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Greetings Readers and welcome back. The Heinlein gets underway, and on the surface it looks like everything is proceeding normally and things just might be getting to where Kyle can comfortably command his entire crew.
CHAPTER 24
EVERYTHING WORKS (ALMOST)
By Douglas DD
Assisted by Zarek Dragon
SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 1
<Guest Quarters 101>
2200
Koji, Duskin, and Greg laid claim to their bed of the night by sitting on the bed they wanted. Both beds were full size and could comfortably sleep two without taking up precious cabin space. Koji and Duskin sat together on the one closer to the door and Greg sat on the other bed, which was closer to the bathroom.
The boys got to know each other more as they discussed various topics. The two that interested Greg was how the two younger boys liked being cooped up on a spaceship, what they did to amuse themselves, and what the ship’s school was like.
About fifteen minutes into their chat, Koji suggested they would be much more comfortable if they stripped down to their underwear. Greg readily agreed. They were quickly stripped down to just their underpants and t-shirts. Koji and Duskin were wearing Explorer program issued blue boxer briefs and white tees. Greg was down to the ancient but tried and true design that kept good old briefs popular. His were yellow with black trim.
Even though nothing erotic was discussed, the boys couldn’t help but give each other’s bodies a good look. Greg thought Koji and Duskin looked solid, although they were too young to be “interesting”.
Koji and Duskin who, as Darastixians, had a much stronger sex drive than Earth boys their age (seven and five), were impressed with Greg’s athletic twelve-year-old body. Koji did find it “interesting” and wished he could see the bulge that was hidden by Greg’s underpants. But two factors kept him from acting on his erotic thoughts. First, he took to heart the chats he he’d had with opsola Kyle about sex, and second, he was bone tired.
All three boys were tired and ready for sleep. By 2220 they had brushed, washed, and climbed into their beds.
“Do you two sleep together a lot?” Greg asked.
“We do most of the time. We like how it feels and we like making each other feel good before we fall asleep,” Koji said.
Greg elected not to ask Koji exactly what he meant by “making each other feel good”. But he did feel a stirring in his groin as he saw how the two brothers were snuggled up. Koji commanded the lights to go off and Greg rolled over on his side. He wished his friend Allen was cuddled up with him and making him feel good before they fell asleep.
SUNDAY NOVEMBER 2
0230.
<Don and Everett’s quarters>
Don decided that the wee hours of the morning would be the best time to bring the reverse thrusters online. Since the ship was locked in orbit around the Spencer Planet the trusters weren’t needed. His little game was harmless, its main purpose was to show what a wussy loser the infant captain was.
The main job of the thrusters was to slow the ship in warp space until it dropped out of warp. The thrusters weren’t actually thrusters, they were more like a reverse warp drive, but they behaved like thrusters. Just shutting down the warp wouldn’t slow the ship, it would merely maintain its speed. The reverse warp was needed to slow the ship enough to drop it out of warp.
Since the ship was locked in orbit it was an example of how shutting down the thrusters created no harm. But to Don, it displayed Kyle’s command issue when he told the crew members working on the issue to deal with the issue the next morning. What Don didn’t consider was that Kyle’s reasoning was that since the reverse thrusters weren’t needed at the time there was no reason to burn the midnight oil to fix the problem.
The first trick of the first watch was on duty. Because of the hour and the ship being in orbit a skeleton watch was on duty. That meant there would normally be just one person from Engineering serving the watch and he would be stationed in the engine room. However, because of the thruster issue there were two members of Engineering on duty. Assistant Chief Kai Daniels was seated at the Engineering station on the bridge and Barney Werney was at the main control station in the engine room. Barney was a Guardian. He knew that Don would be bringing the reverse thrusters back online, he just didn’t know when.
At 0248, precisely, Don Nixon pushed the blue button on his remote control as his Daddy Uncle had instructed. In the engine room and on the bridge a solid red light was replaced by a solid green light on the main control panel indicating the reverse thrusters were back online. When Barney saw the green light come on, he was pleased that the plan had worked just as Don had laid out. He wondered how Kyle was going to react to the news when Kai sent it to him.
O530
<Kyle and Danny’s quarters>
What he didn’t know was that Kyle had no reaction, since Kai didn’t wake him to give him the change in status. Kyle had ordered that he was not to be awakened by a status change unless it was a turn for the worse. “I plan to wake up at 0530. There’s no reason any good news can’t wait until then. I will contact the bridge as soon as I’m awake.”
Kyle’s alarm sounded, waking him with a start. He gave Danny a good morning kiss and then contacted the bridge for a status report. A skeleton crew of first trick of the second watch crewmen was on duty. Scott Franklin was manning the Engineering station. Kai had told him to expect Kyle to contact the bridge at 0530 so Scott was ready.
“Good morning, Commander Franklin. What’s the status of the reverse thrusters?”
“Good morning, Captain. They came back online zero-two-forty-eight hundred,” Scott reported precisely. “All lights on the board are green.”
“I will pass on the word to the department heads. Thanks for the good work, Scott,” Kyle said in a lighter voice, indicating that the formal reporting was finished.
“My pleasure, Kyle. I’m glad I had a good report for you.”
“Who is manning the engine room watch?”
“The Chief Engineer is, sir.”
“Thanks. Captain out.”
“It sounds like the news was good,” Danny yawned as Kyle logged off his communicator. Kyle nodded. “And since you said you were contacting the department heads and not just the senior officers, you would like me to sit in on the meeting.”
“You know me all too well. I’ll sit in the ‘parlor’ to take care of my communications, so if you want you can roll back to sleep.”
Kyle went out into the living space, sat on the recliner, and contacted his senior officers and each department head. He only had to wake two of them, Mituti, who had been on the midnight to three watch, and Logan Wilson, the head of the Science department. He told each of them what he wanted them to report on.
He asked Ronnie if he had come up with the cause of the thruster failure. He said he had not. He asked Steve Boyer and Brad Kanye if they had come up with any evidence of an outside force causing the failure. Steve said he had not. Brad said he was working on a couple of anomalies which he would share at the meeting. “I should have more information then.”
The meeting was scheduled for 0700 and would be a breakfast meeting in the captain’s ready room.
The ready room was full by 0645. The officers chatted with each other, used their communicators to order their breakfasts, and were ready for the meeting to start at 0700. Kyle could have started the meeting early, but he felt the premeeting social time was beneficial for his officers. If nothing else, it encouraged them to arrive early so they could socialize.
Kyle brought the meeting to order at precisely 0700. Because of the seriousness of the main topic, he elected to chair the meeting instead of turning it over to Devin. “It shouldn’t surprise anybody that the main topic of this meeting is the reverse thrusters. As you know, they are back online and have been since 0248. The issue as to why they went offline as well as why they came back online is a mystery. But before we discuss the main topic do any of you have anything to report?”
Brad reported that the ballots for the vote on clothing optional day were ready to be sent out as soon as the Heinlein was released from Spencer Planet Orbit Control. “As you know our departure time was moved to 1300,” Brad said. “Our release should occur about an hour later. The ballots will be due by 2200.
“I have one more thing to bring up which has to do with an engineering glitch. I plan to present that report after Ronnie has presented his engineering report.”
Kyle thanked Brad and then recognized Mituti who said he had an astrogation report ready. “I have us plotted to our destination on the other side of the Planck Nebula. It’s possible but not probable I may have to make some minor changes to our departure route because of your departure time change, but that won’t affect the overall astrogation route. Devin has approved of everything so far. I’ll send the final route to Kyle as soon as I find out if I’ll need to make any changes.”
“You understand that no matter how carefully you plan things out that the chances are good you’ll have to make changes as we head for our target,” Kyle said.
“I understand. That was explained in Advanced Astrogation at the Academy and Devin reminded me as well,” Mituti said with forced patience.
“We’re all new to this and are all feeling our way. I made the comment more for the officers who are not fully schooled in advanced astrogation than for you. Your patience is appreciated. Thank you for your report.”
The meeting was interrupted by a buzz at the door. “Breakfast time!” came the voice of Rowdy Molina. Kyle told him to enter, which he did along with Andy Stovey. Each member of the culinary staff was pushing a steam cart. As they quickly unloaded it the officers each grabbed a tray to attach to their chair. Rowdy and Andy quickly served all the officers the proper breakfast. They set up the drinks on the room’s table.”
Okay, sirs, you can go back to work,” Rowdy said.
“Thanks for your quick and efficient service,” Kyle told them.
The two members of the culinary staff pushed the carts into a corner of the room, said they would return when called back, and headed back to the kitchen.
“Since we all have tasks to accomplish this morning, let’s continue the meeting now,” Kyle said. “Pausing to chew your food is permissible—in fact it’s required.”
“Captain included?” Danny asked. He knew that Kyle often so eager to make a point he started talking before emptying his mouth.
“Captain included,” Kyle grinned.
“Steve, you said you had something?”.
“Yes, I did. Two things, in fact. One will wait until after Brad’s second report. I’ll turn the other one over to Devin. Hmm, would be all my reports were so easy to present,” Steve grinned.
“Devin, I will now turn the meeting over to you,” Kyle said.
“I have two things to report as well, and they are undoubtedly more difficult to deal with than our underworked operations manager’s reports were,” the first officer said.
“Underworked my ass,” Steve said. “I personally handed you one of your reports.”
“And your work is much appreciated,” Devin grinned. “And the report Steve handed me is a birthday report. Tomorrow, our assistant chief pilot, Ace Cardiff, will be 16. Danny will tell you what the birthday plans are.”
“Thanks, Devin,” Danny said. “The pilots will be having a lunch meeting in a special dining room created for us on the holodeck. Unless somebody blabs, which is NOT going to happen, Ace will learn that the lunch meeting is a surprise birthday lunch for our assistant chief pilot. The scheduled start of the meeting is 1130 with lunch being served at noon. The surprise, complete with balloons and birthday cake, will be at 1215. All of you senior officers are welcome to join us at 1215 for the party. There will be plenty of room. Five of Ace’s good friends, who are not pilots, will be invited to join the party.”
“I thought his birthday was today,” Kyle said.
“That was a date entry error. It’s tomorrow.”
“Whatever. It sounds like fun. I plan to join, if for no other reason than to enjoy a Ben Maxey cake,” Devin said.
“Speaking of Ben Maxey, these maple bars are delicious,” chief science officer Logan Wilson said.
“Speaking of Ben one more time, is the bake-a-thon still going to happen?” Steve asked.
“That’s a good question,” Kyle said. “It’s tentatively tomorrow, if it isn’t canceled again. How about you check with Ian as soon as the meeting is over. I think it should be a go tomorrow so we can get it over with. The thing I like about this contest is that everybody is going to love judging the cookies.”
“Will do. I’ll let you know as soon as I know.”
“Great. Now, let’s get back to business and talk about the primary purpose of the meeting. That would be what happened to the reverse thrusters and what can we do about ensuring it doesn’t happen again?”
Kyle told Devin he was taking back control of the meeting. “We’re going to hear from Brad, Steve, and Ronnie, in that order,” he told his staff.
“The issue I am dealing with is whether someone managed to interfere with the workings of the engine,” Brad said. “We know some strange things have been happening with a good possibility they were caused by outside interference. In this case, there was no interference detected, and yet there was also nothing to indicate the thrusters shutdown on their own, either. But, just before the meeting, I got a communication that said there just might be evidence of tampering.”
“Oh? How did you find it?” Kyle asked.
“I didn’t. But someone I know just may have detected something a bit out of the ordinary.”
“And who might that be?” Kyle asked.
“Jace Blackwell,” Brad replied.
“But he’s on the Sooloo,” Kage Enzan, the Security Chief, said.
“Yes, he is, but as I’ve told all of you, I like to tap into what he knows. And that includes helping me look for anemones.”
“That’s anomalies,” Steve said.
“Hey, my expertise is computers and communication, not English. Anyway, with Kyle and Devin’s okay, I recently asked him if he could check on ANOMOLIES when I asked. He agreed right away and this is the second time he’s done an outside check for me.”
“How does he get into our system?” Mituti asked.
“With Kyle and Devin’s okay I give his computer station complete access to our computers. Notice, I said computer station, which means no other computer or computer station on the Sooloo has access to our computers.”
“I totally approve of what Brad is doing, as does Captain Rivers.” Kyle was referring to Jordan Rivers, the Sooloo captain.
“Anyway, by coordinating our two systems we found that an outside computer had sent a coded pulse to our ship. But so far, that’s all we know. We were unable to track where the pulse came from or where on the ship the receiver was,” Brad said.
“What do you know?” Devin asked, even though he and Kyle knew the answer to the question. It was now time for all of the department chiefs to be on board.
“What we do know is that the pulse did not send a direct signal to engineering. There was an unknown object on the ship that received it and then relayed it to engineering.” What Brad didn’t say was that he and Jordy had learned that some computer outside the Heinlein had contacted the ship’s computer system twice during the stoppage of the thrusters. That was something that for now only Kyle, Devin, Steve, and Kage were privy to.
“I think we’re all certain that the so-called Guardians are behind these disruptions,” Kyle said. “What we don’t know is who at Space Fleet HQ is behind them. Plus, we can’t prove a thing.”
“We could if we bugged their communicators and computers,” Kage pointed out.
“If we did that without the full backing of the Space Fleet senior admiralty and the blessing of a panel of three judge advocates the Chief Judge Advocate would toss all of that evidence out.”
“It sounds like whoever is behind this almost has the blessing of Space fleet,” Kage said.
“It might sound like that, but all it takes is for them to make one mistake and the judicial system and the admiralty will be all over their asses. I’d say our duty is to find a way to force them into making that mistake.”
“Easier said than done,” Steve said.
“Think of it like this—the fact that we have a decent idea of who is behind these little sabotages should end up being huge advantage for us,” Devin said.
“But only if we make sure that what we know about them doesn’t get leaked to them in some way,” Kage said.
“And since only the officers in this room are aware of what we know that shouldn’t happen,” Kyle said. “Plus, we have an advantage that is going to be hard for them beat in the long run. And that’s the partnership of Brad and Jace Blackwell.”
That was met by a series of positive comments from the officers. Kyle brought the group to order and then dismissed them to their duties. “I’ll see everyone who can make it at Ace’s birthday party. Now, let’s head to our watch assignments or to the jobs we’ve been assigned to work on.”
0930
<Classroom>
Greg, Koji, and Duskin sat at desks in the ship’s classroom, along with Nelson Mirah, Mark and Matthew Wilson, and Tai Haimono. They were facing Ali, who was sitting at his desk. The boys had had breakfast together which they finished by 0845. The six Heinlein boys, led by Nelson, took Greg to some areas of the ship he hadn’t seen the night before. Ali had told Nelson what to show Greg and to have everyone report to the classroom by 0930. Greg couldn’t believe all the attention he was getting. He loved every minute of it.
“Did you enjoy your tour?” Ali asked Greg.
“I loved it. Nelson did a good job explaining things.”
“As he no doubt told you, class is not being held today because this is a departure day.”
“Yes, he did, sir.”
“The boys who did the morning tour with you volunteered to join you. Nelson is here to observes the process.” Ali looked directly at Greg and said, “From what you told me last night, you are seriously thinking of applying to the Space Fleet Academy.”
“Yes sir, and I’m seriously thinking about it today, too,” Greg grinned.
“Excellent. I’m going to give you the choices you have if you are serious about joining. Since this session will be directed at Greg, the rest of you are free to leave. You won’t be hearing anything you haven’t heard before.”
Tai elected to leave. Koji, Duskin, Mark, and Mathew stayed. Tai knew the procedure, but at eight he was too young for it to apply to him. Koji and Duskin considered themselves to be Greg’s friends and official hosts. They stayed to support their new friend. The Wilson twins were the younger brothers of Logan Wilson, the Science Chief and were interested in getting a review of the procedures for becoming an Academy cadet.
“First of all, you will need to take and pass the entry examination. And by pass, I mean earning a 92 grade or higher on a difficult exam,” Ali said. He then went over the ways a twelve-year-old could enroll in the academy and become a cadet. “It’s actually easier for a ten or eleven-year-old, but an intelligent, determined twelve-year-old can become a cadet in a few different ways.
“The most common three ways are matriculating full time to the academy from start to graduation, taking some preliminary courses at the academy and then virtually doing full-time academy curriculum on an Explorer ship, or starting with the preliminary and basic curriculums on a starship and finishing his advanced coursework at the academy. There are other ways being tried out on an individual basis.”
Greg liked the second idea best but was also curious about what the individual curriculums were like. He asked Koji and Duskin what program they were following. They learned that they were both on individualized programs that basically followed the second main curriculum.
“Can you send the information to my dad?” Greg asked Ali. “I’d like to talk this over with him.”
“The first thing you’ll need to do is take the entrance exam to see where you stand. The exam not only decides if you are eligible to become a cadet, but it often points to what might be the best curriculum to meet your needs,” Ali said.
“When do I get to take the test?”
“You can take it at home under the supervision of a Space Fleet officer. After you pass your test, I’ll send the information we discussed to your father and the two of you can see what the best choice is for you.”
“Can I ask you questions when that time comes?” Both Ali and Greg were confident that Greg would pass the test. Greg, because he was confident in his abilities and Ali because he was impressed with how Greg had comported himself during his brief visit.
“While we were talking, Kyle made an announcement that we would be departing Spencer orbit at 1300 hours. I have been assigned to scheduling a shuttle for you,” Ali told Greg. “That should only take a few minutes, so you gentlemen can relax and chat until I’ve finished and then we’ll take you through more of the ship and enjoy lunch at 1200.”
“Thanks, Ali. And thanks for all the help you’ve given me. And thanks to Koji and Duskin for teaching me so much and all the rest of the guys who helped me, like Mark and Matthew.”
It was decided that Greg’s tour would end at 1100 in order for Greg and Duskin to enjoy a half hour or so of piano playing together on the holodeck. That would be followed by lunch before Greg boarded the Space Fleet shuttle that Ali had scheduled to take him home to Spencer Planet. It was scheduled to leave no later than 1230.
Koji, Duskin, and the Wilson twins acted as Greg’s guides, while Ali gave details on the ship’s history and the roles of the departments and their crew. When it came time for Greg and Duskin to play their pianos, Koji punched in the code to create the music recital room. Then he, Ali, and the twins listened to the two play for close to twenty minutes. Ali was amazed by how well the two boys played together considering they had just met the day before.
The boys then went to the dining hall and enjoyed a buffet lunch together. Ali ate with a couple of officers. He told Greg he would meet with him after they finished eating. He joined the group half an hour later. They gathered up Greg’s suitcase from the guest quarters and escorted him to the shuttle bay foyer.
The Space Fleet shuttle Hyun Kim was berthed at one of the outside airlocks. Kim had been the captain of the “Galaxy Explorer”, the first manned spacecraft to visit Spencer Planet. Koji, Duskin, Mark, Matthew, Kyle, Danny, and Ali were all in the foyer to wish Greg a safe voyage home.
Greg gave Koji and the twins each a hug, saving his biggest hug for Duskin, his fellow pianist. “We’re going to play together again. I can feel it,” Greg told his new friend. “And I’ve got the same feeling I’ll be seeing you three friends again, too.”
“I bet it will be soon,” Koji said. The young Darastixian soaked up the good feelings coming from his brother and his three friends.
“Have fun with your friends at home,” Mark said.
“And good luck on your Academy test,” Matthew added.
“I think he’s going do fantastic on that exam,” Kyle said. “And just like everyone else, I have a feeling we’ll be seeing you again soon.” Kyle honestly felt from what he had observed and had heard from Ali that there was a good chance of that happening.
The shuttle crewman picked up Greg’s baggage and carried it onto the shuttle. The co-pilot came to the door and told Greg it was time to board. Greg gave his new friends a wave and boarded the Hyun Kim” at 1220 for his flight home.
Kyle and Danny then headed for the bridge where the first watch-second trick was starting to prepare for the Heinlein’s departure from orbit. “I haven’t had a chance to ask you this, but were you aware of Ace’s birthday being incorrectly entered into our database?” he asked Danny.
“Nope. I thought that today was his birthday. I mean, how often is basic information entered incorrectly into our database—hell into anybody’s database?”
“Never, but what do I know?”
“I refuse to answer that question on the grounds I might be cut off in bed. Anyway, I learned about it a couple of days ago when I said something to Ace about his birthday on Thursday. He said his birthday was Friday. Anyway, I went to Brad with the issue he checked it out. Sure enough it was a glitch from Space Fleet. He contacted HR and they corrected it,” Danny said.
“Good thing it was a personnel issue and not a ship’s operation issue. That could have been brutal.”
“Brad said the HR guy said the issue was extremely rare but was known to happen.”
They arrived at the bridge. Danny entered first with Kyle right behind him. As soon as he was on the bridge, Mituti Tudupe, who had the conn, announced, “Captain has the conn.” Doug Devlin, who had the communications desk, echoed, “Captain has the conn.”
From there Kyle led the watch through the departure protocols, which the well-trained watch completed flawlessly. Doug contacted Spencer Orbit Traffic Control at 1257 and reported that the Heinlein was ready to leave orbit. At 1300 they were cleared to leave orbit and move to departure route 10 to leave for its destination. Fifteen minutes after leaving orbit, they were turned over to Spencer Traffic Control. An hour later they confirmed their route and were on their own. At 1410 Kyle turned the conn back to Mituti and left the bridge of his ready room.
And at 1408 Brad sent out the clothing optional ballots to the crew members. They would be due to Information Services by 2200. Kyle sent a communication to Brad thanking him for his efficient work.
Kyle then sat back wondering how he had missed the fact that today wasn’t Ace’s birthday. Ace was one of the ship’s assistant lead pilots and Kyle chewed himself out for not communicating with him. It turned out it was Danny, the chief pilot, who found the error, and not the captain of the ship.
But when he thought about it he decided it was dumb to beat himself up over not discovering the error. After all, his chief pilot, who was Ace’s immediate superior, did learn of the error when talking with Ace. His senior officer learned about it and communicated the error with the captain. As a result, Kyle then knew about it. And that was the way the chain of command was supposed to work.
Even though he had missed the error at first, he learned about it because the system worked. Even though Danny was his husband and they shared the same bed, Kyle was certain he would have learned about the error at close to the same time even if Danny lived in quarters that were in a different section of the ship. Kyle told himself he needed to remember that he had the best senior officers any captain could ask for. From the captain down the officer corps was young, but it was definitely proficient.
One thing that was changed because of the discovered error was the chocolate chip cookie bake-off. It was moved from Tuesday to Wednesday so it wouldn’t interfere with the baking process for Ace’s birthday.
1730
<Executive Dining Room>
Kyle was enjoying dinner with most of his senior staff. Steve was standing his bridge watch and had the conn, chief science officer Logan Wilson elected to enjoy dinner in the main dining room with his young twin brothers, and Brad was having dinner at his desk at Information Services with his chief assistant, Nelson Mirah. They were both busy dealing with the incoming ballots. Brad wanted to take his time with them to make sure they were handled according to protocol.
Brad was aware that this was a simple ballot to deal with, but he felt that handling the ballot by the book would make it easier to handle more complicated ones should it become necessary. He felt that while the department had handled the food staff proposal with the proper protocols, he felt they could have been more efficient and more by the book. He wanted this count to be done perfectly.
Even though the deadline was 2200, all the ballots were accounted for and counted by 1940. The ballot passed easily, with only three crewmen voting no to the proposal. That gave the ballot just over a 97% yes vote, well above the number required of passage.
“Young guys like me are going to freakout when we see everybody naked,” Nelson chuckled.
“But it will be a good freakout,” Brad said.
“It will be for me. It will be different and for sure it will be fun. But I was really thinking of the guys who aren’t crew members, like Logan’s twin brothers. They’re just nine.”
“They’ll be fine. And there will be rules, which I’m sure Kyle and Devin will be letting us know all about before the first clothing optional day.”
“Which will be November 19, and I can’t wait. I’m, like, just eleven, but I’m ready to see the big-time officers out of uniform—like you,” Nelson grinned.
“I’ll try not to disappoint you.” What Brad couldn’t tell Nelson was that Kyle was considering giving the command and staff officers (department heads) the option of not having to strip down. That would be up to Kyle and Devin to announce if that’s what the command officers (Kyle, Devin, Steve, and himself) decide.
“I guess I’d better send the good news to the command officers,” Brad said. “We’ll see how it goes from there.”
2130
<Captain’s Quarters>
“Did you think the ballot was going to pass?” Danny asked Kyle as they got ready for bed.
“I was pretty sure it would. I mean we are a bunch of boys on a long journey in space. I know from my time on the Sooloo that everybody looked forward to clothing optional day because it was different. And different is good. And, yeah, while everybody was naked, it wasn’t really sexual—not that guys didn’t have sex but nobody made a big deal out of it. Now we have less than three weeks to set up the protocols,” Kyle said. “I plan to stick as close to how the Sooloo does it as I can, but I’ll be inviting everybody to give me their thoughts.”
“My first thought is that I should glue some pubic hair in your crotch to make you look like a picture perfect mature captain,” Danny said.
“And my thought right now is that we really don’t have to have sex tonight to celebrate us underway.”
“Oh, but we do. Because you need me to take care of that piece of steel between your legs.”
“Good point.”
“And here’s something to think about which should make you feel even better, which could make you even hornier. Even with all the stuff going on today, the Guardians didn’t do anything except free up the reverse thruster.”
“That sounds almost too good to last,” Kyle said.
“How about you quit being so negative and fuck me hard.”
“You’re on.”
2210
<Don and Everett’s cabin>
As Don stared up at the dark ceiling, he thought it was a good thing Kyle had a good day getting them underway. His plan was to give him one more day to create some distance between the Heinlein and Spencer and then see what he could do to make life interesting for the baby captain.
Next: Operating Smoothly