's
of the upmost impor'ance tha' we get the relic to the Vatican archives as
quickly as we can. He has a Penetrator, he's bound to get it there in no
time."

 	The Reverend Mother swivels in her chair away from us and stays
silent for a minute "I suppose the Lord has brought him to us for a reason"
she says as if I weren't standing right fucking here.

 	I mutter under my breath "Yeah and that reason is you posted a damn
job and I took it."

 	The Mother rises around her desk and walks past us saying "If the
Lord brought you here, he did so in a manner he saw fitting" well this job
is off to great start (if you couldn't already tell from the hungry frost
whale).

 	We follow the abbess to the big door with the gold cross emblem,
the two guard nuns immediately turn inwards towards each other as the doors
slide apart and we enter another long hallway. Unlike the rest of the
complex this passageway is bare, with an arched ceiling leading straight
towards the center of the complex. As I look around I notice the materials
and style of this section are much different from the large, rather
industrial corridors in the rest of Heaven's Grace, as if this part were
constructed after the majority of the complex was built.

 	"Reverend Mother?" sister Megan's whisper echoes through the hall
"Should we tell him abou' the relic?"

 	The abbess lets out a sigh "I suppose it's only right. You are to
deliver the relic to St. Peter's Basilica where the Swiss Guards will take
it from you and deliver it to the Apostolic Archives for further
study. Unfortunately my sisters and I were unable to unlock all of its
secrets despite our best efforts. We have faith that the archive
researchers will make more progress."

 	"Great that's great to know, really glad that was cleared up for
me" I say "But what the hell is it."

 	I can hear her face grind as she smiles "well, Mr. Beaucul I could
tell you. But I believe you'll find seeing it to be much more exhilarating"
(Good to know the church hasn't abandoned their practice of spouting out
vague mystical bullshit).

 	We reach the end of the hall where twelve guards are stationed six
to a side; at the very end in another door with a cross but above it is
relief of Jesus and his apostles. Though I still refer to them as Jesus'
fuck buddies (that particular argumentative essay got me suspended in grade
school but and A in high school...  as well as extra credit for giving my
theology teacher a performative rendition of my paper). The nuns on guard
all stand at attention and the Reverend Mother opens the door with a panel
on the right. It slides open, and behind is a large chamber with dozens of
nuns behind desks and monitors cluttered around the room. The nuns seemed
to be milling around just having casual conversation but upon noticing the
abbess they all jump back into their work with fervor. We walk further into
the atrium and in the center there is a dais, raised a few feet out of the
floor, and on it is a reflective silver discus about a foot in diameter.

 	"Um... that's a disc. I mean, it's a nice looking disc but, it is a
disc."

 	She huffs "Yes, it is a disc, aesthetically. But, apart from it's
humble appearance it is a holy relic that is-"

 	"A USELESS PIECE OF TRASH!" We stop dead when we hear the storming
voice. I look around the mother superior to see a large lion-faced nun
stomp towards us, every sister in her path immediately leaps out of her
way. She's a Berlah; lion-like people from Jo'Gando. I didn't know any of
them became Christian much less nuns as all the ones I've met are extremely
stubborn when it concerns their traditions.

 	She marches straight towards us and sister Megan and I hop to the
side to avoid any contact with her. Never mess with a pissed off Berlan
female; I nearly lost a hand to one of those ornery bitches (to be fair she
did catch me screwing her husband) and staying out of their way it the best
method to keep your blood inside of you. But against all common sense the
reverend mother stayed put, right in the Berlah's path. I was getting ready
to clean nun fillets off my clothes, but the feline woman amazingly walks
around the mother superior, growling out a short "reverend mother" in
greeting.

 	Silence floods the room until the Berlah storms out; after she
leaves, the reverend mother calmly turns towards the other nuns frozen in
fear "Well stop your staring. We still have a bit of work to finish before
the relic leaves the planet."

 	All the women in the room race back to typing, filing papers, and
cleaning their work stations just to not appear idle.

 	I lean down to sister Megan "So when you said grumpy..."

 	"I may have been thinking of sister Asla at the time" she giggles.

 	The mother superior motions for me and sister Megan to resume
following her to the relic. Now that I'm up close I can see that this
discus, this holy artifact that requires so much security is... still
underwhelming (It's a disc, not an ancient plasma sword or Saint Peter's
flesh-light or whatever).

 	The reverend mother's eyes grind towards "you were, perhaps
expecting something more glamorous?"

 	I meet her stone eyes "I mean, yeah. This" I point to the disc
"could've been slotted in the mail. I don't understand why you're spending
hundreds of thousands of DICs to ship a shiny plate."

 	Her solid gaze narrows on me and I can feel all the nuns in the
room tense up "I should have expected one so" she looks me up and down
"clearly devoid of the Lord's grace to also lack any wonder at his glorious
works."

 	I shrug "I'm not saying I won't do it. As long as you're paying,
I'll pick up the pope's dry cleaning if you want me to."

 	She eyes me intently for a moment, then in the corner of her mouth
cracks the slightest smile "You really don't know what this is do you?" I
sigh hoping we can move this along a bit sometime today.

 	She turns to the disc "You have no idea how sacred this relic is
and the power it truly holds."

 	"Can it extract the massive stick up your ass? Cause that would be
a very impressive feat indeed" around us I can see many of the sisters
wince and hide their eyes as if they're watching me jump off a cliff (but I
note a few them, including sister Megan, hold back smiles; amused that
someone finally had the balls to stand up to this cunt).

 	Her face remains rigid "that would be a waste of holy talent. To
craft an angelic machine for such a trivial purpose."

 	I roll my eyes "enough with the angelic artifacts. I feel like I'm
in grade school listening to -"

 	"Starborn?!" Taylor shouts in my ear.

 	I jump at the sudden noise but my memory about angelic studies
starts flooding back. That's right! The church classifies Starborn as
angels. The scientific community refers to them as alien energy beings but
many religions regard them as angels or gods or spirits. I don't recall
much about them except that they like to make stuff that is often called-

 	"Stardust? You mean this is legit Starborn tech?" I ask the
reverend mother.

 	She turns back to me "We're never one hundred percent certain if an
item is truly angelic, but cross referencing it with our other artifacts,
we are certain that this is one such relic."

 	The number of DICs that I was going to get for this job begin
piling higher and higher in my mind until my I get a headache from the mere
idea of its volume. Stardust sells for millions on the market, both
legitimate and black, and if you can get a piece with a known use, then
you'll be set for twenty lifetimes. I can understand now why they wanted
one runner to deliver this, a single ship draws a lot less attention than a
huge escort.

 	The mirror shine of the discus draws my eye back towards it. Now
that I know it's Stardust, the object appears brighter, more beautiful. The
simple shape holds a pure primal elegance in its design, and yet the mirror
surface, alters and reforms the world in ways that show the relic was
constructed with subtle yet intricate architecture. That's the other thing
I remember about Stardust, all the scientist and archaeologist would
describe it's aesthetic perfection that seem to taunt all the artists in
the galaxy.

 	I feel my wrist locked on by hand as cold as marble. Looking up I
see the mother superior regards me with solid contempt and when I look back
at my hand I see I was reaching out for the Stardust.

 	I rip my hand from her grip, and sneer "thought you wanted me to
take this?"

 	"When we've finished compiling our research you may," she replies
"we will be finished in a few minutes." She motions towards the door "Since
you wanted to know more about the relic, I suggest you discuss the matter
with our head researcher."

 	I remember who just walked out the door,"Sister Asla?" I venture,
hoping I'm wrong. Only an idiot tries to talk to a pissed off Berlan woman.

 	"I'm sure she'll find your charming personality quite endearing"
she answers dryly.

 	"Captain, you must talk her!" Taylor shouts in my ear. A few of the
nuns give me funny looks when I wince and I rush out the door to avoid any
inquiries. The whole time I have my hand over my ear, afraid that Taylor's
frantic babble will be heard from the earpiece. Taylor won't stop rattling
on about finding out about Stardust, how it works and who made it (which is
pretty redundant, we know that Starborn made it). I quicken my pace out of
the door and past the spec ops nuns. I'm so focused on getting out of the
research lab, that I almost run into sister Asla. I stop dead and see her
reading a bible which seemed ready to combust with the amount of rage
bursting from her eyes, yet despite the fury simmering just beneath her
skin, she cradles the book with tender gentleness.

 	"Ask her!" Taylor pushes. I cautiously take a step forward and open
my mouth to talk with her, but I find my greeting is lacking sound and I
stay like that for about a minute.

 	"What?" rumbles out from the nun's throat. The second the growls
hits my spine, I turn on my heels but find that Sister Megan has blocked my
escape route. She flutters a wave, hello and trots around me to get to
sister Asla. I get the feeling I'm about to watch a dramatic reenactment of
a cat biting down on a mouse's neck.

 	"Pardon me, sister Asla" the lioness slowly leans forward until her
head is positioned perfectly to unhinge her jaw and swallow the diminutive
nun whole. But when she meets sister Megan's eye, her posture relaxes and
she breathes out some rage, and Megan points to me "this is Mr. Beaucul,
the Star Runner who will be courierin' the relic for us."

 	The larger nun doesn't even look at me "so give him the device. Get
the damned thing out of here as soon as possible."

 	"Come now sister," Megan says, brushing off the irate words "you
know we have to finish compiling all the data we've been compilin'"

 	The Berlan nun snorts "It's gray, it's a disc, and it weighs one
kilogram. Shouldn't take long to compile that."

 	Any of Asla's bitterness was lost in the depths of Megan's
positivity "That's the spirit. And while we're doin' tha', you can tell
Mr. Beaucul everthin' we know about the relic, as you're our head
researcher. I'll come get you when we're done" and totters back to the lab.

 	Sister Asla finally looks at me "So you're the runner" she says her
eyes turning into slits. Before I can answer she asks "Have you seen the
relic?"

 	"Yeah" I answer quick.

 	"Good, then you know everything we know" she turns back to her
scriptures.

 	We stand there for minute when Taylor cries "Captain, you need to
ask her about the Stardust artifact!"

 	"What am I supposed to ask her?" I hiss.

 	"What was that?" Asla asks, still engaged in her bible.

 	"What are you reading?" I ask, trying to sound genuinely
interested.

 	"The book of Job," she sighs "I find the text very relevant to our
current predicament and perhaps I'll come across some revelation in the
good book."

 	"Is it helping?"

 	"Not yet, but I was taught that when one doesn't know what do, they
must seek guidance in scripture. Though I'm not sure how a book written
four thousand years ago, even one inspired by the Lord, can help us figure
out such advance technology."

 	I can't help but smirk "I thought they were holy relics crafted by
the angels?"

 	Her eyes shrink to the size of pins "I don't concern myself much
with the philosophical and metaphysical debates of the church, I focus on
the sciences. Though I do believe in the church's core tenets, and
documented information on Starborn indicate they share undeniable
similarities with mythological being of divinity."

 	"So you believe the whole angel thing?"

 	Her brow furrows "I haven't see enough evidence to support or
disprove their divinity. I only wish that they'd have the consideration to
leave instructions for their inventions."

 	"Well you're probably not going to find the manual in there" I
point to the bible, though sister Asla doesn't even appear to be paying
attention to me anymore.

 	"Faith and prayer are our only options. Of the few angelic devices
that can actually be used, they're only functioning because someone
observed how a Starborn made it work. The church has over a hundred relics
gathering dust in the archives because they couldn't figure out how to work
them. We're not even sure if all of them are genuine."

  	She closes the bible and puts her hand (paw?) over her eyes "I've a
PhD advanced robotics from the University of St. Asla, mechanical and
electrical engineering degrees from the Si Long Institute of Technology,
and a doctorate in quantum physics from St. Brigid's Academy, but I'm
bested by a plate. I can't even tell what sphere to put it in."

 	"Sphere?" the term sounds vaguely familiar from theology, but I
sort of purged my mind of that part of my education.

 	"It's how the church classifies the angelic artifacts," she
explains "three sphere for broad categorization and then three
subcategories to specific classification. The first sphere contains
communication and transportation and within that sphere is the level
Principatus which concerns intergalactic traversal and connection. Many
pierce drives were based on Principatus inventions" though not the Etoile;
Helios Industries prides itself not having pierce drives modeled after
Stardust and still having the fastest, most efficient drives in the galaxy.

 	"Well now it will be the Vatican's headache" I halfheartedly try to
cheer her "and you can move on to that flower meadow you want to live in."

 	She frowns at me "you've been talking to sister Megan haven't you?"

 	"She makes it very hard not to talk to her" I say with exhaustion.

 	Her black lips curl into an awkward smile "it would be a nice
change after three years on Hell."

 	"Couldn't have been that bad. It's always the ideal whether for
skiing" I chuckle.

 	"I'm calling Echo Hell somewhat literally. The Kuma name for the
planet is Froskaa, which means Hell-well, the literal translation comes out
to `desolation' but many native Kuma religions use the word to denote their
malevolent afterlife and many of those theologies depict Froskaa as a
frozen wasteland inhabited by horrible, giant monsters. Has sister Megan
told you about the frost whales?"

 	"Oh, even better. I met one."

 	She almost laughs at this "well then I guess the choice of name is
pretty obvious. I just can't wait to get out of here and move on to
something more productive" she glances behind my shoulder "and with any
luck that will be some time soon."

 	"Mr. Beaucul" I jump and I whip around to see sister Megan had
crept behind me "we're all ready for you." I nod and follow her back
through to the lab.

 	"Captain, the Starborn!"

 	"We already found out everything" I tried to hush him.

 	"What?" sister Asla growls down my back.

 	"I was just thinking to myself. How we're-I'm not going to get any
more on the artifact. It would be cool to know what it does" I lie.

 	Her pupils shrink again "Yes it would be quite exciting to learn
the purpose of the relic, but providence has yet to reveal such knowledge
to us."

 	I quicken my pace trying to escape sister Asla's scrutiny. In the
lab, the mother superior stood erect like a stone pedestal, lying in her
hands is a silken white pillow cradling the Stardust disk. I approach the
woman, while the mother superior remains stiff. As I reach out for the
Stardust, and she pulls her arms back to her torso.

 	"Regardless of your personal opinions on faith, please understand
that we regard these objects as sacred. They are testaments to a the Lord's
love and compassion made manifest in the galaxy... do not treat this
assignment lightly" she states with all the passion of a rock.

 	I roll my eyes and grab the disc off the pillow "Look, you're
paying and that's all that matters. I'll do whatever you want, though
perhaps you could give me a better idea of how much the Stardust means to
you."

 	"4 million I.C.s" she murmurs.

  	"I'll bathe it in holy water and read it passages from John!"

 	"Hmm, You are aware that greed is one of the cardinal sins,
correct?" her eyes fall onto my prominently displayed packaged "As is
lust!"

 	I ignore her, 4 million DICs is well worth taking a little
bitchiness from the clergy. Not to mention carrying such a beautiful
object. I love the feel of it, like dipping your hand in a cool stream on a
hot day. Tracing my fingers along the surface doesn't feel like touching
metal, it's more like running your hand along the surface of clear water,
watching how each minor disturbance alters but never ruins the image it
reflects. It's refreshing. I don't think I've touched something like this
(I think I haven't).

 	"Mr. Beaucul, is there anything else you need or will you be able
to leave right away?"

 	I only half listened, still tracing my fingers along the Stardust
"Uh...yeah. I got everything."

 	"Good. You don't need to contact us further as the Vatican will
send the payment to your fixer once you have completed the delivery" she
sounds almost excited that I was leaving immediately (though I admit, I was
too).

 	"Do you understand Mr. Beaucul?" I continue to draw circles lines
on the relic.

 	"Mr. Beacucul!" she barks.

 	"What? Yeah, I get it" I snap my attention to her "can I go?" I jab
my thumb at the exit. My head feels a little light and I really want to get
out of here more than I already did.

 	The mother superior nods her head "You may... thank you for your
help" I can hear her almost choke on the small amount of gratitude coming
up her throat, but I couldn't give a shit. 4 million DICs is all the thanks
I need.

 	I turn to leave, giving all the nuns an informal salute but then
sister Megan pipes up "Excuse Mr. Beaucul, could you wai' just a moment
longer?"

 	"What?" I hold back the urge to knock Megan up side the head.

 	Her index fingers meet together and rest on her lips for a minute
before she points towards me asking "It's just I've never seen the relic do
tha'."

 	For a second I think the woman might have gotten high on her mood
elevators, but a pale blue light draws my attention down to the disk. From
the metal itself, a small glow the size of a coin emits from the center of
the disk. All the nuns raise up a chorus of whispers, sister Asla's pupils
take up her whole eyes, and the reverend mother's stony visage breaks into
an expression of primal awe. I raise the disk up and before anyone can say
anything the pale blue light envelops the entire disk. In an instant the
air above our heads is filled with a holographic image of the milky way
(but unlike many holograms, this one lacked the scratchy quality or
indefinite features). The whole room is rendered silent by the spectacle,
and in a few seconds the display zooms in on the Orion arm. Another few
seconds then it closes in on a section of the arm not to far from
earth. Zooms in again, and I only just make out the constellation Cancer
before it zooms in on a star cluster. The image enlarges one of the stars
until we can see the entire ten planet system. The image closes in on the
fourth planet, orbited by two moons. The image evaporates and the Stardust
returns to its dormant state.

 	I feel massive hand crushing my arms and I'm pulled directly into
sister Asla's face "What did you do? Tell me exactly what you did! Was
there a hidden switch or button of some sort?! Do you know that system?!
Did you say something specific?! Quick someone find out which system that
was! Do you have a unique device-"

 	"Sister Asla!" the mother superior shrieks. She looks around and
sees all the nuns staring at her and in a calmer but stern tone she says
"please compose yourself."

 	The Berlah whips her head around "but reverend mother, he did
something to the artifact. In all this time it has never acted in such a
way! We-" the mother superior holds up her hand and the lion woman releases
me and meekly backs away, head bowed.

 	"Dagda" someone humbly says.

 	The reverend mother spins her head all over the room "What? Who
said that?"

 	Behind a nun at her computer, a small hand is raised and sister
Megan scurries forward "sorry, reverend mother. The system is called Dagda,
in the Beehive cluster-"

 	"How do you know that?!" sister Asla rushes toward Megan as if to
tackle her, but the mother holds up her hand and the lioness stops.

 	She turns to Megan "Are you sure?"

 	"Yes mother, many of my cousin's on my dad's side live there. I've
been there a few times for Christmas. It's actually a very nice-" the
mother superior holds up her hand "Yes thank you sister Megan."

 	She hurries over to me and snatches the Stardust from my hands, the
gingerly places it back on the dais; she begins walking out of the lab and
says "I'm sorry Mr. Beacul, but due to these recent developments we will
have to cancel the assignment. Sorry to take up your time."

 	I stand there stunned for a second, before getting my shit together
and running after her "Hey, what about my money?!"

 	She doesn't even look back "I'm sorry but given that the relic has
activated, we must contact the cardinals in charge of the archives. They
will advise us on how to proceed. As for you, I believe it is customary to
distribute a fee of 50,000 ICs for a terminated assignment."

 	I grab the mother superior by the arm and turn her to look at me
"Hey, you-" I'm yanked backwards and the six nuns standing guard at the lab
door come between me and the mother superior, staffs at the ready.

 	The mother superior waves them back and they calm down a bit though
they still stand at the ready for battle. I take a breath "you said I'd be
getting 4 million DICs and now you're saying I'll get less than a percent
of that. That's fucked up."

	 	She puts her hands together as if in prayer "please
understand" her voice has a slight quaver "our hands are tied. We were to
perform research on the relic for three years and if no progress was made,
we deliver it to the archives. But we made progress-"

 	"Thanks to me!"

 	She looked like she wanted to argue but then she became a bit
pensive "you're right, your arrival has certainly... altered our
situation. If you give us until morning then we'll know what the cardinals
want us to do. They may still want the artifact or they may want us to keep
it and if that is the case I can try to recommend you for different work."

 	I'm mad. No I'm more than mad, I'm fucking furious, but there's
nothing I can do. This is my one chance to get a UEN seal on my resume. I
grumble out a "fine" then start walking away.

 	The mother superior calls after me "we can offer you food and rest
quarters if you need it."

 	I ignore her storm out to my ship. My legs are heavy as lead and so
my stomping rolls out like thunder. All I can feel is rage, and reality
seems so far away. It's like I can't perceive a place that doesn't have my
fury, my wrath so the facility just seems to melt away. I only notice that
I'm at the Etoile because the two guards at the platform approach me.

 	"Will you be leaving now sir?"

 	"Give me my gun" I growl.

 	"If you are leaving we will return your weapon, if you are-"

 	"Just give me my fucking gun!" Both of them jump back and ready
their staffs. I don't move, I'm too tired to act on my rage but my anger
keeps me from backing down. They look at each other and one of them takes
out my gun and places it on the ground. They back away and circle until
they're behind me. Whatever, they can be afraid of me. I honestly don't
give a shit. I grab my gun and hop into the Etoile.

 	Taylor's voice comes on the ship "we're not leaving are we
Captain."

 	I don't answer. Honestly I am tempted to just be done with this
shit, but I can't. This is my one chance to get good work, instead of doing
hunting down debtors for loan sharks or delivering laundered money for
small town gangs.

 	"Captain, we're not leaving, are we?"

 	"We're staying the night. By morning we'll leave."

 	"With the relic?"

 	I don't answer. I don't know and he ought to know I don't.

 	"Captain-"

 	"What?" I snap "what the fuck is it now Taylor?"

 	"I just want to know about the artifact."

 	I groan "You saw everything Taylor. You what it looks like and what
it can do, namely rob me of work."

 	"But I don't know..." he trails off.

 	"What? I want to go to sleep."

 	He doesn't say anything, so I take that as a sign that I should go
to sleep before he starts yammering. Maybe it would be better tomorrow. Or
maybe not, I don't fucking know. I just want to go to bed, to just stop
being awake.

 	"What did it feel like?"

 	"What did what feel like?" I ask, eyes closed.

 	"The Stardust. What did it feel like when you touched it?"

 	I want to tell him `it felt like a metal disk, what the fuck did
you think it would feel like' but I don't. I just quietly say "like water."

 	"Okay" he responds and that's the last thing I hear until morning.



Author's Note: Please donate to Nifty, they give creators who work make
taboo material, like myself, a platform on which to get their content out
into the world. Thank you to everyone who wrote me, you gave me the
motivation to continue writing. If you have any criticism please keep it
respectful, but do send it because it helps me improve. If you have any
questions also send those, especially if there is a confusing detail about
the narrative or world building. If I wrote something confusingly, I'd like
to clear it up. If you have questions about why I wrote something, I'd be
happy to answer those too. Recommend Star Runner to your friends if you
think they'd like it and once again, donate to Nifty Archive.