In the morning I found Brandy naked beside me. Brandy lay next to me vulnerable. Brandy’s taut curves and muscular form was alluring. Her beautiful breasts were popping out from under the covers. I couldn’t help but look at her sweet peaks. My sleeping warrior turned in bed. Her long hair looked like sunflowers kissing the field of her body. Her gray eyes slowly opened. 

"Good morning." I said smiling. 

Brandy's eyes widened, "crap," and she shot out of bed. 

"Crap, I'm going to be late for my shift." She grabbed her clothes from the floor and got dressed. "I'm sorry I'll see you later. " 

She left. The bed beside me was still warm from her touch. I wondered if my bed would be warmed by her touch again. Would Brandy want to repeat their lovemaking? Are we girlfriends now? Did she just want to have sex and run? I know this much, last night was good and Brandy was an aggressive lover. I miss her already.

 I put on my wrist com. An event was scheduled on my calendar to meet my security detail at 0900. Ugh I don't know what's worse, the fact I have a security detail or the fact that I need them. 

I got up and got ready. Freshly showered and dressed I headed out to the conference room while shoving a nutrition bar down my throat. There were five people waiting for me when I entered. Ţwo of them weren't human like the others. 

"Hello Ela, we're your new security detail. I'm lieutenant Beth." Beth was a short woman with tan skin and curly short hair. Her brown eyes were a dark bronze. Her uniform was crisp and clean with not a button out of place.  Beth gestured to the Gorgot next to her, "This is Eliphor. "

The tentacled Gorgot waved at me. It's purple slimy skin glistened in the light.

Beth interpreted her gestures, "Eliphor says hi. "

 The Saring of the group with gray fur and black spots stepped forward, "I'm Shelya. Nice to meet you." 

Shelya's ears pointed at me. His golden eyes caught my own for a moment. 

"Nice to meet you." I said, staring at the spotted patterns in his fur.

A tall brown skinned man with short cropped hair stepped forward, "Hi, I'm Eddy."

Beth gestured to a man with epicanthic folds in his eyes, "This is Steve." 

Steve had a muscular body that threatened to burst from the seams of his shirt. He said, "Try to stay out of trouble, vamp."

I growled, "Why can't you handle trouble?"

Steve put his finger on my chest and stared me in the eyes, "I don't want to write another report about all the dead bodies, I’m starting to get carpal tunnel syndrome." 

Eddy took Steve’s hand away from my chest, “Hey buddy, leave the jokes to me.”

Shelya pushed Steve away from me, “I’m sorry about him, he can get out of hand.”

Beth stepped forward, “I’m the lieutenant and I’ll be in charge of making sure your security detail is at peak efficiency.”

Eddy laughed, “Really peak efficiency? Have you met us?” He said gesturing to the crew.

Beth sighed, “Eddy for once be serious. We have a job to do. Stop making us look bad at it.” 

 

Brandy called us out to the docking bay.  She stood in front of a ship. Brandon rolled into our gathering his wheelchair positioned towards the ship’s ramp.

"Look at this puppy, it replaced our old shuttle." She tapped the side of the gun ship with her hand. 

"This ship has 12 neutrino torpedoes. Plus, she has a full battery of laser guns.  She's equipped with the latest tech. She also has hostile boarding equipment. And all of this despite her size."

"How many people can she take?" I asked curious. 

"25 people max."

"I get dibs on flying it," Steve said.

"No, I should, " Beth said approaching the ship.

Brandy interrupted before anyone else could, "The person with the most experience should fly the ship."

I smiled, "That would be me.  I've been flying for over 100 years."

Brandy’s jaw dropped, "How old are you?"

I leaned against the side of the ship, "I'm 150 years old in human years."

Brandy scratched her head, "You're older than my grandmother and I slept with you. "

Eddy went from staring at me to staring at Brandy. "Well, that was inappropriate. "

We boarded the ship without further discussion. 

My security detail sat behind the cockpit. Brandy and I were in the cockpit. 

"You will outlive me, won't you? " Brandy said, her voice cracking. 

"I might, I might get killed first." I said in a low voice trying not to think about what that meant. 

Brandy didn't have anything to say to that. 

Eddy broke the silence, “I can’t believe we let the great grandma fly us out of The Lancet.”

I hissed, “Excuse me? I’m nobody’s grandmother.”

I looked at Brandy, “Not that I’m against having kids.”

Steve laughed, “Yeah right old timer.”

I turned from the controls to look at Steve with a death glare, “Watch it boy or I’ll break my vow about not killing.”

Brandy put a hand on my arm, “Remember, I said no killing crew members.”

I sighed, “Right crew is family, not prey.” I leveled my death glare at Steve all the same.

“Who’s taking weapons control?” Brandy called out to the crew as people were moving towards different sections of the ship.

Beth replied, “I am.”

Eddy manned the comms and Steve went down the ladder and manned the turret. Shelya took the forward guns and Eliphor joined us in the cockpit.

 Despite the separation between the crew the bickering continued. When we finally arrived, I was happy to get up and off the ship.

 

We docked on the space station where Doctor Faust practiced medicine. Brandon went to his physical therapy appointment. I was called back to the exam room. My security detail and Brandy came with me to the room. One team member stood inside with us, Beth, while the others stood guard in the hallway. The exam room smelled of chemical cleaners. The sterilized equipment was on a tray to the left of the patient’s chair. I sat down and stared at the knife and surgical equipment that was on the tray. Dr. Faust sat across from me and described the procedure to me.

“I’m going to inject a solution into you that has vampiric DNA, it should begin the rewrite process to turn you back into a fully functioning vampire. This is an ongoing process that requires several injections. The solution, I will warn you, is painful as it spreads through your system. You’re very fortunate I am one of the few doctors in the sector with vampire DNA. Are you ready to become a vampire again? Do you consent to this procedure? ”

 I laid back in the chair preparing for the pain. I looked at Brandy. Her gaze was on me, her eyes full of pain. Being human helped me to relate to Brandy better. It helped us to be more intimate. A part of me didn’t want to give that connection up. 

Brandy put her hand on my arm, “It’s okay Ela, really. You should be who you were meant to be. I’ll accept you either way.”

“Are you sure? I’ll be different not just physically but mentally too.” I grabbed Brandy’s hand.

Brandy nodded her head and I took a breath. I wanted to be a vampire again for so long, but now that the option was put before me, I hesitated.

“Yes, Dr. Faust, I consent.”

 Dr. Faust injected a needle into my arm. The solution felt like fire under my skin. I could feel the solution spread throughout my body. The intercom came on as I began to moan in agony.

“This is Captain Emile of the USJP. You have exactly five minutes to give up Ela Suryava or your entire station will be blown to smithereens.”

Brandy stopped Dr. Faust from responding. “Captain Emile is someone we’ve dealt with before. She probably won’t take Ela alive. We can’t give her up.”

Shelya opened the door. “We are not giving her up.”

Dr. Faust cleared his throat, “What do you propose we do? There are hundreds of people who work and live on this station. Sacrificing them for one life isn’t worth it.”

I chimed in, “I have to agree with Dr. Faust. I’ll surrender.”

Brandy gave me a death glare, “Don’t you dare surrender,” she looked at Dr. Faust, “You are not going to give her up.”

I sat up in my chair and looked at Brandy, “There are people on this station that will die if I don’t surrender. You can’t put those lives on my head. Let me surrender.” Really the only life I cared about was Brandy’s, but I didn’t voice that.

“Ela, I don’t care where they take you, I will find you and I will get you back,” Brandy was pointing her finger at my chest as she promised.

Brandy removed her hand from Dr. Faust’s arm. He engaged the intercom, “We will surrender Ela Suryava.”

Captain Emile responded, “Deliver Ela to dock three, splicer.”

"Will I be ok without finishing the procedure?" The doctor put the syringe in the trash.

"No, your DNA is swarming with a solution that has vampiric DNA in it. Had we had time for the full procedure the virus wouldn’t have spread to those DNA threads quickly enough. Now the virus will attack the DNA in the solution. You will survive but it won't be pleasant."

I stood up still in pain. I shuffled to the door. Brandy and my security detail walked beside me. Brandon met us in the hallway, he had stopped his physical therapy when he heard the announcement. We were almost at dock three when a resounding boom sounded through our ears. The ground shook and we nearly lost balance.

Captain Emile’s voice rang through the intercom, “I’ve changed my mind, you splicers can all die with Ela Suryava.”

Another blast sounded and docking bay three was reduced to a mass of rubble.

"Time to get out of here." Brandy grabbed my hand. We both rushed to the dock where our ship was stationed. The security detail was hot on our heels. Brandon was straggling behind his arms pushed to the limits. An explosion rocked the hallway we were running down. We kept running afraid to stop. Behind us a loud boom resounded, and a piece of the hallway was obliterated. We held onto the railing on the wall as the air in the hallway rushed out into the void of space. Brandon’s wheelchair was sucked backwards towards the gaping maw of space. Eddy caught his hands as his wheelchair flipped out into space. We used our handhold to slowly move our bodies forward. The security detail managed to hang onto the rail. Beth issued a scream as her hold released, sending her back towards the gaping hole of space. Shelya caught Beth before she could get sucked into space.

The station's shield engaged, and the air stopped rushing out of the hallway. We set our feet on the ground and ran down the hallway towards where our ship was docked. Eddy carried Brandon in his arms. 

Brandy looked at Brandon, “Are you okay?”

Brandon lifted his head, “I’m alright. I just need a wheelchair.”

Brandy grabbed Brandon’s hand, “We’re almost there.”

We prayed our ship hadn't been attacked yet. When we arrived at the dock the ship looked to be in good condition. We got in and disengaged from the station. The space station exploded behind us. The impetus from the explosion pushed us forward.

“Mayday mayday the space station is down. Enemy combatants in pursuit, request immediate back up.” Eddy set the red alert on once he finished his announcement.

The USJP was a hulk of a ship. It’s body was littered with turrets and it had a full complement of torpedoes. The USJP was 100 times our size, by rights we should never survive this but I did not come this far only to fail. She was in hot pursuit, sending out torpedoes. We dodged the hits with some of my expert maneuvers, I banked left then did a barrel roll three missiles flew past us, I did a sharp break right and an explosion resounded as missiles collided into each other. Once I outmaneuvered the torpedoes, I brought the ship around in a loop and began to prepare the ship to go into FTL. The HQ Tunnel opened as the USJP fired some more shots at us. The USJP jumped into the way of the HQ Tunnel. Unable to move forward I flew backwards. Steve shot at the USJP with the turret. Beth issued a neutrino torpedo which exploded on impact with the USJP’s shield. Leaving relatively no damage.

Torpedoes were launched at us from every direction. I flew in close to the USJP and danced around it with the torpedoes on our tail.

“Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god,” Brandon was huddled in his seat gasping for breath around the terror he felt.

Shelya watched the torpedoes in pursuit and cried out as he launched defensive flares. He aimed the flares at the top of the USJP.

“Please hit, please hit, please hit!” Shelya watched as the flares hit the hull of the USJP attracting their own missiles. The explosion rocked the hull of the USJP. The shield cracked a deck was exposed with boxes falling into space. I did a quick maneuver around the ship to set up a new HQ Tunnel. Only to have a tractor beam engage behind us.

“Somebody shoot the hell out of that tractor beam!” I yelled back.

“I’m on it,” Steve yelled as he fired the turret nonstop. Beth followed his firepower up with a neutrino torpedo. The torpedo got sucked straight into the USJP. The tractor beam was a kaleidoscope of colors as it exploded. We didn’t stick around to watch the successive explosions and went into FTL within a second of the explosion. We managed to get through the HQ Tunnel without being hurt. Our ship was in good condition which was a shock. 

 

All of us were silent at first, still reeling from the incident on the space station and the subsequent battle. 

“I can’t believe she decided to kill everyone,” Brandon said in a guttural voice. His pad had been lost in the hallway that exploded. His voice was hoarse from disuse. When we arrived at the Lancet, we let out a collective sigh of relief.

"They knew what doctor I would go to." I said as I removed my seatbelt.

"Not only that, but Captain Emile also attacked a medical station without consideration for the patients and staff aboard. This is bad PR for the federation." Brandy got up from her chair.

I nodded my head and made my way onto the Lancet. Brandy was close on my heels. I felt ill so I took my leave and headed straight to my quarters. My head was spinning, and my limbs felt like fire. Must be the virus is still in my system. I stumbled into my room and got in bed. I need rest.