FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Star Hunter Gunndis

Book 2 Chapter 1

Dippley rests on the command deck of the Star Maiden with his feet propped on the console and his hands linked behind his head. He watches the activity outside the Star Maiden in its berth at Hunter Central. Watching the various space suited crew flitting around to service the myriad of craft currently making the space station their home. "So many working to keep the ships of both the great patrol fleets and the singular hunters operational. It's marvelous to watch."

He jerks his head around as he notices the blinking cursor on the communication screen. "What do we have here?" He puts his feet down and turns to the screen. Tapping the acknowledge button he frowns at the message. He places his palm on the built-in reader and grumbles, "What the hell?" Hie eyes locked on the screen he taps his communicator, "Hey Gunndis, we got something odd here. Message requiring DNA authorization and mine isn't working."

The soft purr from his mentor responds, "I'm on my way, don't touch anything."

A few moments later she enters the small bridge in only a G-string. Sitting in her chair she turns the communication screen towards her and presses her hand to it. While he cannot see who appears on the screen, he can hear a purring voice speaking a tongue he doesn't understand and Gunndis responding in kind to whoever is on the other end of the communication.

Unsure what is being said, he studies her face. While he has only been her apprentice for three months, it's been enough for him to start reading the nuances in her expressions. And the slightest laying back of her ears means she is not enjoying what she is hearing yet there is spark in her eye that means she does enjoy something of the message, maybe the person calling? There is a growl from the screen and Gunndis bows towards the monitor with a chuff before she deactivates the communication. The black feline sits back to close her eyes and sigh, "Dippley, I need you to go ashore for a few weeks or so. You've been working and training hard the last three months, you should take a vacation. There's something I have to do."

Dippley tilts his head with a quizzical look, "You know I can't be left behind if you're on a mission..."

She cuts him off with a shake of her head and holds her hand up to stop him, "This is personal. Not a mission, family business in fact. It is best to leave you here. Better if you're not involved."

Dippley frowns, "Why can't I come and help. You look like you really dislike what you're being asked to do. Or is it the person asking?"

"That was my younger sister," she sighs. Opening her golden-yellow eyes she looks into his trusting blue eyes, "Dippley, I don't think you want to come with me for this. It's worse than diplomatic missions. It really is family business and doesn't involve the Hunters or any local governments. I'm being called back to take care of a family problem is all."

He frowns in stubbornness, "You know there will be questions asked if I go ashore for such a long period and you leave dock. The Commission might argue that you have broken your oath of mentorship and abandoned me. I don't want to answer questions of where you've gone and why when I can't. They'll think I'm just sheltering you."

She sighs, "Fine, but you cannot talk of anything you will see... With anyone, not even your own kin. The only person you will be able to even mention this to in fact is the one sitting before you right now, and not where anyone can hear us." Her eyes flash with the inner light he has seen on the rare occasion, usually when her emotions were on the boarder of breaking through her façade of calm. "Only certain classified personnel know anything about where we are going, and they won't even talk to you about it unless I am present."

Dippley nods, "As your apprentice, I am sworn to keep your secrets." He gives her a sheepish smile, "Besides, as your lover I would keep your secrets anyway."

She sighs and gets up, "After this, you'll wish you weren't. Make sure the all the bunkers and topped off and get anything you want for a long cruise from the commissary. Better order me another couple bottles of the good stuff too, the bar is running low. Make sure I have a couple cases of Terran Scotch. This is not going to be a good home vacation Dippley. This is going to be a sensitive personal mission that involves a culture you've never seen."

With her hips and tail swaying the canine admires Gunndis's ass as she leaves the bridge.

With his mentor out of view Dippley nods to himself and gets up to check on their supplies. 'Full bunkers and extra provisions. Sounds like a long mission,' he thinks. 'What's up with the Scotch though? Would she really go through a couple of cases?'

***

Gunndis is at the controls when the Star Maiden eases from her berth eight hours later, now dressed in her usual battle gear. Dippley sits idly in his own as his mentor focuses on entering some navigational figures from memory that the computer keeps insisting and invalid. Tapping her override command code into the interface, the system finally accepts the data and beeps with a satisfied chirp.

"Why doesn't the system recognize the coordinates?" Dippley asks as Gunndis sits back and crosses her arms under her breasts, making the black furred mounds surge against the built-in shield emitters of her armor.

She turns her flight chair towards him now that the ship is on autopilot, "Dippley, what do you know of the Sandstorm Nebula Cluster?"

Dippley studies her for a minute before his expression takes on his lecture façade, "Encompasses most of sector 23-Delta-92. A cluster of several nebulas that at points are dense enough most ships will not enter because anything less than capitol class shields will collapse in minutes at best under the onslaught of gas, dust, and nebula static. Rumors say there are a few outposts or colonies on the outskirts of it, but nothing official and the region is dangerous. It's officially a no-fly, hazard class 10 sector, due to the natural dangers of the nebulas. Closed to all non-essential or military vessels." He scratches his ear with a finger, "I understand that there are a few pirate bands that use the area as a hiding place since the patrol doesn't hang around the area much."

She sighs and brushes a stray strand of hair from her face, "You know I'm not of Terran stock, we've had that discussion before. That's where I'm from, that is where my homeworld is. Inside the Sandstorm Nebula Cluster."

"How..."

She holds up a hand, "No nebula is completely solid, there are spaces within the multi-lightyear wide expanse that are fairly clear of the gas and dust. And, as with any nebula, there are stars inside it. Ours are odd, as they are older stars, not the usual newborn stars most expect to see. The belief is that the stars have been refueled by the nebula for eons, thus clearing the area around them. My people in ages past evolved on a higher gravity world inside the nebula where we developed space travel about a millennia before Terrans, and you are going to be one of the few outsiders who will get to see it." She gives him a weak smile, "You should feel honored. The nighttime skies are crossed by the ghosts of stars being born, there is no place like it that I have come across in all my years hunting those who run from justice."

Dippley thinks for a moment before asking, "But, how do we get through the nebula? I know this ship has some good shields, but not that good."

She winks at him "Let me keep a few secrets to surprise you with me young apprentice." She taps the navigational display and sets it to alert her for any issues as she stands. "Come on, if you're going to walk on my homeworld, you're going to have to train over the next two weeks while we're in transit."

He follows her into the common space and frowns, "What's the G of your homeworld? Is it really high enough that I need to train for the higher G?"

She shrugs, "About 1.2 Gees, you can easily handle that I think." She takes a pair of staves off the weapon rack and motions to the sparring space to the side of the common room as the furniture starts to fold away to make room for them. "That's not what you have to prepare for."

He frowns as he follows her, "Then what is it?"

She looks over her shoulder with a knowing smirk as she tosses one of the staves to him. With a shake she energizes the powerfield on her own stave with a buzzing hum, "You need to be ready to defend yourself in a warrior culture you have never seen before, and are never likely to again if you can't prove you are a true warrior."

He energizes his own stave, "But, you can vouch for me and I'm sure you're well known if you're being called back for something so special. Wouldn't your word be enough?"

She smirks, "Words mean little on Amalon." She spins her stave and snaps to a stop it a millimeter from his nose, "Your actions and what you can prove means far more than any flowing sentences." She steps back to the en garde position, "Now, show me if you don't want to be made to submit to every warrior you meet!"

He nods and braces his feet as he brings the stave up in a defensive stance, "Hai!!!"

She snaps her pole at his gut which he deflects with a casual ease, bringing the other end around to stop her true attack at his legs. The staves flash as their power fields clash in a bright blue glow of arcing force. He sidesteps to let her next attack smack into the floor where he had been standing and counter with a ruse of his own. Her reflexes though are more than fast enough to deflect his own attack which leaves her an opening to slip the end of her stave through his guard to discharge against his left shoulder.

"Urg!" he grunts but knocks her stave away and keeps hold on his own weapon. Instead of returning to their starting positions she continues to strike at him, as if this was a life and death battle, not a sparring match.

"You can't win on defense!" she challenges with a smile. "Come on Dippley, if you don't show me some fighting spirit, I'm going to tie you to the bed to stake my claim on you soon as soon as we land! While it would keep you safe, it would also mean no weaponry or armor for you while on Amalon. Only proven warriors are allowed to carry such items on our worlds."

Dippley grunts and tries to hit her with his stave, but she's too fast and he feels his left leg collapse following a solid impact from her staff behind his knee making the entire leg go numb as the field disrupts his nerves. He catches himself and looks up to find her staff the barest fraction of an inch from between his eyes, "You need to train more." She smirks, "For each fall today you fail to reciprocate, you owe me two."

His ears droop more as he grunts, "Thought this was training, not foreplay?"

She removes her stave from his face and extends a hand to help him up, "Why can't it be both?"

He accepts her grip and stands rubbing his leg to get feeling back in it. "Why the sudden change in training? I understand now you come from a warrior culture..."

She shakes her head, "Dippley, you have no idea."

She kneels to help rub life back into his numbed leg so they can continue their training faster, "I will try to explain so you will have a slim idea of what to expect. You must first understand what a prize a virile male is on my homeworld. The ratio among my race is only about one-percent male. And a male walking around who is unable to defend himself against a warrior will be claimed by the strongest around as the premium breeding stock."

Dippley frowns, "Sounds like slavery to me."

She shakes her head and places her palm on his chest, "I understand how you can see it that way, but it's not. We are overly protective of our males. It's because our people fear losing a single male to any avoidable situation. Our males are almost never allowed off planet. If they do leave, it is usually for diplomatic purposes, and they are escorted by a retinue of the fiercest warriors as an honor guard. Even on planet, you will never see a male walking alone, he will always be surrounded by his strongest protectors. It is considered a great honor to be a guardian to a male. The males are never forced into anything, they typically choose to follow the traditions."

"Despite how all this may sound to you; males are not a lower caste or something. They are often our diplomats to outside groups and moderators when a duel will not settle matters, such as inter-clan conflicts. They prevent the clan wars of ages past that killed millions and is the cause for the low birthrate of males." She sighs as she feels the muscles in his leg start to respond to his will again, "Males are as important as any warrior sister on the world, more so for how few there are."

She bites her lip as she looks up at him, "You're mine, and I don't want some other warrior to claim you if you should get separated from me. Battling my fellow warrior sisters to get you back by traditional means would get... messy. It won't matter that you are an outsider. You are big, strong, and many of my fellow warrior sisters will salivate over you. Our males tend to be shorter and few will ever carry your musculature."

Dippley smiles, "I'm quite a catch am I?"

She sighs while standing up again, "It's one of the reasons I wanted you to stay behind. You don't know my culture and my warrior sisters will not fully understand yours. You look like a warrior, and they will treat you as such. I didn't want you to see my people as barbaric or uncivilized. They won't hold you there against your will, for that would be a breach of the agreement with the rest of the civilized galaxy. However, there will be much begging for you to stay I suspect." She smirks, "Whatever you do, don't accept any invitation to see a female's room."

He nods as he stands straight again, "I think I understand, but I suspect I still have many gaps in my knowledge."

Picking up his stave with her tail she flicks it to him where he catches it, "So we practice now so that you will be ready. You might have to fight a warrior as skilled as I am to keep your freedom if you are separated from me for any reason." She smiles, "Besides, we need to teach you the language of my people. That will take a few nights of subliminal training at least as it has never been programmed into the automatic translators the various empires use." Twirling her stave in a sweeping arc she extends one hand and motions him to bring it, "Guess I'll have to fuck you unconscious first."

Dippley doesn't hesitate, he charges and attacks with a flurry of blows only a highly trained eye can follow. Gunndis plays with him, refusing to block any of his swings, only dodging them.

Dippley steps back to a defensive stance, his chest heaving as he tries to catch his breath, "I'm... fucked..."

She smirks with a predatory feline grin, "You have no idea my dear."

***

At the end of the two weeks of travel Dippley finds himself secured to the bed and his clothing is definitely missing in action. He sighs to himself as he hears noises coming from the adjoining bathroom where Gunndis had disappeared after securing him to the bed.

"I knew I should not have taken that bet," he mutters. With a faint rattling of the cuffs on the bedframe as he tests the bonds halfheartedly, he knows they won't give. These cuffs were designed to secure much more violent and deadly individuals than him. And he told himself that honestly, no male would want to escape from this bed right now anyway.

There is the woosh of the door opening and his eyes squint at the overly bright light from the bathroom and the female feline silhouette framed in the doorway. "I heard those chains rattling," she says, her tail flicking in excitement.

Stepping into the room with a sensual sway of her hips and tail she purrs, "Now I know my little puppy wouldn't be trying to escape his fate, would he?"

Dippley knows the rules of this play and answers, "No Mistress."

Once Gunndis steps away from the door it closes and returns the room to the soft candle lit glow. Without the bright lights behind her he can see that the feline is now wearing a blood red corset that lifts her ample breasts in an inviting manner. Her legs are encased in red silk stockings held in place by a matching garter belt. Over the garter belt is a lacey pair of red panties that stand out against her black fur in a stunning way that draws the eye.

She leaps onto the bed with her usual grace and stands straddling his hips. "Enjoying the view, are you?" she teases as she strokes one of her silk clad feet along his chest, down his defined six pack, and to his crotch where she cradles his furred pouch with the top of her foot.

Despite all his trained self-control, he can do nothing to prevent his manhood from slipping from his sheath to stand in salute to the beautiful female. Between the lovely site of the female over him and the feel of her silk clad foot caressing his body, he stood no chance of resisting.

She smiles down at him, "Very good, you are well trained after all." With a flash she is straddling his stomach on her knees and bends over to caress his cheek with a feathery touch. Leaning closer she kisses him deeply as she slips her tongue past his lips to wrestle with his own.

He moans into the kiss as she purrs like a kitten with a bowl of cream. Finally breaking the kiss, she nuzzles and nips at his collarbone, "I warned you that I would tie you down and mark you as mine."

"Yes Mistress," he coos.

She smiles at his response, 'Such a fun lover you are Dippley. Let's really test you.'

Reaching behind her she finds his neglected shaft standing proud and eager for attention, a thin trickle of pre wetting his shaft. "I thought I disarmed you before I secured you here." Squeezing his erection, she coos, "How did I miss this hand cannon?" She licks her lips as she smiles down at him, "but I know how to disarm this, don't I?"

Lifting one shapely leg she flips to straddle his chest with her panty clad crotch against his muzzle while her hand fondles his package. Dippley requires no instruction and starts nuzzling and licking at her silk covered mound.

She closes her eyes, "Mmmmm, good pet." She enjoys the pressure of both his cold wet nose and his warm tongue against the fabric that covers her mound.

Bending over she lets her heaving mounds engulf the thick shaft in their furred valley. Bobbing her chest, she gives the sensitive tip a teasing lick with her rough tongue each time it peeks from her valley. She purrs at the taste of his salty pre and she can feel the vibrations in her mound as Dippley muffles his moan with her crotch.

With a growl she shoves her breasts to the root of his shaft so she can pull the head of his cock into her mouth where she sucks on it like a vacuum chamber. The sensation of the silky fur on his shaft and the wet heat of her mouth finally makes Dippley come up for air from the depths of her loins, "Ahh!"

He closes his eyes tight as he tenses his legs, trying to hold off the result of Gunndis's talented skills with his shaft. The final tipping point comes though when one of her hands reaches down to cup and gently squeeze his balls, massaging their contents to explode. And explode it does.

At the first tensing of his balls Gunndis pulls herself off him and sits up, bringing her crotch out of his reach. She giggles like a schoolgirl as she watches the leaping manhood that starts to erupt without any more stimulation. She is impressed at the geyser that shoots nearly as high as her chin before it falls to splatter on his tummy, crotch, thighs, and the bed.

Dippley grits his teeth as he feels the orgasm surge through his shaft and erupt to splatter back on him. Burst after burst erupts into the air rather than into his lover's warmth and he whines like a feral pup through his gritted teeth. As the eruption finally falls to a trickle, he feels the bed shift and his chest is lighter as Gunndis gets off him. But it is not for long as he feels the bed shift again and her weight is now settled on his upper thighs.

Panting for breath he opens his eyes to see the beautiful hunter straddling him and reaching down to stroke his post-orgasmic sensitive cock. He sees her eyes flash with their inner fire, and he whines again, "Eeeee." He lowes his ears, he knows what's coming next, and while he knows it will be good, it will be a sensation overload for him.

Gunndis growls a predatory sound, a huntress who has her prey in sight and there is no chance of missing it. "Mine!" she snarls as she pulls her panties aside with one hand before slamming his still overly sensitive shaft into her tight and soaked vagina.

Removing her hands from the joining at her crotch she grips his muscled chest as she wails like a wildcat, "AAIIIEEE!!!"

Dippley's sensitive cock is wired straight into his brain and the pleasure is mind numbing in its intensity. He can feel every millimeter of her slick internal walls as she rides him like a prized stallion. His world focuses on that small piece of him and the bouncing, screaming, and beautiful female who has claimed him, heart, body, and soul.

Gunndis feels the first of her orgasms wash though her as her channel tighten on the intruder deep inside her. "More!" she screams as she leans over to look Dippley right in his blue eyes with a gaze that her ancestors in ages past might have used to paralyze their prey in the jungles of their homeworld.

Even now, Dippley can feel a small piece of what those long-gone creatures might have felt. He is transfixed and can do nothing, but submit to this hunter, this female, this lover. He doesn't blink as she slams her now spasming tunnel down to engulf his still sensitive shaft. If he hadn't of just climaxed, he might have blown his load then to flood her belly with his virile seed.

Gunndis sits up quickly to adjust the pressure of his shaft inside her. Leaning back, she braces herself on his thighs as her loins move back and forth to stimulate herself on that thickness where it rubs against her g-spot. "Gimmie!" she cries at him in her lust, her demeanor that of a huntress who wants her reward.

Dippley can't believe how fast he feels another load building in his loins and grits his teeth, knowing the longer he can hold out the better it will be, for both of them.

Gunndis redoubles her efforts, not willing to let him withhold what she seeks. "I... said... Gimmie!!!" she shouts as she slams down and a splash of her female nectar coats not just his shaft, but mingles with his semen on his thighs, tummy, and bed.

Her vice grip on his shaft is the last straw as Dippley throws his head back and howls, "OOOWWWWOOO!!" Like his verbal eruption fills the air, Gunndis feels the burning heat of his vital seed blasting into her deepest depths. I tiny part of his mind asks if she could ever get pregnant from him. However, that is the last thought he has as he drifts off to orgasmic bliss.

Gunndis pants as she reaches up to release the cuffs with a touch of her finger on the reader where Dippley could have freed himself at any time if he wanted. Letting the cuffs clank onto the floor and keeping that thick and warm intruder inside her she then lays down on top of him and pulls his arms around her, 'No, I am not sharing you.'

***

The blaring alarm and flashing lights of the red alert wakes the two cuddling in the bed as there is a shudder that ripples through the vessel. The kind of shudder that only happens when a vessel is pulled suddenly out of superlight. Gunndis disentangles herself from Dippley's arms as she runs for the bridge, the large canine only a split second behind her. Both reach the bridge and leap nude as the day they were born into their pilot chairs.

Silencing the alarm Dippley's jaw drops, "Gunndis, we got five corvette signals tracking on us. No IFF, if I was betting, I'd say pirates. I think we might have stumbled on a hidden pirate coven out here on the edge of the nebulas where the fleet seldom patrols."

Gunndis growls, "Damnit, just our luck for the last leg of our trip." She starts to plot a different course into the nav system and slams her fist against her console, "Fuck!"

"I see them, two more coming from intercept vectors. We've got no clear jump vector." He turns to the weapons panel and starts to activate the weapon systems. "I'm warming..."

"Forget it, the Maiden is impressive as a personal yacht, but she doesn't have enough firepower to take on seven corvettes. Put everything we have into our shields." She looks out the screen at the closing nebula cluster ahead of then, "I hope we're close enough."

"For what?" asks Dippley as he reinforces the shields with the power from the weapon systems.

She takes a small disc from a small compartment on her console, "For this." She triggers the transmitter and places it on the console between them. "This grants us access to the nebula. I just hope she's waiting for us this far out since I was summoned and they're expecting me."

The entire vessel shakes as several high energy impacts strike their rear shields which start to glow under the impact of capitol class ship blasts. "Judging by the impacts, those are class four javelins. Our shields can hold them off for a little bit, but if we can't jump away the shields will fail." Noticing the flashing lights on the communication panel he grunts. "Huh. They're actually trying to hail us," Dippley says as he blocks their broadcast. "The usual that was a warning shot. Surender or die pirate crap," he snarls. "What do you bet they don't know who's onboard?"

Gunndis frowns, "They know. The Star Maiden is a pretty well-known ship." She looks to the glowing nebula and her features break into a grin, "Ah, there you are..." Sitting back she sighs, "We're safe now."

Looking at the nebula he doesn't see anything, "Wha..."

She holds up a finger, "Wait and watch, our shields will hold long enough for our reinforcements."

Dippley sees a cloud seeming to separate from the nebula and grow in their screens, "What is that? Some kind of nebulous anomaly of the Sandstorm?" He taps several points on the sensor readout, "I don't detect any other ships than the corvettes closing on us."

"You'll see, trust me you don't want to miss a moment of this. You are going to see something few outside my race have seen and lived to talk about." She smirks, "Those pirates picked the wrong place to hide from the fleets."

A powerful carrier signal comes over the bridge's comm and a purring voice speaking Gunndis's native tongue says, "Star Maiden recognized, Shields are on the way. Maintain your course while we take care of the fleas on your back and attempting to intercept your vector."

Dippley looks down at the sensors again and frowns, "There's nothing out there but gas and the closing corvettes. Who was that?"

"Help," Gunndis smirks. Pointing to six small points of light coming out of the closing cloud, "That's our Shields. Please make sure you don't try to shoot down the Shield drones, we'll need those to get through the nebula intact. I hate trying to take this ship in to dock on another ship for transport."

Dippley's jaw gapes as he watches not only the six small drones surround their ship and engage a defensive shield that their sensors say could rival the main shields on a main fleet Dreadnaught. "Where did..."

Dippley stops his question as it is answered by a sensor return appearing on his display, and it's a big one directly ahead of them. Looking up he realizes the cloud was not a cloud, it was an unrecognized class of ship that dwarfed the fleet's biggest dreadnaughts, and it had a holographic cloaking field.

Gunndis nods, "Nebula class heavy cruiser, looks like the Kiha's Shield. We only have six of them, crew of fifty seasoned warriors each." She shrugs to herself, "Not that we really need more to patrol our borders, most civilized races stay away from here after all." She glances at the sensors and smirks like the cat who ate the canary, "Too late for you little fish. The shark is here to play, and she's hungry."

Dippley notices the corvettes are turning and burning their sub-light drives at full power, but they are losing ground on the much bigger ship as it's drive blaze with the glow of barely contained stars. In his mind he can imagine the shouted commands on the bridges of those corvettes to come about and plot a course out of there. 'They've got no chance,' Dippley tells himself.

A wide band broadcast comes over the comm system again, this time in common, "By the Sandstorm Accords, all pirates who enter our space are fair game. You are guilty of territorial breaches and threatening our sister's ship. Sentence is death, engage lances and swords!"

On the screens Dippley watches in awe as squat turrets swivel and their dark weapon maws start to glow with the fury of many stars. The pirate ships turn and focus their powerful broadsides on their massive adversary. The space between them is filled with a storm of energy bolts, mass driver rounds, and torpedoes. But it is for naught, they all impact on shields that glow red for only the merest flicker of a moment before they return to their normal transparent shimmer.

"Fools," says Gunndis. "That last corvette might have been able to engage her superlight drives and get away, but she's just condemned her crew to hell."

With rapid fire bursts the turrets of the massive ship open fire and it seems as if the darkness of space has born a new star on the battlefield at that moment. All seven corvettes are speared and sliced by the beams of energy and plasma. Their shields lasting less than a millisecond under the onslaught of nova fierce energy so bright that Dippley shields his eyes despite the auto dimming of the bridge's viewscreens.

"No," says Gunndis before Dippley can ask, her arms still crossed under her breasts as she watches the fury in the void outside. "No mass drivers, no torpedoes, only energy and plasma weaponry you won't see outside the Sandstorm for many years to come. The rest of the galaxy still needs to catch up on our latest weapons."

Leaning forward Gunndis triggers the comm station as the heavy cruiser's batteries fall silent again and the blazing fury dies to the darkness of space, "Star Maiden to Kiha's Shield, we thank you for the assist. Those odds were not in our favor."

A face appears on one of the video screens, a navy blue furred feline female with white hair like Gunndis and a scar running across one cheek, "Hello sister, it has been many years Gunndis."

Gunndis smiles, "I see you finally got your own cruiser little sister. How are the cubs?"

The blue feline smiles, "Very well my eldest sister, they hope to see their aunt this time. It has been six years since you visited, you should stop by more often."

Gunndis grows serious, "If there is time my kin, I am on official orders from the high council."

The female on the screen bows her head, "So I have heard. We are here to escort you through the Sandstorm. You can dock that little toy of yours in our bay and travel in comfort."

Gunndis smirks, "Just because you finally got a new toy, doesn't mean you get to insult the Star Maiden. We'll accept the escort, but not so sure that I want to bring the Star Maiden into your bay. It's a bit cramped with your own craft I'm sure." She waves to her sensor panel, "Thanks for the Shields though, these will be sufficient to navigate through I think."

The eyes of the female on the screen flick towards Dippley, visible behind Gunndis and she licks her lips, "I see you bring some new meat to the homeworld. Will you share with your sister? I have a large enough cabin for us all over here. You know the trip to the homeworld from here is another two days, and we have plenty of space in the bay for your little yacht there."

Gunndis frowns, "He is a warrior, you would have to win the right and consent my sister."

The insides of the blue furred female's ears turn a deeper shade of pink as she appears to blush, but it's not in embarrassment as she says, "A warrior you say. I can't want to test him myself."

Gunndis frowns, her eyebrows creasing her forehead, "Talra, my sister, this one is not for you."

She grins as she shrugs, "It's been a while sister, and you can't expect everyone to pass on him. I expect him to receive a number of challenges once you arrive. If you didn't want to share, you shouldn't have brought your boy toy with you."

Gunndis sighs, "My dear sister, don't be rude, he can understand you. And he's not my boy toy, he's my apprentice in the Hunters. By tradition and code, I can't just leave him behind, even for family business." She flashes a glare at her sister, "There would be questions asked that I don't wish to answer."

Talra smiles as she focuses on the still nude canine male, "Welcome Hunter Apprentice, you must be something special for my sister to take you as an apprentice. You will soon experience things here you will find nowhere else in populated space. I hope you enjoy your time in our space." Returning her focus to Gunndis, "We will come about and take point through the nebulas if you won't dock with us. Stay in our wake though so the Shields aren't too strained. The static storms have been, excessive of late. My invite to share the bay really was a suggestion for your own good sister. The Shields will protect, but the ride will be rough for that little ship of yours."

Gunnddis sighs, "Fine Talra, I give. Open the bay and clear me a docking bracket. I guess someone needs to show your cubs how a real pilot handles a docking after all."

Talra smiles in triumph, "I knew you'd see it my way." She looks off screen, "Open the main bay for the Star Maiden and clear a docking bracket." Turning to her other side she commands, "Recall the Shields when she clears the dust screens."

There are some muffled responses and Talra nods, "The bay is opening, bring her in, bracket one is cleared for docking."

Gunndis grins as she turns to Dippley, "You heard her, take her in. Just like when I let you fly her the first time." She gives her apprentice a wink and a hint of a grin which her sister cannot see.

Dippley cracks his knuckles before he starts to dance his fingers across the control panels of the ship and the Star Maiden flips in space and darts towards the opening bay at max thrust.

Talra looks shocked, "Um, Gunndis, I know you like to show off, but please tell your apprentice to slow down. I don't want to scrape your little gunship off my bay's bulkheads, and he is flying faster than even you do."

Gunndis holds a hand up to the communication screen, "Let him focus, and let this teach you to not underestimate a fellow warrior."

There is the muffled sound of a startled voice off screen on the cruiser's bridge. Talra looks worried, "Gunndis?"

Gunndis points at her sister to silence her, "Dippley, the bracket will be the first on the left side as we enter the bay."

Dippley nods, "Thirty seconds to the bay. Forty seconds to docking, tell them to have the clamps warmed up and ready." His fingers dance over the controls in a blur of motion that cannot be followed.

Talra looks worried as she glances off screen, "Gunndis, you're coming in way too fast! You'll impact the bay! Slow that scrapheap down!"

Dippley grins, "No, we're not." Like a pirouetting ballerina the Star Maiden spins as it simultaneously passes through the bay's atmospheric shield. The vernier thrusters along the vessel bursting to life as the Star Maiden slips into the designated docking bracket like a hand into a glove. With a tap he shuts down the in-system drives and the familiar hum of the engines fades as the docking clamps engage and secure the ship to the brackets.

Gunndis turns to face her sister with a raised eyebrow, "Well?"

Talra licks her lips, "I see now why you accepted him as an apprentice. He learns fast."

Gunndis smirks, "He did the same thing to me the first time I let him fly the Star Maiden. He's a natural pilot." She stands, still nude and stretches, her muscles rippling under her sleek pelt. She smiles out of bridge's ports as a few crew members in the bay peek out from behind the shelter they had taken as the speeding craft that had streaked into the bay. Thankfully not to crash, but softly dock within the designated bracket. "We'll meet you in a few, soon as we get some clothes on. The pirate attack woke us before we could get dressed. Give us a few to become presentable and we'll meet you."

Talra nods, "I'll be down to meet you in a few minutes." She glances over at Dippley, her eyes tracing his muscled form, "Though clothing isn't mandatory..."

Gunndis shuts off the communication and the screen goes blank, "Come on Dippley, let's have a quick shower and get dressed before we meet my sister."

Standing and stretching from the pilot seat he grunts, "Is she really your sister?"

Gunndis nods, "Yeah, younger sister by about ten years. I left home and became a Star Hunter. She stayed home and joined the Planetary Defense Force. We've both excelled in our chosen professions."

They walk down the corridor, through the bedroom, and into the spacious bathroom. "Did you have me pilot the Star Maiden in like that to help prove my status?" he asks.

Gunndis nods as she sets the water temperature in the shower cabinet, "I want them to recognize you as a skilled warrior, and only true warriors can pilot a ship like you can. It will help to hear other warriors speak of your abilities, not just me." He chuffs with a shirk, "I think your skills actually exceed my own in some regards. You seem to be able to feel the ship around you, not just relying on the sensors."

She steps into the shower cabinet and with a wave of her hand, he joins her. Placing his hands on her hips he leans in to kiss her which she returns in kind. As they part, they smile twin smiles of lovers as their foreheads press together and he says, "Thank you for the compliment."

Characters and story Copyright Christopher Gilman 2020 all rights reserved

Leave a comment and let me know what you thought of this little tale >^_^<