Chapter 12

Wendy and Merritt stepped out of the bathroom naked. My eyes quickly focused on their loveliness from the comfort of my bed. Each woman had a towel wrapped around her head. "Must have had a morning shower," I thought, sitting up and stretching my arms.

They must have seen movement in my darkened room because they laughed and ran to me, jumping on the bed.

"Finally waking up?" Merritt asked, her nut-brown skin glistening from the recent shower.

Wendy kissed me, resting her hands on my shoulders while straddling me. I enjoyed her warm greeting and rubbed her nipples with the backs of my hands. Her moist skin was silky soft. Wendy nibbled on my lips like she was feeding herself a tasty morsel and enjoying the texture and flavor of her snack.

"Hum," Wendy cooed.

"Keep moving girl, we have the captain's inspection this morning and we promised Dr. Cina we would be in early to help her prepare," Merritt said in a giggle.

Before Wendy got away I leaned over and suckled a nipple. She quickly held my head to her chest and arched her back while I enjoyed my morning sample of femininity.

"Honestly, Von, you're spoiling her. We have to get ready for work and hit the mess hall," Merritt said with a laugh and a wiggle of her hips.

Merritt's infectious laugh and flirtatious nature wasn't lost on me, even if she was attempting to discourage anything serious. Seeing both of the naked women first thing in the morning was an enjoyable sight. Merritt pulled up her uniform and got dressed. Wendy rushed to her uniform, put it on and hastily adjusted it in an attempt to look decent.

"We both had a lovely night with you," Merritt whispered, "have a great day at work. I just know Wendy is going to have a lot to say to the other nurses today; the smile on her face seems permanent, so you know they will ask her why."

We shared an intimate grin for a moment before Merritt hopped off the bed. Experience told me there was no use in asking them to avoid talking about last night. Merritt's take no prisoners attitude about exposing me to "women in need" wasn't going to change, and Wendy's face was shining brightly today, and would naturally attract her friends to comment.

I put on a silk shirt. After checking their appearance in the bathroom mirror, both women left me alone in the cabin. I had lots of time before my shift started, which made it an easy decision to call Julie Gundlach from my console.

"Yeoman Gundlach," she answered, before looking at the screen and seeing who it was. "Von."

"Julie do you have time for a morning workout in the officer's gym?"

She looked around her room in thought. "Sure. We can do that. Now, I assume?"

"Ya, I want to work out my kinks before work," I responded.

Julie gave me a friendly salute with her prosthetic hand. A hint of a smile formed as her lips curved up. "See you there in five."

She disconnected and I quickly dressed in workout clothes, walking from my quarters and down the corridor to the gym. A Hand Trolley, an anti-gravity cart used to transport up to four people passed me. It was empty of any crew, so it had to be under Miley's control. "The ship's artificial intelligence handling a mundane task," I thought. The cart was a side-by-side standing platform with automated restraints to protect the passengers. There weren't a lot of them on the ship. They were called a Hand Trolley by the manufacturer because the passengers rested their back against a cushioned body mold while resting their hands on a set of protective bars. Generally, such a vehicle was used by damage control teams or cleaning crews because the cart had storage units for supplies and tools.

Just inside of the small gym, Julie was bending over doing stretching exercises, giving me a good look at her tantalizing curves. She turned and caught me looking.

"Men," Julie said, playfully, "so visually simulated."

Some color flushed my cheeks, which seemed to please her. I shrugged my shoulders; there was no defense to her words, they were so true. Unfazed at my gawking, she walked over and kissed my eyelids. "Clearly, she is happy to see me," I thought.

"Well? How do you want to work out today?" she asked.

"Staff work?" I responded, wondering if she was game. She normally worked out with swords with the captain, so I wasn't sure if that interested her.

"I can do that," Julie said.

We warmed up for about twenty minutes, before we put pads and protective gear on. Julie led me through the standard Fleet forms used with practice staffs for another ten minutes. We both moved with practiced ease at the familiar staff katas. The six-foot staffs whirled, stabbed, and blocked imaginary opponents.

"Ready for a bout?" she asked.

"Yes, thanks."

We stepped into the ring and began. The tempo of the bout accelerated with a rash of strikes and parries, neither of us gaining the upper hand. Her surprise at my abilities faded and determination sprouted with a flurry of powerful thrusts at my legs. They were blows that would cause some pain if not blocked. "She is in a serious mood," I thought. Her prosthetic arm didn't seem to be a problem, all her movements were fluid and graceful.

"Well, all right then," I mumbled. "We can take it up a notch if you want."

Julie grinned like a true competitor, accepting the challenge.

I went on the offensive using my full speed, fighting on Haven put real world combat experience into my moves. Timing and balance blasted Julie's defenses, hurting her rhythm. Relentlessly pressing her parries put Julie on the back foot and I went straight for her, taking space. She yielded as little as she could until a chest-high thrust caught her off-balance. My blow knocked Julie down to her knees and she had to roll out of the circle to avoid my next strike, thus ending the bout.

Julie's eyes studied me with fierce intensity, and then she laughed as she stood up. She bowed and set her practice staff down. Looking up at me, I saw no menace or ill will in her. We closed and hugged each other.

"The captain said you took your bouts seriously. Now I know it's true," Julie said, panting.

"Nothing like having to fight for your life to make self-defense practice serious," I responded.

She wiggled her silver prosthetic in silent agreement.

We had three more bouts but she just didn't have my level of experience. The captain's comments about her excellent swordsmanship still rattled in my brain, so I was a polite winner. I counted it a success when I kept my male pride in check in the face of a woman I admired. Julie's personality complemented mine, in that we both had a calm and easy-going approach to life. She was a woman to truly value.

The post-work-out satisfaction and endorphin releasing exercise left us both in good spirits. We bantered a few words around and talked about taking a shower. It surprised me when she invited me back to her room. I peered into her eyes and felt an instant understanding of her offer. My desires matched hers, so we ran together to her room in a shameful lack of decorum if anyone saw us, but we didn't care. Since this corridor was under observation by the security office, I was sure they would be having an interesting discussion about us.

After a quick and rigorous coupling we were sweaty again. She wasn't a woman concerned about male odor when she was aroused. Our lovemaking had been rough and full of need, inside the shower stall. Unfortunately, her shower ration time wasn't as long as mine but it was for the best, due to our time constraint. For a few minutes, after we were dry, we playful wrestled on her bed like kids, not wanting to do our chores. Her kisses were tender and wet. I stroked her face a few times, and then announced my intent to go. She understood our duty and released her hold on me.

It was only when I stubbed my toe on the edge of the large vault door in Julie's room that I thought about its unusual presence. It was out of sight of the cabin door and her bunk because Julie's room was "L" shaped. The tall hullmetal door was substantial and impressively armored with a hand-shaped biometric scanner that would open it, but only if the retina scan matched up too. The double safeguard was impressive; I didn't doubt there was another hidden trick to opening it too. She saw my questioning look and explained it was her marine armor vault. It was no secret a yeoman was allowed to retain their marine combat gear. However, I didn't realize it was stored outside the armory. Julie saw the questioned look on my face and immediately spun the tale of how it came to be in her cabin. Her simple explanation was this was how the captain ran his ship. His ship, his rules; each yeoman was granted a personal armor vault if they wanted it. A yeoman was a highly decorated and trusted individual; however, Julie was younger than most of its valiant members. Not thinking anymore about it, I hurried to my room to get dressed for work and go for a bite to eat.

After finishing my cereal and coffee in the mess, I strolled into the lounge with a couple more food items. The place was full of people, gossiping before running to their duty stations. We had about twenty minutes before the ship's bell would sound to announce the shift change. I dropped into a comfortable seat in the lounge, by the corridor leading to the elevator that would eventually take me down to engineering. I wanted to eat the packet of dried fruit and the muffin that were in my hands.

The crew was in motion all around me. Both the lounge and corridors stirred with sounds of mixing voices and the odd slap of boots on the floor. I gathered snatches of gossip that arrived with little surprises. The recent merriment in the nightclub during the formal dance had raised word of my antics with a certain security officer, causing wonder and speculation at Ulla's taste in men, especially since I looked much younger than she and I had come with a date. Another voice also talked about the Empire Day dance and sounded familiar too. I rotated in my chair and saw it was Lt. Boorman's girlfriend from engineering; the pilot didn't like me, and apparently his woman continued to find anything to do with me of interest. The woman's gloomy features rounded the corridor with her companions, and then quickly disappeared from view. Her small group moved beyond my hearing. "Why does she care about Lt. Ulla Foth's personal life if it's not due to me?" I thought. "It's not like they are in the same departments and work together. What do I care? It's time for work."

Sounds of the crew echoed and died when my partner took me into a service tunnel. Most of the egg-shaped tunnels are half as wide as tall, with grated floors that had secondary piping under them. The ship's design put redundant systems as far away as possible from the main systems, hoping to isolate problems where practical.

Once we were alone, Rayz let his shoulders droop and dropped his head with a sigh.

"What's wrong, Rayz?" I asked.

"Dorothy wants me to take her to the nightclub tonight," he said with a strong reaction.

"Is that a problem?" I asked, while thinking, "I don't want to see her in the nightclub tonight. The last time I saw her she kissed me without warning."

"I don't like the nightclub; it's too crowded and noisy," Rayz mumbled.

Now that he mentioned it, I remembered his dislike of staff meetings and noisy areas. He always seemed to stand near doors during meetings. I had thought he was just eager to get back to work. It seems crowds made him more uncomfortable than I'd realized. "Rayz wasn't really outwardly social, so it might not occur to him to offer another solution for a date," I thought.

"Think you can ask her to go to a quieter place with fewer people?" I asked. "The piano lounge outside of the mess hall isn't as big or noisy, and I hear lots of people go there with their sweethearts. It serves ice cream and pies at night."

My partner ran a hand quickly over his shaved head, shifting foot to foot. He was clearly uncomfortable with his options. Rayz's momentary uncertainty changed when he looked me in the eyes again.

"I'll do that," he said, ending the discussion by walking down the tunnel.

I followed him. "Crisis averted. Rayz is more comfortable and I dodge his girlfriend."

We exited the service tunnel and began another day of remarkably monotonous inspecting of emergency suits. Our routine varied only by the different people I engaged in conversation with in elevators. Rayz stopped discouraging me to talk with the crew in the compartments we visited, after he saw my attentiveness to detail. Almost every compartment we worked through had at least one suit to inspect. Hour after hour, we worked one floor at a time, hidden storage areas, maintenance tunnels, living quarters, corridors, wherever a suit was located.

I quickly became reacquainted with how to dodge small transport bots that weaved around the corridors like small dogs. They delivered items around the ship. Much like clan ships, the explorer class ships use Just-In-Time resupply methods, which strived to replace consumable items when needed. This practice helps cut crew stress levels, keeping things like vending machines full of snacks or coffee makers supplied with filters and beans.

My mind had wandered a bit as Rayz led me through the tunnels in silence. I hadn't taken note of our floor or location, since my partner made the decision on the order of our inspections. During the silent walk my mind was at war with my emotions. On one hand, it was time for answers and both sisters were going to give them to me. They were operating behind my back and I was sick of it. On the other hand, fond memories drifted through my head and they felt good.

With the promise of a meeting with Kate, I finally decided to put aside my frustration and sift through old memories while walking with Rayz. Except for Kate, my female relationships at school had been pretty tame. Eastern Empire girls treated me like an alien because my mother wasn't well liked in that part of the empire. It was full of more conservative worlds that believed she was pushing artificial intelligence forward too far. Border world girls felt threatened by guys with any trace of aristocratic blood; I didn't blame them: even I didn't like most of the guys with noble blood. For some reason men from noble families thought the universe should bow down to them. The core world women at school were just indifferent to me. It didn't help that I wasn't looking for a romantic relationship in the Academy. It was Kate who broke me out of my shyness with women. We saw things in each other that led to a great friendship.

When we led our cadet team at school, Kate was my enforcer. She ensured my orders were followed and she did the micro-managing of team members. Even when she didn't agree with me in public, Kate joined me in a united front among our peers. Her strong will and steadfastness was the real power behind my team's success in damage control challenges, as she trusted my judgment and my instincts. Every team strived to win the competitive award for saving a simulated damaged ship, which was an annual event steeped in tradition. The competition was judged by a board of nine senior officers, and winning the event had sealed my reputation for leadership among the cadets and instructors. Together with Kate's fierce determination, we excelled, performing better together than individually. It was a treasured part of my past.

Warm feelings from the memory tugged at me. "How can I be mad at Kate without hearing her out?" I missed her and the thought of her rejection had angered me. My intermittent self-righteousness concerning Kate was like a shield against the hurt. "I owe Kate the right to defend herself and to explain what she was doing by keeping away from me," I thought.

My partner made his way not to the next tunnel but to an access door on the side of the current tunnel, near a junction. He wasn't talkative about his thoughts most of the time, which didn't bother me. I was just trying to get through the day, waiting for my chance to talk with Kate and Merritt. Thus, it was a surprise when he opened the access door that came out into a Medical corridor.

Rayz just grinned at me when I realized it. "Merritt asked Dorothy to make sure you had your break-time here today," he said, his voice pitched to a near whisper. "Dorothy owed Merritt a favor, I guess."

I hit him in the shoulder and he gave a fake cry of pain.

"Anything for Dorothy?" I asked with a smirk. I regretted the comment immediately because Rayz can be surprisingly touchy; but, he didn't take offense.

Rayz made a dismissive gesture and then found a chair to sit in. "Twenty to thirty minutes for our break," he said. "Dorothy is going to meet me here for a little secluded affection time."

I walked down the back corridors, curiously looking in the open supply room doors, weaving my way toward the reception area. Merritt saw me walk by the staff lounge and smiled.

"I've been waiting for you," Merritt said, patting her PDA nervously. "Hurry up and I'll take you to Kate. We thought Medical would be a good spot for you two to have some privacy. Kate is still having sessions with Dr. Cina, so her roommate wouldn't get suspicious with her spending a little time in Medical today."

"Do you have any food?" I asked.

Merritt grinned and nodded, pulling me into the lounge. "Come and grab a snack."

I picked up a coffee and a pastry. Merritt linked her arm into mine, guiding us back into the corridor and out into the reception area. No one was at the reception desk, which surprised me, and we turned and walked down a couple of side hallways until we saw a crowd exiting a conference room. I gulped the rest of my coffee and finished my snack, feeling eager to find Kate. The male medical staff ignored me and moved towards their duty stations, while a few female nurses I recognized smiled at me as they moved out of the room. Nurses that often ate in the mess with me gave flirtatious greetings before disappearing. Merritt held me in place with her arm, keeping me from going into the room.

"Patience. Let them disperse," Merritt whispered, giving me a quick kiss.

Once the crowd disappeared and without preamble Merritt said, "You need to believe me. Kate's roommate isn't a real threat to us and our relationships. Kate isn't a wild-fling type of woman, either; she needed comfort and an outlet for her natural urges when you weren't available. I can't tell you how thankful I feel, for Julia Fitz lifted my sister out of depression."

At the mention of Kate's lover I frowned. I fought the ball of tension rising up inside me. My emotions seesawed over Kate's sapphic relationship. "Be fair, " I thought, "just look at all my lovers."

Merritt stopped me and looked at me for a moment, considering her next words. "After you went missing, Kate focused on school and her career, things that would put her in a position to be able to look for you. After years of hard work, she still hadn't replaced you with a serious lover. Yet, at the beginning of this cruise she got depressed; the beginnings of doubt about locating you plagued her. Kate withdrew from me. It was Julia Fitz, our flight engineer who was responsible for the shuttle's care, that found a way to check Kate's decline. Things naturally developed when they became roommates. All the crew knew Julia's sexual preferences. Kate knew she was a lesbian and didn't care. Human compassion comes from all quarters of life. The woman listened to her and they connected."