Futanari Freighter Pt. 05

Futanari Freighter 5

Carla had healed pretty well in the three days since the accident, no longer needing to wear any masks during waking hours or sleeping. It was still a little raw and sensitive, but it was much better.

But she did not feel better. No one did. Things had only gotten more tense since then.

There'd been more accidents. More incidents of faulty equipment. Wires shorting out, pressure sensors reading badly, valves not opening properly.

The crew was on edge, and Carla couldn't blame them; the class of ship the Tangerine was had a reputation for falling apart like this without good and consistent maintenance. When it did, it was damned reliable.

The Tangerine had meticulous maintenance, and it was anything but reliable at the present time. Fortunately, the engines and the FTL systems seemed entirely fine, but people were losing faith in everything else.

Many of the Zamaar had been arguing with each other. Not quite at each other's throats, but close enough. Calling out who 'hadn't been pulling their weight', though without sufficient evidence, no one could really be blamed. And the tight-knit 'clan' of the Tangerine couldn't really stay angry at each other for long, they knew everyone better than that.

Which ultimately led to one word being repeated frequently among the crew, so much, Carla knew it in their own language, though she could not easily pronounce it.

Sabotage.

Captain J'mai had been quick to put to bed the claims, but hadn't been successful.

More and more crew echoed the sentiment, and it was quickly becoming a firm belief among many. After all, what else could it be?

For Carla's part, she had been rather terrified, initially, that she'd be blamed; an outsider, a human, boards the ship, and then everything goes wrong.

Sure, she was ousted from her cabin by the first accident, and injured in another. But what if they thought she deliberately got herself hurt? To throw suspicion off of her?

Or maybe she got hoisted by her own petard?

Such was her worrying, Heyto caught her pacing outside her current quarters, as her original room still hadn't been fixed, with all the other issues going on... its priority had been lowered.

"You okay, Carla?" they asked.

Carla paused, and looked at the Zamaar, trying to feign ignorance.

"What? Oh, yeah, I'm good," she assured, unconvincingly.

Heyto crossed her arms, but put on a concerned look.

"Carla, I have learned a thing or two about humans in my time. I don't always know when one is lying to me, but I know when the ones that are bad at it are."

Carla wanted to protest. Hell, she could've told Heyto to buzz off, the alien would've done so. Perhaps with some debate, but they would've.

Carla, however, was too fond of Heyto for that; they had come to her aid when she was feeling conflicted about her own feelings towards the crew and its proclivities, and her own desires, helped her take it easy.

She couldn't do that to Heyto.

Carla sighed.

"I'm worried," Carla admitted, leaning against the wall next to the door. She didn't know where Tana was, but it was probably for the best that they weren't around.

"About the malfunctions? We all are," Heyto answered reassuringly.

Carla shook her head.

"No, not the malfunctions... no, about who's gonna be blamed for them."

"Carla, there's no one to blame--"

"Oh come on," Carla interrupted, pushing off the wall to face Heyto. "Everyone's thinking it, everyone's saying it. It's sabotage. They don't know who would or why. But there's someone who's new to the ship, an outsider, and things didn't start going wrong until she showed up."

"I'm going to stop you, right there," Heyto said firmly. More firmly than Carla had ever heard them, enough that it made her pause.

Heyto sighed, and held up a hand, asking for understanding.

"I know where you're coming from. I can see the logic. But I want you to understand, no one is blaming you. No one has even suggested it. Or, well, I haven't heard such, and I make sure to be on top of ship gossip. No one thinks it's you because they don't see a reason for it. If things go catastrophically wrong, you're stuck with us too."

"But they don't know me, Heyto," Carla interjected. "Who was I before I got on board? I know how these rumours work, I know how things start."

"Carla, they don't think that. I mean, it'd be too obvious, wouldn't it? The only human boards the ship, then things go wrong? Isn't that a little too coincidental? That is, on the nose? The crew doesn't think any saboteur would make themselves that well known."

"Wait... are you saying, because I'm an outsider... I'm not suspected?"

"In a way, yes. You are the only human on board, that would make it really easy to pin the blame on you. If it is sabotage, you'd be way too obvious, it just wouldn't make sense."

Carla looked to the side, and then breathed out a sigh of relief.

"That's different logic... but I can see it," she admitted.

"Besides, you had an extensive background check, everyone has. Everything was above board. You've nothing to be worried about. Besides... I have your back."

Heyto was giving her such an assuring look, Carla couldn't help smiling.

"Thanks," she answered, and Heyto smiled in returrn. "Though I still worry."

"To be honest, I'm more worried about Tana..." Heyto admitted, turning their head away in concern.

"Tana?"

Heyto nodded.

"I haven't heard anything about you, but some people are suspecting her. She's been unhappy ever since the incident that kicked you out of your first quarters. Now, that in itself didn't make people suspect her, that was just unfortunate. But she's always been a little bit of an outsider. Still close with us, but... she always did like to keep to herself."

Heyto sighed, moving over to the door to Tana and Carla's shared cabin, pressing their hand against it.

"I think it's nonsense. Tana's just a little private, they wouldn't dream of sabotaging this ship. All the same, they've had arguments with some of the crew in the past. And I think maybe some people are holding it against them."

"But if I was too obvious, why isn't Tana?" Carla asked.

"Because they're an 'outsider' in a different way. And I don't like using that term for them, they're one of us. But that's why it's different. They're close with us, but... perhaps there's a part of them loyal to something else. At least, that's what I believe the line of reasoning is. 'The enemy within' as you humans might put it. But Tana would never, I'm sure of it. Which is why I'm worried for them. They've already been stressed since they lost the privacy of their cabin. This new suspicion won't do them any good."

Carla felt a pang of sympathy for Tana; sure, they had been pretty cold towards her, and difficult, but to be quietly shunned by a group of people you know so well... fuck, they've probably had sex with most of them.

It must hurt.

"I wish I could help, but I think I'd make it worse," Carla admitted.

Heyto nodded.

"Unfortunately, yes. Just... give them space. I'll make sure the crew knows their place, even if I have to get the captain to put their foot down. We can't tolerate this kind of suspicion, not now."

"But... do you think it's sabotage?" Carla ventured.

Heyto paused, and looked away.

"I'd rather not assume... but I won't lie, something doesn't seem right. I shouldn't be saying this, given my job, but I do feel like something unusual is going on. I just hope we can get to the bottom of it before..."

Heyto trailed off, their attention drawn to approaching footsteps.

It was Tana, their face dark and sullen.

They barely acknowledged Heyto or Carla, swiftly entering their cabin and closing the door behind them, without a word. It felt like they would've slammed it shut if they could.

There was a brief moment of awkward silence, finally cut by Heyto sighing.

"I think I need to go and address the crew," Heyto said. "I'll be in touch."

"Sure," Carla agreed, waving goodbye to Heyto as the Crew Relations officer walked away, their gait much stiffer than usual.

Everyone was tense, and it didn't seem like things were going to be getting any easier.

---

Carla sipped from a bottle of water, watching as a trio of Zamaar crowded around a vending machine, checking it over after it had a short circuit.

Normally, only one person would be needed for something so trivial. But with the current state of the ship, and level of tension, they feared it might've become a far worse issue.

It didn't seem like it was going to, but even in the rec room, Carla could feel the anxiety, it was practically palpable.

There was another trio in the room, at a different table. They were talking in lowered voices, and in their own tongue. Carla only picked up a few words, not enough to even remotely know what they were talking about.

But she was certain she heard the name 'Tana'... and given the tones of voice, she didn't think good things were being said.

She felt like she should've intervened, but was that wise? Polite even? If not polite, it certainly wasn't the best time to go ticking off other members of the crew, not with everyone as wound up as they were.

She hoped that none of them did anything drastic.

Just then, a familiar face sat down next to Carla, almost startling her.

It was G'yuun, ever upbeat, judging from their face.

"How you doing, Carla?" they greeted, and Carla smiled.

"I'm doing fine, much better now," Carla assured.

"I can see it. You've gone from looking like a tomato to ham," they teased, Carla giggling.

"Thank you for the kind words," she responded sardonically.

G'yuun giggled and then looked around, sighing, some of that energy fading a little.

"Things have been a little tense around here, haven't they?"

"That's an understatement," Carla quipped, sipping her water again.

"Just trying to undersell things a little so I don't go mad. It's lunacy in my warehouse," G'yuun remarked. "Everyone's coming to requisition parts. I tell them, we've got parts, but they're worried we're gonna run out at this rate. We've got plenty, but that doesn't stop them worrying."

"Given how many things keep breaking, can't say I blame them," Carla said.

They both looked up as the lights in the rec room flickered briefly.

"Well, on the bright side, our trip's nearly coming to an end. We'll have a dry dock to give the ship a proper check, even an overhaul if we have to, deadlines be damned."

G'yuun then looked around nervously, before leaning in closer and lowering her voice a little.

"Though I've heard tell we might divert to Gonzalez Station before we reach our destination. That'll add quite a bit of time to the trip."

"Gonzalez Station?" Carla asked.

"It's an outpost station. It doesn't have a full dry-dock, but it's some place we can drop out of FTL, and give our ship a good look over with some more adequate facilities. As well as additional support, and someplace we can live for a while if the ship isn't safe. And at the very least, relax on something stable."

Carla knew about these stations; they were strategically placed around certain star systems on the main transit routes between planetary systems. They didn't always have much in the way of valuable resources in these systems, but the stations served as vital emergency stopping points, as well as way stations for longer expeditions. They maintained their own FTL rings, and a decent suite of facilities to help ships in need.

An unscheduled stop at once of these stations wasn't the ideal scenario for a freighter, even one like the Tangerine, with its relative freedom of travel and trade.

Freighters needed to be timely, and a stop at Gonzalez Station would be problematic at the best.

But given how problematic the ship was being... it'd become a matter of safety.

"I see... do you think we'll be able to find the issue there?" Carla asked.

"I hope so. If nothing else than to put this nonsense about sabotage to bed," G'yuun muttered.

"Do you think there's anything to that?"

G'yuun shrugged.

"To be honest... I don't know. Something isn't right, that much I can be sure of. I've not worked this hard in a long while. Haven't even had a chance for a quickie, it's been that constant."

Carla subtly rolled her eyes at G'yuun's complaint, though for a species where sexual intimacy was deeply cultural, it probably was a source of frustration.

It did little to stem Carla's own concerns regarding the state of the ship; no one quite wanted to suddenly explode into a million pieces in the middle of FTL.

"And what if it is sabotage?" Carla queried warily, trying to sound like she was only asking a theoretical and not suggesting anything concrete.

"Then Gonzalez Station is our best bet," G'yuun answered. "We can find out what the hell is going on with some safety."

Voices raised at the nearby table with the other aliens, and paired fingers were pointed at another. Carla didn't know what was being said, the Zamaar still conversing in their language... but G'yuun buried their face in their hands, shaking their head. So it was obviously sordid business.

"What are they saying?" Carla asked quietly.

"They're accusing Tana," G'yuun muttered glumly. "One of them is a little less quick to pin the blame on them, so... yeah."

"Should we intervene?"

G'yuun shook their head.

"I came here to take a break from all the nonsense, I don't really want to get involved with different nonsense... though, I personally think anyone blaming Tana needs to... well, I can't really say it in English, there isn't really a decent translation."

Carla nodded all the same, getting the hint.

"Poor Tana... I feel sorry for them, despite the shit they fling at me," she admitted. G'yuun nodded.

"Tana's a good person, just... our equivalent of an introvert. I'm confident that, for all their ties to their old culture, they'd never do anything to harm us."

Carla had to agree, the Zamaar on this ship were otherwise so tightly knit, and Tana was no exception until now.

And then, as if summoned by the conversation, its very topic walked in. Tana's features were tight and grim, and they were clearly stressed.

The room went silent, and all eyes turned to Tana.

They did not acknowledge the looks, going to a working vending machine, ordering a drink, and finding a lonely table to sit down on. They looked like they were covered in sweat, clearly working hard on one of the many, many technical faults that had plagued the Tangerine.

Seemed like a lot of wasted effort to try and reverse one's sabotage. Then again, maybe it was to keep themselves out of any further suspicion.

Carla jerked her head, trying to dislodge that thought.

No, she could not start believing the stories herself. 'Innocent until proven guilty'. Apparently the crew extended that courtesy to her, the least she could do was do the same for Tana, even if they were a pain in the ass.

The other Zamaar returned to what they were doing, the group at the table conversing in hushed tones now.

G'yuun sighed.

"I feel like I don't know some of my own crew," they grumbled. "This attitude... its toxic. Like its poisoning us, making us pin our frustrations on the wrong person. I hope we figure this out soon... I don't like this."

The normally upbeat G'yuun seemed so sullen, it was unsettling. They had entered cheerily enough, but now, all that built up stress they'd been keeping a lid on was bubbling to the surface.

This was not the Zamaar who taught Carla that thing with the fingers.

She reached forward, and placed a hand on G'yuun's shoulder reassuringly.

"Hey. We'll figure this out. God knows I want some peace and quiet on this job, I wanted the excitement for the research vessel," she said. "Well, a different kind of excitement."

G'yuun chuckled, holding onto Carla's hand.

"Thank you, Carla. You're a good person, you know that, right?"

"I had always thought so, but it's good to hear it from someone else," Carla agreed.

The two shared a comforting laugh, and then continued on with lighter topics of conversation... though the spectre of the other group side-eyeing Tana was never far from their minds...

---

Carla had been requested to help with a repair job down in one of the engineering bays near the engine rooms. She still wasn't cleared for working in some sections of the ship, but the demand on the crew had her being assigned to help with a faulty trash compactor.

The thought of being crushed had sent a shiver down her spine, but fortunately that risk meant hard safeties part of its design, manual mechanical overrides meant to lock the system open and disengage it from hydraulic mechanisms.

And she wasn't expected to actually go into it. Just assist the Zamaar working on it from the sidelines.

The engineering bay was simultaneously spacious and cramped; it had a vaulted ceiling, at least ten metres over her head. There were open spaces and walkways connecting to other parts of the expansive compartment.

But it was choked with support framework, catwalks, pipes, conduits, and other machines dedicated to the operation of a fairly large ship. At the end of the long room, partly obscured by the chaotic industrial shapes that filled the space, she saw doors leading to the expansive engine rooms, along with enormous pipes partly embedded into the ceiling, running the entire length of the far wall and disappearing into another at the room's end.

Fuel lines and coolant pipes. It really was a marvel to see just how huge this ship really was.

"Carla, quit daydreaming, standby on the controls," came a voice from below.

Carla was snapped out of her gazing, and looked down into the open trash compactor; normally it was an enclosed design, lidded by a panel connected to a chute, which delivered various trash and non-recyclable inorganic waste into the crusher chamber. But currently, that lid was raised, leaving the compactor open to air.

Two Zamaar were walking around inside the compactor, a panel on the wall removed to expose some of the inner workings.

Carla was up top on an overlooking catwalk, working on a control panel. Normally, it could manually operate the thing, but with much of the system decoupled, it could only operate in diagnostic mode.

"I'm ready when you are, K'tuu," Carla announced.

The two Zamaar nodded, and started rooting around in the open panel. Instructions were called out, and Carla followed them as they came. Lights lit up on the control panel, indicating no faults in whatever the two aliens were fiddling with.

Eventually, they were done with that, and scratched their heads, a behaviour they'd learned entirely from humans; a more native gesture of confusion was when they pressed a hand's two fingers to one side of their jaw.

"This seems fine. You really think it could be the hydraulics?" K'tuu said.

"Seems like it'd have to be," the other Zamaar said. They sounded... exasperated about it.

Both sighed, and then called out to another.

"Okay, Tana, come over here," K'tuu commanded.

Carla perked up, and saw the figure of Tana wandering over, looking as sullen as ever. They had a bag slung over their shoulder, full of tools.

"Looks like it is the hydraulics," the other Zamaar in the compactor admitted. They sounded professional, but even Carla could detect the hint of begrudging concession.

"I told you it was," Tana said simply, sounding a little tired. They looked up at Carla. For a brief moment, there was a glimpse of disdain, but the expression oddly softened.

"Alright, open up the back hatch," Tana commanded.

Carla did as instructed, working both the touch screen and tactile controls on the terminal, and soon, the whining of servos filled all their ears, as the rear hatch and several other panels raised on powered rails.

Tana loped around the compactor until they were behind it, obscured from Carla's view. She heard the bag hit the ground, the clatter of the tools within adding a chaotic element to the noise.

Then, hissing and whirring.

Carla heard the two other aliens talking in their own tongue, leaning towards each other.

Their voices were lowered, and they were looking at the back crusher plate of the compactor, as if looking through it at Tana's work.

Carla had an idea what they were talking about.

The two aliens shook their heads, and remained quiet for the remainder of Tana's work.

Tana themselves suddenly piped up, the noise of tools cutting out.

"Alright, run a diagnostic," they ordered.

Carla did as instructed, and the readout indicated a fault in a pressure valve. Why it hadn't been detected immediately by the sensors, Carla didn't know.

Several more faults were found, and Carla relayed each to Tana as professionally as she could. And one by one, they cleared.

Soon, the sounds of tools working faded completely, and Tana emerged from around the back of the compactor.

"Hook it all up, and it should function now," they assured.

"Well... we'll do that, Tana," K'tuu answered flatly.

"Yeah... you do that," Tana responded even more tersely. They quickly left the scene, knocking shoulders with the other Zamaar with K'tuu, storming away from the compactor, tools rattling in their bag.

Carla thought she heard a sniffle from the fleeing alien.

"You guys can finish up here, right?" Carla said, and didn't give them a chance to answer as she made her way down the catwalk.

"Carla, where are you going?" K'tuu called out, but Carla was already gone, following Tana up a set of stairs to another catwalk moving over a dense arrangement of pipes and conduits running beneath and either side of it, some crossing perpendicular to it and the other tubes, other pipes just over head height either side of the catwalk.

"Tana!" Carla called out, feeling she had to do something. She didn't know why, she owed nothing to Tana beyond sharing a room with them, and even then, Tana's cold demeanour towards her made that unpleasant enough.

Tana paused in their tracks, and loosed a strained sigh.

"What do you want?" they growled.

"What do I want? I want nothing, but to talk to you," Carla insisted, spreading her arms wide.

Tana laughed bitterly.

"Oh really, talk to me?" they said, dropping their tool bag to the ground with a loud rattle, exacerbated by the banging of the grated catwalk. They turned around, their expression a mix of amusement and resentment. "What do you have to talk to me about?"

Carla stood firm.

"I know what's going on with the crew, what they're saying. I want you to know, not everyone believes it. I don't believe it," she stated, pressing a hand to her chest. "I know you've been difficult since I moved in with you, and god knows you get on my nerves, but I know you wouldn't do anything like--"

"Oh, I'm difficult, am I?" Tana interrupted sorely. "It's not like you robbed me of my privacy or anything. And know me? What do you know about me? Actually, what do we know about you?!" Tana spiked the air with an accusatory finger point.

"The hell does that mean?"

"Want me to break it down to you? Everyone was so thrilled to have you on board. Even I was. I was even interested in getting into your pants like everyone else, and I know you've been having fun. But what has actually happened since you arrived? Malfunction after malfunction after malfunction. The first conveniently impacting you. Another getting you injured, though maybe that was just bad luck on your part."

"I know where you're going with this, Tana, and I suggest you--"

"Stop? Why should I? What does anyone on this ship actually know about you, huh?! You're a human, you lot are as sneaky as we can be, you never know what scheme you're up to for some sort of profit."

"Tana, why the hell would I want to sabotage this ship?!"

"There's probably some reason, there always is!"

"I wanted to get a placement on a research and exploration vessel, not a damn freighter! The experience is good for me, sabotaging it wouldn't even help me!"

"So you say, and your background check, but who knows how much of that is true? You're the real outsider here, not me! I'm not the one who turned up one day out of the blue and started attracting attention from every single person on the ship, I'm not the one everyone wanted to get to know, I'm not the one everyone wanted to fuck!"

"Wait, is that your real problem? Are you jealous or something, about the attention I get? I thought you liked to keep to yourself."

"No, that's not it! See, you don't get it! So you don't know anything about me! Now kindly, as your kind would put it, fuck off!"

Carla ground her teeth in frustration and anger as she watched Tana drop low to roughly grab their tools and begin turning around to continue on their way.

That's when she heard a rattling noise. A low frequency rumbling whine accompanied it, and her eyes soon found the source; a joint in the pipe next to the catwalk was shaking.

"Tana!" Carla warned.

"I said fuck off!" Tana repeated, oblivious to the danger.

It was too late to try anything more, as the pipe suddenly burst on one side of the joint. The force involved ripped the joint apart and sent it swinging into Tana, whilst a gout of flame erupted from the burst pipe.

They shrieked in panic as it struck their chest, knocking them into the catwalk's opposite railing. They pivoted over the handrail and tumbled off into the larger pipes below. Flames and gases spewed all over from the ruptured pipe, though Tana was fortunately far from that danger.

Unfortunately, they must have hit their head pretty hard on the pipes below, and they were now wedged between two of them precariously.

"Tana!" Carla cried out.

Liquid and foam fire suppressant rained down from the ceiling, as alarms blared. She barely heard the shouts of some of the other Zamaar in this section over the din of everything else.

But they were not in her thoughts. She wasn't really thinking at all, as she suddenly climbed over the railing, and hung herself down as low as she could before dropping down to the pipes below.

She wobbled when she landed on the curved surface, desperate to keep her balance and not end up in need of rescue herself.

Stabilised, she ambled over to Tana's unconscious form, and quickly looked her over; a small amount of blue-grey blood stained the pipe, and Tana's eyes were half-lidded. They were breathing, but they were not moving.

Carla checked the various spots on their suit and exposed neck, remembering some of the basic Zamaaran first aid she was taught, as not all things were similar between them and humans.

But with everything happening, and the pipe getting gradually slicker from the fire suppression, Carla didn't have the time to give them a once over.

She hooked her arms around Tana as best she could, and heaved them up and held them to her chest.

It was difficult and risky, wobbling atop of the pipe, but she eventually caught her balance, and began an effective tight-rope walk to the far end of the pipes, where the floor fortunately was not that far away.

Still, she slid down the slick end of the pipe as it curved away to the left, and cursed in pain as she hit the floor on her side, trying to cushion the fall for Tana.

K'tuu and the other Zamaar raced over, their expressions shocked and confused, looking at the sputtering fire coming from the ruptured pipe as it was slowly doused, other systems thankfully working to contain it.

"Help me!" Carla called out, and they rushed over to her and Tana, crouching by the unconscious Zamaar.

"We'll get them to the infirmary, you should come too," K'tuu said.

"I'm fine, worry about Tana," Carla insisted, but the other alien grabbed her shoulder firmly.

"No arguments, Carla, you need to be checked too," they insisted with the same kind of firmness. "Or Doc will never let us hear the end of it."

Carla sighed, and rose to her feet - somewhat guided - and followed after the two Zamaar, finding another route around the now hazardous catwalk.

---

Carla only had mild bruising from when she slid into the floor getting off that pipe, but Doctor K'tah made her take some anti-toxic medication as a precaution, as the line that had ruptured was a fairly noxious compound, part of the ship's coolant systems. Flammable too, it seemed, though it shouldn't have ignited like that.

The tearing metal must have made a spark or something. Regardless, K'tah wanted to make sure Carla's body didn't absorb anything hazardous.

'Hazardous' could've been used to describe the liquid she had to ingest, the dark liquid like soy sauce, but nowhere near as appetising. Rather opposite, actually, it was foul.

The injections were a much better experience in comparison.

She was sitting on the examination table, feeling a hint of deja vu, but her concern laid with Tana, who was in one of the recovery beds in the adjacent room, a privacy screen drawn around them.

Doctor K'tah walked in, tapping away at their tablet, swinging it around to hang it off their belt.

"Tana will be fine. They're concussed, and there's some concerning bruising beneath the skull, but it seems their brain is unharmed, based on all scans. I'll need to deal with that bruising, of course, but other than that, there's nothing of urgent concern," they stated professionally. K'tah then cast Carla an appreciative smile. "I'd say things turned out as well as they did because of your quick thinking."

Carla nodded slowly.

"I suppose... but I can't help feeling slightly responsible. I was having an argument with them on the catwalk. If I hadn't, they would've just kept walking. Stupid, I know, no one could've predicted this."

"Those feelings are natural responses, but you have nothing to be responsible for. Like you said, it was unpredictable. It happened, as did your actions in saving Tana. So think on that."

Carla nodded again and murmured a quiet affirmative.

"If it helps, you can always go and see Heyto to talk about it," K'tah added, before gathering up some medical tools and putting them away. "That's all, you can go now, but do keep me appraised if you feel sick. Dizziness, lightheadedness, photosensitivity, nausea, vomiting, fainting spells..."

"Will do, Doc," Carla assured, slipping themselves off the examination table before making their way out of the infirmary.

There, waiting for her, was G'yuun, the shorter Zamaar lighting up and rushing over to Carla as if ready to hug, holding themselves back at the last moment like they decided they needed to give her space.

"How are you feeling?" G'yuun asked, the concern evident in their voice, and in their eyes.

"I'm fine. Doc just made me take some awful shit in case I got any toxins in my body, and some gel for the bruising."

G'yuun loosed a sigh of relief, even if one could see Carla was in pretty good health. Their expression turned serious again, however, and looked into the Infirmary.

"How's Tana?"

Carla sighed.

"They're going to be fine, but they were concussed," Carla explained. "Hit their head pretty hard... there was blood."

The sight of that minute puddle of blood at the time did not make Carla react much, too focused on getting Tana to safety. But now it seemed to linger in her mind... the sight of Tana's limp form almost folded between two pipes, the blood trickling onto the metal, those half-lidded eyes staring off into nothing, glassy and unresponsive... Carla couldn't get it out of her head. She kept seeing those eyes. Deathly.

"Apparently it looked worse than it was, Doc says they'll be able to help them. But... god, Tana..."

G'yuun reached over to place a hand on Carla's shoulder reassuringly.

"You got them to safety, that's all that matters," they stated. "They're going to be fine thanks to you. And if what I've heard is true, you went after them to try and talk to them about something that happened. I'm guessing an argument?"

"Something like that... Tana got the cold shoulder from the other Zamaar we were working with and they stormed off. I just wanted to try and reassure them."

Carla then gave G'yuun a look, cocking her head.

"How did you hear about that?" she asked.

G'yuun didn't answer, and then nodded their head towards the end of the corridor.

Standing partially hidden by a corner was K'tuu, their eyes looking downcast and their shoulders equally slumped.

"K'tuu told me what happened, and... well, they're feeling responsible for it too, in their own way. I think they regret treating Tana so suspiciously."

Carla peered at the other alien down the end of the corridor, and felt a strange emotion; a weird blend of sympathy and fury.

She pushed past G'yuun, and made her way over to K'tuu, who did their best not to acknowledge Carla's approach until she was right on them.

Carla stood firm before the Zamaar, taking in their features; they were quite tall, but lithe, their curves slim and feminine, but they were far from bodacious. Their skin was almost a steel colour, and their eyes were a shade of mauve. The spines that curved over their head were rather curious, each sporting precise notches that gave them the appearance of simplistic feathers, some sort of personal fashion.

Their bodysuit was quite gaudy by contrast, a bright orange with white highlights, though that was probably the intention, easy to spot in industrial environments.

They sported an unusual mark over the bridge of their flat nose, like they had the shape of a nose rest from a pair of spectacles tattooed onto their skin.

Pearly beads were pressed into the sides of their head around where their ears were, another fashion choice.

Their expression was sullen and wracked with guilt.

"Carla..." they greeted finally, watching the human cross her arms.

"You treated Tana terribly," she began, her tone calm, but her eyes betrayed the anger she felt. "I know it's not just you. I know why people have their suspicions. But you let that bleed over into the workplace? Where's your professionalism?"

K'tuu looked away, not wishing to meet Carla's gaze.

"I know... I know," they agreed. "I've known Tana for three of your years, and never once have they shown themselves to be someone untrustworthy."

"Then why let the suspicions of the crew guide your judgement, if you know Tana so well?"

"Because..." K'tuu started, and then deflated, their shoulders seemingly slumping near half a foot. "Because I am a senior engineer. That section is my responsibility. So are a number of others, we're only a small crew. Things are usually fine, the automation handles it, but after all the malfunctions we've had recently, I've been overseeing so much maintenance work. When one job ends, two more are lined up waiting. And everyone I'm responsible for is just... so tense, like they're about to snap. They don't trust Tana, and I worried that, if they really were responsible for what's going on, then I would be making not just my life worse, but also the lives of everyone I'm responsible for."

K'tuu suddenly buried their face in their hands and sobbed.

"I was responsible for Tana too. I failed to do the most basic part of my job, keep my crew safe, because I was paranoid."

Carla's face softened as they let K'tuu shed their tears. It seemed like they needed it, though she didn't remain quiet for long.

"Look, Tana's going to be alright... but this distrust... it's gotta stop. Have any of you found any proof that Tana's responsible? Like, genuine proof?"

K'tuu shook their head.

"Then you need to stop blaming them for all of this. And really, think about it, how could one person cause this much damage? They'd never be able to do it alone, and you are far too close to each other as a crew for any small group of you to want to do this."

K'tuu slowly calmed down, but they loosed a heavy sigh.

"I just... I just need things to go back to how they were," they said. "When I worked hard, but worked reasonably. When I didn't have to worry about something breaking every other second. When I could spend some quiet time with my closest friends. When I was confident my crew would be safe. When I wasn't scared this ship was going to tear itself apart. I want a break..."

"We all do. All of us. God knows I do. I wanted this job to be quiet if it was going to be boring."

Carla then looked around, and a rather strange idea came to her head.

"Hey... you said you want a break?"

K'tuu nodded.

"Then... let's go back to your room. Or some place private."

K'tuu showed their face, confused at first, before realisation took shape.

"Are you sure?"

Carla felt her face redden deeply, realising what she was suggesting herself.

"... yeah, I'm sure," she admitted.

A wavering smile appeared on K'tuu's lips, and they nodded as they led Carla away to the lift. Before the doors to the lift closed, Carla glanced at G'yuun down the hall, who was smirking.

She saw their lips move, and was certain they mouthed the words 'have fun', seemingly enjoying Carla's initiative a little too much.

---

K'tuu led Carla to their quarters. It was much like the rest, two beds and a few amenities, and split in the décor between the cabin's two occupants, the left side adorned with pictures stuck to the wall of shadowy landscapes with bizarre flora and clouds that seemed to possess a luminous hue to their depths. The screens integrated into the cabin showed videos of similar landscapes, with bio-luminescent plant-life breaking up rolling fields of deep purples and maroons, the strange, twisting flora both unsettling and hostile, and surreal and beautiful.

It must have been images of their homeworld, a gloomy planet, though not without its sun. But compared to Earth, it was overcast far more often, and life adapted to that.

The right side of the cabin was covered in pictures. Not paintings or photographs. But stylistic blueprints and cutaways of numerous types of ships, human, Zamaaran, others... the screens on that side of the room even showed what look like a fly-through of a racing vehicle with a sleek grey shell and spherical wheels, a digital recreation of course, but perfectly realistic from the perspective of a miniature, non-existent camera.

K'tuu sat down on the bed on that side, looking strangely nervous.

Carla wondered what they had to be nervous about, they were used to this. Carla had never been this... forward, before, especially with someone she barely knew on this ship.

Even the others, she got a bit more interaction with them before things got... heated.

But this wasn't unusual for the Zamaar, they were free with their affections and knew each other well enough as crew to be okay with it. More so than any other race at least.

Carla figured there was nothing weird about what she was doing. Though she'd never try it with another human.

"You seemed stressed, so... I figured this would be a good way to help you calm down," Carla stated, as she moved before K'tuu, placing her hands on their shoulders. "Just something to take the edge off."

K'tuu smiled and ran their hands down Carla's sides, resting them upon her hips.

"You're really kind, you know that~?" she stated, giggling a little.

Carla couldn't help a little chuckle herself, the words familiar.

"Well, I try~" she answered, moving in to press her lips to K'tuu's, sliding one hand down to the alien's breasts, fondling them gently.

Even as lithe as K'tuu was, their bust still provided two nice handfuls for Carla to squeeze and knead, quickly feeling a nipple erect beneath their jumpsuit. They rubbed a thumb across that subtle bump, circular touches meant to excite.

Their liplock was slow and tender, letting their tongues mingle placidly, sucking their lips loosely upon one another.

K'tuu slid a hand down to flex their fingers against Carla's rump, fighting against the jumpsuit and the firmer tissue beneath.

Both moaned luridly into the combined space of their joined mouths.

Slowly, Carla pushed K'tuu down onto the bed, and found herself to be at a slight disadvantage, straddling their waist, given the difference in stature. All the same, the human endeavoured to excite, rocking her hips upon K'tuu's still clad belly, feeling a moisture starting to wet her crotch and moisten the space between body and suit.

Their hands started to explore each other with more vigour now, slipping down curves and finding tantalising nooks and crannies to pinch and knead beneath tender hands.

Carla twisted her head, trying to mesh her lips better to K'tuu's, and pushing her tongue that little bit deeper to taste the blandness of their saliva.

But K'tuu, they were salivating heavily, more so than any of the other Zamaar Carla had kissed thus far. So much so, getting a blowjob from them must have been a delightful little experience... so much natural lubrication.

It was honestly a little crazy how much they were salivating, it forced Carla to swallow some like she was drinking, which made K'tuu pull back, an apologetic look on their face.

"Sorry... I just... when I get excited, my mouth..." they began, sounding almost ashamed.

Carla could understand, salivating so much during intimacy could be a turn off, or inconvenient... but it honestly wasn't that excessive.

She smiled, and cupped the side of K'tuu's face, forcing them to look at hers again.

"Hey, it's fine~ I don't mind~" Carla assured, granting K'tuu enough time to offer a happy smile, before their kiss resumed in earnest, lips twisting fervently together, murmurs mixing together as their lust deepened.

Carla groped K'tuu's breasts still, gently pinching one of those nipples between thumb and finger, exerting only a modicum of pressure due to the bodysuit K'tuu still wore.

Even though the suits were obscuring some of the stimulation they felt, it wasn't enough to dampen their growing arousal, flames sparking in their hearts.

So much so, when Carla attacked K'tuu's neck, draping her lips across their throat, she felt the thumping of their heart through the pulsing of their veins.

It was strong, so rapid... was K'tuu nervous or excited? She couldn't tell for sure, but she was certain of one thing; the Zamaar definitely needed this, locking lips once more.

Carla eventually broke the kiss, watching strings of saliva sag and snap between their lips, draping over K'tuu's chin and rolling further.

The alien panted with desire, their eyes glistening in their need.

Carla flashed them a knowing smirk, and slowly inched her way down their body, gliding her hands affectionately across their svelte frame, exerting some pressure when she came to their belly, fingers wrapping around their waist as much as she could make them, squeezing K'tuu slowly, until she backed off the end of the bed to place her face firmly between K'tuu's thighs, the two soft pillows either side clamping around her head in reflex.

Carla chuckled to herself, and let her mouth creep across K'tuu's groin, her soft lips gliding over the material of the suit, though she kept her tongue away to avoid any unpleasant tastes, for now.

Even without her muscle, her hot lips slipping over K'tuu's crotch was doing wonders to excite the alien, who panted and huffed, hooking their legs over Carla's shoulders, though the plush clamping of their thighs wasn't so tight to dictate her movements, her hands caressing K'tuu's hips, sliding down and curling fingers in between the alien's thighs with languid grace.

Up, down, up, down, in, out, in, out, that's how Carla's hands massaged K'tuu's thighs, every now and then giving the alien's legs a nice squeeze.

K'tuu whined pleasantly, but Carla knew they didn't want to be teased forever.

And Carla didn't plan on it. This whole endeavour was meant to be stress relief, a break from all the chaos.

So, she found the hidden zip in K'tuu's bodysuit, and with lurid care, slowly prised open the barrier that stood between her lips and that Zamaaran pussy.

She was immediately hit with a wave of sweet musk, a combination of sweat and arousal that the anti-perspiration liner of their suit couldn't quite contain. It was pleasant to say the least, tantalising Carla's own arousal. She never would've thought so, but it was an aroma that tickled her noise, and tickled her brain.

She loosed a breath in response, and saw the twitching of those obscene alien petals before her, just waiting to be teased and tasted. K'tuu's pussy was so incredibly slick, they seemed to get wet almost as much as their mouth salivated.

Carla pushed down between K'tuu's thighs to get closer, such her tongue could reach out and give that vulva a nice lick if she pleased. But first, she got a good hold on K'tuu's thighs, hands curling down from above into the inner surfaces, gripping them firmly, fingers sinking in a little and deforming their shape into the softer fat of K'tuu's thighs.

With her anchorage secured, she leaned in close, and began to slowly curl her tongue up and down the alien folds before her, tasting that slick alien arousal.

Hot breath washed from her mouth, flowing over K'tuu's pussy as much as her tongue tongue did, curling and shifting here and there and everywhere, pushing against the inner surfaces of alien folds and teasing the entrance to their depths.

She wondered if she was at any point going to get a ridged dick in her mouth quite unexpectedly. So far, K'tuu was content to let the human give them the pure lesbian experience.

The Zamaar moaned softly, their back arching off the bed and showing off how their belly muscles flexed from the pleasured strain through the material of their suit.

Carla murmured softly, little vibrations tickling K'tuu's sensitive flesh, rolling over their analogous clit, teasing it and earning several harsh jerks from the Zamaar.

All the while, Carla rocked her own hips, humping against nothing as she got into a lustful rhythm, her hands still gently curling back and forth around K'tuu's thighs.

They were getting warmer, twitching a little and loosing quiet squawks of pleasure from beneath parted fingers, hand loosely over their mouth, their other hand reaching down to grip Carla's head, fingers raking through her hair. Soon, their noises were a little less muffled, the hand to their mouth deciding a good hold on their own breasts was much nicer, K'tuu groping themselves with lustful fervour.

Carla's own energy was increasing, and soon pushed her tongue deep into K'tuu's slit, worming her muscle about within those tight walls. They couldn't get a hold on something like a tongue, but Carla could still feel how they clenched possessively, ready to snare any dick that entered.

Her tongue felt around within the textured passage of K'tuu's pussy, and slowly rolled over a bump in the fleshy walls of their depths.

At first, she was confused, before she saw the tiny hole just above their pussy... the opening from which their cocks emerged.

That must have been what she was feeling within K'tuu's sex, the tip of their cock still hiding away within its internal sheath, not enough to create a bulge visible from outside their body. It mightn't even be fully engorged. But Carla could feel it, and whenever she pushed on it with her tongue, K'tuu groaned softly, and gripped Carla's head that little bit tighter... and pushed her that little bit deeper into their mound.

So Carla kept licking it, along with every other surface in the textured contours of the alien's depths. Her lips clasped to K'tuu's contours, and that made K'tuu even more aroused, moaning loudly from the lurid touch of Carla's lips sucking hard around their pussy.

She gently turned her head left and right, all but shaking her mouth against K'tuu's pussy, eager to make the alien moan. And above all, cum their brains out.

That, Carla was insistent on, rocking their lips harder against K'tuu's gash, and plunging their tongue aggressively into K'tuu's sex.

She thrashed it about, and Carla felt she'd hear a squelching noise from the way the Zamaar's walls moved, if her ears were sensitive enough.

All she could hear was her own murmuring and slurping as she lapped away at K'tuu's gash, lashing it with her tongue, both between those supple petals and within their walls, earning loud, salacious moans from the alien.

Their hips lifted momentarily from the bed, and Carla pulled them back down, spreading her knees a little to get a better, more stable stance, rocking their mouth hungrily against the vulva trapped before her lips, sucking like she was drinking down life-saving water after dying of thirst, putting her all into this.

It certainly seemed enough for K'tuu, who suddenly and quite explosively lifted their back off the bed, arching it with surprising flexibility. Their cry of ecstasy filled the room, and Carla was given the wonderful view of their body flexing and shuddering, K'tuu's muscles all firing erratically as orgasm took them.

It was most violent in their thighs, more so than the spasming in their loins. Carla was even worried she'd be crushed between those legs with how tight they suddenly squeezed. Fortunately, K'tuu was not some monster body builder, or even particularly athletic. So what meat rounded out their thighs proved to be a pleasant pressure exerted around her skull, quivering rapidly against her face.

Said thighs then suddenly fell away from Carla's head, as K'tuu went limp upon the bed, one hand draping across their chest, another slowly kneading and rubbing their belly as if someone had just given them a healthy, intimate load.

Carla pulled her face away from K'tuu's vulva, feeling utterly soaked from the discharge of ecstasy the Zamaar had.

She licked her lips and wiped her face down, feeling all too pleased with herself after getting that sort of reaction out of one of these promiscuous aliens; once she probably would've been embarrassed for feeling that good about herself for it, but now, she was simply proud.

"Wow... you've... learned a thing or two since you joined us..." K'tuu remarked. "Unless you already knew those things... damn..."

Carla laughed softly.

"I think most of it can be attributed to you people... you know your way around a body~"

It was K'tuu's turn to laugh.

"Haa... that we do..."

"Speaking of which... I hope you're up for a little more~ I could do with a 'break' too~"

Carla chuckled as she stood up... and made something of a show of removing her jumpsuit, slipping one shoulder out and then the other, running her hands down her body as she peeled her suit away inch by inch, twisting her body and turning it as if to preserve modesty to the very last moment, before baring her chest without shame, letting the silky lumps jiggle a little from the sudden jerk of her torso. She pulled one leg free, and then the other, and left the suit piled on the floor, running her hands over her shaved vulva and jutting out her chest.

In the back of her mind, she wondered if K'tuu would even react much, given how often they had fun with each other, but the alien's expression was nothing short of 'wow', mouth slightly agape.

"Whoa..." was all they said.

It made Carla feel so very sexy.

"Like what you see, huh~? Well, don't worry, you'll be getting a 'hands-on experience'~"

She really would've been embarrassed once, speaking like this. But now, it made her feel good. It was fun to play around a little.

Maybe the Zamaar had been a bad influence on her, but all she knew was how much more relaxed she was. And she wasn't a really chaste person to begin with.

K'tuu watched as Carla climbed back onto the bed, crawling up their slender frame and gliding a hand along their still-clad body, fingers drumming here and there, before finding their top most zipper, and helping them out of their own suit.

It was a little tricky, being on their back, but they both managed to get K'tuu extracted from that final barrier, dumped on the floor between the beds unceremoniously.

With the Zamaar now naked, Carla wasted no time, going down to pepper their belly with kisses and soft, tender licks, painting saliva onto their alien skin, that smooth, glossy hide so smooth and taut. K'tuu didn't have a lot of fat on them outside of their curvier areas, leaving only a thin layer of softness for Carla's lips to make yield before meeting the muscle beneath.

They were still more than pleasant to touch and taste, Carla mouthing over their belly and feeling it flinch in a reflex they seemed to share with humans... maybe they were just sensitive. But it made it far more enjoyable to explore them. That blend of exotic, alien, and the familiar.

Carla worked her way up to the Zamaar's chest, and curled her tongue across a firm nipple, hooking the tip of her muscle and tugging on those pert teats. First one, then the other.

Their lips moved to slip across the curvature of K'tuu's modest handfuls, still more than enough to play with, to paint with tongue strokes and caress with moist lips applying slow kisses to every inch of those soft fat deposits, before returning to those firm buds and clasping her lips around one. She suckled hard, hard enough to draw more titflesh into her mouth and tug on it when she pulled back, releasing the nipple to watch the breast bounce and ripple back into shape.

She did the same to K'tuu's other breast, and switched them before working her way up once more, a trail of lurid smooches left upon K'tuu's chest, their neck, their jawline, earning soft gasps from the taller alien, until their lips once more communed in the way they knew best.

And their hands were not idle, K'tuu's sliding up the sides of Carla's body, around her waist and to her rump to give it a firm kneading, another finding one of Carla's breasts and giving it a good squeeze... perhaps more so than her rump. Maybe they were a little envious, Carla's bust bigger than their own.

If they were, they didn't show it, too enamoured with the feeling of Carla's body drooping and rubbing sensually upon theirs, slipping and grinding together as their hands roamed.

But, eventually, K'tuu found one of their wrists snared, Carla catching it and giving the alien a knowing, devious look.

Their lips did not part, but Carla's hand took K'tuu's where the human wanted it... and when K'tuu felt their twin fingers graze against the bud crowning Carla's pussy, they knew what she demanded.

K'tuu had gotten off once already, now it was Carla's turn. And K'tuu wasted no time, gently pinching Carla's clit between their two fingers and rolling it between those digits, quickly earning lurid moans from the human's mouth, muffled by the kiss they shared.

Again, the kiss was a sordid affair, lecherous and obscene owing to K'tuu's excess salivation. It made exploring their mouth quite debauched, feeling how slick everything was.

A shudder rocked Carla's body, feeling her clit depressed beneath a symmetrical palm, whilst those two fingers plunged deep into her pussy, and immediately found her G-spot.

Whether by fluke or educated guess, K'tuu knew what they'd found, and immediately took advantage, plunging their fingers in and out like they were tapping away at a rhythm game on their tablet, and chose the hard difficulty.

Carla moaned, hard enough the kiss was momentarily broken, allowing plenty of borrowed saliva to pour down K'tuu's chin and onto their neck, leaving their lips slick and glossy, before Carla trapped them again in oral intimacy.

It was getting harder to maintain this kiss, however, because K'tuu understood their assignment, starting to stir their fingers inside Carla's pussy, whilst their other hand groped her breasts, keeping her supported whilst they plundered her sex. The two thumbs gently kneaded either side of Carla's vulva, depressing the spongier flesh at the base of her mound. Meanwhile their two fingers were getting even faster, threatening to rather quickly send Carla over the edge.

She didn't really mind that much, it felt way too good to care. Besides, she didn't have the ego to be bothered by her partner getting her to the edge quick. It wasn't like it was over too quick.

Though, she barely got that thought out before everything came to a crashing halt and her brain fired off in ecstasy, snapping her lips away from K'tuu's to loose a most intense moan of release, shaking like a leaf as pleasure took her and she soaked K'tuu's pumping digits, walls clamping around the fingers and quivering in climactic intensity, Carla happy for K'tuu's supportive groping, or she might've toppled atop of the alien.

When Carla was finally done with her bliss, K'tuu thankfully withdrew their digits and brought the hand around to take another firm lot of rump flesh into their grasp, kneading and fondling intimately.

Carla composed herself atop of K'tuu's breasts, giving their sternum a few teasing kisses, and loosing a laugh.

"You really do know your way around another's body~" she remarked.

K'tuu brought the hand that was just prior having its fun with Carla's breasts to affectionately caress the top of her head.

"Just lucky that you humans aren't that different from us... shadows, I never would've thought I'd get to be so close to a human," they said with a wistful tone.

"You've thought about it for a while?" Carla asked.

"Curiosity's a hell of a thing, and I can safely say, you're satisfying it thoroughly~"

Carla smiled deeply, and curled her tongue across K'tuu's chest slowly, never breaking eye contact.

"I'm so glad to hear it~ But, I'm not quite satisfied myself... I got a bit more energy in me yet~"

K'tuu raised a brow at the statement. Their lips moved as if to say something, but Carla was already in motion, lifting herself away from the alien's body, and turning around until her ass was filling K'tuu's vision.

Whether the alien's eyes boggled at the sight or not, Carla didn't know, only hoping they liked the view. Judging by the firm, slapping grasps that fell upon her rump, she felt she had a good answer, gasping softly as her buttocks was kneaded by the alien's hands.

But Carla had a specific goal in mind, as she brought her head to K'tuu's crotch once more, staring it down from a different, opposite angle this time.

She grinned, and slipped two fingers into her mouth, getting them nice and wet, before curling them deep into K'tuu's pussy.

She heard them moan, and twist from the subsequent rubbing, but Carla's technique was specific, and with how easy it was to feel their sheathed member through their vagina, it didn't take long to coax out that dick, Carla's hand pulling away as that shaft fully engorged, and throbbed, already leaking arousal.

Carla's grin widened, growing toothy even, as she wrapped that hand around the base of the Zamaar's penis, and started to pump with slow twisting motions atop of the stroking.

K'tuu's dick was rather like their body, being the smoothest Carla had yet encountered, making it rather easy for her hand to glide up and down the bottom half of that cock, feeling the greasy residue from their internal sheathe lather up her palm. It was a pleasant ripple, the way her palm moved against the shallower, smoother ridges of K'tuu's penis, so the smoothness did not bother her at all.

She looked over her shoulder, seeing just how K'tuu was playing with her rear, and grinned.

"You can get as close as you want~" Carla teased, before pushing their rump down into K'tuu's head, smothering their face in the plush glutes that compressed against their skull.

Within seconds, Carla felt their mouth over her vulva, gasping harshly as that tongue found her clitoris quickly, gently flicking the bud whilst K'tuu's lips tended to the rest of her pussy.

She shivered atop of K'tuu, a seething breath sucked through their teeth. But following that came determination, knowing they weren't about to let K'tuu have all the fun.

She leaned forward, and brought her lips to K'tuu's glans.

The momentary pause in the Zamaar's ministrations brought a smug expression to Carla's face, delighting in the effect she had on the alien. She slipped back, and let her tongue tease and curl against the tip of that member, tasting the salty dollops that oozed from it.

She understood that, given her current position, seated atop of K'tuu's face as they worked away at her pussy, and the Zamaar's stature, she wasn't going to be able to tend to more than just the first inch or so of the Zamaarr's rod.

That would have to be enough, swirling the tip of her tongue around the tapered glans, sometimes with a light pressure, sometimes firmly. Every now and then, she slapped that alien dong against the flat of her unfurled muscle, hard enough she could just hear it.

At least when she wasn't moaning, K'tuu getting quite fervent already, 'chewing away' at her pussy with a dutiful and slightly ravenous need. They wiggled their mouth against her puffy mound, which made their tongue rub rather vigorously against Carla's soft, spongy labia.

She moaned, and slipped K'tuu's tip between her lips to keep pace, tongue rolling around the tapered and sensitive glans. Her hand tended to the rest of the slick alien cock, pumping with spiralling twists, letting her fingertips graze along the shallower edges of ridges K'tuu's dick sported, leaving her thumb to graze along the underside of the tapered corona of their glans, her thumb sometimes brushing against her circling tongue.

K'tuu's moans were shrill, and tantalising, vibrations that tickled Carla's own folds. She occasionally shook her hips upon their head, letting her glutes roll against K'tuu's face.

K'tuu was more than happy with this position, their hips occasionally twitching upwards, a small thrust into Carla's mouth that brought forth a salty dollop of pre-seminal fluids.

She lapped it up readily, finding how much the alien leaked rather thrilling.

She decided then, however, to employ a technique she'd been cautious about, but had shown some success with, drawing her jaws closed to scrape her teeth across the tapering head of K'tuu's penis, a firmer, more focused stimulation compared to the caressing seal of her lips.

It made K'tuu shake and spasm, their back arching a little and prompting Carla to stabilise herself atop of the alien until they calmed a little, getting used to the teeth grazing along their most sensitive point.

Carla murmured appreciatively, buzzing K'tuu's glans with those vibrations, earning a few more squirms, before the human resumed her tender nursing.

She let her tongue curl specifically against the very tip of K'tuu's member, leaving her lips to firmly stroke the rest. All as her hand continued its pumping, adding extra speed to the outwards twist of her wrist moving away from her body, keeping the stimulation interesting.

K'tuu's grip on Carla's rump seemed to tighten, and the fatty tissue had to welcome those fingers and thumbs sinking as deep as they dared without causing Carla any pain.

It was a little possessive, and Carla enjoyed that, again wiggling her rump atop of K'tuu's face.

As for their tongue, that textured, angular muscle dug deep, twisting about between the sloppy walls of Carla's pussy, teasing the folds and grazing the edge of her G-spot thanks to its length, above average compared to a human.

Zamaar made wonderful lovers, like their promiscuous culture led to their bodies adapting to better indulge their partners.

Carla had to endeavour not to grow numb to human partners. That could be awkward.

Though, time spent with the Zamaar had seemingly made her more sensitive or at least appreciative of pleasure, so she wasn't that concerned.

What did concern her was how readily she was shivering, an orgasm already building within her. She didn't want to succumb too quickly this time, lest she not have the motivation to finish K'tuu off even if she did cum first.

The alien was adamant, however, rocking their lips up and down aggressively against Carla's pussy, shaking their face and waggling their tongue energetically, shovelling the human's arousal into their mouth to drink it like a precious nectar.

It made Carla moan. But she wasn't to be outdone, twisting her head more vigorously upon K'tuu's member, tongue darting out past her lower lip and curling around the sides of that cock, starting to pulse with need, oozing precum eagerly.

A good sign, and encouraging to Carla, who began twisting her head faster and faster. She broke the sensations up periodically, suddenly and firmly sucking on K'tuu's tip over bobbing their head those two inches, lashing her tongue against the helm of that rod with as much energy as she could muster.

It had the desired effect, K'tuu's wicked moans thrumming into Carla's tightly flexing pussy, drawing ever closer to orgasm with each vigorous lick, and intermittent attack on her clit, each flick of a tongue or suckle of lips against that bud making Carla flinch slightly.

She saw the muscles in K'tuu's belly twisting, however, bunching up as their diaphragm heaved. They were close too, and Carla seized the initiative, suddenly and vigorously pumping K'tuu's dick with merciless action.

They couldn't hold out for long, for soon their hips were bucking wildly, and Carla had to pin them down to keep that dick from slipping out of her mouth as it throbbed potently, shooting thick ropes of alien semen right into her throat.

She drank it down, latching to K'tuu's glans and flicking her tongue aggressively against the upper slope of that tapered helm to coax out every drop from the Zamaar beneath her.

It made K'tuu cry out in bliss, gripping Carla's rump even tighter and forcing it possessively against their mouth.

Orgasm, however, seemingly motivated them to go all out, as unwilling to let Carla go without release as Carla was for K'tuu.

Their tongue stirred up a storm between her walls, and Carla couldn't help popping free of that cock, even as it was still cumming, to curse.

"Fuuuuck!" she whined, flinching as three final ropes of alien cum painted obscene lines upon her face. The last one punctuated by a shriek of bliss, Carla arching her back and coming to climax, every muscle in her body spasming, from her limbs to her loins.

She huffed and groaned harshly above K'tuu, until, finally, that alien loosened their grip, and Carla lost her balance.

The human slumped atop of K'tuu, face leaning against that throbbing, still leaking dick, whilst K'tuu's face panted out between Carla's thighs.

The two remained like that, slack against one another, Carla above, K'tuu below, enjoying the afterglow, until Carla finally rolled herself off K'tuu, and the bed in the process. She dropped to her knees, still shaky, but managed to crawl back onto the bunk and join K'tuu for a bout of post-coital cuddling.

It was just good manners, the two embracing and sharing a series of deep, languid kisses, bodies gently twisting upon one another, until they both settled down and rested their faces into the crook of the other's neck.

After a time, K'tuu pulled free and smiled.

"I needed that. I really did," they admitted, and Carla pecked them on the lips affectionately.

"I could tell... you came quite a bit~" she remarked, prompting K'tuu to giggle, dragging a finger across the mess that still lingered on her face, sucking it between their lips and enjoying their own taste with a murmur.

"So I did~"

The two giggled, and laid for a little bit longer, before it was Carla's turn to speak up.

"I think it's time I got going, though... much as I'd like to remain here, this was only a break," she said, sounding apologetic.

K'tuu sighed, nodding in understanding.

"Yeah. Again, I want to say I'm sorry, for what happened. How I've been behaving... it's not something I'm proud of at all."

"You and the rest of the crew will have to make it up to Tana, however you can. And I doubt it'll be easy, but if they're understanding... they'll forgive you."

Carla pecked K'tuu on the lips one last time, and extricated herself from their embrace, finding something to wipe herself down with before getting dressed.

"Perhaps there'll be a next time, some more fun we can have~" Carla suggested. It was genuine, even with how little she knew K'tuu; every Zamaar she'd met, she'd been with more than once at this point.

Strange that she still hadn't done any 'real' intercourse with them. But they didn't hold it against her. It was her choice.

"I'd like that~" K'tuu answered.

With a smile, Carla nodded farewell, and left K'tuu's quarters, feeling a little bit easier herself; she'd helped K'tuu with their stress and their guilt, even if she was still harbouring some disappointment over their treatment towards Tana. But she'd helped herself too.

Good sex was rather therapeutic, it seemed.

Unfortunately, it was now back to the uncertainty of a ship falling apart. And even she couldn't shake the feeling that it was not a vessel simply wearing out.

---

Carla listened to the news with a grim focus.

"So, we're going to Gonzales Station then," she confirmed.

G'yuun knocked back a swig of artificial Zamaaran alcohol, and nodded.

"Heard from the captain about twenty minutes ago. After what happened with Tana, that ruptured coolant line and the fire, they feel things have reached an unacceptable level of concern. We're routing to Gonzales and undergoing a thorough check of all systems... and I suspect of the personnel too."

"Wait, even the captain thinks there could be a saboteur on board?" Utan remarked, also sitting down at the table in the rec room.

"They don't want to think so. If I know J'mai, they're praying to every star outside this bucket's hull that it's not a saboteur, and if it is... that it's not one of the crew. If nothing else, it'll everyone blaming each other."

"But if it's not one of us, than wouldn't that mean a stowaway?" Carla suggested.

"This ship's huge, but it doesn't have a full crew complement. Until now, didn't really need it. The automation and sensor systems handled a lot of it. Plenty of places to hide as long as they could spoof security, but I can't see how they managed that," G'yuun stated.

It was an uncomfortable thought, that an infiltrator could've been lurking among them, but G'yuun was right, any such lurker would've needed to have spoofed security to stay hidden.

Not an impossible task in of itself... but to avoid every single thing that might've given away their presence, especially in amongst the more populated decks, seemed highly improbable.

All the same, the atmosphere of concern and uncertainty was palpable across the table. But also, a sense of hope; when they reached Gonzales Station, they'd have a seemingly solid, safe place they could have some R&R on.

A welcome reprieve from the mess of malfunction and fault the Tangerine had seemingly become.

"Well, here's to Gonzales Station, and a hope that we'll find out what the hell is going on," G'yuun said, lifting their drink in a toast.

Utan and Carla did the same, lifting bottles of synthetic juice instead.

"To Gonzales Station," the two said in unison.

"And to getting a fucking break," Carla added herself.

The two other Zamaar cheered that too.