Escaping Gravity 2

Chapter 1

Our ship came out of the JACKs jump with a sudden lurch that made me queasy and excited at the same time. I had finally escaped the problems that had come with my new life. Now, I could spend it seeing the rest of the universe, or as much as I could.

"Captain," Brick said.

I turned, smirking from ear to ear.

"Yes?" I asked, unable to contain my smile. I turned back, staring out of the expansive space and spotting several spheres in the distance.

"Is that where we're going?" I asked, holding up a hand and pointing at one of them.

"No. We're about four days’ travel with sub-lights away. We can’t see the planet yet," Melgara reported, and I frowned.

"I thought we were going to Violet's home world?" I turned to the crew, wondering where exactly we were.

"We are," Melgara said slowly, staring at me as if I was an idiot. To be fair, it was possible I was missing some basic context in this instance.

Brick cleared his throat. "Captain, we did kind of rush repairs, and while we are able to get moving, we should probably get a little more online before, you know—" He waffled his head.

"Before we—" I rolled my hand, not fully understanding.

"Before we potentially step into another shit storm!

" Tiri practically shouted. The kikai merchant had her hands on her hips.

"You're barely crewed. You just got out of a dogfight with three ships and came out banged up.

You're essentially a warrior still bleeding through their bandages.

That is not how you want to roll into a new system," Tiri said, and everyone nodded along as if the concept was common sense.

Ah. I understood. We couldn’t limp our way into a new planet. It would likely attract the kind of attention we didn’t want.

Even Lily, who I turned and squinted at, looked at me offended. "It makes perfect sense as a hunter. I would never go on another hunt as wounded as this ship is at present."

I sighed and tilted my head back. "Fine. Then I suppose it's up to Brick to get us ready to go party with more kikai."

“Aye, Captain!" Brick snapped a salute on the bridge before he began tapping at a station. "I have a whole list of repairs here." The list shot over to everyone's station, including my own. "Don't worry. I've already sub-selected them each down to the personnel who's most capable."

I looked over my list. It didn’t seem too long, but it was going to take some serious effort, and then I looked over at the others. Tiri had practically nothing on her list. Same with Violet. Melgara's was empty, and Lily's included rest and relaxation.

"These seem slightly skewed," I said, glancing at Brick, who rubbed his nose.

"Well, Melgara does need to take care of all of our health. Lily has made it clear that if I give her too much more work, she's going to eat me," Brick said as Lily nodded along.

"Security Officer Lily, stand down. You will not be eating nor threatening to eat any personnel on the ship. Your job is to protect all of them." I turned to Lily.

Lily went from nodding to looking ashamed. But then she scowled and looked back up defiantly at me. Those glowing pink irises with black sclera, however, were no longer unfamiliar and unnerving. Instead, there was only the woman behind them.

I sighed.

She had been a bit of a mess when I had found her several months ago.

She was alone on a ship, swearing she wasn't a social creature.

Now, several months later, we had ended up dating.

But that was after she had gone on a rampage when I was taken, chased me to the ends of the universe, retrieved me, attempted to mate with me, and then we had ended up here.

It was accurate to say she was dealing with a few new emotions.

"As chief security officer, not only must I keep everyone protected, but I also must ensure that the captain's orders are met.

" Lily crossed her arms behind her back, standing from her station on the bridge.

It had the effect of stretching that living black material she wore tight across her considerable bust to the point that some of it tore.

"I believe I have done nothing outside my duties.

" She stuck her chin up, daring me or anyone to call her out.

And no one else was going to do that. Most of the crew were terrified of what Lily was—a helivore.

She was a creature that by most standards was practically a myth.

The monsters that people used to keep their kids from running out at night.

Apparently, the last known helivore event had destroyed over a quarter of a planet, so I understood there was some validity to why people were afraid of them. But that helivore wasn’t Lily.

Unlike the others, she’d been given a chance to be more than an isolated monster, hunted by authorities.

"Alright, well, let's get this done." I stood up from my chair, looking at Brick's list and transferring it over to a personal data pad.

"Before you continue, I would like to check on your health, Captain," Melgara stated pointedly. She was obsessed with my health.

I shrugged. "Fine, let's go." I gestured for her to lead the way, and as soon as we got up from our seats, Lily was next to me, practically my shadow.

"It might be best if I do this without you, Lily," Melgara said clearly, much to the helivore's disappointment.

"Where the captain goes, I follow," Lily said after a moment of reflection.

Melgara could only sigh. "As you wish, Security Officer. However, we will just be running some simple tests. I think you should be more worried about how you'll be protecting the captain once we make landfall."

"What does that veiled threat mean?" Lily frowned at the stellarie’s blue back.

"It's not a threat," Melgara said. "It's just that while you're here on the ship, it's been so apparent you are reliant on your ability to be everywhere at once," Melgara pointed out, "and as soon as we make it to the surface of the planet, you will no longer have your near-omniscience."

Lily was clearly paying attention based on the way her scowl continued to deepen as Melgara spoke. "You have a point," she said.

Lily paused behind us, and I almost thought she was going to give up before I could tell she had passed handling that problem off to the other part of her.

While Lily walked around with us in a body, her mind was synced with a larger biomass that stretched throughout the ship.

I wasn't sure exactly how that worked, but it worked well enough, and there was rarely, if ever, any delay between the two in their thoughts.

"You have made a great point, Medical Officer," Lily said, folding her arms behind her back and continuing to keep pace with us.

There was a slight smirk as she noticed me appreciating her chest, but it was gone so fast I had a hard time believing it had been there.

"I will endeavor to have a solution mapped out by the time we arrive. Really, you raise a logical concern."

"Don't do anything too intense, like try and spread your biomass over the entire world." I smiled at Lily.

Lily paused, her eyes tracking me. "Would that be unwise?" she asked slowly, in such a way that I was almost certain she had been briefly thinking about terraforming and devouring an entire planet to keep me safe.

I wrapped an arm around her hip and pulled her close, kissing her on the cheek. "I think if you go too far, it would cause greater trouble for you and, by extension, the rest of the ship. You would probably bring a decent amount of attention and violence our way." I left out that I was included.

She opened her pink lips as her eyes went wide. Those eyes always caught my eye, but I knew that the glowing pink irises with black sclera most likely set many people on edge.

"I see, of course. I would never subsume an entire planet." She laughed in a way that was stiff and unbelievable.

"Of course," I said, kissing her on the cheek again. "Because doing so would most likely risk your life. I accept who you are, what you are, but not everyone will. So, like the hunter you are, there are times that stealth is the best option." I did my best to speak to the primal part of Lily.

She leaned against me. What looked like a black bodysuit that often tore and restored itself as she moved, I had come to learn was the same material as her mycelial network, which was a trait she had taken from a race called frugalia.

Her actual race was a helivore, capable of devouring organic life and adapting their traits, molding and mixing them, making helivores so incredibly dangerous.

But the most feared aspect of them was their ability to manufacture disease, both viral and bacterial, that they would be able to spread.

Each helivore was essentially a walking bioweapon, and most of the universe considered them something to kill on sight.

Of course, I had known none of that and had simply offered a hand to what I saw as a lonely woman struggling to survive in what I already found to be an inhospitable universe.

While I'd been lost in my thoughts, our group had reached our destination. Melgara glanced at Lily as if giving her one more chance to back away. If Lily even realized that's what was happening, she showed no signs of it, staring Melgara down with her arms crossed.

"Fine." The doctor, who I was almost certain didn't normally work on people, at least not in the normal sense of someone being a medical professional, sighed and stepped inside. "On the bed, Captain. Let's take a look at how our special captain's salve is working on you."

As she said those words, Lily pulled out her captain stress-o-meter, holding it up and taking stock while Melgara began.

"You're increasing his stress," Lily commented.

The doctor shot her a sharp look.

"Thank you, Lily." Melgara spoke through tight lips. "However, I am certain that I can handle it from here. It is not an uncommon reaction for stress levels to rise when being examined."

Lily held out the captain stress-o-meter as if it were the answer to everything. "He's supposed to remain less stressed," she emphasized pointedly.

"He is doing fine. Those levels are all within expected conditions. Now, if you would please allow me to do my job." Melgara got prickly, and I knew when to smile and nod.

I took a couple extra deep breaths, trying to calm my biometrics.

"It's okay," I reassured Lily. "Besides, my knee feels a ton better.

Now, are you guys going to tell me what exactly was in that concoction?

" I asked, knowing that neither of them seemed to want to tell me.

And that was okay. In fact, I was using that as a way to stop them from fighting.

I wasn't entirely sure what was going on with the two of them, but they were often like two territorial cats baring their claws at each other.

That was until I mentioned this, and they became like conspiratorial allies.

"Proprietary formula," Melgara stated, and Lily was nodding rapidly in agreement.

This was oddly something both of them seemed to be in on, which again only made me more suspicious.

After all, the two of them seemed like oil and water most of the time.

For them to agree on something only roused my suspicion.

"Don't worry, Captain, it's for the best," Lily said with a smile. "Specially formulated just for you."

I shook my head. "Fine, since it's formulated just for me, I suppose that will be that," I said, smiling at the two of them. However, I held up a hand. "I am a little curious why it can't be used on others."

"Are you going to disagree with your doctor?" Melgara went full hands-on-hips, and like any wise man in the known universe, I stopped arguing. I knew the chances of me expending effort and getting no difference in outcome was high.

"You are showing significant improvement," Melgara said, running her scans on me with a large smile on her face. "Even better than I hoped."

"That sounds like a positive thing," I said, watching her reaction and finding myself at least marginally confused. Shouldn’t she know how the special salve worked?

"It is incredible. I am just surprised at how well you've responded. I think that's simply all there is to it."

I couldn't help but narrow my eyes. First, this was specially formulated for me, and now Melgara was surprised at the results.

If I didn't know better, I'd think I was a guinea pig for something brand new.

But I trusted Melgara, and even if I were right, I would still have progressed with this treatment.

"Of course he's doing wonderful," Lily said, still watching the captain stress-o-meter more closely than the conversation.

And why was Lily so invested in the results… Then again, she could just be invested in me.

"Still, I had high hopes, but this has exceeded all of them. I don't suppose I could study all of this in more detail?" Melgara raised an eyebrow at me, and I only smiled back.

"I'm all yours, Doc. Just promise not to cut me open. I rather like my insides the way they are," I told her.

Melgara pursed her lips but nodded after a moment of thought. "I suppose that's only fair."

"Otherwise, how am I? Peak form?" I asked with a smirk.

"I wouldn't describe this as peak form unless you tend to remain injured," she said pointedly.

"However, I would consider your current condition very favorable, and I would expect that by the time we're able to reach Violet's home world, you'll be in wonderful condition.

It'll only be up to Lily to maintain it. "

Her pointed look to the other woman wasn't lost on me, and neither was it on Lily.

Lily straightened up, glared at Melgara, and then double-checked the captain stress-o-meter before smiling at me. "Don't you worry, Captain. You're in good hands with me." She smiled prettily.

Sometimes it was easy to forget how beautiful Liliana actually was, given her very non-human characteristics. It was actually quite uncanny seeing the two women next to each other.

They had nearly the exact same build. Melgara's skin was blue with sparkling freckles, while Lily's was pale with the barest tinge of warmth to it. Then again, neither of them were humans. I needed to remember that they would often behave differently than I expected. Even if they were human, they’d had far different backgrounds and upbringings.