Chapter 21

I awoke slowly, enjoying the feel of my two ladies curled up on either side of me. After what had happened to me with the stabbing, it was a pleasant change of pace. We didn’t go wild after the revelations of them being pregnant, but we did enjoy some slow love making before resting for the evening. I slid out of bed carefully, hoping not to wake either of them. I grabbed some food from the fabricator and began to go over things that had been happening lately. A lot had happened in a short amount of time and things were beginning to change rather rapidly.

We had learned of other surviving groups of Mac’skarians, I was attacked by an unknown assailant and now finding out my lovers are both pregnant. I began to try and find ways to keep them out of harm’s way, but quickly realized that neither of them would allow that to happen. My mind then moved to the problem at hand. Hopefully, they have been able to track down the area that the attacker has been hiding in, but I would check that later once my bed mates had woken up.

I activated my computer screen and decided to go through the various reports that had accumulated while I was in recovery. It looked like progress on completing the White Claw was on schedule, but it looked like we would need to do a supply run soon. I sent messages to the various team leaders to complete as much as they could and ensure the ship was ready for hyperspace travel. It would take another three or four runs to get all the material we would need, but with the Claw there, we could collect far more. Tali would be able to pilot the scout back and forth from the planet, while Hobbs used his drones to secure the various materials into the uninhabited sections of the ship. Planning this gave me an idea and I began working on plans for a simple cargo ship to send out to the various planets we have tagged for material collection.

This ship would be about one hundred and eighty meters long, with only the first fifth of the ship as a habitable area for the crew. We would need to ensure that they had an AI to assist in the collection of materials as ship’s functions. The outer hull would have turrets placed in specific areas to ensure, in the event of attack, that they would not leave any area unprotected.

However, there still needed to be a ship to enter and collect the materials that would be faster and maneuverable than the big clunky cargo ship. I added two attachment areas for small ships that would assist the cargo vessel, acting as both collection vessel and armed escort vessel. They would be a modified version of our AI controlled fighter, but a bit more compact.

This would allow them to fit snugly onto the hull of the cargo ship for Hyperspace travel. They would be armed with medium class plasma cannons and medium yield torpedo launchers.

I tagged the design for review by our AI counterparts, as well as our lead engineers. They would go through and fix any design flaws or add upgrades that would benefit the design of the ship.

Once the White Claw was completed, I would use her to collect as many loads as possible of materials that we would need to complete the first cargo ship and escorts. Once that was operational, it would be used to collect the materials needed for the next. Once we had two in operation, we would be collecting more materials then we would be using and could begin working towards more exploratory or defensive vessels.

With that out of the way, I decided to take a look at the security reports before, during and after my attack. After combing through the various information, I was unable to gleam anything new about where the attackers could possibly be. I was tempted to check the most recent records of their scans, but that would be redundant, given all three AI were working on the problem. I placed my empty plate in the fabricator and heard stirring behind me. I turned to see that Evie was beginning to wake up. She sat up and stretched, causing the sheet to fall from her, exposing her torso to my hungry eyes. Only a year ago, I would have never even imagined I would be staring at her as I was, and now I can’t think of anything else I would rather do.

She looked at me and gave me a groggy smile, before sliding out of bed. She grabbed a robe that hung near the bed and quickly put it on. I smiled, given that there was no need for such modesty here, but she felt the need to wear it. I think it had something to do with the AIs popping into our room without notice. I would need to speak to them about that, because it was a serious shame to hide such an exquisite body.

Don’t get me wrong, Ev was no slouch before she chose to join me. She had always kept an active lifestyle and ensured that her body stayed slim, though never really toned. She liked various foods and sweets, which she swore she would never give up, so it kind of balanced things out. She was never super busty, but she had been gifted with an ample bosom. Now she was as toned as any gym bunny and built like a porn star. I didn’t understand the reason she would make such changes, but, if it made her happy, I wasn’t going to argue. It did make me wonder why she wanted to change herself so drastically though. She walked over to the fabricator and made her usual breakfast. Eggs, bacon, hashbrowns and ham, though it was a double order due to the new metabolism she had. At least that was her reasoning for the need to eat so much.

“Good morning, Ev,” I said as I joined her at the table. “I hope that you slept well and are feeling a bit better to have that surprising news off your chest.”

She smiled and said, “I slept better than I have for a long time and, yes, I do feel better. I have wanted to bear your child ever since I started falling for you and had been resigned to it never happening. I know that you are still adjusting to our new dynamic, so I was unsure of how you would react to finding out I was pregnant. Your reaction last night eased all of my fears, so I am happy and content right now.”

“I am glad that you feel that way,” I replied. “There is one thing I have been meaning to ask, but it has never really been the time or the place. We have either been busy working on the Claw, working on building this relationship between us and Vish, or dealing with random issues that have cropped up.”

She placed her fork on the plate and turned towards me with her interest peaked in what would make me ramble like this.

I took a deep breath and said, “Why did you get Tali to make the various changes to your body when you were adjusted? I figured you would just want to get the enhancements and knowledge.”

Ev laughed and said, “I did, but it looks like Tali had other plans. I am not complaining, I look and feel better than I ever have before, and I am not going to complain. Besides, even though I didn’t request them, I know why it was done.”

I gave her a confused look which only made her laugh again, which caused movement under her robe that distracted me for a moment.

“All these changes were to make me more your type,” She explained. “You know that I have been in love with you for a long time?” I nodded and went to reply, but she raised her hand in the universal signal for ‘be quiet I am not finished.’

She took a deep breath and continued, “Well, I am not proud to say I would do what was typical for most teenage boys. I would sneak into your room and smell or wear you used tee shirts. I also, through trial and error, located your porn stash. I began to make mental notes of the types of girls that you tended to pick. Bust, height, build, and all that, so that I could try to change myself a bit to entice you. I know it didn’t really work, because you never knew how I felt until recently, but that information was still there. I think that Tali used that information to adjust my body to fit those parameters. Now I am sure that my information was old by that time, since we had been apart for many years and tastes change over time. I am sure, if you ask her, she could explain as to why she made these changes.

“What have you been up to since you woke up?”

I shrugged, “I caught up on the various reports that had built up since my attack, then I looked at the progress reports on the White Claw. I think that we will need to head out soon to collect materials and this time we need to take the Claw. I have sent instructions to the various department heads to focus on ensuring that the ship is ready for hyperspace.

“After that, I got an idea for a design for a cargo ship. The design is just a template for now, but I had tagged you and the engineers to review and adjust the designs. I figure once the Claw is finished, we can build it, then use its runs to build the next. My hope is to start making this place more self-sufficient.”

“Okay, I look forward to seeing what you came up with,” Ev replied. “Is the plan to go to the same planet?”

“I’m not sure,” I replied as I opened up the file showing the planets that Alta had found. “I do know that with the White Claw we could collect some animals to keep and raise. I will have Tali and Alta to look at what we would need to collect to ensure we could create a successful menagerie of animals. I think another thing we will need to create for the station and the ship are arboretums. I think being able to enjoy some time with nature, instead of being surrounded by metal and technology could do wonders for our people.”

“That’s an amazing idea,” Ev replied between bites of food. “I am sure that it would be a great boost to morale, especially with the threat scare we had when our new friends arrived.”

It was around this time that Vish’ala began to stir. I couldn’t help but watch as she, too, began to stretch the kinks out of her body. She glanced over at us and smiled, before climbing out of bed and collecting her breakfast before joining us. I let her know of what I had been up to, and she looked forward to seeing the designs of the cargo ship. She liked the idea of the arboretum, as she missed the forests of the home world. The biggest issue would be how they would be able to maintain the needed sunlight for any of the plants that would be collected. The next issue would be how to collect the vegetation without damaging it. If we had a matter transportation system, like many science fiction shows have, it would be much simpler. However, neither the Mac’skarians, nor any of the former allies had created such technology. I would leave the planning of this to others, who I was sure would produce something. For now, we needed to focus on the current objectives before us.

We needed to find the attacker, find out why they attacked me and to whom they answered. This would allow us to figure out if there were more threats that could be coming. From there, it would give us an idea of any incoming threats and would determine where our focus would be.

If we were safe from such threats, then we would focus on building and expanding our resources. If we had incoming dangers, then we would focus on preparing our defenses to survive what might be coming. I looked forward to the new people we would be meeting when we visited the other survivors in the coming months.

As if on cue, Alta and Tali simmered into existence next to the table. “Sorry to bother you Captain,” Tali said with a slight bow, “but we figured you would be more receptive to our arrival now.”

I smiled, “Thank you both for waiting and giving us some time to wake up and eat before appearing.”

“You’re welcome, sir,” Alta replied. “We have worked tirelessly, and we believe that we have been able to figure out which area of the station the assailant has been hiding in. The added drone presence has limited their options to where they could move to and there have been signs of phantom access to some doors and attempts to open sealed areas. However, there was no sign of anyone when the drones arrived. These show that they are hiding within the eastern section of blue seventeen.”

“Thank you, Alta,” I replied with a smile. “Tell me something. How susceptible is Mac’skarian technology to EMP pulses?”

“Most technology is weak against certain forms. Other key systems like life support or the AI cores are shielded against such energy. Why do you ask, sir?”

“Can a drone be made to overload and generate such a pulse?” I asked, as my mind wondered.

“Umm, yes I believe they can sir,” Tali answered hesitantly, “But why would you want to do...” Her eyes flashed and she glanced at Alta, whose eyes flashed as well. I could tell they had figured out my plan.

“We will begin an EMP bombardment of the possible areas the enemy is hiding in,” Alta announced. “We will have security teams on standby for when we locate the target. You will be notified as soon as they are in custody, and we will ensure all security teams understand that the target must be captured alive.”

I thanked them and they disappeared in a flash of light. I turned to my table mates and saw that they seemed to be a little worried.

“Don’t worry ladies,” I said reassuringly. “I don’t plan on leaving this room until we get the word from our AI companions that the perpetrator has been captured. That said, you two are under no obligation to do the same.”

Ev shook her head, “There is no need for me to be anywhere else today. All my crews know what their tasks are and will see to them. Any reports I receive, I can go over on the computer terminal in our room.”

“The same is true for me,” Vish’ala replied with a shrug. “Today we would have gone through mock battles to ensure that everyone was ready in the case of another attack.”

That caught my attention and I said, “What do you mean, mock battles? Normally you would use functional vessels to test the various crews’ responses. We only have the White Claw, and we don’t have a full crew complement at the moment.”

Vish’ala typed in a few commands into the console and a display appeared on the screen. “We have the tests without leaving the space dock,” she explained as she keyed in footage. “As you can see, Hobbs provides the feedback of what the ship would do, so that we can accurately respond. Tali and Alta provide the input from the enemy vessels. That way we are completely unsure of what is happening, and they are as well. When we do this, they are not tied into the Claw’s systems in any way. This allows our choices to be a surprise to them and vice versa.”

I smiled, “That is an ingenious way to run drills, Vish’ala. Where did you produce the idea to do it this way?”

“Your holo display system that Tali created for you to interact with the data we receive from our sensors,” she replied. “You were able to plan and adjust using only the raw data, so I figured we could do the same in the case of practicing.”