by Gini Koch
“You know, Stryker told me that they were able to change the AI’s programming so that if we don’t specifically call for her, or she isn’t triggered by things that indicate mutiny or such, she isn’t listening in.”
Jeff laughed. “Oh, so that’s why you didn’t use her name. Yeah, I wasn’t really looking forward to being watched. Or rated.”
“Oh, you have no worries about your Yelp reviews.”
“Oh yeah?” Jeff purred as he rolled onto his side. “What’s my best review?”
“Mmmm,” I stroked his chest and decided I was bitter because he still had the t-shirt on. “You always get at least ten stars out of ten, and most times you go to eleven. Besides, maybe your best review is yet to come.”
Jeff’s eyes smoldered and he got the Jungle Cat About To Eat Me look on his face. That was my favorite look in the galaxy. “Good to know.” His voice was husky and I was, shocker alert, instantly ready to go.
Jeff kissed me—deep, strong, wild—and while his mouth was occupied, his hands got us out of our pajama bottoms in record time. He ended our kiss, but merely to strip the t-shirts off. Then he ravaged my mouth again while our hands roamed each other’s bodies.
Before kids, we could take hours with foreplay. Once Jamie arrived, we tended to hurry it up. Now, with Charlie and Lizzie added into the family, foreplay was a luxury. However, Jeff still managed to fit some in, because he was a sexual god of the highest order.
His mouth went to my neck, which was my main erogenous zone. While his lips, teeth, and tongue toyed with me up there, his hands toyed with the rest of me, one hand arousing my breasts while the other went lower and stroked me. He was in a sensual rhythm—each area being pleasured at the same time, and it wasn’t long before I went over the edge.
Due to having kids, I’d done my best to try not to sound like a cat in heat every time we did the deed, but it tended to take more effort than I could always muster. Tonight—or whatever time it actually was wherever we were—I didn’t really have the willpower in me, so I yowled.
Jeff didn’t stop, and neither did I, but was aware that we were both listening for signs of my having woken the kids. Either the rooms were well soundproofed—always something to be hoped for—or the kids were really out, because no one came in to ask what we were doing.
While we were listening, my hand found my favorite organ in the universe and I toyed with Jeff. Oh sure, I was still busy being sexually controlled by my husband, but I managed to participate beyond gasping and moaning, and also ensured that he was ready to go. He was. Fully.
“Mmmm, is my bad girl already ready?” Jeff purred against my neck.
“Al-ways.” Hey, yowling was easy when we were like this. Speaking coherently wasn’t.
Jeff chuckled, nipped my neck, gently squeezed both nipples in turn, and gave me one last starter stroke, and then he was inside me and the real fun began.
Fancy positions, while awesome, were also now something we saved for when we knew we couldn’t be disturbed. But there were always ways to make a standard position fun, and Jeff knew them all.
As he thrust inside and I slammed my hips in time with him, he moved up onto his hands, slipping his forearms behind my knees. I grabbed his impressive pecs while we thrust together in a fast rhythm. He’d had me more than ready and another orgasm arrived in record time.
I was gasping and moaning, but he wasn’t done. He slid first one leg and then the other up his arms so that my heels were resting on his shoulders. Then, one hand at my hips and the other toying between my legs, he went to town.
My lower body couldn’t move much in this position, which was fine because it felt fantastic—hard and deep and oh, so pleasurable. My upper body was able to writhe, which, based on Jeff’s growls, he appreciated. My hands couldn’t reach anything I wanted to grab, like his chest or, as I thought of them, his perfect pair of thrusters, so they grabbed the sheets instead.
We were like this for what could have been an hour or could have been minutes only. When Jeff had me in this state, time didn’t really work right, and I really didn’t care. The only thing that mattered was him—how he’d move, what he’d do, how he’d look at me.
The Jungle Cat look was on his face again as he ratcheted me right back up to the edge of climax. “Tell me what you want,” he growled.
Gasped but couldn’t get the answer out.
He smiled. “Tell me. Or . . . I’ll stop.”
“Want . . . you. Always . . . want you.”
His smile widened. “That’s what I like to hear, baby. Because I always want you to want me.” His thrusts got faster and stronger, his fingers played me like he was B.B. King and I was Lucille, and another orgasm hit, hard and strong.
Couldn’t yowl, all I could do was gasp. But Jeff didn’t stop. He flipped my legs down, wrapped his arms around me, and started going harder and faster. Wrapped my legs around his waist so my feet could help those thrusters along and slammed into him as hard and as fast as I could, while my hands clawed at his back.
He kissed me and this kiss was wild and almost animalistic, so I knew he was almost there. He ended our kiss, reared back, and growled. “What do you want?”
I was ready. “All of you, Jeff.” We slammed together, going faster and faster, and I could tell we were both at the edge. “Every last bit.”
He threw back his head and roared as he exploded inside me and my body responded in kind.
Jeff lay on top of me as our bodies throbbed together, both of us nuzzling the other, arms still around each other but caressing, not clutching, now. Finally, we both stilled, and he rolled off of me and onto his back, bringing me onto my side so I could drape over him and we could continue to stay in each other’s embrace.
Heaved a happy sigh. “That was one fantastic spaceship ride.”
Jeff chuckled. “I agree. So, Commander,” he said as he nuzzled my head and I stroked the hair on his chest, “should I take you around the galaxy next?”
“Oooh, make it so, Number One. Make it so.”
CHAPTER 53
GOT IN SEVERAL MORE excellent orgasms, then we got back into our nightclothes, wrapped around each other, and went back to sleep.
This sleep was dreamless, or if I dreamed, I didn’t remember anything. Woke up to a low dinging sound. “What’s that?”
Jeff hugged me and sat up. “I’m guessing it’s Mother’s way of waking us up.”
“Her way is a lot more pleasant than how they do it in Centaurion Division.”
Jeff laughed as he got out of bed. “Maybe this alarm system doesn’t make you get fully out of bed to turn off, too.”
“We can but hope.” Wasn’t all that tired, but I’d never been a leap out of bed ready to face the day person and saw no reason to start now.
The kids were up as well, so we did a fast shower rota and got dressed. Happily, the Elves had indeed taken the spaceship contract, so while Jeff had the standard Armani fatigues waiting for him, the kids and I got to be in jeans, t-shirts, comfy shoes, and jackets.
I was in a vintage Styx “Mr. Roboto” shirt with an Aerosmith hoodie, which was kind of a change. But, since I knew Algar had his reasons, didn’t argue, just rejoiced that my Converse had been allowed to make the trip with me. Lizzie had scored Metallica while Jamie was in a pink Roger Rabbit shirt and Charlie was wearing Winnie the Pooh featuring all the characters. Clearly, Algar had a theme for the family. Had no idea what it was, but knew he had one.
Thusly attired to take on the galaxy, flung my purse over my neck, and we headed to the mess hall. True to form, all the A-Cs were in the Armani Fatigues and anyone who wasn’t an A-C was in some form of color. Even Reader, Chuckie, and Tim had branched out and weren’t going for their standard “blend in with our alien friends” sartorial choices. Truly a red-letter day.
Had to give Drax and Mother this—eating was not an issu
e on the Distant Voyager. We all scarfed down the plentiful and delicious food and drink as if we hadn’t been fed and watered for days versus hours. A suspicion niggled. Considered the best place to pose my question and decided the mess hall probably wasn’t it.
Sped up so I’d finish eating before the others, excused myself, told Jeff to stay with the kids, grabbed another cinnamon roll for the road, made eye contact with Tim, and left the room.
Tim caught up to me. “What’s going on? And why did you want the others to stay in the mess hall? At least, I assume that’s what you wanted, and I hope it is, because I told James and Chuck to stay put.”
“It is, good call. I have a question that needs asking and I think it’s likely that only you and I are going to get the answer.” Headed for the command deck. Butler and Maurer were there, both awake and functioning, which was a relief. The Kristie-Bot was there, too, however, which was not, though it pretty much confirmed my suspicions.
“Okay,” Tim said, “I’ll bite. What question?”
“Mother, how long were we all sleeping?”
Silence.
Looked at Butler. “I expect an answer. From her or from one of you three.”
“I will answer,” Mother said. “You have all been asleep for the human equivalent of two days.”
“Perfect,” Tim muttered.
“In that time I was able to update the Universal Translator and install the languages the others have learned into those of you who were awake or were not on board when we first left Earth. You will all be able to speak to a wider variety of life in the galaxy with ease now.”
“So that makes it all better?” Tim shook his head. “You taught the rabbits new languages, and that’s supposed to make us not upset? How’d you figure it out, Kitty?”
“We were all too damned hungry. Why do this? Or, more importantly, why did you risk us in that way? And don’t say to merely teach us whatever languages we might need. JR is still a baby who can’t go two hours without care, let alone days.” Looked at Maurer, who was not looking at me. “Oh, he didn’t, did he? Uncle Cameron took care of diapers and feedings and such, didn’t he?”
“I have two children,” Maurer replied.
“I’m good with kids, too,” the Kristie-Bot said somewhat defensively.
“I’m sure you are,” I lied. Examined my arms. Sure enough, was pretty sure I saw a needle mark in my forearm. “You guys came in and put the rest of us under, didn’t you?”
“The ship is equipped to put passengers into suspended animation in times of need,” Mother said. “So, yes, that was done. It was made easier by the others’ help, but I could have done it without them if the situation had demanded it.”
“You gassed us all, then put the needles in, is that about it?” Which mean the gas was shipwide, not just in the crash couch rooms.
“Yes,” Mother said. “Younger children were woken, tended to, and put back into suspended animation during the suspended animation period.”
“How can you be sure it didn’t hurt them? Or any of us?”
“This was created by Drax,” Maurer said. “With the idea that humans, A-Cs, and hybrids would be on board. Everything was tested, Kitty, including the possibility for people to be and become pregnant and also to give birth. Tests were done, many times over.”
“I remind you that my prime directive is that I preserve life,” Mother said. “I will never do anything to harm any of you.”
“Of course you won’t, but, just to be sure, should we start calling you HAL?” Tim asked, easily as snidely as I would have.
“No,” Butler said. “This wasn’t done to create problems—Cameron and I never would have allowed that. This was done because there was nothing going on.”
“So?”
The Kristie-Bot heaved a sigh. “I get why they don’t get it, John, let me take this one. Kitty, for some of you the trip has been action-packed and all of you needed to rest, a lot. But, and this is the key point, the rest of the adults are already dangerously bored. And I’m talking the politicians in particular, but not just them. No one’s gotten to do anything, and wandering the ship was great for a few hours, but not long-term. Their restlessness was starting to rub off on the kids.”
“Again, so?” Tim asked.
The Kristie-Bot rolled her eyes. “You have a lot of people on board who can create problems if they’re left unattended. You have a small press corps with you, you have powerful politicians, you have parents, and you have a lot of kids. You know what people do when they’re bored?”
“Things we don’t want them to. I get it. Tim, just imagine what Hacker International could be up to if they weren’t needed to assist Drax and Mother.”
“Exactly,” Butler said. “It was deemed safer to have you all stay in suspended animation until we felt that we were close to our destination.”
“And, are we?” Tim asked. “And if we are, where is this magic destination?”
“Based on how long we have been moving at warp speed,” Mother replied, “I estimate us to be coming out of warp within the next hour. Hence why we woke everyone up two hours ago, so you could bathe, dress, and eat.”
Tim and I looked at each other. “It makes sense,” Tim admitted. “But what do we tell the others?”
“Nothing.” Looked around. Yep, that’s what Team Tinman thought was the right course, could tell by their expressions and body language. “If Chuckie or one of the others asks, then we tell them, in private. But for the others, we don’t say anything.”
“Why do you want us to lie to the crew and passengers?” Tim asked. “Not to mention our spouses.”
“Because we can. And I mean that you and I can lie. It’s the same as when Nightcrawler didn’t want us sharing that they were on board. Think about how upset you and I were when we realized what had happened. Now multiply that by everyone else. We don’t have time for mutiny or infighting. We have a galaxy to save.”
“You think no one else will notice?” Tim asked. “I mean that seriously. You noticed, Kitty, right away.”
“I did, but no one else seemed even remotely curious about why we were all so hungry.” Presumed that was probably due to an assist from Algar, but could have been from other reasons. An assist from ACE, for example. “And ACE is with us—if he felt that this was a bad plan, he’d have kept Jamie awake or warned me.” At least, I hoped. “But what about the animals? Were they aware or cared for?”
“The animals spent most of the time sleeping,” Mother said. “When they awoke we took care of their needs.”
Thought about this. “Most of them are predators, and predators sleep a lot. But they’re also protectors. You’re saying they were okay with this plan of yours?”
“The animals communicate with you,” Maurer said. “Not the rest of us on a regular basis. They didn’t seem upset with any of us, and most of them are equipped to share displeasure violently. The few who wanted attention got it, too.”
“Okay,” Tim said. “So, let’s say that ACE and the animals were all okay with this. But if we say that we agree with every decision made regarding this situation, how do we handle the boredom? Because that’s not likely to go away.”
“I think that all depends on where we’re going for our next stop.” Didn’t say that it could be somewhere fun, because I knew how the cosmos liked to hear things like that and take the possibility away immediately as spoken.
“We spent all the time while you were sleeping trying to determine that,” Butler said. “We are not certain, of course, but we feel that we are heading to a point opposite in the galaxy from the Eagle Nebula.”
“Far from the Galactic Core,” Maurer added. “As near as we can tell, we’ve been sent around the Core, versus through it.”
“Makes sense for safer flying. And also if we’re somehow not supposed to be noticed.” Now, why did I think that?
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“Why do you think that?” Tim asked, right on cue.
Realized I thought this because of my dream with Mephistopheles. “Someone” was trying to destroy the galaxy, most likely as a way to flush Algar out of hiding. Meaning that if we were the ones tasked with saving the galaxy, it was going to be better if we were flying under Someone’s radar. And all of our various Powers That Be were working toward saving the galaxy, meaning that they were all working together, albeit likely in a tenuous fashion and removed enough to be able to claim neutrality.
“Just had weird dreams. But I think we should figure that whoever’s pulling our strings wants us to be more stealthy as opposed to overt.”
“Gotcha. So, only those of us in the room get to know. Glad I practiced lying to Alicia from day one in our relationship.”
Hugged him. “It’ll be fine. This is leadership and high-level security clearances in a nutshell. Don’t think of it as you lying. Think of it as you being the Prime Minister in the Sovereign and Flying Nation of Kitty Land.”
“I remember how mad you were. I’m thrilled to be in the Inner Circle. Full lying capability coming right up, Queen Kitty.”
“It’s nice to be back in the Sovereign and Flying Nation of Kitty Land,” Joe said as he and Randy joined us. “You told them?” he asked Butler.
“Kitty figured it out, as you expected her to.”
Tim and I exchanged the “duh” look. “You two weren’t sleeping, either, were you?” I asked.
Randy shrugged. “We slept some, because we still need it. But we’re not fully human anymore, and in times like this, that’s a good thing.”
“We approved the decision to put everyone under,” Joe said. “Not anyone else.”
“John, Kristie, and Cameron didn’t mention that.”
Randy grinned. “We told them not to, Mother, too. If someone figured it out, then we’d tell them. You figured it out, we’re telling you. Commander. Or should I say My Queen?”
“Oh, stop. You two know I’m almost never mad at you. But I do feel better that you two were involved, and that’s not a diss on the rest of you.”