Chapter No.10

There lay she prone,
Her graceful garments round her thrown;
But first her beauteous mouth around
Their violent bonds they wound,
With their rude inarticulate might,
Lest her dread curse the fatal house should smite.
But she her saffron robe to earth let fall:
The shaft of pity from her eye
Transpierced that awful priesthood--one and all.
Lovely as in a picture stood she by
As she would speak. Thus at her father's feasts
The virgin, 'mid the reveling guests,
Was wont with her chaste voice to supplicate
For her dear father an auspicious fate.

- Aeschylus -

Karl was the first to report. "This is a K5 class orange-red dwarf with a luminosity of 0.4 and a radius of 0.9."

"This star has very weak hydrogen lines in its spectra," Masai said. "There are lines for manganese, iron, and silicon."

"There are three inner and four outer planets," George said. "The planet at 0.6 AU may be a possibility."
 
"He is right," Gem-Ado said. "The second planet has water peaks in its spectra and its temperature is 290K."

"Take us to the second planet, Delphi."

"Yes, Angie."

Angie looked bleary eyed at Marty and stood up. "Take over."

"Are you okay?"

"No, but I'll live."

"Yes, Admiral."

He watched her shuffle off to the elevators. Onuki followed her, and it was obvious that everyone on the command deck was concerned.

"I hope she doesn't get in one of her grumpy moods and harass us," George said.

"She only harasses me," Marty said. "You have nothing to worry about."

"That planet is definitely habitable," Lucia said. "There are chlorophyll peaks present in its spectra."

"Good," Marty said. "At least we're headed to the right planet."

"There are no enemy vessels in this system," Ninja said. "I can find no evidence that the planet has any space capability."

"Speaking of enemy," Marty said, turning to Honey. "How did you do with your investigation of the two Cyborg females?"

"We had fun, didn't we kids?"

"We completely disassembled both of them and she even split open their bodies," Arby said, pointing to Honey. "She took out their intestines and other organs and examined them."

"Yes, Martin, we cataloged and photographed everything and created a big document on them. It's in the database."

"Wow! I hadn't expected you to do such a thorough job. You are to be commended."

"I've reviewed some of that document," Ferris said. "It's so large, it would take many months to read it. What Onuki and I found most interesting is how these three came up with procedures to dissect a living being without causing any harm. Their ability to see and memorize in three dimensions enabled them to literally examine every internal organ in the Cyborgs body."

"How did they avoid bleeding?" Marty asked.

"They are able to see and avoid cutting blood vessels and nerves," Ferris said. "Even the auto surgeon could not accomplish that. One of the Dragon females has volunteered to allow them to dissect its body."

"That's wild," Marty said. "But, I do see how this idea would come in handy for surgery of battle wounds."

"Yes, it would."

"Maybe they should see what's inside the Admiral that's causing her so much grief," George said.

"I doubt that it's in her body," Marty said. "It's definitely in her mind."

"We are coming up to a gas giant," Lucia said. "It has beautiful rings, but it only has a 0.8 diameter compared to our Saturn."

Lucia switched the telescopic image to the main screen.

"What are those strange looking blue spots?" Marty asked.

"Those show a nickel peak in their spectra," Gem-Ado said.

"Could that be from collisions of meteorites?"

"Possibly," Anna said. "Nickel is one of the main constituents of meteorites."

"Well, let's hope that we don't become a target," Marty said.

Amen to that.

***

Marty found Angie lying on a couch in the common area between their quarters. Her eyes opened and she looked up at him.

"Hi," He said, sitting in a chair. "How are you doing?"

She got up and rubbed her head. "I feel better now. I'm sorry."

"You have nothing to be sorry about. We can handle the ship."

"What are you saying: that you don't need me?"

"No way. You make the big decisions. There is no way that we can do this without you."

She smiled. "Besides, you need me to keep you in line."

"Yes, Admiral, and I am eternally grateful for that. I would never have seen all of this space travel if you had not intervened on my behalf."

"Unfortunately, you had to suffer some terrible pain and humiliation to be out here."

"I will gladly do anything that you want me to do, no matter how painful and humiliating it is."

"I appreciate your patience with me. I have been rather hard on you."

"Not to change the subject, but Honey and her kids have compiled a very thorough document on their examination of the Cyborg females. They literally tore them completely apart and cataloged every part and system in their bodies. The wild part is that they actually modified some of their components and made them better."

"That's great. It gives us good information about how they function."

"They're going to do the same to a Dragon female. They've perfected a method to dissect a living body without causing any harm."

Angie sighed. "Maybe they should dissect me and see if they could find demons."

"Someone suggested that."

"Shit. I'm a complete screw-up."

"No you're not. You're just having problems with all of these jumps and this constant stress."

"I still think there's something wrong with me," Angie said. "Onuki has drawn a blank as to what it is. The other women have had minimal affects from jumps, but I've been totally decimated."

"Maybe you should let Honey dissect you," Marty said. "Although, I doubt that Onuki would permit it."

Angie got up. "I'll go check it out."

She abruptly left the common area, and Marty shook his head.

In the examination room, Honey and her kids were in the process of dissecting a female Dragon. She had been flayed from one end to the other and Honey was busy probing inside her abdomen.

"How are you coming with her face?" Honey asked Arby.

"I've taken her face off and have pulled her left eye out. The eye is much larger than I had expected. It has an interesting inner eyelid mechanism."

"She has a very interesting jaw structure and a whole mouth full of sharp teeth," Wendy said.

"This species is a carnivore," Honey said. "Meat is their principal diet. That's why it has these extensive intestines."

"This creature has a good deal of muscles around its jaws," Wendy said. "Their teeth resemble those of sharks."

"See this big stomach," Honey said, moving it out so that it was more visible. "Everything about this creature attests to its meat diet."

"This eye has a large retinal structure," Arby said. "I believe that it can see in the dark."

"I found its uterus, but the fallopian tubes are much larger than most other species," Honey said. "Make sure that you catalog all of the nerves and blood vessels."

"We are," Arby said. "We are working like little beavers."

Honey and her kids turned to see Onuki and Angie enter the examination room. They were wearing surgical gowns and masks just like Honey and her kids.

Angie's eyes became much larger when she saw all of the Dragon's insides exposed.

"The Admiral has made a request," Onuki said to Honey. "She wants you to dissect her."

"Why? Her anatomy is well known."

"She is suffering from a malady that we have been unable to detect. She thinks that you may be able to find something inside her body that could explain it."

"You are burdening me with a serious responsibility," Honey said. "I would be risking the Admiral at a time when she is badly needed."

"I will transfer my command," Angie said. "Unless my problem can be alleviated, I am no good to anyone."

"Okay," Honey said. "We still have more work to do on this creature, and then we will do you."

"Thank you."

***

Marty looked up at Ferris with incredulous eyes. "She is what?"

"The Admiral is being dissected by Honey and her kids," Ferris said.  "She requested it and Onuki allowed it."

"That's totally crazy. What if something happens?"

"Honey is very good at what she does, no matter what it is that she does. Rosie is assisting her, and she has dissected hundreds of humans and knows every nerve and blood vessel. They will not harm her in any way. I can assure you of that. Allah will protect her from harm."

"I don't know that I have your level of faith," Marty said. "But, you have been right about a lot of things, and I respect your judgment. Let's hope that Honey finds whatever it is that is messing up the Admiral."

In the examination room, Angie lay spread-eagled on the examination table waiting for Honey to begin cutting her body up. She was allowing aliens to probe her insides, not knowing if they could do it without destroying her life. She felt completely helpless. Onuki had injected her with the nerve agent that Dragons used to skin people, allowing her to watch while her body was cut open and her organs probed. Talk about getting to know yourself.

Honey smiled at her. "I'm going to start now. Let me know if I am hurting you."

Angie had no idea how she would tell her. She couldn't talk. All she could do was watch while Honey used a laser section device to cut open her body from her sternum to her pubic bone.  Little trickles of blood oozed out of the incision, but there was no major bleeding. The sight of her intestines was frightening at first, but soon fascination took over, especially when Honey began to pull long sections of her intestines out of her abdominal cavity. Angie was seeing things that most people had no desire to ever see.

With Rosie's help, Honey cut Angie's sternum in half so that she could spread her ribcage away to achieve clear access to her chest cavity. She began examining her lungs and heart as well as her major arteries.

"Her heart is strong," Honey said. "I don't see any flaws in her arteries."

"I have exposed her liver," Wendy said. "It is squishy."

"That is not a technical term," Honey told her. "Do not damage her liver. She needs it."

"I am not damaging it," Wendy said. "I just wanted to make sure that the blood flow into and out of it is not restricted."

"This is the Admiral's body that you're examining," Honey said. "She is our boss."

"You should talk," Wendy said. "You have her lung in your hands there."

"I am examining her lung for problems," Honey said.

Meanwhile, Arby was busy examining the bones in Angie's right leg, having separated the muscles and tendons to gain better access to the knee joint. Using an endoscope he was able to check out her joint heath.

"She has excellent bones," Arby said. "Her knee is in great shape."

"You have excellent control over your hands," Rosie told Honey. "Most people think that you have limited dexterity, but they are wrong."

"Thank you. I value your opinion."

After an hour of incredible work, Honey was using an endoscope to investigate Angie's uterus. She turned to Onuki. "Can you see this little mass inside her uterus?"

"Yes," Onuki said. "That looks like a benign fibroid tumor. They are quite common in women over forty. I do not understand how we missed that."

"Sometimes they're so small, they don't show up," Ferris said. "In any event, I believe that you have found Angie's demon. We will excise it."
"Yes," Onuki said. "These tumors often cause all sorts of menstrual problems. I agree with your prognosis."

Back on the command deck, a nervous Marty was beside himself with worry. When he saw Ferris come back on the deck, his heart rate increased.

"You'll all be happy to know that Honey found the Admiral's problem."

"No kidding," Marty said. "What was it?"

"She had a benign fibroid tumor in her uterus. We removed it. She should be much better from now on."

Marty swallowed hard. He wanted to cry, but that was not what men were supposed to do. He got up and gave Ferris a kiss instead.

***

"We are in stable orbit, Angie."

"Maintain stealth, Delphi. Launch atmospheric and oceanic probes."

"Yes, Angie."

"How are you feeling?" Marty asked her.

"Actually, I feel great," Angie said. "I haven't felt this good in a long time. The incisions are almost gone and the bleeding has stopped."

"God bless Honey," Marty said. He looked around. "Where is she?"

"Two of the Drak females have volunteered to be dissected. She's doing a comparison between the Andromeda and Milky Way Draks."

"I don't know that I could allow them to do something like that to me," Marty said. "I have to give you credit. You are one brave woman."

"We're getting data back," Masai said. "The oxygen is only 17% but it is still breathable. The rest of the atmosphere is nitrogen and argon with a 0.01% carbon dioxide."

"The temperature on the surface is only 12 C. The pressure is only 720 millibars," Lucia said. "This isn't exactly a garden spot."

"There are structures on the surface," George said. "They look like pyramids. I don't know if they are tombs or houses."

"Launch the Mother, Delphi. Disperse insects at 3000 meters."

"Yes, Angie."

"There is vegetation on this planet," Lucia said. "But, the structures that Mr. Taylor is referring to are in an arid area."

"Send the insects to the structures," Angie said. "We have to find out if anyone's home."

The first images from the insect probes showed entrances to the pyramid structures and creatures entering and leaving them. Everybody looked at the main screen when Masai transferred a close image to it.

"They look like they're lizard based," Marty said. "This could be a difficult contact. We don't have any language basis."

"There are no signals from this planet," Brigit said.

"If we could pick up audio, we may be able to get a translation attempt," Lia said.

"I will try to fly an insect probe inside the door of the pyramid, just as soon as nobody is passing through," Anna said. "We may be able to pick up conversations inside the building."

After several minutes, images of the interior of the building flashed on the main screen. Aliens were busy at what appeared to be workstations with video screens. A group of aliens were sitting around a table talking.

"I'm sending the audio to your station," Anna told Lia. "I'll send the video screen images to yours, Brigit."

Lia smiled. "I should have a translation worked out shortly."

"Organize your landing party," Angie told Marty. "I see no reason to worry about any aggression, but you may want to take Xin-Xin and Van-Xan with you."

"Yes, Martin," Ninja said. "They are well trained with weapons."

Marty got up. "Okay, I'll take them, Moto, Uma, and Tyler. Oh, and I think I'll add Wu to that list."

On the equipment deck, Marty and his landing party suited up in bio-suits. The two Mehen females were assigned weapons and extra ammunition. Marty strapped on his Death Ray hand weapon. Uma took scanning equipment and Moto took the translator, newly updated with the alien language. Tyler took his wits. They filed into a Battle Lander to go on yet another alien contact mission.

The planet had large arid regions with vegetation in patches throughout the temperate zones. The alien pyramid city was on the edge of an arid area, and it looked like an Egyptian Valley of the Kings from the air. Marty flew down through sparse clouds to land near one of the pyramids.

When he and his landing party crawled out the Lander, aliens soon surrounded them. These lizard creatures were more alien than Ninja's people and even had long forked tongues that flicked out of their mouths. They were covered in dark green scales and had red eyes. If there was a way to determine gender, Marty had no idea of what it was.

The aliens spotted the two Mehen females and became fascinated by them. This seemed to break the ice.

"Who are you? Where did you come from?"

"We are from a starship that has traveled from a nearby galaxy," Marty told them. "We've come here to ask for your help in finding machine creatures that are destroying life in this galaxy."

"We are familiar with the creatures that you refer to." One of the aliens said. "We are surprised that you have one of those." He pointed with his lizard hand at Wu. "It is our understanding that their species has been destroyed."

"We are in union with her species to fight the machine creatures," Marty said.

"We are surprised that you are in union with the meat eaters. They have been eating species like yours for many thousands of cycles."

"That is because we have agreed to a treaty," Tyler said. "We are no longer enemies with them."

"That is commendable. It is rare to find a species willing to forgive past transgressions and unite with an enemy."

"That is what we do," Tyler said. "We did not come here to conquer or dominate. We only seek peace and trade, not war, but we are in conflict with the machine creatures, and only wish to locate their home world."

"We do not know of their home world, but we do know where the home world of the meat eaters is, but we believe it has been destroyed. Perhaps, if you go there you may be able to find clues as to the home world location of the machine creatures."

"We would be grateful for any help that you can give us," Tyler said.

"Come," the alien said. "We will show you how we obtain our information." The alien looked over at the two Mehen females. "You will have no need to harm us with your weapons."

"We would never do that," Tyler said. "We only bring weapons because we are wary of attack from the machine creatures."

"I pray that there are none of those creatures on our planet. They torture and kill their victims with no mercy."

"Yes, we are aware of their practices. We have rescued many victims from their bases."

Aliens were busy with tasks inside the pyramid. Some were working at stations with video screens. Others were peering through eyepieces. It reminded Marty of the command deck when the X-5001 came out of a jump.

"This is the observatory where we study the heavens," the alien said. "We have been studying this galaxy and the one that you claim to have come from for many hundreds of cycles. We have many questions to ask, but we realize that you have limited time."

Tyler handed the alien a wooden case. "In this case are several metallic disks that contain much information about our galaxy and the intelligent species that reside in it. There is also information about how we are able to travel large distances with ease."

"We commend you. No other species has given us anything. This is a historic event for us."

"That is a good thing," Marty told them.

Another alien approached and gestured to Xin-Xin. "We are curious about your individual. Would you permit us to examine this individual so that we might understand it."

Marty turned to Xin-Xin. "It's up to you."

Xin-Xin handed her weapon to Van-Xan. "I will comply."

"Take her," Marty told the alien. "Just don't harm her." He gestured to Moto. "Go with them."

"We will not harm them," the alien said.

When Marty and his landing crew got back to the X-5001, they headed back to the command deck.

While riding up in the elevator, Marty got curious. "What did they do to you Xin-Xin?"

"They removed our coverings and probed us with some machine," Xin-Xin said.

"They did it to you too, Moto?"

"Yes, Martin. They were curious about why we have breasts."

Marty smiled. "I can understand that. I don't think that their females have any mammary glands."

"They do not," Moto said.

Marty emerged on the command deck to applause. "What did I do to deserve this."

"You made some good friends down there. They transmitted a lot of very interesting data to us."

"Really? I didn't know that they had RF technology."

"They have much more technology than it appears from a cursory observation. These creatures have devices that are able to see inner planets around distant stars."

"Good, but if you're going to hand out accolades, do it to Moto and Xin-Xin. They volunteered to be examined by the aliens. I'm going to award them Merit of Valor Medals."

Ninja was proud of that revelation about his two best students.

***

When Angie entered the common area swimming pool, she watched Marty get up off a bench and come to attention.

"I'm ready to take my punishment," he said, saluting.

She tilted her head like a faithful dog listening for his master's command. "Are you sure that you want me to punish you?"

"I think that you have to. I would rather have you punish me instead of you punishing the men."

"Okay, but it's not going to be very pleasant."

"I realize that."

He followed her to her quarters like an obedient puppy, and when he entered her main room and saw what was there, his entire face expressed surprise.

"What's that?"

"That is a parallel bar from the gym. I had them move it here so that I could exercise privately." She ran her hand over the shiny polished bar. "Isn't it pretty."

He looked at it and then at her. "What do you want me to do?"

"What I want you to do is straddle it and put your hands behind your head."

"Come on, Angie, I'm not wearing anything to protect my . . . you know."

"I can't help that. You'll just have to be careful."

"I don't think I'm going to like this," he said, running his hand over the bar.

"You requested that I punish you, and this is what I came up with. Take it or leave it."

Marty gave her a pleading look before he pulled himself up and swung his leg over the bar so that he was riding it, but he braced himself  with his hands to relieve the pressure on his sensitive parts.

"This is very uncomfortable," he said after a few minutes.

"You're already complaining and you haven't even put your hands behind your head."

When he did put his hands in back of his head, he suddenly realized the full consequences of this punishment. "Ouch! Damn it!"

"Quit squirming around and you won't have that problem."

"Ow! Ow! This really hurts!"

"What's the matter, Commander, are your . . . you know causing you discomfort?"

"Come on, Angie, you damn well know that they are."

"How am I supposed to know that? I'm a female, remember. My parts are on the inside."

"Damn it! This hurts," he said, struggling to keep from squirming around.

"You asked to be punished, so I'm doing as you requested."

"I realize that, but this is hurting me."

"If you want me to stop this, say so, otherwise quit complaining."

"Yes, ma'am."

After several more minutes of struggling to keep from moving around on the bar, Marty began to complain again.

"Ouch! Damn it! This hurts."

"I can see that, but it doesn't bother me."

After several more minutes of struggling, his breathing rate escalated and his leg muscles knotted up from the desperate effort to avoid pressure on his scrotum. Sweat glistened on his skin and drops of it fell off his nose and chin. His facial muscles tightened from grimacing and he huffed and puffed like a steam engine.

"Please, Angie, this is most uncomfortable. Ouch! Ouch! God, does that hurt." He huffed and puffed, twisting his face with pain.

"Ouch! Ouch! This is really painful!"

"Quit whining. You're being punished."

"I realize that, Angie," he cried.

Marty really wanted to stop, but he didn't want to give in to her. What he wanted to do was kick himself for being so stupid. He watched his tormenter relax in her chair while he suffered on his painful perch. He wanted to yell and curse, but he thought better of it. His only conclusion was that she was truly insensitive to his suffering.

Angie wanted to laugh, but she thought better of it. She was enjoying watching a big strong muscular man suffering pain from the one part of his body that was completely vulnerable and sensitive. How ironic.

Or, how cruel.

***

The night lighting illuminated the command deck with a dim red glow, adding to the somber mood. A bright star dominated the main screen, but there was little else of interest.

George tuned to Marty and swallowed. "What did she do to you?"

"She made me straddle a parallel bar with my hands behind by head."

"I'll bet that wasn't very pleasant."

"You're right about that. I thought that my balls were going to be crushed. Man, did that hurt like hell."

"God, please don't ever allow the black widow to punish me." George said. "It's too bad that Honey didn't remove her heart when she dissected her. It's probably hard as rock."

"She's not evil, George. She just has a demented nature when it comes to males."

"Sucks to be us," George said.

"No. It sucks to be me."

George chuckled.

"Have you found any good planets out there?" Marty asked.

"Not really. There's a lot of debris in this system and evidence of heavy weapons discharge. I think that the Dragon home world is no more."

"You're probably right, but we have to check it out anyway."

"I have located a suspicious hunk of debris," George said. "It looks like some sort of probe or a pod."

"How far away is it?"

"It's about 220,000 kilometers."

"Adjust course for the debris that he's referring to, Delphi."

"Yes, Martin."

A couple of minutes later, the X-5001 was approaching a large debris field in orbit around the alien star.

"Match our velocity with the debris, Delphi."

"Yes, Martin."

"What do you think that is?" Marty asked George.

"It looks like a pod," George said. "I'm picking up a weak energy signal from it."

"Is it a weapon?"

"I doubt it. The energy signal is much too small for a weapon."

"Pull that pod into the isolation hangar, Delphi."

"Yes, Martin."

"We'll have to get Ferris up for this," Marty said. "If there is anything living in that pod, we may need her assistance."

The isolation hangar was a special location for unknown alien objects. An explosion or biological attack could be kept at bay. Marty, Ferris, and Honey waited until an X-ray scan of the device was complete. Energy emissions indicate the presence of life support. After all precautions had been taken, Marty began the attempt to get inside the pod. After pressing several buttons on an interface at one side of the pod, a hatch swung open. Swirls of icy fumes emerged from the object.

When Marty approached the edge of the pod and looked in, he was taken back.

"What is it?" Ferris asked.

"I've never seen anything like it," Marty said.

The creature was attired in a long gown and had a face unlike any other creature the crew had encountered.

"How does this creature see?" Ferris asked. "It has no eyes."

"The face looks like a blank slate," Marty said. "I don't understand it."

"The sensory organs may be imbedded in its face," Honey suggested. "I believe that the surface of the face is very thin."

"Yes, you're right," Marty said, shining a flashlight in the unknown alien's face. There are features directly under the surface."

"I would love to dissect this creature," Honey said.

"It's yours," Marty said. "Have fun."

***

Angie came on the command deck and sat down in her command chair. "I understand the you pulled an alien pod in and found a new species."

"Yes. It was in the debris field that we believe to be from the Dragon home world."

"What do we know about it?"

"We'll get a complete report shortly. Honey is dissecting it."

"Isn't that a problem with ethics?" Angie said.

"How could that be. You allowed Honey to dissect you."

"Yes, but I gave her my permission. This is different."

"I don't see that we have any other choice," Marty said. "We need all of the information that we can get about these Cyborgs. This alien may provide us with that information."

"I agree."

Honey came on the command deck with the new alien.

"This is Hunta," Honey said. "She is from a planet near this system, and she has made a request to join our crew."

The alien was dressed in a long gown. Her face appeared completely blank. There was no sign of breasts, so Marty questioned Honey's gender assignment.

"Welcome," Angie said. "We will provide you needs."

"I am honored to join your mission," Hunta said, but the words were head in the crew's minds not in their ears.

"She is a telepath," Honey said. "We found an organ in her skull that is able to transmit thought patterns."

"She would be very valuable on a landing party," Marty said.

She certainly would.