Bightmares Read online

  The landing vehicles were also switched out on all three vessels, providing them larger vessels that could carry more passengers and cargo from the ships to the planet’s surface and back. And unmanned cargo transports were added as well. While she’d thought their cargo bay was full before, Emi realized she felt practically claustrophobic in the cavernous space. Every square inch of space that could reasonably be utilized had been filled.

  Despite their dinner’s convivial atmosphere, Emi sensed a disquiet in all the men, enough to outweigh the happiness in Captain Elloy’s soul over having Donna back with them. Aaron and Elloy seemed especially disconcerted. Perhaps Captain Tarrence, far less experienced than the other two captains and with a background in research, not combat or space missions, didn’t understand something the other two captains did.

  Halfway through their meal, Donna and Emi excused themselves to the ladies’ room. Donna opened up to Emi. “They’re great!” she called out of her stall. “Oh, my God, those guys are fantastic! Man, did I miss them.”

  Emi used the facilities, washed her hands, and waited for Donna to emerge. They had the bathroom to themselves. “I didn’t get the impression when I met them that they were…fluffy kind of guys.”

  Donna laughed as she emerged and washed her hands. “I definitely wouldn’t call them that, but they sooo have their soft spots.” She grinned. “I’m hoping I can work on them and get them into an arrangement like you’ve got.”

  Emi’s eyes widened before she laughed. “Somehow, I don’t see Elloy bending over and taking it up the ass from anyone.” She hadn’t told Donna about Kels. “My boys had a very unique beginning. Remember, they’ve been together twenty years now.”

  “I meant a single group cabin.” She winked. “I’m going to chip away at them one point at a time. Not like they haven’t seen each other naked before. Why waste time having a stuffy, old schedule to follow.” A smile filled her face. “But who knows? Maybe I can work on loosening their inhibitions.”

  Emi suspected Donna might have her hands full. “Isn’t something like that against ‘regulations’?”

  Donna examined the hickey on her neck. “Yeah, well, I set them straight about their rigid view on ‘regulations’ from the start.” She slyly grinned. “Then I proceeded to jump on the table and offer them a free sample. By the time I turned them loose, they were drooling and begging me to sign with them. I talked to the Braynow guys first, though. Then again, that all happened in the sim.” She shrugged. “They were nice and everything, but they didn’t flip my switch. You know what I mean?”

  “Yeah. So why did you decide to join the DSMC?”

  Donna blushed. Emi didn’t miss that rare event. “I saw how happy you looked with your guys. I’d been thinking about it for a while, after you joined.” She shrugged. “Hey, who knows what the future may hold? I’ve got three guys who are crazy about me and sort of have them held captive. Not going to complain about that or about the money.”

  The question Emi longed to ask. “What’d they do to you in your sim session? What did Dr. Graymard have the techs put you through?”

  Donna shuddered as her face went from flushed to white. “Gods, it was horrible. Graymard said we didn’t make it nearly as far as you did, and we had different scenarios, but we did well enough.” She applied more lipstick as she thought about it. “Let’s just say that when push came to shove, my guys found they couldn’t make the choice to leave someone behind, even if it meant risking their own lives and disobeying direct orders. They said screw the fucking regulations and decided fighting to the death for me was their only acceptable option.”

  Then Emi felt a deep wave of love from her, directed at her men. When she spoke, her voice sounded quiet. “If you made it a lot further than we did, and I know how fucking bad our sim session was, then I can only imagine how bad it must have been for you when they finally pulled the plug.”

  Emi remembered screaming for Aaron as he walked away from the three of them to a certain death, sacrificing himself so Emi, Caph, and Ford would live. She remembered fighting Caph and Ford as they dragged her out of what she thought was an alien’s bedchamber.

  Emi nodded as she shivered at the memory she hoped she’d never live through in real life. “Yeah. It was pretty frakking bad.”

  * * * *

  The crews bid each other good night at the port. Before returning to their respective ships, the three captains agreed to meet first thing the next morning to finalize the departure sequence and logistics.

  Emi quickly stripped and settled in the middle of their bed. The men didn’t hesitate to join her.

  Unlike their rowdy arrival romp, this gentle, tender lovemaking session found Emi cradled in Aaron’s arms while Ford went down on her. He took plenty of time teasing her until she finally cried out as she came. This time, the men were content to take turns slowly fucking her as the others held her, reminding her in many ways of the first night they spent together, although without the frenetic energy of that initial encounter.

  By the time Caph went last, the men had coaxed another rolling orgasm out of her that nearly took her breath and mind away. Exhausted and sated, she curled up between Caph and Aaron, with Ford on Aaron’s other side, and fell asleep.

  * * * *

  The next morning, Emi was the first to awaken. She received a message from Dr. Graymard as she waited for her coffee to finish brewing. Fortunately for her, the Java Max Excel 10k coffeemaker hadn’t been a figment of the simulation. Ford, as dedicated a coffee drinker as Emi, insisted there was no way in hell, unless the Tamora Bight was blown up, that they would go without coffee.

  She skimmed Graymard’s message, mostly “how are you” and status report request bullshit. Then she reached the bottom.

  Dr. Stevens packs almost as hard a punch as you do.

  Emi smiled. Upon emerging from the sim session and realizing that not only would Aaron not die but that Graymard had tricked them, Emi had viciously slugged the man. Her three men pulled her off Graymard and into the security of their arms. Ironically, her fighting skills had been learned in the sim, not in real life.

  She sent Graymard a short reply. Better learn to duck. You still have to pair the Braynow Gaston crew.

  Send.

  She prepared breakfast for the men and went to wake them up. Ford tried to pull her back into bed with them, but she managed to extricate herself. “Lift sequence, babe. Don’t forget, Aar has a meeting with Elloy and Tarrence, too.”

  Aaron moaned. Caph still slept, his arm slung around Aaron’s waist and his face buried against his shoulder. Aaron gently elbowed the larger man. “Wake up, big guy. Work to do. Last night was our last luxury of no night watch for a while.”

  Caph groaned as he snuggled closer. “Don’t wanna.” Aaron smiled and ruffled Caph’s hair.

  “Breakfast is ready, guys,” Emi said. “I made you bacon, Caph. Fresh and farm-raised here on Mars, not frozen.”

  His eyes popped open. “Bacon?”

  “Bacon.”

  Aaron sat up, extricating himself from Caph’s embrace. “That got his attention.”

  “Mmm, bacon,” the twins parroted, making Emi and Aaron laugh.

  The men dressed and joined her in the galley for breakfast before they split up for the morning. Ford and Caph would start final preparations, including securing the last-minute additions to their cargo load, systems checks, and other priorities. Emi wasn’t sure what they wanted her to do.

  Aaron answered her unspoken question. “I want you with me at the meeting. As med officer, you need to be involved in this if we’re dealing with a medical crisis.”

  They joined the other captains in the common area of the Kendall Kant. Donna sat next to Rob Elloy and managed to look like she was draped over him even though her body didn’t touch his.

  In the years she’d known her friend, Emi could never remember seeing her so happy. Elloy seemed more than happy to have Donna by his side.

  The captains coordinated their tractor beam setup, went over last-minute information briefs that had arrived since the night before, and finalized their lift sequences. When they adjourned the meeting, Donna took Emi on a brief tour of the K-2. Emi had never before in real life set foot inside the ship.

  “Did you get space sick?” Emi asked her.

  “Oh, gods, yes. I felt like I’d puke up a lung before it finally passed. Spent the first two weeks in bed after we lifted.”

  Donna’s cabin was at least twice the size of the one Emi saw in the sim. Before she could ask about that, Donna laughed. “They did a little reconfiguration for me.” She winked. “I broke out the sock puppets, so to speak, about why a larger space was logistically necessary and a very wise investment on their part.”

  Emi smiled as she shook her head. “Leave it to you take on military guys.”

  She shrugged. “Just need to know how to speak their language is all.”

  “What language would that be?”

  Donna’s wide grin left no room for error in interpretation. “Body language.”

  Chapter Seven

  It took several hours for all three ships to be moved from the secure hangar and lifted to their rendezvous point orbiting Mars. Emi stayed out of the way, not distracting her men as they prepared the ship for the tractor beam configuration prior to jump. As they coordinated with the other two ships, they made one last check with the DSMC for additional information. Then Aaron started the countdown, which was broadcast among all three ships.

  Emi didn’t understand the jump engine. Quantum physics wasn’t her forte. It wasn’t even in the same universe as her interests and intellectual strong points. Her specialty involved the human body, mind, and psyche. As the jump commenced, Emi didn’t sense anything physically out of the ordinary, even when she looked through the front vid screens, which had replaced the now-shuttered front ports.

  Mentally, however, she felt a sudden crawling of her skin, her nerves on edge. She’d also felt it on their journey to Mars. The short jump they’d made on the way to Mars from Earth had lasted briefly and carried them over halfway to their destination, giving her a blessedly short period of the nasty feeling.

  “I can’t get used to that feeling, or the way the vid screen looks.”

  “You will,” Ford assured her. “You come back in ten minutes, that vid screen will look totally different. It’s all part of the effect. It can’t keep up with it real-time. It periodically refreshes.”

  “In all the vids I’ve watched, you see a blur of stars.”

  “That’s Hollywood for you. You would see that if the front plates were down and you looked out the port. In real life, we don’t dare jump without the armor plates and full energy shields in place. Too much risk.”

  Aaron confirmed all was well with the other ships before he stood and stretched. “Caph, you take first watch. I’ll take second. Ford, you can take third.”

  “What about me?” Emi asked.

  “Not right now. You’re not familiar enough with the jump system. If we were under normal power, yes, I would let you take one.”

  “Then what am I supposed to do?”

  “Is that a loaded question or what?” Caph teased as he took over the command chair, stealing a kiss from Emi along the way.

  * * * *

  Emi spent a lot of time working in the hydro lab. She enjoyed it, found it soothing. Not only practical, ensuring they always had at least a little something fresh in their daily diet, but a mental exercise allowing her to ignore the creepy crawlies the jump engine gave her.

  Being on the Tamora Bight turned out to be an easy adjustment. Unlike her sim session, where she’d had a mini-meltdown over accumulated stress, she’d managed to keep her spirits up.

  And her men.

  Caph joined her down in the hydro lab one morning to help her assemble a second tomato table, as she’d dubbed it, even though she used the trellising setup for other viny plants as well.

  “Jesus, babe!” He stared at the flourishing plants in awe, this being his first visit to the lab since before they left Mars. “This is beautiful!”

  She puffed up with pride. “Like it?”

  “Yeah!” He walked through the various tables, his fingers gently brushing against some of the plants. “You’re bound and determined to make sure we eat good, aren’t you?”

  “Hey, gotta take care of my big guy.”

  He grinned and pulled her into his arms. “Oh, baby, you talk like that, I’ll have something for you to take care of, all right.”

  She felt his cock stiffen through his pants, and she wiggled her hips against him. “Seems like you’ve already got something for me to take care of.” Her big buddy. Even in the middle of their most passionate times, his fierce gentleness could melt her. Caph never brooded, unlike Aaron, and to a lesser extent, Ford. He wore his heart and his emotions on his sleeve. Caph was her big, sexy, well-endowed teddy bear. Not just with her, but with the other two men as well.

  “I can’t help it if you guys make me horny.”

  She jumped up and wrapped her legs around him as his hands caught her ass. “Didn’t say I was complaining, sweetie. Have I ever complained?”

  He kissed her, his hands massaging her butt as he rocked his hips against her. “No, baby, never. I still can’t believe how lucky we are you picked us.”

  “I picked you twice. In the sim and then in real life. You think I’m giving you guys up, think again. I told you, you’re stuck with me for life.”

  He carried her over to the chair pushed under the small desk she kept there. Kicking it away from the desk, he turned and sat, his hands moving to the waistband of her sweats. “Let’s get these off, babe. I’ll give you something I know you want.”

  With a sultry grin, she stood, kicked her shoes off, and pulled her sweats and underwear down. It was too cool to take off her sweatshirt. While she did that, he unfastened his uniform trousers and pulled them down his hips, exposing his stiff cock.

  She felt heat pooling deep inside her as she leaned in and kissed the thick, engorged head of his cock. It twitched.

  “Don’t tease me, babe,” he begged. “Please.”

  She straddled his lap again, her pussy more than slick and ready to slide him deep inside her. “I’m not going to tease my big guy.”

  He wrapped his arms around her and kissed her. She felt enveloped by his large body as he let her set the pace, adjusting her angle until she found that sweet spot she desperately craved with him.

  So far, only Caph had managed to get her off just like this. He loved sitting back and letting her use his body for her pleasure, content to wait and watch and enjoy her sliding and rocking on his cock.

  “That’s it, babe,” he whispered. “I know what you want.”

  She closed her eyes and let her senses reach for him, basking in his love, his passion, enjoying the warmth of his mental embrace. His thick member spread her open, stroking nerve endings deep inside her, her swollen nub getting just the right amount of touch on every downstroke. It slowly built within her, never as strong as climaxes other ways, but always sweeter because of the way she achieved it. That, and she loved the pride that always puffed Caph’s ego when it happened.

  “Ride my cock, Emi,” he gently encouraged. “Jesus, you’re so beautiful.”

  She felt beautiful. She braced her hands on his arms as he held her hips, helping her, letting her lead, matching her rhythm until she felt that warm rush inside her.

  “That’s it, baby. Take it from me.”

  She threw her head back and gasped as the wave crashed over her, her muscles grabbing at his cock, tightening around him.

  After a moment he took control, his grip clamping down on her hips as he thrust into her. She leaned forward and kissed him, sucking his tongue into her mouth and triggering his deep moans. She felt him explode, physically and mentally, his juices rushing into her as his love flooded her mind.

  Gasping for breath, he pulled her tight against his chest. “Oh, baby.” He nuzzled the top of her head. “Gods, you have no idea what you do to me.”

  She felt a lazy smile crease her face. “Actually, yeah, I do. Class two empath, remember?” She cuddled in his arms, not wanting to move, wishing they were in their bed.

  He chuckled, the deep rumble vibrating through her body as his hands caressed her back. “How about tonight you and me take a trip to the sim room? A little desert sunset action. Ford and Aaron are going to run systems tests after dinner, so they’ll be busy.” He nuzzled her throat with hot lips. “They already said they don’t mind us having a little alone time.” They both enjoyed reliving their picnic, something that happened first in the sim, then reenacted in real life. And relived more than once in the ship’s sim room.

  She shivered, with anticipation, not chill. “I think you just read my mind, baby.”

  * * * *

  Four weeks of mostly mind-numbing boredom later, Emi and Donna had practically memorized all the information they had on the Aroykin colony during the jump. The colony’s last regular status report to the DSMC was received three Earth weeks before their distress call arrived. Since then, nothing from the colony. All attempts to contact them had failed.

  For safety reasons, they emerged from their jump just outside the solar system. Emi listened to the inter-ship chatter between the three crews as they disengaged the tractor beam systems and the navigation computers quickly updated their maps.

  With relief, she felt her unease dissolve as the jump engine powered down. While she’d gotten used to the unsettled feeling over the past few weeks, her body relaxed, her senses loosening as she enjoyed the calm flowing through her.

  Aaron had been designated lead captain for this mission by the DSMC. He immediately tried to hail the colony. “Aroykin Colony, this is DSMC vessel Tamora Bight hailing. Please respond. Over.” He waited, then repeated the message, recorded it, and set it to auto-hail over all possible frequencies.

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