Cora's Mission

Cora lay back on her beach chair, halfway asleep. She stretched her arms above her head, and ran a hand over her trim belly. “It's almost getting to the point where it's strange when my belly's small,” Cora thought to herself, “Never thought I'd get used to carrying around a belly that big.” But she didn't have to think about it for a while, she was on leave, her bio-electrical collector was about five hundred million miles away, and the only time her belly would get big was when she ate too much at the buffet. Not that she didn't miss it a little, it was strange at first, when her belly started swelling, filling with warm energy, but after a little while, it started to feel nice, comforting in a way, like a warm bath. But she didn't need the warmth now, the sun was high in the sky, and it was warming her all over. It was almost getting too warm, and Cora decided it was about time to head inside, have a cool swim in the pool, and relax. Cora started to sit up, but as she did, she froze in shock. She looked down, and could see her belly swelling slowly. Cora was too shocked to move, and could only stare at her belly in shock. It was impossible, she thought to herself. In her head she came up with almost two hundred explanations why this couldn't be happening, but all that logic couldn't change the simple fact that it was. She pushed down on her belly, but it didn't do anything, in fact, it seemed to be getting faster. Cora jumped to her feet, but her size, combined with the fact that her swelling belly changed her center of gravity, she fell over, landing on her belly with a grunt. “Owww...” she said to herself, and slowly got to her feet. Her belly was the size of a beach ball already, and swelling faster. It was beginning to get difficult to walk, as her belly was getting very heavy. She could feel the warm tingeing inside her belly that she recognized from all the times before, when she would store energy, but how it was getting in was impossible to tell. Her belly was so large, she couldn't see anything in front of her, and didn't see the hole. She tripped forward, and for the second time, landed on her belly, which gave out a low bong. “Damn it again!” Cora yelled, as she tried to get to her feet. Her eyes widened as she reached down, and could only feel sand with the tips of her fingers, and that was rapidly pulling away. She tried to push with her feet, but she only felt air, as she was lifted up by her belly, growing faster and faster.

“Someone help me!” Cora cried out, as she swelled, but as she looked around, there was no one else on the empty beach, just her, and her belly. Cora groaned, and squeezed the sides of her belly as she was lifted up faster and faster. She was getting larger than she ever had before, almost ten feet high, and going fast. “God...how much larger?” Cora said to herself, but she suddenly felt a twinge of fear run though her, as she felt her skin beginning to get tight. She had never felt it before, and when she squeezed her belly, it was much tauter than before, and getting tighter. Cora heard a slight creaking noise come from her belly, and she saw a angry red stretch mark appear, running down the side, then another, then more. Cora felt her belly get tighter and tighter, she couldn't even push down the sides anymore. Cora let out a cry of pain, and fear, when she felt her belly stop swelling, and creaking noises filled her ears. There was a flash of pain, and everything went black.

Cora let out a cry, and sat upright in her bed, breathing hard. She was confused for a moment, but then sighed, and lay back down, her heart still beating like a drum in her ears. “Just a dream,” she said to herself. “Relax, it's just a stupid dream.” She could still feel her belly bursting in the dream, and she absentmindedly rubbed her hand over it, almost to assure herself that it was still there. This was the third dream like that that she had had in a week. The first one, she could barely remember, all she could recall was a hose, and a pool. The second was clearer, she was at a resteraunt, and she just started eating, the plates kept coming, and she kept eating, stuffing herself till she woke up in a cold sweat. She knew why she was having these dreams, it was that damn assignment. Cora looked over at her clock, and groaned. It was only 5 hours before she'd have to start getting prepared. She knew why she was so nervous, even though she had been a human battery for almost 2 years. Every time the ship needed power transferred, they used her. But she'd never gotten as big as she was going to get. The largest she'd ever gotten was almost four feet around, and that was because a joker had turned her bio-electrical collector to high. She was so big she couldn't even reach the off switch, let alone move. There was a guy who was also working in the power room who came running when he heard her yells, and turned it off and got her down. Cora breathed a sigh of relief, and a quick thank you to the guy who had saved her, then proceeded to run down the corridor and beat the hell out of the joker who fiddled with her collector.

Cora smiled as she thought about that, it was a bit scary, but kicking that guy's ass was very satisfying. Her mind drifted back to the guy who had saved her. She recognized him, she knew he worked in the power room, she could see him clearly, he was always there when she was called down to transfer power, but she didn't know his name. She'd have to remember to ask him when she went down there for the morning transfers. He was cute, if she remembered, and seemed nice enough. He was the only one who came to help her when she started growing out of control. She rolled out of bed, and quickly pulled on her clothes. The didn't wear much, as she needed lots of room to grow, and it was really hot in the power room. Her uniform was basically tight shorts, large non-conductive boots and gloves, and a tight top that looked like a sports bra. She picked up her collector, and walked of of her room. The ship was a massive one, and just walking to the power room took a good five minutes. She got to the room, and the familiar wave of heat hit her. The room was where all the power from the solar panels was sent, then distributed to various parts of that half of the ship. It worked well, and Cora wasn't needed if you wanted to run the ship without shields, weapons, and travel faster than 50,000 miles per hour, moseying along in space terms. But if you wanted the ship to work, Cora was needed. The transfer of power was too inefficient for the large amounts that were needed, so Cora brought the power where it was needed. People didn't really believe it worked, but there was almost a 78% efficiency improvement when Cora was on the job. Cora walked down the corridor, and pulled out the plug from her collector. It was rigged to plug right into her bellybutton, and then, she just had to wait while she inflated with the power. She plugged it in, and turned on the collector. It was rigged to pull it straight from the power cables, so she could walk around while she was filling. She had just turned it on, when she saw the guy that had helped her out that one time. She walked over, the warm feeing starting to spread though her belly.

“Hi.” Cora said, and the guy spun around in surprise.

“Oh! Um..Hi Cora, how're you doing today?”

“I'm doing good, just you know...” Cora patted her swelling belly. “Filling up.”

“Um..yah, heh, well, you're doing a good job.”

“Thanks, I guess. I'm worried about today though...”

The guy nodded, “I heard, apparently they need to siphon a huge amount of power for the ship, ever since that attack, we've lost almost a third of our solar panels, and another third are only operating at half power.”

“Yep, There's a old generator on that moon we've been orbiting, They're gonna send me down, fill me up with as much power as I can hold, and hopefully that'll be enough to get us to a station.”

“Yah, that should...Are you gonna be ok? I mean, Those pirates might come back, and you'll be a big target...”

Cora raised an eyebrow, and said “Is that a joke about my weight?”

The guy turned red and immediately started stammering out an apology, when Cora laughed and cut him off. “I know, I will be a target. I'll have a armed escort, a few droids with big guns. I'll have one too, so we should be alright.” Cora smiled, and said, “It's very sweet that you're worried about me though.” Cora took a step forward to give him a hug, but she only managed to lean forward before her belly hit him, and he jumped back, apologizing again.

“Stop apologizing! It was my fault. I'll be slimmer later, and I'll give you a proper hug when I get back.”

He blushed again, and smiled sheepishy. “I'll look forward to it.”

Cora laughed, and switched off her collector. “Well, I need to drop this load off before the big one. Talk to you later!” Cora turned around, and then back towards the guy. “Just one question, what's your name?”

He laughed and said, “My name's Thomas. I'll see you tonight Cora, be safe.” As she walked out of the heat of the power room, she waved back, and he waved in return, a worried look on his face.

Cora walked thought the hallways of the ship, wondering how the retrieval would go, but more than that, if she had any nice clothes for when she met Thomas tonight. She arrived at the station for the shields, and quickly plugged in. The feeling of the power draining from her was always a weird one, as she shrank back down. It always left her cold after, the power was really warm, but the cold feeling faded after a little time. She had more stations to visit, and it began to blend together as the time got closer to the visit to the moon. She was getting more nervous as it got closer, and when she dropped off her last power load before the trip, she was so nervous she could barely walk straight. She went up to the bridge to report to the captain, and then, the next step was to head down, and get as much power as she could hold.

“Cora, it's good to see you.” Capitan Naomi Eris was a good captain, and Cora could tell she was nervous about sending her down. The data they had said that their defense had crippled the pirate's ships, and they had run off to lick their wounds. But the attack had damaged their long range sensors, and they didn't know how far they had gone. Pirates normally were skittish, they'll attack, but only if they know they can win. After the beating they got, chances are they'd be gone for a long time.

“Yes Ma'am I'm ready.” Cora said, trying to put on a brave face. They did need her to go down there, without that extra power to run the engines, they'd be stuck, and have to chose between shields, weapons, or movement. They just didn't have enough power to run all three.

“Very well Cora. Head down to the bay, the droids are waiting, along with the gear you requested. Good luck.”

Cora nodded, and left the bridge. The headed to the elevator, and down to the bay. There were 3 robots standing at attention, with large rifles in their hands. A forth robot was in a hovering turret, that had a large cloth cradle hanging from it. Cora picked up a rifle that was lying on a crate, and lifted her collector. “Droids, follow me.” The robots turned in response, and followed Cora to a small shuttle. It was small enough to slip though the radar if the pirates were watching, and fast enough to escape if they did notice. Cora climbed in, and sat down. The droids sat at the pilot controls, and Cora felt the ship take off, and quickly fly to the moon base.

After a minute or two, Cora felt the shuttle land with a thump. The droids stood up and primed their rifles, and looked at Cora patiently. Cora sighed and picked up her rifle and her collector.

“Come on guys, lead the way.”

The lead robot said, “Yes Ma'am.” and left the shuttle, with Cora flanked by two other droids, and the hovering turret over her. The atmosphere was stale, the colony had been abandoned for a while, in another five years or so, you would need a spacesuit to walk around. They walked down a long elevated pathway, towards the dome like structure that housed the remains of the generator.

“Is there any activity?” Cora asked, looking up in the sky nervously.

“Negative Ma'am. You needn't bother looking up, if a ship would come, you would be shot by it long before you could ever see it.”

“Gee, that's comforting.”

“My apologize Ma'am. You needn't worry, we are wired to the shuttle's sensors. If any ship would come near, we'll know long before it could ever get in range.”

“Fine, lets just get this done, I want to get out of here.”

After a few minutes, they arrived at the dome, and with a hiss, the doorway opened. Cora walked in, and began to examine the generator. It was old, but still running, and according to the computer, it had plenty of power. Cora sighed. Only one thing to do now. She put the collector near the generator, and plugged in. She felt the warmth begin right away, and she began to swell. Satisfied that the collector was working, she switched it on high. She let out a slight gasp as her belly surged outwards, growing quickly. It quickly swelled, growing to the size of a beach ball, and not slowing down. She moved over to the cloth cradle hanging from the hovering turret, and lay on her belly. It was getting difficult to move, and she knew it'd be impossible when she got filled.

“You, droid, go stand next to that collector, and turn it off when I say.” the droid nodded, and stood by the collector, while Cora grew bigger and bigger. Her belly was almost three feet around, and wasn't slowing. She could feel her fingers loose contact with the ground, and gently, her feet lifted off the ground as well. She was lying on her belly, as big as she's ever been, feeling the warmth from the energy. The ground began to lift away more and more as she swelled.

“How much power's left in the system?” Cora called out.

“The system is sixty percent drained Ma'am.” the droid standing near the collector said. “Shall I turn it off?”

Cora sighed, and squeezed the sides of her belly, feeling the warmth. She looked down, and was almost five feet off the ground, and she could feel her body starting to sink into her soft belly. “Yes, Turn it off. I could hold more, but I wouldn't be able to fight, if I need to. This is enough to get us out of here.”

The droid nodded, and switched the collector off, and Cora felt the growth stop. “Ok, lets get out of here fast, we don't want to get caught now.” The droids turned, and circling Cora, lead her out of the dome. They quickly moved down the path, towards the ship. They were about halfway down, when the droids stopped suddenly, leaving Cora swinging back and forth. “What's going on?” Cora said, looking up in the sky.

“Unclear Ma'am. The sensor jumped on the shuttle. We're not sure what” The droid never finished talking, as his body was hit by a flash of light, and blew apart. Cora screamed, as the other droid standing near her exploded. She felt the turret that was carrying her surge forward, her body swinging wildly. They flew up the pathway, getting closer and closer to the ship, when there was an explosion from above her body, and with a crack, her harness broke free, dropping her on the ground. Her body bounced for a moment, then started rolling, stopping, with her pinned under her belly. She couldn't move, and could barely see. Cora saw the turret spin wildly off, trailing fire, as it crashed into the ground. She tried to move, to bring her gun up so she could defend herself, but she couldn't move. Cora saw a pair of boots walk forward, and kick her rifle away. She then smelled a sweet scent, and then, blackness.

Cora lay back in the bathtub, feeling the warmth cover her, and gently soothe her. She couldn't remember the last time she had a water bath, and she swore she would never go so long without one again. She sighed, and slid down, her head barely out of the water. She felt herself about to fall asleep, when the shower head above her turned on, showering her with cold water. Cora sputtered, and tried to move away, but the water had become solid, and she couldn't move. With a start, she opened her eyes, and saw a huge wall in font of her. She was confused for a moment, but then realized that it was her belly, still resting on top of her. She let out a cry, and tried to move, but she could only manage to make her belly jiggle a little. She saw a pair of boots walk past her head, and felt her belly start to roll forward, her body being lifted off the ground, slowly rolling forward, until she was resting on top again. She Was finally able to look around, and saw she was in a huge, dirty cargo hold. It had to be at least a hundred feet long, and fifty wide. The area was empty, save her gigantic belly, and a man standing next to a control panel.

“Hey!” Cora yelled. “What is going on here? Let me go!” Cora tried to make it sound brave, but she was scared. She didn't know what these people would do to her, and what their plans were.

The man standing next to the panel turned around. He was average height, very muscled, with long hair, and patched clothing.

“I would think it would be obvious, We're kidnapping you.” He said, with a slightly bored look on his face.

“Kidnapping? But..why? What are you going to do? Are you going to ransom me off?” Cora could feel and hear her calm disappearing, and the person standing in front of her noticed it as well.

“Ransom? Oh no...You're to valuable to just ransom off. We're going to be selling what you've got in here.” The man poked Cora's belly and grinned. “Power is expensive, and now we've got a way to easily transport and sell it. Which is why you're in the main bay, we're going to fill you up, ship out, sell the power, and repeat. Just lie there and relax. It's not like there's anything you can do about it.”

The man then walked over to Cora's collector, and switched it on. “I'll check back in a hour or so, and see how you're doing.” He then walked out of the room and the door slammed shut with a clang.

“Hey! No! I don't know how big I can get, I don't want to pop!” Cora cried out, but no one responded. Cora let out a groan, and tried to think of someway to get out of this. She was stuck upright, and all the wiggling she could do would just rock her back and forth a little bit. But as she grew larger, that little bit grew less and less. She could feel herself grow, larger than she had ever imagined. She tried to look at the floor to get a sense of how large she was, but all she could see was her belly, seemingly stretching off into the distance. She tried to think of her crew. She knew that they wouldn't leave her, they must be trying to find where she was. She squeezed down on her belly, trying to judge how full she was. When she had first gotten the procedure, she had never asked if there was a limit, and they had never told her. Her belly was feeling firm, and it was slowly growing more stiff. Cora was starting to panic now, breathing fast, and trying to figure out how to stop the growth. She started yelling for someone to come and turn off the collector, but nothing happened. She felt her belly growing tight, and with a shock, she felt her back gently touch the cold metal of the roof of the cargo bay. She rememberd that the foof lookd almost fifteen feet high when she had started, and she was starting to press into it more and more. But she also felt her belly getting tighter, and for the frist time, she felt herself getting tight. Cora started screaming, crying for someone to save her, as she grew tighter and tighter. Her belly started to hurt, sending pain though her body, as she cried out. Her vision began to go dark, when she thought she heard a noise, but everything went black before she could think what it was.

“Is she going to be alright doctor?”

“Yes, she should be fine. It was a damn close thing. Lucky you were there, the boarding crew had no idea how to work her collector, she came closer to popping than she would like to know.”

Cora felt someone gently put something cool and damp on her forehead. “Well, I'm just glad she's alright.” Cora heard a rustleing, and then a door hissing shut. She opened her eyes slowly, the bright lights of the medicial wing hurting her eyes for a moment. She moved her head to the side, and saw someone sitting in a chair next to her bed. She didn't recognize him at first, but then saw it was Thomas, the guy from the power room.

“Hi there...” Cora said weakly. Her whole body felt horrible, it felt like her skin was tight all over her body. It reminded her of one time when she was little, and had gotten a bad sunburn. She felt tight, hot, and painful whenever she moved.

“Oh! Hi Cora...” Thomas jumped when he heard her talk, and looked at her with a smile. “How're you feeling?”

“I've been better...but I'm alive. Did I hear that I have you to thank for that?”

“Oh, um...well, I guess, but the solders were the one who got in the ship, I just knew how to work the collector.” Thomas blushed slighty as he said that, and Cora smiled.

“Well, Still thank you.” Cora reached out from under her blanket, and took Thomas's hand. “I still owe you a hug, but if you hugged me now it'd be rather painfull. I promise I'll make it up to you though.”

Thomas blushed again, and smiled. “I can't wait, but you need to get some sleep. You've had a rough day. The doctor said you'll be up again in a few days, a week at the most.”

Cora nodded, and giving Thomas's hand another squeze, and lay back, closeing her eyes, as she drifted off to sleep.