FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

N/B: This Chapter will be rewritten once the book is finished.

Disclaimer: This is a work of erotic fiction and is intended for adults only.

Chapter One:

“Poseiden, thirty seconds till launch, over," said a female voice.

“Understood Launch Control, over," a male voice replied.

“John, don't forget to send any messages before you go into stasis, otherwise it'll be several years before you can send them," an older male voice came through John's headset.

“Message received Mark, over" John replied. Adjusting his harness for the last time, John reached over and grabbed the pen he had been using. Anything floating around inside the Posiden's cockpit when the experimental engines ignited was a potential disaster. He slotted the pen into one of the pockets of his spacesuit and checked the clock. Fifteen seconds to go.

“Any last words of wisdom Mark?" he asked.

“The only thing I can think of is good luck and godspeed John, over" came the reply. John smiled and rested his head against the back of his seat.

“10, 9, 8…" said the female voice.

“I'll see you in twenty years, Poseidon signing off," John said.

“5, 4, 3, 2, 1. Engines igni…" the transmission from Launch Control broke up as the Poseiden's engines ignited. John was pushed into the back of his chair as the g-forces increased. Controlling his breathing and with help from what he was wearing, he managed to ride out most of the acceleration until he finally blacked out.

John regained consciousness a few minutes after the engines had shut down. Checking over the screens in front of him he could see that the launch from Lunar orbit had gone well. He noted, however, that there was a slight variance to the course he had plotted and so John spent the next few minutes making the necessary adjustments to the flight plan. If it wasn't corrected then there was a chance the ship would fly off into deep space.

Unfastening his harness, John pushed himself out of his chair and made his way to the back of the cockpit. While the Poseiden was a large spacecraft, most of the ship's size was taken up by the life support systems, the fuel, and lastly the experimental engines at the rear. He had sat through a week's worth of engine design lessons back on Earth, while he was training for the mission. However, he still had issues understanding how they worked. Like most modern-day spaceships, the Poseidon runs on Helium-3, supplied from the primary mine on The Moon. Unlike modern-day spaceships, however, Poseidon's engines were experimental and designed for deep space travel (or at the very least the outer reaches of the solar system). He unconsciously rolled his eyes, remembering the frustration on the faces of the UN's top Scientists as he arrived at the back of the cockpit. John grabbed one of the nearby handrails and then removed the cover from the mirror. There was an enjoyable rip as the two halves of the velcro pads were pulled apart.

Looking at his reflection, John could see the light strip from above reflect off his bright blue eyes. At thirty years old, he was still surprised people thought he was either a teenager or in his early twenties. Much like his parents, John seemed to age slowly. His Dad still looked thirty when he had celebrated his sixtieth birthday. An old girlfriend had compared his looks to two of her favourite 21st Century film stars. One had played Superman and the other had made several Mission Impossible films. He ran his fingers over his brown hair, cut extra short, just how he liked it. Reaching over to the nearby cabinet, John opened it and pulled out his toothbrush and toothpaste. After he had finished brushing his teeth, he reapplied the cover to the mirror and then pushed himself back towards the front of the cockpit.

Arriving at the front a little bit faster than he had planned, John grabbed onto his seat as he abruptly stopped himself. With a grunt, he leaned over to the main monitor and used the touch screen to find his mission briefing. As the recording played out, he moved over to where the stasis pod had been installed. This was another piece of technology that John did not understand. Again, the scientists at the UN had tried to explain the experimental nature of it, how the tests with the prototype had shown that a human body could, for extended periods, be put into a form of metabolic stasis. Remembering some old science fiction films he had watched, John had asked whether or not a human would age rapidly after several years or more of stasis. The answer he had been given was confusing and made him wish he hadn't bothered asking. The part he would sleep in was two metres in length, which gave him just enough room to fit, being 6ft2, and was cylindrical. At both ends were square boxes of machinery, various beeps were emitted as John powered it up. The lights inside the cockpit dimmed slightly as the stasis pod drew power from Poseidon's reactor. After a few minutes, they went back to their normal levels and John glanced at the readout from the reactor, seeing that the power levels were all green.

“Finally, we come to your mission," said the man in the video. “Captain, as you know, more than a hundred years ago, the James Webb Space Telescope was launched. Within the first ten years of its use, it allowed Scientists and Astronomers to see the Universe in ever more detail." While listening, John began to remove his spacesuit, opening the nearby storage compartment and storing it safely. “Twenty years after it launched, during a routine test, NASA found something at the edge of the Solar System. Even to this day, we do not know what the object is. However, the trade war which occurred after the collapse of the EU in 2046, the fall of China, the proxy wars of the 2060s and 70s, as well as the Second American Civil War in 2095, prevented the United States, and in turn NASA, from launching any satellites to investigate."

Closing the storage compartment, John pulled open the draw by his legs and then took out the medical injector stored inside. With the injector floating just in front of him, John unzipped his undersuit and pulled both arms out. He reached over to where the stasis compound was floating, grabbed it and then activated the injector once it was pressed against his left arm. He felt a small prick as the needle pushed itself in and John watched as the compound left the device. Once the vial was empty, John released the button and removed the injector from his arm. A small droplet of blood drifted away as he placed the injector back into the draw. Before it could land anywhere, John reached over and caught the blood, smearing it on the leg of his undersuit.

“With the Unification of Earth in 2115, interest was renewed in what the James Webb Space Telescope had found. As you know, a Satellite was launched thirty years ago, sadly it went dark shortly after arriving near to the unknown object, located 45 AU from the Sun, close to the edge of the Inner, main region of the Kuiper Belt. We don't know what went wrong, it could be battery failure or a hundred other things." Bending forwards, John pulled down his undersuit and attempted to kick it off his feet. After a slight struggle, he finally managed to remove it. Grabbing one of the arms before it floated away, he folded it neatly and placed it into the compartment below the stasis pod. As he floated next to the stasis pod, he looked at his naked body. John could see the light reflect off his toned muscles, the shadows formed on his flat stomach, with just a hint of a six-pack. While he had never tried to be a muscly guy, he was proud that he had managed to keep his weight in check and that he could see his muscles.

“The Poseidon was built with the sole purpose of getting an astronaut safely to the unknown object. As you are aware, a lot of the equipment onboard is experimental, and while all tests, theoretical and practical, have shown that the ship should get you there safely, it is still a high-risk mission. That is why the recruitment program was specifically designed to find a man or woman, who was single with no dependents and had the mental fortitude to set out on their own, towards the unknown object." John rolled his eyes as the man on the screen continued to speak, who wrote this stuff? he asked himself.

“With Poseidon's engines, it should take you roughly ten years to get there. You have enough supplies for a two-year mission once you arrive, and then you are to make your way back home. You are to enter the stasis pod shortly after you launch and set the computer to wake you shortly before each of your scheduled burn and manoeuvre points. There is enough stasis compound onboard for both the outward and return journey." John leaned over to the pilot computer and accessed the flight plan, displayed in front of him was the solar system and the route the ship would be taking. He could see where he would need to wake to perform the scheduled burns and manoeuvres. Mainly slingshots around some of the planets and the Sun.

“Captain John Lawrence," said the man on the screen, it caught John's attention and for the first time, he looked at the monitor. “On behalf of the UN and the entire world, I wish you godspeed and good luck." The recording ended and showed the symbol for the United Nations, a stylized picture of the solar system with Earth at its centre. Switching off the monitor, John pushed himself away and headed back towards the stasis pod. He punched in the code to release the door and pulled himself in. Using the internal command panel, John activated the stasis sequence and pulled the door shut. Closing his eyes he slowed his breathing and drifted off into a dreamless sleep.

*****

“Captain?" a female voice called out. A few seconds went by, “Captain?" came the voice again, along with a knock on the door. After a short while there was another knock at the door, “Captain Ema, you need to get up," said the female voice. With a grunt of frustration, Ema let go of the pillow she had been holding against her chest and rolled out of her nest. Pushing herself off the floor she stood on her unsteady digitigrade legs, her tail trailing behind her as she stumbled over to the door, fumbling with the door controls. After a few seconds, the doors to the Captain's Quarters slid open. With a hiss, she shielded her eyes as the light from behind the door pierced the gloom of her room. Standing in front of her and a foot shorter was her 'aide'.

“You're naked," her aide said to her while looking up. The light from the grey corridor beyond the door was shining off the smooth and shiny, cream coloured scales of her head and hood. Ema looked down into her aide's eyes, hidden slightly by the shadow created from her hood and the different light levels. What little light emanated from inside her quarters reflected off her red eyes.

“As ever, your powers of observation are impressive," the Captain replied sarcastically. She turned around and walked back towards the recess on the floor where her nest was. Her tail coiled itself around the pillow she had discarded and passed it to one of her waiting hands. Holding it against her chest again, Ema half sat on a nearby couch.

“When the Matriarch on board this ship asked me to be your aide," came the reply, “I expected to be helping out the Captain of this Cruiser," she continued as she walked through the open door. “I did not, however, expect a hormonal adolescent who was behaving as though she had recently been rejected by a male." Her aide finished as the door closed behind her, returning the room to the low light gloominess it had before.

From where Captain Ema sat, she could see the silhouette of her aide against the door. The subtle glow of her red eyes and mouth when she spoke, to the bright orange line pattern, crisscrossing up her face from her flat nose and down the back of her head and hood. She could see the bioluminescent light reflecting off the door and nearby walls. If her aide had not been wearing her uniform then there would also be vibrant purple markings showing on her front as well. In contrast, looking down at herself, Ema was as black as night, her unpolished scales barely reflecting what little light there was in her quarters. Her bioluminescence was limited to the ever so slight purple glow of her nipples, and the parallel lines across her ribs, along with the patterns down both her legs.

“I'm sorry your time as my aide has not been what you expected but I have a right to be annoyed," the Captain said with an obvious tone of annoyance. “I was promised a Male!" she said angrily. “Have I not served the Matriarchy with distinction? Have I not done my duty for the Matriarchy?" Ema asked, waving her arms about while the pillow rested on her lap.

“While true," her aide replied, stepping forward, “it still doesn't excuse your recent behaviour. Perhaps the Matriarchy knew you would act this way, and so this is your punishment for overstepping yourself?" She asked as she stopped in front of her Captain.

“Be careful Lieutenant," Ema said standing up, a deep hiss emanating from her mouth, a subtle hint of purple barely visible in the gloom. As she stood, the pillow dropped from her lap onto the padded floor, “there's a difference between being concerned for your Captain's wellbeing and then there's insubordination." She finished and placed her hands on her wide hips as her long tail whipped behind her.

There was a visible shift in the Lieutenant's demeanour, her hood folding flat against her head and neck, stepping backwards the Lieutenant bowed her head, “Please forgive me," she replied, “it was not my intention." Stepping forward Captain Ema placed a claw under her aide's lower jaw and pulled upwards. Her aide winced at the unexpected pain and tilted her head up.

“I enjoy your company and your skill as my aide, Lieutenant," she said. Removing her claw, Ema turned and walked over to a dark section of the room. “However," she said looking back towards her aide, “do not mistake my friendless or even my request for you to move into my quarters, as a reason for you to forget your rank and status." As she finished Ema reached out and flipped a switch. She hissed as a bright light turned on, however, any discomfort from its brightness faded away as the heat from the light enveloped her body. “I need to buff my scales before my shift starts on the bridge, if you do a good job I'll forget this conversation ever happened."

The Lieutenant bowed once more and walked over to where her Captain now sat. Reaching over to the buffer nearby, she activated it and started to run it over the top of Ema's head. Using a slow circular motion, she made sure to keep the buffer moving, as there was a risk of harming the scales underneath if it stayed in one place for too long. The Captain started to purr as her aide ran the device over the edges of her hood. It had always been one of her favourite erogenous zones and soon she started to rub her thighs together. Noticing this, her aide moved away from her hood and began to run the buffer over her Captain's shoulder blades.

“You always do that," Ema said, her eyes closed as she enjoyed the vibrations.

“You always start rubbing your thighs," the Lieutenant replied, “I'm not against being with another female but you are the Captain," she said while moving down her back.

“Ha," Ema laughed, “if the Matriarch asked you to service her, you'd be in there before she finished the call," she said.

Her aide started to blush, “that may be true," she replied and gestured for the Captain to stand. Once she had done so the Lieutenant began to slowly run the buffer up and down her legs. “However, she is the Matriarch and you are my Captain," once the legs were done the Lieutenant started to buff Ema's chest. The fat of her breasts began to jiggle as the buffer did its work.

“It's a shame really," she said. Ema was trying her best to ignore the vibrations on her now sensitive nipples.

“What is?" her aide asked.

“Your refusal to share my nest," she replied. The Captain could see her aide blush again. “Don't worry Ena," she said. Placing a hand on the Lieutenant's arm, the buffer switched off. “You've made your feelings clear, twice now. I won't pursue you any longer," she smiled when Ena bowed her head. “How do I look?" she asked.

Lieutenant Ena, second in command of the Cruiser, Pride of the Matriarchy, stood up straight and looked over her Captain's form. She was a prime example of her bloodline and stood at nine feet. Her outer scales were obsidian black with the softer scales more a dark grey. Just like the rest of the Captain's family, her bioluminescence was a single colour, which ranged from a warm deep purple to a bright, almost neon pink. With eyes shining purple in the light of the basking lamp, the purple lines around her eyes began to glow neon, along with those which started at the top of her hood and ran down her back and along her tail. As she stepped out of the light, her nipples glowed a vibrant purple. The simple line patterns running parallel across her ribs shone and reflected ever so slightly off her newly buffed scales. Looking closely, Ena could see the lines on her legs, which started at her waistline, ran down her thick thighs, along her digitigrade legs and ended just where her toes started.

Even in the gloom of her quarters, Ena could see the powerful physique of her Captain. “You look just as beautiful and impressive as the day I first came aboard," she finished with a bow.

“Flatterer," she replied with a smile. Reaching for the light switch, Ema turned off the basking lamp and felt the heat disappear. She could feel her body react and it was as though it yearned for more. Walking past the Lieutenant, Ema opened a compartment set into the wall and pulled out her uniform. It looked like a metal collar and once she had pushed her blunt nose through the circle, making sure to flatten her hood so that it could rest on her shoulders, she activated it. A blue, neon light shone from around the collar as a Nanosuit was released from within its reservoir.

Watching from behind, Lieutenant Ena could see the suit form as the Nanos travelled across her body. The Captain yelped when the suit formed over the more sensitive areas of her anatomy. Once finished, there was a dark, navy blue skintight Nanosuit uniform wrapped comfortably around Captain Ema's body. Where the suit had covered the claws on her fingers and toes, metal claws were found. While these could be used as formidable weapons in close combat, they were primarily used as an early warning indicator, for when the wearer needed to bask again. At this moment in time, they shone a vibrant purple. Above her left breast, her rank and insignia were displayed.

“So," the Captain said, looking directly at her aide, “shall we go?"

*****

John woke from his dreamless sleep. His body ached all over and he had a tear stuck in his left eye, blinding him. After spending a few minutes removing the tear and looking for any others floating inside the stasis pod, John activated the release and pulled himself out.

“Damn it's cold," he said as the cold air of the cockpit hit him. Floating upside down, he opened the drawer below the pod and removed his undersuit. When he finished pulling the zip up to his neck, John flipped a switch located on his waist and he instantly felt the undersuit start to warm. “Much better," he said aloud. Turning around to face the stasis pod, John closed the door and activated a systems check. The lights inside the cockpit dimmed as it started to draw more power from the reactor. A glance at the readout told John that the power levels were still in the green. He did notice, however, that since entering stasis, the reserves had dropped slightly.

Pushing himself away from the pod and towards the front of the cockpit, John could see frost had appeared in a few locations. Arriving at the front he made sure not to stop himself as abruptly as before and then strapped himself into his seat. Tapping at the main screen it came to life and displayed the ship's current course. Glancing at the bottom right of the screen, John could see the mission timer. 50 days, 6 hours, 34 minutes, and 10 seconds. To his right, he woke up another monitor and accessed the flight plan. He had ten hours to wait until a scheduled burn was required and if his calculations were correct then the burn would have to last for 30 minutes.

“Amphitrite?" John said out loud. There was a series of beeps emitted from the speakers inside the cockpit and then an animated female face appeared on the main screen.

“Yes, Captain?" she asked.

“Turn the heaters on and scan the Poseidon, let me know if anything is wrong," he ordered.

“Understood Captain. Would you like me to play some music?" she asked. The animated face smiled at John.

“No, access my files and load Babylon 5, Season One, Episode One," he replied.

“Loading Babylon 5, Season One, Episode One. Activating cockpit heaters, initiating a full scan of Poseidon," the animated face smiled at John again and then the main screen switched to an animated B5 logo.

*****

Walking along the light grey corridors of the Cruiser, with Lieutenant Ena by her side, Captain Ema greeted crew members as she headed towards the bridge. “I see you're finally awake," came a familiar voice.

“Morning Doctor Mizta," Captain Ema said with a smile, turning to face the Doctor.

Standing behind them was the ship's Chief Medical Officer. Unlike the rest of the crew, Doctor Mizta was an albino. Most albinos had scales of pure white, however, in Mizta's case she had random patterns of bright red scales dotted about her body. Ema's favourite pattern was located on Mizta's ample backside. Sadly, the Captain only got to see it up close when she had invited the Doctor to her quarters for a drink. Since then, the good Doctor had refused any further offers of sharing a nest. Bringing herself back from a pleasant memory, the Captain looked again at the Doctor. She was wearing her Medical uniform, an off white Nanosuit that came equipped with various medical devices attached to the waist and a scanner fixed to her right wrist. Like her own Uniform, the Doctor's rank and insignia were located just above her left breast.

“You can report to the bridge Lieutenant," Doctor Mizta said, looking at Lieutenant Ena, “I need to have a word with the Captain," she finished and looked over to where Captain Ema was standing.

“Very well, Doctor," the Lieutenant replied, she bowed to both the Doctor and Captain, turned about and headed off down the corridor.

“What can I do for you Doctor?" the Captain inquired.

“I wanted to check you were okay," she replied, “I've heard some of the crew mention your mood has changed in recent days," the Doctor finished and tapped at her scanner.

“I think most females would be a bit upset when a promised male failed to appear?" Ema replied. The Doctor lifted her right arm and pointed the scanner at the Captain. “What are you doing?" she asked while trying not to recoil.

“Scanning you, obviously," the Doctor replied.

“I can see that but why are you scanning me?" Captain Ema asked. She stepped back, trying to get out of the scanner's range.

“Just as I thought," the Doctor said looking at the screen, “you're still in heat," she finished and deactivated the scanner.

“What? Are you sure?" Ema asked.

“One hundred percent," Mizta replied matter-of-factly, “after hearing how your behaviour has changed since we had to divert from Border Outpost Five, I suspected you might have stayed in heat. This scan confirms it," she lifted her arm and tilted the screen, showing it to the Captain. “As you can see," she said while pressing a few buttons, “your hormone levels have yet to normalise," Captain Ema placed a hand on the scanner and looked closer. It displayed her new scan next to her medical records. “I'll have to report this to the Matriarch," Doctor Mizta said.

“Do you have to?" the Captain asked. She unconsciously shifted on the spot.

“Don't worry," the Doctor replied, placing a hand on Ema's shoulder, “the Matriarch was the one who suggested I scan you. I got the impression she suspected this would be the result," Mizta removed her hand and smiled at her Captain.

“I don't think I'll get used to her doing things like that," Captain Ema said.

The Doctor smiled, “well, the Matriarchs are different from the rest of us. Shall we continue?" she finished and gestured to the Captain for them to head off towards the bridge. Arriving at the guardpost just outside the bridge, Captain Ema noticed that the twins were on duty.

Twins were rare and identical twins were even rarer, Taki and Zoki were the latter. Apart from their piercing turquoise eyes, which were glowing as they approached, the twins were also 8ft5 in height, much taller than the majority of the crew. The two primary colours for their scales were a light grey which covered the majority of their bodies and a warm black, almost dark grey. These scales covered the majority of the front of their torso, down past their intimate areas and along their inner thighs, ending at the soles of their feet. The black scales were also found on the top half of their heads and the underside of their tales. Captain Ema could tell that Taki and Zoki had just started their shift as the inside part of their hoods had a soft turquoise glow, similar to that of their eyes.

Taki smiled at the Captain, revealing the turquoise glow of her mouth and tongue, as she and the Doctor arrived, “Hello Captain," she said with a salute, Zoki's movements were in perfect unison with her sister. “You just missed the Lieutenant," Zoki said while tapping at her pad. Ema liked watching Taki and Zoki talk, they usually finished each other's sentences.

“Hello to you both," Captain Ema replied and smiled at them, “I saw the Lieutenant shortly before my shift started," she finished and pressed her right thumb against Zoki's pad when she offered it. Doctor Mizta did the same with Taki's pad. There was an audible beep from both pads as the two Officers were signed in. The large doors to the bridge made a mechanical clunk as they slowly began to unlock and then swing open automatically.

“The Matriarch is inside," Zoki said, “she asked to speak to the Lieutenant and you'll be seeing her afterwards," Toki finished and the twins returned to their posts.

Smiling again at the guards, Captain Ema stepped through the doors and onto the bridge with the Doctor in tow.

*****

“Sixty seconds until the burn is complete," Amphitrite said as John held onto his harness. He had gotten bored of the vibrations travelling through the Poseidon ten minutes into the burn. The g-forces were also not to his liking, those he hated after five minutes. John accepted the fact that he had to increase his speed at set points along the route, however, he didn't have to enjoy it. Twenty minutes in he decided that spending three hundred days in the stasis pod, until the next scheduled burn or manoeuvre, was something to look forward to.

As suddenly as it had started the Poseidon's engines cut out. With a groan, John unfastened his harness and pushed himself out of his chair. “Amphitrite?" he said.

“Yes Captain," the animated face on the main screen smiled.

“Remind me why I had to be awake for that?" John asked while stretching.

“As per mission guidelines, all burns and manoeuvres require Captain John Lawrence to be awake, in case of any emergency," she replied.

John sighed as he started to inspect the cockpit, just in case anything had come loose. Ten minutes later, after finding nothing out of the ordinary he started preparations for going back into stasis.

“Amphitrite, perform a final check on Poseidon's systems and then schedule yourself to go back into standby five minutes after my pod activates," John said while injecting himself with the stasis compound.

“Yes Captain," she replied, “performing a scan of Poseidon's systems and scheduling standby mode for Ship's Companion five minutes after stasis pod activation," the animated face on the main screen smiled again.

Twenty minutes later, with Amphitrite reporting that the scan had not found any errors, John climbed inside his stasis pod and pulled the door shut. Activating the stasis sequence, he wondered if he might dream this time.

*****

“Enter," Captain Ema opened the door when she heard the Matriarch's voice. She had been summoned by the Matriarch shortly after entering the bridge.

Like all Matriarchy ships of Cruiser size and above, a private viewing room was built into the back of the bridge. When not resting in their quarters, the Matriarch assigned to the ship would often watch bridge operations from the viewing room. While there was a command chair, set behind and above the captain's chair, most of the time a Matriarch would leave command duties to the ship's captain and her crew.

Closing the door behind her, the Captain bowed when she made eye contact with the glowing emerald eyes of Matriarch Theka. As Matriarch of the ship and representative of the Matriarchy, Theka was a picture of naked perfection. Her scales had a lovely shine to them, a mixture of deep crimson and cream. While the crimson scales occupied the majority of her body, the cream scales started from her lower jaw, travelled down her neck, covered the entirety of her torso, which included her breasts (much larger than the impressive ones Ema had herself, she thought), down past her most private of areas, and continued along her inner thighs, ending with the soles of her feet. A glowing emerald diamond pattern lined with black scales was just visible from the Matriarch's back.

Panting on the raised nest to the right of the Matriarch, was Theka's Steward. Captain Ema knew straight away what they had been doing, from the smell of the room to the way his twin cocks were still erect and glistening in the light of the room. Noticing what she was looking at, Theka smiled. “Sorry Ema, but he's all mine," she said, “however, I wear the poor thing out each time," Theka sat down on the edge of the raised nest and placed her right hand on his chest. “Even now his heart is still racing," she started to move her hand down his torso.

Laying there panting, Uszu could do nothing as his Matriarch traced the contours of his muscles. He twitched involuntarily at her gentle touch, his body full of endorphins Uszu tried to stifle a moan with his hands as his body twitched once more and cum spurted out from both of his cocks. “Sorry, Theka," he said while trying to hide his face. She reached over and pulled his arm away and smiled at him.

“What are you sorry for?" she asked, “you were chosen to be my Steward. You fulfil your duties to a high standard and you help me each morning," Theka held his hand, “you make sure I get the correct amount of heat in the morning so that I can perform my duties as Matriarch, and my scales are always buffed to a perfect shine." She smiled and fluttered her eyes at him, “not once have you damaged my scales and you perform well when we share a nest," Theka leaned over and picked up a nearby towel, carefully wiping away the mess Uszu had made.

“But Matriarch, I'm always exhausted," Uszu complained, “I should be able to keep up with you. To be chosen to serve you is a great honour, but this?" he waved his arms about in protest.

“Enough!" Theka said with a commanding tone, “I won't have you feeling sorry for yourself. You know full well that males do not have the same stamina females do, besides," she leaned in and kissed his blunt nose, “I love how sensitive you get after we have sex. Now lay there and recover, once I'm done talking to our dear Captain, I'll want to go again," Theka stood as she finished talking and giggled when she saw Uszu's expression.

Turning her head to look back at Ema, the Captain could see the emerald glow of her mouth and tongue as she spoke. “Please sit, Captain" Theka ordered and then walked over to a nearby chair. Slotting her tail through the hole at the bottom she crossed her legs as she sat down. She watched the ship's Captain approach a nearby chair, stopping just before she sat. There was a squelching sound as the Captain's left foot stepped on something. “I do apologise, Ema," the Matriarch said while trying not to laugh, “Uszu fills them up so quickly," she looked over to where he was still laying, “I just toss them on the floor and put another one on," as she finished, Theka picked one up with the end of her tail. “I just wish they came in boxes of twenty or more," she said while examining one in her hand, “Don't you think it would be more economic?" Theka asked.

Before the Captain could reply, both she and the Matriarch heard Uszu laugh as he sat up from the raised nest, “please don't indulge her," he said, the light from the room shining off his cobalt blue scales, “she says this to me every time we have sex," Uszu swung his legs around and hopped off the nest, “I'm going to have a wash and then get some food," he finished and walked towards the door near to where the Matriarch was sitting.

Matriarch Theka sighed, “it's all her fault you know?" she said, looking at the Captain.

“Who?" Ema replied.

“Matriarch Suztlu," Theka said with a hiss.

“The Border War Incident?" the Captain inquired and Theka nodded.

The Border War Incident occurred ten years ago. A small skirmish on the edge of Matriarchy space against the neighbouring Lupine Empire (which would later escalate and be called 'The Border War'), Matriarch Suztlu, assigned aboard the Grand Cruiser - The Matriarch's Wrath, had allowed herself to become pregnant. Normally a pregnant Matriarch would be a cause of celebration, however, in this instance, it caused a scandal. While the Matriarchy had no issue with its citizens having sex, especially amongst the military (where it was actively encouraged to help form bonds and lower stress), specific bloodlines had to be maintained. A Matriarch was only allowed to become pregnant once she had been matched with a male from another Matriarch family.

After a formal investigation, they found that Suztlu had not been using any medical or physical protection while sleeping with her male Steward. Sexually transmitted diseases had long been eliminated by the Matriarchy's medical science, however, physical protection was always found to be the best protection against pregnancy. There had been outcries in the past when it had been suggested that all male Stewards should be sterilised. It was a well known and unspoken fact, that part of a Stewards job was to see to the sexual needs of females they were assigned to. However, given how few males were born (on average, in a clutch of ten eggs only one male would be born), sterilisation was not the answer.

“She just had to spoil it for the rest of us?" Theka said while looking at what her tail had picked up, “I know why she did it," she said, throwing it back onto the floor with obvious contempt, “the way it feels as a male erupts inside of you, how your body warms up," the Matriarch sighed, “now I have to spend my own money buying physical protection," Theka rolled her eyes as she finished. Both of them could hear Uszu having a shower. The Matriarch then made direct eye contact with the Captain, “I'm sorry about your Steward," she said with a hint of sadness, “but orders are orders," she said with a sigh.

“No need to apologise, Matriarch," Captain Ema replied, bowing her head, “protecting our borders from unwanted aggression is more important," she lied. Ema had been waiting for three years to be assigned a male Steward.

Males were not rare in the military, far from it. If a male could keep up with his female counterparts then they had a right to join. With an average height of 5ft8, a lower muscle mass and less physical stamina, there were not as many males serving in the military compared to females. Those who were able to pass the stringent tests often found themselves serving as Stewards or Intelligence Officers. Males who had failed to pass or chose not to serve would often be found training to become teachers, engineers or scientists. Unlike the military, there were fewer females within these professions.

For Captain Ema, after a three-year wait, she had been informed that a male Steward had been selected and he would be waiting to board the Pride of the Matriarchy when it arrived at Border Outpost Five. Unfortunately, just days before their scheduled stop at the outpost, a satellite at the edge of Matriarchy space, near to the borders of the Lupine Empire, had detected a Vortex opening, along with an unidentified ship. Orders had been given and before Ema could lay eyes on her new Steward, the Cruiser was now travelling to investigate.

“What did the Doctor's scan reveal?" the Matriarch asked.

The question broke the Captain's current train of thought, “I'm still in heat," she replied, “Mizta says it explains my current mood swings," Ema looked past the Matriarch as the door behind her opened. Standing there in his Steward uniform of dark green, was Uszu, the light above him reflecting off his cobalt scales. A simple line of white crisscrossed up his blunt nose and down the back of his hood.

“Matriarch, Captain," he said with a bow to them both and headed towards the door. Once it was opened he looked back, “I'll bring you something to eat, Matriarch," Uszu said as he stepped through.

“I'm glad he washed," Theka said, watching the door close, “having a male walk around the ship covered in pheromones and stinking of sex would only annoy the crew," she smirked while standing up, “now I have to collect these little bundles of joy," Theka said while looking at the floor.

“I can guess where most of your money goes," the Captain said with a smile, she watched the Matriarch as she moved around the room.

“Haha, very funny," Theka replied and looked over to where the Captain was sitting, “if you're not careful I'll order you to pick these up." She was using both her hands and tail to collect them.

“Just how many have you used?" Ema inquired, “there's so many of them," she laughed as the Matriarch stood on one and recognised the squelch. The Matriarch frowned at the Captain as she pulled it off her foot. “I'm surprised Uszu has lasted this long," Ema said as she stood up, “you've gotten quite the reputation for spoiling males since you joined the 7th Fleet," the Captain reached down and picked up the one she had squashed.

“What was it they called me?" the Matriarch asked while turning to face the Captain, “the Devourer of…" Theka paused holding her hand out and waited for Ema's reply.

“Males," she replied, “you went through so many Stewards within the first year," Captain Ema finished as she handed it to Theka.

“To be honest, Uszu should have left thirty days ago," the Matriarch admitted. “I think he's fallen in love with me," she said while dropping what she had collected into a nearby bin.

“Really?" Captain Ema said with a surprised look on her face, “he does know you can't reciprocate?" while the Matriarch was distracted she quickly rubbed her left foot on the floor.

“He knows, I've told him several times," she replied and turned to look at the Captain, “he said that he doesn't care. He'll stay with me for as long as he can," Theka walked back to her chair and sat down, “once we've investigated the unknown ship and returned from the border, I think I'll go on leave, take him with me," the Matriarch stretched her arms out as she finished talking.

“He'll love that," the Captain replied with a smile, “do you know which Matriarch will take over?" she inquired.

“Probably Zashee, her recovery from the pirate attack should be complete when we return," she replied while looking up at the Captain, “now, do you need me to give you an order to get up on time?" The matriarch asked with a smile.

Captain Ema shook her head as she bowed before Matriarch Theka, “no, I'm sure Doctor Mizta can give me something, if not I'll just have to manage," she finished and made for the door, turning around and bowing again before opening it.

Once the door had closed Theka clapped her hands together, “now, where's that other box of ten?" she asked herself.

*****

“Well this is weird," John said while eating his breakfast, “Amphitrite?" he called out.

“Yes, Captain?" the animated face on the main screen appeared and smiled.

“Add to the ship's log that after three hundred days in stasis, my sense of taste and smell has gone," John finished his breakfast and wiped the tray clean before storing it away.

“Adding to the ship's log, Captain John Lawrence lost his sense of taste and smell after the three hundred day stasis," came the reply for the Ship's Companion.

“Why do you always say it like that, Amphitrite?" John asked.

The animated face on the main screen smiled again, “I was programmed to speak this way," came her reply.

“Hmm, fair enough," he shrugged, “Amphitrite, access my files and play Babylon 5, Season Two, Episode One," John pulled down a chair near to the Life Support monitor, “send it to the Life Support monitor," he finished and strapped himself in.

“Playing Babylon 5, Season Two, Episode One," Amphitrite said in her usual manner.

As the episode started to play, John looked over to the main screen, “how many hours till the scheduled burn?" he asked.

“Six hours and fifteen seconds," Amphitrite replied.

“So, that's around seven episodes before I have to prep the ship," John said to himself.

“Amphitrite, what's the status of Poseidon?" he called out.

“Ship integrity is at 98%, minor damage to outer hull from micrometeorite impacts, the Reactor is running at 97% efficiency, fuel reserves are at 94%, Life Support is running at 100%," John started to nod off as Amphitrite continued to report the ship's current status.

“The Babylon Project was our last, best hope for peace," a male voice came out of the cockpit's speakers and it was joined by the sound of snoring. John slowly began to stir as dramatic music played, “a place of commerce and diplomacy for a quarter of a million humans and aliens," John opened his eyes as the voice continued.

“Amphitrite, what time is it?" he called out while yawning.

The animated face of Amphitrite appeared on the main screen of the cockpit, “one hour and three seconds till the next scheduled burn", the animated face smiled.

John stretched while listening to the Ship's Companion, “I've been asleep for five hours?" he asked.

“Yes," Amphitrite replied.

John unfastened the chair's harness and pushed himself away from the chair. He caught a handrail near the Life Support monitor and pressed his finger onto the screen. The image being displayed paused and the male voice, playing through the speaker's of the cockpit stopped.

“Amphitrite, bring up what tasks I need to do before we start the burn," John ordered while trying to stop himself from yawning.

Strapping himself into the pilot's seat and with the help of the Ship's Companion, John spent the remaining hour prepping the ship for the next scheduled engine burn. As the timer on the main screen slowly ticked towards the burn point, John rested his head against the headrest.

“Five, four, three, two, one," Amphitrite counted down.

“Activate the engines, bring them up to one hundred percent," John called out as the timer reached zero. There was a sudden pull of force against him as Amphitrite activated Poseidon's engines and the cockpit started to shake.

“Ten minutes until shutdown," said the familiar voice through the speakers of the cockpit, as the animated face on the main screen smiled. John steadied his breathing and felt his suit tighten as the g-forces hit him. He was glad this was only a short burn. After this, he then had a seventy-two-hour wait for a slingshot manoeuvre. John knew that he could go back into stasis for the majority of that time, the UN planners had made sure there was enough stasis compound. After having spent three hundred days in stasis, seventy-two hours seemed like nothing.

“Amphitrite, once the engines have shut down, perform a full systems check," John called out as the Ship's Companion started to countdown the last ten seconds of the burn. The cockpit shuddered as the engines turned off.

“Performing full systems check," before seeing the animated face smile, he unfastened his harness and pulled himself out of the chair. Floating to the back of the cockpit he powered up the stasis pod and ran it through a diagnostics program.

“Captain John Lawrence, the full system scan has identified damage to exterior compartment B," Amphitrite's voice pulled John's attention away from the stasis pod.

“Does it require repair?" he asked.

“Yes. Downloading repair plan to your tablet," his tablet beeped as it received the download.

Pushing himself away from the stasis pod, he failed to notice an error had appeared within the stasis pod's programming. Arriving at the front of the cockpit, John retrieved his tablet from its storage tray and looked over what Amphitrite had sent him. The repair required a ten-hour spacewalk. Once he had gone over it several times with Amphitrite, John headed towards the airlock at the back of the cockpit.

Eleven hours later, having successfully repaired the damaged section of the ship, John re-entered the airlock. Twisting his helmet off, he placed it back into its slot as he steadied his breathing. He hated spacewalks. Existing in zero-g was hard enough but at least he had an atmosphere to move in. Once John had finished storing his spacesuit away he headed back to the cockpit.

“Status of the ship, Amphitrite?" he called out.

“Poseidon is now at 95% efficiency," came the reply.

“Place yourself in standby mode," John ordered.

He heard the reply but the only thing he wanted to do now was to sleep. Pushing himself towards the stasis pod, John set the program to wake him in fifty hours. After injecting himself with the stasis compound and storing his undersuit, John climbed inside the pod, shut the door and activated it. Once the stasis pod had finished activating, the countdown timer, installed next to the pod's main screen started to count down from fifty days. A few minutes later an error message appeared on the main screen and instead of counting down, the numbers started to increase.

*****

“Captain, we're coming out of Vortex in 5, 4, 3, 2, 1" a Vortex portal opened and a small fleet of ten ships exited into normal space.

The Cruiser, Pride of the Matriarchy, accompanied by three Destroyers and two Frigates, Corvettes, and Scout ships, had been sent to investigate an unknown ship exiting Vortex at the edge of Matriarchy space, close to the border with the Lupine Empire. Sitting in her command chair, Captain Ema watched the small fleet move into formation. Glancing at the Tactical Display Table (or TDT) to her right, a rectangular holographic projector (six feet long by four feet), sitting just below waist height, she could see the green identifiers of the fleet. Their names were displayed above, along with their current course and heading.

“Commence active scanning," she ordered, “have the Corvettes accompany the Scout ships and launch proximity probes." Ema keyed something into her command chair's controls and the display table zoomed out, “I want the probes positioned at possible Vortex exit points, and have the Scout ships start their system scan," a series of confirmations were heard as the bridge officers began to issue commands.

“I'm always impressed with how well your crew perform their duties, Captain," said the Matriarch, sitting in her command chair behind the Captain. While there was nothing wrong with the naked body, Ema was glad that the Matriarch had worn her Nanosuit, a dark crimson.

“Link up with the satellite," Captain Ema called out, “have it send us its logs," after an officer confirmed her order, she stood up and walked over to the TDT. Ema could see the proximity probes as they left the fleet and headed towards the outer edges of the system. “Order the rest of the fleet into an arrowhead formation," she ordered.

“Arrowhead formation, aye Captain," came a reply from one of the many female crew, “All ships, change formation to arrowhead," the Captain watched as the ships near to her Cruiser adjusted their headings.

“Refreshment, Captain?" Uszu asked.

“No thank you," she replied and watched as the Matriarch's Steward bowed his head and then walked over to where the Matriarch was sitting. Theka picked up one of the two cups and took a sip.

“Satellite data is coming in now Captain," said the Comms Officer, pulling the Captain's attention away from the Matriarch. A new window opened up and it started to scroll through the logs of the satellite. After looking for a few minutes, she found the date and time for when the unknown ship had arrived.

“Send these coordinates to the Matriarch's Fang," Captain Ema called out and then adjusted the TDT to follow the Scout ship.

“This is the Matriarch's Fang, coordinates received Captain, we're heading there now," the voice came out of the speakers inside the Cruiser's bridge.

“Do you think it might be a trap, Ema?" the Matriarch asked quietly.

“No," she replied, “while we are close to the Empire's border, this system and the others nearby have no strategic value," Ema turned to face Theka, “besides, we gave them a bloody nose during The Border War," she finished with a smile. The Matriarch smiled back and then distracted herself by talking to her Steward.

Returning to the TDT, Captain Ema could see the Scout ship, along with her Corvette escort, change their heading. She used a nearby holographic keypad and it projected their route.

“All proximity probes have arrived at their destinations," the Tactical Officer called out, “I'm going to send them orders to scan for Vortex openings," the female bridge officer keyed in the commands using the keyboard under her screen. After a few minutes, the locations for the proximity probes on the TDT started to blink in sequence.

“Direct comms from the Matriarch's Fang," said the Comms Officer.

“Patch it through to my chair," Captain Ema instructed. As she sat back down and pressed the privacy button, Ema could hear the Fang's Captain as though she was standing in front of her. “What's wrong Elsis?" she asked.

“Captain, we're approaching the unknown ship, I think you should bring the rest of the fleet," she replied.

“Is it Lupine?" Ema inquired.

“No, this ship, it's primitive and looks old, this doesn't make sense," Elsis replied, her voice sounding as though she was worried.

“Understood," Ema closed the link, “Pride to all ships, change course for the Matriarch's Fang," glancing at the TDT, Ema watched as the fleet changed course towards the Scout ship.

When the fleet arrived, Captain Ema was standing next to the TDT with some of her bridge officers. Matriarch Theka was there too, curious to see what the unknown ship was.

Displayed in hologram form above the Tactical Display Table, was a small spaceship of unknown origin. Scans indicated that its total length was one hundred metres and that the reactor was close to shutting down. At the front of the ship was a visible cockpit, which took up around a quarter of its total length The holographic model showed damage to an exterior section of the ship's hull. Captain Ema, using the controls in front of her, adjusted the hologram to shift from its normal bright green wireframe display to a live image, to show those watching what the ship looked like.

“Looks like it doesn't have any shields," the Tactical Officer said while pointing at one of the data readouts, “the damaged section shows micrometeorite impacts," she lent forward and the yellow glow from her bioluminescence reflected off the image. “If we adjust the image, you can see that the crew managed to fix the damage," she said while pointing at the damaged section of the hull.

“Look there, writing of some kind," said the Comms Officer. Everyone leaned in to get a closer look, “I'm going to get the computer to check our database, I don't recall learning that language at the Academy" she finished and started imputing the symbols into her pad.

“I've just done a scan Captain," another officer said, “there's one person on board, barely. These readings suggest she might be close to dying," she tapped at the controls closest to her and a biometric readout appeared.

“If you give me a few minutes, I'll be able to tell you her condition," Doctor Mizta announced from behind the group of officers.

“So good of you to join us, Doctor," Captain Ema said with a smile.

“I was just talking to the twins," she replied, “they have yet to see me for their latest physical," Mizta stopped next to the Captain and pressed her pad against the side of the TDT. After a series of beeps, she glanced at it.

“I'll have a word with them when this is over," Ema said while glancing over at the Doctor's pad.

After a few minutes of studying her pad, Doctor Mizta pressed it against the TDT again and the holo display changed. Instead of the small spaceship, a series of medical readouts and graphs were displayed.

“The first thing I can tell you is that the female on board this vessel is in some kind of stasis," Doctor Mizta announced.

“Stasis tech? We haven't used that for thousands of years," one of the officers said, “and the Lupine Empire doesn't use it either," the Tactical Officer chimed in.

“It explains why her vitals are dangerously low and a bit odd," the Doctor looked confused, “she also appears to be a mammal," Mizta said matter-of-factly.

“I hope they aren't giant furballs like the Lupine," Matriarch Theka said out loud, “oops, sorry," she said when everyone looked at her.

“Sometimes I forget you're a Matriarch, Theka," Captain Ema said with a smile.

Theka shrugged, “I'm not Military, I can be as casual as I want," she replied, winking at Ema.

“Captain," a voice from behind the bridge officers called out, “if we're going to bring that female onboard, we're going to have to do it quickly," everyone looked at the person speaking.

Standing near to the TDT was Zoazhis, the Chief Engineer of the ship. Much like the majority of the ship's engineers, she was 8ft tall and wearing her crimson Nanosuit. Unlike the rest of the engineers, Zoazhis had a mechanical harness attached to her back. She used its two arms to help her with the majority of her work aboard the Cruiser. The bright blue of her eyes reflected off the dark lilac scales of her face, while the shadow of her hood made them seem brighter. Captain Ema noticed the lighter lilac scales of her jaw and saw how a nearby light reflected off them as they travelled down her neck, and then below her Nanosuit.

“What do you mean?" Captain Ema asked.

“If I'm reading this correctly, the reactor is getting close to going subcritical," Zoazhis replied. Glancing up at the assembled officers she could see that none of them knew what she meant. “In other words, the power is about to turn off and unless the stasis pod inside that ship has an independent power source, the female inside will eventually die," as she finished there was a collective “Oh," from the others.

“How long until we can get them aboard this ship and out of stasis?" the Captain asked while looking at her officers.

“It shouldn't take too long, the main issue, however," she continued, “is understanding her language and programming code," the Chief Engineer replied.

“I see," Captain Ema said and then looked over to the Comms Officer, “has the computer finished analysing the language?" she asked.

“It just did, the computer says that the language is," the Comms Officer had a confused expression, “it's Terran," she finished and looked up at the Captain.

“Terran, what are they doing over here?" Matriarch Tehka asked, to no one in particular.

“More importantly, how did they get here?" Zoazhis chimed in, “Terran's haven't left their solar system yet, they don't even have Vortex Drives, so how did they access the Vortex after only a hundred and eight years?" she asked while scratching the inside of her hood.

“Questions we can ask the pilot when we rescue them," Captain Ema replied, “I want that female rescued now," she ordered, “contact the fleet, let them know what we've discovered. Have crews on all ships access the language database and add it to their cranial implants," Ema then ordered everyone back to their stations.

When she returned to her command chair, Matriarch Theka placed a clawed hand on her left shoulder, “Terrans," she said, her emerald eyes glowing in the light, “seems like they survived that world war of theirs," she then walked past the Captain and sat down on her chair. Uszu appeared by her side with a glass.

“I had almost forgotten about them," Ema said while looking back at Theka, “the reports from the long-range scout ship said they had just split the Atom," she waived off Uszu before he offered her a glass, “how did they manage to get here after only one hundred and eight years?" she asked.

“Don't forget that.." Matriarch Theka replied while taking a sip, “our years are longer than theirs, if they can survive Atom Bombs, I'm sure they can figure out the Vortex," before the Matriarch could continue a call came in from the rescue team.

“Captain, we've found the pilot of the ship," the team leader's voice came through the bridge's speakers, “the stasis pod appears to be functional and.." the transmission was interrupted by some static.

“I'm surprised the pilot is still alive, without Vortex shielding, the radiation should have killed her," the Comms Officer said to no one in particular. “The radiation from those engines might have protected her," Chief Engineer Zoazhis replied. “As well as the stasis pod, if it's designed correctly, then even a mammal's body should not have been affected too much," before she could continue, the team leader's voice returned.

“Captain," the team leader sounded excited, “we've checked the stasis pod, the pilot is a male!"