Hired Gun

A series of explosions rocked the complex where Troy Wooten was being held, tortured, and interrogated. The "Fear" drug Dr. Elizabeth O'Shea injected in the human had done its job, and the once proud and defiant warrior was trembling in his bindings in terror. He didn't comprehend what was going on, and when the security alarm blared, he screamed like a terrified child.

"Shut up!" O'Shea demanded of her captive. The human doctor was unarmed and almost as terrified as her prisoner.

"The sirens croon like pink baboons!" Troy babbled, laughed hysterically, and then began to sob and tremble.

Gunshots rang out through the corridor. A pitched battle was being fought. Elizabeth locked the door and hid behind the bed holding Troy. Wooten was switching between laughter, crying, and gasps of terror. The drug was useful in a controlled environment, but in the chaos of this surprise raid, it turned Troy into a mess of emotions. O'Shea was thankful the man was well restrained.

The gunfire lasted for nearly two minutes, but it began to wane. O'Shea hoped it meant the security team was quelling the invasion, but when the gunfire came to an abrupt end, the loud banging of an axe to the doorway caused the redhead to cover her head in fear. After nearly a minute of hacking away at the steel door, the locks relented, and three furvoid females, a white tigress, a purple skunk, and a busty vixen burst in with guns drawn.

"Troy!!" the skunk called out in sheer horror.

"What did you do to him?" Ember Riley, the white tigress captain of The Shield Maiden demanded of O'Shea as she pointed her pistol directly at the doctor.

"N-neural...neural interrogation," she babbled and added "please, please don't kill me!"

"Which drug?" the vixen, Suzy, the ship's doctor asked.

"Panothenix Valconium," O'Shea squeaked her response.

"Fear drug, captain. He'll...be alright, in time, but we've got to get him on the ship, now."

"Please, take me with you. I'm not with them. My name is Elizabeth O'Shea, I'm an undercover agent with the Interplanetary Government Security Team. Call your people, they can verify my credentials!"

Audra, the skunk, was by Troy's side, stroking his bruised and battered face gently.

"Purple talking skunks, ha, ha, ha! I am the walrus! Koo-koo kachu!"

"Shoot her, Captain," Audra said with an anger the tigress had never heard from the sweet and demure skunk.

"No, Audra. She's coming with us. In chains."

"Captain, be reasonable," Elizabeth begged.

"You want to live? Bracelets," Ember said, taking the cuffs which once restrained Troy and tossing them to Elizabeth. Reluctantly, the doctor put them on her hands.

"Let's go," she ordered. "Help carry him on our ship," Ember added. With the handcuffs around her wrists, Elizabeth had difficulty helping the furvoids lift the injured and delirious soldier into the waiting ship. Their mechanic, Piper, was at the helm and immediately took the ship out of the planet's atmosphere.

Troy was brought to the infirmary. He was still interchanging laughter with hysterical sobbing and the occasional wild scream. They secured him to the examining table, strapping him down for his own safety.

"Are you going to eat me?" he asked Suzy with wide, bloodshot eyes and tiny pupils.

"No, Troy, I'm going to help you," she said calmly.

"You're a wolf, and wolves eat little children!" Troy said with an awestruck voice.

"I'm a furvoid, I'm a vixen, and I will not eat you. I promise. I'm going to give you something to calm you down."

"Will it hurt?"

"It might sting a bit," she said as she prepared the injection.

"Will I get a lollipop after?"

"Of course."

Troy then spewed off several dozen random words which were completely nonsensical to the doctor. He began seizing from the injection, but the vixen expected as much. Audra was by his side the entire time, helping Suzy with whatever she could. If the vixen needed any medical device, the skunk was eager to fetch it. She patted Troy's nude body down, for he was sweating profusely.

"This is my fault," Audra said as tears rolled down her cheek.

"This was not your fault, Audra. I need you to stay focused for me. Get me an I-V pack, just fluids. He'll dehydrate if we don't get some liquids in him soon."

The seizing eased, and Troy began to fall into a deep sleep. His eyes twitched rapidly, and every once and again, his body twitched. He even mumbled softly in his sleep. Suzy grimaced at the terrible shape Troy was in. His arm had been broken in three different spots, and it was poorly mended. His internal organs suffered bruising, he was missing a tooth, and his body was covered in bruises, cuts, welts, and wounds.

"What did they do to you, Troy?" Suzy asked as she let the emotions now take ahold of her. Audra saw the vixen's eyes well with tears. Now she was the one who consoled the doctor, as she embraced her. They cried in each other's arms. Ember entered the infirmary and saw the two girls embraced and crying. She assumed the worst.

"Is he...dead?" she asked, swallowing hard.

"No, Captain. He's seen it bad though. Real bad. I've never seen anyone endure torture like this before," Suzy answered her captain. The doctor cleared her throat and composed herself.

"Captain," Audra said, removing her face from the vixen's shoulder.

"Yes Audra."

"You made the right choice...rescuing him."

Ember pursed her lips to hold back her own tears and left the room immediately.

A day and a half passed. Audra stayed by Troy's side, barely eating or drinking. She slept with her head on his thigh as she sat in a chair beside the man. Troy began to stir and groaned.

"Ugh, what...the...fuck?" he asked in a hoarse voice. Suzy immediately turned around from her computer monitor and rushed to Troy's side. The skunk was still asleep on his leg, leaving drool on his thigh.

"Where am I?" he hoarsely whispered to Suzy, and then answered his own question, "on the Shield Maiden?"

Suzy nodded and put a glass of water to Troy's lips. He gulped it greedily, but Suzy avoided giving him too much at once.

"Why am I strapped to this table, and why...is Audra sleeping on my leg? And why am I naked, and why the fuck did you come to rescue me?"

Audra stirred as Troy regained his voice from the water.

"Troy? Troy, you're awake?" Audra asked. Her cute, innocent face was beaming with joy.

"I'm awake. I feel like I got into a fight with a Horkesian bear and lost."

"Captain, Piper, come to sickbay. He's awake," Suzy announced on the ship intercom. Within a few seconds, both girls rushed in and surrounded Troy. He was still strapped to the table, but Suzy undid the binds.

"I told them nothing. At least, I think I did," Troy said.

"I don't care what you told them," Ember said, and she embraced Troy who winced in pain at the sudden hug.

"Please, be gentle, Captain," Suzy scolded. Ember immediately released her grasp.

"Right."

"You shouldn't have come back to get me. You're lucky to all be alive."

"The base wasn't well defended," Ember said. "They thought remoteness would be enough security. They were wrong."

"We...couldn't leave you there. Not after all you've done for us...for me," Audra said. "You saved me."

"I guess we're even, then," Troy said.

Audra looked over all the bruises still on his skin and her eyes reddened with tears. "No...no we're not."

Suddenly, Elizabeth O'Shea stood in the doorway to the infirmary. Troy saw her and recoiled, nearly falling backwards off the table, were it not for Suzy quickly bracing him.

"What the fuck is SHE doing here?!" Troy demanded.

"Troy...Dr. Elizabeth O'Shea is an undercover agent with the IGST. She has been tracking Major Catelli's rogue organization for months now. She's alright; we verified with our home world security staff," Ember explained.

"She's a lunatic psycho-bitch, that's what she is!" Troy screamed, pointing his finger at the redheaded human.

"I...I deserve every word you said, Troy. I didn't want to do what I did for you, but I needed to lay the trap for Catelli. I needed him to find the Healing Stone."

"Captain, I've never asked for much on this ship. I've obeyed your orders, I've protected and pleasured you and your crew. So please, please just grant me one thing, shoot her now!"

"I can't do that, Troy," Ember said.

"She...was instrumental in helping me treat you," Suzy admitted.

Elizabeth walked closer to Troy, who tried to back up against Suzy's arms, but she held him firmly.

"Troy...you might end up hating me for the rest of time. I understand that. For what it's worth, and I know it's probably not worth much to you, but...I'm very sorry."

"You're damned right it's not worth anything! You tried to scramble my brains. I...I still don't know if I've got all my marbles."

"You gave me no choice!"

"I wasn't about to sell out my friends and their entire race for you!"

"Troy, the IGST will make certain all furvoids get treatment for the cysteria with the Healing Stone, but we have to stop Catelli. He has very powerful allies in the military, and I need to draw him out in the open to spring the trap. Even if you do retrieve the stone and give it to the furvoids, he'll take those who are loyal to him and attack the furvoids with everything he has to get the stone back."

"And you believe this bullshit symphony?" Troy screamed at Ember. The tigress slowly nodded her head.

"Troy, it took everything in me to stop myself from shooting her on first sight, but it turns out we need her...you need her."

"I need her like a hot stick in the eye; by the way, thanks for not going that route with me."

"You would have spilled your guts with the Fear injection. I would have gotten what I needed, and you would recover in time. But then these girls came along."

"I would have spilled nothing!" Troy hissed.

"You thought Suzy was a wolf who would eat you," Elizabeth replied.

"Whatever, where are my clothes?" Troy growled.

"In your quarters," Audra replied softly.

Troy ripped the monitoring equipment off his body and got on to his feet. His legs gave out for a second and he almost fell, but he caught himself on the bed.

"Where are you going?" Suzy demanded.

"To my quarters. I need to be by myself," he said. With great difficulty, he stumbled and limped to his room, as all five girls stayed only a few feet behind the nude, injured and stubbornly proud man.

He sat on his bed and put on his clothing. He cursed and grumbled every human, furvoid and Kentasian swear word he knew of and punched his pillow repeatedly. He sat bent over on his bed and sobbed in folded arms. All five girls stood outside of his bunk still.

"What should we do?" Audra asked.

"Nothing. We do nothing. Let him be; that's an order," Ember said, disbursing the crowd.

Troy found a bottle of bourbon in his room and poured himself a tall glass. He downed the booze greedily and poured another helping. Three glasses later, he slowly began putting his clothing on. He stood up and wobbled from the alcohol, fell backwards on his bed and laughed hysterically. He clumsily dressed and stumbled out of his room. He held on to the bulkheads as he made his way to the bridge where Ember was sitting in her captain's chair.

"Reporting for duty, captain," Troy said as he slumped down in the chair next to her.

"What in hell's bells are you doing, Troy?"

"Flying ship!" he slurred.

"Oh no you're not! Get back to your quarters. That's an order!"

"I'm first officer on this boat. I need to be on the bridge," he continued to slur, and he looked at a navigation screen and chuckled. "We're here," he added, pointing to the triangle on the map representing the ship.

"Troy, you smell like you drank a bottle of Scotch."

"Half a bottle. Of bourbon!" he shouted.

"Alright, come on Troy, up you go," she said, helping the human to his feet. Surprisingly, he didn't resist. The tigress helped him back to his quarters and undressed him. She was familiar with his body, so there was no modesty to be had. She was, however, still appalled by the scars and bruises left from the torture he endured. Troy fell asleep on the bed, and the tigress brushed her white fingers over his purpled, black and blue chest. A small tear escaped her and landed on his belly. She tucked him in under the blankets and left him to sleep.

Troy woke up with a hangover. He still was sore from his interrogation, but the pain of overindulging in whiskey hurt more than the beatings. He splashed some water on his face and looked in the mirror. He let loose a half chuckle at his appearance.

"You look swell, old boy," he said to himself. He dried up and put on fresh clothing. When he exited the door, he nearly collided with Elizabeth.

"Oh; I'm sorry, Troy," she said.

Troy grunted his response.

"I was bluffing. When I threatened to scramble your brains. The stuff I gave you would have made you talk, but it wouldn't have any lasting effects. I needed the information, but not at the cost of your life."

"You're a real humanitarian."

"I would have smuggled you out, Troy. I would have taken you on my ship, and we'd find the stone, and hand it over to the authorities."

"Whatever makes you sleep better at night, just keep telling yourself that."

"Here..." she said, handing him a data document. The small, digital reader had a report which cleared Troy of the court martial stemming from the incident on Mytar 6. He could be reinstated with full rank, privilege, and back-pay.

"I don't get it, what's this?"

"My report on Mytar 6. You're innocent, Troy. The government has cleared you of any wrongdoing."

"Why would you file this for me?"

"Anna O'Shea..." she replied.

"Who?"

"The little twelve year old girl you rescued from the apartment seconds before it was destroyed. She's my little sister."

"What?"

"Her description didn't do you justice," Elizabeth said with a slight smile.

"The girl, Anna..."

"She's all grown up now. In University. It's not easy raising your sister when you're only just stepping out in the real world. Our parents died in the blast. I hated you...I hated your men for years. I couldn't forgive the military for what it did to the people in that building, even though Anna kept telling me how you and your men frantically tried to evacuate everyone."

"I don't believe a word you're saying," Troy said acidly.

"Anna told me you said something...after the blast. She was crying and pretty much hysterical when it happened, but she remembers what you said. You said to her 'you'll be alright. You're safe now. I don't know who is looking out for you up above, but..."

"You must be a very special girl," Troy finished for her. "So...why would you want to help me?"

"After eight years of your little sister nagging you that the soldiers there were the good guys, I began to poke around. I was working with Intelligence, and I started to dig around about the incident at Mytar 6. When you realize you've lived your life as a lie for eight years, and that an innocent man suffered because of the lying and backstabbing of another, it changes you."

"It does," Troy said sourly.

"My sister testified, along with two other witnesses. They were afraid of Catelli at the time, but I finally convinced them it was the right thing to do."

"Does Catelli know?"

"If he didn't already, he soon will. He has powerful friends in the government, and I'm sure the word will get to him that he's wanted for the murder of your men and the civilians in that apartment."

"And yet you still pumped me up full of mind altering drugs."

"I never wanted to hurt you Troy," she said as her eyes reddened.

"Do you think this makes a difference? None of it makes a difference. This man died on Mytar 6," he said, shaking the digital document. "What you see now is a remnant. A ghost. I'm no one!"

"Troy," Elizabeth began, but instead of further words, she grabbed his face with her hands and kissed him deeply.

"What the hell are you doing?!" he finally said after breaking free from the kiss.

"The pain you've endured. Not just the pain of the torture chamber...the pain inside here," she said, touching his chest. She began to rub his chest softly and slowly.

"Stop, just stop," Troy protested, but Elizabeth wouldn't. She pinned him against the wall and forced another kiss on him. Troy's protest was weaker this time, but the pain of his experience under her control got the better of him and he shoved Elizabeth away.

"Troy..." she began, but Troy stormed away, leaving the woman in stunned silence.

"Reporting for duty," Troy said to Ember as was looking over her navigation screen.

"Well, you don't smell like a booze hound," she quipped.

"I'm sober," he grumbled.

"You were cheerier when you were drunk."

"Where are we heading?" Troy asked in an irritated voice.

"Back to Ryziak Four," she said cautiously. Troy stared at his monitor, and then slowly turned around to face his captain.

"Ryziak Four?"

"We never did retrieve the link. Look, Troy...you can sit this one out. Perhaps it's better if you do."

"Fuck it, let's go," he replied, staring back at his console. He entered a few commands in the touchscreen.

"Are you sure?"

"We have a job to do. Let's do it."

"Troy...I have to tell you something. About when we left you on Ryziak Four," the tigress began.

"You made the right call, Captain. I was screwed, you had to think of the rest of the crew."

"It's not just that."

Troy turned back to look at his Captain. She had a pained look about her.

"So, speak your mind, Ember."

"The girls...Audra, Piper, Suzy, they all wanted me to turn the ship around and go get you. I wouldn't."

"So?"

"I...I was willing to let go of you to continue on with the mission."

"But you didn't," Troy replied gruffly.

"No thanks to me. Suzy tagged you with a pheromone to track you, and she knew where you were. I didn't want to jeopardize the mission to save you."

"And yet you did."

"I abandoned you to let you suffer under their cruelty."

"Look, Captain, let me allow you to sleep better at night. I don't hold you responsible for what happened. I don't hold you responsible for leaving. Not once, when I was getting tortured by those fuckers did I think of laying the blame on you. I fucked up, plain and simple. I went in all cocky and shit, because I figured nothing would be alive on that hellhole of a planet. Guess I calculated wrong. So stop blaming yourself, Captain. In combat, you have to learn to accept when you lose someone under your command."

"You couldn't. Mytar Six," she said.

"Damn it!" Troy said, pounding the console, "I said, let it go! Wasn't your fault. Let's just go back there, get the damn link and move on."

"Alright," Ember said softly. Though she was his captain, and her subordinate yelled at her, she understood his emotional state, and didn't press him further.

Troy took a deep breath and sighed. "I'm sorry, Captain. I didn't mean to yell."

"I can't undo what they did to you. I can't take away the trauma. All I can do is be there for you now...even though I wasn't when you needed me the most."

"Ember, I don't know how many times I have to tell you, I don't blame you. If you want me to say I forgive you, I forgive you, but there's nothing to forgive."

"When I first met you at the bar, you acted like the biggest ass I've ever come across, and now you go about doing things like sacrificing yourself for my crew. What's with that?"

"I'm a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma," Troy said blandly.

"I'm pretty exhausted, can I give you reign of my ship?"

"I'll try not to crash us into any moons. Goodnight, Captain."

"Night Troy."

Troy was busy pouring over engine output figures when a hand touched his shoulder. He jumped out of his chair and screamed "Ahh!" He then quickly recovered and said "Ah! The manifold pressure has increased two percent."