Sensory Overload

It was another dry, dusty day on Theta 23, the only habitable planet in the constellation of Sigmascotia. It would be another 2 weeks until its moon would traverse between the planet and its sun dropping the surface temperature by a welcome 27oC. It was not people's first choice as a holiday destination, but for the hundred and twenty thousand miners and associated ancillary staff it was a very nice fat pay check at the end of each month.

Of the total population on the planet, approximately ten thousand were human, mainly in executive, administrative and security roles. The remainder were from the myriad of different alien lifeforms that had been discovered throughout the universe in the six hundred years since man had first set foot outside earth's atmosphere in the late 1960's.

One of these was Lieutenant Rebecca Deckard, at thirty-five she was a twelve-year veteran of this god-forsaken planet. She had arrived as a green rookie, running away from 'issues' on Earth, but had thrived with this new start and had rapidly risen through the ranks and was respected by those below and above her.

Now she thought she could return home and face her demons and had five more months of her contract to run before she made the two-month journey back to that little blue speck that was Earth. But until then she still had work to do.

"Deckard! Need a word! Before you go!" bellowed Captain Trench from his office down the corridor.

Rebecca lifted her head to the ceiling and closed her eyes, sighing. It had been a long shift, and she was tired and hungry, she needed to go home, have a shower, eat and sleep, and preferably in that order.

Shutting down her terminal and lifting her jacket from the back of her chair, she wandered down the corridor.

As she reached the door another bellow rang out.

"Deckard! I need......"

"Yes Captain? You wanted a word?" cut in a wearisome Rebecca.

Captain Trench looked up and his face softened. She was by far the best officer in his team, and he knew it, and to him she was the daughter he had left behind on Earth all these years before.

"Thanks Rebecca, close the door please" he asked quietly.

Rebecca was taken aback, he very rarely called her Rebecca, and he never spoke to anyone behind a closed door. Something was amiss.

Closing the door and taking a seat Rebecca eyed the corpulent Captain carefully.

"Something up, Captain?" she mused, as he finished signing off some papers.

"Yeah," he mumbled, nodding as he pushed the papers aside and looked up at her.

"There's been another assault," then nodding before Rebecca could respond, "Yeah, another female cop, same MO."

"Fuck" muttered Rebecca, "is she OK?"

"Pretty much, appears to be same as the rest." he added.

"Was she raped like the others?" queried Rebecca, her anger and disgust rising.

"This is the strange thing, with this one. Yes and no."

It took a few seconds for these few words to sink home.

"What do you mean -- 'yes and no'?" probed a stunned Rebecca, "she was either fucked or she wasn't?"

"Oh, she was fucked," confirmed the captain, "but this time she wasn't fully unconscious. And she claims it was like he was experimenting on her."

"The fuckin' bastard!" spat Rebecca, "Experimenting on her? How?" she questioned, stupefied.

"She said it was like he was trying to pleasure her, make her cum as many times as possible. Says he was doing things to her like no-one else ever has, and she actually 'enjoyed' it. Then she passed out," he answered, blushing at the sensitive nature of the information, it would have made Rebecca smirk if she hadn't been so angry.

Trench could see the fury rising in Rebecca as he made his last statement.

"Her words, not mine!" he quickly added.

Sharp as a knife Rebecca came back at the captain.

"If she was conscious, does this mean we have a description?"

But the Captain just slowly shook his head.

"Eyes covered, some sort of blindfold or hood. Sorry Rebecca, just same as before, we know he was a Bollocksian, she arrested him for fighting in a bar... got him in her vehicle.... strange smell..."

"...woke up back in her apartment, handcuffed to her bed?" concluded Rebecca, receiving a nod from the captain.

Rebecca shook her head in resignation and looked up at the ceiling. This was the fifth such attack in as many weeks, and they were no closer to finding the bastard involved.

"Forensics haven't turned up anything yet, so far. I'll be calling a Division meeting first thing tomorrow at nine. Just wanted you to have a heads up before you went home tonight. So be careful," added the captain, in a fatherly tone which Rebecca couldn't fail to pick up.

Resigned, she nodded and slowly rose to her feet and turned to the door.

"Be careful," the captain reiterated, as Rebecca turned to give him a resigned look as she left.

Rebecca headed out of the building to make her way home, she'd had enough, she needed to get home, and the thought of a hot shower nearly made her smile.

She shrugged on her jacket, it might have been in the low 40's outside, reasonably cool for this god-forsaken lump of rock, but she was glad for the inbuilt radiation filter within the fabric which was of more importance than her comfort.

Remembering her plans for the evening, Rebecca reassessed, she was now starving and the thought of having to prepare something, however quickly, when she got home made her feel even more exhausted. She would go to 'Gertie's' just around the corner from her apartment and grab something there.

As she drove her police vehicle the twelve blocks across the city to the run-down snack bar, her mind was much more active, puzzling over this new attack.

"How the fuck could a Bollocksian subdue an armed police officer? They must have been half the size of the officer, even if they had been a woman! And what was this smell? Some sort of anaesthetic or hypnotic? Why could Forensics not find any trace of it?"

Parking up, these thoughts still meandered through her mind as she reached the diner and pushed in through the door to find it almost deserted. At the only table occupied was sitting a Vulvarian, a Cocksidian and a fellow Human, such a disparate group of characters Rebecca had ever seen. However, they seemed ordinary enough and were laughing and joking as they ploughed their way through platefuls of various 'delicacies' from around the galaxy.

She nodded to the Titavarian who was behind the counter. She didn't need to place an order, she knew what she always had, Rebecca was a regular. Rebecca took a table almost as far away from the other three as she could. She had no desire to get caught up in anything that they might be involved in.

She also knew that they knew that she was a cop, but that wouldn't stop them from creating trouble if they wanted to, and the last thing Rebecca needed was a trip back to the Precinct with these three. Maybe she would just kill them, it would reduce the paperwork.

The Titavarian brought over a tall cold beer and placed it down before Rebecca.

"Tough day, Lieutenant?" the Titavarian asked, a smile breaking on both of her mouths.

"Aren't they all," replied Rebecca, picking up her beer and downing nearly half of it. The cold bitter liquid felt as if it burned as it coursed down her throat, but it was just the dryness of her throat from breathing in the hot dry dusty atmosphere of this god-forsaken lump of rock.

"They causing any bother," asked Rebecca, nodding in the direction of the other customers.

The Titavarian let out a deep rumble, which was actually a hysterical laugh, and tapped her jacket pocket, "Got it sorted should they try," she explained, and Rebecca understood, she was packing!

"Food will be out in five," the Titavarian added, and walked back towards the counter.

Rebecca ignored the others and as she sipped her beer a little more slowly, she continued to mull over the questions she had about this attacker. There were too many unanswered questions, and little or no information or evidence to draw any conclusion from. The only positive thing that Rebecca could come up with was that he'd make a mistake. Somewhere, sometime, he'd make a mistake, leave a clue or something, and Rebecca hoped she was there when it happened.

Rebecca's food arrived; it was the closest thing that she could get to the Taco's she used to get back home on Earth. She smiled, maybe this would be the first thing she would do when she got off the ship back home in 5 months, go back to Miguel's and eat as many as she could!

She had only just got started when the door of the little café opened and to Rebecca's shock and disgust a Bollocksian walked in. Rebecca felt the hairs on the back of her neck rise, and that didn't happen very often, and she stopped doing everything until it walked over and sat down a couple of tables away from the other three customers.

The Bollocksian was as wide as it was tall, about four feet. If you painted a number on it, you would have a pool ball, their skin was a weird pale blue colour, and almost glistened, especially in the harsh fluorescent lighting of the café. Most other planetary nations hated them, the were the scum of the galaxy, but put them on a mining planet and they were indispensable. It had something to do with their six arms, which could operate and control the huge pieces of mining equipment that would otherwise require three pairs of hands!

But everyone still hated them, and hence Rebecca's disgust, especially after her earlier conversation with her Captain. Suddenly, Rebecca wondered if she was actually looking at their chief suspect! Maybe a trip back into the Precinct tonight wouldn't be so bad after all, especially if she busted this case open. Although the thought of shooting it dead and asking questions later also flashed through Rebecca's head.

Rebecca continued munching on her Taco's, but somewhat distracted now, she could have been eating anything.

Rebecca didn't hear the first insults being thrown, but she assumed that was what had happened, as suddenly an argument seemed to erupt between the three initial customers and this newcomer. Which to Rebecca seemed strange, as they'd been pretty much OK until this other guy, this Bollocksian turned up. Had he instigated it?

He certainly joined in quick enough. Seconds later and the Bollocksian was hurling insults back at the other three. Rebecca didn't understand all that was said, she was pretty good with most languages, but some of the finer points of slang and dialects could fly over her head.

But she had good cause now. She could drag this Bollocksian down to the Precinct, and do him for disturbing the peace, and at the same time grill him about these abduction and rape cases, she might get lucky.

Suddenly, the impolite chat, took a turn, and fisty cuffs began to be thrown, which suited Rebecca, as she had her own cuffs she could throw about.

Drawing her revolver faster than Wyatt Earp ever did, Rebecca stuck a slug in the wall of the café which neatly bisected the four-inch gap which had existed between the faces of the Bollocksian and the Vulvarian.

"All of you!" growled Rebecca, and all eyes turned to look at her, "On the floor!"

The three original customers all complied, as they could, however, the Bollocksian being almost as round as a soccer ball, couldn't.

She strode over to the waring factions, her revolver pointing at anything that dared moved, And Rebecca hoped something would.

"Right, you fuckers! I don't care what this was about, you've fuckin' ruined my day!" she almost whispered in an extremely controlled manner, think Harry Callaghan!

"You! Bollocksian! I'm taking you in! They were OK until you arrived, so I'm blaming you," explained Rebecca, Judge, Jury and Executioner!

Now this was where Rebecca had a problem. Her arrestee had six arms; she only had one pair of cuffs. However, experience had taught the Police Dept. that if you shackled their legs, they couldn't go anywhere!

"Move, Bollocksian!" Rebecca instructed, keeping her weapon trained on the rotund figure, and she marched him out of the café and towards her vehicle. Squeezing him into the back, Rebecca shackled him by slipping the chain of her cuffs through an eye bolt secured to the floor of her vehicle. If he wanted to go anywhere, he'd need to take the car with him!

She climbed into the front and pulling up her laptop she began to fill out her report. She'd normally do this in the Precinct, but as she was supposed to be off duty, if she did it now then she could just dump the fucker, upload her report and leave, five minutes tops!

"What's your name, fucker!" Rebecca cursed, at the hunched figure in the back of the car.

All she got back was garbled rubbish, and she looked ferociously at the figure in her rear-view mirror.

"Say that again, dickhead!" she retorted. She was going to show him who was boss, and it wasn't him!

Then she found herself instinctively sniffing, what was that strange smell, and where had it come from so suddenly?

Suddenly, alarm bells began going off in her head, just as her body began to shut down! A strange smell, that was what the other victims had reported just before they passed out. It was too late, Rebecca felt herself slipping under, and she could do nothing about it.

As the young detective slumped in her seat, an unusually long appendage wormed through from the back of the car to find the key to the handcuffs clipped on Rebecca's belt. Seconds later the rotund body was slipping from the back of the car and shoving Rebecca over onto the other front seat, it climbed in behind the steering wheel and the car was heading off.

It didn't have far to go, Rebecca's apartment was only a couple of streets away and only a couple of minutes later her squad car was rolling into the underground parking lot of the building. The Bollocksian had been watching Rebecca for a couple of weeks, along with a couple of others, just waiting for the most opportune moment, and now it had arrived.

The Bollocksian knew the main problem might be getting Rebecca up to her apartment without being seen or raising any alarm. It might just take a lot of luck, but he'd got this far, there was almost nothing to lose now.

Almost effortlessly, the Bollocksian dragged Rebecca's lifeless body from the car and shouldered her as if she was weightless. Reaching the lifts for the building he punched the button to call one and gave a sigh of relief when one appeared almost immediately, followed by another one when the doors opened and it was empty.

He hit the button for the fifth floor, his reconnaissance having even found out her apartment number, 523. As the lift moved up past each floor, the Bollocksian kept expecting the lift to pause and the door open, but it didn't and soon the doors were sliding open, and on the wall opposite was a large 5. He peeped out, looking both ways along the corridor. It was clear. He set off at a shuffle, the fastest he could.

He'd been clever and taken Rebecca's door key from her jacket pocket when she'd still been in the car, so he had it ready to open the door so he could slip in quickly rather than fumbling about and someone find them. In through the door and locked again, he could breathe a little more easily. Still carrying Rebecca over his shoulder, he wandered around the small apartment until he found the bedroom where he gently deposited her body on the bed.

At once he began stripping her body, her equipment belt with its holstered pistol, baton, stun-gun, etc. The he peeled off her jacket, her body armour, her shirt and her sports bra.

He had to stop there and admire her breasts. Rebecca was now his sixth victim, and all six had been so differently proportioned, not like the female members back on his own planet. And it was the difference, uniqueness, of each of them that was so fascinating. She didn't have the biggest, nor the smallest, but they stood proudly on her chest, unlike some of the others that sagged down flat. He would need to get some more information on that.

Then he was at her trousers, unfastening and peeling them down her legs, leaving just her plain black panties, nothing flash, no lacy bits, just practical. As he peeled these down Rebecca's legs as well, he found another unique feature. Again, all his other victims had presented the hairy area at the top of their legs differently.

His first victim had a thick unruly thatch of dark hair, but his second was naked, it completely surprised him. But when he had touched the area, he had felt very short stubble and had realised that this was new hair growing back in. All human women must have hair in that area, just some must wish to shave it off for some reason. He had also managed to work out that the colour of the hair in this region tended to be similar to the hair on the head and eyebrows, obviously a genetic trait. Rebecca was different from the others in that she seemed to have trimmed her hair into a neat heart shape. He would need to ask her about that.

Now naked, the Bollocksian checked Rebecca's pulse and lifted an eyelid. At an estimate she would be asleep for another ten minutes or so. He was pleased; it looked as though he was beginning to judge the sleeping gas he was using just about right. His first couple of victims never woke up, he'd tried to experiment on their lifeless bodies, but he had gained nothing, the last couple he had still given to much gas, and although they had woken up, they had not been as responsive as he would have liked.

The Bollocksian went through to the apartment's small kitchen and filled a small basin with warm water, then taking great care, which would have greatly surprised Rebecca had she been awake, he bathed her body. Now that she was ready, he took Rebecca's handcuffs and wrapping them round one of the posts of the headboard he clicked them round her wrists. Spotting a couple of dressing gowns hanging behind the door, he removed the waist belts and used them to tie Rebecca's ankles to the opposite ends of the footboard, spreading her legs.

Now all he had to do was wait. He had an antidote, but it hadn't seemed to work very well on the other victims, so he thought he'd let her come round naturally.

It took about ten minutes before Rebecca slowly began to awaken. Soft moans escaped from her as she stirred, then a slow realisation that she couldn't move her hands or legs very far. Then she was wide awake and the panic set in as she thrashed about wildly trying to release herself. She now remembered what had happened, what she had been doing, the last thoughts that had gone through her mind.

She knew she had been taken by this beast, this rapist, and she had fallen for it.

She shouted at the top of her lungs, crying out for help as she thrashed about more, the hard metal cuffs cutting into her wrists and the belts tight around her ankles. She tried to close her legs but quickly realised that she was effectively spreadeagled, he had her right where he wanted her.

She almost didn't hear it at first, as she continued to scream for help, it seemed to be just a whisper.

"No-one can hear you scream," came the soothing voice, "It's just in your head."

Rebecca spun her head to the left towards the voice. It was the bastard she had arrested; he wasn't trying to hide himself, just like what the last victim had reported.

Rebecca eyed him up, her face showing no fear, but utter hatred and anger. If looks could kill.

"I am not what you think," spoke the Bollocksian, when he was sure that Rebecca was still watching him. He wanted to be sure that she was aware what was happening.

He took an arm and wrapped it as far round his rotund waist, then slowly began to pull. Rebecca could not fathom out what this bastard was doing, her mind was still all over the place wondering how she might be able to make an escape.