STC: Gentlemen Prefer Orions: Chapter 4

4

Open Space, S.S. Calypso
May 11, 2269

Bouncing the basketball repeatedly on the gym floor, Sajeen flashed her boyfriend a smile before dodging to his right, taking a couple of steps, and then tossing the ball at the net. It rebounded off the backboard, struck the rim, spun along its length, teetered for a second, and then dropped though the net.
    “Yes!” Sajeen cried, punching the air and bouncing up and down in victory. Garadun grinned and collected the ball, dribbling it as she took her turn on defence. She held out her arms and gyrated her chest and hips. The Orion beauty was trying to distract him, and doing a damned fine job of it. She was wearing tight, black yoga pants that clung to her shapely hips, rear and legs before widening at the knees into bootcut cuffs. On her feet were simple, slip-on white sneakers. Clinging to her torso and emphasising her bosom was a stylish grey sports bra, its soft yet strong fabric providing support as she moved. Her silky, waist-length black hair was in a ponytail.
    Garadun wore black cargo shorts, grey and white running shoes, and a baggy white t-shirt with ORION OR BUST in dark green letters on the front. He bounced the ball a couple times, made a fake to the right, then jumped and tried to make the shot. The ball hit the backboard and missed the net completely on the rebound. Sajeen laughed and went after it. This was her first time playing one-on-one basketball.
    “This is fun!”
    Garadun resumed a defensive position. Not only was it hard to concentrate because of his girlfriend’s incredible beauty and sexy attire, but the Orion was naturally agile and had good hand-eye coordination. She sauntered across the floor, bouncing the ball and putting extra oomph into her hips.
    “You’re evil,” Garadun told her. “And unfair.”
    Sajeen snickered, then suddenly broke right and tried to get around him. He moved with her and jumped as she made her shot. His hand just grazed the ball and she missed, the ball bouncing off the rim. He zipped past and tickled-squeezed her rear as he went. She let out a squeal of surprise.
    “Hey, watch it!”
    He grinned wide. “I was.”
    The Orion giggled and patted her firm cheek before attempting to block him. As he dodged back and forth, she laughed and tried to grab the ball. They spun this way and that, yelling and fouling each other playfully until he managed to break free. He ran a couple steps, jerked to a halt, then jumped and threw. The ball actually made it into the net. Sajeen shouted and clapped her hands.
    “Nice shot, baby!”
    Garadun laughed and pulled her into his arms, kissing her deeply. Sajeen returned his embrace wholeheartedly, pressing herself against him. The congratulatory kiss became heated, and he slid his hands over her rear, fondling. She made a sound of pleasure and French-kissed him even more passionately.
    “Love you,” he told her when their lips parted.
    “Love you, too.” She kissed him again, then closed her eyes and gently pressed her forehead to his, running her hands over his back. “I love you so much.”
    “You both have quarters for that, you know,” said an amused voice.
    Garadun and Sajeen jerked apart in surprise to see Cera standing just in front of the gymnasium’s open door with a smirk on her face. She was also dressed in sexy athletic attire: blue running shoes, clinging blue shorts, a grey sports bra, and an aqua tank top. Like Sajeen, she had her long hair in a ponytail. She stepped further into the gym and Nessa walked past her. The Orion was wearing black wedged sneakers, tight black yoga pants that ended just past her knees, and a purple tee. She picked up the basketball and tossed it to Garadun.
    “Humans invent weird sports.”
    “You think basketball’s weird?” he said. “Try cricket.”
    “Or golf,” Cera added. “Both equally boring.”
    “I think this is fun,” Sajeen remarked happily, taking the ball. “You should try it, Nessa. It’s easy enough. I think you’d do well.”
    “I’ll stick to velocity, thanks. That’s a real sport.”
    Sajeen chuckled and rolled her eyes. “Why am I not surprised?”
    “It helps keep my aim in.” Nessa walked over to one of the treadmills, turned it on, and started jogging at a light, steady pace. Cera joined her on the adjacent treadmill, and in seconds they were running in synch. Garadun watched them admiringly. Both young women were beautiful, very fit, had fabulous bodies, and like him and Sajeen, hopelessly in love with one another.
    “Come on, Gar, I need a shower,” said Sajeen, dropping the basketball and holding her boyfriend’s hand. “See you later, ladies.”
    “Later.” Garadun waved, then left the gym with her. Cera and Nessa shared amused, knowing looks as they jogged. Sajeen wouldn’t be showering alone.
    “I’m happy for him,” Nessa remarked, and increased her treadmill’s speed a notch. Cera matched her. “He’s a good, honourable man. He deserves an Orion woman.”
    “Do I deserve you?” Cera asked teasingly.
    Nessa laughed. “Unquestionably.”
    “Hope so.” Cera chuckled, then glanced at Nessa thoughtfully. “You know something? He told me the other day that with Sajeen in his life, he finally understood.”
    “Understood?”
    “Understood what I have with you. How lucky we were to have you and her in our lives. That nothing can compare to loving an Orion girl.”
    Nessa raised an eyebrow. “What did you say?”
    “I agreed with him, of course.” Cera gave Nessa a look of adoration. “He’s so right: nothing can compare. Nothing.”
    Nessa’s expression became very tender. “Thank you, Cera. And for the record? We happen to feel just as lucky to have you and him in our lives.”

                                                                          *****

Calypso had been travelling at maximum warp for more than four weeks. From Andoria, the freighter and her crew had struck out across known space, leaving numerous worlds and interstellar landmarks in their wake: Vulcan, Orion, Xyrillia, the Arachnid Nebula, New France, and the Argolis Cluster. Betazed was the latest system to fall behind as they legged it in the direction of Talarian territory, and beyond. From the coordinates they’d been given, Kona estimated a journey of over three months, one way.
    Sajeen and Garadun showered together in his quarters and, as could be expected, they had sex. A quick yet very satisfying coupling that released the sexual energy they’d built up throwing hoops. They towelled themselves off and slipped into fresh, comfortable clothes: tee and jeans for him, tank and pyjama pants for her. For Sajeen, the ever-strengthening emotional bond between them was quite gratifying. Her man valued his privacy, and she gave him what he needed. But his comfort level in sharing his personal space with her was increasing all the time. The Orion knew her pheromones played a part; yet not so far as all that. Her lover had spent a great deal of time around the females of her species, and had built up a partial resistance to their alchemy. The very regular and intense lovemaking they enjoyed also played a part; though she yearned for him as much as he for her. What played the greatest part was the simple fact that they were in love and liked to spend time with one another.
    Sajeen dropped onto his big bed and started brushing her long hair. Left on its own, it would take a long time to dry. Magik was curled up in ball on her beanbag chair and fast asleep. The Orion had quickly grown to love the little black cat. Garadun slid open his closet door, rummaged around inside for a bit, then turned with a smile and tossed a box onto the bed beside her.
    “Oh yeah, that’s for you.”
    Sajeen put down her brush and lifted the wrapped box. It was very light, and when she gave it a gentle shake she could hear things move inside. She lit up.
    “What is it?”
    “A present, obviously. Go on, open it up.”
    It was a Human custom to rip off wrapping paper, so that’s what she did. When she saw what her present was, she gasped in joy. It wasn’t lingerie or perfume or jewellery or anything like that. It was a model kit. An Archer class scout ship to be precise. From what was written on the box, it had been made on Earth. For someone like Sajeen it was a treasure. Earth made the best model kits.
    “Got that at the Starfleet gift shop on Andoria,” he explained when she looked at him in wonder. “I know you don’t have an Archer yet, so there you go.”
    “Thank you,” she said with deep gratitude, clutching the box to her chest.
    “You’re welcome.” Garadun sat beside her. “And check it out: it comes with a full set of letters and decals. You can name it whatever you want.”
    Sajeen kissed him: slowly, deeply, and lovingly. It was small yet very important things like sharing her hobby that made her so grateful to have Garadun in her life. He wasn’t only her lover but her friend and companion. Her mate. If he’d been the kind of man who was interested in marriage, she might’ve already asked him to marry her. But he didn’t need ceremonies or rituals any more than she did. She belonged to him and he belonged to her. It wasn’t complicated.
    “Love you,” he said when their lips parted.
    “Love you, too.”
     Beaming, Sajeen hurried into the study to retrieve a small knife from her modelling equipment. Happy as a schoolgirl, she cut off the clear plastic wrap, opened the box and started spreading the many pieces over the black hybor fur bedspread. She unfolded the instructions and started reading. Leaving his girlfriend to geek out, Garadun went to the living room and sorted through a set of coloured food cards. Selecting one, he inserted into the food slot and activated it. When the slot’s door opened, he took the steaming bowl and sat at his bedroom’s small, round table.
    Sajeen glanced up. “What’s that?”
    “Plomeek broth,” Garadun replied after swallowing a mouthful.
    “I don’t know how you can eat that stuff,” she said, giving her attention back to the instructions. “It barely has any flavour.”
    He shrugged. “T’Prin had me try some, and I liked it. You want anything?”
    “No thanks, I’m fine.”
    By the time he’d finished his snack and returned the bowl and spoon to the recycling slot, Sajeen had put her long hair in a ponytail, moved her new model kit to the study’s main table, put on some Orion music, and set to work. Garadun went and kissed her neck from behind as he gave her a squeeze. She turned her head to kiss him, a warm smile on her face. He let her be and stretched out on his bed with a book; not a data slate but a real paper book. He let out a content sigh.
    So far it had been a pretty damn good day.

                                                                          *****

As she slowly woke up, Sajeen discovered she was alone in Garadun’s large bed, her naked body wrapped in his hybor bedspread. After their tender lovemaking atop it the night before, they hadn’t bothered to slide under the sheets. They simply covered themselves in the fur and happily drifted off to sleep.
    She stretched luxuriously, loving the feel of the deliciously soft fur on her flesh, then sat up and glanced around the dimly-lit bedroom. Her man wasn’t anywhere to be seen, and she couldn’t hear him, either. The only illumination came from a tiny light fixture behind the bed’s headboard. It was enough to see by, but apart from the bedroom the rest of his quarters were dark. Sajeen slid out of bed and looked out the bedroom window: the stars streaked away to nothing as Calypso flew along at warp speed.
    Stretching again, she strolled into the bathroom and turned on the light before seeing to her morning needs. A few of her personal toiletries had made a home for themselves, but otherwise it was still very much his place. She’d learned that among Humans, sharing a bathroom was considered a significant step in a romantic relationship. Alicia had told her that Human men could get upset in they felt their territory was being invaded by a female, including the bathroom. Knowing her man valued his privacy even more than most, she had been very careful when it came to her things in his quarters.
    Another key point of their relationship was they were never going to have children. Not only were Humans and Orions incapable of reproducing without artificial assistance, but Garadun simply didn’t want, or even like, children. He did not have it in him to be a father, and never had. When he’d undergone genetic engineering in the future, he’d even seen to it that he was incapable of getting a female pregnant. That he “fired blanks” as he humorously put it. Sajeen was more than happy with the situation. Having children had never been one of her life’s goals anyway.
    Returning to the bedroom, she turned on the night table lamp and slipped into her pyjama bottoms and pulled her tank top over her head. Then she left Garadun’s quarters to traverse the corridor until she reached her own cabin and went inside. She stripped out of her clothes, tossing them into the hamper at the bottom of her closet, then opened the big drawer under her bed and chose some fresh attire. This included a pair of grey-striped, wide-legged linen pants with a drawstring waist slung low on her curved hips; a lilac, long-sleeved v-neck tee with a slouchy fit; and black slip-on flats. Her long hair she put in a simple tail hanging from the base of her skull.
    Sajeen looked at herself in the closet’s dressing mirror and was pleased. She was aware of how beautiful she was. To deny it would be illogical, as T’Prin might say. Yet unlike most of her sister Orions, she didn’t go out of her way to be bombshell sexy. While she loved clothes and wanted them to be attractive, she preferred them to be comfy. She didn’t normally wear makeup, apart from a bit of eyeshadow. It was a chore to put on and take off, and as Alicia observed with a tinge of envy, she didn’t need it. Sajeen was one of those girls who could wear a burlap sack and make it look good.
    Which reminded her of another reason she loved her man so much: he didn’t try to tell her how to look. He didn’t buy her lingerie or clothes in an attempt to make her his sex doll; he didn’t push makeup or perfume; he didn’t tell her how to style her hair. He simply accepted her for who she was. What helped of course was that they shared the same kind of taste in matters of style and he liked what she wore. He thought she looked damned sexy in a simple outfit like the one she had on. His only real request had been that she please not cut her hair. He loved it long and silky. She had no problem with that because she preferred it long as well.
    “We were meant to be together,” she told her reflection with a smile. She stepped over and activated the intercom. “Sajeen to Garadun.”
    A couple moments later he answered. “Garadun here.”
    “Where are you, sweetheart?”
    “Bridge.”
    “All right, see you soon.”
    Sajeen made her way to the nearest turbolift, and it wasn’t long before she was stepping out onto Calypso’s bridge. Garadun was sitting at the helm; Cera was at the engineering station and looking into that station’s sensor hood. The bridge lighting was dim. It was then that Sajeen realised how still the ship had been since she woke up. She checked the nearest screen and saw it was 0622 hours.
    “What’s going on?” she asked quietly, sensing the tension in the air, and went to stand beside the helm station.
    “We’re being pursued,” Cera told her, her eyes glued to the sensors.
    “What? By who?” Sajeen asked anxiously.
    “No idea,” Garadun replied, turning in his seat. “I got woken at four by the ship’s autopilot. I let you sleep and came here. The computer told me the proximity alert was activated when the sensors detected a vessel closing on our position. I altered course and called Cera. We’ve been here ever since.”
    “Any idea who they are?” Sajeen asked.
    Cera shook her head. “Not a clue. Neither of us recognise the configuration, and it’s not in Calypso’s data banks.”
    “I got a look at it when it was still in range,” Garadun added. “It was insect-shaped, kinda like an earwig. At least to my eye. It’s falling behind. It was doing warp eight for a while, but then it slowed to seven-point-five.”
    “Make that seven,” Cera announced, her eyes still locked to her sensor hood. “I think their engines must be overheating. We’re losing them.”
    Sajeen looked at the main viewscreen, which was showing an aft view. “Who would be chasing us out here?”
    “Could be pirates.” Garadun shrugged. “Could be anybody. We’re now in a region of space that’s not very well known.”
    Cera turned away from the sensor hood. “This is a reminder that we’ve got to be more cautious from here on in. I want at least one person on the bridge at all times.”
    “I caught this one,” said Garadun. “I’ll take this shift.”
    “All right. I’ll have Kona relieve you, then we’ll go from there.”
    “I’d like to stay, Captain,” Sajeen volunteered.
    “Of course.” Cera smiled and then let out a yawn. “Oh man…”
    “Go back to bed, sweetie,” Garadun told her kindly. “I got things here.”
    “Thanks, I’ll see you later.” She patted him gratefully on the shoulder and then left the bridge to return to her quarters. Sajeen leaned on Garadun, her arms resting on his shoulders and her chin atop his head.
    “You could’ve woken me, you know.”
    “For this?” he said, turning his head slightly. “The nearest they got was three AU, and that was when they tried to intercept our vector. They had to slow and turn to get on our tail, and they never got any closer.”
    “Still.” She draped her arms over his chest and kissed his neck. “Aliens are chasing us. I want to be at your side for things like this. Okay?”
    “Fair enough.” He tilted his head and they kissed. “Love you.”
    “Love you, too.” She turned the chair and sat in his lap, arms still over his shoulders. He could see she wasn’t wearing a bra, so he started lightly stroking her breasts with the back of his hand, through her tee’s thin material. She murmured happily and closed her eyes; her nipples hardened with arousal. He brought both hands into play, now using his adroit fingers, and Sajeen let out little gasps and moans. She straddled him, leaning back a bit to give him easier access, revelling in the sensual fondling.
    After a time he got her up and they moved to the command chair, she sitting in his lap with her back to him while he massaged not only her fabulous breasts, but her belly, ribs, arms and thighs. She could feel his hardness against her, but he was content to simply give her the pleasure of touch and caress. She eventually sat between his legs and leaned over in silent request, draping her ponytail over her chest. He started working her shoulders and back, making her sigh in pleasure and relaxation. She’d never had to teach him massage. It was something he was naturally skilled at.
    “Damn, that feels good,” she sighed, her elbows resting on her knees.
    “I’m glad you like it,” he said affectionately.
    “Like it?” Sajeen chuckled. “Sweetheart, there are people who go to Risa and pay money for this kind of thing. You can do this to me all day long.”
    “Good. I’ve always liked giving massages,” he remarked, working her shoulders and getting a groan of pleasure as a reward. “Never got to do it much.”
    “But you did give massages now and then, right?”
    “A few times, yeah,” he said, nodding.
    “To girls, yes?”
    “To girls who were friends, yeah. Nothing more.”
    Sajeen let out a cooing cry as he scratched all down her spine and over her shoulders. His technique was uniquely his own and she couldn’t get enough.
    “You did this to them and they felt nothing for you?” she said, bewildered.
    Garadun shrugged. “Hey, you know my history.”
    “Ungrateful, unfeeling Human tramps,” she said, and then groaned when he began kneading between her shoulder blades with his thumbs. “You’re a wonderful man, Gar, and I know what a good catch I have.”
    “Thanks, love. You’re the best thing that’s ever happened to me.”
    Sajeen smiled, turning her head slightly. “Together always?”
    “Always.” He leaned forward and kissed the back of her neck, but never let up on the massage. His fingers roamed in scratching circles all over. Sajeen let out helpless sounds of bliss, crooning and moaning under her mate’s touch.
    “Have you had any breakfast?” she inquired.
    “No, nothing yet.”
    “After this, I’ll go get us some,” she offered. “Whatever you want. Fair’s fair.”
    “It can wait.”
    He wrapped his arms around her waist in a hug, kissing her cheek, and then resumed giving her her massage. Sajeen sat there and enjoyed herself thoroughly, feeling quite spoiled. Other people could go to Risa and pay for the services of Nuvian masseuses if they wanted. She had Garadun, and he was all hers.