Page 53 of Stripped By the Alien

The other locust vessel immediately breaks away from the fight.

"That is Harrower Dri'puxz," Krix'vorr says while studying the lenses. "He has done enough."

The retreating beast peels away into the darkness. The spiked creature remains. Its attention turns toward us. At first I think sections of its shell are separating. Then I understand that those aren't shell plates; they're jaws.

Several enormous appendages unfold from beneath the creature's body and lash outward. The movement is fast enough that I flinch. Whatever this thing is, it has no intention of dying politely.

16

- Nora -

The Beast answers immediately. The entire chamber jolts beneath my feet. I grab a nearby support structure as the living ship twists through space. Around the room, cords tighten and release. Officers manipulate smaller bundles of tendons while Krix'vorr works the primary controls.

I try to follow what he's doing. After a few moments I abandon the effort. The system is too complex. From a distance the controls appear primitive, a collection of ropes, tendons, and biological mechanisms. But every movement produces an immediate response somewhere outside. The Beast rolls, accelerates, changes direction and feints.

She fights by dancing to his lead. I watch Krix'vorr's hands moving across the living controls. He's guiding her, working through her.

The same concentration I saw during the sex appears on his face now. The same certainty, the same unwavering focus. He never seems rushed. Every motion feels deliberate. He knows exactly what he wants the Beast to do before she does it. Just like he did with me.

The comparison makes warmth spread through my body. I want that again.

The Beast lunges. The turtle-creature tries to meet the attack head-on. Krix'vorr pulls sharply on one control tendon and presses his other hand against a glowing membrane.

Outside, the Beast twists around the larger creature's flank. Something tears and the lens fills with a burst of glowing fluid.

Excited sounds ripple through the chamber.

I blink. "I didn't even see what happened."

"Neither did I," Lucius admits. "Something important appears to have ruptured. This battle is very different from Space Force simulations. But we seem to be winning."

The turtle-creature clearly agrees. Its movements become frantic. Massive limbs sweep through empty space while the Beast stays close, darting around it with astonishing agility for something so large. Another heavy shudder travels through the deck beneath us.

Then another. The Beast is attacking again.

I watch Krix'vorr instead of the battle for a moment. Every locust in this chamber revolves around him. Every movement of the Beast answers his touch. The enormous living predator obeys him with the same certainty that his crew does.

He's completely in control, so confident that my mind can't deal with it.

A pulse of heat runs through me. Before I notice what I'm doing, I've pressed my thighs together. New tingles shoot through my crotch and I can’t help moving my legs a little to enhance them. This is the most primal experience I’ve had, and I’m sure the room is full of all kinds of alien pheromones.

The turtle-creature suddenly convulses. Several of its huge appendages go limp. The Beast surges forward one final time. A violent impact flashes across the lens. The image shakes hard enough that several crew members grab nearby supports.

Then everything stops. For several seconds I wait for the next exchange.

Nothing comes. The turtle-creature drifts through space.

One side of its shell has partially collapsed inward. Glowing fluids leak from multiple wounds. Its limbs move only sporadically now.

I stare at the image. "That's it?"

The officers are already relaxing. Several begin exchanging reports while others release control lines and return to secondary duties.

"That's it," Lucius says. He rotates once as he studies the image. "I suspect we missed most of the important parts."

I look from the crippled creature to Krix'vorr. "I don't understand. They barely touched each other."

"They touched each other many times," Lucius replies. "The Beast has horns the size of church towers. And there were other blows exchanged. You simply couldn't follow all of it. I recorded everything and still have no idea what happened."