Chapter 8: The Trip Home

~~ November - Weeks 44 & 45~~

Captain Nick Clark was walking around his ship.

The damn thing pretty much ran without him, since Lee had played with the systems. The first week went by so fast. He had been able to get all his logs up-to-date and even found some quality time for Sung. The fact she had agreed to marry him and move to Clarksville hadn’t hurt his excellent mood either. She had loved the ring Berny had made for him.

The ship’s crew were setting up for the first jump before he knew it. Even with the reduced crew, most of them had found they had little to do to keep the ship running.

Alison had found with the new long-range sensors, and navigation algorithms Kyle and Lee had programmed into the system made her job easy. She had only to allow for minor deviations if at all. She barely had to be on the bridge for her regular job.

Engineering hadn’t reported any problems, and with less than forty people on-board, they hadn’t bothered to put half the support systems back online. They had ended up only taking one helm crew from the Army.

His engineering crew had said they were right with the rest. They had all been trained by Lee, so Nick believed they could handle the ship’s problems. They had even started the renovations to keep themselves busy.

Lee said the trip would only take about three weeks to get home. She had obtained the buoy locations from Allan and between his and theirs they had plotted a passage home. When he dropped his extra buoys off at the two jump points, then the trips back and forth should be even easier to plan and navigate.

Nick had the crew prepare for the first jump. To be safe, he made sure everyone was strapped in. The Army personnel were groaning about the jump. They hadn’t had a pleasant time coming out to Delta Pavonis. They had also been on shore leave when Lee had taken the ship to Kylee and back.

Ivan said, “Mate, she’ll be right, Lee fixed this bucket, and I bet you’ll barely feel a thing.”

Lieutenant Chris Cool (Esky) the Navigator wasn’t so convinced. Lieutenant’s Carl Nads a Helm Engineer and Barry Ace the Pilot were also apprehensive. The Captain had made sure his team was on shift for the jumps, so the Army boys had to ride them out with the rest of them.

“Greetings intrepid space travellers, we will be jumping in two minutes. The lifts are now shut down, and all bulkhead doors are sealed. Where you are, is where you will stay for the duration,” Sung’s voice came over the comm.

Most of the crew and passengers had elected to sit it out in the rec-room. Esky couldn’t believe how relaxed the original crew was. About the only people who were worried like them were the officials who came out on the Ulysses.

About two minutes later, they all felt just a little lighter for about two minutes and then it was over. The Ulysses people were still waiting for the jump when everyone else, was getting unbuckled and heading off to their other pursuits.

“Hey, you lot, we haven’t jumped yet sit back down,” Esky said in a panic.

Ivan walked over and patted his shoulder. “See I told ya, it was all cool, Lieutenant Cool,” and he wandered off to do his shift with a chuckle.

Sung’s voice came over the comm, “We will be doing the second jump in four hours people have fun until then.”

“Holy crap that was it, that was the jump?” Esky said to Nads and Ace incredulously. They grinned at him. “Why the hell did we bother with the strapping in if that’s the jump?” Esky asked.

Rolo laughed on his way past and said, “Because the protocols say we have to, why else?”

Esky and the guys shaking their heads made their way to the helm to take over, while Sung’s team got a few hours shut eye. Sung informed them the marker-buoy had been dropped and Alison had already set in the minor course corrections all they had to do was watch for alarms.

“Shit Esky, this had got to be the cruisiest damn ship I’ve ever had to steer. I might ask for reassignment to this ship,” Ace said, and Nads agreed whole-heartedly.

The boys settled in for their shift and found they didn’t have a lot to do. “Hey Esky, what do you make of that Lee chick? Even pregnant, she is bloody sizzling,” said Nads.

“Mate, I’ve heard some seriously weird stories about her. Did you know there’s a body in the morgue with her name on it? Apparently, the guy was raping one of the female scientist assistants. Lee smacked him the chest with the heel of her hand. One hit and she killed him,” Esky said.

“Yeah, a lot of people told me not to piss her off, but in the next breath, they tell you if you need help go see Lee. That husband of hers, Captain Watson, he is one sic’ dude too. They freak you out with the way they just pop into a room and then disappear again.”

“He scared the shit out of me the other day when I was in engineering. He just popped in as if he walked through a door. He sees me, comes over and shakes my hand. Next thing we’re talking about Puckapunyal training camp compared to Enoggera, and then he just pops back out again,” Nads said, shaking his head. The other two nodded their heads.

They had also had similar experiences.

Sir John Nash had his wife Mary on her knees.

He was busy pumping into her for all he was worth. Mary was busily pretending it was someone else. She heard John sigh and felt him stiffen behind her.

‘Thank god, that’s over,’ she thought. She would be glad when they got back to Earth, and he went back to his personal assistant. They hadn’t been allowed to bring her on the trip to her annoyance. So, her husband had been making her fill in the gap. Fortunately, he only demanded her to bend over about every two or three days.

She still couldn’t believe she married him. He was a lousy fuck. She was wondering when Esky got off his shift, so he could finish the job her husband started. One of the good thing about this trip was there were plenty of spare rooms to utilise.

Esky was thinking about Mary as well. The damn woman was forever seeking him out. He wasn’t sure how to persuade her to find her entertainment elsewhere. It had been a bit of fun on the Ulysses the first time.

But now she was demanding he perform, whenever she got an itch. It wasn’t fun anymore and to be honest he really didn’t enjoy fucking her as she only wanted him to perform. He didn’t like screwing another man’s wife much either. It was more grief than he wanted.

Esky was in the diner after the second jump when Mary found him. She indicated she wanted him to go with her, but he pretended that he didn’t see the signal. He glanced around, wondering how the hell he could get out of there without her collaring him.

Tahoora had noticed the woman harassing Esky before, and in her eyes, Mary was just as bad as Syd had been with her. She guessed Esky could be in a lot of trouble if her husband found out he had been screwing his wife. She could tell he really wasn’t that into the woman.

She had seen him check the diner and not enter if he saw Mary in here first. But he obviously didn’t know how to get out of the situation. She watched him search for a way out of the room. The poor bastard looked like a cornered rat.

She grinned. Lee came to her rescue, so maybe she could return the favour to someone else. She stood up and walked over to Esky. He had pushed his chair back to get up, and she was able to drop into his lap.

She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him. She hadn’t touched another person since Syd and was surprised to find a nice set of soft lips under hers. Esky opened his mouth to protest, so she pushed her tongue into his mouth and licked his.

Esky was surprised when Tahoora dropped into his lap. He had automatically put his arm around her to balance her and then found her lovely warm lips pressing into his. He soon found a tentative little tongue in his mouth and couldn’t help himself, he started kissing her back just as gently.

He wasn’t sure how long they sat there exploring each other’s mouths, but he sure enjoyed it. Tahoora sat back. Her lovely chest was heaving, and she had a strange look in her eyes. She glanced around the room and then grinned at him.

“I hope you don’t mind. But she was annoying the shit out of me, pursuing you like she does,” Tahoora told him. “If you would like, I can pretend to be your girlfriend for the next couple of weeks?”

“You only wish to pretend?” he asked. She was sitting on his cock, and it wasn’t pretending. Tahoora looked pensive. She actually felt quite comfortable sitting in Esky’s lap. He wasn’t holding her tight, and he was very cute. He had even let her lead with the kissing.

She had enjoyed the kissing. And going by what was pressed into her thigh he had too. She decided she had to be honest with him as she wasn’t sure if she could go the whole way.

“Um, I was in a bad relationship when this ship first went to Utopia. And well, I’m not sure if I can, well, you know. But I didn’t mind kissing you so I can at least do that to pretend I’m your girlfriend if you wish,” she said quietly.

Esky suddenly realised whom, was sitting in his lap. He gently pulled her into his arms and snuggled her head into his shoulder.

“Sorry my lovely, I won’t put any pressure on you. I would be pleased to have a pretend girlfriend especially if it’s you. I enjoyed kissing you too and would be more than happy to swap more spit with you.”

Tahoora giggled as she snuggled into his arms, liking the tender way he held her. Esky started to gently stroke her arm. He just sat there happily holding her in his arms. He didn’t squeeze her, maul her or demand that she do anything. She felt very safe for some reason.

She wasn’t very heavy and fit nicely into his body. Esky breathed in through his nose, he liked her smell. His mother had always said he was a sucker for a snuggle cuddle. Mary didn’t like to cuddle. She had wanted him to fuck her and then leave. Not the sort of relationship he liked at all. After a little while, Tahoora sat up and looked at him.

She decided she would like to swap some more spit and gently placed her lips on his. Esky was hard again in about two seconds as he let her explore his mouth, and he gently kissed her back.

Tahoora wiggled on his lap and caused him to groan. She giggled again. “Sorry, I think I’m having more of an effect than I intended,” she said.

Esky barked a laugh, “You can say that again, my lovely. You are one hot kisser, and I am only a dumb guy.”

Tahoora saw Mary glaring at her from across the room. She looked back at Esky. She slid off his lap and took his hand. He didn’t need much encouragement to follow her. She wrapped her arm around his waist and directed him to her room.

Mary’s eyes boring into Tahoora the whole way. Mary couldn’t believe the little tramp was poaching her property. The problem was she couldn’t do much about it. They were too close to home and kicking up a stink would not be to her benefit. She sat there, fuming.

Nads had been watching the little play unfold. He’d tried hitting on Tahoora the first day on the ship, but she hadn’t been interested. Trust Esky to nab the good-looking chick. Trouble was they tended to pick him up, more than he ever went out of his way to pursue them, the lucky bastard.

Nads looked at Mary and grinned. Well, one man’s trash is another man’s treasure, he decided. Esky had been bitchin’ that she bites, and she didn’t like cuddling afterwards. She sounded more like his type of woman that Esky’s. He didn’t mind a feisty chick.

He got up and walked over to Mary. He bent over to whisper in her ear, “So do you want a good fucking or not?”

Mary looked at him. He wasn’t the most handsome guy she had met, though he had a rugged sort of charm and he was young and fit. She glanced at the hallway were Esky had disappeared and knew that he did not intend to come back. He had given her the flick.

She had guessed that he was trying to avoid her since they had been aboard. He certainly hadn’t put a lot of effort into their last encounter either. She looked at Nads and said, “L4-9, ten minutes.”

Nads nodded his head and sauntered off. Mary watched him walk away and decided that he couldn’t be any worse than her husband. He did have a nice tight arse and a sweet bod in that jumpsuit.

Tahoora let Esky into her room. She was very nervous. She hadn’t been alone in a room with a guy since she was last with Syd. She fidgeted and wasn’t sure what to do with him now she had him.

Esky sat in the chair and then scooted it over near the bed and patted it for her to sit down. Tahoora sat on the bed. Esky kicked off his shoes and then dropped his legs on the bed beside Tahoora and put his hands in his lap and smiled at her.