The next morning I got up and dressed in pants and a short sleeved t-shirt. It was our day off; but, we also had a lot of work to do. The business meetings alone were going to take up most of the morning. I left my room and went to the kitchen to have breakfast. Gleas was already there and was halfway through her meal.
“Good morning.” I said and prepped my own breakfast.
“Ugh.” Gleas grunted.
“Bad night?” I asked.
“I didn't sleep a wink.” Gleas said and then yawned. “I hope these meetings go fast or I'm not going to make it.”
I chuckled and sat down next to her. “I can give you a little boost if you want.”
“No, I...” Gleas sighed. “I can't let you tempt me.”
That made me laugh. “Honestly, it's just a bit of shared energy. No sexual innuendo or promises required.” I said and made my index finger glow. “You... want... this.” I waved my hand in a slow circle. “It's too tempting... to refuse.”
Gleas looked from my finger to my smiling face and chuckled. “All right. Fine.” She leaned close and I tapped her forehead. She took in a sharp breath as I gave her a bit of energy to completely clear her head. “Son of a...” She stopped herself before she cursed.
“How was that?” I asked.
“I don't want to say.” Gleas said and that made me laugh again.
“What's funny?” Deborah asked.
“I gave her some energy to help wake her up.” I said.
“Oh, give me a bit, too.” Deborah said and bent over. She had a loose top on and her breasts slid forward enticingly. “I didn't sleep much last night.”
I touched her forehead with my glowing finger and she let out a contented sigh.
“Oh, that's good.” Deborah said and stood up as she gave her head a slight shake, as if to spread the energy around. “How long will it last?”
“Probably noon, especially with all of the mental grinding we'll be doing during the meetings.”
“That's plenty of time.” Deborah said and went to the counter to get her own breakfast.
Beatrice came into the kitchen and she was only half-dressed. She only wore pants and a bra. “Morning.” She drawled out as if she was still half asleep. The three of us watched her get her own rationed meal and sit down without adding the extra spices or warming it.
“Hold on.” I said as she tried to stick her fork into a still frozen lump of eggs. She didn't even look at me as I took her tray and prepped it properly and then put it back in front of her. “Okay, eat.”
Beatrice did a long slow blink with her eyes, looked down at her tray, then started to eat.
“Either she's not really a morning person, or someone else was up for most of the night.” I said and then Sandy came into the kitchen. She was the exact opposite of Beatrice and had a nice shirt on and only panties. The same scene was repeated and she sat down with a cold food tray. I took it from her before she started to eat, prepped it, then gave it back.
“If you put the two outfits together, one of them would be fully dressed.” Gleas said with a smile.
“Yes, and the other one would be naked.” Deborah said with a laugh.
Kalina came into the kitchen and was the happiest and most awake of the bunch. “Good morning!”
“At least someone doesn't need a helping hand this morning.” I said and touched Beatrice's forehead and gave her some energy. She took in a deep breath and let it out.
“Thanks.” Beatrice said and started to eat.
I did the same to Sandy and she shivered as if she just woke up from a deep sleep.
“Oh! Food!” Sandy said and started eating, too.
A few of us chuckled and ate as we waited to see how long it would take for them to realize the state of their lack of clothing. They both finished eating and sat back at the same time and sighed, then Beatrice touched her bare belly and Sandy touched her bare thighs. They both gasped and blushed deeply, stood up without a word, and left. I quickly formed a Presence Barrier on the kitchen door to stop them from hearing us all laugh.
I cleaned up everyone's food trays and we waited for the two women to return. “Don't be embarrassed.” I said when the two of them came into the kitchen. “You couldn't have slept much last night.”
Beatrice and Sandy glanced at each other and their faces flushed completely red.
“Oh... I... ah... didn't mean to imply... like Gleas and Deborah, I thought you just didn't sleep well.”
Kalina laughed. “I'm sure they slept well. Together. A lot.”
“It wasn't... well, it was... we just...” Beatrice started to explain and I held a hand up to stop her.
“Remember what I said.” I reminded her and she remembered me telling her that as long as it didn't affect her job, she could do anything she wanted.
“At least we weren't naked.” Sandy said and gave Beatrice a hug.
“Or prancing.” Beatrice said.
“On that happy note, and now that we're all dressed, let's go meet the others.” I said and we all left the kitchen.
“I'll prepare the room.” Deborah said and went in the other direction. Gleas went with her and I led the others to the main hatch and opened it. We stood there and waited for Rhubin, Simone and Luxea, and it didn't take them long to finish eating and came to the hatch on the Undelis.
“Good morning.” I said when it opened.
Rhubin gave me a look that a child would give their father after a scolding, Simone had puffy and slightly red eyes, and Luxea had her mouth clamped shut.
“Maybe not.” I said and waved to the ship behind me. “If you would follow me, please.”
At least two of them had the same thought of saying no, and I held in my sigh. I walked away and led everyone to the large meeting room and there were small bowls of snacks, the holographic display in the middle of the table was on, and the chairs were arranged as to not have any clear division between the two crews. The chairs were scattered around in an equal distance from each other, which was perfect. No one could complain that they were being excluded or ostracized.
“Before anyone mentions it, I asked Sandy to be here so that she's informed of what's going on and doesn't have to wait for Beatrice to tell her all about it after the meetings.” I said. “I know she's not an employee, mainly because I haven't talked to her to see what kind of skill set she has and if she could be useful in her own right, besides being a balm for Beatrice.”
Everyone turned and looked at her and she didn't blush at the attention.
“Now that I've mentioned that, if you could all have a seat, we can get these meetings started.” I said. “Luxia, can you take the head of the table? You're up first.”
Luxea gave me a look that said she didn't want to go first.
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I smiled. “The first question we would all like to know is how far along the Udelis is on being fully loaded.”
Luxea let out a sigh and walked to the head of the table. I sat down next to her and the others spread out and sat around the table. As I had hoped, both Simone and Rhubin were mixed into the others. On the good side, Simone sat beside Beatrice. On the bad side, Rhubin sat beside Kalina.
I'll have to warn her as well. I thought.
“We only have one more cage to fill before we head back to the Dizahl System.” Luxea said. “If the work continues like it has been, we'll be done in about four days.”
I raised my hand and she let out a sigh. “I've got about half of the main hold of this ship filled and two of the cages on top. You have the list of the components I've salvaged, so why don't we just transfer items from here to the Udelis to fill it, then you can leave right away for the three week trip to unload and set up the sales?”
Luxea was going to immediately reject the idea, because she was broadcasting the idea that she didn't want to leave me alone for six weeks with five women. I had a similar thought from Simone and fought not to look at her. A spike of envy came from Rhubin and he looked at Kalina.
“I'd also like to send a couple of my pilots, if they are willing to go.” I said and that caught everyone's interest. “In fact, I had the idea to send them during each trip, that way they have experience on the Udelis as well and they will get to see what we have set up.”
“There's not a lot of room...” Luxea started to say.
“There are four bunks in the spare room.” I said and Simone caught her breath. “This first time, I'm tempted to send Deborah and Beatrice... and Sandy, of course.”
“That will fill the spare beds.” Luxea said.
“Not really. I want Simone to stay here and help me increase my salvage speed.” I said and Simone's mind raced at the implication. “With her there, I can get at least twenty-five percent more efficient.” I explained. “She would just be a passenger if she went with you, so I want to keep her here.”
“I... I suppose.” Luxea said, reluctantly.
“Excellent.” I said. “Check the list and we'll transfer the things over first thing in the morning. If we're lucky, we can have it done by lunch and you can be on your way.”
“You're really sending us?” Beatrice asked.
“It wouldn't be fair to just send you.” I said. “Plus, it's a three week trip both ways. I can't in good conscience ask you to be alone for that long.”
“You said it was three weeks before.” Kalina said. “Are you joking? It's over a month to get back to the major space lanes.”
“It's no joke. Going slow it takes three weeks, because we didn't want to risk several spacial anomalies to get here.” I said and a thrill went through the four pilots. “Udelis is a special ship. It's custom built to my parent's specifications and it's very fast, even in normal space.”
“H-how?” Deborah asked. “How can it be fast enough to travel twice as fast as other ships?”
“I think it's the unique combination of the small frame, the heavy engine output, the set of full deflector screens all around the ship, and the onboard AI.”
They all had wide eyes at my words.
“Anyways, you'll all get a chance to see it for yourself.” I said. “Rhubin hasn't had a co-pilot in... well, for as long as he's been around me.” I chuckled. “It might give him a bit of a breather to have someone else take a shift or two and ease some of the pressure on him.”
“I suppose that would be nice.” Rhubin admitted, reluctantly.
“Then it's settled.” I said. “The first run will be Luxea, Rhubin, Deborah, and Beatrice with Sandy along for the ride.”
They nodded their heads and I saw Sandy grip Beatrice's hand under the table.
“With that out of the way, what's the estimate for the salvage we have so far?” I asked Luxea.
“The market fluctuates quite a bit, considering the nature of the materials.” Luxea said.
“Are you waiting to try the conversion protocols until you reach the Dizahl System?” Gleas asked.
“I need to pick up a pile of components to start working on them.” Luxea said. “I ordered a lot of things a while ago, so they should be ready by the time we get there to pick them up.” She used her datapad to manipulate the holographic display to show a large computer bank. “Despite the technology being non-standard, with barely any software tweaks and a power converter or two strategically placed...”
*
She's brilliant. Gleas thought as Luxea explained the very simple and yet complicated operations to essentially transform useless technology into equally powerful components that could be adapted for use by anyone, if they made room enough to fit the odd shapes.
Gleas' eyes shifted to look at Hunter. Why would she mess things up with Hunter if she's so smart? She asked herself, slightly confused. She stopped herself from gasping when Hunter shrugged. She looked around to see if anyone else noticed or were shrugging as well. All she saw were people that were listening intently and she turned back to Hunter. He didn't move and she looked at Luxea.
I need to wait to see what the dynamic is going to be like before I can figure out how to insert myself into it without causing any waves. Gleas thought and then smiled slightly. I don't want to cause waves in The Wave. She caught movement at the corner of her eye and saw Hunter rub his head and his sad expression. He must really miss all that glorious hair. She thought and caught her breath when she saw his slight nod. She quickly looked around and saw other nods as well, then relaxed. I thought he was responding to my thoughts! She thought in amusement. How silly is that?
*
We're going to be leaving the system! Beatrice thought happily. She glanced at Sandy and saw a similarly happy face. We're doing this... our first time leaving... together!
Beatrice had been worried about jumping through hyperspace on a ship and about leaving Sandy behind, that she had passed up several out-system jobs. It had made their lives a little tougher sometimes; but, they had agreed when they got together, that they didn't want to do anything without the other being there. When Hunter had agreed to let Sandy come aboard while they worked, had been a blessing that Beatrice thought they could never have.
Sandy shared her partner's view. She was so ecstatic that she had a hard time keeping her emotions in check. She had let their newfound freedom go a little to her head and chased Beatrice around like a pair of school children on a field trip. She never would have done that anywhere else.
Who chases a grown woman around a passenger compartment naked? Sandy asked herself and couldn't quite restrain her smile.
*
He's letting me go first. Deborah thought and glanced at Hunter. He could send any of us, and he's sending me.
Deborah was still emotionally torn over her break-up and had regretted trying to use Hunter as a bed buddy. She had a fleeting thought that he was getting rid of her because of her attempt, then she shook her head mentally. She knew he wasn't that petty, mainly because he still had Luxea as part of the company and they had a hard break-up as well. Or, it should have been.
Their relationship just kind of petered out after one fight. Just one. Deborah held in her laugh at the thought. If people broke up after one fight, there wouldn't be any couples at all in the universe!
Deborah settled back in the chair as Luxea explained how she was going to offload the more expensive items first and then let the smaller ticket items trickle out later.
*
The meetings went on for quite some time, which included shipping schedules and shift changes, depending on the cargo runs and who went with who. I insisted on both of the remaining pilots work all day, except that they switch pilot and co-pilot duties after lunch. Gleas and Kalina were fine with that, mainly because they had gotten used to having someone else in the cockpit to talk to.
I stood up and took over from Luxea, then we discussed the best way to add the necessary deflector screens to the new ship to give it full coverage. I wanted to set them to the same energy frequency as the Udelis to see if it would increase the speed of the ship.
“I won't be able to try and twin Udelis until I come back.” Luxea said. “Trying to only put in partial system controls and then hope that they work, isn't the best way to do these things.”
“I thought I could at least start the hardware installations.”
“We need the AI in place first, then we feed it the parameters we want. Once we do that, it can give us the proper way to go about trying to duplicate the Udelis' systems.” Luxea said.
“I suppose you want to do that so that it doesn't have to find what attached first, reconfigure, and then try to add new things in?” I asked and Luxea nodded.
“We should transfer over the main computer bank I harvested, too.” Luxea said. “It just needs the modifications to let the two systems be compatible.”
“Which you can't do until you get the components you need back in the Dizahl System.” I said.
“Six weeks is not going to be a long time.” Luxea said. “Make that seven weeks. We need to transfer everything out and into the storage containers, assuming I don't sell a lot of it right away.”
“Agreed.” I said. “You might need to deliver it as well.” I looked at Rhubin. “You should take one of the shuttles, just in case.”
“Good idea.” Rhubin responded. “The top of the ship was looking a little lopsided.”
I chuckled. “Hey, you wanted them stored in the bay.”
“I'm hoping we'll scavenge another one in this mess.” Rhubin said. “Or a dozen.” He said with a grin. “We could probably sell off a couple of them...”
“Just a couple?” Luxea glared at him for denying her that big of a payday, then we all laughed.
“It's just about lunch time.” I said and looked around the table. “I invite you all to enjoy a home cooked meal a la me.”
That made a few of them chuckle.
“More ration trays?” Gleas asked.
“You've all taken turns making a meal when you wanted, so now it's my turn.” I said. “I just hope you're ready for the best meal of your lives.”
That made them all laugh.
“Then I officially call these meetings to an end.” I said and lightly slapped the table. “Give me half an hour to get things ready.”
“Can we watch?” Sandy asked, her voice full of curiosity, and Beatrice smiled at me.
“Cooking isn't really an observational...” I started to say.
“I want to watch too.” Simone said, and then several others chimed it.
I raised my eyebrows at them, then shrugged. “Okay, maybe it is something people want to watch.”
We all stood up and left the meeting room.
“I don't think it's the cooking part.” Gleas whispered to me when we entered the hallway. “It's the watching you do it part.”
“Personal opinion?” I asked in a whisper and gave her a crooked smile.
“Yes.” Gleas said and it matched her thoughts.
I had fully expected her to deny it. “Well, then... would you like to help?”
Gleas almost tripped over her own feet at my offer. I caught her with two invisible Presence Hands, so that no one would notice her stumble. She stared at me with wide eyes as we continued to walk down the hallway towards the kitchen.