Star Force: Captains Mint (Star Force Universe Book 70) Page 4

  “What exactly are you doing?”

  Calming my mind and body.

  “I thought Archons had to keep active. That too much sleep actually damaged you?”

  A rumor that is partially true. When we achieve Saiyan status our metabolism kicks up so high that it can’t be easily scaled back. This results in a need for excessive activity and little sleep. The higher level Saiyan you are, the worse it gets in exchange for the massive gains in combat ability.

  “Are you trying to train yourself to resist it?”

  No. I am not Saiyan. My body cannot go through the genetic transformation required because of my jewel armor. It prevents any external tampering, so this is one area my peers have surpassed me in.

  “Can you take it off, make the transformation, then put it back on?”

  Tried that once. Nearly died. Not trying it again.

  “So the Zak’de’ron are holding you prisoner with it?” Han asked, his face scrunching up. “Or did it come from somewhere else?”

  It came from them, but it’s mine now. I got rid of all their programming in it, figured out every little circuit it has. I control it now, but the sabotage it did to my genetic code means that if I take it off, my own body will produce a poison to kill me. The Vorch’nas doesn’t have the ability to undo that, so I’m stuck with it.

  “That must be unnerving.”

  It used to be, but not anymore. I can’t be manipulated with it since I made certain alterations, so it’s fully mine now. I just can’t ever take it off. Not that I need to. I actually like these quiet sessions, and if I went Saiyan I’d lose them. In fact, that’s one reason why the higher ranking Archons don’t participate in the Captains Mint anymore. It’s far too low energy for them, so you’re lucky you got me for more than just the view.

  “I was beginning to wonder why you even bothered wearing clothes,” he said, referencing her shorts, tank top, and socks she was wearing that made her look very much like a mature 12 year old…but he knew that was a very dangerous assumption to make, even without that clear jewel attached to her forearm that could pop out who knew how many kinds of weaponry with just a thought.

  I have to have something to take off to flash people.

  “True,” he admitted with a smile, wondering if she was watching his face with his Pefbar or just relaxing with her senses tuned down. “Do you wear clothes under your armor normally, or is that kind of pointless?”

  I don’t need to. It covers my body like a second skin by design. But it can do the same with my clothes on easily enough, so it’s not an issue. Did you come here to flirt, or was there something more important on your mind?

  “I rate flirting with an Archon as the highest of challenges,” he quipped, “but I wanted to take every opportunity to talk with you that I could given how short a period of time we have here, and since everyone else was outside I didn’t want to waste the opportunity.”

  So no question?

  “I have plenty. But to be honest, I just like looking at you. Personally and professionally. I’ve never been this close to someone on your level, and it feels like I can soak in some experience points just by being near you.”

  Did you forget your maturia basic biology lessons concerning viruses?

  “Huh. I guess I did. Doesn’t that mean we’re all slowing you down sharing the same close air here?”

  I can take a hit every now and then for a good cause. Do you remember how the beneficial viruses spread?

  “I’m not ignorant. I just hadn’t thought about it in a long time. The viruses meant to transfer upgrades throughout your own body occasionally slip out through body fluids. Primarily through the lungs if you’re not making physical contact.”

  Which is why we have air scrubbers to remove most of them. But when you’re in close quarters during training with peers, you don’t want that. You want to share the upgrades as much as possible.

  “Does that mean you and the other Archons…”

  No sex, Captain. But that doesn’t mean no physical contact. Take off your armor and sit next to me.

  “Just the armor?” he half joked, triggering the releases that shrank some parts, then he pulled off or stepped out of the rest, leaving it laying across the chair.

  My clothes are staying on this time. No need to take yours off. Sit close.

  “Yes, Maam,” he said, dropping down and putting his back against the wall only an inch away from her.

  Kara finally opened her eyes and turned to glare at him. “Don’t call me ‘Maam.”

  “Sorry,” he said more than a little intimidated being this close. “Don’t bite, please.”

  Her glare turned into a frown as she resumed her original position, but kept talking out loud.

  “Odd, I thought you would have liked that.”

  “Me and my big mouth,” he said, lightly pounding his head against the wall…then suddenly Kara’s left arm moved up behind his and she locked on, destroying that inch of gap as she slid up against his larger body and laid her head on his shoulder.

  “You were saying?”

  “Why am I getting this lucky?” he asked bluntly.

  “Lessons don’t have to be boring, Captain. And while you’re young, you are cute, so I’m going to enjoy this one…with your permission?”

  “You’re also hacking past my Ikrid block, aren’t you?”

  “Smart boy,” she said, pulling his hand up to her face and kissing it. “And that?”

  “Body liquid transfer to increase likelihood of virus absorption past the skin barrier. I can think of a much better way to do that.”

  “This will do. In fact, us just breathing on each other will pass some through our lungs, and my viruses are far beyond yours.”

  “So why don’t you bottle your sweat and sell it?”

  “You couldn’t afford it. Plus we like people to earn it the hard way if it’s not a near even swap. I’m making you an exception.”

  “Why so generous?”

  “I’m here to help all of you, in various ways, and now that I’m in your head I can confirm a lot of what I had guessed. You’re not a usual newbie Captain, Han Tyver. Actually, I’m mildly impressed.”

  “With what?”

  “Other than your good looks, it’s not something easily explained to someone who isn’t telepathic, because it’s the structure of your mind. I like you.”

  “Define ‘like,’” he said, feeling light headed.

  “Like means like. So for the next 10 minutes you can consider yourself my boyfriend.”

  “Why does an older woman have an interest in me? I’m not that good looking.”

  “Of course not. No one your age could be. Your swagger still says youngling, but there’s intelligence in you that is reminiscent of Archons.”

  “I failed the test.”

  “Because you’re not Archon material. We have to be multi-taskers, and you don’t have everything you need. But you do have some like us, and that means you’re a bit of a young peer, and I don’t mind robbing the cradle for a bit.”

  “Where is your red line in that regard?” he asked, not wanting to twitch a muscle to potentially shake off her deathgrip as he was enjoying every nanosecond of it.

  “The line is where it becomes a disadvantage.”

  “Aren’t my little viruses trying to make downgrades to you a…oh, wait a second.”

  “Keep going.”

  “You said your jewel…thing…”

  “Vorch’nas.”

  “Your Vorch’nas prevents genetic alterations. So you can’t be affected by my viruses or anyone’s.”

  “Yep,” she said, rubbing her head into his shoulder a bit deeper.

  “So you can’t get sick either?”

  “Nope. Not from viruses. Plus the Vorch’nas is also a Regenerator that would heal me even if I did.”

  “Why don’t we have something like that for all military personnel?”

  “Our technology isn’t quite on this level yet, though we’re g
etting close. But we’re not going to permanently attach equipment to anyone.”

  “How about temporarily?” he asked, his head getting even more wobbly.

  “You don’t know this in Naval, but Arch Commandos already have something like it. Not nearly as good, but they need something that they can wear while infiltrating civilian populations, and armor gauntlets are a bit too bulky right now.”

  “Why not for Naval officers in case of decompression?”

  “You’ve already got equipment for that that you can wear. Don’t you?”

  “You’re in my head, don’t you already know?”

  “If I want to look deep enough to find it. Asking is easier.”

  “I used to, but it kept getting in the way. When battle stations sound, we all put the bracelets on.”

  “There’s your answer.”

  “But why not something inside our body like your psionic tissue? That wouldn’t get in the way and we’d always have it.”

  Kara blinked. “I knew I liked you for a reason. I never thought of that. Nor has anyone else I know of.”

  “Really?”

  “It’s surprising, but it occasionally happens that a newb stumbles across an idea none of us had ever thought of. Probably because we are averse to making any cybernetic alterations. But I’m already seeing some potential applications.”

  “Can you show me? Can you do that with your telepathy or your Vorch’nas?”

  “Your head is already swimming. If I push to much you’ll black out.”

  “Does this happen to all your boyfriends?”

  “I haven’t had a boyfriend for 10 seconds in the past several millennia.”

  “So that means you’ve had several hundred over your lifetime?”

  “Not really. The Archons are like my brothers. They’re hot as hell, but the dynamic is different. Actually, the only reason I’m comfortable doing this now is how hot for me you are. It’s reminding me of illusions of sexuality that I shed a long time ago.”

  “Not even a hug between Archons?”

  “Not unless we need it, and I haven’t needed a hug since I almost died. This is just nice. Thank you, Han.”

  “You can probably put your head on several trillion male shoulders across Star Force if you wanted to.”

  “Yeah, I know. But they’re boring. You’re a little interesting, because I think you’re going to go farther than the rest.”

  “An Admiral? I didn’t think I was anywhere near their caliber? I barely made it through the Captains Mint.”

  “You’ve got a long road ahead, but my guess is Grand Admiral.”

  Han nearly choked. “Are you serious?”

  “You’ve got something the others don’t. Something unrefined, and something that you may never develop, but you’ve got the mojo there, and it’s refreshing to see in someone new…and cute.”

  “You’re about to make me pass out, Kara,” Han said as his vision was actually starting to blur.

  “I’m not that hot,” she said with a giggle. “That’s those viruses getting to work. I had my Vorch’nas supe them up a bit.”

  “What does that mean?”

  “It means I’m cheating a little to speed you up.”

  “How?”

  “Viruses rewrite the DNA in a single cell per virus. These are going to do more than one brain cell. A lot more, thanks to my Vorch’nas reprograming them. Just sit still and enjoy the company. I am.”

  “Does being an Archon ever get lonely?”

  “Occasionally when we get bored. But we’re rarely bored with so much to do.”

  “How about now?”

  “This is a rest break for me, and since I can actually make use of it I’m letting myself slip out of combat mode a bit to reassess my current condition. It’s rare that I do that, but sometimes useful.”

  “Do Archons have non-sex relationships?”

  “Not really. Just a little flirting occasionally. But most of us have gone through sex hardening training…which means we’re mentally subjected to the most extreme pleasures that our Archon counterpart can think up to see if we can withstand the mental hacking. If we have a weak spot, an enemy could use it against us when we’re exclusively tailoring our defense against pain and stress. Pleasure can throw some people.”

  “Wait, doesn’t that break your rule? Even if it is fake?”

  “It’s not fake. It’s just not physical. And Archons don’t actually have rules. We do what we do because it is smart, not because we’re made to.”

  “So you could have sex with me if you wanted?”

  “Sure. Not gonna happen though.”

  “Other than my lack of sufficient charms, why not?”

  “It messes with my mental structure, then I have to reset later. Not a big deal for most people, but when you get to the upper levels of badass, even the little delays and inefficiencies become distasteful.”

  “Did you do that training?”

  “It happens primarily for Padawans, and I was never a true Padawan. I could have gone through it, but I didn’t. Not with another Archon, anyway.”

  “Meaning what?”

  “Well, I’ll tell you if you promise to keep it a secret.”

  “Deal.”

  “We have the technology to create virtual reality that is very convincing, so we can essentially plug into a computer interface and go through a lot of mental training as if it were physical training. We use it in select circumstances, and it can also be used for really, really potent sex simulations. So much so we can’t release it to the general population. They don’t have the mental strength or will power to handle it. They’d never do anything of merit if all they had to do was plug in and experience fantasy land every day, but I can whenever I want. And I chose to do it once just to see how vulnerable I was to manipulation that way.”

  “And?”

  “I liked it. A lot. But after a few thousand sessions it began to lose full effect…or more accurately I began to adapt to it as my mind started to fight the illusion. And I don’t mean the simulation. Sex is an illusion overlaid onto reality to get us to do stupid stuff for reproduction. Or did you miss that part of your maturia lessons too?”

  “Right now I don’t really care. How did you react?”

  “When I finally ended my bout into euphoria my combat mojo was a wreck. I’d never expected it to be that bad, but that was one thing the others said the training really exposed to them. If people have sex on a regular basis, they’ll always be newbs. They’ll never be able to level up far enough to be badasses, and they’ll never know any different. You gotta get your head clear of the illusion to really find out who you are and what you can do. It feels good, but it’s a sloppy good. Training your body into a finely tuned instrument of kicking ass feels much better, but is more subtle. And that feeling doesn’t go away like an orgasm does.”

  “So you’re saying that Archons aren’t afraid of sex, you’re just such badasses that you literally have the option of living in simulated euphoria like I’ve never experienced and you choose not to in order to live as ass kickers?”

  “Best explanation I’ve ever heard,” Kara said, squeezing his arm affectionately.

  “Is what I’m feeling now an illusion too?”

  “You, yes. Me…you’re comfy and I’m in rest mode. No illusion there. Plus you can’t begin to match the simulations I’ve been through. So I can get this close to you and not be distracted.”

  “I obviously can’t,” Han said, his head still swirling.

  “You’re young, and I’m messing with your head, so don’t try. You’re going to have to reset afterwards anyway. Speaking of which, while I’m feeling generous and past your Ikrid blocks, I might as well make it your super lucky day.”

  “Meaning what…” he began to ask, suddenly feeling himself lose control of his body to her as she began to subject him to a version of that secret Archon training as she exhaled slowly and closed her eyes, drifting off almost to sleep while a piece of her mind
kept him in simulated euphoria many, many times.

  5

  When Han woke he didn’t know where he was, who he was, or what anything was. He was a complete discombobulated wreck lying in one of the bunks with his blurry eyes staring up at the blackness of the underside of the bunk above him. His head didn’t want to clear, but even before it started to he felt weird…but a good weird. The normal noise in his head was gone, and there was a clarity that focused his mind on the here and now so much that it was like the past and future didn’t exist.

  Which was when he realized they didn’t, and Han wondered why he had ever thought differently as he reached up and put the palm of his hand on the paneling above him, feeling the smooth, cold material and using that sensation to ground him as he’d done many times before…

  Except he hadn’t done that many times before. It was an entirely new thing for him, but he felt like it was too familiar to be a random thought.

  After about a minute of focusing on his sense of touch, Han’s head cleared enough for his eyes to focus on his fingernails, fighting to get them into some semblance of familiarity rather than blurry nubs. It took some effort, but finally his senses focused enough for them to become crisp lines. When they did he turned his head to the left, finding his neck very sore…as was the rest of his back. He let his hand go and rolled over onto his side, looking out the bunk into the open area between him and the rack of bunks on the other side of this room.

  Everything was so clean, and rigid. It was like he could almost feel the air and through it everything that it touched. His mind felt like a kid again, excited at everything, and it was as if he was seeing everything for the first time…or more accurately seeing what was here all along that he had been blinded to it.

  He was in the Captains Mint…he finally remembered that…and instead of the dread at what he could be facing once he took on a ship of his own, he was elated at how cool all of this was and that he got to be here when so many others didn’t. That plus the awesome responsibility of command he was about to be entrusted with.

  “Wait a second,” he whispered to himself as he rubbed his eyes and opened them again, but the sensation of clarity remained. “Kara.”