Saving Space (Chapter 1-3)

Prologue
Christening of the Harpy

Standing attention was always harder when there was the distinct possibility that someone around her would be able to pick up that small tell tale sign. Also she had already soaked herself before the ceremony had even started and hadn’t had the chance to change before they were all lined up in the grievously oversized docking bay of the Typhon. The ship building station orbiting around Earth was often compared to its namesake, the last son of Gaia. It had only been built twenty years ago and had only been in commission for five, in that time it had constructed in its hull a starship.

“You all stand here today, as members of the Global Alliance, dedicated to the expansion of space.” The commander of the station, a stout Human with a receding hairline stood before them speaking as though he were the most important being in the universe.

As far as everyone else was concerned he just so happened to be the most important being in the universe at that exact moment. Salene didn’t much care though; her mind was caught in the chaotic tempest. Trying to focus on not fidgeting and giving her predicament away the feline also attempted to tune out the monotonous ramblings of a nearly retired commander. Of course she couldn’t help but also try to figure out just why she was standing in a wet diaper in a line of her superiors while an old man orated the importance of her new mission. Only a week ago she had been a student, happy with sleeping at her desk and slipping by with average grades.

“But once you return to these halls years from now you will be more than just members of our Alliance. After exploring the expanses of the universe, gaining vantage as to just how it works, you will become legends among us.”

As always things were prone to change.

Her ‘accidents’ as her dorm mate Hillary had preferred to call them had only started happening a week after she had been assigned to the crew as a student nurse. Due to a increased need to explore space by the Alliance bigwigs, all sorts of specialty jobs had been somewhat strapped for able bodied people. Medicine was always one of the first hit, and by some sick and twisted turn of fate she had been chosen to serve on a new crew where she would be trained and thus graduate quicker from the academy ten times faster than her peers.

Salene didn’t much care that she was chosen, being away from her overbearing parents was worth the indignity of having to spend decades alone in the expanses of space. However she did have to question why she was chosen in the first place by all accounts she wasn’t the best student when it came to medicine. Neither was she the worst, but the seeming randomness of the academy’s choice raised theory among the students about a deeper conspiracy.

“Do not take this mission lightly my dear crew. For you are the most important asset to the Typhon.”

Turning to an attractive young Vixen on his right the commander took from her a bottle of champagne before walking to the hull of the starship. All eyes were on him as he raised the bottle to the steel carapace, taking a moment himself to look out over the thousands of crewmembers that would out of contact with the station before the day was over. A tense air seemed to fill even the grand docking bay of the Typhon as the world seemed to wait for those expected last words.

“May this day be a blessing to you, crew of the…” With a swift and graceful swing he smashed the bottle on the side of the ship. “Harpy.”

It probably would have been a good idea to clap, however Salene had been focusing so much on not moving that she had forgotten that she should have clapped at that moment. Only after being prodded by a dashing white equine whom she hadn’t yet been introduced too did Salene remember that she should have been clapping. Without hesitation she stiffly raised her paws and started politely applauding for the anointing of the ship, soon to be her floating prison. Stopping when everyone else stopped she didn’t bother to convene into the various small groups to mingle before the ball started.

Whether she was just anti-social or grumpy something about wearing a wet diaper did not appeal to her. In fact she suspected that it wouldn’t appeal to most people who had to stand for hours on end listening to the musings of an old man with a little too much power under his butt. Dodging and darting around aimless crew members she made her way to the service lift to get to the living quarters of the station. Something about the design of the Typhon infuriated her, it wasn’t a simple four ring design like the Academy had been. Then again it was a much bigger military operated station, so the ring design didn’t much fit.

Fortunately it was always easy to remember where the hanger was as it was the anchor of the station, the cornerstone as it were. As well the command deck was at the very top, with fifteen other floors in between to confuse even the most acquainted crew member. Skillfully enough the young feline had written down the floor and direction of her room in her short time at the station.

“Welcome Salene Porter, please indicate floor number.” A soft male voice rang out in the small lift.

“Floor seven.” Salene was never one to carry conversations with computers.

Without a word the Elevator began sliding up the lift, quickly and efficiently making its way to the seventh level which was a floor below the station crew’s living quarters. Graciously enough she had been offered an ambassadors suite which was easy enough to find with the instructions. As well the hallway outside her room was wide and spacious with high arched ceiling and actual paintings and potted plants, finished off with lush blue carpets. It was the closest thing to first class that the military station had ever accomplished, enough to impress Salene who had a very lower middle class background.

“B Rank Nurse Salene Porter.” She announced to the door which opened at her title, allowing her into the spacious room.

Not to her surprise her trunk and suitcase had been moved, her backpack however was still on the foot of her bed as per her request. Dealing with her sudden incontinence she had been given an ample supply of cloth diapers by the nurse at the academy. Of course being medical staff herself she was in the same boat as the nurse when they had diagnosed her sudden ailment as a mystery. Still it didn’t seem right for it all to be happening to her, she hadn’t had a history of wetting ever in her life. For it to happen suddenly like that was both disturbing and somewhat grating.

Luckily with her status as a B Rank nurse all the medical related laundry went through her so she wouldn’t have to worry about other crew members nosing through her new status. Still there was the ordeal of having to actually change herself, something she had only recently been acquainted with. Taking one of the clean garments out of her bag she set it on the side of her bed before slipping off the pair of beige plastic pants before unpinning the diaper easily enough. Putting it in a separate pocket of her bag she took a moment to walk into the small bathroom and prepare a warm washcloth, wiping down her fur before returning to the bed.

Lying down on the bed, she reminded herself of her personal goal not to poke herself more than five times with the safety pins. Drawing the thick cloth garment out she made sure to aim the side with the tail break toward her bottom before pulling it under her. Unceremoniously she threaded it through her legs and pulled it tightly against her crotch before pushing one of the pins through the left side. Without fidgeting she managed to get the pin fastened only poking herself once. However the right side always proved more difficult, and Salene ended up failing her goal with a total of six pokes to her already tender paw.

Cursing to herself as she stood, Salene took the plastic pants and took a moment to thread her furiously twitching tail through it before stepping in. After brushing her skirt down the young feline checked herself in the mirror, brushing her red hair out her green eyes. Thankfully enough her nerves hadn’t made her luxurious black and white fur stand on end, though she could still see some signs that she had been nervous. More importantly she was just happy that her hair hadn’t been mussed up, after spending what seemed like half an hour styling it into an appropriate style. After all she had to attend the christening ball in a little bit and she really didn’t want to offend anyone’s senses with a lack of self consciousness.

Sighing out loud she sauntered back to her bed and sprawled out staring at the ceiling. “Fifteen years before the first return, then back out for another fifteen. I’m wasting my youth for the Alliance.”

Before she could pursuit the thought further however a ring tone interrupted her and she unconsciously grabbed for the PDA that sat on the bedside table. Tapping a button on the display screen allowed a small holographic screen to appear and her parents faces greeted her. Holding back a groan Salene noted that they had left about sixteen messages while she was at the ceremony, understandably since she obviously wasn’t fit to be without her PDA for a couple of hours. Of course her relationship with her parents was what fueled her decision to join the crew of the Harpy in the first place. They always seemed to think that they were responsible for her training in the medical field when she had gotten the two scholarships herself and worked at a dead end job to pay her transport to the academy in the first place.

“Yes dear Parents? What do you require of me before I go to the Christening Ball?” Salene asked with certain disdain lining her voice.

“Hello dear. We wanted to tell you goodbye before you left.” Her mother said in a sing song tone.

“Well that’s surprising; I thought that maybe you were going to try to get me to stay after six million other instances of telling me not to go.”

Of course her mother was the mouth in the family. “Sal its just that we’re worried about you, I mean fifteen years is a long time, something could happen to you. I wish you’d reconsider.”

“Mom.” Salene sighed. “I made my choice, I want to do this. You can’t stop me so you should just give up.”

“But dear…”

Salene cut her off before any more could be said. “But dear nothing Mom. I’m twenty three years old now and this is probably the only chance for me to actually do something worthwhile. Thirty years from now people are going to be talking about the places we discovered, the societies that we made contact with. In thirty years I’ll be someone that will make both you and dad proud.”

Something about saying that left a rather odd taste in her mouth.

“We are proud of you though, you don’t have to prove it.” Her mother responded after looking to her husband for a moment.

Salene’s father had said nothing, he didn’t much care, he was a working stiff and he often spent his free time sleeping. It was more than likely that he had just been woken up for this call to make his daughter feel guilty during the call. Her mother was the one who was making her feel guilty though with the sad eyes and the slightly lowered ears. After all it wasn’t every day that her only child would be heading out of contact for fifteen years.

“I know I don’t have to prove it, but I want to.”

Silence again, so thick that Salene couldn’t help but to match her mother’s expression. Despite all their bickering she still cared for her mother. Each call that was made during that day was making it increasingly harder for the kitten to separate from her parents. On the verge of tears she assured her parents that she would be okay again, and a long conversation ensued.

While a chapter ended for Salene setting up for the beginning of another, a chapter was beginning elsewhere in space. More specifically at the Academy that Salene had left not but a month ago. Leaning back in her leather chair, the old wolf Wendy swirled a glass of water in her hands as she watched the ceremony on the television come to a close. A slight smile played across her muzzle, one reminiscent of the days when her kin snuck into sheep’s pens to feast.

As expected her PDA began to chime and she gracefully pressed the button to answer the incoming call. “Dr. Draven, its been entirely too long.”

“I could say the same to you Dr. Roland. You know why I’m calling of course?” The human on the other end stroked his black beard as he watched the wolf take a drink of her water.

“Of course, she’s all ready primed for your special brand of care. Though, you’re going to have to find a way to prove that she needs you yourself. She’s quite independent, but then again what cat isn’t?”

Draven chuckled and pushed his glasses up the tip of his nose. “Indeed. I’ll be able to find a way; I have my own sources aboard the ship. Besides, fifteen years is enough time to do this twenty times over.”

Wendy turned her hard gaze to the screen, setting the glass down. “You be careful Draven. I don’t want you mussing this up for me, I pulled a lot of strings to get that one aboard that ship.”

“Get over your paranoia Dr. Roland. I never make a mistake.”

“Make sure that stays true Draven. For both our sakes.” Wendy cut the communication, staring at the PDA for a moment.

After a moment she lean back in her chair again and retrieved her empty glass twirling it with her wrist. She was about to get up and get a new glass of water when a freshman human entered the room holding her bleeding hand with an oil rag. Engineers were always getting cut or bruised, though her timing wasn’t the best as Wendy hadn’t had a moment to settle down. Hurriedly she pushed her thoughts back to being the nice old nurse rather than a reigning scientist from a sub-community within the Alliance.

“Ah dear me, you’ve sliced your hand. Come here so I can clean that up sweety.” She said in her most grandmotherly voice.

“Oscillating Carbines.” The young student engineer said as if that explained everything.

Unfortunately it did.

Chapter 1
Wild Blue Yonder

With nothing for her to do during the actual take off of the ship, Salene was confined to her quarters which were unfortunately shared with three other girls. After having stayed in her own room on the Typhon, she was admittedly disappointed by the room she had been assigned. While it wasn’t all that bad reminding her much of an apartment with three bedrooms that surrounded a living room and a walk in bathroom. Though the living room was adorned with all the amenities of a high scale home, it still seemed to be cramped with two other crew members hogging her air. She had been spoiled in her short time and the feline wasn’t willing and able to accept that she was going back to a dorm style of living so soon.

‘At least we get our own shower.’ She thought as she unpacked her trunk into the closet that she had been supplied, keeping the diapers in the trunk which had a voice lock that would keep them secluded from her roommates possible prying.

It wasn’t as though she had a lot to bring aboard the ship, when she was on duty she had to where the blue and black uniform that all the medical staff wore. Due to the fact that she was medical staff, the most understaffed aspect of the crew, there was little chance that she would have much in the way of time off. It wasn’t the lack of time off that annoyed her the most rather than the fact that the female uniform was a very tight ensemble, form fitting and breathable, which wouldn’t have been too bad without the bulge of a diaper to consider. Luckily enough she was able to acquire one a size larger.

Hanging up her last bit of casual clothing and pressing the button to close the closet door, Salene turned and sighed leaning against the wall. After unpacking she had promised to meet her roommates. Pushing herself off the wall she stretched before sauntering back into the living room where both her assigned roommates were watching the television sprawled out on the couch. Apparently they had found the room earlier and been able to unpack, which was believable since Salene had had a hard time finding her room in the first place.

“Done Salene?” Lara looked back from her position on the couch, long ears flopping over the arm.

“As done as I’m going to get.” Salene responded.

Smiling the white rabbit drew up her knees making space on the couch between her and the human Christie, who looked back at the cat blankly as if coming out of a trance. It wasn’t all that surprising, most engineers she knew were slightly more dedicated to whatever they did than anyone else she knew. The small device that she had in her hands was a testament to the idea that engineers were always working on something. Lara on the other hand seemed more laid back, already wearing a nightgown and enjoying a glass of wine she had introduced herself as a navigation expert.

Pouring herself her own glass of wine before sitting down Salene glanced at the TV which was still playing the countdown to the Harpy launch. “What, nothing better to do with their time than to watch a ship go through pre-checking procedures and finally launch?”

“Someone sounds jealous.” Lara teased.

“Increasingly. I wish I were on it.” Salene said in a deadpan tone taking a sip of the sweet wine.

“It must be an experience.” Lara agreed with a certain sarcasm. “So, Salene tell me about your self.”

“About myself? What do you want to know?” Salene canted her head to the side curiously ears perking as she tried to think of what to say.

“Well, I would assume anything about your life that you think would be interesting. Silly cat.”

Christie couldn’t help but to giggle at that, meaning she was actually listening while she worked on whatever probably over ambitious project was in her hands. A bit surprised by having both her roommates, Salene remained silent for a moment fumbling for anything that might interest them. Somehow she just didn’t see herself as very interesting, only beautiful, graceful, and a bit of a genius when it came to medicine. It wasn’t that she wasn’t interesting at all, rather that she much preferred others telling her how interesting she was rather than her having to explain her life story.

“Alright, I’m originally from a lower middle class family in New York. We come from a long line of Felines, dating back to the original conception of the race back in the Genome Age.” Salene was always proud of the fact that her family had pretty much been true to their roots. Even if her immediate family was a waste of space, barely scraping by with office jobs.

Not that there was much to be proud of, the Genome Age had only come about four generations ago, a celebration of humans having mastery over their own bodies. For the most part, the age had had many very unique advances in medicine, but more notably was the introduction of genetic assimilation to various animals. It was primarily used as a purely cosmetic operation, though most people of the time didn’t agree with the process at all. However as it started to gain popularity, advantages began to pop up, better reflexes, sharper senses and the like. Unfortunately with the advantages came new diseases that needed to be cured, sending the supposed age in which Humans were able to master their own body into a panic as they had to come up with medical solutions for new bodies.

“Anyway, I grew up in a pretty normal way, I was always one of the smartest kids in school and the teachers usually exulted me with compliments.” Salene continued purring at the memory of being the pet to various teachers. “With good grades and hard work I was able to intern as a nurse to various hospitals in the world over my summers, and during high school I received three scholarships and paid my own way to the Global Alliance Military Acadamy to become a doctor.”

“Wow.” Lara said. “Sounds like a lot of work, you must have been a busybody.”

“Yes I was.” Salene lied, remembering a lot of catnaps during classes at college. “Anyway, I haven’t really graduated yet, I was chosen for this job as part of a internship project in which I’ll graduate in about a year aboard this ship.”

“Oh you were robbed out of the crib too?” Christie spoke up.

“Huh? You’re an intern too?!” Salene seemed surprised only because engineers were one of the most prevalent positions in the GA.

Christie blushed and nodded. “Yea. I’m sixteen.”

Nearly coughing up her wine, Salene looked over the girl again. She didn’t look sixteen with her beautiful dark skin and luxurious body. In fact she didn’t look much like any engineer she had ever met beyond the magnifying glasses that were perched on the end of her nose and the grease stains on her dark green uniform.

“Oh you’re that highschooler that everyone was talking about. Shouldn’t you be prepping the ship for take off?” Lara leaned to look over Salene at the human who had suddenly become part of the conversation.

“Maintenance.” She said as though it explained everything.

Unfortunately, it did. Students who had only experience on their side were often put on the lowest jobs so that they could supposedly learn from their superiors. In Salene’s own unique case that was most certainly true, but she wasn’t sure about Christie. It seemed as if she was more a prodigy than anything else and the title of maintenance was only there because she was so young.

Before she could speak however, Salene was cut off by the communication team coming on over the intercom. “Attention crew of the Harpy, we are beginning launch procedure. Please remain in your assigned area until otherwise noted.”

“Already?” Salene turned her gaze to the television where the countdown timer had reached its last minutes and the cameras had all focused on the large hanger that she had been standing in mere hours before.

“If you are just tuning in, we are here today to watch the launch of the newest Exploration Craft, the Harpy.” The faceless announcer began. “Once a long time ago, mankind used to launch their spacecrafts from the surface of the Earth. Blindly reaching for the stars with archaic rockets, and limited understanding of how space worked. As we approach the final countdown of the minutes to seconds, we are reminded of those days and those heroes. How they have greatly influenced today’s launch.”

From somewhere in the ship a monotonous hum began to sound causing the lights in the room to brighten momentarily before both faded. On the screen seconds after the engines had started on the ship they flared up on the screen, a whit glow casting itself on the steel walls of the hanger. Mechanical arms and locks let go of various points of the large ship as it started to hover upward off the floor and the airlock began to open to the void of space. Salene had to admit even aboard the ship the images were awe inspiring, enough that her tail had stopped swishing and her fur bristled in anticipation.

“Remember these men and women of today, for they will inspire future generations to reach further and further as we are reaching now past that wild blue yonder.”

As his voice faded the ship began to slide forward, no shaking, no quivering as it exited the wide mouth of the airlock. Afraid to even blink Salene watched the entire ordeal feeling a slight sinking in the pit of her stomach as the large craft began to disappear from the view of the cameras. Everything that she was going to miss came crashing down as the airlock closed behind the ship, and she couldn’t help but tear up a little as she continued to stare at the screen which was appropriately still focused on the empty hanger. It was almost as if they were paying homage to the dead rather than celebrating a leap forward in the exploration of space.

Salene probably would have stared had the screen not flicked off, causing the cat to look around frantically for the cause of the power outage. Lara put the remote down and brushed her blonde hair out of her eyes before taking a final sip of her wine. Not sure whether to thank or strangle the rabbit, Salene silently finished her own glass of wine before standing up. The sudden weight of her sodden diaper caused her to grimace a little as she stretched.

“Well girls, its late. I’m going to bed, I don’t want either of you to stay up too late.” Lara picked up the glasses and set them on a table beside the door.

“Um, you’re giving me orders?” Salene raised a brow.

Lara smirked. “Well I am the oldest here, so I assume that would make me the one in charge of this little family. Call it maternal instincts.”

Salene snorted, noting that Christie had gone back to her device. “Well she may be a child, but I’m a perfectly capable adult thank you.”

“Suit yourself Salene, I’m just trying to look out for you.”

Before the cat could answer however, Lara had turned sauntered off to her room, tail lifting up the back of her night gown to show off her lingerie. Scowling at that Salene crossed her arms and looked back to the idle television. At first she thought the scowl was from Lara’s lack of conservatism in the style of undergarments, but then she began to question her own feelings. Jealousy was also a viable option considering only recently had she been forced to wear something more absorbent than a thong. Before that, Salene had been one to let her tail lift up to show off a little more than she should.

“Brilliant…” Salene muttered as she padded off to her own room.

Only when silence started to pervade the living room did Christie look up, startled by the lack of background noise.

“Hey…” She whined pushing the magnifying glasses up the bridge of her nose. “How am I supposed to work without noise?”

Chapter 2
Intern Blues

“Coffee… They want freaking coffee!” Salene would have screamed louder had the mess hall not been so grand that her voice would have echoed off the high empty ceiling. “I could be in there applying bandages, or learning the trade. But no, I’ve got to get coffee for all the real doctors.”

Grumbling as she stood to the side of the kitchen waiting for the cooks to brew up a large batch of coffee, Salene couldn’t help but look around the mess hall. It was actually a lot nicer than she had first imagined, with a large bar as well as a wide array of tables and plants complimented a long window running along one side that showed their plunge into the stars. In fact, most of the ship offered enough that it seemed homely instead of a place where they were conducting business. Salene suspected though that the ergonomic style of the ship was more in place to keep them all from going crazy from cabin fever.

Tail twisting with frustration she was drawn back to the burning hatred of her mentors as the smell of coffee hit her muzzle. Grumbling once again she turned to the cook who had coffee cups on a tray along with a large cup of sugar and another filled with cream. The older woman smiled despite being interrupted while she was taking stock, placing the tray down for the young feline to grab. They had traded some words earlier, Salene learning that she only had another person working for her who hadn’t showed up yet. Most of the food preparation was handled by automated machines, as well the kitchen would usually be open for anyone to cook. Salene hadn’t been allowed in because the head cook was taking stock of the supplies.

“Thank you.” Salene said flatly.

“You’re welcome dear.”

Salene didn’t acknowledge her niceties, though it probably would have served her better to do so. Taking the tray she made her way back down the halls of the ship, sighing as she focused on keeping the trays balanced. As sick and twisted as it sounded, Salene was glad that her diaper was dry. Having to focus on keeping hot coffee balanced was enough of a distraction without the prospect of a urine soaked diaper hanging over her head. The prospect of her being glad that it was dry though was a bit disturbing, and thus distracting.

Grumbling again, the feline suspected she could never be happy as the door to the sick bay slid open with a small hiss. “Coffee!”

“Finally.” Dr. Draven said, stroking his jet black beard and going to take the tray from Salene. “It took you long enough.”

“Yea well, ten coffees take time to brew…” Salene responded moving back to what she had been doing before she had been tasked with the rites of gathering coffee.

“Before you get back to stocking the bandages, there’s a little something I’d like to talk to you about privately.” Dr. Draven nodded to an operating room.

Harpy wasn’t exactly a sprawling metropolis, but there was quite a bit of size to the ship. While the sick ward was in no way a full scale hospital, it did have its fair share of amenities, four operating bays as well as a general area for people to lay down with around twenty beds. Impressively enough it also came equipped with a large storage facility, as well as an observation room and a research area where new advances in medicine could be produced. Salene wouldn’t be involved much in the latter areas, but she knew the other doctor’s mission statement was to use anything that the exploration teams may have found to leap forward in the perfection of life.

Setting her pace behind Draven, they made their way into one of the operation rooms, the lights filtering on as the door closed behind them. Somehow the air seemed crisper in the room, causing Salene’s fur to bristle. As much as she liked being a doctor, being in a cold hospital room still gave her chills. She really couldn’t handle the sterility of it, everything was frighteningly clean.

Turning back to look at the feline, Draven motioned to the bed. “Please have a seat Miss. Porter.”

She’d have thought she was getting fired from a minimum wage job the way he was acting. Moving to the bed she sat down, making sure the bulge of the diaper didn’t show through the pants of her uniform. An awkward silence passed as she waited for Dr. Draven to say something, feeling her tail twitch in anticipation. Both the environment and the way he presented himself were putting the feline on edge. Salene couldn’t quite pin it, he looked sharp in his uniform, white jacket unbuttoned over it, hair and beard trimmed. It was most likely the glasses, the way the light reflected off them gave a faint glow hiding his eyes from view. As well it was rare to see glasses at all, especially on a human, surgery had come far enough that it was an in and out procedure, only engineers really needed magnifying glasses to see what they were doing.

“Dr. Draven?” Salene said finally.

Seeming to come out of a daze, he raised his gaze to look at her. “Oh yes, I was going over your file and I noticed a bit of an inconsistency.”

“Inconsistency?” Salene squirmed a bit on the edge of the bed.

Crossing his arms Draven stroked his beard once. “In your file there was no mention of any special needs, however I noticed from your general movement as well as a subtle sound that you are seemingly incontinent.”

“Wait... Why are you telling me this? It shouldn’t matter.” Salene lowered her ears as she grumbled. She really didn’t want to deal with this from anybody; it was still a fresh scar.

“Well normally I wouldn’t mind, but seeing as you’re going through the trouble of hiding it, I’m willing to bet that it’s a newer case.”

Twitching only slightly, Salene had thought she was doing a rather thorough job of hiding it. “Well I’m certainly not going to parade around in a shirt and diapers.”

Draven chuckled. “Still I’d like to run some… Tests. With your consent of course, perhaps I could get to the bottom of your condition.”

It was obvious he was trying to present the problem in such a way that she wouldn’t get upset. Salene really didn’t mind the questioning, it was the sudden bluntness of it that was making her a bit nervous. Even through all his professional bedside manner, something about Draven just set her on edge. As the idea of being studied was presented her fur bristled awkwardly as she imagined all the dark and twisted things that he could do to her. Still logic won out over pure superstition and she knew that what he had said held merit in her situation. As well the goal of getting out of diapers for good and back into something more becoming of a specimen like herself, seemed to fuel her desire.

“Alright Doctor, I’ll do the tests.” Salene said finally.

“Very good, please take off your pants; I’d like to do an initial exam.” Draven strolled to the computer in the corner of the room and began typing data.

Having been a nurse for a while, Salene knew the indignity of being undressed in front of someone else. What most patients did not fathom however, was that the doctors and nurses often felt awkward about any state of undress themselves. It wasn’t hard for her to comply, but there was still that sickly edge of embarrassment, the diapers just adding to the blatant truth that she was now subservient to Draven. Of course it would have been much simpler for her if Draven wasn’t completely uncaring about the situation.

“There.” Salene said almost shortly.

Without provocation, Draven crossed the room and pulled the waistband of the plastic pants open, sticking his other hand in and feeling the front of the diaper. Gasping slightly Salene pulled away slightly before remembering that he was a doctor, though her fur still stood on end. For a long moment he kept it there before guiding Salene to lie down on the bed, a faint smile on his face as he went back to the computer. It had been the first smile he had cracked, it should have settled her nerves to know that he was somewhat human, but she was even more anxious than before.

“Dry for now. I suppose I’d have to give you some water or something.” He said mostly to himself before turning with a portable MRI. “Now I’m just going to map your bladder and from there I’ll make my initial studies.”

“Couldn’t you have done that with my pants on.” Salene asked.

Draven chuckled. “Sorry standard procedure.”

“Of course.” She couldn’t help but fume as he passed the wand over her, images starting to flash on the computer.

“Alright you can get back to work now; I’ll get back to you on these results in a couple of days.”

Salene didn’t say anything as she pulled her uniform back together and left the room without hesitation. Draven knew however that she had been a bit disturbed by his actions, a pleasure he had always took with all his patients. Alone and uninterrupted Draven shuddered before working again on his research a wave of pleasure passing through him like a deep breath as he remembered the embarrassment and awkwardness he had caused. Needless to say he was going to have fun with the current experiment, which had always been frowned upon by his superiors though none could deny the fruition of his studies. Ever since the Genome age, new diseases had been surfacing for human and anthros’ alike. Before that humans had very nearly perfected their own bodies, very nearly become immortal.

“Blasted animals, turned us all into veterinarians.” Draven sighed as he continued to type.

After a long day of taking orders from her superiors and with the indignity of Draven’s ‘studies’ on her mind, Salene was ready to sleep long and hard. As unimpressive as the beige halls of the ship were, they were a welcomed change to the sterile environment in which she was going to spend the next fifteen years. Sagging only slightly as she gracefully made her way back to her room, the feline kept in mind that she still had to keep her beauty and grace intact even after a long day of work. It was certainly hard being on all the time, but it was the price she had to pay for beauty.

“Salene!” Lara’s voice called from behind her.

Turning, Salene saw the rabbit coming out of another hallway waving at her. “Oh hey Lara, shouldn’t you be navigating the stars or something?”

“Nah, I’m more here for unidentified planets. We’ve still got two days before they’ll actually need me.”

Lowering her ears, Salene grumbled. “Don’t remind me, out of signal range, having to rely on old dated movies and shows for entertainment.”

“It won’t be so bad. So where you going?” Lara asked casually.

“Back to the room.” Salene sighed.

Crossing her arms under her breast, Lara chuckled slightly. “Silly cat, our room is the other direction.”

“Wait no its no- Oh shit it is.”

Chuckling more the white rabbit covered the distance between them and placed her paw on the feline’s shoulder. “Poor dear, doomed to be lost on this ship forever and ever.”

“Its not my fault they make these damn things so big!” Salene crossed her arms. “They should print maps or something.”

“Oh its not that hard to find things.” Lara smirked. “Tell you what silly cat, I’ll help you out, lets have a night out on the town right now, just you and me. I’ll show you around and we’ll go shopping and have dinner.”

“You mean the Civilian sector?” Salene canted her head.

“The one and only!”

“Oh nice. But let me get changed first, I don’t really feel like getting out there in this uniform.” Salene lied, her wet diaper starting to irritate her.

“Sounds like an idea.” Lara took Salene’s paw and started to lead her back to the apartment.

“Hey what are you doing!?”

“You’ll just get lost follow me!”

Chapter 3
A Date?!

Pushing back her hair over the leather jacket she had chosen, Salene walked out of her room satisfied with her choice in clothing. It had been quite a while since she had been able to dress in seductive clothing, but at least she still had a flare for fashion. Still she couldn’t help but to be jealous of Lara, who was very attractively dressed in a dark blue halter top with a black crochet jacket placed over it, and a black miniskirt balanced off by thigh high boots. At the very least, Salene had her flowing red mane over Lara’s brown short cut. It wasn’t enough for the prideful to be happy with the situation though.

“You look good.” Lara smiled broadly.

Salene brushed back her bangs smiling back. “Of course.”

Giggling at the comment, Lara went straight for the door not even bothering to watch it slide open at her approach. Motioning the cat through the threshold both exited into the hall and made their short trek to the elevators. Salene was still lost of course, not one to ever really gain any direction in any mass of metal. With an open sky she was able to at least find her bearings, but ever since she had landed at the academy she had always been in a daze. Secretly she was glad that the Lara had the sense of direction that she conveniently lacked, however she wouldn’t admit it.

“Just imagine…” Lara piped in as the elevator descended. “We’re going to be running our own city, making our own food, our own products, and all the new things we’ll come back with. It’s so exciting.”

Salene looked through the glass of the circular elevator silently as the metal casing around it gave way to a glass tube showing the civilian sector. It was almost like a city with buildings and streets sprawling out to the very edges of the ship. Bright lights shown like stars, signs drawing crew members to certain stores, a grand park with large trees in the center of it all with a large luminous fountain as the center piece.

“Harpy City.” Salene couldn’t help but smirk. “Sounds more dangerous than it looks.”

“Never met a Harpy I liked until I set foot on this ship.” Lara pressed against the glass next to Salene. “Never really met a Harpy to be honest.”

“I’ve met a few, though I doubt they would actually call themselves harpies.”

Sliding gently to a stop, the elevator doors slid open and they were allowed to spill out into the thralls of Harpy city. Almost instantly the familiar smells of New York washed over her, and in that instant she bristled her fur and stretched happily. Suddenly the idea of being trapped in a prison for years on end melted away to the idea that she might actually enjoy her time on the Harpy. Grudgingly she was starting to see Lara’s recent point about liking the Harpy, even going so far as being able to call it home.

“Oh! Pizza!” Lara pointed to a nearby Brick Pizza Restaurant.

“Ech… There’s no Pizza as good as New York Pizza.”

“Chicago Pizza.”

“What?! No way!” Salene crossed her arms.

“Yes way. Chicago Pizza is awesome.” Lara stuck out her tongue.

Salene followed suit. “I can’t really trust a pizza with Barbeque Sauce on it.”

“Suit yourself cat. I’m not hungry yet anyway.” Lara broke another smile and sauntered off down the street. “Remember that store, if you get lost know that our elevator is near that shop.”

“I know!” Salene gave a defiant twitch of her tail. “I’m not a kid, I can find my way home.”

Trailing off after Lara, Salene couldn’t believe she was so on edge about being lost on the big ship. After all she had already accepted it as a reality, and there was really nothing she could do to help it except accept the help of a friend. Being the first day that every crew member was respectively separated from their family, there were many walking about the civilian sector in hopes to blow off some of the anxiety they felt. With the hustle and bustle of other crew members socializing in the bright city lights came a certain familiarity, like somehow without realizing everyone aboard the ship had become a community. After all they were all going to the same place, in the same shuttle, so why not be social and outgoing to each other.

Shopping proceeded more as a stretch of the imagination than of the wallet for Salene. Of course coming straight from the academy meant that she had to wait patiently for her first paycheck before she would be able to actually do some serious shopping. Passing by various windows and looking in, Salene noted that all the latest fashions, foods, and sundries were available for purchase. As well, she smiled at the fact that the owners of the stores were already working on new products for the crew to enjoy.

“Oh wow! This would be good for you.” Lara pointed at something in the window of a jewelry store.

“Hmmm?” Moving in beside her, Salene tried to find what she was looking at. “What? What is it?”

“That hair band, the one with the jade.” Lara answered.

Looking out over the display, Salene spotted the hair band that Lara was pointing at, a beautiful chromed silver band had a jade ring around it sitting on a red velvet pillow. Etched into the jade was an intricate pattern that reminded her of waves on the beach, though they weren’t noticeable unless one looked closely enough. Salene couldn’t help but to swish her tail at the thought of having it, the way it sparkled causing her to purr. However one look at the price tag caused the cat’s ears to lower, depressed. She wouldn’t be able to afford such a thing for a long time, at least not if she ever wanted to go shopping for clothes.

“That’s steep.”

“Aw, poor kitten. Come on lets go eat!” Lara said perking up after showing a brief hint of sympathy for her feline comrade.

Floored by the sudden turn in emotion, it took a moment for Salene to shake off Lara’s words, before following her to a small bistro on the corner of the central park. Though it wasn’t a conventional tactic, Lara had gotten Salene’s mind off the price of the jewelry. As they sat to eat Salene started to get into the conversation they were having which was unfortunately about her tendency to get lost on ships and space stations. As all conversations do however, theirs meandered to many different topics and Salene was able to completely forget about the hair band.

After filling up on pasta and soup, the two decided to walk it off in the nearby park, taking their time to look at all the plants that had been planted. It was really an amazing feat, being able to keep the soil and the plants healthy in the middle of a metropolis of steel and wires. The plants ranged from the normal oak and maple trees that she had grown up around, to the exotic palm trees of California. It seemed as though whoever had come up with the design of the park was able to puzzle out how all the plants would react, as well as make micro cultures for the plants to grow healthily.

“Fountain!” Lara ran off toward it.

Salene couldn’t help but roll her eyes as she followed. “And she calls me the kid.”

Stepping up onto the ledge to overlook the small fountain, Salene was a little depressed to not see the endless droves of ancient coins at the bottom. Ever since switching over to a credit system to replace paper currency, no one had much reason to carry around the outdated coinage anymore. Lara however didn’t seem to mind, looking over the crystal clear water with a bright smile, nose wriggling happily. She turned to Salene and grabbed her hands, smiling brightly as she danced back and forth for a second.

“Look Salene! The fountain is pretty.”

“Yea its kind of pretty.” Salene said looking out over the crystal water.

They stood there for a moment letting the world passed them by as they each watched the fountain silently; Salene barely noticed that Lara was still holding her paw. Either that or she had noticed and she didn’t much care, after all Salene was still college age, she had been known to experiment before. Still she couldn’t help but to feel a little off guard around Lara, as though the rabbit somehow knew how to push all her buttons. In truth she had unwittingly pressed the diaper button more than once, even through her silent actions of wearing skimpy clothing that Salene had been known to wear until recently. As infuriating as it was to be outclassed, Salene had to admit there was a certain attraction to the competition even though she had been crippled by her sudden illness.

“Hey Salene, we’re friends right?” Lara asked suddenly.

Brought out of her thoughts, the feline looked up to the smiling rabbit. “Huh? Yea, we’re friends; it’d be an interesting trip if we hated each other.”

Lara giggled. “That’s good. I really like you, you’re witty and smart, and… Pretty.”

“Pretty?”

“Beautiful.” Lara looked out to the fountain again.

“Well I don’t like to brag, but I have been told I’m very sexy.” Salene brushed her hair back with a smirk.

“Sexy huh?” Lara smirked as well. “Who said that?”

“Oh boys mostly… A few girls.” Salene said matter of factly.

“You don’t look very sexy to me.” Lara stated in turn.

“I don’t?! You just said I was beautiful.” Salene moved in front of Lara flicking her tail back and forth in slight agitation.

“Yea, but you don’t look sexy.”

“Then what do I look like?”

A moment passed and before Salene was able to react, Lara had charged her pushing the cat over the lip of the fountain into the crystalline water. There was practically no one around so it didn’t draw much attention, but it was still a devastating move. Breaking the water, Salene sputtered freezing in the cold air that seemed to stick against her fur and skin. Lara was giggling and the feline couldn’t help but fume. The giggling stopped and Lara quirked her head to the side as if scrutinizing something, Salene following her gaze and realizing that she probably shouldn’t have worn a skirt. Landing in the water caused it to rid up slightly showing the very thick diaper covered by the beige plastic pants, fumbling to pull down the skirt Salene stood quickly and stepped out of the fountain, embarrassed and enraged.

“Why’d you do that?!”

“I was only playing, I’m sorry.” Lara said meekly before perking up again. “Come on lets go home, I’ll make it up to you.”

“Yes… Going home would be a very good idea.” Salene fumed.