Chapter Text
On the control deck of the Calliope James and Jeremy were standing together, taking silent comfort from the other’s proximity. The moon below appeared to be quivering and around them the abused metal parts of the ship rattled like loose teeth.
“What’s that?” Jeremy asked suddenly, as a noise unconnected to the jarring effects of the ultrasonics cut across the noise of the juddering ship.
James dragged his attention away from the screen and focussed on the control panel instead, as he, too, caught the insistent beeping that had started up.
“It’s coming through on the distress frequency,” he muttered, slipping back behind the console and flicking switches. The noise cut off as suddenly as it had begun, and he looked up at Jeremy, bemused. “Whoever it was has stopped broadcasting again.”
“The distress must have been more distressing than they thought,” Jeremy joked, and James frowned at him. “What? Anyway, did you catch any of it?”
James studied the read out. “It was broadcasting for less than a minute. And there doesn’t seem to be any audio, just a message, but - oh Christ.”
“What? What is it?”
“It’s - Richard.”
“What? You’re not serious? Where is he?”
James shook his head. “I don’t know, I don’t know if I can track it based on such a short transmission.”
“Well try man!”
“What do you think I’m doing, you arse?” James hurriedly punched commands into the computer, trying to track the source of the all too brief transmission. “Got him. I think. Within a certain area, anyway. Oh - fuck.”
“Where is he?”
“Down there.”
“On the moon?!”
James nodded grimly. “He’s had it, if we keep this up.”
“We have to stop then.”
“You think Wilman will have failed to notice what we’re up to? You honestly think he’ll let us have a second go at this? Bloody ship’s probably on its way to blow us up right now, unless - ” James had another, more worrying thought. “Unless this is the diversion. It was just a message, no voice, anyone could have sent it.”
“Can we take that chance? If he has somehow got away, and needs us…?”
James groaned in frustration, and cancelled the broadcast. Around them the ship settled into a more familiar background hum as metal plates stopped trying to shudder apart from each other. James set a course to take them over the area likely to hold the source of the distress call and bit his lip.
“This could be a trap you know. Even if it is him - it could still be a trap.” He felt his neck, still bruised from their earlier struggle and considered what might be waiting for them.
“I left him behind once already,” Jeremy said awkwardly.
James shook his head impatiently. “I’m not saying we don’t go after him. I’m just saying - we should be careful.”
Richard could do nothing but watch in horrified and helpless fascination as the crack got closer and closer to where the shuttle lay grounded.
When it seemed all but inevitable that the tiny craft would plunge into the depths of the moon, the trembling underfoot abruptly died away and the encroaching rift halted its advance.
Letting out a shaky breath, Richard’s temporary relief was short-lived, as a few minutes later he saw something else that made his heart leap in his chest with conflicting emotions. Coming fast over the surface in his direction, the battered but familiar shape of the Calliope.
Richard had watched the ship circle then land carefully behind him, docking clamps fastening onto the shuttle’s airlock. Looked at the wrecked controls and wondered if they’d tried to raise him on the radio, whether they’d been concerned at his silence.
It wasn’t until he heard the hiss of air as the two ships opened to each other in electronic compliance that he wondered distantly why his fingers were tightening on the blaster at his side. With growing horror he realised the presence in his mind had never completely left him, had just been biding its time. Could do nothing, as his arm hid the blaster behind his back, and his face produced a broad and welcoming grin.
The cabin door slid back, to reveal the concerned expressions of James and Jeremy.
“Richard! Thank God you’re all right,” James exclaimed, then smiled awkwardly. “Um, we'd like to apologise in advance for this.”
“For what?” Richard heard himself say, and wasn't sure if it was him or Wilman who'd asked.
“This,” replied Jeremy. And punched him hard in the face.
On board the Majestic, Admiral Wilman flew backwards and hit the carpet with a thud. Groaning and wincing, he opened his eyes to find the neatly uniformed shape of Executive Officer Schmidtz looking down at him with an expression of mild enquiry.
“Sir?”
“Oh don’t just stand there woman, help me up!” he snapped, and waved a hand at her. She sniffed disapprovingly, and grasped his wrist, yanking him upright with rather more force that it warranted.
“Sir, do you have any orders, please? We have been in orbit around this glorified rock for hours now, and our purpose is not yet apparent. I have been receiving enquiries from Command - ”
“Stall them Sabine, stall them.” Wilman waved her into silence. “Soon it won’t matter, I’ll shut them all up anyway, interfering busybodies.” He paused, and grinned at her. “Have you ever fancied being a queen Schmidtz?”
She glared at him with only partially concealed impatience. “No. Have you?” Before he could answer she’d swept out again, leaving him with a wistful smile and the first stirrings of a guilty erection. He shook himself, and looked instead at the jewel.
“Time to get down to business.”
Richard opened his eyes carefully. A brief investigation revealed he couldn’t move, and while initially alarmed that this meant he was still under the Admiral’s control, further exploration revealed that he was, in fact, tied to a bed.
He lifted his head, and discovered James sitting nearby, watching him. Richard’s blaster dangled between his hands. When he saw Richard was awake, he smiled.
“Hello.”
“Hello mate.” Richard waggled his fingers under the restraints, and James’ smile broadened, although he made no move to untie him.
“Sorry about earlier. We couldn’t be sure, you see. That you were - er - you.”
Richard let his head fall back with a sigh. “I wasn’t, to be honest. I am now though. Er. I think.”
James gave a soft laugh. “I hope so.”
Richard smirked. “I hope you weren’t planning on taking advantage of me while I’m tied down like this?”
“How do you know we haven’t already?” said Jeremy, appearing in the door.
“I always knew you were a man of priorities.”
James looked up at Jeremy. “Should we untie him?”
“S’pose so. The mad bastard up there’s proved he’s capable of taking any of us over, so unless we all tie each other up - ” He paused, and grinned. “And I’d rather do that sort of thing when I didn’t suspect he might be watching.”
“Talking of which,” Richard put in as James loosened his bonds and he sat up. “Whatever he saw in your head seems to have given him the information he needed to use that thing properly. Something you saw when you took it in the first place?”
Jeremy shrugged. “I spent a while watching before I made my move. Just thought it was a piece of jewellery at that point though. Tell you what, the things those girls could do with a snake would make your eyes water - ”
“Yes, thank you, Mr Cultural Exploration,” James interrupted. “And incidentally, weren’t you meant to be flying this thing?”
“Set a course for our last position. Figured if they didn’t notice we could have another go at shaking the place to bits.”
Richard rolled his eyes. “Might have known that was something to do with you two. I nearly fell down a crack!”
“Not for the first time I bet,” Jeremy replied and Richard punched him on the arm.
“Ow!”
“Will you two shut - ” James broke off as the room was filled with an urgent beeping. “Proximity alarm!” He glared at Jeremy who made a ‘who, me?’ gesture of innocence before following him out of the room at a run.
“Shit!”
The monitors showed them coming up on something a lot bigger than they were. James hit the control to open the shutters, and they all stared as the flightdeck view screen was filled by the threatening shape of the Majestic, holding position in the orbit they'd occupied a short time before.
Hoping they hadn’t been noticed yet in their surface-hugging flight path, James cut forward momentum and drummed his fingers on the edge of the console.
“Anyone got a plan B?”
“Aren’t we on about plan F by now?” Jeremy grinned.
“Plan ‘completely F-ed’ I should think, but when's that ever stopped us?” James frowned, and put his hand to his head, rubbing his temple.
“James?” Jeremy prompted, nervously. “You, er - alright?”
James held out the blaster to him. “Here. I think it’s just a headache, but you’d better have this, just in case. “Ow!” He gripped the edge of the control panel to steady himself as the room seemed to dip and sway.
Richard sank into the second flight seat, and leaned over to him, concerned. “What’s wrong? Is it him?”
James shook his head, fuzzily. “No, I don’t think so. At least, yes, but he’s not after me I don’t think. It’s - like he’s - everywhere. Like I’m hearing a conversation in another room or a radio channel that’s not tuned in properly or something.”
Jeremy and Richard exchanged worried glances.
“I’m not cracking up!” James snapped, catching the look.
Richard held up his hands, placatingly. “Is there anything we can do?”
“Well we’re stuffed as far as destroying the focus is concerned,” Jeremy sighed, and yelped as James seized his wrist tightly. “Get off!”
“Oh for - it’s still only me, you great girl’s blouse,” James retorted.
“Are you sure?”
“Shut up Clarkson, listen, that’s it, the focus - that’s why I can hear him, this close to Pasiphaë - he’s using the damn thing. On a huge scale.”
“Are you feeling an unreasonable urge to follow his orders?” Jeremy enquired, fingering the blaster suspiciously.
“No, I’m feeling an entirely reasonable urge to slap you round the head. Look, he's not directing it at us, either he thinks we're dead or not important.”
“How come you can hear him and we can't?” Richard put in.
“James has always been more - susceptible to it, I think,” Jeremy sighed. “Alright, so what are you saying, we’re too late?”
James shook his head. “I imagine establishing an evil empire takes more than a few minutes. I just think we’re out of options.”
Jeremy looked thoughtful. “There’s always the direct approach.”
“I’m not faulting your ambition mate, but I’m not sure we can take on a command carrier in this thing,” said Richard, shaking his head. “No offence James.”
“No, that’s not what I meant,” said Jeremy impatiently. “I mean we go right up there and knock on the door. Confront him.”
“They’ll blow us out of the sky!” James objected.
“No, I don’t think they will. That’s not the way Andy’s been working, is it? He’s been playing with us. He’ll want to gloat, if he can. He doesn’t see us as a threat, and that’s his mistake.”
“To be honest, I don’t feel like much of a threat,” grumbled James. “But in the absence of a better plan - ”
“Oh great. I only just got out of there!” Richard groaned. Jeremy clapped him on the back.
“Look on the bright side. You’ll be able to show us the way in again.”
Silence on the flight deck other than the crackle of static over the radio as three tense faces waited for the response to their hail.
When it finally burst into life after what felt like an interminable wait they all jumped and then pretended they hadn’t. The anonymous voice instructed them, sounding rather surprised about it, to proceed to the docking bay.
James let out a breath. “Here goes nothing then.”
“Would now be a bad time to mention they think I killed someone?” Richard asked.
“Given that the chances of any of us getting out alive are slimmer than the slack in Jeremy’s belt, it probably doesn’t make any difference.”
“Oi!”
“Although,” James continued, ignoring him. “If we can just get hold of the bloody necklace I might be able to use it to get us off again in one piece.”
Richard grinned in surprise. “You did have a plan! I should have known! Come on then, what are we waiting for?” He strode out towards the airlock, leaving James and Jeremy looking at each other in faint amusement.
“Touching faith, that boy,” laughed Jeremy.
“Yeah, I’d hate him to think we were making it up as we went along,” James sighed.
“Well, hopefully we’ll all live long enough for him to get as jaded as us.” Jeremy slapped him on the arse. “Come on Captain Cynical.”
The lights of the Majestic’s security holding area were bright and unforgiving and they fidgeted nervously, feeling uncomfortably exposed. After being thoroughly searched the three of them were escorted under close scrutiny by armed guards up through countless levels of the ship.
When they were marched finally through the Admiral’s outer offices, Jeremy looked around curiously. The previous time he’d been here, trying to rescue Richard, the place had been deserted. Now it was thronged with people at workstations, all carefully ignoring the prisoners being escorted through. All except one, a striking looking blonde woman, who was staring at them with an expression somewhere between surprise and contempt.
“Executive Officer Schmidtz,” Richard whispered, seeing the direction of Jeremy’s gaze. “The Admiral’s second in command. My advice? Don’t mess with her.”
Jeremy nodded, then purposefully caught her eye, and winked.
She turned her back impatiently and he grinned. Then they were being bundled into the inner office, and there was no more time for games.
“Well, well, well. Gentlemen. This is a surprise.” Admiral Wilman perched on the corner of his desk and smiled mockingly. “Come to give yourselves up?”
“Hello Andy. We’ve come to accept your unconditional surrender,” said Jeremy breezily.
“That’s Admiral Wilman to you,” was the snapped reply.
Unconcerned, Jeremy shrugged. “I don’t report to you, so no, in fact, it isn’t. Especially after the bollocks you’ve been putting us through. What have I ever done to you to deserve the last few weeks?”
Wilman looked somewhat bitterly at him. “You betrayed me,” he said eventually. “You were everything to me, once. But you turned your back on me and married that bloody woman. I could have offered you control of half the Corps, but no, that wasn’t enough for you either, you had to try and destroy everything I’d worked for.”
“Wasn’t exactly honest toil, was it?” Jeremy spluttered, disbelievingly. “Bribery and corruption? Blackmail? Smuggling? Contraband?”
The Admiral waved a careless hand. “It all paid quicker and higher dividends. And it worked, didn’t it? Look where I am now. No more fooling about with soldiers and ships, I’ve conquered the final barrier between free will and mass control. Soon, I’ll have half the galaxy in my hand! And what have you got? A misfit and a fugitive. Oh yes, Lieutenant Hammond, I haven’t forgotten the charges against you.”
Richard, who’d been taking advantage of the Admiral’s rant to try to inch close enough to make a grab for the necklace jumped guiltily, as Wilman swung round to glare at him.
“And then there’s your precious Captain May.” The Admiral eyed James, smirking unpleasantly. “How much do you really know about his past Jeremy? You know, it’s an eye-opening thing, having a rummage around in other people’s heads.”
“I imagine looking into yours would be enough to give a man agoraphobia, all that empty space,” Richard chimed in, acidly.
“Oh, you really don’t want to underestimate me Hammond.” The Admiral raised the necklace and swung it threateningly. “I’m well on the way to having entire worlds at my beck and call.”
“You got a nice dress to go with that bauble?” Richard shot back. “Maybe some slinky underwear? No wonder you never let the guards stay in here, I bet as soon as you’re on your own it’s on with the lace and hand in the panties isn’t it?” His head jerked back as the Admiral backhanded him viciously across the face, and he cursed loudly.
The last straw, Wilman’s casual blow was enough to snap Jeremy’s remaining patience, and he threw himself forward with a growl of rage, hands stretched out clawlike, whether for the necklace or Andy’s throat he wasn’t sure himself.
He never got there. Mid-lunge, he was caught round the waist in a vice-like grip from James, who silently held him off.
“What the fuck?” Jeremy struggled to release himself, then managed to turn in the tight circle of his arms only to find James’ face blank and expressionless, in the thrall of the pendant once more. He groaned.
Behind him, the Admiral gave a short laugh and as Jeremy watched James blinked as if waking from a dream, shaking his head to clear it and looking astonished to find he was gripping Jeremy so tightly. He let him go looking sheepish.
“Um. Sorry.”
“Hardly your fault,” Jeremy muttered, turning to glare at Wilman.
“You really thought you could waltz in here and overpower me? I am damn near invincible my friends! In fact, I might just have you all throttle each other and be done with it.”
They eyed each other warily. What had seemed like an almost reasonable plan on the Calliope was feeling rather thin when faced with the unshakeable confidence of the Admiral, not to mention the reinforcements he had at his command.
Wilman slid off the desk and smirked. “Who’s first then ladies? Who wants to kill who? Or shall I just get you all choking each other in a giant daisychain circle-jerk? Probably come quite naturally to you, from what I’ve seen?”
He slipped his hand round the crystal and they all instinctively started towards him shouting various imprecations. How it would have ended was uncertain, but at that moment the door slid back to reveal Executive Officer Schmidtz standing in the gap, hands on hips looking customarily irritable.
“How dare you enter without permission?” The Admiral bellowed, but she cut across him with a wave of the hand.
“You need to see this Admiral. We appear to be - surrounded.”
“Surrounded? I’ll tell you what I’m surrounded by, halfwits. What are you talking about woman?”
“They say they are the fleet of the K’Toth. And that they have reason to believe there is something on board that belongs to them. Would you happen to know anything about this?”
“What is this damn fool story - ” Wilman brushed past her peremptorily and strode out towards the command deck, the others following him at a discreet distance, in a mixture of curiosity and apprehension.
The command deck of the Majestic had holo-screens suspended at high level around the forward half of the room. On them was displayed the view immediately outside the ship, slowly rotating through 360 degrees. Schmidtz had been right. There were ships out there. Not on the scale of the Majestic, but - there were hundreds of them.
“What’s going on?” Wilman demanded. From somewhere behind him, Richard sniggered.
“To put it bluntly, I’d say you were fucked mate.”
“Just hope we’re not in the same boat,” muttered James, eyeing the sinister fleet uneasily.
“Nonsense,” the Admiral barked. “They will bow to my will along with everyone else. Hail them!”
A pause, and the image of a woman flashed up on the central screen. Haughtily beautiful, she was clad in what appeared to be skintight snakeskin. Staring at her, for a moment they thought her elaborately styled hair was moving of its own accord - until the eye realised that there was a wicked looking snake twining through it.
“Admiral. You have something of ours. We want it back.” She spoke without anger, but in complete confidence.
“Who the hell are you?”
“We are the K’Toth. My name is Cascabel. You will return our property, or you will die.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” blustered the Admiral, hand slipping furtively to the pendant. “Bugger off the lot of you, this is a Space Corps vessel and you are - you are - ” he faltered, frowning. “It’s not working,” he muttered in surprise, more to himself than anyone else.
On the screen, Cascabel gave a patient smile. “You would think to use our own regalia against us? Perhaps not, Admiral.” She lifted into the field of view a jewel suspended around her own neck, and Wilman went pale.
“But - this was the only one. The only one!”
James cleared his throat. “Thing about gemstones Admiral, they don’t just magically appear. They’ve probably got a mine. You might have nicked the official regalia, but not the only stone.”
Wilman looked round wildly at James and back to the screen. “It wasn’t me who stole it, it was this man,” he declared, gesturing dramatically at Jeremy. James and Richard immediately stepped protectively in front of him, somewhat to his embarrassment, but Cascabel merely shook her head.
“You do not punish the arm for an order given by the brain.”
“I think she’s saying you’re ‘armless,” Richard whispered, and Jeremy kicked him in the back of the leg.
Wilman was glaring at her. “Look missy, have you seen the size of this ship? I could blow you all the way from here to Echo.”
“I don’t think you’ll bribe her that way,” Jeremy sniggered, and Richard kicked him back. James tried to ignore both of them.
“Have you ever been bitten by a snake Admiral? It can bring down creatures much bigger than itself. And the ships of our fleet have a very nasty bite, I assure you.”
“Just you try it. You can’t force me to give it up! I won’t!”
“Yes, Admiral. You will.”
He looked up in shock to find it was Sabine who had spoken - and that she was holding a blaster on him.
“What treachery is this!” His eyes narrowed. “Are they controlling you?”
She shook her head impatiently. “Your plan has failed Admiral. You have wasted any time you might have had to consolidate your position by pursuing a pointless and personal vendetta. You have behaved in an irrational and inefficient manner, and contrary to the interests of the Space Corps. I am relieving you of duty.”
“What the fuck would you know about my plans?” he burst out indignantly.
“Quite a lot.” She smiled. “You see, I have had your office under surveillance for quite some time. While it appeared you might be successful I was willing to allow you to progress, but as it turns out, I am forced to conclude you couldn’t organise a raffle, never mind the subjugation of half a galaxy.” She turned to the screen. “If we return your trinket, you will leave in peace?”
Cascabel bowed her head in agreement. Sabine smiled nastily. “Because if you don’t, if you commit an act of aggression against this ship, you will find the Space Corps might just decide to fumigate your little backwater. Bear that in mind please.”
While all eyes were on the argument in the centre of the room, Jeremy nudged his two companions and put a finger to his lips, indicating the door with a jerk of his head.
Silently, they edged out of the room, hardly daring to breathe until the door had swished shut, leaving them in a mercifully empty corridor.
“What are you playing at?” James hissed.
Jeremy shrugged. “Seemed as good a time as any to make our farewells. They seem to have things under control out there. More so that we did, anyway.”
“So you’re saying we - what? Gloriously and bravely sneak out the back way?”
“Have you got a better plan?”
James raised his hands helplessly. “Richard?”
“Thing is,” Richard said thoughtfully, “whereas the Admiral was possibly just a bit nuts, if Schmidtz is taking charge…”
“She can take charge of me if she likes,” Jeremy put in, smirking. Richard ignored him and carried on.
“…then she’s perfectly capable of remembering that technically we’ve all got a criminal record. She might not have anything against us personally, but…”
“If the paperwork says so…?” James suggested.
“Exactly.”
“Are we going or what?” Jeremy demanded.
They went.
In the absence of any orders to the contrary, the few crew members they passed en route stared curiously but made no move to stop them, the three fugitives adopting a purposeful looking stride and fighting down the impulse to run.
After what felt like weeks and miles of identical looking corridors, Richard finally lead them successfully back to the shuttle bay, where the Calliope had docked amongst the more compact and modern craft like a looming and ungainly cuckoo.
Finding the deck thankfully deserted - the maintenance crew having snuck off some time previously to stare out of the nearest viewing port at the encircling fleet - they ran towards the ship. While James operated the access panel, Richard slipped under the battered metal belly of the hull to make sure the docking gear hadn’t been locked down to prevent take-off.
Jeremy shifted impatiently from foot to foot as the access ramp ground slowly down towards them, while James threw him irritated glances that he ignored completely. It had just come to rest at their feet and locked in place with a metallic clunk, when a voice behind them made them freeze in shock.
“That’s far enough.”
They turned, carefully, to find a rather dishevelled looking Wilman pointing a blaster at them. He smiled.
“Goodbye Jeremy. I’ll be taking your ship now. I figure it’s the least you can do after screwing up my plans like this.”
As Jeremy gaped at him indignantly, James stepped forward, looking cross.
“Firstly, it’s not his ship, it’s mine. Secondly, you can fuck right off. Thirdly - look behind you.”
“If you think I’m falling for that old - ” Wilman got no further as Richard stepped out of the shadow of the ship and whacked him behind the ear with a pair of bolt cutters.
James watched with resignation as he crumpled to the ground and lay still. “I did tell him. Right, I rather think we’ve rather overstayed our welcome don’t you?”
They scrambled for the ship, closing themselves into the relative safety of the interior with a sense of relief, and heading for the flight deck, jostling each other all the way.
Throwing himself into the pilot’s seat, James started flicking switches and starting the engines with methodical precision.
“Er, can I ask a question?” Jeremy was looking out of the view screen at the flickering distortion of the shuttle bay force field. “How do we actually get out of here?”
“Well, we - we - ” James looked up and followed the direction of his gaze. “Oh, fuck.”
“One of us will have to stay behind, to operate the docking controls,” Jeremy said slowly, realisation dawning.
“I’ll do it,” said Richard immediately, and Jeremy grabbed him by the arm.
“No, I’ll do it, it’s my fault we’re in this mess in the first place.”
Richard started to protest and James interrupted them loudly.
“As surprisingly admirable as you’re both being, I don’t think it’s going to be necessary. Look.” As they followed the direction of his pointing finger, the shimmering force field flickered then snapped off and the ship shuddered slightly as the atmosphere from the shuttle bay was vented into space.
“How - ?” Richard started in puzzlement. The answer came a few seconds later, as a shuttle rose into their line of sight and then accelerated into the void with a glow of engines.
“Andy,” said Jeremy, expression clearing with the dawn of realisation. “He got away after all.”
“Didn’t think I’d hit him that hard,” Richard muttered.
James’ hands moved rapidly over the controls, powering up the drive systems and releasing the docking clamps. “He’s done us a favour anyway.”
“Yeah, bet that pisses him right off,” Jeremy grinned, as the Calliope finally lifted carefully off the floor of the dock and moved out into the blackness.
Outside the protective bulk of the Majestic, they got a better idea of just how many of the K’Toth ships there were. Hanging in the void like gleaming motes of dust in the searing light from Pasiphaë, they looked more like a swarm than a fleet. As they watched, a sinuous looking craft detached itself from the closest ship and headed towards the Majestic.
“Must be coming to collect their lost property,” Jeremy concluded, shifting uncomfortably. “James if you’ve finished fettling those damn controls do you think we could get out of here?”
James grinned, and settled back in the seat. “Always so bloody impatient. I’m sure you wouldn’t want us to accidentally explode or something.” He hit the star drive and the ships and the moon outside vanished in a hyperspatial blur.
“Where are we going?” asked Richard, curiously.
“In a direction that takes us as far as possible from mad snake people, mind altering jewellery and insane moons,” said James firmly without looking round.
“Do we get a say in the matter of destination?” asked Jeremy
“No.”
He looked at Richard and grinned. “I think we’re being kidnapped.”
James glanced up then, and faltered. “I - sorry, I - sort of assumed - well. That you’d want to come along. If there’s somewhere you’d rather - ”
Richard leaned forward, draped his arms over James’ shoulders. “Nowhere. I for one am staying right here. If you’ll have me?”
James nodded, slightly lost for words, and Richard planted a sloppy kiss on his cheek. James scrubbed at it with his hand, making a face, and trying not to laugh.
“Jez?” he asked, hesitantly.
“Oh, I’ll hang around for a while,” Jeremy replied breezily. “As it seems you can’t do without me after all.” He smirked, and dropped into the second pilot’s chair. “So. Can we stick this thing on autopilot or what?”
They retired to the galley, James declaring that what they needed after all the exertion was a nice cup of tea.
Jeremy made a face. “I know what I need, and it doesn’t come in mugs.” He grinned. “Well, not unless my aim’s off, anyway.”
“Ugh, Jez!” Richard shoved him in disgust and Jeremy promptly attempted to get him in a headlock.
Ignoring the scuffling, James hid a smile and carried on with making the tea, before setting out food for Tom who’d been disturbed by the play fighting, and emerged looking sleepy and cross from under the table. James rubbed his head fondly. “You missed all the excitement boy,” he murmured, only to be startled by a loud crash signalling Jeremy and Richard had managed to fall right off the bench they were wrestling on. “Then again,” he sighed.
Having passed a relatively civilised meal and worked their way through a considerable volume of wine, the atmosphere had become considerably more relaxed. With every light year placed between them and the threats they had escaped, the mood lightened and talk drifted from narrow escapes and mortal peril to less serious areas.
Half-asleep, James was leaning against Jeremy’s shoulder watching Richard playing with the cat between the legs of the table.
“Who’s entertaining who down there, d’you think?” he wondered, and Jeremy snorted with laughter. From the floor, Richard let out a yelp as Tom proved quicker than him and raked sharp claws across the back of Richard’s hand; Jeremy laughed even harder.
Richard looked up indignantly. “Charming. Thanks for the sympathy.”
“Thought you were supposed to have lightening fast reactions to be a Space Corps pilot?” Jeremy held out a hand. “Come up here and I’ll kiss it better if you like.” Richard gave him the finger and he started laughing again.
“God help all of us if the cats ever learn to fly,” James mused, and Jeremy shook his head in affectionate exasperation.
“You really are half asleep aren’t you? Come on, let’s go to bed before we all drop where we’re sitting.”
Richard scrambled up from the floor immediately and Jeremy smirked. “Someone’s eager, anyway.”
James sat up and stretched. “Are we - um - all - you know?”
“Thank you for that clear and concise summary of events James.” Jeremy got to his feet and pulled James up after him. “And the answer to that is yes. Unless anyone has any objections?”
Richard and James exchanged brief glances, and smiled, half amused and half grateful at Jeremy taking charge of what could have become awkward.
“I think we’re, um - agreeable,” said James, carefully.
“That’s settled then.” Jeremy gestured expansively at the door for James to lead the way.
They made automatically for James’ cabin, and paused just inside, an immediate issue becoming apparent. While the bunks were large enough to accommodate two bodies as long as they were prepared to be overly friendly, there was little chance of getting all three of them in with any degree of comfort.
Jeremy scratched his head. “James, you need a bigger bed. Call this suitable captain’s accommodation?”
James rolled his eyes. “Strangely the idea I might have to accommodate two of you buggers at once never occurred to me before now, and no Jeremy, that wasn’t an invitation to attempt an awkward sexual practice.” He looked round, and thought of something. “Wait here a minute, I’ve got an idea.”
He was back barely a minute later, hauling a mattress stripped from one of the other bunks. He let it fall to the cabin floor, and started pulling the one off his own bunk. Catching on, Richard and Jeremy lent a hand, lifting it out and setting it next to the first, before draping blankets over the pair. James threw down the pillows, then hesitated: now the work was done feeling rather self-conscious.
“Good plan,” murmured Jeremy, looking down at the set-up approvingly, and James flushed. “Hey.” Jeremy caught him round the waist and kissed him gently. “You do want this?”
James nodded immediately, and Jeremy laughed. “Well thank fuck for that. Hammond, get your kit off before he changes his mind.”
Laughing now, James slapped him on the arm as Richard obligingly started unbuttoning his shirt, smirking slightly as he felt two pairs of eyes on him. He dropped the shirt onto the stripped bed and pulled off his boots. When he’d got as far as unbuckling his belt he looked up enquiringly.
“You know, I’m going to get cold pretty quickly if I’m the only one getting undressed.”
“We were enjoying the show,” James murmured with a smile, hands resting on Jeremy’s arms, still clasped round his waist.
“Although to be honest you could put more effort into it,” announced Jeremy, and Richard threw a sock at him.
“I didn’t realise it was supposed to be a striptease,” he declared, laughing. “Maybe you should show me how it should be done?”
Jeremy raised his eyebrows. “What, strip you, you mean?” he offered, innocently. “Oh, alright then, if I must.” He made a grab for Richard, who dodged away, yelling. Lunging after him, Jeremy managed to get a hold of his waistband and pulled him off balance, hands dragging at his trousers.
Kicking and struggling and laughing so hard he could hardly breathe, Richard was propelled into James’ arms.
“Here, May, hang onto the wriggly little fucker,” Jeremy ordered, and Richard found himself held just as securely in a second pair of arms.
“Bloody conspiracy,” he complained, finding Jeremy taking advantage of his newfound accomplice to pull Richard’s underwear down as well as his trousers. Making a show of reluctantly giving in, Richard lifted one foot then the other to allow Jeremy to pull the last of his clothing off completely, until he was standing utterly naked, trapped between their two bodies.
His arms had found their way round James’ neck, who’d wrapped his arms in turn round Richard’s waist. He felt Jeremy’s hands come to rest on his hips, sliding round in a teasing exploration, the rough warmth of his clothing pressed against Richard’s back.
He could hardly disguise the fact that he was already hard, from the scuffling and the anticipation of what was to come. He could feel James responding to the touch of his body, and pulled him down into a kiss, pushing his growing erection harder against the bulge at James’ crotch. Could feel Jeremy’s breath warm on the back of his neck, and the rough skin of Jeremy’s hand as it slid down his ribs, his side, came to rest on his arse. Jeremy gave it a slap before stepping back, pulling at his own clothes now, impatient to feel Richard’s bare skin against his once more.
For his part, Richard let his fingers trail down James’ stomach, feeling him twitch ticklishly under the cloth, before cupping the line of his erection and squeezing gently, hearing James groan appreciatively near his ear. James brought a hand up to Richard’s chest, sought out his nipples, teasing the sensitive peaks with warm fingers, feeling them stiffen under his touch.
By now Jeremy had completely undressed and Richard squawked in surprise, mid-kiss, as Jeremy came up behind him and shamelessly slid his increasingly attentive cock between Richard’s legs.
“Bloody hell you don’t believe in giving any warning do you,” he objected, while Jeremy sniggered at his startled reaction. Richard turned in James’ arms and took Jeremy’s cock in his hand, waggling it admonishingly. “You’ll lose it if you’re not careful.”
“Knowing Jeremy he’d probably only grow two more,” said James, grinning.
Jeremy gave a crocodile grin. “I like your thinking.” He stepped closer to James, and slid a hand under his shirt. “Your turn,” Jeremy murmured, before unfastening James’ trousers and stroking his swollen cock with long fingers.
With Richard’s help he pulled the unresisting James down to the makeshift bed, stripping him quickly until all three of them were naked and breathing hard with arousal.
James lay back on the blankets and Richard immediately crawled over him on all fours, dipping his head to claim a heated kiss, his cock brushing against James’ and making them both shiver. Behind him, no sudden moves this time, Jeremy placed a kiss on the base of his spine, letting his hands come to rest on Richard’s arse. Jeremy squeezed his cheeks appreciatively, before letting his wetted finger slide between them to rub against Richard’s entrance, making him moan and his cock twitch.
Beneath them both, James wrapped a hand around his own cock, stroking himself slowly as he watched Jeremy trickle lube onto his fingers, before reaching out for Richard once more. James watched Richard’s eyes widen then close, as he savoured the sensations of Jeremy’s finger breaching him, pushing and stroking and stretching.
Jeremy squeezed out more lube, over his cock this time, slicking himself slowly, then reaching round to give Richard’s neglected shaft a few firm tugs before transferring his grip to Richard’s hips, bracing them both for the moment Jeremy slid inside him, a hot firm pressure, moving in slowly at first, then thrusting all the way inside, feeling Richard clench around him.
Hands now bruisingly tight on Richard’s skin, Jeremy started moving faster, building a rhythm, forehead resting against Richard’s back. Underneath, James’ hand was moving harder, faster, on his own cock, until Richard dipped his head and took him into his mouth, sucking him as Jeremy fucked him, his own cock slapping against his stomach as Jeremy thrust into him over and over. He was assailed by a confusion of sensations, Jeremy pounding into him from behind, fingers burning on his skin, James’ cock hot in his mouth, almost hitting the back of his throat.
Too late to be of any use, James uttered a strangled noise in warning and suddenly Richard’s mouth was full of thick hot come; James’ hand came to rest over his, cock still pulsing under his fingers. Richard swallowed, trying not to choke, feeling like he was inches from his own release, then felt Jeremy thrust even harder, once, twice, then a burst of warmth inside him. Jeremy’s fingers dug into his flesh as he spasmed in orgasm, holding Richard mercilessly onto his cock until he was panting and spent. He pulled out carefully, only now seeing that James, too had come and smiling in lazy conspiracy over Richard’s shoulder.
Together they pulled Richard down between them, James wrapping his hand around Richard’s throbbing cock, and jerking him firmly as Richard moaned in wordless relief at the physical touch at last. Jeremy kissed him possessively, all teeth and tongue, stifling his cries as Richard finally came violently all over his own stomach, sticky trails of semen pulsing over his skin, spilling over James’ fingers.
“Fuck me,” Richard breathed in completion, as there was a general movement to collapse back against the pillows in exhaustion.
“What, again?” Jeremy asked, on general principles, but they were all too tired to run with the argument. They entwined themselves together, finding time for a lazy mutual exploration now that the first urgent need had been satisfied.
Eventually Richard sat up. “I need to wash before I set hard.”
James waved a hand at the rear of the cabin. “Feel free. If you’re really lucky there might even be a clean towel in there.”
While Richard disappeared behind the segmented metal door of the shower cubicle at the rear of the cabin, James stretched languorously and settled in Jeremy’s arms.
“You’re unaccustomedly quiet,” he murmured after a few minutes of sleepy silence, running a slow hand up Jeremy’s side and tucking himself in closer.
“I was thinking about Andy,” came the quiet reply, and James blinked.
“Not sure I want to know that,” he laughed, only half-joking. Jeremy seemed to realise what he’d said and shook his head, embarrassed.
“Not like that. I just wondered what happened to him. If he got away. He wouldn’t have got far in that shuttle.”
“You’ll forgive me if I can’t bring myself to care.” James laid his head on Jeremy’s chest, and felt a hand come to rest on his hair, idly stroking.
“James?”
“Mmn?”
“What did he mean? About - about your past?”
James shifted uncomfortably, without looking up. “He was just trying to cause trouble. Sow dissent, make us mistrust each other. You know my life-story, it’s just averagely boring. There’s nothing to tell.”
“You do know - if there was anything - that I wouldn’t care? What it was, I mean?” offered Jeremy, hesitantly.
James squirmed round and pulled him down into a lingering kiss. “Trust me. There’s nothing,” he breathed. Stubbornness and a lingering doubt made Jeremy inclined to argue, but James’ hand had chosen that moment to start a slow and maddening rhythm on his more sensitive areas, and he gave himself up to the sensation with a groan.
Alerted by the increasingly filthy and urgent noises Jeremy was producing, Richard wandered back in, swathed in a towel and pink from the hot water.
“Bloody hell, is he insatiable or what?”
James looked up, brushing sweat-darkened hair out of his eyes with his free hand and grinning. “It’s like a cat, once you start stroking them they complain if you stop. Come and give me a hand, my wrist’s getting tired.”
“I can hear you, you know,” objected Jeremy, eyes closed in lazy enjoyment. He felt the mattress dip as Richard came back to join them, and a second later a warm, wet hand joined James’ in caressing his skin.
“Sure you’re not just reading our minds?” Richard teased, mouthing light kisses across Jeremy’s stomach.
Jeremy snorted. “Well if you’d like to take a moment to read what I’m thinking right now…”
Richard pretended to consider. “Less talking, more wanking?”
“That’s the thing about Jeremy’s mind,” James added, grinning evilly. “There aren’t many words to go with the pictures.”
Jeremy opened his eyes then and dragged James bodily down against him. “If you shut up for a second, I’ll show you what I can do with my magic jewels,” he grinned.
While the three of them discovered they weren’t quite as sleepy as perhaps they’d first thought, outside the vastness of space slid by unregarded, observed only by the ship’s systems bearing them away into the night.
An often overlooked fact about the vastness of empty space is that it’s actually quite full of stuff. Often when you least expect it to be.
The ship lay in darkness, but for the dull glow of night time lighting. In the galley, Tom lay curled on a chair, tail over his nose. In James’ cabin, three men lay sleeping curled around each other.
And in the darkness of the flight deck, a red light started to flash.