Page 1 of Becoming Brandy

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Brandy sippedher coffee in disappointment. This was the third cup she’d ordered, and it still tasted as bland as shoe leather. After dumping it in the trash, she walked over to the replicator embedded in the wall. She pressed her hand to the space next to the fake coffee machine, willing her order with her mind as she spoke it.

“Mocha latte with skimmed milk. And get it right this time. Sheesh.”

Her voice echoed in the empty space. The set of Central Perk from her favorite show Friends used to be one of her happy places. She remembered when she’d created it over a year ago. Brandy could not get enough of how lifelike everything was, even down to the smell of brewed coffee in the air. The plush couches were just like those onscreen. The street featured in the show was visible from the window in front of her. Glowing neon signs read Espresso and Cappuccino in the same enticing scrawl. She would sit and sip coffee from big mugs, picturing Rachel and Ross chatting it up while Phoebe played Smelly Cat.

Except there was no Rachel and Ross. No Phoebe or Joey. There were no friends to speak of. Brandy was alone.

Sure, she could conjure up people to wander around the scene, but they couldn’t talk to her and she couldn’t touch them. They were more like moving paintings, not really satisfying as companions. Lately, she’d been adding them into the simulator just to try to keep the loneliness at bay.

It wasn’t helping.

There were other humans on the ship. Women consorts for the male aliens. And Harper had just joined them, but Brandy didn’t know her well. She was off cavorting with Rahan, Kahn, and Marin. Plus, Brandy had felt a little animosity from the girl since Rahan had once been her lover.

Today, she was alone, yelling at the wall. Now all she needed was about forty-five cats and a collection of old newspapers and milk cartons stacked around her slowly decaying body.

Brandy didn’t even wait for her fourth cup of coffee to brew. She ended the simulation, the room fading back to blank white. As she watched everything around her disintegrate, she had the strong impression that her life was blending into the emptiness as well.

God, she needed a hobby.

Things had been a lot better for her on the ship when Charis had arrived. Charis was her new best friend, and they’d spent lots of time together doing all the things BFFs do. Sure, she’d had to share Charis with Han, but that was okay. Han was very busy preparing to rule the universe, so that gave them lots of time to watch old movies or try out dishes from the food simulator.

But Charis was pregnant and not feeling well. When she’d been ordered to go on bedrest, their afternoons sipping coffee or taking turns making the simulator create fun scenery for them to explore ended. Brandy had tried hanging out in Charis’s bedroom, but the alien doctors were always eying her suspiciously. The offspring Charis carried would solidify Han’s role as king, and many aliens had their panties in a bunch about it. Brandy had been shooed away on several occasions.

Everyone was busy being wooed or wooing, carrying babies or ruling the universe.

No one was wooing Brandy. She was not able to produce an heir, something about her genetic makeup. Bram had explained there was nothing to be done about it and walked off. He was not known for sugarcoating anything, but that was fine. Brandy was not one for motherhood anyway. Her own had been a bit of a beautiful disaster.

But what to do? She couldn’t even get drunk. The simulator didn’t produce alcohol.

Brandy wandered down the bright white hallways. She’d grown so sick of white on white. Everything was so plain. So sterile. The only place where anything exciting happened was on the bridge, so she took a detour there. It was frowned upon for her to hang out there, but when she walked into the large room, it seemed calm.

The bridge was about eight-hundred square feet, wide open and glowing white. At the moment, there was no furniture, but she knew they could change it by communicating with the organisms that made up the ships exterior. Brandy had long ago stopped trying to understand how the whole thing worked; she just knew it did whatever it was willed to.

Non-transformed Cartharians aliens were at work on their different control panels, sliding shapes around their smooth white walls in patterns that made no sense to her. She watched their long, clawed fingers move deftly, their red eyes darting around. She was no longer scared of their monstrous appearances. They were giant and imposing, their red eyes cruel. But their fangs and claws never strayed in her direction. The scaly skin and mane of hair didn’t seem odd anymore. The creatures didn’t bother her, nor even glance her way. Sure, they were attracted to her, but had been told under no circumstances were they allowed to touch her.

Although she was getting so bored even that prospect started to sound interesting.

But those claws…

She dismissed the idea. Instead, she wandered to the enormous front screen that displayed outer space. Star were scattered like glitter across of sea of black. Earth, her home, was the small blue ball in the left-hand corner. The vastness of the universe made her feel small and insignificant. She was so far from home.

Not that anyone there missed her, either. She’d been a high-class escort—prostitute if she wanted to get technical. Her pimp didn’t beat her, but he did encourage her to use substances to deal with her emotions. She’d been drug-addicted when Rahan found her and brought her on board. And what a disappointment when they found out she couldn’t bear children.

So she’d thrown herself into helping the girls they brought on board. There weren’t many. And a lot of them were unsuitable, so they were sent home. The few girls she’d grown attached to had been sent back to Earth.

Now, in the control room, Brandy put her hand on the screen, reaching out toward the stars.

“Hoping to take up a career as a navigator? Or maybe a science officer is more your style?”

When she turned, Bram was standing in the doorway, hands clasped behind his back. His expression was the same every time she caught a glimpse of him—a general disdain for most things mingled with an inner sarcasm he barely tried to cover up. But she knew he liked her; he just didn’t show it.

Bram was as tall and handsome as the other humanoid males. It helped they could basically pick their appearances when they shifted. Bram’s was sculpted down to a T. Most aliens didn’t bother, but Bram was a man all about attention to detail. If he’d been born on Earth, he would have been pegged as gay. Up here, however, things were a bit more complicated.

She walked over to Bram, offering him a welcoming smile. “What’s going on today, Bramy? Marriages to arrange. Women to abduct?”

He glowered. “You know I am not allowed to procure human females, not since the last escapade. Though, if you ask me, he might be a little bit more grateful since I was the one who secured him his mate.” Bram rolled his eyes.

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