Strange Traveler Ch 02

Chapter Two: Black Smoke Rising

[Warning: Contains Scenes of Mind Break, Mind Control, and Non-Consent]

The video of Warrant Officer Menendez's transformation was met with skepticism. It was true that contact had been lost with Menendez's entire Battalion. However many of the higher ranking officers questioned whether the footage was legitimate. The controversy had the military at a stand still on the issue.

Captain Muzula Pollock however, was ready to take advantage of the chaos. Muzula and her crew were buccaneers, legal pirates hired by the military to bolster the ranks. The military would pay God knows how much for more information on what had happened to the Lonsyl Research Lab.

Muzula checked the route on the Redeker's main console. With three wormhole connections, it would take about a week to travel to Lonsyl. The information on Lonsyl's location hadn't come cheap, but it would payout tenfold. Maybe even a hundred fold. She just had to beat everyone else there.

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Commander Raleigh looked around the room. Three others sat at the conference table with her. All of them had the trademark signs of the virus that had overtaken the base. White hair with black spots, oversized breasts, and wet spots at their nipples where milk never seemed to stop leaking. They were perfect. Logically, she knew she was a carrier. A creature whose purpose had been warped so it would spread the virus within. She didn't care. The hucow form was still perfection.

Raleigh stood, savoring the way her body bounced as she did. "I call the first meeting of the Hucow Collective to order. I, Commander Melissa Raleigh, will be presiding. Warrant Officer Menendez will record the minutes." Menendez nodded while she typed on her computer.

Raleigh continued. "We are gathered here today to discuss what our next course of action should be. Due to a pre-ascendancy decision made by myself and Menendez, our existence has been revealed to the Galactic Federation. While some hope that this could act as propaganda, it is best to assume the Federation will be hostile towards the bovirus. I will now open up the meeting for discussion." She sat back down and crossed her legs.

Admiral Calby spoke first. Curiously, the virus didn't grow the hair of its victims. Only the color of her hair had changed, her hair still short and shaved down to a fade on the sides. "Holisk and I were apprehended before the data on the virus could be destroyed. We have the ability to replicate it at will."

"But this conflict will be primarily in space." Lieutenant Commander Nostra replied. "How are we supposed to transmit it from hundreds of thousands of meters away?"

It was a puzzle. Raleigh twirled a length of her hair with her finger while she spoke. She could feel the virus communicating between them. They could all sense the underlying intentions and goals in eachothers words."We have access to the original data. We can modify the virus as much as we want for our purposes."

"Yes but that doesn't change our predicament." Calby traced her lips with her finger. "We need subterfuge. Currently every one of our ships are known and can be called out immediately."

"The situation is chaotic." Nostra said. They were being sucked into the hivemind of the virus. It was an odd sensation, being independent yet part of a whole at the same time. One train of thought fed by multiple minds."Right now is the time to act. We need to focus on targets who have not been informed. Pirates would be a good option."

An idea came to the forefront of all of their minds. "Military and police ships are obligated to detain any unregistered space craft." Raleigh voiced it with a smile.

"So if a crew hasn't been informed of what's happened..."

"...they'll have no choice but to stop and allow themselves to be inspected." Nostra finished Calby's sentence.

The meeting ended, and only Menendez was left in the room with Raleigh. An unseen magnetism pulled them together. Menendez stood into Raleigh's embrace. Their lips met and their bodies sang to eachother. The virus was almost certainly sexually transmittable. There was no other explanation for why the virus rewarded them so intensely for sexual acts.

The further they got into foreplay, the more the heat inside grew. They clawed off eachother's clothes. Raleigh's pants were halfway down her thighs, her dress shirt hanging off of her elbows. She hadn't worm a bra since she had ascended. Menendez lifted Raleigh's breast to her face and bit her nipple. Hard. Raleigh gasped in the sweet pleasurable pain. Milk streamed out of her as Menendez began to suck. The relief of her overfull tits being drained made Raleigh moo in appreciation. If there was one drawback to these perfect bodies, it was how much milk they produced.

Once both of her tits were finished, Raleigh did the same for Menendez. Raleigh rolled the warrant officer's nipple in between her teeth. Menendez gave off the cutest moans. The milk she produced was sweet, and made Raleigh dizzy. It was surprisingly intoxicating. The body high it gave made both of them pant with arousal.

Raleigh was about to push Menendez onto the table when the door slammed open. Raleigh sighed and looked up at the saluting soldier. "At ease. This better be important." Menendez started needily biting and suckinh on different parts of Raleigh's breasts. Raleigh did her best to remain straight faced.

The soldier moved from a salute and put her arms behind her back. "A buccaneer ship has been spotted exiting a wormhole one jump away from us Ma'am!"

That made Raleigh grin. The first test subjects had just volunteered, and they didn't even know it.

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Captain Muzula sipped from her coffee mug. Excitement buzzed in her chest. A hard week's travel, and they hadn't seen a single other space craft. If they were lucky, her contact hadn't been able to sell the information for a few more days. That would give Muzula plenty of time to stake her claim.

"We have visual on Lonsyl." Muzula's pilot Emile said. "We should be able to get visual on any craft orbiting the planet in a thirty seconds."

Muzula tapped her fingernail on the railing. If that were true why hadn't he waited thirty seconds to tell her?! It was a small irritation to wait those thirsty seconds, but it still annoyed her. She started her breathing exercises. She didn't need another incident because of her anger.

Thirty seconds on the dot, Emile gave her an update. "There are ships orbiting the planet, though they appear to be non operational."

Muzula's heart skipped a beat. Salvage had a finders keepers policy for buccaneers. The military would pay twice the top dollar to get their equipment back.

Still, there was no need to get ahead of herself. "Approach cautiously. Whoever did this could still be out there." Muzula said to Emile. She sat back down on her chair above him."Start recording all camera feeds. I want to sell footage of the background radiation if I can."

Emile chuckled. "Yes sir captain. Approaching slowly with reverse engines primed and ready to burn the hell out of here."

The wreckage looked frozen in time as it orbited Lonsyl. Chunks of metal brushed past the hull of the Redeker. Something occurred to Muzula that made her heart sink.

*At this distance, I should have seen at least *one* body by now*

Muzula shot up from her chair. "FULL REVERSE NO-!"

An explosion sent shockwaves through the Redeker. Muzule fell back into her chair. Multiple impacts followed. "Emile! How fucked are we?!" She yelled down at the pilot. She stood back up on shaky legs.

"All engines unresponsive!" Emile tried to keep the panic out of his voice. "The ship AI says we were hit by torpedoes. Where the hell did they even come from?!"

Muzula put her hair in a bun while she explained "They must have been disguised as wreckage and triggered remotely. Commander Raleigh must be still be alive, that move has her name all over it!" That still left the question: why had she attacked the Redeker?

The communication pit behind her was in chaos. Comm Leader Ikher pulled herself up the ladder to the captain's rise. "Engineers have successfully blocked off the fires from the engine rooms Ma'am!"

That was good news at least. "Whats the status of the reactor?" Muzula said, dreading the answer. The right kind of torpedo could cut straight through to the heart of the ship.

"Thats the strangest part..." Ikher said with a hand running through her hair. "Its completely untouched! The torpedoes that destroyed the engines were more then capable of doing the same to the reactor!"

Muzula gripped the railing. What was Raleigh playing at? Non-lethal shots that still left them able to retaliate had to be some sort of show of force. Not just that, it was a message.

"Set up a secure line to the Lonsyl Research Lab!" Muzula ordered. Ikher saluted and slid back down the ladder.

A minute later Muzula had her channel. There was no guarantee someone was listening, but she had a good feeling they were. She took a breath. Anger would not help her here. She still spoke with her chest into the headset. "This is Captain Muzula Pollock of the Federation sponsored craft Redeker. I demand to know why we were fired upon by Galactic Federation torpedoes!"

There was no answer for a few minutes. Just when Muzula was about to repeat herself, a voice came from her headset. "This is Commander Melissa Raleigh, head of the Lonsyl Research Lab. Your vessel was fired upon for entering an active conflict. Disarm your weapons systems and AI immediately, or be designated as a threat and fire upon."

Muzula gripped the railing. Raleigh would do it. That woman was notorious for only giving one warning. "Fine. We will cooperate with your demands. I assume you also want us to prepare for boarding?"

"Good girl~" Raleigh said. "Have everything ready in an hour."

The connection cut. Muzula took off the headset. She stared at it in confusion. "...good...girl?" She mumbled the words to herself. The Raleigh she knew had never said something so condescending.

The video of Warrant Officer Menendez played through her mind. Menendez had finger fucked herself stupid in front of the camera for half an hour. Was it possible for Raleigh to be effected by that same virus, and still make strategic decisions?

Muzula hadn't even entertained the thought that the virus had been real until that moment. The non-lethal blows took on a new meaning. Raleigh wanted every single member of Muzula's crew alive. Muzula shared this sentiment, but the cost was going to be high.

Weapons powered down across the Redeker. Muzula's job first and foremost was to keep her crew alive. After that was assured, she could deal with the consequences.

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Muzula tested the handcuffs that kept her arms behind her. They clinked against the chair. The process for taking custody of her crew had her mind racing. All of the Federation soldiers had worn hazmat suits as they escorted Muzula and her crew into their command craft. That made sense, they were probably paranoid about the virus. Did that mean Raleigh wasn't infected?

The hazmat suits had been big and bulky. If they had been infected, which she doubted, she wouldn't have been able to tell by sight. Still, she kept the idea in the back of her mind.

A person in a hazmat suit entered the room. They sat down across the table from Muzula and took off their helmet. Muzula gasped and tried her best to move back in the chair. It was bolted to the ground and remained still.

Warrant Officer Menendez smiled at her. Her white hair shone in the harsh interrogation lighting. "Nice to meet you Captain Pollock. I am Warrant O-"

"Officer Menendez." Muzula finished, trying to stay calm. "I saw your video. You're quite the hit with a number of my crew members." She could feel her sarcasm wanting to shift into a mocking tone. She couldn't let her anger overwhelm her.

Menendez giggled. "You know, I was worried that that video would put the Collective in danger. But it brought you all here!" She unzipped her hazmat suit, letting it fall onto her chair. "I was impressed with your composure after our torpedoes disabled your ship. Lesser captains would have fallen apart."

Muzula wasn't sure how to feel about the compliment. "Thanks. And why exactly are you glad my crew and I are here?" She didn't want it to be what she thought it was.

"Oh, it's a matter of discovering the bovirus's limits." Menendez put an elbow on the table and rested her cheek in her hand. "In the chaos of the initial infection, we didn't have time to truly understand the nature of it. For example, is it airborne?"

That made Muzula shiver. She leaned back involuntarily. "And your conclusion?"

With a sigh Menendez leaned back in her own chair. "Not from the infected no. The original smoke form is, but once that's disapated it's all through fluids."

It was almost infuriating how calmly the warrant Officer was describing the bovirus, as they called it. "Does that mean every soldier stationed at the lab was infected?" Muzula's current plan was to act as an ambassador between this group and the Federation. Whether or not she followed through with this was a matter of how well her crew was treated.

"Oh yea." Menendez nodded happily. "All of us have perfect bodies now. A few of your crew do too now!"

Muzula's wrists hurt. She looked down and saw she was standing. Her wrists were being pulled to their limit against the handcuffs Rage burned inside of her. "How- how *dare* you!" She almost growled. It had been a possibility, but it hadn't felt real. Once she was confronted with it, she realized how much she despised it.

Menendez only smiled at her. "You just don't understand how wonderful these bodies are." She stood and slid her hands across her chest, down her waist, and over her hips. "I'll show you, we have video of your crew ascending!"

Muzula fell back into her seat. She started her breathing exercises again. They were alive. They could be helped. She didn't know how, but this virus had to be temporary. She opened her eyes back up. "Show me what you did to my crew."

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Lianin Ikher looked up from the medical table. She was strapped down, completely naked, and pissed off. Muzula hadn't known this would happen, but that didn't make Lianin any happier.

A woman in a lab coat was speaking into a small device above her. "The Psychic nature of the bovirus is still largely a mystery. However we find that radiation may have some part in the transmitting of emotions between Hucows. Now beginning experiment four of a long range medium for infection."

A keyboard made noise somewhere in the room. A mechanical humming started from somewhere beyond Lianin's feet. "What the hell are you doing?!" She yelled, fear starting to overtake her. Was that video of Menendez real? Was that the infection the scientists wanted to-

Heat. Pleasure. Lianin pushed against her restraints. "What what what are yoooouu doooinnng?" Her hips thrusted up again and again. An orgasm made her squirt across the room, but the pleasure continued unhindered.

Lianin's Mind shattered under the pressure of the unending pleasure. "MOOOOOOOOOOOO!" She screamed it out in ecstasy. After that she lay still, covered in sweat and milk that had squirted form her nipples.

The doctor scribbled notes down. "Can you describe to me your current mental state?"

"Mooooo~" Lianin cooed absentmindedly. "Moo moo mooooo~"

"I was worried about that." The doctor wrote something else down and mumbled. "Experiment four has experienced extreme mental decline in the aftermath of the ascension. Will need supervision to see if faculties will return."

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Menendez giggled. "She still only speaks in moos, but you can tell she's pretty smart anyway. She was fixing communication equipment last I saw her."

The Warrant Officer was really starting to piss Muzula off. The information was invaluable though. The sex crazed bastards wanted to infect others without being anywhere near them. If they came up with such a medium, they would dominate in space warfare.

"So my crew is just a series of experiments to you people?" Muzula wanted to sound less angry then she was, but it was becoming impossible. "If so, why show me? Why not strap me to that table and make me experiment seven, or sixteen, or however many fucking crew members you've broken at this point!" She was on her feet again.

The giggle that came from Menendez made Muzula want to throw a chair at her. "Isn't it obvious?" Menendez said. She pulled a small syringe out of the pocket of her hazmat suit. "Because it makes you angry. I need you furious, at your most resentful and mentally strong."

"You sick fuck!" Muzula had had enough of holding back her rage. "What, does your pussy get all wet seeing me yell and scream! Well uncuff me and we'll see how *fucking* wet I can make you!"

Hands shoved Muzule back down into her seat. She looked up and saw two soldiers in hazmat suits holding her down. Menendez stood in front of her. "We have enough master hucows right now. Any more, and we'll start to have internal conflict." She held the syringe up to Muzula's shoulder. "Raleigh said you have a history of defiance, anger issues, and independence to the point of it being debilitating. If it turns you all submissive and obediant, it'll work on anyone."

Muzula struggled, trying to escape the syringe. It entered her shoulder and deposited it's contents. The hands let go of her, and Menendez sat on the table to watch her.

Muzula gritted her teeth. She would beat this, she wouldn't let something so sm-

Bubbles were popping in her head. Each was a thought. A memory. A moral. A personal belief. They floated up and popped all the same, no matter how important they were. Muzula panted. She couldn't concentrate. She looked down at herself.

Every time a bubble popped, her hips thrusted up. Or was it the other way around? Every thrust was followed by an emptying of her rational thought. A pleasure so intense it wiped her mind clean. Trying to think only brought more pleasure.

Menendez had moved next to her, whispering in her ear. "You are *nothing* Muzula. All of that anger and strength falls away and shows your true self. A pathetic little cow that can't think for herself~"

No no, that wasn't, that wasn't her. But who was Muzula? The mental image of herself burst unto bubbles under the slightest inspection. Menendez's fingers had entered Muzula's pussy. The bubbles popped more frantically under her touch.

"All of that anger, all of that strength has only made you miserable." Menendez continued to finger her. Muzula hadn't even noticed her body had already transformed. Her tits leaked milk through her shirt, and her white hair was damp with sweat. All that was left was her mind. "You dont know how to make yourself happy. Give in, and i will teach you the joy of obediance~"

Muzula was floating in a sea of popping bubbles. There was nothing for her to latch onto. Menendez's words flowed through the sea like a rope. She took hold of them.

"Yes yes yes." She began nodding desperately. "Show me how to be your pathetic obedient little cow!" She gasped out the last word as Menendez pulled her nipple through her shirt.

Menendez grabbed her by the chin. Her fingers worked faster. "Good little cow. Now moo, moo and cum your mind away so that you can be a good obediant slave~"

"Mooo, moooo, MOOOOOOO!" Muzula shuddered in pleasure, feeling her mind crumble. She was pathetic. She wanted to be obediant, anything if it would make Menendez happy.

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Muzula looked up at Raleigh lovingly as she licked the commander's pussy. Raleigh put her head back and moaned. "Muzula, you were always a defiant little cunt. I'm proud of you, you've grown into what you were always meant to be."