Chapter 314

Deep Space

"Well?" the alien Captain snarled as his First Officer returned to the bridge and took his seat alongside his superior. Pushing his luck a bit, the Officer ordered a cup of stim from a waiting orderly before answering.

"Sir, this was a test to determine only if the coils were capable of warp. As I'm sure you remember, the Chief Engineer was emphatic beforehand that things could, and probably would, go wrong, and in addition, he warned us that the coils would keep us in warp for only a couple of minutes – at best. We barely moved from our original position at all – less than a light minute in distance. Basically, he was determining if the coils could achieve and hold us in warp."

"And..." the Captain responded, his face set in a deep frown, "I suppose everything went wrong. All I hear lately is excuses."

"Well, Sir, things did go wrong to some extent, but the Chief Engineer expected that."

The Captain's almost perpetual frown deepened. "Get to the fucking point."

The First Officer nodded his thanks as he took the cup of stim from the orderly. "Two components did malfunction, Sir – actually, the two things that concerned the Chief Engineer the most. The parts that failed were constructed of the materials we mined in the asteroid belt, as were most of the parts that comprised the new coil. These two components are subjected to high stress under warp and must be constructed of higher grade materials in order to bear that stress. The Chief Engineer did not know just how refined the elements must be. Rather than spend more time refining the elements that went to comprise those two parts, the Engineer used them, anyway. Primarily, because he wanted to determine if he had properly constructed this coil that he built from scratch. He told me these are normally high-stress components, and part of the test was to determine just how pure the elements had to be to withstand the stress. He now has a more complete understanding of how to go forward with their construction.

"He is, however, satisfied that he has constructed the new coils properly. Now, he must construct the final coil and tune all six of them. Sir, please remember, the process of building coils has previously been accomplished only in the repair facility using massive and very expensive equipment our Engineer does not have. The man is a genius. Otherwise, we would have no hope of ever getting home. Sir, this is not just him telling me this, I have researched the subject extensively, and I am sure you were taught the same at the academy, just as I was. This has never been done in deep space before. It is supposed to be impossible."

"So," the Captain returned with a snort. "I see that he has another convert. Now you are going to kiss his ass just like everyone else. I tell you he is a sluggard who is not doing his job and is using his technical knowledge to sway the beliefs of not only the crew, but now my First Officer as well. Your attitude will be noted in the log. You might find that another berthing will be hard to come by, if ... that bastard ever gets us home, let alone to the planet that will make me, uh, all of us rich."

In the engine room, the Chief Engineer watched over his assistants as they removed the two parts that had been stressed beyond their endurance. With properly refined materials, the parts will work, he thought as he stared lovingly at the coils he had built. I was almost certain I could assemble a coil from spare parts and tune it well enough to achieve warp, but I had my doubts about obtaining and purifying the elements necessary for our equipment to construct the parts, then for me to build and tune that coil to sync with the manufactured coils. But it seems I have achieved that step, although the synch was far from perfect.

Now, I have one more coil to build, and like this one, it will have to be constructed almost exclusively from elements mined in the belt and refined here on the ship. Then I have to tune this mismatch of coils well enough to enable us to limp home without them exploding and scattering us across the dimensions. An unconscious sigh passed his lips. If that bastard will just leave me alone, I will build the sixth coil and eventually tune all six until they will keep us in warp without destroying the ship. We might even manage to achieve half speed, if he doesn't try to push the engines beyond what they're capable of handling under the circumstances. Why can he not realize that the process of assembling and tuning the coils requires months even at the repair facility? Months where they have trained technicians and the proper equipment to do the job.

The Chief Engineer assigned his best assistant to oversee the refining of the materials he would need to replace the parts that had blown, and to make certain that everything used in the new coil was made of fully refined materials, no matter how long the process took. My team and I will do this. They are learning and becoming more valuable to me almost daily. I must watch that bastard when he comes in here. He will not kill any more of my people. When he draws his weapon, I will end his days. If the First Officer has any sense, he will back me. Going rogue would still be better than having a tyrant killing crew just because the mood strikes him. But ... I would rather go home a rich man.

Unconsciously, his hand caressed the small weapon nestled in his tunic. Maybe I will not have to kill him – maybe.

The Retreat

Jill and Kathy grabbed Bill's hands, and after a quick kiss, they hurried their reluctant husband out the door to get Eileen for a late lunch. "Look, Ladies," he said, trying to stall, "I'm really embarrassed to even talk to this woman. I have absolutely no idea what to say to her. Remember, you practically dragged her away in St. Louis..."

Kathy hugged herself against her husband's arm, and a second later, Jill did the same from his other side. Both knew what the feel of braless breasts did to him.

"I know what you're doing," he griped.

"Is it working, Husband?" Jill asked in her sexiest voice.

"You know damn well it is, and if the two of you don't stop, I'm going to have an erection pushing out the front of my pants when I greet this woman. Now that would really start the conversation off."

"Oh, yeah," the two wives said in unison, but it was obvious that their opinion of that effect was quite different from his. Nevertheless, they quit pressing themselves quite so firmly against his arms.

Much too soon for him, they had traveled the short distance between the suites and were standing at Eileen's door.

"You two need to cut back on your synchronized speech before Eileen begins to wonder." As the two women started to respond, he went quickly on. "Oh, I know that all the Alphas' wives do it from time to time, but..."

"Do you really think we can turn it on and off?" Jill asked as she grinned at Kathy.

"Well, yeah. Uh..."

"We'll try," they said in unison, then, "Oops," again the same way.

"Oh, crap," Bill sighed in resignation as he knocked on the door.

Kathy squeezed her husband's arm. "Since we're talking about doing things in unison, we think we're both starting to have milk in our breasts," Kathy whispered to him just as Eileen opened the door to find Bill staring openmouthed at Kathy.

"Hi," Eileen managed to stammer out as her eyes locked to the face of the sexiest man she had ever seen – well since she had talked to him in St. Louis, that is. She could feel her face heat up and knew she had to be blushing furiously.

Pleasing Kathy and Jill, Bill reached out to take one of Eileen's hands. "I hear you're going to spend Christmas with us. I'm sure I speak for the Matthews in saying that you are eminently welcome," he said, formally, "and I would like to add my welcome to theirs."

At Bill's touch, Eileen felt a jolt, not unlike electricity, that ran through her body, tingling her nipples and ending in her clit, arousal washing over her. Another second, and she was worried that he would smell her. "I, uh, really don't know why I'm even here," she managed, "but it's a beautiful place and I'm flattered to be here."

"You're here because we invited you and want to get to know you better," Kathy interrupted. "We were certainly not going to let you be all alone on Christmas. Now, I for one, am hungry, and you must be starved, too. Diana and Arlene are waiting for us in the kitchen," she finished as she took Eileen's arm, elbowing her husband lightly in the ribs as she passed him a meaningful glance.

Quit being a stuffed shirt, she thought at her husband. Stop the formal routine and check out her tits. Yeah, that's it. Lust after her boobs and leak a few pheromones. After that, you'll both be caught for real. Jeff says the attraction goes both ways. Once the female is entangled, so is the Alpha.

But Bill had maneuvered himself until Kathy and Jill were on either side of Eileen and he was walking beside Jill. Kathy could see the hint of a smile on his face.

He's looked practically everywhere, except at her tits. Kathy wanted to pinch him. Crap, Eileen is probably the only woman in the retreat who's wearing a bra. Now how do we talk her into taking it off? I can't just tell her to get rid of it so my husband can lust after her tits and douse her with pheromones. Darn it, Bill, she's pretty as can be, and as far as we've been able to tell, she has a great personality, not to mention that she's sharp as a tack. Of course, we all knew she was intelligent since she's managed to become a commercial pilot.

As they turned into the kitchen, Diana and Arlene had just finished putting lunch on the smaller of the tables.

"Hope you don't mind eating in the kitchen," the Clan Queen said, but two steps past the door, the young pilot had suddenly frozen in place.

"Oh, my," she quietly whispered, then to herself, This is a kitchen? It's absolutely beautiful, and big enough to get lost in.

"I love your kitchen," she said, tearing her eyes away from the beautiful counter tops that seemed to go on forever. " Uh, I want to thank you for having me. I hope I'm not intruding..."

Diana grabbed Eileen in a hug. "You're a friend of Bill, Kathy and Jill, so you're a friend of ours as well. I know you've already been welcomed by these three, and I welcomed you at the helipad, but again, Welcome to Matthews Mountain and the Retreat. Our home is your home. Feel free to go anywhere in the building except Jeff's lab and the firing range. Both are in the basement. Jeff will show you around his lab, but he keeps it locked because some of his equipment can be dangerous to an untrained user, and until you're familiar with the safety procedures on our range, you will need an escort, but if you like to shoot, that can easily be arranged.

"We'll show you around after lunch, but don't hesitate to explore any time you wish. There are some breathtaking views from several of the third floor alcoves, and we have a rather unusual school on the second floor."

"We have iced tea, both sweetened and unsweetened, coffee of course, and most any soft drink you can think of," Jill told her.

"Unsweetened tea," Eileen nervously replied as Bill sat across from her. As she glanced at him, she could feel her nipples crinkle and begin to expand, and fought to keep from blushing. Oh, maybe my bra will hide what's happening. Why do I react to him the way I do? Because he's a hunk, and he's nice, she answered herself. But he's married. I can't keep thinking about a married man. There's no point in it. I've never dated a married man before, and I'm surely not going to start now, but ... damn, he's hot.

Her musings were interrupted as Arlene put a glass of iced tea by her plate, and at the same time, a tall, and very handsome man whose very presence commanded attention, walked in. If anything, he's every bit as impressive as Bill, she thought when he stepped over to take her hand as Diana introduced her husband.

"Welcome," he quietly said, his voice deep and almost hypnotic. "Any friend of the Madisons is a friend of ours. We hope you'll enjoy being with us for Christmas. We encourage you to stay as long as you wish, and those are not just idle words." (Kathy had called ahead to update Margaret, who had updated Diana, and she, in turn had informed everyone except Bill. So everyone at the Retreat, save Bill, knew that Kathy and Jill were bringing another wife for him.)

Startled, Eileen realized that somehow she could feel that his words were truth.

You've just met our Prime, the Clan Queen thought as she saw the stunned look cross Eileen's face.

Odd, Eileen thought as she turned back to Arlene who had taken the next seat and was offering to ladle her a bowl of homemade soup from the big tureen in the center of the table, He's a really handsome guy, but my eyes keep going back to Bill. If I don't stop swooning over him, he's bound to notice.