Chapter No.7

We travel on the road to adventure
On a desert highway straight to the heart of the sun
Like lovers and heroes, and the restless part of everyone
We're only at home when we're on the run
On the run...

- Rush – Dreamline -

The crews of both starships stood on the main assembly deck of Space Port Alpha waiting for permission to board their respective vessels. They were a diverse group of humans and aliens. Brian's crew had a full marine regiment consisting of men and women from all nations of Earth. He also had 200 Mehen soldiers as well as some Drak females. His science people were all human.

That was not the case with Martin's crew. His group had a preponderance of aliens. His army units were mostly Drak females and his science people were both human and alien. Honey, Masai, Gem-Ado and Moto were all female aliens with Commander rank. Ninja was the exceptional alien male commander.

Arthur stood with several ULGP commissioners to watch the departure. A Mehen, Drak, Minotaur and Bird alien were among the individuals that were present. They all realized that this was a galactic war and it required the help of everyone.

Angie gestured to her people. "Let's go, and whatever you do, please make this look as professional as you can."

Several people smiled.

Angie and Marty rode over to the X-5001 with Yin and Yang as well as Honey, Wendy and Arby.

"Who is the member of your species on the X-4001," Marty asked Honey.

"We called her McDonald," Honey said.

Angie and Marty exchanged smiles.

"What are you three going to do while we're waking up this time?" Marty asked Honey.

"We are going to keep our noses to the grind stone. We do not want to be surprised by these scary Cyborg creatures."

"You have my permission to fire any weapon at any approaching Cyborg fleet," Angie said. "Under no circumstances will you allow this ship to be taken over by the enemy."

"I understand, ma'am," Honey said. She turned to Wendy and Arby. "Did you hear that kids? We will have to fight if the enemy attacks us."

"That sounds more interesting than having you spank us," Wendy said.

"We will spank the enemy instead," Arby said.

Marty smiled at Angie.

After the transport pod connected up to the X-5001, Angie, Marty, Yin, Yang, Honey, Wendy and Arby exited. They quickly boarded an elevator to go up to the command deck. Some of the crew was already settled into jump chairs. The rest would soon follow, the entire process being monitored by Delphi.

"I see that they've added more maintainance bots to this ship," Marty said as he settled into his chair.

"Yeah," Angie said. "They had one humongous cleaning job to do after they took over a thousand people off of this ship. Necessity is the mother of invention. The new bots are more functional."

"I like that," Honey said.

Angie turned to her. "What's that, Honey?"

"Necessity is the mother of invention. It's like hunger is the mother of cooking."

"Those similes are not equivalent," Arby said.

"It's not a simile. It's a saying."

"Yes," Wendy said. "A good simile is: your mind is like a broken computer."

Honey stared at both of them. "Now, children, let's be nice."

Marty chuckled.

"We have clearence to depart, Angie."

"Is everyone aboard, Delphi?"

"Yes, Angie."

"Take us out, Delphi."

"Yes, Angie."

The X-4001 was already out. The larger X-5001 aligned with its older sister and both ships accelerated out while the flat aliens began the task of injecting sedatives into arms.

***

"We have entered normal space, Honey."

"Adjust our course for the Drak planet, Delphi."

"Yes, Honey."

"You two get busy scanning for bad aliens," Honey told her kids.

"Who put you in charge?" Arby said.

"Excuse me, but I have Commander rank," Honey said. "No more lip or I'll put you in the burning cell. It not only inflicts the pain of burning but it gives the illusion of real fire."

"Can I watch?" Wendy asked. "That sounds like fun."

"Quiet, or I'll put you in the spanking cell for hours."

"Why are you being so mean?" Wendy asked.

"I'm not being mean. I just need you to get to work."

"Yes your Majesty," Arby said.

"Not Majesty; Commander. I'm not a queen."

"We will require a small jump to go to the Drak system, Honey."

"Take us to jump, Delphi."

"Yes, Honey."

After the jump began  Arby looked over at Wendy. "You and I had better behave ourselves.  I don't want to burn in hell, and I'm sure that you don't want your ass paddled."

"I agree."

"We have entered normal space, Honey."

"Reduce our velocity to 5000 kps, Delphi."

"Yes, Honey."

After several minutes of observation, Wendy reported. "I have detected one Dragon vessel in orbit around the Drak planet. There are at least a hundred Cyborg vessels approaching from outside the proto-comet field at 70 AU."

"Open COM to the X-4001, Delphi."

"COM opened, Honey."

"Do you see those enemy vessels, McDonald?"

"Yes. They are on intercept."

"We are going to fake them out," Honey said. "We are going to turn and get behind them. Then, we are each going to fire nova devices into them."

"I understand."

"Turn us as sharply as possible, Dephi. Please arm nova device in forward tube one."

"Yes, Honey."

"They've changed course," Wendy said. "They're trying to turn to intercept us."

"Good," Honey said. "When we are at the proper distance, please fire nova device coordinated with the X-4001, Delphi. Take us to jump before detonation."

"Yes, Honey"

The flat aliens never saw the nova detonations. They were just dropping out of jump when it happened and it would have required five years for the light and radiation to reach their location.

***

"Where are we, Honey?"

"We are on course to the Drak system, ma'am."

"We should be there by now," Angie said."What happened?"

"We were diverted by a Cyborg fleet, ma'am."

Angie's eyes ballooned. "Where are they now?"

"Blasted to smitherines," Honey said. "We turned sharply and put them behind us, fired nova devices from both ships and jumped before they detonated."

"You used the old 'turn tail' trick," Marty said, smiling.

"How far were they from the planet?" Angie asked.

"About 75 AU."

"That surely woke them up on the planet," Marty said. "But, I doubt it did any serious damage."

"The Drak planet has a magnetosphere three times stronger than that of your Earth," Wendy said. "That should have protected it."

"No matter; you did the right thing," Angie said.

"What's are ETA, Delphi?"

"At present velocity, 20.6 hours, Martin."

"Good. My tits feel like they're going to explode, and I think that many other women are in the same predicament." She stood up. "I'm going to take you up on your offer to milk me."

"Will you milk me, please," Uma said.

"Me too," Lucia said.

"Ditto," Anna said.

Marty ran a hand down his face. "Good grief." He stood up and looked around. "All those wishing to be milked, raise your hand."

All the human females, Masai, Mosai and several other alien females raised their hands.

"I can't do everyone." Marty looked around. "How about you, George."

George held a hand up. "I don't know anything about milking. I'm a city boy."

None of the other men indicated a desire to help Marty, except for Jean-Michel.

"I'll help. I also grew up on a farm."

"Thank you. I appreciate the help."

"Take over Honey," Angie said.

"Yes, ma'am."

Marty and Jean-Michel followed the exodus of women off the command deck.

"I do not see any signs of Cyborg ships in this system," Ninja said.

"That is because we blew them to bits," Honey said.

"Your tactics were well thought out," Ninja said to Honey. "You are an accomplished warrior."

"Thank you, but my motivation is fear of these bad aliens."

"Yes, but you overcame your fear to do what must be done. All warriors have fear, but they do not let it stop them from doing their duty."

"Maybe I should read war novels," Honey said. "It would give me an idea of what being a soldier is all about."

***

"We are in stable orbit, Angie."

"Thank you, Delphi."

"Are you going down?" Marty asked her.

"Yes. I'll take Tyler, Lia and Moto. If I need any help, I'll give you a call."

"Yes, Admiral."

Angie and her landing party went to the auxiliary deck and boarded a Lander. Once the vessel was clear of the X-5001, Angie fired breaking engines to enter the atmosphere, and quickly flew to the city that contained the government building. When she and her crew exited the Lander, they were met by a receiving party, including the male Dragon.

"We are grateful for your help," the Dragon said. "Your ships destroyed a large Cyborg fleet that was on course to destroy this planet."

"That is why we came back," Angie said. "We are under orders to destroy the Cyborgs, but we will need your help to do that."

"You have my undivided service," the Dragon said.

"We will require the locations of all of your former bases that have fallen under control of the Cyborgs. We can not examine all of them, but we will make an effort to do so. The main goal is to find the Cyborg home world and destroy it."

"You will have it, Commander."

"We have another request," Angie said. "If we rescue any of your people from a Cyborg base, we would like to have at least two more of your females."

"You have my permission to take possession of any female that you find."

"Thank you."

The approach of the alpha female was a rare event on the Drak planet. She was so grateful for the salvation of her planet that she honored Angie and her crew with accolades.

"We are eternally grateful for what you have done, Commander," she said. "We offer you four of our females for your service as reward."

"We are grateful for your generosity," Angie said. "We can use all the help that we can get. I give you my promise that your people will be treated with respect. In the meantime, we will leave one of our ships in your system to guard against any attack."

"Thank you, Commander."

"That will not be necessary, Commander," the Dragon said. "We have a number of ships scheduled to arrive here to help protect these people. You must not split your forces unnecessarily."

"I agree," Angie said. "We will return here after each mission to keep the enemy off guard."

The Dragon seemed to be satisfied with that revelation.

***

Marty sat on a bench in the small swimming pool chamber between his and Angie's quarters. Jean-Michel was standing in line at the diving board for his turn. Tyler dove into the water and Andy mounted the board for his turn. George, Karl, Theodore and Edward sat alongside Marty to wait their turn.

"Did you two enjoy milking the women?" a grinning Theodore asked Marty.

"Actually, we didn't do it. Onuki had the two Dragon females do it."

"No kidding," George said. "I can't even imagine that."

"I would have enjoyed getting my hands on all of those tits," Edward said.

"I'm not so sure that would be so great," Marty said. "I guess the idea of milking a woman's tits kind of detracts from the eroticism of the breast."

When the door to Angie's quarters opened all male heads turned to watch the entrance of the black widow.

"Good evening, gentlemen."

Marty saluted. "Good evening, Admiral."

"Do you men realize that you're supposed to be on duty?"

Marty developed an immediate frown. "Really?"

"Yes, really. When a landing party is away, all duty time is extended until the landing party returns."

"I'm sorry," Marty said. "I should have known."

"Are you going to punish us, ma'am?" Karl asked.

"I take full responsibility," Marty said. "If you're going to punish anyone, punish me."

Angie looked at Marty before looking at the other men. "You can take your showers and leave." She turned to Marty. "You stay put."

"Yes, Admiral."

Angie went back into her quarters, leaving Marty standing there. He eventually sat down on a bench. After the other men had showered, dressed and left, Angie came back out of her quarters.

"I didn't give you permission to relax."

Marty got up and stood at attentiion.

"You're supposed to set an example for the crew, not encourage them to break rules. I count on you to maintain discipline and here you are violating conduct codes left and right. You should have known better."

"I'm sorry, Admiral. I screwed up. Are you going to punish me?"

"I don't know," she said, rubbing her jaw as if in pensive thought. "Do you think I should?"

"I don't know." He said, relaxing his stance. "Maybe you should."

"I really don't want to," she said.

"I think that you should. I violated the rule."

"I didn't tell you to relax."

He straightened up. "Sorry."

"Okay, but how do you want to be punished: confinement to quarters, no meals for a day, calisthenics?" she asked him.

"Please don't confine me."

"I can't do that anyway. I need you. I'll have to come up with something else."

After staring at him for a few minutes, Angie walked over to the door to her quarters but before she enered, she looked back. "Well, get your ass in here."

"May I get dressed first?"

"No. Quit procrastinating and get in here."

"Yes, Admiral." He followed her into her quarters, but stayed near the door as if he were afraid to enter the black widow's den.

"Stand over here," she ordered him, pointing at a spot in the center of her reading area. After she watched him walk over to the spot she had designated, she sat down in an easy chair.

"I'd like permission to put something on," Marty said.

"Permission denied."

"Yes, ma'am."

Spread your legs apart."

"What?"

"Assume a wide stance."

He did, but it wasn't wide enough.

"Come on; make it wider." She waited for him to obey. "Wider." She waited again. "Okay, now put your arms up."

"Yes, ma'am," he said, wincing.

"Stretch your arms higher. Come on; stretch."

"How long do I have to stand like this? This is very uncomfortable."

"Stop complaining."

"Yes, ma'am."

After several minutes, Marty's calves and thighs began to quiver and his abdomen and chest muscles flexed faster.

"You realize that you wouldn't have to do this if you behaved."

"I realize that, ma'am. I'm sorry."

"Saying that isn't good enough. You should try harder to be a good model for the rest of the men."

"I will, ma'am. May I relax, please? This hurts."

"That's too bad."

She waited until he looked like he was really in pain. "Okay, relax."

He blew out a relieved breath.

He didn't get much time to relax.

"What I want you to do is stand on your toes and keep your arms stretched high."

After several minutes, Marty began to quickly shift weight from one foot to the other to gain relief. His calf muscles knotted and his thighs jiggled as he danced around on his toes. His face muscles tightened from the strain of trying to maintain his balance.

Meanwhile Angie swung the bottom of her chair forward so that she could put her legs up, and she tilted the chair back to get more comfortable, even slipping out of her shoes for added effect.

"Please, ma'am, this is painful," Marty said as he struggled to stay up on his toes.

"That's not my problem," Angie told him. "Stretch those arms up higher."

"Please, ma'am. This really hurts."

"That's too bad."

After ten more minutes of struggling, Marty began to moan. "This hurts really bad."

"Okay, you can relax."

"Thank you," he said, rubbing his sore calf muscles. "That really hurts."

Angie yawned. "This chair is wonderful. I can really get relaxed in it." She frowned. "You, on the other hand, shall stand at attention."

"I'm sorry, ma'am."

"I want you to put your hand behind your head, and then I want you to squat."

He gave her a pained look before he obeyed her, but he found it difficult to maintain balance.

"Keep your hand behind your head."

"Now I want you to duck walk around the room."

Marty began the duck walk, but he was struggling with keeping his hands on his head."

She wanted to laugh at him, but she smiled instead. "Keep your hands behind your head."

"I'm trying, but it's hard."

After several trips back and forth, Marty was breathing hard. "How long are you going to make me do this? I'm exhausted."

"You wanted me to punish you. Have you changed your mind?"

"No, ma'am."

"Well then, allow me to do my job."

"Yes, ma'am."

After five more cycles, Angie held a hand up like a traffic cop. "You can stop."

Marty was breathing hard and sweating, but he calmly stood at attention to await his next torment. Despite the pain, he was resigned to enduring this punishment because his tormentor looked relaxed and pleased. He was happy to suffer for her if it made her happy. The last thing he wanted was for her to be angry, especially at him.

Angie waited until he calmed down. "Okay, I want you to bend your left leg and hold it behind you. Raise your other arm high. Keep that position until I tell you to stop."

"This is extremely uncomfortable," he said, tying to keep his balance.

"It doesn't bother me."

"How much longer are you going to punish me?"

"Actually, I'm just getting started," she said, yawing. "I have nothing else on my schedule for the rest of the evening. Do you want me to stop?"

"No, ma'am."

"Okay, bend your right leg this time and stretch your left arm up. And, I want you to stand on your toes."

After a few minutes of trying to keep his balance, Marty winced. "This really hurts."

"I can imagine," she said, holding a hand to her mouth to hide a yawn.

"Please, this is hurting like hell."

"Okay, stop and reverse legs, but stand on your toes this time."

After several minutes of effort, Marty cried from the pain. "Ow! This really hurts!"

"That's too bad. Keep going."

"Ow! Ow! I can't stand it anymore. Please have mercy."

"Okay, you can relax," Angie said. She waited until he stopped breathing hard. "I want you to walk around on your toes and keep your arms up high."

"Yes, ma'am."

She watched him dance around the room on his toes, struggling to maintain his balance. The grimace on his face attested to the pain he was enduring.

"This is really hurting," he cried.

"I've just begun your punishment, and you're already complaining."

"I'm sorry, ma'am," he said, gritting his teeth. "But, it hurts like hell."

"As I said before, you wouldn't have to do this if you would learn to obey rules."

"I understand, ma'am," he said in a higher pitched voice. "But, I can barely stand the pain. It really hurts like the devil."

"I can see that," she said. "But, we have several hours to go. I'm just getting warmed up."

Marty's whole body began to tremble as he tried desperately to maintain his balance, and he moaned and cried in pain.

"You can stop," Angie said.

The look on Marty's face was that of abject relief. "My calf muscles are burning like the devil."

"I don't know what to do with you. I'm trying to punish you, but all you're doing is complaining."

"I apologize, ma'am, but it hurts."

"That's not my problem. You requested that I punish you, so I am."

"I understand, ma'am."

"Good. Then let me continue. We have all evening left."

"Yes, ma'am.

***

When she saw him enter the command deck and take his seat, Angie looked at Marty and smiled. "Did you enjoy your punishment session last evening?"

"Oh sure. I just love pain and suffering," Marty replied in a sarcastic voice.

"Are you two fighting again?" George asked.

"No, not at all," Marty said. "She rightfully disciplined me for allowing all of you men to take a break when you weren't supposed to."

"Are you still going to punish us, ma'am?" George asked.

"I don't know. I guess I will, but right now we have to get busy and find the damn Cyborgs."

"Where are we going?" Marty asked Angie.

Angie looked over at Karl.

"It's a G3 class star that is a 100 light years away," Karl said.

"Take us up to jump speed, Delphi."

"Yes, Angie."

"So, what are you going to do to them?" Marty asked her.

"I don't know, but you're included in whatever I do."

"Why? You've already punished me."

"That was for not being responsible as an officer. You still have to be punished for not being on duty in an emergency situation."

"Oh."

"Jump will commence in ten minutes, Angie."

"Execute on count, Delphi."

The crew remained silent for the ten minutes. There was a certain anxiety running through the people like static electricity. The Cyborgs were equivalent to a boogy man. However, the human men feared Angie more than the Cyborgs. She was the black widow.