Chapter 9

We had decided to consolidate and regroup, before chasing down the remnants of the Halim. Ships needed repair, and new crews needed training. Some of our personnel would be transferred to bases in the systems that had been liberated. Most of the replacements were being obtained from the thousands of volunteers from those same systems. By modifying our training aids, such as the sleep learning process, it was moving along nicely.

The first new group was almost ready, when the alarms went off. Our outer-most scouts were sending an emergency message. It seems that a large armada was approaching. I had a brief feeling of relief, when they went on to say that it did not appear to be a Halim force.

That feeling was short-lived. We didn't know these beings, so who could say whether they would be any better than our recently defeated foes? A return message was sent instructing the scouts to stay in place, but remain cloaked and unobserved.

We scrambled every active ship above destroyer size, and went to meet them. The smaller ships would be for our reserve. We met them several hours later, and my sense of confidence was seriously shaken. We were outnumbered five to one. Not only that, but these ships closely resembled the ones of the Halim that had caused us serious problems.

Because of that resemblance, the first language used was the one extracted from the systems of that type of ship.

We sent "Greetings from the Eridani Federation. You are approaching a system currently under our protection. We are a group of peaceful races. If you come to us in this fashion, welcome."

Mine wasn't the only sigh of relief on the bridge, when the response arrived. "Greetings from the Teghan, Eridani Federation. We are also peaceful, unless your allies include the Halim. If that is the case, I fear that we are about to have some serious issues with each other."

A request was sent for a video link, and one was quickly established. I spoke to the Teghan 'Force Commander', and let the translator program do its job. She seemed depressed, when I informed her that there were no Halim to be found, and saddened to learn that the Halim home world had been destroyed. She wasn't upset because we had done it, but because they had been looking to do the same thing.

We were also informed that further efforts on our part were unnecessary. They had been doing much the same as us, from the other direction. It seems the Halim had screwed with the wrong people on two fronts.

She beat me to the punch, and invited a contingent from our side to join them for dinner. Due to space limitations, I had to piss off my mates. I would be going, along with the fleet Admiral and representatives from our new allies.

The only wife to accompany me, was Rhonda. I had told them that only one could go, and they had surprised me with the unanimous selection. It made perfect sense, which was the main cause of my shock. Rhonda was still the best diplomat out of all of us, including me. I think they selected her to keep me from making an ass of myself.

Thankfully, she wasn't needed to prevent that from happening. Our hosts were very friendly towards us, and though it wasn't their call to make, believed that their government would be eager to establish a working relationship with the Federation.

Without getting into details, we explored areas that would be of mutual benefit to our peoples. In almost every area, the positive results would be welcome on both sides.

It turned out to have been a great idea to include Rhonda. She was the only one who could name all of the worlds currently in the Federation. This included the ones that would become members as soon as they got back on their feet.

In return, we got a list of the Teghan worlds. Among them were four that were in the process of repopulation. The Halim had hit them hard, before they had time to react.

They were fascinated with the fact that we came from a different universe, and even more so with the idea of creating wormholes for travel. They were a long way from home, and it would take them the equivalent of several of our months to return. We offered to create one using coordinates they provided. After some discussion, the Commander accepted.

The exit would be in an uninhabited system that was a week away from their destination, to prevent panicking their people. I suggested they send either an unmanned probe, or a scout ship through first. That way, they would be ensured of the safety of the fleet.

The Commander replied "I'm glad you mentioned that. I was worried you would be angry when I did, believing we didn't trust you."

"Trust does not preclude caution", I assured her. "I only suggested it because it is what we would do in your position. There is no hurry, though. If you would accept our hospitality, we would like to invite you to spend some time with us. Loweth isn't far from here. The climate is lovely, if you like the tropics."

The quick acceptance surprised me a bit, but I suppose the Commander figured she could find out more about us that way. A little 'R and R' would probably not be unappreciated by her crews, either.

The dinner conversation was interesting, even with the slight delay in the translator. They were more like us than any other race we had encountered, it seemed. Their appearance had shocked me, and Commander Lora expressed the same feeling about ours.

"We have never encountered beings so like us, in any system we have seen. It defies explanation, so I suppose we'll have to wait for the science types to reveal a reason."

If I hadn't known better, I would think humans had somehow managed to find their way out here. Lora, as she asked me to call her, was a perfect example. She was about five five, brunette, and looked to have all the parts in the proper place. They were also in very nice proportions. She also had some killer dimples.

The view from the rear was just as spectacular. Rhonda caught me scoping out Lora's ass a couple of times, and gave me some grief about it. I think Lora caught me, too. The impish grin she sent my way, gave me hope that she wasn't offended. 'Her ass must be incredible', I thought, 'because that uniform sucks! That was an understatement. Every Teghan we saw was wearing a very baggy and unflattering outfit.

There seemed to be only one major difference between us, and them. Like some of the others we had run into, their society was female dominated. This was evident in their crews. There were males among them, but mostly in support functions.

I met privately with Lora after dinner, and asked about it. "I'm afraid it has been this way since our recorded history began", she explained. "We have tried to correct it for hundreds of years, but to no avail. We've had some rare successes, but they are few and far between. It's as if the drive to succeed is simply absent in the males of our people. I wish it were otherwise, believe me. We've tried everything imaginable, but it just doesn't work."

She described things in more detail. It almost sounded like Earth before the nineteen-sixties, in reverse. Men were the homemakers, and most of the child rearing was done by them. Few of them worked outside the home, and the majority who did, were usually in the fields the women of old Earth had filled. Even in their fleet, men were commonly in nursing and menial jobs.

Lora was intrigued with our way of doing things. The amount of freedom we had, amazed her. It seems they were kind of prudish and, to them, even the dress uniforms Rhonda and I were wearing were pretty scandalous.

She could accept that the form-fitting uniforms were more functional, with no loose parts to snag on anything. She was a bit dubious when I told her they were much more comfortable, though. She turned scarlet when I offered to let her try one on to see how it felt.

The blush deepened, when I added "You really should try it, Lora. The fabric feels wonderful on the skin. It's the next best thing to being nude. Besides, you would look fantastic in one. You certainly have the form to fill one out nicely!"

When she recovered, she said "I don't know if that would be proper. Especially for me. You see, in our society, the leader of the military is also the leader of our people. At home, I am the Queen. What kind of an example would I be setting if I were to walk around like that?"

"A very attractive one", I replied. "Besides, according to most people, I'm supposed to be seen as our leader. At home, I usually don't wear a uniform. I'm usually nude. No one seems to notice much, as it is quite common."

"You're kidding, aren't you?", she blurted, before settling down. "No, I can see that you aren't. But doesn't that present all sorts of problems for you? I mean, there would be people doing all sorts of obscene things right out in public!"

"That would depend on your definition of 'obscene', I think", I snickered. After apologizing for my lapse in decorum, I continued. "You see, in our society, sex between two consenting beings that have reached majority is considered normal. It isn't as common in public as you seem to believe, though. Most people prefer at least a little privacy for those sorts of things."

"I don't know if we could ever do that", she confessed. "it's very unusual, and we generally do not expose ourselves if at all possible."

"You'd be surprised", I assured her, "at how liberating it is. In fact, the only reason we wear uniforms is to keep certain body parts from flopping about. There are things that we prefer not to have caught in moving machinery. Off duty, even those serving on our vessels are normally naked. It's an easy way to tell who is on duty, actually. I can change that temporarily if you visit, of course."

"NO!", she said, blushing furiously. "I mean, don't do anything differently if any of us are on board. If we are to become allies, each culture must learn to accept the differences between our people. Neither of us should change our behavior, but perhaps we can leave it up to individual crew members to make their own choices when visiting. Is this acceptable?"

I readily agreed, and made another offer. "Perhaps our medical people can help your situation, or at least make the attempt. We have discovered that a surprising amount of ingrained traits are contained in our genetic makeup. If yours are the same, it may explain the behavior the male members of your race exhibit. I'm afraid they can explain it much better than I can, but there may be a chance it is the case here."

Lora grew silent for a moment, before agreeing. She would see that we received samples for testing. "If I may visit you, I will bring them myself", she said. "I would only be bringing my closest advisors, at first. I think that I need to see the situation on board your ship, before exposing any of my crews to the radical differences you mentioned. It could be quite a shock for many of them. As I said before, I would prefer you did nothing out of the ordinary on my account. I would like to observe your lifestyle as it normally is."

I agreed, and invited her to dine with us for brunch. There was much for us to discuss, and many things I wanted to learn about them. We needed to know a lot more, before inviting them to the home system. They seemed to be a very friendly, but looks weren't everything.

We departed soon afterward, and immediately called a briefing. Each member of our entourage had been rigged for sound and video. The first thing that struck everyone, was the Teghan mode of dress.

Callie was as eloquent as usual. "Gag a maggot on a gut wagon!", was her first response. "Who taught those people how to dress? That's got to be fuckin' uncomfortable!"

I told her about the planned visit, and that we were supposed to act normal. "Fuckin' good idea!", she replied. "I wouldn't dress like them to go to a damn funeral!"

Of course Rhonda had to fill them in on my fascination with Lora's ass. I tried to defend myself by saying "Hey!, she I'll bet she has a fine ass under all that friggin' cloth! Can I help it if you ladies have given me a great appreciation for the female form?"

They were only partially appeased, and still ragged on me for wanting a 'piece of strange'. They continued to rub it in after we went to bed. I was about 'doggied out', when I was finally allowed to go to sleep. I certainly didn't bitch about it, though. My mates might have a variety of posteriors, but every one was a masterpiece of perfection. I've certainly had worse views to gaze upon.

Our visitors arrived unexpectedly early, and it presented the first complication. Since the crew had been instructed to conduct themselves as they normally would, Lora and her companions were brought directly to me. Unfortunately, I was doing my morning workout.

My exercise routine had been devised by my mates, and was intended to increase my endurance, concentration, and stamina. The routine in progress involved my bench pressing two-eighty, with Kalia spotting for me. That might not have been so bad. Hel, us being nude shouldn't have come as too great a shock. The fact that Tina was mounted on the Cyclops was a bit much for Lora, I think.

I didn't realize she had arrived, at first. I was concentrating, after all. Every time I raised the bar, Tina lowered herself. The deal was, that I couldn't stop until she was satisfied. It usually took quite a while for that to happen.

Eventually, it did. The first indication I had of visitors, was an exclamation of "Holy shit! A whole hour?", followed by "Hush, Marta! Remember your duties!"

That didn't stop the others from jabbering away when Kalia said "Yes, but you missed the first hour. I'm rather disappointed in Tina. She usually does much better. She must not be getting laid enough."

Tina huffed "Hey, you know better than that! This big-dicked fucker about wore my ass out last night! Can I help it if I was a little weak this morning?"

With that remark, she gave me a final kiss and got up. The comments from the peanut gallery continued, however. Some of them were rather inventive, and quite flattering. I glanced at Lora, but she didn't notice. I was still erect, and her eyes were 'cock locked'.

I laughed when she licked her lips, and she regained her composure. "I ... I'm sorry ... I mean we, uh, I didn't mean to intrude..."

"You didn't", I assured her as I sat up and took the towel Kalia offered. "I'm sorry if we kept you waiting, but Tina kind of had my undivided attention. I didn't realize you were here."

"UMmmm, is there someplace we can wait for you?" she asked.

"Sure", I replied. Kalia can show you. You two should get along fine. After all, she's a Queen, or an ex-Queen anyway. I'll be along shortly, unless you would like to shower with us?"

"Ummm, no thank you", she said with a blush. "I appreciate the offer, but we've already done that this morning. We'll wait."

"Suit yourself", Tina piped in, "but you don't know what you're missing. Showers make Matt horny. Come to think of it, breathing makes Matt horny!" She turned to me, and pouted "Husband, you wore my poor little pussy to a nub. I'm not sure I can walk, will you carry me?"

I laughed as I picked the cute little minx up. I knew damn good and well she was faking it. She just loved to be carried for some reason. When we got to the shower, it was occupied. Star, Angeni, Lea, and Sharon were waiting on us. Brunch would be late.

Andrea took our guests on a tour, so they weren't left alone to be bored. I was always 'on duty' when aboard, so I arrived clothed. I was a bit surprised, when one of Lora's group asked about my exercise routine. Tina was happy to explain, but the lady still seemed to be skeptical.

"That's impossible!", she had exclaimed. "No man lasts more than five minutes!"

"You poor thing!", Dina said seriously. "You must be extremely deprived in the sexual arena. Any man who can't last longer than that, should go to sick bay. Something must surely be wrong with him. Among our people, thirty minutes is a 'quickie'. Five minutes wouldn't get us breathing hard!"

I stayed out of this discussion, and so did Lora. She was staring at me, and shaking her head. I just smiled and shrugged. That broke the tension, and we chose a safe subject. I hadn't known that they didn't have replicators. The food we had eaten on their ship had been frozen. The (seemingly) fresh fruit, milk, and eggs astounded her. The reason it was there, blew her away. Hel, it even stopped the sexual discussion going on around us!