“The best we can do, captain, is to retrofit a pair of grav-inhibitors to her. But we’ll have to fiddle with it a bit, to find the right body mass ratio.” Nurse Talec Venkah, furrowed her brow and looked over the pad Aertimus Bass had handed her.

“I don’t suppose this is something you have to deal with every day,” Aertimus said with a reserved tone. Sergeant Darren Avery sat on his shoulder, listening intently to the two giants.

“As for her human, you can leave it with the station’s vet; he will take good care of….”

“Ah ain’t leave’n her side lady…so you can fer’get that idea,” Darren said, calmly.

Nurse Talec looked to Darren and furrowed her brow. The nurse had striking dark-red hair. She was a little older, with amber eyes and radiant peach skin, and had a matronly look to her. She looked kind but stern.

Captain Bass shrugged. “Well, you heard the man….” Aertimus grinned.

“Surely, captain, you understand I can’t….”

“Look. Talec…last time the girl woke up without her friend here, she took out a Dunnermaac, two armed security personal and nearly knocked Commander Lemm Tam flat on her ass….” Aerti grinned.

“So the call is yer’s sweet-cheeks!” Darren laughed.

“…maybe it would benefit her health to have a familiar face present when she wakes up.”

“Smart move, cookie,” Darren grinned.

“Any family history…medical records…anything?” Talec sat back against her chair as she looked over the data pad.

“She’s a blank slate Talec. Her name is Eyrn Fitzgerald, although that is likely not the name she is registered under. She is roughly 25 years old, ” Aerti pressed his lips together in thought.

“I’m going to run her DNA through the census database. That should at the very least give us a bloodline. If she wasn’t registered that is…” Talec sighed.

“And if she isn’t?” Aerti asked with concern.

“Then I haven’t a gluxen-clue!” Talec laughed. “Captain, everyone born within the last 800 years has been registered in the census database. If she was born anywhere under imperial control she will be in the database,” Nurse Talec smiled.

“Heh, good luck wit’ that lady,” Darren commented slyly.

Nurse Talec blinked, surprised, then looked to Aertimus.

Aerti sighed and whispered to Darren “Will you be nice? Remember when I’m gone you and her will be left to your own devices!” Aerti said calmly and directly.

“Ah’m just saying ah don’t think the kid’ll be in her computer is all…but go on an’ try…”

“Her human is quite articulate,” Nurse Talec commented with interest.

“Ah don’t know if ah should be offended er not…” Darren grinned.

“Sergeant Avery here is from Earth, actually.” Aerti peered over to Darren.

“‘n so’s the kid. Likley born there too,” Darren said with pride.

“Not Likley Darren. You see, Titans cannot birth on high gravity worlds. It’s not healthy for the mother or the infant. Eyrn, if she was not born on a fitting planet, was likely birthed in orbit,” Nurse Talec said gently, but condescendingly.

“I already told you that, didn’t I?” Aerti whispered gruffly to Darren.

“Ah know you did, but above Earth is still Earth!” Darren grumbled back.

Nurse Talec looked over the pad while Darren and Aerti argued back and forth.

“Berator Joone Torn will be assigned to her case. She will likely be released under Joone’s watch. I think residential assistance and the Civil Assimilation Assistance Program will take care of her housing and schooling. What is her comprehension level?” Talec asked, her eyes not deviating from the pad.

“I…wish I could say. I only spoke with her for a few….” Aerti was interrupted.

“Reads at university level, not too good with math but better’n me. History and sociology is her favorite, but she loves to read. Mostly science fiction and fantasy but history’n whatnot too,” Darren cleared his throat. “Oh, an’ she’s gentle as a lamb, but cocky as all hell…smart as a whip actually…generally outsmarted most of ‘er teachers as a kid….” Darren looked to the two quiet, stunnedTitans.

“Um…okay…well there ya go?” Aerti laughed.

“Alright, I will set up a public profile for her, captain…it is the first step towards making her a citizen. If she isn’t one already.” Talec looked to Darren and then to Aerti. “I will contact the station vet and get him registered to her then?”

“Wait, what?” Darren blinked.

Captain Bass sighed and set his hand aside his shoulder. Darren climbed aboard. He was lowered to the desktop where he looked from one towering giant to the other.

“Darren, remember our discussion from before….”

“How could ah ferget….”

“Well, registering you will assure you stay with Eyrn…and not someone else,” Aerti said calmly.

“What do you mean?” Darren frowned.

“Well…it ensures you are under her protection…as her…well you know…” Aerti rubbed the back of his neck.

“Pet….” Darren grumbled.

“Understand that without such Darren, the first Titan to slap a tag on you would legally be your owner,” Nurse Talec interjected. “And you want to stay with your mistress, don’t you? You don’t want to be taken away, do you?” Talec smiled sweetly.

Aerti cringed.

“No…s’ppose ah don’t….” Darren seethed but kept himself in check.

As the two giants spoke, Darren pondered the reality he found himself in. How would Eyrn take to all this? Surely she would never abuse her power. He never had…had he? No, if he was going to ‘belong’ to anyone it had better damn well be her. It was his best option…sadly.

“So where will you be heading next, Aertimus?” Talec spoke calmly.

“Antrova ship yards, Tantalus system. Maintenince.” Aerti sighed. “Captain Geerome and the Kerberos are taking watch in this system for a while. Gyfjon‘s gonna stretch her legs for a bit. They’re prepping us for a deep-space run I think.”

Darren sighed and spoke up. He was sure his consent was not needed, but he felt better giving it.

“Ah’ll do it…the register thinggie…” he looked from one giant to the other.

Captain Bass flashed a respectful look, while Nurse Talec just looked confused.

Aerti leant in close and whispered. “Even my sister’s partner is registered Darren…it’s for safety, too…try not to look at it so bad.” Aerti smiled cautiously.

“Heh, ah guess….” Darren ran his hand under his nose and sniffed staunchly. He really hoped he had made the right decision.

***

Junior Crewmate Lauryna Gwenn pressed her back against the wall beside the door leading out of the captain’s ready room. She slowly slumped to the floor, her eyes looking onward, her expression stoic and dull. Like a zombie, she wasn’t sure which of the dozen or so emotions swelling up through her to express first.

The tiny persistent movements near her breast reminded her, with chilling urgency, and sickening realization, that she would now have to explain the cascading series of events to her tiny prisoner.

It burned her to say it, Lauryna buried her face in her hands and slowly worked to control her breathing. She hadn’t intended this to happen…but she had in fact kidnapped Izzy, kept her from her crew and now missed the boat on returning her without consequence.

Another persistent tickle solidified the matter, Izzy wanted out…and she would demand answers.

Slowly, with a feeling of despair and impending doom, Lauryna pulled Izzy out from her claustrophobic confines, and set her carefully down atop her raised knee. She then quickly hugged her legs and rested her head on her arm, tilted to the side.

“Where are we? What’s wrong?” Izzy squinted to adjust to the light.

“I made a huge mistake!” Lauryna said with tears in her eyes.

“Huh?” Izzy narrowed her eyes, and then stretched her stiff limbs. “Why are you on the floor and where are we?” Izzy asked attempting to dig at the root of the problem.

“Oh Izz… I had no idea Captain Bass was going to do this…it’s never been done…I had no way of knowing….” Crewmate Gwenn made no attempt to hide the stream of tears as they fell from her reddened eyes. Nor did she try to force down the guilty and pained expression on her face.

“What are you talking about?” Izzy asked unsure, and growing a little concerned.

“Izzy, I was curious and I just wanted to meet you….and I guess I lost track of time…oh Emperor I can’t even get this out….” Lauryna’s breathing began to quicken and her skin tone dropped to a pale grey.

“You’re starting to freak me out….what’s going on?” Izzy swallowed a lump in her throat but maintained her stoic disposition.

“Izzy…they’re gone…Captain Bass sent them home. He returned your friends to Earth,” Lauryna cringed, she couldn’t look Izzy in the eyes.

Izzy’s stunned silence was not helping. After an eternity, Izzy spoke up. “Maybe it’s not too late…maybe….”

“I’m sorry….” Lauryna opened her eyes and looked down remorsefully.

“No! No don’t say that! Maybe there is still time! Get up, we have to try!” Izzy stomped her foot and balled her fists at her side.

“Izzy, we just left Titan station….” Lauryna’s voice was scarcely above a whimper.

“Fuck off! Tell him to turn around! Tell him you fucked up!” Izzy shouted loudly, her limbs were shaking.

“I will! I will confess to everything! I swear! This is all my fault and I deserve the worst punishment they can throw at me!” Lauryna sobbed.

“You think that makes it any fucking better! You stole my life! My future!” Izzy had been prepared for the inevitable, but this knowledge that she could have gone home filled her with rage. If things had gone just a tiny bit different, she would have been sent home. Now she was stranded in space, a prisoner of a gigantic alien race who didn’t even view her as a person. She lost it all, she was nothing!

“No! No I can never even begin to make it up to you! Oh god I didn’t mean that Izzy. I’m a horrible person okay, I know that!” Lauryna continued to cry into her arm as she accepted Izzy’s assault.

“Get up! Stop sniveling and get up!” Izzy scowled, her tone vicious and commanding.

Lauryna looked to the furious human in surprise. She had never been spoken to like that by anyone before, let alone a human.

Crewmate Gwenn scooped Izzy up and stood as she was commanded to do, and looked down at the woman in her palm.

“We make mistakes, I get that! I shouldn’t have wandered off, that was my mistake! But sitting here with your tail between your legs is bull crap! You owe it to me to at least try! I don’t want to hear your damn whimpering apology! I don’t want live my life a pet to your backwards society! Now move it!” Izzy’s eyes flared with a fiery passion as she spoke in the most assertive tone she had in her.

“Okay.” Lauryna whispered, as she wiped her eyes and fought to regain her composure.

“There has to be something you can do!” Izzy’s voice calmed a little. She was no good to herself or others in a rage.

“I…well I know Captain Bass won’t turn the ship around. His…his hands are tied.” Lauryna slowed her breathing and began to pace back and forth. “The Gyfjon‘s movements are tracked. We are being relieved by our sister ship, the Kerberos.” Lauryna looked down to Izzy as she explained the situation. “We are being sent to Tantalus shipyards for maintenance.”

“Can’t he just sweep by real quick like he did before?” Izzy asked in desperation.

“It takes days to get clearance for entry past the red zone, we hardly got clearance to pass over for Eyrn…Zyn would never authorize that for….”

“A human….” Izzy sighed.

“I’m sorry. But Captain Bass won’t risk his career on it.” Lauryna looked down thoughtfully.

“My life isn’t worth a damn to anyone in your fucked up world!” Izzy fumed.

Laurnya looked down, and sighed.

“I will,” she said with trepidation.

“What?” Izzy narrowed her eyes.

“I said I will. I can steal a shuttle and make a run for it…likely won’t make it halfway before the Gyfjon is on me…it -is- the fastest ship in the fleet. But I can try…. I have to try. And you’re wrong. Your life is important to at least someone in the Empire.” Lauryna whispered softly.

“You’d do that, for me?” Izzy asked calmly.

“I couldn’t live with myself otherwise,” Lauryna half smiled.

“What will happen to you when you get caught?” Izzy asked softly.

“Well, first off she wouldn’t even likely get the shuttle off the ship, seeing as it takes clearance from a Decanus or a Senior Crewman to operate a shuttle,” Commander Lemm Tam said up as she entered the ready room.

Right on her heel was Captain Bass. “Second, she would face court-martial and a long sentence on a rather unpleasant prison colony….”

***

Eyrn’s vision slowly came into focus as she sat up, her head felt foggy and her limbs and extremities heavy, like she was carrying extra weight.

The thick haze blocking her thoughts set her at a strange sense of peace. She was in a gentle lull for the first time during her abduction. None of the past events were foremost on her mind.

“’bout time ya woke up, twat.” Eyrn recognized that voice and slowly turned her head to locate the source.

The room she found herself in was a clean, sterile-smelling room with white curtains blocking whatever was on the other side of her bed.

“Over here sunshine.” Darren’s voice ran through once more, hazy and distant.

Eyrn rubbed her eyes wearily and attempted to focus on the tiny blurry humanoid figure on the table top beside her bed.

“Mmmm, I feel funny.” The sleepy woman groaned as she sunk back into her bed, pulling the covers over her head.

“Likely the drugs wearing off. They doped’ya up good,” Darren said casually. “‘course they’ll do that when ya attack a decorated officer’n break his nose,” Darren snickered.

“Mrmmmm!”Eyrn mumbled and shifted a bit in her bed.

“Naw really though, ah gotta say twat, handy work back there. Didn’t think ya had it in ya.” Darren clapped slowly, he was sitting on the edge of the side table that sat next to Eyrn’s hospital bed.

“Where are we?” Eyrn spoke, her voice muffled by the comforter.

“Some kinda hospital room on a place called Titan Station.” Darren shifted his weight, and brought one knee up to rest his arm on.

“So it wasn’t a dream eh?” Eyrn’s voice was quiet as she pulled the blankets down off her head and turned to face Darren.

Darren half smiled as he looked upon Eyrn’s tired brown eyes. He’d never seen her more vulnerable than she looked at this moment. It was almost easy to forget she was a towering giantess.

“Why do I feel so funny?” She mumbled sleepily.

“I think I can answer some of your questions.” A soft contralto voice startled Eyrn and she turned to face the source. In her weakened state however she seemed almost incapable of moving fast enough or far enough to escape.

“Shhh, easy now Eyrn. Nobody is going to hurt you.” The source of the voice was a tall nurse with curly, tied back dark red hair, green eyes and a peach complexion. She was wearing a blue pair of scrubs, and had long off-red painted nails that sparkled slightly.

Eyrn pushed herself back against the headboard of her bed, her face expressed terror.

The nurse looked confused and ceased her approach.

“She’s alright kid, kindly and harmless. She’s been lookin after ya while you were out.” Darren spoke up as he stood.

Eyrn looked immediately to Darren, her eyes like a cornered raccoon.

“You have a very loyal little human there Eryn. He has the strongest personality I’ve ever seen in a human. Endeared himself well with most of the staff. We’ll be sad to see you take him from us when you’re ready to leave.” The nurse spoke up, cautiously.

“It’s alright, if ah can trust ‘er so can you,” Darren smiled.

Eyrn turned slowly to face the nurse, and hugged her blanket tight to her body. They were huge, they were all so huge. It was terrifying.

“My name’s Talec, I’ve been helping look after you since you arrived a few days ago,” The nurse smiled sweetly as she approached. She tousled Darren’s hair playfully as she passed him.

Darren grumbled a bit as he regained his composure.

“Oh, um…thank you…I guess.” Eyrn tried to smile, but she could only focus on the immense size of the woman approaching.

She was used to being the big one, the giant. People, to her, were small. Captain Bass’ words from before returned to her. “The same.” They were the same. Captain Bass, commander Tam, and nurse Talec. She was one of them, she was what they were.

“No need to thank me sweetie.” The kindly woman sat on the edge of Eyrn’s bed and smiled, she rested her hand on Eyrn’s shoulder gently.

Eyrn winced and backed away from the touch. She hugged her knees and cringed just a little.

Talec frowned; she looked to Darren, concerned.

“Here, look twat, really ya got nothing to worry’bout.” Darren motioned towards nurse Talec, who catching his intend smiled knowingly and gently scooped him up fron the table beside the bed.

Darren had not been expecting to be lifted so quickly and was taken of guard, but kept his cool. He felt confined in the nurse’s fisted palm, and grumbled as she stroked the top of his head with her forefinger.

“See, your little human trusts me, so you can too!” Talec smiled.

“Yea…see….” Darren spoke, attempting not to sound too put off.

Eyrn eyed Talec for a moment; after a few seconds she reached out and held her hand out. “Don’t hold him like that. It’s rude.” Eyrn spoke, she sounded dizzy and out of breath.

“Oh, um….sorry.” Nurse Talec frowned and gave Darren one more affectionate pat atop the head before she passed him off to Eyrn.

“Are you okay?” Eyrn brought Darren before her face and looked him over wearily.

Darren chuckled and leaned back on his arms. “Ah am fine. Really. Yer too high strung kid! These are nice people. Trust me, they jus’ wanna help you!” Darren sounded amused.

“Okay,” Eyrn nodded. “I didn’t know they took you too…I thought I was alone…I was afraid…I’m sorry Sarge.” Eyrn frowned, her eyes downcast.

Darren grinned and smacked the base of Eyrn’s palm. “Heh, think ah’d let you out of ma sight? Naw they took me too.” Darren took a breath, and then met Eyrn’s eyes with his own.

“Eyrn, I’d like to take your vitals, if you’ll allow me?” Nurse Talec spoke up, pleasantly.

Eyrn looked to Darren for confirmation. Once he nodded, Eyrn looked up to the Nurse and whispered, “okay.”

Eyrn kept still as the nurse took her temperature, her pulse, and then her blood pressure. She kept completely still as she felt the woman’s warm, soft hands against her own skin. In all her days, the entirety of her long life, she had never felt something as basic and warming as touch. Not like this, not on this level. It was calming, she felt as if something she had been missing out on, for so long had been returned to her.

Talec tried not to look like she was gawking, but it was impossible not to take notice of Eyrn’s reaction to her touch. It broke her heart to see the petite woman so desperate for affection yet so afraid to accept it.

Talec went out on a limb and gently rubbed Eyrn’s arm.

“Everything checks out, your blood pressure is a little high, but we can chalk that up to stress.” Talec smiled, though remorse and pity weighed heavy in her eyes.

“It’s so silly….” Eyrn whispered.

“What is hon?” Talec asked gently.

“I’m terrified…because you’re so big, but you’re really no bigger than me,” Eyrn half smiled. She was enjoying the sensation of basic touch from her own kind so much, she didn’t even think to pull away.

“Makes sense, ya never seen none’a yer own kind. Stands t’e reason you’d be a bit cautious,” Darren said. He had been transferred to Eyrn’s shoulder so she could lower her arm.

“Your darling there is right.” Talec nodded. Captain Bass had filled her in on the basics. Could it really be true though? An Archavian raised without ever having met another of her own kind? It was unreal. But, there she was.

Eyrn smiled nervously.

“Listen, nobody’s gonna hurt you sweetie. We just want to help.” Talec brushed Eyrn’s hair aside a bit and smiled. “You don’t have to fight us, and you don’t have to be afraid, ok?”

Eyrn felt mildly confused at the nurse’s sudden touchiness, but simply passed it off. She nodded and let herself ease up a bot. She let go of her knees and let her legs stretch out.

“Okay.” Eyrn nodded.

“Good! Now I’m gonna see about getting dinner for you and your lil’pet there. So you just lay down….” Talec gingerly forced Eyrn down and tucked her in tightly under her blankets. “, and I will be right back!” She transfered Darren back to the table top next to Eyrn’s bed and was off.

Eyrn blinked, she was more confused than offended.

Once Talec was gone, Eyrn wiggled out of her confines and sat up. “Um, what just happened there? And why did she call you my ‘lil’pet?”

Darren groaned and set his head in his hands. “Christ I was hoping t’e not have to explain this to ya….” Darren sighed. She would never let him live this down.