Cait and Rhys looked from the comms panel, to each other.

“That’s a live signal. Source unknown.” Cait confirmed as she scanned the signal. There was no IFF metadata which meant either they didn’t have one or were choosing not to broadcast it. “That means they’re within range to establish a realtime connection with us.”

“It’d have to be close, to be another ship.”

“We don’t really know what’s actually out here. But yeah, those are the odds.”

“Do we answer?”

“At this point I don’t think we have anything to lose.” Cait said, a metal finger paused over the receive button. “I’m putting it on voice only.”

Cait hit the button, accepting the signal. There was a long pause then a gruff male voice started speaking.

“Cait’s Chariot, we know you have our signal. I recommend that you respond.”

Cait started to respond but Rhys cut across her, speaking first.

“This is Cait’s Chariot.”

“Chariot, this is Erebus.” The voice responded. “Am I speaking with your captain?”

“Yes.” Rhys confirmed, then muted the line. “Cait, I’m sorry, but these guys are probably pirates and…”

Cait cut him off with a gesture, she didn’t need him to finish the sentence to know what he was getting at. Meanwhile the Erebus continued to talk to them.

“Do you have a name, Captain?”

“Nichols. Rhys Nichols.” Rhys confirmed, unmuting himself.

“Nichols, this is Captain Montague of the independent vessel Erebus. As you have likely surmised by now, we are not cargo haulers, or military, or otherwise affiliated with any of the allied Terran or Colonial governments. While I disagree with the nomenclature, I believe you would best describe us as pirates.”

“I believe I would.” Rhys muttered through gritted teeth.

“So we have an understanding, we are currently on an intercept course and expect to rendezvous with you in a little under six hours. We will be commandeering your ship and cargo, and strongly recommend that you do not attempt resistance.” Montague said firmly. Cait suspected this was not the first time he had delivered this speech.

“Can I make an alternate suggestion, Montague?” Rhys suggested.

“No.” Montague answered bluntly. “You are not in a position to bargain.”

“I’m not sure what’s in this arrangement for me.”

“If you cooperate you will live, and your crew may one day see their families again.”

“It’s just me here, Montague.” Rhys lied, hoping that he would present no value as a prisoner. “I’ll drop my cargo and go, this doesn’t need to get messy.”

“This is not a negotiation, Nichols. You have six hours. Resistance will be met with force. Attempt to dump and run, you will be destroyed. Erebus out.”

The signal was terminated and Rhys raked his fingers through his hair.

“I’m sorry Cait.”

“You tried. They clearly want the ship as much as they want the cargo.” Cait glanced back in the general direction of the long container they were hauling. It was mostly comprised of large compressed tanks full of oxygen and nitrogen. On the return trip they’d be filled with helium and hydrogen harvested from Jupiter’s atmosphere. In amongst the tanks was a number of various items, mostly consumer goods that the Colonial stations did not currently have infrastructure to produce locally.

“Or the crew.” Rhys posited.

“Admittedly a prisoner could be useful for them, even if only to keep you from reporting back that they exist.” Cait paused for a moment. “They probably have no idea that Fleet is already onto them.”

“If Aspire was just a regular hijacking and they didn’t actually expect whatever classified cargo was on board…”

“…They’d be oblivious that Aspire not turning up on time would trigger a full scale Fleet investigation.” Cait finished Rhys’ thought.

“But wouldn’t they have figured that out by now?” Rhys queried.

“Not if it was concealed amongst regular cargo.” Cait gestured back at their own haul. “We’re mainly hauling gas but there’s all kinds of shit back there. We could be carrying something classified for all we know.”

“So what now?”

“Firstly I’m purging all logs of my conversation with my father.” Cait said, moving back to her station and doing just that. “So that they don’t know Fleet – or us – are onto them. We don’t let on that we know anything. If we’re lucky, Fleet vessels will be all over this area in a few weeks and find us – wherever we are by then.”

“And when Erebus catches up with us?”

“I don’t know, Rhys. I don’t know. I wasn’t exactly trained for this.” Cait said, clenching a fist.

“We could fight.”

“You know that’s pointless. Even if we could overpower any boarding parties they’d just scuttle the ship and take the cargo anyway.”

“So we let them take us?”

“Unless you have another suggestion that doesn’t wind up with us dead.”

There was a silence while they both tried to think of something but it was clear they were out of ideas.

“We should hide you.” Rhys suggested. “I… I can’t imagine that a female prisoner is going to be treated well among these outlaws.”

“I don’t really want to think about that, Rhys.”

“That’s our reality, Cait!” Rhys yelled. “We don’t have the luxury of not thinking about things that are unpleasant.”

“It’s not avoidable!” Cait yelled in response. “What are we going to do, stuff me in a footlocker with some food and water and hope they don’t notice me? You posing as captain was worth a shot but it’s not going to hold up, not until Fleet finds us, if they ever do. So don’t tell me we have to think about it now, because in about six hours that’s all I’m going to be thinking about until we get rescued.”

“Sorry.” Rhys conceded after a brief silence.

“Forget it.” Cait said, taking deep breaths. “I’ve endured worse.”

“Cait…”

“When I lost my arms, adopting these prosthetics took time, and focus. I had to learn how to use them safely, train my mind to treat them like the extensions of the nervous system like my real arms used to be. Ever since then, it’s hard to think of my body as anything other than just… a shell. A bunch of meat and bone that carries my brain around.” Cait blinked back tears. “It’s taken some time but I began to think of myself as human again, especially when you… showed interest.”

“I’m sorry.” Rhys repeated. “For everything.”

“Don’t be. It might not have seemed like it, but I was starting to appreciate it.” Cait shrugged with a sad smile. “If given the chance I wouldn’t change my decisions. Other than to, you know, not be here at all. That’s less than ideal.”

“I guess if that was an option I’d rather be on a beach somewhere.” Rhys agreed and they both shared the mild chuckle of the condemned.

“Look this probably isn’t a good time to bring this up, but… there’s quite literally no time like the present. There’s something I need you to do before Erebus gets here.”

“What’s that?”

“Me.”

—–

Considering they’d just left it might have been optimistic to return to the living quarters with amorous intentions so quickly, but Cait was driven by what lay in her immediate future and suspected Rhys would be as well. She took him by the hand and led the way, pausing briefly in the corridor outside the cabin where they collided with each other and she initiated a brief kiss. With the reckless abandon of two people who had a lot of living to pack into a short period of time, Cait peeled off her singlet while Rhys stripped her of her shorts, then Rhys clung to the ceiling while Cait shimmied down his body to remove his pants. So far their awkward encounters had amounted to her allowing him to ejaculate on her, and an inexpert titjob that had ended with him in her mouth, and she didn’t want either of those to be the prevailing memories of her sex life since her accident, before she was captured of killed by space pirates.

Cait gripped Rhys’ hips and pulled herself to him, catching his helf erect floating cock in her mouth and starting to suck him. She took her time, gently teasing him back to full hardness. He seemed to be in no hurry to have her stop and she occasionally glanced up at him as she worked, looking down at her with a rapt, appreciative expression as he watched her mouth take him over and over. Eventually, he gently caressed her face and eased himself from between her lips, taking her under her arms and reorienting her. At first Cait thought he was going to position himself between her legs and parted her thighs slightly but he raised her further so that she was straddling his head instead, floating in the air at a ninety degree angle. He held her by the hips and she could feel his gaze taking in the intimate view of her shaved slit. Rhys moved his face closer and brought his mouth to her crotch, and Cait gasped as his tongue explored between her lower lips.

She felt sticky at first, presumably from her own fluids from their earlier session, but an ample application of saliva as Rhys bathed her with his tongue quickly remedied that solution. She quivered as she hung in the air, feeling his tongue find her clit and circle it gently. There was nothing quite like the feeling of a tongue on that part of her body, and she had not felt it for a long time. She moaned, her thighs flexing either side of Rhys’ head as he worked, as Rhys moved one hand to slide a finger inside her again, curling his finger towards the front wall of her vagina to find the area behind her clit and apply pressure as he licked her. The feeling made her arch her back, a startled cry of ecstasy escaping from her as she came, possibly setting a record for the fastest orgasm of her life. Rhys eased off his tongue but kept massaging inside her with his finger as her body shook. Eventually when the pleasure eased off she felt his finger slip free and he repositioned so they were nearly face to face.

Rhys leaned in to kiss her and Cait allowed it, tasting herself on his lips. She draped her arms over his shoulders holding him close, locking eyes with him as she wrapped her legs around his waist, locking her ankles behind him. Receiving her message loud and clear, Rhys took his straining cock in his hand and guided himself between her lips, finding her slick hole and entering her with ease, grunting with pleasure as he was enveloped by her warmth for the first time. Cait kissed him again as he slid into her until he filled her completely, her tight nook conforming to his shape and gripping him. They hung there for a minute just getting accustomed to the feeling of each other until by unspoken agreement Rhys began to move.

He held her by the hips as he thrust in and out, pulling them apart and back together as Cait clung to him, their occasional gasps and groans punctuating the rhythmic sound of their pelvises crashing together. Rhys bent his head to capture a nipple with his mouth as her large breasts jiggled and bounced in the zero-g encounter and Cait obligingly cradled his head against her as she let Rhys continue to drive into her body. She felt both relaxed and wound up at the same time – she was still sensitive from her orgasm and being fucked again right afterwards had her ready to pop off again at any moment, but at the same time it had drained a lot of the tension away and giving herself over to that feeling, and letting Rhys have her body, was releasing a lot of the stress that had been building up in her life. All thoughts of the timer ticking down to an uncertain fate were as far from their mind as they could be.

She came again, her breath catching in her throat with a strangled squeak as her hips shook and her pussy clenched around Rhys’ shaft. He released her nipple from his mouth and buried his face against her neck, kissing her skin as his own breathing intensified and a low grunt signalled that Cait’s orgasm had tipped him past the point of no return.

“Cum inside me.” Cait cooed breathlessly. “I want to feel it.”

Rhys didn’t need any further encouragement, it was unlikely he could physically have complied even if she had demanded it. He drove himself in one last time, buried as deep as he could be inside her hot, wet hole, and she felt him twitch and flex with a guttural groan as he began to shoot his load inside her. He thrust again after the first pulse and graced her cervix with a second delivery, then a third as he continued to move, his semen making her already slippery hole even moreso. After a few seconds he stopped moving and just held himself inside her as he gradually began to soften. She was more than happy to accommodate him and held him against her as he gently nuzzled and kissed her neck.

They hung in the air like that for a few minutes, then Cait slowly pulled away, pressing her thighs together and flexing her kegels, feeling the squishy mess Rhys had left inside her. Neither of them spoke at first, not wanting to destroy the moment and the illusion that the reality awaiting them could be suspended indefinitely.

“Not to put to on the spot,” Cait was the first to break the silence. “But do you think you can go again?”

“I’m sure as hell willing to try. I might need some help though.” He gestured as himself, his penis sticky with their combined mess. Cait hesitated for a moment but ultimately just decided to take matters into her own mouth. She pulled herself down to Rhys and held him by the hips as she took him orally again, a liberal application of saliva to clean the sticky cum from him which she dutifully swallowed down. While it took some effort, her mouth was eventually able to coax him back to an erection and she held him firmly by the hips as she took him as deep as she could without gagging before pushing back and beckoning him to attempt re-entry.

Rhys floated forward and pinned her against the wall, where she held onto the support beam above her and braced herself, lifting her hips and wrapping him in her legs again before whispering in his ear.

“Do it hard, Rhys.” She said, her voice shaky “I want to remember it for a long time.”

Rhys kissed her then guided his prick to her creamy slot one more time, pushing deep inside in a single stroke then gripping Cait’s ass in both hands he began to thrust. It wasn’t easy without gravity to assist but from the outset Rhys pulled himself against her with all the force he could muster, his crotch and balls slapping against her, his cock driving deep up inside. They were both silent but for their heavy breathing, both just focusing on Rhys pounding Cait as hard as possible. A dull but good ache began to grow in her crotch as Rhys worked her. After having cum twice in the last hour he was apparently not in danger of finishing any time soon and was determined to grant her wish. Abruptly a small orgasm began to quake through Cait’s pelvis and make her legs shake, and Rhys kept fucking her through it, making her ride on that wave and never quite cresting. Her breath caught in her throat and she kept gasping for air. She wanted the feeling to last forever but knew it couldn’t possibly. After several more minutes of breathlessness until she thought she might pass out, the orgasm finally began in earnest and she let out a cry of pleasure that was so intense it might have been one of pain as she buried her face in Rhys’ shoulder. Still Rhys persisted in slamming her, though he was beginning to flag.

“I’m gonna cum.” He announced, all decorum out the window. This was raw, senseless fucking for the sake of it, and they both knew that all propriety was out the window. Nothing mattered after this.

“Do it wherever you want.” Cait encouraged himm her voice sounding hoarse. Maybe he wanted to do it on her breasts again, maybe he enjoyed finishing inside her. It didn’t matter, whatever he wanted, she wanted to give it to him, as some kind of consolation for being in this situation with her.

After a few more strokes, Rhys pulled out and grabbed Cait by the shoulder forcing her down. She relased her grip on the ceiling and pushed down until he held her in place, his other hand already jacking his cock as he directed it at her. So he wanted it on her face after all. Her hazel eyes swivelled upwards to him and she obligingly opened her mouth, indicating her willingness to participate. With a groan Rhys watched as his spunk was let loose. Thinner and more watery than usual owing to him coming so many times in quick succession, the milky fluid squirted out of him onto her waiting face, hitting her cheek and drawing a line up over her left eye which she squeezed shut in self defence. A second squirt hit her directly in her closed eye and then he placed his cockhead into her open mouth where the remainder dribbled onto her tongue. She dutifully took his cockhead between her lips, using her tongue to tease out the last little bit leaking out of him before swallowing one last time.

“That was amazing.” Rhys sighed, letting himself drift in the air above her.

“Yeah.” Cait replied simply, not wanting to verbalise any of the other thoughts in her head as they threatened to reinvade their moment of bliss. She gingerly used the corner of her dirty singlet from earlier to wipe her face – she still had residue on her skin but at least she could use both eyes again. Then she mopped up the gunk slowly oozing out of her, reflecting she would need to have a proper cleanse before getting redressed. It was always terribly inconvenient trying to wash in zero gravity and she’d kill for a proper shower – let alone a bath – over the zero gravity misting shower that had been installed. It wasn’t great for practicality or modesty and made the living quarters as humid as hell, but it at least enabled a semblance of hygiene.

Rhys, with his external plumbing, was already using cleanser and a damp rag to wipe himself off, and that was the extent of his personal maintenance. Cait was about to comment on this when an alarm went off throughout the ship.

“What the fuck is that?” Rhys shouted over the noise, pulling his pants on.

“Proximity alarm.” Cait answered, panicking. “They must be on approach!”

“They said six hours, it’s barely been one!”

“I don’t know what to tell you, but I need to wash and get dressed. You take the bridge, I’ll be there in five.”

Rhys nodded and darted out of the room, rushing to the bridge to properly assess the situation as Cait quickly attended to cleaning herself up.

---