[DalekSec]

Originally Posted by Tinn

Interesting, again. The different personalities of the characters were showcased a little in this one. I'd like to know what Rea is planning.

Given the way you started your post, it sounds like the story is done, unless I'm mistaken. If it is, then thanks, I enjoyed it. If it isn't, good, I'll look forward to it.

Well NOW you have the conclusion and again, thank you for your very kind words.

PT 4

Savoring the wraithlike joining with Dr. Stewart, Rea struggled with the choice fate had given her. To give up so much of what she knew for dark powers that still challenged her understanding. As much as she found the concepts becoming familiar they remained frightening. Knowing a thing and having knowledge of it are two very different matters. Rea knew mounts. The flexing of their muscles before an act of defiance. She knew the exact color a metal should be before the hammer came down upon it. But she could not claim to know the metal or the hammer! Rea could know so much about a mount but, not being such a creature, she could not comprehend what it was like to be the animal.

Letting her mind drift towards the connection it still shared with the being who had set her world in motion so long ago, she found many things within his thoughts. Pushing the facts and figures aside for a moment to delve into his emotions, Rea shuddered. Hatred and loathing for himself guarded the iron gates of his more personal mind. The memory of his fangs sinking into the flesh of a screaming victim filled her mouth with the taste and sensation. Rea?s hands grappled the invisible prey as her heart reacted to a surge of adrenaline. The enjoyment of a great hunger sated covered in the regret and horror he felt for how he had to go about addressing that need on his part.

As frightening as his face was, his own image of himself was all the more distorted and degenerate. Degenerate, the word echoed from every corner of his mind to assault all that he was. While Rea could see him in the role of God the creator, Dr. Stewart saw only decay and depravity in himself. Slipping past the terrors of his inner world, Rea was stunned to see herself, as if an image on the screen of his computer, standing in the lone beam of unpolluted light. Looking at how his mind had, in her opinion, idealized her, she could see herself as not only ?Pretty? but beautiful. Bathed in the pure light, Rea?s eyes moved along her own body. ?This is how you see me?? she asked. ?Yes.? came the simple one word answer. Expecting more, Rea sensed a reluctance on the part of the giant being to elaborate. Not wanting to seem as though she were begging for compliments, Rea held her tongue.

Still transfixed on her image in his mind, Rea shook her head. ?You have done so much. Breathing life into a world, and this? she whispered waving her hand towards the simulacrum, ?Is what you put on display in your memories? This is your centerpiece?? Again, the ancient being offered only the simplest of replies. ?Yes?. Still the walls of his mind remained high as she tried to feel out the tone of his silent reply. Looking up to find the glowing eyes above her once more, Rea could no longer feel fear under their gaze. Sounds and images of his life rising and drawing back into the shadows gave her glimpses into all that had gone into making him what he was and still, the only vision that remained constant was her own.

?Fear. And loneliness.? he finally confessed in a tone that even in the voiceless realm of his mind was only barely perceptible. Rea could understand that with ease. At least when her parents had been alive, she could revel in their company. The stares and idle gossip of others carrying so much less weight than when she found herself alone. For the breaking of an axle at the most inopportune time, she lost the two people that meant everything to her. Alone, isolated she had been tempted by the comely face and flattering words of Goss. Examining her own complicity in his campaign to gain her physical company, Rea, for the first time confessed the weakness in her own nature. Trying to make up for what she saw as her many physical flaws, she had entrusted to him her most precious secret. More dear to her that her own innocence of body, she had hoped that his handsome face and soft words could be lured to swear oaths to her if he knew she was so much more than a form to be touched.

Her own fears betrayed all that her mother and father had tried so hard to plant within the soil of her being. The countless times her mother would smile and remind Rea that she was a more than worthy person who had a beauty all her own. The tight hugs her father had given her while reminding her that she held so much of her mother?s looks and how he had known that her mother was the only woman he could ever want from their first meeting. All of these lessons became dust as did their repeated warnings about her wanting to show off what she knew. The risks they took in giving her the ability to read, to know the plants of healing and how to shape formless blobs into the metals that made so much in life possible. All as nothing when she found herself alone for the first time and turned to a hollow smile for comfort. Goss had dismissed it all, telling her that she could read to him later as if it was a gift on his part to her. A charity on his part to allow for time so that she could show off her most treasured talents. The one time she had brought one of the books her father had given her to one of her clandestine meetings with Goss, he had dismissed it as an object of no importance. His insistent hands touching her at a time when her body was demonstrating one of the least pleasant aspects of being female had pumped the bellows of her ire.

With a hiss of anger, she had slapped him across that handsome face when his hands moved closer to her center than she could tolerate. In hindsight, it was all so painfully obvious. Having the pick of any young woman for his wife, she had been seen as nothing more than an easy conquest and playful diversion. His tone changing in an instant to one of harsh rebuke, all of his smiles and enthralling words had vanished like the light of a candle blown out before bed. Rea had clung to the remote hope that he would have some sense of shame if not proper honor and keep her secret. That of course was not to be the case. That very morning she had heard the angry pounding on her door and found the Inquisitor flanked by a few younger members of the priesthood.

Ignoring the voice of the irritating man, having no inclination to deny who and what she was, Rea offered no resistance when they led her to the holding cells of the Legit. Sitting in the little room and regarding the bars her father had made for the cell, Rea could not escape her own opinion that it was a stroke of cruel divine justice. A lesser person might have felt regret at having a father and mother who would allow them to defy the law in such a profound way. Rea knew that they had only wanted to give her the tools that might make her happy. He own misuse of those tools had been her choice. Displaying the gift she had been given like some showman?s trick to entice a spark that did not and could never dwell within the person of Goss had been the fault of no one but herself. The fact that she had fouled her father?s name with the brush of her failings cut all the deeper into her soul.

Hearing a soft sob from all around her, Rea was shaken from her own dark memories. ?Do you punish the dead?? she asked in the voice of a child. ?Of course not. No one has that power or right save the one who made us all. As for that, why would a creator hate his creations so much as to do that?? Rea felt the omission on the part of her host. ?Then why do you cling to life with all of your technology?? The trembling that shook the world of his mind made Rea jump. ?I am afraid. If I am wrong and there is a price to be paid, I dread what the bill for my actions will be.? his whisper choking on the words. Rea had to accept the limitations of the God of her people. What choice was there. Knowing that he feared the wrath of a power greater than himself was a sobering notion. It was also a comfort. If the God of her people was the product of an even greater force, and yet, could do so much, what could she and her people hope to become? He was flesh and blood, made of the same stuff as she and had used his own body and the bodies of his fellows to make the people she had been born of. If flesh and blood could do so many amazing things in his case, what was to keep his progeny from doing the same?

?Just a man. A human man from far away and long ago.? he told her as his glowing eyes softened. ?Nothing more. With the help of machines and technology, made by others like myself, I did all this.? Rea felt the burning of the one question all of his mind had yet to really answer for her. Still hesitant to cross some unknown bounds with him, Rea found the question forcing its way out of her mind like the birth of a child. ?Why? Why did you do it?? she finally asked. As all of the images in his mind turned to her in unison, including that of herself, Rea held her breath.

?I could offer you so many answers. I could say it was to ensure that some part of my world would survive. I could tell you that I wanted to feel less alone in the universe. I could even give you some selfless answer such as I hoped you would mature into a species greater and wiser than my own. I suspect you would believe none of these and you would be right to dismiss such answers. The truth?? His thoughts becoming as wisps in the wind, Rea saw the eyes of her representation turning to stare into her own. The lips of the woman he saw her as, smiling sadly. ?Why then? What is the true answer?? Rea whispered. Seeing the face that was her own in his thoughts frown, she got her answer in her own voice. ?Because I could.?

With that, Rea felt the shame of his actions and their motivations. Being pushed from his mind to find herself on the cold surface of the table that held the computer, Rea was shaken to her very core. What was the more troubling aspect? The idea of a flawless creator who could never really empathize with the beings he created or an imperfect God who could admit his own faults to one of his creations? Part of her could not help revisiting her memory of how he had chosen to depict her in his own mind. Was there any more sincere compliment one could ever offer? Seeing her in such a way as to consider her the only thing of beauty in his mind. Could any handful of flowers or sack of sweetbreads ever match such an offering? What spoken words could ever dare to try to equal, let alone surpass such a compliment? Seeing her in such a way while embracing her mind and encouraging it to strive for even greater achievements, could any being ever hope to express love in a more perfect manner?

Taking it all in was making her head spin. The individual who had moved upon the face of her world. He who had so many temples dedicated to his worship and the unquestioning devotion of all of the people, saw her as perfection. The choice that had seemed so daunting became as clear as the air. Rea saw no other possible course of action for herself. If she was to exist, now that so much had been revealed to her on so many levels, Rea really had no choice at all.

Accepting that she had committed herself to the plan that coalesced in her mind, Rea felt a mixture of anticipation and spreading calm. Keeping the decision hidden from the surface of her thoughts, she found herself sleeping with a spreading grin.

?He sleeps.? she whispered as she opened her eyes to glance about the desk she lay upon for the tools that she would need. Finding a length of cord and an angular piece or metal she could fashion into a hook, she set about the task of constructing what she required. Climbing down from the desk and using the lattice of the chair as a ladder once more, she ran to the sliding door and saw the eye like sensor that controlled its operation. So many new ideas and a growing sense of potency made her feel bolder than she ever thought possible. Giggling as the huge door obeyed her command, Rea, using the makeshift grappling hook which she swung in the line of sight of the sensor, felt the excited pounding in her ears. Watching the mists rise from the regeneration chamber in the sickbay, she was assured that Dr. Stewart would not rouse for some time. Rea had seen in his thoughts the countless times he had taken his place in the device. Cheating death with every treatment, his life and stretched out now for a length of time that boggled the mind.

While some more scholarly members of the Priesthood claimed to have tracked the linage of her people to the very beginning , Rea now knew the truth. Although it was all but impossible to wrap her mind around the timelines, she now understood how the stories of her peoples origin fit in an odd way with the facts.

Innocent and at peace, the first of her people had been given the world made for them by their creator. Food was made to feed them and water waited upon their thirst. Simple things like fire and how to build tools had been part of the pact with God. Warnings about which animals were fit to eat and which were more useful as beasts of burden followed. Language and writing were more gifts from the one true God and he never once declared that women should be barred the use of writing or reading. This she knew from the mind of the being who had done all these things. Lies born of fear and ability led to some deciding that those of womankind be kept ?Innocent?. Tragically, by then, Dr. Stewart had grown weary of trying to reason with his creations. Feeling such guilt over their plights and sorrows as they lived the lives he gave them, Dr. Stewart chose to shut himself away.

Rea could almost resent his choice to abandon the people to their own machinations. He had set all of it in motion and then simply backed away when they needed his guidance most. The painful conclusion for Rea was that the God of her people had given into fear. Fear of what his meddling might make worse or, all the more terrible, robbing them of what he felt was most human about them. Free will. If he forced them to be good, told them what his view of good was, how could they truly ever be a reminder of his own race. Already he knew he had cheated. Given them in an instance what it took his own people eons to acquire. Dr. Stewart had made gifts of the earliest technologies at the cost of wisdom on the part of Rea?s people. Seeing them turn their simple tools on one another in the first acts of violence, Dr. Stewart had felt the pain of their choices. Faced with the decision to grip their minds and make puppets of them or, allow them to sort out what type of beings they wished to be, he had taken what he saw as the only moral path. As soon as Rea?s people expressed their autonomous humanity, their God had made the choice to fade from their lives. Rea stopped a moment to consider this. ?Perhaps this is why we made a demon of you.? she whispered.

Even the cattle that was brought on a regular basis to his long flightless ship was more a matter of survival than ritual. Survival for him as their blood kept him nourished and survival for Rea?s people as Dr. Stewart examined the creatures for disease and genetic anomalies. Plagues had always been short lived and after a handful of deaths, most who fell ill recovered. Her own mother, a healer by family tradition had been puzzled on so many occasions. While those like her took it to be their own actions that saved the day, Rea?s mother had always tried to examine the good fortunes more closely. Now Rea knew that while her mother?s kind words and inspired tonics did offer modicums of help, it was the storms that really kept her people from such harm. Dr. Stewart in his amazing ship, launching drones into the air to seed the clouds with medicine. His robotic servants roaming the night to pour healing potions into the water supplies. Even the frightful wolves taking to the night to drag down any animals that Dr. Stewart suspected carried disease.

Comforted that there was indeed the one true God watching over her people, Rea could not help feeling a sense of bitterness. Her own mother had been little more than an assistant to his helping hand. How many times had she risked illness and death to tend the sick? All for soups and herbs that only alleviated pain while the real healing came from him. How her own father had toiled in the smithy to produce metals for the people when Dr. Stewart could have simply given them such of a quality and quantity they could never dream of. Farmers plowing the fields when machines lay ready to take on their burdens would never know how their suffering could be alleviated. So many things their God could have given them to further their lives.

?To what end?? Rea shivered as she felt his voice in her head. While his body was in a state of perfect helplessness, his mind still burned. ?Yes, I could give it all to you and be done with it. I could teach you to work the controls and never have to lift a finger again. You could all eat, live long lives and never know pain. But, to what end?? ?Wurdulak, you could be the God you once were.? Rea growled. ?You could open this ship and reveal it all. You could make life for the people you created a paradise!? Her voice accusatory as she fumed. ?To what end?? his reply all the more irritating.


?Don?t you see it Rea, daughter of Fomar and Kadella. Why would your father have strived to work. To make life as happy as he could for you and your mother? Why would your mother ever reach out to those in need with more than I could ever offer? You speak ill of her kind words and potions. How unjust. She cared as did your father and all of your people. She worked hard to assuage the pain and suffering of others. I can think of no better vocation for one of your race or mine.? Rea felt the sting of shame and blushed at his noting of her mother?s name. Nodding her head as she held the instruments of her plot, Rea had no words to offer. ?I could have robbed them, you mother and father and all those like them of their talents to make pets of you all. Happy and fed in the little zoo of my creation. I could have made you look like the people I knew and snuffed out the very thing that made humans human. This is why I chose silence and exile.?


Keeping the most mundane images in her mind, should he follow the filament left by their touching of minds, she hoped to keep her plans hidden. The smell of mornings outside of her home and a particularly pleasant memory of her father explaining how one could quench the hot anger of metal with water and oil.

Padding hastily, her red cloak fluttering behind her, Rea hurried towards the enclosure that contained the man who had set her world in motion so very long ago. Swinging the hook at the end of the knotted cord as her father had taught her to do, Rea caught the edge of the chamber on her first attempt. Pulling herself up the cord one knot at a time, she quickly came to the lip. Feeling at odds with being so exposed, naked save for the red cloth that was tied around her neck like a cloak, Rea held her breath. She could feel his mind, as light as a feather, attempting to touch her own. Even her dislike of such heights seemed to grow silent as her mind focused on her ultimate desires.

?Rea what are you doing?? His silent voice shaking as she clambered down to his body. While his mind was still fully active and aware of the world around him, his body was powerless as it was rejuvenated by the device. The wolves circled the casket of vapors, unable to climb as Rea had done. Their howls of consternation and confusion ringing in her ears as she set her feet upon the giant?s body. ?Rea, you must not do this. You do not know, you can not know what the price is. Would you compound my guilt?? he pleaded as she walked along the length of his torso. Coming at last to the object of her desire, she gripped the tab of the zipper that held his flight suit closed by his groin. Pulling the zipper back while she dug her heels into his body, she smiled as he tried to lift his right hand.

?Please Rea. This is not what you want, it can not be!? he insisted as she dug into the open garment to ease out his manhood. Shouldering it like a crippled animal, Rea lifted it free of his clothing. So long removed from what he saw as humanity, his sex still responded in the way of a male. Rea was struck not only by its size but the musky odor it held. Not unclean in any form or fashion as his flesh was made anew with each treatment of the chamber. Just a hint of sweat and the normal scents of a man?s body.

Rea could feel the struggling of his mind as he fought the urges she called upon. His sense of modesty trying to force his hand to move and thereby push her away from his organ. ?Rea. Stop. Please stop.? His voiceless words making her smile a little wider. Once more she was breaking age old tenants of her faith. A woman?s place was to be submissive in all things. To obey the direction of the one man who had come to be her husband after a lifetime of moral servitude to her father. Now, not only lacking the proper rituals of marriage but forcing the issue of sexual relations on him, Rea savored the heady nature of it all. Just more lies set down as the will of the one true God who now lay vulnerable before her. None of the priests could ever imagine how far from the truth they had strayed. One prejudice laying the foundation for the next until cathedrals of falsehoods rose to pollute the fading memories and myths of their creator.

Gripping the skin that surrounded the head of his manhood, Rea found it soft and warm. Seeing his fluids already giving acknowledgement of the pleasing nature of her actions, Rea felt a sense of power. Slipping her fingers along the bulging head of his sex, she let his initial offerings wet her palm. Caressing along the most sensitive flesh, she blushed as his sex twitched at her touch. Grabbing the warm flesh of his sex, her fingers digging into him without thought to his protestations, she began massaging his shaft. Her feet pressing to his groin as she pulled herself along his organ to rub her body along his skin, she found his arguments growing quieter. Using her soft auburn hair to tickle the head of his manhood, she caught the sound of an actual moan coming from his throat.

Grinning in triumph as she watched his glowing eyes open into slits of red, she pressed her case. ?You made us as we are. Made me as I am. Would you deny this step in my evolution?? she teased as her face pressed to the head of his sex. Feeling his manhood tremble at her command, she began licking along the flesh. The rush of blood that came in response to her call to engorge his manhood to a full arousal sent a feeling of supreme potency through Rea?s body and mind. ?And now old demon, I shall have my due.? she spoke aloud in a voice of a most sultry nature.

Gently biting upon the flesh of the proof that he was, in origin a human male, she found her tongue had the greatest effect. Licking along the pebbly skin, his voice hissed out of his mouth to encourage her further. Moving her hands teasingly along the warm flesh as he fingers occasionally dug in to grip the skin, she felt one vein in particular pulsing. Petting it with her fingers as her tongue ran irregular lines along the head of his manhood, she fanned his rising passions. His breathing labored as his limp fingers curled, no longer attempting to shoo her away, she felt his hips move under her body. Grasping his scrotum with her strong toes, she caressed the head of his manhood causing it to grow warmer. Soft moans rising to become louder deep within his throat, Rea tasted his juices. Nuzzling along the meatus as it offered proof of his body?s surrender to her, she found her face growing wet as her hair became sticky.

Squeezing the large pulsing vein that ran along the underside of his organ, Rea moved her lips to the frenulum. Kissing and biting along the thick and musky flesh of his manhood, Rea gasped as he gave at last the object of her quest. His thick seed spurting out to splash upon her as she hugged his shaft. Releasing his vein, Rea scooped up some of his semen and began rubbing it along her own virginal sex. Working the viscous fluid into her own body and then lifting her hand to her lips. Licking along her fingers, she could visualize the product of his fluids combining with her own genes to alter them as he had promoted the metamorphosis within his own body.

Her body covered in his seed, Rea let the mists wick away the sticky fluid as the gasses enfolded her. Even her red cloak was renewed as was the ancient uniform of Dr. Stewart. Laying his spent member to one side, Rea walked along the front of the man with a wide and spreading grin upon her face. The man?s chest rising and falling to make her footing difficult. Stretching her arms out to balance herself as she made her way to his face, she came to stand before his chin. Her bare feet digging into his throat.

?And now my creator, I will take the rest.? she spoke with a tone of growing confidence. Leaping to his face, she pulled his quivering lips open. Exposing his long sharp fangs, her eyes went wide. No longer objects of fear, the promise of power that they offered made them the most beautiful things she had ever seen in her young life. Bracing her left foot on his lower lip as her right hand forced his upper lip aside, she ran her left hand along the length of one of his teeth. The ridges so much like the knives her father made for the butchers in her village, his fangs gleamed in the swirling clouds of the regeneration chamber.

?You do not know what you are doing.? he whispered silently unable to stop Rea from acting upon her plan. ?I know more than you can imagine my old God.? she hissed before impaling her left palm upon the pointed tip of his fang. The burning of her flesh and the feeling that her head might well explode filled every sense in Rea?s body. The rush of his infection spreading in her body sent Rea into convulsions. Panting as she pulled her hand away, the blood dripping onto his shaking lips, Rea?s body crumpled to roll off of his face. Curling in a tight little ball by the side of the man?s head, she shook as the world flashed and screamed at her. The pounding in her ears like the thunder that once terrified her as a child.

Time melted to become irrelevant. If asked, Rea could never hope to answer how long the process took. The only comforts within the torture of her own body were the knowledge that after her rebirth she would never be helpless again. The pains that wracked her body alleviated in small measure by the gentle healing properties of the gasses that filled the chamber. Waking up with her face moist with her own drool, Rea felt her eyes burning in their sockets. Standing on the cushion that supported Dr. Stewart?s head, she discovered the world had changed all around her. Lights of hues and delicacies that she had never before seen played out for her amusement. Smell, sound and taste were all new to her as was the tingling of her new sense of touch. Even her body, the breathing and pumping of her blood was unlike any experience she had ever known.

Letting her mind relax, she found that all of the demon?s thoughts were now completely open to her. Dr. Stewart, being at the heart of his nature a male, had surrendered to her unconditionally. Now, his mind was hers as she welcomed him into her own. He could see the life she had been made to live from the moment of her birth until this exact moment in time. She could feel his horror at the hunger her mind and soul had been forced to endure. He picked gently along the rivers of her memories to taste the bitterness of her disappointments, deprivations and betrayals. Sorrow and anger at being manipulated by a world that saw her as being of little value. A world that he had set in motion. Feeling his guilt rise at her pain, Rea reached out to press her hand to his temple. ?Hush. You could not have known and I understand why you shut yourself away from us now. Give me leave to set right the mistakes my people have made in your name.? No longer resistant to her machinations, the silent voice of her ancient God offered his imprimatur. ?Do what you must.?

Rea?s body was stronger and climbing out from the chamber was no challenge at all. Closing her eyes and calling out with her mind, she heard the answer of the wolves. Their padding paws rushing to join her in total obedience. Seeing them with her mind, she spread out her hands to let them nuzzle and lick her fingers. All of the powers of her ancient God were now hers. Feeling the fur of the wolves slip along her flesh as their tails wagged in happy submission Rea was reborn.

Running along the steel floor of the ship, Rea raced for the control room of the ship. Touching the keys of the computer after leaping up to the chair and then to the table effortlessly, she activated the drones and set one to land by the main hatch of the vessel. Racing to the airlock of the ship, she smiled. The drone?s wings spread out as it awaited the command to voyage to the designated location, Rea found the idea of riding high in the sky thrilling. Fears that had once made her tremble such as lofty places were now eagerly anticipated. Straddling the device, she told the wolves the destination. Unable to contain her frenzied joy, Rea heard the shrill laughter in the night and had to remind herself that it was her own. Rising into the clouds as she gripped the body of the drone, she saw the wolves following below.

Time had been lost to Rea and only the rising of the sun told her a new day was upon her. The first streams of light coloring the sky as she directed the drone on. Her legs pressing to its sides as she would a living mount while the pack sprinted to keep pace. Still dark, she felt the rush of vertigo as the drone dropped to land a few paces from the stables of the First Citizen?s residence.

Setting her bare feet upon the damp grass, she felt the cool winds tug at her red cloak and tease her bare flesh. If the village elders saw her now, a flogging and confinement would be the price at the very least. Feeling the sharp yet sweet pain of her teeth as they grew to stab gently at her lips, Rea embraced her new place in the world. ?So be it.? came the distant voice of Dr. Stewart. His thoughts still intertwined with her own.

Walking slowly to the stables, Rea could smell the scent of her prey. The wolves walking beside her as they held their voices down. Ridges of fur spiking along their backs as their paws fell silently upon the ground. Ears forward and nostrils flaring, they followed the lead of their new mistress. Her eyes burning in the sockets of her skull, Rea could see the form taken by the man?s heat as he brushed his favorite mount for an early morning ride.

Moving to the door of the stable, Rea smiled wide. Still in the shadows, she knew only her basic shape was now visible to the person within. ?Goss.? she called out softly. Hearing the brush strokes stop and tasting his breath grow still, Rea savored the moment. ?Who is it? How dare you trespass on my father?s property!? he hissed in petulant ire. ?Come now Goss. Forgotten me so soon?? She could not keep the teasing tone from her voice as she stepped into a small swatch of light. Her face still obscured by the fold of the giant red cloth, she pulled the sides open to reveal her body in its full glory.

As Goss dropped the brush he had been using on his mount, his face turned red. Rea could smell his blood rushing about his body at a furious pace. The very beating of his heart pounding in her ears. ?But how? Is it you? You live?? he asked breathlessly as his booted feet swished through the fresh straw on the floor. ?Oh I live. I can assure you. I live.? She answered with a soft twitter. The bodies of the wolves burning with heated anticipation just beyond the door.


?Rea. Why have you come?? his voice trembling in a confused mixture of desire for the gifts he saw and his certainty that no one came back whole from the Wastelands of the Wurdulak. ?Silly Goss. I came for you of course.? Keeping the makeshift hood in place lest she spook her prey into a run. Letting him move forward, closer to herself and the pack that waited eagerly at the door, Rea slipped her right hand across her full breasts in an enticing manner. Moving her fingers to grip her nipple, she pulled it in a fashion that was sure to appeal to his baser instincts. Her left hand moving to her womanhood to caress her sex, Rea felt the mind of Dr. Stewart tingle at her sensations. ?If you still desire it Goss. It is all here and all for you this night.? she whispered as her fangs slipped past her lips.

?I will talk to my father. Have him plead on your behalf. Anything!? the boy blurted out thinking bribery was still an issue for this open invitation. ?Of course you will. My good protector Goss.? she cajoled him as her fingers slipped between the lips of her warmth. Seeing his eyes dart up and down, as if trying to decide which display was the most pleasing, Rea giggled in her most girlish voice. ?I am so sorry. I should never have turned you in.? he went on, his voice cracking as his pulse raced. ?I know you are. Now come. Do you want me or not?? That was all it took. Rea could hear the raving of his mind which unlike that of Dr. Stewart or even the ravenous wolves held no sense of discipline. Rushing towards her, his hands cupping her bare breasts, he looked to her face in the light of the small lamp.

Opening her glowing eyes and drawing her lips back to present her new attributes, Rea laughed. Pushing him to the ground with ease as her new strength surged, she called silently to the wolves. Bounding in through the door to grip the stunned and frightened man by his ankles and wrists, she clapped slowly as he finally found his voice. Shouting out for help, he watched as she slowly shook her head. ?Oh no my dear sweet Goss. No one will save you this night.? Dropping down upon his torso, Rea opened her mouth and quickly gripped his throat with her fangs. The taste of his salty blood filling her mouth as she relayed the sensations back to her giant demon. Rea could feel every emotion within the man back in the ship and the one who?s life was now ending. The soft growling of the wolves as they held her prey in place sending shivers through her body. Flashes of light and brilliant blazing vibrations running along her limbs as the one who now shared her mind gasped. Long sealed memories coming to the fore, Rea suckled on the throat of the one who had seen fit to betray her. All the while, she felt herself drifting back into the mind of the man who formed her world.

?You simply will not listen to reason Dan. Please, take a moment to consider what you are saying. All of our time, our training and the resources of this ship, wasted on what? Some perception of morality that could so easily be argued from any side? Would you really have us simply sit around waiting for death as we watch all that we are slip into oblivion? How can you possibly justify that?? Dr. Stewart?s voice rose in blazing ire. ?That is my decision and those are MY ORDERS Dr. Stewart! Unless you are prepared to try your hand at mutiny, I suggest you accept my decision and come to peace with whatever time we have left.? Hearing one of his oldest slip into the formality of address made Dr. Stewart all the more livid.

?And that is your final word then, is it Captain Evans?? his eyes narrowing on the man he saw as having given into the most foolish of notions at the expense of their last hope for meaning. ?Yes it is.? Turning to leave the Sickbay, Captain Evans let it be known the conversation was over. Dr. Stewart could only see all of what they were as a crew and perhaps a species being left to rot in perpetual hibernation in the storage bays. If Earth had been taken or destroyed then it was all the more reason to try to perpetuate something of what humanity had been.

Balling his fists, he felt his blood rise in white hot rage. Never a violent man by any means, Dr. Stewart could not hold himself in check any longer. Reaching for a syringe that contained a sample of the contagion native to the planet they found themselves on, he knew what had to be done. Lifting the needle into the air above the back of his friend and commander, he struck. Pressing on the plunger to deliver the certain death of its contents into the man?s body, he blocked out the shouts that filled the room. In its most concentrated state, the pathogen took hold in moments and within an instant, the man was laying on the ground in the twitching grip of death.

Tossing the murder weapon into a disposal chute, Dr. Stewart considered giving Captain Evans something for the obvious pain he was suffering. As he pondered the question, time rant out leaving nothing but a lifeless corpse and his memory of the act to contend with.

His first kill as an example of forced evolution poured from his memory like the tears of a child. Sobbing as he allowed her to gaze into one of the darkest parts of his mind, Rea saw how Captain Evans had met his fate. Thinking that the plans of Dr. Stewart were to broad, to fanciful in their scope, the Captain had taken it upon himself to halt the experiments. Shouting at the last that perhaps it was their fate to die in the reaches of space, the Captain had tried to keep her world from being born.

Dr. Stewart had justified the killing with growing hope as he watched the beings rise to live on the world. Still, the guilt of murdering one of his closest friends and the commander of his ship weighed heavy in his soul. Rea could not fault the man, after all, had he not chosen murder, she and her kind and all they knew would never have been. Every story she had ever heard or read would have never come into existence. All of it, as silent wasted potential. But, this did nothing to assuage the mind of Dr. Stewart. At his core, he had digested the remorse that ate at him as much as the feats of technology prolonging of his own life.

Coming to sense that the young man?s struggles had ceased, Rea looked up and released his throat. The eyes of the wolves, the alpha in particular staring at her in confusion. Standing above her first kill, Rea told the pack to drag his body off to the most secluded spot they could find. ?Is it worth it?? the whisper came to her mind. Wiping the blood from her hands onto the straw on the floor of the stable, Rea found her tongue reaching out to lick off the remains around her lips and mouth. Holding her thoughts as she considered the question posed to her by the creator of all she knew, she slowly began to nod her head. ?Yes. Yes it is. One more. One more and I am done with this.? The deep breathy sigh that echoed in her mind was not her own. Feeling the wolves had finished their task, Rea? mind had set upon her own course of action.

Avoiding the gaze of the drowsy watchman at the center of the village, Rea picked out the home of her target. The finely tended garden and impeccably tasteful exterior of expensive brick along with the smell of the dutifully attended hearth was the very image of proper living. Loath to be too far from the center of activity and chances of advancement, Inquisitor Bale never strayed far from his chance for the attentions of the Legits.

Creeping upon the door at the rear, once more Rea could smell and taste the bodies of those within. Like ghosts, she could see the heat from their bodies moving on the other sides of the walls. The bedroom of the man who had seen her as nothing more than a convenient means to personal power lay just beyond a single door. Her bare feet padding silently on the polished wooden floor, Rea felt the texture of the small rug that served just before the door. The wolves obediently taking their positions on the sides of the door waited for her commands.

?And this will be the last?? Dr. Stewart asked to the annoyance of Rea. ?Yes old demon. After him, I will be satisfied.? she shot back with a sharp thought. Setting her stained hand upon the door, Rea turned the knob as her breath quickened. Easing the door open, the creaking of its hinges thundering in her hypersensitive ears. Seeing the Inquisitor in his nightshirt, Rea snickered.

?Who DARES to come unannounced to MY HOME!? the old man shouted out furiously. His eyes narrow as they attempted to pick out the form of the woman. On the bed, laying in a heap, an older woman was curled into a tight ball. Her hair mussed as she sobbed softly, Rea suspected she had interrupted one of his attempts to put his good lady wife on the proper road of a respectable woman.

Seeing that his unwelcome guest was nude save for the bright red cloak about her shoulders, Bale stammered. ?Are you MAD? Have you taken leave of your senses! I shall see that you are made virtuous once more you foul woman!? Raising his hand to offer a blow upon her face as he moved towards her, he came to recognize the altered face before him. ?YOU! Spawn of DEMONS! I shall personally see to it that you pay the ultimate price after your sins have been cleansed through pain!? Shouting as he advanced on her, the glowing of her eyes chilled his bones.

?Spawn of Demons indeed Inquisitor. As you would have me sentenced for my crimes, I now pass judgment upon YOU!? she hissed as her fangs grew longer and were put on display. Opening her mouth in a most ghastly fashion, Rea grabbed the raised wrist of the frail little man before her. Yanking hard enough to splinter the aged bones of his arm, Bale shrieked in agony. Dropping to his knees as his blurry eyes took in the sight of the wolf pack entering his bedchambers, he drew a deep breath to scream. With a speed beyond anything natural, Rea bent over to clamp her jaws around the neck of the man.

Once again, the spurting of warm fresh blood filled her mouth to set alight the wild conflagration of her passions. Feeling his body grow limp as his limbs gave up their struggles and his breath left him for the last time, Rea came to hear the screams of the woman on the bed. Sending the pack to surround her bed, Rea?s eyes rose to regard her.

Clutching at her nightgown as she cried out, her abject terror was plain to see. Pressing her back against the wall at the head of her bed, her eyes tried to follow the wolves and keep sight of the frightful visage of Rea. Letting the body of the man slip from her grasp, Rea found herself grinning wide. ?I will have you silent!? she hissed as she prepared to tell the alpha to lead the charge of death against the blubbering woman.

?And will this be the last?? The intrusive silent voice whispered in her mind. ?Or will it be the Legit next. Or those of the priesthood? When you are sated, will there be anyone left alive?? Rea?s eyes went wide as she considered his words. ?Kill them all. If that is how this all ends. So be it.?

Rea shook as she felt his mind draw from her. The wisplike tendrils drawing away to grow silent as she stared helplessly into the eyes of the largest of the wolves. Grabbing at her hair as if to capture the last vestiges of his presence, Rea screamed. ?You can not do this! Not now! Not when I am so powerful! I can not do this without you!? Trembling as silence filled her world, the wolves howled remorsefully. Seeing herself through the eyes of the pack, the image she was presented with filled her with revulsion. The glowing eyes set in anguish and horror, the deathly pallor of her skin and the pitiful nature of her trembling form. All coalescing into a sight worthy of disgust and loathing.

Lowering her shaking hands as she stood before the terrified woman and her dead husband, Rea knew the answers. She had been given more gifts than she could have ever imagined by the one who made the world. Power, the capacity to exact her revenge and take the full measure of retribution from those who had seen fit to impose misery on her had come with a terrible price. Now she knew the true nature of Dr. Stewart?s guilt. The ease of taking life so much weaker than herself was intoxicating. These puny things could never hope to harm her now but she was also still of them. Spitting out the remaining amount of the man?s blood that clung to her mouth, she had no words to express her rage at herself. Turning silently from the woman and giving the silent command for the wolves to join her, Rea slipped from the house and the village back to the drone.

Aware of the growing light of the new day, Rea hoped the drone would take her back to the one place she now belonged. ?Forgive me!? she shouted at the device as its indicator lights remained dark. ?I know it all now. I know I can not go back and I can not sit in judgment of them. FORGIVE ME!? she cried out breathlessly as she slumped before the instrument of her God.

?Is that your wish then?? His infuriating ability to set in place questions rather than answers made Rea?s mind rage. Orders, commands, a shouted directive would have been a welcome relief as Rea was left to ponder why he insisted on provoking her. ?Does it matter? Do I have a choice now? Can what I have become ever live among them again?? she growled as her hands swatted at the shining metal skin of the drone.
You have a choice. Always. You may do as you please on your world and make of it what you will or destroy it. I am tired. So tired and I will not tell you what to do.? His voice seeming so far away from her own mind, Rea sobbed. Nodding her head as she climbed upon the back of the drone, she knew he was right. Even ruling the world was now within her grasp. He would not stop her from using every resource of the ship or her new capabilities as she chose. Being given the option of such absolute potency, Rea made her decision.

?Then come home Rea.? he offered in a hushed and gentle thought. Hanging on to the drone, not from worry of the heights but for the reassurances it offered that she had not been forsaken, Rea watched the wolves race below. Landing in the airlock of the ship, she spread her arms and let the lights that had assaulted her on her first encounter bathe her. Knowing the process was one of decontamination, she felt comforted as the bacteria and the past was driven from her body.

Walking behind the wolf pack into the great hall of the conference room, Rea hung her head as Dr. Stewart took his place in the colossal chair. His boots scuffing as his pace was labored by the countless ages. Tempted to throw herself under one of his boots, to end all the anguish in her mind, Rea felt his thoughts caress her tenderly.

?No. Death is not the answer Rea. Nor is guilt. Had you not taken your actions, you would not be the being you are this very moment. All of it has brought you to this point of ultimate decision.? Looking up into his glowing eyes, Rea fumed at being given yet another choice to make. ?And what decision is that old demon?? she asked aloud. Seeing his lips curl into a smile held a dread that went far beyond her original trepidation before his fangs.

?Will you shut yourself away or will you try to guide them?? His voice struggling to make its way past his long silent vocal cords.

Rea knew there was no rush in her creators inquiry. She was at liberty to lick her wounds and silently hide in his presence if that was her choice for as long as she chose to do so. Looking about the conference room, the dust covered images of his home so far away intrigued her. Landscapes and one image in particular caught her eye.

The large blue world, covered in clouds seemed to beckon to her. As she pondered the technology of the ship, she found a growing desire to make it possible to see that world up close.

?Yes. Even that if you decide that is what they should do. If any of it remains, it is your birthright.? His thoughts breaking into her own as she stomped her bare foot upon the dusty bulkhead. ?When I make up my mind. I will let you know old demon!? she shouted before walking closer to his boots. ?Until then. I choose relaxation if you are of a mind.? Seeing his hand move towards her to lay at her side, she smiled. Taking her place in his right hand, she let her mind wander towards the physical delights he had offered her in the shared dream. His welcome fingertip caressing her soft curves, she chose to leave her more difficult decisions for another time.