Chapter 32

Órarduine date – 9^th year, 1^st month, 2^nd clock cycle

Destiny Group was eleven clock cycles from J3 and six clock cycles into the second leg of their voyage to J4. Sarah’s Clan had just finished their morning meeting and were walking back to their suite.

“You know, I wasn’t too keen about working rotating 12 hour shifts so that a team would have an open schedule for two clock cycles,” said Sally.

“We noticed,” replied several of her spouses.

“Well, part of that was the six day cycle doesn’t fit well into our 10 day week. Now, I am ready to admit I was wrong. From the response of our crew and family, it has worked very well. Perhaps that is because we treat them as unscheduled days rather than days off. It really changes the concept.”

“It has certainly given us an opportunity to spend more time with our children and in the learning centers,” replied Janet.

“We need to spend more time working on our martial arts skills,” said Sally. “What do you think of practicing this afternoon?”

“We could do that,” replied Alena. “This morning I have something else in mind, if I can interest some of you.” She finished her sentence just as they entered their suite. “Good, the children are not here.” With that, she turned to pull Aoife into a hug and gave her a passionate kiss. As the kiss went on, Tara and Maeve began to caress Aoife and Alena.

“So what do you have in mind?”

“Simply to lay with any of you and relax. If we cuddle, fine, if we physically express our love for each other, fine.”

“So you want to have a long slow intense love fest?”

“Yes. That is an excellent way to express it. I really wouldn’t mind just relaxing together all day. We can do our martial arts stuff tomorrow.”

Rusty, Sarah, Alison and Erin winked at each other, then working together telekinetically they picked up Alena and Aoife.

“What are you doing?” screamed Alena as Aoife laughed.

“Just taking you to where it is more comfortable to cuddle and play,” said Erin. While they were talking, Rusty, Sarah, Alison and Erin moved Alena and Aoife so that they were floating over their bed, then slowly lowered them.

“Don’t you think this is more comfortable than the sitting room couch or the floor?” asked Sarah as she and her other spouses joined Aoife and Alena on the bed.

“How did you move us?” said Alena.

“We used telekinesis. Earlier Sally was reminding us that we need to practice our martial arts skills, but we also need to exercise our psionic abilities, so we did.”

“I wasn’t thinking of those ... but you are right. We do need to practice, especially those we don’t use very often. You know, I never would have thought of using them in that way. Actually, even if I really needed them I may not have thought of using them.”

“I think you’re being a bit pessimistic,” replied Erin.

“Oh ... that feels good,” said Alena responding to Aoife’s and Maeve’s caresses and kisses, ending the discussion. Jill joined in lightly stroking Alena’s legs with her fingers.

Reclining on the bed, they lightly touched each other with their fingers or lips. Through their mind link they could feel the sensations they gave each other, whether it was a kiss or a light touch. These shared sensations added to the affection they felt for one another.

They physically shared their love in some manner virtually every day, but it had been some time since they were all able to just relax and enjoy each other’s company. While most shifted the focus of their stimulation to other spouses, those around Alena kept her as their primary focus. Jill shifted her caresses toward Alena’s pussy, then bending over she began to lick and suck on Alena’s labia. She began exploring the trough between them with her long tongue. On each pass through she ended with her tongue caressing Alena’s clit. When Jill’s tongue stud touched Alena’s clit, her legs tightened around Jill’s head. Through her mind-link with Alena, Jill knew where to place her touches to slowly build Alena’s arousal.

Terry’s long moan broke the quietness of their bedroom as she began climbing to her crest. Sensing the approaching climax, Claudette lightened her caresses. Janet reached over to a nearby cabinet and pulled out a harness with a dildo attached. The dildo was the spitting image of Rusty’s cock. Janet slipped the harness over her hips with practiced ease and then slid the dildo’s base extension deep into her pussy before latching the harness in place. While she was putting on the harness, Claudette and Terry continued caressing each other’s labia and clit with their tongues. Periodically they would pause to swallow the cream each had collected. When Claudette saw Janet was ready, she eased Terry’s legs further apart, separating the large swollen lips of her labia. Terry’s vaginal opening took on the appearance of a flower, with the labia minora forming the petals, her cream pooled at the entrance to her vaginal sheath. Claudette quickly lowered her head to suck up the cream. Feeling Janet move between Terry’s legs, Claudette rose up taking hold of the dildo.

She moved the tip of the dildo back and forth between Terry’s wet labia several times before placing it at the opening to Terry’s sheath. Janet moved forward, sliding the dildo through the entrance. When Terry felt the dildo spread the mouth of her cunt, she raised her hips toward Janet, driving the dildo further into her. As she did this, Claudette shifted, pressing her labia against Terry’s face. With Janet in front of her, Claudette leaned forward so that she could lick and suck on Janet’s nipples. Terry crossed her ankles behind Janet, pulling her tighter and increasing their stimulation. Claudette’s wet swollen labia covered Terry’s mouth but left a little breathing room. As Janet fucked her, Terry caressed the inside of Claudette’s labia with her long tongue before pressing it through the entrance to her sheath. She then stroked the entrance of Claudette’s sheath with her tongue, pausing periodically to swallow the cream flowing from Claudette. Their stimulation of each other was moving them toward their climax.

Aoife and Jill continued their focus on Alena, causing her to moan as a she reached a mini crest. Alena’s hands moved to grip Jill’s head, pulling Jill’s mouth tight against her cunt lips. Aoife said, “Rusty can you join us.”

“Just me?”

“All of you is fine.”

Rusty, Sarah and Joyce moved over by Alena. Feeling Rusty approaching, Aoife eased Alena’s grip on Jill’s head. Feeling Alena’s hands release her head, and sensing Rusty’s movement, Jill shifted, moving out of Rusty’s way while continuing to caress Alena’s labia. Smelling Rusty’s cum soaked cock Jill said, “Ready?”

“Yes.” With that, Jill moved to take Alena’s clit between her lips as Rusty’s cock head slid between Alena’s wet swollen labia. Rusty slid his cock back and forth between Alena’s large labia minora causing her to moan and flex her hips up as it passed her opening. She contracted her labia around the head of his cock trying to direct it toward the entrance of her sheath. After the first pass, the contractions of her labia minora made it difficult for him to move his cock away from her opening. Rusty pushed the head of his cock through the entrance and into her sheath then just held still. Alena’s labia minora shifted from contractions to pulling on his cock in an effort to pull it further inside. The tugs were more like caresses to Rusty as her wet labia slipped rather than gripped his cock. Alena linked her ankles behind his back then flexed her legs pulling him toward her. She moaned as his cock slid further into her.

While Rusty’s cock was teasing Alena, Jill kissed her way up Alena’s body until she captured a nipple with her mouth. Next to her, Sarah licked and nibbled on Alena’s other nipple.

Joyce leaned over and kissed Jill’s cheek while caressing her back. When Jill turned to kiss Joyce’s lips, Joyce pulled her toward her. After a passionate kiss, Joyce began licking the cunt cream off Jill’s face. Jill and Joyce intensified their caressing and kissing. They were soon lying alongside Alena with their heads between each other’s legs licking each other’s pussy.

While Jill and Joyce were caressing and kissing, Rusty began making long slow thrusts into Alena. He could sense that she was close to cumming. When Jill shifted her attention to Joyce, Sarah moved so that she could alternate between licking Alena’s clit and caressing her nipples with her tongue and fingers.

With Sarah and Rusty focusing on Alena, Aoife and Maeve changed the focus of their caressing to each other. They took turns kissing and licking the girl cream off each other’s faces. They ran their fingers between their wet swollen nether lips and occasionally slide their fingers through the opening into the sheath. As their arousal grew, they shifted so they could suck on each other’s nipples. Maeve pushed Aoife onto her back and began to kiss and lick her way down Aoife’s body. Each time Maeve paused to kiss or caress Aoife, the caress was returned by Aoife. They were soon caressing each other’s labia and clit with their tongues, periodically shifting so they could push their long tongues into the others sheath. When their tongue caressed the inside of the sheath’s entrance, the intensity of their arousal grew.

Each was intensely aware of the caresses and kisses they exchanged through contact with their partner. They could sense the effect of these on their partner’s pleasure through their mind link. Added to their pleasure and growing arousal was the interaction they sensed between the other groups of spouses. Many began to feel mini-orgasms as their arousal rose, each succeeding mini-orgasm added to the intensity of the next.

Sensing their approaching crest, Rusty increased the frequency of his thrusts into Alena. He pressed on her clit each time he was fully inside her. The warmth of his cock and the squeezing of her clit added to Alena’s arousal. Her sheath began rippling with mini-orgasms. These increased in intensity each time he pressed on her clit. Increasing his rhythm, it took only a few more strokes before the tidal wave of Alena’s climax washed over her. Her body arched then stiffened as she clamped down on Rusty’s cock trapping him deep inside her. Her sheath rippled with contractions. She was gasping for breath. Her arched body then went limp as she dropped back to the bed, pulling Rusty with her as she continued to hold tightly onto his cock.

With the intensity of Alena’s orgasm shared, all the women orgasmed multiple times. Feeling the intensity of his spouses’ orgasms kept Rusty’s cock fully erect and pulsing in time with his heartbeat inside Alena’s still quivering sheath.

After a few moments, Sarah knelt near Rusty and kissed him, while one hand was holding her labia closed to keep her girl cream from seeping out. Seeing what she was doing Rusty said, “Lay back so I can lick up your cream.” Sarah moved so that he could lean over. She had several more small orgasms as he licked her, and with each caress there was a little more cream to clean up.

Alena was still out when Rusty finished licking Sarah, so he gathered her in his arms and then rolled to move her on top of him. This move was the most any of them had made for some time.

Looking at Sarah, Rusty said, “You are always so tasty.”

“Thank you,” said Sarah as she moved alongside of him and Alena and gave him a kiss.

“Wow,” said Alena when she finally woke up. “How did I get here? You’re still hard.”

“Well after you passed out, I rolled us over so you could lie on top of me. I am still hard for two reasons. All the orgasms I felt from my spouses, and until you woke up you had a death grip on my cock.”

“Death grip?”

“Well maybe not that tight, but you were holding it tight, almost as though you didn’t want to let it go.”

“Well of course I didn’t, it feels wonderful. It gives me a very warm, full sensation.”

“Yes, we know,” replied several spouses.

Joyce added, “And you’d better treat it nicely.”

“Oh, I will. I want to use it again, perhaps to make some babies.”

“I think all of us would like to have another pair of babies,” said Sarah. “It seems to me though that we should wait until things are a bit settled in Celia system. This time we need to be more careful with the timing of our pregnancies.”

“If we space out our pregnancies then we probably won’t need assistance from Karen and the other nannies,” said Erin. “Although, it wouldn’t surprise me if they didn’t just move in with our family again. They do love being closely involved with us.”

“I have no problem with them joining us again,” said Sarah. “However, this time I would like to spend more time with our babies.”

“Agreed,” replied everyone.

“Well, when I think back to the time our children were born and since then, I feel that we did spend a lot of time with them. We were blessed in finding Karen and the other nannies to help us as they made it much easier for us to fulfill our other responsibilities.”

“I agree,” replied Erin.

“Once we decide to have more children,” said Alena, “Karen and the other nannies should be some of the first to know.”

“Oh, when you become pregnant, you won’t need to say a word. They will know as soon as they see you,” replied Alison.

“If we are going to lunch we need to hurry and freshen up,” said Jill.

“Let’s do that then come back here,” said Joyce. “On our next unscheduled period, why don’t we go visit Siobhan’s Clan?”

“Good idea, if their schedule matches ours.”

“I’ll check and see. Perhaps between our families we can make it fit.”

“That shouldn’t be a problem,” said Rusty. “In five clock cycles all the Command Staffs are to gather on Phoenix. This is for the briefing regarding the data from the exploration probes we left at J1.”

Terry added, “In the last summary I read, they were still combing the library for more information on the Lonstradaze.”

When Sarah’s Clan exited their shuttle on Phoenix, they were surprised to see Tiff and Eileen waiting for them. “This is a surprise,” said Joyce as they hugged each other.

“We thought we could help you bring your stuff to our suite before we went to the conference room,” replied Eileen.

“Stuff? Were we supposed to bring something?” Jill’s comment immediately resulted in both Tiff and Eileen frowning. It was only minutes before Sarah’s Clan began to chuckle.

Erin said, “Yes, I brought my harp. We also brought a few other instruments as well.”

“You guys...” replied Tiff and Eileen. “We should have known you were kidding, but Jill looked so serious when she responded.”

“Well, if you had used a different word it would have been more difficult.”

Erin and several others went back into the shuttle to get their instruments. When Erin came back out she said, “Okay, we’ve got our ‘stuff’.” Tiff and Eileen stuck their tongues out at her as the others chuckled.

A short time later they entered the conference room. They had just finished greeting the others in Siobhan’s Clan when Kathryn’s Clan arrived. As they were greeting each other, Maureen’s, Keriann’s, Molly’s and Jackie’s Clans arrived and joined in.

Jackie said, “We’ve missed being with all of you. It would be nice if we could all be together more frequently.”

“I agree,” replied Maureen. “Even though we share many conversations every day, it doesn’t replace being together.”

“Well,” added Kathryn, “there are a couple of options we haven’t tried. We could make a short visit after our watch ends, as it really doesn’t take long to travel between ships.”

“We’ve tried that with Jackie’s Clan,” said Molly. “We’ve also tried half of us going to their ship and half of them joining us on our ship. Both work but nothing beats all of us being together in the same location.”

When Rusty saw a few people moving to take places in the conference room he said, “If everyone is ready, we should get started as it may take us quite a while to get through our agenda.”

“I noticed that it was pretty long,” responded Keriann.

“Amy’s Clan is going to join us through our mind-link and on video.”

“We’re here,” said Amy’s Clan. “We agree with your comments regarding being together. A big benefit of all the clans getting together is that your closeness with each other will grow. This helps strengthen our inter clan links. Interestingly, we feel closer to you now than when we are all at different locations.”

“Now that you mention it, we also feel closer to your clan in these circumstances than when we are at separate locations,” said Judy of Sarah’s Clan. “Could this be due to so many of us being together at one location?”

“That makes sense,” replied Connie.

Rusty said, “Our first topic is the probe data obtained at J1. We’ve all seen the video record of events. From my perspective our Intelligence groups did an excellent analysis of the data. Before we begin our discussion on how we want to respond to the Lonstradaze lets review key portions of the video, beginning with the arrival of the two Lonstradaze ships at J1. Is everyone in agreement with this approach?”

“I find the video record very fascinating,” said Molly. “I’m all for watching it again as each time I’ve watched it I’ve noticed something else.”

“We agree,” replied the group.

“Each Intelligence group has made a similar comment,” said Conan of Siobhan’s Clan.

The video from the two probes were shown side by side on the wall size screens. It began with the flash explosion that they set to occur 12 hours after Destiny Group departed J1. The video then skipped to two clock cycles after the explosion to show the arrival of two large ships. Both ships were considerably larger than an Órarduine Badb-2 cruiser. On the sides of each ship was a large emblem, resembling the profiles of three heads with a relatively long jaw line. The Órarduine had decided to refer to them as the “Three Lions” as the heads resembled a cat more than a wolf.

The video continued showing some of the search done by the Three Lions’ ships around J1. It showed the discovery of the probes, and then them noting the small Órarduine emblems on them. The distance between the probes made it difficult to see the activity around the other probe in much detail so only a brief overview was shown. The Intelligence report, based on the probes intrusion sensor data, contained the details of the attempts to access them.

The next video segment showed the Lonstradaze on the bridge of their ship as three of them began a presentation in Standard with, “Greetings Órarduine. You are likely surprised that we know who you are. This is primarily due to your emblem on the two probes we found here and a recent update received from the Iridiens. We have a friendly relationship with them and we take part in some joint activities. Our World also has a friendly relationship with some of the other members in the Alliance of Worlds. We are known as Lonstradaze.

“Hopefully our attempts to access your probes didn’t result in any damage. We halted those attempts as soon as we learned that the probes were yours.

“This stop was not on our original itinerary. We added it after our sensors detected activity in this area. The activity tweaked our interest as this area was thought to be uninhabited. Satisfying our curiosity required only a small deviation in our path, so we came to investigate. The flash of light prior to our arrival added to our interest. We suspect the flash was something in the debris. If the flash was an explosion, it wasn’t very substantial as it doesn’t appear to have dispersed the debris.

“According to the Iridiens you are using three salvaged freighters whose previous history is unknown to you, the Iridiens, and the Dutsuz who initially found them. The emission spectra we measured for them matches those of a group of freighters who have given their operators nightmares because they seem to attract thieves. However, the builders of these freighters are well known for their space ships’ quality and reliability. This problem has only been associated with a small number of their ships.

“Anyway, after learning all of this we looked back over our sensor data from around the time you departed. It appears that you have made some significant changes to the freighters as their emissions are drastically different. The emission spectra now differ in all the bands and are at a much lower intensity. Our security staff don’t think that anyone will be able to recognize them now. Be aware that we are not sure whether the thieves use the emission spectra or something else to track this group of freighters.

“Based on the information the Iridiens provided us, you are on your way to settle a new planet. Their information did not include its location. We would like to meet you, so once you have established yourselves, please contact us. We have marked the location of our home planet on the star map now showing. As we draw back, you can see the relationship between it and this location. We included this star map in the data stream, along with the details on how to contact both this group and our home planet. In the off chance that you do not see this video we will also ask the Iridiens to relay our interest in visiting you.

“Now my two assistants will take turns giving you some background on us.”

The video continued as the two assistants described their people, home planet and its solar system. When their presentation finished, the first speaker repeated their interest in visiting the Órarduine once they were settled in their new world.

When the video finished, it was quiet for a few moments before Kendra of Siobhan’s Clan said, “Before coming to this family I always heard that humans are the only intelligent life in the universe. Now I wonder if those in the Flat Earth Society came up with that concept as well.” Many chuckled. “If I haven’t overlooked anyone, we are aware of at least 15 biped species exhibiting intelligence by both their activity and their advanced technology. There are almost certainly other species as we don’t really know how many are under the control of the Imperial Council. And yes, I am probably using the word species incorrectly.”

“We are digressing a bit,” said Betsy of Amy’s Clan. “Kendra, the way you are using the word ‘species’ is acceptable as a concept for categorizing the differences we see in the different groups of people. Some groups we have met may truly be a different species, but we don’t know enough to make that statement. Based on the information we gained from the Iridiens, we see only one world now composed of multiple races or breeds, which is the Dutsuz World. The history of the other worlds indicates that they were apparently composed of multiple breeds in the past. In their current history, there is no indication of multiple breeds. We think this is because over time they have blended together to become one breed.

“To us, race and breed are equivalent terms. You can also add subspecies to that group of terms. We know humans of Earth use race to distinguish between groups of humans but use breed when distinguishing between groups of animals within a species. Given time and the right circumstances a breed can become a distinct species. What we do know is that both Órarduine and Connemare are biologically compatible with the Iridien, Monque and Atewa groups. This implies that each of us are subspecies of a common species. We don’t have enough information about the other members in Alliance of Worlds to make a comparison with them.“Probably only a few of you have looked at how species are organized in our database. Our database organization is more flexible than that used on Earth. There is nothing wrong with their organization but once they reach out to other worlds they will find that it has limitations.”Sorry for getting carried away with my response.”

“Not a problem. So you’re saying we could reproduce with those three groups of people,” said Brittany of Kathryn’s Clan.“Yes. We are sexually compatible. We are, however a child’s appearance, abilities or traits are difficult to predict.”

Chester said, “Rusty, I suspect this is not the direction you wanted this discussion to go.”“Well ... It’s not what we had in mind when we set up the agenda.

“Betsy’s comments on species raise a question that I thought we had answered several years ago. Are we a different species to the humans on Earth?”“In the way we define species, the short answer is ‘almost’. By Earth’s methodology, they would likely classify us as a different species. However, since we are reproductively compatible being classified as a subspecies would be more correct for their system. If an Órarduine mated with an Earth human, the child would be an Órarduine but with a stronger human genetic component and traits. How that would play out as the child matures, or in succeeding generations, is unknown. We are fairly certain that Órarduine characteristics and traits would be dominant.””Okay, this is a very interesting discussion but let’s get back to the agenda topic. Chester, I thought you had a comment.””Yes. When the Lonstradaze scanned J1 on their approach it appears that they didn’t detect our probes. Does this mean that when our probes, and possibly our ships, are in passive status others can’t detect them?”

“For the probes, I think ‘hard to detect’ is a better description,” replied Allan of Molly’s Clan. “Remember, both probes were detected when their searchers observed them against the background of their ships. In these cases the probes were silhouetted against the bright background created by their ships’ operations. It’s interesting that both probes were seen, but initially only one searcher investigated.”

“We agree,” said Kelly of Keriann’s Clan. “Our probes have a nearly zero emissivity when in monitor mode. With respect to the visual spectrum, even with some activity they are virtually indistinguishable from the background of space unless, as the Lonstradaze found, you happen see them in front of a radiant source. Our Star Fighters have very similar characteristics when in silent mode.“We think Rusty’s thoughts are similar to ours. How can we minimize overlooking someone monitoring our activities?”

“Well that is part of it,” said Rusty. “So far, we think we have done well in evaluating our surroundings at each location. The Lonstradaze did not seem surprised to find our probes monitoring the area, but I think we would be. An area of more concern is their comments about the emission spectrum from the freighters. How did we change it? Is the change sufficient?”

“We should have freighter emissions scans from when we were in Sol system,” said Keriann. “Considering the practice and equipment evaluations, I would be very surprised if we don’t have loads of data.”

“Good point,” added Maureen. “We should also have some scan data for the freighters from when we were scanning the debris at J2.”

Ron of Jackie’s Clan said, “As to how we changed it, we suspect it lies in two key alterations to the freighters. The communication cables were changed from wire to fiber optic. Even shielded wire is a significant emitter, so removing it would reduce emissions. Then there are those unknown boxes we removed from the wire chases. Although not specifically investigated, many believe they were some sort of transmitter, and possibly a receiver.”

Molly of Molly’s Clan added, “If Keriann and Maureen are correct about having scan data of the freighters, which I think they are, one of our engineering groups can look into defining and quantifying the change.”

“We should also evaluate emissions from all our ships,” said Casidhe. Several looked at her with puzzled expressions. “Besides being a way of detecting us, emissions can be considered lost or wasted energy. Every bit we prevent extends our capabilities, but space ships will always have some emissions.”

“We seem to have decided on a direction to answer the emission question,” said Rusty. “So why don’t we have Jackie’s and Keriann’s Clans take this to an end point?”“We are agreeable.””Good that takes care of one part of this. The second part is, do we want to send the Lonstradaze a message when we arrive at J4.”

“We think we should,” said Kathryn’s Clan. “All of us believe Sarah’s Clan should handle the details.”

“Agreed,” replied everyone else except Sarah’s Clan, who by their expressions were quite surprised by the quick response.

After a moment, Sarah’s Clan responded with, “Well if you insist.”