Welcome to Gaia! ::

He thought that he could see the stars. They were up there, usually dimmed out by the incessant lights of Veratia. He thought he could see the stars through all of the pollution haze and the noisy speeders and the shouts from club-goers below. He could smell the neon in the air, could feel the heartbeats of thousands of people all living together on the surface of the planet.

Many things had awakened in him that night, many of them completely unexpected. He left Cosette sleeping lightly in the apartment. Exhausted as they were, he couldn’t find it in himself to let his eyes close. For her, it was a rarity to sleep for long so he decided to take what time he could to reflect by himself. The balcony was not a quiet place meant for reflection, but Diesel always reveled in activity and life. He sighed, letting the sounds of the city wash over him and take away all the confusion of the night.

There could be no doubt that he had liked what happened. There could be no doubt now that the two of them were at least compatible sexually, and there was definitely more in their relationship than there had been before. It was more than the witless racer who knows the secret of the super-powered cop. The irony of the situation didn’t escape him. He’d been plagued by visits from the police for a long time, they expecting that he was participating in illegal street racing. Now, he was sleeping with one.

He simultaneously laughed and groaned into his arms, leaning on the railing. He’d managed to find his pants from yesterday, but he was bare-chested and began to feel the chill of the night air. Even on a world covered by huge cities, darkness let the cold creep in. The warmth of sharing a bed with Cosette had faded – surprisingly enough – so he wrapped his arms around himself and turned to go back inside. After all…he was only human and needed to sleep sometime.

The press of extremely efficient air thrusters was unmistakable, and for an experienced pilot like Diesel, it was easy enough to identify the source, make, brand, and even where they were manufactured. He processed all of this information in seconds thanks to his advanced training, and realized one thing: that the passenger class ship hovering just away from the balcony meant business for him.

The swivel of plasma guns to face him was the second confirmation of this.

He knew he’d never be able to make the doorway – once inside, the building was protected from laser strikes as were the potential from malfunctioning speeders – but he tried desperately, all his athleticism screaming through his muscles. To no avail. He was captured in a tractor beam modified to pick up humans. This was a surprising and very illegal special addition to this brand of ship. He knew struggling at this point was futile, so he allowed himself to relax and think over the situation at hand.

He’d been the victim of stalkers and maniacal assassins over the years. He rather expected that this was just an especially enthusiastic abductor. That they had gone out of the way to make illegal modifications seemed to confirm that fact. Diesel was taken into the hold of the ship, expecting to face someone wanting to keep him hostage in exchange for money or other material perks. Though one thing was odd: Why would someone with enough resources to send an expensively altered passenger ship after him need whatever small fortune Diesel’s capture would ransom?

As he was released, he found himself in a close steel room without windows and seemingly without doors. The whole thing had the appearance of being one solid pane of metal. All of the edges were smoothed, so the place where the floor met the walls was not so much of a corner as it was a curve. What purpose this design held, he was unsure, but whatever it was he knew that it wasn’t originally meant to hold hostages in.

It seemed like an hour or so before he felt the ship’s power ebb and the familiar swoosh and whisk of docking with a larger vessel. He could only now assume that he had been transported off of the planet and was in orbit on some much grander star-class ship. He wondered if Cosette had woken yet, and what she would think if he wasn’t there. He closed his eyes, hoping that she wouldn’t assume he’d just walked out.

But he didn’t have very long to indulge in his reverie. Soon enough, he heard the clang and swoosh and saw the wall give way to a rectangle of light. Silhouetted in the light was the figure of a man dressed in a uniform. He recognized it as military and his eyes narrowed. Maybe they wanted him back after all these years…maybe his capture was an attempt to force him back into the service.

The man gestured for Diesel to follow and considering the circumstances, Diesel complied rather willingly. He complied until he was shot with two prongs from holes that suddenly appeared in the smooth walls. Eyes widening, he knew that the purpose of moving was only to get him in the proper position to be hit by these things. They pumped a flow of some sort of medicine in him, making his limbs weak and his mind groggy. Before he blacked out, he could hear the steady click click click of something on the metal floor approaching him.

Waking up was a new adventure in pain. He immediately felt that his arms were tied up on either side of his body and that he was hanging from his wrists, effectively crucified. The floors of this room were cold and hard, just like everything else he’d seen so far. As his vision slowly returned, he saw that what held him up were electromagnets attached to either wrist and then attached to two poles on either side of him. He may have groaned a little, because suddenly a flurry of activity entered whatever hold he was in.

“James Alan Marvell, also known as Diesel, age twenty five, son of Jaffer and Lenay Marvell, premier racer of the Rancar Racing Circuit, ex pilot of the Divine Aeternan Republic. Partnered with Human-Nacell hybrid called Nash. Residence, Veratia. Is this information correct?” A cold, frightening presence filled the room and took the form of a woman not at first distinguishable from a human.

Diesel was never usually rendered speechless by the presence of one human being. In fact, he couldn’t remember ever being so. However, this woman…whoever she was…was more fearsome by far than any other creature he’d ever come in contact with. In her eyes he could see death, but there was nothing in her expression he could identify other than a sort of cool superiority.

He hadn’t yet found his voice, so when he spoke it came in a gurgling assent. Whoever this woman was, it would be unwise to taunt her as of yet.

You are acquainted with one, Cosette Ravencroft.” Her eyes swept from the datapad in her hand to her captive prey, hanging dumbly from his restraints. He was a pathetic excuse for a human.

This froze Diesel’s mind and made his thoughts spiral wildly. Cosette? What did she have to do with this woman? And why did she not seem to need to confirm this information. He croaked a “why?” at her and attempted to rise from his knees.

Orane observed his attempts for a moment. Was he really stupid enough not to understand the significance of his capture? Or was he simply playing dumb in the hopes that she would assume that he was an innocent bystander. Either way, it mattered not and he was hers. “Her life is forfeit.”

He read the cold certainty in her eyes. The knowledge was chilling and dangerous. “And what do you expect me to do? Lead her here? She’s not stupid….she’ll kno-“

“She will know that her lover is in my hands. She will assume her strength and skill will be enough to rescue you.” Orane had studied this particular specimen closely. She retrieved lost files, ‘interviewed’ those who had contact with her, and she had even received special permission to witness an operation on another young person to give them the same powers. Oh yes, she’d studied very hard.

Diesel choked back his fear and instead allowed anger to blind him. He would die, one way or another, so what did it matter. “You know, it’s frigid bitches like you that give women in general a bad name. You’re overconfidence will be your defeat. You know nothing about her.”

Ah…too easy. “And you do?”She walked towards him, swinging her hands by her lithe trim body. Diesel noticed that while she was not nearly as compact and athletic as Cosette, her figure had the appeal of being finely made. If she weren’t bleeding an evil vibe from every pore, he would find her devastatingly attractive. And she knew it. She could feel it in him.

He realized that he was giving too much away. Discretion he’d learned a long time ago, but with Cosette he had learned to be even more so. “That’s exactly it,” he replied with a cocky air in his voice. “no one knows anything about her. What makes you think you’re so special?”

Orane finally closed the distance between them. She could smell the sex on him still. Raising one eyebrow, she vaguely wondered what he was like. She quickly schooled her features, though, before he had a chance to notice her intrigue and gestured to the cage next to Diesel. “This woman is the same as you, her lover is a superhuman.”

Diesel saw the pregnant woman slumped in her cell. She hadn’t paid any attention to him or Orane, and he rather thought she was weeping silently. If she was pregnant…that means she was carrying the child of a superhuman like Cosette. His mouth got the better of him. “I think you’re mistaken, I’m neither female nor pregnant. If I was, I’d have bigger problems than you.”

She cocked her head and narrowed her eyes. He had shaken in fear at first, but his confidence was building and he actually spoke back to her. So intriguing, this man. Weak, but captivating. The superhuman woman had chosen an excellent pet. He was not here to be coddled though. “I have a proposition, human.”

Oh, this was interesting. “What exactly, did you have in mind?” He wasn’t partial to such a compromise, especially if it meant giving up Cosette.

“I will spare your woman, if you provide something in return.”

He looked from the pregnant woman to Orane and back again, his expression becoming incredulous. “You’re not seriously thinking of harvesting my….”

“I want your child.”

“We should probably get to know one another first.” He spat. He couldn’t believe what she was asking him.

“You have mated with that woman, correct? She will go free and I nor any of my clan will pursue her if you give me a child produced by the union between the two of you.” Orane studied his features. He was handsome enough, stupid, but loyal and she knew he would object. Pity she would have to force him to consider her request. He had a pleasing face.

Diesel just laughed. “Supposing she would let a child out of her sight, what would be your purpose?” This was some pretty sick s**t, and this woman was definitely crazy.

“The child of a human and superhuman has never been studied. Your child and the child of that woman over there would be the first generation. Having them in my possession puts me in a position of power amongst my Clan.” Why was she telling him so much? His scent permeated her mind and stirred something within her. Memories came unbidden.

“You can rot in hell, b***h.” He said.

“Unfortunate. You will see my way….” Leaning closer, she caught his breath and stole it, taking time to seal upon him her own deadly kiss. At first he resisted, but the incentive of a hand of long razor fingernails changed his mind and though not enthusiastic, she had her satisfaction.

The laser whip is forbidden as a weapon by the D.A.R. being cited as manufactured for only the use of torture. Torture, to the D.A.R’s credit, was considered a reprehensible act. This did not prevent them from regularly employing it. Orane’s favorite tool by far, it was tipped with subtle power spikes that acted as barbs.

The screams of the human male rang through the corridors. He never begged, as many did, and this impressed the crew. They were frightened and disgusted by the torture he was enduring, but it was all in the name of the cause and where the Lady bestowed her will, they followed. Later, it was time for them to clean up the mess in the cargo hold. They found the young man beaten halfway to death, lined with whip scores across his back, chest, shoulders, and arms. Lady Orane had neglected his face…for some reason or other…but he had been rendered unconscious by the pain. Whether she had completed her mission, they weren’t sure, but still strapped in his arm-shackles, he hung like a broken down doll and bled stripes of crimson onto the cold hard floor.