Misunderstandings · Part 1

Misunderstandings · Part 1 (1/3)
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Author's note: This story takes place in my 'Star Fleet Survey Service' universe, but does not involve the same characters. The first story in that series is 'Field Survey'.

The interstellar liner Gropius was in hyperspace, and it would be for the next several days. Our destination was Zovia, an obscure solar system located on the very edge of Amalgamation space. I was getting off the ship there, and this interminable journey would finally be over. Right now, it was almost closing time here in the second-class lounge, and Sweet Su and her All-Girl Band, of which I am a member, were performing their final number. The sparse crowd of mostly drunks didn't pay much attention until I stood up and began my clarinet solo. I'm a classically trained musician, and I combine technical skill with a passion for music, even the insipid pop music Su chooses for us.

Apparently, this was noticed by even the most indifferent members of the audience, because they gave me a solid round of applause. Of course, this was dwarfed by the roar of approval that erupted when Mari, the band's vocalist, stepped into the spotlight.

Mari is young and blonde, with a pale skin that makes her stand out in a crowd. She has a voluptuous body, barely covered by a diaphanous dress, and this is combined with a sweet face to produce an incongruous combination of wantonness and innocence. She waited a moment until the room got a bit quieter and then she started to sing. It was immediately apparent to all but the totally inebriated that she can't, but, as usual, most of the audience ignored this minor defect when she started to move about and let her body do the communicating.

As always, Mari attracted many admirers, but the most aggressive in this crowd was a handsome young man who elbowed out his rivals and took Mari in his arms for an impromptu dance. After a few moments he whispered in her ear. She appeared to consider what he had asked, but then she noticed Su glaring at her and quickly shook her head and disengaged from the man's arms. Su brought the music to an abrupt end and activated her microphone. "That's all for tonight, folks. Thanks for your attention, and we'll be here tomorrow." She glared at Mari again.

Aliea, the drummer, complimented me. "You got real talent, Dia. You're out of place in this outfit."

"Thanks, Aliea. You're good too." That was true, Aliea did have talent, unlike most of the others in the band. She was also the only one who showed me any friendship. Once again I regretted signing up for this trip. But classical musicians don't make much money, and I hadn't had nearly enough to pay my fare to Zovia, even on an old wreck like the Gropius, so my only alternative had been to work for my passage. I had a good job lined up on Zovia, but I had to pay my own expenses to get there.

The band packed its instruments and we hurried to our bunkroom. It had been a long day, and tomorrow would be more of the same. We weren't housed among the passengers of course, but we weren't even in the crew's quarters. Instead, we were adjacent to the machinery spaces, in a cramped room with eight bunks, stacked in two layers and arranged in two lines along the walls to either side of the entrance door. The Space Worker's Union required that its members have single or at the most double cabins, but us band members were just 'itinerant performers', so the management of this decrepit ship could force us to sleep in one small room.

Aliea opened the corroded door and was met by a blast of heat. "Oh, shit! The air conditioning has crapped out again. Didn't you tell them about this, Su?"

"Yeah, but they said they haven't got the parts they need to fix it. We'll have to live with it until we get to Zovia. It's not that bad."

"That's easy for you to say, you come from a desert planet. I don't like it!"

"Stop whining, Aliea, or I'll give you something to really moan about."

"Hey, I'm not blaming you," Aliea said, almost cringing away from Su's glare. "I guess I can stand it."

Su is half a head taller than me, and I'm fifteen centimeters taller than the next tallest woman in the band. Su is much stronger than any of us, and we're all afraid of her. I heard whispers that she hadn't always been a woman, but none of us dared ask any direct questions.

The band filed into the bunkroom. We were all tired, and there's no place else to go to during the ship's 'night'. I put my clarinet into my locker and tried to decide what to do: strip down to my bra and panties and sleep on top of the bunk's covers or strip bare and sleep under a sheet. It was too hot to do both. I decided not to risk getting naked; I'd had to fight off several gropers in the past. Unlike most of the others I'm not a Lesbian and I don't want to do anything that might encourage unwanted advances. All of the other women stripped naked.

The bunkroom had its own bathroom, a small cubicle at the end of the room opposite the door. It contained a sink, a toilet, and a single shower stall. I used the toilet and decided I'd wait until morning to use the shower, which was currently occupied by Aliea. I heard Su's angry voice and resigned myself to another round of bickering. Su and Mari have a dom/sub relationship, and Su was always abusing poor Mari. I learned the hard way to ignore their squabbles. I tried to intervene once when Mari was getting beat up and I really paid for it.

I washed my hands and face and left the bathroom. Out in the bunkroom, a naked Mari was kneeling on the floor in front of Su, who gripped Mari's hair in her left hand. "What did I tell you about flirting with men, slut?" She violently shook Mari's head.

Mari cried out and grabbed Su's wrist with both of her hands. "I'm sorry, Mistress! I wasn't flirting with him, he came on to me! I didn't do anything."

"You calling me a liar? I saw what you did, and I'm not gonna let you get away with it. It's time you had another lesson. Stay here!"

Su released her grip on Mari's hair and went to her locker. I took advantage of her move to slip by Mari and climb up onto my bunk.

Su took out a coil of thin rope and a plastic rod. When Mari saw these items she shrank down into a crouch. "No, Mistress! Please, don't hurt me. I'm sorry, I won't do it again. Please, no!"

"Shut up, slut. All I want to hear out of you now are screams."

Su held Mari's wrists together and wrapped rope around them. She knotted the rope and took several turns around the loops to form a cinch, then yanked Mari to her feet and put the end of the rope through a ring attached to the bunk support rod, near the ceiling. Su pulled on the rope until Mari was standing on her toes, then tied it off.

The rod was white plastic, about a meter long and a centimeter in diameter. Su whiffed it through the air and Mari whimpered. Without further warning Su struck, a full-strength blow across the center of Mari's bottom. A red welt and Mari's full-throated scream erupted almost simultaneously. For several minutes Mari screamed and sobbed, and I knew she was afraid to say anything, not even beg for mercy. Su waited, and then struck again, the blow crossing the first welt. Mari screamed and jerked at the rope, dancing in a frenzy of pain.

I buried my head in my pillow and tried to muffle the sound. I didn't dare to intervene, the last time I tried, several weeks ago, Su had tied me next to Mari and given me two lashes for every one she gave Mari. It really hurt, and what made it worse was the way all of the other band members, except for Aliea, laughed and cheered as I screamed. When I threatened to complain to the ship's captain Su informed me that if I did she would fire me, and if I was no longer employed by the band the ship would make me pay a fare or put me aground at the next stop. I don't have any money for a fare, so I had to keep my mouth shut. I could still feel the marks the rod left on my thighs and bottom, but they've faded enough so they don't show on my dark skin. I don't want any more, and anyway, for all I know Mari enjoys being whipped.

Finally the beating stopped. Su's target had to be just the small area of flesh covered by Mari's costume, and this was limited. She didn't release Mari immediately, and Mari's crying continued for some time after the lights went out. Finally all was quiet in the bunkroom and I drifted off to sleep. Su's orgasmic moans as she was serviced by Mari woke me briefly, but I ignored them and slept.

Some time later I was abruptly wakened by the loud warbling of an alarm. The alarm box over the bunkroom door was flashing a bright red light. The warbling stopped and a metallic voice blared, "Warning! Warning! Drive instability. All personnel board your escape pods immediately!" This was repeated several times, and then the warbling started again and the cycle was repeated.

The noise was meet by a chorus of groans. Aliea snarled, "Not again! This is the third false alarm in the last month. Is everything on this ship broken?" She hurled a shoe at the alarm box and it hit with a thump. The alarm stopped in mid-warble. "There! Now maybe we can get some sleep."

I climbed down from my bunk and opened the bunkroom door. "But what if it isn't a false alarm this time? Come on, Aliea, better safe than sorry."

"Fuck it! I'm not going to lie around in that smelly pod for the couple of hours it'll take this screw-up crew to decide that nothing is wrong with the drive." Another voice echoed Aliea's sentiments.

"Well, I'm already up, and I can go back to sleep in the pod just as easily as I can in this oven."

"Fine, Dia. You do what you want. See you in the morning."

I shrugged and walked down the dimly-lit corridor to the escape pod. The one advantage of our bunkroom's location is that it's close to a pod bay. I opened the pod door and climbed inside and strapped myself into one of the couches. Su, Mari, and three others, Zaphre, Selen, and Yan, joined me, leaving two empty couches. None of us had bothered to dress, but, characteristically, Su carried her white plastic rod. Su closed and latched the door and the dim lights flickered and then brightened.

Yan asked, "Why do they have all of these small pods, instead of just a couple of big ones? Anyone know?"

We all shook our heads. I have a fair knowledge of mathematics (most musicians do), but few people really understand the technology that they use without a thought, and that includes me.*

Yan continued, "Well, I sure hope the all-clear happens soon. This pod is smelly."

Then the lights went out and I felt an inexpressible wrenching sensation, as though my body was being turned inside out. The drive had gone unstable, the ship was destroyed, and the pod was jettisoned across hyperspace. I fainted.

*From A Child's Encyclopedia of Space Travel

ESCAPE PODS. Sometimes something breaks in a hyperspace drive and it becomes unstable. When this happens much of the matter of the drive is converted into electromagnetic and hyperspacial energy, and the ship is vaporized. Fortunately, this does not happen without warning, so the passengers and crew have time to get into escape pods. These are small craft that are space-worthy and contain air generators, food synthesizers, and other life support equipment. They do not have a propulsion system (except for a thruster with enough fuel to de-orbit the pod), but instead rely on a hyperspacial disemulator.

When the ship's drive disintegrates the pod's hyperspacial disemulator absorbs energy and uses it to transport the pod through hyperspace. The pod's guidance system directs it to the nearest Amalgamation world, or (if none is in range) to the nearest habitable planet. Then the pod automatically de-orbits and deploys its airfoils to glide to a safe landing. A common question is, 'Why are the pods so small?' The answer is that the volume that a hyperspacial disemulator can protect is limited, being inversely proportional to the fourth power of the radius of a sphere centered on the disemulator. This means most pods only have room for ten people or less.

I don't think I was out very long, and when I came to we were in freefall, which meant we were out of hyperspace. The pod lights were back on, and Su was looking at the viewscreen. I asked, "Can you tell where we are? Are we orbiting an Amalgamation planet?"

"No. This planet is marked, 'Not Designated'. I don't know what that means."

I struggled out of the couch straps and floated over to the viewscreen. The interface was simple and I was able to display more information. When I read it I groaned.

Su asked, "What's wrong? Even if this isn't an Amalgamation world we can live on it until the Survey Service rescues us, can't we?"

"It's worse than that. This planet isn't in Amalgamation space, it's near the edge of the galaxy. The best we can hope for is that nothing on the planet will kill us."

"What's the planet like? Can you tell if we can live on it?" I could hear the fear in Su's voice. The other women looked stunned, and no one made a sound, except for a whimper from Mari.

I scrolled down for more information. I read that the axial tilt was twenty nine degrees and the orbit eccentricity was 0.01. The gravity was 0.89 normal, and the atmosphere contained 24% oxygen and 75.3% nitrogen. The temperature was a bit hotter than standard. The planet was surrounded by a wide, highly reflective ring, which is very rare. Another unusual thing was that the planet was mostly covered by water, with only one very small continent. This formed a narrow strip oriented parallel to the equator at about 30 degrees north latitude, and it was very flat, with the highest point only about 350 meters above sea level. I displayed a picture of the continent. It looked like it was covered in plants, and there seemed to be a lot of rivers. So at least we won't land in a desert or on tundra.

"It looks livable, Su." If we don't land in the ocean when we deorbit.

Su started to ask another question, but she was interrupted by a chime and a female voice saying, "Deorbit sequence starting. All passengers must strap into their couches. Prepare for high acceleration forces." I scrambled to my couch and fastened the straps. I could feel the pod rotating and then the thruster firing. The de-acceleration pressed me into the couch, but it wasn't unbearable, and it only lasted for a few minutes. Then there was the rumbling of the airfoils deploying, and soon I could hear the sound of air rushing past the pod.

After a short while there was a metallic whine, a loud click, and then another chime. The voice said, "Prepare for landing. Brace for impact." At those cheering words Mari let out a scream and I tensed up and prepared to die.

The actual landing was anticlimactic. There was a heavy thump, then a bunch of bumps that gradually slowed until we stopped. The voice said, "Atmospheric analysis in process. Stand by." I literally held my breath. Was there some toxic gas or deadly microorganism outside the pod? The voice continued, "Air is breathable. No respirators required. Deorbit sequence complete."

We all cried and cheered. Su unstrapped and lumbered to the door. She pulled it open and clambered outside, first to set foot on our new world. Fine with me, if there's a tiger outside it can eat Su.

Su yelled, "Come on out, it's nice out here."

We all joined her outside the pod. It was nice outside. It was hot, but not impossibly so even in the sun, and there was a gentle breeze that helped keep us comfortable. The pod had landed in an open area near a shallow river that meandered across the bottom of a wide, shallow valley. The vegetation featured large, widely-spaced trees surrounded by low bushes and clear areas covered with a short, grass-like plant. The trees weren't eaten away at the bottom, so there probably weren't any large grazing animals, at least not around here.

"It's all so green," marveled Mari.

That was true. Every growing plant I could see was some shade of green, from the light, intense green of the 'grass' to the darker, muted green of the leaves on the trees. The bare ground near the river was tan and sandy. I'm no geologist, but it looked to me like it was part of a floodplain, and I just hoped we wouldn't get any heavy rain. I liked this landscape. Everyone else in the band lived in cities all their lives, but I grew up on an agricultural planet and I never lived in a city until I enrolled at the seminary to study music. This was like returning to my roots.

Zaphre laughed. "I've never been so scared. I thought I was going to die, but we've managed to come out alive."

Yan muttered, "Yeah, all of us except Aliea and Marzena."

That put a damper on my joy. Aliea was my only friend, and now she was gone.

Su said cheerily, "Yeah, I'm going to miss them too. But there's nothing we can do about it. All we can do now is wait until we're rescued."

Yan said, "If we're rescued. What do you think our chance are, Dia? You seem to know it all."

I don't think we have a chance of being rescued. But I can't say that. "I think we have a good chance, Yan. The pod landed intact, and the emergency beacon is working, if we believe the indicator. But it may take some time before we're rescued because we're so far outside of the Amalgamation. We might have to live here for weeks." Or decades. Or forever.

Selen spoke up. "I'm hungry. Do we have any food?"

I answered, "There is some stored food, and the food synthesizer will generate more from our waste."

"Eeeww. That doesn't sound too good. How do you know all that, Dia?"

"I read the instruction booklet they handed out when we boarded the ship." Which you obviously didn't.

Su proclaimed, "All right, Dia, you're our pod expert. Go get us some food."

I obediently climbed back into the pod. The lavatory and the food synthesizer are at one end, near the door, and the other equipment is at the other end of the pod. The couches are stacked along the walls in two layers, four on either side of a narrow aisle. Below the bottom couches are lockers that should contain the ready-to-eat food, as well as all of the other items needed for survival.

I opened a locker marked 'Food', took out six of the several hundred or so boxes stored there, and passed them out through the doorway. I opened my box, and once the food had heated I used the plastic spoon to eat the mushy glop. I suppose it's nutritious, but it didn't have much appeal. I resolved to search for some edible fresh food.

When the other women finished their meal they tossed the empty boxes on the ground. "Hey!" I shouted. "Put the trash in the grinder in the lavatory. The food synthesizer needs that stuff as raw materials. Besides, who wants to live next to a dump?"

Yan snarled, "Who crowned you queen, Dia? Don't tell me what to do." She clenched her fists and took a step towards me.

Su stepped in front of Yan and gave her a push that sent her sprawling. "I'm the queen here, Yan! And don't you, or anyone else, forget it! Dia's right, I don't want to live next to a dump. I'm appointing you the permanent garbage collector. You collect all the trash."

Yan glared at Su and I could tell she was furious, but she didn't say anything. She knew she wouldn't have a chance against Su in a fight. But I'd watch my back, if I were Su.

Su entered the pod. "What else have we got in here, Dia?

"We should have everything we need to set up a comfortable camp. This pod is really cramped for eight people if they have to wait a long time for rescue." I opened the locker marked 'Tent'. It was empty, except for a few plastic tent stakes and a some coiled guy ropes. "Of course, on a ship like the Gropius things tend to disappear." I pulled out the medical box. It still contained some surgical tape and several boxes of gauze, but all of the drugs were gone.

I opened the locker marked 'Tools'. There were a few hand tools, but most of the locker was filled by a plastic bag stuffed with dried plants. "What's this?" I pulled the bag out of the locker.

Su grabbed it out of my hands. "Wild weed! Don't you know that? This must be part of the crew's stash."

I know what wild weed is, who doesn't? It's one of the most popular recreational drugs in the Amalgamation, providing a sustained high without all of the unpleasant side effects of other drugs. It's the small leaves and seed pods of a plant that will grow just about anywhere, but the active chemical only develops if the conditions, (temperature, humidity, light, etc.) are exactly right. This means it's really cheap on some planets and very expensive on others. I'd tried it a few times, but it costs a lot on my home planet and I could never afford enough of it to get the habit. It's a popular drug among musicians, and I'd heard all of the band members complain about not having any.

Yan stuck her head inside the pod. "Did I hear you say wild weed?"

Su tried to hide the weed, but it was too late, Yan spotted it. She demanded, "Give me some! Don't keep it all for yourself!"

Selen and Zaphre joined Yan and they also demanded some of the weed. Su obviously didn't like it but she grudgingly doled out some weed to the three women. She didn't offer any to me and I didn't ask for any. The stash would be empty soon enough, and I didn't want to get a habit I can't satisfy. I left the pod and went for a walk. Everyone else happily chewed their weed and ignored me.

After the sun set the sky clouded over and a few drops of rain began to fall. Yan tried to climb into the pod, but Su blocked her. "It's too crowded in here. Mari and me will sleep inside and you and the others will sleep outside. Any objections?"

Once again Yan gave Su a murderous glare, but she didn't say anything. It was crowded in the pod, but Su's real reason was clear: she didn't want Yan near her when she was asleep, and she didn't want anyone near the stash of weed.

I asked, "Can I get a cushion off a couch, Su?

"Yeah, sure. Get cushions for everybody."

I stripped the cushions off the upper couches and handed them outside. I found some blankets in another locker and passed some of these out too. I also decided to take off my bra and panties. If we ever are rescued I want something of my own to wear. I put them in an empty locker.

When I finished Su ordered, "Now get out. Anyone tries to get inside the pod they're gonna really regret it."

Yan and Selen muttered angrily, but I didn't mind sleeping outside. There was plenty of shelter under the airfoils, the cushion was comfortable enough, and it sure smelled a lot better out here than in the pod. There were insects flying around, but they avoided me, I guess I smell different. I hope I smell bad to predators too. I didn't see any, but that doesn't mean there aren't any. While I was walking I didn't see any large animals or even any tracks. The only animal I saw was small, and it was eating plants, but there must be a predator to fill the niche. I just hoped it was the size of a bobcat, not the size of a leopard.

It was nice out here, and best of all, being outside meant I wouldn't have to listen to Mari and Su going at it. A gentle rain was now falling, cooling everything down. I watched it until it got dark too dark to see, then I stretched out on my cushion, wrapped myself in a blanket, and fell asleep.

I spent the next week gathering plants and testing them to see if they were edible. Theoretically, the food synthesizer can provide all the food we need if we put even inedible plant material into the grinder, but I didn't trust anything maintained on the Gropius to run for very long. The synthesizer included a food analyzer so I didn't have to take any risk by eating unknown and possibly poisonous plants. I was really surprised at how bountiful this planet is. I found three tree nuts and half a dozen different types of fruits and berries, as well as some root vegetables and a bush that had bean-like pods. There was also a grass-like plant that has a grain that looks like wheat, but I had no way to ma

Misunderstandings · Part 1 (1/3)
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