Space Cherry Pt. 02

The waitress' name was Natalie. She took Cherry to the common area the waitresses shared away from the bustle of the bar and they talked at length. It was a homely space, full of cosy soft furnishings and personal touches, images and color. It was clear that many of the waitresses also called Velasy's home, and Cherry found herself feeling both safe and comfortable sitting there with Natalie, a steaming cup of hot coffee in her hands.

Natalie shared her story -- how she'd grown up on a poor, remote and very rural colony, decided to leave to find a more exciting future and worked her way from station to station before finally ending up on Apollo. She was a little older than Cherry and the younger woman was rapt by her stories of adventure.

It was probably these that finally made up her mind to refuse Velasy's offer.

Natalie, after listening to Cherry's own story, fully agreed. There was a whole galaxy to explore, she said and Velasy's was only one small corner of it and would always be there for her if she wanted to come back.

By the time they'd finished their conversation, it was really very late and Natalie offered Cherry an unused bedroom to crash for the night, which she gratefully accepted.

In the morning, Natalie pointed her in the direction of where she could find herself some cheap travel by signing on to the one of the many cargo ships and mining vessels that departed daily from Apollo. There was always a shortage of skilled crew, and Cherry had taken the classes.

Well-raised girl that she was, Cherry felt the only polite thing was to tell Velasy in person of her choice. She worried a little about finding herself in another sexual trance, but she needn't have. He was kind and gracious though disappointed and offered her a warm welcome back should she change her mind.

After she left the bar she took some time to explore the station a little. She did some shopping too, replacing her bodysuit and heels with a plain white tank top and a pair of functional black cargo pants. Completing a look she felt would make her appear an authentic deck hand was a pair of strong ankle high boots. She tied her fiery hair back into a straightforward ponytail.

Then it was on to 'The Happy Pirate' at another docking area on the far side of the station, recommended by Natalie. Unlike Velasy's den of unrestricted debauchery, The Pirate was a place for doing legitimate business, signing on hands or negotiating cargo contracts.

She did her best to convince herself that she wasn't standing out when she entered The Pirate. It was busy but the crowd was not rambunctious. No music underscored the din of voices.

She approached the bar and ordered a drink, enquiring of her server if he knew of any captains looking for a hand. He laughed a little and with a broad smile said, opening his arms wide so as to indicate the entire bar, "Take your pick!" She smiled back nervously.

She stood there a while and scanned the place. There were some aliens there, but most of the clientele were human. For several minutes she did her best to gauge the body language and style of the various captains. Evidently, there were no uniforms on the ships these people commanded.

Just as she was about to chastise herself for procrastination, her gaze fell on a human male. Maybe mid to late thirties, she guessed. His sandy hair was cut neatly short and a faint beard covered the lower part of his face.

She immediately liked the cut of his jib.

He seemed serious by expression and he wasn't drinking. From Cherry's vantage point, the bargain he seemed to be driving looked to be to his advantage. The squat alien sitting opposite him looked far tenser although she admitted to herself that she was still very much a novice at reading alien body language and facial cues.

As she watched the negotiation unfold, she took in the rest of him. The tight black t-shirt he wore under an open sleeveless jacket that had obviously seen plenty of action hugged the skin. His pants and boots looked well-worn too. Nothing too fancy, she thought. That'll do nicely.

The negotiation ended as hand shook claw and the alien departed. Before the captain could leave, she took her chance and approached his table.

"Hi there. I'm Cherry... ah Cherry Rosso. Are you by any chance in the market for any new crew?" Inwardly she recoiled at the tenor and tone of her question. She'd wanted to sound worldly and experienced but she felt more like a tourist asking for her jacket at a lost and found.

He didn't respond immediately, but regarded her thoughtfully. She noted he was fixed on her eyes and wasn't looking her up and down or staring at her tits and she instantly knew she'd picked the right captain.

"I might be Cherry. What kind of skills you got?" She listed the courses she'd taken as impressively as she could.

"Not bad Cherry. How many space hours you got? You look pretty young."

This she had anticipated to be her Achilles' heel. So she turned on the best charm she could find.

"Space hours? I got the amount of time it took to get here from Earth on the shuttle," she said, hoping honesty was the best policy.

His eyes widened a little in surprise and she carried on quickly.

"But I'm a quick learner Captain and a hard worker. I never went in for all the VR bullshit back home -- I wanna do real things, fly real ships, have a real life. You won't find a more motivated hand than me sir, I promise you."

She was sure he seemed to be softening, so she pressed on.

"I'll even work my first cruise for free, so you can evaluate me." Once she'd said it she was immediately concerned it might have sounded like she was offering to fuck him for the job, which she hadn't intended. She'd prepared herself for this possibility, and would have had no problem doing it, but her instincts told her this particular captain would not have appreciated the suggestion.

Again, he said nothing for a time, still regarding her thoughtfully before, at length, he stood up.

"Well Cherry, I am down a hand and I've just agreed a pretty lucrative contract so I could do with the help... but there's a hundred more experienced hands looking for work on this station I could hire right now..."

Her heart sank a little, she could feel the let down coming as he paused.

"Fuck it. I like your attitude Cherry Rosso. Welcome aboard the Emperor 16," he concluded, thrusting out a strong hand in her direction. Cherry was a little shocked so it took her a second to shake it, his powerful grip bringing her back to the moment.

"Oh, wow! Holy shit! Thank you Captain! You won't regret this, I promise," she managed finally, shaking furiously now. The captain smiled as he tried to disentangle his hand from hers.

"I don't think I will Cherry. I'm Heb Sundras by the way, the crew generally just call me Skip. You got any affairs to get in order?"

"No sir, I'm ready to leave right now." She was so excited she could've jumped up and down and, for a moment, gave serious consideration to doing just that but decided it wouldn't have set the right tone.

"Good. Let's move out," he gave her a pat on the shoulder, almost an acknowledgement of the obvious excitement she felt, and led her out of The Pirate.

"So -- let me give you the low down. Our ship's the Emperor 16, E16 for short, a Penguin Class freighter," he began once they were underway towards their berth.

She recognized the Penguin Class from her classes. As she recalled, it was a smaller type of freighter, an obsolete model, not produced for 50 years or more. He must have sensed her recognition.

"She may be old, but E16 has been in my family for over 75 years and never missed a shipment or let us down, not once. We keep her in good shape. You're joining a crew of three, well four now I guess. Tor Laudson is our engineer and Fem Getter is, well, he's something I guess. We all pitch in wherever we need though. They're good guys, been with me a long time."

"I can't wait to meet them!"

"I'll bet. Now -- you'll be expected to jump in wherever shit needs doing. You're new to space and you're new to E16. Classes or not you got a lot to learn and we got fuck all time to teach you -- so learn as you go," he went on as they approached the entrance to the docking area. She noted the name Emperor 16 above one of the doors. They paused in front of it and he turned to face her.

"Any questions?"

A hundred thousand, she thought.

"Nope -- just can't wait to get started Captain!"

"Good then, let's get moving."

The door opened and as she got her first look at her new home she remembered instantly where the Penguin class got its name.

Suspended above the floor, the ship in front or her was dark green, olive maybe, in color and looked like a giant emperor penguin lying on its stomach. The head and neck contained the bridge and all the crew's living space while the widening body was a mass of cargo holds. Aft, where the body tapered a little, two engines jutted out -- the penguin's feet. She found herself standing and staring.

Objectively, no one would call her an elegant or particularly aesthetically pleasing craft to look at and given her age there had to be doubts about her ability to perform, but to Cherry, in that moment, E16 was maybe the most beautiful thing she'd ever seen.

Heb appreciated her awe and had the sense and class to allow a few moments to pass before he spoke again.

"She's a beauty, ain't she? Now come on, we're on the clock."

Inside, the ship had the air of an old house. It felt lived-in. The walls and corridors were a kind of dull gold, covered in blemishes and scratches and adorned with myriad paraphernalia -- from rough, patchy repairs to framed pictures of Heb's ancestors.

He brought her straight to the bridge, the most forward section of the ship. Tor and Fem, her new shipmates, were already there.

"Gentlemen -- meet your new shipmate, Cherry Rosso," Heb announced as they entered the semi-circular room. Work stations and consoles littered the floor space, lacking any discernible pattern that Cherry could follow. The only symmetry that seemed to exist was the large captain's chair in the exact center.

One of them approached her. Cherry sized him up while he was en route. He was tall, well over six feet and his tight grey vest revealed a mass of tattoos covering his arms and and hinted at even more on his chest. His upper body had the appearance of a person who lifted lots of heavy things, often.

"How ya doin'? Tor Laudson. Welcome aboard," he said in a deep, strong voice as he reached out a hand. She noted how he, like the captain, looked her right in the eye the whole time. His hand was huge and engulfed hers. She returned his look and smiled back. This allowed her to take in his features without noticeably staring. His hair, black she thought, was shaved pretty tight and a decent length beard covered his face.

"Thanks, I'm Cherry. Good to meet you."

"That's a nice name Cherry, suits you," he said, nodding at her fiery hair and smiling, before turning to his captain who now occupied his large chair and was working on one of the terminals that flanked it.

"So what's the good word Skip -- we got a decent job?" The conversation proceeded between the two, outlining details of the contract. Cherry was more interested in her other new shipmate who had only briefly acknowledged her and the Captain's return. He seemed focused on his work. Cherry approached nervously to introduce herself.

"Hey there, Fem right? I'm Cherry." He was very different to the others. Shorter by a foot than Tor, he was scrawny too, his clothes hanging loosely. He was clean-shaven and his hair was long -- hanging down past his shoulders and almost covering his eyes. He looked up only briefly again.

"Ah, yeah -- Fem. Welcome aboard," he said briskly and went right back to work. Before Cherry could linger and become awkward, Tor called to her.

"Hey Cherry, don't mind Fem -- he's always got his head in something. Come on, I'll give you the tour."

"Make it the quick version -- we need to be underway in 30 minutes," Heb interjected.

"Aye, aye Skip. So Cherry," Tor went on as they headed for the door together, "where you from?"

Cherry smiled and gave Tor some of her back story -- although she left out most of the Phil parts -- as he showed her around the ship. For such an imposing looking man, she was surprised by his friendliness and affability. If Fem's aloofness was a little off-putting, she couldn't believe her luck with the Captain and Tor.

Behind the bridge a corridor stretched directly aft for about twenty metres at the end of which was the entrance to the cargo section. Half way down the corridor, two more opened up to the port and starboard. Each had an exterior airlock at its end and the remainder of these corridors contained a variety of rooms and spaces. There were five small sleeping quarters, a combined galley and mess, a kind of small lounge with soft seating and a large screen as well as a medical room and a few other storage spaces. The end of the tour was Cherry's room.

About three metres square, it had a short single bed attached to one wall. The others contained a desk with a small mirror and various closets and storage spaces. The walls were a dull grey and it was otherwise undecorated.

"Feel free to liven the place up," Tor was saying as she stepped into the room, "some captains don't allow it, but the Skip likes to think of this ship as a home -- hell, it's the only home he's ever had -- so he encourages his crew to feel the same. You'll need a space that's just yours, you know? This ship ain't that big and it can feel plenty crowded with just three of us, well, four of us now I guess."

Cherry turned to him and smiled. It was a warm smile of genuine gratitude for the kindness he'd shown her. She felt almost out of breath with the speed of it all.

"Thanks Tor, I appreciate all this."

"Hey, don't sweat it. And welcome aboard." He smiled, put his hand gently and briefly on her upper arm and left her alone. She set her bag down and put what little she'd brought with her away. It occurred to her she didn't really have anything to make the space her own as Tor has suggested -- not yet anyway.

The ship kept Earth time and after they'd departed Apollo, it was getting late. Cherry's introduction to life aboard ship consisted of observing the ship's operation -- nothing her classes hadn't prepared her for. Once they were underway, the crew shared a quick meal in the mess.

"OK. Fem, you got first watch tonight, Tor'll relieve you at 5," Heb said as they were finishing up. "Cherry, we'll leave you out of the night rotation for a few days till you get your space legs, OK?"

"I'll be ready tomorrow Captain," she said confidently. Heb and Tor shared a smile, Fem kept his head down.

"Well alright then." Heb said finally with a pleased grin.

They went their separate ways, Fem taking up the watch on the bridge while the others retired to their respective quarters.

Cherry flopped onto her bed and started going through some of E16's manuals and schematics on her Biohud but before long she found herself staring at the ceiling, deep in thought. A wide smile covered her face.

It had barely been 24 hours since she'd caught Phil cheating on her and she was already on her way to an outer colony on an old, rickety cargo ship. It might have been the flashing thought of Phil that turned her mind to the two sexual encounters she'd managed to squeeze in to that time.

As she replayed the shuttle journey and the experience she'd had in Velasy's, she quickly realized she'd need to release the tension she was feeling. Taking off her boots and cargo pants, she grabbed a favorite toy -- a vibrating one -- from the meager stash of personal possessions she'd brought with her and returned to bed.

Soon she was moaning and purring with pleasure as she kept the image of the ridged Fetrillian cock sliding in and out of Natalie's soaking pussy clear in her mind and recalled the electric excitement she'd felt at getting to feel her first alien cock.

Tor heard her. His room adjoined hers. Uncertain of what he was hearing and concerned that his new and inexperienced shipmate might have somehow injured herself, he determined to investigate in a hurry. Seriously, that's actually what he thought.

He jumped to his own door and was quickly opening hers in a sudden burst without knocking.

"Cherry, are you..." he began but cut himself off abruptly. Not really knowing what he expected, it took his mind a couple of seconds to process that what he had actually found was Cherry lying on her bed, her naked legs spread wide with her hands busy on her exposed, slick pussy. Cherry was shocked, naturally, by the manner of his entrance and instinctively dived to cover herself up.

"Oh shit, Cherry, Fuck! I'm so sorry... I heard... I thought maybe... Aw fuck, man, I'm so sorry..." he rambled before retreating rapidly and closing the door behind him.

In her highly aroused state, Cherry saw this as an opportunity to get something far more pleasurable than her vibrating toy, especially as Tor had been so kind and friendly to her since she came on board. It didn't hurt either that he'd been shirtless when he came into her room and Cherry couldn't help but long to run her hands over his obviously strong body. She batted away the voice in her head that told her it might not be great idea to fuck one of her new shipmates on her first night on board.

She quickly put on some panties, followed him and knocked on his door, opening it without waiting for a response.

"Cherry! Shit. Listen, I'm really sorry... I know this looks really bad..." She cut him off with a wave of her hand.

"It's OK, really, I don't mind. I wasn't doing anything embarrassing."

"No... ah...of course not. Wow... you sure you're... OK about this? I really don't want you to get the wrong idea about this ship, or about me -- I wasn't... I mean this wasn't some juvenile..." His surprise at her reaction was genuine, but she cut him off again, stepping forward towards him and closing the door behind her.

"The only thing I'm not OK about is that you interrupted me before I came Tor. I get pretty antsy if I don't cum very regularly."

"Oh... ahm... I see. Well, I'm really sorry..."

"Sorry's all well and good Tor -- but how are you going to make it up to me?"

He looked a little aghast for a moment. Cherry closed the distance to him until she stood over him as he sat on the edge of his bed.

"Ah... well... I mean -- I guess I could... help you out if you'd like." A smile had formed on his face and he stood up. Cherry didn't retreat though Tor now towered over her.

"I would think that's the least you could do," Cherry replied, moving her hands to run them up his solid torso and reach behind his head, pulling him down to her. The initial kiss was somewhat tentative. Tor had to stoop a little to reach her and that was with Cherry standing on her toes. Losing patience with the height gap, Cherry used her hands around his neck to encourage him back to the bed. When he was seated, she straddled him and the kiss resumed in a more comfortable position and grew in its passion, their tongues colliding.

It wasn't fevered though, it was a measured passion. This was not the accumulation of long pent up want for either of them. It would better be described as an expedition of exploration.

Tor's hands began to roam Cherry's body, squeezing and caressing her firm breasts through her vest. He was strong without being rough and Cherry immediately appreciated that Tor's hands on her felt like those of someone who knew what he was doing. As she moaned a little from the attention, she leaned back enough to lift the vest over her head, releasing her firm and ample tits to more immediate scrutiny from Tor's hands and, in short order, his mouth.