Freya and the Space Hippies

"Correction," she said. "Come about to 105 mark 10. Accelerate to 500 clicks."

"That'll knock everyone off their feet!" Ember barked. "And could melt the propulsion coils."

"Do it and it'll be, uh, far out and outta sight," Freya said haltingly.

Veldt sounded the acceleration alarm and turned the ship, putting it directly between two Invaders. Freya launched one missile at each while blinding them with the communication lasers. Moments later, the Invader ships ruptured into soundless bursts of energy and atmosphere.

Freya swiveled the particle beam to target the remaining ship but before she could lock on, it fired its engines and slid behind a thick arm of dust and gas swirling toward the protostar. She gave Veldt new vectors but before he could react, a missile streaked out, headed for their engines.

Immediately, Veldt began turning the Beneficio while Freya released countermeasures, but it was too late: the ship shook as the missile struck aft, missing the engines but breaching the hull at a crew area. On her screen, Freya gasped to see ship plating and bodies spiraling into the void.

"I can see the ship!" Ember said. "On the stellar instruments!"

Freya turned. Ember had somehow tuned the science sensors to peer through the murky star stuff, revealing an outline of the remaining invader ship.

Together, the three plotted a course to slide along the obscuring tendril of stellar material then emerged into clear space directly behind the invader. Freya fried the invader's drive and weapon ports with sweeps of the particle beam.

"We have one missile left," Freya said, finger hovering over the release. "It'll finish them off."

"No!" Veldt and Ember both yelled, jumping to their feet.

"They're drifting and spinning," Ember said. "Their trajectory is outbound from the star. They're no threat anymore."

Freya studied the instruments. "They're beaconing a distress call. More Invaders might be here soon."

"Good," Veldt said. "Then they'll be rescued. We'll jump when we've orbited to the other side of the star. We don't need more blood on our hands."

"They're invaders!" Freya yelled. She stood, fists balled. "They'd render everyone here down to our amino acids if they'd defeated us. Install our cerebellums in their navigation tanks!"

"Don't flip out," Ember said. She embraced Freya with her warm furry body. "Breathe, baby. We defend ourselves when we have to, and nothing more."

Freya drew a breath, ready to argue, but Veldt pulled them all into a three-way hug.

"Make love, not war," he rumbled, stroking Freya's hair. "You grok, babe?"

They had been moments from being murdered, or worse, captured, and yet they sought mercy? A revolting concept. Such weakness! Such foolishness. The Invaders wouldn't have been so charitable. Yet looking at Ember and Veldt, she saw no naivety—their eyes held only strength and compassion.

Freya sighed and disarmed the ship's weapons. "I grok."

~~~~

In the common room, everyone greeted Freya, Veldt and Ember with muted praise and respectful thumps of fists on shoulders. Six crew had died in the attack.

Freya looked for Issa, then fled to sickbay when she couldn't find her.

A crew member covered in shining silver feathers was treating a horrific wound on Issa's thigh.

"I was aft," Issa said. "Got hit by debris before crawling out to seal the compartment. Three others were trapped, but I had to seal the hatch before the hull blew out."

She sobbed. "I couldn't save them! Back in my colony I saw many people die, of course, but here we're not members of some faction. Here, we're one. We're family."

Freya saw how Issa's colors had become muted in her grief. She wanted to kiss her, hug her, comfort her, but the remains of her conditioning flickered to life and hardened her heart.

"I—I failed everyone," Freya said, feeling tears welling up. "I should have anticipated that missile."

"That's not what everyone's saying," Issa said. "You pounded those Invaders. Without you, they would have killed us easily. Guess you're more captain than doctor, eh?"

"I was conditioned from birth to serve in defense," Freya said. "Later I chose to focus on sciences."

"And they let you?"

Freya shrugged. "I was good at slaughter, but better at science."

~~~~

The ship made a series of jumps ending at a rare binary protostar system—an uncharted one at the edge of known space.

Over the next month, Freya helped repair the ship, gather data with the astrophysicists, and scoop up raw elements and gases that swirled within the newly formed star system to replenish their stores. She used her biomedical knowledge to heal injured crew, including Issa. Soon, Issa's thigh healed, though her skin at the injury didn't quite match the surrounding pattern.

Freya served shifts in the galley with Issa, preparing and serving food. The pair grew close as Issa patiently showed Freya that cooking by hand wasn't as archaic as she thought.

Despite her misgivings, Freya found herself liking the colorful misfits and their laid-back ways. They were relentlessly cheerful, eager to help, and every evening, were as keen to discuss philosophy and play music as they were to share their love. Freya still only watched the evening orgy, though the temptation to join in grew, especially when Veldt and Ember got frisky with Issa.

~~~~

While sighting the forming stars through a spectroscope, Freya gasped, double-checked her readings then ran to Hydroponics. She located Issa pruning blackcurrants.

"Come! They're here! They've arrived!"

In the common room, Issa punched the code to open the viewing portal. As it irised wide, the crew saw ghostly tendrils of primordial gas and dust drifting between the two forming stars. Issa enabled the enhancement overlay and the shapes of a pod of space whales became clear. Overhead, speakers translated their radio frequency calls into haunting beckoning cries.

"Stellar pseudocetaceans," Freya breathed. "Journals said they existed, but I never really believed it."

The translucent rainbow swirls of their immense bodies swooped as they nuzzled each other and fed off the rare elements abundant near protostars.

"One of four known naturally occurring space species," Issa said, sliding an arm around Freya. "We know what they 'eat' but we've never discovered how they travel between stars. When I got my new skin, I asked for it to be exactly like theirs. The techs messed up. My skin is too colorful."

Freya said, "Baby, your skin blows my mind."

Issa gave her a sideways glance. "Yeah? Sounds like you're getting hip."

"Babe, to quote the ancients, I'm so hip I have difficulty seeing over my pelvis. I'm in the groove. I'm tuned in, turned on and dropped out."

Issa embraced Freya, her smile wide. "That a fact, or an act?"

Freya pulled Issa into a kiss, reveling in the joy of finally holding her and how she felt in her arms. So many nights she had lain in her quarters pleasuring herself to fantasies of Issa, her friend and guide, Veldt the terrifying but gentle giant and cuddly little Ember.

She guided Issa's hand down past the waistband of her harem pants to her waiting pussy. Her knees weakened as Issa glided fingers through her slick folds.

"A fact, I see," Issa said. "Far out. Want to go back to your pad and get it on?"

Freya lowered her harem pants past her hips and stepped out of them. "This is where it's at," she breathed. She kissed Issa again, roaming her hands over her body, thrilled to see her colors brighten. "This is where it's happening. We can make love right here, dig?"

"Oh, baby, I dig. Lay down and let me send you to paradise."

Freya gave Issa a final loving kiss, then lay back on a bean bag. Issa guided her legs apart then made Freya giggle by kissing her tummy and teasing her belly button with her tongue.

When Issa kissed her way to Freya's eager pussy, she looked up. Freya was breathing hard, looking into Issa's eyes.

"Chill," Issa said, sweeping her fingers lightly over Freya's inner thighs and mons. "You don't have to watch me. You can just lay back, watch the whales and just be."

Freya settled into the opulent embrace of the bean bag chair, watching the space whales through the portal cavort and feed. She drew a breath when Issa languidly swiped her warm wet tongue up through her folds.

The whales arched and swam, gathering star dust, nuzzling each other while the juveniles chased and darted to keep up with their parents. Behind, the feeble glow of the protostars and swirling gases painted space with pastel blue and mauve.

The beauty of the sight alone was almost enough to bring Freya to orgasm. Issa's skillful loving efforts between her legs made sure of it. She felt Issa gently spread her passage open with three fingers while taking her clit between her lips and sucking just when a whale leaped, drawing gasps from everyone in the room. Freya cried out and spiraled off into the longest, most intense full body orgasm she had ever known. Surging bliss flowed from her center out along every nerve as she writhed and gasped.

Panting, Freya opened her eyes to find Issa holding her, gently massaging one breast. "You weren't kidding about paradise," she said, weakly.

Issa grinned. "Girl, I've wanted to do that for so long. You've been so uptight. The kind of uptight only a good orgasm can fix."

Freya then noticed Veldt standing beside them, fully erect.

"Or... or a good fucking," Freya said in a quiet voice.

She had only seen his cock at full mast when it was plunging into Ember or some other lucky crew member. Alone, angled up in the fragrant air of the common room, it throbbed with an electrifying menace, made more so because Freya knew it throbbed with desire for her.

"That was beautiful," Veldt rumbled, his amber eyes half-lidded with lust. "You come like a rocket."

"You could rocket in me," Freya said, unable to look away from his cock.

"Only if you want, babe."

"Oh, I want. Sock it to me, baby," Freya said and extended her arms in welcome.

Freya clung to the bunching muscles of Veldt's enormous back and shoulders as he positioned himself between her legs. With his first slow push into her, she gasped, feeling herself stretching around his girth, wondering if she could take his ponderous organ.

Veldt went slowly, easing in and out, his amber eyes locked on hers. He entered her slowly, pausing when she winced or gasped.

Freya had never been taken by anyone so patient and so gentle. His soft fur warmed her skin and excited her nipples each time he shifted. She grunted and willed herself to relax each time Veldt sank further inside her. She felt stretched, filled, and lusted after—feelings in her earlier life she would have rejected, if she even allowed herself to feel them.

Ember stretched out beside her and kissed her forehead. "He's a lot, huh? Don't worry—he's just a big ol' kitty cat. I'm small and take him all the time."

She scratched Veldt behind one ear and Freya felt a moment of thrilling panic when he purred and shoved into her deeper, stretching her almost to the point of pain. She relaxed, feeling him edging in and out then felt herself open completely. Veldt felt it too and eased into her fully, the head of his massive cock just kissing her cervix.

Freya closed her eyes as a mini-orgasm crested within her. She opened them to see Veldt's savage leonine face smiling down, vicious incisors bared.

"Fuck me until I scream, Veldt," she said.

Veldt growled, the low rumble shaking Freya through her chest. Ember held her hand as Veldt withdrew his meaty cock until it rested just at her entrance, then forced back into her in one long, determined, thrilling motion of absolute delight.

Each time he withdrew, Freya felt a desperate sense of loss and a sensation like his retreating cock was dragging half her guts with it. Each time he pushed in, she felt a quiver of unbearable excitement tinged with fear he would unleash his inner beast and rip her apart.

"You're doing great, hon," Ember said, her cat eyes shining.

Freya pulled her close for a kiss. Ember's muzzle made that an entirely new experience, as did her pink sandpaper tongue when Ember urged Veldt to lift so she could tease it across Freya's breasts.

A string of near continuous orgasms wracked Freya as her furry companions made love to her. It was so much better than her fantasies, and she felt each wave of ecstasy wash away the last vestiges of her conditioning and training.

She guided Ember to straddle her face and explored her little pussy with fingers and tongue. Ember made adorable little mewls as Freya tongued and tasted, teased and attacked. When finally the sweet kitty howled in orgasm, Veldt roared, his massive cock leaping and jerking wonderfully as he flooded Freya with his love.

The joy and love she felt set Freya off one more time. Ecstasy soared and spread like liquid fire through every part of her, burning away the control and poisonous ideology she had lived with since the creche.

Through lidded eyes she looked at her companions with their strange body mods and giving, nurturing natures. Finally, she understood them completely. Finally, Freya was in control of her life. Issa was right: life was long. She was free to explore, live and love as she chose, and she chose a life of friendship and love on board Beneficio.

Basking in the languid glow and lethargy from her orgasms, she wondered if she could get cosmetisurgery like Issa originally wanted: a skin of swirling pastels like the space whales.