Smugglers Cove (Love2write and Silence)

The man holding the gate slumped forward slightly, but he still held on. Before Killian could get to a point where he could fire on the guards someone else started to shoot at them. It was a good time to take advantage of their distraction. Shooting at one of the two left he watched the man fall and the last one turned with a frightened look in his eyes. There was no place to go. Killian didn't want to give him a chance to surrender so he shot him soon as he had a chance.

At the gate the last trickle of men ran through. Rushing back over to the boy Killian pulled him off the ground and started for the gate. A deep hum had begun and he knew that they were about lock down the magnetic grid and hold the ships in place. "Get the engines ready!" Looking behind himself Killian made sure that he was the last one to leave the gates and the man holding them finally released them.
 
Star came to Killian's side, swinging the gun around as she searched for any more approaching guards. "Mike's got the ship at bay 4." She says, glancing at him as they rushed to the appropriate bay. "The other ships have been released and most have taken off already. The virus did the job." She glanced down at the boy in Killian's arms.
"Hey kid...what's your name?"
"Conner." The boy replied looking up at Killian fearfully. Like all the others he knew this man's reputation and he couldn't believe he was being rescued by him.
"Conner...good name. I'm Star, that's Killian. We're gonna get you out of here and to safety alright. Don't worry." She smiles encouragingly at him and shoots two more guards as they come around the corner.

They rush into the waiting ship and Star takes the boy from Killian so he could navigate the ship out of here before the magnetic grid locked them down. That would be a death sentence.
 
Killian heard footsteps behind himself. They were quickly catching up. Looking to the side he spotted Star. What was she doing? It scared him half to death. The woman should have been on board the ship waiting, not out here. "Alright, same place we landed." While they jogged Star tried to strike up a conversation with the boy. Killian ignored it for the time and watched as the remaining ships took off. A few of them waited long enough for the last few men and now he had to get them out of here.

Gradually the sound of the hum was increasing. Almost dropping the boy into Star's arms he let her have him while he raced into the navigation room. Mike was braced for the take off. He knew it was going to be a rough one at best. He'd barely finished closing the bay door and the ship jolted. Already the magnetic grid had started to warm up. Racing back to the engine room Mike left the door open. "I'm giving it all the power it's got!" Yelling into his headset he gave the update to Killian. "I'll re-direct life support power to the engines. Hopefully the capacity doesn't exceed the pressure limits or we'll burn to hell right here."

The captain pushed the thrust forward again and he felt the ship start to groan as it lifted off. Barely edging through the space Killian called back to Mike. "You've got to give me something more. Magnetic field is gonna be locked by the time we reach the atmosphere at this rate."

"Let me work on it." Mike closed his eyes and thought for a second. They needed more power and he wasn't sure where he could pull it from. Maybe the navigational system and Killian would have to do it by memory. "I'll pull power from navigations and shut down the pressure in the cargo chambers. It might give us enough."

As they neared the edge of the atmosphere Killian clenched his jaw in anticipation. "Mike get ready to redirect power to life support and pressurize the cargo bay. When we hit space it's gonna be rough." They barely broke the barrier and the ship started to shake almost uncontrollably with the power it was exerting. Killian held onto the edge of the navigations panel with one arm and steered with the other. "Mike?"

The engineer cursed, "Damn it...I need help in here. Star you take over for the captain. Gonna need someone big and tall to do this."
 
Star was holding on to the railing and to the boy for dear life as the ship shuddered. It felt like the whole thing was about to tear apart. And then, to make things worse, Mike ordered her to navigation. "Stay here...Hold tight." She orders Connor and fights her way to navigation. She takes Killian's spot, and straps herself into the chair, then takes the controls. "The navigation panel is dead!" She exclaimed...then remembered that Mike had directed power away from it. Great...so she had to fly the ship completely manually. Thankfully there wasn't much to avoid, only making a steady climb that wouldn't tear apart the ship. She held onto the controls for dear life, trying to keep it steady. Warning lights were sounding all around the cabin. The ship wasn't going to last much longer like this.
 
Killian moved out of the chair and braced himself against the counter to steer until Star arrived. She barely got herself strapped in and he ran for the doorway. A jolt threw into the wall and he growled. Determined to get to the engine room a little faster he kept running and hitting things. Finally when he got to the engine room he saw a cable had broke loose near the top. "Where'd it go?"

"I got it plugged into the life support slot, it has to go into the main power. Cable dropped out of it. You see the receptor up there?"

Squinting Killian yelled to him. "Yeah."

"Good cause we have to reboot and I need you to plug that in once I turn the whole thing off. Ship is overloading." Shining a flashlight on the receptor Mike reached over and simultaneously flicked the power to the ship. The rattling stopped for the moment and the ship began to drift in the open space. Hopefully there wasn't anything to avoid for the time. They still had to work fast because the gravitational pull from the terrestrial planet below them was great enough they would end up tearing the bottom of the ship off when it came into contact with the magnetic barrier sending out repelling waves as it held everything else under. Then again they might opened it up to send out forces after them.

"Its plugged in!" Killian got down from the bar he stepped on and the power to the ship returned. Jogging back to the navigations room he saw the lights come on. Mike must have re-wired it all in that short time. Wrapping an arm around Star's shoulder the captain smirked. "You have no idea how much I love you." Kissing her on the lips he reached down and unbuckled her from the seat. A slight tilt put them back on the course and put into the viral upload. They couldn't very well return to Anna's, but he did plan to make an extra trip with the ship they stole and return it. Maybe the owner hadn't noticed. Then he could have Kato fly back with him to take care of the sick and wounded. Wrapping an arm around her waist he smirked and kissed her again. "What would you say if I asked you to move in with me? Stay in the captain's cabin."
 
Star giggled lightly as he pulled her from the navigation seat and close to him, wrapping her in his arms. She returned the kiss. "Move in? I'd say I'd like that very much, Captain." She kissed him again and then glimpsed the boy out of the corner of her eye, who was hesitantly searching the ship, though limping pretty badly. "Looks like you rescued another Timo." She chuckles, gesturing with her head to the lad.
 
"Hmmm?" Killian wasn't paying attention to what was going on around himself till Star seemed to be distracted. Noticing the boy he frowned. "I'm not keeping him. This isn't anyplace for a kid. Don't need another kid to think I'm a monster." This probably already knew that. Considering the limp it was better if the kid didn't go around walking on his leg. "Hey!" Releasing Star from his grasp Killian started over to where the kid was. "You need to lay down and take it easy. I'll have a doctor for you in a few days."
 
The boy looked up him with frightened eyes. "You're him...you're the beast? Why...how did you free us?"
"He's not a beast, he's a good man." Star says coming to the boy's side. "Now c'mon. Let's lay you down and check that leg." Conner looked over his shoulder at Killian as Star led him away. "Thanks." He calls to him.

Star returns 20 minutes later to Killian's side. "Kid's sleeping. The other guys are settling down too. We did a good thing today." She smiles.
 
Killian didn't even get a chance to pick the kid up and take him to a room and already the boy was calling him by his name in the games. "Because I wanted to get back at the bastards that put us there." Of course Star had to try and make it sound nice. Good man was hardly something he would have called it. None of this was for humanitarian purposes. It was just a benefit to see the masters suffer a loss and make it more complete with the emptying of the hospital at the same time. How Star saw it as a good thing he really didn't know. Most of these folk were going to be useless like himself. Only thing they were good for now was making war and disaster.

Taking his seat at the navigations panel Killian checked the charts again. They would be landing shortly after the others. At leas the ships took flight and that meant that there was at least one man on every ship that knew how to fly. Hearing Star's voice he looked over at her and shook his head. "Depends on how you measure good." A smirk came to his face. "I think what would be good is if we settled down too."

**********************************************************************************

The planet came into view. It wasn't real friendly looking. Volcanoes littered the scape. Killian figured it would be a place nobody would look for them. Soon as they landed he took a sample kit. "We need to know what kind of land we got here." Maybe it was somewhere they could turn into a decent home base and maybe not. At any rate they had to find someplace that they could live for a few weeks. Probably the majority of the men were just as upset as Killian had been for a long time. Get Kato here to take care of the sick and then build homes.

A beep sounded on the machine and he read the stats. "Very fertile ground. Good to know. Geothermal activity keeps it warm enough to grow a diversity of plants. Soils full of minerals." All it would need was cultivating. At least that's what he figured. A crunching of rock off to the side caught Killian's attention.

"Some of my men and myself want to leave."

Killian couldn't keep them here so he nodded. "Alright, see how far you get. You're flying one of their ships and where would you go that they won't hunt you? If we stay here and build homes and modify the ships we could have a fighting chance. I've got an anonymous supporter. More than happy to provide a few weeks supply and a doctor once I got get him."
 
"I think what would be good is if we settled down too."
"Settle down?" Star's eyes light up, then narrow suspiciously. "What exactly does your version of settling down look like?"
*********************************
Despite the Volcanoes in the distance, the place they had landed looked promising. It was strange to hear Killian talking about building homes and settling in. Some of the former fighters looked ready to split from the group. "We're much better off together as a team. You won't last long against an army of angry nobles by yourselves with simple transport ships." Star adds.
 
At first it looked like it would be easy to get her to bed and then Star decided to play hard to get. Killian shrugged. "Well..." Standing up and taking one of her hands he lifted it to his lips and kissed her fingers. Letting her hand drop with his he moved to her lips and kissed her while his second hand began to roam across her back. Trying to be seductive wasn't really working out. Somehow he was finding himself getting impatient. Why women had a greater stamina for kissing he didn't know. Always got him riled. Working his hand away from hers he ran the now free hand up her arm and around her shoulders. Bending slightly at the knees he dropped the other hand behind her knees and carried Star to the bedroom.

Setting Star on the bed, Killian climbed on the bed with her and kissed her several times between playful growls. He was working really hard at keeping his hands in appropriate places in the event that she didn't want to go this far tonight. "This is my version of settling down." Despite his best attempts he did find his hands where they shouldn't be and moved them again. "Sorry, didn't know." Smirking a little bit he leaned in to kiss her again.

********************************************************************************************

The man glowered at Star and Killian for a moment. "We didn't come here to serve."

Sharply glancing toward the man Killian shook his head. "Then don't! I don't need you here if you don't want to be here then get on the ship and fly wherever you want. I'm not noble or anything else." Moving toward the man he grabbed the front of his shirt and snarled. "If you get caught it's your duty to stay silent so the rest of us can build new lives here and if you do speak I'll find you and kill you myself."

Snorting the man stared into Killian's eyes. "Because the Beast can do anything."

"I can. Everyone thought it was impossible to escape the Games and I did once before. No one thought you could ever break the prisoners out and I have." Releasing the man he stared at him. "Its your choice." Killian wasn't in the mood to keep anyone that was determined to run away. For the time it seemed to be what the man needed to hear. A hint of fear had come to his eyes and he backed off. No ships left that day or the next. There was enough sun to charge the ships to full power and then Killian found the groups of men outside working. "Ship is ready to fly. I need to get the doctor. Should only be gone about 3 weeks."
 
She laughed as he tickled her with growling kisses. "You are so bad at this..." She smirks at him. Kindly she guides his hands and directs his lips, showing him what she liked and what turned her off. After several minutes of playfully resisting while teaching she finally relented. "You still have so much to learn about me." She murmurs teasingly into his ear.
*************************************************
"Kato isn't going to like this. He already said he didn't want to be a part of it." Star shook her head, then stood on her tip-toes and kissed his cheek. "I'm going to gather the ones that are in serious need of medical attention while you finalize the details of the ship."

Getting some men on the was harder than others, but eventually promise of pain relief won them over. Star didn't know a whole lot of medicine but between her and Killian she was sure they'd be able to keep them alive until Kato could help. As she walked around checking on the most severe cases someone grabbed her rear and she spun angrily, catching the hand. She bent the fingers until the man was screaming and writhing in pain. "Touch me again and you'll lose your fingers. Then if you're lucky, that's all that'll happen." She snaps and releases his hand, purposefully making sure that particular patient had less pain killers than the others.
 
Killian paused momentarily and grinned at her. "If I was so bad how did I get you here?" The fact that he carried her to the bed was beside the point.

******************************************************************************************

Of course Star had to make mention of the fact that Kato wouldn't like it. "I know that." Smirking he accepted the kiss. "Be careful." Scanning through records and accessing the recent scans showed a few ships that had passed by Anna and Kato's planet. At least there wasn't anything dangerous looking too recently. Before leaving he made one last check with the men to be sure that everyone had what they needed. Supplies were scarce. They would need more than just the doctor when they landed. Killian went back to his usual method and wrote down what the men needed. One of the first items was a woman.

Women were a little more problematic to get. Though he did have an idea. Now that he had everything Killian ran up the bay plank. "Shut the door Mike we're ready to go." Taking his seat in the navigations room he charted out the path and added to the system. Then it was time to check on the men they loaded into one of the cargo rooms. Didn't have enough space for them all otherwise. So a little more heat was added to this room to be sure they wouldn't get too cold. Meeting Star's gaze he realized there was something not happy about all this. She was looking sufficiently irritated.
 
Star catches Killian staring at her curiously and she makes a face. "One of your boys just grabbed me...I damn near broke his fingers." She shook her head. "Maybe I should take navigation and you can deal with these animals for the next three weeks." She says rather snarkly.
 
"Grabbed you?" Killian's eyes narrowed. He didn't want to know what kind of grabbing it was exactly. Groping was probably more like it. A resounding boo sounded from the men when Star offered to take navigation. Nodding to Star he agreed with her on that point. Turning toward the men he growled. "Shut up or I'll let you all wash out the bay. That's my woman and I don't share."

While he was angry that one of them had tried for a grope there wasn't a whole lot that he could do about it either except take over caring for the men. Taking a seat in the bay he waited till it was time to make the rounds and one of the men looked up at him while he changed out the I.V. bag. "We need women. Its been months and all we got around us is been stinking sweaty men."

Killian nodded. "Yeah I know, been thinking about that problem. I'll make sure we get some on the way back. In the meantime keep your grimy hands off Star. Next man to touch her is getting left at port. I don't have time for troublemakers." At least the warning seemed to work. For the next few days the men were all just as polite and as bashful as they could pretend to be. They were a bit of a crude bunch and Killian didn't expect anything more or less of them.

***************************************************************

It was only a few days till they reached port and Killian crawled into bed with Star. He just finished his night check on the patients. Laying an arm over her stomach he scooted in closer to her and pulled the covers over himself. She stirred a little and he mumbled, "Sorry, just got back from checking the guys. We're going to need some women and I've had a chance to think about it. Might have to set up some space in the navigation room for them."
 
"Huh? Women? Like...prostitutes?" Star asks incredulously. "Killian, you know how many of those women are slaves? Forced into that life against their will? Some of them not even 12 years old before they were forced into the bed of a man." She sounded pissed off, and was tense under his arm. She could understand where he was coming from. The men here had been slaves for so long...and they had needs. Still, the thought of a bunch of prostitutes on this ship, entertaining the men put a sick taste in her mouth.
 
Star must have read his mind. Killian nodded just in time to hear the reprimand. He was slightly taken back by her tone. "What do you want me to do? Kidnap a bunch of city women or something? The men need some kind of release..." Now that he'd said it that sounded pretty bad. "I'm not forcing them." Already his mind was working double time trying to put the thought process into words. "You're the only woman and I'm not sharing." It was sounding worse all the time and he sat up in the bed. "Just listen for a minute."

By now Killian was completely irritated with how badly he was putting his thought process into words. "Fine they've been forced into this lifestyle. I'm just going to offer them a way out. They can come with on the ship and choose who they will to live with and if they don't find anyone they like...Well they can do something or I can have the men build a brothel. If she's got a skill to contribute I don't care if she sleeps with a man or not. It's got to be better than what they have and if they think so too they'll come with."
 
Star nods. "As long as you make it clear to them...we're offering them at a chance at freedom. Remaining a prostitute is their choice...they don't have to." She relaxes slightly. "I still don't like it...but...I understand." She sighs. Yet another grey area they were forced to entertain.
 
At least that was settled. Killian didn't see anything wrong with it. So far as he was concerned this idea was next to brilliance settling back into the bed he put his arm back over star and tried to move in closer. To his surprise she lifted his hand and pushed it away. "What did I do?" So far as Killian was concerned the matter was settled and they came to an agreement like adults. They'd talked about this and she agreed.
 
Star grimaces at him. "Sorry... all i can think about is all the prostitutes you've slept with before me right now." She turns her back to him and tries to get back to sleep and not think about what they'd just talked about.

*******************************
The day they land at Andy's Safe House:

Star woke up feeling nauseous. Why, she wasn’t sure. Maybe something she ate? Maybe she had the flu? Whatever the reason, the urge to throw up was growing. She carefully scooted out of bed, so as not to wake Killian, and hurried to their bathroom. She barely managed to get to the toilet before she was heaving into it.

She relayed in her head anything that could’ve been making her this sick. Food? No. Flu? She didn’t have the symptoms for that. Pregnancy. She paled and heaved again, clinging to the toilet as if it were her lifeline. Delayed period despite having all the symptoms of a period? Yes.
No! I CAN’T BE PREGNANT! I’m not ready. God I’m not ready for this, for Killian’s...alien children. She heaved again, nearly fainting from the thought. She blinked wearily at Killian as he opened the door to check on her.
What if I am? God, what if he doesn’t want to be a father. All those times with Timo...the very word stressed him out. Not to mention half-chippequoti children. What would they even be like? What if she couldn’t carry it full-term? What about after!?
Star shook her head at Killian. “Flu...I think its the flu.” She moans softly, resting her head on the edge of the toilet seat. Please let it be the flu.
*************************************

As soon as landed Star rushed off the ship to find Andy. She grabbed the little woman by the arms, a look of panic in her eyes. "Andy. Do you have pregnancy tests?" She whispers.
 
Back
Top