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Unity

By Mantrid Brizon

Episode Nine: Repentant

As they both gasp for breath, Stefan slumps over and lies beside Drayusa. His tanned, human skin glistens in the soft light as he slips an arm around the toned belly of his lover. The equally shiny hide of the black and purple swirled Kanorakus woman is coated in a fine layer of sweat after their prolonged encounter. Lying on her back, she turns her head, looking at him with her vivid, purple eyes. Unlike their first time together, aboard the SM Deliverance, this time he took charge; Drayusa’s never felt such pleasure before. Perhaps the females of the other races are onto something?

Allowing their men to become more dominant has bred a male who she finds far more appealing than the males of her race could ever be. Resting his hand on her snout, he turns her head for her and plants a kiss upon her thin lips, before that hand moves downward to grip one of her ample breasts. His lips slide around her face and down to her neck, causing her to tremble. Feeling her lover act as if she belonged to him, her tail flicks uncontrollably, a sign of her positive mood and the pleasure that he brings her.

“If you keep this up, you’ll make me more receptive.” She coos.

“Maybe I want too.” He replies, kissing her neck.

Drayusa looks to her lover, slowly sitting up on his bed. Seeing her expression, he quickly joins her, his arm wrapped around her back and resting comfortably over the soft, gold-tipped, black bristles that run along her spine.

“I’ve gone to great lengths to see you without Ayanda knowing about it. I took a taxi, used a false name, and left my V.I. bracelet at my apartment. We cannot get caught before black mode is finished.” She begins, her tone quite serious.

“I know.”

“The last thing we need is for you to impregnate me. I can only control my receptivity for so long, but your weakening my resolve.” She continues.

“Aren’t you curious what a human Solakus and Kanorakus child would look like?” He asks.

“Hybrids have happened before, after it was discovered that we share nearly all but external biology.”

“I know that; I meant what our child would look like.” He reiterates, a little smile on his face.

Drayusa turns her eyes away, her lips curled into a subdued grin. She can’t deny that she’s found the thought appealing, especially in the throes of passion. Her biology demands it.

“We have a duty to Unity.” She finally replies.

“And Unity has a maternity ward.” He reminds her. “There’s more than one way to serve the project.” He coos, gently squeezing her side as he tempts her.

Drayusa bows her head, now unable to hide her smile.

“This is true... They certainly planned ahead, didn’t they?” She asks.

“Some six-thousand crew of every species, males and females, stuck in deep space for at least a year? It was bound to happen. They’re just being realists.” He says, giving her a little kiss.

“I cannot deny my desire...” She murmurs. “I... I want to meld with you!”

Stefan blinks in surprise, taken aback by his lover’s statement.

“Okay. Let’s do it!” He excitedly exclaims.

“Melding takes some preparation. We’ll meld soon.”

“Oh, aright... What’s melding?”

Drayusa giggles.

“You would agree without even knowing?”

“Only because it’s you.” He replies.

“Isn’t that foolish?” She asks.

“I trust you implicitly, Dray.”

Her lips curl with delight at his answer, their eyes locked.

“So... Melding?”

“Well, for some, it’s not enough to merely link, becoming a monogamous couple. I’ve already done as much with you when I gave you my bristles fashioned into a pendant.” She begins.

“That’s what that was?”

“Yes. The pendant claims you as my sole partner. I’m glad you listened to me when I told you not to wear it yet. However, females who are completely receptive to their male may also meld with them, tying hearts and minds in a very powerful, quasi-religious ceremony.” She explains.

“Sounds like fun!”

“It’s a deep, highly bonding experience that we cannot undo.”

Tightening his grip on his lover, Stefan nuzzles her face, showing her affection in the manner she’s accustomed. Pulling back, he looks her dead in the eyes.

“I love you, Dray... I’d have done everything August did for Fizona yesterday, if it were you caught in one of those explosions... I’ll die for you if I have to. I’m not racing into this like some horny idiot. If you want this, then so do I, so long as we’re together. When it’s time to board Unity, I’m going to change my relationship status so we can have couple’s quarters and live together.”

Hearing him speak directly from the heart, she can feel her chest burning from his words. They swirl around and entwine her very spirit. She’s never cared so much for a male, nor has one treated her in such a manner. He isn’t just a male she may use for pleasure and procreation, but is a strong and dominant man who somehow can see her as his equal. Leaning in, she wraps her arms around him and kisses his cheek, nuzzling him back.

“Never mind.” She suddenly murmurs.

“... What?”

“After such a heartfelt speech, I’m too overwhelmed by your affection. I love you too; I cannot control my receptivity any longer.”

“Oh... Good.” He grins.

Falling back into bed, they gaze longingly at the other, holding and nuzzling each other.

“I’ll have to leave soon. I need to get back to my apartment and collect my things before we return to our headquarters tomorrow.” She says rather sorrowfully.

“Okay...” Stefan dolefully sighs. “I’ll call your cab and walk you out.”

After slowly dressing and heading downstairs, the secret couple say their goodbyes, if only for the moment. Stefan visibly struggles with letting her go, prolonging the delay until the robotic cabby begins to reset from inactivity. Riding quietly in the cab, Drayusa is deathly silent as she enters her lonely apartment, already missing her partner. Heading for her bedroom, she collects a change of clothes and prepares to shower when her V.I. bracelet, still sitting on the charger where she left it, begins to chirp. Racing up to it in case it’s somehow Stefan, she sees that the call is coming from headquarters.

“Hello?”

“Hi, Drayusa.” Ayanda’s voice greets her. “I tried calling you earlier. What happened?”

“Oh, I... Er... Slept through it. I apologize.”

“Well, now that I’ve finally awoken you and Stefan, I can give you the good news! The Marionette attack didn’t damage anything vital, thanks to how quickly everyone caught on. Though it was a little delayed, the launch went through without any major problems!”

“That’s great news!” Drayusa chirps.

“It gets even better. Fizona is going to be fine. Her shoulder wound probably won’t even scar, though she’ll be in the hospital for a week while her lungs recover from the damage done by the exposure to a mild nerve gas.” Ayanda continues.

Drayusa sits in silence for a moment, holding the bracelet in her hand and staring at the floor.

“Are you still there?” Ayanda asks.

“Yes, that’s great news. May... May I visit her?”

“... August is there. He effectively demanded guard duty, and given the circumstances, I decided to ‘throw him a bone’, as the Solakus like to say.” Ayanda remarks.

“And?”

“I just... I thought you should know. We’ll meet at headquarters at fourteen-hundred hours. Visit her before then.” Ayanda says.

“Understood. Thank you, Miss Ayanda.”

“... Bye.”

Ending the transmission, Drayusa sets her V.I. bracelet aside. Sitting down on the edge of her bed, her eyes water as she contemplates looking upon Fizona after what happened. The pain on August’s face when the medivac came, listening to the EMTs doubts of her survival was almost too much for her to handle. Opening a drawer in her nightstand, she takes out the small card, glaring at the device that she clasps between two claws. The nauseas feeling reemerges as her guilt envelopes her.

“I’m so sorry...”

Leaning against Fizona’s bed, a specially shaped mask covering her snout and feeding her pure oxygen, August waits for her to awaken.

“I’m so sorry... I failed; I couldn’t save you, and I’m sorry. Please wake up.” He speaks quietly to her.

He grips Fizona’s hand, gently stroking her dense, orange flesh with his thumb as he watches her sleep.

“How is she?”

Glancing over his shoulder, he looks to Drayusa who stands in the doorway.

“... No change.”

“But she’s going to be alright?!”

“Yeah... Moderate tissue damage to her lungs and esophagus, but I pulled her out before the nerve gas could really affect her.” He explains.

“That’s good to hear.”

Drayusa leans against the doorframe, watching August as he tends to Fizona. She clenches her teeth to keep from crying, the wash of guilt making her heart break.

“I’ll uh... I’ll be right back.” She says with a sniffle.

“Sure...” He murmurs.

As Drayusa steps out of the room, August moves his trench coat aside, revealing his holstered blaster. With the backs of his fingers, he strokes Fizona’s cheek with one hand, slowly drawing his blaster with the other.

“I’ll be right back.” He whispers to her.

Walking down the unusually quiet hall of the hospital, Drayusa heads for the nearest bathroom. Suddenly, hands grab her by the shoulders, heaving her to her left. Slamming into a door, it flies open and she stumbles into a moderately sized closet. Spinning around, August stands, blaster in hand and raised before his face.

“Hello, ‘Sway’...” He growls.

Drayusa’s heart sinks, her eyes slowly closing and head bowing.

“I wish I’d gotten to you sooner, but you were too careful. It wasn’t until you made that call on Deliverance that I was sure who you were. We knew there was a spy in our ranks; Krais had every line on that ship tapped for us. For a while, I was really afraid it was Fizona.” He continues, stepping into the closet. “What made you do it?”

“Do what? Clarify.”

“What made you use our own line to place a call to your fucking terrorist buddies!” He yells.

Slumping against a wall, her tapering tail knocks cleaning products from a low shelf. Bursting into tears, she brings her clawed hands to her face and covers her eyes, weeping quite pitifully as she falls down to the ground. August’s blaster follows her head as she sits, crying and curling into a little ball, drawing her legs toward her chest.

“Answer me, damn you!”

“... Stefan.” She chokes out. “At first, I was just curious, but he was so open to me. We began speaking in secret, long after black mode. He’s such a wonderful person; I grew to love him, so I called them to break contact. I didn’t want to do it anymore, for his sake.” Drayusa explains.

“But you fucking did... And now this happened.”

“I tried to stop before, after what happened to Roku, but she talked me into it.” She weeps.

“Who talked you into it?”

“Miss Corova, the base commander for the Sol branch of the Goddess’s Children. After finally sleeping with Stefan, I just couldn’t do it anymore, but she talked me into helping her one last time. She guilted me, but I regret all of it!”

“Yeah, I bet you do...”

She can hear the blaster clicking as August’s hand shakes with rage. Turning her watery eyes toward him, she can see his snarling face, his teeth gritting as he glares.

“Please... Don’t tell Stefan what I did. Make up a story.”

Looking at her as she sits on the floor, apparently ready to accept her fate, August is left in shock.

“Please, August. He can never know. I don’t want him to hate me when I’m dead.”

With his hand gripping tightly to the weapon, his finger caressing the trigger, August cannot bring himself to do it. Though the spy, whose information nearly killed Roku and Fizona, sits helpless on the floor before him, his rage subsides. Pity and sorrow overcome him instead, causing his hand to visibly tremor. With her head turned away, her eyes buried in her palms, Drayusa awaits her execution. She now knows why the hospital is so void and why Ayanda told her to visit Fizona before heading over to headquarters; they’ve planned this entire visit as a way to eliminate her.

Her mind, clouded by her relationship with Stefan, not only interfered with her duties to the mother goddess, going so far as to make her question the text’s teachings of the other races, but guilt has blinded her from seeing the obvious trap. August stands there, frozen solid as he watches her sobbing. If she’s acting, it’s the best he’s ever seen. Unable to carry on, he lowers his hand. Drayusa’s pointy ears twitch at the sound of his safety catch being activated. She turns her head, looking at her executioner.

“Can you still contact this ‘Miss Corova’?” He asks, holstering his blaster.

“Yes.” She nods.

“Good... I’m giving you a chance to redeem yourself.”

“But... But what about Ayanda?! What about Stefan?!” She asks in shock.

“The Directors kept me aboard after I visited Roku because they wanted me to hunt down the spy; they knew you were here. Ayanda knows about this too, but I’m in charge of this mission. If I say you aren’t the spy, then you aren’t the spy... Stefan doesn’t know anything, and he’s never going too, so long as you help us make this right.” He answers.

“I will! I promise!”

“I know... Come on.” He extends his hand. “We have work to do.”

Taking hold of his hand, he lifts her from the ground.

“Do you really love Stefan?” He asks.

“Yes, and he loves me too. We were secretly making plans to meld, and have a family together aboard Unity.” She admits.

August subtly nods his head. Drayusa is struck by his expression. If she didn’t know better, she’d assume that August was jealous of her and Stefan’s relationship.

“I want you to go to headquarters and act like nothing happened. I’ll update Ayanda before you arrive. She’ll give you plenty of time with your next assignment. I want you to use that time to collect whatever encrypted card you were using to talk to those fuckers. You’re going to be a double agent for a little while.” He calmly instructs.

“Understood.”

“Oh, and Drayusa?”

“Yes?”

“If I so much as dream about you betraying us again, I’ll personally tell Stefan how sorry I am that you were killed in a shootout with terrorists...” He sternly warns, a fire in his eye.

“Understood. I won’t betray Stefan, or the project.”

Satisfied, August opens the door and steps out of the closet, heading back toward Fizona’s room. Listening to the beeping of the EKG machine, Fizona slowly opens her eyes. Staring at the ceiling of a strange room, she briefly panics and frantically looks around. Her eyes land on a familiar face, one that swiftly calms her frazzled nerves.

“August? Where am I?” She asks with a raspy voice.

“Shh, try not to talk too much. You’re in the hospital.”

Looking over to a clock on the wall, she can see the time is ‘9:41’. Turning her eyes toward a window, it’s pitch black outside. How long has she been asleep? Hours? Days? Glancing back to August, he holds her hand, gently stroking her.

“What are you doing here?” She asks.

“Well, it’s nice to see you too.” He smirks.

“I’m glad to see you, but I’m also curious.”

“Ayanda signed off on me taking over guard duty. I’m sure she had her reasons.” He answers.

“I see...” She sighs.

“We’re still covered, if that’s what you’re worried about.” He assures her.

“We finished this talk, August, after we returned to Earth. I’m afraid that I can’t make it work between us; our cultures are too different. It might become a problem over time, especially if we link. As much as I like you, I don’t want to try anymore.”

Averting his eyes, a saddened August sighs, subtly nodding in acceptance.

“You were a great lover though. When I’m healed, we can slip off and entertain each other whenever you want.” She winks.

“Heh... Thanks, babe. As tempting as it is to play with you again, you know how I feel about it.”

“It’s an open offer.” She adds.

“Substance over volume.” He says with a little smile.

“My loss.” Fizona smiles back.

“Get some rest.” He says, stroking her cheek one last time.