"How does it look?"

  Brian snapped another cable into place, the battery hummed contently as it powered sections of the ship decks away.

  "Well Gus, the computer core is partially scrambled and half of the primary relays are cooked. There's plenty of juice in the battery and three of the fusion reactors are still online, but without a way to properly wire it to the rest of the ship, we can expect some brownouts. I can have the whole thing back up and fixed in a couple of hours."

  "What can I do?"

  The overhead speaker began to crackle.

  "Attention crew, this is the Captain speaking."

  Brian shrugged and pointed upward.

  "You can listen."

  "We have been attacked by the US Military and have suffered power loss and critical system failure. A raiding party has boarded the ship in Shuttle Bay Two and everything on deck six forward should be considered compromised and under their control."

  Brian swallowed and Gus rushed toward the doors to Engineering; they were on deck six, section three, the aft part of the ship. The locking mechanism sounded and another set of security doors fell into place, severing the room from the rest of the ship.

  "All available personnel are ordered to report to the Armory to coordinate a counter-defensive."

  They heard the Captain audibly sigh over the speakers, gathering the strength he needed to continue.

  "Psi has gone rampant. He has allowed the US Military to capture Ramirez and Gryphon and has damaged the ship's defensive systems. It is my concern that Alexander may also be rampant and he should be treated with extreme caution."

  The AI plaque set in the wall was dark and unpowered; Brian's eyes shifted quickly from it and back to the speaker.

  "Good luck crew. I have faith in your abilities and trust we will come out of this together. Captain out."

  The speaker hummed again for a moment and then went silent. Brian turned to Gus and set a calm hand on the big man's shoulder.

  "I'm going to stay here and see what I can do about restoring main power."

  "But those guys are right next door."

  "I know, but my place is here with my engines, the barricade should hold if they try to get in. Here's what I need you to do, take the access ports to the upper decks and get to the Armory as the Captain ordered. Find Meredith and have her get down here as soon as possible so she can work on the computer core. We have to get the defensive systems back online."

  "Yes sir, I'll have her down here right away."

-     -     -

  The Captain switched off the intercom and looked at his officers.

  "All right, let's get going. Robert, collect a few medkits and lock out the Bridge."

  George picked up a portable computer terminal and moved to help Meredith stand. Karen was examining the door to the lift with a half-closed eye, pressing buttons on it's control panel.

  "The lifts aren't functioning, we'll have to take the access ladders."

  The hatch above one of them hissed as Karen released the seal. George went down first, helping Meredith to follow. Karen stepped down, moving slow as her vision was clouded with the milky film burned into her retinas. The Captain nodded to Robert as he took a few medkits from his arms and slung the bags over his shoulder. His boots clicked on the rungs of the ladder as he disappeared down the hole.

  Robert started down, looking up as his head passed the upper lip.

  "Alyssa, initiate Bridge lockout. Authorization Robert Kappa Alpha Theta."

  There was series of beeps as separate computer code activated. The lights above him dimmed, the whirr of the computers quieting, and the hatch swished shut, locking itself and sealing.

-     -     -

  Vanessa was trailing behind the giant form of Heather's voluptuous body and the stoic physique of Krista. She could barely keep her gaze up as she shuffled her feet. When she did, she looked past the beautiful, and still growing, giantess and watched her Commander's legs tense with every step that she took.

  The tanned skin swelled with toned muscle as her calves filled out the cuffs of her leather boots. Her silky legs were dark, a shimmering caramel in color, and the firm lines of definition grew hard each time her heel touched the metal floor of the corridor. Her spandex suit, a deep purple that hugged her like a second skin, started slightly above midthigh, traveling up and around Krista's backside. Vanessa watched the solid and tight cheeks tense in turn. Her hips were lean with a tapered waist that grew into a broad and strong upper body. She could see the stiff bulge of her large breasts as they stretched the front of her suit slightly to the sides. Even her hair was beautiful, black and glossy with a thin gold band that kept her bangs away from her dark eyes.

  Vanessa loved her; she loved Krista more than anything else in her world and would do anything and everything she could to bring joy to her life. She knew that Krista didn't share her feelings, and probably never would; the whole scene with Heather brought up a barrier between them and Vanessa was coming to the realization that their relationship may never be repaired. Before she was content just to be near her, but now nothing was certain. Their friendship was damaged because of her inability to cope with her feelings, with her desires. It was all just too unfair.

  She looked down again, she was so distracted with the inner turmoil that boiled her emotions that she didn't even hear the speakers begin to hum as the Captain started to address the crew.

  Vanessa bumped into Heather's back, almost falling as the Giantess' immovable form pushed her like a brick wall. Heather turned and caught her, leaning down as she softly gripped her by the arm and smiled.

  "Thank you Heather."

  Heather straightened back up; it was obvious that she had grown even bigger since they had left the Medical Bay. It had been less than an hour and she had stretched almost two inches taller. Her huge breasts bulged against her top, pushing themselves upward as the leather grew slowly tighter. Her make-shift skirt was wrapping around her wide hips, pulling at the knot that kept it in place. The creamy thighs that streamed from beneath it were long and almost as perfect as Krista's. Vanessa could see the thin tuft of fur of her crotch peeking out as she shifted the weight from one foot to the other. It glistened slightly under the overhead lights, moist with her own desires. She slowly looked up to her glowing face, high in the space of the corridor.

  Heather's growth was accelerating.

  "Attention crew, this is the Captain speaking."

  Krista looked at the door to Shuttle Bay Two as she listened. The door seemed to be jammed and was unwilling to open. She grabbed hold of a loose pipe that was jutting out of the wall and pried it loose, a length of metal almost six feet long that would easily serve as lever.

  The AI panel next to the door began to brighten; Alexander's face formed and he smiled as his gaze wandered around the air above, a look of mischief dominating his features that no one noticed. He rolled his eyes once, gazing at the First Officer with an impish smirk.

  "Hurry Krista, I don't know how much time David has left. You must help him."

  Krista looked over the surface of the door, searching for a good spot to thrust her tool into.

  "We have been attacked by the US Military and have suffered power loss and critical system failure."

  Her head shot up, her eyes wide. Alexander squinted slightly, studying her reaction.

  "A raiding party has boarded the ship in Shuttle Bay Two and everything on deck six forward should be considered compromised and under their control."

  Krista glared at Alexander; his face was twisted with a look of sudden confusion as if he was accessing information to verify what was happening. He calmed and smiled again.

  "I thought that was too large to be a satellite, I guess the sensors are more damaged then I first assessed. I will realign the external sensor grid."

  "All available personnel are ordered to report to the Armory to coordinate a counter-defensive."

  The three women looked at each other, Heather was beginning to tremble as fear crept into each of them.

  "Psi has gone rampant. He has allowed the US Military to capture Ramirez and Gryphon and has damaged the ship's defensive systems. It is my concern that Alexander may also be rampant and he should be treated with extreme caution."

  Krista slowly looked back at the AI panel.

  Alexander's eyes were dimly glowing. They haunted the screen with a pale green light as his smile kept growing larger and larger. His teeth separated from their straight edge to jagged fangs that slowly extended down as the nose wrinkled hideously. Colors swirled over the image, his eyes suddenly sparkling.

  There was a sudden clang of metal on metal as the tip of a wedge suddenly appeared between the doors to the Shuttle Bay. The muffled voices of angered marines sounded out, screaming as they battered the closed doors.

  Alexander threw back his head and started to laugh, the hollow howling echoing in their ears as his electronic visage slowly dissolved off of the screen, melting away like chalk on a rainy sidewalk. His cackle lingered for a moment more, following the ghost as he drifted away.

  The intruders pounded on the doors again and they wedged it open wider. One could see the muscled arms of the invaders through the slight crack, the smell of their salty sweat.

  "Good luck crew. I have faith in your abilities and trust we will come out of this together. Captain out."

  Krista gripped her metal pipe tightly and glanced back towards Heather and Vanessa, her stern voice and face unwavering.

  "Run."

-     -     -

On to Ch. 11 - Prisoners of War

-     -     -

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