The Darwin Chronicles: Introduction
#1 of The Darwin Chronicles
The Darwin Chronicles Chapter 1: Introduction It was a little past one in the morning and Captain Tracy Mombaro lay on her side, silk bed sheets pulled up to her chin as she clutched a pillow tightly in her arms while she slept. The bulge in the sheets, created by her long, bushy tail moved about as she dreamed of a lover, warm and strong a holding her warm in the afterglow of a mating session. It was only at the sound of a high-pitched squeak over the intercom system that Tracy awoke, a tender kiss interrupted and leaving her rightfully upset. "Captain, we have a target approaching," a tinny voice echoed through the halls of Tracy's spaceship, The Darwin, rousing those crew members whose shifts were yet to come up. Kicking away the sheets, Tracy rose from her bed, her body completely exposed from sleeping au naturale. She growled, a bit miffed at being woken up from her dream, as she stretched, her feet rising from the ground so that only her toes kept her grounded on the floor, nearly a full foot taller than her actual height. She crossed the room and gathered up her standard uniform from its position, draped over a chair by her closet. It was a skintight leather bodysuit that Tracy wore both for the lack of extraneous material and for the powerful effect it had on others, who could get lost in the sight of her curves. Slipping her feet through the foot holes, she tugged the leather up her body, pausing only briefly to fit her tail through the small hole in the back. She finally rested the leather over her shoulders and tugged the frontal zipper up from her stomach, past her breasts, to her neck. After quickly putting on her black leather boots and gloves, Tracy pulled out a small rubber band, reaching back and using it to fix her hair into a ponytail. She grabbed her belt as she headed out the door, fastening it around her waist and allowing her pre-secured whip and guns to hang at her sides. She marched directly to the bridge of her ship, entering and taking her seat before shooting a frustrated glare over at the bat seated to her left. "Please tell me that you've got something useful this time, Sue," Tracy grumbled, wiggling into a comfortable position in her chair, "I don't like having to wake up like that." "It's a passenger ship, Captain," Sue Cilio answered, pressing a few buttons at her console and looking down at her monitor "upper middle class, looks like a dozen life signs. Small...but no real defensive capabilities...seems worth it." "Lemme see," Tracy ordered, rising and walking over, taking Sue's position and looking over the data. It was a few moments before Tracy rose, looking at Sue as several more crew members filed onto the bridge. "Assemble the crew," she said firmly, "we're finally getting some action again." Sue nodded and got back over the intercom, summoning the full crew of the ship to the bridge as Tracy walked over to the nearby porthole and stared out into the blackness of the surrounding space, knowing that somewhere, not too far away, a new conquest lay in waiting. * * * * * At the helm of The ARC-621 sat Captain Robert Ebonyhelm, his hands gripping the steering wheel of the ship while his co-pilot, a wolf named Josh Gerwulf dozed beside him. They'd been flying for about half a week now and were nearly at the halfway trip on their journey from Earth to Solomon 6, non-stop. Robert, known as Robby to his friends, was a liger who had been flying for a little under five years, and Josh was even newer at the job than himself. They'd only been flying as a team for a few months. Their job was mostly routine, traveling from point A to point B, and never outside of the solar system, but on this day, they'd been tasked with flying a passenger vessel to as far off as Solomon 6 in the Andromeda Galaxy. And not only that, but the passenger list included one Miss Jessica Elwood, the famous swimsuit model, making the voyage all the more spectacular for the two pilots. They had generally been taking turns in their shifts to go down to her room to check if she needed anything. * * * * * Of course, neither the captain, nor his co-pilot had seen more than a glimpse of Miss Elwood, due to the highly skilled blocking techniques of her two companions, Lami Rose and Kittai Hawthorne. The three girls had been friends since college, and when Jessica had hit it big with her modeling career, she never forgot about the two of them, putting Kittai in charge of her scheduling as an agent and Lami in charge of security. While the pilots were busy piloting and sleeping, respectively, Jessica stood in the bathroom doorway, staring at her reflection in the full-length mirror as she tried on a crimson bikini. Lami sat in the chair by the door, her cowboy hat tilted forward to shade her eyes from the overhead light, leaving only her horns poking through the material as she tried to catch some sleep. Seated on the bed, cross-legged, Kittai chatted on the phone with her contact on Solomon 6 about the photo shoot planned for Jessica at the end of the week. Finishing the conversation with a trite 'See ya then,' Kittai placed the receiver back on the hook and turned her attention to the tuna sandwich she had ordered from the galley hours earlier with a delighted mew. * * * * * Down in the galley, Zellie Zandorus, the ship's cook, bustled around her kitchen, searching through storage pantries for ingredients to make the morning's breakfast. She pulled open the refrigerator and shivered as the cool air blew over her scales, growing a bit more relaxed as she reached in and pulled out a package of turkey bacon. Closing the door behind her with her tail, Zellie laughed began to fry the meat up on the nearby stovetop. * * * * * In the engine room, Zellie's brother, Opti, wiped the sweat from his brow before realizing just how much engine grease had accumulated all over his body. Looking at his hand, he realized his mistake and began furiously trying to wipe whatever stain he'd left on his forehead away. Off to the side, his two fellow engineers, Mirrodin Mercer and Hiro Vilan laughed in the midst of their poker game as they watched their colleague flail about frantically. After a few moments, their attention turned back to the game and Mirr laid down a full house, a grin crossing his raccoon face for a brief moment before Hiro purred and set down a straight flush of diamonds to win the put. The cat rested his hands behind his head as Mirr dug around in his pocket for a few more dollars to cover his bet, never realizing the extra cards Hiro held up his sleeve. He slapped two bucks down on the table just as Opti finished wiping himself off as best he could, black grease coating his scales as he looked up to see the heat gauge rise on one of the boilers. * * * * * Jaffah Smith's ears perked up as the tiger turned his head towards the sound of running water coming from the bathroom. He had dozed off and had missed his daughter, Alisande, returning from dinner. The two had been traveling as a bonding exercise, but thus far, the flight had basically been spent with either her exploring the ship, or him asleep. They'd barely spent five minutes together. As the warm water flowed over her toned frame, Ali's fingers ran through her hair and her fur, rubbing in the herbal shampoo she'd brought along to keep herself as clean as possible, given the lack of proper facilities. She thought back to dinner as her hands drifted over her body. Her father had been asleep, so she'd gone off without him, and in the galley, she'd met one of the other passengers, a gorgeous white tiger who was definitely a smooth operator. He'd bought her a drink and had it not been for the lizard girl cooking away in the kitchen, she probably would've let him ravish her right then and there. Ali closed her eyes and allowed herself to fantasize as her fingers drifted further south, the noise of the falling water drowning out any and all sounds of pleasure she would make as she thought of her muscular mystery man. * * * * * Neo Cloud paced down the hallway, his tail waving behind him in an excited manner as he thought of that tigress he'd met not an hour earlier. She had a great build, strong, yet feminine, and she certainly seemed capable of handling a little pain. He slid his tongue over his fangs as a purr escaped his throat at the thought of what he would do to her. Nothing too harmful would befall the girl, most certainly, but as far as Neo was concerned, a little bleeding never hurt anyone...not in the long run, anyway. Neo was still lost in thought as the entire ship shook from a powerful impact and all the lights and power went out. In Jaffah's room, Ali shrieked as her alone time was interrupted by the sudden burst of frigid water being pumped into the shower. Jessica tripped and stumbled in the dark, thankfully landing on something soft, although Kittai didn't appreciate it one bit. Zellie cursed to herself as her bacon ceased to sizzle right in the midst of cooking, her tail knocking over pots and pans as she fumbled around in the darkness. In the engine room, the machinery ceased entirely before an explosion blew open one of the cylinders, sending shrapnel into Mirr and setting the room ablaze. In the cockpit, neither Josh nor Robby could tell what was going on. All they knew was that power had been lost to the entire ship and that included everything from lights to life support. Without oxygen pumping into the ship, it was only a matter of time before the captain, his crew, and all of their passengers had fallen, unconscious. * * * * * There was a hiss of decompression as the ARC's hatch opened, a blue light shining in and bringing a heavy supply of life-giving oxygen with it. A gun appeared from the portal, aiming in one direction and then the other before a second gun joined it. After a few moments, Sue emerged from the hatch and beside her stood a large coyote with two robotic arms named Alan Olander. He was in charge of security on Tracy's ship, and Sue was his Jill-of-all-trades competition. "All clear here, Captain," Alan barked into his com-link, "but I suggest we start getting these passengers off the ship. That EMP took out life support and I don't want to have to deal with a buncha corpses." "I'll send the others to help you out with transport," Tracy responded, "be on the look-out for anything of value." Alan nodded and headed down the hall in one direction, Sue in the other, and quickly, the pair had scouted the entire ship, locating the passengers and crew. All were in decent shape, save for Mirr, and none of them seemed like they'd be too much of a hassle to move aboard the Darwin. "All twelve accounted for, Captain," Sue reported, "but we're gonna need Ginny down here and fast. Looks like one of their engines burst and messed this guy the fuck up." "I'll send her in now. Just make sure you keep them separated once they're aboard. I don't want any of that insurrection shit like last time, you got me?" "Yes ma'am." And so the crew of the Darwin took in their newfound cargo, planning on either issuing ransom demands, or simply selling their captives on the black market. Either way, it was a good haul and it had gone off without a hitch. At least, that was what they thought had happened. But most things in life are never that simple, as the crew of The Darwin and the captives from The ARC-621 were about to find out. * * *
Tracy Mombaro and the crew of The Darwin 息 Mirasuke Jaffah & Alisande 息 Jaffah Lami 息 Lamington Jessica 息 Jessica Elwood Kittai 息 Kittai Neo 息 Neocloud88h Josh 息 Ghostbane Robby 息 White Tiger Opti & Zellie 息 OptimalZelda Hiro & Mirr 息 Hiro Story 息 Mirasuke 2008