Ver
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1.1
Copywrite
2003 Ellagon the Dragon all
rights reserved.
Star Dancer
Chapter 3
Monday mornings had always annoyed Ian, but for the second time in as many weeks he was happy and smiling. He had called everyone to his house for a meeting. Everyone seemed happy and smiling. Jenny however was smiling, but looked totally exhausted. He pulled her aside before the meeting started. “Did you stay up all night going over those lists?” he asked her.
She nodded, “There was a hell of a lot of information to go over, but I think I got a handle on it.”
Ian stopped her with a slowly shacking head, and a soft smile. “For such a smart chick, you sure can be blonde at times,” He smiled to take the sting out of his words. “Why didn’t you just have Star give you the information in your sleep? Then when you woke up, you could make up the lists I asked for, and still be rested, and ready.”
She just looked at him, mouth open, “I…I never even thought of doing that!” She snickered. “That would have saved a lot of time.”
Ian kissed her nose, “After this meeting you are to get to bed, and sleep yourself out. That’s an order.”
“Yes sir,” She smiled at him.
They walked back into the living room. He looked around the room at all the people looking back; they all seemed to trust him. He hoped it wasn’t misplaced.
“Folks, I called this meeting to run an idea by you all. During the trip down last night, I had some time to sit and think. Something I saw on T.V. got me thinking about the environment, and the damage we are doing to this planet. What good would it do us if we saved the place from the Enemy, only to destroy it ourselves? I remember once seeing an article in a popular science magazine about a Hydrogen powered engine. This thing was 100% efficient! It recombined its exhaust back into water; that was then used to create the hydrogen to power the engine. I'd like to see if we can dig up things like this, contact the inventor, if possible, and get these things built. I know there has to be more out there then that. We can build a company to get this going. We shouldn't need to use a lot of Talosian technology to pull this off. In fact, other then using Star to do the research, I don't see what else we would need. I wanted to run this past all of you, to point out the problems, and the solutions. SO, what do you think?”
Jenny was chuckling so hard she was almost laughing, and Ian just looked at her. She tried to contain her mirth long enough to explain. “I'm not laughing at your plan love, I'm laughing at the situation. Remember, I've gone over the profiles for everyone Star's identified. One common thread through the whole demographic is the fact that every single one of them is considered either environmentally conscious, or is actively working for environmentally conscious goals. We're not gonna have any trouble at all doing this provided we can get the money to do it.”
Star spoke up. “Money is not really an issue. During the last century, I have had need to ‘influence’ some events. To do that, I needed money, so I simply bleed money away from drug dealers, and crime syndicates. We'll have as much money as we need.”
Bill piped
up next; “I agree with your idea captain, but I do know the government will try
to stop us. I’ve hacked enough databases to know who really runs things. If a
plague wiped out only dishonest politicians,
“Simple, by not going through them to begin with. We may have to do some dishonest things ourselves but as long as no one gets physically hurt, I’ve no problem with that. Since money's not an issue, let's use bribery. That’s how we got into this mess to begin with. I would like to build a facility out in the desert, so we can use solar power units. Let’s keep things theoretical until we can find a 'Bio-Smart' way to build it. Then we can build a factory, and start production. No product will ever be more then ten percent over cost of manufacture. I want to keep an eye out and make sure we are not walking on someone else’s patents. If we use someone’s idea, we pay them for it. We’ll need some good shysters, but I think this is do-able, any other suggestions or questions?”
“We still need a way to approach the others without panicking them.” Jenny said.
Ian smiled at her, “Call them up, and offer them jobs as we need them. Start with the Lawyers, then engineers. Buy the lawyers plane tickets if need to get them here, but I would like us all to talk to them together.” He glanced around, seeing no one else had anything else to add; “Ok, we're agreed then, let’s make this happen.”
Bill cleared his throat. "Sir, I hesitate to mention this, since there are so damn many causes to work on. The Rain forests have been a topic I've supported. Hell, I actually own a few acres. Can we do something about them as well?"
Ian thought for a moment. The rain forests were the lungs for the planet. The processed 85% or more of the atmosphere that humans needed to breathe, they were being destroyed at an incredible rate. "Your right Bill, I'm kinda fond of breathing too. Talk to Star, but try not to spend more than a million a year ok?"
Ian walked into the kitchen to get something to drink. When he came back into the living room, Everyone was sitting around quietly talking to each other. Cindy and Talena were over in a corner, and Cindy was talking a mile a minute; explaining, no doubt, to Talena, the current condition of the planet. They seemed to like his idea, no one seemed to think it was a waste of time, or that they had more important things to do first. He felt good about that. Now all he needed was the crewmen for the StarDancer, but if they did this right, he would be able to recruit them with out much fuss.
Ian went out to the pool, not caring about modesty, he stripped, and dove in. The water felt cool against his skin. He hadn't realized how tense he had been. His idea was really important to him. He really wanted it to work. He felt relief that the others agreed with him, he wasn't secure enough to just command them to do it. He wanted them to know what he wanted, how he felt. He was pleased to see that they felt the same way. There was more then one way to save the planet.
He was so involved in thinking that he didn't notice that everyone had followed him out to the pool, so he was surprised to resurface to the sound of clapping. "I guess modesty is a strictly terran concept." Beth laughed.
He blushed and swam to the edge of the pool, "Sorry, I didn't know you all would follow me out here."
"Relax," Bill said, and started to strip, "This is just another good idea you've had today." He finished taking his clothes off, and by the time he dove in, almost everyone else was getting naked as well.
Almost everyone, Talena stood in fear. She had been born and raised aboard ship, this was the first time she had ever seen a pool larger then the tubs in the medbay. She had never even seen someone swimming before.
Cindy had stripped as fast as the others, and was about to jump in herself, when she saw Talena. She turned back to her new friend, "What's wrong Talena? Does everyone being naked bother you?"
Talena just stood staring at the water, and shook her head. "I've..never..I..I don't know how…" She said quietly.
Cindy smiled tenderly at her friend. "It's ok. The water isn't very deep except at the end where Bill and Ian are. I'll stay by your side, and nothing will happen to you. The water feels really good on a hot day like this. You'll like it Talena, I promise, trust me?"
Talena looked at her new sister, and smiled tentatively. She swallowed, nodded, and peeled off the clothes Cindy had given her. Cindy then led her over to the steps and walked with her down into the water. Talena relaxed a bit when it only came up to mid thigh. Cindy smiled at her again, and said; "Now, keep a hand on the side, and kinda slowly sit down." Putting action to words, Cindy showed Talena what she meant.
Talena aped Cindy, and smiled at her friend. "This does feel good, but it is still strange."
Cindy grinned, and moved around behind her. "Now, lean back, and let your legs float out in front of you. Don't worry, I'll catch you. Just relax, and let your body float."
Talena leaned back into Cindy's arms, and let her body float. "Oohhhhhhhh" Talena sighed as she felt the tension leave her body. "This is wonderful."
Ian had swum up to them. "What do you think of the water Talena?"
"It's wonderful sir! I wish we could have one on the ship." The girl said.
"I think so too, I'll talk to Star about it, but we've a lot of other stuff to repair first. In the mean time, I would be happy teach you how to swim, if you want?" Ian said.
The girl turned and stood to face Ian and Cindy, "Oh! Would you sir? Yes I would like that."
Ian chuckled at her, "Talena, when we are off duty, you can call me Ian. I won't bite you."
"Ok…Ian." She said shyly. She was cute when she blushed.
The afternoon passed with much splashing and laughing. Talena relaxed a lot, and the one or two times she slipped, and went under, Cindy or Ian was right there to lift her back up. She laughed, and acted like a 14-year-old girl. It was a marvelous thing to see.
Suppertime rolled around, The Laskars were invited to stay, and orders were given to the drone for food. Steak was the main theme, He placed his order, and sat to enjoy it. Ian watched Cindy guiding her new friend in what kind of food to try. Some of the expressions the girl made when she tried something she didn't like, were priceless.
After dinner, Bill produced a guitar, and played a few songs. The sound was mellow, and quite relaxing. Talena's head lolled into Cindy's shoulder, as she fell asleep. Cindy grinned and winked at him, Beth and Jenny smiled as well, when he pointed it out to them.
It was getting late, and Bill and Julie thanked Beth and Ian for having them over, and left. "Ian, would you carry Talena to Cindy's room?" Beth asked.
"Sure!" Ian replied. He turned, and bent to lift the sleeping girl. She whined softly, as her arms instinctively went around his neck. She nuzzled her head into the hollow of his neck kissed him softly and tenderly. She sighed, and went back to sleeping.
Cindy, who had witnessed the whole event, grinned at him even more, and winked, turned and led him to her bedroom.
“I’ll stay with her tonight, love.” Cindy said, as Ian lay the sleeping girl down on the bed.
“Okay, honey. She sure seems to like you. You’ve been a great friend to her.” Ian said.
“Well, she is a really nice person, and she’s all alone in a completely strange world. I would be terrified. Besides, she is so beautiful! I know we all heard Jenny’s vision, but I never knew she would be so pretty!” She said.
Ian grinned at her, “Careful girl, we don’t know how Talena will react to that little bit of information. She’s still a very young woman, we should give her the time to grow up, and make her own decisions about who she wants to love. For now all w can do is just be there for her. You’re doing great at that. Just keep it up, and let her find her own way. Okay?”
“Yeah, I know, Beth already talked to me about it. I can still cuddle her though!” Cindy grinned, and started taking off her clothes. Ian watched as his pretty wife, got naked, and crawled into bed with the girl. She snuggled up behind Talena, who had rolled onto her side. Talena smiled in her sleep, and snuggled back into Cindy’s body, Cindy, lay her check against Talenas’ head, and draped her arm around the younger girl.
“You two are beautiful.” Ian said as he bent down and kissed Cindy on the cheek, he then kissed Talenas’ as well. Cindy winked at him, as he turned to leave.
He got to Beths’ room and was greeted by the site of Beth and Jenny in a 69 on the bed. “Damn, you two didn’t waste any time.” Ian said, he walked up to the bed shedding his clothes.
Jenny looked up at him from between Beths’ legs. “Well we had to entertain ourselves since you were busy elsewhere.” She said coyly.
The scene on the bed had gotten him hard the minute he had walked in the door.
He climbed on the bed behind Beth, and felt Jenny’s soft hand wrap around his shaft, and her tongue lightly caress the underside of the tip. He moaned, and she pulled his cock into her mouth, in their current position, she could only get the head in, but that felt wonderful to him. Beth must have been doing something good to Jenny, because she moaned around Ian’s cock, the sensation made his knees shake. Jenny pulled his throbbing cock out of her mouth, and lined him up in Beth soaked pussy. She then sucked Beth’s clit into her mouth, as Ian eased his cock into Beth’s hole. Beth raised her head, and cried out as a powerful orgasm ripped through her frame.
Ian kept his pace slow, and steady, he looked down, and saw Jenny, her eyes smiling, looking up at him, past his dick. Ian also saw Beth’s winking asshole contracting with her orgasm. He remembered something he read once, and licked his thumb, and started rubbing her tight rear. Beth froze, and started shaking, and she started a low moan that quickly built in intensity. Her subsiding orgasm suddenly became one of the biggest she had ever had. Her arms collapsed, and her body fell onto Jenny, who was having a small orgasm herself from the look on her face.
“GOD!...Ian! S…stop! Please!...I can’t take anymore right now.” Beth gasped. Ian immediately pulled out of her, and she rolled to one side. Jenny tried to capture Ians cock with her mouth, but Ian was already moving, turning so he was laying the same way she was on the bed. He kissed her neck, chest, and nipples as he moved. She has already very ready for him, but she really liked her nipples kissed. Beth had flopped over on her side, and weakly moved far enough away from the other two to give them room. She was panting heavily, and was still shaking. Jenny glanced at her, and smiled. Beth saw the look, and weakly grinned back. “He found my spot.” Beth said, “Once he hit that, I just went off like a rocket.”
Jenny and Ian grinned at her. Ian got his pelvis between Jenny’s spread thighs, and slowly entered her. She moaned as he pushed in, raising her own pussy to help, and to get him deeper. She really liked it deep. Ian pushed in slowly, and when he felt her cervix, he stopped, and moved his hips in little circles.
Jenny moaned, "God Ian! Don't tease me! please!" She looked about ready to explode, so he started to slowly saw his cock in and out of her steaming pussy.
She was so worked up, that she began having little orgasms every time he hit bottom. She tried to urge him faster, but Ian held his maddingly slow pace. Pushing her gently toward her peak. Her pussy was constantly spasming around his cock, her inner muscles rippling along his prick felt like her was being stroked at a different rhythm then he was thrusting at. The sensation was driving him crazy, and he knew he was just about there himself. He sped up, but the feeling of his head ramming into her cervix reminded him not to push to hard, he could hurt her if he forced himself to deep.
Then he felt something unreal; when he would hit bottom, it almost felt like a set of lips were trying to suck his cock head at the bottom of every stroke. Her cervix was loosening and he was starting to slip past it. It was more then he could take, and he felt his balls draw up, and his dick felt like it was going to explode. Jenny was in a continuous orgasm, her pussy fluttering around Ian's probing shaft, lights flashed before her eyes, and as she screamed out the peak of her ecstasy, her pussy clamped down hard on Ian's cock.
Ian felt his dick head pass through her cervix, just as she tightened her pussy, and screamed, he too, was at the peak, and erupted his semen deep into her uterus. He was rigid as he shot his load deep into her, then, temporarily spent from the ordeal, gently lowered himself onto her, his elbows and knees keeping his weight from crushing her. They were both sweaty, but Ian didn't care, he just nuzzled into her neck, and tried to catch his breath.
"You two are just incredible!" Beth said. "I've never had an orgasm from just watching before, but I did this time! God! I don't know what it is, but …wow!" She just smiled at the two. "I just hope you didn't wake Talena!"
The next morning at breakfast, Talena seemed a bit nervous, she fidgeted around, and started to ask something a few times. Ian began to wonder if he had woken her up last night.
Finally, Beth just looked at her, “Talena, just say what’s on your mind, hon. No on will be mad, or laugh at you.”
Talena looked at her like she just lost her best friend, perhaps she thought she was going to. “Well, I…It’s just…I, uh…I know you four are bonded, and I wouldn’t normally ask such a thing, but… She’s been so sweet to me, and I …well, I would like to ask your permission to… I think I’m really starting care about her, and…” She seemed to loose her confidence then, and just sat, staring at her hands, on her lap.
Beth,
smiled tenderly at Talena, but the young girl didn’t seem to notice.
“Sweetheart, I think that decision is mostly up to Cindy. Have you talked to
her about it?”
Talenas
’ head
snapped up as if spring-loaded, and stared at Beth. “But, I didn’t want to
intrude on your union! I really like all of you, and you’ve been so nice to me,
I didn’t want you to think I was trying to steal her away.” She looked close to
tears. “Talosian law is very clear on this. I could be punished even for
asking.”
Jenny
spoke this time; “Honey, we’re not on Talos, and if I remember the way that old
law was written, that only applies to non-family members. As a member of this
family, you can ask until your majority, which, by Talosian law, isn’t for
another two years.”
Talena
just looked from one person to the next; not quite comprehending what was just
said. “But, I’m not a member of this family.”
Now it
was Ians’ turn, “Talena, I was going to wait to talk
to you about this, but since it has come up…I’ve asked Star about how the
Talosians did things like this, and since you’re technically a member of my
crew, you’re still not old enough to be emancipated under Talosian law. So,
since you are an orphan, and since I am your commanding officer, I am offering
to you, a place within my family, if you want it. I should also mention, that
Bill over heard me talking to Star yesterday, and has offered you a place in
his family as well.” He smiled at the girl, as she stared at him, open-mouthed.
She looked to Beth, who nodded her agreement, as did Jenny, and Cindy.
“Really?
You mean
it?” She asked, getting excited. As everyone nodded, she squealed, and ran
around the room hugging and kissing everyone.
“I’ll
take that as a yes.” Ian said, dryly, though he was trying hard not to laugh.
The girls
gabbed, and talked. It was decided that Talena should have her own clothes,
since she was wearing some of Cindy’s, and an expedition to the local mall was
planned. Ian couldn’t understand that, but then again, he wasn’t a girl.
Just then Ian's wrist unit beeped at him. "Captain here." He said.
"Sir,
it's Bill, er…Chief Laskar,
We've had an unusual development here, and …well, it'd
be easier to just show you. Mind if we come over?"
Ian
looked concerned. "Is it serious Chief?"
"No
sir, more like …well, just unusual like I said."
"Ok,
come on over." Ian told him.
"Thank
you, Sir. Well be there in a few minutes."
"I
wonder what all that's about?" Ian said.
A few minutes later, the doorbell rang, and Jenny's parents came in, they brought someone with them.
"Grandma!" Jenny jumped to her feet, and ran to hug the newest arrival.
Ian stood, and glanced at his in-laws. They both had barely contained poker faces. "Come meet my new husband and his family" Jenny said, taking her grandmothers hand, and pulling her into the kitchen. Jenny quickly made introductions, pointing everyone out. "Everyone this is my Grandmother, Janet." Jenny finished.
Janet was chuckling. "Nice try, Granddaughter! Don't you know it's rude not to introduce your mates as such?" she laughed, as Jenny's mouth fell open, she looked at her parents.
Bill held his hands up, "Don't look at us, we didn't say anything." He looked directly at Ian with the last word. Ian nodded slightly; he got the message.
Janet looked at Ian, a smirk on her face, "What he means, Captain," She bowed her head slightly to him, "is that he didn't tell me about you. Neither did my sister."
Ian was stunned. Star reported her as 72.451%. "Then how did you find out?"
Janet laughed again, "Believe it or not, an old shaman told me." As she continued, her voice changed to imitate that of an old Indian shaman, "He told me about how great whitemen had fought a loosing battle, they came here to save their people. Save them they did, but lost themselves in the process. They came from a great mountain far away, the mountain held the power of life, and of death. The evil ones that had beaten the great whitemen will come again, and the mountain will be calling the children home to restore this world, and fight the evil ones. Your children, and your children's children, will be called by the mountain; even you will be called, but might not hear. The mountain will come from its hiding place, and many evil ones will die, but many of the children will die well. Look to the young, old man. He will know the right path, he will guild the children." Her voice changed back into her own. "That was the night Julie was born. Since then I would get flashes of images, just like freeze frames really. Over time I pieced things together, and I listened for that damned mountain. I listened real hard. Damn Shaman was speaking metaphorically. He also told me that on the day of the call, my child's, child would, herself, be with child, as well as her wives." Ian had guided her to a chair, and everyone else had set down as well, Beth poured her a cup of coffee.
Ian was stunned. An old Indian
shaman had known about these 33 years ago. Who else knew? How many others would
just show up? Probably not very many, no one listened to old shaman anymore,
and that was a shame.
"Star."
Ian called
Star appeared by walking around the corner into the room; "Sir?"
"Give Janet a watch, and log her as 'ship's counselor', under the CMO. Give her access to the histories, as well as the personnel files of the crew" Ian said.
Star walked around the corner, and got a comunit from a drone. Returning, she handed it to Janet.
"Sir, what about education?" Star left unsaid the fact that that could kill her.
"Voluntary, medically supervised only, and start very slowly." Ian ordered.
“Star,” Beth said, “please scan Jenny, Cindy, and me. I want to know if we’re all pregnant.”
“Certainly, Doctor,” Star said. Then a moment later, she smiled. “Congratulations Doctor, Commander, Cadet. You are all defininitly pregnant.”
The ensuing celebration lasted the rest of the day.
The next day, everyone went to the mall. Ian got roped into it at the last minute, the women claiming they wanted to model for him, but Ian suspected they wanted a pack mule. He thought it was going to be a very long day.
The local mall was a pretty good
sized one, and usually pretty busy, today was no exception. The Williams'
family arrived about
The game changed however, when they
entered a "
"Nonsense!" Beth said, "We want you to tell us what looks good on us, and I want you to pick something out for me to wear for you." She said matter-of-factly. Jenny and Cindy nodded enthusiastically as well; Ian sighed, and followed them in.
Ian had his doubts about the wisdom of this game. Luckily the store only had a couple of other customers. He had no idea what he was looking at or for, since his experience with women's undergarments was pretty limited. Apparently, Talena was pretty confused too, since she seemed to stay pretty close to Ian. Unfortunately, that put her first in Ian's mind as he looked around the store. He found a dark blue silk camisole with a lacy, see through, bra sewn into it, and thin straps over the shoulders that would show off her hair wonderfully, and picking the size the Beth had said she was, handed it to her.
She looked at it, then at him, totally confused.
"That would look beautiful on you Talena!" Cindy said, "Why don't you try it on, and show us?" She took the confounded girl by the hand and led her to a changing room.
"I don't know how to wear this" she said quietly to Cindy.
"Simple love; just take off all your clothes, and pull this over your head. Then call us over when you're done to show us." Cindy said.
Talena nodded, and took the garment into the little room to try it on.
She came out a few minutes later, wearing only the garment Ian had handed to her, no bra, and no panties. Her very erect nipples pressed tightly to the see-though material of the top, and the bottom almost covered her crotch, you could see her bare labia with her aroused clit poking proudly out. "I had no idea this would feel so good!" Talena said. "So, how does it look?"
One of the two girls working in the store that day, sensing a major commission opportunity, had come over to help the group. She made suggestions, and actually did her best to figure out what they wanted, and guide them to those items. She was talking to Jenny and Cindy when Talena made her appearance.
She turned to look at the young woman, and caught her breath at the silver haired beauty. "Oh, my!" she said softly, and she hoped quietly enough not to be over heard. She just stared at the beauty before her, no longer worried about who might notice.
"It's perfect Talena! You look absolutely wonderful!" Cindy exclaimed, nudging Jenny to get her attention, when she looked Cindy tilted her head at the sales girl, Jenny almost burst into laughter. The poor girl was staring at Talena, in obvious admiration.
"That looks great on you Talena!" Beth said, "But I think we should get you some matching panties too. Say, something crotch-less?" She looked to the sales girl, who was slowly coming back to the real world. Her nipples were so hard they could be plainly seen through her blouse. She nodded numbly, and turning walked over to a rack, and soon, picked out a pair that seemed to match the lace of the top. When she handed them to Talena, her hand was shaking.
Talena smiled at the girl, said thank you, and simply pulled them on, without going back into the changing room.
"I like these!" She said, turning to Cindy, "what do you think?"
"Perfect, hon." Cindy replied. Talena then looked to Ian.
He smiled, "I think I made a good choice, you look very good, Talena."
The rest of the girls had picked out things to try on as well, and insisted that the sales girl, who's name was Barb, help them pick things out, which they then modeled for each other, Barb, and Ian, obviously flirting and teasing the poor girl as much as they were teasing Ian. When they paid for the items they had decided on buying, Barb was breathing heavily, and very obviously aroused, as was Ian. When she handed the receipt back to Beth, there was a business card with Barb's name, and on the back, her home phone number. She smiled at the group, and said, very sincerely; "Thank you." Everyone thanked her, and as they left the store, could hear her telling her co-worker that she was going on break.
Ian was thankful he had so much to carry; it covered the bulge in his pants.
Apparently, all the flirting had made the ladies hungry, because they headed straight for the food court. They found a group of tables that were close enough together, and claimed them. Ian was told that he should sit and rest, they would get his food for him, after all, he was being so sweet, and carrying everything for them.
Beth also stayed with Ian, as the other three scampered off to raid the various fast food places.
"How're you holdin' up stud?" She asked him, grinning.
"Fine, though I thought I was gonna die in that last store. That poor girl is in some bathroom right now ridin' her hand for all she's worth! You guys are bad!" he teased.
Beth chuckled, "Yeah, she probably is, I would be too, but I'm waiting until we get home. I think I know something a lot more satisfying then my hand!" She winked at him. "Thank god I don't have to do that anymore. You'll never know how much it meant to me when we finally got together, Ian. I feel alive again, desirable. I was so lonely, and then Cindy came to me. That helped, a lot, but it wasn't until you made love to me the first time that I felt complete again. Thank you Ian." She hugged him.
Ian blushed. He didn't know what to say. He couldn't kiss her like he wanted to just then; too many people still knew them here. So he whispered in her ear; "I love you, too"
They had just broken apart when someone cleared their throat behind them. They both turned, and Barb walked up to them, she looked a little flushed, but was smiling. "I'm sorry to intrude, but could I join you for lunch?"
Ian looked at Beth, who smiled, and nodded to the girl. "Sure, but I don't think we'll tease you quite so badly this time." She finished, chuckling.
"Thank god!" Barb said, "I don't think I could make it to the bathroom this time! My legs are shaking too much!"
She sat down, "You guys were so much fun! You wouldn't believe the prudes we see come in there. I wanted to thank you for making a dull day, not so dull."
Beth and her started talking then, about the different people that go
in the store, and other stuff. Ian excused himself to carry the packages to the
car, "In preparation for round two" He said jokingly as he left.
When he
got back, all the girls had returned, and were sitting around chatting. He sat
down and started in on his food.
“Ian,
sweetheart, I invited Barb over this evening after she gets off work, for a
cook out. She’s a very interesting person.” Beth said quietly to him.
Ian
looked at her, thoughtfully. It would be hard to hide the fact that most of
their belongings had been removed. Beth must have a reason. “Oh, okay.” He
said.
They
finished their food, and got back to the shopping. Ian watched the girls together;
he was starting to see what shopping meant to the women. They talked, and
flirted, and gradually became more relaxed and closer to each other. Talena was
no longer an extra person, but one of the girls. Sometimes she could act like
the 14 year old she really was, but most of the time, she seemed like a young
looking 18 year old. Ian realized it wasn’t an act; it was just the way she
was. It wasn’t like she had grown up too fast, though you could see the marks
the pain of loss had left. It was more that she was simply more mature then
Terran girls her age. She also seemed much more attractive. Even Jenny was
showing an interest in the girl. Cindy noticed, and smiled broadly, but Talena,
hadn’t seemed to notice at all.
They
retreated from the mall around
Beth
smiled at him, “Not much, just that she is an avid science fiction fan, and is
a member of the Air National Guard. She works as a fighter mechanic. She
repairs airplanes, specifically high performance aircraft. Star rated her as
81%, she also said she wasn’t on her list. I knew
there were more of us out there.”
Ian
looked at her, she was devious. “So, how are you going to get her aboard
StarDancer? If she’s a member of the National Guard, she already has
commitments here. I really don’t want to be responsible for her deserting.”
“Damn, I
know you well. She and a friend are getting out soon. Her friend is a nuclear
weapons specialist. She’ll be bringing her tonight. As far as getting them
aboard, well, I thought the direct approach would work this time.” Beth said.
“I got the impression that her friend is actually her wife, and the guard has
somehow figured it out. Don’t ask, don’t tell may be good in theory, but I
think it may still need some work.”
“Well,
you usually know what you’re doing, but I think I’d like the Laskars over again tonight. Janet should be involved in
this.” Ian said.
“Yes
sir.” Grinned Beth.
Bill,
Julie, and Janet arrived first, around 6, they had
some news to share. When everyone was out back Bill stood, and cleared his
throat, “Ah-hem. I would like to have your attention, please.” He looked around
to see that everyone had stopped what they had been doing, and was looking at
him. “I would like to announce that Julie, Janet, and Myself, have agreed to be
bonded. With the Captains permission, we would like to do it our first night
aboard ship.” He looked to Ian.
Ian
stood, and walked up to him, “Of course my friends! May I be the first to
congratulate you, and wish you many happy years together.”
Ian shook Bills hand, and then hugged both Janet, and Julie. Everyone had to
hug the three then, and everyone was smiling and congratulating the soon to be
newlyweds. It was at this moment that Barb and her wife Debbie chose to walk
around the corner. They had brought potato salad and baked beans. Ian and Jenny
took the bowls from them, and they asked what had been going on. Since it was
obvious they had walked in on a joyous moment.
Ian
smiled and shrugged, but Beth answered them. “Bill just told us the Julie,
Janet and him are to be married.”
“See! I
told you these people were neat!” Barb told the attractive dark haired women
beside her.
Debbie
grinned, “I guess so. Not to be a party pooper or anything, but last time I checked, alternative marriages were still illegal. How are
they going to do it?”
Janet was
the one to answer her; “There is a long story to that, but for now, let’s just
say it’s part of our heritage. Our ancestors didn’t conform to the traditional
views about such things.”
Introductions
were made, and the two women were made welcome after wishing the trio well. Ian
had been working the grill, and the food was done shortly after that. Everyone
fixed plates, and sat down to eat and chat. Barb and Debbie quickly became
comfortable in the group, and openly expressed their love for each other, as
did Ian and his wives, and Bill and his lovers. Talena and Cindy sat close to
each other all evening, and when it became obvious to the two new women that
they were in love, Debbie asked Beth about it.
“Well,
it’s a bit confusing I suppose. Talena is an orphan. And we’ve sort of adopted
her, though she has fallen in love with Cindy, We’ve all grown pretty attached
to her as well.” Beth tried to explain.
“It does
seem a bit confusing to me,” Barb said. “I can actually understand their relationship;
it’s yours that has me baffled.” Debbie nodded her agreement.
“Well, I
guess that’s as good a lead in as any.” She smiled. “Janet?” She called to the
woman, and continued when she walked up. “I think it’s time to tell our new
friends why we asked them here tonight.”
The two
looked a little suspicious at that, but Beth just smiled, and said; “Trust me,
you’ll like this, we only want to offer both of you jobs. Though there are a
few things you need to know first.” Beth and Janet led the two inside to talk.
Everyone else took that as their cue to get naked, and jump into the pool.
“Are you
for real?” Barb asked. “I’ve always wanted to believe that this stuff is for
real, but come on; you can’t expect us to believe that all that bullshit is
real?”
“Actually,
I don’t expect you to believe it simply on my word alone. However I can only
show you a couple of things to prove that what I’ve said is the truth. It’s
still to light outside to show you a ship, but I can show you a domestic drone,
and I can introduce you to our ships’ A.I.; Star.” Janet said.
In the
middle of the living room, where Janet and Beth had led the two women, Star
shimmered into visibility. She smiled at the two astounded women. “Hello, I am
Star. I am the Artificial Intelligence associate for the F.S.S. StarDancer. I
would be happy to answer any questions that you may have.”
“Wh…Where did you come from?”
Debbie asked, fearfully.
“I am a
hologram. I appeared at the behest of Counselor Laskar.”
Star said.
Barb reached
out and passed her hand through the hologram of Star. She looked at her stunned
mate, “I...I think this is real, honey. I am having a hard time believing it,
but there really is no other explanation I can think of.”
Debbie
nodded in agreement with her. “I think we would like some time to talk about
this, and make our decision about joining you, if that’s ok?” She said, looking
at both Janet, and Beth.
“Sure
ladies, but there are a couple of other things you should probably know. First
off, to answer your earlier question about my relationship,” Beth said, “Ian
and Cindy are both my children. The Talosian genetic legacy has granted us the
opportunity to express our love for one another. The Talosian social structure
doesn’t know what incest is. To make a long story short, incest is a taboo
because of genetics. Talosians don’t have that problem, so it never became an
issue. Cindy, Jenny and I are all carrying a baby. Granted, Ian is the father,
but the child is all of ours. I know that may be a lot for you to try to
understand, but I did promise you an explanation, and since we are being candid
with you…” Beth finished.
“Also
Jenny is my granddaughter, as well as my niece. Julie is my sister, Bill is my
half-brother and both are my lovers.” Janet said.
The two
women were surprised but not as shocked as Beth had anticipated. “Your not offended?” She asked them.
Barb and
Debbie smiled at each other. Debbie spoke, “No, our son, Barb and mine, is also
my little brother. Barb learned she was a lesbian when she seduced her mother. Our
parents are gone now, and we were both only children. We were surprised by your
admission is all, it will also make it easier for me
to make my decision. But I think Barb and I should talk still. What else did
you want to tell us?’
“Well,
we’ve all also recently discovered the ‘joys’ of nudism. I’d wager that if we
walked back out to the pool right now, everyone’ll be
naked. I just wanted to warn you. If you’re bothered by that, I’ll go out
first, and get them back into their clothes. You are not expected to join us
unless you want to.” Beth said.
“Naked
bodies don’t bother us, and neither of us is shy. However, I’m on my period
right now, so I’ll pass. Debbie can if she wants to though.” Barb said looking
at her lover.
“We can
get you bottoms if you would like to take a swim, and still feel free.” Beth
smiled.
“I’d like
that a lot, thank you.” Barb said.
Beth
turned to Star, “Could you get a drone to create it for her, in her size
please?”
“Certainly
Doctor, Barb, please stand a moment.” Star said, Barb Stood, and Star looked at
her appraisingly for a moment, then a drone floated out from the back room, and
produced a knit bikini bottom.
“Wow!”
Barb said. Then taking it from the drone, she said “Thank you.” To the drone,
it beeped at her, as if to say your welcome.
“The
Barb
grinned and headed down the hall. Debbie stood with Beth and Janet. “I’ll go
with her, and maybe talk a bit. We’ll join you in a bit, ok?
“Sure.”
Beth and Janet both said, grinned and watched the woman walk down the hall
after her wife.
Beth
looked at Janet, and throwing her head in the direction of the pool, they both
walked back out.
When they
re-joined the group by the pool sure enough everyone was nude, and swimming and
splashing around the pool. Beth and Janet quickly joined in the fun. A few
minutes later, Debbie and a panty clad Barb walked out of the house, hand in
hand. They were smiling, and looked a little excited. They walked up to where
Beth was sitting on the edge of the pool, her arms around Ian, who was standing
in the pool. They both looked up at the two, Ian careful not to look at
Debbie’s naked body.
“We’ve talked about it, and we’ve decided. We’ll join you, but we do have a few more questions.” Debbie said.
“Welcome to the crew.” Ian said, “I’ll answer what I can for you.”
“Well, since we would be living aboard ship. What kind of child care is available? And what kind of school is available for our son?” Debbie asked him.
“Currently, we don’t have a daycare or anything like that, but we will have. So I guess we’ll just have to get a babysitter for you. Education is actually better then any he would be able to get here on Earth. He won’t need to attend school at all. He’ll be getting his education the same way you’ll be getting yours; at night when you sleep. Provided he has enough Talosian DNA that is. You’ll understand more about that later though.” Ian explained
“Okay, next, how much is the pay? Beth and Janet didn’t mention it.” Debbie continued.
Ian chuckled, “Well, this may scare you, but there is no pay. There isn’t a need for it. Anything you want, you can get from the replicators. If you need something while you’re down here, just let Star or myself know, and we’ll get it taken care of.”
“I think we can live with that. Any ideas on how we ‘disappear’?” Barb asked.
“We’ll we’re using the story that Beth got a job out of town, and we’re moving. I guess you could do the same, in a few days we might even be able to give you a company name and address.” Ian answered.
Both women nodded, and said ok. Ian had Star get them comunits and contacts. Once the women got their units on, Star frowned a little, and then she got an anxious look on her face. She turned and walked beck inside the house.
Beth got a message from Star, "'Please meet me inside, it is very urgent.' - Star" Beth stood excused herself, and went inside. She walked to the bathroom in her bedroom, locking the bedroom door behind her.
"What's up Star?" Beth asked.
"Doctor, as you know, I do a cursory bio-scan when someone puts on a comunit. Something is wrong with Debbie. I can't do a more detailed scan without her permission, but something is not right. All her readings are off, if it were just one or two, I would simply scan again later, but since this is all of them; I think you should ask to examine her." Star said; a worried expression on her face.
"I will ask her, but the portable unit is still on the shuttle." Beth said.
"I am capable of a cellular scan, Doctor. Just not as high a resolution as your equipment." Star said.
"Well, that'll do, if we need to, we can take her to the shuttle. I'll go talk to her and Barb." Beth said, rising.
Beth arrived back outside, Barb was in the pool, but Debbie was sitting in a lounger watching. Beth sat next to her.
"Why aren’t you in the water with everyone else?" Beth asked.
"Well, I don't really feel like it. I've been pretty tired lately, and today has been pretty stressful. I just don't think I have the energy for it." Debbie replied.
"Deb, you know I'm a Doctor right?" Debbie nodded, "Well, when you put the comunit on, Star does a cursory scan, just to establish a base line of your general health; pulse, blood pressure and the like. Sorry we didn't tell you, about that, it's not meant to be an invasion of your privacy, it's simply to make sure you’re the one wearing the comunit. Star doesn't even tell me about it unless there is a problem, so I don't know the results. Have you been to see your Doctor lately?" Beth asked.
Debbie was a little frightened by now; she figured Beth wouldn't be mentioning this unless there was a problem. "Not for about a year. I'm due for a check up. What's wrong? What did you find?" She almost sounded panicked. Barb, seeing the look on Debbie's face got out of the pool, and came to sit by her.
"Star found some inconsistencies in your bio-scan. Neither of us can, nor will, do a deeper scan without your permission. That's why I'm talking to you. With your permission, I'd like to have Star run a deeper scan on you, to see if there's something we need to be concerned about. Normally, I would just advise you to go see your own Doctor as soon as you can, but, well quite frankly, I've got better equipment. It's up to you, but if you decide to see your own Doctor, I'd advise you either go to the E.R. tonight, or go to see him first thing in the morning." Beth said. Ian had started to come over but Beth had put her hand up to stop him, he looked concerned, but Star must have told him it was a private conversation.
Debbie didn't hesitate. "Your going to be our Doctor anyway, please, start now. If there is something wrong…"
Beth sighed in relief, she did like these two resilient women. They had dealt with a lot of shocking information tonight, and were taking it well, until now. "Let's go inside. I don't think everyone needs to know what the inside of your body looks like." Beth said, smiling, and taking the woman's hand, led her and Barb inside the house.
Ian had seen the serious discussion going on with Debbie, he thought that perhaps he should be involved, and started toward the three, when Beth held up her hand, stopping him. He was a bit confused until Star gave him a message; "'CMO duties, Captain. This is a private conversation, sorry.' - Star." Ian understood, and nodding to Beth, got back in the pool. He watched the three of them quietly walk back into the house, a concerned look on his face.
Beth led the women to her bed room, and had Debbie lay on the bed. "Star; give me a cellular bio-scan; highest possible resolution, please."
The holo-drone star used passed slowly over Debbie, who lay still on the bed. When it was done, it returned to near the ceiling, and displayed the results of the scan in the form of a 3-d holographic image.
Debbie sat up to look at it with Beth and Barb. Neither of them really know what they were looking at, but they could tell that everything was not right. The look on Beth's face confirmed that belief; she had turned white.
The Talosian descendants seemed to be resistant to most forms of cancer, as well as most other diseases that plagued humanity. Debbie was loaded with it. The scan showed tumors all over. Beth couldn't believe this woman wasn't in any pain.
"What is it, Beth?" Barb asked. "What's wrong with her?"
Beth sat down on the bed with Debbie. "I want you to listen very carefully to what I am about to tell you. Stay calm, and listen closely." She paused, and Debbie nodded, and she continued; "If I were a normal Terran Doctor, I would be giving you some very bad news right now. You have cancer, from what I can see it's pretty rampant. You should be in considerable pain right now. Normally, I would be discussing hospice care, and what arrangements you should make. However ," The women were holding each other and crying, so Beth told them the rest; "Since I have access to the Talosian medical database, I think we can cure you. We must start right away though, you're pretty advanced."
The women heard the word cure, and turned to Beth. "You can cure this? How? No one can cure cancer! I don't need you tell me that I'm terminal, I can see that." Debbie was almost frantic.
"Debbie," Beth almost
shouted, to get her attention. "I said; I have access to Talosian medical
technology! Earth doesn't have a cure, but the Talosians did! Calm down,
please! We can get you through this. We need to start tonight though. Are you
willing?"
"What do we need to do?" Barb asked, anxiously.
"Well first off, Star; we need to get Debbie to medbay. Bring the shuttle down. Second, Barb; have Ian or one of the others take you home to get your son. You both will need to be gone for about a week. If you need to quit your jobs, well, it's not like you won't be taken care of." Beth finished.
"We both need to be back here in three weeks to go though the separation process from the Guards." Debbie said.
"You will be." Beth assured them. "You might be a bit dizzy from time to time, but you'll be here."
Star's form replaced that of
Debbie's internal scan. "The Captain has approved the use of the shuttle
for a medical emergency. Arrival will be
"Thank you, Star." Beth said, then turning to the two, "I keep everything confidential, with the exception of the Captain, and Janet: The Captain, because he needs a crew status report, and Janet because she is Ships Counselor. She can help you with any difficulties you have, and any problems. No one else will know unless you tell them. Is that acceptable?"
"Uh, yeah, that's fine." Debbie said. "You're taking us aboard tonight?"
Beth nodded, "We need to begin your treatment, and only the facilities on board can do that."
"I thought you said the ship was on the dark side of the moon?" Debbie continued.
"It is, the trip will take us 3 to 4 hours." Beth said.
"Oh." Debbie sat there, considering. It had obviously just dawned on her that she was going to the moon in about 30 minutes.
Jenny took Barb home to get Stevie, some clothes, and toys for the youth. She then called her boss, and quit her job. Her boss told her she was going to be fired for the shameful display she allowed to happen in the store that day anyway. Barb just laughed at her. Then she called her landlord, and told him that they had to go out of town on a family emergency for a few days, and could he please pick up their mail, and empty out their fridge if it got to be more then a week? He said he would, and wished them good luck.
Twenty minutes later, Barb, Debbie, Stevie, Beth, and Cindy, got aboard the shuttle as it hovered above the pool. Stevie was wide awake and looking around him in wonder at all the new sites, and the new people. Barb had told him that they were going on a trip. He thought that was a grand idea. Three year olds have a unique sense of wonder.
Ian hugged his wives, as did Jenny. "We'll join you in a few days, but if you need anything, call." He said to Beth, who nodded. Talena hugged everyone as well, but held Cindy a bit longer.
The Laskars went home after saying good night to Talena, their daughter and son in law. Ian and Jenny crawled into Beth's big empty bed together. To tired to do more then cuddle, Ian spooned up behind her, held her tit in his hand, just then there was a soft knock on the door.
"Come in." Ian said.
Talena opened the door, and walked in. She looked sad, and very young, right at that moment.
"What's wrong sweetheart?" Ian got out of bed, and walked over to her. Jenny turned, a concerned look on her face.
"I don't mean to be such a baby, but I can't sleep. I got used to someone in bed with me. Could I sleep with you two tonight?" She asked shyly.
"Of course honey!" Jenny said, as Ian led her back to the bed, he climbed back in, and lay on his back, Jenny rolled over, and snuggled in on his right. He held his other arm out for Talena, she smiled, and climbed in, snuggling up to him as Jenny had only on his left.
Ian Kissed Jenny on the forehead, and then Talena. "Good night, ladies." He said, and smiling, he fell quickly asleep.
Talenas' swimming lessons went surprisingly well; she was a natural swimmer, once Ian and Jenny got her over her fear of the water, they had a hard time keeping her out of the pool. She had gotten more comfortable around Ian as well; she had even taken to joining Jenny in flirting with him, during her lessons.
The Williams' and the Laskars' had gotten everything packed, and Ian's family left their house for the last time; that is to say Ian, Jenny, and three holograms left. A huge hologram of a moving van, followed the two cars out of town, into the night. 4 miles out of town, Ian turned off the highway, and headed for the spot he had originally met Oly. Once there, he pulled the car into the cargo hold of the shuttle. It was a tight fit, the last of the Laskars personal belongings was in there too. The big hatch closed and Jenny and He went forward to the lounge. There they greeted a grinning Bill, Julie, and Janet.
Three hours later a huge fireball destroyed the home and residence of William, and Julie Laskar, killing them both, and Janet Jones, Julie’s mother who was visiting. No other damage was caused by the fire, except the total destruction of the home, a broken gas main had been blamed for the deaths, reported a local newspaper. A very sad and distraught Jenny, and Ian returned to make funeral arrangements for the remains of her family. Jenny commented to Ian one night when they were alone that it was damn hard to keep up the act.
Once they got aboard, Ian took the Laskars on a tour of the great ship. They stopped by medbay, to see how Debbie was doing.
“She’s doing good. Her body is responding to the treatment very well. It’s a good thing she has a strong will, it was a close call. Her determination helped almost as much as the treatments.” Beth told him.
"Where is Stevie?" Ian asked.
Barb smiled at him, "Cindy and Talena are playing with him in our quarters."
"Ah." Ian said, "I knew there was a reason they came along."
Beth interjected, "That and to get into the simulators. Those two are almost as hot to get into a Hornet, as they are about each other." She chuckled.
As Ian turned to leave medbay, Barb stopped him. "Sir, a word with you?"
"Sure, Barb, but when I'm off duty, you can call me Ian. What's up?" Ian said
"Star told me that I will need to 'train' more before I am ready to begin my duties. She started last night and …wow! This stuff makes the falcons back home look sick. I hope it's ok if I take more time. Star said I could probably start working in a day or two, and could continue my training at night. Damn weird to wake up in the morning knowing things that you didn't when you went to sleep." She stopped, shaking her head.
Ian smiled at her. "You take as much time as you need, Debbie needs you right now, and you don't need to go anywhere until you feel comfortable about leaving her. Consider yourself on 'Family Leave'."
"Well, that's another; I wanted to thank you for …well for all of this. Deb would be diein' right now, and I don't think I could've stood that. I love her so much. Stevie is even doin' good! He was just super excited! He wasn't to happy when Beth put those contacts in his eyes, but he fell asleep shortly after that, and when he woke up this morning, He ran to my arms, kissed me and said good morning! In Talosian! I didn't even realize it was another language at first, then it came to me what he said, and that I understood it! We were having a hard time getting him to learn anything. Now he knows two languages! Star told me she started him on; English, Talosian, basic Arithmetic and what she called Ethics. It's truly amazing. Thank you so much for allowing us to become part of this crew. It's changed our whole life, for the better." She hugged him, pressing her breasts into his chest, and Ian was acutely aware of her hard nipples. He released her, and continued the tour with the Laskars.
When Ian got back to his quarters, he changed into his uniform, and walked to the lift to his ready room. He got in there, and found a message from Jenny; She would like to see him, when he got in. "I'm here Commander, come on in." He told the intercom.
Jenny walked through the door almost immediately, taking a seat she began; "Captain, I have the results of the damage assessment you wanted. It's not good. StarDancer is barely able to maintain atmosphere. I got the drones to work on the hull. However I didn't re-assign the ones you have working under the keel. Some of the breeches are under there, and we'll need to get to them."
Ian nodded for her to continue.
"The main reactor is stable, but in a minimum power mode. Star only did enough to get containment back and hasn't actually done anything else to it. We'll need a couple of people with a lot of training in nuclear physics to get that fixed. The secondary reactors for the residential areas are all stable, and working fine."
"Let Janet know what you need specifically, perhaps she'll be able to find who we need." Ian said.
Jenny nodded, made a notation, and then continued; "I took all the weapons systems off line, except for the shield generator; it's not active, and it needs work too, but I thought we'd need something incase the bad guys showed up."
Ian nodded in agreement, "Good thinking, but if we have any spare drones get them working or repairing what you can. However, the hull comes first."
Again Jenny nodded, and made a note. "We're gonna need engineers up here for any serious work to be done. Some things are so damaged that they'll need an engineer to re-design them. The flight control computers on the flight decks are hurtin' too. Betas' are gone. The hardware is intact, but the operating systems are gone. There was a back up in the main computer, but it's corrupt. Alphas' are not much better off; it still works, but fails self test about half the time."
"I'll get Bill busy on the flight computers, then have him go through the primaries. It won't do us much good to launch fighters if we can't get off this rock." Ian said, "Is there anything else?"
"Nothing super critical. The Cryo-sleep facility is completely down until the systems can be gone through. Star had a drone in there repairing the door on Talenas' pod, and to check the rest; they all failed." Jenny said.
"Well, not to high a priority on that, if we need to use them, there's no one to rescue us anyway." Ian said. He leaned forward to the intercom, "Chief Laskar; Please come to the captains ready room." He said.
"Acknowledged; on my way." Bill replied.
He turned back to Jenny. "So, anything else you think I need to know about?"
"Well sir, I have a couple of
projects I want to work on, but it'll require the launch of a couple of cloaked
probes, three actually. I have noticed something in the weather of the planet,
I don't know if it's anything or not, that's what two of the probes are for, so
I can check. They only need to stay cloaked until they get into position. I
want one of them above each pole. Once there, they’ll be invisible to radar.
The third probe will have to stay cloaked, I want it
in orbit over
"Why? We've seen no sign that our secret has leaked, we're in no position to aid anyone in any form yet. What's going through that lovely, but devious mind of yours?"
"A 'feeling' I guess you could call it. I don't think Star has all the information about the Enemy in our system as she thinks. I just want to check to make sure my instinct is wrong. No, I haven't had any premonitions, but I was thinking about the political events, and choices of the past few years. It just doesn't track right to me. So, I wanna look, and do more research before I come to any conclusions." She finished.
Ian couldn't understand what she meant, but he trusted her, and her instincts. "Permission granted for the probes, provided they are reliable enough to use. Keep me informed about what you find."
Just then the door chime sounded, and Ian granted entrance. Bill came in and took the seat Ian waved him too. Ian got up, and walked over to the replicators. "Can I get either of you two anything?" He asked. When they both shook their heads Ian turned back to the unit, "Cappuccino, French vanilla, sweet, warm." He took the cup after it appeared in the shelf, and returned to his desk.
"Ready to get to work, Chief?" Ian asked, grinning. Ian briefly outlined what he had discussed with Jenny.
Bill's eyes lit up at the challenge this posed; "Bill Gates eat your heart out!" He said.
"Take your time Chief; you don't need to start this until tomorrow. Relax, get used to your new surroundings, and settle in. Then worry about work." Ian told him.
Bill chuckled, nodded, saluted, and then left, whistling a tune.
Talena was also falling deeply in love with Cindy, it was obvious in the way she looked at her, the way she talked, and even the way she touched her. Cindy gave back to the girl everything she was given. She didn't neglect her other lovers though, and she made it clear to Talena that she needed to spend time with the others too. Talena would just smile and kiss her goodnight, turn and walk to their room. Jenny or Beth had taken to joining Talena on the nights that Cindy wanted to spend with the rest. Talena was never upset or jealous, she accepted it as natural. She did, however, begin to shoo people back to Beth's room; saying that they should all be together sometimes.
Cindy was talking to her about that one evening. "Talena, I know you're not feeling left out, but I feel like I am leaving you out. I love you; I don't want to hurt you. Maybe, one of these nights you might want to join us?"
"I don't know, love. I…" She took a deep breath, "I like Beth, and Jenny too, but…well, I've never even thought about a boy like that. I like Ian too, and listening to you at night is really getting me thinking about it. Give me some time; I might want to join you one of these nights, that is, if the others want me there too." She said.
"Baby, you have no idea how much they would want you to join us. Trust me on this, you have an open invitation any time you want to use it." Cindy told her.
"Ian, too?" Talena asked, astounded.
Cindy chuckled, "Hon, if you can hear them, they can hear us. Yes, Ian too. He doesn't want to scare you or make you feel pressured. You definitely turn him on."
"Really?" Talena looked hopeful.
"Oh yeah, and Beth and Jenny are definitely drooling when you're not looking. Relax Hon; you'd be welcome, anytime." Cindy smiled, as the girl laid her head on her shoulder. Talena sighed in contentment, and soon they were both asleep.
The next couple weeks were a blur for Ian, Jenny contacted the Lawyers and the meeting went off without a hitch. All three of them had agreed to work on behalf of the new company. Papers were drawn up, and signed. Federated Resources Incorporated was born. They started buying land up in the desert, and inquiries were made of local builders. 2 architects and 6 engineers were hired by the corporation, and plans were drawn up for an environmentally friendly building. A construction company was purchased, mainly because the owner was Talosian, and Ian wanted to have them ready to go on whatever project needed to be done. The owner was retained as foreman, his experience and familiarity with his people were essential.
Star had continued Talena’s and Cindy’s education. Thanks to the use of the teaching technology, Cindy graduated High School with honors. She then passed Talosian ground school. Talena and she moved on to flight school. Training, however, was restricted to simulator flights until two hornets could be re-certified as flight ready. Talena and Cindy both volunteered to help with that, and spent their days on the flight deck, with Barb, tearing down two of the hornets.
2 of the engineers had backgrounds in aircraft design; one had worked for Boeing, and the other Lockheed. Both were told the whole story, and jumped at the chance to go aboard and learn all about StarDancer. Ian recommended that their families stay behind until they could verify the stability and integrity of the great ship.
The engineers had assured Ian that the Ship was sound, but did need some serious repairs. Whole sections of the great ship had to be sealed while huge sections of the outer hull were replaced. Damage was also discovered in the four main keel sections. Those great beams were the backbone of the ship. The radiation released when the main reactor scrammed, had caused molecular degradation. Two maintenance drones had to be modified with special replicators, and larger power units with more shielding, before the repair to those could take place. Ian's earlier plan for getting the dreadnaught up on stanchions had worked only because of Ian's lack of experience with engineering; he had over-done the amount of stanchions needed, and so the extra support had kept the ship from breaking up, when the lifting started. It would take the drones at least six months to get the keel sections replicated. In the mean time, they would start work on designing the thrusters needed to lift StarDancer back to where she belonged.
Janet was not idle during this period either; she had recruited 15 more flight candidates, including two of the engineers' children, 3 mathematical ‘geniuses’ that would make good navigators, one nuclear physicist that had recently graduated from MIT, and 21 others for various positions on the crew. She also had made initial contact with a couple of inventors.
Barb and Debbie returned and out-processed, then they cleared out their apartment, with the help of a domestic drone. They gave their furniture to the landlord, explaining that the house they had gotten already had some really nice stuff. They thanked him for being so nice to them, paid off their lease and left.
Debbie only had a few dizzy spells, but Beth had assured her that they had gotten all of the cancer. It's just that it was so advanced that it had taken more then it usually would to get rid of it.
They returned to their new home, smiling, and started their new lives.
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