Chapter 310

Deep Space

For the first few hours, both Dave and Evie had been excited about being in deep space in the scout. They had played with the instruments, but again, Ship's simulation made that old hat. As far as their minds were concerned, they had done all this many, many times. But one thing seemed to jump out at them. Oh, things were realistic in the simulation, but now they knew that what they were seeing was truly real, and that's what they were actually witnessing on the screens.

There was no comparison between the screens created by Ship's technology and TV's or monitors developed on Earth. There seemed to be no visible difference in looking out a perfectly clear port into space or seeing the same thing viewed on the scout's screens, well, other than magnification, enhancement, tracking, and the other numerous capabilities of the AI enhanced screens. If anything, the screens were more realistic.

From Earth, even in remote areas on the darkest night, the starlight was blocked to a large extent by atmosphere. In near space, the sun was there to add its light, even if reflected. Here, with the nearest star only slightly brighter than its more distant cousins, the literal sea of light from the billions of stars visible without magnification was something that words could not describe.

As they sat in the scout's small bridge holding hands and staring at the big screens, Evie suddenly had the sensation of hanging over a bottomless nothingness. "Oh, my," she whispered, squeezing her husband's hand, "it's as if..."

"Yeah, I was wondering if you would feel it too. It grabbed me a few minutes ago. I suppose just sitting here and staring at the screens did it. Our perspective must have changed. I always thought I didn't have a fear of heights, but somehow I suddenly thought of that as down for an instant," he said, pointing toward the forward screen. "Well ... you know."

There was quiet as the two thought, then Evie wondered aloud, "Do you suppose our astronauts get that sensation when they do a spacewalk?"

"Don't know. We have suits; want to find out?"

"That is not funny, Husband."

Dave let out a weak chuckle and nodded to the screen again. "Not to worry. I'm certainly not planning a picnic out there right now. Logically, I know I wouldn't fall, per se, but unless we have to go out, I'm gonna sit right here."

"We did it in training."

"Yeah," Dave finally agreed, "and I guess I did okay, but obviously the simulation didn't quite match up to reality in this case."

"Or, Ship didn't make it quite as real on purpose," Evie postulated.

Dave turned to better face her. "So, what do we do now? The aliens are just sitting there with those small ships occasionally going back and forth. Hmmm, even that seems to have stopped in the last hour or so." Shrugging, he continued, "We've checked out our scout's drive, the environmental systems, weapons, food replication and reserves, and we've made love..."

"And we are not doing it again for a while. I'm already sore, and doing it again now will only make me more so. You need to remember that you have one wife with you – not three. As much as I enjoy making love with you, I need to be able to walk when we get back."

Dave poked his lip out in a mock pout. "So, come here and let me suck your titties."

"'Come here?' I'm already here, my Husband. The only thing between us is the console, and in case you haven't noticed, this scout doesn't exactly have an abundance of extra room, and the bridge space is especially tight. The two of us have made love in some very unusual places, but I think this tiny bridge and our command seats will stymie even us this time."

"Well, I just wanted a taste of your milk," he continued to tease.

"And sucking on my tits would turn me on and get that big dick of yours stuffed up me again. Really, Baby, I either need some time, or Little One to fix me, and she's several light years away."

"Well, I..."

On the forward screen, the alien ship shimmered and promptly disappeared.

"Warp signature detected," the AI announced, unnecessarily.

"Oh, shit," the two humans exclaimed in unison.

St. Louis

Kathy, Jill and Eileen had just entered Eileen's apartment, all three stopping to stare at the roses on the coffee table. Eileen motioned to them. "I've never gotten roses from anyone before. They're truly beautiful. Again, thank you – the both of you.

"We thought you might like them," Jill responded with a smile.

Eileen tore her eyes away from the roses. "I could do the packing myself and meet you at the airport in the morning," she tried to reason.

Bill's two wives were having none of it. They weren't going to let her out of their sight lest she change her mind. "How many suitcases do you have?" Kathy wanted to know as she and Jill tossed their coats on the couch.

Eileen frowned as she put her coat on the couch with the others. If Jill and Kathy had their way, the coats would be needed again soon. "Uh, a couple small ones. Why?"

"Pack a bunch of casual clothes and a couple of nicer outfits in case we go out to eat or attend a wedding. There are some scheduled for the near future, but we aren't sure exactly when."

"Weddings?"

"Yeah, friends of ours at the Retreat."

"Do you ski?" Jill asked, changing the subject.

"A little. I don't usually have the time." Or the money, she added mentally. I do have a nice apartment, but compared to that palace of a hotel room, this place isn't much, I guess. I still don't understand why they're so insistent that I spend the night with them.

"We're all learning to ski, well, everyone but Arlene. She starts out in everything as if she has been doing it her entire life."

"'Arlene?'"

"Yeah, she's Jeff's ... uh, daughter," Jill said, barely catching herself in time.

"How old is she?"

"Sixteen," Kathy and Jill said simultaneously. It was not the first time in the last few hours that they had said the same thing at exactly the same instant.

Eileen, who had just opened a closet, stopped and turned to them. "How do you do that? Do you practice or something?"

"Do what?" they again said as one, then, "Oops," just as simultaneously, before both chuckled.

Eileen realized that she had chuckled along with them. "Stop that, or we'll never get this done," she tried to grump as the chuckles turned into laughter for all three. A moment later, as she dragged out two smaller rolling cases, she realized that her depression had somehow vanished as the evening progressed. Not only had the depression left, she was in a great mood.

"So, what can we do to help?" Kathy asked as she put one of the empty cases on the bed and opened it.

"I really don't think I'll need more than one. I'm used to traveling light..."

Jill grinned at her. "Oh, come on, Eileen. We want you to stay with us for a while. Haven't you enjoyed the evening so far? We guarantee you'll love the Retreat and everyone there. We'll fly you back when you're tired of us."

Eileen put several tops on the bed and began to fold them, not responding verbally, her mind still wondering why they had come for her.

"We'll do this, if you want to get more of your clothes out," Kathy said.

"Uh, thanks," Eileen said as she turned back to her closet. "About staying," she continued, her voice muffled in the walk-in closet as she took down clothes. "I really have to be back after the first of the year to find a job. Remember, I don't have anyone to fall back on. If I'm not working in a couple of months, I'm going to be in major trouble."

"Should I leave these on the hangers?" she asked, motioning to the pants as she came out of the closet with them.

Jill was shaking her head. "We can get more in the suitcases without them, and there will be plenty of hangers and hanging space in your suite in the Retreat."

"My 'Suite?'" she questioned. "Surely I'm not..."

"I think there are some single rooms on the third floor, but we would never put a guest in one of them if a suite were available – let alone put you in one," Jill finished mysteriously. "There were more than a hundred people there when the Wainwrights were married and we still had suites open. And remember, the Retreat makes our suite at the hotel look... , uh, less than elegant," she finished with a grin.

Kathy stopped folding to smile at Eileen. "In all sincerity, Eileen, we want you to enjoy yourself, and, I promise you'll understand everything shortly."

Eileen zipped the first case closed. "Logically, I keep wondering why you two are doing this." She hesitated as she remembered the feelings when Jill touched her, her thoughts flashing through her mind. Somehow I trust them. How can that be? Oh, I had seen Kathy around, but I had only talked to her that one time when she confronted me about pushing my tits out at Bill. Now, I'm going back to her hotel room with the two of them for the night, then home with them. It doesn't make sense, but I know they don't have any ill will toward me. I know it.

Kathy put her hand on Eileen's. "Please, just continue to trust us. I promise you won't be sorry."

Darn it, I'm a logical person. I don't know these two women enough to trust them, but I also know I can. What the heck. Don't look a gift horse in the mouth, Idiot, she told herself. You don't want to sit around the apartment feeling sorry for yourself on Christmas. You don't even have a date for New Year's. And you want a man to kiss you at midnight? Crushing her doubts, she thought, Screw it. For some reason, they want a guest for the holidays. I'm game; I'm going. Damn the torpedoes. Full speed ahead. Then after a second, Enough clichés, she told herself with a giggle that caused the other two to glance at her.

She tossed a pack of hose and a pair of heels into the second case, then brought out both casual and running shoes. Opening her small overnight case, she put in jeans, a top and underclothes, then topped up her tiny travel cosmetic bag that she had already snuck her vibrator into, and casually tossed the bag into the travel case.

"Oops. Forgot my hair dryer..." she began.

"You won't need it. Every suite has a very nice one," Jill said, touching her arm.

"We could have put everything in one normal-size case, but I usually stick with only one small one when I fly. Our clients sometimes bring more luggage than you would believe, so I make sure I leave plenty of room for them."

"Oh, we would believe it, right Jill?" Kathy said with a laugh.

"Yeah. Remember that family from Seattle?"

Kathy couldn't suppress a frown. "Yeah. Not only was every seat taken, but they brought everything except the living room couch. We were very near our weight limit. As we sat on the taxiway waiting our turn, my dear husband grinned at me and asked what my pucker meter was registering"

Eileen couldn't help but ask, "What did you tell him?"

"Twelve. And that was on a scale of ten." Kathy let out a snigger, "And ... he still wouldn't take the controls. But that Citation X lifted off that runway just like it always does."

"Citation X?" Eileen repeated, her head snapping to Kathy like radar. "Cessna Citation X?"

"Yeah, the Wainwrights' new plane. Are you checked out on one?"

"No," Eileen answered, shaking her head, "but I darn sure want to be. Please, tell me that's the plane you came to St. Louis in."

Kathy grinned at her. "Okay. That's the plane we flew to St. Louis to pick you up in."