The Drinker and the Sentinel

For another ten minutes the slow motion chase continued. Valerie would run to the far end of the room, wait for the monster to track her, and then duck or dodge or jump as it time-shifted on the attack. Every time she could, she made her way to the storage area, flinging food and beverage canisters far and wide to litter the floor.

Finally she waited too long before making her escape.

"Aaaaaaaah!"

As she ducked and ran, the drinker suddenly appeared right next to her. She tripped on one of the scattered canisters, and a powerful set of fingers wrapped around her upper arm. She thrashed and pulled, but she was like a small child in the grip of a bodybuilder.

"Go away! Get away from me!" She flailed and thrashed, but it was fruitless. A second massive hand reached for her. Whipping around frenetically, she managed to avoid it for several seconds before it closed on her upper thigh. It lifted her slowly and effortlessly into the air, and she was pulled toward its large tasting rod and tongue, fighting every inch of the way. As she struggled seven feet in the air, the tongue fluttered, tasting the air to scan her body.

Its decision made, the drinker lowered her slowly to the ground and began to settle atop her.

"Pleeeeeease," she begged, thrashing within its grip. "Don't do this!"

****

Deep space travel was slow, even at half the speed of light. Lieutenant Emma Browning relaxed in the small crew cabin, tethered to the wall in the zero-g environment. She pretended to read as she eavesdropped on the space troopers playing cards nearby.

She shared the shuttle with five Troopers, all female. On deep space missions, females required less food, water, and oxygen, so they controlled this niche. All of the women were fit and toned, living up to the reputation of the Space Trooper Corps, and unlike her, all were nude per the practical tradition of deep space travel. Emma hadn't yet found the courage to adopt that tradition.

Sergeant Harrison, the slim cocoa-skinned noncom, was shuffling the cards.

"Okay, one-eyed jacks are wild. First person to win three hands gets whatever she wants." She looked at her comrades in arms for confirmation. Emma took the opportunity to check out the sergeant's large chocolate areolas and her toned thighs framing her sparse clouding of pubic hair. She was intrigued by the contrasting dark pink inner lips that were visible underneath the mocha trim.

The others nodded as the sergeant dealt the cards, bantering casually back and forth as the cards floated through the air with well-practiced care.

Emma pursed her lips. She knew what the prize was, because they played this game every day. It was all against policy, of course, but on deep space missions headquarters looked the other way. It kept morale high and did no harm, and it couldn't be stopped anyway. Deep space troopers had a little bit of crazy in them.

Emma surreptitiously scanned the troopers' bodies. She was heterosexual and she suspected that most of the Troopers were, too, if given a choice. But being cooped up on a small shuttle caused cabin fever to the extreme, and with no privacy, lots of nudity, and assertive women, sexual games were probably inevitable.

She eavesdropped as the women bantered. She'd been invited to play, of course, every single day, but she hadn't had the courage to experiment so far. First, she knew almost nothing about poker and would be destined to lose. Losing had consequences, even if she was finding herself more and more curious about them. And second, she was in the Sentinel Corps, and while the troopers were all friendly, the Sentinels and Troopers had a spirited rivalry. She didn't quite trust the group to treat her fairly. So she just eavesdropped and watched as she pretended to read, and they didn't pressure her to participate.

On the far side of the group, Private Jacobs had a lean runner's build, her long blonde hair tied behind her in a ponytail. She was taller than average at about 5-7 and had small but nice breasts and a narrow landing strip of dark blonde pubic hair. "I need some luck here," she laughed. "Deal me some good ones. I'm in the mood for a licking."

Captain Ellis laughed as she anted up. The ranking officer was a tall redhead, impressively busty with perfect porcelain skin, and this was her ship. Her bare breasts floated gracefully with every movement, her large pale areolas catching Emma's eye. "You'd better hope I don't win, or I'll make sure you're on the other side of that," she grinned.

Emma couldn't decipher the game as they all variously raised their bets or folded or anted up. She didn't really care who won, though. Regardless of the combination, it was fun to watch it go down. All of the women were gorgeous, and her mind idly speculated about who would end up under whom today. With each passing day, she found herself more interested in the proceedings, despite her shyness and inexperience.

"I may be in the mood to just watch," Harrison said, a grin on her face. "What do you fellows think about Iwakura licking Milonas' ass again?"

The blonde and redhead grinned in turn as the two petite brunettes offered fake sneers. Iwakura and Milonas were both privates, and both young, particularly the lean Asian. Emma wondered if she'd even been on a mission yet; she looked like she was barely 18.

Emma kept her eyes on her book. She was young herself, barely out of college and Sentinel school. Did they know that she had no experience with women? Did they care? She'd seen them all ogle her as she moved around the small space, but did it mean anything or was that stuff normal out here? She glanced down at her form-fitting unitard and wondered.

Cards floated through the weightlessness, teasing statements flew, and scores were tallied. Harrison was having good luck and Iwakura was having bad luck, while Ellis complained about every hand. Finally Jacobs got on a run, causing good-natured groans when she laid down her third winning hand.

She grinned as she looked around the circle. "Now, what do I want?" she mused. "Whaaaat do I want?" Tapping her finger on her chin, she evaluated her options. "It would be fun to watch my captain and my sergeant sixty-nining each other, or I could get in Sarge's good graces by making Iwakura lick Milonas' ass again. Decisions, decisions."

Emma smiled, her head down but her eyes up. Jacobs was quite attractive, with a likeable rebellious streak and a natural dimpled smile. She was only a private, but she had clearly been around the block and had the confidence to hold her own against the rest of the crew.

"I think, though, that I want a good licking. And the person to do that issssssss ...." She swung a finger around and pointed. "Milonas!"

The private groaned in good-natured complaint, offering a wry smile of defeat. The young woman was obviously Italian in ancestry, blessed with long black eyelashes and beautiful olive skin. She had gorgeous C-cup breasts with dark mid-sized areolas, and she shaved herself down below. Her hair above was a lustrous black, voluminous in waves and curls that floated freely in the weightlessness.

Emma closed her book and brazenly watched. Zero-g sex was fun to see. The smaller Italian girl floated over as the blonde pushed herself into mid-air and spread her legs. Milonas nuzzled into her crotch, looping her arms around Jacobs' slender thighs, and docked her lips onto Jacobs' vulva.

For the next ten minutes, the two women floated as one, Jacobs contentedly caressing her long nipples with closed eyes while the dark-haired Milonas bobbed between her legs. The air was punctuated with small moans and sighs of pleasure. Emma bit her lip as she watched; what would it feel like to receive oral sex from another girl? She'd received it from a couple of men over the years, but could women do it better? She felt her own nipples growing hard beneath her clothing, and made a secretly bold decision not to hide them. Space travel could make a girl adventurous.

Eventually Milonas' work began paying off. Jacobs' hips began moving, and her breathing became deeper and more labored. "Oh, yes, keep it up," she ordered. "Just like that. I love your tongue." The other Troopers raptly watched, and Emma noticed them squirm. One rule of the card games was no self pleasure afterward, so the women really tried hard to win.

Listening carefully, Emma could hear the wet sound of tongue on flesh, and Jacobs began to breathe in small gasps. "Ohhhhhhhh, yes! Oh!" Floating weightless, she undulated in the air as her olive-skinned service girl remained locked onto her, tongue lapping quickly.

Emma's hips were practically moving themselves. She had to fight to keep from touching herself, and could feel her arousal reddening her cheeks. She wasn't sure who was more attractive, the long, lean blonde or the petite Mediterranean girl between her legs. Milonas' ass was incredible as it rotated into view, small and round and smooth, and tucked in between Emma could see her labia majora and minora neatly folded within her valley.

Jacobs orgasmed only moments later. Milonas rode her fully through it, only stopping when Jacobs finally gasped and squealed and pushed her head away. As Milonas floated off, wiping her lips with the back of her hand, Jacobs floated serenely, a smile of bliss on her face as she relaxed with closed eyes.

Emma envied her. After a week of self-denial in the close quarters of the ship, maybe she would be bold on her next sleeping cycle. She was dying to touch herself, and these daily games only made it more tortuous. Or maybe she could... well...her eyes flitted toward the floating cards. Could she? Was now the day?

Captain Ellis looked Emma's way, a sly smile on her face. The older redhead had overtly flirted with Emma a few times already, a fact that Emma didn't quite know how to process.

"Hey, Lieutenant Cutie Pie," she said. "Next game's about to start. I'll invite you again to join us."

Emma blushed. She didn't like the diminutive nickname the crew had saddled her with, but that wasn't the reason for her blush. She'd been invited every day for a week now and had turned it down every time. But today...she just felt different...

She shrugged uncertainly. "I don't know how to play poker. You all would have your way with me."

"Tell you what, come over and we'll give you immunity for the first round. I'll show you how to play and put myself on the line."

A smile crept onto Emma's face. "Seriously?"

"Sure. I'll be your partner. If we win, you get to pick what happens. If we lose, no one can pick you for fun. Right, ladies?"

The other women offered various levels of agreement, all positive. Emma didn't reveal that she might not mind losing. A girl had to be proper.

"Well, I wouldn't mind learning how to play."

Ellis broke into a grin. "Get over here," she motioned. "One rule, though. You have to get out of that suit. You're doing nothing but creating laundry."

Emma had been too shy to go nude, but she knew that nudity was normal in deep space. She just didn't know these other women, and of course troopers had a wild reputation on deep space dives that was being proven out. She turned the thought over in her mind. She should be nude per tradition, right? Sentinels were always nude on duty, right?. This would just be starting a few days early.

She hesitated, started to move, then hesitated again. The Troopers all looked at her expectantly. She saw Iwakura's youthful face slowly spread into a sly smile.

Okay, this is it, she told herself, girding her courage. Kicking off the wall and unhooking her tether, she floated toward the group, unzipping her unitard as she went. As the zipper went down, her compressed cleavage bulged out, and she saw eyebrows rise. She had the dual blessing of being both petite and busty, which made her D cups look even bigger. As they spilled out of her top, Harrison wolf-whistled. "My god, girl, how big are those things?"

Emma shrugged shyly, lowering the suit to her hips, then sliding it over and down. "Okay, I just lost my will to live," Iwakura quipped, looking down at her own tiny bustline. The other Troopers laughed.

Emma kept herself meticulously shaved down below. She was self-conscious about her puffy lower lips, but no one seemed to notice. All eyes were locked on her free-floating breasts with their oversized areolas. She was proud of her curves, and perversely didn't mind revealing them at long last. It was actually kind of exciting.

Ellis circled around behind her, and locked an arm around her waist. Bringing a hand up, she motioned at Emma's breasts. "Remember, ladies, these are off limits. She has immunity if she loses, so you can look, but you can't touch. Right, Lieutenant Cutie Pie?"

As the women complained and booed in good-natured amusement, as Emma laughed.

The women resituated themselves and the card game began again, the only difference being Emma's presence and the fact that the blonde Jacobs was a little more flushed. Cards were shuffled and dealt, and the banter began again. Meanwhile, Ellis spooned Emma from behind, both arms around her waist and giving her muted advice as she leaned over her shoulder. Emma was intrigued by the softness of Ellis' breasts against her back, the tickle of her breath on the nape of her neck.

This time Iwakura was having a rare run of luck; Emma had previously noted that the young private perhaps wasn't as good at the game as her older comrades. "Maybe if I win, I'll get a ride from Sergeant Harrison," she observed in good spirits.

"I can vouch for her," Captain Ellis teased. "She's a good pussy licker."

"I'll second that," Jacobs added.

Harrison sneered playfully. "Maybe if I win, I'll 69 you. I'll be on you like a drinker on a Sentinel."

The other Troopers laughed, but Emma winced. Drinkers were a dark joke to people who weren't in the Sentinel Corps. People laughed about them, particularly the men who were not natural prey. But if you were all alone on a recon station they were serious business.

It was a few more minutes before the conversation returned to the topic.

"You've dealt with drinkers, right? What can we expect?" Iwakura looked at the older women in her squad.

"Yeah, I've taken out three of them." Ellis motioned to Emma to show her cards and the others groaned. She looked at Harrison. "Same for you, right?"

Harrison nodded. "And two for Jacobs. Drinkers are scary big, I'll tell you that."

"But we're going to kill it?"

Emma's ears perked up. She knew that she was an emergency replacement, on her way to take over for a drinker victim.

"It's pretty much the only choice you've got if it's still there," Ellis replied. "But we won't see one here."

"Why?" Iwakura asked as new hands were dealt.

"We're too far out. It's taking us three weeks to get there from the initial distress signal. The Sentinel will be long dead, and if she's dead the drinker will be gone. We're just on cleanup and repair duty, most likely."

Emma shuddered. That person that they were 'cleaning up' was a Sentinel Sister, assigned to the same job that Emma was now going to. It was a very distant and remote system for a first-timer like herself, beyond a normal first-time assignment, but she'd been the only woman available when the distress call came in.

With Ellis' help, she won another hand. The thought crossed her mind that she might actually win, and with winning she could force two other women to couple up for her voyeuristic pleasure, or she could ...

Emma's lips curled up into a secret smile. Maybe she could get some attention herself.

"So the drinker actually kills the Sentinel?" Iwakura asked.

"It doesn't kill her. It just keeps her pinned down and drinks from her. She eventually dies of thirst."

Jacobs offered her dimpled smile, but it wasn't necessarily a happy one. "Ironic for something called a 'drinker', isn't it?"

Harrison looked over at Emma. "Hey, Lieutenant Cutie Pie, what's the longest that a Sentinel has ever survived underneath a drinker?"

They'd discussed this topic in their training. Drinkers were rare, but widely discussed given the terror they inspired. "It's around 11 days, I think," Emma answered cautiously.

Harrison shrugged. "Eleven days. Yep, they die of thirst. That's as long as you can last without water. If it wasn't thirst, though, it would be starvation. The drinkers never walk away."

Iwakura seemed a little disappointed. "I was kind of hoping to see one," she said. "I want to see how they work."

"You don't know how they work?" Emma saw Jacobs exchange glances with Harrison as she addressed the private. Both smiled knowingly. "Maybe we need to do some training."

The next hand was dealt, and Ellis had Emma show her cards. The others sighed as she claimed the win.

"Cutie Pie gets the win," Ellis chortled. "She gets to choose. What would you like, Cutie Pie?"

Emma's eyes grew wide. She knew what she wanted, but did she have the courage to do it?"

"If you want me to lick those titties, I'll do it," Harrison said.

"No, no, she wants me to 69 her." Jacobs' eyes were bright as the women all laughed.

Iwakura pouted. "I want someone to lick me. I haven't gotten any attention yet on this whole mission. Pick me!"

"No, me!" Emma was indeed intrigued by Milonas' perfect ass and hips and her seductively long eyelashes.

"Anything you want," Ellis whispered in her ear. "You won. You can watch or you can play." Ellis' tongue licked the back of her ear and then teeth gently closed on her lobe.

Ellis was indeed gorgeous, a classic mature woman who could teach Emma, who could take control and compensate for her inexperience. Emma could feel her hunger rising. Was she really going to do this? She could easily assign a couple of other women to service each other and just watch.

But that wasn't why she had joined the game.

She swallowed hard, looking from face to face. "I've never been with another woman," she said meekly. "I'm a little nervous." Looking over her shoulder, she broached the question. "Would Captain Ellis consider teaching me?"

The arms around her waist immediately moved up, cupping her breasts and gently pinching her nipples. Lips nuzzled her neck and Emma instinctively raised her chin, exposing her vulnerable area.

"You mean like this?" the older redhead murmured into her ear.

Emma shuddered in delight.

The hands caressed her full breasts for several moments, then began moving down. Ellis' right arm wrapped around Emma's narrow waist, but the left one kept going.

"Unh!" Emma gasped as a palm stroked over her bare pubic mound, then slipped lower. Fingers began gently, ever so gently teasing her clit. Instinctively, Emma spread her legs. As her eyelids fluttered, she saw the other Space Troopers watching her intently, lustful grins upon their faces.

It didn't matter what they thought. It felt divine. She closed her eyes again and concentrated on the feeling of fingers stroking her most sensitive area, of a warm body pressed against her back, of full lips nibbling her ears and neck. For several minutes, Ellis patiently stroked and caressed Emma as her arousal grew. Eventually her breathing became notably deeper and her hips began moving up against the fingers. She could feel the heat of an orgasm beginning to rise, her first ever orgasm from a female partner.

And then Ellis stopped.

She kept her hand on Emma's pussy, cupping her palm over the mound and her fingers between Emma's lips. Emma groaned in frustration as her rising ecstasy stagnated. She tried to push against Ellis' palm to no avail.

"Y'know,", Ellis said gently, "we're heading out to clean up after a drinker and we've got troopers who don't even know what happens when a drinker boards."

"It's a shame," Harrison replied. "We should do something about it." Edging her eyes open, Emma saw Harrison staring at her breasts, a wicked smile on her face.