Cowboys and Aliens Ch. 26

It was tall enough that Mark could stand in, at least at the front of the building. It had three windows, one on each side and one in the door, but they didn't see any privacy sliders, and there was a king size bed in the middle with room to walk on each side, it even had a reset button. There was a clothing synth locker in the corner and space at the entrance to take off your shoes and hooks on the walls to hang up your coat and clothes, if you chose. It sure beat tenting it!

Candy took one of the red disks and placed it on the ground with the arrow pointed toward the cook shack and pushed the button. A minute later the door opened and they walked in. It was just a larger shelter, with a larger door, windows on all four sides and had the bean bag type beds that centaurs liked and it was big enough for both girls.

As Candy and Dany's shelter was being built, Annabelle took the orange disk and saw it had buttons 1 through 5 on it, so she placed it on the ground, central between all the buildings, and pressed button 1. It created a platform with a fire pit in the middle, one bench and a path to the cookhouse. After about 15 seconds, the 'fire pit' burst into flames. It used some sort of reactor process to produce light and heat and the flames were simply holographic for visual effect.

Mark guessed the paths between all the buildings probably had a couple of purposes, one being, in case it rained you didn't have to walk in and track mud everywhere, the second being that the path probably allowed more energy and matter to be collected and shared between the buildings.

Once that was all setup, Dany volunteered to make supper in the cookhouse. She was just going to make spaghetti, so it wasn't going to take very long.

Since they hadn't had a shower after the games, Mark and Annabelle decided to walk down to the lake and go skinny dipping, but as they were leaving the camp they found a blue line on the ground and realized that was the shield perimeter.

Curious about the shield, they were able to walk through the shield without issues, as a test Annabelle picked up a rock inside the camp and tossed it out to Mark on the outside, it passed through without issue. When Mark tried to toss it back to Annabelle, the shield glowed blue where the rock hit and the rock simply fell to the ground outside the circle. Neat!

They continued on toward the edge of the lake, took off their clothes, placed them on a large rock and waded in until they were waist deep and rinsed themselves off as best as they could. During the 'bath' they talked about Annabelle's school and upcoming graduation as well as everything that was going on through the Federation.

Eventually Mark asked what Annabelle's plans were for after she was done school.

Annabelle said she was going to move here and hopefully she could take some classes in the Atlantean education system, but then didn't know what she was going to do. She just said, "Whatever you want me to do!"

Mark smiled and said, "So you're going to do whatever I want you to do huh?" As he rubbed his chin like he was thinking up some devious scheme.

Annabelle smiled thinking she was about to get fucked, her pussy already starting to moisten with anticipation.

Mark looked like he just got an idea, as he gave a wry smile and looked at Annabelle and said, "Would you like to be my Queen?"

Annabelle looked disappointed that he wasn't going to fuck her senseless right there, but then realized what he asked and gave the biggest grin Mark had ever seen from her.

"Yes! Definitely yes!" She exclaimed as she pounced on him, dunking them both under the water! When they both recovered from the dunk, she stopped and said, "You need to ask my parents first, though!"

Mark smiled, "I did that earlier today and they gave their blessing!"

Just then Dany yelled, "Supper is ready!"

As they got up, they realized they had no towels, so they collected their clothes and walked back to the cookhouse holding hands, both with big grins. Candy and Dany both looked at them and Candy asked, "I like the naked look... what's up?"

Annabelle jumped up and down excitedly and said, "Mark proposed! We're getting married!"

The girls gave hugs and kisses to the couple, then everyone dished up some spaghetti and sat around the faux fire, eating and discussing when to have the wedding. Obviously it wasn't going to be before she was finished school, so that meant July or August.

Mark said, "I don't want to commit to a date at this time. I need to see know what's going on with those ships that I suspect are heading to Atlanterra. Once I have that figured out, we can set a date."

They sat around the faux fire, talking about a range of topics, until the cool of the night started setting in and they decided to go to bed... after all, Mark and Annabelle were still naked. Despite the heat that was being emitted from the fire, the rock-look containment ring was warm enough you could comfortably touch it, so Mark and Annabelle both had their bare feet against the faux rock ring.

It was handy having the drink dispenser on the outside of the cookhouse, but it was almost too convenient as they all drank more than their fair share of hot chocolate that night. Mark and Annabelle both needed to use the washroom before going to bed and they soon discovered that the washroom featured a synth. It had a waste bin at the bottom, with toilet paper above it, then cupboards for a wash rag and a hand towel. It had one of those swing away mirrors with shelves behind it. In it was a glass, a toothbrush, and some floss. The sink had pump dispensers for soap, toothpaste and moisturizing cream. So they were able to clean up a bit before heading back to their cabin.

Mark finished first and found Candy and Dany had already gone to bed, but left the faux fire turned on. Mark figured it was probably OK to be left on and it would provide light in case they needed to walk to the washroom in the middle of the night, but he found a dial on the side of the containment ring, that allowed you to turn up or down the fire, at the complete lowest setting it still glowed a bit like embers in a natural fire pit.

As Mark left the fire pit, he noticed that at night, the pathways had glowing blue lines on the edges, so you would be able to see your way to the washroom in the dark, without stepping off the edge of the path and twisting an ankle.

As he approached the cabin he noticed that the window privacy had been turned on, so he figured Annabelle must've found the slider.

When Mark entered the cabin, the lights were on and Annabelle was lying on top of the bed wearing nothing but a smile. He closed the door and stood at the end of the bed, just admiring her beauty as she masturbated for him. The blood flow increased to his cock and it was soon standing at attention and pointed right at her, so Annabelle got on all fours and backed her ass up to the edge of the bed in front of him. Mark gladly slipped his cock inside her very wet pussy.

He fucked her hard and fast for a couple of minutes, then she crawled up on the bed and turned over, spreading her legs wide, making her succulent pussy blossom, exposing her glistening pink slit.

She smiled wryly and said, "Let's practice making a baby, fill up my pussy, my King!"

Mark smiled, "As you wish, my future Queen." As he moved over her, kissing her soft lips as she guided his cock into her pussy.

They fucked like that for several minutes, just staring into each other's eyes. Sensing Mark was getting close, Annabelle whispered, "Fill me!"

Mark felt the tingling sensation and both he and Annabelle smiled as his cock got bigger. Then with a bit of added pressure, her womb opened up and allowed him inside, causing fo her to moan and hold him tight.

A few strokes later, Mark began erupting a copious amount of cum into his nubile fiancé's womb.

As he extracted himself, Annabelle moved over him and began licking his still enlarged cock clean. Mark pulled her ass toward him, so she straddled his head and he began to lick his cum out of her pussy.

While Mark was licking her pussy, Annabelle kept reaching back and fingering her pussy, drawing more of his cum to leak out. Once she felt comfortable, she pushed her hand deep into her own pussy, then withdrew it, covered in his cum. She licked it off and then returned to fisting herself.

She let Mark get out from under her as she settled herself into the bed, with a smile she said, "Want to try?"

Mark rubbed the mixture of cum and moisture from her pussy all over his hand and began to finger her bright pink sex. He started with three, then soon added a fourth finger, as her pussy stretched around his fingers. Annabelle then repositioned his thumb into the palm of his hand, and tucked his index and pinky fingers under the other two, serving to narrow his hand a bit. Then she smiled over her shoulder and said, "Fist me!"

With more force than Mark thought it would take, Annabelle's pussy fought the insertion of Mark's hand until it reached the apex, then his hand slid deep inside with an audible smack as her pussy accepted its fate. Her pussy was very tight around his hand and wrist as he made small movements in and out, mixed with slight rotations of his wrist.

After a minute or so, her pussy relaxed a bit and he was able to move in and out with more motion. A minute or so after that, Annabelle started to cum. Her pussy clamping down on his hand and wrist as she squirmed in orgasm.

It took a minute for her to calm down, then Mark slowly extracted his hand from her cunt. Leaving it gaping wide open as he watched it slowly return to its normal size.

Satisfied and exhausted, they got under the covers and turned out the lights. Suddenly they could see out the windows again. Solara had it configured so if the lights were on the windows were private, lights off, windows normal.

Soon they were both fast asleep.

Mark woke up early, as did Annabelle, and after another quick fuck they got dressed and went outside to use the washrooms. It was so nice to have a clothing synth and clean clothes.

Candy and Dany were already making breakfast, as the smell of bacon wafted across the campsite. By the time they had used the facilities, there was plates with eggs, toast and bacon waiting at the concession window. They each grabbed a plate and a cup of their preferred hot morning beverage and sat down around the faux fire pit. Mark turned the dial up a bit and soon the fire was on.

After breakfast, they explored around the lake until lunch, then ate some PB&J sandwiches and packed up the camp.

To pack up the camp, you had to use the control device inside the case. You pressed the pack up button and it would tell you if something was still in any of the cabins, if so you had to remove it. Then, it would display a code that you had to type in. Once the code was entered it began a beeping countdown from 10. Once the countdown expired, everything started to deconstruct themselves and you just walked around, picked up the disks and returned them to the camp kit.

Then they did the long ride back to the ranch. They kissed Candy and Dany goodbye and thanked them for the ride when the lift arrived. Soon they were back at the palace, but only had a couple of hours before Maren came to pickup Annabelle and return her to Alberta.

Upon their return, Solara ambushed the couple, "So what did you think of the camping kit?"

Annabelle said, "It's pure genius, mom and dad will love it, the multi-day rides are the big money makers, but they're so much work to setup and tear down the tents each day and pack the equipment and food all the time. This will revolutionize camping! No need to pack clothes or food or really anything."

Solara was all smiles, "I'm glad you liked it, but tell me. Is there anything you'd like to see added or changed?"

Mark said, "Picnic tables," while Annabelle added, "Shower!"

Solara smiled and asked them to follow her to her room. She sat down at her desk and showed some designs she had been working on.

One design was a standalone double washroom and shower building, another was the same as the current cookhouse, but had one washroom and one shower. She also had an altered cookhouse with an extended porch and roof, near the concession window, that had two long picnic tables on the porch.

Annabelle said, "Perfect! I've been on trips where it ended up raining and everyone was miserable, cold and wet with limited shelter. At least with tables you can play games!"

Solara then said, "Check this out then," as she pulled up another design.

This design had a massive cookhouse. Well, it was actually a cookhouse, two washrooms and a shower in the building portion, but it had a huge covered deck with 4 picnic tables arranged around the faux fire.

Solara said, "I thought about rain and then thought, this would work even in snowy weather and the roof over the fire would keep the heat trapped under it. You can't see it, but this cookhouse also has force fields around the porch to block weather and help keep the heat in. I dismissed this though as the building is huge and I wanted to keep things as small as possible, yet still provide the services."

Annabelle's eyes were huge, "This is all awesome, I personally love the large protected cookhouse, but I agree that it is big and does take away some of the 'roughing it' vibe of the trail rides, this is the epitome of glamping now."

Solara then said, "If you want roughing it, you should see my first designs."

She opened up a folder with the various items in it. The cookhouse was nothing more than a 2 metre square building, the cabins were simple A-frame buildings with mattresses on the floor, there was still a fire pit, but no benches, no washrooms and no paths.

Mark laughed, "That would be roughing it!"

Annabelle agreed, "These are all awesome, do you have any others you have considered?"

Solara said, "There's a few ideas that are still works in progress."

She opened another folder and pulled up some drawings.

One was a slightly larger version of the cabins, each with their own washroom. There was also one where the fire pit was in the middle of a covered gazebo. She also had an open shelter, similar to the ones in the pastures, for the horses. Another with larger cabins for families with a double bed on one side and bunk beds on the other. Another set where all the cabins were teepees and another where all the cabins were domes, but not quite igloos.

Seeing all these reusable construx, got Mark to thinking of other ways to use this technology. So he said they would need to talk later after he thought about it a bit more.

They then left Solara's room and Liyana saw them in the common area. "So did you ask her?"

Annabelle said, "Ask me what?"

Liyana suddenly realized that maybe Mark hadn't actually proposed yet.

Mark, of course, realized her predicament and let her sweat for a few seconds, then smiled and said, "Yes and No!"

Annabelle was confused by the conversation, while Liyana was now relieved and confused, as she asked, "What did she say 'yes' to?"

Mark said, "Becoming my Queen."

Annabelle then clued in to what their conversation was about and smiled as Liyana hugged her and gave her a kiss and said, "Congratulations!"

Annabelle then realized what Mark had said, so she asked, "You said, 'yes and no'... what didn't you ask me?"

Liyana would like to be our wedding planner and I said I needed to ask you.

Annabelle smiled and said, "Of course!"

Liyana then got all giddy and said, "Yay" as she went off to her room to begin planning.

Laruun heard Liyana and asked, "What is she so happy about?"

Annabelle said, "We agreed that she could be our wedding planner."

Laruun shouted, "You're getting married! That's awesome!" As she then hugged and kissed them both, as everyone else came out to congratulate the couple as well.

Soon after, Maren messaged Annabelle saying she would be there in a minute. So Mark and Annabelle went downstairs to meet her outside the palace.

Mark gave Annabelle a passionate kiss before leaving back to Alberta.

Once Annabelle had left, Mark went up to his office to go over his daily reports.

Over the last few days, Cricket was able to monitor a few more of the light jumps made by the 6 ships. They were, in fact, on a direct course to Atlanterra, and by the distance of each jump and the 12 hour delay between jumps, Cricket estimated it would take them just under a month to reach Atlanterra.

On reading that, Mark breathed a sigh of relief, "Good! I won't have to leave before Annabelle's graduation."

Cricket had detected a couple more ships in their space, but more or less they just seemed to be doing patrols with none of them leaving their local space, so potentially they may not have that many ships, and the mission they were on was simply a fool's gambit based on some seriously outdated information, but it more or less confirmed Sebastian either was there or had been there.

Mark then wondered, "What are they patrolling for?"

Mark asked Cricket how she was doing with the new security station designs, so she popped up a hologram and gave Mark the run down on what she had designed.

The ships were going to be roughly 5 kilometres long, 500 metres wide and 250 metres tall. They would be equipped with their own asteroid harvesting equipment and they had a single massive 2 kilometre long factory bay down the centre, which was a gravity-free protected ship yard for manufacturing ships all the way up to Battlestar size. When construction was complete, the factory doors at the bottom would open up and the ship could exit.

Facing outwards along both sides of the factory bay was numerous other smaller landing bays for shuttles and ships, up to Destroyer size, to dock. The plan was to have two Destroyers docked at every Sentinel. They could be used for training, defence or for quick deployment somewhere.

They were well armed with TRDs, singularity drivers, laser turrets, pulse cannons and 5,000 autonomous fighter drones. The autonomous drone fighters, since they were unmanned, just attached to the outer hull, so they could all take off as a swarm if needed. There was also 50 manned fighters for training and defence purposes, if needed.

There was a bridge, although it more or less just served for security and emergency services rather than for navigation, but the ships were mobile and equipped with light drives and sub-light engines. The top levels had over 1,000 crew quarters, including many family quarters, and numerous amenities, such as sports and workout facilities, a movie theatre and a small school. They were now going to be the primary security training facility for the planet they were protecting.

The current security stations were going to be slightly modified. They were still basically going to be an orbital prison, but it was also going to be a transportation hub and communications relay, since they were planning on keeping the two stations on opposite sides of the planet. They were going to call them Orbital Hubs and rather than having the big ships coming down to the surface, like they were on Earth and causing unnecessary stress on their hulls, they decided to offload them in space and then run shuttle busses (larger versions of shuttles that could carry 50 people at a time) down to the larger public transit hubs around the planet.

Just to play it on the side of safety, Mark had commissioned 14 of the new ships and they were going to call them Sentinels. One for each planet and one for each Battlestar, since Cricket had built in a Battlestar docking system into the top of the Sentinel.

Mark called General Marsbe who, of course, already knew of the incoming ships and the estimated time of arrival.