“You really should let me help you pick out a crown,” Elrin pouted. He reached for Smith’s head, “human hair would really let you bring out the colors in some uncommon gemstones, I believe Consort Leonard used to-“

“Uh, why don’t we just skip it?” Smith said uncomfortably, “I mean… Tayla’s going to be on the throne for a few weeks at most, right?”

Elrin pouted a little, but nodded. The Empress’s consort had immediately returned to the palace himself on news of the assassination attempt, and the man had immediately sought out Smith once he’d heard that he would be Tayla’s new consort. Smith for his part had tried to avoid him, but he’d now been ambushed in a hallway on his way to the throne room.

Like most Zetan males Smith had met, Elrin seemed relatively carefree. To his credit he did seem to genuinely like the Empress, and his daughters, but the relationship between him and his family was almost like a casual acquaintance, a fun uncle who visited. Most humans didn’t have a lot of contact with male Zetans, and stereotypes about them were that they were weak and effeminate, in contrast to the often aggressive and tall Zetan women that frequently visited human worlds. Smith’s opinion was that it wasn’t really true, Zetan males did tend more towards a lithe physique, but they weren’t the waifs pictured in Earth media, if Smith had to describe them, he’d say most were gymnasts rather than weightlifters. Most of them didn’t seem particularly subservient to their female counterparts either, Elrin seemed to have no issue ordering the royal guards about, and males Smith had seen on the streets seemed to speak and interact with their female counterparts the same as anyone else.

Elrin though was almost exactly what most people on Earth thought a Zetan male was like, and he’d been giving Smith fashion tips from the moment they’d met. He was wearing a bright white nanofabric suit now at the man’s suggestion, with gold stripes down the shoulders. He’d even given Smith codes for grooming droids, “properly royal haircuts” he’d insisted.

Smith felt a little bad about shooting down the crown thing, so he cleared his throat, “I uh… I’m going to go to a tailor later, I don’t know much about Zetan fashion, so if you wanted to come-“

“I’d be delighted!” Elrin said eagerly, “and Craig, nanofabric doesn’t have tailors, it has engineers,” he grinned, “just send me a message when you’re available and I’ll take you to the finest shops on Zeta Prime!” With that he turned to go, leaving Smith to continue to the throne room.

His former colleagues stood at attention as he walked towards the throne, a few of the dark suited agents giving him a smirk as he walked by. He returned the smile, before bringing his gaze to Tayla, waiting for him on the throne in the traditional black star fabric of the Empress.

I’m fucking royalty, he thought, fighting a laugh as he sat on the small consort’s throne at her side. He sighed, looking out at the mix of human and Zetan guards, all looking attentively to him and Tayla. He’d been told when taking the assignment that guarding the alien royalty was a heavy responsibility. In theory that burden had been lifted, replaced by a life of leisure as the partner of a princess. In reality? He wasn’t so sure.

The throne room doors opened, and another Zetan walked in, princess Kavrala, strutting confidently towards them. Kavrala had returned from Earth only hours ago, where she’d been discussing war plans with human leadership. Kavrala was relatively popular among the humans, particularly the political classes who often consulted her and treated her as her mother’s voice in military affairs.

“Greetings Empress,” Kavrala said with a small smile as she approached the throne.

“Provisional Empress,” Tayla said forcefully, “and now that you’re back you can-“

“You’re doing fine,” Kavrala insisted, “and the people over there on earth absolutely adore this romance that’s popped up between you two,” she gestured to Smith, “so to increase your visibility, I think you should stay on the throne a little longer,” she explained, “this family needs all the good feelings from Earth we can get right now.”

“I…” Tayla nervously glanced at Smith, “what do you think Craig?”

He blinked, “I uh… I suppose I’ll do whatever you think is best,” he said uncomfortably, “how long is your mother expected to be… incapacitated?”

“Who can say,” Kavrala said with a sigh, “they replaced several of her organs with artificial ones following the trauma, there wasn’t time for cloned pieces… it could still be some time before she regains consciousness, but doctors are confident that she will, which is a great improvement over what we were told initially.”

“Fine,” Tayla sighed, “do you have any news from the humans? Our admirals have been trying to explain things to me, but I don’t understand much of it… The Cephalos are going to take one of our systems, aren’t they?”

“Yes, but…” Kavrala sighed, “It’s Alrec, the very system that has just crowned Nea and announced rebellion. Our military leaders and the humans came to an agreement, no one is happy about it, but… a pragmatic choice has been made.”

“What do you mean?” Tayla asked uncertainly.

Smith felt a pit in his stomach, “you’re going to let the squids have them,” he said quietly, “the whole planet…”

“Yes,” Kavrala said softly, “it… it makes perfect sense, they’ve announced rebellion, they have few humans in the sector to protect them, we would have had to fight them eventually anyway. Alrec itself is… it’s been a drain on the Empire for decades now, politically, financially… it won’t’ be missed.”

“There are a billion people on that planet,” Smith said in shock, “there has to be at least a few thousand
Earth citizens there too, how can they just-“

“Wrong place, wrong time,” Kavrala said bitterly, “it’s war Smith. One of the largest Cephalo fleets we’ve ever seen is headed for that planet, reconnaissance says they’re moving in ways we haven’t seen before, we can’t risk a direct confrontation with the bulk of our fleets to save a backwater system of hostiles.” She gave a small smile, “I do feel a sense of satisfaction, knowing that the conspirators who arranged the attack on Mother will very soon get their final reward.”

“Along with a billion others,” Tayla said softly, looking down.

“Alrec dug its own grave,” Kavrala snarled, “our ships are meeting the human fleet near a brown dwarf just down the hyperlane from Alrec, if the Cephalo attempt to move on any other system, we will engage them, but until then? Their orders will be to stand by and record the final transmissions. Maybe having those played across Nea’s funeral will send the appropriate message.” The elder princess collected herself a moment, “I will prepare the fleet orders,” she said quietly, “you need only approve them Tayla…”

“Yes,” Tayla said quietly, “of course…”

Smith watched Kavrala go, then leaned over, “What do you want to do Tayla?” he asked quietly.

“What is there to do?” the Provisional-Empress replied in a defeated tone, “the decision is made…”

One billion people are going to die screaming, Smith realized, his hand shook slightly as he reached out to squeeze Tayla’s again.

…

Transmissions from Alrec were growing panicked, and apparently rioting had started in the cities. News that the system was in the tentacled grip of the Cephalo, with an attack imminent, had spread like wildfire. Supposedly the whole system had maybe thirty hours to live.

Jolene had opted to shut off the transmissions, and had retired to her starship’s expansive luxury bedroom. Her four Zetans just managed to fit in the massive king-sized bed, two on each side of her as the five of them basked in the post orgasm glow. She hadn’t bothered shrinking any of them further yet, but she was considering it as she stared at the ceiling.

“We were so fucking close,” Jolene muttered angrily, “I mean, I always figured I might die doing this kind of work, it comes with the territory… but to have it happen right when I almost had everything?” She sighed, letting her arms drift around Tolith to her left and Meana to her right, “I had this dream you guys,” she muttered.

“Tell us about it!” Amra squeaked, snuggling in close.

“Well, I’d buy colony rights to a planet,” she said, “probably not a nice temperate one, but with a billion credits? We could buy a desert world, or maybe one of the really icy ones, and it would be ours,” she sighed, “we’d spend a few years plotting a new hyperlane out to it, then lease settlement rights out to a few people, not enough to crowd us obviously… We could do whatever we wanted out there, you know? Nobody we’ve fucked over or shot at over the years would find us… Just me, my little crew, and endless open skies.”

“It’s beautiful,” Zenya whispered, “I can see it, Miss Jolene! Endless open skies…”

“Like back home, on Earth I mean… when I lived there,” Jolene smiled, “you can’t take the sky from me,” she whispered softly.

There was a knock on her bedroom door, and she sighed, “Come in!” she shouted.

The door slid open as Kurt walked in, and he immediately blushed and covered his eyes as he saw them all in bed. Jolene just chuckled and sat up, not bothering to hold the blanket to her chest as her breasts were exposed to the embarrassed young man.

“I’m trying to have my pre-death orgy here,” She said angrily, “what the hell do you want?”

“My friends,” he said cautiously, “if… if everything’s over anyway, could I have Nea, Telma, and Joey back?”

Jolene rolled her eyes, “Fine, whatever. I put the shoe with Telma and Joey in it inside that drawer over there,” she pointed to her nightstand, “being honest with you? I’d come back for them later; they were getting very hot and heavy so I stuck them in there for privacy.”

“How considerate of you,” Kurt muttered.

“Damn right,” Jolene said, “I think I took off the heel with the princess in it and kicked it under the bed somewhere, you can go look if you want.”

Kurt sighed, walking towards the bed and getting on his knees. He peered underneath Jolene’s bed, feeling around in the dark space. His hand caught on something with a smooth plastic feeling, and he pulled out the shiny red shoe. Nea blinked at the light and looked up at him, smiling from her imprisonment inside the clear heel.

“Got her,” he stood up, “uh… Miss Jolene, right?”

“Right,” she said impatiently.

“Could you maybe fix her size-“

“Nope,” Jolene said, waving him away dismissively, “now get out of here, unless you want to watch.”

“No thanks,” Kurt muttered, carrying the red shoe towards the door, “I’ll uh… I’ll come back for Joey and Telma in a little while.”

“Bring me a drink when you do,” Jolene said with a smirk. As Kurt left she looked back at her four Zetans, “Okay,” she grinned, “I’m ready for round two!” She reached across Zenya and Tolith to the nightstand, grabbing her shrink ray. “So, how are we going to do this?” She asked eagerly, “Tolith, I feel like watching you take one of these three…” She blasted him with the shrink ray first, and the blankets around him collapsed as the male Zetan as he was reduced to four inches tall. She hovered the shrink ray over the Zetan females, grinning as she playfully pointed it back and forth at them.

“I uh, have never actually been with a male,” Zenya said hesitantly.

Jolene raised an eyebrow, “wow, and here we are about to die, well we’ve found our volunteer!” The shrink ray flashed again, and Zenya squealed as the blankets crumpled around her next. Jolene leaned back, reaching and picking up the two shrunken Zetans and holding them over herself as her other two pets leaned in eagerly.

She placed the shrunken pair between her breasts, watching with a smug smirk as Tolith tumbled down on top of a blushing Zenya. The pair looked at one another for a moment, then Tolith started to mount her.

Jolene giggled and snapped her fingers, “Hey! Bad boy, warm a lady up first!”

“Y-Yes Miss Jolene,” he stammered. He slowly lowered his face down to his fellow shrunken Zetan’s body, ending between her legs as his head dipped and he began servicing her. Zenya moaned, arcing her back and squirming between Jolene’s breasts as he worked his tongue through her womanhood.

“That’s better,” she said, feeling herself growing wet. She glanced up at her other two Zetans, watching the spectacle playing out on her chest with awe, “One of you two, what he’s doing?” she pointed to Tolith, who was now bringing Zenya to her first orgasm, her movements jiggling Jolene’s breasts, “do it to me.”

Amra nodded, pulling back the rest of the covers and eagerly tracing down Jolene’s body. She gasped and smiled as the other woman’s face made contact, licking her almost in time with the shrunken couple in the throes of passion between her breasts.

Tolith was ready to enter her now, and Jolene grinned, watching the scene play out before her, her very own little porno, acted on her chest to her demands. She groaned as she watched the pumping motion of the tiny man bringing Zenya closer to her second orgasm.

“This is spectacular,” Meana whispered, leaning over her, mouth open and almost drooling as the two of them watched the pair.

“Come on Tolith,” Jolene growled, reaching down and bringing her finger on his back, “really give it to her!” Jolene’s finger pressed on his bottom in time with his thrusts, adding force and speed, causing the tiny woman beneath him to squeal as she forced their rhythm faster.

“M-Miss Jolene!” Tolith cried, “You’re making me go v-very *gasp* fast!” He moaned as Jolene just smirked and started pushing a little harder with each thrust, “I-I can’t last much-“

“Stop running the race, we’re there!” Jolene groaned, watching Zenya’s head loll back, a low cry escaping her lips. Tolith yelled too, and Jolene joined them as the Zetan between her legs finished her own job. In the throes of passion, she pulled her finger off Tolith’s back, pressing her breasts together and smothering the tiny couple as they squirmed in bliss. Jolene closed her eyes, basking in the moment, letting herself collapse back against the pillow with a sound that was a mix between a sigh and a growl.

“Uh, Miss Jolene?” Meana said hesitantly, “y-you might want to let them go…” Jolene looked down, then chuckled and let her breasts separate again, her arms at her side as the flesh parted. A panting and flushed Tolith and Zenya were released as the walls of flesh separated.

“Good boy Tolith, it looks like you rocked her world,” she said, laughing at Zenya’s flustered expression. She sighed, looking at the stars outside the viewport, “I fucking love you guys…”

…

Nea was only two inches tall in his palm, not even a doll really. She was still in the dark starcloth Lenais had put her in, a replica of the Empress’s, a royal sigil of some kind apparently, though she’d lost the crown sometime between then and when Jolene had taken them.

“I’m sorry,” she said again, curled up in his hand, a few tears at the corner of her eyes, “I wish… I wish you’d killed me, when you shot me back on Earth, I mean… you almost did, just a little closer to the center of my armor and…” She chuckled softly, “people would say ‘there went that fool Zetan Princess, she died trying to kidnap a human,’ and everyone was happier for it.”

“Personally? I’m glad I aimed wide,” he said with a smile.

Nea smiled through the tears, looking up into the giant face of a man who had spent most of their relationship riding around in her own palm. The scar he’d taken when saving her from the Cephalo was particularly striking, giving him a roguish look that somehow added to his already handsome face.

“If you were the only one I hurt, then maybe I could take some solace in that,” she said sadly, “my mother might recover, but…” she sighed, looking out at the stars, “I’ve caused countless deaths, this entire planet will die because of me.”

Kurt sighed, “Nea, you were a spark, but all of this stuff, the way humans and Zetans felt about each other, it was always here, something like this was always going to happen. I don’t think you can blame yourself for-“

“I do,” she said firmly, “I am, was, a princess of the Zetan Empire, I had greater responsibility… maybe I thought I was helping my people when I did what I did, but it doesn’t matter… I should have known better.”

They were quiet for a moment, and Kurt’s fingers curled around her slightly as they watched other ships circling Alrec in a panic. The planet seemed chaotic, even from space, the military vessels had maintained formation near the planet’s orbital shipyards, but the atmosphere was buzzing with civilian craft, fleeing with nowhere to go.

“You know something?” Kurt said suddenly, “I think you’re right.”

She looked up at him, “Of course I am, what do you-“

“No,” Kurt sighed, “I… I really don’t think you can blame yourself for all of this, but if you’ve got to, yeah you are a princess, a kickass warrior princess too.”

She blushed, “Thank you, but I don’t follow?”

“We don’t have to go out like this,” Kurt muttered angrily, looking around at the mess of ships around the planet, “pissing ourselves and having our final fucks.”

“If there really are hundreds of Cephalo vessels approaching, we’ve little choice,” Nea said bitterly.

“Fuck that,” Kurt snarled, “We could kill these bastards, same way we’ve been doing for forty years, and if they take us all, let’s make them earn dinner.”

“I like the sentiment,” Nea said, standing up shakily in his palm, “but we don’t have enough starships, nor the humans to protect them.”

“We’ve got a hundred or so humans right here on board,” Kurt said, “and I’m sure there are plenty more hiding around the system, panicking just like the Zetans are.”

“They’d never agree to help,” Nea said, “and besides, the Zetans are all-“

“Yeah, they’re a bunch of traitors and assholes to boot,” Kurt said, “but they did want to crown you Empress, I feel like you might have a little weight with them.” He looked at the planet again, “I don’t know who else is here that can take charge anyways, it’s you or nobody Nea.”

Nea felt a smile forming on her face, “You really don’t ever give up, do you?”

“I feel like my odds were worse when the psycho princess from space kidnapped me at the town parade,” Kurt laughed, “I didn’t even have a starship to work with then.”

“And what of the psychopathic bounty hunter who has kidnapped us now?” Nea asked.

“I have a feeling she’s more the fighting type than the lay down and die type,” Kurt said, “let me do the talking with that one.” He gave her a grin, “cheer up, we aren’t licked yet.”

Nea felt a sudden outpouring of warmth towards Kurt, like the sun was rising on her for the first time after a cold night.

“I think I love you,” she said suddenly.

Kurt started, and with a blink he looked down at the tiny princess in his hand, “I… I love you too,” he said, a smile lighting up his face.

The two of them were silent a moment, alone with each other and their thoughts in the luxury starship’s expansive lounge. Kurt chuclked softly, and Nea blushed, their eyes meeting each other as it soaked in. Nea was tiny, Kurt was four feet tall, they were prisoners of a madwoman and they hovered above a planet of traitors on the brink of a hellish invasion from the blackness of space.

And in that moment, the only thing they saw or thought about was each other.

“Well shit,” Kurt muttered quietly, “now we’ve really got to live…”

“Indeed,” Nea whispered with a smile, “let’s go speak with this ‘Jolene’ woman-“

“In a minute,” Kurt said, a mischievous smile coming over his face as his finger drifted towards the princess in his palm.

Nea gulped nervously scooting backwards slightly until her back was against his curled fingers, “Kurt? What are you doing!?”

“Just something I’ve been thinking about,” he said teasingly, “if we do make it out of this, this is going to be a pretty hard position to get you in again…”

“I don’t follow,” Nea said, watching as Kurt’s massive digit reached for the nanofabric collar on her neck. She gulped as he tapped it ever so slightly, causing her dress to shimmer as it receded over her body. Nea shivered as she found herself suddenly naked, looking up at the giant human man who had an amused and lustful expression on his face.

“You know, from the other side this is kind of fun,” he said, tracing his finger along her smooth leg, causing her to squirm slightly. “You’re cute at this size Nea.”

She flushed, “Perhaps this is a translation error? I’m not cute, I am beautiful and to my enemies terrifying!”

“Nope,” Kurt said, “I think it translated just fine, you are cute Nea.” He fought a laugh as she pushed against his finger, all of her strength unable to push away the end of a digit that was almost as thick as her torso.

“Kurt!” she whined.

“Didn’t you want me to… what was the word, ‘torment’ you?” he asked with a smirk.

“Y-Yes,” Nea said, arching her back as his soft yet unyielding finger traced downward, between her legs. She gasped, her eyes going wide as he applied pressure, a slow forceful motion right on her mound that caused her to buck her hips against his fingertip involuntarily. “Oh stars,” she moaned, wrapping her arms around his index finger like it was a lover.

“What an adorable princess,” Kurt said with a wide grin, continuing to rub the naked and squirming princess into his palm, “I think I’ll keep her.”

“N-No,” she managed, “I’ll escape, I’ll-“

“My pet princess,” Kurt said, rubbing a little faster, “it has a nice ring to it.”

She squealed as she came, coating his fingertip in her juices as she spasmed and moaned. Kurt never let up, driving her past the heights of pleasure and into madness as she groaned pathetically in his hand. Finally, when it passed, she was left a panting mess, staring up at him as he drew his finger away. With a final teasing look, Kurt stuck his wet fingertip in his mouth, sucking slightly, pulling it out with a pop as he tasted what Nea had left there.

“You realize I’m going to get you back for that,” she said, a grin forming on her face as she panted, reaching for the nanofabric collar that had rolled around in Kurt’s palm during their play. She placed it back on her neck, and a moment later the elegant dress flowed out of it, clothing her again.

“I imagine I’m going to pay for the ‘pet princess’ remark,” he said rolling his eyes, “it was still worth it.”

“It did cause a certain… reaction, I’ll admit,” the princess said with an embarrassed smile.

“You don’t have to explain it to me,” Kurt laughed, “are you ready to go see the bounty hunter?”

“Yes,” Nea sighed, standing up and doing her best to look regal, or as regal as you could look at two inches in someone else’s palm.

…

Jolene leaned against the pillow again, mentally debating how she wanted her next round of sex to go, when the door opened with a hiss. She looked up and scowled, Kurt was back, and he had the tiny princess with him. There was a flash in his hand, and she reflexively shot her own up, catching a tossed bottle. She looked at the label and scowled, she’d hoped for qet, but it was just one of the colas her crew liked. She sighed and opened it anyway, sitting up and sipping it as she regarded him.

“You didn’t bring enough for everybody,” she said neutrally. Behind her the four Zetans, currently at their “normal” four-foot height, giggled.

“Cut the shit,” Kurt said, causing them to go quiet with shock. “Do you really want to just lay here in bed, fucking each other’s brains out until the end comes?”

“Yes,” Jolene said, “now look kid, I’m open minded and all, but I don’t know you well, so if you want to join in-“

“No!” Kurt snapped, “I’m wondering why the hell you’re letting it all slip away right after you got everything you wanted?” He gestured at the four Zetans, “I heard talk about a billion credits? That’s the kind of pot you can’t just walk away from because you got one bad hand.”

“With as many Cephalos as they say are coming? That hand’s aces and eights Kurt,” Jolene said, taking another swig from the glass soda bottle.

“Fine,” Kurt growled, “give up, but pardon me if I feel like going all in. Grow my friends back, you’ve got no need for us if this,” he gestured to the crowded bed, “is how you’re planning on running out the clock.”

Jolene stared at him a moment, then chuckled, “if you want me to get out of this bed and leave my lovely crew,” the four giggled again, “then you’ve got to give me an elevator pitch or something, go.”

“I can rally the Zetans,” Nea said, as loudly as she could from Kurt’s palm, “with some organization, we can put up a fight.”

“Zetans alone aren’t worth dick against Cephalos,” Jolene said, “but keep going.”

“We send out a call for help,” Kurt said, “we can talk to the humans here on the ship, we call to any who are hiding in the system, if we all come together, I think we could get enough humans with the fleet to protect them from the squids.”

“That is one hell of a tough sell,” Jolene said, stepping out of bed and reaching for her pants, “but I guess I’ll let you take a shot at it. I’ve got a lot of bastards waiting for me in hell who would be disappointed if they found out I just gave up this late in the game.” She glanced at the Zetans, “you four, get dressed and meet up in the lounge.” There were a few groans of protest, and Jolene rolled her eyes, “Punishment jar!” she threatened, and that got them moving.

“Punishment Jar?” Nea asked, confused.

“Don’t ask,” Jolene muttered, pulling her shirt on. She grabbed her shrink ray off the nightstand and casually clicked it in Kurt and Nea’s direction.

Kurt’s vision clouded as he was restored to his normal height, blinking slightly as he realized he now stood a head over the fearsome woman who had captured them. Nea squealed, having tumbled off his hand as she instantly regrew, falling to the floor with a thud.

“You could have let him put me down!” Nea hissed, standing back up to her full six and a half feet.

“I could’ve,” Jolene said with a shrug, “you should be thankful, you’re the first Zetan I’ve let walk around on this ship at full size since I got it.” She started towards the door, then stopped, laughing, “oops, almost forgot.” She turned around and reached for the bottom nightstand drawer, pulling out the red shoe with the transparent heel. Telma and Joey were naked, and the Zetan was on her knees in front of the human as his face contorted with pleasure.

“They are still going at it!” Jolene said with a smirk, “now that’s impressive!” she tapped the side of the transparent enclosure, “hey! Lovebirds!” There were muffled cries of surprise, then Joey and Telma were scrambling for their nanofabric collars, hastily trying to clothe themselves as they realized they’d been removed from the drawer. She placed their prison on the floor, releasing them with the tap of a button. They hesitantly stepped out, and a flash of Jolene’s shrink ray later they were standing alongside Kurt and Nea, their sizes restored.

“H-Hey man,” Joey said, face red, “uhh… how long were you guys watching?”

“Not long,” Kurt smirk, “hey, I fought that fucking squid naked dude, at this point I’ve got no shame left.”

“Fucking around with Zetans will do that to you,” Jolene said with a shrug, “anyways everyone go take five and clean up, I’m going to go have a chat with Tolith and Meana about what kind of communications equipment we’ve got on board.” She smiled as she strutted out of the room, “I suggest you think about what you want to say to the people of Alrec, I think all of our lives depend on it.”

“Ah shit,” Kurt muttered, a pit forming in his stomach as he realized he and Nea were going to need to address a billion people.

Kurt grunted as Joey slapped his back, “you’ve got this Kurt, you were on the debate team in high school!”

“Nea,” he said slowly, “you go to big royal events all the time, right? You can probably-“

“I attended such events, I didn’t give the keynote addresses,” she said with a small smile. Her hand linked with his, squeezing him in her firm grip. “Just try to relax, we’ve got each other, right?”

I hope it’s enough, Kurt thought, looking out the bedroom viewport at the dirty brown planet outside.