Episode 2: Return to Anima
Having made her peace with the perplexing hyperman, our heroine wishes to return to the planet where they first met and fix the many social problems that had come to her attention. However, even though she and Dragon have become lovers, she still has unresolved feelings for both the succulent cat-girl Fran and the very masculine tiger-man Rudy.
I wish to once again thank both catbrown and searchingforperfection for their very helpful editing and comments. Any remaining errors in grammar (etc.) are my responsibility.
I
Minx ran a hand over her furred hip and flicked her tail back and forth. The cat-girl disguise was almost too comfortable, despite the fact that it showed off much more of her than she liked. Ship had been very careful and had ensured that the hyperman's vessel had duplicated her disguise exactly. The medical bed on his ship was far superior to the one on her vessel.
"Delicious," said Dragon, with a smirk. He rose from his pilot's chair, running his fingers through his short, black hair. "Although I like you any way that you look."
Minx surrendered a warm smile at his compliment; it was exactly what she'd been looking for when she had come to the bridge of the hyperman's ship. She wrapped the leather belt around her hips, and then slowly pushed the sword into its sheath. Her laser gun was in its holster, also attached to the belt. She reached up with both hands and made sure her extra gun was safely hidden in the curls and waves of her shoulder length, brown hair.
Dragon stepped up close to her and stared into her emerald eyes. "We could delay your trip to the surface, my little huntress," he whispered.
Minx laughed. "Little? With these drooping melons?" She knew very well what he'd meant, as she only came up to his nose. She was taller than average for a woman, but he was taller than average for a man.
"Those don't droop," he said, eyeing her breasts. "And at your age! It's quite a marvel!" With a smirk he stepped back to buckle up his own weapon belt over his black uniform. "By the way, from now on call me Acteon."
"Sounds very old, very Terran. I seem to remember reading the name before."
"It's from the Ancient Greek myths. Acteon saw the naked Artemis and was condemned to death for his lust."
Minx frowned as they left the bridge and headed for the hangar. "I'm not a virgin huntress, nor am I planning to kill you."
"One day I'll tell you my original name and you'll laugh, but for now Acteon will do. So while you're making Anima a better place for cat-girls I'll be a little further south gaining access to Morovan's laboratory. We hypermen have been searching for that legendary place for quite some time, and I think that satellite is the key." He nodded toward the display that showed the ancient and idle machine in its geosynchronous orbit. The satellite seemed very spider-like to her at that moment, although it was shaped more like a cylinder.
Minx bit her lip, wondering if she should ask the question that had been on her mind for several hours. She and the hyperman were lovers, or at least had let their pheromones run wild last night, but she really wasn't sure what he expected from her. "Drag — Acteon, I'm still surprised that you're willing to let me run around naked down there."
He shrugged. "I'm not the jealous type. If you decide to leave me, then you leave me. As for clothes, weapons on a cat-girl will be enough of a shock for the residents of Anima. Besides, you probably wouldn't be recognized if you wore clothes, and I believe you want everyone down there to recognize you as that sexy young cat-girl who mysteriously disappeared the night the hyperman rampaged through their backwards little town."
Minx remembered his promise to follow her wherever she fled, and then his later promise to let her be. Her mind was full of emotions. Sometimes this man seemed obsessed with her, and at other times he seemed indifferent. "I have a lover on Anima," she said, wondering what his reaction was going to be.
"You have a lover right here, my Artemis. And I think I match you better than any planet-bound tiger-man, no matter how much of an Adonis he is." Minx opened her mouth in surprise. "Oh, yes. Fran told me everything, exactly as you instructed her to. I told you I'm not the jealous type. I'll be sad if you leave me, but I know I'll get over it eventually. I did find you, so I think I can probably find another woman of similar quality for my purposes." He rubbed his chin. "Do you think you're the only lover I've had? I've known two hyperwomen; both bedded me, and then tried to kill me. I hope you're not the jealous type."
"I'm not sure," she admitted. Minx walked across the small hanger to Ship, and then bid her vessel to open the hatch. "I'm not going to kiss you goodbye, Acteon. While you're off on your own, with cat-girls throwing themselves at your feet, I want you to be wondering whether we'll ever be together again." She then blew him a kiss and climbed into the spacecraft that the hyperman had taken to calling Aphrodite.
"Ship, let's go as soon as he's safely out of the way."
"That's Aphrodite, honey. I'm the goddess of love. And while you may not kiss your mate goodbye, I'm making sure to kiss my Hephaestus so that he'll think of nothing else while I'm away."
Minx sighed. Ship was so horny and the relationship the four of them had was so complicated, but she had grown accustomed to it in a very short time. And she knew Dragon — Acteon liked it, too. And what was this nonsense with the name changes?
After a few seconds her vessel left the larger Hephaestus, and Minx saw a star-sprinkled blackness fill her viewing screen. Ship turned, and the yellowish-orange sphere of Anima shifted into view. Minx could see by the lighting on the planet that it was afternoon in the nameless town she was returning to.
"Ship, I want you to park in the same spot as before. I'll walk into town. Monitor my transmitter, and let me know of any problems you detect. Can you keep an eye on Hephaestus as well?"
"Like I wasn't going to watch him every second we were parted? I don't want some slinky little private yacht moving in while I'm away. Are you worried about your hyperman, boss?"
Minx considered what to say to that question. "I guess I am. But I'm also worried about what he might get up to. I don't completely trust him, Ship."
II
Ship did land in the same gulley, in almost exactly the same spot as before. Minx cast a thoughtful glance at the smashed force field generator, and the boulder she had used to crush it. The wheelbarrow was gone, though. She searched the dirt and found Acteon's boot tracks and the imprints of the bare feet of a woman, most likely a cat-girl. They were about the size of Fran's feet.
"Dragon — oh damn, Acteon brought her all the way out here?" Minx stood and scratched her head. "She must have taken the wheelbarrow back. Did he anticipate that Rarvey might blame her for my disappearance and the loss of the wheelbarrow? I'll have to ask Fran when I see her."
