Chapter 3

The whole 'exploration' thing turned out to have a lot of merit. The fact that Tom was a loner didn't necessarily mean that he didn't get lonely or he didn't have needs. Tania felt really good under his hands, and while he didn't sleep as well as he might have because she was there in the bunk, she didn't seem to be inclined to complain when he felt her up for a while after each awakening. Tom fell back asleep with his cock in the crack of a plush ass and his hand full of nice, soft titty on four separate occasions. When the AI pinged him with a wake-up call for his first watch, his cock was like stone. He got up to take a piss and came back and rolled Tania over on her back. She was still half-asleep when he pushed her knees up and out and started rubbing her split with his cock. As a result, she was a little dry... "Ummm, give me a second and I'll get wet -- you surprised me!"

"Yeah, okay. What can I do to help?" Tom asked.

"Oh, anything. Just being there is enough -- I just have to catch up. If you want to entertain yourself, you can, I dunno, suck on a nipple or something. Kiss me, rub me -- anything is going to work -- I was just sound asleep..."

"Yeah, okay." Sucking in a nipple wasn't a bad idea ... He leaned down and sucked in the left one.

"Oh, yeah!" Tania moaned. "THAT works!" Lightning seemed to flash from her nipple to her clit and her pussy pulsed. 'I'm there already -- or close enough. Go slow until you spread it around..."

"Yeah, okay..." Tom applied a little pressure and he sank an inch or so deeper inside her, at which point he backed and filled a couple of times. "Are you always this tight?"

"Uuuuhhhnnnhh!! Are you complaining?" Tania gasped as he bottomed out.

Tom snorted. "No, actually. I withdraw the question. Fuuuuck..." He was moving smoothly, enveloped in her hot, wet tunnel. "I think we're ready to party!"

"Uh ... huh..." Tom was settling into a rhythm and Tania had no complaints at all... "Yeah ... Oh, SHIT this is good!" Tom's pubic bone was banging her clit and the tip of his cock was riding over this spot on the upper wall of the inside of her pussy, feeling like it might poke out of her somewhere just above her pubic bone -- and whatever he was rubbing on in there was driving her frantic! "I'm gonna cum!"

"Heh..." Tom had fucked whores who would have been buffing their nails or something at this point, just getting ready to fake it. Either Tania was a helluva actress, or she was about to pop already -- and those wide eyes of hers were pretty convincing!

"Oh, SHIIIIIIITT!!!" Tania grabbed Tom's ass and started undulating under him. The clutch of her cunt felt incredible, but it was morning and he wasn't as sensitive as he might have been, so he managed to get past the physical manifestation of her peak, enjoying them without being sucked in. He continued to get his while she recovered and started chasing a second orgasm.

"Wake me up anytime for this!" Tania gasped. "Just suck on my neck a little so I'm nice and wet for you ... If you keep this up, I'll probably learn to get wet on command!" Her hands remained on his butt, urging him to pound her pussy urgently.

Even morning numbness didn't protect him when Tania started locking up a minute or so later. "Oh! Oh! OH! OHOHOHOHOHOH!! OOOOOMIGAAAAAWD!" she shrieked, throwing herself up at him. She lurched up, grabbing his head, and locked her thick lips over his and proceeded to try to suck his tongue out while Tom's cock blasted away inside her. After a moment she fell back, gasping.

"Okay, it's official -- I'm in love!" she croaked.

"Uuuuhhh." Tom rocked back in surprise.

"Oh, I don't expect you to tell me you are," Tania said, rubbing his sides. "Maybe you won't ever be, either. Just take what I give you and enjoy it. I'm happy with what I'm getting."

"Yeah, okay," Tom said dubiously.

Tania tugged at him and he reluctantly allowed her to pull him down to her. "Shhhh. I'm sorry. I scared you. I should have known better than to hit you with that. Don't be mad. It's okay, really. All I want you to do is be happy and enjoy yourself. You don't have to get all wrapped up in things. You're giving me plenty without that."

"Well..."

"Really. Just relax and forget I said it. It was a stupid thing to say."

"Yeah, okay." Tom relaxed. 'How can I stay wary of the silly bitch when she feels so damned good?' He was half-asleep when he realized that he was SUPPOSED to be getting up. Lurching up, he grunted, "No rest for the wicked. We've got a full day ahead of us. Go drip out or whatever so I can use the head."

"Do you have to pee?"

"Yeah. That's pretty normal, after. It cleans the pipes or something."

"Go pee, then, and hit the shower, and I'll use the toilet while you are taking your shower."

"Yeah, that works." Tom lurched up and headed for the head.

An hour later, after Tania augmented Tom's standard scrambled eggs and bacon breakfast with a toasted cheese bagel the original pattern for which had come from some kind of bakery café, they were looking over Tania's exoskeleton in the habitat pod. The pod was fully back online and but not the exoskeleton, it appeared. "Let's move it to the airlock mount point. I'll take a pod and pull it out and haul it down to Replicator One and once it is back online, I'll stick it inside for remanufacture," Tom announced. After a moment, he added, "About Don and Barbara..."

"I don't know if I can..." Tania muttered.

"What do you figure I ought to do?"

"I'm sure an AI would say to recycle them, but I don't think I could eat for a while afterward," Tania muttered. "They deserve something..."

Tom sighed. A burial would burn precious time, but Tania was right. "Is there a small excavator around?"

"There ought to be one in the support pod that used to be next to Replicator One," Tania replied. "We should probably look at a spot on the southeast corner of the plant -- otherwise they'll be buried in ice." She looked sad. "We're excavating north of there for raw materials."

"Why not up near the plant or the holding area?" Tom asked.

Tania eyed him. "Like a monument or something?"

"Yeah."

"That would be nice, as long as we don't have to add too many people to the list."

"Okay, go on up and see if you can collect the product and determine which missiles will have to be re-manufactured. Get the good stuff put back together and arranged. We need a dozen pods for the African Queen. I'll get Replicator One back on its mount and running and put your exo in it for re-manufacturing, then handle the other thing."

Tania nodded. "Okay."

"First things first. Show me how to deploy the exo into the airlock."

The deployment mechanism was damaged, but they managed to get it to work after some judicious hammer and crowbar work. Then they went back to the ship and got into EVA pods. Tom dragged the damaged exoskeleton out to Replicator One, which was the missile replicator. The base management AI in the support pod reported that it was virtually undamaged -- merely upset. It became apparent that the EVA pod couldn't position it, however, so Tom first collected the other two broken exoskeletons and their grisly cargoes and set them aside, then went to the Mississippi Queen and used the tug's systems to reposition the replicator. He then went back to EVA Pod One and placed Tania's exoskeleton inside the replicator for remanufacture. Then it was time to use the excavator to create a couple of holes by the support pod and do some rather nasty recovery work...

... Somehow six hours flew by. Tom didn't notice until Tania's voice asked, "Tom, do you plan to eat or something?"

"Huh?" Tom checked the EVA pod's chronometer. "Nah. If I do, then it will take me forever to get organized and back into this thing. How are things going over there?"

"I'd say that fifty percent of the missiles will have to be remanufactured," Tania sighed. "I guess the good news is that when you have all of the right molecules in ALMOST the right location, it is faster than making the things from scratch out of a rock..."

"Yeah." Tom checked with the factory management AI in the support pod. "Speaking of which, your exoskeleton is done. I'm going to stick one of the others in now..."

"Where are they?" Tania's voice was soft. She wasn't talking about exoskeletons.

"In the ground. We'll whip up a little monument to mark things, but they're out of sight."

"Thanks."

"Well, they deserved it. Maybe they deserved better, but they got what I could find to put them in and they got a burial. Maybe I can come up with some words, later."

"Okay," Tania moved on. "I'm going to start hauling broken missiles up to the replicator. Have you looked at Number Two?"

"I put some of it back on its stand, but the AI says we'll need to do component replacements -- probably two days' work -- remanufacturing the components in Replicator One. Lucky us -- Rep One wasn't too torn up."

"Yeah." Tania drew a breath. "Yell when you're headed back and I'll quit and get us something to eat."

"Okay." Tom went back to his work trance.

'Queenie' or 'McQueen' got him out the next time. "Chief Foster, twelve hours have elapsed. The concubine Tania is exhausted and her effectiveness is down by thirty percent. Yours is also down by a percentage greater than ten percent."

"Oh? Yeah. Shit." You didn't fart around and make mistakes in an airless environment where the surface temps were two hundred plus below zero. "Tania!"

"Tom?"

"Head for the barn! Come get your exoskeleton -- I'll carry another one. We won't need a third for a while."

"Coming! I'm actually just on the other side of Replicator One."

"Feed it a missile. I'm done making parts for Replicator Two for the day."

"Okay." In a minute, EVA Pod Two swept slowly around the corner. "Which one is mine?"

"The one on the left."

"Thanks." Tania shuddered in her pod. "I don't think I could get in the other one, even if it is all brand new."

"Yeah, I get that. Let's head for the habitat pod." Tom picked up the other exoskeleton and followed Tania to the pod, where they stowed the two exoskeletons. The pod AI had directed nannites in the repair of the deployment arm while they were out, so it functioned smoothly. At that point, they returned to the Mississippi Queen and docked the EVA pods. When Tom got to the bridge, McQueen announced, "The EVA pods will require twelve hours' maintenance. There was significant wear and tear to both of them."

Tom nodded, grunting. "Yeah, I scratched the paint on mine a couple of times." What they were doing was a lot more work than a missile pod deployment.

"It is assumed that you are employing understatement," McQueen retorted.

"Yeah, you're right. One of these days you're going to figure me out." Tom grinned in spite of himself.

Tania looked like twelve miles of rough road. "What would you like to eat?"

"Something I don't have to look at or fight with. AI, Dinner Number Six, times two. Tania, go get in the shower and see if you don't feel a little better when you come out. I've got some checks to run." Tom turned away and began doing his manual systems check.