A former starship captain is thrust into a series of adventures on parallel worlds which, for some reason, almost always seem to require her nudity and sexual submission. Is someone or something behind it all, or is it just the natural order of things?
Note: This is a sequel to Emily 2.0 but also contains characters, and references events from Casey's Fall and Casey's Rise. While not essential, it is recommended to read those first to get the most out of this story.
Warning: some chapters may contain scenes of non-consensual or reluctant sex.
Themes include embarrassment, humiliation, non-consent, reluctance, public nudity, public sex, a touch of BDSM here and there, and occasional violence if it's relevant to the story or character development.
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The ship hovered over a field littered with wrecked vehicles and other objects as Collingwood demonstrated the weapons upgrades to the General.
"That large cannon under the cockpit that you may have observed earlier is a railgun," he began. "It takes several seconds for the capacitor to charge up between shots, and the slug is nonexplosive, avoiding the risk of carrying explosive ordnances on board. Range is about one hundred kilometres on the ground, well at least with any accuracy, much further in space. However, the greater the distance, the more difficult it becomes to hit a moving target, and the more easily it can be evaded. At closer range, though, it is absolutely deadly. Observe, sir."
The General nodded solemnly as he looked in the direction Collingwood was pointing. A wall constructed of large concrete blocks lay in the distance. Suddenly, a momentary flash of light overcame the senses, a jolt was felt throughout the ship, then a smouldering hole with glowing embers around the outside appeared in the wall. Before the General could react, Collingwood proceeded.
"For closer targets, we have five turret machine guns. These are located under the main wings, above and below us, and at the tail. These are AI controlled. You just select your target, and the AI will lock on and track it, shooting until it is sent to oblivion. Let me demonstrate."
Collingwood paused momentarily as he selected a suitable target, then a stream of bullets with tracers rained out from multiple sources, shredding an out of service jeep a short distance away. After some seconds, it was split in two, leaving jagged bits of metal as the rapid ratatat continued in their ears and sparks flew out from the remnants of the jeep's body as bullets continued raining upon it.
The General's mouth dropped open in shock. "Stop, stop," he cried, clearly in some distress. "These are both offensive weapons. Do you not have anything less... murderous?"
"Well, yes," Collingwood replied while being somewhat surprised by the General's reaction. Military guys generally got a hard-on seeing this sort of weaponry. At least they did on Earth 1. This place had never known a war or any extended period of violence. It was easy to forget that sometimes. "These weapons are a last resort only. Our preference is to not be a target in the first place, and we can do that by hiding."
"Go on," the General prompted.
"Well, my colleagues back on my Earth haven't been sitting on their hands since we last left them," Collingwood began. "The hyperdrive needn't jump all the way into a parallel world, nor does it need to depart from its X, Y, Z axis in real space to do it. It can kind of phase out part way, making it effectively invisible, untouchable, and inaudible to those outside. That includes being impervious to bullets and explosive devices. Meanwhile, inside the ship, the occupants can see out, but nothing else. The weapons become useless. However, they will no longer be needed. If the ship were to come under attack, the device need only be activated to make us undetectable by the enemy, then we can fly away to a safe location or jump to another world."
"Interesting," the General nodded. "But how do you get in if you cannot see or touch the ship?"
"That's why it is vital that someone remains inside the ship when this option is activated," Collingwood explained. "Only someone inside can bring the ship back into real space. Neglecting to leave someone at the helm will be the worst case of locking your keys inside your vehicle imaginable."
"Why would a vehicle have a lock?" the General asked in confusion.
"Sorry, an expression from my world where vehicle theft is somewhat rampant," he defined. "Anyway, moving on, let me demonstrate the device."
Collingwood tapped a few keys on his console and then gestured out through the cockpit window. Then, rather bizarrely, the colour went out of the world. Everything appeared in dull and faded tones where moments before it had been vivid.
"An unsettling effect, but what am I observing?" the General queried.
"That is what it looks like from inside the ship," Collingwood answered. "Now, let me set down. Then, if you will disembark and look back at the ship, sir?"
After the ship touched down, the General then did as instructed and was startled to see the ship disappear before his eyes, the whooshing sound from the idling thrusters and hissing hovering rockets vanished abruptly as well. He stepped forward to where the ship had been moments before, waving his hands in front of his body in an attempt to touch what he could not see, assuming it must still be there somewhere. However, he could feel nothing. The ship was simply gone. He then stepped back into what would be the view from the cockpit and put up his hands in bewilderment. The ship momentarily reappeared, and Collingwood exited the airlock shortly after.
"As mentioned, sir, our primary defence is to remain hidden, but should it become necessary, we are prepared for every eventuality," Collingwood summarised. "I wish I could report the same success for the interworld comms system. Unfortunately, it still perplexes me, hence my delay in returning."
"Oh?"
"I cannot transport a continuous digital signal in either simplex or duplex format," Collingwood explained. "At this stage I can only get a physical item to be recognised. Basically, sir, I can send and receive a telegram or letter, or perhaps a computer, back and forth between our worlds, but it seems impossible to send and receive a voice signal."
"That is better than nothing," the General replied.
"Indeed, sir," Collingwood acknowledged. "Anyway, sir, that concludes the demonstration. Do you have any further questions? Else, I would like to reunite with Envoy 7GQA9E. I am puzzled that she was not here to greet me on my return."
"She was not with you?" the General asked in surprise.
"No, I am yet to see her," Collingwood reiterated.
"I mean, I assumed she accompanied you on your journey back to your world," the General clarified. "Her, and Lieutenant 4D9Y2Y. Both went missing at the same time you departed. I was surprised that I was not informed that they were joining you but assumed something had just been lost in the paperwork."
"No, sir," Collingwood gasped. "They were certainly not with me, and you say they both went missing? This is most concerning. Where could they be?"
