All That Glitters Ch. 33

"OK, gang," Junelliya said after a time. "Time to return home. Ikekia will be home in a few days and you can help out then."

The Cats all jumped back onto Junelliya and sounded a good-bye call to Hanalei and the baby as they rode her out of the room to the laughter of the other empaths in the room. The Cats were very excited going home, bobbing up and down on Junelliya and trilling all the way to their quarters, much to the laughter of Fayad and Junelliya.

Junelliya thought she would be tired but discovered that she had a lot of pent up energy. She realized that she had Fayad all to herself for the next couple of days. Even in her advanced pregnancy, she found herself suddenly horny, or maybe because of her advanced pregnancy.

Junelliya asked if Fayad would help her shower. The shower for the quarters was more than large enough for three, which was a good thing as both Junelliya and, until recently Hanalei, needed the extra room.

The Cats followed them into the bathroom but stayed out of the shower. While they loved to play in water, they hated being 'rained' on. They preferred to use the sink for their play, so Junelliya put a little water in it for them, smiling as they joyfully splashed about. She left a towel out for them to roll on to dry themselves off afterward.

She and Fayad swiftly stripped, placing their clothes in the receptacle and slipped into the shower, swiftly wetting themselves down. Water was still being rationed on the platform as the ice chunks recently brought in hadn't been processed yet, so they shut off the water while they soaped up, Fayad helping by rubbing slippery hands all over her body, bringing out excited feelings for her husband for Junelliya.

She took the soap from him and returned the favour, helping getting every part of him soaped up, much to his delight, and hers. They turned on the shower and rinsed off all the soap. Junelliya was looking forward to getting more of the ice water on the platform, alleviating the need for water rationing. For now, they turned off the shower and helped each other to dry off.

The pair went naked into the kitchen and prepared a simple meal together, sharing bits of fruits and vegetables as they made the food. The pod got its food, and the humans theirs. They swiftly cleaned up, putting away all the human food to prevent temptation for the Cats.

Junelliya took Fayad's hand and led him into the bedroom, asking the Cats to stay out for awhile. The Cats seemed to understand that their bond mates needed time together and were never resentful when asked for a little privacy, for which Junelliya was grateful.

Fayad lovingly ran his hands over Junelliya's body, revelling in the changes that the pregnancy had given her. Her breasts were much fuller now, preparing for the baby's entry into the universe. Her belly was getting bigger and soon would reach it's peak of stretch but was still a little short of that, though not far off.

Fayad slid his hand between her thighs and cupped her mound, his finger sliding delightfully through her wet lips. Junelliya cooed at his touch. Fayad's lips found hers, kissing her tenderly as his hand worked her gently.

Junelliya's nipples were hurting a little, so she offered a teat to Fayad, who gently sucked on it, sending unusual thrills through her body. He breasts had never reacted like this before her pregnancy. She knew that she would soon be producing milk, and that Fayad would get a taste before the baby. That brought a smile to her lips.

Fayad's fingers were working their magic on her pussy, swiftly bring her to a gentle and soothing orgasm.

She told him to turn around, and took his cock into her mouth, his own mouth finding her mound. Junelliya savoured the taste of him, never able to get enough of it. Even through the slight residue of soap, his manly taste was evident.

Fayad was gently tasting her nether lips, enjoying the flavour changes that pregnancy had brought to her. He found her to be producing more lubricant of late, which was understandable considering her advance state of pregnancy. After playing with her for a bit, he tracked in on her clit and sucked it into his mouth, bringing a moan from Junelliya that sent a thrill up his body, his cock twitching in her mouth.

Fayad had been horny all day, so Junelliya's moan around his cock almost sent him over the edge. He managed to stave off his orgasm and pulled himself from her mouth, even though she wanted to play with him some more.

He turned sideway, perpendicular to her body, and slipped his rigid muscle eased into her. Junelliya sighed at the feeling of him slowly entering her. She always liked it when he gently entered her like that.

Fayad shifted slightly, allowing him to slide deeper into Junelliya's body. She cooed at the sensations he was creating. She found her pleasure swiftly mounting as he had already brought her off once, if only a little one. Junelliya had been surprised to find out that she could come many times, one orgasm leading to another, so, unsurprisingly, Fayad's motions quickly brought her to another peak.

She called out her pleasure to Fayad and heard the Cats trilling in response from the other room which brought a giggle from her and extra effort from Fayad, who gave her a little more power with his thrusts, not that she minded.

Fayad was trying to hold off but since Junelliya had come a second time, he was now working for his own pleasure. His thrusts came harder and faster and he felt himself beginning to build to his climax. Unexpectedly, he was there and he groaned as he shot his seed deep into his wife.

Junelliya felt him pulsing inside her and it triggered another orgasm in her, this one bigger than the other two. They moaned in harmony as they climaxed together.

After a short time, Fayad moved up beside her and gave his wife a tender kiss. He slipped out of bed and went to get a facecloth to help clean Junelliya up. The Cats came in and settled for a brief moment, knowing it was time for their bond mates to sleep. They got little rubs on their heads and words of kindness before Fayad closed the lights and covered the pair up. The Cats, being nocturnal by nature, played for a little while, chasing each other around the different rooms of the home before settling down to wait for their human partners to wake. They had played a little longer than usual this night, but that was understandable. To the Cats, it had been an exciting day, they had a new bond mate!

NS Julia Thenton, Liramor-23, Piscium System

The NS Julia Thenton came into the Navy inbound lane for Liramor-23.

"Central Control, this is NS Julia Thenton, Lt. Brendon Palid commanding, with FAdm Thenton on board. I am requesting berthing for the ship, over."

"Control, roger, you have position three in Shuttle Bay-2 available, over."

"Thenton, roger, slot three in Bay Two. We will be fifteen minutes to docking. Thenton, out."

Fayad sent a message to Fiona's comp of FAdm Thenton's arrival, in case she hadn't caught the interplay, though not much got passed Fiona. He gave command of Central Control to SOps and headed down to the reception area to meet the guests in her stead.

Just before the Thenton set down, Fiona showed up in Navy Dress One, with Malteyea beside her, Fayea greeting the pair from Fayad's shoulder.

"Fayad, nice to see you ready to take over for me," Fiona quipped.

"Did I do wrong?" he asked, suddenly worried.

Fiona smiled. No guile in this young man, she thought.

"No, in fact, had I been involved with other guests, this is what I would have expected of you," Fiona told him.

Any other discussion was arrested as Thenton and his group marched into the reception area.

"Commodore," Thenton smiled, accepting the salute given. "Permission to come aboard, sir."

"Permission granted, welcome aboard Adm. Thenton," Fiona stated, while Malteyea sent a signal to the station acknowledging; Arrival, Sector Forty-Two and Arrival NS Julia Thenton.

"Good to see you again, Fayad, anything new on the home front?" Thenton asked of the young man.

"I am a father, sir, as of two days ago. Wife and daughter are doing fine," Fayad said with a smile.

"Congratulations, young man," Thenton said, shaking his hand. "This is your first, yes?"

"Aye, sir. But another is in the wings, Junelliya is now near the end of her seventh month."

"That is one that all of us are waiting for, no doubt," Thenton laughed.

"Can you call the senior administrators and all the captains at the platform for an announcement, Fiona?" Thenton asked as they headed up to the conference room.

"Already in place, sir," Fayad told them.

"Damn, this man needs his own platform, Fiona," Thenton laughed.

"Not enough time in his current position, Charles," Fiona said. "But his progress has been noted."

Conference Room One, Liramor-23, Piscium System

All stood as Thenton entered the Conference Room.

"Ah, Raymond, Liea, it is good to see you here as this pertains to your ship," Thenton started the brief.

"I have a ship in need of an experienced captain. One that is in refit and that means a captain familiar with the new ship procedures and automation. Because of that, I need to steal Captain Henadi Noor from your ship.

"I would not do this unless it was absolutely necessary, however, my hands are tied. There is only one captain who has the prerequisite experience and time in command in the new systems. That, is Henadi Noor," Thenton stated.

"Attention to orders!" snapped Captain Fillertan, Thenton's aide. "A-113552-876, Captain, Navy, Henadi Noor, you are hereby relieved of command of PV The Wanderer as per orders of FAdm. Charles Thenton, commanding Navy Sector Forty-Two."

That caught the attention of all in the room, except Raymond and Liea, who had already been informed by Henadi that this would likely happen.

"Captain, I relieve you, sir," Thenton said.

"Sir, I stand relieved," Henadi replied, shaking Thenton's hand and giving a salute.

"F-554772-243, Captain, Navy, Hellene Degault, step forward, sir. You are hereby ordered to the Piscium System where you will assume command of PV The Wanderer," Fillertan intoned.

"Congratulations Captain, she is a fine ship, with a fine crew, and a most unusual mission. You are going to have kittens when you discover what your new role is going to be," Thenton said, getting laughter from all in the room and a perplexed look from Capt. Degault.

"A-113552-876, Captain, Navy, Henadi Noor, step forward, sir. You are hereby ordered to HD-115153, the Punarjanm System, where you will assume command of NS Dewfall, Burgan Class, in refit."

Thenton shook her hand and took her salute.

"Congratulations, Captain. I expect you to treat her in the same manner as you did PV The Wanderer, minus the pleasure cruise parts of course," Thenton quipped.

"My apologies to you, Capt. Balakrishnan," Thenton said, turning to the other captain. "However, your seniority is such that I could not give you command of The Wanderer.

"Your turn will come. I have faith in you and your abilities. My judgement in people has seldom let me down," Thenton stated.

"Captain Noor, I give you till tomorrow to do the hand-over of your ship with its new Captain. Then we shall depart for your new command," Thenton said.

Henadi took Hellene's arm and walked her over to Raymond and Liea. Time to let her know what is really going on, Henadi thought, smiling.

Before he left the conference room, Raymond cornered Thenton and Lt. Palid.

"Sir, I believe that, in a direct line from here to the Punarjanm system, you must go near to Green's World?" Raymond asked.

Lt. Palid acknowledged the fact they could easily make a stop at Green's World.

"I would like to get two small favours from you, Charles, if I may?" Raymond asked. "Our ship's doctor, Ayesha Seito, is due to return to the Malihan Regional Hospital on Green's World, in order to complete the practical parts of her medical doctorates. If I could get you to drop her off there, it would be greatly appreciated."

"And the second favour?" Charles asked.

"Her husband, Sean Murphy, cannot go with her. He would be a 'distraction' for her. So, I think employment at Liramor-30 for say, six months, would be in order. That would allow her to finish her doctorates, and him to have something to do to keep from fretting while she is away," Raymond said with a smile.

Charles barked a laugh. "Very well, Raymond, have your two people ready to go tomorrow by 10:00 hours. We'll get them to where they are going."

The Wanderer, Parking Orbit, Liramor-23, Piscium System

Capt. Hellene Degault walked the decks of her new command as she contemplated what it meant to be the captain of THIS ship. It had come as a major shock to her to find out what this ship had done, what it was doing, and what it would be doing in the future.

FAdm. Thenton said that she would be on a ship that would tax her abilities as a Captain. Damn, if he hadn't been right.

"Good morning Captain," Cdr. James Hull, her EX O greeted her.

"Good morning, James," she replied, smiling. "What are we doing this day?" she asked.

"Today we are walking the weapons lines," James replied. "You will get to see for yourself the weapons and I will explain their capabilities as they are somewhat different than what you might expect.

"We will start in the aft end, looking at the 150cm tubes and the ready racks there," he told her, guiding her to the stern of the ship.

Both were in their EES as Hellene had expected she might be in areas that they could be required.

"By they way, Thimble wishes that you could make time with her so that you can be fitted for your personal gear including the latest in body armour. I have taken the liberty of booking you for 09:30, with her," James informed her, sending something to her comp from his.

Hellene noted the new schedule with 'Thimble' set on it.

"You will find her on the middle VIP deck. Look for the Thimble and Needle image on her door," James advised, getting a nod from the Captain.

"I know this is a lot to throw at you at once, Captain, but you will need to speak to Raymond about tactics as soon as possible. Raymond Clark is one of the best tactical minds in the Navy and a co-owner of this ship," James said.

They arrived at the hatch of the airlock to the aft racks. James opened it and they cycled through. There were three crewmen in the area, checking on the racks. Captain Degault asked them what they were looking for and received prompt answers on possible issues that they were constantly keeping an eye on. The biggest was always what was happening to the special grease used on the racks.

Since this section of the ship sometimes went into vacuum, the grease used was designed to operate under those conditions and under more human appropriate conditions. This meant that it was subject to stresses that other grease would not be. They had been taught what to look for to ensure that the grease was working properly.

Hellene looked around and was impressed at how clean the area was. This was obviously not a spot job to impress the new captain, it was work that had been maintained for some time.

"How regularly do you clean in this section?" she asked.

"Every time we come in here we clean behind us," the lead CPO answered. "It allows us to see immediately if something is wrong. Any grease trails we see on entry are an immediate telltale."

Hellene nodded. That would indeed be the case.

James explained that they had six torpedoes per ready rack, each rack loaded with two variable load missiles, two torpedoes, and two stealth probes each of which had jump capability with a thirty-five light year leap capacity.

"These are new probes so have the new M/A generators, meaning they can jump every hour," James explained. "That gives us some unique options.

They finished in the aft racks and Hellene thanked the crew as she and the EX O left for the next section.

The big guns on the Dorsal Deck were two triple gun (improved) Mk-10 turrets covered by exterior boxes to make it seem they had been removed from the ship.

"Have we ever fired these guns in anger?" Hellene asked of James.

"Yes, ma'am. All the Mk-10's were fired during the Second Battle of Liramor-23," the EX O informed her. "We took out the bow of a pirate Cormorant Class supply ship that was threatening the platform with the forward Mk-10 turret. All three guns fired on her and blew the bow right off her. The remaining ships of the pirate fleet surrendered on mass immediately afterward.

"We also fired all of the tubes during that battle, the improved Mk-48's and all four of the 50mm CIWS. The ship used everything at its disposal to help out during the battle. We made a significant contribution to the defence of Liramro-23 that day, which is why we have the Presidential Unit Citation, ma'am," James finished.

They went up into the gun turrets where Hellene saw again the attention to detail and the cleanliness of the area. There were no crew in the Mk-10 turrets as the pair passed through.

"Looks like the crew has already been here," Hellene said.

"Aye, they normally do the Mk-10's first before going down to the MK-48's and the CIWS," James informed her. "All the guns and racks are checked every second day. We don't need that kind of schedule but it keeps the crew active and doesn't give them time to get bored," James replied.

Boredom was the bane of any Navy, whether on the seas or in space. The routine was such that it became tiresome to the crew, so any opportunity to relieve it was used. If that meant that crews did extra maintenance, then that is what happened.

"Who came up with the schedule?" Hellene asked.

"That would be Capt. Noor, ma'am," James replied. "The schedule is tough, making sure everything gets done well in advance of required norms but it also allows plenty of downtime for the crew.

"One of the other things that is incorporated into the schedule is the requirement for fitness and personal combat training. Sorry, Captain, however, you will be expected to meet Ninja's and Crash's expectations, especially so that you are the Captain. I hope you are reasonably fit or you are going to be sore for a week or so," James told her with a smile.

They moved forward to look at the bow tubes. The bow had 6 x 360cm tubes, 10 x 280cm tubes, and 12 x 150cm tubes. The ready racks for heavies had six torpedoes/missiles ready to go at all times. The 150cm tubes had racks for nine missiles/torpedoes/probes carrying three of each.

"That's a departure from the norm," Hellene stated of the nine shot ready racks.

"Yes, ma'am, however, we tend to use a lot more of the probes than we use missiles or torpedoes, with three probes per rack in the bow and two in the aft racks, we have thirty probes ready go at all times," James stated.

They moved down to look the CIWS turrets. Hellene marvelled that these little guns could do so much damage to other ships. James told her that the new sensors on the ship could place rounds one on top of each other, Hellene then realized that with that kind of accuracy these guns could easily chew through heavy armour with a two second burst, which would do a lot of damage to any ship as only the bridge, the battle bridge, the magazines, and the engineering section had any real armour protections. The remainder of the ships could be seriously damaged by 50mm rounds which would easily chew through the hull plating.

The CIWS were normally meant as self-defence weapons. Their purpose was to take out torpedoes and missiles aimed at the ship. The concept had been borne out during the Second Battle of Liramor-23. So much so that all new Navy Frigate refits now had 50mm CIWS on their lateral lines in place of Mk-48s.