In Space Everyone Screams

Author's Note:

this is a Dark Erotic Science Fiction series. It contains mature themes, scenes of violence, BDSM, nonhuman, and sexual encounters that are borderline nonconsensual, and is intended for adult readers only. All characters portrayed in this story are eighteen years of age or older. Reader discretion advised.

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Chapter 4

Ophelia raised her hand to knock and paused.

She would dive headfirst into a firefight but for some reason something about

this

unsettled her. Lilian had mentioned a practice of sometimes taking a break from controlplay to debrief and unpack things that happened during their sessions. In truth, Ophelia dreaded a pure talk session. The sex was both a release and an escape for her. It

worked

for her.

But she never backed down from a fight. And that was the reason that she had to continue with this. She had to push through these feelings.

So she knocked. Her knuckles rapped against the varinium.

The door slid open without a sound.

"Captain! You're just in time. Come in."

Pal, switch on Privacy Mode.

Of course, Captain. I hope you enjoy your time with Dr. Kruse.

After stepping inside, the door closed and Ophelia planted herself onto one of the lounge chairs in the sitting area.

Lilian stepped out from behind her desk, taking a moment to smooth her skirt before prowling over like a model on a catwalk. Out of all the women on the ship, she was the only one who wore heels. And she was a

master

at moving in them. Watching her move was like watching an artist at work. The gentle sway and tilt of her hips hypnotized Ophelia each and every time.

As always, Lilian's outfit toed the line between clean cut professionalism and provocatrisse. She wore a similar outfit as last time but in shades of pastel pink. Her blouse was unbuttoned low enough that slivers of her bra peeked over the edge. Her skirt hugged the dip of her hips and stopped mid-thigh. Over her legs she wore dark stockings that seemed to shimmer in the light.

Lilian eased into the armchair that opposed the lounger. She crossed her legs and clasped her hands atop her lap in one fluid motion.

"You can call me Ophelia or even Lia, Doctor."

"Well, if we are dispensing with formalities then I must insist on Lilian or Lili."

"Deal," Ophelia agreed, smiling.

"A lot has happened since we last spoke," Lilian said, immediately addressing the elephant in the room, "do you feel the mission went as well as it could have or are there aspects of it that you replay, wishing you could have done things better?"

Right to down to business. Ophelia both liked and was put off by Lilian's no-nonsense approach. Having to deal with all sorts of personality types had been part of her job in the Corps and she always preferred straight shooters but in a therapist it usually came off cold and aloof. Lilian managed to pull it off with an almost motherly warmth.

"There were certain aspects that I wish had been different but all things considered, we did well."

"What do you wish had been different?"

Ophelia sighed and she brought her hands together, wringing her fingers. "I just wish we had more personnel. I raised this concern when I was first recruited for the mission but a skeleton crew of five... it's not enough hands in a real emergency."

Lilian nodded. "I can understand that reservation. Rest assured, Ophelia, the every member of the crew is highly skilled and our routes are extremely low risk."

"That's what everyone tells me. Maybe it's my training. And maybe I was overreacting. But when we were on the Adventum, I kept having these thoughts. What if it had been a setup? What if mission files from the Institute were leaked and some scummers pulled some derelict ship out into dark space to set an ambush?"

Lilian frowned. "I can understand that as a corpswoman it was your job to exercise a high level of vigilance. It sounds like you were more agitated than you let on. Did being on that ship trigger certain feelings or memories? Where did these thoughts came from?"

"I guess, I just kept thinking back to the ambush from my last mission. I know it sounds... ridiculous but I keep wondering... maybe those pirates tracked me down." Ophelia's voice dropped in volume, becoming softer. "Maybe they've come back to finish what they started."

"Ophelia, the Institute does

not

have information leaks. We have some of the best security in the galaxy. Your personnel files alone require Level 7 clearance. As medstaff, even

I

don't have access to the full, unredacted versions."

Ophelia tightened. She felt her insides twist as the memories pushed at the edge of her mind. She struggled to shove them back. For once, she wanted to stay composed. She wanted to be in control for now.

Lilian took her glasses off and folded them before tucking them away in a pocket. "Can you tell me what happened with the pirates? After you both took the escape pod?"

Ophelia didn't want to. The memories screamed at her. It was as if they had a life of their own and raged at her to let them out. She felt her fingers curl into fists. The silence stretched on between them but Lilian waited.

Ophelia twisted between fight and flight inside. Part of her wanted to stand and walk out of Lilian's office. The other part, wanted to spill her guts out. When it seemed as if she would sit there forever, she made a sound in the back of her throat and as if a dam had broken, the words came spilling out.

"...the planet we orbited was a gas giant. Nothing survives on its surface. Our escape pod shot out of the sinking ship. We thought we were in the clear..."

The memories came.

The inside of the escape pod was cramped. There was technically room for five but the space was so tight it felt like the walls were closing in on them. Warning lights flashed overhead and one of the indicators in front of them blinked red.

The entire pod shuddered and they lurched to one side and Ophelia felt the g force shove against her head as they spun in space.

Warning! Hull damage detected!

Warning! Damage to ablative heatshield!

Warning! Planetary body detected! Initiating atmospheric reentry sequence.

"No, no no!

Abort that!

" Gonsalez screamed. With one hand he gripped the strap against his chest and with his free hand he tapped on the screen frantically.

Ophelia closed her eyes and sucked in deep breaths through her nose, breathing out through her mouth. When she opened them, their pod lurched again. They were a leaf in a storm. Richocheting off the fragmented bits of their dead ship's carcass.

She still saw Helena in her mind's eye, blood pouring out of the chest wound and body jerking as the rounds tore through. But Ophelia couldn't afford to cry anymore. The water would coat her eyes and impede her vision. She needed to be in control right

now.

She counted to three and snapped her attention back to the escape pod.

"Redirect all power to thrusters! Get us out of the planet's gravity well!" she barked.

"I'm trying!" yelled Gonsalez. "Half the system's fried. Must have been damaged in the attack!"

Shit.

That wasn't good. She racked her brain for options.

"Do we have thrusters?"

"Uhhh. X and Y, no Z."

"Good enough, spin us along Z and on my mark, jettison the O2 tank along with the heatshield."

"

What?

Are you oxysick!?"

"If we fall into that planet's atmosphere, we're done. Doesn't matter if we have a heatshield or oxygen, it'll only delay the inevitable. Do it!"

"Fuck. Fuck! Aye, Captain!"

Ophelia saw a series of fast screen tapping and swiping as Gonsalez prepped the pod to do what she had ordered.

She heard a sound like muffled hissing air as the thrusters fired. Her stomach threatened to leap out of her body as they began to spin.

Ophelia kept her eyes trained on the secondary screen where she pulled up a display of the pod's accelerometer readings. Her gaze flickered over to where the another readout showed several other variables calculated and updated in real time.

"Now! Do it!"

With a lurch that felt like someone yanked her spine out of her back, their pod jerked, picking up speed as they spun away from the planet. She held her breath while watching the displays and didn't let it out until they cleared the planet's gravity well.

"We did it!" she pumped her fists into the air. When she was met with silence she looked over to find that the lieutenant had lost consciousness.

Ophelia leaned over to tap on the control screen and retune the thrust to counter their spin. Their movement slowed to a gentle crawl soon after. She switched their S.O.S signal from all channels to only Corps emergency channels and was about to sit back to close her eyes when their pod shook again.

They started moving in a completely different direction.

Ophelia looked up out of the porthole, trying to see if she could get a visual on what was going on but there was nothing but stars and space. So she tapped through the screen to bring up the outside cameras.

An image of a large ship silhouetted against the blue glow of the planet appeared on the screen. The hull had been painted over with large, uneven splotches of brown, black, and gray. It was the type of coloring perfect for camouflage inside of asteroid fields. The sides of the ship were crammed full of guns. Too many to be Corps regulation.

The pirates.

Fuck.

Ophelia kept her pistol trained on center of the hatch, even as the edge near the hinge flared white hot. When the pirates finally pried the door free, she was greeted by a line of raised rifles and pistols. It would have been suicide to fire on them. If she had been kitted out in her combat suit, they would have better survival odds but with Gonsalez unconscious and the two of them in emergency vac suits there was no way she would be able to go toe to toe outnumbered like this.

They dragged Ophelia and Gonsalez from the escape pod and brought them out onto the floor of the hangar. Ophelia looked around and saw several other recovered escape pods sitting scattered about. She looked up at their captors and snarled.

"What did you do to the rest of the crew?!"

The man who stood nearest to her glowered and struck her knee with the butt of his rifle. She jerked, half buckling and he kicked her in the ribs. That sent her onto the floor in a sprawl. She slammed her fist against the ground, gritting her teeth against the pain.

"Remove their helmets," growled a voice that sounded like stone ground against glass.

Arms reached around her shoulders, restraining her. She struggled against them, but the man must have had augs of his own because his grip felt like varinium. Someone jammed their thumb against the button that released her helmet's seal and twisted it off.

Ophelia shook hair out of her eyes. She looked over to her left side where they took Gonsalez's helmet off.

Some of the pirates whistled. Murmurs ran through the crowd. Someone in front of her grunted.

"Dispose of him. She stays."

Ophelia's eyes widened. "No!" she cried even as one of the pirates stuck a handgun into Gonsalez's mouth and pulled the trigger. His head jerked and blood seeped out of his nose.

"You bastards!" screamed Ophelia. She thrashed against the grip of the person holding her.

They would

pay

for this. She cranked her augs to max power, damn the consequences but all of a sudden she felt a sharp prick against her neck. And just like that her vision went dark.

Ophelia's voice trailed off as she wound down her story. She didn't want to talk about it anymore. The tightness in her chest felt like it had crawled upwards and now gripped her throat.

"So much death," Lilian said in a soft voice. She looked horrified. Ophelia was reminded of how much distance there was between the general public and the Corps. Those of priviledge would always be shielded from the uglier side of life.

"I didn't even like Gonsalez that much. He was swarmy and uptight and always got on my nerves. But he wasn't a half-bad soldier. Pulled my ass out of plenty of fires. He didn't deserve to die like that... not like that..." Ophelia trailed off, shaking her head.

"I'm so sorry, Ophelia. That's terrible.

"I would like to unpack more of this with you but your input matters to me as well. Did you have a preference for the today's format?" asked Lilian.

Ophelia fake coughed into her elbow and looked away for a moment. She'd never had trouble with intimacy in the past but oh how things had changed. Fixing her gaze on the floor she said in a small voice, "I'd like controlplay."

She didn't look up. A second passed in silence. Then another. Finally, Ophelia looked up to meet Lilian's eyes. The doctor nodded; her expession looked thoughtful but not disappointed or upset. Ophelia wasn't sure why she was expecting disappointment. Or why she felt the quiet burn of shame in her cheeks but it

was

what she wanted. Why did she feel ashamed for it?

Because it means you can't handle being in command.

She shook the thought away. No. She just needed a break from it all. She could handle it. Had handled it for so long. This was just a little break.

Lilian stood and pulled a case from her coat. She drew a single pill and handed Ophelia the drug along with a vial of nucre.

Ophelia swallowed the pill and washed it down with the creamy drink. It tasted as she expected: strawberries, rose petal, and heavy cream with just a hint of salt. She resisted the urge to close her eyes and savor the taste and memories that accompanied that taste from last time. This was

therapy.

Medicine for the mind. Was she allowed to enjoy it? Were things allowed to feel so right?

"Before we begin, I need to divulge that I'm going to use a rig today. I've cleared it with Kia. Everything is up to code and safe."

"I trust you."

Lilian flashed a brilliant smile. "Thank you for your faith in me." She crooked a finger, gesturing for Ophelia to stand. "We are beginning controlplay."

Ophelia stood and waited for her next command. She already felt the effects of drug beginning to rush through her body. It began with a slight tingle in her extremities followed by a surge of warmth to her chest that seemed to both rise up her neck and sink down to her legs.

Lilian waved a hand and her office disappeared. She made a few gestures in the air and the visuals shifted courtesy of their Teem chips.

The room became darker. The walls transformed into aged red brick. Carpets covered the ground in luscious ancient Persian designs.

"Jump once," snapped Lilian.

Ophelia rushed to obey, surprising herself at how quickly she snapped to the order.

"Good girl."

The praise made Ophelia's cheeks hot.

"You may relax. Take off your clothes."

Here, Ophelia hesitated for a split second. The heat in her body grew and she slowly pushed out of her jacket, folding it neatly and placing it a few paces away onto the floor along with her hat and boots. After that, she undid the seals on her zesh and peeled the rubber-like material away from her collarbone and neck to access a small adhesion button underneath. Once pressed, the entire garment slackened and lost its ability to stick to her skin and she shrugged it off her upper body with ease. She turned and saw Lilian eyeing her. The doctor's white lab coat had come off and she too was undressing.

Using only one hand while she leaned against the desk, Lilian unbuttoned her blouse with a practiced ease. Buttons were old fashioned--few garments nowadays were made with them anymore. But the cut and collarless-design made the shirt feel both classic and modern at the same time. She slipped it from her shoulders and let it fall to the floor. With a simple flick of the finger, her little pencil skirt unfolded and fluttered from her hips.

Underneath it all, she wore a very different ensemble. A black corset accentuated the dramatic dip of her hips and combined with her already generous chest, made her cleavage look like it was about to spill past the cups. The lower section was a combination of straps that looped around her hips and thighs along with sheer lace. The black shimmery fabric that covered her skin below her stomach left her cock exposed. A black ribbon was tied around the base of it, complete with a bow. Her sheer stockings were kept in place with a sleek and lacey garter belt.

Ophelia wanted to touch herself so bad. But she remembered the rules and why she was here. Her body began to feel uncomfortable as a slight pressure began to build. It wasn't exactly a headache but rather a pressure throughout her body and mind.

"Come here."

She stepped over to where Lilian had pointed.

"Kneel with your hands up over your head. Eyes forward."

Lilian came over and something above them whirred like the motor spinning up. She bound Ophelia's arms together at the wrist with a padded strap. Ophelia had no idea where it had come from but she kept her eyes forward as instructed.

"Stand."

Ophelia stood and tried to relax her arms but Lilian caught them in her grip. "Ah ah. I didn't say you could relax your arms. Keep them up."

A mild burn came to her face from the chastisement. She felt like a schoolgirl trying to win the approval of her teacher. Lilian's tone toed the line between stern and playful. It tugged at Ophelia's psyche like a well placed chord.

She felt a thick band go around her waist. Something clicked. More straps circled around her thighs and buckled into place. Something rubbery suctioned onto her nipples. Finally, she felt Lilian touch her cock--upon which, of course, she began to harden. But then she felt something cold close around her length. It felt ribbed like some kind of cage. She struggled, wanting to look down and

see

what was going on. But she kept her eyes faithfully forward.

Somewhere above her she heard the sound of a motor begin to spin and without warning, she was hoisted into the air where she hung, body exposed and arms outstretched.

Lilian paced around underneath. Ophelia could see the top of her head with her peripheral vision but that was all. The drug coursed through her body, heightening the thrill of being so vulnerable. She felt her cock strain against its container.

"Look at me. How do you feel, my pet?" asked Lilian. She had stepped far enough away that Ophelia only needed to tilt her head slightly to lock eyes with her.

"Helpless."

"Good." The doctor smiled and there was something behind her eyes that spoke of... Ophelia didn't know. The drug was beginning to make her mind hazy. She didn't want to think anymore. She just wanted to be punished.

"Two people dead on your watch. Even more lost or missing in action. It was your responsibility as their commanding officer to safeguard them. And you failed." asked Lilian.

Ophelia hung her head.

"I think you deserve punishment, don't you think?"

"Yes," Ophelia croaked.

Lilian made a noise with her throat. An imperious hmph.

Ophelia felt fingertips brush along her exposed ribcage. She shivered at the touch. Under the influence of the drug, certain sensations felt more intense whilst others felt dampened. Touch definitely felt more sensitive. She could feel even the slightest breeze over her skin.

"You aren't allowed to cum today," Lilian whispered into her ear. "If you cum, I'll punish you even more. Understood?"

Ophelia nodded.

"Say it. Tell me you understand."

"I understand, Mistress."

Lilian's hands encircled Ophelia's tits and squeezed hard. Ophelia gasped out loud.

"Such big, obscene tits on a corpswoman. They're almost as big as mine. Since you've clearly been useless in helping your friend and subordinate, perhaps today you can be useful to me in a different way.