The Pilot And The Princess

Author's note: All characters who engage in sexual conduct are over 18.

This story has a lot of dialogue in it because I need a way to deal with exposition without just rambling on and on with world building.

I'll allow voting for this story to see how it goes. I'm not looking to win any prizes or anything. I just hope everyone votes honestly on the merits of this one story.

*****

"Why are we stopping?" asked Pam frantically.

"Sit down." said Alvin as he pushed her out of the way.

"They are still looking for us."

"Yell it a little louder. I'm not sure they heard you."

"We need to leave, NOW!"

"You need to get out of my way and let me do my job."

"Job! Well you're not doing a very good job. We're sitting ducks here."

"Oh, so did you get a lot of ship warfare training in your little shrine?"

"Don't patronize me."

"Deal."

"What?"

"I won't patronize you and you can get the hell out of my way so I can keep us from being discovered."

"Alright. Can you please explain to me what exactly we're doing? Why aren't we using the ftl?"

"No. And move, I need to ..."

"Why not?"

"I could explain but then you'd just accuse me of patronizing you again because you don't have the faintest idea of how space or this ship work."

"I'm a fast learner."

"We are in a nebula. You don't use an ftl drive in a nebula because a nebula has particles in it. If we fly at those particles at the speed of light then those particles, no matter how small, will rip right through this ship and us."

"Then we need to get out of here."

"True, but not yet. See this here. That is the fuel the ftl uses. We have lots of that. Now see this. This is the fuel for the ascent thrusters. Those are the engines we use to land on planets, take off, and, you know, fly through a nebula."

"We're out of fuel?"

"But look. It's cool. In a few hours we'll have more. We can take in the elements we need from the nebula and convert that into something the engines can use."

"And in the meantime those mercenaries are tracking us down."

"They can try."

"Please tell me you have a cloaking device."

"Don't need one. If you're smart you can use space and everyone's lack of understanding about it to your advantage. Case in point. This little blip here is the merc ship just stopping in space. Dead stop and it's a dead give away. He's doing a sensor sweep for us but he doesn't realize that his ship is scanning for other objects that are not moving relative to everything else around it."

"And we are?"

"Yep. Nothing in space stays still. Everything is moving. And here is another trick. This ship can change the outside temperature of the hull to match other objects around us. That's another reason to move with everything else as well. If we come into physical contact with any of those rocks out there some of the heat of this ship will bleed off. That can give us away."

"So we just drift like we're dead in space and cool the outside of the ship and we're camouflaged?"

"Essentially. All the mercs that come looking for us will do just like this guy. They'll stop, do a sensor sweep and then move on. That missile I launched before coming in here is putting out a lot of electromagnetic chatter. They'll all thing that's us and then fly away. By the time they actually track that thing down and begin to figure out where we might have really gone, we'll have the fuel we need and can get out of here."

"And you're sure they won't come looking for us here?"

"I'm not a mind reader but those guys appear to be following military procedures. It's a good bet they expect us to do the same."

"And you're not military?"

The man had a sarcastic chuckle. "No."

"You're a smuggler?"

"I'm a cargo pilot who doesn't like being robbed by pirates."

"Alright. So, how long are we going to have to be here?"

"The nebula? Depends. I'd say maybe about 70 hours."

"Three days!"

"Give or take. We can't exactly fly around in here. We can't suck up this stuff too fast either."

"Ok. But does it have to be so hot?"

"The heat from the hull has to go somewhere. You'll just have to get used to it."

"Three days. Do we have food? Do you even have a place to sleep on this ship?"

"I have food. I have water. I have a shower and a toilet. And yes, I do have a bunk."

"A bunk? As in ..."

"As in one. For me."

"Isn't there a cargo hold? You said you flew cargo."

"I do. This ship is designed to attach to a larger cargo carrier. And no, it isn't designed for a copilot or really to have more than one person on it. We're going to burn through our O2 twice as fast as normal. But that's ok. I thought ahead."

"So, if I want to sleep someplace besides on the floor I have to share a bunk with you?"

"Looks like it. I'm sure your fiancée won't mind but I'll leave it to you to tell him."

"Yeah. My fiancee. He's the one who sent you?"

"Not officially of course. But he felt it would be better to send me and the knight than slaughter millions by using the military."

"So instead you just slaughtered thousands."

He grinned and shook his head. "You're not going to get me to feel bad about hired thugs who were trying to gun us out of the sky. I am not to blame that they were stupid enough to try and follow a ship that was sling shotting around a black hole."

"And their base? There were civilians there."

"Well, technically, even the mercs are civilians. Armed and hostile civilians but with no official government authority."

"You know what I mean."

"You mean the little shop keepers and the guys cleaning the floors? Yeah, I have no compunction about them. They shouldn't have been there."

"Shouldn't have been there?"

"Right. Exactly. They shouldn't have been there. You can't go hanging out and providing material support to bad guys and expect bad things not to happen to you. And just to check your moral compass a bit more, all of those so called civilians would have gladly captured you and turned you back over if they had the chance."

"But they hadn't. They were innocent. And even if what you say were true, that is not a good reason to give them the death penalty."

"Your little shrine teach you that."

"The holy text instructs us thus, yes."

"Well, news flash for you. I don't believe in your petty little gods or their petty little book. And for that matter, it appears that neither do you. What is a vested virgin doing getting married? Just couldn't pass up being the queen one day?"

"It wasn't my choice. I hadn't taken my vows yet."

"Last time I checked, you have to consent to get married. So it is your choice."

"The law says the prince can choose his ..."

"Don't give me that. They can't force you to marry the prince."

"My father ..."

"You're not going to convince me that the prince or your father or the king or anybody else is making you get married against your will."

"You're right. But when I looked at all the factors involved ..."

"You decided it would be better to have a rich and powerful husband even if you don't love him than to be stuck praying at a shrine all day for the rest of your life to gods that probably don't even exist."

"You know, you really shouldn't judge people."

"Then you shouldn't judge me. All of those people on that moon deserved to die and I will not apologize for killing them. Lest you forget, they kidnapped you and were holding you ransom. They were going to kill you the moment they realized they weren't going to get what they wanted. And as of now they are dead. We can't go back in time and change that. It's done."

"Then I will pray to the goddess for their ..."

"Yeah, you go do that. Don't hurt yourself."

The woman left the cockpit and went back to the main hold. There wasn't much in it. Everything really did look like it was made for just one person. There was only one chair. The little table looked only big enough for one person to eat from. So far she'd only been in the main hold and the cockpit.

She opened the door to get to the other parts of the ship. She found the toilet and the bunk. She also found a medicine cabinet. That was comforting. Still, this was bare bones compared to even how her captors had treated her. Sure, she had been under guard but her prison was a luxury apartment with clothes and jewelry. They were really hoping to just get their big payday with her and they didn't want any bad feelings when they had to give her back.

The next thing on the ship she found was a workshop. It didn't look like it had been used much. There still wasn't enough room for her to sleep there. This rescue really sucked. Three days she was going to be stuck with this guy. Who was this guy? And he didn't believe in the gods? According to the vows of the shrine she should shun him.

She went back into the main hold and tried to look at what kind of food he had. Without thinking about it, she curled her lip. Frozen jambalaya with meat in it. She could not allow dead animal to pass her lips.

"It's just three days." she said. She could go without eating for three days. But there would be another day at least with the ftl before he got her home.

But what if he wasn't going to bring her home? What if ...? No. The knight errant would never have been in league with someone who ...

But the knight was now dead. The pilot had refused to wait for him and then the entire base was destroyed.

Weapons. Were there any weapons? Was there anything she could use as a weapon? The pilot had a pistol on him. Were there any locks on any of the doors? Now that she thought about it, she had no idea where in space they were. Were they closer to home or farther away? Were those other ships rebels or where they the actual military looking for her?

The door to the cockpit opened and the man swaggered in.

"If you hear anything start beeping or anything, come wake me up."

"You're going to sleep?"

"Well, I'm not going to stay awake for three days and at this point I've already been awake for nearly two."

Her eyes scanned his body. He didn't have the pistol on him. He'd taken off his holster and his jacket. That meant it was in the cockpit. That meant she could get it.

"Watch that, now." he said.

"What?"

"I thought you were getting married."

She realized the way he was interpreting her gaze and she looked away. "Sorry."

"Hey, I'm flattered, princess. We'll just forget about it. Just wake me if anything starts making noise."

One minute. Was he sleeping yet? Five minutes. He had to be asleep by then. Ten minutes. She stood up from the little chair and went to the bunk. By the goddesss. He was sleeping naked. Sure it was hot but was that necessary? She recoiled in revulsion at the male form. She'd never even seen a naked man before. He was all hairy and had all those muscles in strange places. She shuttered.

The teachings of the shrine were right when they said males were not naturally beautiful like women were.

She felt safe at the moment. The man was asleep. She went to the cockpit. Where was the gun?

Then, right outside the window she saw a ship in the distance. It was clearly a rebel ship. She froze in place. It was in the nebula. She was just about to go and wake up that guy but then the ship just flew away. Had they been spotted?

She felt like she needed to go tell the guy but she wanted that gun. She found the holster but no gun. Where was it? She looked around. She was not familiar with any of the controls or buttons or anything. Then she saw it.

There was a number pad next to a key hole. She moved closer to it. It looked like it would slide open. It was a safe of some kind. She tried to open it but it was locked. Would the gun be in there? Where was the key? Would he have it on him? Would the key by itself work or was there a code that went with it?

Feeling defeated she went to the bunk where the man was sleeping. His thing was right there. She reached over and tapped his foot, which was the closest part of him to the doorway.

He didn't move.

She tapped him again with a bit more force.

He didn't respond.

Damn. She actually entered the room and started tapping him on the shoulder.

"What?" he said.

"I saw a ship."

He sat up. "Where?"

"Just outside. Maybe a thousand kilometers away."

"Big ship? Small ship?"

"Big. Rebel markings."

The man got out of the bunk and marched through the ship to the cockpit. He looked over the data on the various screens.

"Well, they aren't here now. Looks like they did a scan but they didn't see us."

"We're safe?"

"I think so. A capital ship would have pulled us in if they'd spotted us. This is good."

"What? They were right there. Right over there."

"Calm down. They didn't see us. Because that ship didn't see us they aren't likely to go searching this area again. They probably think we landed at a port."

"Why would they assume that instead of thinking we'd just ftl home?"

"Maybe they do. I can't read minds. But they know what kind of ship we're in. They know a ship like this usually relies on the fuel in the cargo trailer."

"Do they also know we can make fuel with the stuff floating around out there?"

"Yep. That's why four ships have scanned it looking for us. But again, now that one of the big ones have passed us by I don't think we'll see another for a while. But they know we'll start moving in three days. So I figure after about 48 hours we'll see them sweeping back through here."

"Can we leave before then?"

"Maybe. Depends on the fuel."

"Can we go hide in another nebula? Like, can we hop around?"

"We could but it would be a bad idea. Right now, we're ok. Don't worry so much. Play a few games of chess against the computer."

"Ok. And wake you if anything happens."

"Yes. Please do. Anything at all."

"Do we have any weapons? Is there anything we can use to defend ourselves if we get boarded?"

"This isn't a military ship."

"I mean, you had a pistol."

"It's in the lock box."

"But ..."

"The cannons on those big ships can just blow us to smithereens. If the rebels pull us into a docking bay and board the ship, they're coming in guns hot. Best thing to do is put your hands up."

"Surrender?"

"Or they'll gun us down. That's life out here. Same with a military ship. The Musal, the Krypts, the Mantis. The only place you'll be safe is back on Razna or another Soci. And with the Soci we're pushing it. Your future father in law isn't particularly well liked among the other rulers."

"What about the Republic? Could we hide there?"

"You're kidding, right? That's the worst place we could go."

"Why? I thought ..."

"There's a big difference between what the public thinks being an ally of the Republic means and what it actually means."

"I don't understand."

"Being an ally of the Republic means we pay taxes to them. We send soldiers to fight for them. This is all one direction."

"But that sounds ..."

"Just like the Musal. You know what would happen if a Soci ship tried to enter a Republic system? It would be targeted and fired on before communications were even established."

"That's not an alliance. That's subjugation."

"That's the Republic. Don't like it, take it up with your husband. As for me, I'm tired."

He had to come very close to her in order for him to get past her and out of the cockpit. His naked body pressed up to hers. She could smell him. She could feel him.

Then he was past her and she watched his ass cheeks flex as he walked and then he was out of view. She was going to have to ask him to please cover up when he walked about the ship.

And so there was nothing to do. There was no one to talk to. There was nowhere to go. She hadn't really prayed to the goddess since she was told that she'd be the wife of the prince. Why would the goddess listen to her prayers if she was going to betray the faith and allow a man to dominate her.

Then she'd been kidnapped and she felt it was a just punishment for her. She had been afraid at first that she'd be raped and then she could never go back to the shrine. There in the back of her mind she had this secret wish. She wished the prince would die. If not die, then at least pick another woman for his wife. But she could not escape the fact that she'd actually wanted harm to come to another. How could the goddess ever forgive her of that. But if the prince died then she would not have to marry him and she could go back to the shrine and serve in peace.

And that pilot. How dare he say he didn't believe in the gods. Was he from some heathen planet with no religion? Was he one of those people who called themselves awakened ones? No. He didn't seem like them. He was probably just an unbeliever. He didn't know any better because no one had instructed him in the faith. Maybe that was why the goddess had put her on this ship with him. It was the duty of women to educate men. It was her responsibility to make him see how his words and actions had been oppressive and offensive to the goddess.

As she was thinking about that she thought of him. She'd never seen a male's thing before. Did they all look as his had? She knew she shouldn't be asking that question. The shrine taught that a male's thing was just a deformed vagina. That thing didn't look anything like a vagina. Would her husband's thing look like that?

Why had the prince chosen her? Why had he come in and disrupted her life so much? And he was expected to put his thing in her to make a child. She would be the mother of the heir to the kingdom. The whole concept seemed so absurd. Why couldn't the royal family just use a birthing facility like other people? Why did they want to actually put the baby inside of her?

Many women still did it. Maybe even most women. But if a woman ever let a man be in them than they could never enter the shrine again. And what if she had a male child. She would be adding to the patriarchy of the universe. And while she was carrying the male would that mean she was less female? It seemed so degrading to have to carry a male around inside of her. She wouldn't be perfect anymore. She'd always be just a little damaged. There would always be just a little bit of the taint of maleness on her. In truth, she would no longer be worthy to enter the shrine.

The noise was strange. It wasn't coming from the computer. It was coming from the man. She went to the door of the bunk and he was snoring. His thing was there. Her eyes immediately went to it. She wondered what it felt like.

No. She turned her back to him. She would not allow herself to be corrupted. Getting married and having a husband was bad enough. By the goddess.

They're all mutated, broken women. That's what the shrine taught. Men were just broken women with genetic deformities. They were cursed and had their vaginas taken away from them.

She was so happy that her vagina was intact. Thankfully her holy and sacred vagina had never been touched or even seen by a male.

As her thoughts went to her vagina she discovered something. It was ... having a reaction. She was wet. What was this? Was it a sign from the goddess?

There was talk at the shrine, often in hushed whispers, that the most sacred of the order were the ones who's vaginas would become hot and wet. It was a sign from the goddess. It would not be bestowed on all, only the lucky few.

But this wasn't right. That kind of sign was supposed to happen when looking at the figure of the goddess or at another daughter of the goddess. There were some who would try to lie and say they felt it but the goddess would know. You couldn't fool the divines.

She needed to meditate on this. The goddess was trying to tell her something. She was thankful that she'd been given this message but she wished it was more clear what the goddess wanted of her.