Chapter 287

Terri and Alice had rushed into their bedroom with the new kitten, both of them deliriously happy. They quickly tore the cat litter bag open and poured some into the litter box.

Alice stood looking around. "Where do we put it?"

"Not on the carpet. Litter will stick to her feet when she gets out of the box and it will be all over the bedroom. The vanity area will be a lot easier to keep clean, and besides ... cat poop stinks," she finished with a titter.

Alice grabbed the litter pan and put it against the wall near the sinks. Terri put the kitten in the box. "This is your bathroom," Terri told the kitten as if she could understand. The kitten couldn't, but she knew what a litter box was. After digging around in the litter for a moment, she squatted to pee.

When she finished, "Good girl," Alice said, picking her up and hugging her. Both girls giggled at the kitten, and Terri said, "Now we have to get her some food. I know that Selina keeps some in her suite, but I'll bet there is some in the kitchen. Let's go ask Diana."

A few minutes later, Diana smiled at the girls and took them into the large food storage area behind the left wall of the kitchen. "You might want to take enough cat food to your suite to last for a week or two, but consider the food yours as well as Selina's. Arlene does a great job of ordering our basic supplies, so there will always be plenty of cat food in here when you need it. What have you named her?" the Queen asked, reaching to pet the kitten as she handed Alice a small metal water bowl and matching food bowl.

Terri, with a box of wet cat food in her hands, smiled at the Queen. "We're still considering. We want it to be something that we both like, and we want Mom and Dad to help us decide, too."

Alice snuggled the kitten against her neck and picked up a small bag of dry cat food. After thanking the Clan Queen, they hurried down the hall, the kitten riding on Alice's shoulder and looking around at her surroundings.

When they got back to their suite, Eric and Angie were sitting on one of the couches, Eric with his sock feet propped on the coffee table and Angie snuggled against him.

"That was a hit," Eric quietly said when the girls, practically bubbling with excitement, headed back to their bedroom. Kissing the top of Angie's head, he quietly asked, "You still happy about living here? Everything okay?"

Angie looked down at her nipples pushing out the front of her top. "Doesn't it look like I'm happy?" she asked with an unexpected giggle that startled her. I'm even giggling like a teenager – well, maybe not exactly, more like an adult giggle that's started since we came out here, but I can't remember my doing any kind of giggling for a long time. But now? Happy? I'm deliriously happy. Then aloud, "Baby, I've never been this happy – ever. I finally have the man I've loved my entire life, and we have two wonderful girls, who..." her voice broke as happy tears sparkled her eyes, "are calling me 'Mom.' And ... Jeff and Diana say we're part of the family – part of the Matthews Clan. I've always known you were special, but Jeff says you're an Alpha, and we've all been enhanced by Little One. I'm so full of energy that..." She grinned at him, but didn't finish the sentence. Instead, "It seems like there's something new every day.

"And there's a... starship sitting out there," she continued, motioning vaguely toward the back of the Retreat. "And it... she was part of our girls' rescue. They would have been raped and probably killed by those sickos." They were both quiet for a moment before she finally went on. "We owe these people our girls' very lives. There is no way we can ever repay Jeff and his team. And Diana has welcomed us like we're ... family. They even say we're family. I'm almost afraid it's all a dream and I'll wake up..."

"It's real, Baby. It's real, but I know what you mean. And speaking of real, you're scheduled to start training with the pulse rifle tomorrow morning. Ready for that?"

Angie slid over a little and turned around to face her brother, pulling a leg under herself. "I'm more than ready," she responded, almost bouncing up and down. "I can field strip and reassemble the pulse rifle in the dark. Granted I'm slow, but I can do it. We're not going to tell the Sergeant that Arlene and Kayla have taught us all they can without actually firing the weapon. But we've even watched videos of that. We'll be the 'fastest' learners the Sergeant has ever had," she finished with a wide grin.

Eric was shaking his head. "Baby, I don't want to burst your bubble, but remember, he's used to training the elite. I imagine that most of the people he trains are already the best of the best before he even sees them for the first time. Just please don't be overconfident. He might even suspect that you and the other women have done a little homework before coming to class. But all he's teaching any of us is the basics. To him, this is trivial. Once you see him fire his rifle, you'll understand what I mean."

Angie's enthusiasm wasn't diminished by much. "Well, I still think we'll be a lot better than he will expect, anyway."

Eric grabbed her in a hug. "Just do your best and don't worry about anything else," he said as he sneaked a hand between them to tweak a nipple.

She pressed her breasts against him, her voice softening. "Suppose we could sneak off to our bedroom for a few minutes? The girls are occupied with their kitten."

"We'll lock the door and they'll figure it out," Eric said, much to Angela's amazement when she realized he was going along with her idea despite the fact that the girls would probably realize what the two adults were doing. But she wasn't going to spend time wondering about it just now, instead, she grabbed his hand, and tugging him behind her, headed for their bed.

Later, she lay in his arms, a towel tucked between her legs to catch the overflow. She gently stroked his face. "Yeah, I know," he said, "I need a shave. Your cheeks are red where I bearded you. I apologize."

"Silly man," she responded, continuing to slowly stroke his stubbled cheek. "Most of that was caused by my rubbing my cheek against yours. It was a turn-on – one of many, My Lover."

Eric was just as taken with his sister as she decidedly was with him. "We should have done this years ago..."

"We are now," she interrupted.

"And if these ... aliens don't screw things up, we'll have a very long time to love each other..."

" ... and our girls," Angie finished for him.

"And our girls," he agreed.

Deep Space

Arlene had her scout drop out of warp several light minutes from where the aliens should be. Under full stealth, she sat and waited as her passive sensors gathered data. The occasional flash of laser drills from deep within the asteroid belt let her know that her navigational skills were sufficient for this short hop, but she had no delusions about dimensional navigation.

The pickets updated her AI, then as Ann had done, the young Queen nudged her craft closer by using only docking thrusters. She wasn't in a hurry. If the mining operations were continuing, then the alien ship would be near. With her forward screen at maximum magnification, she visibly searched near space, but her AI detected the monster before she did, putting its image on her forward screen. Seeing the tenders entering and leaving the vessel gave her perspective. They looked like ants compared to the size of the ship. She eased into the belt and slowly made her way nearer. Keeping her promise to her husband in mind, she eventually nestled her scout near a big boulder and settled in to observe.

At first, the novelty of actually being in deep space kept her on edge and alert, but she couldn't detect any difference between the simulator and the real thing, other than knowing that this was real. But then again, while she was in the simulator, she had thought that was real, too. After sitting and staring for hours, she finally extracted herself from the command pilot's seat to go to the fresher, then to the tiny galley to appease her grumbling stomach.

Both scout and interceptor training (simulated) were chocked full of danger, but the interceptor training had come after her scout training, and enemy ground fire and attacking war craft dominated the last part of that training before interceptor graduation. Survival was certainly not a given. In the beginning her ship had occasionally survived the firefights in the simulator, but gradually she learned.

Final interceptor training had pitted her against four equally capable enemy craft as she made a run for her carrier, fuel and energy levels low. Somehow she had managed to take out two of her pursuers and damage another, then made it aboard her carrier just before it went to warp. She hadn't realized until she started to get out of her command seat that she had peed herself. Thankfully her real body had not done the same thing, and the fact that she hadn't, amazed her. She assumed that Ship had saved her from that final embarrassment.

Her bladder empty and her stomach full, she snuggled into her seat again to watch her screens. She queried her AI, hoping to find something that Ann had not noticed. When she realized what she was doing, she sighed and let her seat back, stretching her limbs. I'm competing with my sister-wife to maybe find something she missed. But I know Ann. She's just as sharp as I am. I might find something new, but it will be something that either wasn't here when she was, or didn't happen when she was here. I might beat her on a test by a narrow margin on occasion, but despite what she says, those times have been few and far between. Besides, I love her too much to try to show that I'm better than she is, and she loves me just as much. She says she's my handmaiden just like Laura is Mom's. I don't understand that, but she insists.

Embarrassed that she had tried to compete with Ann, Arlene continued to watch, but found herself wishing that her sister-wife had come with her. If this continues, it will be Ann's turn to watch the aliens next. Hmmm, I wonder if she would like some company on the next trip.

The Retreat

Nat, Nicki and Whitney had apparently decided that Mrs. Kimbrel was going to be their project tonight. They had gone to get her for the evening meal, insisting that she ride in the wheelchair, the three girls/young women laughing and teasing the older woman until she had no choice but to be in a good mood. In the dining room, Nicki pushed her around the serving table while the other two heaped her plate with her choices. At the table, everyone bowed their heads while Dave said a short blessing.

Terri and Alice bubbled with praise for their kitten, and thanked Selina for giving her to them. Selina was more reserved about her kitten, of course, but she told everyone about Billy getting slapped for his impertinence. Because they had someone dining with them that had not been blocked, there were several times that comments were suddenly chopped off when the speaker realized that he or she was approaching a restricted subject.

Supper over, Jeff touched Mrs. Kimbrel on the shoulder as Nat was pushing the lady's wheelchair out the door of the dining room. "Diana and I would like to discuss something with you in your suite, if that's okay with you."

Mrs. Kimbrel smiled at him and nodded, wanting to get back to her suite to take a pain pill, but not wanting to admit to any of the Matthews that she had to take them in order to be able to function when her arthritis was flaring so badly.

In the suite, the girls helped Mrs. Kimbrel out of the wheelchair and onto the couch, and at the lady's direction, put her walker near. Opening her purse, embarrassed, she took out her prescription bottle. "My knees are really bothering me tonight. Would one of you please get me a glass of water so I can take one of my pain pills?"

The girls looked at each other before Whitney responded with, "Uh, Jeff, Diana and Kayla will be here in a few minutes. It might be that you won't need those pills after you talk to Jeff."

Mrs. Kimbrel looked a question at Whitney, but the girl shook her head. "We can't talk about it, but please trust us. If you insist, we'll get the water for you, but I really think the medicine won't be needed in a little while."

Mrs. Kimbrel didn't know what to think, but before she could say anything, there was a knock on the door. Nat hurried to open it, and Jeff, Diana, Kayla and Selina walked in.

Diana walked over and leaned to take Mrs. Kimbrel's hand. "We have something of importance to discuss with you, if we may."

When everyone was seated, Diana spoke. "Have you noticed Marcie lately?" she began, but a look came over her face and she muttered something under her breath, then glared at Jeff, the block having warned her.