“The supervillains, of course.”

  “No, something much more sinister. A force from long ago, one that I and early super settlers fought and barely managed to hold off until we could block the way. Seek out the Cult of Hermite, and we might have our answers.”

  “Holy hell.”

  Hadrian nodded. “They’re on Theramuse.” He stared at me a long moment, eyes weighing me, before continuing. “Ezra, you know the inner workings of the system. You can form alliances needed to… well, I must let you find your own path. But from what I’ve seen, I will tell you to trust your heart, allow yourself to connect to your past, and embrace everything about your powers. You will need it all.”

  “So, I’ll be hunting down someone undercover, really to find out what this group is up to?”

  “While uncovering hunters who might have been aligned with Ranger, yes.”

  “Sounds like fun.” I hesitated. “Only problem I see being Maji. He knows I’ve changed sides.”

  “Can you handle it?”

  “I’ve beaten him before.”

  Hadrian nodded. “Welcome to the Citadel, Ezra. Gather your team and prepare to depart. I’ll set you up with coordinates to meet with my contact on the planet. You’ll know him as Brundal.”

  While he went off to do more of whatever he did here, I turned to find my team and fill them in. As I passed it, the Per-Neter on the dais it lit up. Drew and his team, along with several others, appeared as they returned from another stint of fighting above. They rotated with others, from time to time. Since we were about to head out, I decided to introduce myself and say farewell. It would be a good way to go.

  “Drew,” I called out, giving him a short wave and striding over. “Ezra Faldron. Had to say hello, since it looks like I’m heading off, soon.”

  The tall Marine turned to me, grinned, and thrust out a hand. “Where are they sending you, Ezra?”

  “Hadrian wants me on an infiltration mission,” I replied.

  “Ah, I’ve heard about that one.” He nodded respect. “If you make it back here, be sure to find me for a drink.”

  I laughed. “If, huh?”

  “When.”

  I glanced around, only then noticing that his full team wasn’t there. “Where are Threed and the cat lady?”

  Drew frowned, probably at my ‘cat’ reference. “They’ll be along shortly. Up there doing some planning. Why?”

  “I imagine Cheri would’ve liked to say ‘bye to Threed, at least. But… next time, I guess.”

  “I’m sure we’ll all get a chance to meet again,” Drew said, and clasped me on the shoulder. “Make it count out there, brother.”

  “You know we will.”

  As he jogged off to catch up with the others he’d returned with, I noticed Cheri sitting on a wing of the nearby fighter plane, watching me as one of her fingers twirled her blue pigtails.

  “Going to crazy land, huh?” She laughed. “Everyone knows that’s what Theramuse is now—a fucking psychoworld. We’ll fit right in.”

  “Don’t spy on me,” I chided her. “I was on my way to tell you all.”

  “Well, now you don’t have to tell me. So, yay.”

  “What do you mean by it being a psychoworld?”

  She grinned wide, jumped off, and landed at my side with a thud. “Just what it sounds like. That place? It’s gone to hell. I should know, I was there.”

  “What? When?”

  “Before.”

  “Before…?”

  She shrugged, then let out a snort of a laugh. “Come to think of it, had I never left, you wouldn’t have caught me.”

  “Sorry.”

  “Don’t be. If you’d never caught me, we wouldn’t be here.”

  I nodded, eyeing her speculatively, glad we were here, but not quite getting the full picture. “What in the ever-loving fuck were you doing on Theramuse?”

  She grinned even wider, if that was possible. “Chasing down some guy I was sure I was in love with.”

  “Oh.”

  “That bothers you?”

  “Should it?” I shook my head. “Because no, it doesn’t. But maybe a bit.”

  “Don’t worry, I’m all yours, now.”

  “And that guy?”

  “Well…” She pulled at her pigtail, causing her head to turn sideways as she yanked her hair up and stuck out her tongue. “They hung him. Turns out, he was all kinds of trouble. The ship he used to fly out and meet me—and about ten other women, it turns out—belonged to one of the local warlords, this big dude who goes by the name, KaBear. Stupid, I know, but his logic is that he’s large and hairy like a bear and likes to blow things up. Kaboom plus bear. KaBear.”

  I was too distracted to have a thought about the ridiculous name. “What sort of planet is this Theramuse place that they still hang people?”

  “I’m telling you, it’s whacky.” She winked. “We’ll fit right in.”

  “All of that aside,” I said, motioning her to follow me back to the others, “it’s good that at least one of us will be familiar with the place. Sounds like we’re going to be spending some good time there.”

  “I’m your gal.” She wrapped an arm around my waist as we walked, grinning up at me. I kissed her on the forehead, ignoring the looks a couple of supers gave us as we passed. Hell, to have a bit of fun with them, I even gave Cheri’s ass a nice squeeze, and when I say nice, I mean a good handful.

  It was fun to remind them that we didn’t give a shit about social norms, but the downside was her playful moan as I did it, and the boner that followed as my mind suddenly raced with images of her ass in the air, her pussy visible and waiting.

  Yeah, I’d need to remember to not be playful unless we had time to get to it. Then again, I thought with a glance over in the direction we had left Hadrian, maybe we could get in a quickie, depending on how long it took to round up the others.

  14

  We found the rest of the team in the room, with Erupa doing pushups while Tink sat at the side of the tub, watching Mer bathe. She was in her mermaid form, beautiful long tail curled up in the tub, stunning breasts out on display. Nothing inhuman about them. Full, with large areolas. She smiled at me with her pointy teeth, which might have been a turnoff or a bit unnerving, if not for the fact that Erupa had gotten me accustomed to such things. That, and the fact that once horns and the like were included in the mix, one stopped being so squeamish about small details like that.

  Erupa had horns, Mer had the hybrid mermaid thing going on, Tink could shrink or grow large again and had fairy wings, and Cheri… well, Cheri was just a badass. I mean, she had powers, like me, but was otherwise straight-up normal human.

  “About time,” Erupa said, popping up from the ground, a light sheen of sweat on her chest. “After lunch, we weren’t sure where you’d headed off to.”

  “I have news, actually,” I replied, unsure how to tell them we wouldn’t be staying around. As far as I knew, they were as excited as I was to finally have some down time.

  “Us, too,” Tink said, grinning excitedly.

  “You go first,” Erupa said, crossing her arms, eyebrow raised.

  Hating to disappoint, I waved off the comment. “No, no. You go ahead.”

  “It’s not really my news, or ours, as much as… Mer’s.”

  I turned to Mer, trying not to stare at her breasts or the curve of her ass as it became mermaid tail. “Go on.”

  Mer pushed herself up slightly, resting her arms on the side of the tub so that her breasts fit on top of them, as if trying to get me to look. Judging by the way she licked her lips next, that was exactly what she was doing.

  Erupa had that hungry look in her eyes she got before fucking my brains out, and Tink was full size, starting to undo her shirt. Cheri laughed and gave me a gentle nudge toward the bath.

  “Go on,” Cheri said, “your news can wait until after.”

  “Yeah?” I asked.

  “Probably better that way,” Erupa added, stepping up behind me and grabbing me firmly, hands on my abs, one running up to my chest. Then she was pulling at my clothes, Tink standing as she pulled her own shirt free, then her pants, leaving only her red panties as she helped Erupa with my pants.

  All the while, Mer watched, waiting, and Cheri grinned while taking a spot to watch, sitting cross-legged on the bed.

  “What, you’re not joining?” I asked Cheri, nervously.

  “Shit, no. Those ladies will be able to handle you, and I’ll get mine next time.”

  “What she means,” Erupa said in my ear with more sensuality than matched what she was about to say, “was that she had one too many helpings of ribs at lunch, and is afraid she’ll fart while getting fucked.”

  “Fart?” Cheri scoffed. “Me, never! I’m a true lady! We don’t fart or shit, don’t you know?”

  “And definitely never swear,” Tink added with a laugh, pressing her nude body against mine. She leaned in as if to kiss me, but then pulled back and nodded toward Mer. “Wait, sorry. This time it’s all about her. We’re just here for moral support.”

  I glanced over at Mer, whose eyes were focused on the bulge in my boxer-briefs, which were all I had on at that point.

  “Eyes up here, you,” I said jokingly, but then hooked my thumbs into the waistband and pulled down, freeing my cock and loving the way her eyes lit up with excitement. This was going to be a blast.

  “Bring it over so I can taste it,” she said, more of a mumble, but clearly trying to sound confident. It was okay that she was shy, a bit of a turn on, really. And made sense, considering the fact that she had been a normal super at one point, before she had been changed into this hybrid mermaid form.

  She was still getting used to it all, and I was glad to help build up her confidence with some tender kisses and touching.

  Stepping over, I first knelt, moving to kiss her, but she wagged her finger back and forth. “I said taste it. Stop holding out.”

  I chuckled, running a hand along her cheek as I stood, and watched as she took my cock in her dainty hand, gave it two good strokes as she stared at it, then giggled. “Ever had a blow job from a mermaid before?”

  “No,” I admitted, feeling my cock surge with the thought.

  “Then let’s make it count.”

  The other ladies snickered at that, all taking up positions for the show. I closed my eyes, though, as the warmth of her mouth around my cock’s head and the tenderness of her touch on my balls made me almost melt. Sometimes you want a woman to go hard and fast, to make you cum in her mouth as fast as possible, and other times slow and sensual is perfection. This was the latter, and with each stroke I felt myself stiffen beyond belief, more and more, with each lick felt myself on the verge of orgasm.

  Somewhere in the back of my mind I knew we had to get ready soon, that we had to get moving. But in that moment, I didn’t give a shit. All that mattered was Mer and me, and my urge to fuck her.

  I opened my eyes to see that the other ladies had gotten into the bath now, one caressing Mer’s back, the other her breasts as the mermaid continued with the best blow job I could remember. Cheri was likely still watching, as her heavy breathing confirmed. Erupa and Tink however, kept caressing Mer as they kissed over her back, hands running over wet breasts, between each other’s legs, and even along Mer’s fins. A new sight, but not a bad one.

  Since I was close, Mer pulled me into the tub so that I could sit on the edge, then she pressed her breasts up against my cock, bent her head to catch the tip in her mouth, and brought me to climax. I nearly fell back as it hit, then cradled her head as the last shots went out.

  “That’s how you do it,” Erupa said with an impressed nod.

  “Next time, though, we share,” Cheri said, coming over and kneeling beside the tub, caressing my thigh.

  “Of course.” Mer wiped her chin with a playful smile at me.

  “That was… amazing.” I lowered myself into the water, then pulled her in for a kiss. Our tongues met, and our passion continued, my hands moving along her body as well. “Damn, I want to fuck you now,” I mumbled between kisses, only pulling back slightly when her sharp teeth caused a slight pain.

  “In time,” she replied, running a finger along my lips, then turned to watch as Erupa brought Tink to climax.

  “You all are making me horny as hell,” Cheri said as Tink’s moaning slowed, “but we have business to get to.”

  “Wait, what?” Erupa stopped, turning to her suddenly.

  “Not yet,” I protested, wanting Erupa to get hers, but she held up a hand and gave Cheri an expectant glance. “We’re heading out to help?”

  “New mission, actually.” Cheri nodded my way.

  I sighed but nodded, then filled them in on the details.

  “Sorry to kill the mood,” I said with a shrug.

  “We’re going off to infiltrate the bounty hunters and maybe take down a cult or something in the process?” Erupa scoffed. “Do you not know me at all? I’m even more turned on now. Come here.”

  I didn’t have time to come over to her at all, because she was already on me, one leg on the side of the tub, sticking her pussy in my face. That said, I was happy to oblige and dove in, doing my part. Others kissed her, and Cheri reached past me to finger her while I focused on the clit. It couldn’t have been thirty seconds later before Erupa was twitching and needing Tink and Mer to hold her up.

  When she was done, she was all smiles. “Cheri? Mer?”

  “I’m good,” Cheri said with a laugh. Mer nodded.

  “Then let’s get to business.”

  15

  Nobody was around the dais, so when we found our way out there and Cheri paused to stare up at our surroundings, we all took a moment to join her.

  “It’s beautiful,” I said, staring up at the discs and lights, the darkness that went on forever. “You think this will ever end? The fighting, the invasions…”

  “It’s been going on since the early days of Earth lore, if that version of the myths and all is to be believed,” Mer said. When we turned to her surprise, she shrugged. “What? I had a few minutes to speak with that Laurel lady, and she went on and on about how she believes so many myth characters were actually aliens visiting Earth, getting involved and whatnot. It’s fascinating.”

  “Yeah?” I scrunched my nose in thought, not sure what to think about it.

  “She thinks different groups of supers got their powers in different ways. Some from Oram, others—as we now know—from scientific experiments. But she read about some groups that got it from metal with a spiritual connection, or something weird, and thinks there were others who came from Earth, old myth characters like the ones straight out of fairy tales.”

  I laughed at that. “Sure, sure. As if Pinocchio came out into space with the colonizers and that’s why some supers have powers that relate to wood.”

  “Not exactly like that,” she countered with a frown. “But… it’s possible.”

  “That’s all nice,” Cheri said. “But I was actually just trying to figure out which star we’re heading to. See, the voices say first star on the right, straight on till orgasm, but those voices are the crazy ones, I think—gibberish speakers half the time, genius the rest. Mostly, the voices don’t seem to remember where Theramuse is.”

  “Just keep asking.” Erupa chuckled, and nudged Mer toward me. “And Ezra, go easy on the new girl.”

  The mermaid seemed unsteady on her legs, although that didn’t make sense after all this time. Maybe it had to do with walking right after having been in the water in mermaid form, or maybe a need I could help fill, when we next had a chance.

  I wrapped an arm around Mer, pulled her close, and breathed in her scent. Fresh from the bath, she reminded me of this lemon-basil ice cream I once had, long ago. Not sure how that memory came back at that moment—it’s funny how some scents can work like that.

  “It is all very interesting,” I admitted. “Where we came from, all of that. Especially now that so much has changed with my understanding of the Citadel, Orion Corp., and the rest of it. It’s like, anything could be possible.”

  Mer nodded, leaning into me. “When you don’t remember much, everything’s a lot easier to believe.”

  I gave her another reassuring squeeze, then noticed Hadrian approaching. He nodded to us.

  “Time to go,” Hadrian said, gesturing for us to follow him. We went past the place where the main fleet was berthed and then on around to a spot on the deck where there was a large, rounded ship. “It’s actually good to keep up the ruse that you’re going to Earth, or to intercept invaders of the Milky Way. We’ll make it appear that way in the system logs, too. Keep this all very secret, very black ops.”

  “Sexy,” Cheri said, grinning my way.

  I nodded but asked Hadrian, “And if it all goes to hell? If we fail?”

  “Like all the many parts of this puzzle, any failure would result in a less-than-complete picture. Such a picture wouldn’t mean we’re all done for, but it would mean adjustments, sacrifices.”

  “We’ll do our best not to fail,” Erupa said with a humored glance my way.

  “I simply want to know the stakes, is all,” I explained.

  “I get it.” She took my hand. “First official mission for the Citadel. You’re nervous, and that makes sense.”

  Frowning, I was about to deny it, but chuckled.

  “What?”

  “An empath who can’t admit his own emotions… that’s sad. So, yes, maybe I’m a bit nervous.”

  “Maybe this will help,” Hadrian said, and he gestured as we cleared the first line of ships.

  Where I had been expecting one of the generic ships, or maybe the one we had taken from Abaddon, instead there was my old ship waiting for us.

  “How…?” I started.

  “Not your ship, but a replica.” He waved a hand and the ramp lowered. “With a few extra upgrades, including it being linked directly to you, having some of our best A.I. navigation software installed, and the best weaponry a bounty hunter could be expected to possess.”