Dawynda in particular had grown fond of her visits upstairs, but she was discouraged by the reactions of the rest of the crew. Noticing that Aeren and Mixi were adorned in clothing that closely matched the others brought up an important question. Were the dragons officially part of our team or just a temporary project?
We discussed what it meant to be members of our crew. They needed to have a job, even if it was small. Security would be the obvious choice, but that would only be of value in places where we weren't afraid to expose them. Those locations were extremely rare at this point.
Gako suggested that they could push the cargo cubes around to help Cinnamon at her job. Considering how organized the cargo officer was, they probably would hurt more than help. I had no intention of allowing the huge beasts in the control room. That didn't leave much for them to do except clean up after themselves.
I told them that I would announce to the team that the dragons were willing to assist in any way possible. Perhaps retrieving tools and such for Honeysuckle. Crate pushing for Cinnamon. Catching fresh food where permitted. In return they would become real crew members. I explained to them that collars would be made for their necks to reflect their new status. Embedded in each would be a beacon and a communicator to help us avoid issues like the one we just had on Teegarden Dimo-First.
I then went to the control room for my shift and chatted with Cinnamon and Vanilla while I was there. It wasn't much longer before I heard a disturbance nearby. I rushed around the corner and into the galley where the voices were coming from. There sat a very stubborn Dawynda at the far end of the table on the floor where there was no stool. Strawberry had her back against the food processor, still in shock at finding a dragon in our dining area.
"Captain," Dawynda said, calling me by my title for the first time. "I need to be taught how to use the food processors."
"They are not eating in here with us!" my fiery redheaded lover exclaimed.
"Teddy eats in here, I am told," the green lizard replied. She looked even bigger in the confined space, but somehow more docile. She was taking up the least amount of space possible, her tail around her back, and not blocking anyone else from using the facility.
"You can't even handle a utensil!" Strawberry screamed at Dawynda. "Teddy is short, but he can behave like one of us."
I did not want to see a shouting match ensue between these two, or any of the others that were coming quickly to see what was happening. All were surprised to see the beast in our galley, but some were also humored. I was among that group.
"Must all your food be eaten by utensil?" Dawynda asked a more logical question than anyone was prepared for.
"No, it doesn't," Cinnamon said as she stepped past me to confront Strawberry. These were my two top girls when it came to command. "I'll eat with Dawynda."
"Well, that is because, because," Strawberry hesitated to finish the sentence. Whatever she had in mind wasn't nice and out of respect for me she didn't want to stir things up any more than they already were. "Captain, please make a ruling against dragons eating here. This is a clean place for food consumption. It is no place for shit covered dragon asses."
"I have learned to wipe my ass," Dawynda defended herself. I was extremely impressed how well she was holding her temper. It earned her more points in this debate than anything that she had to say. Being considered a legitimate crew member meant much more to her than I realized. The dragon then suggested that she display the cleanliness of her exit hole, which I emphatically discouraged.
"I have a suggestion," Cinnamon said, alternating her gaze from me to Strawberry. "Gako and Dawynda are permitted to eat here on a trial basis, but only at set times that Strawberry and Vanilla agree upon. If we have any sanitation problems, or any other kind of issues, we'll end the test."
"You can't be serious!" the furious redhead replied.
"I'll have to develop a sanitation protocol," Vanilla announced from the hallway where she was overhearing the argument. "The room must be cleared of contamination before it can be used by others. Sorry, Cinnamon, but you cannot eat with your friends during the test. If a high standard can be maintained, I'll loosen that restriction."
Dawynda looked smug, sitting there as if she was pretending like she was a harmless host for a children's television show. Everyone else was speechless.
"The doctor clears them before they enter the galley," I announced in a king's ruling fashion. "Cinnamon will teach them how to use the processors. The room will be cleared again when they leave. This test project will last for a maximum of three days, and they only get only meal per day. Our dinner tonight will not be interfered with since we have important matters for key members of the crew to discuss."
All were in agreement, or at least not willing to speak up against it, except Strawberry. She was clearly disappointed in my ruling. She stepped close and told me that my pet dragon project was getting out of hand. Then she darted back to her room.
I looked at Dawynda sitting there. She was such a troublemaker in her own way. She shook her head and waved at me, mimicking human behavior. I couldn't help but laugh. I had the feeling that eventually the dragons would be accepted much like Teddy had been. It was just a slower process and required more patience on everyone's part.
Gako and his wife roaming through the halls of our ship, sitting at our dining table, these were things that I never imagined would happen when they agreed to come onboard. But I can clearly see that these beasts can be reasonably well behaved given the opportunity.
Everyone cleared the room except Cinnamon who gestured for Dawynda to join her at the processors. The dragon fumbled with the controls, not accustomed to the dexterity required to operate human designed equipment. But she stuck with it calmly, apologizing to her favorite human repeatedly. When she finally managed to complete an order and receive the desired dish, I walked away shaking my head as she roared in delight.
If these wild animals could be tamed enough to act like us here on the ship, what was next? Take them onto the stations with us? Was the galaxy ready for that?
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT:
"Tau Ceti and Vega are the best choices for profit," Strawberry informed us. Cinnamon and Honeysuckle joined us in the control room for the discussion. The dinner meeting that I had planned had to be relocated due to the sour mood that the galley caused my first officer. "We would do very well to sell our food there. Your two crates of glass toys would hopefully bring a profit, too."
"Lightning sculptures," I corrected her.
"Unfortunately," she said with obvious attitude. "We need to avoid major stations where our ship will be recognized as the Arketa Koreta, because we are bandits now and transporting a ship full of alien creatures that will draw the interest of governments and scientific entities alike."
"We could sell at one of the smaller stations at Vega," Cinnamon suggested timidly. She was hesitant to speak up since it was her stand for the dragons that caused the redhead so much exaggerated anguish. However, Vega was her home. After being lost for so long I was sure that just flying around in that star system would bring her some comfort.
"There is still risk involved with that, spicy girl," Strawberry rebutted. The pet name wasn't used kindly. "These system traffic control stations all communicate with each other in the well populated star systems. Vega is probably the last place that we should go. Tau Ceti wouldn't be much better."
"What do you recommend then?" I asked impatiently.
"Luyten's," she said.
"Where in the galaxy is Luyten's?" Honey asked.
"Near Procyon," Strawberry said. "Our ship hasn't visited any of those star systems over there. We could probably establish a route under our new name without anyone questioning us. The stations are smaller and less sophisticated, but that is better for us right now anyway."
"Why Luyten's specifically?" I asked.
"They are usually hurting for good food. Records say they pay the highest prices in their quadrant for what we are hauling. T
hey orbit this strange planet that doesn't rotate. Crops would burn up on one side and not receive light on the other. Most of their agriculture is station based and can't keep up with the demand of their population. There are even documented periods where they had to ration their food strictly. It got so bad that there were riots."
"Why would we want to go where there are riots?" Cinnamon asked with an uncharacteristic snarl. She was being adversarial with my first officer. But it was a good question.
"That was years ago," Strawberry answered like it was common knowledge. Maybe it was. How the hell would I know?
I just knew that I was getting sick of this quarreling. I was going to have to shut it down before it got any worse, even if it meant bending Strawberry over the captain's chair for some rough rear entry. But we needed to settle on where we were going first. And I strongly wanted it to be where my first officer suggested. Give her a win since she felt like she was losing somehow.
"In your opinion, Luyten's is our best shot?" I asked. After she nodded, I added, "And you can navigate our path?"
"Of course," she shrugged.
"Our ship has never been there," Honey started to say.
"The Arketa, um, the Mavdaios has those star charts, updated just twenty-seven years ago. Galactic movement will not have affected those much. Plus, there are well established nav-holes all along the way."
"How many holes do we need?" I asked. I had been under the impression that we only needed one to exit our realm of existence here, then another to rip back at our destination. Surprisingly, I didn’t even think of the potential sexual reference in my inquiry.
"It is a longer trip," she explained. "We'll have to rip-jump three times. But it is no big deal. The whole thing will be plotted in advance. At each waypoint we'll recalculate before the next jump. It is standard stuff."
"For an experienced navigator," Cinnamon mumbled. I didn’t like seeing this side of her. Bonding with the dragons might be a good thing long term, but not if it placed a barrier between her and the rest of the crew.
"That's enough!" I shouted, scaring all three ladies sufficiently for them to jump in their seats. "This childishness will stop! You are all adult women fully capable of handling your jobs. I have confidence in every one of you. I trust you to do the same with me. I made my decision regarding the dragons in the galley, and though it sounds outrageous, I think it was fair. If they fail the test, we'll use that as a reason to shut down other requests. If they don't fail, we'll make adjustments, just like we always do."
I stared each of the normally attractive women down. This attitude they had coming on almost made them ugly to me.
"Honey, take over here. I want to talk privately with each of these two. Strawberry, Cinnamon, go to your rooms and I'll be with you shortly."
I knew that I sounded like a dominant parent, but it appeared to me that was what the situation called for. My outburst told them that I wasn't going to put up with their shit any longer. One-on-one visits with each of the two major culprits could potentially squash this issue.
Having just recently become captain, though, this was a risk on my part. They all looked bewildered by my demand at first, then Honey got up and went to a forward station to do the job as I requested. A few seconds later, Nav-Berry walked out looking less pouty than before. Shortly after that, Cinnamon left.
I collected my thoughts briefly, then followed after Cinnamon. She had been my number one girl all along. It was her that brought me back to the ship when I was struggling to survive on dragon land. And I knew what she needed right now.
"I'm sorry for yelling at you," I told her. From her facial expression I could see that she was prepared to be stubborn. My apology took her by surprise. "I know that you didn't do anything wrong when you stood up for Dawynda's rights. In fact, I'm proud of you for doing it. But you are not coming across as professional right now. I don't want anyone onboard to doubt your ability to play a valuable role in our future as a team. Do you understand?"
She nodded, looking like a chastised little puppy. Adorable, but frightened.
"I love you so much, Cinnamon," I said as I took her in my arms. Holding her tight I said, "I just need you to play nice while I get Strawberry back under control. Can you do that for me?"
"Yes," she whispered. When I released the embrace to look her in the face again, she nodded and assured me that she would her absolute best to get along. I gave her two strong kisses with obvious specific intent, then stepped back into the hallway.
When Strawberry's door opened, she was sitting on the side of her bed looking even more upset than my spice girl. Her arms were crossed, and her head was down. The fact that her feet didn't touch the ground due to her short stature made her look like a child having a tantrum.
"You have been bad," I told her.
"Excuse me?" she asked, surprised by my demeanor.
"You know what happens to bad girls. They get spanked."
"What? Are you serious?"
When I held out my hand, she put hers in it timidly. Not only was that not her style, but I had just told her what I intended to do to her. The strong woman that she was in front of the others was completely absent. I was a little concerned about my decision to go this route but seeing her response I was glad that I did.
I pulled her body tight against mine, staring down into her eyes. She gazed up at me with that fake fear, like a naughty daughter secretly wanting to be punished for bad behavior. Then I slapped her ass cheek through her shorts, hard. She yelped and looked at me in real shock then. When I smacked that bubble butt again, she began pushing me away, but not very convincingly.
"Do you want another spanking?" I asked.
"No," she muttered, and her squirming stopped. I saw confusion and desire in her eyes as she was still feeling out the situation.
"No, what?"
"No, daddy?" she asked unsure of the role she was supposed to play. I nearly burst out laughing.
"Captain," I corrected her.
"No, captain. I don't need another spanking."
"Lay face down on the bed," I told her sternly.
"Why? What are you going to do..."
"Lay down!" I yelled. She complied quickly then.
I tapped her arms and legs for her to pull them close to her body. Then I repositioned her head, so she was faced straight down, unable to see me. My hands then slowly wandered the sexy contour of her petite but curvaceous form. She twitched at times, but never moved from the position I placed her in. Finally, my right hand settled on her rump.
"Don't spank me," she said into her blanket. She sounded like she meant it, without completely dropping out of character. "Do anything you want, but please don't spank me."
I pushed my fingers firmly between her ass cheeks, rubbing them against her already sore anus. She flinched again repeatedly but said nothing more. Then I went farther to the warmest part of her fabric covered crotch. She started breathing heavy as I aggressively rubbed her pussy through her shorts, trying my best to hit the sensitive parts but it was hard to tell. Eventually, I grabbed her pants by the waistband and yanked them down. She lifted to make it easier for me, which allowed me to get them down her sexy legs. But I stopped at her boots, despite her constant kicking. I liked the looked of her shorts around her ankles with that firm round ass exposed. I just needed to get those knees spread apart.
I then had full access to her already wet pussy. She moaned and groaned as I worked her over with my fingers. Firmly against her folds and clit. I even smacked them gently a few times for effect. Once I got two fingers inside her things progressed quickly. I had her panting heavily as her juices flooded my hand. She groaned into the blanket as she shook, refusing to scream out.
I rubbed her clit after that until she begged me to stop, her legs vibrating like a little girl's on a motorcycle. Then I smeared her own cum from my hand across her quivering ass cheeks.
Before opening the door to leave, I asked, "Are you going to behave now?"
&nbs
p; "Yes, captain," she said into the blanket. Then she turned to look at me with that punished daughter face to say, "Thank you captain. I'll be good now."
I washed my hand before returning to the control room. I didn't need the others to know how I handled the Strawberry situation. Cinnamon was already there studying the screens with her best friend Honeysuckle.
"Anything weird going on out there in space?" I asked.
"No, captain," both girls responded simultaneously.
"When Strawberry gets back..."
Alien Girls Page 19