UCR - Ratum (Ouricel)

Trudging through the heavy snow, I slowly reach the top of a small hill. Looking out across the beran white landscape, I curse internally.

Taping my comunicator, I hear a familiar voice play in my ear " Crew Member Abe, Mission status updait." Metha says in a worried tone.

"Nothing yet, Vice-Captain Metha. I still have two more sectors to check, but this looks bad." I respond.

"What's the issue?" She says back quickly, "Do you need evac? I will send the suttle to your location immediately."

"Wait!" I interrupted, "That's not it! This planet is dame cold, but I am fine. It's more that it looks like a snowstorm hit before we got here. It's making finding traces of the escape pod hard."

Hearing a soft growl in the background, Metha hesitates, then sighs, "Don't push yourself too much. Readings indicate that it's negative four degrees Celsius where you are. That is well below your body's comfortable range."

Laughing slightly, "No worries, I used to live...." My voice catches as I see a discolored patch of snow. "Hold up. I may have something and am going to check it out."

Running down the hill, I almost miss the commanding voice of Captain Merix. "Abraham. Remember, your life is second only to the safety of this ship. Don't be stupid down there."

Sliding down the last few feet of the hill, I stand up and lower the mask of my cold weather suit to catch my breath in this thin atmosphere. "Acknowledged Captain Merix. I'll be careful."

Pushing forward, I make my way to the slightly blackened snow. Pulling out my folding shovel, I start to dig. After about a foot of snow, I strike a hard shell. Using my hands, I remove the remainder and see the blacked metal shell of a life pod.

"I found it." I say into the coms, "Patch me into the system."

"Connecting now," Metha says back. "Connected. Looks like life supports still working, but everything else is down." Her tone grows somber. "Captain Merix, I don't believe recovery will be possible."

"Can you redirect power to the gravplates?" Merix asks.

"No. They are on a different system than life support." Metha says softly.

Hearing a sad growl, "I am sorry, Abraham. I am going to have to cancel the rescue."

"Wait," I say quickly, "are they an endotherm or exotherm?"

"You can't be thinking..." Metha shouts, but the Captain cuts her off.

"Endotherm, Why? You think you can still save them?" I could almost hear the Captain pushing Metha aside.

"Send the shuttle here. I will move them from the pod to the shuttle. Retrieval of the pod is not the priority here." I say as I start digging into the snow again.

"Sending the shuttle." The Captain says.

"But Captain!" Metha says from the background, "Regulation state..."

A solid thunk ends the conversation, and Merix returns to the line, " Shuttle will arrive in ten minutes. Save them, Abe."

"Understood, Captain," I say back through heavy breaths.

Removing the snow until I find the hatch, I see the engraving of a diplomat emblazoned across the door. I know enough about UCR rules that opening a diplomat's capsule without getting permission from either the occupant or the occupant's homeworld was a crime, but the power in the pod won't last until we could call them.

Hearing the shuttle coming in for a landing, I dig my shovel into the panel covering the emergency release latch and pry it open. Immediately getting a notification on my communicator that I have committed a crime, I smile. No turning back now.

Grabbing the lever hidden inside, I pull and hear it click and start hissing. Taking a step back, the door blows past me and flies into the air. Landing a few feet away, I flinch at the thud it makes. There has to be a better way to do that!

Looking inside the pod, I see the sole occupant. A quadrupedal alien with thick fur covering its body and long, dear-like horns on its head. A thicker layer of hair forms a mane around its neck and cloven hooves on the end of each leg. Smiling down at the Arunin, I am glad the pink reindeer looked unharmed, only unconscious.

Lifting out the fluffy creature, I lay her across my back and head to the shuttle. Pushing through the snow, I focus on the hot breath beside my ear.

"Just keep breathing," I whisper. "You'll be safe soon.

UCR - Ratum

Stepping out of the hot shower, I rub my tender pink skin. Even with cold gear, spending hours trudging through the snow was too much for me. Sliding back on my shorts, I sit on the bed and look at the bright red light indicating the door lock.

Never imagining I would end my space career as a criminal, I lay back and laugh. Was it worth it? I saved a life, but...

Rubbing the bare space on my finger that usually holds a ring this time of night, I feel my heart grow cold. I won't ask her to choose between staying a captain and me.

"Not yet!" I chide myself, "Wait until the punishment is decided. You can't give up yet!"

Hearing the door beep, "Captain Merix Lathuri Da Roxoralen, requesting entry."

Standing up, I walk over to the wall, and shackles snap around my wrist. Returning to the bed, I sit down, and the door unlocks. Seeing Merix step in, her shining gold scales bright against the backdrop of the ship's walls. Looking up at her face, I see the silver eyes I first fell in love with looking down at me with a smile hiding behind them.

"How can I help Captain?" I ask, knowing I can't move from this bed

From behind her, another voice calls out. "She is no longer your Captain."

Seeing the pink-furred deer walk around her forces me to sit up straight. She walks up to me and holds out a communicator strapped to her foreleg. On the screen, I read my Name and other info. Then it said my contract holder was now Ouricel {Redacted} Diplomat for the Arunin.

Looking from Ouricel to Merix, I ask, "Wait, what happened?"

Ouricel lowers her leg and raises herself up with pride. "Due to you breaking the interracial treaty, punishment is demanded. As the offended party, I was able to determine the punishment."

Looking back to Merix, "I do not blame the Captain for this. Regardless of the law, humans are already well known for taking actions they deem worthwhile. Seeing as this action was to save my life, I decided that some level of leniency was required. So instead of the mandated three standard years imprisonment, for the one who allowed the action to occur."

Looking back at me, her eyes grow a little mischievous. "I decided to take over your contract, and you will serve as a Guard Servant until the end of your contract.

Hearing Merix click her tongue and then look away, I also have to stifle a laugh.

Seeing Ouricel's eyes filled with confusion, she looks back and forth between the two of us. "What is it? I know this is lenient, but I would not think this is a laughing matter."

"Did you read my contract?" I ask, trying not to smile too much.

"It's a standard work contract. I saw no notice of adjustments being made." She says, looking insulted.

"Yes, that's true, but, "I say and hold up one finger, "There is only one week left in the contract. So, for the next week, I am at your service."

That last line broke Merix, who laughed loud enough to shake the walls.

Realization smacking into Ouricel made her knees buckle and drop to the floor.

"We won't even reach the station in that time," she says, her eyes locked on the communicator. Flicking her wrist, she scrolls through the contract and finds the date. Seeing that we are telling the truth, she sighs in defeat.

She stood back up, her legs still shaky. "This is what I get for trying to get a Human underhoof." Looking up at Merix, she shakes her head. "I thought it strange that you would give up on Abraham so easily. I should have known there was a trick, but my own curiosity got the better of me."

Unlocking my shackles, Ouricel joins in the laughing and heads back for the door. "Meet me at my room first thing in the morning. I should try to get some use out of you, and Captain, well done."

Giving a slight bow to the Captain, she then heads out. Turning to me, Merix gives a toothy grin. "Do you know how lucky we got today?"

"Ya, but you knew this would happen, didn't you?" I say, standing up and stretching my stiff wrists.

Leaning down to me, Merix licks my cheek and says, "As an Arunin, who voted against Humans joining the Community. Her people haven't had much chance to get to interact with Humans. So I thought she may try something like this."

"You bet on a maybe?" I ask, feeling her warm kiss thawing the ice in my heart. " We could have been imprisoned. Then we never could have..."

Licking my lips to silence me, "Would you have forgiven me if I ordered you to let her die?"

Placing my hand on her warm cheek, I look into her eyes and feel my eyes begin to water. Forcing the tears back, I whisper, "I would never hate you for that. I know what breaking the law means to you."

Wrapping her wing around me, I am pulled into an embrace. Hearing her start to hum, I hold her back.

"Thank you for allowing me to save her. I am going to miss you." I whisper and enjoy the feeling of her hard scales against my face.

UCR- Ratum (Four Days Left )

Walking into the Guest Room, I see Ouricel with her chin resting on the table and her two forelegs covering her eyes.

"Mam," I say to inform her I was there, "I brought you dinner."

Removing one of her hooves, she taps the table. Placing the food down there, she slowly opens her eyes and looks at it.

"What is that?" Ouricel asks.

"A cucumber sandwich with tomato and dressing," I say and step back.

"How does a ship full of carnivores have such a supply of fresh vegetables," she says and sits up. "I was fully prepared to spend my meals lapping up nutrient paste."

"It's actually for me," I say, getting a surprised look from her. "Humans are omnivores. We need both meat and plants to survive."

I see a thought pop into her mind, but then she turns to the sandwich and takes a large bite. After eating silently, I reach for her plate, and she places her hoof on my hand.

"I must apologize." Ouricel says, "When we heard you are predators, my people thought you would be a war-bound people. That it was too soon for you to be in the Community. I was one of the votes that were against..."

Stopping her and placing my hand on the back of her hoof, I kneel down and look into her sideways-facing eye.

The large blue iris focusing on me, I softly tell her, "Don't be sorry about that. You are right that we are a people forged by war, but that also means we know what is worth fighting for. Humanity agreed to the terms of our service to the Community because we believe the Community is something worth protecting. At least the Idea of it. Some think that it goes too far in the name of peace, like telling me I should have let you die back there. For your own safety."

Looking down at the floor, I feel a solemn look cross my face. "Peace over People. That is what some say."

Pulling her hoof away from me, Ouricel stands up and bristles her fur. "As someone who was raised to fully know the rules and understand why they exist. I want to say, of course, peace is more important, but I know that would have ended in my death..." Turning to face me directly, "I am more thankful than anything that your people think the opposite way."

About to respond, I am stopped by hearing clawed footsteps running past the door, and seeing Ouricel's eyes going wide sends a wave of dread through my spine. Turning, I jump out the door and call down the hall to the two kobolds that ran past.

A red and white kobold held a dildo about half as long as she was tall overhead like a trophy. The other, an off-white with a pink belly, was trying to snatch it from her. When they see me, they stop and hold it out for me to look at. Trying not to laugh, I end up shaking my head. Dropping it to the floor, the red one starts to drag it back the way they came.

"Two rules," I say, stopping them. "One, don't force it. Two, when you think you have enough lube, double it."

Giving them a big smile as confirmation, the white one snatches the monstrous dildo from the red one and sprints down the hall, laughing as she goes.

Turning and heading back into the room, I see the poor dear lying on the floor with her hooves covering her eyes again.

"Sorry, you had to be put between the Kobold's, no, Vetauxm's rooms and the fabricator," I say apologetically.

"It's ok." She says and stands back up. "I heard that egg layers are more brazen than most when it comes to this, but I never expected it to be on this level."

This time, closing the door to ensure we weren't interrupted again. "That would also be because of me."

Being shocked for the second time, Ouricel looks at me in disbelief. "Are your people that bold? You even affect other race's sexual proclivity?"

"No," I say, but then think about it. "Kinda. We aren't as open as they are. We keep it behind closed doors, but Head Chef Rintha tried to grab some earth recipes off our network when the ship docked at Sol Station to pick me up. Not having time to search for exactly what he wanted, he grabbed everything his clearance would allow."

"How would that connect to this?" she asks.

"Well, We have a unique art form called porn. It is based on sex and intimacy. Over the years, it has evolved in many unique ways." Pointing back to the door, "Half of what Rentha grabbed was porn."

"I see," she says, "as people with high libido and low inhibition, they would be more receptive to this art form."

"Ya, and most of my job here has been teaching them how to utilize the art form without hurting themselves. Thanks to a lot of it being fictional. So biological rules don't apply."

"I understand fictional but not having biology in it. It's about intercourse, right?" Ouricel asks in confusion. "How can you have fiction about sex but not biology?"

Nodding as I already had to have this conversation with the Kobolds, I repeat what I said before.

Think about it like this. One of the most pleasurable parts of sex is the orgasm. Now, let's raise that to fantasy levels. Pair a Dragon and a Kobold together for it. Suppose the Dragon penetrates the Kobold down to the base of its penis. In that case, the Kobold will certainly die from internal damage. Not so in the stories. The body just stretches to fit. If the Dragon orgasms inside the Kobold, internal damage could be received, and at least ninety percent of the cum would leak out of the Kobold. In porn, the Kobold would instead blow up like a balloon, and cum would spray out of its mouth.

Seeing Ouricel's eyes stuck to me like she was seeing a train wreck and couldn't look away. I decided to finish without giving all the examples I told the Kobolds.

Imagining the impossible can make what you can do more pleasurable. Take the dildo that just ran by. They can imagine having sex with a dragon, but physically, they will never be able to. I doubt even a third of that gets used tonight.

"Disturbing." Ouricel says," and somehow fascinating. I never would have thought to imagine intercourse between other races. As an Ambassador, I know it happens, but still. Not even biology limits what the art form can represent."

Looking down in thought, she slowly turns away from me and looks down at her communicator. "Its lait. You may go to your room for the night. I will see you tomorrow."

Noding, I turn and head out the door. Closing it behind me, I breathe a sigh of relief. I shouldn't have gone into that much detail! I think the Kobolds are affecting my common sense.

Remembering that massive weapon of a toy, I hurry to the Kobold section. I have to make sure they aren't the only ones getting out of hand!