The market place was a buzz of activity and Goro had done reasonably well for himself these past few months. Selling that agent really got him back into the game though that was until the Zen Knights came on the scene.

They were more effective than the ADD in dealing with pirate threats. I he was big time he would probably be dead as six slaver/pirate commanders fell in the past month to them.

Goro was always cautious and had gathered what information he could to better protect himsel and his business prospects as he consider what he was going to do with this hard fought knowledge? Clearly they're were slavers that would pay handsomely for the information.

He wanted to pass on the information to someone that could do something about it though and thus far he didn't see most of the pirates being able to deal with the situation.

So he off loaded the two meager slaves he had to fortune to acquire feeling the pinch that the Knights placed on him and barely being able to scrap by. He considered his recent problem but wanted to remain independent too.

The amphorous creature wore a belt and had a blaster and a pouch hanging from it. It a green slimy hand he held the datapad and made a few adjustments to the map of the sector. With the information he had gathered here today he could mark off another sector of space. If he joined with the Knights he would have to pay them money to operate in their sectors, though he supposed that beat dying or starving.

When he looked up his eyes widened. Shit! Wasn't that one of the agents that he saw in the halls when he was captured by the ADD? He hoped he was wrong, he was uncertain but the fact that he had not long ago betrayed the ADD and sold one of their agents into slavery, well he wasn't sticking around to find out! It was time to go ...

"There he is." I said to myself as I watched the pathetic would-be slaver. "To think that he was the one who took Erin." I wasn't going to let him get away for what he's done, pushing my way through the crowd as I ready my energy pistol to shove in it's back.

It had taken a long time to track down Goro and my disguise paid off in the end. Although my face was uncovered, I wasn't stupid, this was an alien world that traded in slavery and I was lone an A.D.D. agent. I had decided to blend in as a pirate and dressed myself in knee high black vinyl boots, violet pants and a violet jacket with black trimmings. It was hardly anything some of the girls back at the Apollo would consider form flattering, but it was simple and easy to move in and I liked it.

As the crowd parted way when I drew my pistol, I took aim at the worthless mutant's head. "You! Goro! Stay right there!" My tone was sharp and harsh as this thing had sold Erin, and I was going to make sure it was going to give me the thing's name.

Panicked Goro halted. He had no real friends among the crowd and few would bat an eye at a fire fight or another person dropping dead. He gulped nervouslu curing himself for not making the connection earlier …

Don't shoot! I surrender!]/b]

If there was a fight or and commotion maybe he might gather some assistance. The slavers here didn't like ADD agents or bounty hunters though and if he attracted attenion …

He be dead befoe he received ay attention so that did him no good!

[b]Look, if you shoot me I smell really bad. It was a lame reason, it wasn't as if she had to take this body around with him so it was a rather feeble attmpt. The folds of his gelatinous hide giggled nervously.

I stormed my way up to the gelatenous mess, momentarily considering putting a pulse of searing plasma through what I hope is a brain, but I was better than that. Killing this thing will mean that I would be responsible for losing Erin forever, and I wasn't going to let that happen.

"Well if you want to live, then move!" I shouted harshly as I indicated I direction out of the market place.

The other patrons didn't really seem to pay much attention as I lead the mutant waste out of the crowd. I would get the occasional stare from one of them as I passed by, but it was obvious that this wasn't the first time that someone was being picked off the street and probably wasn't the last. When it finally obeyed and I lead it out of the street, we walked out further, away from the city and civilized areas, slowly moving to the landing area I had left The Whistler.

A.D.D command had sent me out here to find what had happened to the agent that'd been assigned to receive intelligence from this thing. It was my first mission after being promoted from soldier to full agent, and already my mission wasn't going as well as I'd hoped. Now that Erin was gone and my only link was this pathetic thing in front of me I had to make sure I could get him back to The Apollo so he could be interrogated.

Once we were clear of the town my anger had got the better of me; "You'd better remember where Erin is!". I shouted.

He really didn't have a choice here. He followed slithering away, bracing for that impact of heated plasma that would discharge into his back. He had noted that they were heading into less populated areas where she had a better chance in gunning hin down.

Goro swallowed. Who?

His girls never had names, they were pieces of meat to be sold, to earn some money on. Fearing that he was going to shot he was farantic, What does she look like? Do you have an image of her?

I tightened my grip on the pistol as it feigned ignorance at Erin's whereabouts, finding the urge to execute him growing all the more stronger.

"ERIN!" I shouted furiously back. "The A.D.D. agent who'd been assigned to you! The one who was to go with you to show her the new slave auction dens you knew about!"

My directions had taken us out of the city and lead us into a forested area. The planet was much more humid than I accustomed to. I'd landed The Whistler among a hilly clearing outside of the dense forest and we were following a vague path through the alien trees toward it. The path was following the shade of the canopy to try and avoid the light of the sun, it was much brighter and warmer than that of Earth or Antares. Due to the brighter sun and humid air, the forest was bountiful with plantlife and required constant attention ahead to avoid the low branches, and exposed roots of the older trees.

"Erin had short red hair. Freckles. Fair skin. Green eyes. She was shorter than me." I growled in a low voice, keeping my humming pistol aimed at the center of it's body. "Do you remember her now?"

He had captured two agents close together and the fact that she was wasn't refereing to the blond told him that they must have gotten her back. A piety, she was well trained in the sexual arts as it was but was rather smug and he had to teach her a leason. Unfortunately he had to sell her. At that stage he only had her ship that he had stolen. The red head he met soon thereafter and took advantage of the situation before his betrayal had been reported. He had doped her into believing the lies he spun and since he was a “friendly” face she bought into his lies.

Not to mention she was a pretty good lay though the blond obviously had been trained to please a man.

I remember her now ... Goro proclaimed. I was strapped for cash and had to sell her to Minge … the now leader of the Zen Knights … but good luck getting her back! You'd have to deal with hoardes of Knghts and to be honest they downright scare the living tar out of me … more so than your pistol, at least that's a clean death, one could only hope that the Knights would be as efficient!

My advice would be to forget about her while you can, it's not worth the hassel!

"The Zen Knights?" I thought incredulously. "No...This is the same crap he spouted to Erin and Krista, and now Erin's gone."

"You think I'm going to fall for that crap?!" I snapped back. "You're just afraid of what's about to happen to you. Captain Nguyen is gonna to take a long time with you. You're going to pay for betraying us like that! Selling Krista and Erin for nothing more than to line your pockets. They're people and you traded them like a commodity! So don't even try to talk your way out of this!"

It wasn't long before we'd arrived at the clearing, the trees giving way to rolling green hills. It resembled some of the photographs I've seen of South America back on Earth. I always wanted to see the Amazon. It was beautiful...or it would be if I wasn't walking a vile slug creature through them. As we continued through the hills, the geometric shape of a grey metallic object started to appear over the smaller hills.

Rounding one of the long drumlin hills, the glimpses of metal gave way to a full starship. The transport ship was triangular in design, resting horizontally and elongated towards the cockpit. It was longer than it was taller, only as tall as a two story building. The majority of the ship was coloured steel with the dorsal and ventral sides of the ship being coloured a navy blue. It was simplistic in design, having simple triangular wings that started mid-way along the ship and coming to their maximum width at the aft of the ship. It had a single wide engine that stretched across the aft of the ship, the ship showing signs that it'd been modified to fit the large engine. As far as weaponry was concerned all that could be seen was a single and simple turret on the top of the ship, positioned toward the aft. The ship seemed rather basic in comparison to many other A.D.D. ships, hardly as imposing as the fighters and warships that most agents used.

As we rounded the hill, keeping my eyes on the fugitive, I used my free hand to access the wrist controller on my suit. With a few keypresses a brief hiss emanated from the aft port side of the ship, followed by the metallic hum of the loading ramp opening. Once the ramp had lowered I motioned for Goro to move inside, feeling a sense of relief that this mission was almost over.

Goro did not like this situation. He knew if he got on that ship he was going to be lockedup for a long while, he might not see the light of day again … but to attack the agent was likely to get himself killed too. No make up, he thought that this wasn't a woman that you could bribe and that would perhaps incense her more if he tried, besides he only had a pultry sum to deal with. He paused half way up the ramp. He wasn't a smart guy but the vaguelu humanoid blob froe there as he sighed.

Krista I wouldn't have sold if it weren't for the circdumstances … but you wouldn't understand … you're right, I am afraid but at least I'll be alive, at least until the Knights crush the ADD so I guess I have a few months to look forward to languishing in ...

It was a long shot but it had worked on the other field agent after he had stripped her of her defenses. Goro had the ability to produce sweet pheromones that worked against the senses, that increased arousal. He did not expect them to do so much then cloud her judgement a little, to make it harder for her to think straight … the other agent had nose plugs to thwart this rudimentary psionic attack and if she were even remotely skilled like Lark was she'd shrug it off with ease but what else was he going to try in the 11th Hour ...

"What's it doing?" I thought as the irritation grew. "It knows that I have a clear shot at it's head, and it's just standing there taunting me." My black gloved hands tightened on the pistol as I stared at him for a moment. "Maybe not. ...Maybe there's something to this. Maybe he isn't full of crap this time. He has actually given us good information before...maybe I should report this to Captain Mai." I resigned to myself.

I took a deep sigh as my duty as a soldier reared it's head, knowing that I had to at least pass his ramblings on to Captain Mai just in case. As I did, I felt a swelling of heat within chest. I felt my chest tightening under the layers of clothing and a flutter moving through my extremities. The fair skin of my cheeks began to flush a little, faintly highlighting the emerald iris' of my eyes. "I must have spent more time in the sun than I thought" I thought to myself as I had to lightly shake my head to clear my thoughts.

I was alone and was leading a dangerous criminal out of a hostile world; now was not the time to lose focus. Regaining my composure, my stern voice sounded again. "No. You get to look forward to 'languishing' in a holding cell on The Apollo for the next few weeks before rotting away in a ADD prison cell. Now get moving!" I then directed him into my ship, beginning to lead him to a secured room to be locked away for the trip back to the fleet.

I had to get out of the sun soon, and off of this planet. "Once we're clear of this planet, hopefully Captain Mai will know what to do with 'Zen Knights' stuff." I decided as I lead him onto The Whistler.

Goro sighed. He wasn't much with psionic ability after all and had not thought to much was going to come of it. As if were it had been worth a shot. May, just maybe he wouldn't be killed out of hand and be released instead if he affiliated with them.

He did not hold too much faith in that though. He was ninor stuff at the best of times. The most slaves he ever transported at one time was four and often it was just one or two slaves.

So he was lead up the cool ramp, his eyes taking in what he could of the scenario incase the tables ever did turn. Lead through the halls of the Whistler he soon found himself in a secored cell. It was one of those types where the door was seal and was see though, the glass resistant to energy blasts. The glass was thick enough so she did not think that he would shatter it and for a moment he wondered if she did this knowing about his pheremones keeping them contained in the room then he thought abought it and figured if she knew she would have had nose plugs. He did not use the ability too often to keep it as a secret weapon so to speak not that it was too effective.

No, he realize that if this was a conventional cell she did not wish for him to squeeze through the bars and escape.

He glanced at the surroundings of the simple cell, a tolet, a bunk and about two meters of pacing room.

I suppose if I am rotting away in the Apollo I can hope the Knights start hitting targets before hand if they have not started. He sighed then considered his options as he sat on the metallic bunk. I don't know how you're going to deal with them but that's not my problem.

“Am I coming down with heat exhaustion?” I wondered to myself as the swelling warmth continued to creep through me. I had to keep my composure and still keep my the energy pistol trained on Goro.

Inside, the Whistler was much less spacious than looked. It may have been a transport ship before, it's anything but now. The corridor leading to the bow and aft of the ship was narrow and opened more towards the very back and front of the ship. My ship is very tightly compacted as it had to fit a lot of recon equipment like the slew of powered-down consoles: long-range scanners, short-range scanners, and a multitude of different imaging scanners. The single prison cell was located at the aft; near the engines and it didn't take long before I shoved the pistol barrel shove into Goro's back to direct him that way. As we move towards the aft I had to make sure he kept his eyes forward, the machinery that he was passing under was the heart of my ship; the stealth systems. Compacted cooling systems, batteries, deflecting shields, and some of the most advanced computers in the ADD lined this area of the ship. The corridor became just barely wide enough to pass through before we reached the engines and the cell off to the side. The ever-present hum of the engines and power systems flooded this area as I ushered him into he's cramped new home, and once the door hissed shut, I knew I could finally relax.

I finally could holster my weapon under the 'pirate' coat. Standing in-front of the glass I could just hear his threat through the engine hum, shaking my head incredulously. I turned away, ignoring his threat as he really meant nothing now, I could focus on getting out of here and back to the Apollo. I had to stop for a moment as the slow burning was becoming less of an annoyance and more of a concern. I had to wipe my brow as I was starting to sweat and my heart was beating faster.

“Maybe I need a drink...or a cold shower...” I said out loud, either not caring or just ignorant that Goro could hear me. “Later Tasha. You're still on an alien planet filled with slavers. Get the Whistler moving, report in, and THEN deal with this.” With that I walked away from the cell to leave Goro to entertain himself.

Time passed and before long the ship came to life around Goro...at least outside his cell door. The engine-glow intensified along with the humming and pulsing core. Before long the ship would jostle as it lifted from the planet's surface and before too long the familiar sounds of an old FTL engine charging would join the orchestra of sounds in the engine room. Eventually a sudden and brief pull to the aft of the ship signaled it's jump to light speed.

(On the bridge)

“Tasha! There you are. You're a little late, but I assume it's because you found someone.” It was Captain Mai responding to my call to the Apollo. She was originally from Japan before she'd moved to Shokushu and later drafted by the ADD. She's older than I am, almost forty I think. She always wears her white and black ADD officer uniform and that makes the orange hairband in her chin-length black hair stand out. Her hair band also reflected the Captain herself; strong and dedicated as a Captain with the ADD but she was still a woman and always approachable. She genuinely cared about the women under her command.

“Yes Captain, I've got it secured in the holding cell in the back. He isn't going anywhere.” I reported with a confident smile, but that didn't last long before my shoulders sank and my voice weakened. “...but there was no sign of Erin. ...I don't think it knows where she is. ...I'm sorry Captain, I couldn't find her.”

“Damn it.” Captain Mai responded in a similar tone as she hung her head. “Don't apologize Tasha...it's his fault, not yours.” This tone didn't last long before she said in her usual undaunted voice . “Well get him back here and hopefully with enough pressure of my boot to his head I can change that.”

I had to laugh as I knew she probably would do that if it would get Erin back.

“Actually Captain, there's something else he mentioned.” I started before saying dismissively “He was rambling on about some new group that was apparently going to 'crush' us.”

This caught the Captain's attention as her upbeat smile faded in exchange for a more concerned look as she leaned forward in her chair before simply asking; “What group?”

I was taken a bit aback by her change in tone, I thought she was going to dismiss his crap just as I did. “Umm...I think he said the Zen Knights, Captain.”

This definitely caught the captain's attention as all traces of her usual jovial character were gone. She then explained to me that the Zen Knights weren't nonsense. She explained that they were a group that the ADD knew barely anything about; motives, resources, leaders, or even if they really were called the Zen Knights. What little we did know was that they were calling meetings with various alien governments, slaver groups, pirates, anyone who had a grudge with the ADD. She said that they may be trying to rally the groups together and stop their infighting to try and create an alliance that could overrun the ADD.

“I don't need to tell you that the ADD can't fight off all the alien races and ships at once. We need them to be fighting each other as much as us or the treaty will be pointless since they'll be able to wipe us out in one en masse attack.” The Captain stated coldly. “If he knows something about this group, hopefully where a base is located, I need you to get that information out of him. We need someone to infiltrate one of their bases and bring something back to us to stop them.”

“Me?!” I asked in disbelief. “Captain, I don't know how to neg-”

“Tasha!” Captain Mai suddenly cut me off. “You're not just a soldier anymore. You're an agent. You CAN do this because that's why I had you promoted.” She explained impatiently. “Give him what he wants and when he gives you the info drop him off somewhere or throw him out an airlock for what he did to Erin. He was just going to rot in prison anyway.” She said with a laugh. “Once you have the info you can get back to what you do best; infiltrating that base and getting back here with all we need to take them down.”

Taking a deep breath, I nodded in agreement, regaining my confidence.

“That's my girl.” She responded with her usual warm smile. “Report back to me when you get him to talk. Apollo out.”

Once the screen was blank, I took another breathe and leaned back into my chair. “I should at least get out of this stupid pirate suit before I talk to him.” I said with a heavy sigh.

Goro heard Tasha as she spoke out loud, his alien mind considering the agent naked in a sonic shower, the image entering his mind as it was clear that he would never have the opportunity to have her or another being stuck in one cell then another. If he languished in a cell of a ship he figured that he might live longer but the chances were pretty good that any ship would be called to the front or to back up another and be destroyed now that he considered it.

He was not smart by any means nor was he stupid. Goro was a little slow but when he got to thinking about things then he could consider the bigger picture better.

Simply shaking his head as the agent left he looked about the tiny cell for any means of escape, which would have to occur in the next few minutes, otherwise he may never get away …

There was nothing that stood out save for the toliet. He gazed at it and considered … he could move though it but ultimately that got him where exactly? The sceptic tank? So he inspected the door to the cell. It had not taken him long to pick up that he could squeeze through the seems hear but he heard a hum behind it … some sort of force field? He sighed, degected … he really didn't look good in orange …



(deep space)

The Maverick was on patrol, fairly routine though Captain Ortiz took her duties a little too seriously if you listened to her crew anyway. But they dropped to sublight, the distress beacon coming from the old beat up freighter as the patrol ship approached. Maria Ortiz turned to her communications officer.

Open a channel ...

What she saw surprised her. The human that was sitting on the brige was rather dashing as he stood from his black leather captain's chair.

Surrender ...

Minge! He was a go between, a minor player in the grand scheme of things. But to think that his ship even stood a change. It was less manuerable, meager shields and few weapons. There ws no advantage that it had in any category, none.

Funny, I was going to tell you the same, Minge.

Communications were cut and the freighter attacked, it's meager guns not even effective against the shields of the Maverick. The Maverick counter attacked and that was just what the captain of that craft wanted as his shields went down 80% in that single barrage.

But that spark of energy that lanced over the shields had been channeled into the simple looking gun.

One shot and the Maverick was destroyed.

Minge grinned, relieved that it worked obviously. He had gathered up some prestige but he was still a minpr player and had to stick his neck out some. The back up shields sprang to life and Minge asked for a damage report along with the read outs of the converter … it was aminor toy but it still had to be tested before they could green light it. Back to the base where he could share the good news ...

The familiar hiss from the door to my quarters always felt like The Whistler welcoming me home. I stepped into my moderate living space and unfastened the brown leather holster and pistol from my thigh to drop onto my bed. My quarters were lightly furnished with a simple twin sized bed, metallic desk, computer, and two doors opposite each other that lead to a closet and modest bathroom. Most of the girls apparently took larger beds for their ships, wanting that little bit extra creature comfort for longer missions. I on the other hand, only wanted a small bed as I've recently spent too long in a larger bed...for too many other reasons than sleeping. There was little if anything personal on display aside from the picture of my parents and my mother's ski-lodge taped to my bathroom mirror, partially because I liked my privacy, but mostly because I had so little from Shokushu.

Although my room was almost featureless, it's emptiness did allow me to add the one thing that mattered to me most: a sparring partner. Visually taking up the majority of my quarters was a metal pole and a long cylinder of thick purple mats secured to it. The floor surrounding the pole was mostly matted to allow me to train barefoot. This was where I spent the majority of my time when traveling, I could clear my head and re-sync my mind and body. It wouldn't be uncommon for me to sleep here even when my ship was docked with the Apollo. Training, as good as it would sound right now, had to wait. I needed to clean myself up and get started with Goro as soon as possible, shedding the pirate outfit and stepping into my bathroom.

It was a basic cube, a toilet tucked into corner, the shower was opposite to it, and sink was opposite and facing the toilet. Nothing was partitioned as the bathroom was sealed and a drain was in the centre of the room to lead to the water recycling system. Turning on the shower, I stood in it's soothing warm stream for a moment to wash away depression of losing Erin, the tension from capturing Goro, and the worry about how I would convince him to help us, at least for a few moments. The water cascaded over my tall body, the stream striking my collar bone first before the water flowed over my now reflective fair skin. I rolled my head back and forth to let the soothing heat penetrate my shoulders and down over my chest. After a few moments of relaxation I would take the sponge and soap that hung from the shower head. After lathering the sponge, I started with my legs; they made up most of my body and the part I preferred to train with the most. Because of my training focus my smooth calves and thighs were well-defined and firm from all of my years of athletics and martial arts training. My hands drew the lather over my bottom, firm and almost unyielding from the near constant kick-boxing training. As I was cleaning, the water continued to drift downward across my faintly defined abs before eventually ending it's journey by flowing through the trimmed brown curls partially obscuring my womanhood. Continuing to shower I would move to my belly and draw the sponge across the toned skin, the soap caressing each ab muscle as gravity drew the water downward over my skin. I would then draw the sponge across each of my arms, their muscle definition was noticeably less since I focus so much on my legs. After my arms and neck were washed I would set the sponge aside as my hands were well-lathered to finish on their own. My hands would then skim across my breasts to bathe them in warm soapy water, my darker pink nipples collecting more suds then the rest of my breasts. The remainder of my time in the shower was spent cleaning the dust and grime of the alien market from my freed chestnut brown hair that fell to the centre of my back. After rinsing and allowing the environmental systems time to clear the steam from the room, I would step out of the bathroom to reach for a towel.

Some time later Goro would have his noisy solitude interrupted when I stepped in front of the transparent prison cell door. I wasn't in the purple and black pirate uniform that he remembered, instead I was wearing my pride; my ADD uniform. It resembled a simple pant suit: black slacks that tucked into black knee-high military boots and a buttoned white double-breasted jacket. The uniform was accented with my energy pistol and holster belted to my right thigh, an ADD military patch sewn onto my right sleeve, a black undershirt exposed from the jacket's unfastened top button, and a simple black belt that drew the jacket tight over my body to unintentionally create an hourglass figure.

I crossed my arms over my chest as I stared reluctantly into the cell at it's lone occupant, dreading what was to come. “Get up Goro!” I commanded in a stern tone.

(Deep Space)



Open a channel to Quebos ... Minge loved the new real time communications systems that were installed in the Vulture. A message like this would take more than a week to reach Quebos but in short order there was a man with short bown hair, glassess and a lab coat on the screen on the bridge a few seconds later the doctor was sitting withth his hands neatly folded together.

I am alive due to the back up shields …

Like I said Minge the new guns pack a punch. Once you get back with the offical data we'll start putting the guns on the other ships. The ADD will fall within a few short weeks. Your initial accessment?

Minge grinned. I am still here … the converter worked as you expected channeling the energy of the shield into the gun as it was struck as well as absorbing the blast we received in return though enough of the blast got through were we would have been destroyed as well if not for the back up shields that sprang up when they did. As it is they barely held but I'm here to talik about it.

As promised you will get that quadrant of space that includes the fertile world of Shokushu … the ADD won't exist so there will be no blockage on it either whe you are entitled to the sector, just imagine the profits ...

Minge nodded. He was no longer a go between though he had to put his neck pn the line it had pai of …

The Vulture will be soaring home though it will still be a few days before we get back to base.

Copy. And the comm wemt black only to be replaced by the streaking white pinpoints of light.



Goro had found nothing to entertain him in this cell and was day dreaming as he laid on the bench here, considering all those things he would have liked to do. He even envisioned the situation being reverse, all those things that he could be doing to his capture right about now. She wasn't beautiful but she wasn't ugly either. Her training as an agent though would bring in the big bucks at auction …

He was busy considering this, too busy to have even noticed her there so when she addressed he it was with a start. He fell off the bench.

Offft ... He stood up and looded at her as he moved forward. I hope you know you just ruined a perfectly good thought … I suppose I;ll have plenty of tine to think though ...