Hekate's Call, Chapter 16

The medical bay was just about the only place on the Gestalt that Krystyn had found she didn't get fuzzy-headed from the pervasive drugs being pumped into her system at all times. The only thing that made her head fuzzy in Kyrnn's domain was the scent of high-strength cleaners. For the second week in a row the doctor reported, verbally, that there was no change in Krystyn's levels or health.

Which was a lie.

"They're using your chemical fabricators, aren't they?" Krystyn asked.

Kyrnn adjusted those goofy looking round glasses so that her eyes weren't visible beyond the glare and turned to the council of jarred organs. There was some pattern to it, like they were each speaking an opinion. The ones directly above the woman's desk were the important ones. The countless others that filled empty spaces in the cabinets or ringed the room, secured to a shelf attached to the halo lighting, didn't seem to have voices. Kyrnn never jerked her head in their direction anyways.

"Oh, that's right, yeah," she muttered to one of the jars, and then turning back to Krystyn, "No, no, nobody's been using my fabricator. Their names would have appeared on the logs, after all. Everyone with a company ID would have it attached to anything they print."

A glimpse of a tired eye through the glare of those round glasses.

"You can check for yourself."

Right. I get your drift. Krystyn tapped the screen of the wall-mounted display, bringing up a list. There were a bunch of problems with this fabricator. A number of errors and maintenance logs displayed in the list, at an almost regular interval. It was the first thing to draw her attention, but they had spanned back to before this whole ordeal started. She had probably been swinging the fabricator into maintenance mode before making some special concoction for her own purposes.

The real culprit was listed under Morian Kyrnn’s ID, at a much higher frequency. A custom compound, unnamed. Krystyn wasn’t a chemical engineer or whatever kind of scientist she would need to be to understand the formulation. It stood out so much since the rest of the compounds had regular, if illegible, drug names. At least things she’d expected to see in a medbay.

“How are you getting along with Velia?”

Kyrnn was suddenly beside her. That eerie quickness and silence she had. Her chair creaked, but not when she didn’t want it to. The floor echoed under her large cartoonish steps, except when she didn’t want to be heard. Her clothes had a light rustle to them, except when she wanted to surprise you.

It was unlike the way Ilina and Velia faded into the background. More sudden, more intentional, and most importantly scarier. She was a doctor. A researcher. Not a scout or spy.

“I hate her.”

“Like you hated Ilina?”

Krystyn took a step back to make space, but shook her head and sat down on the little couch with a thud. “Ilina scares the shit out of me, but she’s done nothing to deserve any hate from anyone. I’ve heard about what happened on that planet.”

Kyrnn pulled over a stool and lit a brand new cigarette. Lost in some kind of thought, weighing her words in that doctorly way.

“This isn’t to condemn or absolve either of them,” she started, “But Hunter was always a rabid dog. One I respected, deeply. By the time I got my hands on her she’d changed a great deal. She was less… confident. Thanks to Velia and the rest of those girls.”

There was a nostalgic fondness in the doctor’s voice. She smiled in a way she didn’t when she spoke of anyone else but Ilina. Woman really thought the girl was the whole damn world, huh?

“I was called upon by a friend to test a drug. I had no idea what it did, or what its purpose was. I asked for someone to test it on, and they sent over Hunter. The newer, broken one. Not the one I looked up to.”

Before Krystyn could raise her voice, a sudden impulse she didn’t quite understand, Kyrnn continued.

“Don’t worry, don’t worry. Velia followed Hunter to the meeting, not trusting her to be able to take care of herself. She offered herself up to take the drug too,” Kyrnn smiled that awful smile of hers. “Hunter let her, and I offered Hunter a very lucrative deal. And so she signed up with me and I kept Velia as research material.”

Was there a point to this story? Ilina and Velia didn’t trust each other? Sold each other out? Kyrnn loved her own voice but she wanted to impart something, surely. The real villain here seemed to be the doctor and nobody else.

“Velia was unwilling research material for some years. I lost track. I vastly underestimated the damage the drug did to her, and the frequency in early testing caused some catastrophic failures. The girl has had a rough time of it.”

“So, I’m just supposed to let what she’s doing slide? Just because she had a shit life?” Krystyn wanted to spit on something, for effect. But the space was too sterile for her to justify it to herself. It was a medbay after all.

Kyrnn tilted her head and laughed. “Oh, of course not. The drug has not fundamentally changed what kind of woman she is. She is a proper villain, through and through.”

Okay, enough games. “What are you trying to tell me? What do you want me to take from this conversation?”

“Their motivations. Hunter is motivated by self-interest. She wants to be respected, but she will always place her own safety before anything else.” The doctor did a stupid little spin on her chair, letting those words sink in. Expect Ilina to betray you, basically.

“And Velia?”

“Velia wants to you to report to her bedchambers immediately following your check-up,” Kyrnn stopped and stood up, suddenly. “But you don’t take orders from her. That’s the problem. She craves control because she is used to being in powerless situations dealing with people far more ruthless than you, or Elisabet, or even Carie. There will be no half-measures.”

There was almost no point in asking what that last part was supposed to mean. But, she did anyways. ”If I don’t submit?”

“Then one of you will wind up dead,” Krynn smiled, “and considering she has the Hunter at her beck and call, I’m not about to put my money on you coming out on top.”

"You really came?" Velia almost laughed as she brought Krystyn into her room.

Ilina sat, awkwardly, on the bed. Not the shared bed, the nest or whatever, the two of them had. The spare bed. She had that glazed, dead behind the eyes look again. Fucked. What dreadful thing did this monster have planned?

"Didn't seem like you were asking," Krystyn said, nodding to Ilina as a hello. An empty nod returned, barely acknowledgment.

"I just love obedient girls." Velia smiled and held up a water bottle, sealed as if that was a promise of safety. "Do you want a drink before we put you through your paces?"

Krystyn eyed the bottle for a second before waving it away. Her heart dropped as Velia instead passed the bottle to Ilina, who obediently opened it and took a few healthy gulps from it. It was drugged for sure then, wasn't it?

Fuck.

Krystyn snapped the bottle out of Ilina's hand and took a drink for herself. She wasn't going to let Ilina drink the whole thing like she looked like she was about to.

"Using Ilina as a poison tester?" Velia placed a hand on Krystyn's bicep, "But I guess Hekate considers her disposable, so why would you see her any different?"

Right. That's why she couldn't stand dealing with Ilina, or Manya, and now Velia either. They loved to play these stupid games and get in your head. The bottle was clear, purified water. No taste, no scent. Ilina's half-grimace, that pained expression at having something given to her stolen away was what Velia was actually after.

Cunning and cruel. No half-measures.

Not that trying to argue to Ilina that hurting her was Velia's goal, it would just make Krystyn look insane. She had been in the room for less than a full minute and she'd already stumbled into several layers of traps and mind games.

"What do you want?" Krystyn pulled away from her, like the very touch could be toxic.

Velia measured her, dragging those disgusting, lustful eyes across every inch of her so slowly she could feel it. "A test. A very easy one, at that. I'll tell you what to do, and you do it."

"Like training a dog," Krystynscoffed.

"I hope you're much better than a dog," Velia leaned and twisted to try to make eye contact with those too-sincere eyes. "I'll give you the lesson before we start. I want to see you exert self-control. I want to see that you want to be better."

There was some kind of game here. Be better? Krystyn was a fine enough pilot, no matter what the datasheets said. She couldn't learn anything about piloting in this room. This was just a way for Velia to exert control, just like Kyrnn said. She didn't even need the doctor's assistance with that.

But she had already agreed to work with Velia. The sooner she helped Velia out of her situation, the better, right? The woman needed to become self-sufficient, by her own admission, so if Krystynjust offered a chunk of her savings it wouldn't meaningfully change her situation.

Yeah, yeah. Fine.

"Alright. What do you want me to do?"

Velia motioned to Ilina and the spare bed. "You're going to touch her. Exactly how I tell you to."

Hey, wait. No. Hold on there. "Ilina, are you okay with that?"

Ilina glanced at Velia, didn't even make eye contact, before looking back in the vague direction of the wall. She nodded. That could hardly be considered consent.

Krystyn grabbed her by the face and pulled her up to make eye contact. "Are you okay with this?"

"I hope you die of heavy metal poisoning," Ilina growled, but didn't pull away.

A hand fell on Krystyn's, gently urging it to pull away. "I didn't say you could touch her yet."

This was going to be bad. Everything about the situation made her skin crawl.

"On the bed now," Velia guided. As if Krystyn had any other choice.

If she swung at Velia like she wanted to, Ilina would fight her. Kyrnn was right about that. One of them would have been a fair enough match, but both of them would be impossible to take at once. She'd already lost to Velia once too.

She took her boots off and rolled onto the bed where she was directed, in front of Ilina.

"Ask her Ilina if you can touch her."

"I just did that," Krystyn snapped.

"No," Velia chided, "you grabbed her. Without consent. Assure her that you won't lay another finger on her without her permission."

Krystyn turned to Ilina, who sat staring at the bed between them. This was agonizing. Painful beyond words mostly because Velia's demands were so... reasonable. That was how sex should work. You ask permission, and act once you've received it. Consent. Really basic consent. What this had to do with piloting and her metrics, she couldn't see the connection at all.

"Can I touch you?" The words came out weak. Almost timid. What if Ilina said no? Of course she wouldn't, she couldn't. But that made it feel so much more disgusting. "I won't touch you unless you tell me with your words that I can."

The poor little creature made eye contact, for a brief moment. It sent a shock through Krystyn, that look in her eyes. She held back something vicious and fitting, instead saying, "Yeah, you can touch me."

Velia guided each action with a soft, almost mothering voice. It was creepy as shit and every syllable made her hair stand on end. But she obeyed, because that would let them get this over with quickly.

Ilina's recoiled at the first touch, and Krystyn was told to slow down. Gentler. A light brush on the cheek, and then no that was too hard. She had to be gentler. The amount of times she had to step back and start over was getting under her skin, and must have been stressing out Ilina who was getting absolutely no guidance from Velia whatsoever.

Gods below, it was bad. She didn't have Ilina's clothes off and she could feel the poor thing trembling beneath her fingers. Flinching at each new touch. It felt strange and wrong for some reason she was still grasping for.

"Keep going."

Velia wasn't exactly helping.

"Slide it off, slowly."

Okay, okay. That was what was wrong. Krystyn had seen all of Ilina, head to toe. She'd also beat the shit out of her a dozen and a half times. This flinching and trembling was so out of character it was starting to make her head spin. That was the exact problem though, wasn't it?

Krystyn pulled her hands away from the girl's body and grasped Ilina's face in her hands, not too roughly, but firmly. She didn't tremble or try to pull away. Instead she locked eyes, almost defiantly. Yeah, there it was.

"Do you need me to be a bit rougher with you?"

Ilina's bravery faltered as she tried to look to Velia for guidance. No, no. Velia wanted to know if Krystyn could follow orders, but that wasn't the problem here. She was just standing there giving directions that were so obviously wrong they hurt.

"That's not what I said," Velia's voice had a deeper edge to it than she'd heard. It was hot. Not important right now.

"Oh, just shut up already," Krystyn barked over her shoulder. "Ilina, look at me. Ignore her. Do you need me to be firmer with you?"

She blocked out Velia from Ilina's sight with a hand. She needed the girl to focus on what was in front of her. Not trying to fulfill whatever fucked up kink Velia was attempting right now. Ilina reached up and held the wrist blocking her view of Velia.

It took a moment, but she gave an answer. Subtle, but definitive. Her hand tightened around Krystyn's wrist more and more. Alright, girl. That's what I thought. That little grin and those defiant eyes flashed for a moment.

Krystyn packed away the sudden realization that Ilina was unfortunately, exactly her fucking type. If only she was a boy.

She pulled Ilina out from under herself so she was flat on her back. Not aggressively. Confidently, assertively. She wasn't out to hurt her just yet. That would come when they were both properly hungry for it.

Ilina wore one of those metal snap buckles for her trousers. Krystyn undid it one handed and shoved her hand down the front and across the coarse hairs. Oh, right. Not all men had the hardware either, but that was fine. She wasn't even wet though, and that would be an issue. She pulled her hand out and gave the trousers a good yank.

"Take these off," she ordered as she reached up to shove her fingers in Ilina's mouth.

The girl was so willing too. No resistance whatsoever. She just opened her mouth and took two fingers deep and started sucking. She even started to throat them when Krystyn started fucking it, pulling away and meeting them to push them deeper. Wet, uncomfortable noises, but not a single gag no matter how far she shoved them.

"I bet you're real popular," Krystyn couldn't keep herself quiet at all. "Yeah, yeah. Just like that."

Now that things were out of the way she drew her lubricated fingers back down to work. The long string of thick drool meant she got the good stuff out of Ilina too. They slid in just like that. In and out, slow to start. Ilina adjusted and reached for the headboard, bracing herself so that when she started rocking her hips into Krystyn's fingers she could do it with force.

They moved in time. If only there was music playing, it would be easier to coordinate. She so desperately wanted Krystyn to pick up the pace, but that wasn't about to happen. Now that their spectator had shut the fuck up, she was going to have fun with Ilina.

"Aren't you eager?" Krystyn teased as she slowed down, feeling the frantic energy building in Ilina.

"Kill yourself," Ilina spat breathlessly.

The way her face contorted, trying to hide that taunting little grin stoked the fire in Krystyn. This girl wanted it to hurt so bad, didn't she? Fucking queer probably got off on all the beatings she'd gotten. This was different, though. She was begging for it with those eyes and the way she flashed those fangs.

Krystyn lunged for the neck, wrapping her teeth around that throbbing jugular in the girl's neck. She felt her entire body tense up in a panic and a hand grabbed a fistful of her hair. She was holding it tight, but wasn't trying to pull or push Krystyn away. The way Ilina moaned when she applied pressure was downright phonographic, it might even make Manya blush.

Krystyn's hands pushed up Ilina's shirt, grasping at the tensed muscles. There really wasn't an ounce of fat on her, huh? All muscle. The way Ilina was holding her side she was going to have a bruise shaped exactly like her little hand by morning. Thank the goddess that Ilina never tried to fight back, she wasn't sure she'd have beat the little monster.

When she pulled away she got to admire the nascent bruise forming on her neck. It was going to be a good one too.

"Use your words this time," she smirked down at the defeated little thing.

"Fuck me harder, you coward bitch."

"That's more like it."

Nothing really got Krystyn going the way watching some defiant little fuck break underneath her. Really she'd never met anything as defiant as Ilina, and playing her like an instrument was giving her one hell of a high. A slight curve of her fingers as she thrusted and Ilina's moans pitched upward, and moving with force pushed them lower. Bestial little growls. It just felt so good to watch her dance to Krystyn's tune right until that last note.

It was usually polite to let someone know when you were about to finish, but with a face like Ilina's she could get away with it. Krystyn could feel her own face hurting from grinning as she licked the slick from her fingers. She wiped what was left on her pants and watched Ilina's eyes follow them down to her belt.

It was the slight shift of the bed that gave away what Ilina was about to do next. She lunged at Krystyn's belt like she was lunging for a gun in a firefight. Krystyn shoved her back down with one forearm and when she tried it a second time she gave the girl a slap hard enough she was probably seeing stars. It was long enough for Krystyn to get her pants off.

Krystyn hooked an arm under Ilina's knees and dragged her halfway down before gracelessly clamoring overtop the writhing, feral thing. Pinned her head to the bed with a fistful of her hair.

"Tap if you need air," Krystyn panted as she mounted Ilina's face.

Fingernails dug into her legs, and if Ilina was ever the type to let her nails grow she might have been grabbing them tight enough to break skin. Instead, she was sure, she was going to have a bunch of bruises. Well, what good was sex without the fight? And Ilina was a god damn expert at it too even with that feral fight-or-flight energy driving every action.

It felt so stupid to even think, but Manya was outmatched. It was, hands down, the best orgasm Krystyn had since she'd signed up with Hekate. Maybe she could rub it in Manya's face. How good Ilina was at it. Not the other thing. She didn't need to know what fucked up augments Manya's mouth might have.

"Are you finished?" Velia stood, bored and frustrated, reading from some file while Krystyn dismounted.

Right. She was supposed to be following instructions. But the outcome was better than anything this woman could have orchestrated, so she couldn't feel that bad about it.

"Sit." She motioned to the floor in front of her. As Krystyn stretched and knelt where indicated, begrudgingly, Velia sighed. "Do you understand why I'm frustrated with you?"

"Because I didn't follow your stupid orders, right?"

Velia knelt down in front of her. Now they were both on the floor. Somewhere she could hear Ilina snoring quietly. She was the type to fall fast asleep after, huh? Cute. Velia closed the folder in her hands and made some kind of sad-eyed expression.

"Why do you think they were stupid?"

"Ilina was trembling."

"I asked why you thought my orders were stupid."

Oh, was that supposed to be a real question? Well, she had real answers then. "Seems pretty obvious that once I stopped listening to your orders, Ilina felt more comfortable and had a good time. Doing what you said was only stressing her out more and more."

The woman nodded, taking it in for just a moment. "Can you tell me why Ilina was trembling in the first place?"

A silence passed between them. It really didn't take a genius to put it together. Krystyn saw what came after and could already feel a crushing guilt. This wasn't about her piloting. This was about how she treated other pilots.

"She was trembling because she was afraid," Velia continued, as if the silence would be the only answer Krystyn could give. "You calmed her down by giving her exactly what she expected from you. Rough hands and physical abuse. The point of this whole exercise was to start to mend those expectations."

"I get it," Krystyn said, suddenly quiet as she looked at the folder in Velia's hands. "I got it. We can try again, and I'll do better."

"Seventeen pilots, all men, all around Ilina's age. The resemblance is... frustrating," Velia looked down at the closed folder in her hands. "And that was just soldiers that came forward during your little two-year war, Elisabet has a large folder of the men you've assaulted since you joined Hekate."

Krystyn wanted to kill herself. Throw herself out an air lock. She didn't need people dragging up all those memories. She wasn't like that anymore. Except she was, considering how she'd been treating Ilina.

Breath after ragged breath, she could feel herself sinking deeper. She couldn't remember their faces, but that folder had pictures of each and every one of them probably. Don't show them to me. Please don't make me look at what I did. I can't do it anymore. She always said it was wrong, and that she hated seeing how they were treated, but she was worse than anyone else.

A gentle touch on her shoulder helped ground her. Velia's voice was distant, but she could hear instructions. The same as before, that breathing exercise. She matched her breathing to Velia's voice and let herself come back down some. Velia had wrapped her arms around Krystyn's head and pulled her in close, soothing her quietly.

Finally, "Do you want to be better?"

"I don't think I can be."

"I think you can," Velia pet her gently. "Let me guide you."

Venomous creature. At the moment she was most vulnerable.

No half-measures. Complete control.

"Okay."