"Two hours to the Tauk System, sir," relayed Screw to Atwat over the comlink. "We will drop out of N-Space in one hour and we should be above the elliptical plane of the planet."
"Very good ... I'll be up shortly."
Needa sighed. The three week trip from Earth to Tauk had allowed the crew to become more cohesive in working with each other. Even their science officer, DeKunt, was managing not to pass out at least one quarter of the time he caught sight of Hump, their nudist engineer. The Garou, Cummin, had fit in, although it was still hard to believe that he was a medical officer.
Still, Lieutenant Atwat remained a mystery to Needa. She knew he was brilliant, a genius in fact, but he never lorded his intellect over anyone else. If fact, he was downright stupid about certain things. She could not understand why he was so hidebound and fanatical about Space Police Corps rules and regulations.
Atwat had memorized everyone's service record, but Needa knew he did not know that DeKunt was called Bashful Berry or why he was called that. She shook her head as she remembered that he placed Hump's nudism as a practicing religious rite. He was not even aware of her own over-developed body, which was the cause of most of her problems. Needa sighed again, which strained her too tight uniform.
"What's the matter, dear?" asked the ship's computer through Need's console. "That's too sighs in less than a minutes."
"It's nothing, Miss Poppins," said Needa. "Just a little stir-crazy. It'll be good to get of the ship for a couple of hours."
"Yes, dear," replied the computer before shutting off.
"And yet another example," thought Needa. "Our ship's computer was left on for years by itself and went crazy. It has Miss Poppins, the English nanny, Madame Tart, the strumpet, and another personality they're both afraid of. Luckily, the third one hasn't shown up yet. I asked Atwat to wipe the memory and start fresh. He stated that the Commissioner personally gave us this ship and that the computer must have been designed to function this way to best serve our needs. Therefore, no modifications are necessary."
Needa was half-tempted to get Bashful Berry to wipe the computer's memory when they arrived at Tauk. Two things were stopping her. The first was that she would be doing an end-run behind Lieutenant Atwat's back. The second reason went deeper. More than ninety years ago, scientists heralded their newest breakthrough in cybernetic systems. Self-aware with independent programming capabilities, the new robot was hailed as the ultimate tool of civilization. The new robots went into production and were purchased throughout the sphere.
Within a month of initial shipments, reports filtered back to Earth of death and destruction caused by the robots. The first reports were scoffed at by the scientists as people having 'Frankenstein' paranoia. A few went so far as to say the robots were superior to humans, who were just expressing their inferiority complex. Unfortunately, it became all too clear that the robots were out to annihilate mankind. Star Command turned all its assets, including the Space Police Corps, towards the eradication of the Roboids, as they were now called. After numerous battles, the Roboids were defeated, except for very few isolated pockets that escaped destruction. Deprived of the energy they needed to survive, the remaining Roboids turned to a vampiritic existence, taking energy from any source they could find ... even living beings. Needa decided to have another go at Atwat about the ship's computer. She then heard the hatch hiss open behind her.
"Like, this ship is such a kludge," she heard Aye Wanna Hump say behind her. "Do you think our illustrious spokesman for the oppressive regime will allow us lowly workers time to do repairs on Tauk?"
"If you mean, Lt. Atwat, I doubt it," replied Needa. "The mission comes first. I've been trying to get him to let Berry wipe the computer's memory at Tauk."
"May the benevolence of the Gods shine upon your endeavor," intoned Aye Wanna as she came around in front of Needa, who was sitting at the helm station. Aye Wanna's curly red hair hung down to her waist and she was wearing her silver circlet on her forehead. A blue diaphanous scarf was tied around her waist and that was all she was wearing. The scarf, being see-through did not hide a thing.
"It must be the three weeks of being cooped up together," thought Needa. "Her nudity doesn't even bother me anymore."
"What are you doing up here on the bridge, Aye Wanna?" asked Needa.
"You need to relax ands let go of your inhibitions," said Aye Wanna. "Release yourself from the tight barriers that confine your spirit."
Needa smiled. She almost felt like taking Aye Wanna up on her suggestion. Ever since the Academy, someone had made her clothing size too small in the Quartermaster's computer file. With her voluptuous shape, Needa always seemed like she was going to burst out of her clothing at any time. Needa knew if she told Atwat that she had converted to nudism, he would let her prance around the ship in her birthday suit without saying a word. However, it was not in her nature to run around naked, and with her tits being three times as large as Aye Wanna's, Needa knew Berry DeKunt would be in a faint all the time.
"No, what really brought you up here?" she asked Aye Wanna again.
"Bad vibes," replied Aye Wanna with a shrug. "I felt something was wrong with our illustrious leader's command chair." She walked around to the rear of the ship commander's chair, bent over, and cracked open the access panel in the back. "Aha! The relay to the helm hookup is about to short out."
Just then the hatch hissed open again, Needa glanced up over her shoulder just in time to see Berry standing there. He caught sight of Aye Wanna's heart-shaped ass and cunt sticking out right in front of him. His face went blood-red and his eyes rolled back in his head just before he crashed to the deck in a faint. The hatch hissed closed with a thump and then hissed open again.
"Bummer, I thought he'd gotten over that," commented Aye Wanna, looking back as the hatch hissed close and open again. She turned back to the access panel, replaced the bad relay, and closed the panel door.
"You're a Technic, aren't you?" asked Needa as the hatch thunked close and open again. Technics are a group whose psionic abilities were geared to machinery and technology. The rare people who possessed psionic powers fell into three categories; Technics, Biotechs, and Mutates. The Biotechs abilities were linked to biology and psychology. The Mutates, the rarest of the three, had paranormal powers. The hatched hissed close and then opened again.
"Like, fer sure," replied Aye Wanna with a smile. "My PMS, Psionic Measurement Score, which should not be confused with our weapon's Plasma-Mercury System, was so high, the testers could not believe it. Of course, I get irritable every month."
"That's only to be expected," said Needa.
"I'd better wander back to the engine room before we come out of N-Space," said Aye Wanna.
"Fine," said Needa as the hatch closed and opened again. "Oh, can you move Berry's head out of the doorway before it gets hit again?"
The Dildo materialized out of N-Space into realspace over Tauk's orbital plane, but outside the gravity well of the system.
"Um, I don't think there are any ships in the system," reported Berry, who was sitting at the science station on the bridge. Sensors were flickering off and on at irregular intervals.
"Very good," replied Lance from the command chair. "Ensign Screw, best speed to Tauk."
"Aye-aye, sir," responded Needa as she prepared to engage the Quasi-drive or better know as the Q-drive.
"You called?" asked Q in a snooty manner.
"Wrong series, sweetie," replied Madame Tart.
