A Separated Family

"Come on Nisk, after all the business we've done over the years can't you-" William Carter was cut off before he could finish his plea.

"On behalf of Rycoast Sector Goods we offer our sincerest apologies Mr. William Carter. Unfortunately for Carter Transports, TransEx has offered an expansive bulk deal at a fraction of the cost your company requests. I must, with great regret, inform you that our partnership of, in human time measurements: twenty-two years, seven months, nineteen days and six point one hours is now, officially, terminated." Before William could say another word the holographic video cut off.

The man whom had just been hung up on slammed his fist down on the console in front of him. "Damn them!" William cursed, "Damn TransEx! And that stupid squid straight to hell!" Nisk had been one of Will's first and most loyal customers; well, up to now anyway. He'd thought they had a good thing going. And they did, right up to TransEx's expansion at least. Now William Carter could all but kiss the Rycoast system goodbye. That was two inhabited planets and five mining planetoids worth of business. "DAMN IT!" he shouted again.

With a heavy sigh William called out, "AVIOCS, any new listings in the named sectors?"

The Advanced Virtual Intelligence Operating Computer System was a hovering hand mirror-like machine; it had remained stoic behind William Carter but now moved to be within eyesight of the man. "Negative sir. No new posts in the approved sectors. I would feel remiss, however, if I failed to report the various open transportation requests found within the Axis Territories or on Confederate Worlds."

William sighed heavily and wondered, not for the first time, if things really were so hard up in Dominion space that an honest, law abiding subject really had to look to the anarchist Confederates or even worse the lawless Axis systems to turn a profit?

He had vowed his business would never go outside Dominion space. William was a patriot at heart and the idea of anything but Dominion Debits was downright heresy! But the numbers were tight. Big business shipping companies were moving in on what had been freelance contracts for the last hundred and fifty years, and were beginning to shut them out. If Carter Transports was to continue operating in the black maybe it was time to look to new markets.

William's thoughts were interrupted by a beeping from the floating droid "Sir, incoming call from Mr. Jerry Steel. Would you like me to put it through?"

'Shit!' Will thought to himself 'Just what I need.'

Summoning his composure William said to the machine, "Put him on." A moment later the holo flickered to life displaying the fifty-five year old Jerry Steel along with his ever present and completely disturbing smile. "Jerry!" Will greeted as politely as possible, "To what do I owe this pleasure?"

Steel waived his hand as though to dismiss the question, "Oh Will, how many times do I have to tell you? Call me Mr. Steel."

'Condescending bastard.' Will thought

"I'm just calling because I recently heard of TransEx's expansion into the Denova system. A tragedy really, I mean all those lost revenue possibilities..." Jerry's visage shook in contemplation before fixing William with a stare of intent. "More than that the Denova system is right on the border of Rycoast, if anything were to happen to my holdings in that system, well... I might have to re-examine the management of my business."

William pursed his lips and shook his head, swallowing his pride he said, "Actually, Mr. Steel, our biggest customer just signed with TransEx."

Jerry Steel's smile fell into a look of disapproval, and if Will found his smile disturbing, this was downright frightening. "I see." Jerry said curtly, "I assume then that you've found new markets for my company?" William hated how Jerry Steel used the words 'my company'. Just because he owned fifty-three percent of the business didn't make it 'his', Will's name was on the damn sign!

William Carter had started the Carter Transports nearly thirty years years ago right after he graduated college. Scrounging together every last debit he had Will got a loan and put a down-payment on an old cargo transport. It was pretty beat-up, but William sunk every last minute he had into that thing, treating it like it was his child. With that one ship, what he had dreamed of being a shipping empire, began.

Business was tight those first few years, eating nothing but protein paste and drinking recycled water; but by the time Will had turned thirty the ship was paid off and with customers like Nisk he was turning a tiny profit. But a tiny profit wasn't what William had chased. He wanted to be a shipping Mogul, a Titan. That was when Jerry Steel approached him.

With capital that Will could only dream of, Jerry bought up seventy percent of the company, and practically wrote William a blank cheque for everything he needed. New ships, experienced captains, skilled crews. Within ten years William was on top of the freelance transport world using what profits he earned from his minority ownership to slowly purchase back controlling interest.

Everything seemed to be going as he had hoped, but now things were different. Roughly ten years ago big shipping companies began moving in on the outer-rim colony worlds and were underbidding freelance operators like William. Profits started shrinking and Will could feel he was being squeezed out. And Jerry who had always been so amicable to William was now so... cold.

At least ever since that dinner seven months ago with Linda and Cindi.

William shook his memories away; he wanted to stay in the safety of Dominion space but finances dictated he couldn't. With a final breath he met Jerry's steel gaze with his own, "As a matter of fact I do. Lucrative opportunities have just opened nearby, and we should see our profits return as early as next month."

Jerry looked skeptical but after a moment said, "Then I look forward to next month's financial reports." William slowly breathed a heavy sigh before Jerry continued, "But William if I don't see the numbers return to what they used to be or better, I will have to take corrective measures. Do I make myself clear?"

Damn him!

"Yes. Mr. Steel."

That damned smile returned "Excellent! Then we'll talk again next month."

The holo immediately cut out and William almost collapsed on the console in front of him. After several moments he called, "AVIOCS, highlight all red sector postings and begin a search, filter by proximity, time allotment and price; give me a list of all shipping requests near Dominion Space that would make up Carter Transports lost revenues from the Rycoast system contracts within thirty solar days."

"Right away sir." The machine replied before setting to its task.

William rubbed his forehead trying to ease the guilt of his conscience. Confederate Worlds and Axis Territories! At least they were still controlled by what passed for human governments. It would be a cold day in hell before he began dealing with Aliens.

Moments later the hovering droid buzzed, "Search complete sir, ninety-three possible matches found."

NINETY-FUCKING-THREE!!! WHAT THE FUCK!!!

"I must point out sir that since there are no official exchange rates between Dominion debits for either Confederate credits or Axis dollars, profit margins can vary greatly. Of the ninety-three open contracts only seventy-four are all but guaranteed to provide adequate sums to cover the losses sustained by the Rycoast system."

William Carter's jaw had figuratively hit the floor as well as, almost, literally. Seventy-four contracts that could cover THAT MUCH MONEY!!! Will was beside himself with shock and more than a little bit of anger. "AVIOCS, transfer the list to my display." He commanded the machine.

"Right away sir."

An instant later information began appearing on the console in front of William Carter and he began scrolling though the list. Most of the requests offered such amounts of currency that Will couldn't help but be offended by how little he'd been making over the past quarter century. There was one post however that was downright ludicrous.

Will thumbed it.

Scanning the detailed report William noticed that most of the items and quantities would be extremely difficult to acquire in Dominion space and a handful that were illegal. Getting them would be impossible unless...

"AVIOCS, are there any worlds within Confederate or Axis space that carry the highlighted materials in abundant quantities without legal restrictions on their acquisition?" William asked.

"One moment sir." AVIOCS buzzed for several seconds before answering, "Several sir, however, I have calculated that only one world is reachable within the allowed time for final delivery; as well as, allowing the contract's revenue to offset the additional expenses for purchasing the items in question."

'YES!' William shouted in his mind before asking "Which one?"

"Tau Ceti sir." The droid answered, "However, sir, two issues remain."

"Which are?"

"There are currently no 'Carter Transports' vessels with enough free cargo space to supply the requested amounts. All transports with adequate storage capacity are currently en-route to other destinations. Further, I calculate that using enough smaller vessels to accomplish the task would take approximately thirty-six point nine two solar days to arrive at final destination.

'If it wasn't one thing...' William thought to himself.

"What's the second?"

"Scanning the contact information for the highlighted items they are categorized as 'In Person Negotiations Only"

'Great,' William mused. He couldn't go himself too much business to organize and too many hands to shake at home. The only other person he trusted enough to set up new contracts in person was Linda, but she had just finished her last delivery, and was on her way to Proxima Prime and wouldn't be able to...

Wait...

'LINDA!'

"AVIOCS! How long would it take the Princess to reach Tau Ceti from it's current destination?"

"Twelve days sir. However, the CTV-06: the Princess is a Serenity-class freighter and is not equipped with the cargo space for..."

"Don't worry about that AVIOCS, I just thought of something. Activate the hidden tracking module on CTV-01."

If it were possible for a machine to sound pensive, AVIOCS did, "As you wish sir. One moment"

Linda's customary stop at Proxima Prime was for a little self pampering, or at least William always assumed it was. But this time it would have to wait. She'd be upset with him but he would make it up to her, in the biggest way ever.

"Activation achieved, location confirmed: Carter Transport Vessel Zero One the Falcon-4 currently inside planetary orbit of Enoth moon Yavobah. Estimated travel time to Tau Ceti: twelve days. Estimated rendezvous time with Carter Transport Vessel Zero Six the Princess: seven point two days."

'When a door closes a window opens' William thought. "AVIOCS. Open a channel to the Falcon-4, I want to talk to my son."

---

Adam Carter tossed a small coin-purse to the two foot creature in front of him. "There you go Qip, three hundred grams of pure Zytroite salt, as promised."

The rodent opened the purse and sniffed inside with what seemed to be wild abandon. When his nose finally emerged from the pouch his eyes closed and mouth curled in what Adam could only assume was a look of pure ecstasy.

Qip began screeching in his native language and a second later Adam's earpiece began translating the noises into something he could understand, ((Excellent quality. Good business. Worth price. Seven thousand yours.))

Adam smirked, "You're a funny guy Qip. You know the deal was for twelve."

Qip sniffed the air in front of him; whereas humans had varying degrees of body language to communicate what they were feeling, the more contact Adam had with Qip's species the more it seemed all they were capable of doing was sniffing. ((Twelve not possible. Adam Porter take seven. Be happy.))

"Not gonna happen Qip, you owe me twelve." Adam replied in a tone that made it clear he wasn't kidding around while still managing to sound flippant.

The rodent creature screeched again ((Adam Porter take seven.)) He then nodded to his companions, ((Or Adam Porter take nothing.))

They were in a shipping storage yard surrounded by massive cargo crates, most of which were stationary; but some that were in transit, being hauled overhead by cable-wires to points where they would either be offloaded or loaded onto new transport vessels depending on their identification tags. Qip had requested this place as the exchange point thinking it would give him an advantage and it would have, had Adam not planned ahead.

When they first made the deal he told Qip the Falcon-4 would arrive, cargo in hand, in twenty-five days. It had taken them fourteen days to gather the goods and make a full-burn run for Yavobah. The last eleven Adam and his crew had been routinely scouting the drop point with the Falcon-4 just outside the system's edge. Whatever edge Qip thought he had, he didn't.

Adam counted five armed guards around Qip. Three surrounded the rodent whilst another one was perched atop a cargo crate about sixty meters away, sniper rifle in hand, it's scope trained squarely on Adam's forehead. The final one sat cloaked behind another cargo crate waiting to **** Adam and his companion or extract Qip depending on how the situation evolved. At Qip's motioned command, all drew their weapons and directed them at Adam.

Adam turned to the Seductite woman beside him, "Why is it we always deal with people who try to cheat us?"

Kayla gave him a half smile and shrugged her shoulders, "Well, I'm not sure but I'm gonna guess it's 'cause you always make deals with criminals."

Adam snapped his fingers before shaking his hand and pointing skyward, "That must be it."

A moment later a round fired from Adam's own sniper, situated half a kilometer away, pierced two of the cables holding a cargo container overhead. The crate lurched downward; the **** causing the other cables to snap under the unexpected added weight. Just over a second later the container impacted the ground causing Qip and all of his men to turn and look at what had just happened.

Another quarter second later Qip's sniper's head exploded as a second round found it's way squarely between his eyes.

Adam and Kayla dived in opposite directions taking cover behind concrete guards protruding from the ground as they each heard through their headsets, "I love this rifle!"

Adam smirked at Vale's comment while removing his blaster from it's holster on his leg. Two of Qip's guards began laying down suppression fire in the area that they though the shot had come from while Adam popped up from behind cover to shoot the third one twice in the chest and a final time in the head as he was turning around to face Kayla and Adam.

With the commotion behind them, another guard turned to see Kayla's popped out of cover and aiming his pistol at his compatriot still firing wildly. The guard would have shot at her, but he was distracted by the small flat device sailing, from Kayla's position, through the air to land right on his shoulder. He looked quizzically at the beeping thing before exploding a moment later. Impressively, the explosion was at the exact same time that a blaster shot pierced the third guard's heart, killing him.

A final sniper shot gunned down Qip's stealthy guard a full fifteen meters from Qip's position; who coincidentally had been curled up in a ball quivering on the floor throughout the entire six second exchange.

"My name is Vale Dromcahs! And this is my favorite spot on Yavobah!"

Adam saw Kayla shaking her head, chuckling to herself, and Adam himself couldn't suppress a smile. "Thanks Vale, keep an eye-out will you?" Adam said.

"I always do."

Adam sauntered over to Qip's quivering form before kneeling down so that they were at eye-level. Qip's black eyes looked fearfully at Adam before screeching.

((TWELVE THOUSAND!))

---

Forty-four minutes after their encounter with Qip was over, Adam, Kayla, and Vale were walking back up the ramp to board the Falcon-4 when a petite orange skinned, very young woman popped out from one of the vents in the bulkhead.

"How'ditgo?" She asked wide-eyed and overly excited.

Vale patted his rifle affectionately, "Lola bagged two."

"Don'tcare'boutLola." Uma snapped, "Didjagetmoney?"

Adam smirked and Kayla chuckled as the Seductite woman moved to stand in front of the orange skinned girl before she patted Uma on the head and gave her a little chip. "Don't spend it all in one place."

Adam didn't think it was possible, but he could have sworn he saw Uma's eyes grow even wider before she scampered off somewhere into the ship to hoard her treasure. Kayla's smile grew wider, and Adam couldn't help but look at her adoringly.

Of all the species in the galaxy, seductites looked the most human; As a matter of fact, both genetically and anatomically, the two were virtually identical. There were several hundred documented cases of human/seductite offspring. Indeed many historians and geneticists sought to prove there was some sort of common ancestry between the two species. To this point however, there was no conclusive proof.

Differences existed of course, the most prominent being seductites had an outward curved coccyx, giving them a small tail. Further, seductite women produced eggs throughout their lifetime, much like human males produce sperm; allowing them to bare children until ****. And of course their most differential feature from humans, their skin pigmentation and hair color.

Like humans, seductites had varying shades of skin and hair colors. However, while humans were different shades of beige, and brown; seductites were pink, blue and violet. Human hair color naturally existed in shades of blond, auburn, and brown, seductite hair was generally some manner of blue or purple.

Kayla happened to be the most breathtaking shade of pink with rich indigo hair that Adam had ever seen. She turned to look at him the moment Uma was out of sight; he gave her a warm smile, and she couldn't help but return it. That was when Adam heard it, and not for the first time, her heart skipped a beat. It wasn't loud, or anything that anyone else on the ship could hear, but he heard it.

She bit her lower lip, her smile now inviting, and Adam could smell it. It wasn't rich, or anything that anyone else on the ship could smell; but he could smell it. Subtly her chest was heaving, her body sweating, moisture escaping into the air and Adam could taste it. It wasn't potent, or anything that anyone else on the ship could taste; but he could taste it. All this led Adam to two inescapable conclusions. The first was obvious, Kayla was in heat.

The second, well... Adam didn't want to think about that.

"Shh, Lola, shh. Don't listen to her. I care about you, and that's all that matters." Vale said walking, between Adam and Kayla, back to the male dormitory wing, stroking the sniper rifle lovingly.

Vale had distracted him for a moment, but when Adam turned his attention back to Kayla she was closing the distance between them with slow measured steps. One foot in front of the other, she moved like a cat. Her eyes caught his gaze and wouldn't let it go. Adam felt his trousers grow tight in the crotch and his hand instinctively clutched the cold metal of the blaster pistol strapped to his right leg.

Adam's hand squeezed the handle of his weapon crushing the steel, something he shouldn't be able to do, as Kayla pressed her voluptuous and soft body against his muscular frame. Her hand snaked down, finding its way under the waistline of his pants to grab his already stiff member.

She breathed deep as though his scent was intoxicating when Adam considered the reverse to be true. Kayla craned her neck, standing on her toes so that her mouth might reach Adam's ear to whisper, "Let's go back to your room."

The sound was sweet, like candy for his ears and Adam found himself sucking in a deep breath just so he could answer.

Unfortunately he never got the chance to.

"Captain, incoming transmission from Dominion space. Someone called William Carter. It's listed as urgent." Jax's voice broke in over the ship's intercom completely ruining the mood.

Adam's face went from one of complete arousal and anticipation to that of confusion and a hint of anger in an instant. Looking down into Kayla's violet eyes he saw concern and sadness staring back at him. Of all the members of his crew only she knew the whole story of his past.

She was there at the very beginning. She was the reason everything had changed.

A thousand questions ran through Adam's head: How had his father found him? What did he want? Why was he calling now? When did he change his mind about never speaking again? Where could Adam hide? Who died? Had hell really frozen over?

Adam shook his head, "I don't want to talk to him." He whispered.

Kayla kissed him lovingly, "I know." Then with great effort she **** a smile, "But he's your father."

Adam breathed deep again and pressed his forehead against hers, "I'll take it in my quarters Jax." He said after a moment.

"Transferring call to your cabin's terminal Captain."

Adam took Kayla's hands in his and pressed his lips against them before looking into her shimmering eyes. "Go check on Ixon see if our legit drop here is done."

With a half smile Kayla gave him a mock salute "Aye, aye Captain." She turned and walked down the corridor swaying her hips as she went. Her knee-length tail wagging tellingly. Just as she came to the corner she turned back to Adam and with a mischievous smile asked, "Call me to your cabin after?"

"Maybe." Adam wasn't really sure how he'd feel after his call.

Kayla's playful smile faded to concern again. "I love you." She said simply.

Adam wished he could say it back; instead he mustered a half smile and the best response he could.

"I know."

---

"Tau Ceti!" Linda Carter cried in outrage upon hearing the news of where her husband wanted her to divert her ship. "I'm not going to Tau Ceti Bill. There's no way!"

"Please Linda," William Carter holo projection pleaded, "Calm down..."

"Calm down! CALM DOWN!!! Don't tell me to calm down William! You have no idea what it's like there!" Linda screamed at him.

"And you do?"

She wanted to scream 'YES!!!' at that moment she wanted to tell him all about her first hand experiences on that god forsaken planet. She wanted to finally reveal all the horrible crimes and atrocities she'd suffered through. But she didn't. She couldn't. He didn't know. And she'd worked very hard to keep it that way.

Instead she simply repeated, "I'm not going to Tau Ceti."

William sighed, "I called Adam, Linda."

Linda face went immediately from fury to shock. "What..." Her voice was scarcely a whisper.

"That's how important this is." William explained. "He can meet up with you in ten days."

As though those words could fix how devastated she had been when William had cast him out. He didn't know how important Adam was to her. He didn't understand how precious he was. There were so many things he didn't know.

"I even told him, if he did this job... I'll fix things Linda. I'll make it so he can come home." William was pleading with her now and damn it! it was working.

But Tau Ceti? Could she really go back?

Linda's eye caught the old-fashioned photograph sitting atop her workstation. It was shot with one of those antique digital cameras, and printed on photographic paper. Linda had insisted on it; she wanted something she could touch, not a three-dimensional holo. Over the past six years nothing had caused her more joy or anguish that that framed photo.

Looking at it, Linda saw herself twenty-five years ago. She looked ragged, and exhausted but thirty-six hours of labor would do that to any woman. There were tears on her face, her hair was a mess, and it was quite frankly the worst possible photo of her in Linda's life. But that wasn't important, what was important was the newborn baby boy she held in her arms. She loved her children equally, but Adam was her favorite.

He was the first one she ever got to keep.

And if going back to Tau Ceti meant she could be with her son again. Damn it Will...

"You can really fix things?" She asked wiping a tear away.

"I promise."

With a heavy sigh Linda steeled herself. "Okay, I'll do it."

With those four words she felt like the weight of a star system just fell on her shoulders.

"Thank you Linda. I promise you it'll be just a quick pickup. You'll be back home in no time."

Linda scoffed. 'Yeah right' she thought but simply said, "Fine."

"I love you." William said.

"I know." Linda answered.

An instant later the connection ended and Linda sat back in her chair only to wince as she felt the injection in the back of her neck. The needle always reminded her of her past, and she shut her eyes to block out the memories.

It didn't work

"No daddy! I don't wanna go!"

"I know Princess," Her father said with a sad smile "But you have to do this for daddy."

Tau Ceti was a world in the Axis Territories. A region of space that had no governments, no regulations, and for many no hope. It was a place where the only law came from the barrel of a gun. A place were every person made their own rules, and those rules only counted if you made them count. A deal was a deal, until a better one came along. There were no political parties in Axis Territory just pure, unobstructed freedom.

The place was complete and utter chaos.

Axis Territory was run by whatever warlord, mobster, criminal, loan-shark, or con-man that was closest to you. And if you happened to be the closest one you watched your back. There were always some young guns looking to take you down. The only thing all of them had in common was they refused to bow down to the imperial doctrine of the Dominion and there were no government to control enough territory to join the Confederates.

Tau Ceti was a typical Axis world. And that was where Linda was born.

Linda's father was a kind man, a joyous man, a loving man, a considerate man, and a likable man; but more than anything, Richard was an ambitious man. He was a man of many get rich quick schemes, a man of expensive tastes, a man who couldn't hold down a job, a man who gambled and got in deep with the sharks, and a man who couldn't pay his debts.

Richard owed money to the local gangster, Bubba. Not being able to pay him back, he was offered a choice; work off his debt over the next five years in slavery. Or hand over his five year old daughter.

Richard gave Linda up without a second thought.

If anyone would have looked at the exchange they would have wondered why Bubba offered that deal. It made no real sense. But Bubba was a man of immense wealth and always looked to make more. He also understood that in order to make money, sometimes you have to spend money. That was why he gave Richard the loan in the first place. And that was also why he shelled out obscene amounts of money for what came next.

Genetic modification was strictly outlawed in Dominion space, and it was heavily regulated on most Confederate worlds. In Axis territory there were no such restrictions. And so Linda underwent the most extensive and, by far the most expensive, genetic engineering in known space. Turning a human into a metamorph.

Genetic modification merely enhanced abilities individuals already possessed: sight, strength, hearing, speed, reflexes, etc. Genetic engineering was a whole other matter entirely. It added things people shouldn't have: the ability to digest cellulose, the ability breathe underwater, the ability to survive in vacuum. Metamorphs were a special kind of genetic engineered individual. Created to be the perfect mate.

It was a process that took more than fifteen years; Linda's body and mind were modified with several added abilities. First, was the addition of cells in her brain to make her an empath; she was able to feel other people's emotions; love, hate, joy, despair, lust... everything. It made her fine tuned to react to people in just the right way. Second was her ability to consciously control her body's rate of cellular division. Linda could age, but only if she wanted to; and she healed incredibly quickly. Third, her epidermis and hair follicles were encoded with several microscopic dyes allowing her to change her hair and skin color to whatever she wanted.

Her body's storage of nutrients, sugars and fats as well as her metabolism could be controlled consciously allowing her, to a limited degree, change her body shape. Her muscle mass and bone density were increased, making her several times stronger and faster than someone else her size. Like a seductite, she could actually produce egg cells, giving her an unlimited reproductive life-cycle. Her senses were sharpened, allowing her to see, hear, smell, taste and feel things that no human could. Every organ in her body was enhanced to work at peak efficiency, keeping her perpetually with the body of a woman who had just reached physical maturity. But the defining characteristic of a metamorph was their ability to imprint on one person.

Only one.

Over time, and dictated by proximity, a metamorph would... meld psychically with another individual. They would tailor their thought patterns, desires, and goals to fit those of the individual they had imprinted on. They became subservient, wanting whatever the other wanted. Even tying their natural lifespan to the other.

The perfect ****.

And that was what Linda was to Bubba. She did things for him. Things that if she was asked to do them now would make her wretch. But at the time... she wanted to do them. Looking back at the memories she felt conflicted. Linda now shut them away in fear; but she remembered how good she felt pleasing Bubba. And Bubba used her to his utmost pleasure.

She'd been everything for him, lover, assassin, but most of all, she'd been a whore. That was where the money was, and Bubba loved nothing more than money. The sums that people would pay for time with Linda was ridiculous, atrocious, offensive and obscene. But even that wasn't where the real money was. The eggs Linda could produce were adaptive, able to change and become compatible with any sperm cell they encountered; allowing her to breed with anything.

Her offspring assumed the species and traits of their same-sex parent. Male children would be whatever their father was; but her sons were inconsequential and they were discarded. It was her daughters that were the prize, as each and every one of them was a metamorph like Linda. And each one was sold for a price that was only matched by a planetoid worth of Unobtainium.

Oh yes, Bubba's investment paid off. His new found wealth brought him considerable power and with it considerably powerful enemies. After a decade the regions of Tau Ceti that Bubba controlled were under siege by various criminal elements that wanted his wealth, and power. If he was anyone else he might have made it, but Bubba was no strategist and sooner than anyone expected, his head was found mounted on the gates to his palace.

The only known way to break an imprint was the **** of either party. And with Bubba's ****, Linda was free. However, her mind would constantly seek a new person to imprint on. Using all of the talents at her disposal she eventually escaped Tau Ceti. Ultimately hitching a ride on a human cargo transport from Titan IV. Titan was a Confederate world with 2.8x Earth normal gravity and a scarce atmosphere. Every person who went there had to wear a special suit, and every native was genetically modified with, beyond even Linda's, enhanced muscle mass, bone density and senses.

She'd kept away from the crew for most of the trip, and managed to keep from imprinting on anyone new. But she had paid for the ride with her womb, and that was how she conceived Adam.

Linda wanted to go to a Confederate world, but their military was stationed along the border of Dominion space, not Axis Territory. And Confederate border inspections were notoriously spotty. If anyone tried to track her down, the only place she would be safe was in Dominion space.

And that was how she ended up on Proxima Prime. There she'd found a kind doctor who fitted her with a cybernetic device situated at the base of her skull, that monitored her body's electrical impulses and cells. Periodically it would inject her with a chemical compound that would suppress her metamorphic alterations. Keeping her, more or less, human. The compound was kept in a beautifully designed collar Linda wore around her neck, and the compound had to be replaced after every injection.

The only reason it worked was because she hadn't yet imprinted on another individual, and so long as she kept a healthy supply of the chemical in her system she never would again. A week later she met William. His moderate wealth and freedom of mobility made him an appealing target, and even with her suppressed assets she managed to charm him completely.It wasn't even hard. She did appreciate him, and eventually even came to love him. The hard part was convincing him Adam was merely two months premature. But once that was done, the rest was history.

Unfortunately a nagging truth plagued Linda for the past twenty-five years; if she went too long without the chemical, she could imprint on another person. And if she did imprint on someone else, the compound would be rendered useless. That was the reason for her trips to Proxima Prime. She needed to see the doctor, keep getting her serum, and keep from becoming someone's ****.

When the collar had first been set up, she got by with an injection every month. Now they were coming in less than twenty-four hour intervals. And she was running dangerously low on her serum. When Cindi was born Linda had set her up with a similar device, but a greater supply of the compound. She should be fine for the next month or so. Assuming of course Cindi kept refilling her supply.

Proxima Prime was still four days away and in the opposite direction of Tau Ceti. Linda might not even have five days worth of the chemical now. With a tinge of apprehension, she called out, "AVIOCS, alter course for Tau Ceti, set full burn and engage."

"Yes Lady Linda."

A tear slipped down Linda's cheek. She sniffed and wiped it away before smiling.

For the first time in six years, Linda was going to see her baby boy.

[Author's note: Don't be shy people, additions are welcome!]