At some point, Cait crashed. Her adrenalie had been pumping throughout their capture and peaked when Montague had disconnected her arms. Now exhaustion hit her all at once. She remained partially aware, hearing Rhys’ voice occasionally as he tried to wheedle information out of Simmons and Docker but those went nowhere. Because she kept slipping out of consciousness she lost track of time, but assumed it was only a few hours when Montague rejoined them and announced they had arrived.
“Arrived where?” Rhys asked.
“Our base of operations.” Montague answered, gesturing for Rhys and Cait to be unstrapped from their chairs. As Simmons unhooked her restraints he took Cait by the shoulder and assisted her to her feet. She glanced around and saw an unknown crew member placing her prosthetics into a footlocker which was placed on a hoversled, which he then began to pile other gear onto. Meanwhile Docker cuffed Rhys’ hands behind his back. She heard and felt the gentle bumping of them setting down or docking with something and after a short delay a doorway opened in the rear of the room to reveal a small airlock and the back of the ship was open into what seemed to be a docking bay.
Cait and Rhys were led at gunpoint out of the ship down a ramp at the rear followed by the other crew member with the sled full of gear from the ship. They were entering into a bay that had gravity and an atmosphere. Heavy metal doors on one wall presumably protected them from the vacuum of space. A crew was driving a motorised cart towards them presumably to refuel and perform post-flight inspections and maintenance. A man was standing on the running board of the cart and disembarked as it slowed to a crawl near them, approaching Montague.
“All the preparations have been made, Captain.” The man said curtly.
“Lieutenant.” Montague replied. “Cait’s Chariot is en route, likely a week out, from the manifest it appears it was hauling water and electronics, mostly consumer grade.”
The man nodded then glanced to Rhys and Cait, his gaze flicking over Cait in her state of distress, half undressed and missing her arms.
“The crew of the Chariot.” Montague offered. “The titular Cait Avery, her engineer Rhys Nichols.”
“Is this the state you found them in, sir?”
“Avery put up some resistance.” Montague said, somewhat snidely. “Put her in the special cell. Nichols can join the others from the Aspire. We’ll debrief fully in twenty.” With that Montague turned and left while the man gestures to Simmons and Docker to carry out Montague’s orders then went about conferring with another crew. Meanwhile Cait was performing mental calculations. She wasn’t sure how long she dozed and she hadn’t seen a chronometer but the trip here in the Erebus had guessed they’d taken four to five hours to arrive, and Montague had just said that the Chariot was around a week out. Assuming that that information was correct and not some misdirection, that put Erebus at somewhere between forty and fifty times faster than the Chariot, possibly even up to fifty percent of light speed. Even by Fleet standards that was fast. Cait couldn’t help but ponder what other technology these pirates had in their control, but a commotion snapped her back to reality.
“Where are you taking us?” Rhys objected as they started to be led away and Docker silenced him with a punch to the kidney. At the end of the corridor it split into a T-intersection and Rhys and Cait were led in separate directions.
“Where are you taking her?” Rhys objected and Docker hit him again.
“You’re a slow learner, Nichols.” Docker sneered.
For her part, Cait had nothing to say. She was trying to compartmentalise what was going on from her external vulnerability. She had no doubt she was going to be subjected to her own form of physical punishment and torment and was trying to create a private headspace, something she had to do after her accident while her broken body was healing, before she knew what her chances of living a normal life were going to be like.
They stopped at a door and Simmons opened it with a code before shoving her roughly inside then sealing the door behind her. She stumbled into the room and looked around, surprised to find herself in an unexpectedly comfortable apartment. There were comfortable looking single beds, and a shelf full of books. There was actual carpet on the floor and a small viewport that gave her a view of the stars. An open doorway led into an en suite bathroom. This was not the cell she was expecting – is this what that commander meant by special? The last thing she noticed was another woman, rising from where she had been sitting on one of the beds, reading an actual paper book. She was dressed in plain clothes, loose fitting shorts and a plain t-shirt. She set her book down and cautiously approached Cait.
“Are you ok?” She asked with seemingly genuine concern. Cait stepped backwards away from her, guarded.
“I’m pretty far from ok.” Cait answered. “Who are you?”
“I’m Max. I was a passenger on the Aspire, headed for the Jovian colonies. What’s your name?”
“Aspire is a cargo hauler.” Cait said suspiciously. “I didn’t know they had passengers.”
“I was deadheading” Max answered, confused by Cait’s counterpoint. “It was faster and cheaper than taking a passenger liner. Did you just get here?”
“Yes.” Cait said, continuing to scan the room. “My ship was captured… I don’t know, a few hours ago. Maybe more. Where are we?”
“You mean this room or this station?”
“Both.”
“The station as far as I can tell is midway between Mars and Jupiter. That’s honestly all the information I have. As to this room, they seem to keep this room specifically for female uh… guests. I guess they want to treat us well. I don’t suppose you know where the rest of the crew of the Aspire is? I haven’t seen them since we got here a week ago.”
“Wherever they took my crewmate, I guess.” Cait moved over to one of the other beds and sat on the edge of it. The mattress was firm but not hard. “How have they treated you?”
“So far they’ve ignored me.” Max said, sitting down on the bed with Cait, but keeping a distance between them. “They deliver meals a few times a day but otherwise no one comes. No one talks to me. I assume the room is under surveillance but I haven’t identified any cameras or microphones.”
There was a pause while they both seemed to reflect on that and then Max broke the silence.
“I know this is probably a sensitive subject, but your arms…” She trailed off.
“Montague removed my prosthetics. I don’t imagine he plans to give them back.”
“Oh.” Max seemed to be radiating sympathy. “Well, until he does, I can be your hands.”
“As much as I hate to ask that of you, it’s unavoidable.” Cait sighed. “I appreciate you offering.”
“Would you like a fresh shirt?”
“Thanks.” Cait admitted.
Maxine stood up and eased the shredded singlet-turned-vest from over Cait’s shoulders, inspecting the size of the garment. Cait sat there topless, unable to cover herself in any concession to modesty, as Max rifled through the drawers of a dresser bolted to the wall until she found another t-shirt in a close fit and placed it over Cait’s head, holding it while she wiggled her stumps into the arms, then pulled it down over her body.
“Thanks.” Cait repeated once she was dressed. “So what do we do now?”
“Like I said, they kind of ignore me. If they didn’t bring me food I’d swear they forgot I was here.”
“Maybe they’re planning to ransom you.” Cait suggested.
“My family isn’t rich. I told them that. I was deadheading to the colonies to find work.”
“As what?”
“Whatever I could find.” Max shrugged.
“You didn’t have a specific plan?”
“Where there’s miners there’s bars, and bars need waitstaff. Worst case scenario there’s stripping, or prostitution.” Max said it flippantly, as though having sex for a living was no big deal. Maybe to her it wasn’t. She seemed to have a good body, and a pretty face. She imagined she’d be popular, if it came to that.
“I guess you’re right. That’s just… a long way to travel with no plan I guess.”
“Best laid plans of mice and men…” Max started. Cait reflected on her own plans and how those had fallen apart.
“Good point.” Cait mused silently for a moment then stretched her back, rolling her shoulders. “Can you help me into bed? I think I want to sleep and as much as my present situation sucks, this is the first time I’ll have slept in a real bed in months and I think my body is looking forward to it.
“Sure.” Max smiled as Cait stood up and peeled back the covers, tucking cait in once she had lay down.
—–
It was a few hours later. Cait woke up feeling refreshed, momentarily forgetting her situation as if it were a fading nightmare, but she was shocked back to reality quickly. She sat up in bed, sliding out from under the covers and getting to her feet slightly unsteadily, still not accustomed to gravity. Max was just stepping out of the bathroom en suite wrapped in a towel having apparently just showered, and Cait looked to her with some urgency-related distress as she stepped past her into the bathroom. She stood before the toilet and realised that she was ill-equipped to proceed.
“Max?” she called hesitantly, standing with her thighs pressed together.
“Yes?” Max answered, walking back to the doorless frame.
“I hate to ask but…”
“Oh.” Max said, radiating sympathy as she understood Cait’s predicament.
Wordlessly as Cait positioned herself Max helped take down her shorts so that Cait could sit and pee. She politely looked away but stood nearby while Cait went about her business, looking forlornly at the floor. At least she didn’t need to use a zero-G toilet, which was slightly more involved, this was humiliating enough. When she was done Max, without prompting, took some toilet paper and reached between her legs to dab her dry before helping her pull her shorts back up, then proceeded to wash her hands.
“Thank you.” Cait said, her voice cracking slightly.
“Us girls gotta stick together, right? And I’m sure you’d do the same for me.” Max said airily, and Cait accepted it at face value. As she followed Max out of the bathroom Max walked over to her bed and threw off her towel, changing into a fresh change of clothing. Cait supposed there was little point to any modesty in this environment. She was conscious of Max’s earlier comments that they were probably under surveillance but what exactly were they going to do about it.
“Maybe I can ask the guard to give me one of my arms back, when they deliver our food.” Cait suggested, trying to keep an awkward silence from developing.
“Maybe.” Max said as she pulled a shirt on over her small breasts. “But they’ve been pretty unresponsive to me so far. Do you mind if I ask what happened?”
“No, it’s fine.” Cait sighed. “I accidentally took a swing at Montague while we were being captured. I didn’t mean to, but I did. I guess he felt I was a threat.”
“I’m sorry.” Max said and joined Cait on the bed and putting a sympathetic arm around her shoulders. They just sat together in silence for a long moment.
“What are we going to do?” Cait asked, rhetorically.
“I’m sure they’ll let us go eventually. I just keep holding onto that hope.”
“Have you tried escaping?”
“the door is locked, always. The plate is disabled on this side so pressing it does nothing, there’s not even a code I can try to guess, nothing to hotwire. The guards who deliver the food and take away the trays come in twos. Even if I could overpower them… then what? On the off chance I make it to a ship the docking bay is sealed, and I can’t fly.”
“I can fly.” Cait suggested.
“Not in your current state.” Max said, as kindly as she could manage.
Cait nodded sadly. There was simply too much against them. It would seem completely hopeless, except Cait did have the knowledge that Fleet ships were going to be scouring the sector looking for missing ships within a couple of weeks. Their chances of being found were small, but she doubted her father would give up.
“It’s not so bad Cait, we have everything we need here.” Max said reassuringly, mistaking Cait’s silence for resigned depression. “Food, water, shelter. We’ll be ok.”
Cait raised her head and offered Max a tight smile.
“We’ll just have to make the best of it.” She conceded.
Then, seemingly out of nowhere, Max leaned in and kissed her on the lips. Cait pulled back, caught off guard. They looked at each other, Cait’s expression one of confusion, Max’s one of embarrassed guilt.
“Oh, I’m so sorry.” Max said, covering her mouth with her hand. “I thought…”
“You thought…”
“I just thought we were having a moment.” Max said apologetically. “It just felt right.”
“I didn’t mean to give you that impression.” Cait said simply.
“I’m so sorry.” Max pulled away from Cait and buried her face in her hands, apparently starting to cry. “It’s just been so tough, being held here alone. It was inappropriate.”
“Max, I understand.” Cait said apologetically. “Stress does crazy things. But intimacy isn’t exactly the first thing on my mind right now.”
“I know, I was being stupid.” Max said, wiping her eyes which were already red and puffy from wiping her tears away. “I’m sorry.”
“Don’t worry about it. We need to support each other through this.” Cait reflected on her recent negotiations with Rhys under much less dire circumstances and took a deep breath. “Look Max, you’re going to be helping me a lot until I get my arms back. If you want to touch yourself while I watch, or let you look at me, that’s ok. It’s the least I can do, really.”
“That’s very kind.” Max said with a sad smile. “But it’s ok. That would be a bit unfair of me, given that you don’t have any choice but to ask for my help.”
“I want you to be comfortable, though.” Cait said, surprised at her own insistence. Did she want this as well? Under these circumstances? What had gotten into her?
“Are you really sure?” Max asked, obviously wanting to take Cait at her word.
“I mean it.” Cait affirmed.
“Can I kiss you again?” Max asked.
“Sure.” Cait said softly.
Max moved closer to her and put her hand on Cait’s thigh as she leaned across and kissed her again, and this time Cait reciprocated. As Max leaned into her with more pressure Cait lay back on the bed, unable to support herself. Max followed and lay down next to her, half lying atop her, straddling Cait’s thigh. Her hand started to slide up Cait’s hip.
“Can I touch you?” Max asked softly. Cait nodded and Max resumed kissing her as she slid her hand under Cait’s shirt, pushing it up until she was cupping her breast under the shirt, gently caressing the underside of the large globe, gently massaging it, her fingers continuing to wander until she found her nipple, gently tweaking it. It occurred to her that while she had always considered herself bisexual, this was the furthest she had ever been with a woman. She hadn’t really intended for Max to immediately start feeling her up, but she also didn’t expressly restrict it. The thought ran through her mind that this was not exactly how she envisaged her first time, but was also of the feeling that she really had nothing more to lose at this point – she might as well live in the moment.
Max pulled up Cait’s t-shirt to expose her breasts and immediately began kissing and gently sucking her nipples. Cait lay there awkwardly, unable to offer any kind of reciprocation, but became aware that Max had slipped her hand inside her shorts and begun to touch herself, apparently satisfied with that for now without the need to go further. Cait was simultaneously relieved and disappointed, but content to lay still as Max frigged herself, her breath hot against Cait’s chest as she steadily worked her clit, grinding against Cait’s thigh through her shorts.
Max moved up on the bed and straddled Cait’s waist, pulling up her own shirt and leaning down to present her smaller breasts to Cait’s mouth, her olive-toned nipples erect. Cait obligingly took one of the presented nipples into her mouth, sucking at her little teat and swirling her tongue around it. She could feel the heat of Max’s pussy against her bare belly even through the other woman’s shorts, feeling her fingers grlide back and forth as she began to moan breathlessly, clearly getting close to her climax. Cait turned her head to give some attention to Max’s other nipple and Max moaned appreciatively, her hand movements becoming more arrhythmic and stilted as she pressed down on her little button with more pressure, her thighs squeezing Cait as she tensed up, her breath catching in her throat. Then she crested her peak and groaned with relief as her orgasm hit her, breathing hard she continued to gently stroke herself as she brought her mouth to Cait’s and kissed her again, their chests pressed together as she rode out the waves of pleasure, until the feelings eventually subsided.
With a relaxed sigh Max rolled off Cait and lay down next to her, her hand resting on Cait’s belly, idly stroking her skin. Cait remembered the scar tissue there, the odd tickling sensation created as Max’s fingers traced over it, and became uncomfortably self aware of her predicament again. They lay silently for a couple of minutes while Max basked in her own afterglow.
“That was so much better with someone else. You want me to take care of you?” Max whispered, kissing Cait on the cheek.
“No, it’s ok.” Cait shook her head.
“I don’t mind, I want to.” Max insisted. Cait hesitated. Being in close proximity while Max pleasured herself, her involvement in the foreplay aspect, had certainly piqued her interest. But that moment had passed and she felt uncomfortable in her damaged body again.
“I appreciate the offer, but no. Can you please cover me up again?”
“Ok.” Max said, a little sullenly. She pulled Cait’s shirt down over her breasts, then did the same to her own. Then she began to trace her finger over Cait’s scars again.
“Max?” Cait asked, wondering why Max had not completely covered her.
“Do you mind telling me about these?” Max asked, tracing her finger back and forth the lattice of scars across Cait’s lower torso.
“Isn’t it kind of obvious?” Cait queried, a note of frustration in her voice.
“Tell me anyway?” Max implored her. Cait sighed.
“There was an engineering accident while I was doing practical placement for my astronav degree. An equipment failure resulted in an explosion. I was in surgery for a full day while they put my guts back together. I was lucky to live.”
“That’s awful.”
“Yeah.” Cait said bitterly. “That’s why I prefer not to talk about it.”
“Does it hurt?”
“Not physically.” Cait responded bluntly.
Max pulled down her shirt the rest of the way, covering her scars.
“I’m sorry for making you talk about it.” She sat up and started to stand.
“I can forgive your curiosity.” Cait said “But it doesn’t make it easier. I hope you understand, I don’t mean to be rude.”
“No, that’s my bad.” Max conceded and turned back to give Cait’s shoulder a supportive sequeeze. “You need anything?”
“No, I’m fine for now. Thank you.” Cait smiled.
Just then, the door opened.
—-
In a control room Montague watched the surveillance feed over the shoulder of another officer as Max and Cait engaged in their tryst. Though surveillance was a critical part of their duties there was no denying that the opportunity to watch their female prisoners at play was one of the highlights of the job. He watched passively as Max pleasured herself with Cait’s assistance, and once they were done he made up his mind. He gestured to one of the other guards in the room.
“Bring Max to my office. It’s time for an interrogation.”