Synopsis: Carcosa Senshi (a Dribble and Maggot adventure)

Featuring the return of the Princess in Orange.

Sir Differel is driving her Aston Martin DBS Volante on the M4 with the top down. With her in the passenger seat is Lady Margaret. They’ve just past Reading and are heading to Bath. It’s March and Differel is feeling depressed over the anniversary of Victor’s death, so she decided to spend a few days in Bath shopping and visiting the Thermae Bath Spa. She invited M to come along, for company, for a sympathetic shoulder, and to explore their tumultuous relationship, perhaps even settle once and for all the question of whether they should be lovers.

As they approach Swindon, they’re arguing over what music to play. D wants to pop in a CD of Queen, while M disparages her dinosaur band and would prefer to play the latest album by Brunts, the popular all girl electronica-heavymetal-punk-rebel-rage band. Meanwhile they have the radio on. It takes them awhile to realize that the voice coming out of the speakers is talking to them. As soon as D recognizes it, she slams on the brakes and swerves to the side of the road, nearly causing an accident.

It’s the Princess in Orange. She commiserates concerning the sad anniversary, then asks where they’re going. When D replies, the PiO answers that that sounds boring and offers to set up something more exciting. Before D can object, a “view” slides from in front of them to behind them, replacing the countryside, road, and car for outer space and the cockpit of some kind of futuristic spacecraft moving faster than the speed of light. Though they’re bodies haven’t changed, they’re now wearing costumes that resemble Sailor Scout uniforms but with a cosmic lingerie design, complete with frilly G-strings, see through chemises and micro-skirts. The PiO appears as a holographic image of the computer’s AI program. She explains that they are members of the elite interplanetary law enforcement group known as the Sera Senshi, or simply the Scouts. They are on a mission to Trons’l Vanya to extradite the celebrated space pirate, Black Tie. They are the seventh pair to be sent on this mission; none of the others returned. But it will take 12 hours to get there, and she has everything well under control. She suggests they enjoy themselves, and the wall behind them splits down the middle and slides apart to reveal a bedroom fit for a goddess. Not having much choice, they go inside and the wall closes shut.

M wonders what the PiO’s game is. D just shrugs; for all she knows, the PiO just wants to see if she would screw M with all the abandon she did Victor, only it doesn’t feel quite right. Regardless, unless the PiO reveals the solution, all they can do is play along and hope they stumble on it. M doesn’t like the idea of being a pawn for someone else’s sick “fun”, but she understands they have no choice. She volunteers to sleep with D, just in case. D confesses that part of what she wanted to do this trip was hash out her ambivalent feelings for M. M in turn admits that she’s been feeling just as confused. Perhaps they can finally figure out once and for all just how they feel about each other. They undress and get into the bed, but as they lie next to each other trying to get up the nerve to start, the gravity gradually decreases until they are in free-fall. After the surprise wears off, they experience a kind of euphoria as they fly and tumble around each other. D starts feeling amorous, and it isn’t long before they embrace and go at each other like rutting weasels. Her excitement builds and they become more energetic, and it isn’t long before she is in the throes of rapture more intense than anything she ever felt with Victor. Their sex seems to go on for hours as they experience orgasm after orgasm, until finally D blacks out.

When D wakes up, she finds the gravity has been restored, and she and M are lying in the bed. The Princess hologram appears, waking M, and reports that they are one hour out from Trons’l Vanya, enough time to clean up, dress, and eat. They get up and take a shower together, but discover it is fully automatic. D finds the devices meant to scrub her body disconcerting, though M seems to enjoy it. Afterwards they dress in their “uniforms”; except for spacesuits, nothing else is available. Finally they eat. As they do so, D asks the Princess hologram about their mission.

The ruler of Trons’l Vanya, V’Lad Tipish, gives Black Tie sanctuary in return for a cut of his booty. As an associate member of the Federation Galactica, he cannot interfere with them, but neither is he required to help them. The previous teams never reported back, and so are assumed to have been neutralized. There is no information on the kind of society supported by Trons’l Vanya, and once they enter the system all long-range communication will be blocked, so they will be on their own.

As they approach the system, they are warned off, but they meet no opposition, and they land without incident. There is no check-in or customs; they are free to enter the city without restriction. They realize that without official help, it will be next to impossible to find BT, so they will have to get creative. They discover the city is a Ferengi’s dream: a capitalistic paradise where anything can be had for a price and caveat emptor rules every transaction. It’s also sordid and edgy like a low-class red-light district. Despite their uniforms, or because of them, they are approached by people propositioning them, some of whom are more subtle than others. One offers to show them a rare and wondrous thing. They realize how the other teams must have been neutralized; they were naive enough to be lured off the street, where they were killed or enslaved. Even so, that gives them an idea of how to find BT, or rather for him to find them. They locate a bar that doesn’t seem as seedy as the others and enter to try their luck.

They circulate, showing an image of BT, but no one admits to recognizing him. Finally someone claims he can take them to someone else who can tell them where to find him. He leads them into a dark alley, where a gang tries to kidnap them, but they beat them off. They then force their informant to take them to the person who wanted them kidnapped. It turns out to be a tentacle monstrosity that owns a bar/slave market. It speaks through a naked woman with a tentacle up her pussy. It admits that it wanted them caught; Senshi sex slaves are in huge demand. It also states that it buys whatever captives BT takes in his raids on ships. However, it also reveals that it has just sold them, and they are paralyzed. They are stripped naked, then taken into a backroom and laid on a bed. BT enters, saying that he heard they wanted to see him, so he arranged this meeting. He gives them a powerful aphrodisiac before cancelling their paralysis, then takes off his costume; he looks like Victor Plunkett. As the sex drug takes effect, he has sex with both of them.

Afterwards he does not try to restrain them. They tell him he is under arrest, but he refuses to go with them, nor can they force him to go. They try, and he just disappears. When he reappears he explains it was due to some tech he picked up early in his career. When they try to catch him again, they are shocked into submission. On top of that, they won’t be able to leave the bar except in his presence. He disappears again, and when they try to leave the room they are again shocked. He returns and explains that if he leaves a third time without them, he will sell them back to the monstrosity, who will whore them to its customers. However, they can leave with him, if they promise not to try to capture him. They then would have three choices. If they are willing to forget about him, he will escort them back to their ship and they can leave. Or, they can partner with him and become pirates themselves. Or, they can join forces with him to stop V’Lad from destroying the FG home system, in exchange for a pardon and future immunity. They agree to postpone placing him under arrest long enough to hear him out.

He provides them with stripperific clothing along with their arm implements, and they head for a bar. He explains that for the past couple of years V’Lad has been commissioning him to attack specific transports. He is free to take whatever he wants from them, but there were certain items from each that he had to take regardless of worth. Those he turned over to V’Lad for a “finders fee” and he sold off the rest of his booty. BT swears he had no idea what V’Lad wanted the materials for, but he has since learned that he intends to create a nova bomb, which when set off inside a star would cause it to eject its outer layers while its core collapses into a white dwarf. The ejected material would destroy the inner part of the solar system and render the outer part uninhabitable for millennia. He can only make one bomb, but he intends to blackmail the FG, and after they have paid, to detonate anyways for payment from the Dark Empire. The destruction of the FG home system would throw the galaxy into chaos and allow the DE to step in and fill the power vacuum. He has no vested interest in seeing the FG destroyed only to be replaced by the DE. Granted, with the FG gone he could become rich and powerful, but the DE would destroy him; the FG would only imprison him, and he could still make a living if they didn’t catch him, whereas he couldn’t under the DE.

However, there is still time to stop him if they act fast. He hasn’t assembled the bomb yet, and there is one critical material he must have or the bomb would be no better than a 100 meg nuke. It was a fluke it was even on a civilian transport; normally it’s carried by a military vessel. If they steal it, he would be unable to obtain any more. He also has a plan for how they can steal it, but it would require them to do something extraordinary, well beyond the call of duty. He could then take it while they distract him.

He takes them to V’Lad’s lair, disguised as harem dancers, and offers to sell them to him. To display their “wares”, they dance, steadily denuding themselves, until they are virtually naked. Then V’Lad realizes BT has vanished. He has them taken to the bomb, and they discover that it has been assembled, but the critical material is missing. They then realize BT double-crossed them and plans to sell the material. V’Lad orders them killed, but then a representative of the DE appears and countermands his order. It offers them their freedom if they will retrieve the stolen material. D agrees, but V’Lad insists on keeping M as hostage.

Once on the street, the PiO hacks into the planet’s Internet and discovers that BT has a ship and where it’s located. She also reports it’s being readied for takeoff. As D heads off, the PiO also explains what she found out about the DE on Trons’l Vanya.

V’Lad has M tied to a couch, and she watches as he disrobes. As he pours wine for himself, she asks him about the DE. He casually explains that it has had a presence on Trons’l Vanyafor some years now, and that the city has become completely infiltrated; everyone is either a member of or works for the DE, including him, though some, like BT, still don’t realize it. It is used as a base to infiltrate spies and saboteurs into the FG, to monitor transmissions and hack into databases to steal information and money, and once the FG home system has been destroyed, it will become a naval base. He drains the goblet and approaches her. As he fondles her in preparation to raping her, he gloats about how he will enjoy both of them when her partner returns. She states that D will not come back; that she will get the material off planet and out of his hands for good. Besides, she knows that the DE rep will never let them live to warn the FG. He replies that if that is the case, he will make her death as slow and excruciating as he can manage. Though terrified, she replies that she is Senshi, and if necessary she will give her life for the mission. He states that for now all he wants is her body, and he penetrates her.

D manages to get to BT’s ship before it can take off, and downloads the PiO into the system so she can shut down the launch sequence. She then goes looking for him, but he ambushes her and they fight. The PiO activates a body shield that protects her from being shocked, but his ability to disappear and reappear at will gives him an advantage. He subdues her, but offers to take her with him. Once he sells the material they will be fantastically rich. They can go wherever they want, live whatever lives they want. She feels tempted, and the PiO urges her to accept. Then she asks about M. He replies that he has no interest in her. He remembers how much they enjoyed each other when he had sex with both of them, and he doesn’t want competition for her affection. She then realizes he doesn’t love her, he just wants to own her. She refuses, and he states she won’t have any choice once he knocks her out. However, the PiO has learned the secret of his built-in tech, and when they grapple she burns it out, leaving him helpless. D forces him to give her the material, but then leaves, giving him a chance to escape.

On the way back she asks the PiO why she helped her. The PiO explains that she is acting as a Senshi AI, as part of the game; to not help her would be cheating. However, she has to make her own choices. D asks if there is a way to use the material to sabotage the bomb. The PiO confirms there is, but it’s tricky, and probably won’t work, or could get her killed. D decides to try, and the PiO explains how to modify the material’s container.

D makes it back, and gives the material to V’Lad. He has her bound together with M, and as his technicians replace the canister, he gloats that he will enjoy them as long as it takes for the FG to accede to his demands, then he will place them in their ship with the bomb and send them to the FG home system. Even as the techs activate the bomb, however, it begins ticking down, and they cannot stop it. D uses her laser to cut herself and M loose, then shoots guards as they escape. M grabs a guard gun and joins in. BT drops down from the ceiling throwing bombs and adds his own firepower to help them escape. One explosion causes part of the ceiling to collapse, trapping V’Lad under debris. Once outside, they must evade DE drone soldiers led by the representative, but they manage to make it to their ships. They take off as pursuit craft rise to give chase, but as they clear the atmosphere the bomb goes off, destroying the city and the following craft. The flash and pulse of high-energy particles disrupt their sensors, but they see BT’s ship veer off. He signals his farewell and jumps before they can lock onto him. They in turn jump and head for home system.

Even as the jump effect washes over them, they find themselves back in their car on the side of the road. No time has passed. Over the radio the PiO congratulates them on winning another game. She explains that the goal was for D to choose between Victor or M, with the possible rewards being a lifetime with Victor, albeit in that alternate universe, something D has always wanted, or being returned to their own universe to continue her relationship with M. M chastises D for coming back for her. Not only did that jeopardize the mission, but she lost her chance to be with Victor. D explains that the mission was of no consequence. She didn't believe the PiO would be so prosaic as to test whether she would sacrifice M for the mission, and that wasn't really Victor, despite appearances. She would rather live in the real world, despite its problems, with someone who is real, than a fantasy world with someone who was just an illusion of a former love. M is touched, and she and D kiss. The PiO makes gagging noises and tells them to get a room, then the radio flares to life playing country-western cowboy blues. D & M shriek as if in agony and simultaneously switch off the radio, then after a moment start laughing. D puts the car in gear and they resume their trip to Bath.