In a search for the treasure

The days of travel dragged on without much adventure or trouble. Both men communicated only when necessary and only on business matters. Both continued to watch each other and both knew about it. Among other things, Arrow noted the professionalism of the mantavor, which could be explained not only by the advantages of the crustacean body structure but also by many years of experience as a spacer. Since that night, Scroop had been suspiciously quiet and didn’t even bother the cabin boy. However, Jim was constantly busy and did not intersect with the crab. In any case, Arrow did not plan to relax. “Who knows what else the cunning alien is up to?” The trouble came from where they did not expect. The star Permusa gone supernova. The whole team was alerted and the captain ordered to lower the sails. Plasma flows and fragments of the star’s former planetary system pierced them through and through, and the crew risked being left completely without the thrust in the middle of the Ethereum. Every crew member did their best and the task was finished on time. Unfortunately, the ship without sails could not maneuver, and when the captain noticed a giant fragment of the planet, threatening to smash the ship into small pieces, it was already too late. Suddenly, an unknown force stopped a huge rock, and then slowly pulled it in the opposite direction. After the fragment had moved away, the whole team saw the reason for the miraculous rescue. The star had collapsed into a black hole and was now sucking the Legacy into it. The captain herself rushed to the helm. She wasn’t going to give up the ship without a fight. But almost immediately she was thrown off the steering wheel by a powerful flash emanating from the center of the black hole. “These waves are damn erratic!” Amelia shouted. “They aren’t erratic at all! In 47 seconds there will be another one, and after it the last and the most powerful one!” The doctor has finally proven himself to be a useful member of the crew. “Brilliant, doctor! We’ll use it to get out of here! Mr Arrow, raise the sails back!” The captain ordered. “Aye captain!” Arrow was surprised, but an order is an order. The crew, having just finished lowering the sails, got back on the yards. Amelia ordered the cabin boy to secure the lifelines. Arrow climbed on with everyone else to set the sail faster. Suddenly for the team, a wave hit. Surprisingly, everyone managed to hold on, except for Arrow, who stood precariously on the rope and did not hold on to the yard. Shot down by a stellar wind, the first mate flew past the deck, straight to the black hole. His eyes filled with horror before the abyss. The last hope of the officer was a safety cable. The rope was the only thread separating Arrow from flying into the black hole. Now he had to carefully climb back on it. Arrow was afraid to stir. One wrong move and the rope could come loose. Jim was supposed to check it out, but who knows? The rope, in the end, could not withstand the weight of a stone body. Arrow could only hope that the knot was tied in good faith. He grabbed the rope with one hand, thinking how to pull up without accidentally tearing the unreliable lifeline. At that moment, he noticed on the mast the one he least wanted to see there. “Oh no,” Arrow thought doomed. Scroop crawled up to the rope where it had thrown itself over the yard. The mantavor’s eyes burned with an unhealthy gleam. He took Arrow’s safety rope in a claw. “This is the end.” The XO prepared to accept death in the center of the black hole. He had long realized that the damn crab would cause problems. That he would not dare to fight one on one but would strike on the quiet. The only thing Arrow didn’t understand was why he hesitated. Scroop gently grasped the rope with the non-sharp part of his claw. He didn’t have much of an opinion about the cabin boy’s abilities either, and as soon as he saw Arrow go overboard, he hurried to back him up. Now it was necessary to carefully pull the heavy stone block to the side of the ship. The strength of the mantavor would not have been enough even under normal circumstances, not that in the vicinity of a black hole, so he instead tied the rope with another knot, this time from above, in case the bottom one got untied. “Captain! The last wave! Here it is!” The doctor shouted. “Get ready everyone, we’re going to have a bumpy ride!” Amelia ordered. The ship fell through to the singularity with acceleration. For a moment it seemed to everyone that the light itself was sucked into a black hole and that the point of no return had been passed. A blinding flash illuminated the entire ethereum around. At the same time, Mr. Arrow felt a powerful jolt coming from the singularity. He was thrown with incredible overload. The rope smoked from a bright beam of light. If his skin wasn’t covered in mineral armor, Arrow would have suffered severe burns himself. The officer did not see anything around him as he was still in the stream of the stellar wind. Suddenly, something pulled him out of the blinding wave. Arrow recovered for some time until he realized what it was. Scroop’s claw held him by the collar of his tattered, smoking uniform. The rope tied around Arrow’s waist crumbled at the slightest impact. “That will be right. I shouldn’t draw suspicion on myself ahead of time. Silver will be furious if one of the team dies before it’s time for a riot,” the mantavor convinced himself. In the depths of his soul, he knew that this was a lie, that it would be easier than ever to write off the loss of the first mate as an accident. The storm ended as abruptly as it began. Amelia praised the crew for their excellent work and singled out the doctor, whose knowledge may have saved the ship. “All hands accounted for, Mr. Arrow?” she asked, turning to the helper who had just arrived. His clothes were smoking in places, and he looked battered. “All are present, ma’am. Surprisingly.” He glanced at Scroop, who was standing off to the side. “Well, congratulations to everyone, gentlemen, carry on!” The captain commanded. “Mr. Arrow, inspect this vessel, and then come to me, and explain your appearance.” With these words, she went to the captain’s room, to plot a new course. Later, after Arrow had checked the entire ship for damage and loss, he approached Scroop, who was fixing something on the mainmast and, as chief rigger, commanding the others. “Is everything ready, Mr. Scroop?” “The sailsss were damaged, but we have already fixed everything. The mast mountss also had to be tightened. In general, it will fly.” “Excellent work,” the captain’s mate complimented the mantavor. “We need to talk alone,” he added more quietly. Scroop went down on deck. “Let’ss go find a place,” he said. Such a place turned out to be only in the storeroom. The team that finished the job had gathered in the mess and were already celebrating their successful escape from the black hole. “Scroop, I have to thank you.” Arrow saw no point in talking formally in private. In public, they always kept it official. “You obviously expected ssomething else.” “No, I… was just afraid that the rope would break.” “Yeah, of coursse.” Scroop chuckled. “I’m not going to take revenge on you, relax.” He leaned against the ship’s hull and crossed his claws. “Well, only if the repetition of our little entertainment can be called revenge.” “Are you suggesting something?” “What do you think?” Arrow didn’t know what to think about this. If he were in the service, he would not hesitate to refuse. But now that the cragorian had been freed from fleet protocol, there were no restrictions he could break. Despite what happened, Arrow did not trust the crab, but the last time he was not stopped by a lack of trust. “Let’s go somewhere else, someone can find us.” “To the hold?” “To the hold.”

***

They descended even lower, to a place where no one could go down by accident. Arrow didn’t want to admit it, but he was already filled with desire. Was it the delayed effect of stress, the long time without satisfaction, or was there something attractive about this crab? Arrow could not understand himself because for the first time in his life, he was drawn to a non-anthropomorphic creature. “Lissten, Arrow, I have an idea.” The mantavor began to undress his partner. “What if thisss time you will be the bottom?” With these words, Scroop pressed him to himself with one of his legs and then ran it down the exec’s tough buttocks. “He came up with a good idea,” flashed through Arrow’s head. Theoretically, it was good. Judging by the size and shape of Scroop’s cock, it was safe for the cragorians to fuck with him. But the XO couldn’t take that risk, after all, last time the crab had tried to take him by force. There was no trust in him. “So that you have something to brag about?” Arrow chuckled. “No way. Did you like the last time?” “It wasn’t… perfect, but maybe you can redeem yourself,” Scroop hissed. How could he get into the same situation for the second time in a row? “At least find something sssofter than that rag, because after the lasst time …” He dramatized it. Actually the last time wasn’t that bad. Arrow rummaged through the chests impatiently. In the chest with some junk, there were medical gloves. Good enough. Scroop didn’t need lubrication, as the mantavors' genitals produce enough of it. “Much better.” Scroop threw off the waistband that covered his private parts. The covering of the chitinous armor had already parted a little, but the organ itself had not yet got out. Together they got rid of the remnants of the first mate’s clothes. They approached again and the mantavor wrapped its front pair of legs around his partner. Waves of excitement washed over the cragorian. “Damn, I must have abandoned my needs for too long if I have such a reaction at the first hint of sex,” flashed through his mind. Arrow stroked Scroop’s shell with his hands. The mantavor had hard armor on his back and chest, but on his “belly,” he had a flexible covering, similar to thick skin. “Do you feel anything? Touches on the shell, I mean?” The cragorian asked. “Sure. Especially in those placess that are lower,” said Scroop and ran the smooth side of the claw over his partner’s erection. “Well, about the same as yourss.” Arrow touched the tender spot of the mantavor with a gloved hand and stroked the coverings as they moved apart. “Do you like this?” He asked. “Oh yeah,” Scroop almost groaned. His penis gradually crawled out with an increase in excitement. “Lie down, dear.” Arrow leaned over and laid Scroop on the floor. The man only hissed at the treatment, but Scroop didn’t feel like arguing with the first mate right now. Maybe later, at a better time, he’ll come up with something. Arrow chuckled as he watched the formidable, intimidating mantavor sprawl on the floor. He ran his hand over the alien’s abdomen, stroked between the legs. Scroop responded with a low hiss. He tried not to make too much noise. His organ was already at full length and slightly curved in the air. Then Arrow realized that the partner was ready for more. Just in time, because the first mate himself was already burning with impatience. There was one last thing left: to open the anal coverings. He put a gloved hand on the rear end of the abdomen and stroked it there. Half a minute later, these coverings parted and Arrow prepared to enter the partner’s body. “This time”, he thought, “it would be a good idea to take care of the lube”. Then he did the most obvious thing, running his gloved hand several times over Scroop’s slippery cock. The mantavor almost groaned at the harsh sensation. Then Arrow spread the collected lube over his own cock and finally entered the heated body. Scroop arched his back but made no sound. Arrow chose to start at a slow pace, much like the last time. But this time his anger didn’t spur him on, and the cragorian was somewhat more careful. Also this time the lovers had the opportunity to see each other. Arrow controlled the condition of the partner and stroked his tender places. Scroop, lying on his back, could only unsuccessfully cling to the cragorian with his legs. The mantavor threw his claws behind his head. He either closed his eyes, catching every grain of pleasure or, on the contrary, opened them, looking at his partner as if with a challenge. Arrow enjoyed the process no less. He no longer wanted to hold back. Catching Scroop’s mocking gaze on him, the first mate became even more excited. “Still not enough? Here’s something else for you.” With that thought, Arrow grabbed Scroop’s flexible cock and began caressing it. The mockery was instantly blown away from the impudent crab’s face. Scroop was already twitching all over. His legs scraped helplessly over Arrow’s stony skin. Finally, the cragorian felt an oncoming orgasm, made a few last, sharpest thrusts, and froze. His hand also stopped, to Scroop’s annoyance. Arrow caught his breath. Clarity began to return to his mind. “Haven’t you forgotten ssomething?” Scroop hissed from underneath him. Arrow didn’t answer. He slowly pulled out of the mantavor’s body, lay down beside him on the floor, and took his cock in his gloved hand. Scroop was surprised at such sudden closeness, but now he had the opportunity to hug a partner. For a while, Arrow heard only the heavy breathing of the alien, who rested his head on the cragorian’s stone shoulder. After a short time, Scroop came, pressing his whole body against his partner. Arrow let him go and for a while just lay there, resting and watching the mantavor. He also seemed to have regained clarity. Scroop pulled back abruptly and stood up hastily. “Hmm. It wasn’t terrible, not like the lasst time.” He said as he cleaned himself up.