Max Intel: Melinoe
Chapter 2 - Mission

Max slowly opened her eyes to see a set of green eyes looking at her; Joons elfin features instantly went from a solemn expression to a wide smile.

"Morning, sweetheart," Joon whispered, "How was your nap?"

Max rubbed her eye, with the back of her hand, and stretched out on the bed making a long grunting noise. Joon's eyes danced as the stretch did interesting things to Max's perky breasts. Max smiled at her, "Careful, with looks like that you could get into trouble."

Joon giggled,.. she did that a lot around Max. "Okay, my love, let's go take a shower, then I'll make us some breakfast."

The two got up and Joon stripped out of her pajama bottoms and panties as they made their way into their bathroom.

The shower was large enough for both of them. This bathroom was the selling point of the flat for both of them as they did quite a lot of bathing together when Max was on leave. Washing Max was something Joon usually insisted on and she was also very thorough and attentive. But today Max was focused on her petite wife's hygiene; lathering up her body, paying special attention to area's Joon especially enjoyed.

Max gently cleaned the little pink rosebud located between Joon's parted cheeks with a circular motion so her middle finger caressed the knot of muscle. Joon began panting. Max didn't react the same way as Joon did with anal stimulation. She knew Joon loved it, however and through the years Joon had experimented with various implements and plugs to keep herself entertained. She had settled on a few as her favorites: one was a beautifully jeweled buttplug that vibrated with a signal from a personal device. She would wear it at work and used it to stave off fatigue from long hours on her feet. The practice was more common than Max would have previously thought. When it came down to it, Joon found assplay very satisfying, so Max catered to her desire at every opportunity.

"Max," Joon gasped, "That's really good, please finger my ass, oh please!"

Joon knew exactly the buttons to push with Max: she put them there. Max wasn't a Dom, but just a little begging lit Max up like a furnace.

"Oh baby," Max started, "I'm going to make you feel so good."

Kneeling next to the smaller woman, Max bent her across her shoulder, her middle finger slowly, but insistently, pushing into Joons anus. The panting soon followed and became interspaced with moans and gasps; and soon Joons fingernails dug into Max's back. Gently holding Joon with her left arm, Max reached down and gently motioned for Joon to spread her legs. With Joon's breasts on her shoulder and in her face, Max took a hardening nipple into her mouth, rapidly flicking it with her tongue.

"Oh Max!" Joon gasped as she began to shake. Max carefully moved her left hand and began to gently strum Joons clit, her right middle finger buried in her wife's tight ass.

Then Joon just came, crying like a banshee: her sphincter gripping the intruding finger like a fist while vaginal fluid sprayed out all over Max's legs. Joon was barely able to just stand there as her body continued to shake violently in orgasm. Max relinquished the captive nipple as Joons climax subsided,.. Joon giggled and grunted her satisfaction.

"Fuck, Max!" Joon exclaimed, "You are way too good at that!" Joon giggled again.

Max held Joon as she finished shaking, gently removing her finger and encircling her in strong arms. Shower sex was fun, but the danger of a shaking orgasm leading to a bad fall was very real, and Max would never allow that to happen.

"You taught me everything I know," Max casually replied, "and I know you do your research thoroughly."

Joon giggled, "Oh kay, I guess training you to play me like a fine classical instrument is my fault."

They toweled each other dry, dressed in clean house clothes and headed into the kitchen. The fact that, when Max was home, they did near everything together wasn't lost on either of them. Max had sometimes been away as long as six months, and when they reunited they both felt complete. Joon loved her job and profession, but she knew in her heart she would drop them like a hot rock for Max. Joon thought about the conversation they'd had, the decision they reached a decade earlier.

Max wanted justice for her guardian, Deirdre; the kind and brilliant TFIS inspector who adopted Max. Joon wanted justice for her too,.. and so they agreed that Max would shape her career to gain the necessary skills and place herself where she could eventually learn the necessary information that would lead to bringing Deirdre's killer to justice and punish those who made it happen. Even if she had to end up doing it personally. Joon was under no illusion about Max's capabilities. She knew Max's perseverance and dogged determination were astounding. She did falter at times, but she never gave up. Glancing up at Max, Joon was momentarily lost in her soft brown eyes.

"I love you." said the petite woman. Max leaned down to kiss her. "I love you." Max responded. They sat down to eat poorly folded omelettes with spinach, mushrooms, and cream cheese which they washed down with glasses of fruit juice. They talked about the Lion and the Lionesses a little more, commenting on their flawless figures and how the group was so uniform in body and still so different in expression. Joon was fascinated with Jade, the alluring green skinned Lioness. It was obvious she wasn't human and Joon was both personally and professionally intrigued.

"I don't know what the Lioness recruitment policy is, but It seems neither you nor I fit that mold," commented Max.

"That's okay Max," Joon nodded, "I am just glad they are on our side."

Max responded, "Me too."

Joon tilted her head to the side; as she did when she thought about things. "What's up, Babe?" asked Max, as she gathered the dirty dishes and immediately began cleaning them.

"Umm,.." started Joon, "When do you think you'll be heading out?"

Max paused a moment, "I'm not sure, I have about a day left on my pass, before I have to leave, would you like to do something special?"

Joon just smiled, "Every-time I'm with you is special."

"Da'aw," Max chuckled, "I feel the same,.. so no expensive night out on the town?"

"Mmmm," Joon visibly struggled, but then relaxed, "Nah,.. I'm good," she giggled. Max looked around the flat, growing nostalgic as memories passed through her mind. Glancing at the wing-back chair brought a momentary flash of pain across her face. Joon saw that expression and walked over and put her hand in Max's.

Max sighed,.. "Gonna hurt for a while."

Joon nodded, "Yea,.. it's part of life." Joon looked up into Max's eyes, "This is the price we pay for loving, and it is still worth the price."

Max nodded. Joon started to drag her wife back into the bedroom, "I need cuddles,.. and Holo.

They settled in and Immediately saw the flood of news stories surrounding events at a Terra dance club. Following the feeds and reports of a dinosaur appearing live in the streets outside the club and a ship to surface attack by the Invictus.

Joon and Max stared at the feeds trying to process the reporting.

"What the hell, Max! Is it terrorists?," Joon muttered, still lost in the information. "I'm not sure," replied Max in the same tone, "I think someone tried to kill the Lionesses!"

"All of this happened yesterday evening, after the ceremony." Said Joon, Max agreed, nodding slowly. Joon glanced at Max, "That's some serious shit Max. I'm pretty sure you're not allowed to shoot ship's guns in a city."

Max affirmed, "You're right, that's some serious shit."

Max went to the kitchen and got a bunch of snacks and drinks for them.

There were hours of speculation by holo-cast commentators...Then a TFNN special report interrupted: The image of Jehanna Elani appeared standing in front of an open troop hold of a raptor, Standing next to her in a suit of pristine white power armor, sans helmet, was the Lion, John Blake.

"Oh shit!" Joon squealed as They both sat up immediately, and watched with mesmerized expressions.

The interview with the Lion shows the now unmistakable image of the Invictus some distance away. In the background is a mountain. John Blake recaps the events at the night club and detailed information leading up to that moment in a steady and calm manner. He takes pains to make it clear who the players were that resulted in drama that unfolded the night before.

"-so we tracked the group responsible for the explosion back to their lair," John replied, turning slightly and gesturing towards the mountain.

Max and Joon's jaws dropped as the mountain on the holo shimmered and disappeared as the vision was replaced by a wicked looking stone fortress; something out of a dream.

"Whooooah," both women responded simultaneously. Ears perked even more as both continued listening to the interview revealing both the murder count and the list of contracts an assassins guild had orchestrated and that it was all now in the hands of authorities.

Max fumbled for her datapad, scrolling through the contacts she had with Jericho TFIS and found that in the past two hours well over a hundred cases were updated with new information.

Max felt a sudden great weight lift off her shoulders,..she started to cry and tears began streaming down her face.

Joon crawled into her lap and held her as they watched the Lion interview together. They were overwhelmed as they watched the firepower on display as the lightshow of destruction of the horrid assassin's base transformed the whole mountain plateau into molten rock in a matter of seconds.

"I'm just happy to do my part, Jehanna," John said, giving her a respectful nod. "I consider it a privilege to be able to protect the citizens of the Terran Federation from evil, whatever the source."

Max and Joon hugged tighter, and sighed happily. A few hours later Max and Joon stood together at the flat's front door, "I don't want you to go," muttered Joon.

"I know sweetheart," Max hugged her wife, "I'll be back as soon as I can." Max's obligations to the TFN didn't change, just because her long term goals might have. After a long goodbye kiss, Max departed her home once again and made her way back to the unit. Many hours later, Max signed in from liberty with twenty eight minutes to spare, being efficient with leave was an art-form.

"Anders!," A bellow erupted from the NCOIC office, Max grimaced but immediately went there, and peeked around the corner, "yes Sar-major?"

Max saw the much older but remarkably well preserved gentleman affectionately referred to as "goat" he was Sergeant Major Irasmus Boggs, no nonsense, no fluff, never a kind word when none would do.

"You get your crying done?" The goat glared at Max raising an eyebrow.

"All done Sar-major." Max knew how to respond without antagonizing the goat. He didn't dislike Max, he just didn't like anyone. The pass had been last minute and the goat only did last minute for missions, so Max pulled her perfect record card, something she could only get away with once. Goat didn't get mad, he knew Max wouldn't do that on a whim. So she got her pass. "You have ten minutes to gear up, Commander Yance got the call right before you walked in ," Muttered goat. "You have the best timing Anders."

Max immediately went jogging through sterile corridors, the hallways always kept cold and clean, to quarters. Turning into her unit's quarters she immediately went to her bay. Stripping out of her BDU jacket and civvies Max dove into the thick black body sleeve used by her unit, pulling on the tactical webbing and boots, her personally altered gauntlets with the integral computer for her demolitions programs.

At that moment one of her teammates jogged by her bay and skidded to a halt "Anders!" the beefy man exclaimed, "Great! I hate demo! C'mon! We're getting the brief on the way." Max swung by the armory for her weapons and go bags and immediately noted the three pallets being loaded with crates full of explosives prepared for deployment.

Boarding the purpose built TFN corvette her unit had used from time to time, she continued watching the pallets being loaded into the hold of the small ship with a hawk's eye, Max followed suit.

Preflight checks done, Max crowded into a small briefing area. Her unit, codename: Charlie Alpha Tango, were all assembled and the towering unit leader, Commander Stephen Yance, was talking quietly to Buzby, his bulky first sergeant.

Yance looked around the room. Everyone felt the corvette begin to move and knew the mission had begun: all talking ceased as the unit awaited the beginning of the brief.

"Gentlemen,..." Yance began, not dreaming it necessary to note any exception, which Max was just fine with since she was accepted for her skills rather than her sex, "At 21:20 local, Admiral Carl Weber extended orders to unit Charlie Alpha Tango to commence a "black" mission to "secure, obtain and sequester" a target designated as "Alien132". This mission is under "Hades" protocol. Primary: grab and go, Secondary: zero intel." With that phrase, Yance nods at Max. Max knew exactly what "Hades" protocol meant: all peripheral assets and sources were to be eliminated, no witnesses. Max was the expert demolitions technician, she had the highest tech level in the unit.

Yance continued punching up a holo image for the unit to see, "This is the Vitalis corp freighter, the Quinton. So named for the CEO of Vitalis, Hanz Quinton. It's essentially a Battleship, with a huge amount of cargo capacity. She carries a detail of a few hundred security personnel. We are going to rendezvous while in hyper, approach at sub-light and in stealth, and breach her once she enters hyper again. Our mission is to locate and extract the target while setting up that ship for scuttle."

Max realized now why there were three pallets: it was her job to destroy a battleship sized freighter in hyper, not just a simple blow and go. Her unit was the very best and worst of the TFN military. They were never given a choice of targets or missions--refusing to comply with a mission was the same as suicide. Max knew that going in. Learning how to do these things was what she agreed to do,.. to find justice. A justice the Lion had just earlier that day doled out when he took out her mentor's killers and supplied the evidence necessary to bring those who orchestrated it to justice. Max no longer needed this training or experience, but she was here nonetheless. Max needed to do her job, whether she agreed with it, or not.

The flight through hyper was thirty eight hours of preparation. Max's unit was divided into two teams, Target team and Demo team. they would all be in full nanoweave, even the explosives were in nanoweave rigs so everything about the insurgency would be invisible to the naked eye. Max went over the ship schematics with Yance and Buzby. They agreed the reactor core and engines were the trigger points for the Demo team. Max thankfully didn't need to worry about the target team's objectives as the target could be in a dozen different places on the ship.

Fitful rest as the hours crawled by, no one in her unit was very talkative, a few of them could be entertaining, but on mission, no one was. This team was exceptionally professional and the institutional apathy was palpable. Everyone felt the ship come out of hyper: it was showtime. The trick was the rendezvous in stealth. Max couldn't see what was going on, but she knew in her head how it was taking place. The corvette was covered in sensor-baffling nodes, allowing the ship to register almost no profile to sensors. Even an active sensor sweep gave very little return when the suite was active; passive sensors wouldn't register the corvette at all. Hours later Max could feel the magnetic grapples fastening the stealth ship against the hull of the Quinton; a silent remora attached to a massive shark. More waiting, then everyone felt the telltale signs of going into hyper once again.

Everyone automatically initiated a final gear check and all HUDS lit up showing each unit member's status in the upper left. This was primarily used for tracking team members location and movement coordination and allowed for silent and invisible infiltration with the nanoweave optical camouflage. Max and demo team each with fifty kilo charges in nanoweave rigs equipped with low power repulsers. Making sure each and every charge was ready was part of her professional pride.

Yance appeared, "Minus twenty minutes, Anders, get your team on and off ASAP."

Max affirmed, "Copy that, boss."

Yance nods and disappears again back to the command deck.

Weapons check completed. Max carried a heavily modified XR75 with extended magazines and a suppressor. She wasn't the top shooter in the unit, but she was competitive. There was a healthy level of competition when it came to skills at this level, and all of them acknowledged Max her's. Buzby was hands down the best shooter in the unit, his natural marksmanship was uncanny; that's why he led the target team.

Target team took point on breach and with electronic baffles in place, the lock-pick program did its job,. seamless entry into the Quinton was a walk in the park with the nanoweave covering any visual sensors as they were rerouted one by one. It was the slow methodical work that Max's unit excelled in.

Two security hostiles were silently eliminated on deck 2 as Max and Demo team worked their way towards engineering: removing obstacles and clearing as they went. The deadly and silent dance concluded with three demo charges placed around the fusion plant of the Quinton. Backtracking towards deck 2 again, the team went on to propulsion: again, eliminating and clearing as they went. A fifty kilo charge was precisely placed on each of the massive drives that drove the Quinton. Demo team, now done with their part, made their way back to deck 2.

Then the ship's battle stations Klaxon went off, and chaos enveloped the mission. Scores of security bolted out of berths, only a handful of them on shift, but all fully armed and armored.

"Demo team, report" Yance's voice crackles in over coms.

"Charges set, proceeding to breach" responded Max, her team covered the corridor as she paused.

"Belay that, go to deck 5, target team is pinned down, break them out," Yance's voice was steady, but he was obviously not happy.

Demo team worked through, clearing dozens of security squads along the way: finally coming out into a corridor where target team was pinned down just as someone lit up the hallway with a heavy MG, tearing through bulkheads and eviscerating two of Max's Demo team. Sliding down the corridor while keeping low, Max tossed a frag grenade into the doorway where the MG was shooting from. As the grenade went off, Max sprinted into the opposite end of the hall before seeing two corpses splayed out in pieces, obviously from her unit. She slid into the cubby next to Buzby.

"Extract Buzz!" She spat. Buzby pulled a container out of the cubby, patting it and then Max's shoulder.

Nodding, Max gripped the built in handles of the rectangular container, its rounded and reinforced corners gliding along the floor, an integral display showing some kind of medical readout. Max maneuvered the case along the edge of the hallway, holding her rifle to cover their forward progress. A security detail turned the corner in a rush and her finger caressed the firing stud, dropping them as their bits splattered across the walls. Max kept moving forward, staying low. The Demo team continued clearing the path while the Target team brought up the rear.

Along the way back up to deck 2, the security became painfully aware of the visual camouflage Max's unit employed. At several choke points their solution was effective, they began saturating the corridors with shrapnel and anti-personnel rounds. Max lost both of her Demo teammates as Buzby and his last team member cleared the way to the breach. Max pushed the container into the breach securing it just inside the airlock. That's when a massive staccato of grenade and small arms fire filled the air. Max watched as the two remaining unit indicators went dark, suddenly realizing they were gone. Slamming closed the breach to close the airlock, she thumbed the com, "Yance! Target secure! Disengage!" Short precise reporting followed by, "Anders, we are clear." Max tapped on the arming programming and hit the detonation signal. Small arms fire blared over the com and echoed through the ship. Max immediately engaged her nanoweave again; now aware of hostile combatants aboard the corvette.

Max knew every inch of the interior and quietly advanced at speed, covering the hatches along the way. Upon entering the command deck Max listened, hearing labored breathing. Stalking closer to the bridge, Max spotted three corpses, two are bridge crew, one is Quinton security. Peering in on the bridge, she see's Yance and another two dead Quinton security personnel. Yance's eyes are wide and he is pale. Max does a quick scan of the whole bridge, not seeing any active targets she disengages her nanoweave.

"Anders!,.." her commander barks, bloody spittle running down his chin, "Sweep the ship, there might be more." Max re-engages the optical camouflage, and sweeps the entire corvette. seeing nothing.

Max returns to Yance, his eyes open, his face pale and his mouth wide open drooling blood. "Shit." Max says quietly.

Max knelt down and felt for a pulse on Yance's neck; not finding one. Looking across the bridge at familiar and unfamiliar instruments, Max looks closely at some damage at the stations.

Max looked to punch up the passive sensors, The station was shattered, leaving Max to use her eyes to figure out the corvette was no longer in hyper and slowly moving away from a large swath of debris. Max tried to digest the information, pursing her lips in thought. "Okay,.." Max said to herself out loud, "It looks like that.. was the Quinton."

Max tried to figure out where she was and her current ship status. On the charts, she was quite a ways from anywhere,.. that was good. Her ship's status: no power emissions, no sensor baffle suite active. Max pursed her lips in thought looking at damaged stations on the bridge.

"Hmmm, maybe this one?" Tapping power up on a system she deduced as what might be the baffle suite. Minutes passed, there seemed to be no change. "Oh kay, there has to be a way to tell if this is working."

Max goes to another station using her TFN ID and unit passcodes looking for and pulling up the ships manual, searching for the sensor baffle suite.

Two hours later, Max narrows down the detailed functions of the sensor baffling suite, determining the sequence for a systems check. Max held her breath and ran the system check. In less than five seconds it reported the system was working. Max kept reading, finding the program sequence and how to start it.

Max looked at the panel, and tapped three buttons, the bridge took on a reddish hue. Max sighed, she crinkled her nose. It was time to do something about the dead.

Max followed protocol, stripping the ID and equipment off each body and placing the corpses of the flight crew and Commander Yance into body bags and then into the cryo pods. The Quinton security bodies went out the airlock. Many hours later, Max finished the sanitation procedures and the down time allowed her body to begin feeling the deep seated exhaustion that came after a high risk operation. She walked back to the officers quarters and saw a small, neat, and clean cabin. The bed was nice and long so she peeled out of her gear, briefly washed her hands and face, and collapsed on the mattress. Her last conscious thought was of Joon cuddled next to her and Agatha curled up on her chest.

A warm gentle touch, small sharp claws kneading her chest, Max looked down at the kitten. Steel grey eyes gilded in silver, the soft purring felt more than heard. In the secret place where she could let her guard down Max had a good view of the entire courtyard of the residential from the heat exchange air vent behind the cover grille. She saw all the apartments from the hidden perch high above ‘them', safe from ‘them'. Then she watched as the six men killed all of them. Holding her kitten to her chest, she memorized the faces of the men killing her tormentors, killing her family.

Max blinked, her eyes crusty from sleep. She stretched out and murmured aloud, "mmm loong bed." Max sat up as she began looking around the cabin. Void of personal items, it was minimally furnished, with a long bed, a com desk, and chair. In the closet was Commander Yance's go bag. The adjacent bathroom was also small as space aboard a ship was always at a premium; but the shower was actually large by those standards. Max enjoyed the experience, having missed a few. She slid into fresh underclothes from her go bag and dressed in her worn BDU's; the softer fabric was a comfortable change from the black one piece.

Stepping onto the bridge, Max frowned at the two damaged stations, one looked riddled with holes and the other had a huge chunk missing along with a shattered input. If she was going to complete her mission, she needed comms and sensors. She was running the ship mostly blind but she knew seeing her wasn't easy either. Repairing this mess was her priority but she needed to know what she was working with.

Max slipped into her training, going over the inventory of the corvette. She inspected the small but well stocked armory with a professional eye: a dozen suits of armor and nanoweave coveralls. A rack of twelve XR75's, three YM10 auto shotguns, a DL5 light MG, six heavy pistols, six light pistols, ample ammunition for all weapons, and four containers which inside contained frag and thermal grenades, anti-personnel mines, and 10 kilos of plastic explosive. Max added the weapons from the Quinton security: a dual barreled auto shotgun and several SMG's. Max spent some time servicing and cleaning her personal weapons and Commander Yance's impressive heavy pistol. It was highly customized and obviously several grades above standard issue. Checking the galley and the food stores told her there was enough food for a full crew of 20 for two months, years worth for just her.

Max went to the airlock, and looked at the sealed container. The readouts still indicating the occupant was alive. It was like a large piece of luggage covered in locks, maybe four feet long, three feet wide, and a foot deep. Max decided to move the container to the cargo hold, locking it down to the deck. Grimacing as she dealt with the fact she still had a mission to complete.

After doing an hour of calisthenics, Max made a proper meal using the galley. It wasn't near what Joon was capable of, but it was edible. Max returned to the cabin with the delightfully long bed: Yance was just as tall as Max and he had pulled some strings to get it installed in their ship. After a relaxing shower, Max spread out nude on the larger than average bed. Thinking of Joon, she pressed hard against her mound as she began moaning to herself. She would never normally do this on mission, but she felt safe and secure, like being in Joon's arms with Agatha nearby,... Agatha. "Damn", she cursed, and just pulled the covers over herself, losing the mood and drifting off.

Dark corridors, staring eyes, childish giggles,.. looking down on a river of moving bodies, indistinct conversations and noise,.. then, "You must be a slag." turning to see three figures surrounding a smaller one, the smaller one bathed in a golden nimbus. Max immediately moves to the smaller figure, wrapping strong arms around it, protecting it, comforting it.

Max awoke with weird dreams still on the edge of memory,... Getting up she stretched out and rolled through a few limbering moves. Breathing deeply and blowing out the air as she began letting go of the dreams. Max began the slow kata she learned from Joon's dad, Howard. Sitting down at the command station on the bridge, Max peered around at the damage, it wasn't a lot; but the rounds did do some damage. The bridge station layout was a pilot station to the left, navigation to the right, command behind and centered. Max started to try and repair the damage, or at least round the edges so they wouldn't injure Max while she worked on them.

When she was finished the bridge didn't look much better, but Max felt it would be safer to be around it. She looked at the shattered input of,.. something. She brought up the schematics again, finding it was her interface to the hyper pulse generator from the comms array and it was toast. Max knew this ship had a very advanced comms array to communicate highly encrypted burst transmissions. It was what the ship was designed for: intelligence gathering. The Int Ops department of the TFN was a series of compartmentalized units that shared resources within the department. Max didn't have first hand knowledge of the intelligence missions, but this ship was designed with a flexible role in mind, long range infiltration/exfiltration, force reconnaissance, and intelligence gathering.

Max stood up and stretched, her neck and back making some truly impressive noises after dealing with the slow and tedious steps required to repair the comm's interface. She was tired, she'd had a little dinner just a few hours ago so she took a nice hot shower and crawled into her bed,.. heh, her bed, the Captain's berth, heh...

Joon kissed her cheek, Max could feel her breath, so she opened her eyes and the smiling face of her tiny wife was hovering over her, delicious pink nipples adorning magnificent breasts. Max took one of those nipples into her mouth, swirling her tongue across it, sounds of Joons joy encapsulated in her moans and panting breaths. Then Agatha jumped up on the bed with a purring meow, chirrup. Max couldn't imagine a more complete feeling of love and comfort, safety,... support.

Max woke up refreshed and full of energy, she couldn't remember ever feeling that way on mission. Hopping up out of bed, she began stretching out and limbering up for her kata. After a light breakfast Max actually started humming one of Joons songs as she dove back into the comms repairs. Sitting up many hours later, she was pleased with her progress. For some reason, Max decided to walk around the ship, visiting every cabin and quarters, finally ending up in the cargo bay and standing in front of the odd container.

Max stopped. stepped back a step, a little confused. "Why did I come down here?" Max crouched down, studying the life signs on the readouts built into the container. Blinking at the readouts, Max stood, turned around and left, wondering what that was all about.

The work on the Comms were coming along smoothly and she felt confident she could repair it. Max glanced at the sensor display,.. "You're next" nodding to herself.

Eating another meal that left much to the imagination, Max contemplated the sensor display on the bridge, the idea of traveling without them was frightening. The huge chunk missing meant she really couldn't use what was there, she would have to use the coms desk in the cabin to "see " what was out there. Then walk out to the bridge to make the adjustments to course.

Another delightful hot rinse later, Max stretched out nude in the bed as wistful thoughts of Joon played through her mind. Joon's soft full lips and gentle caress; Max rolled over on her tummy reaching down with long fingers as she leveled her pubic mound into her palm and gently teased her vulva while grinding herself into the heel of her hand. The orgasm was unexpected: the force of it was also surprising with massive waves of pleasure sweeping over her. All the stress of that past week washed away, leaving Max completely relaxed and content as she drifted into a deep slumber.

Max felt the warmth of her wife by her and the weight of Agatha on her chest. Opening her eyes, as a soft purring chirp greeted her. Joon cuddled into her and smiled in her sleep. Agatha turned her head and looked into Max's eyes, the cat appeared to be searching for something deep inside. Max lifted her free hand and gently stroked the black and white cat gazing back into her steel grey gilded in silver eyes.

Max blinked, she was sitting on the cold decking in the cargo hold, naked. Before her was the container, the lights on the display danced. Max felt like she was dreaming, the edges of her perception blurry as her hand caressed the rounded corner.

Max could feel a sense of urgency, the occupant would die soon, the display lights were no longer steady and serene, she almost saw a heartbeat in the readout.

Max was conflicted, following protocol was how she was trained, whatever was in the container was influencing her. She should be frightened out of her mind, but she wasn't, she felt the target was desperate, and would die long before Max could finish her mission. The target was afraid and didn't want to die. Max blinked back tears as she remembered all the dreams she had experienced this week, all at once.

"Oh no," Max groaned, "you looked into my dreams you bastard! You saw my life! You are trying to control me, like a puppet!" Max felt feelings of sadness and despair, a resignation to fate. Max lurched back, feeling an apology, a soft sad caress on her mind.

"Fuck, wait." Max struggled, "Just don't try to manipulate me."

Max realized this idea was both courageous and dangerous, and completely insane. opening this container was very, very stupid; but experiencing someone's feelings as they slowly died was out of the question. So Max was going to do the one thing she had never done before, she was going to break protocol.

Max dressed in her black operations gear, with weapon, tactical boots and helm. In the engineering bay she found some laser cutters and a disc grinder. She set up in front of the bolted container in the cargo bay after securing all the exits and began her work of removing the locks on the container: all the while feeling thanks and appreciation. "Ok, ok, just let me work." Max muttered at the container, "I swear if you make any false moves I'll kill you myself."

After ten minutes, all the locks were removed. Max swallowed hard as she carefully released a containment seal. Max slowly opened the container, lifting the lid like an oversized suitcase. Max peered in and saw a humanoid figure curled up in a fetal position, flawless white skin and jet black hair.

Max scrambled back and brought up her weapon sights on the being.

Max stayed that way for what seemed like hours.

She saw the alien take a deep breath, then it's arm twitched. Max watched it as it slowly began to stretch, and carefully sit up in the container. The "alien" looked very human, the unnaturally white skin was the only thing that made it seem out of place. Then the other obvious aspect screamed at Max, it looked like a human female, a girl. Then it opened its eyes, and Max froze. Steel grey gilded in silver.

Max was furious! "How dare you!," She yelled, aiming at the aliens head.

"P-p-l-l-ee-ss-e." she tried to say, Max felt her fear, she knew she had offended, she was sorry.

Max stopped,.. looking at the alien now covering her angular face with thin white skinned hands and limbs, her breathing rapid, she was shaking.

"Why do you look like that, if you're not trying to manipulate me?" Max asked with no small amount of anger in her voice.

Max felt the creature's response emotionally as she struggled with verbal communication.

The Alien girl's emotions were timid, "W-w-ee,.. t-raa-ve-l,.. t-t-o-o-,.. f-f-f-i-i-nd,.. s-s-a-a-fe,..h-ome. She lowered her hands and looked at Max. "W-w-e,..c-h-h-a-nge,. t-t-to, b-be l-l-ik-ed. t-t-o-o b-b-e,.. s-s-a-f-e.

Max lowered her weapon, thinking about what the alien girl said. "You do this to infiltrate?, to take over? Max inquired.

"T-t-o... be,...f-f-r-en-d." She said, conveying the emotional subtext that seemed to follow her words.

Max thought about this. Honestly, this alien was a lot easier on the eyes than many Max had seen and encountered over the years. Max could easily see where, if your species went around meeting new ones, knowing what would put them more at ease with your interaction would make sense, and would be a great way to prevent tensions.

"What do you look like naturally?" Max raised her eyebrow.

Feeling surprise and humor, "N-n-oth-in-g, l-li-ke t-th-i-i-ss." the girl said looking down at her own body. "Y-y-oou c-ho-se t-th-i-i-ss f-f-o-r m-ee."

Max's jaw dropped open, "Me?, I didn't choose anything, I'm married, I was dreaming about my wife Joon and,.." Max swallowed hard, "Agatha."

Max felt a wave of hope from the alien.

"So wait:" Max started, "You became a mix of my wife and my cat, because you thought I would like you more, and wouldn't kill you?"

"I-i-t's h-how w-w-e are," the girl tilted her head slightly, not unlike how Joon would do it.

"Hmmm," Max contemplated this, "Okay, some ground rules: Do not try to push me with your influence: I am very wary of being controlled and will not be pleased with you."

The girl smiled for the first time and Max couldn't help but notice she looked like a human with some feline features such as large eyes and sharpened facial bone structure. her lips were black and her teeth were as white as her skin.

"The better you get at speaking, the more we can refine how this is going to work." Max paused, thinking. "Now tell me what you need to survive, food, water maybe?"

The girl nodded again smiling

"So what should I call you, definitely not "Alien 132", I don't want to say "Hey you" all the time either." Max muttered.

The alien girl gave off a feeling of hope again.

"A-a-ga-tha," the girl said looking hopeful at Max.

Max's face twisted up a little, but then she calmed down, "Alright, I can see it's something that was going to be obvious, since you look like that."

"Agatha," Max said, trying it out for size, "you can call me Max , let's get you some food, hopefully you can stand my cooking."

Max helped her stand, she was so shaky that Max just leaned over and plucked her off her feet. she made a very familiar purr-meow sound exactly like her namesake did for many years. Max glanced at the naked frail girl in her arms, her fingers ended in slightly claw shaped black nails as did her toes.

Carrying her was no effort at all and Max noted while walking through the ship that Agatha's eyes grew large as she took it all in. Eventually she walked into the galley and set Agatha into a chair at the galley's mess table.

"What do you normally eat?" Max asked as she raised an eyebrow at Agatha.

Agatha seemed to think about it a moment, "I,.. do-on-t, kn-o-o, y-y-et."

Max nodded, thinking about that answer, then started making something easy and filling. A few minutes later she sat a bowl of cinnamon spiced oatmeal mixed with cream cheese on the table, taking a spoon and loading it up.

"Lets try this and see what you think." Max said as she sat next to Agatha, "say Ahhh."

Agatha opened her mouth projecting emotions of trust and curiosity. "A-aaah"

Max gently put the spoon into her mouth. Agatha tried to bite the spoon at first, then a long pink tongue emerged. Max just stared as the tongue gently wrapped around the spoon as Agatha sucked on the implement swallowing the sweet, creamy oatmeal.

Pulling the empty spoon from Agatha's gentle mouth, Max could hear her purring, her face lit up with emotion as she projected joy.

Max could not help but smile, "Okay, try it yourself." handing her the spoon.

Agatha looked at the bowl and the spoon; and reaching over she began loading up just like Max had done and then put the loaded spoon into her mouth. She pulled it out empty and began to chew.

Max nodded, "Go ahead and finish that, I'm gonna make myself something, too." turning back to the galley, Max made herself some breakfast.

Agatha was roughly five and a half feet tall and painfully thin. Her black mane was unkempt, her white ears seemed human but came to points.

Max glanced over at her guest,.. guest, yes, I suppose she is. Agatha had become very proficient with the spoon, emptying the bowl quickly. With cat-like mannerisms, she then started licking it with her amazingly long and agile tongue.

Max walked over and picked up the empty bowl peering at the girl who was smiling and licking her lips. "More?"

Agatha nodded, "P-please."

Max finished making her own breakfast as well as another bowl for Agatha.

Max sat across from her this time, watching as they ate. Agatha used the spoon until she couldn't scrape out any more, then licked the bowl clean with her tongue again. Max noted she watched Max just as closely, projecting curiosity.

"That's a very different thing you do, I have never felt anything like it before," said Max matter of factly as she gathered the dishes and washed them in the sink.

Agatha shakily followed Max into the galley and tilted her head again, "T-thing." She shivered. Max saw her and realized Agatha must be cold. Well, the ship wasn't exactly warm, especially if you're naked.

"You look cold, let's get you into a warm shower." Max led Agatha to her cabin and into the bathroom. Agatha took everything in, examining the fixtures and the toilet. Max could guess she was going to have to explain everything to her. Max stopped and realized with a groan that Agatha had no idea what to do in a shower. She resigned herself to make this as simple as possible and stripped down, revealing her muscular physique and small pert breasts as Agatha watched with wide eyes.

"I'm going to wash you." Max said with a soft smile. Agatha just stood there as Max turned on the shower, then coaxed her into the warm spray. Agatha made a purr-meow as the water touched her skin. Max reached for the soap dispenser and , getting a handful, lathered up Agatha's shoulders and her shoulder length jet black hair. Her purrs grew louder. Soaping up her back and tummy, Max hesitated momentarily as she felt her ribs and spine under her fingertips.

"I'm going to take care of you, I'm going to make you lots of food, and keep you healthy." Max ran her hands over Agatha's body, her tiny breasts, her thin legs and even her nethers...which brought a somewhat surprised look from Agitha. Agatha then enjoyed Max rinsing the lather and suds off her thin frame.

Agatha turned around and faced Max under the water, her large eyes gazing into Max's. Max stopped and gazed back. Max felt many things projected to her, safety, support, and love. Max's world changed a bit, feeling such honest and untainted feelings was moving.

"When you do that, when you 'share' like that, you make me feel good for what I have done today. But, you can't do that with everyone; they will not understand." Max ran her hand over the exotic girl. "You're going to have to learn how to not project, to keep your ability secret. I will help you any way I can."

Agatha's face was one of pure adoration, then she hugged Max, naked and under a warm shower. Max's own feelings came forward, and Agatha felt them. The loving embrace lasted a long time, but after a while, Max grew a little uncomfortable. Agatha immediately released her from the hug and stepped back smiling.

Max stared at Agatha, "You felt me, you knew what I was feeling?"

Agatha nodded, "I,.. c-can feel others."

Max nods, "That is very useful, doing that is good."

Toweling Agatha dry first and then herself, Max led her to the cabin. Max dressed in her comfy BDU's and then dug into her go bag, pulling out a black knit jumper. Max showed her the jumper.

"I-it's very nice" Agatha had an odd look on her face. Max blinked,.. "What is it sweetie?"

"I,.. I feel,. p-pressure,.." Agatha's face twisted, "It's s-tarting to h-hurt."

Max realized immediately what it might be, "It's okay Ag's come with me." Max pulled her into the bathroom again and lifted the unlocked lid to the toilet, she placed Agatha on it, and knelt down in front of her, holding her shoulders.

"It's ok sweetheart, don't hold it, just let it go." Max comforted the inexperienced girl. Agatha made a little squeak, and she let it go and the relief from the pressure was immediate. Max smiled, "There you go, this is something humans have to learn, too. We usually do so when we are very young."

Agatha looked up at Max with a much happier look on her face, asked, "S-so, you do this too?"

"Yes sweetheart, I do this too, and I'll make sure you get all the insights on being human." Max rubbed Agatha's back as the girl finished her business. Max showed her how to clean herself hygienically,.. while doing so, Agatha stopped her.

"Y-you have the same things I do,.. t-tell me what they d-do, p-please?"

Max looked at Agatha's eyes,.. "Um,. oh kay,.. I'll try to explain."

Max cleared her throat, trying to think of the best way to proceed. She looked into Agatha's eyes and noted the girl was paying absolute attention, was naked on a toilet with her legs spread, and Max was kneeling in front of her. Max swallowed.

"Well,.. humans are split into two sexes, male and female, you and I are female, in our species the two sexes are needed to reproduce, to make babies."

Agatha didn't comment, so Max continued. "Females carry eggs and males fertilize those eggs, now when they are fertilized, the offspring starts to grow inside the female."

Max paused thinking how to continue, "Slightly aside from reproduction, the act of sex, or love making, can be very enjoyable. Attraction is something that helps in finding partners for sex and for humans, physical attraction is a thing, and varies wildly depending on the individual's tastes and preferences."

Max swallowed again and was about to continue, but Agatha interrupted you, "Y-you are anxious, is telling this to m-me upsetting?"

Max blinked at the question, "I'm not upset, just a little uncomfortable. I want you to understand things from a human standard, not just my perspective."

Agatha's expression softened, "Y-you find me attractive, a-and this bothers you?"

Max's eyes went wide, "Wow,.. you totally read me, didn't you?"

Agatha raised a single eyebrow, just like Joon would. "You did s-say, doing that was g-good."

Max smiled and admitted, "I did, didn't I!" Max took a deep breath, "There are a few reasons why it bothers me, and I want you to know it has nothing to do with you."

Agatha tilted her head and smiled, listening.

Max continued, "Joon and I are in a relationship, and are sexual with each other." Max placed a hand on Agatha's knee," Our relationship is called a marriage; it is one that is legally and socially binding. As such, our relationship is called monogamous: we have chosen to only be with each other, no one else." Max again took a deep breath and let it out.

Agatha smiled and said, "Okay"

Max blinked, "Did you get all that?"

"You love her, and s-she loves you, you are happy, neither of you want m-more than that." Agatha nodded, "I u-understand and admire your c-commitment to her, so please, d-don't feel oblig-gated to anything that would j-j-jeopardise that."

Max was amazed, Agatha absorbed those complex social constructs and even made concessions based on them. Max's perception of Agatha's intelligence profoundly increased.

Max nodded, "Right,.. let's discuss,.. Pleasure."

Agatha's eyes grew large, "I feel a lot of t-things from you right now."

Max giggled,.. "I bet you do,.. there's quite a bit there."

Agatha looked enthusiastic.

Max began, "Touch is one of the primary ways we humans experience pleasure and under the correct conditions, being touched a certain way and in specific places can bring an immense amount of pleasure, and it is extremely gratifying."

Agatha shook her head, "Just you t-talking about it, I feel much more from you." Max nodded, "That's the other way we humans can feel pleasure, with thoughts, stimulating receptors in our brains, releasing chemicals causing euphoria, I'm not a medic, but it was taught to me in school."

Agatha smiled, "Do you think I will d-do the same?"

Thinking for a moment, Max said, "I guess there's only one way to find out." Max lifted her hand from Agatha's knee and softly says, "Agatha, may I touch you in an intentionally sexual way?"

Agatha eyes widened, her slitted pupils dilating, "The feelings c-coming from you are so powerful, yes Max, please t-touch me that way."

Max gently brushed the back of her fingers across Agatha's delicate pink nipple,

"Oh,.." muttered Agatha looking at Max's long fingers, as her nipple began to harden and grow erect. "Is that supposed to happen?"

Max grinned broadly, "If you're human it is."

"What else can you touch that will feel good?", Agatha asked Max, her eyes half-lidded and her pupils dilated as she sat there gazing into her eyes.

Max swallowed hard,.. again. "Let's move this to somewhere, more comfortable than a toilet." Max got up off her knees and showed Agatha the flush mechanism. She then led Agatha back to the cabin. She made a quick decision and undressed. Agatha gazed fondly at Max's nude body as Max crawled on to the long bed and arranged the two pillows for comfort. Max then smiled and held out her hand to Agatha to climb on next to her.

After Agatha settled down next to Max, the closeness and warmth of their bodies added a level of intimacy that Max found worrying.

Agatha looked into Max's eyes, "Please, don't feel b-bad, I will never willingly hurt you, please trust me."

Max's reticence melted away and she pulled Agatha into a gentle hug, "I will go very slow, if anything makes you upset, tell me, I will stop."

Agatha's face softened, "I know, Max, I trust you with my life."

Max nodded as she got very close to Agatha's face. Leaning in, she placed a light kiss on her cheek,.. then again on the lips. After licking Agatha's lips, Agatha flicked her prehensile tongue over Max's lips in return; her long tongue softly caressing them. Max opened her mouth and licked that tongue, their lips met and they kissed that way for long minutes.

At the same time, Max began to gently rub Agatha's arm, her smooth alabaster skin reacted as Agatha softly gasped. The long fingers of her hand caressed the same delicate pink nipple from earlier. Max could feel Agatha's breath deepen, her index finger making concentric circles around the areola. Max moved down some and kissed Agatha's shoulder, their eyes locked for a moment and Max instantly felt an emotional wave of lust from Agatha, they both moaned at the same moment. Max moved down further and began to plant soft kisses on her breasts. Agatha couldn't stop looking at Max as her hard nipple was now being lusciously licked and suckled by the larger woman. Sucking the pert breast into her mouth, Max's tongue swirled and teased the hard nipple; the attention causing Agatha to moan and purr even louder. Sliding further down the length of the exotic alien girl, Max kissed and licked her skin slowly working her way down her belly. Agatha's reaction was to run her hand through Max's short dirty blonde hair. Agatha's breathing became erratic from the stimulus.

Max smiled and helped Agatha move up the bed. As Agatha nestled into the pillows, Max gently spread Agatha's legs and settled in between them, watching her face closely for any distress. Agatha was completely immersed in the experience. Her emotional feedback was exquisite and it bolstered Max's confidence that Agatha was more than enjoying the experience.

Agatha was perfectly smooth, where Max kept herself neat and trim. The alien girl's folds were fascinating, pale alabaster flowing into pale pink then a deeper pink. Max could smell her sensual aroma now; a light, sweet bouquet that was so different from Joon's citrus scent or Max's own musky aroma. Max watched Agatha's exotic face, her large eyes glued to Max as she began to kiss her vulva.

Soft and gentle kisses lingered followed by a lick; then more kisses as Max softly mouthed her. Max slipped her tongue inside Agatha for the first time, feeling a rush of pleasure from her that set off Max's own desires. Max was trying to be as gentle as she could, but the taste, smell and feelings from Agatha were too difficult to ignore. Moments turned to minutes as Agatha projected her increasing pleasure as she steadily approached a climax.

Then without further escalation, Agatha yelled out as she embraced her first orgasm. Max felt its power from the projection and she had a feeling it would be good to hold the alien as she processed the human experience.

Max wrapped protective arms and a leg around Agatha and her deep purrs began resonating through her chest. Agatha's hand caressed the side of Max's face as they stared into each other's eyes.

"H-how,.." Agatha whispered, "does humanity get a-anything done, when they could be doing that?"

Max smiled at her new friend, "That is a very valid question, and one that few have an answer for." she whispered in return.

The two cuddled for a while, until a gurgling noise emanated from Max's stomach, followed by a softer one from Agatha's.

Max kissed Agatha on the lips whose eyes dilated momentarily, "Let's get dressed and make some food."

Max showed her how to wear the knit jumper; it came down to mid thigh on Agatha. They returned to the galley and Max wanted to make a real meal for both of them. She soon decided to make a large batch of macaroni and cheese with ham as it would be easy to reheat for leftovers. Thirty minutes of cooking produced twenty pounds.

Setting down the two full bowls of the mac n cheese, Max smiled at Agatha as she tasted it. In less than three minutes the bowl was empty and Agatha was licking the bowl clean. After Max finished her own bowl, Agatha licked it as well. Max showed Agatha how to wash the dishes afterwards and showed her where everything in the galley was, in case she got hungry again.

Max went to the bridge, and started settling back into the repairs while Agatha took in everything she did. Max glanced at Agatha and started explaining what she was doing. Watching Agatha squint at the holo display with the manual, Max explained how most everything humans do and how they do them is written down in text.

"May I learn them also?" Agatha asked, "Learn your w-written words?"

Max blinked, "Of course you can! I can show you some basic programs on the coms desk." After Max set up Agatha at the coms desk in the cabin with a basic reading and comprehension program, she returned to the bridge and her repair of the coms.

Many hours later Agatha walked onto the bridge. Max was sitting at the command station, scrolling through the hundreds of transmissions.

"Hi Max," Agatha greeted, "How are you doing out here?"

Max looked over at Agatha smiling at her, "Not too terrible, looks like we can receive again, I haven't tried sending, it's against protocol."

Agatha walked up next to Max as she stared at the holo, "Are all of those messages for you?"

Max chuckled, "Actually, none of them are for me: these are just broadcasts from the core." Max glanced at Agatha, "How are your lessons going?"

With a smile of her own, Agatha replied, "I finished them."

Max blinked, "Like finished, or just done for the day?"

"I finished. I received a score of 100 on each of the after tests in the programs." Agatha stared at the holo, "May I watch this with you?"

Max yawned, "I think it would be good to get some rest. I should assign you your own room, it would give you some privacy."

Agatha turned to look at her and Max imagined that's what it felt like being scanned with an active sensor.

"You are upset over what we did together. You think you took advantage of me."

Max turned her head, looking down. "I overstepped in the role of teacher, and I feel guilty that I have betrayed my wife."

Agatha stood very still, "Please do not feel this way, you freed me from a certain death and I could never thank you enough." Agatha continued, "If you would allow me, I would be your companion; and to your wife as well. I will follow your training and can assist you in your work."

Max listened to her and thought a few moments, "I cannot give you an answer right now,.. I would have to discuss it with Joon first."

Max's mind immediately went to the mission,.. and how she knew it was now impossible: she could never turn Agatha over to anyone,.. Agatha was now family.

Agatha stood there staring at Max,.. tears streaming down her alabaster face. Pink with emotion, she took a deep breath, "I will never leave your side, I will never betray you, I will defend you to my dying breath!" Agatha panted after her exclamation and Max stood up to pull her into a hug. Agatha balled into Max's shirt as Max rubbed her back in comfort, "It's okay sweetheart, I will keep you safe."

Max led Agatha to the cabin and they washed their faces and hands then stripped down to go to sleep. Agatha stood next to the bed with a hopeful look.

Max looked up at her, "Do you like to cuddle before sleep?" Max smiled a crooked grin. Agatha beamed and immediately cuddled next to Max; a breathy purr declaring her thoughts on cuddling.

"Thank you, Max," Agatha whispered. Max was spooning her and kissed the back of her head. They slowly drifted off to sleep.