FSE

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Natasha watched in excitement as a tramp freighter came in for a landing the bottom part shimmering as powerful counter gravity units worked to both slow its decent and act at the crafts landing gear. The tramp freighter was small for an FTL capable ship but was the largest FTL capable freight hauler ship able to land in atmosphere and they went everywhere! Natasha bounced in glee catching up with her mother knowing that she was going to get to spend the next year with her aunt Ya who owned and captained a tramp freighter. Natasha new her mom thought she would lose her interest in being a spacer spending a year in space, but she sure didn't think so!

They came to a small long in the space port that was in the cargo area rather than the passenger side of the port. She saw her aunt sitting on one of the benches wearing a dark blue ships suit. Her aunt was notably older than her mom with a tough of grey in her hair but otherwise the two of them looked a lot alike. They both had black hair that was very strait black eyes and a slight angle to the eyes from their Chinese heritage. Looking at her aunt for some reason reminded her of her very different looks from her mom even though looking at her mom didn't. Her hair was red and curly and although she had the eye fold her eyes were a dark green. She thought she might not be any taller than them when she all grown up either but she wasn't sure. She kind of hopped she didn't turn out that short as both her mom and aunt were barely over five feet tall.

She ran up to her aunt and hugger her; as Ya stood up to great them. "Whoa there little one. Your mother said you were eager but let's have some decorum about this. How is my little sister?", Ya asked as she returned Natasha's hug.

"Well enough all things considered. It's good of you to be willing to help out like this," her mother responded. Natasha wondered though if she were missing something. There was something in her mother's voice that sounded a little off. But then she had been sounding like that for a few weeks now, even before Ya's message arrived saying she would be willing to take Natasha for a cruise as a 'cabin boy'.

"What are big sisters for if not to help out when they can?" Ya said with a smile but Natasha thought there was something grim in her aunt's eyes.

Her mother's return grin seemed more genuine this time as she said, "Everything you said she would need is in her shipping containers." Passing a small case over to Ya she continued, "This is all the legal paper work as well as an expense account to cover any needed mods in her skin suit. The tech who fitter her with the current one said at her age it might need significant adjustments beyond what he could build into it within six to nine months depending on how fast she grows in that time. Natasha why don't you take the dolly with your things to the ship. Ya and I have a few more things to discuss while you get on board. Your aunt is due to leave in less than 10 minutes I believe. Give me a hug before you go dear," she requested kneeling down.

Natasha hugged her mother, "I'll miss you mom!" the exclamation with a certain amount of extra water in her eyes even as they glowed brightly with excitement.

Her mother smiled her own eyes bright with unshed tears, "I know you will sweat heart, be sure to obey your aunt as you would me."

"Yes mom! She's the captain and everyone on the ship has to do what she says," Natasha responded with the certainty of a child. She took the dolly handle and headed eagerly to the ships gangway. A entire year in space she thought to herself! What a grand set of adventures she would have! Who would have thought that her mother would finally give in on her tenth birthday and had agreed to contact her aunt to ask about it. She had expected at most a two weeks on board but her mother had told her, her aunt had agreed to a year. For the last three months she had been bouncing with excitement. Her mother thought a year would be more than sufficient to grow board and disgusted with being a spacer.

She didn't know it yet but it would be the last time she saw her mother and that it would be many years indeed before she returned to her home world of Xanadu.

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Natasha sighed as she lay on her bunk randomly sifting though entertainment vids with her data pad. While the glamour of being a spacer was still there she did have to admit that when she wasn't doing lessons or ship board drill it could be quite boring. But then there was no one to play with on board and not much to do while the ship was moving though tunnel space. No one could get to you in tunnel space, nothing you could run into and, the ship's computers would alert crew if there was an engineering emergency. While in tunnel space you were in effect as she understood it in your own tiny pocket universe.

Counting her the crew was all of three on the free trader her aunt owned the Star Strider. Her aunt was pilot owner and did much of the advanced maintenance that was yard dog work. Aubry a k9 who's appearance resembled a white akita. Her aunt acted as her teacher for lessons both school and ship related. Aubry was in charge of her gymnasts training and continuing her martial arts training, though in Kung Fu and not in Aikido. That did admittedly keep her buy for around twelve hours a day. But even after meals and a shower it left a few hours of idle time each day.

She had taken those hours the first two months to learn the ships decks and to get used to other aspects of ship life. It had shocked her the first time she had seen aunt Ya in nothing more than a bra and panties. She had almost gotten used to that when she had seen her aunt go down the hall with nothing on but a shirt that didn't reach much past her boobs. If that wasn't bad enough one time Aubry had walked into the mess rubbing sleep out of his eyes with his cock showing. Not just a little pink either that you saw some times both with k9 or a dog but half out of its sheath thick dark red and pulsing slightly with something clear running down it now and then. It had been all the more startling for the fact that she had almost walked into him and it had been so close.

Seeing Aubry sporting a massive boner was the first time she had actually seen an male of any species clearly aroused. Asking her aunt, with more than a little embarrassment, about it had gotten her an explanation about males and morning wood. Her aunt had made the explanation but clearly had been reluctant as well. Then had asked her if she knew about the birds and the bee's and where babies came from. She had said she did, that there had been a class about it at school. Her aunt seemed as embarrassed by the whole thing as she was and so they had left it at that. Natasha had wondered idly though why her aunt might be so embarrassed at the time when she had seen her aunt all but completely naked and she hadn't batted an eye over it.

Thinking about Aubry and his morning made her blush in the here and now for she realized she was getting wet between the legs again. It had started happening sometimes before she had seen Aubry with his boner but now it was happening as much as two or three times a week. Sometimes she got so wet that if she could slip away she would change her panties. She was doing her own laundry right now as a few times she had been wet enough to make it look like she had peed in them. She knew what it was of course. She had figured that out easily enough and it hadn't taken long to learn that touching herself when she was very wet and ached for contact there could be quite pleasant. But she worked hard not to think about it to much and to get it out of her mind if she wasn't in the shower. It hadn't taken her more than a time or to of getting wet down there around Aubry to realize he must be able to smell it or something because when she did he would start developing a boner. While she found it terribly embarrassing to know that he could smell her arousal at least she had gotten to his boner a few more times.

She wasn't sure why that it was something she wanted to see. But she had dreamed of him and his boner more than a few times. Even of reaching out and touching it. But he was an animal and people didn't touch animals that way. It was naughty and everyone knew it. Yet she knew she wanted to. She also knew that she could never touch him like that, she found him a little scary.

As her mind wondered her fingers kept moving on the data pad using its link to the ships entertainment system to look for interesting vids when she found a directory labeled simply X. Opening the directory she flipped though the vid titles. She found things like 'Kelly Trains Police K9s', 'David Rides his Mare For the First Time' and 'Sandy and Her Stallion Go on a Wild Ride.' She selected the last one, thinking the titles seemed a bit odd but looking for something new.

The fast forwarded though the opening credits watching as 'Sandy' and a male equine got into a van clearly built to go off road. It was a counter grav van but an old style car that used wheels. The inside however was quite odd she thought as behind the two front seats was what looked like a bed. The first few minutes were inane chatter between Sandy and the driver, about the scenery. Then Sandy went into the back and watched the scenery go by with the stallion with her petting him. Natasha blushed as Sandy in the vid went from rubbing the stallions belly after a short time to running his sheath and fondling the well built black large balls. Her blush grew stronger as the stallions cock slid fully out of his sheath and became hard. She felt like she was blushing all the way down to her toes when Sandy took the stallions cock in her mouth and began to lick and suck at it.

When Sandy let the stallions cock slide from her mouth and guided the stallions muzzle down to her mini skirted waist. The stallion nosed under her mini skirt and clearly began to nuzzle Sandy's pussy. Shifting the camera's point of view around Natasha found out that Sandy wasn't wearing any panties to get in the stallion's way. Natasha's blush wasn't fading any but that wasn't stopping her from reaching into the loose shorts she had been wearing to go to bed to start to finger herself. Biting into her lip to keep from moaning out load she watched as things progressed and the stallion began to hump Sandy the stallions black and pink shaft thrusting in and out of Sandy to her cries of pleaser. Long before the stallion squealed in orgasm Natasha had bucked on the bed not once in quite orgasms. She watched the stallion pull out of Sandy as he orgasmed shooting long ropes of thin seed all over Sandy's belly. The last spurt or two wasn't white though she noticed curiously but something clearish and much thicker and that the end of the stallion's cock. She thought over what she had seen her finger no longer working franticly in her own pussy.

After a time she stopped fingering herself and put aside the data pad. Natasha looked at the mess she had made and the blush that had had plenty of time to fade to renewed itself as she saw that her shorts were quite messy and even the bunk had wet spots from her orgasms. She realized if she didn't want to shout out what she had been doing to Aubry's nose she needed to clean up.

She stripped the sheets from her bunk and put them in the laundry along with her shorts leaving her in nothing more than her training bra. She spread the new sheets on her bunk and smiled to herself. The Star Strider was designed to handle a crew of eight with private cabins for the captain and the executive officer, with the rest of the crew able to bunk in one cabin. Aunt Ya had the captain's cabin and Aubry the executive's cabin. However other then Natasha there was no one else on the ship she had the general crew cabin to herself as well as giving her, her own shower and bathroom. Witch was probably just as well given her new interest in her own sex life.

The ships next stop was some place called Silverwand Landing. A small outpost of scientists working out where no one would worry too much about what they were researching from what her aunt had said. She wondered if she could meet any boys there. Aunt Ya had said the layover could be as much as two days, as the entire cargo of the ship was for there and then they were supposed to load up with stuff that the out post's auto mining gear had dug up. If she were lucky maybe in that time should try out a few of the things she had seen in the vid.

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Talimer was folding laundry bored and wanting to finish chores so he could go play, when he heard the thunderous boom followed be the floor jumping beneath his hooves as there was a loud crash from outside. Frightened by the noises and earth tremors he ran to find his mother even as the lights flickered and went out. Running up stairs and though halls in the building he bee lined for where his mother had been working. As he ran through the halls of the last level he became aware sharp cracking or popping noises and screams.

Bursting into the lab his mother had been assisting in, he skid to a halt. There were humans and k9's in the room in strange flat black cloths holding weapons. His mother seeing him burst into the room screamed, "Talimer no!" running for him even as one of the k9's weapon swung to point in his direction.

Even as the k9 squeezed the trigger to shoot at the sudden intrusion into the room his mother dived in from of him and he heard a tearing popping noise. Blood and other less identifiable things sprayed over him as holes exploded through his mothers front. She crashed into him taking them both to the floor. The k9 turned as he heard shouts from the other room and a cashing noise, he sprinted to a door that lead to the main lab in this building. She grabbed him and pulled them both along the floor weekly but steadily as blood poured from the hideous wounds. She got him around the door even as her movements weakened, giving a weak push got him out from under to try to propel him down the hall way her strength giving out. She looked at him her eyes filled with fear and opened her mouth to speak but only bloody bubbles issued forth as she sank to the floor unmoving.

Talimer saw it in her eyes; the loss of awareness and a sudden stillness that had a horrifying finality to it. Even as he intellectually grasped his mother's death he emotionally failed to comprehend it. He reached out and shook her gently by the shoulder, "Momma?" in a pleading tone. Only peripherally aware of the shouts coming from the lab, he tried come to terms with what was happening and failed.

Staring at his mother's lifeless body something deep in his mind began to burn pain flooding though him. What started as a keening cry of loss as his head tilled back turned into a scream of rage so primal, so feral none who heard it would have thought it came from the throat of any think sentient being. He found himself on his feet and moving without ever realizing he had wanted to move. An implacable rage swelled with in him both his and yet somehow not his and even as it swelled the pain in his head grew stronger. He found himself moving around the corner back into the room even as he lost awareness of the world around him.

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Talimer came too; the sound of something crashing down in a thunderous roar. He opened his eyes to a sky streaked with billowing columns of smoke and flame off to one side. The buildings he had called home his whole life burned with a fierce intensity that he never seen in a fire before; the blue white flames of the fire seeming to howl in rage. Sitting up he saw that he was not alone. Next to him was a k9 who was stripping off the last pieces of blood soaked gear. Near her lay several weapons one of which smoked and steamed.

He looked around himself in confusion, he had been folding the Doc's laundry he could remember that clearly. But then what? And where was every one? Why wasn't someone trying to put out the fire? He wasn't sure who the k9 was but he had to ask, "Where is everyone?"

As the k9 turned to face him he saw that it was a female all white with a long coat of fur and a feral look to her kind a like a Earth wolf he seen in a documentary on wild animals from the home world of humanity. She asked in a soft voice, "You don't remember young one?"

He shook his head in a negative, worried by the fact that no one he knew was around.

"Ah," she replied looking at him thoughtfully for a moment he thought. Then she sighed a sad sigh. "I am sorry young one but everyone who lived here but you is dead."

He looked at her in disbelief, "Everyone? Even Doc Floyd?"

"Even him. There was no one else you wished to ask about?", she asked a probing look on her face.

He thought for a moment there had be Doc Floyd, him and no one else. Had there? He thought there had been someone else but if so why couldn't remember a name a face? He had perfect memory the doc had always praised him for it. Finally he responded, "No?" Even he could hear uncertainty in his voice.

She shook her head, "Well let's not worry about that now. I take it you went close to Doctor Floyd?"

"He was nice enough but really I just helped around his apartment doing chores; we really saw very little of each other. I'll miss him I guess." it all seemed unreal somehow. Everyone dead? He had always played alone when his chores were done but he knew that there had been around eighty or ninety people working here plus fifty or so other equines. "Why is everyone dead?"

"People came, people who had been hired to take what Doctor Floyd had been researching. They were to take the item he had been working on and kill anyone here so there would be no witnesses. I am not one hundred percent sure' but I also think it was so that no one who knew anything about the research might make use of that knowledge later," she replied a distant look in her eyes.

"How come I'm the only one left? And who are you and where did you come from?" he asked suddenly realizing that he had never seen her before.

She smiled sadly at him and answered cryptically "You are still alive because Doctor Floyd played with something he did not understand. As for me? I am," she paused for a moment as if searching for an answer, "complicated."

"I don't understand," he complained.

"Sadly I can say the same; if not for the same reasons young one," she said. Turning she looked at the sky and then cocked her head. "A ship is coming, and I have one I wish to catch up to. Maybe I will even find some answers. I wish you prosperity and long life." She paused for a moment and the said looking behind him, she asked in a worried voice, "What's that over there?"

He whipped around and looked in the direction she was pointing and suddenly he saw stars as he was hit in the side of the head from behind. Even as he lost awareness and fell he thought he heard her say, "Sorry about that young one but it's for the best."

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Natasha sat on the bridge her aunt having granted permission finally. She had had to work hard learning procedures and how to operate basic systems. She was only to observe this time but her aunt had said if she doing so well in learning how to be a crewman that she could give it a try some time. So she sat quietly as the approached Silverwand listening and watching intently.

"Silverwand flight control this is Star Roamer, requesting landing approach vectors and beacon codes," he aunt said clearly into her com mike. After waiting for a good sixty seconds Natasha was surprised to hear her aunt repeat into the mike, "Silverwand flight control this is Star Roamer, requesting landing approach vectors and beacon codes," this time with a hint of irritation.

Her aunt frowned as still she got no reply and Natasha frowned as well. There should always be someone on duty in flight control even in a back water nowhere place like this. Her aunt after a short time said into the mike, "Silverwand flight control this is Star Strider please respond."

She saw Aubry suddenly stiffen, and put a hand to his headset. "Computer repeat last message," he said with shock coloring his voice. He aunt stiffened hearing him. She looked away from the flight controls, shooting a questioning look to Aubry. "Captain ships scanners have picked up structures on fire on the surface," he said sharply. After the barest of pauses, "Holly shit, the computer analysis says they are burning so hot that even the structural supports are burning. That accelerants had to have been used to get things so hot.

Natasha queried her tablet for accelerants in context to fires and found that they were substances used to make fires burn hotter. Even as she wondered how that could have happened Aubry said, "Running high definition sweep for other ships in area," as he started hitting symbol keys on his panel.

Her aunt said in a tight voice, "I'm activating Silverwands beacon by remote, requesting a data dump on ship movements in the last forty-eight hours via emergency protocols. Stand by for info dump pending computer resolution of emergency protocols. Engines standing buy for emergency maneuvers. Switching to manual flight control."

Natasha shivered in her flight couch trying to sink into it. She heard the unspoken fear. Pirates. Vids might make them out to be heroes as often as villains but she had seen uncut news footage of what real pirates could and would do. Real pirates were people who would kill for gain. And they were often quite brutal about it after all dead men told no tails as the saying went. In real life it meant a trail of bodies and destruction. Even the bravest spacer she learned feared pirates, for they would strike without warning and mercy.

A short time later Aubry said flatly, "One ship detected boosting out system on the absolute edge of detection range. Computer claims high probability based on drive emissions small free trader class vessel. Receiving data dump from ground side," he paused as the ships comp crunched numbers and he reviewed the data. "Computer and data show that the vessel leaving the system landed without ground side clearance. Their landing vector was defiantly a typical assault vector they took out the man scan arrays on the way in; emergency backups operating in passive mode kicked in after twenty seconds," and then with a frown he added, "This is strange, the ship leaving fired what appeared to be two nukes at the surface installations. Both were destroyed an energy weapon fired from somewhere on the ground. The facility was burning before that, but not long after that is when the fires began to burn hot and it happen all over at exactly the same time. There were no signals from the ship that the ground side scanners picked up."

Unsure of what some of that meant she still shivered. For the emergency data dump request to process the ground side computer had to receive the request, send a signal to all personnel with command authority stating that an emergency request was being made. Only if no one with command authority responded in one hundred and twenty seconds could the computer release the data logs. If any one who got the signal responded in any way to the signal the computer would not send the data dump. All it took was an active acknowledgement that could be done as a micro com bust so fast from what she had read that it couldn't be traced back to its source. The system had been set up that way so that a ship responding to an emergency could get the data it needed but so that in theory a pirate couldn't use it against its owners.

"I'm taking us in for SR, keep your eyes open. Once we are on the ground I will keep drives at stand by, Aubry you will do the SR sweep, Natasha you will go to medical and stand by to help there if Aubry brings any one in. Aubry go get geared up and be careful out there we know some ones got heavy weapons," her Aunt ordered as she brought up a display for the scanners at her flight couch.

Aubry unstrapped, even as the ship began to buck and shudder from atmospheric entry, and left the bridge.

After the hatch had resealed; she asked her aunt, "Who do you think we will find down there au, I mean Captain Ya?"

"I don't know dear," her aunt replied with a grim smile at her correction. "If it were not for interstellar laws about offering aid to those in the need assistance I would have us boosting out of here as fast as I could. There is far too much we don't know right now and, that makes me very edgy. To many possibilities for us to get hurt here and no way to find out without risking being hurt."

She sat in silence after that, as the ship touched down on the landing strip and decelerated she left her own flight couch to stand by in medical. When she arrived she went over to the auto doc they had and punched in her personal id code activating it on emergency mode class five. She was proud of the fact that she had gotten her class fife rating from the ships system already as that would give her a bit of control over the device when someone was put in. She also readied all the basic first aid gear as the auto doc was reserved for people with serious injury in emergency situations.

She listened to the com as Aubry searched the area. She didn't understand how he could sound so calm as he found body after body. He didn't really find that many but he did give quick verbal descriptions of each ones injuries, most of which seemed to be a variations on shot with assault rifle. But then it all changed when Aubry said, "Found another one down but this ones in body armor. He's human. Single knife wound to the back, looks like someone but a combat knife though his spine and into his heart from what I can tell. Who ever did this was very strong its though the composite plates in his armor. But that's not the best part; this guys in light power armor. All his gear is top of the line. This is not a pirate, it's a mercenary or corporate trooper. I really would have preferred pirates Captain."

Her aunts voice had a hard edge to it when she replied, "Continue your search Aubry. There's no help for it now."

"Captain?", she could help saying in confusion.

She heard her aunt sigh and then reply, "Corporate politics and espionage are something any sane free trade stays well away from."

The Aubry's grim search continued for about an hour when he said, "Got a live one. Young equine, no visible injuries but he's out cold. My med unit shows him as stable. I'm putting him on the stretcher but I'll finish the SR sweep before heading back if that's all right Captain."

"Sounds good Aubry, your almost done anyways," her aunts voice came back over the com.

Natasha didn't think the rest of the sweep took more than fifteen minutes. She shivered according to the count they had found twenty-two dead. One live equine and that was it. Unless there were people hiding in the woods nearby that meant that the sixty humans and forty or so equines in the file they had were in buildings. She was sure from what Aubry had said that no one would be found alive in the buildings later. Finally Aubry loaded back up onto the ship with the one survivor. Evan as she and Aubry got him into the auto doc her aunt taxied the Star Roamer into position for takeoff.

"Ok Natasha I think you can handle it from here. I will be on the bridge helping out with the sensors." With that Aubry gave her a reassuring pat on the back and left for the bridge leaving her alone with the young equine.

She started up the auto doc's diagnosis feature instructing it to give a detailed examination on its occupant. Even as it started working she also gave examined the young equine. He was a bit shorter than her but much more solidly built. His coloration was something she hadn't seen before, a yellow dun with a black stripe running though his mane down his back and though his tail. His legs from the mid cannon down and his arms almost from the elbow down were jet black. His belly and inside thighs were a lighter dun than the rest of his coat. There were no other markings or pink spots that she could see though she giggled to herself thinking that with his penis all but hidden by his sheath she couldn't be sure.

She blushed a little as an idea popped into her head as she felt the ship lift from the ground smoothly. She reached in and copped a feel reasoning that she might not have a change again any time again soon. The black skin of his sack was soft and smooth, the lumps of his balls warm as she felt them. She moved her hand up to his sheath finding the skin there also soft almost velvety feeling. She ran her finger tip over the tip of his cock that was there at the opening of his sheath. She grinned a little, knowing she was being naughty but in this instance not caring.

She stopped though after a moment, realizing that she really did have other things she should be doing. She checked the read outs on the side of the auto doc. He was four foot three a full four inches shorter than she was. His weight came in at a hundred and ten pounds well over her seventy two but that wasn't a surprise. Equines had been genetically engineered for very dense muscles. It made them very strong but they sank like a rock in water; even ones who knew how to swim had to work hard to stay afloat. The auto doc placed him between five eleven and twelve years of age he was just a bit older then she was. His temp was ninety-eight point nine well within normal. His heart beat at fifty-two a minute was high for a equine at rest and the auto doc suggested that this might be a result of stress. She rolled her eyes and instructed the doc to assume that this was the case for now.

Given that equines were engineered to be a very peaceful animal and that he had been in facility that was all shoot up she thought stress would be a given. The rest of the read outs were in there normal ranges according to the auto doc. All but two that was. The first to stand out was his blood test. When she queried the system about why that had been flagged she found out that his hemoglobin was off the normal charts high. Like almost ten times normal. The second was his adrenaline levels and those were very high given that he wasn't conscious. The auto doc was reading a steady drop in the levels but traces in his system suggested that he had 'improbably' high levels with in the last hour or so. The auto doc had flag this as tentative but after she imputed the time he had been under known observation it switched it to simply high monitor with care. It's final conclusion was that the equine had been knocked unconscious by a blow to the side and rear of the head and that a head ache was likely.

The auto doc suddenly pinged a non emergency warning that its occupant was coming around did she wish to sedate? Using voice command she said, "No." Moving over near his head she could hear the change in his breathing as it speed up and then he groaned. When his eyes fluttered open she gasped in surprise for they were metallic green and glittered as if there were tiny particles of glitter in them. Then she noticed something for stranger. An equine's eyes had horizontal slits like normal horses but his were vertical like a cat or dogs and there didn't seem to be any whites.

He blinked twice and then asked, with a confused look, "Where am I ma'am?" Wow she thought I've never been ma'amed before!

"Your onboard the Star Strider, I'm Natasha. What's your name?" She hoped to get information from him for her Aunt, before she contacted her to let her know he was awake.

"Talimer ma'am. If I may ask, what's a star strider?", he asked his voice soft and inquisitive.

She giggled at the question, and replied, "Star Strider is a free trader. A space ship. Do you always ask if you can know about something?" He nodded and sat up slowly as she asked, "Can you tell me what happened?"

"That's what she asked me. I remember I was folding Doc Floyd's laundry and the next thing I know I'm waking up outside with this white k9. She told me that everyone was dead and some people had been hired to come and steel the thing that Doc Floyd was working on. Is it true are they really all dead?", he asked there at the end. Before she could answer she saw he could see it in her eyes. His eyes watered on the verge of tears, "What do I do now?"

"Well do you have a head ache?", she asked unsure how to handle this. At his nod she gave him two tablets, "Swallow those and lay back down for now. They will help with the pain. He did as she asked and she gave a mental sigh of relief. While he lay quietly in the auto doc she went over out into the main med room and shut the door before coming her aunt. "Captain he's awake. Medically he seems fine though you will want to take a look at his readouts there some weird stuff in them that I didn't really understand. I asked him about what happened and he said he didn't know. He did know how ever that there had been a white k9 that was there after the attack. What do I do now?", she finished.

"For now come up and join me. I'll have Aubry come down and question him in detail, and good job Natasha," her aunt instructed her. She headed for the bridge glowing with pride.

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Two days had passed sense they had picked the colt up and the ship was safely in tunnel space. She didn't know what all Aubry had learned in his questioning but she did know that he wasn't happy with what he had learned. And now this. Talimer had been given a bunk in the room with her as the only place really to put him. Talimer thrashed in his sheets whimpering in his sleep. She had seen some one in the throes of nightmares only on vids before this but she was sure that's what he was having.

She slipped off her bunk and went across to his, when he whimpered out "Momma?". The whispered word held fear and something else but she couldn't identify what. The she nearly jumped out of her skin when he cried out "Momma!" his voice filled with anguish as he snapped upright his eyes open. She had once read a phrase 'his eyes were like windows into hell' and she hadn't been able to really imagine that. She didn't have to now she could see for herself. "Talimer?", she asked her voice filled with worry and fear.

His eyes blinked once and in that moment they changed from something horrible and lost to confused. He began shivering as he asked in a frightened voice, "Natasha?"

"It's ok I'm here," she replied. He reached out hesitantly and touched her as if to confirm she really was.

"Don't leave me," he begged with a soft whisper and his eyes full of pleading.

She almost didn't get what he was asking at first. She blushed a little at the thought of being up on the bunk with him but slid up onto it as he made room for her. He hugged her to him like a teddy bear. She eventually fell asleep against him, finding him warm and pleasant to lean against.

When she awoke the next morning he was still sleeping next to her huddled in close like she was some kind of lifeline or something. She reached up and smoothed his fetlock on his forehead gently, taking an unabashed moment to reveal in having a naked male so close. She looked at his groin and saw that though limp his cock was out of his sheath and that it was indeed all black.

Her touch on his forehead not having gotten a she grew bolder and ran her hand down his belly to just above his cock. When he didn't wake to that she slipped her hand down and rapped it about his small shaft. Holding his soft warm length in her hand she could feel herself getting very wet and then the most interesting thing happened. She felt his cock swell in her hand growing firmer and longer, until she held his rock hard erection in her hand. She examined his hard cock with interest, the tip was kind of a blunt wedge shape to it. Half way down there was a ring around his cock where she found a slight ridge in the skin.

When she saw he still wasn't waking she rubber it lightly her hand sliding the flesh around a bit. His cock flexed in her hand and she felt him surge in her grip and his tip swelled out into a bell shape. By the third surge his tip had swollen to almost three times its previous size and his pee hole stood out with a depression all around it. She stroked it one more time and felt his cock flex powerfully in her grip just before something shot out and spattered on to her hand, his belly and hers. It was clear and runny with just a hint of white to it. She let go startled by this eruption and she watched as he spurted more weekly a few times after that, her hand moving to between her own legs.

She had worn panties and a tank top to bed and right now her panties were sopping wet. She had never been so horny before and touching her finger to her slit was exquisite. Just as she started to rub her finger into her sex she felt Talimer move just a little. Looking up she realized he was awake and watching her. She blushed not sure when he had awakened; she watched as his eyes tracked down and her blush grew sharper when she realized he was looking at the hand she had down the front of her panties.

She hesitated unsure what to do, when he looked back up at her face with an inquisitive look. She made a sudden decision and said commandingly, "Give me your hand." He didn't hesitate and offered his hand to her. Slipping hers out of her panties she took his and guided his hand into her panties to her pussy. Pressing one of his fingers against her slit made her quiver even as she ordered him to, "Rub me there, press your finger in some."

He pressed his finger in uncertainly but began rubbing her slit willingly enough, gaining a soft moan from her. He paused looking at her and she demanded, "Don't stop!" He started again and she sucked in a breath at the feeling of his finger tip moving just inside of her wet tunnel. She pressed his hand more firmly against her pushing his finger all the way in to the first knuckle. The feelings with in her crested and she bit her lip her face contorting to keep from crying out as she orgasmed.

Talimer asked, "Are you ok?", his voice worried as he pulled his hand away.

She sighed dreamily the said, "Oh yea I'm great." Sitting up, she looked down at the large wet spot she had made on the bunk. "But now I really think we should clean up. We are both a mess and it might be best if we didn't advertise what we were doing to anyone." She slide off the bunk just after Talimer and began removing the sheets.

He helped her strip the bunk seemingly totally unconcerned that he was dripping a little from his not fully retracted cock, the tip of which was still a little larger than normal. He asked, "Why?" in tone that said he would do what she asked but was unsure of why.

She thought a moment before replying, "Did you ever do something that you had never been told not to do but knew if you asked you would be told not to?" They got the bedding to the hamper and put it in as he nodded one understanding now on his face. She hesitated for a moment her hands on the waist of her panties; no one had seen her nude for years. But she pushed pass the hesitation, after all she got to see him nude all the time and he probably wouldn't bat an eye at it. She slipped them off as she explained, "What we did my aunt the captain of the ship might feel she needs to tell us to stop, not because we're hurting anyone or doing anything wrong but because adults get all weird on some subjects, ok?"

He nodded as she slipped her tank top off and tucked her cloths into the shower as well. It took her a moment but she realized he was checking her out and she suddenly realized that while he was used to being naked and seeing other moreau's naked he might not have seen a naked human before. She tried not to blush but it was hard and it didn't help that she was quite aware that the results of her orgasm were working their way down her inner thighs.

She gestured him towards the showers and followed him; choosing to change the subject. As they got into a shower that was large for one cramped for two yet designed for two so long as they dint mind being rather close she asked, "Do you always have nightmares?"

He shook his head in answer as she keyed the water on her side. As water set to a temperature she had preset not long after coming aboard he keyed his nozzle on as well. He asked with puzzlement, "Why?"

She started washing her hair as she answered, "You had a real bad one it looked like last night." Her answer had been rather matter of fact, she knew she wouldn't want it rubbed in if she had woken up terrified. His rather blank look how ever made her prod a little. "You were cried out for your mother, and when you woke up you wanted me to stay with you on the bunk."

He looked at her in total confusion, "My mother?" There was something in his eye beyond the confusion the start maybe of realization for his eyes were gaining that wounded animal look that they had had the night before. But then soap from his own body washing got into his eyes and he made something between a squeak and a squeal and hurriedly washed his eyes out. When he had them clear he asked, "I'm sorry what were we talking about again?"

She couldn't help it she paused in her washing to look at him closely; was he joking? She saw as she looked that no he wasn't. She started to say 'your mother' but then stopped herself. He couldn't remember last night's nightmare and now talking about it he seemed to have suffered a mother memory lapse. She wondered what would have to happen to get one to forget their own mother. "Nothing, important," she responded with a false and somewhat forced smile.

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It wasn't till after lunch that she had gotten to talk to her aunt without Talimer in ear shot. Though she had managed to do some research on the ships computer that morning before hand and had read up on memory loss. She had broached the subject rather directly with her aunt, "Aunt Ya, do you think Talimer could have repressed memories?"

Her aunt had blinked at her in surprise at the question but answered, "Well Aubry thinks so. Why do you ask dear heart?"

"He had a nightmare last night. He called out for his mother and his voice, well his voice was scary. When he woke up his eyes were scary to. I've never seen or heard any one sound so hurt. But when I asked him about it the next morning he didn't remember anything about a nightmare or waking up in the middle of the night. When I asked him about his mother he got confused and then forgot what we were talking about," she explained.

Her aunt sat back in her chair and look thoughtful for a long moment. "I'll have to tell Aubry what you said. Aubry had noted some holes in his description of his life on Silerwand. He is just old enough to have been sold but then he would have had to be creche raised and he had no idea what that was. So that left a more natural mother son relationship yet when he was asked if he knew where his mother was he had known what Aubry was asking about. Aubry could tell Talimer was answering as truthfully as he could but it just didn't add up. If Talimer's mother was at the Silverwand Outpost, and something horrible happened to her then maybe he's blocking out the whole thing. It might be best to not try to get him to remember and let him remember in his own time if that's what's happened here. A professional can look into it maybe," she finished.

Natasha suddenly had a thought she didn't like and asked hastily, "We're going to keep him right?"

"Keep him?", she asked in surprise. "Natasha sweat heart he's not old enough to be crew yet, and he has clearly been illegally modified; even if it were not for all that what would we do with him?"

"Well he could help Aubry with loading and unloading to start off. Also I've talked to him some he can cook and do laundry. Also weren't you complaining a few weeks ago that we could use an extra pair of hands for basic maintenance?", she pleaded.

Her aunt frowned but thought for a moment. "I don't know Natasha. But I'll tell you what. I will keep an open mind and see how he works out over the next two weeks or so. That will put us at Black Rock Station. If we keep him we can get paper work done up their or sell him if not. Does that sound fair?", her tone suggesting it had best sound fair.

"Yes Aunt Ya," she replied meekly, though inside she was cheering. Now all she had to do was make sure he was useful over the next two weeks.

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That night when Talimer sat down on his bunk brushing his tail before her rebraided the long flowing length back into a 'club', he watched Natasha prepped for bed. She skipped putting panties on and just stuck to a t shirt that hung down to just above her belly button. She was working hard he thought to act normal around him while her sex was uncovered but like most humans seemed to be uncomfortable without clothing over their reproductive organs. He didn't understand why; any more then he understood why they were uncomfortable when he noticed they were aroused. It was a natural thing he had been told to become aroused sometimes. He had asked after the time a human woman had grown upset when he had gotten an erection in her presence and touch himself wondering why it had felt different that time. Someone had explained to him that humans were embarrassed by such things and that if he wanted to touch himself he needed to do it in private.

As he brushed his ears went back in a display of equine annoyance and irritation. Someone? He could remember clearly details of everyone's laundry, the long list of things he had to clean each day and where everything in the library was supposed to go. Why couldn't he remember who this someone was. He knew somehow that the someone had been important. He had almost had it a few times. Even once a face he thought. But every time he seemed to get close he lost it again. He shorted in frustration, he didn't like that he couldn't remember.

Natasha looked over at him putting her hair brush down as she asked, "Something wrong?" She looked him strait in the eyes and unlike most humans he didn't have an urge to look away. Her pretty green eyes reminded him of that someone he was trying to remember.

He shook his head in a negative as he looked down began to braid his tail. "Just trying to remember something." He gave himself a mental head shake and decided it was time to think of something else. He remembered that morning and how she had been touching his erection as he came awake from a dream where he had been bucking his hips against a female feeling an urgent need when he had woken to something that had felt very pleasant although he felt as if he had missed the best part. He had been messy and from the looks of things the mess had come from him though he had not made a mess in bed that he could ever remember before. Natasha however had not scolded him for it and in fact ended up making a much bigger mess than he had when she had asked her to rub her sex.

He remembered how she had smelled and his penis slid from his sheath and began to lengthen. He knew it had been the smell of human female arousal but he had never smelled it so strong of closely before. His ears perked in an equine smile as he realized he could smell it coming from her again. He looked up from his braiding to see her looking at him. It was a moment before he caught on that it was his erection she was looking at. He wondered for a moment if she would like to touch it again and then simply asked, "Would you like to touch it again?" The question felt odd simply because it seemed to imply she needed permission when a human could handle an equine when every they choose.

He saw he blush a bit but before he could apologize thinking he had over stepped his bounds, she reached out and grasped his erection gently. Her hand felt nice and she fondled him exploring his erect penis. Then suddenly she slipped off the bunk and kneeled before him. Before he realized what she was up to she took his erection in her mouth and he felt a ring of warmth slide down his length. His upper l twitched at this he couldn't help it as wiggled sticking out a bit a sign of extreme pleaser in any equine. He would never thought of doing this as she sucked at his erection he began to flare, he could feel himself swelling at the amazing pleaser she was giving him. But as he began to flare she let his erection free of her mouth, causing him to give a disappointed sigh.

He didn't expect it when she pushed him back on the bunk and climbed up with him. She rubbed her body against his and whispered softly, "I want to feel it inside of me." he didn't know what she meant until he felt her rubbing her wet slit along the length of his erection causing him to grunt softly in pleaser. He felt her reach down and take a grip on his erection a d then he could feel his glands pressing against her slit for just a moment before it was engulfed in a tight wet warmth. The feeling of him sliding into her was had his upper lip twitching and his breath coming in fast almost sounding as if he was snorting; her heard her soft slightly pained gasp as she came all the way down her hips on his thighs. He had an urgent need to buck his hips but with his legs still mostly off the bunk he had no leverage only able to arch his back a little lifting her easily. She rode out his short needy bucks without moving.

After a moment he got himself under control and looked at her face with concern, seeing a shadow of pain there. He started to ask, "Is some" when she slide up his shaft. It was all he could do to keep from bucking against her and he felt him his flare swell some with a surge though his erection as she dropped back down slowly. He quivered holding himself still, though it was the hardest thing he had ever done and then she was rising back up again and he could feel something building with in him centered in his erection. We grunted softly and if a grunt could be pleading this one was. What ever was building in him he wanted it at that moment with every fiber of his being.

He closed his eyes and focused as much as he could on holding still not wanting to hurt Natasha, even as everything in him screamed at him buck to thrust into this human filly. She continued to move slowly and carefully on his erection and with each thrust his glands swelled larger till he thought the skin would split. He could her a change in the little sounds she made, they went from soft gasps laced with pain and pleaser to simple pleaser but it was all something he noticed distantly. She couldn't have gone up and down on his erection more than a few times when he let out an explosive grunt as the thing that had been building in his loins exploded out of him. He could feel something going though his erection into her vulva as his tail twitched under him and things went a little hazy for a moment as his mind overloaded on pleaser.

She didn't stop moving on him till his second spurt as she gasped softly, "Oh I'm cumming!" she dropped down on his spurting erection and looking he saw that her face filled with pleasure and that she seemed to be lost in it. He lay there wondering what it was he had just done as he recovered his senses. What ever it was he had liked it a lot. She lay down on his chest and snuggled against him, his softening erection still inside of her.

He nuzzled her neck lightly in an equine kiss. He wasn't sure why he did it but it seemed appropriate. Having her cuddle against him though for some reason left him with an inner sense of peace he had not felt sense all this had begun and never had he felt this peace with a human before. Was it because of what they had just done? He didn't know and new he didn't care. He held her close and treasured her warm presence next to him.

He realized she was asleep as his softening penis slid from her vulva and he felt warm fluids run down his groin to the bed below without her so much as stirring. He lay there and watched over her and it somehow felt right as if it was the way things were meant to be. He remained awake most of the night listening to her gentile snores.

When morning came signaled by a soft tone in the cabins speakers as a warning it was time to get up, he nuzzled her softly on the cheek started licking her face. When she woke up and gave a muzzy mumble of, "Wha?"

He blew across her face tickling it ever so slightly with warm breath, "It's morning. Time to get up and stop using me as a pillow."

She snapped awake and pushed herself up with her arms. Blushing she asked, "You let me fall asleep and stay there all night?"

Talimer's ears perked and the tilt of his head was filed with humor even as he change of position put her warm groin into contact with his sheath brining back pleasant memories from the night before. His penis started swelling as he replied softly, "It was nice to have you there."

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Natasha looked down into Talimer's face, and could see that he meant what he said. For some reason it gave her butterflies in her tummy. She could also feel what was growing between his legs but the ache between hers suggested to her that she shouldn't try that again quite yet. She did however reach back and fondle his growing erection making it grow all the faster as she said, "And how much of that was this things doing?"

She could tell it was distracting him to be handled as he responded a bit breathlessly, "I don't know."

She sat up and scooted back some so she could see what she was doing. Taking up his cock again in her hand she began to stroke in earnest. She watched him form that funny face horses got when they really liked what they were feeling and even with her on his thighs he began to buck to her pumping. She grinned feeling the surges in his cock as his glands swelled. He grunted softly even as she felt him orgasm, his flared cock spurting all over his belly and she giggled as some of it went so far up as to splash onto his muzzle.

She let his slowly softening cock go and said, "I suppose we should get showered and get breakfast and all that." She slid off of him reluctantly knowing she was very wet but also feeling very tender. She hadn't realized how much of her cherry was still intact till she had had slid down hard and somewhat fast last night on his cock and felt a stab of pain. Sex education had warned her about that in rather vague way. Discomfort however seemed to be a understatement. She had almost yelped and was sure that would have caused Talimer to panic and think he had hurt her. Even without her saying anything he had noticed her pain and started to asked her something when she had started riding his cock. She grinned to herself that had shut him up right quick.

She was stepping into the bath and shower room when he asked, "Are you ok? Did I hurt you last night? I'm sorry! I didn't mean too! I'll never do it again!", he babbled.

"Whoa ease up!", she cut off his babbling. "What brought this on?"' she asked him calmly as she could, trying to bring him out of his panic. He pointed at her in reply and it took a moment for her to look downward as she suddenly caught on. Her thighs had streaks of dried blood. She sighed and replied, "Don't worry about it; girls bleed the first time they do what we did last night." She tried to keep from blushing but could not keep her cheeks from warming a little. "Well human girls I don't know about moreau girls."

"Your sure?" he asked softly still sounding worried. "You smelled like you wanted to again but we didn't. Not that what you did was unpleasant or unappreciated! I just"'

She cut off his babbling again this time by reaching out and fondling his balls as she leaned in and kissed his nose, "Just you wait till tonight or maybe at most tomorrow morning. Then I'll show you how much I want to do that again!"

She took her shower and tried not to think of how very much she did want to fuck him again. She giggled as just thinking it made her blush a little. Feeling his cock in her last night may have been painful at first but oh wow once the pain was gone! Well ok under control it had been a little painful the hole time but the pleasure had more than made up for it. She couldn't believe she had fallen asleep after words.

Hadn't she heard some adult joke about how guys always fall sleep after words? Then she grinned remembering her moms response to such talk in public. Wow her mom had been upset, she never had figured out why, other than apparently one just did not talk about such things in public though. Listening in when others though she had not been paying attention however she had learned was a great way to learn things you weren't supposed to know.

She stepped out of the shower in a good mood sore or not to find Talimer at the mirror looking at himself funny. He seemed to be examining his eyes like they were new to him. "Hey you need to shower remember? You go out of the cabin like that and Aunt Ya is going be all over both of us."

He looked at her and his eyes were rather wide and somewhat frightened she saw as he asked, "What happened to my eyes?"

She frowned and came over to get a better look at them, "Let me see!" Looking closely she couldn't see anything that had changed. "They look normal to me, well as normal as they ever do at any rate. I've never seen any equines with eyes like yours before but that's how they have always looked so far as I can tell," she said in confusion.

He shook his head, "They have always been green like emeralds. But not like this! Now the green looks like some kind of metal or something! And the black part is going up and down instead of side to side!", he exclaimed in dismay.

"Wait they weren't always like that?"' she asked startled. "And you just noticed?"

He looked sheepish, "I was only looking in the mirror because I got some of that stuff on my muzzle."

She shook her head, "But you've been on board for days!" But then it hit her, how often did one really look at one's eyes? She couldn't think of the last time she had. "No never mind that. They were not like that before?", she asked and then shook her head, "No wait that's a stupid question. Do you have any idea how they might have ended up like that?"

"No ma'am!", sounding frazzled.

He was ma'aming her again, which she supposed was a sign of how distressed he was. "Well take a deep breath, calm down. You've been like this for days now and it hasn't harmed you. We can do a vision test in medical later today and the computer can tell us if you eye sight is ok. But honestly Talimer you haven't looked like you were having trouble seeing. Oh and let's not bother Aunt Ya about this, ok?"

He looked dubious but nodded and she smiled ran a hand down his chest and groped his balls getting a whuff of surprise from him. "Now go get cleaned up."

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Natasha slipped out of her ship suit and grinned. Tomorrow they would reach Black Rock Station and, her aunt would have to answer one way or the other on keeping Talimer on board. But she was confident it was a shoe in. Talimer had learned a lot in the two weeks and even without that her aunt had said he was a great cook. She slipped her panties and training bra off and tossed it all into the laundry hamper, she was glade her aunt though hadn't seen the results of the vision test she had run on Talimer.

As she began brushing out her long hair to do it up in pig tails like Talimer seemed to like she considered the results. The computer had rated both his eyes in the 20/4 range for vision. His color perception was much better than anything it should have been as well. His could see better than most birds of prey! She suspected that wasn't all, but she wasn't sure how to check night vision. He could however move around the cabin in what seemed to her total darkness. She didn't know what to make of it but was sure given what the computer had to say on the subject that he wasn't supposed to have vision that good.

She entered the crew cabin and looked over at Talimer putting that all aside for the moment. He was just finishing up braiding his tail and looked up at her entry with anticipation. She giggled as his cock stiffened up upon seeing her naked, she wasn't sure which of them had enjoyed their nightly sex more; but she did know that their stamina was increasing for it. They were up to once every night and sometimes twice. If they woke up early enough he would hump her before morning showers. "I see someone is eager for a roll in the sheets," she said with laughter in her voice as she moved over to him.

Talimer grinned slyly at her and responded, "We both are." His voice was soft and husky, eager even.

She ran a hand down his belly and stroked his cock once, "I want you to lick my pussy before you get busy with this." He gave a soft wicker and kneeled down on the deck as she spread her legs for his muzzle. She felt a puff of warm wet breath across her sex before his tongue slid over her sex and she moaned softly. His tongue was broad and smooth as it moved over clit; the tip of his tongue spreading her sex a little. He lapped at her in slow strokes like she had instructed him the first time. After the third lick she had to brace herself hands on the bunk frames on each side of them, her knees going week.

She could feel her orgasm building when he stopped and gently turned her and pressed her against the back wall of the bunk space. The only time he seemed to be assertive was during sex and he was asserting himself now as he spread her legs and pressed his hard on between her legs and rubbed it along her slit in preparation for the first thrust. She groaned softly and he moved slightly changing his angle to push up into her. He thrust into her with to sharp pushes and then began bucking his hips against hers and she whimpered softly. She didn't know why but she liked it when he was a little forceful with her, she always seemed to cu harder for it.

His breath came in harsh snorts in her ear as he picked up speed. She could feel his glands swelling even as she bit back a cry of ecstasy as she orgasmed and all that kept her standing has him pinning her to the wall. Even as her cum flowed down his shaft and her inner thighs he added his own cum into the wet mess with a stifled squeal. The feeling of his pulsing cock made her shiver, and she said softly, "God I've been wanting you in me sense lunch. I wish we could do this any time in the day."

Talimer didn't say anything in response but scooped her up and put her into her bunk. Climbing into it with her he hugged her close and nuzzled her check softly. She smiled at him and fondled his limp cock with a light touch. A soft gasp indicated he was still sensitive and she let it go. She pondered warning him about the decision to be made tomorrow but decided not to. Best he not know she thought.

"So quite, it's not like you," he stated softly and held her close. She had noticed that he seemed to have a need to hold her close to him here on the bunk. She slipped around and spooned in against him as she responded, "Well tomorrows a big day and its on my mind a lot just now." She loved the feel of his sheath and cock on her rump. She smiled and knew he did two cause more than once now it had lead to them falling asleep after a second round of sex with him still inside of her. "Your first port of call with us."

Talimer sighed softly, "Yes." There was sadness in his voice and he suddenly sounded ready to cry if he wasn't already.

"What's wrong?", she asked worriedly.

He held her closely and she was sure of it now he was crying; she could feel his tears on her shoulder. "I think Captain Ya will sell me while we are in port. She's always frowning when she looks at me and even Aubry watches me with a certain amount of distrust. But Captain Ya looks at me and I can't read her expression exactly but I can tell she doesn't like me and I don't think she likes me being around you. So she will sell me I think when we are in port."

She snuggled back against him and a shiver went down her spine. He was wrong wasn't he? Yet if her aunt did want to sell him and she was afraid Natasha would pitch a fit over it would she tell her? "Maybe she's just worried about how to explain your eyes." But she could tell he didn't believe that and she wasn't sure she did either. They both slept poorly that night and his nightmares were much worse than normal.

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They had spent the day off loading cargo and then reloading new cargo after docking. She had pressed her aunt for an answer all day but none had been given all day. Now it was dinner time and she cornered her aunt in the dining area, where they could hear Talimer chopping food um for dinner. "Aunt Ya please tell me you're not going to sell Talimer!", she exclaimed without preamble. "You have been dodging the question all day! I can't help but think that you've decided to sell him and just are not telling me!"

Her aunt glowered at her and responded disapprovingly, "I have given it a lot of thought. Yes he has been very useful about the ship as you pointed out, and the extra set of hands has helped more than I expected out of a moreau his age. But an adult would be able to do more and wouldn't come with the problems he does."

They both heard the chopping falter for a moment and then resume. She could feel her eyes tearing up, and she whispered hoarsely, "So you have decided to sell him." She had realized that day as the reality sank in that Talimer had gotten it right; that she would miss him. Not just for the sex but for a lot of other reasons. She would miss his quite help when she had fallen behind on her own chores, his equine smile he would give her when she told him good job. His taking her bossiness in stride. They way he was so pleased to learn new things. Even his enjoyment of her trying out different braids and hair styles on him.

Her aunt sighed in resignation, "Yes sweat heart I have. Ill take him down to the local moreau sales center in the morning." Neither of them noticed that the chopping had stopped in the back ground.

She stood stunned for a moment tears running down her face. "I'll be in my cabin Captain" she got out not wanting in that moment to think of her as a family member. She turned to go to blink in surprise at the man she didn't know standing in the doorway and then she felt a stab of fear deep in gut as she saw the big gun in his hands.

Even as she stepped back with a gasp of fear, her aunt spotted him. Her raised voice barked out, "Who the hell are you and what are you doing on my ship? Aubry!", she called out as she waited for an answer.

The man stepped into the room and there were two more behind him as he answered, "Your dogs taking a nap. If everyone does what their told his head ache when he wakes up will be the only injury. We are just here for the girl."

Natasha blinked in surprise and looked back at her aunt in shock. Her aunt's loom held a great deal of anger and hate but no shock she saw. "I am sorry Mr. but I can't let you take her," she said even as she grabbed Natasha by the arm and shoved her behind her.

"Ms. Wentworth please do as I ask. It would save you a great deal of pain and I for one don't want have to deal with the mess it would make," he responded pointing the gun at her aunt. Natasha saw that the other two men had some kind of SMGs.

"Why do you want her?", her aunt asked and even Natasha could she was stalling.

"Come here girl and save your aunt their a load of pain. We are just here to take you home to your mother," the man said as reasonably sounding as he could.

Natasha shook her head, her disbelief clear in her eyes.

"Oh very well," was his response and the gun coughed. Her aunt grunted and fell against her a look of surprise on her face.

Natasha couldn't stop herself from screaming as he aunt went to the floor and she started to drop to her knees to apply presser to her aunts stomach wound when she was grabbed from behind. "Your coming with me missy and I'd recommend behaving yourself," the man said sternly to her.

Natasha found herself hauled along by the back of her ship suit out of the dining area and down the hallway towards the ship's cargo hold. She found herself half supported by the man as he had lifted up on her ship suit leaving her on the toes of her feet as the moved quickly. She made several efforts to twist free but lacked leverage with her feet barely touching the deck. As they passed by the crew cabins one of the men said laconically, "Boss we got the girl and both the dog and the punta are down for the count. Why don't we at least do a quick search for anything of value we could take with us."

"We're doing no such thing," the man stated disapprovingly, "we're off this ship as fast as we can and leaving as little behind as we can to ID us as possible. Ransacking the ship would leave more in the way of clues to follow. Now stop thinking and pay attention! If you had been listening to the argument this one was having with her aunt you would know we're still short one moreau on the ship."

The man who wanted to search for valuables grunted in acknowledgment as they entered the ship's cargo hold by the upper deck. They moved down the stairs the two men who had been mostly silent scanning the hold with their eyes. The man who had her led the way down the center of the hold were the broadest path was. The hold was three hundred feet long and about in the middle of it the lights suddenly went off plunging the hold into complete darkness. Natasha stilled, wondering if Talimer had shut the lights of or if Aubry had even as all three men began to swear.

A rippling primal snarl came out of the darkness and a voice harsh threatening voice demanded, "Let her go!" Natasha barely recognized Talimer's voice and hearing it like that made her shiver in fear.

The man holding her growled out quietly, "Get a flash light out quick!" Then in a much loader voice, "I don't think so. Turn on the lights and stop this foolishness. If you do anything stupid this girl could get hurt, and you wouldn't want that now would you?"

Just as a flashlight came on a whistling sound of something cutting though the air passed near her. The sound ended with a sickening crunching noise and the man with the flash light dropped it. As the flashlight fell she saw his face in the beam for just a moment; buried to the handle in the man's startled face was a meat cleaver. His body landed on the flash light moments later.

Natasha stifled a scream even as the other man cut loose with a short burst from his SMG into the darkness. "Stop that you fool! Get the flashlight! You are not going to his shit shooting blind!" There were scrabbling sounds for a moment and then the flashlight was being picked up off the floor.

"Now let's get in to the light!", the man holding her said as he hurried her along in the path the light was showing. The other man followed along next to him, swinging the flash light this way and that as they moved trying to spot who had thrown the meat cleaver.

As they came insight of the personnel air lock near the cargo hatch its LEDs winking in the dark; Talimer came off the top of the cargo crate they were passing and the man with the flash light went down as Talimer plowed into him swinging a thirty-six inch adjustable wrench at the man's gun arm. The flashlight went spinning away but she saw Talimer light in the muzzle flash as the man's gun went off in awhile burst of automatic fire.

"FUCK!", the man who held her still by her ship suit screamed. The man bounded for the air lock hatch dragging her along with him. The reached the hatch door and the man smacked the open button with the butt of his big pistol even as his last henchman behind them gave an agonized scream that cut off with a final suddenness. As the door slid open and light spilled out he spun around and steeped back into the door hauling Natasha around to hold in front of himself even as he leveled his gun over her shoulder.

She got a good look in the light from the door and the flashlight off somewhere to one side. "Talimer!", she cried out fear for hum in that moment out pacing her own fear. His right side was dark with blood from a long slice in his ribs and his leg on the other side ran with blood a chunk of meat visibly missing from his thigh. Then she saw his eyes and expression. She shrank back involuntarily, they seemed to reflect light back or maybe glow just a little and there wasn't much in the way of sanity. His expression was something out of nightmare his lips pulled back and his teeth bared in a way only a fool would call a smile.

He let loose with another rippling snarl and she realized he was getting ready to leap forward in the same instant that she realized her feet were firmly on the deck. As Talimer started his forward lead at the man holding her she stepped back into him placing her weight on him even as she started to drop. Her hands flashed up in a move that she had been practicing for years and she grabbed the man's arm and pulled forward as her pressed back with her dripping weight. The man screamed in anger and fear pulling the trigger on the gun as he did so. She heard the gun give that cough and felt nothing but burning pain in her chest and her foot as she fell. But not before finishing the throw she had started leaving the man flat on his back and gun pointed away from Talimer.

She blinked her eyes and realized she was laying in something wet and warm as she lay on the deck. She felt rather disoriented and then suddenly it came to her she must have blacked out or fainted. Or something like that. She blinked again and looking at the deck she started to panic as it came to her that the warm wet feeling and all the glossy red she was seeing was blood. She was bleeding out! But then she ran though what all hurt. Her head, when she hit the deck maybe? Her belly, check that was from the gun going off, check. But if she had been shot in the belly and was bleeding out why was the real agony in her foot?

She blinked again trying to gather her thoughts and figure what was going on. She tried to figure out what she was hearing. A rhythmic pounding noise and someone screaming. She focused on just the screaming and made out, "You killed her!" Screamed over and over with both rage and despair. It was another blink or two before she recognized Talimer's voice.

Her first try to sit up to see what was going on was a feeble twitch and nothing more. It took her in all three tries before she managed to get her hands under herself and lever herself up. Weight on her foot moved the pain from agony to something monstrously worse. The floor started to rise up to meet her face and she grunted softly and mumbled, "No no, got to get up people need help softly to herself."

She steadied herself and looked over in the direction of all the noise. Talimer still had his wrench and looked like he was trying to pound it though the deck plates, having already pounded though the man, he was nothing more than a messy lumpy mass splattered all over the area. Some where in the back of her mind something gibbered over seeing a human being reduced to gruel but she pushed it away. People to help. Needed Talimer to help her.

She focused and swallowed the bile in her throat and tried to say, "Talimer", in a normal level of voice but all that came out was a whisper. She tried again and got an almost normal sounding, "Talimer," but failed to be heard. Her head hung down for a moment and she saw that the front of her ship suit was blackened around the area of her belly. Powder burns her mind wandered in that moment I have powder burns on my belly that why it hurts. She tried again this time for a bellow and almost managed it, "Talimer god dam it help me!"

He whipped around a stunned look on his face. He dropped the wrench and stepped over to her, "Natasha? Your alive!", he cried as he picked her up with a casual display of strength and hugged her with quite a bit more strength than normal.

She managed to squeak out, "Ribs!"

"Sorry!" he said hastily and let go suddenly only to grab her as she started to fall to the floor. "Oh God, I need to get you to the med bay!" he picked her up completely one arm behind her back and the other under her knees. Before her still muddled mind caught up with what he was doing he started back down the cargo bay towards the front of the ship with a noticeable limp.

"Put me down!", she demanded, "Your hurt!"

He looked into her face and said quite calmly, "No."

"What? You have to do what I say and I'm saying put me down!", she said with real heat.

"No when a human is injured they have to be seen to first. It was something I was taught real early," he said and she swore his ears titled into an equine smirk.

"Well fine. Then we need to check on my aunt!", she pointed out as they entered the med bay.

"After your set up in the auto doc," was his reply. She suddenly realized even with her muddled head he would see to her first even if he was dying in that moment. So she quickly instructed him to get her ship suit cut off of her and to place her in the auto doc. Then she voice command it for medical emergency no operator available.

As she felt the prick of a needle and the unit began to work, she looked at Talimer and said, "Make sure my aunt and Aubry are ok," with as much authority as she could. She couldn't even remember later him leaving the med bay.

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She wasn't sure how long it had been sense she had been put in the auto doc but she new she was out and in a regular bunk in the med bay. She felt very dreamy and the world seemed distant, even her foot which she had learned was going to be ok. She couldn't remember when or who had told her that she had been shot in the foot, just that she had. Her aunt had been wearing an armor vest and if not for hitting her head on a chair on the way down would have been up and moving much sooner. Aubry was fine outside of a concussion and bruised ego. Seems they had tazed him and then hit him with something called a black jack before he knew they were there. Talimer and her were the worst hurt. She also had a concussion as well as a broken nose from face planting when she had thrown the man holding her. Talimer had been taken a grazing shot to the thigh that had left a big trench in the muscle but nothing that wouldn't heal. Same went for the knife wound to his chest, just needed plenty of stitches.

As she lay there doped up on pain meds she heard her aunt and Aubry talking quietly between each other. Aubry was saying, "So let me get this strait, he goes berserk and turns a man into a grease smear and that's why your changing your mind on selling him?"

Her aunt replied thoughtfully, "No, I'm not selling him because he protected her better than we could. Three men came for her Aubry and he got them all. He didn't lose it till he thought she was dead. I don't really understand how mind you given that their kind are not supposed to be combat effective, but he did. And they may not be the last ones."

"Ya," he replied with an informality that she had never heard before, "I don't know if this is a good idea sweetheart. But that aside you think there will be other attempts?"

"I haven't heard from my little sis in four months Aubry. She didn't say what kind of trouble she was in, but I think it has something to do with the death of her father. Natasha's being ship crazy gave her a way to put her out of the line of fire while she looked into that. She said back while she was still pregnant that her boy friend's death was no accident. Passing Natasha to me was her way of clearing the one thing that they might be able to use against her out of harm's way. Or at least as much as she could. I do wish we had been able to ask questions of those men. Mu said she was going to report Natasha kidnapped the day after and do everything she could to cover up that she was with us," he aunt said to her surprise. Report her kidnapped? When she knew she was with her aunt?

"We haven't officially talked to each other sense I was disowned when she was fourteen. With the change in my last name she hopped no one would put it together," her aunt continued oblivious to the rising agitation in her niece. "We had been exchanging monthly messages though a couples magazine, but those stopped and now this. Though I suppose it's a good thing in one way that they are after Natasha. Mu must still be alive and causing whoever it is problems or they wouldn't need her."

"What about your parents?", Aubry asked.

"Oh your father disowned us both. I of course we t into space and travelled with 'that man' to use my mother's words. Mu hooked up with Anthony a white boy. I'm surprised my father didn't die of apoplexy. One daughter dishonoring herself with choice of profession and supposed bed mates. The other getting pregnant out of wedlock and to a white man at that. I don't think either of us have talked to them sense at least before Natasha was born," she heard as the bed monitor registered her rising agitation and beeped softly as it gave her a sedative. The world faded to black as she wanted to scream at her aunt, 'what do you mean? What has happened to my mother?' to know more about her the father who he had never known.

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Talimer lay in his own bed in medical. He knew it was giving him things to keep the pain away and to help him sleep, but they were not working. The pain however did not bother him and sleep was far from his mind. He knew that his body was somehow filtering the drugs out of his system but did not know how he knew or why it was happening. In the long run though he thought that was the least of his worries.

He had heard Natasha and Captain Ya arguing over him and had been weeping when he learned that he would be sold in the morning. But then he had heard the strangers come and take Natasha and nothing had mattered in that moment to him but to protect her. In a flash he had know n not to confront them there in the dining area but to wait till they were in the cargo bay. He had followed them moving more silently than he had ever before. He had known to shut off the lights and move on the in the dark. That he could take the first one out with the meat cleaver by throwing it just so. That only his hesitation in wondering how he knew all this and that he had just killed a man had allowed things to go as far as they had. He did not understand where it all came from. Not even the noses he had made.

Some how he knew that this was not the first time he killed as he tried to understand what had happened. That the rage he had felt was not new. But he could not say when, where or even why. It was the rage in its own way that scared him the most. While he had controlled it he had control of himself but, when he lost the control of the rage he had lost control of himself. The results had frightened him. He had not just killed the last man but ruthlessly beaten him to death methodically working from the limbs in. Part of him had reveled in the man's screams even as he sobbed in loss of Natasha. It was the part of him that had reveled in those screams that terrified him. He knew he was changing, becoming stronger and faster. Was he also becoming a monster? Was it something Doctor Floyd had done to him? Or something else?

He did not want to be a monster and Natasha always seemed to make him calmer. He did not know why or even care right then. He would stay with her so long as she would have him and he would watch over her for he knew now she had enemies. Something inside of him said that he knew how to deal with enemies. Recent experience bore it out and perhaps in guarding her he might learn more about himself and what was happening to him.

Time something in him whispered. Time is on your side. He knew it was true and accepted it even though he did not know why it was true.