The Red Light - Part 3

Fiction Friday! Escape pod here!

Final part following on from last week.


The Red Light - Part 3

Ahka looked above the dance floor focusing on a pulsing red light. Suddenly he was no longer in a bar on the Gallente battleship that rescued him. He was back in that escape pod, freezing and waiting for death whilst staring at that warning indicator.

"There you go!"

Her voice broke Ahka out of his waking dream. A strange green cocktail was sat in front of him. He eyed it suspiciously.

"It's a Jovial Jovian.. Its nice! Try it." she smile.

Ahka picked up the drink and sipped it. His focus now back on the two Matari on the dance floor. Matari without glave collars or a Vitoc addiction. Free Matai. Dangerous Matari.

"You seem a bit preoccupied with Hrast and Vunstede."

"What? No. I'm just..." Ahka stuttered. Ashamed at where the conversation might go from here.

"Look, we might not approve of your culture's treatment of Matari but you don't have to worry about them."

He wasn't sure. Slaves were a part of life in the Amarrian Empire. His household had them, the ship he served on had them. Whilst he had not met his future wife, he knew she was the daughter of a farming family and had tens of thousands of slaves. However if he ever saw one of those slaves without their collar or the look of Vitoc addiction he would run. He'd heard too many stories about what had happened when his kind had got careless with slaves. No, he just needed to avoid them tonight. Tomorrow they were to dock in a station where he could get an InterBus shuttle back to the Empire. He'd been able to contact his family already. They would have a ship waiting for him. His funeral service had been cancelled and the wedding was back on. It was a time for celebration back home.

"Want to dance?"

Ahka at her looked in shock.

"I said want to dance not be flushed out of the airlock!"

He shook his head!

"I know you've never been kissed. Don't tell me you've never danced!"

"Not... not like this!" he protested gesturing to the dance floor where the crew writhed and grinded into each other. "And not with a... a... a..."

"With a what?" she smiled at his discomfort.

Ahka searched for the right word.

"Dances in my world are more formal." he said trying to explain. "The lightest of touch of hands and there must be a minimum of 30cm separation."

"We're not in the Empire now Amarrian!" she laughed jumping to her feet and dragging him up.

Ahka was sweating. All around him couples danced this strange Gallente way. No separation. No holding of hands. It was clearly sexual. However he wasn't horrified by what he saw, or what he was starting to do. May be it was the drink. May be it was the music. Ahka started to move. His companion smiled. She twisted and backed into him. Her hands moved behind and grabbed his wrists forcing his hands onto her hips. She pushed against him. In his 22 years Ahka had never been this close to a woman who wasn't a relative. He felt his body betraying him. She turned her head, he expected her to have a disapproving look. She didn't. She smiled and grinded harder into him keeping his hands pinned to her hips.

They danced like this for several songs before his partner indicated she wanted a drink. They weaved their way through the dancefloor back to the bar.

"You dance well to say you've never danced before." she smiled.

"I have danced before!" he protested. "Just not like that. On my planet that would get you arrested!" he said with a laugh.

The barman came over and she leaned over to speak to him over the noise of the thumping music. He heard only a couple of words. "Booth" and "bottle". The man nodded and walked away. A few seconds later a woman appeared with a silver bucket with a bottle in it and gestured them to follow her.

Ahka looked at his companion quizzically. She was busy tapping something out on her datapad as they walked. She looked up and saw him.

"Time for some chillout!" she responded.

He nodded but felt slightly disappointed. He'd been enjoying the Gallente dancing.

The woman with the bucket led them to a row of booths. There were no chairs, just thick rugs and cushions on the floor. He sat down and the woman placed the bucket on the floor along with a tray of glasses.. As she left she unhooked a chiffon curtain that fell across the front of the booth. His companion poured two glasses and passed one to him.

"To your last night on a Gallente ship!" she toasted.

He clinked his glass against hers.

"Its been an education." he smiled.

"Its not over yet!" she said returning the smile.

Ahka saw two figures approaching. Through the fine material he couldn't make out who they were. A hand appeared in the gap in the curtain and pulled it to one side. It was the two Matari women. He quickly scampered back away from the opening in fear. The three women started to laugh.

"Calm down Amarrian! They are here for a drink! Stop being so... well.... Amarrian!"

He slowly returned to the centre as the two Minmatar woman sat and grabbed a glass filling it with the clear spirit. One of the said something he didn't understand.

"What did she say?" he asked nervously.

"She said your fairly cute for an Amarrian." his companion replied before saying something back to the Matari woman. Whatever it was made the woman put on a comedy pout.

"What did you say to her!" Ahka said wanting to know why the Matari woman put the pout on.

"I said she was out of luck. You were promised in marriage to another woman and that she'd be disappointed anyway as you've not even kissed before."

Ahka looked horrified. The three women burst out laughing.

"Don't get upset Amarrian!" his companion said picking up the bottle and refilling his glass. We're only having fun with you."

Ahka nodded and drank. He couldn't wait until tomorrow.

-o0o-

The next two hours flew by. It was difficult with his companion having to translate everything but he had to admit he was enjoying himself. The two Matari women really did not bear him any ill-will and seemed generally interested in him.

They were onto their second bottle and were having a good time when one of the Matari women asked something and his companion shook her head dismissively.

"What did she say?" he asked.

"It doesn't matter." she said dismissively.

"No. Want to know. Really. I won't be angry!" he said his curiosity getting the better of him.

"If you really want to know she was asking if I had been telling the truth about the kissing thing."

Ahka blushed.

"I told her to leave it alone. She said it was a great loss for women."

Ahka blushed even more.

"Tell her thank you. However its the custom on my planet and I don't make the rules." he said with a smile.

She translated and the Matari woman nodded. Leaning forward she went onto her hands and knees facing him. Ahka gulped. Her ass was in the air, the tight black leather pants were skin tight. She slowly started to crawl towards him. The other two women smiled and watched. Ahka froze as she approached with an agonising slowness. The look on her face was pure lust. He was sure the slow predatory approach was leaving him the opportunity to back off or move away. He knew he should but he couldn't. He gazed at her lips, full and red as she neared. Sweat appeared on his brow. His hands gripped his legs to hide the shaking. Closer she neared, he could see down her top. Her full breasts were pale. She first placed her left hand outside his right knee. Then her right hand the other side. He could smell her perfume. She looked up at him and licked her lips as she started to rise. A voice inside Ahka's head screamed at him to back off. To move away. He couldn't. She was face to face with him now. He was breathing heavily. Fear, expectation, lust. He couldn't tell which emotion was the strongest. He closed his eyes as he felt her hand caress his cheek. He felt her breath on his lips. Still he didn't move. Then he felt her her lips gently touch his. The briefest of touches. A second later he felt the contact again. Longer this time. He responded back. He felt her hot wet tongue dip into his mouth. He could taste the vodka. She pulled back and he opened his eyes. She was there smiling. The other two girls had moved in close. The one that had just kissed him, his first real kiss, spoke again. He wished he'd learnt some Gallente in school.

"What did she say?" he asked, croaking the words out.

"She said it's a travesty that such a good kisser should be exclusively for only one woman ever."

Ahka smiled at that. A second later the other Matari woman placed her hand on his cheek and turned his head to face her. She moved in quick before he could react. This kiss was different. More forceful, more passionate. When she broke away he turned to his Gallente guide to ask her to translate something for him. Before he could speak she too was kissing him. As she did he felt lips on his neck. The four melted down into the cushions. He felt someone grab his wrist, pushing his hand under clothing. His hand felt warm flesh. Something soft. Hands were all over him, clothing being loosened. Sin.

-o0o-

Captain Setiges stood at the observation window at the front of the huge battleship. She watched the small yellow InterBus shuttle undock from the large Gallente station. Footsteps behind signalled someone was approaching.

"We've been flying in circles for a week. Some 100mm ISK down. I hope it was worth it Captain."

Nimestre was her Executive Officer and was never scared of speaking his mind. She always like that in her officers. 'Yes' men and women had no place on her crew.

"So do I. However look at the big picture here. Initially we find a nobody Amarrian almost dead in an escape pod. However a bit of digging reveals he is to marry into the Sirin family. On their planet, one of the biggest slavers there is. The Sirin family has no sons and he is marrying the eldest daughter. When his father-in-law-to-be dies, he'll be head of the house. Think about it Nim. Think what we have done here. Will Ahka view the Matari in the same light again? When he owns 50 thousand Matari slaves how will he feel? If he does the right thing will it set an example to others? What if his experiences here have changed him. What if we showed him his dogma is wrong. He broke so many rules last night and still enjoyed himself. What if that sets in motion what we hope it will?"

The XO stayed quiet. Mulling it over.

"And all it took was our ship to do nothing for a week, you pretending to be a nurse and, well, the sacrifice Hrast and Vunstede had to make last night! I hope its worth it."

"Hrast and Vunstede have been very well compensated for their sacrifice. I clearly told them the plan and what they would have to do. They might rightfully hate Amarrians, but double-teaming one for a single night that could lead to vastly improving the lives of fifty thousand of their brothers and sisters? I told them if they said no it would in no way reflect on them. They both agreed without hesitation after I explained what might happen. Plus I think they got an extra kick out of corrupting one of the pious Amarrian assholes! Yeah they went back to his quarters and screwed him senseless, but what they may have achieved cannot be measured."

The XO shrugged.

"Well, time will tell. Time will tell."