Stonerager Chronicles - Ch. 04 (Beta) (Patreon)

Stonerager Chronicles

By 2Charlie

This is a science fiction series that happens to include occasional erotic scenes. If you have not yet read previous chapters of this series, I highly recommend going back to do so before you read this chapter.

This is a Beta Release. This story may undergo final editing before general release.

All characters in this story are of the age of majority.

Chapter 04 (Beta)

*****

“What do you plan to do with them,” Alisia asked Dutch as he was getting dressed.

“I’ve been worrying over that very question most of the night,” he admitted, a look of concern crossing his face.

“I can’t imagine that the iShan’tal leadership will be very happy with the depth of their failure. D’narius lost her ship, and the majority of her crew, and then had the bad grace to allow herself to be captured by a Terran, a race thought to have been subjugated.”

“What does that mean, exactly?” he asked her, scratching at his beard.

“I would expect that, at a minimum, all Terran jump gates have been destroyed,” she replied dispassionately as if reading from a shopping list. “Any Terran vessels with Jump Point technology will have been destroyed. Surviving colonies will have been left isolated, making it unlikely they could again become a threat soon.” She paused, realizing that Dutch was clenching his fists so tightly that his forearms were trembling, his face a grimace of anger, before she added, as if to reassure him, “It is highly unlikely that the iShan’tal command would have gone to the extreme lengths to completely exterminate humanity, as they could feasibly yet serve some ultimate purpose to the Hegemony.”

Dutch closed his eyes, concentrating on taking deep, measured breaths to keep himself from flying into a rage. He understood that Alisia was not trying to provoke him, she was merely attempting to inform him. Her matter-of-fact approach, however, struck him as oddly clinical and ignored the fact that she – and all of the clones created by the iShan’tal bearing the same likeness – constituted some of what remained of humankind, if not humanity.

At that moment, the Galley hatch opened, and Pheebs stepped through, speaking to the two clones following her as she entered the space. “And here we have the other space where our Captain works his magic. Oh! Good morning, Dutch!” she said, feigning a surprise that he doubted was genuine. “I didn’t expect to see you here.” She grinned at him, stepping aside for D’narius and Jjan’tira to enter.

Striding up to him, she rose up onto her tiptoes to kiss him, before stepping over to the synthesizer to get some breakfast. Alisia just smiled, as the other two women looked a bit uncertain about what to do.

As if he’d read their minds, Dutch stepped over to them, offering them an assortment of breakfast pastries, and asked them, “So, what do you ladies think you want to do now?”

Taken aback, D’narius wasn’t sure what he was actually asking of her. “I beg your pardon?” she responded after a moment, gulping down her initial response, which was something rather carnal in nature.

Smiling good-naturedly at her and Jjan’tira, he asked her, “What would you two like to do at this point? Do you wish to return to the iShan’tal, or do you have other thoughts on what you’d like to do? If I were to find a way to safely effect your return, would you be welcomed home without recrimination, or would you be punished for the loss of your ship and crew? I am trying to decide what to do with you, but you get a vote on the matter.”

D’narius cocked her head to one side with a puzzled look on her face, replying softly to his question, “I wasn’t aware that we had alternatives. Perhaps you would care to lay out what you believe our options could include?”

Dutch rubbed the stubble on his chin as he considered his response. “Well, we can start with the big binary options – you stay aboard Odyssey, or you don’t. Then we can go from there, based on your preferences. I don’t want to pressure either of you in any particular direction. I won’t lie - this vessel was originally made for a test flight, but its mission parameters and capabilities have definitely changed from the original program, so I could use the extra help. Why don’t the two of you mull that over while we grab breakfast? After, we can huddle up and go from there.”

Pheebs raised her voice, speaking to the room without turning around, “I’m making sausage and egg bagels, accompanied by cherry tomatoes, with orange pineapple juice to drink. Pull up chairs to the table, and the food will be ready in a few minutes.”

Jjan’tira looked interested in what Pheebs was doing over at the food synthesizer. Moving over to speak with her, she suggested, “Perhaps you could show me how to use this device so that I can help prepare meals from time to time.”

“Of course – let’s plan on giving that a shot at lunch, shall we?” Pheebs suggested gently, giving Jjan’tira an encouraging smile.

Dutch noticed that the clones had all done their hair differently. Alisia had left her hair long, parted on one side, with the short side held up behind her ear with a hair comb. D’narius had her hair pulled back into a simple ponytail, while Jjan’tira had her hair done up in a long braid.

“So, D’narius, I was wondering if we could review star charts later this morning. I’m way behind on where the cool kids hang out.”

She eyed him strangely, a slight smile on her face. “I’m not sure I understand. Cool kids?”

He waved his hand dismissively at her, shaking his head. “Never mind – it used to be a turn of phrase, but perhaps it’s not as widely used as it once was. I need to update my ship’s Nav Computer with current locations – settlements, territories, trade hubs, anything you feel like sharing about non-human species… I’m centuries out of date, and don’t even know what’s fashionable anymore,” he smiled.

“You’re such an odd human,” D’narius replied, looking at him like she’d discovered a bug in her juice, not quite knowing when he was being serious and when he was attempting to be funny.

“I don’t know, I think he’s cute,” Jjan’tira muttered softly around a mouthful of bagel.

Dutch glanced over at her and realized she was fucking him with her eyes over breakfast. Suppressing a grin, he looked back to D’narius and continued, “I’m afraid that even the intel that the Tao shared with us is centuries out of date. It would be nice to have better situational awareness regarding where we can or can’t travel freely, where we can make port to resupply, and which systems pose dangers where we need to be more careful. Anything along those lines that you can help me to improve my situational awareness would be greatly appreciated.”

She nodded to him over her cup of coffee, glad to have finally identified a beverage on this ship that helped her to focus.

“Dutch, if you don’t mind, I’ll spend some time with Pheebs to help her sort through the data she’s been able to salvage from… the… Terran sources, among others, to see if anything there proves helpful,” Alisia offered, as Pheebs caught his eye and winked at him. There was probably more to discuss, but the two of them were being a bit circumspect, so he rolled with it.

“Sounds like a plan. Jjan’tira, you’re free to join in either effort,” Dutch told the youngest clone, ensuring they were all included. “Totally up to you. Come to think of it, I have no idea what your previous specialty was, so it’ll be up to you to inform me of what areas you’d like to participate in and where you think you can be most helpful.”

“My previous posting was navigations, so I’ll probably be of most use working with you, Dutch,” Jjan’tira offered after a pause. “Something tells me you’ve got a pretty steep learning curve ahead of you, given that you’ve missed the last eleven hundred years. I’m not sure I even understand what Terran knowledge included back in your time.”

Dutch grimaced just a bit, hating to admit any vulnerabilities or gaps in his knowledge to a potential adversary. Still, he reminded himself that he was trying to decide whether or not he could develop a trusting camaraderie with them. If so, they’d make good additions to his crew. If not, he needed to find an off-ramp as soon as possible to set them ashore.

Cleaning up his breakfast, he begrudgingly admitted to her, “We knew damned little about the galaxy back in my time. We had not yet encountered anyone from beyond our world, so some still fooled themselves into believing that we were alone, or perhaps we were the most advanced of existing species and thereby were the first to travel to the stars. Utter bilge, and completely arrogant if you ask me.”

“Definitely a steep learning curve, then,” she quipped, smiling softly at him to lessen the harshness of her evaluation.

Dropping his dishes into the recycler, Dutch washed his hands quickly in the sonic sink, then turned to the ladies to ask, “Before we get started, do you ladies have anything you need that we haven’t thought to offer to you yet?”

“I’m down for a little more of the things you’ve already offered, but that can wait until later,” D’narius said not quite under her breath.

Pretending he hadn’t heard her, Dutch maintained a poker face, looked around to see if there were any other replies, and then began moving toward the hatch. “Very well, then. I’ll take my team to the bridge, and we’ll see you guys a bit later,” he nodded to Pheebs and Alisia as he made his exit. D’narius and Jjan’tira hurried to follow him out of the galley, leaving the Pheebs and Alisia by themselves.

As soon as the hatch closed, Alisia leaned closer to Pheebs and spoke to her in a low voice, “Have you and Dutch become aware of the iShan’tal secret sign language?”

Pheebs nodded once, eyeing her companion with interest.

“Have you been able to understand what we were saying?”

“No,” Pheebs replied truthfully. “We lacked the appropriate primer to translate what was said. However, we have recordings of them, so if you could assist with the primer…” Pheebs trailed off, eyeing Alisia with one eyebrow raised questioningly.

“That’s what I wanted to go over with you this morning,” Alisia explained as she cleared away her breakfast. “I can give you a quick translation, and that would assist you and Prime with translating what those two have been saying to each other when they thought no one else knew.”

“That would be very helpful,” Pheebs admitted. “At least then, we’d have some way of knowing whether or not we have a problem that we’ll need to deal with.”

*****

“Prime, can you make the data we grabbed from the K’vetch 581 available at this console?” Dutch requested the ship’s AI.

“Affirmative, Captain,” the computer replied quickly. “I will present the data in the format in which I found it, to make it easier for her former crew to access it as they would have normally.”

“Ladies, I’m going to have to ask you to think about this data a little differently than you would have before we met. While this ship may not be a designated enemy of the iShan’tal, I have to assume that our movements will be observed and treated differently than yours back on the K’vetch.”

D’narius leaned in, interacting with the menu displayed on the console to bring up a star chart. She then tapped a few keys to create a segmented overlay, mapping out different colored regions on the chart. “These areas in red are those controlled and monitored by the iShan’tal. They have not previously displayed an interest in ruling the known regions of space,” she explained, with Dutch noting how she said ‘they’, and not ‘we’ when referring to the iShan’tal. She continued, “Their interest lies mostly in putting down any potential threat to their hegemony – to their authority. They are completely intolerant of any other race seeking to establish broad dominion. They see that as a direct challenge, and the moment one is detected, then they are galvanized to take whatever measures are necessary to eliminate the perceived threat.”

“Okay, so will they perceive Odyssey as directly connected to the threat they associated with broader humanity?” Dutch asked, wondering if she understood her makers enough to give him an accurate assessment.

“I can’t say with certainty, as they are obviously on what you might call a fire watch,” she answered as if aware of his concern, “looking to quickly put out any sparks that could lead to a fresh conflagration if ignored. I’d advise caution.”

Jjan’tira leaned in and, using her fingertip, began to add select locations on the map. “These areas,” she explained as she dropped data points onto the display, “are non-aligned systems that the iShan’tal largely ignores. All matter of species can be found associating freely in these areas – even Terrans - but in small numbers, on smaller ships.”

“By and large, most ships with jump engines tend to be on the larger side,” D’narius explained, seeing Dutch’s question on his face before he gave voice to it. “Odyssey is definitely the exception. I’ve not before encountered a ship this capable, and yet this small – relatively speaking.”

“Terran warships with jump engines were easily triple Odyssey’s mass,” Jjan’tira continued, “which is why we were completely unprepared for the level of firepower you displayed – not to mention the small moon.”

“I concur,” D’narius nodded, absent-mindedly rubbing one of Jjan’tira’s shoulders soothingly, “the diversity and magnitude of the firepower you displayed were impressive, especially coming from a ship that, at best, would be considered a light corvette class of vessel.”

“About the only thing consistent with a vessel of this class was your maneuverability. You were faster, overall, but still highly maneuverable, which makes for a great combination.” Pausing to consider her next words with care, she looked him directly in the eye and asked him, “Tell me truthfully, Stonerager, what do you plan to do with this ship?”

The directness of her question made him hesitate for a moment. After careful thought, he tried to answer her in an equally direct manner. “I have not yet decided. I would like to do what I can to understand what remains of the Terran empire.” He began to pace around the bridge a bit, glancing around from time to time to see what impact his words would have on the clones. “I still don’t have a good understanding of what exactly the Terran Empire was, and whether it was a good thing or a bad thing. In my time, anytime something was referred to as an empire, it could go either way, but it usually denoted something that had grown through conquest as much as colonization.” He stopped pacing, having returned to the nav console. Sighing, he shook his head, looking at something not in the room. “I’m certainly no fan of conquerors, but I feel like I have options to try to make things better – I just have to figure out how, and where.”

Catching an odd motion out of the corner of his eye, he saw D’narius making tiny motions with her right hand while looking toward Jjan’tira, an odd look on her face. Reaching out slowly, he took her hand in his and raised it to kiss it, holding it to his face for just a moment before releasing her. “Whatever the two of you are discussing, you should feel free to discuss it aloud. I promise, no harm will come to you. The worst outcome would be that we find someplace safe to set you off of this ship.”

D'narius was blushing furiously at her error, realizing Dutch was aware of her secret ‘language’.

“She was telling me that you are a man of good moral character and that she was reconsidering her options,” Jjan’tira interjected, attempting to relieve the sudden tension that had filled the bridge, “but was also finding you attractive as a male and…” she stopped abruptly, looking away demurely.

“And… what?” Dutch asked, looking back and forth between the two. Now both females were blushing, not wanting to make eye contact with him.

Finally, still averting her eyes, Jjan’tira mumbled, “And she thinks you would make fine breeding stock,” so softly he almost did not hear her, finally looking back up at him, pleading with her eyes for him not to be upset or further press the matter, before adding in an almost whisper, “as do I.”

*****

“So, based on the primer you have helped me to create, we shall review the covert conversations you and D’narius were having before Dutch released you from your cell,” Pheebs said as she slid the time increment back on the video recording from the brig, Stopping just after Dutch had left them with their breakfast sandwiches.

On the monitor, Jjan’tira and Alisia both stepped forward to take their plates from the serving portal, sitting on their bunks to eat what Dutch had given them. Across the corridor, D’narius glared at Alisia, clearly fuming at something, and immediately began flicking her fingers in an agitated way. Prime added subtitles to explain what was being communicated.

[D’narius: What do you think he plans to do with us?]

[Alisia: I have no idea. I don’t know who he is, so I can’t even guess at his motivation.]

[D’narius: Where did you say you were when he captured you?]

[Alisia: He didn’t capture me. He found me and saved me. I was trapped in a sleeper tube. I had been on Ganymede on a secret mission, back before the hostilities spread to the Terran system. So, I’d been in hibernation for quite some time.]

[Jjan’tira: How is that possible? You’re from the same series as us.]

[Alisia: Our series had been in use since the beginning of the war against the Terrans, so roughly 50 years by the time I was decanted.]

[D’narius: What was the nature of your secret mission?]

[Alisia: I was seeking alternatives to end the conflict. There were concerns that the Terrans could prevail, and options were being explored.]

[D’narius: You lie! The iShan’tal have never been defeated!]

[Alisia: Truly? Let me ask you this, sister: are the Lam’Daal line of dreadnaughts still top-of-the-line ships in our fleet? I didn’t recognize the class of your cruiser, but it did not appear as… capable.]

[D’narius: The K’vetch class heavy cruiser is the state-of-the-art warship in the iShan’tal fleet today. With a crew of 75, they are indomitable.]

[Alisia: Interesting. This ship bested your ‘indomitable’ K’vetch without taking a single hit. For your information, the Lam’Daal dreadnaughts had crews of nearly 1,500, not including the pilots and support crew of the 50 fighter craft that they carried. And the Terran ships were their equal in combat, often carrying larger compliments of fighter craft, and easily able to stand toe-to-toe with a single Lam’Daal class vessel. Just before my mission, the home world was expanding resource harvesting operations to a dozen more systems to keep up with war material demands.]

[Jjan’tira: If that is so, then why have we never heard of these… Lam’Daal dreadnaughts? Let alone seen them?]

“Prime, please pause playback,” Pheebs said suddenly, interrupting the discourse. Turning to Alisia, she narrowed her eyes to scrutinize the clone closely. “Were you making that up about the Lam’Daal dreadnaughts?”

“I assure you, I was not,” Alisia replied immediately, not looking away from Pheebs, but holding her stare. “I had served as an interceptor pilot, and my squadron was attached to one before accepting my secret mission to Ganymede. And, I was not lying – the pace of our losses during the height of hostilities with the Terrans was outstripping our ability to replenish them, in terms of ships and crew. The iShan’tal usually wage heinously aggressive wars of attrition, but we had appeared to have met our match against the Terrans. That was why one of the iShan’tal Battle Masters commissioned my expedition.”

Pheebs again went back to the interface, calling up images they had recorded from the graveyard of ships she and Dutch had encountered upon their return to the Sol System. Directing Alisia’s attention to the images, she asked her, “By any chance, can you discern whether any of the ships in this image were of the Lam’Daal class?”

Alisia leaned over to peer closely at the images, frowning at the amount of devastation they revealed. “The vast numbers of vessels here…. It’s astonishing to me that both sides could lose so much, and yet one side could still prevail.” She closed her eyes for a moment, dealing with the reality of what had before only been supposition. “To answer your question, yes, many of those vessels had hull configurations which – as far as I can tell – matched that of the dreadnaughts. From both sides. The Hephaestus class carriers and Maelstrom class battleships were there as well – from the Terran fleets – each carried crews at least equal to the Lam’Daal class.”

Alisia bowed her head in silence, her shoulders shaking as she silently sobbed. “The… the losses… of life… both s-sides… terrible…” she wept.

Placing one hand on the ginger-haired clone’s shoulder, Pheebs tried to comfort her. “It did not end there, either. When we traveled to Earth, what we found was the stuff of nightmares. Whatever survived the conflict still packed enough firepower to destroy the Terran home world. The Earth itself was scorched down to the mantle, all life scoured from the surface, and her moon was pulverized.”

Alisia sniffled, wiping her face with her tunic sleeve before she looked up. “If that is the case, then they likely didn’t live to return home in triumph. The iShan’tal possessed no normal weapons capable of that level of destruction. Not to my knowledge, at least. To produce destruction of the magnitude you describe, a ship’s jump engines would have had to have been activated within the edge of another ship’s jump horizon, resulting in a quantum feedback of tremendous magnitude. No fewer than two jump-capable ships would have needed to collaborate to produce such an outcome, and neither would have survived.”

Both women closed their eyes, attempting to wrap their minds around the level of madness required to push to such extremes. Slowly, Pheebs opened her eyes and looked at Alisia in realization. “This was an all-in gambit. If the iShan’tal had failed in their efforts, they would likely have had insufficient resources remaining to repel a similar attack by the Terrans, assuming the Terrans had enough remaining strength to make such a venture.”

Alisia nodded. “Like I said, it was a near thing. The iShan’tal were more frightened of loss than they would ever admit. Or, that was the sense that I had, after being briefed by the Battle Masters’ emissary.”

“Prime,” Pheebs spoke aloud, “please review all remaining data from the brig and advise me of any information you obtain that might be of concern regarding the intentions of our guests.”

“Of course,” the computer replied. After a very brief pause, she announced her results. “Based on a review of all surreptitious conversations, I detect a shift in tone and intent from the two prisoners taken from the K’vetch, going from agitated, worried, and openly discussing options to resist or escape, to fascination, lust, and desire to participate. The latter, of course, was after Alisia had been released, and the broadcasts of sexual activities with Dutch were displayed in the brig. Subsequent discussions between D’narius and Jjan’tira have involved assumptions that they would likely be punished should they ever return to the iShan’tal. D’narius expects that they will be executed. It seems they prefer to explore other options, including potentially joining the crew of the Odyssey.”

Pheebs let out a sigh of relief at this news. “This at least confirms that we do not have to fear imminent violence from D’narius or Jjan’tira. I am glad for that. However, it does bring us a new challenge. One for all of us, I suppose, but for now, you and I can discuss it.” Leaning in very close to Alisia, Pheebs blew a soft breath across the other woman’s cheek. “How do you feel about being part of a harem?”

*****

Determined to complete what he had set out to accomplish, Dutch pushed aside his lust for the moment, gently running a hand along Jjan’tira’s cheek, then leaning in to kiss her briefly, then turning to do the same to D’narius. “I admit that I find you both very attractive as well. However, I would like us all to stay focused on the task at hand for the moment. There will be time for… pleasures… later.” He smiled at them both, then turned back to the star charts. “Given the territories outlined here, if we were to begin looking to try to identify any remaining human colonies, where might we start?”

Jjan’tira exchanged a look with D’narius for a moment, silently asking for permission before she responded. D’narius simply nodded, and the younger clone turned back to the console and began tapping in a few commands. After a moment, a list scrolled past, denoting names and coordinates, moving by too fast for Dutch to sort it out. Turning to him, Jjan’tira explained, “This is a listing of sectors that we had standing orders to include in our regular patrols. Each of these had a deactivated Terran jump gate. Essentially, as the war was being prosecuted, each time a system was dominated, it was cut off from the jump system. However, the iShan’tal are loath to waste resources, so the gates were not destroyed, only disabled.”

D'narius interrupted Jjan’tira at this point, adding, “The sites are mined, and surrounded by sensors. If you should try to go there, we might first want to obtain a transponder from an iShan’tal ship. It won’t fool them for long but would at least prevent the automated defenses from engaging us immediately.”

Dutch considered this for a moment, before turning to watch D’narius carefully as he asked his next question. “Let me ask you something and please try to be precise in your response. At what point did your sensors alert you to the Odyssey’s presence during our encounter?”

She looked away for a moment, recalling the events as best she could. “We had received an alert of an unidentified energy signature near that moon you called Ganymede. Our ships gated into your system to investigate but failed to detect anything at first, aside from a minor energy signature coming from the surface. The protocol was to annihilate the energy source, and then conduct a final sweep to ensure the area had been sanitized.” She paused, breathing slowly to suppress the emotions the memory incited. “Our sensors did not detect your vessel until after the other two vessels had departed. I believed you had deployed some sort of communications jamming effect, as I was unable to alert the others before you were upon us.”

“That is correct,” he confirmed.

Nodding, she continued her assessment, “Also, your ship exhibited very strange behavior during your attack run – seeming to shift elastically through space at the very last minute, swinging as it were to a completely fresh vector of approach, forcing us to pivot to maintain our main shields facing you. For a moment, we thought you were two ships, as a sensor ghost remained along your initial flight path, but that was probably the debris that you had hurled at us.”

Dutch considered her story for a moment before offering a possible explanation. “Not necessarily,” he posited, “we were coming at you pretty fast. We started our attack run at point seven c, and at the conical pivot, accelerated to point eight c. That could have resulted in a temporal distortion, convincing your sensors we were in two places at once.” Seeing her pain at the memory, he tried to push past it and get to his point. “So, you did not detect my ship until we were attacking you. I bring that up for a reason, so please bear with me. One of the many modifications added to the Odyssey by the Tao included something they called Stealth Screens. We were running with those active, right up until I began the attack.”

“What is your point?” she asked, trying to push down her anger at the memories he had brought up.

Continuing in a reasonable tone of voice, he explained, “Your sensors did not detect me earlier. I had approached Ganymede under power, and it didn’t seem that we were detected until I launched a shuttlecraft to explore the surface. The shuttle does not have stealth screens. I assert that we might be able to use the stealth screens to avoid detection at the jump gates. It’s worth a try, at least.”

“I suppose that is possible,” she admitted, still visibly upset over the discussion.

Dutch reached out to her and gently placed his hands on her shoulders, slowly pulling her to him. “I can’t undo what’s been done. I wish that I could. I only ask that we work together to make a difference so that the loss of your ship and your crew is not for nothing.”

“Besides,” he added, “I’m not interested in those gates at this time. I am primarily focused on finding and assessing any remaining Terran colonies. I need to understand whether or not those people are of good character or not. If not, then I will move on, but if they are worthy, then I would like to do what I can to restore their ability to socialize with the other colonies. But, one step at a time, as each step opens up all kinds of possible shit storms that we will have to weather.”

Giving her another squeeze, he let her go, only to have Jjan’tira step into his arms, seeking similar comfort as her sister clone. Rocking her in his mighty arms, he soothed her, assuring her that things were going to get better.

After a few moments, he released the younger clone and then turned back to the computer interface. “Prime, please ingest all information regarding Terran jump gates that Jjan’tira just accessed and identify the three nearest gates to our current location.”

Returning his attention to the women, he asked aloud, “Have either of you been to any of these systems before? Not the gates, but the inhabited worlds? I am curious whether you know what is used between merchants when conducting trade, as far as common currencies.”

D’narius shook her head, “I am not aware of iShan’tal crews ever socializing with Terran colonies, outside of battle. I’m sorry, Captain, but I have no idea what passes for coin there.”

“Well, we’ll have to figure that out as we go. Hopefully, we’ll have the opportunity to observe activity before we attempt to interact with any human colonies we might locate. I have no idea what passes for everyday vocabulary, let alone current fashions,” he said with a silly grin, attempting to lighten the mood. “For all we know, they all wear uncomfortable shoes and ugly hats.”

Both women laughed at the notion, their body language improving as their mood lightened.

“We’ve managed to accomplish a great deal,” he said, gesturing at the ship’s chronometer. “It’s nearly midday, so why don’t we take a break? I need to see a man about a horse, and then I’ll meet you ladies in the galley.”

Jjan’tira looked confused. “See a man about a horse? I don’t understand.”

“It means I need to pee,” he said, chuckling to himself.

“Do you need assistance?” she offered, grinning slyly.

“Nice try, but I won’t be able to pee if you try to ‘help’ me. Don’t worry – I’ll be up to the galley in just a minute or two. You two go ahead, or swing by your quarters if you need to take a bio break yourselves.” With a wave, he turned and was off.

*****

Dutch was just washing his hands in his quarters when he heard the hatch open, and then close again. Stepping out into the main cabin, he was pleased to see Pheebs, unaccompanied by any of the others. Stepping up to her, he took her into his arms and held her there for a moment. Kissing her forehead softly, he stepped back from her to look into her beautiful golden eyes, amazed at always at the gift the Tao had given him.

“Hey,” he said to her softly, a relaxed smile on his scruffy face that was joined with a touch of concern in his eyes. “I’m glad you’re here. I’d like to catch up with you for a moment before we meet the others in the galley.”

“Mmmm, I kinda wanted to meet up with you as well,” she purred, leaning into him for another hug and kiss, this time on the lips. He let her explore his mouth for a moment, pleased to just exist with her for a brief interlude, before he gently pushed her again, this time holding her just a few inches from him, enough to see her face.

“I wanted to check in to see how you are doing with all of this. I need to know that you are okay with everything that has been happening, and the direction that things seem to be going. If you have any doubts or concerns, I want to hear them. We can stop everything that is happening with the clones right now if any of this makes you the least bit uncomfortable. You are enough for me, and we can simply choose to fuck off together for the rest of time if that’s what you’d ask of me.”

As he spoke, he watched as her eyes began to tear up. He genuinely hoped that she was happy, and not sad, as he would do anything for her. “Pheebs, talk to me, love. Tell me what you’re thinking in that beautiful mind of yours.”

Drawing in a deep breath, she closed her eyes for a moment, summoning her feelings and ensuring that the words she chose were precise. “I think that I am in love with you, Dutch. I think that I am very fortunate that you are willing to hold me up high and lay only with me if I were to ask that of you. And I think that would be enough. But, I also think that, if you and I can love one another always, then we can expand our love to include these others. These lost clones have been snatched from their own lives and cast in with us. If you have room in your heart for me, and for them as well, then I ask you to love us all as you love me, and to be the best that you can, for us, and for what will come.”

Not believing his continued good fortune, Dutch felt his eyes tearing up with joy for the wonder that was in his arms. Pulling her to him, he held her there, smelling her hair, feeling her breathe with him, memorizing everything that he could about her at that moment. This moment would be perfect for all time, engraved in his heart and mind to the exclusion of all else – it would be enough. But she had just told him that together, they could reach for more. For her, he would steal fire from the gods. He would shake time from its moorings. He would cast bones with eternity, and wager everything. And he would win, knowing she was there with him.

Bringing himself back to the moment, he hugged her one more time, then released her. “I was just about to head to the galley to figure out lunch. I believe that D’narius and Jjan’tira will be there shortly if they aren’t there already. Care to join me?”

Smiling brightly at him, her eyes glistening with happiness, she reached up and bopped him on the nose with her slender, perfectly manicured forefinger, saying to him, “They are there already, silly. The others wanted to come up with a meal that would be a surprise for you, and I was sent here to delay you sufficiently for them to get it ready. Now hold still.”

Without delay, she lowered herself before him to her knees, reaching forward to unclasp the fastener on his trousers and lower them, along with his underwear, to his ankles. Letting a long breath out onto his suddenly cool manhood, she warmed it for him before engulfing the head into her hot, moist mouth and wrapping a hand around his shaft, slowly beginning to stroke him to hardness.

Dutch closed his eyes, leaning his head back, and allowed himself to enjoy the moment. ‘Rank hath its privileges,’ he thought to himself, before mentally chasing the thought from his mind. He never wanted to be the man who felt he deserved this treatment. Instead, he wanted to be the man for whom his partners wanted to bestow this as a gift. Mentally bonking himself for distracting himself with such thinking right now, while this awesomely beautiful woman was giving him head, he shifted his focus and just enjoyed her giving him a blowjob. And it was a good blowjob at that. Where the fuck was she learning these skills? Fuck it – he didn’t care. Feeling her wrap her second hand around his steely shaft and begin to wring her hands around it, following her mouth up and down along its veiny length, he moaned his approval.

A moment later, he felt the head of his prick encounter resistance as she took him to the back of her throat. Still, the suction of her mouth felt good. The way in which she continuously ran her tongue around his shaft was very pleasurable. The added contact from her hands was doing a great job of moving him along toward his conclusion. He would be very satisfied even if she were unable to… ho-ly shiiiiit! His eyes rolled back in his head, and in his mind he saw the creator of the universe looking at him with a bemused grin on their face, as she slid his cock into her throat all the way, swallowing repeatedly as she bottomed out on him. Her nose buried in his pubic hair, she swallowed once, twice, then withdrew, only to plunge forward once again, engulfing him completely. Stars went nova in the back of his eyes as he felt his balls lurch, and his cock began to erupt, delivering a huge load in multiple bursts. Sliding him out of her mouth, she swallowed his offering as she continued to work her hands along his shaft, before pulling him out and taking the final few spurts across her smiling face.

When he had finished, and become very sensitive, she gently pulled up his briefs and trousers. Tucking him snugly back away, she stood slowly by him, making a big show of drawing her finger across her face to scoop up his seed before putting her finger into her mouth and licking it clean. Not content to just watch in wonder, Dutch leaned forward, embraced her, and kissed her deeply, uncaring about his taste being in her mouth. This woman was a daily reminder that he was alive and should be grateful for all opportunities henceforth.

As soon as he released his hold upon her, Pheebs stepped into the washroom and used a cloth to clean her face. Returning to him a moment later, she smiled and gave him a quick peck on the lips before taking his hand and giving him a tug. “I believe that I have delayed you sufficiently for the others to have completed their task. Let us be going now and be sure to express wonder and enjoyment at whatever they serve.”

Walking into the galley a few moments later, he was overcome by an irresistibly delicious smell, making his mouth water immediately. Alisia and D’narius showed him to his seat, having a large soda already awaiting him, as Jjan’tira walked over to the table carrying a large platter of sliced – he had no idea what the fuck it was, but it looked nicely cooked and smelled amazing – surrounded by something that resembled baby potatoes and onions.

After having set the dish down on the table, Jjan’tira served him a few slices of the meat, as well as a few of the potato and onion things, finishing by using a ladle to pour a bit of the meat drippings over his plate, before she stepped back to watch him.

“Please, Dutch, give this food a taste, and tell me what you think,” Jjan’tira said, with a look somewhere between terror and hope on her face.

Obliging her, he picked up his utensils and cut himself off a bite-sized piece of the meat, amazed at its tenderness. Taking an extra moment to savor its smell, he shoveled it into his mouth, slowly chewing it as he focused on the flavor. It was a meat that was akin to some wild game he had enjoyed in his youth after hunting deer during the fall back in Kentucky. The odd flavor was nicely offset by the tenderness of the meat – it practically melted on his tongue – and the saltiness of the juices. All combined to produce a delicious festival of delights in his mouth. Swallowing it down smoothly, he smacked his lips and looked up at Jjan’tira with delight showing in his eyes.

“Oh, that’s wonderful!” he praised her. “How were you able to get the synthesizer to make it?”

Beaming at him with happiness at his reaction, she stood tall with pride, and explained, “With help from Prime, I was able to access the food replicator database from the data you had recovered from the K’vetch. This is one of my favorite recipes from home, so it pleases me that you like it.”

“Like it? It’s amazing! Please, make sure you save this as a favorite recipe so that we can enjoy this more in the future.” He immediately took another bite, savoring the flavors all over again.

The other women served themselves portions and joined him at the table. Pheebs was very vocal with her praise, and Alisia commented that she’d not enjoyed a meal from home in too long. D’narius was visibly pleased with the food, and placed an affectionate hand on Jjan’tira’s arm, giving her a nod and a smile. The lunch meal passed in relative silence as the crew enjoyed an unusually full and delicious meal.

Once they had enjoyed the meal to its completion, Dutch leaned back in his seat and looked admiringly at Jjan’tira. “Now that I’ve enjoyed it, can you tell me what that meal is called, and what was in it?”

Pleased overall, she smiled at him, informing him, “That was roast Gunt’ark. It is a wild beast from my home world, and I can recall them serving it to us on special occasions. The an’jal tubers are a wonderful addition to the meal, as are the bis’chut roots.”

Throughout the meal, the two teams filled each other in on details that they had uncovered, ranging from the continued existence of the Terran jump gates to the possibility of at least one iShan’tal Battle Master having been open to the prospect of peaceful coexistence with the Terrans. Dutch was keenly interested to understand that neither D’narius nor Jjan’tira had any knowledge of the class of vessels that took place in the final battle for the Sol System. He posited that this implied – to him, at least – that those vessels no longer existed.

Eventually, after they had all eaten, Dutch wanted to compliment the cook. “That meal was delightful. I only request we have something simple and light for dinner, or I may start to get fat!” They all laughed at that.

“I have a few items that I think I’d like to address, based on what we have learned today,” Dutch announced as the last of lunch was cleared away. “I’ve been thinking about our situation, and I have a few ideas that I’d like to toss out to get your feedback.”

The three clones and Pheebs all grabbed their preferred beverages and came to sit down at the table around Dutch, eager to hear what he had to share.

“I am a man from the past, so I have a different perspective on the current situation than the rest of you might. I’m going to start this conversation by summarizing my analysis, as well as thoughts on the next steps.” He looked around the table, making sure that they were all attentive and interested in this subject. As soon as he was assured that was the case, he began.

“I know that, throughout human history, there have been periods where people came to power who were selfish in their ambitions, and sought to better themselves, rather than better all. I worry that this may have been the case at some point in the latter years of the Terran Empire. By the sound of it, they had become aggressive, and capable of a level of savagery that nearly saw them defeat the iShan’tal.” He looked around the table, and no one seemed inclined to disagree.

“Next, our ship, an outlier in the mix of all things, is playing a wild card role. We have received a warning regarding the iShan’tal from the Tao, a race with whom none of us have ever had contact before. In addition to their warning, we received many impressive weapons, propulsion, and defensive technologies beyond any we have seen before, as well as beyond any that we have discovered records for among the Terrans or the iShan’tal. This is particularly important to me, as one would reason that the iShan’tal must have also possessed similar capabilities, or else they would have been defeated long ago by the Tao. But, inexplicably, the Tao Alliance is no more. Lost in the dustbin of history. And we have not seen the same level of sophistication from the iShan’tal. I find this very curious.”

Looking around, he saw that they were all giving thought to the points he had brought up thus far, but none of them seemed to be connecting the dots, as of yet. So, he continued to lay out matters for them, hoping that one of them would identify a flaw in his conclusions.

“Upon returning to our system, we found the remains of a battle between two massive fleets, enormous in scope, terrible in devastation and loss. The sheer volume of ships and crew that were lost on both sides of the conflict is immeasurable. The loss of the Earth is tragic on so many levels. But, the fact that the iShan’tal Hegemony seems to have regressed technologically since then is of particular interest to me. Have they fallen behind on maintaining their fleet, given that their primary enemy no longer exists? Are they following a pattern that they have followed before, tapering off their military until the next challenger steps forward to challenge their rule? Are there other empires out there that pose a major risk, yet to be encountered?”

“Finally, what should I do about any surviving humans? It certainly lies within my powers to enable them to move about the galaxy with greater facility, either by restoring their network of jump gates, or potentially by returning to them the technology they need to create jump-capable ships. What would prevent the iShan’tal from suddenly deciding to resume their conflict with the pesky humans, this time to their utter defeat?”

He sat back in his chair, wrapping up his thoughts, finishing with, “I think that, before I set about taking any major actions, I need to better understand the current situation, and then have a plan for how I might be able to improve it in a way that benefits all involved. I am open to your feedback, or any additional thoughts you’d like to share.”

Pheebs came around the table to stand in front of him before turning sideways to sit on his lap. Leaning close to him, she put her nose against his, then fluttered her eyelashes playfully, before saying to him, “I am definitely all in to help you, no matter what you decide to do. But I don’t think the two of us alone can do what I think you plan to do. We are going to need some help. Now, I wonder where we might find some?” She then dipped in real close and kissed him, before standing up and returning to her chair, a naughty little smile on her lips to go with the twinkle in her eyes.

“Fair enough. I think perhaps the time has come to formalize this conversation.” Looking pointedly at the three clones, he asked them, “How would you ladies prefer we do this? We can either discuss this as a group, or individually. I leave it up to you. I am going to go to my quarters, and let you discuss amongst yourselves. Once you’ve decided, please let me know, and I will either meet with you individually or as a group.” With that, Dutch got up and left the galley, not sure what to expect. He could see this going either way. Alisia had professed her love for him, but that could have just been a passing infatuation. D’narius and Jjan’tira had both been fun in the sack, but sex with them had been different. Exciting, to be sure, but more galvanic, less romantic. Pheebs was the only known value of which he was certain, but life had taught him to take nothing for granted.

As soon as he arrived in his quarters, he attempted to busy himself so he wouldn’t overthink things. Sitting down with a tablet, he came up with a task list that he intended to address either later in the day or tomorrow. The first item on his list was to arrange for the synthesizers to create another four droids for the ship, giving them a total of six. He intended to ensure that they had a sufficient array of spare smart hands to be able to assist with the majority of tasks that might arise aboard the ship. In support of that, he tasked Prime with conducting scans of the local region of space to identify any mineral-rich asteroids or other resources that could be brought aboard using the ship’s lasers and tractor beams.

Next, he decided to explore what types of materials made the best raw matter for the synthesizers, so he could always keep some bulk matter on hand. Querying Prime on this, it turned out that metal-rich asteroids and simple hydrocarbons made for the best option, as they offered the widest diversity of outcomes for the synthesizers.

Finally, he tasked Prime to come up with a maintenance schedule for the Odyssey. Many of her systems were new, and he had no experience with them, nor any understanding of what their maintenance schedules or mean-time between failures might be. Knowing that the Tao had thus far been incredibly thorough, he thought that Prime would best be able to quickly sort through the various data the Tao had provided on each of the major systems to effectively plan for preventative maintenance routines, and then finally identify which of those would be best suited to the capabilities of the droids, so that they could be tasked with many of those jobs.

Just as he was considering his next tasks, there came a knock at the hatch. “Enter,” he called out, suddenly nervous. The hatch swung open, and one by one, the women entered his chamber. The last to enter was Pheebs, who closed the hatch and then stood quietly just inside.

Alisia was the first to step forward. “Dutch, my world has been very chaotic these last few days, relatively speaking. But, I can honestly say that being on this ship, with you and Pheebs, I have hope that something good may await me in this life. I know that nothing is for certain and that we may fall short of our goals, but for once I am being given the option to strive for something in which I believe. I would like to remain aboard the Odyssey, as one of your partners, and as part of her crew, if you and Pheebs will have me.” She stepped back, looking at the other two clones.

Jjan’tira was next to step forward. Clearing her throat, she clasped her hands in front of her, suppressing a slight tremble as she began to speak. “Dutch, I can’t believe I am saying this, but I feel the same way as Alisia. Being on this ship gives me hope. I never knew what hope was before. I only understood duty, simply because no alternative had been given. Days ago, I served aboard a different vessel with a different mission, but not a mission that I had chosen. One that I had literally been made to fulfill. And, even though I had been a part of a crew on that ship, I never felt part of a family.” Looking briefly back at her old commander, she explained quickly, “Not because of anything D’narius did or didn’t do, but because none of us were there voluntarily. We’d never been given a choice. We’d never been informed that a choice might even exist. In all likelihood, it never did. Now that the choice is mine, I choose to stay, if you’ll have me. And, boy do I want you to have me!”  Rubbing her thighs together, she stepped back, looking at D’narius.

Letting out a deep sigh, D’narius stepped forward, the last of the three to speak. “I should hate you. You defeated me in battle. You destroyed my ship. You killed almost all of my crew. You are the enemy.” She paused, her breathing had become labored as she let out all of the damning baggage that she was carrying. Then, she closed her eyes for a moment, took a deep breath, let it out slowly, and opened her eyes again, looking unburdened. “In that same logic, I am your enemy, and you should hate me. Yet, you do not. I have come to understand over the past few days that you are considerably different than what I had been taught to expect, should I ever encounter one who my masters assured me was the enemy. You are not at all as I had been led to expect. You are capable of savagery, that much you have demonstrated. But you are also capable of mercy, kindness, compassion, and a great many more things. I feel things for you that perhaps I should not. Nevertheless, I do feel them. And, I hold out hope that you may be the key to a future for both our peoples – one that neither had ever envisioned, and I want so badly to be a part of that future. I wish to stay. And more, I wish to be more than just a part of your crew. I wish to be yours, along with the others here, and whatever others there may yet be. Take me, Stonerager. Make me yours, again and again.” Having said her peace, she began to disrobe, as did the others, including Pheebs, her face splitting with a huge smile.

“And if I should say no?” he asked, playfully, as he started to loosen his clothing.

“Then we shall fuck the last drop of life from your soon-to-be corpse and return you to the Tao for repairs!” D’narius told him with iron in her voice.

“As tempting as that sounds, I think I shall take option A. I accept you all, as part of the crew of the Odyssey, and as part of my life.”

As he was taking his shirt off, they closed in on him, enveloping him in a mass of feminine flesh, touching, caressing him, kissing him, but leading him to the bed. They turned him around as they reached the bed and pushed him backward onto the mattress, Jjan’tira, and Alisia taking the initiative to pounce upon him first. Jjan’tira crawled onto the bed, up the mattress, and fed him one of her lovely breasts, encouraging him to lick, suck, and bite at her wonderfully sensitive nipple.

Alisia grinned when she saw this, knowing what lay in store for her sister-clone. Taking a different approach, she knelt between his legs and began to lick along the shaft of his semi-erect penis, marveling at how it grew in girth and length as it filled with blood. Taking his hot hardness into her mouth, she licked around the glans and began to stroke his shaft while plunging her head down onto him, again and again, each time going just a little further.

Off to one side, Pheebs knelt beside the bed and reached into a chamber beneath the mattress, withdrawing something she had synthesized after finding a reference to it in some of the more interesting data stores she had been combing through. The crews of the iShan’tal vessels had many means by which they could cooperatively satisfy their more basic needs, and details of this device were among them. A large two-headed phallic-shaped dong was in her hand, with one end shaped like a hook. She inserted the hook-end with a grunt, adjusting it until it was comfortable, and then motioned for D’narius to get onto the bed on all fours. Stepping up behind her, Pheebs inserted the other end of the dong into D’narius’ sopping-wet pussy in one long thrust, yielding a grunt from each of them. Adjusting herself, Pheebs began to stroke in and out of her partner, eliciting moans of pleasure that rivaled those coming from Jjan’tira.

Next to them, Alisia had moved up to mount Dutch, letting out a long moan as she slid down his quarter meter of thick, throbbing manhood. Above, Jjan’tira – having already orgasmed from nipple play alone – had straddled Dutch’s face, settling down onto his eager mouth. He let his tongue wander initially, all the way back to the young clone’s rosebud, which made her shudder in delight, then up to her clit. Repeating this cycle several times, he eventually opted to focus on reaming her out, recalling how much she had enjoyed anal sex during their first encounter. As his tongue delved and explored her dark back passage, he brought a hand up to rub her clit with his thumb, making her squeal and squirm in delight.

Alisia established a rapid pace, riding Dutch’s cock like a pogo stick, working up a considerable lather as she pushed herself hard. She could feel his cock head tapping against her cervix on particularly deep thrusts, enjoying the extra little twinge of pleasure and pain it would bring. Looking up, she was amazed at the look of ecstasy on Jjan’tira’s face – her eyes shut tight, her mouth open in a silent scream – as Dutch was performing dark magic on her nether regions.

D'narius was in heaven, now on her back, as her beautiful partner leaned over her, kissing her hard as she buried her fake cock deep into her as far as she could. Grinding her pelvic mound against Pheebs’ she was able to maintain clit-on-clit contact, bringing them both to the brink of climax. Pheebs screamed into her mouth as she came, grinding her hips down hard into D’narius, causing her to orgasm quickly behind her. Rearing up, thrusting her sweaty tits out as she leaned her head back, Pheebs started slamming her ersatz cock over and over into her lover's quim, pushing her hard towards a second, even stronger climax. With a sudden yelp, D’narius spasmed powerfully beneath Pheebs, her fluids gushing out around the shaft buried within her, jetting out of her to splash against Pheebs amazing abs as her peak hit its max. The lewdness of the scene tipped Pheebs over the edge, causing her to reach her climax, shrieking as her entire body writhed in wonderful agony. As her spasms finally lessened, she collapsed atop her partner, where they both lay panting, trying to catch their breath, as they watched the ongoing show next to them.

Dutch, tired of being on the bottom, had rearranged his women. Alisia now lay on her back, legs spread wide, engaged in a sixty-nine with Jjan’tira. Behind her, Dutch was savagely railing his rock-hard cock deep into Jjan’tira’s minge, occasionally pulling out to feed himself into the waiting mouth of Alisia. The two women were feasting upon each other’s clit while Dutch carved his name into Jjan’tira’s carnal passage, marking her as his for now and all time. Feeling his climax upon him, he thrust himself deeply into Jjan’tira, right up against her unprotected cervix as he unloaded a torrent of cum, pushing her into a blinding climax of her own. After several spurts, he withdrew his cock and quickly fed the tip into Alisia’s mouth, filling her oral cavity with the few remaining spurts, then luxuriating in stroking his cock slowly in and out of her mouth.

Looking over at Pheebs lying atop D’narius, Dutch had a sudden need for her. Withdrawing from Alisia’s mouth, he moved over to Pheebs and knelt behind her, diving face-first into her ass. Pheebs jumped and squealed at the unexpected tongue, then closed her eyes as she leaned back against Dutch, surprised by the pleasure he was giving her. Reaching for the nearby headboard, she felt around until she found what she was looking for, and then passed the tube of lubricant back to Dutch.

Grinning when he realized that Pheebs had been prepared for this possibility, he opened the tube and thrust it into her asshole, squirting a generous amount into her, then applied some to his fingertip and began to gently work a finger into her bottom. As he worked to loosen her up, Pheebs leaned down to whisper into D’narius’ ear. Eventually, she shifted her hips to allow D’narius to grasp and remove the double dildo from Pheebs, turning it around and inserting the hook end into herself, then holding the other end steady as Pheebs moved up to mount it.

Having slid all the way down on the artificial cock, she looked back over her should and asked Dutch, “Well, what are you waiting for? Put that monster into my ass – I want to feel completely full.”

Needing no further invitation, he applied a generous coating of lube to his cock and stepped up close behind Pheebs, reaching down for a moment to tickle D’narius’ nether region. Satisfied with her giggle, he lined his cock up with Pheebs’ rear entrance and slowly nudged forward, watching in awe as her elastic anal ring slowly engulfed his cock head. As soon as the head was inside, he began to gently push forward, stopping every few centimeters to back up slightly, before advancing further within her. At long last, he was fully hilted within her hot passage, enjoying the way her anus gripped his root tightly. Feeling D’narius fucking that dong into Pheebs from below, he was prompted to begin stroking into her from behind. Her moans became constant, changing in pitch as he changed the direction of his stroke.

Eventually, she looked back at him over her shoulder, locking on his eyes. “Dutch, I love you. Now fuck me like a bitch in heat and make me scream your name to Valhalla and beyond!”

That was all he needed to hear. Picking up his pace, he began to fuck her ass in earnest, stroking into her as deep and hard as he could, enjoying her loud moans and the way her ass cheeks jiggled with each impact. In, out, in, out, he fucked her hard, loving the way she felt, as well as the way she made him feel. Beneath them, D’narius was wailing as Alisia and Jjan’tira made their way over and began to suck and bite at her sensitive nipples.

It soon became clear that all three clones possessed a similar sensitivity to nipple play, as D’narius howled into a powerful orgasm, bucking hard up into Pheebs’ pussy from below. This in turn drove Pheebs over her edge, sending her into the most powerful orgasm she’d ever had. As her sphincter began gripping Dutch’s manhood with a strength beyond belief, he felt himself being pulled right along with the two women beneath him and began shouting oaths of his own as he ejaculated mightily into Pheebs’ dark depths. Holding himself as deep within her as he could, he stood there, feeling jet after mighty jet of his cum firing off into her, painting her insides with his seed. Eventually, his orgasm subsided, and he slid out of Pheebs and slumped over onto his back, lying there panting, as Pheebs lay atop D’narius, too spent to move. Alisia and Jjan’tira slid over and began feasting on Dutch’s cum – Alisia getting it off of his cock, as Jjan’tira tongued hers from Pheebs’ ass.

Exhausted, they all struggled to get onto the bed fully, Dutch in the middle, with two women on either side, as sleep took them. The Odyssey became their cradle, coasting silently onward through the darkness.

*****