We Come in Peace
Rena Butler
$ 3.99 USD
Previously published in our first sci-fi anthology Binary Stars: Constellations #1
This should be Captain Abram Adoyo’s finest hour, as he brokers a treaty with the gentle Khuzoid people of Iarus V. But while the Khuzoid are a peaceful species, they demand that Abe perform an important rite for them as part of their negotiating process. The captain never expected his first officer, Mattys Kriel, to be involved in such an intimate act — but he will do anything to complete their mission. No matter how hard it gets.
This spicy MLM story is ~6600 words long and previously featured in the anthology Binary Stars. It has been extended with a longer, steamy final scene in this edition.
Abe wasn’t an overly ambitious guy, but he did want to hold onto his captaincy as long as possible. Lusting after one’s first officer was not the best way to go about that, especially not with an officer as decorated as Kriel. Though he wasn’t much older than Abe, he had a stellar reputation throughout TIOD and a number of medals to match.
from We Come in Peace
There were dozens of rumors as to why the mysterious First Lieutenant Mattys Kriel didn’t have his own command, everything from “He clearly needs to be free to run black ops between missions” to “I heard he slept with the commodore’s husband and wife and side piece.” Abe tried very hard not to traffic in rumors, but he knew for a fact there were people aboard the TSS Tarter who thought Kriel should clearly be in command, and Abe was occasionally one of them. He’d benefited greatly from Kriel’s experience, and Mattys had never been anything but respectful of Abe as a captain.
But Abe was pretty sure Mattys hated his guts.