Valor
by Melanie Brown
Copyright  © 2018 Melanie Brown

Ensign Holloway got pranked at the wrong time.

 

---

 

“Who’s the wise guy?!” I yelled as I ran into the day room/mess hall, dressed only in my skivvies and holding a uniform in one hand.

There were several groans from the officer berthing area saying, “Shut up, Holloway.” Only the highest officers got private rooms.

Several others that were going on duty the same time as me stopped getting dressed and shouted through open hatchways, “What’s your problem, Holloway?”

The ship’s captain, on her way to the officer’s mess stopped. “You’re out of uniform, ensign. What are you griping about today?” If it wasn’t for her perpetual snarl and butch haircut, the captain would have no charms at all.

I held up the uniform I was carrying. “Look at this captain! Some joker reprogrammed my uniform dispenser and I can’t change it back.” Instead of having to deal with doing any laundry, the Alliance Space Defense recycled the material used in the uniforms and created a brand new uniform daily. At the end of the day, you would deposit the uniform you were wearing into the deposal chute.

Annoyed that she had to deal with an issue instead of eating breakfast, the captain sighed, “And just what is wrong with your uniform, Ensign Holloway?”

I let it dangle in front of me. “It’s a woman’s uniform. Someone’s idea of a joke.” This wasn’t the first time I’d been pranked since being assigned to the Parmenter a month ago.

Captain Lockhart laughed. “You have to admit that’s original. And you are on the small side.”

Lieutenant Martin, the ship’s Executive Officer laughed. “Are you sure you meet the height requirements?”

Fuming, I scowled. “You forget I scored the highest on the intelligence gathering exam.”

The captain frowned at me. “Yes, we’re all well aware of your over-qualifications to be here. I’ll order maintenance to fix your dispenser this week sometime, but in the meantime, wear that uniform and be on the bridge in fifteen minutes. Our Deep Space RADAR units have detected sub-ether harmonics from three bogies entering this area. We expect them to emerge from the jump fairly close to us. You’ll need to do some quick probing before they can switch to their emergency charge and bug out.” CoDom ships require half an hour recharge minimum before making their next jump. Unless they use their emergency charge which will only take them about a parsec. Not far, but out of our probing range.

I frowned. “Aye ma’am.”

As I turned to return to my quarters, two female ensigns said in unison, “Don’t forget the regulation panties!” They then laughed.

Captain Lockhart tried to hide a smile. “That’s enough frivolity. I need every on-duty officer on the deck in fifteen minutes.” She turned and went to the XO’s table to grab something quick to eat.

I tossed the female uniform on my bunk and scowled at it.

Johnson, who had just finished with putting on his uniform said, “Better double-time it, Holloway. You heard the captain.”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah,” I muttered. I picked up the panties as well as the bra. I knew if I didn’t wear it, some bastard would declare I was out of uniform. I then ran to the shower, which was little more than a closet with a spout on the ceiling and a drain on the floor. Of course real showers were forbidden. We could only take “Navy” showers because water use was tightly controlled.

I hit the shower’s activate button and was blasted by a stream of hot, soapy water. Next came the worst part; a quick blast of cold water to rinse off. Warm jets blew on all sides to quickly dry me. Could be worse, I thought. One and two man Deep Space RADAR scout ships don’t even have a shower.

After struggling with the bra and sliding the panties up, I put on the pants and blouse. The bra was exactly my size as was the rest of the uniform. You gotta hand it to those uniform dispensers. I was surprised at how comfortable the material was in the women’s uniform. I stretched and made a few poses. Except for the obvious female cut of the uniform, I could get used to this. I frowned at the women’s regulation shoes. I hope they get my dispenser reprogrammed soon.

I left the rather silly looking women’s regulation cap on my bed. We’re not permitted to wear hats inside the ship anyway. There were a few single use bottles of various cosmetics. No way was I touching those.

Running and out of breath, I slid into the bridge. “Ensign Holloway reporting, Captain.”

Captain Lockhart glanced at the bridge clock. “You’re late.”

I nodded. “I’m sorry, captain. I had some difficulty with the bra, ma’am.”

There was some snickering around the bridge.

The communications officer, a woman, frowned at me. “Where’s your make-up, ensign? That’s part of the standard uniform.”

Several in the room laughed.

“Are you shitting me?” I almost shouted.

Captain Lockhart turned to me, her voice tinged with anger. “You’re out of line, ensign.” She turned to the officer who called out my lack of make-up. “I think the ensign can dispense with that regulation, under the circumstances. However, another outburst like that and I may decide to enforce it.”

An alarm bell sounded from the ship’s console. The navigator shouted, “Proximity alert! Proximity alert” I ran to my probe station and started punching buttons. Sometimes probing a CoDom’s ships computer can be a bit hairy as both our ship and theirs are moving at completely different vectors with risk of a collision. This time it should be a piece of cake as we were currently stationary and even if they came in hot, they’ll still be in range for at least sixty seconds, which is more than enough time for the high-speed probes.

The collision warning began to sound as three CoDom vessels suddenly dropped out of the sub Ether almost on top of us. Two vessels were “above” us and one to one side. Directions were always in reference to the X, Y and Z axis of the ship. These ships weren’t supposed to be in their positions. They were supposed to be moving, and about a thousand kilometers off our port bow. These ship’s positions were impossible without knowing in advance what our jump codes were.

The navigator slowly backed from his post, turned and made a dead run for the bridge exit. The captain, all her senses on high alert shouted to the guard posted at the door, “Stop him!” Only the Alliance Command Center and the navigator would have advanced knowledge of our planned jumps. And the ACC isn’t likely to give intel to CoDom forces.

The guard shot him with a stun pistol and he dropped hard to the deck.

“Take him to the brig,” snarled Captain Lockhart. “If we’re boarded, kill him.”

“Aye, captain,” said the guard as he bent down to pick up the limp navigator.

The weapons officer turned to the captain. “They are powering up an unknown device. We have no defense against whatever it is.”

Gritting her teeth, Captain Lockhart leaned back in her seat. “Phase disruptors at full. If it’s an energy weapon we may be able to partially diffuse it. Ensign Holloway. Intel report.”

I pushed a button on the console before turning to the captain. As far as I knew, we were all about to die in a few seconds and my only duty before death was to transmit the collected data the Alliance Command Center. “CoDom ship scan complete. I just sent the intel to Alliance Comma…”

The interior of the ship was filled with bright orangish light. I felt suddenly numb and my legs couldn’t support me and I fell. Captain Lockhart fell unconscious from her chair and all went black.

*          *          *

I don’t know how long we were out, but I awoke to a splitting headache and blurry vision. I shook my head to try to clear it. I had a difficult time in trying to regain my feet. A CoDom marine helped me to stand, which really surprised me.

Captain Lockhart sat up straight in her seat and quickly scanned the room. One of the CoDom Marines on the bridge, from his stance and demeanor showed him to clearly be in command. Standing next to him, wearing a smirk was our disloyal navigator.

The captain stood straight and looked directly at the CoDom officer. “Well, captain. You seem to have me at a disadvantage.”

The CoDom captain grinned. “You think? Forgive my manners. I am CoDom Marine captain Akynerzaev, at your service madam captain.” He bowed slightly. “You’ll be happy to know that your ship wasn’t just a random target of opportunity for a snatch of slaves and technology. We’ve had this planned for weeks, actually. Though your ship is full of goodies and fun toys…”

I interrupted. “I shorted out all the main systems when a superior force surrounded us and incinerated our cargo.” We were carrying some components for an experimental weapons system to a remote, lifeless system because it was just too powerful to test in an inhabited system.

Captain Akynerzaev pointed at me and laughed. “Of course you did. Standard procedure, right? No matter. They only new technology on this tub is that thing you used to try to scramble our neural disruptor. Might have succeeded too if our disruptor wasn’t constantly changing frequency. We already have the specs on the new weapon you were carrying. Cute toy. Where was I? Oh yes. The toys are fun, but our primary interest in the Parmenter is the crew. There’re what? A crew of seventy-five on board? And out of that, twenty are women. From what intel we could gather, your crew, especially the women, are tough as nails marines and top notch engineers. A crew that any captain would just pop his buttons in pride to command. Am I right?”

Captain Lockhart shrugged. “No comment.”

Captain Akynerzaev grinned broadly. “No need to be coy, captain. Besides. You all belong to the CoDom Empire now.”

The navigator stepped up to Captain Lockhart and jabbed a finger at her. “You bitch! You were going to have me killed! A helpless prisoner!”

Captain Aknerzaev looked annoyed at being interrupted. “Your calculations were flawless, Lieutenant for bringing us to this exact location.” The navigator’s grin widened.

The navigator snapped his fingers. “Piece of cake, captain.”

Captain Aknerzaev expression twisted to a deep frown. “But you were sloppy.” He pointed at me. “You were supposed to kill the intelligence officer just before we arrived. Your failure to do so, means that a scan of all our critical systems was sent, undetectable to us, over a sub-ether transmission.” The CoDom captain quickly pulled his side arm, a rather nasty looking microwave pistol, and quickly burned a hole through the navigator’s brain. He dropped lifeless to the deck.

Aknerzaev smiled as he casually put his pistol back into its holster. “I apologize for his rather boorish behavior. Now where was I again? Oh yes. You should take some pride in the knowledge that you and the rest of your female crew are going to join us in the first mass testing of our latest interrogation tool. What is it, you’re about to ask? Sorry, I’ve monologued enough already.”

The CoDom captain turned to the detachment of marines standing on the bridge. “Remove the crew to the Doblestnyy, taking all females to the test chamber. Then blow this bucket to bits.”

*          *          *

The CoDom ship we were being taken to, had cut a hole in the side of our vessel and extended a temporary seal between the two ships. We were marched through this make-shift airlock. The corridor split in front of us. Marines were forcing male crew down one hall and females down the other. I followed the man in front of me as we started down the corridor.

A CoDom marine grabbed my arm. “Where do you think you’re going?” He pointed down the other corridor. “This way.”

“But that’s where you’re taking the women,” I protested, though I don’t know why. We could just being led to separate execution chambers.

The marine laughed. “You must be one the smart ones. Get moving.”

Before he pushed me away, I said, “I was top in my class…” I was then shoved in with the women crew.

A female officer, not sure of her name, looked at me. “Why are you with us?”

Despite of our unknown future, another woman giggled. “It’s his uniform!”

The other officer shook her head. “When they get his uniform off, they’ll probably just kill him.”

“We should be so lucky,” said the other, grimly.

We were herded into a long, narrow, but cramped space. For the twenty, well, twenty-one including me, of us, it was a tight fit.

Captain Aknerzaev stood on a catwalk looking down at us. “Isn’t this exciting? We’re not even sure what will happen.”

Captain Lockhart looked up at him and shouted, “I invoke the Organian Treaty! I demand you tell me what you’re going to do with my crew!”

Grinning, the CoDom captain announced, “Officer of the Day, please note in the record my compliance with the Organian Treaty request.”

“Yes Captain!” The officer typed some keys on the pad computer he was holding.

“Well, Captain Lockhart, I have no real accommodations for your crew. I regret that most will have a miserable trip. Your male crew members will, if they survive a thorough and painful interrogation, will be transported to one of our farming planets where they will work until they drop.”

Captain Lockhart scowled fiercely. “And my women?”

The CoDom captain grinned broadly. “This will be the fun part! Notice the shower heads above you? You will get a chemical bath and trust me, some of you need one followed by a release of a special radiation treatment that will excite the gas surrounding you. Don’t worry. We’re not trying to kill you. It will make you a more desirable female. A more enhanced you if you will. Bigger tits, a more sensitive clitoris, more sensuous lips, curvier hips, more grace, an enhanced libido and beautiful long blonde hair. Unfortunately for you, it will also dumb you down some. Hey, nobody likes brainy women, right? I understand the process is quite painful, so let’s hop to it, shall we?” He turned on his heel and hurried down the catwalk and then out a hatchway that was quickly sealed and latched.

A hissing sound emanated from the shower heads above us. The room was filled with a very foul odor. Some of us started to cough. A brownish fog started spewing from the fixtures over our heads. It became hard to breathe and everyone in the chamber started to double over in pain. Whatever chemical we were being bathed in dissolved our clothes and very swiftly we were all nude.

I was near Captain Lockhart and was shocked to see her dark brown buzz cut turn blonde and then start to grow long. Her tits began to increase in size. And then I was in too much misery to pay attention to her.

A blinding silver blue light exploded inside the chamber striking everyone with a sharp pain and a very severe headache.

The top of my head began to itch like crazy. I felt feverish and as if someone had punched me in the stomach. Long strands of blonde hair began to fall across my eyes. The hip bone actually started to hurt as it began to stretch. I watched two mounds start to grow on my chest. And then the worst pain of all. My dick essentially started to shrink and a slit began to form between my legs. My God, what was happening to me?

As if reading my mind, Captain Lockhart stared at me and groaned from her own pain, “Shit, Holloway. You’re turning into a girl.”

Grunting my words out, I said, “That’s…not…possible.”

Someone I couldn’t see shouted, “We’re all becoming big breasted blondes!”

Several women around me started to giggle.

Just as we all collapsed to the floor, warm water began shooting from the jets over our heads and washed the chemical residue from our bodies. We all lay on the chamber floor, wet, cold and giggling for some reason.

As I lay on the chamber floor, my body tingled all over. A quick inspection with my hand confirmed my worst suspicion. I was no longer male. How was that even possible? What did they do to us?

Most of us were at least sitting up when Captain Aknerzaev stepped back out on the catwalk, along with some bald guy wearing a white lab coat. I couldn’t help but giggle when I saw them.

The CoDom captain grinned broadly. “I think I’d call that a roaring success, wouldn’t you agree, doctor?”

The one addressed as “doctor” smiled as well. “Yes. Yes. Look at all these women. Now they are all just girls with big tits and round asses along with roughly twenty-five percent reduced cognitive abilities. They’re all just basically bimbos and all would now be considered around eighteen years of age.” He paused as he looked happily over his handiwork. “Oh. I also stopped your menstrual cycle so no more periods. You’re welcome.”

Captain Aknerzaev looked thoughtful for a moment. “Just curious, doc. What would this process do to a man?”

The doc shrugged. “Probably nothing. All the process does is enhance the feminine features already present. Want to try it on a few male prisoners?”

The CoDom captain shook his head. “Nah. We really don’t have time. And besides, with the exception of the humiliation of it, who wants to fuck a man, no matter what he looks like?”

I stood there, running my hands along my body. I’m a fucking girl! It’s insane! It doesn’t make sense. But here I am.

I grabbed Captain Lockhart’s arm. “Captain!” I gasped. “I’m a girl! I mean, look!”

The captain pulled her arm from my grasp and she sighed heavily. “Welcome to the club, ensign.”

Captain Lockhart pulled herself up to stand straight at her full height, which was now an inch or two shorter. “Alright Captain Aknerzaev. This is quite a joke on us. You’ve had your fun, now restore us.”

The CoDom doctor smiled. “I’m sorry, girl. But none of this can be reversed.”

Captain Lockhart shouted angrily. “I’m not a ‘girl’! I’m a captain in the Alliance Space Defense!”

The CoDom captain shook his head and talked down to us. “Not anymore, *girl*. You are now merely property of the CoDom Empire.”

Waving her arm to encompass all the women in the chamber, the captain asked, “What of these women? What are your plans for us?”

Captain Aknerzaev grinned wide. “I’m glad you asked, girl. One of the things our process did to you was to ramp up your libido. When the effects of the processing wears off, all of you will be as horny as hell. While we take a break for a few days, I think my officers need a little R&R. And that’s where you girls come in.”

I whispered to Captain Lockhart, “Something’s wrong. CoDom ships never sit in one spot for longer than it takes to recharge the jump engines.”

The captain sneered at the CoDom captain. “You went to all this trouble to just make us sex slaves?” She laughed.

Unperturbed, Captain Aknerzaev shrugged. “Now that you are all just docile sex crazed big boobed blonde bimbos, you’ll enjoy being fucked. Don’t worry. We’ve also disabled your reproductive systems. And no. This isn’t why we did this. It’s an experiment. High Command has their plans for captured women treated with this process and I have mine. I personally rather like my plan better. Guards! Herd these sluts to their holding pen. I’ll work out a schedule for each officer.”

As the guards started to push us from the chamber and down a corridor, I suddenly felt sick to my stomach. “Captain! This is crazy. I have an overwhelming desire for cock. It’s hard to think of anything else.”

Captain Lockhart nodded as we were pushed along. “I feel it too, Holloway. Try to resist. I know it’s hard. There’s a few of us, that while mentally diminished, can still think straight. We need to come up with a plan.”

I giggled. “I hope that plan includes that cute lieutenant escorting us.”

The captain frowned at me. “You have to resist, ensign. And you’re right. He is cute.” She giggled.

*          *          *

A couple of the men had lined us up in a row in front of our quarters. Then other men would pick one of us and leave with her in tow to their quarters or who knows where. I stood naked as the others, shaking in fear. I couldn’t believe what they were doing.

An officer walked up to one of the men. I recognized him as the cute lieutenant that had been part of our escort. “Did you save me the one I requested?” He pointed at me. “The shy one.”

“I sure did, Nicholai. She’s all yours.”

Nicholai slowly approached me. He shook his head as he grinned. “Damn, you’re pretty.” I hadn’t had a chance to see myself, but I couldn’t imagine being pretty.

He took my hand. “Come with me, little one.” I deeply resented him calling me that even though all us girls looked to be eighteen and talked and acted like prostitutes. Some of the girls actually begged the men to fuck them. The sight shocked me, but I also knew it wasn’t their fault.

As we walked together, I have to admit that I was scared to death. He had chosen me for sex. On one hand, the thought of having sex with a man revolted me. But my conditioning made me excited at the idea. My only solace was knowing that this really cute guy was going to be fucking a man. Well, an ex-man I guess. There was nothing externally male left of me.

He stopped outside a berthing area with ten bunks. “This is my bunk, miss. Such as it is. My bunk mates left so I could have some privacy with you.” At least he didn’t call me slut or whore like I’d heard other guys call the girls they’d taken. He closed the hatchway behind us and locked it.

I stood there, shaking like a leaf as he came up behind me and touched my shoulders and kissed the back of my neck. “Don’t be frightened little one. I would never hurt a woman as beautiful as you.” Would he hurt me if I was ugly?

He stepped in front of me and looked into my eyes. He brushed loose strands of hair from my face and ran his fingers down my cheek. He grinned. “How can someone look both sexy and innocent at the same time?” I thought about how he doesn’t know he’s going to be the one to pop my cherry. I’m sure if it’d been known that I had never had sex with a man before that a fight would have broken out to be the first one inside me. Oh God. I’m going to have a man inside me. I felt sick.

He pulled his shirt off and then leaned in and kissed my neck. And that’s when my conditioning kicked in. I moaned slightly with a sense of pleasure as he continued to kiss me. I met his kisses with my own and nibbling on his neck and ear. With his fingers, he turned my head towards him and his lips found mine. I slid my arms around his neck and pulled myself to him. I slid my tongue past his lips and I felt him suck on it.

I pulled back from him and grinned wickedly. I then started to kiss his muscled chest as I slowly slid down in front of him. When I got to my knees, I reached up and grabbed the bulge in his pants. I heard him moan. I loosened his belt and pulled his pants down. I could see his cock pressing against his skivvies. I slowly pulled down his underwear and his impressive manhood stood at attention for me. Any other time, being this close to a man’s penis would have revolted me. But now I longed for it. I had to possess it.

I ran my tongue along the length of the engorged shaft. Nicholai moaned loudly and grabbed my hair. I opened my lips and pushed his cock into my mouth. He then began to push his dick in and out of my mouth. I sucked on it.

Nicholai then pulled out of my mouth and led me by my hair to his bunk. He pushed me back onto the bunk as he climbed on top of me. He kissed me deeply as he massaged one breast as he slid his other hand to my pussy. He pressed against my clitoris and – and oh my God! I almost screamed with the intense flow of pleasure. I dug my nails into the flesh of his back. His cock then penetrated me. It hurt at first and I was engulfed in a body-wide sense of intense pleasure. I moved my hips to meet his rhythm as he slid in and out of me. My breathing became harder. I couldn’t believe I heard myself calling out, “Fuck me! Oh! God, fuck me!” He made one hard, final thrust into me as he shot his sperm.

He lay on top of me, his cock still pulsing inside me. We lay there for what seemed a long time with him kissing me as he slowly went limp still inside. That was the most intense sex I’ve ever had, not that I’ve had a lot.

He stood up and started to step into his underwear. “I need to take you back. Girl, you were great.” I smiled at him.

I stood up and he took my hand and led me back to the girls’ quarters.

*          *          *

We were all sprawled on bunks or laying on the floor or in groups excitedly chatting. We were all still quite naked. And I was no longer a virgin. I smiled at the memory of being with that one cute lieutenant, Nicholai. The experience was totally incredible. I couldn’t wait to get fucked again.

The captain beat the crap of the man who tried to fuck her.

The captain, three others and myself were sitting on one of the bunks away from the others. Of the twenty women crewmembers and myself, we were the only ones with any consistency in our ability to think. The others had become nothing more than boy-crazy teens.

Captain Lockhart sighed as she looked around at us four. “Girls, we need a plan. First, we need to know what we know. We’ll brainstorm this. Ellison, did you find out anything from that really gorgeous man in engineering?”

Ellison giggled. “My name is Bunny, now. Call me Bunny.”

The captain rolled her eyes. “Okay Bunny. Did you find out anything?”

Bunny bit her lower lip as she tried to think. “God he was hot. Anyway, I heard them talking in engineering. The jump drive coils imploded. They’re having to cannibalize the smaller of the three ships for parts. They expect three more days. They’re in CoDom space so they’re not concerned much.”

The captain nodded. “I’ve heard discipline is pretty loose on CoDom ships. We can use that to our advantage. The crew thinks we’re all just a bunch of stupid girls fit only for fucking.”

“I like fucking,” I said with a giggle.

Captain Lockhart frowned at me. “You got lucky girl. Most of the others experienced something closer to rape than sex.”

Another officer said, “They all carry key cards to open doors and shit. If we could steal one of those, we’d have more access to the ship.”

The captain smiled at the officer and ruffled her hair. “Great idea. And if we could steal a weapon, we might be able to free the men from the brig. They’re all battle hardened marines so they’d have a chance to take over this ship.”

Thinking a bit more clearly, I said, “They’d have to do it quickly so the other two ships aren’t warned and so no one has the chance to remotely disable the jump controls.” The captain nodded.

Another woman frowned at the captain. “Why do we need the men? There’re five of us. This ship is just for hit and runs. It’s lightly crewed. Hitting during the standard sleep cycle, I’m convinced we could take control of this ship.”

Captain Lockhart looked at the lieutenant sadly. “Any other time, I’d agree with you. But with our conditioning, we can’t trust ourselves. We’re just as likely to want the first gorgeous man we see to fuck us instead of engaging in combat. And there are a lot of gorgeous men on this ship. Who knew CoDom men were so hot?”

Bunny said, “Focus, captain. Focus.”

The captain nodded. “This is what I mean. The conditioning makes us get too easily distracted. And as much as I hate to say, it, we can’t risk Holloway. We need her as she’s had training in using CoDom nav systems. We need to free the men first.”

I couldn’t help but smile. My captain needs me. I looked around at the other girls. “Since they’re replacing the jump coils from the smaller ship onto the larger jump engine of this ship, recharge time will be between forty-five and sixty minutes. I doubt they’ll wake the crew during recharging. I know we don’t. But a few minutes after they’re at max charge, they’ll wake the crew and make the jump. I’d bet Bunny’s life the jump is already programmed into the console. So we won’t have much time.”

Captain Lockhart nodded. “You’re probably right. Okay, girls. First things first. We must secure a key card in the next day or two. Once the repairs are made, we’ll have less than an hour before the ship jumps and we’re sex toys the rest of our lives. We’ll know when the charging starts because of the distinct vibration in the ship.”

Almost in unison, we all said, “Aye, ma’am.”

*          *          *

A day went by and none of us had a chance to steal a key card. We couldn’t trust any of the other women with the mission of obtaining a key card. Many of them had been blabbing military secrets in exchange for sex.

Scuttlebutt among the CoDom crew is that they were getting anxious about the time it was taking to retro-fit the smaller jump coil to the ship’s engine. They were getting nervous being sitting ducks even though they were in CoDom space. The captain didn’t want to call a tender in for the repairs as it would take longer to arrive than their estimate for the repairs. In their hurry to effect repairs, they had damaged the replacement coil which was going to cause a half day delay on top of the original estimate.

I’d already been in the line up three times in one day, but they put me out one more time. I was tired and sore. And with so much sex, I didn’t exactly feel “fresh”. It no longer bothered me to stand naked before horny men.

A man, obviously drunk, stumbled up to make his selection. He pointed at me. “I’ll take the cute one.”

The man guarding us chuckled and said, “They’re all cute, sir.”

Looking pissed, the man walked up and gruffly grabbed my arm. “This one!”

The guard looked worried about his selection. “Have her back in about an hour, sir. The XO keeps this one on reserve.” So Nicholai is the ship’s XO? He’s the only one who treats me decently.

The man holding me waved his arm dismissively. “Fuck the XO.” He then pulled me down the corridor to his quarters. Well, just like Alliance ships, except for executive officers, there weren’t any private quarters.

As he pushed me into his room, he started to pull his pants down. He didn’t step out of them as he didn’t bother to remove his boots. He slapped my naked ass and pushed me onto one of the bunks.

“I heard you were good, bitch. And I’m horny as hell and I take great pleasure in fucking Alliance women.”

I winced with pain as he shoved his cock into me. I hadn’t gotten wet and he didn’t use any lube. He wanted his pleasure to be painful for me.

As he pounded his cock into me, he shouted, “Come on, bitch! Beg for it!”

Through gritted teeth, I muttered, “Woo hoo. Fuck me, Daddy.”

He made one last violent thrust into me, shot his load and then passed out on top of me. Terrific, I thought. I started to wriggle out from under him. He was a heavy bastard. His cock finally slipped out as I pulled out from under him, his seed dripping on me. I finally managed to stand, his sperm disgustingly sliding down my legs.

I looked around and saw the room had a shower, very similar to the ones on our ships. Do I dare? I checked on the man and he was out cold. I have time, I was sure. I stepped into the shower and activated it. Being hit by the warm water made me moan louder than the last three men I’d been with. A shower had never felt this wonderful before. I hit the activate button three more times.

I decided I should probably head back. It wasn’t unusual for the girls to return on their own. None of the men considered us a threat. Before I left the room so I wouldn’t be late for Nicholai, I thought I should take a quick look around. After a quick bit of rummaging through closets and compartments, I didn’t find anything interesting. I looked at the passed out man. I better check his pants.

Jackpot! In his front pocket I found a key card! I examined it. Like most Space Alliance officers, I could read the CoDom language. Prominently on the card were the words “Master Key”. This should open almost any door on the ship.

I don’t have any pockets. No way could I get away with walking through the ship holding this card. Where could I hide the card? Then it hit me. Thankfully the card wasn’t very big. It was uncomfortable, but I pushed it up inside my pussy. I should have time to pass it on to the captain after I got back.

I walked very quickly back to the quarters they kept us in. What men were out and about would stop to look at me as I passed. It took every ounce of resolve I could muster to not throw myself at them.

After arriving at our quarters, I carefully pulled the card from my vagina. I spotted the captain and hurried over to her.

“Captain!” I whispered. “Not only did I manage to get a card, it’s a master.” I handed her the sticky card.

Captain Lockhart grinned at me. “That’s great, ensign! Now we can release the men.” Her expression changed to disgust as she took the card from me. She sniffed it. “Where the hell did you keep this, Holloway?”

“You don’t want to know. But I suggest you wash it.”

*          *          *

“I love you,” I said in a breathy whisper to Nicholai who was gently kissing me after he had fucked me. I wrapped my legs around him to keep him from pulling away.

He laughed. “You’re the sexiest girl in the bunch. I bet you were a real heartbreaker when you were younger.” Actually, I was beat up a lot. One of my reasons for joining the Alliance Space Defense.

I giggled as I bit his lower lip. While we were kissing, I suddenly felt that low, distinctive vibration that comes when a jump engine begins to charge. Nicholai didn’t seem to notice as he was too busy whacking his wanker for another round of fucking. We continued kissing.

Oh God, what do I do? I do so love this man, but I have a higher duty to the Alliance. We have less than an hour to take the ship if we act now. I know that even at this moment, Captain Lockhart was mobilizing the other three in our group to find a way to release the male crew members. But could I leave Nicholai?

We kissed a minute more. It finally dawned on me that Nicholai wasn’t going to keep me when the ship returned to a CoDom port. He didn’t tell me he loved me after I confessed loving him. Despite the nice way he treated me, in his eyes I was still just a toy. A pet.

I smiled at him, gave him a long deep kiss before pulling my arms up and with the palms of both hands slapped his ears hard. He screamed in pain and jumped up holding his ears. I jumped up and ran to where his pants were draped across a chair. Still in its holster was his microwave pistol. I pulled it out and turned to face Nicholai. He was still holding his ears in pain when I aimed the pistol at him. I couldn’t pull the trigger.

“You’re so lucky I love you,” I said through clinched teeth. I ran up and struck him in the back of his head with the pistol and with a grunt, he slumped to the deck.

As I exited the room, two CoDom crew members ran past me. They didn’t see me. I heard one say, “There’s been a breach at the women’s holding pen.” I took careful aim and shot them both before they could leave the pistol’s effective range.

I arrived at our holding pen. The captain and the other three were gone, leaving a gaggle of giggling girls behind. The three dead men outside the pen told the rest of the story. I ran as quickly as I could to the brig.

When I arrived, the captain was just releasing the men from the brig. There were two dead guards. The captain was holding a microwave pistol. I ran up to her.

One of the men emerging from the brig looked over at me. “Holloway? I didn’t know you were a woman?”

I grinned brightly. “I’m just full of surprises.”

Captain Lockhart was looking at our ship’s XO. She said, “Lieutenant Martin, I’m giving you a field promotion to captain. Take your men and take control of this vessel. Do not let anyone get word to the other CoDom ship or this will be a real quick battle. When the bridge is secured, send a team back for Holloway.”

“Aye, captain,” said the newly promoted XO. “I’m curious though. We’d heard all the female crew had been reduced to bimbos. How did the five of you keep your wits?”

Captain Lockhart smiled as she stood a little straighter. “Training and discipline, Captain Martin.”

I shrugged and said, “Well, with my superior intellect, being knocked down by twenty-five percent merely brought me down to normal intelligence levels.”

Both Lockhart and Martin just stared at me for a moment. Captain Lockhart turned to Martin. “When we’re safely back in Alliance space, would you jettison Holloway into space?”

Captain Martin grinned. “With pleasure, ma’am.”

Captain Lockhart turned to me. “Give him your weapon.”

I clutched my pistol to my chest. “Give him yours. This one is mine.”

Lockhart handed her weapon over to Martin. “Now give him yours.”

I knitted my brow. “No. He has one now. I took this from Nicholai. It’s mine.”

Captain Martin frowned. “I guess I spoke too soon about intelligence.” He just reached over and pulled the weapon from my hand and gave it the man behind him.

Captain Lockhart shook her head. “I’ll toss her out the airlock myself. You better go, captain. Godspeed.”

As Martin led his team down the corridor, I shouted, “She was just joking about tossing me into space!” I turned to Lockhart. “You were just joking, right? Right?” I shouted down the corridor, “Don’t hurt Nicholai!”

Captain Lockhart scowled at me.

The five of us stood naked and nervous. We heard shouts and sounds of fighting. I expected the ship we were on to be blasted by the remaining functional CoDom ship. For a few minutes we heard only silence. Then the sound of running feet.

Two Alliance marines exited the corridor in front of us. One pointed at me. “Holloway! You’re up. Damn. I don’t remember you being so hot.”

I smiled at the marine and struck a suggestive pose.

Captain Lockhart shouted, “Flirt later, Holloway. Get to the bridge!”

I sighed. “Yes, ma’am. You know it’s the conditioning, right?”

Captain Lockhart’s face turned red. “Do I have to have these men drag you?”

I said, “That’s not a bad idea.” I looked at the captain who was not amused. “Okay. I’m going.”

I was shocked by what I saw when I arrived at the bridge. There were a couple dead CoDom marines laying on the bridge deck and sadly one Alliance marine as well. There were burn marks on the wall from pistol blasts. And standing naked with his hands bound behind his back was Captain Aknerzaev. Two Alliance Space Defense marines stood on either side of him. He had been caught literally with his pants down receiving oral stimulation from Captain Harris, the woman who used to be our ship’s doctor.

As I stepped up to the navigation console, Captain Martin said, “There’s been a lot of chatter coming from the other CoDom ship. We can’t make out what it’s about.”

Frowning at the console, I said, “I bet I can guess. This console has been shut down and I can’t reactivate it. Anyone have that master key card?”

Captain Martin flipped it towards me. I caught it and slid it into its receptacle. I flipped a few switches and the console came to life as it lit up.

“Can you reprogram it?” asked Captain Martin.

I nodded. “Just give me a minute or two. Charge is currently at eighty-nine percent. We can jump at ninety-five. I’ve begun calculations now.”

Captain Aknerzaev was looking at me with a sneer. “It’s funny. When I was fucking you, you didn’t seem smart enough to use equipment this complex.”

I smiled at the CoDom captain. “You want to know what else is funny? I’m a man.”

Captain Aknerzaev looked at me with an agitated expression. “You mean I …?”

I giggled. “Yes. You had sex with a man.”

Captain Aknerzaev grinned. “So our new weapon is even more amazing that we thought; to turn a man into a beautiful woman.”

One of the Alliance marines standing next to the CoDom captain said, “Holloway really was kinda cute to start with.” He looked sheepishly around the room. “Just sayin’…”

Captain Lockhart entered the bridge. She looked around the bridge and asked, “Holloway, does that blinking red light mean anything?”

I turned to look at the console. “Holy shit!” I ran to the console. “They’re charging their main weapons systems. They have a lock on us. They’re using retros to put some distance between us and them.”

Captain Aknerzaev shrugged. “Nice try, little one. But you’re too late. We’re all going to die.”

I looked frantically across the control console. “We’re not dead yet.” I moved over to a dark section of the console and flipped up the safety covers then hit the switches. The darkened section then lit up. I started typing like mad woman on the keyboard while muttering, “Please be right. Please be right.”

Captain Aknerzaev laughed. “What the fuck are you doing, little one? The other ship’s weapon is at eighty percent charged. They’ll fire at ninety.”

I kept punching keys. “That’s fine. We won’t be here.”

Captain Lockhart stepped up next to me. “What are you doing ensign?”

I looked at the captain as my hand hovered over a large console button. “I just dead reckoned a jump.”

Captain Aknerzaev’s eyes grew as large as saucers. “That’s fucking suicide!”

I slapped the big red, candy like button on the console as I shouted, “Everyone hold onto your butts.” The CoDom ship fired an energy burst towards us with limited dispersion. But we were no longer there.

The nauseating feeling normally associated with a jump felt more like a stomach punch. Everyone was knocked to the deck from the activation of the emergency jump coil. Alarms went off all over the bridge. One alarm showed that the recently replaced primary jump coil had been incinerated. The bridge was lit from battery power. The ship was adrift in space.

I pulled myself to a sitting position. “Captain! You need to get on the sub-space and transmit on the Alliance emergency frequency.”

Captain Lockhart pulled herself to her feet. “That’s an old CoDom trick, ensign. Where the hell are we?”

Breathing hard, I stood up and leaned on the console. “It’d better work, Captain. This ship can’t transmit on sub-Ether. We have a CoDom ident. I jumped us to the nearest Alliance outpost – the system for Sherman’s planet, right on the border of CoDom space. Outpost defenses will be arriving hot and hostile.”

The captain picked up the mic that was dangling from the console. She clicked the mic switch. “This is Captain Lockhart of the Alliance Space Defense. I’m asking you to please not fire on us. I have personnel that need medical attention.”

I shook my head. “That’s an old CoDom line too, captain.” A CoDom ship had said the same thing one other time, and got close enough to an Alliance planet to vaporize it with the largest microwave cannon ever built.

Over the intercom, a voice crackled. “Sherman planet defense. Provide your security code for verification.”

Captain Lockhart bristled. “You moron! I can’t provide that over an unencrypted channel!”

“CoDom ship. Dump your remaining jump charge.” said the voice over the sub-space radio.

Captain Lockhart said, “Our jump coil has been destroyed.”

The voice said, “You have thirty seconds to comply.”

I slapped my forehead. “I’ve gone stupid!” I clicked off a few safety switches and then pulled a large throw switch on the console.

Captain Lockhart nodded. “If springing a trap, we could instantly divert the charge to the primary weapons without having to wait for them to build up a charge.”

I looked expectantly at the captain. “Jump engine has been discharged.”

“Fifteen seconds.”

Captain Lockhart said into the mic, “Jump engine is discharged.”

We stood in silence for a very long moment. “Confirmed. Prepare to be boarded. Lay down all weapons. If we see so much as a spit ball, we’re destroying the ship.”

Captain Lockhart let out the breath she’d been holding. “Understood.” She turned to Captain Martin, “Pass the word to drop all weapons. Even if they’re holstered.”

Captain Martin nodded. “Aye, ma’am. Oh…” he grabbed my hair. “Want me to take care of this problem as well?”

I gasped and sputtered. “She was kidding! You were, right?”

Lockhart chuckled, tension leaving her muscles. “Belay that order, captain.”

Looking disappointed, Captain Martin let go of my hair. “Aye, ma’am.” He turned and left the bridge. I slumped to the deck, my nerves shot.

A few minutes later, Alliance Space Defense troops poured into the Doblestnyy. The captain of the Alliance vessel came on board and was escorted to the bridge. He saluted Captain Lockhart and then shook her hand.

“Captain Knox. You must be Captain Lockhart.” The Alliance captain said, “We were suspicious when you identified yourself as we had received a sub-ether transmission saying the Parmenter had been captured.”

Captain Lockhart nodded. “The ship was ultimately lost.” She pointed at me. “Ensign Holloway destroyed our cargo and sent the probe data before we were captured, assuming she’d only have seconds to live.”

Captain Knox smiled at me. “Excellent work, Ensign.”

Captain Lockhart said, “You’ll want to tow this vessel back inside the planet’s defenses. You won’t believe what the toys on this ship can do. Alliance High Command will be most interested. Oh. I shouldn’t be rude to our former host. Meet Captain Aknerzaev of the CoDom Empire.”

Captain Knox looked over at the CoDom captain. “Is there a reason why he’s naked?”

Captain Lockhart nodded. “And I’d like to keep him that way for a while. Serves him right.”

Captain Aknerzaev grunted. “No way to treat a fellow officer.”

Captain Lockhart scowled at him. “Like you treated my fellow officers?”

Captain Knox looked around the bridge. “I supposed I should also ask why your female crew members are naked as well.”

Laughing, Captain Lockhart. “Follow me, captain. This will shock you.”

I followed for a little ways down the corridor. I stopped to watch the CoDom prisoners being transferred to the Alliance ship. My heart skipped a beat when I saw Nicholai. I grinned and waved to him. He looked back at me with intense hatred in his eyes. I slowly lowered my hand.

*          *          *

We had been back on the home world for almost four weeks. And all during that time, the women, including me from Captain Lockhart’s ship had been subjected to a battery of tests and evaluations. After completing the initial tests they gave each of us the results separately.

A balding, bespectacled older man had me brought to office. I dreaded what I was about to hear.

The man, a Doctor Goodwin, pointed at a chair in front of his desk. “Please sit down, miss.” As we both took our seats, he continued. “I’m not going to sugarcoat this, Ensign Holloway. I can’t say I have good news and bad news. I just have news.”

He rifled through a few reports on his desk. He took his glasses off and just looked at me for a moment. “Ensign Holloway, you are one hundred percent female. I can’t explain what they did. But you’re double X chromosomes. No male attributes remain. You have a complete female reproductive system, though we don’t know how they’ve disabled its function, on just not you, but all the females from that ship.”

My heart sank at this news. I sat up in the chair. “Is there any way you can reverse the effect? I mean…how can I just change into a female?”

Dr. Goodwin shrugged. “We don’t know. We can’t figure out how they control your hair length. On every one of you, when we cut your hair, it grows back to the middle of your back immediately.”

I leaned forward. “What about our cognitive abilities? Can you restore that?”

Dr. Goodwin shook his head. “Not to where it was. We think some of it can be restored through mental exercise and training. Five of you weren’t hit very hard by their cognitive reduction. But two women, including Captain Harris, are almost incapacitated and they’ve become nymphomaniacs.”

I grimaced. “So I’m stuck.”

Dr. Goodwin nodded. “I’m afraid that for you, the effects were much more severe than for the other women, obviously.” He handed me a slip of paper. “Oh. And get this prescription filled. It will help control that out-of-control libido you all seem to have so you won’t be craving sex with every man you see. Even with the pill, you won’t be able to control it all of the time.”

Feeling defeated, I asked, “Can I return to active duty?”

Dr. Goodwin leaned back in his chair. “Yes and no. One of the things we’re measuring is a maturity level. All of you are at different levels. For you, we’re going to recommend a desk job until your levels increase. Your records show that even as a male, you were only at the minimum level for space duty. So for now, ensign, you’re grounded.”

I was depressed walking out of the infirmary. Not that I particularly wanted to get back into space, but to be grounded felt so much like a demotion. I’m not mature enough? What does that doctor know? Captain Lockhart was grounded too, but that was because she’d lost her ship. So this definitely felt like punishment.

I waited for the tram to come by and then I rode it back to the women’s barracks. Women’s barracks. According to Dr. Goodwin, it’s officially official. All my records are being updated to reflect my new gender status as well as my mental capacity. Nothing against women, but I really don’t want to be one.

*          *          *

It’s a bit intimidating entering the Alliance Space Defense High Command building. I had a hearing over my actions in the capture of the CoDom ship and crew. The words “You are hereby summoned to appear before the Alliance Space Defense Court” didn’t exactly sound friendly.

Climbing the long steps wasn’t any easier in my dress uniform. The skirt was just above the knee and was actually fairly tight. After much practice, I got used to wearing high heels. Bunny was in the next barracks over and taught me how to wear make-up. Bunny had insisted her official records be updated to list her name as Bunny.

Standing by the entrance door was a familiar face. I stopped and gave her a salute. “Good morning Captain Lockhart. Do you have a hearing too?”

Captain Lockhart returned my salute and smiled at me. “Good morning, Ensign Holloway. Actually, I was invited to attend your hearing. And I must say, that uniform really suits you.” The captain was also dressed in her dress uniform and had her hair in an up-do. Maybe I should have as well, but I just left my hair to flow about my shoulders.

I looked down the front of my women’s dress uniform. “Thanks. I got the results from my evaluation. I’m a woman and there’s no going back.”

Captain Lockhart grinned. “You might not think so now, but I personally think it’s a good change for you.” She pointed at the entrance door. “Are you ready?”

I sighed heavily. “I guess so. I… I really don’t know what to expect. Am I being punished?”

The captain shook her head. “I really doubt it. Let’s go. It’s almost time.”

We walked down a busy hallway to a receptionist desk and asked where we were supposed to go. The young seaman smiled at us as she pointed at a room almost across from her desk. The captain thanked her and we walked over to the door.

The room we entered was a large open area with a high ceiling. The floor, walls and ceiling were all a brilliant white in color. In the middle of the room was a desk where three admirals were seated. I noticed one of them was female. Behind the panel sat one man who I recognized as the Chief of Alliance Defense Operations. There was a single chair in front of their desk and another chair off to one side. It was as intimidating as hell.

The admiral seated in the center pointed to the single chair. “Please be seated, um Ensign Holloway.” He then looked over to the captain. “Captain, if you’ll find a place to sit, we can get started.” There was only the one other chair in the room. The captain quickly seated herself.

The woman admiral looked through some papers in front of her. “So, Ensign Holloway, the purpose of this hearing is to, quite frankly, to decide just what to do with you. It’s not that we haven’t had personnel change their gender before, but yours is a special case. You were forcibly and against your will changed into a female during combat operations. Your medical report says that you are no different from anyone who was born female. However, you appear to have a biological age of only eighteen. Being a woman is not a concern to this panel. Your age and your behavior aboard the Parmenter and the CoDom ship Doblestnyy is of concern.”

One of the admirals turned to address the captain. “Captain Lockhart, you were in command of the Parmenter?” She nodded.

“And Ensign Holloway was one of your bridge officers?” the admiral asked.

Captain Lockhart crossed her legs and nodded to the panel. “That is correct.”

The middle admiral looked at me, and then to the captain. “And how did the ensign behave when the three CoDom vessels dropped out of Jump space in close proximity to the Parmenter?”

Captain Lockhart shifted in her seat. “When the CoDom vessel started charging their main weapon and it appeared our deaths were imminent, Ensign Holloway continued to perform her duties to probe the CoDom vessels to gather as much intel as possible and then send an encrypted sub-ether transmission back to Alliance command. In case we were boarded, she took the extra precaution of dumping the ship’s memory, incinerating our critical cargo and then blowing all the ships circuits to disable the Parmenter.”

The woman admiral leaned on her elbows. “And the ensign’s behavior aboard the Doblestnyy? The records show that the ensign, now a female, had an emotional attachment to one particular CoDom officer?”

The captain shifted uncomfortably in her seat. She took a deep breath. “That is true. But in her defense, that was true for almost all of us. Whatever the CoDom used on us, had significant effects on us both mentally and physically. But her feelings for the CoDom officer didn’t stop her from incapacitating that officer and relieving him of his weapon.”

The woman admiral looked at me. I couldn’t read her expression. “But she didn’t kill him?”

The captain said, “No ma’am.”

The middle admiral asked, “Why do you suppose she failed in her duty?”

The captain sighed. “Because she was in love with him. Please consider that this was the ensign’s first experience at being a woman, and her first experience with men. All our libidos had been driven off the scale. Most of the women couldn’t help but feel affection towards the men who gave them the most attention.”

The admiral on the end asked, “But you weren’t so affected, captain?”

I couldn’t help giggling.

The admiral turned towards me. “Is there something funny about this?”

Feeling very tiny at the moment, I said with a slight smile, “It’s just that Captain Lockhart beat the living shit out of any man that tried to have sex with her. Sir.”

A chuckle rippled through the panel.

The middle admiral asked, “Anything else about the ensign’s behavior aboard the Doblestnyy we should know about?”

It annoyed me that I was the one being reviewed, but it was the captain who was getting grilled.

The captain uncrossed her legs. “Ensign Holloway was instrumental in our takeover of the Doblestnyy. She managed to steal a key card that gave us access to every door, including the brig. Her skills at navigation saved all our lives. I’ve never seen anyone manually create a jump vector in so short a time. Sirs and ma’am, none of the crew of the Parmenter would be alive today if it wasn’t for the ensign’s direct action aboard the CoDom vessel.”

The middle admiral turned to me. “Do agree with the captain’s assessment of your actions aboard the Parmenter and Doblestnyy?”

I folded my hands and rested them in my lap. “The captain made a truthful and accurate statement, sir.”

The panel of admirals chatted quietly with themselves for several minutes, sometimes pointing me.

The middle admiral said, “Ensign Holloway. Please stand.” I could feel cold sweat trickling down my sides.

The Chief of Alliance Defense Operations got up and walked around the front of the panel’s desk. He set something down on the desk and then turned to me. His expression was unreadable as he reached up. I was shocked when he removed my ensign insignia. Am I being busted? He then replaced the insignia with those of lieutenant. Oh my God!

He shook my hand. “Congratulations, Lieutenant Holloway.”

I smiled at him. “Thank you, sir!”

He then turned around and retrieve the box he’d put there a moment before. He opened the box and pulled out a medal. “For meritorious service and valor in combat, I present you Lieutenant Holloway with the Navy Cross.” He then pinned it to my uniform. I looked over at Captain Lockhart and she was grinning ear-to-ear.

I saluted him and he returned the salute and returned to his seat. The middle admiral then said, “Congratulations. The panel has decided that Lieutenant Holloway will be placed on a planet side duty here on the home world until such time as her mental evaluation warrants space duty and she has attained the physical age requirement of twenty-one. Report to Captain Elms for your assignment. You are dismissed.”

*          *          *

I got off the tram and just stood there staring at the building where I was going to be working. It was the records department of the Alliance Space Defense administration building. The building was huge and was something like twenty stories tall. Surrounding it were huge, old-growth trees, shrubs and flowers. In the center of the building was a large open area with trees, paved paths, benches and picnic areas. I decided it beat the hell out of being shot at in space.

The Allied Space Defense Supreme Head Quarters is nestled right in the center of the capital city of home world. The city is massive and contains the civilian space port, bars, casinos, restaurants, sports arenas, you name it.

At first I was deeply annoyed at the ruling that I was only eighteen years old. Any younger and I could have been forced to leave the military. But it was especially annoying considering I was already twenty-three when I was first assigned to the Parmenter. To be honest, I think I’ve had enough of space combat, though all things considered I could have come out worse. I’ve seen veterans of space combat with missing limbs, missing eyes, half their head melted or half their body replaced with metal parts. I just have to wear a skirt and high heels.

All the women from the Parmenter were in similar situations. Now too young to serve in space, as well as having been forced to become a ditz. Captain Harris and one other woman were discharged from the ASD and were set up on outer planets as prostitutes which is all they had the aptitude for. And they’re happy with that. The most decrepit planet was the aptly named Mudd’s World. Dr. Harris made that hole her home. Most were transferred, like me, to offices. Captain Lockhart lost her command and was also given desk duty for losing her ship.

But I was at peace as I walked up the steps to the entrance to the records department. I was used to but still annoyed by the tight skirt and high heels restricting my steps. I was used to wearing make-up and now feel naked if I go outside without it. Bunny was an excellent teacher. I had taken the name Marissa after my mother.

I met my new boss just as I entered. Captain Stillwell greeted me with a pleasant smile. She showed me my desk and went over the retrieval system. She introduced me to my co-workers, Junior Grade Lieutenants Wright and Davidson otherwise known as Teri and Matt. Since we handled sensitive data, officer rank was required. I liked both Teri and Matt, though I thought Matt might be a problem. We shared one large office area with no partitions between the desks.

As a battle-tested twenty-three year old veteran, these junior lieutenants looked pretty young as they had just graduated from the Alliance Space Academy that they joined at sixteen, same as me.

After getting settled in, Matt came over and sat on the edge of my desk and just stared at me a moment. “I can’t believe we have a real live celebrity in our office. That’s just crazy wow, right?”

Annoyed that he was sitting on my desk, I looked at Matt. “What? What are you talking about?”

Matt grinned from ear-to-ear. “You’re one of the Fearless Five! The five women who almost single-handedly captured a CoDom frigate and rescued an ASD crew. They’re making a drama about it. Who’s playing you?”

I laughed. “I’ve never heard about a drama. And it was more of a blockade runner than a frigate.”

Matt shook his head. “And one of you used to be a man and got trapped in the CoDom experiment? That must have sucked for him. I bet he’s so ashamed he won’t even show his face now.”

He paused a moment and started looking at my chest. I frowned and asked, “Do you mind?”

Embarrassed, Matt said, “Oh, sorry. I was just reading your ribbons. A campaign ribbon, three combat ribbons…and and… a Navy Cross? But you’re only eighteen!”

I glared at him and said, “So no. I’m not ashamed to show my face. Don’t you have something to do?” Granted any of the other four women could have had as many or more ribbons than me, but I was the only to get a Navy Cross.

Matt’s face turned several lovely shades of red. “Oh! Uh…I…I’m terribly sorry ma’am.” He slid off my desk and hurried to one of the back rooms.

Teri laughed. “Well, it is cool to have someone famous here. It’s usually pretty boring. It’s funny though. You don’t look like a guy.”

I frowned at Teri. Perhaps I had rushed to judgment by liking them. “Don’t you have something to do too?”

Teri rolled her eyes. “I didn’t mean anything by it.” As she turned away, I heard her mumble under her breath, “Bitch!”

I sighed, “Kids!” and then realized I’m legally younger than either of them.

I spent the next hour trying to familiarize myself with the cataloging and retrieving system. A young lieutenant JG, about nineteen, entered the area and looked around like he was lost.

“Can I help you?” I asked.

He blinked at me a couple times. “Who are you? Uh…ma’am?”

Teri looked up from her display with a slight giggle. “We forgot one. That’s Mike. He’s usually not around. He’s the gopher.”

I stood up and offered my hand to Mike. “I’m new here. I’m Lt. Holloway but since we’re all lieutenants here, you can call me Marissa.”

He shook my hand as he just stared at me. “Nice to meet you Marissa. I’d stay and chat, but I have to put up these parts.” He turned and started to head for the back room. I clearly heard him whisper to Teri, “Wow. She’s hot.”

In a low voice, Teri said, “That’s a guy.”

Mike whispered, “Bullshit!”

Teri said in a normal voice, “It’s true.”

When Mike had walked away, I stood up and walked over to Teri’s desk. “Are you interested in going off-world?”

Teri grinned at me. “Sure. Who isn’t?”

Irritation dripping from my voice, I said, “Unless you want your off-world assignment to be as a Flight Attendant, don’t say that again.” Not to slam flight attendants, but the highest rank they can attain is ensign. I doubt I could make good on the threat, but she doesn’t have to know that.

The smile quickly faded from Teri’s face. “Yes ma’am.”

A few more hours passed. I checked the clock on my display. “Hey, it’s afternoon. Anyone want to join me in the commissary for lunch?” I’d heard the commissary in the Administration building was top notch. But I’d also had heard that the food in the Space Services were the best as well. That was…well…inaccurate.

Both Matt and Mike said they would. Teri picked up her small purse and quickly said, “Sorry. My boyfriend is expecting me.”

As I stood up, I asked, “Oh? What department is he in?”

Her expression said for me to mind my own business. “He’s a civilian. He works in vehicle maintenance.” She quickly left.

I turned to Matt and Mike. “Let’s go.”

The commissary was quite large with plenty of places to sit. Matt and Mike followed me over to a table near a window. I got a chef salad which turned out to be quite good. Matt and Mike got sandwiches which was what I usually got at any commissary. I looked at them after they sat down and began to eat. I nibbled at my salad while I fought down my libido. They were both very cute and close to my age. Well, my new legal age.

Nobody talked for a minute or two. The Matt looked at me curiously. “So what’s it like being a girl?”

I frowned as I stabbed some salad. “It’s good. I really don’t like talking about the change.”

Talking with his mouth full, Matt said, “I know. I know. But just another question. Do you miss your dick?”

I set my fork down on my plate and just stared at Matt. Finally I said, “In all honesty, I don’t even remember having one. Can you knock it off with those kinds of questions?”

Matt raised his hands up in a defensive manner. “Hey. I’m just curious.”

Scowling, I said, “Don’t ask again. And before you ask, the process hurt like hell.”

Matt stood up. “I should go anyway. I have a report to get out.” He turned and walked away.

Mike laughed and shook his head as he watched Matt walk away. He looked back at me with a slight smile. “I have a question though.”

I sighed and glared at him. “What?”

Mike looked down at his hands that were lying on the table. He seemed embarrassed. “I uh…Are you single?”

I smiled and looked at the table, embarrassed myself. Oh my God. I think he wants to date me. I don’t have a clue on how to date a boy. And quite frankly, with my ramped up libido, I wouldn’t trust myself with him. I’d hate to scare him off.

I didn’t want to lie, so I said, “Yes. I’m single. But I don’t think I’m ready to go out with anyone.”

Mike nodded. Shrugging he said, “I can understand that. You just need more time.”

I looked at my hands. “I’m sorry. Hopefully soon. I’m trying to get back to a normal life.”

Mike smiled weakly. “I don’t know if it’s okay to say this, but you are very pretty. And you seem nice.”

“Thanks. You seem nice too.” My libido was starting to kick in. Sometimes I just can’t control it. I’ll need to go out tonight and find a man who will fuck me hard.

Mike nodded. “Thanks. I guess we should get back.”

Mike was definitely cute. I’ll have to get with Bunny for sure for dating tips.

*          *          *

“Hey Bunny! It’s me, Marissa.” I said over my phone.

“Good to hear from you!” Bunny exclaimed. “Sorry I missed lunch last week.”

“That’s okay. I kinda missed it myself,” I said feeling sheepish. “On the way there, I ran into a man just too hot to ignore.”

“Girl, you gotta be careful!” Bunny admonished. “Though I’m one to talk. Four men last night. I haven’t done that since we were on the CoDom ship. So tell me, lovebug, how’s your new job going?”

“Going good. It’s nice and quiet. No one shooting at you. At least not yet.” I said with a chuckle.

Bunny laughed. “That’s good. Working the records department looks like an easy gig. I wish I could tell you what I was doing. But I have to keep it on the QT. It’s interesting work though.”

“Hey, there was a reason I called though. I’m hoping you can help me,” I said feeling silly to even ask the question.

“I’m all ears. Get it? Bunny ears? Never mind. What’s your question?”

“You know we’re all hoping the lab boys can squelch our out-of-control libido in the next few weeks? Well, I might have a situation coming up that I’m not prepared for at all. There’s a boy…”

“A boy?” interrupted Bunny.

“Yes. A boy. He’s very cute and very nice, a year older than me and I think he likes me,” I said feeling embarrassed about my confession. “I don’t know how to date a boy.”

Bunny chuckled. “Girl, that’s great. Has he asked you out?”

“Not yet. But I think he’s interested.”

Bunny said, “I think you’ll like dating a boy much better than your most recent experiences with men. You’re looking for tips?”

I nodded though she couldn’t see me. “Yes, if you could.”

Bunny said, “Get with me when he asks you. I’ll help you pick out some clothes, and help with your make-up and give you suggestions. Hey. I gotta run. Chat with you later.”

“See ya, Bunny,” I said as I disconnected the call.

*          *          *

It was the weekend and I couldn’t take it anymore. I had to have sex with someone – anyone. On board the CoDom ship with nothing but men around, the desire was constant. But with the pill I was given and not being in such close proximity to men, I can drive the desire down for a short period of time.

Of course I can’t do anything in my barracks. So I packed an overnight bag with a short, sexy dress, my four inch heels, big earrings and make-up and I headed over to the civilian space port. Hundreds of businessmen pass through the port every day and most seem to want sex. Prostitution got so bad there, that the space port authorities started requiring girls to register. This helps if some VIP lands and wants a high end escort. I’ve gotten several calls for that. When I registered, since I’m in the military, they called the space port to get me permission. It went all the way up to an admiral who was familiar with my situation and he didn’t hesitate to grant me permission. I’m not interested so much in the money as I am in getting relief for my insane craving for sex.

After checking into a cheap hotel at the port, I checked in and asked if there were any special requests. At that time there weren’t any, so I’d have to hang out at the port’s mall with the other girls. I can’t tell you how much I hated that. Bunny did this too for the same reason, but we never talked about it.

After half an hour, I was finally hired by a group of off-world tourists who had never been to the home world before. There were six of them. I’m glad I didn’t have to go to work the next day.

*          *          *

When I walked into work, Matt held up his mobile device. “Hey Marissa. Did you catch the news this morning?”

I shook my head. “No. I seldom watch it.”

Matt handed me his device. “You’ll want to see this.”

I looked at the device and froze when I read the headline. “Two former ASD women officers were found on two different worlds with their throats slit. Authorities suspect foul play.” The first name displayed was Captain Harris our former doctor who had gone into a life of prostitution. The other woman was the other officer who had done the same.

The incidents had occurred days apart, but the news was just now reaching us. Several of us had asked them to reconsider going to those rather dirty, crime-ridden planets. Being a prostitute is always fraught with danger, especially on fringe worlds to the Alliance. But for both to be murdered within days of each other, worlds apart seemed suspicious to me.

Working in the records department gave me access, whether I should or not, to the photos taken at the time of discovery. Dr. Harris was found dumped in a trash collection box. The photo of her was very grisly. Just as I swiped the picture away, I saw something. I brought the picture back and then zoomed in on her forehead.

There was a small, almost imperceptible burn ring on her temple. Holy shit! I’ve seen that before. You get those rings when a CoDom interrogation device is attached to your head. This wasn’t a murder by an angry John. A CoDom interrogator apparently tried to cover up what he’d done to her. The CoDom never got the chance to interrogate us aboard their vessel.

“Did you know them?” asked Matt.

I handed the device back to him. “Yes, I did. That’s very disturbing.”

Matt looked back at his device. “It says the police suspect a customer and they’re trying to find him.”

I grimaced. “Unless they go to CoDom space, they won’t.”

I picked up my phone and punched the numbers. “Hello Captain Lockhart? I need to talk to you. In private. Can you meet me at the fountain in the middle of the Administration Building in about twenty minutes? Great. See you then.”

Matt looked at me curiously. “Do you know something?”

I shook my head. “I suspect something.” Before he could ask anything else, I hurried from the office.

A few minutes later, I met with Captain Lockhart. We sat on a bench next to the fountain, which made a lot of noise.

Captain Lockhart looked at me questioningly. “So, lieutenant, what’s so secret you couldn’t talk about it over the phone?”

I took a quick look around. “You heard about Captain Harris?”

The captain nodded. “Just this morning. Very unfortunate.”

I bit my lip. “It’s more than just that, I think. I suspect she was murdered by a CoDom operative.” I then went on to explain my suspicions.

Captain Lockhart was silent for a moment, looking thoughtful. “That fits then. This wasn’t in the news, but another Parmenter girl was found murdered in a similar fashion on her home world of Castor’s Planet.”

I sat up straight. “Oh my God! We’re being targeted!”

The captain nodded. “It’s starting to look that way. I don’t think we’re in any danger here. The whole damn Allied Space Defense is here. But most of the women that were on that CoDom ship have since been scattered far and wide.”

“We need to warn them.” I said growing worried.

Captain Lockhart nodded. “I’ll get with Admiral Goldwyn about this. But don’t let this get out.”

I made a zipper motion over my mouth. “Mum’s the word, Captain.”

*          *          *

Teri grinned at me when I returned from lunch. Just the two of us were in the office.

“You’ve seriously never had a boyfriend? Seriously?” asked Teri good naturedly.

I laughed as I tossed a pen at her. “You know I haven’t been a girl all that long. You have to meet a boy before you can have a boyfriend.”

Still giggling, Teri said, “Oh, I think you’ve met a boy alright. Mike and Marissa sitting in a tree…” She ducked behind her desk when I tossed another pen at her.

“Now cut that out!” I laughed. “There’s nothing between Mike and me.”

Teri laughed. “Yet.” She grinned.

I picked up some papers from my desk. “Okay. Enough frivolity. I have some queries to run.”

There was some silence while we both pecked at our keyboards. Then out of the blue, Teri asked, “Have you ever been in love?”

I turned around after a moment. “Yes. If you can call it love.”

Wearing a wide smile, Teri leaned on her elbows. “Who was he?”

I smirked. “If you must know, it was a CoDom officer. The conditioning I had received compelled me to have sex with him. He was the only one who was actually kind to me, so I guess you can say I fell in love with him.”

Grinning, Teri said, “I’ve heard that CoDom men are really hot.”

I shrugged. “I suppose so. But I saw them through a fog of conditioning.”

“If you hadn’t taken him prisoner, do you think he would have kept you? Taken you to his home world to be his sex slave forever?” Teri was grinning and her eyes were bright.

I laughed. “You need to stop watching so many dramas. They always romanticize the enemy. And no. He wouldn’t have kept me. We were all being taken to the CoDom high command for God knows what.”

Teri started punching keys again. “Still. Can you imagine being collared and leashed to a big strong man and forced to do what he wants? Alliance men are too much like Matt.”

“Girl, you need to stop watching that drivel. Having lived as a sex slave, I can tell you right now that it isn’t fun. At all.” For some bizarre reason, the mass media was romanticizing the CoDom Empire these days. Last year, the disc “Fifty Shades of Red” had women swooning and men scratching their heads.

Teri shook her head. “Well, you have to admit, it’s just way too tame here. You can’t tell me you’d rather be here creating reports no one will read for stuffed shirt officers instead of being out there in space living life on the edge. Out there with real men. Not boys like Matt and Mike.”

I laughed. “I might go back some day after I’m twenty-one. But for now, I’m happy to not be shot at. Matt and Mike are nice boys.”

Teri sneered, “Yeah, boys.”

“How old is your boyfriend?” I asked, wanting to end this conversation.

She looked up from her work. “He’s twenty-two.”

I frowned. “He should be in the marines. The Alliance needs all the men they can get.”

Teri laughed. “You sound like a recruitment ad. He lost his dad in the war, so he’s not anxious to follow in his footsteps.”

I shrugged. “Well, that’s true for a lot of marines. Hey, I need to get back to this query.”

*          *          *

I awoke to a lot of loud commotion coming from the next door barracks. I looked out the window and saw emergency vehicles, military police vehicles, a lot of marines standing around and residents wandering out of the barracks.

Someone stuck their head into my room. “Marissa! Did you hear? Your friend Bunny has been shot!”

I turned to her in shock. “What? Bunny? How?” I was dressed only in my panties. I grabbed a robe and rushed down the stairs. I ran barefoot through the slippery dew-drenched grass, the pale, pre-dawn light starting to fill the sky.

I tried to enter the barracks, but a marine blocked my way. Several medical personnel were rolling out a gurney with a figure laying on it. I ran up to the gurney and my fears became reality.

“Bunny!” I cried as I tried to put my arms around her. “This can’t be happening? Not to you! Oh my God, Bunny!” There was a severe burn mark from a close range microwave pistol shot at her temples.

“Miss. Miss. You need to get back,” said a marine as he blocked my path.

“That’s my friend!” I cried. I fell onto the damp grass and bawled my eyes out as I watched them load her body into the ambulance and drive away. I sat there and cried for a long time.

Later that morning in the security office, they convened a hearing. I was asked to be there, Captain Lockhart was there and oddly Teri was there. Two security officers were also there.

An admiral pounded a small gavel on his desk. “Let’s bring this hearing to order. We’re here to discuss the death of Lieutenant Ellison, known around the base as Bunny. Let’s start with you, Lieutenant Wright. You live in the deceased barracks. Tell us what you saw this morning.”

Her eyes red from crying, Teri said, “Everything was so quick. I had gotten up at Oh-five hundred and was walking down the hall to the common restroom when I saw the door to Bunny’s room was open slightly. She never left her door open. I looked in the room and called out for Bunny. There was no answer so I started to enter her room. That’s when a tall man rushed past me, knocking me down. It was dark so I didn’t get a good look at him. I looked over at Bunny and she was lying halfway out of her bed. I could tell right away she was dead. That’s when I got up and pulled the alarm.”

The admiral asked, “You didn’t consider giving chase to this man?”

Teri shook her head. “It was pretty dark, sir. By the time I got back to my feet, he was long gone. I thought it best to sound the alarm.”

The Admiral turned to one of the security guards. “You were the first on the scene. What did you find?”

The security guard was sitting bolt upright. He looked directly at the admiral. “Sir. The Sgt and I found the back entrance with the lock shot off with a microwave pistol.”

The admiral lifted his hand. “Is that a common weapon here at Alliance high command, corporal?”

The marine said stiffly, “No sir. That is a weapon popular with CoDom forces. Alliance doesn’t usually carry them. When we examined the lieutenant’s room, we saw no sign of a scuffle. There was no way to tell if the lieutenant had been interrogated prior to being killed as the microwave shot obliterated any burn marks from a CoDom interrogation device.”

The admiral turned to Captain Lockhart. “Now captain. It is well known that Lieutenant Ellison, as well as Lieutenant Holloway frequent the civilian space port for prostitution. Does it seem this behavior and the lieutenant’s death are related?”

Captain Lockhart shifted her seating position. “First, Admiral. Let me state for the record, that neither Ellison or Holloway seek prostitution because they want to. All the women on the Parmenter were afflicted with this disability craving sex was forced on them by the CoDom Empire. And as to your question, admiral upon examining Ellison, I conclude this had nothing to do with her working for sex. For one thing, she never left her barracks last night and there was no male DNA on her. This looks like an assassination, but I can’t determine a motive.”

The admiral, pressing his finger tips together turned to me. I was still crying. “Lieutenant Holloway. Would you say you were close to Ell…Bunny?’

Between sobs, I said, “Since returning to the home world, she’s been my best friend. I don’t know what I would have done without her.”

The admiral asked, “Can you think of any reason why someone would want to do her harm?”

I shook my head. “Why would anyone want to do any of us any harm? She had no enemies that I’m aware of. She’s the fourth girl from the Parmenter murdered. Where does this stop? Why aren’t you protecting us?”

The admiral sat up straight in his chair. “Lieutenant, we are doing what we can. After you reported your suspicions of foul play in the death of former Captain Harris we have been trying to find a connection. It’s hard to track all of you. You, Lt. Ellison and Capt. Lockhart are the only ones on Home World. The rest of you are scattered all over the Alliance. And so far, there’s no pattern that we can identify. It just seems random.”

Furious, I scowled at the admiral. “Am I or the captain next? I’m scared. I mean, if we’re not safe in the command center of the Alliance, then we’re not safe anywhere! Sir.”

“I understand your concerns, Lieutenant,” said the admiral calmly. “We’ll be doubling the watch on the women’s barracks. We’ve always searched vehicles entering the base. We’re doing everything we can to keep you two safe.”

Captain Lockhart looked over at me. “Security has suggested we don’t wander far from the barracks and the offices where we work. Avoid going into town. I know that’s hard for you. The lab is working hard to fix our libidos.”

I started to tear up again. “That’s going to be really tough, captain. Why aren’t you affected by this libido crap?”

Captain Lockhart cracked a smile. “I’m married. And my husband loves it.”

*          *          *

I was in misery. It had been weeks since my last fuck. I was constantly on edge. I couldn’t relax. Pleasuring myself did little to alleviate my suffering. Watching porn did nothing. I needed to have sex. I needed a man something awful. I hate to say such things. I sound weak and helpless, but I really can’t control this monster inside me. I had to do something, no matter the risk.

I called the space port courtesy office. When they answered and after giving my name, I asked, “Got any business you can toss my way?”

A bright, woman’s voice on the other end said, “You’re in luck, Miss Holloway if you can get over here in half an hour. There’s a very wealthy VIP asking for the best escort available. We were actually about to call you. Interested?”

I laughed. “You better believe it! I’ll be there right away. Can you reserve me a room?”

The woman said, “Yes ma’am. Just check in and then go meet him in the bar. The bartender can identify him for you.”

I tossed my sexiest dress and highest heels into my overnight bag. Orders or no, I had to get relief. They know this. They can court martial me later. But right now I’m about to lose my mind.

In the month or so since Bunny’s death, security has gone back to being a bit lax. Even though I wore my uniform exiting the base, security should have at least questioned me. I just walked right through.

A twenty minute bus ride brought me to the space port hotel. I checked in and hurried to my room to change, which is a bit superfluous considering I’ll be removing all my clothes shortly. I checked my hair and make-up and smoothed down my dress.

I was almost giddy on my way to the bar in anticipation of getting relief. I hope the VIP was ready, because he was about to get the ride of his life.

When I entered the noisy, crowded bar, the bartender nodded towards a rather well built man in a white suit. I don’t care for the ones that hit, but big powerful men who are rough with you are usually a lot more fun.

I sat on the stool next to the VIP and crossed my legs. I cooed, “Hey there. Are you interested in some fun?”

The VIP’s eyes widened when he looked at me. “I certainly am, gorgeous. But you look so young. Will I get arrested fucking you?”

I hate that. I can’t help looking young. I lifted my lanyard the hotel requires me to wear so clients know I’m not some whore off the street. “See? It says right there I’m eighteen.”

“So it does!” He smiled at me. “Care for a drink?” He moved closer to me and put his arm around my waist.

I normally don’t drink alcohol, but I always take the drink I’m offered. However, it’s dangerous to get drunk.

He started nibbling my neck and sliding his hand up and down my thigh, sliding under my skirt. As his kissing became a bit more adventurous, he said, “You’re way too pretty for this dump. I bet you could really make it big in the dramas. I know some people if you’re interested.”

I smiled. “Sure baby.” I can’t remember how many offers of stardom I’ve received. Of course they’re just blowing smoke.

After giving me a long hard kiss which probably messed up my lipstick big time, the VIP said, “It’s stuffy in here. Want to go back to my room?”

I grinned at him as I grabbed his tie. “Lead the way, babe. I like it a little rough.” He gave me another hard kiss and took my hand. I looked over at the bartender. He nodded and gave me a thumb’s up.

We took the elevator up to his room. Once he opened the door, he tugged hard on my arm and I was almost thrown to his bed. That was a bit of a shock. He pulled his shirt off and jumped on top of me and slapped me. Not enough to make my eyeballs rattle, but enough to sting. What have I gotten myself into?

He grinned toothily. “You said you like it rough, bitch.” He started squeezing my breasts. He roughly pulled me to a sitting position and then he pulled his pants down. I couldn’t help but stare at his huge, hard cock. I’ve never seen on that big before. He pointed at his manhood. “Suck it.”

I stared at it for a moment before starting to service him. As soon as it was in my mouth, he grabbed my head and violently pulled me towards him forcing his manhood into my throat. I thought I was going to gag. He held my head in that position for several seconds and laughed.

“A real high-end whore should be able to take the whole thing. Maybe you’re not such hot stuff after all?” He put his fingers in my hair and held me. He pushed and pulled my head back and forth on his hard shaft. He did this for over a minute. I couldn’t breathe. Finally he pulled my head hard to his crotch. I almost gagged again as he shot his sperm down my throat. He pulled his penis out of my mouth and then forced my mouth closed.

“Swallow it like a good girl!” he exclaimed. I had no choice but to swallow. I needed to get away. This isn’t quite what I had in mind.

He pulled me to my feet. He reached behind me and in one motion, he ripped the back of my dress out and it fell to the floor. He laughed. “I’ll buy you a new one.”

Starting to cry, I said, “Please stop. This is too much.”

He threw his head back and laughed heartily. “Bitch! We’re just getting started.” He tossed me back onto the bed. He jumped on top of me and placed a large hand on my throat to hold me. He then continued to rape me for several minutes.

Finally, after he finished, he let go of my throat and pulled me to a sitting position. He laughed again. “That was fun. You are a good fuck after all.” I was gagging to catch my breath. He pulled out a device from his pocket. I couldn’t make it out. He pointed at it. “Hey, lookit here.” When I did, there was a green flash. Suddenly I couldn’t move a muscle. I was frozen in a sitting position while completely naked.

He looked at me and nodded. “You really are beautiful. And a great fuck. Such a damned shame.” He gave me a wink as he reached over for his suitcase. “By the way, Nicholai said, to ‘say hi to the bitch’ for him. Oh. You mean to say you didn’t hear that we captured his prison ship and flushed the Alliance crew out into space? Well we did.”

He pulled a strange looking headset from his suitcase. “I got a surprise for you.” He fitted the headset onto my temples. “You’re finally going to get interrogated you little bitch. We want to know all about your navigation systems. Now hold still.” He laughed. He knew I couldn’t move a muscle.

I was scared out of my mind. I knew what was coming. He’d kill me as soon as he got what he was after. I winced when he turned the device on.

He grinned. “Oh, do you feel that little burn and tingly sensation. That’s how you know it’s working. With practice, you can actually interpret thoughts. And look at that question, right off the top of your cerebral cortex. To answer you, yes. This little way of freezing you was part of your conditioning.”

He looked at the display of the device. “Yes, yes. This is working very nicely. I’m afraid your friend Bunny didn’t have such an easy time of it. My associate had some settings wrong. Silly girl. Before we got anything useful, her brain got fried. That’s how the cookie crumbles I guess.”

Oh my God. He had something to do with Bunny’s murder! Filthy bastard! I tried to cry but couldn’t. I wanted to wrap my hand around this guy’s throat so bad.

He wagged his finger at me. “Now now. No bad thoughts.”

He sighed as he turned the device off. He removed the headset and set it back into his suitcase. “Now the part I really hate.” He pulled a microwave pistol from his suitcase. “It’s such a waste of beauty. But hey. You’re a soldier just like me. We all know the risks. For what it’s worth, I really did have a good time fucking you.” He pointed the pistol at my face.

Behind him there was a sudden explosion as the door to the room disintegrated. I heard someone shout “Breach!”

The unexpected explosion made the man discharge his weapon and jarred his aim. I felt the heat of the energy shoot past my head and burned a hole in the wall behind me. The explosion freed me from the trance and I screamed.

Several marines in full combat armor charged through the broken doorway. The man turned his weapon towards the marines and fired. I saw where the shot scorched the front of one marine’s armor. The marine just reached down and took the weapon. They clamped the hands behind his back. The man violently jerked his hands against the clamp.

“Fucking shit!” yelled the man. “I’m filing charges with the Organian Council against you Alliance bastards! At least loosen these clamps some?”

I was shaking and crying. I couldn’t say anything coherent.

One of the marines walked up to me. “Come with us, whore. You’re under arrest too.” He reached over to grab my arm.

Captain Lockhart ran into the room. She pushed the marine’s hand away. “You’re dismissed, corporal.”

The marine reached for me again. “My orders were to take everyone in this room into custody, captain.”

Angry enough to bite steel bars in two, Captain Lockhart snarled, “I said, you’re dismissed.”

The marine turned away. “Yes, ma’am.”

I buried my head into the captain’s shoulder and bawled my eyes out. She put her arms around me and held me close. “You’re okay, girl. You’re okay.”

Still crying I lifted my head a bit. “He was going to kill me!”

Captain Lockhart pulled me close to her and patted my hair. “But he didn’t, did he? We got here just in time.” Under her breath, she whispered, “And I’m going to personally remove the balls and fry them of the asshole who didn’t obey orders and breach as soon as he put the headset on you.”

I sat there and cried a long time into her shoulder.

*          *          *

The admiral banged his gavel a few times. “This hearing will come to order. This is a hearing to discover facts. At the conclusion, this panel will pass judgment of the two accused of espionage against the Alliance. The Organian Council is here to protect the rights of the accused. Captain Lockhart, this was your OP. Please tell this hearing what you know of the events of the night in question.”

OP? This was an Operation? Nobody told me and I was kinda front and center in it. I looked around the small hearing room. There was the long desk at the back of the room with the usual three admirals. Sitting directly across from the admirals were me, Matt, Mike and Captain Stillwell. On one side Captain Lockhart sat alone at a desk and directly across from her sat that fucker that raped and tried to kill me, his wrists and ankles shackled. And surprisingly, next to him, but unshackled was Teri. I haven’t seen Teri since my ordeal at the space port hotel room. The man was dressed in gray coveralls. Teri was wearing a nice dress, classic heels, hose, her make-up perfect, her hair and nails done. I couldn’t imagine what was going on.

And even stranger, in a few seats near the asshole sat representatives of the Organian Council. Not sure why they were here. The Council tends to lean in favor of the CoDom Empire.

Captain Lockhart stood up and walked in front of the admirals. “The two before us stand accused to espionage and war crimes.” She nodded towards Teri. “You’ll note I didn’t include treason.”

She walked up to the man. “For the record, state your name, rank and military affiliation.”

The man just sat there and glared at the captain.

Captain Lockhart smiled. “Do not try the patience of this board. Any leniency is dependent on your cooperation.”

He glared at her for another few seconds. He then just stared straight forward. “My name is Pyotr Veselovsky, captain in the CoDom Empire.”

Captain Lockhart paced in front of Pyotr. “That’s better. And what was your mission? In general?”

Pyotr shrugged. “I was mostly a courier for the data stolen by the pretty girl next to me and take it off world for delivery to CoDom forces. I also acted as cover for her by being her boyfriend.”

Captain Lockhart knitted her brow. “Was that all, Captain Veselovsky?”

He shook his head. “No. I was also the chief interrogator.”

Lockhart tilted her head. “On this world?”

Pyotr laughed. “Anywhere I needed to go.”

Captain Lockhart grinned. “You’re sloppy, captain. There is security camera video of you entering the brothel where Dr. Harris worked as a prostitute around the time of her death.”

Pyotr shook his head. “Couldn’t have been me. I’ve never been on Mudd’s World.”

Captain Lockhart paused a moment. “I never mentioned the name of the planet.” She walked over in front of Teri. “So tell me. Are you and Lieutenant Wright pretty close?”

Pyotr grinned. “She’s my girlfriend. She’s good in bed.”

Captain Lockhart turned to Teri. “Lieutenant. Please state your full real name, rank and military affiliation.”

She glared at Pyotr. To Lockhart she said, “I am Stas Yolkin, corporal, CoDom Empire.”

Tilting her head again, Captain Lockhart said, “Isn’t that a man’s name?”

Her eyes flashed angrily at Pyotr. “Yes. It is.”

Lockhart stood there and looked at Teri. “So how does such a sweet, pretty young girl like you have a man’s name?”

Teri…I had a hard time calling her Stas, glared again at Pyotr. “Because they took my brain and put it in this body!”

There was a general murmur around the room. The admiral banged his gavel a few times. “Order. Order.” He looked at Captain Lockhart. “If I may, captain?”

Captain Lockhart said, “Of course, Admiral.”

The admiral looked around the room. “There was an event several months ago that led to the discovery of hundreds of spies inside our own organization. The biggest security breach in our history. But we managed to keep it largely quiet. A courier, on a vital mission to return documents that were stored holographically in his brain, back to the Alliance was captured by CoDom forces. To contain him, they put his brain into the body of a poor captured farm girl and made him a sex slave. He, or rather she now, managed an escape and not only brought back the documents, but also the news of this diabolical medical procedure. But we had no idea this technology had been brought here to the home world.”

Captain Lockhart walked to the middle of the room. “Briefly, this is what we know. Seven months ago, Teri Wright, then an ensign straight out of the academy was vetted and assigned a very important position in the Alliance Records Department. Not long after that she was promoted to the rank of lieutenant. That’s when Pyotr moved in.

“Pyotr started courting the young lieutenant and shortly after that, she made the fateful decision to go out with him. He drugged her, took her to a secret lab where her brain was removed and discarded and Stas’ brain was placed into her head. Stas would then assume the lieutenant’s life. Stas, as Lieutenant Wright, would deliver sensitive data to Pyotr when they would go out on dates. Pyotr, because he wasn’t in the ASD, could go off world whenever he liked. Then he would transfer the data to another CoDom agent.”

Lockhart walked up to Teri. “Is this what you signed up for, Stas?”

Strange to hear Teri’s voice sound so bitter, Stas said, “No. I expected to return from whatever mission I was assigned either as victorious or dead. As an Alliance female, even if my mission was a complete success, I could never return to the Empire. And I don’t think it was part of my mission to be kissed and fucked by Pyotr.”

Pyotr grinned.

Captain Lockhart turned to the admirals. “And then Pyotr makes his fatal mistake. He decides he needs to interrogate Lieutenant Ellison to learn about the secret project she was assigned to as well as whatever they originally wanted to know when she was aboard the Parmenter. The problem was Lt. Ellison wasn’t leaving the base very often to satisfy her craving for sex that was instilled in her and Lt. Holloway by the CoDom. So he enlisted Lt. Wright, aka Stas to interrogate her in her own barracks. Stas had never done one before and managed to botch it. And while Stas as Lt. Wright used her access to the record system to destroy the recordings of that day of the barracks security cameras, she failed to notice another camera several barracks away that, while you couldn’t make out who, you could clearly see someone exit the barracks, shoot the lock to look like forced entry and then re-enter the barracks where just moments later, the call went out that Lt. Ellison had been attacked. Since Lt. Wright made the emergency call, it didn’t take much effort to put two and two together.”

I jumped from my seat and shouted, “You killed Bunny?! You fucking bitch!” I took a step towards Teri.

Pyotr laughed. Teri lowered her head.

The admiral pounded his gavel. “Order! The Lieutenant will be seated and refrain from further outbursts!”

I glared intently at Teri as tears started to flow down my cheeks. As I sat back down, I said under my breath. “She killed Bunny.”

Captain Lockhart walked up to me. “Yes, lieutenant, she killed Bunny. You won’t be pleased with our decision, but then it’s not your place to be pleased or not.” Lockhart turned her attention back to the admirals. “After her arrest, Teri Wright, who is now stripped of her rank of lieutenant wanted to make a deal. Between her, the Alliance High Council and the Organian Council, we reached a deal. The Alliance has benefited greatly from this deal. The evidence provided by Miss Wright has led to the arrest of a hundred other brain-swapped infiltrators, the discovery of a dozen CoDom labs and even a data center. Through this network, the CoDom Empire has been stealing information, kidnapping and killing Alliance personnel, committing terrorist activities and so on.

“In return of all this information, the Alliance has agreed to relocate Miss Wright to a remote Alliance world where all her activities will be monitored, but she’ll otherwise be free to build a new life for herself.”

I jumped to my feet again. “But she murdered Bunny! How can you reward her for that?”

The admiral banged his gavel again. “Lieutenant Holloway! You will not be warned again. Take your seat.”

Captain Lockhart walked over to me. I was still standing and shaking. I made no attempt to hide my tears. She put a hand on my shoulder. “Lieutenant… Marissa. I completely understand your reaction. Many times we have to make compromises. If Bunny was here, I’m sure she’d recognize the benefit of the information Wright provided us as opposed to just seeking revenge on one individual. Please. Sit down.”

Pyotr was seething. He tried to stand as he bellowed, “You fucking bitch traitor! You’ll wish the Alliance dogs had executed you after the Empire hears of your treachery!”

The admiral banged his gavel several times. “Silence! We can decide your fate with or without your presence.”

Captain Lockhart walked over to Pyotr. “And now we come to Captain Pyotr Veselovsky of the CoDom Empire. According to the wealth of information Miss Wright provided us, you’re quite the little war criminal. I wish we could charge you for all that you have done, but the Organian Council won’t allow it.

“However, we can make the following charges. Espionage, terrorism, murder, money laundering, theft of critical data and raping Lt. Holloway.”

Pyotr laughed. Apparently not disagreeing with the other charges, shouted, “Rape? She’s a fucking whore!”

Captain Lockhart walked over to Pyotr. “The Alliance doesn’t categorize her that way since enemy action has compelled her to find relief in that manner due to conditioning she received while being held prisoner in a CoDom vessel. But for sake of argument, when even a prostitute, under Alliance law, asks her client to stop, if he fails to do so, then the law views that as rape.”

Pyotr spat on the floor. “How would you know what was said? We were alone and at a random location I picked just minutes before we met at the bar. I scanned her. She had no devices on her.”

Captain Lockhart chuckled. “Again, Miss Wright tipped us off on your plans. The hotel, which has no desire to lose our business and doesn’t want CoDom business was only too happy to work with us and give you a room rigged with stealth surveillance. The quick check you ran on outdated equipment wouldn’t have picked up our devices.”

Incredulous, I blurted out, “You spied on me? You watched me have sex?”

Captain Lockhart gave me an annoyed look. “Yes we did, lieutenant. You’d be dead otherwise. Please refrain from interrupting.”

The captain turned her attention again to Pyotr. “The maximum penalty the ASD can call for on any of these charges is death. How do you plea, captain?”

Pyotr stood up, raised a defiant fist and with a sneer shouted, “Fuck the Alliance! I’m proud of my service to the CoDom Empire! My only regret is that I didn’t kill more of you Alliance dogs!”

Captain Lockhart turned to the Organian Council. “That sounds like a guilty plea to me.”

After a short deliberation between the admirals present and the Organian Council, Captain Veselovsky of the CoDom Empire was sentenced to death by firing squad, along with the lab scientists responsible for the murders of not just the actual Teri Wright, but also a few dozen other Alliance personnel who had their brains swapped.

The former Stas Yolkin, now officially Teri Wright, it was decided that she would be injected with several tracking devices and then, escorted by Alliance officers, placed on a civilian transport bound for an unnamed planet on the Alliance frontier where she will live out her life as an otherwise free woman. All charges against her were dropped.

Before the hearing ended, the three admirals turned their attention to me. “Before this hearing comes to a close, the Alliance Space Defense High Command would like to present Lieutenant Holloway with a Citation of Valor for her selfless acts of heroism and sacrifice leading to the discovery of many CoDom terror weapons, the capture of a CoDom vessel, exposing massive infiltration of spies and saboteurs and leading to their capture. We thank you for your service with this, the highest honor the Alliance Space Defense can bestow upon Naval personnel.”

A grinning Captain Lockhart motioned for me to stand as the Fleet Admiral, highest ranking officer in the ASD placed the ribbon around my neck. I tried not to cry, but I did anyway.

*          *          *

I leaned back in my chair and closed my eyes as waves of loud music and the cacophony of hundreds of voices rolled over me. I was in a club outside the base which catered to the younger set of the Alliance Space Defense. Live music, dancing and a strict policy of checking your rank at the door made it one of the more popular night spots in the capital city. I rarely came here, but tonight seemed like a good excuse. I may be in a crowd, but I was alone for the first time in a while and it felt just great.

It was also great to be dressed in just plain old civilian clothes. The short skirt, tank top and sandals made me feel so incredibly free. My hair bounced loosely about my shoulders. I wore my make-up like Bunny showed me how teen girls are wearing it these days. I had finally made peace with who I was.

“Hello, pretty girl,” said a voice from beside me. Well crap. There goes relaxing alone.

I opened my eyes and looked around as if trying to spot someone.

Mike laughed. “I was talking to you, goofus.”

I sat up straight and smiled at Mike, who was standing next to my table. “Sorry. While I’m finally comfortable in my skin, I still have trouble dealing with anyone thinking I’m pretty.”

Mike grinned at me. “Well, you best get used to it, because you are definitely a very pretty girl. Can I join you?”

I nodded towards the empty chair next to me. “Please do. How have you guys been holding up?” I’d been given a week of R&R. I didn’t have the money or enough time really to go on a tourist trip, so I just checked into a room in the capital city to go visit the museums and stuff. Yes. I’m just that exciting.

Mike shook his head. “We’re all looking forward to you coming back. It’s been hard to keep up”

I laughed. “Yeah. Captain Stillwell is such a slave driver.”

Mike grinned at me. “I’ve never been next to a big hero before.”

I frowned at Mike. “Do you have to start this hero crap? I’d just like to be friends.”

Laughing, Mike said, “Well that’s going to be hard to do. Alliance Command gave permission for the studios to finally make the drama ‘The Fearless Five’.”

I rolled my eyes. “Oh geeze. Who are they going to get to play me, I wonder.”

Mike shrugged. “I think it was that girl who starred in the romance drama ‘Second Star to the Right’.”

I blinked a couple of times at Mike. “Oh wow. She’s gorgeous.”

Mike grinned. “Sounds like a good pick to me. Here’s what’s funny though is that, from what I hear, they’re only going to portray you as a girl. You’re not a guy at all in the drama. The Alliance requested that saying they want the drama to be a recruitment tool for women.”

I rolled my eyes again. “Oh. That’s just perfect. That’s hilarious. Join the ASD and become a sex slave for the CoDom Empire!” We both laughed.

For a few minutes we were both quiet.

Mike looked at me seriously. “Are you glad the ordeal is all over?”

I slumped in my seat. “Are you kidding? I’ve never been so happy something is over in my life!”

Mike grinned. “I heard the lab finally cured your nymphomania.” He chuckled.

I sat back up straight and sighed. “Yes! Thank God! I’m so glad I’m rid of that! On a down note, they also managed to start up my reproductive system. So now I get periods. Yay!” I shook my head.

Looking into his glass and swirled his drink around, which if I had to guess was a soft drink, like mine. “That means you can now…um…get pregnant.”

I looked at Mike and frowned. “Yes. That is true.”

Mike looked embarrassed. “So. On Monday will you be showing up with captain insignia? Since you saved the Alliance and everything.”

I laughed and shook my head. “No. You’d think so, right? No. According to the ASD, at eighteen, I’m too young to be considered for rank of captain.”

Mike looked surprised. “But Captain Lockhart is eighteen like the rest of you from the Parmenter and she’s still a captain.”

I shrugged. “They decided it would look bad if they demoted her, even though she did lose her ship. But she was also instrumental in bringing all this crap to successful close. Captain Lockhart said to just wait until I’m twenty. I’m not going anywhere, so I guess it doesn’t really matter. Captain Lockhart also ordered me to go be a girl and have fun.”

Mike chuckled. “Sounds like a good order to me.” He paused for a moment and studied the table. “You know. I have an award for you. It’s not a medal or a new rank, but you don’t have to save the Alliance in order to receive it.”

I tilted my head and looked at him. “What kind of award?”

He grinned. “This kind.” He quickly leaned into me and gave me a short sweet kiss. Now, having unfortunately worked as a prostitute, I’ve been kissed many times by men. But Mike’s kiss was different. It was sweet. It gave me a tingle.

I smiled at Mike. “I like that award. How do I earn more of them?”

Mike laughed softly. “Like this.” He leaned in and kissed me again. A little longer this time. I closed my eyes as our lips met.

All doubt of the idea of being happy as a girl, was quietly swept away.

*          *          *

The End