Chapter Text
Barris snored softly.
Ariel ran her index finger along the length of the Prime's chest, noting how tense his muscles were even in rest. She stretched her legs out over his, feeling the heat of his leg against hers as she snuggled against him. She sighed contentedly, and it carried through the bedroom of the Prime's suite aboard the space fortress.
In the three days since their arrival, Ariel spent every waking and sleeping moment with the Prime, secluded within the confines of his suite. They broke their commiseration only for food and other necessities, but quickly returned to their marathon sessions of sex and laughter as they thoroughly enjoyed each others' company. While he slept, though, she reveled in her well-earned afterglow. Barris was not an easy man to please, and it took a majority of her skill to bring about his climaxes, which were as powerful as he was.
He instructed her in the proper use of his sex organ, and she delighted at how little adaptation it took to ensure mutual pleasure. Kasui men were not all that different from their Alpha Quadrant counterparts, though it seemed as if the Beta Quadrant men proved to be the superior beings in staying power that she had seen, if Barris was any indication.
Her finger continued its stroll along his midsection, playing with the patch of hair above his abdomen. She felt the involuntary muscle spasm as she splayed her entire palm over the patch, caressing it softly with her fingertips and enjoying the sensation of its springy nature. As she expected, his manhood began to rise hesitantly as blood filled it. Engorged and angry-looking, it curved toward her as she laid her head against his chest and listened to the coordinated beating of his twin hearts.
Ariel smiled at the result of her ministrations, continuing to move around it but not making direct contact. Teasing was a pleasure they both enjoyed, but even a Kasui had his limits, she found out on their first night together.
Awake now, Barris' huge right hand moved over her back and snaked around her midsection. His soft hand moved down to caress the skin of her right thigh, feeling the play of her muscles underneath before moving upward over the cheek at the top of it. He felt the small of her back and lightly massaged it before moving to feel her muscled stomach. Finally, his hand reached up to cup her breast completely, before stroking it and moving his fingers to play with her sensitive nipple.
She sighed, smiling; enjoying the sensation of his skin against hers. Ariel moved her head to look up at him, hiding the lower half of her face behind the curve of his chest and kissing it gently. She glanced at him through her bangs, which covered her left eye.
"Morning," she said, after moving her chin to rest against his chest. "How're you?"
Barris stretched his legs and his free arm, keeping his hand against her. "Sore. You?"
She kissed his chest again, and moved her hand down lower. Her fingers slipped over the top of him; gentle caresses from the tip to the base as it throbbed hotly to her touch. "I'm ready."
A deep rumbling in his chest gave away his laughter over her response. "You are a monster," he accused her with a grin. "Sent here by the Tristnor to sap me of my strength."
Ariel climbed atop him, pressing her chest into her. She spread her legs so her knees touched the bedding, draping her thighs over his sides. She smirked as he accused her and replied in a playful tone, "You've discovered my true identity, Prime Barris. Now I have to finish the job, over and over and over, until you're nothing but an empty shell." She reached underneath for him, pulling him to the apex of her legs. The strands of her long, jet black hair pooled against his chest where moments ago the ends tickled him as they brushed from side to side.
"Oh, my..." his voice trailed off, as he felt the heat of her. "You know, my father always said that this was among the best ways to end a life."
"Or create one," she quipped. Ariel continued to rub him up and down the length of her, and then stopped. She kept her eyes on his face, watching the change from contortion to pleasure and back again. They were both slick; drenched in her. He was ready, now.
Barris grabbed her thighs and ran his hands up and down her sides as she kept him waiting. In a hungry voice, he begged her, "Finish me, Ariel. Hurry."
"Yes, my Prime," she told him. With her free hand, Ariel closed her eyes tightly and gasped as she sat up, guiding him into her with a single motion.
"Iced tea, mint and Earl Grey, double-sweet," requested Captain Leone of the replicator in her ready room. The replicator materialized her request, and she retrieved it from the receptacle and returned to her desk. Padds stacked on top of one another waited for her, each of them containing information about the ship's repairs.
Three days after they arrived at the Kasui fortress, everyone on board lent a hand to making repairs to the ship. More importantly, they were getting Farragut battle-ready by integrating a sonic weapon to use against the Tristnor ships. The likelihood of a live-fire test in battle conditions was high, but Petra assured Leone that the weapon would be ready.
Once again, they made use of the ship's navigational deflector, fresh from being repaired to Starfleet specifications. Except now, they would use it as a massive vibration cannon to use against the vulnerable crystalline ships.
Prime Barris' cooperation was more than she could have hoped for, and she would express her gratitude, except she was certain that Ariel was expressing it handily. In their spare time, they attended meetings with Leone to discuss plans for attack. Based on the information presented by the Kasui and Saleb's intelligence from having worked inside the facility, they agreed upon the course of action that would yield the best benefit for everyone involved.
To gather information on their enemy position, a class nine probe was dispatched from Farragut and positioned at the edge of its sensor range for maximum cover while sneaking a peek at their formation.
Leone looked over the reports and began applying her acknowledgement to many of them. When they returned to the Federation, she made certain to write a letter of commendation for Petra's performance under such conditions.
If they returned...
No, she could not afford to think like that.
The door chimed.
"Enter," she said. Ariel stepped inside, wearing her two-piece uniform this time.
Leone grinned. "Well, well, well... she lives."
Ariel blushed. "Barely."
"Uh huh. Dare I ask for details?"
"You want them?" asked Ariel with a raised eyebrow.
"Er, not really, I guess." Leone gestured for Ariel to sit down in front of her and used her arm to push a stack to the side so she could see her. "Was it at least fun?"
"Very fun."
With a slow shake of her head, Leone smirked. "You didn't have to... you know..."
Ariel shrugged, "I know. But I wanted to. It was a new experience, and you know how I am about new experiences."
"Oh, yes. I suppose I shouldn't be surprised, but I guess I must admit to being shocked when you walked out with Barris so boldly. It's not like he's an Alpha Quadrant race; you didn't know what went where."
"I'm a fast learner."
"Hmm. Must be that Orion blood in you," Leone said with a wink. Ariel's mother was Orion, while her father was human. She gained her black hair and killer body from her mother, while her father was responsible for the blue eyes and the tanned skin.
"The hyper pheromones come in handy, especially in situations like this. But my mother never let me learn about the Technique. That was forbidden."
"I remember. I also seem to recall it not being that big a deal considering you had all the men at Starfleet Academy eating out of your hand."
Ariel grimaced. "Made my grades a little harder to attain, when all they think of you is sex."
"I know."
"You brought it up, is all I'm saying."
"Anyway, have you dropped by sickbay, yet?"
"My first stop. Sovera says I'm good and cleared me for duty."
"Excellent!" Leone reached over and pushed a stack back toward Ariel. "You can help me with these reports I've been doing since you went on your little sex safari into the Beta Quadrant wilderness."
"Shit."
Leone replied, "Ready here, Prime. We're waiting on the preliminary data from our probe."
Prime Barris looked relaxed and well-rested. His eyes continued to drift over to Ariel, as she sat in the executive officer's seat to Leone's right. "Uh, very good, Captain. I trust that my men are settling in nicely?"
"I've assigned Commander Elannis to see to Troopleader Bertas' every need," she told him, knowing full well what the implication might be.
A look of horror appeared on the Prime's face as he looked between the two. "You don't mean...?"
"She means I've made sure they have quarters and food, my Prime," replied Ariel, who moved her leg up and down once, to kick her captain in the shin. "Captain Leone did not mean to imply otherwise."
Leone coughed. "No, uh, no, of course, not. We will depart your fortress shortly to get into position to go to warp."
Barris eyed them, unconvinced of their attempts to assuage his fears. "Success to you and your mighty ship, Captain."
"To us all, Prime." The viewscreen blinked and showed the stars once more.
Ariel scowled. "Are you trying to break his heart?"
"Just easing him into it, Ariel."
"We're getting data back from the probe, Captain," reported Nieves from the tactical station.
Leone did not look up. She could access the data from the display on her armrest, as could Ariel from the executive officer's position. But, she wanted the bridge to know what they were going up against. "Report."
"I'm reading at least ten Tristnor warships of varying sizes running a blockade of the facility. They've laid a minefield in a sphere formation, a little less than half a million kilometers from it.
"Mines, Wilson?" asked Leone. She could not help but smirk at the news.
Nieves nodded. "Aye, sir. The computer's counted at least two thousand or so. Spaced pretty close together."
"Damn, that's just too much for coincidence," she said, sotto voce. To Ariel, she said, "Commander, please take Ops."
Leone rose from her seat as Ariel moved to ops. She raised her voice to address the officers on the bridge. "You know, about six hundred years ago, almost to the day... the namesake of this vessel, Rear Admiral David Glasgow Farragut, was fighting in the Battle of Mobile Bay during the American Civil War. His flag flew atop the sloop Hartford. Their objective was to take two Confederate forts that defended the bay. Mobile Bay had a wide mouth, making it easy for a fleet to sail down it and wreak havoc on them. So, the Confederate navy laid a minefield in the bay to constrict the traffic of ships entering and exiting, and making it nearly impassable unless ships travelled in a single line.
"He had eighteen ships, and his opponent, Admiral Franklin Buchanan, had four. But, back then, they didn't call them mines... they called them torpedoes. His fleet entered the field and the sloop Tecumseh stuck one of them and sank with all ninety-four hands aboard. Seeing this, the other ships in the Union fleet began to pull back. Admiral Farragut watched them from his perch on the fighting top of the Hartford. He called down from his ship to the nearby USS Brooklyn and asked them what the trouble was. The commanding officer of the Brooklyn, Captain Drayton, called back, 'Torpedoes, sir!'"
Nieves smiled at the reenactment from Leone. Ariel turned around to watch the performance. Greg looked as though he had heard the story before, and kept a watch on his console. Saleb and Belkis looked on with interest.
Leone continued in a wistful tone, "Admiral Farragut didn't care. He wanted his fleet to charge the bay." She cupped her mouth with her hands, "He shouted back, 'Damn the torpedoes! Four bells, Captain Drayton! Full speed ahead!'" She lowered her right hand to her side, but held out her left hand palm-up as she continued, "They made it safely through the minefield, took Mobile Bay, and captured the forts."
As her officers all smiled at her, having endured her impromptu performance, she placed her hands on her waist. "I feel like this is a similar situation. Our enemy has mined the approach to a facility that holds the key to our return to the Alpha Quadrant. I'm nowhere near as brilliant a commander as Admiral Farragut, but I'd like to think that if he were here right now, his order would be pretty obvious."
While Leone spoke, Ariel's smirk transformed into a huge grin. In response to her last sentence, he offered, "'Damn the torpedoes,' sir?"
The captain smiled. "'Four bells', Mister Aspinall."
Greg did not turn as he asked, "Sir?"
"Warp nine, Greg," supplied Ariel helpfully.
"Damn straight," confirmed Leone, as she settled back into her seat. With a gesture of her hand, she pointed toward the viewscreen. "'Full speed ahead.'"
The helmsman entered a flurry of commands before the familiar velocity command was confirmed by the computer. "Aye, sir. Engaging at warp nine."
Outside, Farragut's warp engines flashed a brilliant blue before vaulting itself into subspace.
... TO BE CONCLUDED...