In a two-person flight crew there were few secrets, which was why Arky Del preferred to fly with a female co-pilot on long trips. She turned up the music a bit more, trying to drown out the sound of her co-pilot masturbating noisily in the next cabin.
Petal wasn't exactly oversexed, but like most of us she had an internal timer that told her when it was too long since she'd had sex. Apparently her alarm clock had gone off that day.
Arky wondered idly whether she had the power to order her not to play with herself during flight. The official pilots' handbook was silent on the topic.
"Oh god, yes, oh shit... ooh aaaaah!"
It shouldn't be long now, thought Arky as she ran through the checklist for a second time. Sure enough, a couple of minutes later Petal Smith appeared in the control room; she was neatly dressed and only her flushed appearance suggested she'd just had a screaming orgasm. That, and the contented sigh she gave as she relaxed back into her seat.
"Ready?" Arky said dryly, and Petal made a face at her. She ran over the control board expertly. Everything was in the green.
"Coming out of warp" said Arky and threw a switch. There was a silent {CRASH!} that made every atom of the ship shudder and they were back in normal space, a dark planet looming overhead. For a split-second Arky had a twinge of vertigo, then her mind reassured her that they weren't actually falling.
"Menos Control, this is 806," said Arky briskly and soon they were sinking towards the brightly lit landing field outside their destination. There was a whirring noise and the landing gear clicked happily.
Petal watched the ground car trundle towards them. It was a clear day on Menos, which meant that visibility was about as good as a foggy day in London. "This could be embarrassing," she mused.
Arky grunted. That would be true in most cases. Their passenger was somebody they'd met before. In fact the first time they'd seen her, she was being fucked senseless in the back of the aircraft Arky and Petal had been piloting. But that's another story.
The entry hatch swung open and Arky composed herself. "Hello Eve," she said as their passenger entered. Eve was not easy to forget β not only was her skin slightly greenish in color, but she towered head and shoulders over everybody else on the planet. She was, in fact, an android engineered to live on Menos.
Arky had gotten to know her a little better after that hair-raising flight, though conversation was not Eve's strong point. Chatting was not one of the design parameters that her creators had worked from.
"Hello friend," said Eve. "Long journey now."
"Yes, a long trip back to Earth," nodded Arky. "Are you looking forward to visiting your β er β birthplace?"
"Many years ago. All changed. There and me." She shrugged. "Interesting maybe."
Petal was blushing a little. She couldn't help but picture Eve stretched out being serviced by two frantic males battling to keep up with her sexually. It was not a sight that you soon forgot.
They settled Eve into a passenger cabin along with her meagre luggage, then returned to the flight deck. While the countdown ticked away automatically, Petal broke the silence. "What's going to happen to her?"
"I suppose they'll assess her abilities as a planetary explorer. She handled Menos all right."
"No, I mean β is she a person? What if she wants to leave and the Company wants her to stay? What then?"
Arky drummed her fingers on the console for a moment before replying. "Those are big questions. Maybe we should just fly this bus and think about that later."
Petal clicked her tongue, but went back to her checklist. Everything went off without a hitch and soon the planet Menos was receding into the starfield in the distance.
Three hours later, there was a sudden howl from one of the alarms. Arky yipped in surprise and her eyes widened. "Shut down Main 1 and Main 2!" she rapped.
Petal looked stunned but complied. She obviously had doubts about the wisdom of shutting down both engines in the middle of interstellar space, but Arky was in charge.
"Coil jammers," explained Arky. "Somebody is trying to blow out our engines. And they can't be far away." She reached for the arms cupboard but it was already too late. There was the muzzy feeling that comes from a paralysis ray, and both women folded up like marionettes whose strings had been cut. Nobody was awake when the pirates cut their way through the hatch and disabled the security systems.
Arky woke up with a headache, but she soon realised that was the least of her worries. She was stretched out like a starfish on one of the tables in the Sick Bay, her arms and legs in restraints. Turning her head to the left she could see Petal on the other table.
She swivelled her head to the right and tried to make out the figures ransacking the medical supplies in the annexe. They had removed the helmets on their space helmets and she could just about make out their features. Firakonto.
She sighed to herself. This was not good.
"This is such a clichΓ©," whispered Petal. "We've been kidnapped by aliens who want to perform medical experiments on us."
"Don't know if the experiments they have in mind are what I'd call medical," Arky whispered back. She didn't need to elaborate. Both women were nude and completely helpless. That usually meant trouble in any language.
The pirates came in to the Sick Bay and glared at their captives. One candid explorer had described the Firakonto as resembling a cross between parrots and orang-utans but without the good features of either.