Chapter 577

The Alien Scout

The main asteroid belt in our solar system is located between the orbits of Mars and the gas giant, Jupiter. The belt contains millions of asteroids ranging from the size of a grain of sand to what is probably a dwarf planet, Ceres, which is 587 miles in diameter. Also orbiting among the millions of asteroids are other larger bodies, but still smaller than Ceres: Pallas at 318 miles, Vesta at 326 miles and Hygiea between 217 and 300 miles in diameter, and others of impressive but lesser sizes.

The average distance between asteroids in this belt is around 600,000 miles, or roughly two and a half times the distance from the Earth to the moon. That’s the average distance, which means that some are much farther apart, and some, of course, are much closer. It’s sometimes difficult to realize just how big space actually is, even in our solar system, and to realize that this grouping of objects, even with that significant distance between them, is considered to be a belt of asteroids between Mars and Jupiter. When you compare the distance between those planets – an average of 342,012,346 miles – things began to come into focus, and the spacing of the asteroids is, indeed, a belt when compared on a cosmic scale.

Although the average distance between significantly sized asteroids in the belt is on the order of 600,000 miles apart, there are many clusters, ranging from tiny bits of rock to others that are bigger than the average house, that might only be a hundred yards from its neighbor – or closer. Hitting anything of significance while moving at an appreciable percentage of light speed could, and probably would, be the end of the alien scout – shields only do so much.

The Second Officer intended to hide his craft in the system’s asteroid belt where he hoped to watch this Earth with impunity. Trying to err on the side of caution, he ordered the craft’s AI to drop them out of warp just beyond the area that Earth’s scientists call the Kuiper Belt, approximately 50 AU – one AU is the average distance from the sun to the earth – from the system’s star, intending to coast on in at roughly one-tenth light speed. As he continued deeper into the system, the pilot had a decision to make. He certainly couldn’t maneuver in the asteroid belt at a tenth light speed, but should he slow over a more extended period of time, hoping that the expenditure of energy spread out over a longer time period would remain below the threshold of Earth’s instruments, or should he apply a massive surge of power over a shorter period of time – one big burst just below what the acceleration dampers would compensate for?

The third alternative was to slow as he passed through the Kuiper belt and then crawl into the system at a speed that allowed him to maneuver easily between the larger of the asteroids. This method should be far safer as far as detecting his energy signature was concerned, but this would use up valuable mission time ranging into several weeks (interpreted). The First was certain that there was advanced technology watching the mother ship. Would that technology have followed them, or was it present on this Earth and already in the Earth system ahead of the scout? The Second, as he took over from the pilot, didn’t know.

In the end, the Second Officer elected an action roughly midway between the extremes. With the aliens’ equivalent of crossing his fingers, he began slowing. The scout was armed, but its armament certainly did not compare to a true warship. The scout’s drive was easily up to the chore, but it used a considerable amount of energy to reduce the high speed. Will we be detected? he wondered. All seemed quiet as the scout finally drifted into and among the asteroids. Now to choose a hiding place where he and his crew could observe without being noticed - if they hadn’t been noticed already because of the scout’s energy release.

As he drifted through the belt, using maneuvering power only when he had to, the Second briefly considered five of the larger asteroids that his computer put on his screens – almost miniature planets – but he rejected them for a couple of reasons. Number one: the size of the planetoid itself would block much of his view of the system. Oh, he could stay on the side nearest this Earth while viewing it, but that would allow an enemy to sneak up on the side blocked by the asteroid itself. Number two: the size of the asteroid might call attention to itself, and thus, to him. Better to choose something that he could hide behind, something that would not stand out, but, at the same time, would provide cover.

First though, he had to make reasonably certain that they were alone in the belt. The First Officer had been adamant that their mother ship had been watched for quite some time now. And... the Second Officer had great respect for the First. In addition to having been the best superior officer he had ever served under, the First had an uncanny ability to expect the unexpected. The Second tried to think of a time when the First Officer had been wrong about what he thought was going to happen, and came up with a blank. The First claimed to be only a 1 on the Precog scale, but either the test that he took was incorrect, or the First had improved since he was tested – improved a lot.

The First had given only broad orders concerning the scouting mission – leaving the details for the Second to decide for himself while on scene. The Captain, on the other hand, would have listed everything he could think of – in detail – and any divergence from his orders, particularly if anything went wrong, would have resulted in the Second being disciplined and possibly shot.

After a lengthy search, the Second Officer found a particularly rugged asteroid that was approximately one mile (interpreted) at its widest point. It was inundated with overhanging crags and crevasses that their small craft could easily hide in or under. Yet the asteroid wasn’t so big that he and his crew could not put out sufficient passive scanners so that their AI could maintain a full watch in every direction.

Of course, parts of the asteroid belt were now on the opposite side of the sun from this Earth, but the part they chose was not. However, it was approximately 3.5 AU’s from the planet, and it took light roughly 29 minutes (interpreted) to travel from this Earth to where their scout hid in a deep canyon. This should allow a tremendous leap in the volume of information they could accumulate when compared to what they could learn from four light years away. If they were not discovered and their scans turned up nothing over a reasonable time period, the Second thought he might venture nearer, maybe even to the giant moon orbiting the planet. Still, for now, he was going to continue to err on the side of caution. The First continued to be adamant about something watching their ship, and that was good enough for the Second Officer. With that in mind, the Second advised his crew, yet again, about what the First Officer had said, reiterating that they would use only passive scanners and be very vigilant about anything approaching their position.

After locking themselves to the rock with a tractor beam, he ordered remotes put out around the asteroid so that they could see in every direction. When all the remotes were finally in position, he personally checked to make certain there were no blind spots in their surveillance system. Satisfied that nothing could slip up on his little ship, the crew settled down to watch for unusual movement or energy expenditures in the belt. Once the Second was satisfied that they were alone in the belt and safe, he would shift his search to the vicinity of the planet.

The Retreat

The conversation between Diana and Olivia Continues.

...”Are you sure? I mean...”

“Do you two eat steak?”

“Uh, sure,” Olivia returned.

“Good. The food will be ready in thirty minutes. See you then,” Diana told White, hanging up before the pilot could object further.

“A bit on the pushy side, weren’t you?” Jeff said as he kissed both of her nipples after relieving the pressure in her breasts.

The Clan Queen pulled her top down as she smiled at her husband. “Thanks for the relief, My Love,” she told her husband as she gave him a quick kiss. “And yeah, I was, but she was going to try to talk herself out of allowing us to help them, and I didn’t want to give her a chance to consider things. Besides, I should think that she’ll want to have her wedding where all her peers can attend.”

“But the Security Officers aren’t her peers. The other pilots back at the base are.”

“Good point. We’ll make sure to invite them, too.”

Susan and Arlene, grandmother and granddaughter, chose that moment to come bouncing in, the two giggling about something while looking more like sisters than what they actually were.

“Good, just the two I was thinking about. We need a nice steak dinner prepared for Olivia White and Joe Martin. We’re going to be planning their wedding, and ... it has to be a rush job, since they only have two weeks off from work. Even that might be cut short.” At their raised eyebrows, “And yeah, I know that we just ate, but they haven’t. Also, we’ll need to get Olivia’s measurements while she’s here.”

“Sure, Mom. Granny and I will be glad to make them a meal,” Arlene replied while barely holding back a snigger.

“I’ll ‘granny’ your ass,” Susan griped as she mock-frowned at Arlene.

When the two left, still giggling over something, Diana turned back to her husband, who shrugged, “Yeah, I can take care of Martin’s measurements, but you can bet he isn’t going to be interested in a tux.”

“His wife wants him in one,” Diana assured him.

Jeff stared at her. “I know for a fact that you haven’t asked either of them that,” he asserted.

“Of course, I haven’t, and it isn’t necessary. Every woman wants to see her man all dressed up in a nice tux – particularly at her wedding. Now, just take my word for it and get his measurements. Olivia will pick out the tux she wants him to wear.”

“So, he doesn’t have an input into this?”

“Of course not, but he gets Olivia,” she said before kissing him passionately. By the time the kiss was over, he had forgotten the question, or no longer gave a crap about it. By now, he was thinking with the little head instead of the big one, which was Diana’s plan. But ... she had been affected by his nursing her, although she had forced her mind to focus on her conversation with Olivia while he was doing it. With the kiss on top of his nursing her, her pussy was wet and waiting impatiently. By the time she managed to get her husband into bed tonight, she would be beyond ready.

As soon as her conversation with Diana was over, Olivia scrambled over Joe, but he managed a quick caress of her pussy as she did so. “Is that all you think about?” she asked with a giggle as he teasingly held onto her hand for a few seconds, delaying her from putting the phone back on the bedside table and, more importantly, delaying her dash to the bathroom.

“Well,” he said just before releasing her, “I do like to kiss your mouth...”

“... And my nipples,” she added as she cupped her pussy to forestall any sperm leaks while running for the bathroom.

“Those too,” he said with a laugh as he put his feet on the floor, only to realize that he really had to go to the bathroom, too.

When he finally heard the commode flush, he sprinted the short distance, arriving just as Olivia stepped into the shower. He quickly sat on the commode to relieve himself; sitting was a habit he had developed because of the gravity aboard the scout. Oh, there was gravity, true enough, but it had weird fluctuations in odd places about the vessel, especially in the area of the minuscule bathroom. There was no urinal, only a commode. Due to the artificial gravity in the small craft, while standing over the commode, his stream of piss tended to bend to the right. He had tried standing to the left, but sometimes just as he would get a strong stream going into the commode, a fluctuation in the artificial gravity field would hit and, his stream would miss completely. Dancing around with his dick in his hand while trying to hit the commode, particularly with his partner laughing her ass off, wasn’t something he wanted to continue doing. (There was no door to the “bathroom,” nor room for one.) So, after a couple of episodes of a dancing piss, he decided that he had rather sit than clean up.

Sitting there facing the shower, he could see his nude fiancée through the semi-clear glass of the shower door, which wasn’t helping him piss, although his bladder felt ready to explode. Damn, this woman has a body, he thought. Finally, after counting backward for a while, his dick went down enough for a stream to start.

“Don’t you dare flush just now,” she warned, knowing that the water in the shower would instantly turn hot if he did.

He wasn’t about to piss her off by flushing, but he wondered if they had time for a quickie. Before he could decide, she stepped out of the shower while leaving the water running for him. “Hurry. The Matthews are preparing a meal for us.”

He had gathered that from her conversation with Mrs. Matthews. As he stood, he saw her glance down at his swollen, although not fully erect, cock, then meet his eye to grin at him. “Later, Big Boy,” she promised.

When Joe stepped out of the shower after only a couple of minutes, Olivia was dressed in bra and panties, looking sexy as could be while she worked with the disaster that was her hair post coitus. Giving up, she pulled it into a high ponytail with a few curls hanging down on either side of her face. He stood staring at her, having decided, yet again, that she was heart-stoppingly beautiful and sexy as could be.