Safe haven

The Morrigan had arrived at the safety of the space station the Morrigan's crew called home; the station, which the crew had dubbed "Spearhead", was to be used to house and process resources and as a docking and refuelling station for the Morrigan. It also housed a massive stealth drive, making it virtually undetectable; finally, it was to serve as a home base for the Commonwealth until an appropriate habitable planet was found.

Reina made her way to a room guest quarters, where Zav'ra was being accommodated. She was to be the second member of the crew to speak to Zav'ra; Rachel was the ship's specialist when it came to first contact with alien life, so she had been sent in first to help put the ship's new guest at ease.

Rachel was waiting for Reina at the door to Zav'ra's room. It was all she could do to not gawk at the captain in disbelief -- somehow, Rachel thought, Reina was getting hotter and hotter by the minute. Come to think of it, she'd been in awe of Zav'ra's beauty while talking to her. When did she start noticing women like this? "Captain Startooth, Zav'ra is ready to see you."

"How's she doing?" Reina asked. Contrary to Rachel's confused thoughts, Reina knew she was a lesbian, and had known for years; as such, being attracted to another woman wasn't a big deal for her. Still, she couldn't help but notice that Rachel was looking as gorgeous as ever. I need a girlfriend, Reina thought. Holo-Porn and the VR Room could only satisfy her for so long.

"Really well, all things considered," Rachel answered. "She's extremely grateful and says she's more than willing to trust us."

"That's great news. I really think we can help her," Reina said.

Rachel nodded. "So do I. Good luck, Captain."

"It's an artificial intelligence. She was designed for exploration; she can map a star system 50,000 times faster than any modern tech on a spacecraft could."

"She?"

"She's a fully sentient being with her own personality. General Raxus wanted to reprogram her, to weaponize her. He would arm his fleet with twisted copies of her. They would be unstoppable. I couldn't let him or my husband do that to her. So I downloaded her onto a memory shard and stole a fighter from the royal hangar... and you know the rest," Zav'ra explained.

"How did you steal a spacecraft from a royal hangar? I'd imagine security would be extremely tight there," Reina asked.

"Being the king's consort got me access to places most couldn't. And you'd be surprised at what you can get away with when nobody thinks you're capable of anything." Zav'ra clarified.

Reina was impressed by Zav'ra's resourcefulness. This Emperor Ronax had obviously underestimated his wife, but Reina saw courage and potential in the attractive alien princess.

"How did you end up marrying the Emperor?" Reina asked.

Zav'ra sighed. "I was trained to be a royal attendant. My family was poor growing up -- if I could get work in the royal court, it would have raised my family name's standing in the royal hierarchy, and we would have no longer had to live in poverty. I was presented to the court as a potential attendant; Ronax was there, and we were quite taken with each other. He began courting me immediately, and within the year, we were married."

"What changed? Why'd you decide to escape?"

"I wish I could say he changed. I really do. But I think his charm and kindness at the beginning of our relationship was all an act. I think he'd always desired power. Things only got really bad when Raxus showed up, though. My husband wanted power and Raxus showed him how to get it, through brutality and subjugation. He would shower me with gifts, thinking they were fair substitutes for actual love and decency. But I knew better."

Reina sympathized with the alien woman. "I think I understand. Zav'ra... I'm sorry."

"You don't need to apologize. I... did love him once. Or rather, I loved who he pretended to be. But that was a long time ago. Now, I just want to stop him."

"Well, if you want our help, it's yours," Reina reassured Zav'ra.

Zav'ra smiled widely. She barely knew her rescuers, but somehow they gave her a sense of hope she hadn't felt in years. "You have my sincerest gratitude."

Jessica "Gear" Skyborne, the ship's chief computer tech, prepared to plug Zav'ra memory shard into the ship's mainframe. "You're sure about this?"

"I'm sure. Are things OK on your end? Are you sure this 'interface port' will work?" Reina asked back.

"You do know who you're talking to, right?" Gear confidently shot back. The blonde, tattooed beauty grinned widely. This was the kind of work she'd been waiting for; the prospect of getting into and figuring out technology from a new galaxy thrilled her. Gear did enjoy spending time with her crewmates, but they all knew once she got her hands on intergalactic tech she'd be locking her lab door and wouldn't come out until she'd figure the whole thing out. It didn't take long for her to figure out the Maaradanean memory shard, and she was both excited and nervous to find out about the AI on it.

"All right then, go for it," Reina ordered. Gear adjusted her glasses slightly; she'd never really noticed how attractive her captain was before. Weird, she thought, before turning and plugging the memory shard into the ship.

"FOOLS! I now control your ship! You will all bow to me!" A female voice boomed over the ship's speakers.

"Shit, Reina! What the hell did you get us into?!" Gear screamed.

"HAH! I'm just messing with you. Just a little AI humor," the voice laughed.

Gear rolled her eyes. "Great, an AI with a sense of humor. That won't get old."

"Blame my creator. He was constantly cracking jokes and using humor as a defense mechanism. Probably why General Raxus shot him in the head," the AI explained.

"That's... dark," Gear winced.

"It's true, though," Zav'ra piped in. "Raxus has a habit of personally disposing of those he has no use for."

"Anyway, I'm not always making bad jokes. Every so often though, my creator's influence will shine through, so I hope you can tolerate it, Miss..."

"My name's Jess, but everybody calls me Gear. And don't worry too much about it. I'm actually pretty stoked to meet you."

"Glad to hear it. My creator called me Shine," the AI answered.

"Pleasure to meet you Shine. I'm Captain Reina Startooth of the GCS Morrigan. Welcome to our ship."

"The pleasure is all mine, Captain." the AI responded.

"Shine, this is Zav'ra -- I just want to tell you that we're safe here."

The AI's voice spoke, relief in her voice. "Miss Zav'ra -- I am relieved to hear your voice. I see we've escaped Maaradan -- I must thank you for getting me out of there."

"Thank our new friends," said Zav'ra. "They've agreed to help us free our home."

"Well, then, consider me at your service, Captain Startooth. I'll help you in any way I can."

Reina found herself very turned on by the sound of the AI; She wondered if she could find her a body as pretty as her voice. Synthetic robot bodies that could house an AI were a thing back in the Commonwealth; Maybe Gear could come up with something?

It wasn't a Galactic Commonwealth duty to offer help to a planet or topple a space empire, but the Morrigan's crew unanimously agreed that Ronax had to be stopped. Exploration would continue, but the Morrigan's top priority was now helping Zav'ra free Maaradan. Now they'd have to find allies; in an uncharted galaxy, this would be no easy task.

Good thing, then, that Zav'ra had an idea where to start looking.