FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

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Warning! Warning! Warning!

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This story contains all those things your mom and dad said they'd tell you about when you grew up, in hopes you'd never ask again. Avert your eyes, lest this missage burns itself into your retinas, for I can't be held accountable for your marred purity!

And all the rest. You know the deal. 18 blah blah don't read blah blah legal blah blah...

Okay, enough on with the story.

This was written as a commission for the lovely Femukki.

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Warning! Warning! Warning!

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The Surrogate

The Eagle cascade shimmered in hundreds of shades of red. Rust, ruby, crimson, tans and brown, fading to pinks and soft purples as the swirling vortex of interstellar gases pulled into a disc, rotating once every generation around a distant star. This was a place for secrecy and intrigue; the gases rubbed together as they fell towards the star, creating static and radiation that blocked any short-range transmission. It was a place for covert deeds. Hidden within were countless lost wrecks, pinpricks of twisted metal, lost to time in the vast stellar clouds. Scavengers crawled through the cascade like ants at a picnic, searching for lost riches, valuable salvage, and anyone weak enough to turn into one of the previous two options.

For Femukki, the cascade was a place for solitude. She liked the red hue that the light coming through the blast windows painted on the interior of her frigate. She liked the steady pinging of static on her sensors as the clouds pulsed with the spinning neutron star at the center of the cascade. She even liked the spidery crawl of radar sweeps as the rare scavenger combed over her position, and because of the absorptive layer that coated her hull, found nothing. Out here in the red light she could simply sit and stare out at the universe. Sometimes it felt as if all of the answers to her questions would just float into her brain from the soupy mess of ancient dead stars. Lost just like the wrecks in the cascade, the answers had been floating for days and months and decades and generations, just waiting for her to stumble upon them.

This time, though, she had a very specific question, and hoped that a very specific answer would float down to her from the endless wisdom of the cascade. She held her hands over her belly and felt the bulge. As if in response, she felt a slight kick, then a squirm. Then there was another kick, or maybe a punch, to a different part of her stomach. There were definitely at least two, she mused; maybe more. A whole litter, she decided, as if it made a difference to the answer she was seeking.

She hadn't handed herself over to her ship's medical suite yet, even though it was top notch. It could tell her in an instant how many of the little monsters were growing in her womb, and give her a detailed genetic breakdown on each individual one. It could tell her the likelihood that they'd survive birth, and if they survived, what their estimated lifespan would be, based on averages gathered over years of observation. It could even tell her what their basic personality would be like, each individual one; which one would be a bully, and which one the runt of the litter. Which ones would be smooth and subtle and crafty like their mother, and which ones would be brutish and powerful and endlessly loyal like their fathers.

There was even more to what the technology could offer. She'd be able to see them as they grew, and after they were fully grown, how they'd act when they were playing with each other, and how one of them would snore when it was sleeping. She'd give them a face, and then she'd give them a name, and her decision would be made before the question had even been asked.

So she let her hands wander back to the console as she let her mind go blank. She didn't want to pay attention to the feel of the two or three (or more) brothers growing inside her. That'd make her choice difficult. Right now, it was just a chemical reaction, proteins gathering in long strings, a biological event spiraling out of control. If she gave them names and faces, if she thought of them a "them" instead of "it", then she was already lost.

It would ground her for weeks, and kill her profits for months. Even with the fee she had charged, she'd still be running at a loss. Worse, her reaction times right now were shot, and it was only going to get worse. She'd been a smuggler, a fighter, a free trader and a rogue explorer. Deep in hostile territory, she'd probed down spatial anomalies that yielded rare elements and compounds that were as valuable in trade as they were contraband in use. She'd hunted down pirates and corsairs in systems that had never seen a police patrol and left their frozen carcasses floating inside the wrecks of their battered ships, taking only the ship comms as proof to complete her contract. She'd been a hero and a villain both, and feared very little in the known, colonized galaxy.

At least, she hadn't up until now. Unable to resist, she let the pads of her fingers slide over her belly, tracing out all the anatomy she could recognize. There was the head, and there was the shoulder. She couldn't find the hips, maybe it was curled up. She forced herself to admit it; these scared her. More than any pirate or black hole or battleship blockade, these little sparks of life that were growing in her belly were the first things that made her limbs tingle with adrenaline, fear smothering her like a cold blanket.

She couldn't go on without making a decision. She knew that if she didn't take steps now, either to safeguard their birth or to rid herself of them, then it might be her own health that she risked, not just that of her unborn pups. So out here, in the silence of the cascade with her sensors softly pinging, she laid her head back against the headrest of her pilot's cradle and remembered.

*

"Kalistra Corporation reports that its installations in Itonomo have once again been attacked." Femukki lazily poked at the dashboard. The holo-screen dissolved to static for a moment, then refocused. The face of Reginald Kali, CEO and founder of Kalistra Corporation, hung mid-air, old and grizzled, with white whiskers and grey fur surrounding his muzzle. "Itonomo has been the target of further violence today, as Regal Holdings Incorporated laid siege to Kalistra-" The news feed cut off as Femukki jabbed at the dashboard again. Static crawled up the holo-vid again and images jerked back to life. Red scrawl floated at the header and footer of the video stream, reading "Breaking News" in italic font.

Every station on every band was broadcasting about the corporation wars. She hadn't seen a regularly scheduled vid for weeks. At first, it had been exciting. She'd kept track of every offensive and counter-offensive, watching as system after system became the newest hotspot of corporate in-fighting. Planets, moons, starbases, and installations all swapped hands like shares in the stock market, sometimes multiple times in a single day. It was exciting; especially with the side-bets that Femukki had placed. She'd won half a million chits on a bet when the starbase orbiting Lasik 3 had fallen a whole day earlier than expected.

But now, weeks after it'd started, she'd long since lost her interest. Corporations and their subsidiaries sent wave after wave of cloned pilots packed full of cybernetic implants in suped-up fighters out to be reduced to expensive space dust before they even fired a single shot. The game had lost its originality; now it was just a procession of increasingly grim news reports that beamed themselves to her holo-vid.

With a casual finger, she flipped through her programmed favorites. News, news, news, cartoons with a news crawl along the bottom, news, news, reruns, news... In a fit of frustration, she smacked the controls, and the holo-vid flickered to darkness. The only sounds she could hear were the deep bass rumble of her frigate's engines and the soft, staccato whine of her starboard capacitor; it was on the fritz again. To her, this was silence.

Her next contract was twelve long jumps off; she had some time to herself. With a last check to her autopilot's coordinates, she swiveled in her flight chair and stood. An old movie, a hot bath, and a full night's sleep are what were called for. Before she could stretch her legs to chase away hours of disuse in the form-fitted pilot's chair, though, the holo-vid gave a beep.

She scowled. It would figure that just as a good night was about to start business would intrude. She reached over the back of her chair and flicked with disinterest at the controls. The vid sprang back into life, and another view of the besieged star system of Itonomo filled the cockpit with artificial light. This time, though, there was no news crawl, no eye-witness' voice, and no reporter's over-dub. That gave her pause, just long enough to notice the "message" icon that was blinking a soft white at the bottom of the vid display. Her claw traced across the control, and a familiar voice began to speak. "Mukki, I need a favor."

*

Dances-With-Otters paced back and forth across the industrial deck of his transport. The display near him was patched into his sensors, and angry red dots spattered across his radar like bees swarming around a disturbed hive. If he bothered, he could program his sensors to color-code the ships between the Kalistra Corp and Regal Holdings, but he didn't really see the point. Either of them would rather burn his freighter to a husk than risk it being covert aid for the enemy. Past all of those angry red dots, in a hidden little niche of the planet far below, was his secret stash. He'd bet it all on a safe little planet, far away from the dangerous rim worlds, but far enough from constant patrols that he could come and go as he pleased. It was just his luck that his safe little planet had become the hostage in this travesty of a war.

He'd contacted representatives of both corporations before entering system. He'd pleaded, bribed, and appealed to their senses of sympathy. He'd even offered to bring in ammunition, salvage and repair supplies, and medical aid if they'd just allow him down to the surface to recover his goods. He'd been told in no uncertain terms exactly which anatomical location he was welcome to visit, and even the questionable conditions under which he'd be expected to stay there. It's not as if he expected any other answer; it had been a long shot. Afterwards, he'd made the call that he knew would work.

With a flash that was visible from half a million miles out, the system's jump gate disgorged a small, nimble little frigate. Dances' sensors momentarily spiked as radar and ladar and sonar and x-ray sensor sweeps swam across his transport, the circling hive of corporation ships all turning their attention to the newcomer. Then, moments later the hive settled, and the red dots on his sensors continued circling the contested planet.

His comms pinged. It was her.

"Mukki! I'm so glad you're here." Dances breathed into the holo-vid of the slender bat reclined in her flight chair. She was short, shorter than he was, and her fur was inked in exciting little swirls that dipped suggestively into her flight suit. The flap of skin between her outstretched arms and her sides stretched and shimmered as she moved her hands. As he watched, her "wings" contracted and shrank, folding up against her sides and arms and leaving her over-long arms with what appeared to be no more than fuzzy sleeves. He knew she'd had nanite controls installed, but this is the first time he'd seen her use them.

Femukki leaned back and considered him momentarily. "I had to call off a contract for this, Dancer. This had better be important."

"Critically," He paused. He was happy enough to dance, but the happier he acted, the more she'd charge him for the favor. Not that he minded paying, exactly, but it all meant more for her, less for him. It was all natural mathematics, of course. "Did you call your contacts?"

She held up a comms-card with the name "Kalistra" stenciled across its front. "I made it through the jump gate without a single shot being fired. I think that's enough of an answer."

"But what about Regal Holdings?"

The bat held up a second comms-card, this one blue on gold with filigreed lettering.

"Ah." Dances smiled. Thorough. It was definitely her style. "So we're clear to just land?"

"I didn't say that." The bat leaned back in her chair. "They're doing visual checks in addition to comms checks. I have another contact already in orbit, but you'll need to trust me."

"I called you, didn't I?"

"True." She shrugged noncommittally. "Send me the location of your stash, and I'll get us an escort."

With a sigh, he thumbed the display. In a blink, detailed telemetry uploaded to the bat's frigate. With a critical eye she surveyed it. "Right, stay here for twenty minutes then approach the site. I'll meet you at the blockade ring."

"But what if your contact doesn't-"

"Hey!" She broke through his worried nattering. "You either trust me or you don't. Twenty minutes, or I'm charging you double for chickening out and wasting my hard work."

Dances sighed. She was right. With a resigned shrug, he killed the comm channel and stumped back to the cockpit. His finger dragged up the reactor controls, and the hull shook with vibrations for a moment. Within a second, the drive stabilized, and vibration ceased. On his sensors, the frigate had already pulled away, shooting towards the surrounded planet. He watched it approach a cruiser, one transmitting on the Kalistra Corp comms channels, then the two red dots merged on his display. The waiting began.

For ten minutes, he watched the display, mesmerized by the swirling ship signatures. He tried to keep track of which one Femukki had boarded, but he'd long since lost track. His computer would know, of course, but it wouldn't matter. He was in a transport with minimal armaments. She would either be there when she promised, or she wouldn't.

At the fifteen minute mark, he kicked his drive into motion and began his approach. Scanners caught his activity, and within seconds, three of the smaller cruisers had locked weapons on him at a quarter of a million miles out. Steeling his nerves, he eased the acceleration upwards, and his freighter lurched forwards from its crawl. At eighteen minutes, he primed his cruise engine, and inertial damps soaked the acceleration as he hurtled towards the planet. At twenty, he reached the blockade.

He had just enough time to throw his engines into reverse and burn to decelerate as the planet's gravity well started to pull him in. Around him, the cruisers and battleships of the battling corporations kept turrets locked on him, and at this range, he was able to stare straight down the barrel of the cannons through his blast windows. His eyes locked with the weapons as he approached, then passed.

A small frigate detached itself from the cloud of corporation ships and pulled into formation with him. Dances let out a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding when the comms lit up.

"Just as planned. You drop down and get your stash, I'll fly low orbit until you're done." The bat lounged in her flight chair, limbs disheveled and a warm smile on her face.

"Right. Uh, Mukki..."

"I know, you don't have to say thanks." She smiled sweetly at him.

"No." Dances stumbled over his words momentarily.

Femukki paused. "No, what?"

"No, I wasn't going to say thanks. Not that I'm not thankful, I am! Really, it's just..."

"Spit it out, otter." The bat's eyes narrowed in annoyance.

Dances-With-Otters pointed at the vid screen. "Your flight suit is undone."

"Oh!" The bat's self-confidence melted like butter in a furnace, and she covered her belly and bared chest with long fingers. "I'm- I mean, I."

Dances blinked and shook his head. "You cover up; I'll go take care of business on the planet. Thanks, Mukki, I mean it."

The bat stammered an apology, then reached forward and killed comms. With a smile pulling his muzzle up at the sides, he punched his ship to burn into the atmosphere, thrusters and engines lit in the thin ozone as the ship's computer expertly kept control.

The descent was eventless. As the planet's long, star studded horizon slowly faded, the greenish atmosphere slowly asserted itself as he approached the surface. From above, the planet appeared to be a mosaic of interlocking greens and browns and blue. From closer, though, the rest of the colors bled into view. The trunk of trees stood in dark purple and the ground beneath was studded with rusty red. His flight disturbed a flock of native "birds" as he passed, exploding from a treetop in his wake in a cloud of flapping, reptilian wings. It had been a year since he last visited his cache, mostly because of the rising danger of doing so, but he never ceased to be amazed by the lush environment of the planet.

Far above, he could see the shapes of the star ships outlined in the green sky. Cruisers were too small to see without binoculars, but the battleships hulked their way around the equator. Even though he knew they were travelling at incredible speeds, they appeared to be almost motionless.

Next to him, the comms squawked. "Come on, Dancer, let's get this done. My contact bought us half an hour, no more."

"Shit." Dances-With-Otters pulled his craft under an overhang, crowded with vegetation. His thrusters burned through the leaf cover. Below, a makeshift landing pad caught his ship's moorings. He threw his engines into idle and catapulted himself from the seat. In a few seconds, he had his bay doors uncoupling, and was himself through the airlock.

The thick, hot atmosphere hit his space-bred lungs like a hammer. It took him long moments to catch his breath, webbed fingers gripped at the knees of his short legs. With a hand up to steady himself against the frame of the airlock, he stepped out into the muggy jungle.

Noise echoed from all around him. The calls of native insects and amphibians filled his ears, along with the croaking of an arboreal creature that stumped regular classification for being somewhere between reptilian and avian. Normally when he arrived, he'd stand for hours, letting himself adjust to the strangeness of terrestrial sounds, all so alien to his spacer's senses. He could track the strange reptile-birds in flight, his rounded ears swiveling on top of his rounded head as he figured the round-about location of the creatures. He'd even seen some of the land-bound creatures when he'd stopped here. There'd been a pack of small creatures a year ago, almost mammalian, but with thin scales instead of fur, that had taken up residence in one of his cargo crates. He hadn't had the heart of evict them then. Maybe he should check and see how-

No, no time for that now. There were battleships on the horizon, and he had half an hour to scoop as much of his retirement fund into the transport as possible, before those ships got bored and decided to use him and his friend as target practice. Without any further delay, he set to work.

*

Femukki floated in low orbit, letting the happy afterglow carry her as she flew. She could still feel Commander Abbot, his strong arms gripping against the sensitive membranes of her wings, his spicy breath tingling her whiskers, his short, wiry fur abrading her front as their respective bodies moved against each other. She hadn't always been partial to canids, but there was something special about the Commander that made her brusque, mercenary exterior melt just enough to let him in.

And let him in she had. In and around and through and just about everywhere a road map would lead him in the short twenty minutes they'd had. He was remarkably imaginative for a terrier. Normally, they were dull and unremarkable. Loyal, yes, and intelligent enough to make them worthwhile additions to any team, but it was a book-smart, a sort of sharp memory that suited so well to organization and management and command, and suited so badly for just simple common sense. Maybe the Commander had some coyote in his blood, or wolf or fox, because he was much too savvy to be a pure terrier.

He'd be up above right now, and she and Dances were flying beneath on his tolerance. He'd said that he could only spare ten minutes from the patrol before they'd be stuck, but Femukki knew she was worth more than ten. Half an hour, she'd said, as she slipped shakily back into her flight suit. He'd growled and grumbled and begged, then with her finger beneath his chin and a soft kiss on his muzzle, he'd relented. Half an hour it was.

The chronometer ticked down as she circled. Dances had disappeared from view completely, but that wasn't a surprise. Any cache of valuables had to be hidden well, or the constant traffic over Itonomo 6 would find it almost immediately. She could see the Kalistra ships above her, either unaware or unconcerned by her presence. This easy mission had already paid out in spades, and she hadn't even been reimbursed by Dances yet. Well worth the fee to cancel her previous contract.

"Mukki!" The comms blared. She'd left it open for Dances, in case there was trouble on the surface, but that wasn't Dances' voice. "Mukki, please tell me you can hear this."

"Commander?" She sat up in her chair, squinting at the holo-vid.

"Dammit, Mukki, things are about to get bad. I can't give you details, just get out."

Shit, things always had to be interesting. "What happened to our thirty minutes?" She simpered, but the commander ignored it.

"They just ran out early. Get out. Please!" That begging tone came back into his voice, and subtle things started to occur to her. His face, normally controlled and professional, was desperate. His eyes were wide and irises dilated, giving him an almost other-worldly visage.

A sudden stab of adrenaline made Femukki's blood run cold for a moment. This wasn't just a game anymore. As if her over-large bat ears could somehow hear the future, she knew with certainty that something bad was about to happen.

Without a response, she cut the comms to the Commander, and half a second later, Dances' empty cockpit appeared.

"Dancer! Can you hear me? Get in here now!" No response, not through a space-proof and blast-reinforced hull. "Shit shit shit... Okay, right. Voice activation, allow user Mukki." Through the comms, she could hear the dormant transport's computer wind up.

"Pilot confirmation required."

Femukki floundered for a moment, then smiled a small, devious smile.

"Confirm alpha."

"Incorrect confirmation."

"Confirm one-two-three-penis."

"Incorrect confirmation."

"Confirm all-otters-love-cock."

"Incorrect confirmation." Femukki held her breath, begging the computer to function by the manual. "Voice commands locked out and alarm activated." The comms channel shut down, but not before Femukki heard the first blast of the klaxon, echoing like a fog-horn through the transport's hull.

She looked at her nails and counted silently. One, two, three-. When she hit twenty, the comms opened again, and Dances' startled face stared back at her.

"Cut out the pranks, bat, I've only got-"

"Shut up." She cut him off mid-thought. "Our time ran out. Close up the hatch, whatever you've got is what you've got. Get airborne a-s-a-p."

"What about our-"

"You said you'd trust me, so stop asking questions. Do it now."

She heard muttered cursing, then the comms went dead.

And then, just as the comms went dead, the world went insane.

It started far off in the distance as just a subtle red glow. Then it grew, engulfing degree after degree of the horizon, until the glow had gobbled an entire half of the distant edge of the planet. Red streamers, burning and wild, reached up from the ground and shot through the atmosphere. A wind started up, so strong that even in the high atmosphere, it hit her frigate like a concussion. Below her, the strange reptile-birds exploded from their nests, one tree at a time, like a chain reaction of cherry bombs, tied together by the fuses.

Devastation began to creep over the horizon. Red clouds, blowing at a thousand miles an hour, ripped the green sky apart. Firestorms that shot cyclonic jets of burning gas up into the cold vastness of space roiled towards her and her still-grounded companion. Femukki couldn't tear her eyes from the blast-shielded window. The wave of destruction seemed to creep towards her, but her screaming instruments told her that it was travelling fast, faster than any ship could fly in atmosphere.

"Dammit, Dancer, I'm not dying for you." She yelled into the dead comms.

As if her will had commanded it, the otter's transport shot up from the tree cover, trailing leaves behind it. Femukki slapped her inertial control off, and let the gee-forces slam her sideways in her seat as the frigate side-slipped into formation next to the freighter. As one, they accelerated upwards, into the upper atmosphere, then into orbit.

Just like below, the orbital blockade had gone crazy. Phosphorescent flares of plasma from spent ammunition left a glowing spider web of deadly obstacles. Cruisers and battleships, rent asunder by rail gun fire, sparked and arced across the gasses escaping from their hulls, as their sides and rears hemorrhaged capsules and life pods. Just a bit further out, in higher orbit, still-capable ships waged their deadly war, long rail cannons and short-range blasters swiveling and firing with speed and accuracy that only a computer could manage.

"Uh, Mukki... They're targeting me." Dances-With-Otters' desperate eyes shot up to the comms, but Femukki waved a hand at him.

"Just keep your course. Steady." A few had targeted her as well. Ladar spikes and magnetic targeting made her sensors blare warnings. She ignored them.

With a steady pace, she edged out in front of the transport. Cruisers and battleships and their unmanned, computer-guided drones approached, then when her two comms-cards signaled a friendly code, returned to their battle.

"Mukki, look towards the east rim. Just look." She spun her craft, aligning herself to the planet's magnetic north and turning east. There, across the horizon, a behemoth lurked.

Wider and taller than ten of the largest battleships stacked prow-to-stern, the titan edged over the rim. It appeared like a small moon, flashing and shimmering with waves of capital cannons firing in unison. Where its cannons gazed, battleships fell dead and lifeless. Then it stalked across the glowing red surface of the dying planet, approaching at glacial pace while the frigate and transport edged out into upper orbit.

"Dances, punch it."

"First good advice I've heard all day." With a shudder, the freighter behind her jerked forward, the engines spewing unsteady light and gasses behind it as Dances accelerated.

Within ten seconds, the transport had cleared the atmosphere, and the jump engines had engaged. There was just a faint ion trail where he had been. Femukki prodded her own engines into action, and acceleration glued her to her seat. Just before her jump engaged, the bottom of the massive starship disgorged an ugly red bomb. It tumbled down towards the planet, spinning on all three axes as it accelerated. Then as the stars and planet and cruisers and battleship blurred in the jump field, she caught just the glimpse of the bomb's explosion, spreading a red wave of cyclonic death as it burned the atmosphere in a circle, expanding at a mile per second.

Then the jump stole the world from outside her window.

*

"Mukki, enough. We're fourteen jumps out. I've been at the helm for over twenty hours, and your telemetry is getting sloppy. We're away. We're safe."

Femukki tugged at the frayed thread of the fabric over one armrest. He was right. It still didn't feel far enough, but he was right. She'd never let him know, but that last sight of the bomb detonating in the upper atmosphere...

She shook her head. She needed sleep, real sleep, not just an hour nap between jumps.

"Fine." She checked her last jump. The system was named "Gythals". She'd never been here or even heard of here. The system contained two uninhabitable planets, each with two moons and no valuable resources of any kind. No wonder she'd never heard of it.

"Put us in orbit around one of the moons. I don't care which one." She sighed and slumped in her pilot's chair, slaving her thrusters to Dances'. With sloth born of careful exhaustion, he angled their dive into the system and decelerated them into a high orbit. The transport's computers slowly brought Femukki's ship in to dock.

She stumbled to the airlock. Dances met her on the far side of the pressure-sealed door and led her weary feet into the depths of his ship. At any point, Femukki couldn't decide whether she was leaning on him, or whether he was leaning on her. She made it as far as the door to the pilot's bedroom before the hours of stress in the pilot's seat caught up with her, and she blacked out.

*

She woke to the feeling of short limbs holding her. It was hot; thick, insulating material pressed against her from all sides. Blankets and pillows and sheets furled in a formless mass resembling a massive nest more than a bed. Beneath her, the mattress bent slightly, cupping her in the concave furrow of the nest's center. A short fuzzy figure, close to her own height, pressed against her from behind, with wayward limbs clasped around her without design or purpose. She could identify an arm, looped over her shoulder and grasping her breast. Another had reached over her side, and hugged around her belly. A stubby leg, short in comparison to the length of body pressed to her back, was stilted up over her thighs. A hot length of flesh, unsheathed and feeling rather damp, pressed between her legs, its tip just barely emerging from between her clamped thighs.

Femukki rolled her head in the vague blissful laziness of the morning. As the base of her skull pushed back against the short muzzle tucked against the back of her neck, she felt short teeth nip at her collarbone. Her hand fumbled through the crumpled mess of sheets and blankets until it found her thighs. She ran her thumb and two fingers over the spongy tip that peeked between her thighs, and it gave an excited little throb at the touch.

Her stirring seemed to wake her partner, the arm around her waist tugged, and the slim length shifted between her thighs and tugged upwards at sensitive places that made her squirm. She slowly opened her eyes, letting them adjust slowly to the faux-daylight that was shining. It bounced off of blue and teal and jade colored walls from all directions, and from navy and purple and regal blue sheets around her. With the hot blankets supporting and caressing her from every side and the unfamiliar shape of the nest giving her a skewed perception of up and down, she could just imagine that she was submerged in ocean-green water, and the blankets were river-blue waves that lapped over her every time the body against her back wriggled and shifted. Slowly awareness returned to her, and she could place a name to the randy form plastered to her back.

"Dancer..."

She was greeted with a wet snuffling against the back of one of her overlarge ears, then a lick to its thin webbing. In the heat of the otter's nest, she melted against his front. As she shivered and rolled slightly against his front, his member slid up against her nether lips, its tapered tip just barely parting them. She gave a ragged sigh, the good night's rest leaving her lazily pliant. With the fingers near her crotch, she pushed at the tip prodding her. It slipped upwards, and she gloried in the feel of smooth flesh sliding against hers as the needy otter's cock glided deep.

Dances let out a husky growl against her ear and the arms surrounding her tightened. Hips rolled lazily against hers, and the hot shaft slicked against her lips, pulling them wider around its broad base. She could feel his sac pushing against her thighs, the sheath bunched and squished against her rump cheeks. The hips rolled back, and the pleasantly full feeling faded with the slow gliding feeling of velvety flesh on flesh. Her tail flicked against Dances' belly, and his hips flinched against hers. Liquid coated her crotch as the slippery cock tip rested against her lips, throbbing with each of his heartbeats.

Then Dances rolled. Femukki felt herself pushed down into the nest, belly down against a bundle of pillows and blankets. The shaft rode her lips, then slid deep with a frictionless thrust, only the glorious feeling of fullness indicating to her when he again hilted. His cock twitched, and fuzzy testes rested against her mons as his knees slid her legs apart. With a playful growl, the otter's short arms pinned her shoulder blades. She rolled her head up, chin resting on the mattress of the nest, as the otter's hips tugged and thrust.

She let herself drift back into the bliss-glazed laziness of the morning as the otter worked himself energetically behind her. The sensation was liquid; with all his enthusiasm, Dances' motions were smooth and graceful, the only impact that of his pendulous sac against the inside of her thighs. Inside, she felt his tapered tip prodding and poking, each of his thrusts sliding it against her inner walls.

Hands clutched her sides, and the otter's fingers spread. His breath came raggedly between her shoulders as he bent over her back. His shivering thrusts stopped, and he instead held himself hilted, shuffling his knees flush behind hers. Within, his shaft twitched twice, then a hot rush of slippery liquid pulsed against her inner walls. The otter clenched and squirmed over her back, hands squeezing at her sides every few seconds, in time with the stiff throbbing of his shaft.

With a jerky tug, the slippery shaft pulled free. She felt a thin spurt of liquid over her tail and rump. The otter landed his weight between her spread legs, panting each breath from around his tongue. With each gasp, his nose whistled softly. Femukki growled softly and wriggled her hips upwards. Without moving her comfortable front half, she whispered, just loud enough to be heard over the otter's wheezing, "Dancer?"

The otter's breath caught, and he responded after a moment. Femukki could clearly hear the guilt in his tone. "Uh, yes?"

"Finish the job."

She waited. He was a good otter; she knew he wouldn't leave her hanging. True to her expectations, in just a few seconds she felt hands clench at her rump. They worked in small circles, pushing her cheeks against her tail-base, and squeezing her labia together with his thumbs. Then, a talented tongue wriggled between her cheeks, lapping up the thin lines of otter seed that were seeping into her pelt. As Femukki gasped and gripped the mattress, the tongue slithered down to her dripping lips, and the blunt muzzle pushed itself firmly to the thin fur between her legs as the tongue wriggled up inside her.

Groggy laziness vanished in an overwhelming wave of lust. Her small teeth bit into the closest pillow and a growl of hearty appreciation built in her throat as her hips gyrated against the slippery tongue. It wound and dipped inside her, caressing and prodding through the slimy lubrication of otter cum. She howled. She clenched. She thrust her hips back against the short otter muzzle. Then she came.

It crashed over her like a cool wave, stealing the strength from her flailing limbs and leaving her shivering. Her insides gripped at the tongue, and she felt it stop slithering. Then, with a silky sensation that made her hips jerk, it pulled free. Dances sat back on his knees behind her, and she spared a glance back. His muzzle was spattered with liquid, the fur matted and mussed. There was a streamer of translucent cum draped from one whisker to the next on the left side of his face. And he was smiling.

"Mmm... Morning Dancer." She let her hips fall back to the mattress, where she rolled in the hot, happy post-orgasmic haze.

"Morning, bat-bat!" He stood unsteadily and tottered towards a vestibule in the far wall. He leaned over and slid himself over a saddle-shaped device. She averted her gaze just in time to avoid watching the otter's morning business. The sound of trickling liquid echoed around the room.

"Dammit, Dances!"

"Err, sorry." She heard a slap, and a whining of plastic over metal as the vanity shield slide into place, hiding the bathroom-nook.

Grumbling, she lifted herself to her haunches, and then stood. Glancing around, she found her flight suit tucked away to one side of the cavernous nest-bed. She lifted it, and then rethought her decision. Liquid still dripped fitfully down her thigh. Instead, she palmed the bedroom door open and strode naked into the more industrial halls of the transport.

The freighter's insides were as sparsely functional as the bedroom was lushly decorated. Everything was grey. Dark-grey for the steel girders, light grey for the ceramic heat-absorbing tiles the lined the ceiling, grey-grey for the wire-housings that ran the length of the corridor, and mottled grey for the carpet that covered the floor. Every twenty paces, a slim terminal sat tucked into the girders to the sides, a smooth and rounded shape amongst the sharp angles of the "walls." Femukki smiled and strode to one such display, thumb sliding across its side. The ship must have still been programmed with her identity from the last time she'd been on board, because it immediately cut controls and bared an angry "Access denied" across the terminal's surface.

Femukki frowned at the lockout. "Dancer, get your tail out here and unlock this."

Noise filtered out to her from the open bedroom door. The otter stumbled out, still tugging pants over his short legs and struggling to buckle them across the front of his half-hard sheath. "I see my ship remembers you."

"Hah. Very funny. Now show me the hold."

"Ah... Heh." Dances smiled widely, showing all of his pearly white teeth.

The bat frowned. This wasn't a good sign. She buried her forehead between her thumbs. "Look, I know we had to leave early, so you got what you got. After yesterday, I'm not going to be a bitch this time. I'll just take a fair percentage and be off."

"No, no, I got most of it, actually." The otter reached one hand over his neck and tilted his head to the side, glancing at the locked terminal with trepidation.

Femukki folded her arms. In agitation, her concentration slipped, and the membranes of her wings drew taut between her arms and her legs. She folded her over-long pinkie and ring-finger, curling her wing in front of her like a concealing robe. The last vestiges of the carefree morning slipped from her like a happy dream fading on awakening. "Dancer, I don't have the patience right now to deal with you hiding something from me."

"I, eh..." He sighed and leaned back against the cold steel beams that lined the hallway. "I was hoping to show you when I was ready. He leaned to the side and slid his finger across the red terminal screen. The "access denied" disappeared, and the normal controls winked into view. Femukki pushed her thumb to the internal surveillance shortcut, and then dialed in the cargo bay security camera. The screen was filled with unmarked cargo boxes. They were stacked haphazardly across the bay, forming impromptu trees and pillars that blocked the camera's sight. She swapped to camera two, and her jaw dropped.

Prowling amidst the cargo-box forest, a monster lurked. It stalked on four legs like an animal. Dark purplish fur covered its form, streaked with light bluish swirls and iridescent points of brilliant white. In bulk it appeared primarily feline, with massive, powerful thighs of a predatory hunter, and wide paws for traction on unsteady terrain. Each of its toes was tipped with black talon-like claws that scraped on the steel floor of the cargo bay with each step.

As if aware that it was being observed, the monster turned its head towards the camera. The fur around its neck melded into thick armor, covering its face in chitinous plates that mimicked the flow of muscles. Powerful jaws worked, and the lower jaw distended in what Femukki could only guess was a chuff, or a bark, or a roar. Instead it was silence; the cameras didn't have an audio feed. With its attention diverted to the camera, it missed the other monster that caught it in a side-on pounce, knocking it into a stack of cargo boxes. The heavy freight containers toppled, landing on the pair of bickering monsters, who ignored the steel bins as if they were nothing more solid than cardboard. Now that she had a familiar object beside it to judge size, she realized just how massive the beast was. Each of those cargo crates would be a meter on each side, and it was as long as at least two, if not more. Seven feet from nose to rump! That was half again as tall as she was, and that didn't count their legs and tail.

"They're called thanus." Dances walked steadily to her side. "And they only lived on Itonomo 6."

"I'm so glad you know what they are. Really, I'm pleased. Now what the fuck are they doing in your cargo bay?" Femukki turned baleful eyes to the otter.

"It was my cargo bay or a dying planet."

"What, so you're running a wildlife preservation service now? Are we going to dodge rail cannon fire to duck down to every planet that Regal Holdings are going to torch just to help out a few birds or cats or... Lions or whatever the fuck those things are?"

"No, I didn't say that. They were there, and I saw the horizon burning..." Dances averted his gaze.

"So that's why you took so long. You risked my ass just to play Noah on your own personal little ark here."

"Oh, fuck you, Mukki. I wasn't going to shut the doors in their face and watch them die."

"So instead you packed them in with all the valuables, right? Oooh, good thinking." Femukki pounded her fist against the display as the two monsters knocked a cargo crate across the bay, playing cat-and-mouse with a steel structure a full meter long on each side.

"Yes, I did! And I'd do it again. Don't think you can tell me what I do and do on my ship with my cargo-"

"A quarter of which is mine, or did you forget that part of the bargain?"

"No, I didn't forget." The indignant otter deflated and shook his head. "Look, you'll still get a quarter, and anything broken is part of my share, okay? I just couldn't leave them, I couldn't."

He slumped back against the steel girder, sitting forlornly on his tail as he gazed into empty space.

Femukki watched the two predators gambol around the cargo bay. They chased each other like playful cats. Playful cats two meters long which could throw half-a-ton freight containers effortlessly across the room. "Shit." She held the sides of the display and leaned her forehead against it. "I know Dancer. I... Fuck, I think I'd probably do the same thing." She drew in a long breath, then let it out over long seconds, letting her temper cool. "We need to get them to a zoo, or to a conservancy somewhere."

"Yeah, I know. I'll make the calls today."

"I'll stick around to help." Femukki swallowed as the otter glanced hopefully up at her. She quickly continued. "To make sure my part of the cargo is safe."

"Of course." Dances replied mildly.

"Right."

The illusion of her hard, mercenary exterior restored, she walked back to Dances' room for a hot shower, a good meal, and some time to think.

*

"No, I can guarantee that they're in good health... Yes, I'm aware that their medical scans are showing tetrite radiation. It must have been because... Look, I'm just trying to find a good home for them. They're the last of their... No, that... Yes... I... Right, goodbye." Femukki heard the clatter as Dances' headset bounced off the far wall. It wasn't the first time she'd heard it over the last week. Negotiations with zoos were not going well.

Letting out a private sigh, she wandered into the cockpit. It was sparse and utilitarian, like most of the rest of the otter's ship, but at least here were some signs of lived-in personalization. Little gadgets and nick-knacks were scattered across the steel-plated room, each of them tethered, glued, or otherwise restrained to keep them in place. On the forward blast window was stuck a small fare-chart that blinked with the tolls for nearby jump gates. Below was a navcomms lottery ticket, showing today's and yesterday's winning numbers, along with the fifteen-digit code that the otter had bought.

Dances sat in the pilot's seat, lounged back against the controls and massaging his temples between stubby thumbs. He opened his eyes when she entered the room, then closed them again when she leaned against the stack of cargo bay controls.

"So much for conservation. None of the zoos in sector will take them." He growled, nursing a throbbing headache.

"So what's wrong with them? I've seen much stranger creatures at conservancies than these guys."

"It's the bomb. Everything that was still on the surface when planet-killers dropped got a small dose of the tetrite radiation. I probably did too; it's a good thing I'm not being appraised for addition to a creature collection."

"I don't know about that..." Femukki joked, trying to draw a smile from the depressed otter. "I was considering adding you to my secret harem, but if you're radioactive..."

"Very funny bat, but I have expensive tastes. You couldn't afford to keep me." He paused for a moment. "I'm not radioactive, not really. Neither are they. As far as I know, the stuff doesn't even interact with anything."

"As far as you know?"

"As far as anyone knows, according to the reports."

"So it's harmless." Femukki confirmed, suspicion narrowing her gaze.

"Tell that to the caretakers at the zoos. They're convinced it'll kill all of their precious collection." Dances sighed and stood. A display on the far wall was focused on the two survivors of Itonomo 6's razing. They were asleep on top of the cargo boxes. "The last guy on the phone suggested I shove them out the closest airlock; it'd be the kind thing to do."

"Then the last guy was an idiot." Femukki confirmed, stepping around the control console.

"I don't know anymore, Mukki. I can't keep them."

"Oh? And why not?"

"Because I can't afford it. Besides the cost of their gargantuan diet, I'd need to repurpose my cargo bay as an environment just to keep them happy. And then my transport business disappears." Dances shook his head. "I've already thought it over, the numbers won't add up, no matter how much creative accounting I apply."

"Hmf." Mukki shrugged. "Private collectors?"

"Don't know any. They don't use transports like me."

"So you could find one..."

"That I trust?" He shook his head and gazed at the display. "Mukki, I'm not trying to just offload them."

"Well, it's better than spacing them."

The otter's lips pressed together angrily as he looked away. "I've got calls to make."

"You do that." Femukki shrugged. It wasn't worth the fight when he got like that. She left the otter to his bad temper.

She didn't mention that all of her contact had given her the same answer. Too much of a responsibility, they'd said. Dangerous, unknown. None of them had outright listed the radiation as the source of their discomfort, but she could hear it in their voices, see it in the way their smiles turned harder and staler as their eyes hit that line in the medical readout.

It's not, she reasoned, as if anyone knew enough about the thanus to even make much out of the medical reports anyway. By her research on the Galnet, there was barely even recognition that they existed. A canny predator that avoided contact with outsiders, the reports read; powerful and wild and wholly unfit to be a pet. Similar to a terran panther, contains no unique genetic code that can be adapted for general use. That's about where the research on Itonomo 6 stopped. Not food, not a pet, not scientifically significant. Named, tagged, and forgotten on a back-water jungle planet. They were doomed to extinction through lack of viable use to the galactic community as a whole.

By the time artificial night dimmed the internal lights of the transport, she'd exhausted her personal address book and appropriated Dances' shower. While the shower stall blew hot air through her wet fur, she heard the bedroom door slide open.

"Mukki, y'in here?"

"One second!" She shook the last moisture from her fur and pushed the vanity screen aside. "What's up?"

Dances leaned against the doorframe, a clear bottle filled with dark liquid dangling limply from his fingers. "I figured I could use a friend to commiserate." He gingerly placed the bottle on a side-table before throwing himself into the bed. "Last call made and no takers."

"I'll admit, I tried my friends as well." She sauntered towards the bed, keenly aware of her lack of clothes. "I was hoping to be able to surprise you."

He leveled his eyes on her, and as she watched, they started to wander. "Let me guess, no luck."

"Bingo." She sat on the side of the nest-like bed. "You're drunk."

"Of course I'm drunk. I've been working on this all week without stop, and I'm exactly where I started." He reached over and lifted the bottle. "So I might as well have a good night before I need to figure out what to do with the fuckers tomorrow."

She tugged the bottle from his fingers and took a whiff at the neck. It smelled strong, and to her delight, fruity. She pressed it to her lips and upended it. The taste and smell of cherry assaulted her senses as it burned its way down her throat. She could only manage two mouthfuls before she had to surface for air, coughing around the cloying flavor that stuck to her tongue.

"You know, this is a very expensive and rare cordial." Dances took the bottle back and took a swig. "Every drop is meant to be savored."

"I am savoring every drop." She took the bottle back. "I'm just savoring lots of drops at the same time."

Dances lay back in the cushions, letting his head spin pleasantly. "What did we do to deserve this, bat-bat?"

"You know what they say about good deeds." She eyed the bottle critically. Half left. She took a tug at it. A third left, that was better. "Anyway, we're not in any trouble yet. It's the first time I think you've had unplanned cargo that the police don't want to confiscate."

"Hell, I wish they'd confiscate them. Police aren't allowed to space the cargo they take." Dances took a long tug at the bottle, then handed it back. "I can just imagine those two living out the rest of their natural lives pampered in an evidence room on some backwater station."

Femukki snorted a response as she examined the bottle. The damn water-rat had downed the last of it and handed her back an empty bottle. She held it over her open mouth, and only a few drops slid down her throat. "What's this really about, Dances?" She asked. It'd been on her mind for the last week.

"Hmmm? What do you mean?"

"Well," She started, and then realized she probably shouldn't say anything. It was too late, though, and the cordial had lubricated her enough to continue. "Even if we do get them a great place to live, they'll live, what, another ten years? Twenty? Then they're still going to go extinct. I have the medical reports too, they're both male."

"If they go to a well-equipped zoo, the zoo can take care of that. It just takes the right equipment."

"They can do that? I know they could clone them, but actually re-create the species?"

Dances averted his eyes. "It's possible. It gets a little complicated."

Femukki held the bottle up and gazed through the clear glass. "Well, if you say so." She answered dubiously. Holding the bottle upside-down, she put her mouth to the rim and pushed her tongue into the bottle. Dances watched with amusement as the bat's tongue extended, licking at the cherry-glazed sides of the bottle until it hit the bottom. She took two swipes, before pulling her tongue back. She gave the otter a wicked glance as she placed the bottle to the side. She leaned back, just as Dances reached around her sides, tugging her off balance towards the bed.

"Oy!" She gripped at the edge of the bed with her fingers, but the world swung around her as the otter pulled her back. Black gathered at the edges of her vision. While the world came back in splotches of color, she found herself laid back on the bed. "Ehr... What was in that stuff?"

"Alcohol. Are you telling me you can't handle your cordials?" He tenderly stroked at her whiskers. Femukki sighed. The otter got so romantic when he was drunk. She preferred when he was a horny sarcastic ass.

"You always find the best stuff, Dancer." She leaned back in the bed, bearing the otter's pampering. The attention was nice enough, even if it was a bit fawning.

Dances loomed over her, shaking his head. "You know, Mukki, I'm not going to let this go. I don't know what to do, but I need to do something."

"You sure that's not the cordial talking?"

"Yeah." Dances sat up and perched on the edge of the bed. "I have an offer to make you, bat."

"Oh really." She sat up herself, ignoring her spinning head. "One so serious that you had to get me drunk before you made it?"

"No, I..." He waved his hand in a general dismissal. "Sorry. I didn't mean to. We can talk about it in the morning if you want-"

"I'm fine. Make your offer." She shook her head. Thankfully, the alcohol seemed to only have hit her balance so far. If the room would stop spinning, she could give all of her attention to the otter.

Dances reached to his bed stand and opened the drawer. He extracted a small flask, no wider and longer than his hand. "I want your help making sure the thanus don't disappear completely. If you help, and we're successful, I'll give you this."

"And this would be..." She trailed off, sniffing at the bottle. It had no scent. The seal was too tight to let even a whiff out.

"It's Edenwine." Femukki's eyes went wide. She focused on the flask, and now she noticed the fine filigreed lettering on the glass, and the golden ring around the stopper, and the wax seal on the laser-etched label.

It took her three tries of opening her mouth before she could force words out. "Dancer, where did you-"

"Don't ask. Please." He held it out, and she held it reverently in outstretched fingers. It was heavy in her grasp. The seal was unbroken, obviously full. Dances continued, "I have the paperwork for it, too."

"I can't." She handed it back. "Dancer, this is worth way more than a couple of weeks of help." She thought back, making a quick mental tally that even her alcohol-muddled brain could handle, "Even counting what you owe me."

The otter made a sour face as he placed the flask back in the drawer. "I know what it's worth, and the offer stands. This matters to me, Mukki."

"Why?" The question was as blunt as the cherry cordial could make it. "Why does this matter so much? They're just... Beasts! I know it's sad and all, but why this crusade?"

"I just need to." He looked away, but not before Femukki caught an angry frown on his face. "They've been there, every time I landed. I've watched them since they were born. They're not just beasts, they're... Oh, I don't know, family? Whatever." He shook his hand again. "Anyway, they mattered to Alecia."

Femukki caught the hint. "Ah." Uncomfortable silence reigned for a few moments. "Dancer, I'm sorry."

The otter shook the apology off. "Nothing to be sorry about, but you wanted my reasons, there they are."

Letting her head clear for a few moments, Femukki considered. She had plans. She'd have to trash the last contact completely, and the few other jobs she had lined up would have to be cancelled. She might even piss off her contact at Kalistra; this was the third time in a row she would have to stand him up.

The lure of the Edenwine was strong, though. The stuff was no longer a beverage; it was an investment. It was a legacy, handed down from generation to generation, a nest egg with a price tag larger than any ship she'd ever owned. Any? Make that all, combined. She could retire off of it. No, even better, she could live off of it! In her mind's eye, she pictured all of the ships she'd dreamed of, with plasma turrets gleaming in the light of nearby nebulae, prowling through the empty void like a panther on the hunt. The Edenwine could buy her the very best, cloaking systems and reinforced hulls, surrounded by hardened shields and backed by the teeth of the finest contraband weaponry the black market could offer her, and all for the cost of a few measly weeks or months with an otter she didn't half-mind anyway?

"Deal," She smiled.

Dances stayed perched at the end of the bed. "Are you sure? I still don't know what we're going to do. Whatever it is, I'm betting it won't be following the rules."

"Which rules?" She liked the sound of this more and more every second.

The otter paused. "Well, all of them, really."

"Now, that is a mission I like the sound of."

Dances turned around, and from the same drawer that held the Edenwine, he produced another bottle. This time, Femukki was immediately struck by the waft of scents. Her nose danced with the tantalizing aromas of raspberries, strawberries, goji berries, and a few citrus scents she couldn't put a finger on. Dances stuck a claw into the cork and tugged. The smells amplified as the cordial was bared to the air.

"You, sir, are going to get me fantastically drunk." The bat held her hands out of the bottle.

With a smile that seemed a little strained and an embarrassed toss of a hand, he passed the bottle to her. "Well, you could always turn me down. It'll keep to another..." He stalled mid-thought as Femukki turned the bottle upside down over her open muzzle. Most of the liquid splashed against her tongue and flowed down her gullet, while a few droplets spattered onto her muzzle fur and whiskers.

Dances' smile grew wider, more sincere, as he leaned forward. His tongue licked the droplets from the bat's face, and then kissed her. He tasted of cherries. The bottle forgotten by both of them, he pushed her back into the nest while she wrapped her legs around his midsection. As Femukki's mind wandered and head spun, she heard the bottle hit the floor off to the side of the bed, where her hand had dropped it numbly. She felt him slide within her, and vaguely she found herself shivering vague, giddy glee. Then blackness swam up and engulfed her.

*

Dances-With-Otters struggled through the hallways of his freighter. Femukki looked petite and light, but she lay like a satchel of bricks over his shoulder as he staggered. The alcohol didn't help either, he mused. With one hand on the bat's shapely rump to steady her, and the other hand on the railing to steady himself, he trudged to the cargo bay.

The door opened to his touch. Without the railing to guide him, he stumbled into the bay. The two thanus approached him with the demeanor of curious housecats. One stuck its armored face against his belly, and the other sniffed at the unconscious bat over his shoulder. "Careful, boys," He whispered as he laid Femukki down across two cargo crates. His fingers lingered on her side, as if afraid to let the physical contact end.

"Forgive me Alicia. I don't see any other way."

Then with the two thanus circling the unconscious Femukki, Dances fled from the bay as fast as his inebriated legs would carry him.

*

Her head throbbed softly as she woke on cold steel. Gone were the plush pillows and blankets and sheets of the nest. Instead, she felt sharp corners and cold metal reinforcement. Her front end was draped across something vaguely square-ish, and her hind was on another similar object. Slowly, ever so slowly, she opened her eyes. Bright light glared down at her. She remembered the night vividly, the drink, the deal, then... Then blank. She held her head, expecting to have a storm of a hangover, but instead, her head felt a bit light. If she had to put a term to it, it'd be almost "fluffy." It's not a term she'd ever used to describe her mental state, and not one she cared to use again.

"Dammit, Dancer, that second bottle was a fucking bombshell." She sat up, and stacked crates stared back at her. "Dancer?" She didn't need a clear head to recognize this. This was the cargo bay! Stacks of haphazardly piled crates stood like stylized trees in a metal forest. She pushed herself to her feet. A thin cloth had been near her on one of the crates, probably where she'd originally been placed. She must have rolled during the night.

"Dancer? Can you hear me?" She called out. The cargo bay was security sealed, and she didn't have the key. She shouldn't have been able to get in here, no matter how wasted she was. Not that she'd want to, anyway, not when there were...

At that point, her mind slipped its track. Rational memory gave way to panic as her memory reminded her of the identity of the cargo bay's current inhabitants. "Dancer!" She yelled. Then she stopped. No audio feed. "Dammit. Damn damn damn!" She pushed herself away from the crate and prepared to run.

Then she stopped.

Just ten feet behind her, a massive armor-plated head poked from around the cargo canisters. A soft growl echoed through the hold, quickly answered by another from off to her left. With a careful stride, the thanus stalked out from behind its cover and circled towards Femukki.

Up close, the deep purple of its fur almost glimmered in the glare of the bay lighting. Even though its wary pacing kept its side to her as it circled, the armored head stayed focused on her. She backed up, and felt the reinforcement of a cargo crate press into her tail. She edged to the side and worked her way around the side of the crate, eyes locked with the beast as she moved. A growl from her side pulled her attention, though, as the monster's brother came into view from around its own stack of crates.

The two beasts closed, and Femukki's blood ran cold. She edged back the way she'd come, but the first thanus (though she was having trouble telling the difference between them) followed. It spun its head towards her and growled. The thick plates adorning the back of its skull lifted, shaking like the tail of a strutting peacock for a moment, before lying flat along its neck again. Femukki flinched and jumped back, jittering and shivering in fear. Her feet stumbled over each other and she tumbled back. She didn't have fare to go, though, as she felt the broad plates of the thanus behind her press into the small of her back. She yelped, and then jerked back upright.

Spurred into action, she jumped as soon as her feet touched the ground again. The familiar tingle of nanites crawling across her skin tickled at her wings, and then air met their membrane as she pulled herself over the cargo crates. One pump of her wings, then two, and she was airborne.

Then a heavy paw met her tail end. Beneath her, cargo boxes weighing a ton and a half skittered across the floor as one of the thanus pounced directly through the stack and batted her from the air. She tumbled, and her wings caught purchase in the air again. She strained, pushing her wing outwards and perilously close to the side of the cargo chamber, and struggled against the thin air as she fought for height. A growl behind her gave her just a second's notice before a powerful stroke from a forepaw shot her towards the ground.

Femukki sprawled over the top of a cargo box, stunned senseless. Just like last night, the world spun, but this time her head ached, and muscles complained about the abuse. The webbing of her left wing was sprained where it had caught the edge of a crate; if it hadn't been nanite-infused, it would have ripped. Still groggy, she spun on the crate. Her hind end swung off its side, and her feet barely touched the floor. Before she could lift her front and stand, a heavy purple paw caught her back and pinned her. She closed her eyes as the thanus' roar echoed across the cargo bay.

Huddling atop the crate, she waited. Any moment, those plated jaws would bite, and bone would crunch and skin would split, and she'd be no more. She'd always expected to die in space, but her fears of mortality always centered on her pilot's chair. Never had she thought she'd die sprawled across a cargo crate in someone else's transport.

But after a few long seconds of cowering, no bite came. Instead, she felt a warm breath across her back. She turned her head, and the plated head looked down at her, nose buried in the fur of her back. It let out a loud snort, and the head turned. The crest along the back of its head lifted again and shook, and its brother answered with a chuffing sound off to the side.

"Heh, good kitty." Femukki giggled, imagining herself surrounded by giant playful housecats. Ignore the fact that they're wild, she told herself, or that all they've had to eat was the reprocessed meat products that Dances had picked up. If she could ignore the heavy paw on her back, the one she'd seen throw cargo crates with offhanded ease, she could imagine her way free. "Just let me up, kitty, nice kitty."

The thanus turned its head towards her, and the nose descended to her face. Hot breath streamed over her muzzle and the wet nose pressed against her cheek. The thanus' weight leaned into her, and her lungs compressed against the cargo box, forcing her breath out in a gust. Her legs kicked. She felt them pound against the thanus' chest, bouncing off the thick pelt with barely a flinch from the beast.

The paw lifted. She took a desperate gasp of fresh air, rejoicing for a split second, before the thanus' forepaws thudded to the cargo crate around her, and its neck pushed against her back. "Oh, no no no!" She squealed, squirming around on the crate. Thick fur rubbed against hers as the beast pulled itself up over her. Femukki wasn't so naive that she couldn't guess its intent. "No, you're not." She struggled, and her free legs battered back against the taut stomach. After a moment of flailing, her feet met tender flesh, and the thanus above her let out a loud yowl. "Bullseye." She smiled craftily. Any second now, the beast would dismount, and while it was distracted, she'd be able to flee.

But the weight against her back only increased. Then, with the speed of a striking snake, the armor-plated jaws closed over her neck, and teeth latched into her fur. She froze, her flailing limbs stopping mid-kick. "Shit." Her expletive was met by a warning growl. Slowly, she let her legs relax, and her feet once again met the floor. The teeth squeezed and dug furrows in her neck fur.

Then a fuzzy bulge pressed against her tail. It left a damp trail behind, liquid seeping into her fur and cooling in the carefully air-conditioned cargo bay air. Femukki let out a strangled gasp, and the teeth tightened again. She felt the pouch against her back, and a soft growl echoed from around her neck. There was no escape; she was out of options. Every plan she hatched in the span of a few seconds as the thanus rolled its powerful hips against her backside ended one way. She'd do something stupid, and with one casual bite from those vice-like jaws, she'd turn from plaything to meal.

Except one; she closed her eyes. It wasn't a plan she liked, and she didn't even know it would work. It might get her killed, just like all of the other bad plans that flashed through her head in a moment of desperation. But it might not, and might not was a good enough hope for her right now.

She was pressed flat to the cargo crate as the beast above her shifted, and her naked rump was pushed back against a thickly furred bulge. It was hot, and she felt something rubbery leave a smear of liquid across her rump cheek. She bit her lip as she tried to control her frantic thoughts. It was a tender lover, she told herself, not a ravenous beast. Those teeth that were pushed to her neck were a love bite, not a death-grip. She could survive, if-

If-

Her eyes shot open, and a wail escaped her lips as the teeth around her spine squeezed. Their sharp tips dragged at her pelt, leaving angry red lines behind as it gnawed. The knob that left wet trails against her thighs slithered up between her rump cheeks, and then slid down across her sex. Femukki wrapped her arms around the pillars of the thanus' forelegs as she tensed.

And the thanus' hips ground against hers. The tip slid between her lips, quickly followed by inch after inch of hot flesh. It was slick and tapered, and made a soft slurping sound as it slipped against her nether lips. The thanus leaned against her, and she felt the soft fur of its pelt surround her hips, and its- (his, she reminded herself. Definitely a he.) "His" testicles rested against her mound as he held himself hilted.

Femukki felt him tug at her insides as the beast's hips pulled back. The shaft slid free, leaving her with a raw, empty feeling. He'd felt so slick, so smooth, that she hadn't realized just how wide that tapered shaft had spread her. She gripped at his paws, expecting at any moment to feel him thrust again, but to her surprise, the forelegs hopped down, and he circled to the side.

She pushed her front up, looking around in confusion. The beast that'd just mounted her was just a few feet to her left. She could see the length throbbing against his belly, dripping with a mixture of juices. The plated head leaned forward, and the nose pushed against her cheek, letting out another hot breath.

Another pair of powerful limbs lifted themselves to either side of her. In the haze of panic (and, to be honest, a little bit of lust), she'd forgotten the other one. With his brother watching, the second thanus slid himself above her, and without any of the tentative exploration, the furred thighs pressed to her rump. He was warmer than his brother had been, and where his brother had unsheathed himself in her, this thanus was already hard and throbbing. His length slapped against the inside of her thigh, and she bit her lip. It felt thick, maybe larger than his brother's. The beast above her gave a thrust, and the length slid between her legs, blunting itself against the metal crate.

Femukki considered. There were forelegs around her, but they weren't holding her down. There were no plated jaws around her neck, and no heavy body pushing her to the crate. She could push herself up and make a break for it. They might catch her again, but maybe not. She could spread her wings and...

And she just couldn't bring herself to push away. As the beast above her labored to find her hot slit, she reached her arms back. Her fingers wrapped around the tapered length, and the excited hips pushed the thick cock against her palm. A thin spurt of liquid coated her wrist. "I'm going to regret this. Fuck, this is a bad idea..." She mumbled to herself, and then slipped the slim tip up between her rump cheeks. The slick flesh rubbed beneath her tail, and gave another spattering of dampness. Then she pushed it down, and the tip slipped between her moist lips.

Feeling the heat, the thanus thrust. With one smooth motion, the entirety of the thick shaft buried itself in her clenching depths. The plated head pushed against her back, and he let out a soft growl as he humped against her stubby tail. Femukki pulled her hands up and steadied herself, pushing back against each of the beast's steady thrusts. A familiar tickle built in the pit of her stomach, heat spreading across her belly and back as slick flesh slid across velvety walls. She let out a gasp as the fur of the thanus' sheath tickled her lips, and pushed her back to feel it again on the next thrust.

Within seconds, her pleasure quickly built, but before it peaked, the beast let out a snarl. She felt sharp teeth touch her neck, and drool dribbled down between her shoulder blades. The shaft inside her jerked and slippery warmth jetted against her walls. Femukki panted, her tongue sliding across her gums. She was close, so close, so as she felt the second throb, she pushed back, hoping to feel more of that thick shaft.

The thanus jumped, and backed off of the crate with a jerky hop. The shaft slipped free with a splatter of liquid, and cum dripped down the inside of her thighs. Before she could move, though, her bestial lover was replaced with the first brother. He must have been waiting, just inches away and eagerly anticipating his turn. The tip slid against her thigh, and this time it slipped between her lips without need for help.

The penetration was silky and slick, lubricated by the thanus' brother's cum. Femukki concentrated, clenching to feel more of the tapered flesh as the beast's hips pressed to her thighs. Even as she attempted to squeeze, though, she knew she'd be loose. The shaft that'd just previously been throbbing in her tight embrace had felt thick between her fingers. The beast between her legs now didn't seem to mind, though, as its hips eagerly thrust against her. Jaws clamped themselves back around her neck, holding her still as he humped.

As she began to get back into the staccato rhythm, a novel feeling traveled up her spine. Something nudged against her lips as the thanus above her thrust. A broad tongue licked around her dripping mound, dragging in short laps around the thick shaft that slicked itself into her depths every few seconds. She craned her head back, pulling slightly at the jaws that held her neck tightly. In between the rocking hips and heavy sheath that were bouncing off of her rump, Femukki saw the spent thanus, his nose between his brother's legs. He licked again, and Femukki was forced to let a growl of her own past her lips. She laid her head down against her arms and let herself enjoy the sensation.

That familiar tickle returned, and this time, she let herself ride the tense wave of tingling pleasure as it rose and crashed over her. She shivered, losing control of the muscles in her thighs as the clenched and shuddered. The jaws around her neck squeezed for a moment in reply as her orgasm clenched around his shaft. With the tongue still flicking against her mound, the cock jumped inside, spraying more of the runny cum into her slick tunnel.

When the powerful forelegs hopped down from the crate, she didn't try to move. She lay in the post-orgasmic bliss, letting the hot waves travel the length of her spine, tingle at its end, then return the way they had come. Behind her, a tongue slipped against her rump, licking at the dripping juices. She didn't know which of the two it was and, at this point, neither did she care. Slowly, as the fleeting warmth was replaced with the cold bite of the cargo crate beneath her, her rational mind began to reclaim control. Every muscle controlled, she held herself still, fighting swirling shame and panic as the memories of touch and feeling rushed back to her.

Minutes later, she lifted her head. Both of the thanus were watching her, lounging on their side. She pushed herself up and turned defiantly to face them. Liquid streamed down her leg from her wet crotch. She ignored it. The thanus watched her, and she watched them. They stayed sitting as she turned and walked towards the cargo bay doors. The doors slid open at her touch, and then closed behind her. Neither of the thanus had moved.

With her back to the doors, she slowly slid to her knees. Her back leaned against the closed doors, and she hugged her arms around her legs and cried.

*

"Answer the comms, you son of a bitch! I know you can hear me!" She'd searched the rest of the ship. Only the hangar and the cockpit were locked with panels she couldn't crack. It wasn't likely he'd fled to her ship, so the cockpit was the obvious choice.

None of this made sense. She couldn't have made it into the cargo bay without him, especially when she was falling-down drunk. Why would he put her in there with those... those beasts? It didn't make sense. More than hurt, she was confused. She slumped against the wall, her thumb still on the display where she'd opened the comm channel. "Look, I'm not going to blame you for what they did, Dancer. Just, why did you do that? Why put me in there?"

"You should blame me." His voice sounded haggard. Immediately, she straightened. That was the first answer she'd had from him since last night.

"Okay, so start explaining. Just what the fuck is going on?" She kept herself from yelling. It would feel better to yell, but she'd get less information that way.

The comms were dead for a moment. "I did it because you promised you'd help, Mukki. It was the only thing left I could think of."

Her mind blanked. Out of all the answers she was expecting, that wasn't one of them. A prank she could understand, even if it was a mean one. Maybe even revenge for something she didn't remember having done. But help? "Run that by me again? Helping?"

"Yeah," He wasn't near the audio pickup, but she could hear that he wasn't doing much better than she was. "This was the only chance the thanus were going to get."

Femukki sat in the hallway, her back to the wall. "Okay Dancer, you've been my friend since... Fuck, I don't know when. A long time. That's bought you long enough to explain this. Take it from the top, and I promise you I won't shoot your engines when I fly away."

The crackly voice on the other side of the comms sighed. "It's simple, I guess. Remember I said that the thanus had a chance as a species, even though the only two we have are male?"

"Yeah."

"That's because all thanus are male. They don't have any females."

Femukki drew another blank, but a sickly feeling of understanding started to grow in the pit of her stomach.

"They use other species. Just about anything that reproduces sexually will do. They choose a mother and mark her so-"

"Mark her? They didn't mark me."

"No, I did." Suddenly, details started to come into focus. The beast stopped as it pinned her to the crate, and her confusion when it decided to let her live after one sniff to her back.

"Dancer, I'm getting very close to doing something drastic here. Please tell me why I shouldn't spend the rest of my life making sure that the rest of yours is a living hell."

The comms were silent for a moment. "I wanted to tell you, Mukki. I wanted to ask, but I couldn't."

"So you just did it instead." The sour taste of bile rose in her throat. "Am I just living some sick fantasy of yours, you twisted fuck?"

"No!" His refusal was quick, emphatic. "Mukki, I... I know... I know this is probably the end of our friendship, but I asked you if you'd do what it took, and you said yes. This is the price."

"And these beasts, they're worth everything we've shared over the last years, eh?" Her fist met the comms. The display screen dented, and the crystal display behind it shorted and bled pixels. "Open the hangar, Dancer. I'm leaving."

His voice still came through the cracked display. "Look, just sleep on it, one night. Tomorrow, if you still want to go, I'll let you go. Just, just think about it, please. I know it's a lot to ask-"

"It would have been, if you'd even asked it in the first place. Since you didn't, why should I even bother?"

He hesitated. "I'll still give you the Edenwine tomorrow morning, even if you choose to leave."

Only the power of greed could tease her down from the precipice of her rage. The otter knew her too well. She leaned her head against the display screen and sighed. "One night, I'm taking your room. I don't give a fuck where you sleep. Tomorrow the Edenwine had better be in my frigate before I wake up. Don't bother me with your presence. I don't want to see you; I don't want to hear you. You fucked this up, Dancer. For your sake, I hope it was worth it."

She killed the comms with a press of her palm to the broken display. She stalked to the open bedroom and left the door open behind her. She wanted to see him when he tried to sneak past; wanted to see that walk of shame as he threw away the best friendship she'd had.

With a half-hearted sob, she threw herself into the otter's nest and curled herself up between the pillows and blankets. She wouldn't cry, not again, not for him. She hugged a pillow close to her chest and willed herself to sleep. As the first teardrop soaked into the mattress, she muttered.

"Fuck."

*

Femukki woke with a start. She'd been in the cargo bay again, and she could hear the growling and yapping of the beasts as they hunted her. As sense returned, though, she let her tense muscles slowly relax. She wasn't in the bay. Instead, the comfortable nest sprawled about her with its overstuffed pillows and smooth blankets that hugged to her form. At first, she laughed off the day she'd dreamed about, and she reached for Dances to tell him about the ugly dream she'd just had.

But he wasn't there. The last of reality rushed in around her, and the sobering reality of what she would wake up to the next morning brought her spiraling down out of her happy post-nightmare haze. With a sigh, she leaned back into the mattress. She'd done her crying. Instead, she needed to plan. Tomorrow, she would board her frigate and fly away. The away part was certain, but she wasn't sure about the "to" part yet. She could go to a hospital or clinic. She would be covered, same as anyone else who showed up. It'd probably be best, she reasoned. They could undo whatever the beasts had done to her. If the otter was right, there might be some unwanted remnants of yesterday's nightmare.

As she pondered, a faint shuffling caught her attention. She swiveled her ears, and focused on the noises of the ship. She was used to the faint susurrations of the distant engines and the complaints of the inertial sinks as they absorbed the g-forces of the ship's minor adjustments to course while providing the faux-gravity. Above that, though, she heard a faint patter. Footsteps in the hallway, she imagined. She curled about and opened her eyes, letting them adjust to the darkness. She watched the open door, waiting for any shifting of the shadows as the otter shuffled by, hoping not to be seen.

A minute later, she was rewarded. A shadow sneaked past the door. Then it stopped. She frowned as she tried to make out the shape, tried to determine what he was doing. Then eyes caught hers, yellow eyes, reflecting the ambient light in glowing circles, broken only by darker striations. They blinked. Then next to it, another pair of eyes appeared.

Femukki's breath caught in her throat. That wasn't an otter. The eyes were sickeningly familiar, and they pinned her to the bed with fear as effortlessly as its paw had in the cargo bay.

The thanus stalked into the room silently, the rug muffling their footfalls. Dances' room was large for a personal chamber on a transport, but the two massive beasts made the room feel crowded. Femukki could smell them now, sharp and savory. She laid still hoping and praying they wouldn't notice her.

The beasts' senses were not to be deceived. One leaned its head towards the bed, its nose sniffing. Decided, it leaned forward and crawled up onto the bed. The mattress creaked beneath it, and there was a crack of wood somewhere beneath as some of the nest's supports failed under the weight. Mukki edged away, but the blankets and sheets resisted. The thanus dropped into a sprawl on the mattress, and with her limbs caught in the mess of bedding; she was forced to roll towards him. As she tugged and struggled with the blankets and pillows that had turned from a comfortable mound to a constricting prison, she found herself face-to-face with the thanus. It let out a soft churl, and then flicked a tongue as large as her hand from between its armor-plated lips. The tongue lapped at her whiskers.

"Damn you." Finally spurred to action, the bat lashed out. Her fists flipped up from the blankets and she beat against the beast's armored head. "This is all your fault!" Her knuckles rapped against the chitinous plates with a crack. Her hand shook in pain, but the mammoth head didn't budge. "You made him do this. I wish he'd left you to die on that planet!" Her voice cracked as her second fist impacted the beast's un-armored nose. The head jerked back, but the thanus didn't respond. Those glowing orbs simply gazed at Femukki. After a moment, it let out a soft whine.

A wave of bitter sadness colored her thoughts. These poor beasts were light years away from their dead planet, trapped on a transport that only barely met their needs. They'd only followed their nature, and here she was blaming them for everything. As she gazed back into the eyes of the massive beast, guilt built and swelled until she felt she needed to avert her eyes again. She sighed. It wasn't their fault, none of it.

She felt the mattress creak and shake as the second brother settled behind her. Between them it was hot, hot enough that the bat felt herself growing lazily sleepy. "Damn you both," She growled petulantly before she gave up. Even though he was in the wrong, the otter was right. They weren't a danger to her. She was one of "them" now.

The one in front of her leaned forward, and the massive head pushed against her chest. The armored plates slid smoothly over each other, almost like scales on a reptile. In detached wonder, she ran her fingers along the plates across its skull and found the ridges where the mobile "crest" lay flat. The head against her chest shivered slightly, and the bony plates lifted momentarily, shaking as the beast made soft crooning sounds against her.

"You know..." She mumbled as her fingers traced the armor line down to where it merged into purple fur. "Up close, you guys aren't all that scary." The statement almost drew a giggle from her, but she was surprised to find that it was the truth. They moved like over-grown and over-affectionate cats. Big cats, the oversized gods of tigers and lions, but cats nonetheless. The head against her lifted, and a tongue caught her muzzle in a lick again.

This time, she did giggle. The tension and fear of her stalkers seemed to break, and her surprise mounted as she realized she was rather enjoying herself. The heat was luxurious, and their strange mix of smooth armor and soft pelt intrigued her in a way that she was sure wasn't appropriate for something that was still technically an animal. But even through her anger at Dances, she now had a glimpse of what he saw in these beasts. It had taken her some time to see it, but his strange obsession with them now didn't seem so strange. The thought of letting these affectionate beasts disappear from the galaxy completely seemed... unthinkable.

The one behind her pushed forward with its head, and she found herself sandwiched between the two affectionate thanus. "Ah!" She gasped as a tongue licked over her collarbone. "You two planned this, didn't you?" She accused the one whose face was just inches from hers. It let out a happy purr. "Well, I can't keep calling you 'them', now, can I?" She leaned back, and the head fit itself over her shoulder, crowding in against her cheek. "I think I've got it. Two brothers, alone and lost in the wild, right?" There was no response but another lick across her collarbone. "You're going to be Romulus." She reached up and rubbed her hand across the head leaning against her shoulder. Her fingers found a deep groove, maybe an old scar or wound. It started just above the thanus' eye ridge and ran down the length of its armored scales, until it disappeared into the lush pelt.

"And that would make you Remus." She pointed her finger and poked it against the chest of the one lounging in front of her. In the dim light of the room, she couldn't see any identifying characteristics, but for now the lack of the armor-groove would have to do. "Doing everything you can to rebuild your own empire, right?" Femukki quietly finished. She was that empire, now. It was a sobering thought.

Behind her, the thanus (no, she corrected herself, Romulus) seemed to sense her somber mood. A large paw, as wide across as her head, reached over her side. With a squeal of delight, she felt herself tugged back against his thickly furred front. The nose prodded at the back of her head and then the tongue lapped at her ears. She smiled happily and relaxed; over-affectionate cats indeed.

Not to be left out, Remus shuffled towards her, moving his bulk in short sideways crab-walks. His head bumped against her chest again, and this time she wrapped her hands around his ears in welcome. A soft purr vibrated against her as soft fur engulfed her on both sides, and for the life of her, she couldn't figure out which direction it was coming from. Maybe, she admitted, it was both.

Remus lifted his head, and he nosed at his brother's muzzle. Femukki paused for a moment. She'd seen wild animals when she was being raised. They'd come and gone in large cages and enclosures, big enough to house small forests in. When two animals both wanted something, it was rarely resolved peacefully. Beasts didn't share well, she'd learned, and learned well as she'd watched old terran lions and tigers fight each other for strips of meat. She cringed, looking for a way to get out of the crossfire.

But just above her head, where the muzzles met, Remus' tongue flicked and licked his brother's whiskers. Romulus lifted his tongue from her ears and returned the favor. The two beasts sat, her sandwiched between, and licked at each other's lips and muzzles, in a feral display of love the likes she'd never even imagined. "You two really do get along, don't you?" She marveled. She couldn't tear her eyes from the sight, and as she watched tongues twist around each other, lapping at whiskers and lips and armored plates, she realized something else. The display wasn't just sweet and wonderful. Her body was responding to something more primal in it; she found it incredibly erotic.

She wriggled herself between the two thanus, the plush fur sliding as she pushed herself downwards. Her feet touched a thigh, and it flinched. Remus looked down, at her, and his brother followed his gaze. "The cargo bay was your choice, guys, and I wasn't too sure about it." She shuffled herself forward, pressing herself flush to the thanus' belly and chest. With her hips near his, her head only came halfway up Remus' broad chest. "This time, though, it's my choice." Femukki spread her legs slightly, and she felt the thick pouch of Remus' sheath press against her.

The thanus let out a startled chuff, but either instincts or curiosity kept him from moving. Femukki gripped her arm around his side as she pushed her hips down. The sheath resisted a little, grinding against her sex. After a moment, Remus seemed to get the idea, though. He rolled his hips forward to meet her, and the slim finger of flesh she'd felt and seen earlier slid the length of her nether lips.

"Ah!" She let out a soft yip as the hot tip throbbed against her. "Mm, there you are." Her arm squeezed, and Remus pushed with his hips. The tip prodded at her, but with a nudge from her thigh, it caught and slid inside. This time, instead of the quick entry, Remus let her explore. She rocked her hips slightly, letting the tip prod and poke at each of her inner walls in turn as it pulsed with each beat of his heart. She reached down with a hand as more of the thanus' shaft started to slide from its sheath and directly into her slit. Her fingers found the flesh of his cock and dragged against it, feeling the smooth texture of the skin as he pressed it deeper. Thin ridges passed under her fingers, and she had just a moment to brace as they slid up past her lips. The sensation was almost electric, and her hips shuddered with pleasure as the ridges dragged against her insides.

Behind her, Romulus huffed impatiently. His hips slid forward in the nest and pressed against hers. Just like earlier, he was excited already, and a thick length pressed under her tail, throbbing against her backside. "Oh!" She squealed, quickly trying to wriggle away. "Uh, Rom, I don't think that's going to work." Her hand left the cock in front of her to sink deeper with every second and reached back, trying to dislodge the excited cock that was prodding dangerously at her rump. She looked up, and Romulus was gazing down at her expectantly.

"I don't think I can take that. I'll give you your turn right after-Oh!" She jumped as the cock beneath her tail slipped. The hips had pulled back, and she lost track of it momentarily. A second later, the thick shaft pressed itself between her legs again. This time, though, it slid between her thighs and dragged along her perineum, throbbing against her lips. Femukki shuddered at the feeling, the throbbing cock tip teasing at her nether lips as his brother sank deep into her slit. She squeezed her eyes closed, holding on as pleasure quickly built. Then, as she slowly let herself down from the plateau, Remus's hips rolled.

Within her, the thick shaft slid. She let a soft yelp escape as her knees clattered together and her tunnel clenched at the slick intruder. Femukki closed her eyes as she rode the climax, shivering and shaking as the pair only just began their relentless assault. Thicker, thicker, Remus' cock pushed deep until she let out a soft growl as a sore burning started to tingle at her lips. Thankfully, just as she almost reached too much, the fuzzy sheath kissed her lips, and Remus' hips rolled back. With a quick sensation of sliding, the thanus' cock tugged itself from her depths. Behind her, Romulus let out a chuff of his own, and the throbbing tip prodding at her lips as his brother thrust. As one thick length slid from her depths, the other squeezed alongside and pushed deep.

Romulus was thicker, and his thrust was more impatient than his brother's. He held himself deep, throbbing as the bat's slit clenched around his length. Almost subconsciously, Femukki pushed herself back against his belly and chest, wiggling her tail against his crotch. She could feel the bit of his cock between her thighs throb, then slide slickly as he pulled his hips back.

Remus thrust, then Romulus, then both. They only slid halfway in before the tunnel clenched too tight for them to push any deeper. Femukki growled and bit at Remus' chest, every few thrusts eliciting a clench and shudder from her hips. She couldn't tell which ones were climaxes, and which were just aftershocks as the two brothers' cocks plumbed her depths. The massive furry hips to either side of hers rocked and ground against hers, the two slick lengths that pushed at her nether lips throbbed against each other as her wet lips held them together. There was a chuffing growl above her, and Femukki looked up. Romulus was licking at Remus' lips again. Remus tilted his head up and returned the feral kiss.

One of the shafts throbbed as it hilted in her slit, and a burst of warmth filled her. She reached down and felt, tracing the jetting length. It was Romulus. She closed her thighs and squeezed so she could feel the whole length pulse between her legs, the hot flesh flaring every few seconds as another hot spurt of cum coated her insides. Remus gave a chuff above her, and the other tip pushed at her lips. It pulsed once, then a thick gout of cum painted her thighs, splashing against his brother's cock as he peaked. Femukki jumped in shock at the wet burst, and then reached down. "Oh, can't have that, can we?" She smiled and pulled Romulus' shaft from where it twitched in her depths and shuffled herself back down around Remus as her fingers felt the second jet of runny liquid travel up the length of his shaft. She felt a muffled explosion of heat, and the twitching and throbbing against her inner walls made her clench as she matched her last orgasm to her bestial lover.

An over-large forepaw tugged at her back, and she felt herself pressed to Remus' front. He growled softly, and his brother answered it with his own, while the fuzzy body pressed in close behind her. She momentarily thought of the ruined bed. It'd need to be completely replaced. She smiled.

Pressed in with heat on either side, she rested her head against Romulus' chest. Tired after the day's ordeal, and spent from that of the night's. Sleep caught up with her before she even considered chasing it.

*

She woke in the night as a heavy flank moved against her. The two had shifted in the night, and apparently she'd moved with them. Her front was nestled on one of their backs, squarely between the shoulder blades, while her rear and legs hung off the side. The other was pressed tight to her, and she felt a fuzzy pouch pressed between her thighs. She moaned groggily as a slim shaft slithered between her lips. Only half-aware of her surroundings, she leaned back and wrapped her hands around the head of the thanus that was dreamily thrusting against her thighs. Her fingers traced over its ears and head plates. Halfway across, they found a groove. Romulus. The eager brother, still half asleep, thrust twice, and then heat blossomed again in her tunnel. She felt it dripping from her as Romulus pulled his hips back. He rolled over, and then started snoring.

Femukki basked in the heat. This time, she stayed awake for a while as she let the wetness drip from her slit. Whether it was extra seconds, or minutes, or hours, she couldn't tell. But in her half-dreamlike state, she enjoyed every moment of the silky feeling before she slipped back into sleep again.

*

She woke again as the thanus beneath her shifted. She felt its head quickly. No gouge, so this was Remus. He ducked to one side, and she let herself roll off of his back. With a lazy chuff, he stood and towered over her for a few moments. Then, as she watched drowsily, his head lowered to her crotch. He sniffed, and then the broad tongue flicked out. It caught her squarely between the legs and dragged up over her wet and cum-spattered mound. She pushed against it, her lazy and sleep-addled mood letting the pleasure climb quickly. Almost immediately as his tongue dipped against her again, she climaxed, squeezing around the tongue and clenching her thighs around the broad armored muzzle.

Remus padded forward and stood over her. With the same lazy excitement, Femukki lifted her hips, expecting him to crouch and fuck her again. She licked her lips and growled in anticipation when she saw the slim head of his cock slide into ship's dim nocturnal light and her fingers slipped down to pull her slit lips wide for him. Then, to her confusion, a thin stream of liquid hit her mound. It was hot, and it burned just slightly as it touched her bare flesh. Just a second later, the stream stopped, and Remus growled softly at her. His head dipped down and licked at her muzzle, before he collapsed to one side and curled up to sleep.

Femukki stared blankly for a moment. Then the strong scent of thanus magnified, and she gulped. Marked, Dances had said. She'd been marked again.

She rolled over and hugged herself to Remus' back. Her face burned in embarrassment, but she wasn't about to complain. If that was the price of this wonderful treatment, it was a small one to pay. It took her longer to fall bask asleep this time, but eventually oblivion claimed her.

*

At last, she woke, and it was the morning. Romulus and Remus slept on, one on each side of her, both facing away. She stood, and looked at herself. Her fur had dried in sticky, crusty patches, and she smelled intensely of thanus. Without a second thought, she strode to the shower and pulled the vanity shield closed. Water streamed over her form as she scrubbed the sticky spots from her fur. She let her wings extend, the nanites tugging the webbing taut as she let water bounce off of them like rain on the skin of a drum. All the while, she thought. She considered, and then she thought some more. And when the shower was done, and she let the shower blow hot air through her smoothly clean fur, she realized that she hadn't thought nearly enough.

So she left. Romulus and Remus hadn't woken, and she wasn't going to wake them intentionally. If she did, she'd never leave. She hadn't seen Dances yet, but with her threat, she didn't expect to. The door to the hangar was open, and her frigate was unclamped and ready for fly. Inside, she found a wrapped package on her pilot's chair. Before she undocked, she opened it. The Edenwine was heavy in her fingers, and the combined weight and value of it pulled heavily at her mind. Thought. She needed a chance to think.

Without radio contact to the transport, she sped away. Within minutes, she was far enough out of the planet's gravity well to jump. She had a favorite destination, and her telemetry computer automatically planned the jumps between here and there in the time it took her to blink.

Now she sat in the Eagle cascade, red light streaming in through her blast windows. She'd been here for nearly two months, and she knew the time was quickly approaching. She'd thought, and thought, and thought again until she was sure that her brain would split. Each and every day, she forced herself to think of all the rational reasons she should check herself into a clinic and be rid of this entire obsession. It was a mistake, obviously, a bad prank played on her by a friend. Make that ex-friend.

But every night, she remembered the beasts' tender embrace as she slid between them. Watched them kiss again, tongues lapping at each other's muzzles as their hips pushed their excitement together between her thighs. Felt them wake her, even after she was spent, and bring her once again to a crashing orgasm, just in time to fall asleep again. She'd had many lovers, more than she could count, or even remember, if she was going to be honest. Out of all of them, these feral, powerful beasts were the most tender she'd ever had. And every time she'd thought she'd made her mind, she imagined them chasing each other through the cargo bay, playing like oversized kittens, and her heart melted.

And now, she realized that her decision had already been made. She'd just spent months fighting it, but it had been made before she even entered the Eagle cascade. As much as she disliked the idea, the decision had been made for her, months back, when Dances had sprayed musk on her back and put her in the cargo bay. It was just a matter of time since then.

As she considered, a final thought crossed her mind. She could still see and smell Alecia, Dancer's old lover. She'd been there when Femukki first clawed her way out of her childhood prison, with a gentle hand and a caring heart. She hadn't been that much older than Femukki, only a few years at the most, but she acted with the wisdom of someone twice her age. She was Dancer's first crush. She'd been Femukki's big sister and mother, rolled up into one small body. Then, much to Femukki's delight, she found out that her big sister Alicia ruled the pirates of Etherium Reaches with an iron fist.

But that was years past; to Femukki, half a lifetime ago. Alicia had given it all up, and Femukki could never fathom why. She and Dances had disappeared for months at a time, while Femukki had left to carve her own mark on the galaxy. She'd only seen Alicia a few times after that. Every time, she'd seemed healthier, more full of life than Femukki had ever seen. It'd been wonderful, but when asked about the source of her vitality, Alicia had only ever responded with a cryptic little smile, and a sly glance at Dances.

In her little frigate, floating in the clouds of the Eagle Cascade, Femukki smiled a little smile. Pieces of a puzzle she hadn't realized she'd been assembling fell into place, and the picture she saw wasn't so bad. Flawed, certainly, and with the edges just a bit torn, but not a disaster, not the soul-wrenchingly deep void she'd seen before. It wasn't worth a real smile, no, but maybe, if she acted just right, it could be saved.

She sighed and clicked at the controls. In a blink, a list of destinations and waypoints superimposed themselves on the blast window. Her jump drives warmed up with a rumble that shook dust from her console, and the red clouds blurred as her engine pulled the ship towards her future.

*

Dances sat glumly in his cockpit. His cargo bay was empty, bar his two passengers, the remainder of his valuable stash sold to contacts garnered over his years as a goods-hauler. In a fit of boredom he brought his galnet account up again, mentally counting over more '0's than he'd ever seen in his own display. It was enough to retire on, surely.

He lay his blunt muzzle on his crossed arms again, ears flicked down in his fit of depression. Mukki and he had never been anything more than casual lovers, mercenary hearts-for-hire. She'd been fun, and friendly, sure, but he did what he had to. He was saving a species, so a few broken hearts were worth the price, right?

Then why did he feel like such a fool? He picked at the controls and watched the line of the moon's horizon shift and spin with his carefully controlled orbit. He'd asked her, even made sure to specify "Whatever it takes" and "This won't be easy." Why was she so angry?

After he'd sold the last of his cache, he returned to the moon where he'd last seen her, livid and not-on-speaking-terms, as she blasted away from his hangar. He knew he'd handled it all wrong, but the knowledge didn't buy him any peace of mind. It wouldn't bring Mukki back, and it wouldn't give him the chance to say he was sorry.

Sorry? Sorry for what? He stood and paced. Sorry for saving a now-endangered species? Sorry for paying her more in one night than she'd make over most of her lifetime? Sorry for giving her the chance to do something really, really...

...Really sorry. All of his indignation drained and he slumped against the back of his pilot's chair. He'd be just as angry, if only because he hadn't been given the choice. Maybe she would have said yes, if he gave her all of the information beforehand; if she knew what she was getting into.

But she might have said no. He couldn't let that happen. Wouldn't. Didn't. What happened, happened, and he'd have to live with himself until-

His sensors beeped. With preternatural speed, he dove into the chair and raised the system scanner display. A blue dot, no larger than a pinprick of light, was shooting towards him at just under a thousandth of the speed of light. A glimmer of incandescence lit his display screen as jump drives deactivated, and the frigate moved into orbit around his moon at a much more sedate ten kilometers per second. For the first time in two months, he smiled.

Without hesitation, he popped the hangar bay and pushed himself out of his seat. She'd be five minutes docking. He dashed into his room and ran a hot shower over himself, shaking the funk of depression from his body. Three minutes later, he was ready, adorned in a rakish flight suit and standing just outside the hangar bay doors.

They opened, and the small bat trounced into the hallways. "Mukki! I'm so glad you ca-"

Her fist met his muzzle halfway through the sentence. Cold-cocked, the otter spun until his head met the steel grill of the hallway's floor. Stars swam in his vision, and his paws flew to his nose. Blood ran freely, staining his flight suit.

When his vision cleared and he'd wiped the blood from his eyelids, he found Femukki glaring down at him. Before he could register his complaint, she gave her demands.

"I will be waited on hand and foot until I give birth. You'll spend your own money to get the best medical equipment and a doctor who knows how to keep his mouth shut. Then we'll go shopping, and you'll buy me any luxuries that I think will make the next few months more bearable. Then, I tour the conservancies to find the best place for the pups. Then I leave, along with my percentage of your cache." She stalled for a moment. "And Romulus and Remus come with me."

Mutely, Dances held his nose and nodded. Femukki sighed and held her hand down to the supine otter. He grasped it and let her pull him to his feet. Voice a nasally scratch; he opened his mouth twice before he could force words out. "Mukki, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have-"

She held up a hand and interrupted him. "I understand."

Dances paused for a moment in confusion. "Wait, you understand what?" He blew his nose, and winced as he felt a bruise squeezing his nostrils shut. He pushed and tugged at it, but nothing seemed to scrape. At least it wasn't broken; even if he did deserve it.

"All of it, really." Femukki had turned away and ran her finger across the comm's display. This time, it responded to her touch by bringing up the security cameras. The empty cargo bay held two bored thanus, listlessly pacing around the walls. "There was a time when I wondered why Alicia always wanted to go planet side. She always told me it was too hot, and the gravity didn't pull right."

"She said she always felt like she was going to fall off of the horizon."

Femukki turned to the otter and nodded. "So when did it happen?"

"When did what happen?" Dances averted his gaze worriedly.

"When did she get caught by the thanus? When did she give birth to Romulus and Remus?" Femukki's eyes glared intently at him.

He sighed and closed his eyes. "Five years ago. She called them Wind and Hail to remind her of all the things she hated most about being on the surface. More often than not, it wasn't even that, it was just "Them"."

"It sounds like she resented them."

"She didn't." He turned towards the video feed and ran his finger over the display. "She loved them. If you were her first unofficial daughter, then they were here twin sons."

"So when it looked like they would all die out-"

"I was willing to do anything. You understand?" He sighed and shook his head. "Even if..."

She waited for a moment for him to continue, and then pressed on. "You were wrong, Dancer."

"I know, alright?" He glared. "But it was worth it, if everything she loved lived on."

"But you were wrong!" She pressed him, until he whimpered and looked away. "That should have been my choice. It's my body!"

"Yes! I admit it, I was wrong, okay?" He covered his face for a moment, and his nose stung. It had started bleeding again. "Fuck, I can't even be sure it's them."

"But you're pretty sure."

He nodded. "They came back. Every time I burned in over the atmosphere, they came back and were there when I landed. I'm no good at telling them apart-"

"It's them."

He turned to her, holding his nose. "How can you be sure?"

"They didn't eat you." Femukki smiled her winning-est smile. "Now let's get that nose taken care of. You've got a lot of waiting at my hands and feet to do, and I won't have you bleeding all over me while you're doing it."

"So you'll stay?"

"For now. We're not right, you and I, Dancer. Not by a long shot. For Alicia, though, I'm willing to give you another shot." And while she led him off to the med bay she realized that her smile was genuine, the first real smile she'd had in months.

*

Her dreams were filled with red mist, as vibrant (and intangible) as the Cascade's scarlet glow. She dreamed of Alicia, alive and active as ever. She danced between trees, real trees anchored in real soil, in front of a real horizon, under a real sky. Two beasts followed her, on four legs to her two. They yapped and roared, playing and gamboling like kittens.

One caught the other's tail, and one nip turned into a bite, and they collapsed into a brawl of wayward limbs, tails and sharp teeth. Alicia turned, with that special frown of hers that made Femukki hide beneath her blankets. A sharp slap hit one of the beast's flanks, and even though its giant maw could have snapped off the hand that hit it, along with the rest of the arm, in a single bite, the beast stopped its fighting. Its brother stopped as well, and both hung their head ashamedly. With a temper and mood as variant as a fickle solar wind, Alicia's frown lifted into a sunny smile, and the beasts trailed after her.

The dream dissolved as a cramp racked Femukki's pleasant daydream. Her hands squeezed, and she felt the grips of a med-bay's table against her palms. Another sharp pain curled her forward, and a tight gasp stole the breath from her lungs. A hand pushed her front down, holding her still, then a strong restraining cord snaked over her chest.

She cried out as a third shudder wracked her body, and the nanites controlling her tender wing membranes faltered, tugging the thin skin tight, then letting it flop, before stretching it tight between her arms and legs again. Somewhere, as if from a distance, she heard a voice. Dances, she remembered. It sounded like he was yelling. He had to, because someone was screaming. In a moment of confusion, Femukki realized it was herself that was screaming. Her throat was raw with it.

Then came a sliding feeling of something leaving her; finally, she could breathe again, and the screaming stopped. She smiled at the reprieve. It was over.

Another cramp, deep and clenching at her gut, lifted her shoulders from the table and snapped her chest against the restraining cord. She gripped again at the table, and cursed at the top of her lungs. It hurt, unlike any pain she'd felt before. It was stretching, and she swore at any moment it would tear. Then the sensation of sliding, then reprieve.

Again, moments later, the rise and fall of pain, then a slipping feeling, and then, finally, she felt empty. Even though she wasn't aware her eyes were closed up until that moment, she opened them. Dances stood in front of her, and in his hands were three gangly creatures, with limbs and paws longer than their body, curled into balls that looked like a rag-doll made to look like a kitten, rolled by an inexpert hand. Even at birth, their heads bore chitinous plates covering their heads like form-fit helmets, with a crest of thin plates that ran along the back of their skulls, vibrating and wiggling as they snored in their exhausted sleep.

They were alien, like nothing she'd ever imagined, let alone expected to see held in front of her. They were bestial, miniature copies of the shadows that haunted her racial memory back generations, before bats had descended from the trees to walk on their feet. In a moment of realization that left her breathless, she realized that she had produced them, she had created them, and that they existed only by her will.

In that moment, she smiled. Wanly, through the ghostly pain that shook her every few seconds, she reached out to them. Their skin was pink and new, but she could see the lighter dots and swirls where their fur would grow bright, against the purple backdrop of their pelts.

It was already decided, they'd go to the Itonomo Conservancy Trust, funded by Regal Holdings as part of their settlement for the illegal and immoral razing of the planet. The trust would rebuild a habitat, as close to Itonomo's atmosphere as possible. The caretakers understood the animals, with Dances and Femukki's help, and while the pup's parenthood wouldn't be part of any official record...

Another wave of exhaustion passed over her, and she lay back against the med-bay table. She felt a cool rush as the automated system flushed adrenaline from her system, replacing it with electrolytes and nutrients. And sedatives she realized, as her eyelids fluttered closed. The world spun pleasantly around her, and she knew nothing more.

*

The Egret shuddered beneath her as it dropped from the docking moors. Then, as it spun through the bay, she felt the reactor hum through the controls, a pleasant growl of power that only a skilled pilot could feel through the otherwise inertial-damped sway of a ship under steep acceleration. She let the spin roll her free of the station's dock, and out into crowded space. There were hundreds of other vessels here, each spread out in three-dimensional space, with tens of miles between each one; very tight, for space. The Egret's telemetry processor gave a gradual rising tone, and at ten g's of acceleration (of which Femukki in the pilot's seat felt only two) the top-of-the-line cruiser blasted through the crowded docking ring in a perfectly controlled dive.

Femukki gloried in the controls. She controlled only minor adjustments with her flight stick, letting the computer's complex matrix of crystals and silicon and platinum chart her course. For even the small shifts she made to the flight path, though, she felt the engines respond to her every touch, easing itself into a new path every few seconds, matched by instantaneous alterations and new courses laid by her computer.

She knew she'd miss the rickety shakes and rattles of her old frigate. That's why it was docked in the hangar. But for flight, for firepower, for missions, for the pure fun of piloting, the Egret could not be beat.

She cleared the cluster of idling pilots, each waiting for docking clearance on their way in or carefully picking their way through the crowd on their way out, in just seconds. Then, her ship slid seamlessly into jump, and it was only when the readouts counted astral units, then light years slipping past her by the second, did she realize just what a powerhouse the Edenwine had bought. That, and the four turret-mounted solid mass accelerators, which could punch through reinforced hulls like a knife through air, and the targeting suite with counter-measures and counter-counter-measure and counter-counter-... The intricacies of her ships on-board technology made her head spin. And, if she was honest, her thighs quiver, just a little bit.

She squeezed the grip of her rocking, articulated, three-D flight stick, but before she could ease the Egret out of jump, something heavy bumped into her chair from behind.

"Rom!" She shouted. Her chair spun smoothly on its hydraulic mountings. "If you two don't stop horsing around in the cockpit, I swear I'm going to space the both of you!" Romulus and Remus did their level best to look contrite. She batted at the closest head, slapping her palm against the broad armored cheek. The head didn't budge an inch, but the thanus had the decency to recoil a bit. Both of their eyes dropped, but before their displays of submission could finish, two irrepressible tails thumped heavily against the sensitive electronic fixtures.

"Oh, you two are useless. Come on." Femukki stood and led the two bedazzled beasts from bridge of her sparkling new cruiser. Her lips pulled up in a sly grin as she led her two feral lovers to her bedroom, newly finished and reinforced for the heavy-handed and destructive habits of Romulus and Remus. She'd have to give it a good work-out tonight. To make sure the workmanship was top quality, of course. And to guarantee it would stand the test of time; all very purposeful, of course.

She felt a hot flush run over her stomach and hips as she prepared herself for the night. Even Rom and Rem were getting the idea, heavy heads bumping against her from either side as they rubbed against her affectionately. She slapped the touch-pad outside her bedroom, and the door slid open for her. Just as she led the way into her new recreation room, the comms buzzed.

"Damn it. Always just before a good night."

She turned and pushed her thumb to the closest console, and a familiar otter's head filled the screen. His ears were downturned, and even through the light-years of distance, she felt the waves of guilt roll off of him. "Um, Mukki, I need a favor..."

*** ---- ***

(Fin! Femukki and Dances-With-Otters are copyright their respective players. All other characters in this story are copyright Kandrel and any other resemblance to other characters is only incedental and unintentional. Reposting is permissable, however, all reposts must be in original form, and must contain the author's name unaltered.)

Send Kandrel mail! fox at foxyonline dot com Comments and suggestions are welcome.