The Inner Ring (gxg)

Chapter 16

The mood on the bridge was jubilant. Miles and Lena had reheated a bunch of the bagged meals and brought them up so that everyone could eat together, and there was a lot of animated chatter among the crew. They were being bombarded with questions and demands from back on Earth, now that the pictures had been sent back, most of them wanting to see what the alien looked like out of the suit.

"Piece of cake, tomorrow we go to one of the other ships, cut through the cockpit and see what kind of creature we're dealing with," Brody said nonchalantly.

"We need to treat these remains honorably," Miles disagreed. "They're not just objects. We're not going to desecrate their remains."

"Nobody on earth can dictate what we're going to do out here," Anton agreed. "We'll stick with the plan, set up something here in a cargo bay for Miles and Emily. Any body examined will be treated with respect." That elicited a series of agreements and nods, or in Brody's case a shrug.

"I think we should continue with our plan. Get two more ships before we worry anything about what NASA or the Europeans are asking for," Vanessa suggested. "We had a set of projects we wanted to do, so I say we do them. If we want to, then when we send some teams into the first large ship, then we can start others on examining bodies. Respectfully of course."

"Agreed!" Lena yelled. "Fuck those guys, we're the ones out here, not them."

"We're going to bring so much back they won't be able to process it for years," Xavier predicted. "They can wait on us to give them the information."

"I think we're all in concurrence then," Anton stated in his booming voice. "No risking ourselves for directives from Earth unless they come up with ideas that benefit us, and we stick to our current plan." With the decisions made, everyone started heading back to their respective bunk rooms, except for Emily, who stayed on watch up on the bridge.

"Hey, I'll meet you in our bunks?" Pepper whispered to Nessa. "I just have something to take care of first."

"I'll meet you there!" Vanessa whispered back through the earpiece.

Pepper waited behind, putting a hand on Lena's arm to get her attention. She was currently involved in giggling about something with Miles. "Hey Lena, can I talk to you for a second?" She asked nervously.

"Of course!" Lena grinned at her; the excitement of the day had left everyone in a great mood. "Go get naked big man!" She called out to Miles with a slap on his ass, causing the large man to lower his head in a blush. Lena seemed to have that effect on everyone.

Once they were alone, Pepper pulled Lena closer to whisper. "Hey, so, Nessa and I might be trying out a relationship."

"Hey! Great! You fuck yet?" Lena asked enthusiastically.

"Shhhhh!!!" Pepper commanded. "Not so loud!"

"Sorry!" Lena whispered back with a cheesy grin. "But did you?"

Pepper blushed madly. "Well, we kind of fooled around in the shower. Or, she did with me, but I want to return the favor and I'm not sure how. Any tips?"

"Oh! Lots of them! How crazy do you want to get?"

"I'm new at this, so don't melt my brain the first time out." Pepper warned the pilot.

"Well, the good thing is, anything she did to you that felt good, will feel good to her as well. You're both women, you have the same parts. We all get turned on by different things, but the basic concepts are the same." Lena assured the younger blonde. "Fingers and tongue for the first time out. Touch her, taste her, explore her. Have fun."