Chapter 277

Deep Space

"Question is, are they going to notice us?" Ann asked as she watched as one of the alien vessels came from behind a large chunk of moon and headed straight for them.

Ann knew she could not warp out without her drive trying to take some of the debris field with them, which would probably result in the destruction of her warp drive, and/or her ship. In addition, she strongly suspected that the aliens would pick up her inertialess drive's signature, should she use that with them in such close proximity. Docking thrusters used a form of the gravity drive that the inertialess drive also used, but without the inertialess component, it would be hard to detect.

She gently eased the scout to port, even as a part of her screamed to slam the control to maximum and avoid the collision. She slapped the collision alarm silent a split second after it went off. She knew that sound couldn't be transmitted in vacuum, but still, she whispered to her AI to make sure everything was shut down other than her controls, even as she triple-checked her stealth systems, and ... the AI whispered back to her. Later, she would laugh about the whispering, but at the moment, with the terror in her heart, it seemed logical.

She flinched when the small vessel slid by, but there was no sound of contact. Taking a shaky breath, she was glad she had visited the fresher recently. She suddenly understood how Arlene had felt during her scout training mission when the gun platform had practically sat on her little ship. Ann supposed that the alien ship's proximity alarm had gone off as they passed, but with the chunk of rock she was sitting so close to, they had probably assumed that the alarm was warning of that.

As time slowly passed, she activated the minimum of her environmental systems, but remained a few feet from the big boulder as her passive systems recorded what was going on. Here in deep space, there was only distant starlight to show her naked eye the monster ship as more small vessels left and returned, but her systems multiplied that meager light to give her the stark outline of the alien machine and its tenders.

Restricted to passive sensors, she continued to observe, occasionally napping in her seat. By that time it had been well over thirty-six hours since she had awakened in the big bed with her sister-wives. When she thought of home, the gnawing loneliness returned with vigor. Glancing yet again at the screen that showed the bright star that was Sol, she wondered if she would ever feel the sun on her body again.

Oh, stop feeling sorry for yourself. You're doing something that many would give their right arm to do. I...

"Lieutenant, I have successfully unscrambled the transmissions between the smaller craft and their ship. Unfortunately, their language is still unintelligible, but both audio and video are clear."

"Wow," Ann muttered when a bust of one of the aliens came on her screen as it (he?) looked into the camera when he addressed another of his species, presumably in one of the smaller craft. The guttural tones, apparently shouted at another of the aliens, were loud in the confines of the small bridge.

"Can you..." she started, but the scout's AI, anticipating her, split the screen to show both aliens in the conversation.

It was fairly obvious that the communication between the two aliens was that of a supervisor to a subordinate. One – the one transmitting from the ship – was using louder, abrupt bursts of language while the other spoke more quietly and seemingly more respectfully in return. I don't know enough about this race to even guess at what was said, but if that wasn't an ass chewing, I have no idea what else it could be.

A few minutes later, she froze the image from another transmission and stared at the screen. "They remind me of something," she thought. They really don't look that much like one, but still their faces make me think of ... pigs. Repressing a giggle, she went on with her monitoring, but the feeling would not go away.

"Oink, oink," she finally said aloud.

"Ma'am?" her AI responded.

"Never mind." Then after a moment, "Do you think we could get away with following one of the small craft so we can get some video of what they're doing?"

"Our stealth capabilities will continue to function better if we remain still, and we are also partially concealed by this boulder."

"So we can't move without alerting the aliens?"

"I did not say that. The chances of detection would increase if we move, but with proper planning and..."

"Luck," Ann supplied.

"I was not going to use that term..."

"Let's do it. I'm not going back with what little information we have now. We'll follow the next one of their craft that leaves the mother ship."

"That would increase..."

Again, Ann cut the AI off. "We can stay well back and use only maneuvering thrusters while we're near the mother ship. If one of the smaller craft detects us, at worst, I think we can hold our own with it. If the Ship starts toward us, or we're discovered by the small vessels, we can run, and when far enough away, go to warp."

"Ship stressed that I was to ensure that you returned unharmed. I have also been instructed to err on the side of caution. Consequently, I am willing to follow one of the small ships, but only at a safe distance, and we must remain conservative with our investigation."

"Shit," Ann mumbled under her breath. Then after a moment of thought, "Okay. Let's get into a better position so we can follow the next vehicle that leaves the ship."

The Retreat

Jeff had spent a night without sex – one of the very few times since they had moved to the Retreat. His wives were all loving to him, but no one was interested in sex. True, he had not made advances toward any of them, but had cuddled with anyone who wanted to. Truth be told, he wasn't much interested in sex, either. Nor did he make an effort to get up for his morning run. He just wanted his wife home safe and sound.

What possessed her to do this? he wondered as he lay awake at the time he normally got up for his run. Neither Kayla nor Arlene got up either. Jeff had told Security that he wouldn't run this morning and also briefed them about Ann, then told the rest of the family. That had resulted in a barrage of questions, but he promised to update everyone as soon as he knew anything more.

Jeff was proud of his little wife, but worried sick about her at the same time. When she gets back, I'll make sure she never gets another chance at an idiot scheme like this again, he told himself before almost immediately admonishing himself for thinking about dominating her. Shit. Shit. Shit. I wanted my extended family to crew the Ship, and if that happens, there will be other times like this.

It was now 4:00 A.M. "Jeff?" Diana whispered in his ear, "Are you awake?"

The Prime let out a quiet sigh. "Yeah."

"I'm fully awake. Let's get up and get some coffee."

"I'm awake, too," Laura whispered from his other shoulder.

"Me, too," Arlene quietly said from her position beside Laura.

A few minutes later, the five (Kayla hadn't said anything, but as usual, she was aware of what Jeff was doing) stepped into the shower together. Arlene turned to her father. "Daddy, this looks identical to our shower at the Retreat, but there's no way..."

"Little One told me that Ship had enlisted her help, so in addition to your pictures, video and measurements, Ship also received a..." He stopped for a moment before continuing, "I guess we really don't have a word for it, but I think she means something like a copy of her memory concerning our suite. Whatever, but Little One says that Ship was able to almost perfectly replicate our suite because of it, the pictures and vids."

Arlene's countenance took on a mischievous look. "Well, let's see. Arlene," she spoke out as she stepped into the shower.

The water came on, already at the temperature she liked best.

The women seemed to like their showers a little hotter than Jeff did, but he had learned to not say anything about it, or they would tease him and call him a wimp.

Four beautiful women with jiggling breasts, tight asses and shapely legs, not to say anything about sexy pussies, all soaping each other and him, had the expected effect despite his worry about Ann. His dick had a mind of its own. His erection was soon standing almost against his belly. As they dried off and left the shower, Arlene grabbed her mother and whispered in her ear, "I'm not going to leave him like this. You guys go on. We'll be there in a few minutes."

Diana almost objected, her mind focused on her worry for Ann, but she grabbed her husband and kissed him hard for a second, then with Laura and Kayla, went on into the bedroom.

"What?" Jeff asked as Arlene walked the couple of steps to her father as he stood drying off with a towel, grabbed his neck and hoisted herself up, locking her legs around his waist. "Put it in."

"Baby, I think..."

"I promised you pussy when your wives got mad at you, but no one got mad after all. But ... they're all so upset that they aren't thinking about taking care of our man, either. Now put that thing in me. Don't worry about foreplay, I couldn't be any wetter. Fuck me before we both go crazy."

Jeff had dropped the towel when Arlene jumped into his arms, and not being a complete idiot, guided his cock to his wife's pussy. A little maneuvering and he slid to his balls in her.

"Oh, shit, that feels good," she whined, wiggling her ass as she squeezed her legs tighter around his waist. "Don't hold back. I'll come when you do. Just fuck me and get both of us off."

It only took three or four minutes, but even though she was worried about Ann, Arlene didn't have to wait for him to finish in her for her first orgasm. She began her third as she felt his sperm spraying against her cervix. She did feel a little guilty as they joined with Diana, Laura and Kayla a few minutes later.

They sat at the same big table drinking coffee and speculating about what was happening with Ann as the rest of the wives drifted in. When everyone was present, Arlene looked at her watch. "I guess we had better go start breakfast."

Laura looked a little sheepish, but said, anyway, "I'm going to stay here." When Diana started to argue with her, Laura continued, "I know that I can't do anything to help my baby, but if Ship learns anything, I want to be the first to know about it."

"Hon, Ann could be gone a week..." Jeff began.

"I know, but I'm going to be right here until my daughter is home safe and sound," Laura finished, her voice tight with emotion.

"I'll stay with her," Diana began.

But Arlene was shaking her head. "No, Mother. You go on with Daddy and our sister-wives. I'll stay with Laura." When Laura began to shake her head, Arlene put a hand on her shoulder. "I'll teach you some things about the Ship to pass the time." Turning to the others, Arlene continued, "We'll see all of you later."

"I'll be back in a little later," Jeff said as he stood.

Arlene stood to kiss him, then whispered into his ear, "Don't hurry back. Give me some time to talk to her. I think I can get her over some of her worry."

Jeff patted his daughter on her back, then grabbed Diana's hand and walked out of the lounge, the rest of his wives following.

When the others had left, Arlene reached over to take Laura's hand, the gesture promptly starting a flood of tears from the woman. "Oh, I hope she's all right," she moaned. Giving in, she put her head down on the table, covered her eyes with her forearms and sobbed.